#hello @ matt how do you expect me to live with the knowledge that

[andrew-is-foxy]

Foxes candy store AU

Andrew and the Foxes work at a homemade candy store and Matt’s new friend Neil comes in to see what the fuss is about.

Based on this prompt here by @a-case-for-wonder Only changes are- Renee doesn’t own the store, they’re still college students, and Kevin and Neil still play ‘a sport’. 

TW: self-harm scar mention, swearing, sparring Word Count: 2.7k 

There weren’t many things in life that Andrew enjoyed, but his job was one of them. Or, at the very least, it was something that he tolerated because it was less boring than the alternative. His therapist, Betsy Dobson, had found the job for him, saying he needed to find a daily routine, and find something he was good at. Betsy knew the owners of the homemade candy store, Abby and David Wymack, and they’d been willing to give Andrew a job even with his juvenile record. The store was managed by a young woman with curly black hair named Dan, and her boyfriend Matt manned the cash register. Out the back, Andrew had gotten his twin brother Aaron and their cousin Nicky jobs boiling and making the candy. Out the front in the display window was Andrew, his best friend Renee and her girlfriend Allison. They worked in full view of the store behind a glass window so that the customers could see what they were doing. Nicky, a marketing major, said it was a strategy to get interest from people walking past and also show the customers that it was all handmade. Andrew pulled the logs of candy and rolled it out into the small little rolls for Renee to cut, and Allison sat at the table sorting them into neat little packages and making all the displays, gift boxes and wrapping look beautiful. The owners’ son, Kevin, often haunted the store after his college classes or on his days off from training for whatever sport it was that he did. Andrew didn’t really care so he’d never paid enough attention. The only thing Kevin was good for was being eye candy and sometimes interesting enough to talk to when he wasn’t talking about sports. Aaron and Nicky knew what sport it was, seeing as though they spoke to Kevin about it when they were at the college dorms, but Andrew was more interested in passing his degree, reading, and sleeping. All the kids that worked at the candy shop were students at the state college not far away, but Andrew only associated with Renee outside of the store if he could help it, no matter that he shared a dorm with his family and Kevin.

“Did you try this one yet?” Renee asked from beside Andrew as he worked on a log of candy longer and thicker than his arms, needing to make it as thin as his fingers.

“No, not yet, but it looks like it’s watermelon,” Andrew answered. Renee was cutting up the thin rolls he’d already made that day and she held one of the wonky pieces out to him to try. He put it in his mouth, smiling a little bit at the sweet explosion in his mouth, and went back to working. Andrew loved sugar, more than he loved anything else. He would live off it if Kevin didn’t police their kitchen like it was his only goal in life. Kevin also had a habit of ransacking Andrew’s hidden stashes of candy every now and again and throwing them away. Fucking athletes.

“Yeah, watermelon,” Andrew said, rolling the candy across his tongue and into his cheek. Renee fed one to Allison and popped one into her own mouth, nodding appreciatively as she did so.

“Arms hurting yet himbo?” Allison called from the other side of Renee and Andrew flicked her the bird without looking over. Allison had called him ‘himbo’ so many times since he’d started working at the store that he’d had to Google what it meant. He’d been surprised that it meant attractive, but unintelligent man. He’d been torn between being flattered and offended, because Andrew was a lot smarter than he led people to believe. Still, it was better than being called ‘monster’, so he’d decided to let it go. The truth was Andrew’s arms weren’t hurting yet. He was good at this job because he was strong. When you’re five foot nothing at nineteen years old, you kind of need something to make you feel better about yourself which was why Andrew could nearly match Matt in the weights room. Nearly. Matt was over six foot and had been raised by a champion boxer, so he’d had a head start. While Andrew had been shuttled through the foster care system and wallowed away in juvie, Matt had been learning to box. The bell above the door jangled and Andrew looked up to see who’d come in and was unsurprised to see Kevin walking past Allison’s newly done display shelf. He barely glanced at Matt as he walked  behind the register, but he did say hello to Andrew and smiled politely to Renee, turning it into a grimace when he looked at Allison, and disappeared into the back room.

“He’s such a douche canoe,” Allison muttered. Andrew didn’t point out that the two of them used to make out at parties when they were drunk before Allison and Renee started dating.

“He looked happy today,” Renee said instead. Allison wrinkled her nose and Andrew turned back to his work.

“Kevin never looks happy. None of the monsters do,” Allison replied. Andrew resisted rolling his eyes.

“Nicky does!” Renee said, as calm and placating as always.

“Nicky doesn’t count, he’s only a monster by proxy,” Allison replied, sliding from her stool. Andrew saw her let herself out of their side door and start decorating one of the shelves with the new candy boxes she’d created. Conversation over, Allison exit stage left. Andrew didn’t miss the fond smile on Renee’s face as she watched her girlfriend. He opened his mouth to tell her to snap out of it, but the bell jangled and Andrew went back to aggressively pulling the log of candy.

“Hey, hey!” Matt said, sounding happy to see whoever had walked in. “I didn’t actually expect you to stop by!”

“I was curious about what you meant by ‘homemade candy’,” the newcomer said. His voice was deep, nice even, and Andrew found himself drawn in by it. He looked up and had to work really hard to not let a reaction show on his face. The newcomer was short, although taller than Andrew of course, and he had auburn hair just long enough to start curling around his ears. His eyes were so blue Andrew could have gotten lost in them if he wanted to. He had four thin, white scars running down one cheek clearly done with a small, sharp blade. On the other cheek, under his eye, was a round patch of healed, burned skin. Andrew hated that he was the perfect mix of handsome, and interesting. Nice features, nice voice, muscled legs, and scars that beg the question of ‘what happened to you?’ If someone that attractive could get themselves into that much trouble, he deserved the label ‘himbo’ not Andrew. Andrew’s scars were all self-inflicted, which he could argue was less stupid than having someone or something burn your face. The door between Andrew and the back room shut with a snap and Andrew jerked his head around to see who’d come out. If Nicky or Aaron were bringing out another log of candy already, he was going to have words with them, but it was just Kevin.

“Oh Neil!” Kevin said, actually smiling at the newcomer. “What are you doing here?”

“Matt told me he worked here so I thought I’d check it out,” Neil said, tilting his chin in Matt’s direction.

“I didn’t know you two were friends,” Kevin mused, situating himself at the counter beside Andrew. Andrew bit hard on the inside of his cheek and worked harder on the roll in front of him, looking at Neil out of the corner of his eye.

“We are,” Matt said, looking strangely proud. Neil smiled and Andrew looked away for a second.

“We are also roommates,” he said.

“How do you two know each other?” Matt asked from his stool behind the register.

“Neil is our freshman recruit, obviously,” Kevin answered.

“Oh right, of course,” Matt said, clearly as interested in the sport as Andrew was.

“He’s more of a soccer fan,” Neil said as if apologising for his roommate’s ignorance. Kevin grimaced as if that news personally offended him, swiping up a handful of the wonky, rejected pieces of candy, and pocketing them. Andrew knew that the small handful would be the only candy Kevin would eat that week, and the knowledge pained him. Andrew ate double that daily.

“See you at practice,” Kevin said to Neil. “And I’ll see you later,” Kevin added, looking at Andrew.

“Bye,” Andrew replied, waving him away impatiently, grateful to have room again. Not elbowing Kevin when he’s standing that close to Andrew working was a chore he couldn’t really be bothered with. Kevin left the store without a backward glance or saying goodbye to anyone else, and Andrew didn’t hold that against him.

“Good to know he’s an asshole all the time and not just on the court,” Neil said to Matt who laughed.

“You have no idea. He’s nice to Andrew, and that’s about it,” Matt responded. Andrew looked up at his name and met Neil’s eyes. Neil smiled at him and did the stupid male nod thing and Andrew looked away.

“Did you want to try some free samples?” Renee asked Neil, sliding some more of the multicoloured rejects into one of Allison’s boxes that hadn’t worked. She passed them to Andrew who held them in Matt’s direction because there was a glass wall in the way of him and Neil.

“Um, okay,” Neil said, sounding dubious. He took the box and popped one into his mouth. Andrew didn’t miss the immediate, full body wince at he crunched the rock hard candy between his teeth straight away making Andrew cringe. He swallowed the shards quickly and put the box down in front of the register, looking severely unimpressed and a little bit embarrassed. “That is too sweet,” he explained. Matt laughed, but Andrew stopped working to openly stare incredulously at him. It’s a fucking candy store, what did he expect. Matt used his finger to rifle through the pieces and pulled out a blueberry one.

“The watermelon is a bit obnoxious, but try this one. It’s a little less sweet and more… sour? Kind of,” he explained. Neil looked traumatised, but he took the piece between his finger and thumb and put it in his mouth. The reaction was less intense, and he managed to suck it for a more than five seconds before wincing and crushing it between his teeth again to get it out of his mouth.

“Too sweet still,” Neil said, pushing the box away further. Matt went looking for a third piece of candy, but Andrew was getting annoyed now. He went over to the register, snatched the box from Matt and ignored his undignified ‘hey!’

“It’s a candy store dipshit,” Andrew said to Neil. “Everything is sweet, that’s the point. Just don’t eat any of it,” he snapped. Neil raised his eyebrows, but it was the smile tugging at his lips that threw Andrew for a loop. Usually, when Andrew got mad at someone, that someone cowered or apologised or reacted, rightfully so, with fear. The only person who didn’t react with fear was Aaron, and that was because his twin reacted with anger in return. Nobody smiled at him.

“That is the plan, thanks,” Neil replied easily. Andrew stalked back to his spot and gave Renee back the box.

“The monster strikes again,” Allison said cheerily from her place at the shelves.

“Monster?” Neil asked, surveying Andrew with his chilling blue eyes. Andrew schooled his features to impassivity and went back to work. “I don’t think he’s a monster,” was all Neil said before turning back to Matt. Andrew deposited the sentence into the back of his mind to think about later. How would he know?

“You going to be out late tonight?” Matt asked.

“Nah, I’ll be home straight after training,” Neil said. “Just because I don’t like the candy, doesn’t mean this isn’t a pretty cool job,” he added. Andrew felt his eyes on him, but he didn’t look up.

“Thanks, I like it,” Matt agreed. Neil laughed and Andrew decided he liked the noise, which meant he also hated it.

“See you tonight,” Neil said.

“Yeah, thanks for stopping by,” Matt said, genuinely meaning it judging by the happiness in his voice. Andrew glanced up and caught Neil’s eyes again.

“I will do just that,” Neil said, giving Andrew a smile that made Andrew want to punch him. Or kiss him. Or maybe punch him and then kiss him.

“Bye!” Matt said as Neil backed towards the door.

“See you, and Andrew?” Neil said, making eye contact again, “It was nice meeting you.” Andrew didn’t warrant that with a reply, even though something in his stomach stirred. Attraction, butterflies, whatever you wanted to call it. It made Andrew want to peel his skin off. Kevin was hot. Rolland, the bartender Andrew fucked around with some weekends, was easy and obedient (mostly). Andrew hadn’t felt actual, genuine attraction stirring in his stomach for a very long time, at least not chased by hot lashes of desire and lust. This was just simple, innocent, followed merely by curiosity. Andrew was not impressed.

That afternoon, after Aaron and Nicky had turned off and cleaned all the equipment out the back, Matt had counted all the money, Allison had swept and tidied the front of the store, and Renee had helped Andrew clean the display workspace, Dan shut off the lights and locked the store behind them. “You coming back to the dorm? I’m starving!” Nicky asked Andrew. Andrew had been simmering on his encounter with Neil all afternoon and hand pulling candy ropes hadn’t been enough of a distraction. He turned to Renee who was watching him calmly.

“Do you want to…?” she asked, leaving the question open ended. Andrew knew what she was asking, and he really, really did.

“Yes,” he said. She smiled and nodded.

“I’ll meet you in the dorm parking lot in half an hour?” She asked. Andrew nodded and got in his car with Aaron and Nicky. Renee and Allison climbed into Allison’s car, and Dan and Matt went to a restaurant further down the street for dinner.

“I’ll leave dinner in the fridge for you,” Nicky said quietly from the passenger seat. Andrew didn’t answer, but he knew Nicky would do it anyway.

Half an hour later, he met Renee in the parking lot and they went around the back of the building and down a rarely used path to their frequented sparring place. Renee and Andrew made quick, careful work of wrapping their hands after removing their shoes and circled each other familiarly. Renee made the first move and Andrew parried it easily, going for a hit in her stomach that she dodged on nimble feet. After an hour, they were both sore and adequately beaten up and they sank to the floor beside each other to gingerly unwrap their hands. Andrew knew Renee wouldn’t ask why Andrew needed the fight, but part of him wanted to tell her anyway. He didn’t, but he knew she would work it out with his question.

“Do you think you could talk to Abby and Wymack about maybe introducing a new flavour?”

“I can certainly try, what flavour do you have in mind?” She asked, wincing a little as she moved. Andrew had hit her really quite hard in the side of her ribs that was going to be a proper bruise before she went to bed that night. To be fair, Andrew’s lip was split and his shoulder was still numb from her last punch.

“Lemon or liquorice,” Andrew said, packing his sparring equipment into a bag. He didn’t miss Renee’s smile as she spoke.

“They’re not very sweet flavours,” she mused.

“No, they’re not,” he agreed.

“I’m sure he’ll appreciate it,” she teased. If they weren’t sat on the floor already unequipped, he would have swung at her for that. As it was he just glared at her and her smile grew. “I’ll talk to Abby and Wymack tomorrow,” she promised.

“Don’t tell anyone it was my idea,” he warned.

“It’s nobody else’s business,” Renee agreed.

#aftg #all for the game #andrew minyard #neil josten #andreil #renison #matt boyd #dan wilds #allison reynolds #nicky hemmick #aaron minyard #kevin day #renee walker

[steve0discusses]

The Live Action Fullmetal Alchemist Movie Part 6: Let’s Kill Hughes

Hey guys, I’ve been having some issues with the blog not...updating my drafts. So in case you’re wondering, that’s where I disappeared to. Give a round of applause to the support team for finding a solution until it gets fixed but as of right now I’m on like a private window with my extensions turned off and writing this from both tumblr and a LibreOffice document. Hello ads, nice to see you back.

Last we left off, we were a hop and skip away to lab 5. In the anime, this was a sequence where there was a bunch of fighting with suits of armor, and they kept that in this movie, but...not the people you think would be fighting are going to be fighting.

Listen I’m not like super knowledgeable about the world of Matte painting, but I like that they’ve unintentionally made this world building where whoever is in charge of making these red bricks basically owns everyone’s nuts. Everything is made out of the same red bricks. Like I know this is a show about homunculi ruling the world but I feel like the red brick guy is hellllllla more egregious. Freakin Monsanto over here.

I assume they had a 3d model and was like “we can just keep using it” and damn, they sure did. And inside of this brick building is, unsurprisingly a lot more red brick (although I think this is partially, if not entirely, an actual real life set.)

This next part is...such a lesson in pacing. Not necessarily a lesson to follow, but definitely a lesson to learn from maybe their non-example.

(watch Hughes die under the cut)

And what’s interesting is that there were a lot of good lines in this upcoming segment. There were a lot of good moments—bu there’s just so many. Maybe too many. You gotta prune your script occasionally, it’s like a tomato plant.

Like I’ve been doing a stress garden to cope with quarantine and Covid and 3+ months of life endangering wildfires, and I learned that you gotta prune the sucker vines off your tomatoes, although sucker vines can also make tomatoes. It sucks to do because I love tomatoes, and I want as many tomatoes as possible, but when you prune the plant, you get bigger better tomatoes that are more worthwhile than the suckers that can infect your plant and make it really sick.

Sorry that made me sound like 5000 years old with that gardening analogy. If you need me to solve your small town murder mysteries, I’m ready.

So it’s like...kind of tragic that it came together as kind of nonsensical when you can tell that it’s so close to being something better.

Like we have some reason up to this point to believe that Ed would have a freak out here...but like...a sobbing on the floor screaming at the walls type of freak out? Was there enough time devoted to this blow up, or did he walk into this room and immediately start screaming? Because he sure did walk immediately into this room and start screeching like a broken bird.

Like last recap, which was about 2 minutes ago in screentime, was this fun and quirky montage with Hughes. Now we’re sobbing into this rusty factory.

And I know what’s going on because I’ve seen the anime, but if you haven’t seen it—would this emotional break down make any sense? We were told by Dr Marcoh, “check out lab 5,” but we were only going to this factory on kind of a wish and a prayer. I really wonder if people who don’t know this show could follow past this point.

And then while we’re still adjusting to “yo, Ed just took it from a 2 to a 10 like immediately” Al is like “Hey I noticed no one is paying attention to me, and I have to lay a wicked fart:”

and then both brother’s just have a freak out. Gotta all be freaking out in this random ass Unity asset that was probably also used for some college grad’s first battle royale.

Pacing is just everything. And what’s SO HARD about Full Metal Alchemist is that there really is a lot of content to cover, there’s a lot of emotions to go through, and when you only have about 7 minutes to cover what was about 3-4 episodes, if I remember correctly, it’s kind of a zany mess.

And if you were going into this movie hoping they wouldn’t illustrate Al as a large idiot baby, then you share the sentiments of most people who saw this movie. Al is like...kind of reduced to a whiny big baby and is...not cute. Like Al is low key kind of menacing throughout this movie, not just because he has this CGI armor thing going on, but also because Al is...so impressionable and unhinged.

Something that I didn’t appreciate enough when I watched the anime was just how important Barry the Chopper was for Al’s logical character development.

Yo...These bangs…

...I’ve realized that every show I recap here just has the worst hair styles. I honestly never thought much about hair at all until I watched like 200 hours of Yugioh and all of this movie and also 6 seasons of Once Upon a Time which featured some LOOKS (but only recapped like 3 episodes, sorry if I got some of y’all excited. That was when we had no reason to cap everything because the capping community for Once was very alive and very exciting.)

By hitting him with a wrench (Al does not feel pain, ps, so he doesn’t need to be hunched over like this) Winry reminds Al that Ed would not risk his life for a fake brother (which may be a line from the anime or the manga but I don’t remember) and crying just...a lot.

Like it felt as if she had to shoot all of this out of order. Same with Ed’s freak out here. Movie’s aren’t really shot in succession and it’s up to the director to make it feel coherent and logical...this felt scattered, like the actors really didn’t know what was happening in the scenes leading up to it so they just cranked it to 11.

And then I guess Ed was either so insulted that Al punched him or was so upset that Al made Winry cry (again, this movie really tries to sell the EdxWinry ship and from me that’s a really big compliment), that Ed just started laying punches to extend a fight scene that was kind over before it started.

But symbolically there is a lot nice things going on here, Ed only uses his fleshy hand so he bleeds all over Al, hurting himself as much he’s hurting his brother. Implying more than just this fight, but suggesting that their whole journey of trying to find this sorcerer’s stone is just going to hurt both of them in their quest to save the other.

And then Al says something along the line of “it hurts!” to infer that he’s got this broken heart which is when they both finally just freakin stop.

Such a shame the pacing, which was a mix of too quick, and too many tomatoes, kind of made it hella blindsiding.

Again this was so many episodes of FMA and they stuffed it into so few minutes, it’s wild.

Especially since Ed is like...he’s cast as an adult! He’s an adult! At no point in the movie so far have they called him a kid, and they’re not pretending that he is one. But like...he acts like such a child because in the original, he was one. And, while this movie steps so far away from the source material, if should have committed and either stepped completely away or committed completely. Of course “should” is one of those things where we’ll just never know. A wish into the ether of hindsight being 20/20.

But lets get to the thing that you all came here for. This is where this movie gets BONKERS:

So Hughes actually draws out a pentagram between the different places in Armestrias, including Ishvaal, leading us to think that he’s figured out the whole dealio of turning the country into an alchemy circle. But, for some reason only helps him find the real lab 5.

It didn’t...that’s a different thing.

And it has been a long time since I’ve seen the ending of this movie—and maybe it was so offhand that I forgot if they actually do bring up turning the country into an alchemy circle--watch me eat my words, it could happen—but yo, we are finally killing Hughes—but we’re over halfway through this movie. And you may wonder...so uh...what...then what could possibly happen? There’s too much anime left!

Now I’m glad they kept this scene really close to the anime, although I haven’t watched the anime in a hot minute. It’s kind of an iconic scene so you don’t forget.

Like I do genuinely enjoy the campy parts where they were bringing up some of my favorite nostalgia of the original.

and then when you are like “ah, this is exactly the same as the anime. I can relax and watch as all my expectations are fully realized.” This twist happens.

YAH.

It’s a change!

So in the anime we had a really fun arc where we were trying to save Lieutenant Ross for being framed for killing Hughes. It’s probably my favorite part of Full Metal Alchemist, actually, it was so clever and a really thrilling chase. It was also like...half of season one.

