#which I’m happy to expand on if anyone is curious about a particular one

[ckerouac]

Alright, for @spaceorphan18 my list of the books I’ve read in the first chunk of this year (Jan-Apr) that I’d highly recommend. My 4 stars & above.

Fiction

Paladin's Faith by T Kingfisher

Marguerite Florian is a spy with two problems. A former employer wants her dead, and one of her new bodyguards is a far too good-looking paladin with a martyr complex. Shane is a paladin with three problems. His god is dead, his client is much too attractive for his peace of mind, and a powerful organization is trying to have them both killed. Add in a brilliant artificer with a device that may change the world, a glittering and dangerous court, and a demon-led cult, and Shane and Marguerite will be lucky to escape with their souls intact, never mind their hearts…

Our Share of Night by Mariana Enríquez

A young father and son set out on a road trip, devastated by the death of the wife and mother they both loved. United in grief, the pair travel to her ancestral home, where they must confront the terrifying legacy she has bequeathed: a family called the Order that commits unspeakable acts in search of immortality. For Gaspar, the son, this maniacal cult is his destiny. As the Order tries to pull him into their evil, he and his father take flight, attempting to outrun a powerful clan that will do anything to ensure its own survival. But how far will Gaspar’s father go to protect his child? And can anyone escape their fate?

Death Valley by Melissa Broder

A woman arrives alone at a Best Western seeking respite from an emptiness that plagues her. She has fled to the California high desert to escape a cloud of sorrow—for both her father in the ICU and a husband whose illness is worsening. What the motel provides, however, is not peace but a path, thanks to a receptionist who recommends a nearby hike. Out on the sun-scorched trail, the woman encounters a towering cactus whose size and shape mean it should not exist in California. Yet the cactus is there, with a gash through its side that beckons like a familiar door. So she enters it. What awaits her inside this mystical succulent sets her on a journey at once desolate and rich, hilarious and poignant.

The Pisces by Melissa Broder

Lucy has been writing her dissertation on Sappho for nine years when she and her boyfriend break up in a dramatic flameout. After she bottoms out in Phoenix, her sister in Los Angeles insists Lucy dog-sit for the summer. Everything changes when Lucy becomes entranced by an eerily attractive swimmer while sitting alone on the beach rocks one night. But when Lucy learns the truth about his identity, their relationship, and Lucy's understanding of what love should look like, take a very unexpected turn.

Nonfiction

The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party by Daniel James Brown

In April of 1846, twenty-one-year-old Sarah Graves, intent on a better future, set out west from Illinois with her new husband, her parents, and eight siblings. Seven months later, after joining a party of pioneers led by George Donner, they reached the Sierra Nevada Mountains as the first heavy snows of the season closed the pass ahead of them. In early December, starving and desperate, Sarah and fourteen others set out for California on snowshoes, and, over the next thirty-two days, endured almost unfathomable hardships and horrors.

Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism by Rachel Maddow

Inspired by her research for the hit podcast Ultra, Rachel Maddow charts the rise of a wild American strain of authoritarianism that has been alive on the far-right edge of our politics for the better part of a century. Before and even after our troops had begun fighting abroad in World War II, a clandestine network flooded the country with disinformation aimed at sapping the strength of the U.S. war effort and persuading Americans that our natural alliance was with the Axis, not against it. It was a sophisticated and shockingly well-funded campaign to undermine democratic institutions, promote antisemitism, and destroy citizens’ confidence in their elected leaders, with the ultimate goal of overthrowing the U.S. government and installing authoritarian rule. While the scheme has been remembered in history—if at all—as the work of fringe players, in reality it involved a large number of some of the country’s most influential elected officials. Their interference in law enforcement efforts against the plot is a dark story of the rule of law bending and then breaking under the weight of political intimidation. That failure of the legal system had consequences. The tentacles of that unslain beast have reached forward into our history for decades.

Ice: From Mixed Drinks to Skating Rinks—A Cool History of a Hot Commodity by Amy Brady

In Ice, journalist and historian Amy Brady shares the strange and storied two-hundred-year-old history of ice in America: from the introduction of mixed drinks “on the rocks,” to the nation’s first-ever indoor ice rink, to how delicacies like ice creams and iced tea revolutionized our palates, to the ubiquitous ice machine in every motel across the US. But Ice doesn’t end in the past. Brady also explores the surprising present-day uses of ice in sports, medicine, and sustainable energy—including cutting-edge cryotherapy breast-cancer treatments and new refrigerator technologies that may prove to be more energy efficient—underscoring how precious this commodity is, especially in an age of climate change.

Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures by Merlin Sheldrake

Sheldrake’s vivid exploration takes us from yeast to psychedelics, to the fungi that range for miles underground and are the largest organisms on the planet, to those that link plants together in complex networks known as the “Wood Wide Web,” to those that infiltrate and manipulate insect bodies with devastating precision. Sheldrake reveals how these extraordinary organisms—and our relationships with them—are changing our understanding of how life works.

Toxic: Women, Fame, and the Tabloid 2000s by Sarah Ditum

Welcome to celebrity culture in the early aughts: the reign of Perez Hilton, celebrity sex tapes, and dueling tabloids fed by paparazzi who were willing to do anything to get the shot. Toxic tells the stories of nine women who defined the hell of celebrity in the 2000s and explores how they were devoured by fame, how they attempted to control their own narratives, and how they succeeded or (more often) failed. These women come from all walks of fame—pop music, acting, reality TV, and WWE wrestling. Some of them you think you know already, and others will be less familiar, but Toxic reveals these women neither as pure victims nor as conniving strategists, but as complex individuals trying to navigate celebrity while under attack from a vicious and fast-changing media.

Nuclear War: A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen

There is only one scenario other than an asteroid strike that could end the world as we know it in a matter of hours: nuclear war. And one of the triggers for that war would be a nuclear missile inbound toward the United States. Nuclear War: A Scenario examines the handful of minutes after a nuclear missile launch.

UFO: The inside story of the US government’s search for alien life here - and out there by Garrett M. Graff

For as long as we have looked to the skies, the question of whether life on Earth is the only life to exist has been at the core of the human experience, driving scientific debate and discovery, shaping spiritual belief, and prompting existential thought across borders and generations. And yet, the idea of extraterrestrial intelligence has been largely seen as a joke, banished to the realm of fantasy and conspiracy. Now, for the first time, the full story of our national obsession with UFOs—and the covert, decades-long search by scientists, the United States military, and the CIA for proof of alien life—is told by bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize finalist Garrett M. Graff in a deeply reported and researched history.

[wannabe-fic-writer]

Natasha Romanoff x Reader : Unexpectedly Expecting

Summary: You’d both been expecting this. That doesn’t make it any less shocking and exciting.

Genre: Fluff

Word Count: 1,286

* * * * * *

“Pepper what does it say? I can’t.” You move away from the counter to sit on the edge of the tub.

The woman moves to take your previous position and looks down at the plastic. 

“Two blue lines.”

Your heart pounds in your chest and you will yourself to calm down. Anxiety isn’t good for you so you know it’s not good for the baby.

The baby. 

There’s a baby in you.

Why you’re not sure why you’re acting surprised. You’d laid there and had the procedure. You’d planned this with your wife for months.

Your wife!

“I have to tell Tasha.” Your hand presses against your heart,“ we’re gonna have a baby.”

Pepper smiles over at you.

She remembers reacting this way when she found out about Morgan. Albeit a little more shocking.

Coming to terms with being a mother takes time and it’s equally as scary and incredible. A feeling that won’t change no matter how old your child becomes. 

“Congratulations.” She says.

Her words strike that feeling in you that was hidden by your nervous. 

The fact that the insemination worked registers with you. You’re pregnant. You’re about to have a baby. The plan to expand your family is in full effect.

You jump up and throw your arms around Pepper. 

Together, the two of you get lost in the excitement of it all. 

Conversation starts with how you were being incredibly oblivious to the signs of your pregnancy(eating all that sugar, sleeping way longer than usual, getting cold at random times of the day just to end up hot merely fifteen seconds later) and how you hadn’t decided to take a test until you notice your cycle was late. 

It then moving to how happy you are that the procedure worked. And how you plan to tell Natasha.

She’ll be on a mission until later tonight which gives you plenty of time to get a surprise together. 

Pepper helps you every step of the way, all the while talking about how beautiful the entire thing will be. 

You know she’s refraining from telling you the scariness of pregnancy and you’re glad about it. There’s no reason to worry and if given one you know you’ll have a support system beside you. 

By the time you finish up you’re very sleepy and you know now it’s because of your baby. 

After ensuring that Pepper let’s you know she’s gotten home safely, you lie down on the couch in wait for your wife to come home. 

When she does, Natasha is confused to find it so dark. 

The red head takes each step with caution but also on edge. She’s praying everything is okay with you and is ready to  rip the heads off anyone who’d dare come into your home as a threat.

Her defenses go down, though, when she sees your sleeping form on the couch. 

A blanket tangled in your legs, that you definitely pulled down while still asleep. And your arm hanging off the couch.

Smiling softly at you, she comes over and kneels beside the furniture. 

Gentle strokes of her fingers rouse you and soft green meets tired e/c. A cute smile is given in return and she leans forward to kiss your cheek.

“I’m home now, you can go up to bed lyubov moya.” Even though she wants you to get up, she speaks softly like she doesn’t want to wake you.

“You’re home now.” You mumble, stirring sleepily. Only to bolt upright seconds later.“ Go back outside!”

Natasha’s eyes widen at your outburst and she stands up, watching you confusedly.

“I wasn’t supposed to sleep that long, I ruined it and I demand a do over, so move it.” Your hands grab her arms and you direct her back to the front door.

“Wait, ruined what? Y/n what’s-” 

The door shuts in her face and she jerks back a little.

She knows you didn’t lock the door. She could very well just come back inside but it’s clear you had something planned and so she indulges you.

Despite being tired from her mission she loves you enough to wait until you tell her to come in.

It’s a few minutes later that you text her to come back in and she does so with a chuckle and a shake of her head. 

Abruptly stopping in her tracks at the sight of the house now. 

Candles litter seemingly every surface of the hallway and living room. You stand beside the dining table with a smile.

“Welcome home Tasha.” You say as if you hadn’t seen her already.

She walks in further, searching the room for clues as to why you’d done all this, apart from the fact that you’re a hopeless romantic.

It’s not surprising that you’d set up this cute moment in the house, she’s just unsure why. You usually only did this for special occasions: valentines day, birthdays, and anniversaries.

“Am I forgetting something?” She questions her impeccable memory.

You shake your head, bright smile still in place. While she loves your smile she’s curious as to the cause of it. She doesn’t doubt that she makes you happy it’s just this particular smile seems different. 

Like you’re glowing.

She follows your gesture to the table and eases into the seat you point to. A frown quickly taking over her brows at the card in front of her.

Only The Best Wife. . . It reads, with a golden heart situated beneath.

“Y/n wh-”

“Just scratch the heart away.” You bounce, excitedly sitting in the chair beside her.

Natasha sighs but does as you ask. 

She’s so use to knowing everything that not knowing whatever this is makes her a little anxious. 

Get’s Promoted to Mommy!

Her eyes scan the words again and again. She opens the card and flips it around before going back to read the front, like she expects the words to change.

Then she looks over at you and down to the black velvet box in your hands. 

Tears have already started to pull in her eyes. 

She knows you wouldn’t be joking about this but it doesn’t truly hit her until she lifts the lid and stares down at the positive pregnancy test. 

A teary gasp leaves her lips and her hand covers it. 

Looking back into your e/c eyes, she raises her brows in question.

You nod,“ surprise.”

Natasha is up and pulling you into a hug before you can even blink. Her arms hold you close as she cried softly into your neck.

Knowing they’re happy tears, you just hug her back, and press a kiss to the side of her head. 

“You’re pregnant.” She whispers and once again you nod.

“I am.” 

“We’re having a baby.” 

“We are.” 

After calming herself, she pulls away, hands immediately falling to your hips. Her eyes are glued to your stomach as she slowly presses her hand on your abdomen. 

Her child is in there. Her son or daughter is growing inside you.

Everything she thought she’d never have is right in front of her. 

She looks back up at you with glistening eyes and you can’t tell if it’s the tears making them shine or the pure happiness written in them.

“I love you so much.” She whispers before pulling you into the sweetest kiss you’ve ever shared.

Love pours through the simple action and it leaves you breathless and euphoric.

“I love you too.” You tell her as the kiss breaks.

You two knew this is what you wanted but nothing could’ve prepared you for this moment, for the actuality of you having a child together. And both of you know that this is only the beginning. 

* * * * * * 

[hopeswriting]

Hullo hullo Hopes, it's for the ask game ! 4, 23 and 43 ? :O

Hi there, thank you for the ask!

4. Link your three favorite fics right now.

I simply could not only choose three of them, so you get six instead, in no particular order.

come get me by MakeItVoid on ffnet (Katekyo Hitman Reborn).

Reborn waits a little impatiently for someone to come get him. He doesn't know what to do now. The fire is creeping closer. (Reborn doesn't want to die like this.) 

It’s a one-shot, with the exact dynamic I reach for in all my Arco fics, and it hits just all the spots for me. Simply cannot recommend it enough.

Just Another Tuesday by ariathal2410 on ffnet (Katekyo Hitman Reborn).

Tsuna doesn't know why all this supernatural shit started happening in his life, but he'd really like it to stop now please. Mild Arco27

OR in which Tsuna attracts too much attention because he's surprisingly good at recognizing supernatural beings (and he's just too cute to resist).

A 10k one-shot where Tsuna is in college, and keeps stumbling upon these supernatural creatures that then just never leave his life. Very domestic fluff like, and never fails to brighten my mood when I need it. Very funny too.

Survivor by atruwriter on ffnet (Harry Potter).

Waiting. He was always waiting. He'd already buried one best friend and now the other will follow. There was nothing he could do or say. There was no Harry without Hermione. Ron witnessed the beginning and now he must accept the end. HHr. 4parts Complete! 

It’s been a long time since I reread this one tbh, but as long as you’re a Hhr shipper or just don’t mind the ship? I recommend it a thousand times.

It’s written from Ron’s pov, and is written so well, and I remember having called it a masterpiece after I read it, and I still stand by it. Just a very beautiful fic in all its tragedy.

Sincerely, Scattered Shards by You_Light_The_Sky on ao3 (Katekyo Hitman Reborn).

Tsuna’s the foolish type to give a bit of his heart to anyone he meets. No one ever wanted his ugly heart shards until he met his Guardians. No one ever treasured his heart shards until them either. Hints of All27 and R27. 

It’s an ongoing fic, and I don’t remember it in details anymore lol, but just read it. You want to read it. You won’t regret reading it if it seems the type of fic you might like.

It’s beautiful, and sad, and a bit tragic at times, but then Tsuna starts finding his Guardians and it becomes a little better. And worth it.

Those Last Few Memories by Ourliazo on ao3 (Katekyo Hitman Reborn).

In one future, the Arcobaleno band together and try to fight off the Anti Tri-ni-set radiation. 

As the author says, “ this story follows their slow descent into death”, and it’s low key fucking heartbreaking, and high key gets you in the feels and makes you want to bawl your eyes out, so really, I can only recommend it asdfgh.

Target Acquired: Wicked Jester by poorasdirt on ao3 (Katekyo Hitman Reborn).

Colonnello has always been a military man. He understood what led to him being cursed. He understood why the others had been cursed. Or, well, why most of the others had been cursed. Skull's motivations had always been a mystery to him. Now that the curse had been lifted, Colonnello could finally sit back and try to puzzle it out. If only it were that easy.

Or Colonnello's instincts were telling him something wasn't right and curiosity only kills cats.

NELLO/SKULL SUPREMACY. Also told in Nello’s pov so Nell-centric. But also entirely about Skull, so Skull-centric. What more do you want??

Azesdfgh ahem, jokes aside. This one is seriously good. Not just because it’s focused first on Nello & Skull relationship (it’s actually a gen fic lol, my bad), or because it has just the right amount of Poly!Arco hinted for us shippers even if it’s platonic/found family.

The fic gives Skull a very in depth and intricate backstory, and for having read my fair share of Skull-centric fics, it’s a very original one. A very mysterious one too, and the fic has a spy/thriller aspect to it that’s very fun to read, as you discover more and more about Skull along with the Arco.

Some of Skull’s backstory also tie with canon worldbuilding the author then expands with their own take on it, and even if it’s a characters driven story, and the plot is only really there first to enhance that fact, it still gets you curious to see it unfold.

And of course the Arco interactions with each other. The fic has a very low key found family vibes fitting to it, but that are very present nonetheless, and feel genuine and heartwarming.

Though there’s some Sky Arco, and specifically Uni and Aria antagonism, but as a Giglio Nero stan myself, it’s not present enough you can’t overlook it if you try.

So if you like Skull and/or Colonnello and/or found family Arco and you didn’t read the fic yet? Don’t wait any longer!

23. What’s your absolute favorite trope to write? 

Already answered this one so I’ll just copy past it!

I’ve been thinking about it, and it’s gotta be Hurt/Comfort, both as a writer and a reader. And this is probably just me projecting lol, but there’s just something in seeing characters be hurt/hurting, knowing they’ll have/will be given care after that speaks to me.

Also I guess it’s pretty obvious to say it, but mostly as a reader, the hurt must come with comfort. Or at least I need to be 100% certain the comfort will come at some point, and will matter.

And I actually think that’s why I can only handle so much amount of angst, because unless it’s tagged for it (and even then, I find Angst with a Happy Ending and such, and Hurt/Comfort just don’t hit the same way), you never know if it’ll be  worth it in the end. And I’m a big softie so I can’t handle it zsdfgdsc.

A very close second favorite trope, also both as a writer and a reader, is when any characters with Responsibilities/Duties/Expectations (namely The Chosen One trope and such) just say fuck it all and does fuck it all.

Either by finding a solution that won’t leave them incredibly traumatized when all’s said and done, or by actually fucking off and making it everyone else’s problem.

I find it’s mostly present in Dark![Character Name] fics, which I also love to write and read, so it all works out for me lol.

43. Talk about a positive experience with fanfiction or the fanfiction community that you will always remember.

Mmmh, not sure if I have one yet? I only really started trying to get involved in the fanfiction community last year, so I feel maybe I’m not quite there to have these type of experiences.

That said, I can only talk about that one time I did a fanfic event for the first time, and @chierry was there every step of the way, leaving me a comment on each of my fics, and that was incredibly motivating. Felt really amazing too, and made the event that much more fun, so shoutout to her<3.

Also shoutout to that one time where we got Arco brainrot at the same time on the same frequency, and kind of just went nuts about it for a while zsdxfgh. That was very fun too!<3

[murasaki-murasame]

Thoughts on Higurashi Sotsu Ep6

Let’s just file this one under “top 10 shittiest anime deaths” *badum-tish*

Thoughts under the cut.

I feel like in a lot of ways this episode kinda highlights the highs and lows of the new series, and how it feels like it’s trying to be like three different stories at the same time and usually only succeeding at being one of them.

This episode, and this arc in general, as a standalone part of the franchise was actually really good, and delivered on the promise of ‘what if Mion actually became the culprit in one arc’, but as part of the answer arcs for the new series it just continues to feel kinda pointless and predictable. I still think that a lot of this has to do with them trying to be both a sequel and a remake at the same time, but unlike with the Rena answer arc, I honestly feel like even new fans could have guessed everything that happened in this arc, since it didn’t actually go into anything that wasn’t already discussed in Gou. So even on that level it doesn’t really feel like it’s providing essential answers that couldn’t have been worked out in advance.

It’s kinda weird how little this arc actually explored anything about Mion and Shion that wasn’t already shown in Gou, considering how much stuff from the VN related to them hadn’t been covered. A lot of their backstory stuff ended up not exactly being relevant to how this arc played out, but it just feels like a weird thing to gloss over when they’ve spent so much time going over stuff from the VN as it is.

