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sparrow-mask22 · 3 months

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The Umbrella Academy Story of The Mothers (7/8) umbrella edition: Tatiana

TW: childbirth, blood, mentions of chronic illness

October 1, 1989. Moscow, Russia. 18 seconds before noon. (Also please forgive me for misgendering Viktor since this is chronologically meant to be before he transitioned)

Tatiana Barinova was a 14-year-old girl with a knack for mathematics. She was standing in front of the gates of the Moscow State Pedagogical Institute, waiting impatiently for her best friend, Katya, to arrive. It was a cool autumn day, and the air smelled of leaves and wet concrete. Tatiana shifted from foot to foot, tugging at her oversized sweater. She didn't like being late, but her parents' old car had broken down again, and she had to take the bus.

For context, Tatiana had severe Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA), which caused her joints to swell and made it difficult for her to move. At first she was administered joint injections every week, but she experienced negative side effects, so her doctors switched her to a aquatic physiotherapy program. It was a long and arduous process, but it was the only way for her to keep her condition under control.

As Tatiana got on her swimwear, she could see her friend approaching. Katya, who was only two minutes late, was already out of breath. "Sorry, Tanya," she gasped, "I had to run the rest of the way." She held out her hand to help her friend up. "Are you sure you don't want me to walk with you?"

Tatiana accepted her friend's help and winced slightly as she stood up. "No, no, I'll be fine," she said, trying to sound more confident than she felt. "Let's just hurry up and get to class."

As they walked side by side, Tatiana couldn't help but steal glances at Antony, a boy in their class who she had a crush on. He was tall, with messy brown hair and a crooked smile that lit up his entire face. He was talking to some of their other classmates, and every time he laughed, Tatiana felt a warmth spread through her chest. She wished she could muster the courage to talk to him, but her shyness always got the better of her.

"So, Tanya," Katya said, breaking into her thoughts. "What's new with you?"

"Oh, you know," Tatiana replied, forcing a nonchalant tone. "Just the usual. Math, physio, trying not to get lost in the halls. How about you?"

Katya rolled her eyes. "You know I meant something exciting, Tanya. Come on, you're always so quiet about your feelings. Spill it."

Tatiana hesitated, her cheeks flushing slightly. "Well, I was thinking of applying for a summer program in Leningrad," she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper. "They have this amazing music school there, and I've always wanted to become a violinist."

Katya clapped her hands together in excitement. "That's fantastic, Tanya! I knew you could do it. You've always been so talented with the violin. I bet you'd get in too."

Tatiana's cheeks flushed with excitement as she and Katya continued their walk to class. The prospect of attending a summer program in Leningrad was exhilarating, and she couldn't help but feel a sense of determination welling up inside her. She knew that getting into the music school there would be no easy feat, but she was willing to work hard to make her dream a reality.

Once everyone was in the pool, their swim teacher, Miss Olga, instructed them to pair up and practice their synchronized swimming skills. Katya and Tatiana found themselves partnered up, and after a few moments of awkwardness, they began to follow Miss Olga's instructions. As they moved through the water together, their bodies forming graceful shapes and patterns, Tatiana couldn't help but feel a sense of freedom and joy. For a brief moment, her discomfort with her arthritis disappeared, replaced by the sheer exhilaration of being able to move like this.

She glanced over at Antony, who was swimming with a girl named Svetlana. They seemed to be having a good time too, laughing and joking as they performed their routine. Tatiana wished she could be as confident and outgoing as Svetlana, but she knew that her shyness often held her back.

"Hey, Tatiana," Antony said, swimming closer to her as they waited for the teacher to give them a new instruction. His voice was deep and smooth, making her heart flutter. "You know, you're really good at that violin. I've always wanted to learn how to play."

"Oh, thank you," she replied, her cheeks flushing. "And you should! It's never too late to start. You'd be really good at it."

Antony grinned at her, his eyes twinkling. "Well, maybe I'll ask you to teach me someday. I hear you're pretty good at it too."

"Oh, I'm not that great," Tatiana demurred, blushing again. "But it would be nice to have someone to practice with."

Antony grinned and splashed her playfully. "Well, I'm sure I can find something we can practice together after class. Maybe something less...wet," he teased.

As they continued their routine, Tatiana couldn't help but feel a connection with Antony. He was charming and attentive, and she found herself losing track of time when they were together. It was a welcome distraction from her usual worries about her arthritis and the pressure to succeed academically.

She jumped in the pool, the cool water enveloping her body and sending a shiver down her spine. The pool was deep, and the water lapped gently against the sides, creating a soothing rhythm. The sun beat down on her skin, warming her up, and she felt her muscles relax as she began to swim. As she glided through the water, her strokes fluid and graceful, she couldn't help but feel a sense of freedom. For a brief moment, she forgot about her arthritis, her worries, and her responsibilities.

But then, the twelfth bell tolled, and something shifted inside her. As she broke the surface of the water, her breath caught in her throat. She was no longer surrounded by blood. The water around her was crystal clear, and the only thing that seemed out of the ordinary was the fact that she was...heavier. Very heavy. She tried to move her arms, but they felt numb and awkward, as if they weren't connected to her body properly. Her belly protruded outwards, swollen and round.

"Tatiana!" called out Antony, his voice alarmed. "Are you okay?"

Tatiana tried to speak, but only a gurgling sound came out. Her heart raced as she felt another contraction begin, her belly tightening uncomfortably. She reached down between her legs and felt something warm and wet, the water around her pooling around her feet. Fear gripped her as she realized that her water had broken.

Soon, the whole class was encircling her, their faces filled with a mix of awe and concern. Some of the women had already called for help, and the pool manager was rushing over with a phone in one hand and a towel in the other. As the contractions became more intense, Antony moved closer to her, his hands steadying her as she leaned against the edge of the pool. Her legs glistening from the water, she let out a sharp cry, her body tensing as the pain coursed through her.

The baby was immediately wrapped in a soft, warm blanket. Her mother, still basking in the glow of her miraculous birth, looked down at her child with awe and wonder. The room was filled with a sense of serenity and peace, as if time itself had paused to witness this momentous occasion.

The pool manager, having already called for medical assistance, busied herself with making sure everyone was comfortable and attended to. She glanced over at the new parents and smiled warmly, her eyes twinkling with tears of joy. "Congratulations," she said, her voice filled with genuine emotion. "You've just brought a beautiful soul into this world."

A girl was sent to the nearest GUM to pick up garments for the baby. She arrived with a bag full of soft, fluffy clothes, carefully chosen by the new parents. The baby, now clean and warm, was dressed in a pink and white onesie with a delicate lace trim, and a blue hat to match. As the GUM girl handed over the bundle, she couldn't help but marvel at the sight of the mother, still basking in the glow of her miraculous birth.

(The colors of the baby's clothes is also foreshadowing of his eventual transgender identity.)

As Tatiana caressed her child’s hand, she looked around the room, her eyes filling with awe and wonder. The women who had gathered around them were like a coven of ancient priestesses, their faces etched with the wisdom of countless births and the strength of countless loves. She felt a newfound sense of belonging in this circle of life, a connection to something greater than herself.

"Miss Olga, there’s some old mushroom faced man here," announced the front desk girl. "He says it's important." Miss Olga sighed, already feeling irritated by the interruption. She motioned for the man to enter her office. As he stepped inside, she couldn't help but notice his dapper appearance: the expertly tailored suit, the crisp white shirt, and the perfectly knotted tie. It was almost as if he'd stepped out of a 1950s movie poster.

"Good morning, Miss Olga," the man said with a warm smile, extending his hand. "My name is Reginald. I was hoping we could discuss something in private." Miss Olga hesitated for a moment, her curiosity piqued. She took his hand and led him to a comfortable chair in the corner of the room.

"Now, what is it that you wish to discuss?" she asked, sitting down across from him.

"Well, Miss Olga, I'm here on behalf of an old friend of mine. You see, he's rather...old-fashioned. He believes in traditional values, and he's always dreamt of having a family. He's even prepared to adopt, if necessary. But he's always been rather fond of the idea of having a biological child, and I believe that your Tatiana's newborn daughter might just be the answer to his prayers."

(Likely story)

Reginald paused, choosing his words carefully. He leaned forward in his chair, his gaze steady and earnest. "Now, I understand that this is a delicate matter, and I'm not here to pressure you or the mother in any way. But I thought it was worth a shot to at least discuss the possibility. My friend is more than willing to provide a loving home and all the financial support necessary for the child's upbringing."

Miss Olga listened intently, her expression thoughtful. She knew that the adoption process in Moscow was notoriously strict, and she wondered if Reginald's friend truly understood the challenges they might face. Still, she couldn't help but feel a spark of hope in her chest. Perhaps this could be a solution for Tatiana and her newborn daughter.

“You have six babies with you already," Miss Olga pointed out. "All of whom are languishing in a hot car while you're here. I'm not sure what you expect me to do with another child."

Tatiana's heart skipped a beat as she overheard Reginald's proposition. A sense of dread filled her, and she felt her grip on the baby tighten. She looked around the room, searching for any sign of support or understanding. But the other women were busy tending to the other infants, lost in their own worlds of love and loss.

Miss Olga, the swim instructor, was the only one who seemed to register Tatiana's discomfort. "I'm afraid you misunderstand," she said, her tone gentle but firm. "This is not a marketplace, Mr. Reginald. These children are not commodities. They are precious lives, entrusted to our care until they can find their forever families."

Tatiana's heart was racing as she listened to Miss Olga speak. She knew that the woman was right; these children were precious lives, not mere commodities. But she also couldn't deny the desperation she felt, the fear that her baby would never have a home or a family. She glanced down at her daughter, still wrapped in the blanket, and her resolve began to waver.

She entered the room, meeting Reginald's stare with a mixture of defiance and despair. Tatiana was hardly more than a girl herself, her body still bearing the weight of pregnancy despite the newborn nestled against her chest. The other women in the room, all older and more experienced, exchanged knowing glances as they tended to the six other infants scattered about the floor. But it was the look on Reginald's face that unsettled her the most.

"I understand your situation, my dear," he said, his voice gentle but firm. "Times are hard, and I can't even begin to imagine the desperation you must feel. But I assure you, I am not here to take advantage of you."

Tatiana looked at him skeptically, her eyes darting back and forth between him and her precious daughter. She wanted to believe him, but the desperation was like a weight pressing down on her chest, making it impossible to think clearly.

"If you were to give me the chance to raise your baby girl, I could promise you that she would grow up in a loving home, with all the opportunities in the world. (You forgot to mention the part of ostracizing him from his siblings and calling him “ordinary", but oh well!) I would give her the best education, introduce her to the finest arts and literature, and make sure that she knows just how special and loved she is. I would be there for her every step of the way, guiding her through life's triumphs and tribulations."

Tatiana's heart ached as she listened to Reginald's words. He seemed sincere, but how could she be sure? He was a stranger, an old man who currently had seven children languishing in a hot car. Still, the thought of her daughter growing up in a loving home, with all the opportunities Tatiana could only dream of, was almost too much to bear. She glanced down at her daughter, still wrapped in the blanket, and felt a tear trickle down her cheek.

"I... I don't know what to say," she stammered, her voice barely above a whisper. "It's just... I want the best for her. I want her to have a good life."

Reginald nodded, understanding the depth of her emotions. He reached out and gently took the blanket-wrapped bundle from her arms, cradling the tiny form against his chest. "I understand that, Tatiana. And I promise you, if you were to entrust your daughter to me, I would make sure that she has everything she needs to live a wonderful life. She would grow up knowing that she is loved, and that her future is bright."

Tatiana's heart ached as she watched Reginald hold her daughter, but something in his words, in the way he looked at her child, filled her with a sense of peace. She took a deep breath and tried to steady her trembling hands. "Okay... okay," she whispered. "I... I trust you."

The weight on her chest seemed to lift a fraction as she watched Reginald nod, his expression softening. "Thank you, Tatiana," he said quietly. "I promise you, I will never bring harm to your daughter. I will love her and cherish her as if she were my own." (Yeah, I'm sure the other six kids in the car will feel just as cherished.)

"But you must not contact her," Reginald said, his voice gentle but firm as he met her gaze. "It would not be safe for either of you. The world is a dangerous place, Tatiana, and people like you and I... well, we can't always protect those we love from its harsh realities."

Tatiana bit her lip, the conflicting emotions warring within her. On one hand, she desperately wanted to keep her daughter safe and close, but on the other, she knew that Reginald was right. She couldn't keep her in hiding forever.

"I... I understand," she managed to say, her voice barely above a whisper. "I'll find a way to live with that knowledge. Just... please, take care of her. Make sure she has a good life."

Tatiana forced herself to let go of her daughter, relinquishing her last physical connection to the child she had carried for nine months. As she watched Reginald place the blanket-wrapped bundle into the TRUNK of the car, she fought back the urge to stop him, to take her baby back and run away. But she knew that it was too late for that. The world outside was too dangerous for them both.

(Though the fact that the other six kids got to sit up front in the car and Viktor was stuffed in the glove compartment probably didn't help with the whole "cherished" thing.)

#tua #the umbrella academy story of the mothers #tua fanfic #the umbrella academy #no beta we die like the sparrows #canon divergence #canon divergent au #viktor hargreeves #pre transition #Tatiana (Viktor'a birth mother)

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lookingforhappy · 8 months

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tua & the importance of staging/set design/implied storytelling

i'm sure someone's talked about this before but i haven't come across anything on my own, so here's a little rant about the general drop in quality between s2 & s3.

the opening of s3 echoes the opening of s1 so i will mainly be comparing these two scenes to illustrate my point (i'm fairly sure this is common knowledge/popular opinion but i'm desperate for someone to acknowledge it).

obviously the scenes i'm comparing here are the births of Viktor and Ben, beginning from the start of each respective episode and ending at Reginald standing out front of the academy.

there's some fairly obvious parallels, which is no bad thing (loses a bit of originality and lessens the diverse experiences of the mothers but otherwise..), both in somewhat public settings, both indoors, both have teasing boyfriends who move a bit too fast, etc etc.

so, the first offender is the reveal of the pregnancy:

s1e1 seems to have a decent grasp of its limits, and gives us a dramatic reveal using cut aways and a body of water between us and the 'action'. we linger on the side character's faces and show their reaction to the event before we see it properly, Tatiana's distress is emphasised by the quick cut away where we skip the majority of the birth.

s3e1 reveals the pregnancy onscreen, we see a (kinda meh) bit of cgi used to 'grow' the mother's stomach, we are shown a distressed and confused communication between the mother and her boyfriend before the mother collapses onscreen.

i think having a cut away to the other passengers showing their distress/shock, or moving the camera further down the train as people begin to panic and rush over would have been a more effective route. this way the extra's (read: ben's mother's community) are more involved in the plot, given a few extra seconds of character development, hides the weird cgi, and most importantly, heightened the stakes/tension in the scene (obscuring the 'action' raises questions as to the mother's health and suggests that by creating distance between the mother and the audience we may not want to be attached to her, further suggesting an impending doom - which would have harkened back to the comic panel in which a baby is born on a bus with the implication that it's mother is dead.)

second offender is the birth itself:

between the 'conception' and birth of Viktor there is a cut away in which EVERYONE in the scene has moved.

Tatiana is now out of the water on several towels, swimming cap removed, swimsuit presumably cut open (?) and a towel over her legs for modesty.

there are extra's holding her hands, supporting her head, and giving comfort,

the instructor (an authority figure in a position which implies a basic knowledge of first aid) is acting as a midwife,

many (older, with a vague implication that they too have children) women have crowded around out of interest and/or support,

the men are further back out of respect/discomfort, the boyfriend, concerned for his girlfriend forces himself into the ring but doesn't try and take control,

one of the women seems displeased with the boyfriends actions,

everyone is calm and quiet except for Tatiana.

due to the cut away we have been shown that:

Tatiana has been in labour for a while,

the women/community has come together to help her,

there is a sympathetic or at least concerned atmosphere

the boyfriend is concerned for Tatiana (implies genuine connection or at least a feeling of guilt from the boyfriend showing us that he is a good guy).

overall, we now have a slightly better and more human/natural understanding of the community Tatiana lives in.

furthermore, once Viktor is born we are treated to a shot in which Tatiana collapses (further implying the extended length of time she has been in labour, and effectively communicating the pain and exhaustion she feels.) the camera centres on Viktor, bringing him into the foreground while Tatiana retreats into the back. this suggests to audience that this kid is more important than the mother, but also hints at a distance, disinterest or even dislike between Tatiana and her baby, which makes her decision to give away her baby a bit more understandable.

