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wulfies-kpop-fanfics · 3 years

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One Photo → Mark Lee [8]

↳ Pairing: Mark Lee/Reader

↳ AU: Soulmate!AU - The first touch of two soulmates permanently scars their bodies.

↳ Warning: angst if you squint, I guess

↳ Word count: 2,294

↳ Chapters: Prelude | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | You Are Here! | 9

⁙ Summary: For an end of the year photography project, you’re tasked with taking a photograph for your favourite group, NCT127, and coincidentally, discover your soulmate.

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WEDNESDAY - 8 TWO YEARS LATER

The heart of Toronto would never compare to the magnificence of Times Square in New York, but the mass amount of billboards by the Eaton Center always managed to send you into awe during your nightly trek home from work.

You looked up toward the billboards with a sigh as you waited for your streetcar, barely managing to squeeze out a smile as you saw Mark’s visage splayed along one of the electronic spaces. The night sky was too polluted with the city’s light to display any real stars, but Mark’s face was more than enough for you. For the past week, you had seen NCT127’s faces sprawled across that billboard, part of promotions for their latest global comeback. It was a brief respite as you waited for your streetcar home every night, to finally know that the day was over and that you could relax.

It had been such a long time since you’ve seen Mark in person. Even though you texted him every day when the two of you were awake at the same time and video chatted whenever he had five minutes to himself, it always felt depressing to be without him. To not kiss or touch or hug at all was torture.

Everyone knew that it was deadly for soulmates to be apart for so long, that depression would set in and even worse physical illnesses were a real risk. It was hard to be so far away and over the past year you had been let go from multiple jobs because you were constantly sick, and therein lies the problem. You simply couldn’t afford the solution to your problem. So, depression and illness it was. It took everything you had to keep your head above water, to keep your dream alive and know that one day your heart wouldn’t ache as much as it does at the present moment.

After a 20 minute ride on the streetcar, you entered your building and took the stairs up to your little hole-in-the-wall apartment, the bare minimum that you could afford after Rhiannon paid her last half of the old place’s rent. A single bed, bath and a tiny kitchen that housed a little chair and round table. Thankfully, there was enough counter space that you could place a tiny TV to watch Netflix on while you ate. You were lucky that the house had a large living room, which doubled as your studio.

The coffee table was one of the only things left from your old apartment, along with the tote of Marvel films you kept hidden below it. Atop the table now rested all of your cameras, a drawing tablet and cards that you got in the mail from Mark from time-to-time, instead of notes, binders and textbooks. Sitting against the wall across from the table was a small bookshelf and an easel with a large frame sitting on it, housing the last portrait you finished the night before, ready to be shipped to the buyer.

After… somewhat enjoying a quick pot of white cheddar mac & cheese and watching a rerun of Supernatural on your little TV, you head into your room and sit at the desk next to your bed. After starting your computer, you opened up discord and sat back in your wheely chair, waiting for Rhiannon’s status to change to green. Wednesday was the day that she had to be up early for her job, so that meant time for a 10-minute call before you went to bed and she went to work.

Next to your computer was a copy of the photo you took two years ago, of your soulmate and all his friends beneath the shedding cherry trees in High Park. You smiled at it, the memory was fond but now faint in your mind. You reached forward to pick it up, but you stopped yourself. You knew that if you inspected the photo more, you’d only miss Mark and all your friends more.

There were times where your apartment became so quiet that it reminded you how alone you really were. You had lived with Rhiannon most of your life, and that meant there was at least some noise going on at all times. Whether she had her headset unplugged when she was listening to music or watching youtube videos, she was clattering about when helping you wash and dry the dishes, or if she was walking around and tripped on nothing. She was always talking, laughing, or doing something that always let you know that she was there. Now, you had nothing.

The silence is broken and you’re startled by the calling sound from discord, Rhiannon’s icon popping up on the top of your screen. You place your hand on your mouse and click the join call button, adjusting the webcam perched on the top of your desktop monitor.

"Hey," Rhiannon was the first to speak, yawning and reaching back to pull her hair into a perfect, tight ponytail.

"Hey," you respond, watching her closely and leaning your chin on your right palm. "How are you holding up?"

"I should be asking you that, Jesus, you look like the Hulk if he got the swine flu," she retorts, and even through the grainy quality you can tell she has sympathy written all over her face. "I'm doing great, we've got two cleanings today and a wisdom teeth removal, so that'll be fun."

You scoff and attempt to smile, "I'm fiiiiine, other than the fact that I'm here and you're there, 13 hours in the future and at least one ocean in between us and an entire continent and a half. I'd say that constitutes abandonment."

"I got the getting while it was good and you know that," she stuck her tongue out at you. "You need to keep saving so that you can fly your ass out here." She squinted at the screen. "You really need to drink like… an entire bottle of nyquil, dude."

"If only it were that easy," you groan. "I don't even have a photographer's position yet. All I get is sitting at a desk and responding to emails… even with my head start, I can't find a good job and I barely make enough to keep living in Toronto." You stick out your tongue back at her for the nyquil comment. "As if I haven't been hiding a bottle of dayquil in my desk for the past week."

Rhiannon stopped what she was doing and leaned toward her camera. "You know why you can't get the jobs you want," her voice is soft, empathetic. "Mark is having trouble, too. He's been doing a lot of half days, so I don't know how they plan to do their tour with him being constantly sick."

You looked away. "I can't afford to take any more time off… I don't want to lose this job. If I do, I'm not sure that I'll be able to make my rent."

"You're going to need to take time eventually,” Rhiannon stated firmly. "If you don't get at least some of your strength back you're going to end up in the hospital like I did. Remember?"

You glanced back at your screen, watching Donghyuck wander around in the backdrop. You were beyond jealous that they got to live together.

"Maybe. I just miss you. More than I miss having a clear passageway in my nose."

Rhiannon smiled sadly at you. "I miss you too, everyone does. You'll be here soon, I promise. I gotta go, sleep well and drink plenty of water, okay?"

"Okay."

Rhiannon waved at you before her screen went dark, ending the call. The call was shorter than usual, so you presumed that she had woken up late. You zoned out a little, acutely aware that the apartment had gone silent again. You didn't want to cry, to give up after surviving for so long. You had made it this far without letting everything get to you.

You knew that your deteriorating health was because of your separation from Mark and companies saw that as a liability, even though laws had come into place last year to protect separated soulmates from workplace discrimination. You felt a tiny ping of hope when Rhiannon said you would be able to move soon, but you knew she was lying to make you feel better.

Feeling lethargic, you stand and make your way to the dresser in the corner of your room, stripping and throwing your clothes about the room. You open up a drawer and pull out a pair of sweatpants and the softest t-shirt you could find and slipped them on, wandering to your bed and slowly climbing in. You slipped off your glasses, placing them on your desk and reached forward to turn off your lamp.

You hugged your polar bear and tried to get comfortable, hoping to fall asleep quickly. You supposed you could call into work when you woke up; at least your manager was nice enough to understand when you needed a day off. You rolled over, tossed and turned, but sleep wouldn't come. Not while your phone was constantly buzzing.

"What the hell," you mumble to yourself, untangling yourself from the knot of blankets you had tied yourself in to reach for your phone. Your lock screen lit up with a photo of Mark, one you had taken two years ago of him standing in Union Station.

[Rhiannon (5)]

She sure knew how to type quickly.

Rhiannon: I'm on my way to work, I'll let you know when I'm there

Rhiannon: sorry our call was so short, I was running a little late

Rhiannon: I talked to Mark last night, did he say anything?

Rhiannon: are you asleep already? It's been like 5 minutes

Rhiannon: ok you're basically just ignoring me at this point

You: calm down bro I was getting in my pyjamas

Rhiannon: I forgot how slow you get when you're sick, I could die of boredom waiting for you to respond

You: hardy har

Rhiannon: so have you talked to mark today?

You: around lunchtime he woke up from a nightmare but I assume hes busy right now

Rhiannon: Things have been pretty bad around now, I think you might have guessed that

You: Yeah, things aren’t really that great here either, but I’m more worried about Mark… have they given him time off?

Rhiannon: Not much besides half days. He’s really been missing you. Maybe you should message him and see if he’s not busy

You: Yeah, maybe. I feel really guilty

Rhiannon: I know. I still could help you buy your plane ticket, you know. You: You know I can’t do that, I can’t take more from you than I have already. I owe you too much.

No response.

You: Rhiannon I’m sorry

You: Come on, you can’t have scrubbed in that fast!

You sighed, staring at your screen and still seeing no response from your best friend. You took a deep breath in and immediately regretted it when you began coughing up a lung, but at least you weren't upchucking your dinner. Instead, you decided to send a text to Mark.

You: mark, you there?

You close your mind for a moment, thinking that maybe going to bed even later than usual would just make you more sick in the end, but you really needed to know what was going on.

Mark: yeah I'm here babe, what's wrong, can't sleep?

You: no not really… do you have time to talk for a bit?

Mark: yeah, my legs gave out during our first practice so I'm taking a break

You: I'm sorry

Mark: it's not your fault (Y/N)

You: it kind of is, we're both dying because I can't afford to move

Mark: (Y/N), we're not dying, and it's okay, you'll be able to move soon

You: face it you know that we are… I haven't felt this horrible in a long time and I've thrown up three times today

Mark didn't respond right away.

Mark: why are you putting yourself down so much

You: I just… have a lot of regrets right now

Mark: what do you mean

You licked your lips and rolled over in bed, wondering if you should tell him.

Mark: are you okay?

You: no, I feel like this would make you hate me

Mark: I could never hate you and you know that. Tell me what's been bothering you.

You: For the past while… Rhiannon’s been offering me money. It’s honestly not much because everyone’s struggling nowadays, but it would be enough for me to fly to Korea, and I’ve felt so guilty about it that I kept saying no and she stopped offering

Mark: You mean that you could have been here faster? You: and now I feel that saying no was a really bad idea… and I.. I can’t afford anything, barely even food and now I hear that you’re even more sick than I am and I feel terrible

You: I don’t know what to do

Mark: It’s okay, (Y/N), really. I know how hard it is to take money from someone else, I’m not mad at you

You: Really?

Mark: I’m just disappointed that I have to keep waiting. You’ll be able to move soon, I promise, I promise, I promise

You: Are you going to be okay

Mark: As long as you are. Take care of yourself, okay? I’ll be there for you the second you land. Okay?

You: Okay. I… I should probably get some sleep now. Mark: Rest well, I love you

You: I love you too

You sighed, placing your phone on your desk and turning over in your bed. It was time.

#mark lee #mark lee x reader #mark x reader #nct127 #nct #nctu #nct scenarios #nct imagines #reader insert #fanfiction #kpop fanfictions #kpop scenarios #kpop imagines

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ratingtheframe · 4 years

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So 2020 sucked... but the films didn’t! The top twenty films of 2020 (in my humble opinion).

AT LAST. This godforsaken year is over and as we venture into a new year, let's hope and pray that the art’s industry finds a way to build themselves back up again, in a way that is safe and necessary for them to bring us the entertainment we so crave. It has been a crazy and unprecedented year for the film industry, a year that it has never seen with losses of an estimated $5 Billion at the end of March. Some of the most anticipated blockbusters of all time had to be put on hold and postponed for hopefully next year with No Time to Die, A Quiet Place II, Wonder Woman 1984, Dune and Black Widow being a slim few that never got onto a silver screen this year. However, there is no reason to fret or relinquish the loss film has had this year, as hopefully next year once we’ve had a better understanding of this virus, these films along with many others will have their audience. Amongst the postponed releases, many films have been resilient to the virus and still managed to gain a spot in the cinema despite the circumstances.

Christopher Nolan’s Tenet was the only multi-million dollar film to be released this year and even though the risk of release could have meant nothing for the film, it still managed to rake in a staggering $361 million, an expected profit for a film of its size. However, despite the film's success, Nolan made it clear that this shouldn’t be taken lightly and that the safety of film consumers comes before the profits themselves.

Even though we will have to be more cautious in the cinema, films will return, once we have regulated safety measures in cinemas and film festivals to ensure that customers can feel comfortable. For now, HBO has planned to put many releases from Warner Bros. straight onto its streaming platform as well as in the cinema next year, in an attempt to prevent the spread of COVID whilst still being able show the films we’ve been craving. There’s no telling what next year will bring, what the Oscars will look like or if filming for the next Batman film will ever end, however it's clear to see that the film industry has shown resilience amongst this pandemic and will continue to do so in years to come, no matter the challenges.

Here are twenty of the films that made it to the cinema (or streaming platforms) this year, that proved the durability of the film industry during this time.

20. Tenet directed by Christopher Nolan

We can all agree that Chrisopher Nolan’s Tenet should be handed the award of Most Confusing Yet Entertaining Film of the Year, or ever made in fact. The sci-fi epic adventure that sees its lead (named “the protagonist) travel back in time and then forward in time and then back in time again (?)... yup, I didn’t get it either, but I’m not the only one seeing as Robert Pattinson who played alongside John David Washingston hadn’t a clue what was going on either. And he was in the film. However, despite the film's confusion, it doesn’t make it a bad or “lazy” film, for every aspect of this film from lighting, sound design, casting, direction, stunts WAS ON POINT and those elements are truly what sets this film apart. The story may have been perplexing but at least there was one.

19. Nomadland directed by Chloé Zhao

It is such a shame that Nomadland may not get the audience it deserves due to the COVID-19 pandemic as it is a truly moving and rich film. The Nomads are a group of real Americans who’ve hit the road in various mobile homes after the Great Recession in 2008 caused millions to be homeless and redundant. Frances McDormand plays Fern, one of these Nomads and child of the road whilst the film follows her simple, yet melancholy journey across Western America. Chloé Zhao has been tipped several times for an Oscar with Nomadland after winning the Golden Lion at this year’s Venice Film Festival. Let’s hope that if this goes onto the Academy Awards, Nomadland will find the audience it so craves.

18. Uncut Gems directed by the Safdie Brothers

YES, Uncut Gems came out THIS YEAR, which is an insane thought seeing as I saw the film in a packed cinema before it was released onto Netflix. The Safdie Brothers, Josh and Benny brought us Uncut Gems this year, a declining tale of a man’s test with fate and the many many second chances he gets at life, only to f*** all of them up. Adam Sandler plays Howard Ratner, a pawn shop owner and frequent gambler. This is Sandler’s best ever role and the multifaceted, gritty work of the Safdie Brothers (Heaven Knows What, Good Time) really brought something brilliant out of him.

17. The Half of it directed by Alice Wu

The Half of It wins the Most Surprising Film of the Year. A highly credible film directed by Alice Wu, The Half of It is EVERYTHING we want and need in this world. In fact, it’s everything we kind of already have in this world, but hardly see on screen. Non white leads, queer non stereotyped relationships, unpredictable endings; The Half of It was an all rounder for me. Some may roll their eyes at the amount of diverse elements to the film and see it as a way of gaining brownie points, but why does that have to be a thing? Why can’t having active and authentic representation across all films just be normal rather than political? If anything, it should be encouraged. The story was brilliant (and made me cry) as it had so many layers to it as well as the characters.

16. 7500 directed by Patrick Vollrath

Definitely the wildcard of this list, 7500 is an Amazon Studios film starring Joseph Gordon Levitt. I’ll admit, my hopes weren’t high, but after taking the time to watch this film I was truly blown away. And who KNEW Joseph Gordon Levitt could be so deep and in tune with his emotions on screen. He plays a pilot whose plane gets hijacked mid flight. There. Enough said. I could hardly BREATHE throughout this film in apprehension of what was going to happen next.

15. Kajilionaire directed by Miranda July

2020 thus far has been the best year for female filmmakers. From Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Josephine Decker’s Shirley, Rose Glass’ Saint Maud and Miranda July’s Kajilionaire, a clear cut foundation has been carved effortlessly for female filmmakers this year. Miranda July’s Kajilionaire especially rocked my senses a little as I saw so much unfamiliarity yet beauty within this film. A simple storyline that follows Old Dolio (Evan Rachael Wood), a young woman trying to feel more connected with her parents. A certainly bittersweet tale that has this rose tinted like vibe to it that attaches itself to the visuals and music of the film, that make everything feel light and playful. This contrasts well with the story itself as being sad and melancholy, further proving the fact this film is more than face value. Face value films have never gotten us anywhere and its films that go beyond entertainment that truly last in the industry.

14. Bombshell directed by Jay Roach

Bombshell is a PERFECT title for this film; a film that left me angry, sad and questioning the immorality that is still prevalent in the mostly male dominant society we live in. Charlize Theron, Margot Robbie and Nicole Kidman (best trio ever) star as three news anchors on Fox news whose lives are brutally torn apart when the Head of Fox News, Roger Ailes is accused of sexual harassment on many different occasions by female members of the workplace. Despite the silence being now broken, these three women still face a whole load of other problems that come in speaking up against a powerful, white and rich male. Threats of permanent job losses, victim blaming and a weak image are the consequence of speaking up about sexual assault as a member of Fox news. The brand itself has an incredibly misogynistic view of women and continues to have an idealised image of how women should be on the news with those working at Fox actually admitting it brings in viewers. Women with tons of makeup and dresses shorter than is comfortable is Fox news and Bombshell went above and beyond exposing this scandal that truly shook American broadcasting forever.

13. Borat Subsequent Movie Film directed by Jason Woliner

Borat Subsequent Movie Film wins the award for Most Jaw Dropping Film of the Year, as its protagonist and creator Sacha Baron Cohen, went above and beyond to show us the true dark depths of America. Ballsy, outrageous, jaw dropping, scandalous; every bold word can be used to describe this film and the lengths it went to get right to the heart of American society. The ugly heart. By now you should be aware that the ex president’s attorney was shoved right into the firing line after he was taken into a hotel bedroom by a reporter who happened to be an actor. Rudi Gulliani was left red faced after Borat bursts into the hotel room proclaiming the young reporter is his daughter, with Gulliani still unaware the entire outrageous event had been caught on camera. And not just any camera. A MOVIE camera. A true triumph in free speech and comedy, Borat Subsequent Movie Film will live on forever as the most outlandish film there is.

12. Miss Juneteenth directed by Channing Godfrey-Peoples

A real eye opener into current American society using a touching story between mother and daughter as a backdrop. Turquoise is a single mother struggling to get by and support her daughter Kai through the Miss Juneteenth pageant, held annually in Fort Worth, Texas. A real competition, the Miss Juneteenth pageant promises one lucky young woman of colour a full scholarship to a black historical college of their choosing. Turquoise desperately wants this for her daughter as it’ll give her the opportunities in life she never had. A truly moving and authentic film, this scored 100% on Rotten Tomatoes which is a highly impressive and deserving score.

11. The Trial of the Chicago Seven directed by Aaron Sorkin

Aaron Sorkin’s lyricism in words was again brought to us on screen this year with his depiction of the Chicago 7 (eight if you count Bobby Seale); seven men who were accused and put on trial for eliciting the Chicago riots of 1968. When in actuality, the police themselves had more to do with riling up the protestors than anyone else, even pushing a crowd of protestors through the front window of a restaurant to make it seem like they had vandalised the property. If anyone was going to make such a film, Sorkin would be the one to do it as with any event or idea he covers, Sorkin’s words as a writer MAKE YOU CARE. Even when you had no recollection or understanding of something, the way Sorkin depicts these events on screen has you absorbed into the story till the last second. An incredible and powerful story and a film that I could constantly go back to in order to learn about the injustices of American politics.

10. The Devil All the Time directed by Antonio Campos

I feel like The Devil All the Time still hasn’t got the recognition it deserves. There is something incredibly powerful and priceless about having a group of exceptionally talented people come together to create something for screen. This film wins Best Casting of the Year (if you don’t count Dune) as the likes of Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Eliza Scanlen, Sebastian Stan, Bill Skarsgård, Mia Wasikowska, Harry Melling, Riley Keogh, Jason Clarke and Haley Bennett graced our screens in this dark and ominous tale. Any story that is set in a small town and is about stories interweaving is bound to be interesting and thought provoking in it’s telling, with this adaptation being no different. The star of the show was Robert Pattinson’s thick Tennessee accent along with his clean yet filthy character interpretation of a perverted priest. Not one line in this film was thrown away and every single moment held a weighty tension, further confirming to us each character’s downfall by the end. An amazing adaptation and something you will reeeeeally enjoy.

9. Soul directed by Pete Docter

What was supposed to be Pixar’s second release of the year, Soul is Pixar’s most highly executed film to date. The amount of detail and care the animators and creators of Soul had taken to this picture is INSANE; insanely beautiful. With the black community going through so much this year, having something like Soul be put out to audiences shows support of this ever changing and growing movement. Even though having black representation on screen isn’t on the top of everyone’s priority list, it’s still important that the effort is there in order to really show what the world is like on screen and to cater to more audiences. Soul itself had everything; diverse, three dimensional characters, a clear and heart warming story and comedic, uplifting points that only strengthened the important message of this movie; life itself.

8. The Lighthouse directed by Robert Eggers

Again, another film that came out right at the beginning of the year, Robert Egger’s The Lighthouse was a whole new world that we had never seen before. Shot on a Panavision Millennium XL2 using a lense from the 1930s and black and white film, The Lighthouse was a decrepit, eerie and brilliant movie to watch throughout. It just makes me satisfied as a viewer when a director not only creates a film, but creates one that is so beyond anything we’ve ever seen and could likely have been made in an entirely different era altogether. Robert Pattinson KILLED IT in his role as a surly drunken sailor alongside Willem Dafoe, whose Irish accent was enviable. Overall a highly executed film that exudes brilliance and a creative mind.

7. The Hater directed by Jan Komasa

I would say The Hater is the second wildcard on this list. It’s a Polish drama that hasn’t had a lot of rep in the media, however, this doesn’t detract from the film’s execution and drama. A real downfall story that sees a jealous ridden man go from a media intern into illicting terrorism. Like, HELLO how does one go to such an extreme? The only way to find out would be watching the film...The film really spoke to the dangers of social media and the ease of getting someone to insight violence onto someone else, all through a computer. My mouth was hanging on the floor during several moments of this film and I can 100% guarantee the Netflix film will have the same affect on you.

6. La Belle Époque directed by Nicolas Bedos

La Belle Époque (or “The Good Times”) wins the award for Most Heart Warming Film of the Year. A surprisingly unique concept that follows a man trying to relive the best moments of his past after his wife wishes to divorce him. A company that specialises in creating your past memories offers him the opportunity to go back to the time when he and his wife first met, using actors, set design and music to recreate the moment. The French film emits a strong sense of nostalgia throughout with brilliant music and set design. It’s just one of those films that heavily expresses the idea of “what if” within a film whilst answering it boldly through its unique story.

5. Ema directed by Pablo Larraín

Ema took me a few days to fully absorb and appreciate as an experimental film, rather than one with a clear cut narrative. It's a film that expresses an idea, a feeling as opposed to a story which is completely okay and doable in this day and age. Ema is a liberating, freeing and psychedelic world of a film, with the message of the film being wrapped up in Ema’s attitude as a woman and the way she sets fires to things wherever she goes. Literally, as the opening sequence is of her setting alight a basketball hoop. There is some strong, vivid imagery within this and the MUSIC...definitely the best sound track I’ve heard this year. Ema’s in my top five for its uniqueness, rawness and the weird sense of liberation it gave me after watching it.

4. Saint Maud directed by Rose Glass

Probably the biggest breakthrough film of the year and despite the pandemic, Saint Maud certainly got the rep it deserved. An entirely new perspective of horror was brought to use in troves in the form of this Irish film created by first time director Rose Glass. I cannot express how brilliant and revolutionary Saint Maud was for its simplicity, story and filmmaking techniques. An ambitious and all round brilliant film that sits prettily in my top five films of the year.

3. Portrait of a Lady on Fire directed by Céline Sciamma

Portrait of a Lady on Fire wins the award for Best Foreign Language Film and it still hurts to think it never even made it to the Academy Awards this year. One of the most moving and earthy films that I’ve seen this year, Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a slow, sensual and ambiguous picture that shows a love story between two women through the form of art. I became quite obsessed with the music of Antonio Vivaldi after seeing this as the time period and music intertwined really well in this film. Exceptionally made and incredibly raw, Portrait of a Lady on Fire went straight for the heart in this film by also putting the grievances of love at the forefront of this film.

2. Parasite directed by Bong Joon Ho

You are probably extremely bored and tired of hearing of the success of Parasite as a breakthrough picture, however there are an abundance of reasons for it! Winner of Six Academy Awards including Best Picture, Parasite really pulled the rug beneath the Academy Awards feet and certainly proved that no matter your race, it's the story that sells and that will bank you an Academy Award. A wonderfully crafted story, one that could have been found in theatre or even opera and those sort of structured narratives are what really grab people’s attention.

1. Another Round (Druk) directed by Thomas Vinterberg

And finally, my favourite, Most Enjoyable Film of the Year had to be without a doubt, Thomas Vinterburg’s Druk, which I had the pleasure of seeing at the BFI London Film Festival this year. The theatre-like structure of a narrative has been implemented seamlessly into this film and even if structure means nothing to you, you can feel when a film has been crafted differently to bring about a dynamic and earthy narrative. I’ve previously watched two films of Vinterberg’s; Festen and The Hunt and even though those two films hold a high rating, Druk is definitely Vinterberg’s best film yet. Extremely entertaining whilst also carrying a rather dark side to it, Vinterberg sells you the best and worst of two worlds whilst exposing the effects of alcohol consumption.

