#which is absolutely fine btw I’m not gate keeping

[elijahmiles]

v strange to have been in the ac trenches for so long and have so many new people interested in shadows. it feels like a bunch of people just walked into my house. hello. i’ve been in ac hell for years now. welcome.

[local-ground-apple]

Hiii ❤️ Can I please request Epel and Reader running away from Vil (and Rook) to Savanaclaw? Thank you! 💕💕 Btw I love Your content keep up the good work💖

thank you~~ 💖 💖~

There’s a lot of Pomefiore these days😅😅😅

,,Ruggie, are those herbivores trying to raid the gate?”

,,It appears so”

,,Let them in, before they injure themselves”

Leona dismissed Ruggie with a mere wave of his hand, as heavy sigh left his lips. He rubbed his templates clearly displeased, as he observed you and Epel aggressively trying to climb the gate, which was quite futile. Yet, Leona had to remark that your determination and courage was foolish, but quite commendable.

Epel eyed suspiciously the opening gate. Honestly, sp far everything was going smoothly. Maybe too smoothly to your liking. 

,,They’re…..they…..”

You panted heavily, clutching your stomach, trying to finally catch a breath after running for a decent amount of time. You and Epel were both leaning on the nearest wall for any support, clearly exhausted.

,,They’re fucking insane!!”

Exclaimed Epel, as you nervously looked behind you, trying to find a pair of inquisitive eyes in the darkness. You were sure that certain hunter would follow you both as soon as Vil noticed your absence. You and Epel were by no means experts of camouflage or hiding traces, so the forest must have be an open book for Rook. Your traces were probably all over trees, bushes and grass.

,,And?”

Leona’s voice sounded bored, he clearly wasn’t interested in any matter you were going through.

,,Please, let us stay here. Even just for one night”

“Absolutely not! That weirdo in fancy hat will come here after you and I’m not dealing with him”

Leona scoffed. Not only, you herbivores, had the audacity to disturb his precious, beauty sleep, yet you where asking for a shelter. He growled at the mere thought of certain hunter who was bound to be following you two. He crossed his arms on his chest, looking at you two quivering in fear.

Yet, Leona knew you weren’t scared of him.

No, you were terrified of Rook who was bound to come fetch you.

,,We should have run to Diasomnia. I’m sure Malleus would let us st-“

Your words were cut midway by a loud growl which slipped through Leona’s lips. Pure disgust and hatred appeared on his face at the brief mention of certain dragon fae. His fists clenched and for a mere second you thought he would lash out.

Yet, nothing happened.

Exasperated sigh left Leona’s lips, as his body loosen. He massaged his temples, trying to focus on you two. You prodded Epel, who immediately understood your intention. A pout found its way on your lips, as Epel looked pleadingly at Leona with glossy eyes. Another sigh slipped through dorm leader’s lips, as he was slowly giving in.

,,Fine, one night and be quiet. And if that weirdo comes…”

Leona lowered his voice, stopping as if he was threatening you two. You shrugged, while Epel seemed elated.

,,Okay, then we will run somewhere. Thank you Leona!”

“Tch, whatever”

Leona walked off, not sparing any glance at you two beaming with happiness. Ruggie nervously scratched his head, not knowing how he was supposed to act. As always Leona left him to deal with any inconveniences. Epel’s eyes were glowing with excitement and curiosity, as he began looking around.

,,I guess I should give you a tour?”

,,Oh gosh, yes please! Do you think I could change into your uniform, surely Rook wouldn’t recognize me then? Or maybe I could switch dorms like right now?”

You only giggled as Epel continued to question embarrassed and frustrated Ruggie, who was nervously scratching his head. He was clearly avoiding looking straight into pleading eyes of the boy who was clutching his jacket with pure excitement.

,,That’s Rook. He would find you even if he was blindfolded”

 ...

,,You need to pick me up”

You whispered, as Epel was beginning to have second thoughts. Sure, sun was setting and before Rook and Vil noticed your absence, you would have at least few hours of head start. At least you hoped so.

Epel glanced nervously once again, while you raised an eyebrow, waiting for his answer.

,,There’s no way I will reach this window. Are you sure you will manage to raise me up?”

Epel bridled at your question, as his hands eagerly gripped your feet lifting you up. Of course, he was more than capable to raise you up, what was even that question. You didn’t see his flushed cheeks, as you gripped the window pulling yourself up.

Gosh, you could have gone to that jogging with Vil.

You gritted your teeth, putting more effort and strength into climbing out of window. How were you supposed to outrun Rook, if a mere window almost defeated you?

Epel face-palmed when he heard a loud “thgh” and a small whimper you let out when your back collided with the ground. You hissed in pain, messaging your butt, clearly thankful it was just the first floor.

,,Are you okay?”

Epel’s face popped out from the window, worry present in his voice as he eyed you looking for any injuries apart from few bruises. You nodded, beckoning him to go down with a motion of your hand. Epel quickly followed and gracefully landed on the ground beside you, while you were carefully observing the area.

,,Now the forest, right?”

,,The worst part. We will leave shit ton of clues for Rook to find”

You sighed and Epel only shrugged. It’s not like you could stay in Savanaclaw either way. It was just a temporary solution, since both of you were aware that Vil would drag you both back to Pomefiore without any remorse or hesitation.

,,At least it will romantic, don’t you think Y/N?”