(this is actually followed up nicely by the newspaper clipping in s3, where it states that she was a synchronised swimmer with ambitions for the olympics. having a baby in this fashion may have put her plans on hold, or even made them impossible.)

there is no cut away between the 'conception' of Ben and his birth. his mother slides to the floor in real time and suddenly EVERYONE (conveniently, oddly, mostly women) is screaming and crowding her.

Ben's mother sits on the floor, screams, has a few people rush over to show support/interest, grabs someone's hand, gets screamed at by an older woman who also appears to be acting as her midwife, has her stomach undulate like the horror is moving about, sees her boyfriend looking scared and grossed out, then ... gives birth? in under a minute?

the lack of detail or care put into the framing of this situation is almost gross. because all we learn from this situation is:

the subway passengers, none of whom have any authority over ben's mother other than age, all inserted themselves into her space and took over without her consent,

they screamed and groped around at her, but none of them seemed to do anything to actually help her, in fact it seemed like they caused her more distress than anything,

ben's birth was like 10x faster than viktor's for some reason?

the horror was active and potentially harmful to ben's mother during the birth, but this is never expanded upon.

i think to improve this scene there needed to be:

a cut away to show a time skip and give the labour a more realistic timeline (for a 1st baby anyway, labour gets quicker the more babies you birth),

maybe a shot showing that the train's been stopped, or at least that someone has claimed title of authority figure here (Ben's mother is in a school uniform, and giving birth, on a subway, SOMEONE should be showing some empathy here).

some set design/staging showing that Ben's mother is being cared for, maybe a scarf or a jacket beneath her? some situational awareness would be good, a dirty subway floor isn't the most hygienic of places to give birth.

i think the original intent was to frame this as overwhelming, so maybe get some more emotion in the scene with overlapping sounds or arguing between good samaritans who think they know how best to help and more visuals of the mother's distress.

a more human reaction to seeing/dealing with a stranger giving birth would be great. run up and start screaming in her face isn't exactly on the top of my list here. like, sure, crying/screaming is fine but there's at least 5 people on this train car so have someone take them away in the background y'know.

if we want to include the horror then show a reaction to this, maybe even kill the mother, it's not like she's gonna stick around as an mc anyway,

hell, kill EVERYONE on the subway, have the boyfriend or some poor commuter pick up baby Ben, then at least there's a decent bit of weight to the scene.

on the final shot we need to see BOTH mother and baby, Ben is the mc here and his mother is carrying the scene forward, don't obscure the baby and hand it off to some rando

not all of the above needs to happen, but having some story in the surroundings would be better than a half assed minute long scene in a setting that looks too clean and inhuman to be convincing.

our third offender is Reg's arrival:

s1 has:

Reg push his way down a cramped hallway,

there are people standing in their doorways, spectating Tatiana and her baby (implies that she's lost privacy, become a source of morbid interest),

the lights are flickering, SOMETHING is amiss in this building even before Reg arrives,

this is clearly a small, cramped place to be living, implying that Tatiana is of low income.

There are multiple people standing around Tatiana, few have their faces in shot implying that they are voiceless, they aren't here to guide Tatiana, but they do have a presence in her life,

two are implied to be grandparents, there is a woman in the bed that may or may not be her mother,

a man who could be her father seems to have expected Reg while Tatiana is clearly uncomfortable with him.

there is clutter everywhere, patterned table cloths, pots and pans, this one room seems to be most of the apartment (not a luxurious place to live).

The camera is pulled in close, leaning downwards to give off a hostile or pressuring atmosphere in the scene.

Reg is quick to get to the point, and Tatiana looks uncertain,

we cut away before we hear Tatiana answer (we don't need to know the details, just the general vibe on how Reg conducted himself.)

s3 has:

Reg rushing down a larger hallway, there's windows and decorations on the walls,

there are people crowding their doorways but there's space to breath,

this building is clean, modest in size, possibly middle or upper-lower class housing.

Reg is somehow able to walk in through their open door despite none of them appearing to know about his arrival.

Ben's mother has her parents, sister and grandmother surrounding her,

the camera is at a mid angle, making the family look small and awkward in the scene,

there is a vast expanse of empty floor in the room, making the room look spacious, unfurnished, unlived in, cold.

the grandmother is the voice of the family, implied as the matriarch as her family nods in support behind her,

a butcher's knife is waved around, despite the cooking having been finished long ago.

personally, i find Ben's adoption to be far more ... distant than Viktor's. the camera needs to be pushed in, the space needs to be smaller or fuller, everything looks brand new and lacking in a personality. Reg speaks for far too long, we don't need the exposition, we know what he's here for, one line to the parent is all that's needed really, if anything.

Ben's mother is clearly being cared for and the family wants to keep the baby. Reg's insistence implies that he persisted until the child was handed over, but the addition of the grandmother threatening violence in her granddaughter's defence makes it messy. maybe Ben's mother could have shown an interest in Reg, and have Reg turning his attention to her as an authority instead of the grandmother. throw some background noise in - the grandmother being the angel on her shoulder, Reg being the devil - and you've got a slightly more convincing scene.

I could go on to other scenes but i think i've made my point?

i'm not claiming to be an expert, or that i could've done it better. it's easier to critique than to create. however, s3 had SO MANY instances where it was clear that the budget/interest in the set design and visual storytelling of each shot was massively diminished compared to s1 and s2.

Viktor's wig and Five's totally different hairstyle are two other examples of laziness/carelessness in this department. it all feels too clinical, no one has lived here, no one has hair as sharp and clean cut as that, and the hair & makeup inconsistencies between s2 and s3 are blaringly obvious.

even the academy feels empty and clean and crappy and boring compared to the eccentric, trophy covered academy of the brellies childhoods.

hell, the hotel felt unlived in for such an eccentric establishment.

i just. did no one else get upset by the set, hair, makeup or costuming? like i get that covid fucked it up but. seriously? thats all we got?

i hope s4 has better set design at least. please god id die for some good set design.

#tua

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nuttytani · 8 months

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Totoro AU with platonic Childe and Zhongli

When childe was just about 5-6 years old, his family move countries. So instead of living in snezhnaya, they're now moving to Liyue.

The new house they currently live is is okay-ish. A bit old, but full of spirit.

His younger older siblings and him look at every nook and cranny of their house and run around the forests and they see strange creatures. And I mean the last part literally. Strange yet cute

Little birds that would pick up on ginxing flowers, walking in a straight and orderly line. And a strange, scary yet really warm HUGE dragon. Childe found the later once exploring the area around their house. He even fell asleep on it!

When childe told his elder brothers and sisters about it, they all brushed it off

"Ajax, you're just imagining things. There's no such things as dragons!"

"But you saw those weird dust things that would walk... And the birds"

"....."

They ended up believing him soon enough.

After a few months of residing in their new house, Childe's mother was admitted in the hospital. She came down with a terrible fever and the doctors had told them to let her stay in the hospital wards for her to recover quick.

Childe's siblings and him were disheartened to let their mother go, even though it would be temporary they were still sad. But it was for her own health. The faster she recovers, the faster she'd be back home.

Around that time, things started to get stranger. One day, their father called from his workplace, asking his children to bring an umbrella at the bus stand, since it was raining so much and he forgot to bring one. So like any good children, childe and his 3 elder siblings went off to the bus stand with 4 umbrellas in tow. 2 blue, 1 yellow, 1 red and a large black one.

They waited and waited, yet there was no sign of their father. The rain was getting intense and the children were getting worried

After what felt like hours, they felt a presence of someone. Some being.

They turned around to see

A large brown dragon. With huuuuuuuuge whiskers and a looooooooooong body standing (?) Or trying to stand upright

The dragon had a placed a small sandbearer leaf on top of its snout, hoping to block the rain. But alas, it was too small for the dragon to protect him

The children were shocked

"hey, isn't that the thing Ajax said he saw?" — Anatoli

"Shhh don't be so loud, brother! It might hear you" — Aleksi

"Well, maybe don't call it an it???? What if you hurt errr the being's feelings?" — Tatiana

"Can we give him an umbrella?" — Ajax

"Fine. I feel bad for.... Him being rained on"

And so, they all handed the dragon the larger, black umbrella.

The dragon looked at them with amusement. If that was even possible. I mean, how can a supposedly mythical creature have facial expressions? Thankfully the dragon understood their intentions and took the umbrella. Which was also a little too small for it. But nevertheless, the kids had good intentions and the dragon was thankful for the kind gesture.

The dragon flickered its tail and made a loud rumbling sound. All the living creatures surrounding them hushed down and soared high up in the sky and the rain stopped. The dragon was nowhere to be seen and he also took the umbrella with him.

Once again, the children were stunned. Was this just a really fun dream? Even if it was reality, no one would believe them. Their father's bus soon arrived and he was delighted to see the kids

"I'm so sorry my darlings, you have no idea what............"

While their father was speaking about his work. Little Ajax had found a small pouch made of sandbearer leaves, tucked inside his raincoat. He swore it wasn't there before.

When the kids reached home, they all peered inside the pouch that Ajax had. It had seeds. Of what? They weren't sure of. But they still planted it in their garden, taking care of it night and day.

When the kids reached home, they all peered inside the pouch that Ajax had. It had seeds. Of what? They weren't sure of. But they still planted it in their garden, taking care of it night and day.(okay,ik at this point this is just silly..... but please bear with me until my steam runs out)

Many weeks passed, yet the seeds wouldn't grow. Ajax was starting to get sad and his siblings felt sorry for him. They could do nothing about it, the plants would grow when they deemed it was the right time to!One night, however, Ajax heard loud rumbling noises coming from outside their house. He shook his siblings awake and pulled them out. And there it was. The same dragon they saw at the bus stand, looking at the planted seeds with furrowed brows- or at least they think it was. The dragon must have felt their presence so it turned around to face them, now looking at them with adoration.... Again, how can a creature have such expressive face? Anyways, they walked closer towards the dragon and copied his actions. Now all of them were staring at the planted seeds with a severe expression.

"So what are we doing?"

"I don't know. Ask Mr. Dragon"

"Hey Mr. Dragon, can we call you that?"

Mr. Dragon let out a soft rumble, it was probably a yes.Mr dragon whips out his handy dandy black umbrella. Which the kids recognised as their father's. Oh. Ok but how did the dragon whip it out from thin air? They chalked it up to the dragon being magical. The dragon started doing some strange motions in front of the seeds. And the kids followed suit.

And slowly.... Something started to wriggle out of the soil! Plants!!! They were small plants!

The kids got excited and continued copying Mr dragon

The small plant grew large and tall in a blink of an eye

So huge, that it almost touched the clouds

Ajax and his siblings stared up at the tree with awe

Mr dragon rumbled again, to catch the kids' attention. He placed his paw in front of them, waiting. The kids were unsure of what it meant, but Ajax quickly hopped on with excited giggles onto Mr dragon's paw and his siblings shrugged and followed

Mr dragon lets out a loud roar and many birds and different mythical creatures surround them. With a hup, they all fly up and land on top of the tree. All singing and dancing throughout the night

Ajax and his siblings find themselves in their beds, which they don't remember going into. They all run out to the garden to see the tree, which was no more there..... Perhaps it was really just a dream.

"BIG BROTHER, THE SEED SPROUTED!! LOOK"

Indeed. There were plenty small sprouted seeds.

They all looked eachother with smiles on their faces.

Days passed with many more adventures with Mr dragon and his friends.

They saw giant flying deers and stags (they can fly?), weird looking tiger with horns and a huuuuuuuuuuge crane. And so many more.

Their mother was still hospitalised and away from home. Ajax wasn't really sure what it was about but something something new family member. He was missing his mother and one hour visits to see her every week wasn't cutting it out anymore. Perhaps Mr. Dragon sensed his sadness, because he took Ajax and his siblings to watch their mother over the tree. They got a free ride back home from Mr dragon too!

They also happened to find new neighbours

Apparently they moved in a few weeks ago

Mr Zhongli, who had long dark hair and bright amber eyes. He seemed really nice and would entertain the kids by having them over for tea

Ms. Guizhong who was sweet and kind. She was actually the one who greeted them after her family moved in. She also invited the kids to sometimes come over and play with them, as it gets lonely. Ajax's father was skeptical to let his kids go at some stranger's house but he soon found out that they were good people so yay for the kids.

Ms. Liuyin Jiefeng, who looked really strict but was super fun to play with! She would tell stories about her kids named ganyu, shenhe and xiao. They haven't met with the supposed kids yet. Soon, ms liuyun promises.

And then there was madam ping who would give them more plants to looks after and would have tea cakes!

Their mother was at last given the clean bill of health and came back home with a new little baby sister, named Tonia!!!

They shared their fun adventures with Mr dragon and the other creatures to them. Their mother would listen with happiness, relieved that they all had fun while she was away

Needless to say but, Mr. Zhongli's family and Ajax's family became closer than ever, you could even say they were like one big happy family. They'd invite eachother for dinner and the kids would play in the garden. Yes, they were finally able to meet with the mysterious ganyu and xiao. Who were slightly older than Ajax's eldest brother.

"psst ganyu, did you know, there's this kind Mr dragon who keeps playing with us!"

"Yeah! He even stopped the rain for us and helped the plants grow"

"Even took us to meet mother!"

"Oh I see that lord Mor—"

Xiao quickly covered ganyu's mouth with an awkward laugh

"anyways- ummm want to go eat some almond tofu? Ms. Guizhong made some at home today"

#genshin impact #tani writes!!#childe #zhongli #zhongchi #tartali #zhongchili

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merciless-tickler · 10 months

Text

My tickle stories

Note => most of these stories are not meant in a nsfw way, I apologize if they may be interpreted that way.

These stories/situations were from my child hood to adult hood.

Tickle story #1 -> I was 7 years old. It was Monday morning 7:45 am, and I needed to get ready for school, my mom said as she knocked on the door of my room,“Danny please get up you need to ready for school, it's not good to be late" I tossed and turned and said "mom please 2 minutes" my mom said "okay 2 minutes" about 10 minutes later, my mom said "Daniel come on" I replied "let me sleep mom please I like to sleep" my mom said "no come on" as she playfully bonked (hit) me on the head with a extra pillow that was on the bed, I got all grouchy and fussy, she playfully removed the covers and laughed. My mom said "come on get up sweety" I tried to pull the covers back in fussy mood, she pulled the covers back and I pulled them toward me, this went on for a few minutes she allowed me to take the covers and giggled then said "you want to be stubborn and fussy huh okay" then she removed the covers where my feet are and started to wiggle her fingers on my heels, soles, arches and toes playfully, my mom said "are you going to get up or what?" I couldn’t help but start giggling and say between giggles "hehehehey nohohoho nonohohoho stohohop plehehehease plehehehease mohohommy" I squirmed about and kicked my feet as I was laughing, she laughed with me, she said in a teasing tone "so what will it be hm?" as she held my ankles one foot at a time and started to wiggle one finger at a time on my left foot under my toes then switched to my right foot and to the same thing, I manage to respond between giggles "okahahahay okahahahay Ihihih wihihihihill gehehehet uhuhuhuhup mohohommy" after that tickles she gave me she smiled and gave me a big hug and head kisses then said "come let's go" I got up and she took me to school, my parents agreed to never get me to use or get me on the bus, either my mom or dad would take me but mostly my mom took me, my dad was busy working.

Tickle Story #2-> When I was 9 my dad and I went on a car ride just him and I, I was at the front passenger seat and he started to tickle squeeze my knees and thighs, I flinched and squealed then "hehehehey dahahad stop" he replied with " oh my, ticklish knees and thighs" and he did it again which made me jump and squeal again I managed to say between giggles "stohohop dahad plehehehehease" and he did.

Tickle Story #3-> When I was 13, my parents and I went to Lebanon for a vacation and one day, my dad traveled abroad for work so I was invited to my cousins’ house. There were my 6 cousins and their parents. My dad was working abroad, so my cousins were all between the age ranges of 3 to 17-18. After we all had lunch, the young children were playing, running around the house mostly in the living room. I was sitting on a chair because I couldn't run with them. I needed help and still do need help moving around. My youngest second cousin Leah tripped and fell on the carpet, I lifted her and helped her up. Then she surprised me and said "tickle me" so after a few seconds of hesitation I did. I gently caught her left ankle and dragged and wiggled my fingers up and down her arches and soles, she giggled, squirmed and kicked her free leg in ticklish laughter, I let go of her left ankle a little, she managed to move away but after I few seconds she told me "come get me and tickle me" so I did, I wiggled my fingers up and down her ribs and sides and tummy, she was laughed a lot, but my older cousins and adults didn’t like it, that I was tickling her.

