#NO I’m not sympathetic towards a bratty teenager

[popculturebuffet]

Paul Dini’s Jingle Belle: “Sanity Clauses” review or Santa’s Court Ordered Family Therapy Holiday Special

Merry Christmas everyone! I”m finally back on the reviewing reindeer after a week out with a cold, aside from the usual ducktales review, and it’s once again a comission from friend of the blog and the only guy who pays me for reviews weirdkev27. If you have your own holliday hyjinks you’d like me to review I do reviews of television and comics for 5 dollars an episode/issue, wtih variable prices for trades in comics case depending on length. Hit me up via my dm’s here on tumblr or send me an ask for my discord if you want to know more. WIth that plug out of the way away we go.  This one was a bit unusual... in that when Kev bought it up I assumed he was going to buy a few issues of Jingle Belle, Paul Dini’s creator owned character we’re talking about today, and just have me review those. What I didn’t realize is he was buying me the full package, a collection of pretty much every jingle belle tale, as well as the released after it “Handmade’s Tale”. one shot. So yeah, while I had’nt really thought of rules for this kind of thing before from now on your free to buy a work for me to review... just keep in mind i’ts both not required for me to review something, and will not wave the commission fee as I use those fees to pay bills, buy things I need like charger cables, and just generally keep my bank account afloat while I look for a day job. 

But... since I hadn’t firmly established any of this yet, and since Kev’s gift means a bunch more commissions from a guy who not only made sure I could afford Christmas, but who has provided me steady work while i’m out of work... this one’s on the house.  So with all the jargon settled, who is Jingle Belle? Jingle Belle is an indie comics character created and owned by Paul Dini in 1998. Paul Dini is an animation god, who thanks to this review I know more about his career than I did before and as much as I always should have. Dini got his start in the 80′s, writing for everything from He Man to Gary Coleman Adventures, before getting called up to the big leagues for Tiny Tune Adventures around the time of the animation renaissance. To my shock, as  I wasn’t aware he wrote for that fine program, he wrote 35 episodes including my personal favorite Prom-ise her Anything.  But while a talented comedy writer, his main talent would show when he moved on to Batman the Animated Series as a writer and story editor. He was one of the main creative forces along with Bruce Timm, with the two going on to make the DCAU, aka some of the best superhero shows ever made, after already making easily one of if not THE best with BTAS. And Timm’s influence showed, Co-Creating Harley Quinn with Timm, and writing the series best episode Heart of Ice, which reworked Mr Freeze from a hoaky silver age villian into the tragic and thoroughly sympathetic character he’s been since that episode. Seriously that’s another one to add to the review pile.. which is giant and sentient at this point. And seriously EVERY episode on his imdb page credits is an utter classic and one I remember fondly. The guy is one of the most talented and seemingly nicest guys in the business and both the world of batman and the world of animation owe him a LOT.  So to my surprise, I found out in the 2000′s he had a comic, Jingle Belle.. then for whatever reason just never dug into it till now. But now post digging Jingle Belle is Paul Dini’s long running series of one shots and series at various companies following the adventures of Santa’s rebellious teenage-ish daughter.. techincally she’s in the 200′s but still looks and acts like a teenager. The idea came about when he got a christmas card from Stephen Speilberg, and wondered how the kids of famous folks dealt with that and if they resented their famous fathers. And whose more famous than santa?. The series spins both out of that brilliant idea and out of Dini’s love for sunday comic strips, back when the panels were larger and creators were given more freedom to go nuts, though even today i’ve seen plenty of great stuff so it’s not all lost pauly.  So in that spirit rather than one long ongoing Jingle Belle is instead a series of one shots, stories in anthologies and what have you, one and done stories more focused on the comedy. The comic has bounced around from various publishers, starting as something pitched to Oni Press, home of Scott Pilgrim and not much else, and has bounced around various publishers since, most recently ending up at IDW, where the trade i’m reading from comes from. So how does a great concept from one of the world’s most creative minds shake out? Let’s unwrap this present and find out. 

We open with an appropriately christmasy rhymey opening as we get the story of Jingle Belle: She’s the daughter of santa claus and mrs. claus, in this case the Queen of the Elves. Which isn’t established until the next story but whatever. And as you’d expect she grew up a cheery, rosey little girl who loved helpiing dad in the workshop.. then everything changed when puberty attacked. 

As you can see Jingle is now your standard Bratty Teenage Daughter sterotype. At least in this story. See this initial story feels much like a pilot: It’s clear things aren’t ironed out 100% for the idea, and i’ts more a self contained way to get across the general idea, that being Santa has a rebellious teen daughter, via what comes off as an snl skit in comic book form. THat’s not an insult, it’s a GOOD snl skit, and I am genuinely surprised only one movie company’s attempted adapting this comic: the concept is great. I’m just letting you know what i’m working with is all. 

So naturally as a high concept comedy skit, Jing soon, after sharing some cigarettes with the local eskmo boys and accidently lighting her Reindeer’s butt on fire and wrecking her sleigh and some surrounding property, Santa is at his witt’s end and we end up in family therapy. And honestly.. Santa in a family therapists office is a great concept. IT’s why I compare it to a sketch: It’s just a simple one line proposal that’s really damn funny and really damn eye catching. It’s often REALLY hard to get a good santa parody going, so I admire how well he pulled it off here.  But what really centers it is Jing giving her side, making her a bit more than the mostly one dimensional bratty rebellious daughter she’s been pegged as. Oh sure tha’ts still mostly what she is here, I’ll leave it to later stories to flesh her out hopefully, but she gives vallid reasons WHY she acts out: She points out no one even knew Santa had a daughter, and she has no songs or specials or any of that about her. The most Santa can offer up is “Jingle Bells” because the boys say “jingle all the way”... which really, especially in 2020, just makes HIM come off worse for not only slut shaming his daughter, but that the best defense he can offer is “Well some local boys talk about how you boned them that counts right?”. 

That.. poorly aged joke aside Jingle brings up another good point on how sh’es on his shit list.. errr.. naughty list. Still a good gag. And yeah the therapist is understandably surprised Santa dosen’t give his own daughter presents, though his wife does give a valid counter to that: He has to hold a higher standard than anybody. 

And that’s why I’m really intrigued by this concept and want to read more: WE have plenty of stories about Santa’s kids, i’ll grant, from him adopting a kid like in elf, to him passing on the legacy with films like Arthur Christmas and Fred Claus, or even just films about his legacy, like the Santa Claus, aka that time Santa died and his clothes forced Tim Allen into a job he dosen’t want with weight and beard gain he didn’t ask for via yuletide mummy’s curse to become the new santa and nearly loose custody of his child. What i’m saying is the concept is inherently fascinating and The Santa Clause is deeply terrifying if you stop to think about it for two seconds.. as is the sequel what with it’s Nazi Robot Santa Claus Tim Allen. Yes really. 

But this one’s unique in that it’s not about the legacy. Oh sure Santa tries to get Jing interested, and his last attempte wound up with them having to take the bus, another great gag and i’m glossing over most because this is a very funny little comic, but the main focus is more on what kind of pressure that puts on a kid: wouldn’t you rebel too if your parents wanted you to be perfect and to follow in the family business of being basically a perfect human being? Jing herself sums it up perfectly towards the end of the story. 

Granted after a tearful hug, Jing internally says “that new snowboard is mine.. but i’ts hard not to feel that a godo chunk of this is genuine. Sure she’s playing her parents a bit but.. you’d crack too if your dad was freaking Santa. I’m really intrigued to see where this goes both comedically and character stuff wise. 

So we end on another christmasy narration bit as Belle plays good for a while, snapping only when it docent seem like she gets her snowboard. A comedy ending and an eh one. Not the best honeslty, I feel the comci would’ve been better ended just at the snowboard is mine bit, but i’ve seen worse. 

Final Thoughts: A really good story. WHile it’s rough around the edges, clearly Dini and others have buffed them out over two decades, and i’m really intrigued to see more of this this holiday season and others. Again some parts, mostly playing Jing being sexually liberated for “OH HAW HAW SHE’S A SLUT” laughs is cringe inducing, but most of the jokes have aged well and for a pilot it’s not bad. I really look forward to reading more of the character and diving into her this season and beyond. 

Until then be good to one another, have a happy holidays and always remember: There's  always another rainbow. 

#christmas #jingle belle #santa claus #mrs claus #paul dini #oni press #comics #review #comics reviews

[merryfortune]

please ignore this if sending a third request is too much ^^;;. but if it's okay, could I request a bit of an unusual pairing? EleLala with 43?

it’s absolutely okay!! i’ve wanted to write this ship for a while and ngl, your tags on that precure post sorting them by sibling status & whatnot really made me want to write them even more haha so thank you for this opportunity

43. A kiss pressed to the top of the head.

requests: touch and go. i wanna play more acnh lol

word count: 1237

   Lala observed, more pressed than idle, as Elena interacted with her siblings. She awkwardly waded through the crowd of all the children who completely swarmed towards Elena when they had heard the door open. They had come back to the store because the rocketship needed a new radiator and it was getting cold with the onset of winter, and all the wonders and joys it brought, drawing so close.

   “Me next, me next!” one of the twins chirruped incessantly, hands waving above his head over and over.

   “I’m busy, I gotta call Papa to let him know that my friend Lala to ask him to cover a little expense since her parents can’t at this point in time.” Elena told her younger brother as she sashayed.

   “But you gave Touma-nii a kiss when you came home.” Takuto complained. “I want a kiss too.”

   “Me too, me too.” Ikuto agreed, begging with little balled fists in front of his pouty chest.

   Elena sighed and Touma huffed. Though her sigh was quick to turn into a laugh because of it.

   “I only gave him a kiss because he had a bit of schmaltz on his face.” Elena teased.

   “I so did not.” Touma argued back to her. “You’re just suffocating, Nee-chan.”

   Elena laughed again and she had finally made it to the other side of the kitchen to where the landline was. She keyed in the buttons so that she could reach her father’s remote phone. He was off doing deliveries somewhere, she wasn’t too sure where as he had shooed her off this morning, insisting that she had some teenage fun today rather than some miniature adult responsibilities. Now look who was having the last laugh…

   Beep, beep, beep. “Hello? Papa? ...Oh, um, hi Papa, ring back the house when you can. I have a little favour I’d like to ask. About my friend Lala, nothing major, I’ll give you more details when you’re not driving.”

   Elena sighed again. She glanced towards Lala who had awkwardly perched herself at the kitchen’s dining room table where she was, strangely enough, being ignored by Elena’s adoring crowd of younger siblings, save Touma who had joined her and was trying to coax her into conmiserating to little avail, it seemed given Lala’s befuddled look compared to his skeevy one.

   “Sorry Lala,” Elena said, “Papa’s busy so you’re just gonna have to wait a bit longer.”

   “It’s no big deal, lun.” Lala said.

   “Can we have kisses now please, Nee-chan?” Ikuto and Takuto both begged.

   Lala smiled sheepishly, trying to give Elena the nonverbal okay. She was a low maintainance friend, after all and she was kind of buried in her thoughts in the midst of the noisy but sunny Amamiya household. Elena smiled sympathetically and she bobbed down to her knees so that she was equivalent to her three year old siblings’ heights.

   “Mwah, mwah.” 

   Elena pecked Ikuto’s forehead and then Takuto’s forehead. They giggled and smiled, happy that they finally had what they all of a sudden really, really, really wanted. With that though, they were satisfied and toddled off to the playroom together. Though, of course, with the twins satiated, Anna wanted her turn and Elena was more than happy to indulge her babiest baby sister as well. She pecked Anna’s forehead and then tossed a grin to Reina who came to collect Anna before she could grow spoiled and bratty, demanding yet more of Elena’s time. 

   “Do you want a kiss too, Reina?” Elena asked.

   Reina smiled, uneasy, as she held Reina up. She squirmed and thrashed.

   “I’m alright, Nee-chan,” Reina said, “you look after your friend. She looks pretty… out of place here, so to speak. I’ll make sure the boys, and Anna, leave you two alone so you can have grown up girl talk, yeah?”

    “Yeah, thank you for the consideration, Reina.” Elena said and she couldn’t resist the urge to pet the top of Reina’s head. 