Though on that note, I’m really curious about how they’ve made absolutely zero reference to the fact that Mion and Shion swapped places as kids, or anything about Mion’s tattoo. At this point I have to wonder if maybe Ryukishi just doesn’t actually like that plot point in hindsight, and is choosing to effectively write it out of the story here. I can see why, though, since from what I remember it kinda verges into being a twist for the sake of having a twist, and doesn’t actually do much for them as characters that wouldn’t have happened otherwise.

The lack of basically anything to do with Shion’s backstory and her relationship with Satoshi still feels a lot more iffy, but at least some of this stuff feels like intentional revising on Ryukishi’s part. Which I think is a really interesting aspect of the new series as a whole. It feels like he’s taking the chance to look back on the VN and show us how he feels about it after all this time. The stuff with characters like Teppei and Rina seems to be his way of making up for them being shallow villains in the VN, and Satoko being evil here seems to be in part inspired by how little agency or control she had in the original story. I guess the big issue here is that a lot of people probably just straight up disagree with the things that Ryukishi thinks of as being problems with the VN that he’s trying to ‘fix’ here, but I think it’s really interesting to see him do this sort of thing, even if it’s messy and overly ambitious and doesn’t fully work.

For the most part I agree with all the criticisms about these arcs feeling like a bit of a waste of time as we wait for the story to eventually loop back to the Nekodamashi cliffhanger. Even from the perspective of this being mainly for the sake of new fans, it feels kinda strange to see such straightforward ‘this is what was happening behind the scenes in the question arcs’ style answers, with lots of reused footage and basically zero twists or reveals. The VN’s way of designing separate arcs that provide answers for the question arcs was more satisfying, and Umineko went even further with that by just vaguely going over the basic keys to figuring out all the how-dunnit mysteries of the question arcs, and everything else about the answer arcs there was just a continuation of the meta plot. So it feels kinda weird to see him loop back around to the opposite end of the spectrum here.

It makes me wonder if there’s some sort of larger meta mystery going on here that’ll become more apparent in the next arc, and will reveal that we didn’t actually know everything that was going on like we thought we did, but at this point I feel like it’ll probably all end up being a lot more straightforward than we predicted. But there’s still the looming specter of the meta plane stuff, the hints dropped about where this series fits into the wider WTC universe timeline, and the fact that the whole point of the new series in the first place seems to be guiding Rika and Satoko down the path toward becoming their Umineko counterparts. So all of that stuff makes me think there might be some curveball twists going in the future that expand the scope of the story, but I have no real idea what to expect from that, and if it’d even feel satisfying. As much as I’m a diehard Umineko fan who loves the idea of this being a Lambda and Bern origin story, I still worry that the execution might not work once we get to the end. I also don’t really think that anything the series does in the final arcs will completely make up for how predictable these first few answer arcs have felt on a week by week basis, lol.

In general it gets me thinking that in spite of how predictable the answers have been thus far, I’m largely clueless about how I think they’ll actually wrap up the overarching story with Satoko and Rika. It feels like there’s still a lot of different directions they could take it in, and a lot of it depends on just how far Ryukishi wants to go with tying this into other WTC works.

For one thing, I’m not even sure how to expect them to follow up on the Nekodamashi cliffhanger. It’s at least hard to imagine how they could stop Satoko from shooting Rika then and there, considering how this episode in particular went. And one way or another, we’ll have to see how Rika and Satoko handle being in a situation where they both know what’s going on with each other. I think it’ll then just depend on what Satoko’s mental state is like at that point, and also what they plan on doing with the whole looper-killing sword thing. I think Ryukishi’s implied multiple times now that the next arc will start to test Satoko’s resolve, and going by her attitude during the infamous gut-ripping scene, as well as her traumatized reaction to the punching glove box prank, I think she’ll be much less confident in her goals by that point, and probably more willing to talk about what’s going on.

I don’t think it’ll be as simple as ‘she just gives up and everyone forgives her’, or even ‘Rika beats up Satoko while everyone cheers and they all move on and abandon her’, though. I think there’ll be some kind of balancing act between redemption and punishment, but I also think that ultimately it’ll also tie into the Lambda/Bern origin story stuff they seem to be going for. I think I’ve said this before, but my best guess for how this will end is that the looper-killing sword will be used to separate their ‘meta selves’ who are aware of the loops and stuff, while leaving behind their regular physical selves who thus lose most/all of their memories of the loops. At least that way they can have their cake and eat it too by showing how Lambda and Bern became witches, while also having separate versions of them that get to stay behind and mend their relationship or something. But I’m not even confident about all of that, lol.

It’s also worth noting that the key visual for Sotsu features Satoko and Rika as teenagers, and the OP also features that pretty heavily, along with an ominous scene of the other main characters as teenagers. So that makes me think that the story will somehow get back to that whole time period, which makes me a bit more unsure how the last arc will go. One option is that the final Nekodamashi arc will just keep going until they become teenagers again, but the way those scenes are presented in the promo material makes it seem like Satoko and Rika’s relationship is still bad then. So maybe on the other hand we’ll just go back to the original Matsuribayashi timeline where Satoko first met Eua, but I feel like that’d probably be the happy ending where everything goes back to the original timeline and they all end up reconnecting again, so I’m still not sure how the ominous presentation of the teenage characters might play into that.

Either way, I think all of that stuff will probably just come up in the final arc. The next one will probably be covering Tataridamashi and Nekodamashi from Satoko’s perspective. The next arc should be where things start to shake up, but I still think they could easily cover both of those arcs in just five episodes. Nothing much seemed to be happening with Satoko until the final days of Tataridamashi, and I can’t imagine there being much to explore with how she set up the rapid-fire loops in Nekodamashi.

With what’s been hinted at about the next arc not going according to Satoko’s plans, and her resolve being tested, I think that this will probably be where things go entirely out of her control and she starts to doubt whether or not she should continue with her plans. Specifically I think that being in a new loop with Teppei being nice to her, and watching everyone else try to save her from her [perceived] abuse, will start to sway her toward thinking that maybe that sort of timeline is worth staying in, even if it means giving up on controlling Rika.

One way or another I think Ooishi went crazy all on his own. I think Ryukishi explicitly said in an interview that Ooishi went L5 naturally, and I think the manga version of Tataridamashi made it clear that Satoko was genuinely thrown off by how things went there, so she probably didn’t want Ooishi to kill anyone. I can see how he might have gone off the deep end by interrogating Teppei and realizing that there was basically a witch hunt going on against him, but I’m not sure how he would have ended up specifically blaming Rika unless Satoko pushed him into it. Either way, Teppei probably really did attack Keiichi at the end of the arc, and we know that Satoko just has one syringe to use, so at most she probably injected Teppei and then Ooishi went L5 naturally.

I’m also curious to see if/when Satoko learns about Rika being given the power to remember her deaths, since that’d also go a long way toward explaining what her intentions might have been with how that arc ended. I think Satoko is at least aware that Rika doesn’t remember how she dies, so I’m at least not sure what she’d try and accomplish by setting up a loop that only goes to shit at the very last second. It feels like it wouldn’t do a whole lot aside from making Rika confused in the next loop. But Rika only gets her ability to remember her deaths after that loop already ends, so Satoko could have only known about it if there’s some sort of conspiracy going on about Hanyuu. Which there probably is, since her whole presence in this is weird and her deciding to give Rika a new set of powers was always super suspicious, but still.

I’m also curious to see if we get any real payoff to the idea that Satoko’s looping is causing more and more people to remember past loops. Especially when it comes to the main club members, since there’s various moments in Tataridamashi and Nekodamashi, both in the anime and manga, that seem to imply that most of them are starting to remember things.

Even though the execution of this whole new series makes me a bit more wary about how any sort of new anime for Umineko along these lines might pan out, I can’t help but still really hope this is leading to something like that. For one thing I just think that if he’s going for a Lambda/Bern origin story with this, at the risk of alienating lots of existing fans, I think there should at least be a more concrete payoff to that than just ‘ok now you can go back and read the Umineko VN’. But I think there’s a lot of potential to be had with some sort of remake or sequel to Umineko where he gets a chance to revisit it after more than 10 years. One of these days I should still just make a whole post about my hopes and predictions for what could be done with any sort of new Umineko anime, lol.

Anyway, this got longer than I planned, but all in all I enjoyed this more than it probably comes across like I did, lol. Even if the plot’s been kinda boring, I think Sotsu has done a great job of elevating it with good direction and visuals. The moment to moment pacing can still be kinda choppy, and sometimes the presentation of flashback scenes is confusing and ambiguous, but in general it still feels entertaining to watch unfold, and the brutality has a lot of impact. I’m just hoping that the rest of Sotsu is more ambitious and surprising than these first two arcs have been.

[absconditus--praenomen]

I’ve Been Toying with Some Ideas

TL;DR [minus the unapologetic tangenting (I regret nothing)]:

   I’ve been entertaining the idea of recording my voice to practice reading/reciting poems, narrating pieces I find interesting in general, and maybe even singing/music as well.

I find it to be an intriguing option for many reasons ranging from personal growth, to the chances for simple celebration of art, and to the potential it could hold as a platform for human interaction, interaction that could very well go beyond me, or any single human for that matter, really, because it’s interaction that’s born from existing as humans along side one another. But no, say I really were to consider playing with this idea in a more serious sense, maybe bring it to life, would anyone happen to have suggestions for reading material to record with, or perhaps something more musical for me to record vocals? Seriously, I’m curious, ahaha! :)

_- -____________________________=____________________________- -_

I’ve been thinking about practicing reciting/reading poetry (and any reading material I find interesting, really) aloud and recording myself. I love to perform actually, fun fact ahaha! But no, I was thinking about doing that, as well as singing perhaps, and then I considered it might be fun to upload it (here or on YouTube channel I’d make specifically for this blog and link to it in the pinned post) and just see what happens.

While I am no stranger to public speaking, and even enjoy it in ways at times, I think it’d be helpful practice and a good learning opportunity for me. I have an auditory processing disorder, ADHD, and dyslexia so (in regards to my personal symptoms/experiences with said conditions, of course) it’s not too surprising that there’s some aspects of language that have an increased tendency to trip me up. It might be interesting to practice in such a fun way. 

Also, and more specifically in correlation to my hearing impairments, I’d be fascinated if I could learn anything about my voice or sound as a whole. While I do of course research these things that interest me, there’s still value in more anecdotal(?) research, and there’s still a difference in practice versus study. My hearing is impaired as a result of my brain not processes sound as it should which, for me at least, entails a variety of interesting repercussions-

(Do you appreciate my partially/mostly accidental, loosely existing percussion pun? I do. I mean it’s not my strongest pun but that’s certainly no requirement for me to appreciate the beautiful example of language arts which puns stand as evidence to!)

 [Fu*k, now I need to remember what I was writing, one sec. And yes, we are going to ignore the suggestion that my comment at the end of my previous sentence is in some lights unnecessary, not because it is invalid to suggest things but because I have considered such a suggestion already and have deemed it completely irrelevant to my enjoyment of spontaneous and debatably inconsequential tangents. Sure, I could edit this out but I’m quite, perfectly happy to leave this artifact of humanity, this thing which we collective agree to be the tangents of an extraordinarily derailed conversation. Though let’s be fair here, ‘extraordinary’ isn’t honestly all that accurate. This really isn’t an impressive tangents given my capabilities. To say I have extraordinarily derailed this conversation would be a gross underestimate of my skills. Not that I have particularly been trying to derail this line of conversation, just that I’m aware of certain habits I’ve been observed to possess and proficiency in expanding the field of conversation, so to say, as well as any of the other things which I could from my, evidently, no shortage of further additions I could continue this list with, a list which I admittedly only remember the purpose of thanks to my oddly specific, good memory and not my piss poor figment of an attempt to keep track of what I intended to be a brief mini tangent before I started wrapping up my main surprise secondary topic of conversation. So back to why we’re ignoring the theoretical suggestion at the beginning of this tangent in brackets (--> [ ]*). We’re going to ignore also because my quiet laughter in amusement from the notion of creative time fuckery which could be borne from a blog post and fully embraced choice to indulge in confident, blatant tangent-ery is, perhaps not so shockingly, prime kindling for some hot topics to visit with this train of thought, and therefore not conducive to actually remembering where I was in my main point. Ah, ok, I got it! I was about to mention how my hearing impairment impacts the way I interpret speech and voices such as my own!] 

-such as how I perceive voices, including my own. Basically what I’m getting at is I can’t really describe voices or pick out vocal characteristics too well, this goes for my own voice as well. So I’d be totally fascinating to see if/what I could gleam about my voice, and my hearing itself from the experience if I were to bring my experimental ideas to fruition. 

It would be interesting to see if this would be a good outlet for emotional and/or artistic expression or perhaps a good way for me to keep up with practicing and maintaining singing (and vocal skills in general too come to think of it!). 

On top of everything though I honestly just would be interested in this sort of thing myself ahaha! And also I so think it could totally provide a potential platform for some seriously cool human interactions, you know! But no, I’m thinking I may consider these ideas in some earnest. 

Obviously I would remain anonymous still (it’s a personal preference of mine). I mean, I don’t believe my voice to be all that recognizable; any time I’ve heard my voice describe I’m told it’s calming/soothing but I don’t believe it’s been called unique/distinctive in particular. Sure, there’s been times my voice was describe as relaxing/soothing (maybe something else - “nice”? idk, I’m neutral to my voice for the most part as purely a sound (I love it because it’s mine, though)) so I can’t say I personally understand but I appreciate the thought given in their observations and their compliments regardless, but I doubt my voice sticks out, so to say, or leaves an impression.  In other words, I think I could possibly comfortably maintain my anonymity if I ever were to legitimately try my hand at voice recording. I am a bit of a paranoid bastard admittedly though ahaha! 

Still, say I were to some day play with this idea in a more serious way, would there be any suggestions for my subject material you’d like to offer? Hypothetically speaking, of course ;)

[wallofweird]

I’m so excited for season 5! What are you most excited for? 😍😍😍

And did you see they’ll bring the covid theme to this season?

I’m so sorry I haven’t answered this sooner, I think I probably read this ask while I was sleepy and decided to reply it later and then forgot there was something in my inbox. I’m really messy, so I apologize, but thank you for sending me this, I really appreciate when people come to talk to me. :)

Yes, I did see that they will bring COVID-19 to the plot! I’m glad that’s happening because even though This Is Us is all about The Pearsons, they are conscious about what’s happening in the US, the world and at each specific timeline. They’ve addressed to some extent The Cold War, The Vietnam War, racial segregation etc, even small things like fashion and musical trends (like Kate being obsessed with Alanis Morissette, this is such a 90/2000′s thing and I believe she was listening to Hanson when she was upset after her first break up?). So not addressing COVID-19 would feel wrong, I’m sure they will address the Black Lives Matter movement and maybe even police brutality and the presidential election too to some extent. Of course, the focus will still be The Pearsons and all these life-changing events happening in the big three’s and Rebecca’s lives, but they will acknowledge how the world will be affecting their lives too.

By the way, this turned out to be waaaaaaaaaaay longer than I expected it to be and I apologize for it, haha. By the way, this is in NO PARTICULAR ORDER.

So, about what I’m most excited for, well, that’s really a hard question because there are so many things left to explore and so many different places they can go. I guess one way to put it is that I’m more curious about the unseen and barely seen stuff. For example, I believe we’ve seen enough about Jack and Rebecca as parents of children and teenagers, so I wouldn’t mind if they reduced those scenes a little bit. I’d love to see them as parents of babies (which would be a great parallel with Kevison and Katoby), or when they first started dating, when they got engaged, when they were newlyweds. And I believe it’s not a coincidence that we’ve hardly seen any of those experiences regarding Rebecca and Jack, it feels like they saved it for when Kevin finally found the one (cough Madison cough).

I’d also like to see more of them before getting to know each other, their childhood and teenage/young years (we already know there will be one flashback on the first episodes at least!), maybe a little bit of their other relatives as well. Like, what happened to their parents and Rebecca’s sister? Specially Jack’s mother, he mentions she made three clothes for the babies, so she was still around when the big three were born and that was eight years after their first encounter. 

I’d love to see more of past timelines that haven’t been visited enough as well. The 20′s is my favorite episode from season 2, I loved the storylines in there and mostly loved to see Kevin, Randall and Kate in their late 20s. Show me more of what was happening in their lives back then! Also, show me more of Randall and Beth as newlyweds and first-time parents too and more parallels with Kevison, please?

Kate. I know that eating disorders and insecurity just don’t go away, that they can be a daily struggle and anytime they can haunt you back and make you relapse. I’m glad the show explores that. However, they also work on Randall’s anxiety and Kevin’s addiction really well and have given them more different stories. I want the same for her. I’m glad that she is also married and has an expanding family of hers, but it seems like she post-poned her career again and I’d like to see her working again at some point. Also, what happens to her in the future? We saw a flash-forward that was like, two years from now and she was all dressed-up and seemed to be writing a song. I hope things are going well for her. And no, I doubt she is dead. 

More about ‘the others’. Show me more of Madison, Beth, Toby and Miguel! Why isn’t Madison close with her family? How did she develop bulimia? Isn’t there really anyone who she count on in her family? Will they reconcile or has she left them for good to make her own family like Jack did (another potential for parallels, btw). I remember Beth mentioning to William that she had a lot sisters and lived with an enormous amount of people and we kind of saw it on the few episodes that centered on her, but what are her sisters like? How were their dynamic while growing up and what is it like now? Same for Toby, he has mentioned having a brother and a sister and it looks like they’re not that close, but Toby really loves and admires Kate’s bond with her brothers, so I feel like he craves that kind of relationship to himself and I’d like to know why he doesn’t seem to have it with with his own siblings. Plus, Miguel. He has biological children and grandchildren and yet he seems to be closer to Rebecca’s side of the family. And we’ve seen him with his biological family and know it is complicated, but couldn’t they fix or at least change that a little bit?

Randall’s biological family. Memphis is one of my favorite episodes from season 1 and one thing that was very satisfying and rewarding to see was Randall bonding with his biological family. The show has done a great job showing how Randall felt a vacancy in his entire life for being black in a racist world, for being black in a white family, for dealing with racism in his own family, for not having enough black references for a long period of his life, for being adopted, for being abandoned, for not knowing anything about his biological family, for not sharing genetic traits with his family, for still feeling like an outsider among some black folks he tried to connect with. He said it once that he either tries too hard or not hard enough, but he never manages to GET IT RIGHT. So when he met his biological family in Memphis, it was sort of an awakening, fulfilling moment after 36 years of dealing with all those complex feelings. And that was all, which is one of my few disappointments with the show. However, Sterling has talked about it and it seems that they will explore that again. And if they do, I hope he can introduce Beth and the girls to his uncles and cousins! Sure, he is closer to The Pearsons, but it wouldn’t hurt to have him spending time with his biological/extended family at least for one episode on seasons 5 and 6, right?

Final closure for Kevin and Sophie. I thought episode 3x16 was the perfect closure for them: Sophie talked to him about Grant and how he was her soulmate, they recognized the fact Kevin didn’t commit to their relationship as he did with his relationship with Zoe, they said goodbye without any hard feelings, he went back to Zoe and said he wanted to have a life with her and bought Sophie and Grant tickets to a concert. It was perfect. Then, I guess they wanted to play with the ‘who’s the baby mama’ question for one last time and brought her back as a plot device. It didn’t feel natural at all. They threw in two stories about a game they had imagining different endings to Good Will Hunting and her family ring out of nowhere, no previous hints, built-up or whatsoever. It felt like something made last minute to fuel them enough so she could be considered a baby mama/wife contender again after how badly their relationship played out with the cheating, hiding, lying, heartbreak and overall dynsfunctionality and the fact he dated Zoe for a year and saw himself marrying her. Even the way their relationship has been portrayed over the course of the show, it is an idealization. When Kevin is fine and happy, when his career is going smoothly, when he is life is well, he doesn’t think about her. When he gets frustrated and deluded, he runs back to her. It’s not a constant sentiment of missing her and longing for her, it’s a desperate move and Justin has talked about it and even compared it to his addiction and a unhealthy coping mechanism. So I just want them to definitely shut the door on it now. I believe they have done 50% already with them watching the ending of the movie and saying “it was better than they could've possibly imagined” and Sophie laughing at his billboard, not giving any hints of seeing him in a romantic light anymore. Now, they just need to write some closure to the ring. Give it a proper ending and move forward.

