#like. main characters. jade you deserve so much better baby.

[waitineedaname]

I've been relistening to the homestuck soundtrack album by album while working lately and man. it's reminding me how much I genuinely loved about homestuck, and how that made the aspects of it that sucked so much more frustrating

[ambitionsource]

I found ambition when looking for Jack and Eric fanfic on ao3. I genuinely thought it was it's own show with characters who just happened to have the same name as my two bmw favs (I didn't watch gmw and for my own sake I probably never will because they do my babies; jack, eric and angela, so dirty, and I knew of certain things namely Lucas Maya Riley I didn't know enough for it to make me click). I had no clue what I was getting myself into but then I started reading. I'm so beyond glad I did, I've loved every second, every laugh and every tear. Ambition is the show I wished I had as a teen (instead I had glee... and Riverdale... that says enough...) but I'm glad I found it when I needed it, as I face the same challenges the gang has been facing in season 4 as they move on from triple a and onto life in the real world. I like to believe the stories we need find their way to us, the characters we need to meet come to us, thank you for bringing all the characters but especially Jack, Charlie, Nigel, Asher and Jade to life, joining them on their journeys throughout the show and seeing parts of myself - good and bad - reflected back on me has helped me in ways I'll never be able to put to words so I'll simply say thank you. That's the power of good writing, it leaves the reader changed, the writing in ambition is incredible. I've been invested at every step, hooked by every twist. Ambition feels so real, so poignant, the characters feel like real people, it is so true to life in all it's complexities and in all it's ugliness and beauty. It's raw and it's human and it's about community and hope and it's about flawed people who make mistakes but are still worthy and deserving of love and who are trying to do not only do their best but do good and it's the story I desperately needed. I just wanted to write a wee note to send some appreciation to you all for your incredible work and everything you do to bring us this brilliant piece of work.

If the multiverse is real there's a universe where I follow Dylan Orlando on yt and TikTok and debate and jokingly bicker with Nigel about Shakespeare and am mostly likely a techie, I'm kinda sad that I'm not in it lmao but I'm glad and so grateful in one where I found your story. Looking forward to the rest of season 4 and in time season 5, it's going to break my heart to say goodbye but that's how you know that it mattered, if it hurts to let it go.

{backpedaling to bmw for a sec, BLESS YOU FOR WRITING THE WRONGS. I loved the Shawn Angela storyline in season 1 and honestly it healed a part of me that bmw/gmw broke. Without a doubt ambition did it better. I love when they pop in and they have some of my favorite lines. Shawn absolutely kills me, to paraphrase ; "oh yeah I could be jack, authority baby" destroys me every single time. I adore his dynamic with the techies too and Jack. Speaking of Jack, I am on my knees praising y'all for Jack and Eric, so rarely are older couples in teen/ya shows given such depth and it's even rarer to see a queer relationship between two men in their 30s/40s. Their relationship isn't perfect, it's flawed and complicated and there is so much love, their journey so far has been beautiful. It's rare for older characters especially teachers and parents to be treated as three dimensional and as complex individuals, they're typically just the joke or unreasonable antagonist, not in ambition. They are just as complicated and as real as our mains and I love that}.

omg hi! hello!! welcome welcome to the ambition family! full disclosure when i got the notification in my email that i had an anon on this blog i always lowkey dread it's going to be something harsh -- because internet -- but this message was the absolute opposite and the most lovely of surprises. i don't even know where to begin, but you wrote such a thoughtful and packed note here so i wanna address it all in turn -- please bear with me for the long response!

(though if you've read all of ambition up to this point, you're probably used to my writing being way too long. ahaha.)

first off, i wanted to highlight, underline, emphasize in bold what you said here: "I like to believe the stories we need find their way to us, the characters we need to meet come to us..." because you quite literally put our mentality about creating the show into words (beautiful words at that). that is near word-for-word the approach esther and i have taken with this show basically since its inception when we started writing it for ourselves -- we never ever expected it would reach as many people as it has. and we think of it that exact same way, that those who are meant to discover ambition will find their way to it (and its never too late to dive in). so it's so special to me to see you say that, to reflect that sentiment back to us, as like... proof that it is true. this series has brought a specially strange and wonderful cohort of readers together and it is always amazing when another one pops in to make themselves known. so thank you, thank you, for taking the time out of your day to share that with us. and again, welcome!

secondly -- HELL YES TO FINDING YOUR WAY HERE BECAUSE OF JACK AND ERIC! as someone who admittedly has grown less than fond of bmw in the intervening years (does our version of ct show that a bit... oops lol), jack and eric as a duo are still who holds my heart because they were that iconic in the source material of yore. i typically just tag them because they are so central to ambition (though as you probably noticed, i don't tag bmw as a fandom -- at this point i wouldn't tag either show honestly since its so like it's own thing but i have to unfortunately lmao), but i had considered not doing so because i didn't want to clog up the jeric tag but now i'm so glad i do, because look what a lovely little happenstance of bringing you to ambition it fostered!!

(also, you're correct. don't watch gmw. i enjoyed my time with it back in the day, it's cute, but there are better shows and the fandom was absolutely horrible. basically everyone who was there will attest to that LOL. that's partially why we emphasize that at this point ambition really is its own thing, because it's so far removed -- and clearly you can vouch for that now 😊)

and thank you for your kind words about how we write jack and eric -- we 100% agree that adult characters on young adult dramas tend to be useless at best and downright vile at worst (hellooo mr schue, speaking of glee), and we wanted them to be fleshed out and flawed and featured just as much in their own right. plus not only do they have a great relationship with each other that we enjoy writing (enemies to friends to lovers done right, if we do say so ourselves), they have such incredibly important dynamics with others (lucas and isa being the obvious ones) that it's impossible to think of the show without them. so it is SO great to hear such specific praise for them from a reader! and i love that you shouted out a shawn line, he is an underrated gem in the ambition story world for sure (and allowing him and angela their due was very satisfying for us, yes, hahaha).

lastly, can i ask, are you a writer too? because the way you phrased this is absolutely gorgeous and i want to just. hang it up on my wall and hold it close to my heart forever: "joining them on their journeys throughout the show and seeing parts of myself - good and bad - reflected back on me has helped me in ways I'll never be able to put to words so I'll simply say thank you. That's the power of good writing, it leaves the reader changed, the writing in ambition is incredible. I've been invested at every step, hooked by every twist. Ambition feels so real, so poignant, the characters feel like real people, it is so true to life in all it's complexities and in all it's ugliness and beauty. It's raw and it's human and it's about community and hope and it's about flawed people who make mistakes but are still worthy and deserving of love and who are trying to do not only do their best but do good and it's the story I desperately needed."

like legit, that means so so much to us. it's so heartening to see readers engage with the material so deeply AND come away from it with exactly the themes we set out to explore -- community, love, complexity, humanity, faith, failure, rebirth. so thank you, genuinely, for taking the time to send us this wee little note. it is incredibly kind of you, and we're so glad you found this series and get to take the journey with us.

enjoy the rest of the season to come, and please feel free to pop in at any time ✨

-- Maggie

[lovee-infected]

I love your characters analyses and I agree a lot with them!My favorite is Kalim and while he's an angel, the way most people go "Dumb innocent baby who is naive to the way of the the world uwu" kinda irks me haha. Yes, he's an airhead most of the time but he's much more perceptive than he looks (he knew about Jamil nature all along) and can use his head and put in hard work when he thinks it matters, aka helping and making other people happy (his dorm uniform and scary outfit story) (part 1)

PREACH ANON, PREACH!!! The truth has been spoken 👏👏👏 That was amazing and you almost said anything that I meant to say! Characters and even real people who have the same personality as Kalim are often mischaracterized/misunderstood, mostly because people don't know that kindness isn't equal to stupidity. Almost anything that was needed to be said is already here so I'd just go through some of the details to complete it:

(1) Kindness ≠ Stupidity

Honestly...this isn't just about twst, it's about real life. These days many who are just sweet, generous and caring toward others even as they know that they're being abused because of their kindness, are called naïve and stupid. Look, many times they do realize that not everyone around them are worthy of their kindness, but they'd continue to treat them nicely, because it's in they're nature to be kind nonetheless, and this purity and genuine kindness is the worthiest thing one can ever ask for.

After chapter 4, Kalim did understand that Jamil had never been the person he was thought he was, he didn't even consider Kalim his friend. Jamil is still rejecting him but Kalim doesn't care, he even thanked Jamil after the fairy gala event for dancing with him, because it reminded him of the times when they played as children. Someone like Kalim would never forget anyone's kindness towards him, no matter what happens or how things change through the time. If you think about it, we all need someone like Kalim in our life.

Accept it, no matter who we are or how different our taste in people might be, we'd still appreciate an ally like Kalim. Someone who'd care for you and your problems no matter what it is, even as he can't help he'd try his best to at least make you feel better. He accepts criticism and won't fight you even if you call him useless and dumb (Just like when Jamil blamed him in the end of chapter 4), yet he'd still try to befriend you and do his best to support you through obstacles. This will to help people whom he cares for regardless of what they think of him or how much it may trouble him is an absolute treasure, just how many people can be like Kalim?

(2) Kalim shouldn't be compared to Jamil all the time!

A really common way of mischaracterizing Kalim is by comparing him to Jamil all the time: "Jamil is quiet, Kalim is talkative" "Jamil is cold, Kalim is warm and friendly" "Jamil is talented, Kalim is not" "Jamil is thoughtful and wise, Kalim is careless and stupid"...

I agree that Kalim and Jamil are different in some ways, but it isn't okay if we're going to compare him to Kalim whenever we're talking about him! Do we mention Jade or Floyd whenever we're talking about Azul? Do we compare Vil to Rook everytime we're talking about him? See, Kalim and Jamil are two separate characters. No matter how different or close they are, it isn't okay to consider them as nothing more than opposites! Both Kalim and Jamil have independent personalities amd we we don't have to mention Jamil whenever we want to talk about Kalim! His existence isn't bound to Jamil's and he's got a lot we can talk about other than his relationship/differences with Jamil.

(3) His generosity tells us a lot

You may wonder, why is he so generous anyway? Giving up on golden peacocks and diamond stones for friends and even strangers without caring about the financial loss isn't such an easy thing to do. Well let's imagine being on Kalim's shoes for a second:

You come from an unbelievably rich family, and ever since you can remember everyone around you has been treating you like a prince because of your father's status and money. Everyone around you is supposed to respect and treat you like a royaland you can buy anything you can ever wish for, you've got no financial boundaries. But on the other hand, you know that almost everything you've got around you is because of money: fame, wealth and many of your friends.

And if you one day lose all the money you'd once got, what is going to happen to you? What should you rely on? Who will ever even care if you're alive or not if the money that held all of your power and clout is gone? Also, even as he's rich, there are still things that he couldn't ever buy with money. He did say that sometimes he just feels so alone several times, then quickly changed the topic into something interesting and bright. Maybe he does want people to know that he as well sometimes goes through the pain and loneliness, but doesn't want it to seem to dramatic therefore he'd just quickly mention it to let it off his chest, then starts to talk about something else.

That's much and less of the reason behind Kalim's personality, he wants to use his money and attitude to gain what he can't buy with money: Friends. That's right, many of his friends might already be around him just for money, right? But it doesn't matter, he's got enough of money to keep them all satisfied. And if satisfying them is all it takes to keep his friends around him, he's all fine with it. He doesn't mind hoe expensive it might be, as long as he'll get to have nice friends he cares for around him he's alright.

THis generosity with money has found his way to his personality and attitude as well. His nature gravitates him into trying his best to help people out with all he's got. Kalim on his own is one that can get to have hid problems solved easily, there's always someone there to do it for him so he never needs to worry about anything. Perhaps he wants others around him to feel the same? If he had someone to take care of him whenever he needed to, then everyone else as well deserve to be helped out through difficulties just like Kalim was.

(4) We should all try and see through him!

Lets take a look at Kalim's background: Growing up with legit LOTS of siblings, he surely didn't get the attention and family love he deserved to have. Have you ever considered why Jamil was always so important to him while he could've been this close to any of his brothers? Well, that might be because none of his family members wasn't ever even close to being that close to him. Jamil isn't his brother, but Kalim does consider him his brother and best friend, which is somehow showing that even his own family haven't done as much as Jamil has done for him. He could've been poisoned or assassinated at any second, how does it feel growing up in an environment where you know many people already want you dead? Also, have you considered just how insecure and skeptical he coul've became because of having such a fearful past? At this point, someone wit his background might not even dare talk to any of other students let alone making friends with them! Almost any of us could've had trust issues if we'd grown up in the same environment as him!

Come to think of it, you'll see that Kalim is also pretty similar to the well-known hero Naruto! Naruto used to be looked down on because of his lack of ability yet he never gave up, he had a stunning will to turn his enemies into friends, he was considering and never gave up on Sasuke no matter how many times he hurt and turned his back on Naruto, and he never gave up on his goal no matter how many times he lost.

Kalim as well still has a lot to learn to improve and become a stronger magician, and he has strated to work his best and try to improve! It might not happen as fast as we may expect, but someday, maybe he as well would be strong enough for Jamil to be considered his rival and friend.

Another interesting fact to point out is their sense of humor, both Narto and Kalim can be careless at the time and sometimes mess up, and they also have a thing for sometimes laughing at their friends' mistakes (Not in an offensive way) all though they're the one to mess up most of the time. Like the times Kalim laughed at how bad Ace and Deuce's performance was, then decided to teach them how to dance with the help of Jamil.

Just would've been improved much faster if his goal was to be a great magician, but the main difference between Kalim and Naruto are thirs goals. Becoming a great ninja was Naruto's biggest goal, while Kalim's greatest goal is to be a good and supportive friend for everyone around him. Keep something in mind about Scarabia: It's true that Jamil, the vice dorm leader is in charge of most of the tasks and managements; but Kalim's presence is just as necessary for the students! Students need someone understand them, listen to their messenge and care to solve their problems like a friend! With Kalim's sympathy and Jamil's management, Scarabia students would have the chance to improve their best for the sake of their dorm and their very own future. (Though there needs to be some changes, Kalim should be a little more serious in general and Jamil needs to be more considering, but if Kalim and Jamil learn to work as a team Scarabia would stand higher than many of other dorms!)

For real, this is a school of villains and Kalim is much of a great exception to be in this school. He's legit the nicest character in the game and even MC had plenty of great memories with him back in the Chapter 4. This precious boy doesn't deserve to be called stupid or naïve while all he's been doing so far was to bring everyone including us the players a wonderful time and sweet memories...we need to understand him much better💔

[starneko123]

How it Goes ft. MY OC's

I just thought I should clarify how I run my account story and AU wise. So with the mixture of my OC's I have different views on Mortal Kombat. I will list them.

For Kitana: She is my baby she deserves everything and more because she has been through a lot. So, I will be honest and some people do agree with me on this. When Kitana became Kahn of Outworld or didn't sit right with me. Of course, when I first I'm like "Yeah!" but now that I'm thinking about it it just doesn't sit right with me. That's why I would prefer if Kitana and Jade took the time to unmerge Edenia. Kitana would be Queen.

The Jade X Kotal Kahn ship. Listen! Listen! Listen! I know there are people out there who ship this and it is not my place to judge. Do you. I just think that the ship was rushed like there was no background, no cameo, no keepsake like literally nothing. Kotal didn't even mention her name in MKX like...what? Okay. Jade can be her own character if NRS would take their time and make it right.

ALL OF Y'ALL NEED TO STOP SLEEPING ON MY MAN KUNG LAO! He deserves so much better and everybody in the interactions always got something to say about and I will be ready to throw hands. Y'all stan Liu Kang more than Kung Lao. Um, does he have a cool hat? No, he doesn't. He has some raggedy Nunchucks. But no hate with Liu Kang I love him too. But still, put some respect on my baby name.

Jacqueline Motherfreaking Briggs, is that bitch. I hate seeing getting so much backlash. Like why would you compare her to Cassie Cage for? Like please let my girl live her life. She is one of my mains and I don't like that, she getting hate for no damn reason. Like tf.

You know what would have made MK11 so much better of the Revenants we're revived. We were all thinking I just said something about it. It's has been nearly 30 years and they still in the Netherrealm. The only person who looks like they gave a fuck was Raiden.

Sindel...when I tell I wanted to cause Mayhem I wanted to commit Arson. One of my things is if she has "always been evil" what's the point of having her brainwashed in MK9 and MKX? Backtalk? It's quiet ain't no back talk. So in very simple words: ON THIS ACCOUNT SINDEL IS AN AMAZING AND CARING MOTHER.

Okay, so Mileena...in my mind, she is not a bad character. I feel like it's mental health because she is Half Edenian and Half Tarkatan which are technically opposites. But still, she's beautiful in my eyes, and I love her MKX and MK11 mouth equally. They only gave her lips so D'vorah could kill her. She also have bad influencers hyping her up like Shao Kahn and Evil Sindel ( Twindel ). She is capable of doing some good.

I just wanted to clarify for myself and to others who are rude and obviously can't control themselves. When I ship my Original Character with another character who more than likely have canon love interest. It doesn't mean that I don't ship them together. You have to realize these OC's and this account is all for me and for people who share the same interests as me ( thank you because you know who you are ). I have gotten hate like this in the past and still do get hate here and there but it's whatever it doesn't affect like it use to.

Dang? Y'all made it to the end? Good job! Reblog your thoughts on the MK universe if you want. Thank you for coming to my ted talk!

[tcheschirewrites]

Happy New Year!

Part of me wanted to do a Year In Review post, like I’ve seen a few other creators do, but instead of talking about myself (which I do for the entire rest of the year anyway lmao), I’m gonna do a reclist instead, of the best fics I’ve read this year. A lot of it is BNHA, because that’s been my main fandom for 2020, but I did spend a decent amount of time in other spaces. If you see a **, that means there’s boning at some point – if the fic is in bold, then there’s a lot of boning. I @ed their Tumblr if I knew it off the top of my head, but I may have missed some.

BNHA

Don't Yuck Her Yum by rumblefish ( @rumbllefish) (League of Villains Gen)

Complete – A quick disclaimer, pia is a mutual and a friend. That being said, this is such a cute little snapshot into the LOV with everyone’s favorite Found Family trope. Now, I’ll admit to being additionally biased because pia gave me that sweet sweet Dadpress food, but her Spinner is also on point. Short and sweet.

the Issue of the Jeanist Corpse (the Jorpse) by Princeliest (Hawks & Jeanist Gen)

Complete – Witty and hilarious, a deleted scene when Hawks went to visit Best Jeanist before War Arc. I love how antsy Hawks is, and how fussy Jeanist. Also, I’m a sucker for putting a j at the beginning of everything for Jeaninst.

Queer Eye: We're In Japan! And There Are Pro Heroes Everywhere!! by night_of_the_living_trashcan (Background Erasermic Family)

Complete – I love a good Queer Eye fic, and this one is so spot on. The Fab Five couldn’t get a better candidate than Aizawa (well, almost; see below). And I’m a sucker for Erasermic family.

 **Yesterday's Gods by Karzai (All Might/Reader)

WIP - Reader character is an ex-military doctor who comes to work at UA. If you’re a fan of very well-developed backstories, and reader characters that are their own people, then this is the fic for you. This fic gives me huge Newsroom vibes - we’ve got a past romance, and the tension after years apart. We get present day when they are older and more jaded, and we get the backstory of the reader character and All Might when they were young and spry.

**surrender (whenever you're ready) by OfMermaids ( @ofmermaidstories) (Bakugou/Reader)

WIP - Bakugou accidentally destroys a florist’s shop. Bar none the best Bakugou fic out there - his characterization is so on point. He is grouchy but so vulnerable, he’s coarse and soft and insecure and such a perfectionist. The relationship with the reader character develops very naturally, and the chapters are long. Bonus, we get some bangin’ Kiri as well.

 **if i could keep cool by andypantsx3 ( @andypantsx3) (Todoroki/Reader)

Complete – I’m in love with the premise of the fic: a hired cleaner gets kidnapped due to a misunderstanding of the romantic variety. Andie’s Todo is well written, and the pacing of the story is nice and tight. An easy read.

 **Subject: RAPTOR by Tainted_Wine ( @tainted-wine)(Hawks/Reader)

Complete – The villains have turned Hawks into a Nomu, and reader works collecting semen for the facility for breeding purposes. Bigtime monster-fucking, but it’s very poignant and well-done. Very long, but well worth the time.

 **My Hero by HeroAssociation(Aizawa/Reader)

WIP – Reader character is a milf whose son enters a contest to meet his favorite hero and wins. The author’s Aizawa is really good, and the scenes with the reader’s son are very realistic for maternal love. And, I cannot emphasize this enough, reader character is a milf. It’s incomplete, and hasn’t updated in a while, but the premise is so cute I can’t not include it.

 suffer the signs by advantagetexas(Aizawa/Reader)

Complete – Baby’s first hanahaki. Honestly a very cute little hanahaki – no angst or sads, just two idiots in love. A nice quick read.

 But they're soft... by coffee_dessert (Aizawa/Reader)   

Complete – Aizawa gets turned into a cat by a villain’s quirk, and the reader character takes care of him until it wears off. I’ve heard this premise is popular? But I haven’t seen too too many, and this one is very well executed. Aizawa’s characterization is solid, and the pacing is very good. A very sweet read.

**no grave to hold my body down by Hawnks (supermintfluff) ( @hawnks)(Shinsou/Reader)

Complete – Pro Hero Shinsou saves the reader character, and they keep running into each other. This one is a good character study on adult Shinsou, and Hawnks’ writing is always very clean and lovely. I recommend going through their entire selection.

Love Like You by Queen_Kai (Shinsou/Reader)

Complete – Color Soulmate AU with a villain reader. Very cute, and I adore Shinsou’s characterization in this one. I honestly wish there was more, but it stands on its own very well.

Naruto

**Maid with Benefits by awolangel (Akatsuki/Reader)

WIP – Reader is hired to be a live-in maid to the Akatsuki, and also have lots of sex. This fic is hilarious, and so well characterized. The pacing is actually really good, as well as the development of all of the relationships. There are some characters that get more attention than others, but we do get a nice spread. Very fun escapism fic.

Moonshine by Victopteryx ( @ancharan) (HashiMada)

Complete – Prohibition Era Bootlegging AU. Author’s handle on both Madara and Hashirama is incredible (and they draw their own fanart, and it’s also incredible). A whole-ass meal.

Tobirama Kicks Some Sense Into Konoha by allseer15 (Tobirama&Naruto Gen) 

Complete – Tobirama gets sent back in time due to an accidental jutsu, and is horrified at the way Konoha is run, and promptly Rampages over it. Wonderful catharsis for anyone who wondered why it was okay for a rich-ass old man to just leave an infant a welfare check and a shitty apartment and dip out on his development even though he has the equivalent of a nuclear warhead in his upper intestine.

Misc

**Clouds by moriamithril (Star Wars Rogue One, Cassian Andor/Reader)

Complete – Reader character is a handler/assistant type figure to Cassian over a series of missions. We get a lot of emotions in this one – we get the tenderness of caring for someone who is ill, we get devotion, we get yearning, we get delicious jealousy. Well written and lovely.

Fresh Coat by scrapmetal (The Mandalorian, Boba & Din Gen)

Complete – Fantastic Boba and Din, the Mando culture representation we deserve. I’m love.