   Reina smiled. It seemed that even though she was beginning to verge on the edge of being too old to wholeheartedly embrace her older sister’s affections, she still really liked them. She then waddled off holding Anna, later putting her in her playpen in the playroom.

   Elena sighed contentedly as she collapsed next to Lala at the dining room table. She was just about to get all ready and comfortable with Lala when she saw Touma in her peripheral vision. That content sigh of hers turned sharp.

   “Touma, go to your room or go join the others, Lala and I wanna have girl talk.” Elena said. 

   Touma grunted in frustration to acknowledge Elena but it only irked her. That meant the big guns had to come out if she wanted Touma out of the kitchen too.

   “You know, boys and gossip and periods an-” Elena exaggeratedly elaborated on “girl talk”.

   “Blegh, disgusting. I’ll be upstairs playing video games if you need me.” Touma said, rocketing to his feet. “On full volume because I don’t wanna hear about that gross stuff. Girls are so gross.”

   Elena giggled to Lala’s puzzlement. How were any of those topics gross? Touma was a boy, after all and he went to school too and had classes, at least that’s what Lala thoguht Elena meant by ‘periods’, but she supposed gossip could be gross as gossip could be weaponised as a means of bullying… Touma had a good head on his shoulders, he was just. Or at least that’s the conclusion which Lala came to.

   But, at long last, at least the conversation could pick up. “My siblings can be so exhausting. Alas, that’s just how it is as the eldest sibling.” Elena said, awkwardly. “You must be spoilt back home, yeah? Being the little sister to Lolo?”

   “Not really, lun…” Lala felt hesitant to confess. “We’re very different on Saaman. We barely touch each other, let alone hug or kiss, lun. I’m almost jealous, lun. It must be nice to be spoilt by a kind and caring older sibling, lun. N-Not that Lolo isn’t either of those things but he’s just not in the way you are, oyo.” 

   “Hmm… I think I would suffocate if I tried to go a single day without kissing or hugging my family.” Elena murmured.

   “I think I would suffocate if someone tried to coddle me like that every day, oyo.” Lala mumbled. “No offence, lun.”

   “None taken but what about right now?” Elena asked.

   Lala blinked. “What do you mean, lun?”

   “When was the last time someone kissed or hugged you, Lala?” Elena asked, casual and nonchalant but that ease only alarmed Lala, truth be told.

   Lala blushed. “A very long time, lun.”

   “May I kiss you then? Just on the forehead.” Elena said.

   “...Yes, please, lun.”

   Elena beamed, grand and wide, as she leaned in. She pushed aside Lala’s fringe, delicately. Lala’s skin burned up and her antennae rose. Elena pressed a sweet kiss onto her exposed forehead, one with her fingers nearby, stroking Lala’s fringe which had been pushed up and over her head. 

   Lala swallowed. She thinks that this was meant to be a chaste kiss. Like a kiss between siblings. It was the kiss that Elena had been giving hers but it simply did not feel as such to her, touch starved and from such a different world. As such, Lala blushed just that little bit harder, darker, and Elena didn’t mind one bit.

#writing tag #precure #star twinkle precure #elelala #elena x lala #lala hagoromo #elena amamiya #a-fool-without-a-clue

[lizziestudieshistory]

Books of 2019 - the final instalment

December books! (It’s a lot, and I had some thoughts... Apologies for not proof reading...again)

The Liveship Traders Series by Robin Hobb (Ship of Magic, The Mad Ship, Ship of Destiny)

This is my favourite trilogy by Robin Hobb (although my favourite book isn’t in this series) and I cannot recommend it enough. The plot is much more active in this book, and we get more action a lot more quickly than we do in the Farseer trilogy. It’s action packed (well it would be with pirates) and plays to Hobb’s strenghts by telling the plot from multiple third person POVs. This enables Hobb to cut out her tendency to go off on long tangents (as she does with the Fitz books) and keep the reader engaged with all her character’s adventures. 

The magic in the series is so much fun, with the Liveships taking centre stage throughout the three books. Liveships are ships that, once three generations of a family die onboard, the figure head comes alive and can fuide the family though journeys using the memories of its previous owners. The first Liveship we meet is Vivacia, the Vestrit family ship, however, we meet several Liveships with my favourtie being the Ophelia (a secondary liveship character who is far too brilliant and we were robbed by not having more of her!) 

However, where this series shines is in the characters themselves, particularly the women of the Vestrit family (Ronica, Althea, and Malta, even Keffria by books 2/3). My favourite character (and character development) from the series is Malta, the bratty teenaged girl who becomes such a strong women WITHOUT LOSING WHAT MAKES HER MALTA. Hobb does a brilliant job of writing real women who are strong female characters, without losing their humanity. They’re all distinct personalities, with trials of their own, but still come together to support each other (even Malta and Althea in the end) and act like a family. I’ve never read such a good representation of women and domestic life in a fantasy series and it really makes this series brilliant. I’d recommend reading these books just for the Vestrits... They really are that good!

Romancing the Werewolf (and The Curious Case of the Werewolf that Wasn’t) by Gail Carrgier

Lots of fluffy Christmas romance between Biffy and Lyle from the Parasolverse. This wasn’t one of my favourite novellas by Carriger, but I love Biffy and Lyle (along with everyone) and I was happy to see them get together properly AT LAST!

The Curious Case was an odd short story and it’s my least favourite thing I’ve read by Carriger so far. I just can’t stand Alessandro Tarabotti, and I would have been very happy not reading anything from his persective. However, I did provide some interesting backstory to the events in the Parasol Protectorate, plus it was a nice little bonus in the back of Romancing the Werewolf.

Meat Cute by Gail Carriger

Finally the Hedgehog Incident is explained! This was so much FUN, and we got a nice glimpse to the start of Alexia and Connal’s romance, as well as a little cameo from some Finishin School characters we know and love ;)

The Hogfather by Terry Pratchett

This is Pratchett’s Christmas novel, so it wasthe right time of year to read it at last! I really enjoyed experienceing the Hogfather on the page - I’d only ever seen the Sky adaptation of it beforehand. It was an absolute pleasure and I really grew to love Susan (who might be my favoruite Discworld heroine at this point!)

It’s a must read for any Discworld fan, however, I’d really recommend it as a starting point for people wanting to read Discworld. It’s part of the Death and Susan subseries, but it’s a viable standalone book as well - it’s also an excellent Christmas fantasy story!

The Return of the King by J.R.R Tolkien

We all know my absolute adoration of Tolkien by now. I cannot recommend this series more and I will continue to reread these books until my dying day. 

Edgedancer by Brandon Sanderson

This is Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive novella following Lift’s character development between Words of Radiance and Oathbringer. It made Lift’s sections in Oathbringer make a lot more sense, but was also a wonderful exploration of who she is as a character and how she reflects the Order of Edgedancers (especially as she seems an odd choice for the order.) I really enjoyed this book and it’s given me a whole new perspective on Lift’s character - so much so that she is now a bareable character!

My only issue with this story was how short it was! For Sanderson it’s tiny, bordering on short story rather than novella when we take into consideration the size of the Stormlight books! I would have loved a more detailed and elaborate story, but I did really enjoy the character work we got in this one (and seeing a different part of Roshar!) I’d highly recommend it for all Stormlight readers, although it isn’t necessary for our main (at least in the front 5) character’s or the story.

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

This was a sad and bitter diasppointment. I was looking forward to it (as my uni buddy read book) but it was such a slog to ge through. The first few chapters were interesting enough, but the story stayed at one note - it was just depressing.

Barker set out to retell the Fall of Troy from the perspective of the Trojan women who were enslaved by the Greeks throughout the war. Our main character was Breseis (sp? I’m not sure), who was a Trojan queen who was enslaved and given to Achilles as a prize when her city feel to the Greeks towards the end of the war. From her we were supposed to get a sympathetic account of the horroes of war these women faced and the consequences of losing had on their lives.

However, the main character was really Achilles, he and Patroclus were the only interesting characters throughout the entire novel, and Barker had nothing new to add to the story by supposedly telling the story through the perspective of these women. I was bored once Briseis was in the Greek camp and my interest was only really teased when we had the chapter about Helen of Troy and then read from Achilles’ perspective in the second half (major fail, considering the aim of the book was to tell the WOMEN’S STORY)

Barker also decided to write the story using modern British slang, which was supposedly meant to give it a timeless feel to match the mythology being retold. Instead, I found the writing was constantly pulling me out of the story and made it a chore to read (especially when compared with the one tone depression it induced everytime I picked it up.) Most of the time I was left bored and slightly disgusted with nothing to provide any relief (either through likeable characters or interest in plot.)

Overall, it was such a dissapointment, I was hoping to love this book and for it to provide a new perspective on my favourite myth. Instead I grew fatigued with the book and in the end spent an afternoon powering through the story to get it over with because I was so done with the whole book - it was a really depressing end to the reading year. 

#books of 2019 #robin hobb #liveship traders #Realm of the Elderlings #gail carriger #romancing the werewolf #meat cute #the hogfather #terry pratchett #discworld #jrr tolkien #return of the king #lord of the rings #brandon sanderson #edgedancer #stormlight archive #the silence of the girls #pat barker

[mydarlingklaus]

Road Trip part 1: I could not resist writing something on 1x12 of Legacies because it was such an adorable episode. It’s been awhile since I’ve written a Klaroline family drabble so yay. This is my first time writing the twins as teens interacting with Klaus and it was so much fun to write it. I will post the link to my ff account at the bottom if you’d like to leave a review. Thank you!

"Explain to me why you aren't coming with us again." Klaus muttered leaning against the mini van with his arms crossed.

"Like I told you last night and the night before, I can't. I have piles on top of piles of files to sort through after being away for a whole week." Caroline answered placing two luggage in the back seat.

"Love, those files aren't walking away any time soon. Surely they can wait a few days?" Klaus badgered making Caroline laugh.

"Actually no, they can't. Hey you have yourself to blame, Mr. I'm going to whisk you away on a surprise trip to Italy." She cheekily stated as Klaus's eyes rolled.

Technically she wasn't wrong. It was Klaus's fault. He sprung an impromptu getaway for just the two of them during the busiest time of the school year. But with Caroline just as eager to have alone time with him as well she didn't refuse. Now she had to suffer the repercussions of that blissful decision, but so did Klaus. Could she blame him for wanting her all to himself for awhile?

Though finally solidifying their relationship, the couple still barely had time to see each other over the past couple of years. They didn't just solidify a relationship together, but also merged their families. Hope already attending Caroline's school made it easier for Klaus to see them both, when he could, as well as see Josie and Lizzie. Klaus would stop by for the girls' special events, like when him and Hayley flew out for Hope's 18th birthday or when he stayed overnight for the twins' talent show. All appreciative gestures but, no visit felt long enough.

With the boarding school only growing more in popularity everyday and new potential students showing up at their door, Caroline and Alaric were buried in paperwork all the time. Not to mention Klaus was still ruling the kingdom of the French Quarter, and even with the help of Marcel, he still couldn't be away from the city as often as he would like.

It bruised Klaus that not only the love of his life but also, daughter lived in Mystic Falls while he still lived in New Orleans. He also formed a bond with Caroline and Alaric's twin daughters, who he started seeing as his own over the years. Klaus had been in their lives since they were kids. Even when him and Caroline were still sorting out the complexity of their relationship he was always there for her girls. The family he's always wanted, and finally had, yet so far away.

At this point, Klaus took advantage of any reason to see them, including accompanying Alaric and the girls on the annual Saltzman family road trip for Spring Break.

Certainly not an extracurricular activity one would expect from a ruthless 1000 year old hybrid yet, when Caroline invited him and Hope he was all in. However when he first agreed to the idea a month ago, he was under the assumption Caroline was joining. Instead he was now stuck with three teenage girls and only Alaric Saltzman for adult company.

Fantastic.

"I harbor absolutely no regrets with that decision. You deserved a break away from teenagers, classrooms and things that go bump in the night." Klaus said amusingly. "Besides, you enjoyed Italy. So much we barely left our hotel room all weekend."

A light blush crept up Caroline's pale cheeks as their blissful memories tangled in the soft sheets began to circulate in her mind.

