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five-wow · 4 years

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10.19!!! watched it, had thoughts about it, wrote them down. the usual under the cut.

there is a random man in steve’s kitchen (is it the helicopter guy? i... don’t know him well enough to be sure but i am genuinely unsure who else it would be) wearing a “seals do it better” apron while he’s cooking and talking to junior about how this recipe helped him “seal the deal” with the love of his life. okay, random man. you’re not acknowledging it, but you just made a seal pun, so you have my attention.

btw, for a good long moment i genuinely thought this guy might be danny in some kind of weird dream sequence future. i mean, old danny in steve’s kitchen wearing a seal-themed apron and making waffles? i wouldn’t hate it.

junior about how it’s going with tani: “it’s amazing.” okay a) YAY and THAT IS VERY CUTE and b) even so, it’s hilarious to me when random guy says “sounds like you’ve got it bad” just based on junior saying that it’s amazing while he kind of smiles vaguely. cute as it was, it wasn’t a passionate love declaration.

junior lies in bed awake at night dreaming of his thing with tani working out (and not sleeping because he’s scared it might not) and i just !! he’s a smitten mess over her and i adore it, even though his level of anxiety sounds like it’s a little detrimental for his sleep, omg.

fjdkfd we get a scene of adam and quinn who went surfing together and OF COURSE they’re standing under the beach showers as they talk because i feel like adam is literally contractually obligated to have a certain number of shower scenes each season.

tani!! gave quinn!! some surfing pointers!! let’s review: we know that tani is really great at surfing and definitely better than junior, because we had a scene once of them getting back from a surfing trip and junior was slightly pouty over it and tani was absolutely unwilling to downplay her own skill and it was Very Good, and now, in these last few episodes, tani was first present during noelani’s surfing lessons and now she’s apparently been giving quinn advice, and the idea of the h50 women hanging out? the idea of tani being supportive and sharing her knowledge? it’s all so good, ahhh. (ALSO. my mighty need for tani and kono to meet grows with each and every mention of tani’s surfing skill.)

oh my gOD i wrote that bit in brackets and hit play on the episode and IMMEDIATELY adam says that he’s used to being second best in the ocean because “my ex wife was a pro surfer, and very competitive.” YES. GOOD. LOVE THE KONO REFERENCE.

quinn gets a dramatic call from an olivia! i read an episode description, so i know that’s her ex-step daughter. i’m a little hesitant about this “btw quinn has an ex-husband” subplot, but also curious to see where they’re going with it, and quinn jumping to help out a teen girl that she still has a strong bond with is an angle of approach that could potentially be very very relevant to my interests.

cows! “moooo” say the cows, quietly, under the music. they’re not important or plot-relevant, i just like cows.

fjdkfd olivia has a Bad Dad and yes, i do want quinn to adopt her now. it could be good! she could swap tips with steve about how to let your adopted teen know they’re loved and safe and worth so much more than what their parents gave them.

tani to junior: “what, you think i didn’t have a life before i met you?” junior’s eyes: [shoot up to steve, standing right behind tani, who is junior’s mentor AND boss, making it slightly awkward to have a relationship talk right in front of him during work hours] POOR BOY (but also, yes, tani, tell him).

junior is now obsessed with the mystery of why tani is so familiar with a random rancher bar an hour away from her house, and to be honest, so am i.

tani wON A LINE DANCING COMPETITION FOUR WEEKS IN A ROW. that is the BEST solution to the mystery, my gosh.

tani: [brags about her line dancing skills and calls herself the queen] junior: “who are you?” fdjkfdjkfd junior, i don’t even know why you’re suprised that a) tani slays at something she did or b) she is utterly unapologetic about that fact.

olivia says that maybe quinn could come watch her play volleybal some time and quinn says that she’d love to but it’s complicated and don’t do that, quinn! my heart hurts now!

OKAY so olivia isn’t doing cheer this year even though she was captain the previous year and she makes up an excuse about it being because of the other girls but it’s actually about HER DAD taking the money that quinn gave her for a UNIFORM which means she probably couldn’t even try out and I HATE THIS. find your ex and kick his ass, quinn.

lou, after talking about macadamia farming: “but here’s where the story gets a littllllle... nutty.” tani, fistpumping: “nice one.” punner solidarity!! good stuff, good stuff. (though i do wonder what happened to danny’s punning streak in later seasons. anyone remember 1.14, when he joked about the head in a box? he’s lost his appreciation for this fine art and it’s a tragedy, honestly.)

quinn has enlisted adam’s help in tracking her ex (jake) down and she’s telling adam a little about how she never thought she’d fall for a guy like him but he was charming, and then she says “and olivia” and THAT’S when she really smiles, and look, PLEASE don’t let this episode end with olivia still living with her dad because will have to write fix-it fic.

quinn: “i haven’t told anybody i was married, not even steve.” that’s cool, but like, do we believe that means steve doesn’t know? if his background checks haven’t gone completely downhill in the last few years, i would assume he’s figured this out, right? (i love quinn’s “in case you haven’t noticed, i’m not really a sharer” that she adds, because it fits with her personality and it’s just nice to have a female character that’s allowed to be a little secretive about her past in a way that doesn’t feel, idk, sensationalized.)

i have seen a lot of gifs of this episode by now and they’re all of steve and danny and the horses so i’ve seen most of their very polite discussion that ensues when danny calls steve out on not asking him if he wants to ride along, but it’s still utterly glorious. grace gets mentioned, too! and the way danny ends it with “why don’t you try to keep up?” as he passes in front of steve, with steve watching him go? that is flirting. blatant flirting in front of all of their poor teammates. (at least now junior can feel a little less awkward about bringing his relationship with him on the job!)

fjdkfdjk lou’s “all this and they still go time to argue, isn’t that nice?” is A+

steve and danny, as they’re super leisurely chasing some criminals through the woods on horseback: yes, this would be a good time to make up an argument about absolutely nothing at all.

oh gosh, okay, danny says “you know i can uh, i can hear you at night” and steve’s response is “why don’t you get some earplugs?” and um. uh. it’s followed by context, i know, but come on, jfc.

“when i moved in a couple months ago” he’s just GOING for it now, omg. not “came to stay with you”, no attempt at hiding that he’s been staying with steve for literal months at this point - just. when i moved in. a couple months ago.

(i am obviously also very aware of what danny is saying about steve not sleeping and how that’s a new thing because it wasn’t like that a few months ago and steve’s evasiness about it and i am VERY WORRIED ABOUT THAT but i’m also electing to somewhat ignore it because. my god. screw that. we don’t want any of where that seems to be headed in this house.)

“i appreciate it. thank you.” this is growth and it’s good and it’s steve realizing that maybe just his quippy putdown isn’t enough of a response to danny’s genuine offer of support! (and again, we’re not thinking about reasons why he might want to think twice about how he treats danny so danny will know he’s appreciated, because there is no reason for steve to be worried about that, because nothing is going to happen.)

steve: “cuff him, danno.” DANNO. danno has returned from war!!

fjdkfd and then steve says it again in like, the next sentence he says. really cramming in those danno’s suddenly.

oh noooooo. quinn tells adam that jake could be a very good dad (which is valid! addiction is a disease and it’s good to know he wasn’t always like this to olivia, even if i don’t think it excuses what’s happening now), but then she says that jake was all the things she always wished her own dad could be and that maybe that’s why she was so drawn to him, and. okay. did not need that. h50 has a tendency to make women compare their love interests to their dads that makes me very uncomfortable. (the other big one that springs to mind is when abby and chin are courting and chin opens a car door for abby and she says something about how she always admired chivalry in her dad and she thought that died out with his generation and it’s this weird thing where she seems to be flirting by going “wink wonk you make me think of my dad” and oh my god. let’s just say it’s very much not my thing.)

steve and danny end up holed up in a cabin while seven people shoot at them and ahhh, just like old times. also just like last episode, to be honest, with the whole cabin filled with poison thing, but at least there’s no poison this time! that’s a plus!

steve’s improv involves LASSO’ING a guy i’m screaming

dude gets the drop on steve, they have an epic fight, steve HITS HIS HEAD and the dude picks up a GIANT LOG to hulksmash on steve’s head, presumably, and then danny swoops in to the rescue and!!! that’s also very much like old times!!! especially with this forest green color scheme and steve lying on the floor a little dazed it really reminds me of that episode with the girlscout troop in season 3.

