#and like so far she seems to be an optimist which is really cool and all!

[sundry-whovengerslocked]

the Doctor has a Gen Z companion

what's going to happen? will Ruby live up to her generation's humor? we've only had one episode! so far it seems like the Doctor is speaking more slang than her!

#like I understand the companions need to be somewhat kid friendly and stuff #most of them *cough jack harkness cough* #especially now that it's on Disney plus #and like so far she seems to be an optimist which is really cool and all! #but like #I wanna see some peak gen z nihilism man! #just quoting tiktok and tumblr! #maybe even vine! #the doctor: run or we're gonna die! #ruby - while running: damn it's about time #ruby chucks a tiny evil alien out a window: YEET! #ruby meeting a homophobic guy in the 60s: harold they're lesbians #ruby when they're in a car: road work ahead? uh yeah i- #the doctor accidentally lands them inside area 51: uh we'd better go #ruby starts Naruto running #ruby sunday #the doctor #doctor who #doctor who companions #funny #gen z #gen z humor #nihilism #original post

[finniestoncrane]

It's Easy!

Lucy Maclean x Maximus, word count: 1.4k i have never related to a characters straightforward desire to fuck more than lucy maclean, you're my hero girl, keep trying to get your hole at every given moment, even if you have to take it upon yourself to uh... teach your partner how to treat you right... based on that scene from episode 6 which is where most of the dialogue from the intro comes from!! 💛💙 request info • prompt list • send me a request • kofi • masterlist minors DNI!! 🔞 cw: inexperienced/experienced, guiding, instructional, premature ejaculation, handjob, goofy losers getting it on my beloved

The harsh lighting was slowly giving Maximus a headache. Lucy, however, seemed to thrive under it. She was used to it, obviously, but he still marvelled at the way she seemed to soak it up, smiling under it's cool, white glow. An infectious smile, one that made her large, brown eyes sparkle like slightly irradiated water. One that pressed into her cheeks, pushing them up and out. One that made him smile back for reasons he wasn't quite sure of.

In fact, there were a lot of things about Lucy that made him smile, and as he ran through the list in his head, he found he had started saying one out loud before he could stop himself.

"You smell good."

There it was. Out in the open. No taking it back, so instead, he kept his eyes trained on the ground, acting as nonchalant as he could.

"Oh?"

With an immediate understanding, Lucy took a relaxed breath inwards before casually proposing an activity to pass the time away during their quarantine.

"Do you wanna have sex?"

That smile again, beaming over at him. With a surprised stutter, Maximus managed to respond.

"Y-you mean use my cock?"

Widening her eyes before looking from side to side, Lucy nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah!"

"I dont know... that weird thing could happen."

Maximus' nervous laugh preceded the statement that had intrigued Lucy to no end.

"What on Earth could he be talking about...? Has something else strange happened up here since... everything?"

Lowering one eyebrow and raising the other, she probed him for an answer.

"What weird thing?"

"Well, it's just... for some guys, and not me,obviously, but, uh... for some guys, you know... when they make it move..."

He gestured to his crotch with his hands, a quick but dramatic glance down to it for emphasis so there was no mistaking what he was talking about.

"... it gets all big an hard like a big pimple and then it pops. And they say it can happen to anybody, but it's still... it's... it's gross."

A knowing smile settled on Lucy's lips, her face blushing at Maximus' misunderstanding, the endearing naiavety he was displaying.

"You know, that's actually completely normal. It happens all the time. Every time, ideally."

With a grimace of disgust, Maximus felt his body moving backwards, as if he were trying to distance himself between himself and the notion that someone would want their cock to pop like that.

"Well, either way... I'm a Knight. Of the Brotherhood. We're... we're not really supposed to-"

"Okey dokey!"

Lucy interrupted him with a shrug and a polite grin, trying to save him from the awkward rejection he was trying to stumble through. But as she began to recline on her gurney on the other side of the small room, she stopped, leaning back on her elbows to listen to Maximus' rushed mumblings.

"Uh... but! B-but I... want to. Maybe? I just... don't know how..."

"Oh! If that's the problem, don't worry. It's easy! I can show you if you want? Teach you the basics at least."

He was a Knight. Well, no he wasn't. Not technically. But as far as Lucy knew... And as a Knight, he could stand to take matters into his own hands for once.

"I... I'd like that."

"Okey dokey, then! Let's do this!"

On that positive, overly optimistic note, Lucy stood up from her gurney and sat down next to Maximus on his. Her hand shifted tentatively to the side, pinky grazing against Maximus warm skin. He didn't respond in kind, instead stiffening up and staying completely still. So Lucy was once again the one to break the tension.

"We can try just kissing first if you'd like? Start off slow, get the basics down."

"Sure."

"Have you ever kissed someone?"

"No... have you?"

Lucy paused for a moment, considering everything she had done so far in life, everything she might do, and everything that had gone on between the first bombs dropped and now. The rules were different above and below ground, and she didn't want to risk offering any information about certain cousins that might make seem strange to someone like Maximus.

Aware that she had been staring wide-eyed into space for longer than necessary, she quickly turned to him.

"Yes, a couple. No one you would know."

His eyes narrowed in response, nose wrinkling up, mouth dropping open in a confused expression as he nodded in obvious agreement. And to prevent him from asking any questions, Lucy leaned into his parted lips and placed her own on them. A tender meeting of their bodies, far beyond polite handshakes, different from the way they had been clinging to each other in weaker moments.

Responding to the beat that his heart skipped and the way his body suddenly flushed with heat, Maximus raised his hand to Lucy's cheek, pulling back quickly with an apology and breaing off their first kiss. His first kiss.

"Oh, that's ok! You're kind of supposed to let nature take its course with this kind of thing. Deep down we all know how it should go... it's in our biology!"

He shrugged, averting his eyes once more, embarrassed to admit it, but confessing anyway.

"I'm still kinda scared... of the... pop."

Ever the dutiful problem solver, Lucy stopped for a moment, humming over potential solutions before beaming bright and excited when she thought she had the perfect one.

"Oh! I can show you what it's like. I'll take charge, and then you'll see it's ok. How does that sound?"

He nodded, slow and stuttered, all of the built up excitement hidden behind the shocked expression he wore. She was so forthcoming, so helpful, and the idea of her touching him did make him feel good. Different, but good. And that feeling was only amplified as Lucy started dragging down the zip at the front of his jumpsuit and dipping her hand beneath the fabric.

Her skin was soft, her palm warm as it glided past his stomach and down to the tuft of unruly black hair above his cock. And then she was touching it. Unafraid, bold and confident in the way she let her fingers trail along the length before settling the flat of her hand against him, semi-erect already and throbbing under her.

Smiling, smug with her effect on him, Lucy could feel his cock stiffening as she wrapped her fingers around it, beginning to stroke the length. As her hand moved up and down, Maximus noticed the way his length, and his whole body in fact, twitched when she reached the bottom and again when she neared his head.

"It's... it's happening isn't it?"

"Yep! But it's ok... totally normal... completely normal... very nice..."

He shifted, not uncomfortably, but awkwardly, as he took in the compliment.

"Feels good, doesn't it?"

Lucy was smiling at him, eyes glinting with something he hadn't really noticed before as she asked the question.

"It... it does..."

"Maybe we can go a bit further then? Give me your hand..."

She took his wrist, steadying his shaking limb, and placed his palm against her breast over the top of her suit. He let his fingers sink in a little, squeezing the soft mound and breathing in deep, shaking breaths. it felt comforting, but it made that coil in his stomach tighten as he felt her chest heaving against him.

"Now... if you think this my hand feels nice, imagine how good it would feel to have it inside my- oh!"

The words weren't particularly sexy, at least not in the cheerful, matter of fact way that Lucy spoke them, but it was enough to send Maximus over the edge. His cock twitched, that threatened moving, swelling, throbbing, his veins pulsing, and then the pop. His orgasm came fast and hard, cum spilling in warm, white ropes over Lucy's hand.

Immediate embarrassment came over him as he tried to clean it up, recoiling at the sticky texture of the liquid that had come from him. But as he looked into Lucy's eyes to show the sincerity of the 'sorry' that he repeated, he saw that she was still smiling. Ever cheerful. A sense of satisfaction about a job well done.

"Good, huh? Next time you'll be able to last a bit longer, I think!"

As Lucy made her way back to her own gurney to lay down, Maximus muttered to himself.

"Next... next time?"

And now he began to smirk. Self-satisfied. Relaxed. Excited for this next time.

#fallout #fallout amazon #finnie writes #fallout fic #fallout tv #fallout tv series #lucy maclean x maximus #lucymax #knight titus #maximus #lucy maclean #fallout lucy #fallout maximus #lucy x maximus

[goldenempyrean]

Hey! I have a request. Could you write something where Wanda has been a bit stressed with work, and R had the flu. R doesn't want to add to Wanda's stress, so R hides their sickness. R has to go and do something outside for whatever reason (even though Wanda protests) and when R comes back in, their so delirious and out of it, they tell Wanda they feel sick, even though they don't really know what's going on. Thank you for your time!

Don't You Worry About Me

〚 Notes  - Hey! Just another lil piece to fill the gap as I work on the AU :) Oh, please lmk what yall think about the new lil colours for the titles and stuff. I think it looks pretty cool! Also my amazing @lyak12 helped me out with the main idea for this too!〛

〚 Pairing- Wanda Maximoff x Reader 〛

〚 Summary - Wanda's been swamped with work lately and the last thing you wanted to was to add to her stress. Even if it means hiding the truth from her. 〛

〚 Wordcount - 3140 〛

〘 Check Out My Masterlist! 〙

╚════════ ⋇⋆✦⋆⋇⋆✦⋆⋇ ════════╝

Wanda had spent the last few days battling a nasty case of the flu. She had been feeling weak and achy and was fighting a fever which just wouldn't break, no matter how hard you tried. But she was finally starting to feel better and had even managed to drag herself into her online work that morning. Unfortunately, she’d quickly realised that she was behind schedule on her reports. For some dumb reason Fury had decided to shorten the deadline and now she was quickly running out of time to complete them all. 

She tried to focus on her work, but her head was still a bit fuzzy from the fever. She kept having to stop and reread things, and it was taking her twice as long as it should have. She could feel her stress levels rising as the clock ticked on and her to-do list seemed to be getting longer rather than shorter. And despite your best efforts to keep her calm, every little thing only seemed to add to the growing pile of stress pressing down on her. That was probably why you hadn't even registered the aching feeling in your bones, you were far too busy.  

But as the day went on, you couldn't ignore the sick feeling that was slowly creeping up on you. Your head was starting to throb, and your throat was beginning to feel scratchy. You tried to push through it, but every time you stood up to grab something, you found yourself feeling dizzy and disoriented.  

Around noon you'd decided to make some tea and that's when you'd first noticed it, the weakness in your arm as you went to lift the kettle. That’s when it really clicked for you that you were getting sick, and you had to stifle an annoyed groan. Of course you’d caught it from her. Just great... But it wasn't exactly like you had the time to dwell on it – if you did you’d only end up alerting Wanda to your condition, which was the last thing you wanted, especially when she was already so stressed with her work, so instead you finished up the tea and came to sit beside Wanda in the living room, attempting to clear a space on the coffee table between the piles of paperwork and files to place her mug down. 

You could see the frustration and exhaustion written all over her face as she loudly tapped on the laptop settled on her knees. It made your heart ache. You knew that she was the type of person who hated falling behind on her work, especially when deadlines were involved. 

Wanda looked up from her laptop and smiled weakly as you placed the mug of tea in front of her. "Thank you," she murmured before turning her attention back to her work. You settled down beside her, trying to ignore the growing ache in your bones. You really didn't want to worry Wanda, especially since she was already stressed enough as it was. "How's your day going?" She asked casually, her voice still a little hoarse from days of coughing. 

You shrugged. "Busy, but nothing I can't handle," You replied, trying to sound optimistic, “Can I do anything else for you though sweetheart?” you offered sweetly as you reached out to gently squeeze her thigh. 

“Is there any way you could help me with these?” She motioned to the stacks of paper littering the coffee table, “I know it wasn’t your mission but I’m so far behind and Fury’s going to have my head chopped off and hung up for public display if I don’t get this all done.” 

You nodded, Fury was known for being strict with deadlines, “Okay baby, do you want me to look over these?” You asked, picking up one of the denser files. 

“That’d be amazing.” Wanda sighed in relief as she leant over to kiss your cheek, “You’re doing me such a huge favour baby.” 

As you both started working on the reports, you could feel your own weakness and fatigue growing with every passing minute, not to mention the constant feeling like your nose was running leading you to sniffle quietly every so often. But you pushed through it, determined to help Wanda get her work done. Much to your annoyance, over the next few hours, your sniffles only increased, and you were frequently having to take breaks to go and discreetly blow your nose in another room. On a normal occasion you would’ve told Wanda the second you began to feel like something was off, but you knew that telling her would only stress her out further and there was no way you wanted to do that. So, you stayed painfully silent about the growing pressure in your sinuses and continued to diligently help Wanda with her work. 

As the day wore on, you could feel the exhaustion starting to take its toll on you. Your body felt heavy, and your mind was starting to feel foggy. You knew you should probably take a break and rest, but you didn't want to let her down so when Wanda suggested taking a break, you instantly jumped on the opportunity. 

By the time the two of you were going to bed, you felt thoroughly exhausted. Even just moving felt like a monumental task and you had to fight to stay awake as you brushed your teeth. By some miracle, you managed to finish getting ready for bed without falling asleep, it was just as you were giving yourself a final look over in the mirror when you felt the annoying itch in your sinuses. 

“Hh'ishu! Ish'chu! HeH’TSHiew!” Despite your best efforts to stay quiet, your last sneeze ended up being on the louder side prompting Wanda to call out a ‘bless you!’ from the bedroom. You waited hesitantly to see whether she’d say anything else, but it seemed her poor mind was too preoccupied with the looming work of tomorrow for her to connect the dots, so you took the opportunity to thoroughly blow your nose before padding back into your bedroom. 

“You tired my love?” Wanda asked, as you sank into the bed, welcoming the warmth of your blankets, “Thanks for helping me out so much today.” 

“A little.” You mumbled – ‘a little’ was a huge understatement, “and you don’t need to thank me darling, I just want you to be able to get all this work done.” 

“You helped a lot. I'm really thankful.” Wanda murmured quietly as she yawned widely before nuzzling against you, “Goodnight baby.” 