And that’s it! 2020 in films! If you agreed or disagreed with anything on this list or think something else should’ve made the list that came out this year, be sure to leave me a comment on this post or via instagram on @ratingtheframe. It’s crazy to think that this obsession of mine turns two years old next year and there are still so many amazing pictures to be seen! And as always, you will find each and every one of them right here on @ratingtheframe.tumblr.

Bring on 2021!

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theonlygamergost · 4 years

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What happens in the toy aisle, stays in the toy aisle - Fd!au

This fanfiction is based on the Family Dynamic au made by @antarctic-bay if you would like to know more, go check them out!!!

Also please bear in mind that the things written in this might not be canon!

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Tommy Techno and Will are pretty chaotic without supervision, so when they go pick up Phil from his workplace, they make a fatal mistake: they enter the toy aisle.

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Enjoy~

Phil sighed in relief after a rush of clients had gotten out of the store, the offices had just closed so it was pretty normal for a rush to be around this hour, yet this one ending only meant that in a half an hour, the students rush was going to begin.

This also meant that he had half an hour to refill the shelves, so many things to do, so little time.

“Evening everyone! Evening Phil!” The new employee’s shift started round about now, he greeted everyone and went in the back where he worked, Phil was able to reply with a wave and a smile. The new guy had it rough since he worked the night’s shift in the warehouse, but Phil sometimes brought him coffee or something to eat before leaving work: the guy was slightly older than Wilbur and Phil only felt empathy for the guy.

He stretched his very tired body and started to put the products on the shelves, sleeping three hours for two nights in a row wasn’t the best idea he ever had but convincing Techno to stop studying so late wasn’t an easy task, plus, insomnia is a bitch ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

The store’s “peace” (for how peaceful a store can be that is) was abruptly interrupted by the shouting of “HEY BIG P!!!!” coming further down the aisle. Customers and employees alike stared in confusion at the young boy who had yelled and the other two teens with him.

Phil turned to see his brothers wave at him with a grin on their faces, “Boys? Wha- what are you doing here?” He asked in disbelief, what were they doing here?

“We came to see you Big P!” Tommy hugged his older brother out of nowhere, making them almost lose balance. The other two smiled as they watched the wholesome scene.

“Thank you for coming to see me boys but, the store is on the other side of the town from your school! There has to be another reason you came all the way here” Wilbur and Techno snickered, making Phil more suspicious

then he already was.

“Now I’m genuinely concerned, what are you little shit-heads up to?” Phil engaged his dad-mode, placing his hands on his hips and looking at the teens for explanations. Tommy and Techno smiled innocently while Wilbur answered.

“We came here to pick you up after your shift ends! There was no point in going back home and then coming here so…” He looked around while putting his arms behind his back, Tommy nodded aggressively like he always did when Wilbur talked for the three of them, “We came here directly from school in my car, It just didn’t feel right to make you come back home on the bus. You work for all of us so this is the least we can do”

Phil stared at them in silence, that was so thoughtful of them.

Phil moved around town with the old trusted scooter their father gifted him on his sixteenth birthday, but as time passed, it only became more old and less trusty, so it was no surprise when two mornings ago the scooter didn’t start, the noises it emitted were more than worrying so he brought it to the mechanical near their house. He could afford the repair costs but he completely forgot that he had to use the bus to get to work, so he woke up “at the same time as usual” the next day… he didn’t calculate that the scooter was way faster than the public transport though, so he arrived twenty minutes late.

“That is very… kind of you guys, but my shift ends in an hour, what are you going to do until then?”

Techno shrugged, “Laugh at kids toys” saying it like it was the most normal and obvious thing in the world.

Phil couldn’t help himself from face-palming, smiling behind the hand that covered his face: he loved his brothers very much, but god why were they so chaotic?

“Fine then, go to the toy aisle, just… don’t get yelled at for making too much noise ok?” Their eyes started sparkling, they were waiting for this.

After thanking and saying goodbye to Phil, Wilbur and Tommy bolted out of view, Techno sighed and shook his head before walking with hands in his pockets after them.

Phil smiled and got back to work, moving the groceries from the cart to the shelves.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So wait, you’re telling me that the teacher gave you a vote without checking your paper?” Wilbur was playing with his yo-yo while casually chatting with Techno, Tommy was bouncing a basketball around them.

“Yeah, I mean… it’s pretty normal, the teacher says that it’s always a “waste of time” to check my papers because she never finds any errors” The blonde boy was half-listening to his older brothers, they said they were going to the toy aisle to make fun of stuff, “Stil, the teacher shouldn’t do that! Correcting homework is part of her job!” Yet they were talking about boring stuff, who cares about school anyway?

“I am aware Wilbur, that’s why she doesn’t like me anymore, I said in front of the class that she gave me an A+ but I made two errors she didn’t correct, now both the class and the teacher think I’m an asshole” Techno sighed, he never really cared about what people thought of him, but it still kinda hurt.

Wilbur stopped playing with the yo-yo, looking at the ground while in thoughts.

“Have you reported this to the principal?” Techno shook his head.

As he was about to say something, a bunch of bouncy balls hit them.

“GWAHAHA! YOU JUST GOT PRRRRANKED BRO!” Tommy laughed hysterically at them, holding a small box full of them.

“You in this Techno?” Wilbur grabbed a couple of balls off the ground, “Count me in Will” Techno juggled a ball in his hand, ready for what was about to happen.

“Wait- guys- w-we can talk about this!” Tommy slowly started to back away from them, hoping for an agreement.

“One…” Tommy gulped, Techno adjusted his glasses.

“... Two… “ Tommy became a stuttering mess, Wilbur grinned as widely as he could.

“THREE!” They said in unison, bringing back their arm to launch the bouncy ball as hard as they could.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Proudly, Phil placed his hands on his hips as he admired the work he had just done: The whole aisle was know refilled and ordinated.

He chucked the empty carton boxes into the cart along with the cutter and pricer. Taking it in the warehouse where the new guy and another employee were drinking coffee, the night was long for them so this was the first of many.

As they noticed Phil walking in, they greeted him, “Yo Phil! Want some coffee?” The older Pandel brother shook his head and thanked them, “No thanks mate, I’m good” Taking one card box at the time, he cut them and folded them to throw them away while making small talk with the other two employees.

“Did you know that the manager got caught flirting with that young cashier the other day?” One of the workers said after taking a bite of their sandwich, “He’s an asshole who looks like a creep, I’m not surprised… “ The other one was playing crosswords, he replied as he scratched his head. “Vertical, four letters, a Japanese company who products televisions and owns a console? Dude, I don’t play those videogames how am I supposed to know?”

“Sony” Phil replied while dropping off the cutter, the guy who asked the question stared at the journal. “Um… Oh Yeah! It fits! Thanks Phil” He scuffed it off as he closed the storage door, heading off to change out of his uniform. He wondered what mess the three brothers could have done while out of his sight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Before he changed and waved goodbye to his co-workers, Phil had sent a text to Wilbur, asking him to meet up outside the store, when he arrived there, they were already waiting.

“Alright!” He stretched his arms “I’m so done doing shit today, who wants to order pizza?” The brothers agreed and cheered as they got into Will’s car, of course he was driving, so Phil sat in front and the other two in the back.

“Thank you for picking me up today” He looked at Wilbur.

“No worries big P!” Tommy emerged from the back seat, a soft “It’s the least we could have done” came directly from behind him, he smiled.

“So what did you end up doing while waiting for me?” The car became as silent as rock, Will’s eyes widened.

From that day, the three brothers never entered Phil’s workplace again, also bouncy balls were now banned in the Pandel household.

#tommyinnit #wilbur soot #ph1lza #technoblade #fd!au #fanfiction #my fanfiction #my writing #writing

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eueden · 4 years

Photo

⟨ MAUDE APATOW. CIS FEMALE. SHE/HER. ⟩ though the mist might prevent some from seeing it, EDEN KOPPELMAN is actually a descendent of H E S T I A. it’s still a question of whether or not the TWENTY-THREE year old VETERINARY from CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA has taken after their godly parent completely, but the demigod is still known to be quite THOUGHTFUL & QUIXOTIC.

hi, hello, allô, hola, ciao, ella here again with another character. okay so there’s not much to say about me that most of you don’t already know, i have no life and i’m always lurking even if i never do replies (don’t tell the admins) hgsghssghs anyway, this is eden and in a shocking turn of events i actually have a good idea of who she is and look i even made a graphic, if that’s ain’t dedication then i don’t what it is.

basic information.

NAME: eden atara koppelman

PRONUNCIATION: EE - d uh n

NICKNAME: E?? idk

GENDER: cis female

PLACE OF BIRTH: brisbane, queensland, australia

HOMETOWN: cape town, south africa

DATE OF BIRTH: june 26, 1997

AGE: twenty-three

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: heterosexual so far but secretly curious

MAJOR: veterinary

EXTRACURRICULARS: president of the jewish student association, vice president of the herpetology club, president of the volunteer service, women in leadership member, student government member

SPORTS: captain of the climbing team and co-captain of the track & field team

character inspo.

Jessica Day (New Girl) ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

Elliott Reid (Scrubs) ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

Amy Santiago (Brooklyn 99) ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

background.

tw: death, infant death, car accident, fire

Eden was born in Brisbane, Australia. She comes from an animal lover family. Her grandparents are very popular down under because they had an animal TV show à la Steve Irwin. Her dad followed their footsteps and it’s a well-known zoologist who also had some TV shows (think of Bear Grylls).

TW: death, infant death, car accident. Matthias Koppelman (her dad) had been previously married but lost his wife and child in a car accident and after that he isolated himself from the public eye and moved to Namibia.

At twenty-eight, he felt the need to climb Mount Everest as one does, ya know? But ofc this man hadn’t climbed in years (he had experience but he’d been too sad to climb mountains. I mean he could barely leave bed, let alone climb Everest). That didn’t stop him and he did.

He almost d worded there bc as I said he was not ready but that’s when Hestia queen of fire showed up and warmed him (in a non sexual way bc she’s pure okay) and he was like oh that was a near dead experience and didn’t think much.

After he conquered the Everest with the help of Hestia, he moved back to Australia and oh surprise a few months later he opened his door and voilá a bebé was there with a note that said “you deserve to have a family, love hestia”

He was shocked like “did i just impregnate a fantasy?” but then Hestia was kind enough to send another and explain everything.

Anyway, Eden lived in Brisbane for four years before her dad took a job in South Africa. They moved to Cape Town (and her grandparents came with them) and pretty much had a happy life surrounded by animals.

TW: fire. When she was nine, her dad took her to a game reserve in Limpopo and by some reason a fire started endangering animals and flora. Everyone was panicking bc I mean wouldn’t u? But Eden was attracted to the flames like a pyro (the good kind tho) and since everyone had better things to do than taking care of a child, they left her unsupervised and she delved into the fire.

Ofc nothing happened to her because ✨immunity✨ but guess who showed up again? Hestia!!!! Being a great goddess and mom, she taught Eden how to use her powers so she could absorb the fire and save all the animals and people.

Everyone was like holy shit a miracle and the firefighters were like “the fuck? we did shit but we gonna take the credit lol”

Eden was like “did that just happen?” and yes, it did but she was like “meh that was imagination” and her dad was like *nervous chuckle* “yeah…” because he didn’t want to tell her the truth since that could put her in danger.

At 13, she had her bat mitzvah and it was all fun and games until fire lady showed up aka Hestia. Her dad and Hestia explained everything and Eden was like:

Hestia claimed her and off to camp she went. For the next few years she went to camps all over the world as a treat.

She never went on a quest bc she was afraid and also because she couldn’t put herself in danger and risk losing her life bc her dad already had lost a child… so yeah

Her dad remarried when she was seventeen and a year later she welcomed a new baby brother and that’s why she decided to take a gap year to be with her bro and also work with her dad in the reserves.

She moved to Athens when she was nineteen and decided to go into veterinary school. So yes Ella will get her dog one way or another idc what the admins say :chaos:

Ahhhh that’s all folks!!! We did it!

FULL BIO (yes, i completed it this time)

personality.

Eden never loses her sense of curiosity. You could say that she sees life through rose colored glasses as if she lived on the edge of a mirror country where worldly objects come to life, where flora and fauna assume almost human qualities.

She has the ability to see the good in almost anyone or anything and tends to sympathize with even the most unfriendly person. She often hides the extreme depth of feelings from her, even from herself, until circumstances elicit a passionate response.

She has a deep sense of idealism that comes from a strong personal sense of right and wrong. She sees the world as a place full of possibilities and potentials and is governed by her intuition. She is quite reserved and is not easily manipulated.

She is a good listener and considerate, they try to care for and understand others in a deep way. She can be very calm and intuitive with the people around her, being able to search for hidden meanings in the actions and words of others.

Of course, all of life is not rosy and Eden is not exempt from suffering the same disappointments and frustrations that are common to others. She tends to be a perfectionist and often strives for personal ideals that can be exhausting or very difficult to obtain.

She also struggles with time management, always leaving everything to the last minute claiming she “works better under pressure” but the truth is she’s just a procrastinator.

Very sensible, she cries almost every day either because of a commercial or a sweet story she read on Facebook. It doesn’t matter, if it’s slightly emotional she will shed some tears.

powers.

pyrokinesis: This power first manifested when she was nine years old and she helped to save an animal reserve from the flames with the help of Hestia. Since she was claimed when she was thirteen, she’s learned how to use this power. Now she can summon fire without any problem and put it out just as fast. This is very helpful because she loves baking but she’s a bit clumsy so she often burns herself, but thankfully, she’s immune, so no pain. However, Eden has never been able to create a hot wall of flames nor she has ever asked how to do that, she just hopes she never has to use it.

serenity inducement: Eden avoids conflict at all cost, not only it makes her cry but also makes her very uncomfortable and anxious which is why this was the first power she manifested. She was just a child but from what she remembers it was during a class in preschool that a kid started hitting another one. Eden panicked at such an act of violence she went there and touched the bully’s shoulder which immediately calmed him. Back then she didn’t know it was a power but after finding out about her true identity, many other events like this started to make sense. This is the power she uses the most, also with animals which is why she makes such a good veterinarian because she can calm an animal's nerves.

bond manipulation: She wouldn’t say this is one of her weakest powers but it’s one she didn’t use often growing up because she came from such a stable family that it didn’t seem necessary, however, she sometimes catches herself using it in group projects or at her workplace, you know, to keep things healthy and positive.

ability to summon food: By far the one she uses the least (personally speaking), she likes cooking and baking, so she doesn’t see the point but she does use it to feed stray animals.

headcanons.

Eden speaks fluent English, she has a mixed South African and Australian accent but she can switch. At school, half of her classes were in Afrikaans, so she also speaks it fluently. Greek comes from her demigod side, but she also took some classes back in school upon her father’s request. Growing up in a very Jewish family, her grandparents believed it was pretty important that Eden learned Yiddish and Hebrew, she can read it perfectly but struggles speaking it, especially Yiddish because she also attended Hebrew school. As for French, she learned in high school and she still takes lessons at Eonia but she hates it.

Her father started taking her to a climbing gym when she was five and by the time she was ten she was already climbing 6a routes which is pretty much an intermediate level and very impressive for her age.

She had her own TV show on Discover Kids titled “Eden’s Wildlife Adventure” in which she explained the importance of different types of animals. The first seasons were shot between Australia and South Africa, but in later seasons she traveled across Africa and South America. The show ran from 2005-2011 (which was when she was claimed).

Dreams of climbing Mount Everest before her 30th birthday.

Her father is a classic rock band and so is she. Her animals have been named after influential musicians. Right now she has a cat named Hendrix, a horse named Cobain, a dog named Mick. Growing up her father took care of a baby lion which they named Little Richard because he was smaller than most lion cubs. Over the years, his father and grandparents have fostered several wild animals while they recover or before they are sent to a reserve. Among the animals they have fostered are elephants, giraffes, zebras, cheetahs, leopards, hippos and more.

While she loves rock, she’s also a sucker for 2000s pop. Please don’t ask her about modern artists because she’s clueless.

She’s fed up with the Mean Girl jokes, we get it she grew up in Africa and she’s white.

She is a proud Jewish girl and follows many traditions. She does attend the local synagogue during Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah. And of course, Hanukkah is her favorite holiday. Her family practices Reform Judaism, so she doesn’t follow a kosher diet.

Eden was raised as a vegan and her whole family is vegan. In the past years, she has been in the process of becoming vegetarian.

Favorites: Anything written by Agatha Christie(book); Say Anything (1989) (movie); Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Tears for Fear (song);

Again, no one asked me but I will reply: “Ella, does Eden hate Iker?” “Well, thanks for asking. In a shocking turn of events, no she doesn’t. How come you might ask? Well, she doesn’t hate anyone but if she ever did then yes, she would hate him.”

pinterest | wanted connections

#euintro

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taelme · 5 years

Text

Disneyland actor!Hendery

genre: disneyland actor!au, kind of workplace!au? (fluff)

pairing/s: Hendery / Reader, (ft. KunTen)

word count: 8k+

tw: none!! hehe

a/n: saw all those posts about Hendery as Prince Eric n I knew .... had to take matters into my own hands .....

"Hello Prince Eric!" Hendery was nudged aside roughly, almost causing him to choke on what was left of his churro in his mouth. He recognized the voice to be his friend Kun, who glanced sideways before lowering his voice to a mutter, "you know you're not supposed to be snacking on the job right," his harsh tone emphasized by his frown.

Hendery pat his chest firmly, shooting a (very defensive) wide-eyed look at his friend, "I can't help it when all these little mermaids," he waved at the two girl toddlers dressed in mermaid costumes who waddled past the princes with a smile, "keep giving me free food, can I, prince charming?"

Hendery sighed, licking the excess sugar and cinnamon off his lips, "What are you doing here, anyway?" he asked his brown haired friend, who was busy greeting the children and park-goers that strolled past them.

"Had to entertain myself cause all the princesses are gone for that performance thing," he shrugged, turning and placing his hands on his hips as he analysed Hendery's area ( or lagoon, he figured ). "I see Ariel's sisters don't seem to be very busy," Kun smiled, waving at one of the girls he'd seen beckoning him to the pool area.

"Sure, go wild."

Hendery waved him off distractedly, not without giving Kun an uncomfortable look as he approached one of the mermaid actresses. Contemplating on whether to buy himself a drink, he was approached by one of the park rangers, “You guys can go for your break now,” he said, repeating the same thing to Kun and the other actors there, leaving Hendery to go by himself to the breakroom, desperate for actual food after just surviving on a churro since the time he woke up.

Upon reaching the break room he’d spotted his co-worker Ten, who didn’t waste any time in latching onto Hendery, practically following him around the breakroom like a little puppy ( or in this case a little puppy that really wanted to ask Hendery for a favour )

“Bro...Hendery....you know I love you right?” he murmured, earning a hum of acknowledgement from Hendery as the latter was more focused on picking which bento set looked more appetising to him. “And you know I would do anything for you if you asked....right?”

Hendery turned to give Ten a knowing look, waving his packet drink in front of Ten’s face, “And you know that you might as well just tell me what you want from me now,” Hendery sighed, walking back to his usual table in the break room and placing his things onto the table.

Ten let out an offended gasp, hand to his chest to emphasize his offence, “I don’t want anything from you!”

Hendery quirked an eyebrow at his co-worker, just wondering how he’d managed to become friends with someone as annoying as the person seated before him. “Okay, then we’re done he-“

“Okay, fine, maybe I do want something. But it’s nothing big I swear! I just need you,” he pointed a finger at Hendery, a small sheepish smile appearing on Ten’s face as he continued, “to figure out something for me,”

“Is he asking you for another favour again?” Kun flopped with a tired sigh onto the seat next to

Hendery, Ten simply sticking his tongue out at Kun in response.  

“Okay, so before I was rudely interrupted, I was saying. Okay, let’s say I’m supposed to have this work thing tonight. And for this work thing, it’s you know that thing where they book out the whole park and we can just do whatever we want and use the rides and all, you know?”

“Yes, Ten, I work here, I know.”

Ten narrowed his eyes only momentarily at Hendery before continuing, a big smile plastered on his face in the hope that it would increase his chances of Hendery saying yes, “so, I was supposed to bring one of my friends here because I got to invite one person and she really wanted to come see the park in the evening, but! But, okay, this is the part you gotta help me out,” Kun shot a look at Ten as if asking why he was beating around the bush so much.

“Ten just get to the point already,” Kun snapped, his eyebrows furrowing slightly and a slight scowl on his face.  

“Can you...perhaps....accompany her?”

Hendery shrugged, he already knew he was going to say okay to Ten’s request he just felt like he needed to make Ten work a little for his ‘yes’.

“What’s in it for me?” he asked Ten, making Ten purse his lips, raising an eyebrow at the younger boy.

“A burden,” Kun snickered, shaking his head and patting Hendery on the back.

Ten rolled his eyes, “First of all, she’s a girl, and this is not a burden- in fact, it’s a blessing for Hendery.”

“In what way?” Hendery laughed, enjoying the exchange even more than he was letting on.

“I’m helping him land a date! It’s no news that Hendery over here hasn’t dated in like what ten years-“

“2 years,” Hendery cut in with a proud grin on his face, holding up two fingers for emphasis.

“Yeah, same thing. I’m just saying man, it’s a blessing in disguise that I couldn’t make it tonight, ‘cause I’m literally giving you a great romantic evening in the park with a pretty decent girl and no one’s gonna give you shit for it because literally everyone will be with their own people!” Ten grinned, holding a thumbs up next to his face, nodding excitedly.

Hendery had to agree, the prospect didn’t even sound all that bad, giving Ten an affirmative nod, finally letting himself smile widely after Ten’s whole monologue.   “Yes!” Ten whipped out his ticket and slammed it onto the table before him, “Thank you, or you’re welcome in advance? Whatever, you’ll have fun even if it’s not fun,” Kun nodded in agreement at Ten’s last comment, giving Hendery a nod as he pointed at Ten.

“Hate to say it but it’s true.”

Hendery glanced at his watch, it was at least 4 more hours till the park would close for Ten’s work event. That’s gonna really feel like 10 years, Hendery thought. Little did he know 5 hours later he’d be rushing to change into his casual clothes ( which in this case was his green white and black motif hoodie and his black jeans that were a little more ripped ) and meet you at the fountain near the old themed theatre. You didn’t recognize him at first, you doubted you’d be able to from the shitty description Ten had given you.

“Tall, kind of handsome when you look past the donkey features, long hair,” was all he’d told you, and that wasn’t what you were expecting when a boy who looked way too handsome to have fit Ten’s description had come up to you a little out of breath asking if you were Ten’s friend with a hopeful look on his face.

Momentarily distracted by how much he smelt like a tropical lagoon and his gaze that was intently fixed on you, you’d almost forgot to reply him until you realized he was waiting for your answer.

“Oh, yes. Yep, that’s me,” your nervous laugh did nothing to hide the awkwardness you felt. You were thankful that they’d chosen that time to start the event, meaning you and Hendery had to make your way to the big communal area, standing at the far back since you two were already late.

You fixed your gaze on what was going on at the main stage, admiring the display of lights and the way they’d lit the street lamps within the park, making you feel as though you were actually outdoors.

“Hey, man, what are you doing here still?” you saw somebody sling an arm over Ten’s friend’s shoulder.

“Oh, I’m here for the event,” he said simply, sparing you the introduction which you greatly appreciated, and you were busy navigating the map to see where you’d wanted to go to first, but that was proving to be a little difficult since you’d never been to the park before ( even despite your best friend working in the park ).

“Where should we go first? the map says that the lagoon’s pretty popular-“

“Forget the map,” Ten’s friend snatched the map from your hands, “I’ll be your map tonight,” he smiled at you, his styled hair falling over his eyes slightly, making him shake his head to move his hair away.

“You know this place well?” he nodded at your question, “like the back of my hand.”

Hendery figured he shouldn’t have promised that when you’d asked if he could bring you to the Jurassic area of the park and you’d both ended up at the canoe ride instead.

“Like the back of your hand, huh?” you laughed, but didn’t stop him when he gave you an unapologetic shrug, stepping into the boat and offering you a hand to help you in anyway.

“Ladies and-I mean lady, please keep your arms and legs within the vehicle at all times,” you smiled, nodding as you did as you were told. You heard the muffled speakers of the park start to play different songs, Hendery and yourself unconsciously mouthing the lyrics or humming the tune to the song playing.

You saw somebody wave at him while he adjusted the paddles of the boat, sitting before you with a smile. “Another friend of yours?” you referred to the person he’d just greeted, making him glance back at the person who was already almost out of sight, turning back to you with an amused expression.

“If I’m being honest, I see him almost every day but I just can’t seem to remember his name,” he confessed, making you let out an amused huff, shaking your head.

“I’m just not that great with names,” he followed your gaze to see how you were staring at the lights decorating the bridge you were about to pass under. “Speaking of which,” he spoke again, directing your attention away from the lights to him instead, “sorry I’m only asking now but what’s your name?”

“What’s to say you won’t forget an hour after I tell you?” he scrunched his nose up, shaking his head.

“I promise, I won’t forget. My name’s Hendery,” he told you, tucking the paddles in a way that you were pretty sure was meant to make the boat move slower.

“I’m Y/N,” you told him, seeing him nod.

The conversation dulled momentarily, which you didn't mind, of course. You knew it was all part and parcel of a first meeting with someone. So you'd let yourself get distracted by the pretty lights and the way the decor of the streets in the park that you passed by in the boat seemed so pretty in the evening light.

“This is so nice,” you muttered to no one in particular, earning a sound of agreement from Hendery. “So, I’m guessing you work here with Ten?” he nodded.