Anyway, they cut it. They reduced half a season into 7 minutes. I know that, because each of these recaps is about 15 minutes of the movie.

You may look at this recap and be like “wait...this all happened in 15 minutes??” because yeah, this all happened in 15 minutes.

The same squad of people we see in every single scene of soldiers comes up to arrest Ed, which is weird, because I thought this band of soldiers was the military under Cl. Mustang’s command so like…shouldn’t they be arresting themselves? Mustang was over the command of more than 2 people. If we are suspicious of Mustang’s buddies then everyone in this movie would be in trouble.

And that’s when I realized that these guys were just unnamed soldiers and not a part of Mustang’s band. They only had like this many extras and just hoped we wouldn’t keep track of who is who, but I KNOW I’ve seen these guys this whole time. There are only like 6 people in this army. I see you movie magic—I see what you’re trying to do.

Anyway, Ed gets thrown into an old timey opera house that occasionally gets to be used for Middle School graduations. Or maybe also a mortuary where they charge you for funerals.

Like I know it’s supposed to be the capital building but like...this looks so weird when it’s live action. I remember the anime had this kinda feel to it but in live action it’s like…

...this is a weird ass capital building…Why do they have curtains like a Granny Holiday Inn in Reno, Nevada?

Thankfully, Hawkeye is here to explain to Ed what just happened because we, the movie viewers, were kind of surprised by that plot twist.

Like there were many ways you can condense half a season into 15 minutes, and I dunno if I would have just changed the murderer. It is a solution you can do. You can just point blame on Mustang and skip that whole Ross segment but like….

…then why write the movie?

Obviously, they had to make the movie, it had already been funded, people were really excited about the idea, and I do not envy the people that had to hack and slash with the Full Metal Alchemist script, but it is interesting what they decided was important to the original content, and what was unimportant. All that stuff that showed how Mustang was brilliant and two steps ahead of everyone else? Unimportant. All that stuff we had that showed how Mustang cares a lot about protecting other people and also cares about Ed and Al? Unimportant.

It really changes the dynamic, and it’s kind of fascinating to go into this cold because it’s been like...a year for me since I’ve watched it...and just see how different everything is without all those supporting characters that when I watched the anime I just assumed were mostly useless (Though fun). Turns out they all had a pretty significant part of making me care about Ed, about Mustang, about Al, about all my main characters.

FMA is very character driven, and this movie is mostly just...plot driven.  There’s kind of a great debate in literature about plot driven vs character driven. Movies and TV tend to be very plot driven, because they are very expensive to make, so they follow pre-formatted plot beats like “Save the Cat” or “The Heroes Journey” and other ones (there’s several to choose from).

They’ve made a fine science out of at what point a TV show should introduce the main, at what point they should suffer doubt, at what point they should shun their hero’s journey, etc etc. They know it down to the page number of the scripts they are writing. I know this, because it’s readily available on the internet and people fight about it all the time. This is why a show may suffer developing a character—because they just don’t have time and they just don’t have the resources to do something out of the box. Movies doubly so, because every minute of film can cost thousands of dollars.

What’s interesting about this is that FMA, the original FMA, does follow these beats. It was a manga sold by a huge publisher so it had to follow those beats. But, it has managed to do it while still being character driven. Yo, that’s so hard to do. This story was already written to be hyper condensed and structured when it was made into a Manga, and then it was condensed again for an anime, and then it was condensed yet again for this movie. It’s like a game of telephone, and at one end you have a very character driven story, and then at the other, it’s just totally plot.

Like it’s just a really huge risk to take. This was really, really risky.

PS did you miss Shou? Did you think we’d be done with Shou Tucker? No. Because this movie is gonna end at some point and rather than introduce other people...we’re just gonna stick with Shou and only have one miniboss.

(It has a freakin radiator in it?)

So then this next part happens and it’s low key hilarious.

The whole time.

Mustang and Hawkeye knew what lab 5 was this entire time but Ed just never asked for some reason despite working with those two for what is inferred to be YEARS since his childhood.

Hey PS, did you miss that brick building? Because it’s back.

Anyway, Mustang decides to take this underground where we can recycle the tech crew posing as extras that we used in the shot above us. Would not be surprised if a few of these are someone’s husband or wife on set.

Usually when I watch a movie I don’t get this feeling so much. But this movie...the latter half is like...EMPTY.

...this is going to be all movies made during Covid, I just realized…

Mustang is stopped by an angry Lieutenant Ross, and then we get this series of events.

And when you’re like “...Sorry?” Mustang’s like “I can make it weirder.”

And he just, without any warning or anything, lights Lieutenant Ross on fire. Multiple times, and it’s pretty intense and everyone who’s holding a gun just watches it happen is like…

...well I guess it’s too late to just shoot the guy...

…and like do you seriously not carry around a fire extinguisher when you are trying to manhunt Mustang? This is the one guy you want to wear fireproof clothes around. You have the technology. You at least have the technology for buckets of water. Like no one want to throw a blanket on her?

Just want to...watch? I guess?

Mustang just looks like a nut from this series of events instead of a genius--which is what I think they were originally going for. The pacing does that, youknow? Pacing.

And, out of the corpse pile stands Envy.

Envy has a pretty good look, I appreciated his whole look and that unlike the anime where you only find out Envy is a guy because someone told you on a forum somewhere and you were like “wait WHAT?” the movie is live action so you won’t make that mistake and embarrass yourself online.

Ed has only ever seen Lust once, and she walked in from off screen, stabbed a guy, and walked off. He’s just like...having a time because he’s done zero research into homunculi, and really, at no point in this movie are we going to give him time to figure it out.

Also, there’s this shot where Lust and Gluttony just walk in from behind them in the tunnel and it’s like…

….so no one noticed these two just hanging out back there?

It’s so freakin funny. This movie is gold. I love it.

Now If you just got here, this is a link to read all these recaps in chrono order:

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/fma/chrono

Have a good one, and stay safe! 2021 has been...weird nuts...and it’s still January somehow??? Weird times. Overall, please stay safe, it’s weird out there.

Also, if you’re like “I don’t remember this scene actually” here’s the original Hughes dies scene that inspired the movie (since the movie definitely was like “we’re only going inspired for this one nerds, get mad”)--some shots were inspired cut for cut.

And obvi this is on Youtube so it’ll probably get taken down eventually, but that’s why it’s flipped.

#FMA #FMA movie #FMA live action movie #recap #Fullmetal alchemist #hughes #roy mustang #ed elric #al elric #winry #I've had to write these tags twice now because tumblr won't SAVE MY DRAFTS #photo recap

[bastillewolf]

The Grand Tranquility Hotel (XI)

Pairing: Alex Turner/Reader

Summary: An eccentric hotel owner and an inquisitive writer find solace in each other when they both seemed to be at the edge of rock bottom.

Notes: Another chapter! Very happy to see you enjoyed the last one. Thanks so much for your support, it means a lot to me.

Let me know if you’d like to be added to the tag list.

@edgythought​

Chapter XI - American Sports

A soft breeze blew against the curtains, a ray of sunshine managing to slip through the cracks of the ruffling fabric. Her eyes cracked open ever so slightly, trying to let them adjust to the sudden brightness in her room. The sheets were a tangled mess around her bare frame, the space next to her cold. A note on the pillow read in a neat cursive;

‘Meet me at breakfast when you’re ready.

Yours, Alexander.’

It made her stomach flutter, and she rolled over to get herself decent.

She’d taken a brief shower, and left her room feeling more content than ever. Her feet glided over the carpeted hallway, accompanied by a slight spring in her step. She made her way down the grand stairwell, stopping only for a brief moment when she heard a familiar voice in the entrance hall.

“Miles!” she exclaimed, wrapping her arms around the man in question, who returned her embrace with glee. “Good to see you again, love,” he chuckled. As she pulled back, she saw a joyous sparkle in his eyes, which flickered over her shoulders briefly.

She followed his gaze, meeting the brown eyes she so very much adored. Alex wore a content smile on his face, appeased by the sight of his love getting along with his best friend so well. One of the hands that had been resting in his pockets reached out for her, and she couldn’t help but noticeably be surprised. She allowed her fingers to intertwine with his, as he pulled her closer to press a gentle kiss against her cheek.

A clatter behind the counter broke their little spell, for Nick had dropped his pen on the hard-wooden floor in his moment of shock. What made him even more flabbergasted was when he met the hotel owners eyes, which he had expected to hold the cold fury they always did when he messed up, he discovered that they only showed meek amusement.

Matt had been leaning against the doorpost of the dining room the entire time, watching the display with a small smirk. He shared a knowing look with Miles, before speaking up, “Shall we have breakfast, then?”

 She couldn’t quite express the utter joy she was feeling. There were the little things that made it all so much better; his hand hovering over the small of her back as he guided her to their table, pulling out her chair for her, and sharing the simple glances with her that told her just how much he was enjoying himself. His hand rested on her knee, sliding up to her thigh every now and then and teasing her to bits with it.

She was positively surprised at his willingness to show his direct affection towards her in front of his closest friends, and even when Jamie’s jaw had dropped to the floor when Alex had brushed a strand of hair from her face, he never once hesitated his movements. Matthew had to kick the cook under the table, otherwise he would have most likely remained in his gaping state throughout the entirety of their breakfast.

“I didn’t know you would be coming,” she told Miles with a smile. He nodded, “Honestly, it was all very short-notice. Some business was cancelled, and it left me with more time off than expected, so I decided to pay a little visit.”

“Well, we’re always happy to have you, Miles,” Alex responded sincerely.

 When everyone’s stomachs and curiosity seemed to be satisfied to a good extent, the hotel owner invited the mayor along with his lady into his office, where they had tea and to her bewilderment, started talking business.

“I think I might have found the location you liked,” Miles informed him, sliding a paper file across the desk. Leaning over, she managed to get an upside-down view of a big building, apparently located somewhere in the city. It gave a more modernistic impression, with symmetrical shapes and minimalistic architecture. She could see a big glass elevator, surrounded by neon lights, giving the building a futuristic touch. “What is this?”

“A possible extension to our hotel chain,” the mayor explained.

She furrowed her brows in confusion, her gaze pointedly meeting Alex’. The past few days had told her enough about his feelings towards stretching his business any further, yet he seemed to show a sudden interest in what his friend had to say, as if he’d expected this information being given to him. “I thought you didn’t want to expand just yet?” she questioned.

He hummed, “I didn’t at first, but when Miles and I went out to take care of business at the township the other day, we happened to drive by this particular building, and I could suddenly really see the vision of our dream hotel before me.”

She tilted her head, “But I thought this was your dream hotel?”

His lips quirked up momentarily, as his eyes wandered over to the television screens behind her, which still displayed the camera footage from all over the building and its surroundings. “It used to be,” he said, “And I wouldn’t sell it for the world. But, it’s become worn, and people are very much more interested in the modern joints these days. I’m not closing this place. I’m simply extending our range.”

She reached for his hand across the desk, squeezing it gently. “I thought you were the one to tell me that the usual folks who visit your hotel are the ones who buy paintings just to own them, not admire them.”

“I did,” he confirmed, arching his brow in silent inquiry for her to elaborate.

“If you buy this ‘modern’ building, those will be the only types of people you’ll come across.”

Miles gave him a look. “She is right.”

The hotel owner let out a sigh, tracing patterns on the back of her hand with his thumb. “I don’t care much for the general audience; I care about the bigger picture. This fresh start could be our salvation, and the prospect of being able to add our casino and spa to it makes me feel like a giddy teenager again. This is our last chance. I might as well try, because I’m not letting go of this ruin without a fight.”

Her eyes suddenly snapped towards Miles, thinking back on the private conversation they’d had when Alex had first refused his offer.

“What did you want to talk about, darling?” he’d asked.

She’d felt nervous, most of all. She wasn’t sure how the hotel owner would react if he found out she’d spilled this to his best friend without his knowledge. However, her gut told her that it was for the greater good.

“I’m sorry, Miles. I know how much Alex means to you, and I’m going to ask something of you in the hopes of his good fortune,” she told him.

He nodded, “Anything.”

“Alex needs some time to mull over the whole project. I know you’d talked about it already and made an agreement, but the state of particular affairs have withheld him from being able to live up to your expectations.”

“What do you mean?”

She sighed, “The hotel is going bankrupt, Miles. I’m not quite sure how you missed the headlines in the newspapers, but I felt it was important for you to know.”

Miles stiffened. “I- I thought those were just rumours. Alex should’ve told me…”

“I think Alex didn’t want to disappoint you,” she suggested, “It’s probably why he’s been avoiding doing business with you in the first place. I need you to give him some time. Even if it’s just for a few days.”

Miles had understood, because as promised, he’d left the hotel the very next day.

And in this moment, he looked particularly guilty. “I told Alex I know about the financial matter.”

When she was about to open her mouth to scold him, Alex had managed to precede her. “It’s alright, love. I appreciate it more now than I could have then, and I understand why you wanted to keep this private. You were just looking after me.”

He rose from his chair, moving to lean against his desk in front of her, tucking his hands in his pockets.

“I’ve had a chat with the police this morning, and they managed to trace back the accounts that had been discrediting money from us. We got it all back, plus interest.”

“What?!” she exclaimed excitedly, “That’s fantastic! Why didn’t you tell me?”

“The boys don’t know about it yet, nor about our plans. I didn’t think breakfast would be the right time to drop more than one bombshell on them.”

She blushed slightly, taking hold of his jacket and pulling him in for a kiss. “I’m sure they’ll be ecstatic.”

He smiled, letting his hands rest on her hips. “I hope so. I know the past few years have been rough on them, perhaps this news will do them some good.”

 Leaving the two men to continue their business in peace, she found herself to be more apprehensive about the project than she’d expected. She knew the risk Alex would be taking, opening a brand-new hotel with the last funding he has, and the additional pit in her stomach didn’t help calm her senses.

Her feet strode across the gravel pathways out in the gardens, and though she had to wrap her coat a bit tighter around herself against the chilly wind, she knew the fresh air would do her better than brood around the empty hallways in the hotel itself.

She eventually found herself in front of the stables, where she met Matthew running a brush over Mardy’s brown coat.

“Hello, miss,” he smiled at her, “Gotten sick of Alex already?”

She chuckled, “Something like that. Too much talk about business with the mayor.” He hummed in response, and it was only then that she noticed he wasn’t quite meeting her eyes. “Is something wrong, Matthew?”

“It’s nothing, miss,” he insisted, but she’d heard that from him before.

“Come on, it can’t be that bad. At least you haven’t lost the horse again.”

Mardy snorted, making Matt sigh. When he finally peered up at her, his eyes held a sense of worry. “Nick showed me the paper this morning.”

“And?”

“There was a big article about how Miles isn’t exceeding expectations as the mayor,” he told her, “People have taken notice how much time and effort he puts into the hotel, and want him to focus more on the township as a whole. They say he doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

“People have always been good at criticizing through the news.”

“Yes, but he might actually lose his job if he keeps cancelling appointments to help Alex out.”

She furrowed her brows, “I thought he said he had time off because business was called off?”

“He only says that to prevent Alex from feeling guilty,” Matt explained.

It made sense, really. Miles had been spending an awful lot of time in and around the hotel, even before she’d arrived. He was always seen at galas and gave regular statements to the paper, a fact she’d duly noted in her earlier research. She remembered what he had said to her.

“We used to talk about everything, all the time. Now it’s like he’s always too busy to have a bit of fun. I feel like I don’t know him as well as I used to, and it worries me.”

Alex had been opening up to her more and more as time had passed, and of course Miles had taken notice of it as well. It was probably what had made him think that starting the project back up now would be the best way to go. Alex was a lot more relaxed and open to new ideas, it was only fair he’d give it a shot. But she didn’t want him to be so careless that he would lose his position over this.

“So, while they’re going to be busy making plans to expand, Miles might get fired…” she muttered sadly, mulling over her thoughts. She glanced back up at Matt, who gave her a knowing look.

“I expected them to, really. I think you understand Miles cares more about Alex than his own job. It was never his dream to be mayor, and I think now that the opportunity had arisen, he wants to grab hold of it with both hands,” he said.

“Miles can’t lose his position,” she groaned, “If this plan doesn’t work out, they’ll both be in debt.”

“I know. I simply didn’t say anything because Miles can make his own decisions.”

“Yes, but he’s leaving Alex in the dark about it.”

 “She’s a bit apprehensive about it all, isn’t she?” Miles asked, leaning back in his chair. He took a long sip from his cup, enjoying the warm liquid running down his throat.

Alex shrugged. “She’s always been very vocal about her opinions. I didn’t expect otherwise. It’s a big step we’re taking, after all.”

“I’m glad you’ve found someone who cares for you, Alex, truly. You deserve to be happy, and I know how good it feels to be able to place your trust in someone. I never thought, not in a million years, that you’d find another lover.”

Alex snorted at that.

“I’ll have a word with her. I want her to know there’s no reason to worry.”

“Thank you, Miles.” They shared a tight hug, Miles patting him playfully on the back.

 Miles was very aware of the fact that he could get extremely curious. It was one of his better traits, allowing him to focus his complete attention on the things that mattered to him. But then again, they say people’s virtues can also be their downfall.

It was never really his intention to sneak into her room. The door had been ajar, and though he had knocked, there had been no response. So, he had invited himself in, planning on waiting for her until she would get back.

It wasn’t really his fault. The notebook had been opened on her desk already, and his eyes had simply wandered over a few pages.

“What the fuck?”

#Arctic Monkeys #Alex Turner x Reader #Alex Turner #Jamie Cook #Miles Kane #Nick O'Malley #Matt Helders #The Last Shadow Puppets #TLSP #TBHC #AM

[rebyell]

What Was and What Should Be, Chapter Two

She woke up hung over and alone. She wasn’t surprised by either condition. There was a note from Matt, though, on the stationery her grandmother had given her. She read it quickly, it just said he’d left around 4 am, to avoid her roommates and hopefully any awkward insinuations from Severide and Kidd. He hoped she felt okay and if she was still interested in that ‘when we date’ idea from last night, she should let him know next shift. God, had she really tried to… yes, yes she had. Thank God he had the self-control she apparently did not last night. He was interested though, or at least, he’d felt interested. And his note said he was, right? He’d also felt nicely sized – not like a circus freak, thank God, but nicely hung. She felt a little guilty thinking about that even just in her own head, but…still, nice. His note said next shift though, so she didn’t want to seem weird by texting him right now. She might’ve needed to be drunk to put the idea out there, but she wanted Matt Casey, and Gabby Dawson be damned – Dawson had abandoned both of them, and if she didn’t want Matt, well, other women, smart women, they did. Plus, and she’d never, ever, tell Matt this, she had felt awful when he talked about his date last night – rejection always stung, and something in his words or face or bearing, she was too drunk last night to quite put a finger on it, had said he believed what he’d been told: no one would want him, not the him who wasn’t just a hot guy in a bar random hook-up. But she couldn’t date him out of pity. She wouldn’t. It was just that knowing he was dating other women made her jealous. Seeing him date other women who didn’t appreciate him made her sad and mad both. She really did like him. She’d always liked him, but now she was sure she liked him. She’d hoped it would go away, then just wanted to wait for something, she didn’t even know what. But why wait? Dawson was gone, she was interested, and Matt was interested, why not? She didn’t have many regrets actually, except that she’d come on so strong. God, she hoped he didn’t think she was a slut or something. Not that Casey was likely to call anyone a slut, he really wasn’t judgmental like that (he probably couldn’t be, he’d been friends with Severide for like two decades).

She wandered out to the living room, unsurprised to find Otis was up before her, already doing some thing or other on the computer. He looked up and smiled at her.

“You got a ride last night, right?” He asked.

“Casey brought me home.” “Thought he had a date last night.” Otis remarked lightly.

“He did. It didn’t go well. Dropped by Molly’s after, seemed to be looking for company. Foster got me drunk and left, so he brought me here, and we went to bed. Joe still at Chloe’s?” “I guess so. You know, I don’t want to overstep or anything, but…is there something between you and Casey? I mean, something more than friends?” “Because he brought me home when I was drunk?” “That. And he talks more to you than he does to anyone else. Which is not often, because Casey is practically mute some days. But still, you guys spend a lot of time together. And he’s gotten really protective.” “So have you and Joe.” She pointed out.

“Well, we’re your roommates. That’s our job.” Otis replied.

“And he’s Casey – he’s protective of everyone in the house. The girls especially.” She sighed, thinking on Kidd’s occasional and Foster’s more regular frustration with Casey’s tendency to hover over them on the more dangerous calls. He wasn’t sexist, they all knew that, he was just…a worrier. He knew the physical capabilities of every person in the house, knew what he could physically ask them to do, and his knowledge of the differential in strength for the women seemed to make him just a little more nervous about them.

