#<- well apart from julian casablancas anyways | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

athingthatwantsvirginia · 5 years ago

Text

Lily Briscoe, Remember?

PART TWENTY-SIX OF THE DO YOU SEE HER FACE? SERIES

Pairing: Jess Mariano x Original Character (Ella Stevens)

Warnings: drinking, smoking, plentiful pop culture references

Word Count: 3.7K

Summary: After a visit to a local bar, Ella catches up with Jess and spends a night in Philadelphia.

Twirling her cool water glass around and around on the grimy table, Ella smiled softly when a Strokes song came over the speakers. The bar was some hole-in-the-wall dive a few blocks down from the publishing house, still adorned with St. Patrick’s Day decorations although it was halfway through May. But Ella didn’t mind it. There weren’t rowdy swarms of college students or bachelorette parties. Instead, people in their late twenties sat around in black, square-framed glasses talking in buzzing tones. They had locally-made beer and a small, empty stage with just a stool, where independent artists played on the weekends. The air was salty with fries and early summer excitement. Matthew made conversation with her as Chris and Jess went up to order the drinks. Leaning back against the ripped vinyl booth, Ella listened intently as Matthew, sat across from her in a creaky wooden chair, told her about he and Chris meeting in high school.

“...so, we weren’t in the AV club or anything, but we definitely weren’t on the football team either-”

Chris led the way back to the table with a tray of beers and a hoot of satisfaction, Jess trailing behind his friend and rolling his eyes.

Stopping mid-sentence, Matthew turned to Chris and swiped a drink. Chris sat down beside him and was almost instantly chattering away. Matthew seemed kind, quiet, subdued. A good balance to Chris’s chaotic enthusiasm. Jess slid into the booth beside Ella, shrugging off his suit jacket, flushed in the stuffy air. Their upper arms touched, making her stomach do a flip. Even though it had been years since he lived at Luke’s, Jess still somehow had an aroma of pine.

“So,” Chris began, turning to Ella with a pointed look and a grin, “what do you do, Ella?”

“Oh, um, I’m a waitress.”

“And an artist,” Jess chimed in, taking a sip from his bottle.

Ella rolled her eyes and then shot him a teasing glare. “Not professionally. But I just graduated from Southern Connecticut State last week. Hopefully I won’t be filling sandwich orders my whole life.”

“You graduated already, Doogie?” Jess asked with a pleasant, surprised chuckle.

She shrugged. “Wasn’t too big a deal. I took summer classes and stuff.”

“What’s your major?” Matthew asked.

“Studio art,” she said. “Minor in history, though.”

Jess raised his brows, but said nothing. Apparently she hadn’t gone through only outward changes. He could smell her lavender perfume as he sipped on his cheap, watery beer. It was odd to see her in Keeley’s, a bar he’d frequented since arriving in Philadelphia. The feeling was not quite deja-vu, but his worlds were certainly colliding. In the back of his mind, he wondered where her necklace was, wondered where she was living. It was easy to feel like he knew her, maybe better than anyone, but they hadn’t spoken in so long. She could be married, for all he knew. Scanning her thin hands, he found no engagement or wedding rings. But an uneasiness still sat right under his skin, eager to be resolved.

Crossing his arms, elbows on the table, Chris leaned closer into the conversation. “That’s so cool! Do you have anything lined up? Seems like you should, considering how many people tried to buy your sketches today.”

She scoffed, continuing to turn her glass anxiously. A blush warmed her cheeks, and a nervous smile tugged at her lips as she averted her eyes down to the table. “Sort of. Grad school is where I’m headed now.”

“Really?” Jess chimed in. “Where?”

Clearing her throat, Ella raked a hand through her hair. Though Jess tilted his head at her, she refused to meet his gaze. “It’s funny, actually. I’ve still got some things to work out...but UPenn.”

“No way! That’s right down the road from us!” Chris exclaimed.

