#HOWEVER. Tammy was frustrating

[gothamsfinestdummy]

Lil doodles of a couple of my characters

[chasingshadowsblog]

"I'm no lady, I'm a Duck!" - Female Representation in 'The Mighty Ducks' Franchise

The Mighty Ducks trilogy may not be the first movies that spring to mind when considering female representation. After all, it is a trilogy in which there are only ever two girls at a time on each line-up of the Ducks team. However, these three girls, in their equally shared screentime with the rest of the cast, come across as considered, well-established characters with a diverse range of talents and personalities, who, depite their gender, cannot be considered as simply the girls on the team, but as players on the team. In D1 they were Connie Moreau and Tammy Duncan; in D2 Connie stayed and was joined by Julie 'The Cat' Gaffney, who both survived to D3. Each of these girls brought something special not only to the Mighty Ducks team but to The Mighty Ducks movies, and each is memorable for their own individual reasons and moments.

"Let's show these Hawks something really different." Movies like The Mighty Ducks are usually aimed at boys, and as such, the odd time a girl appears, they are the annoying older or younger sister, the bratty, sneering, cajoling, motherly, concerned, unattainable love interest girl character. Always on the margins, to be ridiculed, pined after or fought with briefly then forgotten about while the rest of the story happens. Depending on the role, they'll appear again at the end of the movie, achievement unlocked. While none of the girls in The Mighty Ducks are like this, Tammy Duncan, who could so easily have been the annoying older sister or the pretty love interest, is not portrayed in this way. Tammy is a figure-skater, recruited by Bombay, along with her younger brother Tommy, after he sees Tammy's figure-skating skills before a practice session. Bombay sees Tammy and imagines applying her skills to the hockey rink. "What do I know about hockey?" she demands angrily of her brother, after Bombay convinces her to give it a try. "More than you think," says Tommy, as he lays sprawled out on the ice after being knocked down by his sister in her anger. In the pivotal final game against the Hawks, Tammy and Tommy perform a goal-scoring trick using one of Tammy's figure-skating techniques. Tammy scores the goal. Tammy is an older sister. She is a girly-coded figure skater, compared to the traditionally boyish hockey players. She is scouted by Bombay for her talent and her potential to bring something alternative to the team. She joins in on the classroom fight, ending up in detention with everyone else. She insists that Bombay refer to them as "people" not "guys" and he complies (because she's there, too and she's proven willing to stand up for herself). Tammy is not annoying, or spoiled, or motherly, or a love interest for any of the boys. She is a part of the team and brings something unique to it. She's talented and tough, and, like Connie and Julie, her femininity is neither lost to her nor emphasised. She's a Duck.

"I wanna play. When am I gonna get my chance?" Julie 'The Cat' Gaffney is introduced to us in D2 as having "won the state championship for Maine, three years in a row" - single-handedly, I would assume, because it only takes her one hand to save the deciding goal against Gunnar Stahl and win Team USA the final game against Iceland. Nicknamed 'The Cat' or 'Cat Lady', for her quick reflexes in the goal, Julie is side-lined in D2 for almost the entire movie in favour of Goldberg. While it can be frustrating to watch this faster and (let's say it) superior player sit on the bench in favour of Goldberg, something important happens in the middle of the movie that brings depth to Julie's character - an admirable thing to do for a newbie in a sequel, let alone a female character. Julie goes to Bombay's office and demands to know when he's going to let her play. "I left my team in Maine to show the world what I can do," she says earnestly and justifiably, in an effort to convince Bombay to give her a shot. In this scene, Julie fights for her rights as a player on Team USA. She was scouted by Hendrix as being one of the best players in the country in their age bracket. It's only in anger about Goldberg's poor performance against Iceland that Bombay first lets her on to the ice - an opportunity she ruins by taking a dig at two of the opposing players before the game starts again. She could have easily stayed quiet, she was a new face in the Ducks-heavy team, but the writers gave Julie a chance to speak up for herself. As the second goalie, she is in a different position to all of the other new players - Kenny, Dwayne, Portman and Luis can all hop off and on the ice throughout a single game and get a chance to play, Julie has to wait for Goldberg to be out of the action. She knows she's talented, she's ambitious and she's frustrated that she isn't getting the opportunity to show that talent off. It's only by the end of the final game, in the shoot-out with Gunnar Stahl, that she finally gets to do that. It's only one goal, but it's one goal that wins Team USA the game. Is it frustrating that Julie is on the bench for most of the movie? Yes. Is it justified by her winning save at the end of the movie? Somewhat. I would argue, however, that it isn't the save that fortifies Julie's role in the movie as more than a "girl character", but her certainty of her own skills and her willingness to fight for her corner.

"I'm no lady, I'm a Duck!" Unlike Tammy and Julie, Connie has no unique or specialised skill to bring to the table. She is simply a solid, consistent hockey player, like Averman, Guy or Jesse. A fact which is just as important as Tammy's figure-skating or Julie's goal-keeping abilities. It's just as important to have these filler roles (for lack of a better term) be played by an array of genders, races and sexualities, as it is to have them up front and shining. It normalises the idea of a young woman, a person of colour, or someone from the LGBT+ community being there, being a part of something and not being special. Connie Moreau is a reliable player, who works hard and gets as much ice time as anyone else on the team. After Bombay meets the District 5 team for the first time, Connie is the first person to approach him with any kind of friendliness, she introduces herself with a smile, and proves to the audience that while none of the team shows any promise yet, she knows enough about hockey to talk stats. Connie isn't here to tick a box, she's here because she likes ice hockey. It's important to mention Connie's relationship with fellow player, Guy Germaine, in the context of this topic. A romantic relationship doesn't automatically weaken a female character, it's when the woman is defined by her relationship to a man that a romantic sub-plot becomes an issue. Fortunately, this is not the case with Guy and Connie. The two have a cute but subtle little romance arc throughout the trilogy that never over-shadows either the main plot or either of their own personalities. Like Guy, Connie maintains her autonomy as a person and a character outside of her relationship, and their relationship never gets in the way of their performances as hockey players. The romance could be deemed unnecessary but in this case it is handled so deftly that it only ever acts as a cute background detail to the wider story, it's a positive embellishment that fleshes out the setting and the story, as arcs like that should be. "Oooh, the Connie-meister! The Velvet Hammer!" Throughout the franchise Connie comes across as an open, kind and supportive individual, which is smoothly juxtaposed with her willingness to fight anyone who tries to mess with her team. She proves again and again that she will stand up for herself and her team mates no matter what, against the Hawks, against Iceland and against the Varsity Warriors. It is also worth mentioning, that in the 2021 reboot, The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, an adult Connie Moreau (excuse me, Senator Connie Moreau) is shown briefly showing two of the girls on the Don't Bothers team the best way to tackle a player that's bigger than you. Connie represents a wonderfully colourful character. She is caring and supportive (traditionally feminine qualities) and displays her affection for her team mates by standing up to opposing players, off and on the ice. Connie may not have a flashy skill like Julie or Tammy but it is her entirely realistic and relatable personality that makes her stand out.

It might be difficult to hear this, but The Mighty Ducks movies aren't perfect. While they should be celebrated for their equal treatment of the main cast and the naturally gender-blind writing of all of the kids, there are a few instances that, while they don't diminish the good work done, shouldn't be ignored either. Interestingly, the majority of these shortcomings occur in D3 - notably, the only script in the trilogy not written by Ducks creator, Steve Brill.

D3 is often thought of as the best of the two sequels; D2 pulls a few fast ones on the audience in terms of internal hockey logic, while D3 holds up in that regard. While this can't be argued with I do think it falls short in some areas. D3 pulls back on the hockey content and focuses more on the kids, now teenagers and freshmen in a private school. It gives less time to the Ducks and more time to Charlie (their stand-in main character now that Bombay is out of the picture), and his battle with the new coach, new school and new team image. It's easy for something like female representation to get lost underneath everything else that's going on in the movie, but when you're looking for it there's something to see - and it's not great. Connie and Julie are largely left unscathed by the plot. Julie gets a very light romantic sub-plot with Scooter, the Varsity goalie, but I would argue that so little happens between them that, like the Connie and Guy romance, it doesn't detract from Julie's character but adds a bit of fun to the overall setting. She initially ignores his attempts at conversation after their first game, and when he approaches her at the end of the movie, she looks surprised but pleased and the scene is so brief it doesn't diminish either of their characters or the ending.

D3 does, however, introduce us to Linda, a student at Eden Hall who catches Charlie's attention. And… that's it. I like Linda, but she is the opposite of what Julie, Connie and Tammy represented in the first two movies. Linda is introduced in D3 asking Charlie to sign a petition that will change the name of the school's offensive 'Warriors' moniker. When she realises that Charlie is a jock she turns away, but Charlie doesn't back off. Later on, they interact again and he manages to wear her down; she attends a hockey game and despite Charlie's behaviour during that game, begins to fall for him. After the Varsity game, Linda approaches Charlie and they kiss, after she thanks him for having the "demeaning Warriors name" replaced by a new Eden Hall version of the Ducks logo, which…Charlie had nothing to do with? Linda is a textbook "girl character". She is completely innoffensive, appears initially as a foil to the sports-loving Charlie, but in a single scene is charmed by his wiles(?) and tries better to understand him. She never interacts with another Duck, other than being present at the hearing, then appears again at the end of the movie, completely won over by him, without Charlie having done anything other than talk to her on a bench.

A similar character appears in D2, Maria, Team Iceland's trainer (the "Iceland is nice" lady). Maria's presence is brief in the movie, much shorter than Linda's, yet she only really appears as a passing love interest for Bombay, but not really for Bombay. His interest and their date seem to happen only so that Gordon can be caught by Portman and Fulton, and to supply another reason for the kids to lose their faith in him. After this, Maria is largely left to stand in the background with the rest of Team Iceland, without anymore play in the story. Compared to the other adult woman in D2, Michelle McKay, Maria's role is clearly there to serve a purpose relating to her gender. I would argue, however, that in this instance Maria is less a victim of the male gaze as she is a victim of narrative convention.

Outside of the main cast, there are two more women that share significant screentime with the Ducks, and both represent the negative and the positive aspects of the Ducks scripts when it comes to writing women. First there is Casey Conway, Charlie's mother and Bombay's love interest in D1. Casey disappears in D2 with a throwaway line about her marrying some random guy, and so she is no longer Bombay's love interest or present in the movie. As well as that, the kids are away from home at the Goodwill Games and so Charlie doesn't need his mother for now. Casey returns again in D3 to act as the adult influence in Charlie's life while Gordon is absent. Like Linda, there is nothing inherently wrong with Casey, but she is only present for her relationships to the men in her life - Charlie mostly, Gordon briefly. If she was meant to be the grown up voice in Charlie's head during D3, then why have Charlie ignore her advice and admonishments and why bring Bombay back to give him the speech that changes his mind?