“Yeah, well, he doesn’t look at Kidd and Foster like he looks at you.” “Maybe…maybe there’s something.” She admitted. “I was drunk last night and he brought me home-“ “He brought you back here, drunk, and you said ‘we went to bed’-” “Don’t, Otis.” She bit out, not liking the implication in his tone, like Matt would take advantage of her. Otis had known Casey for a decade, he had to know him better than that by now. “I was drunk, I made a move on him, and he said we’d talk about it when I was sober, and I basically passed out. He left. He was exactly the sort of gentleman that anyone who knows him would’ve expected.” “But you’re interested in him?” Otis’ nose wrinkled. “The two of you are going to be dating? Does he just have a thing for paramedics, or no, people in medicine, he was engaged to a doctor before.” “That’s none of your business. Matt and I still have to talk about things, when we’re both sober.” “Matt? You call him Matt now?” “Sometimes. It’s weird to call him ‘Casey’ and think of him as…you know, more than a friend.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but he is your boss. He’s out of line dating a subordinate. Again. He’s also not got a great track record with relationships.” “Not really my boss – he’s mostly just yours, and Joe’s. I mean, and the firefighters generally.” She sighed, and asked the only question she could think to ask at this point. “Are you gonna be weird about this because you don’t like Casey or because he’s your boss, or are you gonna trust my judgment? And his?” She paused, stuck on something. “Wait, do you actually not like Casey?” “As a boss, he’s great.” Otis shrugged. “I don’t know about as a boyfriend. That whole mess with Dawson was all over the place, on and off so many times, and she was mad at him a lot – you must’ve heard about how often he tried to tell her what to do, didn’t support her, we all did, at least in what she implied – and he was on and off with his fiancée before, too. I don’t think on-and-off is what you deserve.” “I think…” She trailed off for a second, trying to put into words the suspicions that had been forming for her ever since Dawson left so suddenly, and Matt’s admission that he couldn’t have stopped her, “I think he said so little and she said so much that we all sort of assumed things about their relationship. And I think he is the one who got most hurt in that. So maybe he deserves a lot of benefits of the doubt.” “Just be careful. He’s a good guy, just…I don’t want you to get hurt by him. Okay?” “Okay.” She didn’t have the heart to admit that she was more worried she was going to hurt Matt than the other way around. She didn’t really have a great ‘track record’ with engagements herself so she couldn’t exactly judge Matt. And Gabby left him, and none of them knew what the cause of the break-up was, just that she decided to go to Puerto Rico and she decided to stay permanently and Matt stayed in Chicago. So to her way of thinking, Matt got hurt more than Gabby did in that whole mess. At least Gabby had made the decisions, Matt just got left behind.

**************************************************************

She didn’t have that many, or any, regrets about kissing the face off Matt Casey until she actually walked into the house the following shift. Not that her feelings about Matt changed, but she had to face him now, and that could be awkward. She’d sort of spilled her guts, and then she’d also sort of groped him, and she hoped that she’d not just been really drunk, the kissing really had gone well, otherwise it could be weird now. Would he act differently now? He’d always acted differently with Dawson, no one could ever miss how he felt about her, even when he was annoyed or hurt or angry it was obvious. But he said hello with a warm smile, no different than usual, and went about working on some paperwork while eating breakfast, and seemed completely not awkward at all. It was a busy shift, for all the vehicles, so there wasn’t much time to talk, and she hadn’t yet figured out how she wanted to affirm for him that even sober, she had no regrets about that ‘we’re dating now’ declaration she’d made (well, how she’d made it, yes, regrets, but not the idea of it). So she was happy to leave it at he was being normal. Otis kept giving them both odd looks, as if he expected some major announcement, catastrophe, or something to spontaneously occur. She didn’t realize she was being quiet in the ambo until Foster called her out on it late in the afternoon.

“What’s up with you? You’re too quiet, something happen since last shift?” “You happened. Sort of.” Sylvie admitted, then realized she’d have to explain. “You got me drunk at Molly’s because I can never keep up with you.” “You didn’t drive there, so what’s wrong with ending up drunk at a bar?” Foster paused, a smile spreading across her face. “Did you pick up a guy at Molly’s? That’s good. Girl you need to get out there more.” “Oh, I got out there. And now I have to figure out how to talk to him about it, which, hey, I’ve basically jumped his bones so you’d think talking wouldn’t be that hard, but he’s…he’s Matt, and he’s-“ “Wait, Matt as in Matthew Casey, Captain Casey?” Foster practically shouted. “You’re stressing over the fact that you finally hooked up with Casey?”

“We didn’t ‘hook up’.” Sylvie defended. “He took me home, and I was drunk, and I may have…I kissed him, but he kissed me back, but then he said I was too drunk to make any decisions and I should let him know after next shift, this shift, if I still wanted to date him.” “So, do you?” “Of course I do.” Sylvie nearly rolled her eyes. “You and Kidd have both been practically shoving me at him for months. Then there’s Olivia at spin class. Plus, he’s Casey. He’s a great guy and it’s not like he’s not attractive.” “So, just tell him you’re interested.” “I don’t want to just…I have to figure out what I want to say. Should I just say I meant it and let him ask me out, or do I just ask him out directly? If I ask him out, where do we go?” “Ask him out. It’s 2019. Just take him out. Not to Molly’s.” “God, no. Someplace that isn’t full of every firefighter either of us knows, for sure.” “What’s his favorite place? Or do something he’d like, like…maybe hockey or something.” “I know that this band he likes is playing at the Aragon next week.” “Concerts are good.” Foster encouraged. “Fun, public, but shows that you like some of the same stuff – though you guys have worked together for like five years, you already know each other.” “Exactly.” That was part of her problem with figuring out what to do. “I’ve already gotten to know him, and he knows me, so most of the point of dating is already out of the way. I even know what kind of underwear he wears.” “How do you know what kind of underwear the captain wears if you didn’t hook up?” “Well, he did end up without his pants in my bed-“ “That is the definition of hooking up!” “Sleeping. But no, I know because like I said months ago, it’s complicated because I was his ex-wife’s best friend. So how do I date him now? And what if Gabby comes back, even for a visit?” “You can’t put your life on hold for a random what if.” Foster wrinkled her nose. “And Dawson left – you, him, everything. She had to know he wasn’t going to be a priest or whatever.” “Well, no, but not with me.” “It’s ancient history, like Kidd said. You like him. He likes you. Jump his bones already.” “We can’t just skip to sex.” “Why not?” Foster asked. “You skipped the getting-to-know-you parts of dating, now it’s time to see if the sex is good. You’re good friends, if you add in good sex, you’re pretty much straight into a serious relationship – just sprinkle in the occasional romantic dinner date or something.”

“What if it isn’t good?” “The sex?” “Then, we’ve ruined a great friendship, and one we can’t escape because we work together.” “I’ve known Casey a little over a year. He doesn’t strike me as the type for the sex not being good.” “How can you know that?” “He’s totally the controlled, calm, stoic guy during the day, freak between the sheets – bet he goes like a freight train.” Foster paused. “Not that I’ve spent a lot of time imagining, just saying he’s hot and a guy that hot knows his way around sex.”

“Exactly. He could have lots of women. What if I’m not…his type.” “I don’t think he has a type, except a kick-ass determined woman, and you’re definitely that. Plus, I don’t think even if it’s awkward or something, he’s gonna let it ruin a friendship. He has to be used to awkward.” “What do you mean?” “He lives with Lieutenant Severide. Who is dating, now living with, Kidd, who works for Casey. Think about it. Kidd and him have to have run into each other in the kitchen or something on a lot of mornings after. If that hasn’t made things awkward, one date with you will be fine. Plus, everyone knows he likes you.”

“Fine. I’ll just…ask him out. To the concert. But if it goes horribly awkward, I’m blaming you. You got me drunk and left me to end up going home with him.” Sylvie announced, just as they pulled up to the address they had for the person in distress.

“I bring only the best things into your life.” Foster responded with a laugh.

#chicago fire fic

[perfectlyrose]

got your number

Summary:  Shiro finds the phone number of the guy he had a crush on back in high school and decides to call it on a whim. He never expected Keith to still have the same number. (Sheith Modern AU)

Rating: All Ages || Word Count: 6160

AO3

Shiro bites down on his lip as he stares at the piece of paper in his hand. It’s a scrap of old notebook paper, torn edges slightly discolored from the years it has sat in a box in the back of his closet with the rest of his childhood mementos. The numbers scrawled across it aren’t written in alignment with the lined paper and when he traces the last digit he can feel the indentation from the writer pressing down too hard with their pen.

The numbers would be nigh on illegible if Shiro hadn’t once known this particular handwriting as well as his own. Even without a name attached to the number on the page, he knows this was written by Keith.

He’s pretty sure he could have let the familiar string of numbers trip off his tongue from memory even ten years after the last time he dialed them.

Shiro considers for about thirty seconds before pulling out his phone and punching in Keith’s old number. They lost touch a decade ago after Keith moved away during his sophomore year of high sch-ool. Shiro’s always harbored a sense of regret about not trying harder to keep in contact with Keith, has tucked the feeling away in a corner of his heart much like Keith’s number was tucked away in a box.

He hesitates for a second before hitting call and putting the phone to his ear. His heart is pounding as the ringing fills his ear. There was no way Keith would still have the same number. Shiro’s switched numbers three times.

Still, he can’t help but hope as the ringing continues.

“If this is another fucking political call I will find a way to sabotage your candidate’s entire life.”

Shiro froze. This is not what he was expecting but against all odds, that was definitely Keith’s voice on the other end of the line. Deeper and rougher than it used to be, but still Keith and still full of all the irritation he fondly remembers.

“Keith?”

“Personalized calls. I’m moving up in the world,” the other man says.

“This, um, this isn’t a political call?”

“You don’t sound entirely sure of that.”

“I’m a little thrown off by being threatened by someone I haven’t talked to in ten years before I even got to say hello,” Shiro says. A smile is stealing onto his face and it’s so stupid. Keith isn’t even being friendly and he can still pull a smile from Shiro without effort. “I should at least be yelled at for things that I’ve done.”

There’s silence on the other end of the line.

“Keith?”

“Are you fucking with me?”

Shiro laughed. “I’m really not.”

“Who are you?” Suspicion is dripping from Keith’s every word.

Shiro remembers his tendency to punch first and ask questions later when they were teenagers and is suddenly glad that he was out of physical range.

“This is awkward,” he starts. “You might not remember me but I found your number again and I couldn’t resist the chance to possibly talk to you again even though it’s been forever and I can’t believe you still have the same number anyways and-”

“Shiro?” The suspicion is gone, replaced with something close to wonder, close to disbelief.

“Um, yeah. Hi, Keith. What gave me away?”

“Oh my god, you still ramble like an idiot when you’re nervous. It’s pretty distinctive. Also you’re one of the only people who’d call someone after ten years of radio silence.”

“Right, um, so how have you been?” Shiro winces as the words come out of his mouth. He carefully puts down the scrap of paper with Keith’s number before he crushes it in his fist.

.Keith laughs and it’s low and warm and Shiro feels like he’s fifteen again. “That’s what you’re going with?”

“I didn’t exactly think this through,” Shiro admits. “I called before I could convince myself not to.”

There’s silence for a moment and then, “Are you disappointed that I answered?”

“No!” Shiro rushes to assure him. “I just meant that I don’t exactly have a game plan for this conversation. What am I supposed to say to someone I haven’t talked to in ten years but still miss?”

“You miss me?” The words come out slow.

“Yeah. You were my best friend, Keith.”

“Why didn’t you call before now, then?”

Shiro lets out a long breath, the regret unspooling from its corner to swim through his veins. “I tried right after you moved away but you never picked up. I stopped calling after a couple weeks. Figured you had my number too and would call when you were ready.”

“Oh.”

“Keith, I… I know I already said I don’t have a gameplan for this conversation so you have to deal with the rambling but it’s really really good to talk to you again. Even if you did start out by threatening me.”

“I’m never going to live that down, am I?”

“Nope,” Shiro says, giddy at the prospect of teasing Keith about it in the future, that maybe his future included Keith.

“Well, it’s good to hear from you, Shiro. We should-” he cuts off and Shiro can hear someone yelling in the background. “Sorry, that’s my roommate. I’ve got to go.”

“Okay. Talk to you later, then?”

“Yeah. You can text me or something. Bye Shiro.”

Shiro stares at the phone for a full minute after the call disconnects, wondering if he imagined the bit of fondness in Keith’s voice.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

“Dude, you’ve checked your phone ten times in the last seven minutes,” Matt complains, kicking Shiro in the knee for good measure.

He’s sprawled over Shiro’s couch, ostensibly there to remind Shiro that fun exists or something. Shiro had tuned him out when a text from Keith had come in.

He grabs Matt’s ankle before he can deliver another kick. “I do have friends other than you.”

“Since when? I’m hurt and betrayed, Shiro. Hurt and betrayed.” Matt yanks his foot free and sits up. “And from the way you’re checking that thing obsessively these days and grinning at it, I’d say you have a crush, not a new friend.”

Shiro can feel his face heating up and knows Matt will sense the blood in the water.

“You do! I can’t believe you haven’t told me already!” Matt crows. “Katie’s been giving me the dirt on watching her roommate crush on someone, which is hilarious because I was starting to think her roommate was part robot or something for all the emotion I’d seen from him. But now I can have stories of my own!”

“You know, telling me that you’re going to immediately spill my secrets is not the best incentive for me to tell you anything.”

Shiro types out a text while Matt mulls this over.

To Keith [9:43 pm] : I regret ever befriending Matt.

To Keith [9:43 pm] : Not really, but he’s being obnoxious.

From Keith [9:44 pm] : know the feeling. must be a matt thing, know an obnoxious matt too

To Keith [9:45 pm] : Definitely a Matt thing, then.

“Oh come on, Shiro. Does he at least know you’re interested?”

“No, and I’m not telling him,” Shiro says. “It’s… complicated.”

“Complicated like he’s dating someone else or complicated like you can’t get your head out of your ass?”

“Just complicated.”

How the hell could he explain the fact that Keith was the guy he’d crushed on in high school and then missed for years and then called out of the blue? He is both a familiar presence and a stranger and Shiro isn’t even sure where he is living these days or what he looks like now.

(He remembers the ink-spill hair that never stayed in place and a pair of eyes the color of the sky at dusk and a smile that could knock the breath out of him better than a punch. He thinks those things at least won’t have changed with the years.)

(He remembers the way it always felt like he was too big for his body when Keith was around, the way his heart got lodged in his throat when those starlight eyes met his, and the way he would ramble to him and hope that the right words would spill out to tell Keith what he meant to him.)

(He remembers that Keith never seemed to catch on to his feelings or return them.)

(Sometimes when he’s texting Keith he feels like he’s sixteen and again and half in love with the boy with more jagged edges than smooth. Shiro wonders how the years have weathered down those edges, if he’s still going to get cut when he reaches out.)

To Keith [9:48pm] : Doing anything fun tonight? Hot Friday night date or anything?

From Keith [9:49 pm] : pft no. watching some dumb sci-fi show with my roommate. she insists that my pop culture knowledge is pathetic

From Keith [9:50 pm] : i really don’t think i’ve been missing out

To Keith [9:51 pm] : What show??

From Keith [9:51 pm] : galaxy garrison

To Keith [9:52 pm] : I love that show!!!!

From Keith [9:52 pm] : nerd

To Keith [9:53 pm] : And proud of it :) :)

“Oh my god, you’re so gone on phone boy,” Matt groans. “Please tell me he’s cuter than your last crush.”

Shiro hesitates. “He’s beautiful,” he says finally, knowing it’s the truth despite not having seen Keith in a decade.

“You’re an irredeemable sap. I need alcohol for this.” Matt pushes himself to his feet and heads to the cabinet Shiro keeps his liquor in. “And you need alcohol so you’ll tell me about phone boy.”

From Keith [9:55 pm] : my roommate is threatening to disembowel me with a spoon if i keep texting during the show so, goodnight

From Keith [9:55 pm] : she also says to tell you that you have good taste in shows, which i personally think is debatable. i witnessed you nerd out about too many terrible animes

To Keith [9:57 pm] : Rude.

To Keith [9:58 pm] : Matt broke out the alcohol so it’s just as well. I can’t be trusted with my phone when there’s alcohol flowing. Night, Keith.

Shiro powers off his phone after sending the text and accepts the glass Matt presses into his hand.

“Spill,” Matt says, settling back on the couch crosslegged.

Shiro sips on his drink. “Not going to accept the explanation of complicated?”

“Not a chance in hell, my man. Who is he?”

“It’s this guy I knew back in high school. I, um, I found his number a couple weeks ago and called him.”

“Like, you looked up his number and just cold called him?”

“No, I found his number when I was cleaning out those boxes in my closet. I didn’t actually think he’d have the same number after ten years, honestly,” Shiro says, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Okay, this is weird, but your life is generally weird so we’ll go with it,” Matt says. “Did you have a crush on him back then, too?”

Shiro nods.

Matt lets out a low whistle. “Have you been nursing a ten year crush? That’s impressive, Shiro.”

“It’s embarrassing. I haven’t even seen him since high school!”

“This is some kind of soulmate shit. I better be the best man at your wedding.”

“You’ve already pointed out that I don’t have other friends to be your competition,” Shiro says with a laugh, hoping to shift the conversation.

“True, true. No one can live up to me. Now, I’m going to kick your ass at Mario Kart while you fantasize about your dream wedding to phone boy.” Matt makes a face. “What’s his name? Phone boy is a terrible nickname, even for me.”

Shiro drains the rest of his drink before answering. “Keith. His name is Keith.”

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

To Pidgeon [11:21 pm] : pidge i have an important question

To Pidgeon [11:21 pm] : this is vital

To Pidgeon [11:24 pm] : answer your favorite brother katie

From Pidgeon [11:25 pm] : you’re my only brother which means you’re my least favorite

To Pidgeon [11:26 pm] : is your roommate still crushing on his phone friend???

From Pidgeon [11:27 pm] : this is what you interrupted my netflix marathon for?

From Pidgeon [11:27 pm] : you’re dead to me

From Pidgeon [11:27 pm] : also yes. it’s disgusting. i had to threaten him to make him stop texting mystery man and pay attention to the GG marathon

To Pidgeon [11:28 pm] : this has been going on for two weeks, right?

From Pidgeon [11:28 pm] : yes. get to the point.

To Pidgeon [11:29 pm] : this is incredible

To Pidgeon [11:29 pm] : i’m 95% sure that keith’s mystery man is shiro. our best friends are pining over each other

To Pidgeon [11:30 pm] : we have to get them together

Matt waits a few minutes for his sister to answer, concerned that it’s taking her so long. He grins when his phone lights up with an incoming call.

“Hello sister dear.”

“What the hell, Matt! You can’t drop that kind of information when I’m sitting right next to Keith and can’t scream about it!”

“How was I supposed to know the location of your roommate?” Matt complains.

“I told you we were marathoning Galaxy Garrison tonight.”

“Whatever. But seriously, Pidge, Keith and Shiro.”

“How do you know that Shiro is Keith’s mystery man?” Pidge asks, voice soft but full of glee. Matt figures she’s trying to keep Keith from overhearing.

“Because I finally got Shiro to tell me about his mystery man that he’s been texting for a couple of weeks. He went all gooey eyed and finally told me that his name was Keith. The timeline is too perfect.”

“We need confirmation before we do anything,” Pidge says. “How did they even meet? Keith isn’t telling me shit.”

“Apparently they knew each other like ten years ago when they were in high school. Shiro was crushing on him back then and based on the tragic look on his face and the way he keeps saying this thing with Keith is complicated, he probably thinks that Keith doesn’t feel the same way.”

“Ugh. Keith goes all starry-eyed when he looks at his phone. It’s gross. He definitely feels the same,” Pidge says. “And so, they randomly got in touch after ten years?”

“Shiro found his old number and decided to try and call it and found out Keith never changed it. I have so much teasing material for my best man speech, it’s insane.”

“Okay, we can’t get ahead of ourselves. We still need to confirm that they are texting each other,” Pidge reminds him.

The siblings are quiet for a moment, plotting.

“Text me next time you see Shiro texting Keith. We can confirm through text timing.”

“If our best friends would actually talk to us, this would be so much easier,” Matt whines. “We could have gotten them through this pining stage without so much pain on our parts.”

“Shut up, you’re enjoying this,” Pidge says.

“I am. I can’t wait to see how this plays out.”

“They’re going to murder us when they find out we’re plotting to get them together.”

“Shiro wouldn’t hurt me,” Matt says.

“Keith would.”

“Okay, yeah, that’s fair. Luckily he is your roommate and not mine.”

Pidge snorts. “That’s not going to stop him.”

“Hopefully he’ll be so happy to be in Shiro’s arms that he’ll forget about murdering me.”

“Live in hope, Matt, live in hope.”

