#been trying to force myself to be brave. overall i’m just so lucky to have the friends i have

[lordcoolington]

everyday i fight so hard to not ghost the people i love for 3 whole years 🫡 shoutout to me for fighting the battles you don’t see. i am stronger than any us army soldier

#personal #this is kinda satirical but genuinely i don’t know why but my social anxiety gets so bad sometimes 😭😭😭 #i’ve been getting better though. way better than years ago at least bahajaja #been trying to force myself to be brave. overall i’m just so lucky to have the friends i have #they’re all really patient and understanding with me and i love them so much #i kinda hope they never see this but. 2 my friends i love u so much u mean the whole entire world to me #anyways shoutout to my fellow avoidant attachment style bitches. i’d give y’all some love but if i did that y’all would leave 🫡 #thats mostly a joke. im getting into therapy soon #i hope #OH also to my fellow avoidant attachment style bitches. it helps to send memes. they’re a real low commitment way of interacting/showing ur #thinking of ur loved ones

[monkey-network]

Good Stuff ~ Seven of the Season: Tangled the Series

WARNING: Be warned that I’ve never done this, but hey, trying something new everyday never hurts. Thank you, take care out there, and enjoy.

I remember last December when 2017 Me put Tangled the Series on my “Best of” list, and now I want to prove its worth. I love this show, even when the love started to fall apart in my mind per the look back. Ups and downs, it was nice to see Rapunzel given a cartoon of her own, showcasing what a Disney princess worth their skill can be outside their respective feature. So here be the Top 7 BEST Episodes of Tangled. Seven, because it’s lucky, baby. Here we go...

7. Under Raps

I despise myself for shipping Cassandra and Rapunzel sometimes. It feels reasonable but Rapunzel already has Eugene and Disney isn’t making room for polyamorous relationships just yet so the thought feels baseless. But I’ll just stick to the dynamics between the three as this gives the three excellent moments of what makes them the best in show, especially the third act where they fight the predictable bad guy that was pretending to be Cassandra’s pretend infatuation. Eugene’s sensible yet reckless side shines, Rapunzel’s compassionate yet overtly ambitious side shines, and Cassandra’s “I’m done” attitude especially shines through and they are what makes this episode great from start to finish. Only downside is, again, Cassandra’s love interest, who was so predictable even she could see through his shit. “Which makes Cass awesome and makes her and Rapunzel meant to be evermore!” Silence, inner voice, that’s what the next entry’s for.

6. Challenge of the Brave

I can say that this episode certainly solidified my love for both Cass and Rapunzel as characters. Initially, first impressions me was disgruntled at both Cass for her dishonesty and Rapunzel for failing to read the room. But now I realized that heck, why be disheveled at their weaknesses when their weaknesses build their strengths. With Cass being a force to be reckoned with and Punzie as the purest cinnamon you wouldn’t dare touch, I can’t help but love every minute of them together from this episode and beyond. Now you can say it. “Punzie and Cassy, medieval lesbian adventurers for life, baby! WOOP WOOP IN THE SOUP!!!” Furthermore, this frame of Rapunzel below made the episode so worth it, first hand and looking back.

this frame radiates so much good energy, the best energy

5. Max’s Enemy

Now, if there’s one thing the crew behind this show gets right 100%, it’s their animal characters, especially when their animal characters get one off episodes. Out of the two, Max’s Enemy gives the horse, the HORSE, a conflict that not only feels genuine but doesn’t come across as annoying as I’ve seen from other cartoons. You have Axel, who’s essentially the same as Max only more of a show-boater and is better than him at physical feats, but that doesn’t stop Max from outshining Axel in the end because one should never stop doing their best regardless of who claims otherwise. Also, Lady Caine returned, and I think she’s a great recurring antagonist in this series notably because A) she’s basically Eugene with her motives standing to be reasonably justified from before and B) she is one that plans so smoothly yet fails so hard, it’s tragically comedic. I hope they can bring her back another time. Also, this episode gets points for not annoying me with horse noises.

4. Fitzherbert P.I.

Honestly, this is one of the two episodes I put on this list solely because it focuses on Eugene being awesome. I say this because it is a pretty simple episode: Eugene proving his worth and girth of change to Cassandra and her dad while Rapunzel becomes artistically frantic over what her painting should consist of. Pretty cut clean story, but what made this pretty high on the list are particular scenes. One where, after seeing Eugene getting unjustly trampled during training by her father, Cassandra throws him some advice and support after all the smirking she done at the thought of him failing. Gave me a solid notion that while Eugene and Cass are happily at each other’s throats, they share a sibling type bond where they can be honest and will put a squabble aside to help each other out. Another scene is where Queen Ariana shows Raps the kooky portrait she had and that made her....an incredible supportive character in my eyes from then on. She can do no wrong, less so than the King and that clearly shows over the season. Honestly this episode is one where, on the look back, I can’t help but advocate it.

3. The Wrath of Ruthless Ruth

Putting my bias out here now: Danielle “Taystee” Brooks sold me this episode, ten fold. Her voice, and her singing, was the honey to the tea of this spoopy charming episode. The haunting mystery not only allowed for Rapunzel’s tender, optimistic nature, the Captain’s insipid stubbornness, and the pub thug’s slapstickiness to be at their most best, but the musical that culminates from it is to be one of the show’s greatest. One with purpose, flare, and a memorable melodic mood to boot. Shit, I shed a tear when I “listened up” for the fourth time it was that beautiful. I will say the very ending put a bittersweet taste in my mouth, but bittersweet is better than terrible so my love for this wasn’t spoiled in the least. And again, the sister had pipes; can never stop respecting that.

2. Big Brothers of Corona

OYE, this was a tough one. Between this and the real number one, these are the best of the best episodes in the season. *GROANS* I’m gonna put a pin on that last statement, you’ll understand later. But for now, FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUck yes do I love this episode. Haven’t been able to say this, but Lance Strongbow is the best new character in this show, tied with Cassandra, and him and Eugene make for as great duo as the latter and Rapunzel. That being said, him and Eugene taking care of two young mischievous thieves made me smile throughout most of the time. This being the second episode where it’s nothing but Eugene proving himself to be awesome, not only do the kids prove themselves to be most purest cinnamon rolls, but it feels all the more crushing when they have to leave with a hug goodbye. I’ll let inner thoughts express this further:  “Why couldn’t Eugene and Lance adopt these kids, MAN?! Why didn’t Lance? He and Red were like peas in a pod, man. They deserve the world! *sobs* Bring ‘em back, writers, I swear to me...... I’m sorry...*sniff* it feels crushing remembering this. Wholesome little young ones.” Only downside to this episode overall is the sideplot with Cass and Rapunzel, not that it’s bad, but it felt too conventional and inferior to the main story at hand. But, it’s that main story that just hits so many good notes. This episode’s a keeper, and I hope, I WISH, Angry and Red come back for season two.

Honorable Mentions: One Angry Princess, Not in the Mood, Return of Strongbow, and Great Expotations in said order

1. Pascal’s Story

Remember when I said this and Big Bros of Corona were the best of the best? Well pulling the pin, I can strongly say that this, objectively, is the best episode of the season, of the series so far, hell of cartoon history. Not only is this a great backstory episode, not only does this pull the heart strings ever so passionately, but it’s one that makes every scene count. I could be like Mr. Enter and go on about how the Pascal’s backstory plays well into his present situation/dilemma, how Rapunzel’s 0 to 100 mood feels so moving & natural, how Rapunzel’s tower from the movie plays an integral part in all this, and so forth. All this from an episode about a princess’s animal sidekick, with the ending to put it all on its own pedestal? Talk about pulverizing my soul. From start to finish, Pascal’s Story is one that admirably hits all the right notes and does so in a way that appeals to anyone and everyone logically and emotionally.

So yeah, this series has most definitely proven itself, and I bet and hope it does provide again when season two comes around this fall. Apologies for Varian not making the cut, but.......eh, I don’t want to make a worst list. All that said, I’m Roy Macintosh, and that’s all I got.

#tangled the series #tts #rapunzel #eugene fitzherbert #cassandra #pascal #tangled #disney #cartoons #animation #reviews #Good Stuff #long post #Roy Macintosh #awesome

[lillaxtrigger]

Faded Land: Chapter 24

From outside the walls of the towering laboratory, the constant stomps of a marching platoon could be heard ringing out down to the streets below; the people close by drawn in and wondering what could possibly cause such an alarming echo. The several people that bothered to approach were greeted with a shocking site before them, discovering an entire army of armored soldiers that all surround the very base of the K-labs; the whole squad making it hard to see the general that stands before them all. Lumbering before the front doors of the towering facility be the legendary soldier herself; the red general’s scowling gaze trailing up through the facility’s side until reaching the very clouds themselves, unable to see its crown scrape against the heavens.

As the general continues to stare upwards towards what parts of the laboratory her eyes would allow her to view, a scrawny man in a suit of armor nearing her side as Vira herself questions him with: “Commander Weinstien, are you absolutely certain that the reports that came in are confirmed to be correct?” “Indeed they are ma’am. Following the sparse reports from Mississauga on the night of the blackout, those that came from New Toronto this afternoon; the eye camera’s had confirmed the fugitive we are after had ascended to the very top of the capital city and had entered K-labs somewhere around 4:22.” “Uh, hate how those eyes just float around and gawk everywhere; but they sure as hell do their job.” “Ma’am?” “Have we any sort of intelligence as to what our fugitives overall objective may be from all this?” “Uh, negative ma’am. Outside of pure speculation. None of us can pertain any sort of goal that she may have in mind.” “I see...Well, whatever this bitch plans to accomplish, we have our own duties to fulfill. And we refuse to rest for even a moment until we complete it.”

“And may I ask what our strategy for this mission to be? We have enough forces to race in and storm the inside?” “Do you have your helmet on too tight there, commander? There are countless reality bending experiments being conducted within this very tower as we speak; if all of us just barged right on in and storm the place like a bunch of military raiding jackasses, then it would risk all those fragile and carefully conducted experiments to tear apart the very fabric of our reality. The lab coats in there already got the call ahead to cease any further experimentation, but it will take them awhile to safely dismantle their testing. Which is why I will be proceeding inside with a small squadron of soldiers at my side. We can’t be too careful when concerning the risk to almost everything we know.” “Yes, cause I’m sure you’re the very definition of grace.” the commander softly jests under his breath. “Care to repeat that commander?” “I-I was just wondering what the rest of the troops and I should do while you march inside. Heh heh.” “That should be simple. Barge anyone from entering or exiting this facility.” Saying this does the hulking red general stare back towards the ascending tower; her eyes glued to the visible top that towers the heavens themselves. “I refuse to let this border crossing bitch slip by my fingers again.”

Standing back within the walls of the lab, an unmasked young woman stands before the very man that she tirelessly journeyed far just to reunite with; her entire adventure leading up to this very moment. The young man trembles in his shoes as the holopad held within his hand slips from his fingers; the blonde’s shrinking pupils staring upon the Arabic woman as he shutters out: “C-Clara…?” “That’s right, Arthur. I had to travel through thick and thin, scorching heat and wild rides, even make some heartbreaking sacrifices just to reach you.” the young woman confirms. “I-I thought...I thought you were in the past...” “Nope. I wound up catching you just in time before you jumped with the time orb...Just...What the hell were you thinking messing with it in the first place?” As Clara continues to rant on upon the series of events that had transpired, she proves to wrapped up in her own words to notice the young man before her stumbling closer towards her as she keeps mentioning how: “We were warned countless time to not even go near the damn thing and you went ahead and fiddled with it anyway. And look at all that happened because of it. It’s cause of all this shit is why they warned us not to touch the damn thing in the first. But no, you just had to, didn’t you. You just had to see how the whole thing-”

Suddenly cutting off the young woman’s angry rantings, Arthur tightly grasps Clara waist with both of his arms in a warm embrace; burying his head against her chest as the blonde man lets out sniveling breaths. “I can’t believe you’re actually here in front of me...I heard reports and rumors floating around; but I didn’t think any of them were really about you. I didn’t think that you came with me on this little trip to the future. I don’t think I could be happier to see you.” Feeling Arthur’s sincere embrace robs the woman of any words that she had left to berate out, with the anger that she felt gradually draining away; all that Clara had left to answer him with was: “I’m glad I finally found you, Arthur. You wouldn’t believe all the crazy stuff that happened to be on my way here.” Finally pulling himself off of the young woman’s tear stained coat, Arthur wipes away the snot dribbling from his nose and responds with: “Oh, I can imagine. This world is so much different then ours; so many things that we could only comprehend as nothing but mere science fiction are now a reality, all readily available to us to use as we please. I can’t even begin to describe how incredible all of this is.” “I just can’t believe you wound up working at the top of a place like this in just a couple months.” “Just a few months? Huh...It feels like its been way more than that.” “Yeah, about that. Is everything that I read on the neural network true? Did they seriously just straight up abduct you?” Clara then questions. “I mean most of those articles tend to play up some things up a fair bit; but yeah, most of the base info they say is still pretty much accurate.” “Care to explain in your own words what happened?” “Well, it’s kind of a pretty long story there. I might have to summarize through a lot of it.” “Hey, it can’t be any more lengthy then what I had to go through. Fire way.”

“Okay, so after I finally came to from the time jump; I wound up finding myself on top of this massive hill with nothing but dry wastelands that stretched out for what seemed like miles on end. I was relieved to find that I still had the time orb in my hands though, at least that went and came with me; even if it was out of power. So with no power, no people, and no way to go back; I knew I had no choice but to brave the wastes that spread before me in hopes of searching for any civilization. I practically forced myself to trudge through the scorching heat for what felt like hours on end, just mind numbingly walking straight through to the point where I couldn’t even feel my own feet. I was lucky to have ate just before I made the jump, else I probably would have wound up dying just dragging myself through all that.”

“But after what felt like an eternity through the dry deserts of hell, I thankfully found civilization before me. An old ruined town standing in the middle of the waste, but still had people waltzing through. With the town waving out in the horizon, I had dashed off as fast as my legs could carry my hungering body; thankful to have found my salvation in these vast cracked lands. During my little tour through the town, I stopped in hoping they had something I could munch on; knowing full well my stomach had shrunk 4 pounds during my hungering travels. The bartender there was generous enough to offer me some food in exchange for doing a couple jobs around town for him, but I managed to convince him to let me eat before I got to work. While I was eating, I asked him where I could secure more food and water from out in this hellscape; the man telling me that most people who want all that wind up heading North towards the ruins of Louisville, where some gold guy managed to get things organized and kept people alive. The problem was that I had next to no supplies to make the trip there; if I went straight there with what little I had, I’d be nothing but a dried up jerky corpse for the vultures to try and eat. When telling the bartender, he offered to give me some supplies that would last long enough to get there; I just needed to do some chores. And so I burnt the rest of the day away running around town and doing jobs for the barkeep to build up enough supplies to make the trip. Some of them weren’t exactly that uh...pleasant, but I managed to get on the bartenders good side quick enough to start the trip by night fall. But that first night sleeping in the middle of a baron wasteland, with not even a single soul watching you. That shit’s haunting...”