“Goodnight Wands.” 

〘✧✧✧〙   

When you woke up the next morning the bed was cold. Painfully cold. You rolled over into the spot where Wanda would usually be led, only to be met with an empty bed. You felt awful, you’d barely opened your eyes when you were struck with a harsh, painful headache nestled deep behind them. Groaning, you tried to sit up, though admittedly it did numerous attempts, and you began slowly massaging temples in a feeble attempt of getting some form of relief. 

Pulling your aching body out of bed seemed almost impossible but you did it anyway, trying to take a deep breath as the room span around you. There was no way you were getting properly dressed today, instead you opted to pull on one of Wanda’s fuzzy cardigans instead before heading over to the bathroom. 

You really should’ve prepared yourself better for the reflection staring back at you in the mirror. You looked awful. Thick purple bags hung beneath your red, tired eyes, only extenuated further by your sickly, white skin. You hadn’t even had the chance to criticise your fever flushed cheeks before your sinuses reared their complaints and sent you bending at the waist with two strong sneezes only to be followed by a harsh bout of thick coughing which left you trembling and breathless. 

After the coughing fit subsided, you stumbled over to the sink and splashed some water on your face. The cool liquid brought a small measure of relief to your pounding head, but it wasn't enough to stop the dizziness from overwhelming you. You leaned heavily against the counter, willing the room to stop spinning. Humouring yourself, you decided to take your own temperature and even that was a huge task, especially when you weren’t able to breathe out of your overly stuffy nose. 

However, you managed to hold your breath long enough for the small device to beep loudly, announcing its verdict. 

“Oh shit...” You mumbled to yourself, looking down at the numbers on the slightly blurry electronic screen. 39.1 - that really wasn’t good, truthfully it wasn’t just the screen that was blurry, everything around you seemed to be muffled by a thick wall of cotton and you only found yourself cursing again when you opened the bathroom cupboard to see an almost-empty bottle of Flu medicine sitting on the shelf. 

Wanda had used the last of it. 

Great. 

Speaking of. You wished Wanda was here. You needed her more than ever, you craved her comfort and longed for her to tuck you up into bed but no, you were stuck here staring at your pitiful reflection, feeling like death warmed over. Just as you were about to call out for her something stopped you.  

She still had her work to do, calling out for her now would only distract her. Muffling another round of harsh, chesty coughs into your sleeve only made tears well up in your eyes. But you didn't cry. You only sniffled and reminded yourself that you were an Avenger too. You might not have powers, but you had resilience and determination, and you weren't going to let the flu defeat you. You just had to toughen up. How far even was the shop anyway? All you needed to do was go out and by yourself some medicine. That’s all you needed to do. 

Taking a deep breath, you pulled yourself away from the bathroom counter and slowly made your way to the door. The room spun as you tried to focus on the hallway in front of you. Every step felt like a marathon, your body ached and shivered with every move. But you pushed on, driven by the desire to get better and not let this illness get the better of you. 

Ignoring Wanda’s call of ‘goodmorning’ from the kitchen, you reached the front door, opening to only be blinded by the intense light beaming down from the blue sky. It was a beautiful day, the kind of day you would usually spend outside, enjoying the warmth and taking in the sights of the city. But today, all you could think of was getting to the pharmacy and getting back to bed. 

With shaky hands, you stepped outside, continuing to ignore Wanda’s calls of confusion. The cool air hit you instantly, and you shuddered, pulling the cardigan tighter around yourself. The pharmacy was only a few blocks away, but each step felt like an eternity. You could feel your temperature rising, your head pounding, and your breathing becoming more and more laboured. 

You didn’t know how long you were walking for before you decided to turn back, everything was too much, the light, your wheezing exhausted breathing, everything. Hell, you could barely make out your own hand in front of your pale face as the world spun around you. It was a miracle you’d even made it this far without collapsing. 

And so, by the time you’d stumbled back into the safety of your home, all your energy had been thoroughly drained, and you clutched the wall for support, knowing it was the only thing keeping you upright. 

“Sweetie? Where did you go?” Wanda called out as the sound of the door closing echoed through your home, hearing no answer, the witch stood up from the table and slowly padded over to peek round the corner only to frantically rush to your side when she saw you leaning weakly against the wall for support, “Oh my god, Y/N?! Holy shit, you’re on fire, why on earth were you outside? When did you get this sick? Fuck Y/N-” 

Truthfully, you were only hearing about half of the worried words frantically spilling from her, you were too busy on attempting to keep yourself lucid which was proving to be a very difficult task when the room around you wouldn’t stop spinning, “We need’d med’cine.” Your words came out in a jumbled mess as Wanda pulled you into her arms, cradling your trembling body. 

“No, no baby you need to be in bed. Why didn’t you tell me you were feeling sick? When did you even get sick? This can’t be new.” Her anxious tone was impossible to miss as you felt yourself being lifted up into her arms as she carried you in the direction of your bedroom, “Why didn’t I notice this...” 

“Yo’ were busy wit’ work.” Your slurred word were barely decipherable and you soon felt yourself being lowered down onto the familiar softness of your bed; a thick blanket being tucked over your shaking body.   

Wanda’s face was etched with worry as she looked down at you, “No, I should have noticed. I’m so sorry, sweetheart. My work is nowhere near as important as your health is.” She pressed a cool hand to your sweat-soaked forehead, “You’re beyond burning up...” 

Your response was only a mutter of unaudiable words as Wanda quickly rushed out of the room. It felt like she was gone for hours, but in reality, it was only probably a few minutes. But when she returned, she was tightly clutching a small bottle in her hands, “I got this from the neighbours, it isn’t too strong but it’s the only thing we have on hand.” 

“Mm?” you tried sitting up, but a firm hand kept you in place. 

“No baby, lay down. I just need you to drink this, okay?” Wanda’s words soothed you as she poured out a dose of the medicine and held it to your lips, rubbing your back as you sipped it weakly.  

The medicine was bitter and made you scrunch up your face, but you were too weak to protest. Wanda continued to stroke your hair and hum a gentle tune, trying to calm you down as the medicine began to take effect. Gradually, you felt the heat in your body subside a little and your breathing became easier. 

“Poor baby, I'm so sorry that I got caught up in all that work.” She whispered quietly, reaching over to grab some tissues when you began fussing with your running nose. 

She must’ve been physic or something because only seconds later, you felt your nose burn with that pestering itch again and you only had to energy to turn your head away in the opposite direction to her before...  

““Ihsheiueww! Hih...hihhEHHHSHIEW!” 

“Awh my poor baby, bless you.” Wanda sighed, taking another handful of tissues to wipe your face before running her hand through your slightly-damp hair, “This bug’s really doing a number on you, isn’t it?” 

You could only manage a weak nod in response, feeling utterly drained and exhausted. But as Wanda continued to care for you, you couldn't help but feel grateful for her presence. Her gentle touch and soothing words were the only things keeping you grounded in reality. 

As the medicine began to take full effect, you felt your eyes start to droop and your body relax into the mattress. Wanda must have noticed because she leaned down to press a soft kiss to your forehead before whispering, "Get some rest, my love. I'll be right here with you." 

And with those words, you allowed yourself to drift off into a peaceful slumber, feeling safe and comforted in Wanda's loving embrace. 

The next time you opened your eyes, the room was dark, and you could see the faint outline of Wanda sitting in a chair beside you, still keeping a watchful eye. She must have fallen asleep at some point because her head was resting against the back of the chair, her breathing slow and steady. You didn't want to wake her, but your throat was parched, and you needed water. 

You mustered up all your strength to croak out her name, "Wanda?" 

She stirred slightly and opened her eyes, rubbing them to adjust to the dim light. "Hey there, how are you feeling?" she asked softly. 

"Thirsty," you managed to say, your gravelly voice barely above a whisper. 

Wanda immediately stood up and grabbed a glass of water from the bedside table. She helped you sit up and slowly raised the glass to your lips, supporting your head with her other hand. The cool water felt heavenly on your parched throat, and you gulped it down greedily. 

"Thanks," you said, your voice a bit stronger now. 

Wanda smiled, "Anything for you, my love." 

You settled back down into the bed, feeling a bit more comfortable now that you had some water in your system. Wanda pulled the covers up to your chin and tucked you in, her hand lingering on your forehead to check your temperature. 

"You're still warm," she noted. "But your fever has gone down a little, I was seriously debating taking you to hospital earlier y’know.” 

The next few days were a blur of fever dreams and fits of coughing, but Wanda remained by your side throughout it all. She made sure you were always comfortable, bringing you hot soup and a cool washcloth to soothe your burning forehead. 

Despite the pain and discomfort, there was something oddly comforting about being so vulnerable around Wanda. She never judged you or made you feel weak for being sick. Instead, she loved and cared for you even more, making you feel truly cherished. 

As the days passed, your symptoms gradually began to subside, and you started to feel more like yourself again. Wanda was always at your side, encouraging you to take it slow and rest as much as possible. 

Finally, the day came when you felt strong enough to get out of bed and move around a little. You stumbled into the living room, feeling a little unsteady on your feet, but Wanda was there to catch you. 

"Easy there," she said, smiling gently. "How are you feeling?" 

"Better," you replied, your voice still a little raspy from all the constant coughing. "Thanks to you." 

Wanda's smile widened, and she pulled you into a warm embrace. "I'm just glad you're feeling better," she whispered. "I was so worried about you." 

You hugged her back, feeling a sense of gratitude wash over you. Despite the illness, it had brought you even closer to Wanda, and you knew that you would always have her by your side, no matter what. 

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[raaorqtpbpdy]

Highway Home

Jazz and Kyle have a little chat about their brothers after the brothers in question leave the two of them stranded on the freeway and forced to walk home.

Based on the prompts: Jazz and Kyle are stuck wandering the freeway after their brothers show up and steal Kyle's car. [from @camels-pen], and “So how do you feel about the fact that ‘that Fenton kid’ always refers to your little brother, whose infamy has made him far more well-known in the school than you?” ...Maybe Jazz wants some crazy rumors too. [from @dragonsdomain]

Read also on AO3

[Warning for death threats (to siblings), and a creepy guy showing up for a hot minutes, but thankfully Jazz and Kyle aren't stupid]

"Well that just happened," Kyle Weston said flatly as his car drove away with his brother and that Fenton kid inside, apparently chasing after something, although Kyle hadn't seen what.

He looked to his side where the other Fenton kid was standing with her arms crossed, looking only mildly annoyed, given the circumstances. She had been catching a ride with him back from the academic decathlon team victory party—they'd kicked Elmerton Central High's ass, and Jackie Calloway threw a huge party at his fancy house in Polter Heights to celebrate.

The party had been awesome, but Kyle wasn't really a night owl, so when Jazz—the team's MVP—said she was gonna head home early, and then her parents wouldn't pick up the phone, Kyle offered to give her a ride.

Now the two of them were standing on the side of the freeway as it grew steadily colder and darker. Which was... significantly less awesome than hanging out at Jackie Calloway's party.

Even so, the two of them knew their respective brothers well enough that a circumstance such as this was all but expected at this point.

"Guess we're walking home," Jazz said with a sigh.

Kyle groaned, but didn't outright complain as the two started to walk along the side of the freeway toward home. The cars on the road passed them at frighting speeds, throwing gusts of wind their way that did nothing to combat the rapidly cooling evening air.

"At least it's only one more exit," Jazz pointed out optimistically.

That one more exit was over a mile away, and they would have to walk the whole way like this. Kyle hadn't even had the chance to grab his jacket when Wes forced him out of his own car, yelling that it was some kind of emergency.

"Wes doesn't even have his driver's license yet," Kyle grumbled. Wes only had. a learner's permit because he spent all his time screwing around with Danny Fenton instead of doing driving lessons with Dad. "If he wrecks my car, I swear I'll kill him."

"I wonder what all the rush was," Jazz said thoughtfully. "They didn't exactly explain much when they kicked us out. I hope they'll be okay."

Kyle really didn't understand what Wes' deal was with the Fenton kid. It seemed like Wes hated him one day, but they were buddies the next, and then enemies again a week later. He hoped they either made out, or broke up, or whatever needed to happen to make the two of them chill out.

He looked over at Jazz again, and reminded himself for the second time that she was a Fenton kid, too. He wondered if it ever made her self-conscious, that even though she'd been going to Casper High for tree years compared to her brother's one, his reputation was so much more significant than hers.

Sure, pretty much everyone knew Jazz Fenton. Her tutoring list was substantial, so a lot of students even knew her personally, but if they didn't, most still knew of her. Kind, helpful, in line to be valedictorian, highest scorer ever on the CAT exam. But people knew Jazz in the back of their minds, whereas what they knew of her brother was front-and-center. His reputation spread far and wide, so basically everyone in town knew of him.

The passing cars had been too loud to let them carry a conversation, but when there was a lull in traffic, Kyle figured he might as well take the opportunity to ask while it was just the two of them.

"So hey... does it ever, like, bother you that when people say 'that Fenton kid', it always refers to your little brother?" he asked. "I mean like, how does it feel that his infamous reputation has made him way more well-known around school than you are?"

Jazz side eyed him, pulling her cardigan closer around her.

"I'd think of all people, you'd know," she replied. "Aren't you basically in the same situation with Wes? I don't think I've ever heard anyone say 'that Weston kid' and mean you."

"Fair point." He shrugged. "But still, I'm curious. Same situation, different people right. Maybe you feel differently about it than I do."

"Alright, I'll bite," she relented. "But you've gotta tell me your feelings on the matter so we can compare. Otherwise, it's not very scientific."

"Deal," Kyle agreed immediately.

Another car drove passed, and they paused their conversation until the Doppler effect had faded enough for them to be hear.

"So how do you feel about it?" Kyle prompted once it was gone.

Jazz looked into the distance, her lips pursed in consideration, and then she shook her head.

"I don't know really," she said. "I guess mostly I'm just concerned for my brother, you know? What if this reputation he's developed as a weirdo and a troublemaker follows him into college and his future career? What if it prevents him from being able to network with people, and make new friends? But also...."

"Yeah?" Kyle encouraged, sensing that this 'also' was gonna be pretty juicy.

"Well... maybe I want some crazy rumors too, you know?"

A car drove by right as she started to reply, and she had to yell to be heard.

Kyle put on an incredibly satisfied grin at that. He was right. That was a juicy 'also'.