Tickle Story #4-> My parents and I went back to Kuwait after about a couple of weeks and one day we were on a video call with a relative and her nieces, we were using skype. The relative was called Laura, the nieces were called Marilyn and Tatiana, Marilyn was 4 and Tatiana was 3, I suddenly asked Laura "are Marilyn and Tatiana ticklish?" She nodded and started to tickle their necks and sides; I could see they were both sitting on her lap. I was smiling the whole time watching her tickle them. After we ended the call, my parents talked to me and were saying "it was not nice what I asked Laura".

Tickle Story #5-> My parents and I were on a voice call with relatives who are Richard, Annie and their daughter Alessamdra who was 10 years old, they were from the UK. At one point, I could hear her giggling, so I asked "what’s going on over there?". Annie answered and said "Richard, Alessandra and I are sitting on the couch and Alessandra is laying her head on my lap while Richard is tickling her feet so she is trapped between us". After about a minute I heard both Annie and Alessandra giggling, I asked "is uncle Richard tickling Alessandra’s feet again?". Richard answered and said "Annie is tickling Alessandra’s sides" I heard Annie say to Alessandra "tell Danny hello" in between giggles Alessandra managed to say "hihihihihihihi Dahahahahanny" after a few minutes of talking, we ended the call.

Tickle story #6-> When I was 16 my cousin who lived and still does live in Canada came over for Christmas. One day he started to tickle me, til I couldn't breathe. I was inches away from punching him. My mom stepped in, stopped my punch and told him to stop, which he did.

Tickle Story #7-> One day I met my friend, Michael, on an app called Wattpad. Michael was 20 when we started communicating, we became friends over time and decided at one point to start to roleplay, tickle roleplay to be exact. He told me before we started roleplaying that he never was, is not and never will be picky about who he roleplays with, or what their character’s gender is, he accepts both genders. The only thing that mattered to him is the people he role plays. They should like being both a tickler and ticklee, show happiness in both situations, and then he and the person can and will have fun role playing together because he knows that it will go well. Michael wanted to thank me in advance for accepting to roleplay with him and that we are friends. Michael is a switch; he likes to tickle and be tickled. He always lets the other role-player decide which one they want to be, tickler or a ticklee. I am mainly a tickler, so he and I agreed that I would be the tickler. He told me it was a great decision because he was in a lee mood. So, this roleplay scenario was split into multiple parts.

P.1) It was a Saturday when he visited me at my house, he came in and sat on the couch while I got him a cup of water and I gave it to him then we both sat on the couch in my living room. We started talking and I asked him "how was the drive here" and he said "good, I’m glad that I came" I said " me too, would you like anything else to drink, a juice ?" he said "no thanks if I want anything I will say" I nodded and sat to his left on the couch then I asked him with a smile "why don’t you remove your shoes and socks to get comfortable", he smiled and said "sure" he took them off, I held his ankles and put them on my lap, he was already grinning, I noticed.

I was sitting next to him on the sofa, I started to tickle his left foot on his sole with my fingers, he asked me "what are you going to do?" I didn’t answer him or say anything, I just started to tickle his left arch also with my fingers. I have known him for a few months, we trusted and respected each other and he liked to be tickled so he let me tickle him. He started to giggle and in between the giggles he asked me "how did you know that I would like to be tickled now?" I answered and told him "because I am a professional tickler" then I started to tickle his toes, he giggled more and started to laugh as I did that then I grabbed his right foot and put it also on my lap, he liked it, I could tell.

When I finished tickling his feet for the time being, I wiggled my fingers up his legs and focused on his knees quite a bit which turned out to be another good tickle spot of his, he started rocking his upper body while laughing and he fell and laid on his back, while on the couch. I laughed with him and said in teasing tone "aww such ticklish feet and toes, let’s see about your thighs" as I started to tickle his thighs one by one then both at the same time, he said between giggles and his bucking and squirming "plehehehehease dahahahaniel nohohoh" I smiled as I easily could reach and tickle his tummy because I rolled up his shirt a bit while he was on his back then I said "well then let’s see about your ticklish tummy" then I started to tickle his tummy that turned out to be his second favorite tickle spot he squirmed and barely managed to say.

"ohohoh goohohohoodness nohohoh", he actually enjoyed the friendly tickles he was getting from me. He surprised when he raised his arms and smiled at me showing me, he trusts me and that I can tickle him on all common and appropriate tickle spots that I want and I did, so I started to tickle his ribs, sides and armpits, he laughed even more, I knew he could take and handle much more tickling than he had a few seconds ago. We had a good friendship and we were both happy and smiling because he was being tickled by me and I was tickling him, I soon started to tickle his neck and under his chin with my fingers, after a few seconds I switched from tickling with my hands to blowing raspberries, I blew some quick raspberries on his neck, he flinched and curled his neck and shoulders.

P.2) I stopped and asked him "is everything okay?" he answered me and said "nobody had ever blown raspberries on my neck before even when I was little the feeling is something new to me but it was fun and funny and I like it" I smiled at him and then I blew another raspberry on his neck then I switched and blew a raspberry on his tummy, he erupted with laughter, making him smile. I focused on his tummy and blew many raspberries on his tummy, then I switched between light and strong raspberries on his tummy then I mixed in tickles on his sides with my fingers. He was having a lot of fun I could tell and he was smiling and laughing a lot.

I eventually gave him a shirt break and he told me "I’m so happy I am your friend and that I am being tickled by you and now I will like you more than before" After the raspberries I gave him, I got up and got a bag that was and sounded as if it was full of equipment and it was a bit heavy but I managed to carry to next to the couch, I told him "guess what is in this bag" he replied "I don’t know all I can tell is it’s heavy" I replied "you will see" with a smile then I opened it and I reached in the bag and got out a feather and started to tickle him all over, I started with his neck, I tickled both his left and right sides of his neck, then I went down and got all his ticklish spots till I reached his feet.

He was laughing so much the whole time, he managed to stay still the entire time, just squirmed a little bit every little while but I could tell he was dying of laughter on the inside, he was wondering and asked me "what tickle tool will you use next?" because he knew the tickling was not over yet. Michael smiled widely when he noticed that I took two electric toothbrushes, because he knew and told me "oh no these electric toothbrushes will tickle so much more than a feather" I smiled back at him and turned on both the electric toothbrushes then I tickled his armpits with them one by one at first then both at the same time.

Michael said between his roars of laughter "it tickles so much" he grabbed the sides of the pillows from under his head to keep his arms up, I smiled widely when he told me "I still want more tickles, I didn’t get enough" I dragged both electric toothbrushes down his ribs and sides, he was laughing his head off I noticed he didn’t want this fun to end. A few minutes later I stopped tickling him with the electric toothbrushes and I gave him a moment to rest and then I reached into the bag again and pulled out two things, a length of rope and leather cuffs then I held the rope in my left hand and the leather cuffs in my right hand.

He looked at me and he was a bit surprised and said to me "there is no need to tie me down so you can tickle me, I’m trying to stay as much as I can for you but if you want I will let you, I trust you fully"

So he let me. I let him choose which one to pick, the rope or the leather cuffs, I said with a smile "which one?" He looked at both of them and said "the leather cuffs" I nodded and said "okay, very well" and I put the handcuffs on his wrists, restraining them above his head.

I waited a moment to make sure that he was ok with that, and when I saw that everything was fine, I continued to tickle him, I moved and wiggle my fingers on his tummy letting him know that I will be tickling him more, he smiled in anticipation he was observing my hands, because he really wanted to be tickled more, he noticed I really wanted to tickle him as well. As soon as I lowered my hands, my fingers started willing and scribbling up and down his tummy making him squirm.

P.3) He liked it so much and he was laughing so much, he told me "I don’t remember when I last had that much fun" I smiled and tickled both his armpits with my fingers and blew raspberries on his belly button, making him laugh and squirm, right after that I sat on his knees, with my back to him and I started tickling his feet with my hands, he couldn’t see where I was tickling but he could feel everything. I tickled his left heel first then my fingers went up to his sole, I first used one finger then two fingers then a full hand, same with the right foot. He was laughing so much, enjoying the fun of me tickling him.

When I finished tickling his feet, I turned to face him, felt happy seeing my face, he smiled at me and I smiled back then I hovered and wiggled my fingers in the air, getting closer and cooper to his armpits, I used so much tickle talk, that made him laugh even more, I didn’t even start tickling his armpits, after tickling his armpits for a few minutes, I start tickling his belly with one finger, it tickled him so much that he snorted and started laughing. I asked him playfully "what so funny" he answered "your tickles" and laughed again, I tickled his belly button a moment longer and after I finished, I uncuffed him and stopped sitting on his knees but he knew that the fun was not over yet and he was right.

I told him "my goodness, you are so ticklish" he smiled at me and said "you are a great tickler" and I told him "you are an awesome lee" I smiled back and said "get on your tummy" then I reached for something and I have him a moment to rest, he turns on his tummy and he waited for me, wondering what I will do or bring this time, less than a minute, I came back with a second pair of leather cuffs and 2 hooks, I informed him and said "I will hogtie you and tickle your feet now" I didn’t ask permission and he knew that he could trust me and did. He had never been tied up like that before, it was something fully new to him but trusted me so much that he agreed and said “okay”.

P.4) I put his arms behind his back and used the leather handcuffs on his wrists again, then I bent his legs, feet up and close to his wrists, put the other pair of leather cuffs on his ankles and joined both pairs of leather cuffs above his back with the two hooks I got, as a hogtie. After he was restrained, I asked him "are you okay, are you in any discomfort or pain?" He replied and said "yes i am okay, no i'm not in any discomfort or pain" I smiled and said "good" I could sense he was nervous but and he " this is my first time being tied like this'' he did feel helpless but in a few minutes he calmed down knowing and trusting me that he was safe. He told me

"I don't know how long you will keep me tied up like this but surprisingly it is not that bad, I could stay like this for a while". I smiled back & told him "You know what I like the most about you being tied up like this" he said "what?" I replied " you can't see where I'm about to tickle".

After a few seconds, I did give him a chance to ask me "what do you mean?" I just started to tickle his feet with my fingers. I first moved one finger along his left foot, from his heel to his toes, then added two fingers then I attacked and tickled both his feet with my fingers, with all ten fingers making him Laugh again. He was unable to speak for a moment, he was just lying on his belly, with his hands & soles above his back, laughing non stop for a few minutes. I noticed that he was enjoying it, getting tickled by me, so I started tickling his toes, one by one, which made him laugh even more. Then after a few seconds of giving him a short break and chance to breathe I decided to tickle some of his other spots I could reach like the back of his thighs, at first just one, then the other, then both at the same time, it tickled so much and was laughing to point of almost being in tears, after some time I tickled his sides then returned to tickling his feet again.

He kept laughing and managed to say between laughter "It's so fun, how you tickle" and I said "I'm happy that you said and think so". After a few minutes I carefully tilted him on his right side while he was still hogtied and started tickling his left side, he could sense his nervousness again because he managed to get used to being hogtied for the first time when he was lying on his belly but when I tilted him on his side, he suddenly felt helpless again but only for a moment, cause he knew he was safe.

When I leaned over to look at his face to make sure he was okay, he smiled at me to let him know that he still liked it, I continued tickling his side adding some belly button tickles to it every few seconds. He laughed twice as much. To his surprise I started ticking under my toes, he wasn't expecting that so he bursted out in surprised laughter. I liked his laughter, so I continued and he could only feel the tickles, laugh, and smile brightly. As soon as I finished tickling under his toes I uncuffed him, setting him free from being hogtied, I helped him sit up, he was grateful thanked me for it, he thought for a few seconds that it was the end of the ticklish fun and laughter we were having but it turned out and found out soon enough, that I wasn't finished yet, I still wanted to tickle him in some other ways. He managed to get used to so much of my tickles that he felt happy when I told him "we aren't done yet". He said "my ways of tickling made him so happy and he liked them so much that I could really go like that all day". The text role play ended then.

Tickle story #8-> At one point I got to know a person called James, he and I were good friends, I spoke and got to know his family. There was his dad, his biological mom, his step mom, and his 4 siblings. One day, James and 2 of his siblings Sammantha or Samm and Jayden were going for a car drive to visit family at the time, during that day. Half way through the drive, Jayden said "I want to rest" he was very sleepy, James and Samm were sitting at the back of the car, he was told by his parents, who at the front not to let Jayden fall asleep they were close to arrive/reaching their destination, James who listened to his parents told Jayden "no you need to stay awake we will reach soon". He began to tickle Jayden's left thigh softly and gently.

Jayden started giggling the whole time, he managed to say "Jaames" in between fits of giggles and laughter. After a few seconds Samm said "yes you need to stay awake we are almost there" She began to tickle Jayden's right thigh James and Samm tickled him all the way til they reached.

Fun Fact: I didn't know that this was happening, I asked him and I guessed what was happening and I guessed what was being said, I was right.

Tickle Story #9-> For context; this was a text that my friend and I had we used this image as visualization ⬇️

Evie: *strips down fully and slides my clothes next to you, laying down on my belly* this is gonna tickle so bad.

Daniel (me): Oh it will *I chuckle as tie your wrists behind your back then tilt your upper body to the side and have u laying on your left side. I cover your eyes with a sleeping mask and then I put and lock your feet into stocks*

Evie:*bites my lip as I blush lightly, wiggling my toes* y'know my trick right?

Daniel: *I trace and drag two mini hair brushes along your soles both at the same time using both my hands* yes I do ~

Evie: *screams and arches my back as my legs jerk down a little*

GEEHEHEHE NOHOHOOHOHOHO AHAHAHAHAHAHA GOHOHOHOHOSHH!!

Daniel: Awww screaming already but I only just started *I say as I make a mix of big and small circles with the same mini hair brushes on the balls of your feet, with my left hand I make left circles with my right hand I make right circles*

Evie: *begins lightly thrashing and pulling as the stocks as I squeal and burst into laughter, tossing my head side to side with every jerk and squeak*

GEEHFFEHWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA PLEHEHEHEHEEASE AAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH EEHAHAHAHAHAHSHA FUAHAHAHAHAHAHA NOHOHAHAHAHAHAH SHIIHIIHIHIHIHIHIT MEHEHERCY AHAHAHAHAAIIEEEHEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA NOHOHOHOHO CIHIHIHIRCEHELLSS!! FFMFMDHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA

Daniel: Oh more circles sure with pleasure.

*Creates small to be under your toes on both your feet under each toe with both mini hair brushes*. This is so fun

*I switch it up and do alternative up and down motion strokes passes along heels and arches*

Evie: *bucks and thrashes harder as I turn on my side and try to pull at the stocks*

GAAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA OHOHOHOHOHO MAHAHAY GAHAAHAHAD WAHAHAHIT IHIHIHIAAHAHAHA NOHOHOHOHOT THEHEHEHEHE AAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAIEEHAHAHAHAHAHAHA STOHOHOHOP EEHEHEHEHEAH TIHIHICKLES EEEHEHEHEHEAAHAHAHAHAA STOHOHOHOGPPP!!

Daniel: I will never stop this is too fun and enjoyable *I grab the top of your right foot then with hair brush I scribble relentlessly on your heel as I nibble on your arch*

Evie: *shrieks loudly as I buck and thrash much harder, soaking the blindfold as I rock side to side, hoping to make it stop*

OHOHOHOHAHAHAHAHAHSHAHAHA AAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA OHOHKAAHAY STEEAHAHAHAHAHAHAH PLEHEHEHEHEEASE AAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH EEHAHAHAHAHAHSHA BREHEHEAKE!! BREATH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA GAHAHAHAHAG EHEHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHHAHA NOHOHOHOHO MOHOHORE AHAHAHAA STAHAHAHAP IHIHISSHSHAHAHAH

Daniel: One more little thing before I give you a break but u remain in this position and not asked to be released from the stocks is that clear.Now I will tie your toes back

*does so u feel almost like circular cuffs on your big toes* then I will have feathers between your little toes *I do so* and then.....*Says nothing as I pass 2 electric toothbrushes starting from under your toes to your heels and back up*

Evie: *screams loudly and squeals as I buck, thrash, and arch my back, wriggling and pulling at the bonds hardly*

GAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA NOOHOHOH YEHEHEEAAHAHAHAHAH STAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHP FUHUHUYHUHUHUHAHHHAHAHAHAHAVKHH SHIHIHIHIT SHIIHIIHIHIHIHIHIT MEHEHERCY AHAHAHAHAAIIEEEHEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA TOHOHOESSHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAGAGGSSSHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAHAHA STAHSHAH STAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHP TIHIHICKLING MEEHEHEHEHE GOHOHOHOHOHOHOD AAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA FAAHAHAHAHAA

Daniel: Okay okay I will give you a short break…

Evie: *pants and gasps as I turn on my side and control my breathing*

guh..hehehe..fuhuck..nngf... heh..

