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zosonils-art · 3 years

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ohhh can we hear more about sweet woman 🥺

we totally can!! infodump about this gaslighting gatekeeping girlboss is under the cut as always

sweet woman was commissioned by a super classy french dessert restaurant called the orgueilleux pâtisserie [orgueilleux being very poorly google translated french for elitist/snobbish lmao], acting as both a chef and a mascot! the gimmick worked wonders for the restaurant's popularity, with rich people coming in droves to experience the novelty of food prepared with a robot master's help, and she was quickly promoted to social media manager as well as her original duties. despite her cutesy demeanour, she's much smarter than she looks, and is equipped with an in-depth understanding of chemical reactions and inhumanly accurate sense of timing and spatial awareness. she knows hundreds of recipes and most of them cost several hundred dollars to make

her personality is more deliberately engineered than most robot masters, designed to fit her appearance and be marketable. she's unwaveringly cheerful, incredibly extroverted, and just silly enough that it's cute rather than grating. she plays these traits up a lot for the cameras, exaggerating her energy and playing dumb when it'll appeal to the masses, but even when she doesn't have her public image to consider she's a bubbly and energetic goof. she's a stubborn optimist, and if she can't find a bright side to look on she'll take out a flashlight and make one. her optimisim makes for a good workplace morale boost and an even better social media presence, although when combined with her ditziness and being a bit out of touch from almost exclusively interacting with the 1% it often makes her come across as insensitive

since she's in the spotlight a lot, most of sweet's hobbies and interests outside of work are still carefully selected to match her public image and look good on an instagram post. she has a passing interest in shopping and fashion, and enjoys going to parties and gatherings and what have you to meet new people. she also loves to experiment with cooking and come up with new recipes, some of which end up on the orgueilleux menu. she does, however, have a private interest in chemistry! as mentioned earlier she knows a fair bit about it already, since cooking is just chemistry with a restricted set of substances, and in her own time she ended up getting curious and reading into the sort of reactions that arise from chemicals she doesn't work with. she rarely mentions this interest herself, but she gets super excited if someone brings it up or gives her the excuse to talk about it, and it's probably listed as super secret trivia about her on the pâtisserie website

unlike other robot masters, sweet has an acute sense of both smell and taste! [since robots seem to only use e-tanks for fuel, there's not much benefit to smelling or tasting things, so i personally believe that most of them don't have those senses unless it'd directly benefit their job.] being able to actually taste the food she cooks makes it much easier to tell if she's doing it right, especially if she's trying to come up with something new. she's also capable of replenishing her energy by eating - it's less efficient than e-tanks, but she thinks they taste gross so she always opts for actual food. fittingly, she has a massive sweet tooth, but she's accustomed to only the highest-class dining and dislikes cheaper or less 'refined' tastes

her magical girl vibe, brought to you by someone who has watched maybe 4 episodes of anime that weren't sonic x, is entirely an aesthetic and marketing gimmick rather than serving any functional purpose. she'll play it up for promotional videos and photoshoots, twirling her fork-trident thing and striking dramatic poses and calling out thematically appropriate attack names like 'sparkling sugar swirl' and 'cinnamon whirlwind' whenever she does anything, but it's mostly for show. while she genuinely enjoys the shouting and posing and twirling, she massively tones it down when she's not performing, maybe occasionally saying an attack name at a reasonable volume while she works. her fork-trident thing isn't even a real weapon, magical or otherwise. it's just styrofoam with metallic paint on it

sweet's weakness to harpoon shot was decided before i figured out exactly what tide man's weapon would be, going on the idea that getting food wet tends to make it sad and gross. this logic doesn't quite carry over with harpoon shot being, well, a harpoon rather than something specifically water-based, but i imagine shooting a cake with a harpoon would also be a very one-sided battle so this weapon wheel makes sense i promise. i guess you could also make the argument that it's because sweet is only experienced with a fake pronged weapon made of foam and would be completely blindsided by a real one? maybe it's that tide is so staunchly anticapitalist that his weapon inherently vibe checks her? i'm grasping at straws a bit over here but listen, if mega man 5 can insist that water is elementally weak to trains, i can insist that it's elementally strong against the french

i think her stage could be some kind of factory! lots of conveyer belts definitely, maybe some crushing hazards, definitely a few mets. the idea there is that she's seized a major food processing plant and is using that position to wreck the regional supply chain. even when she's evil, she basically keeps the exact same personality she shows to the public with only a noticable capitalism upgrade. she has pretty much no combat abilities on her own, but at her own suggestion she was upgraded to shoot a specially formulated icing that's acidic enough to burn through thin metal, finally putting her interest in chemistry to use. her fork-trident, on the other hand, was not changed in the slightest. still just styrofoam. i think it'd be pretty good if she opened her battle with it but even if it hits mega man it only deals one point of damage and the second it touches something it snaps in half and she never pulls out a new one

designing sweet was pretty fun because she's pretty different from my usual taste in character design! my experience with the magical girl genre is that i read about half of sailor moon when i was 12 and absorbed everything else through pop culture osmosis and tv tropes pages, so it was definitely fun to draw what i think a magical girl might look like. i also don't use oranges and yellows much, so picking out her colours made for an agonising exciting challenge! she didn't change too much from the initial microsoft paint sketch, although she lost a skirt layer along the way because i didn't feel like figuring out how to draw another one, and her weapon was originally just a big fork that probably would have been a ksjfjhkjhfillion times less cumbersome to draw. oh well. live and learn [HANGIN ON THE EDGE OF TOMORROW]

that about wraps it up for sweet woman, i think - thank you so much for asking about her!! here's the transparent art and the version without 15 different filters on it to make it look kinda like an 80s anime screenshot

#this was agonising to draw BUT I REALLY LIKE HOW IT TURNED OUT SO!!!!! WINNING #zos draws #mega man #mega man oc #robot master oc #sweet woman #zos talks #zos answers #zoriginal characters #anon

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youllallriseintheink · 3 years

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Lasting Melodies, chapter 1: You Were Always There

I thought I’d make a story for Jack Fain and Sammy Lawrence, showing their snippets of their lives together from their first performance to Jack’s untimely death.

The first chapter is mostly going to be fluff. In the second chapter, ink-related angst kicks in.

I hope you all enjoy this.

---

In the backstage of a little theatre, Jack Fain sat in anxious silence, waiting to be called out alongside Sammy for their Vaudesville routine. During their practices together, he’d been able to push down the idea of dozens or hundreds of people staring at him for their entertainment, but now it was all he could think about. He looked to Sammy, who seemed much calmer, and offered him a little smile and a nod. Sammy had done many performances before, beginning with concerts as a child and teenager showcasing his prodigal talent. Sammy was the reason Jack didn’t simply shed the flashy vaudevillian getup and make a run for it- Sammy had never, at least as far as Jack knew, had a humiliating performance, and Jack wasn’t about to waste all the effort they’d put in and make it his first.

The announcer finally called them out. “Just focus on the routine,” Sammy said, leading Jack onto the stage.

The routine was no different than practice- in fact, the adrenaline of doing it before an audience made it easier if anything. It would have been poor performance not to look at the crowd, so Jack did, but they didn’t terrify him like they expected. They weren’t bored, or annoyed, or vicious, they were having fun. And Jack was having fun with them.

When the routine was finished, the crowd cheered.

“They love us, Sammy,” Jack breathed. Of course, the crowd had cheered for every performer that night, and Jack knew that. But it felt so good. People loved him! All their skill and effort had made people cheer.

Jack felt a little tug at his sleeve and followed Sammy’s lead backstage, slightly embarrassed that he’d almost overstayed his welcome.

“That was amazing!”

“Good!” Sammy replied. He was smiling, too. “I was starting to think you weren’t cut out for this, but you’re actually a real stage personality. Would you do it again with me?”

“Next chance we have.”

“Great. I’ve been meaning to ask you something, actually- I want to do shows like this for a living someday, but I'd want a partner for it. So, will you be my partner?”

“Wow, that’s an awfully big choice. I wanna say yes right away, but give me a little time to think about it. Okay? And thank you. I would have never been able to do this without you.”

“Heh. No problem. No one I’d rather be on stage with than you.”

Jack blushed. It was a touch awkward to have his crush and best friend praise him like that. “Thanks,” was all that he could manage.

---

As soon as Sammy walked in to their apartment, Jack could tell that he was in a bad mood. Jack put down the book he was reading and went to him. “Something up, Sam?”

Sammy sighed deeply. “I think we need to have a little house meeting.”

“Sure.”

“Okay. Well, I was fired by the movie theatre for,” Sammy made air quotes with his fingers, “‘unhinged and unprofessional behaviour.’ And let’s be honest- we’ve been at the musical thing long enough, and our names aren’t taking off. Remember that Joey Drew guy who offered to hire us as a pair? I think we should do that. It’s a way for us to be working on music together.”

“Well, it’s too bad that you want to give up on the performances, but hey, writing music for a living sounds like an improvement on working at the record store. Sure, let’s do it.”

Sammy smiled and nodded, then looked away. “There’s something else I want to tell you as well. I... well, I found your love poem.”

Jack was stunned. “What?”

Sammy took the folded piece of paper from his pocket. “Uh, here... sorry. You told me it was a song you weren’t finished with, and I took a peek, even though you told me not to, and it was probably an accident you left it in the open.”

Jack's heart raced, afraid of what this would mean for Sammy’s perspective of him. “Okay,” he began, in a tone one might use to calm an animal, “Now that you know about this, I understand if you want to set some new boundaries with me-”

“No! No- I found it months ago. Sorry I didn’t give it back- I just don’t think I convince myself it existed, otherwise. And I didn’t think I wanted to pursue this, but I just thought, you know, if I couldn’t pursue musical performance the way I wanted to, maybe I could have the other thing I wanted.”

Not quite stunned by disbelief, Jack cupped Sammy’s face with one of his hands, forcing Sammy to meet his eyes. “I love you too.”

Sammy pulled him into their first kiss. It was just how Jack had always imagined it would be.

---

Jack sat in Henry’s old desk, waiting for his turn to be called into Joey’s office. Joey had, for no obvious reason, scheduled Sammy in for a fifteen-minute meeting at nine, with him having a similar meeting right after. Finally, Sammy came out, not looking any more upset than usual, thankfully.

“You’re not getting fired, don’t worry,” Sammy said. “We’re gonna have plenty to talk about over lunch, though.”

“Okay.” Jack’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Any idea what his reason is for calling us in like this?”

“Frankly? I think you’re sitting on it,” Sammy said, rolling his eyes. Then he left.

This just confused Jack. There had been no secret that Joey was sore over Henry’s departure a couple days ago, but what could that have to do with Joey wanting to see them?

As soon as Jack had entered Joey’s office, Joey had sat him down with a nice cup of coffee. “So, this is just going to be a casual meeting, Jack. Just you and me talking- one artist to another, alright?” There was an air of longing and desperation in Joey’s eyes.

“Alright.”

“Alright! Excellent! So, as an artistic man, I’m sure that you understand that an artist needs a partner, right?” Joey reached out and stroked Jack’s hand with his finger. Jack took his hand off the desk.

“I’m actually with someone else.”

Disappointment was evident in Joey’s eyes. “Oh, I meant nothing of that sort. I meant a person I could share my dreams and my ideas with. To be loyal and dependable to me.”

“Okay. Sure. I can do that.”

“Alright, great. First thing- you spend a lot of time with Sammy. Tell me about him- what he likes, what he dislikes, what he means when he says ‘please give me space,’ and so on.”

The fifteen minutes passed, and subjects such art, dreams, and ideas went unmentioned. Jack and Sammy truly did have a lot to talk about over lunch, which they took in Sammy’s office for privacy’s sake.

“Wow. He was really that direct with you?” Sammy couldn’t say he was surprised. Though he hadn’t been that obvious about it, Joey had clearly been chasing Sammy’s approval.

“Yep. But the second I told him I was with someone else, he went right on to talking about you. I could just see him taking notes on how to impress you.”

“Pathetic. Well, maybe I should tell him that I’m interested in complete control over my department, who works in it, and when he visits it. Who knows, I might get it. And then you’ll have eternal job security.”

“And maybe I could tell him that you like something goofy to see how far he’ll go.”

Sammy smiled. “Please do. This I must see.”

The next day, Jack told Joey that Sammy’s favourite flower was a white carnation. When Jack came in the next day, there was a vase containing three white carnations on Joey’s desk.

Now knowing his power, Jack resisted the temptation to use it for about a week before he decided to wax poetic to Joey about Sammy’s supposed lifelong love of reptiles. The day after that, Sammy walked into their morning meeting to see Joey with a medium-sized snake around his shoulders. “Her name is Vivaldi,” Joey explained. “She’s a Bullsnake. Wanna pet her?”

Sammy did not, in fact, want to pet her.

After the snake incident, Jack’s daily meetings with Joey became more professionally-focused before ending entirely, and within a few weeks, Vivaldi’s tank, along with the snake herself, had disappeared from Joey’s office.

---

“What? Why...?” Tears were forming in Jack’s eyes. He couldn’t believe this.

Sammy ground his teeth. This wasn’t easy for him, either. “Because you’re the anchor that’s keeping me at Joey Drew Studios. I’m turning thirty in a month, and I… I don’t know whether to accept that I’m going to be working here forever or if I should move on to other options. But “other options” probably wouldn’t let me keep working with you. I need to remind myself that I can live without you, and look at what other opportunities are out there. So, yeah. We can still live together, and we can still talk as the job or as being roommates requires, but I’m going to try not being your friend or your boyfriend for a while, okay? It probably won’t be for more than a month or two.”

Jack wanted to say something- something like, “but I need you, too!” but he didn’t. “Okay,” was all he said. “I hope you get what you want from this.”

Sammy cringed at how defeated Jack sounded. He wanted to hug him, but he didn’t want to break their “no being friends or lovers” agreement within the first five seconds, so instead he left for his room.

Jack and Sammy soon found out that they were very bad at staying away from each other. People still used Jack as a go-between to get messages through to Sammy, and that alone meant they interacted almost on a daily basis. The two of them still needed a discerning eye to look over their music, and while there were others, there was no one they trusted as much or enjoyed the company of quite the same. Sometimes Jack would forget (or “forget”) about their break period and try to bring Sammy coffee and snacks, or check to make sure Sammy was doing alright during the deadline crunch- and sometimes Sammy would send him away out of principle, but just as often he didn’t have the willpower. Jack found himself entertaining fantasies of them drifting back together within a matter of weeks.

Then one day, Jack caught sight of Susie Campbell kissing Sammy’s cheek in the music room. “Other opportunities” indeed. Jack wrestled with himself over whether to say anything, but ultimately chose to keep it to himself. If that was what Sammy wanted, there was nothing he could do about it.

#Bendy and the Ink Machine #my fanfiction #sammy x jack #sammy lawrence #Jack Fain #joey drew

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benisasoftboi · 4 years

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Gushing time.

Rune Factory 4 Special arrived a day early, so my entire day has been consumed in nostalgia. The original Rune Factory 4 was the first video game I ever bought on release day - I remember saving up all my money and making my mum drive me to like three different shops trying to find one that had it. I was already a fan of the franchise - before then, Rune Factory 3 had been my favourite video game, across the board. Aside from a playthrough of the first game last year, I haven’t played a Rune Factory game in a long time, certainly not RF4. But just starting up the game and hearing the music again, it was like it was suddenly seven years ago. Running around Selphia and seeing all the characters again - I love JRPGs, have played a lot of them, and I can think of very few that have characters that have stuck with me this long. And the aesthetics - the best thing about the Rune Factory franchise has always been the aesthetics, the music, the scenic and character design, just the general world. It’s a beautifully whimsical balance of urban and fantasy, and it’s the only JRPG world I think I’ve ever come across that I would genuinely want to live in. Rune Factory may no longer be my favourite game franchise - but I don’t think there has ever been another series that has felt so much like home to me.

Here’s a very long selection of personal highlights from the art book (by which I mean photos of the art followed by my rambling opinions):

Yeah, see, here’s the thing - Rune Factory 1 is not a good game. I could write an entire essay on why it’s bad (I actually started and got pretty damn far before realising no one’s interested in my two thousand word review of a game that came out over a decade ago - the short version is ‘Misty Bloom-fucking-Cave’. Anyone who’s played RF1 knows exactly what I mean). Don’t get me wrong, it has good qualities - excellent boss fights, for one, and also, as with the rest of the franchise, it is aesthetically wonderful. But ultimately, it feels less like playing a video game, and more like playing a proof of concept for a game. Which I guess it kind of was - and I can’t hate it because we wouldn’t have the rest of the series without it.

But it literally ends with a dragon spewing plant breath on a tank to make a turnip grow out of the gun. ‘Profound’, my arse.

It’s Raguna! The “master sowrdsman!” (that is not a typo on my part that is a direct quote from the ending of Rune Factory 1 this game’s script had so many issues-). And Mist! My favourite of the ‘canon’ love interests!

Best girl! When I was a kid, my favourite love interest in RF1 was Rosetta. As an adult, it is Tabatha. I don’t know what it is about her that I find so likeable (she’s as lacking in personality as any other RF1 character), but... idk, I just like her a lot.

Camus’s big ambition is to leave town like even once. He will never achieve it

Fun fact about Melody is that she’s extremely depressed, a fact that comes up once in an optional side quest and is never addressed again. It’s incredibly dark for an RF game

Fun fact about Lukas is that he sucks (he’s one of those ‘obsessed with talking about how hot all the girls are’ characters, an archetype that thankfully doesn’t show up again in these games). But also, interestingly enough, thanks to one of RF1′s many, many script errors, if you marry Rosetta (the girl Lukas is the most obsessed with), he’s supposed to express disappointment that he lost her to Raguna - but instead, he implies that he’s disappointed to have lost Raguna to her. The translators typoed their way into giving him a sexuality change. Which is honestly kind of amazing.

LOOK AT THIS SLIME THIS IS SUCH A COOL SLIME LITERALLY EVERY OTHER JPRG SLIME GO HOME DRAGON QUEST GET FUCKED (jk I like Dragon Quest a lot and its slimes are cool too). Wish you could see in-game that this is what they’re meant to be like.

I just generally love the monster designs, they’re really charming

Rune Factory 2! The RF game with the most weirdly mundane protagonist name (Kyle. In the main four games of this franchise we’ve got Raguna, Micah, Lest, Frey... and Kyle). The two generations thing was actually very cool, but when they say ‘each chapter captures a different lifestyle’, what they really mean is ‘the first half is a weak Harvest Moon I’m sorry, STORY OF SEASONS game, and the second half is a pretty good Rune Factory game’

lookit this little fuck

Yue Yue Yue! I love Yue so much, she’s great. She’s kind of like a much chiller version of Anna from Fire Emblem.

It’s really cool that we got to see grown up Cecilia (she was in RF1). I have this silly headcanon that if Kyle doesn’t marry Mana, Nicholas (her friend in 1) comes to visit Cecilia one day in the hazy-post game future, and meets Mana, and they get together. While Yue is my favourite, I do genuinely like Mana a lot, and I just want her to find love, I guess.

Here’s original Barrett! There’s a reason he was popular enough to make a reappearance (well, aside from the whole grumpy pretty boy thing he’s got going on) - he was a great character in this game. His and Dorothy’s relationship is also definitely the most compelling of the rival romances. Bonus Max, who also has a little shout-out in RF4 (check the diary in what will become Dylas’s bedroom at the start of the game)

Ray is male, but apparently he was originally going to be a female character, as he has an unused portrait in a wedding dress. My friend and I agree that this makes him a Trans Icon

Monster designs remain excellent. Especially the goblins

Skipping over Frontier (and also Oceans later), as I never got to play it growing up due to not having a console, and still haven’t got around to it - might try this summer. Except I do need to point out that these guys should be memes. I don’t know in what way. But they should.

Rune Factory 3! My first RF game. The transformation thing was very cool, even if it was basically useless outside the main story. My friend and I spent hours mucking about in the WiFi dungeon. I loved the desert settlement and all of the dungeon designs in general, and man, RF3 is just great. I hope it gets a remake one day.

Raven Raven Raven! I LOVE Raven (as do most). Her story with Micah is the first time I can remember getting genuinely invested in a video game romance. I’m so glad she cameos in RF4. I love her. She’s wonderful.

I have an odd fondness for Marian. When I was about twelve, I decided to do a playthrough where I deliberately romanced the least popular bachelorette. After poking around on forums, I determined that character to be Marian, and did a run with her. And... I actually came to really like her. I find her endearing. I get that people find her annoying and don’t like her... unethical medical practices, but doing that run has still made me a pretty protective of her. It’s been a long time since I played RF3, so maybe I’d change my mind if I replayed now, but currently, as far as I’m concerned, Marian’s a good’un.

I think I also used to low key ship her with Collette lol

Pia’s official art has always been super weird to me because it’s so not what her character is like in-game. She’s a ditzy airhead. This makes her look so serious

RAINBOW! Another character whose art makes them look way more serious than they actually are. Daria is great and would be a meme if this game was more popular. I think she’s also implied to be a relative of Margaret.

I’ve always been super confused about what Kuruna’s skirt is meant to be. Is it fur? Is it part of her shirt? Is it even a skirt at all?

Check it out, it’s the guy everyone would ship Micah with if this game was more popular

I want Zaid to make a reappearance and interact with Doug. Pretty sure it’s canon that they’re from the same clan? Think it would be very interesting.

RF3 definitely had the coolest farm. Also, still love the desert settlement.

This is from Oceans, so I have no context, but it’s just so cool that I had to share

Rune Factory 4. Culmination of the series is right - when I was playing it for the first time, I remember being blown away by just how much it is a true love letter to the franchise. I have never come across another game series that so consistently grew and improved from entry to entry. RF4 was a perfect ending.

Not that I’m complaining about getting RF5. Quite the opposite.

But if it had been the end (as we all thought it was until about a year ago), well, like I say. Perfect.