“Hey, I feel ya. Thought that any moment that something would appear from the shadows and just slit my throat open while sleeping… Hey, when you woke up, did you happened to see a giant crater with a bunch of green glowing lines through it?” Clara cuts off to ask. “Hmm...Now that you bring it up. I did wind up seeing something glowing the distance. I just thought it was a great idea at the time to stay the hell away from it. Why?” “Cause I saw that when I first woke up too. You think that we might have been next to each other when we landed?” “Guess its possible. I might’ve wound up missing you completely before I took off. Heh heh; whoopsie...” the young man claims with a nervous smile; the woman before him letting out a low key growl as she casts an upset glare.

“Anywayyy, I set off towards the direction of Louisville with a fresh set of food and supplies on my back; all the while wondering what sort of dystopian hellscape I had gotten myself in. I then cut straight through the forest ahead, the kind of fauna and wildlife I saw just from the edge of the woods alone sparking my curiosity. And though the sort of territorial beasts that roamed the mutated lands were plenty, I managed to duck my head down while observing at a safe distance; the warped majesty of some of them bringing a tear to my eye. After making out of the woods in one piece, I had managed to make my to the ruins of Louisville; the dilapidated state I saw the entire city in just breaking my heart. But despite that, the bartenders words remained true; I saw countless people bustling through the city ruins, with most of them garbed in torn clothing and rags. While standing among them all, I thought it best to finally try and fish out some answers that my brain had been itching to cast for; like where I was, where I wound up, what happened to everything, etc, etc, etc. Unfortunately my little fishing trip for answers wound up being a bust; the only phrases I got close to any response was for me to eat shit or just silently slug me in the face. Bit rude there, but fine. Though my little quest for answers wound up getting some attention that I could have done without, where the “King” of Louisville and some of his troops tried to tried to catch me. I don’t know what they wanted, but I sure as hell wasn’t gonna let them have it.”

“The King of Louisville, huh? Did you know he was just a kid in an adult sized mech suit?” Clara cuts in with. “At this point, it wouldn’t surprise me anymore. So, I ran as fast as I could from the so called “king’s” numerous goons. All of them trying to gun my ass down like hunters in a game reserve; with packs of wolves hunting my sweet ass down.” “I don’t remember them having any canines when I visited.” “Part of the analogy Clara. But just before any of them could wind up cornering me, a hovercraft filled with people in serious far more advance armor came dropping in and stopped them right in there track. The kings troops didn’t even put up a fight when faced with them; with them on the scene, I thought I was finally in the clear...That is until they forced me into their plane and flew me out of town.” “Oh my god! Did they hurt you!?” Clara worries. “Nah, not really. They were a little rough then I had liked them to be; but overall, they didn’t really bruise me or anything.”

“Yeah, it turns out they were flying in from the other side of the border for their usual surplus drop off. But after they were done unloading all the canned goods, they wound up picking up the leftover chronological energy that was leaking out of the time orb.” “Wait, I thought we fixed that.” “Yeah, I thought so too. Guess we didn’t count for after trips. But really, how could we?” “So let me guess. Those troops bagged your ass and flew you across border for questioning?” “As accurate as always, Clara. Asked me who I was, where I came from, where I got the orb, all that kind of stuff. I won’t lie, I was a tad scared at first. Their military armor is pretty intimidating. But they eventually warmed up to me after a while. So after I told them all I knew, they brought in a whole team of scientific specialists to help further analyze the time orb. And those soldiers jaw’s practically hanged loose when they concluded I was tellin them the truth. Though that didn’t stop them from keeping a close eye on me. I was allow to discuss with the scientists as they were analyzing the orb, and we really hit it off on the subject of what made the whole thing work. All the neurons, particle acceleration, chronological power management; I actually felt like I was speaking to a fellow scientist of ingenuity and intellect.”

“Once the government deem everything under control; they were wondering what exactly to do my sorry ass. The couple of suggestions that I heard be passed around...honestly made my skin crawl. Thankfully before they could suggest anything drastic, life threatening, or borderline dehumanizing; the scientist that I spoke with earlier stepped in and suggested that I come work for them over at K-labs, a suggestion which them all seemed hesitant at first. But after he promised the sort of scientific potential that I could bestow upon them, they eventually budged and let me come work for K-labs...with some proper observation of course.”

“And due to the unique way I was doctored into K-labs, I had to make my start at the bottom...like the very bottom...literal bedrock. As just a simple research assistant, I spent most of those days doing menial tasks like gathering tools, getting coffee, the usual taken for granted assistant bull. And as every one of those days passed I wished so badly to see what lies above the floors above me, just wanting to see everything that this whole place could offer. Then one day during my usual business, I got the chance to prove myself. I overheard some of the researches claiming how they were having trouble with this particular product they were developing; the way they could safely distribute power to the device without it exploding. When I offered to helped, those jackasses laughed at me, claiming I didn’t know any better as an assistant. And when I insisted otherwise, they jested in giving me a shot; claiming that I couldn’t. Boy howdy, did I make them look like a bunch of gaping assholes. That little demonstration caught the attention of those higher ranked; which was the boost I needed to start my journey up towards the top, from assistant to junior in a single day. And ever since then, I scaled all the way toward the top of the pecking order, seeing floor after floor of this heaven on earth on my way up to head researcher. If I continue the good work, I could be joining the higher ups in their ranks my the end of the year. I don’t know if I could be happier.”

“Well, guess you’ve been doing pretty well for yourself since you got here, and all in just a few months too. That drive and commitment of yours is practically a freight train. Though I couldn’t really blame ya. You were always a lot more eager to just delve into projects. Heh heh, I bet you must have spooged yourself the first time you laid eyes on this place.” Hearing this, a small chuckle escapes from the young man’s mouth; jesting with a nervous tone on how: “Ah yeah, yeah. That’d be gross. He he he...” “Arthur, did...did you actually stain your pants?” she bold face questions him.

“Hey uh, moving from that topic; you know the tidbits of news I heard about ya?” Arthur moves along with. Just simply hearing her long lost friend bring this subject up of her causes the young woman to go completely quiet; attempting to faux her feelings while her little accusing glare breaks apart. “I know about how you crossed the border and how it got the military on your tail...but I also heard about something that happened back in Buffalo.” With her adding to this, Clara attempts to conceal the bits of color that drains away from her face; quietly hiding her low key panic as she hears Arthur continue to explain how: “I recall the story being about an American rebel terrorist group that went against the Canadian forces that attempted to build the city back up from its ruins. The story on them mentioned the fact that they had invaded and bombed a power station that was built in the area to help provide people with much needed power; the entire terrorist cell went about slaughtering and gunning down practically every employee that worked there too.” With a silent gulp dropping down her throat, all the scientist could respond with was: “Oh...” “I also heard that...you were among their ranks helping them out during the attack...Is...is that even true?” “……...No...it isn’t.” Giving the young man this fib draws out a smoothed breath from the depths of his very soul; slouching back as he claims that: “Oh my god, I’m so relieved to hear that. For the longest time I didn’t know what to think about all that. The moment I saw your face in the news, I couldn’t believe it. And to think I was so close to believing that you did. I should’ve know that what the news said didn’t sound like you at all. I honestly don’t know what I would have done if you wound up becoming a terrorist. Hell, they probably have the incident that happened in Mississauga pinned on the wrong woman, am I right?” the young man wonders with a sincere smile. “Yeah, pretty much. Never really was too fond of that kind of stuff.” Clara responds with, drifting her eyes away from her friends own.

“Hey, uh. Mind if I ask ya what the guys you work for did with the time orb?” she then diverges to. “Oh, you don’t gotta worry about all that. They kept it safe right above this very division, safety stored at the very crown of this tower.” “Hang on a sec. If...If you knew where it was the whole time, why didn’t you use it to fix all this?” “W-what could there be to fix?” This simple response coming from her friend of all people is all it takes to quickly send Clara in a rage, forming an angered glare straight towards the young man as she in turn responds with: “Are you fucking serious Arthur!? Did you not see all the horrid destruction that left the United states in ruin, the countless lives lost in the pointless war between the neighboring countries, the millions of survivors all clinging to life by a thread!? All of it that we could turn back the clock on and keep from transpiring in the first place!” “Listen, I completely understand where your coming from; I don’t like any of that as much as you. But meddling with the timeline like that could potentially make the situation much worse then it already is. Time travels is a fickle bitch after all.” “Oh don’t feed me any of that crap, Arthur. Not when you of all people up and decided to take a little joy ride through time without any sort of clearance whatsoever. And it’s cause of your little trip through the past, present and future that all this has happened in the first place.” “Excuse me? I didn’t do a damn thing to meddle with the past whatsoever. All I wanted to do was punch in the coordinates to take a peek into the future. That’s it.”

To this admittance does the young woman rage instantly shatter, the revelation hitting her hard enough to make her skin go cold before she repeats: “Wh-...So, you didn’t go back in time...” “Of course I didn’t Clara. If I didn’t neither of us would be talking to each other right now. The chance of us even existing right now would be deathly slim. And even if either of did wind up rolling the dice in our favor and we wound up meeting all over again, neither of us would even remember what happened before we made the jump through.” “Oh my god...So this...this world is...” “That’s right Clara. This world...is our unaltered future. The exact sequence of events that led to all this. It wasn’t caused my some outside force. Humanity drove itself to this conclusion.” Upon finally processing the ultimate truth of this scarred world; the young woman collapses onto her knee’s; her eyes drifting down through the glass floor as her breath trembles while uttering out: “No...” “I know Clara…I really couldn’t believe it either. It took me a while to come to terms with all of it...But even with how bad things may seem; there’s still a silver li-”

Cutting off his attempt to sympathizing with her, the young woman starts letting out a small chuckle while rising back on her own two feet; Arthur growing seemingly concerned as he bares witness to Clara’s grin. “You know what, it doesn’t matter...” he hears her utter out. “Um, what are you-” “It doesn’t matter if this the path that the world took for itself. We can still change its course, we can still fix it all nonetheless. All we have to do is take the time orb and prevent this entire world from becoming a reality.” “But Clara-” “It’s alright. I already know the exact date we have to jump to; I done all the research we need to stop it all from happening. All that’s left for us to come up with is a plan.” “Clara, I-” “I know, I know. The time orb doesn’t have all that much power. We would need something with a plethora of energy just to make a single jump.” “That’s not what I’m-” “But I think figured out a way to get about that little roadblock too. I got this battery in my backpack that should be enough to make one-” “Clara!” the young man finally shouts out. “What? You think we might have missed something with-” “I don’t think its a good idea to go back.”

“Arthur, come on! The United States is a literal nuclear nightmare. How much worse do you think things could possibly get?” “That’s not what I’m worried about.” “Well, what else are you concerned with?” “I...I don’t think the world will ever become this advanced again.” Her friends admittance deeply worries the young woman, Clara’s determined gaze deflating as she questions: “W-what are you talking about?” “Just look around you Clara. Look at the technological heights that humanity has risen to. We constantly build and develop millions and millions of machines and devices that help almost everyone around the globe each every single day. Healthcare and medicine has reached soaring new highs in curing diseases, cancers, and plagues; helping the injured, sick, and dying. World hunger is practically on the verge of being solved through genetic engineering. We practically have the very fabric of reality under our beck and call. When will humanity ever evolve to such heights again? When will we be able to literally reach into the past and watch history unfold before our eyes? To bend the very physics of our world to our whim? To feel the neural connection of our fellow people again? To laugh, to love, to live with one another on the very neural activity within our brains? When will all this ever happen again, Clara...when will we have this again?”

“...Arthur...” “I’m fully aware of how all that makes me sound, and I truly meant it when I said I feel sorry for the countless people that had lost their lives in this war… But I’ve made up my mind...We can’t risk losing all of this progress, risk erasing this revolutionary path that we’ve carved for ourselves.” Left utterly silent from her friends ultimate decision, Clara simply stands baffled while the young man concludes with: “I can help you clear your name. But I couldn’t possibly join you in erasing all of this scientific achievement humanity has reached… I’m begging you with every once of my heart...Please don’t undo all this…Please, join me...” Her friends words cause her to think back to all the hardships that she and the people she had met all had to endure, the dozens of horrors and atrocities committed by her fellow humans all culminating together to finally give the young man her answer. “What’s the point of evolving if we discard our humanity?”

His hope filled gaze slowly falling apart before Clara, the young man turns his back on her; staring out towards the cluster of windows plastered in front of the chamber. “I’m sorry to hear that...” “Arthur...You can still help me fix this disaster and save everyone from-” “Just leave!...Just...before security comes and drags you out.” Without one more word passing through her lips, Clara finally makes her way towards the chamber’s exit; phasing out through the doorway and leaving her friend alone. When finally left on his own, Arthur can no holder hold himself back and collapses onto his knee’s, his weeping breaths echoing through the entire dome.

Finally stepping out from the circular chamber of countless windows through the ages, Clara stands with the door at her back as she digs through her pants pocket; pulling out the old photo of her and Arthur standing side by side. She takes the brief moment to stare down upon the picture of her and her friend and think what might have gone through his head to think that this timeline makes for a better world. To truly be enamored to what the art of science has presented to you and refuse to risk erasing all to save potential millions. Has your passion for science clouded your humanity so? What could be worth to you disregarding such needless sacrifice for the sake of evolution? Even with how far the entire world has progressed, was it worth it for the world to bare such a harrowing scar upon the earth? And if so, why? Are you frightened of what changing it all may entail? To leap into the wild unknown?

If only you had toured through the dozens of harrowing sites that littered the war torn nation; taking in a deeper look to the horrible suffering, the hopeless bloodshed, and pointless agony as well. The poor and dying villages littering the once great plains now struggling to live the next day, the twisted and deranged forests that once boasted waves of lush green, the once beautiful metropolis of Louisville ruled under the tyranny of a petulant child posing as a man and slaughtering countless people for sport, the poor farm family having their will swiped by a pack of vengeful mutant farm animals, the brutal and harsh mutant animal races held along the streets of Columbus ... You know what, it doesn’t matter anymore. If he doesn’t wanna help, then that’s fine. But it’ll be a cold day in hell if he thinks he can’t stop the timeline from changing. I’m sorry Arthur, this world of scientific progression couldn’t be anymore of a paradise to you. But that paradise is not worth this sort of suffering.