“I’m part-time, unlike Ten. I heard from him it was your first time coming here?” You enjoyed the way his eyebrows would raise ever so slightly when he asked you questions, the light from the street lamps and the fairy lights casting this glow you couldn’t describe but made him look absolutely...princely.

Nodding in response for your sudden lack of the ability to form words, he replied you quickly, “Well you’re free to come as many times as you want, I could get you a free pass.”

“Is that allowed?” you laughed, wanting to slap yourself for that reply, earning a shake of the head from him, grinning at you mischievously. as if you didn’t know it wasn’t allowed, please.

“Well...there are a few other options I guess, you know, if you don’t want to go down the illegal route,” he hummed in thought, before his eyes lit up, “okay, so, you could work here part-time when you’re free, or you could come visit whenever you have time using Ten’s pass and I could properly show you around when it’s uh...you know, less...dark,” he waved his hands in gesture to your relatively dim environment, “and stuff.”

“And plus! more of the rides will be open, if you’re into that,” he added quickly, earning an enthusiastic nod from you.

Your hesitation got the better of you, though, expression faltering slightly, which Hendery hadn’t missed, tilting his head at you as a prompt for you to share what was stopping you. “I don’t know, though...Ten’s been asking me if I wanted to work part time since they needed staff, and I’m technically free for the holidays now, but I guess I was just putting it off for lack of a better reason...and also 'cause it's been a while since I had to talk to new people,” you laughed.

“Trust me, working here isn’t as bad as Ten makes it sound, it’s actually pretty chill. You could try out as a park ranger, you won’t have to do much most of the time other than occasionally helping park-goers, and it pays pretty good, and plus, I’ll be there too!” he told you, tone raising with his excitement, the both of you having reached the end of the river.

Hendery stepped out from the boat, holding a hand out for you to take, “so how ‘bout it, Y/N, you gonna take up the offer?”

You scrunched your nose up, nodding decisively as you took his hand, letting him help you out from the boat, feeling as though you’d taken him up on more than just getting a job here.

In other words, that was how you ended up in your customer service uniform, standing in the admin office waiting for instructions.

“Guess what,” Ten came into the room and led you out of the admin office, earning a grimace from you, “should I be afraid?”

Ten rolled his eyes, “why do you always think it’s something bad?”

You scoffed, “I only think it’s something bad when it’s you,” you huffed.

“Well, for starters, that’s no way to talk to your mentor,” he smirked, making you groan, “also, since I’m in charge now. First order of business is: tell me exactly what happened that day I bailed on you for the park event.”

You thought back to that evening, almost letting a smile slip when you recalled the way Hendery had asked for your phone number, how he’d promised you another day where he would have more time to show you around the park, but “only if you were okay with it.” Which, let’s be honest, you were more than okay with it.

“Firstly, why didn’t you tell me he was so good-looking! He looked like...like a prince!” Ten snickered at your choice of words.

“Well, I mean, close enough, if you think about it, but go on,” he prompted, shoving one hand into his pocket and swinging his other hand freely as he walked.

“He was very nice, it’s amazing you have friends like this, really. And single too! Which was even more amazing. Someone as nice and funny as him that’s available is so hard to find these days,” Ten scoffed at your last statement.

“Yeah, if you could just tell him that. He keeps saying he’s waiting for the right one,” Ten rolled his eyes, “I basically hooked him up on a blind date, what more is there to ask for?”

You gasped, “Hey,” you whined, but sensed some truth to Ten’s words nonetheless, “who is he, prince Eric?” you joked, said prince being the first one you’d thought of when Ten said he was ‘looking for the right one’.

“Uh....well you’re not wrong,” You heard the sound of splashing and children cheering, locating the source of the sound when you saw Hendery there, dressed in what you recognized to be Prince Eric’s trademark outfit, white billowy shirt and black pants, red sash tied around his waist, you barely noticed the boots with how hard you were staring at his face, and his hair especially.

He was busy taking pictures with the park goers with the actress dressed as Ariel, and you weren’t interested in getting involved in the crowd but you were thankful that there was a single big group of them who were already starting to disperse after taking their photos.

“Hendery!” Ten called out, making you wince, nudging him, Ten giggled, practically pulling you towards Hendery with a big smile on his face.

“Hey, man, also it's Prince Eric to you, I’m working,” he scolded Ten. Hendery looked at you, eyes widening, “hey! First day today?” you nodded with a smile, noticing from the corner of your eye that Ten had started to leave to talk to the actress playing Ariel.

“Yeah,” you cursed yourself for your voice coming out softer than you’d intended for it to, earning a tiny giggle from him.

“Hello, my lady,” he smiled, bowing deeply, making you let out a strangled sound of protest, moving over to get him to straighten up quickly, “..lemme try to remember...Mildred right?” he kept his expression serious, a hand placed thoughtfully on his chin.

Your mouth formed an ‘o’ shape, “No? Okay...Diana? Rachel?” a tiny pout formed on your lips, your hands raising to cross your arms over your chest, seeing Hendery’s expression change into one of amusement, “I’m kidding! I’m kidding. I remember, Y/N.”

You felt a wave of relief wash over you. “How could I forget,” he murmured softly, but before the tension could grow he raised his voice back to a normal tone and volume, “I see Ten has escorted Ariel to take pictures, so I’m guessing you will be accompanying me today?”

Your eyes widened, turning quickly to see that Ten indeed was starting to bring Ariel to other parts of the park, and you turned back to Hendery, having to look away and nod quickly in fear that you would blush if you maintained eye contact with him a little bit longer.

“It seems like it,” you nodded, starting to walk into whatever direction you felt like walking in, Hendery only stopping whenever children were there, choosing to simply wave and smile and greet the park goers otherwise.

“How’re you finding your first day so far?” he asked you, clasping his wrist behind his back as you walked.

You nodded, “I guess it’s pretty chill? Nothing out of the ordinary, other than the fact that Ten’s my mentor,” you laughed at how Hendery’s eyes had widened, pulling a face.

“Yikes,” he joked, suddenly stopping you and leading you to a small snack stand selling churros.

“You know what would be really good right now?” he told you, looking elsewhere but pointing towards the churro stand desperately.

“What are you doing? Can’t you just buy one-”

Hendery shook his head, “I brought you here so you can try it! Since we didn’t get to buy any the last time you were here, they’re great, I swear.”

You raised an eyebrow at his insistence, but bought a churro anyway, handing it to Hendery, who took a bite quickly after glancing left and right to see if anyone was looking, thrusting the churro back into your hands quickly, covering his mouth as he licked off the remnants of the sugar on his lips and smiled at you, leaning down to mutter a small ‘thank you’ to you.

“Go on, take a bite,” he urged you, watching your reaction intently as you did so, the widening of your eyes making him cheer, having to refrain from pumping his fist in the air, trying to stay in character for the families that walked past him.

“So...uh..I’m guessing you’re not allowed to snack while on the job?” he nodded at you, making you laugh.

“Well if you’re ever in need of a churro text me, I’d be glad to not spend my entire day with Ten,” you laughed.

“What do you do on an average day as…Prince Eric?” you asked, taking a small bite out of the churro. You glanced at the time on your phone, seeing that it was almost time for you to report to the customer service counter.

“I dunno, play with kids, walk around like this take pictures with people, occasionally have to pose and stuff with Ariel, that's pretty much it,” he shrugged, making you purse your lips.

“Well, I’m sorry but I’m supposed to report to the customer service counter pretty soon, so you might have to find someone else to accompany you.”

Hendery frowned, making an unamused expression. “That’s alright, can I walk you to the customer service counter, then?” you nodded and he smiled. Hendery cursed mentally that you were a park ranger and that you were both out in the open so he couldn’t link arms with you like how he wanted to, figuring he would have to use his amazing (his words) brain to formulate a plan to spend more time with you.

Though you were thinking along the lines of the same thing he was, that didn’t mean you weren’t surprised when you’d seen Hendery bringing a child that looked about 5 years old into the customer service area.

Hendery waved to you, soft smile on his face as he urged the child to walk towards you, pointing towards you, murmuring to the kid to walk over to the 'kind looking older sister'. The child went over to you, staring at your shoelaces as they nibbled on their ice cream.

“Kid over here came to me crying really hard just now, said he couldn’t find his parents,” Hendery told you, the both of you standing there and staring at the occupied child for a while, figuring the ice cream in his hands had served to calm him down a little.

“Does he know what his parents’ names are?” Hendery nodded, “I can make the announcement for you if you want, since I already know their names.”

You nodded, stepping back and gesturing to the mic, letting him step forward and work the functions smoothly, as if he’d been in there a thousand times.

You had to admit there was something attractive about Hendery’s demeanour as he handled this situation, calm as ever, and he seemed to be on pretty good terms with the child as well.

“Did Prince Eric find you just now?” you asked the boy, seeing him nod vigorously, practically slurping his ice cream from the cup.

“He said he can find my mom and dad for me!” you nodded.

“Uh-huh, I’m doing that right now! You wait, sooner or later your parents are gonna come here to get you.” Hendery told the child, earning a grin from the small boy. Hendery sat on one of the chairs, the boy climbing up onto Hendery’s lap, ice cream finished and discarded away, he’d reached over to play with Hendery’s red sash, making the older boy grab the boy’s wrists quickly before the ice cream could stain his costume.

You chuckled, reaching into your bag underneath the table and pulling out a packet of wet wipes, handing Hendery a few to clean the child’s hands with.

“Gross,” Hendery drew out the word, playing with the boy by scrunching up his nose in distaste as he sniffed the child’s hand, which seemed to entertain the child very much, waving his hands towards Hendery’s face to get a reaction, watching the interaction being enough to put a smile on your face.

It hadn’t been 15 minutes after the announcement was made that you saw a young-ish couple briskly walking ( or running, you couldn’t tell ) over to the counter, baby in a stroller and that whole thing going on.

“Where was he when you found him?” the father asked while the mother carried the boy, planting kisses all over his face making him giggle, saying he was fine because he had Prince Eric.

“Thank you so much, man. We were a mess trying to find him. Really, you can’t even turn away for 3 seconds with this one,” the father smiled, pinching the boy’s cheek.

“It’s no problem, we’re just thankful he calmed down pretty quickly,” Hendery told the couple, the mother set the boy back on his feet, and to your surprise he’d ran over to Hendery, who squat down quickly to accept the child’s hug.

“Follow your parents next time, okay? See you next time!” you saw the boy shove Hendery away, waddling over to you next, and you’d gladly accepted the hug, a loud laugh leaving your lips when the child had bid the both of you good bye as ‘older brother prince Eric and older sister Ariel’, hearing his mother softly correct him that you were a park ranger and that they’d seen Ariel just now at the lagoon.

“First day at work and already climbing to Ariel’s spot? Powerful,” Hendery joked, resting his interlocked fingers on his outstretched legs as he leaned against the tall bar stool, giving you a cheeky smile.

Shooting him a look as you tidied up the table, you got ready to leave since your shift had ended already and the park was about to close soon. Hendery had gone to get his things from the break room and lockers, and changed into his casual clothes before meeting you at the park entrance. You let out a small laugh at the contrast in appearance, going from looking all fancy and charismatic in his Prince Eric costume to suddenly looking a lot more youthful (but no less attractive) in his soft dusty pink hoodie and black jeans.

“Do you have dinner at home?” he asked you, earning an affirmative hum from you, much to Hendery's dismay.

“Yeah, my mom cooked already,” you told him, fishing around in your bag for your phone, seeing a text from Ten saying that your pay would come in only at the end of the month.

Hendery tried not to sound too disappointed, "alright, then, how are you going back?" he asked, hooking his thumbs on the straps of his backpack, you both found yourself walking towards the train station as you gestured to it in response, only realizing then that you two took the same train home, having some unspoken agreement that you would both take the train together.

Hendery held onto one of the overhead handles, letting you hold onto his arm for stability in the crowded train. You prayed your stop would come quicker so you would have less of a chance to embarrass yourself in front of Hendery.

"How're you feeling after your first day, Y/N?" he asked, raising his eyebrows with a small smile on his face as he awaited your answer.

"Tiring," he huffed a tiny laugh at your response, "and I’m not even quite sure why, I barely did anything."

Hendery was about to frown but you continued, "but it was fun," you added, making him smile. "Thanks to me?"

You rolled your eyes, "You wish," you scoffed. Though if Ten were here he'd be able to see right through you.

“How’d you get him the ice cream, by the way? Thought you weren't allowed to bring your wallets out of the break room?”

“Technically it was a free gift,” Hendery shrugged, making you shoot him a look.

“Wow, pretty famous around here, huh, Prince Eric? All the park goers spending their fortunes on you," you joked, not noticing the way Hendery simply smiled lazily at you, fatigue from the day's activities having hit him already.

"Guanheng," he murmured softly.

"Huh?" you frowned, not sure if you'd heard him correctly. "My name," he smiled, "I want you to call me Guanheng."

Your eyes widened, taken aback by the sudden piece of information, not noticing the train was reaching your stop before Hendery tapped you, "It's your stop."

You'd let the crowd trying to get out push and navigate past you, feeling Hendery squeeze your shoulder, "Bye, Y/N. Get home safe," he told you softly, his voice down to a low murmur.

Already beginning to step out of the train carriage, you figured now was the best time to start saying it, "You too, bye, Guanheng," you waved.

The happiness on his face after was priceless.

===

“Y/N! Best friend! Ride or die!” you made a face at the sound of Ten who was running towards the customer service booth yelling gibberish directed towards you to get your attention.

Your co-worker’s eyes widened, unconsciously pushing his chair further from the counter when Ten had stopped his run by slamming his hands on the counter. You swivelled your chair around to face Ten with a concerned look.

“Should I be afraid?”

“Yes and no! I need your help,” Ten pouted and clasped his hands together in a pleading gesture, making you tilt your head at him, twirling your pen in your hand absentmindedly.

“No,” you stuck your tongue out at him, turning back to the folders of feedback you had to compile.

“Okay, fine. It’s actually not me that asked, Hendery specifically asked me to ask you,” Ten shrugged, making you raise an eyebrow at him.

Nodding your head slowly, you wondered why you didn’t get any message from him, before realising he probably didn’t have his phone with him now, “go on....I’m listening,” you muttered.

Ten grinned, not wasting any time, “The girl playing Ariel is having a major hangover and she can’t leave the house because she’s been puking her guts out,” you made a face at Ten’s choice of words, but that didn’t deter him from continuing, “so here’s the plan, you dress as Ariel and take pictures with the kids and their families later!”

“Why me? I don’t look anything like her?”

“I mean, think about Hendery, dude, it’d obviously be easier posing with someone he was comfortable with, wouldn’t it?” Ten shot you an unamused look, making you wince.

“I’m really bad at that stuff, though, Ten.”

“No, you’re not! Remember when we were volunteering at the kindergarten the other time and we did a little mermaid performance for them? you were great!”

"Ten, I was playing Flounder back then, it's different." You laughed, shaking your head.

Ten frowned, grabbing your hands and shaking them desperately, slumping down onto the counter for dramatic effect, “Please?? We need to find someone in time for the photo-taking and if we start now, by the time we get you into hair and makeup it’ll be time!”

“Ten, but there’s all this work left to do! I mean, does the boss even know about this?”

“Yes, he does! He’s fine with it, seriously, just come with me, I’ll explain to you everything you have to do,” you shot a nervous glance at your co-worker, who simply shrugged at you.

“What are you waiting for, just go! I’ll settle things here, don’t worry,” he told you.

“Perfect,” Ten smiled, yanking your hands to pull you into a standing position, dragging you to a room where they’d already had Ariel’s puffy wedding dress laid out there, as well as the red wig and a pair of ( very pretty ) heels to complete the outfit. You recognized the girl waiting for you to be the actress that played one of Ariel’s sisters. She’d beckoned you to sit in the chair next to her, and you did albeit hesitantly.

“Thanks for agreeing to this, by the way. I’m really sure Hendery will appreciate it loads.” She told you, which for some reason made you even more nervous about this situation.

“Well, I’m glad to help,” you smiled, letting her start by putting the wig on for you.

“What’s your name?” you asked her.

She gave you a warm smile, telling you her name, almost instinctively making you smile back.

“I’m Y/N, nice to meet you,” you greeted, even though you couldn’t look at her very well from her hands blocking your view as she put the wig onto your head.

She let out a soft laugh, “Feels like I’ve met you already with how much Hendery talks about you,” your eyes widened, eyebrows raising in shock, but you quickly shook it off, not wanting to think too much into it.

“Where’s Hendery, anyway?” you asked instead, her arms no longer blocking your vision as she secured the wig and made it look less obvious.

“He’s taking a nap in the breakroom, said he'd come by to get you when you were done," you nodded, for some reason not being able to withhold your excitement to meet him, the last time you saw him being that same morning when the both of you had taken the train together to work, and he'd gifted you a free drink to 'start the day right' as he'd told you. The gesture was enough to send you reeling, not sure if Hendery was just too kind to everyone or if he liked you that way. You wish, he's probably this nice to every other girl in the park.

Ten had stayed to help Crystal wherever he could, his constant utterances of “Hendery’s gonna lose his shit” or “you look really stupid like this” only serving to stir feelings of anxiousness for what was to come.

After what felt like years of refraining from scratching your face from the ticklish feeling of the brushes against your face, Crystal finally let out a firm “Okay,” giving you the greenlight that you could open your eyes. Seeing her and Ten grinning at you when you did.

“Has anybody run through with you what you have to do?” you shook your head, “I did!” Ten defended, scowling at you as if accusing you of not remembering. Crystal turned to him with a skeptical expression, “What did you tell her?”

Ten opened his mouth quickly to speak, before shaking his head, looking more sheepish as he gestured from her to you, “Never mind, you go ahead, I think your explanation would be clearer,” he giggled, earning an eye roll from you.

“It's like-" Crystal stopped herself quickly upon hearing the door open and seeing Hendery peek his head out through the small opening of the door, scanning the room for people before opening the door wider with a smile, "you know what, I’ll just let Prince Eric explain that to you." Crystal gestured with the eyeshadow brush over your shoulder, and you'd turned to make eye contact with Hendery.

You weren't sure if there was any reaction for you to base your judgement on, his smile was the same, and he let out a sound that seemed impressed with Crystal's work. You wished you could do the same, with him dressed in what you could only describe as Prince Eric's royal event clothes, he looked absolutely breath-taking, and you were glad he didn't notice when Ten was gesturing to your cheeks to mock your blushing.

"Who's this? You guys didn't get Y/N?" Hendery joked, making you roll your eyes.

"Very Funny, you owe me big time for this," you stuck your tongue out at him, both Ten and Crystal shooing the both of you out of the room.

"I know I do," he told you, leading you around some sort of secret pathway that leads to the castle where the princes and princesses would wait before the park go-ers could come in for photo-taking. The both of you stood at the back of the princesses, some of them turning to shoot surprised looks at Hendery before returning to gossip amongst themselves.

"Does this happen all the time?" You asked, referring to the whole gathering and photo-taking and whatnot.

Hendery shrugged "I would guess so? I've been here so long I stopped keeping track," he laughed, pretending to fiddle with the tassel on his outfit.

"But there's fireworks after that," he spoke up abruptly, scrunching up his nose at how un- smooth the execution was compared to how it was in his head.

"Really? It's been a while since I’ve seen a firework display," you confessed, seeing his eyes light up in excitement.

"We can watch it together then!" he said enthusiastically, before clearing his throat, mustering a calmer tone of voice, "you know….if you want," he shrugged.

He was instructed to line up together with the princes at the other entrance of the room, in line with you, as he looked at you expectantly for an answer, half expecting you to say you already had plans and had to leave but pleasantly surprised when you nodded at him, mouthing the words 'of course' to him.

When you’d joined him again later, you’d spotted Ten a few people in front of you ushering the princes and princesses to their respective spots, furrowing his eyebrows at you and vigorously gesturing to his arm, making you look at the other princes and princesses and notice that the prince had held his arm out for the princess to hold, making you return a look of understanding to Ten and turn to Hendery, who seemed to have been prompted by Ten as well, seeing him hold up an ‘okay’ sign at Ten and look at you, soft smile on his face as he held his arm out.

Silently grasping his arm, you continued walking, unconsciously walking slightly behind him as you were led to this area, where you took pictures with more children than you could keep count of, Hendery pretending to be upset when the children paid more attention to you than they did to him, but of course, you didn’t see the way he smiled watching you interact with the children.

“Stealing your spotlight already?” Ten nudged Hendery with a smug smirk on his face.

Hendery simply shrugged, “I honestly don’t mind, she looks like she’s having fun,” he shrugged, even leaning over to pose in some of the photos without you noticing, which the children seemed to get a kick out of.

“You’re so gross, I don’t know which I prefer, those 2 years where you refused to date or this,” Ten joked, before raising his arms slightly in a shrug, “but come to think of it both were pretty entertaining,” he told Hendery.

Hendery wanted to tell you it was alright and you didn’t have to kneel on the floor, that you could pick the kids up as well, but refrained when he saw how you did it anyway even after Ten had told you, assuming it was an unconscious thing.

You were talking to one kid in particular who was asking you how scary Ursula was when you fought her, almost jumping from the shock when you felt Hendery suddenly squat next to you to face the child as well, “she’s been going on and on about how brave you two were for fighting Ursula after she’d watched the movie,” her mother told you, making you laugh, but nodding at the child nonetheless.

“It was really scary, but I knew I had to be brave to save Ariel!” Hendery told her seriously, earning an equally serious nod from the child as well.

The child turned to you, waving a finger at you like a parent would, “he really loves you, you know,” she told you, making you have to stifle your laughter, nodding at her, yet refusing to look at Hendery who was nodding along with the child.

“I know,” you whispered, seeing the child erupt into a fit of giggles, her parents urging her that it was time to go.

“Come on, Prince Eric and Princess Ariel need to rest! They’re probably really tired already,” you heard the mother telling the little girl, who nodded, turning around with her hand still holding her mom’s to bid the both of you goodbye.

“Goodbye! See you next time!” Hendery and you had waved back at her, glancing at Ten who was looking at the both of you with an unreadable expression.

“What,” you snapped, a stark contrast from your ‘Ariel’ demeanour, making Ten huff as he walked over, glancing at the time on his phone.

“You guys can do whatever you want now, since the fireworks are gonna be starting after dinner time, you can take a break till then, I guess,” Ten said, leaving the both of you to go God knows where.

“Are you hungry? There’s some food in the break room for dinner if you want,” he suggested, bringing you to what looked like a lounge room with many tables and mostly actors inside, as well as some park rangers ( like in this case, Ten ).

Bringing you over to a table with who you recognized to be Prince Charming and Ten, “Kun this is Y/N, Y/N, this is my friend Kun,” Hendery blurted quickly, practically pulling you down into your seat as he went to get food for the both of you.

“Nice to meet you, you must be Ten’s friend, then?” Kun asked, he looked rather kind from what you could infer, so you nodded.

“Known him for like 5 years already I think?” you replied, and Ten nodded in affirmation which made Kun gasp.

“It’s a wonder how you put up with him.” You nodded in agreement, sighing dramatically.

“Tell me about it.” Hendery returned with your food, and you’d made small conversation with the 3 of them while you ate, Kun seemed to think the both of you were already dating, remembering what Hendery had told him about wanting to tell you how he felt since he knew he was too shy.

“So, when did you guys get together?” Hendery almost choked on his mouthful of food, practically shoving Kun with how quickly he’d reacted, making you frown in confusion.

“For this Ariel thing? I had no idea actually I only found out today,” you smiled, making Ten snicker, bringing his hand up in a poor attempt to stifle his laughs, nodding along with you making you think that was exactly what Kun was asking.

“Sorry, excuse me, I’m gonna go wash my hands,” you excused yourself, and almost immediately after you were away from the table Kun had turned to Hendery with an unamused expression.

“You haven’t told her yet?”

Hendery whined at Kun’s question, slumping down in his seat with a sigh. “It’s not as easy as you think, you know.”   Ten had shrugged, beginning to sing the lyrics of ‘kiss the girl’, swaying left and right as he sang, earning a glare from Hendery. “You know it’s true. It’s pretty damn obvious she likes you too, you know.”

Hendery frowned, turning to Kun for a more reliable affirmation, and his heart fell when Kun had nodded at him, “It’s true, from what I’ve heard from Ten, at least.”

“Also because I heard about the whole ‘Guanheng’ incident and have diagnosed the both of you as completely whipped for each other,” Ten giggled, enjoying the upper-hand he had over Hendery in this situation, especially because the blush on Hendery’s face was telling.

You’d returned from the washroom then, offering to dispose of the now-empty food packets, hearing Ten mumbling a faintly familiar song. “What song is that? I swear I’ve heard it somewhere I just can’t remember where,” you frowned, seeing Ten shrug, making eye contact with Hendery as he replied you sweetly.

“Kiss the girl.”

===

It was almost time for the fireworks, and Hendery had claimed there was a spot that you could see the fireworks super clearly and it was pretty away from the crowd, but you definitely weren’t expecting him to bring you to the bridge over the small river you’d rode the canoe on the first time you’d met him at the park.

Once again, the fairy lights decorated the bridge and he was right, you really did have a direct view of the castle from where the both of you stood, Hendery leaned on the wall of the bridge, resting his weight on his elbows as you did the same, eager to see the fireworks.

“How are you feeling?” you laughed at Hendery’s sudden question. “Excuse me, why are you laughing?” he gasped, a small pout forming on his lips.