Daniel: You liked that huh, the intensity?

Evie: *blushes as my breathing finally calms, feeling sweat bead down my forehead* y-yea

Daniel: Good because break time is....

*Draws circles on your heels of your Left foot and zigzags from under your toes to your heel, including and passing the electric toothbrush along your right arch, with the electric toothbrushes still* Overrrrr Yay

Evie: *bursts into laughter as my face turns red, yanking and twisting my ankles as I arch my back and rock side to side*

GAAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA OHOHOHOHOHO MAHAHAY GAHAAHAHAD FWHAHAHHAHHAHAHAH PHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA WHAHAHAT THEHEHEHE NOHOHOHOHOT FAHAHAHHAHAIR AAHAHAHAHAHAHAHSSHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Daniel: Awww not fair is it too bad it's fun forrrr meeeee.... Nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom. Lovely ~ *As I nibble between your little toes alternating between them as I also then stop the electric toothbrushes then use my fingers too draw circles on your arches one by one*

Evie: *shrieks and screams hysterically as I rock and buck violently, my toes tremble and blush as I make the stocks creek with every pull and jerk*

GAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA NOOHOHOH YEHEHEEAAHAHAHAHAH STAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHP FUHUHUYHUHUHUHAHHHAHAHAHAHAVKHH SHIHIHIHIT SHIHIHIHIT SHIIHIIHIHIHIHIHIT MEHEHERCY AHAHAHAHAAIIEEEHEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA TOHOHOESSHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAGAGGSSSHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAHAHA STAHSHAH STAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHP NOHOHOHOHO BIHIHIHIHITCH STAHAHAHAHAP NIHIHIHIBLESSHSHSHAHAHS OHOHOHO GOHOHOHOHOD

Daniel: My goodness such a fighter

*As I reach over and poke/ tickle squeeze your exposed side* "I will give your feet a bit of a break, time see your other tickle spots and see how much u squirm"

Evie: *jerks to the side and giggles as my hips jerk back* geehahahaha ohoho nohohoho wahahait pleheheheheease

Daniel: Wait for what cutie

*I say as reach and tickle squeeze behind your knees and thighs*

I wonder how much u will buck and trash around if I do this ~

Evie: *screams and thrashes once you squeeze behind my knees, bursting into convulsive laughter and shrieks as you touch my thighs, wriggling side to side*

GAAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA OHOHOHOHOHO MAHAHAY GAHAAHAHAD PLEHEHEHEHEEASE AAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH EEHAHAHAHAHAHSHA FUAHAHAHAHAHAHA NOHOHAHAHAHAHAH SRAHAHAHAHAHAH EEHEHEHEHEHWH REEHEHEDD REEHEHEHEDDD REEHEHEHWHEDDD!!

Daniel: Aww my goodness a screamer/ thrasher and shrieker lovely

Okay I will stop for now.

*I stop but don't release u yet*

Evie: *pants and breathes heavily, flustered and worn out I stay on my side as my toes try to curl* p-please *pant* untihihie my tohohoes *pant*.

Daniel: Untie your toes sure *I untie your toes* Is it better?

Evie: *my toes wiggle and curl lightly as I shift back onto my belly, keeping my back slightly arched, trying to hide my blush*

Daniel: *I gently massage your heels, feet, arches and toes*

Evie: *Snickers and wriggles lightly as my toes wiggle and spread in response*

ohohoho that feeheheheels niceehehehehehe mohohohore~

Daniel: Awww good

*I lightly massage between your toes and along sole one foot at a time with both hands*

Evie: *squeals and tenses up as my toes curl, wiggling from the sensations as my feet blush* GEEHEhehehehehe ohohoho nohohohoho wahahait fahahahahahahahaha

Daniel: Why, what's wrong baby girl. I'm just massaging your feet *As I have my hand rubbed with oil and spread it all over feet as I massage*

Evie: *Snickers and wriggles side to side as my toes curl* ohohoho no nohohot the ohohohoil pleheheheheease ahahaha ahaieeehahaha

Daniel: Why not *I dance my fingers under your toes and then drag my fingers down to your heels* It makes your feet soft.

Evie: *arches my back tensely and screams hysterically, bucking and rocking side to side as my feet tremble and blush under your fingertips*

GAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA OHOHOHO GOHOHOHOHOSHH HAHAHAHAHAHA PLEHEHEHEHEEASE NOHOHOT THEHE TOHOHOES NAHAHAHAHAHAHA FUHUHUCK SHIHIHIHIT PLEHEHSHEHEHEHEHEASE OHOHKAAHAY STEEAHAHAHAHAHAHAH PLEHEHEHEHEEASE EEEHEEHEHEHEHEGEEHEHEH

Daniel: Awww please more ? Ofcourse

*As I nibble on each toe then I reach and tickle squeeze your Left Inner thigh and drag a flosser along your right Inner thigh with my right hand* Better? I think it is *I chuckle and laugh

Evie: *bucks and wriggles harder as I toss my head back and to the side*

GEEHAHAHAHAHA NOHOHOHO IHIHIHITS NOHOHOHOHOHOTRNAAHAHAHAHAHAHAA STAHAHAHAP PLEHEHSHEHEHEHEHEASE NOOHOHOH YEHEHEEAAHAHAHAHAH STAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHP TIHIHICKLING MEEHEHEHEHE GOHOHOHOHOHOHOD DAHHAHAHMIHIHITR

Daniel: Okay okay I will give you another break *I say in between laughing and massage your feet and reach over, rub your back in circle motions then remove and tuck strands of your hair behind your ears*

Note => the RP has ended for now

#tickle stories #tickle community

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erigold13261 · 1 year

Note

:3 have some more headcanons

1. Joust and Quinda used Tatiana to cook food when the ghoulings were on tour

2. Remi and Zuke love Spiderman, you bet these two fangirled over spider verse

3. Mayday got Purl into MLP and we can all guess who his favor characters are (Obviously Twilight and Luna)

4. West got Mama to laugh once, she hissed at him out of anger but he saw Purl Hew and Yinu hiss at each other as a greeting so he thought it was a family thing and hissed right back in, honestly the most pathetic manner Mama had ever heard. That got her to think maybe this guy isn't all bad...

5. Eve and Dodo love obscure animated movie and shows

6. Eloni is huge Hollow knight and Undertale fan, she even wrote a bit of fanfiction

7. Nova watches lots of sci-fi movies and shows and will criticize any major inaccuracies

8. Sayu actually went to Hot topic a few times it's a nice place and ze owns a few items from there

9. Cyril's first fictional crushes were Venom and Rouge don't judge him!!

1). I just imagine the two trying to cook those popcorn stove top popcorn packages on her head as she sleeps in the tour bus or van and it not working because she isn't hot enough. But they keep trying and she wakes up and gets mad, making her fire light up and she just burns and melts the popcorn and container lol!

Joust and Quida still end up eating it because Quida can eat the plastic covered popcorn while Joust actually likes burnt popcorn. Elivy stayed far away from the whole mess, but got an earful from Kul Fyra as she complained to him.

2). It's a damn good movie! Of course they would love it! But also I can see Zuke having old comics that are torn at the edges from years of rereading and he brings them over one day for him and Remi to read together.

3). I actually would think Haym would, but honestly seeing both Haym and Mayday sit Purl down to watch MLP would be hilarious. I do agree that Purl would love Luna, but I am not sure about Twilight. Her behaviours, at least in early seasons, would make them not really like her. But they would probably come around, especially after she became a princess.

4). Her just full on with an enraged face hissing at West with absolute anger, and he just hisses back with happiness and a smile but also a really weak and shitty hiss as he's never really hissed before. Of course she would be so confused and flabbergasted that she would just start laughing. Confusing West as she literally walks away as she can't even talk for like 5 minutes.

West honestly thinks he somehow hissed out a joke or something that Mama understood and is so confused. He ends up asking Purl and Yinu, which gets Yinu to laugh a little and explain that Mama is not like them and only hisses in anger, so he literally just confused her into laughter. West apologizes to her and she tells him it's alright.

5). I have very little knowledge of what shows would be obscure, but I can totally see them sitting down and watching weird animated shows. One I remember is like called "Spliced" and I can see them watching that. With like horrified faces at times but still not stopping because they are interested in the strangeness.

Remi never understood this and finds the animation for a lot of these so bad or ugly that he can't even hate-watch these cartoons. But he will listen/watch Dodo and Eve talk about the shows after they are done watching them.

6). Yeah... Yeah I can see that, lol. Honestly they would read TONS of fanfictions for all kinds of games, but only write for a few that really peak their interest, So Undertale is definitely one of them (I don't know much about Hollow Knight but what I have seen would make me feel like Eloni would also write fanfics for it).

For other media though, she would definitely do deep dive analyses. I can imaging her having a whole youtube channel using computer generated voice (that sounds nice, the same one she uses for streams because thinking words into existence is easier than physically speaking for her) and would just have hours to DAYS of analysis content for all kinds of games, shows, and other media.

7). And you better believe that Zimelu is right there beside them asking all kinds of questions. The two will have a 6 hours movie session and only get through one 1.5 hour movie lol.

8). I am literally working on a punk design for all the NSR characters specifically because I wanted to make punk/goth Sayu lol! But oh yeah, totally ze would have stuff from there.

I have a ton of pink skirts and cutesy stuff, so I can see that getting mer into the store but then ze would love one of the darker more goth-y clothes and boom! Sayu is going through a goth phase! And the other mermaids are now following along (also Tila and Sofa lol).

9). Yes! Monster-fucker Cyril is definitely something I thought of before lol! He definitely has weird tastes. Monster and robots are some of them haha.

I swear, he told Purl that if somehow GLaDOS was real he would break up to be with her. And Purl said not to worry because they would do the same thing! The two just have such weird tastes and definitely share them together.

And then there's West not seeing the appeal in a lot of these crushes they have.

#nsr #eritalks #noart #asks #i laughed out loud #when i got to number 9 #that is so true

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pbandjesse · 1 year

Text

And that ends our second week of camp. And it was a better week. We didn't lose power as much. The air quality was better. The food improved. There was other issues for sure but it was a good week.

And today was a pretty good day. I had trouble sleeping. There was a prank last night that went wrong and there was all the screaming around 11:00 and it was very unsettling. Which then led to a big silly conversation in the group chat. And I did fall asleep but then I woke up again at 5:00 and when I woke up for real at 8:00 I fell out of the hammock and startled myself real bad. But I had to get ready and things would be okay it just take me a little while to get myself together.

When I was dressed and everything I worked on cutting the rest of the looms that we would need for today and then was just chilling and waiting for the day to start. I took a little walk and I'm for the time I got back and settled again Tatiana was there. And we got to work on any prep we needed for the day. CJ would also join us and it was really nice to see her. I had found her water bottle so I was good to get that back to her. And she told me that besides the prank last night there was also some possible people leaving camp. I've heard at least three people so far. And the prank that went wrong was because the stockade boys went to do like a sort of ding dong ditch situation over in the girls village, but then the girls chased the boys back to stockade. We're the rest of the stockade boys were on top of the gate and poured ice water on them. The ice water part apparently was not approved and the counselors got all their phones ruined. So it's kind of a nightmare. I'm not sure if someone was fired because of that but I would not be surprised. Property damage is no joke.

CJ left and me and Tati continued to work on the stick looms for the little kids. And then I set up the loom that I brought in to make a bigger piece and she worked on her loom and it was just really nice.

And the groups were pretty good today. I had to be a little strong worded with a few of them because they were being disrespectful about the project. But it was just like one or two. Overall the kids really liked the weaving and this was a really successful project. I had one little boy at the end of the day tell me he has been coming to camp for 3 years and that this was their favorite project of any project that they've done and it just made me feel really good.

After my two morning groups I went down to get lunch. I did forget the specialty ketchup. But it was fine. We had weird vegetarian chicken sandwiches. And we had a couple CITs sitting at our table so I went to sit outside and everyone came and joined me. While we were sitting there I made a specialty staff group chat and I called it the most specialtiest chat. And I made a tiny bus the avatar. For the most special staff members.

After lunch I went for a walk again and went up to arts and crafts to make sure that everything was set up for the afternoon. And my group would not be on time. Because right before they were supposed to come there was really bad lightning and thunder. It was the whole reason I had left the lodge early. Only a few minutes earlier than I normally did but I didn't want to get trapped down there. And so I went up hung out in my hammock until it was raining too much and then came under the tent to chill. A child had given me their plushie to fix so I worked on that and then the thunder got really bad so I checked on Tatiana inside. And I tried to figure out if my groups were coming.

They were all held up in the lodge because they couldn't walk them across the field. But once there was a lull in the storm they did come up and originally I was going to have them go outside but then this guy got really really dark so I brought them inside and we worked on the floor and they were the littlest camper so they didn't really mind. And they did a pretty good job overall. And I was really happy with their counselors because they really were engaged with the kids and we're doing a very good job. We had music going and everyone was doing art and it was great. He only real issue was that because it was storming they couldn't leave and so we did not get our half an hour afternoon break. I was a little sad about that.

But once the storm let up they were able to go and collected all of their art and then tipis came and I talked to all of them about what they were going to be doing. And I was able to convince two of them to be my test subjects for metal casting.

And it was so fun. It was really interesting seeing what they figured out and I let them aged you too so that we could make some test ones and make some mistakes and we figured out that the metal getting poor directly under the ground and then while it's a little dirty it does not really matter. And so we played with that for a while and I made a little bear as an example but he's a little strange. It's definitely hard to pour the metal but it is going much better than I was expecting on that scale. And the two kids I was working out with were just really fun.

I checked on the kids outside periodically too and they were making bracelets and beating and having a blast. I'm really glad I have new beads coming though because while Julie had given me some and they're great there's not a lot of bracelet string left like the stretchy kind. And it would be nice to have more colorful stuff. So hopefully that will be here soon.

I also helped a boy who was working on his homestead coup. And he had to make a quilt square and I got him to cut little squares to sew them together into the quilt square. Just a really simple one but he had to do three lines of stitches. His first two went well. He has trouble threading the needle but that's fine. The third one though he did inside out and I said no you are not going to get a right off for me you did it wrong. So I cut it off and you could just tell he was so upset. He wasn't like showing it but he's like I just want to be done and I'm like I get that but also you're not going to rush through it and not do it correctly. You're two means nothing and you shouldn't get an award if you're not going to do it right. So I made him do it again.

I'm serious about this like if you're going to come to me to get something signed up you're going to do it right or you're not going to do it at all. I really don't think that I'm being unreasonable. I think there should be standards.

But that was fine. Tipis cleaned up and they headed out just as my last group of the day showed up.

Am I supposed to do a really good job. It was really just a nice way to end the afternoon and end the week. I cannot say as much for their counselors. Who were mostly sitting inside and not engaging with the kids at all. But you know what I don't care. I was having fun and that's important as well. I did not have it in me to go and ask them to get there stuff together because at this point it's Friday and if you haven't figured it out that's not my problem. I'll talk to Ray about it maybe next week if it continues.

Once everything was cleaned up I said goodbye to Tatiana and everyone else and closed up the building. I walk down to the office to check in with Heather. I told her that I didn't feel great because I have a weird cough in the back of my throat and just like a little uncomfortable. And I really just wanted to go home. She said that was fine and I did not need to help with pick up if I did not want to. And so I said goodbye and I went home.

I did check in with Alexi right before I left. Reminded her that I had to leave at 2:00 on Monday.

And then I was on the road. I got back here around 5:00. I had a little trouble parking because I was crooked. And she had to get out and check and park again. But it was not that pic of a deal. I was really happy to come inside and see James and James made me leftover pizza while I took a shower. And it was very nice to wash my hair.

I kind of fell apart after that though. Eating the pizza was good. James also has put the air conditioner on. Sweetp was here and I love sweetp. And James would go and get ice cream and that was so kind. But I felt horrible for a couple hours there. I'm starting to feel a little bit better. I am almost sure it was dehydration but I was just really uncomfortable.

