#tried out some new stuff and gosh it took its darN TIME | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

angelicichor · 4 years

Note

Wait. Requests are open? Fuck yes. Then I request Thomas bending me over stuff and fucking me into next year! Art or words man it don't matter. Its gonna be fantastic either way .My U R G E S are out of this world right now.

U… I like you. I might actually do some more….. F I L T H Y art of Tommy-boy, but I ain’t home now so that’ll have to wait. For now however…

N//SF//W

Thomas being a bit too eager… but in a good way.Female reader for this one… sorry folks.

Enough

Summer has been a bad season in Texas, for obvious reasons - heat, dryness and dust, oh god the dust, it was everywhere, sticking to everybody’s sweat covered bodies, making it unbearable to go shirtless, but also impossible to go with anything more prude on.

In a way you had a hate-love relationship with this season, you’ve always lived in colder places, so the warmth of the sun was murdering you and seeing Charlie with his big ol’ belly pouch and old man tits out, covered in white, untamed chest hair was an ENORMOUS problem, but at the same time tis’ was the season for drinking refrigerated sodas and eating copious amounts of ice cream that Luda Mae made herself and gosh darn it was delicious.

But the most amazing stuff wasn’t any drink or a snack, no, it was the full-blown dinner date that was Thomas, abandoning his usual shirt and tie to don a simple black tank top, that clung to his chest almost perversely, showing off his robust bicep, beautifully shaped triceps, as well some of the powerful muscle of his back, his tan skin glistening with sweat as he bent over a car’s hood, opening it to check what in tarnation was wrong with Hoyt’s sheriff car, the old man being too damn lazy to do it himself, god bless him for that.

With the apron gone you also had a wonderful view of Tommy’s firm legs and thick ass, stretching the material every time he’d bend over to reach inside the machine. It looked so damn squeezable, but you knew better than to interrupt the man at work, knowing that Luda would be over you in a second, scolding you for not working yourself. You loved her, but how could she NOT understand that her son was a god damned gem and you NEEDED to take a closer look at him.

He seemed oblivious to your hungry gaze coming from the porch, unaware how his form made your heart flutter and your gut heat up thinking of all the wonderful things that behemoth could do to you and that fact made you FURIOUS. It’s not like you didn’t try to initiate things either, just every time you tried anything Charlie would bring in some new meat or Luda would need her son to go to the station with her to help unpack some deliveries or Monty needed to be carried off the sun, too tired from the heat to move on his own.

Little to say, you were frustrated, but a chance to take revenge on this beautiful, dark haired bastard was coming and oh so very soon.

The thought brought a devilish grin onto your face, an expression that made Charlie go “You alright, girlie?” above you and you snapped to attention. “Ya lookin’ at my nephew like he the next one in line for dinner.” He laughed and you puffed at him, standing up with a slight blush, dusting off your jeans.“Sorry, sir, just thought of something funny.” you lied and he cocked an eyebrow, not really believing you.“U-huh, sure, darlin’. Ya ready to go into town? Got the money?” he asked and you smiled warmly, lifting your purse up and shaking it slightly. “Good, let’s go.”

With that you almost jumped towards the old pick-up that waited right next to Hoyt’s sheriff car. Not able to resist the urge you took a swing and slapped Tommy’s perked butt, making him rise in shock and hit his head on the metal above him. You laughed, before getting into the truck and closing the door, so he wouldn’t pull you out. He most likely still could, but instead he rolled his eyes, massaging his head and shaking it shortly in disbelief before going back to work.

Once in the town you quickly parted with Hoyt, running to find a decent, still functioning clothes store, a woman on a mission.

Your plan wasn’t enacted until the next morning, however. For once you’ve been happy that Thomas always woke up way before you, leaving you to your own devices. That was his biggest mistake yet.

The day was pleasant, even with the sun shinning down on all of you mercilessly, there was a nice breeze going through, something you all hoped would be there to stay. You were very helpful right from the morning, shining with enthusiasm when told to hang the laundry, feed the chickens in the coop Charlie and Thomas installed some time ago, and then come back to help Luda Mae make some cookies.

And you probably though you were cute, wearing that baby blue summer dress that was just a bit too short to be innocent, with a bow in front, slightly to the side, as well as those stockings that hugged your tight just right, making it look so squeezable, with those flat sandals that made you look just so much shorter and more adorable.

And you’d also think you were being sly, brushing your hand across Tommy’s forearm while passing him on the way to the coop in a rush, as if the chickens were going to escape, or when you heard his boots stop in from of the kitchen entrance and ‘dropped a fork on accident’, bending down with only your back, giving him a peek at your white, frilly underwear, and acting like you totally didn’t mean to lick that batter of the spoon in such a seductive way.

But he knew what you were doing, realized it the moment he has seen your outfit and those hungry eyes you gave him unconsciously, but Thomas was a patient man. He let you play your game, refusing to give in to your advances, so you’d be forced to come to him and ask properly for him to take you, enduring the constant sting of arousal building in his body when he would notice you, going around, completing your tasks, acting like you don’t notice him. He was doing a fine job, too.

That is, until you up and tripped, falling to your knees right before him and looking up at his masked face with those huge, bashful eyes, a blush creeping it’s way onto your cheek.

And Thomas could swear he heard something in his head snap.

You tried to get up, but before you could rise one leg you’ve been swooped up by your neck to met his eyes. There was an anger to them, but it wasn’t what made you shiver, it was the true, unfiltered, primal lust that resonated from them, as well as the sweet smell of hormones and frustration making your head spin and leg pull up slightly, as your hands helped the rest of your body not suffer from the Butcher’s hold.

The next time you blinked, your whole body has been shoved onto the kitchen table, Thomas’ free hand throwing multiple objects onto the floor, creating a lot of noise that made your anxiety spike, but he couldn’t care less, leaning into you, one hand still keeping you in a choke-hold, the other gripping onto your tight, giving it a good, firm squeeze. His forehead pressed onto your lightly, his eyes focused on yours, a small smirk rising on his lips, followed by a hungry lick, delight hitting him hard when you shivered just at his hot breath hitting you.

With a rushed motion he pushed one of your legs away, the other giving way for his muscular tight, pressing onto your heat, you hips bucking against it in reflex, wanting to feel the man’s warmth.

His free hand shifted from your tight to your chest, rising with your heated breaths, stopping at your right tit and massaging it roughly, pinching your nipple the moment it started hardening, a quiet laugh moving his body when you squeaked at the sensation, your hands moving form his forearm to your mouth, pink painting your cheeks. With that the hand holding you down moved, trailing your body down, until it reached your heat, then pressing against it and rubbing it up and down slowly through your already soaked panties, his index finger pressing them in to reach deeper inside you.

Your hands stifled your whimpers and moans as he teased your chest and entrance, seemingly not phased by the fact that anyone could walk in on you two at any second, that Luda Mae was supposed to come back to resume making the baked treats, but you were slowly forgetting about all that too, too focused on how good his hand felt on your covered cunt, how his eyes pierced yours, so close, warning you not to move a muscle if you wanted him to be nice and you feared what would happen if you disobeyed.

Soon enough one of his fingers slid your panties to the side, making you feel vulgar, even more that you already did, exposed to the world on the table, but all the anxiety you felt melted into nothing, as one of his fingers slid inside you, unannounced. It moved slowly, parting your walls and teasing your nerves, making you tremble at the feeling, insides clenching with need, allowing him to please you, even more so when a second one joined, picking up the speed, already making you feel almost full with how thick and rough they were, hitting you exactly where you needed them.

Your trembling fingers kept collecting your sounds of pleasure, hiding your face from him once he lifted his head away from your face, to look down at your squirming form and he wouldn’t have that, leaving your breasts and pulling your hands above your head, your lips pressing in a line as a reaction and you saw the satisfied smile on his face.

A third finger squeezed it’s way inside you, making your head loll back in shock, a weak moan leaving your lips and that was enough for him.

Slowly he pulled his fingers out of you, making you whimper at the sudden emptiness, eyes closing just for a second, just to look back at him with a small pout, silently telling him how rude he was to do something like this to you, but his devilish smile let you know that he didn’t care, bringing his fingers, still covered in your slick to your face with a silent order, to which your lips pressed together in an act of rebellion.

An act that he quickly ruined, pushing his hips against you, spreading your legs further to accommodate his width and making you gasp with the pressure of his hardened erection, still covered with his jeans, on your needy cunt. The moment your lips parted his fingers slid in and his eyes warned you not to bite, so fearfully you obeyed, letting your tongue collect your wetness, with a deep flush on your cheeks.

Finally his fingers retreated, leaving you panting below the giant, eyes closed in shame.

You heard a clack and some shuffling and just seconds later something warm and slick pressed against your entrance, forcing your eyes open, wide in terror as you struggled to get your hands free, but to no avail with Thomas’ hand still holding them down like an iron shackle.

“No, no Tommy!! Somebody will see, please not he--!” ignoring your pleas he shoved himself into you, the power in his thrust making you scream out, moving the table slightly. Your legs pressed up to your chest, spasming slightly, as the thickness of his cock spread you wide, making your muscles tighten, a long whimper escaping your mouth, your body unable to relax around him, your only saving grace being your wetness and you scolded your brain for bringing the phrase “curiosity killed the cat” to your head.

The pull of his hips burned, sending spiking pleasure throughout your whole body, mixed with a hint of pain, and the second thrust was not kinder, again earning him a sweet whimper, as you desperately tried to stay at least a bit quiet, but as his speed slowly picked up, reaching a steady rhythm, making the leftover things on the table clatter, you couldn’t handle being silent anymore. Every time he hit your end, you moaned, screamed, cried for him to go faster, harder, and he happily obliged, making you see stars over and over again, your hands struggling in his grip, body lifting off the table in a fit of pure ecstasy, letting him ravage you, use you however he wanted, you brought this upon yourself, after all, and now you were going to pay dearly for your teasing.

Just as your mind was becoming a mess you heard a crack and panic returned to you, making your walls clench against his dick sharply, making him groan, his free hand pressing onto your hips, hard enough to leave bruises, but you noticed another crack and realized something horrible.

“To---Thomas!!” You screamed and his eyes shoot up to yours, making your skin errupt in goosebumps at just how feral he looked. “Th---The table!! The table’s gonna!!” You warned and he growled, both of his hands lifting you up to his chest, still kept full of him, until he pulled out just to slam you on your belly onto the kitchen counter, kicking the breath right out of your lungs, and plunging right back into you, his furious hands reaching to the walls as he kept himself steady, pounding into you aggresively. One of them pressed your head to the wooden surface, before grabbing your hair and forcing you up and into an arch, the other following to keep you steady by your waist, forced to look him in the eye.

You felt your climax building, quickly and he didn’t protest when your fingers found your swollen clit, circling it furiously, desperate to reach that peak and you saw him smile, his lips mouthing the word “COME” and with your eyes shooting wide open you did, your walls collapsing on his cock in an almost painful manner, but he forced them away, seeking his own release, ridding your orgasm out as you screamed his name repeatedly, only strengthening his desire to destroy you, finding the strength to pound you harder, fuzzing your mind, making you a babbling, begging mess, moaning as your head was slammed back onto the counter and adoring the dizziness that came with the sudden motion.

His fingers digged into your hips, keeping you still and the stutter in his last harsh thrust was the only thing that warned you of his collapse, warm strings of thick come filling you up, making you moan in a higher pitch, your insides twitching against him, reaching another, smaller orgasm alongside his and your body gave out, trembling, shaking, exhausted, whining when he pulled out, cum slowly dripping out of you and onto your oversensitive thighs. He didn’t move you, instead putting his dick back into his boxers and zipping his pants back up, buckling his belt and letting you get up onto your shaking arms before wrapping his strong arms around you, his leather mask pressing onto your neck, so he could kiss it’s nape and you could swear you heard something similar to the words “I win” escape him, but he wouldn’t... Yeah, no, he would and you elbowed his belly weakly in protest, to which he rumbled a laughter, nuzzling into your hair, both of you covered in sweat.

Then again you felt your body being lifted and eased onto his shoulder, your hands shooting back to your skirt to cover your slightly exposed pussy as he carried you out of the room, grabbing one of the already prepared cookies off the counter and biting into it with a cocky smile.

“Tommy!” you heard Hoyt’s voice from the living room and you hoped he couldn’t see you, one of your hands covered however much of your face it could. “Ya done fucking over there, ya bastard?” The old man laughed and the embarrassment of being caught made your shake in Tommy’s grasp, even more so when he just.... NODDED. “Good! Get me some meat when you’re all cleaned up, boy! We need to get dinner started.” Hoyt replied and you died slightly inside, knowing damn well that you would not survive this evening, mentally.

It didn’t help that after the shower your body refused to function, protesting to the treatment your monstrous man has given it, so Tommy had to carry you down to the table, his chest just swelling with pride and you HATED IT.

Still, even with Hoyt’s rude remarks... It was worth it.

#Thomas Hewitt x reader #slasher x reader #slashers x reader #texas chainsaw massacre #tcm #tcm: the beginning #thomas hewitt #virgo writes #slasher #slashers #slasher community #This one???#This one my man.#This one is #Something #HOPE YOUR THIRSTY ASS IS HAPPY #you H O E #NASTY #NASTY PEOPLE

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willymywonkers · 3 years

Text

Experiments

Summary: A flashback to when Wonka first opened up his factory, and his relationship with his partner and close friend, Maude, were all the rage. A new guy pulls into town and has his sights set on Maude. Drama ensues.

A/N: Oof, I apologize if the ending feels a little rushed. I should say this fic does have a bittersweet feel to it, but that's how I like it lol. I am working on rewriting one of my other fics because honestly I think I've gotten better at writing Wonka, lol

Willy Wonka made headlines around the world when he opened the largest chocolate factory ever in history. He stood proudly in front of the looming building as the press went wild.

People stood all around the factory, celebrating such a momentous occasion. Especially, Maude Figgle, who stood right in front of the crowd, chewing on a piece of gum.

While chocolate was Willy's main passion, Maude helped out in crafting different kinds of gum. She even invented a kind of gum that would never loss its flavor. The press never seemed to care much about her, even though she was the brains behind most of his famous candies.

"Hello, and thank you for coming." Willy began to speak on a podium. He began adjusting the microphone. He took out several notecards, flipping through each of them.

Finally, he spoke again. "It is with great honor that I, Willy Wonka, have finally opened the largest chocolate factory in the world. Candy has always been my passion since I was a little boy, and I couldn't have done it alone. Maude Figgle, my very good friend and partner, has done so many things to help me on this incredible journey that I could never imagined of doing it on my own. Now, without a further ado, Wonka's factory is now opened!"

The crowd cheered as Willy stood up and cut the rope of his shiny new factory.

Maude ran up the steps, waving to the crowd. She hugged Willy, tightly.

Will was a bit surprised at the hug. He chuckled nervously, hugging Maude back.

It was the happiest day of their lives.

Will sat in his office, admiring all the workers below. After just a few months, people already seemed to enjoy working at the factory. Will would go down from his office sometimes, and test the different samples that people had made.

Maude was usually in the experiment room, where she made most of her breakthroughs. She was currently testing out a type of rock candy that projected different kinds of emotions.

"Maude, if you keep chewing that gum, your jaw will close shut, haha." Will said, jokingly.

"Yeah, says who, Smartypants?" Maude chuckled, and continued chewing.

Gum seemed to be the only thing that keep her focus. Ever since she was a little girl, she had a habit of chewing gum. She would chew faster if she was nervous or extremely focused. When she didn't have gum to chew, Maude would chew on her hair, pencils, or anything to keep her mind to focus.

Willy's stance on gum was obvious. He hated the stuff, but when it came to Maude, he seemed to tolerate it a lot more.

"Whatcha working on?" Will asked, leaning over Maude's shoulder.

"None of your business." Maude scoffed.

Will pouted, crossing his arms. "Haha, jokes on you. This factory is my business."

"Oh, of course, Mr. International Hotshot." Maude pushed Will gently to the side, and grabbed a few chemicals from behind him.

"You better believe it, missy." Willy looked to the experimentation table. There seemed to be a rock that was glowing pink.

"What does that mean?" Will asked, looking to Maude.

"It's emotional rock candy. You just touch it, and it'll glow whatever color you're feeling." Maude said, excited at her new invention. "It's like a mood ring."

"Uh-huh, and what does pink mean?" Will asked, again, placing his gloved hand on the rock.

Maude blushed, slightly. "Um, it's usually referred to the feeling of love or well happiness. It's kinda not really completed yet."

The rock candy began to shake as well as turn several different colors.

Maude gulped, grabbing Will to the ground. The rock exploded and bits of rock candy seemed to blow everywhere.

Luckily, there wasn't any other workers nearby, but Maude and Willy.

Willy grabbed his cane, and started laughing. "That was magnificent! We should do that again, but next time we should add different labels on the colors."

Maude chuckled as well. "Hehe, of course."

"Yes, we should definitely do that when I get back from India."

Maude's smiled quickly faded. "Leaving? To India?"

"Prince Pondicherry asked me to build him a palace entirely made out of chocolate." Willy chuckled. "It's really a strange request, is it not?"

"Yes, but, who will be in charge when you're gone?"

"You will, of course."

Maude's eyes widened as Willy headed out the door. "But, wait, why me?"

"Why not you? You're the only gosh darn person I'd trust to run this entire factory."

Maude smiled, slightly. She seemed a little troubled. "I'll do my best, Will."

He smiled back at her, pulling her into a hug.

Maude hesitantly hugged back. She looked up at the chocolateir's face. He looked young and bright. His lips were almost kissable. His hair was all short and crooked.

Maude pulled out of the hug and looked away. The very words "I love you" hung to her tongue, as Willy walked out of the factory.

"Good luck, Will."

A few weeks later, the press were hounding the factory, curious to where the chocolateir went off to.

Maude tried to maintain her composure without him, but it was no use to the press. They liked to dismiss her like she was some secretary. It annoyed her at times.

Even some of the workers in the factory didn't seem to care that she was in charge. They would say revolting things behind her back. Soon she didn't show up to the break room anymore. She started chewing her gum a lot faster.

"Um, excuse me, miss." A man said, knocking on the door of Wonka's office.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Wonka isn't here right now. Is there anything I can help you with?" Maude asked, opening the door for the man.

"No, actually. I was just looking for you." The man stammered.

The man seemed to have red hair, with captivating green eyes.

"Well, is there anything that you need help with, sir?" Maude repeated.

"Um, I apologize if this comes off as a bit dodgy, but I wanted to ask if you'd get drinks with me later?"

Maude crossed her arms at the offer. "I'm sorry, but I'm gonna have to decline, because I've got lots of work to catch up on."

The man still insisted. "The drinks would be on me."

"Uh-huh. Another thing is I don't even know your name." Maude said, rolling her eyes.

"It's Ron, Ron Duncan." The man stuck out his hand.

She looked at his hand, and raised an eyebrow. "Maude Figgle. Now, I'm really swamped with work, if you'll excuse me."

"Look, I get that you're busy, but, I really admire your since I was a kid. In my opinion, you'd be better off without Wonka." The man turned to leave.

Maude stopped whatever she was doing and looked at him. "That's very kind of you. You know what, sure, I'll go."

"Great, then it's a date." Ron smiled at her and walked off.

From that first meeting, Maude didn't expect to be in a relationship with him. Ron seemed so nice and caring, but there was something off about him. She didn't exactly know what, but she did have a feeling that his intentions were cloudy.

When Willy got back from India, he was greeted by a tight hug from Maude.

"Ah, it's good to be back after such a long time. India is scolding hot, you know." Willy said, as he hugged Maude back.

"There's someone I want you to meet." She smiled at Will, bringing him over to Ron.

Willy's smile faltered, when she gave Ron a kiss on the cheek. "Heh, hi."

"This is Ron. He's my boyfriend." Maude said, holding onto Ron's hand.

Ron stuck out his hand for Will to shake it. Will hesitantly shook it with a disgusted look on his face.

"I find it extraordinary that after all this time you guys held up your friendship." Ron smiled. It seemed to have a sour connotation to it.

Will smiled back, just as sourly. "Uh-huh, yeah. We've had the same dream since we were kids."

Ron's smile disappeared, slightly. He gave Maude another kiss before heading off. It made Will grimace slightly, as Ron walked off.

Will didn't know how to describe it, but he didn't like Ron. In fact, he grew to despise him, but he just didn't know why.

Whenever he would see Maude all lovey dovey with Ron, it just made Will sick to his stomach. Soon, candy sales began to drop. His chocolate just wasn't tasting as good as it used to.

It started getting worse when spies began stealing his life's work. The only thing that kept him afloat was Maude.

One day, Maude announced that she was getting engaged. However, she didn't seem too thrilled about it.

Willy picked up on it right away. She didn't seem to want anything to do with him anymore.

Maude began to distance herself from Will more and more. He felt more hollow without her.

During the wedding, Will showed up to walk Maude down the aisle.

"H-hey, Maude." He began.

"Yes?" She answered.

Will couldn't get over how she looked in her wedding dress. Her hair was done up all nice, and her lips looked almost kissable. He placed his gloved hand on her cheek, as the words "I love you" hung on the tip of his tongue.

"Good luck." He said, as he walked her down the aisle.

#catcf #catcf 2005 #willy wonka #maude figgle #maude and willy #catcf fan character #catcf oc #willy wonka x reader #willy wonka x oc

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nad-zeta · 4 years

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Hello :3 So. Would you like to write a hc with MC that was brought up in your culture and her native language isn't Japanese (maybe she can't even speak it)?? :33 Pretty please and huge thanks in advance 💗😂😘

Thanx for the ask friend! Hehe, this hc took a whole different direction than I first intended whoops. It started off with mc not understanding Japanese but it honestly got a bit too repetitive lol 😞 Also, I only did it for Masamune, Nobunaga, and MItsuhide; otherwise, it would get waaaay too long! ^o^

Okay, so just a bit of backstory- there are many different cultures and ethnic groups in South Africa. I grew up with Engish as my home language although I had all my schooling in Afrikaans. So I'm writing from that perspective. If ya guys want to know the exact translations of some of the phrases used in this HC let me know!

Foreign MC headcanon

Nobunaga:

Immediately after her arrival, he is intrigued. HOLY HELL, where did this woman come from. She is so freakishly tall, and what’s with that big bone structure. Gosh, her shoulders are almost as broad as his.

Low key intimidated by her height and build.

Hits on MC and ties to “drink from her lips.” MC looking unimpressed, backing away slowly saying, “Nee dankie oom nie vanaand nie, ek het a pa,” why is she laughing? Ooooh, its some kind of inside joke. Demands she tells him the joke! MC tells him it’s something she and her friends would say to the men they were uninterested in at the clubs.

The first time he heard her speak, he is instantly curious. He has never heard anything like it, it’s definitely not Portuguese. MC explains that she is from South Africa. She also tells him that she can speak 2 of the official 11 languages.

Smirks is super amused, he demands that she tell him everything about her country, its people, and the different customs. He is amazed that one place can be filled with so many different types of people, languages, cultures.

Wonders why MC never goes into the sun without a parasol. Shows him her burn scar from getting burned the one day in the “harsh African sun.” He never knew the sun could be so dangerous before. Is now low key scared of the power of the sun

Is super impressed by the sweets she makes, especially loves the sickly sweet koeksisters that she made for him. South Africans sure do love their sugar. He has to down a liter of water after just eating one, he legit has never thought something would be too sweet for him before. Mc laughs while devouring her tenth one. “I thought you said you had a sweet tooth, come on have another”

Masamune

Hello lady! He has never seen such a tall drink of water before. Like seriously, he has literally never been looked down at before, and by a woman no less. Man, he feels short!

Hears MC talks for the first time and is convinced she’s a Portuguese spy. Que sword at the throat.

“listen here dumb ass, I am a lot of things, but Portuguese spy ain’t one of them.”

She can see the wheels in his head is turning, “then tell me kitten who are you and where are you from, or I’ll end your life right here.”

She strips her moer (Afrikaans way of saying she is pissed) “Is jy befok, I’m from South Africa and if you don’t remove this sword from my throat I am going to bliksem you”

Masa is sister shook, “what did you just say to me?” He backs off a little cause of the threatening tone in her voice.

Explains to him that she is bilingual and can understand at least 4 different languages.

He thinks for a moment before lowering the sword and saying, “Let’s be friends.” Is instantly forgiven like nothing ever even happened.

MC teaches Masa, all the Afrikaans, swear words, and the pair start teaming up to tease Mitsuhide. Also, MC has an inappropriate sense of humor, so the two of them are always giggling about some or other joke that was made.

Mc teaches Masa some new preservation techniques for him to use when making non-perishable foods for wartime. Introduces him to biltong and droewors. Masamune is pleasantly surprised, he never imagined dried red meat would taste this good. Also, he will definitely need to watch his blood pressure, cause darn this stuff is salty. Mc misses being able to eat red meat all day every day. Would kill just to be able to eat some kudu fillet again *sighs*.

Masamune is shocked at how much she eats. During banquets, she piles on the food until her plate is barely visible. Her meals basically only consist of meat, starch, and a very minimal amount of veg. Can probably out-eat him in a contest. She just shrugs and says this is her normal amount of food she eats for dinner.