(so. in this possible universe we’re not talking about where steve might be sick again and could be pacing at night because he knows or fears he’s going to die (you know the one) do you think that maybe part of why his first words to danny are “why’d you leave the cabin? that wasn’t the plan” is that he was kind of... hoping the other guy would get to finish him off? do you ever think about how steve mcgarrett, man of action, would almost definitely rather go out in a blaze of glory after taking out six guys all on his own with danny having his back, than after watching his own body slowly betray him and give out on him after losing a painful and drawn-out fight with itself?)

confused, frowny steve who almost definitely has a concussion and is also still very bloody is oddly cute, gosh. also, nincompoop! definitely one of danny’s most wonderful insults yet.

quinn gets her ex arrested and yells at him and tells him that if he doesn’t clean up his act, he’ll lose custody of his daughter, and then she drives away and she’s sobbing and trying not to and just !!!!! this was definitely the good kind of “quinn has an ex-husband” storyline, but also very painful.

the sunset scene! seen this in gifset too, but hoooo boy, it hits very differently with actual sound. (i may also have described the scene to my sister and mentioned the “probably ‘cause i figured i’d see a million more” and her immediate response was “oooh, he’s dead” and yES, that’s what i was TELLING YOU i’m worried about and also what i’m not thinking about so let’s just pretend i’m not typing these words right now.)

fdjkfdjkfd i’m sure that steve turning to danny just as he says “those are the things that you’re gonna miss the most in the end, you know” after mentioning things you see every day is just. a total coincidence. yeah. he’s totally just turning away from this sunset he was so entranced by a moment ago to look at danny’s face because he wants to stretch his neck. uh huh.

there’s banter about squirrels and it’s good and then steve says “admit it danny, you’re gonna miss this when it’s done” and that sounds very meta, omg, but it gets better when danny says “yeah, maybe, but i would never say it out loud” because that is literally a way to say it, out loud.

a very good episode!! i loved meeting olivia and learning about quinn’s background and there was some prime tani content and to top it off a lot of mcdanno in the second half, and if we just completely ignore that this episode also made my anxiety about the series finale skyrocket (which i knew it would, based on what i’d gathered of other people’s response to it, but that still didn’t accurately prepare me) it was wonderful and i liked it a lot!

#10.19 #h50 spoilers #h50 #I. DO NOT WANT TO THINK ABOUT WHAT MIGHT BE AHEAD

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inspirationdivine · 4 years

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Weight of the Word || Lydia and Rio

Timing: Current Parties: @3starsquinn and @inspirationdivine Summary: Lydia and Rio encounter an Aufhocker. Athena’s “Orion no!” senses are definitely tingling. Warnings: very brief abuse mention (Quinn parents)

Lydia hadn’t returned to the park since she’d come across the body with Morgan. In fact, as she stood as the entrance, she shivered as if ice was trickling down her spine. Maybe not the park, no matter how beautiful the sun was. What about a deeper thicket of trees? Where there was a smaller chance of finding a dead corpse because there was a smaller chance of finding anyone, while still getting that fresh summer air. She shoved her hand into her purse, to feel the cool reassuring ivory of her gun’s handle safely tucked in there. Not much help against a warden, but spellcasters died much the same way anyone else did. All the same, even as she walked through the forest, she could feel herself failing to relax, even in the light of nature’s beauty. When she heard some leaves rustle, she almost jumped right out of her glamour, pistol drawn in a moment. “Who’s there?”

Against his better judgement, Orion found himself floating throughout the trees still. He had tried staying away. The incident with the trolls had really done a number on him. One that he still wasn’t sure how to process. People like Winston and Ricky helped. Self defense was a good argument, and life or death made it sound even more reasonable. But he still couldn’t shake that feeling. That what if? If only he could have done something else. But it didn’t matter. The Scribe headquarters meant that a walk through the woods was unavoidable. Plus, he had spent so much of his life walking through the town that he had learned the quickest way around it was through the forest. That didn’t stop his heart from plummeting when he heard the rustling in the woods. He froze on the spot, refusing to even breathe on the off chance that he had run into any danger. He didn’t relax until he heard a woman’s voice and sighed in relief, slowly walking out from behind a tree and speaking loud enough for the woman to hear without trying to sound like he was being intimidating. Not that Rio even knew how to be intimidating. “It’s me. I mean just me. Rio. Rio is me.” Rio introduced himself, realizing that saying that it was him didn’t give much information to the lady, “Don’t worry I’m not here t-” His sentence was cut off when he finally caught side of the woman, gun drawn and pointed directly at him. The panic returned in an instant, and Rio jumped a mile into the sky, both hands raised in surrender and moments away from falling to his knees. “Don’t shoot me please! I’m just a college student. And part time pizza prep guy. And morgue assistant” All of that definitely wasn’t necessary, but he was frazzled. “Please don’t shoot!”

Lydia stared at him, and slowly lowered the pistol between them, gasping deeply like she’d forgotten to breathe when she saw him. She had, her heart had leapt into her throat. “You work with Regan?” She asked, staring at him, and while she held it pointed away from him, she didn’t put it away yet. They weren’t that far- Lydia blinked hard, pushing that thought far away from them. If she needed to, she could get into the trees, she could shoot him dead, and almost no one would hear her run away from the crime scene. Terror like that, though, it was hard to fake. Not that Regan was known for being a people person, or a good read on anything. “My apologies, I do not like to be snuck up on.”

Orion gave the woman a puzzled look. “The doctor?” He questioned here. He suddenly wondered if she was familiar with the doctor in normal, human size or pixie sized. Not that Rio doubted the doctor when she told him that she was not normally inches tall, but he did wonder how long she had been the height she currently was. Even more so, he had no idea what she had to do with the conversation. At least until he realized what he had said as he had failed to stumble through even the simplest of introductions to the stranger. “Oh! Oh. No. I mean, I know her but I don’t work with her. I uh- dead people.” He paused. Jesus Christ. Way to go, Rio. Really comforting way to correct yourself to the woman with a gun. “I mean- uh I misspoke. Sorry. I work at a funeral home. With dead people. I mean I don’t deal with dead people. But I work for Erin, who does.” He sighed, surprised that the woman hadn’t just shot him to put both of them out of their misery. “I’m sorry I just- I don’t like guns. At all. Especially when they’re pointed at me.” She must have realized through the incessant babbling that Rio clearly wasn’t threatening and lowered the gun, much to his own relief. He finally lowered his hands, placing one against his heart and using the other to prop himself a tree instead, taking deep breaths to make up for the oxygen he had lost rambling. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to sneak up on you. I heard rustling and wanted to make sure no one was hurt or something.” He tried explaining further, making sure not to take any extra steps in her direction to freak her out any further, “You’re uh- not hurt or something right?”

“Dead people?” Lydia repeated, squinting. “Right, I see. You work with Erin.” Not that Lydia knew who Erin was, but he loved to ramble, so she let him, still squeezing her palm around her pistol’s handle. “I don’t think many people like pistols pointed at them,” she agreed. “No, not currently,” Lydia replied, looking over herself to confirm indeed she wasn’t hurt, standing straight and dropping her shoulders. “I was merely frightened by you. Sorry. I think this town is getting to me.” All at once, it was as if she had jinxed it, she heard more rustling of leaves on the forest floor to her right, deeper in the forest. Lydia tensed up, until a little black dog burst out of the leaves and ran up to them with a bright wagging tail, playfully sniffling around them. “Hello little one. Is your owner nearby?” She asked softly, smiling as she crouched to pet the pup.

Orion couldn’t help but keep his eyes trained on the gun. Even though he was pretty sure that the woman had no plans to shoot him. Just the thing being on display made his heart beat slam against his chest. It wasn’t that surprising in all honesty, Rio could trace back to the root of his fear of guns. It was the same thing that caused most of his fears. The Quinn parents had really done a number, huh? He shook the thought away, trying to focus on the woman’s words even if he was still eyeing the gun. “Yeah uh- this town has that effect on people. You must be semi new then?” Maybe Rio would never get over his fears, but he had at least come to expect them in a town like this. Growing up in White Crest was trauma enough, especially growing up with supernatural knowledge. “I uh- I didn’t get your name, by the way.” He had introduced himself in a panic, waving around frantically in an attempt to not get shot. But the woman had never shared her own. He was quickly distracted, when another noise could be heard within the trees and Rio leapt inches into the other, hopping away from the rustling but turning towards it. He let out a nervous chuckle when he realized it was just a dog. One that the woman had seemed to take a quicker liking to than she had to Rio. He rubbed at the back of his neck and smiled at the puppy, expecting an owner to be following behind shortly, but Rio couldn’t hear anyone coming from the woods. And he didn’t see a collar either. Was it a stray? Suddenly, the dog leapt into the air, gaining an impressive height before landing on the woman. Rio stumbled forward as quickly as he could to help steady her if needed and make sure she wasn’t knocked down from the dog’s sudden pouncing. “Hey! Oh god are you okay?”

“Lydia,” she replied with a polite yet curt smile. One moment, the puppy had been sweet as syrup, tilting and stretching its little head with its eyes slowly drifting closed as she scratched under its jaw. Lydia shuffled slightly to make sense of it. She didn’t even notice the tiny snap of a twig under her heels. The dog leapt with a deep snarl - deeper than it had any right to be - and sank its claws into Lydia’s coat, ripping right through three thousand dollars worth of material. “Ow!” Lydia yelled, staggering against a tree. She tried to shake it off, all too aware of her wings glamoured away just beneath his claws. “Get it off me! Get it off!”

Either this dog really had some sort of vendetta against Lydia, or this was no dog at all. Orion’s brain began racing, a hundred possibilities running through his head. If this wasn’t a dog, what could it be? And why was it suddenly attacking Lydia? Moments ago, the animal had been happily accepting attention from the woman. Rio grabbed onto the dog, attempting to pull it free from Lydia, but even with Rio’s enhanced strength, he couldn’t get the grip free. More than that, this thing seemed to be getting heavier. Definitely not a dog. Which begged the question: What the heck was this thing? From the looks of it, Rio didn’t have much time to figure out. “Oh my god oh my god oh my god” Rio repeated again and again, letting go of the dog and hopping up and down and frantically thinking about what he could do. “Are you okay? What’s happening?” He needed information. That was the only thing he could do to help. He needed to help her before it was too late.