Deja, Tess and Annie. The girls are growing up! So keep giving them more things to do, specially Tess, she is one of the few LGBTQIA+ characters in the universe of the series, so I hope they explore her even more. Specially since she’s come out to her school not so long ago and it is in a phase of her life when the first crushes and relationships tend to happen, there are a lot of things they can do with that and I’m sure we from the LGBTQIA+ community would love to see it. Also, show me them in the flash-forwards! I’d also appreciate if we saw Tess having a love interest and a wlw kiss in the future. 

Deja and her biological family. She’s adopted by Randall and Beth, but she has a whole story before them, she has a mother that is apparently doing well too and is a part of her identity. Showing adoptive and biological families having a well-balanced relationship for the sake of their child would be refreshing and really important and they could show the contrast between Deja’s and Randall’s experiences. There is a lot of potential there.

Hailey. I have no idea how the adoption process works in California/the US, but I hope the little one comes as soon as possible! And adult Hailey is adorable, too, she seems to be such a devoted sister, so I hope to see more of that as well.

Unexplored or underdeveloped dynamics. I know that Jack, Rebecca, Kate, Randall and Kevin are the leading characters. I know Jack/Rebecca, Randall/Beth, Kate/Toby and now Kevin/Madison are the main couples and they will have a lot of screen time. I know Kate and Kevin have a special bond because they are twins. I know Kevin and Nicky have a special bond because he stayed with his uncle and helped him with his sobriety. I know Kevin has a special bond with his nieces and baby Jack because he is the last one to become a parent. I know all of that and I don’t want that to change. Still, it doesn’t hurt to mix it up and shake things up a little bit. Give me a little bit of Randall and baby Jack, show me a little bit of Kate and Nicky, bring back a little bit of that funny dynamic Kevin and Toby had on the early seasons (I remember one scene where the actors did a little bit of an ad-lib and it was awesome), give me a little bit of Madison and Randall’s girls, the women/men hanging out together and Rebecca and Miguel! We’ve already got confirmation about Rebecca and Miguel’s story being explored this season, so I’m excited about that.

Kevison, Kevison, KEVISON!! This is absolutely no surprise since I’ve been interested in them since season 2, Madison is my favorite character and a lot of my blog is dedicated to them. Just give me EVERYTHING. Again, one of my few complaints is how the main relationships happened way too fast on this show. Don’t get me wrong, I love the couples as much as the next person and I can enjoy every trope if they are done right. Still, my favorite are still the slowburn ones. As I viewer, I like to see the seed being planted, watered and the slowly growing like a real plant. I like rooting for something, knowing that it will happen, but not when and how it is going to play out. I like to see every single step of the journey: being acquainted, becoming colleagues, friends, confidants, best friends, falling in love, dating, getting engaged, married and BEING married. I love seeing little things and changes in their dynamic, like becoming more touchy, lingering looks, making each other blush, a little bit of jealousy... Sure, we got a little bit of those moments with Jack/Rebecca, Randall/Beth and Kate/Toby, but it wasn’t the same feeling because they were all love at first sight (which is one of the tropes I usually don’t like) and got together pretty quickly. And even when we saw their first meeting, or Jack being a little jealous/hurt when he saw Rebecca with her ex-boyfriend, it was more of a momentary thing than an example of changed dynamics and feelings becoming deeper and romantic. It wasn’t the result of months and a number of episodes in the making, it was a flashback we visited when we already knew the destination of their story, that it wouldn’t last and they would be happily married and the love of each other’s lives. So I specially appreciate that kevison will be the only main couple to have a different construction and development. I’d also love to see flashbacks of the time they slept together (it was afternoon when they met at Kate’s house and they went to Madison’s place and he only left the next morning! WHAT DID THEY DO DURING ALL OF THAT TIME?), which I’m quite confident we will get, but also before that. On episodes 4x10, 4x12, 4x14 and 4x18 I got the feeling that they were quite familiar with one another. They weren’t exactly friends, but they weren’t awkward with each other anymore, they were comfortable hanging out and shopping with Kate, he sweetly smiled at Madison’s quirks, Madison seemed unimpressed and annoyed when she opened the door to him and she didn’t have problems at all stepping inside Kate’s house as if she owned the place and ignoring Kevin when he told her it wasn’t a good time. Their dynamic really changed since episode 3x15 and Justin mentioned Kevin saw her as part of the family before their night together, so I wonder why. Also, some parallel flashbacks would be particulary nice. For example, they could have a flashback of Madison making a pregnancy test on a day that Kevin is babysitting Jack and daydreaming of having his own children. They could show parallels of Kevin and Madison struggling with addiction/bulimia in the past. Maybe she also lost a close relative and grief has impacted her as much as Kevin. So. Many. Possibilities. That. Can. Be. Explored!!!!! Those two are the characters that have THE MOST IN COMMON WITH ONE ANOTHER and there are a lot of things the writers can explore with that. Another particularly sweet thing that wouldn’t hurt or take more than a single minute would be a flashback of them meeting each other way before Kate. Like, if they had bumped into each other on the street years before and don’t remember it until they talk about it one day and realized they saw each other before? I’m watching this dizi (aka a Turkish TV show) where the characters are in a considerably similar situation, pregnant as a result of a drunk one-night stand after their first date and there was this moment where they were talking and she remembered she had bumped into him years ago when she was heartbroken over her ex getting engaged. It was such a small and fulfilling moment. It really gives the idea of COMING FULL-CIRCLE and I’d love to see something like that.

Kevison and the other couples enjoying their pregnancies. I feel like we see the characters with their children as much as we should, and I definitely appreciate that, but we don’t get to see them enjoying the pregnancy period. Last year, most of Kate’s pregnancy revolved around worry, for example. And I get that since it was a complicated pregnancy and she had suffered a miscarriage before, but still. Kate only has one biological child. Rebecca only got pregnant once. Madison is likely to be pregnant only one time too. We basically only saw Beth and Lucy giving birth and that was only one time for each character. It would be nice to see their pregnancies being fun. Documenting it, buying baby clothes, discussing baby names, building cribs, decorating the baby(ies) room etc. It would be nice to have flashbacks of that and specially to see KEVISON doing all of that, since this is the pregnancy that is happening at this current moment.

The characters having friends outside their families and marriage. Like I said before, I KNOW that the focus of the show are the big three and Jack and Rebecca. I know which dynamics will be more explored on the show and I don’t want that to change. However, Kate is the only one that has the luxury of two friends (Madison and Gregory). Randall got Jae-Won on season 3 (I actually think they only became real friends last season, tbh) and Kevin had Cassidy for a while and now doesn’t even seem to talk to her anymore (not that I miss it because I didn’t like their dynamic, specially after they slept together and I just wanted season 4A to focus on him and Nicky without anyone’s interference). Let them have some friends of their own too and hang out with them at least for an episode? Same goes to Beth, Toby, Rebecca and Miguel (I know he had Jack, I’m talking about present time).

Kevin’s career. For now I want him to focus on his children and Madison, but when it comes to his career, I’d like to see him doing different things. He played a soldier and a cop. Let him play different characters and show more versatility. Maybe doing voice-work on a Disney movie for his children to watch it and enjoy it? Dealing a little bit with fame, tabloids and paparazzi could be interesting as well. He’s not a big celebrity like Oscar-winner actors, but he is famous enough to be photographed on the street and have mean rumors about him spread on the media (they mentioned one about him being drunk and running over his daughter with his car), so there are many possibilities to explore when he comes to his career too.

Kate being there for Madison during the pregnancy and more moments of Kate helping and comforting her during difficult times, both in the present and the past years. This is not criticism. Kate helped her when she relapsed that one time and took care of her. It also didn’t make sense to focus on Madison that much because her character didn’t have such a big role back then. Now, things have changed and Madison will be needing her, so let Kate repay the favor.

The couples enjoying some adult time without children involved. One of the very few flaws of This Is Us. We only got that with Jack and Rebecca. The only times Kate/Toby and Beth/Randall tried to have a night just for themselves they had problems. Susan mentioned that she would like to see them going on a date and so do I? Hopefully we will see Kevin/Madison, Randall/Beth and Kate/Toby having some quality time without the kids as well.

If we get to see more of the big three as older children and teenagers (which I guess we are because unless that’s changed, the actors are still part of the main cast), I hope they show more moments of them bonding, having fun and helping each other. Having their own experiences and having each other’s back instead of problems that Jack and Rebecca try to solve for them or help them with. Let them be bigger characters and let them be close as siblings too. That episode where they watched Arsenio Hall together was particularly sweet and refreshing to see, same goes to Kevin helping Randall at school when he got a notification and was having a panic attack. However, for their teen years, I’d definitely love to see them being easy with their parents and those five having a good time together, enjoying each other and their parents for a change, specially since Jack passed away when they were only 17.

Jack, Hailey and the twins. Sure, they will be little, but I hope we get to see the cousins together for a decent amount of time. It is really nice that they are all close (Madison/Kevin/Kate), and NOW, FAMILY. It is nice that Hailey, Jack and the twins will be closer in age and not have a lonely childhood. I hope they explore that a little bit.

Jack Damon. I love him. He is creative, charismatic, funny and adorable. He is also one of the few representation of disabled people that was done right. He is a visually-impaired person played by visually-impaired actors. His disability is a part of who he is and his story, but not all of it. He is a successful musician. He has a big family with his daughter, wife, sister, cousins and uncles. I want to know more of him. Plus, the writing exploring accessibility. Episode 4x13 when Kate, Jack and Rebecca went to the retreat and we saw all those children playing and having fun and living a full life was amazing. We need more of that on TV.

Plus, what about Nicky? Who did he marry? I have an entire theory about this and I hope he can get a little family for himself. Don’t get me wrong, The Pearsons are his family too, his bond with Kevin is one of my favorite relationships in the entire show, but I’d want him to have a family outside of his extended family, too, you know?

Dr. K and Wlliam. We can never get enough from them! I don’t know how often we will see them due to the pandemics and the fact the actors are eldery, but they are the guest stars I will never grow tired of. A fantasy sequence with the entire family while having Jack, Nicky and William would be particuarly nice. They could’ve done it on episode 4x17 and I was a little frustrated that they missed the opportunity.

The future of the family and the future of the show. Rebecca is a grandmother now. Randall, Kate and Kevin are parents. Deja, Tess and Annie are growing up. Jack is 1. Madison is very close to giving birth to the twins. They’ll be 40 when the season premieres. Kevin is a year sober. They’ve all grown in so many different ways. And since Rebecca’s health and memory are deteriorating, I’d like them to be in the upfront of the narrative now. As I mentioned before, I know the leading characters are Jack, Rebecca, Kevin, Kate and Randall. I know the big three are some of biggest characters on the show. Still, when it comes to family, the narrative has always focused on Jack and Rebecca as parents and Kate, Randall and Kevin as children. They have always explored more the problems those three experience, whether is in the past or present time and Rebecca and Jack trying to help them navigate through them and solve things. Let’s reverse everything. Let Rebecca be vulnerable and having her children taking care of her. I’d also love to see more of the future timelines with Randall’s girls as young adults, Jack, Hailey and the twins as children and teenagers, them and their parents dealing with all of that. What will Randall and Beth do when they all go to college and move out? What will Kate and Toby do when their children have nightmares? What will Madison and Kevin do with the twins when they have problems at school? Let us see (more) of Randall’s, Kate’s and Kevin’s parenting style and what they got from their parents and are passing on for their kids and what is their own approach to parenthood. Let us see them passing on Jack and Rebecca’s legacy for the future generations of The Pearsons, but also making their own little traditions and having their own experiences. Let’s us see them making NEW MEMORIES FOR THEMSELVES AND THEIR FAMILIES. It is a good idea to explore both on seasons 5 and 6, imo. Showing how far they have come, how this family that started with only a couple and has evolved into this gigantic fabric of people and how Jack and Rebecca will live forever though Kevin, Kate, Randall, their children, Hope and the ones from generations that are still to come.

IT’S NOT that I exactly WANT it, but iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiif we really have to go there:

Kate and Toby’s divorce. I don’t want it. I love them as people. I root for them as a couple. Sure, they have faced some major problems and this season explored that, but I hope they get passed it, specially since they are about to welcome a second child. Still, I can’t come up with a good enough of an explanation why Toby isn’t wearing his wedding ring. Every possible reason that crossed my mind was either heartbreaking or underwhelming at best: there was a small incident and he will buy a new ring, they got divorced, Kate died. I don’t want any of it to happen and I bet money that Kate doesn’t die. Still, if after making such a big deal of it, it turns out that they just are buying new wedding rings or whatever, that will be so ANTICLIMACTIC. And if they do get a divorce, it will be REPETITIVE since they teased it for the entire season and they stayed married. So far, if it were for them to split up, it should have happened on season 4. If they’re reaaaaaaally gonna go there, I hope it will be done well considering there are only two seasons left, two children involved and it was something they literally played with LAST SEASON. They must find a way to make it REFRESHING AND NOT REPETITIVE. They must find a way to explore the outcome of it. Dealing with a divorce, being single again, the custody of their children and how it will change their dynamic as parents. I also want them to find a new love. Sure, it would be realistic if they ended up alone, yes, and there’s no shame in that. A lot of people don’t want to get married or never see that dream coming true and those are stories worth telling too. STILL, I’d be really frustrated with they were the only characters who ended up alone when Randall/Beth and Kevin/Madison are happily married. Even Jack and Lucy seem to be going strong! So show them finding someone else and give well-developed love stories with different people for them while exploring everything else that’s already going on too. I wanted there to be a big and plausible enough explanation why on earth Toby isn’t wearing his ring and yet is still very much married to Kate, but I recognize it is more wishful thinking.

If they still want to bring Sophie through flashbacks, then answer relevant questions than just having her there sitting next to Kevin. The divorce is a great example of storyline and it can serve as a parallel for Kevison, like, what they got right and Kevin/Sophie didn’t. Justin said Kevin cheated on her twice, so how did all of that happen? We don’t know.

[remmyswritings]

Coffee or Tea Part 2: Lavender Matcha Tea

I told myself I’d post this on Monday, but honestly I’ve been so excited by everyone’s responses that I figured I’d post it a day early. I hope you all enjoy this as much as I do! Any and all pictures I post are from Unsplash, except for the moodboard from chapter 1 which had been made by the beautiful @willowbleedsonpaper​. 

Also, if you want to be on the tag list but aren’t currently then let me know. 

Coffee or Tea? part 1: chai tea latte

It had been two days since he had seen Y/N and Teddy was starting to get nervous. It wasn’t just any type of nervousness, it was that pit in the middle of your stomach feeling, the one that won’t stop gnawing at you until you’re satisfied, and Teddy hadn’t been satisfied. He was anything BUT satisfied. All these thoughts running through his head “What if it was a one off?” “What if I was just imagining that she was into me?” “What if she stopped working there?” “Was that even her regular shift?” “Should I ask the owner? No that would just be super weird right… especially if she doesn’t want to talk to me… no I’d just look like some stalker…” Still these thoughts didn’t stop him from checking through the window of the cafe for her… just one last time. His bundle of joy, wait she isn’t his he reminded himself, wasn’t there, at least he thought so. A crunching of tree leaves and the reflection of someone standing behind him in the window caused him to turn around. 

“Hi Teddy… Looking for anyone in particular?” She smirked.

Shocked, he could only stand there, watching her with her hip popped out, using it to support a basket that seemed to be carrying pastries, smiling as if she didn’t just scare the crap at him… maybe she didn’t realize she had. “Oh… H-Hi Y/N… Nice to see you here.”

“Well I do work here.” Suddenly looking down as if surprised by her outburst. A bit quieter, she remarked, “But it’s nice to see you too.”

Realizing that she had to go inside, he opened the door for her. And suddenly, as if it were magic, she transformed from a slightly timid woman to a confident and energetic leader. She hopped over to the bar, placing the basket down on the table, before swinging her body over to the other side. Looking to Teddy once again, she motioned for him to wait and stepped to the back, speaking to someone who seemed to be her boss. Then, within a blink of an eye, she was back at the register waiting for Teddy to approach… the ball was in his court now. 

“So… Teddy… what can I get for you today?” She teasingly stated.

Looking at her, he decided to see if he could make his time last. “Well, I’m not sure. I’d figured I’d try something new again.”

“Did you like the drink I gave you last time?” Genuinely concerned that he did not enjoy it.

“Oh no,” he reassured her. “It was amazing. I’m sort of surprised I hadn’t tried it before. I just figured I’d try something else today, expand my taste buds a bit.”

“You know, I’m sort of surprised, my boss says that until the other day, you always ordered the same thing. What was that she called you? Oh… ya… Mr. Earl Grey,” She laughed.

“Um… well who knows maybe I wanted to try something new… or maybe, I wanted to meet this new barista who I’d never seen before.” As he said this, a line began to form and while he really hoped to continue his sentence, he knew the other customers would be bothered by it. “Anyway, I don’t want to hold anyone up, so anything that you can recommend to me?”

Y/N looked pensive, going through every tea she could think of imagining, which one Teddy would like the most… but then again he said he wanted to try something new. “If you want to try something new I’d recommend our Lavender Matcha Tea. It’s a new version that our matcha expert on staff came out with just this morning… Oh and I’d pair it with a lemon poppy seed scone from the basket that I carried in earlier.”

“Lavender… wow I never would have thought of that flavor, but I trust you. I want to ask more but I have a feeling your other customers won’t be happy with me,” He smiled bashfully.

Y/N found the action endearing and couldn’t help but blush in return. “I’m sure I can spare you a couple minutes after I finish making your order to talk some more.”

And off she went. Once again Teddy couldn’t help but observe her movements, they weren’t graceful today… no they were more marked, she seemed a bit on edge yet comfortable. It astonished him how much in control she appeared even with the tenseness she carried in her body. Then, just like the last time, she seemed to appear out of nowhere, with a smile and his order. “

One Lavender Matcha tea with a lemon poppy seed scone.” Placing his order down in front of him, Y/N then hopped over the bar, placing herself on the stool next to him. It seemed as though she had done it thousands of times before. Suddenly, Teddy realized just how close she was, with their knees skimming past one another, almost touching yet not really. Nonetheless, Y/N didn’t seem to notice, so Teddy forced himself not to notice either. 

“So,” looking up at Teddy’s brown eyes in such a way that he imagined her peering into her soul, “what do you want to know Teddy?”

“So many things,” he blurted out. “Sorry… I didn’t mean- um… I think I’m curious about the basket with the pastries. I thought the cafe’s pastries were made in house.”

“Surprisingly, they never were. These are actually from a shop called ‘The Creature Confectionery,’ it’s a family business run by the Lovegoods. I happen to be good friends with their daughter Luna, so when I started working here, she helped me set up an arrangement between her mom and my boss,” She rambled on about how she met Luna when she first arrived in London, the two quickly connecting over their thirst for knowledge. Yet all Teddy could think was “Wow, she’s even more stunning when I talk to her.” 

Five minutes, turned into 10, which then turned into 30. His tea and scone had been devoured long ago, yet neither of them seemed to notice just how much time had passed since Y/N sat down in her stool. At least that was until the next set of customers walked in.

“Ted, mate, there you are,” a voice exclaimed. “We’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

Teddy and Y/N turned around to see two men standing side-by-side, who seemed to embody two different sides of the same coin. Y/N realized that the one who spoke was a blonde-haired man she’d recognized from time to time. 