Masamune has to teach her to use chopsticks, Mc gets so frustrated cause she can't seem to get it right!

The both of them get caught in a storm one day on a walk back from the market. Masa grabs her hand and starts speed walking to the nearest teahouse, “let’s take cover in the teahouse and wait for the storm to pass lass.” MC looking at him unphased, “what don’t tell me your afraid of a little thunder and lightning” laughs while continuing to walk through the storm.

MC’s turn to cook for all the warlords, she tells them she is going to make something she would have every single weekend back at home. She calls it a braai. Explains it is basically a fancy way of saying, to grill meat over an open fire. She stands tall and proud with her hands on her hips and says, “Ons gaan nou braai.” Masa actually half-understood this phrase because mc has been teaching him a bit of Afrikaans. Tries to mimic it but fails. The two of them breakdown laughing

Mitsuhide

His Eyes widen the second MC is introduced to him, “you, my dear, are most definitely not a little mouse.” Also, is that curly hair! Must resist the urge to run fingers through it.

Is instantly wary and suspicious of her. This woman certainly is loud and outspoken. Also, what a curious accent she has there. He wonders if you are one of those Portuguese traders that Nobunaga is always talking about.

Mitsuhide waits for her outside her room, leaning against the wall. Mc is super happy to see him, cause she heard Mitsuhide is the master of information. “May I come inside and ask you a few questions, my dear?” “okay, as long as you spill the tea after I answer all your questions, I do love a good skinner sesh.” He just smiles at her, not understanding a word, who on earth would want someone to come into their room and deliberately spill tea all over the place. Such a silly girl. He is so intrigued by her different way of speaking, that all past suspicions of her have now been dropped.

“so tell more about this tea spilling you speak of”, Mitsu attentively listens to her as she explains all about the country she is from and the different types of people and cultures.

Loves MC’s blunt and sarcastic way of speaking. Also, how is she kind and suspicious of people at the same time.

She certainly is a feisty mouse, she is literally ready to fight someone at any moment. He is every entertained. Loves to get her riled up. This earns him a punch on the shoulder.

Is amused that she calls the geta sandals “plakkies with a heel.”

Is amazed when he sees her playing in the snow with such childlike wonder. She spends the whole day playing and building snowmen. He doesn’t understand how anyone can be so enthusiastic about snow until she explains that she has never seen so much snow before. Que Mitsu playing in the snow with her. Starts a snowball fight. Hideyoshi scolds the two of them for catching a chill

Laughs and teases her for pulling her face when taking a big bite of mochi filled with bean paste. “I thought you said this was a sweet dish,” MC says while downing her tea.

Is entertained by all the different phrases you use. They are pretty confusing, and often have a double meaning to them. Like how when she says, “ja no,” it means she agrees with him. Or even when she says “just now,” it means she will do it later.

Mitsuhide insists on learning Afrikaans from her, just so that the two of them can gossips about the other warlords right in front of them.

Hope this one wasn't too boring or too shitty ^_^ I think I need to practice my HC writing skills a bit more lol😂

#ikesen mitsuhide #mitsuhide #ikemen sengoku mitsuhide #mitsuhide akechi #akechi mitsuhide #nobunaga oda #ikemen sengoku nobunaga #ikesen nobunaga #oda nobunaga #masamune #ikemen sengoku masamune #masamune date #ikesen masamune #ikesen hc #ikesen headcanons

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palettepainter · 4 years

Photo

Long overdue art of these gals, been itching to do something with these two as well as Benjamin and Robbie, but everytime I tried to start it I didn't have the inspiration to draw at the time or I had something come up (work, college, chores, etc) To anyone new Amber (girl on the left) is the daughter to Taylor and Penelope, and Willow (girl on right) is the adoptive daughter to Autumn and Rusty -Amber and Willow unlike Robbie and Benjamin didn't become friends through their parents, it was actually Benjamin who first introduced Willow to Amber back when they where in primary school. Daphne and Autumn had been close friends since their years at Zoo Pheonix academy, bonding over books and attending debating club together, the two are long time 'nerd buds' as Rusty fondly calls them, so their children where bound to meet. Amber is not shy from telling Willow she's a clutz as the long legged wobbly girl stumbles and jumps whenever she kicks her football at the goal - Amber has a tendancy, like her mother, to always say what is on her mind no matter if its rude. Willow doesn't take lightly to that comment and marches up to the football, she'll see how much a clutz she is when she scores a goal! Willow tried her hardest. She failed miserably. However Willow forgives her rudeness when Amber offers to teach her how to kick a football the right way -The two take forever to finally start official dating, their first date was at a beach party Amber had invited Willow too. The two are both giddy with excitement for the arrangement, but neither dare to call it a date, both get all awkward and blushy and it ends with the both of them laughing it off. By the time the beach party rolls around Willow is fuelled with anxiety and nerves of some clumsy nerd like her going to a party with Amber, the most badass person she knows. She makes a visit to Kelly who with a sigh, offers to help Willow pretty herself up for this 'totally-not-a-date', all the while calmly reminding her that she's overthinking, you idiot. By the time Willow makes it to the party Amber is all stutters and blushing at seeing her crush looking so gosh darn pretty. They have a blast at the party, and while on their way home Willow shyly admits that she only put on the makeup to feel more pretty, and Amber shyly replies that she already thinks Willow is pretty. Shy giggling and teenie kisses on the cheek are exchanged -Rusty was hostile to the idea of his daughter dating..well, anyone. So it's no surprise that Rusty totally over-reacts when Willow returns home from one of her dates 5 minutes late. Autumn was way more chill about the whole thing and was very supportive for his daughter. He and Rusty eventually sat down and had a talk about Willow's relationship, and its then that Rusty finally lets out all his worries about what could happen to his little girl if she let's her go off into the big world on her own with a lover. Autumn is there to reassure and tell him playfully he's being a sap, and that he is, in fact, a good dad. It was very amusing when Willow actually introduced Amber to her fathers, because Rusty very quickly took a liking to her, Amber was like the snarky little sis he ever had - in short he went ''Kid where the hell you been hidin' this girl?' -Amber having two very rich parents has a tendency to buy Willow overly expensive gifts, Amber doesn't need a reason to treat her girlfriend to a spa day or a fancy three course meal at a five star restaurant. This kind of treatment makes Willow feel as though she's being pampered way too much, and assures Amber that she doesn't need all this fancy stuff (though she did really like that giant teddy plush Amber got her once for her birthday), but Amber insists she likes treating her. Whenever Willow plans a date she always feels like its not up to Amber's standard, a simple picnic in the park with a crumbly pie couldn't match up to the meals Amber had treated her too. But Amber reassures her she loves these cute little picnics, and one time she even brought Willow out to the park for a fancy picnic in the summer. DO NOT REPOST/EDIT/COPY/TRACE MY ART OR THE OC'S!!! Amber/Willow - me

#Valentines art #Ship art #My OC's #Zoophobia NG's #Amber #Willow #Palettes art

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fanfic-hoe · 4 years

Text

Falling Asleep On Them HCs

Summary: Just some fluffy naptime shenanigans ig lol

sorry it’s taken me a little while since i’ve posted anything but please enjoy anyways lol :)

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Daichi:

so daichi is not one to show you off

he will brag about you and he always shows you how proud he is of you and how much he loves you

but he doesn't really like to show you off

He wants to keep you all to himself for the most part

he will kiss your forehead and hold you hand if you want but other than that he’s not a huge fan of PDA

this is why when you fall asleep on his shoulder during your lunch break his face flushes a bit

as soon as he feels your head come to rest on his shoulder he looks down at you for an explanation when he sees your eyes are closed

he squeezes your hand and whispers your name and when you don’t respond he know you’re asleep

his face goes a red and he bites back a smile

suga and asahi smile, silently laughing a bit, but for the most part they’re pretty chill about it and don’t tease him too much

pretty quickly their conversation is back to normal, quieter if anything but that’s only because they wanted to let you sleep lol

however this was nearly interupted when tanaka and noya came running into the third year classrom because they had a question for dachi

but he glared at them and scared them away

just for you

lol

safest place to sleep is in his arms

10/10 would reccomend

Suga

now Suga on the other hand i feel is pretty big on pda

he loves to hold your hand

he kisses your cheek whenever you two meet up

kisses your forehead whenever you have to leave

hugs you from behing when you’re like standing in line and stuff

he’s just a very affectonate person and he does it in such a way that its not cringey

hes too cute for that

so all this being said he’s not very put off when your head falls on his shoulder when you’re sitting next to him on the bus

he’s kind of happy about it actually

he smiles and presses a soft kiss to your head

also

hes so! warm !!

and !!!

smells so !!!! heckin !!!!! good !!!!!!

definitely takes out his phone and snaps a picture because he thinks your cute

will smack anyone that tries to wake you up with his free arm

he’s just so cute

fall asleep on this boy once and you won’t be able to sleep anywhere else

Asahi

now this boy gets nervous to hold your hand

he couldn’t bring himself to kiss you for awhile because he was scared he wouldn’t be good at it and that you would hate him

pls protect him

so when you’re sitting under a tree during a break

and you pull his arm around your shoulders and curl up into his side

he almost passes out

his face is so red

he’s looking around like crazy

is he looking for help or is he looking to make sure no one’s watching ?

after awhile though when your body heat starts to warm him up and he smells your perfume/colgone and he sees how peaceful you look

he starts to like it

he’ll gently kiss your forehead and smile to himself thinking about how lucky he is to have you

fall asleep on this boy once and he won’t let you out of his arms lol

Tanaka

now we all know this one is a huge fan of pda and showing you off

his hand is always either holding yours, or in your back pocket or something like that

kisses you whenever he gets the chance

all of that

so when you two are sitting in the gym on a break and you lay down next to him and place your head in his lap

and he looks down at you and see how calm you are

his heart nearly bursts

he’s so excited that you decided to sleep on him

he whisper yells at Noya to bring his phone over

takes a million frickin pictures

sends his favorites to the team gc lol

is almost scared to touch you because he can’t bring himself to wake his precious Y/n

eventually goes quiet and just stares at you

hes like ‘wow this human is all mine. i love them so much and they love me too.’

he’s the luckiest person in the world

refuses to get up when it’s time to get back to practice until daichi makes him

pouts for the rest of practice

Nishinoya

now as much as Noya loves pda he’s actually more chill about it than you might think

he just feels like he gets you all to himself when the two of you are alone that, even though he’s holding your hand, there’s no need for it

but he’s definitely down for literally anything you want to do

you want him to keeps arms around you? a-ok

you want him to give you a kiss? why of course

you want a hug? dont even need to ask

you want it, he’ll do it no questions asked but the only thing he really does of his own accord is hold your hand

so when you pull him down onto the bench next to you so you can put your head on his shoulder he goes so soft

only blushes a little bit

‘this is why you called me over here? cute’

makes Hinata take a picture for him lol

sets it as his lock screen because you’re so darn cute

Tsukishima

now this salty piece of boy is not very affectionate

but we been knew

so if you want to so much as hold his hand you’d better be prepared with arguments and your strongest puppydog eyes or something

this boy just doesn’t see the point or appeal of all the clingy cuddly stuff

he lies when he says this of course but we let it slide for the sake of appearances

when you’re sitting with him on the bus back from Tokyo and you pull his arm around your shoulders and rest your head on his chest

his face turns into a tomato

homeboy said blood moon tings

he looks down at you and how calm you look and falls in love with you all over again

smiles just a bit

the definitely see it and tease him to heck and back

this eventually wakes you back up

much to Tsuki’s dismay

“tch nice going you guys you woke them up”

puts his headphones over your ears and puts on a playlist he made just for you before pulling your head back down to his chest

if it weren’t for the headphones you’d hear just how fast his heart was beating

please give this boy affection

he says he doesn’t want it but he’s secretly so touch starved the poor bb :(

10/10 a secret softie

Yamaguchi

now this bean is somewhat similarly Asahi’s situation

his case is not quite so severe though

like he’ll hold your hand and kiss your cheek but it’s never with out a little blush

he actually took to physical affection pretty quickly but he’s still shy about it

so when you pull up a chair next to where him and Tsukishima are sitting during lunch and then wrap your arms around his torso and lean on his shoulder

oof this boy goes very very red

Tsuki snickers at him a bit but doesn’t say anything

they keep talking tho just a little softer now

whenever you shift and he’s reminded of how your holding him he’ll stutter a bit🥺

overall just very cute times

please cuddle this boy

Kageyama

now this stiff lil mans

oof he’s so sweet but he doesn’t really know how to express it

he doesn’t really go very red whenever you take his hand in yours but he gets all the butterflies

he’s so touch starved but he doesn’tknow what to do about it so he just kinda stands right next to you until you get the hint lol

so as you can imagine when you fall asleep on him for the first time he actually does go very red for once and his heart sort of races

you definitely hear it

you’re sitting with him at a tournament and he’s just talking to Hinata about the match they’re watching when you prop your feet up on the seat in front of you and lean your head on his shoulder

he just sorta stops as his face goes red

Hinata, the lil baby oh my goodness, just kinda pesters him about it before he finally comes to and calls him a dumbass and tells him to shut up before he wakes you

slowly relaxes and grabs your hand and rubs his thumb over your knuckles

realises how much he likes being this close to you and asks for more cuddles when you’re alone

Hinata

oh my gosh this little bean

he’s so cute

he invited you to the tournament and they had just won a match against another powerhouse school

he was very excited that you were there for him and the team but for once he was actually kind of tired

so as the two of you sat, watching another match, you both kinda just feel alseep in each other 🥺

at first it was just you, he kept you up all night because he was “just too excited to sleep”

he’s such a child oh my goodness

so, as happy as you were for him, you were also ready to pass out

so you did

you took his hand and snaked your arms around his arm closest to you and put your head on his shoulder

he went a little red but he’s pretty clingy himself so it’s not really anything new

and he was tired too so he just decided to rest his head on top of yours after pressing a kiss to your forehead

the guys would’ve teased him then and there but Suga made them be quiet because “Come on guys this is the quietest he’s ever been”

so they tease him on the bus instead

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thanks so much for reading i hope you liked it! here’s som of my other stuff if you feel like it :) and please feel free to send in a request ! :)

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angst-king · 4 years

Text

Buko no witchy academia

(its short sorry I know it sucks but hope ya like it..I own non of the bnha characters)

"Todoroki and Midoriya" Midoriya reads the seating list, with a light blush to his face. Not that he was grateful to sit with Todoroki but, oh dear god could his flustered self not have a magical malfunction while being around his bi-colored crush for once? Ever since the sports festival, Midoriya had warmed Todoroki up into being friends, and its been great the only problem was Midoriya had a huge crush on him and was scared the other didn't go that way. Or that Todoroki was still in the broom closet?!? Midoriya just went over and took his seat, then when Todoroki came over he pretended like his heart wasn't beating out of his chest. "So I guess we're desk mates now?" Todoroki says with a blank face, though the way Midoriya responded made him add "I hope I didn't sound rude, I mean I don't mind just...making it known." It was awkward for Todoroki who unknown to Midoriya was crushing on the broccoli boy. Though with the encouragement of Momo, Todoroki was trying harder at making small talk and maybe one day he'd confess. The only problem for Todoroki is that, Todoroki was still in the broom closet, the only one who knew was Momo because she caught him staring at Midoriya's butt once and she talked to him in private. During their free time Midoriya started writing in his journal, it was more like a diary, it was a way for him to vent, write small reminders, or make goals. He did write about how he was crushing hard on Todoroki and wished he had the confidence to try and at least confess. When the bell rings Midoriya tried to stuff his books into his yellow bookbag and head for the dorms but, its futile and he's unaware of his journal falling out. Hearing a soft thud, Todoroki sees the slightly warn book and picked it up. He opened it to see that it was Midoriya's, curiosity crept in. 'I wonder maybe if I read it, I'll find out whether I'd have a chance with Midoriya?' but then the angle on his shoulder said 'No you idiot that's an invasion of privacy and dishonesty' 'who cares do you wanna find out or not?' asked the tiny devil 'I do but-' 'but nothing here's your chance and you may never get it again, and with your track record for striking up conversation, You better take it as a blessing.' So with that Todoroki walked out of the classroom with the book, he'd take it too his dorm to read. In the dorms Todoroki sat on his bed, flipping through pages of small rants about Bakugou or the hard work he's done to better his magic until finally. "Boys?" That was the top journal entry on page thirty four. Reading it to himself with each sentence and word, Todoroki's blushed and became flustered. 'Todoroki-kun is my crush gosh darn it why'd it have to be him...well at least its not Kaachan, yuck. I like Todoroki-kun alot and I hope I'm not to obvious. He's so strong, kinda mysterious due to how quiet he is. Hopefully we can be friends though if that's all we can be that'd be fine too. Okay its been a while I know but oh gosh, well Todoroki is warming up to me and is talking more, which I'm happy about. Turns out he's been through some stuff, he didn't elaborate much but I don't expect him to. He's really sweet, I can tell he has a very fun side, I like his small smiles and chuckles. He's smart and cool. I really wish I could confess to him.-' Todoroki sighed "I can't read anymore, I've got the information I need and should return this, I've already breached his privacy by reading it." Getting off the bed, Todoroki holds the book firmly and grabs his phone pushing it into his pocket he heads to Midoriya's dorm. Knocking on the door, Todoroki waited for the green haired male to open it. When the door opened Midoriya smiles "oh hi todoroki-kun what's up?" Todoroki then holds out the journal with a smile "you dropped this so I thought I'd return it." Midoriya happily took the journal back "thank you so much Todoroki-kun" before the older boy could close the door Todoroki couldn't control himself and grew close to him. Looking up with a blush on his face Midoriya stammered out. "u-uh T-todoroki-kun w-what are you doing?" Todoroki reached out using one arm to hold midoriya by his waist while the other cornered him in the doorframe. With out a verbal answer todoroki leaned in and softly pressed his lips to Midoriya's. Wow they were soft, Todoroki's lips held a feverish heat to them which only enticed Midoriya more kissing back. they weren't swapping tongues or sucking face, just kissing softly, it seemed to turn into a loving and caring type of kiss before the two needed air and they pulled away. Looking deep into each other's eyes with lids half covering and gasping lightly. "W-wow, m-my first kiss." Todoroki had realized what he'd done and seemed to be a tad nervous but, Midoriya didn't seem to care, he pulled Todoroki in taking him to the bed and tugged him into a kiss. Midoriya couldn't get enough of the feverishly pink lips that pressed to his. Todoroki crawled into Midoriya's lap while kissing back, wanting to be as close as possible. Fingers comb through the bushy locks of green while Midoriya's gentle scarred hands wrapped around Todoroki's waist. Both the elemental an generalize witch didn't want to part again from their tender affection but they were running out of oxygen Breaking the kiss once more they gave small smiles before Midoriya spoke up. "I love you Todoroki" With his scarred face cupped byt scarred hands Todoroki gave those hands a soft peck before his eyes trailed back to Midoriya "I love you too..you enchant my heart." Midoriya couldn't take that seriously and busted out laughing which confused the half n half witch. Still Todoroki loved the sound of Midoriya's laughter, it was so innocent and playful. "that was so cheesy Todoroki, I love it." Todoroki remained confused but soon ended up chuckling at his new laughing lover. "so we're boyfriends now?" Asked Shoto who smiles when Izuku nods.

#witchy tododeku #tododeku

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tagsecretsanta · 4 years

Text

From Soniabigcheese

to @vegetacide

Secret santa doesn’t own this piece, full credit goes to the author above!

Christmas morning on board Thunderbird Five and John is recapping the last 24 hours with his AI unit EOS

“Are you sitting comfortably?”

John, is this really necessary? I mean, seriously, I cannot physically ‘sit’, since I’m on a rail.

John looked askance at the AI unit

“Do you want me to continue?”

Ugh, if you insist, although I think this is pointless. What am I going to learn from a fairytale? They’re not real.

John lifted a finger, opened his mouth to speak, paused then closed it again

“Ah .. good point EOS ... but still ... can I tell it to you anyways?”

Fine

“Ahem ... now ... where were we? Oh yes, sitting comfortably.”

John ...

“Christmas is a time for magic and wonder and of five Birds made of Thunder where one Christmas day something special did happen ...”

“MERRY CHRISTMAS JOHN!”

He was interrupted by holograms of his brothers all whooping and cheering. He was glad he wasn’t there when they opened their presents, loose wrapping paper on the floor was surely a disaster waiting to happen.

“Do you want to build a snowman???” “Gordon!” “What? It’s my favourite song. You were okay with it yesterday.” “Yeah, that was yesterday.” “We live on an island ... with a beach. We don’t get snow.” “Well ... we can always build sandcastles then?” “On that small strip of land? I don’t think so.” “Hey boys, wanna help me out with Christmas dinner?”

A collective URGH, they bid him farewell and hoped that he would manage to get his butt down from Thunderbird Five to have dinner with them. He said he would try. Besides, there was a lot to talk about, especially after last night’s adventure.

He turned to EOS, her ring of green lights almost waiting expectantly for him to continue. Yes, she was an inanimate object that couldn’t possibly exude any kinds of emotion. But she was his companion, his helper on board the space station.

Yeah, his brothers and sisters often sent holocalls to check on him, see if he was okay(Virgil), being well fed (Scott) when is he coming home (Alan) got a joke for you (Gordon)and Kayo’s standard security check. It was her way of checking up on him, without sounding too much like a smother hen and being girly and mushy.

“Sorry about that.”

That’s fine, but please don’t tell the tale in rhyme. It’s just .... patronizing I am not a child

John was amused at her way of expressing herself. Some days she can be so childlike, others so mature. But she was still relevantly new to International Rescue and the world in general.

“Okay ... well it all started with a call from a kindly old lady.”

Yes, I remember that.

Which brings me to the rest of the story

John gets a call from a kindly old lady who is the epitome of what a grandma SHOULD look like. He assumes that she’s asking someone to help her to get a cat out of a tree … on Christmas Eve of all things. Rescues were becoming less common than they used to be, thanks to Colonel Casey setting up and training a small unit of rescue support people. Still, despite this, they were still fudging things up and International Rescue had to be called. Often to clean up the GDF’s messy rescues.

It would be their first Christmas without an emergency, although they were still on standby ... you know … just in case.

It was a typical Christmas Eve family get- together. Scott armed with a fire extinguisher, because Grandma was cooking the turkey. She was busy chasing MAX out of the kitchen because she wanted to do this on her own. Virgil was on guard duty near the tree, just in case the two youngest brothers tried to sneak a peek at the pile of presents underneath. Gordon was singing ‘Do You Want To Build a Snowman?’ loudly and out of tune whilst scooping ice cream out of the tub … to everybody’s dismay. And Alan was chatting online to Brandon Berrenger, because they’d arranged to have an online gaming challenge.

Being the son of a billionaire had its perks. One of them being, that they could get advanced copies and sneaky previews of stuff before anyone else. And in this case, it was a thank you present for helping to save Brandon … again.

Brains, was fretting because Moffie hadn’t called to thank him for his ‘wonderful gift’ and was seen pacing the hangar floor waiting for her call.

Kayo was off the island, delivering a gift to her father most likely … or doing a security sweep. One minute, she’d be there, the next she was gone. That was Kayo, an enigma unto herself.

Which left John who was on board Thunderbird Five with EOS. He was trying to explain to the AI unit about Christmas … and wondering just how many packets of TUMS were still available. He was not looking forward to this dinner at all. Since they were living in the Southern Hemisphere, the seasons differed to that of their other grandparents home. Gran Roca Ranch.

He and the rest of his brothers suggested a barbecue and a chill out, but they were soon overruled by the matriarch of the family. She wanted a traditional turkey dinner with all the trimmings and by heck she WILL have one.

Speaking of … a hologram popped up halfway through John and EOS’s chats. It was a lovely little old lady. Her silver hair was up in a loose bun, she had silver half moon glasses perched on her button nose and if she wasn’t worried right now, John would correctly assume that she had a kindly smile.

“International Rescue? What is your situation?”

He was already scanning her location. Nothing seemed to be amiss – so far. But … he had to deal with this call like any other ones, as if there WAS a proper rescue and people needed saving.

“Oh … oh … hello deary.”

Oh gosh, that voice was soooo sweet. He half expected her to reach through the holovideo, pat him on his shoulder and tell him that he’d been such a good boy this year, and slip a peppermint into his hand. Or offer him a nice mug of hot chocolate.

He shook his head. No … what’s wrong with me? He wondered to himself. Blinking several times, he tried to get rid of the sudden warm and fuzzy feeling he was getting. He really needed to get his head back into this rescue.

Even EOS picked up on his sudden change of mood.

John? Are you okay? You are acting strangely. Quite unlike yourself. Shall I run some scans?

“No … no, it’s fine … I’m fine EOS.”

He was momentarily distracted by a ring of green lights that appeared in front of him. It was enough to break whatever spell he’d been put under. Flushing brightly, after being caught off guard there, he turned back to the little old lady, who was tugging at a lace handkerchief and muttering …

“Oh dear … oh dear.”

The scans still showed nothing, nothing at all. Which, was very odd indeed.

“How can I help you?”

May as well pull this Band Aid off and see what the problem is.

“I … seem to have lost my … my husband.”

And there it was … the crux of the matter.