Lydia squealed in disgust as she fet something warm and wet drip down her back, black dog slobber messing up her clothes. He grabbed on and Lydia tried to yanked herself free from the dog, but it just grew even heavier as she flailed. “NO, don’t stop! Rio!” She cried, clutching the tree for support. “It’s heavy and it’s slobbering down my neck!” Lydia yelled frantically. It had been a day or two since she had eaten, she was strong, but not at her strongest. “Call animal control, or something!” She snapped, holding out her pistol for him. “Or shoot it! Just get it off me!” She could pull him close, press her lips to his and get all the strength she needed. Lydia stumbled, and snap, snap, snap went the twigs nearby. The beast on her back grew.

Understandably, Lydia was freaking out. Orion was too, and he wasn’t even the one being bogged down by some sort of evil dog with an unbreakable grip. The woman screaming his name pierced his skin and sent a shiver down his back. He had never heard his name screamed quite like that before. He had heard it in anger, but never in desperation like this was. He was needed. He had to do something. Otherwise, this woman could die. And Rio would have proven to be just as worthless as he was afraid he was. Lydia handed the gun off to him and Rio just stared at it for a long moment before giving it and gingery grabbing it from her, holding it by his index finger and thumb and keeping his arms extended as far away from himself as he could. But he knew this was useless. A gun wasn’t going to stop this thing. What would help was Rio’s brain focusing. He knew what this thing was. He knew he did. It was some kind of wolf. He had spent his entire life learning about supernatural beasts. There were clues here. He was growing. He couldn’t be torn off and… it was heavy. The puppy couldn’t have weighed more than ten pounds at the beginning. And Rio had realized while pulling that he was getting stronger. The puzzle pieces started to fit together, and Rio was starting to form an idea. “I can’t- this gun won’t do anything against it.” Rio admitted to Lydia, using his finger to click the safety on before finally stuffing it into his pocket. This gun wouldn’t hurt it, but Rio had an idea. He just hoped that he was right. “I- I have an idea. But we have to leave. Right now. I don’t-” Did this woman know about the supernatural? Would she think he was insane? “I just need you to trust me okay? I’m going to help you. I promise I’ll get this thing off of you.” He slid over to grab onto Lydia. Just as he thought, the weight of the dog was getting heavier and heavier. If they were going to make it anywhere, it needed to be now. “Follow me.” He spoke through rapid breaths, holding her up as he began walking.

Lydia almost asked, biting back a whimper as the beast snarled by her ear. It wasn’t a good idea to ask, because it would only frighten her more, so she grit her teeth together. What happens when it gets too heavy for me to carry? He didn’t even do anything useful when he took the pistol, looking at her like she’d handed him a bomb instead of a usable weapon. “Do something!” Instead, he clicked the safety and Lydia stamped her foot. “What do you mean it wouldn’t work?” In the non-panicked inch of her mind, Lydia knew. There were creatures bullets couldn’t kill. That didn’t mean she had to like it, but maybe this person knew what would kill it. She just had to… be strong, which was easier said than done when her stomach muscles were beginning to burn. She didn’t even smile as she felt his promise settle into place, and let his other words bind him too. If he failed and the wolf monster killed her, well, it’d probably kill him too, but if she could motivate him to stay, then Lydia would use everything she had. He grabbed her, and Lydia nodded, marvelling at how strong he was for such a compact body. “Lead the way, it’s not like- Ah, it’s not like I can go anywhere else!”

How much could Orion explain that Lydia would understand? Did she know about the supernatural? Or did she think he was absolutely insane? She certainly didn’t seem pleased that Rio wasn’t going to shoot the dog. He didn’t think a gun would work anyways, and chances were he would just end up shooting Lydia. That wouldn’t help the situation at all. But eventually, she decided to trust him. Or rather, she probably decided that she didn’t have any other choice. Trust may not have been a factor at all. As the two began walking, Rio pushing the two forward as quickly as he could, he finally answered her, “This isn’t… a normal dog” he began, biting his lip and trying to carefully pick his words before saying them aloud, “It can’t be killed by normal means. Which sounds crazy, I know. But it’s true. Seriously.” From the angle he was pushing, he couldn’t actually see Lydia’s face to determine whether or not she believed him. He supposed by this point it didn’t really matter if she believed him or not. Before long, the two would find out for sure whether Rio was right or not. Or the two would slip up. Crumble to the pressure, literally, and fall over. If Rio was right, he definitely didn’t want to see that. The two continued on, the weight of the dog getting heavier and heavier. He wasn’t sure one person would have been enough at this point. At least not one person with regular strength. But Rio’s strength would only take her so far.

If she hadn’t had a dog weighing on her back so heavily that Lydia was hunched over, if she wasn’t so frightened she could barely breath, Lydia might have sighed in relief. Obviously, it was no normal dog. So of course it couldn’t be just killed. All the same, Lydia clung to him as if her life depended on it, wondering if it did. If maybe the wolf would just climb off her when it got bored, instead of ripping out her throat. “I’ll have to trust you.” Each step out of the woods, it grew heavier and heavier, until she caught sight of one of its fangs from the corner of her eyes, and Lydia whimpered, It was as long as her fingers and glistened with drool If they weren’t both so strong. Lydia swallowed as they emerged from the woods, her legs trembling. “Where’re we going?”

This was getting harder. Not just because the weight of the dog was becoming more and more crushing, but because Lydia’s nails dug into Orion’s arm and he was at a really awkward angle right now. It would be his luck that he would end up dying from a cramp they caused the two to tumble over and get mauled by a supernatural dog. Plus side, Lydia was trusting Rio. Not that she had much of a choice at the moment, but hey, small victories! Now he couldn’t get her killed. She had put her faith in him. And speaking of faith, Lydia wanted to know where they were going. Rio didn’t like the answer, mostly because he hadn’t been back there since he ran away from the Quinn house. But despite his apprehension, he supposed the place may actually come in handy today. Plus, it was because of the forced attendance that he even knew there was one close by. Just over this hill and it would be at the bottom. “We’re uh- going to church.” Rio sighed. This was the worst.

“Right, great.” Lydia replied with a strain in her voice. She just needed to be a little stronger. It didn’t seem to be growing heavier or larger now that they were struggling up the pavement, but her legs were turning to jelly. Her side cramped up. She needed more strength in her than her most recent meal had left her. As Rio helped pull her over the hill, she eyed the side of his head. He didn’t feel all that artistic, but she only needed a tiny amount to take some of his life. Not a full meal, but a taste. Lydia leant into his grip, and sipped at his life force. It reinvigorated her, more powerful than she’d expected. He had a lot of life in him. With this new found strength of hers, they reached the top of the hill. “That one there?” Lydia asked, tilting her head to the church below.

Orion was exhausted. He had broken out into a sweat, supporting the weight of Lydia and the demon dog hellbent on murdering the two of them. Or at least Lydia, Rio wasn’t really sure on the specifics of whether the dog would pick him as his next meal or not. Hard to tell, honestly. The weight of the creature had been getting gradually heavier as the two had walked out of the forest and towards the road. The weight seemed to be getting heavier at a faster rate, or Rio’s body was beginning to give out on him. Rio couldn’t be sure, but he did know that the hunter strength and endurance seemed to be failing him at the moment. If he was supposed to be so advanced, while couldn’t he help carry a lady and one measly supernatural dog to a church? As if he needed anymore examples as to why this power was overrated and disappointed. He rolled his eyes at his own thoughts and kept forward, legs beginning to tremble under the pressure. But he continued. They were so. Freaking. Close. “That’s the one. We’re almost there.” Rio breathed heavily, wiping at the sweat that had pooled on his face. So gross. “Be careful going down. The last thing we want is to get eaten after coming all this way because we trip or something.” He was talking to himself more than Lydia, trying to verbally convince himself that if there was anytime to not be clumsy. This was the one. But even that thought was hard to remember when all he could think about was how tired he was.

“Saying things like that doesn’t help,” Lydia said, hot breath of the beast hissing down her neck, that was already wet with slobber and sweat. If they made it out tonight, it was her turn to drink a large vaseful of wine. If. That was a terrible thought indeed. If she needed it, she could pull more life from him to sustain her own strength, but his was still more than hers for the moment. They wouldn’t fall, they wouldn’t fall, they wo- Lydia groaned as she dropped her elbows onto the stone wall by the church, her knees ready to buckle. “Now what. Now what!” She yelled. He’d promised he’d help her, so why wasn’t he helping? Why wasn’t he doing anything?? Lydia yelled in pain as the church bells rang the hour. One, two, three… The beast on her yelped, and Lydia almost collapsed as it jumped from her back, shrinking down to the black furred pup it had been before, and ran back up the hill. Lydia’s knees buckled and she groaned as she fell to the ground, pressing her forehead against the cool wall. “How- how did you know?”