As the photo of Clara and Arthur slips out from between her fingers, the scientist puts her hood back up as she continues forth towards the red void ahead; the picture fluttering down as it slips through the chambers doorway. Once the nostalgic photo finally descends down upon the glass floor held within, a lone hand reaches down and swipes it off the floor; the young man who held the picture left staring to the two of them; their hopeful and cheery grins stained by the droplets of his tears.

Now racing through the halls that assemble out before her, the scientist keeps her eyes aimed upwards for any sign of an exit or hatch leading up out from this red void of warped time and clockwork; keeping in mind where Arthur had mentioned the time orb to be stored. The nuclear battery inside the pack should hold just enough juice to make a single jump through time; if it can be hog wired to the orbs circuitry, then it might be possible to make the jump. Just have to reach the top before its too late.

Continuing further through the forming halls, Clara’s eyes can’t help but wander about the crimson abyss that surrounds her; unable to make out what path she should take among the dense sea of red. Its honestly quiet hard to tell where to go around here; outside the halls, there ain’t anything to distinguish where exactly to go around this division. Most of it just looks like a crimson void of hovering gears. But it ain’t like anybody would know where to go anyway; void or not. That ain’t gonna stop this scientist from racing through the final stretch; not when the finish line is so close now. Best bet here would be to just go through whatever tunnel leads towards the very top of the branch and find away to break in to where the orb lies.

Somewhere within the very same floor that the scientist races through, a lone teleportation pad lined with a whole rainbow of others suddenly flashes a bright glow that forms in the shape of a gear; the light within the cog expanding into the shape of a hulking figure. The light surrounding this figure swiftly dims and unveils the legendary soldier herself; the red general garbed in a full set of heavyweight steel armor that clanks aloud as she lumbers forth. In her little trip through the time manipulation R&D division does she soon find a couple of scientists simply strolling through the hallway; one of them instantly going cold upon site of the general and alerting his friend with: “Holy shit!” “What? What’s the aaoohh oohh…” the other scientist wonders as he glances in the same direction, his very speech dying out as soon as his eyes meet with the soldiers red streaked steel. Witnessing the giant woman lumber in their direction, both of the scientist quiver in their shoes as they slowly retreat in the opposite direction; their backs eventually pinned to the wall that forms right behind them. Having no more room to back away, the two lab coats could only quake as the generals shadow blankets both of their entire bodies; flinching when they finally hear her say: “I’m only gonna ask both of you lab rats this once.” Lowering her head down to their faces, Vira looks them both in their quaking pupils and continues with: “Where is she?”

Despite continuing a good ways through the halls that forms out before her, the young scientist fails to reliably determine where in the ever loving hell she was going; the lack of any sort of noteworthy directions making it rather difficult to navigate through this crimson void of warped time. Do these people seriously not have a map hanging out somewhere on this floor? It’s practically been around 15 minutes of running through the same looking hallways that assemble out from the same red void now. How the hell does anyone even know where to go in this damn branch anyway? You’d seriously be better off asking passerby's for directions then trying to find any semblance of a map anywhere on this whole floor. … Ya know what, that does sound like a bad idea really. It’d certainly beat running around aimlessly just wasting time til the military barges in and storm the place. In realizing this does Clara slow her hurrying sprint to a far more leisurely pace, knowing full well that recklessly charging straight towards people would scare anyone into fleeing in the opposite direction.

Her little strolling search through the crimson abyss thankfully doesn’t eat up much of her time, soon enough finding a fellow lab coat strolling her way; a rather withered elder whose faded glare is dressed with a warming smile. With the old man coming her way, the young woman stands before the elder and stops him right in his tracks; politely asking: “Excuse me sir; might you know the way up towards the very top of this branch. I have to report for a temp position there.” Oh, well I must say; you’re quite a lucky woman to have gained a temp job all the way at the top of this towering laboratory. Back in my day, the temps that were sent to the main facility would be lucky enough to get one starting at the very bottom. I remember when-” “Uh, not meaning to be rude sir; but I’m kind of running late here. Need to get to my position before my supervisors chew me out.” “Right, of course. Well, young lady; if I were coming out from your direction, then it would be best to simply keep going until coming to a five way intersection. You’re going to want to take the upper left hallway and proceed straight ahead up a curving staircase that seems to lead downward, but it rather leads further up towards the top. After reaching the end of the stairs do you want to take a right when coming to a fork in the road; you’ll see the hallway before you twist and flip, so keep that in mind as you continue forth. Once it twists right side up, keep heading through until you reach a hall with several doorways forming before you. One of them should be the lab that you’re looking for.” “Thank you so much, I-” the young woman attempts to thank with before being cut off.

“By the by, have you noticed the military stationed at our doorstep?” “Ah! N-no, why do you think they’re here?” Clara questions while maintaining her composure. “Eh, I heard it was cause they’re searching for a spy that was recently discovers. The people at the top are wanting that spy bagged and tagged before they wind up screwing with anything. Can’t really blame them for wanting to get this whole mess sorted out quickly; but I still think its a tad overkill for the legendary soldier herself to have come up here in person.” “V-vira’s here!?” the young woman blurts out. “Oh yes. The military has a good quarter of their squadron searching through every floor of this building trying to find this woman, but Vira came up here all by herself. A couple of scientist’s she ran into claimed that she was searching for the spy cause it was rumored that she impersonated an official soldier. Just the thought of that utterly sickens me. I surely hope that they bring this dastardly woman the true justice that she deserves.” Turning his eyes back to where they were aimed, he attempts to finish off with: “Now I certainly hope that you manage to-” The elder unfortunately finds the lass that stood before her having vanished; glancing back to discover the young woman sprinting off in the direction he had suggested her to take. “Ah...Well, she did mention she was running late.”

Dashing through the assembling hallway faster than she ever has raced in her entire life, the young scientist starts coming to the five way hallway that the elder had warned her about; taking a light turn right through the upper left hall that stands in her way, all while the fear of the red streak soldier boils over within her. Why does she have to be here? If she manages to catch up, than its all over. Even with how old she is, there ain’t no way anybody can stand a chance against somebody like that. Have to get to the time orb before it’s too late. Too late to change the future.

Still dwelling within the spherical room filled with countless windows that peer through time within, Arthur remains dead in the center of the chamber glaring through not even a single portal that surrounds him; his depressed eyes still fixated on the photo of him and Clara together. “Something the matter, my young lad?” he then hears a withered voice ask. The unexpected voice causing him to jump from his saddened stare, the scientist glances back towards the exit to find the very same old man that Clara had ran into earlier; the young man stuttering out with: “S-s-s-senior Director Mathis! I’m surprised to see you strolling around this part of the facility. Surely you have better things to do as a higher up!” “Oh hush with that, Arthur. I didn’t wind up giving you a chance to work here on the day we met by being as stiff and stingy as those vulturous bastards. None of them really know how to loosen up anymore, take some time to reflect on the people they manage and the world they live in. I don’t think any of them really take the time to come down here and simply peer into the past; taking in the amazing views through the ages that this floor gives.” “Right, guess none of them really don’t...” the young man faintly agrees with; his eyes failing to keep from falling back down to the glass they both stand on. “Ah, and none of them would even take the time to ask their employee’s what might be the matter with them; isn’t that right Arthur? It isn’t hard to tell when something’s bothering you. You wear your face as sincerely as that lab coat.”

“Ah...I might have gotten a fight with my friend a little bit ago. A pretty big one at that. It didn’t wind up ending up well.” “Really, and what pray tell have both of you been fighting about?” Mathis questions while slowly approaching the depressed young man. “Well, we used to be a miracle team before; working side by side to solve any sort of problem that laid bare before us. Now both of us want our lives to go in completely opposite directions. She had her plan, and I had my own in mind. But now she’s wanting to take an insane gamble that could effect both of us in ways we couldn’t possibly imagine. I didn’t know what else to do but to say no to her. Even when I was certain I made the right call, I still feel like absolute garbage for turning her down the way I did. She had such determined hope in her eyes; I knew I couldn’t talk her out of it either. And I don’t know if I-”

Before Arthur could continue berating himself any further, he feels the senior director gently grasps his shoulder and stares into the elders withered eyes as Mathis claims that: “Both of you had done the right thing.” “I don’t…what do you mean?” “Lad, nobody in this world can dictate another’s personal choices; especially ones that boil out from the very passions of our own souls. And while that answer may gradually morph and change from the world around us in way that not even the person expects, the answer that erupts out from its depths remains ever true and justified in their eyes.” Listening to the elders explanation, Arthur’s gaze drifts back down towards the glass platform as tears continue to well from his eyes. “I can clearly see from your tears that both of your own concrete answers have conflicted harsh enough to leave a scar on your heart. But the clashing of each others souls is only natural, Arthur. It is simply a part of the grand enchanting journey that we have called life. And though this differing roads may have left quite a severe infraction to your friendship with one another; what matters is that both of you have listened to the depths of your hearts and responded in kind. You have you’re own path, and she has hers to take. It must be something that both of you accept for one another. Do you understand, Arthur?” The elders question causes the young man to hesitate to give him any sort of answer, his site aimed to the photo of Clara and him clutches in his hand.

Piercing out through the planets very mesosphere, K-labs crown sits just below the very stars that twinkle above; adorned with nothing but a spiraling glass dome that separates the inside from the cosmos that hangs above it all. Held within the crowning dome stood nothing but a single steel pillar that stands dead in the center of a simple flat floor; the very top of the column sports a single metallic sphere donned with a clock on its face; the device that lets one sever themselves from the timeline left suspended in a soft, gentle glow. Along the very base of this towering chamber, a single panel planted along the rim of the dome opens wide down to the red void just below it all; a single young woman climbing out from within the crimson abyss. Once her own two feet stand upon the flat surface of the glass room, Clara’s eyes glisten when beholding the device suspended by the shimmering light that towers before her; the very device that she had sought after for so long. Finally, after countless months of travel, blood, sweat, and tears, all of the sacrifice it took to get here can finally pay off. All it for a single chance to turn back the clock and stop all this suffering from ever happening. All that is left to do is climb up and undo it all. As the hooded scientist starts to approach the pillar, the hatch she had climbed out from starts to close on its own; stopped moments before it could shut by a single massive gauntlet.

The woman reaches her palm out towards the ladder leading up as she approaches, her grasp trembling as she closes in on the handle. Just moments before her hands could grasp hold of its steel, Clara feels something barely grace the top of her head; the hood that was concealing her identity now falling into halves. Gazing above to what almost cleaved her, the scientist’s eyes shrink when beholding a massive battle axe bigger than herself lodged into the pillar; quite literally cutting the young woman way up. Clara finally glances back to where the weapon had been thrown, quaking in her boots to discover the axe’s owner to be the legendary soldier herself; the giant general’s blood red scowl piercing through the tiny young woman. “That’s as far as you’re gonna go.”

The scientist’s heavy breath trembles alongside her body as the hulking woman before her slowly begins to near; the young lady pinning her back to the pillar behind her as she witnesses the generals balled gauntlet quake. “I don’t think I can put it into word the borderline contempt I hold for you. Aiding a terrorist bombing back in Buffalo and killing the employee’s within, illegally crossing the border while embezzling mutated wildlife, resisting and evading police and military capture. But none of them, not a single one of those crimes come close to falsely claiming the position of a military officer and leaving your fellow soldiers to die. And all for what!? To stand atop the very precipice of the entire world and come moments away from destroying everything that this nation has worked to achieve; are you that desperate to undo your sins!?” “Vira, listen. You don’t understand, I-” “Shut It!?” the general roars out, stopping dead in her tracks. Left standing paralyzed before the soldier in red, Clara can only listen in silence as the general explains how: “I never claimed to be the most articulate soldier. I never in my life thought myself as particularly wise. And I knew that even some of my fellow soldiers thought the same. But I always proudly held the weight of every good person I come across, risking life and limb for simple citizens that even my own country fought against; all because I believed that they didn’t deserve the chaotic scars inflicted upon their lives. But you...It doesn’t have to take a brute like me to realize that you’re nowhere near like one of those people. Someone that willingly abandons their fellow soldiers couldn’t possibly make a good future for the rest of humanity. And that’s all I need to know out of you to justify my actions. So for you’re harrowing crimes against the Canadian government and to the recovering nation below us; I hereby enact my role as general to carry out your corporal punishment...personally.” Vira growls out, punching her balled fist in the palm of her gauntlet.

Realizing then and there that meager words will not sway the beast before her, the young scientist readies herself as she witnesses the general finally charging out towards her; Clara leaping out to the side before the giant could ram her entire body into the scientist. After rolling along the flat steel floor, the young woman finds the hulking soldier having slammed straight against the iron pillar that holds the time orb high above them both; the quaking impact dislodging Vira’s giant axe right out from its side. Catching her descending weapon right into the palm of her hand, the red general witnesses the perpetrator make a break to the hatch that both of them had came in from; the soldier making an ascending leap over towards the only way out as she readies to hammer her axe straight down. Moments before Clara could take the chance to even open the hatch leading out, she notices a massive shadow quickly engulfing her entire body; glancing over and alarmed to discover her gigantic foe dropping down with axe ready to drop. Having found the general descending down towards her, the scientist lunges right out of Vira’s descending swing. And though her body manages to remain unscathed, the sharp blade of the weapon manages to catch the worn fabric of the scientist’s backpack; ripping its hide and causing the contents within to spill out onto the floor.

Arising from above the only way out, the general leaves her heavyweight weapon lodged between the hatch and the floor; effectively locking her foe in with her as she continues in pursuit of the lab coated scientist. As the young woman flees from the bulking soldier with swift foot, her mind thinks just as fast attempting to figure out a way to stop the giant in her tracks. There is absolutely no way taking that monster of a woman head on is anywhere near a good idea; her bare hands alone could rip the flesh off the toughest of hides. Plus, that armor she’s wearing doesn’t look to have any sort of weaknesses in its design; even the usual openings for a soldier of her size look completely impenetrable. There may be literally no way to stop her. No, there has to be a way, there has to be some flaw to exploit. There always is.

In the middle of pondering all of this, the giant on her tail finally manages to catch up to the fleeting scientist; swinging her thick steel arm right towards the small woman’s side and delivering an insanly intense blow right against the left of her upper torso. The very moment that the giants fist clashes with her side, a thin blue barrier erects out from the fabric of her lab coat; pulsing against the generals incredibly strong strike. Nevertheless, the blow proves strong enough to send Clara flying across the chamber and send her slamming straight against the glass dome that separates both of them from the mesosphere right outside; the entire dome trembling from the impact. Slowly rising off the metallic floor, the scientist feels not a single bit of pain from the blow that she had just endured; noticing the blue barrier that envelopes her entire body vanishing before her eyes. “Don’t get two comfy there. That’s coats shielding was meant to mostly ward off radiation; it sure as hell wasn’t built for combat like this. I wager that weak little coat can only take a few more blow before it gives out on your sorry ass.” Vira explains. While hearing the general elaborate this, Clara’s eyes venture past the hulking beast’s body to find the contents of her ripped backpack that litter the floor right behind her foe; her gaze locked to the reflective onyx case containing the battery. Her armor, no matter what it has installed inside it, its base shell is made of pure steel. When exposed to radiation, it can make metal like that insanely hot; hotter than even the cap of a volcano. That punch she threw earlier boasted a tone of force behind it though; way too much for the battery itself to take; but maybe not for the case to take. Perhaps applying the right amount of pressure should garter the exact results needed, just need to work fast and flawlessly to pull this off.