“No, nothing, it’s just that you always ask me how I’m feeling, it’s such a you thing to do, feels like I’m being interviewed,” you grinned at him, seeing him huff dramatically, “fine if you don’t want me to ask, I won’t,” he shrugged, making you laugh.

“Guanheng,” you murmured to get his attention, and his head whipped around to face you the moment you’d said his name, a soft smile playing at his lips as though he was trying to conceal it, “I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, I actually....quite like it, no one I’ve known has ever really done that,” you told him, finally seeing his smile grow bigger.

“So to answer your question, I’m feeling tired. But a good kind of tired,” you held a thumbs up to him, and he’d reached his hand out to grab your raised hand, pulling it down as he pressed and played with the pads of your fingers.

"Are your knees okay? You were kneeling talking to almost all the kids just now, and from experience I know the floor is pretty rough," he asked, concern laced in his tone, you nodded.

"It's fine, no big deal, I barely felt it," you assured him, watching the way he touched his hair, smoothing down the hair at the back of his head.

“Thanks, by the way, for helping me out with this whole Ariel thing today,” he told you, making you shake your head, dismissing his thanks. “No, seriously. I know you didn’t have to say yes but, you were the first like....person I could think of to call when I heard what happened to the other actress,” he told you, leaning his head down and pretending to be occupied with your fingers to avoid your gaze.

“And why is that?” you prompted, hearing the first sound of the fireworks going off, but something in you couldn’t care to look.

On the other hand, Hendery’s head shot up at the sound, tapping your hand and gesturing to the fireworks, “Look! It’s starting, you’re gonna miss it!” he told you urgently, practically bouncing in place.

You shook your head, “answer my question first,” you rest your elbow on the stone wall of the bridge, looking at him as if you had all the time in the world, because you really felt like you did.

Hendery stopped playing with your fingers, looking at you blankly, “because you’re cute,” he blurted out, wincing at himself.

“I mean like, yeah. I think you’re cute, and you were the first person I could think of to call because I trust you, and I trust you because you make me feel like I can trust you?” he furrowed his eyebrows, nodding,

“Yeah, that, and because you know, I like spending time with you, and I wanted to spend more time with you, and I don’t know where I’m going with this already so I think I should conclude it now.”

Hendery shifted his weight to look at you, glancing at the fireworks momentarily before letting out a deep breath, “okay, conclusion: I like you,” he said, eyes widening because you couldn’t help but smile and nod at him the whole time he was having that monologue, the sight of such a well-dressed prince awkwardly fumbling with his words being so endearing to you.

“Are you shocked? You don’t seem shocked,” he tilted his head at you, making you laugh, nodding.

“Shocked, but I can’t say I wasn’t hoping you would feel this way,” you admitted, hearing the speakers on the lake play the instrumental of that song Ten was humming just now, kiss the girl. And Hendery felt like he was transported into that very scene in the little mermaid, where everything was telling him that he should do that.

So he did, albeit suddenly, in the way he’d grasped the hand he was playing with more firmly, pulling you towards him and pressing his lips against yours, and you even felt him smile against your lips from how ridiculously fairy-tale like the scene was to him, with the fireworks display ending, the sound of the water rushing beneath the bridge down to how close you were to him and how happy he was that you returned the kiss, his hand cradling the side of your face, pulling away gently and laughing when his eyes widened.

“Wow this lipstick isn’t even smudged,” he blurted suddenly, making you shove him lightly, only to have him pull you back with your hand that was still in his, contemplating hugging you from behind but shaking the thought, figuring he preferred to look at your face.

“This is gonna be hard, can’t hold your hand when you’re a park ranger,” he told you, making you scoff.

“Should I apply to be Princess Ariel, then?” you joked, not expecting Hendery to look at you seriously, giving you a thoughtful look, his intense stare making your face heat up.

He leaned closer to you, narrowing his eyes before leaning back with a shake of his head, “Nah, I think you’d fit the role of Sebastian more.”

#hendery #huang guanheng #wayv #wayv hendery #wayv scenarios #wayv au #wayv fluff #hendery fluff #hendery au #hendery scenarios #weishenv #ten #wayv ten #qian kun #wayv kun #wayv qian kun #Disneyland actor!au #wong kunhang

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jimlingss · 5 years

Text

Jungle Park [Finale]

Chapter 23 - Chapter 24 [Finale]

➜ Words: 6.4k

➜ Genres: Fluff, Light Humour (?), Slice of Life, Workplace Romance!AU

➜ Summary: The equation is simple. Hoseok needs to hire someone. You need a job. Except like any actual equation, it’s not fucking simple at all! Not when you have to add the fact that he was forced to hire someone he doesn’t want in his office, he has little respect for your job in general, and oh yeah...once upon a time you might have loved each other.

➜ NOTES: This is it, y’all. Thank you for having joined me on such a long journey. I hope you enjoyed the entire series. Thank you for reading :’)

Cr.

Sometimes life can be so entirely mundane that you forget your surroundings. The routine falls into place, yesterday becoming today, tomorrow a reflection of all the other days until time blurs altogether. Your body goes on autopilot, mind operating somewhere else as your skin and bones carry forth. And that’s how sometimes, you snap awake again and wonder: How the hell did I get here? But such a moment doesn’t exist often for you anymore. When it does, it’s made less from misery and boredom and more from contentment. These ordinary days are the ones you love and cherish the most. As mundane as it is, the normalcy that lacks pandemonium offers a peace of mind. You’re happy. And Jung Hoseok is by your side, always acting as the lovely chaos that has your heartbeat thundering, that keeps your mind preoccupied, that fills brighter shades of colour into your world. You wouldn’t want it any other way. “Where are you off to this evening?” you ask while closing your door, hands gripping on the steering wheel. The young girl in the backseat smiles into the rear-view mirror, meeting your eyes. “The airport, please.” Your hands move against the wheel and you pull away from the curb, merging onto the street. For the most part, you’ve enjoyed this job. The fair share of rude and self-entitled passengers exists, but also the interesting and friendly bunch too. There’s just something about being able to get a glimpse into people’s lives, especially since they’re people you wouldn’t normally meet or speak to. It makes you feel so small in this universe to know that everyone has a place they’re going to, that we’re all making our own journeys and heading to our destinations. And today, this chapter of your life ends. “Are you traveling somewhere? Business trip?” The girl in the backseat blushes, cheeks nearly bursting. “Actually, I’m going to visit my boyfriend.” “Really? That’s so nice!” You’ve witnessed couples reuniting at the airport many times before, leaping into each other’s arms before even getting a word in. It’s always such a sweet scene that imagining it has you melting in your seat. The girl is in a dreamy state as well, looking out the window, sheepish and happy. “Yeah, I was transferred to a different branch at my job, so we’ve been in a long distance relationship for a while now. But today, my work here ended, so I’m gone for good. Finally going home.” “I bet he misses you.” Your passenger laughs, glancing at her phone, features illuminated by the white light of her screen. “He can’t stop texting me and he says he can’t sleep either. I haven’t even gotten on my flight yet, but I think he’s already at the airport waiting for me.” “That is so adorable.” Sappy couples used to make you feel envious, but not anymore. As she says these things, you imagine a certain someone doing the exact same for you. “He is,” she agrees, smiling to herself for a moment before looking up again. “Sorry, but do you know how much the fare will be?” “Oh.” Your smile is still stuck on your face, unable to erase it. “Don’t worry about it. It’s going to be on me for tonight.” “A-are you sure?” “It’s not a problem. You’re actually my last passenger….ever.” A satisfied sigh slips through the seams of your lips. There’s something that tells you you’re going to look back and miss this feeling one day. You know you’ll drive again, but never with strangers, never not knowing who will enter the backseat, of not knowing where you’ll be going. “The lease for this taxi is up and I won’t be renewing. I’m actually just doing this one last shift for old time’s sakes.” “Oh, well, congratulations!” She’s pleasantly surprised, eyes big and curious. “How long have you been driving for?” “On and off for about two years.” The girl hums. “What will you be doing now then?” “I actually have a day job. I work as an HR manager at a law firm,” you tell her in a way as if you’re reminding yourself and declaring it to the world at the same time. A sense of pride flows through your body and she matches your smile. “And I love it.” For a moment, you wonder what if it was your past-self sitting in the backseat right now. Would she have ever expected to be here? To have landed the career that she’s always wanted, to be with a person who she adores, to have become someone proud of who they are, and to never have to clean up another girl’s vomit off of leather, again? Probably not. // “This is ridiculous!” The man paces around, polished loafers pounding against the carpet as he storms around, arms crossed, trying to walk off his rage. He’s wrinkling his own blazer and stretching his dress pants, but the man behind the desk doesn’t make any comments. He’s too busy rubbing his temples with his thumbs, leaning back in his swivel chair. “Taehyung…” “Listen, Chim, my buddy, my pal.” The lawyer stops and comes to grip the back of the empty chair. “I get Sunyi and Yoongi are all lovey-dovey now that they’re together. Nothing against them. I’m happy for them. Trust me I am,” the blonde’s voice drops down into a whisper, “but I never wanted to watch them tongue-fucking each other. It’s not as hot as you would think. If anything, it made my wiener shrivel into my balls.” Taehyung says it like he’s disappointed, as if his dreams have been crushed and all traces of Jimin’s professionalism shatters in front of his eyes. He sinks his teeth into his bottom lip, trying to hold down his giggles. “Dude.” “I dropped my ham croissant, bro. You know, the special from down the street they rarely have anymore. I dropped it when I saw them.” Taehyung grieves for his lost food, “I dropped it.” “I’ll get you another one.” “They’re out of them by ten! You can’t!” For once, Jimin doesn’t know what to do. He’s still holding back his laughter before composing himself again with a deep breath, leaning back in his seat to assess the situation. He hasn’t mediated an office conflict in a long time and while he’ll admit he’s rusty, he also doesn’t want to come up with a solution without you. “Where’s Y/N?” “She’s not in yet.” “Then wait for her or talk to Hoseok. I can’t do anything about it until the end of the day. I have a meeting that starts in less than fifteen minutes.” “You know what?” Taehyung stands straighter and he nods to himself like he’s come up with his own decision. “That’s a good idea — I’ll talk to Hoseok.” “Wait. Really?” The lawyer shrugs. “Yeah, why not? He’s cool.” “Hoseok….” Jimin’s not sure he’s hearing it right. He never thought there would be a day that the employees of this office would feel this comfortable with his partner. The change was so gradual, but now he realizes it and it brings tears of joy to his eyes. “.....is cool?” “Yeah,” Taehyung scoffs as if to say that it’s obvious. “He’d probably understand and reimburse me for that croissant and do something about my trauma. Plus, he gets office romances. You don’t see him and Y/N kissing up on each other all day.” The senior partner’s mind reels. His brows furrow, caught off guard on how Taehyung knows. “Wait. What?” But by then, he’s already walked out of Jimin’s office, beelining straight to the other partner’s office without an ounce of hesitation. But as he marches forward, he runs into you instead, as well as Hoseok who was apparently just arriving too. “Oh, Y/N! I was looking for you! Good morning.” “Mornin’,” you chirp back in a happy tone. “Did you need me for something?” “Yes, please. I was gonna ask Hoseok, but you’re even better.” “Well alright, I’ll take it as a compliment! Follow me!” You wave your arm, signaling down the hall and he grins, trotting along after you like you’re both on a kid’s television show. The pair of you head towards your office and shut the door. Hoseok is left a bit flabbergasted before he melts into a soft smile, shaking his head at how you’re practically running the show around here and not him. “Good thing I came to you all that time ago demanding you hire someone for a human resource position, huh?” Jimin approaches Hoseok’s side, arms crossed, fully satisfied as he looks down the hallway, the space where you just occupied. “My stubbornness once again helped us out.” “Your stubbornness is the reason why we had that hideous pink wallpaper at the front desk for the first two months of our firm opening,” he murmurs with a slight tinkering laugh. There’s a pause before he counters, “We took it down eventually.” Hoseok scoffs and then laughs again. They both walk into the kitchen, standing side by side at the counter, waiting for the coffee machine. “You have to give me credit for hiring the right person. I was the one who did it.” “If I remember correctly, you forgot about it and I was the one who picked up her résumé from the pile.” Jimin fills up his mug again, taking a small sip and warming his tummy up. “Fine, fine,” Hoseok gives in with a playful twinkle glistening in his irises. “The credit goes to Park Jimin. Good job — if it weren’t for you, our office would be in shambles.” “Thank you.” He gloats from the praise, rosy cheeks puffed out. “But just letting you know, we’re going to need Y/N for a long time.” Jimin pats his partner’s shoulder, sharing a sympathetic smile as he brushes past. “Sunyi and Yoongi are going to cause problems for us until they both retire or get high blood pressure and die from heart attacks.” “Great.” Hoseok grins, laughing at the thought. The brunette lawyer returns to his office, but he stops for a second and takes a peek behind him. People are tapping away at their keyboards, preoccupied with documents and files upon files. A few legal assistants are helping the others, running across the office floor. The receptionists pick up the phones that ring, calmly answering in a soft volume. The photocopier whirrs to life, one or two murmurs spoken before it’s silenced down, accompanying the rhythm of papers being flipped. It’s the glorious sound of work. But the atmosphere of the office is less tense than it was before. It’s brighter, open, and even his partner seems to be that way as well. There was a time when Jimin couldn’t remember when Hoseok wasn’t so serious, stern, and wrapped up in his work. But nowadays, he was so full of life, it was almost burdensome. Still, Jimin missed that bubbly side of him. It was great to see that part of his personality again. Jimin takes another long look, feeling oddly nostalgic before he steps into his office and shuts the door. // In the heart of the metropolis are soaring towers, corporate offices and companies, business and enterprises that you are proud to be a part of. The firm is large and full of glass, from the giant windows to the glass of the conference room. When you look up over top the front desk, you find the name imprinted on the wall. Jung and Park. You don’t feel so out of place or intimidated like you used to. The blazer and pencil skirt fits you perfectly well, having no need to be tugged on or smoothed out by your hands. In the past year, so many things have changed that it baffles you. You can still remember the first time you were in this conference room, absolutely petrified, hands shaking, forehead sweaty, palms clammy. But some things never change. One of them being Hoseok. He’s still tall with dark hair, dressed in a fitted suit, sun-kissed skin glowing. His mere presence commands your attention. There’s always been something about him that makes him so alive. “Well, first off, I should preface by saying that you’ve been doing a stellar job.” “Are you saying that or are you being personally biased?” The lawyer’s brow lifts. “Do you think I’m being biased?” You shrug. “Maybe.” “Alright.” Hoseok grins discreetly, scribbling down onto his paper with a pen at the same time as he mumbles what he’s writing, “employee believes employer is being biased.” Laughter bubbles up your throat. “Why couldn’t Jimin do my performance review? This has to be a conflict of interest.” “He’s busy and this is just a formality anyways.” “So you’re not busy?” “Oh, are you insinuating that I don’t have any work?” Hoseok’s enormous smile returns and he jots another note down on the paper in front of him, muttering at the same time, “employee believes employer is lazy.” “C’mon!” You’re weakly protesting, unable to take this seriously. “You can’t just write down everything I say to you!” Hoseok chuckles and finally puts his pen down. “I’m ahead of my work.” “That makes more sense. You know...HR is supposed to sit in on performance reviews.” “We can’t have our HR person doing their own evaluation.” “Why not? I’d think I’d be quite fair.” “Oh, really now?” He flashes a questionable expression. “Then what would you say about yourself? How has your work ethic been?” “I think….I’ve been stellar!” You say it with confidence and he scoffs jokingly, causing you to challenge him. “What? You think I’m wrong?” “You were late to work a few times,” he points out. “Because I held another job.” Hoseok hums and flips a page, becoming more serious as he assesses the past few months. “Your performance is very well done actually. Consistent demonstration of enthusiasm and diligence in work across all areas.” “Thank you.” You beam at him. He smiles, unable to help himself. Throughout the conversation, he asks about your professional goals, goes over expectations again, your accomplishments, and establishes aims for your solo department. At the end, the pair of you stand up, shaking each other’s hand to conclude the successful meeting. “You’ve done a very good job.” “I appreciate that, Mr. Jung,” you deadpan with a hint of mischief. His grip on your hand is still there, shaking it up and down across the table awkwardly to the point where outsiders would think it was actually a passive aggressive action. Except, they wouldn’t notice how tender his hold on you is. “I also recognize your effort to remain professional and not let any….private matters interfere in your work.” “Of course not.” Your hand is still holding his, going up and down with no signs of stopping, nearly causing you to break and smile. “I take my job very seriously.” “As do I.” “Then would you like to let go of my hand, sir?” “Yes, of course.” He grins, reluctantly letting go, skin skimming against each other before your arm drops to your side. You dip your head slightly, preparing to exit the room. “Thank you again.” Hoseok nods, waving before slipping his hand into his dress pants pocket, trying to act all chic and cool. “I’ll talk to you soon,” he addresses, leaving after you. The both of you end up walking your separate ways. The man returns to his office. And as you make your way to your own office, you can’t help but turn around to stare at his broad backside becoming smaller in the distance. It feels like déjà vu for some reason... But then Hoseok turns around as well, meeting your eyes and a stupid smile spreads across his face. His eyes crinkle, dimples marked on both sides of his cheeks, radiant as the sun. Then he throws a wink and turns back around. Unfortunately for him, he accidentally misses his office by a few feet and bumps into the wall instead of going through the door. You stifle down a giggle and no one else seems to notice the terribly embarrassing, yet endearing accident. It doesn’t matter if Hoseok doesn’t remember the past. Right now and the future from today are much more important to the both of you. “Hoseok.” “Hmm?” The both of you are cuddling on the couch together. You’re curled up on his side while his arm drapes over you, watching television together. It’s some stupid survivor show and you hope that douchebag gets casted off for hoarding all the food. But while you watch, a more important thought comes to mind. You turn your head to stare. The profile of his face is illuminated by the faint white light coming from the screen. He’s clad in cotton pajamas, dark hair tousled and just out of the shower, smelling like lavender soap and fresh linen. It’s cozy being beside him like this and you feel at home. At your prolonged silence, Hoseok turns to look at you, eyes locking into his. “What is it?” A smile of mirth pulls on his face, forming into a boyish grin. “Why are you staring at me like that?” “I love you.” If possible, Hoseok’s smile expands until his cheeks are swelling. You match his smile before cringing, realizing what just tumbled out your mouth. Your shoulders tense, but he pulls you closer. “Sorry, I don’t know where that came from,” you murmur. “What do you mean you don’t know where that came from? You’re too cute.” He laughs, a tinkling noise coming from his chest and he hugs you, nuzzling into your hair. “I love you too.” Your hands are placed on his shoulders and you tug him away for a moment. “Do you ever get worried we’re just repeating the same mistakes as back then?” He becomes serious and honestly considers it for a long moment before answering, “no.” “What if we don’t work out?” “Then we don’t,” he says point-blank, but then Hoseok’s streak of optimism comes out. “But I’m going to try hard to make it work and I know you will too. Because I love you and you love me. And...I believe in us.” A hopeful and content sigh is exhaled softly. “Me too.” Hoseok returns back to the television, still holding you as he watches. “Plus, I’m not an immature asshole anymore.” There’s silence. “Right?” There’s more silence and he pulls away from the screen, fingers finding your sides and mercilessly tickling you. “Right?!” “Yes, yes!” You giggle and he finally stops. Your head tilts. “And sorry to say, but my life doesn’t revolve around you either.” The lawyer sulks and leans his forehead against yours. “You really think you could survive without me?” “Yes.” You attempt to repress your smile, failing while doing so. “Wow, I see how this is. You’re just going to end up running off with someone younger and hotter than me, aren’t you? Like Jungkook or the HR assistant you want me to hire!” “What?” You’re snorting, shaking your head. “Who says?” Hoseok tries to pout, though the corners of his mouth tilts into a smile. He chortles, ripping the blanket away from your bodies and moving to sit on you instead. He traps you beneath him and your hands are up, scared of another tickle torture attack. “You think I don’t know about JK? And how you keep insisting on hiring someone to make coffee runs for you? I know your scheme! You’re going to tie me down, marry me, then steal my money and run off with your boy toys! You thought I didn’t know? Well I have news for you, Miss. Y/N — I’m a divorce lawyer! You’re not getting a single penny!” You’re laughing and he continues to hold you down, laughter bubbling out of him as well. “Say what you want, Jung Hoseok, but I know you’re whipped for me! You’ll do whatever it takes to keep me around!” “Oh, so you admit it, huh?! You’re trying to tie me down and marry me and then rip me off!” “Okay, you got me!” you challenge him, still struggling against his hold, but finding the circumstances too funny to actually fight back. “What are you going to do?” “I’ll give you exactly what you want.” Hoseok grins, mouth pulled into a slight heart-shape as he teases you without mercy. “I’ll tie you down and marry you, but I won’t let you leave! How will you run off with your boy toys then?” “I’m being held hostage!” you scream in the midst of giggles. “Help!” It’s so silly. You feel like you’ve both regressed ten years back into children again playing dumb games. If your mom saw you now, she’d probably sigh and then send you two to the hospital to get yourselves checked out. But this is why you adore him. Hoseok is sociable, hyperactive, bubbly. He’s also sulky, pouty and childish, especially when he doesn’t get his way. And then there’s the serious part of him, the stern aspect of his personality that gets things done, reliable and sincere in his work. He not only feels like a fun companion in your life, but a dependable partner. You’re endeared by all sides of him. Even if it doesn’t work out this time, you’d be willing to try again and again and again. Because you’re an idiot who loves him and he’s a dumbass that loves you.