They made it to the church. Somehow, they had made it to the church. And yet… the dog hadn’t left. Orion fought back tears from escaping, not that it would have been that noticeable through the sweat. But the sniffling definitely would have been embarrassing. He needed to get inside of the church. Or he needed to throw something. He couldn’t even muster up the strength to pull his phone from his pocket and check the time. He was too tired. Too drained. The stone wall was a welcome reprieve, but it only gave them a short break. He couldn’t keep it up much longer. He couldn- His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the church bells. Holy crap. The sound was loud and echoed, every chime like a nail being jammed into Rio’s eardrum, stupid hunter hearing. But even as he winced and tried to shove his elbow against an ear to block some of it out, he was so happy to hear that noise. Rio held his breath, hoping that he hadn’t been wrong this whole time. He was beginning to doubt himself, when nothing immediately happened. But finally the animal hopped off of Lydia’s back, a tremendous weight being lifted from both of their shoulders and the dog ran back up the hill, returning to the small size it had been. Rio collapsed onto the ground, rolling over onto his back and letting the grass, cold and moist from dew, cool the back of his neck. He was almost tempted to roll up his sleeves and let the grass cool his arms. Almost. Instead, he remained motionless on the grass, his eyes closing as he finally regained some normal breathing. “I- I read about it.” Rio explained, peaking an eye open to glance at Lydia, who looked just as tired as he did. “It’s called an Aufhocker. It doesn’t like loud noises or the sun. It really doesn’t like church bells.” As if speaking the name brought back the memories, an epiphany finally hit Rio. The twigs! It had been growing in size because of the twigs. That’s how that happened. Would have been real helpful information an hour ago. “I’m uh- glad that it worked honestly. I’ve never actually been around one of those things in real life.”

Lydia panted hard, unsure if she’d ever be able to stand up again. The rock wasn’t enough to cool her, but as she lay there, effectively kneeling in front of the church, Lydia laughed. She prayed briefly, for kindness and forgiveness, and safety from whatever had just attacked her. An Aufhocker. “I’m incredibly fortunate you had read about it then.” She promised herself that she would ask Jared about them later, although perhaps without mentioning how close she’d come to her own demise. She looked sideways at the boy collapsed in the grass. “You could have left me. I am grateful that you didn’t.” Lydia spoke in short bursts, her chest aching from the exertion on her back. “You’re strong, your hearing is sensitive, you have so much… you’re warm.” She’d almost told him he had so much life in his, but that was a strange thing to say. “You aren’t… What are you?” A werewolf, perhaps? Lydia slowly twisted so she could sit leaning against the wall instead of just pressing her forehead against it. All she could think was… thank god she wasn’t wearing heels today.

Lydia didn’t seem completely opposed to the idea of the aufhocker. Whether that was because she had just witnessed the beast for herself or because she was already familiar with the supernatural, Orion couldn’t be sure. In a town like this, it seemed like it would be hard not to know about it. But that never seemed to stop the majority of its residents from living their lives in ignorant bliss. Or uh- dying in it as well. As morbid as that was to consider. “I wouldn’t have left you.” Rio sat straight up at her comment, a wave of dizziness rushing to his head that almost forced him to lie back down. But he stayed upright, his legs still displayed against the greenery of the church yard. “You were in trouble. If I left you back there-” He didn’t know how to finish the sentence. He’d be as much of a monster as that thing? Was the Aufhocker even a monster? It was certainly dangerous. His parents had been sure to drill that point home. But Rio was more interested in why it did what it did. “I couldn’t do that.” He settled on. And then practically filling in the blanks for Rio, Lydia questioned his strength. So she definitely knew something about the supernatural. “Uh-” Rio didn’t know what to say. Would she know what a hunter was? Would she be glad to hear it or displeased? “I’m a human. Mostly. I just have… some special abilities. Heightened senses and what not.” He didn’t want to come clean. To admit to something that he wasn’t. As if to drive the point home, just in case she did know what a hunter was, he clarified “I’m glad he lived through that. The dog… thing. I don’t think I could have killed it. I mean… I’m not sure they are killable. But like, also I don’t really kill things.” Rio sighed, was that obvious enough? “You uh- don’t seem all that shocked about a growing dog and a kid with super strength.” He winced at himself for labelling himself as a kid. How did he expect others to stop doing it when he was doing it himself?

Everything he said about how he couldn’t have possibly left Lydia went right out the window when he told her what he was. Or rather, when he didn’t tell her what he was. Lydia, who had barely had time to recover from the bone crushing weight of the Aufhocker, began to panic once more. Blood rushed in her ears as she tried to stand up. It was a trap All this had been a trap. To what? Get her to a more convenient hunting ground? An easier place to hide her body?? “Oh god,” Lydia whimpered as she reached for her pistol, only to remember it was in his pocket. He’d disarmed her and exhausted her with a terrifying brilliance. “No, no, please,” She whimpered, scrabbling to her feet. She wobbled as she stepped back, and stumbled into the wall. Her chin trembled, eyes springing full of tears. “I didn’t do anything. Please. I won’t - get away from me! Get away from me! HELP!”

Orion honestly had no idea what had just happened. One moment, the two were catching their breaths after escaping near certain death together. They were casually talking in what may have been the least awkward conversation Rio had ever had with a stranger. Something about the exhaustion had sapped the anxiety from him. Well, at least until Lydia had started freaking out, screaming at him and trying desperately to get away from him, leaving him lying there in the grass, completely dumbfounded. “Hey! Hey! What’s wrong?” Rio crawled up to his feet, his energy already beginning to return to him. Okay, maybe the hunter endurance hadn’t completely failed him after all. Though clearly, standing up and towering over the woman hadn’t been the right choice. Seeing the error immediately, Rio dropped back down, this time onto his knees. As he did, he felt a stabbing pain in his side, and with a sudden, fear inducing realization he realized that he had come this entire way carrying a freaking gun. He felt hot all around. He hated guns. Hated them. “I don’t know what’s going on- but I’m not going to hurt you!” He held his hands up in surrender, his palms facing towards Lydia and slinking away from her. Clearly, it was best not to move any closer to her. “I don’t- Please don’t leave me with your gun. I hate guns.” He pulled the gun from his waist, making sure to angle it away from Lydia and setting it on the grass between them, as far from himself as his arms would reach. “I also hate getting shot so uh- please don’t shoot me?” He tried for a smile, but he could feel his lips trembling. This was a gesture of good faith, yeah? Lydia wasn’t actually going to shoot him. Right?

Lydia tried to scrabble further back as he towered over, her scream turning into a squeak, her legs too weak to get up and run the way she needed. Chances were, even if she tried he’d gun her down. Whimpering at that thought, she clung to the wall, urging herself to get back up, run, do anything other than lie there and die. He dropped back down to his knees as a trick, to get her to calm down. Why?? He’d won. All he had to do was to lunge forward and snap her neck, or shoot her, or use any of the dozen knives he must have on his person to tear into her. Maybe he was one of the cruelest ones, that liked to play mind games before slowly tearing them apart. “Please, I haven’t - I don’t hurt people, please,” She flinched as he raised his hands, even if it was in surrender, and he spoke. Lydia grabbed his words and twisted them into a promise too. He wouldn’t hurt her, he said, and now he couldn’t. Maybe he didn’t know what she was. Lydia panted, sitting a little more upright. Flinching as he pulled out her pistol, Lydia watched him set it on the grass and then lean back. Her gaze darted from him to the pistol, and back to him, before Lydia lunged for the pistol, and aimed it right at him. “Don’t move. You’re a hunter!”

Maybe giving the gun back to her had been a bad idea. As far as decisions went, it hadn’t been one of Orion’s smartest choices. But when had Rio ever been applauded for making particularly intelligent choices? He swore he was the dumbest smart kid alive. “I don’t hurt people either.” Rio tried to reassure Lydia. That was why he was giving up the gun. A peace offering of sorts. Only, Lydia grabbed the gun and trained it on him. Rio felt his heartbeat jump and he kept his hands held up in surrender. Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry. He kept repeating the mantra to himself. Over and over hoping that he would follow his own advice. “I’m not!” Rio frantically claimed, his voice was erratic and came out scratchier than he had intended. Of course this was about being a hunter. This was the response that he expected every time someone found out. This was the response he deserved. He took a deep breath to try to gather himself before trying again, “I’m not.” Okay, that sounded a bit better, “I mean genetically yes. I guess. But I’m not like them. I don’t hunt. Anything.” He supposed he couldn’t honestly say that he hadn’t killed anything. The troll was a near constant reminder of that. “I don’t want to hurt you. Just like I didn’t want to hurt the Aufhocker.” How did people stay calm with a gun pointed at them? Rio was seconds away from hyperventilating, a minute from a full on panic attack. At that point, Lydia probably would shoot him, “Please don’t shoot me. I- I don’t want to die.” Now. Finally. He truly didn’t want to die.

Lydia’s arms trembled just from the weight of holding up her tiny pistol. All of her was exhausted. The trembling could just as much be terror. She swallowed, slowly getting to her feet. She’d need a cab to get her home, but she couldn’t call one when he was still there. Her legs wobbled. “I am not like that animal!” Lydia wanted to glance around, in case it was coming back, but wardens moved fast as lightning and carried iron in their veins. He didn’t need a weapon when he was the weapon. “I don’t want to die either! And the last thing I need is a dead hunter that other hunters want to avenge. I don’t- I don’t understand. So what, you don’t hunt, but instead you’ll tell every hunter you know about me? How is that better?” Her voice cracked, not even aware that exhaustion had her lowering the barrel. He couldn’t hurt her. He couldn’t hurt her. It wasn’t a reassuring mantra in the slightest. “Why should I believe you?”