Damn you Mikaelson.

Caroline cleared her throat. "I did, a lot. Thank you." She said appreciatively. "But now I have to get back to work, and Spring Break gives me the perfect opportunity to catch up on all I missed."

"Saltzmam can't take care of all the work?"

Caroline shot him an annoyed glare with a hand on one hip. "He's been taking care of the work, and I'm the headmistress Klaus."

He smirked now walking towards her. "Hmm, why does that title sound so sexy coming from you?"

She wasn't able to react as he was already in front of her and pressing his lips against hers. Caroline immediately melted into his touch as his hands hugged her tightly against his front, on her waist determinedly.

One hand quickly found home in his dark curls, threading her fingers through the softness while her other hand gripped onto his bicep. The light moan escaping her lips creating an entrance for Klaus's eager tongue into her mouth as the kiss deepened. Bodies flushed together against the van hotly.

They moaned into each other mouths, tongues caressing and hands wandering. Klaus ventured up and down her clothed spine and lightly brushed over her buttocks with a subtle squeeze. He smirked against her lips feeling her reaction to his shocking but arousing action. Her sighs of approval fueling him.

Caroline smiled in between kisses, never tiring of his lips worshipping hers. His lips so plump and soft but powerful. All their kisses and intimate moments fueled by passion and longing. One good thing to come of their long distance relationship, the anticipated reunions full of sweet kisses and hot hybrid sex.

So caught up in Klaus's distracting affection, Caroline completely forgot they were displaying all their PDA in front of the boarding school where any student or faculty member could see.

With that thought, she placed a few more kisses on his lips before pulling away much to Klaus's dismay.

"Down wolf." She teased with a final kiss then resting her hands against his chest almost laughing at his pouty face. "Hey, don't give me that. Remember this is my job and I have students living here who definitely don't want to see their headmistress making out against a car."

Klaus smirked, clearly amused. "What are they going to do, give you detention?"

Caroline nibbled on her bottom lip, regrettably pushing against his chest when he tried leaning in for another kiss.

"Alaric and the girls will be out any minute." She explained.

Klaus subtly scoffed under his breath.

She giggled. "You know you're acting like a spoiled brat right?"

"Am not." He childishly claimed.

Caroline quirked an amused brow at his bratty tone.

Klaus smiled which Caroline reciprocated. His eyes softened and he sighed circling invisible circles on her hip looking up at her. He moved them away from the van and up the stairs.

"I just..." Sighed again leaning his forehead against hers. "I miss you Caroline, I miss us. Stealing you away on a spontaneous vacation was the only option I had left. But even then, having you all to myself for a week isn't nearly enough to make up the time we've wasted, not seeing you for almost half a year."

The blonde stared up at him sympathetically when he pulled away, still holding her.

"I know we're immortal and there's no such thing as wasted time but that's how it feels, with you. I was looking forward to this trip because I knew I would finally be spending time with not only my daughters but the woman I love."

Her heart ached at his honest words.

"The long distance thing is taking its toll on me, I suppose." He shrugged. "I'm not saying this to make you feel guilty because you shouldn't at all and I understand you have responsibilities here as I do in New Orleans but-"

"I get it Klaus, really I do." Caroline interrupted with a soft smile.

He gave her the same expression, taking a relieved deep breath.

"Kinda glad you said something because I've been feeling the same for awhile."

Klaus looked at her worriedly.

Caroline wasn't necessarily surprised by Klaus's confession, she felt it as well. Long distance relationships already had a bad reputation but at the time neither suspected the longing for one another to be this intense, and painful.

She missed him too, every single day. They talked on the phone and video chatted constantly but that didn't equate to the warmth of being in each other's arms at night. But, Caroline couldn't just pack up her life in Mystic Falls and move to New Orleans. Not only because of the school but also because of the twins, and she wasn't selfish enough to ask Klaus to abandon the city he loves for her.

- Where do we go from here?

Caroline thought with no solution.

Cradling his face in her hands, the blonde made him look directly into her eyes. "I know this hasn't been easy, believe me I wish for once me and you could have something simple."

"Would we really be us if it was simple?" Klaus asked with a teasing smirk and pecking her nose sweetly

She sighed heavily. "I guess you're right but it doesn't hurt any less being apart all the time. I love you, Klaus. For the first time in a long time I'm genuinely happy and in love and secure in a relationship with the most amazing guy..."

"My ego is loving this. Continue." He teased earning a slap to the chest.

"Don't be a jerk!" She yelled.

His undead heart skipped multiple beats whenever Caroline uttered those powerful three words to him. Three months into their relationship Klaus was the first to say it as they basked in the afterglow of their lovemaking, not expecting the baby vampire underneath him to repeat the words back . The most memorable night of his 1000 years of existence and he was still caught off guard by it. No one had ever loved him the way Caroline did, or even allowed close enough to try, and that scared as much as excited him.

The only thing better than loving Caroline Forbes was being loved by her.

"We formed this beautiful family together, unconventional and a bit twisted but a family nonetheless. The twins love you so much and I love Hope, even if they don't necessarily show they love each other." She joked with a hint of a tear resting in her eye. "I guess I'm just worried...that if we don't work this distance thing out our relationship might suffer because of it."

"Stop." Klaus softly demanded, bringing her hands down from his face and holding them in his.

"Nothing is going to happen to us, do you understand? We've been through a lot worse over the years together, unforgivable situations yet we survived and this is no different." Klaus confidently claimed.

Caroline pressed her lips together with a hesitant nod.

Klaus tucked a blonde curl behind her ear, exposing her beautiful face to his sight.

"Hey," He lifted her chin with his finger. "I did a lot of fighting to win your heart Caroline Forbes and don't plan on giving it up anytime soon. We'll figure it out like we do everything else but I don't want you stressing about it or over the possibility of us not being together because that is simply out of the question. I promised you an eternity and I intend on keeping that promise, always." Klaus reassured, caressing his thumb over her cheekbone.

At least 10 pounds lifted off Caroline's chest from Klaus's promises. Keeping her concerns and insecurities to herself physically hurt. She knew he wasn't just saying all of this because it's what she wanted to hear, he believed it too. Quite frankly this was his first stable relationship, where he was genuinely happy, in love and secure as well.

They kept falling bank into each other's lives over the past decade for a reason.

Soulmates.

Nothing was going to tear them apart, especially something as trivial as distance.

Caroline nodded again and kissed him sweetly on the lips.

He let out a deep breath. "And while we're being honest, as much as I adore our girls being trapped in a van with three nagging teenagers and a man I can barely tolerate is already giving me a migraine." Klaus added making Caroline giggle.

"I love that you refer to them as 'our girls'." She happily said wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Well they are, which is insanity." He lowly chuckled. "I never expected to have one child let alone three, who are all incredibly powerful witches. But I wouldn't change any of the choices I made that led me here."

"Me either." She happily affirmed. "Though, I feel like Lizzie's constant phone calls to you In New Orleans are starting to get to Alaric."

There was no secret that the blonde twin and Klaus had a special connection. As she got older and feeling less attached with herself and overwhelmed by her powers and mental disorder, she caught herself finding solace in conversations with Klaus. He quickly became someone she trusted with everything. Lizzie was 12 years old when she experienced her first episode and even with a twin sister and two amazing parents supporting her, she never felt more alone. Klaus's surprise visit that day couldn't have come at a better time, and no one understood the fear of loneliness like Klaus.

It was refreshing for her to talk about her struggles with someone who wasn't fixated on trying to 'fix' her.

He huffed. "Is that so? What, the unbearable human upset that he's not perfect at everything?"

"Or maybe he feels a little neglected that his daughter rather confide in you about what's going on in her life than him. And get off your high horse okay, you're no stranger to feeling this specific type of jealously either." Caroline pointed out making Klaus furrow his eyebrows.

When Hope first enrolled into the school she was 8 years old and with Klaus god knows where at the time, Alaric stepped in as her father figure. Though his intentions weren't malicious, it struck a cord in Klaus for a long period of time.

Oh the irony that the same situation was now occurring with his own daughter .

"I was not jealous, simply cautious." Klaus claimed as Caroline playfully rolled her eyes. "Besides, Saltzman has no one to blame but himself for their strained relationship. Maybe if he actually listened to her things would be different between them." He said with a tense jaw.

Caroline stared at him curiously, wanting him to elaborate on his statement but the sound of Lizzie and Hope yelling at each other put her questions on pause.

The two girls too stubborn to get out of each others way, knowing both can't fit on the same step at once, pushing against each other. Josie simply walked behind them with her earphones in both ears to drown it out.

"Ugh be careful where you're swinging that Dollar Tree brand luggage." Lizzie growled at Hope as they walked down the entry stairs.

"A bag is just a bag." Hope rolled her eyes.

The young blonde scoffed in offense. “You would say that. This isn't just a bag, it's a Louis Vuitton luggage set that I bought specifically for this trip. I know you prefer shopping in the slumps but you do know how much a Louis Vuitton is worth, right?"

The other girl sarcastically smiled at the blonde. "You do realize I don't care, right?"

Lizzie shrugged with a victorious grin. "Figured as much."

"Yeah, just like it figures you would claim you bought an expensive set of bags when we all know my dad paid for it like he does everything else." Hope shot back.

"Must be one tough spill to swallow knowing your dad rather spend money and time on me than you." Lizzie retaliated, boiling Hope's blood.

"Girls enough." Klaus commanded.

Hope's forehead creased. "But dad she started it-"

"I don't care who started it, I'm ending it. Understood?"

They both weakly nodded, each giving Caroline a hug before walking down to open the trunk for their bags.

Josie followed behind but stopped in front of the couple pulling out one earphone. "Based on what you've seen already between those two, you really think a 13 hour car ride together is a good idea?"

Caroline lifted her shoulders. "Think of it as a new adventure. Besides, you've been looking forward to this Miami trip for months."

"When I thought it was going to be just the 5 of us because I knew Hope and Lizzie wouldn't get along." She whined.

Klaus softened his eyes at the brunette girl who's eyes were pleading for a way out.

Caroline briefly detached from Klaus to grab Josie's hands. "I know this might be irritating but something good could come if it too, our worse situations always do. And this trip is important to your father as well, it's family tradition."

"Our first one without you." The young girl somberly mentioned.

Caroline licked her lips nervously. "We will have plenty of trips to go on together when you return, I promise. I really wish I had the luxury to skip out on all this work to go with you, I do, but I can't this time. Apart of adulthood is taking responsibility for your choices and I have to accept the consequences for mine."

"Because going to Italy for a week with the man you love was so dreadful." Josie joked with a wide grin that her mother reciprocated.

The corners of Klaus's lips twitching up.

Caroline kissed her daughter on the head. "I love you so much and will miss you like crazy. Have fun, please, be safe and keep an eye on your sister."

"So now my vacation consists of being on Lizzie patrol to make sure she doesn't bite Hope's head off. Can't wait." The brunette said with a twisted mouth before walking past then to throw her belongings in the trunk as well.

Klaus and Caroline exchanged looks turning to face the three teenagers who were getting situated in the van. Lizzie and Hope fighting for the window seat while Josie yelled for them to shut up.

The hybrid put his arm around the amused blonde.

"This is going to be my reality for 5 whole days, isn't it love?" Klaus inquired with a heavy sigh as they observed the girls bickering.

"Pretty much." Caroline snickered. "But you'll survive, and make it back home to me with two days to spare before you have to go back."

With her arms looped around his neck again and his now around her waist, Klaus purred at the feel of her fingers playing with the curls on the back of his neck. His eyes following the suggestive way her teeth slid across her bottom lip.

Klaus hummed. "Oh love, when I return I will make sure those two days are thoroughly worth while. You will feel empty not having me inside of you." He seductively whispered in her ear, amused at her trying to suppress a moan.

Breath brushing her skin and lips ghosting over hers before she surrendered to him again.

Caroline smiled against his lips and brought him closer into her body. Fingers laced through his curls as his the tip of his tongue teased hers.

The kiss was tamed, considering their daughters were feet away, but certainly effective with a naughty promise behind it.

Someone clearing their throat snapped the two out their love trance immediately.

