#and of course roxys downtown

[suzukiblu]

Ko-fi thank-you WIP excerpt behind the cut, as promised, friends; 7k of kidnapping your soulmate for fun and profit. (and non-chrono link for anyone on the app.)

Tana Moon follows Leech over to the group, looking a little wary herself. Tim sizes her up in his peripheral vision, pretending not to notice her approach. He’s “just” found out who his soulmate is, so he can sell the illusion of only paying attention to Superboy right now. It’s not an unusual reaction. 

It’s a pretty typical one, actually. The fact that Superboy decided to immediately show him off to everyone he knows is actually the less usual option, in fact. Not unheard of either, of course, but still. A lot of newly-discovered soulmates tend to just forget about the outside world for a few hours. Or days, even. A few missing person cases that Tim’s been involved in solving turned out to be cases of “I met my soulmate and we just eloped/ran away/went on a road trip/holed up in a hotel room without telling anyone”. 

Tim had thought it was ridiculous at the time, if obviously preferable to ending up with either a dead body or a traumatized victim, but Tim is currently in the process of planning an ethically-necessary kidnapping less than twenty-four hours after first cracking into Superboy’s file, so he supposes soulmates just bring out most people’s less pragmatic sides. 

Though he personally thinks carefully-planned ethical kidnappings are an improvement on spontaneous weekends in Vegas, pragmatically-speaking. But whatever. 

“He showed you?” Tana Moon says, glancing Tim over suspiciously. Superboy’s face reddens this time and he tugs at the slash in his own suit. 

“He, uh, saw mine first,” he says. “Kinda got into it with a dude downtown and Tim here was in the area, and like, he recognized it, obviously.”

“It’s fairly noticeable as a mark,” Tim supplies helpfully, figuring he should be being supportive of his soulmate here, and also be shutting Rex Leech up as efficiently as possible. “And Superboy came over to check on me after the fight, so it was hard to miss.” 

“Sure it was,” Leech says, his face souring. “So then you won’t mind showin’ yours to–” 

“Shut up, Dad!” Roxy hisses, kicking him viciously hard in the ankle. Leech yelps in pain. Roxy is immediately his favorite, Tim decides. By far Roxy is his favorite. The dog’s kind of cute and Dubbilex seems decent, but definitely Roxy is his favorite. 

Her dad definitely fucking sucks, though. 

And as for Tana Moon . . . 

“You’re a tourist?” Tana says, just barely frowning down at Tim. She’s taller than him. She’s also taller than Superboy, because she’s a grown-ass woman and why, exactly, is a reporter even here right now? How is that necessary or reasonable? 

. . . admittedly she’s also taller than Leech and he’s a middle-aged man, but that’s not the point here. If Tim has to “no comment” this situation and figure out how to get either his parents or Bruce to kill a story, he absolutely will. He isn’t even slightly gonna hesitate there. He is gonna the opposite of hesitate, in fact. 

“Yes,” he lies, which might not endear him to Moon, given she’s a native, but is better than confessing to having premeditated designs on kidnapping a teen idol superhero. Especially to a reporter. 

Even if it is legally salvage. 

“I’m just in town for the day,” he continues. “I needed to get away for a little while, you know how it is.” 

“Sure,” Moon says, narrowing her eyes at him. “Who doesn’t.” 

“He’s from Gotham. And he helped the civilians get out of the area while I was fighting that guy downtown!” Superboy says eagerly, which is . . . odd, actually, and throws Tim off a bit. That seems like a weird thing for Superboy to be eager about, considering. Like . . . just very weird. 

“Well, that’s a Gotham thing, probably,” Tim says, putting on a sheepish Civilian Smile (#7). “We’re used to rogue attacks with area of effect concerns involved, so we get pretty good at clearing a street.” 

“You did awesome,” Superboy says, grinning excitedly at him. That is . . . still weird, yeah. Tim really doesn’t get it. 

Well, maybe Superboy’s just relieved to have a soulmate who knows how to stay out of the line of fire and what to do in a crisis, given how often crisises probably come up in his life. That would make sense, considering. 

“It was nothing, just a little light crowd control,” Tim tries, assuming that’s what a normal civilian would say. Probably, right? Almost definitely. “Nobody even needed any urgent medical attention. And you used your TTK really strategically and contained the guy too, that was much more impressive to pull off in a mess like that.” 

Yeah, that was normal civilian talk, he thinks, pleased with himself for managing it. 

Superboy turns pink, then grins again. Dubbilex . . . tilts his head. 

Normal. Normal. Normal civilian. That’s what Tim is. A civilian! Who’s normal! Very, very normal! 

Normal. 

He smiles Normal Civilian Smile #4 and pats Krypto’s head again. Krypto makes an enthusiastic attempt at licking his fingers off. 

Ew. 

“‘Light crowd control’,” Moon echoes. That’s what Tim said, yeah, so he’s not sure why she’s repeating it. Well–reporter, again, so It’s probably a trap. 

It’s almost definitely a trap, actually. 

Really definitely it’s a trap. 

“Sorry to just show up like this, hope I’m not interrupting anything,” he says to Roxy and Dubbilex with a smile, politely pretending not to be ignoring Moon. He is definitely ignoring Moon, though. Again: reporter. She may not be a Lois Lane or even a Vicki Vale, but he’s still not giving her any information he can avoid giving her. And he’ll just ignore Leech while he’s at it, too. 

“I invited you, man!” Superboy says with a laugh, shaking his head. “We’re gonna hit the beach for a while, go hang out. Just swung by to grab Tim a swimsuit I can lend him.” 

“You came to Hawaii to ‘get away’ and didn’t pack a swimsuit?” Moon says skeptically. 

“Yup,” Tim replies with the most placidly innocent expression he’s ever worn in his life. Nothing. He is giving her nothing. Let all her reporter instincts strike against mirrored glass and high-security privacy windows and come to naught. 

Moon stares at him in silence, clearly waiting for him to fill it. Tim doesn’t fall for the incredibly obvious bait and just keeps the placidly innocent expression on. 

She frowns. 

“C’mon, man,” Superboy says cheerfully, apparently–and fortunately–oblivious to their stand-off. He grabs Tim’s arm and drags him towards the front porch. Tim seriously doubts its structural stability, from the look of it, but tactile telekinesis is hard to argue with. 

The steps manage not to collapse–possibly also because of tactile telekinesis, Tim can’t help suspecting–and Superboy pulls him straight into the house, which is . . . not particularly well taken care of, no surprise. The furniture looks like it all came from a thrift store, and not a nice thrift store. 

Admittedly Tim’s upbringing might be showing here, but also the corners need swept and there’s random boxes of assorted Superboy merch everywhere, most of which looks like cheap junk, and a huge stack of mail and four empty pizza boxes on the coffee table and overflowing trash cans with random junk scattered around, and it’s just . . . it doesn’t look taken care of, no. Which is something Tim would expect from a teenager or two, and maybe Dubbilex doesn’t know how chore wheels work or whatever, but fucking Rex Leech should at least be capable of getting out the broom once a week. 

Assuming there is one, anyway. Tim isn’t particularly optimistic on that one, honestly. 

Superboy’s room is even messier than the living room, covered in dirty clothes and abandoned comics and crumpled-up papers, but Tim’s bedroom looks like a bomb went off in it so he’s not gonna judge. Anyway, that’s Superboy’s personal space, not a common area. He can keep it however he likes, Tim figures. 

Somebody should really sweep that living room, though. And throw out those old pizza boxes, too. 

Tim isn’t judging, just–well, no, he is very much judging, actually. Specifically what he’s judging is Rex Leech, noted asshole sleazeball manager with predatory business tactics. 

Fuck that guy, seriously. 

“You want trunks or a speedo?” Superboy asks as he lets go of his arm to fly over to the cluttered dresser. Tim turns seventeen different shades of red and nearly disassociates. 

“Trunks,” he says quickly. “Please.” 

“Gotcha, man,” Superboy says easily, and then all the dresser drawers yank out at once and dump out crumpled piles of . . . mostly swimsuits and super-suits, it looks like, yeah. Like, basically nothing else but swimsuits and super-suits and a couple of cheesy-looking Hawaiian shirts. 

Well, that might be one lonely, lonely pair of cutoffs sticking out from underneath the swimsuits. But otherwise, that’s pretty much it, yeah. 

Fuck, that’s depressing, Tim thinks. 

Superboy comes back over with an armful of swimsuits, just about all of which have the S-shield either printed or stitched on them. Tim wonders why the guy even has this many swimsuits, especially considering he barely has any other clothes at all. At least not as far as he can see, anyway. 

He also wonders if he’s gonna die if he wears Superboy’s clothes. Is that a thing that might happen? Because it really might happen, yeah. 

Also wearing something with an S-shield on it feels like just a little too much to handle right now, so Tim’s hoping for a basic black option to be buried somewhere in that pile. Given Superboy’s apparent fashion sense, it seems unlikely, but hope springs eternal. 

“Take a look, see what’s good,” Superboy says, dumping the entire armful of swimsuits on Tim. Tim’s just grateful he remembered to stick to just the trunks, at this point. 

“So you spend a lot of time on the beach, huh?” he says wryly. 

“C’mon, man, it’s Hawaii,” Superboy says with a sheepish grin. “And I mean, I look good in anything but wet leather is just not a comfortable fit, you know?” 

“I guess it wouldn’t be, no,” Tim says, giving him Civilian Smile #4 again. Superboy’s ears redden a little again, and then he leans back and zips back across the room to shove all his drawers back shut. Tim lays out the pile of swimsuits on the bed, since it’s right there anyway, and then immediately feels embarrassed to be this close to Superboy’s bed. Which is stupid, even if they aren’t platonics. They’ve just met; it’s not like anything’s gonna happen. 

. . . even if Superboy is a notorious flirt and totally shameless and–

Tim is just not gonna pursue that line of thought right now, he decides. Just for his own sanity and all. 

He accidentally knocks some paper off the bed as he’s laying out the suits to get a look at them, and reflexively leans down to pick it up. The room’s a mess, yeah, but it’s Superboy’s mess. It’s still rude to just drop shit wherever. 

The paper isn’t as crumpled as some of the others, and Tim sees a glimpse of color as he picks it up. His inner detective reflexively wonders what it is, and . . .

Tim uncrumples the paper a little, and blinks down at it in surprise. It’s a little kid’s drawing, it looks like. A sunny beach rendered in bright colored pencil and simple, awkward shapes all painstakingly but clumsily colored in and–

Superboy’s suddenly right back next to him snatching the paper from him and immediately hiding it behind his back, looking absolutely mortified. Tim’s confused, for a moment. What’s he embarrassed about? It’s obviously not anything he’d have drawn himself. It’s probably just something a fan or a neighbor’s kid gave him, or . . . 

Tim pauses. Then he recontextualizes just how much of the crumpled-up paper is lying around Superboy’s room and wonders, very briefly, if a bunch of STEM majors with delusions of grandeur would’ve bothered programming their custom-designed “Superman” with anything resembling art skills. 

So . . . maybe that is something Superboy drew himself. If Cadmus didn’t program him with the muscle memory or knowledge of how to draw . . . well, then he probably would draw like a little kid, wouldn’t he.

And given Superboy’s cocky, braggart personality and defensive ego and how all that paper is all crumpled up as if in frustration . . .

“Gift from a fan?” Tim “assumes” with Smiling Civilian Face #4, pretending to be oblivious. 

“Uh–yeah!” Superboy blurts quickly as he jumps on the provided excuse, though he keeps the paper behind his back. “Yeah, just–you know, just some kid gave it to me at a signing, whatever. Uh, bathroom’s through there, if you wanna get changed. Or like, whatever.” 

“Thanks,” Tim says, and resists the itching urge to peek at a few more of those crumpled-up papers. It’s just a lot of paper, especially if Superboy’s upset with the results.

He wonders why the guy draws so much, if he’s that frustrated and embarrassed by it. Maybe it’s a rebellion thing, since it’s something Cadmus didn’t want him to know how to do. Tim would definitely understand that logic, if he were in Superboy’s situation. Or maybe he’s just bothered not to know how and trying to teach himself to make up for the perceived failing. 

Or maybe he just likes it, Tim supposes. That’s an option too. 

Probably a less likely one, though, given that it’s Superboy. Not to be an asshole or anything, just it’s a lot easier picturing the guy assuming he should be able to do something and getting fixated on trying to pull it off than just, like . . . liking to draw. Also, judging by all that balled-up paper, it doesn’t seem like there’s much there for him to “like”, either.

Tim takes the plainest set of trunks with a drawstring waist, which are black and dark blue but still have an S-shield iron-on patch sewn onto their waistband, for whatever reason, and ducks into the bathroom with them. He realizes belatedly that said S-shield is probably going to rest right up against his soulmark, then feels like an idiot for feeling flustered by that idea and just sets his bag against the wall and starts getting undressed. 

He’s definitely wearing one of the spare shirts in his go-bag for this, he decides as he stuffs his clothes into his bag. Just–definitely, yeah. 

The trunks fit once he cinches the drawstring enough, but the S-shield definitely does rest right against his soulmark. Tim has never actually considered the sight of the S-shield to be, like . . . relevant or interesting outside of work, but he’s realizing that he sure does feel differently about it now that he knows his soulmate’s one of the people wearing it. 

Which is a little ironic, really, considering Superboy wears the S-shield as a branding thing or whatever and lets Leech slap it on whatever cheap shitty merch he can think of. Like, he’s probably the least respectful S-wearer there is. 

Tim pulls on a plain clean T-shirt and a short-sleeve button-down to go over it, figuring that’s beach-friendly enough. He should’ve packed sunglasses, probably, but he was a little distracted by his kidnapping plans and didn’t think to. 

Seriously. He didn’t think to bring sunglasses to Hawaii. 

This whole situation definitely has him off his game, yeah. 

Soulmate thing, he guesses.

Tim eyes himself in the bathroom mirror, mentally decides he’s being an idiot to worry about how he looks right now, and then grabs his bag and heads back out into the bedroom. Superboy’s changed into low-waisted S-shield-themed trunks of his own and flip-flops and nothing else, which does in fact give Tim an embarrassingly good and embarrassingly distracting view of their soulmark. It’s not quite distracting enough for him to miss the fact that the amount of crumpled papers strewn around the room has noticeably decreased, though. And there’s definitely more of them sticking out from under the bed and dresser and in the back of the closet than there previously were. 

Which is kinda cute, honestly, but Tim should probably not say that. Like, ever. 

