#a similar - but - to - the - left thought. u know the last unicorn

[hauntedurge]

when astarion meets good people — people who are kind without expecting anything in return, people who are generous, people who are...well, not like him, in short — his honest first reaction is almost always envy. because he genuinely thinks that a good heart must mean that the person with that heart hasn't gone through hardship; there's a sense that "if this person had going through half of what i have, they'd be just like me." he's envious of the easy life he imagines they've had, which then makes him angry if the other person tries to change his behavior; who are you to tell him what to do when you've a naive idiot who's never gone through anything? this is why companions like karlach put him off — learning that not only is someone good but had been through a lot of suffering, especially suffering that's congruent to his own, makes this thought process impossible. it proves it's possible to come out of abuse much like his own without being a monster. it summons self - doubt ( could i be different than i am, could i be more like them? ) and anger ( why aren't you worse? you should be worse! you should be trying to take advantage of me and hurt me like i'm taking advantage and hurting you! ) which, as we all know, translates in astarion to bitterness and passive aggressiveness and flirtation and manipulation.

[hugsandchaos]

Friendship Is Haunting

Prologue Part One

1,714 words

A bright green earth pony held a flashlight in his mouth pointed ahead of him as he climbed up the last of the stairs. He paused when his front hooves were on the very last step to look around. The faint smell of dust and old items entered his nostrils as he turned his head around to shine the light on the floor. It had been a while since he last went up to the attic, and he knew his brother went up there a while back to organize the boxes and other stuff there to make it easier to find stuff they’d need, along with proper room to walk through it. He did a pretty good job at it, too. To his left, he could see boxes and bins that mostly said “Hearth’s Warming Decorations” neatly stacked and arranged. A few boxes that said “Spare Winter Clothes” sat next to them with a bit of space between them.

To his right were “Hearts and Hooves Day Decorations” with an empty space most likely meant for if or when they’d have spare summer clothes. Up ahead was an empty space, probably kept that way for walking and bringing big boxes down. Even though he was very impressed with his brother’s work, neither of these were what he was looking for. The earth pony climbed the rest of the way and was even more surprised by how much less dust was on the floor.’I should definitely thank him.’ He thought to himself. He made a U-turn and walked behind the attic’s entrance to head to the back. Technically, though, it was closer to the front of the house, so he and his brother should probably start calling it “the front” instead of “the back”. The stallion held the flashlight firmly in his mouth as he scanned the names on the boxes. As he past the boxes he had seen earlier, he quickly found the only “Nightmare Night“ box they had left up there right of the “Hearts and Hooves Day” boxes. The corners of his mouth turned upwards into a smile as he walked towards the single box. Once he got close enough, he leaned onto his hind legs and opened the box. Inside was an Ouija Board and a dark green book that read “A Guide To Summoning Ghosts” in bold, white letters. He ignored the Ouija Board and picked the book up. He grinned at it with excitement and mischief. He tucked it between his left hoof and his chest so he could close the box. The earth p turned around and promptly left the attic to return downstairs.

When he went back downstairs, he walked down the hall and made a right turn into the living room, where his brother was sitting on the red, yellow, and green carpet with their two friends. His brother, Pine Breeze, had a darker coat than him and had a charcoal mane, while his was tangerine orange. His brother’s eyes were a cool blue while his were a whiskey hue of brown. All in all, they didn’t appear that similar, but if you saw their parents with them, then anypony would be able to guess that they were relatives. His brother noticed him coming into the dark room as he set the flashlight onto the table by the couch and pressed the button to turn it off. Now their only source of light was the small star shaped night light on the wooden floor.”Watcha got there, Berry?” Pine Breeze asked. The two would sometimes only call each other part of their full names, Berry being short for Berry Mist.”Oh, I think y’all will like this idea.” Berry said mischievously. He put the book down in the middle of them with a small sense of pride. They all looked at the book for a few seconds, then Evening Glow, a unicorn mare with a deep blue coat and a sunset red and orange mane, spoke up.

“This seems fun!” She said. She always liked the spooky and scary, so Berry knew she’d love the idea. Her yellow eyes were full of excitement. Their second friend, a white pegasus named Whimsy Star, looked troubled and lightly pulled one of her front hooves back. She dragged that hoof in a tiny circle”I don’t know.” She said. Evening Glow glanced at her girlfriend with an encouraging look. The two were a bit of polar opposites when it came to scary stuff. Evening Glow loved it, so much in fact that she had a mini library in her bedroom filled with horror and thriller books. There was a time when they all stopped by a bookstore and lost her in only a few seconds, only to find her looking through the horror section twenty minutes later. Whimsy Star on the other hoof couldn’t handle it very well and tried to avoid it. Luckily, Evening Glow seemed alright with not sharing what happened in her most recently finished book or her favorite legends, so Whimsy never really worried about it. Now, though, she was a little nervous she’d end up in something she really didn’t want to be part of since there were three ponies who did.

”Don’t worry, maybe it’s fake.” Evening Glow said. To be fair, tons of sleepover “rituals” were proved to be a bust and waste of time, but every now and then, a group would claim that it worked and tell anyp who’d listen about the details of what happened. Plus, it was Nightmare Night, which only made it scarier for the green maned mare despite the seemingly high chance it wouldn’t work. Whimsy’s nervous expression shifted to one of puzzlement.“So why would you want to do it?” She asked.

“Because it’s still fun to me!” Evening Glow said.”But you don’t have to if you don’t want to, or we could do something else.” She added. Pine and Berry nodded in agreement, even though Berry was pretty bummed out by the thought of not doing it. Whimsy smiled a bit and quickly began to feel more confident. She thought about it for a while before coming to her decision.”Okay, let’s try it!” She said. She ever so slightly puffed her chest out and raised her head a little higher.“Are you sure?” Evening Glow asked. Whimsy lost her nervousness and nodded with a determined look on her face. Evening Glow glanced over at Pine Breeze. He gave a small shrug.”If we’re all in agreement, then let’s go ahead.” He said. Berry Mist smiled and lifted one of his hooves.”Yes!” He cheered under his breath. Evening Glow used her magic to levitate the book and open it to the first few pages. She cleared her throat and began reading out loud.

“Let the circle consist of four, five, or six individuals, about the same number of each sex. Sit round an uncovered wooden table, with all the bottom of the hooves in contact with its top surface.” She started. In unison, all four members stood up and walked towards the dining room, where the perfect table awaited them. However, instead of reading, Evening Glow lifted a hoof to signal them to stop and continued reading.”Before the sitting begins, place some pointed quills and ink bowls next to some paper to enable communication between your friends and the ghost.” She added. Berry Mist silently went to fetch the needed items and was back in a few seconds. Once he placed them on the table, he sat down and Evening Glow took a seat between him and Whimsy. She scanned the next few sentences while muttering.”Huh. Looks like we’re all set! The first symptom of it working will be a cool wind over our hooves.” She said as she closed the book. She set it down on a spare chair in the corner and placed both her hooves on top of the table.

Nothing happened.

A few minutes passed before Pine spoke up.“Maybe we should close our eyes?” He suggested. Evening Glow hummed. She thought about it for a second before responding.“It didn’t say we couldn’t.” She said. They all closed their eyes and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Suddenly, all four of them felt a cool breeze blowing over their hooves. They all opened their eyes and looked at each other.”Do you feel that?!” Berry asked. Pine nodded at him and turned to Evening Glow, who also looked surprised. As excited as they were hoping it would work, they were just as shocked to find out that it was actually happening.”I feel it too!” She said. They turned to Whimsy, who was looking at something above them with her jaw wide open. She looked horrified and bewildered by what she was looking at. The three of them followed her gaze to see a small green orb floating above them.

They all stared in stunned silence as the orb slowly grew bigger, its dim glow getting brighter by the minute. None of them could move, despite part of their minds screaming at them to run. They were caught in a mixture of wonder and horror. None of them felt like they could look away or speak. It wasn’t until an outline of some kind of creature began forming and the breeze grew stronger and colder that they snapped out of their trance.

Whimsy Star shrieked and pulled her hooves off the table. She fell backwards onto her back, but quickly rolled over and stood up. Berry quickly followed her lead and got off of his chair. He grabbed his brother’s hood and practically yanked him down.”Come on!” He said. Pine stumbled, but got up and backed away from the table. And yet the ghost still continued to come into being. Whimsy grabbed Evening Glow by the hoof and pulled her off of the table. Still, the ghost was forming above them. The temperature was slowly dropping, and all of their hearts were beating so fast with fear that Pine thought his might explode out of his chest. Despite no longer having their hooves on the table, it didn’t disappear. The realization of what they’ve done made their stomachs drop.”We should go!!” Whimsy screamed. Even though it was their house, Berry and Pine agreed, and they all sprinted out of the house.

[chevvy-yates]

OC Interview Questions

I saw @smilepal's post with Hiro being interviewed, thought it was cool and wanted to do as well (also goes for the idea to have the character answering for the interviewer, so I thought I'd make that as well.)

Tagging: @nervouswizardcycle @dreamskug @a-pirate @wraithsoutlaws @jaymber and everyone who want's to do this (no pressure).

Edit: Imagine his voice being similar to SPN S1 Dean's (just a lil' lighter maybe).

---

Name?  

Vijay. — jus' V's fine, tho.

Are you single? 

I was in fact — until last week. smirks So, I'm off the market. Sorry to all the gents and ladies out there!

Are you happy? 

I'm mostly good but I wouldn't call it happy in every case. Being happy really's kinda rare. Since I live in NC and left Portland behind, yeah I guess I'm much 'happier'. But there's always room for improvememt. (bonus ask) But you seem happy to me? That's because of my face. I got a happy face. Doesn't mean I'm always the happy cute guy you see in me. Anyways: yet, I appreciate it when I'm also not happy — See, I don't think u can achieve to be the happiest either. There'll always be times u get kicked off of your rainbow shootin' unicorn, u know.

Are you angry?

Show me one person in NC who's not? Everyone's angry. Not all the time, and I believe many hide it, so they're practically lyin'. I get angry, too, at times. But I tend to vent quickly and not wasting any more time with it because I got better things to do.

Are your parents still married?

Heck do I know? Don't care 'bout 'em anymore.

=NINE FACTS=

Birth place?  

Monterey Bay. Scenic coastline, almost looks ike some neat painting. I used to play a lot at the beaches and swam in the ocean when I was a kid. Area is thrivin' with wild life. There isn't one day I'm not thinking about it. Once I'm gettin' tired of the city life, I'm gonna buy me one of these fairytale cottages and spend the rest of my days sitting on my porch watching the sun setting beyong the ocean.

Hair color?

Ginger. And yes, I have a soul.

Eye color?

Used to be pure green but I had to replace them with optics because of the biz, so now got a color that looks green to blueish? Depends on the lighting.

Birthday?

February. Close friends get the numbers.

Mood?

's good for now.

Gender?

I'm a male.

Summer or winter?

Well, this is NorCal. It's mostly Summer throughout the year. Even Portland didn't get much of a Winter thanks to global warming shit noone could stop yet. I don't even know what a real Winter feels like. Maybe I should take a trip to where Winter still happens to be? Then u might get an answer 'bout this.

Morning or afternoon?

Often get to enjoy mornings since I mostly work at night and come home or finish a job when it's about to get morning. Yet, I've always loved afternoons way more. The moment u can just watch the sun getting lower until it's disappearing behind the horizon has always been and is very peaceful to me.

=EIGHT THINGS ABOUT YOUR LOVE LIFE=

Are you in love?

I defintiely got that strong butterfly feeling again I haven't felt in a long while. Feels great!

Do you believe in love at first sight?

Nuh-uh. I believe it's attraction that's drivin' people mostly when they think they are in love from zero to hundred. Maybe there are exceptions, though, dunno. But for me — there's no "at first sight". It developes after time is what I can say from my experience.

Who ended your last relationship? 

I did. Personal issus I couldn't cope with. That's all you need to know. We're still very good friends. It's not easy that easy though.

Have you ever broken someone’s heart?

He told me I didn't, but I think I did. His eyes do tell me that.

Are you afraid of commitments?

What kind of commiment?*

Have you hugged someone within the last week?

Yeah, sure. Hugs are important. It's part of my love language.

Have you ever had a secret admirer?

Yah, bet I got some. But I don't — uh … really care? Come to me, talk to me — rest we'll see.

Have you ever broken your own heart?

Yup. Got to do with these people called "parents" I once had.

=SIX CHOICES=

Love or lust?  

I like both but lust always seems to be stronger, lingering deep inside, waiting to get into action. I've got a better understanding of it than love. The latter is unpredictable and hits you totally unexpected. But the two can go along well together if you got the right person at your side and keep both balanced.

Lemonade or iced tea?

Lemonade — always a good choice. Am I gettin' some now? Don't forget to put some gin into it for me, alright?!

Cats or dogs?

Send me all them doggos u got! I love them. -happiest face ever- They are the only animals that love you unconditionally. Cats would eat u if they were bigger than us for sure.

A few best friends or many regular friends? 

After Portland I went with "few best friends". The rest is only mutuals, too me. U need to be careful with whom you talk about personal stuff — especially in this city. True friends takes a while to find, though.

Wild night out or romantic night in?

Can u stop askin' me 'this or that' stuff? It's both. Wild nights are a lot of fun but if I got someone I just wanna spend time alone with? — Fuck yeah! Nothing can beat a romantic night at home. I crave for that as well.

Day or night?

Where are we right now? Right – NIGHT City. More than half of the city sleeps at day and is awake around night, same goes for me.

=FOUR HAVE YOU EVERS=

Been caught sneaking out?