Well. Aside from soda can nipples. Can’t believe they didn’t fix those. Though in some ways, that would have made me sad too

Dolce has such a cool design, in both human and monster form. I’ve always kind of crack-shipped her with Margaret, for no real reason at all

Vishnal! I love Vishnal. Vishnal is pure as heck. Marrying him this time around.

Doug! My choice from last time around. Another character who looks more serious in his official art than he is in-game (well... most of the time)

And then there’s Dylas, who looks much happier here than he does most of the time. Kind of looks like he and Doug swapped bodies, actually. There’s a fanfic prompt for you.

Their ship name is Dyldo. I love them

Leon is nostalgic for me mostly because my friend and I used to get into a lot of arguments about whether or not he’s the hottest character in the game. She maintains that he is, because muscles. I maintain that muscles aren’t actually that attractive. It is a rift that divides us to this day

(He looks oddly... younger in this art though? Weird)

Sechs Empire is such an unfortunate name. Seriously. How rushed was RF1′s localisation team? All those script errors, and then this (the Sechs were the antagonists in the first game, and were only referenced in passing in the rest until RF4 - so it was a bit of a ‘sins of the father’ situation by then).

Seriously, try saying ‘Sechs Emperor’ out loud and tell me you can take this man seriously

I??? Love??? Them???

I??? LOVE??? THEM???

Still confused as to why Kiel, Xiao Pai, Arthur and Margaret are on the cover now. Don’t get me wrong, I like them, but... Amber, Dylas, Dolce and Leon made way more sense? Even the Archival Cover makes more sense (Vishnal, Clorica, Forte), as those three are all kind of Lest/Frey’s servants (well, Forte for the whole town, but still). Of those first four, all but Arthur basically lift right out of the game with little-to-no impact on the story

NO HAT TABATHA NO HAT TABATHA

I’ve always really loved this Raven picture

And I am thankful for you <3

#rune factory #rune factory 4 #rune factory 4 special #rf4 #rf4s #rf4srelease #i love these games <3

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twdmusicboxmystery · 4 years

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Re-Watch 7x10: New Best Friends

All right. So I already did write ups for other re-watches, including 7x08 and bits of 6a and Operation Lead the Walkers Away. I know I’m being a bit OCD about this and doing them kind of out of order, but I’ll be putting up write ups for other episode re-watches as I go.

This is what I saw when re-watching 7x10: New Best Friends. This, of course, is the episode where Rick and co go to rescue Father Gabriel from the Scavengers and Rick fights Winslow the Spikey Walker.

Going into this, I tried to see what everything might foreshadow, since that’s been my jam lately. When we first saw this, we didn’t know Rick was leaving yet, so I remember that when his hand got impaled by one of Winslow’s spikes,

I instantly jumped on it as a Beth/stigmata thing. I realize now this was really more about Rick’s death fake out than anything else, but it still creates a parallel.

So, long story short, especially as we have the foreshadow of Rick’s “resurrection” here (as well as that CGI’d flying contraption—helicopter or plane—in the background)

I think it’s safe to say that the Scavengers foreshadow the helicopter group. We also see the rooster,

cat,

and pig statues during this sequence.

We also have Jadis telling Rick he has to prove that he’s “worth it,” which is very close to things Dawn said to Beth.

So Jadis pushing him down the heap and Michonne screaming his name is an obvious foreshadow of her screaming when she thinks he blew up on the bridge. They also talk to one another from opposite sides of an obvious dark tunnel.

I went back to check out what I originally said in my post when I watched this, and I did mention the dark tunnel symbolism, but I was really vague and unsure about it. Back then, I hadn’t figured out the dark tunnel symbolism to the extent we have now, nor did I fully appreciate the full nature of the four death fake outs. So it’s definitely interesting to go back and watch this stuff.

My biggest takeaway from this is a Father Gabriel thing. I’m sure I’ve talked about him being a Beth proxy in this episode before. He wears a white tank top, talks a lot about faith, etc.

But what’s different now is knowing that Scavengers foreshadow the helicopter group. So, for me, this is another representation of Rick going to the helicopter group and Beth (FG) already being there. Every line Rick says struck me as significant. He says, “you have one of my people.” I know he demands to see that Gabriel is still alive. I didn’t write down exactly what he said there, but there’s the “still alive” concept and possibly a “sight” reference.

And, once again, it’s hard to tell how far the metaphor will extend, but it’s Gabriel that actually forges the alliance between Rick and Jadis by telling her they’ll get her what she wants if she’ll help them fight Negan. If not for him, things might not have gone so well. Rick’s group and the Scavengers were starting to fight and kill each other before FG called out for everyone to stop. It actually reminded me a bit of S3 when Merle was fighting with everyone and Beth shot off the gun to stop them. So I’m wondering if this forging alliances thing will extend to Beth in some way where the helicopter group is concerned.

When Rick kills Winslow, he finishes him off with a shard of broken glass. I really haven’t talked about the broken glass theme in a long time, but that felt significant to me. I think the broken glass theme will finally be paid off either with Beth’s return or in some way having to do with the helicopter group.

And of course Rick gets the cat statue for Michonne, which is both sweet and significant. ;D He even says it’s to replace the one she lost. Which sounds a little twisted, like she might “replace” Rick after losing him. But given that it’s HIM that gives her the cat, pretty sure it just means she’ll get him back.

Oh, one other thing I noticed. The people at the junk yard when this happened included Rick, Michonne, FG, Aaron, Tara, and Rosita. Tara is deceased, but this is strikingly similar to those who show up at Hilltop at the end of 7x08, which I also think foreshadows a reunion after Rick returns from the helicopter group. The only difference is Aaron. (Remember I said I wished he’d gone to HT in 7x08, but then again Jesus might be the Beth proxy in that scene?)

Well, I don’t know for sure that Aaron is a proxy for her here. He might be, but also FG is. But once again, we have Rosita involved in this. And, there is the fact that Aaron is injured—a cut to the forehead, albeit on the opposite side from Beth—and FG tends it for him. Just saying.

The other major thing going on in this episode was the whole Daryl-reuniting-with-Carol-at-the-cabin thing.

We also had the Smokey and the Bandit trailer and the stuff with Richard,

Daryl meeting Shiva (another representation of Daryl = cat),

and him and Morgan butting heads.

I actually do think Morgan is a Beth proxy here as well. He wears a white shirt throughout the episode, like FG,

and has some Beth dialogue. Nothing huge, but some. Gavin refers to him as “sensai” at one point, which is a Japanse/Chinese word and may be part of the Tibetan stuff. A senai is a teacher, especially of martial arts, but I looked it up and the world literally means, “one who comes before,” which is interesting.

This is the episode where Zeke and co (and Morgan) are making a delivery to the saviors and we see Diane shoot a female walker in the eye.

Twice, Diane says, “my sister had that dress,” which calls attention to it. Plus, there’s the eye shot. I still feel like this is a Beth/Maggie reference, but it’s hard to tell what it means.

When they open the back of the car, there’s a crazy ton of symbolism in there. It’s a hatchback and looks a lot like the one they were loading up at the prison in 4x01.

One of the crates has a huge X on it, there are car batteries. And lots of watermelons. I really think they are probably a foreshadow of stunt Richard pulls later with the honeydew melons that gets Benjamin killed. Especially as Gavin says the load is light, but in this case, he admits it’s not. But I also wonder if the “water” in watermelon is a purposeful reference. And what color are watermelons? Pink. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So, my biggest takeaway from the rest of this is that this was an episode about reunions. Rick and Michonne at the junk yard (although they weren’t truly apart for more than a few minutes), Father Gabriel with everyone after being kidnapped. Daryl and Carol in the cabin, etc.

And as I’ve been saying lately, we have to look at the symbolism as a whole, rather than in a vacuum from episode to episode or scene to scene. So we have a sequence of Beth symbols here: Daryl gets a new bow,

then he and Richard walk along the highway and see a “Cemetery ahead” sign.

And then the Smokey and the Bandit trailer, right?

But I tried to look at all of that in a broader way. It’s really this sequence of Daryl hanging out with Richard for a short time (before deciding he hated the guy) that led to him figuring out where Carol was and going to reunite with her.

So, long story short, I definitely think his reunion with Carol here is a foreshadow of him reuniting with Beth. Sure, they have their own story line here, too, mostly having to do with Carol’s mental health (or lack thereof), but it’s also a foreshadow.

I think the whole point of the cemetery sign and smokey and the bandit trailer was to show that this foreshadowed something else. I mean, never, in the entire history of the show, has Carol been referred to as a sheriff.

Meanwhile, in the other story line, we have a foreshadow of Rick’s death fake out and resurrection. So it all works together.

And we can see other obvious parallels, of course: Carol reading the book with the piggy back on it,

seven candles lit on the table when they have dinner,

and even the actual cabin.

When Daryl is sitting in front of Shiva’s cage later, talking to Morgan, he says, “yeah, I found her [Carol], out in that little house.” It just SOUNDS like he could be referring to the cabin Emily filmed in during S5.

Yeah, that’s pretty much it. Like I said, nothing groundbreaking, but I think we’re all having fun returning to earlier episodes and understanding things we didn’t entirely understand before. ;D Thoughts?

#beth greene #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #td theory #td theories #team delusional #team defiance #beth is almost here #bethyl

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quarterfromcanon · 4 years

Text

Huzzah!

for @imunbreakabledude

Thank you for the wonderful idea generators you listed in your request; every single one served to spark some element of this piece and I had such a great time putting it together. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! <3 Happy Valentine’s Day!

Word count: 3,820

Rating/content warnings: G. Mild swearing. No violence and nothing really sexual. Unless you count #archeryarms. They are quite powerful.

Relationships: Mostly general Gurl Group and co. in nature, but there may or may not be a little Rethaniel kernel planted here somewhere... ;)

Summary: Our beloved residents of West Covina take a trip north to engage in some Renaissance merriment.

Rebecca stood before the wall-length mirror and ran her fingers along the feather tucked above the brim of her hat. She adjusted the small tambourine tied to her waist and planted both hands on her hips.

"Well, fair ladies... or, should I say, RenFaire ladies, are we ready?"

A row of restroom stall latches slid aside and their doors swung wide to reveal the rest of the Gurl Group, all clad in their carefully selected costumes for the day. Rebecca bounced in place and clasped her hands under her chin.

A net beaded snood held all of Paula's beautiful red hair. An ornamental ruby brooch was fastened to the bodice of her ornate raspberry gown. She smoothed the fabric and held her head high, striking a pose.

Valencia repurposed the faux leather portion of her Bride of the Pirate King costume and fashioned it to be part of her falconer garb, complete with a Velcro wrist attachment featuring a tiny plush merlin fitted with a hood. A simple plait kept her field of vision clear with the added bonus of helping combat overheating. She twisted sideways and nodded approval at her reflection, pleased with the silhouette.

Heather had happily seized the opportunity to go as an archer, a set of garments she'd been assembling piece by piece ever since she started her continuing education class. Her hair was braided and bound together to reduce the risk of distracting strays. Many of her beloved camo greens were present in this ensemble, albeit separated into individual components of her attire. She moved to tuck her hands into her pockets, remembered that there weren't any, and instead hooked both thumbs through the belt.

The bridge of Rebecca's nose scrunched as she grinned. "Crushin' it. Fresno, here we come."

"Play us out, Cookie," Paula urged.

Rebecca scooped her lute - easily the most expensive item for her look since she had been adamant about carrying a functional instrument rather than a prop - off the countertop and strummed. Her gaze turned skyward as she left the rest stop bathroom attempting to generate lyrics on the spot.

"The countess doth my song request, I go at her courtly behest, and now I introduce four: there were none quite so resplendent, connected yet independent, trust me I'm the troubadour..."

Scott and Tommy were already waiting outside dressed as an earl and a squire, respectively. Tommy gave them all an appreciative thumbs up and Scott applauded. The latter strode over to Paula when she emerged. Scott bowed and then held out his hand. "My lady?" He gestured in the direction of their waiting minivan in an unspoken offer to escort her.

Paula smiled and accepted his outstretched palm. "Milord."

While they walked, Scott called over his shoulder. "I like the new ditty, Rebecca. Lotta info in a little time. Nice and snappy."

Rebecca waved an 'oh, stop' gesture, but she was unable to hide her delight in receiving positive feedback. "Thank you. I couldn't resist a little Danny Kaye tribute. I think it could work better if I ramp up the speed of my delivery, now that I've worked out the words."

Valencia flanked Paula on her other side and leaned in close to whisper, "What musical was she talking about?"

"No idea. It must've been before my time."

They loaded back into the vehicle, though with considerably greater difficulty given the added layers of their new outfits. Paula now had to sit in the middle with Rebecca to have room for her voluminous skirts. Scott took the driver seat in her stead, and Tommy sat beside him. Valencia detached the falcon from its perch and buckled it into the rear middle seat to keep it from sliding around on the drive. Heather observed this with quiet amusement. She patted the fake bird on the head. "Safety first."

The wardrobe-swapping pit stop in Tulare was only about forty minutes away from their final destination, a span of time which seemed to fly by after the previous three hours on the road. Eagerness for the festivities ahead reached a renewed high as the park finally came into view. Scott pulled up to the waiting staff member and exchanged pleasantries. He passed the young worker a bag of canned goods they'd brought to contribute to the faire's donation drive and then fished out his wallet to pay the parking and admission fee.

As soon as they exited the van, all the sights and sounds swept them into the action. There were myriad tents on either side of the path that wove through the trees. Bakers, potters, and weavers sold their wares; blacksmiths hammered hot metal atop anvils, and a cheerful tune drifted from a shelter housing a trio of professional musicians. The food court beckoned with the scent of cakes, pies, meats, and sandwiches. Their first quarter of an hour passed simply drifting from one table of offerings to the next, admiring everything and strategizing how they would spend their money later.

Once they'd gotten a general sense of the lay of the land, Rebecca began walking backward to face the group at large and clapped her hands together. "Okay, time to get the party started. Where to first? Birthday girls' choice. Heather? Paula?"

Heather pulled a face. "That's not gonna be how you introduce us all day, is it? You're gonna confuse everybody since it's not, like, actually either of our birthdays. Not even close."

"Okay, true," Rebecca conceded, "but 'a November day that happens to fall almost squarely in the middle between the two and on a weekend we could all ask off work' is a mouthful to explain to strangers."

"Or we could just try, y'know, not sharing any details of our personal life with the RenFaire performers?" Heather suggested with a sarcastic shrug.

"But then none of them will sing you a period-appropriate song or raise a celebratory cheer." Rebecca pouted.

Heather nodded with satisfaction. "Exactly."

"Verily, thou art a most obstinate addle-plot," Rebecca remarked with a sigh.

"Oooh, are we doing the olde timey talk now?" Paula brightened. "I've been practicing for this."

"Aye, good lady," Rebecca confirmed and linked their arms. "I believe the hour is upon us!"

Just like that, all lighthearted squabbling was forgotten. Rebecca and Paula joyfully riffed off one another using every medieval and Renaissance vocab word they could recall. They even dusted off their questionable English accents for an added layer of "authenticity." Tommy and Heather exchanged glances at some of the inventive word choices, having acquired a passing familiarity with the correct terms on their individual visits to similar faires, but they let the giggling duo indulge in their antics.

A short while later, they stumbled upon another tent of interest, which appeared to be dedicated to wood carving. There were wall hangings, placards, canes, birdhouses, and countless other novelty handcrafted objects. One rather simple looking cube with hinges on the corner of a table caught Rebecca's attention. She plucked it up for closer inspection. A small smile tugged at the corner of her lips when she saw the lion rampant carved into the surface of the lid. She pried the box open with her thumb and gasped.

"Aww, there's a little compass inside! I wonder how much this would cost to send to Na--" Rebecca dragged out the first syllable of the name, realizing too late that she'd spoken the thought aloud. "--antucket. I've got a cousin out there who might enjoy it for... scout hikes."

She nodded perhaps a little too emphatically at the end of this improvised statement. Her eyes flicked from one companion's face to the next to see if they bought the cover story. The reactions were unanimously not in her favor.

"You were about to say Nathaniel." Paula gave Rebecca a reassuring nudge. "Sweetheart, you don't have to hide it from us. We've known for weeks that you two have been writing back and forth to each other. I accidentally used one of his envelopes as a coaster when you invited me over to hear a few works in progress."

"Yeah, and you stowed another letter behind Estrella's tank," Heather added. "Which is literally transparent so..."

"Having a pen pal is actually kind of perfect for you," Valencia said. "You're the only person I've ever known who bought stationery as a souvenir."

"It has been nice, keeping in touch," Rebecca admitted. "We're in different countries, both staying introspective and working on ourselves, but I think we've gotten to a place where we can check in on each other without undoing all the positive growth." She turned the compass over between her fingers and then held it out for the other women to inspect. "Do you think he'd like it?"

Heather's head tilted to the side. "Exclusive product ... a little pretentious but still practical... prominently features an animal you could find in a zoo... Sounds like a match from what I remember about him."

"Plus, it's kinda symbolic, y'know? Like he can use it because he's surrounded by wilderness but he's also finding his way," Rebecca explained. "This could be a memento to commemorate that."

She removed the wad of bills from the change purse on her belt and separated the necessary amount listed on the sticker. Once the compass was officially in her possession, Rebecca swung the bag back and forth, considering what a nuisance it would be to have that hanging from her wrist for the rest of the day. She nonchalantly turned a sharp corner as they left the tent. There, she discretely tucked the remaining dollars into her bra and stashed Nathaniel's gift in her former cash pouch.

The others were gathered around the pamphlet guide now open in Paula's hands when she returned.

"Looks like a lot of the big events are in the afternoon," Heather noticed.

"Count me in for the show where the guy swallows fire." Tommy tapped the corresponding spot on the park map.

"And we're getting funnel cake later, right?" Rebecca pointed to Paula and then back at herself.

"Oh, of course," Paula readily agreed. "It's quintessential fairground food."

"Don't forget the giant turkey legs!" Scott added, already scanning the large painted menus in the distance so he could make a beeline to that station once they were ready to eat.

Valencia looked ill at the mention and returned her attention to the accessory booth she'd drifted toward while the others spoke. She held up two pieces she might purchase and frowned thoughtfully. Heather plucked a small standing mirror off the display table and held it for her while she considered each necklace in the sunlight.

A faint buzz sounded from Valencia's satchel. She angled her body so the jewelry could rest against her chest without sliding off and then rummaged for her phone. "Ah, crap."

"Who is it?" Heather prompted.

"Darryl with the five thousandth Pinterest idea for his Blended Family Unity Ceremony. I thought the point was to do something simple and sentimental, once they decided they didn't want all the hassle and planning of another wedding in their lifetime. April seemed in favor of that. But Darryl's gone down an Internet-ing rabbit hole and can't be stopped. I thought the ceremony itself might clock in at twenty minutes at most, when they first brought it to me."

"Oh, my sweet summer child." Rebecca shook her head as she tuned in to the conversation.

Valencia’s shoulders sagged and she grimaced. "I know. Joke's on me. At this point, I'd recommend the guests just clear their schedule for the whole day. This latest concept involved a giant canvas and finger painting so... wear something you don't care about."

A collective groan rippled through the group. It was confessed, however, that they all expected at least one genuinely tear-jerking moment, given Darryl's fierce and unwavering attachment to each person who would be in attendance.

The six of them then followed the map to briefly observe a staged sword fight and a live joust. Paula and Rebecca reminisced over A Knight's Tale and lamented the fact that more stories depicting the era did not include extended dance and/or musical numbers.

"With the obvious exception of The Court Jester, of course," Rebecca said.

Paula gave a vague nod, smile locked in place but eyes blinking rapidly. "Right. Sure bet it does."

"You've never seen it, have you?"

"I'm not even sure if it's a play or a movie." Paula offered an apologetic wince. "You're sorta my primary go-to when I need to understand these kinds of references. I don't have the head space for it."

"I mean, a first watch is definitely something we need to remedy on a weekend soon but, given that I have three decades of passionate devotion to the art form, I get what you mean." Rebecca patted her lute fondly.

They stopped by the wooden ship stationed on the grass where actors dressed as pirates interacted with the crowd and set off small cannons. Then the group advanced toward the last thing on their list of pre-meal activities, which was to watch one of the live shows. The uproarious energy there sparked a sudden idea. Rebecca took extensive notes on her phone, deciding to flesh out her earlier improvised song into a full number to capture the vibe of the faire.

Afterward, they all left the seating in front of the stage and headed toward the food court. The sound of drums diverted their attention along the way and they searched for its source. A small gathering of belly dancers circled on a stretch of open lawn. Rebecca began nodding her head in time with the drum beat, but the motion stilled as she studied the trained and toned muscles undulating beneath the nearest dancer's skin. The woman stood out among her peers as not only being adept at the style but possessing a kind of theatrical charisma. She noticed her new audience and winked.

Rebecca tugged off her troubadour's hat and fanned herself. "Damn, that level of confidence is sexy."

Eventually, watching half a dozen stomachs reminded them of their rumbling own. With some reluctance, they finally moved along. At last, it was time for their much-anticipated lunch. Scott immediately purchased his coveted turkey leg and ale, both of which he enjoyed while the others mulled over their dining options. As they scanned the stands, the girls spied a large kiln not far away and recognized a familiar dish in the shadows.

Rebecca pressed a hand to her middle. "Okay, I know it's not the kind of thing you can only get at the faire, but I need that pizza in me."

"Seconded." Tommy joined his honorary sister in staring at the melting cheese.

Once everyone had a plate, they found a place to sit at one of the wooden tables. Paula dusted some of the powdered sugar from the funnel cake off her fingers with a napkin and leaned toward Heather, who was stationed diagonally across from her.

"So, I haven't seen you much since fall break ended. How's grad school going?"

"The marine biology coursework combined with the kind of work that gives me money is kicking my ass but, like, in a good way. Especially since so much of it involves trips to the beach."

"I really admire you for going back, and for finding an area of study that would let you take so many fun field trips," Paula praised.

Valencia caught Heather's eye and beamed. "Well-played, professor."

