#reeeeeeeeally making it hard for me to enjoy the show!

[leupagus]

My Ted Lasso 3.08 thoughts are multiple and varied and I'll write them up tomorrow, but mostly: Jason Sudeikis shouldn't be grafting his own relationship drama onto his character and this season has suffered because he's doing just that.

[symphonyselfships]

Birds of prey can sing too

Words: 850 

Notes: Hurt/comfort because school can burn 

Summary: When Rebekah doesn’t arrive at a previously planned meeting, Edelgard figures out why

Rap rap rap. 

Three sharp knocks pierced through what seemed to be a still room. From the other side of the door, Edelgard frowned. Surely by now Rebekah had grown accustomed to the pattern of her hand against the wood, so why was she silent?

“Rebekah? It’s me, Edelgard. You weren’t at dinner today. Is everything alright?" 

Silence. 

Giving a sigh, she reflected on the past few conversations she had in regards to this issue. In the past few months, Edelgard had enjoyed the company Rebekah provided during particularly chaotic days for the Black Eagle House. Her demure nature was a welcoming peace after long hours of wrangling irresponsible classmates under control. So naturally, when Edelgard had invited her to share dinner together and later tea, it wasn’t an uncommon occurrence. What was, in fact, rare was that Rebekah didn’t show up. Edelgard knew that she herself wasn’t one to simply be stood up, being the Imperial Princess. This, and the fact that Rebekah would not be absent without a reason, is what sparked her concern. Upon noticing Rebekah’s truancy at dinner, Edelgard had sat down next to that Annette girl of the Blue Lions, who looked thoroughly terrified at her presence. Edelgard knew the pair were friends, and proceeded to ask her about Rebekah’s whereabouts.

"Mmphrg” was all that had come out of Annette’s mouth at first. She swallowed her food and told Edelgard what was probably the cause of this dilemma. 

“Rebekah? Well, Professor Hanneman assigned her this super-tough research paper yesterday, something about the effects of aerodynamics on black magic cuz she reeeeeeeeally wants to be a Dark Flier and-" 

"Thanks,” was all Edelgard had said in response before striding across the dining hall. 

Now she was here, getting more and more worried with each second of quiet. Leaning her head against the door, she listened for any sound at all, white hair falling across her shoulders. Eavesdropping was not a hobby of the Imperial Princess, but today she made an exception. Within a few seconds, muffled sobs faintly graced her ears. Between breaths, Rebekah was saying something Edelgard couldn’t make it out. Knowing the context, she was sure the words weren’t pretty. 

“I’m coming in." 

The door was unlocked as Edelgard stepped into Rebekah’s room. She made sure to gently shut it behind her as Rebekah frantically wiped her eyes, desperately trying to conceal the remains of her tears. Her desk was scattered with various papers and the frustrated scribbles across them, and several quills were broken. Books were tossed around on the floor, and her voice was throaty, strained as she stammered "Edelgard- Edelgard I’m so sorry, I got so wrapped up in this stupid paper and I completely forgot about our dinner and I’m such an idiot-” “Stop.” Eyes rimmed with red, Rebekah looked up at her, surprised. “.. huh?” Edelgard sighed, kneeling on the floor beside Rebekah’s chair. She quickly took out a handkerchief, offering it to her. “Slow down. We both know calling yourself things like that won’t solve anything. Use this, and take a few deep breaths.” Rebekah swallowed hard and nodded, taking the handkerchief with shaking hands. She wiped her eyes, inhaling sharply, only to cover them and let out a choked cry. “I’m sorry Edelgard, I just can’t!" 

Edelgard felt a sudden pang in her heart, sympathy striking hard for the girl she had gotten so close to. She gently took Rebekah’s wrists, pulling her hands away from her eyes. She overturned them so that she was holding both of her hands, and gave them a small squeeze. Edelgard retracted from her previous sharpness, and spoke in a tone that she had only ever reserved for her family. "Look at me, Rebekah… we both know this work is difficult. Life is difficult, in so many ways." 

Her eyes briefly flickered to her hair. 

"However, I know you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t deserve it. You earned your place in this Academy, and Rebekah, I cannot begin to speak of how admirable that is. In the Empire I will create, you are the perfect example of the kind of people I want in it. I know you can overcome this obstacle. I am here for you and I…." 

Edelgard felt herself go slightly pink. 

”…will always try to be.“ 

Where Edelgard turned pink, Rebekah went red. She shifted a little in her chair, and Edelgard realized how long exactly she had been holding her hands. She immediately let go as gracefully as she could, coughing slightly. Rebekah laughed, a little light in her eyes returning, and Edelgard felt herself smile. 