“Have you contacted your local authorities? See if they can help?”

It wasn’t really something that they would normally deal with. But he had to go through protocol here, as some local authorities frowned upon someone muscling in on their territory. Her eyes widened with horror. At least she stopped sniffling.

“Oh, heavens no!” she exclaimed, “this is not exactly something that they could deal with.”

John narrowed his eyes suspiciously. What exactly was this old woman up to … and what devious plans was she embroiled in? He wasn’t sure if he should help or not. But … as their motto stated … no matter how good or bad, if they needed rescuing, then that’s their job – or something similar to that.

“Would you care to explain before I dispatch anyone?”

And so she told him the whole story and made him promise to be discreet. He blinked rapidly as he listened, and then patched through to Tracy Island, where everyone gathered … as per the norm.

“Guys?” John said hesitantly, he wasn’t sure himself of how to phrase this but he tried and hoped that they wouldn’t laugh or poke fun, “you’re not going to believe this.”

“Fire away John,” Scott responded, bracing himself for news of their dad. Gordon was still singing ‘Do you want to build a snowman?’ and chasing Alan around the room, threatening to drop ice cream down the back of his tee shirt.

“It seems … that …” oh darn, this sounds so stupid “… that … Mrs Santa Claus is asking for our help. It appears that her husband has disappeared and hasn’t been seen for hours. His … erm … ‘tracker’ had been disabled.”

Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at John. Even Gordon fell silent.

“Say that again John?”

He knew they wouldn’t believe him. But he repeated himself and patched through Mrs Santa Claus herself, just to prove that he wasn’t going space crazy.

When she spotted them all, she beamed brightly and clapped her hands.

“Oh … International Rescue! I am so glad to see you all. I do hope that you can help me. You see…”

“Yeah, we know,” Alan interrupted grabbing the scoop from Gordon and setting it down on the counter top, “your husband…. Santa Claus … has gone missing.”

Her cheery demeanour soon changed and she glared hard at him, folding her arms and scowling.

“Well …” she said scornfully,”… aren’t YOU a rude little boy?”

Virgil stepped forward, hands in front of him in a placating manner.

“Wait … wait …” he said quickly, “let’s not turn this into a personal fight here.”

He turned around to everyone present, raising his eyebrows as a gesture to ‘roll with this, guys’, then looked at Mrs Claus with wonder and sincerity. Maybe there was something in rescuing Father Christmas after all? Unfortunately, the hologram before them did NOT look impressed.

“I’ve seen that look before,” she chided, “so many times, it is getting old.” “What look?” “Oh … the old … ‘if I’m super nice to you, maybe I can get my presents early’ look. Sorry young man, I’m NOT falling for it.”

John watched from space and took note of how feisty this woman was. And wondered if her husband had just wandered off to get away from her? Because now, with her true personality showing through, she was acting more like an old dragon lady. MUCH worse than grandma ... and that was saying something.

But then she changed again and started sobbing into her hankie.

“Christmas is going to be ruined! I know it. If he doesn’t deliver those presents all over the world … millions of children will be so disappointed. And that will mean a huge dip in popularity.”

She sighed heavily, dramatically and blew her nose … loudly.

“Oh well,” she said, smiling weakly, “guess it had to happen sooner or later. With all the climate changes … wars and conflicts and consumerism at its highest peak, people are losing faith in the spirit of Christmas. It’s all about grabbing bargains … and selling stuff in the middle of the year.”

They listened to her rambling.

It was true. Or, at least some of it was anyways.

“And … using us, to traumatize children. Scaring them into being good all the time, or we won’t give them their presents. That’s not what we started out to achieve.”

She sniffled again, wiped some tears from her face and looked up hopefully at them.

“Please … give this elderly couple some help? Even if this could be our last proper Christmas?”

The shriek of the smoke alarms and some unsavoury language coming from the kitchen area, was enough to convince everyone that THIS … whatever it was … was an emergency. They all turned to Mrs Claus, backs straightened and hopeful smiles …

And unanimously agreed …

“We’ll do it!”

John started delegating everyone to Thunderbird Two and said he’d stay behind to get the coordinates and track their whereabouts.

That’s when Mrs Claus butted in with a wag of her finger.

“Nuh uh uh,” she chided, “I need ALL of you for this one.” “Well … Kayo’s off the island,” Scott explained.

Her response was a death glare and he quickly corrected himself.

“But … maybe we can fill her in as we go along. John? You’ll have to get your bu …. *cough* Come down from Thunderbird Five. Hand everything over to EOS.” “Already on it.”

As they dashed through the living area, Grandma Tracy appeared, a whisk clogged with … some charred food on it.

“Where are you boys going? Dinner’s almost ready.”

Alan wheeled around, his eyes were bright.

“We’re off to save Santa!” he exclaimed.

Grandma just nodded and returned to whisking what was supposed to be mashed potatoes, muttering …

“Hmph, any excuse to get out of dinner. What will they think of next?”

MAX, wheeled around whistling and beeping. It was the only sound in the place. Nothing new really, she was used to them going off for hours. But … it was their first Christmas spent together as a family.

As soon as the hologram of John vanished, ‘Mrs Claus’ spun around in her chair and faced the hologram of her ‘husband’ with a grin.

“That’s stage one complete. Now for stage two.”

She was rewarded with a thumbs up.

“Ready when you are.”

Fingers flashed over a keyboard, the screen scrolled a list of algorithms … and then stopped.

“Alrighty then, co-ordinates are logged in.”

She pressed the button to Thunderbird Five and was greeted by a polite, but suspicious EOS.

“Hello dearie.”

Hello Mrs Claus how can I be of assistance?

“I have managed to find some co-ordinates that may have been the last whereabouts of my husband. Or at least I think they are. This system of mine is so outdated. We are so used to using the stars for navigation.”

EOS paused, trying to pick up some telltale signs in the woman’s voice. But … nothing. She could easily ignore this message, not forward it. But John and the rest were already on their way. Besides, it would be really petty of her. And if she helped in this way, maybe … just maybe she could gain just a little bit more of their trust?

I’m patching you through.

“Why thank you dearie, oh and don’t worry about the Tracy boys … they DO trust you. Why else would they leave you to handle the calls and monitor everything, if they didn’t?”

If EOS could blink, she would. She double checked her systems to see if she’d accidentally taken her thought processors off mute, but nope, there they were, untouched.

Virgil intercepted the co-ordinates and typed them into Thunderbird Four’s navigation system.

“Shouldn’t be too long Mrs Claus.” “Oh … thank you. Thank you so much. You really are such good helpful boys.”

They all chuckled.

“It’s no problem, really.”

Gordon sat forward.

“Hey, wanna singalong whilst we travel? I know a good one.”

He opened his mouth and barely got ‘Do you wanna build a snowman’ …. Before they all shouted ..

NO!

“Aww. I like that one.” “We know. We’ve heard it all morning.”

They were shushed by Virgil, whose dashboard lit up with a green flashing light.

“We’re here … right where she said he’d be.”

The wipers swished across the windows, revealing a small hut. Smoke was coming from the chimney. But no reindeer … or sleigh for that matter … to be seen anywhere.

“Maybe someone found him and taken him in?” “Looks cold out there, maybe we should wrap up warm?”

As the hatch opened, flurries of snow swirled in and despite their uniforms, they shivered. And agreed.

They made their way tentatively across the knee deep snow towards the cabin and Virgil knocked on the door.

“Hello? Anyone in here?”

The door swung open and banged against the cladded wall. A scruffily dressed man stood there, an antique claymore pipe in his hand, the beard was ragged and scorched. And he was wearing some dirty grey thermals.

He did NOT look anything like the Santa Claus they were used to.

“Bout time you boys showed up,” he grumbled, biting on the stem of the pipe, “I’m bloody freezing in here.”

They exchanged puzzled glances.

“Mister …. Santa .. Claus?” Gordon asked hesitantly

“Pfft … call me Nick, Kris Kringle … or whatever name they’ve given me over the years.”

He wandered back into the little shack, it didn’t look big enough to fit all five Tracy brothers so they hesitated. He stopped and turned to frown at them and grabbed Virgil, the biggest of them all by his green sash and yanked him indoors.

For such a small man, he was surprisingly strong.

“Come in … come in … it’s a lot bigger on the inside. Trust me.”

He gave them a conspiratorial wink.

So, slowly, one by one, they stepped over the threshold and entered the shack. First impressions, as they glanced around, it looked cosy, and the fire crackled merrily in the hearth.

“You’ll be wondering where my sleigh and reindeers are huh?”

Yeah, they had wondered that. He tapped the side of his nose.

“I, too, have my own secrets you know. Long before Tracy Island and International Rescue were created.”

By now, they were really really curious about this odd little old man. Maybe it was the warmth from the fire … or his jovial nature … but somehow, they felt like little kids once more.

Santa Claus beamed. His magic was working after all. He was so worried that it had gone stale from lack of use over the years. He closed the door behind them and grabbed the red coat from the peg.

“Sit down ... sit down, make yourself comfy. I already have a part of your team here.”

He swept his arm around to reveal Kayo sitting by the fire, a mug of hot chocolate cupped in her hands. She’d been sitting there quietly, so quiet and still that nobody noticed her.

“She sneaked up on me,” Santa chuckled, “that girl’s got some talent there. No wonder Brains gave her Shadow.”

He waited until everyone found a seat and then he explained.

“You see ... once in a while, whilst checking my lists,” he began, “there comes along a time where there is a very special award to be given to those most deserving of people. Those who are brave and heroic.”

Gordon puffed up his chest with a grin.

“That’s us!”

He was silenced with a load of shushes and sat quietly, poking at the marshmallow on the top of his chocolate drink.

“It is usually awarded to one person. But ... you all came along and that put me into quite a quandary. Since you obviously have everything you want ....”

“Except dad.”

“Ah yes ... I’ll get to that ....”

He coughed a little, and fished into his pocket, bringing out a small bottle. The contents sparkled and swirled.

“See this? This is magical dust. It usually lasts for a whole day, but since there’s a group of you. It will only last for a couple of hours at least. This ... is your reward. It gives you something that you all missed.”

“Can you bring back dad?”

“Unfortunately no ... but you are all doing a great job in looking for him. Keep up the good work.”

All their faces fell. It was their greatest desire to have their father back. But Santa was wise, if he’d given them that wish, it would have only lasted a couple of hours and it would have just been like losing him again. He wasn’t able to see into the future, but he had an inkling that they would be able to find their father ... under their own steam.

He opened the vial, tipped the contents into his hand and blew. It spread all over the room, sparkling and glittering. Everyone expected to sneeze, because ... after all ... it was just dust. And like all dust, it gets up your nose and makes you sneeze.

It took a couple of minutes before the effects began. They all started giggling and pointing. Why? Because they’d all been turned into children. Instead of their uniforms, they all wore thick clothing with hats, gloves and scarfs.

Santa smiled at them.

“You don’t have to worry about rescues. I’ve managed to put them all on hold, or diverted them to other sources. Or they’ve all resolved one another. Now ... go outside and play.”

Which they all did, with barely concealed glee.

It had been a long time since they had proper fun. And they had never experienced snow together as an almost whole unit. They’d dreamed of tobogganing and found some sleds nearby. With shouts and yells ... and poor John falling over several times ... they thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

But ... as time went on, the magic soon disappeared and they had to go back to their real lives. It was the best present Santa had ever given to them.

They thanked him profusely for the well deserved time off and gave him an updated tracking system to help him on his way before returning to Tracy Island. They were too tired to talk about it and immediately went to bed. John, however, was still buzzing when he took the space elevator up to Thunderbird Five.

He so wanted to share this experience with EOS

Yes, he was a practical man. He only looked at things in a scientific and sometimes abstract way ...

... but deep down, his inner child – like the rest of his brothers – still clung to the belief that Santa was real.

And for one moment. He was

The End

#Thunderbirds are go #tag team secret santa #secret santa 2019 #fanfic #John Tracy #Eos #Scott Tracy #Virgil Tracy #Gordon Tracy #alan tracy #grandma tracy #kayo kyrano #Brains Hackenbacker #Christmas magic

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sebthesnipe · 4 years

Text

The Dreamer by Whatwashernameagain an Analysis? Chapter 2! Part 4

All portions:

Chapter 1: Part 1 // Part 2 // Part 3 // Part 4

Chapter 2: Part 1 // Part 2 // Part 3 // Part 4

The Dreamer

@whatwashernameagain

As always, Spoilers under cut.

Warning: Mentions of abuse, kinks... other stuff... Idk I’m too tired.

Jumping right in where we left off. Eva writes about the Dreamer’s organization growing practically overnight and the amount of publicity he had to go through; she talks about interviews, photo shoots, calendars and merchandise. It pulls the attention back from the good vs. evil and the moral debate we discussed in the previous portion of this analysis and reminds us that while Logan and Roman are at opposite ends and fight for morality (whether misguided or not); the organization that was created for the Dreamer is not concerned with those things. No, they are they are there for profit and power; both of which is provided by the Dreamer. This is no doubt exactly what Roman’s father was hoping for when he mutilated and tortured his son into being the ‘symbol of hope’ that he is now.

Our attention is also brought back to the fact that despite his love for the spotlight, Roman is a man of action when it comes to protecting others. It is pointed out that Roman ‘found the publicity work hard to bear at first’ (Whatwashernameagain). After all the time he spent changing himself, putting himself though such agonizing pain, he is found, once again, waiting. The photos the interviews, they are excused by his team explaining that that was how you saved the world in such a media driven society…. Well…. Honestly this kind of pisses me off lol. Because, the reality of it is… That that is partially true. Granted, the cure for cancer isn’t going to be found through Facebook posts… But the publicity can cause enough financial support to fund the research that leads to its discovery. Take Myllena Braz da Silva and Gabriel Martins, two Brazilian students who despite being a part of a less than booming town discovered a way to make new drugs that cost less money and time which could save millions of lives that are loss due to Zika (and they were High School students at the time!) but because they didn’t present this information in an attractive way or to enough people their work has pretty much been overlooked (“Abstract Search.”). It just goes to show you how much this world relies on the media and dramatizations.

I suppose the thing that upsets me the most is the line: “Chastised, Roman had deferred to their expertise” (Whatwashernameagain). This line is perfect here. After feeding Roman the lines about the necessity of social media despite Roman knowing at this core that he needed to act rather than make money for someone else, he reminds himself that these people know more than he does, that he is lessor than they in some way. It reminds the reader that despite his strength and his morals, Roman is still, at his core, an insecure child.

We are also once again, presented with the contrast between he and Logan. Roman mention Instagram and Twitter; places that are used to display yourself but are not very good means of communicating between him and his fans/supporters. While the Utilitarianist is mentioned using Discord and Tumblr; two social media platforms that are highly influenced by the people who contribute to them. Discord allows direct conversations between individuals and Tumblr allows for messaging, asks, etc. It is a subtle difference but one I quite enjoy.

Roman also mentions the was Logan’s groups ‘doing his dirty work, popped up all over the web like toxic mushrooms’ (Whatwashernameagain). Eva always has a way with metaphors. I think that Logan would have both good and bad things to say about this, however. Firstly, I think he would understand that Roman meant this as an insult. Secondly, he would probably not hesitated to point out to the incompetent man that there are some species of toxic mushrooms that theoretically produce billions of compounds through 1 molecular assembly line and can precisely target cells inside the human body and thusly can offer potential medicinal purposes which can lead to new medicines (“Do Poisonous Mushrooms Have a Pharmaceutical Purpose?”). Afterall many cyclic peptides are already known to be important drugs against things such as tuberculosis Staphylococcus, and even cancer (“Do Poisonous Mushrooms Have a Pharmaceutical Purpose?”). So, once again, Logan maybe viewed as bad (just as this toxic mushroom metaphor is) but he might be the medicine this world truly needs (at least… according to him).

“Tirelessly, he tried to remind the world of what mattered, using bold words to paint a bright and colorful picture of the future he truly believed in. A future of unity. They mustn’t lose sight of what mattered – standing together, fighting the hate the Utilitarianist spread with his extremism that called to simple solutions. To violence. Being kind was harder, almost impossibly hard, but Roman would not lose himself in hate, and he knew his fellow Americans wouldn’t either. Breaking the law and turning to murder would not save the planet, it would turn them into monsters” (Whatwashernameagain).

I would like to say that I only want to touch on this para briefly… but let’s be honest, I am rarely brief about anything. Most of what I am about to say is opinion. I have no facts or quotes to back me up on this; everything is simply my experience. Roman brings to light something I tell people all the time, though I am usually ignored. Actually, the question I get most often when people find out that I use to be Law Enforcement is generally ‘You seem to nice/kind to have been a cop’. I usually counter with a ‘you don’t know enough cops’… But when you really get down to it, I think there is a number of reasons people believe that; though I’m not going to get into the political ones. No, the one I want to focus on is hatred. I’ve seen a lot of it. I’ve seen what a person can do to another in the name of hatred. I’ve witnessed it firsthand… been on the receiving end of it…. Watched co-workers, friends, family… be eaten away by it. Here is the truth: hatred is a virus that lays dormant in us all. It is already a part of us, whether we know it or not. Once it is activated but whatever means… it grows and if we let it, it consumes us… If that hatred is seen by or directed towards another it is possible that the hatred that lies dormant inside them is activated…. From there it spreads… like an epidemic… Only epidemics have a cure… Hatred never goes away permanently. It is apart of us. If it is ‘cured’ the virus is still there, it is merely reverted back to its dormant stage… waiting for another chance to be activated.

I’ve watched it spread and spread… even when I was very little and I told myself that ‘that won’t be me’ but… hatred exists in all of us. So, what’s the ‘cure’ that will revert hatred back to its dormant state? Choice. Roman is right… Kindness is so much harder because it is not engrained in us… it is taught… whether by someone else or self-taught. Kindness is a choice. Happiness is a choice… I mentioned the effect of our thoughts on the outer world during Chapter 1. We choose out thoughts, we choose the effect we want to have, we choose kindness. Don’t the person who treated you poorly, pity them… What kind of sad life must they have lived to feel that it is acceptable to treat someone like they do… Or what kind of emotional baggage do they carry that makes them crave the feeling of hatred over numbness… Pity them… They’ve obvious lived a horrible life. Reach out a hand… Who knows… Maybe you’ll save a life rather than ruining on. You don’t have to forgive them… Some times you can’t… but you can be kind without forgiveness.

This of course, is all more difficult than it sounds and it took me years to manage it but it is true and possible. Hatred can be combatted with kindness. Forgiveness comes in time. Help those that hate you; they are misguided. In the end, hatred harms yourself more than others.

Okay… I think I might need to move on…. Ready for some whiplash?

“Even as Roman got to shake the hand of the president, he felt he was not doing enough. He should be out there, fighting harder.

Even after chasing him for almost a year now, Roman felt those things as strongly as ever. He was right, gosh darn it! How could this irritating man not see the merit of a peaceful solution? Who didn’t want peace?!” (Whatwashernameagain)

Poor poor Roman. I love him so much. The poor baby is obviously still having trouble with patience… or rather not-acting. The first line is a reminder that Roman is never enough for himself. He always has to be better, has to do better. I… can understand that. Perhaps if he ever considers himself enough for his father than he might consider himself enough for himself… but he never will be, will he? Enough for his father I mean…

But that revolution I mentioned at the beginning of Chapter 2 analysis is starting to rear its beautiful head. We see Roman starting to get more antsy than ever. Despite the reminder that he considers his team ‘wiser’ when it comes to these things, it is obvious that those thoughts are starting to wear thin. We see Roman’s exasperation grow with the frustrated tones of the last few sentences.

Though his frustration isn’t just directed towards himself and his team but towards the Utilitarianist as well. Roman has proven (as I covered in the last section of the analysis) that he believes all people are inherently good. So, you can imagine his frustration at the fact that his actions towards Logan lead nowhere. The catch is, we know Logan is good at heart and that Roman is as well; they just don’t know that about the other… Though I think Logan has an inkling.

Finally, we see Roman go against orders to keep his mouth shut and the hero confronts his villain for the first time. The setting could no be more perfect, Eva always does have quite the way of picking the perfect atmosphere for these kinds of things. “The wind created by the rotor blades of the approaching helicopter whipping at their clothes on the roof-top almost carried away his words” (Whatwashernameagain). Chaos is created in the scene by the helicopter making it hard to hear each other. Its really fantastic symbolism for their current state in their relationship and perhaps in themselves as well.

Roman is born from chaos. His misguided aspiration for his father’s love. The work that defines him being nothing more than a payload for said father. His fight to follow his team while ignoring the growing need to physically act. The good he wants to do by basically doing things that might not be what we would consider good or for good (mostly because its pretty much all for profit, not that Roman knows that).

Logan may not be born from chaos but he /is/ chaos. Logan is a great example of doing bad things for good reasons… Which in and of itself is fairly chaotic. Not to mention with every act he sends the world through another wave of chaos as well. His entire goal is to turn the economic world on its head in the first place… talk about chaos.

I love that the first line Roman ever speaks to the villain is “Why must you be so impossible?” (Whatwashernameagain). Fairly simplistic words, not much to be impressed about? I would disagree. The words are spoken with such informality that it is almost as if they knew each other, and in a way, I suppose that they. They’ve been meeting for over a year; fighting for over a year. They may not have spoken but they knew each other enough by now… at least that is what it felt like. No doubt when your world revolves around someone else, whether good or bad you feel like you know then. Logan is probably the only person in the world that knew Roman or that Roman felt like he knew even if they hadn’t spoken. Logan, at this point, is the closest thing to a friend that Roman has.

In the same paragraph we also see Roman’s sass returning, lightening our lives once more as he claims that Logan would be the cause of his death; that “He’d kill him with exasperation” (Whatwashernameagain). The way Roman almost curses but catches himself is also so wholesome. A gentleman would never lower himself to such language, of course.

And Logan, usually so cool and collected is pulled into Roman’s frustration. We see Logan’s struggle to keep himself in check and yet he indulges in himself, in such a human reaction. I’ve mentioned it before, but I’d like to point it out once more; Roman is a symbol of Logan’s humanity. Logan does his best not to feel regular emotions, he prefers to think of himself as a computer rather than human; the only time we really see Logan’s composure break is when he is facing Roman. Roman brings out these emotions in him; brings out the human part of him. We see that again here when Logan is unable to keep from replying.

“You cannot be serious. How dare you refer to me as impossible, you simple fool?” (Whatwashernameagian)

Once again, the words are simplistic and familiar, though they are spoken by Logan this time. The familiarity is there just as it is with Roman, despite the fact that he is insulting him. Once again it is possible (probable actually) that Roman is the closest thing Logan has to a friend. He does, after all build an AI to keep him company (along with doing his calculations).

We also see Roman try and be Logan’s conscious as well, which might be needed; after all computers don’t have a conscious; lecturing him about kidnapping and setting things on fire and worst of all ‘drowning [Roman] in frying fat!’… Though I don’t think there would be very many people upset about seeing Roman all oiled up… I know I wouldn’t. The reader’s attention is pulled back to Roman’s team members as Eva mentions the ‘ever-polite voice in his earpiece’ that was trying to get him under control; once again showing the difference between the team and Roman, himself.

The two men continue to argue bringing up a few valid points. Logan points out Roman’s ‘selfish’ thinking, which though we know, as the reader, isn’t exactly accurate it is understandable to believe that that is where Roman is coming from. He also points out that Roman is nothing by a monkey for the press and won’t be the one to bring about the revolution the world needs. Logan’s POV is accurate: Roman is acting as a monkey for his team and that on his present course there will be no revolution if he continues to follow them… Foreshadowing anyone?

““You- you unbelievable, impossible, infuriating villain – how could you dare to- I am attempting to save the world! You are trying to destroy it!” He’d howled, flailing uselessly with frustrated energy.

His righteous claim seemed to rile up the terrorist even more. Taking a few steps towards him over the cement that was starting to heat with the flames beneath them, he jabbed his finger at him” (Whatwashernameagain).

First off, I find it absolutely adorable that Roman is stuttering with his insults. I’m sure his opinion of Logan being unbelievable, impossible, and infuriating will never change. In fact, I would bet on it. They already sound like a married couple. I love them so much!

Looking beyond that, I really love the imagery here. This interaction is going to be the foundation of their companionship (if there will be a companionship which I am certain there will be); like the cement that Logan is crossing. In fact, the imagery of the cement heating with the flames beneath them can be a nod to a number of things. First it could represent the world around them burning and neither of them able to pay attention to anything but the other (which I am just ruined for); or it could be the heat of their passion for good, both extremely intense, both dangerous, both destructive in their own way (Logan physically and Roman’s political/economically).

Their argument continues, each calling the other stupid. We see Roman’s view on good vs. evil once more (which I’ve already covered; not to say it repeated… no the inflection on it is simply to remind us that Roman is a three-dimensional character who cares deeply about the subject). We see Logan losing himself to the humanity Roman brings out in him. We also see (which is my favorite part of the argument) Logan’s accusation about ‘selling topless calendars’ and the ‘heeled boots’. Why is this important? Well, Logan is a busy man he wouldn’t pay too close attention to what Roman’s next public exploit would be… Yet he knows about the topless calendars? I would put my money on the idea that he examined them… ‘for research purposes’ of course. As for the heeled boots well… We already know Remy’s opinion of dat ass… Heels only improve it 😉.