“Thanks for waiting,” he says, smiling Normal Civilian Smile #4 at Superboy as he hitches his bag up a little higher on his shoulder. “And for the loan.” 

Superboy stares blankly at him for half a second, then seems to startle a little and puffs himself up. 

“Uh–sure, yeah!” he says quickly. “No problem, man. Anytime.” 

“‘Anytime’ seems pretty open, as an offer,” Tim jokes, because normal civilians make that kind of joke, and Superboy turns red. 

“Oh, uh–you know what I mean!” he sputters awkwardly, holding his hands up, which seems kind of a lot as a reaction, and then somehow manages to nearly knock over his dresser without even touching it. Well–that'd be the TTK, Tim guesses. 

It wasn't even that much of a joke. Like, lame suburban dad joke territory, that's all. 

“I do, yeah,” he says with a wry smile. Superboy finds a way to turn even redder and shoves his dresser back into a corner. That also seems like kind of a lot as a reaction, but Tim doesn't comment. Just seems, well . . . awkward? Unnecessary? “Are we good to go, then?” 

“Um, yeah, yeah,” Superboy says, clearing his throat and then zipping out into the hall. Tim wonders if he always flies indoors this much. “All good, dude! Let's head out.” 

“Sure,” Tim says, keeping the smile on. Superboy is still red, but floats along down the hall. Tim follows. Okay. They’re almost definitely not platonic, but Superboy clearly isn’t any more sure what to do with that than Tim is, so . . . small favors, he guesses. Like–that they’re at least roughly on the same page there, he means. 

Unless he’s just reading into things because of weird personal biases he didn’t even know he had, and Superboy is completely straight and just kind of socially awkward around civilians, and Tim’s just being socially pressured by the background radiation of living in a society that over-values romantic soulmates in comparison to platonic ones and sometimes disavows platonic soulmates altogether. 

He supposes technically they could be familial, rare as that is. It’s not like he really knows how he’d feel about having a brother. Dick’s the closest thing to one he’s ever had, and that’s just . . . not actually the same thing, obviously, even if sometimes he wishes . . . 

Anyway. It doesn’t matter. He’s pretty sure having a brother wouldn’t in any way involve this level of embarrassment and unexpected hormones and just general sexuality-questioning over every little thing. Like, that seems very much not like what having a brother would be like. 

So–maybe he isn’t straight, or maybe Superboy’s not actually a boy, or maybe both of those things are true, or maybe he’s just really, really bad at having a soulmate.

Entirely possible, under the circumstances. Tim’s not really all that good at getting close to people. If he got a little confused about how to handle having a soulmate, well . . . that wouldn’t really be a surprise, would it. 

Or maybe he just doesn’t want to have to figure out how to come out to his dad or Dana or the goddamn Batman. 

One or the other, probably.

. . . statistically speaking, the likelier explanation probably is not wanting to come out to the goddamn Batman. 

“Wanna fly someplace or just chill on the beach out front?” Superboy asks as he floats backwards into the living room. Krypto runs up and jumps on Tim excitedly, his tail wagging so hard his whole little body’s wagging with it. He’s a weird-looking little mutt, but he’s really friendly, apparently. “Krypto, oh my god, get off him.” 

“I don't mind,” Tim says, leaning down to give Krypto a polite little pat on the head. Krypto barks happily and wags his tail so hard he knocks himself over. 

Yeah, weird dog in general, Tim thinks. But again, really friendly. 

“We can go wherever,” he says. “You're the local, you know the best places to get a little time alone to hang out, right?” 

“‘Alone’?” Superboy repeats, his ears reddening again as he somehow manages to trip in mid-air and hits his head on the doorframe. Tim can probably safely write off the idea of “platonic” at this point, but is still a little bit wary of his personal bias interfering. Though . . . “Uh–yeah! Totally! Yeah! We can do that!” 

Yeah, Superboy really isn’t selling the “platonic” idea here either. 

Does Tim have a boyfriend now? Is this how boyfriends happen? 

. . . well, or a girlfriend, maybe. He still hasn’t ruled out the “maybe Superboy’s just trans” option. That seems like a thing that might confuse his sexuality a little, if nothing else. 

This is definitely not anything like any previous girlfriend-getting he’s experienced, though. Like, not even a little bit. He’s not complaining, exactly, because admittedly it’s actually a little bit easier going into a new relationship with a plan and a cover established, even if the plan is admittedly still in flux and the relationship’s “romantic" vs "platonic” status is still unclear. It’s still something he can approach like a case, which is much more straightforward than just floundering around trying to figure out how normal people work. 

And Superboy’s about as far from a “normal person” as it gets, so really, this is a pretty ideal set-up on Tim’s end. 

Hopefully Superboy feels similarly, though he also, like . . . is lacking some pretty important information there, so . . . yeah, that might be an issue. Bruce would definitely not have appreciated Robin telling Superboy he was his soulmate, though, and who knows how Superboy would’ve even taken that. Going in as a civilian is going pretty smoothly, though, so Tim’s pretty sure it was the right choice. 

Hopefully it was, anyway. 

“Cool,” Tim says, keeping up the placid harmless civilian face and thoughts and Totally-Not-A-Vigilante vibes. Superboy does a very bad job of pretending he didn’t just bump into the doorframe and ducks back outside, putting on a cocky grin of his own as he does. It occurs to Tim, briefly, that maybe Superboy has his own catalog of performative expressions. None of his friends really seem to, but Superboy is in the community too, so . . . well, it’d make sense, right? 

Also he does sell his likeness via a sleazy manager’s sleazy business deals, so yeah. It does kind of make sense. 

Huh. That’s . . . a thought, he guesses. 

Not a thought he’d really had yet. 

Just . . . something they might have in common, Tim guesses. 

Though so is being in the community to begin with, obviously. And they're physiologically about the same age and have similar coloring, though Superboy is–well, not actually mixed with East Asian, because Krypton did not have an actual place called “Asia”, but he does have subtle hints of that look, same as Superman. Easy to mistake for just being white, but recognizable if you know what you're looking for. Superboy would be at least half-white given Westfield's DNA, Tim guesses, but . . . 

Yeah, no, he doesn't even know how to begin to figure out the nuances of racial identity on a dead planet he knows next to nothing about, much less any potential experience parallels there might be for a second-generation half-alien immigrant with effectively zero access to their own culture, but maybe he could–

Right, okay, he needs to focus here. There's some fascinating stuff there that he can theorize about and investigate later, once he's kidnapped Superboy properly. The kidnapping is the current priority, though. Like, it is very much the current priority. 

Tim follows Superboy back out onto the porch. Everyone else is still out there, which is fine in regards to Roxy and Dubbilex and not fine in regards to Leech and . . . well, jury's out on Moon, maybe. 

Also the dog. He doesn't really know about the dog. Though said dog does run after him and jump up for attention wagging his scruffy little tail hard enough to wag his whole little body, which is sort of cute. 

Or as cute as a wet dishrag can get, anyway. 

Tim’s trying not to judge Krypto for that, since obviously he didn't ask to be born as the living embodiment of a wet dishrag, and anyway he's a really friendly dog, so judging by appearances seems like a dick move. Even if Tim kind of wants to iron him, to be honest. Steam-clean, maybe. 

At least take him to a decent groomer, if nothing else. 

“Down, you little shit, Jesus!” Kon says, scowling down at Krypto and trying to shoo him away. Krypto growls at him, which seems weird, then goes back to fawning all over Tim. Tim leans down and pats his head, figuring it might calm him down. 

“It’s okay,” he says. “He is cute.” 

“Whatever,” Superboy grumbles, folding his arms and inexplicably glowering at his dog. 

“You gonna go swim, or just hang out?” Roxy asks curiously as she comes over to them again. 

“Oh, we’re–” Superboy starts, but Moon cuts him off. 

“Want some company?” Moon inquires, pleasant and suspicious all at once. Superboy looks–conflicted, momentarily, and then awkward. 

“Um, well–Tim’s only in town for today, so . . . next time?” he hedges. Tim resists the urge to eye Moon. Can I just spontaneously insert myself in your first day with your brand-new soulmate? is incredibly rude, as a suggestion. And incredibly fucking disrespectful to boot. Like, what entitled-ass kind of thing is that to ask, exactly? 

How old is she again? Twenty? Twenty-one? He should look that up later. Well–no, she’d graduated college and started her career by the time Superman had died, which was a good eight or nine months ago now, so unless she skipped a grade or two in there, she’s gotta be closer to twenty-four, if not twenty-five or twenty-six. 

That’s . . . a thought, considering there is definitely news footage of Superboy kissing her in Metropolis. Like, Tim very definitely saw news footage of Superboy kissing her in Metropolis. And she was very definitely kissing him too.

In retrospect, that seems like something someone should’ve, like . . . done something about? Or at least addressed? And is definitely further proof of how fucking useless and slimy Rex Leech is. Sure, let the five-minute-old clone make out with a twentysomething reporter and hang out with her at home; all publicity is good publicity, so it’s fine, right? Sure. Why wouldn’t it be? 

Tim is going to absolutely decimate that bastard’s credit the first chance he gets. Leech probably already has terrible credit, mind, but he’ll make it worse. He’ll find a way. 

. . . though he’ll wait until he’s sure Roxy is eighteen and financially independent, he doesn’t actually know if she is or not. Roxy seems nice, she doesn’t deserve that particular fallout. 

“It’d be nice to get to know each other later, I’m sure,” Tim says before Moon can say anything, smiling Gala Smile #1 at her, which is a targeted psychological attack and not actually very moral to be trotting out this quick, probably. 

He has no regrets, for the record. Absolutely none. 

Moon narrows her eyes suspiciously. Tim blithely strokes Krypto’s ears, Gala Smile #1 flawless and unphased. 

“I’m sure,” she “agrees” frostily. Superboy remains apparently oblivious to the tension and grins brightly at both of them. 

“Cool!” he says. Oh, sweet summer child who has clearly never socialized with sharks, Tim thinks resignedly, petting Krypto again. Has Leech taught him literally nothing about conversational warfare, for fuck’s sake? At least living with your sleaze of a manager should be good for that, dammit! 

Then again, Leech is probably not actually competent enough to teach Superboy anything actually useful, so maybe that’s for the best. 

If nothing else, Superman could’ve taught him a bit of “bless your heart”, but apparently that’s not a thing either. 

Tim has a brief moment of dread that maybe underneath his personal list of performative expressions, Superboy might just be a straightforward and honest person, which is a concerning thought. He doesn’t even know how to talk to a straightforward and honest person at this point, after this long as Batman’s emotional support sidekick. How do you form a lasting relationship with someone who isn’t habitually using at least three layers of double-talk and constantly locked in on all your microexpressions, anyway? 

That’s going to be a weird experience, yeah. 

“Ready to go?” Superboy asks Tim, grinning brighter at him. Tim feels momentarily overwhelmed and just sort of . . . has to collect himself about that, a little. 

Or a lot.

“Lead the way,” he says, smiling at him. He’s flustered enough to forget to use an appropriately-planned smile, which is embarrassing, but Superboy just grins even brighter–which should not be physically possible, but apparently is–and reaches out to scoop him up into his arms and into the air again as Krypto lets out an offended bark. It’s totally overkill and not even slightly necessary. 

Tim isn’t complaining, just–well–

It’s really flustering. 

“Air Superboy up, up, and away!” Superboy says cheerfully as they float up over the others’ heads. His face is way too close to Tim’s face. 

Tim is gonna need a bit longer to collect himself this time, he’s pretty sure. 

“Do I get an in-flight meal?” he asks, raising an eyebrow. Superboy laughs, which is even worse than his grin, and then takes off across the beachfront with him. It’s another bridal carry, which is quietly mortifying but could be worse, probably. Maybe. 

Somehow. 

Superboy flies them straight across the beach and then straight out over the water, skimming them along just above the waves. Tim makes a briefly startled noise, reflexively tightening his grip on the strap of his bag. 

“This isn’t waterproof,” he says just as reflexively, and Superboy laughs again. 

“I’m not gonna drop you, dude,” he says. Tim actually more assumed Superboy was intending to either dive-bomb them both into the water or just dump him in on purpose, because that seems like Superboy’s sense of humor, but maybe that was an unfair assumption. 

He really is not prepared for how it feels to be held in close against Superboy’s bare chest and arms like this, even if he’s still wearing a shirt himself. The idea of possibly doing that while they’re both wet seems a lot worse. 

Yeah. Definitely worse. 

Tim should’ve worn long sleeves. And maybe a wetsuit. And maybe a few layers on top of that. 

Jesus. 

“I’m gonna hold you to that,” he says, barely resisting the urge to loop his arms around Superboy’s neck as the other hangs a right and swoops them back around towards shore. Flying over the water like this is a pretty cool experience, admittedly, now that he’s not worried about Superboy dumping him in the water. 

Well. Less worried, anyway. 

Camera next time, Tim promises himself, glancing back over Superboy’s shoulder towards the shining horizon. The sun reflects off the waves bright and beautiful, and the sky is a smooth and perfect blue dotted with sparse but billowing clouds, and everything smells like salt and sea and leather, which is probably Superboy, even without the jacket on anymore. 

Definitely camera next time.

“Definitely holding you to that, actually,” he says, and Superboy laughs again and brings them down in the surf just past the tideline with a splash. Neither the splash or the water goes high enough to soak Tim's bag, so he figures it could've been worse. 

Assuming Superboy isn't planning to toss him or anything before he can put his bag down somewhere safe, anyway. 

They both settle down into the surf and onto their feet, and Tim becomes very aware of how close together they’re standing and also how very, very shirtless Superboy is, and in fact the only thing between their soulmarks is the very thin layer of cotton of Tim’s own shirt, and if he leaned in just a little bit . . . 

Jesus, Tim thinks faintly, and forces himself to take a step back before he can make it weird. 

He smiles Generically Pleasant Civilian Smile #2 just to make sure he doesn’t look like a creep or anything, and Superboy grins excitedly at him. Tim allows himself all of two seconds to be overwhelmed by that gorgeous expression and their physical closeness and the reflection of the light in Superboy’s eyes, as bright and perfectly blue as both the sky and water, and then reasserts standard operating procedures and keeps Generically Pleasant Civilian Smile #2 locked in place on his face. 

“The water’s really warm,” he observes, glancing down at it. “Is that normal?” 

It’s probably not an impending supervillain thing, he tells himself. 

Maybe global warming or something, though.