Ella’s smile widened marginally, and excitement rose in her chest. “Yeah, it’s weird. I had a few I was choosing between, and Penn reached out and...I only confirmed a couple weeks ago. A few days before I got your invitation in the mail. Since I was coming down here anyway, I scheduled my interview with the Dean for tomorrow.”

“Well, congrats,” Matthew said, raising his bottle.

“Thanks,” she replied, feeling slightly silly as she toasted her water against their beers.

Before another moment had passed, Chris got a page on his beeper. Apparently, the poet who had performed at the open house had left something of his behind and would need to be let in early the next morning. Matthew and Chris began commiserating amongst themselves about the performer, who was apparently less than a joy to work with. Biting on the inside of her cheek, Ella tried to suppress her smile. Too much joy made her nervous. It meant always waiting for the other shoe to drop. She’d had the odd mixture of anxiety and anticipation brewing in her stomach since opening Jess’s package. It was too much of a coincidence for her to be going to a school five minutes away from where Jess worked. Too perfect. She didn’t trust it.

Beside her, Jess was trying equally hard to hold in his emotions. She would be in Philly. Right down the road. She hadn’t been right down the road from him in what felt like forever. There were still so many unknowns. But he couldn’t help the swell of his heart. What were the chances? Plastering on a smug smirk, a mask to hide his exhilaration at her news, he nudged her gently with his elbow.

“So, you’re Philly bound?”

“Seems that way,” she said, nodding.

He hummed in acknowledgement, pausing to gaze at her for a moment. Freckles and Bette Davis eyes and a deep, raspy voice. So different but so familiar. She offered him a tiny smile, caught up in the moment. A swarm of pleasant butterflies fluttered in her stomach, and again, she wished they could kiss. Inside their private world, as they once had been.

“Y’know, I think it was fate,” Jess said, smirk growing. “Us both ending up here.”

She snorted a laugh and shook her head slightly. “Not all that idealist bullshit again, Mariano.”

“Hey, not everything changes,” Jess shrugged, taking another sip.

“Guess not,” she said quietly, a fond sparkle in her hazel eyes. “But I’d expect nothing less from a Hemingway fetishist.”

Jess rolled his eyes. “Whatever, Stevie Nicks.”

Instead of retorting, Ella snatched the beer sitting before Jess and took a long sip. Setting it down in front of him again, she winked and then began to hum along to Julian Casablancas’s lyrics.

. . .

“I’m serious. I was really planning on just getting a motel,” Ella insisted.

Shushing her, a finger on his lips, Chris shook his head. He stood in the tiny kitchen, rummaging through the rusty fridge for some drunk food. Matthew was tipsy, and had already retreated to his room. Chris, however, had managed to get absolutely wasted. They’d practically dragged him up the stairs in Truncheon to the apartment above, while he babbled loudly, complaining about his boyfriend being out of town for the open house. Now, as Jess and Ella argued about her sleeping in the apartment, he offered slurred interjections and cackles off to the side.

Jess, having only drunk two beers over the course of the day, rolled his eyes at his friend. “Go to bed, man.”

“Make me, Jess,” Chris replied jovially, retrieving a box of fried chicken from behind the half-and-half. Straightening up, he shot them both a smug grin and made for the bedroom he shared with Matthew. “Have fun, kids.”

“Good luck fighting that sweater off your head,” Ella quipped, not able to stop the words before they left her mouth. Chris, for all his exuberance, was wearing deceptively stuffy clothes. A button-up with a patterned sweater over it, khakis.

Again, Chris only laughed. “She’s feisty. Let’s keep her forever.”

Smiling thinly, Ella gave him the finger. He blew her a kiss before entering the dark room and shutting the door loudly behind him. Ella winced slightly. She knew Matthew was probably already asleep in one of the room’s twin beds.

Jess ran a hand down his face, standing amid the cluttered mess of their living room.