She hangs up and Matt has to admire her talent at getting in the last word. The student has definitely surpassed the master there.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Pidge walks up behind Keith while he’s texting on the couch.

“If you don’t stop trying to read over my shoulder I’ll only buy snacks you hate when I go to the store tomorrow,” he warns, not looking up.

“You wouldn’t.”

“I would.”

“Should’ve known I couldn’t out-ninja the ninja.” Pidge settles on the other end of the couch with a huff. She stares at him until he looks up at her. She grins. “Texting your mystery man? Did I make you go into withdrawal last night when I made you stop talking to him?”

Keith rolls his eyes.

“Come on, you’ve barely told me anything. I’m dying here, Keith.”

“Yes, I’m texting him. Although I would expect a better nickname for him from you.” He looks back down at his phone, a small smile flitting across his face as he tapped out a reply.

“You could just tell me his name.”

“Not happening. You’d start cyberstalking him.”

“Not if you told me not to!”

Keith shoots her a disbelieving look.

“Okay, fine, I would. But I wouldn’t share my info with you if you told me not to. Unless he was a major creep or something, I guess,” Pidge admits.

“Yeah. Not giving you his name. Besides, he’s not completely a stranger.”

It takes all of Pidge’s self-control to not sit bolt upright. Keith will definitely clam up if she shows too much interest in this particular line of conversation. “Oh? Have you met mystery man in person?”

“Kind of.”

“Keith, you’ve either met someone in person or you haven’t.”

He groans and slumps down in his seat, letting his phone drop into his lap. “You’re going to laugh at me.”

“Dude, this is not something I’d laugh at you about. Promise.” She crosses her heart so he knows she’s serious, prompting another sigh.

“Okay, the thing is I knew this guy ten years ago, back in high school. I haven’t seen him since then.”

“And the two of you randomly reconnected?” Pidge asks, wanting Keith’s side of the story. Her fingers were itching to text Matt confirmation that Shiro was Keith’s mystery man but listening to her friend is much higher priority.

“He found my number when he was cleaning or something and decided to see if it still worked. I thought it was another of those political calls and answered and may have threatened him.” Keith’s cheeks are turning pink.

“Classic,” Pidge says, nodding. “He didn’t hang up on you though?”

“Nope.”

She pushes her glasses up her nose. “So, did you have as big of a crush on him back in high school as you do now?”

Keith buries his face in his hands. “This is so dumb.”

“No it’s not, it’s cute.” Pidge scoots closer and rests her hand on Keith’s knee. “Hey, it’s not dumb. I’ve never seen you get so blushy and nervous about someone before. I’m sure he’s great.”

“He is, but it’s still dumb.”

“Why?”

Keith looks up and meets her eye for a moment before his gaze focuses over her shoulder. “I had the most obvious crush on him back then. I think literally everyone in the school knew and he never said anything about it.”

“Maybe he’s just oblivious?”

“I think he was just being nice or something. He definitely didn’t feel the same way and I’m pretty sure he’s just being nice now. Again.”

Pidge claps him on the shoulder. “Keith, my man, people don’t just randomly call a ten year old number hoping to reconnect with someone who was just a friend.”

“He does. It’s obnoxiously in character,” he says, lips tilting into a small smile.

“I think seeing him in person would answer so many questions,” Pidge says. “I’m going to guess you’ve filled out a bit since high school. Ten bucks says your mystery man forgets how to speak when he lays eyes on you.”

“Pidge…”

“Full on thirsty, can’t think or speak,” she says, doubling down. “Ask him out for coffee, prove me wrong.”

“What if he’s not interested at all?” Keith’s voice is uncertain in a way Pidge hasn’t heard in years.

She makes sure her voice is steady and certain. “Then you have coffee with a friend and you have the answer you’re looking for instead of agonizing over it.”

He’s quiet for a moment. “I don’t know where he lives. He could be on the other side of the country.”

Pidge knows a last-gasp argument when she hears one. “He might live in town. He’s at least in the same time zone if the way you two text all day is any indication.”

“If this doesn’t work out, I expect a full tub of the chocolatiest ice cream you can find,” Keith says after a few seconds.

“Heartbreak ice cream and whatever you want to watch on Netflix for a whole weekend,” Pidge promises. “But I think this is going to go better than you think.”

“Since when are you an optimist?” Keith asks as he picks his phone back up.

“Since I got tired of you mooning over your mystery man and going back to your emo roots.”

Keith rolls his eyes and then focuses on his phone. He taps out a message and then drops it.

“Done. Told him we should grab coffee if he lives in town.”

“I’m proud of you,” Pidge says. “Let me know what he says.”

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Keith stares down at his phone, mouth dry. “Pidge.”

“Yeah?”

“He lives in town.”

“Alright!” Pidge gives him a high five and then waltzes off to her room, leaving him to text Shiro in peace.

From Shiro [6:54 pm] : I can’t believe we live in the same city and haven’t run into each other!

To Shiro [6:55 pm] : it’s a big city….

From Shiro [6:57 pm] : But still a small world. ;D

To Shiro [6:57 pm] : ….i hope you have that lion king song stuck in your head for days. it’s what you deserve.

From Shiro [6:59 pm] : Rude. So, would Saturday work for coffee? Early afternoon?

To Shiro [7:01 pm] : yeah, that works for me. do you know altea brews?

From Shiro [7:02 pm] : Yes!! That’s one of my favorite spots. Allura is the only person I trust to make chai lattes. Told you it was a small world.

To Shiro [7:02 pm] : she’s the one with the white hair right?

From Shiro [7:03 pm] : Yes. Matt had a crush on her way back which is why we became regulars at the place. Now we’re all friends and tease Matt mercilessly.

From Shiro [7:04 pm] : Sometimes we get free pastries, it’s the best.

To Shiro [7:06 pm] : saturday at 1?

From Shiro [7:06 pm] : Perfect! I can’t wait to see you :) :) :)

Keith grins down at his phone, hope finally flaring bright behind his sternum as he looks at Shiro’s excessive smiley faces.

To Shiro [7:07 pm] : looking forward to it too

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

“Matt, which shirt should I wear?” Shiro says into his phone, staring at the contents of his closet that were now strewn across his bed.

“Are you going to insist on wearing one of your vests?”

“They are warm and comfortable and yes I am.”

Matt sighs. “That blue-silver shirt and the black vest. And wear those dark jeans I got you for Christmas. They make your ass look good.”

“Am I overthinking this?” Shiro asks. He roots through the pile of shirts until he finds the one Matt mentioned. He’s already set out the black vest since it’s his favorite.

“Yes. So much.”

“What if he’s still not interested? This could be a friendly meet up.” Shiro puts the phone on speaker and starts to change. “He might not like who I am now.”

“Shiro, he’s going to take one look at you and melt into a puddle on the floor. And he seems to still like you just fine if he invited you out to coffee and keeps texting you.”

Shiro stills in the middle of buttoning his shirt and looks down at the gleaming silver of his right hand. “I haven’t told him about the accident. He doesn’t know about the arm.”

“If that bothers him then he isn’t worth a damn second of your time,” Matt says firmly. “Now, focus back on all the fluttery feelings.”

“Yes sir.”

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Keith can feel his heart hammering and he hasn’t even left the apartment yet.

“Pidge, I can pick out my own clothes,” he grouses, even as he approves her choice.

“I’m winning those ten bucks. Dude is going to swallow his tongue.” She shoves a pair of jeans in his arms. “Wear that ridiculous red jacket you love so much.”

“It’s not ridiculous,” he argues.

“It’s a cropped jacket which makes it inherently ridiculous. But it also gives off gay vibes which is good and somehow makes your legs look even longer.”

“You’ve put way too much thought into this.”

“I’m helping.”

“Yeah, yeah. Scram, I need to change.”

He waits until she’s almost out of the room to speak again. “But thanks Pidge, I really do appreciate it.”

“I know.”

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Shiro is fifteen minutes early. He debates for a minute whether to go ahead and order or if he should wait outside. Allura glaring at him through the window makes his decision for him.

“I’ve already got a chai latte rung up,” she says when he walks in the door, the little bell announcing his entrance. Her smile is a little too wide to be reassuring. “Matt called me and told me you have a date.”

Shiro groans. “It may or may not be a date.”

“Schrodinger’s date, got it. Who’s the lucky guy?”

“His name’s Keith. He’s actually the one who suggested to have coffee here so you might know him.”

“Oooh, I think I know who you’re talking about. He knows Lance.”

“How is Lance?” Shiro asks, raising an eyebrow as he hands over his card to pay for his drink.

Allura blushes. “Good, he’s good.”

He grins. “Going to ask him out finally or are you still making him sweat it out?”

“I’m still thinking about it,” she says. “Now, go claim that corner table before someone else does. I’ll bring your coffee over.”

“Everyone is so bossy today,” Shiro grumbles.

Allura laughs. “We’re always bossy, you’re just usually worse than we are.”

Shiro rolls his eyes and goes to sit down where he was told to. He bounces his leg and checks his phone to see if Keith has texted. He hasn’t, which is expected. There are still ten minutes until he’s supposed to be here.

Allura brings him his drink and gives him a reassuring pat on the shoulder before walking away. He takes a sip of his latte but barely tastes it. His fingers beat out a nervous beat on the table as he wonders how much Keith has changed. He thought Keith was beautiful back when they were teenagers and he fully expects that ten years won’t have altered his opinion on that particular fact.

He looks down to check his phone again. Five minutes. He opens his texts with Keith, just to double check the time they’d agreed on and is in the middle of scrolling up when the bell over the door rings.

Shiro looks up and his mouth goes dry.

Standing just inside the door is Keith. The years look good on him. He’s taller and his hair is a little bit longer than he used to wear but it’s definitely Keith. Shiro lets his gaze rake over the man, lingering on the way the cropped red jacket makes his shoulders look broad and his waist look tiny. His eyes crawl over the endless length of leg wrapped in a pair of jeans that look painted on.

Shiro wants to peel them off with his teeth.

Keith looks over at him and Shiro is pretty sure he feels his soul ascend to the astral plane. He’s so fucking gorgeous and so incredibly his type that Shiro feels specifically targeted by the universe.

It’s still up in the air whether he is going to thank or curse the universe for this fact.

He stands and walks towards Keith.

“Hey,” Keith says when he gets close enough. His smile is soft and shy and Shiro is going to pass out if this keeps up.

“Hey. You look, um, you look really good, Keith. It’s good to see you.” Shiro says. He’s proud of himself for not stammering.

Keith’s smile shifts into something more teasing. “You’re rambling again, Shiro.”

“Shut up.” He pitches forward and pulled Keith into a hug.

The moment Keith is wrapped up in Shiro’s solid warmth, he gives up any hope of staying rational. This singular experience is the best thing to happen to him in possibly ever and he is going to savor it.

Shiro smells like wool and spice and Keith doesn’t want to pull away.

When Shiro’s grip loosens, Keith steps back and looks up at him. “It’s good to see you too, Shiro. And you’re, um, you’re also looking good.”

It is quite possibly the understatement of the century.

Shiro is built and somehow makes a sweater vest look hot and it’s just completely unfair. The white shock of hair hanging over his forehead is new, as is the scar across his nose, but his eyes are the same.

Keith fell in love with those eyes and the smile that is currently spreading over Shiro’s face ten years ago. He’s pretty sure he’s falling again right now.

For a moment, all he can think is Pidge better have that ice cream ready if this goes bad, but then a blush spreads across Shiro’s cheeks and Keith feels hope start to bloom again.

“Did you already order?” Keith asks.

“Yeah. Kinda got here early,” Shiro admits. “Allura saw me loitering outside and made me come in and order.”

Keith laughs. “I’ll go get my order in and meet you at the table.”

Shiro looks over Keith’s shoulder and rolls his eyes. “I think she’s already in the middle of making your drink. You might as well come sit down.”

He shrugs. “Didn’t know they knew my order but alright.”

Keith admires the way Shiro’s jeans fit as he follows him to the corner table.

Shiro waits until they’re sitting down and he can fidget with his latte before speaking again. “I know I already said this, but it’s really good to see you again.”

“I’m glad I never changed my number,” Keith says. He opens his mouth to try and figure out how to tell Shiro how glad he is that they’ve reconnected but Allura shows up before he finds the words.

“Caramel mocha,” she says, setting the drink in front of Keith with an overly bright smile. “And a sampler plate of pastries, on the house.”

She flashes another smile and then disappears.

Keith looks between his drink and Shiro, brows furrowed. “That was… weird.”

Shiro groans and drops his eyes to his half-full mug, feeling the nerves flutter through him. “Matt may have called and told Allura that I had a date. She thinks she’s helping.”

“I’m getting free coffee out of it, so I can’t complain,” Keith says. He is faintly worried that Shiro might be able to hear the way his heart is pounding. He waits until Shiro looks back up at him. “Thanks for agreeing to the date, Shiro.”

Shiro’s eyes go wide and hopeful. He takes a deep breath. “I’ve wanted to take you on a date since the first time I saw you,” Shiro admits.

Keith feels the words like a punch. “No way.”

Shiro’s smiles and reaches out to put a hand over one of Keith’s. “It’s true.” He huffs out a laugh. “I had the biggest crush on you.”

“You idiot, why didn’t you ever tell me?” Keith asks, voice edging close to a whine. “Literally everyone in our class knew I was gone over you.”

Shiro sits up straight like he was just shocked by a live wire. “You were?”

“Um, yeah. I wasn’t particularly subtle.”

Shiro grins. “So, this is a real date, right? Ten years later than when we could have started going on dates?”

“Yeah.” Keith squeezes his hand.

Shiro almost jumps again when he realizes that he’d reached out to Keith with his metal hand.

Keith catches the panicked look flit across Shiro’s face as he looks at their hands. “The metal is a cool look,” he offers, trying to stay nonchalant. He’s curious but he’s more than willing to wait for Shiro to be ready to share, one day. “Do you actually feel pressure and everything?”

Shiro nods. “Pressure and temperature, to a degree.”

“That’s really cool,” Keith says with a decisive nod. “I work with enough engineers to be thoroughly impressed.”

Shiro recognizes the opening to change the topic and takes it gratefully. “What do you do?”

“I work for a small aerospace company,” Keith says. “I help build a lot of things that go really fast and then help test them out.”

Shiro chuckles. “You did always like speed.”

“What about you? What are you up to these days?” Keith asks. He picks up his drink and takes a sip.

“Mostly consulting for aerospace companies, actually,” Shiro says with a laugh. “I keep telling you, it’s a sm-”

“Do not finish that sentence, Shirogane,” Keith warns.

“Fine, fine. But it’s true.”

They spend a few minutes swapping stories about work and digging into the pastries, both of them relaxing as they fall into a easy rapport.

Keith laughs around a mouthful of food. “Pidge would absolutely murder anyone who tried that,” he says.

Shiro freezes. “Wait, Pidge?”

“Yeah, my roommate. Pretty sure I’ve told you about her,” Keith says, puzzled.

“You never mentioned her name. But Pidge? As in Katie Holt, Pidge?”

“You know Pidge?”

“I’m good friends with her older brother,” Shiro says, starting to connect the dots.

Keith isn’t far behind. “Wait, the Matt you’ve mentioned is Matt Holt?”

Shiro nods.

“There’s no way they didn’t put all this together,” Keith says. “Pidge didn’t push for your name like she normally would.”

“And Matt was far too chill about everything,” Shiro agrees.

“I’m going to kill both of them,” Keith says.

“It’s Pidge and Matt, this could have gone so much worse,” Shiro points out. “Like, so much worse.”

Keith considers this. “You’re right. I’m still going to scare the shit out of Matt.”

“He probably deserves it.”

Shiro’s smile tilts into something mischievous. “I think at this point I can safely say it’s a small world.”

Keith closes his eyes. “I hate you so much.”

“Keith,” Shiro whines, drawing out his name.

He opens his eyes and is about to reassure Shiro when his gaze zeroes in on a security camera in the corner that seems out of place.

“Shiro, you’re in here a lot, right?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Don’t turn around and look, but is there usually a security camera in the corner behind you?”

Shiro thinks about it. “No.”

“Want to bet that the Holts recruited Allura and set this camera up?”

“They definitely did,” Shiro says, rubbing at his temples. “Allura directed me over to this table when I came in.”

“Our friends are the worst.”

“Want to lose the Big Brother set up and go get some food?” Shiro offers. “We can plan our revenge for them spying on us and not introducing us at any point before now.”

“Will this count as a second date?”

Shiro shrugs. “Sure.”

“Good, because I have no qualms about making out at the end of a second date,” Keith says with a lazy smirk.

Shiro turns bright red and he thinks he manages to stutter out an answer but he’s not entirely sure it is coherent.

Keith stands and holds out a hand to Shiro. He takes it, twining their fingers together. Keith flips off the camera and then leads Shiro out the door to start their second date.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

From Keith [3:32 pm] : tell your brother that he should run the next time he sees me

Pidge cackles and leans over to show Matt the text from Keith. “Told you he was going to take it out on you.”

“Why do you get to be off the hook?” Matt whines.

“Because I’m his favorite Holt sibling by far.”

“I bet Shiro gives you his Disappointed™look.”

Pidge makes a face. “That’s almost worse than Keith potentially trying to murder me.”

Allura sticks her head into the back room of Altea Brews where the Holts had set up the date surveillance. “They’re gone. Looked like the date went well though!”

“We’ll make sure you’re invited to the wedding,” Matt says. “I already called being Shiro’s best man.”

“Did they already know each other?” Allura asks. “They seemed more comfortable with each other than most people on first dates are.”

Pidge laughs. “It’s a long story, Allura.”

Matt nods. “Soulmate shit, I swear.”

She raises an eyebrow at them. “I want the full story after closing. Now, out of my store room.”

#sheith #sheith fic #voltron fic #voltron legendary defender #vld #voltron #i wrote this #me: shows up out of nowhere after letting my queue sit empty for days to post more sheith fic #apparently my muse was hiding with all the soft sheiths

[washingtoncapricorns]

Knight in Shining Armor (Jakub Vrana Smut)

Sorry I’ve been kinda absent lately. I have been wrapping up my internship and traveling a lot. I don't expect to be doing a whole lot of writing over the next 2 weeks but after that I will be uploading a lot more. Anyway, this little tidbit came to my mind this past Monday and I just finished it today. I hope you enjoy.

Being the ‘baby sister’ of Matt Niskanen came with many perks. Being 11 years younger than him, it was an interesting relationship. My parents trusted me to be under Matt’s supervision, which worked in my favor more often than not. Being the ‘baby’ and the only girl, my parents were very protective. By the time I graduated high school, I knew I had to get out of Minnesota and out of my parents over protective behavior. Luckily for me, my parents were willing to let me go to college in DC, but only if I lived with Matt and his wife Katie.

So, I got into George Washington University to study education. I knew I always wanted to be a math teacher and I really loved sharing my joy and knowledge of math with others. Matt and Katie welcomed me into their gorgeous home with open arms. With them being settled in and living in DC for about 2 years, I was quickly acclimated to the fast paced DC life.

Katie was like the big sister I never had. It was nice to be able to talk to someone about girl things. I was a rather naïve girl when I came to college from my sheltered upbringing so Katie took on the role of mentor and confidant. The rest of the WAGs were also good resources. Lauren Oshie, also being from Minnesota, helped me adjust to the high fashion look of DC. 

The Capitals family took me in as one of their own. Any guy I dated, Matt would scare with the bigger guys on the team. It was safe to say that the guys were definitely scared off when they didn’t have good intentions. I honestly can’t blame them. When my brother, Brooks, Ovi, and Tom warned one guy about how if they heard anything about him being less than a gentleman, they would kick his ass to the curb. To be honest it was probably a good thing considering I always assumed the best in people.

It’s finally the beginning of my sophomore year of college and of the 2017-2018 hockey season. The new rookies we welcomed into the family were eager to make friends with someone close to their age. I loved that I could be my hockey loving self with them. Growing up in Minnesota, I also played hockey into high school. My heart just wasn’t in it when it came to taking it further. Many of the girls I hung out with didn’t understand my rough and tumble attitude and the fact that I was so comfortable hanging out with guy friends.

The rookies however were a great bunch who would always be down to play NHL and eat junk food. Most of them thought of me as a sister. However, a certain Czech obviously did not. Jakub Vrana made it known very early that he was into me. His flintiness over text and snapchat gave him away.

Almost in the blink of an eye, Jake and I decided to start dating. Because we truly liked each other, we decided to ease into the intimacy of being a couple. We didn’t want the relationship to be based on sex alone so taking it slow was our best option.

On one Saturday night, I was up in the family box with the other family members at Capital One Arena. It was a big game. The Capitals were playing the Penguins and it was going to be a fight to the finish. Being my brother’s old team, there was definitely going to be some major rivalry going on.

I visited the boys down in the locker room before the game at Jake’s request. He wanted to say hello before the game. I walked down the hallway passing a few of the Penguins players playing soccer in the hallway. I made my way to the other end and found Jake running out to come say hello.