Now though it is time to go to bed. Tomorrow I have the market. And I might go to Canton crossing because I have some stuff I want to pick up and I think it's finally time to replace my flip-flops from high school. They have finally fall apart too much. I tried cleaning them this week and they just started to disintegrate. So that's pretty sad. But these things happen. It was time. I've had them since I was 17. Honestly they might be older than that I don't even know. But I hope tomorrow is a good day and I hope that the weather is nice. I hope it's not so humid anymore. I hope you all sleep well. Good night everybody.

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leonardburton · 2 years

Text

tagged by my beloved @swordfaery

Rules: shuffle your ‘on repeat’ playlist and post the first 10 tracks, then list 10 songs you really like, each by a different artist. then tag 10 people to do the same thing.

Shuffle:

Burn, Baby, Burn by Sea Power (song from disco elysium. that scene made me feel some sort of feeling or perhaps emotion)

Pasadena by La Femme (it's a cute song)

Trop beau by Lomepal (lyrics aren't kinda eh but it's a good song to put in the background while reading 27-page pdfs)

Maialen by La Femme (i Love this song. the way she says "las tormentas MÁS violentas" at 2:02. iykyk)

It's time to wake up 2023 by La Femme (they released it in 2013 so listening to it rn is p neat. very good to fall asleep to)

Souffle le vent by Odezenne (good song. yeah)

Decrescendo by Lomepal (good to read pdfs and fall asleep or staring out the bus window)

Drag by St Graal (it's such a bop. win for genderqueerness and non conformity everywhere)

The Adults are Talking by The Strokes (forever win. no need to explain)

Me Gustas Tu by Manu Chao (it's. so sweet. cures depression in 1 day result guaranteed refund if not satisfied* (*understanding of spanish language required for full effect))

10 songs i really like

Tatiana by La Flemme (huge win for sapphics everywhere. yes i know i listen to La Femme too much)

Caprice by Odezenne (i also listen to Odezenne too much. even though i only like like 6 of their songs)

Avant qu'il n'y ait le monde by Feu! Chatterton (it's a vibe idk what to say)

Fous ta cagoule by Fatal Bazooka (relistened to this absolute banger from 2006 over winter break. turns out my little brother didn't know it cos he's too young so i tortured him with it)

Parle à ma main (likewise except 2007)

L'Assassymphonie by Mozart l'Opéra Rock (my most beloved ahab mentioned it a couple of weeks ago and i fell down the rabbit hole again. i got the cds + bts dvd for my 10th birthday because i was too obsessed with it)

L'Enfer by Stromaé (he's so right)

Social Cues by Cage the Elephant (forever trapped in my brain)

À Peu Près by Pomme (it's a sweet song idk)

Tales of Dominica by Lil Nas X (banger.)

tagging @asticot i am curious about your taste in music, @krayonders hello old mutual @bookshelpwithmysocialanxiety @kirkwords @lasilhouetteinbianco @alfredolover119 @all-eternity @honorbound13 double tagging the neon fam hahahhaha. also anyone who wants to do it consider yourself tag fr. partake in the humble joy of sharing music

#this is. too french #why do i listen to so much french music #it's a recent development but it's Developed alright #i promise i also listen to music in other languages #luftballoons is in spot 12 of my most played rn lmao #and icarus by mashru leila was n° 17! should have put that in the liked songs list. i love them sm #also spanish. sideeying la femme's latest album and the number of its song in my 2022 year in review + most played songs of the moment #cheers everyone

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typingtess · 2 years

Video

youtube

NCIS: Los Angeles Season 13 Rewatch: “Sundown”

The basics: The father of a dead Marine hijacks a bus to find out the truth about his daughter’s death.

Written by: Lee A. Carlisle wrote or co-wrote “Golden Days”, “Reentry”, “Into the Breach”, “Concours D’Elegance” and “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”. Carlise has been working as a story editor on the program from “Alsiyadun” in season 11 through the season 12 finale.

Directed by: Suzanne Saltz directed “Outside the Lines” and “Murder of Crows”.

Guest stars of note: Charles Malik Whitfield as Gary DeMayo, Kiff Vanderheuvel as Carl, Mo Radvanich as Rita, Jacqueline Obradors as LAPD Captain Maya Lopez, Deidre Henry as Rachel DeMayo, Tatiana Carr as Jackie and Walter Belenky as Lawrence Kerr

Our heroes: Right a terrible wrong.

What important things did we learn about:

Callen: Would have killed for foster parents like Kensi and Deeks. Sam: Hostage negotiator. Kensi: Has high cover as the team goes after the sniper. Deeks: A rare teaming with Callen. Fatima: Working PT everyday just to get back to normal mobility. Rountree: Damien Robinson from the LA Register. Kilbride: Keeping the SecNav in the loop.

What not so important things did we learn about:

Callen: Comrade Callen. Sam: Enjoying a cold beer on the newly found deck. Kensi: Stalking out other couples looking to adopt. Deeks: Sure some of the other adopting parents are flat-earthers. Fatima: Unhappy with peg leg jokes. Rountree: Happy with his new desk. Kilbride: Sharing a beer with Callen and Sam.

Where in the world is Henrietta Lange? Not a Hetty episode.

Who's down with OTP: Deeks does a good job of having his own “more being, less doing” conversation with Kensi.

Who's down with BrOTP: An unusual pairing of Callen and Deeks makes for a lovely conversation in Callen’s car about becoming a parent and how much Callen would have loved parents likes Kensi and Deeks.

Fashion review: Callen is in his grey checked button-down shirt. Blue-grey, long-sleeve tee-shirt for Sam. In their adoptive parents gear, it is a white, button-down blouse for Kensi and a pink polo shirt for Deeks. Fatima is wearing a sand colored jacket over a white turtleneck. Long-sleeve black henley for Rountree. Dark blue three-piece suit for the Admiral over a blue checked dress shirt and a red pattern tie.

Music: อยู่หรือไป (feat. ตาเนม) by G-Bear being played on the bus in the teaser. The aptly titled “Girl in the War” by Josh Ritter is playing when Gary DeMayo is being arrested.

Any notable cut scene: No.

Quote: There is so much good dialogue in this episode.

DeMayo: “I'm sorry, baby. I had to. It's the only way I get them to listen. And I was right. They're looking into Kyra's case again.” Rachel: “I know. S-So can't you just let everyone go now?” DeMayo: “Not until she's cleared. I have to keep the pressure on. Look, else they're just gonna push us aside. We're just gonna be another Black family in pain to ignore.”

Anything else: An LA city bus is making its way through the downtown area. While there are a few people on the bus – an older woman knitting, a student doing some last minute homework – a middle age man isn’t too happy with a young woman listening to some Thai music on 11 (“This is Spinal Tap” reference). The man asks the woman to turn it down. When she doesn’t, in fact the makes it louder, he pulls out his badge. No more Thai music as the bus pulls into its next stop.

A Black man enters the bus with a gun. He starts ordering the passengers to the back of the bus. The man with the badge tries to grab the gun and the two struggle. A shot is fired, the man with the badge groans and collapses. The gunman orders the passengers to take the injured man to the back of the bus.

Pulling out a deadman’s switch, the gunman has a bomb in a duffle bag. If someone tries to take the deadman’s switch from him, the bus explodes. Walking to the front of the bus, the gunman disables the security camera with extreme prejudice.

In the boatshed, Callen is reviewing some paperwork when Sam arrives with coffee. Sam jokes about Callen recruiting Russians (well, he did with Zasha) and calling Agent Carlson (nice callback). Callen has a search warrant for Katya’s safety-deposit box. He has several of Katya’s passports and reports, dirt really, on several high ranking Russian intelligence officers. Sam sees the dirt as an insurance policy against Katya’s bosses.

Unfortunately, the safety-deposit box is old. Katya hadn’t been to the bank in over five years – before she was sent to prison. The box was prepaid. Sam comes across what Callen sees as “one strange item” – an invoice. Katya is storing something with Crusciel & Crusciel, a fine-art investment house. Sam doesn’t see Katya as a collector. Since there is an inventory number on the invoice, Callen is going to have Fatima check it out as well as go through Katya’s fake passport aliases. Sam is happy to have some “good leverage on a Russian, no offense, Comrade Callen.”

Sitting at his new desk, Rountree seems excited. Fatima makes her way in with a cane and a desire not to hear peg leg jokes. Roundtree wouldn’t do that, OK he would. He asks about her recovery. It is not going as quickly as she’d like but “I ain’t got time to bleed.” Rountree recognizes the movie quote from “Predator”. Fatima is proud of Rountree for upping his 80’s movies game. Rountree is all in for a “badass, invisible alien.”

Fatima says the movies get it all wrong about getting shot. She’s doing daily physical therapy just to get back her basic mobility – “They don’t show you that in a Stallone flick.” Fatima marvels that Callen got back to work after being shot five times. Rountree wonders if that’s why Callen is cranky sometimes. Fatima’s tablet beeps – they have a case.

Outside an adoption seminar, Kensi and Deeks are looking at the other perspective parents. Kensi is more doing the stake out, Deeks is there for an informational session about the process of adoption. Kensi thinks the seminar makes what they’re doing more real. Deeks can’t believe Kensi thinks they’ll be judged on the seminar. Deeks understands they don’t have the most normal lives but the people walking into the seminar don’t have perfect lives either. Pointing to a couple that just walked in, he thinks one is a flat-earther who believes o go to the Bahamas and then drop into oblivion. He gets Kensi to laugh. He wants to go inside. As they get out of the car, Deeks gets an alert. Kensi is going into the seminar, Deeks is going to the office.

Callen and Sam from the boatshed, Rountree and the Admiral in Ops with Fatima review the case. Gary DeMayo, the father of a former Marine took over a bus. They are near MacArthur Park. There are five hostages including a wounded off-duty LAPD officer. DeMayo’s daughter, Kyra, was a Marine until she fell asleep on guard duty in Afghanistan when an incursion happened. Kyra suffered a traumatic brain injury, several other Marines were injured and a cache of weapons were stolen. During an investigation, Kyra was found with a opioids in her system and was given a dishonorable discharge. Callen thinks it was a good thing none of the Marines died. Fatima tells the group that Cpl. DeMayo took the whole incident hard. She took her own life two-weeks ago. Everyone agrees this probably triggered Gary DeMayo.

Callen asks for DeMayo’s demands. DeMayo has two – he wants his daughter’s name cleared and he wants to prove she didn’t kill herself. If the team can’t do that, he’ll kill all the hostages at sundown, which is seven-hours away. Sam asks if there is anything to support DeMayo’s claims. Fatima is reviewing the case, Castor is bringing DeMayo’s wife/Kyra’s mother Rachel to the boat shed. The Admiral says the SECNAV wants the team to assist LAPD on the scene.

Since he has dealt with grieving military families in the past, Sam volunteers to go to the bus. He hopes to get through to DeMayo. Rountree took the FBI hostage negotiation course so he’s joining Sam. Deeks is making his way to the boat shed to help Callen interview DeMayo’s wife. The Admiral wants everyone to tread carefully – there are a lot of people watching and they need to do it right.

LAPD is evacuating every building within 100-yards of the bus when Sam and Rountree arrive. Captain Maya Lopez of the LAPD is happy to have them with the team. LAPD confirmed that DeMayo has a dead man’s trigger but they aren’t sure he has a bomb. There are SWAT officers surrounding the bus and snipers on the rooftop but DeMayo covered the windows with newspaper so LAPD isn’t sure what is really going on inside. Rountree asks if they’ve communicated with DeMayo. A secure walkie-talkie was delivered to the bus with a low-power cellphone jammer. DeMayo can only talk to LAPD but he hasn’t spoken to them yet. That’s worrisome since there is an injured officer inside the bus.

Rountree suggests pulling back SWAT. Hostage-taking is not usually a highly planned event – a show of force works in that case. This is a man who took a bus hostage with a deadman’s switch and possibly explosives. This is someone who knew how LAPD would respond. Pulling the SWAT team back could open the lines of communication. Lopez says “with all due respect” LAPD is running the situation, NCIS is there to consult. Sam would like to consult with DeMayo. Lopez is not on board for that – “our negotiation team is highly qualified.” Sam doesn’t doubt that but Sam could start to talk to DeMayo and then have SWAT retreat if DeMayo responds. Reluctantly, Lopez agrees but warns Sam he’s on a short leash. If there is any sign of trouble, SWAT is going right back in.

On the bus, the injured officer is being tended to by the woman playing the loud music. Everyone else is silent and sitting in the back of the bus. Sam introduces himself over the walkie-talkie as Sam Hanna, NCIS and asks how DeMayo is doing. Claiming everyone is fine, DeMayo asks about his daughter’s case. Sam says they are working on it but Sam needs to know about the injured passenger. When DeMayo tries to explain that the officer tried to take DeMayo’s gun, Sam assures DeMayo that nobody else will try that. Sam thinks his job is to get everyone off the bus safely, including DeMayo. DeMayo says Sam knows what he has to do to get everyone off the bus safely.

Sam has the SWAT team move back as a gesture of good faith and tells DeMayo that. Asking why DeMayo thinks his daughter was murdered, DeMayo tells Sam that Kyra was set up from the start. Kyra didn’t do drugs. Kyra’s discharged barred her from possessing a gun so where could she get one? Sam understands but tells DeMayo that clearing his daughter’s name may take more time. DeMayo has his demands.

In the boatshed, Deeks brings coffee to Rachel DeMayo, who is wearing a nurse’s uniform. She said she could not believe watching the television and seeing her husband holding a bus full of hostages on the news. Callen asks if DeMayo was capable of “something like this?” Her immediate answer is no but it has been a hard time for them – they’re estranged. Kyra’s discharge and death, DeMayo lost his business during the pandemic. Kyra moved back home after her discharge and that was a struggle.

Deeks asks if anything changed about her husband after Kyra died. Rachel said her husband was distant and withdrawn after Kyra’s death. That made sense to her but one day, DeMayo just left. She figured he was with family or friends, working through his grief. Callen asks if DeMayo would carry out his threats. She’d like to say no but she isn’t sure.

In Ops, The Admiral is looking for a sitrep. Fatima spoke with Kyra’s former CO who thought she was a good Marine until the night of the incursion. She had no incidents on a record and here was no history of drug use. Looking into her death, Fatima confirmed that Kyra’s body was found in Austell Park after reports that someone heard a single gunshot. She had a pistol in her hand, a head wound and there are security cameras showing her entering the park. Fatima isn’t sure why she’d do this in the park. The Admiral explains that Kyra was living at home and probably didn’t want her parents to deal with the cleanup around a suicide.

Quickly moving off that topic, the Admiral wants to know about the gun. Fatima doesn’t have much on the gun. Fatima asks what happens if DeMayo is wrong – if the official story about Kyra’s time in Afghanistan and her death are all true. The Admiral prays Sam is a good negotiator.

Deeks asks Mrs. DeMayo if she believes her husband’s claims that Kyra was murdered. She’s like to. Kyra struggled when she returned home. Callen asks if Kyra talked about her time in Afghanistan. Kyra tried to remember what happened but could not. The DeMayos got Kyra to see a therapist. Going into her bag, Rachel pulls out a notebook. The therapist wanted Kyra to write down anything that “came back to her.” Rachel hasn’t been able to read it but wants Callen to if it could help clear Kyra or help her husband.

As Callen looks at the notebook, Deeks asks if Kyra thought the therapy helped. It helped some but the family was paying for the treatment. “We tried so hard. We really did. But we just couldn’t afford the treatment.” With the VA so backed up, the system killed Kyra. “It failed her. And it failed us.”

Callen asks about the last entry in the notebook – a name “Lawrence Kerr” and a question mark. Deeks gives the name to Fatima.

Sam tries to share his losses with DeMayo, who is having none of it from “Agent Hanna”. When Sam says he’s just Sam, DeMayo makes it clear that Sam isn’t his friend and he’s not looking for Sam’s advice, who is just as biased as the military. Sam suggests a non-military investigation. If Sam sent in a reporter to look into Kyra’s case, could they be a one for one switch – a reporter for the injured police officer. In the SWAT truck, Lopez is impressed. Rountree wonders where they’ll get a reporter to go into the bus. There won’t be a reporter, Sam explains, he’s sending Rountree in.