"Ahem, well. Dinner is over, and you must be hungry,” she said, straightening up from the floor. “Let’s get some food in you, we can still have tea." 

Rebekah stood up herself, stretching and rubbing her eyes for a final time. With a newfound energy in her voice, she said; "That sounds amazing, Edelgard. Do you mind if I tell you how this paper is going? I’d really love your feedback…”

Edelgard nodded and offered her arm to her.

“I don’t mind at all.”

Rebekah gave a small giggle and took it, and they strode out of her room together. 

“Aerodynamics, correct?" 

"UGHHHHHHHH" 

[keelywolfe]

FIC: Pillars of Creation; Epilogue (baon)

Summary: It’s not a date, thank you. Edge only agreed to take Stretch to the planetarium, that was all. That doesn’t make it a date.  Several Years and One Wedding Later

Prequel to the series, set after “Seeing Stars Through Clouds’

If you were ever curious how these two got together, well, here you go, their first date outing together! It’s super!   What do you know, it was super!

Note: Oh, y’all wanted some fluff? Brace yourselves, here it comes!

Tags: Spicyhoney,  Established Relationship, Sweeter Than Stretch’s Coffee, FLUFF!!

part of the ‘by any other name’ series.

Read it on AO3

or

Read it here!

~~*~~

Epilogue

“you gonna tell me where we’re going, babe?”

Edge spared a glance at his husband where he was sprawled back on his seat. Spring was finally putting in a proper appearance and the top was down on the car, letting the sunshine and fresh air spill over them. With his sockets closed and his face tilted up into the breeze, Stretch’s serenity was a pretty temptation and if there had been a handy stoplight or sign, Edge would have stolen a kiss.

It was the first time he ever felt like grumbling over a streak of green lights.

Best not to look, then. Edge kept his attention on the road. “That would rather be the opposite of the word ‘surprise’, I believe.”

“that is true,” Stretch agreed. He leaned forward, deliberately putting himself into the sideline of Edge’s vision. “but i reeeeeeeallly want to know!”

“And you can reeeeeeeeally wait,” Edge told him, perfectly mimicking his wheedling whine.

The most apt description of the way Stretch’s expression changed would be comical dismay. He flopped back into his seat and scrabbled for his phone, “aw, damn, do that again!”

“Absolutely not.”

“you shit, no one will ever believe me,” Stretch groaned through his laughter.

“You’re right, they won’t,” Edge said serenely. “You’ll try yet again to tell them that secretly, I am hilarious, and they will only shake their heads and think of what a fool in love you must be.”

“Yeah, well, they’re half right…” Stretch trailed off as they made a turn and Edge waited, patiently. He was not disappointed.

“we’re going to the planetarium?” he said gleefully. He practically clapped his hands in delight, and it was probably only Edge’s steadying hand on his knee that kept him from shortcutting from the car before it completely stopped. “we haven’t been here in a while—” Some of his delight dimmed into confusion. “but they aren’t open on mondays?”

“Normally, that would be true,” Edge agreed. He parked the car and Stretch was out in an instant, opening the door properly as he was well-aware of how much Edge hated people sliding over it when the top was down. “I pulled some strings.”

He caught Stretch’s hand, holding on though he quickened his pace to match his husband’s enthusiasm. The door was unlocked and inside, a young man without a trace of acne was waiting.

He grinned at the sight of them. “Hey, guys!”

Edge freed his husband’s hand to allow Stretch and Antonio to go through their elaborate ritual of a handshake before offering a more sedate fist bump of his own.

“Hello, Tony,” Edge nodded to him. “How is the internship going?”

“Going great, Edge, thanks, man,” Tony said happily. “Alphys is a sweetheart to work for. I should be finishing my Master’s this semester.” He stepped back to the turnstile and bowed flamboyantly. “Now, if you gentleman would like to step forward. Two tickets, I assume?”

“Yes. And a time slot for the large telescope, please.”

“You got it.”

Stretch was bouncing on his toes next to Edge, peering inside at the shadowed gift shop and the advertising posters. “what show are we seeing?”

“I think you’ll like it,” Tony winked at Edge. “Nebulae, Interstellar Gasses, and Dust.”

Stretch stilled, glancing over a the two of them. “seriously?” He blinked, then, eye lights rolling up in thought and Edge could almost see the calculations flashing. His excitement faded into dismay, exactly what Edge hadn’t wanted to see. “well, fuck, it’s our anniversary, isn’t it? sort of. i completely forgot, i’m sorry, babe, i—

Edge laid a gloved finger across his teeth, silencing him, uncaring of Tony discreetly looking away. “We have an anniversary for you to remember, I certainly didn’t expect you to keep tabs on this one. Besides, I wanted to surprise you and if you’d been thinking of anniversaries, it wouldn’t have been much of one. All right?”