Where to? If u mean by that, as a kid — dozens of times. If on a job — I stopped counting.

Fallen down/up the stairs?

In my biz? Couple of times.

Wanted something/someone so badly it hurt?

Yup. But as I said — done with it.

Wanted to disappear?

As in getting invisible for my job? Heck, wouldn't that be awesome!? Otherwise, nah.

=FOUR PREFERENCES=

Smile or eyes?

Ohhh, it's eyes alright. They tell you so much about a person sometimes it's incredible.

Shorter or taller? 

Well, I ain't got anything against people smaller than me, but — nearly same height as me is very pleasing, bc you don't have to bend down all the time. I'm 6''4 so, there ain't many people taller than me. Well, Jackie is — was, tho …

Intelligence or attraction?

I must admit I go for attraction in the first place and therefore intelligence does come a bit short in some cases. But it is also very important. So, both.

Hook-up or relationship?

I prefer relationships, but hook-ups are nice, too — especially when you had enough of relationships for a while.

=FAMILY=

Do you and your family get along?

Why are there so many family related questions? U can answer this to yourself. Don't have to tell ya twice, bro!

Would you say you have a “messed up life”?

It was messy alright, until I got myself together and got out of it. At least for that messed up life part. The one I'm in now is a different messed up. I don't think about that much. Pulls you only down, to be honest. Just tryin' and get the best out of it everyday I wake up. You live only once, right? So make the best out of it.

Have you ever run away from home?

Not really. U could say I did but he part at home didn't bother either? Does that makes sense? Ah fuck — just get me the next question!

Have you ever gotten kicked out?

No. I was gone before anybody could have 'kicked me' out.

=FRIENDS=

Do you secretly hate one of your friends?

Ehm… why should I hate one of my friends secretly? Your questions reaching the peak of lowness, seriously.

Do you consider all of your friends good friends? 

Didn't we already have a similar question? The few friends I got, are my GOOD Friends — the rest is, already said, mutuals.

Who is your best friend? 

Was– best friend. Jackie — I still miss him. But Ryder, my team mate, is always there for me if I got somethin' on my mind. I met him about the same time as Jackie. We've been very close to each other for a while.

Who knows everything about you?

Jackie knew a lot about me. I would go that fare and say he'd know almost everything, yeah. But Jack's gone, so I'll pick Ryder. He might know almost as much about me as Jackie did. And I know he'll keep private things for himself. I know I can trust him.

[marvels-writings]

Hi sorry if u did something similar to this, if u did ignore this ask. The request is for carol x f!reader where carol is under an anesthetic and keeps flirting hardcore with the reader who’s her crush and new doctor in the avengers medical team. After it wears off she’s back to being shy and distant, and the reader feels confident enough to do the flirting. Happy endings are always welcome

A/N: I’m so sorry I didn’t write this for like over a month but here you go! 

“Carol?” You asked, confusion written all over your face as you walked into the med bay, Carol was sitting on one of the beds, suit on and her shoulders slouched, short hair messed up with strands falling in her eyes, she looked like a mess. 

“Y/n, I,” Carol hesitated but sat up, inhaling through her teeth because of the pain, giving you a forced smile. “I might have accidentally hurt myself.” “How bad?” You asked instantly, setting down your clipboard and moving to her, she turned around the best she could and reached back to unzip her suit, hesitating instantly when it hurt.

“Let me.” You suggested, Carol put her hands in her lap, shoulders still tense as you gently unzipped her suit.

There was a huge cut from the middle of her left shoulder blade to the top of her right shoulder blade, the wound was dirty and half scabbed over, some of it was still open, you gasped at the site. 

“How, what happened?” You asked, making a mental list of things you would need, fingertip gently running on the side of the wound, testing the depth, apologizing quickly when you heard Carol groan quietly in pain.

“Wasn’t paying attention,” Carol mumbled, you got up and got some anesthetic in an injection, hands a little shaky as you put on gloves. 

“Some guy got the jump and used a knife, didn’t dodge it fast enough.” Carol explained, giving you another forced smile while trying her best not to stare at you. 

You explained the use of the anesthetic and rolled the sleeve down from her shoulder, injecting the anesthetic into her arm, wincing when you saw Carol flinch in pain a little.

“The anesthetic might take a few minutes to take effect.” You said, getting some water and extra cloth to clean it from blood before disinfecting it. 

“I think it already took effect.” Carol said, grinning at you, you were surprised, maybe it was just her superpowers?

“Or maybe not?” You joked, getting it and moving behind her to clean the wound further. “Uh, can I unzip this a bit more?” You asked tentatively. 

“Someone wants to get me out of my clothes.” Carol smirked, you blushed but ignored the comment the best you could, unzipping her suit a little further, trying not to make contact with her skin.

“Am I allowed to talk?” Carol asked, you continued cleaning the wound as gently as you could, avoiding touching her skin directly.

“You don’t need to ask me permission to talk  Carol.” You answered, rolling your eyes a little.

“Yes ma’am.” Carol joked, you giggled slightly, cloth running gently over the wound.

“You should laugh more.” Carol stated, slurring a few words together, you raised an eyebrow as the wound was clean, going to get the cleaning alcohol and another clean cloth.

“I do laugh.” You defended, getting the cloth, not missing the way Carol was looking at you with complete admiration.

“Yeah, but it’s so beautiful I want to hear it more.” Carol grinned, you blushed and clenched your jaw slightly, trying to avoid the grin crawling on your face but failing miserably.

“Someone’s flirty today,” You murmured, going back behind her and frowning when you saw a piece of the blade lodged into her back, it was small so you’d need tweezers. 

“Honestly I didn’t think the anesthetic would affect you that much.” You thought aloud, getting the forceps to take the piece of metal out.

“That’s why I was feeling a little off today,” Carol thought aloud and grinned, looking at you as you disinfected the forceps. “But when you came along, you definitely turned me on.”

You stuttered on explaining what you were about to do next, eyes wide and your face a tomato. Carol smirked further. You tried your best to keep a straight face while moving to her back, telling her not to move while you focused on her back, neatly taking the piece of metal and dropping it into the dish, grinning when you got it right.

“What was that?” Carol asked, turning to look at you, you rolled your eyes and guided her head back.

“A piece of metal in your back.” You answered. “This might sting a little if the anesthetic wore off.”

You started disinfecting the wound carefully, gauging Carol’s reaction intently, but she showed no sign of pain. 

“Aside from being sexy, what do you do for a living?” Carol flirted, you blushed but continued cleaning the wound, the pickup lines starting to become a normal for drugged Carol.

“Anesthetic definitely didn’t wear off.” You muttered, breath tickling her neck slightly as you leaned in to make sure the entire wound was disinfected.

The next 10 minutes went by with Carol throwing pickup lines every once in a while, you were able to ignore most of them, thinking the anesthetic just made her go crazier than normal. It finally started to wear off when you had almost finished putting on the bandages. You’d given her enough anesthetic to last half an hour, it wore off in 15 minutes thanks to her powers.

“No more pickup lines?” You smirked, noticing Carol’s face light up a little, her head nodding from side to side. 

“Funny, I kind of liked drugged Carol.” You joked, putting on the last bandage with another smirk. “All done.” You patted her good shoulder, zipping up her suit gently, then she turned around and faced you.

“It’s not completely worn off,” She gave you a dopey smirk. “Do you maybe like normal Carol too?” “I love normal Carol,” You joked, laughing and offering your hands to help her up. “But right now, drugged Carol needs some rest.”

“Okay.” Carol muttered, giving you her hands and letting you help her up, you started walking with her towards her room, going at the pace she was.

“Do I have to sleep?” Carol whined, looking up at you with pleading hazel eyes, blonde hair falling in her face. You wiped the hair out of her face, noting how soft it was before answering.

“If you want me to take you on a date, yes.” You joked, half meaning it, Carol grinned at you.

“I’ll sleep as long as you need me to.” Carol smiled opening the door and heading inside, you smiled softly at her before turning to leave, she grabbed your wrist.

“What do you need?” You asked, turning to face her.

“You,” the blonde answered, looking at you with puppy eyes before explaining. “Can you stay with me?”

“I can’t deny my favorite patient.” You smiled, letting Carol pull you into her room.

You helped her change her shirt into a comfy sweatshirt, which you noticed was yours, she kept calling it her favorite sweatshirt while she changed into her pajamas while you sat on her bed, facing the other way, giving her some privacy. 

Carol flopped down on her back, head in your lap and grinning up at you, when she noticed the injury in her back still hurting and moved to lie on her stomach, hugging your thighs.

“Thank you y/n.” Carol murmured, your heart melted slightly at her sleepy voice and you started playing with her hair a little.

“Anytime Carol,” You answered, continuing to run your hand through her short hair. “You do owe me a date though.” “I’d be happy to.” Carol whispered, eyes drooping closed and she fell asleep, you couldn’t help  but laugh at how adorable she was under the anesthetic, you considered it again for the fun of it, but decided against it eventually, you had been crushing on normal Carol for the longest time, not drugged Carol.

You were just happy you got to take her out on a date, even if she didn’t officially ask you out yet, it still counted. 

A/N: ngl i wasn’t sure how to end this, and i literally had to search up flirty lines for this ;)

Tag List: @capcarolsdanver, @versdan, @lesbian-girls-wayhaught, @lovebotlarson, @dhengkt, @5aftermidnight, @hstoria, @natasha-danvers, @veryfunnyal, @xxxtwilightaxelxxx , @ophelias-heart  , @never-didbefore , @justarandomhumanhere, @the-most-unicorn-of-them-all , @thatssocamryn , @lesbian-x-blackwidow , @marvelbbyx , let me know if you’d like to be in any of my tag lists!

[leelee10898]

Fast cars & Freedom: Bed of Roses (5/?)

This is a Ride or Die AU. Ellie leaves for college returning 6 years later with one heck of a secret. How will Colt and Logan react.

Pairing: Logan x Ellie, Colt x Ellie

Rating: Mature

Summary: Logan knows, Colt finds out. How will he react to the news?

A/N: Ok so this was written Pre Finale, I had to laugh at the fact of one similarity in this chapter except it was the wrong guy... you will see what I mean. You can catch up HERE and as always if you would like to be added to the tags, let me know!

Song inspiration:

“You. You never got the annulment?” she stumbled on her words, colt shook his head. “we need to talk Ellie.”

“ Yeah, you're right, we do need to talk. But I can't. I can't do this right now.” Her emotions were all over the place,  telling Logan about Luca, and then finding out she was still married to Colt was the final blow. She couldn't hold her feelings in anymore, the tears flowed freely. “Ellie. Please don't  cry.” His tone softened as he reached out for her, her tears were his kryptonite. “I. gotta. go.” she sniffled as she turned walking towards the house. “You know where to find me.” She heard him say as she disappeared inside the house.

She made her way up to her room, Luca was staying over at Riyas, her dad already asleep.  She changed out of her dress and into something more comfortable as she tried to calm herself down. She knew coming home would dredge up old memories, but she thought she would have more time. It was as if someone pressed the NOS button on her life, and she was barreling into the free fall.

She tossed herself down on her bed, Colts words running through her head Mrs Kaneko. She thought back to that night.

*******

They rolled into Vegas, Ellie marveled over the bright lights, everything was so flashy. They pulled up to a hotel and parked. “I'll get us a room, were staying for the night. We'll head back to meet Logan tomorrow.” he kissed her cheek as she sat in an oversized chair in the lobby. Earlier that night she was so happy.  She was at prom, Colt came back to take her, Riya gave them her hotel room and Colt told her he Loved her. It was the first time he had ever said it, but she knew he meant it. Once the brotherhood caught up with them, there was only one thing left to do, hatch a plan.

“Let's do some sight seeing ok? Maybe a little gambling.” Ellie gave him a look. “Ah, last time I checked neither of us were old enough to gamble.” Colt shook his head and chuckled.  “Did you really think the crew wouldn't have several fake Ids on hand? Here, you're Tiffany Smith from Pasadena. Just turned 21.” He held her the id with her picture on it. “I should have known. And who are you?”

“Zach Zilberg, 23 from Rancho cucamonga.” He cracked a goofy smile. “Now let's go have a little fun.” He laced his fingers in her hand. They spent some time playing the slots, Ellie counting cards like she had done with Logan in the underground casino. They won some money and decided to head out into the town.

They passed by a bar, the sounds of horrible singing coming from the inside. People cheering and laughing. Ellie read the sign 80s night.  “Colt. Let go inside.” she pulled on his hand. He turned towards the door, grimacing at the sound of a woman hitting a high note very off key. “You wanna go in there? Ellie it sounds like a walrus and a cat mating. I don't think our ears could handle it.”

She stuck out her bottom lip, pouting “Please colt.”

Fiiiiine he sighed heavily as they walked inside and grabbed a table. They watched the patrons sing along to the song, some good, some bad, and some flat out terrible,  but Ellie admired them the most. They didn't Care about a bunch of strangers who they would probably never see again in their lives, they were living in the moment, and that's what she wanted to do. She watched as they bopped around to the beat.

“Colt. Dance with me.” she grasped his hand.

“mmm to this Ellie? Really?” He watched as the enthusiastic smile dropped from her face. He swore he felt his heart shatter into a million pieces.  The desperate feeling to do anything to put it back on her face surged through him. “Ok, lets go.” those simple words brought it right back. He bounced around with her, for the first time since the brotherhood broke up their blissful moment in the hotel, he felt content. He stopped jumping and took her in. He watched her brown hair bounce around, her smile so wide he swore it actually touched her eyes. He was completely captivated by her, his heart swelling so big it could burst. The song slowed he took her hand, spinning her into him. He knew the song Bed of Roses by Bon Jovi, and coincidentally one of Ellies favorites. She sang it one day in the garage while toby played the guitar. He swore in that moment he fell in love with her.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, settling into the crook of his neck. His hands wrapped around her wait, pulling her closer into him.