“The villain’s rant was interrupted as a sneaker hit his head from above. His supporters were exasperatedly waving at him to climb into the helicopter they had been screaming over before the police managed to arrest them, just as Roman’s operator had frantically urged him to free his leg and catch the man standing mere feet from him” (Whatwashernameagain).

Once again, we see the stark contrast between the hero and villain here; or rather… the similarity. Logan’s followers are urging him to leave the hero and move on, as he should have done in the first place. Eva compares then to the person on the other end of Roman’s ear piece. Both of them are a sense of reality that these men should be focused on rather than one another and yet neither seems to be able to pull themselves away from the other without an outside influence. They are both utterly hopeless and I love them.

Also #savetheworldtopless and #justpathologicallyevil should totally be a thing! Only #savetheworldtopless should be pictures of all different shapes and sizes of people in superhero poses either topless or like sportsbras/binders etc. basically how they seem themselves or how they want themselves to be; and #justpathologicallyevil should be full of adorable pictures of like cats and things doing mischievous things… I love these!!!

As for Roman’s operator quitting… good riddance. If that’s all it took, then he def wasn’t cut out for that job. Besides, not letting my baby speak is a sin against all mankind.

I’m so excited for the next para!

“Roman felt guilty for getting into an argument and behaving unprofessionally, but somehow, he felt like it had also gotten him closer to understanding the other man. He wasn’t a faceless monster but a person one could talk to – if a truly irritating and rude one – and people could be changed. Roman was good at convincing others of his position. His bright, attractive smile, warm and sweet manners and his polite reasoning had brought plenty of people around. Despite the continued threat of an escalation between the Utilitarianist’s supporters and his opposition, most people still liked Roman” (Whatwashernameagain).

This chapter has spent a lot of time ‘villainizing’ Logan (with good reason) the point of view of the Dream and its team is meant to paint Logan in that light; and thus far Eva has done so very effectively. Here, however, we see Roman reconsidering these points. For the first time Roman is looking past the mask and at the man behind it. It is not that he does not see Logan as a villain but rather he sees him as a human as well. That’s Roman for you though, caring about every human even the ones he considers bad or ‘evil’. I suppose this is a first for Logan as well. People don’t tend to look beyond the Utilitarianist to see the man underneath… they’re not suppose to either but here Roman sits seeing a man that can be swayed, a man that struggles with the good and the bad as we all do. Once again, we see Roman focusing on the individual once more.

“He brought the idea up at a team meeting, believing he’d finally found a way to work more effectively. However, he was turned down gently. They gave him to understand that he had misjudges the villain and that his attempts to negotiate with terrorists could have disastrous consequences. Chastised and feeling like a child make a dumb suggestion at the dinner table, he gave up. Still, despite his best intentions, he wound up arguing with the other again and again” (Whatwashernameagain).

Once again, we see how Roman’s team mistreats him; though they do so, subtly. We see Roman’s attempt at a solution that actually has some merit and may work and yet he is treated like the child they see him as and cast aside as if he didn’t have any weight on the matter. His intelligence is constantly insulted (though not obviously enough for him to feel offended). His goals do not align with that of the teams and therefore are inconsequential. However, Eva points out that the unlike how it was before (Roman making a suggestion, the team shooting him down and he dropping it) the arguments seemed to continue… perhaps this is because Roman is getting more confident? Pushing his boundaries? Leading himself to revolution?

“Their rivalry came to a crescendo when one of their fights once again distracted both of them. He had no idea why this man managed to make his blood boil this much with his talk about superior logic and necessity. Necessity his ass. (Roman would of course never say such a thing out loud, but still.)” (Whatwashernameagain)

This says a lot about Roman. His attention on Logan is continuously growing. He is paying more and more attention to the man as a person and not just as a villain. I mentioned before that Roman probably sees the similarities between Logan and his father but there are a few things he addresses with Logan that he would never say/do with his father. Here is perhaps the only man he is able to interact with (though perhaps not under the best circumstances) that is not pushing his own agenda on the man or putting him down. Someone he can actually argue with without being chastised by the other for the act. He is treated as an equal even if they are name calling one another and that is a big step for the hero; most of the people he deals with always treats him as if he is some child that needs to be seen not heard but Logan… Logan will indulge his passions, argue his points, allow him to be the passionate man he is. To Roman, Logan is an outlet for his passions and allows him to express himself as he truly is, not as his teams wants to be. It is no doubt a refreshing change.

During one of their arguments a pipe bursts over Logan’s head and without pause or consideration Roman rushes to save him, injuring himself fairly badly in the process; to the point that he needed immediate medical attention. Of course, he could heal very quickly but Logan doesn’t know this. I bring this up for two reasons.

Firstly, imagine what this means for Roman. Roman is driven by passion. He cares deeply for every living soul and he views Logan as a misguided person whose heart can be changed. So, when that person’s life is on the line he doesn’t think twice before jumping in the way to save him. This of course is going to cause a lot of issues with his team and perhaps the public but to him a life is a life and Logan’s is perhaps the closest person to him at the moment.

Logan on the other hand doesn’t really consider the individual life too important. It isn’t to say that he doesn’t care for each life in and of itself but if a single life lost would save countless then he wouldn’t hesitate to pull that trigger. To him, it is only logical. He knows that he has endangered and killed a number of people and it would be logical for Roman to allow him to die to advance his own agenda. So, when Roman saves him it no doubt takes a few minutes to process it all. No doubt he had to recalculate all of their interactions. Up until this point he had viewed Roman as nothing but a puppet for political/economic gain and yet… he had saved Logan… For no other reason than to save a life… He perhaps sees Roman’s truly pure intentions for the first time (no doubt cementing his opinion that the guy is an idiot). Logan in return drags Roman from the building and delivers him to an ambulance and we get to see the wonderful gift that is protective Logan… One of my favorite flavors!

Of course, our progress must have some repercussions; which means right on cue Roman’s father appears. Two years has past since Roman became the Dreamer and we’ve barely heard mention of the man. He tends to show up only when Roman does something wrong or if it is advantageous to him; which only cements the image that he’s a no-good money sucker that Roman is better off without. In fact, apparently Roman hasn’t seen the guy in months, which brings out the hero’s denial: “Roman understood he was doing important work, though. It was alright. . Sadly, his father had not been as pleased as he had so desperately hoped.” (Whatwashernameagain).

Denial and rationalization all over again, though I’m going to avoid the Freudian jargon as best I can because this section is already going to be so very long. Eva always has a way of pulling at the reader’s heartstrings with such simplicity and it is truly beautiful. With her last line, mentioning Roman’s desperate hope, my heart breaks. He still wants his father’s approval so badly that it hurts him. He truly is a child at heart when it comes to his father… The poor baby.

The conversation that ensues reminds the reader of the trauma that Roman has gone through to be the man that he is… To be what he thought his father wanted him to be… What the world wants him to be. We see his father’s anger as he demands an explanation and Roman’s immediate instinct to draw his knees close to his chest, curling up on himself as if to protect him from his father’s wrath or the emotions he brings out of the young man. Now it is possible that Roman’s father never laid a hand on him (honestly, I would be surprised if he had. That would mean he actually cared enough to beat the boy and I doubt he ‘wasted his time’ with that.) and this is just an instinctive reaction most people have when faced with emotional distressing situation. Though there is no proof of physical abuse we are already aware of the emotional abuse the man has put his son through, which can be just as bad.

We also see Roman hiding his pain ‘like he’d learned.’ Learned where? Learned during the countless horrific experiments and alterations he endured to become what he thought his father wanted him to be; just to find out his father still viewed him as practically worthless? Or was it before hand? Before all this? Either way when Logan finds out that the sorry POS of a ‘father’ treated Roman so horribly… I hope he gets what is coming to him (though I realize Roman will probably keep that from happening)!

“The rebuke hurt sharply. Swallowing, Roman tried to explain his reasoning he’d never thought he’d have to defend. The place was filled with people who were supposed to support him, yet he felt entirely alone” (Whatwashernameagain).

Roman’s father chastises him for letting Logan live and I think that Roman’s illusion of who is father is may be starting to crack a bit. At Roman’s core ever SINGLE life counts; it is one of the many reasons he became the Dreamer in the first place. But his father doesn’t give a damn about anyone else’s life but his own. As long as he’s making money that all he cares about. We also see Roman finally beginning to realize that despite the fact that he is surrounded by people that he has known for two years now, who are supposed to support him… he /is/ entirely alone.

“This would have been the perfect opportunity. You need to decide if you have what it takes or if you weren’t the right choice after all. Next time this chance presents itself, you let this god damn terrorist die instead of spreading his filth from a luxury prison.” His father had barked at him before leaving him alone to fear losing everything he’d bled for. Everything he’d become. Without the Dreamer, he had no idea who he was” (Whatwashernameagain).

The contrast between these two are as apparent as ever, here. His father is lecturing him to do exactly what Roman is whole heartedly against. He wants Roman to let someone die. He wants Roman to ignore the very core of his being… he wants him to be something Roman can never be and equivalently kill someone. The thing is, if Roman straight out refuses his father everything he has worked for, everything he fights for daily would be stripped from him. The fear of losing something you have worked so hard for is devastating. But it’s a bit more than that for Roman. He has changed everything about his life for this. His physical appearance, the way he lives, everything… I don’t think he realizes this because he would never think something so dark about his father but… If the Dreamer persona is stripped from him Roman would not get to roam free… His father has put in far too much work to create him, he knows to much, he is too much of a liability. No, Roman would either be locked up or killed if the Dreamer was ever taken away from him.

But that also begs the question, can the Dreamer be taken away from him? The Dreamer is a concept, an ideal of what Roman wished to be. Sure, they can pull him from the spot light, take away his team, hide him from the world but as long as Roman’s beliefs are the same and he has the will to keep going then the Dreamer is eternal. The problem is that Roman still lacks the self confidence to realize this. He believes that he is nothing but an over glorified child without his team. Once he realizes this is not the case… Well… Viva La Revolution!

We do see the beginning of these thoughts in the next para however. Roman is starting to question his team and his father. “Was this really what the Dreamer was? He’d tried too hard to keep the peace and catch the Utilitarianist when there were other things he could be doing. They’d told him to leave the crime fighting to the police. His image was the most powerful thing about him” (Whatwashernameagain). He is questioning everything which is good… Well, good in the long run; honestly for him, its no doubt terrifying.

But consider the fact that the one person that ignited the flame that pushed him to ask such question is the very person he is supposed to be rivaled with, the person he is supposed to allow to die. Logan. Roman is many things to the villain: his hope, his humanity, his source of emotion and irritation, his light. But Logan are certain things to the hero as well: his hope, his reality, his sense of questioning, his window into the social world… His proof that everything is no as black and white as he once believed, his chance at a relationship that isn’t riddled with abuse and deception. The irony behind this should not be overlooked. It is so beautiful.

Roman goes on to compare himself to Superman and Wonderwoman which I just adore! That is so very Roman! He points out that Superman couldn’t concern himself with petty thieves but Wonderwoman most certainly would. I love this for a number of reasons. Firstly, we already knew that Roman read comic books, but this really pulls the image of baby Roman sitting under the covers late at night with a flash light pouring over the pages of every type of comic (well at least DC comics). Secondly, despite the fact that Roman good up with such a heavy emphasis on society’s view of masculinity shoved down his throat one of the greatest heroes in his mind is Wonderwoman! I love it! I love it! I love it! The comicbook version of Wonderwoman is a fantastic role model for anyone! Much better than Superman in my opinion! I mean the writers themselves are fantastic! There is actually an entire scene in which Diane is seen nude during an issue and the writers never exploit this. Context: Diane sleeps in the nude. Someone wakes her and they talk while she takes her time dressing. That is it. It is not drawn in a way that sexualizes her or implies anything of the sort. It is simply written/drawn as nothing more than a person dressing and I really appreciate that… though I suppose I am getting off track.

We can also view the difference between implications of comparing himself between Superman and Wonderwoman and the Masculine and Feminine views both represent. Superman is no doubt the way his father would prefer him to aspire to be. Superman is perhaps the most masculine image one could manage to conjure. He is strong, indestructible, not concerned with trivial issues, uses his strength and power to win and always gets the girl. The image of a man. Wonderwoman however, is a bit different. She is strong and practically indestructible sure, but she goes about using her abilities a different way. Instead of fighting all the time or causing more destruction she tends to outsmart her opponents when she can and shows care and compassion to all creatures. Superman focuses on strength and durability; Wonderwoman focuses on skill, training, knowledge. She is not concerned with romance or power; she just wants good for the world; just as Roman does.

We also begin to see Roman work out some of the things we have mentioned, on his own. He begins to question why Logan would save him? Perhaps he questions if the man’s intentions may be better than he had originally given him credit for. He can’t seem to shake his concerns with his own work. The concerns lead him to question his team more and more:

“His doubts wouldn’t leave him alone until eventually, he chose to do what he was most afraid of. He went against the advice of his team.

He’d been sitting around for months, while the Utilitarianist had been busy attacking the Hong-Kong Stock market. Roman quietly wondered why he was never dispatched to other countries to help. His nemesis had stopped limiting himself to the States long ago” (Whatwashernameagain).

It is obvious that there are a few reasons why Roman’s team keeps him in America. Perhaps the most prominent reason is the fact that the people who control Roman are in America and make most of their money from his exploits there. There is no reason to help those over seas if there is no profit for it. Yet, Logan is not bound by these rules. Logan is attempting to save the world and to Roman his goal is to take down Logan. So, once again we see just how much Roman’s team is holding him back and the excuses they use to hide their real intentions (‘Perhaps his team was worried he’d upset someone by remarking that the conditions of those workers truly were less than glittery’ (Whatwashernameagain).).

A situation in Mexico is brought to our attention, Eva does a fantastic job (as usual) to describe the severity of the scene and a new character is introduced: Virgil!!! We see right away that Virgil is a little different than the rest of the team. As Roman’s new operator we he hacks into the bank’s database and gets Roman a floorplan (no doubt against the advisement of the rest of the team). This already sets him apart from the others. For the first time since Roman became the Dreamer we see someone finally working /with/ him rather than discarding his intentions and thoughts. Finally, we have someone to help our wonderful and beautiful boy! The best part is that might be the boost Roman needed! “This was the right thing to do, he felt it. He had to breathe new life into the idea of the Dreamer. He had to be a proper hero again” (Whatwashernameagain).

Of course, when he pitches the idea to his team he is immediately shot down, discarded like the child they saw him as. Only this time, things were handled a bit differently: “Instead of the usual, fatherly patience and kind amusement at his misplaced enthusiasm, he was told off curtly. Without results, Roman was losing their favor” (Whatwashernameagain). Roman has been acting more and more independently which implied that they were losing control of him as an asset and that no doubt caused some tension between his team and their higher ups which was no doubt taken out on Roman.

“Feeling unsteady, he shuffled onto the cold light of the corridor of their underground base. Despite his terror of losing the place he called home, the reporting about the children held hostage would not stop replaying in his head. He’d been told watching the news would only upset him and he should rather rely on the updates they cut together for him, but he was starting to think he would only have found out about the situation far too late when irritated reporters would have asked him where he was when the children were shot. He couldn’t let it come to that!” (Whatwashernameagain).

This para gives me life! This is a dawning of a new age! A new Dreamer! A new Roman! We start out with him defeated (not surprisingly); fearful on his thoughts because you know he’s thinking of going to Mexico anyways and that could cause him to lose his home. The catch is, this has never been his home; it has been the place he has been used and discarded but it is the only ‘home’ he’s ever really known. Sure, before he became the Dreamer he had a different ‘home’ but it is all the same thing. He was ignored unless useful there just as he is here. Still, if its all you’ve ever known, losing it would be terrifying…. Being alone in the world, with nothing to your name… it’s a horrible reality.

Still, he obviously is not letting this go. The news of the children being held hostage is something Roman can’t forget. This is not surprising at all. Roman is a sheltered person. He is not use to seeing such things on the news. In fact, the next sentence reminds us that the only information that he is aware of tends to be the information fed to him; to help control him. It is horrible. But it also causes him to be more sensitive to these kinds of things. I can’t remember if I brought this up before so I will do so again here. The majority of us that open ourselves up to television or social media become desensitized to it all.

For instance, the average 18-year old observes approximately 6,000 acts of violence on television and in movies in one year (Browne and Hamilton-Giachritsis 2005; Center for Research Excellence 2009). Desensitization has been studied primarily as a consequence of exposure to violent video games (e.g., Anderson et al. 2010; Carnagey et al. 2007), so less is known about desensitization to violence encountered in real life or on television and in movies. Despite the many commonalities between real-life and media violence and their effects on adjustment, these two types of exposure to violence rarely have been studied together. It has also been proven that the more desensitized to violence that we become the more violent we become in turn.

Of course, this is just a information about desensitization in regards to violence which includes things like the bank robbery, children being held hostage etc. Consider this: How many times have you scrolled through facebook or some other social media platform and saw a post about a missing person or a shooting or something similar? And how many times have you ignored it and continued to scroll? The truth is, the more you see it the more you ignore it. But what then? Well, then we’ve become part of the problem, haven’t we? By not helping we become the ignorance that is wrong with the world. So, next time you see one of those post… share, reblog… who knows maybe you’ll be that one person to get the word just far enough for them to be found/saved. Don’t let your desensitization get the better of you.

But once again I’m getting off track. My point was, for someone who is not expose to as much violence or horrific deeds as the typical American, something that we consider small (like a bank hold up) can be traumatizing; and poor sweet Roman has been sheltered from these things for some time. Sure, he has seen some really bad stuff but its all what they want him to see… all being fed to him… this… this is different.

Desensitization aside, this para is the stepping stone into Roman’s rebellion! We see him question his team, perhaps not for the first time but close to it: “he was starting to think he would only have found out about the situation far too late when irritated reporters would have asked him where he was when the children were shot” (Whatwashernameagain). Then we see him immediately rebuke them (at least mentally): “He couldn’t let it come to that!” (Whatwashernameagain). Roman is finally growing into his own. He is finally beginning to that that step and begin thinking for himself! This is character development!

Now, enter Virgil Stage Left! Virgil appears just when Roman needs a good kick in the but to get him moving, much like Remy did when Logan needed it as well. It is a good reminder that even when we are struggling whether with the outside world or with ourselves there come a point in time where we could do with a bit of companionship. Humans, after all, are social creatures.

The great thing about his appearance is that with his sense of sarcastic remarks Roman is immediately defensive, preparing to defend his ‘honor’ but we wee him pause as he notices Virgil’s disappointed posture. This is another small contrast between Roman and Logan that I love. Though we don’t actually see Logan reading people’s body language I get the feeling he would be very bad at it. He doesn’t exactly surround himself in situations in which it is required. Roman however, no doubt is trained to read other’s body languages. Yes, I mean formally trained though his emotional abuse has no doubt conditioned him to study it as well. A person who is used to being degraded or yelled out over analyzes every twitch, every smile, every shift of the eyes. Every movement is considered a countdown to the next time they will be abused, it is truly an anxious existence. This of course is just scratching the surface of the trauma Roman has been through but it is brought up in such a subtly beautiful way that really gives testament to Eva’s skill, as always.

The slump in Virgil’s shoulders no doubt screams at Roman just as most postures do. He is not a stranger to disappointment especially from his team. This time though he realizes its different. Virgil isn’t necessarily disappointed in what Roman has done but what he hasn’t done; which is quite heartwarming. Virgil is upset because Roman is not following through with his plan despite his team’s refusal. He /wants/ Roman to be who he is… Which may be the first time Roman has ever experienced such support. The first time someone has shown true untainted support for /him/ not what/who he is supposed to be for them. There comes a time during the cusp of every revolution that a straw breaks a back… A shot is fired…. War breaks out… Perhaps, Roman has finally found his straw in Virgil? Perhaps all he ever needed to begin his revolution was the support of a single person to be who he was.

““No. I’m not backing off. I’m taking a running start.” He’d promised, before striding down the corridor and grabbing a startled Virgil’s wrist on the way. He still needed that one.” (Whatwashernameagain). It seems like a beautiful partnership has begun. I have a feeling this dynamic duo is going to cause a lot of trouble for more than just Logan.

Eva also uses a comparison of Roman sneaking out of the facility to breaking out of prison; which I feel is a very good analogy. The facility is in fact a prison for Roman. He is not a free man in any sense of the word. Even his personality is held captive behind those walls. I also mentioned earlier that Roman’s father would never allow Roman to be free. Roman is too much of a liability. He knows to much. This is one of the many reasons why he is to be locked away until it is time for his media appearances. He is sheltered from the real world just like any prisoner, only allowed certain activities that limit his interaction with the public. He is monitored constantly. It is very fitting.

“The armed robbers were no match for the quiet, cat-like stride of the trained hero. He caught one after the other, knocking them out with ease. This was far simpler than fighting a man like the Utilitarianist” (Whatwashernameagain).

‘Cat-like’? You mean like a certain villain that purr-fers to wear the mask of a feline? Speaking of which, it seems that Roman can’t get the man off his mind even when he’s in the middle of another dangerous mission… and does that almost sound like… admiration?

The next scene shows Roman being as heroic as ever as he carries out a pregnant woman and other out of the building and I have to say Roman+children=my heart exploding. Its just so pure and wonderful and the way she just tugs at his costume just makes me weak.

“Roman barely managed to calm them. He hadn’t been greeted with such honest joy in so long, he was utterly baffled by their adoration. When he finally managed to speak, his voice was thick with emotion.

“Fellow citizens of the world, I have realized that the time for borders is behind us! In these frightening times we must understand that our differences are mere illusions, stand together and give each other hope. Our love and belief in each other shall prevail over evil!”” (Whatwashernameagain).

Roman just made a seriously hard move. Roman is faced with real genuine joy and appreciation; something he probably has never experienced. His team probably pulls him away from situation where he would get the chance to; of course, they would to simply avoid him saying something that wasn’t scripted. This is probably the moment that he realizes that though his team treats his opinions and intentions as bothersome the public sees them as he does: a chance to change the world.

We also get to see Roman take that final step over the edge of the cliff that he has been teetering on for some time now. We see him finally choose to step out into the nothingness where he expects to plummet to his doom; everything that he has worked for stripped away from him. But as he speaks to the world, as he watches their reaction, we don’t see him fall; we see him fly! And because of this, and the elated reaction of his new partner-in-crime we see him swell with pride.

“Finally, he was what he was supposed to be.” (Whatwashernameagain).

This line… This beautiful stunning line says everything that we knew but it also says more. It says that Roman has shed his father and team’s control on him. He has cast aside the image they are painting of him and breaking out into his own. Shots have been fired and there will no doubt be a fallout but for now… It is official, the revolution has begun!!!

“The atmosphere in the underground compound changed. Roman felt the shift, the tension around himself clearly and suffered it with disappointment. It was like being home again. A child whose childishness was barely tolerated. Quiet and shy and feeling unwanted” (Whatwashernameagain).

This reinforces the image Eva has been painting of Roman’s childhood. He compares the new temperament of the compound to his childhood home and the abuse he experienced there. It is the same disappointment, worthless undesirable feeling that his father had caused him to feel for so long. This no doubt would cause the man to be triggered. The only question that remains is, is he strong enough to move past it?

“Despite the repeated attempts to impress the importance of following his team’s directions, he planned and executed more mission with Virgil. He was his one saving grace. Since he was actually starting to make a difference, the two men felt more at ease with each other. Though they were mostly bickering with each other, Roman had found someone to rely on. His fluttering nerves around the moody man calmed, allowing him to fall back on the safety of the Dreamer’s personality less and less. They were a team of two now, instead of the pride of the Conglomerate. It was alright. He was one more person than Roman used to have” (Whatwashernameagain).

Roman is making leaps and bounds in his warpath (I use warpath as a metaphor, this is a revolution afterall). He has taught himself that a single man’s genuine acceptance and affection (not to mention affirmation) is far more valuable than the faux appreciation of a crowd of individuals and this is partially due to Virgil’s support. Now, the two of them argue and fuss but let’s face it between Virgil and Logan this is the only form of true affection Roman has ever experienced. It is only logical that Roman now associates the bickering and affection. The coldness his father shows him, the lack of attention at all has been pounded into him over the years making something as simple as the attention enough to argue with him far more heartwarming than it should be. In fact, the arguments and the moodiness of Virgil seems to calm Roman as he interprets it to be a platonic sense of caring that comes with the smaller man. This will no doubt reinforce his attraction to Logan later as well.

Logan was once considered cold just as Roman’s father, perhaps reminding the hero of the man he aspired to be loved by which no doubt drew him in in the first place. Yet, as they grew closer and Logan began to show the attention Roman longed for, though their arguments and even care when Logan returned the favor of saving his life. With Roman’s interpretations as they are now it is no wonder that he would turn to the man that has shown him more affection than anyone else in the world when he is finally broken and bruised.

Over the next few paragraphs we see Roman surprisingly taking the bait that the Utilitarianist had laid out for the world, working unintentionally, with Logan. We also see his team step up just about the time they are able to profit from it (surprise, surprise). Of course, poor innocent Roman misinterprets this as support, but it is not necessarily a bad thing; at least not yet.