She waited for the noise to fade before continuing.

"I mean, there are people at our school who genuinely, unironically believe that my brother's bladder can predict ghost attacks," she said. "How nuts is that? Your brother swears up and down that Danny is a ghost himself. And ever since all that pirate stuff, the entire freshman class thinks he's some kind of ghost hunting badass, even though he still gets bullied by the football players.

"There are people on the academic decathlon team—some of the smartest, most logical kids in school—who are completely convinced, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Danny is some kind of bad luck charm, because of a series of total coincidences that happened when he sat in on one of our practices. None of them were even remotely his fault, he was just waiting around so I could give him a ride home from school because he sprained his ankle.

"Obviously, I don't want people thinking I'm bad luck, but maybe something just a little weird going around about me would be fun," she finished. "Or make me seem like a little less of a goody-two-shoes at least."

"You want some kind of bad girl reputation?" Kyle teased.

"Well... no," Jazz said, half-shrugging and half nodding. "I like being a goody-two-shoes, but that's not all I am, you know? I can be just as creepy, and badass, and mysterious as Danny can." She punctuated her statement with a pout that was neither creepy, nor badass, nor mysterious.

Kyle shook his head and chuckled.

"To be honest, I don't get what the deal is with our school's obsessive ghost superstition," he said. "I've got a lot of friends online in gaming groups and I've never met anyone as adamant about the existence of ghosts as our classmates at school. I don't know if it's a gimmick, or some cultural thing I missed out on, or what, but it's so over the top."

Jazz laughed out loud, although, for the life of him, he couldn't tell if she was laughing with him or at him. She didn't say anything though.

He knew that she used to be just as much of a staunch skeptic as he was, but at some point in the last year, public opinion on the existence of ghosts had shifted dramatically, and he wasn't sure if her opinion had shifted with it or not. Even if she did believe in ghosts, at least she wasn't as much of a fanatic about it as everyone else was. At least she never spent an hour trying, unsuccessfully, to convince Kyle that ghosts were real.

"Alright, I've said my piece," she told him with a smile like she was humoring him. "Your turn. How do you feel about your brother being so much better-known around school than you are."

"Hmm...."

Kyle thought about it for a moment, his brows furrowed under the edge of his baseball cap. He probably should have thought about it before. It wasn't like he didn't know this was coming.

"I would have to say... I guess I'm like, half annoyed, and half relieved."

"Interesting," Jazz replied. "Elaborate."

Another car drove by, and they both shivered in the wind it blew their way. It was fully dark now, and Kyle was really regretting the fact that he hadn't thought to grab his Jacket when they got stranded.

When the chill passed, and the sound of the engine faded, Kyle chuckled to himself.

"Alright, sure," he allowed. "I'm annoyed because most of the people I talk to, when I mention Wes, they immediately recognize his name, and then they say they didn't even know he had a twin brother. So like, at least people know you exist, even if your brother's more well-known than you are.

"And I'm relieved because have you heard Wes' reputation?" Kyle all but snorted. "People think he's a total nut-case, some kind of raving mad conspiracy theorist. I'm much happier to wallow in anonymity than be the target of constant mockery. He's got such a reputation that people won't even believe him when he says something objectively cool.

"In computer class one time, a girl remarked that she hadn't seen any ducks at the pond in the park lately, and Wes said that was because they migrate south for the winter. Common knowledge, right? Except because it was Wes that said it, she opened a new tab and googled it right in front of him."

Jazz busted up with laughter. "Oh my god, really?"

"I swear to god," Kyle confirmed. "So yeah, if my choice is between obscurity and whatever Wes has got going on, I think I have the better end of the deal, honestly."

"Okay, I can see your point. At least for as wild a reputation as Danny has, his credibility is still pretty high."

"He did get featured in Genius Magazine," he remembered. "Some... gorilla thing, right? That'll boost anybody's credibility."

"Ha! Fair enough, yeah," she agreed. "Somehow, I always forget about that."

"Too bad my brother's just a doofus and not a genius," Kyle joked.

But Jazz didn't laugh at that, only smiled in such a way that was knowing as much as it was amused.

"I don't know," she said, and Kyle didn't like her tone as she said it. It wasn't... mocking exactly, but she spoke as if she knew something he didn't, and that bothered him. "Maybe he's just misunderstood."

"Maybe he's just a pain in the rear," he retorted with a scoff.

Another car came by, but this one slowed when it got close to them.

Kyle saw Jazz tense up, and he put himself between her and the strange vehicle, just in case.

A man leaned out the driver's side window to talk to them. "You kids need a ride?" he asked.

"No thanks," Kyle told him, smiling politely. "We haven't got much farther to go."

"Just the same, it's gettin' late," the man insisted. "I don't like the idea of two kids wandering the highway in the dark for any distance."

"And you like the idea of two kids climbing into a stranger's car any better?" Kyle raised an eyebrow. "If it's all the same to you, we'd rather take a mode of transportation that's guaranteed to get us where we want to go, instead of landing us dead and buried in the woods."

The man scowled. "Is that anyway to talk to a good Samaritan just trying to help?"

"What did you expect?" Jazz pitched. "You're a total stranger trying to pick us up off the side of the road even though we didn't indicate in any way that we were looking for a ride? You can't seriously be worried about us running into a creeper and not realize that you're acting like one, can you?"

Kyle glanced back at her and her thoroughly derisive look, impressed for a moment, before fixing his gaze back on the man, who scowled at the both of them, but pulled his head back in his car and drove off, grumbling the whole time. They waited until the man was a long way down the freeway before they started moving again.

"Damn, you sure told that guy," Kyle commended. "You can be badass."

Jazz flipped her hair for effect and rolled back her shoulders. "I did tell you, didn't I?"

"That you did."

"Now, come on. Our exit's just up ahead, let's take it before another creep drives by that we can only hope takes 'no' for an answer."

"Good call."

Their conversation faded as the two of them started to run ahead to the downtown Amity Park exit where they could finally get off the free way and onto the much safer surface roads.

Once they were back in town, they struck up a conversation about academic decathlon, and the computer camp Kyle went to, and the colleges Jazz had been touring lately as she chose where to apply.

Kyle's apartment was much closer than Jazz's place, but since it was already well after dark, he offered to walk her all the way home if she wanted. She thanked him, but politely declined, assuring him she could handle herself for a few blocks, and it wasn't a dangerous neighborhood. All the same, he asked her to shoot him a text when she got home so he wouldn't have to worry about her, and that, she did agree to.

He was just logging into his favorite online game, about ten minutes later, when the text came in from her, letting Kyle know she hadn't died on the way home.

It turned out Wes wasn't as stupid as Kyle thought he was, because he brought Kyle's car back in the same condition he'd taken it, and he'd even filled the tank. After examining it for scratches and dents, Kyle decided that his brother could live another day.

He asked Wes why he had taken it in the first place, of course. But Wes had replied with a long, convoluted story about the Fenton kid losing his powers and they needed it to chase after some evil, uber powerful ghost. After a couple of minutes, Kyle just cut him off and said he didn't need an elaborate lie and if Wes wanted it kept private so bad, he could just say so.

That, of course, made Wes irrationally angry, which was hilarious, and made the whole ordeal worth it in Kyle's opinion. He got to see his brother seethe, and he had a nice conversation with Jazz Fenton, so all in all, he couldn't even find it in him to be that mad about his car being stolen.

#danny phantom #dp #jazz fenton #kyle weston #fic #phic phight #things i wrote #phic phight 24

[oceanlipgloss]

4.1.2023

I just finished Chapter 2. The ending was sad. The angels are brimming with hatred and blinded by it, so what they're doing is very unfair and inhumane.

But I also feel very excited to move on to Chapter 3, and Mammon is on the cover(?) of it so it's definite that MC will meet him now. I'm really looking forward to that and to meeting Bimet and Eligos, hopefully! Then again, MC didn't meet Astaroth even though he's from Gehenna, so it would make sense that she wouldn't meet all of Mammon's demons now too, which means that if she were to meet someone now, it should, by logic, be Bimet because he's the closest to Mammon. Time to see!

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ´ˎ˗

intro: something I really loved about the end of Chapter 2 was the display of Satan's kindness—he loves his subjects and cares for them, and is sad when they get hurt. I also really appreciated MC's care for him and her desire to comfort him. And Ppyong needs so many hugs.

update I: Minhyeok is so sweet <3 also, he and MC are really cute together and dammit the H-scene is so far off sob I wonder who it's gonna be this time

update II: these bouncing angels that look like buns: wow guys, you're fast but it's time to meet the Lord, baby

update III: oooooh this one is called 'the man sculpted from muscle,' so is it time to meet Mammon already? I'm so excited omfg

update IV: everyone else is asleep, meanwhile Satan is just

update V: YAYYYY HIYA but oh my he's so big HUGE and idk how to put it but there's this sweetness to his face. He's so cute lol and he looks like he would be great to hug

update VI: LMFAO Tbh I'd love to do that too ngl

update VII: UHHH??? I kinda like how warm and comfy this sounds and wow, he really said I'll be your bed simply glorious! Anyways, Mammon is making moves already, so wake up and get yo girl, Satan

update VIII: a somewhat strange thing to point out, unless it irks him (which doesn't quite make sense since he doesn't know her yet. But! If he felt attracted to her once he first saw her, that changes things a lot)

update IX: I'm going to guess that it DOES bother him

update X: ooff he's cool, he's cool <3

update XI: no comment true love can never be hidden, and he is passionate about butts, so he couldn't resist, I guess... But what actually piqued my interest is the fact that his hands are bigger than any other hands MC has seen because I love hands

update XII: so first I chose to make MC grab his butt so I can see how he reacts, but dude the description was hilarious to say the least lmao Mammon has a squishy soft butt spread the word then I chose the 'lie back down on his chest' option because it's cute dammit needless to say, things got...interesting either way

update XIII: Satan is asleep so he's technically not seeing anything, but MC getting frisky with Mammon in front of Satan's open eyes...I'm just happy he wasn't awake to see this

update XIV: okay that's actually romantic in a greedy sort of way

update XV: he seems to be optimistic but sentimental, and pretty attached to his emotions too. CUTEEE ugh

update XVI: YEAH MAMMON IN YOUR DREAMS (thank u tho, i like u)

update XVII: Ppyong and Minhyeok have the cutest dynamic plssss also Minhyeok deserves more love from MC when possible

update XVIII: I thought Minhyeok was going to use his horn in class and almost died but let's be honest, I WAS going to enjoy how awkward and hard difficult it would've been for him to keep quiet lmao sadism anyways, did he just say that MC's underwear smells nice? Listen, bro...

update XIX: boys will be boys

update XX: AAAAAAAAAAARGH I LOVE HIM

update XXI: oh god I can't deal with this it's too cute LOOK AT PPYONG PLEASE LOOK AT HIM HE'S SO SMOL AND EXCITED AND HAPPY and look at Minhyeok noooo this is too precious

update XXII: Ppyong is rooting for MC and Minhyeok oh man that's it I'm gonna die of fluff overdose and I will love every minute of it

update XXIII: Minhyeok being doubtful and unsure of himself because he thinks that MC is seeing much better things in Hell which he would seem 'ordinary' next to, and Ppyong comforting him and telling him he's beautiful and 'devilish' aka code for 'good' was an arrow to my heart

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ´ˎ˗

5.1.2024

update XXIV: it was mentioned earlier that MC beginning to see Minhyeok as a man and not just her childhood friend would have effects, so this is the beginning of it, I guess: Satan and Sitri are jealous and irritated

update XXV: lmaooo be fair, Mammon. Anyone other than Glasyalabolas would look small next to you Satan would look even smaller tho, I agree

update XXVI: okay, I really, really like Mammon. He has a very pleasant and chill personality, and he too seems to have gotten attracted to MC before he got to know for sure that she's Sulumun's dootah Solomon's descendant? That's so nice to know

update XXVII: oh my fucking—it's decided. I LOVE Bimet. He doesn't even bother to be convincing oh my God LMAO or maybe he thinks he IS being convincing or that others are idiots who would fall for it anyway I'm so happy he got introduced so early though, I was waiting for that moment lol I really liked him the moment I read his intro *looks at Belial, Eligos, Beel, Ronové, Lucifer, Glasyalabolas, Gusion, Bathin and Andrealphus* did I forget anyone?

update XXVIII: THE H-SCENE IS SO CLOSE ALREADY WTF OMG YAAAS WHO'S IT GONNA BE I have my bets on Paimon because I don't think it's logical for Mammon's to happen yet also let's hope I can pass the one battle that leads to it because this has been suspiciously easy (edit: I passed. Still suspiciously easy. It's coming for me, isn't it?)

update XXIX: no bro, I fucking ADORE him

update XXX (oooh would you look at that, an xxx): it's sweet how Bimet got emotional when he thought MC was Solomon, and it's funny that he was then like 'get lost if you don't have money, especially if you're not Solomon' lmao he's a riot

update XXXI: sexy move, hon And excuse me for my poor wording, Bimet, but don't you look scrumptious! That tongue

update XXXII: aw he sounds annoyed but he also seems like he's going to cry. I wanted to include a screenshot, but no more images fit. The heck though, I love him to bits. So, without further ado, welcome to my favourite characters club, Bimet!

But damn it, I also really liked when he told MC that she's a beggar that listens to reason. That screenshot deserved a spot in here too lol

Next up, THE H-SCENEEEEE!

#what in “hell” is bad #what in hell is bad #what in hell is bad diaries #Whb #whb mammon #what in hell is bad bimet #whb bimet

[assiraphales]

You've reached water 7 yaay! Would love to hear your thoughts about all the galley la crew! Their dynamic is so interesting and i love their introduction at the start of the arc

I know this ask was about galley la but here's a collection of a few of my thoughts on water 7 in general!

-starting off with galley la. UMMM!!!! I will say that is one of the twists that genuinely shocked me so far in the series. the fact that half the town gathered to watch them work n fangirl over how strong they all are was so funny, and they seemed like such a tight knit group. I can't imagine working with them for five years as close friends and then finding out they were evil government workers

-lucci was a lot more fun when he was a ventriloquist who made his pet pigeon talk for him lmaooo

-the aesthetics of the water 7 amazes me! I love the design so much! i'm optimistically hoping there will be enough live action seasons that they make it here, and i've been thinking about how they'll put it off especially considering practical effects are so important to them. i'm thinking they'll build small parts of town like the shipyard, franky's house, and a main drag. and perhaps a model like they did in lotr for shots of the city ?