Ella turned back to Jess, crossing her arms over her chest as an amused crease formed between her brows. “How’d you end up living with them again?”

“Long story.”

“I would imagine.”

“He’s usually not quite so intolerable, but it’s been a big day,” Jess said apologetically. “And he’s still super pissed his boyfriend had to go outta town for work.”

Ella shrugged. “Hey, no problem. I like them. But, yes, it has been a big day. And I don’t want to keep you up any longer. So, why don’t I just stay at a motel?”

Shaking his head, Jess gestured for her to follow him and led the way to his bedroom. “Yeah, right. It’s past midnight. You can just crash with me. Not like we haven’t shared a bed before.”

A heavy sigh escaped her lips. “Are you sure? At least let me take the couch. I’ve been sleeping on one for two years, anyway.”

“At Lane’s?” Jess asked, switching on the ceiling light as they entered.

Surveying the bedroom, a smile immediately came to Ella’s lips. The living room was an absolute mess, but he’d managed to keep his own room decently clean. In the small space, he had only a queen-sized bed, pushed against the wall with the windows, and a dresser, on top of which his boombox sat. Piles of books and CDs littered the scratched wood floor, mostly in the free corners. A framed poster of Nietzche hung above his bed, and she burst out laughing when she saw it, before she could help herself.

“What?” Jess asked, brows furrowed.

She pointed to the poster, then bit down on her thumb nail to stifle her giggles. “Nothing, I’m just glad you’re becoming self-aware.”

He rolled his eyes playfully. “Already overstaying your welcome, Stevens. The bathroom’s the first door on the left when you walk into the apartment. You can get changed, brush your teeth, whatever.”

Nodding, Ella slipped off her shoes near the door and put down her heavy shoulder bag. It only took a minute of rifling through before she found the pajamas and toothbrush she’d packed for the short trip. Since she was little, she couldn’t fall asleep before brushing her teeth first. Clutching the supplies in her arms, she turned back to Jess. He’d taken off his suit jacket and tossed it down on the bed, was unclasping his watch and setting it down on the dresser. He looked so grown up in the yellowish overhead light, bright against the dark green walls.

“This is really okay with you, Jess?” she asked, sounding shyer than he’d ever heard.

“Yeah,” he replied, flashing her a reassuring smile. “What kind of host would I be otherwise?”

Smiling back, Ella nodded again. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

As she left the room, Jess let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding in and ran a hand over his mouth. He thought back to the night she’d let him sleep over, dragged him from the freezing back seat of his old car into her warm bedroom. It was the least he could do. Truly. But anxiety squeezed his insides tightly. He tried to shake it off. Ella herself had said he didn’t need to be nervous. He changed into some sweatpants and a t-shirt quickly, running his hands through his neat hair and turning it messy. When she returned, face washed and teeth brushed, he was just flicking on his bedside lamp and pulling back the blue comforter. He recognized the Bowie t-shirt she wore from some vague memory.

“No KISS shirt?” he asked.

She chuckled as she stuffed her dress and toothbrush into her bag near the door. “Oh, I never travel with that. Couldn’t bear for it to get lost.”

“Oh, right, my mistake,” Jess said. “You can turn out that switch, if you want.”

Ella turned off the overhead light, left only in the glow of his nightstand lamp. Before the nausea could overtake her, she powered through the shakiness of her hands and came to sit across from him. It didn’t need to be strange. She’d just gotten her best friend back. And they could sleep in the same bed as they had so many times before.

“Since I’m already taking advantage of your hospitality,” she began, eyeing the half-empty pack of Marlboros on the floor by the bed, “could I maybe borrow a cigarette?”

Smirking fondly, Jess nodded, reaching down to grab the pack and the lighter. He lit hers for her as she held it between her lips, and then his own. He cracked open the window and flicked ash out into the May midnight.

“What’s got you smoking?” he asked.

She sighed through her nose in white streams. “My interview with the Dean tomorrow. I mean, I’m already in. And they contacted me because of my portfolio. But, I don’t know. Anything could happen.”