You only giggled at Epel’s remark, as your hand entwined with his. Romantic? Running through the woods in almost darkness, while being hunted by the stalker hunter wasn’t something you would label as romantic.

,,Two lovers running away from their evil step mother and self-proclaimed stalker of Pomefiore straight into clutches of big, bad, lazy lion?”

You raised your eyebrow, while Epel only nodded.

,,That’s how we will explain the whole situation to Vil”

“Yeah, I think it would be sufficient for Rook”

[evil-is-relative]

Hi! You reblogged a post from the random OCs fairy so I'm taking that as permission to ask you things. So:

If you were starting a new Skyrim playthrough tomorrow, who would you pick as your main DB and why? Top 3 is fine if you can't settle on one.

And secondly, would any of them get on with Lucien, and how would that friendship pan out?

Feel free to go into as much detail as you like!

No one needs any excuse to ask me things! Ask away! I love asks! Thank you for asking!

I’d actually try replaying Ysmir, because it’s been a LONG time since I was able to play Skyrim, and there are some mods that have released or updated that I wanted to try with her. I also, I think, would play Tyr. I have a whole set of headcannons for what would have happened had he been able to be the Last Dragonborn rather than dying in Thalmor prison, including Fey being sent after him. Soulmates, after all. I really want to write his story one day, but I have SO MANY other projects! X’D

Darva, Child!Ysmir/Blossom and Orien have already been designed in-game, so I think I might try for making them adoptable? I never got that far in the Creation Kit before it stopped working on my laptop, so I’d love to try it again on my computer! Otherwise, I might even commission someone to make them, if I’m able to keep up the dogsitting the way I have been.

^Miraak reading to Darva

Both would get on with Lucien, and both would be horrified that he was let out without a keeper. Naturally, Ysmir takes everything upon herself. He would probably want to write down her story, which makes her nervous considering she doesn’t want her grandfather to realize she is alive. Eventually, she would probably have him stay at one of her homes as a “writing retreat” when she couldn’t be there personally. Basically, much like she did with Eric the Slayer, only he went off to become a mercenary, while I strongly suspect Lucien would remain an academic. He may end up tutoring her children, since Blaise keeps scaring teachers away. Miraak is the only one that can get Blaise to behave when it comes to sitting down and learning.

Tyr, I think, he would probably meet at one of the ruins of Oblivion Gates (I always take Tyr to them, it’s a connection to his family), and be absolutely FASCINATED by this Nord that knows SO MUCH about them! Even more so when he figures out Tyr is the Champion’s grandson. He might end up hiring Tyr for protection as well, since he is a member of the Companions after walking out on childhood friend Ulfric after Torygg’s death. He feels somewhat responsible for it, since his developing thu’um was noticed by the Nords in Windhelm, but everyone assumed it was Ulfric The Jarl’s Son rather than his half-Dunmer friend. Ulfric was sent off to learn from the Greybeards, while Tyr remained in the Greyquarter with his father. The Stormcloak’s prejudice toward Dunmer and Ulfric’s lack of care of them is a huge wedge in their relationship, which finally comes to a snapping point when Ulfric won’t agree to not attack Whiterun for ONE FREAKING DAY while Tyr captures a dragon to save the world. If he can’t put his ambitions aside for one day, then he’s truly not the friend Tyr followed into the Great War.

(I always picture Tyr, btw, when I read about your Saering. I’m not sure why other than extremely redheaded Nord. My head already has an actor for that.)

^Tyr being Very Mad at the Elder Council in Asylum: Heir Apparent.

^Baby!Ysmir/Blossom and Orien hanging out with another matched set in Asylum: Heir Apparent. Blossom doesn’t have a lot of the restraint Ysmir was forced to learn, yet.

"Can I play with your knives?" Blossom asked, looking at them with naked appreciation.

Ama mock-narrowed her eyes at the little girl. "Do you know how to sharpen them the right way?"

The look of thinly veiled annoyance seemed very out of place on such a young face. "Yes," she said, hopping up to straddle the bench facing Ama, holding out her hands to prove herself.

"Good. I hug, you sharpen. Let's go." Ama scooped her up and set her in her lap, where all the necessary items were already laid out. "Do a good job, and I bet Telki'll make you your own set for your birthday."

Picking up the first one and resolving to make this the best job she ever did, Blossom leaned back against the affectionate adult and carefully sharpened the dagger. She had no idea why people wanted to hug her so much. Orien seemed to love it. Speaking of her twin, he was trying to wiggle his way into the other one's lap without warning her that he was there first. 

Nala felt a bump at her elbow, and looked down to see a match to the little redheaded girl sharpening her sister's daggers. "Well hello, Cuteness!"

Blossom smiled a little at the woman's reaction and cuddled into Ama. Maybe she could see why people liked cuddling and hugging them. Orien was adorable. She was his twin. Together they were twice as adorable.

She quickly started plotting to use this to gain access to more sweetrolls.

Orien was looking wide-eyed from her to Ama. "You match!" he cried, face breaking out in a delighted smile. "Blossom, they match! We match! We match match!"

[numbah34]

Some thoughts on ship Kallura and Allura’s character development arc...

First of all, I love Allura’s character. Princess? Heck no. She is a queen. She just woke up one day and the universe as she knew it was completely gone... yet she pulled herself up and began making decisions as to what needed to be done next. She is not afraid to ask for help, or for wise counsel. And this brings me to something that I think will have to be addressed in this final season, as it has an effect on several other outcomes.