"CHANGE IT UP!" In D2 we have Michelle McKay, who is brought to the Goodwill Games as the team's teacher. She is a foil for Gordon during his Air Bombay phase, but is otherwise her own character. I would argue that she is more defined by her role as a teacher (with no interest in the Goodwill Games) and her relationship with the kids than she is by her interactions with Gordon. Ms. McKay listens to the kids, develops a relationship with them and confronts Gordon when they can't. She is soft-spoken and doesn't seem to be interested in sports, although she does enjoy her brief stint as Coach. She is supportive when Gordon is neglectful. And while she does act as a foil for him for a lot of the movie, once he is back to normal again, she retains her personality. Bombay kisses her on the cheek in thanks for jumping in as coach, but nothing romantic comes of this. Their relationship is entirely platonic and no one will ever convince me otherwise. Like Tammy, Connie and Julie, Michelle retains her femininity (through her traditionally feminine traits as well as her physical appearance, dress and mannerisms) without becoming defined by it. Her personality survives intact to the end of the movie; she is there for the kids and isn't won over by Gordon or the sport.

I'm sure that female representation was the least of everyone's concern when The Mighty Ducks reboot, The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, was announced, but it's clear that the good work done in the trilogy is being carried on here. While we haven't gotten to know these girls as well as their predecessors, Sofi, Lauren and Maya continue to represent a diverse range of personalities and talent levels, while holding their own narratives on the screen. As well as this, what Game Changers does differently - and which is representative of the eras both products were made in - is show girls playing on the rival teams. While the girls of the trilogy were wonderfully fleshed out characters, they were also the only girls. No other team in the franchise had a girl playing on it - something I've always thought was meant to reaffirm the Ducks as being the good guys and everyone else as the bad guys. In Game Changers, none of these girls ever speak, but neither do the boys - in The Mighty Ducks no one on a rival team ever speaks unless they are on the rival team. Like Connie had to do on her own thirty years ago, the addition of female players, simply in the background, normalises the idea of young women appearing in sports-oriented media (and movies in general), without making a big to-do or having to justify their place in the world.

The Mighty Ducks franchise is not without its problems when it comes to female representation but these movies deserve to be noted for their treatment of their female characters. In the few moments where they are singled out for their gender, those moments, and the characters involved, do not go unpunished. Early in D2 Portman refers to Julie condescendingly as "babe" and is immediately called out by Adam then, most notably, his future Bash Brother Fulton; during the first USA-Iceland game, Gunnar and another skater laugh at USA for sending Julie into the goal, for which she knocks them over and is disqualified for the rest of the game. These scenes are not meant for laughs, each one highlights the perpetrator as being in the wrong. Portman's behaviour causes a fight between the team and the instance during the Iceland game only reaffirms to the audience that these are the bad guys. The Mighty Ducks does not take its female characters for granted, none of them are there to tick the token girl box. The fact that there are only two on the team at a time may even be representative of the interest levels in girls' youth hockey at the time (this I can't say for sure as I wasn't alive when these movies were being released). There's a quick scene in D2, around twenty-nine minutes, that follows Connie as she skates circles around the Trinidad and Tobago players then passes the puck to Kenny, resulting in a score. During those few seconds of Connie handling the puck the camera cuts briefly to a girl in the stand cheering her on. If D1, D2 and D3 are representative of the time they were made in then I hope that Game Changers is also indicitave of the growth and current levels of interest and access for young girls in hockey. I'd also be interested to know how much The Mighty Ducks had an impact on that growth.

[spider-stark]

RITE OF PASSAGE

JONATHAN BYERS X READER

Summary - Your best friend, Jonathan, likes you. You like Steve.

Warnings - mentions of sex

JONATHAN HAD never been a fan of Steve Harrington. He had a lot of reasons for his distaste, given that the infamous King Steve was a royal dick. Steve had called Jonathan almost every name in the book, labeling him a pervert and a creep. On top of this, he was never shy about attacking the Byers name as a whole, regularly taking hits at Jonathan’s family. 

Truthfully, his list of reasons to hate Steve was quite literally never-ending. There was only one reason, however, that had the power to make his blood boil; serving as both a reason to hate Steve and a reason to envy him. 

You. 

He wasn’t surprised by your fascination with Steve, especially given the fact that every girl in Hawkins would die for a chance to so much as touch his hair. He just didn’t find it to be very fair, though. 

Steve Harrington already had everything he wanted; money, popularity, a swarm of girls all dying to get on their knees for him, and all Jonathan wanted was you. But, all you could seem to think about was Steve, and that little fact was almost enough to drive him insane. 

“They say it’s like a rite of passage, ya know.” 

Jonathan’s eyes flicked over to you, perched atop his bed while mindlessly tossing an old issue of Teen Beat to the floor. The two of you always spent your weekends like this, cooped up in his bedroom listening to whatever record held his attention at the moment, just passing time together. 

“What is?” He asked, sitting cross-legged towards the end of the mattress. Your legs were laid across his lap as you leaned against the wall behind his bed, your gaze glued to the ceiling while his remained fixed on you, watching as you chewed at a piece of loose skin on your lip. 

You hesitated, ceasing your assault on your chapped lips as they pulled into a coy grin. The sight made his heart flutter in his chest, unintentionally mimicking your expression. “Having sex with Steve.” 

A strangled sort of sound escaped Jonathan’s throat as he threw his head back, the fluttering in his chest now replaced with a familiar sinking feeling. You mistook his frustration as teasing, never having considered that Jonathan thought of you as anything but. 

“I’m being serious!”  You squealed at him, cheeks now flushed as laughter spilled out alongside the words. “I heard Tammy talking to some other girls at lunch, and they all agreed that you just can’t go off to college without the King Steve experience.” 

Jonathan straightened himself back out in time to see you playfully wiggling your eyebrows, clearly more into this conversation than he was. 

He was used to hearing you talk about Steve, and most of the time he did his best to play along so you wouldn’t get suspicious of his feelings towards you. He always listened to you drone on and on about Steve’s car, Steve’s hair, Steve’s clothes, and, once, even Steve’s ass. But conversations like these were the ones he struggled with the most, the ones where he couldn’t quite force himself to play along anymore. 

It made him sick to think about it, the idea of you being just another girl for Steve Harrington to stick his dick in. 

You deserved better than that. 

You deserved him. 

When he didn’t reply, you continued. “And I was thinkinggg-” you drug the word out, scooting down the mattress to get closer to him, “that maybe you and I should go to his party tonight!” 

Jonathan’s face dropped. “You’re kidding, right?” 

“C’mon!” You immediately whined, placing your hand against his knee as you prepared to beg him, looking at him through your lashes. Jonathan was always a sucker for your puppy-dog eyes, but right now he couldn’t focus on anything other than the knot forming in his stomach. “I know it’s not really your thing, but I don’t wanna go alone. You know that going to one of his parties is my best chance to get his attention, plus Tammy already said she’d introduce us and everything! And you don’t even have to stay the whole time! You can leave as soon as Tammy brings Steve over—”

“No!” 

You jumped a bit at the sudden shout, stunned as Jonathan shoved your legs from his lap before rising to his feet. Jonathan rarely ever yelled, especially not at you. 

A frown settled on your lips. “Look, I get you don’t like parties, but you don’t have to freak out-” 

“It’s not about the party, y/n!”  Jonathan interjected again, his hands running through his hair as he began to pace across his room, his mind moving at a hundred miles a minute. “Like, seriously, do you even hear what you’re asking me?” He didn’t give you enough time to respond, already continuing his frantic rant. “You’re literally wanting me to drive you to Steve’s house just so I can keep you company until he decides he wants to fuck you!” 

“Okay,” you raised your hands like a white flag, keeping your voice steady as you followed him with your eyes, still moving from one end of the room to another, “if it’s gonna piss you off this much then you don’t have to take me, alright? I think Nancy’s gonna go, so I can just see if I can hitch a ride with her or something-”

Jonathan’s fingers tightened around his sandy hair, pulling it roughly as another groan escaped him. “I’m not pissed cause you want me to take you!” Your brows furrowed together at his words. “I’m pissed because all you care about is getting with Steve!” He paused his movement, feet coming to a halt as he pointed an accusing finger in your direction, “You’re better than that! You’re better than a fucking easy lay for Steve Harrington!” 

“You’re acting dramatic.” You told him plainly, arms moving to cross over your chest. 

“And you’re acting stupid.” He quickly countered. 

Your eyes only narrowed at him, still trying to keep your cool, not wanting the whole Byer’s household to hear the two of you fighting. “It’s not a big deal, Jonathan! Everyone has flings in high school. And if you had someone you were interested in I would happily help you get with them! So why are you acting like such an ass about this?” 

Jonathan shook his head at your statement, huffing as he spoke. “It’s different.” 

“No, it’s not!” You retorted. “You're just being a dick about this because you don’t like Steve!” 

“It’s not about Steve! I mean, yeah, sure, I don’t fucking like him—but that’s not the point!” Warmth crept up his neck, frustration reaching a boiling point as he struggled with picking his words. “It’s different because you don’t like me!” 

He spoke with such a harshness, his words carrying an unfamiliar edge. It took you by surprise, and left you sinking further into the mattress as you watched his hands fall from his hair to his face, covering his reddened cheeks. The atmosphere had changed now, anger having morphed into discomfort. 

“What are you talking about?” Your voice was low, just a few notches above a whisper. “Of course I like you, Jonathan.” 

His head shook again, rubbing his face as he let his hands fall back to his side. “No.” He told you as if it were a fact. “You don’t. Not the same way, at least. Not how I like you.” He hesitated, looking somewhere over your shoulder, too embarrassed to meet your gaze. “Not how you like Steve.” 

Something cracked in your chest as he spoke, the words lingering in the air between the two of you. Instantly you found yourself filled with a sickening sense of guilt, thinking of all the times you had gushed over Steve to Jonathan, having been so oblivious to his feelings the whole time. Beneath that guilt, though, was something else; perhaps best described as a streak of curiosity as you considered the idea of being with your best friend. 

It was uncharted territory in your mind, a forbidden topic that you had never dared to consider previously, and now that thoughts of it bloomed in your mind, you were a bit shocked to find that you weren’t put-off by it. 

Jonathan, on the other hand, had gone into a full blown panic as he realized what he had admitted. He had bitten his tongue for years now, too afraid to ruin what he did have with you, and now in a single moment he had risked blowing all of it. He took a deep breath and readied himself to find some excuse to leave, maybe lie about needing to pick Will up from Mike’s house, but you spoke before he had a chance. 

“I don’t not like you how I like Steve.” You clarified, sounding vaguely unsure of yourself and awkward. “I just—I don’t know—never knew that you were…” you paused, sighing as you tried to find a way to phrase your thought, “an option.” 

Neither of you had ever done this before, never thought to cross the simple boundary of friendship and venture into something else. Because of this, Jonathan matched you in awkwardness as he replied, “I am.” He cleared his throat, still diligently avoiding eye contact with you. “I mean—if you want me to be, then I am.” 

For a moment you both stayed quiet. You remained planted on the bed, Jonathan still standing across from you, nervously fidgeting with the fabric of his jeans. 

“Okay.” You spoke, breaking through the fairly new silence, sliding yourself back up to the top of his bed. You reached for the floor, your fingers grabbing hold of the Teen Beat you had tossed aside earlier. 