This wasn’t going well. Orion couldn’t keep his composure for much longer. If the shaking and heavy breathing could even be considered composed. He would have a full on meltdown soon. And he didn’t think that Lydia was exactly the type to fetch his inhaler for him. Okay, well Rio had not meant to compare her to the creature before, but noted. If Lydia wasn’t human… what was she? Clearly not a werewolf, Rio would have sensed it. Unless she had some sort of magic to stop it. He wondered if Winston knew anything about that. “We don’t have to! Neither of us should die. We got away from the thing trying to kill us!” They had worked together. Gotten through the forest, and over a hill and to a church of all places. Wasn’t that like bonding? Couldn’t they be friends or something now? “I don’t think there are many hunters that would be dead set on avenging me” Rio found himself saying, then immediately cursed himself for practically giving her an excuse to shoot him. Nic probably wouldn’t be happy. Maybe Kaden and Alain. Athena would definitely lose her mind, but Athena would have no regrets about killing this woman regardless. “I don’t even talk to hunters. Not really!” That wasn’t the entire truth, but it was true enough. “I don’t like hunters. Or hunting. I want to protect the supernatural. Not hurt them. I-” He broke off into a sob. There it went. He knew he couldn’t hold the tears back forever. “I don’t know how to prove it to you. Or how to get you to believe me. But I’m telling the truth!”

He sounded so much like Lydia had moments ago, pleading for his life.The difference was that he kept putting himself down, telling her how little he was worth to others, which would only make it easier to kill him. He sobbed as she stared at him. It wasn’t pity. It certainly wasn’t empathy. It was the cold, calculating cogs of Lydia’s mind that had her slowly lowering the gun, until it wasn’t pointed at him any more. Once again, she was ready to change that at a moment’s notice. Which was a second’s length away from being ready to shoot at a moment’s notice. She had to trust the promises, and look beyond the terror of the last hour. Beat the fear, and see the opportunity here. He wasn’t valued by other hunters. He didn’t hunt. He wanted to protect. There was a treasure trove to use here, if only she could get her own heart to stop screaming. Humans like him had killed her sister, but if she could see past that…. Lydia swallowed. “You know, this really wasn’t what I was planning to do with my afternoon,” she said softly, her voice breaking around her chuckle.

Orion didn’t want to look anymore. If he was going to die, he didn’t want to see it happen. So he shut his eyes. Tried picturing better things. Like that day at the carnival, surrounded by his closest friends, hours away from holding hands with Winston. He thought about dying his hair with Blanche. Pleasant memories, even if both times had been coupled with different traumatizing events. He thought about Layla and how it had felt when the two had escaped from the vampire. Or how close he felt to Nic, despite how different the two were. How he wished he had more time to watch anime with Skye and Winston, or to help Skye figure out that being a Selkie wasn’t as bad as she thought it was. But the longer he sat there thinking about all of these things, he realized that he was still here, doing just that. He hadn’t been shot yet. He risked opening an eye, blinking through the tears and looking at Lydia. She had lowered the gun. Rio opened both eyes now, staring a bit wide-eyed at her. He hadn’t expected this. With Lydia, it seemed like he didn’t really know what to expect next. When Lydia spoke again, Rio laughed through one last sob, using his sleeves to wipe away at the tears that had been streaming down his face. “Me neither.” Rio agreed. Now he was emotionally drained along with physically drained. He fell back from the spot he had been anchored to, falling back on his beat and cradling his knees against his chest in a fetal position. His knees stung from how long he had been resting in that position, “I don’t- Neither of us wants to hurt the other. I don’t think.” At least, considering she had pulled the gun away, he hoped that she didn’t want to hurt him. “Maybe we can just call a cab. And go home?”

Lydia pulled a handkerchief from her purse, and held it out for him to wipe his face properly, if he so wanted it. Her eyes were red, her mouth full of fearful saliva, her hair messed beyond recognition and her clothes destroyed too. She sat outside a church with a gun in her hands and a hunter in front of her. It might as well have been a nightmare. A hunter that didn’t hunt, no less, that was cowardly and weak emotionally. Her lips quirked slightly, as if she was feeling self-deprecating, or self conscious. “No, I don’t want to hurt you,” Lydia agreed softly. Not for now, anyway. She sat on the wall, looking over the graveyard of the church. A dozen tombstones as old as her dotted the grounds. Lydia itched for a bath, for a hot drink, and the comfort of Remmy’s pleasant presence. Maybe she’d even make those plans to meet with Deirdre in the mirror district, and work out how to make their fairy ring debacle right again. That was one friend she couldn’t afford to lose. “I think that’s- I think that’s probably a good idea. Rio, right? Can I pay for your cab?”

There was a wave of relief as Orion realized that he wasn’t dying. Especially at a church, which was objectively the worst place that he could possibly have been killed. He took the handkerchief timidly from Lydia and patted at his cheeks softly. He didn’t know how these things worked. Was he supposed to give it back to her now? Would she ever want it back? “Thank you” He nodded. Finally, Rio risked standing again. He slowly pushed himself off the ground, climbing to his feet and testing the waters. His leg had fallen asleep, and his body ached all over from the walk, but other than that he was functional. He wobbled away from Lydia, only a few feet away, just enough to lean against a tree and shake his leg in an attempt to wake it up. “You really don’t have to do that.” Rio smiled. He almost offered that they just share one into town. But he decided that going their separate ways would probably be for the best today. “But uh- I can order a lyft or something. One for each of us.” Rio pulled his phone from his pocket. The only reason he even had the app had been because of Blanche. He used to just drive or walk anywhere he needed to go. “Do I uh- Do you want the handkerchief back?” He asked Lydia, holding it up for show.

Lydia’s eyes flickered as he thanked her. If she hadn’t known already, Lydia was certain of it now - he had never had a long conversation with a warden about hunting. She smiled, as graciously as she could manage considering both their states, accepting it completely. All the same, when he stood up, Lydia tensed, hand tightening around the handle of her gun. Trying not to look like her heart was planning its evacuation from her chest. “I’ll order my own, don’t worry about it.” She said softly, tapping away at her phone when he addressed her again. Lydia looked up, and shook her head. He really was practically a child. “Keep it,” Lydia said. Just like she would keep the three promises binding him to her close to her chest, to be saved for another time.

#wickedswriting #the working docs title for this 'soft and definitely fine'#para #chatzy #rio

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chameleon-of-the-fandom · 6 years

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Repetitive Treatment: Chapter 3

Words: 1481

Warnings: Abuse

A/N: (Y/D/N) = Your Dad’s Name; (Y/M/N) = Your Mom’s Name; Also, the medical part is probably inaccurate, I’m not a doctor, so just going off what I know. Chapter 4 will be up Monday! Enjoy!

Sweet Pea exhales harshly, his world stopping at the doctor's words. He thinks about the pain you must've been in when you called him. "When can we go see her?" The words tumbled out gruffly.

"As soon as she is settled in the ICU, a nurse will take you back." Doctor Sillaw smiles sympathetically at the people standing in front of him. Sweet Pea wants to punch something, but restrains himself so he doesn't get kicked out of the hospital before he can see you. He turns back to the chairs and sighs.

FP must notice because he speaks, "Sweet Pea. Use some of that pent up energy and get me a coffee will ya?"

FP doesn't actually want a coffee, but he knows how hard the boy is trying to behave. He looks at your parents. They have dark circles under their eyes, and (Y/D/N)'s clothes are ruffled, like he hasn’t changed in a day or two. FP wonders how long you were at your boyfriend's before calling for help.

"How long have you been waiting?" FP asks, trying not to be insensitive. But, he has a sneaking suspicion that (Y/N) has been gone longer than they realize.

(Y/M/N) eyes shoot up to meet FP's. "She went over yesterday morning to study with him. We figured something happened when she didn't call last night, but I convinced (Y/D/N) that we were probably just overreacting." She broke off into muted sobs, and (Y/D/N) hugged her to his chest, trying to comfort her.

FP nods sadly, in understanding. Having a teenage son, he understood the connection between lack of communication and the climb of parental concern. He may not have been the best father, but he still tried. Jughead had always been able to forgive, but struggled with forgetting, not that FP blamed him. You can only be vulnerable to someone so many times and be hurt before drawing a line in the sand.

(Y/D/N) looks at FP, "Tell me you'll have her back. Tell me you'll get revenge on this son of a bitch." He is almost pleading, and the venom and lack of compassion takes FP by surprise.

"Of course, right now, we just need to let the Sheriff handle it, though, (Y/D/N)." FP means it. When the Serpents find out what Alex did to you, they would hold nothing back. Not like they did with the Bulldogs. That was different though. The Bulldogs simply messed with the nest, but Alex messed with their loved one. No one would ever get away with that. Ever.

Toni sits in the hard plastic chair once again. How could someone do this? She still wonders. Toni is heartbroken for you. And she continues to try and figure out when Alex's abuse started. You had been wearing more long-sleeves lately, but it hadn't been that different. Compared to a lot of the female Serpents, you were quite modest. Her two best friends had found that quite refreshing. Quite honestly, so had she. She remembered when you had first walked in. You had strolled through the doors with a quiet confidence, stunning in the jeans and bright red tank top you wore. She got nervous about your safety when you made your way to the bar, and though she couldn't hear what you said, she watched as Hog Eye threw his head back in a laugh. She had been impressed, most people were too intimidated by him to even try to crack a joke. Suddenly, the doors were thrown open, and Sweet Pea, Fangs, and a few other Serpents stumbled through. You stood up straight, and made your way over to the blood-covered Serpents. Toni almost winced when Sweet Pea started chuckling at you, but he stopped pretty quickly when you ran out the door. She had wondered why he stopped. Then, you came through the door again, this time carrying a fairly good-sized first aid kit. She winced again, this time in pity for the bloody Serpents. She continued to keep an eye on you, as you tended to their wounds, and though a few swear words could be heard from that direction, not one of them even tried to become aggressive. Toni had thought briefly that you may be the new Snake Charmer, especially considering you were bandaging some of the most dangerous Serpents and receiving no aggression.