Stretch nodded and smiled, kissing the finger still pressed to his mouth.

“Good. Now, let’s see the show.”

They went through the turnstile and Tony called to them. “Enjoy the show, guys!”

“we will!” Stretch called back.

They had their choice of seats and the moment Stretch picked his, Edge sat next to him, catching one of his hands in his own, twining their fingers together. With them being the only patrons, Edge didn’t bother dimming his eye lights. It kept his vision clearer even in the darkness as the starry heavens began moving above them.

Not that he was watching the show.

Next to him, Stretch’s attention was glued to it, his little gasps of delight, the excited way he squeezed Edge’s hand whenever the picture zoomed in on the interstellar visions above them. Edge could recognize some of them now; the Horseshoe nebula, the Crab nebula, the Pillars of Creation.

Stretch gazed upward in awe as if he’d never seen such glory, the universe stretched out before him, and Edge held his hand, his thumb rubbing the smooth metal of his wedding band as he watched his husband’s joy.

~~*~~

It was later than he’d intended when they finally left the planetarium. Tony had been right all those years ago, the big telescope was an excellent addition to a date, and it was relatively private…he was going to owe a large favor for that, but Edge called it well worth the price.

Stretch’s blurry languidness from the…viewing…lasted exactly as long as it took to get into the car.

“…that is one of their best shows, i love that one…”

“I enjoyed it, too,” Edge agreed.

“…and it’s hard to see with the naked eye, but some new photographs show changes in the pillars that might be caused by the creation of a baby sun. which totally makes sense, they are just baby sun factories and…”

“Space mothers, then?” Edge asked, teasingly.

Stretch laughed, “yeah! something like that! anyway, they are so cool and…”

He let that excited chatter wash over him while he drove, asking occasional questions, teasing and cajoling to keep Stretch talking until they pulled into another parking lot.

If it were possible, Stretch brightened even more when he saw where they were, “going all out, babe?”

Edge caught hold of his hand, brushing a gentle kiss across his knuckles. “If stopping for coffee is going all out, your standards are tragically low.”

“can’t be, i married you,” Stretch said cheerfully. He started towards the door, pausing when Edge didn’t follow. “what?”

“Just a moment,” Edge popped the trunk and retrieved a tastefully wrapped package. “Don’t get your hopes up, it isn’t for you.”

“didn’t want it anyway,” Stretch said loftily. But he caught hold of Edge’s free hand, squeezing it gently as they made their way to the doors. Above them was a wide banner declaring, ‘Now Open!’, and there was a subtle sticker on the door next to the credit card decals, one that stated in bright, easy to read letters, ‘Monsters Welcome!’

The bell that chimed when they opened the door was different, but it held the same cheery note, announcing their entrance. Not that anyone looked at them. The tables were filled with Monsters and Humans, many with laptops or tablets, and all of them with a drink of some sort or a pastry. Behind the counter, Debbie was practically flying, cups appearing in her hands and drinks being set on the end of the counter with the cheery call of a name. Jennie and Hussain were with her and there was a new face. A young Monster from the Bun clan was filling the pastry cabinet where a discreet little sign in the corner stated all the goods were fresh from the Bun bakery in New New Home.

The line was long, but it went quickly and soon they were at the front.

“Hussain, can you take over on register for a minute?” Deb called, gesturing impatiently for them to step off to the side as she walked out from behind the counter. “C’mere, you!”

Stretch leaned down into her tight hug and her smile was warm as she looked up, up, at them, “I’m so glad you two could make it!”

“We wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Edge assured her and while she didn’t offer him a hug, as he knew she wouldn’t, she did pat his arm gently and that he allowed.

“looks like the opening is going really well,” Stretch glanced back into the room. The line was moving capably under Hussain’s expertise and everyone seemed to be enjoying their purchases, even distracted as they were by their various devices.

“Yes!” Debbie laughed, “Busy, but yes, it’s going wonderfully! It’s good to be back, boys, I mean it.”

“We won’t keep you long,” Edge assured her. He held out the package and Debbie took it curiously. “Go ahead, open it.”

She did, with a sound of ripping paper and she was giggling before the wrapping even fell to the floor. “Look!” she called, and held up the chalkboard.

It wasn’t an exact replacement. It was a little wider and instead of being written in chalk, the title was painted at the top in Edge’s precise hand, ‘Time Me! Beat the Monster Challenge!’. Chalk dangled from a piece of twine, ready to be used.