[Epilogue] “We’re going to be late!” “We still have ten minutes.” “What if traffic’s bad?” “It won’t be!” The pair of you are running around like headless chickens in the apartment. Time was ticking faster than anyone had noticed and you were behind by twenty minutes, but it was fashionable to arrive late...right? You stumble out of the washroom finally, finding him in front of the mirror in the bedroom. He turns at the sight of you. “What do you think?” Hoseok’s hands stop and he scans you up and down, from head to toe, and the corner of his lips tugs upwards. “Stunning.” “Is it too flashy?” You do one slow spin in your heels, looking down at the floral print dress and how you’ve done yourself up. “I don’t want to take away from the bride.” “You’ll always take away from any bride,” he murmurs. “You’re too beautiful.” At his cheesy compliment, you scoff and brush him off. Hoseok points to his own situation. “Can you help me with my tie? I can’t get it for some reason.” “‘Course.” You meet him at the mirror in three strides and he tilts his head back as you undo and loop it properly again. “I can’t believe they’re getting married.” “It’s just an engagement party.” “Still. It happened so fast. I didn’t think Yoongi would propose so soon.” “He said he had to tie Sunyi down before she changed her mind.” He smiles, recalling his friend’s laments. “It’s been a year since we caught them in the act, so they’ve been together for what? Three years? That’s actually a pretty long time.” “God, don’t remind me of that incident. I don’t want to remember.” You shudder, shaking your head before finishing. “There.” “Thanks.” Hoseok adjusts the top knot slightly in the mirror. You brush his shoulders, picking off a bit of fluff that’s stuck on his navy suit jacket. “Are you going to wear this to Hani and Daehwi’s wedding next month?” “Maybe. Not sure yet.” He leaves the bedroom, grabbing the car keys on the way while you beeline towards the front door. “Did you RSVP already?” “Of course. Their invitation is still on the coffee table, but I already responded.” “We’re going to have to take a week off for their destination wedding.” Before getting in the car, you look over and he smiles. “We only need a few days.” “Yeah, but might as well stay there a bit longer and turn it into a vacation.” You laugh. “Aren’t we already traveling together in a week?” “Different occasions.” Hoseok shrugs and shuts the door, putting the keys in the ignition and firing up the engine. He looks over his shoulder as he backs out, palms turning the steering wheel appropriately. “Are you sure it’s alright to miss that much work?” “Well, I am the boss.” “And so is Jimin.” “He’ll be fine with it,” Hoseok insists with a smile. “We also have Wendy’s party to attend after that too.” You grin, having almost let it slip your mind. “Right. I’ll admit, I’ve never been to a party celebrating a divorce before, but it sounds interesting.” “It’ll be interesting, alright.” He leans back whilst driving, eyes focused ahead on the road. “Knowing that old woman, she’ll probably hire male and female strippers and have an ice sculpture to herself and enough chocolate fondue to rub our bodies in it.” A giggle flows from your throat, feeling more excited for that event than going on that Europe trip with Hoseok. “Don’t tell her she’s old or she’ll beat you up and I won’t be able to do anything about it but film evidence from afar.” “I’ll press assault charges,” he mumbles with a grin, imagining being in court with his old mentor for that reason. It’s comical and one daydream he’ll have to indulge in later. Work has been better than ever. Jung and Park are thriving with the hard work that’s been put into it. It would take a lot for them to fail and become Jimin’s dream — Jungle Park, the playground equipment company for kids. Nevertheless, the divorce firm has been expanding with two more hired lawyers and three paralegals that you’re in the process of training. The floor is expanding too. There were discussions of moving the firm elsewhere, but Jimin’s too sentimental about the office space and would rather just improve what they have. Aside from work, lives were changing as well. Naul is in the process of planning an early retirement and start the golden years to travel with her husband around the world. Yoongi and Sunyi are getting married, and your friends are too. As for you, you may or may not have overheard a conversation Hoseok was having with your mom — one that consisted of her nagging and being overbearing and ending with him promising to pop the question within this year. You also heard from a little birdy that he went ring shopping with his sister, and his parents have been mentioning a lot about grandkids lately….though that might be more down the line. “Oh my goodness! Sunyi, you look so gorgeous!” The female was glowing in her sparkling black gown and you can only imagine what she’ll look like in a wedding dress when the time comes. “Thank you.” “She keeps joking this is her funeral get-up,” Yoongi sighs as a greeting, half hugging both you and Hoseok. “Look, I’m just mourning for the loss of my singleness, okay?” she snaps and smiles when he rolls his eyes. “Please. Don’t act like you don’t love me. We’ve been together for over three years.” “Yeah, enough for me to want to blow my brains out,” Sunyi jokes around and he lightly scoffs. “Get over here.” Yoongi has a gummy grin and pulls her in by her waist. He kisses her while smiling before the innocent act becomes more passionate and lustful. You blink, exchanging expressions with Hoseok, feeling like you’re infringing on their privacy. But they eventually pull away from each other, breathless and with swollen lips. “This is allowed, right?” Sunyi wipes her mouth with the back of her hand, not at all bothered with how her lipstick has smeared and ended up on her fiancé’s face. If anything, there’s a twinkle of mischief in her irises. “We’re not in the office right now.” “Yes, this is allowed,” you ease them with a laugh. “It’s fine.” “Good.” She hugs Yoongi’s side and then motions to you both, snickering under her breath. “You guys act like you don’t do this either.” “What?” “We’re not the only ones in an office romance,” the female teases. Hoseok looks at his old friend. “You told her?” “You knew?” Sunyi raises her brows at Yoongi and he shrugs. She sighs, brushing it off to look at you, delivering the news, “Taehyung told everyone like twenty minutes before you came. He mentioned it out of nowhere and a lot of us were surprised. Pretty sure Seulgi and Jin are somewhere having a mental breakdown, so you should probably talk to them. But some of them saw it coming or at least that’s what Naul said.” “Wait.” You hold your hands up, being bombarded with too much information, but one thing stands out to you. “Taehyung told you?” You turn to stare at Hoseok and this time, he’s the one who shrugs. “I don’t know how he knows.” “There they are!” Jimin’s giggling and he comes out from the crowd, gesturing to you all. “My lovebirds! It feels like all my children grew up and married each other.” He pretends to cry, wiping away his fake tears and Lisa follows after him with a frown and crossed arms. “Is that supposed to be an Office reference?” One by one, the entire office gathers together again and crowds up the main entrance. But everyone’s too busy conversing and laughing to notice. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell us.” Jin is overdramatic, voice moving up in pitches. “Aren’t we family?!” “Just wanted to say,” Taehyung butts in, “I was the first to know based on my own stellar observations.” “Actually, Jungkook was the first.” Everyone gawks at you and then cranes their necks over to the youngest lawyer who’s sheepish. “Umm...yeah.” Hoseok quirks his head. “Really?” Seulgi throws her arms into the air. “Unbelievable.” “Makes you wonder what other kinds of secrets there are,” Namjoon comments while sipping on his drink. Dahyun steps forward with a bright smile. “I saw Jin bringing someone into Hoseok’s office a few months back.” The legal assistant gasps at the receptionist. “Wow, you’re exposing me now?” “I can attest to that,” Inyoung sing-songs. “My office?!” Hoseok’s mouth drops in disbelief. He isn’t too pleased. “Are you crazy?” “Listen, no one’s ever done it in your office before, so I just had to have a go in it.” “I think I’ve been too relaxed lately,” he mutters, still reeling from the thought. “I haven’t been strict enough.” “Great, you just summoned Hoseok, the dictator, back,” Lisa deadpans. “Actually, that’s not true, guys,” Min Yoongi pipes up. His arms are behind his back and he interrupts, grinning like he has some secret to tell. “Hoseok’s done it in his own office before.” “What?” — “With Y/N?” — “That’s wild.” “Oh my god.” Your face is on fire, absolutely mortified at this conversation. “We’re going to need to have another seminar on workplace romance and PDA.” Taehyung salutes you. “I’ll look forward to it on Monday!” You laugh, too happy to be standing here with these people around you. Of all the places you could’ve worked at, of all the places you could’ve been, all the jobs you could be doing and all the people you could have met...you are grateful that you picked this place and that they picked you. The feeling of overwhelming gratitude is only amplified with Hoseok’s warm presence by your side.

The first time you met Hoseok was in class thirteen years ago. It was during the second year of your undergraduate degree where you were working to obtain a degree in commerce while he was in political science and dance. By sheer coincidence, you both ended up in a finance class together. You thought nothing of him. He was the one who talked to you first. It wasn’t much of a start. But eventually, you were in a group project together, only for you to ditch him and leave him at the library since you were winning Monopoly at your board game club. Needless to say, you two failed at said project. But for some unknown reason, Hoseok didn’t hate you. He asked you out twice. And that was the beginning of a four year long relationship. Of graduating together, moving across the country for him to go to law school and how you came along, of living together and having a pregnancy scare that led to an engagement. It was the whirlwind of having him break it off and leaving you in a city that you didn’t know, with a future that you had created and built entirely around him broken. The second time you met Hoseok again, it was when you were searching for another job. You applied to the position that was offered at his firm, and he interviewed and hired you. “Welcome to the team.” The handsome dark-haired male greets you at the front with a slight smile and nod. He exhales and glances at his watch. “I’ll show you around and help you get settled.” Afraid, intimidated, scared, you were pretty sure he hated you for taking control of the office and making so many changes. But you held your ground, challenging his every will head on, bickering and arguing, never wavering when he and everyone else gave you a hard time. “Where are the safety requirements of this office? Does it even exist? And you know you can’t overwork these people! There are no vacation times and their pay is low!” “Low?! If you think it’s low then what I make is low too! If someone has a problem with their pay, then they should directly come talk to me and we’ll deal with it!” “Obviously everyone feels too threatened to come and talk to you!” “We run a business not a charity. I knew this was a bad idea. I knew it. They’re using this as leverage to complain and whine and do no work.” “These are legitimate concerns. If you care about these people, then you’d care about this too. I’m just trying to do my job.” “And I’m trying to do mine!” “But you listen to no one but yourself.” “I can’t do this anymore.” Hoseok shakes his head and shouts for his partner’s help— “Jimin!” “Fine.” You throw your hands up. “If you want to be this way, let’s talk with someone who’s more rational. Jimin!” But he called a truce after you were stuck in an elevator with him. He brought down your guard during lunches spent in cozy hole-in-the-walls, worming his way closer while standing next to each other on the subway station, holding your hand while making the hard trek on a mountain, huddled together and chatting during workplace parties. He was there during your accident, there when you were ill, when you needed him the most. And he’s here now. While you might not know what will happen tomorrow, a year, or a decade from now, it’s different than before. He’s holding your hand and not letting go. The two of you are building a future together. “Hey, I finished.” “The staff handbook?” Hoseok flips through the crisp pages with a smile. You hum a low note, leaning in to plant a soft kiss on his swelling cheek tinged pink. He holds it to his chest after skimming over it quickly. “Can I keep the first ever copy?” “Yes, you can.” You pull away, going into the kitchen. “But hurry, the food’s almost done. You can read it later.” Jung and Park is written in cursive on the front page with your name signed on the bottom. His hands touch against the smooth cover and he walks to his home office, placing it on the desk. He’s about to leave, but his eyes stray off elsewhere. Hoseok tugs open his desk drawer, lifting up a useless file to find a small black box in the corner hidden away. He grabs it, putting it into his pants pocket and he smiles to himself. “Hobi!” you call his name from the kitchen. “Coming!” He’s decided. Tonight is perfect. Jung Hoseok walks off with his hands still holding the ring box.

You’re fortunate to know Hoseok. You’re even luckier to meet him for a second time and experience it all over again — to get to know him from the start, learn about his habits again, to become his best friend once more and discover your lives together. It doesn’t matter if he doesn’t remember. And if he were to forget again, you wouldn’t mind doing it over and over again. A life beside Hoseok, you can’t think of anything better. “Um, excuse me.” You feel a hesitant tap on your left shoulder and a smooth voice sounding beside you. When you turn your head, your eyes grow wide. The guy next to you is actually talking to you. It’s the first time you’re actually looking at him. You realize he has pretty brown eyes, ruffled black hair, sun-kissed skin covered by his grey hoodie and jeans, effortlessly casual…...and you’re underwhelmed. He looks like any other university guy and you have no idea why he’s bothering you right now. You didn’t sign up to actually talk to anyone in class. “Do you have the lecture notes from the last class? I wasn’t here….” Oh. That’s why he’s talking to you. “Yeah, I can send you them if you need it.” “That would be great.” The stranger’s eyes twinkle and he gives off a feeling of mischief. He’s friendly, making you feel more at ease with how warm he is despite being a complete stranger. “What’s your name?” “I’m Y/N.” You lift your arm with an open hand. He stares down at it for a second before clasping his palm with yours, shaking your hand. The corner of your mouth lifts and you nod. “You?” “Jung Hoseok.” He smiles, corners of his mouth quirking upwards into a slight heart shape and you muse how he reminds you of the sun. “Nice to meet you.”

#bts fanfic #bts scenario #jungle park #hoseok fanfic #hoseok scenario #IT'S OVER #THE ADVENTURE IS FINISHED Y'ALL OH MY GOD

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eph-em-era · 4 years

Text

HOSPITAL! DRAMA!!

written for @brokenwoodfanpage‘s fic week - prompt was ‘hospital’

this is absolute crack. also available on the ao3

9.30am at Brokenwood Regional Hospital. It’s not the biggest of places, but it’s got a reputation for the cleverest puns, the steamiest situations, and a whole host of miracle cures.

People come from miles around to be cured of their ailments, and for the most part, Diagnostician Mike Shepherd and his team solve their case in a matter of days. It’s truly newsworthy.

Etc.

But you’re not here to listen to the sciencey stuff. You’re here for the drama. The excitement! The perfectly M-rated raunchiness that can only be shown on TV at 8pm. That kind of thing.

Like I said, it’s 9.30am, and shiz is already going down.

Immunologist Jared Morehu strolls out of one of the cleaning cupboards, clothes only slightly dishevelled, with another doctor in tow. He winks at the camera. It’s pretty obvious what’s been going on.

The other doctor - who probably should have a name or something, so we’ll call him Doctor Smith - backs him into a wall, staring him down intensely. The music swells, and we pull into a close up on their faces.

Doctor Smith, with much drama, “Will I ever see you again?”

“I don’t know, e te tau.” Jared says, with a very dramatic sigh, because he might be played by a Maori actor, but he certainly talks like he was written by an all-Pakeha writing team with no cultural consultant. “Taku kuru pounamu. I’ll see you.”

“Ohhh.” Doctor Smith sighs, and glides off dramatically down the hallway away from him, doctor’s coat swept up behind him as he goes. “I’ll never forget you, Jared.”

“Thank you!” Jared calls, but he’s secretly forgotten the other doctor’s name already.

(It’s Doctor Smith).

10am brings our intrepid team together for the first time of the day. There’s a new case. Neurosurgeon Kristen Sims has a mug of coffee she brewed at the office’s kitchenette. The pot is also on the table, but no-one else wants one (because she’s truly terrible at brewing it. Truly.)

Infectious Disease Specialist Sam Breen has his own cup of coffee, which he purchased at the coffee cart down the road, because he might be generally afraid of germs and what tiny little infections can be found floating invisibly through the air, but he’s more afraid of Kristen’s coffee.

Mike’s there, also. He’s got his head stuck in a report, because he might be the lead character on a hospital soap, but he’s also the only one who actually does work.

They’re all just waiting for Jared. But, they all know Jared, and this is a sexy, sexy hospital that occasionally solves medical mysteries. He’ll turn up.

10.05am. Breen and Kristen aren’t even pretending to work now. Mike is still reading his report. Jared is nowhere to be seen.

Breen clears his throat. “Mike-”

At that very moment, Jared runs in, his clothes, once again, heavily dishevelled. (To no-one’s surprise.)

“Sorry.” Jared gasps, out of breath. “Weather- y’know, bro?”

Everyone knows that’s a lie. But, they don’t mention it. It’s commonplace in this workplace. Hardly an issue.

“Of course.” Mike says, and puts down his report. He holds the tension, just a little. “...Did you know we’ve got a case of smallpox in this hospital?”

“Smallpox?” Breen echoes.

Kristen gets it. This is a worry for him. Not just because of the pandemic risk, but also because overtime this week means he’ll probably have to miss his anniversary dinner for the third year in a row.

At this rate, no-one will actually think he has a girlfriend.

Kristen honestly isn’t so sure.

“Yes.” Mike replies, and passes copies of the case file out to them all. “Presenting with a rash, fever, vomiting, vertigo and sores in the mouth. The Ministry of Health is on-route.”

“Shouldn’t it be left to them, then?” Kristen asks. “Stave off a pandemic, and all.”

“Yes…” Mike says, slowly. “But I don’t think it’s smallpox.”

Cue a rip-off of the Shortland St Theme!

12pm puts Kristen and Sam in the lunchroom. A grey-haired man with a cane sits at a table opposite, deep in conversation with a brunet. It's American. Sarcastic. Oddly reminiscent of something else...

Anyway. Kristen has a salad. It looks delightful. Sprouts, feta, kale, sunflower seeds - healthy stuff for healthy people.

Breen has a milkshake. It is… less so. Think of a McDonalds milkshake, then add a whole lot more angst and ice cream. It’s very unhealthy.

“Smallpox?” Kristen asks, eating her salad. It’s all very healthy and beautiful and stuff, and shines with a beautiful healthy glow.

(This writer has solely eaten bread today and is pining for vegetables. Don't judge.)

Breen nods, pensively. “Smallpox.” He sips at his milkshake in a way that is very, very annoying.

The two Americans get up from the other table, with the grey-haired one shooting Breen an irritated look. There's no argument though, and the Americans leave. It's probably for the best.

"Well, you definitely drove them away." Kristen says.

"I did not." Breen stops drinking his milkshake. "It's not like this place needs to be silent, though. Do you know them?"

"Not really." Kristen muses, fork halfway through a kale leaf. "The brunette works in oncology. I think the man with the cane is trying to get Mike's job."

"Well, he won't give that up easily."

Before the pair can say anything resembling anything remotely intelligent, an alarm goes off. The normal bright white lunchroom lights switch to red. Steel shutters slam down over the exit doors and across the window locks.

It is all very dramatic, and certainly far too ridiculous for a middle of the road hospital in rural New Zealand. However, that’s what happens.

“Quarantine?” Breen asks, putting his milkshake down.

“Quarantine.” Kristen affirms, and looks over to him.

A look passes between them. As to what that look is, no-one knows! It’ll be revealed in about three hundred words’ time.

Good.

Down in the morgue, Gina blinks at the shutters for a moment, then turns back to the corpse she’s examining. Things like this don’t phase her, it’s not like she’s under Russian quarantine.

Now we’ve gotten that scene out of the way, we jump to Mike and Jared, who are also trapped together. However, they’re actually doing science, and not just eating their lunch, because they’re actually good doctors, though potentially very foolish ones.

The patient is in front of them. Outside in the corridor, MoH people wearing significant PPE are milling about, generally quite pissed at them. However, they can’t do anything about it, because Mike and Jared have willingly exposed themselves to the virus by locking themselves in the room.

“I really hope you’re sure about this, bro.” Jared says, looking over at his boss a little nervously. “‘Cause if you’re not, you’re putting a lot of faith into our immune systems.”

“If we were going to catch it, we’ve caught it already.” Mike says, and fiddles with a piece of medical equipment. “Now, look at this.”

Great! That wasn’t a pointless scene at all. Now, back to Kristen and Sam.

They’re arm wrestling. Kristen, unsurprisingly, is winning. She pushes Breen’s arm right down towards the table, and yeah, it’s real tense.

Then, with one final push, she slams his arm right down against the tabletop. “I win!” She declares, though there’s really nothing to win.

Sam winces and shakes the pain out of his arm. “Not fair. I’m not left handed.”

“Neither am I.” Kristen replies, and grins over at him, only a smidge toothily.

With an odd look in his eyes, he smirks, reaches out and-

Jared is examining something under a microscope. “What do you think, Mike?”

Mike leans in, takes his place. “You’ve got it-”

Back to Kristen and Sam.

“I can’t believe- You have a girlfriend!”

“Had. Had a girlfriend. And that doesn’t mean anything anyway these days. Just let me-”

Kristen exhales heavily, and trembles a little. “Sam. Please.”

Jared and Mike appear to have hit on something.

“If you look at the historical journals of where the patient was diving - there’s an inconsistency.” Mike says, pointing at a specific paragraph of said journal.

“You’re not kidding, bro.” Jared says, squinting out towards the MoH officials. “Do you think any of them speak Spanish?”

Kristen wanders away from the table, clothes a smidge dishevelled, and looks out the window. They’ve been in lockdown together for a full three hours and honestly, she’s sick of it.

Breen is eating her salad, looking sweaty. Through a mouthful of leaves, he says, “Do you think they’ve forgotten about us?”

She shoots him a withering look. “Doubtful.”

“Mhmm.” He stands up, wanders over to the window as well. He squints out into the sunlight. “Do you see Helen out there? She’s the best cat. 68 years old in cat years or something like that. Very not racist. Last time she let me pat her I almost felt honored.”

“Mhmm.” Kristen replies. Then, after a moment, it hits her. “Breen. The journals. The cat in those journals.”

“The cat?” He blinks, takes a second. His eyes widen. “Rickettsialpox.”

Kristen’s already got her phone out of her pocket, and she’s dialing Mike.

“I can’t believe we were stuck in here for three hours for nothing.” Breen sniffs, looking out at Helen. “She’s a lucky cat, y’know.”

In the end, it’s all wrapped up very simply. It’s not smallpox, but rickettsialpox, something that can easily be treated with antibiotics and a good night’s sleep. The MoH disappear as soon as they came, and Kristen and Sam are let out of the lunchroom.

Another day well spent, the team all sits down around the office table with fish and chips.

“What were you two doing while we were working?” Mike asks, curious despite himself.

“Arm wrestling.” Kristen says.

Breen shrugs. “I was mostly looking at cats.”

“Breen has a boyfriend.” Kristen exclaims. “Never even said. All this time I thought he was with Roxy.”

Breen shrugs, again. “People change.”

“Bro.” Jared says, looking interested, “You’re a hit with the tāne too?”

Breen shrugs, for a third time. “What can I say - who wouldn’t want this?”

Kristen snorts. Prolongedly. “Sorry, I just-”

“What, so you two never-” Jared glances between them, and the implication is obvious.

Mike, obviously not in the mood for gossip, rolls his eyes, takes his fish and chips, and leaves the table.

“What?” Sam yelps.

“Never.” Kristen says, looking horrified. “No. Never.”

“Never in a million trillion years.” Sam finishes, looking over at Kristen. “Never. Ew.”

“Defensive.” Jared raises his hands in mock surrender. “I wasn’t implying anything.”

But the thing is, he’ll never actually know the truth, and neither will you.

#brokenwood fic week 2020 #brokenwood mysteries #the brokenwood mysteries #fic #mine

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cksmart-world · 5 years

Text

The completely unnecessary news analysis

by Christopher Smart

February 18, 2020

BERNIE BROS BE PISSED & WHAT’S WRONG WITH THE ERA

Supporters of Bernie Sanders are more than a little chafed at other Democrats who are taking an “anyone-but-Bernie” stance and they're letting folks know in no uncertain terms: “you A-holes.” Supporters of Bloomberg, Buttigieg, Klobachar, Warren and Biden say Bernie can't beat Trump because the Name-Caller-In-Chief will label him as a Marxist dog and scare the bejesus out of voters. Many also say Mayor Pete can't beat Trump because he's gay. Rush Limbaugh already has started in on Buttigieg for kissing his husband in public. Oh, Lordy. Evangelicals are hugging their Bibles. Elizabeth Warren has dropped in the polls, largely because she has a plan for just about everything and that's confusing to American voters who hate details. They're more into stuff like, “Make America Great Again.” Poor Joe Biden has hit the skids, too. Old Joe's jokes have gotten stale and aviator sunglasses have gone out of style. Amy Klobuchar is a good, Midwestern woman with a nice smile who knows how to milk a cow. But she's a little too nice and doesn't have the money that Michael Bloomberg has. And now we find out that the New York billionaire had the horribly racist “Stop-N-Frisk” policing policy when he was mayor of the Big Apple, so he can't get the African-American vote. And it's just been revealed that Bloomberg hates babies and puppies. But hey, don't lose hope: The staff here at Smart Bomb has come up with a bumpersticker for Dems: “Miracles Do Happen.”

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE ERA

It's been 48 years since the Equal Rights Amendment was submitted to Congress in October 1971. It passed both houses and was ratified by 35 of the necessary 38 states. But it died after a decade of fierce debate. The arguments in the Beehive State were as contentious as anywhere. In the end, Utah did not ratify. Why not? What's wrong with an amendment that seeks equal rights for women and men? Our crack research team here at Smart Bomb dove into the archives to find the answers then and now:

1 – If the ERA becomes law, women will have to use urinals.

2 – If the ERA becomes law, men will have to wear bras and lipstick and fix dinner.

3 – God created special roles for men and women: men wear pants and drink beer; women wear skirts and drink tea (and don't belch).

4 – If the ERA passes, women will have to go into combat and share foxholes with horny men without condoms who are trained to kill.

5 – If the ERA is ratified, women can become president. Yikes!

6 – If the ERA becomes law, workplace sex could cease to exist.

7 – Or, it could mean that workplace sex would get out of control with women jumping men in the utility closet. OMG.

8 – If the ERA becomes a reality, young Mormon women will go on religious missions.

9 – If the ERA is ratified, women will become astronauts and orbit the Earth and feel superior to men.

10 – And the very worst part of the ERA, according to Utah Sen. Mike Lee, is that it is part of a “radical pro-abortion agenda.” Yeah, damnit, it's “an Orwellian mischaracterization of what it would do,” Lee said, because it will allow women to have abortions but not men.

HEY, ALEXA, GET OUT OF MY FACE

Your friend Alexa, who helps you play music, turn off the TV and put on the bedroom lights, may not be as warm-hearted you think. Amazon has big plans for its virtual assistant. Sooner than you think, Alexa — or one of her siblings — will be directing our lives — it’ll interpret our data and make decisions for us, according to Rohit Prasad, the scientist in charge of Alexa‘s development. George Orwell was distressed about Big Brother, but he couldn't imagine we would willingly invite him or Big Sister into our lives with such giddy anticipation. The aim is to turn Alexa into an omnipresent companion that shapes our lives. You might find yourself in an argument with Alexa on what music to play or what to watch on TV or which car to buy. Yep, it's “2001: A Space Odyssey” all over again. HAL has collected all your data and now, there is no real reason for you to exist — well wait, Alexa does want your money, but you don't have to worry your lil’ head about that, she'll tell you how to spend it.

BILL BARR: I WON'T BE BULLIED

He's a strong, independent attorney general. President Donald Trump doesn't tell him what to do (except sometimes). Sure, there was that little thing with the Mueller Report that looked to nonpartisan legal beagles like a roadmap to impeachment that Barr announced was vindication. And there is that little matter of reviewing Michael Flynn's case, where he pleaded guilty to the FBI about his contacts with Russians. And just because the attorney general determined that Roger Stone's recommended sentence was far too harsh, doesn't mean he isn't independent. The fact that Trump tweeted the same thing 12 hours earlier was just a coincidence. Bill Barr is a man of great integrity, depending, of course, on how you define it. OK, maybe critics, who say the Department of Justice is being politicized, have a point. But as President Trump insisted, he can do whatever he wants, including interceding in criminal trials, so it isn't corruption. Whether Bill Barr is an independent attorney general or not, really doesn't matter. (Well, actually it does matter but WTF.) And the president wants to know why that slut Andrew McCabe is off the hook. And why aren't James Comey, Peter Strzok and Lisa Page in jail along with Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff? Where is the justice?

Post Script — That was the week that was. And man, was it strange — that is to say, about normal for the age of Trump. Still, there is no better time to be a “Hooker For Jesus.” (We are not making this up.) DOJ officials rejected grant applications from Catholic Charities and Chicanos Por La Causa. Instead, according to Reuters, it gave more than $1 million to the Lincoln Tubman Foundation and Hookers for Jesus. Don't tell the Evangelicals, they'll freak. Speaking of sinners, Jim Jordan, the rabid congressman from Ohio, is about to be caught up in a sex scandal involving his old wrestling team at Ohio State. Bummer (no pun intended). And the hits just keep coming: Michael Avenatti, who gained fame representing Stormy Daniels, was found guilty of trying to extort $25 million from Nike. But unlike Roger Stone and Michael Flynn, he can't expect a pardon from Donald Trump. Down on the southern border, those darn coyotes already have come up with a new “camouflage ladder” to smuggle people and drugs over Trump's new border wall. The contraptions, made of old, rusted construction rebar, make the climb easy and can't be detected by cameras. Meanwhile, Trump has diverted another $3.8 billion in military funds for his signature achievement. (Mexico won't pay. Duh.) There's more — Trump is dispatching border patrol agents to Sanctuary Cities to root out them horrible immigrants who are doing all our scut work. Adn last but far from least, here in Utah, state legislators are feeling oh so generous after increasing from 0 to 25 percent Salt Lake City's share of property taxes from the Inland Port. That's better than a jab with a sharp stick, but not so charitable when you consider the city should get 100 percent of taxes from its own, damn land. And so it goes.