**A Far Greater Sin (Reader version) by Yavannie (The Mandalorian, Din Djarin/Reader)

Complete – Reader is a healer, and builds a relationship with Mando over the course of a couple decades. Great pacing, great RC development, and the author’s Mando is quite good. The premise/setting gives me wicked fantasy vibes, even though it’s obviously In Space, but that’s definitely a draw.

who's gonna save us now (when the ashes hit the ground) by chancellor_valdez (Ready or Not, Grace/Daniel)

Complete – My favorite of the “Grace and Daniel Survive Together” subgenere, this one is very raw with its emotions. There’s a lot of hurt, and there’s a lot of self-harming coping mechanisms. Recovery is ugly, and the author did a very good job showing us that. And their ending was lovely.

not your garden variety demon lord by rizahawkaye (Inuyasha, SanSessh)

Complete – Sango takes care of Rin sometimes, and gets confused when Sesshoumaru brings her gifts. The author’s Sessh is so good, and it’s a great exploration of a relationship we don’t see much of.

Mine Enemy by Ayrith (Inuyasha, InuSan)

Complete – I love this fic, okay. Fantastic character study in Sango and a lot of the rougher parts of her that canon shied away from, and the author’s Inuyasha characterization is fucking great. Just go read this, yes.

Frozen Plus One by Meowzy (Frozen, HansAnna)

WIP – Troll AU, ie the trolls cursed Hans and that’s why he is That Way. Look, this author has done such a good job with all of the characters. Their voices are very distinct, and it’s not a reach at all to see how it could have gone differently. And we get some sweet HansAnnaKris action, and it is just as we deserve. Honestly, this fic is so well written, it deserves the world.

Knives In by anomalation (Knives Out, Marta/Ransom)

Complete – My favorite of the Pen Pals subgenre, this one is a fantastic slow burn. Ransom is really forced to face himself, and Marta is such a babe. Meg makes a few appearances, and her confusion over her place in the world is really well done. A great enemies-to-lovers.

It's Not Anxiety, It's a Parasite by squadrickchestopher (Venom, Queer Eye)

Complete – Look, I’ve mentioned before, but I love a good Queer Eye fic. Eddie gets what he deserves, and the symbiote couldn’t be more happy. So funny and clever.

You Find Yourself in a Maze by FloaromaMeadow ( @zombiekaiba) (S0 Atem Gen)

Complete – Very short and very poignant, the style is modeled after text-based command games. It fits super well with the Season 0 aesthetic, and there’s so much punch in each command.   

Gaud's Grinch x Tony Fix-it Fic by gaudy_writes ( @biggest-gaudiest-patronuses)

WIP – Look, I know, all right. Just read it.

[rorsry]

I'm like way late with this but who are your Top Tier fire emblem faves from the fates games (they're so sucks I hate them but it's like the only fire emblem game I've ever played 💔 I like Kaze, Saizo, Silas, and Shura.)

ME 🤝 YOU... Fates was my very first fe game so as much as It Sucks. It means a lot to me sjdhsh

I love those four too though I go crazy when doing their interactions ESPECIALLY Silas bc when I first played birthright I married him immediately (I'm a sucker for childhood friends😳🥺) but Kaze and Saizo are close runner ups...I love how soft they can be!!

I think my Main Fave would be Niles because well..heh..🥴 I really like his interactions with everyone, especially when he's opening up to people! I like how vulnerable he gets when talking about his past and how he feels about the/his future, but he still keeps that teasing aspect to him (which is a wall and I Know This but my heart can't take it I want him to be open with people he deserves that safe space orz).. I haven't played Fates in 1-2 years so my memory is kinda jaded I remember also having a soft spot for both Elise and Felicia, and her sister that I forgot the name of!

Elise is so cute and I love her to bits and I love how she disregards her royal status to play amoung the "lower class" because she just wants everyone to be safe and have fun... [Spoilers] And when she sacrificed herself because she wanted everyone to be a family again and she was like "Please don't do this Xander, let's live in harmony" or something like that well i DIED....i was like NO!! she wants people to he PEACEFUL she's baby *clenches heart* (also I JUST learned she's 15 I thought she was 13-14 this whole time KSHSJA)

Speaking of Xander...I love Peri. I kinned her at one point JAHSAJ but her conversations with the MC and her friends makes me realize she's not just some monster that loves killing, but she's actively trying to be a better person and change her ways because she, too, wants to be friends with everyone & live in more-or-less harmony state. Plus, since all the royals' retainers (usually) have bad pasts it makes me love her more.. me 🤝 her: bad past situations that messed with us but we're learning to get through it with help from friends

I like Rinkah as well because she's pretty:) AKSHSHS I've forgotten her story arc and I'm sure it's good but all I can remember is me seeing her for the first time and going AWOOGAA..PRETTY WOMAN..i had the same reaction to Camilla but personally I felt a little off with how she dotes on the MC but that's because I've never been doted on so idk if her reactions are normal or if it's fates being..Fates again sjshhaj

n e ways um..😳my brain became an unopened can of soda that's been shaken and I can't remember anymore characters rn

[lady-griffin]

So, I just saw Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)

Really fun and very enjoyable. It’s a pretty great movie in my opinion and is just a fun “superhero” movie.

I feel like the word “fun” kind of undercuts this movie, but it really was fun and just a good film to watch. 

I had a great time.

And I feel like you can tell this movie was clearly written and directed by women with women in mind. Which as a woman, I greatly enjoyed. 

I’m sure this movie will probably rub some guys the wrong way, just because of that alone, but honestly it’s a good movie. I don’t think it alienates men or discourages them from watching it or enjoying it. 

If you can’t enjoy this movie, because the characters aren’t “sexy” enough, then that’s on you.

And speaking of that. The Outfits.

Harley Queen and Black Canary have style, I want their clothes. Oh my god, do I want their clothes. Just so stylish and it works with who they are as characters. 

Cassandra, Renee and Huntress have clothing that looks comfortable and works with their characters as well, and Renee and Cassandra’s clothes really makes them look like actual people and normal woman.

Which is nice! I like it when you have female characters who clearly are different and dress differently. It feels ridiculous when you have a show or movie or comic, where you're suppose to believe all these “very different” female characters all love wearing supery sexy stuff all the time. 

I’m not against ladies dressing sexy, but it has to fit with the character and not just cause of the male gaze. 

Also Roman/Black Mask gets some serious style points. 

Bird of Prey is a fun, violent movie wear badass ladies beat and murder their way through Gotham City. Go and see it. 

It comes highly recommended by this random internet chick.

Also, there isn’t an after-credit scene just a Harley Quinn voice over. The music is good in the credits, so if you want to stay, you can, but honestly you can skip it. 

Spoilers Below

The movie does make a few choices that bug me. You know how in Suicide Squard, they spent like the first 30 minutes (maybe more) introducing characters. 

This movie does that too. Kind of. 

Honestly, now that I think about it, it does work a lot better here. Much better than I was initially thinking.

For one thing, the way the characters are introduced works with the plot and what’s happening and overall are pretty quick. For the main characters it’s fine. But Harley and her narrative kind of introduces everyone and their cousin.

But unlike Suicide Squad, this movie doesn’t stop everything to introduce a character with like a 2-3 minute character trailer/ad. 

It’s not awul or anything, but I could’ve lived without it. It worked well and was humorous at times, but it did bug me to a certain degree. 

And on that note, Harley has kind of Deadpool thing with her narration. I just think it was the wrong balance for this movie, it should’ve been in the movie either some more or some less and it probably would’ve worked better. It just seemed a bit off to me. 

I kind of wished Harley’s narration was just in the beginning and in the end. 

But let’s get into the characters

Harley Quinn/Dr. Harleen Quinzel

If you enjoyed her in Suicide Squad, you will definitely enjoy her here. She’s fun, she’s wacky, she’s violent and crazy, and she does have a bit of a heart. She has a soft-spot for the kid. 

It’s definitely Harley’s show. But I’m not mad at it. I think without Harley no way this movie (with the other characters) would’ve been greenlit. No way. But now, maybe...I’m certainly not oppose to the idea.

So while Margot Robbie is definitely making sure the spotlight is on Harley Quinn, the light does get shared. 

Also her action scenes were so good, I mean she really gets to shine and it’s just awesome. Really amazing action scenes that really do the character justice I think, truly some amazing fight choregraophy. Just Excellent. 

And honestly I just want a Gotham Sirens movie with her, Poison Ivy and Catwoman even more now. 

Oh, and while not Bud and Lou, I love me some Bruce and Harley. 

Black Canary/Dinah Lance

If anyone has watched Arrow and has been annoyed, frustrated, angry or sadden how that version Black Canary is not like Black Canary at all. Then I think you will love Jurnee Smollett-Bell’s Canary. 

I certainly did. 

She’s not the star, but she has a nice on-going story of how she doesn’t want to follow in mother’s footsteps of being a dead hero. Basically she doesn’t want to get involved in anyone’s bullshit, but can’t help herself or is force to get involved. 

They have a scene where they hammer that in a bit too hard. It was unnecessary, I felt like just by watching her scenes you get her story, without the details. 

She has some amazing style. She wears a few suits and boy not only do I want her wardrobe but also goddamn, was she sexy. You can see why Zsasz was nervous about her stealing his boss/lover away. 

I mean really the only negative thing I can say, is that she makes me hold a grudge against the Arrow show, because their version of Black Canary has got nothing on this one. 

I would love to see more of her. 

Huntress/ Helena Bertinelli

I greatly enjoy Huntress or the Crossbow Killer (loved that). I would say out of the other ladies (minus Harley obvi), she really does hold her own and her story while is as interconnected as everyone else’s to the main story, it just pops a bit more. 

A badass assasin murdering mob bosses/ goons to avenge her family, who also happens to be one social awkward baby.

Loved that dichotomy. I laughed several times at that. Just great stuff. 

It’s hard stricking the right balance in having a badass character and scenes/moments that undercut them for humor. And they struck it here. Really well done. 

She was such a delight. 

Really Mary-Elizabeth Winstead does such a great job as Huntress.

Other versions of her character don’t really seem to get the whole wanting to murder everyone who was responsible for her family’s death, in my opinion, because they also want her to be sexy. Here sexy isn’t really her thing and that’s more than okay with me. 

The other birds think she’s a badass and I bet every other women (and hopefully some men) in the audience think so too. 

I certainly want to see more of her, especially with Black Canary. 

Also this Black Canary and Huntress and their dynamic come so close to ousting my favorite versions of them from Justice League: Unlimited. Which is a big compliment. 

Renee Montoya

A cop with some serious issues, who maybe isn’t doing her best and probably has a drinking problem, but she’s trying okay. She’s trying. 

She’s an intelligent detective who knows her shit and does not get the respect she deserves from her colleagues. Due to combination of both sexism and her own personal problems. Luckily for her she found some new colleages who have their own issues. 

I certainly enjoyed that her problems at works seemed to be a combination of sexism at the work place, but not entirely, Renee is flawed. Wonderfully so. 

Rosie Perez brings the more human element to this movie with her Renee and is a nice grounded contrast to the others. It’s also nice seeing her more grounded style of fighting. 

Sometimes the scenes with her weren’t great. They sometimes felt forced, particulary the one with her and Canary and her trying to convince Canary to be like her mom. I could’ve lived without that.

That being said the movies has fun, pointing fun at her and basically saying she’s an 80s cop movie come to life. Which I liked. 

Cassandra Cain

I like the character, don’t get me wrong, but this is not Cassandra Cain. And it does bother me as a huge Batman Comic fan. It just does.

I feel like they should’ve based her on some minor character from the comics or hell just created a new character. BTAS did that with Harley Quinn in 1992, so why the fuck not.

That would’ve worked so much better in my opinion. Sometimes rewriting a character works, here it feels odd. Because I don’t get why they decided to call this character Cassandra Cain.

Honestly, remove the Cain part from her name and you have a great little apprentice for Harley, who brings her own moxy to the table.

Ella Jay Basco does a great job holding her own as a screen partner against Margot Robbie. And she did such a good job protraying a street kid who thinks she can handle shit, to a scare kid who is way over head. 

It was nice watching all these badass ladies keeping an eye out for Cassandra.

The characters reminds me a lot of Jade from Jackie Chan: Adventures. I mean both characters eat a valuable object and a bunch of bad people are willing to cut them open. Just saying. 

If you’re a big fan of Cassandra Cain, I would suggest just ignoring the times they say her full name and try to think of her as a different character, named Cassandra. 

Roman Sionis/ Black Mask

A murdering psychopath who thinks everyone and everything belongs to him. He’s power-hungry, cruel, violent and sadistic and is plenty messed up in the head. You see enough to get the picture and they don’t elaborate nor do they have to. 

He wears some amazing clothes, by the way. I liked this version of the character a lot. Even when he’s being nice and friendly, you know that he can snap at any second (which he does). He does not have it together. 

He doesn’t steal the show, but that’s a good thing. He’s a good villain, that allows our girls to be the perfect heroes/anti-heroes to his villany.

Victor Zsasz

Boy does he have it bad for Roman. He is very jealous and you know he wants to kill anyone who steals Roman’s attention away from him. A different kind of Zsasz, but enjoyable. 

I love the rivalry between him and Black Canary, or what he percieves as a rivalry.

Female Empowerment/Some Reviews

So some reviews, I’ve seen basically say they don’t like this movie or have problem with it, because this kind of “female empowerment” has been done before and isn’t good or isn’t as good as it thinks it is. 

And while, it’s not untrue that violent women willing to murder are not the greatest role models, I also am a bit annoyed at these reviews.

I mean, this movie does have a girl-power vibe to it without a doubt. 

But it feels more like the message is -- 

Girl are Awesome. Here are some awesome ladies with varying degrees of violent tendacies, who are badass and who all should definitely know a therapist aside from Harley Quinn.

I don’t think girls have to violent to be badass, especially not in real-life, but I also don’t think female characters can’t be violent or angry. And 3 out of 5, weren’t starting anything or actively seeking violence at least not to the degree of the other two.

Also, it’s an R-Rated movie about a villainous comic book character...I mean, what were you expecting. 

I understand the issue some people are having with this film, about women-empowerment and the celebration of violence and I don’t disagree with that.

In my opinion, the women-empowerment comes less from the violence and more from the fact that you had women as the center focus who were all pretty different and unique, and all of them had clear individual stories being told that created the plot of the movie. 

For me, the movie was saying here are some awesome comic book characters who are also women, enjoy watching them beat and murder their way through Gotham City. Also enjoy them kicking several men in the balls, it’s quite fun. 

I had great time with this movie. 

So I hope people see it and I hope they have a good time. 

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

I know you like giving Beatrice credit & I guess try & act like she’s an equal to MC & co. & I also get that Beatrice herself wants to stop being treated like a little kid & be babied over but I’m not treating her like she’s an adult or even someone in our year either. Neither is my MC. I mean she’s barely a teenager herself, no matter how grown up she thinks she is. I’m not trying to be patronising or anything, like I know Beatrice’s been through hell which has made her more jaded, but I still can’t treat her the same way I’d treat characters who are MC’s age & over. I don’t think she should be smothered & babied like she’s a 5 year old either though, just something in between maybe. Besides Bea’s even shown she’s not as tough as she makes herself out to be, like she didn’t initially seem that phased by what happened by the lake when she went with MC & even bragged about it, but then it gets revealed that she’d been having nightmares about the whole thing (which is understandable ofc I’d never say it isn’t). Plus she’s still a young & impressionable kid, look at the way she’s still attached to Ismelda, she still needs guidance. Like I said, I’m not saying I think we need to pack Beatrice up in bubble wrap & lie to her face about stuff to protect her, but I can’t exactly treat her like an equal either. It just doesn’t feel right to me, like she’s literally 13 at most, no matter how mature she tries to act. I’m personally not comfortable with it but I respect your view.

You’re quite right in everything you’ve just said. My view isn’t so much that she’s not a kid. It’s more that MC is a kid as well, everyone in the cast is. They’re older than Beatrice, but they’re all in that impressionable, volatile age group. They’re main cast members of a YA story. That comes with some tropes. If we accept MC investigating the Vaults because of Jacob, and now because of Rowan...well, Beatrice has skin in the game too. If the Portrait fiasco had never happened, I’d probably be all for keeping her out of the investigation, but it’s not like she’s any younger than MC was when they first started. Starting in Year 2, MC had Bill to watch out for them, and now Beatrice has...pretty much the entire Circle of Khanna to watch out for her. 

I think the solution of “somewhere in between” in a good one. But it’s also a fine line to walk in how she’s treated directly. I think it’s similar to the situation of raising a rebellious child who’s entering “that” age. Absolutely be the person they can trust and treat them with respect. Don’t betray that trust. However, don’t let them fall into harm’s way either. I feel like Luca does not actively encourage or even tolerate Beatrice coming along to the Vaults, but I also think that they’d be very careful about “reporting” on her to Penny. Because keeping Beatrice safe matters more than keeping her trust, but keeping her trust is still important and an issue of respect...but also, perhaps more crucially, losing her trust makes it that much more difficult to keep her safe. 

Because Penny and MC aren’t her parents. They don’t actually have any power or authority over her. So treating her like an equal, at least to her face, is not only something I think she deserves...it’s also the best way to keep tabs on her to better protect her. It’s the old parenting philosophy that being strict doesn’t create an obedient child, it creates a sneaky one. Being understanding and honest encourages the real conversations. I don’t know if I’m making sense here, but Beatrice is a difficult case to work with and Luca is keenly aware of that. 

[zorogane]

ok my Thoughts on all the trailers

46 days: this looks fun! good cast!! Looks incredibly silly in an entertaining way

an eye for an eye: I have mixed feelings? it looks like it might touch on some heavy, real issues - I'd be interested to see an exploration of things like corruption and nepotism.. but it depends on how much of this is just for drama and how much is commentary

drag, I love you: uh... what? is the plot supposed to be “homophobic/transphobic guy falls in love with a woman who is pretending to be a male drag queen, not knowing she’s a woman” ??? No ❤️ we don’t want it ... or am I misunderstanding? is this the one joss said he thought 3wbf fans would be excited for? I’m not seeing it..

fish upon the sky: this could def be interesting!! it’s by the same author as 2gether - actually I might be wrong, but I think this was the only trailer that drew attention to the author’s name... gmmtv really want a repeat of 2g’s success, which is understandable, they’re a business, but... when it involves portraying LGBT characters, I just hope it’s done well. I'm interested to see where they go with this – “when you love someone, you must change yourself” - maybe it’ll provide “be yourself” kinda message? also phuwin!! precious 🥺❤️

mama gogo: so many of my Sons (podd, toptap, lee) 🥰 I already love the main female character lmao, I'm HERE for jaded, bitter women. from the trailer it looks like it’ll be funny !!

mr. lipstick: yeah I already hate the main guy lmao.. really started out strong there with rating women out of 10 based on their physical appearance, bud. 🙄 I think this is my least favourite of all the trailers so far. I do like love score which they played in the trailer yess stan sizzy

never too late: they knew what they were doing starting off with glitching audio and nanon, lmao. I imagine these roles are going to be a great opportunity for the actors to show their Skills, and I can’t wait! this looks really interesting, I'm excited!

step darling: uh this whole thing kinda just feels off? I feel like they had some good, interesting concepts but... maybe it was rushed, or they didn’t really know what to do with this or something. idk if I'll even watch this

baker boys: at first I was just like aww okay yes this is cute... and then. at first I was thinking “ah this will be a show where the actors entirely carry the plot”, but... I'm very excited for the mystery element here? I love a Dark Twist™, and i’m excited to see Lee and Singto’s acting !!

enchanté: the book thing looks cute but like... dude if you wanna know who he is, just ask him through the book? tf.... also Gawin!!! overall, gives me Cinderella energy ?? I want to watch this !!

the war of flower: aye 🥰🥰🥰 the drama between the women “we’re such good friends <333 *cuts to them fighting*” looks fun sdkdsk also GUN!! I do love to make myself feel better about my own life by watching other peoples’ messy personal drama, so I'll watch this

bad buddy: okay ohm and nanon!!! I love the opposites attract thing, this could be good. I guess it’s some Romeo and Juliet type thing?? they secretly don’t hate each other?? I'm excited!! also miss love pattranite is in it ❤️

irresistible: yeah this just looks boring idk

the player: HOLY SHIT I am SO EXCITED FOR THIS !! Jane, Namtan, Chimon ... and TAWANSKDSK MY FAV BOY !!!!!!!!!! I'm very excited for this!! I love a good crime drama!!! honestly, it gives me “an inspector calls” vibes - maybe that’s why I'm so excited for it; studying that play in high school English lit was around when I fell in love w the whole story production process, and yeah family drama is just fun when it’s done right?? easily my #1 of these

not me: do crime, baby boys ❤️ VERY excited to see off and gun in roles that will give them a chance to really show themselves as actors!!! gun is playing twins? it’s what he deserves, he’s so talented ahh, and Gavin and mond are here? this looks really good wow

F4: so I've pretty consistently avoided every version of Hana Yori Dango because... it just sounds kinda toxic. but this looks like it’ll really take a different direction - criticising the same issues instead of perpetuating them? this could literally be groundbreaking? I'm seriously excited. I imagine Bright and Tu’s acting is really going to shine through here (I already love tu so much omg). honestly, I went from “great, another BOF remake 🙄” to genuinely thinking this could be one of the best shows of 2021... I mean we’ll see, but like.. this is a good trailer

[theuntamedproject]

"If the face says nothing, listen to the heartbeat" - Lan WangJi, Mo Dao Zu Shi (Weeks 3+4)

https://zhtheuntamedprojec.wixsite.com/theuntamedproject 

... those who have read the novel know the real context of this line in the scene BUT taken out of context and used in a completely different (*cough* our) scenario..."If the face says nothing," translates to "Even if we seem calm on the outside,""listen to the heartbeat." translates to "we're so stressed to the point of ventricular fibrillation." (dunno if that's even a likely story but the overly exaggerated point still stands: we just handed our uni applications in and we're dreading admission tests and awaiting interviews...)

Quick overview

So aside from school work and university prep, TUP has taken up whatever spare moment either one of us has. However since Zara's Physics coursework began (good luck Zara!!) and both of us prepping for our respective admissions tests, we've decided instead of marching onwards with research on architecture and other food science related stuff, to settle on more relaxed Google seshes on MDZS (and totally not using this as an excuse to read the source text again) and beginning to design the buildings on CAD and paper.

So I'm going to introduce to you the barebones framework of what we plan to include in the design: characters, buildings and effects~ apologies in advance for not including the accents/tones in names (I cba tbh ;-; )

Characters

Because all these little dudes are just going to be cut out gingerbread men, we could include as many characters as possible (we did say we're making a universe are we not?). Those in italics are "maybe" characters depending on the dough remaining (or whether we like them to be part of the universe or not...) or how much gingerbread we're willing to eat ourselves (though huge shout out to everyone thats offered to eat our spare and broken gingerbread during materials testing - which I will get to a bit later :3)

Gusu Lan (the pretty sect)

Lan XiChen / Lan Huan (Sect Leader - simped so hard for his sworn brothers that both of them ended up dead)

Lan WangJi / Lan Zhan (repressed gay but we love him still)

Lan Yuan / Lan Sizhui (he's part of the Lan sect now goddamnit)

Lan JingYi (the most unLan Lan yet has the highest chance of being the next sect leader lmaoo)

Lan QiRen

Lan Yi / Lan An

QingHeng-Jun (Twin Jades' father)

Madam Lan (Twin Jades' mother)

Yunmeng Jiang (arguably the only "normal" sect here...)

Jiang Cheng / Jiang Wanyin (Sect Leader also an "angry grape" as put by Zara)

Jiang YanLi (OUR QUEEN)

Jiang FengMian (loved Wei Ying more than Jiang Cheng lol jk xd)

Yu ZiYuan (BAMF)

Wei Ying not included here since technically he defected from the Sect (; - ;)

Qinghe Nie (fans and sabers my bros)

Nie HuaiSang (Sect Leader - yeah, I can't believe it either)

Nie MingJue (noooooooooo)

Honestly, I swear this clan is either "big muscles or big brain?". If you have neither, you can't be part of their clique. I mean sect.