“I mean, feels normal to me?” Superboy says with a shrug. Tim considers mentioning the average ocean temperature, comparatively speaking, or at least the average temperature of the water off the docks in Gotham. Admittedly, Gotham waters barely count as “water”, legally speaking, but that’s not the point. 

“It’s pretty out here,” he says instead, and Superboy grins at him and leans in. He’s pretty sure it’s more an instinctive thing than a deliberate one, just from the way Superboy does it, but that doesn’t exactly make it less flattering. 

Or flustering. 

“I mean, it’s Hawaii, man!” Superboy says, grinning wider before kicking at the surf. “‘Course it’s gonna be pretty!” 

Actually you specifically are possibly the prettiest damn thing that I have ever seen, Tim thinks, but isn’t stupid enough to actually let out of his mouth. Superboy, unfortunately, continues to be all warm and grinning and lit up by the island sun. Tim did not come prepared enough for this. 

“I don’t know, I’m pretty sure I’d be the guy who came to Hawaii and got a monsoon,” Tim says wryly, and Superboy laughs brightly. 

Tim really did not come prepared enough for this. Like, not at all. Not even slightly. 

“Guess you’d just have to come back, then,” Superboy says, grinning wider again and kicking at the surf again as he floats back up out of it. It’s–weird, a little, looking up at him like this. 

Well, not weird, just . . . yeah. 

Something like that. 

“Guess so,” Tim agrees, feeling embarrassingly flustered. Superboy’s friends can probably still see them from the porch, distant though it is, but part of him is still just considering very weird and dumb ideas like maybe tugging Superboy back down to earth and into the surf and just . . . confirming the little sexuality crisis he’s been having since breaking into the other’s file and seeing their soulmark in it, maybe. 

Just, you know, ruling things out. Making deductions. Going through the process of elimination. 

Kissing him, maybe. 

He could very, very much kiss Superboy right now. They’re on a gorgeous beach in the surf and under the sun and Superboy is floating in front of him and grinning as happy and excited as could be and Tim’s stomach is fluttering in a stupid and also-embarrassing way, and . . . 

He could kiss him. That’s all. 

“I mean, it’s a nice place to visit, right?” Superboy says casually, linking his hands together behind his back. 

“The tourism industry seems to think so,” Tim says wryly, and wonders what the “normal civilian who didn’t come here specifically looking for his soulmate to kidnap/salvage him to begin with” thing to say is here. He has absolutely no idea, because he actually has absolutely no idea how normal civilians react to superheroes. Robin is . . . not exactly an urban myth, necessarily, but definitely not a publicly-recognized superhero. He’s a vigilante that’s just barely allowed to operate outside the law, and not one with any kind of publicity or celebrity involved. 

eSuperboy, on the other hand, is not only a superhero, but a professional superhero. He’s selling his likeness and doing events and has signed a stupid predatory contract with a sleaze of a manager that technically shouldn’t even be legal, given Superboy isn’t even considered a legal person by the government. Apparently no one has ever realized that, though, or at least no one’s ever let Superboy realize that. 

Tim really doesn’t love that that’s a thing, to put it mildly. 

Actually, he just fucking hates it. 

Superboy laughs, and looks very, very pretty doing it. Tim continues to wonder what a normal civilian would do here, and for lack of a better idea falls back on small talk. 

God, his best plan right now is small talk. What is his life, even? 

No wonder he’s gonna have to take six months to kidnap Superboy, ugh.

“So, uh–this seems like a weird question to be bringing up this late in the conversation, but what’s your name?” he asks, because it’s occurred to him that he actually has no idea what Superboy goes by when he’s off-duty. He knows he doesn’t have a secret identity, of course, but there’s no way his friends just call him “Superboy”. Well–maybe his slimy asshole manager does, but otherwise. “I mean, if that’s okay to ask. Marks or not, I understand if you don’t feel like we’re there yet, given the whole superhero thing and all.” 

Robin knows Superboy doesn’t have a secret identity, after all, but Tim Drake is a normal civilian and shouldn’t act like he knows too much about any superhero in general, so–

“Naw, it’s fine, I don’t even have one,” Superboy says, for some reason just beaming at him, which is . . . weird, Tim thinks, but nowhere near as weird as that answer is. 

“You don’t . . . have one?�� he repeats slowly, and Superboy shrugs easily. “Like–not at all?” 

“Yeah, everybody pretty much just calls me 'Kid' or 'SB', when it's not Superboy,” Superboy says. “Oh, and Knockout calls me 'Pup' when she's around but like, that's really just a 'her' thing. So, you know, you can call me whatever.” 

Tim stares blankly at him for a long, long moment, speed-runs all five stages of grief, and also discovers a couple of new and unexpected ones. 

Alright. Well, he officially regrets literally nothing about this impending kidnapping. 

“Oh, okay,” he says. “Um–sorry, I guess I just assumed you’d have a more . . . civilian-ish name too, I guess?” 

“I’m a clone, man,” Superboy says, looking amused. “The only other name I’ve got is ‘Experiment Thirteen’, which is definitely not something I answer to."

Tim discovers a few more stages of grief that hit with all the subtlety of a spiked baseball bat and makes himself nod as much like a normal person as he can. 

“Yeah, I don’t think I’d go for that one if I were you either,” he says. “Kind of a mouthful, if nothing else.” 

Superboy laughs, then grins at him again. He is actually doing so, so much of that, Tim’s realizing. Tim was really not prepared for how much of that he’s been doing, in fact. He just did not come prepared for any of that at all. He’s got some nebulous kidnapping plans, but everything else here–from the supervillain attack to Superboy’s ripped suit and exposed soulmark–has been a crime of opportunity. 

He probably should’ve done more research. Actually, he definitely should’ve done more research. He kind of just panicked and bought a ticket and flew right over, and just because Dick didn’t stop him doesn’t mean it was a good idea. He just–he should’ve done more research. Planned more. Not shown up without something concrete. 

Admittedly Superboy doesn’t hate him yet or anything, but this was just . . . yeah, this was not his brightest idea at all. Not even slightly. 

Why didn’t he do more research? 

“You really can just call me whatever you wanna, don’t worry about it,” Superboy says with an easy shrug as he settles back down into the surf, which, unfortunately, puts him back into kissing range and is therefore incredibly distracting. 

Dammit, Tim thinks, trying to beat his stupid teenage hormones into order. 

“Whatever I wanna?” he repeats. 

“Except for Experiment Thirteen,” Superboy says with another grin. Tim politely pretends not to notice the slight tightening of the corners of his mouth as he says the word “experiment”. 

“Uh, okay,” he says, clearing his throat. He guesses Superboy doesn’t really care what his name is, then, but being told to just call him whatever he wants to is . . . well, a weird feeling, maybe. “What do you do when you just want to be a civilian for a while, though?” 

“I don’t,” Superboy says. 

“. . . don’t . . . what?” Tim asks slowly, not sure if he should be dreading the answer or not, but–

“Be a civilian,” Superboy says. 

Tim’s running out of new stages of grief, he’s pretty sure. 

“Ah,” he says. 

Superboy–for a second, Tim thinks he looks self-conscious, but then he’s grinning again before he can be sure, and . . . 

“Why would I?” Superboy says, puffing up proudly. “I’m Superboy, man! Nothing else I’d rather be.” 

Given how limited Superboy’s options for anything “else” he could be probably are . . . well, Tim’s not sure what to think of that statement. 

He doesn’t think it’s anything good, though. 

Yeah, no, he thinks as he looks at Superboy’s too-bright grin and thinks about how he just said "nothing" and not "no one". Definitely not anything good. 

Who wouldn’t pick being “Superboy” over being “Experiment Thirteen”, after all? 

And what else would Superboy even know how to pick, if he thought those were his only options?

[bird-likes-to-fandom]

day 3 of the @june-doe-event - Favorite Platonic Relationship

Constance and Jane! I really like the idea that over the course of the show, Connie becomes less scared of Jane. In my personal RTC production in my head, she leads Jane to the curtain. (iirc, Constance led Jane to Ricky who showed her to the curtain in the 4chairs production)

These designs are from the Roxy's Downtown Production, by the way.

[insomniac-jay]

Black diamonds and rubies

For @calciumcryptid and @floof-ghostie

"Firecracker, I'm home."

Roxy flustered at the nickname. She was in the middle of tuning her guitar when Mick's thunderous footsteps entered the house.

Mick started calling her that because of her fiery personality. Of course only he could do that--everyone else had to call her Roxy and nothing else.

"Welcome back, Mickey. How you doing?"

Mick found Roxy in her room wearing nothing but a t-shirt and underwear. On her lap and in her hands was her prized guitar. Mick felt himself falling in love with her all over again. It was a beautiful sight. "Planning on making music?"

"Nah, just tuning." Roxy noticed the large bag over Mick's shoulder. "What's in the bag?"

As though waiting for her to ask, Mick set it down and opened it. He pulled out an expensive gold encrusted ruby necklace she swore she'd seen in the window of a downtown jewelry store. Mick smiled with satisfaction at Roxy's shock.

"Mickey, where did you get this?!!" Roxy examined it, holding it to a light to see how it shined.

"That's not all, babe." Mick pulled out more pieces of jewelry. All of them were either black, red, or both to go with Roxy's main colors. The other rogues were surprised at how specific each item he stole was. Not that it was for him; only thing he got for himself was a gold plated lighter. Now that he was in a relationship, he wanted to prove himself as a lover. Today was about Roxy.

He watched as she modeled as much jewelry as she could. Red gems brought out her eyes and black gems brought out her skintone. He'd have to thank Lisa for that tidbit. Since the day they met, Mick wanted to shower her in nothing but the finest jewels in the world.

"Do you like it? I know it ain't the usual hardcore stuff you wear but-"

Roxy silenced Mick with a big, wet kiss on the lips. She giggled at how dazed he looked when he pulled off. "Mickey, you just made a generous donation to my jewelry closet."

"Glad to help."

[pennydoe]

fav productions of rtc?

Roxys Downtown (of course) and Trinity!!!

[celticsorcerer1]

Aisling McKeen Vs Exhibition

—-

Roxanne “Roxie” Richter and her girlfriend, Aisling McKeen were strolling through downtown Toronto hand-in-hand. Roxy squeezed Aisling’s hand gently. “Talk to your folks yet?”

Aisling nodded. “They were upset at first that I just up and left without a word and disappeared for two months, but I was expecting that,” she blushed. “What I didn't expect was how proud they were when I told them I was gay and that I was dating this cute half-ninja.”

Roxie beamed. “See, honey? Told you there was nothing to worry about!”

Aisling chuckled. “I wouldn't say that…they, um, want to come over to meet you tomorrow night.”

Roxie grinned wider. “Perfect timing! I have an art show tomorrow night. Why don't you and your parents meet me there? That way, they can see my artistic side before they learn about my… past issues.”

“Oh, Roxie Rose…” Aisling hugged her. “I don't hold your past against you. My parents won't either. Promise.”

Roxie hugged back. “You’re the best, Aisling. No matter what happens, I hope you know that.”

“Speaking of things to know,” Aisling pulled back and eyed Roxie with a raised eyebrow. “You paint? Like, for galleries?”

Roxie chuckled. “Well, yeah. Being a half-ninja doesn't exactly pay the bills. I make good money doing art.”

“The more I learn about you, the more I love you,” Aisling admitted, her cheeks flushed.

“Love you too,” Roxie pulled Aisling close. “And for the record, I'm excited to meet your parents. Your brother was a decent guy, you’re a sweetheart who stays true to her convictions, they must be a riot.”

“I hope so…” Aisling whispered.

—

The following evening, Aisling walked up to the Abbozzo Gallery as the sun sank low on the horizon. She wore a sky-blue evening gown and black pumps. She’d applied light rouge and a coat of wine-red lipstick, which was more than she usually did, but it was a special occasion. And Roxie was a special girl.

As Aisling neared the Gallery entrance, she saw a shimmer of golden light just at the edge of her field of vision on the right side. Turning, she saw a column of golden light erupt in front of her. When it subsided, two Clerics stood there. One was a tall, broad-shouldered man with close-cropped dazzling white hair, the other a beautiful woman with a graceful figure. Both wore the white tunics that marked them as members of the Order of Clerics, complete with the Nova Scotia flag clasped at their shoulders.

Aisling rolled her eyes. “You two and Matthew have a dramatic flair for entrances, yet I'm the gay one?”

Colin McKeen laughed heartily as he held out his arms. “Stay that silver tongue and hug your dear old Dad, Aisling!”

Asking happily ran into her father’s arms and hugged him tight. “I missed you so much, Daddy… I’m sorry I left…”

Colm kissed the top of her head. “I knew my baby bird was going to leave the nest eventually, love. I just would have appreciated a heads up.”

Tara McKeen hugged her husband and daughter. “It’s in the past, my dears. Let’s look to the future. Or, better yet, the present.”

Colm stepped back. “Yes, of course. The reason we’re here.” with a wave of their hands, the elder McKeens’ tunics were replaced with more appropriate attire. Colm, his white hair fading to a deep chestnut color, was dressed in a dark blue sweater vest, a white dress shirt, black slacks, and black loafers.

Tara, her long braided hair as red as her daughter’s, wore a beautiful white dress and matching stilettos.

Aisling linked arms with them both. “You both look fabulous. Now, come meet my Roxie.” She led her parents inside and almost immediately spotted Roxie in front of two canvases covered in tarps, one sitting horizontal, the other vertical.

Roxie was dressed in a knee-length strapless red dress that hugged her curvaceous figure. She wore her combat boots and fishnet stockings with it, but it worked for her.

Then again, Aisling was a little biased. She strolled over to Roxie and hugged her. “You look stunning, Roxie.”

“Look who’s talking, Ash,” Roxie looked her girlfriend up and down. “God, I want to kiss you like crazy, but I’ll hold off, as I assume that the couple giving us a little space is the folks.”

Aisling looked behind her. Sure enough, her parents were a few feet away. She smiled and motioned for them to come over. “Mom, Dad, this is my awesome half-ninja girlfriend, Roxie Richter. Roxie, may I introduce my father, Chief Cleric Colm McKeen, and my mother, Tara, Headmistress of the Cleric Academy.”

Roxie smiled and bowed. “A pleasure to meet you both. Welcome to my showcase.”

Colm and Tara inclined their heads. “Thank you, Roxie. And thank you for being there for our Aisling.” the former said warmly.

Colm hugged his daughter. “She’s our baby, you know. Last to leave the nest.”

“Dad!” Aisling complained, blushing.

Roxie beamed. “No thanks necessary, Chief. Wouldn't your religious teachings tell you this was part of God’s plan for her?”