While everyone ate, they unfolded the map again atop their table. They scanned the times for where each person wanted to go between noon and dusk when the event would close. A second-half schedule was established and they prepared to seek out the first stop. Before doing so, however, Paula opened her phone's camera for a picture. Rebecca rounded everyone else up for the photo.

"Prithee, gather ye round the magic picture box. Lady Proctor wouldst appreciate the opportunity to capture our likeness and preserve the memory."

They wrapped their arms around each other and leaned into frame, looking respectably at home before a backdrop of other costumed faire-goers. Paula showed them all the end result before turning it back to herself and grinning at the image. "Perfect."

First on the listed activities was the archery contest. Heather rarely had an occasion to utilize her champion level skills as a bowman, so this chance was too good to skip. The competitors formed a line before their targets.

"Make ye ready!" the announcer cried. "Draw! Aim! Loose!"

Heather's shot found its mark and embedded in the bullseye. Her companions clapped and whooped.

Rebecca watched her nock the following arrow and line it up for release. "She's got a whole Keira Knightley in Princess of Thieves look going for her today."

The second arrowhead pierced a hair's breadth from the first.

"I think it's kinda doing it for me."

Valencia nodded. Her eyelids crinkled at the corners while she regarded Rebecca with curiosity. "Are you having some sort of Renaissance awakening?"

"TBD. Check back in with me later. Kinsey scale rating may need an update."

Heather’s final arrow was dead center. The announcer declared her the winner and the visitors from West Covina alarmed everyone nearby with the shouts that erupted from them. They surged forward to embrace and congratulate her. Heather awkwardly allowed herself to be jostled by her circle of friends. She exuded discomfort but, when they all formed a group hug, she did not squirm away.

After that landslide victory, next up was a demonstration with a trebuchet. The impressively tall apparatus cut through the air and launched pumpkins at a makeshift castle wall. Tommy was ecstatic. He fished out his phone to record a video. "Brendan would love this. I've gotta send it to him."

At the mention of her eldest son, Paula's lower lip protruded sympathetically. "Do you miss your big brother knight, squire?"

Tommy tried to feign indifference, but the shift of his shoulders couldn't hide the expression that flickered across his face. "A little, I guess."

"Aww, pumpkin," Paula cooed. She hooked him toward her with one arm and pressed a kiss to his forehead. "Me, too."

"Hey, careful with the mom smooches," Tommy cautioned. "Girls might not talk to me if they see I've already got a lipstick mark on my face."

Paula licked her finger and wiped off the traces. The boy allowed the assistance with resignation. "Okay, yeah, I did sorta set myself up for that one," Tommy muttered.

Somewhere in the crowd, a recognizable voice caught their attention.

"Just a minute, Amari. It's Agila's turn. Baba can't hold both of you on his shoulders at the same time. Somebody might fall... most likely me."

Paula stood on tiptoe and waved. "Sunil! Sunil, over here!"

Rebecca heard the name and slumped. "Great. This guy."

Sunil wove his way toward them, holding one of his daughters’ hands on each side. "Why, hello! Fancy meeting you here!"

He drew up short when he spotted Rebecca. "Bunch."

Rebecca arched her eyebrows. "Odhav."

"So, how are you liking the RenFaire so far?" Paula asked, interrupting the showdown.

"We're having a blast. The girls rode the giant unicorn. They said it would've been better if it were a pegasus but, hey, next best thing, right? We've caught three shows already. Really resurrects the old acting bug. And I'm still on a shopper's hunt for a crystal chalice with a palace. As we all know, it 'holds the brew that is true,' and I could really use the pick-me-up after four hours of bickering toddlers." Sunil chuckled at his own humor. Paula weakly attempted to do the same, lost.

Rebecca snapped to attention at the reference. Unable to help herself, she interjected, "Yeah, those can be pretty fragile. You might be better off getting a vessel with a pestle."

Surprised, but pleasantly so, Sunil's expression warmed. "You've seen The Court Jester."

"Oh my gosh, yes!" Rebecca's eyes went comically wide with fervor. "I've been talking about it all day. I must've watched that at least twenty times as a kid."

"How could you not? It's a classic."

Sunil gleefully launched into another quote. "'What are you loo-loo-looing about?’”

Rebecca was ready with the rejoinder. "'Oh, I'm not loo-loo-looing, sire, I'm willow-willow-wailing.'"

Sunil responded with a kingly wave of dismissal. "'All right, all right. Willow away, willow away.'"

They cackled.

"Dear God," Paula murmured, but she was visibly grateful her usually adversarial friends were getting along.

"There are two of them," Valencia joked affectionately.

Sunil rubbed his hands together. "Listen, we were about to track down that lesson on how to do a courtly dance. Would all of you like to join us?"

This proposal was met with general agreement (although Heather required a little additional convincing to accept the prospect of participation). They reached the designated area just as instructions began. Most of the dance took part in a large group but, for the small section where those involved were expected to break off into pairs, they planned ahead for who would dance with whom. The combinations ultimately turned out to be Paula and Scott, Heather and Valencia, Tommy with both Amari and Agila, and - in a truce that would've been inconceivable prior to that instant - Rebecca and Sunil.

As all the gathered dancers moved in a great circle, Rebecca took the opportunity to look at each of her loved ones in turn. The chances to enjoy hours with everyone like this sometimes proved rare and difficult to orchestrate, but shared moments of laughter and fun such as these made it infinitely worth the effort.

She turned to Heather on her left and gave the other woman's hand a teasing squeeze. "Having a good time after all?"

"I'll live," Heather answered simply, but Rebecca knew her well enough to detect the truth beneath her nonchalance. "What about you? You've been sending us a pre-trip countdown for, like, a full month leading up to this. Is it holding up to the hype?"

"Hundo P," Rebecca replied. "Ugh, it works when Maya says it but I think there might be too much of a generational divide for me to pull that off. In other news, I might be bi?"

Heather's laugh huffed out on an exhale. "Congrats on figuring that out. Welcome to the club. Darryl will make you a t-shirt."

"Thanks. I'm gonna need your out-and-proud advice later to sift through this brand new information, but it feels like I'm onto something."

"Anytime."

"So, calendar date notwithstanding, has this been a good birthday?" Rebecca asked hopefully.

Heather's lips twitched. "I'd let you talk me into it again."

In time with the music, Rebecca twirled in a circle and her friends all blurred together in her vision. A soft smile spread across her face. She thought she could safely declare this day a win.

#CEG Writing By Me #crazyexvalentineexchange #imunbreakabledude

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africanization101 · 5 years

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Dear A.,You've used the metaphor of life today as a realtime softcore IR flick a couple of times recently. A persuasive analogy! My fave instance: I often encounter on my local jaunts a lithe little teen blonde snowbunny, who is NEVER seen without the close company of A PAIR of strapping black boys. Whatever her 'story,' I'm sure it has many happy endings! Have you been enjoying your own personal irl IR soap opera lately too? Sincerely, Tori Reid

Was that a sly prod for me to write about some of my more exciting interracial observations--a kind of literary (extra-)marital aid? Sure, let’s spice things up a bit in here. I’m actually curious how my audience will take to this compared to my usual content.

I should preface this by saying that my Euro town used to be a sea of unbearable whiteness up until the refugee situation a couple of years ago. Things have sped up quite rapidly since then and knowing the contrast between just a few years ago and now makes this all the more exciting.

Something more basic to start things off with then. There’s a dark-blond white woman in my extended neighborhood, probably around 30 at this point, and though I don’t see her around that often, whenever I do, she’s wearing some combination of tight jeans, leggings, tank top and deep-cut v-neck shirt; it’s safe to say that this is her idea of a casual outfit. And she does have the curves to make it work, especially booty-wise.

Definitely a looker, but I never saw her with a boyfriend or anything like that ... until about 2 years ago, when she was sauntering down the street holding the hand of a tall, African and handsome man who definitely complemented her well. Then I lost sight of her again for a bit, figured she had moved, but oh no; some time last year, I spot the same couple pushing a baby stroller. That sure didn’t take long.

Now the thing about women post-pregnancy is that they often understandably don’t feel like dialing up the sexiness for a while because they have other worries. Not this one though. She was still strutting her stuff for her Black beau in her typically revealing attire and we can only hope this was meant to encourage him to keep up the good work on the baby-making front!

The next story requires a little context. I’m sad to report that my general area is frequently the site of what one might call “racism rallies”. I still go and check them out sometimes, but once you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all: a bunch of middle-aged to old white men whining about immigrants in some shape or form. Every now and then, “civil society” will feel pressured enough by this to put on a counter-event to signal to the world that racists don’t speak for everyone. Usually these things feature some kind of music or art show and they draw a much younger and more diverse crowd. And one of those events is the backdrop to our next story.

They called it “Reggae against Racism” or something slightly cheesy like that and as you can guess, it featured a reggae show interspersed with some social commentary. The crowd was mostly under 40 with a lot of younger people who looked like college students. There were slightly more women than men present and a certain contingent of young migrants/refugees had found their way there as well.

The college-aged women were extremely interested in the non-white men there, chatting them up in English (obviously not the native language here) and being noticeably fascinated by their stories. There was a good deal of affectionate touching going on, visibly welcomed by both parties, which quickly escalated to intimate dancing on the open-air lot they had rented for the event. It looked like some whiteboi students were also having a bit of more awkward fun with some of the braided Black girls that absolutely need to show up for any reggae festival to feel complete.

At some point it was time for another speech, delivered by a very emotional white woman in dreadlocks. After some warmly received remarks about how racism is bad, she got all excited and closed her speech with: “And I’m SO SO happy to see all the brave people of color who made it here today, thank you so much, we’re all super inspired by you!!”

And I guess that was the queue to go all-in, because after a good round of applause and woo-ing, the music continued and affectionate dancing turned into fairly primal grinding and twerking. As far as these girls were concerned, their dusky dance partners were their heroes for the day and they weren’t going to let any jealous friends cut in. Of course the usual kissing, butt-squeezing and so forth was happening on the sidelines as well.

As the event drew to a close, a lot of tipsy female students left with those newfound paramours they most likely hadn’t arrived with earlier in the day. Sometimes curious middle-class girls just need an opportunity, right?

I obviously don’t know if there’s any relation between the young people who showed up at the reggae festival and the old white dudes at the racism rallies, but given how much time I have wasted listening to their boring speeches about ~European culture~, I find it most satisfying to imagine that while they were preparing the angry talk for next week’s white male masturbation event, their sweet little darlings were grinding up to the refugees that trigger them so much.

Who knows, maybe they’ll mellow out once they get a brown grandchild. Or maybe their daughters will drop them some other hints that’ll make it too awkward for daddy to be racist anymore. One can only hope!

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teababe27 · 4 years

Text

Notes From the 2019 Myanimelist.net Challenges - Part 1: Anime

Health problems have laid me up a little, but now I’m finally posting this.

As you can tell by the title, this is a post in the vein of last year’s notes about the Myanimelist.net Anime Watching and Manga Reading Challenges. While I didn’t complete everything by the deadline, I had some fun with it and saw/read some good things, some okay things, some things I’ve been meaning to watch anyway, and some things I probably wouldn’t have if it wasn’t for this challenge.

This post will deal with the anime side. Part 2, dealing with the manga side, will come soon.

I will mention some notables/honorable mentions and then some of my favorite things I watched for this challenge.

Let’s do this.

Honorable Mentions/Other Notables: Millennium Actress - completed for the task “Watch an award-winning anime”

Two filmmakers interview Chiyoko, a retired, reclusive actress from long ago. She brings the two filmmakers through her memories.

As far as I’m concerned, anything Satoshi Kon does is great. A movie with an interesting concept and an interesting art style. I teared up a little at the end, ngl.

RIP Satoshi Kon.

My Neighbor Totoro - completed for the task “Watch an original anime”

Two little girls move to a house in the countryside with their father. While at the house, they discover forest spirits and go on adventures with them.

As expected from Studio Ghibli, the art is gorgeous. The story was fun. I’m ashamed to admit I haven’t seen this until now.

While not my favorite Miyazaki movie, this was still beautiful and also fucking adorable.

It was also pretty cool to hear the Fanning sisters in early roles.

Problem Children Are Coming From Another World, Aren’t They? - completed for the task “Watch an anime in which your favorite character’s voice actor participated”

Three kids, each with a different special ability, are whisked away to a world called Little Garden. They are called upon by Kurousagi (Black Rabbit in the English dub) to win “Gift Games” and help the community regain its former glory and resources after a demon took them away.

I’d put this under the group of “Things i probably wouldn’t have watched if not for this challenge”.

I’m not normally into isekai anime (I feel it’s been way overdone lately), but I had fun with this. I honestly didn’t like a couple of the characters at first, but then I realized it was kinda the point. They did get better, though.

Automatic props for having Josh Grelle in there voicing one of the titular problem children.

I had fun with this one overall.

Aoi Bungaku Series - completed for the task “Watch an anime with more than 16 minutes in total and tagged as Mystery, Psychological, and/or Thriller”

An anthology adapting several classic Japanese books and stories.

This anime was different than a lot of what I have watched before. Bleak as hell a lot of the time (especially in the first story), but I found this anime interesting. I might try and read the books that these stories were based on.

The Irresponsible Captain Tylor - completed for the task “Watch an anime suggested by Myanimelist or Anime+”

Justy Ueki Tylor is a bit of a lazy bum. He signs up to join the space military because he wants to live a relatively easy life and get a good pension when he retires. Through sheer charisma and dumb luck, he helps diffuse a hostage situation, leading him to be promoted to Captain of a ship with a bad reputation. An evil space empire and higher-ups looking to get rid of Tylor are also involved.

I found this show funny, but I also feel like this is one you need to be in the mood for. That being said, this was a fun watch.

A lot of zany hijinks and watching Tylor get by through sheer luck and charisma. Gave me some mixed feelings at times.

I have a weakness for things that came out in the 90s, as I grew up with that animation style and shows from that time period. As such, it was very cool to hear voice actors from my childhood, like Rachel Lillis and Lisa Ortiz, in this anime. (I was internally going “OMG it’s Misty!!” every time Yuriko talked.)

Favorites from the Challenge:

Hanayamata - completed for the task “Watch an anime that began airing between 2010 and 2015″

An ordinary student, Naru, wants nothing more than to be pretty and dazzling like in her fairy tale books. One day, she meets a mysterious girl, Hana, who dances with her one night. Hana turns out to be an American transfer student who ends up transferring into Naru’s class. Hana then introduces Naru to Yosakoi dancing and forms the Yosakoi club.

I thought this was a cute and fun slice-of-life anime. Premise can be a bit iffy if you really think about it, but I had fun with this show. I love how everyone slowly opened up with each other and was able to make their club work.

Also, I couldn’t help but have this thought: I feel like the first couple episodes had so much lesbian subtext that I had to check if this anime was made by KyoAni (it wasn’t, it’s made by Madhouse).

Tatami Galaxy - completed for the task “Watch a Noitamina anime”

A third-year college student runs into a mysterious guy at a ramen shop. The student reflects on his past 2 years at college, mostly spent with his friend Ozu trying to break up happy couples. The student wonders if he’s wasted his life and resolves to do better. Then a time loop starts happening and more chances arrive.

*clasps hands like Gendo Ikari*

We meet again, Masaki Yuasa.

No better time than this challenge to work through more of Masaki Yuasa’s filmography, especially after watching the decent Mind Game and the excellent Kaiba for last year’s challenge.

While watching this anime, I felt myself going back and forth on whether or not I really liked this anime. Whether it was overrated or underrated. Whether it was a good idea on what the Endless 8 could have been or something that kept going unnecessarily long because the Student couldn’t see what was in front of his face. Whether it was style over substance.

The answer?

Yes.

I honestly liked it, but I do understand the criticism. I feel like the confusion about my feelings can be a good thing and this anime still had some great points and made me think.

I also thought the art style and soundtrack were great, as usual from Masaki Yuasa.

One Outs - completed for the task “Watch an active staff member’s favorite anime with 10 episodes or more”

A struggling baseball team recruits Tokuchi Towa, a pitcher who is more of a gambler than anything. Kojima, the team’s veteran player, hopes that Tokuchi will lead them to the championship. Corrupt ownership and unethical opponents also add problems.

Tokuchi was a great character. He’s a genius, but also a huge troll. His method is basically trying to psychologically get to the other players and go from there. I liked seeing him work through situations and outsmart people. This was one of the few anime from the challenge where I could watch several episodes in one sitting and not even realize it.

Basically, this was a take on sports anime I didn’t know I needed.

Aggressive Retsuko (aka Aggretsuko) - Season 1 completed for the task “Watch an ONA,” Season 2 completed for the task “Watch an anime with more than 16 minutes in total and a popularity lower than #700″

Retsuko, a red panda, is an average office worker. Unfortunately, she hates her job. She is harassed by her boss and given unreasonable amounts of work. To relieve the stress from her life, she secretly goes to karaoke and sings death metal to scream everything out.

I love this. I love Retsuko. I love the little songs sprinkled in. I love Retsuko’s relationships with several of her office-mates.

I feel like I can relate so hard. Not necessarily with the heavy work load, but just the general stresses of life in your 20s. Being stuck in a job that isn’t the best, and also liking metal.

I had a ton of fun with this show. Season 1 was slightly better than Season 2, but I loved this show all the same.

Girls’ Last Tour - completed for the task “Watch an anime that finished airing with more than 10 episodes and has a synopsis by MAL Rewrite”

In a post-apocalyptic, war-torn landscape, two girls, Chito and Yuri, travel the world for answers, with only their motorbike/tank, their supplies, and each other.

This, by far, wins Best of the Challenge this year.

This anime gave me a mix of emotions that I don’t know if I’ve ever felt before. A strange mix of existential dread and sadness and going “aww” at the slice-of-life adventures the two girls have. It made me laugh, made me cry, and made me think.

Watch this one, please.

#anime #myanimelist #myanimelist.net #millennium actress #my neighbor totoro #tonari no totoro #problem children are coming from another world aren’t they?#mondaiji tachi ga isekai kara kuru sou desu yo #aoi bungaku #aoi bungaku series #irresponsible captain tylor #the irresponsible captain tylor #hanayamata #Tatami Galaxy #one outs #aggretsuko #aggressive retsuko #girls last tour #Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou

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rwbyremnants · 5 years

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Glad you guys are liking this so far! Special thanks to Tom G. for the beta work!

=Chapter 2

The next day, Weiss braced herself as she walked past locker 134. But this time, nothing happened. The Dragons all looked at her, and Yang’s expression held a strange mixture of emotions. The others looked a little smug. Still, none of them said a word. The looks on their faces haunted her so badly that she barely noticed what she was doing, stumbling through her day.

“What’s the matter with you?”

Glancing up, she flashed a wan smile over at her friend. “Oh… nothing, Pyrrha; it’s fine. I just feel a little weird.”

“Weird in what way?” Studious as always, Pyrrha Nikos had already taken her notes from the board and was now happy to focus on her friend. What a sweet soul. There was a reason the two had been thick as thieves for so much of their lives.

“Well… I’ll tell you at lunch.”

So she did. It was hard to get through the rest of class, but she managed, completing her notes even if it took her twice as much effort to concentrate as usual. Then, once they had gained the relative quiet of the cafeteria, she unloaded all her woes onto her friend.

“She kissed you?!”

Face beet red as she tried to focus on her tray of underwhelming school food, Weiss whispered, “Keep your voice down! And… yes.”

“But that’s…” Glancing very briefly over at the table on the other side of the room, where the Dragons were holding court, the red-haired amazon whispered, “You’re both women!”

“Really, Pyrrha? Am I a woman? What gave that away?”

Frowning, Pyrrha looked back down to her tray. “I’m sorry. But I’m not sure what else to say.” After a pause, she added, “Did you like it?”

“I… I don’t know.”

“Really?!” At least she was keeping her voice down now. “Weiss, I thought you were going to tell me that it was disgusting, a-and that you wanted my help reporting her to the authorities!”

“Reporting her for what? Feeding me a cheeseburger and giving me a kiss?”

“Well, when you put it that way…”

The prissy platinum blonde deflated, all fire and vinegar leaving her. “It was nice. But it was also disgusting. Sorry I can’t describe it any better than that, because I really don’t have any other frame of reference. I’ve never been kissed by anyone before.”

“I’ve never been kissed by anyone still.” Scratching the back of her neck, she reached for her milk carton with her other hand. “But it really wasn’t bad? Kissing a woman? I mean, you said ‘disgusting’ but you also said ‘nice’, which sounds like… it wasn’t the worst thing you’ve ever experienced.”

“It wasn’t.” The two simple words took a lot more effort to get out than they should have.

“Wow…”

“H-hey, you know that I’m telling you this in confidence, right? Don’t go blabbing it around the whole school.”

Looking quite offended, Pyrrha urgently hissed, “I would never! You’re my best friend! Even if I don’t really know how to feel about… well, about this, that doesn’t mean I could-”

They were both interrupted by someone bumping into Weiss’s back as she walked past. It was one of the Dragons - a dark-skinned girl with vibrant green hair. She didn’t even glance back at them, but merely kept walking toward her comrades.

“Rude,” Weiss grumbled.

“Hey, what’s this?” Pyrrha asked as she bent to the floor. When she straightened back up, she had a folded sheet of notebook paper between her strong-but-dainty fingers.

“I don’t know, what is it?”

“She dropped it. Emerald, I mean.”

“That’s her name? Emerald?” But they were both too curious about the note to focus on the identity of the one who dropped it. There weren’t many words to read:

‘Princess. Same place same time. Or not.’

Weiss was reading it through again when Pyrrha whispered, “What does it mean? Do you think she… dropped it by you on purpose?”

“I don't know.” Sliding it into one of her books, she added, “But I suppose I'm going to find out.”

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

Weiss shivered in the slight breeze as she waited in the school parking lot. The weather wasn't turning to Autumn chill quite yet, but Summer was definitely over. Besides, her cheerleader skirt let more air in than it could have; she should start wearing tights underneath soon.

“There she is. Right on schedule.”

That wasn't Yang’s voice.