Jonathan finally looked at you, staring as you began to flip through the pages again. “Are you not gonna call Nancy?” 

Your shoulders lifted into a lazy shrug, stopping you incessant flipping as you landed on an article about Molly Ringwald. “The album isn’t over.” You told him, referencing The Clash record he had put on before the two of you had gotten into it. “Besides,” you added on, glancing over the thin pages of the magazine with a playful glint in your eye, “I’m better than an easy lay, right?” 

All he could manage to do was look at you, even after you shifted your attention back to the magazine. Without another word, you patted the comforter beside you with your palm, silently urging him to rejoin you on his bed. 

Maybe he didn’t have to be jealous of Steve after all.

a/n - decided i wanted to start writing for stranger things, so ofc i had to start with my boy jonathan<3 obviously very new to writing for stranger things so bear with me i'll improve ok i promise

steve totally wouldve fallen in love w/ the reader if she went to the party but whatever we will let jonathan have this win ok

[skygent]

Introducing…

Kurihara Yuuki

The daughter of one the city’s most prominent industrial moguls, Yuuki is no stranger to being in the the center of attention. However, she prefers the spotlight found in one of the city’s automaton run speakeasies to the glitz and glamour that comes with being a Kurihara.

When she was little, Yuuki’s adventurous nature led to an accident that rendered her unable to speak. As an adult, she can only communicate through a variant sign language that evolved in New Cassini due to the city’s chaotic soundscape.

Recently she has begun to use her art, specifically music, as an outlet to vent her frustrations about her home and its growing list of problems.

However as the number of attacks against nonhumans increases significantly, she has turned to vigilantism to do what her music cannot: protect the innocent.

Yuuki's energetic and sometimes chaotic personality translates to her fighting style, which is the most acrobatic of The Aeronauts. Allowing her to pull off nigh impossible shots with her chakram, striking multiple opponents and leaving them at the mercy of her time-based powers, which also allow her to compensate for her occasional clumsiness.

Despite what her elders believe, Yuuki is not simply seeking attention for attention’s sake. She views her work both as a musician and a superhero as a way to connect with other people and ensure that The Dream of Tomorrow is accessible to more than just a privileged few.

Species: Hysumean

Age: 24

Birthplace: New Cassini, The Republic of Columbia

Weapon of Choice: Chakram (bladed throwing discs)

Powers: Chronal Manipulation

Likes: Drawing, writing and performing music, pinball, insects, and her motorcycle: Rosie.

Dislikes: Enigma Corp, Henry Holtzmann, Bad Tippers, Pineapple on Pizza.

Occupation: Waitress at The Tammie Norrie

Favorite song: Pretty Heroes by Dabu and Lachlan Watson

Art by Greenyscrapy on Twitter/X

[dapperbasil]

TammyZach 38 96

New way to refer to this ship unlocked lol, its kinda fun. I had a bit of trouble with this one since I can't really talk about her scar yet, but I do hope this is close enough to what you had in mind! This one ended up a bit longer than the others.

38 + 96: Grief Fic + Scars

It was a delicate subject, one Zacharias was never sure how to broach. She made little effort to hide her feelings on it, flinching away when he reached for that side of her face, avoiding mirrors and averting her gaze every time she passed her reflection. Despite his best efforts, there had been nothing he could do for her, the damage had been done and it lingered deep. There were nights where the shadows of that night so long ago would take their toll on her, and this was yet another of them. They’d been more frequent since the start of the year, late nights he would come home to find her sobbing in the spare bedroom.

He had been home when she returned from her meeting with Caroline, able to glance up from his book to see her turn down the hall away from the room they shared towards the one she stayed in as a fledgling. Standing outside the door prepared to knock, a sound that never failed to tug at his heartstrings was only barely audible. With three taps of his knuckles against the door, Zacharias stepped inside to find his fiancee sitting on the bed with her arms wrapped around her knees. Tammy turned her attention towards him, blood red tears not yet falling down her face but very near threatening to.

He stood frozen in the doorway, an offer unspoken to give her space if she desired it. Only when her hand reached out for him did he enter the room properly, climbing on the bed next to Tammy. It was then that he noticed the old photo album set beside her, flipped open to a picture taken of them twenty-four years prior at an Elysium, a few years before she would lose her eye. “Caroline and Mariette are getting frustrated with me. Dress or suit, I hate how I look in everything they try.” Tammy leans into him, to which he wraps his arm around her and pulls her close. “Mariette offered to use makeup to cover it so I look more like I used to… but I'm not her anymore and I haven’t been for a long time.”

Both Ventrue are now staring at the photo as Tammy picks it up, holding it to the light. Zacharias remembered that night well, how lovely she looked in the navy dress, how nervous she had been to ask him to dance. “You are just as beautiful now as you were back then. You can be as picky as you desire, dear. It is your night not theirs, as much as the Toreador like to pretend it is.” He leans down, leaving a soft kiss in her hair before muttering a silent reassurance to Tammy, in hopes that it helps even slightly. “Take however long you need. I’ll speak to the two of them if you want me to.”

Out of the corner of his vision he sees Tammy set aside the photos and the album before turning towards him and curling up closer, laying her face on his chest. The tears would fall, they always did. All Zacharias could do was be there for her until she was through, as he always was.

[Fanfiction Trope Mash-up]

[caughtonwebcam]

I have so many ideas for fanfics that I never end up writing/continuing cuz idk how to put something into words if that makes sense?

here’s one of them:

It’s Halloween night, and Crimson Dawn is performing for a big costume party. Stan and Wendy have recently broken up, however are friendly ish towards each other. Stan’s friends are trying to convince him to get back with her. Stan is a virgin (cuz of course he is) and he and Wendy have make up sex after the show while Marjorine, Kenny and Jimmy skip the party to hang at Cartman’s house, where Stan would meet them later. When they finish, Wendy gets irritated that Stan doesn’t want to stay with her and accuses him of just wanting sex from her, which he insists is not true. They argue which ends with Stan driving to Cartman’s house frustrated. There, Jimmy, Cartman, Kenny, Marjorine, and Kenny’s girlfriend Tammy are all there. What Stan doesn’t expect is for Kyle to be there, creating an awkward tension. I’ll write a fic about it at some point, but there was a conflict between Kyle and Stan in 8th grade involving them briefly romantically experimenting in secret, as well as Stan’s mental health struggles and alcoholism getting worse, causing them to avoid each other until now, their junior year. The group is fucking around and doing loser shit like playing cards and smoking or something. For some reason, Kenny, who is stoned and/or drunk gets the idea to play spin the bottle with each other, which he claims is fine cuz “it’s not gay if it’s with friends.” Except here, instead of just kissing, they also play seven minutes in heaven. Kyle and Stan haven’t said a word to each other besides forced “heys.” They play a couple rounds of the game, and predictably, Stan and Kyle are chosen to go in the closet. When they go in, instead of making out, they talk out their problems, which THEN ends with a kiss… or two. Or Stan vomiting on Kyle. Which gives away a lot when they are finally let out, however Stan denies it by claiming he drank a lot at the party. On the inside, Stan and Kyle start having crises. Stan is worried about Wendy, and Kyle is still deeply confused about his sexuality, and this added to it. Most of all, does this mean they’re together now?

The story would be called “Skeletons In The Closet”

[dreamboundedstar]

Zekina Princess and the Frog AU Idea

I really wanted to write down this prompt idea because this is somehow the most perfect idea and also the most frustrating in how much I have to fix it up to make it work in this idea. XD Like you think, yay restaurant this is perfect, but no actually because Tiana and Tina are vastly different personalities and I have to completely redo the path she goes along to do the things she does. So anyway, here's the cast I have so far. It's not going to be a complete list because I'm going to leave it up to anyone else who wants to do this idea. Tina - Tiana (I don't even have to change anything for her name XD) Tiana was once an idealistic young girl full of dreams of love. She dreamed of getting married to her childhood sweetheart. However, after the death of her father and getting her heart broken by her childhood sweetheart she vowed to help make her father's dream come true. She stuffs down her idealistic, hopeless romantic self deep down in order to never be hurt by a cute dancing boy again. So instead of pursuing love like her younger self would have wanted, she chose what she felt was the easier option and work hard to make "Bob's Burgers" a real restaurant in honor of the dream her father never got to see through. She feels that it would be wrong to even consider trying to find love again when her dad never got to finish his dream. Still, when she's alone, and no one's looking she still writes about the fantasies of love she wishes would be real for her as a stress reliever from all that life throws at her. She is a decent cook but she often laments about how she'll never be as good as her father was. Even so, she refuses to let his legacy die.

Zeke - Prince Zaveen Zaveen is not really a prince but a con artist that's flat-out broke. He does have an immensely wealthy inheritance coming his way but only if he gets married. His parents consider him a screw-up for never finding a talent that he could profit from. He spends his days flirting, having fun, and living his best life but all of this is to hide much of a loser he feels like and to fill the void of how lonely he actually is.

He later finds out he has a talent for cooking as a frog to the point Tiana brought is to tears because it reminds her so much of her dad's cooking. Zaveen also gets Tiana to dance again after giving it up years ago when her heart got broken. Tammy - Tottie La Bouf Tottie's a horrible, rich girl that has never heard the word "no" in her life. The only reason Tiana even associates with the girl is that Tottie's parents pay Tiana's mother to make so many of Totties dresses. Tottie tricked Tiana to kiss so many frogs in their youth because at first she couldn't be bothered to do the work of finding a frog prince herself but then she just kept tricking her into doing it just to find out how long it will take her to figure out she was being duped. Tottie causes kids to know Tiana as "frog lips" and the poor girl was never able to live it down even in her adult years. Tottie in the end would do only one unselfish thing for Tiana after years of being terrible to her. Linda - Lindora Lindora is Tiana's mother who makes all of Tottie's dresses. All she wants for Tiana is for her to be happy and live for herself. As long as Tiana is set on making her late father's dream come true the best she can do is hope that Tiana will finally let herself live for her own dreams (and maybe finally get some grandkids XD). Bob - Bob (you try to come up with a good name combination of Bob and James! LOL)

Bob is Tiana's late father. All he ever wanted was to be able to own a restaurant that sold creative burgers that made people happy. He died before he could ever see that dream come to be. He loved his family so much though that as long as he still had them he didn't care that he didn't live to see his restaurant dream come to pass.

The Fishoeder brothers - The Fishfenner brothers It just made perfect sense. I mean Calvin is a landlord so that's close enough to a real estate agent I suppose. lol Teddy - Leddy the alligator Seems like a decent enough pick. That's all the cast I can think of for this idea. I have no idea how to even include Gene and Louise in the story? I don't even know who to pick for Dr. Facilier either which is a shame. This idea all started because I thought "Never Knew I Needed" fit Zekina really well. So I thought, hey why not put the prompt idea out in the world to see if anybody digs it too. Though I did leave the story with a funny plot hole that could get called out by Tina herself that since Zaveen was never a real prince so she has no way of turning them both human again. So she has to shoehorn in an abrupt reason for it to work, oops! XD @tacosandtouchtanks

So fingers crossed someone gets inspired by this!

[rviner]

Character Updates: Chapter 4

Tammie Jones. Hollow Cove.