Allura internalizes everything. I briefly touched on this on the big s7e10 meta I did a while back, but I want to expand on that idea a bit. She hasn’t been shown to really address any of the hard emotions she must be feeling or have felt. Think about it:

She wakes up, and her dad, the parent to whom she seemed closest, is dead, killed by the quintessence-field-creature-zombified remains of one of his closest friends, who, btw, is STILL ALIVE and in the midst of tyrannical galactic rule. In terms of time relativity, to her, he was alive yesterday. Mere moments before. But it’s been 10,000 years... and she takes a moment, composes herself, and gets down to the business of universe-saving/defending. BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE.

A brief flash of hope remains with her father’s memories being stored in the ship; she’s not alone! She still has family left! And, even though it’s not quite the same, she can still talk to him, seek guidance from him, receive assurance from him... and then his AI becomes corrupted. And almost drives them directly into a burning oblivion, and she’s forced to be the one to pull the plug. Sure, she gets to say good-bye, but... it’s still good-bye. And again, she takes a moment, then brushes herself off and goes on, acting a bit like it’s not a big deal, but we ain’t buying that bill of goods, sister, it is absolutely a big deal and your poker face has a few cracks in it.

Fast forward. She grows to trust, be interested in, and develop romantic feelings for Lotor. She receives her first kiss... and then almost immediately thereafter her heart is broken by the revelation that she and Coran are NOT the only Alteans left, but on that note, there’s apparently a few less of those remaining Alteans because someone tall, charming, and with great hair has allegedly been harvesting them for quintessence and is NOT DENYING IT. And she just- UGH- I mean, how DARE- ....aaand, cue table-flipping, yeet the ex, and screw-this-quintessence-field-gate-in-particular break-up scene. And, once again, she seems to just close her eyes for a second and move on. No big, right? Let’s not speak of this unpleasantness again. I’m fine. No, no, I don’t experience vulnerable emotions! I have a lion to pilot and a coalition to run! No time for inconvenient feelings!

But then there’s Keith... one of the few who gets to see that vulnerability. And who seems to understand that, when Allura is feeling sad, or like she has failed in some way, or that she needs to let out some of the negative feelings she keeps bottling up, all he needs to do is listen. Maybe offer a word or two of encouragement. They both seem to understand how the other needs to process their emotions. But, that doesn’t mean they’re going to do that right every time, as evidenced by their brief and impassioned argument in s7e6. And now... Allura has likely developed an unsure feeling in regard to Keith. Which is not so helpful when the paladins finally reach Earth.

LM, in an interview, was quoted (and I’m paraphrasing a bit) as saying that Allura may not know where she fits in on Earth. The paladins are back on their home planet, they have been [mostly] reunited with their families, and Allura may be feeling like they don’t need her as family anymore (again, this is perception, not fact!). In thinking about this, I wonder if that is a reason why she seemed to gravitate toward Lance in the latter half of the season in a couple scenes; she may see him as “safe”, because (last she heard from her mice), he is in love with her, ergo, he still “needs” her. He’s the only one whose feelings she kind of knows.

Meanwhile, we still haven’t seen a Keith parallel for her telling him he and the other paladins had become her family; Keith said in s7e6 that they were brought together as friends (which is, admittedly, a big admission for him). Family is difficult for Keith; everytime he’s had family, they’ve left him in one way or another. Krolia and Kolivan both being there when he woke up in the hospital in s7e13 is big because now he’s had more family actually return to him. Which leads me to this:

I think it’s got to be Keith to tell Allura that she is part of their family; the words will hold more weight coming from him. And they really, really need to resolve their conflict from s7. Because, Keith? A general group apology for being difficult does not count as a real apology to Allura for acting like a jerk who specifically targeted things she has strong, unaddressed feelings about. You knew which buttons to push; and you still need to fix it.

[livi-the-werewolf]

Request:  Hi!❤ I wanted to request a bellamy x reader image: Bellamy and reader are rly close friends and are secretly in love with each other. but bellamy doesn’t think that she is in love with him so eventually he gives up and has a girlfriend (gina or sb). reader is rly jealous and a real mess so she starts doing rly dangerous things to distract herself from that. bellamy catches her one time and is very worried. He breaks up with his gf later and confesses his feelings for the reader. thank you! ❤

A/N: i think i have carpal tunnel so its actually painful to write imagines which is terrible. this is a long one tho. ps - i changed the the scenario a little, hope you don’t mind:3 (this is set in season 1 btw)

I looked over at Gina in disgust as she played with Bellamy’s hair and giggled at everything he said. “I should be playing with his hair,” I muttered under my breath. I rolled my eyes and began mocking her, “Oh Bellamy, I love you so much! You’re the hottest guy in the camp and I’m just with you for your looks and because you’re the camp leader!” I pounded down my hammer bitterly while staring at the camp’s ‘cutest couple’. “Shit,” I yelled out, realizing I accidentally hit the hammer onto my finger. I felt my finger throb and clutched it to my chest. 

“You okay, Y/n?” Finn asked from behind me. I turned to face him. 

“Yeah, I just wasn’t paying attention while working with a hammer. Not a good idea by the way,” I joked. Finn chuckled.

“Well if it means anything to you, I don’t like Gina either,” he whispered to me. My eyes widened and I started to blush, realizing he heard me mocking her. Finn started laughing and I rolled my eyes playfully.