After a second of hesitation, she turned to see three of the Dragons bearing down on her. They were all wearing the standard black leather jackets, elegant art of an Asian-style dragon on the backs, but their outfits varied beyond that. Emerald was wearing jeans, a low-cut top that matched her hair and baby doll pumps. The Italian-looking girl had leather pants and a white tank top on, black boots that more suited the jacket. And the third…

Weiss found herself getting lost in the smoldering eyes. They were somehow hypnotic. Her simple red dress flared out around her knees, and the trim tapering legs disappeared into matching strappy heels - the open toes were a tiny bit scandalous in their conservative little town. In some ways, she looked far too delicate to be a Dragon… except for her fiery gaze was more fierce than even that of Yang herself.

“The Dragon sends her regards,” she purred in a silky voice.

“So the Dragon can't come see me herself? That's nice. I can tell she really cares about me when she sends her flunkies.”

The Italian girl scowled before snapping, “Hey, watch it, Pep Rally Princess. Yang can't always be available; she has responsibilities.”

“Then what was the point of this?”

“To test your interest level,” the fiery girl susurrated. Her hand reached out and nipped a strand of hair behind Weiss’s ear, prompting her to shiver before taking a step backward. “Heh… nervous little thing.”

Folding her arms over her chest, Weiss grumbled, “Thought you were supposed to back off if I let her try charming me once. That was the deal.”

“Have we bothered you all day?” Emerald insisted. “No. This is just checking in. And like Cinder said, we want to know if you would be open to more fun with Yang or not. But you showed up, so you must not be too mad about last night.”

“I'm not a homosexual.” When they all giggled, she snapped, “What? Why is that funny?!”

“So many girls have said that,” the one called Cinder laughed easily.

“Said that to Yang?”

Emerald offered with a little smirk, “To all of us.”

“Oh.” She took another little step backward, a hand raising to ward off sudden advances. “You're all lesbians? Like a… a group of delinquent deviants?”

The Dragons laughed. And instantly, it was back to the way things were before; an entire gang of girls laughing, making fun of her. Looking down on her as some kind of simpleton, a pleb who didn't understand the world as intimately as they did. Weiss wanted to disappear.

But then Cinder cackled, “I like the alliteration. And it's close enough to true that it might as well be.”

Maybe this time they weren't laughing at her. It helped relieve some of her fear, her shame. And her curiosity could take center stage again. “Really? You all… kiss women?” A nod from all three. “Why don't you just kiss each other, then?”

“Some of us have,” Emerald admitted - and she saw one of Cinder’s eyelids twitch, and the Italian girl’s hands went into her jacket pockets. “But mostly, we don't date inside the Dragons. We're all like sisters to each other, so it would be weird.”

“Oh. Well… I guess that makes sense. As much as any of this does.”

“And not all of us date only women. Coco is going steady with that boy Fox, even though she keeps Velvet on a short leash, too.”

Weiss looked over at the Italian girl, who shook her head with a slight smile. “No, I'm Blake. And I'm all about pussy.”

“You really are,” Cinder muttered, and the other two laughed.

The word “pussy” was still making Weiss blush, but she found her voice again. “O-okay, so… so you all like girls, and you all like me? Or what? I'm not really… sure why you…”

The three had turned to stare at her, and she was stuck by how intense their gazes could be when they let the full brunt of them fall on a single target.

“Someone thinks she's real cool cat,” Emerald snorted.

“Well, she is,” Cinder said in that low, silky tone of hers as she began to pace around Weiss, the latter turning to keep her in sight. “Those sweet cheeks, long, skinny legs… and it's so cold today. Really committed to showing her school spirit.” Her fingers flipped the very edge of Weiss’s skirt to illustrate.

“H-hey, it's not that cold! And I could say the same about you, with that dress!” When Cinder took a step toward her, she stepped back. “What are you doing?!”

“Testing.”

“Well, I have had enough tests for one lifeti-”

Her heart leapt into her throat in a way it hadn't done yet when she felt not one, but two bodies connecting with her back. A hand apiece from Blake and Emerald fell to her arms, not quite gripping tight but still boxing her in as Cinder stepped forward, completely taking over her field of vision.

“Smells good,” Blake observed, voice low and intimate in a way that sent shivers up Weiss's spine. “Jasmine?”

Terrified, Weiss whispered, “M… me?”

“I agree; it's jasmine.” Cinder sounded completely at ease, which only made Weiss feel less so. Her hand came up to pet along the side of her neck. “Soft skin. Really takes good care of herself.”

“W-wait, I'm… what are you doing to me?” No answer. The three petting hands were joined by two more in the small of her back, and she clamped her eyes shut. “What… are you going to… do?”

Lips next to her ear told her in a whisper, “Whatever you want.” She couldn't even tell who they belonged to.

“Please… I…”

Something she would never have predicted in all her life happened. She realised that beneath her fear, and how little she wanted those three to be pressing in on her from all sides… it was also the most exciting thing that had ever happened in her short, sheltered life. Her hands came up to slap Cinder, or push her away, and only wound up resting on her shoulders.

“Golly gee,” came a husky voice from her left side. Probably Blake, if they hadn't changed positions. “I think… she's into it.”

“Naturally.” Weiss finally opened her eyes, only to see the burning embers staring back as Cinder whispered, “I think this has been a very successful test. Don't you?”

Weiss swallowed. After a moment, she managed to breathe, “I… I d-don't… please stop, I’m-” Instantly, they all backed off. “Huh?”

“Now I'm more worried about Yang being with you than you being with Yang,” Blake laughed. Of the three of them, she was the only one who looked a little flustered.

“You stopped.”

“Mmm, we did,” Cinder said with a smug smirk. “The word ‘stop’ was pretty clear. Besides, our goal wasn't to start a foursome in the middle of the parking lot. Just to see if you were… open to courting one of us, or if our fearless leader would be wasting her time.”

Emerald patted her arm, and it was a lot more platonic. “Looks like you're our kinda girl, Schnee.”

“No,” she breathed. But she sounded less than sure. Yang's kiss returned to the forefront of her mind, and her already-flushed face turned darker.

“It's alright,” Blake offered gently. That was enough to make her feel a little flare of affection for her, simply because it was the kindest thing any of them had said since this sapphic gauntlet began. “None of us are going to judge you, obviously.”

Cinder let out a harsh little laugh. “Pampering the new blood? No. Let her figure it out on her own like we had to. It will make her stronger.”

“I'm not joining your little social club,” Weiss said defiantly. Though her voice shook, at least she did it.

“Listen to this rich girl. What a-”

“That's alright,” Blake cut her off. “Take your time. Girls?”

At Blake's prompt, Cinder and Emerald began to walk away with her toward their bikes. It was only Blake who looked back, though her expression was unreadable. The entire encounter had left the pampered princess shaken and her legs buckled, sending her down to the pavement. There she remained, trembling and completely useless, until Pyrrha arrived.

“You alright?” she asked gently, reaching down a hand to help her up as her green eyes stared down in concern.

“Just… take me home, please?”

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

It took twice as long for her to finish her homework that night. Pyrrha stayed with her, and listened when she needed to vent about what was going on with the Dragons. After a while, the subject became the prime focus.

“So do you think they might be right? That you're… like they are?”

“Of course not!” Weiss burst out, flopping onto her back on her canopy bed. “I like boys! Sun, that football player? O-or… um, I don't know, um…”

The taller girl shrugged, penciling in another answer. “You don't have to prove anything to me, Weiss. But it doesn't sound like you wanted them to stop.”

“Like I…” Blinking, she turned toward her more fully. “What do you mean? I was terrified!”

“No, of course! I'm sorry, I didn't mean that you wanted them to keep going, either - or that they should have done that! Still… the way you talk about it doesn't make it seem as if the event itself was bad. Only that you didn't trust the people doing it, so you weren't comfortable with it going further. That's all I'm trying to say.”

Her cheeks were already darkening. “So I would have been alright with it if it was Yang, is that what you're trying to say?”

“I don't know! I've never had to think about girls going with girls before!” Sighing, she reached over to pat Weiss's wrist. “Please know that if you tell me you're not interested, then I believe you. But if you're asking how this sounds to me…”

“Oh…” She sighed, putting her hand over Pyrrha's. They shared a tentative smile. “You're right, I'm sorry. I'm just really on edge. Let's get back to work.”

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

Late that night, a sharp sound startled Weiss awake. When she went to her window to see the source, she was just in time to watch a rock ricochet off the glass. Staring down at the ground a floor below, she was able to make out the dim figure of Yang Xiao Long.

“What are you doing?!” she mouthed after opening the window. All Yang did was motion for her to come outside. “No! It’s almost midnight!”

“Come on!” Yang mouthed, glancing around nervously.

“How?!” Her hands swept wide to the roof. There was no way for her to get outside without going through the entire house. Yang pointed to the corner; there was a trellis lining one side of the porch. “Oh…”

“Hurry!”

Cursing her own stupidity, Weiss put on her heeled slippers with white rabbit fur pom poms and cautiously climbed out the window onto the thin lip of roof that stretched over the porch, knowing she was about to fall and break her neck. The one time she glanced over, she saw Yang was a lot closer now, standing just below where Weiss was crouching. Ready to catch her if need be. A little at a time, she made her way over to the trellis until she could safely climb down.

“There,” Yang whispered now that they could hear each other properly, cradling her in her arms like a lifeguard with a drowning victim.

“Put me down!” Yang did, though she looked regretful. “Thank you.”

“Great. C'mon, let’s take a walk.”

Once they were down the block and away from her home, Weiss demanded, “Alright, what is so important it couldn’t wait until tomorrow? My father would blow his stack if he found out I was sneaking out in the middle of the night like this!”

“Blake told me what happened.”

Gulping, she felt her shoulders go stiff. “And?”

“And… I wanted you to know, I had nothing to do with that. Like, I was gonna give you a few days to figure out how you felt. They weren’t supposed to rush you.”

“Oh.” The tension didn’t leave, but her ire began to wane. This wasn't what she had been expecting at all. “I suppose I believe you. They never said you asked them to do it, and I didn’t see you looking at me after they dropped the note.”

“Note?”

As they walked, Weiss recounted her side of the story on the after-school encounter. Yang mostly just listened, hands stuffed in the pockets of her leather jacket and expression impassive. They had reached a cul-de-sac when the tale finished up.

“You could have punched Cinder in the tit. She talks a big game, but she’s really only dangerous if she’s got a knife in her hands. Or fire; she’s a terrible firebug. Otherwise, you could probably take her if you needed to.”

“But could I have taken all three of them? When I’ve never so much as thrown a punch before?”

Yang snorted. “Fair point.”

“They really thought I wanted to… I don’t know, date all of them at once? But that’s crazy!”

“You were into it, though.” Before Weiss could protest, she held up a hand. “It was new. You liked the attention, and it felt real neat and exciting with them being so close, even if you were scared and might not have really wanted it if you had the chance to think.”

The accuracy of her assessment stunned the prissy girl. “Yeah. That’s… that’s it exactly.”

“I get it. And they’re all really hot.”

“That’s less pertinent,” she sighed.

“Really? Which one isn’t hot?”

“None of them! To me! I mean, I like boys!”

“Do you?” she pressed, reaching over to take up Weiss’s hand and swing it idly between them. Weiss didn’t pull it away. “You can like both, you know. Like Coco.”

In a small voice, Weiss whispered, “But I don’t. Before now, I’ve never really thought enough about dating anybody at all. Boy, girl, wooly mammoth… nobody. Even if I do think Elvis is dreamy.” Yang laughed. “Stop making fun of me all the time!”

“Wooly mammoth,” she chortled, and Weiss finally cracked a reluctant smile. “Good one.”

“Thanks, I guess.”

“But seriously, I meant it when I said I would back off if you weren’t interested. But I didn’t want you thinking they were shaking you down for answers for my sake. They were being overprotective all on their own.”

“Protecting you against me? That makes no sense. You’re so…”

One of Yang’s eyebrows went up, but Weiss didn’t finish and she didn’t force the issue. “Even Dragons are human. Well, these Dragons are.” Sighing, she looked up at the sky as they paced down the sidewalk. “Lot of crap in my past I’m not proud of. Pain. I broke some hearts. A couple girls broke mine. Whatever. But they know that when I go all-in on a girl, I go all-in. No beating around the bush.”

“And… they don’t want to see you get hurt again?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow,” Weiss breathed. “I didn’t expect you to admit you get hurt.”

“I get hurt all the time. Of course, my response is usually to hurt back.” Her grin was lopsided, and for some reason it made Weiss’s heart skip over a beat. “But hey, sex is just sex. If you did decide to try a little fun with all three of them, I wouldn’t care.”

Now her heart was just stopping dead entirely. It took a few seconds for her to resume normal breathing and hiss, “YANG! That is so inappropriate! I w-wouldn’t- that isn’t how I-”

“Whatever. I’m not here to pass judgment. ‘Let whoever is without sin cast the first stone’ and all. You wanna chase another girl? Have at it. I got no room to talk.”

Weiss’s face was still hot enough to fry an egg on it, but she was too startled by the quote not to respond. “You know the Bible? You?”

Taking offense, Yang straightened a little more. “Yeah, me. My stepmom used to take us to Sunday School all the time. But that was before…”

The particular flavour of silence Yang lapsed into somehow told Weiss she shouldn’t push that topic. So she didn’t. Instead, she squeezed Yang’s hand a little as they walked. In that moment, they both seemed to notice they were still holding hands and let go, walking a little further apart.

“Okay, here’s your stop.”

“Right.” Glancing at her house, she looked back toward Yang. “Um… I feel like I should thank you, but I’m not sure why.”

“Then don’t,” she snorted.

“Oh wait - thank you for telling me you didn’t ask them to flirt with me so much. It really… I mean, you might want to think about whose company you keep, but at least it helps me feel less, um, like prey.”

“You’re still prey. I’m just a sporting hunter.”

Weiss’s stomach dropped away as Yang put her hands on her waist. She thought for sure something was going to happen - but instead, she merely lifted her up to the trellis so she could climb to her bedroom. Every time she felt those hands on her body, she lost her breath and her power of rational thought. It was intimidating and frightening and exhilarating all at once.

She had only gone halfway up when she lost one of her slippers. Yang picked it up and hissed, “You want this now?”

“Wait until I get up there!” she whispered, climbing the rest of the way. Then she turned to catch the slipper…

Only to see Yang pacing away. As loud as she could muster without worrying about waking anyone up, she hissed, “Wait! That’s mine!”

“I’ll keep this as a souvenir, Cinderella,” she hissed back at her, twirling it around in her hand and winking at its owner. “Maybe you can be my queen someday.”

Then Weiss was alone, standing next to her open window with only one slipper and trying to figure out why her life had taken so many incredible turns.

#Princess and The Dragons #freezerburn fanfic #rwby fanfiction #rwbyremnants #1950s AU

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scruffyhappaboreherder · 5 years

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The Lengths That I Will Go To

Happy Star Wars Day, @mosylufanfic! Here is the first part of my response to your prompt: “I would adore a missionfic with spy badassery and competence kink, and yummy forced proximity“. I hope you like tropes and I also hope that R.E.M. doesn’t mind that I tole a line from one of their songs to use as a title. Continuation(s) coming soon.

Cassian knows that Jyn's briefing and debriefing were longer and more intense than his. It's not clear what she was doing while he was mostly in and out of bacta tanks and therapy sessions. She's come by to see him when she could.

His only briefing session began with Draven announcing that Cassian was being demoted to Lieutenant, and that they had a little problem for him to take care of. He manages, just barely, not to tense or grimace.

"You'll have assistance," Draven continues from across the table. They're in a briefing room that could accommodate a dozen people, but it's just him and the general. "Lieutenant Erso will be joining you, posing as a minor scion of the Elder Houses. You'll present yourself as her companion.

"The objective is to neutralize a man styling himself as Janar Skezuld Dilantini. He gives workshops for couples, and teaches what he claims is a traditional art on his planet, making clothing that enhances the erotic experience and the emotional bond between couples." Draven makes a face of distaste. "The Outer Rim culture he claims to come from may or may not exist, and dilanti, the name of the supposed art, may be nothing more than a fabrication. Our interest, and our problem, is that he records his clients, and blackmails the ones that are interesting enough to make it worth his while. He's happy to blackmail low-level Empire types as well as Alliance members.

"I want his data storage recovered or destroyed, and after the workshop you and Lieutenant Erso attend, I want Skezuld to quietly disappear. The means are at your discretion. Do you understand my orders, Cap—Lieutenant?"

Cassian is positive that slip of the tongue was deliberate. "Yes, sir."

"Good. Between the two of you, you should have the technical and other skills to carry out this mission. Don't let me down." Draven stands and so does Cassian. "Erso has the full files. You can get them from her."

"Yes, sir."

"You're dismissed."

Cassian nods and leaves as quickly as he can without seeming to leave quickly.

He finds Jyn in another briefing room with Leia Organa. The princess is standing off to the side, her brow furroughed; there's a disordered stack of clothing on the table. A woman with her hair dyed teal is sorting through a pile of jewelry. Leia's attendant Winter is watching a droid making some alteration to a dress. Jyn is sitting on the table, fingers are moving quickly over a datapad; is she taking notes?

"It's too bad the Elder Houses are so stylistically conservative," says Teal Hair. "I think you'd look great with green hair. All different shades, like a forest."

"For her nails, maybe," says Leia. "Just a tint."

"No, thank you," says Jyn. "No tints of green."

Cassian clears his throat. Everyone but the droid looks at him. "I came to see about the mission files," he says to Jyn.

"Sending them now. Plus notes. Not about this. Well, mostly not about this." She gives him a little smile and waves her hand at the pile of clothes.

"Don't leave," Winter says. He wasn't expecting her to say that. "If you're going to pose as Jyn's companion, you'll need to be used to seeing her in something other than fatigues." She takes the fabric from the droid and hands it to Jyn.

Jyn rolls her eyes and accepts the green and blue bundle. She shucks off her jacket and lifts the gown over her head.

"No," says Winter. "You can't check the fit accurately over your shirt."

Jyn skins out of her shirt, and kicks off her boots—"Shoes," says Leia, "we'll have to do something about shoes."—and tugs the gown into place. The fabric is heavy; it looks harsh and scratchy. The top is dark green brocade, form-fitting with long sleeves, but the skirt is blue and swishy and shimmering, with a faint darker blue pattern that echoes the one on the bodice.

Everyone but Jyn looks at him; she's fussing with the hang of the trim on the cuffs of the gown. He sits next to her and fingers the beaded lace. "Will that bother you?"

"Yes, but not enough to justify getting rid of it." She brushes her shoulder with his, very lightly. "So whose wardrobe are we going to raid so you can look your part? Or are you set?"

"Most of my wardrobe is jackets," he admits. "And various uniforms."

"Just like the rest of the boys on this base," says Teal Hair. "You should probably stop somewhere on the way that has a good textile market. And get Jyn some footwear to go with her wardrobe. We could send Winter with you to help."

Cassian shakes his head. "The fewer links to known members of the rebellion, the better. Though if you have a list of options, we will be happy to consider them," he adds, glancing at Winter.

Winter picks up her own datapad, and after a minute or two Cassian's datapad blinks and Jyn's chimes. He and Jyn scan the list, and pick the one that seems most likely to supply their needs.

"2-1B here could go, in case you need help."

"Doctor Kallonia needs him here, Amilyn," says Leia. So Teal Hair actually has a name. He's grateful to Leia for saving him from having to say that he'd rather not have a droid along on this mission. Losing Kaytoo still stings.

"I can manage enough sewing for basic things," Jyn says. "We'll manage."

"Lieutenant Erso and I have done this before," Cassian adds. "Though we're thankful for all your assistance."

Teal-haired Amilyn still looks skeptical, but she shrugs and asks why Jyn learned to sew. Jyn points out that it's handy to be able to repair a seam or a rip in the field, and most of all to be able to adjust your clothing for the bwasn't etter concealmeant of weapons, which makes Amilyn eye the pile of clothing with a newly critical eye.

"Speaking of which, Cassian, would you go check over that little yacht they're sending us out in? I'd like to know that it's in good shape."

"All right." He doubts he can contribute very much to this aspect of the planning. He trusts Jyn to handle it, the way she trusts him to make sure the base's mechanics haven't missed anything.

She finds him there a few hours later, tidying up around the piloting controls. Whoever the Rebellion got this craft from wasn't much of a one for neatness. But under the rubbish, everything is wired properly and operational.

Her arms are full of bags and boxes, and he gets up to help her with them.

"The stateroom is aft of the lounge. It's about half clean."

"Then I'll do the rest." She follows him down the little straight corridor to the stateroom. "Ah. One bed."

He nods. "There are some staff quarters down below by the engine room. I can sleep there."

Jyn scoffs, and sits down the bed, letting the bags she's still holding fall at her feet, and pats the mattress. He accepts the tacit invitation and sits down next to her.

"Amilyn and Winter had a bet going that you wouldn't be able to keep it together if I took my top off. Amilyn lost."

He's interrogated Jyn about her fathers, however gently, and seen her undone by her first contact with Galen Erso in over a decade, and nearly died with her. A little partial nudity is nothing compared to everything that they've done together. He looks over at her, and suspects that she's thinking something similar.

"They'll expect us to be sleeping together once we get there. In the literal sense if nothing else," she points out. "Just think of it as practice. Preparation."

He reaches for her hand; she gives it to him, and tugs their joined hands over so that they're resting on her knee. "You can decide when, or whether, the literal sleeping together leads to anything else." She rests her head against his shoulder, and takes a breath. "I would like it if it did." This comes out as a soft whispered confession.

Cassian remembers all the things he'd thought he might feel about her, in all the moments when he'd been sure there wouldn't be time for him to really know her. He's tried to keep those feelings sealed behind a door in his heart. because he has a job to do, and it doesn't involve surrendering to the coruscating chaos Jyn makes him feel. But he decides he can allow himself one indulgence.

With his free hand, he lifts her chin, and leans over and kisses her. Her lips part, and she kisses him back eagerly. When they break apart, he rests his forehead against hers. He'd been going to say that everything they did after this had to be for the mission, but he literally can''t make himself form the the words. He tries again. "I wanted to do something that was definitely only for us. Because we leave tomorrow and you have to be Countess Jwaree and I have to pretend to be ... I don't know what."