“But it won’t,” Jess said. “It’ll be fine. You’re Lily Briscoe, remember?”

A weak smile crossed her face and she gave an unconvincing nod. Then, she looked back up at him curiously. “What about you? Still smoke as much as you did in high school?”

Jess shook his head. “No. Almost never. But I may have panicked about this whole open house thing last night.”

“Looked like it went great,” she said, tapping ash out the window, sitting cross-legged.

Shrugging, Jess leaned back against the wall behind his bed. “We’ll see what that lady from the paper writes.”

“Who cares what she thinks?” Ella asked.

“People who could spend their money here,” Jess answered, chuckling breathily.

Waving a dismissive hand, Ella took a final drag of her cigarette. She crushed it out on the windowsill, where she saw the small, circular remnants of smokes past, before throwing butt out the window into the dumpster below. “Maybe. Seems like you’ve got a pretty decent underground following already.”

“And you call me the idealist,” he said, shaking his head and tossing out his own cigarette.

She laughed lightly, following Jess’s lead as he closed his window again and got under the covers. Soon, they faced each other with their heads against Jess’s pillows. They smelled like him. After shutting off his lamp, Jess regarded Ella in the dim light. He felt like he’d stepped through a door into a memory or a dream.

“Speaking of Truncheon, tell me about the book,” she said quietly.

“Which book?”

“Your book, Sherlock,” she teased.

He sighed, swallowing dryly. “What do you want to know?”

“Everything,” she replied. “I mean, when did you write it? How did you write it? Did ever end up getting a computer, or-”

“Woah, Stevens,” he interrupted, snickering at her rapid-fire questions. “I started writing it when I was still in Stars Hollow.”

She furrowed her brows. “What?”

“Yeah. That notebook I came back for when I picked up my car? I sort of...started before I left. I took a break in California. But I started taking advantage of the library computers when I got back to New York.”

“So, it really was an On The Road thing.”

“Not quite so ambitious,” he said. “But, once I read that Stephen King book you got me...I just got started.”

“And you never told me?” she asked.

He only shrugged in response.

Ella shook her head slightly, watching him with furrowed brows. “Curiouser and curiouser, Mariano.”

“I wanted to surprise you with it.”

“Well, you did.” She thought she saw a flush rise to his cheeks, but couldn’t quite tell in the low light. Something indecipherable flashed across his eyes as he hesitated. She took the lead instead. “Hey Jess?”

“Hm?”

“I’m so fucking proud of you.”

Jess rolled his eyes, really blushing now. His face went scarlet, and he uttered a nervous chuckle. “Thanks, Daria.”

“Anytime, James Dean.”

Ignoring the flip of his stomach, Jess let the compliment roll off him like water and faced her earnestly. “Did you say you were still livin’ with Lane?”

She nodded. “Yeah. It was just...easier than getting my own place. A smaller chunk of the rent to pay. Especially with how many classes I was taking, and it was right across the street from Luke’s. At some point, we upgraded to a futon, so it was a little easier to sleep.”

Jess snorted. “I’m pretty sure you could fall asleep in the middle of a tornado, get transported to Oz, then back to Kansas, and wouldn’t wake up the whole time.”

“Be that as it may,” she said pointedly, “it was pretty okay. But Lane and Zach are getting married in a couple weeks. It would be time to move out even if it wasn’t for grad school.”

“Lane and Zach?” Jess asked, brows furrowed in surprise. “What about that Dave guy?”

Ella sighed softly. “He went to California for college. Eventually, they broke up. And she was on and off with Zach and...I don’t know. He’s not the worst guy. And I know there’s no talking her out of it, anyway.”

“People are gonna do what they’re gonna do,” Jess agreed, thinking back to his own mother’s last wedding.

“I’ll miss her, though. Without Lane, I would probably still have majored in history. Ended up teaching at Stars Hollow High.”