They swayed along to the music silently he started humming along to the music, he dipped his lips closer to her ear. She closed her eyes,  basking in the feeling of his body against hers, hands wrapped around her waist. He hated her when he first met her, or at least he wanted to. Somehow thigirlml made her way into his every thought, completely in his head.  Every move he made, every step he took, she was there guiding him. She was the peanut butter to his jelly. The queen to his king, she was his queen. And he was completely and Irrevocably in love with this girl. She was his whole world, his ride or die. He would do anything she asked of him, be anything she needed. She was his forever.

“Ellie. I love you. Eien ni”

Ellie met his gaze “I love you too colt. What does that mean?”

“Eien ni?” She nodded. “It means forever. You are my forever Ellie.”

“Eien ni, Colt.”

“Promise?” He smirked, She placed her lips to his. “Promise.”

“Marry me Ellie.”

*******

She was awoken by her alarm. She rubbed her eyes she must have cried herself to sleep. The week flew by,and before she knew it it was friday. she spoke to Logan a few times, planning a day he could meet Luca. He was excited, Ellie was nervous.  Luca hadn't been around many men in her life, except her dad and Darren. She wasn't sure how it would go. Her thoughts also on Colt, she needed to talk to him he deserved to know. But part of her couldn't face him, she was mad, sad, embarrassed. They had an intense love, Logan was sweet and protective of her, it was light and relaxed, he loved her genuinely.  Colt was protective of her too, but he let her run the show, he did what she needed him to and he loved her fiercely. She seen her dad off for his dad. She was happy for her dad, finally getting back out there.

She flipped on the TV Luca nuzzled against her side. “Ok sweetpea, what do you want to watch.” Ellie began scrolling through the netflix lineup.  “Um nothing for babies mommy, i'm not a baby anymore.” “You're my baby. You'll always be my baby.” Ellie kissed the top of her head. “Forever?” Luca looked up, giving her a sweet smile.  Ellie smiled at the choice of word. “Forever.” they settled on watching sing. Luca falling asleep and Ellie had to carry her to bed.

The next day she woke up and got Luca ready for the day. She made plans with Riya  to go to out with the kids for the day. She had started a pot of coffee waiting for her dad to make his way down stairs.  “Morning dad. How was the date?” she grinned as he casually strolled into the kitchen. “It was good.” he said grabbing a coffee mug. “Just good?”

“Well. Good enough to score a second date.”

“Oh my God dad,  that's great!” Ellie was genuinely thrilled for him. After her mom died, her dad closed himself off to dating, focusing on raising her and work.

Riya picked the two of them up and made their way to the shopping center.  it was a huge outside market, as well as store fronts. They wandered around shopping in the stores all morning, by early afternoon they headed over to the outside market. “Mommy. Mommy.” Luca tugged on her shirt pointing at a face painting stand. “You want to get your face painted?” she shook her head yes and they made their way over standing in line.

Riya and Ellie settled into a hushed conversation, careful so Ellie couldn't hear. “So colts just showed up out of nowhere.” Ellie nodded. “Yep. I had just got back from dinner with Logan and told him about Luca. He was standing across the street, next to his bike.”

“How'd that go?” Ellie gave her a look, “How do you think it went? He was pissed when he seen Logan, I could tell.”

“Well, that's probably because he still love you. And i'm pretty sure you still feel the same ” Riya smirked. “It's been 6 years Ri. We're different people.”

They waited in line for a while. Luca and Marcus finally getting their turn in the seats. “Hey Ri can u watch Luca for a minute. I want to go grab some Jerky for my dad before they run out.”

“Sure. Can you grab Dare some too. He loves it.” Riya agreed. Ellie made her way to the food cart where they sold the jerky. She ordered and stood off to the side “Hey Colt, back again so soon?” The man ask “Yeah, Toby killed the stash. I need to hide it better.” she stopped dead in her tracks, frozen in place as his eyes locked on hers.

“Ellie, what are you doing here?” he eyed her. “Ah, getting my da. Dad some ah jerky.” she stuttered, her nerves kicked into high gear.  The man handed both Colt and Her their orders at the same time. “well, bye.” She turned ro Walk away. “Ellie. El wait.” He ran after her catching her. She turned around to face him when she heard a little voice calling out. She snapped her eyes shut not now, god not now. “Mommy. Mommy look I'm a unicorn. See.” Luca beamed as Riya ran behind as she bobbed and weaved  Marcus's stroller between people. She turned around to hug her daughter. “Sorry. Sorry she just bolted, I almost impaled an old lady but-” She stopped talking staring at Colt. “You are the prettiest Unicorn in the world.”

Colt looked at her and back at the little girl standing next to her. “Who are you?” Luca folded her arms, staring at Colt. “My name is Colt. I'm a friend of your moms.” “Sweetie why don't you go with aunt Ri Ri and get some ice cream?” Ellie held her breath, Colt wasn't stupid and she didn't want to have this discussion in front of Luca. “Now hold on a minute.” colt squatted down to her level.”What's your name sweetie?”

“Luca.” She answered with sas, making colt chuckle.

“That's a beautiful name. How old are you Luca?”

Ellie felt her heart stop in that moment.

“Im 5 ½.” Colts eyes flicked up to Ellies and back to Luca. “Ok Luca, let's get that ice cream.” Riya interrupted, Colt stood handing Riya a twenty. “My treat. It was nice to meet you Luca.” Luca waved as she walked away “Thank you Colt.” She hollered back.

Ellie couldn't escape his hard gaze.  “We need to talk,Now.” his tone stern, unwavering. “We do, but not here. Let me. Let me text Riya and ask her to take Luca to my dads.” Colt nodded. “Im parked over there.” He pointed towards his bike as he made his way over. He handed Ellie the spare helmet as she climbed on, he speed off. The scenery a blur she could feel the tears welling in her eyes. They pulled into a spot overlooking the coast, she knew it well, it was where they shared their first kiss.

He parked the bike and they climbed off. Colt kicked the dirk “I hope you don't take me for an idiot Ellie.” she shook her head no. “5 years el. Jesus christ. You couldn't tell me?”

“I tried to get in touch with you when I found out but. You're number was disconnected and I didnt know how else to find you.”

“Is she mine or Logans? ” he ran his fingers through his hair frustrated.

“I don't, i don't know.”

He snorted “Of course.”

“I tried to call, I had my dad look for you and you were gone.”

“Colt, im sorry. I didn't want you to find out this way.” She spoke softly as she approached him.

“You didn't want me to find out at all did you Ellie?”

“That's not true.  I just, didn't know how to tell you.” Ellie sniffled. “I tried to contact you for a year and we had no leads. We. We stopped looking.”  she was now in tears. Fuck Colt thought to himself “El, don't cry. Come on, please don't cry.  I'm sorry I was an asshole, i'm just, i'm shocked.” he pulled her into a hug comforting her. He breathed in the smell of her hair, it smelled of Honey and vanilla calming him instantly. “She's beautiful El, just like her mother.” She looked up, wiping her eyes, she could feel the heat rising to her cheeks. “Thank you.”

“Does Logan know?” He clenched his Jaw.

“He found out last night.” she let out a long breath.

“so what do we do?” He questioned, he wasn't exactly well versed in paternity matters.

“Well, we need to get a paternity test done. That way we will know for sure. But, I would like for you both to get to know her. That is.” she paused a moment. Composing herself as best she could. “That is if you want to get to know her.” Colt kept his arms around her “Of course I do. I would like that El. Alot.”

They sat in silence for a while watching the sun set over the pacific.

“I'll do the test and all but I don't think you'll really need it” She looked at him confused “How do you know that?”

“Call it a hunch.” He smirked as he stood taking her hand and pulling her up. “Let's get you home.”

They pulled up out front, he walked her to the door. “6 years ago your dad probably would have pulled a gun on me for this.” he joked.   “He may still.” she giggled. “So, when can i see you guys again?” he stood there fidgeting with his fingers. He was nervous, he spent 6 years pinning for her, and finally  here she was with her daughter, possibly their daughter. “How about Sunday you join us at the beach. I invited Logan so play nice.” Colt rolled his eyes “ok. I'll try to be nice but no promises." He winked as he climbed on his bike.

She watched him drive away, both men finally knew the truth,  she felt like a weight had been lifted, but it was replaced by a knot in her stomach. Both men would come face to face after 6 years. For Lucas sake, she hoped they would behave.  

Tags: @kennaxval @hopefulmoonobject @crookedslimecreatorpasta @be-still-my-aching-heart @ao719 @speedyoperarascalparty @riseandshinelittleblossom @cocomaxley @bobasheebaby @ownworldresident @cordoniaqueensworld @indiacater

ROD

@daniv2278 @brightpinkpeppercorn @lovehugsandcandy @going-down-downtown @mercyparkcrew @emichelle @annekebbphotography @powdesiree0816 @walkerismychoice @yesivefallenpreytothechoicestrap @zaira-oh-zaira @sweetest-marbear

@simsvetements @zaffrenotes @professorortegasstudent

@akrenich @ifyouseekheart @client-327 @choicelogansbitch @choicesarehard @paisleylovergirl @itskismetbb

[aspiestvmusings]

TMS S3: GROUP A

THE MASKED SINGER SEASON 3  GROUP A/ GROUP 1: (contestants 1 - 6)

EP 3x01: CLUES & MORE: RECAP for remaining 5: 

SPOILERS BELOW!!!

KANGAROO

CLUES: 

Location: Outdoors: “Australia” 

Location: Next to a /in a yard of a “peach coloured” building with arch/vault-style architecture 

VISUAL CLUES:

Sign: OUTBACK (with the U being in the shape of horseshoe)

Sign: Yellow “road sign” with an arrow pointing down (”spiraling down”) 

MIB as papparazzi/press following her - taking pics, media attention (for “the wrong reasons”) 

Gramophone on a tree branch 

Boxing bag -  the kangaroo boxing/hitting the boxing bag 

Jump rope - the kangaroo jumping over a jump rope (made of a vine...held by MIB)

AUDIO CLUES/VOICE OVER:

”Like most of you watching, I’m a survivor.” 

“I recently lost a person, who held my familys heart together. Then, by my own admission, I found myself in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.” 

“But I’m here to do what kangaroos do best - bounce back.”

“I have to fight for my family. And show them that bullies never win.”

“I am beyond terrified - I’ve never done anything like this before. But I’m not about to lose the chance to realize the dream I’ve always had.” 

“To all the survivors out there -- This one’s for you.” 

 ON STAGE CLUES:

Song choice: “Dancing on My Own” by Robyn 

Look/Costume: The kangaroo has a pouch (indicates female), but also has a red/silver boxing outfit & gloves (indicates male). Outfit colours: red & silver. Important: there is a crown on the back of her robe. 

Stage: hexagon-shaped mirrors (5 of  them) surrounding her/behind her [if my other guess is correct, then that stage design is a “clue”] 

Height: Tall-ish...almost the same height as host Nick. A bit shorter, around 175cm, probably.

Mic hand: Right 

Talking:  “One of my greatest fears is being vulnerable. And this year I’ve had no other option than to be vulnerable. But...with this kangaroo costume I feel like I can get my superpowers back.” +  [breathes in/sighs heavily before the song starts]

GUESSES: 

I HAVE NO NAMES OF MY OWN. -- I thought she was this certain female artist, because the voice kinda seemed familair (sounded like hers to me), but none of the clues and other things seemed to fit. And after checking the clues it seems to confirm it cannot be her, cause nothing matches. Also... to me she doesn’t sound like any of the singers I thoughts she could be based on the clues, so... I havent actually figured her out...

I think people online are correct, and it’s a certain “reality star” (gramophone = reference to her dad being a sound engineer on a well-known past TV show) Though I am considering a few more options - mostly other reality stars/youtubers/family members of celebs... particularily one name. If my guess here is correct, then just like Llama, she would have a connection to a previous TMS contestant...but since I am not that familiar with her singing voice, I cannot be sure. But she has lost family members in the past few years, she has been in a media scandal, and you can even explain the australia thing kinda... so...until I hear more of her, I’ve got one name mainly in mind. But I wont name it until I’ve heard her sing at least once more.

POSSIBLE MEANING OF CLUES.

Survivor = the title of a “Destiny’s Child” hit song

Lost a family member recently = either her family member (parent, grandparent?) died or they parted ways (were cut ouf of each others lives)

Gramophone = possibly a reference to a Grammy nomination/win. Or just music/sound/audio

Outback = possible connection to Australia

“spiraling down” road sign + papparazzi following her = she’s been in a media scandal “recently”

Crown = King/Queen 

LLAMA

CLUES: 

Location: Radio station/Mixing studio - mixing console (close up) 

Location: Pottery making “class” 

VISUAL CLUES:

Mixing console - close up of a studio/radio station mixing console 

23.3 The Wool (name of the radio station/show) 

Red lightbulb in the studio 

Photo of a bull (the animal)

Playing cards: Ace of Spaces & Jack of Spades). Two black suit cards showing (Jack Black)

Sounds of Seattle - title of a vinyl album 

Romancing a llama: pottery 

AUDIO CLUES/VOICE OVER:

"Mi-Mi-Mi-Mi-Mix it up!”

“Good morning, Nerd herd! You’re listening to The Wool. Where we’re all cool. No Bull.” 