“Oh, Malfoy, Zabini. What are you two doing here?” Teddy seemed confused seeing his two friends in front of him. “I thought we weren’t supposed to meet til later tonight.”

Finally the blonde-haired man’s companion spoke, “Malfoy’s lecture got cancelled, so we figured the three of us plus Parkinson and Greengrass should hang out.”

“Oh, sorry ‘bout that boys. I guess I just got caught up with Y/N here,” Teddy looked down ashamed.

The two men then turned to fully look at Y/N, as if they hadn’t even bothered to pay attention to her until her name fell from Teddy’s lips. Their gazes surprised her, yet she held up her guard, even when they seemed to take in her appearance recognizing her as a barista. Y/N only hoped that no belittling comments came from either of the men yet they never did.

“Nice to meet you, love. I’m Draco Malfoy, and this is Blaise Zabini,” Malfoy held out his hand for Y/N to shake. Once he did, she released her breath, not recognizing that she had held it in the first place.

“It’s nice to meet you both, but… wow… look at the time, I should get back to work,” a timid smile sitting on her face. Before leaving, she turned to Teddy, her voice now quieter than it was earlier, “It was really nice chatting with you. We should do this again sometime.”

The second she disappeared, Teddy turned to his friends and exclaimed, “What the bloody hell was that for?!”

taglist: @willowbleedsonpaper​, @summer-writes​, @obsessedwithrandomthings​, @firewhisky-kisses​, @potterverseimagine​, @in-slytherin-we-trust​, @weasleybees​ 

[contrivedcoincidences6]

Obstacles

Continuing in my Dirty Hands series! Thank you as always to @otterandterrier​ for being my beta! And huge shout out to writer sprints aka the reason I finally was able to write. 

Han tossed and turned in his bunk, unable to get his fight with Leia out of his mind. The evening had started out so well. Leia’d had dinner with him, Luke and Chewie on the Falcon and it had been nice. Even nicer was how she left with Luke but circled back a few minutes later, jumping right into Han’s arms.

It was a rare quiet night for the rebels and she’d been giving him eyes all day. The foreplay of hidden looks had lasted all day, from the moment she’d greeted them at the Mako-Ta docks and until she’d snuck back onto the Falcon and finally climbed him like a tree. 

He’d been away for a week and seeing her made Han’s heart beat faster than he’d admit. The whole time they were away he’d missed her, which was against her very strict rules. 

She’d set the rules hours after their first time sleeping together, writing them up and handing them to him on a datacard to make it as impersonal as possible. He’d agreed, of course. No matter how infuriating he’d found the interaction after touching her, kissing her, being inside her, he couldn’t say no. 

She was worse than spice and twice as powerful. 

Han loved that he knew things about her that no one else did, that there were parts of her that would always be his. He wanted to find out all those hidden little secrets and collect them just for himself, to know Leia better than anyone; every scrap of information he found, he hid away for himself. 

Leia would have never admitted to missing him but he could feel in the way she held him. It was a big night in Han’s opinion—she’d surprised him by letting him be on top, which put them face to face for the first time. Han couldn’t get enough of watching her face as they moved together, unravelling so close up. This time, she hadn’t pushed him away as soon as they were done, either. 

Afterward she’d laid in his bunk with him and they’d actually talked. Han had asked her about what she’d done while he’d been away and she’d filled him in on some hilarious stories of the exploits of Luke and the other X-ing pilots. She’d been laughing at something he’d said when a lock of her usually neatly done up hair had fallen into her face. Before he could think about what he was doing, Han had pushed her hair back behind her ear. 

Something expanded in Han’s chest as she looked up at him with her large liquid eyes. He’d traced his thumb along her cheekbone and moved his fingers into her braids. Han had kissed her then, and she’d hesitated for just a moment before returning his affections. 

Their kisses had remained sweet and slow. Han’s fingers had moved on their own accord into Leia’s hair and he’d begun to undo her braids. 

She’d frozen and, after a moment, Han had stopped. 

“What?” he’d asked when she pulled away from him.

“Don’t touch my hair. Ever.” She faced away from him, holding her hair in place. She’d covered up her half-done hair the way most people would cover their nakedness. 

Han was without words while she’d dressed, but found his voice before she left. 

“Yeah goodnight to you, too, sweetheart,” he’d grunted out snidely. 

“If you can’t follow the rules I’ve set out, then this is over.” 

She hadn’t looked back before leaving the room, and a baffled Han, behind.

Hours later, he still couldn’t sleep. He rolled over and buried his head into his pillow before quickly throwing it to the ground and pounding a fist onto the bunk. 

It smelled like her. Stang, how did it still smell like her? 

Leia haunted him like a ghost. 

Knowing he was in for a long sleepless night, Han decided to take a walk, maybe train with his blaster for a bit, shooting something might make him feel better. 

Mako Ta was the fanciest base the Rebellion had. It was state of the art, fitted out with a gymnasium that catered to all manner of sentients, and Han, though not usually the most athletic type, decided he wanted to work off some energy. The simulated battle course would suit him nicely.

Despite how late (or early really) it was in ship time, the gym had a good amount of beings using its facilities. A pair of Mirialans jogged past him on his way in and he could feel their eyes on him as they passed. He looked back over his shoulder and one of them was still admiring him. She was pretty, with yellow skin and dark matching tattoos on her cheek. She smiled at him in a knowing way and he took a moment to admire her, wink, and pretend he was interested in anyone but Leia. 

He’d just passed a large swimming pool where all manner of aquatics were gathered when his attention was drawn to a growing crowd over by his planned destination. Han had no interest in running or swimming but he liked the obstacle courses that filled the back of the gymnasium. They required use of his mind, body, and blaster in concert, and exhausted him thoroughly. On this night, though, a small crowd was gathered around watching two people leaping and shooting in one of the holo simulations designed to look like a jungle from Yavin IV.

The course was set to look like the jungle planet and it featured holo Walkers and Stormtroopers, making the participants run through the simulated landscape while under attack.

Han stopped in his tracks when he identified the two humans as Luke and Leia. They worked perfectly together, almost like they were reading each other’s every thought. There were no words between the two, but they covered each other from the fake blaster fire as they ran on the fast treadmill turned jungle. 

The courses were beautifully done, created to feel truly real. The user could even add heat, cold, precipitation, and adjust the pain level for the blaster fire. Leia’s brow was covered in sweat, flyaway hairs plastered to her face, which was filled with intense focus, but also a type of exhilaration he’d come to look for in her. 

The Leia Organa who always acted so serious actually craved adventure and excitement. It was the look she wore when they were sneaking around, but here she was wearing a similar look as she ran the course with Luke. Han wanted to walk away, but the strange battle dance that she and Luke were performing was difficult to look away from. 

Leia in particular was a wonder as she leapt over surprise barriers and dodged oncoming hits like a born warrior. 

Force, he was falling for this woman. 

The end of the course was signified by two X-wings waiting in the holo hangar, and when they reached their goal the small crowd cheered. Luke and Leia waited for a score to come up and, unsurprising to all who’d been watching, they took the top spot. Leia let out an uncharacteristic whoop and launched herself at Luke, who spun her around. 

The onlookers moved forward to talk to them as Han decided it was time he left. 

She looked happy; he didn’t want to ruin that. 

He was so deep into his own self-pitying thoughts that he hadn’t heard the running footsteps behind him. 

“Hey, Han.” 

He was so shocked to hear Leia’s out of breath voice that he stopped fast. 

“Good performance out there, Your Highness,” Han spat out as she came into his vision. 

Her face transformed from curious, to irritated, to forced calm in a matter of seconds and he watched her take a deep breath to calm herself. 

“Listen, Han, I’m sorry.” 

Convinced he’d not heard her right, Han just gaped at her. 

“Did you hear me? ‘Cause I’m not saying it again.” 

After that he was sure he’d actually heard her and he rolled his eyes. 

“Look I’m trying to apologize, it’s just—” her voice lowered and she looked around, “Hair, specifically, unbraiding a woman’s hair, is very… intimate… on Alderaan.” 

When she realized she’d referred to her home planet in the present tense, she flinched. 

“Was intimate on Alderaan, and it’s still that way for my people. I realize that you were not aware of that custom, so, I’m sorry for getting angry.”

Her face was red from the running but he could tell the apology was also contributing to the blush, and hearing her actually talk about her lost homeworld caused a pang in his chest. 

“It’s alright, Princess, thanks,” he waved it off, as if he hadn’t been losing sleep over the whole thing. 

“Right, um, thank you.” 

They stood there distinctly uncomfortable for a few seconds, Leia still catching her breath, until Han hooked a thumb back over his shoulder, indicating the course she’d just finished. 

“I meant it, by the way, nice work out there. You guys are a good team.” He really hadn’t meant for the last part to sound bitter but somehow it left his mouth that way.

If Leia noticed the slight venom in his voice, she didn’t show it. 

“Yeah, well, it’s not really fair when I’m teamed up with a Jedi in training; of course he’s going to win.”

Han shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve seen Luke run that course with others and even alone, he’s never done so well.” 

He didn’t know why he persisted; it was like the need to push on a bruise or pick at a hangnail, he couldn't help digging his grave deeper. 

Eyebrows drawn, Leia looked away and said, “I guess.” 

They were silent again for another moment until Luke’s excited shout broke them out of their awkward spell. 

“Han, old buddy! How are ya? Did you just see that? Leia and I broke the record!” Luke’s face was pure joy and Han couldn’t help but return the smile. 

“Yeah, good work, kid, they’ll have to invent a new level just for you two!” 

“Join us next time! I bet with the three of us we can beat the trio round too!”

Han chuckled and didn’t meet Leia’s eyes. “Sure, next time.” 

Both Han and Leia noticed Luke’s eyes trail away to see Wedge entering the gym. 

“I’ve got to tell Wedge, he’ll be so mad! Night guys!” Luke looked down at his chrono and shrugged. “Or morning I guess,” he corrected, and jogged off. 

Han and Leia’s eyes met then. 

“I better….” 

“Yeah—” 

They nodded at each other and hurried off in random, opposite directions. Han looked back over his shoulder for just a moment to catch her retreating back, but he turned away before he caught her own last look. 

She’d be the death of him.

[therestofmyfandoms]

"Romeo, I must speak with you in private," the lady urged, and Romeo followed her to a nearby alleyway.

Benvolio watched as his friend walked away, a little curious, but respectful of his cousin's privacy. Mercutio, on the other hand, had no such qualms. The blonde royalty trailed after Romeo like a duckling, which caused Benvolio to sigh and follow behind him.

"Friar Laurence has agreed to marry us, you need only-" Benvolio could hear Romeo talking quietly, before Mercutio jumped 'round the corner.

"What's this about marriage? Romeo, truly you mustn't have fallen for this old woman?" When Benvolio finally caught up, Mercutio was grinning at a flustered Romeo, and the poor lady looked ready to smack the blonde.

Quickly stepping in front of his taller friend, Benvolio tried to break up the fight before it started. As well as learn more about this marriage.

"What I think Mercutio is trying to say is, 'you're getting married?'" Benvolio asked, lifting his arms ever so slightly as to stop the blonde from doing anything stupid. Which, of course, would do nothing to stop the man, but it's the thought that counts.

Romeo, for his sake, looked rather red, and could barely string two words together, much less form a sentence. The lady's face softened ever so slightly, and then explained the situation herself.

"Romeo wishes to marry Juliet, the only child of Lord and Lady Capulet," the lady said, as if that cleared everything up. Benvolio's eyebrows shot up, confusion marring his face. "They met last night, at Lord Capulet's masquerade party. They fell in love, and now wish to be married."

"Romeo…" Benvolio trailed off, staring at his lovestruck cousin. Well, at least its not Rosaline. But Rosaline would've been better then the fucking heir!

"Were you discussing wedding plans then?" Mercutio interrupted Benvolio's thoughts, setting a hand on his shoulder, gently pushing him aside so he could stand next to him. "May I be of some help? I do love weddings." Benvolio whipped his head to stare at Mercutio. Not fucking helping!!

The lady, meanwhile, glanced at the still-red Romeo, before turning to face Mercutio again. “Well, I suppose. I am Angelica, Juliet’s nurse, and currently her voice, as she cannot leave her home.” She offered her hand to Mercutio, who simply stared at it.

Benvolio, having more manners than his royal friend, quickly took her hand and bowed, kissing it lightly. “I am Benvolio Montague,” he said as he stood up again. “Romeo’s cousin. And the blonde lump beside me is Mercutio, kinsman to Prince Escalus.” He couldn’t help but grin when that earned him an elbow in his side.

“Now, what do you mean, wedding? I thought you liked Rosaline?” He asked, directing the last question at Romeo. The mention of Rosaline snapped Romeo out of it.

“Rosaline? Ugh, no. I simply followed your advice. I went to the party, I met a pretty girl, and I fell in love,” Romeo stated, rather matter-of-factly. As if it wasn’t a big deal that he just moved from one girl to the next. Although, knowing Romeo, it really wasn’t. Hopefully, though, this one would stick, especially since she seemed to like him back, and they were talking of marriage.

“Romeo. You know I love you, so don’t take this lightly. Are you sure about her? Absolutely, positively?” Benvolio asked, placing his hands on Romeo’s shoulders, staring him in the eye. That snapped the man out of his reverie.

"Yes, Benny. Of this, I don't think I could be more certain," his voice held such confidence, such love, that Benvolio could only sigh, and nod wearily.

Turning his head slightly, he looked at the nurse, Angelica.

"How can we help?"

---

Later than day, as the three men and the Friar were waiting for Juliet in his cell, Mercutio struck up a conversation.

"You know," he drawled to the room, speaking to no one in particular. "This, wedding business is awfully exciting. Makes me almost want to get married."

Benvolio almost scoffed, but then tried to cover it up with a cough.

"Hmm? You have something to say, Benny?" His voice held a mocking tone, but as the royalty swirled to face him, his eyes held something Benvolio could not identify.

"Me? Oh, nothing," he said easily. Mercutio just raised an eyebrow. "Well, it's just the thought of you getting married," -and there goes the other eyebrow. "You could never settle down like that. You'd drop her within the week!"

"Oh yeah?" Mercutio sounded almost affronted. Against his better judgement, Benvolio nodded.

"You would get bored! You could never stick around that long!" Benvolio went on, trying to stay quiet. "In fact, I'm honestly surprised you haven't left Romeo and I yet. Are we just exciting enough?" At this, Mercutio almost look like he bit into a lemon. A bit of hurt seeped into his eyes, and Benvolio started to feel bad, at least until his eyes suddenly sparked with a mischievous light, he opened his mouth.

"Hmm, I suppose you're right, in some ways. Do you think you would be better, at marriage? You think you would last longer?" Mercutio taunted, a faint smirk on his face. Benvolio, as much as he didn't want to, fell for the bait.

"Yea, actually. I think I would. I can put up with anything. I've put up with you, haven't I?" Oh no. That was it. That was what Mercutio was looking for, based on the grin that quickly took over his face.

"Oh, so you wouldn't mind a little, wager then, would you?" His grin was almost devilish, and by god was it contagious. Benvolio was slowly smiling as he nodded. "Good. Then how about…" Mercutio trailed off, as he glanced around the room. Benvolio did too, remembering that they had company for the first time. Oops.

For their part, Friar Laurence and Romeo looked really awkward, and were entirely avoiding eye contact with the other two. Mercutio laughed loudly, startling them.

"Friar, you're free, right?" The man didn't even have time to answer before Mercutio walked over and dragged him back to Benvolio. "Marry us, please."

"Wait what?" Benvolio's eyes were as big as dinner plates, he was sure. Before we could continue, Romeo jumped in.

"Mercutio, what? Is that really such a good idea?" Romeo asked, glancing between the 3 of them. "Isn't that kind of rash?" The twin glares from Mercutio and Benvolio was enough to silence him.

"Now, as I was saying-" before Mercutio could finish, a soft voice spoke from the door.

"I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?" Turning, Benvolio watched as the most beautiful girl he had ever seen walked into the room, glancing around at the mess that was happening.

Romeo quickly threw himself at her, hugging her and calling her 'my darling', 'my love', and other sickly sweet pet names. That must be Juliet then.

"Not at all, no," Mercutio grumbled under his breath as he let go of Friar Laurence, who promptly went over to the happy couple. Mercutio just stood next Benvolio, watching as they got married.

At first, Benvolio was very uncertain about this, and Romeo's devotion. After all, the man was like a puppy, falling in love with whoever gave him attention. But just watching him with Juliet, Benvolio could tell that he was truly in love. It was very much meant to be.

As the Friar finished up his prayers, Romeo and Juliet shared a tender kiss. And then Benvolio heard sniffling from beside him. He glanced at Mercutio, who wiped a tear from his eye. Then he noticed him watching.

"Its beautiful, okay? Don't judge me," he huffed, turning his head away and crossing his arms like a 5 year old. Benvolio chuckled slightly.

"I'm not, I'm not. I just didn't take you for a softie." Benvolio explained lightly, nudging him with his elbow, eyes now watching the newly-weds. They were simply staring at each other, talking quietly.

It was quiet for a bit, as the Friar went about his other business, and the married couple were spending as much time as possible together before Juliet had to leave.

Then Benvolio heard a mumble from beside him. He glanced at Mercutio. The man was tucked into himself, like a turtle. It seemed almost wrong, somehow, that the usually loud and boisterous was acting, well, nervous.

"What?" He asked, wondering if he said anything at all or if he just imagined it.

"So?" The blonde said again, a little louder. Oh, so he did say something.

"So what?"

"Do you want to? You know…"

"Do what? I'm sorry, I'm lost"

Mercutio groaned. It seemed he was done with words, even though he didn't say very many. The royalty simply waved in the direction of Friar Laurence, and then gestured between the two of them. Oh. That.

"Oh." Bevolio suddenly felt very warm. Is it hot in here? We should open a window. Is there anyone windows? His thoughts rambled on, as he struggled to think of what to say. "Uh, sure? But what will the winner get?"

Mercutio seemed to expand a bit more. He stood up straighter, with a slight smile upon his lips. "I suppose that's up to the victor, is it not? I mean, when I win, I want to choose whatever. I. Please."

"You mean, when I win." Benvolio grinned, delighted to be bantering back and forth again. "I agree to that though. Whatever we want." He stuck out his hand.

Mercutio grinned back, and quickly shook his hand. "Oh Friar!"

The call once again startled the other people in the room who were not paying attention. Friar Laurence simply sighed and made his way over to them.

"Please join your hands," the Friar instructions, and they did just that. The man began to speak a long, low prayer, blessing this union and blah blah, Benvolio tuned him out.

All he could think about was oh god what is my family going to think and were Mercutio's hands always this soft?

"To seal this union, you must do so with a kiss," the Friar interrupted his thoughts, and that brought them to a startling halt. Oh yeah. Forgot about this part.

Based on his smirk, Mercutio didn't forget. He simply grabbed Benvolio's face and pulled him into a kiss. A warm, beautiful kiss that made him weak at the knees. Then before he knew it, it was over and he was simply staring in Mercutio's eyes and clutching onto his shoulders.

Oh no Benvolio thought, watching as Mercutio's eyes glistened, almost as if he knew what he was doing to Benvolio. This is going to be harder than I thought.

[pluckyredhead]

Director's commentary on It wouldn't be make believe? 🥺 Thanks I love your writing

Aw, thank you! This is a long fic so I’m gonna skim it and bullet some thoughts, let’s see:

Mxyzpills - I’m still so pleased with myself about this one. At the risk of over-explaining the joke, the “ninety-day high” is a reference to how when Superman banishes Mxyzptlk back to his dimension, he can’t return for ninety days. It’s also an insanely long time to be high for, why would anyone take this drug.