"Is the backstory a problem?"

He shakes his head. "No. I just don't want to pretend with you. But I don't want to be real for ... this mission."

"We can talk about it on the way. We'll figure something out." She cups his face in her hands. "Part of our mission is to gather the data. We can destroy ours before we hand it over, if we have to.

"And in the meantime, I think the first thing I'm going to clean in here is going to be the 'fresher. Wouldn't want to get underway and then find out that it doesn't work." She looks mischievous. "I'll let you know when I'm done."

#rebelcaptainmay4 #my fanfic

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vgckwb · 5 years

Text

ML: Are They Worthy? Chapter 15: Someone Else’s Standard!/Rhythm Robber

After school, Max approached Lila and asked “Hey Lila, do you want to test my new video game? I got most of the bugs worked out, but I want to check some of the balancing issues.”

Lila was surprised. “I thought we weren’t going to keep tabs on me,” she said.

“We aren’t. I just wanted some help” Max said. “I guess I’ll ask someone else.”

Something felt weird in Lila. She was sad? She didn’t want to see Max dejected. Did she actually care about him? “Oh. Sure. I’ll help you” she said.

“Really?” Max said

“Yeah” said Lila.

“Great” said Max. “Question: How good are you at video games?”

Lila felt actual joy from this conversation. “Honestly, I’m not very good. I hope you don't mind”

Max said “Not at all. In fact, I prefer getting input from all sorts of people. I like getting input from Marinette and her parents, but they are really good. It’d be interested to see how a rookie plays the game. No offence”

And there it was. Like a note off-key in a symphony, or a bite of a sandwich with too much mayo, the mere mention of Marinette’s name soured Lila’s mood a little bit. Still, she could get passed it. “None taken” said Lila. “Are you ready to go then?”

“Whenever you are” Max said.

The two of them left. Lila sent a text to Hawk Moth telling her where she’ll be just so he doesn’t Akumatize anyone in the area. Meanwhile, Vlad approached Marinette and asked “So, are you doing anything for the art exhibition?” he asked.

“Yeah” she said. “I’m making new outfits for Kitty Section.”

Vlad was shocked. “Right. The band Adrein told me about” he said. “I meant are you doing anything for you?”

“Me?” Marinette said. “Uh, I don’t know if I would have the time.”

“That’s a shame. Adrien tells me you’re a great designer” Vlad said. “I wanna see what you come up with for yourself.”

“Well, I’m meeting with them today” Marinette said.

“Great! I’ll come with you” Vlad said. Marinette was stunned. “Adrien says that they’re cool. Besides, it gives me a chance to get to know more people. Maybe I can convince them to let you work on a ‘you’ project.”

“Gee, that’s nice, but…” Mainette said.

Vlad was confused. “Do you not want to make something for yourself?”

“Well, I do, it’s just…” Marinette stammered. “I don’t want to let anyone down.”

“Relax Marinette. I’m sure you won’t let anyone down” Vlad said. “Let’s go.” The two left to go to the Liberty.

“Here we are” Marinette said.

“Hey Marinette” Rose said. “Hi Vlad.”

“Hi Rose” Vlad said.

Mylene approached the two as they boarded the ship. “So, are you ready to here Kitty Section’s latest work?”

“Work in progress” Ivan said.

“From what I’ve heard, it sounds great” Mylene said.

Ivan blushed. “Thanks” he said sheepishly. “But we’ve still gotta work on it.”

“So, is everyone here?” Vlad asked.

“Almost. I still don’t see Luka” Marinette said.

“I’m here” Luka said, stepping out with his guitar.

Vlad took a hard look at Luka and was enamored. His blue fringes. His cool demeanor. His steady eyes. The fact that he played guitar. Vlad’s heart skipped a beat. He turned to Marinette and nervously said “Marinette! How do I look?!”

Marinette was confused. “You look fine?” she answered.

“Fine? FINE?! I need to look better than FINE!” he panicked.

Marinette giggled. “You look great. What’s this about?” she asked. Vlad glanced at Luka and started blushing. Marinette caught on. “Oh,” she said. She then tried to speak and tell Vlad what Luka’s deal was, but was so taken aback that she couldn’t.

“Marinette? What’s wrong? Why aren’t you speaking to me?” Vlad asked.

“Marinette?” Luka said. “Is this guy bothering you?”

Vlad was shocked. “No, I-”

“Come on Marinette. Let’s go” Luka said, dragging the stunned silent Marinette to his room. “I’ll be out in a minute.”

Vlad watched at this cute boy dragged off Marinette like it was nothing. “GAH!” he said. He heard Juleka giggle. “What are you laughing at?”

“Nothing” she said. “It’s just fun watching another person crush on my brother.”

“Another?” Vlad said.

“Yeah” Juleka said. “Marinette has somewhat of a crush on him as well.”

“I thought she liked Adrien” Vlad said, regaining some composure.

“She does” Juleka said, sitting down. Vlad sat down with her. “But she also likes Luka. At least a little bit. And Luka likes her back.”

“Oh” Vlad said, depressed.

“Cheer up” Juleka said. “Marinette might still go for Adrien.”

“Yeah, but does Luka go for guys?” Vlad asked.

“Um, maybe?” Juleka said.

“MAYBE?!” Vlad said.

“He hasn’t said he does. But he hasn’t said he doesn’t” Juleka said. “Hey, can I talk to you about something?”

Vlad was intrigued. “Sure” he said.

Meanwhile, in Luka’s room, Luka was questioning Marinette. “Who was that guy?”

Marinette was still in a stupor. “That guy? Oh, he’s just Vlad” she said, nervously. “He’s new here. He joined me today because he wanted to come check you guys out, and stuff.”

“Vlad? Juleka told me about him” Luka said. “She says he’s a model friend of Adrien’s. Does he have a thing for you?”

“What? No. I mean! Who would ever have a thing for me” Marinette said. “I mean! He doesn’t have a thing for me, but it’s cool that people have things for me. I mean! Ohhhhhhh.”

Luka giggled. “It’s OK Marinette” Luka said. “I just want to know why he was freaking out so much.”

“Well, that’s, you see, because, uh” Marinette bumbled. She didn’t want to tell him about Vlad’s crush on him. After all, she wouldn’t want anyone else telling Adrien how she felt about him.

“Why don’t we go ask him?” Luka suggested.

“Great idea” Marinette said. The two of them left Luka’s room and met back outside.

Vlad and Juleka were finishing talking. “Hey Vlad” Luka said

Vlad was taken aback. He knew his name. “Yyyyes?” he said.

“What are you so nervous about?” Luka asked.

Vlad wasn’t sure how to answer. “Well, it’s just, uh…”

Luka smiled. “You and Marinette are so alike. Is that why you like her?”

“Like her?” Vlad said. Juleka laughed.

“What’s so funny that you are laughing?” Luka said.

“I’m sorry” Juleka said. “It’s just Marinette isn’t the one he has eyes for.”

“Oh. Then who?” Luka said.

“Wow this guy is a bit dense” Vlad said.

“You can kind of see the similarities between him and a certain blonde boy” Juleka said. She and Vlad laughed.

“What’s going on?” Luka said.

“Alright Luka. When did he start getting nervous?” Juleka asked.

Luka answered “I don’t know. The minute I showed up he was nervous.” Juleka nodded. Vlad blushed and looked to the side. “Oh. Um, thanks? I’m sorry, this has never happened to me before.”

“It’s OK” Vlad said softly.

The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Thankfully the singer for Kitty Section had the sharpness of a knife, but the sweetness of honey. “Ready to go everyone?” Rose said.

“Sure Rose” Luka said. The band got on the stage, while Vlad, Marinette, and Mylene sat down.

“This is our newest song!” Rose said at the mic. “We don’t have a name for it yet.” Ivan counted them down and they started playing.

Not too far away, a street dance troupe was dancing. A guy with a white shirt with a red tank top over it, a red bandanna, black pants, and a cellphone with turquoise earbuds which he was grasping to calm his nerves and pump himself up. He then walked up to the troupe and said “Hey guys. Could I try out again?”

The troupe looked at him and one of them said “Yo Marshall, I thought you told your brother he couldn’t join.”

“I did” said Marshall. Marshall was a bit older than his brother, but he was wearing mostly the same outfit. Except he had a blue tank top and bandanna, and pink earbuds.

“You told me that I couldn’t join until I got better at dancing” the brother said. “I’ve been practicing.”

“Look, Micah” Marshall said, pulling his brother aside, “I know you’ve been practicing. But being a part of my squad is a whole ‘nother level. I just don’t think you’re ready. You understand right?”

Micah couldn’t believe it. He started to cry and broke off from his brother’s huddle. “I just wanted to be like you!” he screamed running away with his phone tightly in his grasp.

Hawk Moth could sense this. “Someone just wanting to emulate their older brother but can’t live up to his standards. What a perfect first step in this latest dance.” He infused his energy onto a butterfly. “Fly my little Akuma, and feast on his anguish!”

Micah ran until he was out of breath. The Akuma flew until it hit his phone. “Rhythm Robber! I am Hawk Moth. Your brother doesn’t think you have rhythm? Well now you can have all of the rhythm you can take. The only thing I want in return is Ladybug and Cat Noir’s Miraculous!”

“Don’t worry Hawk Moth. They’ll be dancing on two left feet before you know it” Micah said, as a purple-black aura surrounded him.

Back at the dance troupe hangout, Marshall asked “So, what should we do now?” Suddenly, music blasted down upon them The group turned to look at a man who wearing an all black skintight suit that turned dark red at the feet and white palms, a forearm-sized rectangle on his right forearm that looked like a mini-turntable, turquoise lines going from that turntable going up to his head, a blue face, and speakers on his shoulders.”Micah?” Marshall said.

“Nope. I’m Rhythm Robber now!” Rhythm Robber said. “And I’m here to take your rhythm.” He touched everyone in the dance troupe. The dark red on his shoes started growing on his leg and changing from dark red to red to orange to the slightest bit of yellow.

“What happened?” Marshall said. Rhythm Robber then did a dance. “Don’t get cocky” Marshall said, but as soon as he took a step, he fell over.

“Oh, what’s the matter?” Rhythm Robber said. “Do you not feel it anymore? I guess I’m on a whole ‘nother level now. How does it feel to be this low?” He then heard Kitty Section practicing. “Oooooo. They sound like they have rhythm. Soon it’ll be mine!” he said, jumping off in that direction.

Kitty Section finished playing and the audience was clapping. Soon they were joined by a fourth clapper. They all looked up to see Rhythm Robber clapping on top of one of the speakers. “Nice job. Really good rhythm. Too bad it’s going to be mine soon.” He jumped down and touched Ivan and then Juleka. His suit grew more yellow. Rose, Luka, Marinette, Vlad, and Mylene ran off of the ship.

Meanwhile, Adrien was walking by the Seine. “I can’t wait to tell Kitty Section that I’m available more. I can hear the keyboard calling my name” Adrien said.

“Oh great. Someone who hears instruments talking” Plagg said.

“It’s a figure of speech” Adrien said. They then saw everyone running off of the Liberty being chased by a supervillain. Adrien hid. “Plagg! Claws Out!” He transformed into Cat Noir.

Rose tripped, just just as it looked like Rhythm Robber was about to steal her rhythm, Cat Noir swept her away. “Sorry, but I can’t let you do that” Cat Noir said.

“Cat Noir. How lovely for you to join us” Rhythm Robber said. “Care to have this dance?”

“Sorry, my dance card’s full” Cat Noir said.

“What a shame. It doesn’t matter anyway” Rhythm Robber said, doing some dancing. “Soon you won’t be able to keep up.” He charged at Cat Noir, but Cat Noir kept his distance.

Marinette said “Split up! He can’t get us all!” Everyone followed her lead. She hid and called out “Tikki! Spots on!” transforming into Ladybug.

Vlad also hid and pulled Beyyo out. “Beyyo! Fangs Sharpen!” he called out, transforming into Judgement Wolf.

Cat Noir and Rhythm Robber kept attacking and dodging each other. “Sorry, but I only wanna dance with somebody who loves me” Cat Noir said.

“”Well, three is a crowd” Ladybug said.

“If I’m a crown, what does that make this guy?” Judgement Wolf asked.

“Trouble” Cat Noir said.

Rhythm Robber was confused. “Who’s this new guy?” He asked.

“That is Judgement Wolf” Hawk Moth said. “You don’t need to worry about grabbing his miraculous, so just destroy him.”

“Got it” Rhythm Robber said. He charged at the heroes.

“Ladybug, Judgement Wolf, look out. I think he steals you rhythm if he touches you” Cat Noir said.

“Got it” Ladybug said. The heroes dodged the villain. “Where do you suppose the Akuma is?” Ladybug asked.

“Probably that thing on his arm” Judgement Wolf said. “It’s the only thing asymmetrical about his costume.”

“Got it. Lucky Charm!” Ladybug called out. She received a clay tea cup.

“You suggesting we offer him some tea to cool down?” Cat Noir said.

Ladybug looked at it, and it reminded her of Master Fu. “I got it. We need more help” Ladybug said. “Keep him busy!’ She left.

“Got it” Cat Noir said. “First one to hit him wins” He told Judgement Wolf.

“Interesting. Wins what?” Judgement Wolf asked.

“Well, what do you want?” Cat Noir asked, dodging Rhythm Robber while trying to hit him.

Judgement Wolf responded while also dodging and trying to attack “Well, this guy’s got the kind of rhythm that can be so smooth. I reckon the prize should be high. How about if I win, you confess to Ladybug in your civilian form?”

“Got it” Cat Noir said. “And if I win, you tell me who you are.”

“Agreed” Judgement Wolf Said.

“Will you two just shut up and dance?” Rhythm Robber asked.

“Nope. Talking’s part of my charm” Cat Noir said.

“Besides, you’re the one that needs to evacuate the dancefloor” Judgement Wolf said.

Marinette arrived at Master Fu’s “Master! I think I’m going to need some help.”

“I understand” Master Fu said. He got out the Miracle Box. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng, pick an ally you can trust to fight alongside you on this mission. Choose wisely; such powers are meant to serve the greater good. Once the mission is over you will retrieve the Miraculous from them.”

I need someone who can keep up rhythmically. Got it. “I’m going to need the snake miraculous.” Master Fu gave it to her and she left.

Meanwhile Luka was watching from a distance as Cat Noir and Judgement Wolf kept fighting and dodging Rhythm Robber. As Judgement Wolf was distracting Rhythm Robber, Cat Noir struck his back. “Oh yeah! I win!” he said. Eat your heart out!”

Judgement Wolf replied “Settle down, we’ve still gotta deal with this guy.”

Luka was looking on, wishing he could help. “Luka?” Said Ladybug. He turned around to see Ladybug.

“Oh Ladybug” Luka said.

“You wanna help, right?” Ladybug said.

“More than anything” Luka said.

Ladybug nodded. “Luka Couffaine. Here is the snake miraculous, which grants you the power of repetition. You will use it for the greater good. Once the job is complete, you will return the miraculous to me. Can I trust you?”

Luka looked at the box, nodded, and grabbed it. He opened it and out popped Sass. “It’ssss been a bit, hassssn’t it” Sass said.

“It hasssss” Luka said. Ladybug giggled. He put on the bangle and called out “Sass! Uptempo!” he transformed into Viperion.

“Let’s go” Ladybug said. The two of them lept away.

Cat Noir and Judgement Wolf were battling it out with Rhythm Robber. Rhythm Robber was struck on the back. “OW! What was that?” He turned around to see Ladybug and Viperon. “Another one?”

Judgement Wolf saw Viperion and again his heart skipped a beat. He shook his head. “Focus” he told himself.

“You’re not going to get away from me this time!” Rhythm Robber said, charging at Ladybug and Viprion. They dodged it and met up with Cat Noir and Judgement Wolf.

“Lucky Charm!” Ladybug called out. “A blindfold?”

Viperion marked this point on his bangle. Rhythm Robber saw Ladybug standing there. “Standing still will be your downfall!” He charged at Ladybug and stole her rhythm, his suit turning up from yellow to the slightest shade of green.

Viperion slid his bangle back. Again, Rhythm Robber charged at Ladybug. “Ladybug! Look out!” Viperion called out. Cat Noir noticed this and jumped in the way. Rhythm Robber stole his rhythm instead.

Viperion slid it back again. “Ladybug! Cat Noir! Watch out!’ Viperion was ready to jump in the way this time, but Judgement Wolf pushed him aside and blocked with his sword. “How’d you do that?”

“I’m immune to miraculous powers” Judgement Wolf said. “I know what’s going on.” Rhythm Robber grabbed Judgement Wolf and stole his rhythm.

Viperion rewound one more time. “Judgement Wolf! Now!” Judgement Wolf blocked and dodged Rhythm Robber’s attack.

Ladybug noticed the white palms, the black suit, and the blindfold. “I got it!” Ladybug said.

She went up to Cat Noir and whispered her plan to him. “Good thinking, M’Lady” Cat Noir said.

“Hold him closer” Ladybug shouted to Judgement Wolf. Judgement Wolf got in, while making sure not to get grabbed. Ladybug jumped on Judgement Wolf, blindfolded Rhythm Robber, and took Judgement Wolf away.

“You think this’ll stop me?” Rhythm Robber said. “I can still feel the rhythm.”

Cat Noir came up to Viperion and whispered in his ear. “Got it” Viperion said. Viperion charged at Rhythm Robber.

“Gotcha!’ he said, about to strike Viperion. However, Viperion dodged under Rhythm Robber’s legs. Cat Noir then jumped and pushed Rhythm Robber’s hand against his body. Rhythm Robber then began to short circuit. The levels in his body went up and down rapidly. His face was contorting wildly.

“Cataclysm!” Cat Noir called out. He touched the box on his forearm and freed the Akuma. Rhythm Robber was then surrounded by a purple-black aura and turned back into Micah.

Ladybug prepared to capture the Akuma. “No more evildoing for you, little Akuma. Time to de-evilize!’ She captured the Akuma and freed the butterfly. “Bye bye little butterfly. MIraculous Ladybug!” she said, throwing the blindfold in the air. Everyone's rhythm was returned.

“You may have stepped on my feet today Ladybug, but soon you’ll be dancing to the beat of my drum!” Hawk Moth called out.

“What happened?” Micah said.

“Pound it!” said the heroes. Viperon’s bengal started to beep.

“Let’s go” said Ladybug. She, Viperon, and Judgement Wolf started to leave.

“Woah! Why does he get to know who I am?” Viperon asked.

“And how come I don’t?” Cat Noir asked.

Ladybug turned to Cat Noir. “It’s because its his job,” she said.

“Yeah. I test users of the miraculous” Judgement Wolf said. “I’ll explain it to you better later.”

Cat Noir smiled. “Got it.” The three left, while Cat Noir left a different way.

Once Ladybug, Viperon, and Judgement Wolf were in a safe location, Ladybug said “Look, Viperon-”

“Don’t worry. I trust you Ladybug” Vieron said. “Sass! Downtempo!” He transformed back into Luka and gave the miraculous back to Ladybug.

Judgement Wolf gasped, but then caught himself. “Yes, well, if you want to continue being Viperion, I’m going to have to see if you are worthy of Ladybug’s trust. Understand?”

“Of course” said Luka. “I should probably get back and check on everyone.”

“Bye Luka” Ladybug said. “I gotta get this back to Master Fu.”

“See you in a bit” Judgement Wolf said. Ladybug left. “Beyyo! Fangs Dull!” He transformed back into Vlad.

“I can’t believe you fell for the same boy twice in one day” Beyyo said.

“Shut up” Vlad said. Beyyo giggled. He walked back to the Liberty. He saw everyone else coming back, and Luka helping the former Rhythm Robber up.

Suddenly, Marshall and his crew ran up and saw Micah. “Micah!” Marshall said. He ran to his brother and gave him a hug.

“Bro, I'm sorry,” Micah said.

“It’s OK. You’re safe now” Marshall said.

“Marshall?” Luka said.

“Oh, hey Luka. That was you making that killer noise earlier?” Marshall said.

“Yeah. I didn’t know this guy was Micha” Luka said.

“What’s going on?” Ivan asked.

“Sorry. This is my friend Marshall. We’re in the same class” Luka said.

“Luka sometimes makes music for me and crew to dance to” Marshall said.

Micha looked down. “Hey. Your brother loves you” Luka said. “He tells me how hard you try at dancing.”

“He won’t let me join his crew” Micah said.

“Then start your own” Luka said. “Marshall tells me how much you try to be like him but you should come up with your own style that works for you. At least, that’s what he told me when he kicked me out of the crew.”

Micah looked at Marshall. “You kicked him out?”

“Yeah, but it was for the best. He needed to do his own thing” Marshall said.

“Which I am. With Kitty Section” Luka said. “We’re working on our new song. Wanna listen?”

“Sure” said Marshall. “You’re coming too” he said, grabbing Micah.

“Sorry! Sorry!” Marinette said, running back. “I just kept running until I saw the ladybugs, so it took me a while to get back.”

“Hey everyone!” Adrien said, walking by. “I’ve got some good news!”

They both saw each other and then the crowd. “What’s going on?” they both asked.

Luka explained everything to them. “Oh. Cool!” Adrien said. They began walkinging onto the Liberty. “So, working on a new song? Is there a chance I could be a part of it?”

“Um, don’t you have a bunch of restrictions?” Juleka mumbled.

“Not anymore” Adrien said. “My father is being more relaxed with his policies.”

“Cool” said Luka. “We’ll see about the song.”

Everyone had a seat, and the band got back on stage. Kitty Section then played their newest song again. Everyone gave a round of applause.

“Thank you!” said Rose. “So Marinette, do you have any ideas for a costume based on this?”

“Well, I, uh” Marinette said.

“Actually,” Vlad said, “I was thinking Marinette could do something for herself for the exhibition.”

“Marinette, is that what you want to do?” Luka asked.