-usopp honey boo boo...................I get where his insecurities come from, and why the merry is so important of him (a piece of his home town) but he really brought the drama huh

-sanji is always more tolerable when he didn't have as much time to fawn over women. he did what he did best -- looking Cool smoking cigs and kicking ass. he's always so much cooler when he's on his solo missions and as soon as he's back with the crew the Dumbass gene takes over. I also DID think it was funny when he left the love note for nami in paint on the wall

-luffy getting stuck in a wall TWICE!!!!!!!! and being so in sync with zoro. naps at the same time. breaking into places at the same time. their little tag team move on the train.

-i've already talked about them in another post but franky n iceburg have one of the most interesting dynamics i've seen in the series. they make me ill. shipbuilder and ship demolitioner. mayor and criminal. they can never be friends but they'll always be brothers. etc

-franky!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was on the fence for like 2 seconds but the blue haired hawaiian shirt wearing freak of nature won me over. he's so silly. he has a cola cooler in his stomach. he runs around in a speedo causing mischief. I love him. new little bug i'm shaking in a jar

-the two train station workers are two of my fave minor characters. they're eavesdroppers who live for gossip. they're making up love triangles and shipping strangers. good for them. good for them.

-nami literally cares for her crew so much. begging luffy to talk to usopp. crying / collapsing with joy when she found out robin didn't hate them. running into the path of a tsunami for luffy.

-luffy always gets this little :o face when he sees someone cry or hears their story. and he uses them as a power up. like yah he was angry but now he's REALLY!!! angry

-sanji's relationship w usopp. this arc revealed sanji ARGUABLY knows him the best

-oh tom :/

-the people of water 7 are v kind and live as a giant community which I think may have come from their struggles before the sea train came to town. the man who gave usopp the lumber and food. franky and co protecting the city. the shipbuilders / paulie helping nami luffy zoro n chopper. the townspeople rallyiing around iceburg and willing to risk their lives for him.

-the going merry :( I knew i'd eventually have to say goodbye to her but when I heard galley la say she was damaged beyond repair I was like no!!!!! NO!!! it's too soon!!!!!!!

-the found family of it all

#one piece #long post #water 7

[mrsbsmooth]

So we know you love Lewie 💗💗 Any thoughts on the other islanders, the season so far, the twin twist? And what steamy fics can we expect from you 🔥🔥My request is for a threesome with Ozzy and Marshall 🥵👯‍♂️ Wait, am I Kat?! 🤣

tbf a LOT of the islanders are fire this season, so I’ll take them all! Ok, FB has turned me into thirsty Kat.

I MEANNNNNNNNNN

Honestly, thoughts are all over the place. But thank you so much for asking!!! Here they are as of today:

The Game:

The first 3 chapters - 8/10 I was going to give it a 7.5, because of the repeating dialogue and a few spelling mistakes, but so far, I think it's better written than Seasons 4 and 5- maybe on par with S3 which is a season I really enjoyed. I'm really liking how Amelia seems to be responding to how you treat her, especially if you look at the scripts. Whether or not that will affect her actions remains to be seen.

The MC - 8/10 I gotta say... she's pretty cute. It does take some fiddling to get her the way you want her, and some of her facial expressions make it look like she's had botched lip job, but overall, she's definitely prettier than S4 and S5. (Except your S5 MC ^^ wtf she's so pretty???)

The LIs - 9/10 So far, I'm really liking what I'm seeing. Yeah, some of their dialogue is the same. But I think they're different enough in personality and where it matters that it's not as noticeable as it was in say, Season 4, where James and Bruno shared a whole heap of the same dialogue, but it was clearly written with Bruno in mind, so it just seemed OOC for James. We've got a cocky dancer with a hopeless romantic streak; a golden retriever boyfriend with a soft spot for his Nan; a funny, cheeky skateboarder with a 'why-don't-you-make-me' level of flirt; and also Ryan is there. The personalities are distinct, the character designs are great, I'm really looking forward to finding out more about them

Overall design and concept- 7/10 I gotta say, I'm optimistic. It's starting out really strong for a new season. I get that it's not everyone's cup of tea, as it's a little 'gimmicky', but that's the road Fusebox are going down with the past few seasons. They're not just doing an 'open play' like S1, 2 and 3 where you come in as an OG and play all the way through. 4,5, and 6 are all 'themed', and I think having a twin in the villa is a cool concept that'll be worth exploring. It's been easy in previous seasons to just play for yourself, and say 'fuck these hoes' and just take whatever LI you want. But when it's your own sister, I think it'll make it harder to go after what you want - a moral dilemma with a family flavour. I kinda love it. Plus, if you have an identical twin that's as hot as you are, I doubt this is the first time you've had men confused about which one of you to pick💀

The Islanders:

Bella - hot. flawlessly hot. incredible rack. Her character design is absolutely gorgeous, and she is gonna be a fan favourite for sure. She just seems so fun, similar to Cora from S4, but more mature and ready for a romantic relationship. Can't wait to watch her bloom.

Grace - FB I will never forgive you for not making her a LI. I want her, those curves just *chefs kiss*. But honestly, if anyone's gonna be my bestie, I'm feeling it ith Grace. Yeah, she seems to like Ozzy, but she doesn't seem like the type to get her claws in and latch on for dear life a la Kat or Hope. Let's just hope and pray and beg that they're not making a brown girl villain again.

Ivy - I told y'all from the moment I saw her that I didn't trust this bitch. She looks too much like my cousin and my cousin is a backstabbing skank. I'm loving the concept of her though, this super type-A girl who (I almost guarantee) is either going to a) get kicked out early for being too picky, or b) have the most beautiful redemption arc where she ends up with a guy who ticks exactly zero of her boxes but she falls for him anyway. However, given Fusebox's history, I'm gonna predict she's the villain for about 2 days, then gets booted, same as Lexi from S4.

Jamal - Boys with J names 🚩... but honestly he seems nice. He's my backup LI at the moment. I'll see how things go with my #1 and might start again with Jamal instead. I think you're gonna get some wonderfully steamy scenes with this one. He's giving Bobby x Arjun, and that is something that deeply appeals to me. Cheeky, cheeky, cheeky. He's a saucy little minx and he's gonna be trouble, I just know it. Love his design, love his character so far, really happy.

Lewie - I thought he was a little baby-faced to start with, but honestly, I look at him and my brain screams husband. I'm getting Bruno x Gary x Ciaran from this one, and oh dear me, if that's not a combo that makes me swoon IDK what is. Love him so far, he's such a sweetheart but I love a footy lad.

Ozzy - I'm suspicious. I know he's already captured a few peoples' attention, but I was a little dismissive with him and he seemed a bit... red flag-y. Just a little too arrogant, you know? A little too flirtatious for someone who's very aware of how into him Grace is. I did like that he'd never had a one night stand though, although not sure how that meshes with the celebrity he apparently hooked up with in the dance studio? Because in the challenge he said he'd never dated a celebrity, but he also said he's never had a one night stand, so did he have a celebrity FWB????? The stories just aren't adding up to me. I don't trust him. Also his jaw's too sharp. And his flirty face looks like Rocco from S2. This one:

🥴

Ryan - Literally who? I keep forgetting he exists. Take your Timothee Chalamet ass away. IDK why but I'm getting Nicolas vibes from this one. 0/10 do not trust. It's something about the face.

Fics:

You want steamy fics? The @litgwritersroom asks are open, just sayinnnn

#litg #litg s6 #litg dt #love island the game #litg double trouble #ryan slander

[primeministerofantarctica]

A3! reading club: prologue

Starting off with a prolepsis is a nice technique, although I think it's interesting that only Harugumi gets spotlighted here. Probably to avoid spoilers from later troupes.... Either way, I love how Sakuya's observations serve as an introduction to the other members. Masumi's cool-headed, Tsuzuru won't rest until his scripts are perfect, Itaru's anxious about pulling this off successfully (he does care :')), and Citron's a man of mystery.

I never really thought about this before, but I like that the prologue establishes that Izumi has the experience and knowledge necessary to qualify as a theater director. She's not just diving in headfirst with no idea what she's doing.

Also, this whole "street act" thing sends me every time it's mentioned. Veludo Way has to be a tourist destination, surely Izumi's not the first person to freak out over someone faking an illness. You know those horror stories about comedians dying of heart attacks on-stage bc the audience thought they were doing A Bit; this seems like a disaster waiting to happen. What if you got into an argument with someone and a bunch of strangers started clapping.

At least Tasuku's nice enough to come over and make sure Izumi's alright. He's not going to be really relevant for a good long while, but we're already establishing that he does care about other people, despite Godza's "every man for himself" culture.

Oh, Tsuzuru, just be glad you're not a college student in the US. >_>

Sakyo, you JUST recognized the first and only person you had a crush on, the daughter of Yukio himself, and you're telling her to get lost? Why? Are you trying to save Izumi from the heartbreak of caring about something futile? Because if so, you absolutely suck at it.

Izumi's reactions are the best. Also, shout-out to Sakai-san for being able to pull off "bad at acting" without dissolving into the 100% flat monotone typical when actors try to play bad actors. You can tell Sakuya's trying, but his pauses are placed just randomly enough to be awkward. From an acting standpoint, that's got to be incredibly hard to pull off.

This makes me wince. In retrospect, it's so obvious how much Sakyo cares about this theater. He was willing to pause the demolition project for the absolutely miniscule chance that Matsukawa had somehow, miraculously, secured a bestselling performance. Of course he hasn't, but the fact that Sakyo was still willing to give him one more chance speaks volumes.

Unfortunately, he's also a realist, and he's right. People love touting "hard work" as the only thing an artist needs to succeed, but without money, most people simply don't have the financial stability to really dedicate themselves to their craft. It's harsh, it sucks, and it's unfair, but it's also true. I don't remember if we get Sakyo's backstory in the main story or a later event, but going off it it makes sense that this is the additude he's adopted.

This hits harder after finding out Sakuya basically ran away from home :(. Not like he couldn't go back to his aunt and uncle, but that's got to be crushing.

I love how Izumi is mentally pspspsing Matsukawa SO HARD to back her up, just like he did with her earlier. There is a single braincell ping-ponging between these two and Sakyo's just watching this trainwreck.

Sakuya's reaction to Matsukawa saying he cooks all the food is gold. Ofc he's too polite to say it outright, but the fact that even Sakuya feels the need to warn Izumi about Matsukawa's culinary skills is just. So funny.

Speaking of which, I think it's interesting how Sakuya's (known optimist and sunshine child) first reaction to realizing Izumi was lying is a despondent "Does that mean the troupe is going under after all?" He immediately cheers up and snatches the smidge of hope offered to him, but this little piece of character writing goes a long way in setting up his hopefulness as something that isn't based on naivety.

I'm running out of screenshots and too far in to consider making another post, but gosh. Masumi, I love you, but you are making it REALLY easy to remember why I didn't at first. I will concede that his blushing and not being able to look Izumi in the eyes is cute, though. If there was more of that and less of...this, I might have warmed up to him a lot earlier.

Also, Tsuzuru agreeing to join after finding out there's free food is an absolute Mood. Five minutes of screen time and he's already a voice for college students everywhere.

The last few minutes are pretty much what we'd expect - Tsuzuru (very conveniently) says he's a scriptwriter, Izumi eagerly accepts the free labor before he can join a union (I'm joking, I'm joking.), they run back to the theater and Sakyo says he'll give them one more chance. The conditions won't be revealed until the next chapter, but it really is a testament to Sakyo's love for Mankai just how lenient he's being. A month might be cutting it pretty close when prepping for a play, but Sakyo's a debt broker in the freaking Yakuza, and almost definitely acting as a middleman between this company and someone higher up. Ofc the Yakuza here are a lot more lighthearted than the ones in real life, but that's still got to be incredibly risky.

#astra rambles #a3! reading club

[houkagokappa]

I stayed to watch anime because I have zero desire to watch anything on my own these days lmao, and I'm glad I did because we saw some good episodes!!

We watched the gacha episode of Odd Taxi. I've seen clips from it, so I knew what was coming with the dodo, but I was not expecting the YJA bidding bit. It killed me, because I too have gotten stuck in bidding wars (last spring I spent more than twice over my limit on a gorgeous fukuro obi ahahaha rip me altho it was worth it in the end).

I'm really liking Odd Taxi, I love how contemporary and human it is (despite the animal characters heh), especially how they've managed to include social media in a way that feels real and not overly forced or ridiculed. I'm also a huge fan of stories with a big cast of characters with their own separate story lines that eventually mix. I think it's very neat and cool to see how one seemingly small action ends up being significant for someone or something else. The only problem with this is, that because I watch this show with two weeks between each episode, it's a bit difficult to remember everything that might be of importance, or how one thing came to be. It definitely feels like a show with a lot of rewatch value to catch all the connections and foreshadowing.

I was also very happy to stay and watch more Gankutsuou. We're only on episode 3, but so far I've loved every single minute of it. I can't wait to see where this goes, because I can tell that the tension and drama will be delicious and heart wrenching.

Great Pretender was a lot of fun as well. It's cool to see characters outsmart each other and satisfying when it looks like they're about to get caught, but it turns out that they've thought and prepared for everything in advance. I don't know how Edamura will get out of preparing sakura magic in front of the director, but I'm sure he'll find a way.

I did sneak out a bit during Kamichu! to see the final minutes of TRHPS, because I had to see what kind of vibe they were having. I could barely hear anything from them, so at times I questioned if they were even watching it?? But they were, just in complete silence. I guess that's one way to do it.

Earlier I talked about not liking Kamichu! a whole lot, and while it's certainly not a favourite of mine, some episodes have been decent. The episode I missed half of had Yurie negotiate with a martian on behalf of the prime minister which was/seemed fun! The second episode we watched had her be sick and lonely for a few days, which felt incredibly pointless and boring to me, although I get how it might feel significant for someone in middle school.

Then we watched episode 4 of Bokurano where the kids finally learn that Zearth runs on their life forces. I liked this episode, and I'm glad to see how Kodama got to learn his lesson and then die. I'm curious to see what will happen next and how the whole series will end.