“I’m so happy you came to see me,” he beamed pulling me in for a hug.

“Anything for to see you smile,” I replied pressing a kiss to his cheek.

“I would love it if you would wear my sweatshirt,” Jake whispered in my ear. “I want my good luck charm to wear my name on her back.”

“I’d love too,” I whispered back kissing him on the lips and escaping back out the locker room into the hallway heading back upstairs.

The first period of the game was just as aggressive as I thought it would be. Letang hit my brother pretty hard and Maatta was going after V with a vengeance. I hated Olli because he had been trying to get with me since I was 18 even though he was a good four years older than me. He knew it irked my brother so that’s why he did it.

At some point Maatta said something to Jake and he went off and dropped his gloves.  There was a bit of shoving and then there was some punching. Olli was a couple inches taller than Jake and more experienced at fighting. Jake was getting pummeled. The refs eventually pulled them apart and it looked like Jake had a black eye and bloody knuckles. I was sitting at the edge of my sheet, pulling Jake’s hoodie closer around me hoping for the best.

My brother also looked pretty pissed but I had a feeling that was because of how much he hated Maatta. Somehow we pulled out of the game with a win. V scored a goal and Matt had an assist. The families and I walked back down to the locker room to meet the guys. I stood in the corner of the locker room waiting for Jake to finish talking to the press.

“Can you tell us about what brought on your fight with Maatta,” a reporter asked.

“I didn’t like the way he was talking about my teammate’s sister. I knew he was just trying to get a rise out of us but it was bordering on disrespectful,” Jake said looking me in the eyes.

Suddenly it all made sense. Olli probably said something crude after he saw me in Jake’s sweatshirt and tried to get a rise out of him. Jake was defending my honor and I couldn’t feel more special to him than I already did.

“Which teammate?” the reporter asked.

“That doesn’t matter,” Jake replied stoically. “I’m done answering questions.”

Jake walked off into the shower room and came back out a few minutes later with his suit back on. I sauntered over to his stall quietly as he was organizing his things.

“My knight in shining armor,” I chuckled kissing him on the cheek.

“I couldn’t take what he was saying,” Jake said.

“What did he say,” I asked sincerely.

“He described to me in graphic detail all the things he wanted to do to you,” Jake seethed. “It was just degrading. Talking about your body like you weren’t a person. I couldn’t take it.”

“He’s been doing the same thing to Matt as long as he’s been in Washington,” I sighed. “Come on, let’s go have dinner, I’ll cook for you.”

Jake followed me out to my car. I brought him back to Matt’s house and set up my laptop with Netflix on the counter as I got to work on some spaghetti and meatballs. Jake smiled at me as I moved swiftly around the kitchen making the food.

Matt and Katie walked in with the Charlie as I was finishing up.

“Great game V,” Matt said ruffling Jake’s hair. “Did you tell her?”

“He told me,” I chuckled. “Typical Olli who likes to pick at you through me.”

“Anyway,” Matt said, “Katie and I have to put the tired munchkin to bed then we’ll be heading to bed ourselves. Make sure you lock the door when Jake leaves. Good night, sis. Good night, V.”

Katie gave me a wink and headed upstairs with Matt.

“Let’s go hang out on my couch,” I suggested. I had my own bedroom and living room in the basement.

“Sounds great,” Jake said following my lead. cc

We sat down on the couch and dug into the pasta. Jake finished first and I was more than full, even though I ate only half my pasta.

“Do you want the rest, Jake?” I asked.

“If you don’t,” he smiled. “It was too good to go to waste.”

I smiled back as I handed him what was left on my plate. He woofed it down quickly then sat our plates on my dresser across the room. Jake pulled me into his chest and kissed the top of my hair. I was content to just lay there and cuddle to be quite honest.

I was feeling super affectionate towards Jake. Having him stand up for me made me want him more than ever. I crawled up into Jake’s lap to kiss him and pull him closer. I ground my hips down into his crotch.

“Are you sure that’s what you want to do?” Jake asked. I knew he was fighting himself in his mind trying to be a good guy.

“Jake,” I whined. “I need you so bad. It turns me on so much that you fought to defend my honor. I honestly don’t know if I can wait any longer without exploding.”

“I want you so much,” he replied. “Let me make you mine.”

With that Jake picked me up and carried me toward my bed. He threw me down haphazardly and climbed up to join me. Neither of us was willing to separate long enough to take off our clothes. Grinding against each other furiously I was beginning to get worked up even more.

“We need less clothing,” I breathed out.

“Agreed,” Jake giggled.

Jake pulled off his clothing first, wasting absolutely no time in getting naked. I was halfway through getting off my clothes when Jake started to help me out. I shivered at his fingertips brushing over my skin so delicately.

“You’re so beautiful,” Jake commented kissing across my face. “I can’t believe you’re mine.”

“Jakey,” I sighed. “Please do something.”

“As you wish,” he said kissing down to my breasts.

Jake made his way to my nipples and stopped for a moment to look up at my face and admire me. His pause was brief though. Before I could blink he took a nipple into his mouth and smirked up at me as I moaned.

“You like that?” he questioned.

I could only moan in response. He sucked hard at my sensitive peak, making my body writhe beneath him. I was so turned on I thought I was going to die. I just needed him so bad.

After giving the same treatment to my other nipple, Jake moved down my stomach, teasing me as he went.

“Jake please,” I begged.

“Let me admire you,” he hushed me. “I want to savor this.”

I groaned at his words. As he reached my hip bones he spread my legs and settled between them. His face was close enough to my cunt that I could feel his breathing.

“You smell fantastic, babe,” he cooed. “I can’t wait to taste you.”

And with that, Jake licked a stripe between my folds and moaned at the taste against my skin. I tangled my fingers in his hair as he dove back in to work me over some more. It didn’t take long for him to figure out what drove me absolutely nuts. I couldn’t help but whine and moan out as he brought me closer and closer to my orgasm.

“Cum for me pretty girl,” Jake encouraged. “I wanna see you cum on my tongue.”

With that, I was thrust into one of the most powerful orgasms I had ever experienced in my life. Tears streamed down my face as Jake kissed his way back up to my face.

“Was it bad?” he asked concerned. “Did I hurt you?”

“No,” I moaned. “It was so good. Too good.”

“I’m glad,” Jake replied kissing my cheeks and stroking stray hairs out of my face.

“I need you in me now,” I demanded. “No condom, I have the implant and I wanna feel you.”

“Jesus fuck,” he swore. “You may just be the death of me.”

“The feeling is mutual,” I replied lining his cock up at my entrance.

He rocked into me slowly as every ounce of air in my lungs was pushed out. I felt his length twitch inside me as I adjusted. I rocked my hips forward against him and urged him to move. And move he did. Jake had speed on more than just the ice. His hips slapped hard against mine in a mind-blowing pace. I clawed at his back as I came without any warning. Jake kept going, continuing to thrust into me.

“You gonna come again baby girl,” Jake cooed. “I know you can. Let me feel you come all over my cock.”

I clenched down around him as I fell over the edge. Jake followed quickly behind me and collapsed on top of me. It took us both a minute to catch our breaths and actually say something.

“That was,” Jake started. “Really good.”

“That’s an understatement,” I replied cuddling into his chest. “I’m gonna have to get you to do that again but in about a half hour. I’m still shaking.”

“Not a problem,” he smiled. “I can wait as long as you want because believe me I want to do that over and over and over again.”

“Save some energy to play hockey,” I giggled.

Jake and I ended up falling asleep a few minutes later. His warm body wrapped around mine was the best feeling in the world. The next morning, I woke up to the noise of Matt barging into my room.

“I don’t wanna know,” Matt cringed. “I just wanted to remind V that we have practice in an hour. I figured he didn’t leave last night since his coat is still hanging over the couch.”

Jake jumps out of the bed in absolutely nothing startled at the sudden noise. I sink down under my covers as I try to avoid the awkwardness.

“Vrana,” Matt breathed out calmly. “If you even think of hurting my baby sister I will end you. Now put on some pants and let’s go to practice.”

“Yes, sir,” Jake replied sheepishly.

Matt turned and left the room.

“Next time,” I stated. “We’re sleeping over at your place.”

#hockey imagine #hockey smut #jakub vrana smut #jakub vrana #nhl smut #nhl imagine #jules writes

[honeypiehotchner]

dancing on my own -- part seven

I’m back when I really should be doing homework. But I can’t help it. Every time I tried to do work, I just saw Rob. So here’s this.

Words: 2,162 (wow, hello)

Summary: Karaoke night. That’s all I’m saying.

Warnings: the fluff will probably kill you

~~~

“So, karaoke.”

Bri raises her eyebrows. “Yes. Karaoke.”

“What am I singing!” I laugh, shoving her shoulder.

Bri shrugs. “Ask the teenager.”

I nearly roll my eyes, looking around for my little sister. She’s been back in the green room with us since mom and dad left to get lunch – I also kind of told her to stay so they will get a little lunch date. Besides, she hasn’t met everyone yet, so this is a perfect time to do that.

I find her after a few seconds of looking – the green room isn’t that big – and to my surprise, she’s listening to the band have a little jam session.

She’s heard their music before, mostly from me playing it in the car and whenever I’m home helping out around the house. But she’s never listened to them really in depth. Judging by her face, though, I’d say she likes their sound.

I glance back at Briana, shaking my head as I try not to smile. I can’t help it. Seeing Anna have fun and smile with people that I love and that I know have genuine hearts makes me so warm inside.

Short story, because Anna hates when I talk about this, but she hasn’t had the smoothest childhood or experience with friends. She’s incredibly wise and mature for her age, probably at the fault of having an older sister like me who kind of threw herself into being an adult right when she turned sixteen, but still. She’s always gravitated toward the older generation or kids who are more mature. And if you know anything about middle and high school, then you’ll know it’s hard to find kids who are like that. So to see her hanging out with genuinely good people that I love, and to see them having a good time with her…

It makes me really happy. That’s all.

I make my way over to them at the ending of a song, Anna clapping and playfully saying, “Encore!!”

“Hey sis,” I tap her shoulder. Everyone’s eyes naturally fall on me, and I try not to blush when I see Rob smiling in my direction. “I need a song for karaoke. And you’re more knowledgeable in pop music than I am, so…”

She chews on the inside of her cheek, thinking. “Do you want old or new?”

“Something that’ll have a karaoke track we can pull up,” I laugh.

She narrows her eyes for a second, but then I see it when she has the perfect idea. “Oh, I’ve got a good one.”

I raise my eyebrows.

“‘Style,’” she grins. “By Taylor Swift.”

I remember the song clearly. My eyes widen in surprise, having not thought of that at all before. “That’s perfect! Thanks girl.” I pause, glancing around at the band. Everyone has gone to messing with their instruments, but I catch Rob staring and give him a teasing look that causes him to grin, letting out a small laugh. “I see you’re corrupting my sis into the Louden Swain world.”

Rob shrugs. “It’s nice to have an audience who doesn’t really know our stuff.”

“Which makes me mad!” Anna interjects, then looking at me. “Their stuff is so good!”

“I tried to tell you,” I laugh, messing with her hair. “Okay, off you go. I need more music.”

“What song?” Rob asks suddenly.

I take a deep breath, thinking for a moment. “‘Like The Heart Goes,’” I finally say. “It’s one of my favorites.”

His face falters for a second, probably not expecting that, but they begin playing it anyway. I look over my shoulder to see Briana discussing something with her handler, so I decide to join Anna on the couch, listening to my favorite band play my favorite song.

 +++

After the rest of my solo photo ops and autographs, it is time to get ready for karaoke. Anna wanted to go see the vendors room, so she is there with mom and dad. Thankfully, they agreed to stay for karaoke, mostly wanting to see what all it’s about.

 Also, thankfully, they agreed to let Anna be up front in the madness while they stay back and watch. I promised to keep an eye on her (which I always do).

But as I stand here in front of my bathroom mirror, Kim and Briana on opposite sides of me also getting ready, I find my brain unconsciously drifting to Rob.

We have ‘Style’ playing in the background to remind me of how it sounds and all, and every time I hear the lyrics, I think of Rob. I can’t help it. And I can’t tell if Anna chose the song because she could sense something, or just because she likes the song – she’s a massive fan of Taylor Swift, among many other artists; the girl has a music taste with zero boundaries.

Either way, singing it at karaoke is going to be interesting.

“Hey, Bri?”

“Yeah?”

I pause, bringing the mascara wand away from my eyes. “Do you have a red lipstick I can borrow?”

She grins. “Of course I do.”

 +++

There isn’t really a theme for karaoke tonight, or if there is it must be leather and badass. Everyone is head-to-toe in black, most of us in leather jackets. I have my black heels on with my leather jacket and black crop-top. The red lips and messy hair have me looking, and I quote from Kim, “Sexy as hell.”

I take it as a compliment, despite the many predicaments Hell on Supernatural has been in.

We’re all onstage with the fans, dancing and having the times of our lives. It isn’t long before I’m scheduled to sing.

Rich announces me, the track starting after he says my name.

“Sing with me if you know it,” I nearly plead the crowd, smiling when they scream. “Midnight, you come and pick me up, no headlights.”

They’re singing with me, louder than I expected. I look to Anna, grinning as she sings with me from the audience with the biggest smile on her face.

 “Fade into view, it’s been a while since I have even heard from you,” I try not to look at Rob too pointedly. “You’ve got that James Dean, daydream look in your eye and I got that red lip, classic thing that you like.”

“I said, “I heard—” Oh! “That you’ve been out and about with some other girl.” Some other girl…” I shake my head. “He said, “What you heard is true, but I can’t stop thinking about you,” and I said, “I’ve been there too a few times.”

“And when we go crashing down, we come back every time ‘cause we never go out of style.”

By the end of it I have completely given up on not looking at Rob. The first time I did, he grinned wider than I’ve ever seen him smile, so from there I just kind of…kept doing it. His smile almost seemed playful, like he wanted me to continue singing to him like that. So I did.

I don’t know why. I’m so much better than this. The last thing I need to be doing right now is flirting with Rob. If that even counts as flirting. I don’t know.

 +++

After karaoke we all split off to our rooms – some people (Rob, Rich, and Matt) go off to go photos with fans – and end the night feeling both satisfied and exhausted.

I take a shower, just to wash off because I don’t feel like washing my hair before I put on a big hoodie and some shorts to sleep in. It’s not late, though, in my standards, so I’ve been texting with Anna.

As it gets closer to midnight, I hear a knock on my door. Thinking it’s most likely Bri or Kim, I scramble to open it.

“Hey.”

I stare.

“Can I come in?” Rob asks.

I open my mouth to protest, having spent the past hour convincing myself that singing ‘Style’ was a bad idea and that I should not sing ‘Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around’ tomorrow either. Bad idea. Completely.

But when he stands in front of me, those bad ideas don’t seem so bad.

Oh, I am so whipped.

“Uh, yeah. Sure.” I move back to motion for him to come in, which he does, standing around awkwardly like he isn’t sure if this was a good idea.

My nerves are mutual, it seems.

“What’s up?” I ask. “I don’t have a couch, so I guess just…” I gesture to the space on the bed next to me.

I don’t have to worry about it being too awkward, though, because he kicks his shoes off before I even finish speaking.

I smile as I watch him climb into bed next to me. He leans back against the headboard, and he won’t look at me, which is strange. He closes his eyes a second later.

“Rob?”

“I’m sorry.”

I furrow my eyebrows. “Are you okay?”

He chuckles then, opening his eyes to stare at the ceiling. They’re glassy. “Funny thing is, I should’ve asked you that more often.”

“Oh, Rob,” I frown. “I’m not mad at you, you know.” I grab a pillow and hug it to my chest, resting my chin on top of it.

“I know,” he says. “I’m mad at myself.”

“Well don’t be,” I pause, “but why are you?”

“I was…an asshole.”

I laugh, shrugging. “You were a little bit of a jerk. But you’re human. I get it.”

“You are incredibly forgiving for someone who has been put through hell by this world.”

“Grudges weigh me down,” I breathe, speaking truthfully. “It’s easier to learn the lesson and forgive. I think it’s healthier.”

“Did therapy teach you that?” I listen to his tone, but it is nowhere near as malicious as it was last night. This is softer, almost curious.

“Oh god, no,” I laugh. “I forgave you on the plane ride home to therapy. I’ve never been able to hold grudges for a long time. Therapy just…taught me to forgive myself as quickly as I forgive everyone else.”

He finally looks at me. “Therapy really helped you.”

I try not to smile. “That obvious?”

“You’re so…strong. And wise.” He pauses, studying my face. “You were before, but it’s different now.”

“I’m really happy,” I offer. “If that’s what you’re trying to get at.”

He smiles then. Finally. “I’m glad. You deserve to be happy.”

“Hey, so do you,” I nudge his arm playfully, causing his smile to widen. “What about you? How’s the girl?”

“Lily?” He chuckles, but it doesn’t sound good. “She, uh…she ended things a couple weeks after the con.”

My eyes widen. “Oh, Rob. I’m…I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” he chuckles again, but I can tell it still hurts. “She told me she just thought my heart wasn’t all there,” he shrugs. “She could tell I liked her, but my heart was somewhere else. Her words. She’s a poet, if you can’t tell.”

I laugh, trying to lighten the conversation. “I can tell. But what did you think about what she said?”

He shrugs again. “I told her she was wrong. That I’d make it up to her. But she said I didn’t need to.” He pauses. “She’s in New York now, working in publishing and stuff. She said she thought with her gone I’d realize what she meant.”

“Rob…” I murmur, resting my hand on his arm without thinking. “I’m so sorry.”

He takes a deep breath, smiling as he rests his hand on top of mine. I try to ignore the warm feeling. “It’s okay. I think I’m starting to realize what she meant.”

“What?”

He pats my hand, bringing it to his lips and pressing a kiss to my knuckles. “I should go. You’ve got a full day tomorrow.”

I accept the subject change with a nod. “I do. Hey, are we singing?”

“If you want to,” he shrugs, trying not to grin. “But I’d like to.”

“Okay,” I smile. “We can practice tomorrow.”

“Okay,” he grins. “I’m going now.”

I laugh loudly. “You’re still sitting on my bed.”

“I know, I know.” He finally moves, sliding off my bed and grabbing his shoes from the floor.

I walk him to the door, pulling it open for him.

He’s barely halfway out before he turns around, holding out his arms. “Hug?”

I grin, stepping into his arms. I wrap my arms around his neck, burying my face in his shoulder. His arms move around my waist, holding me tightly.

“I missed you like hell,” he whispers.

I try not to laugh as I nod. “I missed you like hell, too.”

I push back from the hug, both of us really needing to get some sleep tonight. He kisses the side of my head, his hands lingering on my waist for longer than they should.

Then he turns and walks down the hallway.

And I shut my door and squeal.

~~~

Tags: @itsfunnierin-enochian @sirraxa @sherlockedtash88 @shanghai88

#rob benedict #rob benedict x original female character #rob benedict x reader #rob benedict x you #those last two are lies #but they are there so people will find this story #the original female character is sarah #mentions of therapy #fluff #all the fluff #the fluff will seriously kill you #briana buckmaster #kim rhodes #anna is sarah's little sister #louden swain #michael borja #stephen norton #billy moran #like the heart goes #green room jam session #supernatural convention #supernatural fanfiction #rob benedict fanfiction

[turntwriting]

William Nylander- It’s Always You

Pairing: William Nylander x reader

Warning: none 

Note: I know Matt Martin and his girlfriend Sydney just got engaged, but this story takes place at their wedding! I got this idea when I saw the video when he proposed, so cute! Anyway, this was a request so I hope you enjoy.

The ceremony was beautiful. It was bright and modern, everything you could expect from Matt and Sydney.

I didn’t get to congratulate the bride until the after party. She had seemed incredibly overwhelmed and busy, and I didn’t want to add to it. I wanted to keep my presence quiet. Once I’d spoke to her, I could go.

When she saw me, her jaw dropped. She engulfed me in a hug instantly, her eyes glossing over, tears threatening to ruin her expensive looking makeup.

“(Y/n) you came! I’m so glad you came!”

I reciprocated the hug. “I wouldn’t have missed it for the world, Syd.”

When she eventually pulled away I held her at arm’s length, admiring her dress. It was a beautiful floor length ensemble, eggshell white and classy. It suited her unbelievably; maybe that’s what being in love does to a person.

“Well I’m glad you came,” she spoke before I could compliment her, making me realize I’d previously been silent, and I couldn’t help but feel a little rude. “I have something to tell you.”

My heart rate sped a little as Matt joined her side. He pulled me in for a short but warming hug, one I got the feeling would be a lot longer if he hadn’t overheard Sydney’s previous sentence. Knowing she was still talking he only mouthed a hello before snaking his arm protectively around her waist. Once again I couldn’t help but feel a little jealous of the love in which they had both been blessed with. I really was a bitter soul.