“He wasn’t naive—they could simply be sneaking upstairs to paw at each other.“ - I find Damian’s voice fairly easy to write in but this is a good example of where I struggled to find a balance between his very formal, disdainful word choices and not making him sound like a computer. I tried “fornicate” and “have intercourse” (lol) before I landed on “paw at each other,” which leans more on the “Damian is contemptuous of other people’s desires” side of things (as opposed to “Damian has never met another human but has read about them in books”).

The little knit cap on the TP in the frat bathroom makes me laugh so hard. Yes, I know I wrote it. If I can’t laugh at my own jokes, who will?

One of my guiding principles when writing Damian is that he’s really, really smart, but the problem is that he knows it, which means that he assumes that any idea he has is by default going to be intelligent. This allows him to do really stupid things like go undercover at a university attended by his best friend, who has super hearing and X-ray vision, and assume said friend won’t notice he’s there. Bless his heart.

“Please. I would never wear a shirt with this low of a thread count by choice.” - lololol

WAYNE GRAYSON god I’m a riot

I really wanted to convey a sense that Jon is very big and smells very good and has no sense of personal boundaries whatsoever, at least with Damian. Damian uses his body very well as a weapon but is otherwise completely disconnected from it, and Jon’s presence is a very physical one, and Damian has no idea what to do with that.

Love writing me some jealous Damian, especially because neither of them realize that’s what’s happening here. He only wants Jon to be friends with him! For reasons!!!

For some reason, Jon laughed at that. - It was important to me that Jon not come across as stupid in this. He’s puppyish and sweet, but he’s extremely bright and significantly more emotionally intelligent than Damian.

I think the fic is as long as it needs to be but I kind of wish I’d expanded on the idea that Jon is friends with everyone on campus and at least half of them have crushes on him.

Lian absolutely sent Jon the picture of him and Damian on the beach because she knew Jon had a crush on Damian. They’ve definitely talked about it.

“If I were your classmate, I’d be more curious about your apparently immortal dog.” - KRYPTO WILL NEVER DIE!!!

Damian’s insistence on paying for everything is basically a gesture of ownership, or chivalry if you want to be nice about it. He doesn’t even realize he’s doing it.

Jon being secretly in love with Damian from practically the start of their friendship is firm head canon for me, I believe in it with all of my being.

“Jon probably shouldn’t find Damian more endearing the ruder he got, but, well, here he was.“ - Jon is wildly entertained by Damian being an asshole, which is lucky for him because that particular behavioral tic isn’t going anywhere. Another thing I really wanted to make clear was that Jon sees Damian for exactly who he is - prickly and cranky and arrogant and stubborn - and loves him for all of it.

“I assume you’ve been texting each other positive affirmations when I’m not looking.” - I want to be part of the Kent family group text! So many heart emojis, so many photos of outer space.

“The Big Apricot” - is 100% a canon nickname for Metropolis and it makes me so happy.

Jon’s eyes are canonically blue but fuck that, I gave him Lois’s violet eyes because a) she deserves to have some of her genes replicated too and b) the more of a beautiful anime prince I can make Jon, the better.

Damian trying not to look at Jon because he is TOO SEXY is everything to me, I am so delighted by my own story.

Also firm head canon to me: Jon’s hair only ever falls into two categories, somewhat messy and very messy.

Damian removed his arm from Jon’s trim waist, feeling suddenly uncomfortable. - I didn’t do a lot with it here but part of why Damian is so deeply repressed about his feelings for Jon is because of the age difference - he feels guilty being attracted to Jon, even though the difference between 19 and 22 is much less significant than, say, 12 and 15. I think Damian already has a lot of shame and guilt hardwired into him re: bodily pleasures - thanks, both of his parents! - and Jon’s age just makes it worse.

The scene where Damian wakes up from a nightmare and almost stabs a practically naked Jon was one of the reasons I wrote the fic. 😈 One of Damian’s greatest fears is hurting his loved ones and he really can’t do that to Jon, at least not by accident. Also Jon is not the slightest bit afraid of him.

Relatedly, Damian has never been safe or secure a day in his life, but Jon represents absolute safety. Damian is 100% not ready to process his feelings about that or even admit that he might like to be able to let his guard down for a little while.

Aw yeah, that good good part of the fake dating where they’re both uncomfortable because they want it to be real dating and are picking up on the other’s discomfort and totally misreading it. Love that shit.

Damian: “If I have to kiss Jon again to save our lives, I will do it. I will fall on that sword. It’s a sacrifice, but one I’m willing to make.” ok bro

"Frat Chat” lololol

JON’S PARENTS ARE BOTH INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISTS, DAMIAN, HE CAN TELL WHEN YOU’RE LYING

Is this how parademons work? Who knows? Who cares? My apologies to Jack Kirby, if they are necessary.

As you will know if you’ve read...anything I’ve ever written, “character’s loved one is hurt so they go fucking feral” is MY FAVORITE THING, which is why there’s a twofer here. And Damian goes feral so well.

Also my favorite thing: the sweet one asking the feral one to spare the bad guy’s life. Ahhhh this fic is so self-indulgent and I’m not even sorry.

I wanted both Jon and Damian to be right about Chazz - he was involved, but not willingly. Their partnership works not because Damian is The Smart One or Jon is The Good One, but because they balance each other out - trust and cynicism, evidence and faith.

Damian totally kissed Jon better. ;)

Damian: “Oh, I’m in love with you? Wait, I need to analyze every thought and feeling I’ve ever had in light of this new information, give me a minute.”

And Jon teases him about it because teasing Damian is his absolute favorite thing to do. <333

IN CONCLUSION, THESE BABIES ARE IN LOVE AND I’M SO HAPPY ABOUT IT.

[promisenolies]

A Writer Fed Up

I feel like this post/rant has been coming for a while. I realize that this might not be received well, but I guess that’s a risk I’m willing to take.  

I’ve been encountering some interesting takes and comments around my work as of late. And I feel like it needs to be addressed on a few different fronts. And yes, I could have continued with my life ignoring all these issues, as most people who do these behaviors are likely just doing it for attention. But...I feel that these things need to be said, if not only to give voice to many other writers/content creators who feel similarly.  

General points are as follows:  

The first and simplest point to make is this: the fanfiction writers in your fandom write these pieces – 1. for FREE  2. for THEMSELVES because they feel a call to create something. They/We do not do this for YOU. The sense of entitlement some readers have is uncalled for. Unless you’re paying us for our work, your opinion is not needed. At all.  

Comments and Kudos are the air we breathe as writers. We love when people appreciate our work, enjoy our work, and feel the need to let us know. HOWEVER, the comment section is not there for you to tell us how much you didn’t enjoy the piece. (see point 1)  

Everyone has personal tastes, yes? I have particular things I won’t read/write and I take no offense to others who feel differently. Again though, if you come across work that does not sit well with you or that you don’t enjoy – stop reading. That’s it. Don’t leave a comment, don’t bitch on timelines, don’t send passive aggressive curious cat messages. Just leave it alone. It’s that simple. I have particular tastes, I know that. But I don’t shit on writers who fall outside of what I enjoy. Because WHY!? They—again—are creating content for themselves and those who want to read it. And they’re doing so for free under no obligation to make anyone happy. Including—surprise—you and me! So again – if you don’t like ABO, don’t read it. If you don’t like MCD, don’t read it. If you don’t like BDSM, don’t read it. If you don’t like something specifically don’t. read. it.  I don’t know why this is so hard for readers to grasp.  

Specific points are as follows:  

I write vers/switch Jikook. That’s all I write. Yes, one-shots typically have only one role, but you’ll find a variety of who bottoms/tops in each of them. Claiming that I only wrote bottom Jimin fics after I was “called out” by some entitled person who didn’t care for my content is ridiculous. Especially considering the very first BTS piece I posted was Dressing Room Deviance which not only featured bottom Jimin – but it was also a VMinKook fic!  

On that note. I can’t believe I even have to say this, but what I write is FICTION. As in, despite them taking after the likeness of real Jimin and real Jungkook at the end of the day they are characters or interpretations of them (in my canon fics). And as characters, I write their sexual roles as I see fit. Sometimes I feel like they’d enjoy bottoming, sometimes I feel like they’d like to top. (See general points 1 and 3)  

But what really irritates me with this concerning fascination with sexual roles is that PEOPLE ARE MORE THAN SEX. Are you that incapable of understanding the complexities in human nature? Is it impossible for you to see them as multi-faceted and capable of multiple roles? Relationships are built on more than sex. I promise. And if you’re stuck in thinking otherwise, I greatly encourage you to speak with a professional about what healthy relationships are and what they look like. The sex is my work is ONE part of their relationship. There’s so much more going on behind it. Trust, humor, equality, love... If all you see in my work is the sex or if that’s all you can seem to bring yourself to comment on – quite honestly I don’t want you to read my stuff then. Because it’s CLEARLY over your head.  

Implying that I have no experience in sexual relationships is honestly the most ludacris and laughable thing I’ve encountered to date. One can only DREAM of the level of satisfaction I have in my sex like with my spouse. (Sorry to my little if they end up seeing this LOL) And that satisfaction and experience is in the very thing you seem to think I don’t understand the mechanics of.  

People’s inability to separate physical appearance, size, presentation, etc from their preconceived, heteronormative scripts/ideas is frustrating and sad. Again, people are complex and much more than their sexual roles. There is absolutely NO reason that the smaller partner can’t top. There’s absolutely NO reason that Jimin (let’s be specific here since these are my specific points) can’t be a top, can’t be assertive, can’t be portrayed outside your limited view of “babie Jimi”  Even in real life, yes he’s adorable – but he’s also legitimately scary as fuck and he could kick all our asses. And he’s not TINY. Let's be real. He’s 5’9”  - I can’t understand why so many people depict him as being like 5’3” or some shit. Trust me, that man can reach that top shelf to grab a bowl and doesn’t need Kook to do it for him. Stop making him a feminized, weak, damsel in distress. He’s a MAN and you’d do well to fucking realize that. Jungkook also deserves more than this general script of only topping, being stupid or aggressive, being incapable of feelings and intimacy, and always being some sort of protector. AKA – Jimin is not “the woman” and Jungkook is not “the man.” THEY ARE MEN. Your homophobic heteronormativity is showing and it’s disgusting.  

I do honestly enjoy writing bottom JK, mostly because it’s unconventional (for some gross heteronormative reason). So yeah, you might see a bit more of that in my one-shots. But honestly, maybe y’all need to expand your horizons. I enjoy breaking him out of the confining box so many of you put him in. Same with Jimin. Both he and Jimin deserve great sex, whatever form that happens to take in my work.  

Also, the fandom’s inability to separate sub/dom from bottom/top is also GREATLY CONCERNING. I have a lot of thoughts on this issue. Like A LOT. Mostly focused around the disgusting pornification of our youth and the sexualizing of violence. But at the end of the day my point will be short on this. (And keep in mind I will not debate this issue. This is one of my boundaries alright? - it’s HEALTHY to have boundaries) The main point of this is that sex doesn’t need to have power dynamics. It doesn’t. And I’ll concede on the point that some people specifically write BDSM and sub/dom work and that’s fine because again – points 1 and 3 in general points above. But what frustrates me is that even if there isn’t ANY power dynamics people will tag it that way. Why? Is it to get hits because people have been so culturally groomed to be aroused by that? It makes me sad that I miss out on likely some great pieces because it’s tagged wrong. Just because someone is assertive doesn’t mean they’re being a dom and just because someone let’s go and surrender’s to pleasure doesn’t mean they’re being a sub. Assertiveness is so important to have in sexual experiences because one needs to be able to voice what they like and what they don’t like. Assertiveness is not domming.  

Some people’s simple lack of understanding of intimacy truly saddens me. And I’m not talking about sex. I’m talking about INTIMACY. About knowing your partner, being there for your partner, talking through things and managing conflict as a team.  

This next one is a very specific rant point. If you haven’t read the “There And Back Again” series this might give spoilers and/or you might be lost. As a counselor, I can ASSURE you that the dynamics with Jungkook and Jimin include CARE and COMFORT on both sides. The way people seem to think that Jungkook wasn’t a caretaker for Jimin simply because he didn’t coddle him BLOWS MY MIND. Again, is it just because we have so FEW depictions of true intimacy and care for our partners? People process trauma in so many ways. Some people need the image that apparently so many of you draw up in your mind; the hugs, the soothing words, etc. Some people don’t. Jimin specifically in this piece didn’t need that kind of care. If you paid attention AT ALL to his character you would know that. This version of Jimin needed to feel like he was still capable, that he didn’t lose his strength and who he was, he needed to know that he still had PURPOSE. Jimin didn’t need to be coddled the way you seem to think he did. The way Jungkook didn’t make a big deal of Jimin going to therapy – that's the reaction Jimin NEEDED. If you can’t see Jungkook’s apologies for his focus on Jimin’s injuries and how he couldn’t do certain things as care, if you can’t see Jungkook’s desire to learn grounding techniques to help Jimin through flashbacks and panic attacks as care, if you can’t see Jungkook’s support of not just therapy but going to school as care...then I guess I don’t know what to tell you. But let it be known and clear that Jungkook took care of Jimin in all the ways he needed, and I’m not sorry if you can’t see it. Because THOSE depictions of care and intimacy are NEEDED (clearly) and I won’t write cookie-cutter bullshit just so people like it.  

On that note – people's weird dislike of Jimin bottoming at the end of that series is so strange to me. Like, why? Does it revert back to people’s massive inability to accept him as a potential bottom? Is it the inability to reconcile his incredibly masculine portrayal with their perceived feminine role? People say they don’t think he’d healed enough... literally the last chapter is THREE YEARS later. You think he didn’t put in some work in that time? Jesus. As for saying it didn’t seem natural? ...honestly that final scene with them is one of my absolute favorites...I know a few who would agree with me.  

I want to throw in one other comment/disclosure before y’all run in here and call me a hypocrite. I did recently call something out that honestly just needed to be, in my opinion. I’m sure much of that situation was due to me being a sexual assault advocate and recognizing the situation for what it was, and for recognizing the impact that the mislabeling could have on others. It was an intense moment, and I’m thankful that the creator was open to hearing me out in my escalated state. We talked through it, heard each other’s points and have moved on. And I still fully support them in their work as they are an incredible writer.  

I think that’s all I have. For now.  

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.  

[aphrodites-law]

A Bit of Clarity 🍂 (3/?) The visions had started last autumn, a year ago now. It had caused a bit of chaos for some, a bit of clarity for others. Two days ago, Clarke Griffin had been perfectly fine managing both her Café and her stress. But now she was curious - so deeply curious about the vision of herself entwined with the aloof Lexa Woods that it was leading her to complete distraction.

[part 1] [part 2] 

A week after parting ways with Niylah, a sudden sense of loneliness hit Clarke. It wasn’t that she regretted the decision, but the possibility had always been there and that in itself had been enough to avoid confronting the glaring emptiness of her apartment. Her celibacy had felt more like a choice than it did now.

Clarke knew that the vision was the main culprit for the sudden realization that she had built her dream life but had no one to share it with. Wells had Raven and his passion for theater keeping his life beautifully busy outside of the café, while Gaia had the next five years mapped out thoroughly - her own dreams soon to be achieved. They didn’t have time or space left to fill, and Clarke had fooled herself into believing the same applied to her. She had menus to think of; new coffee beans and bakes to taste test; ingredients to purchase. She had events to plan; social media accounts to update; phone calls to answer. It was a headache most of the time, but she had a long list of successes to be proud of.

It wasn’t easy to admit that she’d neglected a part of her life - that she’d never had anyone to come home to in years. Sometimes, she couldn’t even be sure she’d ever felt a fraction of what Wells felt for Raven - if she’d ever gazed at anyone with such adoration. It would happen eventually, she’d always thought. She had time for that. But the truth was that the future had already come, and Clarke was alone. Alone and no closer to understanding a vision that she wasn’t even sure she could trust anymore.

It was a gloomy thought for a gloomy evening. Clarke enjoyed her plate of homemade ravioli nonetheless, a Saturday treat for an otherwise dull week. She had expected it with so many logistics to deal with before the café’s upcoming 3-day event, but it didn’t help that time had seemed to slow to a crawl. It was pointless to deny the source of her disappointment though:

Lexa hadn’t showed. Not even once for a croissant or an early morning espresso. Clarke had secretly hoped she would, unable to stop thinking about their brief encounter at the party. Something had changed and she couldn’t shake the feeling that Lexa knew it too. Which only made her absence more nerve-racking. Clarke had taken to reading the Gazette again, scrolling down the app mindlessly during breaks. She'd caught Lexa's name a few days ago and read her most recent articles, unable to stop herself once she'd given into her curiosity.

Her most engrossing story had been a special report on the Mountain Men, a group of people who had lived in isolation in the Costial mountain chain for a hundred years. They were a very particular case - their bloodline seemingly passing down a deathly allergy to the sun, or solar urticaria. Yet they had chosen to live in isolation rather than accept any aid, building their own bunker in the 1900s, a complex network of rooms and tunnels. It was only ten years ago that the last of them had finally emerged from underground, pale and weak creatures but otherwise strong willed. In her story, Lexa was remarkably descriptive yet respectful of their privacy. They lived on the outskirts of Costial now, helped by modern medicine and custom-made protective clothing, though never quite able to stand the sun regardless. Lexa had written that she'd met with them at night, and had been surprised when next she knew the sun had risen and they'd spoken for hours. The Mountain Men were neither a cult nor a mystery to solve - they were human beings who craved human contact like anyone else, only dealt with a different set of circumstances at birth.

Reading her words had given Clarke more insight into Lexa's work, but hardly anything on her as a person. And Clarke couldn't help but crave more of her.

The hope for some clarity came on Sunday morning. Clarke went to the farmer’s market for fresh ingredients and a bag of quince, planning to tempt Wells into using them. He was the only person she knew that was so fond of quinces he could be bribed with them, though it could be an acquired taste.

The farmers’ market was always busy; the sort of organized chaos that Clarke lived for. She stopped at her usual stands - first the vegetables and fruit, and later the meats and cheeses. Her bags were nearly bursting when she decided to leave, having been tempted by olives and a few sachets of spices at a new stand. It seemed like a couple had cropped up in the past three weeks. Sundays were never a rush, and there was still time to head back home before the café.

Clarke stopped short when she looked toward a honey stand and noticed Lexa chatting with the vendor. She had a dark brown jacket on and a long knitted scarf wrapped twice around her neck, the only sign that she might be bothered by the chilly morning. Colder winds were starting to sweep through Costial, but Clarke didn’t mind how quickly winter was approaching. It had always been her favorite season - and it was good for business too.

With the busy activity, Clarke knew that she couldn’t stand still in the middle of the alley. On impulse, she walked toward the stand.

“Lexa. Hi.”

Lexa turned to her, eyebrows rising in surprise.

“Busy market today,” Clarke said, trying to appear more casual than she felt.

Lexa looked between her and the man behind the stall. “It is. Hm. Clarke, this is Gustus. His bees make the best honey in the state.”

Gustus laughed heartily. “Flattery won’t get you a third pot.” He spoke with an accent Clarke couldn’t place, but his tone was strangely comforting.

Lexa’s ears seemed to pink, though it might’ve been from the cold.

“I’m just trying to help your business,” she countered.

“Sure, sure.”

Lexa glanced at Clarke. “Gustus was stubbornly staying on his apiary with a cardboard sign a few miles away. I convinced him to apply for a stall here.”

“A whole five feet of space,” Gustus grumbled half-jokingly.

Clarke smiled. “I know the struggle. They turned down my business partner and I a few years back.”

“What were you selling?” Gustus asked.

“Well that was the problem - nothing consistent. We wanted to do sweet and salty bakes, but we don’t grow any of the ingredients ourselves. They didn’t like that - said we ought to just open a bake shop. It worked out pretty well in the end.”

Lexa nodded, but her eyes stayed on Gustus and the stall. “Clarke owns a coffee shop,” she clarified for him. “It’s very good.”

Gustus’ expression shifted from a frown to amusement. “Very good? From you, that is high praise.”