“True,” Colm smiled. “Matthew was right about you, Roxie. You have a good heart. Though neither you nor Aisling need it, you two have our blessing to date.”

Roxie’s face turned as red as her dress. “I mean… it’s still nice to hear. Thank you.” Clearing her throat, Roxie checked her watch and smiled. “Show’s about to start. Enjoy.” She snapped her fingers and all the lights, save for the two right above the blanketed canvases, dimmed. “Hello, art fanatics and critics alike! My name’s Roxie Ritcher and I welcome you to my showcase. This first piece I’d like to show off is symbolic of change, specifically in my own life,” she glanced towards the McKeens. Taking a deep breath, she took the plunge. “For the longest time, I held onto some negative emotions that led me down a horrible path. I was part of a bad crowd. I did things I regret,” she smiled warmly as she looked at Aisling. “But at the end of that dark path, there was a light. And, so, I give you the first piece of the night: Hard Walk Worthwhile.” she ripped the tarp off the horizontal canvas. It was completely splattered with red paint. A steady line of pudgy bare white footprints started from the lower left corner and traveled upward until they reached a golden heart at the top right of the canvas, also consisting of pudgy footprints.

A thin woman dressed to the nines eyed the piece. “However did you create such realistic footprints?”

Roxie laughed. “Easy. After covering my canvas in red paint, I set it on the floor and walked barefoot across it. Then, once it had dried, I painted my soles and toes gold and created the heart. It tickled.”

“And the heart is gold because…?” someone else asked.

“It represents all the good in my life now that I’ve turned my life around,” Roxie replied. She turned her attention to Aisling and winked.

Aisling blushed. I love her, I love her, I love her!

Colm chuckled. “She is a unique and talented artist. Maybe the Order could commission her to paint a few pieces for the Meeting Hall.”

“If she draws this sort of crowd, we probably can’t afford her.” Tara joked.

“Hard Walk Worthwhile will be available for online auction next Sunday, starting at 6 pm local time. The starting bid will be $500 Canadian. And now, for the next piece. This one, I’m particularly proud of. Some artists spend years looking for their muse. I found mine just a few weeks ago, completely by accident. The moment I laid eyes on her, I knew she was the one,” She ripped the tarp off the other canvas. “I present My Vision.”

Aisling’s jaw dropped as she saw… herself standing on the banks of the Mira River. And yet, Roxie had somehow made her look almost angelic. It reminded her of the images of the saints and angels she had seen in stained glass windows growing up.

The Aisling in the painting had her luminous blue eyes pointing heavenward, her short white hair swaying as if a light breeze was blowing past her. She was wrapped in the flag of Nova Scotia, one hand holding it to her bosom, the other aloft, holding a white birch branch. A katana lay shattered at her bare feet.

Tara smiled as she raised her hand. “I notice that your… muse stands on the banks of the Mira and is wrapped in the flag of Nova Scotia. Why is that?”

Roxie blushed. “Well, my muse hails from that province… and I thought, if I was going to paint her anywhere, it would be at home.

“Why the shattered katana at her feet?” an onlooker asked.

Roxie smiled. “She’s more than my muse for my art. She is a symbol of the good things in my life. She… helps me be better than I was. That shattered katana represents my dark past and how my muse helped me move past it."

Aisling had been blushing red-hot since the portrait had been revealed. She hid her face behind her hands, praying that no one made the connection between her and Roxie’s muse. She could feel her heart pounding against her ribs. How could it be possible to fall more and more in love with Roxie than she already was? Inwardly, she promised herself that the moment the opportunity arose, she would kiss her girlfriend silly,

“My Vision will go online alongside Hard Walk Worthwhile but the starting bid will be $1000 Canadian. Until the auction, though, they’ll hang right here for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy.” Roxie vanished in a cloud of smoke, eliciting awe from most of the spectators.

Aisling just rolled her eyes. “That’s my Roxie.”

Colm grinned. “Well, I like her! Bring her to Cape Breton one of these days. Let us show her the hospitality she deserves.”

Tara nodded. “Perhaps she can be a guest teacher for my Primary Grade Art class.”

In a puff of smoke, Roxie appeared beside Aisling. “Well, I’ve never really taught anyone, but that sounds like fun,” she looked at Aisling. “That is, Ash, if you wouldn’t mind showing me around CBI.”

Aisling wordlessly nodded, still blushing.

“I think your wonderful showcase was too much for her, Rox.” Colm teased.

Roxie smiled warmly and placed a hand on Aisling’s cheek. “Did you like my pieces… my muse?”

Her answer came exactly one heartbeat later when Aisling grabbed her shoulders and kissed Roxie with more passion than she ever had before.

While surprised at first, Roxie soon melted into the kiss, wrapping her arms around Aisling’s shoulders.

The kiss soon parted. Aisling rested her forehead against Roxie’s. “Am I really that pretty to you?”

“Honey, no painting can capture what you mean to me. Heck, I did two paintings with that in mind and it’s still not enough,” Roxie replied. “You’re not the first girl I’ve gotten close to, but you’re the first I really, truly love. I want to spend my life with you. No matter what that looks like.”

Tara sniffled. “Oh, how beautiful…”

Roxie turned her attention to Aisling’s parents. “And don’t worry, I may not be Catholic, but I respect that Aisling is and will abide by whatever boundaries she sets.”

Aisling rolled her eyes again. “Except the boundary of “leave me alone, I’m not into girls”, anyway.”

“Well, petal, to be fair, you were lying to yourself then. Jesus wanted you to be more honest with yourself,” Tara pointed out. “And here you are.”

Aisling opened her mouth to argue but closed it a moment later. “Touche.”

Roxie rested her head on Aisling’s shoulder. “Anyone hungry? Dinner’s on me.”

“Thank you for the offer, Roxie, but we should head back. The Order can’t run itself,” Colm smiled at the young couple. “You two take care of each other. And don’t be afraid to bring Roxie to Cape Breton, Aisling. You know that no matter what, your family has your back.”

“I know, Daddy. And we will visit… someday. I miss home… but I’m still… figuring myself out.” Aisling admitted.

“I’ll be there every step of the way, honey,” Roxie promised.

Aisling squeezed her hand. “I’ll hold you to that.”

A golden portal appeared behind the elder McKeens.

Colm sighed. “That’s our cue.”

Aisling hugged her parents tight. “I love you both so much. Thank you for being…”

“Your loving parents? Perfectly happy for you?” Tara offered.

“So cool with Roxie. I know some in the Order might not be as accepting as you are, so it’s a load off my mind that you like her.”

“Oh, darling, we love her,” Colm kissed her forehead. “And we love you. Always.”

—

Aisling offered to escort Roxie home, which the young artist accepted. As they walked through the heart of the city, Aisling looked at Roxie. “So… you really walked across a wet canvas barefoot?”

“Yup! And it was fun!” Roxie smirked. “You know, I could use your help with a similar piece. Here’s what I’m thinking. From one end of the canvas, a set of red footprints. From the opposite end, a set of blue. They meet in the center and form a purple heart.”

Aisling blushed. “The two of us… walking in paint…barefoot?”

“It feels great. And painting your soles tickles too. C’mon, it’ll be a blast!” Roxie encouraged.

“I’ll… think about it.”

[stxrrywildflower]

bride

pairing - tara lewis x reader

summary - in which the team finds out you and tara are engaged

warnings - none

you and tara were both over the moon walking into work on monday.

the past weekend had been nothing short of pure love and bliss. no work meant spending the entire weekend together at your shared apartment; whether cooking or just relaxing, you were more than thankful for the time together.

saturday was an easy highlight; you had gained both a fiancé and a new ring to symbolize it.

tara had asked you that night, pulling you close to her while you cooked dinner and asked you simply, ‘marry me?’

you weren’t sure if you heard her correctly at first, choosing to carefully put the spoon you were using to stir to the side.

you spun around, resting your back against the counter with your eyes still focused on tara. her hands found their way to your waist once more, her eyes finally meeting yours. “what?” you asked.

“marry me,” tara echoed.

a grin immediately formed on your face. you surged forward, pressing your lips to tara’s out of pure joy. the moment didn’t long as you couldn’t stop smiling and tara had started laughing quietly at your reaction.

“so is that a yes?”

you nodded, “that’s a yes.”

tara kissed you again, both of you overjoyed at the events that had just happened. she gave you the ring a few minutes later, disappearing into your bedroom before returning with a small velvet box.

“i’ve had this for awhile now, it’s just been in our beside table. i’m honestly suprised you haven’t found it yet,” tara spoke, slowly opening up the box.

your smile returned as tara shakily slipped the ring onto your left ring finger, making your answer to her question just a few minutes ago official. “it’s perfect,” you commented.

“i love you so much.”

“i love you too.”

afterwards, both you and tara agreed to play a little game with the team to see who would be the first to notice and when they would say something. you thought it wouldn’t be somethint they could miss, there was a whole diamond on your left ring finger, but some people on the team were obviously better at picking up on small details then others.

there weren’t any official bets, though you did have suspicions on who would notice both first and last. you couldn’t wait for monday morning.

____

rossi noticed first, emily almost directly after him.

you needed to get rossi to sign off on one of the files, it was the least he could do since he rarely did paperwork. much to your suprise, tara was in there too; her and the older agent talking about something with cars.

“hey rossi, can you sign this so i can bring it to emily,” you greeted.

“you’re asking a lot from me kid.”

as you had handed the file over, his hand hit ours in the exchange. rossi’s eyebrows furrowed slightly before his eyes focused on your hand. a grin quickly broke out in the italian mans face.

“is that what i think it is?” he asked first and foremost. tara turned to you. “yes it is,” she confirmed.

rossi stood up. “congratulazioni to you both,” he hugged you first, kissing both of your cheeks befor doing the same with tara. “can’t believe two more of my work kids are growing up and getting married. feels like just yesterday when you two met.”

you laughed at rossi’s only slightly overexaggerated nostalgia. “come on rossi, we’re more than work kids and you know it.”

“rossi you know we talked about the party thing,” emily spoke, announcing her presence from the doorway. 

“well emily, the two lovebirds here are finally engaged and we were just celebrating,” he turned to you. “i definitely owe you both champagne at some point.”

“you’re engaged?”

for the second time that day, you and tara nodded, this confirming what emily had asked. the unit chief grinned before, much like rossi, hugged you both tightly. “congratulations you two,” she smiled.

that meant two down and five to go.

spencer and j.j. had both congratulated you privately, not making as big of a commotion as rossi and emily had.

it was right before you and tara were heading out after the usual work day was over. while you were grabbing your bag, spencer picked up on it and j.j. has found out from you. there had been hugs of course and smiles too.

now only matt, garcia, and luke had yet to take note of your new milestone.

matt finding out had been fairly accidental. you were up in the conference room pinning photos on the board when he entered on the phone with kristy.

you quickly put down one of the magnets and waited as it was evident he needed to talk to you.

“kristy wants to know if i can send her a picture of your nails. she wants to get the same color at her appointment this afternoon,” matt explained. you pressed your lips together, trying to hide the smile tugging at the corners of your mouth.

“of course,” you answered, holding your hands. you narrowed your eyes at seeing matt have absolutely no reaction when he took the photo. it was only after he was going to send it that he realized.

when the agent had zoomed in to make sure the color had picked up properly, his head shot up.

“no way,” matt spoke. “tara finally proposed?”

you nodded, showing him your left hand which proudly displayed the grin. you laughed as matt hugged you tightly with a ‘congratulations!’

“you’re the fifth one to notice,” you informed him once you pulled away.

“who hasn’t noticed?” matt inquired.

“luke and garcia.”

matt chuckled, shaking his head slightly at that. “well good luck. i honestly wouldn’t be surprised if those two didn’t notice until they got the wedding invitations.”

you nodded. “i wouldn’t either.”

___

neither of you were suprised luke was one of the last to figure it out, he usually wasn’t great at noticing those kind of things.

however, his congratulations had been one of the sweetest.

you and tara were in the break room during the time you were given to eat lunch. the bullpen was pretty much empty, most of the agents either out of the office entirely or on a different floor.

for the rest of the team, most of them were out as well. rossi, spencer, j.j., garcia, and emily were all downtown at some new restaurant. you and tara had been invited, of course, but declined as you both had some work to finish up.

tara stood at the counter making coffee for you both while you were at the main table going over one of the files. “you know, paperwork isn’t that bad. i just hate how long it takes,” you commented.

luke entered the break room before tara could respond, greeting you both with a raise of the eyebrows.

“hey t-bird.”

“watch it alvez,” tara warned playfully.

he too went off to the counter to grab a mug for coffee. “what are you two up to?” he asked, making small talk. “nothing much, just helping tara with her caseload.”

“well aren’t you a good girlfriend.”

you and tara both wanted to laugh at that. your ring wasn’t even hidden, you hadn’t even tried from the begining. luke just was usually oblivious.

“hey luke, what would you say if i told you y/n and i weren’t girlfriends anymore?” tara asked.

“you aren’t together anymore?” luke exclaimed with a down.

you put your pen down, “quite the opposite actually.” as if a lightbulb went off in his head, luke dropped everything he was doing to react. his eyes darted from tara to you and back again, waiting to see if you were lying.

when it was clear you weren’t, luke hugged tara first and then you. “was i the last one to know? i feel like i was the last one to know,” he rushed out.

“penelope doesn’t know,” you revealed.

luke’s mouth dropped slightly. “that isn’t going to go down well. i’m just happy it wasn’t me. you know how i am with these kind of things. “yeah we do.”

____

the entire team, minus penelope, were gathered in the center of the bullpen around the desks. it was one of the rare moments where you were actually able to take a break.

you were sitting on tara’s lap, legs hooked over hers as you talked with spencer about some book he was reading and recommended to you.

“oh my god.”

tara spun her chair around, still holding onto you tightly, to discover the owner of the voice.

it was none other than penelope who was standing just a few feet away by luke’s desk, holding her laptop in hand and mouth agape. “when did you say yes?” penelope exclaimed.

“last saturday,” you answered. “and i didn’t know? you didn’t tell me?”

“well penelope,” tara spoke, “we didn’t tell anyone really. everyone found out on their own and by themselves. you’re the only one who hasn’t noticed yet.”

penelope sighed, “well i’m very happy for you and congratulations, you know i love you both, but when’s the wedding? what are your outfits going to be? we should already be planning to be honest.”