Is still kind of falling into sync with being a mama not-mama to Eden but is concerned about Teddy, Sophia and obviously the Crosses. Probably a lot of frustration that she can't do more to help. Probably will try and find a way to join Ryan on a search party.

Rory Hayes. Hollow Cove.

Shitting herself. She's worried about Hunter, Mason and Tyr is genuinely a mess rn. She probably will bite the bullet and join a search party to look for them, potential of that all going wrong.

Aidan Murphy. Hollow Cove.

Is naturally be concerned for Hunter specifically just because of the tie to Lia and Saoirse. Potential for him to offer the Cross wolves his help on any runs or searches, and potential for that to go wrong too because of the difficult situation with Isla.

Roxy Rose. Hollow Cove.

Is worried about Dominic's safety and will be on edge more than usual. Mostly Rose threads I'm guessing but she will be joining searches to look for her brother. Lot's of potential for her to cause problems on a run or search too.

Roman Araya. Hollow Cove.

Despite being thankful and closely tied and in their pack, Roman isn't as forthcoming to help search for missing Crosses. He's still swept up in searches for wolves from the Colorado packs, specifically his girl Bea. Potential for people to notice he's only put his name down for a few searches.

Ines Garcia. Hollow Cove.

Will be worried about everyone who's missing but specifically Tyr. It could possibly be what sparks her to want to train, and want to pull her weight more with the pack. Potential for it to be a bit of a Teddy situation because fr what are you gonna do Jenna Ortiny

Kas Morrison. Hollow Cove.

Since we've seen him, Kas is being more of a team player with the Vaismans but his focus had primarily been on helping Jasmine look for her sisters. However, I can see him stepping up even more to look for Kenzie and Allie too and it be a mini redemption arc for him. Chaos mostly works for his threads in one way or another.

Teddy Prescott. Thunder River.

She isn't coping and she feels like an idiot for ever thinking she had what it takes to run with the big wolves lmaoooo ok so be serious montyr. It'd be cool if she actually does something that helps someone in the camp and it brings back a little spark in her that she's not useless.

Isabella Belcourt. Hollow Cove.

Has a lot going on that is specific plots but for the mean time she is trying to find her footing in the divide that's forming in the Belcourt coven, specifically about Felix. She's easy to thread with though and can easily make friends so anything works for her.

Fox Lennox. Hollow Cove.

No words are really needed for this one LOL he's really worried about Kenzie and Allie, could possibly see him willing to put his name forward for a search, maybe even joining one and...lmao. List is endless.

Loki Jansen. Hollow Cove.

Just being a sexy slutty viking all the time tbh. He's fine but worried about his brothers, I can picture him on most searches he can go on. And just being a hot Scandi the rest of the time and annoying people. The list is always endless for him too.

Fenrir Skora. Hollow Cove.

Is a super diplomatic personality so right now he's willing to help look for Thorin and Egil, and he probably is a great personality for the Vissers to put forward as a "buffer" to hide their secret ops because Fenrir will do work around Hollow Cove willingly, and talk to most confusing outsiders. Would be interesting to see him have a conversation with someone non-Visser who has lost a child, or young family member.

Skadi Alfsson. Hollow Cove.

She's focused on her children primarily, but she's also making lots of sexy weapons in the mean time and doing whatever Roan and Rineike decide for the pack. She's another personality that would be easy to speak to for a Non-Visser but she's judgmental so also lots of room for angst. Willing to go on searches for Egil and Thorin too. List is endless really.

Runa Visser. Thunder River.

She's a reserved personality and is much like her mother, isn't the easiest to talk to but I have high muse for her so anything will work. I like the idea of seeing her have to talk more to Non-Visser characters in the camp, maybe helping one another in an unexpected fight. She joins the escape later on so an in is needed for her to be trusted to go.

Liliana Winslow. Hollow Cove.

She's a data girl so she's probably being pulled left right and center right now to formulate clear search paths etc. She's a useful character and also talkative and social so she will work thrown against anybody in a thread. Could also be interesting if her brothers sung her praises with how she is with data, but she gets something wrong and it's quite risky.

Rodrigo Medina. Hollow Cove.

Pretending to be a good guy but isn't one at all. He works in any situation and is a wildcard, that's trying to act as if he's not one so very interesting no matter what the thread is. He literally doesn't care at all if he's conversing with someone who lost everything from a Colorado town.

[atlanticcanada]

Rising concerns over vandalism in Riverview neighbourhood

What used to be a front porch light is now a security camera at the Bardales’ house.

It was ordered on amazon one day after they found a bb gun pellet hole in their front window.

“In the morning we were just letting the kids out for school, they were going to meet the bus driver at the end of the driveway and as I was looking through the window, I noticed there was a hole in the window there,” said Illeya Bardales.

Their home is about 100 metres from the road leaving the family to question how someone was able to shoot and damage their window without coming onto their property.

“It kind of makes you think when your kids are outside playing and you know, made us put up a camera in the house there to see what’s going on in the driveway all the time,” said Tammy Bardales.

Illeya says their children have taken the situation quite hard.

“They’re really shooken up. They asks us if we’re going to get shot again,” he said.

On Monday RCMP provided an update to Riverview Town Council, stating that between March 17 and 20 there were nine reports of windows being shot by a bb gun in the East Riverview Area.

However, the Bardales say they reported the shot at their home on March 28.

“When you’re trying to make your house look better and constantly upgrading your house and then you have something unexpected like this happen and it kind of puts you back from what your plans are,” said Tammy. “It’s discouraging and very hard to deal with.”

While the bb gun incidents are definitely troubling, residents say it isn’t the only neighbourhood concern.

“A friend across the street there, they had their window kicked in,” said Tammy.

“Up the street there, they’ve had their truck vandalised quite a few times. Even the point park petro, they’ve had a lot of vandalism.”

Fred Bron says his truck has been broken into three times and every time he’s reported it to the RCMP.

“We’ve been here for just over 10 years in this neighbourhood,” he said. “It’s a beautiful neighbourhood, great neighbourhood for sure, but what we’re clearly seeing is a downward spiral of what is happening.”

He says one of his neighbours even had gas syphoned out of their vehicle.

“It’s our property, we work for it […] and then to just have someone come and take it and what we’re seeing is it is getting worse so we’re getting a lot more frustrated,” he said.

He’s a part of a neighbourhood watch group, which encourages people to call police no matter how small the incident is to encourage more patrols in the area.

“Even with cameras, and I have cameras on my house, it’s still not really a deterrent,” he said. “We need the courts to be doing a lot more.”

Also part of the neighbourhood watch is just a sense of community - watching out for your neighbours and hoping they do the same for you.

As far as the BB gun incidents go, RCMP say it’s an active investigation and anyone with information should contact police.

from CTV News - Atlantic https://ift.tt/z37pQMx

[conflictandscotchblog]

THE Lunch Table

When you work for a company a long time, you meet good people and, not so much bad people, just people you’d rather not want to associate with on a daily basis.

However, if you meet great people, people you look forward to see every day, it will not seem like work at all.

Let’s start from the beginning—sort of.

Started a job back in nineteen-eighty-four at a large telecommunication corporation, what they used to call (maybe they still do) a blue-chip-stock company. First day, plopped down in a communal area with twelve-desks lined shoulder-to-shoulder where every conversation and key stroke was overheard by the group.

When asked if I liked my job at the time, I said I did, and love the people I work with. Then was told, ‘don’t make friends with them because once you leave, you will never hear from them again’.

Nearly forty years later, I could reach out to any one of them without hesitation (well, except for one guy, but that’s a story for another time).

But, this post is not about those folks.

It’s about these folks.

Jump ahead to the beginning of this century (how old do I sound?)

I was let go from my job, but hired back a few months later as a contractor with the same company. As a computer programmer, I was tasked to mechanized a good portion of my new group’s work.

Over time, I started to meet the other employees, all very nice, but they had been together long before I got there. So, I was still on the fringe, still the ‘new guy’.

And this new guy didn’t have a seat at their lunch table.

At the time, there was a group email that went out, not to the bosses, just us folks with boots on the group. Basically, it was an electronic gripe session that we were all in on.

One day, Tammy (a major player at the lunch table) sent out an email to the group. Her gripe? She recently purchased a combination microwave/coffee maker that broke down soon after her purchase. She sent and email to customer service, they replaced the product, which then also broke down.

In her frustration, she sent a copy of that email to our group.

Let the games begin.

As the email with new comments went back and forth within the group, I was hung up on the idea of a microwave/coffee maker combination.

I was new to Photoshop at the time, so I took the notion of a microwave/coffee maker just a bit further.

Created a new product with Photoshop, attached that photo to the group email, and sent it on its way.

My new product?

I created a combination microwave/coffee maker/toaster/can opener/breast pump.

I guess Tammy liked the new product, appreciated the humor behind it, because soon after the email went out, I was sent an official invitation to join the lunch table.

It was an honor just to be nominated.

So now, I was one of the cool kids.

Side note, turns out Tammy inadvertently included the customer service address on the gripe email. So, if in the future, GE comes out with a combination microwave/coffee maker/toaster/can opener/breast pump we’ll know where their idea came from.

Every day, for about an hour, there would be anywhere from ten to fifteen of us at a long table, both sides filled. But it was more than just eating lunch, it was therapy.

If you had a problem, you brought it to the table. There it was dissected and then hopefully, solved. Problems with family, friends, work, marriage, dating (hopefully those last two not at the same time) were all fair game.

Day after day, month after month, year after year, we spent our lunch hour at that table. It was an unwritten reservation, an invisible velvet rope to keep others away. This was our table.

Then, one day, the unthinkable happened.

As a group of us walked toward the table, we stopped a the same moment, and stared ahead in disbelief, like deer caught in a headlight.

Other people sat at our table.

In silence, we looked for empty tables, slid over to them, sat down, and never took our eyes off the interlopers who dared to invade our space.

We ate a quiet lunch that day, never took our eyes off our table.

It was like our table was cheating on us with other employees.

Fortunately, it never happened again, so all was forgiven.

Inevitably, as people changed jobs and moved to other buildings, the lunch table was no more.

Smaller versions of the lunch table popped up here and there as some of our new jobs kept us close, but it was never the same.

Once, when I told my daughter, Amanda, about the lunch table she said, “Dad, you make it sound like high school.”

I looked at her, and smiled.

“Amanda, if there is one thing you have to learn in life,” I said, “it’s always high school.”