Finally, we watched two episodes of Tomo-chan wa Onnanoko! In my last post I was cautiously optimistic about it, and now I can confirm that it's a good show! It's funny, the bits are short enough not to get overplayed, it has very nice character dynamics and interactions and it doesn't solely focus on the romance, so that part hasn't gotten stale in any way. It really helps that Tomo and Jun are best friends, so they bounce back from all the misunderstandings and awkwardness without it becoming a huge deal. It's also sweet to see how clearly Jun likes her back, making the show a wholesome slow-burn. Also, it's really cool to see a tomboyish lead who's very comfortable with themselves and their style, and how whenever she does try to be more feminine (to catch Jun's attention as per the premise of the show) she tends to do it on her terms.

Overall I'm happy with what we're watching (except for Kamichu! which I could live without).

#my nonsense #ella watches anime #odd taxi #gankutsuou #great pretender #kamichu! #bokurano #tomo chan wa onnanoko!

[slickshoesareyoucrazy]

Do It Anyway

We're leaving South Florida for home today, and it's 2 long days of driving. I have books to read and all but on previous trips, this is where I'd be texting you, A. Well maybe not right now because it's still before 8am on a Saturday but soon. You had 4 dogs. You were up. 😂😂😂

Anyway, I'm trying to deal with my grief in constructive ways, and the stuff I read tells me to not deny myself the things I previously enjoyed. I should do it anyway. So I'm texting you anyway. I wish you could text back. The fact that you can't royally sucks. But anyway ...

Reds are really looking good so far. I know it's mid-April and you make fun of me all the time for being a pie-eyed optimist, but dude ...for real maybe this year. 😃⚾

Looks like Kentucky is going with Mark Pope as the new head men's basketball coach. What a 180 from Calipari! 😂 I'd like to think you'd be down with this choice. He was on the 1996 championship team and he seems to be a really good, ethical man now as the coach of BYU. I can't see a bunch of 1 and dones and early NCAA exits being ok with him ever. I guess like all things, we'll see. 🏀

D's boy has his commitment announcement for football on Friday. He got 12 Division I offers! TWELVE! The Boy and I might go, but even if we can't make it, holy SHIT! As expected, D is just beside himself with gleeful pride. It's a hoot. I can't wait for high school football season now in a way. I don't want to wish time away but it will be so cool to watch D's kid play. When we go, I'll save you a seat. 🏈

On non sports related stuff, I met a friend I'd never seen in person before in Miami. She and her family were overly generous with us, which you know makes me super uncomfortable. I'm going to have to come up with a local gift basket back home to send her to just make the hum of, "This is too much and too nice and I don't deserve all this," go away. Anyway, we went to downtown Miami Beach on Thursday night so the Boy could check out the art deco architecture (because of course that's what he wanted to do in Miami 😂😂😂), and there in the middle of the historic district is Redhead Pizza and Burgers. Who names their diner that? Everyone noticed it. My friend looked at me like 😳😬😳🫢, because that made someone who never met you think about you. So she knew I was definitely thinking about you then. You really are everywhere I go now. I should just start believing that and stop being surprised when it so blatantly happens.

The sadness of missing you isn't any easier. But it is getting easier to go places and do things. In fact, I'm oddly way less anxious about so many things now. And that's probably because you're wherever I go; you're always with me. It's actually easier now to do it anyway. I still wish I was texting you at your house though. Hearing about the dogs. Hearing you bitch about Kentucky and telling me I'm too hopeful about the Reds and speculating about which school D's son is going to choose. I love that you're always here, but I still wish you were there, and that I didn't have to Do It Anyway. ❤️💔😢

#grief #personal #crying on vacation

[siena-sevenwits]

Okay, just for fun, let me tell you all what Once Upon a Time is. I have never watched this show beyond very brief and scattered clips years ago, so this is mainly drawn from cultural osmosis and friend mentions. Let's see how badly I butcher this.

Snow White and Prince Charming get their wedding interrupted by an Evil Queen, and she's walking up the aisle with all the castle/church shutters slamming shut as she progresses, like Snape walking into class. And she's all, "Ha, I'm very evil, and you offended me somehow, and I'm going to steal your future daughter!" ...or maybe it's the daughter's christening, which would make the threat a lot more palpable. Or maybe it's not about the daughter. Maybe she's like, "Mwahaha, I am going to send you both to the REAL WORLD!"

One of the above.

Anyhow, their daughter is named Emma Swan, and she ends up living in Fort Langley - ahem, Storybrooke. (Sorry. At one point I lived not too far from where they film the real world scenes, and had friends who would sometimes spot the cast, though I never did.) Emma is cynical and jaded, and remembers nothing of her fairytale origins. But she has a son, Henry (adopted?) who is a cinnamon roll, and loves fairytales, and is a true believer and optimist.

I think the Evil Queen (Regina) raised Emma, and she's evil for a season or two or three but then gets a redemption arc, and we get motherhood stories both around Snow and Regina.

Meanwhile Snow and the Prince are questing for a way to find their daughter and defeat the evil queen, and eventually they get to Storybrooke, and possibly there's a memory wipe involved? At any rate, they obviously don't recognize the grown up Emma as their daughter at first, but they get to be close with her as a friend. Meanwhile, Henry is catching on to what's going on a lot faster than some.

Now there's also Belle, who is involved in a love/hate (but more so love) relationship with Rumpelstiltskin, who is a manipulative magic user in the fantasy world, but is also present in Storybrooke under the name of Mr. Gold, the pawnbroker/curiosity shop owner? Also still a manipulative magic user? This guy is constantly starting on/completing redemption arcs only to make evil choices again and it frustrates the fans because sometimes it seems like the writer's can't commit rather than they're pulling off a really complicated arc? But people enjoy him/find him fascinating.

Now there's a weird dynamic where more and more of the characters make their way into Storybrooke, but their stories are also featured in the fairytale world. This show is either super into flashbacks, or we're dealing with alternate timelines and time branches. Other people who get into Storybrooke? Red, who is Little Red Riding Hood in an incredible cloak that all the closplayers wanted at one point, and who now works as a waitress as a diner and has some encouraging words for Belle when she's having trouble with Rumple. BUT RED DIES TRAGICALLY! (Don't ask me how, or in which world.) There's also Captain Hook, who is all guyliner and longing looks and trying to be witty - but he also trades the Jolly Roger for Emma, and it's a huge sacrifice, and they have true, true love. He has the unlikely name of Killian in Storybrooke. (Come on - his name is James Hook!)

With the introduction of the Neverland Storyline (which is a cool storyline?) we move away from fairytales proper and just start including whatever Disney properties we want. Frozen gets shoehorned in there, as do Mulan and Brave. In Arendelle, Anna's preparing to marry Kristoff and tries on her mom's wedding gown which Elsa found, but then the trolls have some kind of bad news. Elsa gets sucked into a vase and transported to Storybrooke, where she accidentally freezes the town. Also Elsa's aunt Ingrid is there, secretly using her ice powers to run an ice cream parlour.

Meanwhile Anna's trying to get her back, and goes into the countryside where she meets Snow's Prince who now has long hair and is enslaved to Bo Peep and this is emphatically a different storyline than the other storyline(s) he's featured in? Maybe a curse made it this way? Anyway, Anna teaches. him to use a sword and stand up for himself. Then she and Kristoff go to the castle to research or something, and Elsa's there (maybe this is the backstory of how Elsa got to the real world?) and they find out about a spell that causes shattered sight (you only see the worst in other people, or maybe in the people you truly care about.) The spell is based on that mirror in The Snow Queen where a bit of flawed glass gets in your eye. Anna falls under the spell, gets resentful for the way Elsa treated her in childhood, and traps her in the vase (yes, this is definitely backstory!) Later Anna ends up in the water in a sea chest and somehow gets to Storybrooke?

Ingrid explains to Elsa that she wants a perfect family because her-non-magical family treated her like an outsider, and she wants Elsa to be part of her magical family. Elsa is appalled and resolves to fight her. Later, everyone in Storybrooke realizes the shattered sight spell is coming, and they all lock themselves in the jail or something so they don't tear each other apart. It doesn't affect Anna and Elsa though. But most notably Snow and her prince are fighting, and it's awful! They somehow got it all figured out in the end...

Many curses happen.

At some point Henry is the only believer. (In what? Magic? Love? their true fairytale identities? Who knows?)

There's an Author, and he's a scum, and maybe behind a lot of what's going on?

Merida shows up, and Emma goes through an arc where it looks like she might turn evil (the Black Swan? The Dark Swan?) and they go underground and stuff.

Eventually there's a musical episode, because Snow in the fairytale world wished for magic to help defeat the Evil Queen, and love expressed through song is super powerful. They sing a duet about how cool the singing is, and the fans are shocked that they're both great singers. Something evil happens, and they go in search of Hook, who's at a tavern and sings a big musical number about how he wants revenge on the crocodile for taking his hand, and he's backed by a wonderfully over the top chorus of pirates. (I have in fact seen this clip multiple times, because it's very fun.) Turns out the Crocodile he's talking about is the Dark One, who is Rumpelstiltskin, who is currently locked in Snow and the Prince's dungeon. Um... things sort out.

Eventually Emma and Killian have a wedding and it's a very climactic episode. There's a later season made, but we don't talk about it.

Best I got, folks.

#ouat #once upon a time #i have no idea what i'm talking about.

[lionbearfox]

you should state your opinions about fontaine if you're awake! (i am looking intently)

OH MY GOD I WAS GONNA AFTER THE TRAILER BUT I FORGOT. OPINIONS INCOMING

(below the cut bc to nobody's surprise it got long as fuck)

first and foremost! focalors!! furina! she looks SO FUN. huuuuuge contrast to nahida of the previous arc but i'm into it! i love her irreverent attitude, not *really* taking justice seriously, probably mostly oblivious to the problems of the people... if sumeru writing quality holds that arc is gonna be DELICIOUS. so excited for this contrast! (that was set up LAST YEAR when neuvilette was nahida's drip quote talking about how serious she was comparion to a "certain someone" being prone to hysterics....)! and speaking of neuvilette! i'm pretty sure he's nonhuman, maybe an oceanid, and i REALLY want him to be an ally of the previous hydro archon who's trying to keep furina in check! i think that could be SUPER interesting.

other characters: did not give a single fuck about wriothesley until they gave him a fun potential dynamic with adorable sigewinne and now I Love Him (my weakness is dadguys lol), Did Not expect a third sibling for lyney+lynette but i love all three of them! lynette in particular seems like she'll hit all my buttons character-wise, so i'm super interested to see what she's like and how they're gonna play the fatui/(probably) house of hearth connection. im expecting gendou ringo 2: more exciting and i'm Very delighted about it, i loved that quest!! navia and chlorinde look super interesting as well - i'm REALLY hoping they add gun as a new weapon type that would be SO FUN and the schneznayan cast would super benefit from that in the future..

so far the plot looks super cool too! from what i can tell, there are some super interesting parallels being set up regarding illusion/truth (the magic show/the lie behind it, the spectacle of trial/the lack of justice resulting from it, the pure waters/the pollution corrupting it, the glamorous society/the suffering that lies beneath) and i LOVE Themes and Motifs so IM HYPED FOR THAT! hoping they knock it out of the park with the writing again!! designs all look super solid so far tho im kind of disappointed about some freminet concepts that did not last...

if i had to choose one thing im most excited for tho... there's rumors of a hexenzirkel character in fontaine and i'm a longtime hexenzirkel fan so i REALLY REALLY want that to be true i Love the hexenzirkel and they've been getting more story relevance recently so i think fontaine would be a great place for them to enter the main plot!!

gameplay-wise: obvi we'll have to wait for more info to come out, but looks super promising! super hyped about underwater exploration, the setting design leaks i've seen knock it out of the park as always, i'm sure they'll have some super fun world quests and puzzles for us to scratch our heads over - i've got 0 doubts it'll be fantastic in that design lol. will it top sumeru's rainforest in sheer fun? we'll see but i'm feeling optimistic! my only criticism is that it's right above the newest desert expansion and there's a giant hole in the map which Bothers Me but... historically we can expect 4 map expansions total in 4.x so i'm sure that will be temporary.... (i hope so at least!)

i definitely have more thoughts but this is all the big stuff i could think of... maybe i'll post a full analysis/crumbs i noticed of the teaser, but overall- SUPER excited, i think the story is heading in a good direction, and i'm ready for it to be 4.0 already!!!!

#genshin impact #lbf.txt #i will say. im rooting for neuvilette/wriothesley yaoi in the story but only bc im p sure neuvilette is immortal #and i do think we've been criminally deprived of a good tragic immortal/mortal romance dynamic in this game #and gods know they don't do het romances in hoyoverse #tho i'd be down for a nice bi4bi m/f ship #anyways. fontaine. I'm Thinking About You. #asks #mysticalmusicwhispers

[fnaf-imagines]

could i request some headcanons of the glamrocks woth an s/o whos just small and sensitive? Like emotions wise?

I shall try my best anon!!! Honestly though, imagining them with such a small an sensitive s/o is kind of cute 🥺👉👈

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Glamrock Freddy:

Super worried papa bear but x1000

He’d be constantly worried about them and check up on them every few minutes.

If anything, he doesn’t even like being away from them for too long since he’s worried that they’ll start panicking while he’s not there which will lead to them getting hurt

But, if he has to go somewhere without them then he might at the very least give them a Fazwatch, that way he can still talk to them just to make sure nothing bad happened.

He’s super observant when it comes to emotions too. If it even LOOKS like they’re about to start tearing up and crying then he’ll instantly take them away from whatever is stressing them out and go somewhere much more quiet and comfortable for them

He’d be the most supportive too, he might try and help them practice being alone and being more brave so he wouldn’t have to worry about them too much!

Glamrock Chica:

Very concerned but tries to remain optimistic

I imagine Glamrock Chica is the overly optimistic type where anyone negative could be happening and she’d still try to remain happy and as joyful as ever.

She’s like the complete opposite of her s/o and it shows too with how quiet they are when standing next to her.

She’s hyper and cheerful, thus she’s super loud as she’s rambling about the amazing party she performed earlier, meanwhile I imagine her s/o simply sits there in silence and listens to every word she says, smiling as they do so

She rambles so much that in all honesty listening to her tends to help calm her s/o down. They’re too busy listening to her story to really focus on their surroundings and panic about the smallest things

She might not even notice how quiet they are either, but she wouldn’t care!! She’d just be happy that her s/o is okay and doing good

Monty:

Probably leans more towards being a teaser than a supportive partner

Don’t get me wrong, if anyone ELSE decided to pick on them then Monty would growl and throw a fit, threatening them to never ever talk to his s/o like that ever again or else...