“woah woah woah,” tara started. “it’s been a week. we just want to enjoy being engaged for a little bit before any serious wedding plans.

you nodded, presssing your cheek against tara’s with a soft smile on your face. you kept one hand in your lap casually and the other running across tara’s shoulder.

penelope was clearly in a bit of disbelief at that. “can i at least be excited? this is the first bau wedding since morgan and even that was a few years ago and i’ve just been planning ever since-”

you listened to penelope go on about your future wedding, rossi even piped in about location details. as for the rest of the team, they joined the conversation as well though the topic switched extremely quickly.

tara turned to you as luke started talking about something with roxy and the others.

“are you good?”

you kissed her cheek gently, “i’ve never been happier.”

☆ ☆ ☆

tags - @ogmilkis @ssa-morgan @orbitluke @imagining-in-the-margins @lxdylena

[caseyninghuang]

Casey Ning Huang

Gender & Pronouns: Cisfemale, she/her

Age: 28

Birthday: March 5, 1994

Occupation: Wedding Planner & Interior Designer

Neighborhood: Downtown

Fact sheet:

Being born to a Chinese-American father and Italian mother, she struggled a little with identity growing up. However, she has stronger roots to her Chinese side as her mother was never around and she grew up primarily with her father’s family.

Casey is a pretty sensitive person. She cries about a lot of things, but she’s also quite strong given all she’s been through.

She is came to Providence Peak three years ago looking for her father and they’ve been slowly repairing their relationship ever since.

She has a degree in nursing and a real estate license. Clearly she’s all over the place.

She has a pet Chinchilla named Roxie, after the character in Chicago.

She is repairing her relationship with food but has been pretty good for the past few years.

Frequents the gym and can always be seen with some little healthy snack on her person.

She likes comic books and spends a lot of time collecting and reading them.

Her favorite movie genre is horror with Halloween being her favorite Franchise.

BIOGRAPHY

TW: abuse, alcohol, death, drunk driving, and eating disorder.

Casey was born into probably one of the most ideal situations one could ask for. Her mother was the type of woman who didn’t really tap into her emotions and would prefer partying with her friends to being a mother, so the idea of a positive female role model could get a little murky at times. She would come to her own demise due to her drinking problem when she was in an accident. Her dad worked too much to care about her and her older siblings and she felt like she needed to grasp at straws for attention. For someone who wanted to be loved by all, she felt like the ones who mattered the most didn’t really care.

When she was in school, her need for attention would show to be a problem for her in various ways. It started when she was in grade school. She was never the smartest or most dedicated to her education, so she decided from pretty early on she would rely on her looks to get by. Disney movies truly shaped that idea for her. The princesses would have someone come along and save their lives, why couldn’t she? If her Prince Charming was a man with a weird haircut and the need to save a damsel in distress well then call her Cinderella.

Her looks became so incredibly important to her by the end of middle school that she’d sadly developed anorexia. She didn’t want to eat anything in hopes she could keep her body in check. She’d started cheerleading around this time because she wanted to impress the boys. Of course due to her small stature and thin frame, she was the coveted flyer. This made her be seen by many, she definitely enjoyed it. Basking in the wrong attention, she began dating in high school and he was not good for her at all. He never overtly encouraged her anorexia, but he did tell her how cute she looked with clothes that were a little too big on her and how much he loved that he could wrap his entire hand around her small wrist.

Despite how much she loved her father, the distance that’d grown between them when he decided to send her to live with her grandparents in China. She saw him as no different than their absentee parents. He was supposed to be there for her and he wasn’t. She cared about school even less at that point but she was well aware that she would need to prepare herself for college and if doing a little more than the bare minimum was going to solidify that, she would at least do that. But with her issues with eating and the now increasingly toxic relationship with her boyfriend, she was struggling. Eventually, she returned to the US just after her senior year, deciding she wanted to attend school closer to home.

Her next bout of luck would come when she was accepted to the University of Kentucky on a partial cheerleading scholarship as well as some help from the grandparents.  The scholarship wouldn’t last long though as her coach took physical health incredibly seriously and when she collapsed during practice only to be found out as a student with anorexia nervosa, she was removed from the team and effectively lost her scholarship. Ironically, she was studying nursing and her health was the last thing on her mind. Thankfully with her grandparents’ help she could still attend. This was her push to start looking after her health and while it didn’t happen overnight, she made immense progress. She then traded her unhealthy relationship with food, with working out and getting properly educated on what foods were good for her health.

By the skin of her teeth, she graduated but she had effectively decided that she didn’t want to be a nurse, so what was she to do now? Thankfully, she’d taken a state funded course on real estate and found her calling at the time. She was selling condos to bachelors in the beginning, once again using her looks push her further in her newfound career. She then took this career to Colorado when she’d heard her father was there and got herself a license in that state as well, but she was falling out of love with it. There were more families to sell to and selling to them when the mother was already giving her the stink eye proved difficult. She instead decided to tap into her creativity and ramp up her own wedding planning and interior design business. Admittedly her most successful venture yet and she wanted to know where it could take her.

[hobeymakar]

Every Kind of Way | C. Makar

Words: 2,528

A/N: this one is based off the song Every Kind of Way by H.E.R. (aka one of my fave R&B songs). In this, COVID-19 never happened and the season starts and ends at the time it usually does.

Warnings: swearing and references to alcohol use

-

Baby, the sound of you. Better than a harmony. I want you off my mind. And on me. Holding me closer than we’ve ever been before. This ain’t a dream. You’re here with me. Boy, it don’t get no better than you. For you, I wanna take my time. All night

You wake up to the sound of birds chirping outside. It’s a beautiful August morning in Denver and you turn over to see the most beautiful sight of all, your boyfriend Cale. He’s asleep peacefully beside you and you take a moment to caress his face, gently running your thumb over his cheeks.After a few moments, he wakes up and goes to kiss you. You stop him and get up to go to the bathroom instead, since you can’t stand morning breath. You brush your teeth and when you come back into the room, you see him on his phone.

He hears you come into the room and puts his phone down before turning over onto his back. You climb back onto the bed, wearing one of his old giant UMass Hockey tees and joggers.

“Good morning,” you smile, straddling his waist.

“Morning, baby,” he smiles back. “Sweet dreams?”

“I dreamt of you winning the cup and me kissing you at center ice,” you explain.

“Well who knows? Maybe it’ll happen this year,” he smiles.

“It better happen. I expect you guys to kick ass all season,” you reply, placing one of your hands over his heart.

“And what if we don’t?” he teases.

“Then I’ll tell Bednar to bag skate you guys after every loss to whip you guys into shape,” you tease back, causing him to chuckle in response.

“I’ll whip you into shape,” he groans, flipping you over and pinning you down to the mattress to tickle you.

“Cale!” you shriek, since you hate being tickled.

He ignores your pleas and continues to tickle you into submission, while you continue to laugh uncontrollably.

“Okay okay okay, I’m sorry! I won’t tell Bednar to bag skate you after every loss,” you whine, not being able to handle any more tickling from him.

“Good,” he smiles, kissing her forehead.

“Now, since you decided to tickle the shit out of me, the least you can do is make us breakfast,” you tease.

“I’ll make breakfast, but you better not complain about it,” he replies, sending you a look as he gets up from the bed.

“Ugh!” you groan, smacking his ass hard.

He doesn’t even react to the smack and walks out of the bedroom, causing you to shake your head and get up from the bed.

I wanna love you in every kind of way. I wanna please you no matter how long it takes. If the world should end tomorrow and we only have today. I’m gonna love you in every kind of way

You walk into the bathroom and see Cale fresh out of the shower, brushing his teeth with a towel hanging low off his hips. The mirrors are fogged in the bathroom and he looks good with his cheeks flushed from the heat and humidity in the bathroom.

“Like what you see?” he teases, raising an eyebrow.

“Shut up,” you scoff, shoving him lightly in the chest. 

He walks over to his sink and finishes brushing his teeth as you go to the other sink and wash your face and hands.

“Do you want me to pick us up some dinner for tonight?” he asks you, his words garbled because of the toothpaste in his mouth.

“I’ll be home on time to make some dinner,” you reply, drying your hands.

He goes back to brushing his teeth and you draw “heart you” over the fog on the mirror, before leaving the bathroom. You go back to the room and get ready for your Zoom meeting for your online business job. Before you know it, Cale comes back into the room and gets dressed for his first day of training camp. He then heads to the living room to grab his gear. You follow him out of the bedroom and into the living room to bid him farewell.

“Love you too, baby,” he smiles, referring to the writing on the mirror you left him.

“So, you saw my note on the mirror huh?” she asks rhetorically.

“It was cute, but you’re even cuter,” he replies, bending down to give you a kiss.

“Bye baby. Make sure you kick some butt today. Can’t have some guy take your spot on the top d-pair,” you tease, your lips just lightly brushing against his.

“No one’s gonna take my spot babe, but thanks for the motivation,” he teases lightly.

“I think there are other ways I can get you extra motivated to have a great camp,” you tease back.

“I better have a great camp then,” he replies, finally kissing you.

Give you all, give you all of me. When you need it. “Cause I need it. I wanna fall like your favorite season. I’ll never give up. Stay here forever, babe. It don’t get no better than this. Your kiss

It’s Conor Timmins’ birthday and the party is being held at Mikko’s condo. It’s a big ass luxurious condo right in the middle of downtown Denver because it’s the type of place you get when you’re making $9.25M a year. You and Cale arrive when the party's just starting to get really going. You bring two big dishes of your famous Buffalo Chicken Ranch dip that the boys always demolish. You and Cale also hand Timmy his gift, which Cale kind of went overboard with. But being that Cale and Timmy have been friends for so long, it’s understandable why he was freaking out over the gift a little. You and Cale obviously greet the whole team and the girls, with you catching up with the girls and finding out what’s new with their lives and how their summers went.

After a while, the party starts going off the rails because the guys start drinking and it’s tarps off after that. The guys start dancing in the middle of the living room, like it’s the dance floor at the Roxy, while the girls just laugh at them. Luckily, Cale doesn’t join in on the shenanigans and his shirt stays on for the entire night. After a while of laughing at the boys, Cale drags you out to the large balcony, complaining that it’s too hot inside the condo. You follow him reluctantly outside and take in the cool breeze of the September night and the view of the city lights.

“Thanks for coming with me tonight. I know the guys can go pretty hard,” Cale says, apologizing as if it’s a bad thing when the team parties.

“Babe, you know I love coming to team parties with you! This is where I get my best blackmail and chirping material on your teammates,” you tease, trying to keep the mood light.

“Wow, look at the moon tonight,” he says, admiring the view.

You look at the moon but you also look at how beautiful he looks in the moonlight.

“I’ll never get over how beautiful this city looks at night,” you sigh, loving the view.

“You make the view a whole lot better though,” he confesses, causing your heart to swell.

You turn around to face him and realize that if this is what being in love is like, then you never want it to end.

“I love you, Cale Douglas Makar,” you smile, brushing his lips against yours.

“I love you so much more, Y/F/N,” he smiles back, before properly kissing you.

The kiss grows more passionate by the second and it feels like the world just disappears and it’s only you two in that moment. However, the moment doesn’t last long, as the sound of the balcony door opening startles you two.

“No making out at team events! You know it’s a $50 fine, Makar. If I catch you two again, I’ll double it,” EJ says sternly.

If anyone takes his job of fining teammates seriously, it’s EJ. Before the two of you can even respond, EJ closes the door shut and goes back to the party.

“I think we should head back before EJ finds another reason to fine you again,” you tease.

“Yeah, I refuse to put more money on the board,” he adds, taking your hand in his.

You two head back to the party and of course, EJ opens his big mouth again.

“Guys, the two lovebirds have decided to join us again!” he yells out, grabbing everyone’s attention.

Cale blushes immediately and you kiss his cheek, causing his cheeks to darken even more.

I wanna love you in every kind of way. I wanna please you, no matter how long it takes. If the world should end tomorrow and we only have today. I’m gonna love you in every kind of way. I wanna love you in every kind of way. I wanna please you, no matter how long it takes. If the world should end tomorrow and we only gave today. I’m gonna love you in every kind of way

Cale is driving through the streets of the city while the song Drew Barrymore by Bryce Vine is playing through the speakers. Your hands are joined together in the middle as you both sing along to the song.

“‘Cause you’re the next Drew Barry and I want more, yeah. And all these other girls keep wonderin’ what I fuck with you for,” he sings, kissing your hand.

You eventually arrive at your destination but have to park a couple blocks away because city parking is always a nightmare. You walk through the streets of Denver, holding hands and luckily, no one bothers you two for a photo or autograph. You eventually arrive at the place and it turns out it’s a small arcade bar. Cale buys your tokens and you drag him to the skeeball machines right away.

“Prepare to go down, Makar!” you yell out.

“In your dreams, Y/L/N!” he retorts, his competitive nature coming out.

You take the first ball and you manage to miss the left 10,000 target and get only 1,000 instead, while he manages to hit the 2,000 range. With the second ball, you manage to miss the right 10,000 target and only get 1,000 instead, while he hits the 2,000 range again. You look up at him and he’s making a cry baby face at you. You just shoot him a look and become determined to get that stupid grin off his face. You take the next ball and manage to hit the 5,000 target, while he misses the 4,000 target and only gets 1,000 instead.

“In your face! Eat shit!” you yell in his face playfully.

The two of you continue your competitive game of skeeball with you coming out victorious. He leads you to the basketball game and you shake your head at him, as a plea of protest.

“Why not, babe?” he asks.

“Because I’m too short and terrible at basketball,” you inform him.

Even though the boots you have on give you an extra couple of inches of height, you are still too short to be playing this game.

“I’ll show you baby,” he assures you.

He grabs a ball and shows you the shooting motion before handing it to you to try.

“This is gonna be so bad, just so you know,” you inform him.

You take the shot, mimicking the shooting motion he made, and you’re shocked when the shot actually goes in without bouncing off the rim. You look at him in disbelief that you actually just did that.

“I told you that you can do it,” he smiles, hugging you tightly.

You guys play more games for a while before deciding it’s getting too late.

“I really don’t wanna walk all the way back to the car! My feet hurt!” you complain.

He lifts you up without warning and you wrap your legs and arms around him tightly as he carries you out of the arcade and into the streets of Denver. He manages to only make it a block carrying you before growing tired. You jump down to the ground and you two finish your walk back to the car, while holding hands.

If this is what being in love is like, then you never want it to end.