Marinette looked at everyone. She took a deep breath and said “Well, kind of. I mean, I would also like to help you, and I wouldn’t want to let you down, but I don’t know if I would have the time to do both.”

“It’s OK Marinette” Luka said. “Do whatever you want to do. You make cool stuff for everyone else all the time. Maybe you should do something for yourself.”

Marinette blushed.

Vlad looked disappointed, but also blushed. “He’s so cool.”

Clapping was heard from the shore. Everyone turned to see who it was. It was an older gentleman who had salt and pepper hair, wearing a black trench coat, green pants, and had a briefcase beside him. Marinette thought something about him looked familiar. “Dad?” Juleka said. That’s when it hit Marinette, and everyone else. He had Luka’s kind eyes and Juleka’s sincere smile. This was their father.

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug fanfic #marinette #Vlad #Lila #Max #Beyyo #Juleka #Rose #Ivan #Mylene #Luka #Sass #Adrien #Plagg #Master Fu #Hawk Moth

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thefactsofthematter · 5 years

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roller derby sprace au

OKAY so this is entirely inspired by @orolly and this amazing art, but i suddenly had many feelings about a roller derby au?? just look at the pic you’ll understand

so like,,, i just went ahead and wrote it.

1.4k; modern sprace; mostly fluff but kinda hurt/comfort; tw for lots of cursing and one (1) broken bone

((if the formatting looks weird i’m sorry mobile is being kinda glitchy and spacing things out oddly!))

"We still on for date night after this?"

Race laughs when instead of saying anything, Spot just pushes his mouthguard in and shoots him a thumbs-up. They're skating around the track for a warmup, trying to be inconspicuous, as both their teams get annoyed when they see a member fraternizing with the enemy.

Race thinks that's a load of shit— Spot is only his enemy once the match has started.

"Netflix and chill, my place," Spot finally replies, the plastic over his teeth giving him a bit of a lisp. "As long as I don't take you out too hard on the track."

The mischievous glint in Spot's eyes prompts Race to shoot him the middle finger, carefully out of the view of any coaches or referees.

"Suck my dick, Brooklyn."

Spot sticks his tongue out.

"Maybe later." He laughs loudly when Race shoves him, almost making his skate-clad feet fly out from under him. "Eat shit, Manhattan."

Race rolls his eyes and slides in his own mouthguard, just as they hear an angry whistle from behind them.

"Watch the trash-talking!" calls Davey, the head referee. "I can't give you a penalty since the game hasn't started, but this is your warning, Spot. Cursing in general is a yes; cursing at people is a no. Watch it."

Spot's jaw drops affrontedly as Race cracks up beside him.

"He started it!" he whines, pointing to Race, who simply pushes off and skates away to join his own teammates, skating backwards momentarily to blow him a kiss. Spot mimes catching it, and then throwing it on the ground. "That's it, you're on, Higgins! See if I'm ever nice to you again!"

Before Race can respond, they're interrupted by the loud whistle that indicates the start of a round, so everyone heads to their places to get going. For the next hour, Spot is most definitely not Race's boyfriend— he's just another body to pass on the way to winning.

"Wall up, Manhattan! What's going on!? Smalls, get up behind Finch! Block Spot! Let's go!"

Race beams with pride when Smalls, his little prodigy, hip checks Spot hard enough to knock him over. The best thing about a coed league is that there's actually some players shorter than Spot, so they can take him out from below, where he's least expecting to be hit.

Race is coming up behind the pack of players with considerable speed, and the fact that Spot is still struggling to get up means Race might be able to sneak through and gain a lap on him. The rounds that they're both playing as jammers— the ones who have to race around the track and pass the other players, the blockers, to gain points— are typically the most interesting ones, if only for how competitive the two of them get.

"On your right, Red!" calls Race as he approaches, and Albert pulls a quick 180 to stop short, making the two Brooklyn girls that had been skating right behind him crash into him, lose their balance, and clear up a space for Race to skate past. "Thanks bud!"

After powering past that mess, Race only has one more Brooklyn player to pass in order to make it out of the pack and onto a breakaway. He skates up behind him, and all things considered, it shouldn't be too hard to get around him. He'll just have to shoulder-check him, skirt around him, and then—

Shit. Their feet have somehow gotten tangled, and Race has totally lost his balance. He shoots his hands out in front of him to try and break the fall, but it proves pretty much useless with how quickly he finds himself hitting the ground.

God damn it.

Spot is entirely aware that in a full-contact sport, injuries are bound to happen. He's been playing for a few years and he's seen plenty of people get hurt.

However, when it's Race getting hurt, Spot can't help but panic.

His stomach sinks as he watches his boyfriend's skates fly out from under him, sending him catapulting down to the track, where he faceplants so unceremoniously that it's almost comical.

Everyone laughs at first, but it fades out when Race doesn't immediately bounce back up. He just... lays there, unmoving, facedown on the track.

Spot's heart is pounding in his ears as Davey's whistle blares and he and Jack, Manhattan's head coach, come jogging out to the track. The rest of the players head back to the benches to get out of the way, but Spot lingers nervously nearby.

"Hey Racer," says Jack, gently tapping Race's shoulder. This finally gets Race to move— he groans quietly in pain and rolls onto his back with a bit of help from Jack. "Are you alright, buddy?"

Race's nose is bleeding, dripping down his chin, but he ignores it, yanking his mouthguard out and tossing it to the floor beside him.

"That fuckin' hurt," he grunts, still lying flat on the ground. "I think I'm fine, but, like... Jesus."

Spot can't see Jack roll his eyes from here, but judging by the way Race's middle finger shoots up, he's sure that's what happened.

"I have to do a concussion test," sighs Jack, "just to be safe. I'm gonna ask you some questions and you'll have to listen carefully and—"

"Yeah, hang on," snaps Race, cutting Jack off. "My head feels fine, but look at my foot first, please. I swear to god I felt something snap or tear or… whatever. It hurts really fucking bad.”

Spot feels entirely useless, just standing there watching, so he skates over and slides to his knees next to his boyfriend. He quietly offers a hand for Race to squeeze— which is immediately taken as Race winces in pain while Jack gently handles his right foot to try and untie his skate.

“Shit,” says Davey, while leaning over Jack’s shoulder as they remove Race’s skate and sock. “That’s really swelling and it’s already bruising. Definitely sprained, maybe even broken. You need to go to the hospital, man.”

Several hours in the ER later, date night has turned into ice-Race’s-broken-ankle-and-feed-him-candy-to-stop-him-from-whining night.

“We would’ve won,” grumbles Race, from where he’s laying with his head in Spot’s lap. “If it weren’t for Hotshot being a goddamn tank, we totally would’ve crushed you guys. Tell him to go fuck himself next time you see him, on behalf of me.”

Spot rolls his eyes and feeds Race another few Sour Patch Kids to shut him up.

“We’ll just have to rematch once you’re up and running again,” he taunts, punctuating it by tapping Race on the nose. “In the meantime, I guess you’ll have to be my cheerleader. You’re an honorary Brooklyn Bad Boy now.”

Race slaps Spot’s hand away from his face with an annoyed whine.

“A, that’s still the stupidest fucking team name I’ve ever heard. B, not happening, asshole. I’m loyal to Manhattan and I don’t look good in red. I could never be Brooklyn.”

Spot raises an eyebrow as he looks around his apartment, littered with their shared belongings.

“You kind of are, you practically live here anyways! Say— now that you’re gonna need help getting around, why don’t you just move in?”

As soon as the words leave his mouth, Spot realizes just how big that question is. He’s really in love enough with Race to live with him. That’s, like, one step short of proposing. Holy shit.

Race’s face breaks into a surprised grin as he realizes that Spot was being serious.

“For real?” he asks, pushing himself up into a sitting position. “You’re serious? Like, my lease is almost up and I was meaning to talk to you, since I don’t wanna renew it… You actually want me to live here?”

Instead of responding with words, Spot pulls him in for a kiss. He smiles into it, thumbing gently along Race’s jawline.

“If you won’t join my derby team, I’ll settle for letting you join my apartment. I’m gonna make you Brooklyn somehow— it’s the best city in the world, y’know.”

Race rolls his eyes, but dutifully kisses Spot’s cheek.

“And you’re the biggest dork in the world. But, yes, I’d love to move in with you, loser. I love you so much.”

Spot grins, not sure just how he got so lucky.

“I love you too, asshole. More than anything.”

tag list: @landlessbud @eponinemylove @i-got-personality @alovelymoonbeam @penzyroamin @graceful-popcorn @bencookisagod @auspicioustarantula @neverplannedonsomeonelikeyou @orollyitsracetrackhiggins @backgroundnewsies @magimerlyn @myheartissetinmotion @papesdontsellthemselves @supremebesson @justasadcryptid @marvels-ninja @aw-jus-let-em-try @big-potato-asshole @stop-the-presses @fameworks-quicker @wilde-guess @never-fear-brooklyns-here @r-a-c-e-t-r-a-c-k @fandom-fangirl07 @miiiicah @theresagoodchanceicouldfly @dying-poet

#gang gang pls reblog im a ho for feedback #racetrack higgins #spot conlon #sprace #roller derby au #my writing #jack kelly #davey jacobs #newsies

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captainnickjohn-blog · 5 years

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Hold My Beer. I Need a Career.

Forgive me, I'm a sucker for stupid rhymes.

I normally really don't enjoy bringing attention to myself, but for my first blog post, I wanted to, well....bring attention to myself.

Specifically, I wanted to write about my interest in beer. You might be wondering, "yea, who isn't interest in a beer right now?", or just straight up, "how is that even an interest?"

Well, over the last couple years I've spent time reading books, watching videos, visiting places, speaking with experts, all about beer. It’s something I've appreciated learning more about and I wanted to discuss how this interest has brought me to where I am today. This is an exercise in reflection for me. For you, there are some insights about me as well as some decent photos of beer!

I'll be examining how my beer interest came about and how I threw myself into it. I'll also talk about how I hoped to take this interest and turn it into something of a career. Finally, some thoughts about where my head is now and how my goals may have altered, but not eliminated something that I really enjoy.

Also just FYI, it's been really f**king hot outside. Let this post be a reminder to cool off with a delicious, cold pint. *insert wink face*

Beer Beginnings

It was September of 2016, I was a line cook at Jack Astor’s and I just got moved up to becoming a server. Moving from a line cook position to serving was a lot to take in all at once: learning the steps of good service, carrying three full plates at a time (took a lot of trial and error, and hungry irritated guests), and learning all of the different specialty drinks and beers.

At that time, Jack Astor's had over 20 draught taps and already I was wondering, "how on Earth am I going to remember all of these?" As luck would have it, the restaurant decided to add an additional 20 taps to their repertoire, which made me double down with, "Seriously, how on EARTH am I going to remember all of these??"

Memorizing the names of all the beers was one thing, but retaining every beer's style, flavour profile, aroma, and attitude (I’m kidding, that's not a thing) were daunting to me. My solution: I had to learn about beer!

Back then, I was only drinking classics like Canadian or Budweiser; if it were hot enough I'd even go for a Kronenbourg Blanc or a Shock Top, but for me, that was a bit of a rarity. Hell, I honestly didn't even know that beer was broken up into two categories: ales and lagers, maybe YOU didn't even know that!

So to tackle this problem of mine, I took the time to watch several beer videos and look at beer infographics. Once I felt I knew about enough about the foundations of beer, I went back to the Astor's 40+ draught beer menu and guess what - it took WAY less time than I'd thought to remember all of the beers!

My work was done; I knew all 40+ beer taps and their styles, and I could even somewhat comfortably talk about the beers’ tastes to guests (with a pinch of BS). However, the more I spoke about beer at work and after reflecting on the beer learning I had done, I had the realization that I genuinely LOVED learning about beer. That whole process for me was actually kind of a blast.

While writing this part I've thought about a time before this where I had a blissful learning experience, and I completely blanked. That was very telling to me. So, I figured I should commit myself to learn more about beer.

To get started, I ordered the mother of all beer books from Amazon, "The Oxford Companion to Beer." Given the size and scale of it, I prefer to call it The Holy Beerble:

P.S. I am aware I don't keep a very neat workspace, coffee stains and all.

Over 800 pages of diligent research on almost every single thing about beer that you could imagine. Beer countries? No problem. Beer styles? Yup. Beer history? Child's play. That one famous beer guy who did that one famous beer thing? It’s in there. This encyclopedia was amazing. The sheer amount of research done to create this is absolutely astounding. Even today, I will read through it and continue to make notes. I even ordered a couple more books on beer:

This was fun for me. I didn't mind taking the time to learn more about something I ACTUALLY liked.

Committing to the 'Craft'

Work at Astor’s was slowing down going into the winter of 2017. By then, I would casually read beer articles online or look through some of my beer books. Beer is a fun subject to learn about and share with others. That said, I felt that it was time I should try making my own beer! I knew a solid amount about the beer-making process already i.e. the mash, the boil, fermentation, bottling, etc., and I felt I should apply what I know to make something of my own. Maybe I could impress friends and family, save money on buying beer from the LCBO or The Beer Store, and it would add another layer to this new hobby of mine.

I figured a brewing kit would be my next subsequent Christmas gift to myself, so what I did was start simple: a 1-gallon starter kit, 10 empty beer bottles, bottle caps, bottle capper, other miscellaneous brewing equipment, and some 2-row barley and Cascade hops.

Homebrewing and commercial brewing are different behemoths, and I knew more about the commercial brewing process. That wasn't really going to help me here because I didn't have 50+ hectolitre tank to brew beer in, so I had to watch a few YouTube instructional home brewing videos to get in the right mindset.

I was eager to brew my first batch: a SMaSH (Single Malt and Single Hop) pale ale. A super simple recipe to start with that would ideally lead to a nice tasting beer. For those who don't know, brewing beer require ALOT of both patience and (ugh) cleaning. Literally, I spent over half of my time brewing just cleaning all of the equipment again and again. Any sort of impurity, big or small, is enough to completely ruin a batch of beer. I already respected brewing as an art form, but I learned more about how difficult it really is to make delicious beer that adheres to a certain style. After a 6-hour brew day plus a few weeks of fermentation, this was the result:

Aesthetically, it's a nice looking SMaSH beer, right?! But the taste....let's just say the taste did not match the look. This was a very important lesson in detecting off-flavours in a beer. There was plenty of them.

I didn't get discouraged; I crafted a chocolate maple porter that tasted pretty solid as well as a decent red ale. Despite my improvements with small batches of beer, I really had a difficult time seeing myself get too serious about it. For one thing, I didn’t always have enough room to fit 10-12 bottles of beer in my fridge. Imagine I start making 5-gallon batches that can yield over 50 bottles of beer, where the hell would I put all that? And if I ruined the batch? That’s a hell of a lot of waste. So, I decided I’d stick with learning and not doing.

YouTube videos and books are great and all, but it's helpful to have a more hands-on learning experience. Enter Prud'homme - a Canadian beer education program with 4 levels of certifications, the top one being "Level 4 - Beer Sommelier."

Prud'homme Level 1 was a lot of fun, and while I knew the lion's share of introductory beer knowledge, the class gave me, even more, to think about. It was a group of 10 in my class (including myself), and each class we were given different styles of beer to try. Up until then, I never really kept any actual notes of the beers I've had, but in class, we would dissect a beer's taste, mouthfeel, finish, colour, clarity, and additional info.

The longer I was in the class, the more I realized that I preferred talking about a beer's characteristics over brewing the beer myself. I'd bought and read all these beer books, I've experimented with brewing, and now I've worked towards my Level 1 Beer Enthusiast certification; clearly, there's something here for me to dive into. I'd been out of school for over a year by that point, and here was this interest of mine that I'd spent time on.

I thought to myself that I should take this more seriously and try to shape this newfound passion of mine into the beginnings of a career.

The Pursuit of Hoppiness

That nugget of internal thinking actually helped influence my decision to apply for a postgraduate degree. Before this, I'd been glancing at different school programs in London, Waterloo, Toronto, etc., but it was mostly looking at programs that might complement my Criminology degree i.e. social work.

If I'd taken this strongly to learning about beer, how can I apply that interest and start a career? I did some thinking over a couple of weeks and ultimately, I decided that getting into marketing could be an excellent opportunity to pursue my interest. Not to mention that marketing is a very versatile degree that would open a lot of doors for me.

I liked the idea of being able to help out the little guy (small-scale craft/micro-brewers) over becoming a cog in the wheel of the bigger beer corporations. Ultimately, I found my way to the George Brown College Digital Media Marketing program web page. It checked off a lot of points on my program criteria list: 1-year in length, a good distance from London, learning all about digital tools used in the workplace, and a semester of work experience!

Getting Forked

Now that I'd made a decision to pursue marketing that could lead to a gig marketing beer, I figured I should find some REAL work experience of being in a brewery.

First and foremost was trying to get a job at Forked River Brewing Company. By then I had met and developed a solid rapport with a few of their staff, and eventually, it led to me landing a job there!

In mid-March, I was hired to help in different areas around the brewery. Sometimes the bosses needed me to work retail or within the brewery, it really depended on the demand of that week. My main goal was to get a very clear idea of how a brewery operates and about their approach to marketing.

On the retail side, I would talk with customers about the beer, sharing with them all of the traits of the beers. There were also other run-of-the-mill retail tasks like handling the cash register, stocking the shelves, or just making sure that people don't steal any beer.

During my time in the brewery itself, I would mostly help the brewmasters with canning (so. many. f***ing cans.) and filling up kegs, but I was also given a chance to help with the actual brewing. I'd go in twice a week early in the morning and work for about 5-6 hours. What I enjoyed the most was the very relaxed atmosphere compared to my time at Astor's. Both were fun, but for entirely different reasons.

I was even given a chance to work a couple of beer festivals around London and in Sarnia. Those days were the most fun because I could speak about the beers with confidence and encourage festival-goers to try our stuff. Overall, I had a great time over at Forked River and I am grateful to have had that opportunity.

George Brown Ale

Before I knew it, September came along and I was starting my program at George Brown. It felt weird to be back in school but I was excited to be taking this step towards a new career. In order to keep my mind fresh on everything beer, I got a job as a bartender at Biermarkt Don Mills; they've got 150+ beers including draught and bottles. Weekends were my game, closing bar Friday through Sunday (goooood times). They were kind enough to give me another beer book that doubled as an employee handbook:

This new program was looking to be a great fit. It's worth noting though that I had spent a lot of my internship search on breweries or beer distribution companies. I wasn't having much luck with that until the next best thing came along - My Wine Canada, a wine/spirits marketing and sales company right down the street from my school building.

Was it beer? Nope. But it's the next best thing.

And also, wine's pretty great! The role itself was "Digital Marketing Manager", very expensive-sounding, right?

What enticed me about it was this internship would give me as close a perspective of what it's like to handle the marketing for beer as I could get. I was setting up social media content calendars, editing and creating photo content, writing wine blogs, drafting weekly emails, and coming up with catchy and funny captions.

Seeing the Bigger Pitcher

The funny thing is, after spending four months with My Wine Canada, I wasn't as certain about wanting to find a marketing job related to beer. Oddly enough, I spent so much time obsessing about finding a job just like it, that I forgot to really sink my teeth into marketing. I was surprised to find that I really liked learning about marketing. Made me reflect (again) on what I was doing.

In my final semester, I've wondered about whether or not my priorities were as straight as they should have been. For most of this program, I've been so narrowly focused on finding a marketing job involving craft beer that I may have completely missed other great opportunities. I don't want that to happen going forward, so I'm taking that into account and keeping an open mind without losing sight of why I got into this program in the first place. Beer is a hobby that's going to stick around in my life and because of it, I have gotten involved in great things and introduced me to some amazing people, and I wouldn't trade that away.

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rusticpumpkin-blog · 6 years

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Beyond Love | Paul Lahote | 1 |

Kathryn Swan was a girl who loved her family but in a matter of seconds, her old life was taken away from her. Broken and permanently scarred she moves in with the only family she has left her uncle Charlie. Now she's faced with changes she didn't even think possible.

A Paul Lahote love story.

(This takes place 2 years after the end of breaking dawn pt 2)

|Previous|----|Next|

Everything is exactly the same way I remember it being 5 years ago, from the way the furniture in the living room was positioned to the stacks of VHS tapes that were under the TV in the entertainment center. It kind of hurt the way that things are so constant here. Like nothing happened. But that was the way it was Bella had warned me about it, nothing here changes, it never does.

It still rains too much, making everything seem dismal even in the house that had dim lights that were probably older than me. I scoffed at the thought because I knew that couldn’t be true… about all of the bulbs in the house anyway.

There were old photos on the wall that seemed to have been recently dusted of Bella, Aunt Renee, and Uncle Charlie hung up probably years and years ago before Rene left and went somewhere sunny. Somewhere like where I came from. Even the bright smiles in most of the photos that I still remembered from my childhood weren’t enough to make the room any lighter but maybe that was just me… it’s been hard lately.

"Bellas old room?" I sighed as Charlie walked in behind me having some issues with the suitcase he offered to carry for me, it was mostly clothes, a few art supplies but the size of it and the muddy ground that he didn’t want it to touch was what made it difficult.

He nodded out of breath, "I'm goin to order a pizza the drive back took longer than I thought it would." He said sitting the luggage down so I could grab the handle and wheel it towards the stairs.

I nodded pizza sounded good, something quick and easy that doesn’t make awkward dinner table conversations obligatory. "Is there anything that you won't eat?" He asked I could tell that this change was going to be awkward for him, but he was trying harder than he wanted me to realize. So I decided that I'm going to try to make this whole situation as easy as possible, for both of us.

"Not really, sardines but if you want them I can just pick them off." I shrugged as he handed me my other duffel bag and I started up the stairs. "No one eats sardines and enjoys it." He said trying to make a joke and I laughed at it, even though it sucked.

"In the morning we can run out and get things that you might need if you want." He offered. "I'm not a morning person." I muttered shrugging before continuing, "But thanks for the offer, I think I'm good. If I figure anything that I really need I'll let you know." I assured him, he nodded seeming to understand that I just wanted to go to bed and I was thankful for that.