“No way.”

“I’m not so sure. But just seeing Lane play with the band all the time...she looked so happy. Even though she had no money and her mom was pissed at her. I thought maybe actually trying to do what you love wasn’t such a crazy idea,” she explained, voice husky and tired, but so lively.

It made Jess smile. “That’s great, Eleanor.”

She shrugged again and cleared her throat, wincing slightly. “Ugh, Jesus. Smoking is never worth it. I don’t think I’ve smoked since...since the last time we saw each other. The morning after you left.”

His face fell. There it was. Finally. “I’m sorry, Elle.”

“For what?” she asked dismissively. The past was past.

“For that night. Everything. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“It’s okay, Jess.”

“Luke gave me this stupid self-help book and I read it and we kinda went to the wedding together and I got...mixed up.”

Smiling softly, Ella shifted in her spot to move a little closer to him. “I’m gonna need more details on that self-help book later.”

He uttered a self-conscious scoff.

“But, really Jess, it’s okay. I understand. And...I just...I wasn’t ready,” she said finally, struggling for her words. “After I moved out of my dad’s house...I still needed Lane. And Lorelai. And Luke. I always thought getting away would fix everything. But...I wasn’t ready for you.”

A sad smile tugged at his lips. “I don’t think I was ready for you, either.”

Breathing deeply, Ella let the moment pass between them. Forgiveness, maybe? On both sides? She wasn’t quite sure what it was, but she knew it made her feel calmer. Maybe ripping old wounds open was worth it if it meant they would finally get the chance to heal.

“I bet you started breaking hearts when you got here though. What with the starry-eyed starving artist thing you’ve got going on,” she said. She knew it was a flimsy attempt at being sly, but she just couldn’t bring herself to ask him outright. And he was letting her sleep in his bed. That was a positive sign. But she needed to know for sure.

He chuckled slightly and shook his head. “Not really. Turns out, people don’t flock to the guy with nothing but a shitty final draft and a duffel bag to his name.” Then, after a beat of silence, sirens blaring from somewhere off in the distance of the city, he spoke again. “What about you?”

The inquisitive, almost hopeful, tone in his voice made her heart skip a beat. “Nothing extraordinary. A couple dates. Guys. Girls. Never got anything to stick.”

“Hm.” Jess paused, watching Ella watch him.

The sound of the singing crickets mixed strangely with the murmur of the city, even in the early Monday morning hours. Ella tried to remember each detail of the present moment. Lying beside Jess in Philadelphia, preparing to go to grad school, finally out from under the thumbs of her father and Stars Hollow. And in love. She decided on it finally. Nothing had changed. She loved Jess as she had for so long, even if she had never truly realized it. Maybe she had, but was too scared to admit it. She thought back to the day he took her to the Met, riding back home in his car, nothing but the dark, empty highway around them. She’d almost said it then. But she hadn’t. Even then, though, she’d been completely his. All or nothing. Do or die.

Slowly, she brought her hand out from under the covers and placed it on his cheek. She stroked his stubbly skin with her thumb. The boy who’d turned into a man all on his own, who had always been so guarded and so kind. Who gave her a bed when she was drunk and bought her charcoals on Valentine’s Day and took her to museums and wrote books for her and hung her drawings on his wall. Who she had taken to a private movie and driven to the emergency room and kissed as an Interpol song played and brought in from the cold. The give and take which had always been there, making her feel safe. Easy. Home.

Taking a moment to close his eyes, Jess quieted all the thoughts screaming in his head.

“I missed you,” she whispered.

“I missed you too,” he replied, too overwhelmed to say much of anything else. He remembered the night on the bridge when they’d decided to try together. How the nerves had made his stomach churn. But she’d taken his hand in hers. She’d made the first move. And made his whole being feel calm. She had cared for him when he couldn’t care for himself. It made him feel like a teenager again. Her touch. Her voice. Her mind.