“I’m here for one reason only - to have a laugh. And what’s funnier than a Llama? (laughs at his own joke)”

“You may call me a joker. But I’d like to get serious for a minute. The song I’m singing tonight is my favourite track for celebrating love with that... special someone. There’s nothing like being swept up by it’s deep, profound lyrics. It’s a tune that really gets me in the mood for romance. I can’t wait to sing it for you tonight.”

“Llama out!” 

ON STAGE CLUES:

Song choice: “She Bangs” by Ricky Martin 

Look/Costume: Dressed as a tourist - “hawaiian” style shirt,, photo camera around his neck. Llamas tongue out of his mounth, on the side. 

Height: he is around 180cm - about the same height as host Nick (their shoulders are on about the same height)

Mic hand: Left 

Talking: “umm.. This whole costume just spoke to me... My vibe... I wear digs like this in real life.” (answering the question about his costume & it’s looks) 

GUESSES:

Drew Carey (TV host/comedian/actor...)

POSSIBLE MEANING OF CLUES.

23.3 Wool = His show (The Drew Carey Show) had, during it’s 9-season long run, a total of 233 episodes. 

Photo canera prop = His hobby is photography. Actually, it’s more than just a hobby - he has been accredited press photographer during many (sports) events.  

Radio = He was a radio operator during the time he served in the Marine Corps. Also..he’s hosted a radio show (radio DJ) during his later career 

Red light in the room = photography reference. In the DarkRoom red light is used when developing photo film/photographs.

Buddha figurine (Dalai Lama/Llama joke) = He is a buddhist. 

Joker = he is a joker aka comedian 

Seattle = He is the co-owner of a Seattle Football Club. 

Playing cards = He took part in the celebrity poker game in 2003, where he did better than Jack Black did (played against Jack Black)

Nerd herd = He did take part in Zack levis (Chuck) “Nerd herd” lightsaber race one time at a Comic-Con convention. 

Nerd herd = his show (DCS) & character were/was about nerds/was a nerd

Llama’s side tongue = early in his stand-up comedy days he had a joke with a side-tie (it looked visually very similar to what the llama’s tongue looks like - he just added some wires & tape to do “the trick” of swinging the tie to the side)

BONUS: He knows last years winner, “The Fox Mask” - they did “Whose Line is it Anyway” together, so... connection... 

SPOILER ALERT: Llama is the mask who will be voted off next - in ep 2 (on Wed, Feb 5th). But while his voice might not be as trained as some other contestants, I loved his stage energy, and the comedy/fun he brought! One more song coming from him! And no, I am not sharing some secret info - they “accidentally” revealed the first two contestants, who get unmasked, so it’s been revealed by the network...for those, who notice small details...

MISS MONSTER 

CLUES:

Location: Lady’s restroom/bathroom. The moster getting ready (coming hair, applying hairspray...) 

Location: school hallway - lockers 

VISUAL CLUES:

Sign:  (image) ladies restroom 

Itmes on the counter in bathroom/dressing room: Furspray (hairsray) can,  pink bottle of some beauty product, three crystals (stones), a piece of sequin fabric 

Key/Keychain: a single (old style) key with a keychain that says “FUN” #FUN #KEY = FUNKY = “QUEEN OF FUNK” 

Purple furry diary/good luck charm/cosmetics bag/pencil box (with a face + kitty ears & unicorn horn) + a glittery pen 

Lockers: Lockers numbered 10 (the ones she opens) & 11 (the one next to it)...with no other lockers having numbers on them 

Miss Monster Locker: filled with images of S1 Monster, scrapbook flowers..etc...

Piece of paper on the locker door: Monster Hits.

Photograph of a cityscape (skyline with many skyscrapers) on the locker door [if I could only see the image better to know which city it is on it, that’d be one more clue]

AUDIO CLUES/VOICE OVER:

“When you become famous, people  want you to look or act in a certain way. They forget that you started off as just a shy little monster.” 

“It didn’t take long for me to be misunderstood. So I’m here to set the record straight. Just like my favourite creature in Season 1 did. The Monster. He made me feel. He re-wrote his story. It was fire!" 

“And now this performer in pink wants to follow in his furry footsteps, But darlings... I’m nervous. Will you still love me without knowing my name?”

ON STAGE CLUES: 

Song choice: “Something to Talk about” by Bonnie Raitt

Look/Costume: pink & purple/violet furry costume with a bowtie

Height: she is short-ish (shorter than host Nick). She looks very short (barely 5 feet - more Dolly P. height 152cm than Chaka K height 162cm)

Mic hand: Right 

Talking: NO ON-STAGE TALKING!

GUESSES: 

Chaka Khan 

Dolly Parton (since the total number of Grammy noms that the 18 contestants have in combined in 69 & Robot as the first revealed one has had 24-25 of them, that leaves only 44-45 for everyone else, that rules out this person, because she alone has had 46 nominations...compared to C. Khan’s 22 noms)

POSSIBLE MEANING OF CLUES. 

Number 10 = She has 10 Grammy Awards/wins. (interestinly: both D. Parton & C. Khan have 10 Grammy wins!)

Monster Hits = she has had (many) hit songs during her career 

He made me feel = She has a song by the title “I Feel You” (1984 hit)  

It was fire = She has a song by the title “Through the Fire” (1985)

Will you love me - that is (word for word) the title of of her her hit songs, “Will You Love Me?” (2007)

It was fire = She wrote the hit song “Fule to the Flame” (1967 hit) for Skeeter Davis. 

Will you still love me? = She has/wrote a song titled “I will always love you” 

Furspray/Hairsray = he was/is known for her big hair/haircut (managing that probably takes lots of hairspray)

FUN = FUN(K) #FUN KEY [FUN:KI] - she’s kinda the “queen of funk” (one of her albums is titled “FUNk This” (btw: Pun intended by her!) 

TURTLE 

CLUES

Location: school’s track & field event (Balzano Track Field) - contestants getting ready to run. The slow turtle surrounded by fast bunnies, all preparing for the event. [Slow & steady (turtle) wins the race]

Location: Schools track & field event - BANG! The race begings. The three other contestants (MIB as bunnies - wearing pink bunny ears - starting the race with a head start, all jumping on their blue bouncy balls)

VISUAL CLUES:

Turtle vs bunnies 

BANG! in comic style - to mark the start of the race 

The others (three bunnies) bouncing on blue balls whe n the race begins 

Surf board - the turtle poliching/cleaning his poink & blue surf board 

Pins on the track...popping the blue jumpy balls 

Grilling burgers on an (outside) grill...on the track field. 

Turtle crossing the finish line first (bunnies just going in circles, being stopped by pins on the way, or other reasons), as he has time to do other things & take it slowly, and then still get there first...with a burger in hand & winning the golden medal.

AUDIO CLUES/VOICE OVER:

"At the starting-line of my career I was surrounded by other hungry new-comers. It felt like everyone around me was fighting tooth-and-nail for the dream. And I watched as many of those stars burned too brightly, too quickly, and then fizzled down”

“I’m a turtle, because I’m always taking it step-by-step.”

“Slow and steady wins the race. But now I feel like I’m ready to break out of my shell. After years of preparation I would love to make a big splash. So I don’t want anyone to cross that finish line before me.” 

ON STAGE CLUES:

Song choice: “Kiss from a Rose” by Seal 

Look/Costume: Punk/Rock-style, dressed in leather (pants, jacket), has a spike (hair)

Height: Short-ish (shorter than host Nick) - seems around 175cm. Small in size.

Mic hand: Right 

Talking: “It’s hot. It’s really hot. And it’s heavy!” (when answering how doesn it feel to be in that costume and perform in it)

GUESSES

Jesse McCartney 

Joey McIntyre  PS. I tried connecting the voice to any boy-bands (of 1990s & 2000s), but I coukdnt. Even after some “research” - listening to each possible candidate...and IMO it’s none of them. The voices dont match, the heights doesn’t match---But it did sound like someone, who for me was a one-hit-wonder. Yeah, I only know that one song (and one more) from him... but voice seemed familiar.

POSSIBLE MEANING OF CLUES: 

Surf board = that he is a surfer;  that he is from Cali/Australia/somewhere which is known as being popular among surfers; that he has won Teen Choice Award(s) (this award in in the shape of a surfboard)

being surrounded by other new-comers at the start of his career = either he got his start through a (singing) competition and was one of many contestants fighting for the win AND/OR he got his start in a “boy-band” and was one of the youngsters looking for fame...

Surf board = Teen Choice Awards - winning several TCAs for his first/biggest hit song/album in 2005, and more. And he’s played a surfer character on a TV show

BSB references/connection  - he was the opening act in 2005 for BSB during the European part of the tour. 

Dream = he started in a boy-band with the name “Dream Street”

on stage presence/body language (movements) = very similar to J.M. 

WHITE TIGER 

CLUES: 

Location: Football field. Tiger striking a power/winners pose. 

Location: School hallway, lockers. Tiger walking in, shoving everyone out of his way. 

Locatrion: School library (sitting behind a table, with his legs on the table) 

Location: School hallway, lockers. MIB trying to get him to audition for TMS. MIB (fans) taking selfies with him. 

VISUAL CLUES: 

Golden plate/sign with text: Ultimate champion for clam shucking: 51 clams” (next to a golden clam shell) 

Sign/ad on the wall: “Masked Singer tryouts 5/3.” + images of three past masks included: Eagle, Lion & Raven. Plus the text: “Hurry. Not for long" also written on it. 

Sign on the all with images of past US presidents, including Abe Lincolns & the text/quote “Four Score and Seven Years Ago...” 

The TMS golden mask throphee shown next to the lockers (as Tiger says “let’s party!”)

AUDIO CLUES/VOICEOVER: 

“Ready to meet your next champion? My entire life I’ve sought out perfection, so choosing a mask with unlimited power like the White Tiger was a no-brainer.”

“I’ve had a giant career full of accomplishments. But when I imagine being on stage (and) singing, I’m a big old scared cat.*

“It’s been a while since I did something that scared me, so I’m here to concour yet anither challenge.”  

“What’s my motivation? My fans! I don’t wanna let them down." 

“So now I’m ready to get in that ring and smash the competition.” 

“Let’s party!” 

ON STAGE CLUES: 

Song choice “Ice Ice Baby” by Vanilla Ice 

Look/Costume: Dressed in “Egyptian style"

Height: very tall & big (much taller than host Nick) - over 190cm, looks about 2m tall

Mic hand: R & L (alternates)

Talking: “It’s the most powerful I’ve ever felt. Like I can concour anything. I never wanna take it off” (when answering what did it feel like when he first put on the costume/mask)

POSSIBLE MEANING OF CLUES: 

He played during the 51st  (51 clams) & 53rd  (5/3) Super Bowl games. 

The three past TMS masks shown are all animals that are parts of  names of existing football teams: Ravens, Eagles, Lions. Meaning he is an athlete & specifically plays american football (NFL) 

The Lincoln quote translates to “87 years ago...”, so number 87 is the clue here. This could be a reference to player No. 87. 

He has had a very succesful career in his own field (sports). Singing is not his main job.

IF the voice-overs were done later, not during initial filming, then it’s possible that “smash” relates to the person smashing a lego-statue of a TV host during 2019/2020 New Years. Which in itself was supposed to be about his famous “Gronk Spike” during football games. 

A tiger (albeit “regular”, not white) was one of the characters & costumes + name of the sports team in the Katy Perry video “Swish Swich”, where this athlete also appeared. 

The Golden (Golden Mask) trophe - most likely a reference to his many wins (the trophees he/his team has won)

GUESSES: 

Rob Gronkowski (Gronk, athlete, 198cm) = 99% certain it’s him 

Because of the height alone (seems to be around/almost 2m = 6 feet 5) there are not that many possibilities at all. Even if we don’t listen to that voice or consider the clues. Based on height alone it can basiclaly be only one of these names: Dave Bautista (198cm); The Rock (196cm); Hulk Hogan (201cm); Tyler Perry (196cm); Brad Garrett (204cm); Joe Manganiello (196cm); Jeff Goldblum (194cm); Jason Mamoa (193cm); Tom Brady (193cm)..or the likes...

Even other possible names, like the ones listed by the panel, are not valid guesses, because of their height: John Cena for example is actually only 185cm tall. Also... several of these tall men are bigger/more muscular, so that makes it even easier to determine the name based on only the physical appeance...without even listening to the clues. 

ROBOT 

First mask to be voted out in ep 1

Havent listed his clues, cause there’s no use for them anymore, as he was voted off. 

With his 86 tattoos he makes up for about half of all the 160 tattoos the 18 contestants have combined. With his 24-25 Grammy nominations he makes up about 1/3 of all the 69 noms the 18 contestants have combined. And quite many of the 88 gold records the 18 contestants have combined,  belong to him (I don’t know the exact number, but most/all of his 10+ albums have gone gold, I think) - exact number depends on how they count it for this list.

<<<<< THIS IS WHAT GOES ON IN MY HEAD AFTER EVERY TMS SHOW/EPISODE. THIS IS HOW I CATEGORIZE THE INFO I HAVE INTO FOLDERS IN MY MIND. THIS IS HOW SPECIFIC I AM, AND HOW INTO DETAILS I GO. THIS IS HOW MUCH I PAY ATTENTION (while, most likely, missing a ton of more hints that I’ll only notice during re-watch) I JUST DECIDED TO WRITE IT DOWN...FOR ONCE. 