Lanling Jin (rich rich rich rich rich)

Jin Ling / Jin RuLan (Sect Leader - totally not named after Wei Ying's crush/ husband's family)

Jin GuangYao / Meng Yao (*smiles*)

Jin ZiXuan (peacock but JYL's husband nonetheless)

Jin GuangShan (gross)

Jin ZiXun (double gross)

Mo XuanYu (literally did not sign up to any of this. He just wanted to end his suffering at Mo Manor)

We decided against including everyone from Mo Manor since they literally died within the first few chapters of the novel / first episode of the drama so were kinda irrelevant. Also, we don't care about them like we care for the Lan Sect members either.

Off topic side rant, Zara has been on my case whenever I bring up Jin GuangYao. I have to say, he's way more lovable in the drama than in the novel (didn't really leave much of an impression on me in the novel, NHS did a better job at that). I'm here to briefly explain why this boy is misunderstood and deserved more than what he got (and also why you should love him because he deserves love).JGY is a poor soul who's goal in life was to please others because no one was ever satisfied with him. His mother wasn't satisfied. His father wasn't satisfied. Hell, even his sworn brother NMJ wasn't satisfied with him eventually. BUT GUESS WHAT Xichen the angel is the only person that showed any love or thanks to JGY that's why he didn't kill him in the end - he wouldn't kill people that actually cared about him. IF ONLY EVERYONE ACTUALLY PAID ATTENTION TO HOW CLEVER AND CUNNING THIS MAN WAS, THERE MAY NOT EVEN BE WENS THREATENING THE WORLD. end of brief rant.

Qishan Wen (too hot, hot damn)

Wen RuoHan (Sect Leader - could have taken over the world if his children weren't incompetent)

Wen Qing (half the reason why included this sect)

Wen Ning / Wen QiongLin (the other half of the reason)

Wen Yuan (WE NEED THIS BABIE ALONGSIDE SIZHUI OK)

Wen Chao (questionable)

Wen ZhuLiu (also questionable but less annoying than Wen Chao)

Rogue cultivators (including people we didn't really know where to put)

Wei WuXian / Wei Ying (Can work out how to cultivate resentful energy, fight against the biggest cultivation clans in the world and gain a formidable reputation as the Yiling Patriarch yet can't figure out that Lan Zhan has a crush on him. Makes it look like cultivating resentful energy is easy as pie.)

CangSe SanRen (Wei Ying's mother)

Wei ChangZe (Wei Ying's father)

Xiao XingChen (honestly, the nicest guy ever. Could rival Xichen in terms of kindness. But then again... where did that kindness lead either of them? Moral of story: screw kindness)

Song Lan (Wen Ning's dead buddy~)

Xue Yang (he was cool in the novel, a bit questionable in the drama ngl)

A-Qing (didn't report her situation to the police...)

Baoshan Sanren (without knowledge of her existence, Jiang Cheng may have given up on life after he lost his golden core)

Ouyang ZiZhen (I didn't know who he was at all from the novel (ie he left no impression) but since he's technically part of the juniors, we have to include him)

Wang Ling Jiao / Jiao Jiao (just so Wen Chao has a friend perhaps... I don't know if we're that kind)

Su She (ew. just. He's not our favourite. The whole thing could have gone smoother if he didn't exist)

Luo Qingyang / Mian Mian (that one girl that made Wei Ying think Lan Zhan was straight)

Whew! That's all the character's we've considered! We have yet to come up with individual designs for the clothes and what not but at least we know there are going to be straight up cutting them out using the gingerbread man cutters.

Also! let's not forget:

Li'l Apple (didn't sign up for any of this either)

Fairy (gift from JGY to JL, also good doggo)

All the bunnies in Gusu (yes.)

All the fans and sabers in Qinghe (it's part of their aesthetic)

Locations and Buildings

This section's going to be MUCH shorter than the previous one haha since we've basically come up with 5 main buildings and in 7 locations. We're planning these buildings to be architectural masterpieces (okay, that's a slight exaggeration but that's the point). These buildings will take SIGNIFICANTLY more time than the gingerbread characters and is the reason we've put so much effort into researching what would make the most stable type of building. This is because we've planned to mirror the buildings as close as possible to the drama. We haven't yet drawn 2D sketches as I've left that job mostly to Zara (sorry!) so it's sort of hard to describe in words but by next post, we hope to have these down~ (though please see the mood boards from Zara's post previously)~

Gusu Lan - Cloud Recesses

The Wall of Discipline

The Courtyard

The Orchid Room (the main classroom/hall)

Yunmeng Jiang - Lotus Pier

The Main Pier

Lotus Pod Lake

Qinghe Nie - The Unclean Realm

The Main Courtyard and stairs

Lanling Jin - Koi Tower

Koi Tower

Qishan Wen - Nightless City

Main building and stairs

Yiling - Burial Grounds

The Mountains (and farms/Wen settlements)

Demon-Slaughtering Cave

And of course, Yi City.

We don't know if we want to include any more places but we'll let you know if there are any changes to this list. Plus the effects of LEDs and other arts and craft jazz besides gingerbread, we plan to make sure each Sect get's their own spotlight~

Please enjoy our baby Cloud Recesses, they're going to grow up and be a fine specimen of society worthy of the Lan name :D

The plan going forward

Although unfortunately, things haven't gone totally to plan due to fairly busy circumstances, we still have some major events along the way before starting to build the whole thing (which would probably be around mid-to-end of December) which have indeed started preparing for. Including:

Material testing gingerbread and icing (ie finally, bringing our research to the real world) - a lot of gingerbread will be made, so thank you to the willing volunteers who wanted to eat our failed experiments!

Finding / creating a suitable recipe for the gingerbread people

2D and 3D sketches of the buildings

Designing costumes for the gingerbread people

Another thing that we kinda want to do is to make this project benefit the wider community (we wanted to set up a GoFundMe at some point and raise some money for charity~). But we don't know how to do that as of yet T-T . Any ideas, feel free to contact us and let us know! We want to help others through this project (if at all possible haha)!

[nellie-elizabeth]

Grey's Anatomy: The Last Supper (16x12)

Okay, this episode was interesting. I want to get into the specifics right away.

Cons:

Say it with me: I don't like Catherine Fox. I find her story-line with Richard to be beyond tedious. I also find Maggie and Jackson at their absolute worst when they're in a story together. So the main plot thread of this episode was destined to piss me off. Honestly, if you look at it in a vacuum, there were plenty of solid acting moments and even a few genuinely moving parts. But that's only the case if I look at it like a one-act play, divorced from the context of season upon season of bullshit leading up to this moment. Let's look at the situation, here:

Richard and Catherine are falling apart, and have been for a long time. Richard is acting like a sanctimonious prick, practically gas-lighting Catherine about his relationship with his friend, who has a stated romantic interest in him. And Catherine is being pig-headed and jaded, refusing to take Richard at his word. If Richard were honest, and says that there are maybe feelings there but nothing happened, and if Catherine would choose to believe him... but no.

And then there's the fact that Catherine allowed Bailey to fire Richard. Richard is crushed and hurt by this, fair enough, but he's forgiven Miranda for it, and can't forgive Catherine? Apparently he's just waiting for a sincere apology. But come on, dude, is he seriously not going to admit his own fault, here? He covered up insurance fraud! He put the reputation of the entire hospital at risk. Sure, I agree morally with what Richard, Meredith, and Alex decided to do... but can Richard really sit there and act like it's that cut and dry?

Catherine allowed Richard to be fired, didn't stand by his side, and then has the audacity to be pissed off at him for getting another job and doing well at it? Richard is a prick for demanding an apology without offering one of his own, and Catherine is... unhinged for threatening to buy PacWest Hospital just to spite her husband. The long and short of it is, that these two apparently bring out the very worst in each other. Richard is a character I like in some contexts, but he and Catherine make no sense to me, and they never have.

So then we turn to Jackson and Maggie. You know, Jackson and Vic are kind of cute, and I have no problem with them. Maggie's story-line about her career and her cousin who died on the table... I'm on board with all of that complicated, devastating angst. But then you put Maggie and Jackson in a room together and it's just... untenable and awful. The way Maggie talks about Jackson's privilege is just a big yikes. She clearly never, ever respected him at all. And Jackson can be condescending as fuck to Maggie right back. When they were "happy" together, their worst sin from a narrative standpoint was being boring. Now, they become whiny little babies around each other, the kind of people who contradict one another just because they can't stand for the other one to be right. It's unbearable to watch.

I'm also not a fan of the entire scenario here, where Richard and Catherine want to have Jackson and Maggie over for dinner to announce their separation, but Jackson invites Vic, who invites her friend Dean for some reason, thus making the whole evening incredibly awkward. I've been a fan of awkward Grey's dinner parties in the past. I'll always remember the one where Penny showed up at Meredith's house. But this whole scenario, with Maggie and Jackson reminiscing about Catherine's proposal to Richard, and Jackson giving a sincere toast dripping with dramatic irony... meh. I just wasn't feeling it.

Pros:

Before I talk about Levi's plot thread of the night, I will go in to the one or two things that I didn't hate about the dinner party plot thread.

For one, hopefully that's the actual end of Richard and Catherine's relationship, and we can let this story die quietly.

Also, I like Dean and Vic just being awkwardly thrust into the middle of things, and actually doing their best to prevent awkwardness and get to know their hosts. I liked the moment of genuine sweetness when Catherine invited Vic into the kitchen to eat dessert, a silent apology for her hot and cold behavior all evening. And I liked Maggie and Richard spending a quiet moment together too, as Maggie accepts a job at Richard's hospital.

I especially enjoyed Maggie admitting to Vic that she's been taking out her anger towards Jackson on her. She apologizes and promises to stop doing it, which was a rare moment of emotional maturity from Maggie. Let's keep that going, and get her and Jackson to stop being at each other's throats for no good reason!

The other plot thread was a total success, in my opinion. Levi goes to visit his dying uncle, a man who was apparently awful to everyone, but always kind to Levi. Just as Levi introduces Nico to his uncle as his boyfriend, his uncle dies. Levi thinks he might have killed him with the shock, but then... his uncle's partner shows up! Turns out, he was gay too, and shamed into staying in the closet his whole life. He was married, but he and his wife had an arrangement. The whole experience teaches Levi that he doesn't have time to waste hiding who he is. He tells his mother that her refusal to share the truth with the rest of the family means she doesn't really accept him, and decides to move out.

If I had to complain about this plot thread I'd say I could have used more Nico. But honestly, that's not even quite true. He was there to support Levi, and this was clearly Levi's moment to shine. I just hope that we can have some moments to shine on Nico this season, and focus on their strengthening relationship. They really are quite cute. Nico hovering over Levi while he's supposed to be resting was just the sweetest thing!

There was something so moving and tragic in watching Levi prepare his uncle's body, along with his uncle's long-term partner and love of his life. Levi is culturally Jewish but didn't know a lot of the specifics, so had to be taught. I thought that was very lovely and somewhat realistic, to have him learning about his cultural heritage and his heritage as a gay person, all in this one deeply potent moment, with a man he's never met, connected by their shared love for a recently deceased man.

And I like the complexity of Levi's relationship to his mother. She loves him and wants to shelter him, but she doesn't realize that she's actually hurting him with her seemingly conditional support. Levi has been through so much recently, coming to terms with his sexuality, gaining confidence in his profession, falling in love and making friends... and he's a brave person, one who is ready to take on the next step of his life and live his truth. I don't know, I just think it's so beautiful to watch this journey, and to see him taking it on with Nico there to support him... it's something really special.

That's where I'll stop! I used this episode as an excuse to rant about two of my least favorite ever couples on Grey's Anatomy (topped only by Owen/Teddy at this point, I think...), so I'm sorry if it felt a bit rambly. But truthfully - Richard, Maggie, and Jackson all deserve better than to be embroiled in these kinds of story-lines. And Catherine... well, I may have never liked her, but hell, she deserves better too.

6/10

[tongue-tied-ties]

I finally got through all 200,000 words of that freaking epilogue and GOD HAVE MERCY I SHOULD HAVE WENT CANDY AND THEN MEAT.

Overall though, I like it. I like it alot! I mean there are some things I feel weird about which like.......aren’t the things everyone else feels weird about apparently.

SPOILERS BELOWWWWW~!!!!

So it’s alot easier to get out of the way what I am weirded out about than to explain the many things I did like. 

- I feel weird about the xenophobia thing and how it’s being treated. Like it’s being treated like a huge issue but like non-issue all at once?? I guess that’s because from John’s perspective he’s just too busy being weirded out or suffering to truly get involved. Like I sincerely hope nobody on the team thinks standing by in a situation like this is a valid stance in any way. But it also happens in real life so like, I get it. I think this bothers me because these kids were heroes. But also they were heroes out of necessity and because they were main characters. Like that’s honestly it. They had a mission and fulfilled it and they were hailed as heroes.

- Hussie presenting xenophobia as both a joke and a serious issue and sometimes it’s hard to tell what position the comic is trying to take which makes me uncomfortable. 

- I think it’s in character, but I hate that Karkat alone had to defend himself every time Jane was being the #worstTM. I hate that Roxy just standing by knowing good and well these are the stakes every single time was never fully addressed. I wish somebody sat our beautiful bae Roxy to let them know that like this is shitty too?? Like you saying this is simply politics when a literal extinction is happening is shitty why didn’t anyone tell them that in stone cold, super serious terms for the love of GOD it bothered me so much. 

- Alright anytime Dirk used any sort of like reddit NiceGuy Are you triggeredTM 4-chan bullshit language it turned me all the way off. Like incel, beta, cuck?? Misgendering our void icon?? Yea. Cancelled but also not cancelled because I haven’t been this shook or excited over a villain in so long.

- Gamzee. Just...yikes all around. I’m not sure how I feel.

- JAKE DESERVED BETTER. HE REALLY FREAKING DID JUST SAYING. JAKE DIDNT DESERVE THIS MADNESS. Omfg i never hated anyone as much as I did Dirk when he snapped Jake’s psyche in half forcing him to love Dirk. It was so fucking iconic though and I’m still mad y’all. So many feelings. Oh god and when Jane like........did him wrong?? What le fuck? Jake i’ll be your friend, come here mate. Please let me hug my boi who I didn’t stan before but i stan now.

- Those kids.....I love those kids give them a good future, please. I’m begging hussie let John be a good father.

- I think the kids grew because they were with each other, and they fact they didn’t stay together and let each other be isolated kinda makes this make sense to me but it does feel like with some characters the growth went out the window. But also....people can regress especially if they stop after like one epiphany or whatever, so I see how this happened.

- Dave redirecting what should have been the core political issue (freaking extinction/controlled population of exclusively the trolls) to the economy every single time. Like Dave baby you were never the most racially sensitive dude (coming from a black girl who watched you say negrocity, call black people not shining shoes revolutionary (which could be read as irony in context but still) in the same rap, which, YIKES!) but like try please?? Hussie freaking fix this.

- I oddly feel weird about them getting rid of their flesh bodies for their ultimate forms and I’m not sure why but I honestly don’t want all bots. I can’t even explain that in a way that makes sense.

- Jade. Like....everything she did was a big yikes and honestly I’m reading the main story again to see if there was a character trait that led to her behavior. Cuz Dirk literally always had an overbearing personality and it was never truly addressed leading to what happened. Jane never really stopped with the whole business and control thing and she never really seemed to care for the trolls one way or another so I can kinda see it.

- Honestly?? I’m happy for the form of happiness that some characters had but MAN was it just the slowest most excruciating march towards that end. In candy, it felt like I was literally feeling John’s twilight-zone stir-crazy rise up in me as I read through. I think a “benefit” from reading Meat first is that like.....damn I ended up agreeing with Dirk. Like all of this shit was largely avoided and addressed sooner when Dirk was in charge and I hate/love that I’m saying this! Like what the hell y’all that's so brilliant to me. In Meat, I just.....wanted them to be free to make their own choices and when I was nearing the end in Candy, I realized they weren’t so damn isolated and I was happy that some of them finally got to heal.

To segue into I liked it starts on the same point my dislikes end.

 - I felt so frustrated by everything that was happening which.....dear God is great writing because if I was John feeling this for years instead of the solid day it took me to get through Candy I’d be handling it way worse than John. I almost wished that Dirk would come in and take charge because they were just.....fucking up on every level. With Meat, I wanted what was in Candy and I wanted them to have their fucking free will to choose instead of these awful circumstances Dirk forced them to be in.

- DAVE. DAVE. DAVE. Fuck I love dave just so much, he felt the most home to me the entire time. When he fought back in Meat to make his own choices I was so proud of him. When he decided to join the revolution I was proud of him, when he finally admitted he was gay I was proud of him. When he just existed and seriously thought about what he wanted and needed to work through he felt like he authentically was trying to figure himself out the entire time in both Meat and Candy and I was so proud of him. Honestly will always have my heart.

- NUBS MCSHOUTY. From awkward bottom to rebel leader he is just a breath of fresh air every time he speaks because it is always a freaking mood. LIke yes, the extinction of your people is awful and you should say it. Yes, people who stand by and just sidetrack the conversation into semantics is awful and you should freaking say it. Yes! Yes! Yes! omfg. YOU ABSOLUTE FREAKING ICON

- Dirk. I.....ugh I know this is controversial but I love everything that happened. Our Dear walking God complex becomes literal God and it all goes to hell. Our friend the control freak, controlling the narrative when he reaches his ultimate form. Ou dear Dirk who always needs something to fix horribly fixes the narrative. When he revealed himself and said “but you already know that don’t you” in his iconic yellow text color me FREAKIN SHOOK. Like literary reveal of the gods (specifically this god ha). Nothing will shake me the same holy shit I was horrified and the horror never stopped. Omfg shook Dirk just freaking shook. So since I read meat first I was like “holy cow was he always like this?” But like, the one dirk that was decent freaking killed himself with his last wish being for relevance and like.....of course he’s like this?? It’s Hal, Caliborn, ARDirk, Brain Ghost Dirk and Dirk One who honestly was only half decent most of the time. All of these pretentious beings in one? Oh yea edge lord self masturbatory train dead ahead. AND I LOVED IT, the absolute fear and horror as he took the narrative back from Calliope was horrifying, his increasing disdain after the reveal, the moment he forced Jake to fuck everything up for the resistance was ICONIC oh my god I was so here. I was loving it so much I was scared I was being controlled by Dirk.

- Jake was always passive and like.....it manifested so bad. I mean I thought he stepped up when he finally, defeated the felt crew but like....of course, one battle isn’t going to solve a lifetime of posing and passivity. I don’t know why I never considered the horrible implications. I do wish he grew a full spine in one of the epilogues.

- Regardless of how I perceived her in canon, Epilogue!Jane was never painted as a hero ever. THANK GOD cuz Epilogue Jane is doing some really bad stuff.

- Roxy - our voidey babe exploring their gender identity and deciding in both that they don’t care for their assignment in some way, valid. Having all stages of their identity and the stages respected (in what I viewed as a great and fully addressed way as a cis black girl) is surprisingly refreshing when I look at Roxy alone and not the transphobic stuff Dirk was doing which was icky and Caliborn-ish.

- Rose and Kanaya being happy in Candy. Like it seemed so OOC but Rose also was literally dealing with something that ENTIRE TIME. When she was little it was the alcoholism of her mother, when she was in paradox space it was from horror demons to literal death, to life-threatening situations to being the seer she needed, to her own substance problem etc etc. Being non-essential freed her from that and we got to witness her still be the badass, freedom fighter she became. And I just love the thing she chose without needing to, without absolute necessity, was to raise their daughter AND fully immerse themselves in troll revolution against an oppressive regime. Fuck yes Rose, you deserve some fucking peace without debilitation or circumstance. Rose in Meat shall never be spoken of because that is so so so sad honestly. She was dying and like...Dirk took advantage of that which is tactically freaking genius considering Rose is usually who can pull these dorks together into action but damn Dirk.

- Fuck you know what I’m gonna say it. Dirk is the best villain holy shit he is honestly, truly smart and manipulative and somehow charming in this sick sick way God I hate/love him right now. I’m.....omfg still shook.

- I honestly just loved how intertwined it is, how twilight-zone/gritty it felt. Every literary craving I didn’t know I was having was fed and in the best/worst way. I’m hooked and here for wherever this is going. Also, I typed it above and I’ll type it again. I didn’t realize it but these kids, while they ascended as Gods were not heroes. I don’t think the kids really cared about their denizens much ever in canon. They fulfilled their mission and we handed them the hero stamp because we’ve followed their story. They are simply people who had a mission to fulfill and did that mission in whatever capacity you choose. They are ultimately really flawed human beings who were traumatized to hell and back with no real devices on how to deal with it properly. Of course, when you give flawed humans God powers, a world to rule over and nobody really holding anyone accountable bad things are bound to happen. They grew because they were in a situation where they had to and they were removed too soon for them to keep that growth. Fanfic or not, canon or not, essential or not, I think these are valid outcomes, within the context of who they are.

[theheavymetalmama]

And now, some Unpopular Opinions!

Because at this point, why the hell not?

Iron Man was better than The Dark Knight

I am in no way, shape, or form suggesting that The Dark Knight is a bad movie. Far from it, in fact. It’s a damn good movie with some fantastic performances, a gripping story, and some of the best written characters and dialogue in the history of movie making. So is Iron Man the better movie? For one, it’s not so stuck up its’ own ass about its’ message. The Dark Knight is a lot of things and one of them is pretentious as fuck, come off as less of a love letter to Batman and more of a method of the director Chris Nolan showing how much he has nothing but contempt for superheroes and comic books in general. Iron Man, in contrast, embraces it and has fun with the idea of a guy who builds a mech suit and fights bad guys. There’s also the question of influence, and that right there is no contest. The Dark Knight influenced Batman; Iron Man influenced the entire movie industry.

Final Fantasy XV was a massive disappointment

I kind of feel bad for dunking on this game considering they just cancelled the last of the DLC. Then again the last of the DLC was going to expand on Lady “Show Up and Blow Up” Lunafreya and Aranea “I’m here and now I’m not” Highwind’s stories and now we’re not getting them and I’m still bitter as fuck for the director’s pathetic excuse for why a girl couldn’t attend the coming of age road trip, so all bet’s are off! Okay, the ladies getting shafted aside, there is a lot to like about Final Fantasy XV, but was it worth the tedious development time? No way in hell. The game looks good but like many open world games feels mostly lifeless and empty, and of the four main characters only one of them is likable and isn’t even playable in the game’s vanilla form. The story is a broken mess that requires other forms of media to fully grasp (dick fucking move there, Squeenix) and the summons coming at random times serves as more of an annoyance than anything, especially since they always seem to show up except during times when and where they’d be useful. It also doesn’t say good things about a company’s management when a game can sell millions of copies in record time as well as do gangbusters on downloadable content and then still manage to lose over 30 million dollars.

And for the record, let it be known that Noctis is far and away the whiniest and most emo protagonist in Final Fantasy history, which is saying something considering this is a series where one such protagonist’s entire character is being so jaded and world weary to the point that his name is the sound a crying baby makes, and he doesn’t whine and complain as much as Noctis does.