With Fatima providing all the backstopping even though there is no cell service available in the bus, Lopez hands Rountree a reporter’s digital recorder that allows SWAT to listen when he’s on the bus. Sam reminds Rountree that he’s going in as a reporter – “don’t go hard on him.” DeMayo feels nobody is listening. Listen to him. Sam also wants to know if the bomb is viable. Rountree knows what he has to do.

Bringing Rountree as Damien Robinson from the LA Register to the bus, Sam asks for final permission to approach the bus. Sam comes to the bus and with the help of the bus driver, gets the injured officer off the bus. Rountree gets on the bus and is a little nervous when the doors close. DeMayo pats Rountree down, who looks at all the frightened passengers. After the pat down, Rountree starts the interview.

Callen asks if Rachel would be willing to go to the bus. She’s reluctant. Deeks asks if she still loves her husband. “Of course,” she answers. “Well, then I think it’s important that he knows that.” She’s doesn’t know what to say. Callen suggests speaking from her heart. She is willing to give it a try.

Fatima pops up on the plasma. Lawrence Kerr isn’t military but he works for an HVAC company in the Valley. Callen and Deeks are going to interview Kerr, Agent Castor is going to take Mrs. DeMayo to the bus. Deeks tells Rachel she’s got it.

Kensi’s phone goes off twice during the adoption seminar, distracting everyone to the point where the woman leading the group calls for a break. Kensi is still getting calls when the woman running the seminar comes by with some advice. Checking your phone constantly to see if there is a possible child to adopt is not the way to handle things. It is a different path for everyone but these things take time as you do what’s right for her family.

Driving to the HVAC company, Deeks explains that Kensi had her phone turned off during the adoption seminar but any call from Ops would go through. Callen asks Deeks about the adoption. Deeks admits it is tough – he feels like he’s hacking his way through a jungle with no path. As a foster kid, Callen would have killed to have parents like Kensi and Deeks. Deeks appreciates Callen’s support.

Fatima interrupts the rare Callen-Deeks nice moment with news about Lawrence Kerr. Kerr and his company did HVAC work in Afghanistan while Kyra was there. They spoke the night before Kyra died. And now Callen thinks this could be a motive if Kyra was murdered. Which means to Deeks that DeMayo’s claims about his daughter may all be true.

Still thinking Rountree is a reporter, DeMayo shows him a photo of Kyra and talks about her choice to join the Marines. He didn’t see it for her but once she enlisted, she really found herself. Kyra had great things ahead of her, DeMayo says. She was the best of his wife and of him. Sam calls in on the walkie-talkie with Rachel DeMayo. Rachel asks why is DeMayo doing this. He thinks it is the only way anyone will listen. “And I was right,” he says. NCIS reopened Kyra’s case. Rachel thinks DeMayo achieved his goal – let everyone go. DeMayo can’t – “they’re just gonna push us aside” if he doesn’t keep the pressure on. We’re just gonna be another Black family in pain to ignore.” Rachel wants to see her husband.

As DeMayo walks to the door and his wife begs him to get off the bus, Rountree looks at the bomb. DeMayo sees several LAPD officers move into position so he retreats to the back of the bus where he finds Rountree looking at the bomb. Furious, DeMayo demands Rountree explain himself. Saying the bomb was part of the story, Rountree wants to frame the story that all the pain DeMayo and his wife suffered led to the bus and the bomb. “What happens when pleas for help go ignored.” The bomb is real.

Sam calls in with an apology but DeMayo is having none of it. LAPD acted without Sam’s knowledge, Sam promises that won’t happen again. While Sam is talking to DeMayo, Rountree gets lipstick from the woman who was knitting when DeMayo commandeered the bus. Writing “TATP” on the window before DeMayo sees him, Rountree tells LAPD and Sam about the bomb – triacetone triperoxide – “Mother of Satan”. This is what would be used in an airline bomb. Lopez is worried they have less than an hour before sundown.

In the parking lot of the HVAC company, Callen and Deeks see Kerr. Callen is going to confront him with Deeks taking the back. Callen shows Kerr his badge and Kerr runs right into Deeks. Making a sharp turn, Kerr runs away but near a hose. Deeks pulls on the hose and the “yellow bellied Kerr” falls down. Callen is impressed.

Fatima traced the gun found near Kyra to a Lionel Sopko from Crenshaw who sold it under the table to a pawnshop for some under the table cash. The pawnshop admitted buying the gun and sold it the day Kyra died. Their security cameras show the buyer – it was Kyra. Security cameras around the park show nobody entering or exiting around the time the gunshot was fired. Kyra killed herself. The Admiral is crushed – he tells Fatima to update Sam.

Sam updates Lopez on Kyra’s death. Lopez is worried but Sam thinks DeMayo could deal with it if he’s told the truth. Lopez will let Sam make that call but it will be his final decision – they are almost out of time and LAPD will have to go tactical.

Sam approaches the bus with the bad news about Kyra “father to father, man to man.” Gary yells no and stomps around the bus.

Kensi gets another call – she leaves the adoption seminar.

Handcuffed and leaning on the back of Callen’s car, Kerr knows this is about Kyra because he saw DeMayo took over the bus. Deeks arrives with the news from Fatima that Kyra committed suicide. Kerr realizes they suspected him as a killer and makes it clear he could never do that. Deeks asks if Kerr was with Kyra the night of the incursion. Kerr starts to dither but Callen is pushing the deadline. He brings up Kerr being in the journal.

Kerr tells them he was talked into working with his boss. The boss knew the Marines secured a cache of weapons from some local fighters. The plan was to steal the guns back, sell them to the locals. While the other three dressed up as insurgents, Kerr’s assignment was to take care of the guard watching the base that night – it was Kyra. Kerr liked Kyra, they were friends on the base. Kyra was covering for another Marine, she wasn’t even supposed to be on duty that night.

Fearing for his life from the others, Kerr drugged Kyra but she came to just as the others were loading the guns. Kyra was still struggling with the effects of the drugs when she saw the others and started firing. That’s what started everything. Callen asks about the other three men. Kerr only knew his boss, who took off that morning when DeMayo hijacked the bus. Deeks calls Fatima to track down the boss, Callen calls Sam about Kyra being set-up.

DeMayo doesn’t know what to do. He’s heartbroken but carrying the gun. Tossing away his gun, DeMayo orders everyone off the bus. The hostages all leave except Rountree. He asks DeMayo what’s next. DeMayo wants Rountree off the bus. Asking Rountree to make sure everyone is a safe distance from the bus, DeMay says he took his chance and he was wrong. Rountree isn’t leaving with DeMayo but DeMayo makes it clear, he’s still running things. Or he was until laser from a gun in the window. Grabbing DeMayo, Rountree pulls them to the floor just as someone opens fire.

As he runs into the SWAT truck, Sam demands Lopez tell her team to stop firing. It isn’t her team who are shooting. Inside the bus, Rountree and DeMayo are taking serious fire.

Deeks is staying with Kerr as Callen races to the bus. Sam is having a hard time locating where the sniper is positioned. Fatima finds Kerr’s cell phone pinging from a building just a few blocks from the bus. Callen isn’t so sure about this – the boss doesn’t know Kerr flipped.

In the bus, the paper covering the windows is catching fire as the gunshots come in. Little pieces of flaming paper are dropping near the bomb. A bullet hits the bag holding the bomb but it doesn’t blow. The wires that open and close the bus doors and run the communication systems are also hit, causing more fires. Rountree calls into Sam, telling DeMayo he is NCIS and he’s getting DeMayo out.

With two LAPD bullet proof shields, Sam runs to the bus. Rountree takes one shield, Sam has the other as they guide DeMayo to safety. The bus explodes just as they make it to safety.

On the roof of a nearby building, Kerr’s boss takes his sniper rifle and starts to pack up. Callen stops him. When the boss tries to shoot at Callen, Kensi returns fire with her snipe rifle from a nearby building. More shots are exchanged before Callen knocks out Kerr’s boss. “Shooter secured.”

The police move in on DeMayo, who puts his hands up, dropping the useless deadman’s switch on the ground. SWAT takes DeMayo into custody as Rachel watches. She tries to run to her husband. A female officer tries to stop her but she’s not deterred. Before he’s taken away, Rachel hugs him one last time.

Lopez is grateful for to Sam and would be happy to work with him in the future. Rountree tells Sam that Fatima confirmed Kerr’s story. Sam shares this with DeMayo and the news that Kyra was framed. DeMayo is grateful to Sam and Damien. Rountree tells DeMayo his real name and DeMayo is still grateful. Explaining he was desperate and without options, DeMayo apologizes but admits if he had to do it all over again, he would.

In the bullpen, Deeks greets an arriving Kensi. She talks a little about the seminar but realizes adoption isn’t going to solve their problems. They couldn’t go to one seminary without being called away – both of them. What happens with a kid in the picture? Deeks admits he has no idea. He doesn’t have an idea how to do any of this but that’s what having a kid is all about. They are taking their hearts, pulling them out of their bodies and hoping that it isn’t “mauled by a saber-tooth tiger.”

A million things can go wrong but that doesn’t outweigh them becoming a parent. Fear can’t guide what they do. Kensi tells Deeks he’s right, “like always.” They are going to figure this out because that’s what parents do. Kensi needed a pep talk and so did Deeks. They share ‘I love yous” before Kensi brings up being hungry. As they go for dinner, Kensi brings up foster children and Deeks tells her he was thinking the same thing.

For the first time in episode 286, we learn the boatshed has a balcony. Callen and Sam are on it drinking some beer while a beautiful greenscreen, whoops, background of the water is behind them. They talk about Kyra who Callen wonders might still be alive if the truth was revealed sooner. Sam isn’t sure, suicide is an epidemic among struggling veterans, especially women.

The Admiral arrives and he is unaware of the deck as the fans at home. Callen has no single malt but he will share some beer. Saying he could use one, Callen hands the Admiral a beer. The SECNAV is reversing Kyra’s dishonorable discharge. Not only has she been restored to her old position, Kyra was promoted posthumously to sergeant with all related backpay. Her remains will be moved to a veterans’ cemetery and will be reburied with full honors. Also posthumously, Kyra will be award the Navy and Marine Medal, the highest honor given in a non-combat situation for her defense of the base. “It’s the least we could do. She deserved so much more,” Sam sighs.

Callen notes that DeMayo won’t be at any of the ceremonies. Sam can’t stop thinking about DeMayo’s claim he’d do it all again. Callen isn’t – if Sam truly believed the only way he could get justice for Aiden and Sam, would Sam consider it. That’s what Sam keeps thinks about. The Admiral agrees – any parent would do whatever they could for their child. They hope for some healing for the DeMayo family.

What head canon can be formed from here: Lots of parent talk here with the case being about a father and what that means to Sam. Kensi and Deeks are trying to be parents. Callen makes a comment about not having parents. The Admiral talks about parents protecting a child.

I always wish the show would do an update. Gary DeMayo shot a cop, hijacked a bus and caused all sorts of trouble. But his story is awful. Kyra committed suicide but she was really killed the night of robbery/incursion. She found herself in the Marines and the greed of four civilian contractors took that all away from her. DeMayo got justice for his daughter – justice that wasn’t coming any other way.

Fantastic Sam episode. Strong Kensi and Deeks conversations but again Deeks is the one who is all zen about being a parent while Kensi is terrified. A few episodes before, it was the exact opposite and it will be again in a few episodes. A minor nitpick in an episode that is a not only one of the best episodes of season 13, it is one of the best episodes of the last few seasons.

Episode number: Season 13’s sixth episode, episode 286 overall.

#NCIS: Los Angeles Rewatch #NCIS: Los Angeles #NCIS: LA #NCIS Los Angeles #ncis la

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otter-chaos-violence · 1 month

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Shifting

CW minors doing drugs, mentioned suicide attempt, bullet mention, suicide implications, swearing, implied self harm, nonsexual partial nudity, sex mention, blindfold, implied injury

Tatiana

---

I probably should not have taken that edible.

Moon also had an edible in, she was the one who gave them to me, and we just needed an escape route. Me so I didn’t die, her so she could get her mind off her mother being a piece of shit.

We went home a couple hours after I saw the hallucination and when I got home, I went to my room and looked at the torn curtains. God, I still remembered the sound. The sound of my escape from existence being foiled and hitting the ground. It helped to ground me, surprisingly, making me realize that when my mother had cut me down, it meant someone would notice. Someone would care.

I was almost glad it had been prevented now, but at the time, I was heartbroken and didn’t talk to anyone for weeks afterward. Not my mother, not the staff at the psych ward, not my friends, I didn’t even speak in presentations.

I started writing on my WIP, and felt A Presence that left when I looked up. I wasn’t sure precisely what it was, but it felt familiar. It felt like me. I tried to follow it, but it got away and I sank to my knees in the middle of the hallway.

My mother came back an hour later and gave me a few chocolates, then said, “What’s wrong?”

“I- I feel… numb inside, like something’s gone in me,”

“Oh,”

She sat next to me and I lay on her shoulder as she rubbed my back and whispered, “Well, at least you’re talking about it. Good job!”

I opted to cry into her uniform and sobbed, “I just wanna feel normal for once,”

She lifted me, her cold skin soothing to the touch, and she took me to my room, then started singing a lullaby in a language I didn’t know, despite her having taught me the languages she spoke.

I succumbed to its lull, and fell asleep, and found her asleep outside my door when I woke up a few hours later, she hadn’t even changed out of her uniform.

She woke up after I crept by her and said, “Oh, did I fall asleep?”

“Sim, mamae,” I replied.

“Tá. Vou pra cama, tchauzinho, filha,”

And I could have sworn something hugged me. Not something malevolent, but kind.

—

When I went to school the next day, the girl who sat behind me in German kept throwing scraps of paper at me, and they had horrible words on them.

I eventually had enough and snapped, “Can you stop?”

The teacher told me to go after that, and looked at me sympathetically and, as she gave me the note, said, “Explain the situation to guidance, okay?”

I nodded and went down to guidance, and I felt the phantom hug again and broke down in the middle of the office.

I went home after that.

I called Cami, and she sounded happy- despite the near, at times, emotionless voice- to hear from me… then started talking about the werewolf shit. That wasn’t a dream.

Shit.

I lay back on my bed and, quite frankly, I was too tired for this, so I just let her talk. Her voice was like a bell and I loved her.

And when she finished speaking, I updated her on my mental state and the hollowness inside, and told her about the bitch in German class.

“Wait. Which German class? Which period?”

“B3, German II,”

I could practically hear her squeal before squeaking, “We’ve got the same class!”

I smiled and, unsure of how to respond, steered the conversation away from that, and we started talking about boats, books, and breaking points in our ability to hold out in this shitty, shitty world.

And she suddenly started crying on the other end.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“I- wings- wings wings wings owie-”

“YOU HAVE WINGS?”

My mom popped into the room and looked at me strangely, then told me she was going to work now, and not to expect her ‘til eight.

Now I could talk about the really fucked up shit.

Cami told me she’d been discharged an hour ago and could come over, and I agreed.

She was at my house within twenty minutes after I gave her the address. Despite the fact there were bullet holes in her legs, she was still able to run in her wolf form, and did, and could walk somehow in her human form, although it greatly hurt her.

I let her in, and we went up to my room before she shifted back and flumped backwards on my bed. She had a bushy blue gray tail and I caught a hint of golden eyes, and she laughed, then covered her eyes before sitting up. I wasn’t sure why, though she did tell me when I asked, and blindfolded herself with a strip of fabric from her pocket to hug me. She didn’t take it off.

She brushed through her tail with a pet brush, then said, “So, wanna see the wings?”

I shrugged, and she said, “Just an fyi, I’m going to take of my shirt, so, please don’t react,”

She peeled it off to show a white crop top, and I saw bandages and scars, including an even line of scars that ran down her torso.

Her eyes darted around the room, and she tapped her fingers against each other, like I sometimes did when I dissociated.

She started crying into my shoulder and said, “I don’t know why I did them- I just wanted to feel what Hunt felt so I’d understand, and it was all for nothing, he still hates me- I miss him, I miss him so much,”

I let her cry and felt the phantom hug again, and I also started crying. The touch brought me to life, and that made me shake.

She stopped crying after a bit and hugged me tighter, and said, “What’s wrong?”

“I- the hollowness, it ended for a moment. I-”

I felt like this was all unnatural. Like I shouldn’t exist. Like I shouldn’t be real.

The phantom hug squeezed tighter, and I cried harder.

Cami’s growing wings twitched, and I asked if I could touch them.

She immediately responded with, “So you know how you’re not supposed to touch a bird’s wings?”