"Toni, how are you? How's Cheryl?" Toni looks up from where she's sitting in the direction the new voice came from.

"Reggie. What do you want? I'm not in the mood." She snaps. And although she had been quiet since arriving, she is still a Serpent.

"Woah," Reggie holds his hands up in surrender. "Just wondering what you guys are doing here. You all normally avoid the hospital at all costs." Curiosity rings in his voice.

"Why do you even care?" Exhaustion surrounds her voice.

"Just want to know if we're going to have issues." Reggie states.

"No, we aren't. Okay?" She punctuates her question by putting her head in her hands and staring at the floor. She listens to the Bulldog get up and walk away, before letting tears slip down her face silently. Tears for the crap the Bulldogs had given and blamed on the Serpents. Tears for the crap that the girls at Riverdale High had taken in the last year. Tears for the girl who was injured when she was the most innocent person Toni had ever met. Tears for the anger Toni harbors towards Alex Arbin. She thinks death would be too kind a punishment for that boy, and doesn’t blink an eye at the cruelty of that statement. For as much as she was the kinder of the three young Serpents, she could also be the most aggressive, when the situation demanded it of her.

(Y/D/N) holds your mom to his chest, trying to comfort the quietly sobbing woman. He wishes Alex would walk through the doors, just to make him feel an ink of what you must've felt as one of the few people in the world meant to treasure you, had beat you instead. And (Y/D/N) thinks that somehow this is his fault. Because he encouraged you to get a boyfriend. Because you needed something to do besides hang out at the Wyrm all the time. You were young. You were supposed to be living life, not lying in a damn hospital bed. Little did he know, the boy he had met a few times and liked was having the same thoughts.

Sweet Pea wonders what you'd be doing if you weren't unconscious in the hospital. He thinks you'd either be at the Whyte Wyrm, doing homework, or sitting in a booth at Pop's, having fun with your friends. But no. Instead your jackass of a boyfriend had to hit you for some unknown, and probably stupid, reason. This thought angers Sweet Pea, and he finally loses his tenuous hold on his anger. He yells and punches the wall in front of him. He looks down at the glistening blood on his knuckles, and wishes it were Alex's. He looks back to the wall, and sees a nice dent in it. Sweet Pea wishes he had asked you out the first time he saw you at the Wyrm, when he wanted to, instead of being a smartass. If he had, you wouldn't be here right now. You'd be doing something relatively normal for a teenager.

A nurse approaches the group of people, who look like they'd been tortured in different ways. She warily lets them know (Y/N) is settled in the ICU and they are allowed to visit for a bit. She watches as the tension slowly begins to drain from their shoulders the closer they get to her room.

Everyone's eyes light up as they see you in your bed. Your injuries look so much more encompassing with the casts, bandages, and tubes running over your pale, petite frame. The first thought that runs through Sweet Pea's head is that the doctor lied- you had died. But he hears the rhythmic beeping of the cardio machine, and knows it's not true. Toni thinks you look faintly like a ghost of you should. FP is so glad you survived so far, and he knows you aren't out of the woods yet, but you made it this far. You'll be okay. Your dad puts a hand over his mouth in a physical representation of the shock from seeing his little girl, his princess, in a hospital bed. Your mom doesn't even hesitate to walk over and grab your unbroken hand, and murmurs that she's there, you're okay, and you'll be fine. She whispers that she's so sorry for ignoring her maternal instinct to check in on you. She repeats these words even as your dad puts a hand on her shoulder, using her as a connection to you.

Chapter One; Chapter Two

tags:

@answer-the-sirens @quinn-e-dawson @writing-yj @chipster-21 @serpentmo @falling-stars-never-cry

#riverdale #sweet pea imagine #sweet pea x reader #toni topaz #fp jones #fangs

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friendelius-writes · 6 years

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Warmth (Writing Contest Submission, Oct. 18, 2018)

No pairing, today.

Summary: Faith dreamed and was awoken by need.

A/N: I wrote this not too long ago for Reedsy's writing competition they have weekly, and I decided to share it with y'all as I'm pretty happy with it. And sadly, I didn't win.

Warnings: Swearing, yelling, unseen violence

PROMPT: "I Dreamed A Dream That This Dream Was Fake." In which the entire story turns out to be all a dream.

WARMTH

There was warmth everywhere. Her blanket nestled in the nooks and crannies of her frame and thoughts began to evade her peaceful state.

A slight jolt of her sock cladded toes and a finger twitch initiated the haziness to fade out to a bright, tinted light. The muffled sound of footsteps against creaking wood awoken her senses; her eyes flicked left and right in a blinded state, in shock once her chocolate eyes were revealed. Seeing her father standing by her door well-groomed with a friendly grin amongst his harsh features made her feel uneasy and confused as he was home so early. Without a thought, she sprang from her periwinkle bed and faced her father.

“There you are. I was getting worried you weren't gonna wake up,” his oddly smooth and cheerful voice resonated within her cluttered room and sent shivers down her spine without reason, “Momma’s making some breakfast for us. Some good ol’ porridge and bacon, your favorite.”

It wasn't her favorite; it was her brother's favorite, but she decided to not call him out because it wasn't the worst that could be eaten. With a tan arm crossing over her slim torso to reach the other, she noticed her puppy calendar, reminding her that she didn't remember what day it was. But her father's voice snapped her out of her scattered thoughts.

“Come down in five. Momma and I planned lots of fun today!” After those words processed, her face scrunched in distaste. Planned? Since when did they like to plan? Before she got to ask what they planned, her father walked away, humming a familiar tune.

Excitement trespassed her body, and with two large steps, grabbed the black hairbrush and ran it through her jet-black hair, starting from the crown of her head to her red-tinted ends. With a clang of the brush against her white table, she strode down the hallway and spiral staircase and caught sight of her happy little family seated around the dining table.

It was so bright. The sun was almost blinding through the tall windows. Yellow streaks peeked through the window panes. The open space felt fuzzy like a wool sweater in the winter: warm but itchy. As she stepped forward into the dining area, her stomach lurched as the thought of a potential argument fizzed by due to the closeness of her father and mother.

“Hey, Faith, slept well?” Faith nodded at her mother plating sizzling bacon into her yellow bowl. Faith pulled out the leather chair that’s next to her brother and sat down, looking attentively at each member as her mother snatched some bacon for Faith.

Her little brother, Quinn, was devouring his bowl of hot porridge with his legs kicking and a bacon covered grin. His equally dark hair sprayed at different directions and his eyes as bright a brown can be. Innocence radiated from his happy, boyish charm and a sense of content passed through Faith’s body. At least he's happy.

Her mother. Her sweet, sweet mother. Nothing could ever go wrong when it came to her. The siblings both gained their mother's hair, but Quinn gained most of her features: her wide forehead, protruding chocolate eyes, button nose, and a right cheek dimple dipping at the slightest smile. Through subtle actions, motherly care and urgency slither their way to provide her children with the utmost love as soon as she could.

And her pondering father, the one Faith did not feel a sense of warmth. At this time, he engaged in a light conversation with Quinn and a smile danced on his tanned face. Faith gained the majority of her facial features from her father: his square forehead, hooded earth-like eyes, crooked nose, and full lips. She didn't like that she looked like him. Despite the suppressed searing burns of anger, she kept an imaginary wall between her and her father. But now, the wall was crumbling piece by piece, collected in a corner to be rebuilt when necessary, because of how different her father seemed. He seemed to enjoy talking with Quinn instead of passing him off; he seemed to enjoy being at home instead of being out for days at a time. He seemed like a dad, not a father.

A giggle threw her back to reality and saw Quinn pinching their father’s face, distorting the rough base. Without agreement, a laugh escaped Faith's lips due to the sheer enjoyment that everything was going well for the first time in a while. With that, her mother chimed in too. But before the porridge became cold, the laughter died down, leaving an unusual sense of completion. Faith expected hot tension to leak into the air, but of course, her family resumed eating with small talk popping in once in a while.

With the soft clanging of metal and casual gulping, the strange, unknown feeling of comfort blossomed. Everything was okay.

Until Quinn bursted into tears. Soft, staggered wailing and hands sliding all over his face to wipe the tears occurred, and Faith didn't know what to do. She glanced at her parents, and they were eating in front of her as if nothing happened. Her breathing became heavier and faster when her body descended into panic mode. She looked back at Quinn, and he was staring straight across. His hand was sticking out, nudging something in the air, and he was mumbling the same words over and over again.

“Wake up. . . Wake up, please!” Quinn suddenly turned his head towards Faith, doing the same motion and muttering the same words.

“Wake up. . . Wake up, please!”

Her eyes jolted open. Her eyes were under the flickering, yellow light, blinking rapidly to merge into reality. Breathing heavily, she snapped towards her right and saw Quinn with a red face, snot running down, and streaks of tears all over. He was clutching a ragged brown teddy bear bought years ago at a local thrift shop.

Faith sat up and gestured Quinn to climb onto her bed. His cries became muted onto her shoulder, and she patted his back, shushing him to stop and sleep. This is when she finally noticed what was happening.

“I don't understand why you won't go! You can go for days but not when I fucking tell you to!”

“You can't tell me what to do. I fucking live here! This house is under my name! You should fucking leave!” Slam. Her father opened the door.

“Then, who's gonna take care of the kids?! You fucking won't! YOU NEVER DID!” Crash. Her mother threw something.