BUT, when HE’S the one doing the teasing he can’t help but smirk and laugh at how his s/o reacts. He thinks its funny and amusing, but he wouldn’t go too far

In the end he’d still let them know he was simply joking around and didn’t mean any of it to heart

Of course, sometimes instead of teasing them altogether he might just try to make them laugh by telling a joke or pulling a funny little prank on someone.

He’d do so just to help them ease up and relax a little so they weren’t so tense and focused on all the noise and whatnot

If anyone made them uncomfortable then he’d definitely remove that person from the pizza plex altogether

He doesn’t care if HE gets yelled at, he’d just want his s/o to be safe and okay

Roxanne Wolf:

Overprotective to the core but she constantly tries to play it off as nothing

Roxy has an image to keep up! She has to remain cool and everyone’s favorite

But if her partner was being picked on and hassled then she’d throw away her WHOLE reputation just to make sure they were okay

She’s easily jealous in the first place, add that to the fact that her s/o is sensitive and is a target for being picked on by other rude and idiotic people and it doesn’t mix too well

She doesn’t want to seem overbearing though so in all honesty she might stay back and simply watch her s/o from afar, just to make sure they’re okay while also not getting caught following them around.

It works for the most part but as soon as she sees someone walking up to her s/o she’s instantly running over at super speed and growling and snarling while glaring at them. It doesn’t matter to her if she’s overreacting or if the person was simply asking for directions.

She makes a big deal out of it only because she knows how uncomfortable her s/o can easily get and she wants to prevent that from happening if she can

As soon as the person is gone Roxy is instantly calmed back down and back to her usual self, however you might see her blush while she asks if they’re okay

If anything, Roxy might even teach her s/o how to stick up for themselves and fight back if they have to. Its something that helps Roxy feel at ease knowing that she doesn’t have to worry too much if her partner already knows how to handle themselves

#asks #fnaf imagines #FNAF headcanons #fnaf security breach #glamrock freddy #glamrock monty #glamrock chica #Roxanne Wolf #montgomery

[folansstuff]

So I'm not caught up what's going on with illyana and realm of x that you seem frustrated about

So, my issues with Realm of X is not really based on Illyana specifically, but more an issue with the book as a whole?

The TLDR is like; the books massively disconnected from the main FoX plot, but also doesn't follow up on plot threads from previous books, and gives it's characters little to do despite telling us things are happening. I'll slap the rest under the read more cause it might get long.

So the book has a really interesting set up (the gals are stuck in Vanheim, Curse has brought them there, etc etc) and feels like it's going to follow up on some of the plot threads from Vita Ayala's New Mutants run + X of Swords (eg, Illyana no longer being bonded to Limbo, Satyurne no longer having control of Otherworld) + the post-Hellfire Gala thing.

The issue is that it's none of these things? It's techincally connected to FoX since they mention mutants being stuck there other than them, but we never see them and it never seems to really matter outside the first issue. Illyana's lack of magic has nothing to do with being separated from Limbo, but is instead because Vanheim is anti-magic and it only rarely touches on her thoughts about that than "she's sad". And we so far don't really understand what Saturyne is doing at all other than some really 'power' with Vanheim and... aliens? Some sort of cosmic thing? Who knows.

Typhoid Mary is around, Marrow does even less, Dust gets to do some cool stuff, but she's still sidelined, Illyana's general headstrongness that defines her character, even in the Krakoan era is gone (which is still wild even with the concept that she's struggling without her powers, she would still be throwing hands! Instead Typhoid Mary just calls her useless and she instantly cowers to that assessment.) And Dani, poor fucking Dani, is cut off from her Valkyrie powers for reasons we may only find out 4 issues in. (And that's only if Sif being in the preview means anything). We don't see Curse develop either, even though this should really be her star showing post-Nature Girl stuff.

So things are just sort of happening. And the narration tells us things are happening kinda aimlessly? And that's wild since this is supposedly a four issue miniseries, but even the preview from the last issue doesn't seem to be interested in plot progression at all.

The only, like, truly nice thing I can say is that issues 1, 2 and 4 look nice. The art is cool, the characters have neat outfits, and any book that makes Illyana this pretty looking is a positive to me. But then there's issue 3, which looks Not Great, but with comics I understand that can happen sometimes.

Now I'm not editorial, obviously, but I can only assume the book is like this because of some sort of strange circumstances. This does feel like a book that is only in the FoX line because of like, a release date change or something? Or scheduling? Cause even with the other FoX books, which I've generally thought were okay on average, they at least felt like they were meant to be there.

And I want to clarify, this new issue could completely 180 my opinion! We've only seen previews, and stranger things have certainly happened, but I am not optimistic about it. Ultimately don't know where this goes. My old theory was that they were going to kill/seal off Dani and Yana, but Dani is heading a Unlimited book and Yana is so popular that only Tom Breevort's weird hatred of her could get in the way. So I'm just sorta lost. Maybe they'll all just stick around and have magic adventures until the House of X stuff.

Either way I'm not keen.

#asks #kawaiiempoleon #thanks for the ask! #sorry its so long lmao #but i appreciate getting the chance to ramble a little here. good to organize the thoughts even if its still a little jumbled #realm of x #fall of x #x-men

[paytato435]

Chapter 7: Stability

Sunshine

Casey carefully noted the time he left the library and figured, with a little embellishment, he could easily explain away why he would be so late getting home everyday. And if he really needed help with homework, at least he’d have something to talk to Big Mama’s turtle about.

That sounded really boring. Maybe he shouldn’t do that.

But Angel had somehow made world history more interesting, and he could tell she was very interested in the subject. She went over the driest facts and notes and somehow turned it into legend. Which kind of amused Casey because she didn’t seem to be the type of person to be into such things. Well, who was Casey to judge? Appearances hardly meant anything these days.

Feeling more optimistic than he had in a while, Casey found himself arriving all too quickly to the Grand Nexus Hotel. 

As it turned out, Big Mama’s idea of getting her prisoners to socialize was to lock the both of them in the musk turtle’s bedroom. It was huge. Trophies, medals, and large paintings covered the four royal purple walls. There was a large armoire on the wall adjacent to him, and an ornate vanity across the room. Horrifyingly, there was the head of a stuffed ogre yokai mounted above the bed.

The bedroom also had a window looking over the arena- Casey had to admit, it was a pretty sick view. When he approached the glass, the girl followed him too.

“So, do you actually talk at all?” She just looked at him with curious brown eyes.

Cool, very cool.

“At least you have a good view of the arena. It’s something to watch. Are you in here all day?” 

The girl shook her head. Casey turned around and looked at all the paintings on the walls. Most of them were portraits of Big Mama’s champions; posing, dying, ripping apart their competitors. It was a little hard to look away from it all.

“This place is claustrophobic,” he whispered, more to himself than to the girl. He did a little circle of the room, before plopping down on the bed. “What do you do all day?”

The girl turned back to face the window and sat down on the floor.

“Yeah, that sounds about right.” Casey watched her for a couple minutes as she stared out at the arena. Far down below, Mama’s ever triumphant kraken swung its nasty arms at a horde of small mice yokai. Or maybe they were hamsters- they were too small and too far away to tell.

Casey sat back down next to the girl.

“Big Mama says you don’t remember anything from before she picked you up. Is that true? Are you a yokai, or a mutant like me? Do you even know?” the girl shrugged her shoulders.

“I wish we knew your name. Stinkpot is an awful thing for her to call you.” she nodded.

Without even really thinking about it, Casey signed; ‘I’m sorry.’

‘It’s fine, don’t worry,’ she signed back.

“Wait… you sign?” Casey jumped, scooting back and turning to face her.

‘Sometimes.’

“Do they know? Are you mute?”

‘No, sometimes I am mute.’

‘Yes.’ It was enthusiastic, as if she’d finally been understood.

“Do you want to talk, not out loud I mean, but-”

‘Where did you learn to sign?’ she asked.

‘My dad,’ he answered without thinking much about it. “And my uncles.”

“We used it for signals, mostly. I don’t know a lot more than the basics, just for like… when I need to be silent.” the girl nodded.

‘Where did you learn to sign?’ she shook her head. Right, of course she wouldn’t know that. 

‘Sorry.’

‘I don’t belong here,’ she signed, looking a little sad.

“No, you don’t.”

‘Can you get me out of here?’

Casey took a breath. He wished he could break her out of here. But he couldn’t help her. If he did, he’d lose his cloaking charm. He couldn't let that happen.

‘I can’t.,’ he signed. He hated lying to her, but he had to figure himself out first. He needed his cloaking charm back, he needed himself back. Instead, he changed the subject.

‘What do you know about yourself?’

The turtle leaned back and scrunched her face together, as if trying desperately to remember something.

‘I love yellow. It’s my color.’

‘Life color?’

‘Yes.’

“Like your patterns?” Casey asked, looking at the yellow markings on her cheeks.

‘Like… sunshine. Call me Sunshine.’

“Sure! I like that. We could use some sunshine down here.” That made her smile.

'You have a family.' It was a question, inviting him to talk about his least favorite subject.

'I… I had a family,' he signed slowly. 'They are all gone now.'

'I'm sorry.'

'It's fine. I…'

Casey suddenly realized that he was having a conversation with someone completely unrelated to his future. The younger versions of his family weren't there.

'Could I… tell you about my dad?' he signed, nervously.

He committed to the ‘dad’ title. Spelling sensei wasn't worth it.

'I don't have anything to talk about,' Sunshine shrugged. 'Free real estate.'

Casey almost smiled. What was wrong with him?

'He passed away just recently,' Casey explained. How many days had it been? Somehow the days past had run together. Too many had passed. The knot in his stomach reminded him there would only be more to follow. He was constantly moving away from that moment at what felt like a breakneck speed. 'I didn't get to say goodbye.'

'What happened?'

Casey inched closer to the glass and put his forehead against the cool surface.

'He saved my life. We were under attack.'

Sunshine scooted up closer and he turned his head to watch her sign. He kept his cheek glued to the glass. He felt a little stupid doing it, but it kinda felt nice, too.

'I'm glad you are safe.'

'You and I are similar,' he noticed. 'No family. No home.'

'Then where do you go?'

'When I am not here I have a place to sleep. I go to school now, I guess. But where I am…' he took a deep breath. 'I don't belong.'

'Then we also have that in common.'

Casey forgot he wasn't trying to share things. He had deliberately left that out earlier.

'My dad wanted me here, but I sometimes wish I was back home.'

'But you said your family is gone? How could you go home?'

Casey had thought about this more than he cared to admit. There was nothing in the future for him. Sometimes he wondered if he could go back there just to be a part of that ending. Would he die? Most likely. But he could die anywhere, at any time. At least if he was there he would go to the same place his family was.

'I don't think I'll ever see them again,' he realized.

'Yeah, that's kind of what being dead means.'

Casey grimaced. He had been leaving her out of his thoughts too much.

'I'm sorry, I'm not making much sense.' he paused. He was also tired of explaining himself. 'I see them in my dreams sometimes… my family.'

'I don't have dreams anymore.'

'You mean you forget them? Most people do.' 

'I'm not exactly sure. I remember what dreams are, but that's it.'

Casey nodded in understanding.

'Do you know what color you are?'

'I'm pink,' he signed, smiling shyly.

'How do you know?'

'How do you know you're yellow?'

Sunshine looked out the window. She looked frustrated.

'I just do.'

"My uncle told me mine a long time ago," Casey whispered, joining her gaze. "He said it represents love and family."

'Ironic.'

"You don't have to tell me," he pulled up his knees to his chest.

'What does yellow mean to you?'

"Do you know?" Casey asked curiously.

Sunshine shook her head. 'I just have a vibe.'

"Colors are 100% vibe-based," Casey confirmed. "If you're the same yellow as your arms, that represents stability."

Sunshine wheezed.

"Stability?" The first word she said out loud made Casey snap to attention.

"Uh, yeah. Like the sun always rising in the morning. Reliable, patient, eternal."

“It doesn’t sound much like me,” Sunshine huffed. ‘I don't feel very stable right now,’ she admitted, lowering her head.

"If it makes you feel better, some people think it's all pseudoscience anyway. The life colors, I mean."

Casey remembered Donatello saying something similar once. At one time he would have agreed with him, but after his run in with Angel today…

"At the end of the day, it's just you," he shrugged. "Even if it's just a vibe, I think it's helped me get to know you better."

Sunshine nodded.

"What will you do when I'm gone?" he asked her curiously. It had occurred to him that she hadn't answered his question earlier.

'Mama has me training.' Sunshine signed again. 'Running, fighting, there's two others I see and train with, but I'm Mama's favorite.”

'Others?' Sunshine nodded.

'They don't remember anything either.'

'Turtles?'

'No.' she paused and thought about it for a minute. 'A pig-like thing and a rhinoceros.'

'Your competition, then?'

Sunshine nodded.

'Mama wants me to beat them both at my debut or whatever. They are… much bigger than me.'

'Rhinos are pretty big.'

When Casey looked into her eyes, he could see she now looked very afraid.

'Sometimes I can't even walk. I forget how to move. I fall over all the time. I can't beat them.'

'Why do you fall over?'

Sunshine rolled forward to her hands and knees to get up in what was clearly a struggle. It was like watching a toddler try to stand. When she was upright, she used the glass for a moment to balance herself.

The struggle was all too familiar, and realization hit Casey like a toddler run over by a shopping cart.

She was just like him.

'”Give me your hand, Casey.”

Casey looked down at his three fingers.

“Don't look at your hand Casey, just look at me.”

Casey couldn't look away. This was impossible. His fingers moved in a way he didn't expect. He'd often thought the third finger would act like his ring and pinky fingers together, but instead it was as strong and independent as his middle finger. He still felt that connection to his ring and pinky finger in his head, but when he tried to 'move' them, nothing happened. Instead, he tapped his 'middle' finger to his thumb repeatedly; morbid curiosity and a lingering feeling of fright hanging over him.

“Are you going to sit there all day, bud?”

“It's weird,” was all Casey offered his sensei as the larger turtle sat down next to him.

Leonardo offered up his own hand, and Casey took it. They were the same now. Well, sensei's hands were much larger and calloused, but the point still remained.

“You have to get up and walk at some point, Casey.”

“Yeah,” Casey agreed, but it was so hard. Having a shell on his back completely threw off his balance.