Klaus groaned when his eyes met Alaric's. Caroline rubbing her finger over her bottom lip and avoiding his glare to hide her evident blush.

"Cock blocking still your strong suit, I see." The hybrid teased.

"As subtlety still isn't yours." Alaric insulted back.

Touche.

Caroline felt like the awkward third party between the two most childish grown men she's ever met.

"Right once I put my stuff in we'll be on our way. We're behind schedule enough as is so I don't think we should waste anymore time." Alaric said to Caroline.

"Yeah of course. As you can see, the girls are very eager to get on the road as well." She laughed pointing at them still fighting.

"Obviously." Alaric laughed swinging a bag over his shoulder. "You ever gonna grace us with your presence in the van, your royal highness?"

Klaus chuckled. "Certainly. Just give me another moment with my queen, hmm?" The hybrid replied pulling Caroline closer and giving her a quick surprising kiss, catching her completely off guard.

The other man huffed walking towards the car.

She pressed her lips together when Klaus pulled away watching him walk off. Caroline turned to Klaus with a displeased expression on her face.

"What?" Klaus asked innocently.

"Seriously Klaus? The whole petty jealous boyfriend thing is really bringing out your A game."

Klaus laughed dramatically. "Jealous, over Saltzman? Please."

She raised an eyebrow.

He hated when she could accurately read his intentions. Took the fun out of it all.

"You know nothing has or ever will happen between me and Alaric right?" Caroline wondered and Klaus clenched his jaw looking down at her.

She did inform Klaus about how after the twins were born the human did express having brief romantic feelings towards her, but knew nothing would come of it. They went back to being co-parents and friends, which was even more apparent when her relationship with Klaus began.

Though he knew he had nothing to worry about in that department, it didn't make Klaus any less uncomfortable or homicidal when in his presence or seeing him near Caroline.

He sighed. "Yes, I know. I trust you. I'm not jealous of that basic mortal in anyway however, that doesn't keep me from wanting to rip out his tongue through his arse whenever I see him." Klaus beamed earning a disapproving scowl from Caroline.

"Well can you put that to the side for this week then hash it out when you get back?" Caroline suggested.

"Sweetheart you do realize there's a strong possibility we might all kill each other." He reminded.

"Optimism is sexy on you." She joked.

His gaze lowered. "I'm serious Caroline."

She sighed. "Look, you two are going to need to get over yourselves and get along, genuinely get along for the sake of me and the girls if nothing else. This feud between you two has been going on for years and I don't know where it comes from but it's childish and unnecessary. You're acting worse than the teenagers."

"But-"

Caroline put her index finger up. "This is suppose to be a family bonding experience, so bond with your family. Both of you. Don't turn this trip into proving who's the greater alpha male."

"I don't need to prove anything love, I am the alpha male." Klaus claimed with a teasing smirk.

The blonde couldn't help the big smile stretching her face, soon leaning in for a tight hug. He held onto her in the embrace, inhaling her scent and buried his face in her curls with closed lids. Klaus made it seem he was going off to war and wouldn't see her again for months. In a way that's exactly how it felt.

Alaric honked the car horn repeatedly yelling out Klaus's name to get in the van.

His animalistic growl didn't go unnoticed by Caroline.

"He's dead." Klaus threatened exposing his golden yellow vampire eyes.

"Be nice." She demanded before stepping on her tippy toes for a passionate kiss. Klaus's murderous thoughts out the window the moment her lips melted against his. His features returning to normal as he allowed himself to relax in her touch and taste.

Caroline allowed his tongue to lick inside her mouth briefly before pulling away with a smile. "I love you. I miss you already."

"These five days will fly by. I'll be back before you know it." Klaus smiled into another deep kiss, wanting this one to last. They won't see each other for five days and he'll be boxed in a van with Alaric for 13 hours while forcing his murderous tendencies to the back of his head.

What could go wrong?

He detached his lips from hers with a last kiss to the forehead, whispering an 'I love you' against her skin before finally detangling his body from hers.

Their fingertips lingered as they separated.

"If anything happens or you need anything at all, do not hesitate to call me." Klaus assured making his way to the vehicle.

"Thanks oh mighty King but I'm capable of taking care of myself." Caroline assured.

Klaus shrugged. "Thought you might say that so, I took the liberty of ordering a few of my hybrids to watch over you and the school anyways till our return." He casually informed knowing she wouldn't necessarily be happy about having a babysitter.

- Seriously!

"Seriously!"

"I'll call you if we get there." Klaus winked stepping into passenger seat and closing the car door.

Caroline shook her head smiling as she watched her family drive off.

Don’t worry there will be a part 2! FF.net link is here! Reviews are appreciated!

#klaroline #legaciesedit #legacies #klaroline drabbles #klaroline fanfiction #lizzie saltzman-forbes mikaelson #josie saltzman-forbes mikaelson #hope mikaelson #caroline forbes #Klaus Mikaelson #alaric saltzman #my writing

[presleepthoughts]

Hey I was wondering if you could write a prompt based on the song "Perfect" by Topic & Ally Brooke is a great song and kinda Bechloe in a way... Love all your work and thanks for taking the time to write and share it with us... 😉

Thanks for the request :D Keep them coming.

Song: Perfect by Topic & Ally Brooke

Heavy rain poured down onto the streets of New York City as Beca hurried home as best she could. It was late - much later than Beca anticipated but she lost track of time.

Probably by the time she threw back her sixth shot of the night.

The evening blurred together in her mind as she balanced herself on the railings  climbing the stairs. Only for one sentence.

“You’re fired.”

She grinned her teeth at the annoying voice inside her head, repeating the same saying over and over again. She tried to dull the voice with alcohol and some cigarettes she kept hidden from Chloe but they haunted her whenever she stopped for a second. So, she decided to never stop.

Fortunately, the bartender at the bar recognized Beca was at her last wits end so he stopped the drink from coming her way. That was when Beca angrily reached for her phone to do something - she didn’t know what - but the flashing lights of nine missed calls and six text messages made her paused.

Shit. Chloe.

Her beautiful, loyal, working girlfriend of nine months was probably at their shitty apartment, watching the shitty TV and worrying about her. Beca roughly rubbed her face to sober up a bit and said goodbye to the bar, for once thanking heavens their home was just a few blocks away.

As steadily as possible, she placed the key in the keyhole and pried the door open. Did she mention their apartment was actual trash? Even their combined salary - now just only one - wasn’t enough to afford anything big or with a separate bedroom. Their king size bed was a pull-out couch in the middle of the living room.

But Beca didn’t mind it at the beginning. It was small, yes but Chloe adored it. Saying it was romantic and cute, saying things like.

“It’s going to be the best adventure of our lives.”

Beca was happy because Chloe was happy. She never wanted more than to make the redhead happy and content but it looks like Beca didn’t need much time to fuck it up.

Just like with everything else.

The room was pitch dark - it was 4 am after all - Beca tried to be as quiet as possible in her drunken state but it proved to be difficult. She fumbled around with locking the door and walked into the kitchen table’s edge.

“Fuck.” She murmured as she pressed her hands to her waist and groaned. She screwed her eyes shut and stood frozen. She didn’t want to wake up Chloe, who was sleeping literally five feet away but she knew she would if she kept tumbling around.

Carefully she walked to the kitchen, the only source of light coming from the window and reached up, grabbing a mug to fill it up with water. She knew she would need it later on today when she would wake up to a raging hangover.

She opened up the tap and placed the mug underneath the flow but when it started to fill up, it was heavier than Beca thought. The cup slipped from her hand and Beca tried to save it. She reached for it as it shattered, the broken glass slicing a deep cut into her palm.

Beca hissed at the pain and automatically pulled her hand to her chest, clinching the wound.

“Beca?”

The soft tone infused with sleep made Beca close her eyes.

Chloe sat up in the bed and flicked the nightstand lamp on. She squinted for a second before her eyes adjusted to the light and she turned to Beca. The girl was leaning against the counter completely soaked, grimacing down at her hands as a few droplets of blood stained her shirt.

Chloe rushed to her side immediately. “Oh my God, what did you do? Are you okay?”

She cradled Beca’s hands between hers before gently pried them apart, investigating the wound as best as she could. She cupped Beca’s cheeks and forced her head up, eyes searching for any other injuries as the brunette avoided eye-contact.

Chloe sighed and carefully guided Beca to the table and sat her down. She crouched down underneath the sink and pulled out the first-aid ki, placing it before Beca. The brunette sat silently, her bleeding hand resting on the surface, palm up as Chloe sat down in front of her.

The redhead pulled the injured hand closer and opened up the box, getting to work to clean up the wound.

She managed to stay silent for a few minutes before she couldn’t take it anymore.

“What happened?” She asked with a weird mixture of stern and concerned tone.

Beca bit her bottom lip as the alcohol burned her skin. It was ironic how she went out drinking just to dull the pain and now it was the only thing that caused it.

“I - I broke a mug.” She explained slowly. Although, the accident sobered her up slightly, she still felt the alcohol cruising through her veins.

“No, I wasn’t talking about this.” Chloe looked up at her. “I meant earlier. What happened that made you go out and get drunk? I was worried sick, you know?”

“I’m sorry.” Beca whispered. “I had a rough day.”

Chloe’s eyes softened at the tone. She had a hard time being mad at her when Beca was clearly struggling with something. It just made Chloe want to hug her and do anything to make the pain go away.

“Tell me.” She requested gently, covering the wound with a bandage and pressing a kiss on her knuckles.

Beca buried her head into her hand and sighed. “I just fucked up. Like with everything good in my life.”

Chloe’s heart broke at the pitiful voice and swiped her thumb back and forth over Beca’s hand, trying to show support without words.

“I got a new client today.” Beca started to explain slowly, eyes daring toward the window as she watched the rain slid down the glass. “He was a bratty teenager, swearing to be the next best thing. He kept bouncing around the studio, his crew just as stupid as he was.” Beca puffed. “He showed me a crappy demo and I tried to fix it to be half-decent but he didn’t like it. He didn’t want to change anything, saying it was perfect the way it was. And of course, I couldn’t keep my mouth shut.”

Chloe frowned sympathetically.

“So I said what he gave me was a steaming pile of shit.” Beca’s humorless chuckle made Chloe sigh. “And he told my boss. He fired me.”

“What?” Chloe was outrageous and Beca shook her head. “Just like that?”

“I mean, I gave him enough reason to. I couldn’t make the demo better and I insulted his client. I’m a newbie there, Chloe. I don’t have a lot of experience.”

“You’ve been making mixes for years, Beca.” Chloe couldn’t understand why Beca wasn’t more upset. It was her dream job she worked hard for her entire life.

The brunette suddenly stood up, the screeching of the seat made Chloe pause.

“Those doesn’t matter. They were not good enough. Everybody with good ears and a laptop can do that nowadays. I’m nothing special, Chlo!” She raised her voice, her old boss’ words wired into her head.

The hateful spite Beca displayed reddened Chloe speechless.

Beca smirked. “I wasn’t surprised. It’s a miracle that I hadn’t screwed up the only good thing in my life yet. You.” Beca ran her fingers through her hair with her good hand. “You could have anybody you wanted.”

Chloe couldn’t believe her ears. “What are you - “

Beca interrupted her. “Somebody who’s better. Smarter. Prettier. Who works harder because apparently I can’t.” She laughed as she felt tears building behind her eyes. “Look at me, I’m a mess.” She raised up her bandaged hand and looked down at herself. Her clothes were soaked through, her make-up was probably none existed and she was drunk.

She was a catch, wasn’t she?

Chloe waited a couple of seconds to see if she would say more. But when she stayed silent, Chloe quietly got up from her seat and walked closer until she was toe to toe with the brunette.

Her ocean blue eyes bore intensely into Beca’s.

“I’m in love with you. You, nobody else. It hurts me so much that you don’t think you’re good enough.” She gently wiped the tears from under her eyes lovingly and Beca couldn’t help herself but lean into the touch. “I don’t want anybody else, you are more than enough.��� Her smile trembled at the edges but she wouldn’t let it stop her. She cupped Beca’s face and pulled the brunette into a soft kiss that lasted long.

She pulled back slightly and whispered the words Beca will never forget.

“You’re perfect.” 