BUT... unless I decide to cut some sleep time to do this again, I am probabky not gonna do this after every episode. Possibly for the first episode of every Group (so beside ep 1, also ep 4 & ep 7)

[intothestarkerverse]

Time of Our Lives (Part Seven)

Based on a prompt from @geekymarvel  

Peter is tasked with an important mission that requires him to go back in time.   Finding himself at a gala for Stark industries in the 1990’s, he comes face to face with a young and incorrigible Tony Stark who considers Peter’s attempts to deny his advances a challenge.  Now, dogged by a horny young CEO who won’t take no for an answer, Peter’s task has become much more difficult….

(STORY CONTAINS ENDGAME SPOILERS)

Read on AO3

Tony Stark had long ago learned to live independently.  From boarding school as a child to MIT as a teenager to working for his family’s Fortune 500 company as an adult, he had rarely been coddled and had taught himself how to survive without many close personal attachments, depending only upon himself, and never allowing sentimentality to consume him.  He could count those for whom he deeply cared on a single hand:  Edwin Jarvis, James Rhodes, and (before her death) Maria Stark.  The rest of the billions of people on the Earth?  He never expected much more from them than a fleeting night’s entertainment and debauchery or more money to pad his already over-inflated bank account.

The last thing that Tony Stark ever anticipated was how easily Peter Parker seemed to fit into that life of self-imposed solitude.  Perhaps some of that could be accredited to Peter’s familiarity with the Old Man.  Peter was not as easily offended by Tony’s peculiarities because, no doubt, the Old Man hadn’t grown out of all of them.  He laughed at Tony’s dry wit.  He blushed at Tony’s flirtations.  He called Tony out on his shit and somehow instinctively had a sixth sense about when to stand his ground and when to back down to Tony’s mercurial temper.  It was like being with someone he’d known for years, and there were times when he had to consciously remind himself that they’d actually met only a short time ago.

It was likely that the Old Man kept his lab organized in a similar way to Tony’s, more because Tony was a creature of habit than because there was any tried or true system to it.  Even decades into the past, that had to be how Peter seemed so at ease in the area of Tony’s home in which he had always felt the most comfortable and in control.  But it wasn’t just the lab.  It was everything else, too.

There were no breakfast buffets after that first morning, but there was always some manner of breakfast food waiting for them when they woke up.  Eggs and bacon.  Waffles.  Pancakes.  Muffins.  Something.  Peter playfully teased and cajoled Tony into taking at least a few bites of food, sometimes even serving him up a small plate with his morning coffee with the insistence that “even a brain as amazing as the great Tony Stark’s needs fuel.”  As much as Tony pretended to hate it, there was some long-buried and never-recognized part of him that was happy to have someone who cared about his morning caloric intake.  It had been such a very long time since someone had tried to take care of him, someone who wasn’t on his payroll and was genuinely concerned about him because of an emotional fondness and not a monetary need, at any rate.  It felt much nicer than he was ever going to be willing to admit to anyone.  Even when he didn’t feel like eating, he always caved in and ate at least a few bites of whatever Peter was offering him.  It was only to pacify the kid, he told himself, but if he was being honest…he might become more of a breakfast person if his mornings were going to stay like this forever.  But they weren’t.  That’s what he had to keep telling himself.

After breakfast, if Stark Industries could do without their CEO, the two men were off to Tony’s home lab.  The first time he’d showed Peter the lab, he had genuinely hoped for a bigger reaction.  Peter was not nearly as impressed as he would have hoped, but…Tony had to remind himself that he was still competing against that ridiculous Old Man who had the benefit of 21st Century technology and several decades of trial and error that Tony had yet to experience. Of course the Old Man’s lab was going to be shinier and more impressive.  Of course Peter wasn’t going to ‘ooo’ and ‘awww’ over technology that he likely found woefully outdated and comical.  Tony wasn’t bitter about that.  At least…not much.  To his credit, Peter seemed genuinely taken with Dum-E and U.  He greeted them like old friends…and they probably were, come to think of it.  If it was possible, the robots seemed equally enamored by the kid.  Though, as Tony watched Peter giggle and duck Dum-E’s awkwardly swinging appendage, the inventor wondered if there was anyone who wasn’t charmed by the spiderling within minutes of meeting him.  How did he fight crime in the future?  How did all of the criminals not just turn themselves in at the prospect of causing that boy an ounce of harm?  How had the Old Man not become an authoritarian dictator imposing martial law on New York City just to keep the crime rate down and make sure that Peter Parker never encountered anything more dangerous than lost tourists and purse thieves?  

Peter felt responsible for the Old Man’s death.  It wasn’t so hard for Tony to imagine that he’d died for Peter.  Protecting him.  Saving him.  Guaranteeing him a future of rainbows and unicorns.  Not that Tony would ever do anything like that himself.  He could just…understand where the Old Man might have become more sentimental as senility and infirmity crept up on him.  Tony Stark was a self-centered piece of shit…one who choked down unwanted breakfast food every morning just to watch Peter’s face light up with triumph and joy over his small victory.

Fuck.

The lab work was as grueling as Tony had warned that it would be.  Fixing the Nullifer was an impossible task.  There were six glass boards erected on wheels around the lab, all of them covered in colorful, erasably marked equations as Tony and Peter broke the Nullifer down to the bare bones theories Howard Stark had hypothesized when creating it.  There were parts strewn across several work tables.  Blue prints and schematics pinned to walls, taped to floors…  

Though he would never say as much out loud, Tony was impressed by Peter.  His grasp of theoretical physics was remarkable for a kid without a college degree.  Though there were times that Peter needed him to break down the truly advanced parts of a few of the equations, Peter was quick to grasp the concepts once they were explained and proved unafraid to voice his own ideas and theories.  He wasn’t just beautiful, sexy, and brave, he was also smart enough to carry on a scientific conversation with Tony without being left behind…and without boring the inventor.  That, in and of itself, was astounding.  Much to his own chagrin, Tony found himself hauling out other projects, theories, concepts, prototypes…explaining them all to Peter with a touch more eagerness than his self-respect preferred and taking in the boy’s praise or suggestions like he was starving for it.  

They always broke for lunch when the sound of Peter’s stomach rumbling became too distracting, taking whatever fare Jarvis had prepared for them back to the lab so they could eat and work at the same time…though they rarely did.  The ‘picnics’ as Peter called them were usually spent discussing things other than the Nullifer, mostly because Peter insisted that it was important to give the brain time to process things subconsciously.  Tony did have to admit that more often than not, after they’d spent all of lunch arguing over who the best Star Wars characters were while seated in the only clean part of the lab (a six foot square section of floor in the left center) there was some kind of small ‘eureka’ moment that led them down a new path.  It was never the right path, but he had warned Peter that he thought the Nullifer could never actually be fixed.  It certainly wasn’t like, as days passed, Tony was hoping he was right and that stupid machine was broken well into their old age.  Because that wasn’t true.  Or at least, he’d never admit it.  Even to himself.

It was somewhat distressing how little Stark Industries seemed to actually need their CEO around.  Tony suspected that Obie was probably still shouldering a lot of the workload, and since he had no desire to dip his toes into the bureaucratic side of the company…he didn’t feel much like stopping him. Every time he mentioned Obadiah’s name, Peter would imperceptibly tense up and change the subject. It was suspicious, but Tony tried to write it all off as a mutual dislike between the men.  After all, when Tony’s presence had finally been demanded in the office, he’d taken Peter with him to show him around the company…and Obie had been less than welcoming to the young man.

Dinner was mostly delivery, eaten in front of the television, the two men seated closely together on the sofa or the floor in front of the coffee table.  Peter had a deep appreciation for cinema, one that Tony found both endearing and a little obnoxious every time he referred to a recent release as a ‘really old movie.’  “You’re going to be a really sexy corpse if you say that one more time, Peter.”

Peter gave Tony a sidelong glance attempting an innocent smile and a dismissive shrug.  “You’re the one who calls my Tony ‘Old Man’ whenever you’re referring to him.”

Tony felt his jaw clench ever so slightly at Peter’s choice of words.  He sucked in a slow breath through his nose, letting it escape in a sigh as he pushed the nearly empty Chinese takeout container away.  Suddenly, he wasn’t hungry anymore.  “You know, from what little you’ve told me about the guy…I don’t get why you still think he was ever ‘yours’.”

Peter froze, staring down at his own food.  Perhaps Tony had said too much.  He wasn’t jealous of the guy and he hardly wanted Peter to think he was.  There was just some part of him that was very frustrated by Peter always referring to the Old Man as ‘his Tony’.  “No…yeah…you’re right.  He’s not mine.  Never was.  He’s just…just Mr. Stark.  I won’t call him ‘my Tony’ anymore.  I’m sorry…if it…you know.”

Fuck.

The kid even knew him well enough not to go any further with his apology or his excuses.  Tony had never imagined how amazingly frustrating it would be to have someone like Peter around.  No, not someone like Peter.  Peter. There couldn’t be anyone else like Peter, not in all of time and space.

—

“What’s this?”  Peter had been rooting around in Tony’s drawers trying to find a spare tube of lubricant.  They were out, something he’d only just discovered when he was trying to prepare to seduce the older man when he finished with his late-night conference call with the Japanese investors.  Instead of finding spare lube, he’d stumbled upon a worn children’s chapter book tucked away in the bottom drawer of Tony’s bedside table.

Tony froze inside the doorway.  His face was unreadable, but there was a hint of something uncomfortable in his dark eyes.  “A book.”

“Yeah, I figured that part out.  I mean…why do you have it?”

“It was a gift.”

“From?”

“My mother.”

“Oh.”  Peter’s hand fell to his lap, still holding onto the book.  Suddenly, he felt bad about bringing it up.  Although they had both lost their parents, it was something neither of them had talked about to any profound extent.  Peter barely remembered his parents, and for Tony that loss was only a few years old.  Peter could sympathize and avoided the topic unless Tony brought it up.  He felt the mattress shift as Tony sat down beside him.  The billionaire was staring at his hands, remarkably quiet for someone who always enjoyed talking so much.  “You don’t have to say anything else.”  Peter felt the need to make sure Tony knew he was all right with the silence.  “I…I understand.”

Tony nodded his head slowly.  “Yeah, Beautiful, I know you understand…That’s why…”  He fell silent, his words cut off by a melodramatic sigh.  “She gave it to me when I was little.  It was my favorite book growing up.”

Peter looked down at the battered dust jacket and smiled.  The Story of King Arthur and His Knights by Howard Pyle.  “This makes so much sense.”  It added a whole new layer to Iron Man that Peter had never even considered.  He could just imagine a tiny Tony Stark pretending to be a knight…only to grow up and save the universe as a futuristic knight of sorts.  

“Oh yeah?”  Tony turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow, wondering at what part of his future could have anything to do with a book about the Round Table and chivalry.  “Well, I’m glad.  I guess.”  He was quiet again for several seconds before he reached out to gingerly take the book from Peter’s hands and begin leafing through it.  “When my mother wasn’t busy being a trophy wife, dragged off by my father to all corners of the world…she’d always come to my room to read me one of these.  Sometimes it was the only time I got to spend with her.  Being raised by nannies isn’t all that Hollywood makes it out to be.”  He grimaced, closing the book again.  “I loved those story times.  Everything about them.  Falling asleep to the sound of reading.  Dreaming about the stories.  Spent most of my very limited innocent years playing Knight and pretending to be a hero.  Then my father decided I was too soft, that I need to learn to be more independent.  Shipped me off to boarding school a half a world away when I was seven and I only saw my parents on holidays after that.  If I was lucky.  I don’t think we ever actually finished reading that book…”

Peter’s throat felt tight as he swallowed, lifting a hand to rub at his eye self consciously, attempting to wipe away the dampness there before Tony saw it.  

Only he did.

Peter could tell by the way Tony’s expression seemed to soften, the way he stared at Peter as if he was only just seeing him for the first time.  The teenager tried to smile, rubbing at his eyes again before Tony reached out to capture his wrists, gently pull his hands away from his face and bridge the distance between them.

Peter could never remember Tony kissing him quite so gently before.  There was a tenderness to the brush of lips that took the young man’s breath away.  When Tony dropped his wrist and lifted a hand to gently stroke the side of Peter’s face, the boy felt tingly all over.  “Umm…we’re…we’re out of lube.”

Tony paused, ceasing the gentle succession of feather soft kisses he’d been pressing to Peter’s lips as he stroked his cheek with a calloused thumb.  A little laugh escaped him and he rested his forehead against Peter’s.  “Way to kill the mood, Parker.”

“I’m sorry!  We could…I don’t know…go without it?”

“Nah, we’ll get some tomorrow.  Tonight…let’s try something else tonight.”

Peter’s gaze was wary, but he nodded, afraid of what sexual escapades they might be about to embark on…right up until the moment Tony made himself comfortable in the bed and pulled Peter into his side.  Wait.  Was Tony Stark actually cuddling?  On purpose?  Of his own choice?  Instead of sex?  Without sex?  Cuddling?   Peter couldn’t help himself, he was grinning like a fool and only too happy to snuggle in as close to Tony as he was allowed.

“What knight did you pretend to be?”

“What?” Tony’s words were muffled by his position, nose buried in Peter’s chestnut curls.  “What knight…Arthur, of course.  Had to be the king, didn’t I?  My ego wouldn’t tolerate anything less.  Why?  Which knight do you think I am?”

Peter considered this for several minutes, running his fingers on a slow track up and down Tony’s clothed chest.  “Lancelot.  I think you’re way more a Lancelot.  Flashy and sexy.  The best knight, but also…controversial and tragic.”

Tony pulled back enough to look at him. “Damn, kid, you make me really curious about my life between now and then.  What the hell happens to me?  Who the hell is this Old Man, anyway?”

“Earth’s greatest defender.”

“No shit?”