Clarke didn’t have the time to question the statement. Lexa shouldered her full bag with a glare at him. Clarke realized then that Lexa had yet to fully look her way, let alone address her directly.

“My baker loves honey cakes,” Clarke brought up, trying not to worry. She hadn’t done anything to warrant a cold shoulder... had she? “I’ve been trying to get him to switch from his usual brand - and honestly it would be much easier for me than trekking to the East bank.”

Gustus brightened and wrapped a pot in newspaper. “Try it. See if he likes it.”

Clarke took out her wallet, but he declined.

Lexa scowled. “That’s not how you turn a profit, Gus.”

He scratched his long beard. “But it is how you cultivate interest and loyalty.”

When a couple arrived at the stall, Clarke moved to the side and Gus excused himself to answer their questions. Now stood much closer to Lexa, Clarke felt the need to fill the silence.

“How was your week?” She asked.

Lexa’s whole body seemed to tense. “Busy. Yours?”

“Long.” She bit her lip. “I read your piece on the Mountain Men. Crazy story.”

Lexa finally looked at her, as if suddenly jolted. “You did?” She sounded surprised, but there was a spark in her eyes.

Clarke nodded. “I’d heard about them obviously, but I’d never realized some of the family still lived near Costial.”

“They keep to themselves.”

“But you got them to open up.”

“It’s my profession. Besides, I’ve found that few people can actually stand to die with their secrets. Eventually we yearn to be heard.”

Clarke’s heart raced under Lexa’s gaze. There didn’t seem to be an in-between with her - she either didn’t look her way at all or stared at her like she might undress her. Though Clarke was aware her reading of Lexa’s expressions was likely very skewed.

“I don’t believe that,” she replied. “We all have stories we’d be happy to bury forever.” 

“Maybe I'm just too boring a person to have any," Lexa said quietly. She didn't expand on it and Clarke suddenly felt like she couldn't hold her stare any longer.

“I should get going,” she said.

“Did you drive here?”

“I did.”

“I’m that way too.”

“Oh okay,” Clarke replied, though Lexa had already started walking after a quick wave at Gustus.

Clarke fell into step beside her. “I’ve never seen you at the market before,” she said.

Lexa shook her head. “I usually just come in the last thirty minutes.”

“When they’re more amenable to haggling - smart.”

Clarke swore she saw the ghost of a smile on Lexa’s face, but she was well-aware she couldn't just keep staring at her profile for much longer. She glanced at the top of her bag. “Margie’s brie is really good.”

Lexa let out a little hum of agreement. "Her blue cheese is even better.”

As they passed the parking lot, Clarke threw caution to the wind. She had to at least try to understand the walking enigma by her side.

"So... last year we had an open mic weekend to drum up some publicity for the café. Friday to Sunday. We’re doing it again next week."

"Starting a tradition?" Lexa asked.

"Hoping to. People can sign up in person or through our website and perform some original stuff. We've already got a decent list.”

"That's a great idea."

Clarke tried not to think too much about her erratic heart. "It should be a fun time if you wanted to drop by; get inspired…"

Clarke herself had gotten an itch to be creative after last year's event. Being surrounded by aspiring musicians and comedians had reminded her just how much she needed her own art as an outlet for stress. She'd put her drawings to the side for the café but picking up a pencil again had felt like coming home. She figured Lexa, who had seemed quite comfortable surrounded by comedians the night of the play, might feel the same way about such a setting.

But her reaction was odd. She stopped with her brow furrowed. "Inspired?" She asked.

"To write?"

Lexa’s body immediately stiffened, almost like she was upset. "I see. I'll try to find the time."

"Great," Clarke said in relief, choosing not to worry too much about her interpretation of Lexa’s reaction. It was clear by now she couldn’t read her very well. "I'll put a slice of cake on the side for you."

Lexa shook her head. "You don't need to bribe me, Clarke.”

Clarke frowned. "I wa-"

Lexa looked at her watch. "I should get going. I'm interviewing someone in an hour."

"Have you found any patterns yet?" Clarke couldn't help but wonder, though the question was also a poor attempt to speak to Lexa longer.

Lexa glanced up at her, her eyes lighter than Clarke remembered in the glow of the morning sun. Yet it reminded Clarke of the party too - how close Lexa had been, when now it suddenly seemed like she couldn’t wait to get away.

"I guess you'll have to read the article."

And with that, Lexa was walking to her car, leaving Clarke with the distinct feeling that she wasn’t any closer to understanding her.

* * *

With the ongoing preparations over the week, Clarke barely had a second to herself. Her interaction with Niylah on Monday morning had gone well though, awkward for just a few minutes before Niylah had cracked a terrible joke about starting a band called the Rolling Scones for the open mic.

The makeshift stage arrived in two pieces early Wednesday, and with Wells, Gaia and Harper's help, Clarke was proud to say it didn't look too shabby - and definitely a step-up from last year's. Raven had come around to help them with the sound setup, a task she had essentially summed up as 'nobody touch my cables or I'll electrocute you.' And far be it from Clarke to question a professional sound engineer.

Around 5pm, with a tired back and sore arms, Clarke had again drifted toward the end of the counter and started drawing. It was a character this time - a scraggly woman atop a mountain staring out at the horizon. She'd started it after reading Lexa's article, wondering how one could stand to live hidden in the dark for so long, and what they might've felt after leaving the comfort of what they knew for complete uncertainty.

She glanced up toward Lexa's spot, trying not to think about her. It was such a strange shift - from being a regular customer to not stopping by once in two weeks.

"Hello."

Clarke dropped her pencil and walked back to the other side of the counter, smiling at the young man standing behind it.

"Hi, what can I get you?"

"Are you Clarke? I mean- the owner?" He asked with a slightly nervous stammer.

"Co-owner, yep."

He extended his hand. "I'm Aden Baltimore. For the Polis Gazette."

His handshake was limp, but Clarke could tell he barely even knew what to do with his body. His checkered shirt was too loose and his tie too long, like he had ransacked his father's closet. His dirty blond hair was neatly combed and he smelled strongly of cologne. Clarke guessed he was eighteen at most.

"What can I do for you, Aden?"

He pushed his glasses up his nose. "I'm here for the article? Lexa said that late afternoon was a good time."

He dug into his messenger bag, trying to find something. It looked very similar to Lexa's satchel and Clarke wondered if he was a protégé and maybe very eager to resemble his mentor.

"Here's my ID," he added, showing Clarke his Gazette badge. It was endearing, to say the least, but Clarke wasn't sure what to do with it.

"What article are you talking about?"

"To boost the mic event. Didn't you set it up with her?"

Clarke’s smile fell.

A puff piece. Lexa had sent a teenager to write a puff piece on the café. Clarke wasn't sure what was more embarrassing: that Lexa had assumed her invitation had been a request to advertize the open mic, or that she'd sent someone else to do it. It hadn’t even crossed Clarke's mind. Was that what Lexa had thought of their interaction? That it had been a means to an end?

"It'll go up tomorrow morning in This Week In Costial," Aden said, then looked around anxiously. "Did I mess up? It starts Friday, doesn't it?"

"Yes, absolutely, it does," Clarke assured him as she shook off the lingering feeling of vexation.  

Aden relaxed. "Can we sit down for a few minutes? I just want to make sure my notes are legible."

Clarke glanced at Wells and Gaia in the kitchen, both laughing about something. She didn't feel much like laughing herself. But the sooner she gave Aden what he needed, the sooner she could occupy her mind with something else.

"Sure. Let's do it."

They sat at one of the center tables. Aden took out his phone, a notepad, and three different pens.

"How long have you been at the Gazette?" Clarke asked him curiously.

Aden tried the first pen on the notepad but discarded it when the ink barely came out. "I just started a few months ago. This is my first time reporting," he admitted bashfully. "I'm taking a gap year before college and wanted some real experience."

“That’s smart. How do you like it so far?”

“I love it,” he gushed, looking more like a boy at Christmas than a teen fresh out of high school. "It’s so much easier to learn through practice.”

Clarke nodded. “So you’ll be writing the piece?”

“I’ll structure the notes and work with Lexa on it. She has to approve everything I do."

"Hm. Do you like working with her?"

"Lexa's great," he said, coming out of his shell the more confident he was in the topic. Clarke couldn’t fault him for his awkwardness - everyone had to start somewhere. "We were both new at the Gazette around the same time, so she says we need to stick up for each other. I like that. Lexa doesn't care about rank, just what a person can bring to the table."

Clarke had stopped counting the ways Lexa surprised her. But in the last few weeks she had learned that the reserved, serious woman who sat in her café was one hell of a poker player, related to the owners of the Polis Hotel, and revered by a teenager. Not to mention, in all likelihood, a particularly intense lover. Clearly, Clarke still knew nothing about Lexa Woods, and it seemed like that was precisely Lexa's doing.

It stung. Clarke understood that she was only a café owner, barely a blip in Lexa's routine, if at all these days, but it was Lexa who had initiated their first conversation. Clarke had hoped it meant a step closer to being friendly. She had thought maybe Lexa just naturally kept to herself, but it seemed like everyone and their mother - quite literally, in Gaia's case - knew a side of her that Clarke wasn't privy to.

"So, what can we expect from the open mic?" Aden finally asked, forcing Clarke to sweep away any other thought.

* * *

The article was short and sweet, though one of the longer ones in the entire section that spanned three pages. Clarke had to admit the publicity wouldn't hurt, and it didn't hurt either when the Gazette also tweeted about it.

What did hurt, early on Friday, was Wells coming into the café with a grimace.

"What's up?" Clarke asked him, barely awake. Today would be a long day, but they were ready for whatever may come. Or so Clarke believed.

Wells took out a folded flyer from his pocket and slid it on the counter. "You're not going to like this."

Clarke opened the flyer, her heart dropping in her stomach when she read it: FINN'S COFFEE & BAGELS OPEN MIC EVENT. FRIDAY TO SUNDAY, 10AM TO 6PM. 50% OFF EVERY PURCHASE.

Clarke gritted her teeth. "I'm going to murder him."

Wells cringed. "I guess now's not the time to add he finalized his deal with Titus & Son to sell his bagels?"

Clarke crumpled the flyer in her hands. "No, Wells, now is not the best time."

Feeling a blind rage course through her, Clarke grabbed her coat and went out the back of the café, passing a baffled Gaia.

She walked down the street with a fury in her eyes, fully intending on finding Finn Collins wherever he might be hiding. She’d wait him out at his house if she fucking needed to. But his shop down the street was a good start - his hideous coffee shop with the large letters of his name on every available surface, even the plastic forks.

When she opened the door, it was with the force of her anger. When she walked inside, it was with clenched fists. She scanned the moderately crowded area for a pretentious suit and a cocky grin, knowing he had to be expecting her. That bastard had made sure she'd only learn about his copycat event at the last possible minute, but she’d speak her mind. Oh he was going to hear her. 

Or he would have.

Clarke's resolve crumpled when she spotted the last person she'd expected to see. It felt like whiplash. There, sitting at a corner table, typing away, was Lexa. Clarke had to blink a few times to believe her own eyes, but there was no mistaking her. Whatever momentum she'd gained screeched to a halt.

And when their eyes met, when Lexa finally spotted her and stilled, equally surprised to see Clarke, it felt like time slowed. Clarke couldn't even explain why it hurt so badly to see her there, just that it did. Because of course. Of course Lexa would take her habit elsewhere. Of course she would go to the chain hell-bent on driving Clarke's business into the ground.

She hadn’t been sure what to make of Lexa's disappearance; if she was just too busy, cutting down on caffeine, or perhaps trying to save up on cash for the holidays coming up. It wasn't any of Clarke's business to know. But seeing her in Finn's shop, on the same street, typing away like she always did, drinking some green monstrosity… rational thinking flew out the window. Lexa had the sense to look away at least, though her hands didn’t move on the keyboard anymore. 

Clarke couldn’t even stand the sight of her, so deeply embarrassed that she’d invited her to come over when all this time Lexa had already chosen a different establishment. Embarrassed that she'd hoped to see her at her usual spot again. Embarrassed that she even cared.

With the taste of bitter disappointment in her mouth, Clarke left without even bothering to find Finn. Her body felt numb, like the sight of Lexa had replaced her anger with ice. It felt personal and Clarke didn’t understand it. Didn’t understand how a person could seem to care one day and look away the next. Could it truly be because she had refused the interview? Was that the way Lexa did things? Stuck around for a story until she was sure there was nothing to be squeezed out? Clarke couldn’t think of another reason.

Whatever it was, she was done seeking Lexa out.

-

[part four]

[wolfpawn]

I Hate You, I Love You, Chapter 141

Chapter Summary - Tom is less than pleased when he is asked to go to lunch with Danielle and Lucas, he has no particular fondness for the man. For a moment, the pair argue but work through things. He cannot say the same for Waters.

Previous Chapter

Rating - Mature (some chapters contain smut)

Triggers - references to Tom Hiddleston’s work with the #MeToo Movement. That chapter will be tagged accordingly.

authors Note - I have been working on this for the last 3 years, it is currently 180+ chapters long.  This will be updated daily, so long as I can get time to do so, obviously.

Copyright for the photo is the owners, not mine. All image rights belong to their owners

tags: @sweetkingdomstarlight-blog @jessibelle-nerdy-mum @nonsensicalobsessions @damalseer @hiddlesbitch1 @winterisakiller @fairlightswiftly @salempoe @wolfsmom1 @black-ninja-blade

Tom looked at Danielle unsure. ‘Please?’

‘I cannot guarantee that I would be nice.’ Tom commented.

‘Tom, please.’ Danielle pleaded.

‘I cannot be nice to that man.’

‘Fine, okay.’ Danielle rose from her seat and walked out of the room.

‘Elle.’

‘No, I am not going to force you and you don’t want to, so we will just leave it.’

‘I am annoyed because of their treatment of you, my concern is for you and you are getting annoyed at me?’

‘No, I am not annoyed because of that, that I respect.’

‘Then what is it, because I can see the annoyance in your face?’

‘I want to involve you in my work life, I want to have you there, but you don’t want to be involved and that hurts. I went to Early Man with you, I did it willingly because I wanted to support you, even though I was fucking terrified and had to put myself in front of the media, but I did it because partners are supposed to involve one another.’ She stated, heading for the stairs. ‘I am going for a shower.’

Tom contemplated her words for a minute. He knew there was truth in both of their statements. Danielle supported him, no matter what, but to sit across the table from Lucas Waters, with everything that he had seen being thrown at Danielle since her getting involved with Safeguard, he may be an actor, he may even be a good actor, but to play polite would more than likely be too much for him. He didn’t know what to do.

When Danielle came down the stairs again, she walked passed him and into the kitchen. ‘Elle?’ She did not look at him. ‘Elle?’ She turned around the second time. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘So am I.’ She admitted. ‘I just really wanted you there, I want you for support. I know Lucas is an asshole, I do and I find it hard on occasion dealing with him, especially when I am the one he seems to focus on to clean messes, but that is part of the reason I want you there.’

Tom swallowed, feeling bad for not talking more with her. ‘If you want me there, then I will be there.’ He walked over and wrapped his arms around her. ‘If only to assist you to hide the body if he gets too bad.’

Danielle snorted into his chest at his words. ‘I love you.’

‘Likewise, Ms Hughes.’ He smiled. ‘I know you pushed through a lot for Early Man and I know you were terrified, I know it was hard for you.’

‘I am sorry I used that as a stick to beat you with, that was wrong.’ She looked him in the eye as she spoke. ‘I chose to do that, I cannot throw it at you after for anything I want you to do, I’m sorry.’ Tom pulled her in against him again. ‘You smell so good.’

‘You smell of strawberries, I smell of the day.’

‘And it smells so good.’ She moaned against him.

‘Elle, I want to go to this with you, to be there for you. I will try to remain polite, but if he starts, I may not be polite.’

‘When have I ever been like that to him?’ she challenged. ‘I call him out on bullshit no matter what or where.’

‘Of course you do, my feisty Irish Lass.’

*

Tom walked beside Danielle as they entered the restaurant, opening the door for her as they did so. Danielle guided him to where they needed to go, since he did not know what exactly Lucas looked like, though he had a fairly good idea which was Lucas as he rose from his chair and looked as Danielle had stated somewhat very Australian surfer-esque and was looking at them both, walking a step towards them as Danielle and he came closer.

‘Danielle, how are you?’

‘Lucas, I’m grand sure, you know yourself, this, as I am sure you can tell, is Tom. Tom, this is Lucas, the man I will probably go to prison for murdering.’

‘Good to see you too.’ Lucas grumbled. ‘Tom, a pleasure to finally meet you.’ He extended his hand.

Tom gave a polite smile and shook the other man’s hand. ‘Hello.’

‘I am sure that you are sick of hearing my name followed by some disaster.’

‘It is more frequent an occurrence than I am happy with, that is for certain.’ Tom stated diplomatically.

Lucas chuckled, knowing full well from the look on Tom’s face how he felt. ‘Well, that is part of why I am here. I was talking with the others, and we have an offer for you.’ Danielle and Tom looked at him sceptically, ‘But first, something to eat.’

The meal was pleasant enough, Lucas was polite and both Danielle and Tom kept the mood light. When finally, the food was finished and the waitress removed his plate, Lucas leant forward, his hands together and his elbows on the table, Danielle leant back and folded her arms. ‘Right, I am curious as to what you have to say, and don’t think I am not after noticing that you are having meetings with the other partners without my being involved.’

‘It is not the norm, you know that.’ Lucas stated. Danielle licked her teeth, recalling the four in the morning video call she was involved in before. ‘It was regarding how to make things easier in a bind for you mostly.’

‘And not one of you thought to ask me what I felt would be a good idea at such times?’ She challenged with a raised brow.

‘We should have.’ Lucas acknowledged. 'We want to expand the European office.’

‘Okay?’

‘But we are concerned, Brexit, as it is called, is a concern.’

‘Yes, understandable.’

‘With Britain leaving Europe.’

‘Well, no, leaving the EU, not Europe, it does not stop being in Europe, simply the European Union, it’s market and other such things.’ Danielle corrected.

‘Yes, sorry, I am not overly knowledgeable in such areas.’

‘I know the feeling, I can’t say I am overly aware of US policies or Australian things myself.’

‘And, from what I am told, Irish is not British, correct?’

Tom looked at Danielle as she pursed her lips, knowing she was always the first to correct anyone who claimed Ireland as being in any way British. ‘Correct.’ She stated warily.

‘Come...when is this happening?’

‘March of next year.’ She informed him.

‘Will you be alright to stay here? If Ireland is not part of this, then surely, like with most European countries, you’re right to be here is not guaranteed?’

‘I am not sure yet, it depends on a few factors, but overall, my understanding is, because I am here so long, I should be fine.’

‘Okay, we were talking about having an Irish office in Dublin if required, should you need to leave, make it easier on you, we were also thinking of having one regardless because of the whole Brexit anyway.’

‘Understandable. If there is no issue with my being in Britain, you cannot possibly think me the person to run both, I am balls to the wall here as it is.’

‘No, no of course not, though we were hoping you could think of someone who would run it?’

‘I have a few names I can think of, one that is actually hoping to move to Ireland anyway.’

‘Perfect.’ Lucas stated, pleased to hear such. ‘But regarding when there is an issue with some one of the offices. I took what you stated to heart, how you shoulder most of the responsibility and how the day will come you will be the one who will need the assistance and how we will have to take some of the slack.’ Danielle looked at him expectantly. ‘We couldn’t, not to the same extent as you do. We have more staff but they are always busy and you’re the one who does it best, so we need to take that into account. We want to start something of a new department, that takes the overflow and the emergencies, leaving the main offices free to continue.’

‘A sort of Internal Affairs office?’

‘Something to that effect, but not as...dare I say it, anal.’

‘So everything that goes wrong, goes to them and we all continue on?’

‘They would have a more legal trained crew and would also take the overflow.’