With the piece of her plan coming together, the tiny scientist suddenly dashes out towards the hulking soldier that towers before her; Vira watching as the young woman that approaches her lowering herself and reaches her arms downwards in turn. Once getting close enough to the crouching red general, Clara suddenly leaps up and vaults over the soldiers armored backside; sliding against the giants back plate as the scientist she passes right over her hulking foe. After landing right behind the giant soldier, the young scientist lunges out for the onyx case that lays on the floor in front of her; the general swiftly turning back and reaching out for the small lass in turn. With her arms stretched out as far as they could reach, Clara tightly grasps the sides of the shinning black case set before her; the scientist small smile shattering when feeling something clutch one of her legs. Glancing back does the young woman find the soldiers thick gauntlet taking a tight hold on one of her legs; Vira soon dragging the small scientist closer and lifting her overhead with but just a single arm. Right at the very moment the scientist is lifted over her massive foe, Clara takes the onyx case held in her grasp and smacks it against the side of Vira’s helm as hard as she could; the blunt force of the impact proving enough to cause the generals grasp on the young woman’s leg to slip and unintentionally fling the scientist forth.

Left to roll across the hard iron chamber floor, Clara’s body smacks against the tall columns sitting right at the very center; the scientist gazing to her hands to find the battery case still tightly held in her palms. Aiming her site ahead of her, the young woman comes to witness the giant that tossed her aside charging out to her once again; ready to deliver a powerful punch straight to the scientist. With everything that she had anticipated coming together, Clara shields herself with the onyx case that contains the radioactive battery right as the massive soldier readies to thrust her fist straight into her. As soon as the generals punch hits the case’s very surface, its glistening shell shatters apart in an intense flash of bright green; the burning glow powerful enough to send the soldier reeling back towards the rim of the chamber.

Once the intense lime luminescence starts to dim, the scientist opens her eyes to discover her lab coats built in barrier visible once more; its shielding the most visible when facing the exposed nuclear battery that lays before her. Hearing a pained growl sound off, Clara glares out to the rim of the dome to find the hulking soldier kneeling down while covering the visor of her helm; slowly pulling herself off the floor as she curses out: “Dammit! What the hell did you just do!?” Uncovering her helmets visor, the red general finally discovers the lime green nuclear battery that glows in the scientist’s palm; the UI in her visor reading the energy irradiating off the glass cylinder. “Class S nuclear radiation? Where the hell did someone like you get you’re hands on-” Before Vira could speak any further, an alarm pops up on her visor of her suit to warn of it having absorb far too much radiation to reliably handle; the internal temperature gauge beginning to swiftly rise. Upon those warning does the soldier start to feel the inside of her suit starting to heat up; the warming sensation soon transforming into searing pain as the inflicted radiation cooks the general from within. Left writhing in utter agony from the growing heat, the U.I in her helm advises that she take her armor off immediately before reaching critical temperature; Vira screaming out from her pained shrieks: “Armor. Release protocol #49!” Roaring out this order causes the air pressure keeping her suit on to release in a scalding cloud, an explosion of steam launching every steel piece of her armored suit off her hulking body; the back plate slamming straight against the glass behind her and leaving behind a small crack along its surface. Once stripped of every piece of her armor, the clouds of steam that drift off her start to waft away and reveal the soldier to be dressed in a leather hide suit; her beat red face starring dagger eyed right at the scientist.

Alright, managed to stripe the bitch of her reinforced armor; without it, her massive body has a ton of spots to take advantage of. Jamming something sharp in her sides should distract her long enough to go for the orb. But what to use as a weapon? Taking a far off glance to the spilled contents of her bag, Clara’s eyes dart through the numerous objects and tools that litter the floor; failing to find a single thing among them all that could be reliably used as an effective makeshift weapon. Dammit! There’s not even anything here remotely sharp enough to pierce through her leather suit; let alone shove into her side. Okay, Clara, this ain’t over yet, just gotta think of something.

Telling herself this, she witnesses the stripped soldier finally take charge out towards the scientist; Clara rolling out of the generals tackling strike and letting her slam against the column sitting in the middle of the room. Coming back on her feet, the young woman immediately sprints out towards all the modest equipment that lay scattered along the chamber floor; her mind thinking a thousand miles an hour on how to defend herself with what little she has. A wooden box, an empty plastic bottle, a cracked mug, a compass, some rope; How the hell is anybody meant to fight back with any of this stuff!?

Its in thinking how to use these tools before her effectively that her ears catch the loud thumps of stomping boots echoing out; quickly glancing back to find the red soldier herself once more sprinting her way. Acting on her feet, the young woman swipes the empty plastic bottle off the floor and tosses it towards the approaching giant; swatting away the worthless piece of plastic with but the back of her hand. In the very next moment does the red ranked soldier see her small pursuit having leaped right in front of her; Clara then thrusting her old glass compass straight into the hulking woman’s naked eyes, its glass shards sprinkling along the very surface of her pupils. With the remains of her compass causing the giant to reel back from the horrible sharp pain, Clara takes the opportunity to dart straight back to the column holding the device she covets above the both of them; the scientist stopping at the very base when discovering the ladder leading up to the top having been broken beyond any sort of use. She couldn’t even reach the part of the ladder that remain untouched. No, how the hell is anybody supposed to get up there now!?

Its in that moment that she hears an angry roar screaming out from behind her, turning back to witness the blinded general swiping the back plate of her discarded armor off the floor and flinging the hot piece of metal like a heavy throwing disc. Clara hits the deck and ducks before the oncoming piece of armor could split her head open; the very edge of the suit piece digging itself straight into the side of the metallic pillar, with several sparks dropping down from the harsh impact. Gazing back up, the young scientist starts to notice the sort of punishment that the metal column had taken throughout this whole ordeal; the towering pillar slightly bending out a good ways, with a couple of loose wires left cut and hanging along its sides. A look at the top shows the light that holds the time orb in place flickering, the very site making an idea glow out within the woman’s head.

An enraged hiss escapes from between her teeth as Vira wipes the glass shard out of her bloodshot eyes, with the soldier’s recovering vision wandering throughout the entire chamber for any sort of sign of her pursuit; soon laying her pupils upon the young woman as she grabs hold of a length of rope of the floor. Her bloodshot site locked onto her tiny target, the red general sprints off in the scientist directions in a furious charge; keeping her eyes locked onto the lass as she witnesses her lunge forth towards her and start sliding along her back. Just as Clara began to slide cleanly between the general’s legs, she loops the piece of rope right around her gigantic foes ankle;  her arm then grasped by the hulking woman’s massive hands. Lifting the scientist off the floor with just a single hand, Vira brings the young woman up to her burnt red face and asks her: “Did you really think that shoving glass in my eye would work?” Questioning her this, the behemoth of and woman lifts the small lass overhead and tosses her down towards the floor as she finishes with: “Cause all you managed to do is piss me off!” Her entire body slamming straight onto the hard iron floor, the poor woman’s harsh impact winds up being severe enough to leave a sizable dent where she had been struck down; the overwhelming slam down leaving her fumbling across the chamber floor. When Clara’s body finally stops against the glass dome, the young woman slowly pulls herself back up as she gazes upon the piece of rope still in her grasp; her eyes trailing along its length to discover it still hugging the giants ankle.

Finding her hulking foe slowly beginning to approach, the young lady looks to her feet for anything she could use against the nearing she beast; quickly swiping up the cracked mug beside her as she finally arises on her feet. Its in standing back up is she taken aback when finding the red ranked general coming right in front of her; her thick muscular arm threatening to grab hold of the young woman once more. Acting quick on her feet, Clara slips right under the soldiers arm and stands right behind the soldier; taking the opportunity to leap above the hulking general and smash the mug over her foe’s head. With the cups shards raining down along Vira’s backside, the legendary trooper proves to be only a tad dazed by the blow against the back of her noggin; the giant swinging her arm back and slugging the scientist straight in the stomach, with the lab coats barrier that had been protecting her finally shattering. The incredible body blow alone sends the small young woman careening across the towers crowning chamber and straight into the glass dome, with her back hitting the very same crack that Vira had ran into not long before.

With the crack in the transparent surface spreading a little more, Clara lands flat on her stomach onto the steel floor below; the beaten young woman is barely able to lift her entire body off as she hears the soldiers approaching footsteps alongside Vira wondering aloud: “How much pain do I have to give you to make the fact go through your head? With or without my armor, with or without even my eyes; you won’t ever come close to beating me. I’ve train for countless years under the service of the Canadian military before you’d even been born; all to hone my body and spirit to the very peek of physical prowess, all to serve the people of my country and those cling to life in the war torn U.S. Compared to you, someone like me is practically like going up against an entire mountain. I don’t need any piece of my armor or even a single weapon; my very flesh is as resilient and as deadly as pure steel itself. You’re trapped with the very example of Canadian might, so why do you still insist on playing this little game of ours and delaying the inevitable?” Finally prying her beaten and bruised body off the floor, Clara drifts her eyes over to the general that towers over her and finally answers her with: “I’m not as cornered as you might think.”

Saying this does the scientist lunge out with as much strength as she could muster; dashing out towards the other side of the chamber with the end of her rope still left in hand. When finding the giant soldier still insisting on chasing after, the young lady races around the dome’s inner rim to gain some distance until suddenly dashing back to the metal pillar sitting in the middle; jumping up to the piece of armor still left lodges onto its side. Right when Clara lands right on top of the flat back plate, she feels the slab of steel tremble right beneath her; glancing below her feet to discover the red general prying her own piece of armor right out; flinging the scientist aside when dislodging the steel out from the side of the column. Sent hurdling through the air, the young lady is barely able to land on her own two feet as she slides right to the glass behind her; looking over the hulking soldier to notice the hole left in the pillar exposing the sparking circuitry held within. Just about got it close to coming down. One more big blow should send it plummeting down and the time orb along with it.

With the assurance of her strategy falling into place, the scientist witnesses giant beside the bent pillar try her luck again in tossing her discarded back plate right at her, Clara ducking down as the hot piece of steel is flung her way. The slab of metal zooms right over the young woman’s head and thrusts right onto the cracked dome behind her, the blunt impact causing the cracks along its transparent surface to grow further out. Pulling herself off the floor, the scientist gazes back to find the hulking soldier having vanished before her; failing to see even a single sign of the giant anywhere in site. Noticing a hint of darkness underneath, Clara glances down to see her own shadow strangely growing bigger; soon realizing where the general is and immediately rolling off to the side. Meager moments were left as the scientist evades Vira’s crashing downward stamp by the skin of her back; the dent that the soldier makes in the floor proving at least 2 feet deep. Standing back up, the scientist notices the length of rope she had looped around the crimson still hugging her ankle; Clara sprinting off towards the direction of her spilled stuff to enact the final piece of her little plan.

Vira finally pulls herself out of the dent she had made in the floor just in time to witness her tiny target sprint off towards the column once more with a wooden box in hand; the red soldier fiercely pursuing after. Once quickly catching up to the scientist, the red general prepares to tackle the scientist down with every inch of her body; watching closely as the lady then swiftly turns back and throw the wooden box straight towards her face. Fully expecting this sort of counterattack, the soldier swats the box aside and reaches out to her front to foil the young lady trick she had done before; left caught off guard when finding her small foe dashing right along her side. Once sliding right behind the lunging giant, Clara tugs at the piece of rope nestled in the palm of her hands as hard as she could; tighten its grip around the soldiers left ankle and jerk at Vira’s footing. The last piece of Clara’s plan quiet literally falls into place as her gigantic pursuer tumbles right down into the base of the metal pillar behind them; the generals weighty impact proving more than enough to offset the towering column. The bright light that held the time orb high above them finally blinks out, causing the mcguffin to start plummeting down towards the bottom of the chamber; the scientist frantically dashing out to where the device would drop in hopes of saving it from breaking into pieces. Taking one huge lunge forth, Clara slides along the floor with her hands held out as far as she could reach; the scientist’s face beaming when her one ticket in fixing this whole future lands safely in the palms of her hands.

That very same relieved smile shatters in but an instant when she feels something take a choking hold on her entire torso; the scientist glancing back to find the gigantic general wrapping her thick, hulking arms around her small fragile body. While struggling to free herself from the soldiers oppressive grasp, the time orb slips out from one of her palms; attempting in vain to break herself free as she hears the general go on to claim out: “Normally, I’d have to drag your sorry ass all the way down this whole tower to let the courts decide your punishment. But with the inexcusable charges of destroying both the Buffalo and Mississauga power plants, illegally taking in the guise of a soldier, and infiltrating the country’s capital laboratory with the intent of stealing government kept reality bending technology; I bet they’ll let the infraction slide if I deal with you myself.”

Upon declaring all this, the lumbering soldier start to strangle the scientists entire body with the titanic bulk of her arms; Clara’s struggling grunts transforming into pained screams as she feels herself being squeezed tighter by the beastly woman. Her agonizing outcries are accompanied by her bones audibly breaking as the giant squeezes her ever tighter; their harsh snapping ringing out through the entire chamber as the soldier strangling her torso declares that: “I commend you for eluding the military’s grasp for so long; but this little story of ours is about to come to a crushing conclusion.”

Mere moments before the hulking general could finally break the young woman trapped within her titan grasp, she suddenly feels an intensely sharp pain pierce through her stomach; the unexpected jab making Vira drop the small scientist onto the floor. Slowly gazing down through the left of her torso, the general discovers the handle of the mug she had been hit with earlier shoved deep through the side of her stomach; the blood stain around the handle growing bigger with each passing second. Stumbling past her laying foe, Vira is left to grasp the punctured side of her stomach while staggering out towards the crack left in the dome; her faded vision finally escaping her as her pain growls begin to deafen. “Damn...this aging body...” Once finally reaching the very dim of the dome, the legendary soldier falls upon the glass that separates them all from the towering mesosphere waiting outside.