Bella's old room is smaller than the one I had back at home. like everything in this house from the magnates on the fridge to the boots lined on the wall by the front door, everything in here was in the same place too.

I was too tired to think about rearranging anything tonight, I just dropped my bags on the bare bed and pulled out a pair of sweats and a tank top so that i could go do that thing that over the past few months I've grown to hate.

It’s not that I actually dislike showering but I hate the 'avoid the mirror' game. I had to do it because I would get sick every time I saw myself and what I've been reduced to.

While I was in the hospital and the aftermath of the accident, I've lost almost 50 pounds. I was, to be honest at a healthy weight for my height, the greatest shape I've been in in my life. But the way my once vivid icy grey eyes that I once prided myself on as being my best feature were now dim and gaunt, I had dark circles under them, from a mixture of sleepless and nightmare filled nights. I looked just as sick as I felt when I saw the rest of my skin.

The scars were the worst part, they were what made me really want to not look. They made me hate my own skin but being dragged behind a flipped car on the asphalt for about 50 feet will do that too someone. It could definitely be worse, I could be dead too.

Without even realizing it I was doing it again, staring. That's how I know its hard for other people not to, if I cant not look how can I expect anyone else to?

They ranged from a little over 2 inches wide on my left arm and leg to about 10 inches wide on my side and hip, thick slightly raised scars going down the left side of my body. My head wasn't even untouched, most of my left ear is gone. I have a scar going down my jaw and even light places on my cheek the 'lucky' part about those is that they were light, so makeup would help but nothing would ever take them all the way away. Unless I wanted to get surgery which considering how long I spent at the hospital before meant it wasn’t going to happen for a long time, if at all.

My tawny brown hair was the only thing that really hasn't changed all that much. There was a small patch around my ear that no longer grew and a portion around my ear that had to be buzzed off so I could get staples to hold my scalp shut. My hair looked just as dreary as my eyes it made me look unhealthy but being unhealthy meant I was still alive.

I was lucky

After my shower, I knew the pizza was probably here but I was too tired to care about the rumbling in my stomach at this point. I walked to what was now my room across the hall and lay down on the bed. I had every intention of getting up and going to find a pillow and blanket for myself from the hall closet but I was asleep before I had the chance.

…

I sat a week later, at the kitchen table sipping my coffee and scrolling through my social media feed. Even with me gone all of my friends were still able to function as proper 18-year-olds. Having fun and going to parties without me like it wasn't any different. I'm not going to lie and say that it doesn't hurt that I haven't even gotten any text messages telling me how much they miss me or to check in on me but it is what it is. Things outside of this place change and this is just one of them.

I don't expect to have ‘friends’ until I start working which I don't know how long that's going to be. There are only a few family own businesses in this little town and none of them are hiring right now anyway.

Charlie says that I don't need to worry about working or a job but I do. I don't want to be a financial burden on him after the insurance money stops. If I had been 18 before all this, I wouldn't even have had to move in with him period.

Charlie's been nothing but supportive. In his own awkward way, Bella thinks that its because he's happy that he's not living alone anymore. But I still kinda get the ‘I’m going to be super nice because of the hard time you’ve been having’ vibe off of him.

Speaking of Bella, I haven't got to see her yet. She's went with her own family on a trip to Africa… I think anyway I can't say 100% that I remember what she told me.

My whole life here has been nothing but a haze considering the nightmares have only gotten worse with the change of scenery. More vivid and realistic but it helps me wake up sooner I guess so there's that. I know that Charlie is concerned about them but there's nothing that I can do short of not sleeping at all. Which is what I do if I can help it even if that bothers him too.

"I thought you weren't a morning person." Charlie said walking in and confusing me because I thought he had left for work earlier but he was dressed in a flannel and jeans instead of his police uniform. Thinking about it, since I’ve been here I don’t remember ever seeing him in anything else, it was weird like seeing a teacher in public or something.

"Couldn't sleep." I muttered shrugging.

"Do you have any plans for today?" He asked knowing full well that I didn't. He just wanted to know if it was ok with me if I got out of the house, which I have yet to do, in a polite way.

"No, whats up?" I asked not looking up from my phone a stale meme looking really interesting all of a sudden.

"A friend of mine is having a barbeque out on the beach in La Push.” He said referring to the Native American reservation that was a 20-minute drive away from here.

"Sounds fun, I love seeing old dudes cook on a grill and argue about football," I said sarcastically rolling my eyes.

"Fireworks and a bonfire, there will be other kids around your age there." He said as if attempting to sell me on the idea, he wasn’t doing a good job, kids my age are assholes. "You remember Jacob Black?" He asked me the name did ring a bell. "I think so," I said remembering a lanky copper skinned boy with pants that were never quite long enough for him but he was always shorter than me. "The kid that you and Bella used to play with." He added attempting to jog my memory.

"That skinny kid?" I scoffed making him bark out a laugh. "Yeah, he's not little anymore." He sighed in a way that made it sound like Jake had gained weight. "Quill and Embry live out there still too?" I asked remembering them too, we’d all been in our own little pack, fighting imaginary sea monsters at the beach (Mostly just clumps of seaweeds that had washed up from high tide).

He nodded. "Alright, I'll be ready in like 2 minutes," I said jogging up stairs.

#paul lahote #twilight #twilight wolves #twilight breaking dawn #twilight eclipse #twilight new moon #breaking dawn #brady fuller #embry call #jared cameron #jacob black #quileute wolves #quil ateara #quileute #bella swan #charlie swan

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ahouseoflies · 5 years

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The Best Films of 2018, Part I

I’ll associate my moviegoing this year with two things: subscription models and superhero films. Realizing that I was the target audience, I signed up for Moviepass in March, then canceled just before they started extorting people in July. (I’ll remember you all semi-fondly, conniving alarmists in the Moviepass Reddit thread.) Thanks to Moviepass, I took full advantage of my free time over the summer, and I found some nice surprises that I wouldn’t have checked out otherwise. From there I joined AMC A-List, which is the rare corporate service that I cannot complain about in any way. Moviepass always felt like some kind of drug deal, whereas A-List is as easy and inviting an experience as possible. I get to seek out Dolby, IMAX, or 3-D showings instead of getting locked out of them, and the electronic ticketing helps with my last-minute availability. (I’ve mastered the art of lovingly putting my daughter to bed, only to desert her and my wife five minutes later. “You know, there’s an 8:10 showing of The Predator, which means 8:30 after previews...”) My overall viewing was up 11% this year, which I have to attribute to these subscriptions. Perhaps I saw too much though. After a self-righteous five-year ban on superhero movies, I caught up in 2019 like the madman completist that I am. On the plus side, I enjoyed Wonder Woman and Guardians of the Galaxy, and I vaguely feel more connected with the culture-at-large. But I could have been more selective. The diligence required to watch X-Men: Apocalypse late on a Thursday night took away from, say, my Orson Welles project or...reading books. To get some of the business out of the way, I haven’t seen Burning, Shoplifters, Destroyer, Cold War, The Sisters Brothers, Tomb Raider, The Wife, or The House That Jack Built. Not all of us get screeners or care about seeing The Wife. Mostly for argument purposes, I list everything I saw and divide the movies into the categories of Garbage, Admirable Failures, Endearing Curiosities with Big Flaws, Pretty Good Movies, Good Movies, Great Movies, and Instant Classics. Hey, speaking of superheroes: GARBAGE

123. Venom (Ruben Fleischer)- Venom was first announced as an R-rated film until it was neutered into PG-13 at some point in the development road. That was the right choice because this is a movie, in all of its broad, careless storytelling, for children. "So he's going to get married to her but then he looks at her email and then he interviews the guy and he gets fired so then she leaves him and he drinks now?" This is a dummy's version of what a journalist is or what a scientist is, and it never shades into more subtlety than exactly what is on the expected surface. I guess that Tom Hardy gets to jump into a lobster tank if that floats your boat, but the story is stuck on fast-forward for the whole movie, never relenting to develop character or do anything other than communicate information that we don't really need.

Venom is almost--almost--interesting as a new branch in the superhero economy. Why shouldn't Tom Hardy and National Treasure Michelle Williams trade the equity they've built for caring about their work into this trash? I don't begrudge them that for a second. I hope they make more money for the sloppy sequels. 122. The Equalizer 2 (Antoine Fuqua)- The first Equalizer was flat and pointlessly long with pedantic dialogue too, but at least it had the Home Depot sequence. This one makes very basic stuff incoherent and dawdles all the way to the end. Your boy is now an expert hacker too? I guess it's too late for Fuqua to start caring about scripts.

121. Mandy (Panos Cosmatos)- I need somebody to explain to me why, dramatically, this is good without something like, "It's so metal! What a midnight movie! Chainsaw fight lol!" If you want to talk about the visuals that are stylized within an inch of reality, then I'll listen. But there's nothing to hold onto dramatically. I think I've developed an overall irritation with revenge films, but this filthy dirge of a movie felt empty and endless by any standard. 120. Fifty Shades Freed (James Foley)- Its intentions are too guileless to upset me, but Fifty Shades Freed uses up the goodwill I sort of had for the first two by tugging the viewer relentlessly through conflict that always seems temporary. Part of the fun has always been how bizarre basic human interactions seem in this universe. (Has anyone ever returned from a vacation to be surprise-promoted?) But this entry expects way too much from its viewer's loyalty. 119. On Chesil Beach (Dominic Cooke)- There's supposed to be a disconnect to the behavior of the couple in On Chesil Beach, a movie that asks us to harken back to a time when newlyweds were so sexually innocent that they had trouble figuring out how to consummate a marriage. Their fumbling seems foreign to us, which is the point. But what's the excuse for none of the behavior in the movie ringing true to any human experience?

I'm talking about Florence refusing to tell her string quartet that she's engaged because she thinks they'll assume that her marriage will break up the group even though she's sure that it won't. I'm talking about her father, who feels the need to humiliate his son-in-law in tennis because that would prove that he's dominant over the boy in some way that being his employer does not already prove. I'm talking about a plot that literally would not exist if the characters had just engaged in one conversation that it seems like they would have had in the flashbacks, which frame them as a kind of open, reasonably affectionate, easy-going couple. But by all means, McEwan, change that whenever it suits you. 118. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (J.A. Bayona)- I reject the whole premise of this deliberate lowering of stakes that never rises above obligation. To paraphrase a Griffin Newman joke, it makes Jurassic Park 4 look like Jurassic Park 1.

While we're here though: Can I have a movie about the guy who compiled the guest list for the dino auction? I want to see a guy looking at a spreadsheet--or is it an Access file?--and getting to, like, Mark Cuban and weighing the options: "He probably has the $27 million to spare on weaponized recombinant DNA. He would definitely appreciate the wow factor of having his own Indoraptor. But is he more of a neutral evil or a chaotic evil? I guess I'll reserve a seat for him and send the invitation. If he says no, then he says no. Okay, we're still in the C's..."

117. Tag (Jeff Tomsic)- Tag is going to show up on a lot of "worst movies to ever win an Oscar" lists when Jeremy Renner wins an Oscar for it. 116. A-X-L (Oliver Daly)- This is a melodramatic movie about a weaponized robotic dog and the dirtbike kid who befriends it. Nothing wrong with that; a ten-year-old boy might like it, and there aren't enough movies specifically for that audience. But what's weird is how nonchalant the main character is about the whole thing. He immediately starts training this one-of-a-kind "war dog" android and imprints it with his DNA like this is a regular Tuesday. It's one of many things that is just kind of off in this picture.

This being a cheap genre film, you do get treated to those L.A. locations that have been around the block. I think the nondescript complex that houses Craine Industries is also the one from Sneakers and The Lawnmower Man. You know, Craine Industries, the company that is working on a $70 million prototype for the military but, because this is a cheap genre film, seems to have two employees.

I do think there's an interesting movie to be made about motocross. The movie kind of works when it's just about an underdog father and son fixing bikes, before it gets into all of the robot stuff. ADMIRABLE FAILURES

115. The Little Stranger (Lenny Abrahamson)- Dr. Faraday: "Wanna marry me?" Caroline: "Maybe. Do you actually love me?" Dr. Faraday: "Probably not." Caroline: "Hmm, I think I would marry you only as an excuse to go to London to get away from my dying mother and this crumbling house that probably has a ghost." Dr. Faraday: "Oh. Well, glad we're discussing it now because I want to marry you specifically to give me a reason to stay in this crumbling house that probably has a ghost. I'm drawn to it for some reason." Caroline: "Is it because you grew up poor?" Dr. Faraday: "Yes. All dry, cold British stuff ultimately comes down to that.

114. Damsel (David Zellner and Nathan Zellner)- Had I done my research, I wouldn't have watched this Zellner Brothers follow-up to Kumiko the Treasure Hunter, one of my least favorite films of that year. Like that movie, Damsel is a story of two halves, punctuated by a shocking moment that happens halfway through. Unfortunately nothing interesting happens before, and nothing interesting happens after. 113. Suspiria (Luca Guadignino)- This is a movie about duality that gets extended. English, German, and just a sprinkle of French. Six parts and an epilogue. A dual role (and a bit part). Personalities that clash until one pulls ahead. There are ideas here. But, especially considering I don't like the original Suspiria, I didn't find much to hold onto as a visceral experience. It's a long, foreboding sit. Guadagnino knows how to end his movies, but he still doesn't have much to say for the long middle parts. Shout-out to Amazon; I hope that, in some circuitous way, betting on maximalist Italians helps them to sell paper towels or whatever.

112. Early Man (Nick Park)- I still love the Aardman aesthetic, but this material was thin. It's too juvenile for adults and too adult for juveniles. 111. Beirut (Brad Anderson)- The screenplay takes an hour to set up what should have taken twenty minutes. Some of that time is dedicated to developing Hamm's burnt-out alcoholic wheeler-dealer, but he's a character we've seen a hundred times before anyway. Some shorthand would have done some good. Once the plot gets going, it's serviceable, but I was bored by that point. Pike and Hamm need to fire their managers. 110. Upgrade (Leigh Whannell)- I'll admit that I owed the film more attention than I gave it since I was nodding off the whole time, but nothing in the gloomy programmer interested me enough to want to go back.

109. Red Sparrow (Francis Lawrence)- Good as a steamy blank check provocation from the director and star--not much else. I'm sure people will take down the easy target of Jen Larry's Russian accent, but they're ignoring just how much she tries in something like this. She is a gargantuan Movie Star who commands the screen, and a lot of that presence comes from the commitment of, say, learning how to ballet dance for what must have been months. She hasn't slept through a performance yet.

I didn't think this endless movie made much sense, especially near its conclusion. Perhaps it's my personal distaste for the way that spy movies introduce major plot points without so much as a music sting to guide you. As soon as anyone says the term "double agent," my brain turns off.

108. Hot Summer Nights (Elijah Bynum)- If you want to direct a music video, just direct a music video. I like all of the actors in this, but the filmmaker has nothing to say. 107. The First Purge (Gerard McMurray)- Even James DeMonaco seems to be admitting that the bloom is off the rose a bit, since he only wrote this entry in the franchise--and his direction is missed in the action scenes. Just enough of the political subtext remains, (The New Founding Fathers get funding from the NRA, and a character uses "pussy-grabbing" as an insult. Thankfully, a Black church getting shot up by men with Iron Cross flags happens off-screen.)

But there are more characters I didn't care about than characters I did care about. Since its prequel setting doesn't reveal much about the world that we didn't already know, the film needed to do a bit more with the survive-the-night scenario that we already saw in the second film.

106. Vox Lux (Brady Corbet)- A movie that, up to and including the last minute, keeps promising something better than it actually is. Everyone here is making...choices… 105. Madeline’s Madeline (Josephine Decker)- I'm glad David Ehrlich liked this as much as he did. There are some intriguing ideas, most notably the suggestion that a mentally unstable person would be better suited for acting than a healthy person. What a debut for Helena Howard as well. But for it to add up to something by the end, I think I needed it to have more dramatic structure--the sort of fall of the Molly Parker character feels invented and insincere--or go all the way into experiment. 104. Shirkers (Sandi Tan)- One of those "you won't believe what happens next" documentaries that positions itself as an example of truth being stranger than fiction. But removed from a festival context, does it ever rise above its logline? Is it really even that odd?

#film #lists #movie reviews

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introvertfics · 5 years

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have a coffee

name: have a coffee (parts one and two)

rating: T

summary: a barista who can't find love and loves foam art too much meets a musician who can't control his emotions and just wants a soulmate. they might just fall in love, but it won't be easy.

warnings: near death experience (choking)

please do not repost without my permission!

likes and reblogs are appreciated!

read on ao3 instead

Part 1

The sounds of chatter and laughter filled the crowded Starbucks, the sight of people enjoying their drinks and talking amicably with each other putting a smile on Tyler Joseph’s face. His break had just begun, so he was able to finally take a rest from the afternoon drink rush, sitting perched on one of the high-top chairs pushed near a table next to one of the wide glass windows illuminating the entire coffee shop. He didn’t particularly like coffee himself, despite liking making it and serving it for other people, so his fingers were gripping a cup of ice water, the slight condensation on the foam cup soaking through the sleeves of his navy blue sweater.

Tyler let out a little sigh, lowering his gaze back to the contents of the cup. He loved his job, and he put all of his passion and effort into it. It was, quite honestly, the only source of happiness in his life. He had been forced to leave home at the age of 18 by his violent and overbearing parents, who quite frankly wanted nothing to do with him and wanted him out of the house as soon as possible. After graduating high school and just barely managing to make it into a decent college, he had been forced to juggle multiple classes with his job as a Starbucks barista, which thankfully paid a somewhat decent wage. Due to his constantly busy schedule, he had virtually no time for anything other than school and work, leaving him feeling virtually no passion for anything other than making coffee. It was a rather depressing lifestyle, considering he was actually revolted by the sight of coffee and only enjoyed serving it for others, but it gave him a slight bit of satisfaction about his life. Biting his lip as he recalled the events of his sorry life so far, he crossed one leg underneath himself and lowered his head slightly.

The quiet scrape of a chair against the tiles suddenly alerted him to his surroundings. His head snapping up, his eyes fell on a man with fluffy crimson-coloured hair pulling the other seat out and sitting down. His eyes were a stunning shade of brown, his arms covered with multicolored tattoos and a black tank top hugging his upper half. Unable to find his words for a second, he lowered his gaze back down to the tabletop, blinking quickly and nervously swinging his free leg back and forth.

“Hey there…” the man sitting across from him said softly.

“Hm?” Tyler lifted his head, his fingers digging slightly into the styrofoam coffee cup and causing several barely visible indents in the material. What on earth did this intimidating stranger want with him? “Hello…” he said in a barely audible whisper, moving his foot around in slow circles- one of the exercises he found calmed him down in stressful situations. Three circles clockwise, four circles counterclockwise. Three circles clockwise, four circles clockwise…

“You work here?” The man asked, putting his steaming hot latte cup down on the table, far too close to the edge for Tyler’s liking.

“How did you guess?” Tyler managed to stutter out, lowering his hands and gripping them in fists in his lap.

“Your apron,” the man replied, gesturing towards the forest-green apron emblazoned with the white Starbucks logo loosely hanging off Tyler’s frame.

“Oh…” His face heating up with an unhidable blush of embarrassment, Tyler let out a tiny chuckle in an attempt to appear unphased. “Yep, I do. Love it here.” he nodded, pushing a few wayward strands of fluffy brown hair out of his face as he tried to appear even the slightest bit confident.

“That’s good that you like your job…” The man let out a little chuckle, stretching one hand across the table. “The name’s Josh. You’ve got a name too, I’m guessing?” “Yes, ah… Tyler. That’s my name,” Tyler let out a giggle, finding his voice after a short pause. He reached across the table and shook Josh’s hand, not that surprised at how strong his grip was.

“Nice laugh…” Josh chuckled, his eyes traveling slowly over Tyler’s body and taking in every detail. Tyler felt as though he was being scanned by an x-ray machine of some sort, the man before him memorizing every detail of his appearance and personality with his gaze. “Everything about you is pretty nice, actually…”

“Oh, I… I don’t like guys, I’m sorry…” Tyler stuttered out with a little shake of his head.

“You sure? I’m pretty sure a few hours with me might change your mind,” Josh chuckled with a wink that sent uncomfortable shivers up Tyler’s spine.

“I’m very sure.” Tyler nodded, taking a gulp of his water and finishing apart from the partially melted ice cubes that remained at the bottom. “I’m flattered, and I’m sure you’re a really nice person, but I’m not like that. I’m honestly not interested in any sort of relationship at this point, period, never mind one with the same gender…”

“Oh come on… you can’t tell me you haven’t been at least a little bit interested in me. I saw you staring at me when I sat down,” Josh smiled, his eyes darting from Tyler’s eyes down to his slightly visible collarbone and back up again. “You looked like you were just…”

“I was staring because I was confused,” Tyler interrupted, crossing his arms. “Because I didn’t know you and I was wondering why you just sat down near me for no reason. And it’s actually really rude of you to just assume what I was thinking, especially regarding something as sensitive and personal as that,” he continued, frowning and looking down at the tabletop.

“You don’t have to make such a big deal about it, bunny,” Josh replied half-mockingly, one hand traveling under the table and touching upon Tyler’s knee. “All I’m saying is-”

“Leave me alone!” Tyler promptly pulled back and clambered out of the chair to the floor, every inch of his body trembling with suppressed rage and fear as he dug his fingers into his upper arms. “Don’t touch me, and don’t call me bunny.” He spat the last word out as though it was a vile curse, walking as fast as he could away from the table and calling over his shoulder as he headed back towards the counter. “And don’t even think about talking to me again!”

“...you okay, Ty?” asked one of Tyler’s coworkers, Jenna, as Tyler swooped back behind the counter and slammed his hands down so hard several people looked over. “Do you want me to talk to that guy and ask him to leave, or…”

“It’s fine. Just don’t let him come near me. He’s a fucking creep,” Tyler hissed, glaring at Josh and crossing his arms. He let out a little sigh and checked his phone- his break was almost over, and he wasted almost all of it dealing with Josh. Biting his bottom lip hard enough to draw a bit of blood, Tyler turned and faced one of the trays of pastries, breathing heavily and managing to calm himself down eventually. His gaze fell on the slowly growing line of people, taking one more breath and managing to put on a smile as he walked over to resume his shift.