‘Okay? At what cost?’

‘No extra.’

‘Lucas, people need to be paid, don’t be stupid.’

‘Your salary and that those of those that work with you remain the same. With the added office here, profits, as you saw at the last meeting, are up.’

‘So we use the profits?’

‘Yes.’

‘The profits that pay the bonuses for my staff?’

‘We will have enough for both, we had the accountant look at it, but it will mean no expansion in New York as we planned.’

‘I dare say that is going down a treat?’

‘Well, there were a few objections, but overall, we think it worth it.’

‘Why?’

‘Because we are not stupid, Danielle, come the end of your contract, if we kept piling shitstorm after shitstorm on you, you would leave without a moment’s hesitation, and no one could blame you and any competitor to hear it would offer you stupid sums of money in a heartbeat.’

‘There’s nothing to say I wouldn’t just leave anyway.’ She stated.

‘No, there isn’t, but that does not stop us from trying our best to hold onto you, does it?’

‘I suppose not. I am not going to say no to a department such as that. But I mean it Waters, holding a meeting behind my back is not going to have me stay either.’

‘Well, we also were talking about how much to give you as a bonus for everything. You took on more than double the workload and your own, I am surprised you even convinced this fellow to bring you on your holiday.’ He indicated to Tom. ‘So we wanted to give you something extra as a thank you.’ He handed her an envelope, inside was a cheque for the equivalent of three months salary. ‘I am sure you would do something sensible with that. You don’t strike me as the type to go on a shopping spree.’

‘Well, we are looking to move house at the moment, so who knows.’ Danielle smiled, placing the envelope in her bag. ‘Thank you, Lucas.’

‘Anytime, you are as stubborn as a mule but Christ are you good at your job.’

‘I do what needs doing and get on with it.’ She shrugged before her phone rang. ‘Excuse me a moment, this is Branagh about the reshoot.’ She gave Tom a small glance that was the embodiment of “behave” before leaving the table.

‘You really don’t like me, do you?’ Lucas asked as soon as Danielle was out of sight.

‘I don’t know three things about you, bar your name and country of origin.’ Tom stated in return.

‘Well, I know it was you that convinced her to listen to me that time in LA, so thank you for that.’

‘I find myself regretting it and wishing I told her to come to me on set when it is two in the morning and she has, for a week straight, been working the round of the clock to deal with the messes you all throw at her.’

‘That is why we decided on this, we don’t want anyone, much less our best, doing that anymore.’

‘Good.’ Tom nodded. ‘My concern is and always will be Elle first, your business is nothing to me without her.’

‘I gather.’ Lucas commented. ‘So what will you do if she has to move to Ireland next year? I was talking to Alicia Vidanker on Tomb Raider and she stated she and her Irish husband moved out of Britain because of it all.’

‘I don’t think it will force those already here to leave, I hope not anyway, but in that scenario, I guess I would be moving to Ireland.’

‘You’d leave your home for her?’

‘She is my partner, of course I would stay with her. What of your wife, I hear she is Australian too, if she said she was moving back to Oz, would you go? The US is getting very aggressive with its immigrant policies also.’

‘True.’ Lucas conceded. ‘And regarding your question, yes, I would go home with her, but she is my wife, we have kids together, you and Danielle are not exactly on that page.’

‘No, we’re not, but it doesn’t change that I love her dearly and wish to be with her.’ Tom answered. ‘I had not thought about how Brexit will affect her, I did not want the blasted thing to begin with but seeing how it is affecting many people I work with, I dislike it all the more. If it causes an issue for myself and Danielle, it will quite literally cost me my home because between Britain and Danielle, it is Danielle, without a shadow of a doubt.’

‘And your family?’

‘My sister moved to India for a time for her husband, both of them are married with their own lives and I think my mother would disown me if I were to no longer be with Danielle for something so utterly ridiculous.’ Tom smirked.

‘She is one terrifying woman.’

‘She is not a passive person, no. She is very much strong-willed and assertive in character, something that makes her all the more incredible.’

‘It sounds like you are a glutton for punishment.’ Lucas joked.

Tom shook his head. ‘I don’t like women who let men have the idea they can walk over them. Danielle is no such woman.’

‘That is something of an understatement.’ Lucas noticed her returning.

‘Right, so. I am in Ireland next week again.’ She stated as she rejoined the table. ‘I will organise the office and I hope you mean it when you say no more of your madness coming to me.’ Danielle stated to Lucas before looking at Tom. ‘What will we do with the dogs?’

‘Kennels? I am in Southampton for a lot of the next week or so.’

‘I’ll drive and take them with me. It’s easy enough, get the ferry from Wales and arrive in Wexford, where we are shooting.’

‘Okay.’ Tom smiled.

‘I’ll join you there on the way back then.’

‘Sounds like a plan.’

Lucas looked between the pair. ‘I could not imagine if Dione worked too, trying to juggle everything. The stress would kill me.’

‘If you can coordinate an office of twenty plus people and not your home, you need to reassess yourself.’ Danielle commented, startling him somewhat. ‘I could not imagine not coordinating everything, it would actually upset me on a personal level.’

*

Tom put his hands around Danielle’s waist and kissed the side of her neck. ‘What is this for?’

‘To say I love you.’

‘I love you too.’ Danielle smiled. ‘And I am really grateful for today. See, he’s not a total shitebag.’

Tom chuckled. ‘He’s a bit of one though.’

‘Oh, yeah. No dispute there.’

‘How do you feel about it all?’

‘You mean the new way they will run things? If they stick to it, great, if not, I watch profit fall as I work my arse off more.’

‘They want to keep you.’

‘I am making no plans yet to stay or go. I still have a while left with the contract.’

‘If they said all in or all out tomorrow?’

‘Out.’ She shrugged. ‘I want to work to live, not live to work. I want to like my job and I want to be happy there, recently, I know the only reason my love of my job is waning is because I am tired and that scares me because tired means I might overlook something, which leads to accidents, and it is because my workload is beyond my personal capacity and that is not my doing.’

‘Would you stay in such a role?’

‘I would try and set myself up, but I rather a few more years there first.’

‘So that’s the overall plan?’

‘I want it, that in a few years time, if we want a family, I can actually be a mother and work, because I will dictate the office, because it will be my office.’ She smiled.

‘I can see you, a child in your arms and a headset in telling some poor misfortunate that they are the ones that need to be to the site at stupid o’clock in the morning and to fax you the paperwork, or signing said paperwork with a baby bouncer next to you.’ Tom admitted.

‘And telling you to get changing a nappy?’ She jested.

‘If it happens, I am not shying away from my fair share.’

‘We’ll see, let’s not start trying to scare ourselves too much yet. If we get too fond of the idea, we can steal our soon to be niece or nephew for a few hours.’

‘I am scared for her to get the scan where you find out the gender. Not them find out the gender, I am excited for them, but when you find out, the shopping madness will start again.’ Tom chuckled. When there was no sound from Danielle, he turned her slightly to see a particularly guilty look on her face. ‘Really?’

‘They were on sale and were really cute.’

‘Elle?’

‘Only a few things.’

‘How few?’

‘About ten, or more.’

‘You really need to look up the definition of “a few”.’

[influencemarketingplatform]

Increase Brand Awareness Through Influencer Marketing

I'm sure there's over a few advertisements. Consumers are bombarded with advertisements day in and day out. Faced with numerous, they've learned to tune them out. Just a few can break through the sound. So, it's not surprising that lots of businesses struggle to capture the attention of the desired customers. To break through the noise, you need to employ innovative marketing strategies. Many entrepreneurs are currently turning to influencer advertising to attain their viewers.

An influencer is a person who inspires people with their achievements, values, or lifestyle. Likeminded people respect their opinion and could be affected by their own recommendations. For example, influencers may promote certain products, encourage their followers to visit new destinations, listen to a podcast, or even see a new publication.

Influencers include print authors, business leaders, consultants, bloggers, and media statistics that relay their views before a loyal audience. However, there is a big difference between locating the influencers offered on your industry and getting them to promote your brand, merchandise or services to their audience or followers.

If banner ads or routine media purchases are not getting you where you need, it is time to consider leveraging influencers. Within this article, you'll discover how influencer advertising can help you produce huge brand awareness and increase your earnings.

Influencer advertising is the practice of collaborating with an influencer to market your brand, product, or service to your targeted audience. Influencers, the majority of the time, use content sharing to advertise your brand, merchandise, or support for their already-established followers or audience.

They might also take control of displays, competitions, giveaways, and other activities which will further publicize the brand.

Outside of the internet, influencers could be family members and friends or people around you. They also include community members and members. Within digital marketing, influencers include celebrities, industry leaders, athletic and style icons, and pretty much anyone with a massive social networking after on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

This form of advertising strategy is how we drive traffic to websites, and how earnings are being generated online. That's why businesses are tapping into this huge opportunity.

67% of electronic businesses are set to improve their influencer advertising spend in the next several years.

When trying to choose which influencer to work with, you ought to be certain on the specific kind of audience or following you want to achieve. Understanding where your preferred customer spends time on the internet can help you identify the ideal platform and influencer to target. This is where growing buyer personas will help. When you've got a comprehensive understanding of your target buyer, you can determine the specific kind of person they would be receptive to hear recommendations from. For instance, if you are attempting to promote baking products and fresh cookbook, it probably doesn't make sense to associate with a fitness influencer.

The number of followers that an influencer has will directly affect the price of partnering together. The more followers that they have, the greater your potential achieve. However, don't dismiss influencers with smaller crowds. They can be highly-engaged and quite receptive to recommendations.

Several factors can adversely affect the deliverability of an influencer marketing effort. By way of instance, choosing influencers who have no public link with your brand or who wouldn't normally use your merchandise or services. Forcing a rigid script onto the influencer, rather than cooperating to a more innovative approach, may even backfire if followers believe the effort is deceptive. It is important to create a natural partnership and collaborate with them to design a campaign that will resonate with your own viewers. Trust their feedback, since they are more acquainted with their audience.

Not certain if your social media strategy is really producing results? Curious if influencer marketing might be a better way to attain your intended audience? Don't hesitate to contact us. We are happy to assess your strategy and discuss methods to grow new awareness.

The Role of An Influencer in Your Online Marketing Campaign Many men and women tend to consider influencer marketing as actors promoting attractiveness products in television commercials: think Cindy Crawford in Revlon commercials. But, influencer marketing has evolved as the digital ecosystem has increased. Now, influencers can use a massive range of digital platforms to share details regarding your brand to their audiences. Influencers can mention your product or services in their social networking platform or produce a blog post that testimonials one of your merchandise. Outside the digital kingdom influencers can also attend events or conventions for meet-and-greets or they could conduct product presentations. Another manner influencer marketing may be used is by simply incorporating your products or new images to videos that are about another matter. This is much like the way flashy cars are placed in films or Target falls product placements in Netflix sitcoms.

When creating your influencer marketing strategy, you need to consider your intended audience and where they spend their time. If they're on social media every day, then that channel could be appropriate. Should they have an inclination to listen to podcasts, maybe it makes sense to partner with a podcast bunch which comes with an engaged audience.

Reasons Why You Should Use Influencer Marketing

I). Better Business Awareness A growing number of manufacturers are taking their advertising to another level and employing the support of influencers with large, engaged audiences. Recent statistics demonstrate that in 2018, 80 percent of entrepreneurs found influencer marketing effective and 89% say influencer marketing ROI is better than other marketing tactics.

Influencers give you access to their audience or followers, which naturally expands your reach. Putting into account that influencers are offered across numerous social networking platforms, collaborating with them will also enhance your social media presence and increase brand awareness.

Let's take a look at how two different brands use Instagram to increase brand awareness:

The outdoor retailer Backcountry partners with many outdoor enthusiasts. Their existence is particularly powerful on Instagram, where many travel enthusiasts go to live vicariously through the gorgeous photography. The photographs capture their attention as well as also the captions convince them why particular products are vital to their next camping adventure.

1 prime example is the influencer Chelsea Yamase (@ChelseaKauai). She uses long-form story captions to engage her viewers, weaving in personal experiences and ideas. By displaying vulnerability, she's ready to connect with her audience and gain his or her confidence. Because of this, the audience is more inclined to trust her recommendations and buy Backcountry's merchandise.

In another example, the Westin Hapuna Beach Resort turned into an influencer, Renee Hahnel (@ReneeRoaming), to market their recently renovated hotel. As she researched the hotel and reasons, Renee used Instagram stories and posts to highlight unique features, beautiful design, and thoughtful amenities. Lots of men and women visit Instagram to locate their next travel destination and trust recommendations from frequent travelers like Renee.

ii).Consumer Trust When people decide to follow an accounts on social media, they are inviting them to their everyday scroll--and life. Every time they use the stage, they know more about the person. They see their successes, failures, and they can often feel as if they're part of the lifetime. Frequent participation strengthens the connection; shortly, the influencer feels like a buddy.

As you probably know, people value the recommendations of friends and acquaintances.

Endorsements out of influencers can boost the authenticity of your brand and help you gain consumer confidence. Just as 49% of customers are known to depend on product recommendations out of influencers. When evaluating products, customers are looking for authentic reviews from authority figures.

By adding the ideal strategies and excellent content, influencers will be able to influence consumer purchasing decisions.

iii). Better Sales Improving sales is the primary objective of marketers who use influencer advertising. This year, according to a Tomson research , businesses earn $6.50 for every dollar spent on influencers. It is called to grow continuously within the next few years. This is ascertained by the fact that nearly all consumers now consider social media when making buying decisions.

It is worth noting that social networking existence issues because most people spend more time in their mobile telephones, absorbing content on these platforms. Online retailers are making great use of this, dominating and revolutionizing the purchasing experience. This survey indicates that 79% of smartphone consumers have made a purchase online using their cellular devices in the previous 6 months.

Another illustration of a prosperous influencer effort is Bigelow Tea. They started a marketing effort with influencers who encouraged the health benefits of drinking tea. They blended Bigelow Tea in their content in various ways: some produced initial recipes that comprised the tea and others flipped the packaging into DIY art. This generated over 32,000 blog page lobbied to get their sponsored posts.

Read More :  Using influencer marketing to grow your online business

It's Cost-Effective

Influencer marketing uses many different pricing models. Often, the popularity of the influencer and their audience dimensions decides which strategy is best. Some influencers will collaborate with your brand simply because it is going to help them to construct their own brand in the procedure. In these instances, free products or experiences can be provided instead of a cash payment.

Additional influencers will accept pricing based on their functionality, where the amount you pay is proportional to the number of clicks and also the number of engagement (enjoys, shares, retweets, posts, etc.. ) your brand earns through their posts. Others will accept flat-rate prices, where you pay a particular amount per post or movie. This wide range provides you a lot of selections to choose from and permits you to pick the option which suits you the most.

Another case study is RESCUE, that desired to increase awareness of their natural health remedies. The bloggers shared their own personal experiences and included the RESCUE coupon in their social networking posts. The campaign produced amazing results, such as 133 million social media impressions and generated well over 6,000 clicks into the voucher website. From the end of the effort, their Instagram following had increased by 258%. The influencers also used Twitter to market the voucher and at one point, RESCUE was the #4 nationwide trending subject on Twitter.

How to Conquer Influencers Now, the effectiveness of influencer marketing ought to be apparent. Leveraging influencers is rewarding to you and your brand.

i). Create a debut

Let us assume you have identified two influencers you'd like to work with, named Brown and James. Brown has a massive audience or follower base and James has a far smaller fan base, which is more participated. Brown is a fitness coach with thousands and thousands of followers on societal networking platforms, published novels, and an informative blog. James' audience, however, may be smaller, but his few thousands of followers trust his opinions and follow up on every recommendation that he makes.

If you're planning to find both of both of these guys to promote your product, service, or manufacturer, you need to first look on their radars. You can do this in several Distinct ways:

Send a fast email complimenting or appreciating the influencer on their most recent social media post or blog article. You might also publish a story about the way the influencer's content or merchandise has helped you. Share the influencer's societal media posts or blog articles in your page. Post an superb review of the influencer's brand or product on your blog. Discuss a quotation or piece of information given by the influencer in your blog. Organize a meeting in a conference or media event. The approach you decide to use will probably be based on the influencers you're targeting. He can, however, be available for meetings at networking or industry events. On the flip side, James' may be responsive to thoughtful comments left on his social networking station.

ii). Be genuinely helpful When working with influencers, you would like to strive for a mutually-beneficial relationship. When you approach the relationship with a collaborative mindset, then you'll achieve more success. Should you share similar values and goals with the influencer, you are going to develop a more real partnership. This will be obvious for their followers and they'll have a better opinion of your brand and sponsorship.

It should never resort to a circumstance where you take advantage of an influencer's standing to improve your gains selfishly. It's vital that your initial contact is accurate and real.

Big Audience Brown, by way of example, doesn't require the societal boost that comes from your stocks, enjoys, or retweets. Even James' business likely doesn't stand to grow exponentially from 1 link or post shared in your blog or page. So, however, you choose to approach your connection with the influencers you're aiming, be helpful by all ways.

As time goes , the helping hand you extend out as long as it's really beneficial rather than just surface-level gestures, it is going to take your connection with the influencer of your decision to another level.

Australian fashion retailer Minnie & Maxxie talented influencers like Sarah from Sarah Merrett Styling bits from their selection of fashion styles to introduce them into the brand and to generate exposure and ultimately sales. Results showed 18,459 direct engagements with effort content and 333,445 consumers attained (size of the crowd reached).

iii). Prove your value If you are determined with your followup, you will find that your connection with your targeted influencer moves past simple and one-sided interactions but to a symbiotic one. As an example, you take the next step from exchanging social networking updates to sharing mails, then meeting up in person either for promotional events or collaborative workshops.

At a certain stage, you need to be prepared to demonstrate your worth and the worth of your brand, product, or services. The moment your relationship with a possible influencer exceeds straightforward helpful gestures, be prepared to describe the different ways your product could be unique and of advantage to the authority figure's real needs, in addition to the requirements of their followers and audience.

Never forget, however, that there is no way to guarantee an influencer recommendation (unless you've made your mind up to pay for it and form a contractual relationship).

Even though you may have some luck when you give it a shot the very first time, you may also have to work hard to attempt and improve relationships which never go anywhere. Influencers are often busy people, and they are not bound to like your product or manufacturer just because you've followed the actions discussed in this article.

You must do your research, start looking for opportunities to be helpful, and plan to demonstrate the advantages of your product and services. Additionally, you need to be aware of the unique needs of this influencer you're targeting. With continuing patience and persistence, you will discover your relationships improve and your brand profiting as a result.

As a result of this, brands need to work tirelessly and develop trust with their target customers.

Relater Article :  Influencer campaigns: 6 common mistakes to avoid.

Conclusion Influencer marketing is without a doubt growing in popularity, and in many instances, it's the best way to engage with your intended audience. Collaborations between brands and social websites influencers will continue to expand in the coming years. You and your opponents could be going after the same influencers--and it is up to you who gets the offer.

To succeed, develop an influencer marketing strategy and start building authentic relationships with people who will have a real impact on the purchasing behavior of your intended audience.

If you are not sure how to start, you might want to speak with one of our advertising and marketing specialists today. We can help you create an influencer marketing strategy and identify possible influencers.

[lonelyandlovelorn]

Flirty

A/N: I’m not sure what this is, I found a draft with a couple paragraphs on it and kept going.

Genre: fluff

Warning: a few curses, a suggestive joke or two

Word count: 1800

Pairing: Steve Rogers x fem reader

Summary: You flirted with everyone but Steve and he wanted to know why.

Masterlist

“Howdy soldiers,” you greeted as you walked into the kitchen, sending a wink at the super soldiers eating breakfast. You didn’t bother putting on actual clothes in the morning with people who had seen you at your worst, so you were just wearing a big t-shirt and some jogging shorts.

“Hey Y/N,” they responded, Bucky laughing at your exaggerated wink.