I wanna love you. I gotta love you. I wanna love you. I gotta love you

It’s New Year’s Eve and the whole team and all the girls and kids are at Gabe’s house for the Avs annual New Years party. This year, they managed to be home once again, for New Year’s and even played a game earlier in the evening. It’s currently 6 minutes before midnight and the party is in full swing. The children are running around, while their moms try to catch them and stop them from destroying any of the Landeskogs’ furniture. 

There’s drinks flowing and snacks all over the kitchen and dining room. There’s child-friendly music playing, since the last thing the mothers need is for their kids to pick up swearing from the music. Cale is currently talking about improving the power play with Nate and you’re listening as Melissa tells the girls about one of Linnea’s recent play dates. This is your second Avs New Year’s party and you’re already starting to get used to the chaos. As it gets closer to midnight it gets more chaotic and before you know it, everyone is packed around each other counting down the final minute of 2020. Cale is right beside you wearing a ridiculous 2021 hat and yet he still looks so beautiful. You’re looking at the TV screen showing Time Square and the crystal ball, waiting for the ball to drop.

The final 10 seconds begin and you keep your attention on the TV not noticing what’s happening behind you. The clock finally strikes 12 and everyone starts going nuts. You turn to your side to give Cale a New Years Kiss and instead see him behind you on one knee. You freeze and cover your face in shock.

“Y/F/N, ever since I met you by almost spilling coffee on you at Dunkin in UMass, you’ve changed my life. I asked you to be my girlfriend at the New Years Eve party freshman year, so I figured I should ask you to marry me at this New Year’s Eve party. So, will you make me the luckiest guy alive and marry me?” he asks, looking more nervous than he did at 2018 World Juniors.

“Yes!” you cry out, nodding your head.

Everyone cheers as Cale gets up and kisses you, making sure to keep it light because of all the kids around. You look at the giant engagement ring and can’t believe you’re actually gonna marry the love of your life.

This is definitely what being in love is like and you never want the feeling to end.

[walkswithdave]

Mum says

“The Lexington Avenue Express emerges from the depths of the subway tunnels of Manhattan into daylight and runs on elevated tracks above the Bronx. As teenagers we enjoyed the freedom to explore the length and breadth of New York City. We could go anywhere for a nickel inserted into a turnstile. To get to the heart of Manhattan was about a half hour train trip.

One morning in 1945, a few of my girlfriends and I climbed the stairs of the Allerton Avenue station and took the train to the Paramount Theater in Manhattan to see Frank Sinatra in a live performance, which alternated with Anchors Aweigh, a movie he starred in. We were 14 years old and all madly in love with Frank Sinatra. We wore our pea coats, sailor hats, bobby socks, and penny loafers, the uniform of the day. We arrived at the theater early, found seats just a few rows from the stage, and watched Sinatra sing amid shouts of “oh, Frankie!” What a thrill! Next the movie came on. When it ended we just continued to sit transfixed, in disbelief that we were seeing our idol in person, and before we knew it “Frankie” came back on stage. Repeat: the movie again and then the live show again - for the third time!

Back then, theaters were not cleared after each show so you could stay as long as you wanted to, and we often saw a movie twice in our own neighborhood theater. That day in the Paramount Theater we and others around us were doing the same.

When we finally left, there was a large crowd of teenage girls in front of the theater yelling and screaming. We had no idea there were people waiting who couldn’t get in because the people inside weren’t leaving. The next morning the event made the headlines. We felt lucky that we had arrived early before the crowds, but at the same time we felt bad that we were responsible for a “riot.”

After we left the Paramount we found a little nearby second-floor Chinese restaurant. We each had a Chinese meal for 55 cents - egg drop soup, tea, chow mien, an almond cookie, and a fortune cookie. That was where my love of Chinese food was born.

After that adventure we felt we had discovered the Big City, and we took the train downtown frequently, on weekends - sometimes to Radio City Music Hall or the Roxy Theater to see the Rockettes do precision dancing. There was always a stage show and a movie. The larger theaters were vast and beautifully appointed with gold pillars and deep plush red seats you could sink into. We had never seen anything so grand. And of course, the little upstairs Chinese restaurant was always the next stop, followed by exploration of Manhattan on foot. Times Square and the penny arcade was a favorite.

Another nickel in the turnstile, usually at the 34th Street subway station, brought us back home. What freedom we enjoyed at such a young age!”

[agentsandbutterflies]

The thought that has kept me happy today:

During Eggsy’s stag night they go to karaoke. (Proper one with private rooms, not that open mic at a pub shit.) Jamal, Ryan and Brandon (who isn’t dead, thank you very much) have been terrorising Eggsy with Uptown Girl since they learned about his engagement with Tilde. (But lets be real, it was probably this version.) So when they have been at it for less than fifteen minutes or so, Eggsy comes up with the hilariously brilliant idea that he should sing Uptown Girl. (His boys are dying because that went better than they had expected!)

Eggsy gets the mic, he stands up, he does that little dance that everyone does at karaoke among friends when The Song comes on and they’ve had a few. The boys whistle and cheer him on. Ryan sends a text.

The lyrics starts...

Uptown girl She's been living in her uptown world I bet she's never had a backstreet guy I bet her mama never told her why

Eggsy knows the words without looking at the screen at this point, thanks to the insane amount of times his mates have sung it for him just to build up to this night.

I'm gonna try for an uptown girl She's been living in her white bread world As long as anyone with hot blood can

The door opens by Roxy, letting in Tilde with her own mic singing:

And now I’m looking for a downtown man That's what you are!

The boys keep on cheering. Roxy is filming this on her mobile, Eggsy can’t keep singing because he’s smiling too hard. Tilde kisses him and they manage to sing the last part together.

Tilde stays to sing one song in Swedish (I’d say Det gör ont because she feels just about trolly enough to sing the Swedish National Butt Sex Anthem at Eggsy’s stag party and then just wait for him to figure it out as his Swedish improves. Also, yes, we seriously sent this to the ESC, but the English version is less butt sex.) and then she leaves them to enjoy the rest of the evening without her. Roxy stays, because of course she’s part of Eggsy’s stag night (and she’s obviously not dead either).

So yes, this was my happy place for this Sunday.

[sippideals-blog]

University Cost Comparison

Newcastle upon Tyne, in the North East of England, has an expected populace of 300,000 individuals. The city, or the Toon as it is alluded to locally, is synonymous with culture, an inviting climate, and, shockingly, rather poor climate.

Starting at 2017, the two colleges in the city, Newcastle University, and Northumbria University, flaunted 23,000 and 26,000 understudies individually. Mulling over those measurements, very nearly a 6th of the whole populace in the city are understudies — and we aren't astonished.

Understudy Hut positioned Newcastle as the main city for understudies in the UK, because of its energetic nightlife, very much associated transport framework, and larger incentive for cash. Beating off hardened rivalry, for example, London, Leeds, and Manchester is no simple accomplishment. The home of the Magpies is the ideal city regardless of what course you are searching for whether it be clearing, student or postgraduate courses.

Also Check Blockcrux

That made us think, the absolute greatest contentions in the UK exist among North and South. Take music for instance: Queen versus The Beatles, Rolling Stones versus Dire Straits, and Coldplay versus Oasis. Be that as it may, drumsticks aside, how do the two contrast when it accompanies cost, particularly for an understudy going to bring the jump into further training? In this article, we pit Newcastle in the North, against London in the South.

Convenience

One of the fundamental rewards of living in Newcastle is the reality the two colleges are arranged slap blast in the downtown area. Fortunately, by far most of corridors are situated a limit of 15 minutes' leave, guaranteeing that you get enjoy another concise spell of rest in the first part of the day. Claude Gibb lobbies are one case of understudy convenience which sits directly on the doorstep of Northumbria University. These burrows are regularly a well known decision for understudies in first year, giving the chance to drench yourself in the entire college experience. Pick between £74.90 every week for non-provided food, or £116.90 every week to incorporate breakfast, lunch, and supper.

In the next long periods of study, understudies normally migrate to the neighboring rural areas of Heaton, Jesmond, or Sandyford, where lease costs can fluctuate from £70 every week to £120 every week, regularly with bills included.

Because of the reality London has 40 colleges and in excess of 400,000 understudies, pinpointing a position of decision to live by and large relies on the organization. Mainstream zones in the North incorporate Camden and Finsbury Park. In the East, Mile End and Stratford pull in huge understudy populaces. West London hotspots incorporate Shepherd's Bush and Hammersmith, while Brixton and Tooting have existed as firm top choices among understudies frequenting in South London for a long while.

Clearly, contingent upon area and nature of settlement, you can hope to pay roughly £150 every week in a common house in London, with college corridors costing around £200 every week for first year understudies.

Nightlife

It should not shock anyone that the UK capital is a center point for bohemian advancement. Fashionable person bars and idiosyncratic clubs litter the roads of London offering understudies an assortment that you would battle to discover anyplace else on the planet. Camden Lock, when the working environment of Amy Winehouse, is one of the most happening zones in the city, with more porch bars and road nourishment remains than you could shake a stick at. Get your hands on a 'Camden Card' to exploit 20 percent limits in a large group of bars.

So as to hold the bar tab down, bars, for example, the White Post Cafe in Hackney Wick are especially mainstream among understudies. On the off chance that you show up somewhere in the range of 5 and 7pm you can get your hands on marked down beverages, while relaxing to a scope of DJ sets, unrecorded music, and the widely adored – hounds exploring their way around the bar.

Then again, on the off chance that a 16 ounces or two is more up your road, at that point get yourself down to the Bavarian Beerhouse. Erdinger on tap, conveyed in their strength six-16 ounces containers, is joined by conventional German food.

Clearly, the club scene is electric in London. Intersection East in Shoreditch, and the Roxy in Soho have both set up themselves as immaculate understudy scenes on account of modest midweek drinks bargains.

The one huge downside of a night out in London is the taxi admission home. For a comparative excursion separation to that in Newcastle be set up to follow through on multiple times the cost.

[oh-ranpo]

If I Could Do It All Again

Pairing: Harry Styles x Reader

Word Count: 1.7k

AN: This little series is going to be based on the song “Back to You” by Selena Gomez. Obviously, this is all a work of fiction, and any mention of Harry writing the reader a song is false. I just worked it in that way for the sake of the plot. In fact, any time he mentions anything about his music in this story may be altered for the sake of the story. Let me know what you think!

Masterlist

Two / Three

The air was brisk as you pulled your jacket closer to your body. When you moved, you had heard that California nights could get a little chilly, but it was nothing compared to the fall evenings back in Ohio.

Your eyes were trained on the sidewalk in front of you as you headed towards your next destination. You were supposed to be meeting a group of friends at a little club downtown for an impromptu concert, even though they wouldn’t tell you whose concert it was. You were running behind due to a problem that had come up at work and you were sure that you were missing part of the performance.

You felt your phone vibrate in your pocket and you didn’t have to look at it to know it was your best friend Roxy. You were still a little annoyed with her that she refused to tell you who you were seeing, but she promised that it was going to be worth it. You stopped right outside the club doors and fumbled in your purse for your I.D. to show the bouncer, and as he examined it you pulled your phone to check the message that you had received.

‘Hurry! Show’s starting!’

You rolled your eyes at your friend’s impatience, but you noticed that you could hear music pulsating through the club walls as you stepped over the threshold. The room was dimly lit, and while you had been expecting some upbeat rock music, you were surprised when you heard an acoustic guitar and slower, more soothing notes. You searched the tables, trying to make out the silhouettes of your friends in the darkness, but you stopped immediately when the sound of the singer’s voice filled the small space. You knew that voice like the back of your hand. Your heart raced, and as you stepped further into the room, your fears were confirmed.

You were frozen in time when your eyes landed on the familiar brunette, his messy hair falling into his face and his eyes were closed as he belted out a melody. You hadn’t seen him in a couple of years. He looked the same, and yet he looked different. When his eyes opened, your breath caught in your throat and even in the bright lights, you could see how green they were. The color had always been your favorite, but you had done everything you could to try and forget. You found yourself lost in the sight, and it wasn’t until the song ended that you found the ability to move.

It only took a couple more minutes of searching to find your friends. Your heart dropped when you realized that they were at one of the tables nearest the stage. Roxy, who apparently had been watching for you, waved you excitedly over. Now that your immediate surprise had faded, you didn’t dare look back at the stage as you took your seat. You were in one of the back chairs facing the stage head-on, but you pushed the drink menu in front of your face so that it was partly hidden.

“Isn’t he wonderful?” Roxy whispered excitedly in your ear. All you could do was shrug. Even though Roxy was your best friend, you had only known her a little over a year. You had only ever known her post-Harry. Your past relationship with the boy who was now on stage was not something that you brought up often, mostly because of the reaction you usually got when you did. People would ask what happened and why you weren’t together anymore. Reliving those feelings was not something that you particularly enjoyed.

Thankfully you were spared from any further conversation as Harry launched into his next song. His voice was as rich and beautiful as ever, and you tried not to look up at him for too long.  

It wasn’t until the third song that Harry had moved from the far side of the stage. You had been thankful that he was favoring the crowd on the other side because that meant you didn’t have to work as hard to hide. However, as he was giving the intro to his fourth song, he swayed over to the side of the stage you were sitting near, and almost immediately his eyes found yours. You watched as recognition crossed his face as the last part of his sentence trailed off. The color in his cheeks started to fade and his green eyes were wide in surprise. Even though this only lasted for three seconds tops, you could feel all your friend’s eyes on you, and the room had momentarily gone quiet.

Harry was always good at playing things off though, and you breathed a sigh of relief when he turned away and continued into the next song like nothing had happened. Roxy leaned over and nudged you, but you pretended that you were too wrapped up in listening to the song to notice. The dim lighting helped disguise the blush on your cheeks, and the loud drum beats covered up the pounding in your chest. It felt like as soon as the song had started, it was over and you silently prayed to yourself that he wouldn’t look in your direction again.

“This next song,” he started, pulling the next acoustic guitar over his chest and fixing the microphone on the stand. “is one that I particularly enjoyed writing. It’s a song near and dear to my heart and I hope that you enjoy it too.”

There was a roar of excitement as he played the first few chords of the song and your eyes were now locked on his face. You had seen his eyes flicker in your direction when he was introducing the song and you braced yourself for what you were about to hear.

“Sweet creature, Had another talk about where it’s going wrong. But we’re still young. We don’t know where we’re going, But we know where we belong. And oh, we started  Two hearts in one home.  It’s hard when we argue, we’re both stubborn I know.

Sweet creature, sweet creature. Wherever I go, you bring me home. Sweet creature, sweet creature. When I run out of road, you bring me home.”