Despite feeling her entire skeletal structure barely holding itself together, Clara slowly forces herself off the floor and trembles on her feet; shuffling over to where the time orb had rolled over to while pulling the nuclear battery out from her pocket. When reaching for the spherical device, the bruised and beaten scientist picks up her coveted mcguffin and turns it over to reveal the plastic lid on its back; Clara shoving her long fingernails into the side of the cover and prying the square piece of plastic right off. With the back plate falling onto the floor, the wires and couplings exposed within the device are left bare for the scientist to see. Bring the battery she plans to use up beside the orb, the beaten woman finds a small crack left scratched along its glass shell; bits of lime green glow leaking out from within and onto the floor. With whatever senses she had left to work with, the young scientist reaches within the time orbs inside and stretches out the wires that are within and straight to the other end of the battery; her fingers crossed when hooking the coupling up to the edge of the nuclear powerhouse. A weak smile cracks between her cheeks when witnessing the screen placed on the front of the device glow alight; a U.I soon appearing before her and requesting an exact date, time, and location to travel to.

While the beaten young woman is busy punching in the recommended date she had researched, the red generals body that lays beside her starts to make the glass she sleeps on start to finally give out; the cracks that lay spread right along the surface grow further and further along its surface until it finally shatters. Hearing the distinct break of the glass, the scientist turns just in time to witness Vira’s body plummet out from the chamber; the length of rope that had been tied to her ankle sliding down with her. Trailing her eyes along the receding end of the rope, Clara finally realizes the other end left loosely around her own legs; the young woman too late to take them off as they tightly clasp around her bottom half. Even without what little strength she has left within her, the dead soldiers body proves too heavy for the scientist to fight back against and is dragged right out of the chamber along with her; desperately grasping the time orb before she could join the general in her unplanned descent.

Down from the towering laboratory’s very crown, the broken young woman feels the winds of the mesosphere bellow against her entire body as she descends back towards the earth below; her body tumbling through the air to give her a view of the planet waiting below. Using what consciousness she had left, the scientist finds the time orb falling out right next to the towers surface; the leaking battery still attached to the device gliding alongside it. When laying eyes upon her only hope of escape, Clara desperately swims through the air as she continues to fall down towards the planet; falling down into the stratosphere as she reaches her hands out to the mcguffin with each stroke. The combination of the raging winds and her beaten body makes it rather difficult to keep herself conscious; breathing as hard as she can as her vision blinks in and out of reality. But nevertheless, the young woman finally manages to grab hold of the precious orbs plastic surface; turning its screen over to her face as she finds it telling her how the device is ready to jump. Covering the screen with the palm of her hand, Clara uses whatever strength she had left to spare to push the front of the orb inward; the entire sphere emitting a powerful bright light that starts to envelope her arms.

In that brief moment before the light could consume the rest of her body, time and space around her seems to freeze all around her in but a single instant; the hovering woman gazing out to her side for her eyes to meet with her friend’s own; both Clara and Arthur staring at one another with tears welling in their eyes. From then on could only two words escape from her body in this chance encounter before the growing light could silence her; Clara weakly uttering out to her weeping friend: “I’m...sorry...” That apology is soon swallowed alongside her and the young man; both Arthur and Clara’s bodies disappearing under the glow as it continues to consume all that surrounds it; swiftly devouring the tower that stands beside it.

Down below in the dim streets of Mississauga, the platoon that stayed behind just finished cleaning up the rubble of the powerhouse’s broken remains; a good chunk of the crew huddled around three armored bodies that they pulled from the wreckage. A giant in pink, a tall thin one in green; and a small youth dressed in white; all three of them mourned by their comrades. Their darkened night is then enlightened by a powerfully bright light that shine upon the entire city, the entire squadron gazing up to discovering a blinding luminescence descending from the very heavens.

Out along the very end of a branch that stretches out from a massive tree, a dirt ridden elder looks out to the midnight sky that lay bare before him; a smile cracking between his cheeks as he takes in a deep breath of the cool nightly breeze. The pupils of his withered eyes glisten when the growing light pierces through the clouds that scrape above the dead oak; his warm smile remaining until he himself was consumed by the invading luminescence.

Nestled along the rural countryside of Southeastern Canada, a pair of Indian man share a swinging seat alongside their lovely daughter; enjoying the moment of peace as they gaze to the glistening stars that hang above their home. That moment of peace is sadly shortened when the little girl notices a small glow that encroaches closer to her and her family, the lass grabbing her dads attention and pointing out in the direction; both men finding the light threatening to engulf them and their humble home.

Along the very edge of the nations borders, a single chromatic home stands utterly beaten and destroyed from within; mere moments before it too will be swallowed by the light. The only thing left untouched being a single photo of a small man and a muscular woman left hanging on the wall.

Out on the other side of that very same wall, a man made from exposed flesh and torn metal stands atop a partially restored tower and starts out towards the country that lies beyond the barricade; both his artificial and organic eye staring out towards the glow that invades their shared skies.

That very same light shines straight down the holes that litter a great canyon along the side of the lake; shinning upon dozens of stalactites that make up an entire underground city; the people that dwell within these rocks gazing out of their windows and out towards the light that nears them all.

A small town left to rot in the middle of the irradiated nation is left abandoned with not a single soul left among the broken sprayed buildings and cracked suburban streets; nothing the rodents that remains scurrying all glare up to the sky as a beaming light approaches.

Out from the doors of a near ruined grocery store, a single man dressed in an apron and clown makeup comes out to look around the streets outside; his painted smile beaming when finally finding the small arachnid bear cub waiting for him at the side of the store. The man kneels down as the cub scuttles his way, petting the baby beasts head as it licks his cheeks. The two of them then witness the intense light that grows out from the cloudless midnight sky: the man holding the cub in a tender embrace as they await for the luminescence to take them.

A pile of ashes that bury a myriad of bone is left spread across the crack ground and the side of a forgotten farmhouse; not a single living thing left to observe the light that engulfs the land set before them.

Out from the tallest window in the tallest tower in what remains of Louisville, a lone muscular woman garbed in but a dirty cloak can do little but stare out upon a throne as the brilliant light approaches the entire city. The woman gazing away from the light and out to a pile of golden armor pieces that litter the corner of the room; a small smile cracks under the shadows of her hood as the glow reflects off the shinning gold.

The remains of a once secluded and unassuming town pulled out from the past now lays bare as dozens of mutated people all mindlessly wander along the glowing green streets; their numb minds only able to glare out towards the light that approaches from the horizon, ready to consume them all nonetheless.

The blinding light shines through the deformed and mutated tree’s that litter across miles on end; the figure of a smiling person left trapped within the heart of a massive tree remains ever grinning, even as the light above swallows the entire forest that surrounds him.

Along the edge of a deep crater that glows out radiation stood nothing but a quaint little home with nobody but an old man on the porch sitting utterly motionless as his head stares out to the illuminating horizon. A line of dried blood leads down from the back of a wooden chair and trails down right to its very bottom; a dried puddle of crimson left stretched out right underneath a red stained pistol.

In just a few short moments does the invading light expand to swallow both of the neighboring nations; soon to engulf the entire world in its glow. Despite swallowing the earth, the growing light refuses to stop at just the single terrestrial planet; its luminescence reaching out to the worlds that neighbor it as well. Even when consuming the entire milky way, the light refuses to cease growing as it engulfs entire galaxies within its luminescence; continuing to expand out towards the very edge of the universe. Eventually does the all consuming light finally erasing everything in this existence until absolutely nothing remained. Nothing…

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

This story has been nearly two years in the making. I wanted to have a complete original story under my belt; something to look back to that wasn't just awful Wayside fanfiction, and though the beginning of this whole project was rough as all hell, I think it turned out well enough. I want to thank all of you who had stuck around from the very first chapter all the way to this story's last words; the desire to create and ease the burden of others is a path I wish to someday go on. To make creations in this world that will bring others happiness in this confusing and bleak existence, that is the what drives me to create, to write. I don't know if I'll ever reach that far; but I'll be damned if I can't bring entertainment to those who actually take the time and see the kind of stuff that I write, even if its something so small, silly, or unimportant. Again, thank you for this opportunity to share this experience with you.

#faded land #lillaxtrigger

[ichibri]

Writing Tag

I was tagged by @pilindiel (Thx :D & It’s good to be back)

Responses under the cut!

1. How did you come up with your username and what does it mean?

It’s a play on how in Bleach Ichigo’s sisters call him Ichi-nii. I always saw Ichigo as a brother figure and wished he was my brother instead of the jackass of an older brother that I have, so it’s IchiBri cause Bri is the first half of my last name.

2. Which fanfic of yours has the most feedback?

Wrong Place, Wrong Time. Which is honestly surprising cause it was my first sh/eith fic and I’m still in awe that so many people continue to follow it and leave comments every chapter.

3. What is your AO3 profile icon and why did you choose it?

It’s the same as my tumblr icon cause I adore Shiro and I love how pretty his eyes are in it.

4. Do you have any regular/favourite commenters?

All of them. Like honestly, when someone comments all the time, they become a dear friend to me. I have so much gratitude for them that I just want to shower them with love.

5. Is there a fanfic you keep going back to read again and again?

There’s some old Grimm/Ichi fics I absolutely loved in high school that I still reread every now and then.

6. How many stories are you subscribed to? How many do you have bookmarked?

Including author subscriptions, it’s 41. And I’ve got 73 bookmarks.

7. Which AU do you find yourself writing the most?

Magical, maybe?? Or slightly magical, like modern aus with demons or witches or time travel. Most of my original stuff is modern fantasy/supernatural/monster stuff too.

8. How many people are subscribed and bookmarked to you in total?

18 subscribed to me as an author, 251 story subscriptions, and 300 story bookmarks in total

9. Is there something you’d like to write about but are afraid of people judging you for it? (Feeling brave? If so, share it!)

I’d love to write some really dark, twisted shit. But yeah, not super into the whole ‘fiction equals reality’ argument that many people like tossing around. I’m lucky enough to avoid an/ties in the v.ld fandom so I’m not gonna push my luck.

10. Is there anything you’d like to be better at? Writing certain scenes or genres, replying to comments, updating better, etc.

Outlining and sticking to a damn plot. I wing everything and change so much it’s not even funny. It’d be so much easier if I could sit down and plot out a story before starting it, but I’m too impatient for that.

11. Do you write rarepairs or popular ships more often?

Normally popular ships. Call me vain, but I prefer the bigger audience that comes with popular ships.

12. How many stories have you posted on AO3 to this day?

25

13. How many stories do you have saved in/ with your writing program?

As in like wips? Cause not counting one-liners or jumbled ideas tossed together, then about 6. But if overall, then everything I’ve written since freshman year of high school, so a lot.

14. Do you write down story ideas or just keep them in your head?

I write them down in a note pad app on my phone cause they normally come to me when I don’t have pen/paper. I’ve been known to wake up in the middle of the night with an idea, type it out on the app, and find garbled nonsense the next morning, lol.

15. Have you ever co- authored a story?

Kinda. More like co-authored an au, where we came up with it together and wrote our own separate takes on it.

16. How did you discover AO3?

A bit after I got into Bleach, I was looking for more fics cause ff.net just didn’t have many for the pairing I wanted, and I noticed quite a few authors were moving to AO3 so I checked it out.

17. Do you consider yourself to be a popular or famous author in your fandom(s) on AO3?

No, but I’m super grateful for the readers I have.

18. Do you have a nickname or fandom name for your readers?

Nope

19. Was there an author who inspired or encouraged you to write?

Not in particular, but there are plenty of well-written, poetic fics that inspire me to write. Cause the best inspiration for me is reading others’ fics. But encouragement wise, that comes from my fandom friends. And my mom, lol. She reads everything of mine whether it’s fandom or not.

20. What writing advice would you give to a beginning author?

Don’t compare yourself to anyone but who you were yesterday. The writers you’re looking up to have been writing for many years, even decades. With tons of practice and an open mind willing to learn and develop, you’ll find your style and what works for you. Trust me, one day, you’ll look back and see how much you’ve grown, and you’ll feel immense pride in how far you’ve come. But first, you have to give yourself that time to grow.

21. Do you plot out your stories or do you just figure it out as you go?

I plot out the first 3-5 chapters and the climax, but everything else is ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ And if it’s a oneshot, then I only have a general idea of what I want to write and let myself go whichever direction the words take me.

22. Have you ever gotten a bad comment on a story? If so, what did you do?

Yep. I’ll admit, I was hurt and pissed off at first. I ignored it, because they could have just as easily stopped reading if they didn’t like the direction the story was going. Like guys, if you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all. Writers are people too, and unless you commissioned the story, you have no say in the direction a writer takes it.

23. Is there a certain type of scene that you have a hard time writing? (Action, smut, etc)

Lol, I gave up trying to write smut when I realized I was ace, cause it’s just awkward as fuck, and I can’t stop laughing the entire time. But action scenes are kinda the bane of my existence. I think I’ve gotten down the basics and learning how to involve the 5 senses to make it more dynamic, but it’s still like pulling teeth for me. I prefer writing emotional vs physical.

24. What story(s) are you working on now?

Wrong Place, Wrong Time. Sh/eith Ferngully au. Sh/eith Heart Adventures au. And two original short stories, one about a grim reaper taking the soul of a baby and another about a human falling in love with an ichthyocentaur (basically a mermaid & a centaur all in one). Oh and they're lesbians because fck yeah they are.

25. Do you plan your new projects before you finish your current ongoing story(s)?

Yeah. I've got a huge list of projects/aus I want to do. My notepad app has so many snippets of different stories/plots it's not even funny.

26. Do you have a daily writing goal set for yourself?

No. I crumble under pressure, and trying to reach a daily word count always leaves me feeling like shit. Some days I'm lucky to write a single sentence and others I'll go on for hours.

27. Do you think you’ve improved as a writer since you first started?

God yeah. I've been writing stories since elementary school and it's hilarious reading what I thought was amazing back them. And even in just this past year, I've grown a lot and feel as though I've finally settled into a style that’s my own.

28. What is your favourite story that you have written?

Oh man, right now it's probably Grown-ups Come Back just because of how deep that cut me to write it. Like even now when I reread it, the emotions are still raw and I bawl my eyes out.

29. What is your least favourite story that you have written?

Ugh, Casper. It was a halloween extra for AToS, and it was rushed and forced and yeah, not super proud of it.

30. Where do you see yourself (as a writer) in 5 years?

With more novels under my belt and hopefully a steady-ish income coming from writing. Cause hopefully one day it can become my full-time job and I’ll be able to support myself off it.

31. What’s the easiest part about writing?

Coming up with plot points/scenes. It's super easy for me to think/write plot points, it's just connecting them together that gets a little challenging.

32. What is the hardest part about writing?

Keeping track of subtle actions. Like a character talking while holding a cup in their hand and then a page later the cup magically disappears cause I forgot I gave them a damn cup.

33. Why do you write?

Because I love it, and I'm good with written words. My oral communication skills suck, and it's frustrating to struggle with getting my thoughts to come out of my mouth properly and cohesively. But writing lets me say exactly what I want to and portray it in a desired way. Also I'm a deeply emotional person and exploring emotions through characters and stories helps to sort through my own and is my main coping mechanism for dealing with life.