“The more you do it, the easier it gets.”

Just like squats, or running, Casey thought. But he was back to square one. Sure the muscle was still there, but the memory was not.

Leonardo took Casey's other hand and gently pulled him off the bed. “Lean forward,” he instructed.

Casey grumbled but complied, keeping his weight forward, his head nearly bumping into Leonardo's plastron.

“Too far, Case,” the slider smiled.

He scowled up at his sensei, but that movement tipped him too far back, and he fell back onto the bed.

He heard his sensei suppress a chuckle.

“How do you do it?” Casey asked angrily.

“Just keep trying.”

So Sunshine was a mutant too. That was hardly surprising. Big Mama had probably erased her memory so she wouldn't try to escape. She might actually have a family out there looking for her. This was really bad.

But Casey couldn't tell her that. If she knew, she'd probably freak out like he did, and it took him ages to get used to his body again. She had two weeks. They needed to stay focused on the situation at hand.

"I see what you mean," Casey said as he watched Sunshine walk across the room. She was doing better than he had, for sure, but he noticed she swayed a bit sometimes, and she was all too focused on the walking to say or do anything else. Another reason why she didn't talk much.

"When I come back tomorrow, we should practice walking," Casey suggested, standing up and moving next to her. He tried to give her room, but he was ready to catch her if need be.

She stopped and looked at him with broken eyes.

'Humiliating,' she signed, wobbling.

Yeah, he knew the feeling.

-

When Casey was finally released, he actually felt a little lighter than when he came in. He felt almost confident. Sure, the others were going to have questions, but he actually had some people he could talk to that weren't… a living breathing reminder of everything that he had lost. Yippee.

“Are you sure you need this back turtley-boo? All those little rough edges make you look so pontiferably dangerous.”

“Yes.” Big Mama rolled her eyes and handed him back the black cloaking charm. He quickly re-tied it around his ankle, and in a moment, he was Casey again. He could breathe again.

“You can come by anytime as long as it is everyday,” Big Mama told him, also handing back his bag. “Don’t think of running away. I have a tracking enchantment on you. I know where you are, always.”

He had been wondering how she was going to keep track of him.

“I have a question for you, Mama,” he stated, standing back up.

“Yes dearie?”

“What have you done to Synth?”

“Why, nothing fidgetbun! Synth is too useful to me. He’s not going anywhere,” she sighed. “And I’m watching you both, so don’t get any more nasty ideas.”

That was a surprise. He didn’t think she’d want him around after all that she’d overheard.

“You don’t know the name of the game do you?” Big Mama gave him a calculating smile.

“I have an idea,” Casey clenched his fists. In a twisted way, they were depending on each other. “But I suppose you aren’t about to let him make swords for Leo.”

Big Mama giggled.

“I couldn’t care less what those idiots get up to. We’ll just have to see what happens.”

Doctor Feelings II

"So, what happened today, Mr. Jones?" asked Dr. Feelings, peeking over his fake reading glasses.

"Aren't I supposed to be the one on the couch?" Casey asked, his head between his hands, and his butt in Splinter's old recliner.

"You watch too many movies, Mr. Jones. I'm the doctor here, I will be asking the questions."

Mikey squinted. “I just did, what happened today?”

“Ok, ask away.”

“Oh. Well…” What didn’t happen today? “I tried out for field hockey.”

“Field hockey huh? And how was that, did you have fun?”

“Actually, I did. Everyone said I played pretty well, but there was this one girl…”

“A girl, huh? I know all about those.” Casey glanced over at Mikey and saw he was scribbling away on a notepad- no, his drawing pad. He was doodling.

“She said I was a shit forward.”

“But you’ve never played hockey before!”

“Yeah, but it still kinda hurt.”

“Did you tell her that?”

“Of course not!” Casey snapped defensively. That would probably only get Angel to tease him worse.

"Why not?"

Casey sat on his hands and didn't say anything.

"Is she cute?" Mikey asked, raising his brow.

"What?"

"The girl. Is she cute?"

“Of course she’s cute!” he blurted out without thinking about it.

The face Mikey made was so immediately excited and opportunistic that it made Casey regret talking to him in the first place.

“Are you going to ask her out?!” he asked, jumping up and down in his seat.

“What? No! Well, define ask out? We went to the library today-”

“You went on a study date?! Casey what the fuck it’s literally the first day of school!”

“Casey did what?!” Oh no. Oh no no no no no NO.

The last person he wanted to talk to about this poked his head out of their shared room.

“Casey went on a date?!” Leo asked, his smile so large and mischievous it made Casey want to scream.

“I did not!” Casey shouted, sounding all the more unconvincing.

“He did!” Mikey shouted back to Leo, only making the situation worse.

“What happened to client confidentiality!?” Casey argued, standing up and crossing his arms.

“I’m not licensed!” Mikey countered with a smile. “Do I get licensed in the future?”

“There aren’t licenses in the future!” Casey pointed out, fuming. Mikey seemed genuinely upset as he pouted, but Leo came in just in time to make things worse.

“Tell me all about your new girlfriend, Case,” he insisted, dropping himself onto the living room couch beside his brother.

“Absolutely not,” Casey scoffed. “And she’s not my girlfriend. We just went over history notes together.”

“But you like her. Does she like you?” Casey could not believe this was happening.

“You could ask her out to the Homecoming dance! It’s coming up,” Mikey offered.

“That’s literally two months away!” Casey pointed out.

“Well, you never know, someone else might have their eye on her,” Leo noted, pointing and raising his brow.

“We are done talking about this,” Casey asserted.

“You might be done talking about this,” Leo smirked. “But Splints is going to wanna have a sit down with you if you don’t tell us how your date went.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Casey whispered.

“Oh I dare,” Leo confirmed, lifting his feet up onto the couch and sprawling over Mikey. He pressed a middle finger gently to his temple. “I remember it like it was yesterday, the day Raph came home all excited with a crush on someone he had just bumped into in the Hidden City. Have you heard the story?”

“I could tell you yours if you want to,” Casey threatened.

“What?!” Leo suddenly lost his cool.

“If Splints has only given Raph the talk at this point, you guys are in for a world of pain,” Casey nodded.

“Even me?!” Mikey asked.

“Not as bad for you, Mikey,” Casey waved him off, looking down at the poor, helpless slider, and leaned down to get on his level.

“If you tell Master Splinter anything, I’ll let him know everything you get up to for the next twenty years.”

“How do you even know that?”

“Aside from your own over-dramatic monologues? Master Michelangelo told the best stories when he was wasted.”

Leo shot up from his position over his brother to give him a dangerous look. “You snitch!”

“I haven’t done anything!” Mikey yelped, popping into his shell reflexively. Leo jumped up to snatch at his brother, but Casey did it first, holding the boxed box turtle at arms length.

“Nuh uh uh!” he tutted. “I’m still having my session with him.”

“Well I think it’s probably my turn to take my feelings out on him,” Leo demanded.

“That’s not how therapy works!” Mikey squeaked from the safety of his shell. 

“Let him go, Leo. You can have him when I’m done,” Casey compromised.

Finally the slider relented, but he sure did not look happy about it.

“We are going to have so many words, hermano,” he puffed, before retreating back to his room.

“SO MANY WORDS!”

Casey had a feeling it was going to be more than just words.

“Is he gone?” Mikey whispered, poking his head out.

“Yeah, he’s gone,” Casey sighed, setting the turtle back down.

“Why’d you rat- why’d you snitch on me like that?” Mikey grumbled. “I haven’t even said anything!”

“It was funny, I guess,” Casey shrugged.

“If you think I’m going to help you out after that you’re insane.”

“Well you’re safe as long as you’re still talking to me,” Casey reasoned, only faintly recognizing that he sounded a bit like Big Mama as he did so.

“Fine,” Mikey huffed, picking his drawing pad back up. “But this is the last session for a while. I don’t know if I can handle this.”

“If I’m being honest, I don’t think I can either. I just needed him to shut up.” Casey leaned back into Splinter’s chair. It was scratchy and uncomfortable, but for some reason it just felt welcoming.

“I hear that,” Mikey nodded. “So you went on a date with the girl from field hockey, but you don’t want to talk about it. Anything else happen at school?” Casey didn’t think he had anything to say, but saw Mikey scratch his temple and he remembered something.

“There’s also a guy on the team who recognized me from the invasion.”

“WHAT?!”

“He saw my hockey mask in my bag.”

“April told you not to bring that!”

“I know, I know, but I get nervous not having my equipment with me.”

“I keep my nunchucks in my bag too.”

“Why do you bring your nunchucks to school?"

“Nuh uh uh, Mr. Jones. We’re here to talk about you. Why do you get nervous not having your gear with you?”

Because Casey never felt safe. Not really. There was always something out to get him.

Casey shrugged. “This is entirely unfair.”

“I’ll be having this conversation with myself later, don’t worry. Why do you bring your hockey mask to school?”

“In case something bad happens.”

“Like what?” Mikey was peeking over his drawing pad again. Casey crossed his arms.

“I’m not here to judge that.”

“I don’t know, like the technodrome exploding into the sky again. I know that’s ridiculous-”

“But you think it is.”

“It’s a little ridiculous,” Mikey admitted.

“Every morning I wake up and-”

“You have a silly little oatmilk coffee,” Mikey interrupted.

“Are you here to listen or what?!” Mikey ducked behind the drawing pad.

“I wake up thinking I’m back there again. In the future, and I… I have to remind myself that no, everyone is dead and that part of my life is forever over.”

“Yeah, I’m really sorry I keep interrupting. That’s horrible,” Mikey apologized, looking down at the ground.

“Isn’t it? That guy I met today, Gavin, he helped me pull my hair back for practice and I jumped out of my skin because I couldn’t keep my eyes on him the whole time. Everything is a threat.”

“You let him help you though?”

“Yeah.”

“How was that?”

“That was nice. I think we could be friends.”

“That’s good. He was nice to you then?”

“Yeah.” Casey glanced over and tried to look at what Mikey was drawing, but Mikey shifted away.

“Back off Future Boy, these are the doctor’s notes. Doctors only.”

“You’re gonna grow hair one day," Casey told him suddenly.

“What?”

“You taught me how to tie my hair back, when I was little.”

Mikey looked like he couldn't decide whether to explode or melt into a puddle.

“That is soooooo cool,” he whispered. “When you’re born I’m going to be the cool uncle.”

“Am I even going to be born, though?”

“Why wouldn’t you be?”

Casey had thought about this before, probably too many times.

“There will probably be another Casey Junior, just… not me like you’re Master Michelangelo.”

“What does that mean?”

“Well, Master Michelangelo is made up in part of your shared experiences with him. But a Casey born here will never have the same experiences I had.”

“And…. how does that make you feel?”

Casey dipped his chin into his chest.

“More lonely than ever before, I guess.”

“One of a kind,” Mikey noticed, in an attempt to cheer the boy up.

“Sure,” Casey shrugged. “Are we done here?”

“I mean, we’re done whenever you want to be…” Mikey glanced over to Leo and Casey’s room nervously.

“Cool, we’re done,” Casey sighed. “I want to go to bed.”

“Well… give me a head start before you go,” Mikey told him, putting the pad down and edging his way back towards the entrance to the lair.

“I’ll give you ten seconds.”

Mikey sprinted away faster than Casey could blink.

But it wouldn’t be faster than Leo could chase him.

-

"Hey, where ya goin’, Pink?"

"Angel? Did I forget something?" Casey turned around and saw his fellow sophomore running to catch up to him. She was still wearing her field hockey clothes, but she was carrying her cleats in hand. She was only wearing her socks?

"Uh, what? No. I just… I needed to talk to you," she said between breaths.

"Do you… wanna change your shoes first?"

The color from Angel’s face, despite its rosyness from practice, seemed to drain away entirely as she looked down at her feet.

"Oh, uh, yeah.” She flashed her teeth at him with a frustrated expression on her face. “Give me a second, would ya?" She unzipped her bag and pulled out her street shoes. She struggled to keep her balance as she tried to pull one of them on.

"You can sit down if you want to," Casey offered, tilting his head to one side.

"On the sidewalk? No thanks."

Casey sat down on the sidewalk next to her. "It's not so bad," he shrugged.

With a huff, Angel let herself fall next to him, bumping into his shoulder as she went down.

"Hey, watch it!"

"You watch it, Pink. You would be the kind of guy to just sit wherever.”

"What does that mean?" he asked, even though he couldn’t help but smile.

Angel didn't answer, she just kept tying her shoes.

"Does it have to do with my pinkness again?"

Angel gave him a glare.

"Let me guess, you're purple. Does that make us a pair?"

Angel blushed, and Casey cracked up laughing.

"Ugh, Pink fuck! What is wrong with you?"

“And Pink Fuck, what’s up with that? Couldn’t think of anything better?” he teased her.

“Well what should I call you, Jones? You’re a big mess of colors dancing all over the place.”

“How does that work anyway, seeing people’s colors?” he asked, curious.

“It just does,” she shrugged. “What’s it like not seeing people’s colors?” she shot back, making a face at him.

She was unbelievable.

Angel finished tying her shoes, and then stood back up.

"So, what did you want to tell me?" he asked, getting to his feet as well.

Angel dug around in her bag and pulled out a sheet of paper.

"It's our schedule… for the games. Congrats… uh… you made the team."

"Wait, really?" he answered in disbelief.

"Are you actually surprised?" She looked like he’d just asked her what color the sky was.

Casey raised his eyebrows. "I thought you said I was shit."

"I did," she tilted her chin up in a pout.

"So how did I make the team?"

"You're the only guy who tried out, dumbass!” she jammed the schedule to his chest.

"Oh, yeah, I guess so," he figured, taking the paper from her and looking at the print. It looked like they still had a couple weeks before their first game.

"But you do get to be a forward, so there is that," she sighed, re-zipping her bag and slinging it over her shoulder.

"Cool."

"Cool."

Casey tilted his head.

"Was that… everything you had to tell me?" he asked.

He couldn’t help but notice her blush again. It was kinda cute. "Where were you headed? I thought we were going back to the library again."

"We are, but you were taking forever so I thought I’d meet you there."

“You were gonna leave me?!” she huffed, adjusting her bag.

“I mean I was kind of hoping you’d see me and hurry up…” he kicked his boot on the pavement.

Angel gave him a look he hoped meant she was mad but willing to let him get away with it.