[lesbianrobin]

so i constantly go back and fourth on this so i wanted to consult the steve n robin specialist (you). do you think steve ever actually liked robin, or do you think he convinced himself he liked her because felt he was supposed to?

ok disclaimer this is my own personal opinion and obviously people are free to disagree! that said, let's get into it <3

so i don't think that friendship and romance are quite so far off from each other as to like. make it so there Needs to be one solid answer to this question. i think that if robin had been like omg yeah steve i feel the same way! and they started dating, he probably would have developed real feelings for her and fallen in love rather quickly. however, i don't think that he actually did have romantic feelings for robin at the time of his confession.

consider the context! he's still a little hurt from his breakup with nancy. he's spent the whole summer striking out with girls, getting increasingly frustrated and struggling with his self esteem when he's unable to charm them the way he used to. dustin's been on his ass telling him that he's "gotta find his suzie" and insisting that robin is The Girl For Him. when dustin tells him this, steve makes up a bunch of lame-ass excuses for why he doesn't like robin that way. this could be interpreted as steve simply being defensive and not wanting to admit to having a crush, or not wanting to admit to having a crush on a "loser," but he's never behaved that way before. nancy was a relatively unpopular nerd at the start of s1, and steve never seemed remotely embarrassed of liking her. he's been very openly flirting with a bunch of girls at scoops. he willingly hangs out with children who are far bigger losers than robin all the time. so why would he be so shy and embarrassed about having feelings for robin?

i personally think the excuses he makes to dustin, that she's in drama and she's hyper and she's a year younger than him, are actually steve just trying to justify not liking robin to himself. he sees her as a friend, but he finds dustin's argument compelling, so he has to scramble to come up with good reasons as to why dustin is wrong. steve probably never thought about robin in a romantic way before dustin brought it up, and when he did, steve's thought process was something like, "wait, he kind of has a point. robin's awesome, i love hanging out with her... oh, shit, i guess i do like her!"

from that point on, i think steve was kind of confused about his own feelings. i do think that there was potential for him to truly develop romantic feelings for her, if they had perhaps been friends for a longer time before he confessed and robin came out, or if she had reciprocated. but as it stands in canon, i think that steve really just found a friend who he loves very much and he's never had that experience with a girl his age, so he figured his feelings must be romantic in nature.

part of why i believe this is the fact that steve never really seems to be upset or disappointed when robin comes out to him. at first, he's just worried about her. he thinks that she's being down on herself, so he assures her that of course he'd want to be her friend, no matter what. when she tells him about tammy, he's confused, and then he's surprised, and then he takes a moment to think about it. in my opinion, he doesn't seem to really be upset at all, just... genuinely thinking about things and processing this Huge Information he just learned that changes a lot of how he sees robin and their relationship. he isn't masking hurt or disappointment when he tells her tammy's a dud and sings in his little muppet voice, he's just cheering up his friend, and he's clearly having fun with it.

so yeah, i think steve probably never really liked robin That Way, though perhaps he could have, given more time. i think he just really liked her a friend, so much that once the idea of liking her romantically was planted in his head, he had a hard time really differentiating (as many of us do) and defaulted to what was Normal and Expected of him.

thank u for the ask!!

[insane-control-room]

ever wonder what it would be like to just let go?

---

seep away

Doug and Evans take a break near the ring altar of Bearly Buried.

ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/34924789

warnings: some suggestive dialogue, demons and possession, mention of murder, minor angst

tumblr vers under the cut

Doug stared at the collapse that he and Evans had caused, the detective having been so frustrated with having to run without a moment to even think that he had kicked one of the support beams that Doug had accidentally exposed. Malak grumbled curses within Doug’s mind, cursing his luck, cursing his tenacity, cursing the detective that stood by him. Powerless (aside from vanish and primal fear, both of which Doug was incredibly grateful for), exhausted, and suddenly relieved from the main source of their stress being cut off from a direct path to them, Doug sighed and turned around.

Sunlight.

Beautiful sunlight.

When was the last time he had seen it in this hellhole? There were thin, gentle waterfalls cascading down from above, Doug spotting a rainbow or two hidden in the mist. The cages suspended in the air were naught compared to the gentle sight on their eyes.

Evans was enraptured likewise. Though he saw through a veil, he could feel the kissing warmth, hearing the soothing rush of water like stardrops, mist touching his lips and moistening his flesh.

He and Doug silently stood side by side before the waterfalls, neither caring about the long fall down, even when Malak pointed it out to them (to Doug, at least).

As the water hit the rocky ground, causing white noise with no other sounds to accompany it, Evans felt the tension seep from his body just as the water dripped down the stone.

He could hear Doug’s breathing, slight and a little raspy, and he felt terrible for the man, but for a moment alone, as a stabbing pain in his chest reminded him of the hell he had gone through because of the man beside him. Then guilt that he blamed Doug surged, because of sweet Tammy.

He realized how utterly tired he was then. Again. His fear caused Evans to stay active, and now that the fear was eased, he was able to feel the exhaustion screeching in his limbs, limbs that were coated with sewer water, in sweat, topped with blood and grime.

Suddenly the water gently swirling over the abyss appeared very appealing.

“Hey, Houser?” Evans cleared his throat to get the timidity out of it. Doug looked at him, and he looked back just as steadily, however hard that was. “Do you mind if I take a break here? It’s not much of a shower, I know, but… it’s going to count for something, right?”

“Yeah, sure, go ahead,” Doug smiled and resisted the urge to pat Evans’ shoulder. Ever since Joy Joy Land, he had flinched and shied away from Doug’s casual touches, not that he blamed him for it. Despite Doug not minding horribly, Evans had apologized for it, which made Doug want to grab and shake him gently. “I’ll wait for you. I don’t wanna get blown up without telling you.”

“Alright,” Evans sighed, and made his way to the falls, making sure to tread carefully. Even if he was a ghost and could rise off the ground, he had heard enough folktales to know that water could possibly neutralize his powers, and he did not want to take that risk. To his immense relief, the water was as slow and gentle as it appeared, and his clothes quickly became drenched and clinging to his body. Evans’ eyes drifted shut as he leaned back, arms opening down by his sides, the water falling on his face and draining off his heavy shoes. “Oh, heaven.”

Doug was on his tablet. Really! Definitely on a book that was stored on the tablet, not peering over it and staring at Evans, who was defined by the mist giving him a storybook aura, the light making his skin glow, appearing wholly unearthly and divine.

No, Doug was not staring.

“You’re staring at him,” Malak amusedly mused in his head. Doug’s eyes snapped to the tablet, to a page that was uninteresting compared to the ethereal being whose body was being cleansed by soft, pure water. “Oh, come on. You know I’m not judging you for your voyersitic habits. Perhaps a little. Though I do wonder what you see in him….”

‘Are you kidding me?’ Doug demanded, barely able to keep the conversation in his head as it snapped up so he could look at Evans again. ‘What’s not to see in him?’

Malak only grinned, and Doug could tell. It maddened him a bit that Malak could even suggest that Evans was anything less than an angel.

An angel that hovered a touch above the ground. Doug’s eyes widened as he saw the small waterfall created by Evans’ shoes, the man floating and in a pose so open it was as though he was receiving prophecy or the touch of the big man upstairs. If anything in Doug’s experience had made him believe, this sight sealed his soul.

Empyreal.

“Oh, go back to your reading, Houser. His eyes are closed, he wouldn’t even know that you’re catching flies because of him.”

Doug’s mouth snapped shut.

“I will admit, his body is quite toned and appealing to the eye,” Malak went on, making the mortal’s cheeks flare with jealousy. “Something about him is so… sturdy and dependable. I wonder how it felt to have him depend on you for his life.”

Evans exhaled, long and slow. Doug’s breath was taken away as Evans let a small smile grace his face, the hard lines on his forehead easing.

“Wouldn’t that be a nice sight under you?” Malak ruined the moment. “Having that dear detective floating into bliss? Of course, you happened to like the sight of his terror, too. His fluttering chest under your hand… you remember that well.”

“Shut up,” Doug muttered, brow drawing down in his disconcertion. Malak chuckled in his mind, finding his disturbed embarrassment more than a little funny.

Evans sank back to earth, arms lowering from their turned pose, the detective slowly becoming more of a man and less of something otherworldly. He stayed under the water still, with his head turnt up, that smile still soft on his lips.

“He’s so… pliant, silent… willing. Don’t you think so?” Malak sneered, making Doug shudder. Oh, yes he had been. He was too loyal at times, too generous. He could have fought Doug, could he not? Evans was stronger than him, or at least could be if he had to. Why did he let Doug kill him? Here, they were forced to be equals, with no status or other faculty of life causing any gaps. It did not seem to get to Evans’ head yet, that Doug was no greater than he, here. “You miss that power you had over him.”

‘You’re just daydreaming through me,’ Doug scowled, then paused when he realized that he had hit a mark through their connection. His jaw dropped and he closed it before Evans could notice, the man finally stepping out from under the stream and shaking his arms off a bit. Both Doug and Malak watched the droplets fly off of his body, some glinting in his hair like little soul shards. A maniacal little grin spread on Doug’s face, and he muttered through it. “Oh my god. You like him too!”

Malak did not reply, instead sinking back from Doug’s mind. And a good thing, too, because Evans had come to sit next to him, using a hand to shake out some moisture from his hair. He seemed to be shivering a bit, and he unrolled his sleeves to cover his arms.

Then he reached over and took Doug’s hand. Evans kept his eyes on their now connected limbs, smiling just a touch with his brown eyes a little worried.

“How was the, uh, shower?” Doug tried to remain calm and casual, though his voice broke a bit. Evans shrugged and sighed. “Something wrong?”

“No, no, don’t worry about it,” Evans frowned with a shake of his head. “Just wish it could last longer.”

Doug gave his hand a squeeze. It felt amazing to do that. To be able to comfort Evans without a single word spoken.

Evans’ smile grew sadder, and he met Doug’s eye for a brief moment.

“Doug, can we talk about--”

Doug drew his hand away. Evans blinked away an emotion, a mix of hurt and frustration as he kept his eyes on the abyss.

“... the hotel.”

“Ah yes, where you murdered him,” Malak laughed, making Doug cringe from his past actions, from his current situation, and regret welled in his chest and choked him for a moment. “What’s there to talk about? He came when you called, so obedient, and then you--”

“Enough, Malak.” Doug hissed. Evans flinched, eyes widening and then becoming soft with liability. “Look, now’s not a good time, Ev.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize,” Evans hunched over, curling in on himself and rubbing his arms, “That he was listening. But, Doug, please, can you at least promise me that we’ll talk about this? It’s burning a hole in my mind.”

“We will,” Doug placated. Evans looked away again, knowing that Doug was not truly intending to follow through with those words. The sunlight was dazzling off of his soft brown hair. Doug steeled himself and then exhaled, “I swear. Okay? You can hold me to it.”

Evans, surprised by this turn, had been rendered silent again, and then he nodded, a little hope in his hazy toffee eyes. He stood up and extended a hand to Doug to help him up, and then shook it.

“I will.”

Doug wanted to kiss him to seal the deal.

“Why don’t we, then?” Malak scoffed, picking at Doug’s mind. Doug froze up, and Evans’ took his hand to support him, not knowing what Malak was saying, but feeling that it was nothing good. “I for one am dying to feel the thrill you had when he was trapped beneath you.”

“No!” Doug gasped as his body fought with himself. Evans steadied him on the slippery floor, anxiety filling the lawyer’s shoulders, because Malak was throttling him out of his own husk-- “It’s not me!”

“What?!” was all Evans managed to say when arms snapped about him, their legs tangling together as Malak puppeted Doug’s body in a rather poor manner. Malak moved Doug’s head to be too close to Evans’, so close he could see the shifting nerves of his covered pupil, and Doug yanked his head back. It was a major force of will, and it made them tumble, and then Doug landed on something soft and firm as Evans let out an, “Oof!”