Just because you’re a cop or a soldier, that doesn’t automatically make you a good person

I’m in favor of police and law enforcement and even though I believe our military budget makes Caligula himself look frugal in comparison I do support our troops. Having said that, being a cop or a trooper doesn’t mean jack shit if the person under the uniform is a complete and utter scumbag, which happens more often than many care to admit. In fact some people, many people, become cops and soldiers not to protect and serve or out of a sense of honor and duty, but simply because they like making others miserable and want to do it for a living. There’s a reason songs about fighting the law and unflattering depictions of authority figures date back as far as authority figures have been a thing. Respect is earned, not given.

‘White Nationalist’ and ‘Nazi’ are the same things

Calling a Nazi a white nationalist is like calling somebody who abuses their spouse a rough lover. Stop beating around the bush and tell it like it is. Also, don’t debate Nazis, punch them. Punch them as hard as you fucking can. If they punch you back, punch them again, and again, and again until they either run away (which most of them do) or stop moving. Trust me, nobody is going to miss them. That goes double for the alt right. Oh, and speaking of which...

Far Cry 5 chickened out

As somebody who grew up in a dead gold mining community that was mostly Catholic, when the first trailer for Far Cry 5 came out I was stoked as hell for the chance to gun down religious fanatics and skinheads in a place in rural America that didn’t look all that different. Then the game came out and it was abundantly clear to anybody that something somewhere in the game was changed at the last minute. Some have argued that it was their intention from the get go, others claimed they didn’t want to alienate their core demographic. It doesn’t say nice things about your core demographic if you’re worried about depictions of white supremacist cultists scaring them away, but okay, fine. Then make a game that takes place during the decline of the Ku Klux Klan, or in a post World War II Europe where you hunt Nazi war criminals, or failing that make something akin to Black Dynamite or a wacky 70′s Kung Fu movie where everything is purposefully over the top and exaggerated, I don’t care! All your other games have you gunning down hordes of brown people, let people like me and my husband kill some skinheads god damn it!

If you still support Donald Trump after all the vile and abhorrent things he’s done, you’re a bad person

There’s no beating around the bush on this one. I don’t blame people who were swooned by this conman thinking he’d genuinely make a good president and have since regretted their decision. I have nothing but sympathy for them. No, I’m talking about the people who STILL trip over themselves to defend this vile, homophobic, delusions, misogynist, narcissistic bigot. Like when he called Nazis “very fine people,” or is still pushing for a stupid wall along our border that will be bested by two extension ladders and a pair of tin snips. The travel ban, the rollback on regulations that kept food insecure people fed, kids dying in his fucking concentration camps, yeah, no. He’s a treasonous scumbag who deserves to be locked in an 8x8 cell until he rots, and if you still support him then you can claim the top bunk.

Climate change is real and coal can fuck off

Coal is dead. Let it lay down and rot. What, coal is your only source of income in the area you live in? Then move somewhere else! You think I would have left my hometown if there were any opportunities other than timber, fishing, and tourist traps? Sorry, but the longer we stay in the past with coal the lesser we can look forward to a future where a planet can sustain human life. If we want our planet to live then coal needs to die.

No, the left isn’t “just as bad” as the right

This is a fucking gas lighting farce that immediately falls apart when put under scrutiny. Are there extremists and crazies on the left? Of course there are, but they’re entirely different beasts as those found on the right. The left is more of a “eat enough kale and you can talk to dolphins” or “sleep with crystals under your bed and you can see the future” kinds of crazy, whereas the right is more of the “kill all the queers and let the brown babies starve” kind of crazy. Oh, and to each and every single person who said “Clinton is just as bad as Trump,” y’all can cover your reproductive organs in honey and stick them in a mason jar filled with live bullet ants and tarantula hawks, you ignorant scare mongering shitheels!

“Captain Marvel doesn’t smile!”

So what? She’s a space Navy Seal, not a boy scout like Captain America or Superman; she’s not supposed to smile.

No, the ‘alt left’ doesn’t exist and Antifa aren’t the same as Nazis

Are Antifa breaking the law? Yes. Should they be held accountable for their actions? Yes. Are people who want to kill Nazis exactly the same as people who want to exterminate the Jews and subjugate anybody who isn’t white while wiping other people’s culture off the face of the Earth under an authoritarian rule? Hell to the no and “Antifa is just as bad as the Nazis” is right up there with “Vaccinations cause autism” and “the Earth is flat” on the scale of “If you believe this, you are STUPID.” If Nazis and white supremacists went unopposed they’d go around raping and murdering Jews and non whites until there were absolutely none of them left. You know Antifa would be doing if there weren’t any Nazis around? Sitting in their crappy apartments smoking weed, sipping craft beer, eating pizza, and laughing their asses off at 20 year old Saturday Night Live skits. Ooooooh, scary! Yes, Antifa are assaulting people and destroying public property and yes they should be held accountable for their actions. But I’m not going to pretend, even hypothetically, that Nazi apologist scumbags like Tucker Carlson having his door banged on or actual Nazis like Richard Spencer getting punched in the face is on the same playing field as babies being put in cages, innocent black people being murdered by cops, or Jews being put into ovens, you fucks!

New She Ra is better than Old She Ra and 80′s cartoons in general

If you don’t like the new She Ra and prefer the old one, fine, you do you, but don’t act like the original is “So much better” because it isn’t at all. The villains were jokes, the animation was beyond cheap, the characters all looked the same, there were stupid talking animal sidekicks, and the story went nowhere really fucking fast outside of “Bad guys are doing bad guy stuff, our heroes must stop them” because they were commercials to sell toys. Nothing more, nothing less. If the new She Ra isn’t your bag then that’s all well and good, but don’t be a stupid asshole about it, talking about how it wasn’t featured at PowerCon like it’s a big fucking deal when only sad dorks like us give a shit about conventions, or whine about how you’re being oppressed and censored because a 16 year old isn’t rocking 44DD’s, or talk about “CalArts style” like that’s a real goddamn thing. Oh yeah, and speaking of which...

“CalArts style” is not a thing

Shut the fuck up, no it isn’t. It’s a stupid, meaningless buzzword hurled at people who never fucking went to CalArts in the first place. If you’re perplexed as to why modern cartoons all look like Steven Universe, the simple fact is that cartoons are made predominantly for children and shows are made to be aesthetically pleasing to them. With shows like Adventure Time, Regular Show, Steven Universe, Star vs the Forces of Evil, and Gravity Falls being soaring success stories while shows like Young Justice, new GI Joe, and 2011 Thundercats ambitious failures, it’s obvious that formal abstractionist non angularity is in while aspirational human physical fitness is out, and a big reason the latter was even a thing in the first place is because they were toy commercials first and there were only so many variations on plastic molds to form the fucking action figures and because it was the 80′s and Arnold was the biggest star at the time.

“Star Wars: the Last Jedi” is a good movie and fanboys can eat bantha poodoo

I’ve heard all the reasons for why The Last Jedi is a bad movie and they’re all either stupid nitpicky bullshit or meaningless fanboy gripes. I could write an entire essay debunking those reasons point for point, like how the reason Holdo didn’t tell Poe a damn thing because no admiral would ever a tell a lowly grunt anything about their plan, especially after being demoted for being a hotheaded little fuckup. Or that Rey being related to Obi Wan or any previous Star Wars character didn’t happen because that would have been stupid and the definition of predictable. Or that the reason Akbar didn’t do the suicide run is because he’s a meme that the general audience doesn’t give a shit about and that there’s no way in Hell that the Mouse would allow a character named “Akbar” to do a suicide run. Or that Kylo Ren not being an intimidating villain is the whole point and that you’re supposed to hate him because he’s a petulant Darth Vader wannabe and a snake to boot. Or that the effectiveness of said suicide run, where Snoke came from, or the state of the Resistance by the end of the movie, or that any other so called ‘plot hole’ doesn’t matter because this is a movie about space wizards for children and paying obsessive attention to meaningless and pedantic details is exactly how we end up with stupid subplots in the Beauty and the Beast remake and Metropolis and Gotham City being across the river from each other! But the biggest one is Luke wasn’t portrayed as some Jedi Clint Eastwood (why fanboys want that eludes me; the EU did that a few times and they were all terrible) and that him exiling himself doesn’t make any sense.

Sorry, but no, Luke running off to a far and unreachable island makes perfect sense. For one, it’s kind of a thing that disgraced Jedi do, and for two, Star Wars is a fairy tale in space. All of the characters draw inspiration from characters and archetypes from fairy tales and fables of old, and the one Luke Skywalker resembles most (largely by design) is King Arthur. Think about it. Common boy who doesn’t know who his real parents are, meets an old wizard, gets a legendary sword, discovers he’s of noble lineage, tags along with a few colorful characters, goes on a quest that’s bigger than him and the life he knew, hits a few bumps down the road, and then eventually he saves the kingdom by overthrowing his father who once was a great man and a hero but gave in to power and corruption and became a dark reflection of his former self.

You will never unsee that. 

Oh yeah, and remember how things turned out for King Arthur in the end? He started a whole new kingdom, he had a few good years, he grew arrogant, things started to fall apart, and suddenly he and everything he worked to build up were undone overnight by a younger, more vindictive relative. Disgraced, Arthur was whisked away to an unreachable island deep rooted in his own legend and mythology where he remained until Britain had fallen to darkness and needed him again. Now of course Britain as we know it has yet to see such a thing (we’ll see how Brexit turns out) but Luke did exactly that. And no, sorry fanboys, but The Last Jedi wasn’t a failure in any sense of the word. It grossed over a billion dollars, received critical praise, the DVDs and BluRays sold like hotcakes, and was adored by kids, teenagers, and young adults, the primary audience that Star Wars is for in the first place. And I don’t give a shit what the audience score on RT says, because for one aggregate sites are a blight on film criticism and we went from this;

“Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad are AMAZING, Rotten Tomatoes is biased and paid off by Disney!”

To this...

“Star Wars: the Last Jedi is TERRIBLE, Rotten Tomatoes says so!”

In just over a year. To say nothing of the fact that what you’re currently saying about The Last Jedi was also said about The Empire Strikes, and like ‘Empire’ twenty years from now people will look back on the fanboy outrage and say “Wow, what a bunch of babies.” And before the inevitable response...

“But Solo bombed because of The Last Jedi!” 

Nooooo, Solo bombed because it came out right between Infinity War and Deadpool 2, was rife with development issues since day one of production, it was aimed overwhelmingly at fanboys obsessed with Star Wars deep lore answering questions that the general audience doesn’t give a shit about, nobody was even interested in the thing until the Lego Movie guys were signed on for a hot second, moviegoers aren’t currently hurting for cocky space cowboys...

...and because of the simple fact that it’s a solo movie about Han Solo...and it’s not 1995 and Harrison Ford isn’t in it. See, fanboys don’t realize that just because nerd and geek bullshit is mainstream now doesn’t mean that everyone is now a fanboy deep rooted in everything from where the characters are from to where they’re going, because when people say “I love Star Wars and Han Solo is my favorite character” what the vast majority of them mean is “Those movies with the space wizards and the laser swords are a lot of fun and Harrison Ford is a great movie star.” That’s it. That’s extent of why people like Han Solo. Sad dorks like us may care about stuff like where and when he got the Falcon, how he met Chewie, where the dice came from and all of that and more, but the general audience just wants to see Harrison Ford do cool shit in space. That’s it. To say nothing of the fact that nobody was even interested in the spinoffs in the first place. When Disney announced that they were making episodes 7,8, and 9 everyone went “Oh Hell yes, sign me up!” Then when they followed up with that they were also making spinoff movies about stuff that happened off screen or between movies the same audience was like “Oh...well that’s neat, I guess.”

And no, that stupid fanboy boycott had nothing to do with. Even the dude who started that petition to strike TLJ from canon admitted that he was in a bad place and that he was being stupid and angry, and I can promise you that all the shrieking dorks on Youtube are the buzzing of flies to Disney. If that crowd had any box office and movie making decision influence whatsoever, the next spinoff we’d see a trailer for would be “My Twi’lek Waifu: a Star Wars Story.”

PewDiePie is the worst thing to happen to video games this side of the gaming crash of 83 and he needs to fuck off

Yes, you read that right, and I don’t say that lightly. All sorts of terrible things have happened in the gaming industry since the gaming crash of 83. The console wars, the Atari Jaguar, the Philips CDi, Jack Thompson, the death of the Dreamcast, WoW, an entire console generation packed to the gills with homogenous gray and brown shooters with protagonists who all looked the fucking same, GamerGate, microtransactions, DLC abuse, the death of Maxis, an increasingly toxic fandom, “women are too hard to animate,” the degradation of E3 from a showcase of the biggest and bestest in gaming to a corporately sponsored circlejerk of self congratulatory backslapping and so much, much more.

I don’t care how much PewDiePie gives to charity, or how many fans he has, or how many people think he’s just the greatest, because he’s not. He’s an embarrassing, stupid asshole who constantly gets busted for making stupid racist jokes and by extension making his fans and everyone who has even the vaguest ties to the word ‘gamer’ look like stupid, racist assholes. He’s a corporate ass sucking apologist who gives exposure to anti Semites and racist wastes of space to his audience of mostly 10 to 15 year old boys, and he’s more terminally obnoxious than an Adderall addicted Pomeranian. 

The day he posted his first video of him overreacting to a jump scare while making loud screeching noises on top of edgy rape jokes was the day the progress of “gaming as an art form” was shot between the eyes, placed in a box that was then filled with concrete, and thrown into the ocean. He’s a dumbass man child that’s making all of us look bad and he needs to take his millions worth of corporate sponsorships and fuck off forever into some dark, lonely corner of the Internet where he’ll never be seen or heard from again until an inevitable meltdown that lands him on an episode of Down the Rabbit Hole.

And that concludes this post. I’ll give my final thoughts tomorrow, and on Saturday I’m closing this account forever.

[writemyanchor]

Along Came You

Summary: Killian Jones is a jaded NYPD detective who has been on the force for nearly ten years. He doesn’t do emotions and he certainly doesn’t do relationships. Enter Emma Swan. She’s never been one to back down from a challenge.

Rated E

Content/Trigger warnings: Strong sexual content, language, mention of minor character(s) death(s), alcohol abuse

a/n: First of all, thank you to the community @captainswanbigbang that put the CSLB together. It was so much fun interacting with artists and writers on tumblr and getting to create together. So, thank you!

Also, thank you to my amazing beta-reader @awkwardnessandbaseball who has more patience than I can understand and is so bad ass in her editing skills. She made this story SO much better.

Finally, I love my artwork! I’ve never had one for a CS fic before and @liloproductions made this beautiful one for my story that fit so well and was so perfect that I was almost shocked how spot on she got it. I’m simply in love with it.

Lastly, if you read this fic in its entirety, then you’re already really freaking awesome in my book!

Links: AO3 FANFICTION

X X

KILLIAN JONES

He pushed himself harder than he’d intended at the gym, his sweat-soaked shirt sticking to his skin. He was beat, having gotten off an 18-hour shift two nights before then jogging to and from a two-hour gym session with David. He should have ignored his best friend when he rang him at 6 o’clock that morning, but…

The elevator dinged on his floor and Killian pushed himself off the wall, grabbing his keys from his pocket as he walked down the hall towards his apartment. When he entered his place, he was surprised to find the scent of bacon and eggs as well as the faint sound of the radio coming from the kitchen. Killian kicked off his shoes and left his things by the door before rounding the corner, a pinch in his brow.

The brunette standing in front of the stove—the very reason he had answered David’s call—was currently humming along to Electric Light Orchestra’s ‘Don’t Bring Me Down’ without a care in the world, swaying her hips, completely oblivious to his presence.

He was hit with flashes of the night before. His head ached from the amount of rum he had consumed, but he could remember bits and pieces of her dancing against him. He wasn’t much of a dancer, mostly just swayed slightly, smiling like a drunken fool as she rubbed her body against him.

Killian shook his head to clear his mind before he loudly cleared his throat. The brunette jumped slightly before spinning around on her heel. She was wearing her tiny boy shorts and one of his t-shirts, which made him clench his jaw.

Had she rifled through his things while he was gone? The woman before him smiled and reached over to turn off the radio. “Hey, you,” she said, her chest heaving a bit. “I was wondering where you went.” She sauntered over to him, a seductive smile on her face as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Suddenly, Killian couldn’t breathe. “Um,” he hummed and, trying his best to remember his manners, placed his fingertips barely on her waist to push her away gently. Her forehead wrinkled in confusion. “What’s the matter, baby?” His eyebrow rose of its own accord because he had just met this woman last night, after a pint too many, and they didn’t even know each other’s last names. “Listen, Aurora—” She almost beamed at him remembering her first name and it made something in his chest ache, but he pushed it away—“I have an early shift tomorrow morning and I have...a lot of errands to do today.” Aurora’s face fell and she took a step back. “What?” she chuckled. “Last night you said we’d...spend the weekend together.”

Killian’s jaw dropped. Had he really said that?

She took a step towards him and he took one back. Both of her eyebrows flew up this time and after a moment she said, “You’re blowing me off.” “I’m not—“ “I thought we had a good time last night.” Bloody hell. “We did, love, just...” “First, I am not your love. Second, my friend told me exactly what you were like and I didn’t listen.” She let out a sigh before looking around uncomfortably for a moment. “Let me just grab my things.” Killian ran a hand through his hair and let out a long sigh of his own as he heard Aurora rummaging around in his bedroom. About five minutes later she emerged fully dressed with her hair thrown up in a high ponytail. Killian could do nothing but watch her as she sat down in the foyer to slip on her shoes. It wasn’t until she reached for the doorknob that he finally found his voice. “For what it’s worth, I did have a good time,” he said. “I just don’t...do this.” He motioned between them pathetically.

She let out a humorless laugh before turning around to face him. “So what? You just fuck your way through New York because you have commitment issues? Guess what? We all have baggage. What makes yours any heavier than the rest of ours?” He couldn’t help but flinch at her words, but she didn’t give him a chance to respond—not that he could—before she left. She didn’t slam the door behind her like he expected, like he knew he deserved.

X X

EMMA SWAN

Emma was laying in her bed at 2 o’clock in the morning, hair thrown up in a loose bun and eating leftover pizza from the parlor down the street. She had to be up in just a few hours, but for now she didn’t care. She had finally finished unpacking and was officially moved into her new apartment— it was modest, but it was clean and in a nice neighborhood and that was all she had wanted. She didn’t think she would actually finish moving in that night, but her friend Mary-Margaret, in all her beautiful, insistent glory, had rang her doorbell at 5 o’clock that morning with a smile on her face.

“David’s at the gym and I wanted to see your new place!” was her only explanation. But she had brought coffee and bear claws and was an interior designer for crying out loud, so really Emma had no room to complain.

Emma had known Mary-Margaret back in Storybrooke, Maine. They met their freshman year of high school and had even been roommates at Boston University for four years. They only parted ways when Mary-Margaret moved to New York for graduate school. Then she met David and the two of them had been inseparable ever since, moving in together not long after.

Emma was happy for her friend—David was a good man who loved her and Mary-Margaret deserved nothing less. Although, sometimes Emma had to admit she envied her friend’s love. She knew that what Mary-Margaret and David felt for each other was deep and rare, and it was something Emma had never had.

That didn’t stop her from thinking about it, though. Perhaps it was the romantic novels she buried herself in, but Emma sometimes wondered if there was a person out there who would fit into her life like a missing puzzle piece.

She thought she might have found something close with Neal, but it turned out she had just been young and naive. She turned to casual dating through college, thinking she would ‘stumble’ across her Prince Charming one day.

But that had only led her to Walsh, the arrogant salesman; Jefferson, who flirted with everything in a dress; and of course Graham, who was so sweet and kind and good-looking to boot that Emma almost wanted him to be the one. Sadly, there had just been no spark.

Needless to say, she still hadn’t met the man that quite...did it for her. She hadn’t met her person.

Emma’s plan had never been to join Mary-Margaret in New York—she had a good teaching job at Bunker Hill Community College and a cozy little loft—but she felt maybe it was time to get out of Boston and try to get a fresh start away from everything that was familiar. So when NYU had emailed her about an opening for professors specifically in Classic Literature, she knew it was a sign.

The next day was her first day teaching and she was ready.

X X

KILLIAN JONES

“Well hello there, Casanova.”

Killian rolled his eyes as he took a seat at his desk, across from his partner David. He handed David his coffee while taking a sip of his own. Killian began aimlessly fiddling through a finished case file on his desk, hoping to distract his friend from where this conversation was obviously headed.

“Sorry for pulling you away from your lady love yesterday,” David continued, an infuriating grin on his face. “If you’d just told me you were seeing someone…”

“I’m not.” Killian couldn’t help but snap, looking up. Then his eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he shook his head. “Wait, how the bloody hell did you know about that?”

David couldn’t hide his guilty face even if he tried. “Robin may have let a few details slip about your outing at the bar this weekend. So, what’s her name?” He smiled and leaned back in his chair, placing both hands behind his head.

Killian’s jaw clenched as he looked down at the papers in front of him. “It doesn’t matter,” he said quietly. “I’m not seeing her again.”

He heard David sigh. “Isn’t that the third one night stand you’ve had this month?”

Killian couldn’t help but slam his pen on his desk. “Bloody hell, are you keeping track?”

Suddenly David leaned forward with a serious expression. “Look, Killian, you know I love you like a brother—”

“Mate, I’m going to go ahead and stop you right there. I don’t want to hear your speech about ‘meaningful relationships’ before I’ve even finished my first cup of coffee,” he said, a pleading look on his face.

David held his hands up in surrender. “I promise you this is not a speech. I just think if you met the right person—”

Killian clenched his jaw again. “Listen, Dave. I told you once we’re not discussing this. I don’t want to have to tell you again.” He fixed his partner with a hard stare, and as expected, David let out a sigh before he finally backed down, frustration clear as day on his face.

Thankfully, the awkwardness didn’t last long because their captain approached them a moment later, clearing his throat and looking between the two men curiously. Killian tore his glare away from David to meet his superior’s gaze.

“Morning, gentleman,” Captain Gold said. “Is there a problem here?”

“No,” Killian answered, fighting to keep his voice steady. He didn’t want to get on his superior’s bad side today. “I have the briefing on the Samson case whenever you’re ready.” It was easy for Killian to slip back into the role of detective; it was familiar and safe.

“Absolutely,” Gold responded, all authority. “Be in my office in ten minutes.”

Killian simply nodded and turned his attention to his computer, burying himself in his paperwork once again. Twenty minutes later, David got up and offered him another cup of coffee. When Killian raised an eyebrow, and David only nodded once in return, he knew he and his friend were on good terms again. For now.

X X

EMMA SWAN

“You are being dramatic,” Mary-Margaret said, her tone disbelieving.

“I’m really not,” Emma laughed as Mary-Margaret took the wine bottle from her hands and led her to the kitchen. “Second day of class and I already have two students asking for extensions on a paper. What is happening to the world?”

“Hey, do not ask me that,” Regina—a close friend of Mary-Margaret—chimed in. “I could go on and on.”

Mary-Margaret giggled as she uncorked the wine and filled a glass. “We don’t want that. Here, drink this,” she said, handing the full glass to Regina, who took it graciously.

“By the way, is Jones gracing us with his presence tonight?” Regina asked.

Mary-Margaret sighed, handing Emma a generous glass of wine before pouring her own. “I honestly do not know what is going on with that man,” she said, setting the bottle down. “You know I haven’t seen him since Trivia Night? Two months ago.”

“Who is Jones?” Emma asked curiously.

“Killian Jones,” Mary-Margaret said. “David’s partner.”

“Oh!” Emma recalled the few stories she heard about him from Mary-Margaret and David over the years, but she had never met him, nor seen a photo of him. “So he does exist.”

Mary-Margaret laughed and rolled her eyes.