OK, Wilson, maybe you and the band can take us out with a little something hopeful for our immigrant friends and all the Democrats and everyone else who is on the verge of a nervous breakdown in the age of Trump:

Well, the oppressors are trying to keep me down / Trying to drive me underground / And they think that they have got the battle won / I say forgive them Lord, they know not what they've done / 'Cause, as sure as the sun will shine / I'm gonna get my share now, what's mine / And then the harder they come / The harder they fall, one and all / Ooh, the harder they come / Harder they fall, one and all...

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ecofinisher · 5 years

Text

The Adventures of Super Nathan 2 - Chap 20

Chapter 20

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18224606/chapters/47397622

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13243294/20/Miraculous-The-Adventures-of-Super-Nathan-2

https://www.wattpad.com/764546625-miraculous-the-adventures-of-super-nathan-2-almost

On Friday afternoon Marinette was inside the kitchen helping her father with the pastries for their bakery.

“Don’t forget, the vanilla creme is in the fridge. You don’t need to fill it” Mr. Dupain informed his daughter, which filled on a tableau with open Éclairs a cream made of hazelnut.

“Okay dad” Marinette responded filling the last empty crust then she rolled the top of the bag, then took a clamp to tighten it, then before she stored it into the fridge, next to it she ripped out of a plastic dispenser a foil out and covered the opening with it, then she put it back in the fridge, then took another green-colored piping bag, then checked on the etiquette on the side the name of it and she closed the door of the fridge, afterward she walked back to her place, so she could continue the next tableau.

The door between the bakery and the kitchen was opened by the mother of Marinette, who looked into the bakery, while behind her stood the older brother of Juleka looking into the kitchen, where the Dupain-Chengs were working.

“We got a visit” Sabine mentioned and Tom looked at his wife along with Marinette to see Luka Couffaine standing there.

“If that’s not my favorite guy,” Tom said watching Luka smile courteous at the man. “Welcome back”

“You really got a lot of work to do today, Mr. Dupain” Luka said walking across the kitchen stopping in front of the man, which was modeling a few dough buns to be baked.

“There was a big order today by the TV1 studio, which has to be ready at 6.30 am.” Explained the father of Marinette. “Marinette came here to help me, while my wife is out there attending some costumers.”

“I was supposed to visit Marinette, but since she’s here I could help somewhere, if necessary”

“A pair of hands more would be not bad, right Marinette?” Asked Tom looking at her daughter finishing a dozen of Éclairs, then she placed her pastry bag next to the tableaus and walked beside the two quickly.

“I’m going to get him an apron” Marinette offered passing by Luka, which followed her.

“I can get them, you don’t need to stop during the filling,” Luka said watching Marinette take an apron from the closet on the other side near the bags of flour. Marinette turned around walking back at Luka slipping on the scattered flour on the ground, shrieking Luka who quickly reacted and caught Marinette before she fell down on the ground.

“You’re lucky I got you,” Luka said making Marinette grin bashful at her mishap, afterward he helped her get back on her feet and she gave him the apron for him to put it on, afterward he followed her to the tableaus on the counter of the kitchen.

“You can fill the rest of the Éclair’s with the hazelnut creme,” Marinette told her boyfriend instructing him, how to use the pastry bag. “Here I gotta prepare Strawberry-creme for the last tableau.”

“Okay and what about the heads?” Questioned Luka glancing back at the blue-haired girl.

“They’ll be chocolate” Responded Marinette. “It’s right there on the stove on the pan with the bowl melting.”

“Alright,” Luka said starting to fill the crusts with the hazelnut cream.

“Have you found somewhere a place, where you could start a job formation?” Questioned Mr. Dupain observing Luka gently doing the job, Marinette had given him.

“I had to leave the last workplace because it wasn’t appropriate for apprentices” Responded Luka. “The previous apprentices complained, that they always had to do the dirty jobs and rarely were taught anything about it”

“What did you actually start before?” Questioned the father of the girlfriend. “Was it also as a carpenter?”

“No this time it was as a tinsmith at a service station” Responded the raven-haired boy. “Except the previous place got closed because they went bankrupt and that happened after I got my contract signed with them and only been there for three months”

“And what dirty jobs did they give you to do at the last place you were?”

“Wash cars, the tires, vacuum the interior of them. Jobs no one else there would do” Luka replied. “The other apprentices told me, they did the same and I got to talk with the chef and he fired me, cause I was the only one to have the guts to tell him, that he was only using us as cheap workers and didn’t really care if we could get a good formation or not.”

“Some people are abusive nowadays when it’s about the money-making”

“You’re totally right, Mr. Dupain” Luka agreed finishing the tableau, Marinette had started before and placed the piping bag on the side and looked around for a clamp, then looked at the drawers of the counter if he could find any.

Tom Dupain watched Luka storing the piping away correctly, then he walked up at Marinette to see her taking the chocolate off the stove and Marinette took another pastry bag, that she had prepared a while ago and held it next to the bowl, which Luka took and let the melted chocolate drop down into the bag. “Luka, can I talk to you for a moment?” Mr. Dupain asked earning a nod from the young boy. “Marinette is after the end of her school year going to start here at our bakery a course as a confectioner and you already helped us out sometimes and know our house very well. If you’re interested, we could use a second help here?“ Suggested the brown-haired man. „As a baker or...?“ „Yes....of course first I need to see, if it would be possible to arrange a second apprentice or you would have the need to wait until Marinette would have finished her course or maybe you would start the next semester and needed to catch up the stuff you missed at the school”

“I….I don’t know what to say. I wasn’t expecting this offer at all”

“You can choose if you want it or no” Replied Tom. “But I still need to warn you, that it might also not work out and we really have to wait for Marinette to finish the course first”

“I really would love to accept your invitation, if possible. If in the case I really need to wait for Marinette to finish her course I still want to look as now for any other places to see if I can find another job. My mom said what mattered the most was getting the diploma after the end of the course”

“Sure and she’s right about it”

“It would be amazing if Luka would stay here with us and do along with me the course,” Marinette said wrapping the end of the piping bag and hold her palm down at the opening, so the chocolate wouldn’t run out. “We could help each other out with the homework. Study together, help each other out at something we’re not good enough, help you and Maman out whenever necessary.”

“I see if I’ve got time tomorrow to get myself informed about it and I tell you, what we talked about. Is that good for you?” Tom Dupain asked earning a nod from the brother of Juleka.

“This is very kind of you Mr. Dupain. How can I thank you?” Luka questioned grabbing the man on the arm, followed by Marinette giggle at his father’s surprise at the boy.

“Maybe pay us all a round of beer?” Suggested Mr. Dupain jokingly making the two youngsters laugh.

“Well I’m really not into alcoholic drinks, Mr. Dupain” Luka confessed a little embarrassed.

“So am I, boy” Admitted Marinette’s father. “A nice fresh glass of lemonade or orange juice is fine too”

“And healthier” Added Marinette smiling at the two males earning a nod from them. “I’ll get them later and before I go I’ll show Luka how to finish the Éclairs,” Marinette said walking along with Luka to the tableaus again, then she used the pastry bag to pipe on the head of the Éclairs, while Luka paid attention to how he had to do it.

At the Agreste’s mansion, Emilie Agreste sat in the living room on a pink carpet together with her now 5-month-old daughter in front of a xylophone together. Hope Agreste was now a little bigger now and wore a salmon pink body and her hair had grown a little more, nearly unnotable due to the light blonde color of her hair making it seem hard to recognize the amount of hair. Hope held on each hand a wooden stick, which she used as mallets to beat on the xylophone to make a sound.

“All the little ducklings swam on the river. Side by side, side by side, they swam alike behind the mama.” Mrs. Agreste sang at the girl, which tapped randomly on the xylophone with her mallets making music to the song the mother sang for her.

Emilie giggled at how adorable she found her daughter playing on the instrument her own melody, then heard the echo of her husband’s voice greeting someone at the hall where the entrance was, then footsteps on the marble floor coming closer to the living room and by the door appeared her son Adrien Agreste along with company.

“Hi mom” Greeted Adrien. “Kagami came to visit us again,” Adrien told followed by the girl stepping beside him to look into the living room and smile as she saw Adrien’s sister playing on the xylophone.

“Aww, she’s a really talented musician too” The Japanese complimented stunned at the little girl playing the instrument. Emilie chuckled, then placed her hand on her baby’s back, making her stop and look up with her blue-bell eyes.

“Look who has arrived?” Asked Mrs. Agreste looking together with the girl at Adrien and Kagami, causing the baby to laugh happily at seeing the two. “Are you going to tell them hello?” Emilie asked helping the girl a little in going down on the four, so she could crawl towards the two teens, who went down on their knees watching the girl heading up to the two.

“Hey little sis” Adrien greeted watching the girl approach him, then he picked her up, sitting down on the floor to hug her. “Have you missed your big bro?” Adrien asked leaning his forehead on the child. “Cause I have missed you. Yes, your big brother missed Hope a lot” Adrien said with a playfully voice at the girl, making her laugh. “And do you know, who she is?” Asked Adrien holding his sister in his arms to introduce her to his girlfriend, which smiled enamored at the toddler, which grinned excitedly at seeing the girl. “Kagami is also here with me and we are all gonna have lots of fun, aren’t we?” Adrien asked making Hope clap with her hands. Adrien snickers about his little sister, then watched Kagami cover her face with the hands, making Adrien wide his eyes noting, what Kagami was about to do. “Oh no Hope, where did Kagami go?” Adrien asked pretending to be shocked, believing she was gone and Hope looked around confused not understanding, what exactly was going on.

“Peek-a-boo!” Kagami peeped uncovering her eyes surprising the baby as she found out Kagami was there.

“Oh she’s back, how did she do that?” Asked Adrien pretending to be astonished by it, then watched Kagami covering her face again disappearing in the eyes of the baby, but still sitting there with her face covered waiting for the girl to get confused again.

“Ami?” Hope murmured looking bewildered again about Kagami’s disappearance and shrieked as Kagami uncovered her face again to surprise her.

“Peek-a-boo!” Kagami peeped again making Hope laugh at the girl, then Kagami grabbed the baby girl to hug her and tickle her under the arms, making her laugh.

Tikki and Plagg appeared over their holders watching the teens play with the young girl, making Tikki feel enchanted at the sight of it, while Plagg just rolled his eyes.

“Plagg, don’t be a sourpuss. She’s so adorable”

“Well I’ve gotta admit, she’s not bad to look at. She’s….nice” Responded Plagg glancing down at Adrien, which looked up at the kwami with a smirk.

“Yesterday you just said, she was the most precious thing in the entire world” Adrien mentioned making Plagg wide his eyes in shock and cover Adrien’s mouth.

“You’re have mistaken something” Plagg said holding his paws in front of the cat miraculous holder his mouth. “You said that after you have put her to bed”

“Plagg you don’t need to feel embarrassed about it” Adrien mumbled at his kwami. “That is a good thing”

“No, it’s not. It ruins my reputation”

“You don’t have a reputation”

“And you don’t have any proofs, that I said Hope is the most precious thing in the world.” Plagg threw at his owner.

“Except now,” Adrien said making Plagg open his mouth as he had admitted it halfway.

“I hate you,” Plagg said frowning his face, then Adrien grabbed the kwami with his hand and showed him to Hope and Kagami.

“Come on Plagg, what you did yesterday was cute” Adrien pleaded making Plagg roll his eyes and fly at Hope’s landing with his belly on the shoulder, leaning his head on her neck caressing her like a real kitten purring softly.

“Aww that’s really sweet” Kagami admitted watching Plagg caressing the girl, then Tikki landed on Kagami’s shoulder.

“You don’t see Plagg often like that” The red kwami said earning a nod from her owner. Plagg got down of the girl levitating in front of his own owner.

“For this, you owe me a whole wheel of Camembert” Plagg ordered glaring at his owner, which nodded at the cat kwami.

“Go up into my room. There’s enough Camembert for you for the rest of the month” Adrien told the kwami, which flew away leaving the others back. “He will get over it, as always,” The blonde said to the girlfriend, then watched Adrien take Hope in his arms laying her down on them.

“What shall the three of us play?” Questioned Adrien tickling the baby on her baby causing her to giggle. “Any idea?”

“Building anything with blocks? Hide and seek?” The Japanese girl suggested the boyfriend.

“Hide and seek would be good. We’re three, that will be lots of fun. Mostly for Hope”

“Great and shall we keep hiding only in the living room and the hall?” Suggested Kagami. “I don’t think she’s ready to look up for us upstairs”

“Good idea” Adrien agreed. “I count,” Adrien told placing Hope on the floor, afterward he closed his eyes starting to count.

“Come, Hope, le’ts hide from Adrien” Kagami spoke to the baby girl, making her smile and Kagami took her in the arms, then walked quickly with the girl in her arms out of the living room leaving Adrien back.

Meanwhile, in the art classroom at the Françoise Dupont high school, a few students were working on their projects, including Nathaniel who was coloring a self-drawn image of Cat Noir fighting with Oni-chan.

“It’s been a while since you two worked on something here Rose and Nathaniel,” The art teacher said watching Nathaniel color Cat Noir’s staff.

“I have been very, very busy lately” Nathaniel responded although the correct reason were the times he had to fight an akuma or move out to help someone in danger.

“The last year of school is really busy boy, but it passes fast very quickly”

“Yeah” Agreed Rose. “Now we’re in November, this means next month is Christmas!” Rose announced excitedly. “And I gotta get Juleka a gift….and Lila….Kagami, Luka, everyone!” Rose squealed dropping her notepad on the head of her girlfriend, which then rolled her eyes up at an apologetic Rose.

“And I need to start soon to look for a Christmas present for Lila” “I didn’t know you celebrated Christmas Nathaniel”

“And I don’t” Responded Nathaniel. “Lila does,” Nathaniel said putting his pencil aside.”I want to give her something special, something cool. But I don’t know what”

“Do a comic story for her” Rose suggested her friend.

“I already did that for her birthday this year, I need to do something else”

“What about a portray of her?” Suggested the teacher.

“Nah I would have to ask her to pose for me and then she would know it why” Nathaniel responded, then took the black color pencil again to continue to paint Cat Noir’s body. “I still have time to think of it”

“You will find something, don’t worry Nath,” Rose said, then she looked at the entrance of the room a boy with a red hoodie hiding behind the arc of the door, then he shrieked as he was caught and disappeared behind. “There you are, Marc!” Shouted Rose. “Come in!”

“Uh no I’m fine out here” Marc responded, then Alix Kubdel, who was sitting in the room coloring a stool with graffiti saw the boy out there standing, then she got up and made her way to the guy and pulled him on his arm, dragging him all the way into the classroom. “No Alix, don’t push me here!” Demanded Marc anxiously, earning strange looks from Nathaniel and the others.

“There you go,” Alix said sitting back on her spot to continue her job.

“We haven’t seen each other since the prom night” Nathaniel mentioned as he saw his old friend.

“We….uh….we already saw us before….just a few days…..Cat Noir had saved you, remember?”

“Yes I do remember, but the other times I mean,” Nathaniel explained the boy. “I haven’t seen you often here. Also, I wasn’t often here, cause I was busy and all”

“I didn’t feel like coming, just that” Marc replied quickly making Nathaniel raise his eyebrow up.

“Is it because of what happened last time at the prom with you and Kim?” The redhead questioned making Marc shake his head.

“No, he apologized me” Responded Marc. “He felt bad about how he had reacted and thought I would think I was like a bad kisser or something and just wanted me to know…..I shouldn’t think that just see it as an accident”

“Most of all in my class are nice. He just had reacted that way, because it happened outta nowhere and...he thought it was Chloé”

“And because I decided to let my friend Matt follow him with the kiss cam drone and….Chloé just didn’t want to get kissed by him and pushed the first person in her way…..which ended up being you in this case”

“Yes weird, wasn’t it?” Marc asked earning a nod from Nathaniel, which kept coloring his Cat Noir. “Wow is that your new comic?” Questioned Marc looking astonished at the picture.

“One of the pages” Nathaniel responded.

“Cool” Marc added watching Nathaniel continuing his job, then Marc kept thinking on how to continue the conversation with the boy. “Hey Nathaniel, how have the last months been for you?” Questioned the raven-haired boy. “I’ve been sometimes here and you weren’t present only a few times and you always left earlier”

“I’ve been a little too busy” Responded Nathaniel. “I had important stuff to do”

“Like what kind of stuff?” Questioned Marc making Nathaniel gulp at his survey.

“Surprise parties!” Responded Nathaniel. “Surprise parties for….Luka’s birthday, Juleka’s birthday….uhm...” Nathaniel said looking back at the girlfriends, which looked at each other confused, then Rose got it and helped Nathaniel out.

“We wanted the two to have the best parties of their lives and we called everyone’s help from our class to make it possible, remember Juleka?”

“Uh no” Responded Juleka not understanding exactly, what was going on.

“She doesn’t cause we were doing this party for her” Nathaniel added. “That’s why she or Luka don’t know it”

“Did you have so much time for planning?” Questioned Marc curious.

“There were times I spent time with Luka or sometimes Ivan” Explained Nathaniel. “Sometimes I went to the cinema out with Adrien. Otherwise, I was out with Lila” Nathaniel explained the red-dressed boy.

“Lila who?” Asked Marc raising his left eyebrow at the name. “Who is Lila?”

“Lila Rossi” Responded Nathaniel. “She’s…..”

“The girl who sat beside you during classes?”

“Yeah exactly” Responded Nathaniel with a smile.

“But why are you hanging out with her?” Questioned Marc. “Wasn’t she lying to everyone in the first place as she got here?”

“She just wanted to make some friends by doing the wrong thing. She didn’t mean to hurt anyone”

"But she didn't need to do that" Marc pointed out at the redhead.

"I was, but you wouldn't understand her position. She was in a new school in another country,..it's...."

"But that was mean of her”

“Stop that Marc. You don’t know her the way I do, if you did you would understand it”

“Who else would start to lie in the first place as soon as she arrived here?”

“Marc could you please stop antagonizing my girlfriend in someway. She’s not, who you think you are and if you don’t believe it, I can introduce you to her and you can ask her all that, so she can confirm it”

“I don’t need….girlfriend?” Asked Marc surprised. “I didn’t know you had a girlfriend?”

“We’ve been together for uhm….nearly a year I think” Responded Nathaniel. “I don’t remember the date, besides it was in the evening at the funfair at the champs de mars”

“Why didn’t you tell me before you had a …...girlfriend?”

“I thought you knew it like everyone else. Also, why does it matter?” Nathaniel asked the boy looking bewildered at him.

The other students looked at the scene between Nathaniel and Marc, then realized, what was going on with Marc.

“Are you jealous of Lila?” Questioned the Jewish boy glancing confused at the friend.

“No, I’m not!” Marc hissed annoyed. “Why should I be? Just because she’s your girlfriend? That’s ridiculous” Marc stammered a little, making it obvious to the others, that Marc has a soft spot for the redhead.

“Hey Marc, look I know you worried about her, but trust me. I’m one of Nathaniel’s closest friend’s and I assure you, she’s not who you think she is. If you don’t believe me ask Juleka’s brother Luka or Kagami Tsurugi”

“I don’t know any of the two” Marc responded a little sassy.

“Would you rather ask this Lila personally?” Questioned the pink-haired girl. “You don’t need to worry about Nathaniel, he’s fine”

“We can ask Kagami right now, hasn’t she got fencing?” Questioned the blonde-haired girl.

“No, I think not” Responded Juleka. “They only have on Tuesday and Thursday I think”

“Oh” Rose replied neutrally, as she was wrong.

“Marc look, I’ve got Lila’s phone number. If you want I can call her and we confirm all this?” Alix suggested.

“No we don’t need to do this, it’s his problem if he doesn’t believe me” Nathaniel said crossing his arms while the raven-haired copied him.

At the entrance appeared the Italian student Lila Rossi looking at around for someone, then she saw Nathaniel and Marc angry at each other.

“Uh did I miss something?” Asked Lila entering the classroom looking at the two boys.

“Long story” Responded Juleka low, then Marc glared at Lila, which lifted her eyebrow up in confusion.

“So you’re Lila?” Asked Marc serious.

“Yeah” Responded the brunette. “Why?”

“He’s jealous of you because…..I don’t even know why” Nathaniel explained.

“I’m not jealous. I can’t stand people, that could hurt you”

“But she never hurt me, Marc” Nathaniel told the boy. “You’re mixing her up with Chloé. She’s the one, who always hurt my feelings in the past about the drawings and all that”

“And didn’t she hurt you?” Questioned the raven-haired boy. “Or didn’t she lie to you at the begin?”

“If she did I don’t know, but she did never hurt me. The fact she did otherwise. She defended me from Chloé’s attitude back on her first school day, I wasn’t fully 100% able to help her out, when Chloé called her out for her lying, but she wouldn’t now do that, what she did in the past, when she knows she has people like me, Rose or Kagami” Nathaniel yelled at the boy, then Lila interrupted the two pushing them slowly away from each other.

“Hey boys, please stop it” Lila ordered and looked at her boyfriend.

“Why were you talking about me?” Asked Lila making Nathaniel look down at the floor sad.

“I’m sorry, I just wanted him to understand you’re cool,” Nathaniel said making the girl smile a little.

“You don’t need to do that”

“Did you see, what she’s doing?” Asked Marc. “She’s making you think, this is all your fault!” Marc shouted at the redhead, shrieking him along with Lila.

“No, she’s not” Nathaniel replied. “No, I’m not” Lila responded at the same time as Nathaniel had answered.

“Marc, why don’t you tell Nathaniel for once. There’s no need to make a big drama out of it” Alix said.

“What do you want me to tell him….there’s a lot”

“We all know, you have feelings for him, why don’t you just say it?” Questioned Alix. “It’s much better, than causing all this nonsense”

“You have a crush on me?” Asked Nathaniel feeling a little odd. “I always thought you were still a social awkward like I used to be”

“I’ve been in love with you ever since the first day I saw you at the school. I’ve been way longer here and then this…...giraffe legs had to show up and steal you away from me” Marc hissed mad at the redhead.

“It’s not my fault. I didn’t know you liked me that much.” Nathaniel said appalled at the situation. “I….I don’t know”

“Nathy, calm down” Lila pleaded her boyfriend to stop, then looked at the annoyed raven-haired boy. “Marc, listen I’m so sorry about it. But you can trust me, I’m not using Nathaniel, I really love him with all my heart” Lila told the green-eyed boy, which covered his eyes.

“Shut up, shut up, shut up!” Shouted Marc covering his own ears running out of the classroom, making Lila facepalm.

“Fuck I didn’t mean to make him run out like that” Lila said looking back at Nathaniel, which looked at her surprised at the boy leaving the classroom. “I’ll be back, I’ll need to speak to him,” Lila said leaving the classroom with the others back.

“Lila wait!” Nathaniel cried watching his girlfriend ran out of the classroom.

“I think I’m going to accompany Lila,” Rose said running out of the classroom following the Italian girl. “Lila wait!” Rose called running behind her friend, who looked back at the blonde.

“Quick Rose, we have to find Marc. He will get for sure get akumatized, because of me” Lila warned Rose running the stairs down, then they passed beside the stairs and Lila stopped nothing someone under the stairs looking against the wall.

“Marc, please can I talk with you?” Lila asked watching the boy hold a hand paper towel to sneeze his nose. “Marc I didn’t mean to hurt you, before, I just…..”

“It would be an honor, Monarch,” Marc said making Lila back of as she heard that and observed Marc get akumatized and turn into a red and blue-colored supervillain.

“Oh my god, Marc turned into Reverser again!” Rose shouted coming back from the other side of the court as she saw Lila had found Marc.

“I’m not Reverser nor Marc. I’m Naughty Boy!” Shouted the different colored version of Reverser. “And you’re all going to pay!”

“Marc, Let me explain to you. I didn’t mean to steal Nathaniel away from you. I didn’t even know you had a thing for him”

“Stop lying!” Ordered Naughty Boy. “You’re going to pay for that,” The akuma said snipping with his fingers, making an orange paper plane appear between his index and thumb, then he threw it against Lila before it hits her, Rose pushed Lila away at the ground causing Lila to hit her head on the stairs.

“Ouch” Lila exclaimed holding her hand over the part she had hit on the stairs, then looked back at Rose, which had sacrificed herself for the friend. “Rose are you alright?”

“I hate you all. I hate you, Lila. I hate Nathaniel! I hate everyone!” Rose shouted, then Lila rolled her eyes at Naughty Boy, which smirked evilly at the girl and Lila ran away towards the restrooms, while being pursued by the villain.

“Help!” Shouted Lila approaching the restrooms, while Naughty Boy approached her, making her swallow hard from his speed, but then mysteriously from above appeared basketballs falling on top of Naughty Boy’s head, making him fall down off his paper plane-vehicle.

Lila looked in relief as she saw the supervillain on the ground, then looked up at the second floor to see Super Nathan standing on the railing with his tablet. Lila smiled and blew an air kiss at the superhero and entered into the restrooms, while Super Nathan jumped down a the court, running towards the villain.

“Hey Reverser, forget the girl” Ordered Super Nathan. “You and the others need to talk about it, in peace and with no accusations” Super Nathan explained the villain, which got up from the floor.

“The name’s Naughty Boy” Corrected the akuma jumping at his vehicle again. “And she’s going to pay for her having stolen Nathaniel away from me”

“Shit he really was in love with me” Super Nathan thought, then shook his head to focus on the missions. “Hey you can’t do anything about them now. They’re together now and you have to accept that. Trust me, it hurts less, than when you keep fighting for it, when it’s impossible to win”

“Don’t worry, when I revert the two, that will be possible” Naughty Boy said snipping with his fingers to get another paper plane back aiming Super Nathan with it. “First I’ll start with you and your foxy girlfriend”

“Hey, hey, hey you know you’re talking about my girlfriend, boy” Super Nathan warned the villain, making him roll his eyes and threw the paper plane towards him, then Super Nathan jumped up in the air to dodge it and was caught in mid-air by Miss Vixen, which dropped him up at the second floor.