It had begun to rain when Tyler left Starbucks at around six in the afternoon- round, fat drops that fell from the sky and plunked loudly on his black umbrella. Shivering slightly in the late autumn air, Tyler set off down the sidewalk, intent on getting home before the rain got any worse. The soaked multi colored fall leaves stuck to the bottoms of his sneakers as he walked down the deserted sidewalk, and the harsh wind blew his fluffy hair in all directions. Sighing, Tyler kept his eyes on the sidewalk, since looking straight into the wind was stinging his eyes.

A tap on his shoulder stopped Tyler in his tracks as he turned around. A man about the same height as him, dressed in mostly black and wearing a top hat that should have given him a comical appearance but instead somehow made him look elegant and civilized, stood beside him, the shadow from his hat covering most of his face apart from his nose and mouth. He had one hand in his pocket and the other outstretched in front of him, holding a gold pocket watch with a crack in the glass clock face.

“Excuse me…” the man began in a smoky voice. “Could you possibly tell me what time it is? I’m afraid my watch is broken,” he chuckled, gesturing to the broken pocket watch in his hand.

“Oh, it’s…” Tyler pulled his phone out of his pocket and squinted at the time. “6:14 pm, exactly.”

“Oh, dear.” The man frowned. “I’m going to miss my bus now… and I don’t have a way to contact anyone to pick me up. Oh well.” He shrugged, a smile almost instantly appearing on his face. “I’ll simply have to keep walking.”

“It’s raining so much, though… and you don’t have an umbrella.” Tyler bit his lip. “Are you sure you don’t want me to call an Uber for you or something? I’ll pay for it…”

“That’s not necessary, trust me. It’s only about a twenty minute walk to where I live. My apartment is right near the park,” the man replied.

“Oh, my college is right around there too!” Tyler smiled. This man seemed rather interesting and friendly, and a definite improvement from Josh. “If you want, we could walk there together… I have an umbrella, so you won’t get as wet.”

“Thank you very much.” the man nodded, his brown eyes sparkling in the barest hint of light from the streetlight. “I’ll have to repay you somehow, though.”

“You don’t have to, honestly,” Tyler insisted. “I’m just helping you out, you don’t have to do anything in return.”

“But I feel like I should, though. You’re taking time out of your day to walk me to my apartment, after all. I just need to repay you…” the man repeated.

“I mean… if you want to, but it’s honestly not necessary,” Tyler giggled.

The man nodded slowly, a wide smile overtaking his features. “I think I’ll repay you by taking that wallet and jacket off your hands,” he said in a sotto voice.

Tyler frowned at the sudden, threatening change in the man’s words and tone. Before he could ask what he meant or attempt to run away, the man had violently grabbed him and tugged him into a nearby alley, one hand clamped firmly over his mouth and the other slicing at the zipper of his raincoat with a pocket knife that had seemingly materialized out of nowhere. Letting out a muffled yell of protest, Tyler desperately tried to force the man away from him, simultaneously trying to hold onto his jacket that was being ripped away from him. Within seconds, however, the man had ripped the jacket- somehow still in one piece- off his skinny frame and had plunged his hand into his pocket, grabbing his wallet. As soon as he had pulled out the wallet and stuffed it into his own pocket, the man punched Tyler hard in the stomach, knocking the breath out of him and causing tears to well in his eyes out of pain. He sank down to his knees and landed on his side in a mud puddle, unable to even get a scream or yell of help out as the man darted out of the alley.

A split second later, however, there were a few grunts of pain and the clink of metal hitting the ground from around the corner where the man had disappeared. Confused, Tyler attempted to get to his feet to see what was happening, but had to stop and lie back down due to the lingering pain in his stomach. Whimpering with pain as tears dripped down his cheeks and onto the filthy ground of the alley, his eyes widened with utter shock as Josh stepped into the alley holding the jacket and wallet, scratches and cuts covering his arms and parts of his face. Upon seeing Tyler, he immediately darted over to him, dropping to his knees and speaking in a panicked voice. “Oh my god, Tyler, are you okay? What did he do to you? D-do you need to go to the hospital, did he…”

“He punched me in the stomach…” Tyler whispered, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his hand. “It hurts so much, holy shit…”

“Hey, it’s gonna be okay, Tyler, you’re gonna be okay…” Josh said in a soothing voice, reaching down and running his fingers through Tyler’s hair in a relaxing gesture. “There’s a first aid kit in my car right down the street… I’m gonna run and get it and I’ll be right back, okay? I promise.”

Tyler nodded and watched as Josh got to his feet and ran out of the alley, still crying quietly. Sure enough, in only a minute or so Josh was back, a wave of relief rushing over him when he knew Josh hadn’t abandoned him. “Please hurry, Josh, it hurts…” “Shh, shh, shh, it’s okay, I’ve got you, you’re gonna be okay. I’m gonna need to look at your stomach to see how badly he hit you, okay?” Josh said gently. “I have to lift your shirt up, okay? I’m not gonna try anything, I’m just gonna check out how badly you’re hurt.”

Tyler nodded, pulling up the edge of his sweater and the white shirt underneath with a little bit of effort. He closed his eyes, exhaling softly and preparing for pain as Josh’s hands ghosted over his belly. However, he noticed that Josh was being extremely gentle with him- so gentle, in fact, that it almost seemed like just being touched by him was helping him to feel better.

Within a few minutes, Josh pulled away, wiping his forehead with his arm and managing a little smile. “Okay… you’ll probably have a bruise for a few days, but it’s not anything serious. Your clothes are soaked, though,” he murmured, gesturing towards the mud puddle that Tyler was still lying in.

“Oh… I’ll be fine.” Tyler mumbled, pulling himself out of the mud puddle and managing to get to his feet.

“You’re already shivering…” Josh frowned, reaching forward and putting a hand on Tyler’s shaking shoulder. “I have an extra jacket in my car… you can wear it, and I could drive you home if you want…”

“Thank you… thank you so much…” Tyler smiled, feeling tears of gratitude welling in his eyes,

“You’re welcome, b….” Josh trailed off, stopping himself from saying the word “bunny” and instead finishing the sentence with “...Tyler.” He sighed and shook his head. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay, honestly,” Tyler insisted through chattering teeth, rubbing the goosebumps rising on the back of his neck.

“God, you’re shaking… come on, come with me…” Gently looping one arm around Tyler’s shoulders, hugging his trembling form close in an attempt to keep him warm, Josh led him out of the alley and down the street towards the only car on the street, which Tyler presumed was his. As soon as they got into the car, Tyler scrambled into the front seat, tucking his knees up to his chin and shivering violently. He felt Josh draping the jacket over his shoulders and he quickly tugged it on, seeing that it was much too big on him- the sleeves of the camouflage jacket covered his hands, and the fabric hung loosely on his body. Zipping the jacket up to his neck, Tyler closed his eyes, covering the lower half of his face with one of the too-long sleeves, feeling a bit better.

“You feel alright now?” Josh asked as he sat in the driver’s seat and turned the ignition.

“Yes… thank you.” Tyler smiled, poking his hand out of the oversized sleeves.

“You’re welcome,” Josh smiled, pushing a few strands of crimson hair out of his eyes. “What’s your address?”

“My dorm’s at the college right near the park,” Tyler replied with a little nod. “Actually, wait, hold on…”

“Is something wrong?” Josh asked quietly with a frown.

“That guy who tried to steal my stuff… should we go to the police station and tell them what happened?” Tyler asked.

“Ah, shit, you’re right… I didn’t even think about that, I’m such a dumbass…” Josh let out a dry chuckle. “We should probably stop there first.” His eyes drifted towards Tyler as he put one hand on his shoulder. “You’re going to be okay, right?”

“I will. I’ll be fine,” Tyler replied with a little nod. Josh appeared to have completely changed from a few hours ago. Rather than shamelessly flirting with him and harassing him, he was being the kindest person in the world, making sure he was a hundred percent okay. Judging from how sincere he seemed in his words, and how he had been close to tears when he found Tyler lying on the ground, it seemed as though the flirtatious personality from before was but a farce. For the first time since they had met, Tyler felt something different towards Josh- not disgust, not embarrassment, but something genuinely positive and happy that he couldn’t quite describe. He wrapped his arms around himself, nuzzling deep into the warmth of the jacket as Josh began driving.

After filing the police report and driving back to the college, Josh insisted on going as far as to get a visitor’s pass from the front office, just so he could walk Tyler to his dorm and make sure he was completely okay before he left. Tyler couldn’t help but notice the strange looks he got from a few people as they walked down the hallway to their dorm- not only did Josh appear to be at least two or three years older than him, but he stood out greatly with his vibrantly colored hair and tattoos. Not to mention Josh hadn’t removed his arm from around his shoulders since they stepped out of the car, the simple action causing Tyler’s cheeks to heat up and turn a vibrant pink.

When the two of them reached Tyler’s door room, which was completely plain compared to the other doors in the hallway, Tyler fumbled in his wallet for the key to his room. As he unlocked the door, he heard Josh mumble something. “Hm?”

“I guess I have to go now…” Josh repeated with a little laugh.

“Yeah…” Tyler nodded and turned around, shrugging the jacket off his shoulders and handing it back to Josh. As he returned the jacket, he felt Josh press something into the pad of his hand, closing his fingers around it. “What are you…”

“Just hang onto it, please.” Josh insisted with a smile.

“...okay.” Tyler nodded with a shrug. “Hey, um, before you go… I just wanna say that I’m sorry.”

“What for?”

“I was wrong about you… you’re actually a really, really, really nice guy, Josh. I shouldn’t have judged you based on my first impression,” Tyler murmured.

“Tyler, you don’t have to apologize, honestly…” Josh frowned and shook his head. “I shouldn’t have acted that way back there… I should have just left you alone, I shouldn’t have made you uncomfortable like that…” He reached forward and pulled Tyler into a gentle hug, letting out a little sigh that tickled the baby-fine hairs on the back of his neck. “I’m so sorry…”

“I forgive you, Josh, it’s okay,” Tyler insisted, rubbing a hand up and down Josh’s back in a calming gesture.

“You sure?” Josh asked as he pulled away.

“One hundred percent sure.” Tyler nodded with a wide smile, pushing a few strands of hair out of his face.

Josh nodded, shrugging the camouflage jacket back on his shoulders. “Okay… I should probably get going now…”

“I guess…” Tyler let out a little sigh. “I’ll text you later…”

“But you never asked for my number?”

“I have a feeling you wrote it on whatever you put in my hand,” Tyler giggled. He opened his palm and glanced down- sure enough, on the slightly wrinkled Starbucks on his hand was written a phone number, in purple Sharpie.

“Well, look at that… you were right.” Josh let out a chuckle.

Tyler nodded with a wide grin, leaning against the doorframe. “So yeah, I guess I will text you later.”

Josh smiled, reaching out and gently ruffling Tyler’s hair before turning on his heel. “Stay safe, Ty.” And with his words of parting he set off down the hall, soon disappearing through the doorway to the elevator. Tyler watched him go down the hall all the way before turning and closing the door, his heart absolutely soaring in his chest and pounding so hard it threatened to burst right through his shirt.

I think I found someone who made me happy.

Part 2

One Month Later

“I think they’re scared of you…” Tyler whispered with a chuckle, gesturing towards a group of students from his college sitting at an outdoor cafe as they walked down the sidewalk together. The students appeared to be confused and intimidated by the sight of Tyler holding onto the sleeve of Josh, who was at least two or three inches taller than him.

“Maybe…” Josh let out a little chuckle and shrugged. “What movie do you wanna watch when we get back to your dorm?”

“It doesn’t matter, you can pick.” Tyler smiled, resting his forehead against Josh’s arm and hugging it.

“What are you doing?” Josh asked with a laugh, reaching down and playfully ruffling Tyler’s hair.

“I don’t know…” Tyler murmured against Josh’s arm. Ever since the two had met a month ago, they had grown closer than Tyler had expected. They spent almost every single weekend together at Josh’s house, usually watching Disney movies while his dog Jim sat on top of them trying to eat the popcorn. Tyler had also managed to determine within three days that Josh gave the best hugs in the world, since he received one approximately every twenty minutes when they were together. Even though he had doubted himself and denied it at first, Tyler found himself slowly falling completely and hopelessly in love with him.

Josh didn’t seem to return his feelings, however. Ever since Tyler had blatantly told him again and again in Starbucks when they first met that he didn’t like guys, he hadn’t tried to make any sort of romantic gesture towards him, other than the constant hugging. He hadn’t given him any more pet names, he hadn’t tried to kiss him or tell him anything affectionate, he hadn’t called any of their outings or get-togethers a date, even though that was pretty much what they were. Tyler had tried showing Josh how he felt, dropping as many hints as possible, eventually going so far as to give him the ridiculous childlike nickname of Jishwa, but nothing worked. Josh had even passed the nickname off as a friendly gesture, murmuring something about how silly Tyler was as he ruffled his hair and pulled him into his arms.

Tyler felt a little pang of heartbreak as he recalled the memory, biting his bottom lip and clinging tighter to Josh’s arm. He felt tears of frustration beginning to well in his eyes and quickly tried to blink them away. Keeping his grip on Josh’s arm, he turned his head away so he wouldn’t get tears on Josh’s hoodie, breathing heavily and shaking his head back and forth. The emotions he had been keeping to himself for the past month were beginning to push their way forward, and he couldn’t hide it anymore.

“Tyler?” Josh frowned, gently shaking Tyler’s shoulder. He turned and bent down to Tyler’s level, pushing his hair out of his face. “Hey… are you crying? What’s wrong?”

Tyler shook his head, stepping backwards away from Josh until his back bumped against the outside wall of the bookstore they were walking by, shaking his head involuntarily and his hands clutched in tight fists and drawn up to his chest. “Don’t…” he whispered, unsure of what he was saying as tears blurred his vision and his limbs began to shake. He felt his knees buckle beneath him as he sank to the ground, dropping his head into his hands as he started sobbing and curling his body in on himself. He felt Josh’s hands on his shoulders but ignored him, pathetic whines and sobs that bordered on screams ripping their way from his throat despite his knowledge that people walking by were staring and watching.

“Ty, please, I need you to listen to me… you’ve gotta take deep breaths and calm yourself down, okay?” Josh’s words managed to push their way through the thick fog of his hysteria. “Put your hand on my chest and copy how I’m breathing…” Despite his panic, Tyler put his hand on Josh’s chest, keeping his head lowered as he tried desperately to match the rate of the rise and fall of his chest.

Then suddenly Josh’s hands were violently ripped from his shoulders, causing him to almost topple over. Tyler lifted his head and gasped when he saw the same man who had attacked him just a month ago, pinning Josh to the ground and punching him again and again. Josh was trying desperately to push the man off of him while trying to shield his chest and face, but to no avail.

Letting out a scream of protest, Tyler scrambled to his feet, tears still blurring his vision as he rushed towards Josh and the man fighting on the ground. Without thinking, he began slamming his fists as hard as he could against the man’s back, trying to do whatever he could to force him away. However, this proved to be ineffective, as the man was able to simply swat Tyler away like he was a bug on his shoulder. Tyler tumbled to the ground and quickly got back up again, trying to hit every inch of the man that he could. This time, rather than simply pushing him away, the man took his attention off of Josh and grabbed Tyler by the neck, slamming him the ground so hard he saw stars before beginning to tighten his grip. Gasping for breath but finding nothing, Tyler desperately struggled against his firm grip, his fingers scrabbling at the man’s hands and his lungs already aching from the lack of oxygen.

A split second later, Tyler felt the man’s hands being torn away from his neck, the nails digging slightly into his flesh as they left and leaving scratches along his skin. Letting out a tiny yelp of pain and gasping in air, Tyler stayed still on the ground, still shaking from the intensity of having his air taken away. He saw that the man was being pinned to the ground by someone who appeared to be a police officer, a rush of relief rushing though his body.

Suddenly, Tyler felt Josh picking him up and pulling him into a tight hug, squeezing him like a stuffed animal. “Oh my god, Tyler, oh my god… please tell me you’re alright, please, talk to me…”

“J-Jishwa! I’m fine, I’m okay,” Tyler insisted, his eyes widening as he saw tears trailing down Josh’s face. “Please don’t cry… it’s okay, I’m not hurt…” He reached up and began rubbing the tears away with the pad of his thumb, his heart breaking when he saw the open cuts and bruises that had already appeared on Josh’s face and neck.

“I thought I was gonna lose you…” Josh whispered, tangling his fingers in Tyler’s fluffy hair and blinking slowly as he gazed into his eyes. “I couldn’t let that happen to you, I just couldn’t… I thought you were gonna die…”

“Oh god, Josh… it’s okay, Jishwa, I’m not dead…” Looping his arms around Josh’s neck, Tyler pulled him into a hug, holding him close and letting the taller man cry quietly into his shoulder. He could see several other police officers approaching, and he could hear the faint siren of an ambulance approaching, and held on tight to his friend, whispering softly into his ear. “It’s okay, Josh, I’m alive… I’m not gonna leave you…”

|-/

The two were allowed to leave the hospital after only a few hours, since neither of them had any injuries apart from minor cuts and bruises. The police told them the man went by the name Brendon and had several major felonies, including robbery and breaking and entering. After they left the hospital and got back to Josh’s house, Tyler noticed that the red haired man was still extremely quiet. Josh was curled up on the end of the couch with his hands stuffed in the pockets of his hoodie with his head lowered and his his hair hanging in his face.

“Josh… Josh, please talk to me…” Tyler whispered, climbing onto the couch near Josh. He curled up and nuzzled against Josh’s side, resting his head against his back and slipping his arms around his waist. “I hate seeing you this upset… please tell me what’s wrong, Jishwa…”

With a quiet sigh, Josh replied, “I’m sorry… I was just so worried when that guy attacked you, I was worried he was gonna hurt you or kill you… I don’t know what I would do without you, Ty.” He turned over so that he was facing Tyler, touching his temple and trailing his hand down to his chin. “I couldn’t go on without you… you just mean so, so, much to me…”

“Josh? What… are you trying to say?” Tyler asked softly, his fingers reaching out and settling on Josh’s shoulders as a heavy blush began settling over his face.

“I guess what I’m trying to say is… I love you.” Josh dropped his head, biting his bottom lip and squeezing his eyes shut. “I tried to deny it for so long, because you said you didn’t like guys and that you weren’t interested, and I didn’t wanna push you into anything… but I just love you so much, Ty, I’m sorry…”

“Josh, you don’t have to apologize, honestly…” Tyler reached up and gently lifted up Josh’s head, frowning when he saw the taller male beginning to cry again. “Hey, hey, it’s alright, please don’t cry…”

“But I know you don’t feel the same way and I know you’re mad at me now and you’re gonna leave and never talk to me again…” Josh blurted, shaking his head quickly.

“Joshie… Josh, I’m not mad at you, I’m not gonna leave,” Tyler whispered. “And I do feel the same way, honestly.”

“Tyler, you don’t have to say that. I know you’re just trying to make me feel better.” Josh shook his head again.

“I’m not just saying it, Josh, I mean it. I really do…” Tyler inisted, nodding slowly. “I really do love you, I want you to believe me…”

“Prove it.” Josh lowered his head, biting his bottom lip and rubbing his eyes with the heel of his hand. “Prove to me in some way that you actually love me, and maybe you’ll believe me.”

Tyler hesitated for a few moments, his gaze rapidly shifting from Josh’s eyes to his lips and back up again. Taking a deep breath and working up as much courage as he could, he stood up on his knees, grabbing Josh’s shoulders and leaning up to kiss him. The kiss lasted for only a few moments and was much too hesitant for Tyler’s liking- his lips just barely brushed against Josh’s before he pulled away involuntarily- but it seemed to prove his point to Josh. As soon as Tyler pulled away, he saw that Josh’s eyes had widened, his mouth open in a huge smile.

“...does that prove it to you?” Tyler asked hesitantly, settling back down on the couch.

Instead of giving a verbal response, Josh practically tackled Tyler flat on his back, tangling his fingers in his hair and kissing him again and again. Tyler let out a startled squeak, managing to realize what was happening and fell back into the kiss, wrapping his arms around Josh’s neck and pulling him closer. When the two broke apart after several long moments, both of them were visibly flushed and breathing heavily.

“That proves it,” Josh murmured with a wide smile.

“I love you so much, Jishwa…” Tyler smiled back, lacing his fingers in Josh’s scarlet hair.

“I love you too, Ty…” Josh smiled, dropping his head onto Tyler’s chest and curling up in a little ball. To anyone else, it might have been a peculiar sight; the significantly larger and older man nuzzled up to him like a cat. But it was absolutely perfect for the two of them. Tyler smiled and wrapped his arms around Josh, hugging him tightly and running one hand through his fluffy hair. Josh let out a soft giggle as Tyler’s fingers tickled his head, letting his eyes fall closed gradually.

“Are you gonna fall asleep?” Tyler asked softly.

“Maybe…”

“Joshie, it’s only three in the afternoon…” Tyler giggled. “What about that movie we were gonna watch?”

“Oh yeah.” Josh chuckled and smiled. “I forgot…”

“We could just stay like this if you want…” Tyler suggested.

“That sounds just as good.” Josh replied, wrapping his arms around Tyler and relaxing against him completely. Resting his chin on top of Josh’s head, Tyler kept the taller man close to him protectively, even though the two were perfectly safe alone in the room. His lips silently formed the words “I love you” over and over again as he gazed down at Josh, feeling an overwhelming rush of affection for him in that moment.

I found someone who made me happy.

Thank you very much for reading! If you enjoyed this story, please give it a like and a reblog. If you want to read more of my stories, give me a follow and turn on post notifications!

#twenty øne piløts #Twenty One Pilots #tyler joseph #josh dun #jishwa #orignal #origninal characters #fanfiction #fanfic #introvertfics #joshler

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