Naturally, as soon as the team steps back in Roman reverts to his old habits; becoming discouraged, calling himself an idiot and generally being self-deprecating. He then resolves to listen to his team more carefully and follow their advice once more. Honestly though, I love the contrast between the team and Virgil. They are like two sides of Roman’s subconscious…. Almost like those angels and devils that pop up on each shoulder in the cartoons. On one hand, Roman’s team pulls him back to his father where his self-conscious and cautious. While, on the other hand, Virgil pulls him towards the light where he is proud and triumphant, confident and bright. The issue is, if he continues to stand in the middle being pulled in two different directions, he may be ripped in two… and if that happens it is possible, he wont be able to be put back together again.

Also: “Roman had sworn to himself to help him feel more accepted in the team. He’d never wanted anyone to feel as isolated as he had most of his life” (Whatwashernameagain). It is possible that Roman is so adamant about Virgil feeling accepted by the team because he knows exactly how it feels to be isolated and alone. He knows how it feels to be cast aside and be considered worthless or idiotic. He knows how horrible it can make you feel, and he wants to make sure that no one feels that way especially someone he cares so deeply for like Virgil.

The next para moves on to talk about the Utilitarianist and the LGBTQ+ community and honestly the imagery is lovely! Of course, Logan would be an icon for the gay community. The Utilitarianist is known for his radical beliefs that stir huge movements around the globe. It wasn’t that long again that the simple act of two men kiss was considered just that: radical. I won’t pretend to know a lot about the social movement; I don’t. I may be LGBTQ+ but I was never a big part of the community until recently. I grew up in small towns. I didn’t even meet someone like myself until high school… So, I’m still a bit lacking in a lot of information that could be gained through that social outlet (I’m serious, a friend of me had to explain a lot of terminology when I first moved into the city… I may not have had physical flash cards like Logan’s but I def had mental ones). Still, I know enough about Gender Studies in literature to help support my argument here.

So, for those of you that don’t know what Gender Studies is; it is a literary theory that is devoted to analyzing gender identity and representation (including but not limited to women, feminism, gender, politics, men’s studies, and queer studies; often combined with the study of sexuality (“Gender Studies”). Why do I consider Gender Studies as ‘radical’? Consider this: Doctoral programs for women’s studies has existed since 1990 (Joschik, Scott). The Women’s Rights movement earned them the right to vote in 1920 and they were considered radical and despite their achievements studying literature that was written by women or had strong independent female characters was not considered an acceptable enough form of study to take a doctoral program (not even a degree) in until 1990! That is radical! What is worse, is the first doctoral program for a ‘potential’ PhD in Gender Studies in the U.S. wasn’t approved until 2005 (Joschik, Scott)! And it wasn’t until 2015 that Kabul University in Afghanistan (Afghanistan!!! Not the U.S. which is full of idiotic bigotry!) was the first to offer a master’s degree course in gender and women’s studies (FaithWorld)! It almost makes me ashamed to live here. In a world where two women pushing a baby stroller in the background of a Disney movie is cause for outrage, I’d say the LGBTQ+ community is ‘radical’… at least in the eyes of America. So, it is no wonder that the Utilitarianist is an icon for them especially after his rescue.

(Sorry for the rant)

Moving on!

“Because Roman had saved him and because he’d now acted on his behalf, following his direct call for action, a lot of people had started imagining them to be more than they were. They were publicly ‘shipping’ them.

Roman had been beyond horrified and humiliated as his sympathetic team had put together a dossier of the things people on the internet thought he’d do” (Whatwashernameagain).

Okay, there are so many things wrong with this. Not Eva’s writing of course, she is always so talented! No, everything that I consider ‘wrong’ is meant to be so.

Firstly, though there are plenty of people that will disagree with me and I respect that, shipping (even if its real people) is fine: Forcing your ship or view point on another or insulting their tastes or hating on them for it etc etc. Is very very wrong and I try not to judge but I’m pretty judgy about this. Hate asks/messages/notes/WHATEVER is horrible and though you may not be a horrible person if you do these things, you’re pretty darn close in my opinion. Everyone has their tastes: Some people like apples, some people don’t. If we were all the same we would never advance as a species.

I am not claiming Eva is hating on anyone. How could she be? She is legit writing about her own subject matter lol I really like the irony of it actually… Its almost like breaking the fourth wall without breaking the fourth wall. But I’m getting off topic again.

Here we see Roman’s team taking an extreme to try and pull him back by the reigns. The know he doesn’t receive any other content than what they feed him and their going to use this to their advantage. So, the decide to use the most angsty, kinkiest parts of the fandom’s ships and expose them to the poor sheltered and innocent man. Imagine if we had never heard of tumblr and then were suddenly shoved into the deepest darkest pits… Sure exposure therapy is known to work but I’d be pretty repulsed by it too. Luckily most of us managed to dip our toes in first and move away from the shallows one step at a time here on tumblr so we didn’t have to go through what poor Ro-Ro is. Now, its common knowledge that we’re all a little demented. Lol XP

“He’d been unable to keep looking at the pictures and horrible, humiliating stories published for all to see. How could he allow this to happen? This was what people saw in him after he’d allowed himself to be experimented on, cut apart and be put back together and worked so hard to give them something to believe in?” (Whatwashernameagain).

Let’s pick this apart a bit, shall we? Why would Roman really be this horrified? Sure, he was sheltered and then suddenly exposed to it but it’s a bit more than that. Here is a man that is supposed to hold up ‘American Values’ and be the image of masculinity. That is what his father wants him to be, that is what he has suffered to become. He is supposed to be the strongest person out there and yet he is being depicted in such compromising positions… In positions of submission, of servitude. He has no idea that that kind of position can be a symbol of trust and freedom because he is not taught to believe this. He does not know what a healthy relationship is.

Then there is also the symbolism of it all. Roman is the hero; he is the light; he is the good. Logan is the villain, the shadows, the evil in the world. These images show the good bowing to the bad. They show Roman losing. Losing the one thing he has suffered and fought for, for so long. They show him the possible failure he is so terrified of. To Roman, these images hold one of his worst fears. /That/ is why Roman is so disturbed by them.

We can also view this another way. Roman is taught that the only way he will win against the evil in the world is through the public’s support. He relies of the world to boost him, to come together in unity. He believes that with their help he is invincible. Yet, the public is the one who created these stories and art. The public is the one the imagined his failure. Roman is fueled by hope and faith and yet these images could be taken as a loss of those things. These images represent the publics loss of faith and hope in Roman… At least, that is one possible view point of the man. Either way, it is devastating.

*******

I would like to add here that @mariniacipher has added some input here that explains this in more depth and is beautifully done. I asked permission to quote them here and they have consented:

“Honestly, I have just one thought like, about your analysis of the line "The Utilitarianist would see it and think-"

I think there's a bit more behind this, and that Roman's team had a deeper reason to show roman that art: Because roman is, to them- as far as we know- a naive boy-turned-tool, and he's already strayed from their commands twice. Once to save the kids in Mexico. This could be seen as him following Logan's agenda in some way. He's definitely seeing all people as equal, instead of following his team's "America First" mindset, which is already risky to them. And then, the second time he "deviates", he directly follows Logan's intel as well as his call to action. Add to that the Logince interactions you already pointed out, their respect to each other in those arguments, and they've got a genuine risk of roman completely leaving their range of influence, in their minds at least. Which brings us to them showing roman the unsavory pieces of art of himself and Logan. You already pointed out a lot here, but I think it also served to pervert the beginnings of the relationship between roman and Logan.

Before, they both just wanted to defeat one another, but also both wanted to help the world. Now, Roman's team is turning this dynamic in something altogether different, or trying to: it turns it sexual, and into a power play/fight. They present Logan not as a person who just wants to defeat roman, but beat him, humiliate and hurt him- because that way, they destroy even the thought of roman defecting, or escaping their influence, because there's no one to run to.In my opinion, they only want roman to have the team, and no one else- showing logan in the role of- to roman- a pervert and even a rapist serves to keep roman isolated and loyal.”

@mariniacipher makes some very valid points here, all of which I agree with. They also provide a great example of how Reader Response is suppose to work in the sense that every reader experiences a work differently and they see these things slightly different. This truly made my day.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming...

******

Once again, the devil on his shoulder has struck… But where is the angel in purple? Knocking on his door, just in time to save the day!

““Hey. Um, so I saw the dossier.”

Roman groaned, hiding his burning face. He’d never even looked at porn, so seeing himself pictured on his knees, the villain’s hand in his hair, about to- oh god. This was out there. The Utilitarianist would see it and think- irrational fear of things he hadn’t ever considered the other capable of mixed with the humiliation and made Roman tremble” (Whatwashernameagain).

First off, ‘He’d never even looked at porn’… Christ on a cracker, Roman you truly are sheltered you poor poor baby… Though that does beg the question if he is even too modest to…. You know what… Never mind. Lets move on… This is an analysis not a fanfic after all…

‘The Utilitarianist would see it and think-‘ OMG Roman I love you! Even when you’re horrified and shamed the only person you can concern yourself with is Logan?! This is fantastic! We see just where Logan stands now. Before, the person Roman would probably concern himself with is his father. That’s not the case now though. Logan has become more of a priority than dear old Dad and with good reason. In fact, Roman’s father hasn’t been mentioned in some time which gives us a sense of visual in Roman’s mental shift. Our baby is growing. -sniffle- I’m so proud.

Virgil of course, tries to explain to Roman that it is not what he thinks. Roman then states that he believes Virgil thinks him not smart enough to understand and my anxious son puts him in his place as he should! Virgil has no shits to give!

“You’re much smarter than they make you believe! They just want you to stop thinking for yourself!” A frustrated growl escaped Virgil. Pulling uselessly on the powerful man’s shoulder, he tried to get him to look up” (Whatwashernameagain).

He calls the team out on their shit! He explains that Roman is only seeing the kinky stuff and goes on to explain what shipping is really about… Which makes me wonder if the man ships them as well… I wouldn’t put it past him the little angel.

“”It’s about liking two people and rooting for them, despite any opposition. People just care about both of you, even if you’re on different sides. It just shows that most of them aren’t as black and white as they all say. They aren’t the perfect, traditional families on the cereal boxes and they aren’t the masked activists throwing Molotov cocktails either. They’re just people who like some of both of your positions and they like you and him and what they like most is the idea of you two burying this feud and stop fighting. They want what you want, when it comes down to it, dude. For the arguing to end and people to just get along. I’m not making this up, look!”” (Whatwashernameagain).

This is really beautiful, and I feel privileged to be able to read it. Eva gets it, she really does. There are a few sentences here that I really want to point out though. For example, ‘It just shows that most of them aren’t as black and white as they all say’. Virgil is referring to the fact that most people aren’t just good or evil. The majority of people have done good things and they had done bad things… That is human nature. Everyone has regrets. Roman lives in a state in which he is required to see things in black and white, but the world doesn’t work like that. Very few things are so cut and dry. Virgil see this and he sees that Roman doesn’t. At this point Virgil has moved from shoulder angel to practically Roman’s conscious. He truly is a wonderful friend.

Roman, no doubt, doesn’t really stop to consider people in their daily lives. To him its always the people in the most dire of situation that he focuses on. I doubt he’d know how to handle someone if they just past him on the street. Of course, he is trained to think like this… He knows that he is trying to protect people’s way of life but never stops to consider the way they live their life.

‘They’re just people who like some of both of your positions and they like you and him and what they like most is the idea of you two burying this feud and stop fighting’. This feels like more foreshadowing but I’m going to bypass that because we’ve already discussed it. But it is a fantastic representation of both Logan and Roman and a reminder that nothing is black and white just as I mentioned previously. Logan is a good man doing bad things for good reasons and Roman is a good man doing good things for bad reasons. The Dreamer is an apt name… Roman’s ideas of good and evil are so fantastic they deserve to be in a dream. Luckily, Virgil is there to help guide him back to reality (once again pulling on the comparison between Remy and Virgil).

The next few paras are filled with such wholesome and beautiful images and art work that you really need to go re-read it (if you haven’t already. Its just so warm hearted and I love it. Also, I can’t draw so if someone wants to work up some art on the image Roman describes about the glitter in his hair and the dipping Logan I will gladly share it EVERYWHERE!!!! (just link it to me K?)

Also, the argument with the wall of pictures and Roman’s wall of postcards and pinatas gives me life…. My chest aches with it. I can also really appreciate that Eva describes the works of the two arguing so often. Obviously, this would be understandable because the two are on opposite sides but also Roman’s association with affection /is/ arguments which no doubt only reinforces Virgil’s point that these are wholesome and good when Roman sees the two of them arguing. I just love it so much.

There are so many that Eva lists…. …. …. Honest opinion: At this point, she’s just indulging herself… I approve whole heartedly LOL XP.

It is also possible that these are real fan arts of Logan and Roman and though I don’t have the time to look them up at the moment you bet your sweet IQ that I will be after I get this posted!

In all of these images there is one striking similarity that I must point out: Roman and Logan are depicted as EQUALS. Why is this important? Roman had never been treated as an equal by anyone until he met Logan and Logan began to take the time to argue with him, treating him as if he were worth changing his mind. His father doesn’t even bother with that (yes, I know that I’ve already covered this). The point being, it is very important for Roman to feel valued and equaled, that is one of the reasons why the images provided by his team were so disturbing and that is also one of the reasons why these images are so inspirational to him.

““I don’t understand.” He muttered, glancing at his own tablet, filled with data carefully compiled for him.

Virgil’s gaze was worried.

“I guess there are things they’d rather you don’t see, for whatever reasons. Maybe you’ll let me double check the info they give you from now on, man. I get unrestricted internet.”

“Oh. I didn’t know the internet here was restricted.” Roman muttered softly. His head was buzzing. He huddled closer to Virgil, gazing at the images without really seeing them. He felt like everything he knew was shaken in its foundations” (Whatwashernameagain).

Virgil my sweet sweet baby boy, you’ve done it! You’ve finally gave Roman the realization that he needed! Finally, Roman’s eyes are open to just how manipulative his team is and how damaging that can be. Finally, he is seeing what is going on! Now all that’s left is to win the revolution and kick them to the curb!

This is not going to be easy of course. Everything Roman believes and everything he thinks he knows has been affected. His trust has been shaken. Whatever road Roman is about to walk down, it is not going to be easy for the poor man.

******

I apologize for Part 4 being so long, but I’ve limited myself to 4 parts per chapter and it has been quite difficult.

As always, I want to thank Eva for writing so beautifully and being so supportive of my ramblings.

I would also like to remind everyone that I don’t proof read these because I am surprisingly lazy when it comes to my own work.

I also LOVE hearing from you guys so plz plz plz drop me an ask or a message if you feel up for it. I promise I don’t bite unless you ask me to. <3 I also love questions and theories so hit me up with those too!

Be sure to leave Eva some love on AO3 and tumblr as well! She is incredibly nice and always fun to talk to! Also, if you haven’t already read her other work (like KHS) I highly recommend it.

For now, I will be waiting with bated breath with the rest of you for The Dreamer Chapter 3! ^.^ Until then, I hope to see you all around! <3

“Abstract Search.” Full Abstract, https://abstracts.societyforscience.org/Home/FullAbstract?AllAbstracts=True&Category=Any+Category&FairCountry=Any+Country&FairState=Any+State&ProjectId=4987.Pocket-lint.

Anderson CA, Shibuya A, Ihori N, Swing EL, Bushman BJ, Sakamoto A, Rothstein HR, Saleem M. Violent video game effects on aggression, empathy, and prosocial behavior in eastern and western countries: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin. 2010;136:151–173.

Browne KD, Hamilton-Giachritsis C. The influence of violent media on children and adolescents: A public-health approach. The Lancet. 2005;365:702–710.

Carnagey NL, Anderson CA, Bushman BJ. The effect of video game violence on physiological desensitization to real-life violence. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 2007;43:489–496.

Center for Research Excellence Video consumer mapping survey. 2009 Retrieved from Center for Research Excellence web site: http://www.researchexcellence.com/research/research.php.

FaithWorld (26 October 2015). "Kabul University unlikely host for first Afghan women's studies programme". Blogs.reuters.com. Retrieved 2 November 2015.

"Gender Studies". Whitman College. https://archive.is/20121212181127/http://www.whitman.edu/content/genderstudies

Jaschik, Scott (10 November 2005). "Indiana Creates First Gender Studies PhD". The last decade has seen the number of women's studies PhD programs grow to at least 10 – most of them relatively new. Last week, Indiana University's board approved the creation of a program that will be both similar and different from those 10: the first doctoral program in the United States exclusively in gender studies.

Pharmacy Times, https://www.pharmacytimes.com/news/do-poisonous-mushrooms-have-a-pharmaceutical-purpose.

Rivkin, Julie. Literary Theory: a Practical Introduction. Wiley-Blackwell, 2017.

Whatwashernameagain. “The Dreamer - Chapter 2.” Hello Guys Gals And Non Binary Friends, 8 Sept. 2019, https://whatwashernameagain.tumblr.com/post/189407228487/the-dreamer-chapter-2?is_related_post=1.

#the dreamer #villain!logan #hero!roman #sanders sides #sanderssides #sandersides #sander sides #logince #logan sanders #virgil sanders #roman sanders #logan/roman #roman/logan #analysis #reaction #fanfiction #whatwashernameagain

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mx-ishikawa · 4 years

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Pieces Of Us (2): Defend

Finally got the second installment of this series done! there's a little violence in this one but it's LEGO violence so it's not that bad XD" takes place in between the first and second movies~

The Duplo wasn’t hard to miss. It was ginormous, with bright flashy colors covering its surface. But I wasn’t. I was carefully hidden among the buildings, watching its every move. It was terrorizing the people and destroying everything it decided it wanted to destroy. Jeez, this situation in Bricksburg was even worse than I thought. I mean, everybody was experiencing Duplo attacks, but the people of Bricksburg were hit by far the hardest, to the point where they had to adopt a whole new lifestyle centered around survival and constantly keeping the invaders at bay. But I had been training for this for over two years now.

Ever since the first Duplo attack on Bricksburg, all I had wanted was to help fight off the invaders. If I couldn’t be a Master Builder, I felt I should at least contribute to the fight in some way or another. I had always struggled with finding my place in the world, and never felt like I fit in anywhere, so I felt that this would be my chance to finally make a name for myself. But since I was only sixteen at the time, I knew I had to finish school first. Thankfully, that gave me extra time to train and develop fighting skills. I did most of my weekend training in Gotham, since it seemed to be the only place out of all the realms that was devoid of Duplo attacks, and sometimes I was under the instruction of Batman himself. As a coach, Batman was strict and not very emotionally motivating, but he certainly knew his shit, so I was grateful to have him as a trainer. Also, he had a damn good taste in workout music.

But I must admit that there was another reason I wanted to move to Bricksburg. And that reason’s name was Emmet Brickowski. I had already become fond of him in Cloud Cuckooland, but after getting separated from my dad during the raid and ending up alongside Emmet and Wyldstyle in the fight against Lord Business, I developed quite the crush on the heroic construction worker. I felt he was not all the negative things he initially described himself as; in fact, I found him much more brave, smart, skilled, and creative than he gave himself credit for. And even though he apparently lacked experience leading, I thought he was one of the best leaders I had ever seen in action. Never before had I seen someone corral a horde of Master Builders together the way he did. He had a strong voice, commanding but not cruel, and genuinely wanted to help. He had been torn from his old life and thrown into the ugly truth, adapted well, sacrificed himself and ended up gaining Master Builder abilities instead of dying, and saved the world—all without losing his kind-hearted character. And yet, he was completely humble about the whole thing, even saying that the prophecy was about everyone, not just himself. But what I admired most about him was his huge heart. Not once did he say anything bad about Lord Business, or anyone ever, and when the Duplos first came, he tried to make peace with them instead of jumping to fighting like everyone else wanted to do. It’s really no wonder why I fell for the guy. Though I didn’t really see him in the two years I trained, my heart still raced when I thought of him, and often wondered how he was doing. At the time, I thought it was just a silly schoolgirl crush, and that I’d surely wouldn’t feel much the next time I saw him. Boy how wrong I turned out to be…

I quietly pulled my sword out from the holster on my back and began sneaking up on the Duplo. It was clearly more focused on thwarting the attacks from the citizens of Bricksburg. They were firing whatever they could at it—lasers, arrows, canons, you name it—but none of it affected the beast. If anything, it only became angrier. Though its anger was rather passive-aggressive: it giggled like a schoolgirl the more it was hit, but its body language made its true emotions clear. I scanned its back, looking for a weak spot I could target. Then I spotted a vertical crease in between the monster’s shoulders. Bingo.

Being as swift as possible, I ran up to the Duplo, leaped into the air, and plunged my sword into the crease on the beast’s back. I heard a couple of cracking sounds as it screamed in agony, and it took all I had not to cover my ears and lose my grip. I held onto one of its shoulders, keeping the sword in place with my other hand, as the Duplo began spinning around in an effort to reach me. After a few rotations, it stopped as it realized that wasn’t working. I almost fell when it suddenly halted, but my reflexes luckily kicked in. Pulling my sword out, I kicked the alien monster right where I stabbed it, and down it went. My feet landed on top of it and I rose my sword to take a few whacks, but it swatted me away with one of its limbs. I heard a few gasps from the citizens as I flew backwards into a wall. I grunted in pain. That certainly wasn’t going to help my already existing back troubles. But I knew I couldn’t let the pain overtake me if I wanted to defeat this thing. So I lifted myself up and charged at it again, this time punching it square in the gut and bringing it down once more. It started to swing its limbs at me again, but it froze, likely in fear, as I held my sword directly to where its throat would’ve been if it had a noticeable neck. It whimpered like an upset child, and for a moment I almost felt sorry for the Duplo. But then I remembered this was one of the monsters that continually attacked our world for no apparent reason. I glared at it, leaning inward to try and assert dominance.

“Get out,” I growled darkly, “or you’ll regret ever coming.”

The Duplo glared back at me with its huge, almost pouty eyes. “You’re no fun,” it spoke in its childish voice. It rolled over, causing me to topple off, before leaving the scene and being beamed up into the mysterious spaceship it came from. I put my sword back in the holster and clapped my hands together, straightening myself out. I then turned around to find the citizens of Bricksburg all staring at me with various expressions. I shot them a cheeky, lopsided grin.

“Thought you guys could use another fighter.”

“Light?” a familiar voice gasped from the front of the crowd.

“Ey, Wyldstyle!” I trudged up to her, and we hugged. “How’ve you been?”

“What are you doing here?” she asked, dodging my question.

“Come on, Wyld, you know I’ve been wanting to help you fight off these darn Duplos since the day they first came!”

“How did you…” she struggled to find the words. “That… that was…”

“That was AWESOME!”

My heart shot up into my throat as my attention was drawn to the very object of my affections—Emmet.

“Where did you learn to fight like that??” he excitedly inquired, running up to me. “Your swordsmanship is incredible!! Oh, and all those crazy kicks you were doing was sooooo cool! And when you hit that building I was afraid you were done for but you got back up! Wait, are you okay?? Gosh you must be in so much pain! How did you make such a fantastic comeback after getting hurt so badly?! Wow! You’re amazing!!!”

“Okay Emmet, you’re impressed, we get it.” Wyldstyle pushed him out of the way so she could continue speaking to me. “You do realize what you’re getting yourself into, right?”

I, however, had trouble speaking back up. Emmet thought that highly of my fighting? Emmet, the sweet and strong hero who saved the universe, thought I was amazing?? The guy I had been missing and crushing on for two years was really that impressed by unimpressive me? It was too good to be true.

“Uhhh, yeah, of course I do! This stuff, this is a dangerous endeavor, but I’ve been training and honing my Duplo fighting techniques for two years, and now I’m finally ready to fight alongside you all in Bricksburg.”

“Apocalypseburg.”

“What?”

“We’re actually calling it Apocalypseburg now,” Wyldstyle clarified.

“Oh.” I scratched the back of my neck. “Of course. Leave it to me to never truly know what’s going on.”

“So wait, let me get this straight,” Emmet interrupted our conversation once more. “You trained for two years, specifically so you could fight Duplos here?”

“Exactamundo!” I made a “you got it” gesture. Emmet appeared very awestruck at this point; his wide eyes blinking in wonder and his mouth falling agape just a bit. A warm smile soon appeared on his face.

“Wow… that’s really brave of you.”

I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat as he looked up at me. Oh no, he’s even more adorable than I remembered. It was then that I realized that my crush on him hadn’t gone away even in the least bit.

“I… well I mean, I figured I should give to the cause somehow. So uhh, here I am!”

“Well now that you’re here…” Emmet paused to hold his hand out. “Welcome aboard!”

I hesitated for a moment or two, because goddamn his face was way too adorable for his own good, before taking his outstretched hand and shaking it. I had to resist the urge to kiss his hand instead. “Thanks. I-it’s great to see you again, Emmet.”

“Good to see you too, Light!” My heart fluttered as he smiled that adorable smile of his, but his smile quickly turned into a look of mild confusion. “Wait a minute, is it just me, or did you get taller?”

“Uhh, maybe?” I aimlessly looked upward as if I were attempting to see the top of my own head. I was always on the tall side, and, indeed, I was even a little taller than Emmet. He giggled at my response to the question.