“It isn’t funny,” I exclaimed. He held up his hands in defense and smiled. 

“Okay, okay. Anyways, I was wondering if you could go out to get some food? We’re almost out and I would go but I have a lot of work to do around here,” he asked me. 

“Sure, anything to get away from Gina,” I told him. 

“Thanks, I owe you,” he told me, giving me a bright smile.

“No problem Finn.”

“I’m going out to get food Clarke,” I yelled, grabbing a gun and some bullets. 

I was halfway out the gate before she yelled back, “You need to bring someone with you Y/N! We travel in pairs remember?” 

“It’s fine, I can take care of myself,” I assured, resuming my walk out the gate. 

“Really? I couldn’t tell by the dark circles under your eyes, and your throbbing finger!” I rolled my eyes and ignored her, walking out into the forest alone.

I mindlessly stumbled across tree roots and rocks, not paying attention to where I was going at all. That was obviously a mistake because suddenly, I was falling. I face planted into the dirt. I turned onto my back and felt a shooting pain in my leg. I looked down at my leg. My ankle was red and already starting to swell. I tried to move it but an excruciating pain racked through my entire leg. I held back a scream but couldn’t stop the tears that were now streaming down my cheeks. 

“Y/n!” I heard a familiar voice call out. I looked up and saw Bellamy running towards me. He kneeled beside me and started cursing quietly. “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god,” he mumbled, his hands hovering over my ankle, unsure of what to do.

“I know right,” I whispered hoarsely, my voice cracking slightly. I let out a weak chuckle. He looked at my face for the first time since he found me and I saw his facial expression soften. He wiped away my tears. However the moment was over as quickly as it started. “Why are you here?” I asked bitterly, “And why isn’t Gina here?” 

“I’m here because you’re my friend and I was worried about you, and for good reason obviously,” he explained. “And why would Gina be here? It’s not like she follows me everywhere I go.” 

“Well I hate to break it to you Bellamy, but she does follow you everywhere you go. Can’t believe you haven’t noticed.” 

“Okay, what’s your deal? I came here to help you but you’re being a total dick,” he questioned, his voice getting louder with every word. 

“Well maybe I didn’t want you come! That was the entire point of coming! To get away from you and Gina,” I yelled. 

“What is that supposed to mean,” he yelled back. Before I got to answer his question I heard the sound of an arrow being shot. It hit a tree a few feet in front of us. 

We both looked at each other with wide eyes. In a few seconds time we had a silent conversation. I grabbed my gun that had slid a few inches away when I fell and Bellamy picked me up. He began to run and I aimed at the grounder.  

“On the count of three start shooting, okay? One, two, three!” I instantly started shooting at the grounder as Bellamy ran as fast as his legs would carry us. I shot the grounder in the leg and then the stomach, watching as he fell down. Then another jumped down from the trees. Somehow, through all the shaking and unsteadiness I managed to shoot him in the head, and he dropped dead instantly.

“Are we clear?” He asked. 

“Yeah, I got them,” I told him. I winced as my leg shook, pain shooting up it once again.

“Sorry,” he breathed. He slowed down enough to press a quick kiss to my head before speeding back up again. I felt my heart speed up and pressed myself closer to him. 

We made it back to camp in around twenty minutes. “Let us in!” Bellamy shouted from outside the gate. 

“It’s Bellamy,” I heard someone shout. 

“Open her up,” someone else shouted. The gate opened and Bellamy rushed in. A few people crowded around us until Bellamy shooed them away, causing them to all scatter.

“Here, let me down, Bell. I can walk the rest of the way. You carried me the whole time,” I offered. 

“No, you’re hurt. I’m not letting you hurt yourself even more,” he replied. 

“Seriously, Bell. Please. I feel bad you had to carry me all that way. I’ll use you for support. What’s the worst that could happen between now and twenty feet away?” I asked. He gave me a look before letting out a sigh. He shifted and then slowly let me down. I grabbed onto his shoulder for support and he wrapped his arm tightly around my waist, holding me up. 

I saw Gina’s face instantly brighten when she saw Bellamy but began glare at me when she saw me in his arms. She came rushing up to us and started pulling on his arm. 

“Bellamy come with me, I need to show you something,” she whined. 

“I need to get Y/n to Clarke first. I might even stay the night in the drop ship, she’s really messed up,” Bellamy explained, shrugging her off. I saw Gina’s face drop and then she was glaring at me again. 

“Just come on Bellamy, I really want to hang out with you today,” she begged. 

“Gina I can’t!” he yelled. I saw her face flush and she looked absolutely outraged. She gave me a sharp glare, making me shrink into Bellamy’s side. 

She moved to walk past me, only to slide her foot under mine, successfully tripping me. I let out a yelp, both in pain and surprise, falling forward for the second time today. Bellamy grabbed my hips tightly, pulling me to him. My eyes welled up with tears and I let out heavy breaths, trying to get my pain under control. 

“What the hell Gina! You could’ve seriously hurt her! Why the hell would you do that,” Bellamy screamed. 

“I-” 

“You know what, don’t even talk to me! Just go away,” he barked out, cutting her off. She gave me one last glare and then stalked away. 

“Are you okay?” he asked. I sniffled and nodded my head. “Let’s get you to Clarke, okay?” 

“Okay,” I whispered.