#bechloe #Pitch Perfect #pitch perfect 2 #pitch perfect 3 #Anna Kendrick #brittany snow #beca mitchell #chloe beale #angst #request #prompt

[threads-and-fate]

Session 1: Welcome to Arden High

There’s only one place to start, and that's the beginning. It was an early Wednesday morning. The heat having not settled over the growing gathering of young teenagers yet. The sky was clear and highlighted the tall building they stood outside of. Smooth clean stone fences surrounded the tall school. The school itself was a pale white colored brick building with mosaic windows with various shades of blue, purple, and green. Standing within the gates was and average height girl, with two others behind her. She stood on top of a soap box and was directing the crowd some and half discussing something with one of the other girls. One was knelt and working on something on her phone.

A girl with vanilla dyed hair stood, Hazel Foltz, with a small group, excitedly observing her surroundings. With her stood five other teens, two other girls and three boys.

“This place is crowded, there has to be at least two hundred students here.” The boy with black hair and a hoodie noted, his name is Jamie Runfords.

A girl with colorfully streaked hair stood with him, that’s Camilla Jane Runfords, but don’t call her Camilla, just Cami. She was bouncing up and down, her rainboots making weird squeaking sounds.

"ITS HUGE, IT’S LIKE A WHOLE HOUSE!"

Meanwhile, Jamie was holding her hand in attempts to prevent her running off right away. She stayed put but was squeezing the life out of her cousin’s hand.

An annoyed brunet nearby rubbed his temples. “Cami this is much larger than a house,” Oliver sighed.

"Ok, four houses!" She corrected

Mia, the strawberry pink of our neapolitan quadruplets, giggled at Oliver’s annoyed look. Hazel hummed quietly as she looked onward, pushing her glasses into place. Ethan, a boy with cherry dyed hair and a denim jacket, looked around, standing on his toes to get a better look at the girl at the front. The Foltz’ all were in an almost square.

Jamie looked at the sea of heads and faces fidgeting slightly. "I hope the hallways are big because cramming this many people into classes is gonna  be worse than middle school...”

Nearby a girl pushed a boy’s wheelchair cautiously through the crowd, wearing headphones that lit up to some unhearable beat.

Hazel turned and grinned. “We’ll be broken down into classes, no class is larger than twenty people I read!”

Oliver sighed in relief at that. “That’s good to hear,”

"That’s a little better." Jamie nodded in agreement.

Mia smiled and nodded. “Though we may get separated some then.” She sounded a tad disappointed.

"There’s always study group just in case." Cami pat her friend on the shoulder. "But we should end up together in at least one class!"

She smiled and nodded, enthusiasm returning. “You’re right! And hopefully we’ll have lunch together,”

Cami grinned, Jamie was thinking about Elliot. "I can’t believe we’re finally here, Elliot is also gonna be in 3rd grade this year, I hope I can work out some way to walk with him before our bus comes,"

"If you can’t, he has to get used to going to the bus or his classes alone sometime Jamie.” Cami shrugged. "He's a big kid,"

Jamie frowned at the idea.

The teen at the front was speaking to the black haired girl and the brunette next to her. The brunette looked excited as they spoke, the black haired girl was watching the crowd more so. She seemed a little weary, like she hadn’t signed up to help.

Mia hummed. “He can still be a little protective Cami, till at least 5th grade?”

Oliver rolled his eyes at them. “Don’t baby him too much,”

"All I’ve done is baby him, nobody else would," Jamie said.

"But auntie can do that now for you," Cami reminded him. "That’s her job. She’s your mom now,”

"Really, I didn’t know."

Ethan shrugged. “Nothing wrong with babying him a bit, just as long as he doesn’t get bratty...”

Hazel shook her head. “This is Elliot we’re talking about, Ethan.” He chuckled and nodded at that.

"If he turns out bad I’ll blame myself really," Jamie chuckled awkwardly.

Mia pat his shoulder a bit stiffly.

Cami stood on her tiptoes to see. "Are we gonna go in soon? I’m getting antsy,"

The sound of a microphone being tapped a few times began to get everyone’s attention

“Hello? Is it on- oh there it is, thank you Charisse for making it work!” The girl chimed politely.

The girl stood on her soapbox, dead center of the gates. The large school towered over her, the building was decorative, colorful glass panes made up a gradient on the front tower like structure. The school looked like what maybe a modernized castle may have looked like. Sleek but sturdy and maybe a bit intimidating. She and the other two girls all wore similar uniforms, the ties being the only difference.

Cami squealed. "Its starting!"

Mia bounced excitedly with her. Ethan was beginning to rock between heels and his toes even.

“Hello freshman! Good morning!” Her tone was chipper, but not obnoxiously so. “I hope you slept well, if not I’m terribly sorry this is taking place at seven AM,” She announced.

Oliver huffed a laugh at that.

Cami shrugged. “I didn't sleep last night anyways I was too excited,"

“Everyone, my name is Laci Paulk, I am the student council president. I’ll be giving you a tour today of our quite frankly enormous school,” She went on. Adjusting her braid as she spoke before rocking her weight to one side, her tie was a dark purple. “With me is two students that are now going up to sophomore and junior year, they’ll help answer questions,”

She turned to her company and held the mic out, a faint. “Want to introduce yourselves?” Was heard from Laci.

The other brunette stepped up, her hair was a shoulder length messy bob, her tie was a lilac.  “Morning everybody! My name’s Charisse Galate and I hope you guys are excited! I know I was when I first started,” She spoke enthusiastically. She squinted at the crowd “Aaandd somewhere out theeerree is my brothe- HI JEREMYYYYY!!!” She said unnecessarily loudly to annoy him, waving erratically. A few people winced at the yelling over the microphone.

The boy nearby in the wheelchair slowly covered his face, making various dying sounds. The girl with headphones pat his back sympathetically.

Jamie sent his condolences as well to whoever the girl was talking about.

She passed the mic to the next girl who stepped up as she went down, she had long curly black hair and a tie that was pastel blue. “Mornin’, not gonna lie I don’t wanna be awake but hey, my friends are here so I am too, my name is Simone O’Rourke, I just graduated the year you’re going into.” She briefly waved as she spoke, pushing her hair back out of her face.

The boy in the wheelchair softly laughed into his hands at her usual behavior.

“Also... If you guys know what a packet teacher is... beware of geography,” She warned, “And Lasomono is weird but ok.” She added glancing off.

“Simone!” Laci hissed from the sidelines.

Some students groaned at the info, others were laughing.

Jamie made note of this. "Take the vital info while we can get it guys,"

Laci walked up a bit stiffly before holding out her hand and then taking the microphone. She returned to the box.

“Alriiightt, now that that’s done,” She slightly glared at Simone who was still grinning.  “Let’s get on with the tour shall we? Charisse will be mingling with all of you and Simone will be at the very back to make sure everyone stays together, now!”  She stepped off the box, lifting it to reveal it was the speaker, she hung it from her shoulder like a bag and made a motion to follow.

Simone sidled out of the crowds way to head towards the back. Standing off to the side and sliding along the noisy crowd. Simone took over pushing the boy’s wheelchair once her friends met her in the back of the hoard.

Cami started skipping to keep up with the hoard, Jamie kept pace with her by simply speed walking. Ethan was trying to keep stride with them, Mia joined her in skipping, Hazel was nearly there but not as obvious.

Cami grabbed Ethan’s hand with her free one and smiled. "Can’t lose anyone in the hoard, c’mon Oliver you wanna skip too?"

Oliver shook his head rapidly. “No thank you!”

Ethan smirked at him and promptly skipped along with the girls.

Jamie shrugged. "You’ll have to keep up via speed walking then, they skip rather fast."

Oliver sighed annoyed and continued speed walking.

Charisse eventually had filtered her way towards them, and was skipping with them jokingly “Why are we skipping?”

Jamie pointed to Cami. "I don’t think she remembers how to walk really. She skips a lot so we kinda started a chain?"

Cami nodded. "Its more fun than walking,"

Charisse snickered before stopping and walking instead.

Cami made sure everyone was still semi close by. "Ethan, I’m giving you candy when we stop for not being a stick and skipping with us,"

“Sooo kiddos, any questions?” She quirked her head casually.

Ethan cheered a bit before looking at Charisse. “You’re not that much older than us, why kiddos?”

“Because I can! Next question.” She clapped.

Hazel watched the halls and the decorations on the walls, posters, photos, decor of all sorts were organized rather neatly along the neutral colored surface. Giving it pops of color in a semi-chaotic way. There were framed pictures of classes and activities as well. The school ironically felt like some extension of home with all of the displays proudly showing off it’s students and teachers.

"WHAT’S ON THE LUNCH MENU?" Cami shouted more so than asked.

Charisse’s nose scrunched. “Uhh, it changes throughout the year usually? You can check the site once the year starts to have a heads up for the week’s menu, I advise bringing snacks either way though because we can only get one serving,” She explained.

They had apparently gotten far enough back for Simone to contribute. “AND THE SERVING SIZES SUCK!” Jeremy face palmed.

Charisse rolled her eyes. “And you have the appetite of four of the swim team members!”

Jamie laughed. "I think Cami managed to feed everyone once from her candy hoard in her bag,"

Cami nodded proudly and tossed Charisse a snickers. "Thank you for the heads up!"

“That's.... impressive..” She caught it. “Very impressive,”

"I have lots in this bag."

“Serving sizes are kinda small but filling, so again, snacks.” Charisse pocketed the candy for later.

She took out her favorite brick as an example.

“Leeettts not carry that to school?” Charisse said in a confused tone.

"I read the rules, its allowed actually,"

"What part of the handbook was this?" Jamie quirked an eyebrow

"I dunno but Oliver had it highlighted." She paused then added, "Most of it was highlighted,"

Oliver sighed. “It said no knives or weapons on school grounds.... Technically a brick isn’t a weapon, it’s a building material,”

"Exactly,"

Charisse snorted. “I feel bad for whoever pisses you off- wait can I swear in front freshman? Meh sure,” She muttered.

Jamie shrugged. "Not like we haven’t heard the words before,"

“Fair enough,” She nodded.

Cami snickered. "Auntie gets heated sometimes,"

“So, what’s the student council president like? She seems nice?” Hazel queried.

“Laci? Yeah she’s nice. Mostly focused on studies and president stuff though, she has a friend that’s in your year I think? Or is he in sophomore now?” She pondered aloud.

"Who are the teachers to get." Cami continued the line of questions.

“Uhh, geez well I think you guys are getting Simone’s teacher set so uh- SIMONE COME DO YOUR JOB!” She yelled before stepping off to another crowd.

Simone made an annoyed noise, letting the boy take over pushing the wheelchair and heading forward. “Yeah?”

"Teachers to get?" Cami repeated.

“Hmm, Mrs. Turman’s awesome. She’s kinda slow, she’s older. But if you behave or do well on stuff she gives out caramel or other candy?” She shrugged.

"I like candy!" Cami perked up.

“Mr. Watton is the gym teacher and he’s kind of.... Annoying? Ok, no, he’s incredibly obnoxious.“ She snorted at herself.

Oliver rose an eyebrow. “A bit rude aren’t you,” He muttered to Jamie.

"She could be speaking the truth, we'll have to see for ourselves though, I think it’s kinda funny." Jamie mumbled back with a shrug.

Oliver sighed and nodded.

“He’s waaay too enthusiastic, if you end up like I did, you’ll get him first thing in the morning which is utter hell.” She groaned at the memory.

"Morning gym sounds..ew.." Jamie made a face at the idea.  "Whos idea was morning gym,"

“No clue, but they’re a moron,” Simone muttered.

Cami shifted her weight back and forth in her spot thinking. "I could run in the morning if needed!"

Jamie then prayed he didn’t have gym in the morning and with Cami. One or the other or else he might not survive long.

“Uhhh, the geo teacher, Mr. Clause is kind of a pain, he’s the packet teacher,” She rattled off.

Mia tilted her head at Simone. “This may be more social and less school related but, you’re the one who ended up helping us solve that question a while back right?”

Simone thought for a moment. “Oh the summer warm ups for freshman? Yeah that was me,” She smirked.