#tagged #morgan shut up #this was fun #so if you're a writer and wanna do it consider yourself tagged

[iradiata]

365 Tilam Master Post

1: eyelashes

2: the overall shape of my face

3: german was my second language

4: being a slytherin, even if sometimes i ask myself how

5: the two beauty marks i have on my left ear

6: the color of my finger nail beds (finger nails?)

7: my sneeze

8: my outfit today! i was rocking it (a burn orange sweater folded up to be cropped and a black lace-ish dress with a tan underskirt thing. trust me, it was nice)

9: my ability to stop myself from crying even if i want nothing more than to cry and tears are prickling at my eyes

10: my inability to hold a grudge (it’s also something that i hate terribly) because it means i don’t wake up a smol ball of rage

11: my legs (i thought the looked rather nice today, if i do say so myself)

12: my toes (i may be biased but i think they look cute [even my big toes])

13: my favorite number (it’s 13 by the way and how lucky that it happens to be friday the 13th today)

14: my wrists (my thumb and pinkie can wrap around it comfortably without me having to force them to meet)

15: my wrists

16: my tough skin (figuratively speaking)

17: my endurance for walking when hot

18: my optimism

19: my pessimism

20: my oversized sweaters

21: my ability to read a lot quickly

22: my open-mindedness

23: my love of learning

24: my ability to overcome negative moments

25: my fingers

26: my creativity

27: my writing spirit

28: my love of small spaces

29: how it feels to type

30: how i hold a pen

31: my sweet tooth

32: my navigation skills

33: how i can work to overcome stress

34: my focus

35: my veins

36. my somewhat poor babysitting abilities

37. my body

38. i apologize when wrong

39. my knuckles

40. my hair when straightened

41. my lips

42. my father who was in 3 branches of the military and was a great dad even if he wasn’t  perfect and who i admire

43: my collarbone

44: my ribs

45: my ability to get shit done

46: my perseverance on hw

47: my throat/neck

48: my boobs (sometime I wish they were smaller tho, but not today)

49: my dimples

50: my sleepy courage (when tired i find the courage to say/do things i cant before)

51: my will to keep going?

52: my pain tolerance level?

53: my breakdowns (they let me clear my emotional palate in a sense)

54: my brave face

55: my ability to not buckle under the anxiety and stress

56: my cousins on my mom’s side

57: my shoulders

58: my vertebra/spinal column

59: my 2016 surgery scar

60: my early warning to colds

61: my ribs

62: my attempts at trying new things

63: my adventurous nature (which doesn’t come out often any more)

64: my courage to stand in front of a crowd and speak even when i’m nervous beyond belief

65: my past experience with painful stomach pains

66: my persistence to do things even if i don’t want to cause i know i have to

67: my short feminine monthly subscription

68: my determination to learn

69: my packing abilities

70: my love of libraries

71: my somewhat lacking capabilities to make new friends

72: the friends i’ve made in my life currently

73: when i get homework done early

74: my freshly shaved arm pits (they’re so soft!!)

75: when i manage to start watch a new series

76: when i sleep in (actually sleep-in to normal peoples standards)

77: my love of night driving (when I’m not the one driving)

78: my shoulderblades

79: my family

80: how comfortable i’ve become with the hospital my mom died in :)

81: my motion-sickness when it doesn’t act up

82: my lazyness (some days just demand to be chill days)

83: doing things i don’t like

84: my boobs (it’s one of those off-again-on-again likes for me)

85: my favorite holiday? (i love new year’s eve and how it leads into new years)

86: all the amazing friends i’ve made this past month and continue to make

87: my reading spirit

88: how late i can stay up

89: to go without sleep

90: my pinkies

91: how comfortable i’ve become about not having to wear a bra 24/7

92: my recent growing confidence in my body image

93: my love of dogs

94: my handwriting which has been improving

95: competitive nature

96: those dreams that leave me longing because at least i get a taste for things i don’t have and may never have

97: my love of using my planner

98: listen to the signs that the universe gives me

#365 things i like about myself

[bulldawgjross]

The Second Time Around

        The first time was an accident

        The second, lifting yet heavier

        But the third can’t happen yet

    The night prior, all that was swimming in my mind was that I was getting the chance to see her again, however, I’d be lying if I said I was ready. The last time an adventure like this occurred, whether other’s would admit to it or not, it didn’t go over too well, but this time I was determined to make sure I didn’t fuck up… again. Going on these trips can sometimes make me nervous in a sense of not knowing what’s going to happen next, while at the same time not caring because of her. Even though it hadn’t been terribly long since I’d seen her, just the look of her always melts my heart. Yet, she’s always meant more than glamour and shine to me. She can make just about anyone seem like life has purpose once more and always brings a smile to my face. 

    Of course, waking up to start an hour or so drive just to get Allie is always worth it. On the drive up to her house, I tested how my new bluetooth system would work in my Cooper, which in all honesty is just the speakers like the Beats Pill but not that at all. Pulling up to the driveway and making sure everything is ready to go just before the trip ahead is always a great start for the trip, as everything is in place as Allie starts walking to the car. As always, the regular hijinks ensue as we talk about the usual coasters, cartoons, shows, and just life in general. She struggles and how she’s been bold and brave enough to overcome all the obstacles as of late, my bouts with the idiotic public (not ya’ll, but the random customers whose soul purpose in life is to find a way to fuck up so bad that there is literally nothing I can, could, or would do to fix their stupidity) from work and hilarious stories of said characters is all just icing on the cake, and that’s the usual. After a while, it was time to put on some good throw backs, as a couple days before I had found a video on YouTube of a whole bunch of old cartoon intros which we obviously jammed to. 

    Just before we had even hit the city limits before totally nerding out, I felt that with the scenery of Charlotte that the only proper song to play was “What a Fool Believes” by the Doobie Bros, which was honestly pure bliss. Following up into uptown… well…. If you know Allie, then you know the song that we had to play for that. Capping it up, we had to give the X to Fury sense when we normally give it away Lilly is always closed down. All that being said though, after a four hour drive or so, we finally made it back to where we belonged, yet for it being a wednesday, Allie was not even prepared for what was to come shortly after.

    The first stop was actually the starbuck at the entrance so Allie could finally try the Fury latte they had going on, but alas, sold out. Apparently so popular that the first day it came out it was gone, and a recipe so secret that one customer went and rode Fury 325 six times in a row just to know how to make it themselves. However they soon regretted it because of the extreme g-forces that it can dish out might have been too much for them as one of them looked as if he was going to pass out, according to the lady at the shop. We took that as a challenge, however, and tried to do the same, if not surpass the six ride limit. Only we weren’t just lucky, oh no.We had hit the motha effing jackpot!

    We make our way to the great Giga-dork and ready up the locker (which is honestly a fucking rip off but ya have to), break a pair of my sunglasses, fix said shades, and start giggling like little kids on the playground as I start to notice something rather strange. One o’clock in the evening and Fury’s line looked like something out of a fantasy, five people up top with three others walking up the stairs; almost void. We ran after seeing such grace and even ducked under the railings to get up there faster, directed to row 5 and made our way to the incline. After that, row 6, but after that something incredible happened. Since there was no one line and clear of anyone else coming on to the train we just stationed, the attendant looked back at me and asked, “Wanna go again?”

    I stay in my seat as Allie was about to make another lap around the station, when I quickly scream for her to hop back on. The look on her face was pure dumbfounded joy for she’d heard the myths of back to back rides but hadn’t experienced it herself. Next up, after asking that attendant if we could ride in row 8 and graciously allowed it, we were coming close to getting six rides in a row. Even more shocking to Allie was that around the seventh or eighth ride and climbing the stairs to her majesty, we noticed that the attendant was GONE. Guess which row we picked next? Up front!

    After ten rides in a row within a one hour time span, here’s what you need to know: She’s an intense bitch on top and could only be tamed in the front, and though she’s a beauty around every turn, she every time you lift out, she doesn’t know any better but to thrust you back into her. You might think you have control but the sad truth of the matter is that she’s a fucking kinky ass dominatrix who’s studied the Kama Sutra, perfected it, then created her own shit that makes that book look like a kindergartener's kid story.

    Yet she doesn’t really mean to, however, because that’s what can happen when you give her the grand key to world. She might have changed in the slightest details that only a true enthusiast would be able to pick up on, but it still remains that even if it’s a one time deal, it’s a reward well given… last year. This time around however, it could win again, but it’s changed drastically. Back in August when we had gone, we rode her up front but waited till night to see her with all her beauty and it was well worth it. Keep also in mind, it could be the long lasting effects of the non-stop g-forces due to continuous runs, but it felt painful at times. Even more intense when your belt doesn’t lock and you have to rely on the lap restraint, which one of the attendants said “That’s the THIRD time today”

    After the ride(s) of a lifetime (which tbh is great that I have a month or two to recover from all the g-force, but I do it for her) we stopped and grabbed a water and I went back to the car for a vape break just to be ready to tackle Intimidator! Now, he’s no dork we know and love, but he has a certain vibe to him that you can’t ignore. To be completely honest, after Fury, any other coaster after that lacks in comparison and can really ruin the experience. Intimidator is amazing in every way; perfect air time, breathtaking drops, Nighthawk ain’t got shit (in general, just thought I’d add that in). 

    Once we debated getting lunch, which to be honest is their real money maker, (like literally one of the stands was selling a normal hotdog w/ fries and drink for $12!!! Pack or wait tbh) we rode the one and only. The og that never changes no matter what the circumstances, the ride of all rides with the best inverted inversions, the one that is the south gates were open (like they should be) would be the first high motha-fucka you’d see. I’m of course talking about… TOP GUN!!!

    If you call it whatever stupid name that it’s been given now, which is pointless for me to remember because it has no other name, I will ignore you and ponder the ride you are referring to because it doesn’t exist. The name it was given due to the original’s copyright reasons, and since I don’t give a fuck, you’ll usually catch me riding the incline humming to myself “Highway to the DANGERZONE!” It’s always tradition for me and my family to ride this one first, but even if you ride everything else before hand, TOP GUN will never disappoint. In comparison, Nighthawk hurts, you’re laying back for a good portion of it and once you get the “free falling experience” the restraints punch into your shoulders. Manta at Seaworld Orlando is a much better experience, but overall, gotta give the OG. In all fairness, it’s nostalgia reasons, since TOP GUN was my first inverted and inversion coaster, but it’s fast, it’s insane, the experience of a fighter pilot is always present, and it’s done right, looping around the entrance so perfectly. The south gate needs to open up again soon because you honestly cannot start a day at Carowinds with any other.

    That being said as well, I want to take a moment and honor those that have fallen: Troy and Lucas, the twin woodies that made Charlotte live, racing devils always going forward and backward. Thunder Road always has a near and dear place in my heart, not only being my first wooden coaster, but the BEST!!! Fair point, I have not ridden the beast (yet), but I have also been on Dolly’s Lightning Rod, but even then, TR rules over them all. Sure it was linear, sure it wasn’t as intense as most other coasters, but you couldn’t care. On Troy, you knew what was to come, but it was always smooth, which I’m sure you can’t say about anyone else, especially not Hurler! Lucas always runs backwards, perfect for those that don’t worry about where they’re going and just need to know where they’ve been. Thunder Road has always been the greatest wooden coaster ever and there is no debating their glory, which is why I had to get the shirt to commemorate the fallen titan.

    A couple more rides here and there on Intimidator and Fury just before we hit the road back home and though traffic was almost crystal clear coming, it was as if once we got into Charlotte, we could never leave. The plan was always to leave early so we would beat out the closing traffic, but it didn’t matter. I-77 was jammed all the way through the city, trying to escape onto any exit ramp was nearly impossible, but once we managed it everything just kept going down hill. The parkway was jammed, I-85 as well, and all the while my phone keeps blowing up from Google telling me that the road we are on is currently jammed. “No Shit” became a recurring phrase as we tried to leave, yet after an hour and a half just trying to leave the city and searching the radio for music only to find the usual talk shows, usual country station (which almost tore our hair out), three stations where you only heard Pixies Fluting (the only reasonable explanation I have for it) and a Mexican Broadcast. 

    All in all though, even if it was a short trip and a hella long ass drive for me, we needed it and it was well worth it. Just seeing her again can always bring a smile to my face and she’s perfect in every way. No one can so the things that she does to me. She brings a light out of me that I don’t feel with anyone else and I love every moment, every second I’m with her. She can’t be beaten down, she refuses to give in, and she boulders her way through every turn like it’s nothing. Knowing her and seeing how she’s grown has always been the highlight of my life, but alas, the moments that seem to be the happiest are true in despair, for there’s no way to insure total contentment. If only she gave it a chance.

We’ll just have to see.

[totallyrhettro]

The Lone Jedi, Chapter 6

Word Count: 2025 Rating: This chapter: G. Overall story: explicit Warnings: None Summary: Jedi Knight Rhett McLaughlin managed to escape the purge of the Emperor to become one of the last of his celibate order. After years of a solitary life, he finds himself with a former slave for a friend. Despite his efforts to maintain anonymity and the jedi code, he starts to realize that doing either is easier said than done. Notes: Star Wars AU; Events take place between episodes III and IV

First Chapter

Previous Chapter

*See the end of each chapter for additional notes on star wars terms*

Rhett POV

After dropping off the brown bag in a small room near the side entrance, Rhett walked back with Link to the kitchen. The shorter man sat down at the table, like he did yesterday, waiting until the other had already started preparing their food before taking a deep breath. "Where did you learn to do that?" he asked, referring to his host's earlier demonstration. "With the pole. I've never seen anyone do that before." Rhett didn't look up as he cooked and there was a slight pause before he answered. "My father taught me. He felt it was important that I knew how to defend myself." "With a pole?"

"It's called a bokken," he chuckled. "It's used for practice instead of a real sword."