It was then that Doug realized that he had traded one hell for another, with Evans pinned beneath him and a discomforting fear beginning to blossom in his eyes. Malak lost control over Doug’s body as he apologized profusely while doing the best he could to explain himself.

“It’s not your fault, just get off me already, please,” Evans gruffly concealed his pleas. Doug grasped Evans’ arm to help them both off the rocks, and then he put his foot down wrong in a puddle. He pulled Evans too hard, the ghost skidding forwards and knocking over them both again, but this time, Doug was the landing pad. “Sorry!”

Evans tried to rise, though Doug gently wrapped his arms around the still slightly moist detective.

“Don’t be,” he soothed. “As long as you’re not gonna ‘get me back’, I’m good with this. Will you?”

“No!” Evans blanched at the mere idea of killing Doug. Doug smirked and gave him a gentle compression.

“Good, because I think I could get used to this,” Doug shifted under him, making it clear what he thought through a blushing grin. Evans’ whole face darkened with fluster, and he renewed his effort to get up, and Doug let him, the detective helping him rise as well. “Ready for the nightmare?”

“Always,” Evans assured him.

They entered the caves, Evans casting a single longing look to the waterfalls.

[vgckwb]

Danganronpa: Away Chapter 4: Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me (Part 5)

I woke up the next day. I always liked sleeping in, but recently, I’ve come to like sleeping in general. I tend to get lost in my dreams, and I forget I’m here, which is a nice feeling. Except for when I’m having nightmares. However, I do have to wake up and face reality sometime.

I got ready, and I headed down to eat breakfast. Duke seemed particularly excited. I mean, he was teaching next, and he was really adamant about getting to teach, so I can see why. “So, are you excited?” Duke asked.

“I guess…” I answered. Duke looked at me weird. “I’m still tired, OK.”

“...You’d think getting up early for as long as we have would help you get used to it,” Duke remarked.

“Well, I’d argue the general stress of this place might hinder that,” I replied.

“Hmmmm,” Duke pondered. “You might have a point.”

“Well, I know I’m excited,” Monobird said, butting in.

“Oh!” Duke said, a little shocked. “Uh, well, to be honest, I think you might know what I’m going to be teaching…”

“Really?” Monobird asked. “I’m not in the forensics department, you know.”

“Yeah, but you’re pretty high up, aren’t ya?” Duke said. “You oughta know a thing or two, right?”

“Maybe?” Monobird said.

“I’m excited too,” May chimed in.

“Really?” Duke asked.

“Yeah. I can’t wait to see how you ruin this too,” May laughed.

“HEY!” Duke said. “I take offense!”

“You should,” May shot back. “I meant it to be offensive.” She giggled some more.

“Ugh! Can you PLEASE save your lover’s quarrel for after I wake up more?” I said. I then realized I said it. I sighed. “Man, I’m tired.”

“‘Lover’s quarrel’?” May questioned.

“Oh, yeah,” Duke said. “Justin here thinks I like you or something.”

“Really?” May said.

“Yeah,” Duke answered.

“How dense are you?!” Tammy asked me.

“Now now,” Pierce interrupted, “let’s hear him out. So, Justin, who DO you think this nightmare couple works out?”

I was confused. “How am I the only one that sees this?! I don’t even know how to explain this properly. But like, you know sometimes, two people might fight with each other, but they actually like each other, and just don’t want to admit it. It’s like that.”

There was a bit of a silence. “You really see that here?” Andy said, breaking the silence.

“Alright, look!” I said, getting mad. “How is me and Cassy, the most nothing thing, obvious to you all, but this clear lighthearted jabbing that will turn into something more not obvious?”

“Do you really want us to answer that?” Jay asked.

“Yeah, cause there are like at least five things I can cite for each,” Annabelle continued.

“Ugh!” I said, frustrated. “Just forget it. I think we’re already on thin ice in terms of the motive as it is. I shouldn’t have said anything.” I went back to eating, and trying to ignore everyone else.

After I finished eating, I got up and said “I’m sorry. I know this whole situation is frustrating for all of us. I just let it get to me for a bit. I’ll be in my room cooling off until class starts.” I walked out of the dining area and headed back to my room.

I slumped myself on my bed. Had the pressure of everything finally gotten to me? Everything felt like a fog. I just want to leave. But I can’t leave unless I kill someone. I’m not that desperate…am I?

Just then, I got a knock at the door. I went to open it up. “Pierce?”

“Hey,” Pierce replied.

“What are you doing here?” I asked

“I figured you could use some help,” he answered. I stood silently, not saying anything. “You’re right, this is hard on all of us. I don’t think anyone is mad at you for snapping like that.”

“I am…” I retorted.

“Well, that’s beside the point,” Pierce said “Look, we all have our moments of weakness. And honestly, I think we’re allowed to. We’re teenagers after all. Show me a well-adjusted teenager, and I’ll show you a bootlicker at best.” I was still pouting. “You’re fine. We’re all in this together. Don’t let this moment ruin everything.”

“How could this get ruined even further?” I responded.

“Well, sometimes, it’s nice to see the glass half-full,” Pierce said. “And yes, while the emptiness is particularly striking, we can’t let it bring us down completely.”

I sighed. “Fair enough, I guess… Thanks.”

“No problem,” Pierce responded.

“But um, could I just chill by myself a little longer?” I asked.

“Uh, sure, I guess…” Pierce said, sounding unsure.

“I do feel better,” I assured him, “but I just want to rest a bit more.”

“Sounds fine then,” Pierce said. “I assume you’ll join us for class?”

“Yeah,” I said.

“Great. See ya then,” Pierce said. He left, and I closed the door. I flopped back on my bed and started thinking again.

This whole situation is fucked up beyond belief. A crazed killer who wants all of us dead. So far, their plan seems to be working. Six people have died at the hands of this madman.

But Pierce is right. Just giving up is also what this lunatic wants. So we have to hold onto whatever silver lining we can.

But sometimes it feels like the wire is going to snap. What do we do then? I guess hang on, but it’s hard… Hopefully we can figure this out soon.

A thought then occurred to me. Maybe this motive might have more merit to it than I had imagined. But do I…? Well, I’ve encouraged others… Maybe I should take my own advice.

Just then, I heard the announcements come on. Annabelle chimed in. “Good morning. We are now on Day 2 of between 7 and 14 before the motive kicks in. For this morning’s class, our teacher, Duke Hunter, has asked us to join him in the chemistry lab. See ya there.”

I sighed and got up. “Maybe after lunch…” I left my room and proceeded to head into the chemistry lab.

I thought I would be the last one there, but when I sat down, the lesson didn’t start. Then I heard someone coming from the hall. I turned to look, and it was Annabelle. “Sorry. I had to come from the third floor…”

“It’s fine,” Duke said. “Just take your seat.” Annabelle did as such. “Alright, for today’s lesson, I’m going to teach you how to clean blood.

All of us were confused. “Told ya he’d ruin it,” May said.

Sophie raised her hand. “Yes, Sophie?” Duke asked.

“Um…why?” Sophie asked.

Duke stared at us for a minute. “...Do you want the real answer?”

“If possible,” Cassy responded.

“...Very well then,” Duke said. “I’m afraid to admit, my motive here is selfish.” We were confused again. “I was already blamed once for a murder. I don’t want someone to look up how to clean blood, kill someone, and when the blood is cleaned, I get blamed, because I’m the only one who would know. I mean, apart from Monobird, that is.”

“Uh, yeah, why do you think I would know how to do that?” Monobird asked.

“Because you're a cop,” Duke said.

“Again, I’m not in forensics…” Monobird reminded him.

“Yeah, but as a cop, you probably accidentally, or purposefully, shot someone, and needed to clean it up quickly,” Duke rebutted.

Monobird looked at him. “You don’t have a positive view of law enforcement, do you?”

“I’m a teenager, what do you think?” Duke asked back.

“Need I remind you, us cops are giving you food and supplies,” Monobird shot back.

“Yeah, thanks,” Duke said. “Now, when are you going to do something about the psychopath keeping us in captivity?”

“...We’re working on it…” Monobird said sternly, but also somewhat defeated.

“Well then, in the meantime, let me teach my lesson in peace,” Duke said. “Ahem. So, the first thing that’s important is making sure you clean the stain as quickly as you can. Otherwise, you can use hydrogen peroxide to get rid of a tougher bloodstain. But f you react quick enough, detergents should get it out. Um, let’s see, what else…” Andy raised his hand. “Yes, Andy.”

“Um,” he began, “why does hydrogen peroxide work on blood?”

“Huh,” Duke responded. “That’s a good question, actually. Ya see, hydrogen peroxide, or H2O2, is an oxidizer; which means that when it combines with certain things, such as blood, it breaks them down. Hold on. This is actually a bit of a complicated process. Let’s start from the beginning.”

Duke then proceeded to teach us about some of the basics of chemical reactions, and how they work. While I was a little familiar with some of it, a lot of it was new, and honestly it was very interesting. When Duke is in his element, he’s really engaging.

Duke looked at the clock. “Ah shoot, has it been an hour already?”

“I’m afraid so,” Monobird said.

“Well, shoot,” Duke said. “And I have to wait until the next rotation. Well, I hope you had fun, despite the little detour.”

“You know, honestly, I did,” Sophie said.

“Well, that’s all I could ask for,” Duke said. “Anyways, class dismissed.” He left the classroom.

A few others did as well. I was on my way out when I saw Cassy stopping Andy. “Ummmmm,” Andy said, nervously.

“You…didn’t know how hydrogen peroxide works?” Cassy asked.

“Oh no, I did,” Andy replied. “I figured I could probably give him a gentle push into talking about chemistry on a broader level though. Since, um, I…wasn’t entirely interested in talking about blood for an hour.”

“I see,” Cassy said. “Good job.”

“Thanks,” Andy said. They left as well. I left too.

We kind of hung out a little bit until lunch time. Lunch was a bit quieter than usual, or maybe I was just too focused to pay attention. I had some ideas rattling around in my head, and I wanted to figure it out. I was ready to give that stupid bear and his psychotic puppet master what they wanted, but not in the way that they expected. Not in the way anyone expected, really.

I was the first to finish my food (so maybe I just wasn’t paying attention), and I went to put my dishes away. When I got back out, I heard Annabelle shouting. “Justin!”

I turned to her. “Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about something else, you know.”

She smiled. “I get it. So, are you excited for my class this afternoon?”

“Oh, yeah, of course,” I replied. 

“Great,” Annabelle responded. “I’ll see you then.”

“Right,” I shot back. “In the meantime, I’m going to be working on something. So, um, I guess if you really need me, that’s OK, but I’d rather not be disturbed.”

“That’s fine,” Annabelle said. I wasn’t sure, but I thought I heard something in her voice. I didn’t think much of it though.

“Thanks,” I said. I headed back up to my room. I got out some paper and a pen, and proceeded to write out some of my thoughts. I don’t know what I was looking for, but for a while, I knew what I was writing wasn’t it.