There was more yelling.

More crashes.

More tears.

Quinn’s cries died down since Faith covered his ears with her hands as best as she could. He heard the muffled version of what their parents were saying while Faith heard everything and winced everytime. Everytime, tears pile, and at last, they fall with a silent plea to stop.

There was a loss of warmth in the house, but the cold stayed as a family guest they all knew too well.

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mx-fawkes · 6 years

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I’m not going to get this finished tonight so, take this.

Written for Roadrat monster week. Day 2 - Scarecrows curse.

This is the first half, I’ll either finish it alongside the other pieces I want to do for the week or leave it until afterwards.

Sometimes, Mako really regretted buying the farm.

Thinking back, it had been kind of a romantic, if naive idea. Move far away from home, buy a smallholding, grow his own food and keep some animals. Sure the cottage he fell in love with was a bit run-down, but he'd have it back into shape with a few months of hard work. Ha.

The cottage was perhaps a little small for him, but it fit his solitary lifestyle. It had one large room that worked as both living room and kitchen, a narrow flight of stone stairs that led up to the bedroom, and the bathroom was a small brick building unattached to the main house.

His land also included a hill he wasn't allowed to farm or build on. He wasn't entirely sure why, and the nervous government workers he'd spoken to didn't seem sure either, only knowing what their records said. One of them had suggested it might be an old burial mound, which didn't make him any happier about it being on his land.

He'd been at the cottage for a couple of months now, working on the house alongside getting the fields into a reasonable state. Luckily he was well versed in fixing up housing, he'd spent nearly twenty years working in construction. He'd had other jobs, security and warehouse work mostly. Anything that required someone who looked intimidating or was used to heavy lifting. He'd been able to actually work on farms a few times, usually helping with the autumn harvest.

He hadn't managed to do much in the way of actual farming, but he'd set up a small plot he was using to grow potatoes. He had a few pots of herbs growing on his windowsill, and he'd even been able to fish in a nearby canal, getting a decent amount of carp and roach.

It hadn't been enough, and his savings were getting as drained from his food bills as they were from all the things he was having to buy for the cottage. If he were a superstitious man he'd think the place was cursed. So much had been broken when he'd first moved in, and it seemed that in the time it took for him to get one thing fixed three more would break.

When he wasn't working he'd usually spend time in the local town. It was a small place, filled with enough interesting bits of history to bring in a steady flow of tourists. It didn't have much in the way of supermarkets, and he had to drive further out of town to get to a hardware store. It was filled with good places to eat though, the streets lined with restaurants and cafes.

He'd visited one of them today, popping in after his shopping run to treat himself to a cup of bubble tea. It sat on the dashboard of his van as he made his way home. The sun was setting as he drove down the winding lane to his cottage, and as he stepped out he took a moment to look over his land. The dim orange light made things seem nicer than they usually did in the harsh light of day. Tall oaks cast long shadows across his fields, and the canal in the distance sparkled in the light. Roads crisscrossing the landscape made him wish he had more time to take his bike out, to spend hours exploring their twists and turns.

He let out a long sigh that felt like it been lurking in his lungs for days. This work, this life was what he'd always wanted. Even if he had to pick up another job to make ends meet in the meantime he'd finally have his dream.

When the light fully faded and the air began to chill Mako continued inside, heavy boots stomping on the stone floors as he dumped his drink and shopping bag onto the kitchen table. It was the only piece of furniture that had come with the house, and he suspected it was because the previous owners hadn't figured out how to take it out. Carved from a huge slab of black oak it dominated the room, clearly built for a large family to sit around. Maybe it had even been built inside, there was no way it would have fit through the doors. Mako hit his head off the frames often enough to know how small they were.

He was starting to put things away when a loud peppy song filled the air. Grumbling, he pulled his phone from his pocket and answered the call. "Hey." "Mako? Hi." He recognized the voice, it belonged to one of the other farmers in the area. Why they had his phone number was beyond him. "One of our pigs has been injured, we need to get her to the vets but our car isn't big enough, can you come with your van? We'll pay for petrol- "

Ah, Claire. Lived with her wife and a group of the cutest ginger Tamworth pigs Mako had ever seen. "Yeah, I'll be right over."

Shopping abandoned, he ran out to the van. He liked Claire, she kept the pigs as pets and didn't see them as food. Plus, he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he didn't help and the pig died.

Night had fully settled in by the time he returned home. The pig was fine, a nasty injury to the leg had been stitched up and it was staying the night at the vets. Claire and Alka had insisted he stay for dinner after he'd driven them home, and it had been fun. They were good company, and the food had been delicious. Home-grown, perfectly cooked and not a piece of pork in sight.

The mood throughout the meal had been light, but on the drive back he began to sink. Maybe he was just tired, but seeing them together made him wonder why he'd never had that kind of relationship.

Maybe he'd just missed his chance. He'd been too nervous as a teenager to ask anyone out, spent his twenties figuring out himself and starting hormones. He'd had a few fleeting dates, but hadn't been in an actual relationship until he was in his thirties. Even then they didn't last long, any initial spark of romance fading out fast. It was probably just him, he wasn't the best partner.

The guys he picked up always seemed so excited to date a strong silent guy who owned a motorbike, but after a few weeks they began to find the silence annoying, started to insist he talk to them more.

One guy, Quinn, had been so insistent that Mako was what he needed in his life. An exciting dangerous biker who would get into fights whenever he asked. He'd been put off when Mako had to do boring things like "going to work" and "not getting arrested". Things had come to a messy end when he asked Mako to meet his parents, the ones who were paying for Quinn's very nice apartment and who owned the company Mako was working for at the time. Mako had been quietly asked to quit by his boss a week after the break-up, with the unspoken implication that it was better than being fired.

It might be too late for him to start a new relationship. Who was he going to meet out in the middle of nowhere?

The door creaked loudly as he pushed it open, and he mentally added oiling the hinges to the long list of things that needed doing. He fumbled for the light switch, freezing in shock when the lights flickered on.

With all the repair work he'd been doing he hadn't bothered much with keeping the place tidy. The kitchen had quickly devolved into piles of unwashed dishes and bags of rubbish he hadn't gotten rid of. It was always on his list, but never enough of a priority that it got done.

Disbelieving eyes took in a kitchen that was now cleaner than Mako had ever seen it. The room had been scrubbed clean, his dishes sat in a neat pile on the countertop and the bags of rubbish had vanished off somewhere. Only one item in the room seemed out of place. The cup of bubble tea was right where he left it in the middle of the table. Except it now had a straw sticking out of it, and was completely empty.

He wasn't sure how long he stood there, staring at the empty plastic cup. Had somebody broken into his house? Possible, he never really bothered locking the doors. But why clean his kitchen? Why drink his tea?

He moved further into the house, searching for any other surprises. Everything else seemed the same, his laptop was still in the living room where he'd left it.

"What the fuck."

The next few days saw him on edge, making sure the house was fully locked up when he left and keeping an ear out for any strange noises when he was there. A loud knock at his door made him jump, heart racing as he fumbled the latch. It was only Alka, with news of the pig's recovery and a small basket of food. He just shrugged her off when she asked if he was okay, mumbled something about being tired. He didn't mention the strange event, and he was starting to doubt it had actually happened.

Drifting off to sleep the next night he was jolted awake by a loud crash from below. He practically leapt out of bed, grabbing a plank of wood before rushing downstairs. He quickly saw the cause, his pile of dishes scattered across the stone floor as if they'd been swept off the counter.

The back door hung open, and he rushed into the cold night air, expecting to hear an engine or at least footsteps. There was nothing. Just the rustle of the wind and the occasional chirp of an insect. He pulled on the boots he kept by the door, wandering outside with a tight grip on the plank.

There was nothing. His house was far enough away from anywhere else that someone wouldn't have just walked, but there weren't any cars or bikes further down the lane. He was shivering after a few minutes, wishing he'd gone to bed in more than a t-shirt and boxers. Going back inside might give whoever did this time to run, and he desperately wanted answers for why they were doing this.

He trudged towards the hill, hoping the height would give him some new perspective. Maybe it had just been the wind? The door latch had slipped loose, the door swung open, but it would take a pretty strong wind to knock the dishes off.

There! A person lay still in the long grass of the hill. Mako hefted the plank, storming over. "Who the hell-" He growled when he realized it was just a scarecrow, lying there as if dropped.

He picked it up, confused. He didn't own a scarecrow, and he'd never seen this one around before. Maybe whoever was bothering him had been messing with other farms too. He took one last long look around. If anyone was out here he wouldn't find them in the dark.

Holding the scarecrow in one hand he made his way back to the house. He'd ask around when he next went into town, see if anyone else was being fucked with.

He dumped the scarecrow on the sofa once he was back inside, making sure the door was locked. It was probably the most unsettling scarecrow he'd ever seen. A disturbingly human-like body stitched together with two wooden limbs and a burlap face. Maybe it had been a Halloween decoration once? It was left there as Mako went back upstairs, exhausted and ready to return to bed.

If he had been able to muster the energy to move the next morning, the alarm clock would have been out of the window within seconds of it going off. As it was, he lay there overwhelmed with the desire to just fall back asleep, irritating beeping or not.

He didn't want to get up and feel his body protest his lack of sleep. Didn't want to go downstairs and sweep up the broken crockery. Didn't want to drive into town and buy replacements. Definitely didn't want to find out what else had broken in the few hours he'd been asleep.