“Alright, well, thanks for helping us out,” Wyldstyle continued, “but where are you going to live?”

“Oh, I just figured I’d build myself a little apartment somewhere, no big deal.”

“Oh, are you a Master Builder now??” Emmet eagerly inquired.

“Actually, no, not yet,” I admitted. “But! I’m still working on it, and I’m not too terrible at building residencies, so all I need to do is find a plot to build on and some bricks to build with and I’m good to go!”

“Good luck with that,” Wyldstyle deadpanned. “Competition is fierce around here. But I admire your enthusiasm anyway.” She patted my shoulder. “Come on Emmet, we’ve got stuff to take care of.”

“Alright, I’m coming!” Emmet jovially responded as he started to follow her. “Take care, Light!” he shouted from over his shoulder. “Hey, we should get coffee together sometime!”

“Y-yeah!” I sputtered, barely waving my hand before he turned back around to face Wyldstyle. As the pair walked off, I noticed just how… happy they looked together. Emmet was bouncing happily alongside Wyldstyle, and she had a genuine smile on her face as he mindlessly chattered with her (or so he appeared to be from where I was). He even excitedly grabbed her hand… oh no.

I shook my head. Why am I so upset about the possibility that they’re dating? I haven’t even seen the guy in two years, and Wyld is my best friend. Am I really gonna let a dumb crush get in the way…?

I sighed, making my way into the remaining ruins of the once great city. Well, I was here now, may as well tough out whatever comes at me.

#my writing #self ship #the lego movie #self shipping #the lego movie 2 #self shipping community #emmet brickowski #wyldstyle #apocalypseburg #f/o: Emmet #pf/o: Wyldstyle #everything is awesome with you #Pieces of Us

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themachiavellianpig · 4 years

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Prodigal Son, Episode 13: Is this what they mean by “working holiday”?

Episode 13 of Prodigal Son, and I'm really late to this party but I am having such a good time right now because this was the most fun episode of Prodigal Son that we have had for quite a while. Holiday suits! Mockery! Monte Cristo themed elaborate demises!

Full review and spoilers below.

Seriously, guys, I am so glad I started watching this show.

The episode beings with a fun look at Malcolm's and Martin's relationship from Martin's own perspective, something that we've been mostly missing up until this point. Given just how gosh-darned enigmatic Martin could be, the opportunity to peak at his subconscious was delightful. Dream!Malcolm was entirely unsubtle, as dreams often are, but it was interesting that Martin admitted openly that Malcolm probably shouldn't be visiting him - even if he can only admit that in his nightmares.

Meanwhile, Actual!Malcolm is trying and failing to muddle his way through a yoga routine, with traumatic flashbacks really throwing off his balance. But it's fine, Malcolm doesn't need his yoga today - he's going on an actual holiday. Jessica bursts in with two gifts for her son - a new holiday outfit and a lift to the airport, courtesy of Gil, who is similarily thrilled that Malcolm is actually taking some time off.

Given how well he knows Malcolm by this point, it really was a bit of an oversight for Gil to leave the police radio on, given that Malcolm has never met a crime scene he didn't want to profile over dinner. Gil's exasperated "Fine!" when agreeing to take Malcolm along made me actually snort with laughter, but not as much as the team's reactions to the white holiday suit - Miami Vice, Bond Villain, Coke Dealer, Colonel Sanders and Ivory Poacher are all suggested as new careers for the snappily dressed Malcolm.

Malcolm brushes aside the gentle mockery to examine the body of a former district attorney who had been shot with a flintlock pistol and had the name of a character from the Count of Monte Cristo carved into his arm.

The crime scene is immediately enlivened by the presence of Dr Tanaka (yay!) and a landmine (definitely not-yay!).

Malcolm, in the first of at least three superhero acts this week, manages to catch the landmine's trigger before it fully activates, giving the coroner's team time to grab the body and hustle out, accompanied by the rest of the team at Malcolm's insistence that he had a plan.

He did not, of course, have a plan when he said that, but fortunately our lead character is very good at thinking on his feet. I'm not sure it would ever have occurred to me to grab a flintlock pistol and use it to shoot my way out of a crime scene's window before a landmine exploded behind me, but that is one of many reasons why I will never be a consultant for the NYPD. I am, however, very sorry about Gil's car, and I'm reasonably sure that Malcolm is as well.

And, of course, it's in that moment, sitting there with an actual landmine in front of him, that Malcolm speaks to his father for the first time in months. Martin is very unconcerned about the landmine, possibly because he's too delighted that Malcolm apparently wanted to hear his father's voice at such a time.

We also get the chance to see Martin back in his normal prison routine, which apparently includes browbeating an inmate called Hector to pretend to be Malcolm in "therapeutic roleplay" so that Martin can practise his conversations with his son ahead of time.

Bloody hell, this family, you guys.

And then Martin calls the police station to share his thoughts on the case with Malcolm and the team. He's still apparently very desperate to know about Malcolm's life, wanting to be introduced to the whole team before he talks shop, and clearly on his best behaviour in front of his son's friends.

I now desparately, desperately want to see him interact with Edrisa. Just, I think that conversation would be amazing and I will pay good money to see it. Please? But only if Edrisa comes out entirely and utterly unharmed.

Now, one of the many advantages of Malcolm grabbing the flintlock pistol as he escaped an exploding landmine is that it made it far easier to trace the gun back to the man who purchased it - who they then find wired into an elaborate sword trap, because apparently Prodigal Son is leaning back into its Hannibal vibe this week.

And then Malcolm gets the team to cut the man free while he catches the falling swords before they impale their new source. And amazingly no one really tries to stop him.

Sidenote: I am so glad that both I and the show itself decided to stop take all this crime-fighting business so seriously. And the slide under all the tripwires was also extremely cool, I will admit.

Once not-at-risk-of-impalement, their new source fills them in on the person he purchased the gun and the swords for - Mr Taylor, a member of the so-called New York royalty, who is about to get married in the social event of the season (which Jessica has scored an invite to and which Ainsley is reporting on, and I feel that having two Whitlys at any event surely infinitely raises the potential of hijinks. Surely.)

We get a little bit of next backstory - a very suspicious "accident" in which Isabella, the daughter of the family's cook, was killed and which the drug-using Taylor heir had absolutely nothing to do with,thank you very much.

Such a tale of woe, all neatly swept under the rug by the family's enforcers who are now being targetted, fits the Monte Cristo theme so neatly that the team immediately zeroes in on Cal Taylor as the third victim, and Malcolm and Gil head over to ruin a man's wedding day.

And a good thing they did too, because they find Ernesto, Isabella's father, running around the old bootlegging tunnels, surely up to some sort of nefarious deed.

With a really good suspect in custody, Gil does, to his credit, do his absolute best to get Malcolm to go on his holiday, even sending Dani along to make sure he goes to the airport. But Dani and Malcolm are increasingly thick as theieves and, when Malcolm admits that he doesn't want to go on holiday because he's scared of what he thinks about with no work to distract him, she agrees to go with him to visit Martin - Malcolm isn't convinced by Ernesto as the killer, and he wants a second opinion from someone who is not constantly trying to put him on an airplane.

And this, not the dream sequence from earlier, is the first time that Malcolm and Martin really see each other since Malcolm learnt about the camping trip. Unlike the hallucination of Martin from two episodes ago, the real Martin doesn't admit to doing any such thing - not because he would have been incapable of killing his own son, but because he wouldn't have failed to do so if that was truly his wish.

Which, you know, isn't a very comforting response, but it doesn't feel a lot more honest than a lot of the stuff that Martin says.

It's enough for Malcolm to hand over the case file, at any rate. Martin agrees that Ernesto doesn't fit, claiming that such an ending lacks the drama surely required by the earlier crime scenes. Malcolm instead zeroes in on Isabella herself - what if she wasn't actually dead, but instead was back for revenge against the people who took everything from her?

After a brief pause to get Malcolm and Dani dress-code approved, the two gatecrash the wedding (with Gil's knowledge - I'm so glad Malcolm might actually be learning about 'backup' and 'telling people where you're going', I really am),

They get another conversation with Cal Taylor, Isabella's former boyfriend, who admits to driving the boat, admits to loving Isabella, and admits that he begged his father to help find Isabella after the crash - and that his father refused to even call the authorities, valuing his son's future over a girl's life.

And so the final victim isn't going to be Cal at all, but his very smarmy father instead. Realising at literally the last possible moment that Isabella was planning to shoot Taylor Senior during his speech, Malcolm grabs the microphone and fillibusters his way through several excuriating minutes about failed fathers and quiestionable choices before Isabella reveals herself - and the gun she stole to shoot Taylor.

There was then a fantastic little moment in which Malcolm tries to talk down Isabella with a quote from Dumas - and for a brief moment it seems like maybe it worked, but then Isabella goes all shooty instead. In his third and final superhero act of the week, Malcolm tackles Taylor behind the table before Isabella can kill him, and Dani gets to arrest someone while looking absolutely drop-dead gorgeous.

Jessica basks in a little positive social publicity as her son is revealed to be the saviour of the night - genuinely, the look on her face when Malcolm introduced himself as her son was adorable. And then she steals an entire bottle of champagne on her way out, because she deserves it.

Finally, on the way out, Malcolm and Jessica check in with Ainsley, who seems delighted that she gets to report on an attempted murder rather than just a boring society wedding. And we get confirmation that Jessica was invited to the wedding because her daughter sneakily pulled some strings, just because she knew how much getting invited to an event like the Taylor wedding would mean to her socialite mother. It is perhaps the cutest thing Ainsley has done so far this season, and I love her a little bit for it.

Previous Prodigal Son reviews are available here.

#prodigal son #Episode Recap #episode review #Thomas Payne #michael sheen #bellamy young #Keiko Agena #themachiavellianpig watches

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mysticsparklewings · 4 years

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Holiday Card Project 2019

Oh would you look at that; I’m participating in the deviantArt Holiday Card Project again this year! Just like last year, my crafty efforts aren’t really done proper justice by scans or photos, so I’ll be uploading a short video...somewhere (probably Instagram but we’ll see) and then link back to it to hopefully show it off a bit more. It’s funny though, I’d almost forgotten about HCP until I got the notification that it had opened for this year. And yet I was so concerned about having it in the mail on time that I got this one done pretty much in one day. I think last year's card took me closer to 2 days and I was pushing my luck that it would get there in time. My process for this year went as follows: I browsed around on Pinterest for a while, as I hadn’t the foggiest idea what to do. During that process, I latched onto a concept I saw a few times; Christmas lights and the phrase “merry and bright,” and so I went with that. Already I had the idea of the lights being across the top of the card, with a real piece of thread (which would later be changed to wire as the idea occurred to me while I was digging for some other supplies) connecting them. After some thought, I decided I wanted to add some cotton to the bottom to add a little more pizzazz. Because if last year’s HCP taught me anything, it’s that I like to go big or go home for the occasion. And I knew where I could get some too; the fields next to the house have already been picked for this year, but there was still a good amount of cotton leftover on the stalks near the edges. Let me tell you, I have a newfound appreciation for whoever invented a mechanical way to take the seeds out of cotton, because gosh darn it if that process is not far more tiresome than you’d think! I think I finally did manage to get them all out, but now I know why it’s probably just easier to buy cotton or polyester fiberfill. XD Anyway. With my mind made up and a handle full of cotton at the ready, I started on the actual card part. In the past, for my card needs I’ve usually used some of the pre-folded & cut cards my mom has on hand, but this time I didn’t feel like bothering her about it. So instead I grabbed a piece of my gold-shimmer cardstock and cut it down so that once I folded it I’d have a 5” x 7” card. (As that’s what Google told me was a fairly common size for greeting cards and would fit comfortably in most standard envelopes.) Then I used my trick from my book-making endeavors of using the edge of scissors to “score” the folding line on one side of the card to make that process easier. In trying to make some stamps I didn’t end up using magically appear from whoever they were hiding, I found some metallic gold stripey paper in my stash and had the idea to cover the outside of the card with it, maybe. At the time I was a little bit skeptical if I wanted to do that, but I pulled it out and set it on the desk anyway so I could have the option if I wanted it. And as you can see, I ended up deciding to go for it, though at this point in the process I simply measured out and cut it as needed; I wouldn’t attach it until later. Then I paused and used the scrap cardstock pieces to test some pens and such, only to find I was only minimally (at best) interested in using any of them. I had some ideas to incorporate certain things but they were things I couldn’t really try out until I had more of the card finished, and some things I couldn’t figure out solutions for until then either. So I swatched out some marker colors and started practicing on some print outs of the Christmas light shape—which is fortunately had the foresight to do the said printing out before I got into the thick of everything else—only to find that I just really was not happy with the blends I was getting. I think the main problem is that I just didn’t have certain colors I needed, but the glowing/fade effect I was trying to get was also totally new territory for me and I seemed to only get worse the more times I tried it. In the end, I picked out a “base” shade for each Christmas light color from the markers and then selected a dark, a “true color” and a highlight from my Prismacolor pencils to do the shading instead. There were still challenges to be had, but this system worked a lot better for me. Benefits of being a mixed media artist: if one medium just isn’t doing it for you, you can bring in others to level the playing field The lights then got bright shine spots courtesy of my white Gelly roll pen and their little silver bits I did with a silver Art Philosophy watercolor. Even though I was already anticipating the silver getting kind of lost against the gold in the background. I had a vision and I was sticking to it. In addition to that vision, once the lights were safe to handle I glued them to a piece of foam and then left them alone to dry, figuring it would be easier and simpler to cut them out if I only had to do it once. As such, the edges aren’t super smooth, but otherwise, I think that was the right call. While they dried, I then attached the gold-stripe paper to the card surface and started thinking about where and how I would implement the text parts of the card. (And at some point I took a break to figure out the full inside and outside please, as originally all I was going on was “merry and bright,” though I don’t remember when exactly in the process that was.) Here, I had the idea that black paper might look cool. The only black paper I have is a pad of Crayola stuff that I think is actually for practicing calligraphy or hand lettering or something? My original plan was to take one of the pages out and use the blank back, but as I filled through I saw some of the cut out frame-y things and took a look to see if any of them would work for what I wanted/needed, and you can see the two I picked out. Though the one on the inside of the card had only the black and gray/silver originally; the colors I added by hand with my gel pens since it felt like it really needed it. The black paper on the inside also needed a little more attention than the one on the outside. I didn’t cut either of them perfectly straight, but there were a lot more distracting elements that were going to be on the outside, so it was far less noticeable there. On the inside, I ended up going around the edge with some gold and white washi tape that when well with the outside of the card to camouflage the uneven edges. By the time I had all the various papers properly attached to each other and the top edge inside of the card decorated with a strip of glitter tape and a repeating stamp of Christmas lights to tie in with the outside, I felt the lights were dry enough to cut out, so I did. And that meant that the /real/ card assembly could begin. I punched little holes in the tops of the lights for the wire I’d add in later and then fiddled with their placement for a bit before gluing them down...which I then I had to wait for about twenty minutes before I could proceed if I wanted things to dry mostly flat. So while that took its sweet time to dry I went back to the Crayola black paper pad to one of the pages with a grid on it to practice writing out the words for both the outside and inside of the card. In doing so, I discovered that the uni-ball Signo white pen, while bolder and brighter than the Gelly roll, made my cursive almost illegible by virtue of having a thicker tip. Which is why I went with the Gelly roll instead. Just printed handwriting didn’t feel right; I really wanted the fancier look of the cursive. However, I also wanted whoever gets the card to actually be able to read it too. Eventually, the lights, while not fully dry, were dry enough that I could comfortably move on with the assembly. And hindsight, perhaps I should’ve tried stringing the lights onto the wire before gluing them down. The main issue I had was that once I got the wire poked through the hole, it’d bump into the card on the other side and then not want to go anywhere at all. I had to play with it each time to get the wire to come all the way through so I could pull it to the next one. Or maybe that would’ve made the gluing process more difficult than it was worth? We’ll never know. And then I got to attach the cotton. That actually ended up being a much smoother process than I anticipated, as the cotton doesn’t really separate from itself unless you pull it apart, so once I had parts of a clump glued down they were pretty stationary. This was also the first time I dared use my crafting heat gun since I purchased it (which was a while ago; after reading the warnings the first time I’ve been too chicken to use it for fear of catching something on fire by accident ) as I originally thought I’d need more glue and I’d need to glue some clumps on, dry them, and then glue some more. Fortunately, I seemingly put my big girl panties on for nothing as, after the initial layer of glue, I really only needed to glue a couple of other clumps down separately, and as I mentioned the cotton stick to the wet glue well enough on its own. But I had psyched myself up and gotten the thing set up, so once all the cotton was glued down I used the heat gun to dry the glue faster anyway. I was amped up the whole time but I, fortunately, did not burn anything in the process! I did end up going back and adding some blue gel pen to the black paper on the inside, as that was the only color not there and it felt sorely lacking, giving the lights elsewhere on the card. But other than that, once the cotton was all squared away, the card was done. And I’ll be honest; I still like the card I made last year, but I think I’ve really outdone myself this time. There’s just something about the style of this card I enjoy so much more.

It’s equally over-the-top (as is my crafting specialty ) but it’s more refined, somehow, I think. Either way, all that’s left to do now is mail it off and hope that the recipient is as pleased with the card as I am. I can’t believe I’ve actually finished with it this early though! That’s so unlike me; I’m usually the one sneaking things in right on top of the deadline. But hey that means now I have one less thing on my to-do list so I can focus on other things...which may or may not include a holiday-themed kitty drawing in the works... ____ Artwork © me, MysticSparkleWings ____ Where to find me & my artwork: My Website | Commission Info + Prices | Ko-Fi | dA Print Shop | RedBubble | Twitter | Tumblr | Instagram

#holidaycardproject2019 #christmas #christmascrafts #handmade #holidaycards #merryandbright

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winchesterprincessbride · 6 years

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The Parent Trap-Part 4

Part 1 My Master List

Pairing: Sam X past reader, Sam X Ruby (currently)

A/N: Did you like the movie “The Parent Trap” as a kid? It is one of my favorite movies! I decided to write my own version, with a Supernatural twist, of course!

Summary: Mary Winchester and Annie Campbell meet at summer camp, and they quickly realize they look too much alike for it to be a coincidence. They are twins! Their parents, Sam Winchester and Y/N Campbell divorced 12 years before, each taking custody of one girl. Now Sam lives in California and Y/N in New York. The girls hatch a plan to bring their parents back together, but will Sam’s new fiancee ruin their plans? Mary

“Are you sure you can do this?” Mary asked doubtfully as Annie pulled a pair of scissors from her suitcase.

“Piece of cake!” Annie replied confidently. “Just have a little faith, okay?” Looking at herself critically in the mirror, she began to snip away at Mary’s long hair.

Mary shut her eyes tightly and prayed she wouldn’t end up bald. Her Dad loved her hair, and when she finally did go home she knew he was going to have a fit. Sorry, Daddy, she thought to herself as her head felt lighter and lighter.

“There!” Annie said with a flourish. “Open your eyes, for Pete’s sake!”

When Mary looked at her reflection in the mirror, her mouth dropped open in surprise. “Oh my gosh! I look just like…”

“Me!” Her twin finished. “I know, right?” She leaned her head in next to Mary’s. “They will never be able to tell us apart now.”

Annie

“Where do I go to school?” Annie asked after thinking for a moment.

“Washington Junior High,” Mary answered promptly, responding with a question of her own. “What does Uncle Dean call his car?”

Annie paused. “His Baby?” She asked tentatively.

“Are you asking me or telling me?” Mary questioned.

Biting back the bitchy remark she really wanted to say, Annie replied, “Telling you, oh great and mighty quiz mistress.”

Mary sighed and crossed her arms, looking so much like their mom when she was mad it was comical. “This is serious! We don’t have to just look like each other. We have to be each other for this to work. You get that, right?”

“Yeah, I get it! I know what’s at stake here!” Annie grumbled. So what are my neighbors' names?”

“The Espositos on the right, Mrs. Dunner on the left, and the Jacobson's across the hall!” Mary grinned triumphantly. “What’s my best friend’s name?”

“Abby. No, wait! Ashley? Aubrey?” Annie had never been good at memorizing things.

“NO! It’s Ivy! How’s it going to look when I come home from camp and I don’t know my best friends name? You have to get this stuff or you aren’t going to last a day!” Mary ran her hands through her now-short hair in frustration.

“Look, I’m trying! I don’t have a photographic memory like you! I’m doing the best I can, so stop yelling at me!” Annie demanded as she jumped off her bunk and began to pace.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Mary asked quietly. “We go home tomorrow. It’s not too late to back out. We can think of something else.”

“No way. We are doing this. Now shut up and ask me another question.” Annie said determinedly.

“Did you really need all this stuff?” Annie hissed as she tried to maneuver Mary’s bags out the door.

As the twins exited their cabin and headed to say goodbye to their friends, they ran into Mrs. Rinaldi. “Well, girls. I hope you enjoyed camp. I’m glad you were able to work out your differences. I like your hair, Mary.”

“Thanks. Camp was fun.” Annie responded. Mary just nodded in agreement, and Mrs. Rinaldi moved on.

Annie had an earlier flight than Mary, so she was in the first van to the airport. They started to load up, and she turned to her sister. “Well, this is it, I guess.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Mary echoed and launched herself into Annie’s arms. “I’m so happy we found each other.” She whispered in her sister’s ear, hugging her tightly.

Annie returned the hug. “Me too. You have my number. Text me with updates. Operation Double Trouble starts now.” She said with a grin.

Mary

Mary watched Annie’s van pull away, and felt a strange emptiness, like part of her, was missing. She had never felt this way before. Since she had some time to kill, she decided to go and talk to some of Annie’s bunkmates from Evergreen Cabin. She wanted to see if her “Annie” could fool them and if she needed to tweak it at all.

Mary spent the next two hours talking to Annie’s friends and they had no idea whatsoever that she wasn’t Annie. This is going to be so easy. She thought smugly. When it was time, she loaded her stuff into the van, said goodbye to her “friends”, and was soon on her way to the airport.

The flight from Michigan to La Guardia was boring, but Mary just couldn’t let herself relax. At the end of this, she was going to get to meet her mother…..finally! But as far as she was concerned, it had only been two weeks since she’d last seen her.

As the plane taxied to the gate, she began to panic. She pulled out her phone, and there was a text from Annie, code-named “Amanda” in case anyone saw her phone. But she was supposed to delete the texts as soon as she read them, just to be safe.

It said simply, You got this! She grinned as she deleted the text. “Darn right, I do.” She told herself.

Mary would have recognized you anywhere. You were standing at the edge of the crowd of people, and your face broke out in an excited grin as soon as you saw her. You ran forward, enveloping her into a hug, and Mary held tightly for a moment, reveling in your embrace. You smelled like honeysuckle.

“I sure missed you, Annie! I know it’s only been two weeks, but I swear you got taller! How is that even possible? So, did you have fun?”

“Yeah, I did, but I’m really happy to be home with you,” Mary told her mother with a smile.

“How was the food? Still awful?” you asked, wrinkling your nose.

“You have no idea.”

“I made your favorite for dinner to welcome you home,” you told Mary as the two of you headed towards the baggage claim area.

“Beef stew, yay!�� Mary said brightly, trying to summon up some enthusiasm. The fact that she had been a vegetarian for the past year was going to be a bit of a problem. Annie told her to just not eat the meat and if you asked to make up a story about one of your bunkmates being a vegan and really rubbing off on you.

Annie

I am Mary, I am Mary, I am Mary.

Annie kept telling herself this over and over during the flight from Michigan to San Diego. Her nerves were wound so tight she felt like she was going to explode. Something told her that Mary would need some encouragement, so she sent her a quick text using her “Amanda” alias. She got a smiley-face back in return. Mary was “Megan” in her phone to throw off suspicion.

In a few minutes, she would get off the plane as Mary Winchester, and “Operation Double Trouble” would be in motion. They hadn’t really discussed how long they were going to let this go before revealing their true identities, but they had the rest of the summer to figure that out.

Annie paused on the jetway and looked back at the plane. There was no turning back. She took a deep breath, threw her carryon over her shoulder, and marched out the door into the airport. There were a lot of people waiting, and she didn’t see anyone, so she stopped and scanned the crowd.

“Mary? Holy crap, what did you do to your hair?” A deep voice said behind Annie, and she whirled around. A tall man was standing behind her with a playful grin on his face.

“Hey, Uncle Dean! I cut it, do you like it?” Holy crap, Uncle Dean was hot! Mary didn’t say our uncle was practically a male model!

He pulled you into a hug. ‘I can actually see your face now, it looks good.”

“Where is Dad? Didn’t he come?” Annie tried to keep the disappointment from her voice.

“And miss his baby girl’s arrival? Are you kidding? He’s in the bathroom. He’s gonna be so mad that I got to see you first. So, did you like camp? Juliet has been pouting since you left.”

Juliet….Juliet….Oh yeah, the dog. “I can’t wait to see my baby, I’ve missed her so much!” Annie tried her best to sound convincing. In fact, she was a little nervous about meeting the dog. Mary had assured her Juliet was a big teddy bear, but big dogs made her nervous.