Cami stared at Simone's face for a second and slowly nodded. "Hey.. Yeah!! She's right! You ordered blueberry lemonade I think,"

Ethan sighed. “We were stumped, how did you remember that?”

“I had literally an hour before then helped my friends with the same problem,” She grinned “Don’t worry, rarely does anyone get that right without help,”

Hazel rubbed her face, shoving her glasses up. “Uughh, I hate those kinds of problems!”

"Well, we owe ya," Cami added. "If we can ever help you out sometime let us know!"

She smiled politely as they stopped slightly. Seeing a staircase up ahead as Laci turned to face the crowd. Despite a little over a hundred people filling the hall it managed fairly well. It was crowded but not painfully cramped.

“I know we have someone who is in a wheelchair so umm,” She paused briefly. “Charisse, take your brother to the elevator?”

Simone immediately bolted. “I’VE GOT IT!!” She pushed the chair past the crowd, hopping onto a bar on the back that appeared to have been added.

“SIMONESIMONESIMONE NOOOO!!!” Jeremy shrieked as they sharply rounded a corner. Cackling heard down the hall as the girl with headphones ran after.

Laci sighed slowly. “.... You can’t say I didn’t try,”

Charisse laughed. “They’re inseparable what’d you expect?” Was heard from the microphone as well. “She’s just glad they’re all in the same building again,” Charisse continued grinning.

Mia grinned. “They seemed pretty close,”

“And a bit crazy,” Oliver murmured.

Cami nodded at Mia, Jamie sent his condolences out again. "I just hope we don’t hear any crashing noises in a moment,"

Cami sighed. "Oliver, do you even ride the baby coasters at the fair with that attitude?"

“He’s in a wheelchair, she should be more cautious!” Oliver huffed and folded his arms at her.

Hazel awkwardly smiled but nodded as they headed up the stairwell. “He could get hurt,”

Once they made it to the second level they caught sight of the trio again, Simone riding the back of the wheelchair again. At a more reasonable speed this time however.

"If you’re stuck in a wheelchair you should have a little fun!" Cami retorted as they stepped out into the open. "He's alive right over there,"

He looked a bit ruffled and was currently whining at her. “Siimoooneeee, you’re gonna break my wheelchair!” He groaned.

“Nonsense, I re-enforced it last month!” She chirped.

Nell motioned to the duo and signed something at them. Simone grinned and Jeremy sighed again.

“You two will be the death of me.” He motioned as he spoke.

Mia tilted her head. “Why sign language? She has to be able to hear if she has headphones on?”

Hazel shrugged. “I don’t know but come on we’re lagging behind.” She lightly nudged the group forward.

Cami resumed the skipping chain, Jamie was not prepared and screeched a little and caught up.

"You’re gonna tear my arm off," He huffed.

"Your fault for holding on to my hand like I’m five though," She retorted.

Mia curiously watched over her shoulder as the three talked amongst themselves.

Ethan shrugged. “Maybe she's mute?”

“But.... She can hear still?” Mia looked incredibly lost. “But I feel it may be rude to ask...”

"Lets not right now," Jamie agreed.

Cami wasn't phased. "Maybe it's like a code, I have my own code in my head,"

“Why in your head?” Ethan asked confused.

"Helps me group stuff sometimes," She explained. "I have so many thoughts bouncing around at once,"

"But you’ve heard me refer to you guys as oranges before, that’s like code." Cami stopped to stare and think. "Or maybe I only group you like that in my head.."

Mia tilted her head. “I think I’ve heard you mention it,”

Oliver had a look that said he didn’t want to know what went on in Cami’s head. Cami continued walking lost in thought.

“Is she ok?” Ethan asked quietly.

Hazel shrugged.

Jamie nodded. "She's fine,"

Cami snapped out of it and brushed off the question. "Oh, well just know you guys are great,"

Mia beamed. “You are too Cami!”

Cami smiled wide. "Aw thank you! Hey look more buildings.. How big is this school.."

Out a window they were passing showed another large chunk of the school grounds, two buildings were visible along with what appeared to be a soccer field. The shorter building was closer and appeared to be a gym. The building behind it appeared to be two or three stories high on it’s own. It’s dome shaped roof and vaguely visible opening implied it was an observatory. The grounds themselves they could see were well trimmed and kept. Neat purple and blue flower beds lined the walkways.

“This place could classify as a small city,” Hazel murmured.

Oliver glanced over. “Am I the only one listening to the guide?”

“I’m listening!” Hazel huffed defensively. “..... Kind of.”

Mia sheepishly smiled. “Oops...”

Ethan snorted. “Wow, the ever attentive Hazel isn't paying attention?” He jabbed her side to which she smacked.

“Shut up I was trying to be social! And I asked Charisse some questions.” She continued giving her “explanations”. Hazel isn’t one to admit things like this if you couldn’t tell.

Cami was staring at water spots on a ceiling tile. "Hey, that one looks like a plus sign,"

Jamie laughed. "I was half paying attention, Cami's exploring on her own now,"

Simone was still behind them to make sure they didn't get separated. She was pushing the wheelchair along and contently talking with the other two.

Cami gave Oliver a dramatic look. "We won’t survive if we’re too dependent on our elders, we must learn to explore and grow, ON OUR OWN!"

He gave a long sigh. “The school is enormous and I don't want to be late on the first day,”

"And if you act like a grumpy stick this whole tour I'll sharpie your forehead," She threatened.

He backed up slightly at that. Cami took a sharpie out of her bag and waved it towards him in threat. He scowled and stepped behind Hazel who was looking at the classroom signs.

The crowd had slowed slightly, they could barely hear Laci speaking. However, a pleasant ringtone was loud and clear over her speaker before she spoke louder.

“I’m sorry, I just got an important call I really need to take. Charisse please wait and handle this?” She quickly passed the mic to her before disappearing into what appeared to be another classroom.

Cami looked at all the doors and read all the name tags for teachers. "There's the mean geo teacher's room,"

Unbeknownst to our dear students, some of their more interesting teachers were passing through. Adair, the chemistry teacher who has “wasted” talent, saw Thryver, the Acchian faun, sneaking up on the back of the crowd; he already saw where this was going.

"Y'know I really think we should repaint the gym to help bring out motivation." The gym teacher was still prattling on to the astronomy teacher who was clearly not interested, nor paying attention.

Simone glanced over her shoulder and saw Mr. Thryver. “Uh oh,” She whispered, grinning.

Adair looked like he was suffering, watching Thryver and side eyeing Watton, one of the gym teachers. He was already beginning to rub his temples. The teacher group made an interesting lot, Adair dressed in a nice button up, slacks, and a lab coat like most of the teachers wore; he looked the most orderly of them. Watton was wearing a tracksuit, with a whistle being the most notably different part of the outfit. The astronomy teacher looked like a more disheveled Adair. Thryver wore traditional Acchian robes. Dark blue wrapped around his torso and then opening and loosening into a skirt of sorts.

“VITE THA UN DOTELLA!” Thyver abruptly shouted startling the crowd.

Mia jumped a mile, Cami however turned around excited and waved looking for who said that. Jamie also jumped out of his skin at the shout. Ethan whipped around and Oliver may have been one of the people that screamed.

Charisse jerked and blinked. “And there's Mr. Thryver!”

“THAT MEANS HELLO AND WELCOME!” He continued loudly.

The gym teacher scanned the sea of freshman. "ARE THESE THE NEWBIES WE GET TO HAVE FUN WITH IN GYM CLASS?!"

Jamie frowned. "Oh dear the teacher sounds much too excited for gym class I think that girl was right,"

Adair groaned quietly then saw Simone. “And you’re here... Just when I thought the day couldn't get worse.”

“Good to see you too Mr. Adair!” She chimed with fake enthusiasm.

Oliver nodded at Jamie. A bit alarmed. Charisse waved the crowd of teachers.

The astronomy teacher scanned the crowd. "YES WELCOME, WE ARE VERY EXCITED TO WELCOME YOU TO OUR SCHOOL, ITS HISTORY IS QUITE THE CONSPIRACY!"

“Everybody that is Mr. Thryver who just yelled, he's our teacher for Acchian, the man in gym gear with too much energy is Mr. Watton and that enthusiast there is Mr. Lasmono, the astronomy teacher.” Charisse laughed over the speakers as she spoke. “And the man with a look of suffering is Mr. Adair, our loving and dear chemistry teacher,” She snickered.

"Oh don't be silly, our school was not built on any of the stuff you say it was," Mr. Watton laughed at Lasmono.

"Do we know that?" He asked, before answering himself. "No,"

Simone leaned over. “Hey, we may be on an ancient burial ground,”

Jeremy shook his head at them.

Cami nodded interested in what the astronomy teacher had to say. "He has a point though,"

Jamie facepalmed.

Hazel adjusted her glasses. “Actually it’s believed is placed around what would’ve been mid-world’s Thailand, so technically what we have would be Indian burial grounds,”

"ARE YOU KIDS READY FOR SOME HEALTHY TEAM BONDING THIS SUMMER? ALSO IF YOUR INTERESTED IN GETTING YOUR SCHOOL SPIRIT ON I HAVE SIGN UPS READY ON THE SCHOOL WEBSITE FOR CHEERLEADING!" The gym teacher continued. The crowd wasn’t very responsive.

Simone rolled her eyes at his hyperactivity.

The girl in headphones watched the teacher with immense confusion, she couldn't read his lips very well.

Jamie shook his head. "Last time someone said team bonding it meant dodgeball,” He sighed "That's not healthy,"

“Agreed,” Oliver nodded.

The sound of the mic shifting and Laci speaking grabbed the group’s attention yet again.

“Hello, so sorry I had to answer that... ah...” She looked stiffer than before. “I see some teachers have joined us? How are you all this morning?”

"I’M FEELING GREAT!" Watton cheered.

"I’d feel better if the government wasn't lurking to be honest," Lasmono mumbled.

“I’m well, miss Laci I hope you and your friend is too?” Thryver singsonged.

Adair’s expression answered her question.

Laci stiffened mildly. “I’m alright... I’ll chat later, you know uh- schedule and what not!” She awkwardly motioned for them to continue moving, attempting to maintain her previous enthusiasm.

Mia’s expression shifted to concern. “Is she alright?”

Jamie slowly shook his head again. "I would guess no… She looks worried."

Hazel nodded a bit at that.

Cami chucked a snickers bar in her direction. "Just in case," She explained.

Oliver winced as he saw it hit a random student.

"Cami, you can't just candy snipe strangers," Jamie groaned.

"It was for a good cause,"

“Maybe we should check on her after?” Mia gently suggested.

Hazel nodded. “She has to wait for everyone to leave first after all, it'd be hard to miss her,”

"Good plan," Cami agreed.

The tour had finally come to a close, students or soon to be students were all filing out the front gate. It was a little after noon and the heat was worse. The sun shined brightly just outside of the building’s entrance and waves of the heat made it in as the doors stayed mostly open. Laci stood to the left of the building entrance, waving at anyone that looked her way or answering a few final questions. Cami signaled the rest of the group when she spotted Laci through the sea of heads. "C’mon let's check on her before we get pushed out by the hoard!" Mia almost jumped Ethan in attempts to stay with the group.

“Hey, I’m not a ride!” He huffed but helped support her weight, annoyed. Cami started to weave between people like a little rabbit, Jamie awkwardly tried to follow her but was nowhere near as fast.

"I think Cami has a sixth sense that makes her fast," Jamie mumbled to the others, "Or the candy.."

"Probably the candy and a sixth sense,“ Hazel concluded.

Oliver pressed through till they managed to break from the crowd, now out in the open space Laci stood in. Cami waved to her. "Hi! Great job on the tour by the way!" Laci turned and pulled another strained smile. “Thank you, glad to help! I hope you’re all looking forward to your first year here.” She slightly pushed her bangs to the side. Briefly checking her phone before it went back down to her side. "Although, we did notice earlier you seemed kinda stressed so we wanted to ask if everything was ok?" Jamie added onto Cami's comment. Cami nodded and dug around in her purse for another snickers bar. "I tried to throw this at you but it hit someone else instead..." Her eyes widened slightly and she stiffened. Mia stepped forward as well. “We just figured we would check on you?” She gave another concerned look. The brunette looked a bit surprised but thankful. “Ah... Was it that obvious?” She tugged at her button up’s collar. "Maybe we’re just super observant," Cami shrugged.