Thankfully, the desire to write the day off as a complete loss was defeated by his need to get up and piss. He flicked the alarm off and dragged himself out of bed. Joints ached in protest as he starred down the stairs, glaring at the scarecrow on his sofa. He didn't want to deal with that either, its eyes seeming to follow him around the room as he swept up the shards of broken plates.

Scarecrows couldn't stare. They couldn't see and this one didn't even have proper eyes. Even so, Mako took hold of the things straw ponytail and turned its face away, leaving him to have breakfast in peace.

He spent the day removing window frames, the old wood rotted and splintering apart. The glass was intact, but each square of wood only held a single pane. He'd have to think about upgrading to double glazing at some point. The place would be hell to heat in the winter otherwise. It did come with a fireplace, taking up a wall of the living room. He'd need a specialist to clean it out though, another expense he didn't want to deal with.

By the time he'd replaced the windows his stomach was beginning to growl loudly. A friend of his once joked it sounded like the Wild Hog Power tattoo on his stomach was complaining it hadn't been fed enough.

He rifled through the basket of food Alka had bought him, pulling out a pie and some vegetables. Oh, and a small bottle of mead. He pulled it out, examining the label. He recognized the farm it came from, they sold honey at the local market.

Pouring himself a glass he immediately realised he almost certainly shouldn't be drinking. It was difficult enough dealing with his life sober at the moment, and he didn't want to face off with an intruder while drunk. He allowed himself a small sip, the sweet taste almost tempting him to finish the glass. It was left on the table as his finished his meal, heading off to bed.

The scarecrows gaze followed him up the stairs, its stitched on smile seeming wider than before.

#roadrat #roadrat monster week #this is an early draft so if anyone has any comments or criticism feel free to let me know

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hollybear009-blog · 7 years

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~MY STORY~

Hi! My name is Holly. I'm 26 years old. I'm Jewish. I am known to be the only member in my whole family that is Jewish. My family is originally Catholic & Christian, I am NOT any of them, surprisingly. I would really like to explore my Jewish faith & Jewish religion. I would like to learn how to speak the Jewish language (Hebrew & Yiddish right?), & learn how to Practice the Jewish ways. That'd be GREAT! I am a 100% REAL person & 100% NOT FAKE person behind the computer & internet, no need to worry or fear about that. I'm a REAL person! No Worries! I am "questioning" myself again (sexual orientation). I'm very confused about it! Drives me CRAZY!!! I always try to make everyone & everything happy in whatever way possible. If they're not happy, then i'm not happy so i do what i can to make them all happy, & accepting of me too. I laugh like a hyena. I think my spirit animal is a wolf, cause i have some wolf in me. I can howl like a wolf, growl like a wolf, & i feel the inner WOLF in me! I'm NOT saying this to be crazy or anything. I've noticed that I'm like a wolf too. I love the woods. I'm a HUGE SUPPORTER & FAN of Hillary Clinton. I am a HUGE Cat & Kitten (pets & animals) FAN too! We've always had them as our pets. We have two cats right now named Buddy & Kiwi. We adopted them from animal shelters. We adopted one cat who was later sick & had to be put to rest in Heaven, & crossed the Rainbow Bridge December 5, 2005! His name was Simba. I miss him sooooooo much! I'm glad that he's not suffering anymore though. I just miss him very much! Rest In Peace Forever Simba! We miss & love you very much! We've lost other family members too that really broke my heart. My grandfather died December 5, 2009, my grandmother (his wife) died September 5, 2014 (i think), a few days after my Birthday (which is September 2nd). I miss them both so much too! And I miss my other deceased family & pets too very much! I'm glad that they're not suffering anymore.I still miss them terribly! Rest In Peace Forever all of you! We miss & love you very much! *tears up sadly* My eye color is dark-green & my hair color is dark-brown, and shoulder-length. I'm overweight, but dieting to lose the weight. I'm 5'3 height too. My fave colors are black, white, gray (grey) dark-brown (like my hair color), & dark-green (like my eye color). I have mental illnesses that caused me to hear voices, hallucinate, smell, hear, feel, see, taste, & believe that there is another world where i once was before, even though it's not true or real. It just seems that way. I get a lot of treatment, & care for them, & my other health problems. I have schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, depression disorder, etc. I get tact tile issues, premonitions, psychic dreams, déjà vu, & had a "psychotic break" that caused me to be too sick to stay at my job, so i had to leave it behind. The HARDEST thing for me to have to do! I really liked that job. It paid well for me $8.00 an hour, part-time, lunch-breaks, rest-breaks, & very fun to do. I worked in our town's Mini Market called Kennie's Market. I worked there in their deli area. I thought that it'd be hard for me to do at first, but i did it easily! Then the NIGHTMARE happened to me! Been unemployed ever since then. I volunteer at our local, nearby SPCA animal shelter now. I am a really good person. I am shy, funny, innocent, friendly, kind, caring, loving, supportive, anti-social, introverted, have a good, & a loving personalty. I'm just like anyone else. I think of myself as "unique," & "mysterious." I am an English Major who wants to learn more about William Shakespeare, Abraham Lincoln, & the English Literature. My parents are divorced & have been for a long time. They weren't getting along with each other. I had just Graduated High School & got my very first job, at a Mini Market in their Deli area in our town Gettysburg, when they told my twin brother (not alike) & myself that they were divorcing, & that they're not getting along with each other. I became very mentally ill that same year, just after they planned to get divorced. They stayed together for awhile to help take care of me then. Then soon after they actually divorced. I was sent to a Mental Hospital the next year after getting mentally sick in 2008. I don't wanna talk about it right now. Hope that's okay. Growing up I was always bullied by people, who i thought liked me & were my real friends. In high school i was bullied & harassed so bad that i had to switch schools during junior year. I didn't deserve any of that mess & it was for no reason! I even got the same cruel treatment in Creative Writing Class there too, & had to leave the class I was very upset. No one would do anything about it even though they said they would. I switched schools and was still bullied & harassed by others but it was handled by the teacher. I don't have hardly any friends, just one good friend who i grew up with in elementary school. We're still friends, i guess. I wish that I were treated better by people. And I wish that I had REAL & ACTUAL friends, not just my family. I don't know why people aren't nice or don't like me? I'm very friendly, sweet, & funny. And just trying to be a normal person. Shame. . . I live with my mom & pets in Gettysburg. We have two cats named Buddy & Kiwi. And a new pet hamster that i named Harley (Harley Quinn from Suicide Squad & her other comics. I'm a HUGE FAN of her).My dad lives elsewhere with other people, like women he dates. He's currently dating a woman who i really like to spend time with too. She's very nice, funny, caring, & a very good person. I hope that my dad & her stay together forever, if possible. My twin brother (not alike-i only have one sibling in my family) lives on his own elsewhere or with roommates. He's a USA Marine & a Mixed Martial Arts Fighter (MMA). He's my Best Friend & my loving, caring brother! True, we fight a lot & roughhouse sometimes, but we get along mostly. He's a good brother. Just when he tries to wake me up from naps & sleep is very chaotic cause i sleep a lot cause of my medicines i take for my mental illnesses, my regular health issues, & my mental illnesses themselves. I'm still a very good person, i try to anyways. I always put other's happiness before mine, if they're happy then i'm happy too. I love to read mostly magazines, but i do read regular books like Anne Frank, Suicide Squad & Harley Quinn comic books, & other interesting books. I'm not much of a book reader anymore like i used to be years ago. I used to read books & hate writing. My cursive hand-writing is TERRIBLE! I was never good at that writing part. Now I don't read much anymore, but try to do more stories & novels so maybe someday i will be an Author of them. I started doing them in school, even though as a kid i hated writing. My cursive hand-writing is terrible! Now years later, i enjoy writing and would like to be an Author of Books & Poetry again someday. I also like to read Anime/Manga books too. My dream job is being an animal Vet or an animal Vet Tech. I love animals, not insects though. And be an Author of Books & Poetry. My mom and i volunteer at our local, nearby SPCA animal shelter & socialize with the cats & kittens there. We always love doing that when we do. I'd always joke around with my mom about adopting them, too bad we can't cause we already have two cats right now, so we can't adopt anymore cats yet, if we ever do. Oh well. . .We enjoy being around them when we go see them when we volunteer there. I love Photography, just for a hobby. I also love Art too. I'm kinda a kid-at-heart-type of person. I love cartoons & kid-stuff still. I don't watch them or watch much TV anymore though. I like music too. I only listen to music, not play it on any instruments. Though i remember just now that i'd always enjoy playing music on my grandmother's piano years ago. I mostly listen to music though. My fave sports teams on TV are San Jose Sharks, Philadelphia Flyers, Hershey Bears-Ice Hockey Teams, Penn State, Baltimore Ravens, & Ohio State Buckeyes-American Football Teams. My favorite movies are Suicide Squad, James Bond, Titanic, The Horse Whisperer, Band of Brothers, Anne Frank, etc. My favorite Anime/Manga are Sailor Moon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Hamtaro, Pokemon, Blue Exorcist, Black Butler, Naruto, Inuyasha, etc. My favorite music bands are Evanescence, We are the Fallen, My Chemical Romance, Disturbed, Within Temptation, Bullet for my Valentine, Korn, Godsmack, Breaking Benjamin, Avril Lavigne, Skillet, Avenged Sevenfold, etc. Well Folks. . .I've run out of things to tell you about me for now. If you wanna know more, feel free to ask me anytime!

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