“I’m here,” Miss Vixen said landing beside the boyfriend. “Sorry I couldn’t make it, he had just gotten akumatized as I and Rose found him”

“It’s okay, we will bring him back,” Super Nathan said, then look bewildered as Naughty Boy left the school building instead of going to look for him.

“Where is he going?” Asked Super Nathan looking at the vixen-themed heroine, which shrugged her shoulders.

“I might have an idea” Miss Vixen said running the second floor back to the art classroom and as she got there she saw Naughty Boy disappear leaving the teacher to destroy along with Alix and Juleka the artworks placed inside the room.

“Okay, now he’s going out in Paris do the same shit he did to our friends” Super Nathan said face palming. “Why am I such an idiot. If I had just ignored Marc’s question or stopped to protect you, this all wouldn’t have happened” Super Nathan said leaning his back on the wall.

“It’s not your fault Nathy. You just wanted him to understand the way you see me. Right?” Questioned the heroine earning a nod from the purple-skinned boy. “Don’t worry, we will get him and we explain it to him, cautiously”

“Sure, deal” Super Nathan said nudging his nose on hers, afterward she gave him a kiss on his lips. Super Nathan placed his arms behind hers to deepen their kiss even more, then Miss Vixen pushed him away slowly, making him look surprised at her rejection.

“Hey we have to catch him” Miss Vixen said adjusting her hair back. “After this, we can continue, hein?” Miss Vixen suggested with a wink.

“That’s right” Super Nathan agreed a little bashful at the situation, then he restored from his tablet his jet pack and took off in the air, followed by Miss Vixen.

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orbemnews · 4 years

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How one daring resolution made 'Trolls World Tour' crucial film of 2020 “[Theaters] had been fairly upset with us as a result of they thought that we had been overreacting. Even individuals inside the corporate thought that we had been just a little loopy for doing it,” Langley informed CNN Enterprise earlier this month. “However we simply felt that it was higher to form of plan for the worst and hope for the perfect.” “In fact, now 2020 — pardon the pun — being hindsight,” Langley added, “it was the perfect resolution we may have made.” And it would not be Langley’s solely daring resolution this 12 months. Hollywood modified in 2020. The coronavirus pandemic delayed main movies, shuttered theaters worldwide, stalled productions and ushered in streaming because the dominant leisure platform. To say that this 12 months was a turbulent one for the movie trade could be an understatement. It was transformational. Nonetheless, all alongside the way in which, Common was forward of the curve. Underneath Langley, the studio’s gambles in 2020 — from releasing the animated movie “Trolls World Tour” on digital to negotiating a brand new cope with AMC Theatres — created a highway map for all of Hollywood at a time when the highway was shifting by the day. Trolls take Tinseltown The unique “Trolls” movie was a modest success. The 2016 animated film introduced in practically $350 million worldwide and garnered lukewarm critiques. The Hollywood Reporter referred to as it a “vibrant-looking however awfully recognizable animated musical comedy concoction.” It was launched, made some cash, after which was principally forgotten about. However its sequel, “Trolls World Tour,” could also be remembered for altering the trajectory of the film enterprise without end. As Covid-19 instances spiked in March, Common made the audacious resolution to make a few of its movies which had been already in theaters obtainable on-demand instantly. The checklist included “The Invisible Man,” “The Hunt” and “Emma,” however the film that made the largest splash was “Trolls World Tour.” The Comcast (CMCSA)-owned studio introduced that the DreamWorks Animation manufacturing could be obtainable in residing rooms on April 10, the identical day it was set to open in theaters — an unprecedented transfer that foreshadowed a lot of what would occur over the remainder of the 12 months in Hollywood. “We had an enormous shopper product program on the movie, and there was simply no manner that we may transfer it out of the 12 months,” Langley stated. “We actually needed to get it on the market to our viewers. So, sure, we made the daring resolution to place it into the house and use the digital market to have the ability to try this.” The rise of streaming and video-on-demand has led studios to grapple with theaters for years over what is called the “theatrical window,” the size of time a film performs in theaters earlier than it’s provided on different platforms. Studios are keen to usher in income from all sources, however field workplace returns can nonetheless be large, so shortening that window has been a contested level of dialogue in Hollywood. Theater operators, in the meantime, are eager to protect exclusivity to entice clients to exit, fill seats and purchase popcorn. “Trolls World Tour” upended that longstanding precedent. “It was the primary experiment through the pandemic of sending a movie made for theaters on to the house. That, in itself, may be very important,” Shawn Robbins, chief analyst of Boxoffice.com, informed CNN Enterprise. “It set the tone for the way films could be launched through the pandemic.” Because the well being disaster dragged on, different studios adopted Common’s lead. Warner Bros. launched “Scoob!,” a Scooby Doo animated movie,” on digital, and Disney (DIS) launched its a lot anticipated massive finances live-action remake of “Mulan” on Disney+, albeit for an additional charge. “We’re all attempting to determine what the brand new regular is as these developments that we had been seeing within the trade earlier than the pandemic have now actually come house to roost,” Langley stated. After the “Trolls World Tour” digital launch, every thing remained copacetic between Common and theaters. The movie discovered an viewers on-demand, and theaters had bigger issues simply holding their marquees lit. It was your customary Hollywood completely satisfied ending — till the “Trolls'” numbers got here out. A brand new mannequin In case you stated final 12 months that the world’s greatest theater chain would ban considered one of Hollywood’s greatest studios, nobody would have believed you. In case you stated that the spat was over “Trolls World Tour,” trade insiders would have beneficial searching for skilled assist. However that is precisely what occurred. In April, CEO Adam Aron introduced that AMC (AMC) Theatres would now not be displaying Common’s movies. In a letter to Langley, he stated that the choice was triggered by a quote within the Wall Road Journal from NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell revealing that based mostly on the success of “Trolls World Tour” his studio anticipated to “launch films on each codecs.” The sequel earned practically $100 million in rental charges domestically in its first three weeks. AMC’s risk wasn’t prone to maintain, given the symbiotic relationship between the businesses: AMC is the highest movie show firm and Common is the house of worldwide blockbusters corresponding to “Livid 7,” “Jurassic World” and “Minions.” However the momentary rift led to a landmark deal that doubtlessly created a brand new theatrical mannequin for all of Hollywood. “I believe the largest danger that we took in 2020 was placing ‘Troll’s World Tour’ into the house… It was a daring transfer. It was a vital transfer, and it was a transfer that in the end yielded this historic deal,” Langley stated. “On the time, we had no line of sight into what the end result could be. And there was a time frame the place we had been referred to as to the mat by exhibition, within the press and our rivals thought that we had been loopy.” Underneath the brand new association, Common’s movies may have three weekends — or 17 days — of in-theater exclusivity, moderately than the standard 70 to 90 days. After that, Common and its sister studio, Focus Options, has the choice to launch movies on video-on-demand platforms. Common has since made comparable offers with different chains. “Each time we launch a film, it is like launching a small enterprise,” Langley stated. “We now have to like it, after all, however now we have to have a enterprise mannequin and a enterprise rationale that permits it to work. We have to maintain our distribution ecosystem wholesome. And this actually helps us do it.” Based on Robbins, Langley had “confirmed to be a captain” of the trade earlier than 2020. Nonetheless, this 12 months additional showcased her perception and skill to adapt to a enterprise whose future felt something however sure. “I believe the long run will be very vivid for the trade if cooler heads prevail and leaders like Langley stay on the desk to assist determine what that future appears to be like like,” he stated. Hollywood finds a manner Hollywood is altering. Langley is aware of that. “It is now a 100-year-old enterprise blended with a ten-year-old tech enterprise,” she stated. “I believe we’re studying whether or not or not we will all get alongside.” For Langley, the dangers she took in 2020 weren’t nearly surviving one of many trade’s wildest years, it was additionally about discovering a path to a future that arrived sooner than anybody anticipated. If something, the pandemic accelerated a decade-long shift to streaming and gave studios an excuse to catch as much as Netflix: WarnerMedia, CNN’s mother or father firm, introduced earlier this month that it could launch all of Warner Bros.’ 2021 movies in theaters and HBO Max on the identical day, collapsing the theatrical window to zero days. This selection precipitated shock waves which might be nonetheless being felt all through Tinseltown. Disney introduced dozens of recent Star Wars and Marvel sequence going direct to Disney+, two manufacturers that helped it earn a staggering $11 billion field workplace haul in 2019. And NBCUniversal — Common’s mother or father firm — launched Peacock, its personal streaming platform, earlier this 12 months. By no means earlier than has the way forward for moviegoing been in a lot doubt. But, Langley would not assume that it must be a winner take all battle. “I imagine that there’s sufficient to go round for everyone,” she stated. “And I believe all boats rise after we’re profitable. I do not assume it is binary.” For Langley, the theatrical expertise hasn’t reached its ultimate act but. “In powerful occasions, individuals look to the films to take them out of their actuality, to encourage them,” she stated. “And I believe that that’s going to be true greater than ever on the opposite aspect of the pandemic.” Supply hyperlink #bold #Decision #Howonebolddecisionmade'TrollsWorldTour'themostimportantmovieof2020-CNN #important #Media #Movie #Tour #trolls #World

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stargleeksil-blog · 7 years

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Criminal Minds S07E03 “Dorado Falls” review

Episode 03 – Dorado Falls

Hey y’all!

So this episode’s name is too vague for me to make speculations about what might happen ... hoping for something witty and awesome.

Let’s see what happens.

And she’s officially back :)

“Hey, good morning.”

Okay, now I want Prentiss as my BFF. Seriously. Free coffee in the morning before work? Perfection.

“Oh, look at you spoiling me. Thank you.”

“Where’s yours?”

“Oh, I quit caffeine. Trying to relax more.”

“Well, don’t relax too much. You got ten hours of takedown and arrest procedure training to rectify.”

“Since when?”

“Since the hearing.”

“Am I the only one?”

“Prentiss, you’ve been away.”

“Oh, yeah. I guess I can’t complain.”

“Well, especially not to your trainer.”

“Oh! You’re doing it?”

“Don’t get too excited. I’m about to put you through the wringer.”

“You can believe that.”

Oh my goodness, Prentiss’s look of excitement and then confusion is killing me.

Though I’m totally with her on that one. Why is Derek so excited on putting her through the wringer?

“Workplace massacre this morning at Synalock Incorporated. That’s in Charlottesville, which his practically in our backyard.”

“That’s a high body count.”

“Yeah, eight victims in total. All employees, including the CEO.”

Damn.

”Five shot, three were stabbed to death.”

“A gun and a knife. That’s highly unusual.”

“It could be two killers.”

“That would be the first time for a workplace killing.”

“Their business in Internet security for corporations. They didn’t have video surveillance?”

“They just moved into a new building. They didn’t have time to set up their system yet.”

“How is it no one saw anything?”

“The killer was prepared. Highly organized. This was premeditated.”

“He kept his emotions contained.”

“Pretty hard to do for the typical workplace killer who’s mentally ill or outraged about some perceived injustice.”

“The high body count indicates a hell of a lot of rage.”

“One employee, John Owen, was MIA. Local PD haven’t been able to locate him yet.”

Oops.

“Any unhappy clients?”

“Or a domestic situation among the employees?”

“Don’t know, but your friendly neighborhood genius girl will find out.”

“Bottom line is a mass killing is a classic show of force. It’s a way to become known. Which is why suicide, often by cop, is usually part of the plan.”

“So where’s the unsub?”

“He has a reason to stay hidden. He’s not finished yet.”

Well, fuck.

Franklin D. Roosevelt: “Men are not prisoners of fate, but prisoners of their own minds.”

“Absolutely. These are Agents Rossi and Jareau and Dr. Reid.”

I love his cutesy little wave.

“Of course. As soon as we make our assessment.”

Someone needs to put a plug in that whole media coverage before the cops arrive thing.

“So what do we know about the missing employee so far?”

“You said the CEO’s office was ransacked.”

“JJ.”

Let’s go investigate.

“The position of the body suggests he was one of the last ones killed.”

“He tried to escape and almost made it to the exit.”

“Jane Burney and Vinia Dev were here. Jane tried to run, Vinia didn’t.”

How does he know that? Because he’s the most genius genius to ever genius my genius.

...

And, you know, maybe he’s good at his job ... maybe.

“She’s half under her desk, which means she tried to hide and the unsub found her.”

“So these three were stabbed and the rest were shot to death.”

“Yes, but the bloody footprints all seem to come from the same pair of shoes.”

“Given the evidence, if there were a second killer, he’d be hard-pressed to get away without leaving tracks.”

“If there was only one unsub, he used his gun first, emptied his magazine, didn’t have a replacement, and resorted to using his knife.”

“He’d have to be physically fit or at least intimidating enough to subdue so many people.”

“If this were highly premeditated, he would have brought enough ammunition to kill everyone.”

“Unless he had a single target.”

“He killed the rest of them because they were witnesses.”

“We need to figure out who his first victim was.”

“These are contracts Synalock had. What was the unsub looking for?”

“Maybe he was a client searching for his own contract to hide any connection to Synalock after the murders.”

“Ah, everything’s digital these days, though. The hard copy’s just a backup.”

Oh my cute fossil, Rossi.

“So the unsub’s looking for an object, an old record, something not on a computer.”

“Huh. Rossi, check this out.”

“So, uh, Werner was worried enough about his safety to be armed.”

“And he didn’t have time to go for his gun or didn’t perceive the threat to be immediate.”

“Or keeping a gun around was out of force of habit.”

“He was a veteran.”

“A naval officer by the looks of it.”

“A decorated one at that.”

“He was awarded the Navy Cross in 2000.”

“Something else used to be here.”

“Another picture frame.”

Ruh-roh.

“Blood splatter overlay patterns indicate victim number three was over here.”

“Victim number two right here.”

“And finally victim number one right here.”

“Adam Werner was killed first?”

“Looks that way.”

“Which means the unsub made it all the way in here without alarming anyone.”

“He wasn’t threatening.”

“That’s why Werner didn’t pull the gun we found in his office.”

“He could have been the missing employee.”

“He may have taken that photo form his office if he was in it.”

“Why would an employee be interested in Synalock’s contracts?”

“Maybe this is about one client.”

“He could be after specific company information.”

“He had another motive besides killing.”

“It was clean and fast.”

“He sliced through the left carotid and abdominal aorta, major arteries that would bleed out quickly.”

“They all took two .45s to the chest, except for Adam Warner. He took four body shots and one to the head, execution style.”

“Definite overkill.”

“Somebody was angry with the boss.”

“Somebody with hunting skills.”

“Or a law enforcement background?”

“Talk to me, little genie.”

“Well, since you know how to rub my lamp, your wish is my command.”

Facepalming, grinning and giggling all at the same time here.

“I checked the Synalock client list, and the Defence Intelligence Agency is new to them, so there really isn’t anything to report, and everyone else is crazy happy with their service.”

“No complaints logged in?”

“Zero. I’m talking every high-tech blog, every chat room, glowing accolades. No one had anything contrary to say about Synalock.”

“Any employees have a history of domestic disturbances or stalkers?”

“Not that I’d violate privacy laws to check, she says, but the answer is no.”

“So Synalock is clean.”

“As a whistle.”

“Which reminds me …”

“You know how to whistle, don’t you?”

“You just put your lips together and blow.’

Oh my goodness, I love this ridiculous goddess and hunky chocolate adonis so freaking much.

“I love it when you talk old movies. Later, baby girl.”

“With all the overkill on Werner, there’s got to be a personal connection.”

“We’ve located John Owen, the missing employee. He’s been at a Doctor Who convention in San Diego since Saturday. It was a scheduled vacation.”

“Lucky guy.”

“I’ll say. That’s supposed to be an awesome convention.”

Dead here. Because I know I will never find a man as perfect as Spencer in real life.

“So if it wasn’t someone connected to the workplace, who is it?”

“You know, given the precision of the kills, it could be someone with a military background.”

“Or a professional hired by a business competitor.”

“A hit man would just kill Werner. Killing the entire office seems unprofessional.”

“Werner was a Navy veteran. He had DIA contracts. He had close ties to the military. It could be someone from his past harboring an old grudge.”

“Trooper, issue a Be on The Lookout to law enforcement for a physically fit male in his 30s to 40s, possibly a veteran. He appears nonthreatening and blends in easily. He’s armed and extremely dangerous. He most likely will kill again, either himself or others, very soon.”

You know, as serious as this is, the whole “Luke, I’m your father” thing is just too much for me and I cannot control my giggles.

“Are we sure the unsub is their son?”

“Luke Dolan called Synalock early this morning. Garcia confirmed it.”

“Know many 60-year-olds with a boombox?”

Not anymore. Which is sad.

“Trying to mask the sound of gunshots?”

“Could be. Or he was torturing them with sound.”

That metal music was definitely torture, bro.

“Why were they bound and gagged in the closet? Why not just kill them right away?”

“Maybe he was trying to get information from them.”

“About what?”

“Go ahead, Garcia, you’re on speaker.”

“Okay, Luke Dolan was in the same Navy unit as our CEO Adam Werner. That would be the 212th. They were both communication clerks at Camp Patriot in Kuwait. I’m sending all this information to your emails now.”

“Any other family?”

“He has a wife, Jenna. They’ve been separated for years. She lives in Bethesda with her eight-year-old daughter.”

“We need to bring her in for protective custody and to interview her. Send local PD and have our nearest unit meet them.”

“Done and done.”

Duh.

“Okay, it looks like he served thirteen years, honorable discharge in 2005. And now a VP of a biotech company. He was never a Synalock employee.”

“So what happened to this guy?”

“He was separated from his wife about a year ago, but that’s a bit far back to be a trigger.”

“Well, he’s on a rampage of some kind. What if mentally he was reliving a combat situation?”

“It could be post-traumatic stress. Everybody could look like an enemy.”

“Prentiss, this was a close-knit family.”

“Look at them.”

“They couldn’t have been more proud of their son.”

“How bad would his disorder have to be to make him kill his own parents?”

“Post-traumatic stress disorder rarely turns people into killers, but soldiers with PTSD have been known to strangle their wives in bed while having flashbacks or nightmares, believing they’re on the battlefield.”

“In 2005, an Iraqi war vet assaulted two people in Las Vegas, believing them to be enemy combatants.”

“So Dolan’s having a sustained flashback.”

“Pathological disassociation is one of the markers of complex PTSD, although Dolan has been stateside for six years. An escalation of the symptoms is possible, but it would be rare for them to appear out of nowhere.”

“Well, he seems to have made a successful transition to civilian life.”

“Well, at least on paper it does.”

“We should find out if he’s had any symptoms since he left the navy. It could have been the catalyst for the separation.”

“I’ll have Garcia check his records.”

“Hotch, Dolan’s been going through this.”

“Look, old mementos and journals from his days in the service.”

“He didn’t come here just to kill his parents. He came to get something.”

“He’s on some sort of mission.”

“The car’s washed, spotless inside, there’s no paint separation or rust.”

“This accident was recent.”

“I agree.”

“The Navy’s in his blood. he would never let that go without getting it fixed immediately.”

“It might have triggered his condition.”

“I’ll have Garcia run the plates, check for any recent accidents.”

“So, Dolan left his sedan and didn’t take the parents’ car.”

“He was smart enough to know it’d be tracked.”

“He’s either on foot or he’s stolen another vehicle.”

“If he’s capable of doing this, he’s rational and clear-headed enough to evade his perceived enemies.”

“So despite any mental incapacity, he’s still performing at a high level.”

“Just got word the local PD’s at the wife and daughter’s house.”

“Dolan’s unpredictable when he’s on a rampage. We need to go wide. We need to get the profile to the press.”

“Luke Dolan is a Navy veteran we believe is suffering from PTSD.”

“A recent trauma may have triggered this. He is experiencing pathological disassociation and may believe he’s in a combat situation.”

“What this means is, to him, everyone is a potential enemy. Do not underestimate him. Despite his mental state, he has extreme survival skills.”

“Right now, we believe he’s within a 250-mile radius of Roanoke. He is armed and extremely dangerous.”

“It is important that you do not approach him. He believes that he is on a mission, and if threatened, he will kill. So if you see him, stay away and notify the authorities.”

I’ll tell you whatever you want, gorgeous.

“One thing’s been bothering me is the first victim, Adam Warner, was given the Navy Cross in 2000.”

“We weren’t at war.”

“Exactly.”

“You have to show extreme sacrifice, risk life and limb to win the second-highest medal of valor.”

“So what did he do during peacetime to deserve it?”

“So, Garcia’s discovered part of Dolan’s military records were encrypted.”

“I just got the complete file to the Pentagon. He wasn’t a clerk. He was a Navy Seal.”

“Let me guess. Adam Werner was, too.”

“Yeah. Werner was the seal team leader, Dolan was his number two. Their unit was part of JSOC. They were involved in twenty highly classified missions.”

“Which missions were in 2000?”

“Uh, only one. Operation Dorado Falls.”

“See what you can find about it.”

“Will do.”

Good.

“That changes the profile.”

“Definitely.”

“How so?”

“Navy Seals are screened carefully for vulnerability to PTSD. They’re resistant to it.”

“So why would a trained Navy Seal kill his commanding officer and his own parents?”

“I don’t know, but it’s gonna be a lot harder to find him. Very few people on this planet are capable of stopping him.”

“Luke Dolan just evaded a roadblock near his wife’s house. They searched the surrounding area. There’s no sign of him.”

Well, this just turned from crap tp shit.

“Did you notice any recent changes in Luke’s behavior?”

“Did he ever mention Dorado Falls?”

“A mission he was on.”

“Is that why you two separated?”

“You weren’t a priority to him?”

“He had an exit strategy.”

Oh that poor woman. Her husband had an exit strategy from life and she took it personally.

“Okay, so it turns out 6:20 Friday night, Dolan got in a car accident in Bethesda.”

“That must have been after he dropped off his daughter.”

“He suffered minor injuries, he refused medical treatment.”

“Well, his wife said he was fine when he left her.”

“What was his mental state after the accident?”

“Normal. Field sobriety test came up negative.”

“That wouldn’t rule out drug use.”

Well, crap.

“I’d consider schizophrenia, except he’s the wrong age for the first psychotic break. It could be an aneurysm or a brain tumor.”

“Well, one thing’s for sure. He’s having a mental breakdown, but what are the specific features of it?”

“He’s not living in a past time and place, he’s living in the present, with the capacity and intelligence to evade law enforcement.”

Wow, that woman is rattled. Though any sane woman would if her husband was forced out of their house at gunpoint and she was left wondering what the fuck is going on.

“Mrs. Milgram …”

“Ma’am, listen to me. The FBI is in charge of looking for your husband, but I need you to try to remember what Luke Dolan said.”

“Yes, you can.”

“Just close your eyes.”

“Ma’am, I believe that you can.”

“Just listen to the sound of my voice and you’ll be fine.”

“Just try.”

“Close your eyes. There you go.”

“Just relax and breathe. Very good.”

“Now, what were you doing before he broke into your house?”

“Does he think your husband did something to them?”

“Does he mention Dorado Falls?”

Yup.

“All of the Milgrams’ cars are still here, so he must have taken the General in whatever vehicle he came in.”

“He talked about gaslighting. He thinks someone’s trying to purposely distort his reality.”

“He said his parents had been replaced.”

“He sounds delusional.”

“You know, he might have Capgras syndrome.”

Huh?

“It’s a delusional disorder in which one believes that their friends and loved ones had been replaced by impostors.”

“Sort of like Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”

“It typically involves only one sense, such as sight.”

“Basically, the neural connection between the visual cortex and the emotional center of the brain becomes severed, so that looking at a loved one doesn’t elicit the same emotional response one would expect.”

“So you think they’re an imposter.”

“And the interesting thing is that the auditory connection remains intact, so that if they were to hear a loved one speak and not see them, they’d think that they were real.”

“What causes this syndrome?”

“It’s unknown in 60% of the cases, but the rest have an organic cause, such as a tumor or head trauma.”

“He was in a car accident Friday.”

“People with delusional disorders don’t become killers, though.”

“True, but Dolan’s background as a Navy Seal, his knowledge of secret missions, plus Capgras syndrome, could result in extreme paranoia.”

“It’s the perfect storm.”

“Is there a cure for this?”

Nope. Shit.

“So this guy’s stuck with it.”

“He’s not killing for the thrill of it, he does it because he believes he has no other choice.”

“He murdered his best friend and his parents because he believed they were imposters.”

“So if he were to see his wife and daughter, the results could be deadly.”

��Dolan kidnapped the General and didn’t kill his wife because he had never met them before.”

“There may be another reason. He wants contact.”

“Our primary goal right now is the safe recovery of the General.”

“We could. But your help would speed things up.”

“You’re smart enough to see the upside, I’m sure.”

“You help and it goes well, you get your ticket punched.”

“You don’t and it goes south, well, the weather’s not too bad outside the beltway.”

“You know why Dolan’s so worried about this mission?”

“Were there complications?”

Oh damn. She don’t mess around.

“We think his car accident triggered a delusional disorder.”

“We need to know who Luke was close to.”

“Is this Lieutenant Luke Dolan?”

“Sergeant Major David Rossi, United States Marine Corps, retired.”