He helped me limp over to the drop ship, which we now used as a hospital of sorts. “Oh my god! What happened?” Clarke asked as soon as Bellamy helped me through the doorway. 

“She fell,” he stated. 

“Technically, I tripped and then face planted,” I piped up. Both Clarke and Bellamy rolled their eyes and I shrunk into Bellamy’s chest. He rubbed my back and then asked where he could put me. 

“Over here,” she said, pointing to a cot in the corner of the first level. 

“I need to go grab something from my tent that will help with her, I’ll be right back,” Clarke told us. Bellamy nodded his head in acknowledgement and then carried me over to the cot. He set me down as gently as he could but I still flinched a little when my leg touched the cot. 

“Sorry,” he whispered. I looked up at him and saw a guilty expression on his face. 

“Hey, it’s fine,” I told him, grabbing onto his hand. He gave me a close mouthed smile and rubbed my hand with his thumb. I flinched when he touched the finger I had crushed this morning, causing his eyebrows to furrow. He looked down and saw my extremely bruised finger with dried up blood on it that I hadn’t realized was there. 

“What happened?” he asked, concern flooding all of his features. 

“I got distracted by something when I was working on the wall with a hammer earlier today,” I explained bashfully. 

“What distracted you,” he asked, smirking. I blushed and looked away.

“You,” I whispered. His smirk got even bigger and he was practically oozing cockiness. “Don’t be too proud of yourself. You know how I am, I get distracted by anything that’s cute or shiny,” I shot at him. 

“So you think I’m cute,” he questioned. 

“No! Well, maybe. I mean, no!” He smiled at me and winked. 

“Well I think you’re adorable,” he told me. I felt my entire face turn red and I looked away shyly.

“I’m back,” Clarke announced, walking back into the drop ship. She had a white bandage in her hand. “This is for your ankle, the pressure of the bandage will help it heal,” she explained. She wrapped the bandage around my ankle tightly and I flinched, instinctively clutching onto Bellamy’s hand. He squeezing me hand, taking his other hand and ran it through my hair. 

“What next?” Bellamy asked. 

“We don’t have any ice so she just needs to keep her leg still and wait for it to heal,” Clarke replied. “You can go on back to your tent Bell, all she needs is some rest now. I’ll stay with her overnight to watch over her,” Clarke told him. I felt my heart fall at the thought of him leaving.

“No, it’s okay, Clarke. I’ll stay with her. You rest up, you deserve it,” he replied.

“Are you sure?” She asked.

He nodded before looking down at me and smiling. 

Clarke walked out and I heard a chorus of goodnights from outside the dropship. Bellamy walked across the room and grabbed a cloth, dumping it in a bucket of water. He squeezed it out and brought it over, wiping away the dirt on my face. 

“Thanks,” I whispered. He smiled softly in return. He discarded of the cloth and then pulled a chair up next to me, sitting down in it. He grabbed my hand, running his thumb over my knuckles and slowly lulling me to sleep. 

I woke up to Bellamy screaming at someone outside of the drop ship. “No Gina, we’re done! What you did to Y/n was the final straw! I’m done with you,” he shouted. 

“Fine! Leave me for that whore, but don’t come crawling back to me when you realize how much better I am!” She shouted back, just as loud as him. 

“What the hell did you just say about her?” he asked. If I didn’t know any better I would’ve swore that he sounded like he was going to murder her. 

“Bellamy,” I called out weakly, hoping that if I intervene no further damage would be made. 

“We’ll continue this later,” he muttered. I heard her walk away before Bellamy appeared in the doorway before walking over to my side. grabbing my hand

“What do you need, sweetheart?” he asked, grabbing my hand.

“Were you talking with Gina?” I questioned, even though I already knew the answer.

“Yeah, I broke up with her,” he told me.

“Are you okay?” I asked quietly.

“Yeah, you don’t need to worry about me, princess,” he assured. I blushed at the nickname.

“Why did you break up with her?“

"Because what she did to you wasn’t okay,” he told me.

“So it’s my fault? God, I’m so sorry Bell,” I whispered, staring up at him guiltily. 

“No! No, of course it isn’t your fault. It’s my fault because I couldn’t give Gina what she deserved in the relationship. Because I have feelings for someone else,” he explained, playing with the bottom of his shirt. I felt my face fall, realizing he had feelings for another girl.

“Who is it?” I inquired, slightly bitter.

“You.” My head shot up to look at him.

“Seriously?”

 “Yeah, I’m in love with you Y/n,” he admitted. 

“I guess I went out and got my knee dislocated for no reason then,” I replied. He let out a loud laugh before leaning towards me and pressing his lips on mine.

[evenstevensranked]

#46: Season 3, Episode 14 - “Dirty Work”

This episode was pretty popular. Ren and Principal Wexler have a falling out after she starts to realize he assigns her all of his “dirty work.” So, Larry Beale ends up temporarily taking over as Wexler’s student assistant. Petty drama ensues. Meanwhile, during the plot everyone remembers: Louis decides to start his own "Lumberjack Club" as an excuse to slack off in school. Where all they do is hang around, speak with semi-hillbilly accents, eat pancakes and wear flannels.

Let me start off by saying... To this day, people fondly remember the Lumberjack Club as if it were some major thing, but in reality it was only a (very) small subplot. That’s crazy to me. I did my research, and this Lumberjack Club plot resonated with people so much that students were directly inspired to start their own Lumberjack Clubs at school irl. I’m not joking. Here are some more examples. 