“Who exists?” Regina’s husband, Robin, asked as he entered the kitchen. He was a few inches taller than her, with sandy blonde hair, kind eyes, and a British accent.

“Detective Killian Jones,” Regina said dramatically, wrapping her arm around Robin’s waist as he embraced her. “Heard of him?”

“Ahh yes, the elusive Detective Jones,” Robin said playfully. “I hear he lurks in subway trenches in the middle of the night, and feeds off the empty beer bottles of the Uni kids.”

Regina giggled, startling Emma and making her completely forget about the drink that was halfway to her mouth. She watched Regina snuggle closer to Robin with an almost drunken smile on her face that Emma was sure had nothing to do with the wine.

“You’re so cheesy, do you know that?” Regina murmured.

Robin looked down at her so longingly, Emma had to look away. “Only for you, my darling love bug,” he said.

Emma inexplicably felt herself blush and she quickly looked down before gulping the rest of her wine—despite it still being half full—and discreetly moved to the island to pour herself another.

Just as she was topping off her glass, she heard the distinct sound of lips smacking, so she took a large gulp of her wine and reached for a cracker on the cheese plate in front of her. Mary-Margaret appeared next to her, grabbing a tiny piece of salami and thankfully oblivious to her discomfort.

Before anyone could say another word, the doorbell rang. Mary-Margaret stepped forward to answer it, but David finally appeared from the living room and headed toward the front door. There were muffled voices and a few chuckles before footsteps approached them.

“Look who I found!” David’s booming voice entered the kitchen before he did.

Following behind him was a tall, dark-haired, incredibly handsome man. Emma Swan did not get goosebumps often, but here she was getting them at the sight of a total stranger. He was looking a bit sheepish at the attention he was now getting from everyone, and Emma took a moment to admire his crisp, dark blue button-down shirt, rolled up to his elbows. He was wearing a pair of dark, tight-fitting jeans that fit so snugly around his hips and legs she briefly wondered if he got them custom-fitted. He was holding a bottle of red wine in his hands...Which brought Emma to his hands.

Maybe it was because he was so handsome, maybe because he had this air of mystery surrounding him, but his hands were so...nice. They were manly, but elegant. Long and lean, but obviously strong. And his forearms, covered in a dark dusting of hair, flexed when he shook hands with Robin, and it took a minute for Emma to realize she was actually biting her lip. She quickly stopped, but immediately after her eyes zoned in on the bit of chest hair peeking out through his unbuttoned shirt collar and she was sure she was done. Right. There.

Emma realized there were muffled voices around her, and quickly came to before someone realized she was day-dreaming. Thankfully, the man in question had his entire focus on the host, apologizing profusely for his tardiness.

“I’m just glad you’re here, Killian,” Mary-Margaret said, smiling wide. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too, love,” he breathed, wrapping his arms around her in a hug, and for heaven’s sakes Emma felt a jealousy she had no right or reason to feel. Mary-Margaret was in love with David for crying out loud! And who even was this guy?

She took a moment to be relieved no one had caught her ogling, then proceeded to accidentally ogle more when Killian greeted the others.

It wasn’t until she saw...eyes...blue eyes...looking right into hers...that she finally snapped out of it.

“Um,” Emma shook her head, feeling her entire body go numb.

Thankfully Mary-Margaret saved her, with or without knowing it. “Oh, Killian, this is my best friend Emma,” she said, walking over and wrapping an arm around her. “From Storybrooke.”

Killian, who was now looking at her like a deer caught in the headlights, shook his head so minutely Emma was probably the only one who noticed. Then his face broke out in a stunning grin and he took a step forward.

“Aye,” he said, sticking his hand out. “Pleasure to finally meet you, Ms. Swan.”

Emma shook his hand, smiling slightly. His hand was warm. “You too, Mr. Jones.”

His lips twitched.

She blushed.

Who was this man?

X X

KILLIAN JONES

Emma Swan. The name had been thrown around quite a bit in the years he had known David and Mary-Margaret, but he truly wasn’t prepared for the blonde goddess that greeted him that evening. He had planned on blowing off Mary-Margaret and David’s dinner invitation that night, in no mood to sit through hours of menial small talk. But he knew he’d disappointed his friends enough times; he didn’t have too many chances left.

But that had in no way factored in Emma Swan, with her tight jeans and long, blonde hair and her heartbreakingly beautiful smile, with eyes so green he wanted to sit and stare at them for a little while to memorize all the hues.

Killian cursed himself for his ridiculous thoughts and promptly accepted the beer Robin handed him.

She’s just a woman for bloody sake, he thought, taking a heavy swig.

It only took an hour into the evening, however, to understand Emma wasn’t like any other woman he had ever met. When he spoke, she looked directly into his eyes, even when it made him uncomfortable and he had to look away. When he looked back at her, she was always still gazing at him. Her presence was far too distracting and he was aware of her the entire night. When she laughed, gods above when she laughed, Killian actually had to bite his lip to keep from groaning out loud.

Bloody hell, he had a crush on her. Like some pre-pubescent lad in preparatory school. He couldn’t even remember the last time he had a crush, if he had ever had one. Killian had never really felt emotionally attached to a person; he had always been more comfortable initiating physical relationships.

A woman had never made Killian uneasy like this and he didn’t like it.

He knew he was in big trouble when he found himself purposely not answering her the first time she called his name simply because he wanted to hear her say it again.

So after dinner, when everyone else was pretty much three sheets to the wind and eating the remaining cheesecake straight from the tray, Killian excused himself to the kitchen to get some ‘water.’

At the sink, he downed two shots of tequila, and was pouring himself a third when he felt the air in the small space suddenly shift.

His shoulders went tight.

“Drinking alone?”

Killian swallowed hard and finished pouring the shot as he let out a humorless chuckle. He threw back the drink, barely wincing at the sting, before he composed himself and turned around.

Emma was leaning across the island, and bloody Christ he could see straight down her blouse, her arms pressing together, adding to the exposed cleavage. He quickly tore his eyes away and cursed internally again.

“Can I have one?” she asked.

Killian looked back at her and she gestured to the bottle of tequila and shot glass behind him. He raised an eyebrow, but grabbed the bottle and glass, placing them on the island between them.

She frowned when he only poured half a shot and he chuckled, shaking his head as he topped it off.

“Thank you,” she said, standing up straight. Killian sighed in relief when he could no longer see down her shirt.

“Drinking alone?” he couldn’t help but tease.

“I’m not alone. You’re right here with me,” she smiled, not breaking his gaze as she threw the shot back gracefully, setting the empty glass on the countertop with a clink.

X X

EMMA SWAN

“So what’s your story, Killian Jones?” she asked, reaching for the bottle and pouring another shot.

“I beg your pardon?” Killian leaned against the sink behind him and crossed his arms.

Emma shrugged, holding up the glass. “Everyone was surprised that you came. Why is that?”

“No story, I’m afraid. Just ol’ chaps happy to see one another, I suppose.” He smiled and, despite only having met him a few hours ago, she could instantly tell he was lying.

Emma finished half the shot before sliding the half-full glass towards him. Killian quirked an eyebrow at her again, a habit she was growing to really like, before gently pushing off the sink and taking the drink. Emma watched him down the rest in one go, admiring the way his Adam's apple bobbed and his throat muscles contracted as he swallowed.

“I don’t buy it,” Emma continued, the alcohol essentially evaporating any filter she had left. “I think there’s something Detective Jones isn’t telling me.” She swayed slightly, leaning her hands on the countertop as she tilted her head at him.

Killian scratched the back of his ear and let out a nervous chuckle. “Why so curious, love?” he asked, placing the empty shot glass back on the counter between them.

She bit her lip and shrugged, reaching for the bottle of tequila and gasping when his hand suddenly covered hers.

“Enough of that, love.”

Emma looked up at the endearment, throat clenching at the fire behind his eyes.

“You call all the girls ‘love,’ love?” she challenged in a far more menacing tone than she intended.

She quirked her eyebrow and reveled in the way his mouth fell open in shock. Emma tore her hand away from his and reached for the bottle again, grabbing the shot glass with her other hand and pouring a very generous shot.

“By the way, buddy,” she added, “nobody tells me what to do but me.”

And very spitefully, Emma took the shot in one go, not even wincing, and setting the glass on the counter with a louder clink.

When she looked up, Killian was leaning back against the sink again with his arms crossed and an almost challenging look on his face before it melted into a sweet smile.

“Point taken,” he said.

“So. Are you ever going to answer my question?”

“What question was that, love?”

Emma narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t play games with me.” She knew she was drunk, but he was definitely trying to be cute with her.

“But I’m quite fond of games,” he grinned, biting his lip.

Well, shit.

“What’s your favorite?” she asked almost breathlessly, her eyes glazing over ever so slightly.

“Game?” he asked quietly.

Emma shrugged and met his gaze with a small smirk, definitely enjoying this game. “Aye aye, Captain.”

His smile faded and he clenched his jaw, swallowing hard. And just like that the air in the room shifted.

She wanted him. And if she was reading that dark look in his eyes correctly, he wanted her, too.

But she didn’t have time to explore that further, because the moment she took a step to go around the counter he was standing up straight and running a hand through his hair.

“I should probably get back in there,” he said, his accent coming on thicker than before.

It snapped Emma out of her haze. “Oh. Yeah. Right.”

She expected him to say something more, but instead he just gave her an insincere, tight-lipped smile before all but bolting out of the room.

Emma went to the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face to gain her bearings before rejoining everyone in the living room where Regina was loudly demanding more card games and Killian had occupied the lone Lazy Boy.

It might have just been her drunken haze, but Emma could swear Killian did everything in his power to stay away from her the rest of the night.

X X

KILLIAN JONES

He thought once she was out of sight, she would be out of mind. But Killian couldn’t stop seeing Emma Swan’s smile every time he closed his eyes.

He washed down two valiums with a swig of rum so he could have a dreamless sleep that night and stop thinking about her. He told himself the infatuation would fade come morning, that he’d literally sleep it all off.

Killian got up first thing in the morning and jogged the two miles to the gym, lifted weights for 45 minutes, and jogged the two miles back. By the time he was in the shower and the hot water was streaming down his tense back, he felt completely exhausted. He dressed in comfortable sweats and put some laundry away. When he was closing his dresser drawer, one of his picture frames sitting atop the drawer fell over.

Killian sighed and picked it up, but froze when he realized it was the photo of him when he had just graduated the police academy. His older brother, Liam—Killian’s throat felt like it was closing up—had saved all of his money for months to pay for their mother to make the trip to see him graduate, all the way from London. It had been her first time and only time to the States.

Killian’s jaw clenched and he snapped his eyes shut at the sudden onslaught of painful memories. He shook his head after a moment, rolled his shoulders, and opened his eyes, once again fixing his gaze on the picture in front of him.

Killian stood, smiling proudly in his uniform. His mother and brother were both at his side, beaming with pride at his accomplishment and they just looked so...happy. His mother had just gotten the news that her cancer was back, but she insisted she wouldn’t miss Killian’s ‘milestone.’

She’d come all this way to see me, just to...

Killian swallowed those memories down, shook them off, and opened the top drawer of the dresser. He shoved the picture frame underneath some t-shirts in the very back, face down, before slamming it shut. He allowed a couple minutes to recollect himself before taking a deep breath and letting it all roll off his shoulders.

x x

It was a week later that he unexpectedly saw Emma Swan again.

He and David were in the middle of staking out a hotel when Killian decided to grab a couple of coffees. When he spotted her, he quickly backed out of the coffee shop like a bloody coward, but a man and his two kids were walking in. The apologies and slight commotion attracted attention, and before he knew it his eyes were locked on breathtaking green once again.

Killian shook his head at himself, apologizing to the family one last time, before stepping in line behind Emma, who was looking at him with an amused expression. He felt his cheeks blush as he slid his hands into his jean pockets.

“Emma,” he said, enjoying the way her name sounded on his tongue more than he had any right to. “I, uh, didn’t see you there.”

Emma smiled wider and crossed her arms. “Clearly you didn’t see anyone.”

Killian couldn’t help but choke out a laugh as he scratched the spot behind his ear. “Aye, I’m a bit out of sorts when I don’t have my afternoon coffee.”

Emma nodded as the barista called her next. She smiled at Killian and quickly ordered. Killian allowed himself a brief moment to take her in because his memory of this woman did not do her justice in the slightest.

She was wearing those damn tight jeans again, which emphasized a pert bottom he hadn’t had the pleasure of admiring before, and a red leather jacket that hugged her curves so...so bloody well.

Killian heard a throat clearing and looked up to see the man with two kids looking at him with a hard glare and he realized he’d been caught staring. He felt himself blush red for the second time, before he looked down and scratched that stubborn spot behind his ear again.

At the counter with all of the sweeteners and creams, Killian tried not to stand too close to her, or let on the way her sweet perfume was making him dizzy. He blinked quickly as she asked about the case he and David were working on.

“Is it serious? Or, I’m sorry, you can’t discuss ongoing investigations with me,” she said, shaking her head as she poured an obscene amount of sugar in her coffee, followed by a generous amount of Half and Half. He couldn’t help but smile to himself as he looked back down at the coffee he was stirring with a small straw.

“It’s alright, love,” Killian finally said when he realized she was looking up at him expectantly. “It’s a harmless stakeout. Recon really, but nothing to worry about nonetheless.”

He finished fixing David’s coffee the way he liked and poured just a tiny bit of cream in his own before grabbing both coffees.

“Well, duty calls I’m afraid.” He managed a smile despite his nerves—he couldn’t help feeling like he was going to do something else to utterly embarrass himself.

Emma nodded and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Yeah. I’m just on my way to class.”

“Ah, taking the subway?” he found himself asking, even though he should have been walking away.

Emma scrunched her nose with an adorable, self-deprecating smile.

Bloody hell, Jones, adorable?

“Yeah,” she shrugged. “I’m getting used to it. It’s not too far so, baby steps.” She smiled and his heart clenched. “I miss driving my bug though. She’s just parked in the garage.”

She looked so calm and peaceful then, obviously lost in thought, and Killian had no problem taking advantage of the moment to take a mental photograph of her face.

His buzzing phone, of course, had other ideas. He cursed as he set down the coffees and grabbed it from his back pocket.

“David,” he told her, smiling apologetically.

She nodded and forced a small smile. “Yeah. You should go. I’ve gotta get going anyway.” Emma nodded again and clutched her drink closer to her chest, her smile growing smaller but still just as breathtaking. “Tell David ‘hi.’”

“As you wish.”

They stared at each other for a few seconds, neither of them saying anything, before he nodded once more and finally left.

He could still smell her perfume as he sat in the patrol car beside David, sipping his coffee and unable to stop himself from thinking about the one thing he knew he shouldn’t.

X X

EMMA SWAN

“Can I ask you something?” Emma started, keeping her eyes focused on the task at hand, but her attention on her best friend seated beside her.

“Of course,” Mary-Margaret said, her voice distracted as she too was paying more attention to the menu in front of her.

They were both starving.

“Who is Killian dating again?” she asked, keeping her voice level and measured as she struggled to focus on the words and pictures before her. She zeroed in on an entree titled ‘Wacky Wahoo Tacos’ and kept reading it over and over again to try and keep her composure.

But Mary-Margaret wasn’t buying her casual attitude and Emma should have known her friend better.

“Excuse me?” she asked. Emma looked up and saw her friend looking at her with a glint in her eyes and a wide grin on her face.

Emma shook her head and rolled her eyes. “What is that look for?”

“Nothing,” she said, resting her arms on the table and leaning forward. “So. You like Killian.” And just like that, Mary-Margaret was no longer hungry.

“Um, no. I’ve just met a few of your friends this last month, and I’m refreshing my memory on all of them,” she said, taking a sip of her drink. “Regina is married to Robin, right? Do they have any kids, by the way?”

Mary-Margaret shook her head, her grin somehow growing even wider. “No, they don’t have any kids yet. And Killian is not seeing anyone. As far as I know, he’s single. But nice job trying to change the subject.”

“Oh. Okay,” Emma said with a forced casualness that was almost painful. “Thanks for the information.”

“Oh, you’re welcome,” she said, “but we’re not finished talking about this.”

“We are, because David is here,” Emma said, spotting him over her friend’s shoulder and smiling smugly.

Mary-Margaret greeted him happily, and Emma hugged him before he joined them, ordering a tequila shot and a Corona.

“Are we celebrating something, David?” Emma smiled as his drinks arrived.

“Long week,” he sighed, taking the shot first.

“Emma and I were just talking about Killian,” Mary-Margaret said, stirring the straw in her margarita innocently.

Maybe Emma should have also known better than to bring this topic up when her friend was already one drink in.

David’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Why were you talking about Killian?” he asked, taking a swig of beer.

Emma shook her head, trying to mask her frustration at her friend. “We weren’t. I was just asking where you were.”

“David, let’s set them up,” Mary-Margaret said wistfully.

David almost spit out his beer, and it would have been funny if Emma wasn’t so damn mortified.

“What?” David laughed uncomfortably. “You like Killian?” he asked, fixing those baby blues on her.

“No. I don’t,” she said firmly. “I was just wondering if he was seeing someone, if there was someone you guys still hadn’t introduced me to,” she babbled, shrugging like an idiot.

“He’s not, nor do I think he ever will be,” David said seriously, taking a long pull from his drink.

Mary-Margaret laughed, obviously thinking he was joking. She elbowed him gently in the side. “David.”

But Emma’s interest was piqued. She hadn’t missed David’s sudden change in posture.

“Why do you say that?” Emma asked.

“Look, Emma, just don’t get close to Killian...in that way. I just don’t think he’s the kinda guy you wanna date.” She could tell the topic was making David uncomfortable, but Emma couldn’t let it go.

“Okay, Dad,” she said, adding a light laugh to make her tone less cutting. It probably didn’t work so she took a sip of her drink to pretend she was relaxed. “I turn...mmm...29 this year? Practically a grown adult,” she couldn’t help but mock.

David sighed. “I know that, it’s just...I know Killian, okay? You don’t. His relation...sss with women, it’s…” Their eyes met and Emma raised her eyebrows dramatically. “Killian’s life is...complicated and you don’t need that.”

Part of her wanted to argue that the topic was moot, that she didn’t like him that way anyway. But Emma couldn’t deny her feelings, couldn’t push them back down. And—inexplicably—the urge to defend Killian was stronger than anything else.

“That’s a hell of a way to speak about your partner, David,” she couldn’t help but snap. David sighed, a guilt-stricken look crossing his face, but before he could respond Emma pressed on, “And thank you for telling me what I need in my life, but I think that’s unfair. Especially since Killian has been nothing but nice to me and he’s not even here to defend himself.”

“Emma…” David began again.

But that was the moment their server arrived to take their food orders. By the time their orders were taken and their menus collected, the three of them were left in the tension once again.

Emma decided to finish the conversation before it could start again. “I appreciate your concern, David, I do,” she said calmly. “But I don’t think we should talk about it anymore. Let’s just eat.”

Mary-Margaret nodded and raised her drink, looking at David with a soft smile. He nodded and forced a small smile before clinking his beer bottle with their drinks in a silent cheers.

The rest of dinner went by fairly quickly and at the end of the night, when they were saying their goodbyes at the front of the restaurant, Mary-Margaret wrapped Emma in a tight hug and whispered, “Don’t listen to David.”

Emma pulled away to look at her friend, but Mary-Margaret quickly kissed her cheek—loud and smacking—and hopped into the waiting cab before she could say anything.

She snapped out of it when David hugged her goodbye and as she watched the taxi drive away, Emma couldn’t ignore how the red brake lights morphed into blue eyes.

x x

After her British Literature lecture Thursday evening, Emma decided to stop at the supermarket a block from the subway to grab a few things.

She was looking for the cashew ice cream she liked when she saw him. He didn’t notice her, busy looking down at his phone with furrowed eyebrows, but he was clearly frustrated, his other hand clutching a basket.

All in a matter of seconds, a thousand thoughts flew through Emma’s mind.

He was so damn handsome, in his tight black jeans, black boots, and black t-shirt. His hair was slightly disheveled and when he ran his fingers through it, it turned Emma on way more than it should. She couldn’t help but bite her lip.

Quickly, she decided to turn around and just avoid him altogether, but just as she turned away from him, he was calling her name. Emma froze in place and took three deep breaths before slowly turning around.

“Hi,” she smiled, voice trembling slightly.

His crooked grin melted her insides. “Hi. How are you, love?”

She’d heard him refer to other women as ‘love,’ yet when it was directed towards her...it felt like it meant more. The way he looked at her made her feel different; different than when he looked at Regina or Mary-Margaret. It certainly wasn’t a way any other man had ever looked at her —it was as if she was the focal point of the room, and nothing else mattered.

Damn, Swan, stop romanticizing everything.

“I’m good, um, just picking up a few things on the way to the subway,” she said.

Mary-Margaret had mentioned to her in passing that Killian lived in this neighborhood, but the thought had only casually crossed her mind as she entered the store. The fact that she was actually bumping into him here was just…

Does the universe want me to keep finding you? Emma couldn’t help but wonder, tilting her head at Killian.

“It’s late to be taking the subway home,” he suddenly said, eyebrows furrowed.

His smooth, velvet voice startled her slightly, but when his words connected she couldn’t help but smile. “I appreciate your concern, but I’ve done it the last couple months without a problem. Plus,” she looked down at her watch and shook her head, “it’s only six p.m.”

“Aye, but it gets dark, love,” he said, placing his phone in his back pocket and switching his basket to the other hand.

Emma crossed her arms over her chest. This time her smile was less sincere. “I’m a grown woman.”

Killian snorted and shook his head, looking away, and it annoyed and attracted her at the same time.

Infatuation. That’s what this was. She was infatuated with him.

He, of course, was completely oblivious to the war inside Emma’s head and turned to her once again with a rueful smile.

“You know, you don’t have to assume every time somebody expresses concern for you, they’re questioning your ability as a capable adult.”

Emma swallowed, taken aback before she glanced down at his basket and noted the bottle of rum and box of crackers.

“Why, you’re an adventurous eater,” she said with a smug smile, challenging him.

Killian’s eyebrows shot up in surprise—at what, she wasn’t quite sure—and he shifted from one foot to the other with a smile, looking almost amused.

“And you are very adept at changing the subject.”

Emma shrugged and smiled sweetly. “I deal with students all day. I know how to direct a conversation.”

“Aye. And what else do you know how to do, lass?” he asked, tongue darting out to wet his lips.

Her breath caught in her throat and her thighs actually clenched slightly as she stood there.

They had had conversations over the last couple of months and the flirty banter was always there, but Killian always put the brakes on it when Emma would take a step towards him, try to get closer, or instigate any type of physical contact. He even hugged Regina and Mary-Margaret when she was around, but somehow always managed to avoid hugging her without anyone noticing.

But she always noticed. And it always stung. Then she would catch his eye and it was almost as if he couldn’t help but smile at her.

Sometimes she’d push him just to see how far he would let her.

Maybe today, Emma could push a little bit harder.

She cleared her throat. “I guess...you just have to find out.” She rocked back and forth on her heels and chanced a glance at him through her lashes.

Despite her lame response, Killian took a step towards her, raising an eyebrow and looking at her with an expression that was far too salacious for a grocery store.

“Is that right?” he breathed, his voice gruff as his eyes danced across her face. His expression was a mixture of surprise, lust, and—as always—hesitation.

Emma swallowed hard. He was still nowhere near enough yet far too close.

“What are you doing?” she asked, tilting her head to the side. She felt like he was teasing her, trying to call her bluff, trying to push her.