I shook my head, and she launched into a rant about how to properly care for birds, and something about bird sex and how petting a bird’s wings leads to them thinking you’re their mate.

Cami

----

As the moon rose a week later, I kept close to Tatiana, and she hugged me in reply as I gathered the pack. She didn’t look me in the eye for safety, which I didn’t mind. One less person I had to make some very forced, very painful eye contact with.

She leaned on my shoulder and a fox that was patterned like a tortie ran up to us, panicked. Her arm had little spikes on it. That hunter I’d turned, then.

She was being chased, and I quickly told everyone to stay away from this area.

I approached Hunter and told him to leave, and he held out his hand and said, “Truce?”

I growled at him, and he backed away. The fox went up to him and got on his foot, and I saw him relax.

And he didn’t have any weapons on him.

I approached and snarled, “Get out. If you’ve hurt her, you’re dead,”

In very broken fox-dialect, I asked the hunter if she was okay.

She replied, in even worse fox-dialect, “Yes. I is okays and he promise not hurt me,”

I smiled and turned back to Tatiana, who looked understandably confused.

And the fox bolted over to her and clawed her with the spiky arm.

Masterlist: https://www.tumblr.com/otterfrost/751298007803297792/masterlist?source=share

If you want to be added to the taglist, just ask!

#golden and silver (story by otterfrost)#whump a bit #tw gun/bullet mention #tw mild violence #tw suicide #tw drugs #tw self harm #tw mental health issues #tw sex mention

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katoktm8 · 3 months

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Bourgeois Stray Animals

Our plan for the day revolved around Andrew arriving to town around 11:30 AM. I took an early morning walk up up up and down for breakfast. Our hotel host is named Tatiana. She is something to remember. She knows very few words of English, those being OK? OK? OK? And is good is good. Is good. She rubs our faces hugs us and rubs our back whenever we come and go. And she tells us what to do and when to do it by pointing and saying “is good is good OK it’s OK” So Tatiana made us breakfast yesterday and made us put our phones down so I couldn’t do my Wordle and Caroline could not write her daily email to her mother. She made very well cooked eggs and her grandma‘s famous Albanian donut recipe. Plus, fruit and vegetables and hotdogs. Of course we had to eat it all when it’s not really a breakfast either one of us would choose to eat. You can see that breakfast area and Tatiana bossing us around in her little kitchen area in the photos. Also the little sitting area outside where I can talk to text without bothering Caroline.

Then we decided to walk up to a “resort“ which I had tried to reach twice without Caroline. But there are signs for this resort all over town so while waiting for Andrew, we went up up up up up up up up to the top of town found the resort which was very nice and then got a text from Andrew saying he misunderstood the bus schedule and he would not be here till 130. so we decided to do our hike that we were not going to do in the heat of the day in the heat of the day. So down down we came, changed our shoes, and headed to the Ottoman aqueduct bridge. According to all blogs and signs, this is a 30 minute hike. Well, just like the Costa Brava 30 minute hikes, we headed up a paved hill. Basically straight up. Then the paved hill turned to gravel. Straight up. Then the gravel turned to a trail. This flattened out, but we were at the edge of a gorge. Down down down up up up and Caroline had a fear of heights anxiety attack so I was teaching her some methods that Elyse Gentile and Michele Huskey had taught me to use with students. They seem to work. Along the cliffside we went. Up and down…. literally holding hands so Caroline could make it back up in places

We finally made it and a German couple arrived just behind us. It probably took us an hour and a half for our 30 minute hike at noon. I’m leaving the pictures uncropped so if you want to zoom in you can see me at the very tip top of this bridge and the very bottom of the gorge. We switched out so one could take pictures looking up and the other could take pictures looking down. But you really have to zoom in. The German girl who went to the bottom first helped Caroline up to the top when I was on my way down. And then they both helped her down when I was on my way up. It was a hike well worth it. But looking at the pictures, we couldn’t believe we did it. Especially in the blazing sun.

By the time we finished, Andrew was in town and he was walking all over looking for us while we were trying to give him directions on how to find the road up. We finally met had lunch and then Andrew got back on his bus and we went had a coffee to get some energy and then up to the castle. This is probably the largest castle I’ve ever been in. It was used for World War I, World War II, and communist prisoners. it was also the fortress of Ali Pasha. A famous Sultan in this area. I don’t know that he ever lived here as a castle, it was more of a military fortress on top of town. Quite beautiful and enormous. That was basically it. By the time we got back to our hotel, it was 7 o’clock and we were exhausted and hungry. So we showered, laid around, went out for yet another traditional dinner.

We have now taken to carrying plastic bags with us and putting all of our leftover food in bags and feeding the stray, dogs and cats along the way. But we’ve also discovered that they are very bougie animals. At the restaurant, there were two dogs and one cat begging. See the photos. And they were very particular about what they would and would not eat. Same with the dogs while walking home. They’re happy to eat our leftover eggs, but would not touch the dog biscuit someone left for them, they would not eat the sausage last night, but would eat my chicken kebab. They are very well taken care of in this town. Bowls of water are left outside of doors for the stray animals, and they basically lay around in the shade cooling off all day. Still sad, but there were only two dogs where you could see rib bones. But there are a lot of wounds and ticks and dirt on the dogs and cats.

Came back, sorted, pictures, and went to bed. Tomorrow we are back to the beach.

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brightside00 · 4 months

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One of the masterpieces of the satirical writer Tatiana Alexeivia - Russia

1-Finally I met the boy of my dreams. I never imagined that my dreams were so trivial.

2-My third husband, I met him in court when he was defending my second husband, who ran over my first husband.

3- My mother, whenever the mobile phone stops charging, thinks that it has broken down. My father carries in his pocket a notebook in which he records phone numbers and uses it whenever he wants to make a call from his mobile phone. My aunt uses the mobile flash to light up her watch when she wants to know the time. A question that keeps pressing me: How did their generation manage to reach the moon?

4- When I was seven years old, I was playing the game of husband and wife with a neighbor boy. He would pretend that he was returning from work tired, and I would prepare sand pies for him.

Now I am forty years old, and this childish game has been the only serious relationship in my life.

5-Today my friend celebrated her tenth wedding anniversary. She boasts that she wore the same wedding dress, and that it was not tight on her. I didn't want to remind her that she got married when she was nine months pregnant.

6-My husband told me that if I cheat on him again, he will commit suicide. Since then, I have no longer told him anything and I saved his life seven times.

7- It happened that I did not succeed in reaching the operating room and my child was born in the corridor of the maternity hospital. The nurse wanted to relieve me of my burden, so she told me how one day a woman gave birth to her child in the bus stop in front of the hospital.

“I was ashamed to tell her that that woman was me too.”

Tatiana Alexeivia

Scientific journal

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evsvolunteerstotem · 4 months

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A month full of surprises

28. 05. 2024

Čau, everybody!

Even if I don't want to commit myself too much, I'll go out on a limb here and say, that May was one of the best months in the Czech Republic for me so far. It was a month full of happy moments and surprises and because I want to have enough time to shed light on all the highlights, I'll keep the introduction short and will not spoil everything already. So have fun reading on and I hope you’ll feel entertained today.;)

May started right away with a National holiday, the “Labour Day” and Tatiana and I used it to drink a coffee together and go to the cinema afterward. On the following weekend, Plzeň celebrated the liberation of the city by the Americans at the end of the Second World War. The city centre was full of onlookers who watched the parades of uniformed people in historical cars and learned more about the liberation at stands, lectures, and information boards. My friend Isabelle and I were also curious and therefore attended the festival. In addition to the lectures, we were also entertained by the concerts on three different stages, the performance of an American school orchestra and other acts in the city centre. There were also many booths with delicious food while the sun played along as well and made the day a wonderful experience for both of us.

The next holiday, known as "VE-Day" (Victory in Europe Day), the official end of the Second World War in Europe followed on the 8th of May. But that day I didn't stay in Plzeň, but made my way off to Poland, more precisely to the beautiful city of Wroclaw. Even though the trip didn't go as planned and our bus was stuck in a traffic jam for almost 3 hours, I received an even warmer welcome from my sister, when I arrived at our flat. After breakfast the next morning, we made our way to Slodowa Island, then on to Wroclaw Cathedral, and finally, after a short lunch break, to the so-called “Hala Stulecia ". When we arrived there, we were very surprised, as we felt like we had seen this building before and after we searched for it on the Internet, we found out that it was indeed a film set for the latest part of "The Hunger Games", which was released in cinemas in 2023. We bought some tickets for the interesting exhibition and then had the chance to see the hall from the inside, and well, rumor has it that there were one or two fan-girl moments when we entered the hall. ^^

After the visit we sat down at the nearby fountain to enjoy the sunny weather and cooled down a little bit before we made our way to the Japanese garden and after that back to the city centre. By the way, if you plan to visit Wroclaw and want to use public transport there, I would recommend that you hold on well to something on the tram because the tram drivers can be little rowdies sometimes. ;D

In the afternoon we had coffee and cake at a super cute café before heading home again, where we ended the day with a very relaxed evening. On Friday, things didn’t go quite as planned, as we went to the Sky Tower, the highest building in Wroclaw, just to find out that it wasn’t open already. Then my route planner sent me on a complete detour and my sister, who was already hangry, didn't feel like doing anything anymore. But then, thank God, we arrived at our destination, the Jewish cemetery, and the ticket seller, without knowing it, lightened our mood by asking "One way or return?”. ^^ The cemetery was very impressive and we spent some time there, before heading back to the centre, or to be more precise, right next to the Oder. At the “Café Odra,” we enjoyed our much-needed lunch and a cold drink and had a good time in the sunshine. After a walk home and an important little nap, we went to a pizzeria in the evening and finally to a nearby park, where we ended the day with a looooooong deep talk.

Our last day in Wroclaw started with checking out of our flat before heading to the so-called “Hydropolis”, a very interesting museum that we visited before making our way to the bus station, where we had our last coffee together – at least this was what I thought. Because, when it was time to say goodbye, my sister suddenly told me that she was not ready to say goodbye already and that she would like to come to Plzeň with me. And well, that’s how it went. She bought the LAST ticket for the bus and we made our way back to Plzeň and, even though I was very surprised in the beginning, I think it was the right decision because if I’m being honest with myself, I was also not ready to already say goodbye to her. ;)

This is why my next days looked different than expected, because we enjoyed the good weather together, drank iced coffee in my favourite cafes, went to the cinema and even at work my sister accompanied me. She attended the sports event we had on Tuesday and was our special guest at the English and German conversation. We even pranked one of my classes by having my sister pretend to be me and start the class before I joined in and finally clarified the situation. You should have seen the faces of my seniors haha. But of course, she was not able to stay forever, even though some probably liked the idea (including me) and so after she left on Wednesday, everything was going back to normal.

Well almost everything, because in TOTEM some other special events were following. Like the "Sousedský jarmark" one week later, which was indeed the next little surprise. While the whole week seemed to be quite sunny and nice, Friday turned out to be the complete opposite. And so we had to reschedule everything and move all stands and activities from outside to inside. On the day itself, everyone was a bit nervous, because no one knew how many people would come and if the atmosphere would be good or not. But what can I say, I think it was a big success! The house was full of people -from children to seniors- and the performances in the large hall as well as the stands in the small hall and other activities went really well and it seemed as if no one was letting the bad weather take their good mood. I also had my own stand and of course, performances with Adeto again, which were -as always- very exciting and fun. We also performed with Adeto the next day and, in my opinion, delivered a great appearance in Beseda, "a 3-story centre for arts events, conferences, and children's activities in a magnificent Art Nouveau building." After that, I met with volunteers from Brno and spent a nice afternoon with them, where we not only laughed together but also reflected on our voluntary service so far and our thoughts of it ending soon. Well, we all came to the conclusion that we don’t really want it to end and that we would wish to stay a bit longer because, for all of us, it feels a little bit like a second home already.

Speaking of second home, on the following Sunday I once again had the feeling of belonging a little bit more to the Czech society, when we went to the finals of the Ice Hockey World Championship. As we arrived at the public viewing in the centre the place was already full of people and it was even hard to find a place, where we were able to watch the match without always standing on our tiptoes and craning our necks, but in the end, we found a good spot and followed the very exciting match. Even though the Czech Republic was dominating the match against Switzerland they only got a draw in the first two thirds, but then, 10 minutes before the end, they finally shot their first goal. And when their second goal 15 seconds before the final siren followed everyone in the crowd was cheering. And I was so overwhelmed and happy to be part of this historical moment. Well, this was what I would call the last real surprise in May, as the Czech Republic seemed to be the outsiders during the last years but then proved everyone wrong! For me, it was a great honor to be part of the spectacle and the great celebration afterward, and even though they say “Kdo neskáče, není Čech. Hop, hop, hop“, of course, I had to celebrate with all my might. =D

Sign at the “Slavnosti Svobody” festival ;)

One of our numerous mirror selfies in Wroclaw^^

Visiting the impressive ‘Hala Stulecia":D

Modern urban art in Wroclaw….

Watching the beautiful sunset from our flat <3

At the sports tournament with TOTEM:)

Summer is coming to Plzeň!!

Last smažák before my sister left us again:(

At the public viewing of the Ice Hockey match between Czechia and Switzerland =D

… and again, I’m very grateful for this month and everything I was able to experience during the last weeks. I promised myself to make the best out of my last months in Plzeň and I think that I have done quite well so far.;)

Next week I will be home for some days but then I’ll be back here and enjoy my last two months in the Czech Republic. I’m looking forward to summer and everything I will experience during it and of course I will keep you updated on everything about to happen.

With that being said stay tuned and we'll see each other again in June.

Sbohem!

Laila ;)

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acertainmoshke · 1 year

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Cold Iron Character Overviews Part 2

Tatiana Kanin

Age: 37

Sexuality: bisexual

Pronouns: she/her

Physical appearance: very dark brown skin, brown textured hair in an afro, amber-brown eyes. Likes cozy sweaters, corduroy pants, and soft warm colors.

Backstory: Loved her sister Lynn from the moment they met at 8. Also always loved science. Used to make her own experiments and read scientific journals as a kid. She was clever and adored by her family, trained in careful and safe use of magic. She uses it mostly for gardening and a little bit of staying healthy, because that's most of what her parents focused on. She knows a couple defensive spells and is capable of using a sword, but honestly she hates fighting. She got pregnant from a brief relationship in college and has raised her daughter just fine alone, while balancing her medical career and the anti-Fae chaos going on around her, caused because they agreed something had to be done but disagreed with the Veil Guard about what that something was. That sort of spiraled into making their own extremely risky anti-Fae team. She still designs experiments in her free time or hangs out with her friends for movie nights and board games.

Liliana Kanin

Age: 11

Sexuality: Uncertain

Pronouns: she/her

Physical appearance: looks much like her mother, dark skin and textured hair in puffy pigtails and amber-brown eyes. Does have a reddish tint to her hair and a few smattering of freckles. Wears generally cool clothes for middle school, jeans and ruffled pastel shirts and a little lip gloss. Likes cute fruity earrings.

Backstory: Has no idea who her father is and doesn't really need to know. She loves her pet fish, her painting hobby, and scary movies. She spends much of her free time taking the bus downtown alone to hang out with her friends at the theater and bookstore. When she meets Cassie, they really hit it off—they're both independent and artistic and have similar taste in books. She gets to show Cassie how to be, not a human kid, but a human preteen and what there is to do with less supervision. She's mostly a responsible kid but has a mischievous streak, especially when it comes to magic.

Bethany Kallik

Age: 31

Sexuality: straight

Pronouns: she/her

Physical description: In human form, she mostly looks like an ordinary woman: the round face, golden-brown skin, and brown almond-shaped eyes of her Inuit heritage. She's fat with long black hair she likes to braid into a crown across her head, often with ribbons. Her only inhuman trait is the blue-gray pattern of dots down either side of her body from her hairline to her knees. She likes to wear leggings under short skirts and cute wrap-around shirts.

Backstory: Grew up a trans selkie in a loving family but a less-than-accepting community. Left as soon as she could to follow her dreams of owning a consignment shop, which she is still working towards. Likes to skate and watch cozy movies and garden. Dreams of the perfect romance. Goes on dates but never really clicks with the guy. Finally found her (other) calling—stopping the damage of the Faerie realm leaking into ours. She learned to fight but always preferred the strategies that didn't require it. And then life changed when she met Kris, who made her laugh and seemed not to care about social conventions in a really charming way.