“Mary, baby, you’re home!” An even taller man came sprinting up to her and Dean, and Annie’s mouth dropped slightly. None of her friends' dads looked like him. Whoa!

“Hi, Daddy!” She said in her best Mary-ish voice and he enveloped her in a hug. He was huge.

“You cut your hair, I see.” He said, fingering the short strands.

“Yep, my bunkmate Amanda cut it. I really like it this way.” Annie said defiantly, waiting to see how he would respond.

“Well, if you like it, then I do too,” Sam told her. “Let’s go get your bags and head home.”

They headed out to the parking garage, both of them peppering her with questions about camp. They stopped at a gorgeous black classic car, and Annie ran her hand over its shiny bumper. She was a total gear-head. Her neighbor Mr. Esposito worked in a garage, and sometimes she and her friend Carlos, his son, would go visit him at the shop when he was working late to bring him dinner.

She looked up, and Uncle Dean was giving her an odd look. “Don’t tell me you missed my Baby while you were gone?” He said with a smirk.

“I missed everything, Uncle Dean! Even you!”

The drive home was breathtaking. The city soon gave way to rolling hills, beaches and ocean. California was breathtaking. Uncle Dean was really funny and made Annie laugh.

“So what did you do while I was gone, Dad? Anything exciting?” Annie asked Sam.

Sam and Dean exchanged a look. “Actually, honey, I wanted to talk to you about that,” Sam told Annie. “I’ve been seeing someone, and I spent some time with her while you were gone. I’d like you to meet her. She’s going to join us for dinner tonight.”

She looked at him in horror. “Seeing her? Like a girlfriend?”

Before Sam could answer, his phone rang. It was his office calling, and he started talking in legal-ese and Annie tuned out. Unzipping her backpack, she slid her hands inside and grabbed her phone. She quickly sent Mary a text.

Dad has been “seeing someone”. She is coming to dinner tonight. I will call to discuss. 1 a.m. NY time. set your alarm!

Part 5

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ghostmartyr · 5 years

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Pokémon Black 2 Randomized Nuzlocke Run [Part 3]

With some interesting carnage leading us through it, the second badge has been earned. Better yet, we got a TM for a Special Poison move, so Caspet can now be a little more secure in her help.

Team as of the moment:

Stella (Poliwhirl)

Caspet (Gastly)

Okay then.

New routes please.

Hey me.

I have been invited to Pokestar Studios. It’s like Hollywood. Roxie’s dad ran off there to be a movie star. Roxie’s now running off there to talk him out of it. We’re going to run off there and have a terrible time with movies.

I don’t know why I remember the movie place. I think there was either some achievement or plot barrier there, and I hated the process but perfectionism insisted on trying again and... idk. Hopefully that distaste won’t be part of this run.

Can I please just be allowed to catch a third party member.

Is there any grass here. Please.

Stop dragging me to movies.

Stop dragging me to terrible movies.

Like there’s clearly some Emotions going on with Roxie’s father, but oh my gosh I do not play these games for becoming a movie star. ;-; Free me. ;-;

I have control of myself again, so I don’t know if I actually have to shoot a movie, but I feel like Roxie and her dad might require me to, and in any case, one won’t hurt too badly. I guess.

Wait, was it a medal thing? Is that why I made myself nuts over this?

Movie shot, script followed, yay, leaving.

Ahoy, plot!

Sequel Team Plasma is so very open about wanting to take over the world. How refreshing. They’ve gone from knights to pirates. Most excellent.

Pop Roxie is back to captaining, so it’s time to run off to Castelia and find another darn teammate.

And our first act of being in Castelia is a clown giving us a bicycle. Rocking.

A boat takes us to Liberty Garden. I think this is where Victini is if Victini is activated, but I’m not sure if that will be the case with this version. The important question is... does it also have other grass.

Fuckdamn it doesn’t.

Yay, entering random buildings in Castelia gave me an Exp. Share.

In keeping with me doing stupid things, I go to the Game Freak building and chat up some of the trainers who are not nearly as strong as they are post-game, thank goodness.

I really.

Really.

Would like.

More than two pokemon in my party.

I also finally gave in and talked to the medal guy in the Pokemon Center.

My achievement hunting tendencies are going to be the largest obstacle between me and any progress ever.

-whispers-

I want all of them.

Other conversations gave me an Eviolite, so that goes to Stella. ...Wait, no, Caspet. Uggggggh.

Burgh is missing from his Gym, which is fine, since I don’t think I’m ready for another round. I’m just walking around trying to check off whatever plot stuff I can that will let me catch something else.

Oh hey, I think talking to Iris opens up the sewers! I think that means I can catch something down there! !!!!

Pleeeeeease give me something.

Please, ominous guise of darkness.

Oh no.

Russell’s partnering with us, so. Uh. What’s the rule for this? I have to catch the first thing I see, but as long as I’m in a duo, I won’t be able to throw a ball very easily...

Fuuuuuuck.

Okay. We took out Panpour.

I have the ability to throw a ball, which means.

This is my catch option for the route.

Haaaa. And Russell’s Dewott is using Fury Cutter. Its damage will keep going up. I think I have two tries to catch it.

Yeehaw.

Try one is a bust.

Oh hey that’s neat! The Dewott used Razor Shell on Stella, because Stella has Water Absorb and had taken damage! That’s smarter than I expected from the partner AI.

And that means I can spare a turn or two trying to put Serperior to sleep. Since Stella still has Hypnosis.

Yo, it hit! And Dewott heals me again!

But. I need Serperior to be more damaged. I shouldn’t risk attacking. ...I’ll just keep throwing balls and wait for Dewott to hurt it a little more.

HECK YEAH WHO’S DA MAN.

Hot damn that was stressful.

Now I gotta give this girl a name.

Sylarana, wanna rock?

Also, now having Russell with me is a good thing, because this squad could use some levels.

What are you like, Syl?

She’s Careful and proud of her power.

Yeah, pride looks good on that sprite.

I don’t know what Serperior’s stats are with a neutral nature. That takes some stress off, since I’ll just go with the flow, but I prefer to know what I’m getting into, usually. Either way, Defense is stronger than Attack, and that’s just fine.

Female Nidoran are down here, too.

This is working out well enough. Yay for buddy healing. I almost don’t want it to ever end. It’s so convenient.

I shouldn’t do this forever, though. That would get boring fast.

My starter breathing. Also cool pirate outfits in Pokemon Go.

Mooks dispatched.

Gym Leader located!

Look at Burgh being all artsy with his tour of the sewers.

Huh, and Russell just hands us Strength. Because all our pals are true bros in this gen.

Then a dude with anime hair walks out of the hole in the wall.

YO NEW ROUTE.

‘ello there.

...I am possibly not going to be able to catch you due to lack of poke balls and you being remarkably stubborn.

Hey, there we go!

What to name you... what to name you... A magnificent sea serpent with a rainbow tail...

Nessy!

Without Russell healing us every fight, we can’t stick around. Back out of the sewers we go, to receive happy words from Iris. Well. Sort of happy words. She worries about Russell and tells us to challenge the Gym.

I, being a compliant sort, walk back into the sewers after healing.

Okay I guess it’s a cave. Sylarana out front, Nessy with Exp. Share while I contemplate what the heck this team does against a Bug Gym.

Ooooh, Forretress.

...

Is. is there anywhere I can go that can pave the way to me getting a Fire pokemon?

You know what, I don’t like things that blow themselves up at me. Guh, this is taking forever. I might need to buy a few Repels just so I can explore the cave properly... I believe there’s grass somewhere past the sewers, and if I could have a slightly more diverse team going into the next whatever, I’d like it.

Oh, and before I forget, Nessy!

She is Quirky and mischievous. She and Stella have half their personalities in common. Delightful. Marvel Scale is also a neat ability to have. Not one I can utilize properly because I’m a competitive failure, but still cool.

Neat, there’s Pidgeot down here.

Looks like there’s not much of the cave to explore at this point in the game. Ah well. Back to the sewers.

Hm. Would the desert north of Castelia be open to me yet? That could prove useful. Heck, is anywhere outside of this city open? I just need a little patch of grass somewhere new.

Bridge still being inspected.

A wild Bianca appears!

Dowsing Machine get!

Hello, this is new.

But there’s still spots of desert.

OH MY GOSH LOOK AT IT.

Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh.

Caught!

Your new name is Itsy, and you are much beloved!

Itsy is Modest and somewhat vain, and ouch that is not a nature I think I like for this little one, but adorableness beats everything, so we’re good.

Butterfree is also in the desert. Oooo Pawniard. Back to the sewers, though. Easier training fodder.

Grass located!

...And if I were a better trainer, I would go back and buy poke balls before exploring, but I have the impulse control of a toddler. Oh, and it’s dark grass vs. light grass...

Decision will be made by rapidly running between the two and seeing what triggers an encounter first.

Dark grass it is!

Aaaaaaaa fuck off.

I love Lapras so much. So so so so so so so so much. But I have two Water pokemon already, as well as an Ice one. I. can’t focus on catching the Lapras. It would be a bad idea.

You have never seen anyone so sad to encounter a Dratini during a Nuzlocke.

The wild Lapras fainted.

Oh fucking hell the Dratini knows Dragon Rage and both my pokemon are under 40 HP. Caspet’s turn on healing Caspet, Sylarana’s turn on getting her out of there.

Okay. Confused and slept.

Now I just. catch it. With four poke balls and two great balls left.

...Three poke balls, and guess who woke up.

Great ball. C’mon great ball.

..One great ball left.

Also if Dratini hurts itself in confusion one more time it is dead.

FORTUNE SMILES ON THE CRIMINALLY STUPID.

Now let’s run everyone back through the sewers and--

Did. did I really hit the no nickname option.

Ffs.

Okay, run back through the sewers, hit the Pokemon Center, and then name the critter. The Name Rater’s somewhere in the city, I think.

Heh. The guy in the alleyway still gives us Flash.

Congratulations, Puff! You are now eligible for activity!

Puff is Quiet and alert to sounds. An adorable addition to our squad. He’s going to be temporarily up front thanks to Dragon Rage. The Game Freak fights are once a day, and it’s been a day, so!

I believe in you, Puff!

Dragon Rage is so op this early. Dreamor agrees. But Puff’s ours, so that makes it okay.

Hm. I have six now. They could keep each other out of trouble.

There are so many areas in these sewers I can’t get to. Or maybe I can, it just involves more maze work than I’m expecting. ...Yeah, it’s looking like that side. Hey, a nurse guy! Yay for less walking up to the Pokemon Center.

Oh, and Poison... might be super effective against Bug? I think the whatsit thing he has is Bug/Grass, so that isn’t actually much of a confirmation. Eh, I’ll find out soon enough.

I’ve found a room full of Zweilous. That’s a safe grinding area, right? Itsy’s got Ice and everything. Vullaby and Dwebble are also here.

Heeeeeey, Caspet’s evolving!

And wants to learn another physical Ghost move.

Bye Lick.

Okay, Gym it is.

...Wow Burgh. Really went full Art on the place, huh? Did trainers complain that you were forcing them to walk through honey before letting them fight you?

Puff’s up first. I don’t have much type advantage here, so it’s just going to be hitting things until they break.

Burgh.

Hey Burgh.

This Gym is creepy.

The cocoons just suck you in and zoom you up. Only think Willy Wonka style.

Mooks have level 20s, so this should be a little uncomfortable for a few of the younger members, but Caspet, Stella, and Sylarana should be fine. For now, Puff’s still in front and Dragon Raging all the things.

And we’re going to the Pokemon Center after every fight, but hey. Baby steps in all things. Puff is on one of the slower exp tracks, so every little bit helps.

...Burgh. Buddy.

You want to talk?

This Gym feels like a cry for help.

In true shounen protagonist style, I will settle your troubled emotions through battle! Even if none of the dialogue will admit to how concerning the aesthetics of your chosen arena are!

Everything is hitting critical hits.

...Oh wait, I’m supposed to narrate these fights, aren’t I?

Uh. Swadloon down, Dwebble down, Leavanny left, Leavanny’s level 24. Caspet’s out to deal with it after Puff handled Swadloon and Nessy handled Dwebble.

Caspet one-shots it like a champ, and on we go.

Burgh, this trinket in no way makes me less concerned for you.

Still, though! Everyone’s alive, and we have a team full of six! Nice work, ladies and Puff. Five more badges to go! Let’s hope they go well!

#Pokemon #Nuzlocke Challenge

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glendavidgold-blog · 6 years

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Hemlock

I neither spell-checked nor edited this. Apologies. It’s hard for me to even re-read this, and I wrote it.

One of the lessons of William Shirer’s The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich is that Hitler couldn’t have happened anywhere or any time else. He was a unique plague that destroyed one particular culture by exploiting all of the weaknesses it had swept under the rug while otherwise feeling it was the most educated, most enlightened democracy possible. The people with some power over their lives felt too comfortable to confront the problems that were already obvious. Hitler in a way was a karmic answer to hubris. I’m not sure Shirer says this directly (it’s been 30 years since I’ve read the book) but every era gets the villain it deserves.

This is what currently scares me about Trump. It is almost diabolical, almost Shakespearean how perfectly he has slipped through every alleged check and balance. He is the product of every problem America has pretended doesn’t exist – dynastic wealth, the mafia, corruption, sexism, unchecked capitalism, etc – and he has consolidated power by exploiting racism, hostility, fear, income inequality and holes in the system that turned out to rely on office holders having a conscience.

In 1933, shortly after Hitler took power – six weeks, in fact – my grandfather wrote a prescient account of what that monster would do next. It was accurate, if not bold enough in its predictions (but how could he, an 18 year old, predict the holocaust?). I have always wondered what I would do in his position, if I would notice what he had noticed, and the answer is no, I have tried to hold onto optimism when that is now clearly no longer useful.

When I was in high school, I was taught in Ancient History that the fall of Athens as a seat of democracy was symbolized by the moment Socrates was forced to drink hemlock. Socrates was executed for the time of inculcating youth with dangerous ideas, but also the death was symbolic, one that should have been avoided, would have been in another time and place. I’m not sure that’s a popular idea now, and even my teacher said it was a problematic moment to choose. Instead, it was a moment among many other moments where someone outside of the system could point to it and say that a functioning agora would not have allowed it to happen.

This, unfortunately, resonates with me now. The confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court might just have been our hemlock moment. It’s hard to tell for sure (it was hard for Athens to tell, too) but the fact is, a legislative body in charge of making laws has just thrown all evidence to the wind – evidence not just of sexual assault but of serious financial crimes -- in the excitement of causing the ascendency of a terrible man.

I don’t think there’s a single reason this happened and that too frightens me, because it’s overdetermined. The senate decided that they only needed to give brief intellectual cover for their reasons to embrace him, and their base agreed: make him a judge for life. What he serves as an avatar of is so many things: misogyny, angering the left, bringing on the Apocalypse (more about this later), ignoring the will of the majority of people, but mostly this: he is a promise that if you are on the side of Republicans, they will never hold you accountable. That is powerful magic for people who feel like victims. That is powerful magic for people who like the idea of being washed clean of their sins without having to do any work for it.

So now Trump controls the entire government, and that has happened with blinding speed. There is a mid term election coming. I am going to do everything in my power to make my vote count. I’m going to encourage everyone to vote, as I believe that a majority of people in America believe in the American ideal rather than the fascism that we’re descending into. There is a strong possibility, given the polls, that we will take back the House, which is something, and we might make the Senate difficult for them, too. This will ease things, a little, while we protest and protest and stay alert until 2020, when we can throw the rest of the criminals out.

But.

I have a small glimmer, a nugget of worry that started when the truth about Kavanaugh came out, and he was confirmed anyway. The way I put it then was that we are living through one of those times so well described in McCay’s Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, a 19th century treatise on times in human history where huge crowds of people have seemingly gone insane. He cites the now-familiar Tulipmania, as well as other financial manias, witch hunts, that kind of thing. I was feeling that the Republican party had locked arms and were launching their own political Jonestown, guaranteeing a kind of suicide when Democrats started filling the offices.

I’m no longer so sure. One of the other things that fueled Trump’s rise, beyond all the specific American institutions that failed us, is that he knows how to channel the masses’ anger in a way that I have no experience with and no empathy for. It’s working for them. It’s exciting to the politicians, too. I see Trump is doing it again now, calling the left criminals who can’t be governed. He says the left is looking for violence. The left knows this is ridiculous. Democrats are wishy-washy, the party that steps out of the shower to pee. To paraphrase Ted Mooney, The right wants to win –we want to be loved.

But there is an old, familiar trick that’s political in nature – accuse the other side of what you’re doing. And right now we are at a place where one of three things is going on. First, and most optimistic, is that the leaders have overplayed their hands. They literally have no idea how angry and how determined women and minorities and those of us who happen to like progressive values are. When they say, as Mitch McConnell did of the sexual assault victims who protested, “I want to thank these clowns for all the help they provided,” he means it. He’s in his own bubble. Republicans have never seen an angry liberal who knows how to fight back politically. So maybe it’s that, and maybe when there’s a blue wave, they’re going to be genuinely shocked. After all, Romney believed Fox News about Obama in the face of facts, and he got his ass handed to him in the election.

The next possibility is that even they don’t know what’s going to happen next. They got lucky and they’ll feel emboldened, and they’re just going to go one evil step at a time. So far everything has worked for them, but there’s no real plan, just the erotic pleasure of power.

Possibility number three is much worse. Something we have told ourselves – I have told myself – is that the Republicans are just too arrogant to actually be efficient in making fascism work. I’m starting to wonder if I’ve been wrong about that.

The voting experience has already been rigged in ways we know about – gerrymandering, throwing possible Democrats off the voter rolls, killing access to the polls, the lack of paper ballots that may or may not mean there’s computer hacking that changes vote totals. (And I have to say that final thing might be paranoia, that people know it CAN be done but no one seems to be saying it HAS been done. Still, the lack of controls over it isn’t just maddening, puzzling or worrying – they only reason to have an open door like that is to invite a malevolent force.) We know we have to struggle against that. We know that even with all that stuff in place, there are so many of us that we should win.

But I worry that they’re so confident because they do have a plan. I have a worry that there’s something the new Supreme Court can do between now and Election Day that fucks us. Specifically I worry that there’s something Trump does that fucks us and it’s illegal and that the Supreme Court, in an emergency session, upholds it. Maybe that’s wrong. Maybe that’s just out of the realm of possibility. Maybe we’ll get to vote.

What if voting doesn’t work? What if, the day after the election, it’s fishy? Or more than that – obviously it’s been rigged? The Democrats lose and there are red flags everywhere? Or, what if the Republicans don’t accept the results? Does refusing to validate the election sound beyond possibility?

Ask Roy Moore if he’s conceded yet.

You say: if that happens, we’ll take to the streets. True. I too will take to the streets. What will that do? We occupy, say, the Senate offices, and then…oh, we’ve seen this already, just a week ago, with Kavanaugh. The Senate now knows it can ignore angry constituents and seemingly get away with it. It doesn’t have to actually respect facts or reports or decency or shame or even accept that the other side has any legitimacy. They no longer listen to us.

Let’s say that the rigged results just go forward. There’s no way that everyone is going to believe they’re rigged. There will be counterprotests. There will be media coverage about how it’s just so gosh darned uncertain, and both sides will be shown on the news to show how fair they are.

But let’s agree about this: if the midterms don’t produce a Blue Wave, and if that’s because the results were fishy, we will have marches like you’ve never seen. There will be the largest force in American history taking to the streets to protest. We will not be polite.

That’s as far as any of us have taken it, I think. Because we think that the people, united, will never be defeated. It sounds right. But this is where it gets bad for me, because I very much suspect that people on the other side have taken it a little further than that.

How would we organize? On our phones? On Facebook? On twitter? You’ve got to be kidding. Our phones are what surveil us.

You know how the Nazis knew where the Jews were when they came to a new town? IBM punch cards. IBM took Nazi money because it was money and they thought that since they also did good for the war effort, it balanced out. Do you believe that the current barons of tech are more altruistic or moral or ethical than IBM was? But still that’s not a perfect comparison – what IBM did was actually rather small. Each punchcard had something like 8 pieces of information on it. You know how much more information your phone and facebook and twitter has about you?

Your phone isn’t going to work. Not for you, at least. For them, yes.

Further, if protests get real, the reaction isn’t going to be the current leaders throwing up their hands and saying “Y’know what, you have a point” and then doing the right thing. They’ll fucking fight back, and fight dirty. Your local police who, no matter what that locale is, have a problem with white supremac and, are fully militarized now. This isn’t going to be like the 1960s. It’s going to be much worse. And the military has been rehearsing for suppressing rebellions. Just ask Flint. Just ask St Lous.

But, you say, there would have to be due process to –

Really? Take a moment. Think about that.

But the horrific possibility of camps to –

Right. Camps. Take another moment.

We don’t advocate violence here in the left. And let’s be honest – by “left” I mean about 70% of the country. But we also haven’t gamed out what happens when we’re up against people who aim to win at all costs. I’m still not doing it. My brain can’t take it further than that.

I hope I’m wrong about all this. I hope that we aren’t going that far. But, to return to Shirer, it would make some sense if it does, as the problems with the police and the military and privacy and tech have all been apparent for some time and we’ve done nothing about them because we – meaning the people who have some power over our lives -- felt comfortable. There’s this kind of karmic justice in that a society that doesn’t deal with its shit gets destroyed by its shit.

On that note, I have been curious for a while about how it is that anyone who has a conscience supports Trump. To give him any legitimacy means sacrificing your own morals and ethics. He’s amazingly precise in how he causes every individual in his sway to abandon his or her own positive qualities. I’ve joked that everyone in his circle looks like a Dick Tracy villain, but maybe that’s not an accident. Maybe there’s something that curdles your soul by standing so close to his evil. (Benjamin Wittes, a writer I like but find problematic, was once friends with Kavanaugh – and defended him at first, until his performance on the Senate floor. He says that this person isn’t the man he knew. So say many other legal scholars who once knew him. Something has changed in him. It’s weird.)

I was trying to qualify how Trump’s worldview is attractive, and it occurred to me that every word out of Trump’s mouth, every deed, is exactly the opposite of Jesus’s. It’s uncanny. If only there were a word for someone who was the antithesis of Christ.

Hmm. I guess there is a word.

I don’t believe he’s the anti-Christ. He’s not that important. But he’s AN anti-Christ. As a secular Jew I’ve read the Book of Revelation as a metaphor, a warning for how, eventually, someone motivated enough can make you abandon your values unless you’re self-aware enough. We have long made the mistake of believing the anti-Christ would be slick and undeniable and crafty, but only recently have I realized that no, of course he wouldn’t be. The truly evil thing about the anti-Christ wouldn’t be that he tricked you. It would be that he let you be your true self, and your true self was awful. He only gave you permission to behave as you really wanted to, and that is how you fell.

There is not much that give me hope here. Not anything, in fact. I’m not drinking these days, which could be a mistake. For a while I was drinking two or three glasses of wine a night and my physician said ‘well, that’s a reasonable response.’ Instead, I’m paying a lot of attention and it’s the anti-Christ thing that has me most on alert. This is where the essay gets depressing (no, really, sorry about that – the part above is just a warm up).

The Constitution, like the Bible, tried to anticipate many possible futures, and tried to provide a framework for how to deal with them. I strongly believe that most of us have moral backbones and many of us wish our neighbors well. But why isn’t this happening now? We turn to strongmen in times of famine rather than plenty, and ironically we are living in a world of plenty. It’s being hoarded by the rich, of course, but the resources are there to make most people’s lives decent. We tend to share in times of prosperity but that’s not happening now.

I have said this in prior essays, but it’s pretty much got to be the endpoint of any essay someone writes now that speculates about the future. I believe that we as a species recognize, in a way that is baked into our genetic code as mammals, that the future is no longer a renewable resource. I think that climate change is so obvious now and happening so fast, with so little possibility of relief, that we know the jig is up. We have ruined the weather.

But I can’t even process what that means. There is no way, genuinely, for the human mind to hold onto the probability that in our lifetimes, not that far way, we will have made the surface of the earth unable to support life. It’s happening so fast. Beyond all the dramatic stuff – the hurricanes, the floods, the droughts, the fires – I have been traveling around the country this summer and everywhere I see that the sky is wrong. There’s something off about the clouds, the circulation of air. People comment on it. Something is shutting down. Something is making us all uneasy. You see it.

There are two ways to deal with this fear. One is to deal with it directly. Make plans, confront how awful it is, see what’s possible, admit to our coming losses. Treat the future the way we did the development of penicillin or the A-Bomb. I was just thinking this: the crazy thing is that the only way to combat the fall that’s coming is to be the best possible version of yourself you can be. That doesn’t mean the nicest. It means being as powerful as you can. Which is terrifying and difficult and a little amorphous. It’s not about being loved, but about finding your moral core and sticking to it.

We heard just today that we have the scientific knowhow and the ability to start remediating the destruction that’s on its way. What they say is we lack “the political will” to do it. What that means is that instead of dealing with it directly, we are trading on fear. Fear is right now bigger than love. Fear is motivating voters because it’s a good thing to sell on the marketplace. Deny what’s happening, pretend it isn’t, sell fear instead. Clamp down. The world wants a bad daddy, and here is a whole bunch of them to choose.