“What is it?” I asked, mainly to silence my intrusive thoughts. The couple looked at each other.

“I’m pregnant!”

This time it was my turn to well up, tears threatening to fall from my eyes as a range of emotions overwhelmed me. Happiness, hopefulness. A little part of it was that stir of jealousy in the pit of my stomach. That’s what happens when you walk around with a broken heart; it poisons all your other organs too. I pulled the couple in to hug them.

“Congratulations you guys. I love you both so much.” I gushed into both their ears, the words tasting bitter on my tongue. “How far gone are you?”

“She’s only a little over two months,” Matt explained.

“You look good for it.”

“Doesn’t she.” The conversation seemed to die down quite quickly, and I was well aware that my time here was coming to an end. I contemplated leaving now. I’d said my congratulations; everything else was unnecessary.

“Well, I should probably get going.” I began to excuse myself when Sydney put a hand on my shoulder. She pleaded for me to wait, and so reluctantly, I did. Her eyes poured into mine.

“Have you seen him yet?”

It was as if the breath had been knocked out of my chest, and I tried to ignore Matt’s quiet scolding of Sydney intended to be out of my earshot.

“You don’t have to talk about it, (Y/n).” He attempted to reassure me, and I shook my head gratefully.

“No, it’s fine. I haven’t.”

I knew she meant William. I knew he would be here tonight, of course, he had more place here than I did. But I hoped I would be able to escape before there was any risk of bumping into him. I had no idea what I would say, or do, or if he’d be here alone. The thought of him with a date made my chest hurt, and I wanted nothing more than to leave.

“How long has it been?” Sydney pressed further, her voice cautious. Next to her Matt looked incredibly uncomfortable. You and me both, I thought, feeling my throat start to tighten a little.

“It’s been two years.”

Both their eyes softened and I felt tears threaten my own once again. I looked to the floor. Two years sounded almost longer than it felt. It had been an incredibly lonely two year too. I lived on my own now, falling asleep each night next to nothing but silence. I hadn’t even tried to get to know someone else. There was no point; if it wasn’t William, I didn’t want it. Not even so much because I missed him, although I did, painfully so, but just because I don’t have the strength to risk it again. It wasn’t that sad. I’d come to reason with the fact that I would never love again a long time ago.

“Are you going to talk to him?”

“Syd, I think we should sit down, the speech is about to start.” Matt suggested, trying to almost steer his pregnant wife away as he shot me sympathetic eyes. I gave him back a small smile.

“Wait, okay I’m sorry,” Sydney blurted out and as she turned to me I found it increasingly hard to look her in the eye. “Please don’t run again (Y/n).”

“Syd-”

“Please. Just please stay for the speeches.” Her cheeks reddened a little, her voice cracking against her will. “I’ve missed you a lot.”

I didn’t speak for fear of breaking apart in front of her, only nodding a small confirmation before someone came to take her away. I returned to my table as the sound of a glass being tapped sounded through the hall.

The speeches were nice. They were somewhat repetitive, a little cliché, but nice nonetheless. Mitch’s had been my favorite so far, a confession of his own fondness towards the two, how he’d been rooting for the couple since before they were even rooting for themselves. Sydney was positively glowing as several different people complimented and admired her. Eventually it looked as if it were all about to be over, and I silently counted my blessings as people began to talk amongst themselves. Perhaps if I excused myself subtly I could get out. I’d text Sydney a goodbye, she’d forgive me. She’d understand why I’d run. It was all I knew how to do.

Just as I thought it was over, Matt stood.

“Wait, sorry everyone, there’s one last speech. He’ll be here in a minute, please entertain yourselves or grab a free drink from the bar whilst you wait.”

I smiled at his professionalism even on his own wedding day. I couldn’t get over the fact that he really would be a Dad. I don’t know why I found it surprising, that’s what happy relationships progress too. Marriage and children and eternity. I guess a little part of me just felt jealous that neither of them would ever have to experience what it felt like to be alone.

“There he is!” A voice from the head table shouted, and everyone’s heads turned. There he was indeed.

Stood on the stage, a microphone in hand, his face supporting a large, awkward but sweet smile was William. I felt my heart fall from my chest. He looked incredibly, his skin matured and clear, his blond hair nicely done, wearing a dark, classic suit. He looked taller, more muscular, more confident even. He looked more himself. I guess only one of us had healed after that winter night two years ago, and it hadn’t been me. I looked down at my ring finger. Sometimes it felt like the tan line was still there, a slightly paler band just above where my knuckle is, as if my entire hand is taunting me. Seeing William up on that stage felt somewhat like a mockery. We had come so close, and a tiny part of me couldn’t help but wish that it was me sitting where Sydney was. I shook off this thought as William began to speak.

He introduced himself well, really presenting the skills that his job had taught him over the years. I haven’t watch a Leaf’s game, or any hockey game much since.. I’d really tried to remove myself entirely. To remove him. The room fell entirely silent as his real speech began, all the William jokes and taunting over and done with.

“Look, in all realness,” he spoke in his deep and endearing voice, sending soundwaves right through my chest. “No one needs me to stand here and say the obvious. I don’t need to tell you how good you look together, or how incredible the ceremony was, because you know that already. Matt, you don’t need me to tell you how much you’re winning with Sydney because, well, you must know it.” The crowd laughed as Matt rolled his eyes and William blew him a kiss before continuing.

“The only thing I wanna say is good luck. And I genuinely mean that.” Matt watched with genuine intrigue, however Sydney’s eyes seemed to be elsewhere, as if she were searching through the crowd. “You two together have a love that is so comfortable and homely, whilst also being so firey and spontaneous, and it really does keep the world spinning. It’s the type of love a man only gets once in his lifetime.” The crowd cooed slightly as William momentarily looked at the floor, and I wondered if they were as in love with him in this moment as I was.

“A love where you’re so content and happy with each other as you are really does only come around once, and you two have already got it and secured it. And I hope you secure it forever. Because God knows once you let go, it never comes back to you.” He forced a smile. “Bitter sweet, as they call it.”

Sydney was still searching with hunting eyes and I got the feeling I was the prey. As William raised his glass my vision blurred, and I knew I had to go. The guilt swept over me faster than my own feet off the ground but there was no way I could stay without choking up the only pieces of my heart I had left all over the maroon tablecloth.

I didn’t plan my exit route, only weaving my way through the tables somewhat frantically, trying to stick to the dark corners of the room. Once I found a back door I ran for it. It wasn’t practical. But I needed the time alone.

Once I was out of sight I pressed my back to the brick wall and let myself fall apart. The tears fell like cascades down my face, loud, messy sobs as I struggled to catch my breath. The knowledge that I would have to go back in in this state to be able to leave only made me cry harder as I questioned why I had even put myself through this mess in the first place. Maybe this is what I was destined for. A life of avoidance and hurt. Because it had been five years, and so far I had learned, the hurt never really seems to go away.

“(Y/n)?” It felt like my soul leaving my body once I heard him say my name. My eyes shot open, breathing speeding up once more as I realized he was close. Suddenly I heard him turn the corner. It was too late to run this time.

“Oh my God, (Y/n).”

I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping if I did so for long enough he would just disappear. He’d leave me behind again. But he didn’t. His tone was hard to read, and I could feel even without looking at him that he would be running his hands through his hair right now, jittering his legs out of nerves. He edged closer towards me and I screamed.

“(Y/n), please. Please don’t push me away. I’m not here to hurt you.”

Oh but you do that without meaning to William, I thought, but I remained silent. There’s no way he couldn’t hurt me. His presence here was hurting me. His presence in my memory had been hurting me every day for the past two years. But nonetheless, I steadied my breathing, focusing on the pavement in front of me.

“It’s all in your breathing. Focus on that.” His voice was laced with concern, but was still quiet, as if he was afraid I would crack should he be too loud, like a glass window in a gospel choir. I only nodded. Soon enough my breathing slowed.

“(Y/n) please let me talk to you. Please don’t run away again.” The words, although maybe not intended to be, came out as more of a question than a demand and I opened my eyes once again, allowing myself the small tester sight of him in my peripheral vision.

“Okay,” my broken voice sounded in a short whisper.

“I miss you, (Y/n).”

“Don’t,” I warned, but he continued.

“No, listen to me (Y/n), please. Please, for once, just let me in. Don’t leave me out in the dark again, I can’t take it.”

“So talk,” I almost urged, not wanting to hear him beg anymore, the guilt weighing me down until I was being curb stomped by my own conscience.

“Maybe you should talk? It looks like you have some stuff on your mind. I get the feeling you don’t talk to anyone else so, maybe you should be the one talking.” He sighed when I stayed quiet, but it wasn’t a sigh of defeat. I suddenly felt a warmth towards him for the way he didn’t lose hope in me. He saw my demons, looked them straight in the eye, but he didn’t run from them. I owed him that.

“There must be something, (Y/n). Something you want to say, something you want to know. It’s been two years.” It sounded even worse coming from his mouth. I still didn’t look at him, staring at my shoes.

“How many people have you been with since?” I whispered, afraid of the answer and unsure why I was even asking. The number was probably high; everyone wants to get with a hockey player. He moved a little closer, carefully.

“A big fat total of zero.” The answer surprised me more than what I let on.

“I’m serious,” he confirmed. “There was a stage where Freddie tried to set me up with people, taking me out on double dates with him, but it never went anywhere. Not even a kiss. The other guys always mock me for it.” I felt him look down at his shoes. He deserved to be happy. Even if it wasn’t with me. “You?” He asked hesitantly, and I almost laughed at the thought.

“None.”

“No one at all?” There was shock present in his voice. Did he really think I was capable of choosing anyone other than him? I shook my head to clarify.

“(Y/n) why?” Finally, I pluck up the courage to look at him. His blue eyes poured into mine, melting me under their gaze and somehow I managed to voice what was on my mind.

“It’s only you, William.” It almost looked as if the words knocked him out, but he composed himself pretty fast. The way he watched me, it was as if he was afraid I’d disappear should he let me out of his eyesight for even a minute.

“(Y/n) why are we dragging this out? We belong together, you know it, I know it, everybody knows it. Why are we prolonging this pain?” I shook my head, tears threatening to fall for what felt like the thousandth time tonight.

“We didn’t work before William, what makes you think we can now? I can’t go through that again.”

He edged closer again. “Because we know now what it’s like to be without each other. Now that you’re here in front of me, I don’t ever want to let you go again. I’d never do anything to compromise us again, (Y/n).”

“There are so many other people, -”

“And I choose you.” He cut me off with desperation. “Even after everything. I still choose you. No one else is even an option.”

Admittedly, I had given in. I was terrified. But I knew I didn’t want to be without him. Now that I’d learned what it was like to live with him, I didn’t want to learn to live without, because God knows after two years I still hadn’t accustomed to it. I knew it could be my biggest risk. But it could also be my only chance at healing.

“I choose you too,” I murmured. William moved closer once again, like he was unsure he had heard me right.

“Can I kiss you?” He asked cautiously. I nodded. Before I knew it, his hand was on the side of my face, holding me in place gently. His lips moved against mine so slowly and I drank in every second. This was what I had been waiting for. This was what I’d needed to fix me.

“I love you, (Y/n),” he spoke into the kiss, and I wrapped my arms around his neck. My hands moved through his hair.

“I love you too William. Always.”

#William Nylander #wiliam nylander #william nylander imagine #william nylander imagines #NHL imagines #nhl #nhl imagine #hockey imagines #hockey #hockey imagine #toronto maple leafs #Toronto #maple leafs #maple leafs imagines #maple leafs imagine

[ninja-librarian]

Commission for @equalskiersten, a story of Pidge/Atlas! Dedicated to all the antis and everyone who has ever said “You can’t ship that”.

For info about commissions, click here!

There had been many things in Katie Holt’s life that she loved. Her parents, her older brother, her dog Bae Bae, peanut butter…

But robots… Robots would always be her greatest love.

She just never thought that, one day, a robot would love her the same way.

*****

It began with discovering King Alfor’s notes from when he built the Lions of Voltron. Pidge found details about how Allura’s father had developed the sentience that the Lions had, which also had the potential to enable Atlas to communicate directly with the ship’s crew. Of course, Pidge had wanted to test this information out immediately.

With the encouragement of her teammates and the equally eagerly curious Garrison engineers and commanding officers, Pidge got to work. Hours later, Pidge stood on the bridge of the Atlas, heart pounding, ready to test and see if her efforts were a success or not.

She activated the ship and said, “Hello, Atlas.”

There was silence. A beat. Then two. Then three. Then…

“Hello, Katie Holt.”

Pidge gasped, grinning. It worked!

The voice was crisp and clear, but with a slight accent that was similar to the posh accent Allura spoke with. The voice was also male, which Pidge found interesting. Though the same tech had been used with all five of the Lions of Voltorn, it seemed that each machine assumed its own gender rather than be assigned one.

“Tell me about yourself, Atlas,” Pidge said, adjusting her glasses and snatching up her notepad, ready to take notes. She hoped Atlas’ Artificial Intelligence could pass the Turing Test, but she had to establish a baseline of the ship’s knowledge and thinking patterns first in order to see what needed to be worked on.

“I am Atlas. I am a battleship. I have weaponry. My design was based off of those of King Alfor, of the planet Altea. I protect Earth and the people of Earth.” Atlas dutifully explained. “When necessary, I can change my shape into a larger version of Voltron.”

“Do you know who pilots you?” Pidge asked.

“My captain is Takashi Shirogane, and his co-pilots are Commander Mitch Iverson, Commander Samuel Holt, Cadet Veronica Ramirez, and Coran Smythe.”

“Okay,” Pidge said, nodding. “So, are you aware of what happens when you are being piloted?”

“Affirmative. I can feel their quintessence. It lends strength to my transformation.”

“Interesting…” Pidge said, scribbling down a note. This was something that she and the other engineers and theorized; though the Garrison built Atlas, and Coran and Allura were undoubtedly the experts regarding King Alfor’s work and Altean technology, there was so much about the Atlas to discover. The ship was quite an enigma. “So. How do you feel about your pilots?”

Atlas was quiet for a moment.

Pidge frowned. “Atlas?”

“I am sorry, Katie Holt,” Atlas said, voice a little clipped. “But I do not understand.”

“Would you like me to rephrase the question?”

“Negative. Your question is understandable. You are asking for my personal opinion of the pilots. However, I do not understand how to respond, as I do not know how to ‘feel’ about them. They are my pilots. They do their jobs well. I do not understand why my opinion matters, even if I did know how to express that opinion.”

Pidge relaxed her shoulders. “Do you… Do you not know what feelings are?”

“Negative.”

“Well, that’s okay,” Pidge reassured. “Everyone has to learn what feelings are at some point, I guess. I mean, everyone feels something emotionally but may not have the words to describe what that feeling is. There’s a range of feelings, too. Happy, sad, angry, scared, jealous—”

“I have no context for these words,” Atlas interrupted.

“Hmm, I guess you don’t.” Pidge said. She thought for a moment. “All right. Then we’ll just introduce context to you.”

She could have easily brought in the Lions; after all, they had some form of emotional capacity—at least enough to bond with their pilots. But if she wanted Atlas to pass the Turing Test, wanted him to be mistaken for a human, then she’d have to teach him like a human.

“Young humans typically learn best by experience and example, both of which typically involve interaction with other, older humans. So, I’ll share my experiences with you, as well as download some media material to your database in order to help you understand.” Pidge explained.

That was how it began, Pidge and Atlas spending time together.

Pidge shared stories of her experiences with joy, with anger, with jealousy, with sadness. She told him stories about adopting Bae Bae and finding the Green Lion, of being bullied as a child and explained why she had been afraid of the dark as a child. Atlas listened, asked questions, used his own logic to comprehend why Pidge felt all of those emotions at various times in her life.

“The saddest I have ever felt…” Pidge trailed off one afternoon when they were discussing sadness. “Was when I found my brother’s grave. His second one, actually. He has two. One on Earth and one deep in space that the rebels created.”

“Your brother Matthew is alive and in good health,” Atlas commented. “Why would there be not one but two death rituals performed?”

“Matt’s been declared dead twice,” She explained. She smiled. “He, Dad and Shiro like to say that the reports of their deaths have been greatly exaggerated. The first time, it was after the Kerberos mission. But the second time… I believed it. I believed he was gone. I was searching for him for so long, and I just felt so alone.”

“Loneliness is what made you sad?”

“Yes. But, also, yeah, that I thought he was dead. Permanently dead.”

“Death is a natural part of the life cycle. All living beings experience death; it is to be expected.”

“Not usually with someone so young and healthy.”

“But in a war that you knew he was fighting in?”

“Hmm, how do I explain this?” Pidge said, tapping her chin. “It doesn’t matter if someone dies when they are very old or very young. You can still be sad because someone you love is gone.”

Atlas was quiet for a moment, then, “Love? Explain love.”

“Love is…” Pidge trailed off. “It’s a strong emotion you feel for someone or something. There’s different types of love. There’s platonic love, which is love for your friends. Like I have for my friends, the Paladins. Then there’s family love, which I have with my parents and Matt. Then there’s love for animals, or colors, or types of objects like tech, books, art… That’s more of an appreciation, I guess. Then there’s romantic love, which is where you form a deep connection with another person; it’s kind of like a more intense version of love for friends, and in a lot of cases a romantic partner may become family through marriage ceremonies.”

“How does one know that they love something or someone?”

“Well, it’s things that make someone really happy. Like I love technology and robots; they make me happy, and I get enjoyment out of learning and interacting with them.”

“Is love with another being similar?”

“Right. It’s being happy with other people. Enjoying spending time with them. Wanting to make sure that they are happy and safe, with their needs met.”

Atlas was quiet again, then, “I understand, Katie Holt. I understand.”

Pidge, however, didn’t understand. At least, not until weeks later…

*****

Pidge sat, giddy with excitement as Hunk took a seat in front of the computer. Today, they were finally performing the Turing Test on the Atlas. She, Hunk and a few curious bystanders were on one side of the Garrison; the Atlas was in a hanger on the other side. In the middle, in his office, was Commander Holt. Hunk was going to ask both the Atlas and Sam a question, and both were to send their answers electronically to the computer, where Hunk would then try to determine whose answer belonged to the man or the ship. Meanwhile, Matt—who had chosen the questions and format of the test—sat at another computer, able to see who the answers truly belonged to.

Hunk challenged questions of science, literature, math, and various other topics. He asked for the word ‘milk’ in Spanish. He asked for each of them to make-up a short story involving a narwhal. He sent images and told them to answer with how the picture made them feel or how the photo’s subject felt, such as a child with a dropped ice cream cone or a bride and groom.

“All right,” Hunk said. “One last photo, with one last question.”

Pidge was surprised when Hunk pulled up a picture of herself and posed the question, “In one word, say how you feel about this person.”

The results were instantaneous. One anonymous response read HAPPY. The other read LOVE.

Hunk sorted them just as quickly, placing LOVE under Commander Holt’s answers and HAPPY under Atlas’.

Done, Matt stood up. “Let’s go analyze the data in Atlas’ hanger.”

They all moved to the hanger and inside the ship in question. Matt stood at the helm, looking at the assembled pilots, engineers, and top brass. “It is with great pleasure that I announce that Atlas has passed the Turing Test! His answers are indistinguishable from that of a human being!”

There was a great amount of cheering and celebrating. Pidge beamed with delight.

“I’m so proud of you, Atlas!” She told the ship, resting her hand on one of the walls.

“Thank you, Katie Holt.” Atlas said. “I am grateful for the experience, and the time we spent together.” The ship hesitated, then asked, “Will we be able to continue to do so, now that the Test is completed with success?”

“Of course!” Pidge said, but feeling a little confused. She had a feeling that Atlas was trying to convey something to her…

Matt smiled at her, and beckoned her over. “Come walk with me, little sis.”

Pidge did so, following Matt off the bridge, away from the people.

“There’s something you need to know,” Matt told her. “That last question? The one with your picture? That’s the one that allowed Atlas to pass.”

Pidge frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I picked that photo, that question for a reason,” Matt said. “I thought Dad would have been the one to respond with ‘love’ or something similar.”

Pidge’s heart did a small leap. “You mean… Atlas was the one who responded with ‘love’?”

“Yeah,” Matt said, sticking his hands in his pockets. “Kind of crazy, isn’t it?”

“Yeah…” Pidge whispered. “Excuse me.”

She ran into the heart of Atlas’ engine room, a private place where she knew the ship’s AI could hear her. She placed her hand on a piece of cold metal and said, “Atlas?”

“Yes, Katie Holt?”

“Can I ask you a question?”

“You may. It is the day for asking me questions, after all.”

Ah, so he developed a sense of humor and snark, too…

Pidge took a deep breath and asked, “Do you love me?”