“Whatever, let’s just go,” she told him, passing him and bumping into his shoulder again as she went.

-

“Thanks for joining the team, by the way,” Angel said as they returned to the library. “I think Gavin told you already, but we hardly have enough people to actually play… what with all the…” she waved her hands around. She hoped he got the idea.

“The what?” Casey did not get the idea at all.

“You know, everyone skipping town because of the… what do you call them? The… not human students?” She felt her face going red. Again. (She had to stop doing that.) She never could seem to remember the word…

“Oh… the yokai. Yeah, I get it,” Casey finally nodded. “Uh, thanks for having me I guess?”

She scrunched up her nose. “Don’t you dare back out, okay? I’ll find you if you do.” She hoped that sounded threatening, and not like some kind of promise.

“And do what exactly?” Casey smiled good-naturedly. She didn’t like that he was smiling at all.

Angel raised her fists and waved them like she was going to box him. “There’s a good reason they let me on the men’s field hockey team. Go ask any of them!”

“I believe you!” Casey chuckled. This guy…

Angel wanted to go on, but they were quickly shushed by a librarian, so they slinked over to their table in awkward silence.

“I’ve been meaning to ask Angel, and… you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to but-”

“Wait, did Gavin tell you what’s going on?” She cut in before he could finish. She had seen that look on too many other people’s faces before. She really hoped he wasn’t going to…

“He mentioned one of your friends disappeared, yeah.”

Fuck.

“Not my friend,” she corrected. “My best friend,” she hugged her backpack close to her chest. “We’ve been friends since second grade.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Yeah. Everyone says that.” Please shut up.

“Well…”

“It’s whatever,” Angel cut in again. “Nobody ever fucking knows what to say. Even if you did bring it up.” She squinted her eyes at him. For the love of god stop talking.

“You seem… kinda normal about it,” he couldn’t help but wonder. “Aren’t you worried?”

“Of course I’m worried!” she raised her voice. She heard someone from a table over shush her again, but she ignored them. “What do you care?” she pouted.

Casey bit his lip, and Angel wondered where he’d gotten the nerve to even bring this up.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”

And then Angel saw it. As he apologized, she saw his colors shift. The neon pink faded to a light rose. She blinked in surprise. She hadn't seen that happen to anyone before.

Well, not anyone she knew. People usually only had one hue. Sometimes it fluctuated in brightness or in shade depending on their mood, but the actual color itself didn’t shift; their hue was tied to their personality. You can’t just change your personality.

That was something that had caught Angel’s attention when she had met Casey. Pink was a weird color to have. While technically most people would say it was a shade of red, she argued his hue was pinned right between red and her own red-violet. Magenta might be more accurate, but Pink Fuck was way funnier. Whatever the exact color was didn’t matter- it was the family it belonged to that bothered her.

Reds had an exceptionally passionate or aggressive personality, and she didn’t see it anywhere in him. If she were blind, she’d guess he was the polar opposite- cyan or seafoam green. He was unbelievably cool and easygoing, so much so that it didn’t make any sense to her. The image of a wolf in sheep’s clothing came to mind. At first she had been curious to find out if she could break the cool facade.

But now that his color had shifted further red (albeit up many shades lighter), the curiosity swung immediately to fear.

The unstable aura was as chaotic as those she saw on the people outside Marina's apartment.

It made her shiver.

"Hey, are you alright?" Casey asked. She looked away immediately, realizing she had just been staring right into his eyes.

"You really shouldn't have," she agreed with a mutter.

"I… yeah," Casey looked down at his hands pensively.

And why would he care? Why was he asking about her? Why was he so upfront about spending time with her? He had shown up ‘coincidentally’ just after Marina had disappeared. Angel stood up. She had to get out of here. Casey followed her with his eyes, but didn't make a move to stand.

"I'm sorry, I can't do this right now," she picked her bag up.

"No, I'm sorry," he apologized again, but also looked confused. At the very least, he didn't act like the strange people she had seen before.

But that didn't mean she could trust him. Something about him was incredibly wrong.

She felt terrible, but quickly made her exit without another word. He had been so nice to her, even when she was constantly picking on him. But it was also too nice. It almost felt like he was playing mind games with her. She wished she could forget seeing the hurt in his eyes before she walked away.

That would have made her exit a lot easier.

-

 Kind

"Let me see your stance," Casey offered, and he helped Sunshine stand up. It felt like the world was shifting under her feet, but the small musk turtle managed to keep her balance.

She took her stance, practice sword in hand.

"Oh, you are waaaaay overcompensating," Casey realized, bending down to match her.

"You're too far forward, you need to stand up a bit straighter."

"That's what Synth said but-" Sunshine straightened up all the way, and started to fall back; just like Casey had done when he was younger.

"Ah!" Casey caught her and tipped her forward. "That's too far! It's like you're trying to stand like a human-" he cut himself off.

"A what?" Sunshine blinked at him.

"A human. Humans don't have shells, so they're center of gravity is different," Casey explained.

"What’s a human?"

Casey pressed his hands together and pursed his lips in thought.

"You don't know anything about anything outside of this nexus, do you?"

"I know… some things," Sunshine frowned. "Like, I know what sunshine is, even though there isn't any here. I don't know where it is, but it's warm and bright."

"It seems like parts of your lost memories can come through but others can't? Or haven't? You know ASL…”

Sunshine could see Casey looked very uncomfortable.

'I don't think we should be talking about this,' he signed.

'Why not?'

'We are being watched.'

'So?'

Casey shook his head.

'Don't trust Big Mama.'

Sunshine could figure that much.

'I will try and come up with a solution that will get your memories back. In the meantime, we need to stay quiet. Keep each other safe.'

'Get me out of here,' Sunshine pleaded.

'I will, I promise.' He sighed and turned to stand next to her. “Let’s focus on getting your balance right. You need to find that sweet spot between straight up and too far forward. Mimic me.”

Casey stood upright, but then shifted forward ever so slightly. Sunshine moved to follow him.

“This is uncomfortable,” she noticed, feeling the weight of her shell press into her lower back.

“Yeah, I know what you mean. It’s going to feel weird for a while, but you’ll get used to it.”

“How am I supposed to walk like this?”

“Slowly at first,” Casey took a step forward, and Sunshine followed him. She swayed a little, but otherwise kept upright. “Let’s just practice this for a bit,” he suggested, turning and facing her.

“Ok,” Sunshine turned to mimic him but wobbled, and in an attempt to catch herself, bumped into his head. “Ah!”

Casey backed up and caught her arm.

“Or, we might be here for a while,” he chuckled as she righted herself. Sunshine gave him a scowl, but she was secretly grateful for his help. He was also way more patient than Synth was, and kinder than anyone else she had encountered here in the Nexus. She had started looking forward to seeing him everyday.

But she could tell he was keeping something from her, too. All of them were. Of course her doctor knew, he didn’t even try to pretend that, he just outright refused to talk to her about anything. Synth tried to play dumb, but he was also a bad liar; he often caught himself saying things to her he shouldn’t. 

Like when he mentioned Casey's brother had visited. Sunshine had been complaining about her sword again when Synth snapped and told her off for being a whiny baby. (His words, not hers.) She had no respect for the weapon, just like that slider from before. He had been grumbling, and when Sunshine had asked what he was on about, he grumbled something about Casey's arrogant brother. Casey hadn't mentioned a brother- he had said all his family had died.

So while Casey was kind, he was also a liar.

Sunshine wondered how she could get him to talk. Not just because she was curious, but also because it seemed like something was haunting him. Ok, maybe the dead family had something to do with that….

Sunshine was making practice swings when the first question came to her:

"So you know how to fight, did you learn that from your dad?”

Casey, who had been standing by watching her, looked surprised by the question.

“My dad?”

“Uh, yes?” Casey’s cheeks flushed.

“Ah… well, I don’t always call him my dad you see. I was sort of using it as a shorthand…”

Sunshine gave Casey a frown. Oh boy, he was full of shit wasn’t he?

“Ok, I guess he was my dad,” Casey admitted, crossing his arms defensively. “I usually call him my sensei. It was… less confusing, I guess? Trust me, you don’t want me to get into it.”

“If it’s confusing… was he your brother’s sensei too?” Sunshine asked, confused.

Seeming just as confused, Casey looked at her like she’d just slapped him.

“Where are you getting this?” he asked cautiously, lowering his voice and inching towards her.

Sunshine shrugged. “Where am I getting what?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, I’ve never mentioned having a brother to you.”

“But you do have one,” Sunshine smiled, narrowing her eyes.

“I have four,” he grumbled.

“You told me you didn’t have a family anymore,” Sunshine pointed out. “Do you wanna elaborate on that? Are you not on good terms with them…?”

“Synth told you about Leo didn’t he?” Casey realized.

“He told me your brother was arrogant.”

“That’s one word to describe him,” Casey sighed, running his fingers through his hair.

“How would you describe him?” Sunshine asked.

“Why are we talking about this?”

“Because…” Sunshine shouldered her sword and placed one hand on her hip. “... everyone is keeping shit from me. What else do you want to talk about with a girl who doesn’t remember jack shit?”

“Yeah but… Leo of all people…”

“You told me your family was dead!” Sunshine barked, losing her patience. “Everyone in this fucking place lies to me. Do I actually care about your brother? Probably not, but I thought you’d be different from the others at the very least. They’re keeping secrets from me; every. single. one of them. I have nothing to do but sit around here in this room and think all day. Think about nothing besides how much I don’t want to be here surrounded by a bunch of selfish and evil people!”

Casey leaned against the wall of the training room. He looked down at the floor for a moment, before facing her.

“I can’t tell you everything I know,” he explained, massaging his fingers. “But my brothers are part of the reason why I’m here. And as long as I am visiting you here, they can’t know what I’m doing. If you see them, you can’t approach them. Big Mama would be very much against it. If they notice you, turn the other way and don’t look back. They might even want to talk to you, chase you even, but you can’t let them know what we’re doing here.”

“Why is that?”

Casey’s expression went dark. “It will ruin them.”

“So what, you’re protecting them?” Casey nodded.

“What are they like?” Sunshine hoped she wasn’t pressing her luck, but to her surprise, Casey actually smiled. He rolled his eyes too, but he didn’t seem annoyed at the very least.

“Where would I even start?”

“We have plenty of time,” Sunshine reminded him, glancing at the clock on the wall. “Start with Leo, I guess.”

Casey sighed. “We’ll be here all night.”

Prev. Masterpost Next

Notes: Dialogue exchanged in sign language is written between 'apostrophes.' Scenes taking place in Casey's doomed future are written in italics.

#rottmnt #casey sas au #snapper and stinkpot #casey jones #rottmnt casey jr #rottmnt fanfiction #rise angel #rise mikey #rise leo #rottmnt au #future leonardo #bad future rottmnt #angel bridge

[moss-and-marimos]

aaaaand lore dump part 2: the Kabar Taj Monastery (aka: the exclave school system is ass)

so, first off, let's establish something important: the Exclave's education system (especially the major monasteries/magic schools like this one) is built primarily for elves, by elves. and elves move slow. They're long-lived, and patient, and usually spend years focusing on a single subject, learning everything about it in depth.

Cynthia is neither (as) long-lived nor patient, and she doesn't have those years to spend. instead, she decides she'll have to speed things up on her own. (she truly was born to speedrun forced to have trauma instead lmao)

so, she spends any spare time she has studying, learning, constantly working harder and harder to get ahead.

Of course, she's far from the only non-elf at Kabar Taj, and if she was better at thinking ahead she'd probably be doing her best to build community with these other outsiders. But Cynthia has a goal, she has a plan, she's working towards it with everything she's got, and most crucially she has 7 wisdom. so instead, she isolates herself more and doubles down- making friends would take up valuable study time.

As a student, Cynthia was standoffish, workaholic, endlessly friendly/optimistic, and something of a kissass to her teachers- all of which HUGELY pissed off those students (and a couple teachers) who didn't take too kindly to half-elves in their school.

and of course, her isolation didn't help either- no support system meant she was a lot easier to target, without any fear of repercussion. (plus her being a target meant that other students who would've otherwise befriended her instead avoided her out of fear that they'd be targeted as well.)

Even so, she just Kept On Going. it seemed like every hardship just made her more determined, and every setback only doubled her efforts.

Eventually, the time came for the students to pick a school of magic to study. Here, Cynthia surprised everyone by not picking one of the standard arcane traditions, instead opting for the obscure Order of Scribes- she wanted to focus on studying magic itself.

This was highly irregular, but technically allowed. However, there was no teacher for this school- if she Really wanted to pursue this path, she could, but she'd have to figure everything out on her own with no one to guide her, and be accountable to/receive personal testing from an administrator who hated her specifically.

(of course, if they truly wanted to, the administrators of this school could've gotten her a proper teacher- this was a deliberate punishment from the people in charge, intended to make her submit and choose one of the more "official" pathways, or else quit entirely.)

after somewhere between a week to a month, Cynthia finally hit her breaking point- she'd worked so hard to get where she was, and now she had nothing left to give, and no one to support her.

And then, as she's breaking down while studying in the library, her old spellbook (which is a gift from either Dazel or Elfmom, haven't decided yet), starts talking to her, and this is how she officially meets Dandy.

Soon after, she learns (im not sure how exactly, but i do want dazel to be involved somehow bc i think she's cool and i want to) that Dandy is in fact sentient, and not to tell anyone about him: the Order of Scribes is small, obscure, reclusive, and extremely guarded, and the sentience of their spellbooks (it's a subclass feature) is one of their closest-held secrets.

This warning combines with the general ambient Fear cynthia kinda has going on, and is translated in her head as "No one can Ever find out about Dandy, ever, or else they'll take him away."

This is p much where the notes i had leave off. in the end, though, she makes it through magic school (and all of the trials, which are basically final exams for each school of magic) (also because this is the Human Rights Violations school each trial is increasingly deadly), and becomes an acolyte (essentially just an unpaid intern) to Yersinia Malcorian, a White Consul (who is a cold, strict asshole). and then the campaign plot! :D

ougghhhhhh dude this is so cool genuinely, I dont have the words but I love love love how much thought and effort and time you've clearly put into this, I love the sentient spell book, the low wisdom is so real, it makes me happy to see that being like incorporated into her character instead of being forgotten except as a mechanic, I am buying her a fantasy computer and fantasy Minecraft so she can be the speedrunner she was always meant to be

#mutuals my beloved #gumy!! #mutuals ocs