That’s what we’re doing. The second choice. Denying that we had problems, kicking the can down the road, is how we ended up here. If we do it again now we will be destroyed. That’s not a hope or a fear – it’s just the way it’s going to work. I wish I had better news, but I don’t.

I keep saying this thing to myself that I don’t entirely understand. It’s that fighting begins with the right to see what’s actually before your very eyes.

The only thing I can say is that despair is not an option, but a luxury, and you can’t afford it now. Go and fight. They’re going to.

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thegrassisaalwaysgreener · 4 years

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Peru- Part 1

Turning 30 can be quite daunting to some. While I wasn’t totally terrified, I did want to hit one more continent before the big 3-0. My initial goal was all 7 continents by 30, but that darn Antarctica is quite pricey. I “settled” for six and had planned a magical trip to Peru with my fave travel buddy Jill. Since we had planned on trekking the Inca Trail, we had booked the tour part of our trip almost a year in advance. We had done tons of research (mostly Jill to be honest) and we had decided to go with Tucan Travel for their tour. They had great reviews and had tons of options for duration and location of tours. We decided on the 4 day Inca trail along with an amazon jungle trip at the end. We were planning to be away for just under 3 weeks and wanted to pack as much into this trip as possible. Most people who hear Peru think Machu Picchu, but this country has so much to offer! I have decided to split the blog up into two since writing 3 jam packed weeks all out (and reading it!) is a bit exhausting in one go. This first blog will be all about our trip before Machu Picchu and the second one will be all about our amazing trek in the Valley of the Incas.

Sunday September 22, 2019 Thanks to Air Canada breaking a suitcase of mine, I was able to use a discount to purchase our tickets. We paid around 600$ round trip for the tickets- which was a steal. The price was a steal until I realized the day before our trip that we were flying AC Rouge. Surprisingly, our 8-hour flight was pretty decent. We were in a two seat row and received a hot dinner and snack before landing at about 0100 Peru Time (0200 Toronto time). Monday September 23, 2019 We had booked a flight north to the beach town of Mancora, but that wasn’t leaving until mid-morning. Jill found a great B&B that was only a few kms away from the airport and boasted 24 hour check in with free breakfast. After an extensive customs assessment with fingerprints and photos, we hopped into an Uber and paid about $7.00 to get the B&B Cusing Wasi .The B&B was easy to miss as there were no signs and seemed to be just another gated home in a not so desirable area. Once we confirmed the address and saw some lights turn on, the owner of the B&B greeted us around 0210. The kind faced, Spanish-speaking owner led us to our room that had three beds and a bathroom. While the B&B hallways were fairly busy with people coming and going, it was great to put our feet up and sleep for a few hours. Breakfast was included and the owners’ wife made us fresh eggs with toast, lunch meat and fruit. After thanking our lovely guests and clearing up our $50 bill, we got back into an Uber to the airport. Our flights with Viva Air from Lima to Mancora had been fairly inexpensive at about $160 each return (more to come about Viva Air…) including “fast lane access” and our checked bags. We made it through security and our check-in in just over an hour. We thought we had plenty of time before boarding, but apparently they start boarding much earlier than at home. We hopped on the bus to the plane and enjoyed our emergency row seats to ourselves for the 2.5 hour flight. We arrived in Talara mid-morning and grabbed our bags en route to picking the best taxi offer. As with most airports, there were tons of people offering to take us wherever we needed to go. The prices ranged from 100-150 soles (50-60$ can). We paid just over 50 to be driven the hour or so long trip from Talara Airport into Mancora. After the mildly stressful drive, we finally found our street at the very end of the beach strip. The owner of the AirBnb Gilberto, met us at the front gate and escorted us to our beach house. Gilberto lived on the property with his two dogs (Max and Willow) in the largest of the 3 homes. He had two similarly styled set up Airbnbs along with a cute lounge area outside with a swing, some beach chairs and couches. Each of the beach homes had a small sitting area, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom with a deck out front with beautiful ocean views. We dropped off our stuff in the small sitting area before checking out the rest of the place. The Airbnb was pretty cute and similar to the description. The bedroom had two twin beds with a towel and sheet on it and the bathroom was just what you would need. We changed out of our travel clothes and headed down to the beach for a wander. The beach was quiet and beautiful. We walked along the water towards town, checking out the many hotels/hostels and restaurants on the way. We stopped at La Tranka for our first lunch. La Tranka is one of many restaurants on Mancoras busy main strip. The town of Mancora has a population of just over 10,000 and is a popular beach destination for Peruvians and other South Americans thanks to its beautiful beaches and great surfing. The majority of people that we saw were locals visiting the area for some R&R. We realized at lunch how important Google translate was going to be on this trip as the menu was only in Spanish. We ordered our first Peruvian drinks (that were pretty cheap ranging from 15-20 soles or 5-8$ Canadian) before settling on the “tortillas with shrimp” for Jill and the ceviche and “chicharron” mix for me. After all of the cooking shows I’d watched, I thought I was in for a pork treat with the chicharron. When our meals arrived, we were both very surprised. Jill had ordered a shrimp omelet (not a tortilla) and I had ordered an assortment of fried fish. While both of our meals were delicious, we learned a valuable lesson about translation. My ceviche was huge and filled with white fish, shrimp and squid. The portions were massive and we definitely didn’t finish all of our first true Peruvian meal. After lunch, we wandered around the town and checked out the market. This market was rather interesting as it was multiple small stalls of individual vendors selling similar things such as fruit, eggs and vegetables along with packaged food. Since we didn’t really need much in terms of food to bring home (and most of it did not look all that appetizing unfortunately), we wandered in and out of the shops and started walking back towards the Airbnb during low tide, checking out all of the happy hour deals. During low tide, we could walk all the way from our Airbnb to the town without any issues on the beach. High tide (about 10 am and 11pm) would prove to be a different issue. Since it was getting quite cold (way colder than we thought it would get), we grabbed sweaters and scarves to make our way to the Point Hostel who had 2 for 20 soles cocktails and grabbed our first Pisco sour of the trip. Pisco is an Peruvian drink (which we learned so much more about in our Pisco tour) mixed with some sort of citrus juice, sweetner and egg white while watching the beautiful sunset. After our drinks, we walked back home for a good nights rest!

Tuesday September 24, 2019 Gosh it was nice waking up to the sound of the ocean! Since it was high tide, we hopped in a TukTuk type cab to get into town (3-4 soles). We had a lovely breakfast of crepes with coffee and juice for $13 soles a piece at Bananas café before heading over to the Inka Warrior Surf School. We decided to get a surf lesson, as we both are poor surfers and wanted to try again. There are several surf schools in the area and all charge about the same (70 soles each) for a one-hour lesson, wet suit and full day access to the boards. Henry was Jill’s instructor and I had Barrone who were both excellent. We practiced on the sand first before heading into the water around 10 am with many other surfers (or learners). The guys were amazing at telling us when to stand up and made us feel like we could actually surf- spoiler alert, we can’t surf without help. After our lesson, we were super exhausted, so we hung out for a bit before heading to a local spot for lunch that was suggested to us by our instructors. While it took us a while, we were not disappointed by the ceviche that we had at Logan Furia. This hole in the wall was owned and operated by someone’s Abuela and was clearly a local hang out. Our ceviche was a huge portion of various fish with plantain chips to dip. At 20 soles, we were more than full and headed back to the beach to relax before we gave surfing another shot. We didn’t realized (or at least I didn’t) how much work the instructors actually did for us. While we tried really hard, getting up on the boards was way more challenging than we thought and the waves were getting further and further apart with more choppy waters. Jill called it quits but I was determined to get up. I ended up sitting on my board for longer than I tried to get up and made a new friend in the process. Daniel is an artist from the UK and was travelling around, painting and drawing while exploring South America. We chatted while drifting basically all the way down the beach before realizing we should probably just head in. Jill and I met him for a drink at a hostel/bar on the beach before heading home. We had planned to head to the lighthouse for sunset so rushed home to shower and dress in warmer clothes. We met Daniel back in town and picked up some wine for our stroll up to the top of the hill where the lighthouse is. The lighthouse has one of the best views (if not the best views) of the town. Jill and I have a pattern of chasing sunsets at lighthouses and did not stray from this pattern. We got a bit lost trying to find the trail and ended up in a lovely gentleman’s back yard. He had no idea what we were looking for (thanks to the language barrier and a poor game of charades) but somehow managed to help us find the proper trail. The sunset at the top of the lighthouse was amazing! We could see the whole town and the ocean looked magical. We enjoyed our wine before walking back down (very carefully as I had already taken one sweet wipe out) into town. Dinner was burgers on the beach at the same spot we had beers at. The server ended up getting our food from other vendors and overcharging us but we enjoyed our time nonetheless. After dinner we headed to the Wild Rover Hostel, which was part of a chain of “party hostels” in several South American countries. We played some drinking games and enjoyed 2 for 20 soles cocktails for a very extended happy hour. The staff were probably the most intoxicated people there but we had a blast playing drinking games and making new friends. The hostel closed early (at 0100) so with the help of our surf instructors and other new friends, we managed to buy some beers to have on the beach before making our way back home.

Wednesday September 25, 2019 Already it was our last full day in Mancora! We started the day with a delicious, hung over breakfast overlooking the water at Green Eggs and Ham. The weather was just perfect! Since we had already done most of our shopping and town adventuring, we decided to enjoy the beach and lounge around for the day. I laid out on the beach cots with the pups and a random cat and caught up on my reading. That evening, we met some of our new friends for dinner at Tokuyo. This was the most popular sushi restaurant in the town and it did not disappoint. Since we had to be up early, we called it a night and headed home to pack and sleep the rest of our hangovers off. Thursday September 26, 2019 Sadly, we were saying goodbye to our mini beach vacay and our pup friends Willow and Max. After taking a photo in front of the cute Mancora sign, our taxi driver drove us back to the Talara Airport. When we arrived there, we were surprised to notice that it was very quiet. The security guard was confused on why we were there. I attempted to explain that we had a noon Viva Air flight and were there to check in. She explained that there was no such flight and I went into full on panic mode. A word to the wise, if you are ever booking flights in another language, make sure to translate it properly and re-read it multiple times. Viva Air had emailed me a few times asking to change the time of our flight. What I hadn’t realized was that they were also changing the date. I did not read the emails well enough and didn’t realize that they had changed our flight from the 26 to the 27th (the next day). They had given us the option to have our money back at the time of the change but if we agreed to the change, there was nothing they could do. My heart sank when I realized my mistake. We were told that the airport staff would be in at noon and we could speak to them then. This was 2 hours away! We couldn’t do much other than to sit and wait in the airport and read. Jill had used her roam like home (since the wifi at the Airbnb was subpar to say the least) so she was able to see that there were two Latam flights that day back into Lima. Normally, we would’ve just stayed in Talara for a day but we had booked a tour that was leaving early the next morning out of Lima and didn’t want to miss it. The airport staff didn’t arrive until well after 12 but we were able to get on the 1720 Latam flight for about $250 each. While this wasn’t the end of the world, I was super frustrated with myself for not realizing the change and being more organized with this flight (since being organized and anal attentive is one of my strengths in life). Since we had plenty of time before our flight, we took a 4 soles tuk tuk into the town and went to a locally popular buffet call La Terraza. For $34 soles each, we enjoyed many different dishes including meats, rice noodles and a bizzare potatoe and tuna layered appetizer that we thought was a dessert. This place had great wifi so I was able to contact VivaAir who was not helpful in the slightest and wouldn’t do anything for us. Since there wasn’t much in the area, we went back to the airport and waited for our flight. The Talara airport is really new, clean and well cooled. There is nowhere to buy anything to eat or drink other than a small cart and there is no wifi. This wasn’t a big deal for us but we had read reviews that there were places to eat and even a lounge (hard no). Our flight back to Lima was breezy, despite never being offered to buy food or water. Latam is a nicer airline than VivaAir with slightly more room in the seats and appeared cleaner. By the time we got back to Lima, it was just before 7 and we grabbed an Uber from the airport to our hotel- Hotel Las Palmas. We grabbed our free pisco sours (which were horrific) and the only item on the menu at the time- burgers before going to bed early for our next adventure.

Friday September 27, 2019 Peru Hop is one of the smartest tour companies I have ever heard of. It was created by 3 guys who wanted to make travelling safe, cheap and fun throughout Peru/Bolivia. They have so many different packages and options- the possibilities are truly endless. They pick passengers up at a whole bunch of hotels in the big cities and take you to various towns throughout the country in nice coach buses. The tour guides speak a multitude of languages and are very knowledgeable. The tours often stop at not as well-known places and hidden gems. You can choose the length of the tour and when you get on and off if you’d like. We decided, since we didn’t have a ton of time, to do a 3 day planned trip south of Lima to a couple of neat towns. The cost of the trip was about $180 Canadian each, which covered the bus, some of the adventures we did and our shared accommodations. We were picked up at Hotel Las Palmas bright and early @ 0700 after we had a nice continental breakfast at the hotel. We drove about 2 hours to Mirasur Resort. This was an interesting place that we could great breakfast at, as well as a delicious taste of a Peruvian drink called Emoliente. Emoliente is a sweet infused warm tea and was just the best after the bus ride. We explored the resort that had lots of guinea pigs (which we came to realize are not pets but food) along with some strange kids toys, open areas to do activities and various trees and plants including plantain trees. Jill and I had missed the explanation of the group activity but the basis of it was, whoever’s numbered mini house the guinea pig ran into, won a prize. Somehow, I had ended up with the winning number and won a shot of Pisco… at like 10 am. I felt peer pressured into taking it and almost vomited after but it was all in the name of fun right?! Once everyone had finished their breakfast and bathroom breaks (FYI, in Peru, you cannot put toilet paper down the toilet due to the inability of the plumbing to handle it) we got back on the bus and headed to Chincha. Chincha is a mix of Peruvian and African cultures as there were a large amount of slaves that had been brought over from Africa. We visited the Hacienda San Jose that housed many slaves over the years that slavery was occurring in Peru (a fact I had no idea about and was quite shocked to learn about). While the history of the plantations’ use was quite awful, the grounds were beautiful. We were shown the secret slave tunnels that had been used to hide undocumented slaves and for punishment. They were pretty eerie and made me feel sad about the thousands of slaves who suffered in the small, cramped, damp tunnels. Once out of the tunnels, we had a bit more time to explore the church and beautiful grounds. We got back into the bus and enjoyed the interesting desert landscapes and beautiful homes with brightly coloured bricks on our way to Paracas. Paracas is a small beach town with a cute boardwalk filled with shops and restaurants. We were staying at Freyles in a 6 person dorm room. This dorm was great with a nice pool area, lots of lounge space and private washrooms in each room. The only dorm mate that was there was Ryan from Canberra. We reminisced about our time in Australia before wandering around the town. Jill and I had lunch at one of the spots on the boardwalk that was pretty delicious. Paracas was a bit pricier than Mancora, which is the only place we had really been that we could compare to. I had fish kebabs and fries with a delicious Cusquena beer for 49 soles (still way cheaper than anything at home). We fell upon a big parade that was happening on the main street and wandered around to the Paracas sign (of course). We met back up with Ryan after grabbing some warmer clothes at the hostel and enjoyed a nice sunset overlooking the water and happy hour. While the happy hour deal nor the sunset could compete with Mancora, we enjoyed our evening and wandered around to the party hostel in the town called Kokopelli. There wasn’t much going on at the hostel so we grabbed some beers from the convenience store and played cards on our hostel balcony before bed.

Saturday September 28 , 2019 The continental breakfast at the hostel was similar to most- bread, cereal, meat and cheese- which I was totally ok with. Part of our PeruHop tour included a morning boat ride to the “poor man’s Galapagos” islands called the Ballestas islands. The open-air boat was pretty neat and we learned a lot about the area and the wildlife along with some of the history. We saw TONS of sea lions and penguins but sadly no dolphins. The boat cruise was just over an hour long and we had a little bit of time when we got back to Paracas to grab a smoothie from Fruzion before hopping on the bus. En route to Huachachina, we stopped at the Paracas National Reserve to take some great photos and enjoy some of the beautiful wildlife, desert and ocean views. We also saw the Pre-Incan desert textiles and learned of their history. The drive from Paracas to Huachachina is about an hour and a half. On the way, Melanie our tour guide gave us some important history and culture about the area. I was most excited about this oasis town because we had heard great things about it and the photos looked amazing. As we approached the town, we were all floored at how much it looked like the photos. This town was legitimately a desert oasis (hence the nickname-duh). The sand dunes all around the town are massive and the Huachachina Lagoon in the middle, with palm trees all on its borders is spectacular. We drove into town and learned a bit more about how this desert oasis came to be. The bus dropped us off just outside of the town (2 min walk from the main strip). We were staying at the Wild Rover (same chain as in Mancora), which was the party hostel of the town. The Wild Rover is probably the most interesting hostel we had ever stayed in, and that is saying a lot since we have frequented our fair share of hostels in our travels. It was pretty big with rooms all round a pool/bar area. Our room was right off the main pool area, which I had mild concerns about, especially since the rooms were not to be locked. The room we were in was a 3 bunk bed room with small storage boxes below each bed and a washroom. The wood storage box was long, thin and did not fit our backpacks. We ended up leaving our backpacks in the corner and putting our important stuff in the boxes on the floor (which was super annoying to get to). We each had a wristband with our name and room number on it that acted as our “room keys” and allowed us in and out of the hostel and to charge meals/drinks to our room. After unpacking, we were headed out and about in the town before the best part of the day- dune buggies and sand boarding! We were meeting the larger group up the road to check in to our tour. The tour groups and leaders were mildly disorganized but the fact that they have so many tours running at the same time and get everyone where they need to be is very impressive. The dune buggies were way cooler than I thought they were going to be! Jill and I had sweet front seats, which allowed us to see the scary twists and steep hills we were going down slightly earlier than everyone else. Our driver drove around the dunes with speed and clear knowledge of them. You could see hilly dunes and buggies in all directions. Our driver stopped 4-5 times so we could sand board down some of the steepest dunes I had ever seen. Jill was far more proficient in standing on the board than I was so I opted to lie down each time, which was almost as terrifying. On our last sand board run of the day- Jill and “Maria” collided due to Maria’s inability to steer. Thankfully, Jill ended up with only a sprained ankle (better than Maria’s broken arm) and a few scrapes. We finished the night off with a beautiful sunset and tons of photos with the dune buggies. We headed back to the meeting spot, which was halfway up the dunes surrounding the town, and stopped for some more amazing photos. The town looked so neat, nestled in the sand. After hobbling back to the hostel and showers, we met up with some people on our tour and had some dinner and drinks. The hostel was throwing a “full moon party” so we partied all night with our roommates- who ended up being weirdly similar to us (only several years younger). The party was definitely reminiscent of our time in Thailand especially with our buckets filled with booze. I crashed much earlier than the rest of the group but still had a blast.

Sunday September 29,2019 Wild Rover definitely knew how to through a party! We were both feeling less than great in the morning and had to be up slightly early for our pisco tasting and tour. We had a small breakfast before packing up the majority of our things. The group was picked up at the hostel to go just outside of town to El Catador- one of the oldest pisco vineyards in the country. We were taken on a tour of the vineyard and given the history of pisco and how to make it. Pisco is made from grapes in a similar process to wine but after the grapes are fermented, it goes through a distilling process (similar to many other alcohols). Despite being moderately hung over, we sampled pretty well each of the pisco’s El Catador made from the super sweet ones, to the more bitter ones and everything in between. They had a great line of cream piscos that were similar to Bailey’s but with tons of different added flavours such as chocolate and coconut. After the pisco tour, we hopped back on the bus to Huachachina for the afternoon. Fortunately, we were able to leave most of our stuff at the hostel, as that is where we were being picked up later in the day for our drive back to Lima. Since the town strip was rather small and Jill’s ankle was pretty sore, we found an amazing hostel (Bananas Hostel) to hang out at all afternoon. We had our phones and books and lounged in their hammocks and on their couches that were just off the main path but hidden in trees, flowers and gardens. It was a beautiful spot and a perfect way to end a busy weekend. The PeruHop Tour was picking us up from the hostel in the early evening but I hadn’t had a chance to get my magnet yet (I collect magnets from each city I travel to) so I walked around the whole town and to the outskirts to find the perfect one and the best fanny pack I could find. I hadn’t brought a purse and was carrying around my backpack most places when a fanny pack would do, so I was stoked to have found the perfect one with a black base and fun colours throughout. The bus back to Lima was about 4 hours without traffic. The tour guide was super sweet and brought bags of popcorn for each of us and put on a classic- Mrs. Doubtfire. We snoozed on and off and were at our hotel in Lima around 2200 that night. We checked into the Hotel Santa Cruz and were thankful to have a quiet private room (albeit a bit muggy) to get a good night’s rest.

Monday, September 30, 2019 The Hotel Santa Cruz is located in one of the more touristy and nice parts of Lima called Miraflores. It is a short walk to the road that runs along the ocean and is filled with bars, restaurants and shops. I had decided to check out a local Crossfit gym in the area so hopped in an Uber (3.5$) to Latido Crossfit for an 0800 class. I was one of only two people in our class, which was kind of fun. The workout didn’t involve a barbell which made me sad, but I was super excited to get a good workout in and do something I loved doing. Crossfit is such a neat sport and even though I didn’t understand most what the instructor said, I was still able to grasp what we were doing. Movement is universal and I even did some assisted handstand walking for the first time. After the class, I paid the $20 USD drop in fee and grabbed an Uber back to the hotel. Jill had made her way down for breakfast and we enjoyed the continental breakfast while I ran her through my workout. We got ready for the day and dropped off our laundry to the Laundromat across the street. This was the first time we had really done laundry in the week we were away and were super excited that it was only 6 soles a kg. Today, we were going to explore downtown Lima. Lima is Peru’s capitol city and is home to over 9 million people. Fun fact- it is the largest city in the dessert after Cairo. I won’t bore you with details of the city’s history (as this blog is already long enough), but there have been many civil and political issues in this city over its centuries since being founded in 1535. Lima has also seen its share of natural disasters including several damaging earthquakes. Our Uber driver told us that many of the streets downtown were closed due to some sort of political issue. We were a bit worried about this since we had been hearing stuff on the news about the President trying to disassemble congress. This wasn’t going to deter us from going to explore Lima’s downtown. Since Lima is a coastal city with warm air temperatures, the city always seems to have a fog over it, even though it only usually rains about once a month. Today was no exception. The temperature was mild but the sky was grey and sad (which we would come to associate with Lima). Somehow, we hooked up with a “Lima by Walking” Tour and met our tour Leader Jose at the Plaza Des Armes downtown. He took us on a walking tour of the Plaza Des Armes that included seeing the Changing of the Guard, City Hall, Cathedral, historic fountain and explained what the other important buildings in the square were. We learned a lot about Peru’s political history, especially about many of the issues Lima has had over the years. Jose told us that Lima is considered to be the Food Capitol of South America (this might not be actual fact but Peruvians believe it) due to its vast array of cultural influences for food. Lately, there have been a lot more Asian influences and Chinese/Peruvian fusion restaurants called “Chifas” that are all the rage. Jose took us around most of the downtown core and taught us about the various areas in Lima. Lima city has 43 districts, each having its own mayor which I thought was kind of interesting. We got to see the Rimac River, which runs through the city but is now empty as it is the dry season. He pointed out a few important places and a main street that we shouldn’t go to as it is more “working class” and have lots of crime including mugging. We enjoyed some chicha (which can be alcohol and non) and is made from grape juice with lime, sugar and a touch of cinnamon. It was pretty tasty but quite sugary for me. Jose said it was almost as sweet as Inca Kola, which is known as the flavor of Peru and is seen being drunk by almost everyone in the country. Allegedly, diabetes and obesity are high in the countries as well (as per Jose). We finished our tour with some pisco (obviously) after having learned so much about Lima/Peru’s history and all of the politics that have been going on lately. I was really impressed with this tour and would recommend it to anyone. They had several other tours and we were planning to check one of them out when we returned to Lima. Since we had a bit more time in downtown, we took the classic photo in front of the Lima sign and grabbed the most amazing chocolate/caramel stuffed churros of life. We were going to check out the Catacombs and Cathedral but realized they were 10-15 soles per person each to get in. We were also history-ed out by this point. I had also seen the catacombs in Paris and I feel as though once you’ve seen one tunnel of old skulls, you’ve seen them all. Our Uber back to Miraflores took a bit longer as it was rush hour in Lima- it seemed to always been rush hour though. We grabbed a late lunch at Barra Mar around the corner from our hotel. We share the stuffed avocado and causa (which is the potato and tuna or other fish layered dish) and I had a delicious ceviche bowl. The restaurant was small and everything was written in Spanish but the service and food was great. Our laundry was done by the time we got back, so we paid for it and got ready to start our packing, as we were leaving for Cusco in the am. We met a rep for Tucan Travel in the lobby at 6pm and he went over basic info about the flights and such with us. We were being picked up at the hotel in the am and being brought to the airport for our flight to Cusco and the start of our Inca trail adventure. It was an early to bed after we finalized our packing since 0500 starts to the day are no joke.

*Below are some of my fave photos from our first week or so in Peru (in no specific order as usual because Tumblr is annoying)

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