Emma decided she was done playing games. She was attracted to him. For God’s sake, if he asked her to go home with him right now she would.

His sexy smirk was still in place. “I’m not sure what you mean, love.”

But when his tone indicated he knew exactly what he was doing, Emma could no longer control herself. She took a step forward, except she didn’t stop at one. She took the remaining steps, until there was only an inch separating them, and it clearly caught Killian off guard. He didn’t move a muscle, but she heard his breath hitch when their chests barely touched. Even with the layers of clothes between them, it somehow felt like an electric spark coursed through her at his proximity.

“Do you want to take me home?” she found herself asking.

Emma couldn’t believe that for the first time in her life, she finally said exactly what she was thinking in the moment.

“What?” Killian’s question was a mere whisper.

Emma took a small step closer, closing the miniscule space between them and startling him in the process. She was sure anyone who saw them, standing in the middle of the ice cream aisle practically writhing against one another, would assume they were both on something.

But in that moment, as impulsive as it may have been, Emma didn’t care.

“Because,” she breathed, her chest practically heaving. But his was too, “because I’d go home with you...right now...if you asked me to.”

Killian’s eyes searched hers for what felt like an eternity. She felt like she was shaking, maybe she was, but she didn’t back down. The seconds ticked by, and she couldn’t take not knowing what was going through his mind.

“Killian?”

Emma jumped back from him so quickly she was impressed she didn’t hurt herself. She looked up in time to see the owner of the voice—a petite woman in a black mini-dress and lace sandals that tied in patterns to her knees—rounded the corner and spotted him.

“There you are,” she smiled, looking down at the bag of chips she was turning over in her hands as she walked over to him. She had wavy, shiny brown hair and sun-kissed skin. She was gorgeous.

God, Emma felt so stupid and embarrassed. She had felt so victorious when she had thrown herself at this man and all along he had been there with somebody else. And a knockout, at that.

The woman touched Killian’s arm and looked up when she reached them, noticing Emma.

“Oh. Hi,” she said with a smile. “I’m Cecilia.”

“Emma.” She smiled tightly at her and crossed her arms over her chest, wishing this was just a nightmare and she could snap herself out of it.

“Nice to meet you,” Cecilia said before turning to Killian. “I’m tired. Are you ready to go home?”

Emma noticed Killian visibly flinch at her words and that was when she decided to take back control.

“Alright, Killian, it was nice seeing you. Have a good one.”

Okay, it may not have exactly been ‘taking control,’ or her most graceful exit, but Emma didn’t give a damn what she looked like to anyone else in that moment. She didn’t even wait for a response, didn’t buy a single thing, as she hauled ass out of the store. All she wanted was to get the hell away from them.

Emma didn’t look over her shoulder or stop until she was on the subway. She found an empty seat and all but fell down into it.

She had never felt so small.

X X

KILLIAN JONES

Bloody hell.

“Who was that?” Cecilia asked as they stepped out onto the curb outside the grocery store.

“Don’t worry about it,” Killian said.

Cecilia was a nice enough woman he’d known for a couple of years. She was a district attorney who used to work in New York, but was reassigned to Washington D. C. On the rare occasion she was in town, she never hesitated to call Killian.

And Killian usually didn’t hesitate to agree.

But that night, when Cecilia called and asked to take him to dinner, Killian’s response wasn’t enthusiastic as usual. It was mechanical. He needed a distraction from Emma Swan.

The night had gone like it usually did with women; they had a nice dinner, polite conversation. Then she placed her hand on his knee under the table and he put his arm around her shoulders and they both knew how the night was going to end.

Now Killian couldn’t help but curse his suggestion to stop at the market on the way home, but he was completely dry and knew he didn’t want to be caught at home without a bottle of rum. When he saw Emma, he completely forgot Cecilia.

Bloody hell, that sounded terrible, even in his own head.

But Killian had quickly realized that when Emma was in the room, he quickly forgot about everything else.

He hadn’t even bothered calling her name when she fled, only cursing himself for being so damn stupid.

“Listen,” Killian said after a moment, “I’m going to get you a cab, and pay for it, to take you back to your hotel.”

Cecilia scoffed. “What? You’re kidding, right?”

“No. I’m not.”

“Why?”

Killian shook his head and looked down the street for a taxi.

“It’s that woman, isn’t it?” she asked, her tone suddenly curious. “Killian Jones, I never thought I would see the day!”

Killian wasn’t in the mood for the teasing tone in her voice. “Please just let it go.”

Cecilia eyed him for a moment, and just when he thought she would continue, she sighed and nodded. “Alright. See you next time, then,” she said.

But Killian doubted that she would.

He hailed her a cab, but she rejected his offer to pay for it. As he watched the taillights from the taxi driving away, there was only one thing on his mind.

x x

Killian was a coward for not calling her. It had been almost a week since their awkward encounter at the grocery store and though he could have used his resources as a detective to get her telephone number, could have procured it under innocent pretenses from Mary-Margaret, something had stopped him.

It had been a long time since he had felt shame and even longer since someone made him insecure about their opinion of him.

Bloody hell, she probably thinks you’re a right git.

Thankfully, Killian saw an opportunity to forget about Emma Swan for a little while when David told them they were going drinking when their shift ended. As always, fate had other plans because after he and David took their first shot, trouble walked in in the form of Emma Swan.

“Bloody hell,” he couldn’t help but mutter.

But David didn’t notice because a second later his phone buzzed with a text as Mary-Margaret stepped inside behind Emma, looking down at her cell. He took a long pull from his beer as David turned around with a smile to wave them over.

“Hey, you,” he said, standing up to wrap Mary-Margaret in his arms before hugging Emma.

Killian chanced a glance at her, but she was careful to keep her gaze away from him, so he greeted Mary-Margaret with a warm ‘hello.’

“Don’t worry, we’re not crashing your boys’ night,” Mary-Margaret teased him. “Emma and I were just having dinner down the street so we thought we’d pop in and say ‘hi.’

“No, come on. Stay,” David said before Killian could respond. “I’ll miss you if you leave.” David snuggled Mary-Margret and gave her loud, teasing kisses on her cheek as she laughed and tried half-heartedly to fight him off.

Killian looked away, feeling like he was trespassing on a private moment. When he glanced at Emma he found she too was averting her gaze, her focus suddenly on the drinks behind the bar.

“Alright. One drink?” Mary-Margaret asked.

Emma turned to her friend when she realized she was talking to her. She smiled and gave a quick shake of her head. “I’m really tired, I think I’m just going to head out,” she said apologetically.

“No,” Mary-Margaret pleaded. “Just one drink.”

“I can’t,” she said, scrunching her nose at her best friend who, after a moment, finally sighed and relented.

“Fine, but we’re getting you a cab,” Mary-Margaret told her sternly.

As Emma began shaking her head and arguing that she was perfectly capable of taking the subway home, Killian downed the rest of his beer and set the empty bottle on the table before standing up.

“It’s alright. I’d be happy to take the subway with you,” he said before he even realized what the hell he was doing.

Emma’s head whipped around to him with the most confused expression. She began quickly shaking her head at him. “No, that’s fine, I—”

“Believe me, I’d rather be home in bed than be the third wheel with these two,” he said lightly, praying to the gods he didn’t sound as nervous as he felt.

When Emma seemed to realize it was the only way to get her friends off her back, she finally agreed. He didn’t miss the way Mary-Margaret smiled at Emma when she thought he wasn’t looking and he certainly didn’t miss the hard stare David gave him as he followed Emma out of the bar.

x x

They walked for about five minutes in awkward silence.

“You know,” Emma said. “I was leaving the bar to avoid you. Not to have you escort me home.”

He peeked over at her as he slid his hands into his pockets, but her arms were crossed tightly against her chest and she kept her eyes down as she walked. He turned his head away again and clenched his jaw.

“The irony,” he chuckled. When she didn’t respond, he sighed and tried another tactic. Killian stopped and grabbed her arm gently.

Emma stopped, but the glare she threw at him was enough to make him drop her arm like it was lit dynamite.

“Listen, Emma, I just wanted to apologize,” he began.

She turned to face him fully, re-crossing her arms with a shrug. “For what?”

He couldn’t help but scratch behind his ear and avert his gaze. “I just fear...you may have gotten the wrong idea the other night.”

He heard her sigh and shuffle her feet. “Killian, please, can we not do this?”

Killian looked up at her and shook his head. “Emma…”

She took a step back and held her hands up in front of her, as if to keep him away. “I said we’re not doing this, okay? It’s none of my business. Don’t worry. We’re good.”

Emma fixed him with another hard glare and he could do nothing but stare back, swallowing the giant lump in his throat. After a moment, she turned on her heel and began walking away again.

“Besides,” she threw over her shoulder, “you were just grocery shopping with your girlfriend. Picture of complete domesticity if you ask me.”

Killian all but growled as he hurried after her.

“She’s not my girlfriend,” he said desperately, almost bumping into her when she suddenly whirled back around to face him.

“I don’t care!” she yelled, her frustration at the tipping point.

“If you don’t bloody care, then why are you being like this?” he demanded, his own ire rising to the surface along with hers.

“Like what?” she laughed angrily.

“Hostile,” he said.

“Killian, this is as civil as I can be with you!”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“It means I practically jumped you in the middle of a grocery store—and you flirted back, by the way—and the whole time, you were there with another woman!That’s...that’s skeezy as hell, you know that right?” Her chest was heaving and she looked at him like she was completely at a loss, as if she was truly waiting for him to give her the answer she needed.

“Yes, Emma, I know that,” he said, scrambling for the right things to say. “I just...She doesn’t mean...I mean, she isn’t…” He growled in frustration as she shook her head and looked away. When she wouldn’t meet his gaze, he whispered the only thing he was thinking, “She isn’t you.”

Slowly, so slowly he thought it might be slow-motion, she turned her head to look at him. She searched his eyes for what felt like eternity and he became restless and insecure under her gaze. But he held fast and didn’t look away like he usually did, hoping to show her what he couldn’t quite say with words.

I want you.

Give me a chance.

I’m sorry.

Don’t walk away…

But she was taking too long to say something and he knew that meant something bad. With a heavy sigh and even heavier heart, Killian turned around, shoulders slumped. He slipped his hands in his pockets and wondered where the nearest liquor store was.

He only made it about halfway down the street when he felt a warm hand grab his arm. A second later, Emma Swan was stepping in front of him. But Killian had no time to respond, because she wasted no time wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her lips to his.

And by gods if there was a heaven on Earth for Killian Jones, kissing Emma Swan would be it.

X X

EMMA SWAN

Her place was closer, he said, and they ended up taking a taxi, neither of them wanting to wait the long trip on the subway.

His hand was hot on her thigh the entire way and she rested her head on his shoulder, now and then trailing kisses up his neck to his ear, reveling in the way he shivered at the touch of her lips, disbelieving that she was finally this close to him.

She barely noticed him give the driver some bills, and the ride in the elevator was silent and charged. At her apartment door she fumbled with her keys as he placed kisses on her neck and bare shoulders, his hands gripping her waist, and his hard arousal brushing against her lower back. For a moment she abandoned her keys in the lock as she moaned low and pressed back into him, biting her lip when he groaned as her backside rubbed against his growing erection. Her leggings left very little barrier between her and his jean-clad erection.

She shivered as his hand trailed down her arm, to her hand brushing against her key still dangling in the lock. Somehow while kissing her neck, Killian also managed to effortlessly unlock her front door and push it open. Emma almost stumbled inside, but Killian wrapped his arm around her waist before she could fall.

“Oh,” she sighed, falling back into him and snuggling closer when he resumed his previous ministrations.

Kicking the door shut with his foot and then flipping it locked, Killian whirled Emma around in his arms, lips curving up at her gasp of surprise. He backed her further into the apartment, leaving very little space between their bodies, and making them stumble along the way.

“Where is your bedroom, love?” he whispered against her throat, his tongue darting out to lick a trail up to her chin.

She moaned again and shamelessly rubbed herself against him, enjoying the way her hardening nipples rubbed against his hard chest through the fabric of her shirt.

“Emma,” he sighed against her cheek, sending chills down her spine. “Bedroom…”

Emma barely breathed out, “Down the hall to the left,” before she was squealing, then moaning wantonly as his hands gripped her ass firmly and lifted her off the ground.

She peppered kisses all over his face and neck, clawing at his back as he carried her to her bedroom. She trailed one hand down his arms, loving the way they flexed under her touch, the way his muscles contracted as her fingers brushed over the hair on his forearms.

She let out a huff when he tossed her on the center of her bed. She bounced as he chuckled and crawled in after her, his hands moving up her sides, firmer, more sure than before. Emma couldn’t help but cry out as his hand cupped her breast tightly, massaging it as his mouth found hers once more.

She melted into him almost instantly, her hands sliding up his shoulders and wrapping around him as she opened her mouth to his. Killian moaned as his tongue entered her mouth, dancing with hers. It felt like all of the passion and fire and urge they had been pushing down for each other the last couple of months was being poured into that kiss.

Killian moaned again when her hands fisted through his hair, pulling gently. Her legs fell open and Killian slipped between them easily, grinding his hard cock against her, all pretense of foreplay gone as she rubbed against her wet, cotton-covered center.

But Emma wanted to feel him and she told him so in a breathy moan, and he growled and a moment later they were both naked, his long, thick cock rubbing shamelessly against her sopping wet sex.

Emma cried out as Killian bit her chin gently, his breath coming out in harsh pants as they rubbed against each other wantonly, dragging their lips across neck, shoulder, chest. His hand gripped her thigh and she bit her lip as his tip slipped inside her.

He hissed and pulled back as if he’d been burned, his head falling to her chest as his back rose with heavy breaths.

“Sorry, sorry,” he whispered in a rush before looking up and rolling his hips against her wet center again. His eyes darted down, careful not to accidentally slip into her again. He looked back up at her, his cheeks flushed and his eyes almost completely black. “The things you do to me, love,” he continued in a whisper.

“Killian,” she moaned, both of her hands now gripping his hips, her palms sweaty and making her slip.

“Condom,” be breathed.

“No,” she whined, kissing his scruffy cheek as she lifted her hips to meet his thrusts. “No condom. I’m on the pill. I’m clean. Are you?”

Killian nodded and clenched his jaw again as he stopped his slow thrusts, covering her body with his while careful to keep most of his weight off of her. They both gasped when he covered her fully, because their sexes were pressed together so snug and perfect she never wanted to move.

Killian ran his finger down her cheek, tracing her lips. “Are you sure, Emma?” he whispered.

Emma could only nod, her entire body vibrating. She was sure if she spoke, it would be a shaking mess of words.

“I’ve never,” he swallowed and looked down, his finger falling to her collarbone. Emma furrowed her eyebrows at him and he gazed back up at her. “I’ve never been with a woman without protection before.”

“Me either,” she whispered.

Killian’s eyebrow ticked up and she giggled.

“I mean, I’ve never been with a man without protection before,” she said between breaths of laughter.

Killian smirked and leaned forward, pressing his lips to hers. This time when Killian’s tip slipped inside of her, it was with a moan from both of them as he pushed the rest of the way in.

He was larger than any lover she had ever had, and he filled her to the hilt, his pelvis resting against her ass as she reflexively clenched around him to adjust to his size. His moan of pleasure made her even wetter, and she could feel her arousal dripping down her thighs and she knew she would have to wash her sheets tomorrow.

She would have been embarrassed if it hadn't been for Killian’s whispered, “Fuck,” as he thrust into her experimentally, making her eyes roll back into her head. “You’re so bloody wet,” he said desperately, and then proceeded to fuck the living hell out of her.

Emma would have been worried her headboard banging against the wall would alert her neighbors, but his need turned her on to the point of not caring and she allowed him to play her body like a fucking drum.

X X

KILLIAN JONES

Killian had never spent the night at a woman’s place. Then again, there were a lot of things Killian had done the night before that he never thought he would do.

Kissing during sex.

Going down on a woman more than once. (Because damn he really really liked going down on Emma—the noises she made, the way her thighs gripped his head, and her hands pulled at his hair. Bloody hell.)

Not using a condom….

Having sex more than once in the same night...

They had sex three times before finally succumbing to sleep. Out of habit, Killian awoke just as the sun was rising. He could see the little bit of light peeking in through the blinds and his eyes darted to the floor searching for his pants when Emma stirred his arms.

Killian looked down at her, snuggled close to his chest, body half draped over him and his arm wrapped around her. It was a position he wasn’t very familiar with and he had been initially taken aback when she cuddled him after sex. But then the smell of her hair calmed him, and he found himself staring up at the ceiling as he stroked her arm.

Having her in his arms felt right and she fit against him like a puzzle piece.

Killian swallowed hard and looked up at the ceiling once more. He knew if he had something he cared about, he would do something to muck it up. It was just a matter of time.

X X

EMMA SWAN

Emma woke the following morning with an ache between her thighs and a full heart. There was a small smile on her face and she was so content she didn’t bother opening her eyes as she dragged her hand across the mattress. Her mouth turned down when she felt cold sheets between her fingers and she snapped her eyes open to see the spot beside her was empty.

Emma sat up, the sheet falling to her lap as she looked to the open bathroom. She didn’t hear any noise from the kitchen or living room and when she scanned her bedroom, she saw that the floor was free of their discarded clothing. Her clothes from the night before had been folded neatly and placed on the small loveseat in the corner of her room.

Her heart dropped at the realization that Killian fucked her and left her. All those sweet words the night before had been what? Bullshit lines to get in her pants? Had David been right about him all along?

Suddenly, an anger Emma had never experienced before filled her. The nerve of the man to clean up and then leave without a word. The nerve of him to make her feel wanted, safe, loved....

Emma shook her head and hopped out of bed, ripping her drawers open and pulling out a pair of yoga pants and a t-shirt. She threw her hair up into a ponytail, cursing the entire way to the foyer where she angrily slipped on her shoes. She figured the fifteen-minute walk to and from the coffee shop would calm her down a little bit.

She fumbled with her shoe laces, tears blurring her vision and burning her eyes as she wiped them away angrily and cursed Killian for the fiftieth time. She couldn't believe she had fallen for his charms, let him seduce and bed her like a fool.

She finally tied her shoes and got up with a sigh, rolled her shoulders back, and dipped her hand into the small bowl on the table to grab her keys. Her brows furrowed when they weren’t where she always left them and she cursed again when she realized she must have dropped them sometime last night in her drunken haze. She had been distracted…

Her ire rose again at the reason why and she wrenched the small drawer of the table open and grabbed one of her spare apartment keys, slipping it into her pocket. Emma opened her door, visions of hot chocolate with cinnamon dancing through her mind, but shrieked and jumped back slightly when she was met with the sight of Killian.

He was wearing his wrinkled clothes from the night before and holding a styrofoam cup holder with two hot cups and a small paper bag that smelled heavenly. She then noticed the key in his hand with a very familiar Swan keychain.

“Killian,” she breathed in confusion.

His face broke into an easy smile as he blushed slightly. “Apologies, lass. I hope you don’t mind I borrowed your key to go grab us some breakfast…”

The sentence was barely finished before Emma stepped forward, resting her hand on his shoulder to steady herself as she kissed him. Their lips met a few times, passionate, before she pulled back.

He was smiling, breathless, as he gazed back at her with those shining blue eyes. “I...I noticed you put a lot of sugar in your coffee so...I just grabbed half of the packets in the basket and—”

His nervousness and babbling was so freaking endearing and Emma could only giggle and kiss his lips again.

“Mmm,” he hummed, following her when she pulled back. “I could get used to that.”

Emma smiled wider and bit her lip. “Fine by me.”

x x

Killian ended up spending the rest of the weekend at Emma’s place and it was perpetual bliss. They were in their own little bubble with no one to watch them or question them. They could just be.

“Killian?” she said on Sunday night as they sat on the couch and Killian prepared to leave. He had an early shift the following morning.

He looked down at her. “Aye?”

She snuggled closer to him and his arm tightened around her. “Thank you for staying,” she said.

He smiled slightly and whispered, “Thank you for letting me.”

He left that night after spending about twenty minutes kissing her in the foyer and another fifteen in the doorway as she latched onto him and peppered his face with wet kisses, making him chuckle and hold her closer.

x x

Emma knew not to get her hopes up. She didn’t ask her friends about Killian too much—not wanting to betray his trust—but one of the few things she knew about him from Mary-Margaret and Regina was that he had never had a long-term relationship. She also knew he had walls a mile high and was guarded as hell. He had a past that weighed on him, she could see that, and she didn’t want to push him too much.

Which was why Emma was very pleasantly surprised to see a text from him after her Monday night lecture.

Can I come see you tonight?

Emma felt her entire body light up like a switch and she couldn’t help grinning down at her phone like an idiot as she typed out a response:

My place?

She was surprised when her phone chimed in her hand less than a minute later with his reply:

Just tell me what time and I’ll be there.

x x

It was a little over a week into their...whatever it was...that Emma finally got a chance to talk to Mary-Margaret. She had been busy with a new client on the Upper West Side and hadn’t had a moment to herself for a while.

Minutes into their conversation, Mary-Margaret became excitedly suspicious about Emma’s obvious good mood.

“Oh my god,” Mary-Margaret said on the other line, “are you seeing someone?”

Emma sighed and shook her head as her phone vibrated in her hand. She pulled it away from her ear, smiling when she saw it was a text from Killian.

I can still smell you on my skin.

Her thighs clenched as she heard her friend yelling her name on the other end. Emma brought the phone back to her ear with a shake of her head and an apology.

“So, are you going to tell me who the guy is?” her friend pressed.

“No!” Emma squealed before she could stop herself.

“Aha! So there is a guy!”

“Mary-Margaret, don’t push me…”

Her friend let out an exasperated sigh. “Alright, fine. But you’ll tell me soon?”

Emma scrunched up her nose even though her friend couldn't see. “Maybe.”

“Jesus, you’re the worst,” she laughed. “By the by, we’re having a Friday night dinner this week, finally,” she sighed. “Will you come? You can bring your man friend.”

“That’s very nice of you. I can’t speak for my man friend, but I will be there,” she said, enjoying teasing her friend a little too much.

“I hate you,” Mary-Margaret muttered.

“Should I bring pecan pie?” Emma switched topics.

Sure as fire, it worked.

“You know it,” Mary-Margaret said. “Don’t be late.”

“Would never even dream of it.”

When they hung up, Emma looked down at her phone and felt moisture pool between her legs at the words on the screen:

I can still taste you on my tongue.

x x

Everyone was surprised when Killian showed up to dinner Friday night with a smile on his face and a bottle of wine in his hand. Emma watched as he kissed Mary-Margaret on the cheek and then greeted the others. When his eyes fell to her, she felt a blush creep up her neck.

“So,” Robin said, slapping a hand on Killian’s shoulder playfully. “What made you grace us with your presence this evening?”

“He just came for the free food,” Regina joked with a smirk.

Killian chuckled, looking slightly uncomfortable as his eyes darted back to Emma again. Emma quickly looked away, but winced upon hearing Mary-Margaret’s gasp.

Her friend, she knew, was a clever one.

“What?” David asked her, taking a pull from his beer.

Emma looked to her best friend sheepishly because it didn’t feel right hiding it. Not from Mary-Margaret, not from anyone.

But what if Killian doesn’t feel the same?

“Emma?” Regina prompted.

Emma realized everyone was looking between her and Killian, confused, suspicious, and curious as hell. David, however, looked more furious than anything.

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

David’s roar was the last thing Emma heard clearly, because the next few seconds happened very fast. David dropped his beer bottle to the floor and it shattered with a loud crash as he lunged at Killian. Mary-Margaret screamed out as Regina raised her glass of wine and moved away from them.