“No shit.”  The silence lingered between them, but it wasn’t a bad quiet.  Peter was happy to rest in the comfort of Tony’s arm, tucked against his side, head resting on his chest.  It was Tony who finally broke the silence in the most unexpected of ways.  “Do we start at the beginning or where my mother and I last left off?” He held up the book with his free hand.

Peter just stared at him in awe.  Was he actually suggesting what Peter thought he was suggesting?  Somehow, the idea of cuddling with Tony in his bed reading his favorite book, a gift from his dead mother, a book he’d abandoned along with his innocence well over a decade ago…was the most intimate thing Peter had ever heard. He felt so humbled, so honored, so happy, that he was blinking tears out of his eyes again. “Better start at the beginning.  I don’t think the story of King Arthur has a happy ending.”

“The best stories never do, Sweetheart.”

—

“We’re going to dinner.”

Peter looked up from the circuit board he was bent over, setting it aside to look at Tony incredulously.  “We’re what?”

“We’re going out.  We’ve been cooped up inside for weeks.  It’s time I took you somewhere nice.  So…go shower, change, whatever.  We’re going to my favorite restaurant.”

Peter couldn’t even try to hide his delight at the prospect.  They were going on an actual date.  If he’d thought that periodic cuddles and stories with Tony were wonderful, than a dinner date with the man of his dreams was more than he’d ever hoped for.  He didn’t even care if Tony saw him running to their room to shower and change.

After a little less than an hour, Peter was pleased with the way he looked.  He’d tried to tame his curls and tie his tie just right.  The suit Jarvis had picked up for him ‘just in case’ he happened to need it was precisely the right size.  Then again, with Jarvis, everything was always perfect.  Peter had never thought that the AI would come up short in comparison to the real man.  Even Vision had nothing on this guy.

At last, content and more than ready for dinner, he decided to leave the master bath and go in search of Tony who he discovered entering the bedroom in search of him.

The two men froze in their respective doorways, speaking simultaneously in mirrored exclamations of surprise and indignation.  “What are you wearing?”

A long pause.

“You said you were taking me to dinner.”  Peter looked down at the suit and tie he’d donned, suddenly feeling very self conscious about his choice of attire compared to the jeans and band t-shirt Tony was wearing.

“Where exactly did you think we were eating, Tavern on the Green?”

“I mean…you’re a billionaire.”

“So that means I eat nothing but cavier for every meal then, huh?”

Peter looked genuinely puzzled.  “Don’t you?”

Tony crossed his arms and regarded the younger man with an eyebrow raised questioningly.  “You claim to know me so well, Pete.  What’s my favorite food?  Hm? Is it Foie Gras?”

Another long pause.  “No, its Cheeseburgers.”

“Bravo!”  Tony gave Peter an over-exaggerated round of applause.  “There’s the boy genius I know and love!”

The words hung between them for several seconds as both men realized what he’d said, albeit accidentally.  Peter’s face broke out in a slow grin that very nearly split his head in two, while for the first time in recorded history, Peter assumed, Tony actually blushed.  He cleared his throat, opened his mouth to speak, and remained speechless.  Another first for the billionaire by Peter’s estimation.

“No fair taking it back.”  Peter’s warning was spoken so softly that it barely carried to Tony’s ears.  The billionaire sucked in a slow breath and shrugged as if to say that he had no intention of taking it back, or acknowledging that it had ever happened.

“You’re not changing your clothes, Kid.  You’re eating in the suit.  Come on.  I’m hungry and I’m tired of waiting.”

“No, but…I don’t want to eat cheeseburgers in a suit, Tony.  I’ll look stupid.”  Peter’s high-pitched pleading echoed around them as they made their way through the penthouse and finally to the garage.  Tony sauntered to one of his cars, smirking at the kid as he slid into the driver’s seat.  

“Get in or starve, Beautiful.”

“Mr. Jarvis would never let me starve.”

“Did I say you were going to be starving for food, Beautiful?”  Tony’s gaze dipped meaningfully and Peter turned a deep shade of red.  

“Yeah, okay…I guess…I guess I can eat a cheeseburger in a suit.”

“That’s what I thought.”

Peter fidgeted the whole ride, feeling incredibly self conscious and over dressed.  More so when he saw where they were going to be eating.  Tony led the way into the tiny diner, greeting the middle-aged server and the line cook visible through a small pass-through into the kitchen.  He knew their names.  Apparently, he was a regular.

“You look pretty young to be a lawyer.”

Peter looked up at the woman whose name was apparently ‘Lorraine’.  “Oh no, I’m…I’m not a lawyer.”

“You don’t say…never see men in here in a suit unless they’re lawyers.  You just a fancy dresser, then, huh?”

“Um…yeah?”  Peter glanced down at the napkin wrapped silverware she’d placed in front of him and smirked at the sight of what appeared to be grease on the spoon.  Good thing he didn’t need silverware to eat a burger.

“What are you and your fancy man getting today, Tony?”

Tony raised an eyebrow at Peter, gesturing to the menu.  Peter, however, just shook his head.  “Just…double whatever you usually get.”

“Well, Lorraine, you heard the man.”

“Hey, Charlie, you hear all that?  I need two Dead Cows wearing Yellow Blankets, two orders of Frog Sticks and we need ‘em Stark Naked.”

Peter couldn’t help but snort as he tried to hold in his laughter.

“Be right back with the shakes, Dear.”  Lorraine departed the table with a wink, unused menus stashed under her arm.

Peter took the time to look around the diner now that they were alone.  It was old, but despite the literal greasy spoon, appeared to be clean.  There were a few other diners, but everyone seemed to be minding their own business.  Every booth had a tiny juke box sitting against the wall, and with nothing else to look at, Peter was happy to slide along the seat and take a closer look at the music selection.  “Oh wow, there’s some great really old music on this thing, did you bring change?”

“Of course.”  Tony laughed.  “Gotta have quarters for the jukebox and the pinball.  It’s part of the place’s charm.”

“There’s pinball, too!”  Peter craned his neck to find the game.

“It’s by the bathrooms.  I’ll challenge you to a few games after we eat.  Only fair warning you though, Beautiful, I’ve had the High Score on it for well over a year.”

“That’s really going to suck for you when I beat you tonight, then.”  

The burgers were surprisingly good.  Juicy, covered in gooey melted cheese, grilled onions, lettuce, pickle, tomato and some kind of ‘special sauce’ that Peter swore was just ketchup, mustard and mayo mixed together.  The milkshakes were thick, the fries were salty, and Peter was quick to declare it his new favorite burger joint in New York.  He even managed to beat Tony’s high score on pinball and preened with pride the entire way home while he listened to Tony grumble about a promised re-match.

As it turned out, the diner became a familiar haunt for them.  Several times a week after working late in the lab, they’d wind up in ‘their’ booth.  While they started out on opposite sides, after a couple of weeks, Tony just began sliding into the seat beside Peter, settling an arm around his shoulders, speaking softly into his ear, stealing french fries from his plate.  

—

Tony couldn’t believe that he had to hear about Peter’s bithday from Jarvis.  That hurt.  Far more than it should have.  The butler had shared the somewhat troubling exchange in which Peter had debated whether it was possible to have a birthday before someone was officially born.  Jarvis now thought Peter was utterly insane, but still seemed to like the kid.  It was impossible not to.

What did you do for your lover on his pre-Birthday?  They couldn’t have a party.  Peter had no one to invite and that was just going to be depressing.  He couldn’t give Peter a physical gift because he’d never be able to take it with him when he left.   If Tony ever let him leave, anyway.  A trip was out of the question, Peter would balk about being away from the Nullifier for that long.  He could convince the boy to take a few hours off, but more than a day…that was never going to happen.  Never mind that they’d already been at the job of repairing it for months.

The answer came to him quite unexpectedly, but it really was perfect.  It was going to be expensive.  It was going to take time, but Tony had both.

August tenth, after breakfast, Tony convinced Peter to take the morning off, though he said nothing about Peter’s birthday.  Not yet.  Peter didn’t suspect anything until Tony pulled his sports car into a parking spot at a lot for Forest Park in Queens.  Only then did the teenager pivot in his seat to fix Tony with a questioning look.  His confusion clear on his face.

“Happy B-day Peter!”

Peter just stared at him.  “Uh…thanks.  I guess.”

He clearly had no idea why Tony had brought him to Forest Park, but that was all going to become clear in a moment.  “I couldn’t think of what to do to make this special.  Thought a lot about it.  Had a lot of crazy ideas.  Settled on this one.  So…Peter, are you ready to meet your very much alive and breathing parents?”

If Peter looked surprised now, Tony was sure that finding out they were S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents was going to be a real Kodak moment.

[szappan]

tag time, thank you!

 Hello, I hope you’re all having a nice day. The things I was tagged in have clumped up so I thought I could just do them all now. Thank you to everyone who tagged me!!!

1. Diana @britneyshakespeare (thank you so much!!)

Rules: tag people you’d like to get to know better! (reading this i felt like one of those crying cats, im so honoured seriously thank you)

Top 10 songs I can’t stop listening to: this is actually very well-timed because i can actually name these and also @sastrugie tagged me in a similar one, thank you:

You Ain’t Going Nowhere - Bob Dylan

Atlantis - Donovan

All La Glory - The Band

Moondance - Van Morrison

Šlechtici - Golden Kids

Not Enough - FUR

Leave Her, Johnny - George Sneez

Be Bop A Lula - Gene Vincent

Series Of Dreams - Bob Dylan

Márti Dala - Pásztor Anna & Kiss Tibi

Favorite color(s): all but orange on its own. orange paired with something else is fine. it’s amazing if it’s obnoxious.

Favorite ships: two white cats they’re husband and wife, the coconut lorikeets in denver zoo and merthur

Lipstick or chapstick: neh

Last Movie: my brother and i watched Thor: Ragnarök again last week, I think that was it. I’ve been really trying to watch more movies lately, especially considering how it’s the primary art source of the era (not really but it is kinda.. what)

Currently Reading: Winnie the Pooh

i’ll tag everyone at the end of this, thank you!

2. thank you @smittyjaws and @savoy-brown-shoe for this tag from ages ago!

the point is that i shuffle my music library and list the first ten that come up

 A 67-es Út - Republic

Death Of A Clowd - The Kinks (look at this babie)

Feel A Whole Lot Better - Tom Petty

Somebody To Love - Queen 

Paintbox - Pink Floyd

Piano Concerto No. 1 - Tchaikovsky

No Time To Think - Bob Dylan

The Diary Of Horace Wimp - ELO

The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down - The Band

Oh! Darling - The Beatles

thank u!

3. thank you @thenesmith for this here very 7 questions tag! i love the format you did this in by the way and also @britneyshakespeare too!!

Relationship status: i’m not in a romantic relationship with anyone

Favourite colour: see above but i also realized that i really like that blue that my corduroy shirt is, it’s like light but strong and muted at the same time

Lipstick or chapstick?: no thank you

Top three ships: yuh

Last song I listened to: I’m listening to Help! by the Beatles, thank you youtube autoplay

Spell out your name with song titles: W - Wonderboy - The Kinks I - I Love My Shirt - Donovan L - Lod’ Do Neznáma - Tublatanka E - Everyday - Buddy Holly S - Summer ‘68- Pink Floyd 

4. Thank you, Diana @britneyshakespeare yet again!

15 questions, 15 mutuals

Are you named after someone? I am not.

When was the last time you cried? Two days ago on the way home on the bus because I was thinking of a song that made me cry

Do you have kids? no thankfully

Do you use sarcasm a lot? I try not to

What’s the first thing you notice about people? Well, I guess at first glance I see how they look, but behaviour-vise I tend to notice how aware they are of their surroundings

What’s your eye colour? You know that post telling hazel-eyed people to shut up? Brownish-green. Totally green if the lights are right. Totally brown when the lights are not right etc

Scary movie or happy ending? Both can be good, especially combined

Any special talents? I can bend my left thumb in a way that it looks like my hand is broken

Where were you born? Right in the middle of Budapest in a hospital

What are your hobbies? Reading, drawing whatever i can, i guess music, ruining various pieces of clothing with various techniques, putting whatever spices i see in whatever dish i’m making, being gentle with my cat

Do you have any pets? cat

What sport do you/have you played? I used to swim a lot, even tried synchronized swimming for a year or two, then gymnastics when I was littol, then I took up karate and broke my arm three months in so I quit, I tried ballet too this year but that’s over now and I also did yoga for a few months so yeah these are the official ones

How tall are you? 5′4″? 164 cm?

Favourite subject in school? I don’t dislike any of them. I like English a lot tho

Dream job? shepherd. but a lot of people told me that i have potential to better the world and i want to do that too somehow but also if i could just focus on getting through each day not by making money but by making bread or yes, herding sheep, i would do that too.

thank you!!

5. thank you @thenesmith again! this is to post gifs of my top 5 favourite movies. (currently)

1. Spider-man: Homecoming

2. The Road To El Dorado

3. Labyrinth

4. The Rutles - All You Need Is Cash

5. idk Back to the Future

wuh

6. thank you, @siliconpine!

20 songs tag game

A song you like with a color in the title || Crimson and Clover - Tommy James & The Shondells

A song you like with a number in the title || Fourth Time Around - Bob Dylan

A song that reminds you of summertime || Mary Jane’s Last Dance - Tom Petty (obvi)

A song that reminds you of someone you’d rather forget || i dont think theres a song such as this because i dont like forgetting people

A song that needs to be played LOUD || Birthday - The Beatles

A song that makes you wanna dance || anything pink floyd because i came to the conclusion that you cant dance to pink floyd so i always want to prove myself wrong

A song that makes you happy || Happiness Runs - Donovan

A song that you never get tired of || Ophelia - The Band

A song that you would love played at your wedding || Light A Roman Candle With Me - fun.