I sighed. I was trying to figure out how I felt about Cassy. A part of me still wanted to deny any sort of romantic feelings, but even if I didn’t want to admit it, I knew they were there. It’s just…being in a situation like this isn’t ideal for a romantic proposal. Still, I had to try.

I had to try because I knew it would help. If I could get over this motive, then surely anyone could. Although with the numerous factors, this was easier said than done.

Still, I felt myself getting closer after a certain point. I think I figured out something, and I just needed to push on from there. Figuring this out almost felt like a trial. I just need to find a truth, latch onto it and keep going from there.

Eventually, I think I landed one something I felt OK enough on. I took a deep breath. I knew that when I walked out of the door, I’d have to confront my feelings. “I can do this.”

Before I left, however, I heard the PA system come on. Right, Annbelle’s class. But the thing I heard coming out of the speakers wasn’t Annabelle’s voice. “BANG! BANG! BANG!”

“Th…those were gunshots…” I reacted, horrified. I left my papers in the room, and ran out.

I hurried to the announcements room. I was not the only one who heard it, since I ran into Cassy, Andy, Sophie, and Jay in the hall. “Was that…?” Sophie wondered.

“We don’t have time,” Cassy said, seriously. The rest of us nodded, and then rushed up the stairs.

We approached the announcements room, and soon enough, everyone but Annabelle was with us. We knew what that implied, but we didn’t want it to be right. However, we had to find out. I opened the door.

Sure enough, we were greeted with a horrific sight. On the floor was a gun. On the corner of a table was blood. Directly below the table laid Annabelle’s body. She had three distinct bullet wounds, as well as blood pouring out of her head. Annabelle was dead.

[blackacre13]

Hi please do Loubbie public kisses and hugging from behind

Of course! Here we go!

KISSES: 37. Public kisses

It’s times like this that Lou is beyond frustrated to be a gay woman out in the world with her wife. It’s a rare frustration when it crosses her mind and boils her blood, but it happens more often than she’d like.

Debbie is stunning. Radiant. Gorgeous. And Lou wants nothing more than to scoop her into her arms, dip her back and kiss her until the brunette is breathless and smiling dizzily with delight and surprise. It should be illegal for someone to look so beautiful while asking about the dinner specials for the night, or pretending to be lost as a tourist in New York while Lou slips some wallets into their pockets, or now, as Debbie’s face scrunches up in concentration as she weighs two different apples in her hands at the farmer’s market because, however shocking it is to Lou in the years they’ve known and loved each other, Debbie has decided to bake a pie and the apples had to be ones she found on a stroll with Lou through the park. It’s bewildering in the best of ways and Lou wants to kiss her right then and there.

HUGS: 17. Hugging from behind

Debbie looked down at her fiancée with a smirk. Lou was in her element. Navy jumpsuit covered in stains. Grease on her hands and her forehead from wiping at her brows and bangs without checking to see what her hands looked like. Wrench in tow. Bike in front of her. Spare parts and tools scattered around her on the floor.

The brunette waited patiently for the blonde to pick up on her presence, but Lou had headphones in and couldn’t have heard Debbie approaching regardless of the fact that she had clicked her way into the room in Louboutins.

Debbie watched Lou for a moment as she swayed her hips side to side and was disappointed she couldn’t hear the music herself. But she had her guesses. Lou wiped her hands on a rag instead of her face or pants, finally and then Debbie saw her freeze. Her back stiffening and her head rising, suddenly alert to the fact that there was an intruder in her presence.

KISSES: 37. Public kisses (cont.)

But the little voice inside her head stops her. It almost always stops her. It depends where they are and who they’re with. Not everyone would be okay with the apple picking lesbians making out in front of their next pit stop to pick up grapes, where Debbie pulls a dangerous move and feeds a few to Lou by popping them directly on the blonde’s tongue. The little voice warned of the unknown. Of the danger. Of reminding her that the world still wasn’t 100% okay with them being who they simply were, even if it had made some strides.

Debbie was definitely the one who showed her affection through physical acts and touch, whereas Lou found her stride in more verbal reminders of her love and grand gestures. But it was Lou who was always whispering dirty things in Debbie’s ear, or surprising the other woman by pulling her against her own waist only for Debbie to find the strap pressing back into her. And around the team or the loft or in the dark corners of restaurants and alley ways, it was the Australian who was sneaking touches and kisses and teases.

But in public, it always seemed to be Debbie who was pushing boundaries in places where Lou’s guard went up and her libido went down. The desire was absolutely always there; no one turned her on or made her glow like her wife, but she was scared. Had to be. For the both of them. Debbie was bold and forgetful of where they were. Lou had to be smart and practical. Dodging a kiss and trading it for apologetic eyes. Dropping their held hands. Shimmying away from a Debbie looking to grope her ass. And Debbie understood. Of course she did, but little by little it always broke Lou’s heart shard by shard.

They stopped at one of the picnic tables for lunch, Debbie babbling about the pie and how she was going to prove a point to Tammy and Lou beamed at the Ocean, completely in love, as Debbie laid out a spread of cheese, crackers, cured meats and sparkling cider. Lou watched her closely as she portioned the cheese into slices before sliding a small plate towards the blonde which went unnoticed by Lou as she stared into Debbie’s honey amber eyes made lighter by the sun.

“Baby?” Debbie asked, suddenly looking worried.

Lou decided in that moment to stop her worrying mind from buzzing anymore and to just act. Fuck it.

“I’m going to do something I shouldn’t,” Lou whispered, standing up from the bench and moving to sit next to Debbie on the opposite side.

“Lou, what are you—“

The babbling and confusion stopped and Lou felt Debbie’s face fall into a pleased smile before relaxing into the kiss that spilled out of Lou and warmed her heart, delighted at the soft sigh of satisfaction from her wife and the stupid grin she knew was on her own face.

She pulled back too quickly for her liking, but she didn’t want to push it. Gay or not, she didn’t want to get carried away and end up fucking Debbie on top of a charcuterie board in public.

“What was that for?” Debbie breathed, eyes wild and face beaming.

Lou shrugged, grabbing a cracker and popping it in her mouth.

“Needed to be done,” she smiled. “I just wanted to kiss my wife and I’m tired of waiting until we’re in the shadows to do it.”

Debbie grabbed her hand and squeezed.

“I love you, baby.”

“Not as much as I love you, honey.”

HUGS: 17. Hugging from behind (cont.)

The brunette moved forward, wrapping her arms around the blonde softly, holding her tight for a moment before kissing her shoulder and neck.

“Miss me, baby?” Debbie breathed against her ear.

“Mm, Debs,” Lou sighed, letting Debbie stay where she’d planted herself. “I really fucking did.”

“Thought you might,” Debbie smirked, grabbing at the loose fabric between Lou’s thighs and rubbing at it for a moment. “Just as I suspected.”

“Well you did give me quite the show before running away and leaving me to bide my time alone,” Lou spoke, tossing the towel on the bike. “I had to distract myself. Kept my hands busy.”

“I had birthday errands to run,” Debbie murmured. “But I promise to make it up to you.”

“How so?” Lou asked, turning to face the brunette with an eyebrow raised before stopping herself with an “Oh”.

Debbie stood behind her in a barely-there slip that left little to the imagination and Lou’s mouth went dry.

“Follow me?” Debbie asked with a small smile.

“Anywhere, honey.” Lou breathed, her mouth gaping as Debbie grabbed her hand leading Lou away from the bike, giving the blonde a full view of her high heels and lace garters.

“Come on, baby. You’ve got presents to unwrap!”

“There’s something else I want to unwrap first, Deb.” Lou groaned.

“Thought you might,” Debbie smirked.

[365days365movies]

March 2, 2021: The Last Unicorn (1982) (Part 1)

I, uh...I wanna talk about zoology.

It’s my profession of choice, although if I’m going to be specific, it’s ecology and ornithology, based on my Masters. But while my expertise is in birds, that doesn’t mean I have any particular preference. So, let’s talk mammals. Specifically, I’d like to talk about horses.

Horses are odd-toed ungulates (Order Perissodactyla) belonging to the family Equidae, with only one living genus (Equus), which includes donkeys, zebras, and a FUCK-ton of fossil progenitors. Not gonna go into horse evolution here, since it’s a vast topic on its own, but the group dates to about 54 million years ago, during the Eocene period.

There are specific features that define modern horses as horses, including a single hoofed toe for walking on, a body built for running with high stamina, and a large cecum in the intestines for breaking down fibrous and herbaceous material. It’s a group native to North America, Africa, and Asia, with the modern descended horse descended from a somewhat unknown ancestor in Central Asia.

They’re grazers rather than browsers, which many similar sized herbivores are. And, of course, they have a close relationship to humans throughout prehistory. Their main systems of defense against predators are the afore-mentioned running capabilities, a VICIOUS kick (especially horses like zebras), and a high-range of monocular vision due to the position of their HUGE eyes.

In terms of sexual selection, it’s essentially based on physical competition between the males in a population, which are usually formed into reproductive harems. That’s one male with multiple females that live within an established range. The females have their own dominance schemes, while groups of males exist in bachelor herds before establishing a harem of their own.

And those two paragraphs help explain why horses don’t grow horns.

Animals like this bighorn sheep, as well as antelopes with impala and gerenuk, perform intrasexual selection using their horns, the size of which determine the fitness of an individual male, with the fights settling any potential ties for watching females. And that’s the main reason why herbivorous mammals grow horns, and horses have come up with different social structures to compensate. But OK, couldn’t they just horns anyway? 

Remember the stomach I mentioned earlier? Here’s the thing; hindgut digestion, which is what horses do...not the most nutritionally efficient form of digestion. In order to maintain their running lifestyles, they invest all obtained energy and nutrients into building muscle and other important functions. Fact of the matter is, they just can’t devote enough energy and nutrients to the physiologically expensive act of owning a horn. They do have a close relative that does that, though. However, they’ve sacrificed their speed, intelligence, and even their eyesight for their horns, as well as beefing up their physical defense with thicker skin.

YUP! So why talk about this? I mean...you know why.

OK, so that had basically nothing to do with this movie, but a post like this has been building since I mentioned the gerenuk a little bit ago. Sorry, had to get it out. Anyway, yeah, unicorns are impossible, but they’re still a hallowed mythical creature. National animal of Scotland, one of the most prominent symbols of medieval mythology, a magic-using ethnic class in a mythical kingdom composed of a horse-based majority that also includes normal horses and pegasi...

You know, unicorns. So, I’m definitely interested in what would happen to make a unicorn, well...the last one. My bets are on something man-made, like deforestation or another for of habitat depletion. Could be poaching for the horn. After all, that’s what’s been driving rhinoceros species to near-extinction (or actual extinction in the case of the western black and northern white rhinos. RIP Sudan, you goddamn king).

But let’s find out rather than speculate! SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Recap (1/2)

During medieval times, in a mystical wood called the Unicorn’s Forest, a hunter shows unease to his companion. In the forest, there are no seasons, and the beasts are protected from hunters, as long as there is one unicorn left if the forest. That last unicorn is...the Unicorn (Mia Farrow), who learns from the hunters that she must be the last of her kind.