“David!” Emma tried to scream, but her throat was dry. She cleared it, watching in horror as David pushed Killian roughly against the counter, grabbing him by his leather jacket so hard she was sure it would rip.

Emma took a step forward, but Robin was beside her in an instant, holding her back.

“I told you not her!” David yelled in Killian’s face.

“David,” Mary-Margaret growled, shocking Emma with her hard tone.

“You really have no goddamn respect, do you?” David practically spat in his face.

Emma watched Killian wince and then he clenched his jaw. “Let me go, mate,” he said, his voice low, calm, controlled.

“Why? Why should I listen to you?” David shot back. “You clearly didn’t listen to me when I told you to stay away from Emma!”

“Bloody hell, she’s a grown woman. She can make her own decisions,” Killian growled, shoving David back.

He stumbled against the island before fixing his glare on Killian again. “Not when she doesn’t have all the facts,” he said.

Something in Killian’s face changed, his jaw locked, and he looked at David with the most murderous expression on his face. If she didn’t know any better, Emma would have been afraid of him.

A tense silence filled the room as all six of them stood in the aftermath of the altercation. After what felt like an eternity, Killian righted his jacket and took a step back.

“Killian, what is he talking about?” Emma asked him, her voice shaking.

Killian looked at her and the defeat she saw in his eyes nearly broke her heart. After a moment, he sighed and grabbed her hand, gently pulling her out of the apartment and into the hall.

Emma watched him close the door behind them before he turned to her, his eyes trained down at his shoes. After a moment, he reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a folded piece of paper. When he opened it and took a step towards her, she immediately closed the distance between them, looking down at his hand in confusion.

It was a wrinkled photograph of Killian in a police academy uniform holding a diploma. On one side there was a shorter, older woman with dark hair. She was leaning on Killian as if he was the only thing holding her up. She looked weak, but the pride on her face was evident. To his other side was a man a little taller than Killian, with lighter hair, and familiar blue eyes.

“I’ve kept my past as far down as I could for as long as I can remember,” Killian started, his voice grave and hoarse as he focused on the photo in his hand. “My mother died when she came to visit me in New York for my graduation, because the trip took a toll on her already deteriorating health,” he said. “My brother was a Captain on the Scotland Yard when he was stabbed off duty trying to save a mother and her son from a mugging. He died at the hospital the next day.” Killian looked up at her, his eyes shining with tears. “I told you I lost my family, but I never told you how...how guilty...how empty I feel for being here in their place.”

Emma’s heart broke at his words. “Killian—”

“It sent me down a dark path, Emma,” he said. “Bloody hell, I’ve lost count of how many women I’ve slept with.” She winced at his words, but he continued, “I’m ashamed of the choices I’ve made, but...they were my choices. I was given so many chances, and I fucked them all up.” His face practically crumbled as he looked away. “My brother and mother would be ashamed of me. I’m just like him…” The last part was a whisper and it took a moment for Emma to realize what he meant.

“Your father?”

Killian sniffed, but said nothing.

“You never talk about him,” Emma said quietly.

“Because he was a worthless coward who was given opportunity after opportunity to do better and he never did! Just like me.

“He abandoned my mum when she got sick, turned his back on his children—”

“Killian, you’re nothing like him—”

Killian looked at her again, but the emotion on his face was replaced with a haunting look of fierce determination and resignation.

“Maybe,” he said carefully, “maybe not. But isn’t it better not to find out the hard way?”

His eyes searched hers and when she realized what he was saying, the tiny rope that had been stretched to its limit inside of Emma finally snapped.

“No. No, don’t do this, Killian,” she said, tears burning in her eyes. “You told me this felt different.” She took a step towards him, grabbing his arms.

Killian sighed and backed away from her touch.

“David’s right. You deserve better.

“No,” Emma shook her head. “You're giving up. Don’t give up! If you do then you are like him, Killian! Don’t you see that?”

Killian smiled sadly at her, hollow and devoid of his usual adoration and softness and her broken heart cracked even more. “I am going to miss your fire, lass,” he whispered.

Before Emma could say anything else, he was gone.

X X

KILLIAN JONES

David may have been a bloody asshat, but Killian was damned if he wasn’t absolutely right. He had been so wrapped up these last couple of weeks with Emma that he completely ignored the truth that he wasn’t good for her. She deserved better.

He was only five minutes away from David and Mary-Margaret’s when he heard his name being called. With a clenched jaw and tense shoulders, Killian stopped and slowly turned around.

David approached him hesitantly, a guarded expression on his face as he eyes darted across Killian’s face.

“Come to yell at me some more, mate?” Kilian couldn’t help but sass.

“No,” David sighed.

“Ahh, so just came to finish what you started in your flat? Go on then,” he challenged, stepping forward and holding his jacket open.

“That’s not...Look, I’m sorry things escalated back there…”

“Escalated?” Killian let his jacket go and chuckled darkly. “You bloody accosted me in a room full of our friends.”

“You’re dating one of my best friends after I specifically asked you not to,” David gritted through his teeth, fists clenching at his side.

“Aye, and I apologize for not listening you.” David looked at him surprised, but Killian continued, “I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you, because you’re my friend and my partner and I respect you.” He paused, shaking his head with a sigh. “But I won’t bloody apologize for…” Killian’s throat closed up as David looked away, slightly uncomfortable. Killian gathered his bearings with an unsteady breath. “I won’t apologize for being with her. Because it’s been the best two weeks of my bloody life.” Another pause. David opened his mouth, but Killian pressed on, “And I know I don’t deserve her. You’re right. I’m a drunk, and I haven't dealt with my past and I don't even know how to be in a goddamn...relationship.” His mouth curved around the unfamiliar word.

Killian looked down, feeling his chest tightening again at the thought of Emma and him, wrapped under the sheets on her bed, nothing between them.

He shook the memories away with another sigh before meeting his partner’s gaze head on. “And you’re right,” he repeated. “I’m no good for her. So...I’m stepping back. I’m bowing out. You don’t have to worry about me. I won’t bother her again.”

X X

EMMA SWAN

“Who do you think you are, David? Just who the fuck do you think you are?” Emma aimed a throw pillow at David’s head as soon as he walked back into the apartment.

“Where’s Killian?” Mary-Margaret asked worriedly, running up to him.

“He’s...gone,” David said. “He went home.”

Emma shook her head, tears spilling down her cheeks. “You son of a bitch.” She lunged for him, but Regina caught her around the waist.

“Easy, tiger,” Regina said. “You could do some real damage to him.”

Emma tried to shake her off, but Regina only let her go when she was sure it was safe.

“Why would you do that?” Emma demanded, eyes trained on David. “How could you...say those things to him?”

“Emma, you don’t know Killian….”

“Stop saying that!” Emma interrupted him. “You don’t know Killian.”

David took a step towards her, index finger pressed to his chest. “I’ve been his partner for almost ten years!”

“So what? Obviously you don’t know his heart!” Emma yelled back. “If you did, you’d see him for the man he is: kind, compassionate...loving…” her words trailed off, voice shaking, and she had to avert her gaze from the sympathetic look Robin threw her way. “And for the first time,” Emma continued, not caring that her voice was shaking and she could barely breathe, “and for the first time, I felt like I found someone who...I thought maybe I....”

“Emma,” David started gently, taking another step towards her.

Emma held her hands up and took a step back. “No!” She looked up at him, feeling completely broken and lost. “You don’t know what he meant to me, do you?” she asked him, the accusatory tone and utter hurt in her voice making him look away in shame.

“Emma,” Mary-Margaret stepped towards her, but Emma shook her head and walked to the front door, her friend hurrying after her. “Emma, please wait.” She grabbed her arm and Emma pulled it away angrily.

She turned to face her friend, tears in her eyes and falling freely down her face. “I have to go,” was all she could bear to say.

X X

KILLIAN JONES

Three days. He wondered how something he hadn’t even had a couple of weeks ago could hurt so bad now that it was gone.

But he had grown accustomed to waking up next to Emma Swan. In a matter of months, he had broken all of his rules. He had fallen for a woman and he’d broken her heart, and his own, in the process.

Killian’s throat was dry when he walked into his flat Monday night. He’d called in sick to work, something he had never done before, and ignored his friends’ calls the entire weekend. The only face he wanted to see lighting up on his screen never did, nor did he really expect it to.

He was holding a bottle of rum in a paper bag, his fourth in three days. He felt shame, of course, each time he made the purchase. But by the fourth or fifth swig, he was happily content. By the tenth and eleventh, he was downright blitzed, and three-quarters of the way through the bottle, everything was blissfully dark.

It wasn't until Thursday night—Gold was pissed at him for calling out the entire week, but Killian had sick days to spare so he really didn’t give a damn—that his routine for the week was disrupted.

He was at his grocery store, in need of a fresh bottle of rum, when his phone phone buzzed with an incoming call. He barely glanced at the screen before answering gruffly:

“Hello?”

Silence.

“Hello?” Killian repeated, the frustration more evident in his voice.

When he was once again met with silence, what little patience Killian had left snapped.

“Listen, you bloody wanker, whoever the fuck you are—”

“Killian,” a voice on the other end finally said. “It’s me.”

The pinch between Killian’s brows deepened at the low, male voice with a familiar accent.

“Who the bloody hell is this?’” Killian demanded.

There was a deep sigh. Then, “It’s your father, Killian.”

Killian clenched the phone so hard in his hand, he was worried for a moment it might shatter in his grip.

Brennan Jones contacted him every few years under the guise of wanting to ‘see his only living child.’ But it always ended up being because he needed money to pay off his gambling debts or buy some more booze.

Maybe it was the residual rum in his system, or maybe it was the fact that the only thing that had ever really made any bit of sense to him had been ripped away.

Whatever it was, Brennan Jones had sure picked the wrong time to call.

“Father?” Killian repeated incredulously. “A father doesn’t abandon his wife and kids to be with his mistress. He doesn’t bleed his family dry of every cent they have and then come back when he owes his goons a couple thousand pounds.”

“Boy, who in the hell do you think you are?”

“I’m not your boy,” Killian growled.

His father laughed on the other end. “You are, like it or not. The apple doesn’t far fall from the tree. Remember that, lad. I’m all you’ve got.”

“You know what I remember?” Killian shot back, “I remember Mum crying herself to sleep every night. I remember not having new shoes for school and Liam having to teach me how to play baseball and how to talk to girls because I didn’t have a bloody father to do that.

“And you know what?” Killian laughed, almost hysterical. “Because of you, I’ve spent most of my life running away from people who care about me. Liam...Mum…” He choked back the tears threatening to escape.

And in that moment, he felt his tiny, dark world shake.

Maybe Killian didn’t have to continue down this self-fulfilling prophecy, because in that moment he realized if he did, he would end up just like the man on the other end of the phone: down and out and all alone.

But Killian had someone who truly cared for him. And the difference he realized, between him and his father, was that Killian was going to fight for what he wanted.

“I’m nothing like you,” Killian finally said. “I just want you to know that. And when I find something...worth fighting for...I’m not going to be a coward like you. I’m going to fight for it with every fiber of my being.

“You didn’t fight,” Killian growled. “So you deserve what you get.”

x x

Killian dumped the rest of the liquor in his apartment down the drain that night and Friday morning he was back at work.

His first order of business was finalizing a restraining order against Brennan Jones. The next was ordering a dozen yellow daisies from the florist down the street. Killian ignored his colleagues’ curious expressions when the delivery man brought the bright bouquet and he let Gold know he would be back.

Killian had played this over and over in his mind, but nothing could have prepared him for the wretched nervousness he felt in his stomach standing outside Emma’s apartment holding the flowers in his hand.

It took him almost ten minutes to work up the nerve to knock, but before his fist connected the door flew open. When his eyes met the bright green before him, Killian just about forgot everything he was going to say.

“What are you doing here?” Emma breathed.

“I uh…” He reached up and scratched behind his ear, hands sweating and flowers practically slipping from his grasp. “I just wanted to, um…”

He jumped when one of her neighbors slammed their apartment door shut.

“You’re so tense,” she said.

The concern in her voice—the fact that she was still concerned for him even after everything they'd been through—tugged at something deep in his gut and strengthened his resolve.

“I’m just...getting really tired of not waking up next to you,” he said. Emma’s mouth opened in a silent gasp as he continued, “And I know that I’ve made a lot of mistakes...but I’m not going to allow letting you go without a fight to be one of them.”

Emma’s eyes softened.

“I know I’m not worthy of your love—” She opened her mouth to argue, “but you deserve to be loved...and cherished...and reminded everyday how bloody brilliant you are—” Emma couldn't help but look down with a blush, but he tilted her chin up gently— “And I don’t think anyone else can love you...the way I can. If you’ll let me. If you...want me…”

Killian barely finished his sentence before Emma lunged forward and pressed her lips to his. The kiss remained chaste and ended far too quickly.

Killian rested his forehead against hers and smiled down at her.

“You came back,” she whispered.

“Aye.”

“Why?”

“Don’t you know, Emma?” She looked up at him curiously. “It's you. You’re the one I’ve been waiting for.”

Emma couldn’t stop smiling, even as Killian kissed her once again.

X X

E N D

[hgfstreamchats]

Cats Don’t Dance

highglossfinish — Yesterday at 10:16 PM Sound, picture, all good? TheAlienTazer — Yesterday at 10:16 PM I see a child kick thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 10:17 PM It is... a child :thinking: Video and audio are both fine! highglossfinish — Yesterday at 10:18 PM Excellent! Onto this awful nonsense! thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 10:19 PM Hooray! Starscreamapillar — Yesterday at 10:19 PM You chose this awful nonsense. thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 10:19 PM You know how we love nonsense

TheAlienTazer — Yesterday at 10:20 PM Twas nice stopping by Imma dip thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 10:23 PM Wait... waaaaaiiiiiiiit a minute... this setup... Starscreamapillar — Yesterday at 10:23 PM Hm? thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 10:23 PM This had better not be a human/cat romance Starscreamapillar — Yesterday at 10:24 PM It does seem odd that they have human and animal characters in the same movie.

highglossfinish — Yesterday at 10:24 PM I hate how they draw humans. Starscreamapillar — Yesterday at 10:26 PM Again, I question who is making you choose these movies you hate for viewing purposes. thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 10:26 PM concerns intensify Mimic — Yesterday at 10:26 PM hello! oh! THIS movie! highglossfinish — Yesterday at 10:26 PM Leave the penguin alone, you have the stench of three days on the bus. Mimic — Yesterday at 10:27 PM not to mention the more revolting stench of optimism highglossfinish — Yesterday at 10:27 PM He never stops inserting himself into others' business. thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 10:27 PM That had better just be unfortunate phrasing, Knock Out. highglossfinish — Yesterday at 10:28 PM This one's been a popular request for ages because people enjoy it. Starscreamapillar — Yesterday at 10:28 PM Aah, I see. highglossfinish — Yesterday at 10:28 PM I suspect I would if it starred a different protagonist. Mimic — Yesterday at 10:28 PM arguably, the correct protagonist would be this cat in the skirt highglossfinish — Yesterday at 10:28 PM Exactly! Starscreamapillar — Yesterday at 10:29 PM But she is not singing the obnoxious song. highglossfinish — Yesterday at 10:29 PM And bouncing around like she's owed something. thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 10:29 PM damn ??? profit Mimic — Yesterday at 10:30 PM "That's how Hollywood works, sure." thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 10:31 PM Wuh oh. Starscreamapillar — Yesterday at 10:31 PM Are they going to explain why there are anthropomorphic animals? highglossfinish — Yesterday at 10:31 PM They are not. thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 10:32 PM "Welcome to Hollywood!  You just signed away your soul!" highglossfinish — Yesterday at 10:32 PM She's the only character who emotes like a real being. thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 10:32 PM Hippo.  Please stop. Starscreamapillar — Yesterday at 10:33 PM She should maul him. He deserves it. thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 10:33 PM He does. highglossfinish — Yesterday at 10:33 PM This is the second time he's injured her. Mimic — Yesterday at 10:34 PM give in to the hate, Sawyer thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 10:34 PM plucking scene EVERYONE would mind Starscreamapillar — Yesterday at 10:36 PM And then he is fired, and blacklisted forever. highglossfinish — Yesterday at 10:36 PM To the delight of all. thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 10:37 PM ...this musical is actually worse than that other Ark-based musical we watched oh my god Starscreamapillar — Yesterday at 10:38 PM Cut. Mimic — Yesterday at 10:38 PM there actually was a classic hollywood ark picture so callous about the filming it forced reforms. mind you it uh... actually drowned people while filming it. thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 10:38 PM ohhhh dear highglossfinish — Yesterday at 10:38 PM Well, that just cost everyone millions of dollars. Starscreamapillar — Yesterday at 10:38 PM Ah, old movies and their killing of their casts. Mimic — Yesterday at 10:39 PM the OG snuff films. thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 10:39 PM I feel like I've seen her on Animaniacs Mimic — Yesterday at 10:39 PM might be thinking of her direct polar opposite Elmyra. no wait, I'm thinking of Tiny Toons. thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 10:41 PM damn. Mimic — Yesterday at 10:41 PM that cat was traumatized Starscreamapillar — Yesterday at 10:42 PM He does keep harming others with his self centered attitude and clumsiness. thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 10:42 PM "Listen, buddy, I know this is literally your first time acting, but that is incredibly unprofessional" highglossfinish — Yesterday at 10:43 PM "It's the 1920s, do you realize how expensive that shot was?" Hopolites — Yesterday at 10:43 PM why is the lady cat's design so different from the other Starscreamapillar — Yesterday at 10:44 PM You know why. She is meant to be 'sexy'. Hopolites — Yesterday at 10:44 PM because she has very tiny hands? tiny baby hands? Starscreamapillar — Yesterday at 10:44 PM Yes. Tiny hands and feet, and exaggerated curves. highglossfinish — Yesterday at 10:45 PM Shoved off with the obnoxious main character. Mimic — Yesterday at 10:45 PM I mean unless Danny's paws are Like That because he's part some other species and everyone's trying not to call attention to it Starscreamapillar — Yesterday at 10:45 PM Turns out cats do not dance, because he is not actually a cat. highglossfinish — Yesterday at 10:45 PM "You did a good thing, wasting everyone's time and money!" thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 10:46 PM Shouldn't an elephant's house, ah... be built to withstand his weight? Mimic — Yesterday at 10:46 PM reach for the stars, so that we might have a good time mocking you roundly for the effort highglossfinish — Yesterday at 10:47 PM Reach for the stars, miss, and drag everyone down along with you. Starscreamapillar — Yesterday at 10:48 PM Why is this somehow about class stratification? thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 10:48 PM Well. Mimic — Yesterday at 10:48 PM because animals are classic parables for talking about horrible historical racism Starscreamapillar — Yesterday at 10:48 PM It seems a bit racist, to compare minorities to animals. thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 10:49 PM I don't blame them for being amused at whatshisname ruining the shot.  I mean, they still get paid, and it's not their movie highglossfinish — Yesterday at 10:49 PM Even likable ones, which our main character is not. thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 10:50 PM I'm not totally sure how the elephant is... doing that. I mean, he doesn't have fingers Hopolites — Yesterday at 10:50 PM much like most cartoons, we really should not question it Mimic — Yesterday at 10:51 PM it's like when you get characters with hooves doing shit that is not possible without at least two fingers Starscreamapillar — Yesterday at 10:51 PM If we do not question it, than the poor character choices win. thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 10:52 PM I'm not sure elephants even have ANY articulation in their feet Mimic — Yesterday at 10:52 PM I mean... maybe some? like they can use it to feel their terrain out and adjust balance. but it's not like actual mini-limbs highglossfinish — Yesterday at 10:53 PM Oh, such symbolism! Show her the way, Danny, because she's incapable of helping herself. Sharpwing — Yesterday at 10:53 PM ngl, I can’t help but think this is a movie better watched than listened to, the animation is so fluid thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 10:53 PM awwww, no, she's going to be blamed isn't hse highglossfinish — Yesterday at 10:53 PM A very solid point. Mimic — Yesterday at 10:54 PM tbh you could probably talk people into giving this a silent movie treatment and rescoring it with a custom soundtrack thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 10:54 PM oh dear Sharpwing — Yesterday at 10:54 PM that is the worst outfit ever highglossfinish — Yesterday at 10:54 PM Cut out the dialogue and cut out Danny. thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 10:54 PM f Sharpwing — Yesterday at 10:54 PM oh please don’t kiss— yes, good aaahhh that just felt wrong Starscreamapillar — Yesterday at 10:56 PM Is she going to have him murdered? highglossfinish — Yesterday at 10:56 PM Unicron, I hope so. Mimic — Yesterday at 10:56 PM SHE IS SHOWING YOU WHO SHE IS. BELIEVE HER Sharpwing — Yesterday at 10:56 PM the color thing is interesting, though, i haven’t seen a whole movie that does it to that level, mostly just, like, shorts highglossfinish — Yesterday at 10:57 PM It's an excellent movie if you just subtract Danny. Starscreamapillar — Yesterday at 10:57 PM He is incredibly dense. Mimic — Yesterday at 10:57 PM yeah it's sort of a semi-Pleasantville treatment thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 10:57 PM hooo boy Sharpwing — Yesterday at 10:57 PM he does....bother me, yes his voice is a little familiar? who else did his actor do Hopolites — Yesterday at 10:58 PM how old is this child thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 10:58 PM seen them--yeah I was just thinking that Is she one of those child vampires? Mimic — Yesterday at 10:58 PM wh--Danny is voiced by SCOTT BAKULA?? highglossfinish — Yesterday at 10:58 PM He is! thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 10:58 PM She's 50 years old and jaded Sharpwing — Yesterday at 10:58 PM i do know the actress is actually a child— she’s just Genuinely Terrifying apparently highglossfinish — Yesterday at 10:59 PM I'm impressed with the child doing her voice. thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 10:59 PM Where did they all COME from Sharpwing — Yesterday at 10:59 PM very uhhhhhhh subspace Mimic — Yesterday at 11:01 PM please note she seems to be lumping them together for vengeance because they... showed up together for her movie, so she blames Sawyer too Starscreamapillar — Yesterday at 11:01 PM Nice of Danny to drag her down with him thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 11:01 PM right? And maybe because she saw them dancing together highglossfinish — Yesterday at 11:02 PM I was just about to say, this is hardly fair to Sawyer. thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 11:03 PM f Sharpwing — Yesterday at 11:03 PM Her face reminds me of... I think, the captain from Treasure Planet? Mimic — Yesterday at 11:03 PM Sawyer looks... so done and yeah, the captain with the great lines highglossfinish — Yesterday at 11:04 PM I despise the overanimated humans and the director in particular. Starscreamapillar — Yesterday at 11:04 PM It's definitely a strange stylistic choice. thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 11:05 PM ...Hey, this is riffing on Shirley Temple, isn't it Sharpwing — Yesterday at 11:05 PM that kid is toast. the penguin i mean and yes, probably? Starscreamapillar — Yesterday at 11:06 PM She is not wrong. Sharpwing — Yesterday at 11:07 PM is this the time, though thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 11:07 PM That sure is how water works "are ya stupid, kid" Starscreamapillar — Yesterday at 11:09 PM Yes. Yes, he is stupid. Sharpwing — Yesterday at 11:10 PM You Tried™ highglossfinish — Yesterday at 11:10 PM There Was An Attempt™. Why is she not the protagonist? Hopolites — Yesterday at 11:11 PM who knoooows Sharpwing — Yesterday at 11:11 PM She even has the protagonist ability to not look like a drowned rat during a sad solo in the rain Starscreamapillar — Yesterday at 11:11 PM She'd have too much sense to make the bad decisions Danny did to move the plot forward. thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 11:12 PM right?? Sharpwing — Yesterday at 11:12 PM Ok yeah, pretty sure you hit it on the nose there highglossfinish — Yesterday at 11:12 PM This song is superior to anything that's come out of Danny's idiot mouth so far. "How wrong I was for not taking his stupid, selfish antics seriously!" Hopolites — Yesterday at 11:14 PM "youve gotta believe in a GUYS DREAM" Sharpwing — Yesterday at 11:15 PM Side question, do you think the overanimated, overstylized humans are to make them seem unnatural and unrelatable compared to the animal protagonists? thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 11:15 PM Well, it's working! highglossfinish — Yesterday at 11:15 PM "You've got to believe in HIS DREAM, and have HIS KITTENS, and settle down to a life of combing HIS BACK HAIR." Starscreamapillar — Yesterday at 11:15 PM Disappointing. Sharpwing — Yesterday at 11:15 PM Let her be the protagonist highglossfinish — Yesterday at 11:16 PM That would have been clever, except that the animals dip into it on occasion. Danny does it constantly. Sharpwing — Yesterday at 11:16 PM good point >:/ Mimic — Yesterday at 11:16 PM "If I could charge you extra for bein' cryptic, I sure would" Starscreamapillar — Yesterday at 11:17 PM Stop filling that penguin's head with your nonsense, Danny. highglossfinish — Yesterday at 11:17 PM "But whaddo I know? I'm fat and disgustin' for some reason!" thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 11:17 PM So did they re-cast all the animals, or are they just doing it without them, or Mimic — Yesterday at 11:17 PM "Wait this would not happen on any earthly level--oh. oh this is for scheming purposes. yessss." highglossfinish — Yesterday at 11:18 PM They cast humans in animal makeup and I'm just going to stop right there. Hopolites — Yesterday at 11:19 PM AH YES BECAuse eating food is BAAAD Mimic — Yesterday at 11:19 PM oh, I'm presuming they terrified Danny into doing a right take on day 1 and that's all they needed for the movie highglossfinish — Yesterday at 11:19 PM This movie is inexplicably against food. thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 11:19 PM ........ Sharpwing — Yesterday at 11:20 PM Huh... the moment with the raincloud dialogue mirroring the threatening henchman was kinda nice thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 11:20 PM So he's like... a gorilla or something right? Mimic — Yesterday at 11:21 PM yup Sharpwing — Yesterday at 11:21 PM ostensibly highglossfinish — Yesterday at 11:21 PM Every now and then, they'll make a very impressive artistic choice and it becomes all the more frustrating that this isn't a better movie. Sharpwing — Yesterday at 11:21 PM exactlyyyyyy ugh i like it and i’m mad about it Mimic — Yesterday at 11:22 PM they have good ideas Sharpwing — Yesterday at 11:22 PM OKAY THAT WAS SCARY Mimic — Yesterday at 11:22 PM it's just wrapped in a sort of terrible paella of trying to be kid-friendly? thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 11:23 PM that was a short movie Sharpwing — Yesterday at 11:23 PM and you, penguin boy? are not? thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 11:23 PM show them your meow Sharpwing — Yesterday at 11:23 PM skdjfhdf isn’t it set in a time when movies were shorter? highglossfinish — Yesterday at 11:24 PM Danny's little stunt destroyed their budget. thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 11:24 PM "lover of children and animals" That's a weird way to put it, about a 5-10 year old Starscreamapillar — Yesterday at 11:25 PM I do not think she is actually a child. Hopolites — Yesterday at 11:25 PM yeah i suspect she's like dollface from Batman Mimic — Yesterday at 11:26 PM you mean babydoll? Starscreamapillar — Yesterday at 11:26 PM Or one of those child vampires, as was suggested earlier. Hopolites — Yesterday at 11:26 PM yeah babydoll highglossfinish — Yesterday at 11:26 PM How nice of the species-ist audience, waiting for him to rally everyone. thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 11:26 PM ikr Mimic — Yesterday at 11:26 PM babydoll fucked me up as a child. legitimately fucking heartbreaking. Sharpwing — Yesterday at 11:27 PM twitch highglossfinish — Yesterday at 11:27 PM The overstylized Danny, ugh. Sharpwing — Yesterday at 11:28 PM DID SHE TURN INTO A TABLE thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 11:28 PM Maybe Hopolites — Yesterday at 11:28 PM yeah why did they have that switch Sharpwing — Yesterday at 11:29 PM of course that was a hit Starscreamapillar — Yesterday at 11:29 PM This is a film theater, why did they have any switches? thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 11:30 PM why do we even have that lever Sharpwing — Yesterday at 11:30 PM yes thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 11:30 PM f Sharpwing — Yesterday at 11:30 PM rip Starscreamapillar — Yesterday at 11:30 PM And just like that, the audience wasn't species-ist, anymore. thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 11:30 PM ...f highglossfinish — Yesterday at 11:30 PM "Another girl. You stay away from me." Sharpwing — Yesterday at 11:31 PM i wish Hopolites — Yesterday at 11:31 PM yes, one actor was clearly the only problem highglossfinish — Yesterday at 11:31 PM So remember, kids, all you need to overcome horrific raci SPECIES-ism is a song in your heart and a very modest amount of gumption! Sharpwing — Yesterday at 11:31 PM don’t forget the incredible amount of dumb luck thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 11:32 PM And someone who apparently doesn't get how the special effects work! highglossfinish — Yesterday at 11:32 PM And the willingness of others to overlook your idiotic, obnoxious, incompetent, self-centered shenanigans. Mimic — Yesterday at 11:32 PM and, if you put powerful people on the spot, you will completely fuck them over with no chance for them screwing you over~! Starscreamapillar — Yesterday at 11:33 PM In no way will they leverage their money and resources against you. Sharpwing — Yesterday at 11:33 PM in that point’s defense, she is a literal child who had previously always had time to plan. i don’t think that moment was unreasonable. thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 11:33 PM Works every time! Starscreamapillar — Yesterday at 11:35 PM Your suggested videos list is concerning me. Hopolites — Yesterday at 11:35 PM ah let's watch a man break a game Sharpwing — Yesterday at 11:36 PM i don’t mean to be a bother but this is a little loud maybe Thank you! :blush: highglossfinish — Yesterday at 11:36 PM It's concerning to me, I have no idea why they're recommending these things. thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 11:36 PM It vaporized that woman. Mimic — Yesterday at 11:36 PM in theory thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 11:37 PM Yes.  Strange. Sharpwing — Yesterday at 11:38 PM 39,000??? thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 11:38 PM My god Sharpwing — Yesterday at 11:38 PM is that the coliseum Hopolites — Yesterday at 11:38 PM yes Sharpwing — Yesterday at 11:38 PM ...did i spell that right thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 11:38 PM "please describe what you were doing when it crashed" Sharpwing — Yesterday at 11:39 PM “no.” thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 11:39 PM I love it. Ha! Sharpwing — Yesterday at 11:41 PM EEEEAGH thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 11:41 PM Dear god Sharpwing — Yesterday at 11:41 PM NOOOO NOPE Hopolites — Yesterday at 11:41 PM oh boy Sharpwing — Yesterday at 11:42 PM i dont like thaaaaaaaat thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 11:42 PM Jesus "oh, it's just an atm" Starscreamapillar — Yesterday at 11:45 PM The giant Cube. Hopolites — Yesterday at 11:45 PM what is this was the allspark highglossfinish — Yesterday at 11:45 PM Yes. Starscreamapillar — Yesterday at 11:46 PM The Allspark would have been more fun if it were full of torment and screaming. Sharpwing — Yesterday at 11:46 PM it would explain why so many are reluctant to die highglossfinish — Yesterday at 11:49 PM Let's see, any suggestions? thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 11:50 PM Hmmmmm. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qh6sD66a8cY YouTube Call Me Kevin Among Us but I am a horrible doctor