A song that is a cover by another artist || Dream A Little Dream Of Me - The Mamas & the Papas

A song that you have sung as a duet at karaoke || none sadly

A song that makes you think about life ||  It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding) - Bob Dylan

A favorite song with a person’s name in the title || Maxine - Traveling Wilburys

A song that you think everybody should listen to || It’s Nice To Be Nice - Pugwash

A song by a band you wish were still together || See My Friends - The Kinks

A song by an artist no longer living || Rock & Roll Suicide - David Bowie

A song that makes you want to fall in love || I Got You Babe - Sonny and Cher

A song that breaks your heart || You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go - Bob Dylan

A song that you remember from your childhood || Egy bogár - Cseh Tamás

A song that reminds you of yourself || Friends To Go - Paul McCartney

thank you so much!

7. again by @siliconpine!! thank you so much

A This or That Tag Game

Honey and lemon or milk and sugar // musicals or plays // lemonade or iced tea // strawberries or raspberries // winter or summer // beaches or forests // diners or cafés // unicorns or dragons // gemstones or crystals // hummingbirds or owls // fireworks or sparklers // brunch or happy hour what // sweet or sour no // Rome or Amsterdam // classic or modern art // sushi or ramen// sun or moon // polka dots or stripes // macaroons or croissants// glitter or matte // Degas or Seurat  // aquariums or planetariums // road trip or camping trip not a fan of either // coloring books or watercolor // fairy lights or candles

thank you!! i think this is it!

thank YOU if you got this far in, and I’ll tag @vanillatumbleweedscoffee @stars-in-my-damn-eyes @sneez @fancybasementfestival @kipland00 @dreameramongwildflowers @punkslap @rhapsody-under-pressure and everyone who i tagged before and anyone who wants to to do any of these tags as they see fit and if they’re in the mood or have enought time or are just looking for something to do

[whiparoundandcry]

Submitted Earbuds fic!

In hindsight, Cole really shouldn’t have tried to run through a pitch black alleyway when he has literally no sense of direction.

Now, don’t get him wrong, he can be a Ninja just fine, there are land marks all over the city, and he can navigate buildings just fine, but if you were to throw him in an alleyway in the thick of the city before he had time to take in his surroundings, and said alleyway was pitch black (ha, black), he was screwed.

Which conveniently is what just happened to him.

Cole wasn’t patrolling, he wasn’t even in uniform! He was just normal civilian sitting on the roof when all the sudden he was grabbed from behind and pulled down to ground level for no apparent reason! Thank fuck he was also a Ninja, otherwise he would’ve been screwed. He had barely managed to escape their oh so evil clutches cough cough not. It took him like two seconds to wiggle out of their grasp before he bolted.

Cole could still hear the shouts of his attackers as he ran through the ridiculously complicated why the fuck would do this to me city planners twists and turns of the city. He began furiously typing on his phone as he ran in an attempt to obtain some much needed help.

[8:25 PM to The oval o NOledge]

coletrains foeva: FUCK

coletrains foeva: shit

coletrains foeva: disater

coletrains foeva: HELP

whiparoundandcry: shit dude whaddup?

BlueJay: Did something happen?

coletrains foeva: I needs help

coletrains foeva: like with noe

Grumpy Sis: Whats happening?

Grumpy Sis: oh shit

Best Boyf: Where are u?

coletrains foeva: don’t know

coletrains foeva: some alleyway

coletrains foeva: gjffn

coletrains foeva: help

I break Walls: very vauge were were u last?

coletrains foeva: Don noe

BlueJay: Dude what the hell happened?

whiparoundandcry: Are you injured?

coletrains foeva: hsh no

I break Walls: thank God

coletrains foeva: so.e dudes attempt kidnap

Best Boyf: fuck

Grumpy Sis: did you say attempted kidnap?

coletrains foeva: yea shit oh fuck me dead end help

whiparoundandcry: dude shit Cole u Kay,?

BlueJay: Cole?

Grumpy Sis: Fuck!

Best Boyf: o shit we might need white for this

I break Walls: yeah we do

~~~~~~~~

Zane was having a pretty normal evening. He had stocked up on supplies, sifted through data, resplied the medical corner for Wu, and gotten a Cat unstuck from a tree for an old lady. Pretty normal, everything expected. He had scanned recent crime activity for patterns as well. Zane really was having a normal day. He wasn’t expecting, however, to get spamed with PM’s from Red.

20:25 - Red: dude

20:26 - Red: White

20:28 - Red: shit man we need u

20:28 - White: Why? And whom?

20:28 - Red: Blacks an idiot

20:28 - Red: Got himself kidnap in civvies

20:29 - White: How do you know?

20:29 - Red: Told me

20:29 - Red: And gray and blue

20:29 - White: Why did he tell u 3 and not just pm me?

20:29 - Red: Group chat on phone

20:30 - Red: Couldn’t risk them knowing he was a ninja prolly

20:30 - White: How does he have u 3s #s?

20:30 - Red: Long story don’t ask he need to be found!

20:31 - White: But then I’ll know his identity :/

20:31 - Red: screw that shit man he’s in trouble!

20:31 - White: Do you know his ID?

20:31 - Red: yeah me blue and gray do

20:31 - White: WHAT!?

20:32 - White: HOW?

20:32 - White: WU WILL BE FURIOUS!!

20:32 - Red: YOU THINK I DON’T KNOW THAT?!

20:33 - White: How do you three know each other’s IDs?!

20:33 - Red: Its a long story!

20:33 - White: That’s not an excuse!

20:34 - Red: Don’t u care that black is kidnapped?

20:34 - White: Tell me the short story then!

20:34 - White: And yes I do care

20:35 - Red: Ugh!

20:35 - Red: Fine

20:35 - Red: Just don’t interrupt

20:35 - White: I won’t

20:36 - Red: Long story short Gray is my sister

20:36 - White: I know that

20:36 - Red: Blue and I are dating

20:36 - White: WHAT?!

20:36 - White: WU WILL BE EVEN MORE FURIOUS!

20:36 - Red: I said don’t interrupt!

20:36 - Red: And blue ran into black because of our friend Addison

20:37 - Red: Now get your ass over here!

20:37- White: You and blue are DATING?!

20:37 - Red: YES AND COLE COULD BE DYING RIGHT NOW SO GET YOUR FUCKING ROBOTIC ASS OVER TO MY LOCATION RIGHT NOW!

20:38 - Red: for fucks sake

20:38 - Red: Red Disconnected

20:38 - White: White Disconnected

~~~~~~~~

Getting knocked unconscious sucked, Cole decided. You don’t what happened to or around you, and you could have been dragged anywhere. It was also terrifying waking up in an unfamiliar situation. Cole groaned in pain as he slowly came to a state of awareness. The first thing he noticed was the stabbing pain across his hip and the throbbing of his head.

Ow. Okay, Brookstone. Remember your training. Step one. Are you injured?

If the pain in his head, hip, and oh hey his shin too, were anything to go by, yes, he was injured.

Okay, Step two. Are you tied down anywhere?

His hands were tied behind his back, and his feet, yep they were tied too.

Step three. What are your surroundings? Is it safe to look at them visually?

Cole concentrated on the sounds around him. He could hear muffled cries to his left, quite whispering to his right, and heavy breathing all around him. He could hear the shuffling of clothes and whimpers in front of him. He could also hear a calm set of breathing in front of him, maybe a unconscious person? He couldn’t hear the sound of any guards, which was mildly concerning, and other people were there, so if he had to guess, he was a hostage.

Wonderful.  

Cole slowly peeled his eyes open and scanned his surroundings. There was a little girl, preteens maybe, crying to his left, as well as an elderly woman. There was two gruff looking older men to his right whispering to each other, a plan to escape from the sounds of it. In front of him was three teens. The one on the left was a girl with Blue hair? And the one on the right was wearing baggy sweatpants and a hoodie with the hood on, so he couldn’t see their face, but he did spie a lock of black hair. In front of him was a male teen of maybe 14 or 15 with platinum blonde hair. When Cole made eye contact, their strikingly familiar green eyes wided into saucers. Cole could feel his own follow suit.

“G-!?” It took all of his will power to snap his jaw shut before things got out of hand. Green’s shoulders visibly sagged with relief. Cole let out a controlled breath.

Shit.

It’s a good thing Wu told them to practice lip reading on their own time, or else they would be screwed.

Well.

They kinda already are anyways.

“Are you okay?” Green asked. Huh. Okay. Nevermind then. This can work. Probably.

“Yeah.” Cole winced. “Okay, maybe not.” The Blue haired girl and Hoodie laughed. Green frowned.

“Physically or mentally?” Hoodie asked, snorting, they definitely sounded like a girl. Cole thought to how completely discombobulated and so not okay he was when Jay first ran into him. And the the wound on his hip and on his shin, and the dull ache in his head. Oh yeah, and there was also Green, unmasked, sitting literally a few yards in front of him.

“Both?” Cole shrugged nonchalantly. “I mean, I’ve been going through some shocking stuff lately, it’s quite similar to what’s happening right now actually-”

“What?!” Green interrupted. Cole rolled his eyes.

“Gee, dude. Don’t get your skinnies in a twist.” It took a second for what he said to click.

“Did you just insult my skinny jeans? How dare you.” Chuckles all around. Cole barked a laugh as he shifted to get more comfortable.

“I’m assuming you two know each other?” Blue hair asked. Green bobbed his head.

“Yep. Have for years.”

The girl grinned. “Sweet. I’m Katelyn,” She introduced.

“Solana.”

Okay. Blue hair is Katelyn, and hoodie is Solana. Good to kno-

“Lloyd.”

Hoo boy. Green’s name is Lloyd. Cool. Definitely remembered that.  Definitely didn’t expect that. Like how he didn’t expect Blue’s name to be Jay or Red’s to be Kai or Gray’s to be Nya. Sweet.

He really needed to get his thoughts in order.

“Cole,” He grinned. “I’d shake your hand buuut, y’know.” Katelyn and Solana laughed. Lloyd gave a small amused smile.

“Yeah yeah that’s great all, but did you ever stop to wonder what the hell is going to happen to us?” Grumpy guy one snarled.

Cole shrugged. “Nope!” He flashed an award-winning smile. “Because life is all Cupcakes, Rainbows, and Unicorns!” Grumpy guy two rolled his eyes.

“Jeez, you have major issues. Go see a therapist.”

Yeah, Cole probably did need a therapist.

“He does have issues,” Lloyd agreed. Cole gasped at him in mock hurt.

“What? No! I thought we were friends?!” Lloyd rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, right.” Cole gasped again.

“What do mean? Has four years meant nothing to you?” Lloyd bit his bottom lip to prevent a smile breaking across his face. A feat in which he ultimately failed as he burst into giggles. Cole smiled.

“I just don’t understand. How are you kids so calm?” The elderly woman, oh hey she was there too, asked. Lloyd gave a tight smile.

“This isn’t the first time.” The woman gasped.

“Oh my! Are you alright dear?” Cole chuckled.

“He’s fine. He just has a knack for getting into these types of situations, like, waaaaay too often,” he explained. “It’s unhealthy how often he gets kidnapped, really.”

“Oh my…” The woman whispered, eyes wide. Lloyd sent a glare towards Cole, who grinned in response. Katelyn frowned in his direction.

“Uh…Cole, was it? Are you okay?” Cole smiled at her.

“Oh, I am just fine and dandy! Like a dandelion!” Lloyd narrowed his eyes at Cole, trying to come to some conclusion. Suddenly, his eyes widen.

“Shit.” Everyone gave him a look.

“What..is it?” Solana asked hesitantly.

“I think they drugged him or something. Look.” The group of hostages stared at him in disbelief. Cole giggled.

“Don’t do drugs kids!” Grumpy guy two rolled his eyes with a chuckle.

“Yep, he’s definitely got something in his system.”

Well, at least it explained why his brain was being so weird. And fuzzy. Could your brain feel fuzzy? Like, when it felt fuzzy, if you were to take it out of your skull would it feel fuzzy to the touch? Or would it still be slimy? Do brains feel slimy? What do brains feel like? If you have a headache and you were to take your brain out of your skull, would it hurt if you touched it? Wait, that’s not how the world works. Is it? Pretty sure it isn’t, but magic shouldn’t be real, so. Is magic real? Did their powers count as magic?  And why was he thinking about this? Instead of something productive like….. waffles?

Yeah, safe to say, Cole’s brain was fucked up right now.

It also was tired of having Cole conscious, apparently.