The opening credits, which are a gorgeous animated medieval tapesty, are backed by the song “The Last Unicorn”, by America (damn, nice pull). Gives the whole thing a Renn Faire feel. Never been to a Renn Faire, but I’d love to go to one, honestly.

Anyway, the Unicorn is in doubt that there are no more of her kind in the world, as they live forever, and she would know if there are none left...right? However, they can also be killed and trapped, so...I mean, they might be dead, Unicorn. As she’s thinking on this, the most Rankin-Bass butterfly ever shows up singing a ballad of love. This is...the Butterfly (Robert Klein), a bard-erfly (see whay I did there) who won’t stop singing, despite the Unicorn’s pleas to tell her of other unicorns.

Butterflies, apparently, repeat to anything they hear around them Which involves like, a lot of non-medieval songs. There’s one about the A-train, apparently, which makes...just NO fucking sense. As the Unicorn also shows frustration at this anachronistic little bugger, he breaks his songs to tell her than the Unicorns have all been chased off by “the Red Bull.”

...I’m going to hold it off as long as I can, but the joke WILL come. It WILL come.

She wonders if she can truly leave the forest, then actually does so in order to find the other unicorns. She happens upon a farmer, who attempts to tame her, as he only sees her as a horse. Apparently, men can no longer see unicorns as they are, and usually only see them as white horses. So, there may be unicorns in the world after all!

Not sure why she doesn’t go back to her forest after realizing this, but...OK. She continues on, backed once again by a song performed by America, called “Man’s Road”. Real talk, I’m digging the music in here, which is my inner folk rock fan talking.

While she finds nothing on her journey, she’s instead found by Mother Fortuna (Angela Langsbury), a witch who runs a carnival that needs a new exhibition. With her comes Ruhk (Brother Theodore) and magician Schmendrick (Alan Arkin), the latter of whom actually can see the Unicorn as a Unicorn.

At the carnival, Schmendrick introduces hiself to the Unicorn, wanting to get her out of there. Meanwhile, an audience is fooled by Mother Fortuna’s illusory magic to see a manticore, satyr, and the Midgard Serpent, when in reality they are an elderly lion, ape with a twisted foot, and really sad snake. However, the Harpy that she has IS real, and a major threat to Fortuna were she to escape.

That night, Fortuna speaks to the Unicorn of the Red Bull, owned by a King Haggard. The Unicorn asks Fortuna to free both her and the Harpy, two signs of the same magical coin. Also...is this a kids’ movie? Kinda thought it was until I noticed that the Harpy has, well...pendulous breasts. Literally the best way I can describe them. Also, three of them, so...there’s that.

After she leaves, Schmendrick arrives to free the Unicorn with his magic...and he’s shit at it. Like, REALLY shit. But thankfully, he’s a decent pickpocket, and stole the cage keys from Ruhk. He lets the Unicorn free, and she in turn releases the other animal prisoners, Harpy included. Which is NOT great for Fortuna, who’s IMMEDIATELY killed.

The two leave together, and head on the Unicorn’s journey to find her own kind. She cannot grant Schmendrick his wish to become a true magician, but he still gives her information about this world, and King Haggard, who seems like bad news.

On the road, the two encounter a gang of thieves of the road, who work for Captain Cully (Keenan Wynn), a short and portly leader of bandits. His mistress is a woman named Molly Grue (Tammy Grimes), who’s endlessly frustrated by Cully’s regular failures. They befriend Schmendrick, who impresses them with illusions of Robin Hood and his Merry Men. Although, it’s not his illusions, but those of the Unicorn, trying to help.

Doesn’t help that much, though, as the Robin Hood-hating Captain Cully ties him up to a tree after all of his men and Molly leave. A frustrated Schmendrick mutters a spell by mistake, and brings the tree to life.

And then my girlfriend fuckin’ broke. Here she is, below:

Ravishing. Yeah, she’s watching this too, and when the tree came up, her words were, and I quote:

...a smooth-talking horse, a three-tittied harpy, and a BOOBED TREE!

Boobed tree is an expression I will find a way to use in my life. Also, this is ABSOLUTELY not a kid’s movie, and that is one busty-ass tree. This tree, called...The Tree (Nellie Bellflower) is in love with Schmendrick, and is enraged by the appearance of the Unicorn. However, the Unicorn undoes Schmendrick’s magic, and puts the t-horny tree back to sleep.

The two encounter Molly Grue, who’s astonished to see a Unicorn. She cries, as she was been waiting to see one since she was a young maiden, but now she isn’t one anymore. Interesting implications there, but moving on. Molly wishes to join them, and while Schmendrick isn’t super down for that, she wins the Unicorn’s trust when she points out that they’ve been going in the wrong direction. Whoops.

OK, with that, let’s break for Part 2! See you there!

[strongsassysexysloane]

Fifth Day of Twelve - A Perfectly Captured Memory

Well well well this is the most commitment I've had to something in a while. You're welcome LOL.

Click below to read previous days drabbles

. . . .

The snow had really come down over night but you didn't mind. You had gloves now to keep your hands nice and toasty. Even though it was now the weekend in most people's lives, to you, it was just another work day which meant no sleep in whatsoever.

The office was empty when you arrived, typical for a weekend and it was only 0630. You had been up far too early thinking about anything but what gift you would receive today. At least trying to think about anything else. Failing miserably. That was at 0500 and when you saw the snow piled up on the rim of your bedroom window you decided to go in early just in case there was traffic. Had nothing to do with possibly catching the gift giver in the act.

Alas when your eyes found your desk it had something extra sitting beside your phone that definitely wasn't there when you left last night. Unfortunately the potted plant had to go yesterday because it started to smell not so nice.

Once you dropped your backpack underneath, you picked up the photo frame and smiled at the cute family photo inside. It was of the team at Jimmy's birthday party this year. A half decent one before half of you got absolutely sloshed. You were part of that half and so was the woman with her arm curled around your waist, holding you close, her head resting against yours. You of course, had a stupid overly tipsy grin spread across your face. The more.you looked at the photo the more the memory flooded your mind, the taste of bourbon, the warm touch and tight hold of Jack Sloane.

Most days you could keep your emotions under control but that night, the alcohol let them free, just a little. There was dancing, one slow song but you were both too drunk for it to mean anything. You ran your finger over the frame with a smile. His party was so long ago.

That night made it difficult to hold those emotions in check after, you'd tried so hard for the past year putting those feelings for her aside. Someone had pointed out that maybe the failed dates were because no one matched up and that was partly true. No one could but you didn't know how they could match up when you weren't ever a thing to begin with. Oh, how you prayed this was all from her.

You knew Jack was attracted to females, Izzy was easy to get information out of once she was tipsy. Izzy stopped by a few months back to share information on a case much to Jack's dismay but this time she charmed you into drinks. Only for her to get more information on Jack's dating life but in return you got some back story on Jack as well. She, of course, wasn't around to be angry at either of you until the following morning because Izzy had sent her a drunken voicemail.

She was more mad at Izzy for blabbing and curious towards you about why you were so inquisitive. You deflected like you usually did and for once Jack let up.

That was you and Jack. A friendship with questions attached. You knew Jack had asked questions about you a while back. You knew because you'd overhead her talking to Ellie in the ladies room a couple months after you'd joined. It wasn't anything about the job, it was all personal. Ellie had asked you out for Saturday night drinks with her and Nick, everyone else had plans but that didn't stop Jack from getting all the information she wanted. After that you avoided going out with Ellie for a while, it wasn't until she figured it out and promised things would stay between the two of you, that you decided to go drinking with them again. You didn't mind sharing, you just preferred when the person wanting to know asked you face to face which you knew was entirely hypocrital on your part.

Why she didn't ask you or why you couldn't ask her was frustrating. They weren't overly intrusive questions, just getting to know a person's life a bit more. She just made you nervous for some reason.

You almost dropped the photo frame when the elevator doors dinged. It was Gibbs arriving for the day with a cup of coffee in his hand. He frowned at your shocked face and you gave him a one shoulder shrug in response. "Morning."

" 'morning. Another present?"

His question caught you off guard. "Umm..yeah."

"Only gets annoyin' when they harp on about it." He offered a reason to your questioning look. "Got a photo?" He stopped at your desk and looked down at the frame.

You picked it up and faced it towards him. It was a simple light wooden frame with a meaningful picture. "Even has you smiling."

"Might 'ave somethin' to do with the good bourbon Palmer had on tab." He smirked, placing it back down on your desk.

You chuckled. "Was good bourbon." So good that Jimmy didn't realise how many people drank it until he got the bill.

Gibbs nodded and took a swig of his coffee. "Any ideas yet?"

You raised a brow at his follow up but his dead stare just made you chuckle more. "No. I dont-" You didn't want to sound stupid. It seemed like a silly reason.

"Want to ruin the surprise." He nodded and walked over to his desk. It sounded ok when he said it.

"Yeah."

There was silence between you after that. You followed up with the call directory of the victims brother you were working on last night. Praying to find something to go with the no alibi he had for the time of the murder. They were estranged however only lived twenty minutes apart and something in his answers seemed off. Off according to Gibbs and Jack which was something. He just seemed unpleasant when you and Gibbs picked him up yesterday.

The team started to arrive just after and to no one's surprise Ellie was the only one to notice or comment about the frame on your desk. She soon dropped the subject when Jack came whizzing in.

"Guess where I'm jetting off to in a few hours?!" She beamed, bouncing on the balls of her feet with your added enthusiasm.

"Where Jack?" All three of you said in deadpan unison and Gibbs smirked as Jack rolled her eyes. "I don't care if you aren't interested. I'm going to New Orleans." She raised her arms in victory. "It's been so long."

You could tell by her slightly open mouth and glowing eyes that she was thinking about food. "What's first on the menu?"

She laughed and looked down at you. "Depends. I'm going to help Dwayne on a case. He asked for me specifically and Vance actually agreed. So it may be his gumbo or a restaurant between the airport and the office." She shrugged really not caring which option it would be, just that she knew it would be good food.

"Mmmm I can smell it all, already." Ellie hums. She visited the NOLA office earlier in the year, side trip when she went home for a week to Oklahoma. Tammy and Sebastian had finally convinced her to come down for a weekend with the promise of Dwayne's signature dish. She didn't care what it was, she was sold.

"You might need to bring her back something." Nick smirked at Ellie's poked tongue.

"I might just do that."

"Thank you Jack." They both grinned at each other. Ellie was known for her love of food but Jack was a close second in your book.

"Have fun, remember there's a case to solve inbetween food." You smiled wider when she rolled her eyes.

That's when the thought clicked, if Jack wasn't here then you'd finally know if it was her or not. She couldn't surprise you with gifts if she wasn't here and she wouldn't dare tell anyone else it's her.

"Thank you, Y/n. Gibbs, I've got those profiles you asked for yesterday. Follow me." She motioned with her gloved hand for him to join her to her office and he obliged.

She left the office not long after and left Gibbs with another possible lead for the case.

"Grab your gear."

. . . .

Tonight consisted of drinking eggnog, watching Christmas movies while making Gingerbread houses with my roommate. Twas fun. Feeling very festive. Hop everyone has a good weekend!