He wound his arm around her waist and brought her closer, hugging her tightly. They were silent and comfortable. Eventually, Ella’s breathing deepened and Jess felt her muscles relax, holding her. Outside, he could see the full moon reflecting light against a clear night sky. And he felt so content he could barely shut his eyes for a second, fearful of missing anything.

#jess mariano fanfiction #jess mariano oc #jess mariano imagines #jess mariano imagine #jess mariano #jess #mariano #gilmore girls fanfiction #gilmore girls oc #jess mariano au #gilmore girls au #gilmore girls imagines #gilmore girls imagine #gilmore #jess mariano x original character #jess mariano x oc #original character #original character stories

25 notes · View notes

chronotopes · 7 years ago

Text

book log: a stitch in time by andrew robinson

you guys i’m going to go bullet point by bullet point through all of my ibooks annotations so buckle in if you dare

first of all that first chapter owns my ass. “indulge me if you will i need you as a witness”?? that’s the most. that’s the absolute most. that said, the concept that they Grew Apart after our man bashir, while ... certainly canon compliant.... is a piece of canon i refuse to accept. i have my own canon timeline for these kinds of things

i fucking LOVE pythas lok? i lived for that relationship. in fact the fact that this book is just garak cycling through his exes and the way they were all instrumental to events unfolding on cardassia? in fact i begin now to suspect that gul dukat is the only cardassian from garak’s past whom garak hasn’t fucked AND isn’t related to

i whooped victoriously when garak said he was attracted to pythas. small victories. and then again when garak criticized odo’s uniform.

love that the bamarren parts of the book that don’t involve palandine read like some kind of fucking... edwardian all boys school shit. like am i reading an a.e. housman poem? am i rewatching maurice (1987) dir. james ivory? no i am reading a beta canon epistolary novel about a gay lizard

on that note garak being genuinely into women is something ajr and i disagree on but that’s just like to each his own

garak’s famed volcano dick made me laugh. this book is such a fanfic at times. and then palandine teaches him that IT’S ALL TRUE, ESPECIALLY THE LIES. in fact like ... i didn’t even consider this now but in the garak/palandine stuff at bamarren reads in certain cases like early seasons garashir? but we’ll get to the more concrete parts of alla that later

anyway .... “but i’m also a doctor, garak. and i know which group of people suffers the most. i really won’t take up any more of your time.” he extended his hand, which he rarely did, and i took it. “thank you for the tea.” he turned and went out the door. i stood there for a long moment, deeply upset. i felt trapped within myself, knowing what i had to do to get out but unable even to begin. yes, doctor, it does sound familiar.” WHAT THE FUCK WAS THIS!! (what the fuck was that whole scene!!!)

SPEAKING of doctors, dr parmak is really something. sorry i know a lot of you love him but i hope you realize he’s a rebound of a mighty order. self care is dating an older lizard flavored carbon copy of your ex bf.

this was like finding out that in ds9 beta canon ro laren becomes SECURITY OFFICER and dates QUARK is a similar experience to this. ro laren and kelas parmak: the only thing they have in common is being quark and garak’s doctor and security officer rebounds.

that said ro is her own person! parmak is a fig leaf. a plot device. andrew robinson winking at you from seventeen years ago. a mirror. god!

anyway then two of garak’s three school crushes hook up, and he’s left with pythas who is the best one anyway.

and there’s the fucking insane sequence where garak goes on lots of hikes with a Privileged Federation Twink whom he’s totally dtf as his first spy mission. and at one point, even though garak does hate his guts along with being dtf he thinks he’s “so concerned, so caring. i took another long breath. [...] i looked hans in the eyes and resisted being swallowed by their immeasurable blue depths.” like i’m not saying garak has a type but garak has a type!

i forgot about this but aside from pythas and that bitchy cousin of lukar, among garak’s classmates turn out to be the asshole from the casablanca episode and a relative of tekeny ghemor. it’s some 19th century lit bullshit and i LOVED it! as if this weren’t enough, there are four lights guy is also in this.

we also briefly meet remara, a totally deadly ex gf of kira’s. idk what garak was trying to do with their relationship but i’m totally interested in fanfic about remara being an asshole ex gf of kira’s.

garak’s battles of conscience are great. again very 19th c . i love how miserable he is throughout this book.