"Do you own a real sword?" Again Rhett hesitated. He still wasn't sure how much information to give with each answer and it got harder to avoid the difficult questions. "I do, actually," he finally said. "I don't use it often, except to hunt." "Is that what you used to kill the beast that tried to eat me?" "Yes. I was out hunting when I found you." "I guess I'm lucky you were nearby." Rhett smiled and nodded but didn't really agree. Jedi don't believe in luck. Rhett believed that it was the will of the Force that brought them together, for him to save this man. He just wasn't sure why yet. "Where's your, uh, animal? The one I saw after I woke up?" "It's called a kybuck. He's a friend of mine; keeps me company up here in the mountains. You'll see him around, I'm sure. He comes and goes as he pleases. I don't own him. I give him shelter, and an occasional meal, and he helps me get to and from town when I need to." "What's his name?" "You know, I don't think he's ever told me." He gave an amused grin to his guest but only got a confused expression in response. "I never felt the need to give him one." There were a few minutes of silence as Link seemed to contemplate this information while Rhett continued to prepare breakfast. "So what is this place?" he asked after a while. "Or, what did it used to be?" "This used to be an academy." Rhett slid the ingredients he had been chopping into a large wok with his knife. He turned and placed it over the waiting stove. "It was a long time ago. I doubt many people even know it exists." "An academy? What's that?" "It's like a school. People would come from light years away to learn from the teachers here." "What did they teach here?" "Many things... I'm- I'm sure," he stumbled to amend his answer, silently cursing himself at his inability to lie comfortably. If his guest noticed his lame answer, he didn't bring attention to it. "And you just... live here?" "It's a boring life, sure, but these are troubling times. A little peace and quiet appeals to me." There was a short pause and he latched onto it, using it to turn the topic of conversation away from himself. "What about yourself? You know I've told you an awful lot about my life and my history. I know so little about you. I'd like to learn more about you, if that's alright." "There's not much to tell." Link fidgeted in his seat, suddenly very interested in the skin around his fingernails. "I used to be a dancer for my master. I guess I'm nothing now." Rhett felt a soft ache in his heart. The pieces were falling into place but, as expected, they didn't show a happy portrait of this man's life, or state of mind. "That's not true. You could never be nothing." Link looked up at him, wistful but hopeful. "You're Link and that's the most important thing you could ever be." "But my master..." Before Link could finish, Rhett walked over to him and knelt by his side. He placed a hand on his bare shoulder and looked him right in the eye. "You are your own master. Your opinion is the only one that matters." "But what do I do now? Dancing for my master was the only life I knew. What will become of me?" "You are a free man, now." Rhett let his hand slide down Link's shoulder to just above his elbow. The brunet's eyes really were the most beautiful shade of blue. "You can do whatever you want." For a moment they just regarded each other, both thinking about what that meant, what it could mean. "I don't know what I want," he finally said. "All I ever wanted to do was dance."

"What about your... uh, family? You could go home, maybe? Be with them?" He stumbled, slightly, over his words. He felt his heart sank as his fears were quickly confirmed.

"The other dancers were my family. My master was my family. I don't remember ever having another. I don't have anyone else."

"Well, I have plenty of space and food if you want to stay here. You are more than welcome." Something in the back of the jedi’s mind told him he shouldn't have offered such an invitation, but he didn't care. It told him this was bad idea, but he ignored it. He reasoned that he was helping someone in need and it wasn't his own loneliness that he was trying to sooth. Link looked grateful. "Thank you. I promise I won't be a burden to you. I'll try to help where I can." His voice was so sweet and eager to please, Rhett couldn't help but smile. "All I want from you is for you to get better." He sniffed the air. "I hope I haven't burnt breakfast!" Going back to the stove, he finished cooking the food before serving it to the both of them. The meal was far less awkward than their last one together had been. Link was happy to have a home, however temporary, and Rhett was happy to have company.

~

After breakfast, Rhett gave Link a tour of the compound. He avoided showing him the archives downstairs, sticking to the buildings above ground. To the West was the main entry hall, housing a stable for the kybuck and small rooms for storage, mostly medical and travel supplies. To the South was the small dining hall and the rooms set aside for foodstuffs and cooking equipment.

Not far from there were the former sleeping quarters. Rhett assured his guest that he could make up a separate sleeping space for him if he wished, but Link assured him the extra effort would not be necessary. He was used to sharing a room with other people and didn't want to make more work for his host.

To the East was Rhett's exercise area and meditation chamber. A large room, it took up most of that side of the compound. To the North more buildings, mostly in ruins, lay buried in rubble. A small section had been cleared to provide access to the underground chambers, but Rhett chose to overlook their existence, instead showing his guest the rest of the courtyard even though there wasn't much to explain.

When he finished talking about his expertly maintained garden, Rhett sat down on the stone bench by the fountain, motioning for his new companion to sit with him. It had been a relatively short tour, but he was concerned Link would tire himself out. The healing properties of the river water would aid in his recovery, but it would be all for naught if he didn't rest enough.

"You'll need to have your bandages changed at least once a day for a while," the jedi explained. "The healing salve will help quite a bit. Hopefully you'll get your strength back soon."

"I just wish I could do something about this," the brunet muttered, rubbing his scraggly beard. Rhett looked it over, assessing.

"It's been a long while since I’ve shaved," he chuckled. "I never thought to buy a razor." Link frowned.

"I never had a beard before. Master didn't like it." Rhett held back a grimace at the mention of the Hutt, instead nodding thoughtfully.

"Well, now you can grow one if you want." His guest seemed to mull that fact over a few seconds, continuing to run his fingers over the rough, black hairs.

"I don't like it," he finally concluded. Rhett smiled. It was a small decision, but it was nice seeing his new companion making choices for himself, possibly for the first time in his life.

"I'll have to see what I can do, then."

For the most part the rest of the day was spent teaching Link more about the garden. The now former-slave had never seen a real garden before and he was fascinated by the prospect of growing his own food. Rhett told him how he started out, tilling the soil, planting the seeds, and tending to the plants.

He enjoyed watching the eagerness in Link’s eyes as he taught him about the various fruits and vegetables that grew in the academy garden. It wasn’t exactly a simple craft, but while Link was uneducated his mind was sharp and quick, and his curiosity was insatiable. New knowledge had rarely been offered to him in the past. He didn't need to know much in his old life, but now he couldn't get enough. Rhett could tell his friend would be a fast learner. Still, hands on experience would have to wait.

~

That evening, as Link changed into the long pants Rhett had given him, the jedi asked him again if he wanted his own room.

"I can easily extend this room," he told him. "It would take a few days but-"

"To be honest, I would rather stay here, if that's alright with you. I'm used to sharing space with others anyway. Besides..." He looked down, biting his lip nervously. "I don't like being alone." Rhett felt his heart break a little bit inside at the tender sadness of this man. He wanted to just hold him, as if his arms could protect him from all the pain and sorrow of the world.

"Tomorrow I have to go into town for supplies. It will take a few hours, but I'll be back as soon as I can." Link nodded, looking sad but obviously trying to be brave. His life had changed so much in a few days. Rhett placed his hands on the shorter man's arms. "Maybe when you're stronger you can go with me, but you still need to rest. I promise, when I get back, you'll never have to be alone again."

Link looked up, his blue eyes sparkling in the dim light of the room. Rhett felt like he could see the whole galaxy in those eyes. For a brief moment, he was lost in them. Then, to his surprise, Link fell against him, dropping his face against his chest and folding his arms between them. The jedi was taken aback at first, but then gently wrapped his arms around the shorter man. He rested his chin on top of Link’s dark hair and closed his eyes. Rhett couldn't remember the last time he had hugged someone, or had been hugged. It was nice.

All too soon, his new roommate pulled away, taking with him his warmth and touch. He crawled into his simple bed and Rhett walked across the room to lay down on his own. As the two men settled in for the night, Link sighed contently.

"Goodnight, Rhett," he said, closing his eyes.

"Goodnight, Link," the jedi replied. He watched Link for a minute or two, enjoying the man’s momentary bliss that only slumber seemed able to give. During the day that youthful face was lined with many troubles. Now, those troubles faded away in the ignorance of sleep, leaving a serenity that most jedi could only hope to achieve. Then his mouth fell open. Rhett chuckled to himself.

‘Sweet dreams, my friend. May you find only peace and happiness in the morning's light.’

Next Chapter

Additional Notes-

Bokken: Not from star wars, but adapted for this fiction. A wooden sword used for training.

Kybuck: an animal originally from Kashyyyk. They look very much like the Tauntauns found on Hoth, if you crossed one with a horse.

More Fics

#rhett #link #rhink #fanfic #star wars #starwars #the lone jedi

[seriouslyhooked]

Souvenirs (A CS AU) Part 5/14

A Modern CS AU where Emma has grown up in Maine her whole life and runs a store with Ruby and MM. Killian Jones is the new guy in town, who just bought the local bar. Only Emma and Killian have met before and now she can’t help but wonder if their past has influenced his plans for the future. Includes tons of fluff and a happily ever after. Rated M.

Part One Here, Part Two Here, Part Three Here, Part Four Here

A/N: Hey all! The first part of this chapter is from Killian’s POV and the second is from Emma’s. It’s so incredibly fluffy and when I first wrote it I truly thought I had out done myself on the fluff scale. BUT I am also introducing a new character who will be helping Emma and the others at Three Fates. So strap in for a bonanza of cute, and cuddly. We all deserve it in a world that is less than perfect, so just treat your self.

Even if he tried, there was no way that Killian Jones could keep the smile off of his face. It had been a few weeks since his first arriving in Storybrooke, and he couldn’t have dreamed that it would turn out this well. Hell, part of him had been worried that he’d come here and Emma wouldn’t even remember him, or that yes she’d already have found someone else, but he’d known, deep in his soul that he had to try. He couldn’t take another day living with the what-if, he needed to know if the two of them had truly been everything he’d felt during their one night five years ago.

Now he knew for certain that they were so much more than that. Emma was talented and determined, hard working and honest, but she was also kind and beautiful and incredibly easy to love. It had taken all of thirty seconds in her presence to be entirely sure he’d made the right decision. The way the flush had crept over her cheeks, and her eyes had widened when she’d first seen him. Her emerald gaze had been torn between surprise, frustration, and yearning and yet she’d been the brave one, saying yes from the start and giving him a chance after all this time. Killian was in awe of her and absolutely determined to never ever let her down again.

“Hey boss, what are we thinking for the countertops? High polish or a more natural sanding?”

Killian looked up from his desk in the back office of his newly acquired bar to find Graham Huntsman, his head contractor on this job and the lighthouse. Killian liked Graham and could tell that beyond his work ethic and clear skill in his field, he was a good man, an honorable man. It made working with him easy, which wasn’t always a given in his line of work.

“Do you have an opinion, Graham?” The man looked surprised at having been asked for his thoughts, but he nodded.

“Yeah, actually. I was thinking the more natural look might be better. Ruby showed me some of the pictures of what this place used to look like back in the day, and while the style would need revamping less polish would probably better work for the overall ambiance you’re trying to achieve.”

Though Killian and Graham nearly always stayed on the business when conversing, Killian noted that this was the third time today alone that Graham had managed to bring Ruby up into the conversation. Clearly there was a level of caring there, and he had to wonder how far it went past friendship.

“Sounds good, Graham.”

“Also, Sherriff Nolan is here for you.”

Killian stood up at that, eager to see his new friend. Over the past few weeks, Killian’s opinion of David had only improved, and it was nice to have someone besides Emma who made the town of Storybrooke seem more welcoming. He had never been the kind of man to have a swarm of friends, but he had left a life back in London, and between missing the presence of his brothers, and few best mates there, it was nice to know there were good people in the little town in Maine too.

“Ah Dave, what brings you here?” David smirked at that as he walked in before replying.

“I’m here on a mission actually. I’m supposed to invite you and Emma to a dinner party at my house this weekend. Mary Margaret has insisted that you be there.” Killian raised an eyebrow at that. He’d come to find that Mary Margaret was ever the planner, but surely David must know that he could have little to say about it without Emma’s thoughts.

“Mary Margaret works with Emma, but decided it would be best for you to invite me?” David shook his head.

“No I volunteered for the job, because I’m aware that you sprung for that ultimate cable package and Liverpool is playing Thursday night.” Killian laughed.

“So you were looking for one invite in exchange for another.”

“Well fair is fair.”

“Alright mate, sounds good to me. Hey can I ask you something?” David nodded. “Are Huntsman and Ruby together?”

“Yes and no. Yes, because it’s clear as day they’re both pining away for each other. No, because they’re both too chicken shit to do anything about it.” Hearing David swear signaled a growing frustration that Killian had to marvel at. It took a lot to bother the sheriff.

“Tell me how you really feel.” David raised his hands in surrender.

“Sorry, sorry, its just Mary Margaret is constantly talking about it. At least before you were here she had Emma to worry about too. Now almost all of our conversation is divided between an undying joy about you and Emma and utter despair that Ruby and Graham can’t get their shit together.”

Killian mulled this over. A few weeks ago, he never would have thought to get involved. It wasn’t his business whether Graham and Ruby confessed their feelings to each other, but as someone in the grips of love, who knew that taking that first step had a far better pay off than sitting around wondering what could be, Killian knew he should try and help. That didn’t mean he had to do it alone.

“So getting them together would ease the burden of your necessary emotional support?”

“Undoubtedly.”

“Splendid. Let’s get that done then. Hey, Graham!”

Killian called and David just stared at him, his eyes growing wider as if Killian had three heads or had gone completely mental. Maybe he had, but Killian couldn’t fend off a sneaking suspicion that it would be more than Mary Margaret excited at the prospect of Ruby finding love. Emma too would rather like it, and there was nothing Killian wanted more than to provide Emma with anything and everything she wanted.

“You called?” Killian smiled, trying to ease the awkward blow of what was to come.

“Enough is enough, Huntsman. It’s time to pick yourself up and go tell the girl how you feel.” Graham crossed his arms against his chest and took a step back.

“Excuse me? I don’t know what you’re talking -,” Killian raised a hand.

“Look mate, take it from someone who knows, there comes a time when waiting is no longer an option. You care for Ruby.” It was a statement, not one that Killian needed answered, but one that Graham nodded to in the end. “And she cares for you, but if you don’t make your move someone else will and you may very well face a day when the girl you want is no longer the girl you can have.”

“Ruby and I are friends though. I don’t want to jeopardize that. I don’t want to risk losing her.” It was strange, seeing this mostly quiet man have a moment of insecurity, but Killian could relate. Love was a tricky thing that way.

“Care to step in, Dave?” Killian could hand off the imparting of Ruby’s feelings to his new friend. Hell, he shouldn’t be doing all the work here.

“Look, Graham. I’ve known you and Ruby a long time, and she loves you. You’re both like two puppies circling each other and have been a long ass time. And you’ve lost a lot of people a lot of money who thought one of the two of you would get it together and do something about it before now.”

Killian nearly choked on the water he was drinking at David’s blunt words. Well, that was certainly one way to try and convince the man to take the plunge.

“Okay.” Graham looked between David and Killian now resigned to the need for action, but then the man smiled and Killian knew they were in trouble. “But I’m gonna need some help.”

“We’re in,” David offered without any sort of reassurance and so it was. The three of them were off to see if Graham might be able to win the girl and secure Emma and Mary Margaret’s happiness in the process.

………………………

“I have to hand it to you, Mary Margaret, you were right, having help for the store has made this so much more manageable.”