A cheer rose from the baristas and, to Edge’s surprise, from the people sitting scattered around the shop, clapping and laughter.

Debbie set the chalkboard on a clear space with a dramatic flair before turning back to them, a brow raised in challenge. “You got something for me?”

“oh, i’ve been waiting for this,” Stretch grinned devilishly. Other people were gathering behind him, patrons crowding up to watch. “are you ready?”

“Ready!”

Edge stood back and watched while Stretch rattled off some monstrosity. The shop was different, the placement of their tools and ingredients changed, but Debbie moved with her normal speed, mixing and pumping syrup, dashing in a shot of espresso, and adding a large cone of whipping cream to the top before setting it speedily in front of Stretch.

“Time?” she panted. A single bead of sweat ran from her hairline.

“a minute twenty-seven!” Stretch crowed and a cheer rose behind him, laughter and clapping as Debbie bowed and turned to write the time on her new chalkboard.

A quick picture later and Stretch was mostly lost in the crowd around him, chattering about his twitter and yes, a ‘venti caramel macchiato, half-skim, half almond milk, extra shot, extra-hot, extra-whip, with a chocolate sprinkle’ was a real drink, wasn’t it sitting right there?

Debbie watched it all and her indulgent smile was one Edge knew well. Finally, she turned to him and asked, “Now that he’s happy, Edge, do you want your usual?”

"No," Edge said thoughtfully. "Do you have anything new you think I should try?”

To see the delight light up on her face was answer enough and Edge waited for his cup, keeping an eye on his husband and the crowd around him and listening as Debbie explained they had a new blend he might like, made expressly with Monster tastes in mind, fresh roasted today.

~~*~~

Edge set his bag of coffee beans in the footwell of the backseat rather than the trunk, unwilling to give up the glorious aroma just yet even if most of it would vanish into the wind.

Stretch was already in the car, buckling his seatbelt. He tipped his skull back to look up at Edge, his pale eye lights wide with his happiness and probably with too much caffeine. “that was just like our first date, babe. thank you.”

“Not exactly like it,” Edge corrected. “There is one important difference.”

“yeah?” Stretch tilted his head curiously, waiting.

“Yes.” Edge leaned into the car, one gloved finger tipping Stretch’s chin up as he took a slow kiss. Stretch sighed softly, his breath sweetened with cream and sugar, and he didn’t resist when Edge deepened it, eagerly claiming that sweet mouth. Reluctantly, he drew back, gazing into Stretch’s hazy eye lights. He swept his thumb over the delicate arch of his cheekbone and murmured, “This time I get to take you home with me.”

“yeah, you do,” Stretch breathed. Then he leaned away, putting a little space between them and said with a wink, “home, jeeves.”

“Then again, I could always make you take the bus…”

“yeah, right, try to sell that to someone else,” Stretch wriggled in his seat, sprawling back and Edge felt a throb in his soul at the sultry look his husband sent his way. “take me home and i’ll show you what you missed out on our first date.”

He was in the driver’s seat in an instant, starting the car. But he took a moment to reach over, gently squeezing Stretch’s knee. “It was worth the wait.”

Stretch’s delight was in his smile, his eye lights, and the gentle touch of his hand on Edge's. Edge put the car in drive and pulled out onto the road, ready to take his husband home.

-finis-

Back to Chapter Three

[wittypenguin]

Election Day III

This post was intended to act as a mirror of a particular day in the life of the 2020 Election, post Voting Day. As it was, it got interupted on the Saturday — or "Day IV" when I was constructing it — when several media networks and print outlets finally declared VP Joe Biden the succesful candidate for the position of the President of the United States. So, here it is, despite not having a complete record of the day's tweets by me, as part of the ups and downs of the day roll in. Enjoy.

06:59 — Right. There’s breakfast out of the way. Now it’s time for a shower, dress, make some coffee, and watch as numbers shift inexorably towards the inevitable removal of the most odious lickspittle in all of history.

7:03 — [profuse thanks to Matthew Inman / @Oatmeal for the above graphic, one of many at https://theoatmeal.com/comics/donmojis]

07:32 — Something to remember is pointed out by the @nytimes’ @NYTnickc: "The votes being counted in Pennsylvania do not include any mail ballots arriving after Nov. 3. Those are being kept segregated. This count is for votes in by Election Day." So, in essence, IT'S ONLY GETTING BETTER!