Sharpwing — Yesterday at 11:50 PM my youtube history is more “vaguely interesting” than “funny” but i can look to see if i have anything there i’d reccommend, if need be thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 11:52 PM Marinating. Sharpwing — Yesterday at 11:52 PM oh wait no i do have something funny thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 11:53 PM Ha! Sharpwing — Yesterday at 11:53 PM ....if you don’t dislike penis jokes https://youtu.be/5DH9IZ01Qqg YouTube zefrank1 True Facts: Bobbit Worm and Polychaete Pals Hopolites — Yesterday at 11:53 PM the only thing i have is about an hour long Sharpwing — Yesterday at 11:53 PM there’s actual science in there, i swear

highglossfinish — Yesterday at 11:53 PM Not in the slightest. Sharpwing — Yesterday at 11:53 PM >:D Starscreamapillar — Yesterday at 11:53 PM https://youtu.be/z6KQtbtKtNs YouTube TeamFourStar My Hero Academia Season 1 In 5 Minutes

Sharpwing — Yesterday at 11:54 PM i love this guy’s whole channel, he has so much actual education presented in the most immature way possible Mimic — Yesterday at 11:55 PM saaame thenightetc2 — Yesterday at 11:56 PM Ehhehehe Right on the camera Sharpwing — Yesterday at 11:58 PM rEd Hopolites — Yesterday at 11:58 PM delicately sets this in here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Shmi76Pax8 YouTube Norwich Games Festival Stuart Ashens - Terrible Old Games You've Probably Never Heard Of

Sharpwing — Today at 12:03 AM >:D Mimic — Today at 12:03 AM now, for a delightful sojourn into cursed nature facts Hopolites — Today at 12:03 AM fun Sharpwing — Today at 12:04 AM but what do they do before they’ve built the tube thenightetc2 — Today at 12:05 AM ... Sharpwing — Today at 12:05 AM no yeah that’s a real animal Hopolites — Today at 12:05 AM immature giggles SINGLE PANT LEG Sharpwing — Today at 12:06 AM “it’s like a toilet flush!” Hopolites — Today at 12:06 AM This is Soundwave highglossfinish — Today at 12:06 AM It is. It really is. Starscreamapillar — Today at 12:06 AM .... Elaborate? Sharpwing — Today at 12:06 AM he never does really talk about the acorn worm... resisting the urge to google. yes, i too would appreciate elaboration assuming Soundwave would not make me Disappear if I knew. these jaws though HOLOGRAPHIC WORM he’s so genuinely happy for the octopus, it’s adorable Hopolites — Today at 12:10 AM YOU DIE Sharpwing — Today at 12:10 AM what a hangover “it’s muffled” Hopolites — Today at 12:11 AM this is wild Sharpwing — Today at 12:11 AM (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧ sea worms Starscreamapillar — Today at 12:11 AM Organics are so weird. Sharpwing — Today at 12:12 AM tubes with bits attached Hopolites — Today at 12:12 AM to be fair the ocean is filled with mild nightmares Sharpwing — Today at 12:12 AM true thenightetc2 — Today at 12:13 AM f Mimic — Today at 12:14 AM I did laugh quite hard in the manga when a chapter just ended with "NOW EAT MY HAIR" thenightetc2 — Today at 12:16 AM PFF Hopolites — Today at 12:17 AM WHEEEEE] thenightetc2 — Today at 12:17 AM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNzkaBi_EHE YouTube combustible-lemons you reposted in the wrong hero academia

Hopolites — Today at 12:17 AM THE NOISES Sharpwing — Today at 12:17 AM this is Terrible Hopolites — Today at 12:17 AM NYEH Sharpwing — Today at 12:17 AM and yet thenightetc2 — Today at 12:17 AM As long as we're meming Sharpwing — Today at 12:17 AM mesmerizing Mimic — Today at 12:19 AM I still can't believe the fact that MHA got a way with a character just being... Zuko from ATLA. thenightetc2 — Today at 12:19 AM Right? Starscreamapillar — Today at 12:19 AM It has become a common trope these days. Sharpwing — Today at 12:19 AM “but it’s weird that it happened twice” thenightetc2 — Today at 12:20 AM "less thrilled to read it" Ha! Wait if he's at sea how is he getting letters Starscreamapillar — Today at 12:22 AM Ha! thenightetc2 — Today at 12:22 AM OH MY Mary. Starscreamapillar — Today at 12:23 AM Obviously. thenightetc2 — Today at 12:23 AM ... Mimic — Today at 12:23 AM EVERY LETTER, WORSE THAN THE LAST thenightetc2 — Today at 12:24 AM Oh my god Oh dear Starscreamapillar — Today at 12:25 AM At least she sent him something to help with the hard times. thenightetc2 — Today at 12:26 AM Not a fan of that! Sharpwing — Today at 12:27 AM i literally just noticed the clock highglossfinish — Today at 12:28 AM The contestants are all Smokescreen. Starscreamapillar — Today at 12:28 AM Ha! thenightetc2 — Today at 12:29 AM Rude. Starscreamapillar — Today at 12:29 AM Yes. Hopolites — Today at 12:29 AM yeah Sharpwing — Today at 12:30 AM I would say You Tried™ again, but I’m not sure it’s applicable. highglossfinish — Today at 12:30 AM And that's all I've got! Starscreamapillar — Today at 12:30 AM I am not certain jam would lead to a 'good night'. Hopolites — Today at 12:30 AM what's lower than trying Sharpwing — Today at 12:30 AM Thanks!:blush::two_hearts: It was great to be here! Starscreamapillar — Today at 12:30 AM Thank you for the entertainment, Knock Out. highglossfinish — Today at 12:30 AM It was marvelous having you! thenightetc2 — Today at 12:31 AM Thank you for hosting! Starscreamapillar — Today at 12:31 AM It was certainly a time. Mimic — Today at 12:31 AM great being here, as always~ Hopolites — Today at 12:31 AM twas fun! highglossfinish — Today at 12:31 AM Good night, everyone! Mimic — Today at 12:31 AM good night, all~ thenightetc2 — Today at 12:31 AM Goodnight! Sharpwing — Today at 12:31 AM Goodnight!♡ Starscreamapillar — Today at 12:31 AM Good Night

[heartlandians]

New Traditions, part 3

The people of Hudson find themselves in new positions during the Holidays as it’s time to create new traditions.

Characters: Amy, Ty, Georgie, Jack, Lisa, Lou, Mitch, Peter, Katie, Tim, Casey, Jen, Wyatt, Brick and Jade. A/N: Sets around the end of season 11, but doesn’t really follow any of the season’s story lines (since, obviously, I don’t know how the finale will play out); some themes are borrowed, though. Basically the characters are the main ones from season 11, but there is no Baby Lyndy after all because she didn’t really fit into the story, so in this universe Ty and Amy are married but don’t have any kids.

* * * *

“I am an idiot," Tim Fleming said as he slammed his truck door shut when he stepped out and faced a road--or what should have been a road--that was covered under a thick white snow blanket. His jaw was clenched and his hands found their way to his hips as he took in the unfortunate sight. It took everything in him to hold back the frustration that built up to be anger the longer he looked at what was in front of him.

The only reason he didn’t just toss his hat off and kick the tires of his truck was probably the woman standing next to him. Casey. She too looked puzzled, even disappointed, but stayed calm and seemed more worried about him than about their ruined plans.

So that’s it? Tim thought. We haven't even gotten to the fishing cabins and the whole thing is already ruined? After the year we've had, we deserve better than this.

Tim had imagined that they’d face some obstacles, since Jack’s fishing cabin wasn’t a luxurious tourist attraction with the latest bells and whistles, but Tim had expected something like wet firewood (which was why he had brought some with them) and maybe even a smoky chimney, but not even getting to their destination seemed like an awful start.

“Didn’t you say that your friend Stumpy was supposed to clear this?” Casey checked, trying to remember if she'd even got the name right. Stumpy seemed like an odd name. There had to be a story behind it...

They'd planned this trip for weeks now, but with both of them being so busy with their lives just before Christmas, Tim had figured he could use some help with getting things ready. That was where Stumpy had come in.

“I did," Tim replied, squeezing his neck out of frustration. He then let out a sad laugh, as he realized maybe he couldn’t even be mad about this. “But I can’t even say that I blame him. I blame myself for being stupid enough to think that he would do this favor for me. I should have known I couldn't trust him to do this. I’m just going to call him.” He took his cell phone out of his pocket and started to look for Stumpy’s number.

“Tim, wait." Casey stopped him. “What can he even do at this point? It’ll take him hours before he could even get here. By that time it'll already be dark," she pointed out.

Tim lowered his phone, removing his finger from the green mobile icon. “Doesn’t mean I couldn’t still yell at him,” Tim said, clearly looking for someone to aim his anger at.

Casey sighed, disapproving of his method. “I know it looks like this isn’t going to happen, but there has to be some other way. How far long is the cabin exactly?”

“It’s still a long way to go," Tim explained as this would have been Casey’s first time at the cabin and she didn’t know the direction. “If there weren't this much snow, it would be an easier trek, but, well...”

He glared at the snowy road before them, knowing that they would probably be knee-deep in it and exhausted by the time they'd get to the cabin. That didn’t exactly sound like something he'd had in mind when he'd “booked them” this get-away break from Christmas.

“What if--” Casey let the sentence hang in the air as she went back to the truck and started to dug something out from the back.

Meanwhile, Tim waited, sighing to himself, and wondered if they would have to sleep in the truck or find some cheap motel to stay in as they wouldn’t make back to Hudson anymore, not before the day would turn into night, anyway.

“We use these?” Casey suggested when she came back to Tim, holding two pair of snow shoes. Tim goggled them suspiciously.

“Snow shoes?” he asked when he couldn’t imagine himself wearing them. Casey could have just as well shown him clown shoes.

Almost hurt how quickly Tim was dismissing her idea, Casey pursed her lips together. “You got other bright ideas?”

“Well, no, but... why do you even have those?” Tim wanted to know.

“Why not? Besides, if I didn't have them, we wouldn’t even have this option. So, what do you say? And let me remind you that we’ve been planning this trip for weeks now. It’s either these shoes, or we go back.”

Tim looked at them again, wondering if he was crazy or just crazy in love with this woman because he heard himself say, “Fine. We’ll use those. But you’re going to help me carry the firewood or I might dislocate my shoulder again. I wasn’t planning on carrying them more than a few meters from the truck to the cabin." He was back to bellyaching again, as usual.

“You kidding me?” Casey said. “I expected to do that anyway. I mean, do you remember when we arm wrestled and you lost? Clearly I’m the one with more strength," she continued as she went back to the truck so they could get started packing all the stuff they would need. Casey could almost sense Tim collecting things to defend himself with.

“You know, you caught me on a bad day." Tim tried to find excuses. “I mean, that was my weaker arm. I figured you could use the leverage. And besides, I couldn’t have risked hurting my shoulder again, you know.”

Casey chuckled. “You keep telling yourself that.”

* * * *

Back at Heartland, Wyatt was helping Georgie brush the horses. The day had been full of chores, and it seemed there was no end in sight. While it was hard work, Wyatt wasn’t complaining; he was always up for any kind of challenge, and besides, this gave him an excuse to hang out with Georgie.

“If someone had told me a year ago I’d be looking after horses on Christmas Eve, I would have said they were full of crap," Wyatt hummed, running the brush along Buddy’s coat. It wasn’t that he was completely unfamiliar with horses, but he would rather spent his time around his Mustang and not around its four-legged versions.

“Well, you’re doing me and everyone else here a huge favor," Georgie said pleasantly. She wasn’t even that mad that she was elbows-deep in chores because the company made all the difference. “Besides, I like having you at Heartland.”

“Yeah?” Wyatt seemed happy to hear that. He smiled smugly to himself, making sure he'd gotten this side of Buddy covered.

Georgie nodded in the other stall as she reached to brush Spartan’s back, then realizing Wyatt wasn’t able to see it. “Yeah. Can I ask you something?”

“Shoot," Wyatt urged, going under Buddy’s neck to the other side of the horse.

“Brick seems to be a pretty good rider for his age, and he has that little cowboy thing down. How come he’s so good with horses and you’re not?” Georgie asked.

“I'll try not to take that as an insult,” Wyatt said as the first thing, making Georgie smile as she knew he knew she hadn't meant it that way even though it did sound a little bit rude. “But, uh . . . I guess it was more of his thing with our dad. My dad was always into rodeo things and stuff like that. Me, not so much. There were pictures of me wearing a plaid shirt and one of those fancy buckles while I was growing up, but I think that as soon as I knew how to work matches, I destroyed them.”

“What?!” Georgie chuckled. “You did not!”

“I did, trust me. I mean, that’s just child abuse, using your kid to your own amusement--I didn’t consent to that," Wyatt went on, making Georgie chuckle as she couldn’t imagine there being anything wrong about wearing plaid. “So, yeah. I guess I kind of wanted to be the black sheep of the family.” He shrugged to himself.

“What about Jen? Is she into the rodeo thing?” Georgie asked. She'd only gotten to know Jen mostly through Maggie’s, and it almost felt weird asking her these type of things, especially because she was Wyatt’s mom. It was almost like stepping over some type of boundary.

“Well, she went to see Dad do all those crazy stunts, but she only rides horses every now and then. She’s more into the home mom thing, I guess," Wyatt explained.

“So... if you and your dad were so different, did you ever do anything together?” Georgie asked carefully, genuinely curious about this part of Wyatt’s life. He'd never talked about Curtis that much, but Georgie being very close with her own father, she couldn’t imagine there being any other way, even if there were differences between interests. She only hoped that if things got too uncomfortable for Wyatt to talk about, he could just tell her to stop asking.

But it seemed like this time he didn’t.

“Actually, usually, during Christmas we had this family thing," Wyatt explained, opening up a little because he hadn't been able to stop from thinking about it for a week because this was his first Christmas without experiencing it.

He was too scared to bring it up to Jen or Brick, almost as if fearing he would hurt their healing process, but someone from the outside, someone understanding, could probably be the person he could share it with.

Georgie listened. “What is it?”

“We used to go and play hockey with this family next door. They had like six kids," he shared. “My dad was a goaltender; I was a forward. Brick was too young to play, but I could tell he couldn’t wait to get on skates and come along. He’s kind of fearless like that.” Wyatt smiled as the nostalgic memories washed over him. “I wasn’t always on the same page with Dad, but he knew how much that day meant to me. We did that ever since it was just two of us, and when Jen married my dad, she became part of it too. She didn’t play, but she brought the best hot cocoa with her and cheered on the sides. It kind of helped us slowly become a family, as weird as that may sound.”

Georgie walked outside the stall as she felt maybe this was something that could make Wyatt upset and in need of comforting. She was also kind of mesmerized by the way Wyatt had suddenly decided to open up to her like this.

“We would have probably had Brick on the skates this year, but Dad got sick, and then... life just sort of became all about that, so... ” Wyatt shrugged again, drifting off. “It’s kind of weird: back at last Christmas, Dad hadn't told me that he was sick, but I think he knew himself; I mean, that’s what everyone said after he passed, that he knew longer than he let us in on. He probably knew it was going to be his last time playing. Meanwhile, I had no idea. Maybe I would've played harder if I had, or something. Made him proud.”

“I’m so sorry,” Georgie said as she reached Buddy’s stall. Wyatt was almost startled as he'd drifted off into the memories and hadn't noticed Georgie walking closer.

“Well, it is what it is," Wyatt said, quickly back to folding his heart inside. “I guess it’s time to make new traditions, eh? Who says Christmas has to smell like gingerbread and candy canes when there’s horse crap?” He tried to smile, but it felt forced.

Georgie smiled a little, but there was a sad trace in her expression. She could tell Wyatt was hurting, but he tried to--once again--disguise it behind his witty comments.

“I guess so," Georgie replied, feeling like maybe this was all she could--or should--get out of Wyatt at this point.