Emma and Mary Margaret were enjoying a five-minute coffee break as the store’s new assistant, Tiana, helped a customer at the jewelry counter. Within days, Tiana had picked up the vibe of not only Three Fates, but of the friends who ran it. She stood at the case dressed in the put-together but casual attire that was unspoken but prevalent at the store, with wide brown eyes, long black hair pulled back in a tight bun and a faint blush of excitement kissing her darker complexion.

It had taken less than a day for Tiana to answer the ad Mary Margaret strategically put up at the local art college for help in the store, and from everything Emma could tell she was perfect for the job. Studying design herself, and always ready with an easy smile, Tiana had the personality and intuition needed to really make a difference in the store, and with her here, Emma could focus more on meeting the demands of her impending summer line launch than if she had to be monitoring the retail end too.

What had really sold Emma on Tiana though were her ambition and her drive. The girl was a force of nature if her resume was any indication. She was involved in a number of clubs and activities while maintaining top grades at school where she was on scholarship, and attending classes full-time. Despite the already harrowing schedule, Tiana signed on to work twenty hours a week here, and somehow, even though it seemed crazy, Emma knew that she was more than able to keep all those commitments. They were very lucky to have found her, though, and would enjoy her help until she no doubt found her own path to success.

“I just love her. You know, she showed me how to get the stain out of the office rug yesterday? I think she might be magic.”

Emma laughed at that. Worming one’s way into Mary Margaret’s good graces was easy, but her friend did not throw around the ‘m’ word lightly. Tiana must have truly been a special kind of person. Or Mary Margaret had just been desperate to get that stain out. Emma figured both of those statements were likely true.

“Hey, have any of you heard from Graham today?” Ruby asked as she approached from the back office. Emma and Mary Margaret both shook their heads that they had not. “I texted him about lunch, but he didn’t respond.”

That was odd considering that the two friends met up nearly every day to do so. Emma had always found it strange that her best friend, so clearly taken with Graham for so long, had never acted with her usual confidence and boldness. Anytime Emma or Mary Margaret brought up making the first move to Graham Ruby’s reply was always the same – ‘he doesn’t feel that way about me.’ Emma knew that to be blatantly false, all it took was sixty seconds in their company to know they were both head over heels, but Emma could only do so much to try and convince her friend.

Just then, something caught Emma’s eye outside and she looked past her friends through the glass windows of the store. There were people walking in the middle of the street, blocking traffic down the way, and a crowd was gathering. That was weird and very notable not the norm for a given weekday.

“What the hell?” Emma’s words caused Mary Margaret and Ruby to look too, just as Granny came running into the store.

“Do you know about this?” the older woman huffed out her breath as she had clearly raced over here.

“Know about what?” Ruby asked. Her grandmother smiled, a wide toothy grin and clasped her hands together with a look of pure delight.

“It’s time, honey.” Ruby was still confused.

“Time for what?” Granny looked to Mary Margaret and Emma.

“He’s finally done it.” Neither woman needed more context, because everyone knew that the whole town was waiting on Graham to make a move with Ruby. That was the only thing that could get everyone so frenzied, and Granny Lucas so excited.

“Really?! Oh Ruby, let’s go see.” Mary Margaret was brimming with anticipation and started playing with Ruby’s long flowing hair to have it looking the best it could.

“Does someone want to tell me what the hell is going on here?!” Ruby was nearing panic at this point, so confused as to everyone’s reactions. Emma steadied her by placing a hand on her friend’s arm.

“There’s a reason Graham didn’t respond, Ruby.” The mention of Graham brought the same rush of emotions coursing over Ruby’s face and Emma smiled at her friend, who now looked torn between hope and fear.  “Be brave. It’ll be great, I promise.”

“Tiana, we will be right back!” Mary Margaret hollered over her shoulder as they all headed outside.

“Pay attention to every detail, I want the whole story!” Emma laughed at Tiana’s rushed words since the girl usually spoke slower with that charming Southern lilt of hers straight from New Orleans. There was no denying their newest employee was intuitive, and Emma had a feeling they’d be talking about today for a long time to come.

As soon as they stepped outside, Emma was surprised to hear no words from the crowd. Everyone was quiet, which made the music more apparent. String instruments were playing a song that she recognized, but it took a moment to realize that it was ‘All You Need is Love’ by the Beatles.

“They’re playing her song.”

Mary Margaret was already tearing up, and the friends hadn’t even made it through the crowd to see things yet. As soon as they did though, Emma was stunned. Before them was a huge, intricate chalk mural. With a variety of colors, but most prominently red, and a beautiful design of hard lines that still seemed soft enough to make them beautiful. Graham had made a message reading, ‘I love you Ruby’ the full length of the street. Yet the strangest thing to Emma, was that right there, at the front of the line, standing beside David and keeping the crowd at bay was Killian, looking at her with a happy grin.

“What are you doing here?” Emma asked as he came over and wrapped his arms around her. She let herself relax into his embrace, her back against his chest, but she still needed answers.

“Helping with this.” He handed Ruby a note that she took gingerly in her hand. Wordlessly, Ruby pushed through the crowd once again and into the library.

“So he does all this just to have her meet him in the book stacks?” Emma asked. Killian shook his head.

“What’s above the books, Swan?” Emma realized that the clock tower was there, and that the typically boarded up wooden windows had been replaced with a tinted glass.

“The perfect view.” Killian kissed the top of her head.

“Aye, love.”

“You two did this. You told him to go for it?” Emma asked surprised, as realization hit.

“It was Killian’s idea,” David confirmed as he held a weepy Mary Margaret.

“Mary Margaret, it’s okay. This is a good thing.” Emma was teasing, but she couldn’t help herself.

“Are you kidding me? This is easily one of my favorite days ever!”

“But what are we all waiting for, still?” Emma asked, confused as to what they could possibly be hoping for.

“Wait for it…” Killian said and then it happened, the clock’s white backing suddenly had red light shining through it causing the word ‘yes’ to appear in red over the handles and numbers. The whole crowd cheered, Ruby had told him that she loved him too, and the town was celebrating!

“He went so big on this,” Emma noted, glad that her own dates were never this public. Killian laughed at her evident confliction over being happy for Ruby and hating the idea.

“You have to take queues from the woman in question, love. Ruby likes a show from what I can tell.”

“That’s for sure. I bet she loved this.”

With that, Ruby and Graham exited the library to another round of whooping cheers and, as expected, Ruby was eating it up, going so far as to pull Graham in for a big display of a kiss before yelling at everyone to get back to their lives and give them a bit of privacy. The town listened, Emma and Killian included, as they walked back hand-in-hand to Three Fates.

“What you did for them was really wonderful, Killian.”

His hand came up and cupped Emma’s cheek, his thumb running over her bottom lip lightly. She could feel that same current of connection, like somehow the world was brighter and better for him being here and holding her like this. Emma never wanted that feeling to go away, and she knew as long as Killian was here that it wouldn’t.

“You make me happier than I ever thought possible, Emma. I just wanted to help Graham get that same sort of happiness for himself and Ruby.”

When he was so sweet and sincere and lovely, Emma had no choice but to pull him closer for a scorching kiss. She wished she could run off with him, find someplace private and hidden away from the world and show him how much she loved him – because she did, she really really did. But that would have to wait. Instead, Emma pulled back and smiled at him.

“You make me happy too.”

His responding expression set her heart fluttering as he kissed her hand and departed, off to go about his business, leaving Emma fully aware that the rest of the day would be spent thinking of him and just how lucky she was that he’d found her.

Post-Note: This chapter will hence-forth be known as the Ruby/Graham fluff parade. It came to me in a moment of need, when I couldn’t handle the angst of another show I was watching and I wanted to escape to a land of TLK and cuteness overload. I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I was also so excited to introduce Tiana to this story. She’s someone we haven’t seen on OUAT to date, but I love her movie and everything her character stands for. I think she would fit in really well with the strong women of Storybrooke and I am adamantly awaiting a day when she gets her due. Anyways, thanks for reading!

#captain swan #captain swan au #cs modern au #captain swan fic #captain swan ff #cs fic #cs ff #cs au #cs au fic #cs mc #emma swan #killian jones #mary margaret blanchard #ruby lucas #sherrif graham #david nolan #tiana #granny lucas #ouat au #souvenirs #souvenirs cs au #souvenirs 5 #seriouslyhooked repost

[fullfrequencycollective]

Tips For Writing An Album, by Jake Newcomb

I am grateful that I have so many friends writing new music all the time, that over the years I have received and given a lot of advice on it. Here are the most important tips in my mind. 

Give Yourself Enough Time To Write A Truly Good Album

Be cognizant of what your time commitments will over the upcoming year or two, because those commitments will always affect your ability to write freely. Writing an album that you are proud of will necessitate giving up on other things in your life, and will pull you away from socializing with friends and family. But completely disassociating from your relationships is not healthy, you need to strike a balance between what you need as a person, and what your album needs from you. 

Don’t feel pressure from others to write songs that you aren’t ready to write. This might be hard if you have plans to tour, your bandmates are counting on you as the principal songwriter, or if you are contractually obligated by a record label to produce a certain amount of material. Writing bad records destroy careers and breaks hearts, as does releasing records that are half-baked in a specific time-frame. There is always a lot of pressure on songwriters to continuously produce material better than the last, but there is no law of music which says that you will produce better quality music every two years.  

Even if it doesn’t take you that long to write one song, practicing and working on that song will take time. In a few months you might not even like the crop of songs that you have, which would be a major problem if you already have studio time booked. When the songs are the right songs to record, you will know. 

Take The Advice Of Your Peers Seriously, But Know When To Ignore It

From my vantage point, it seems that songwriters’ biggest fans and critics are other songwriters. I value the interpretations of my music from musicians’ whose aesthetic judgement I respect, and have developed relationships with. I feel this way because my peers are working with similar techniques, styles, and themes. 

Share your demos and ideas with your peers. Chances are that if they love it, they will let it be known. If they don’t love it, don’t feel discouraged, or give up on the song. Return the favor, and listen to their demos and tell them what you think of their songs. Even if your peer cannot give you concrete advice on what you should do, or offer plausible suggestions, you will learn to understand that every person hears different things. You may be particularly excited about a guitar part in your demo, but your listener might only be focusing on the drums, the lyrics, or the lack of vocal harmonies. 

If someone flat-out tells you to scrap a song, or questions your development of style disparagingly, don’t take it to heart. But if you feel strongly in the other direction, that what you are currently developing is where you have to go, then you have to follow through. No matter what your peers will think. 

Write Extra Songs, Especially Ones That Don’t Sound Like The Rest 

While I was working on the nine songs that ended up being tracked for my album Yosemite, I was also actively working on a dozen or so other songs that did not make the cut for the album. They didn’t make the cut because they didn’t fit with the overall aestheticism of the album, and they did not coalesce into another group of songs that I could have used for a double album, or back to back albums (like Kid A/Amnesiac or I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning/Digital Ash In A Digital Urn.) However, writing those songs vastly improved my singing, guitar playing, and conceptualization of what I actually would be comfortable with releasing. 

Writing extra songs can also break you out of your ordinary songwriting habits. Personally, I have developed so much of my own pattern of songwriting, that I now value experimentation more than I ever have before. By breaking from your habits of songwriting, which for me has been built up over a decade now, you force yourself to write something that you are extremely uncomfortable with, and struggle with. That uncertainty is very important. If you only write what you are comfortable with, you may become more and more afraid of branching out and your songwriting could become stale. 

More often than not, the songs you end up not using will influence songs you do use later down the line. Even if its something seemingly small like a guitar or bass line. Even if you don’t reuse a part exactly later down the line, I think that the songs you write but do not use affects your songwriting just as much as the songs you do use. 

Listen To The Records That Inspired Your Favorite Records

The lineage of musical influence is very long. If your main sources of inspiration are a few records from the late 90s/early 2000s, try investigating what earlier records inspired those ones specifically. If you’re a rock or alternative musician, and you normally wouldn’t put Miles Davis and Radiohead in the same sentence, try to think about why Bitches Brew was a major influence on OK Computer. You will find that influence transcends genre categorization, and can come in many different forms. 

Even if you don’t become a huge Miles Davis fan afterward, I think it is necessary to understand the the legacies of records, and the heritages of music. After all, your record will be shaped by the legacies of the musicians who most influenced you. And if you’re lucky enough to influence someone with your own record, they will look to your influences too. 

Hone In On Your Lyrical Themes 

Lyricical content is arguably the most judged and most valued aspect of the vocal-driven genres. There is no sufficient guidebook I know of when it comes to writing lyrics, and there is no right or wrong way to go about writing them. That being said, narrowing the lyrical themes so I’m not singing about about a million different things is something that I found myself doing with my album. An album-length recording project is deceptively long, you will have less space than you think to say the things that you want to say. So you will have to decide what the most important messages are. 

An album which lyrics that jump from politics to daily life to love to personal issues to anger to religion can be great, but it takes a lot of hard work to make those spheres interconnect. Hence there are artists who only touch politics, and artists that only touch love. It may be that I am not talented enough, or brave enough, to tackle a ton of themes in one recording, but limiting myself thematically with lyrics has worked for me so far. 

Most artists I am familiar with tackle topics they are confident with. Try to figure out what topics you are confident singing about, and go after them. Look to your peers who sing about similar things, and to artists you admire, and try to see how they tackle the same topics as what you are working on. Try to bring a unique perspective to the topic as best you can. 

Pick A Producer You Won’t Regret

Working with a producer is extremely intimate, and hard to master. Musical ideas are difficult to communicate, and it’s easy to become very anxious in a recording session very quickly if you and your producer are in two different realities and you’re running out of time. Work with someone who you trust to get the job done, and who you can trust to honor your ideas. Ideally, you want to work with someone who you can trust to tell you that something honestly sounds bad, and that you need to do another take. 

If you are working with a new producer, look into their catalog. Don’t just listen to the names of artists that you’ve heard of, listen to the recordings of the artists you haven’t heard of and see if they sound as good as that producer’s more popular recordings. Too often I’ve heard stories of smaller artists spending obscene amounts of money to work with a big-name producer who may not have taken the smaller artist seriously, which resulted in a subpar recording. When scouting for a producer, look to see if their quality is consistent with big and small artists. 

That being said, it is not solely the producer’s job to turn your songs in quality recordings. It is on you as an artist to perform your best takes. If you go into the studio too early, it’s not the producer’s fault if you haven’t practiced enough, or haven’t finished writing. Good producers will guide the musicians, and good musicians will guide the producer. 

The One Who Should Care The Most Is You

At the end of the day, you should be the one who cares the most about your album. Even if you have a dedicated fanbase that fills out clubs consistently to see you perform, you should be the one who cares the most about your album. For most of us, fans come and go, and overtime start to fade away. When that happens, you want to be proud of the albums you wrote, that you gave them your all.