“I volunteered to call you.”

“I knew your dad, Luke. We were in boot camp together at Parris Island.”

“He’s a good man.”

“Still triangulating a location. Hold on.”

“Now, we can talk, but first I need to know that General Milgram is safe.”

“What’s up with the music?”

“I have no idea.”

You know, I am getting real tired of these writers stealing my thunder.

“Why did you kidnap the General?”

“Do you think we’re holding them?”

God. This guy is off his meds. And pretty bad.

“What have you got, Garcia?”

“Getting closer. We’re in the warehouse district. Stand by.”

“Got it! 3352 Spring Street.”

Go! Go! Go!

“Let’s go.”

“Release the General and then we can talk about your family. He’s innocent.”

“Luke, do you think your father would approve of what you’re doing?”

“Start what?”

What the fuck is this nutcase talking about?

“Why don’t you tell us your side of the story?”

“All right.”

“Dorado Falls was the name of a boat off the coast of Cape Town. It was owned by a South African diplomat who was selling nuclear secrets to Iran.”

“So what’s the big secret?”

“There isn’t one. Don’t get me wrong, lives were lost, but there’s been far worse missions.”

“His mind chose Dorado Falls to build a conspiracy around.”

Well, shit.

“This can’t be it.”

“Garcia, it’s an empty lot with a cell phone repeater. Give me a rundown on the buildings in the area and the years that they were built.”

“All over it like cat hair on a sofa.”

Someone zap her here so I can kiss her.

“Btw, I can usually locate a cell phone within three meters, but sometimes there are circumstance beyond my control, like physical barriers blocking a signal, not being in the satellite’s direct line of sight, which bounces the signal to a repeater.”

“Garcia, tell me you’ve got something.”

“Oh, sorry. Yes, I have something.”

Oh my God, she is the cutest thing ever.

“There is a hotel built in ’74 that is scheduled for demo, and there is a warehouse scheduled for loft conversion that was built in 1928.”

“All right, walls were thicker in the twenties.”

“What’s the address of the building?”

“More GPS signal interference.”

Come on, baby.

“Exact address is … 291 Hope Street.”

“291 Hope.”

“Intel failed to identify … two children aboard the boat.”

“You had to shoot those kids, didn’t you? They were witnesses. Just like everyone at Synalock.”

“Listen, Jenna and Ally are safe.”

“I’ll make you an offer. You let Milgram go and I’ll take his place.”

“But you need insurance. I get that. Let me take his place. Because I’m not just a guy behind a desk.”

“I was a Marine with boots on the ground, just like you.”

“I know what you’ve been through.”

“I want you to get your family back.”

“Where’s Hotch and Morgan?”

“The Spring Street address didn’t pan out. They’re searching the warehouse right now.”

“Luke, I need your exact address.”

“Clear.”

“We got the General. He’s still alive.”

Where the fuck is Dolan?

“Yeah, he used the radio to mask the sound of his movements.”

“We’re on the move.”

“This was all part of his plan to find out who was holding his wife and daughter.”

“But you never said you were FBI.”

“He saw the number I called from. He recognized the FBI prefix.”

“So, what, he’s on his way here to Quantico?”

“I know the head space he’s in. he feels alone right now. There’s no risk he won’t take.”

“As a Navy Seal, he did training here. He knows this place.”

Seal everything.

“An FBI police officer was just found shot to death in the academy parking structure.”

“He’s already here.”

Shit.

“Dolan’s photo’s already been sent on all internal servers.”

“He’s probably changed his appearance already.”

“And he’s got thirteen floors to hide on.”

Fuck.

“We should make a general PA announcement.”

Hey, I know that weirdo.

“No. He believes he’s on a rescue mission that he can pull off. As long as he thinks that, he’ll stay calm.”

“I’ve got hundreds of employees in here and you want me to do nothing?”

Seriously, dude?

“Garcia, I need you on the building’s operations computer.”

“Ready and able, sir.”

“Dolan’s got a police radio. I want all alerts sent through ha secure tactical channel.”

“We can’t take that risk. You’ll be safe in here.”

Good, keep them safe.

“He knows how to be invisible.”

“I got him. He used the dead officer’s ID to enter the seventh floor.”

“Seal if off. Nobody in or out.”

Oh boy.

“Navy Seals never start a mission without an exfiltration plan. Check the exterior and elevator shafts for riggings.’

“Turning exterior cameras now.”

“A member of the seal team said Dolan’s an expert in explosives, disabling and building them.”

“Also be on the lookout for explosives.”

Fuck.

Wack calling, let Rossi handle it.

“Hello.”

“Yes. I was hoping you’d call, Luke.”

“Where are you?”

Shit. He’s there with a fucking bomb and fucking shit I am not okay with this.

“Okay, okay. Easy, easy.”

“Oh, my God.”

“All right, Luke, you don’t want to be aiming that around.”

“Snipers have the building covered.”

“You’re in the crosshairs right now, I can guarantee that.”

“I’m the one you want. You can let my team go.”

“Start an evacuation.”

“Can we evacuate everyone in three minutes?”

“Prentiss, I need his wife in here.”

“No one is seeking revenge here. You’ve created this conspiracy in your own mind.”

“To protect them from you after you murdered your own parents.”

“Your real parents are dead.”

DUDE! What the fuck are you doing?!

“You want to know what’s really going on? You were in a car accident three nights ago and you suffered a head trauma.”

“You don’t believe that’s her?”

Shit.

“Jenna, can you talk to him about something personal, something that only the two of you would know about?”

“When you see your family, you think that they’re imposters, but it’s all caused by an illness.”

“You’re sick, Luke.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“Luke, you have to close your eyes.”

“Because you need to know that your wife is real and your eyes will trick you.”

“Close your eyes.”

“First Jenna’s gonna cover up your eyes.”

Shit.

“No! No!”

“JJ, let me have him.”

“Get him out of here!”

Ah crap, it all went to shit.

Orson Welles: “Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for a moment that we’re not alone.”

“No, I didn’t mandate it.”

Wait. So Hotch didn’t mandate the training? Oh boy, my puppy really stepped in it this time.

“Hey.”

“Uh, Hotch didn’t order my takedown recertification.”

Busted.

“Do you want to tell me what’s really going on?”

“I just thought we both could use a refresher.”

“You mean you thought I could use it.”

“You’re nervous about me being back.”

“Emily …”

“What … you think I’m gonna mess up the team’s rhythm?”

“I get it. But just come out and say it.”

“Morgan.”

“Okay, fine.”

“Yea, I am nervous.”

“But not about you.”

“About me.”

“Emily, I thought I lost you, and I blamed myself.”

“Now, you’re back, but I don’t want to be worried about losing you again and get distracted.”

“So you wanted some reassurance.”

“Yeah, something like that.”

“Morgan, I cannot imagine what you went through.”

“It was seven months of hell.”

“How can I make it up to you? I will do whatever it takes.”

“Just give me ten hours of training.”

“Okay, you got it.”

“Shooting range on Sundays.”

“I’m there.”

“And my morning coffee and a neck rub every day.”

“Oh, buddy, you are really pushing it.”

Morgan, you little shit!

Whew. So aside from the craziness of this entire episode, because - hot damn! - this episode was so cute! Morgan dealing with his mixed feelings about Prentiss coming back and being worried he might lose her again, it’s just the most adorable subplot there is.

Also, I just found out that Reid likes to go to Doctor Who conventions, and it just made my day.

Also, I love how they address PTSD and general trauma-coping in military veterans. It’s seriously refreshing how they keep addressing all issues in human psyche around the vast country of the USA. Amazing.

And so, on this ... positive? ... note, I thank you all for keeping on following this stuff.

I’ll see you all next time and - in the meantime, enjoy the rest of the photos of Shemar Moore I’ve been hoarding.

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letters-from-alex · 7 years

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Dear Friend,

April 17, 2017

Part I Happy Easter! I know it was yesterday, but I didn’t get to tell you properly. So - er - Happy Belated Easter!(?) I hope you had a great holiday. Surprisingly, I’m grateful to say that I did. Although, holidays at home have started to become less and less significant. Nevertheless, I had a great time. It’s been a week since I last wrote you. We got a new puppy and with my luck, she chewed up my laptop charger; thus leaving me with nothing to write to you. Her name is Molly. She’s a mixed terrier with another breed that I cannot figure out. My dad rescued her at the warehouse he works at. Apparently she almost got run over, so he stopped in the middle of the road outside his workplace and took her to his office. She’s been with us ever since. We don’t think we can take care of her, but thankfully my brother has offered to take her home in a month when he gets a new house. You have probably noticed by now that my life can be a mess sometimes. So, a week without writing… Well, let’s just say, life goes on and I have much to tell you. I will tell you about my day today, and then work my way in reverse. I woke up with a cold. It was 11:13am - twenty-three minutes passed the beginning of my first class. I obviously didn’t go. Instead, I stayed home in bed, playing games on my phone, and listening to music. I didn’t do much afterward. I went to work to fill out some paperwork, then to an electronic store to buy myself a new computer charger, then I left back home, made food, ate, and killed time until my parents got home. They got home by mid afternoon. I was getting ready to go to the park to run. I got dressed, took my energy drink, and drove to the park. When I got there, I noticed there was a lot of people because there was a baseball game going on. That really annoys me. I don’t like running when there’s a lot of people present, but I know I will do it anyway. I ran a 5K in thirty minutes. It wasn’t my best run. Since I’m sick, it was really difficult for me to breathe. In addition, my leg - more specifically, my shins - have been hurting a lot lately. I didn’t care about the pain - I never do. So, I ran the 5k anyway. I got home, and I was welcomed with a meal at the bar. My mom heard me coming in from the garage, so she heated up some food she made for me. It was salmon with wild rice and green beans. I dressed the salmon with lime juice and tabasco sauce. It was very satisfying. I wish she made it more often. After that, I took a shower and got dressed into my pajamas. Now, I’m outside sitting down on one of our new tables in the patio. It’s storming. There’s a lot of lightning and not enough thunder. It took a while for the rain to start pouring, but when it did, it fell fast and hard. I thought about stepping out of the patio to get rained on - I feel like it would wash away all my sadness, but I don’t want my sickness to get worse. Honestly, it is really calming to be outside right now. I’m listening to the thunder roar and the water hit the ground. I can smell petrichor in the air, especially when the wind blew it my way. This, combined with the occasional lightning bursts, makes it a perfect night. I haven’t witnessed a storm like this in a few months. The wind is actually breezy for once, and it doesn’t feel humid and sticky like every other hot and muggy day in Texas. What a great way to end the night. Part II My family and I actually celebrated Easter on Saturday (don’t ask why). My brother from San Antonio, Texas surprised us when he showed up at our front door. It was really nice seeing him and his wife again. My sister showed up with her husband, their son, and his mother as well. We all ate some BBQ that my dad cooked on the grill. It was really delicious in my opinion. I had steak and chips with some pico de gallo. I know it sounds pretty lame, but I enjoy the simple stuff. After we all had our dinner, my nephew, Aleczander and I went to my room to play some video games. He’s only three and a half years old, but he definitely got the gamer blood in him from me. We started playing Super Smash Bros. on the Wii U. I taught him the controls of the game. Once he got the hang of it, he was having a blast. He was screaming and yelling and laughing. It wasn’t annoying. It was actually quite soothing - nothing beats a laughter like a laughter from a happy child. We played a few rounds while my sister watched. She was stoked because she was finally witnessing her son and brother bonding for the first time. Then, when her husband walked in, he started recording us playing together. It started getting late, so my brother and sister-in-law decided to leave because they had plans with my sister-in-law’s parents. They were going to a bar in a neighboring city. After they left, my sister and her family decided to leave as well. Before I let them go, I gave my nephew my copy of the game, but the 3DS version of it so he could play it wherever and whenever he wants. I know he’s young, but hopefully he will get better at it and be ready to play against me next time. He had a big smile on his face as he walked out the door. My sister said, “Thank you,” and gave me a hug, followed by her husband and his mom. I started feeling sick, so when everyone left I isolated myself in my room. Although I had family around, I had a lot on my mind. They were just a distraction. I was really missing someone, so I tried not to get sad about it. I was in the dark for a few moments, then my mind started racing with thoughts that didn’t seem to matter - I started thinking about things that were out of my own control. I started thinking about other people’s lives. Why do I worry about everyone but myself? I didn’t want to get bad again. So, I turned on my Playstation 4 and started playing Destiny. The rest of the night consisted of me playing video games, texting my best friend Josh and listening to music. Right before bed, I watched a few episodes of Rick and Morty until my eyes started to get heavy. I wanted to stay up, but I couldn’t fight it anymore. I let myself drift off into a deep slumber that was interrupted multiple times by a crying puppy, a full bladder, and a nightmare of my father dying. Part III I had a lot of events happen during the week prior to Easter. I got my blood results back from the school’s medical center. I tested negative for gonorrhea and chlamydia. I didn’t get checked for HIV because the school only does those on Thursdays. I’ll have to go back soon to get checked for that as well. I doubt I have it, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry. I also got my general blood work done as well. The nurse told me I was very healthy. I was shocked at this news because last year my bad cholesterol was high. It turned out that my bad cholesterol went down by ten points - last year I was at a cholesterol level of 105, now it is at 95 (anything higher than 100 is not that good). It must be all the running I’m doing. Speaking of health, I’m pretty proud of the fact that I have been eating better. I’m staying away from really greasy foods and fast food in general. I do have my “cheat days,” of course - they keep me sane, but in general I’m happy with my health. I’m eating more oatmeal and I’m intaking a lot more protein. I make myself a protein shake three to four times a week. I’ve actually gained seven pounds of muscle. That’s a lot for me in my opinion. I still don’t have the body that I want, so I’m going to just keep doing what I’m doing. I just hope I don’t have to actually go on a diet. I love food too much - especially chocolate. I’ve been hanging out with my friend Josh less often lately because he got a job as a server at a burger place. I’ve been trying to hang out with other guys - gay guys - but they all end up bailing on me. So, I’ve just been spending time with my old friends when I can. I’ll occasionally go to Applebee’s with my friend Jenna or spend some time with the “Accounting Crew” from school. The “Accounting Crew” is a group of six of my friends (not including me) from class. We all hang out when we can and we see each other every Tuesday and Thursday. I also hung out with one of my old friends named Alejandro. He’s an ex-boyfriend of an ex-girl friend of mine (it’s a long story), but he and I still talk every once in a while. He invited me to tournament last week. It was for many different games like Street Fighter V, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (UMVC3), FIFA and a few others, but the highlight of the tournament was Super Smash Bros. Melee. They were playing it on an emulated Wii system. The games that were going on were getting really intense. Some of the players started throwing chairs when they ended up losing. Anyway, I went for UMVC3. I had never been to a tournament before, so I was just there to have fun. My main goal was to NOT lose the first round. And guess what… I didn’t! It was quite funny because my favorite character that I use is named Morrigan - she’s from and old game called Darkstalkers - and the guy that I had to play against first also used her. He was a pretty advanced player using her, but honestly, I was better. She’s a very tedious character to use, so I respect anyone that knows how to play her right. I didn’t lose the first match against him, but sadly I lost the two matches that followed with some other players. (At least I didn’t get last place!) I met a lot of new people there that traveled from all over Texas like Houston, Corpus Christi, Laredo and Austin just to show up at that tournament. I look forward to going to another tournament. It was definitely a fun and good experience. Some other events happened that I’d probably rather summarize rather than tell you in detail, because they are kind of personal. One - Josh had sex with some girl, whom I just met the same night, in my house while my parents were gone. We didn’t go to sleep until 7:30am. The girl was supposed to spend the night. Josh came into my room letting me know that. I got upset and he noticed. He didn’t want me to be mad, so he pretended to leave home so she could go home too. He came back to my house and slept with me. I thought it was really sweet that he did that. He kept saying, “I don’t want you to be upset, Alex. I love you.” Two - The same night this happened, my straight friend from a few cities away whom would like to be referred to as “Fisto-Roboto,” (I asked him what he would like his nickname to be, and he chose that. I laughed of the thought of writing his name to you) started to talk really dirty to me. He has a girlfriend and basically told me he’s curious to do things with me. I wish I could show you what he said to me, but we were talking on Snapchat and I was also a little intoxicated on this night. The only thing that I can remember is him saying, “I want to suck you dry,” and “I’ve thought about fucking you.” He said a lot more, but I’ll just leave it at that. Three - I gave a previous English professor of mine a copy of an excerpt I want to publish. I gave it to her to proofread and help me with my structure, vocabulary, and grammar. She also gave her colleague a copy as well. He’s a creative writing professor at the university. He read my excerpt and gave me amazing feedback. He showed me things that will definitely make it a lot better. He told me I’m a great writer and he could feel the anger, the anxiety, and the sadness in my writing. He also said I don’t need to take any writing classes; that the things he was going to show me aren’t even taught in a classroom. He was so helpful. He gave me so many ideas for my piece, I can’t wait to edit it. I should be working on it, but as soon as my previous English professor gives me her feedback. Unfortunately, I have been too busy to go to her office, and when I was done talking to her colleague, she was gone. Four - I set up an appointment to talk to a therapist at school. I wish I could tell you what happened there, but everything we talk about is confidential. I will say, though, that it wasn’t much because it was my first visit. She was just asking me questions about my health: Do I smoke? Do I drink, Do I have suicidal thoughts? You know, the usual therapist questions. I can’t tell if it was helpful or kind of made me worse. I’ll have to let you know what the answer is when I go for my follow-up, whenever that is…

Part IV Incidentally, I have a quite a week ahead of me. Tomorrow, I have an exam for Auditing that I should start studying for. Then, on Wednesday, I have a project/report due for my Management class. I really don’t feel like studying tonight, but I have to if I want to get a good grade. If all goes well in school I could be graduating this December. I’m looking forward to writing my report for Management, because, I mean, it involves writing! Hopefully I can keep my mind busy enough tonight to not think about people who don’t miss me. I just need to stay distracted: study, listen to music, and worry about things that are in my control - my life - nobody else’s. Love Always, Alex

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loimestudios · 8 years

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Bull in a Curtain Shop, Pig in a Snare, or Learning To Be Graceful When You Feel Like a Walrus Caught In a Dragnet

by A. Len Bell

When I was young my mother was a seamstress and we spent endless hours in fabric stores. It was, I was sure at the time, the worse possible punishment she could ever inflict on me. I would have chosen almost anything else besides being surrounded by swaths of fabric, but here I am 40-odd years later and my life is again wrapped up in tapestries.

Five days a week I go to a class where I twist and contort my body in directions it never thought it should go, suspended above the floor in meters of silky fabric which prevent the performer from crashing to their death, while simultaneously crushing the nerve endings of any appendages that get trapped in its folds. It is the aerial arts and it is possibly the hardest physical struggle I have ever committed myself to - and I’m no stranger to pain and struggle.

I believe if my Marine Corps drill instructors had any idea how much pain they could inflict within this discipline, the infamous scenes of recruits struggling through calisthenics in sand pits might be replaced with those prospective Marines hanging in locks, knots and inversions, in rows of colorful hanging silks. Of course, I’ve never seen men’s tights in camo though. That might just be a good thing, but we’ll talk about clothing options in a moment.

At 20, I was into bodybuilding and powerlifting. This led to seven years running and gunning in the Navy, which of course led to six more years in the Marine Corps, because sometimes you just need more demanding discipline in your life. It was there I participated in Eco-Challenges, marathons, and triathlons (along with all the other aspects of life as a Marine). I tacked on a few more years in law enforcement where I participated in the LEOpard Challenge on ESPN and passed my qualifications for the SWAT team. I was a powerhouse, running up to 45 miles a week, pumping out double digits of pull-ups with ease and laughing at ab workouts. I felt indomitable, but 10 years ago, my life took a turn when an accident left me broken. After nearly 20 years of fighting the good fight, I was given a retirement and a medal and sent to pasture. For the better part of these past 10 years, I was lucky to manage some living room yoga and an occasional walk, but that often relied on canes, crutches, orthopedic shoes and braces. There were metal parts involved and limited range-of-motion was written all over my medical charts.

During this time I started taking my kids to a local parkour and aerial silks gym where they thrived, dangling in the silks. The gym also offered a gymnastics course where the coach tailored her instructions for us physically challenged parents. After some encouragement, I started handstands and back bends. I discovered some innate talent on the rings, and after some surgery to finally repair my broken ankle, I suddenly felt like it was time to start crawling out of the sedentary quagmire I had been wallowing in for the past decade.

I did (and still do) enjoy the gymnastics course, but my attention kept getting drawn to the aerials class where my kids were having such a great time flying with ease up and around those drapes of fabric. I was envious, so when my wife asked me to start taking silks classes in preparations for a duet performance with her, I thought it was an excellent opportunity to explore this intriguing new discipline. At the end of the first class, I dripped down the silks like my profuse sweat into a puddle on the mat below. I felt like an aquatic mammal, finally succumbed to the death of being trapped in a fishing net, but the instructor complemented me on keeping my toes pointed. It was all the encouragement I needed; I was committed. I was ready to buy the “I am an Aerialist, What is your Superpower?” t-shirt - despite laying on my back unable to lift my body.

Thanks to the caldron of genetics, leftover powerlifting mass and the affects of aging, I am short, greying and am roughly the shape of a barrel. I have more than once felt like I was fighting a losing battle attempting to grip slippery fabrics, hanging perilously in “Strongman” while fighting to keep 200 pounds of me from crashing to the floor below. I am hanging there and my ligaments, tendons and bones are reminding me of every violence ever committed on them - every broken finger, wrists, shoulders, hips, ribs, etc., etc., etc, is aching. Sometimes I think the only old injuries that aren’t hurting at that moment are those on my head, and I’m sure if I don’t keep holding on, those are going to be hurting too. I am horrible at remembering the names of the poses, but as I cling to the fabric while wrapping footholds and inverting upside down, I have imagined the poses I am actually performing are: Side-of-Beef-on-a-Hook, Pig-in-a-Snare and Bull-in-a-Curtain-Shop. We should not forget Walrus-Trapped-in-a-Fishing-Net either.

I do have my winning moments too when my regaining strength coupled with some progressing agility allows me to perform some acrobatic maneuvering that feels right, and in those moments, I feel the appeal of this art. There is a deep satisfaction to striving through difficulty, working through the burning muscles and rashed skin and constricted appendages to settle into a new pose and know that it is beautiful (because it is painful, according to my instructor) - not just to those watching, but to yourself, the performer. I watch my classmates work through routines and I know their struggles are different, but the results are the same: satisfaction with a dash of desire for doing just a little more the next time.

Watching them, each with different bodies, different skills, and different abilities, I always contemplate my own differences - because I am not only the heaviest person in class, but I’m also the least graceful. And I am the lone male. While there are a few other adult men who are involved in other levels of aerials, we are a scant few in ratio to women participants. This is not a complaint by any means. While there are many compliments I can make to my fellow female aerialists, I must admit the most positive aspect I can think of is this: There are no bros, and thus, there is no Axe Body Spray.

This does bring up an important point about gender disparity within the aerial arts.There seems to be a perception that it is exclusively for women and their gay boyfriends. I am reminded of my kids’ first aerial class. As they made their way from parkour to the silks, the boys all went off to sit on the sidelines. One young boy grabbed my son’s arm and said, “Don’t go over there. Only girls do aerials.”

We had worked very hard to raise our son and daughter free from gender stereotypes. My son has long hair, my daughter is a specimen of toughness; and in that moment I beamed with pride in my son as he told that boy, “No. I think it looks like fun.”

Since those days when he was the lone boy in his class who participated in aerials, I’ve seen those numbers steadily climb as other boys have taken up the challenge and art of aerials. I hope this is a sign of change in our culture that blurs those arbitrary and unnecessary lines between the sexes. While I am thankful I’m not tangling myself in man-spray scented silks and my female compatriots are not fighting off offensive come-on lines, I do look forward to a day when there is more equal options for appropriately clothing myself for aerials. My female counterparts wear some amazing leggings and tights. While they aren’t absolutely necessary for performing aerials, I can’t see any benefit to wearing baggy basketball shorts when you are working on creating smooth transitions from one position to the next, and I’ve found the options in male leggings are either made with underwear waistbands because they expect men to wear something over them, or they come in the singular black option. Their one singular trait seems to be that no company making leggings for men realize that I, their customer, have an ass, so I’ve taken to wearing women’s leggings because at least I’m not having to make the mid-air decision between not crashing to my death or keeping my dance belt from showing, though that reminds me I should rename that maneuver Whale-Tail-Caught-in-a-Harpoon.

While I started writing this because I felt out of place as an overweight male in an art dominated by lithe women, I realized this is all a metaphor for what women struggle with in their everyday lives. Trying to find a place in traditionally male dominated sports and professions, struggling to make things more beautiful despite feeling like the oddity, fighting with societal expectations of body imaging and finding appropriate clothing suitable to show the beauty they wish to share with the world.

It makes me thankful, despite the fact they are facing lower pay and harsher treatments in the workplace, and fewer option in their lives, while they fight to keep their rights as humans in this current societal climate with male politicians making decisions about those rights, the sisterhood of aerial artists around me accept my presence in their world without prejudice and understand the joy and beauty it provides me, so to all of you, I say, thank you for letting me join your struggle.

RESOURCES: Gender Disparity in the Aerial Arts http://www.aerialsilksatlanta.com/2013/07/11/gender-disparity-and-the-aerial-arts/ Aerial Arts for All Body Types http://www.adiosbarbie.com/2011/09/aerial-arts-for-all-bodies/

#aerials aerial silks body positive

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