Jamie was going to say something but Cami did focus on details sometimes so he stayed quiet. Cami handed Laci a slightly squished handful of various fun-sized candies and a smiley face sticker. "The sticker is for a good job," Laci looked a tad confused but nodded her thanks. “So... Is everything alright?” Hazel quirked her head. Laci shuffled briefly to put away the candy before sighing. “To be honest, no. Not at all,” She checked her phone again. "Is there anything we can do to help..?" Jamie asked hesitant. He wondered what kind of situation it was, he was afraid of seeming nosey though and wondered if they should even be asking. Cami rocked back and forth and glanced at Laci's phone, trying to see if she had an interesting case for it. It was a plain light purple. She had put the sticker on the back of it.

“Not unless you’re miracle workers,” She sighed.

Hazel awkwardly glanced at the others before Laci elaborated.

“My.. my childhood friend is in the hospital.. he’s... he’s not doing very well...” Her voice shook slightly, a deep breath and she tried to steady herself. “And it's getting worse..” Cami's face fell, she dug in her purse again for a second but stopped and said nothing for a bit.

Jamie looked awkwardly at the ground thinking they possibly made her feel worse. He thought of his Mom though and spoke up softly. "...Does he like any deserts..? Can we bring you or him anything..?" Laci jumped slightly. “W-well uhh, he likes lemon bread? It's been a while. The medicines he's on... but...” She smiled a bit. “I think that'd make his day...”

Simone had wandered up, catching the tail end of her sentence. Jamie nodded slowly "I think I can try that..yeah.." "Is there anything you like specifically?" "What's his favorite color?" Cami asked following Jamie's train of thought. "Hmm.. lime cupcakes.” She smiled a bit fondly. “And he likes purple a lot.”  She looked calmer at the implications this was giving. Cami smiled. "Purple, I can work with this," Jamie took notes quietly on his phone. "Is there any way we can reach you to give you some food and stuff..?" Simone eyed them briefly. “Wyatt ok?” She shoved her hands in her jacket pockets. Laci jumped again. “Oh- oh he’s... He's been better, the doctors couldn't get a hold of his parents and he... heart... stopped... for a - yeah.” She swallowed and nodded stiffly again. Simone scrunched her nose. “Then what are you doing here? Council head or not he's your best friend,” She made shooing motion. Laci sighed. “I can't just-“ "I’ll handle it,” Simone interrupted. "Wait," Jamie interrupted.   "What... Simone you hate socializing,” She raised her eyebrows.

“I’ll get over it, go on.” She waved again. "WAIT I CAN'T GIVE YOU FOOD UNLESS I CONTACT YOU." He interrupted loudly and a bit distressedly. Laci stopped. “Right right, uhhh here.” She pulled out some note paper, tearing a corner off she wrote out a number quickly. “Here, thank you! And thank you Simone I owe you!” She squeezed Simone in a short hug that the raven haired girl cringed at.

"Thank you, now indeed you should go." Jamie pocketed it. "We should have some stuff for you in a couple of days." "Yeah yeah, listen to them and get out of here,” Simone laughed.

Laci bowed a final thanks, practically sprinting out.

Cami gave him a look. "I can put stuff together in hours man," Jamie sighed. "BAKING IS AN ART FORM THAT CAN’T BE RUSHED!!" Cami frowned. "Don't yell at me there's people here now," "If they go to school with us they will see me yelling at your shenanigans again," Simone moved to stand where Laci had been, occasionally answering questions. Cami rolled her eyes and turned to Simone. "Hi!" Simone nodded at Cami. “Questions or just being friendly?” Mia smiled slightly. “That was really sweet, just a moment ago,” She shrugged. “Just human decency,” "Still good," Cami agreed. "And just being friendly." She bounced a little. ‘She's very friendly," Jamie said, Cami couldn't tell how he meant that so she didn't mind it. Simone nodded slightly, watching the crowd, Charisse was on the other side of the crowd that was now thinning out finally. "We saw you pushing your friend around earlier, do you do go karts as a hobby or something because you steer well for sharp corners!" Cami continued bouncing as if she was listening to music. Jamie noticed she had one earbud in and leaned in. "Are you listening to the nyan cat theme?" "....No..." Ethan made a face at that. Simone rose an eyebrow but answered her. “I mostly hoverboard, but I’ve had a lot of practice weaving his chair around the last year too,” She explained. “Oh neat!" Cami exclaimed. "I've always wanted to try but this grump screams at me if I go too fast on a scooter even," "You wear roller skates while on the scooter to go faster," Jamie protested. Ethan lit up. “Didn’t we talk about me teaching you?” Oliver looked like he swallowed a lemon. Hazel looked a bit worried. "OH YEAH!" Cami grinned. "CAN WE GO NOW?" Mia’s enthusiasm seemed to strain even. Jamie looked at Ethan and shook his head. Cami put her hand on his face and nodded like a bobblehead. Ethan was bouncing a bit. “Our house is on the way, we could get our hoverboards and guards and go!” "YAAAY!!" Cami squealed, she handed Simone a sticker. "You did good on the tour too by the way!!"

"NOW LETS GO BEFORE OLIVER OR JAMIE STOP US!" Cami bounded towards the nearest exit at top speeds. Simone blinked, confused by the sticker, watching as the group all left rapidly. Jamie was stressing already wondering how he would explain to Rachel that Cami split her head open.

#writing #original #ocs #swearing #scifi #fantasy #roleplay #closed roleplay

[amandajoyce118]

Friday Five: Sailor Moon is a Goddess

While writing a few anime related list for Screen Rant the last few weeks (like this one, and this one, and, oh, hey, this one), I spent some time binge watching different story arcs of Naruto and all of Sailor Moon Crystal. I have a confession: I loved Sailor Moon as a kid. I only read a few of the manga because there was always a ridiculous wait to get them from the library because every other little girl was also reading them. But I watched the English dub of the series when it was on Cartoon Network. It wasn’t until I was a teenager that I realized how much was actually missing from the dub and got the whole story. I know that a lot of fans of the original anime didn’t like the animation style of Sailor Moon Crystal, but there are actually a lot of story points I thought were much better done this time around, so you’re getting my thoughts a few years late.

Five: Sailor Moon Has Anxiety

The original anime, and even the manga to a degree, just paints Usagi (Serena if you’re used to the original 90s English dubs) as an irrational crybaby. Everything makes her cry, she gets jealous of everyone for seemingly no reason, etc. Sailor Moon Crystal actually frames her really emotional moments better thanks to her voice overs. There are times where she thinks to herself how scared she is before a big fight - and then reminds herself that she has to be strong because she’s Sailor Moon. She flat out tells her boyfriend that she has no reason to be jealous, but she’s still jealous, and she can’t help it. All of the moments where her crying would have been played for laughs in the original turn into an obvious moment of anxiety for the character, and I love that. If you were a 14/15 year-old girl who found out you were a reincarnated princess and you had to regularly fight evil beings from outer space with the help of your talking cat and new friends or the world would die, you’d probably be a little anxious too.

Four: Sailor Uranus Is Non Binary

So, I don’t know if this was the case in the manga, but I remember in the original English dub of the anime, Makoto (Lita) and Usagi (Serena) both had a crush on Sailor Uranus when they thought she was a teenage boy. The show, of course, rewrote the story to make it seem as though Uranus and Neptune were cousins and BFFs. The new show makes it clear that Haruka, dressed in more stereotypical masculine clothing when first appearing is still the same young woman as Sailor Uranus later. The show also makes it clear that Usagi is attracted to Haruka, though she doesn’t tell anyone about her confusion. While that’s all well and good, correcting the mistakes of the original, Neptune actually says that Uranus is neither male nor female, drawing strength from both genders, though Neptune also identifies Uranus as “she,” so I’m guessing that’s her preferred pronoun. Uranus also apologizes to Usagi for confusing her because that was never her intention. I love that the writers chose to update that idea from the manga for the modern day and not gloss over it like the previous anime did.

Three: All The Lady Love

No, I’m not just talking about the relationship between Neptune and Uranus, which, to be honest, doesn’t appear to be as obvious as I thought the writers would make it. I’m actually talking about the unconditional support amongst the Sailor Scouts for one another. Rei and Usagi especially had a contentious relationship in the original with a lot of yelling, and even some slapping each other around. That’s been dropped for Sailor Moon Crystal. In fact, each time Usagi meets one of the Sailor Scouts, as she befriends them, she identifies something about them and praises it when they might otherwise be insecure about it. She also refers to each and every one of them as beautiful as they become friends. She’s not nearly as petty as the previous anime, and they all, in turn, are extremely loyal to her. Even the Outer Sailor Scouts, knowing that they’ve taken on a mission that involves killing someone and she won’t agree, try to separate themselves from Usagi and the others, but make it clear she’s still their princess and they’re all still Sailor Scouts. There’s just so much love to go around, which really brings the point home that the show is about the power of love.

Two: Chibiusa

The 90s anime series turned Chibiusa into one of the most bratty children I’ve ever seen on television, which, on the one hand, makes since because she’s Usagi’s daughter, and up until that point we’ve seen the selfish and immature side of her a lot. On the other hand, no one wants to watch a bunch of filler stories about a small child interrupting the lives of teenagers. Sailor Moon Crystal goes a long way toward making her a sympathetic character that the 90s anime didn’t even attempt to do. She also gets a lot of sweet moments with Sailor Pluto, which goes a long way toward fleshing out Setsuna’s character since so many of the other Sailor Scouts don’t get their personalities fleshed out right away. I still wish that Chibiusa’s story didn’t take up so much screentime, but I loved her turn as Black Lady and I thought Silver Crystal managed to weave that transformation with her backstory and insecurities much better than the original anime did.

One: Mamoru and Usagi’s Relationship

If anyone was familiar with the manga when the 90s anime landed on television, there was one really big change that was made that made a lot of fans wonder just what the writers were thinking. In the manga, Usagi and Mamoru are only a few years apart. As in, she’s 14/15 when the story takes place and he’s 16/17. It’s entirely possible for a 16 year old to fall for a 14 year old. But a college student who is much more mature than her? Nope. And that’s just what the original anime did. Mamoru was in college when he first started teasing Usagi about her hair. She was in middle school. He was also frequently a jerk. It’s creepy.

Sailor Moon Crystal put Mamoru back where he belonged - in high school - though he did still have his own apartment where she spent the night in a few episodes, though to give the writers credit, it seemed mostly innocent. And there is some teasing the first few times they meet, but they tease each other. He’s never outright a jerk to her, more like he’s amused by her and surprised by his own interest in her. Their connection is a bit gradual, but much more believable. He’s also supportive, not hiding his secret identity from her for long, and giving her advice in the fight instead of showing up, throwing a rose, and hiding behind his cape. He’s just a better character all around, which makes their relationship better.

#sailor moon #sailor moon crystal #usagi x mamoru #sailor uranus #sailor chibi moon #friday five #i wrote a thing

[bristlepaws]

I'm curious, what's your opinion on Sandy in BCB? I'm very intrigued/conflicted about her personally but mostly I'm just SO CURIOUS AS TO WHAT HER DEAL IS

OH SAME…. i have real mixed feelings on her tbh. i like her As A Character (which isnt surprising, all of the bcb characters are very 3-dimensional and Good). I’m… sympathetic towards her, because she DOES have a lot on her plate & a mom that really pushes her to grow up. She’s kind of bratty and childish in a lot of ways, though, so I’m not really a huge fan of her? Like I get WHY she is the way she is, and she seems to have a good heart, she just has a lot of growing up to do (much like the rest of the cast, since they’re all in high school lol). 

I reeeeaallly don’t like her interactions with the main cast, though. She’s not a good match with Mike, as we’ve seen – too focused on how “adult” she has to be & not focused enough on communication and not talking down to Mike. She has a tendency to talk down to ALL the main cast, actually, which we also see with her garbo comment towards Daisy. I think her mom has just pushed her a lot to ACT older & she uses her “maturity” to make herself feel better about lacking a proper teenage-hood probably. She’s jealous of the freedom of the other kids, so she makes up for it by acting like she’s “above” them. Which is… understandable, but also I hate it. 