“Affirmative, Katie Holt. I love you.”

“Do you… Is it… As a friend?”

“Negative.”

“As family?”

“Negative.

Pidge’s heart was pounding in her chest. “Do you… Do you love me in a romantic sense.”

“Affirmative.”

Pidge’s eyes filled with tears. “I love you, too, Atlas. I love you, too…”

#Pidge/Atlas #Voltron: Legendary Defender #VLD #Pidge #Voltron #Atlas #Katie Holt #Writing #Commission #Writing Commission #Pidge x Atlas

[pumpkins-s]

Stormbreaker / Coffinmaker

Read On AO3 Here

When Pidge is offered the spot as communications officer for the Kerberos Mission, to accompany her father, and her friend and former classmate Shiro, she’s expecting eight months of quiet, beautiful cosmos, ice samples, and—if she’s lucky—some broadcast signals to support her alien life theories.

She is not expecting to end up the prisoner of a fascistic race of alien cat-lizards hellbent on apparently reenacting the ugliest parts of the Roman empire, down to the massive enslavement and expansion effort and the gladiators as entertainment shtick.

But, if she’s going down, she figures she might as well go down swinging.

(Or, in which Pidge is the third Kerberos member, is decidedly not a damsel in distress who needs protection—thank you very much Shiro—is very much done with this crap, and fully intends to make it home to her little brother, no matter what it takes.)

Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender

Relationships: platonic Pidge & Shiro, Pidge & Matt, Pidge & Sam Holt

Characters: Pidge, Shiro, Sam Holt, Matt Holt, Thace, Ulaz

Rating + Warnings: Rated Teen; trigger warnings include graphic violence, blood, combat, murder, and systematic transphobia on the part of the Galra. I recommend checking AO3, or in my author’s notes under the cut, for a more extensive list.

Stormbreaker was written for the @pidgebigbang, and is accompanied by art from @anime7otaku7artist7. 

Chapter 1: Willow

((Author’s Note: 

Hello, hello! Welcome to Stormbreaker / Coffinmaker, my fic for the Pidge Big Bang. Developing the concept and storyline for this fic was the work of months (even if I wrote 90% of it in the last two weeks before it was due shhhh), and I'm so pleased to finally be able to share it. I love Pidge and the friendship she holds with Shiro, and I really wanted a chance to explore that in a setting where they were closer to being peers, as well as what her relationship to Matt would be like if she were the older sibling, and hence that (+ my desire to just see Pidge kicking ass as a gladiator) is how Stormbreaker was born.

As always, music played a big part in my writing, and I'd like to take a moment to credit that: I wrote and outlined this fic largely to the work of Barns Courtney and Florence + The Machine, particularly his  The Attractions of Youth album and her How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful album, respectively, and the influence of both is definitely there in how the story turned out. The title of this fic was chosen as a nod to two songs that pushed the concept and development of Stormbreaker by leaps and bounds. Of Monster And Men's Winter Sound, and Florence + The Machine's My Boy Builds Coffins. And of course, I can't not mention the song that played the original inspiration for this fic: No Doubt's Just A Girl.

For your listening enjoyment while you read, there's also an actual playlist for this fic (with more than just those previously mentioned couple of artists in it, promise). You can find the tumblr post for it here, with art by the wonderful corpus--corvus, or jump straight to the Spotify or Youtube link.

Before you read, a final warning for the content -- this is a gladiator fic, boys & girls & nonbinary pals. That means violence, blood, injury (Shiro's probably an obvious indication but people do lose limbs), fight to the death scenarios, and murder. People die in this story, and not all of them necessarily deserve it, though rest assured Pidge and Shiro themselves stay (relatively) intact. There's also the presence of underage drinking in a flashback scene, some mentions of the sexual abuse and forced prostitution of slaves within the Empire, and swearing. So much fucking swearing. Additionally, while all relationships are written to be strictly platonic, Shiro and Pidge's longer friendship and view of each other as closer to peers does mean their friendship has an emotional intimacy that wouldn't necessarily be seen in their canon counterparts. They lean on each other for support, quite literally, so if any of that would be a personal squick to you for whatever reason, please look away now.

That's about it! Enormous thanks to the Pidge Big Bang mods for putting this all together, and to my artist, anime7otaku7artist7, for their phenomenal work. Their art is embedded in the story, and you can also find a link to it here.

Stormbreaker is split into eight sections, with the entirety already written out pre posting. Chapters range from about 4-10 thousand words, with the first one being the shortest. It will update every day until its completion (so long as everything with editing and posting goes smoothly on my end, at least. Here's hoping). Enjoy!))

(( Author’s Note [Cont.]:

Willow: Forsaken

The gorgeous title art opening this chapter, while not provided by my official artist for the Pidge Big Bang, is provided by the wonderful corpus--corvus, who put up with months of my ranting about Stormbreaker!Pidge, and generously provided me with both this title art, and coverart for this fic's playlist. Thank you Logan you're a peach.))

Oh I'm just a girl, living in captivity

Your rule of thumb

Make me worry some

Oh I'm just a girl, what's my destiny?

- "Just a Girl", No Doubt

“Careful,” is the first thing Pidge’s father says to her, and she sighs, blowing errant bangs out of her eyes—she knew she should have pinned them back when they were suiting up—as she steadies her arms and inches the ice sample out of the extraction drill.

“Yeah, Pidge, careful,” Shiro says with a grin she can only classify as shit-eating, leaning over the back of the drill with his forearms resting on top.

“I am careful,” she snaps, fully removing the sample and hefting it between her arms. The weight is less than that of Earthen ice of the same mass—which is expected, given the gravity on Kerberos is much lesser than that on Earth. It’s a lucky thing their suits are specially designed and weighted to model Earth’s gravity on their interior, Pidge wouldn’t want to be hopping and stumbling around like the astronauts of her grandparents’ generation.

She hands the sample over to her father carefully, his eyes bright as he studies it. “Extraordinary.”

Pidge glances over at Shiro, who is doing his best to look anything more than politely interested, and smirks. “What? Not impressed?”

Shiro looks down at her, and shrugs ungainly against the bulk of his suit. “You guys get…a little more excited about ice samples than I do. I understand their value, but it’s not exactly my area.”

“Yeah, yeah, motorboy.” Pidge rolls her eyes. “I get it, you’re only interested in things with an engine and that go really fast.”

“That’s—“ Shiro makes a face. “Ok, that’s only partially true. I also like…uh…” He trails off, brows furrowed, and Pidge grins. “…What do I like?” he finally asks, looking to Pidge in askance.

“Uh. Reading? Fixing Keith’s bike?” Pidge counts off on her fingers, squinting down at them. “That’s…you’re really bad at having non-work-related hobbies, dude.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“Oh! Me!” Pidge holds up a third finger triumphantly. “You like me!”

Shiro groans. “You’re my best friend, that’s a given—“

“You know what I like?” Pidge says, and then continues on before Shiro has the chance to respond. “I’ll tell you what I like. Motherfucking aliens, that’s what I like, Shiro.”

“And here we go again—“

“And that—“ Pidge points at the ice sample, “could be the key to finally proving their existence, right Dad?”

“Well,” her father says, looking quietly amused as he shifts the sample in his hands. “We certainly can’t rule anything out, all the way out here. And I’d hardly complain if one of these ice samples wanted to come along and solve my life’s—“ There’s a rumble all around them, rock vibrating slightly beneath their feet, and he pauses. “…What was that?”

“Earthquake?” Pidge asks as another rumble starts up, stronger than the last.

“Kerberos-quake?” Shiro mutters behind her, and she turns to tell him just how terrible that was, before the strongest shake yet occurs, throwing her off balance, and she yelps, falling forward.

“Pidge!” She catches herself on Shiro’s outstretched arm. “You okay?”

“I’m fine.” She shakes her head, trying to dispel the hair blocking her vision and the vague sense of dizziness she feels. “We should get back to the—“ She stops, caught up in the feeling of something suddenly here, large and looming and right behind her, and slowly turns around as a ship comes into view.

For once, all her knowledge—all her calculations, her observations, her vast vocabulary, abandon her, and she is left with one thought, and one thought only.

That isn’t one of their ships.

“It can’t be…” She hears her father say, but it’s distant, muffled, as if he was underwater, and then all she can focus on is Shiro grabbing desperately at her arm, yanking her along.

“Run. Run!”

She runs.

It’s a rush of sudden sound, sudden movement that seems at odds with the serene stillness expected of space. All she can hear is the roaring noise of whatever is behind them, Shiro’s shouts, her own heavy breathing as she stumbles along in her suit, the previously steadying weight suddenly cumbersome.

There’s a sudden pull behind them, around them, everything lit up purple, and Pidge screams as her feet suddenly leave the ground, flying up into the void of black above them. She hears both of the others yell her name, and she reaches out blindly for something, anything—her father’s blurry form, the outstretched hand she knows is Shiro’s, only to find nothing.

Tractor beam, a detached, scientific part of her mind supplies for her. I’m the smallest, so it’s natural I’d be the first picked up.

Sure enough, one of them—she thinks her father—flies up a moment after, Shiro caught up off the ground last.

They’re both shouting in panic, and Pidge thinks she should be screaming, too. Might already be screaming, or perhaps she’s forgotten to altogether, it’s impossible to tell, right now. She is not in control of the motion of her own body, of her senses.

Debris off the ground, caught up in the beam with them, catches on the side of Shiro’s helmet, scraping along, and she can only pray it hasn’t knocked it loose, hasn’t stolen his oxygen, before another rock slams into her own head.

The last thing she hears as it all goes black is the sound of her own voice tapering off, dying in her throat like a person hanged, condemned and left to die.

…Oh, so she had been screaming.

The night Shiro gets offered the position of pilot for the Kerberos mission, Pidge drags him out drinking.

“Shots!” she announces loudly, placing them down on the bar, and Shiro winces. He’s the one person she knows who gets a headache just from being in a bar. Normally, Pidge would have sympathy, as prone to migraines brought on from stress and lack of sleep as she is, but over time she’s come to accept this is an inevitability of taking Shiro out anywhere fun that isn’t space or flight themed. Luckily, the more alcohol Shiro gets in him, the more he seems to forget about his headache, or his apathy towards bars in general—enough to be willing to repeat the same cycle of misery, ecstasy, and then mild hangovers, occasionally, every few weeks, at least.

“What are those?” He picks one up cautiously, sniffing at it. “Whiskey?”

“Mhmm,” Pidge hums happily, sliding into the stool next to his. “Good brand, too.”

“I think I’ll just order one of those fruity cocktails,” Shiro says with an air of quiet distaste, sliding the shot glass back across to Pidge.

“Weak.” She downs them both, hers first and then Shiro’s, slamming the second empty glass down to the background of his horrified face.

“I don’t know how you do that,” he says, and she sticks her tongue out at him.

Drinking is just one of the many things they do together, but in very different ways. Shiro—perhaps still trying to live down the keg-stand days of his barely-twenties that Pidge remembers sneaking into at seventeen or so all too fondly—doesn’t like anything strong, anything that leaves too much of a burn behind. He finds his preferences in what is sweet, where the alcohol is masked by some more agreeable mix-in.

Pidge, meanwhile, relishes the burn. Chases the chemistry reacting in her own body, the poison her brain somehow just barely sustains, with fascination. Drinking is stupid, objectively. So naturally that only leads to the urge to categorize it, sample every flavor until she understands every urge and every predilection.

She watches Shiro order his cocktail in amusement, and waves her hand when the bartender looks to her. They both know how to take care of themselves—and each other, if they find it necessary. Shiro will sip his fruity drinks, and Pidge will knock back a couple shots before giving it a break and then nursing a beer or some watered down vodka-and-schnapps concoction for the rest of the night.

She’s an experimenter, not an idiot. If she takes it too far, makes herself too sick or poisons herself too permanently, she won’t be able to carry out the next test. She’s the extent of her own sample size, which means she has to make herself last.

“Remember when we were young,” she says languidly, swinging around on her stool and leaning on the bar, head tilting up to watch the ceiling, then Shiro. “And we’d party like the sun wouldn’t come up?”

“I remember going through a bottle of Advil every two months, yeah,” Shiro says dryly. “Besides you’re—I love the way you say that, when we were young. You’re not even legal to drink yet.”

“Shhh.” Pidge waves a hand. “Keep your voice down or you’ll get us kicked out. I worked hard on that I.D., Matt helped me pick the picture.”

“And what a great picture it is,” Shiro offers sarcastically, and Pidge levels a threatening eye at his drink. He pointedly moves it out of her reach, and after a moment, continues. “I still don’t get why you like bars so much. You’re you—I can barely get you out of your room to go to the dining hall.”

“Are you kidding me?” She waves a hand. “Bars are the one place where I can get social stimulus without having to actually talk to or acknowledge anyone beyond the wonderful person providing my drink. It’s an observational heaven. At the Garrison I actually have to make conversation.” She shudders, and Shiro snorts.

“…It still feels weird being out here, with your parents knowing where we go.”

“Joys of being second-gen American,” Pidge says proudly. “Just enough Italian left over where a twenty-one plus drinking age seems like the dumbest thing in the world.”

“I guess.” Shiro wrinkles his nose. “Still just feels weird when my commanding officer knows I go out drinking with his daughter.”

“Shiro, you practically live in our house. You’re in Matt’s elementary school graduation picture, for crying out loud. Bit late for worrying about that sort of thing.” Shiro winces, and Pidge laughs, patting him on the shoulder. “Man. Kerberos. I can’t believe you’ll be locked up with only my dad and some poor communications officer for eight months.” She pauses, and at Shiro’s faintly proud, but still somber look, she grins. “Maybe I should suggest to Dad he bring his zero-gravity specialized Scrabble board along.”

“Oh god,” Shiro groans, dropping his face into his elbow against the bar. “Please, don’t.”

“Doing it,” Pidge says happily. After a long moment, she looks over to Shiro, curling her arms into a pillow on the bar for her to drop her head onto, sighing. “…It’ll be weird, without you here. It was going to be strange enough not having Dad around that long, but at least I’m used to him disappearing off for missions.” Shiro grunts morosely, and she hums. “Always got Matt, I suppose. And Mom. I’ll just spend more time around the house or something. Lucky we live so close.”

Shiro says nothing, stealing the discarded beer bottle of some other long-departed patron, and peeling habitually at the label in one of his little-seen nervous gestures. “It will be weird.” There’s silence again, and Pidge is just starting to wonder if she’s expected to say something, before he continues, quiet and unsure. “You know they haven’t decided on a communications officer yet. You could always…throw your hat in the ring. They’re already worried about team compatibility—with a mission this long, and this important—and everyone knows we work well together.”

“Me?” Pidge snorts. “Please. Even if I wanted to—and I’m not saying I do—they’d never take me. I’m still a cadet.”

“Only while you finish up the last of your engineering credits.” Shiro points out sullenly, still not meeting her eyes. “You’ve been an officially marked communications officer for the better part of a year at this point. And there’s no one better at the job.”

Pidge blinks, surprised at the blunt honesty in his tone. “…You…really want me to apply, don’t you?”

Shiro shrugs, glaring down at the decimated bottle label. “It’d just be—it’d feel weird without you, alright? Like something was missing.”

Almost unconsciously, Pidge reaches across, snatching up the balled-up wrapper, freeing it from Shiro’s wrath and contemplating it, as if it might suddenly give her an answer to this new puzzle.

Of course, looking for solutions in beer bottle wrappers is neither scientific nor logical, so Pidge isn’t very surprised when it offers her none.

“…I guess we do do most everything together, don’t we?” she offers softly. Shiro just shrugs again, avoiding both the answer and her eyes as he sits up and sips awkwardly at his drink. He doesn’t want to pressure her, to suggest her into something she doesn’t want to do. He also doesn’t want to go without her.

He’s always been stupidly good at expressly not talking about his worries, especially when he thinks he’s burdening someone else with them. Luckily for him, while Pidge is no feelings expert, she is a Shiro expert at this point, and very good at determining the logical end point to a problem.

“Yeah, okay,” she says unthinkingly. “Why not?” Shiro turns to look at her, still all kinds of conflicted mixed in with his hope, and she steals his drink easily, downing back the last of it, and when she slams it onto the bar next to the empty shot glasses, it sounds like a promise.

Kerberos. What could go wrong?

It’ll give her an amusing story to tell Matt when she gets rejected, at least.

…We come from a peaceful planet…

Pidge comes to with a quiet gasp and a rush of aching pain along her left temple. She startles just ever so slightly—everything blurry and her suit feeling far, far too heavy for either Kerberos or the conditions of their ship—before the weight of strong hands holding her arms behind her back, and Shiro’s muffled voice pleading somewhere off to her left, come to her attention, and she tenses, stills.

It doesn’t all come back so much in a rush as in a trickle of images, feeding into her brain like a lagging video on a bad connection as her quick, panicked breaths fog up the inside of her visor. The ship, the tractor beam, being dragged up and up and away from Shiro and her father, the sudden crunch of the rock against her skull, all sliding through her mind and clicking into place.

For the first time in a long, long time, Pidge feels true panic grip her, staring down into the abyss of the unknown. She’d come close, in their attempt to flee the inevitable on Kerberos, but had been too caught up in the immediacy of the situation. That was instinctive panic, raw and something close to animal.

This is a panic of exercised consideration. Of weighing up her circumstances and what little information she has available to her and ultimately coming up short—short of a plan, short of an idea, short of even a clue. She has no idea where she is—beyond somewhere she never was supposed to be—who has her, or what is going to happen.

Based on her position and her mode of capture, Pidge can only assume herself and the others are being held captives by a hostile extraterrestrial power. Which is not, she thinks a little hysterically, even remotely fucking close to something the Garrison had prepared them for.

For Pidge, sorting all this out amongst the overwhelmed screeching in her head and the dull throb of pain above her eyes that signals either an impending migraine or a concussion feels like the work of hours. But it must only be moments, because one second Shiro is talking, stammering out a few desperate phrases on their behalf, before there’s a shuffle of movement, and Shiro’s cut-off yelp of pain as something strikes him.

At that she does stir, almost involuntarily jerking against the hold on her to turn and observe, check on Shiro’s condition—he was speaking, which means at least he hadn’t sustained any major head injuries, surely. In response there’s a tightening of the grip on her arms, an increase on the weight pressing down on her back, a boot maybe, and she buckles instinctively, head bowing to the ground and her whole body going taut but unmoving.

Eventually, after some further exchanges of words she can’t muddle out in the confused space of her brain beyond the disbelieving fact that it’s definitely English, the grip holding Pidge shifts, moving as something like handcuffs with a rigid bar between them is shackled onto her wrists. Something takes hold of the bar, and begins to drag her backwards, assumedly out of the room. Rough sliding noises on her left and right are the only indication she has that the same is being done to her father and Shiro, she doesn’t dare look to confirm.

It’s not until they’re moving along some hallway, and the other dragging noises move past and ahead of her, that Pidge dares to tilt her head just slightly up, trying to catch sight of something beyond her own feet scraping along a metal floor.

She can only get glimpses, between long stretches of endless chrome and the shine of purple lighting coming from some undeterminable source. Flashes in windows of huge containment systems, layers upon layers of prisoners crammed into cages and moved about as if building blocks directed by a child. She sees whispers of floors upon floors of moving figures, all discernable only in the same shades of grey and purple, with splashes of red, outsizing any operation she’s ever seen at the Garrison.

She sees torture. She sees order. She sees cruelty. She sees control.

There’s the bark of voices above her head, and she yelps as she is dragged around a corner roughly, the quick turn putting a strain on her arms. But she doesn’t dare fight back, not at the risk of suffering the same fate as Shiro.

Observation is her greatest—her only strength, right now. She must do what she does best, as she does at officer meetings, in Garrison dining halls and classrooms, even in shitty, dim-lit desert town bars.

Pidge watches. She grasps at every piece of data, commits to memory every variable she can spot, and above it all she is left with only one question, buzzing in the back of her dizzied, overwhelmed mind.

Where the hell are we?

#pidge big bang #Stormbreaker / Coffinmaker (Voltron) #my writing #Voltron #vld fanfic

[eponymous-rose]

Talks Machina Highlights: Critical Role Episode 111

Guests are Liam O’Brien and Matt Mercer. Full video on Project Alpha!

Brian: “Hello, welcome to Talks Machina. I am... dressed for success.” Liam: “You are very cute today.” Matt: “I call this look Saturday Darin De Paul.”

Matt is doing much better than he was on Thursday.

Digital copy of the Critical Role comic is out!

There’s now a Talks Machina shirt in the store.

Episode 111 is tied for the most natural ones in an episode.

The show has now surpassed 10,000 d20 rolls. Brian suggests buying @critrolestats​ a yacht for keeping track of all this.

The comic takes place before the game. At the first session, because it was meant to be a one-shot, Matt just had everyone assume they all knew each other and were used to working together as a party. The comic explores how they actually met and started working together as an adventuring party.