His eyes stayed close for most of the song, but there was a nagging feeling in your stomach at the lyrics. He didn’t look in your direction for the rest of the set, but you noticed that he still stayed on the side of the stage closest to you, as if once the show was over, he wanted to be close enough to get to you before you disappeared. You contemplated numerous times whether or not you were going to skip out before he would get the chance, but then you would get caught up in the sound of his voice and find yourself unable to leave your chair.

You felt a wave of disappointment wash over you as he bid the crowd goodnight and he didn’t immediately head in your direction. Of course he couldn’t do that, there were too many people who would interfere. Once the lights of the club came on and a Dua Lipa song started playing through the speakers, Roxy was immediately shaking your arm.

“What was that?”

You gave her a curious look, trying to play it off that you didn’t know what she was referring to. The stern look in her eyes told you that she didn’t believe you.

“It’s nothing, Rox.”

You didn’t want to talk about it. You didn’t want to talk about him. Not now, not ever. But even as you tried to convince yourself of that, you couldn’t help but wonder what Harry was thinking right at that moment.

“Do you know Harry Styles?” Your other friend Erin asked. She had her elbow resting on the table with her head in her hands, waiting for you to dish the gossip that she was sure you had.

“We, uh- yeah. I know him.” You stuttered, glancing around the room to avoid making eye contact with either of the girls at your table. A small squeal left Erin’s lips and Roxy laughed.

“You call yourself my best friend and you fail to mention that you know Harry Styles? Why have you been keeping this monumental piece of information to yourself?!” Roxy’s voice was filled with excitement, and you could already guess the thoughts that were running through their minds.

They thought that you and Harry were friends. They thought that now that they had discovered your secret, you would be willing to introduce them and you felt bad knowing that that wasn’t going to happen.

“We don’t really talk that much anymore, to be honest.” You replied, finally turning your eyes back to your red-headed best friend. Her blue eyes were wide with wonder, like she was seeing you for the first time. This really had been big news to her. You cringed as her and Erin started talking about how this was going to change everything, and you had to tune out.

Several moments after you had stopped listening to your friends excited banter, you felt a small tap on your shoulder. You turned around to come face-to-face with a young woman that you had never seen before.

“YN?” She asked, a bright smile on her lips. You nodded hesitantly, feeling confused on how this stranger knew your name. “Mr. Styles has requested your presence backstage.”

Your heart stopped and you barely heard the collective scream of Roxy and Erin behind you. He wanted to see you? You wanted to turn the girl away, but you had a feeling that it wasn’t really a suggestion. Slowly you stood up from your seat and started to follow the girl around to where you assumed Harry was waiting.

“Take lots of pictures!” Erin called after you, but you didn’t acknowledge her. You were too busy trying to contain your anxiety.

[lindsayruebens]

The Grand #5-10-30

Last fall, Kane and I had two Frontier flight vouchers burning a hole in our pockets.

Also that fall, we celebrated being together for a decade. And then I turned 30 in December. April is Kane’s 30th birthday. And May is our fifth wedding anniversary.

And, for the past five years, we had exclusively used our vacation days for traveling to see family during the holidays and weddings. We were not only ready to celebrate but extremely ready for a vacation, and ready to do it up big.

Enter what my social-media-eschewing husband has persistently referred to as the #5-10-30 trip (yes I know there are no hyphens in real hashtags, but here we are), and he did so persistently enough that I too eventually broke down and also called it The 5-10-30.

Direct Frontier flights from Philadelphia narrowed our options considerably, and we wanted to pick somewhere we’d never been, so Denver it was. My parents very generously offered to watch Russ in Pennsylvania for a week, and after lots of research and planning, that’s how the best vacation Kane and I have ever had, or shall I say, The #5-10-30 Trip, materialized.

We rented a 2019 Nissan Rogue and basically did a loop beginning and ending in Denver. I kept a detailed journal of the trip, but I’ll spare you the less-thrilling details and share the highlights:

Day 1: Afternoon/evening in Denver

(^Ready for takeoff to Denver!)

Great AirBnB cottage in the LoHi neighborhood. After meeting us, our host ran into her house to bring us her own nice bottle of tequila, limes and shot glasses to start off our trip on a celebratory note. Cheers!

Speaking of cheers, we recommend the Recess Beer Garden, where we watched Virginia win the national title.

Day 2: Denver/Colorado Springs

We kicked breakfast off at Bacon Social House with a flight of bacon. And because we’re corny, we gave serious thought to ranking the six bacon styles (French toast was my fav, barbecue was Kane’s). Scissors for sharing the slices were included.

Next up: Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. The red rock formations were breathtaking, and we’re glad we went to the visitor’s center for info on hiking trails. Great views of both Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak.

Another fantastic AirBnB in Old Colorado City, and delicious dinner — just say yes to the brisket grilled cheese and lamb sliders — outside at Cerberus Brewing Company while watching the sun set behind the Rockies.

Day 3: Colorado Springs

We spent much of this day in the earth.

First stop was Cave of the Winds. Holy cow, do the Lantern Tour if you can. Our self-described hippie tour-guide, John, thoroughly scared us before we even began, warning us of having to walk crouched low for a couple of minutes through under-4-foot-high tunnels, that we’d only be walking by the light of candle-lit lanterns (hence the name Lantern Tour) and that we were about to enter the supposedly most haunted caverns in North America. It’s not a tour for the faint of heart (nor the arthritic). Learned the history of the 19th-century pioneers who took ownership of the caves and held exotic parties in them, and of course there was a generous helping of spooky ghost stories.

(^Our only photo in the cave before the tour began-- not the kind of setting to take a selfie!)

Back in the sunlight, we had lunch at Ivywild School, an elementary school-turned community center/local business spot/brewery.

Dinner in downtown Colorado Springs at The Rabbit Hole, also underground. We did actually try rabbit with the Bunny Bites appetizer… a drier, leaner version of chicken nuggets.

Day 4: Cañon City/Nathrop

Spent the day at the Royal Gorge in Cañon City. The gondola ride across was slightly panic-inducing, but offered amazing views; informative short movie about the Gorge in onsite theater; then walks across America’s tallest suspension bridge. The gaps between some of the wooden planks of the floor allowed you to see all the way to the Arkansas River flowing below. YIKES. Of course Kane insisted we really feel “fully alive,” and so we were the only ones nutty enough to go back and forth several more times in the wind. Don’t worry, I felt super-alive, and thankfully, remained in such a state.

Spectacular mountain drive along Route 50 to Nathrop, where we checked in at the Mt. Princeton Hot Springs Resort. It’s in the San Isabel National Forest.

(^Serious room with a view.)

That evening we donned bathing suits in 30-something degree weather to recline in the hot springs of Chalk Creek. We laid our heads on rocks, stared at the stars and crescent moon overhead and enjoyed deep conversation that also included momentarily pretending we were contestants on The Bachelor, because it was such an over-the-top date, and I assured Kane I was most certainly there for the right reasons.

Day 5: Nathrop/Breckenridge

Hot springs again in the bright morning sunshine before driving to Breckenridge, which was a little insane with hairpin turns up and down mountains. We drove through Alma, North America’s highest incorporated town, and were relieved to make it to our AirBnB. Then: A scrumptious sushi lunch downtown at The Blue Fish and perusing the town’s many shops.

We called up the Lost Bus, owned and operated by the Broken Compass Brewing, which picks up people for free from downtown Breckenridge to its brewery site a few miles away. This was my favorite brewery of the trip! Fantastic craft beers and great local vibe.

Then we walked about half a mile down the road to Flight Club for food. It was an extremely local experience (complete with a guy glass-blowing pipes next to the bar!) and even featured a local battle-of-the-bands winner, Hollywood Farmers, who were actually quite talented.

(^My view from the bar. Just some casual glass-blowing, dudes.)

Day 6: Boulder

A crazy drive to Boulder on Route 70 with foggy snow showers. But we made it in one piece to Chautauqua Park and hiked around the Flatirons on the Enchanted Mesa Trail and loved it.

Lunched at Roxie’s Tacos, where they served amazing Mexican-Indian fusion in the lovely campus area of CU-Boulder, then drove to the Celestial Seasonings headquarters for a free tea tour and samples. A highlight was the peppermint room! Free aromatherapy.

Checked into a Courtyard Marriott and ate at Avery Brewing Company.

Day 7: Boulder/Denver

Amazing breakfast at Lucile’s in adorable downtown Boulder. Walked around Pearl Street Mall, where the tulip beds were in bloom. If I had to choose one of the places we visited to move, I’d pick Boulder!

Drove back to Denver and attended a beautiful Palm Sunday Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. Proceeded to a tour of the Molly Brown House. Loved learning her incredible story: a rags-to-riches miner’s wife, Titanic survivor, philanthropist, winner of French Legion of Honor… Google her if you have time!

On to Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey for a delightful distillery tour. We learned how it was made and aged and also how to properly drink whiskey. Not sure I’m a converted whiskey-drinker, but loved every minute of the tour.

We ended our trip where we began, in the LoHi neighborhood, at a fantastic Mediterranean tapas restaurant called El Five. We sat outside overlooking the Denver skyline and the Rockies before catching a red-eye home. It was the perfect way to punctuate a pretty near-perfect trip.

(^Dinner view. Until we meet again, Colorado!)

[katatty]

Recap: Veronaville Round 4 (Spring)

Just remembered I haven’t done an recap for the Veronaville round I recently completed yet, oops! Better late than never? For any new followers, this is a summary of everything important that went on during this spring rotation! I have a recap page HERE, if you want to read about what else has been going on in this neighbourhood. More general info here. Once I finish this round of my Hollyhead BACC I’ll be continuing with Pleasantview Plus - next up will be more college, followed by Downtown.

Yikes - this was an eventful round! Feels like it went on forever, haha! It’s actually only been 4 months though, which is a lot better than the 10 months Strangetown took... 

Started the rotation with Chloe and Nina’s house. It’s Spring and Chloe was taking full advantage of the romantic season to finally try and nail down that 20 Woohoos LTW. She went on a bit of a romance rampage including numerous townies, Ripp Grunt, and even her brother’s girlfriend. 

She and Nina also had some adventures as a couple, inviting the Summerdreams over for some redheaded bisexual action.

Unfortunately all this lovin’ distracted her from work a bit and she ended up getting fired - leading to some insecurity in her relationship with Nina, who was racking up promotions in her job at the Monty restaurant. 

They talked it out, though, and Nina was nothing but supportive. Communication wins! 

After that, Chloe decided the time had come to propose - and Nina said yes!!

There was some trouble brewing, however... 

Next up was Antonio’s branch of the Monty family! 

Beatrice kicked things off by asking Buck Grunt to go steady, which totally threw me for a loop.

Benedick was still going steady with Bo Summerdream.

All was going well between them, until his best friend Hal Capp revealed she’d been seeing him on the side. Ben was not happy!!!

Antonio was exploring his options and starting to date a little, too. Nina Caliente took him on a few dates. 

In the end, though, it was Florence Delarosa who captured his heart.

He took her on a date to a pottery class, and proposed at the end of it!!

Meanwhile her local business was booming, and she hired recent graduate Emily Lee to help out in the shop.

Small bit of relevant college stuff - at Mercutio’s graduation party, Juliette caught Romeo cheating on her with Roxie Sharpe.

However, after talking it through with her and Jonah he decided to put things with them to and end and try and patch things up with Juliette. 

He proposed to her at their dorm and she accepted, on the condition that he took her name when they married. Juliette is savvy! 

At the Monty Ranch, Mercutio returns home to help his grandmother with the llama rearing. He’s now the de-facto heir, as Isabella is NOT happy about the engagement. 

He quickly discovered his Nonna hasn’t been too lonely without him and has befriended some other elder ladies. She, Dora Ottomas and Jenny Smith meet regularly for mahjong. Jenny flirts and little here and there...

His fiancee, Goldie Hart, visits regularly. 

Meanwhile Isabella gets bitten by the local leader of the pack, becomes and werewolf and turns Mercutio for good measure. That’ll keep things even with the Capps...

Then it’s over to the other side of the river... The Capps have noticed the recent expansion of the Monty side and, not to be outdone, have invested in a new set of shops on their side! They hope to attract small business owners and will be approaching a few of their residents about going into business.

The first of these is the Tinkers! Melody is exasperated as always with her parents and can’t BELIEVE they think now is a good time to open a toy shop. It’s not just that Melody hates toys… her little brother Timmy was born recently and she’s worried the new business won’t leave her parents with a lot of time to take care of him. Her parents act like a pair of big kids most of the time, and she often feels like the only responsible person in the house. It’s tough, sometimes! 

Her fears aren’t entirely unfounded. She leaves her parents unsupervised for half an hour, and look what happens! This is the THIRD fire I’ve had with these guys. It’s worth mentioning I play them ISBI style when they’re not at work doing business stuff, haha. 

Melody’s girlfriend Miranda is at college, but Melody misses her like crazy and rolls wants to see her almost every day. They’re in an open relationship for now, at least until they can close the distance gap...

She hangs out with Bo Summerdream a little, who flirts with her a bit...

Wanda and Stephen prove to be fantastic parents as always, ignoring their screaming infant in favor of cuddling for hours on end.

They do an okay job running the shop, though. Mostly.

They don’t seem too worried about the Montys spying on the enemy turf...

At Capp manor, Contessa has a stern word with her daughter Cordelia, who just doesn’t seem interested in taking over the family business.

However, the family witchcraft certainly piques her interest and she decides to start studying it! Good magic, of course. 

Tybalt returns from college and moves home, immediately getting a job in the business. It’s not his passion, but he florishes nicely there, and gets along great with his aunt/boss Goneril.

He also proposes to his boyfriend, Tiave Tricou, and takes him home to meet the family. 

Juliette visits next for another word with dear old grandmother. They’re a little concerned about her engagement to Romeo, but agree to it as long as he takes on the Capp name and gives up his ties to his family.

Later that night, Caliban and Contessa get into a nasty fight. It’s the latest of many, and this time Contessa isn’t feeling forgiving! 

She casts a curse on him and has him killed by bees. 

Cordelia is heart-broken and immediately suspects her mother, not believing for a moment any of this was an accident. She shares these suspicions with Tybalt and he privately vows revenge, although she’s terrified for his safety and hopes he flees town.

In a complete change of tone, Denise decided to move to Veronaville with her son after their bakery in Bluewater Village went bust. They’re not sure why it flopped… maybe because Yves was the only one who could bake? Maybe because Gilbert was dating multiple employees at once, and they all quit when they found out? Veronaville was Denise’s pick for 3 reasons.