SO… mixed feelings lol

#ask #moonybadger #text #text wall #bcb ramblings #bittersweet candy bowl #also thank u so much for sending me this ask #i fwuckin love analyzing this comic #bcb analysis

[ilovehighhats]

Facets of Perfection, ch. 06

Phew, I’m glad no one has noticed I’m late with my daily updates! ;)

The drive home was uneventful and quick.

Bane pulled over at the driveway since they would go out again to pick up the kids in the afternoon. Wordlessly he proceeded to jog up the porch and opened the main door.

Even though Victoria knew, technically, that Bane was trusted by her family, she felt uneasy entering the house after him. What did she know about the man? The more she thought about his behavior, the more holes she found her first impression. If he was just a security guy, why did he have this air of military operative about him? It struck her as odd, the way he spoke about the time to Selina. And the printouts he had in abundance. The weird list he had in his pocket on that first evening… She made out a few words, and from what she saw it looked awfully like a plan of action for a houseguest.

Weird.

Now she found herself alone in an unfamiliar place along with that weird man. To his credit, the dog seemed to like him. That had to count in Bane's favor.

“Are you going to stay in that coat?” He asked, gazing up at Vic since he kneeled to greet Ace properly.

“Maybe I will,” she purred. “It was pricey and I didn't have many opportunities to wear it until now.”

Bane seemed beyond unimpressed.

“Suit yourself. I'd like to make a schedule for today. Do you have any plans?”

Vic groaned and started to untangle the scarf she had carelessly wound around her neck.

“Do we have to? I don't like planning.”

Bane didn't answer.

She looked up and frowned when she couldn't see him. A clutter of falling pellets came from the kitchen. He was feeding the dog.

The pause gave Victoria time to reconsider. She fell into her usual bratty demeanor, almost against her will. But Bane didn’t seem to appreciate her company when she behaved like that. Maybe it would be kinder if she tried to be a bit more pleasant… After all, they would be staying under the same roof for a few weeks. And they were supposed to take care of Cassie and Tim, at least until Christmas.

No, she should try to be a bit more accommodating. It could be her personal growth project. Trying to be civil and even friendly with someone she would never look at twice if the circumstances didn’t force her.

With new resolve, she unlaced her shoes and marched into the kitchen.

“Tea?” she asked Bane who was refilling Ace's bowl with water.

“Why not. Mint, please.”

How oddly specific, Victoria thought.

“You think they have herbal tea?”

“I bought some yesterday.”

“Oh. Did you go shopping after dinner?”

He grunted and affirmative.

“To get things for your breakfast?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

That simple question seemed to startle him. Eyes narrowed he contemplated his answer for a little while.

“I need to maintain certain levels of nutrients. Therefore, it's easiest if I prepare every meal myself.”

There was so much seriousness in his voice, Vic had to restrain herself from laughing out loud. A meathead and an epicurean, who would have thought?

“You could be a chef if that next assignment won't come.” She winked and leaned towards him sliding the steaming mug his way. “You know, if you did need that new career after all.”

Bane grinned and scoffed dismissively.

“I don't know if high-pressure environment would be best for a simple man like myself.”

Vic snorted obnoxiously into her cup, spilling some of the tea. She laughed openly, once she got her breath back.

“Okay, I won't fall for this bullshit again.”

“No? You lapped it up yesterday.”

He was way too smug for Vic’s liking. Her eyes narrowed and subconsciously she straightened her back to sneer down at him.

“No, I didn't.”

Bane missed the display entirely since he looked at the oven clock behind her head.

“I'll have to leave you for about an hour.”

The information left Victoria at a loss. It was almost as if Bane was humoring her with their little conversation, not the other way around. What would he have to do? Run a quick errand to break somebody’s legs for his mafia friends? Or maybe shoo away awkward teenagers lingering at Hot Topic?  

“Fine. I have things to do anyway.”

The dissatisfaction in her words gave him pause, and he indulged her with some explanations.

“We're supposed to be at the school at fifteen hundred, so that would leave five hours for shopping and cooking.”

“Lunch?”

“And dinner.”

“Good thinking,” Victoria admitted magnanimously. “Shall we leave at, say… Two o’clock?”

A thick vein popped out on Bane’s temple. His jaw throbbed the tiniest bit before he answered.

“That should be enough for shopping, yes.” The words were almost growled out.

“I'll do lunch, you do dinner, how about that?” Victoria offered, trying to placate him.

To her, Bane’s replies were a mystery. He obviously had some kind of problem, but for the life of her, Vic couldn’t fathom what that might be.

“That's an acceptable division.”

Vic smiled, satisfied that they came to an agreement.

“Great. See you later then.”

She took her mug and climbed the stairs without so much as a glance back at Bane.

Unbeknownst to her, the retribution he had planned was already set in motion…

oOo

The thing Victoria had to do mainly was a tour of the house. On the previous evening, Selina quickly covered the basics, but it was a chaotic and busy day. So, Victoria decided to do some snooping on her own.

First, she went to her room and killed some time getting her clothes from cases to the closet. All the time she listened attentively to keep tabs on Bane. She didn’t trust the man one bit.

It was a weird arrangement, and she planned on asking Selina about it this evening. They had made plans to go out for drinks, catch up and gossip. Vic sorely needed a sympathetic ear, now even more so since she couldn't understand Bane’s exact role in their little gathering.

When she heard him going out the door, she quickly jogged to the window, in an attempt to make sure where he was heading. The garage. There was some faint memory in her head of Selina or Bruce mentioning there was some gym equipment there. Nothing surprising then, Vic sneered to herself, but then felt a tug of shame. Perhaps she shouldn’t think of Bane as a meathead. He could piece a coherent sentence or two.

He was definitely a gymrat though.

With her mood lightened by her generousness, Vic set out snooping about the house.

The room she was staying at was Tim’s, and beside it was Cassie’s place on the left, and guest bedroom on the right. Further down the corridor was the bathroom and the study - now occupied by Bane. On the opposite side were the stairs leading up to the attic, converted entirely to host master bedroom, bathroom and a walk-in closet.

Victoria didn’t mean to pry into any private stuff, she just wanted to get her bearings around the house. It wasn’t her fault that Sel left a surprisingly exquisite string of pearls laying about.

The necklace almost called out to her, begging to be appraised. How would anyone be able to just leave it on the dresser undisturbed?

The weight and temperature of the stones gave Victoria a pleasant shiver down her spine. It was a simple piece, a sole string of pearls of subtly varying sizes, with the smallest ones at the clasp, gradually thickening towards the centre of the necklace. Every single bead was perfectly round. The luster was superb, and the color was the purest snowy white, with the tiniest hint of silver. The choker was finished with a diamond-studded clasp, either from white gold or platinum.

It must have cost a fortune.

What was a piece like this doing in a too small suburban house of her cousin? Vic had one explanation in her mind… But Selina promised a long while back she was done with her little hobby. Maybe it was just a little trinket to lighten up her day from time to time? A souvenir of days long gone? After all, barely anyone knew how exactly pricing of pearl necklaces worked, you needed some expertise to know that this string was worth at least fifty grand.

Vic doubted Bruce would notice the difference if she’d swapped it with regular freshwater pearls, clasped with silver and zirconias.  

“You have a peculiar understanding of gratitude.”

She jumped with surprise, nearly dropping the necklace to the ground.

Bane stood in the doorway, his massive shoulder propped on the frame, arms folded on his chest and a very stern look on his face.

“I think it’s quite enough for now,” he said gravely. “You should put those where they belong and get back downstairs.”

Reflectively Victoria started lowering the pearls back to the dresser. Bane’s voice was commanding and rough, his words precise. It seemed only natural to obey.

But she baulked at the notion and challenged his authority.

“Don’t presume you can tell me what I can and cannot do,” she retorted haughtily.

Defiance seemed to irk him further.

“I can make you do what I want, little girl.”

That was a clear threat.

Suddenly Vic realized she was in the attic bedroom of an unfamiliar house, with a man she barely knew practically accusing her of stealing and giving her a menacing warning.

She had no idea what he would do to her…

“I’m going to scream,” she informed him, faking the bravado she didn’t feel at all. “If you lay a hand on me, I’ll fight back.”

Bane scoffed as if she’d offended him. His face contorted in barely contained disgust.

“Please,” he spit the word sarcastically. “Don’t flatter yourself. I wouldn’t be attracted to a bunch of sticks.”

He turned back and started calmly walking away.

Vic did the only reasonable thing she could.

“At least I’m not fat, like you!” she yelled. She hoped that would sting.

“You look like a boy. But I’m sure there are people in Europe who like that.”

Apparently, it didn’t hurt Bane at all.

“Take that back!” Vic shouted running after him.

“A woman should look like a woman, that’s my honest opinion. What does it matter to you what I think?”

It shouldn’t matter at all. The realization silenced her better than any retort Bane might have had. She mumbled to herself something angrily and shook her head in defiance, coming down to her room.

#Bane(Dcu) #bane (dcu) #bane dcu #bane #Nolanverse #au #chrismas fic #christmas fic #christmas #ace the bathound

[stayingwhelmed]

I’ve started watching One Day at a Time on Netflix, and I’ve got to say it is so good so far.

Cast! A Latino Family dealing with modern issues!

Lead! 

A seperated mother of Cuban descent who is a US veteran dealing with depression, raising her kids, working as a nurse!

Others! 

The bratty teenaged daughter is the sort of Millennial Tumblr-user who is portrayed sympathetically and has some really awesome storylines in just the first couple of episodes! 

The precocious son is a witty. My opinion is lukewarm about him since I’ve only seen the first couple of episodes.

Grandmother is vivacious, unapologetic, Cuban, saucy and a illustrates the attitudes of her generation in a light which is sympathetic, hilarious and yet shows that there is an effort to develop and grow. 

Also there’s their white guy landlord who is a bit of a ditz but feels like and is treated like one of the family!

Issues! 

Immigration and undocumented migrants who are so because of the difficulties with legal immigration!

Sexism! Ooooh, Boy! Was this good. It talked about the wage gap, the sincere and legitimate hurt and anger to find that less qualified individuals get more just because of their sex and gender. 

Gender roles are also addressed, particularly in regards to Latin@s and tradition. The main character is a female veteran raising two kids for crying out loud! Not only is that awesome but it is used in challenging gender dynamics and even how said badass female veteran mother still has an attachment to certain gender traditions because they are traditions and have become removed from their misogynistic origins.

Mental health and the “Scarlet Letter” attached to it, particularly in veterans and the use of medication.

Ageism and mature dating is a proposed issue and dealt with in an episode that provides not only emotional attachment but a strong argument for why some people take to it and why some people shouldn’t be afraid of it - how being single at a certain age isn’t something that it titanically tragic,

Medication, the Scarlet Letter attached to that, by both veterans and civilians and the hypocrisy towards pills intended for mental health compared to physical ailments.

LGBT issues - this goes into spoiler territory but from what’s i’ve seen up until episode 7 it’s got the foundation to bring up a great deal.

Veterans! How war and conflict buggers you up and how it’s dealt with. Particularly it deals with returning to civilian life, the issues and the apathy of people and systems which are supposed to look after the veterans once they’ve come back.

Comedy!

My threshold is pretty low so i’m not a good judge on whether a comedy is good. However, it’s witty one-liners, scenes between characters, and the ability to cross the line twice, all conspire to something that made me laugh, made me giggle, and made me inspired enough to write a little review on Tumblr. It even uses raunchy innudendos tastefully which I’ve always thought difficult to do.

There are some things which could be seen as problematic, though such things manifest in characters in which it is not unexpected and there is always an attempt to work towards, if not a conversion then to at least a compromise. 

This series is so far lovely, warm and endearing. When searching for heart-warming comedy tv shows on Netflix in which serious issues are addressed, I recommend this one. This show will make you laugh and cry, though it will also get you angry at the injustices of the world, although with the insurance that there is hope out there.

I’m off to finish the last of the first season and to pray a second one comes along. 

Hywl Fawr Am Nawr!

#one day at a time #fandom #netflix #tv shows