Moments they’d like to see from the pre-stream game if the comic continues: meeting Gilmore, finding Percy in Jorenn Village, going after Grog’s dad, the birth of Burt Reynolds, early interactions with the Clasp, the one time Pike and Vax had a solo adventure together. Brian: “Do you think we would have to get rights from Burt Reynolds’ estate to... oh, wait, he’s still alive.”

The pacing of this arc was always going to be different, since it’s epic-level stuff and many of the character-centric arcs have been closed; it’s a lot harder to draw in character backstory the way the previous arcs could. The time-crunch aspect of this particular plot (the villain is actively moving through his to-do list whether or not Vox Machina intervenes) is a careful balance to make sure the players don’t feel too rushed but can still maintain that sense of urgency. Liam: “I am consistently surprised and shocked by everything that’s happened, so no complaints from me.”

If it were just Liam’s decision, he’d want everyone to take a long rest before facing Vecna. He thinks losing Vasselheim might be the cost of actually having a slim chance of defeating Vecna.

Matt’s been slowly been building this last dungeon over the last six months. It’s right up there with Opash’s necromantic lair as his favorite dungeon he’s made. Liam wants to see the dungeon mapped out and described in PDF format at some point, and Matt mentions that, depending on what state it’s in at the end of this campaign, it might be a location in a future Issylra campaign guide.

Matt and Liam talk about how early adventuring in D&D is generally a selfish endeavor, and then later on there are considerably higher stakes. Matt mentions that even in high-level D&D, you want to include obstacles in a dungeon that characters can bypass easily as a reward for quick thinking or just being awesome at high levels. The dungeon is also fundamentally a power-sink where you have to prioritize where you put your resources before the final battle you know is coming.

GIF of the week. Matt: “It’s funny the effect painkillers have on running a D&D game...”

Once the oven had closed, once a round, everyone in the room would’ve taken 1d6 fire damage, then 2d6, then 3d6, and so on. Solving it was meant to be a little more high-stakes, but the party avoided getting trapped in the room themselves.

Matt had half a page of information, a voice, and a name prepared for the nothic that Vax just annihilated. Could’ve ended up being a small encounter or a temporary alliance with a Gollum-type character or an uneasy alliance that could’ve gone wrong. Matt: “What you did was quintessential D&D, and I loved it.”

Liam recently ran a D&D game for his whole family in which his son rolled a d20 on opening a door he wasn’t supposed to go through, forcing him to improvise.

Matt’s been working with Travis to build his next character, and he keeps having to remind him that most characters only have a movement speed of 25 or 30 feet.

Brian: “Like Matt and I, you too can be not in terrible debt and situationally famous without going to college!” Matt: “I cannot support any of these statements at all.”

Vax would be willing to sacrifice even Emon or Whitestone if it meant stopping Vecna, because the alternative is Vecna reigning supreme over the Material Plane... or the Divine Gate coming down and armageddon ensuing.

Fanart of the week.

In-universe flashbulb memory of the campaign: Chroma Conclave attack. Liam: “The goldfish dive will be remembered for millennia.” Matt: “Young druids will be taught from a very young age...”

Matt gave the party the ring to give them a level of comfort in a near-impossible situation, but the risk of fucking it up is what makes it fun.

Liam: “Matthew Mercer is one of the sweetest men I’ve met in my life, but I know within the boundaries of this game that you have this really devilish streak, like an inclination to fuck with us... fucking rakshasa.”

Vax has made peace with everything, but he thinks about the Tomb all the time, especially since the Raven Queen is the goddess of fate. Liam: “As Liam, I loved every dumbfuck thing that I chose to do in this game, ‘cause I’m sitting with my best friends making each other laugh every week, we love each other, we get a fucking kick out of each other every week, and the mistakes are some of the greatest memories of all time.”

Liam’s top priority even way back in the home game has always been that Vax will do whatever it takes to keep Vex alive; Vax still thinks that the Raven Queen will only keep her side of the deal if he does as well. It’s made things extremely complicated, but that’s the fundamental backbone of his character and he isn’t going to mess with that.

Matt has never had players embrace the sibling aspect of their characters to the extent that Laura and Liam have. Matt: “It’s been a gift from a storyteller’s standpoint to play in that space.”

Matt thinks Sam did a fantastic job on his one-shot, and encourages other new DMs to just commit and jump in and see how well it turns out. Liam: “It’s not a religion and it’s not appellate court, it’s just the world’s best game. Just fuckin’ have fun with it.”

Matt was expecting the undead titan reveal to happen in early or mid-July, but it just worked out to happen at Gen Con. Stressful as it was, Matt was excited that he could have such a big reveal at the live show.

Liam wasn’t worried about Simon because he knew it would take more than fire to destroy a magical item.

If the game had continued as a home game, Matt probably would’ve truncated elements of the narrative because they got to play so seldom. Both he and Liam agree that getting to play weekly was the best part of starting to stream the game.

Vax’s "this could be the last time” moments this week had less to do with his imminent death and more to do with Liam processing that in the next few weeks they’re going to be ending this game that they’ve been playing together for four years.

Brian is very sad about the end of the game as a fan of the show; he remembers Ashley coming home after the home game and giving him multi-hour summaries of everything that had happened. The game started around the same time as he and Ashley started their relationship, and he’s really delighted by how close they’ve all gotten since then. Brian: “I mean, we’re practically... I plan on sleeping with both of you on After Dark.” Liam: “I’m open to it.”

Talks Machina After Dark: Liam hosts for the first time!

Liam: “The only reason I agreed to do this Dungeons and Dragons show is so I could sit here, now, and I have you both right where I want you. Undress.”

If Matt could forget everything he knew and join VM as one of his NPCs for the final fight, from a personality standpoint, he’d want to play as Allura or Gilmore, but from a functionally helpful standpoint, probably Kima.

Matt once LARPed World of Darkness and had a very stressful experience where he was thrown into the midst of an extremely political game with no knowledge of what was going on.

Matt’s never had to ban particular items or spells, but there are aspects of the game that require discussion. In a primarily good/neutral campaign, he won’t ban evil characters per se, but he’ll require a discussion to figure out how not to ruin the experience for the rest of the characters. Liam points out that Jayne (an evil character) could easily have killed Clothesline in Sam’s oneshot, but he decided against it because it’d make Ashly’s game less fun and would mess with Sam’s having established that they all survived. It turned out to be more fun having to come up with a reason for that.

Worst possible person for Vax to face as part of Vecna’s undead army: his mother. Liam: “That would fuck his shit up.” Or Vex, if she were killed and then immediately brought back by Vecna.

On the theoretical possibility of a new campaign starting in a post-apocalyptic Tal’Dorei if Vecna wins, Brian: “It would be hard to Transport via Plants.” Matt thinks it’s an exciting prospect, and he has things in his mind if it goes that direction, but he thinks it would be really sad to culminate a five-year campaign with a loss, although planting seeds for the next story could make it retroactively pretty hopeful. 

Liam: “Story-wise, I know that everything’s gonna hurt and everything’s gonna be amazing, and I also trust you to flip my expectations somehow. We just love discovering the story together.”

#critical role #critical role spoilers #talks machina #talks machina spoilers #long text post

[pleasantpalette]

Tues-a-Film Day

WEEK 1: Spirited Away

Jewel and Sophia decided to watch Spirited Away for the first week of August. Here’s what they thought of the movie!

1. Identify at least three characteristics of Chihiro that changed after her experience in the Spirit Realm.

She learned to be courageous, forgiving, and not to succumb to greed. An example of her courage was when she had to get to the ladder to the window and the only way to get there was across the pipe, she decided to run across to get to the ladder, even though she could have died. In terms of being forgiving, it can be evidently seen when she let No Face accompany her on her trip, even after he tried to kill her. Lastly, on not succumbing to greed, she didn't accept the gold being offered by No Face. 

2. Describe Chihiro and Haku’s connection. Do you also have a “Haku” in your life?

Considering that Haku was also once like Chihiro, they had a special bond since they both had the same experience. Haku was very willing to guide Chihiro in escaping the Spirit Realm. I believe I have a Haku in my life and that is my family. They always support me in every step that I take and ensure that I make the right decision for myself.

3. What is the lesson we can attain from the movie?

Help others on their purposeful journey to the destination. When you help people around you with your generosity and tenacity, people feel the gratitude to help you back even if you don’t ask for it. Additionally, as Jim Morrison stated, “Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.”

WEEK 2: The Notebook

Sky summarized The Notebook as the film based on a 1996 novel set in the 1940s captures the relationship of the same couple in two different times, when they were young and when they grew old. The beautiful movie sets how even the most endearing of obstacles could not stop people who are in love to separate.

WEEK 3: In Time

I don’t have time. I don’t have time to worry about how it happened. It is what it is. We’re genetically engineered to stop aging at twenty-five. The trouble is, we live only one more year unless we can get more time. Time is now the currency. We earn it and spend it. The rich can live forever and the rest of us? I just want to wake up with more time on my hand than hours in the day.

Will Salas

Sci-fi action thriller written and directed by Andrew Niccol. The story is set in the future where time is money and you stop aging at 25, but there’s a catch, you’re genetically-engineered to live only one more year unless you can buy your way out of it. The rich earn decades at a time, becoming essentially immortal, while the rest beg, borrow, or steal enough hours to make it through the day. Will Salas (Justin Timberlake) is a poor man who rarely has more than a day’s worth of life on his time clock. When he saves Henry Hamilton (Matt Bomer) from time thieves, Will receives the gift of a century. However, such a large transaction attracts the attention of the authorities, and when Will is falsely accused of murder, he must go on the run, taking the daughter, Sylvia Weis (Amanda Seyfried), of an incredibly wealthy man with him.

For a change, I tried something I have never done before...Watch a tagalog movie. To my surprise, I really liked it. Maybe because I can understand the problems and pressure o what it’s like to be an OFW in another country. Hello, Love Goodbye is not your ordinary love story which is why I fell inlove with it. The ending that the movie took was in my opinion the best outcome.

WEEK 4: The Half of It

It’s Ellie Chu’s turn for TUES-A-FILM-DAY!

The good thing about being different in a town like this is that no one expects you to be like them.

Ellie Chu

This movie is definitely a must-watch! It will help you open your eyes more to love and teach you things you didn’t know about yourself. It is a one of a kind movie that you will relate to more than you thought you would have.

DID YOU KNOW?

Human beings are story-telling animals. Learning and knowledge have been passed down for thousands of years through stories. Stories are the way we understand and make sense of the world. A good story engages a person’s curiosity, emotions, and imagination. Movies are stories that can help us see the world differently and from a different perspective. It can also help you make sense of real-life, encourage emotional release, and allow your brain to unplug and re-energize.

[adriennescomingbacktolife]

(II)

Gasping for air, Adrienne stared up at the lights. Her jaw was sore. She had a splitting headache. She’d been elbowed, kicked, and dropped on her face. Her shoulders were pinned to the mat for that all important three seconds. However, Adrienne couldn’t help smiling as the official, she hadn’t caught his name, checked in on her. Supermassive Black Hole echoed throughout the empty arena as Starburst celebrated in her peripheral vision.

Adrienne Levi had lost. But she certainly didn’t feel like a loser that night. And she wanted to tell Danny all about it. But he was so busy, and she didn’t want to be a bother. And besides, Magnificent Danny Levi didn’t believe in moral victories. So that evening as the show continued in the background, she opted not to. When he found out, Danny would surely bring it up and she’d cross that road then.  

Her mother was another person that didn’t get it. Angie Straussler found the sport of professional wrestling to be barbaric. It was hard to argue with her when her first exposure to the industry was seeing her son-in-law take her daughter’s purse, covertly stuffed with a brick, and smash it into another man’s skull. And so, when she had picked up Adrienne from the St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport, she was less than enthusiastic after she found out why.

“And this isn’t a one-time thing? You’re going back? Ade, are you serious?”

Adrienne was.

She stared at her own reflection in the side mirror of her mother’s stuffy 1999 Oldsmobile Cutlass. There was a bruise coloring her right cheek, but she didn’t mind. Unlike previous ones, she’d wear this one proudly.

“Yes, mom…”

Adrienne’s mother had given birth to her daughter when she was real young. It was a sin to be so prideful but Straussler always enjoyed the compliment that Adrienne and her looked like sisters, sincere or not. Expectantly, that caused Angie to try to rectify her own shortcomings through her daughter’s life. And expectantly, Adrienne rebelled. In Angie’s opinion, Daniel Levi is and will always be the most perplexing decision that her usually smart daughter ever made.

“What about Kaplan? You’ve been there for a long time. Three months ago, you said you were going to be promoted to lead.”

Adrienne slumped in her seat.

“Katy got it.”

“Katy?” Angie scoffed, “Of course. I’m not one to spread gossip but she seems the type.”

Stopped at a red light, Adrienne watched as her mom checked her lipstick in the rearview mirror. She spoke next in a very hushed tone.

“Heard she went to Tampa for an abortion.”

“Mom.”

“I’m just saying.”

“Anyway, I quit.”

Angie did one of those exaggerated double takes with her mouth ajar. She was animated enough for the both of them. Her outcry was incredulous.

“Why!?”

“Wouldn’t let me take time off.”

“Who would? What you’re doing is silly.”

Adrienne shook her head slightly.

“I know you don’t like it but it's different. It's me now. Just me. I can’t explain the rush I felt.”

“No, and I don’t care to hear.”

“That’s fine but this company is going to pay me a thousand dollars per appearance. They pay for my airfare…”

“I saw it on the Youtube. You looked like you had two left feet. Not only that, these sorts of outfits always break promises. The one here would forget to pay you.”

No, they did, Adrienne answered internally. But Danny controlled the finances. He’s real smart like that.

“Like I said, it's different. I had my first ever match and now I have a spot on the next supershow. That’s more money. I think … I could be good at this.”

“There you go, sounding like Danny again, when are you going to—”

“I don’t want to talk about Danny.”

Quickly, she used her sleeve to wipe away at her eyes.

 “Because … because it's not about him. I’m not there because of him. I’m there because … it’s something I’ve always had to watch and now I’m doing it. And up in Baltimore…”

From bell to bell, she felt human again.

“…it felt right. I don’t know what is going to come of it. There are some super serious people there. Lived lives I could never fathom. And I’m a nobody from here … but Carnage Wrestling put me against three people who have done something in this business and that must mean something.”

“It means you’ve drawn the short straw, Ade.”

Adrienne considered that. No one expected her to overcome Regina Dal Gato. She was faster, more experienced, and just wanted it more. But something unexpected happened. Adrienne walked backstage, head upright, and there was this feeling. Danny always said that being one of the boys was like a brotherhood. Adrienne couldn’t relate for the longest time. She always felt that she was on the outside looking in and maybe Danny wasn’t as influential as he claimed to be. But, possibly she could join up in due time.

“Probably, mom. But this is unchartered territory for the Levis. I intend to see this through.”

After that, Adrienne just tuned out the noise. Her mother always had an opinion and that opinion was always right. She loved her. She was a good mom but in this one instance, Angie didn’t understand the motives of her only child. Adrienne was that bird that just realized that the cage door was ajar. Flittering over to the edge, her head poked through. Outside, though, the world is so vast and dangerous that why would she leave? It was safe after all.

Borrowing from her limited knowledge of sports sayings, well, safe is death. 

In the safety of her apartment, she mused over her next encounter. Three daunting, larger than life individuals she couldn’t even begin to surmise. But she had to try. At least make the effort. Danny never prepared. He’d take one look at whoever it was and he’d dress them down in vicious fashion. 

Sitting on the couch, she concluded that wasn’t her style. 

Adrienne had watched her previous effort a few times back. Her match, too. In both appearances, she seemed lost at the key moments. How does one defy who they are? Her goal wasn’t to go out there and lose. That’d be pointless. She felt accomplished but eventually, Danny’s sentiment that moral victories are worthless would hit home.

After consuming what info she could about Matt Knox, Jonathan Willis, and this enigma of a woman with half a dozen names to call her - well, One of These Things is Not Like the Other.

Well, that’s okay. She didn’t want to be like them. 

But just who was Adrienne Levi? 

On some internet forum, there was a thread discussing the biggest losers on the independent scene, Danny Levi was joked about heavily. However, it was agreed that Adrienne was a mildly attractive piece of ass and looked dumb as hell so that’s a plus. Comments like this were often accompanied by ringside pictures that should have hit the cutting room floor. One where she was bent over over the middle ring rope. She had a blue minidress that she’d wear only for Danny during his matches and the photographer thought it opportune to shoot up that dress. The image was captioned: Imagine the Smell. 

In Adrienne's most recent review at Kaplan, it stated that she exhibited poor customer service skills and required coaching. Whatever the hell that meant because she still received a whole quarter raise.

On the broadcast, Johnny Vegas had quipped that Adrienne was Carnage Wrestling’s newest loser. Well, Johnny Vegas looked like a hairy orange scrotum. She stifled a giggle. That's too much. But whatever, that’s what happens when she drinks one ...one or two wine coolers. 

She didn’t want to be a piece of ass, or a forgettable employee, or a loser.

Not being a loser wasn’t always about just winning. Broken clock’s right twice a day. She suspected that Regina would learn that the hard way. No, Adrienne had to make a shift. She had to be more than what was expected of her. 

So she opted out of a third strawberry wine cooler. Hastily, she cleared out Danny’s corner. Adrienne would have to set it back to normal before he came back but this … this was about her. So she chose to display who she wanted to be now. 

She printed out a picture of Carnage Wrestling’s logo. She grabbed a 8x10 that she took with the intention to autograph to paying fans. Unfortunately, there was a lack of those these days. It was the sort of ridiculous pose where she had fists raised up like she was ready to fight. Her ring gear was a pair of simple black tights, white boots, and a t-shirt, ironically the Doritos one. She also printed out a color photo of her dive from the top rope. It happened to be the only action shot that was taken that featured Adrienne on the offensive. 

She found her newly acquired Carnage Wrestling shirt she may have pilfered from an open box backstage. She put on her cleanest pair of jeans and sneakers. Her eyes popped a little with a modest amount of blue eyeliner. 

Moments later, she dusted off a selfie stick that had been collecting dust in the kitchen junk drawer.  Resulting in a totally more professional presentation.

“Take two.”

Carefully, she framed herself into the picture. This time, she did her best to look directly at her future audience. 

“Hello everyone, Adrienne here. I guess I want to start out by making a distinction. I’ve got one match under my belt and I didn’t get the winner’s purse. But I know this business. A lot more than some would give credit. And I know that my upcoming match at Underground is an absolute honor. Two former world champions. An internationally known multi-talented superstar. And then there’s me.” 

Adrienne paused, she knew that she had to make the following statement emphatically.

“I’m not…”

She cleared her throat.

“I’m not just a piece of arm candy, Johnny Vegas. And I’m not just singling out that guy because I know what it looks like on the surface. I’m not here to redeem myself like Mr. Knox. He’s one of those former world champions and I bet he beats himself up because lots of folks only talk about the bad. But he did it and that’s what matters. And I may not be relentless like Mr. Willis. My trials and tribulations aren’t worth mentioning. I smoked a little weed during community college before I dropped out. I was a terrible student, too. My life wouldn’t fill out a pamphlet. I am … unremarkable. And so I could never be as outrageous and spectacular as Melificent Lasciel. I don’t have a lick of musical talent and I’m not very photogenic as you can see.” 

She gave a little wry smile.

“But what I am is a professional wrestler. I know, duh, so are all of you. All of you have such lofty goals and aspirations. Jonathan has his eyes set on championship gold. I have a feeling that he may be there sooner than later. Matt looks to settle the score with that grumpy old guy. Mel? I don’t know what she wants but I bet it's something glamorous. There’s this mentality in this business that if you don’t want to be on top, then you don’t belong here. Despite all of that, only a few ever actually reach that pinnacle.”

Confidence floundering, she fought with making such a declaration.

“Maybe…”

Another pause.

“Maybe one day that could be me. Delusions of grandeur, I know. But one loss, or two losses, or losing every single time I step into that ring won’t detract me. And I’m sure you’ve all heard those words before. Recently, too.”

But this was the stark truth. 

“Maybe reality will stop me cold in my tracks. However, this match won’t be my Last Ride, my Downfall, or my End of Days. There will be no Redemption off of my name. You’re all going to have to earn that some other time because win or lose, Underground is going to be the night where I show you just who I am.”

In a bit of post cut editing, the piece ended on that shot of Adrienne Levi jumping off the top turnbuckle. Her expression was different than any she had ever displayed. On the surface, it was just gritted teeth and eyes afire with concentration. But it was also pure determination, intensity, and a sense of belonging all rolled into a tidy package. 

Was that lightning in a bottle, or could that become Adrienne Levi after all?

#carnage wrestling #fatal4way