All of these clubs have basically the same mission statement as Louis’ and were formed in the Early 2000s. This alone made me feel like I should rank the episode much higher for “iconic” points. Buuuut, this was never one of my personal favorites *gasp!* and that’s outweighing a lot of things for me. So, please know that I had an extreme internal struggle when deciding where to put this one. I was originally going to rank this around #59-55. But, I didn’t think that was fair enough to the ~cultural impact~ it made, and decided to put it here at #46. That being said… let’s get into it.

This one opens with Coach Tugnut driving up to his school parking spot singing “‘cause I got a brand new suit, and pair of shoes to match! I wish I had a mustache—“ before he gets cut off by Ren. I just felt like those lyrics were worth sharing honestly. She tells him that Wexler has ordered his parking spot to be moved a block and a half away from the school. We find out the reason why when Wexler comes driving up in a new red convertible. He wanted that spot for himself. Idk why Wexler needed Tugnut’s spot though? Surely he has his own prominent spot? He asks Ren to look into some “Lumberjack Club” he came across while looking over the school budget.

What is up with Ren’s pants, btw? This outfit always bothered me. When I was young I always thought they were, like.. freaking Louis Vuitton pants or something, lol. I mentioned before that her wardrobe starts to include loud patterns and gives off an overall “older” and stuffy vibe towards the end of the series. 

The camera pans over to Louis and Twitty, who are accepting and signing off on a syrup delivery. They recycle their code names (Lars Honeytoast and Frenchie Von Richter) from an earlier episode in the series when accepting the order. The delivery man refers to Twitty as "Mr. Honeytoast." This is such a small thing that’s easy to miss, but it’s awesome and top notch casual continuity! I really like it.

It’s “New England’s Finest” syrup. I’m from Boston. This pleases me, tbh.

It cuts to Lumberjack Club! Where Louis, Twitty, Tawny and Tom are cooking pancakes and celebrating the fact that they’ve upgraded their syrup to premium quality, lol. “Lumber Tawn” asks “Lumber Lou” (yes, these are the nicknames they’ve given themselves) to tell them how he came up with the idea for the club again. Louis goes on to tell the story of the club’s origins. The hillbilly accent really kicks in now, accentuated by bluegrass music in the background. He starts off by saying “Well, ‘bout two weeks ago, when yous kids was much younger… everyone was siiignin’ up for cluuuubs.” That is one of my favorite lines though. Not gonna lie. He explains that anyone could get money to form a club as long as they got 50 signatures. So he decided to create a Lumberjack Club after remembering his “deep and loyal love for the pancake.” Incredible. 

Dat face tho.

Right about now is when Ren comes walking in, finding the four of them toasting to The Lumberjack. (See first image.) She grills them about what kind of club they are and what sort of things they do. Louis starts pulling crap out of his butt saying “We sing Lumberjack Songs.” Ren asks them to sing one and it’s great. None of them are in sync. They’re all making stuff up off the top of their heads and clashing miserably. The best part is Tom -- who’s repeatedly saying "Wood... Wood... Wood..." God bless Tom.

Louis says they’re “legit… with a big L!” “…and a small ‘egit’!” Twitty finishes. I feel like this is worth mentioning because one of the real-life clubs’ requirements for joining is that you have to “be legit.” Oh my god. Obviously, Ren vows to shut down the club.

Wexler surprises Ren with her own desk outside of his office. We’re getting into creepy territory again, guys. Wexler makes Ren, a 14-15 year old, do ALL OF HIS WORK while he goes out gallivanting in his new car. Remember when I said that Ren Stevens is basically the principal of Lawrence Jr. High…? Well, this episode really exemplifies that and takes it to a new level. She literally takes over as principal. How is this not illegal?

One of her tasks for the day is to fire the school janitor. Wow. (Fun fact: Jackie the Janitor is played by Knobby Frostybump -- the old elf from the Lizzie McGuire Christmas episode lol) This is the last straw for Ren. She confronts Wexler and quits being his assistant. But much like in Ren-Gate, that doesn’t last long. Over the course of a period, she gets all emo and decides she wants her job back. But, oh no! When she goes back to the office, guess who’s already taken over for her? Larry Beale. Dang, that was fast.

Another lazy name flub happens again here. Larry is polishing his nameplate and it reads "Lawrence M. Beale" when earlier in the series they say his full name on a few different occasions and it's "Lawrence Anthony Beale." I don't understand why something like this is so difficult to remember?! Although, I actually always thought it was weird that Larry's middle name was Anthony because Louis’ full name is Louis Anthony Stevens. Even weirder... The actor who plays Beans is named Steven Anthony Lawrence. What a strange coincidence. 

Ren and Wexler are being extremely passive aggressive towards each other while Larry sits there gloating. Out of spite, Ren decides to become Tugnut's new assistant instead. Like he even needs one. It becomes a petty, all out war between the pairs.

It’s Larry’s job to shut down Lumberjack Club now, so he busts into their meeting the next day. I’m pretty sure they’re not even going to class anymore. They hired a marimba player named Nate to entertain them during club meetings — which I think is absolutely hilarious. It might just be because I'm a musician, but any music-related humor kills me. I mean, a MARIMBA PLAYER?! And this dude is such a Jazz cat. It’s great. This is honestly probably my favorite scene in the whole episode:

So, yeah. Lumberjack Club needs to make an educational presentation in order to stay a thing.