“.. Cole…an…ou..ear….e….ole!” Cole had time to briefly wondered if that was supposed to be concerning before succumbing to the darkness of his mind.

~~~~~~~~

Lloyd was having an….off day. First, he gets kidnapped (again, which was so not cool), then because of that kidnapping Black’s identity got compromised, though rather silently so, and then apparently they had drugged Cole (He was 99% sure his last name was Brookstone) and then he had passed out!

Safe to say, this day was not going how he planned.

“Cole? Bud? You wanna…wake up? Or…no? Okay. That’s cool!” Lloyd gave an experimental tug at the ropes binding his wrists together. A grin crossed his face when he felt them loosen. Working quickly, he had his hands untied in record time. He paused midway through the rope around his feet when he was suddenly addressed.

“Wait, Lloyd? How the hell did you get your bindings undone so fast?!” Katelyn exclaimed, bewildered. Lloyd shrugged, pulling the rope from around his ankles free.

“They weren’t on too tight,” He replied, moving to untie the bluenette. The girl in question scooted away from him.

“Nuh-uh! You deal with Cole first!” Lloyd flushed.

“Yeah, I probably should’ve thought of that first.” He crawled over to Cole, only to blink in surprise when he was met with a half-lidded gaze and a dopey smile.

“H-Heeeey, Lloydy-Lloyd~,” Cole smiled drunkenly up at his friend. Lloyd, in turn, began to undo his bindings. “Why are you always getting kidnapped?” The Black Ninja asked, in such a serious and innocent voice that it took all his unknown will power and then some to not burst into uncontrollable laughter.

“I don’t know, Coley. I don’t know,” Lloyd replied as he began to undo Solana’s ties, smiling at her when she thanked him.  

“Why are we so unguarded? Shouldn’t we be worried?” One of the older men asked. Lloyd threw his hands up in frustration.

“Gee, chill! You’ve done nothing but be angsty since we got here! And sure, we have a basically drunk Cole, an old lady, a child, three teens and two grumpy grown men, but we can still do this! Okay, now that I’ve said that out loud I realize that we might be screwed! But! I believe in us as much as I believe in my ability to not give good pep talks!” Lloyd exclaimed. Everyone laughed at that.

“Haha! Oooh, we’re so gonna die,” Solana chuckled nervously, running a hand over her neck and pulling her arm up into a stretch. Lloyd (lightly!) punched her shoulder.

“Hey! Don’t think like that, we’ll make it out fine!” Lloyd assured. She nodded hesitantly. Working quickly, he soon had everyone untied and standing (Cole was leaning on him).

“And if we don’t make it out unscathed?”

“We’re probably going to die anyways.”

He snapped his head around.

“Seriously guys? You’re supposed to be the adults here! I thought you were supposed to leave the angst behind as a kid!” Lloyd threw his hands up, slowly letting them fall down in defeat. “Ugh! I’m so sick and tired of you two!” Lloyd takes a controlled breath. “Listen. If we want any chance of survival, you two are gonna have to get your shit together,” He growled. They stared at him in surprise. “And collectively, you two have a lot of shit. And said shit is currently strewn about all over the place. And, if you want us to live, and if you want your own hairy asses to live, I’d highly recommend getting said hairy asses in gear and start getting your fucking! Shit! Together!” Lloyd snarled, his voice rising in power and volume towards the end.

To Lloyd’s left, Cole giggled. “Here I was thinking Jay was the one to make witty and snarky remarks in tense situations like this one,” He remarked. Lloyd felt his blood run cold. Jay. Witty and snarky remarks. Tense situations like this one.

Fucking hell Blue’s name is Jay.

And Cole somehow knew that.

“Though, he did get better after he and Kai started dating,” He mused. “I mean, they had some issues to work out beforehand, obviously, but they managed.” Cole straightened suddenly and turned to his self-proclaimed pillar. “Hey, did you know that Skylor placed bets with Nya on how quickly Kai and Jay would get together? Those two girls are crazy, I tell you. Craaazy.”

No.

Fuck no.

Lloyd wasn’t having an off day because he got kidnapped.

He was having an off day because Cole just fucking revealed the identities of all his teammates but White right here right now.

Jay was Blue.

Kai was probably Red.

Which meant Nya was most likely Gray.

Holy shit.

Was it possible to go through midlife crisis in your teens?

Because that’s certainly what’s happening now.

At least Cole have the decency to look apologetic.

“Oh, sorry man. Should I not have said that?” Lloyd shook his head.

“No, more like shouldn’t know that. At all.” Shaking his head once more, Lloyd cautiously approached the door leading out of the trapezoid shaped room. Testing the knob revealed that it was unlocked, and the door swung wide open, accompanied by a grunt and a thud. Instantly, a guard turned around the corner, gun raised. Lloyd’s Ninja instincts kicked in and he moved, disarming the guard and putting him in a chokehold, letting go on only when he fell unconscious.

“Wow..” Solana breathed. Everyone was in shook, save for Cole, who just giggled.

“Man, can I have your number after this?” Katelyn exclaimed. “No romo though,” she hastened to add on.

“Same, same. I want-no, need, a kick-ass friend in my life,” Solana said, a grin slipping on her face. Lloyd grinned.

“Oh please, that’s the least I can do.” Cole giggled again.

“It’s true!” Cole, guess what, giggled, again.

“Okay, but let’s cut the chatter, we don’t know what’s up ahead,” Lloyd commanded, slipping into his leader persona. Slowly but surely the group made its way forward down the hall, Lloyd in the lead. Up ahead was another door, this time though, Lloyd was prepared. So when he threw the door open, he was ready for the two guards that came rushing in. He had them disarmed and unconscious and no time, and looking past the door revealed another hallway with a door at end, a staircase barely visible beyond that.

“So, do these people have like a, hallway fetish or what? Cuz I’m like 99% sure they do,” Cole said, and, you guessed it, giggled. Again. Lloyd snorted.

“Maybe,” He replied softly. Cole suddenly turned to him with a serious expression on his face

“Look man, I sorry I outed the team-I mean, our friends like that.  I know you really really didn’t want to know, and Skylor and Nya made me promise not to tell anyone but… y'know, things happen, amiright?”

So, that was his team confirmed. Good to know.

“You are right.”

As they neared the top of the stairs, Lloyd held a hand out, signaling the group to stop. Creeping forward, he didn’t see anyone. After looking around for a bit, he realized that no one was standing on the roof. It was completely abandoned, and completely suspicious. Stand up straight (hah), he took a moment to admire the sky.

So engrossed in his task, he didn’t notice the new and brightly colored arrivals until Red landed literally right in front of his face, which prompted his to scream-

“HOLY SHIT!”

Yeah, today was so not his day.

[so um..i was bored, and tired last night, curing daylight saving for stealing my sleeping in time when i wrote this. literally i only vaguely remember writing this, and tbh i have no idea what this is, but its funny and related to earbuds so i thought id share]

ahhh This is great dude!!!!!!!!!! I’m sorry it took me a while to post I haven’t had much time to read with my finals happening :,DD but fuck man!!! I love the action in this, finally cole and zane get some fuckin screen time in earbuds-verse. Thanks so much for writing and submitting this, I love reading shit other people write in this setting QwQ <333333333

[diviinedogs]

❣️hoi, what was art school like? I'm planning to go myself (and my family is pretty passively aggressively turning me down), but I just want to know what skills do you learn? What is the experience? Thank u for your time! Ur blog and art are amazing btw

hI I think it really depends on the school but I can give like the idea of two of them since I went to another school for precollege to see if it was something I’d be interested in majoring in! C./C/A and I went to Ri/.ngli./.ng and my parents are actually letting me go back to school now so hopefully I’ll be back there in Fall c’: also thank you for liking my stuff!

this ask is gonna long because I know I’m gonna ramble so I’m gonna call the schools C and R so I don’t have to do the slashes all the time! C’s experience was a specific  1-2 month course so it’s nothing like actual college at R so feel free to skip down to it, I just thought it was important to add since it was my first experience at an art school

and after I talk about the schools I’ll say what stuff’s good to include in your portfolio, of course this is based on my experience but for the most part it helps in what you should try strengthening 

I did animation at C, which was 2D in the morning and 3D in the afternoon. I did precollege the summer before my senior year cuz it’s like the college experience before college so you do get the feel of how it is being on your own, and I wanted to see if I was good enough to pursue something art related. At this point, my parents were on the fence about the idea, so it would help them too. And C’s in California, so I had a bunch of relatives who could show me around and who I could stay with during the weekends

experience wise, the teachers and TAs I had were really nice, so in 2D it was stuff like learning Principles of Animation and the first thing we did was a flipbook animation I think? and then it went to looking at scenes from movies for inbetweens and character sheets and we all worked together reanimating a quick scene from a movie. In the end, we all chose a really short scene from an animated movie to study and reanimate for our final

while in 3D, it was just learning around Maya and doing animation exercises each day with it, eventually working your way up to a mini film (nothing’s completely rendered though! just models), other than that it was pretty much the same as 2D

so basically, I learned the basics and they were really helpful, but to be honest I felt a bit lost with how free it was, you basically had to learn everything on your own with the teachers just checking your work. I was really good at 3D but it... wasn’t fun for me lol so I decided that after this I’d want to stay in the 2D realm of things

now for R! My parents were worried about the starving artist myth and all that, so they would absolutely not let me do Illustration even though that’s what I really wanted, so I chose Game Design and I was like hey I’ll deal with it or like maybe I’ll like it. If not, I could always try convincing my parents to let me switch my major. 

the way things work at R is that all the majors are put into categories, so Computer Animation, Game Art, and Illustration are all the Media Arts majors. All Freshman take basically the same type of classes and things start breaking off around the second semester of freshman year. Eventually you like see no one outside your major lol

and lET ME TELL YOU........ R HAS A VERY HEAVY WORK LOAD, so you gotta be prepared for that. I think just about all art schools are like this, but R’s very strict on it.  Manage your time wisely, there’s a lot of times I’ve seen people pull all nighters just to finish all their assignments. I was really bad at managing my time too, so when I go back I need to be more strict on myself. It’s better to do things early and relax than relax until last minute and have anxiety hell. Not many of the teachers are about how much homework you have in other classes. Also, it’s good to not do things last minute because then you can relax earlier and scanners and place you go to take photos aren’t crowded.

and trust me, your teachers will know if you did something last minute, and they can tell whether effort was put into something or not. 

Now for classes, I’ll talk about just freshman year since that’s probably what’s most helpful to you right now and since I was made to drop out by my parents I’ll probably be repeating like the second semester of that rip.... anywAY

so, R starts you with foundation, so figures classes, 2D design, drawing (this one’s perspective! so important but rip everyone forgets everything after that semester so I should probably start studying perspective again)

the figure classes at R are sO GOOD............ you improve a lot with those, a few weeks into it I was thinking about the figures I had in my portfolio and was just like...... fuck these are so shitty how the hell did the school accept me.... of course the experience depends on the teacher, but I loved my figure drawing teacher he was really cool and good. He did demos at some point every class to where we would all just hover over his shoulder and watch him draw while he explained what he was doing. You i

2D design I hated because like...... abstract... it’s supposed to help you work with compositions and such but I really don’t understand abstract and execute it properly so that was a really difficult class for me 

drawing class is just doing still life and perspective exercises, you don’t really get to the fun part till second semester, I forget the other exercises but I remember that towards the end there was one where you designed a car (like a fun spin on it like.... I think mine was a firefly styled car? yeAH)

other classes were Film & Narrative (so studying films, it was cool) and Writing Studio, which is just like a writing class, they don’t really apply to skills/experience in art so I’ll skip over those

second semester, you still have Figure Drawing, but there’s more of a focus on stuff and you get to draw animals too (sadly no, no real animals come into the classroom. You work off of projections and then there’s a field trip to a big cat sanctuary)

drawing II gets fun because you finally get to use photoshop for your still life and assignments, the assignments get more fun like the Tro/./.ja./n Ho//rs/e assignment. Like you could either do the actual one or draw a similar scenario, I’m totally blanking out on what I did but one of the examples was like a giant wooden mouse with cheese and in the back were cats watching the actual mice. Anyway, it had even more of a focus on compositions and colors. 

Another assignment was designing a character’s room. It could be any character, but you couldn’t have anything that gave away their name. People had to be able to guess who the room belonged to just by looking at it. Sounds hard, but fun. If the character you chose had like a specific style from the concept art of where they’re from you’re free to use that too! I did Kida from Atlantis and one of my friends did Greg Universe’s room, so she got to imitate SU’s background style which was cool to see!

3/D desi/gn was............. super difficult to me, I almost failed that class >w>;;;; because it was woodshop type stuff and polymer clay depending on what you wanted. However, every assignment you did would lead up to the grunt assignment, which was like, you had three designs of things that would be possible grunt level monsters, and you essentially pitch a game idea to the class and they pick the best. SO again, modeling especially with actual clay is hard for me but it was a great experience when it came to designing and stuff. There’s more but I don’t want to get into all the assignments

3/.D design differs based on what major you’re in, and you only get it if you’re doing one of the Media Arts majors, but I’m pretty sure for the most part they’re the same?

if you major in Game Art or Animation, then you also take traditional animation, which was really fun but tbh...... I only knew how to do animation because of me being at precollege at C and then like learning stuff on my own, you were really left alone a lot, which is the same for some of the other classes. They’ll help you if you ask, but if you don’t then you can’t really get helpful feedback. Again, it depends on the teacher. The one I had was really nice and I frequently went to her for help.

so despite how some assignments/classes were hard for me, I really loved R and I’m excited at my parents giving me the option to go back, I just need to do a portfolio again >w>;;;; R’s a really good school with a lot of great resources. All of my issues came from problems with people (not teachers just other students) there and I’m not gonna get into those cuz personal lol

OKAY SO for portfolio tips

still life

figURES

ANIMALS, it makes you have a better understanding of anatomy and stuff

try to have a mix of media in there, like I mainly do digital but still have some traditional stuff to show that you know how to use those

I would keep figures realistic and not stylized so they can see that you have an understanding of them

depends on the school I think, but R strictly says in their guidelines to not do fantasy stuff like unicorns and dragons

NO FAN ART.......  you can have it but you need to be really, really vague? if that makes sense, like people shouldn’t be able to tell it’s fan art

have what you’re applying for in your portfolio, so like depending on what you want I’d add concept art stylized stuff or character designs 

you gotta have your best work in there, like some people like having okay/bad work to show how much they improved but that’s a bad idea, if you don’t think something’s good don’t put it in for colleges to see