Nobody knows who they are, so they can pretend to be from Champ Les Sims! That way customers are bound to trust Denise’s croissants…

The Capp family are offering excellent business loans, hoping to improve tourism in the area. 

Since there are so many multi-generational families here, women might not be put off my Gilbert living with his mother! Denise is sick and tired of Gilbert playing the “I live with my mother” card whenever the threat of long term commitment looms. 

Their round is mostly all business, with Gilbert dating around a bit. 

He even asks out recently widowed Bella Goth a few times. She keeps saying no initially but when they have a chance meeting on a community lot she initiates things!

Denise, who I gave a romance secondary, also finds time for romance! She dates local criminal mastermind Rich Mann, partially in response to receiving threats from the Montys. 

Denise and Gilbert both keep rolling wants to learn hairdressing and Crystal Vu keeps wandering by, leading to endless makeover disasters...

Sorry, Crystal. They get it right eventually. 

Monica Bratford (Puck’s fiancee) starts renting a place, although she won’t be played until next round...  she’s looking forward to opening her own boutique in town and starting up her new range of cruelty free makeup products.

The house next to her is being rented by fellow graduates Brittany Upsnott & Ellen Frost! Britt wants to be a journalist and Ellen plans on going into law.

At Goneril’s branch of the Capp family, Desdemona and Hal bond on their terrible decisions in love. Des has a crush on her straight BFF Beatrice Monty and Hal has a thing for Benedick, who he worries he’s completely messed things up with forever. 

He needn’t worry, though. To my sheer amazement when Benedick came over they started joking and laughing like everything was totally fine and Hal never stole his girlfriend? I guess they just can’t stay mad at each other...

Des gets a bit of a makeover! To her surprise, Goneril approves. She’s been trying to go easy on her kids, lately.

Hal and Bo continue dating, but the differences between Capps and Summerdreams are starting to show. She’s not remotely impressed or interested in his new job...

Academie Le Tour like what they see, though. Between perfect A+ grades, topping his career in a single day, mastering dance (ballet) and maxing the creativity skill he is moneyed up ready for college!!!  He’s got the “Become the Law” LTW and I’ve no doubt he’s going to be a huge success as the corrupt Capp family lawyer.

So he was off to Académie Le Tour. Hal felt a little sad to be leaving town without fixing things with Ben properly, but maybe the distance would do them good. Bo was coming along to the same university as him, but we wasn’t sure what was going to happen with them. Things had been kind of rocky, understandably, the way they got together was all wrong and it just didn’t feel right without Ben in the picture… ugh.

Perhaps at college he could have a more sensible, drama-free love life? Or, better yet, he could stop worrying about relationships and focus on his studies! Yeah, that sounded great. He’d work hard, graduate with honors, start his own law firm, and worry about marriage and kids later, maybe when the family found a good match for him.

Des does a lot of good big-sister-ing, single handedly raising Lysander and talking Ariel through gender identity questions.

Goneril gets the promotion she’s been hoping for. It was her dream, she’d always thought. It was her dream.

And yet she wasn’t completely satisfied. When she’d imagined running the company, it wasn’t as a co-partner to a reanimated zombie of her mother. And she’d envisaged herself as the owner of the company, not simply doing all the hard work while her niece reaped in the rewards.

Albany, who aged up recently, talks Goneril through her insecurities, and assures her she’ll be on top (lol) some day. 

Ariel and Lysander grow up! Though their party is a total shitshow.

The Summerdreams are very same-old - Bo continues to slack off and the parents continue to make out all the time and neglect their kids.

She and Benedick Monty make the break-up official.

And so she spends a lot of time hanging out with BFF Lucy Burb instead. They dream of becoming criminal masterminds together someday... they do have pretty good chemistry and a slightly flirty dynamic, but neither of them has ever acted on it for fear of messing up the friendship. 

She dates Melody Tinker instead, which goes better than I expected! They fell in love and everything. 

Oberon and Titania got some “new” looks.  These two have centuries worth of clothing in their wardrobe…

Titania has a brief date with Chloe Curious, and asks her about her pregnancy. Chloe is cage-y initially, but is relived when Titania proposes she and Oberon adopt the baby. She and Nina don’t want kids, so it’s a perfect solution! 

Regan and Cornwall have a pretty decent marriage. It never used to be that passionate, sparks-flying-everywhere, can’t-get-enough-of-each-other love, but it’s grown a lot over the years. They’ve both supported each other through thick and thin, things in the bedroom have got gradually spicier, and become true partners in crime - at this point Regan doesn’t want to imagine life without him.

Their son Lear is a very dutiful, studious kid. He’s very moral and justice-oriented, for a Capp, and takes everything very seriously. He’s aware neither of his parents are law-abiding and isn’t too thrilled with it, but he’s sure he can talk them around someday…

It’s mostly quite an uneventful, homely round. 

She does go out for tea with her sisters, though, which leads to a few fireworks. Regan is horrified that her genie-wish has lead to so much suffering, and regrets brining back Contessa. 

Poor Goneril has a lot of pent up jealousy brewing, which she directs at Cordelia. 

They make up eventually, though :)

After a few more promotions and a particularly successful heist which lands Cornwall a hefty $20,000, the married couple decide to relocate Downtown. It’s a little closer to work, and a little further away from the family’s deadly drama...

At the end of the round, Romeo graduates and visits the family restaurant to invite everyone to the wedding. They’re not thrilled, and a shouting match ensues.

He’s very suborn and sticks up for Juliette, but the prospect of being disowned by his entire family rattles Romeo. Despite Mercutio and Bianca giving him their support, when the wedding day comes he’s hesitant.

He ends up running away from her at the altar,

Juliette chased after him, furious, and accidentally curses him. Romeo’s struck by lightning and dies. 

She’s momentarily horrified, but when confronted by Mercutio she quickly doubles-down, reigniting the Capp-Monty feud.

[wichitabyeb]

Wichita is full of options to enjoy performing arts. We have such a talented group of people, right here in town, that can entertain. I hope to make it out to more shows this year. But to kick off 2022, I stopped by Roxy's Downtown to enjoy their new show "Five Course Love"..... which to my delight also came with a five-course meal. If you're looking for more things to do in Wichita, add this to your list. (at Roxy's Downtown) https://www.instagram.com/p/CYjkEZ2LkvH/?utm_medium=tumblr

[weekendwarriorblog]

MoviePass’s Latest Scam is Ingenious but Infuriating

If you’re anything like me, you schedule your life around the movies you want to see and you see a mix of movies in arthouse and indie theaters as well as bigger franchise movies at the multiplexes.

Now I’ve been using MoviePass for well over two years. In March 2016, the Metrograph theater opened in my neighborhood, and I soon learned from a friend that the theater took MoviePass, which at the time was $45 a month for a single movie a day. Still no 3D/IMAX, but you could see movies multiple times and there were few other limitations except that you could only use it once a day. That was already a pretty good deal because if I saw 3 movies that month, it would be about the same. They then raised the price to $50 and I still found it to be a good deal because I was freelancing but still had more free time than free money.  I mainly used it at the Metrograph over the next year or so, but once in a while would go to the multiplex and see a movie which I missed or wasn’t invited to see (like every Disney movie since Dec. 2016).

When MoviePass was bought and the price was lowered to $9.99 a month, I was thrilled because I was already using it and a fan of the service and that would save me $40 a month. A few months later, MoviePass offered an annual fee for the service for $89 which was even lower than the monthly fee.  When the price was dropped last July, there were a lot of negative nellies saying that it would never work and there was no way for MoviePass to survive, and maybe they were right.

Anyway, earlier this year, they offered a service of 4 movies a month for $7.99 which if you live in New York is STILL a great deal compared to paying $15 to 18 for a movie (and that’s not including 3D upcharges). There were definitely some growing pains as MoviePass upgraded its APP and started making conditions, one of them being that you have to take a picture of the ticket to prove that you used it for the movie you checked in for, mainly to avoid scammers. It was a pain, especially at theaters like the Quad which have TERRIBLE celphone and WIFI service. And it also was buggy because when it started, it would randomly ask you for a picture before you could use MoviePass again and if you didn’t keep your ticket on you, you were fucked.

MoviePass kept instilling new rules… that you couldn’t see a movie more than twice and then they started adding surge pricing for the bigger movies. The thing is that because I bought a year’s service in advance, they couldn’t change the deal and start making long-time users pay surge charges. That alone already pissed a lot of MoviePass users to the point where they dumped it and switched to the AMC Service.

Okay, let’s fast-forward to last week Thursday when MoviePass’ service went down completely, something that has happened sporadically since last year. These issues were frustrating, but not as frustrating as the customer service which pretty much vanished and you were told to use the APP. I actually had to upgrade to a new smartphone because in Feb or March, the APP stopped working on my old Droid altogether.

Anyway, MoviePass went down and it was soon reported that they ran out of money to pay their vendors and had to borrow another $6 million to stay solvent. Once again, the negative nellies started ranting on about how they told them so and that it would never work. The stock quickly tanked and everyone assumed doom for the service, especially with AMC offering A-List to those who normally frequent the multiplexes and wanted to see the bigger movies that play at them. For $20 a month, that was still a good deal if you actually went to see 3 movies a week and saw IMAX/3D movies.

During the week after the money problems, it was very hard to get MoviePass to work at all… either you couldn’t check-in or the APP said there were no screenings available at ANY theater… except of course, MoviePass’ partners, which in NYC is exactly THREE theaters… The Roxy (repertory and 2nd run indies), the Landmark 57 which is WAY out of the way unless you live on the Upper West Side and the Chelsea Cinepolis which is closer downtown (23rd and 8th) and plays a mix of indies and major releases. You could see anything you wanted at those partners even with all the problems, which is HUGELY suspect in itself because it looked like MoviePass was trying to shut out the theaters who didn’t outright partner with them. 

But that wasn’t the SCAM that I referred to in the title… THIS is the SCAM:

Last Friday, I decided to try MoviePass again, although it had been spotty in the past week. That morning, I woke up and said, “I want to see Equalizer 2 since I missed the press screening.” I went on the MoviePass APP to see if it was working and it showed a number of afternoon screenings around 3pm or 3:30 which sounded like I could make happen.  I went on about my daily business and then around 1:30, I checked the APP again to make sure it was working before I got on the bus ($2.75 each way if you don’t have a weekly pass, which I don’t) and went up to Kips Bay to see the movie. I then saw that the earlier afternoon screenings had been deleted and unavailable on the APP and the earliest screening of Equalizer 2 was at 7pm or 7:30.  Again, this is at 1:30 in the afternoon. 

What was really annoying about them limiting my choice to the evening screenings was that it was Friday evening, Equalizer 2 had been out for about a month and it was playing in the smaller theater which had already sold a lot if not all of its tickets. I figured that the chance of the 7pm screening being sold out by the time I got there was definitely not in my favor.

See, that’s the thing with MoviePass… it has always been the case that you have to buy your ticket within 30 minutes of check-in AND you have to be within half a mile, and none of the theaters playing the movie were close enough that I could guarantee buying a ticket.

I decided to go with Good Manners at the IFC Center which was listed on MoviePass, so I went to that and go there fairly early to get a ticket which was good because that TOO was playing in a small theater that did indeed sell-out its seats.  

That got me thinking that maybe MoviePass was deliberately scanning the people who regularly used the service, maybe once a day or three or four times a week. Many of those people (and there are a lot in New York) are single people, maybe unemployed (like myself) who prefer to see movies on weekday afternoons when the theaters aren’t as crowded.

On Saturday, I woke up early to see The General at Metrograph and MoviePass seemed to be working, no problem, but on Sunday, I wanted to see Wanda, a 1970 indie film that was restored, and I saw that it was playing at 12:45 in the bigger theater and not many tickets have been sold, so there shouldn’t be a problem.

I wake up on Sunday and check the MoviePass app and the 12:45 of Wanda isn’t listed. In fact, NO movies are listed anywhere (except the partner theaters) before 5pm, so basically they want to make sure that the people who might go see a movie Sunday afternoon to get out of the heat (or just to see a movie) won’t be able to do so and they have to wait until Sunday evening/night which isn’t ideal for those who work on Mondays or those who just want to do other things Sunday night. (They did have the 9:30 showing listed but that was in the smaller theater and could definitely sell out before anyone with MP is able to get tickets.)

ADDENDUM: It’s now 5:12PM and I’m getting the “There are no more screenings at this theater” message for EVERY theater on the APP other than the partner theaters. Either service is down again, MoviePass is trying to make sure I realize that I already used MoviePass (but what if I didn’t?) or they continue to try to screw over long-time and annual MoviePass users.

For a long time, MoviePass even had a choice to “check-in for a movie not shown here” for the times that a movie wasn’t listed on the APP especially for big theaters with a lot of different movies. That option is GONE, because they want to limit you to whatever movies they feel might sell out 

So to spell it out…this is MoviePass’ scam: they’re making it harder and harder and harder… nearly impossible… for the regular MoviePass subscribers, those who have been with the service from the days it was $45-50 a month to use, those who paid for a year in advance and had the confident that MoviePass would deliver the service as promised for a whole year (which is definitely not the case). 

And you know what? When they started making people take pictures of their tickets after using MoviePass, they threatened to cut off the service of anyone who didn’t take a picture of their ticket. By doing that, they’d save themselves a lot of money on a service that they clearly didn’t think through when they lowered the price to $9.99.  I stood by that decision and thought it would be great to get people signed up, but I never thought that would stick.

Now it’s $14.99 but I don’t have to renew my service until November and we’ll have to see if I do so under the current conditions. If it was $14.99 a month and there were no limitations other than seeing one movie a day, no repeat viewings or 3D/IMAX, that would be fine and still a good deal. But MoviePass is also cutting off new releases like Mission: Impossible and Christopher Robin and even The Darkest Minds (which probably could have been helped by MoviePass). 

So to recap: MoviePass is trying to fuck everyone over that hasn’t already dumped their service because they realize they overreached by lowering the price to $9.99 when there are many people who would gladly see a movie a day if given the option.

MoviePass, you should be ashamed of yourself, especially the recent decision to limit moviegoers’ choices in how they use MoviePass. In November, when I have to decide whether to spend $14.99 a month for a lesser service, I just hope AMC still is doing A-List because I’ll do that even though It won’t be able to see movies at any of the downtown arthouse/indie/repertory theaters (and they’re going to get fucked by losing all the MoviePass users).