Tugnut is chilling in a lawn chair, eating a burrito and telling his life story (”I thought about moving to Canada, but I don’t speak Canadian...”) while Ren does work on his car. Now she’s a mechanic. This is child abuse, I swear. She’s about to quit as his assistant, but she looks up and sees Larry and Wexler blissfully driving around in his convertible. She gets jealous and keeps working for Tugnut. These student/teacher relationships are so, so strange and not appropriate. Let’s be real... 

Anyway, the whole assistant war thing starts to come to an end when it becomes obvious that Ren is much more qualified and has a better relationship and understanding with Wexler than Larry does. Larry royally messes up as Wexler's assistant and ends up doing a lot of things wrong. Including inviting Wexler’s mother to school, putting nutmeg in his coffee, and forgetting to pay Wexler’s car insurance bill. (Really, what adult would trust a 14-15 year old to pay their bills…) 

Louis organizes the most impressive Lumberjack Club presentation ever within a few hours at the most. I do like seeing Louis at least fully see his schemes through, though. So that’s nice, I guess.

It’s like a freaking carnival.

Nate returns as the musical entertainment. I love this guy, lol. Everything’s going well, until Louis and Twitty chop down a tree during a demonstration which falls on Wexler’s car. Ouch. Wexler’s devastated and sobbing, but manages to mutter “Look what they’ve done to my sweet, sweet ride!” through tears. That made me laugh harder than I probably should’ve. Wexler faints when he finds out Larry didn’t send the insurance payment, and nowww Ren is responsible for Wexler’s literal life. 

Something always gotta go wrong. Louis was actually sort of pulling this whole Lumberjack thing off.

Wexler could be on his deathbed right now and it’s up to Ren to save him. Wow. “Breathe, Principal Wexler! Breathe!!!”

Turns out Ren sneakily sent out the insurance payment the other day and everything’s fine. The episode ends with Ren becoming Wexler’s assistant again. The end. 

So yeah, that’s it. I’m still shocked at how short the Lumberjack Club plot actually is. Pretty crazy how it somehow managed to burn itself into the memories of so many people. I’m also like, 99% positive it was inspired by this Monty Python skit. There’s even a song playing during the school presentation that’s near identical melodically (and lyrically a bit) to the one sung in this skit. The fact that it’s just a subplot also affected my ranking, because I’m not the biggest fan of this episode’s main plot. I love Larry/Ren conflict.. but this situation is just... slightly annoying to me for some reason. ALSO! I realized the other day that I should base my rankings on character development, as well. I’ve actually been doing that subconsciously so far, I think. Barring a few, the majority have been filler episodes basically. No material that actually advances the overall arc of the show. Just random, silly plots -- which makes it difficult for me to really consider it a “good” or “great” episode. And unfortunately, that’s what Lumberjack Club is to me. I’m so sorry. I just love these characters so much, so when there’s little to no character growth in an episode.. it sort of bothers me. I know the show is silly, but there’s a lot of heart there as well. Episodes that have a little meat to them are the ones I’m more fond of. 

We’ve officially reached the point in my list where I drew a line separating the lower half from the better half though, guys! The ball’s really rolling now. I’m excited. 

Thanks for reading! Were you a Lumberjack Club fan? Did you start your own?! Please, do tell. Haha. 

Twitter | Facebook | Instagram 

[richmegavideo]

Crate Digging at Cheapo Discs, Minneapolis, MN

Huge selection.  This is only one sliver of their stock

Related to Elements: Crate Digging, DJ

After a long night of excess, resulting in the need for triple of my daily allotment of coffee in the morning, my only desire was to hit up the local record stores in Minneapolis.  After all, it's not often I get to go crate digging in the Twin Cities.  Besides, finding records is therapeutic, it's my detoxifier of choice, because for whatever reason hang overs are slowly quelled as you flip through records.

Like David Arnold, crate digging always leaves you "feeling mighty fine!"

On this trip I figured it was best to hit up Cheapo Records, I'd dug there before, and looking at the few remaining balled up bills in my same-as-last-night jeans, it seemed like a place called "Cheapo" was the sensible choice to dig for wax.

I plugged Cheapo in to Google Maps, and after a short trip it sent me to their old store.  Cheapo, if you are reading this, please tell Google wassup on maps!

The detour was no big deal though, they put their new address in the window of their old address, so I could see they were now located at 2600 Nicolette St, just a short distance from their old store, now fairly close to one of their competitors, Electric Fetus which I reviewed a few years earlier.

Walking thru the door I could see they had just moved in recently, but it was nice and clean and basically mostly setup as it was clear the main sections were now well organized.  

I started with the rock section as it had the biggest footprint in the store.  Plus, it seems like the more I learn about rock, the more I realize I'll always have some voids in my own rock section that need filling.

No one ever circle jerks the Circle Jerks and that's a damn shame.

I should have bought that Circle Jerks album, it was a fair price for an original pressing of this classic punk album, but I had to be extra picky with my money today, so I reluctantly passed this by looking for my must-haves at true cheap-o prices.   I figured maybe buying a few good 7" records would be easy on the wallet, so I asked one of the store clerks where the 7" section was. "We don't have a 7" section set up yet, sorry we're still moving stuff around.  If you dig thru the various 12" records you'll find a few in each section but we don't have a 7" section right now." I was disappointed, but I get it, moving all those records must have been a back breaking feat.  Now putting the pieces back together again while still staying in business is a task that will take weeks.  Hopefully the next time I pop in they will have 7 inch records section all set up. So I asked them if they had a regional music set up and the store clerk said "Yep, sure do." and without hesitation he was kind enough to stop what he was working on to lead me to their nice big section of Twin Cities based regional records.   