“What’s on the agenda for today, boys?” you questioned as you reached up into a cupboard for your cereal. When there was a silence in return, you turned around in time to see Bucky looking at Steve in what looked like a teasing manner as Steve cleared his throat. You looked between them, waiting for one of them to either answer your question or explain what was going on.

“Training,” Steve blurted, scratching the back of his neck, “as usual.”

You looked at them both suspiciously before deciding it wasn’t nearly as important as getting yourself fed. You went back to getting your bowl of cereal, humming something offkey, not even sure what song it was. For some reason, you were feeling pretty good for a morning.

“Something got you in a good mood today, Y/N?” Bucky asked, noticing your chipper demeanor.

You shook your head. “Nothing in particular,” you answered, smiling in Steve’s direction, seeing as he hadn’t really contributed to the conversation so far. You sat next to him with your bowl and started eating, scrolling through your timeline and pretending not to notice that you didn’t need to be sitting as close to the Captain as you were. Oh well. Life’s too short to worry about that. 

Once you finished your bowl, you set it in the sink and headed towards your room to get ready for training. You slipped into some leggings and a shirt that wasn’t too loose so you could spar. When you arrived, you saw you had beat a few of your teammates, so you wandered over to the group of people already waiting in the gym.

“Sup, Robin?” you greeted as you leaned on Sam’s shoulder and smirked. He just shrugged you off and returned your greeting.

“Hey, Donatello, what’s shakin’?” All you could do was roll your eyes. As if to back him up, though, you pulled the compact bo staff out of your clothes and pressed the button to make it expand. It wasn’t your favorite, but it was good for training or in a pinch.

The sudden expansion of the staff startled Sam as he backed up. “Damn, Y/N, no need to get so excited,” he joked.

You simply shrugged and replied with the usual, “What can I say? I’m more of a grower than a shower.” You smirked at the slightly uncomfortable expression on Clint’s face behind Sam.

You kept up your banter with your teammates until everyone arrived. Steve stepped in front of the team and your smirk softened into a smile directed at him. You didn’t notice you did it, but everyone else certainly did. None of them would ever call you inconsiderate, but it was even nicer than usual for you to be so sweet instead of suggestive. It was a nice change, for sure, if a bit odd.

You paired off to practice sparring, first with weapons and then without. Your first partner was poor Clint. He was about as good with a staff as you were, but you were good at throwing off his rhythm. Maybe you made a dirty joke or maybe you just got too close, you were good at messing him up enough to win. You then got to spar with Bucky, who got to use blunt knives as stand-ins for weapons. He was better at not letting you get in his head, but you were still pretty good at fighting him, even with his strength and speed. Your skills depended on exploiting your opponent’s weaknesses instead of brute force, seeing as you weren’t actually enhanced in any way.

The next partner switch was to no weapons sparring. You were matched with Natasha, which was always interesting. You were fairly evenly matched in skills, but she was slightly more lithe, graceful. You had similar fighting styles, she was usually just a little bit better. When she got you on your back, her legs on either side of your chest, holding your arms down, you couldn’t help but comment, “This would be a great place to die.” You wiggled your eyebrows suggestively as she rolled her eyes and huffed a small laugh at your antics.

What? Nat was hot.

Your final sparring partner was Steve. Without your staff, you had to rely much more on agility and dodging than simple blocking. You greeted him kindly when you walked up and smiled, settling into a fighting stance. No matter how many times he pinned you, you couldn’t quite bring yourself to comment on it like you had with Natasha. For one, you knew he would be more uncomfortable with it than anyone else, and you didn’t joke and flirt to make anyone upset. Second, it was a lot easier to flirt with the people you didn’t like than the one you actually did, in case it backfired.

When training was finally over, you were sweaty and tired. You lifted your shirt to wipe the sweat from your face, when you heard a whistle.

“Damn, Y/N, no need to strip,” Sam called out. You dropped your shirt to see him and Bucky laughing while Steve looked away, a little red in his cheeks. You raised your middle finger in a salute at the two idiots

“In your dreams, Wilson.” You winked at him and walked away, towards your room.

--

After you left, Steve eyes followed you for a moment with a furrowed brow. “Does Y/N not like me?” he asked his best friends.

Bucky had just taken a sip of water and spit it out in surprise. “What?”

“Dude, why would you think she doesn’t like you?” Sam asked in confusion.

Steve reached up to rub the back of his neck awkwardly. “It’s just… she doesn’t joke with me the same way she does all of you. Sure she’s nice to me, but it’s different.”

“Steve. She jokingly flirts with all of us. Smirks and winks and all of that. The girl smiles at you.” Sam assured, patting him on the shoulder.

“Why doesn’t she flirt with me?” Steve blurted, sounding petulant.

“Wait a second, are you jealous?” Bucky asked, smiling at his best friend. “I knew you wanted her Stevie, I didn’t realize you were dumb enough not to realize that she wants you.”

It was Steve’s turn to be surprised. “What? No she doesn’t.”

“Captain, with all due respect, you’re kind of an idiot with women,” Sam said sympathetically. “She’s way sweeter to you than to any of us and I bet she doesn’t flirt with you because she thinks it would make you uncomfortable.”

Steve was shaking his head before Sam was even finished. “There’s no way that’s true.”

“Then prove it,” Sam responded. “Ask her about it. I bet you ten bucks she likes you more than the rest of us.”

“Deal,” Steve said before he realized the implications of what he agreed to. This meant he had to have an uncomfortable conversation with the girl he fancied about whether she liked him.

--

You stepped out of the shower, happy to be clean from all of the sweat and grossness from earlier. You slipped into a pair of shorts and a T-shirt you had stolen from an unknown male in this tower. Well, unknown as in Steve didn’t know you had stolen his shirt. You sat down on your bed with a crochet hook and picked up where you had left off on your most recent project. No one on the team knew you liked to crochet because you know Bird Brain and the Ice Princess would laugh at you. Everyone had a vice or a way of relaxing. Tony liked to drink, Steve liked to break punching bags, and you liked to crochet like an old lady.

You heard a knock at your door and set your hook aside to answer it. You opened it to see a recently showered Steve on the other side, certainly not an unwelcome sight.

“Can I come in?” he asked. You nodded and gestured him inside, closing the door behind him. He walked towards her bed before pausing, a slow smile spreading across his face. “Were you knitting?”

“Crocheting, thank you very much. What of it?” you huffed, trying to cover your embarrassment.

He just chuckled and said, “Nothing, nothing. It’s just not what I would have expected, that’s all.”

“So what did you need, Cap?” you inquired, wondering why he had come to your door.

“I- uh… I just wanted to know if…. Do you not like me, Y/N?” he finally got out after stumbling around.

“Of course I like you Steve, what made you think I didn’t?” you felt really bad, you never meant for him to think you disliked him.

“It’s just that you joke and flirt with everyone else and you don’t with me, and I was worried it was because you hated me or something.”

“Oh no, Steve, of course I don’t hate you,” you rushed to assure. Then you backtracked a moment. “Did you want me to flirt with you?” you quietly asked, unsure of yourself.

He suddenly became very red before muttering, “I wouldn’t mind.”

You smiled kindly at him. “I don’t flirt with you because I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

Steve stared at you for a moment. “Wait, really?” You nodded at him. “I’m perfectly capable of handling your flirting.” He didn’t realize until after he said it that it came across as a challenge.

A smirk spread across your lips as you looked up at him. You walked closer to him, a little extra sway to your hips. “I don’t know if you could handle me if I really flirted with you Captain,” you purred. He looked immediately flustered by your forwardness, but didn’t back down. You got a little closer to him before you felt compelled to check on him. “Is this okay?” you asked, a small amount of nerves showing through in your voice.

“More than okay,” Steve murmured. You beamed up at him. You held eye contact for a moment before he glanced down. “Is that my shirt?”

“Why? Do you want it back?” You jokingly reached for the hem of the shirt, but he grabbed your wrists to stop you from actually lifting it.

“No, it looks good on you.” It was your turn to blush. “I was just curious as to why you were wearing my shirt.”

You shrugged nonchalantly. “Who knows Rogers, maybe I’ve been flirting with you this whole time, you’re just special.”

--

Steve asked you out to dinner that night, and you could swear that when you walked towards the elevator to meet him, you saw him slip Sam some money.

[yoshichao]

the Smashers and their Host Ch13 Preview

Series: Super Smash Bros.

Characters: Reader, Literally Everyone In Super Smash Bros Ultimate

Summary:  You're an inter-dimensional being that owns a huge estate situated on the cusp of spacetime. You've been asked to rent out your mansion for the upcoming Super Smash Bros. tournament. What could possibly go wrong?

Tags: Reader-Insert, Romantic & Platonic Harem, Comedy, Fluff, No Smut

Read the fic here!

[So after a year, I finally finished chapter 11... During my writer’s block, I actually started on what was then going to be chapter 12, but I’ve seen then squeezed another chapter between them in the plans. So, if all goes according to plan, this will be May’s update. Anyways, I feel like posting it so!! It’s not as meaty as the chapter 11 preview - this one is only about 2k words instead of a whopping 13k - but I hope you enjoy regardless!]

You can’t help but stare as the roller coaster above slowly reaches its peak before plummeting downwards, accompanied by a chorus of screams. Just watching the cars zip through loops and corkscrews makes your head spin, and you find yourself grateful that you aren’t on that particular ride. You don’t know if your heart could take it.

The repairs at the mansion finished with accompanying fanfare (well, in your head, at least) and you thought you’d be able to sit back and relax for a bit. Your new life had other plans, of course, and the Smashers were absolutely insatiable, so you had been invited to join them to an amusement park. Honestly, you should have declined - you wanted to! - but…

“Pleaaaaase?” Roy had been the one to ask you to join them, giving you puppy dog eyes as he held the brochure out. The park was in a place called Nimbasa City - recently expanded! grand re-opening! - which you recognized as a place in the Pokemon universe. 

“You know you can go without me, right?” you tried, still feeling worn out from all the Social Activities and babysitting you’ve been doing lately. The other day, you found DK using Pac-man as a bowling ball to “prank” anyone wandering the halls. Then the following day, you’re pretty sure Villager and Toon Link had a slingshot competition with the mansions’ windows. And then the day after that, Leaf helped you play detective to find out who was stealing all the speakers throughout the mansion, just to find Diddy Kong using them to create a “gaming set-up fit for a king”. 

Why.

Completely oblivious to your weariness, Roy’s expression remained enthusiastic, even when he gave you a mock-frown. “Sure, but, you said we would hang out together next time everyone was doing something!”

“I did?”

“Yeah, you did!”

Oh right, you did. You did say that after he wasn’t invited to the sleepover. Curse you and your desire to keep everyone happy! Now you have to go!

And so, after someone consulted Master Hand about building a temporary transporter directly to Nimbasa City, here you are.

“Whoa, it’s even cooler than in the pictures!” Roy, determined to take you up on your offer to spend time together, arrived via teleporter alongside you. While the mansion has been abuzz over another multiverse outing, you have no idea who actually intended on going. It’s already midday, so there are probably plenty of Smashers already here…

Pulling your gaze away from the roller coaster, you notice that your redheaded companion was also staring intently at the Rayquaza-themed deathtrap. His expression is strained, leading you to believe the both of you are thinking the same thing.

“Why don’t we start with getting something to eat?” you suggest, thinking of the safest option possible. Oh, but if you end up going on rides with a full stomach… Hm, maybe that’s not as safe as you thought. But Roy eagerly takes your suggestion and you have no choice but to follow him to the food court.

“That’s a great idea! I’m dying to see what kind of food this world has!”

You can’t help but agree, but his words have curiosity bubbling within you. “Have you never visited the Pokemon world before?”

“Only once, during Melee!” His grin is almost infectious, though it mellows out as he continues talking. “We never came out here during the last tournament season! ...Or at least, not while I was around.” Roy frowns a moment before putting on another smile, though this one seems a bit more forced. “Melee’s whole thing though was that we were travelling to a new universe for each round of the tournament. For the Pokemon world though, we took a blimp to the stadium, so we didn’t really get to explore…”

That’s right - you forgot Roy was technically only invited to one full tournament, so he wouldn’t have had as much time to relax and travel around with the others. It was only by popular demand that he was invited for the “extra” tournaments, appearing alongside Ryu as a secret opponent for the champions of the mini doubles tournament. They’d both go on to appear in the remaining tournaments and random matchups of the season. While that would have given him a few months to participate in fun activities with the others, you have to imagine a lot of that slows down during tournament season.

“But, a few Smashers and I snuck out between matches to check out the local town.” Roy continues his story sheepishly, smiling fondly at the memory. “And then we uh, went a bit too far… got lost in a cave… We made it back just in time for our next match, but Master Hand really gave us an earful…” He laughs awkwardly, and you find yourself snickering at the idea of Master Hand panicking when he discovered some of his hotshot superstars have gone missing. 

“Who all went with you?”

He counts them off on his fingers as he lists everyone. “Me, Pichu, Young Link, Popo, Nana... oh, and Ness. Pikachu ended up being the one who found us lost in the cave.”

You can just imagine the six of them running in circles trying to find the exit, just to have Pikachu show up and use its familiarity of the region to lead them out in mere minutes. 

...Huh. Funny, most of those six are Smashers that didn’t get invited back every year afterwards. And you remember there had once been rumours that Ness wasn’t going to be invited back to Brawl…

...Eh, probably just a coincidence. Master Hand wouldn’t exclude someone over an incident like that.

“I’m surprised Pikachu didn’t try to get you even more lost on purpose,” you say offhandedly. Roy’s expression is surprisingly contemplative.

“Nah, Pikachu used to be cool back then. Like, sure he liked to hype up the crowd, but outside of matches he was really chill.” He pauses. “I was surprised to find out he kind of became a jerk. Apparently he’s just been that way since the start of Brawl.”

“Really?” And here you thought the first tournament had been the catalyst to its inflated ego, where the electric rodent had won both the singles and the doubles tournaments that season. Pikachu’s record during Melee was pretty average… maybe something else happened between that and Brawl? An event none of the Smashers would have known about? 

Roy shrugs - he’s just in the dark about it as you are - and you notice you’ve arrived at the food court, signalling the end of the conversation. You spot a Pansage, a Panpour, and a Pansear behind a long counter. Pansage takes orders and hands them to the other two monkeys, who then proceed to rush around unnecessarily chaotically to put the order together. This seems like the type of environment where mistakes are easily made, but a lot of people seem to be eating food from here, so apparently they know what they’re doing…?

You end up ordering a Rawst Burger and a lemonade, while Roy gets a corn dog and a soda pop. On your way to finding somewhere to sit, you spot Falco getting his hot dog stolen by the Duck Hunt Dog. You’re glad he’s too far to notice you laughing.

“Look, there’s space at that table!” Your attention is brought back to Roy, who is pointing at a table with only one other person sitting at it. Coincidentally, the spiky blond haired dude there is someone you recognize as part of the Smash crew. Roy takes longer to recognize him - it’s not until you’ve both rounded the table to sit across from the swordsman that he addresses him.

“Oh hey, you’re that guy… uh, Rain, was it?”

When the blond looks up and you see his face, an involuntary snort arises from your throat as you try to hold back laughter.

“It’s Cloud. Cloud Strife.” Apparently they offer facepainting somewhere at the park, because Cloud’s face is covered in ink that resembles a bunny. When combined with his completely serious expression, you have to hide a smile behind your hand as you sit down. 

“Right, that’s it. I knew that.” Roy sits next to you, raising an eyebrow at the swordsman across from you two. “What’s on your face?”

“It’s a rabbit.”

“I guess someone is offering facepainting somewhere?” you clarify helpfully, and Roy’s face lights up in recognition.

“Oh! That sounds fun.” He looks to you with enthusiasm. “Hey, what animal do you think I should get? Heh, probably something fierce, like a lion, or--”

“A puppy,” you reply without hesitation, interrupting his own ideas. Roy looked shocked at your suggestion - almost even offended. Whoops. 

“A-A puppy? Not like… a bigger dog? A wolf, maybe…?”

“I think a puppy would suit you as well,” Cloud agrees. Roy’s jaw drops as he’s left struggling for an objection, but Cloud moves the conversation before he can say anything. “They also do portraits - look.”

He hands you a large rolled up piece of canvas paper that you’ve been curious about for awhile now before returning to picking at his funnel cake (mm, you gotta get one of those later). Roy leans into your personal space to take a look as you unroll it.

Oh my. That is certainly a caricature. 

Roy almost immediately lets out a laugh. “Wo-ow! That would explain your face.”

The canvas blocks your vision so you can’t see Cloud’s face, but you can hear him exhale deeply. Rolling the portrait back up, you place it down on the table.

“I like the style! The art is very clean.” You’ve seen a lot of skill levels in the art found in your mansion, so it’s pretty easy to think outside of “bad” and “good”. Then of course, there’s your own art to consider… yeesh. “I think the artist really captured your character.”

“That’s what I thought,” Cloud responds with a nod, relaxing in the seat. Roy snorts beside you, and you refrain from elbowing him quiet in favour of shooting him a wry look.

“What, you think you could do better?”

Your challenge seems to actually take him off guard, and he fumbles to regain his confidence. “Uh… pfft. Of course. Anyone could do that.” He tries to laugh confidently, but there’s a clear nervous edge to it. Refusing to show him mercy, you play along by feigning amazement.

“Really? Wow, I’d love to see that. Maybe we should have an art show back at the mansion! Wouldn’t that be fun?”

“O-Ooh, I mean… You really think people would be interested in that…?”

Cloud recognizes the game you are playing and chimes in with an immediate “I would”. You do a gesture as if to say “see??”, smiling bright and devious until his resolve finally breaks.

“F-Fine! I’ll do it! But don’t say I didn’t warn you, cuz I’m… really good!!” His voice shakes with anxiety at the end, and it takes all you have not to burst out laughing. This is good. This is so good. You’ll have to file this “art show” idea away for down the road, so you can spring it on him again unexpectedly. Although, torture and humiliation aside, you actually suddenly are curious if any of the Smashers are secretly artists. 

“Yes! I’m looking forward to it!” With a grin, you end the conversation by finally picking up your burger and taking a bite into it. Huh, it tastes… fruity. Bitter. Wait, that must be because there are Rawst Berries used in it. Guess you should have seen this coming. You don’t hate it, but the taste has definitely taken you off-guard and you’re not sure you like the mix of meat and berry. 

You must have been making a face because Cloud slides his funnel cake plate halfway across the table. “Here. I probably won’t finish it anyways.”

Forgetting about his previous worries, Roy smiles and reaches for the plate. “Ooh, don’t mind if I do--” To his dismay, Cloud hits his hand away.

“I didn’t offer it to you.”

Roy looks torn. You’d feel bad for him if it wasn’t so funny. Likewise, you usually try to politely decline gifts so as to not seem greedy, but you are enjoying having fun at Roy’s expense. “Thanks!” You put down the burger and reach for a piece of the doughy, sugary treat. Ripping it off, you pop it in your mouth and audibly hum in delight. Hehe, you’re a real devil!! If you wanted to be really mean, you could mention how sad it is that Roy can’t know how good this is, but you are not that cruel. Not right now, at least.

Between stealing chunks of funnel cake and continuing to try finishing the burger (nnnnnope, still tastes weird!), you let your mind wander to thoughts regarding the swordsman across from you. Back in the day, Cloud was a popular request to join the tournament despite existing extremely far away from the bubble of universes Master Hand typically picked from. When he was announced as a surprise participant in the final Super Smash Bros. 4 season tournament, fans exploded with excitement. You were honestly surprised to see him on the list for the Ultimate roster - you hear that Cloud Strife is a tough guy to work with and that’s why he doesn’t make many multiverse appearances despite his popularity. Not even the heads of the more local Playstation All-Stars tournament could get him. Master Hand must have really pulled some strings to get him to participate in Smash not once, but twice.

[...and that is unfortunately all I have. See you next month for chapter 12!]