Also, anyone expecting a quick bipartisan resolution may be fooling themselves: "The Trump campaign hints that no one should be expecting a Trump concession. “This election is not over,” a campaign attorney said in a statement." — @AnnieKarni, @nytimes

In response, according to the @nytimes' @katieglueck, 'a Biden spokesman says that if Biden wins and Trump refuses to concede, “The United States government is perfectly capable of escorting trespassers out of the White House”.' He has until noon January 20.

07:46 — The greatest downside of this, in my mind, is that the pandemic prevents the sorts of public elation and celebration to properly mark this great occasion in the fashion we've historically observed.

Two US military personnel kiss in Times Square, NYC LIFE Magazine, August 27, 1945

07:54 — According to the @nytimes' @David_Philipps in Las Vegas, "we’re expecting about 50,000 votes to be released at 9 a.m. here (noon ET)." VP Biden is ahead by only 12,000 votes, or less than 1%. This feels like it could become a recount candidate.

Speaking of which, @migold (@nytimes, and actually in NY City) says that because there is 'a narrow margin between candidates, “there will be a recount in Georgia,” the state’s top elections official said. Biden currently leads by about 1,500 votes.' So, Georgia is Florida.

Adds @migold, 'more than 4,000 votes are left to be counted in Georgia, as well as an unknown number of overseas and military ballots that are still arriving, an elections official said.' When viewed as percentages of the total vote, the two candidates are tied.

Meanwhile, any minute will see more numbers from Arizona's Maricopa County (Phoenix), which will all but complete the state's numbers.

08:14 — Looking more carefully at things, that last comment is incorrect: Maricopa County is where the *majority* of uncounted ballots are located in the state. It seems there are 204,000 early ballots to tally there, plus a few provisional and other ones. We won't get them all this now.

08:21 — Reports the @nytimes' @Nate_Cohn: THE RESULTS ARE IN! "Trump wins the new Maricopa County, Ariz., ballots by just five points. Don't know if it’ll allow a race call, but that pace won’t cut it for the president to win the state." Trump trails by 1.4% or a bit over 40,000.

08:49 — NB: the use of “lickspittle” waaaaaaay up there is not just a desire to use a word which is satisfying to say aloud (which it totally is!), but is perfect on its description of That Guy’s* character: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lickspittle

At this point, I watched the previous evening’s episodes of A Late Show with Stephen Colbert and Late Night with Seth Meyer.

13:43 — Something that makes me shake my head is this change over 2016’s vote in Ohio. I know that Rs worked hard in the area, but… HOW DID THIS ACTUALLY BECOME A REALITY…‽

Full map of change vs 2016 on the @NYTimes’ site: NYTimes.com/interactive/2020/11/03/us/elections/results-president.html

14:30 — According to @nytimes' @stefsaul in New York, "Biden gains more ground in Georgia, netting 2,725 votes in Gwinnett County, a blue-leaning suburb of Atlanta. He now leads Trump by more than 4,000 votes in the state." I make it 4,153 according to the numbers on their site.

Meanwhile, the @nytimes' @Nate_Cohn reports that "I don't think we're getting a call in Georgia for weeks, but we have such a good accounting of remaining ballots that Trump may need a tabulation error to win."

Now, all of that said, about an hour or so ago, I saw an interview on @CBCNews Network with someone who was senior advisor and controller to Al Gore in 2000, who says he still has PTSD from the final days of that campaign. He added that, while a very narrow margin, it's not over.

Sure, it's reeeeeeeeally, close, but given the recount in Georgia that has to happen, plus the PA ballots arriving after Election Day being segregated (processed and counted separately, but, for now, not added to the current totals), it's up to AR and NV to end this tonight.

14:40 — Clark County (Las Vegas) will release another batch of results in the next 90 minutes, and Arizona another batch of Maricopa Co (Phoenix) results in 3½ hours, but there doesn't seem to be any surety that those will be final numbers from those states.

I haven't seen or heard any expectation as to what time VP Biden will make a statement to the nation, other than "Prime Time" (frankly, this entire week has felt like "prime time"), but whatever the results are when he takes the stage, we won't know much more for a few weeks.

15:12 — The other thing I wonder about is when / if we'll see something concrete to matters of the sort below. There's a metric tonne of this sort of shenanigans throughout the administration's time, and it cannot seen to stand, surely?

US elections

Special Counsel has opened an investigation into Trump's use of the White House for campaign-related activities, Reuters reports: twitter.com/i/events/1324503050703183873

17:01 — From @nytimes' @katieglueck, in Wilmington, Del.: "People familiar with the Biden campaign’s thinking say he may speak tonight even if the race isn’t called, but the tone will be shaped by the results that are in. Things are still fluid."

So… that's frustrating.