"When in Rome, right?"  "Definitely!" he replied with a smile.

What'ya know, there really are Hypstrz in record stores!

Nice!  The Hypstrz, this one I had to buy.  I found out about these guys from a regional rock compilation on Twin Tone called "Big Hits of Mid America Volume 3".  This is exactly why I buy regional rock comps, so I can learn about what bands speak to me the most from whatever city or location I happen to be in.  

Inner Gate fold of Big Hits of Mid America Volume 3

Little did I know when I bought that compilation years ago that not only would it become one of my all-time favorite personal compilations that I never seem to get sick of listening to, but now it's paid off again by giving me enough of a taste of the Hypstrz to know I needed to buy that live album, "Hypstrization!" today. 

Price wise, it wasn't exactly cheapo, but it was mint, and when in Rome, don't pay for shipping. Then I ran into multiple copies of Yo La Tengo - I can Hear the Heart Beating As One LP

I went ahead and picked this up as well.  It's the reasonably priced reissue on Matador from 2015.  After a quick Discogs search, I could see no one bitched about the quality of this repress yet, and everyone else had it priced a bit higher.  

This is one of those albums that when you tell people you liked their newer stuff, they tell you...  

"Well you gotta have this one!"  "You can't TRULY appreciate Yo La Tengo unless you have yada yada..."

Well I got it now, and I didn't have to pay an arm and a leg for the original, so I don't have to hear that again.  It's a good album BTW, maybe not my favorite of theirs but I'm glad I took the advice nonetheless.

Past the rock section's Ys and Zs and onto the end cap where I spotted...

Mark Andrews ‎– How To Set Up And Test Hi-Fi Stereo Systems

I've always wanted one of these test records for putting my home studio's amp and speakers through the fine tooth comb, but today wasn't the day to try to justify buying a record I'd use only once and maybe sample several times for the "oddity" factor it had.  Besides I saw on Discogs 1 seller in the US had it for $5, and Cheapo had it for $20, so if I really needed it I would just pay for shipping, still pay a lot less, and wait a bit longer for something that basically wasn't essential. Saving the best for last, it was time to hit up their Hip Hop Section...

 Rodney O & Joe Cooley ‎– Me And Joe LP

I pawed at this essential Egyptian Empire release a few times before putting it back reluctantly.  File under: Yet another Hip Hop classic LP that I still don't have on vinyl.  It was in great shape, the price was not horrible, but not low enough to make me jump on it.  In a nutshell, that's my overall take on Cheapos...  Their prices really aren't that cheap, but compared to Discogs pricing along with whatever shipping you would have to pay to get it to your door, they are fair and their selection is solid.  So don't expect to walk in the door and dump 100 bucks on a thousand dollars worth of records.  

These guys know what they are doing, they know what sells for what, and they often price right in that comfort zone where they aren't making a killing on each sale, but they are moving enough records to keep the doors open for many more years to come.  Yes, if you spend a few hours in the store meticulously digging through their shelves, you will find some legitimately cheap and good records, but for the most part, I think it's safe to say their prices are basically "up to par."  I don't think you should really shop at Cheapos to get cheap records, you should shop there for the huge selection so you can buy good records at a fair price.  Eventually it was time to hit the long road home.   As I stood at the counter to pay for my tiny haul, the last remaining sales staff in the store was on the phone.  She didn't look like she wanted to be on the phone, on the contrary she appeared to be in pain.  

Apparently someone in the store earlier didn't like the look she gave her, or how she stated one of her sentences,  so she was getting an absolute earful from this irate customer.  The UPS guy showed up with a delivery and waited along with me for his signature for delivery as she carefully listened to the grievances being shouted at her on the phone.  She had to hold the ear piece away from her ear a few times and I could hear from my vantage point that the woman on the phone was not done giving her as much hell as she could possibly dish out.  I sympathized with her as I watched her take it in stride, doing her best to fix the situation, so I waited while the UPS guy couldn't wait a minute longer.  Mind you, I was in metered parking so I was getting anxious waiting myself, but I patiently waited until the customer hung up on her a third time. After all that she looked at me and smiled and said... "I'm sorry for making you wait, that customer really needed my attention and I couldn't just tell her to hold on while I checked you out." "Don't worry about it, I understand completely!" I told her. "For being patient with me I'll give you this 7" for free." she added. I was grateful for the freebie, and genuinely impressed with how that situation was handled.  Honestly, I have to give them props for being good people and running a good operation.  That situation she dealt with is a part of business sometimes, and I get that you can't please all the people all the time.  Yet long ago, and again today, they won me over, so I'll definitely be back to dig again in their shelves in the future. TLDR: if you ever find yourself in Downtown Minneapolis, longing for a few hours to kill to do a little therapeutic crate digging, hit up Cheapo records and you'll find a few great records to add to your collection.

The post Crate Digging at Cheapo Discs, Minneapolis, MN appeared first on .

from WordPress http://www.richmegavideo.com/crate-digging-at-cheapo-discs-minneapolis-mn/