Douglas Gwen

Age: 42

Sexuality: queer (nothing more specific)

Pronouns: he/him

Physical description: average size and height with a serious face. Medium-brown skin and textured hair in long dreadlocks and dark brown eyes. Wears basic, boring clothes that are comfortable, mostly plain t-shirts and jeans.

Backstory: Grew up mostly alone. His parents worked a lot, so his brother all but raised him. He was bullied for his undiagnosed ADHD. He liked baking and romantic stories and making beautiful patterns with his magic, but none of that was acceptable, so he grew a hard and mean exterior. Took up the magical equivalent to baseball. Was afraid to get close to anyone he dated and pushed them away. Loved the release of fighting when he and his brother joined the group and loved the mix of magic and weapons involved. Was secretly smitten with Beth and initially incredibly jealous of her and Kris, only to discover he couldn't decide who he was actually jealous of (yeah, I have a poly subplot because I needed more characters). In the process of hanging out with them, he finally began to embrace his actual interests.

Harry Gwen

Age: 55

Sexuality: aroace

Pronouns: he/him

Physical description: looks a lot like his brother except less buff, with medium-brown skin, dark brown eyes, and brown hair. He keeps his hair short though so he doesn't have to do much with it. He wears button-ups and slacks mostly, but at home wears fun printed pajamas.

Backstory: Took care of his younger brother as a kid, so missed a lot of childhood. Had friends at school but never had time to hang out. Taught himself most of the magic he knows and was quite good at it. Taught himself as an adult to code and now likes to make video games. Reads a lot, drinks tea, adopts puppies. He is not the image of a warrior. He can fight but doesn't like to. Actually, he prefers to play medic when Tatiana is busy with her actual career, or babysit while the others go on missions.

General taglist: @blind-the-winds

#moshke writes #writeblr #cold iron #character introduction

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empressxmachina · 4 years

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Bus Down, Tatiana by Imperial-Radiance

Have yourselves a (bonus) fan-art (?) post because this was mad fun to make and I'm mad trash. While an idea like this has hovered in my head for years, I blame BigJigglyPanda for putting my whole focus on this for the last week. I envision that the Bus works like the Tardis, much bigger on the inside. We STAN Valerie Felicity Frizzle, M.S., Ed.D., Ph.D. in this house. Tati, Cody, and their team don't (yet) exist in the MSB lore, but the Frizzles do canonically! (I wanted my prompt to sound as reasonable as possible. A full version of this is something I'd probably commission someone to do, truly. It wouldn't have to be trash, just concrete.)

A tiny tale is told below, followed by links to resources for this picture!

Valerie retired to get a few degrees. Fiona, her sister, took her place. Dottie, their niece from their brother John, followed in their footsteps... and eventually had a daughter that did the same.

***

Enter Tati, a research scientist with her team, all friendly, some more than others. One of whom, Cody, had been off for a hot minute, deviating from his usual self. He gave no helpful response whenever anyone asks about his well-being, faults coming to a head one day, pressing him to leave abruptly, and then staying away. Studies on the line from his unforeseen absence, the whole team, from heads to interns, was thrown out of whack. Tati, feeling his exit was from more than just burnout, getting that vaguely confirmed from their facility’s H.R., and quite a bit closer to Cody in the group than everyone else, decided she needs to take his struggles into her own hands. However, which path to take to do so was a more challenging decision to make, so she put out an S.O.S. to the smartest people she knew.

With known intentions to return, she made a dash out of her own to get her help, catching a familiarized colleague on her way out chortling, “Say ‘Hey’ to the Prof. for me.”

Said “Hey” to the Prof. she did as Tati, for once, had a topic to raise during the family video chat, explaining her predicament and all its laced emotions. Her grandfather John, even before suggestions were made, was disapproving but not out of malice. Sharing a man’s lens, he felt this wasn’t her fight to fight. Meanwhile, his daughter and Tati’s mother, Dottie, agreed somewhat with a bright smile, but rebelling against the call’s sole man, she thought her little firecracker should still attempt to find the source concern. Dottie’s aunt Fiona and her shining necklace added to the idea, throwing out that she could get an inside look if she tried or at least a bird- or worm’ s-eye-view as it helped her young students learn. To his dismay, knowing he was being ignored and seeing a glow assembling in Tati’s eyes and her ring, John tossed the mic to the matriarch of the family, the busiest bee of them all with alphabets and accolades attached to name to prove it.

Valerie, breaking from her own lab notes, looked to her chameleon – the reptile enamored by the glow in her caretaker’s earrings – bounced in her chair. Her hereditary coils did the same on her head, and she said with a grin, “Take chances, make mistakes, and follow your heart!”

***

Cody had been curling in his comforter in his lonesome, counting all the concerns skittering in his head as he sipped a cup of tea, when he suddenly encountered an uninvited guest. A bearded dragon of indiscernible sex climbed up on his lap, thrusting, of all things, a tablet into his face. The familiar lizard and the even more recognizable, bare torso of its caretaker on the screen raised an eyebrow. Conversations of varying comfort were had in a call. Wishes of support from his laboratorial familiars were sent his way with it. Streams of previously swallowed tea and blushes ran out his face, realizing that all of the former was dangerously close to his being, each set further into danger by the latter and his natural, sedentary actions. Cody caught and held a gulp in his throat, not wanting to disrupt the specks with pulses exploring in his drink or unintentionally send them down his gullet. Yet he felt terror and saw a flinch of some in Tati as the flow in the scarlet tunnel where she and her second headquarters of a Bus floated began to slow. ~end prompt~

Where Inside Cody Do You Think Tati Is? Also, Look at All of THIS. ~Autodesk Sketchbook (the rounds) ~lab ~network swish ~network tips ~plasma (*sips tea*) ~drank ~USFWS boat sampling ~almost invisible divers ~[pair in a boat] "Scientists collecting water samples for analysis." by USEPA Environmental-Protection-Agency, United States Environmental Protection Agency is in the Public Domain ~[trio in a boat]"Sampling (Coring in River)" by USEPA Environmental-Protection-Agency, United States Environmental Protection Agency is in the Public Domain (cast list) ~Tatiana ~Fiona, from the Netfilx sequel series ~Dottie, from only one of the books ~Valerie, the OG ~Val's signature, static hair ~Cody, not Ko, unless... ~Tati's analog of Liz that I've coined Zee (Cody's cozies) ~headboard ~tablet ~logo ~good hairday (phone call) ~bus renovation ~front cam inset ~call button ~mute button ~cam button ~ring-a-ling (bloody bg and misc.) ~glassy ~cells ~oxygen tank ~microscope ~saber ~globe ~anatomy head (bus nature) ~shark ~ceiling vines ~window flora ~tv trio ~plank strands (bus hull) ~yellow submarine ~bussy uwu ~eye lights ~rEVOLution ~misc. graffiti ~angel ~dirty ~lips circa September 2020 - yep, I put this out as soon as possible, lmao.

#g/t #my art #bus down tatiana #the magic school bus #photo manipulation #sw #giant male #male giant #shrunken woman #shrunken man #sm #science!#ms. frizzle is a timelord

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ramblings-of-a-mad-cat · 3 years

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(sees another fandom that I can ask you about and cheers) Orphan Black! Thoughts? I don't know Dr Who but Tatiana is one of my favorite actors period.

Anon you are so sweet! I'm always happy to chat about fandoms and characters and whatnot, and I will never not appreciate the majesty of Tatiana's acting. That is one of the greatest parts of the show hands down.

Orphan Black, to me, is a show that had incredible potential, but didn't really live up to the excitement it created. (Loooong post ahead.)

The thing is, Orphan Black builds a chilling mystery and background, the world it gradually creates as it goes for about the first two seasons, got be very invested and made me wonder a lot about where it was going to go and what the answers were. The setup is brilliant, right from the start with that iconic cold open of Beth's suicide. The unknown is what really helped this show get as thrilling as it was, because the actual answers behind the unknown were kind of hit and miss, and it seemed like far too often, the show just wasn't interested in telling it's story. Hijinks where the clones impersonate each other in slice of life events? That's fun at first and it really works well as they're still getting to know each other. But after a while, it gets tedious, and it seems like the show would rather fuck around and have dance parties (seriously, that scene was such a #BigLippedAlligatorMoment) than focus on the story and the threat that the sisters are facing. Virtually all of Allison's plotlines are like this, they feel like they belong in a different show, and for some reason the writers insisted on giving her one of these storylines like, every season. After Allison passively murders her own friend out of suspecting that she's spying on her, I just don't feel like an arc about her running for some PTA office position even matters. It doesn't feel right.

Speaking of that, here's another example: Donnie. Why did the end of the first season suggest that he was this secret mastermind working for Leekie? The whole idea just deflates in Season 2 and doesn't really go anywhere. He just goes back to being the bumbling sweetheart he was before. Why even have him be the spy? Maybe it should have been Ainsley. Do you want to know the exact moment that I think Orphan Black went wrong? Like, the specific scene? When Leekie was killed off. The character who had thus far been the Big Bad, gets taken out in the stupidest possible way, a literal accident on Donnie's part, and it's even played for laughs. After that point, the show really struggled to regain it's footing, though I don't think it completely went off the rails until about Season 4, and it was still generally hit or miss. Like, some stuff was really good. The introduction of the Castor clones, the development of Rachel's character (I'll get to her, trust me.) and the reveal of Kendall Malone. But it seemed like so much else was just forgotten or otherwise not resolved. Whatever happened to Cal? Sure, the show wanted to focus on the sisters...but Kira deserves to know her father if she wants to. That's just one example. It's a crying shame because this show is sometimes incredible. The metaphor that I always use for situations like this, is a card game. The show has all the right cards in its hand, they're just not being played.

The two strongest characters, at least to me, were Rachel and Helena. One of these characters was superbly written and went through a devastating arc. The other was Helena. We need to talk about her. In Season 1, she really cemented herself as a memorable presence with her trademark accent, her scars, her whole damn personality (again, hats off to Tatiana) and of course, that iconic screechy theme music that accompanied her. Which at first made us jump, but eventually made us cheer. I adored Helena, and I loved the development of her relationship with Sarah. Who went from shooting her in Season 1, to being deadset on rescuring her in Season 3, being furious with Siobhan for betraying her. (This is unrelated but Siobhan has the same " twist villain fakeout" at the end of Season 1 that Donnie does, and it's quite frustrating.) And yet, I swear, the writers just didn't know what to do with Helena half the time. They put her on a bus for long stretches, including one point where she just up and leaves Allison's house in Season 4, for no given reason. And the characters just kind of...don't care. The same thing happens when she gets arrested. No one cares to try and find Helena, even though she's unstable and often a danger to those around her. Even though she's by herself with no real ability to function in society. Even though she's pregnant. There is no excuse for this, and no Sarah, that "I'm sorry, I avoided you" scene in Season 5 is not going to cut it. It's such an afterthought.

I'm being rather critical, but I hope you can tell that this is from a point of passion. I genuinely enjoyed this show and getting to watch it. Just that sometimes it didn't feel like the show cared that I was watching. However, this was not true whenever Rachel was onscreen. Look, I'm a Merula Snyde stan, so you can probably already guess how I feel about Rachel. Despite her crimes, despite her constant slipping back the dark side, I felt so bad for Rachel at the end of it all. That scene with Kira really sums it up. "Who hurt you?" "All of them." And no scene is more intense than when she stabs out the eye cam. Like, I'm sorry, I pitied Rachel pretty much from Season 2 on. Her parents were horrible to her, and I'm supposed to think Ethan is the good guy here? He kills himself in front of his own daughter, telling her that she doesn't deserve him. And then Sarah shoots a pencil through her eye, causing brain damage and requiring a long recovery. I'm not saying that Sarah was wrong to do what she did, just that if I were in her shoes, I'd still feel a degree of guilt for Rachel's condition. In the end, I'm devastated that she was barred from Clone Club, when she made the right decision at the point it mattered. But there's just too much history there, and Sarah won't ever forgive her. (Though again, I do feel as though there's blame to share.) Rachel is my favorite character and I never expected her to be. But she's just so complex. Side note: "Enjoy your oophorectomy" is so damn quotable. I don't know why but I love that line.

So, Rachel's my favorite. Who's my least favorite? It might surprise you. It's Delphine. I'm sorry, but I just...I couldn't get on board with C*phine. Not after Season 3. I was waiting for the point that the show would push to finally redeem Delphine for her turncoat role, for all of the hell that she put Cosima through. By Season 5 though? I realized that as far as the writers were concerned? She already was redeemed. Even though she did nothing to earn it, except be presumed dead by Cosima. The way she treats Cosima in Season 3 is actually disgusting. Her reasoning for breaking up with Cosima is circular. She has to love "all the clones" in order to be with Cosima, and the way to do that is to take over Rachel's job, which means they can't date anymore? I'm not the only one who thought that didn't make sense, right? Oh and let's talk about how she stalks Cosima's date, breaks into her house, and threatens her life. Red. Flags. Cosima even says the line, "If you're not going to be with me, just let me go." I'm sorry, that should not be something she has to beg for. Delphine's behavior made me want her to stay far, far away from Cosima. Who is, incidentally, a sweetie and I absolutely adore her. I legit have trouble remembering that Tatiana's playing her because she just looks and acts so different. That said, even though I immensely disliked Delphine, I am so very glad that they made one of the clones gay. Just like I'm glad that they made one of them trans. (Though...Tony wasn't handled especially well.)

In general, I do think the earlier seasons were stronger. The Brightborn arc, while interesting, didn't really contribute much to the overarching narrative. We got the backstory on Beth's suicide and finally learned the truth about her, I suppose. Still, even though Beth is one of my favorite of the clones, and I never expected her to be either...I feel like the actual reason given for why she took her own life was rather illogical. She apparently did it because the investigation was putting the clones in danger of another Helsinki. Okay, but just because Evie Cho says you should off yourself, doesn't mean you have to. You could just, like...stop investigating. And if you die under mysterious circumstances without explaining anything to the sisters, they're not going to be put off from the investigation. They're going to look into this even more, because they don't know why they're not supposed to. The reveal that she and Art fell in love toward the end adds an extra gut punch, but it also doesn't make sense because wouldn't Art have referenced it during the period that he thought Sarah was Beth? On the other hand, Season 4 also introduced MK. And I have such a soft spot for her. I adore that sheep-masked sweetie. Everyone always asks "Which clone would you date" (because fandoms can think of nothing else I guess) and I never see anyone give any love to MK. Her death absolutely tore me apart. I am glad Siobhan avenged her even if she went down at the same time. Side note, her last word being the affectionate "Chickens..." Broke me.

Season 5 was a strange beast. In general, it seemed like we were finally getting some answers to the questions that were hanging over us. Exploring the deep mythos. But then they kind of turned it around and made it just be a Wizard of Oz style fraud twist. Westmoreland isn't really inhumanly old, he's a charlatan. I don't know why that was necessary in a science fictional show. I've seen the interviews and I get what they were going for, it just feels like it would have been cooler and far creepier if he was actually that old. The puppet master pulling the strings the whole time. We also finally get some answers for Kira's superhuman healing abilities (though we never learn how she's telepathically connected to the clones) and I'm loving it, but the trouble is, it's inconsistent. Ethan "Why is this guy so popular, he's an asshole" Duncan told Rachel specifically that Sarah being able to have children was a fluke, that the clones were "barren by design." I don't know, the whole concept of Revival and of the "magical island" was really foreboding and tied in with the earlier references to The Island of Doctor Moreau. Especially that song about "Revival's Children" just...the shudders, man. But just having it be a regular old scam is...a letdown. I know it may be more realistic, but I don't always need realism in my scifi. The finale is interesting, in that it's mostly an epilogue. I'm glad the clones (sans Rachel) got to live happily ever after, but there are two gut punches right at the end that are total nitpicks but they bother me. Helena naming her kids after Art and Donnie? And writing a memoir that she names "Orphan Black?" Those two tropes can go die in a hole. They can enjoy an oophorectomy, because I'm so sick of them.

The potential of Orphan Black was practically infinite. The results of Orphan Black fell frustratingly short.

#Orphan Black #Alison Hendrix #Rachel Duncan #Helena Orphan Black #Sarah Manning #Cosima Niehaus #Long Post #Beth Childs #Ramblings #Veera Suominen #Donnie Hendrix #Aldous Leekie #Ethan Duncan #Delphine Cormier #Siobhan Sadler #Clone Club #Arthur Bell #Tatiana Maslany

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