OH AND THEN HE AND PYTHAS LIVE IN THE WOODS FOR A MONTH OR SO AND FEEL LIKE.. COMFORTABLE FOR ONCE IN THEIR LIVES... AND PROBABLY HAVE SEX!

ooh and then we get a rlly spooky sequence where we see the wire IN ACTION

the assassin cover professions we’ve seen in this book and in this show are either Lesbian Professions (gardeners, park rangers) or Gay Professions (the fashion industry). what is it with covert operations and the lgbt community.

i SCREAMED about chapter 19 earlier today. but just to go over it once more

garak has a spooky dream about julian burying him alive ! so he hits him up at six in the fucking morning

“doctor forgive me but i need to see you,” i said as calmly as i could. “garak?” “i do apologize but it’s important.”

and then garak hears “another voice in the background. ezri dax. a muffled conversation. the doctor cleared his throat again. “i’ll be right over” he said.” I LOVE THAT EZRI AND JULIAN AREN’T EVEN FUCKING AT THIS POINT BUT AJR COULDN’T RESIST HIGHLIGHTING THE RIVALRY BETWEEN THEM?!

and then julian said “there are more things in heaven and earth horatio than are dreamt of in your philosophy” and i died on the spot. they’re IN LOVE?! ajr i thought you wrote garashir as unrequited but what kind of man quotes hamlet talking 2 horatio at his platonic dude friend while he’s run over to his quarters in the middle of the night after said platonic dudefriend has a nightmare?

“i was also convinced that it was all a dream, and i kept asking myself what you were doing there” like what the actual fuck? anyway they talk the wire and it’s a lot. and of course “you not only saved my life you made it possible for me to live it.”

AND THEN OF COURSE “this is my last trip to cardassia. i’m not returning. you were in the dream for a very specific reason. once again, you helped me remember. thank you, julian.” JULIAN! JULIAN!! i’m DYING OF CARDIAC ARREST! (also this scene finally solidified my headcanons for when they break up for the second time.)

anyway then the palandine shit goes down and garak kills his OTHER old school crush (the one that turned out to be a dick)

one of my notes on here, verbatim: “have garak and quark had sex” i asked myself and then immediately wanted to die

the second time garak said that kelas parmak was “so much like you, doctor” i damn near screamed in frustration. don’t try me like this elim!!

and then we get the last julian mirror who’s that sad federation woman who spills her soul to elim and the line “CAREFUL, ELIM. YOU KNOW PERFECTLY WELL THAT THE SUREST WAY TO YOUR HEART IS THROUGH CONVERSATION”

okay and THEN he meets pythas who’s been Permanently Marked By The Horrors Of War and he’s got a gf who saved his life even though he didn’t want to be saved at first.... so like pythas is special because he’s a garak mirror AND a garak boyfriend at the same time!

and pythas was in the grounds trying to warn garak before all the shit went down with palandine. i’m dying scoob

the fact that the epilogue starts with the line “it’s just garak. plain simple garak.” the flashback timeline ends at the point garak meets julian! i hate this it’s so fucking romantic

and then YOU’RE ALWAYS WELCOME DOCTOR..... like idk about the canon status of a lot of these things but i totally buy this novel as a thing that exists that garak sent. which of course is a great jumping off point for post canon cardassia fic. justice is so sweet.

#just katia things #trek talk #and #a really ridiculous entry in #book log '17

2 notes · View notes

gigsoupmusic · 5 years ago

Text

Pink Leather Jackets rock out with new single, "Good Love"

Pink Leather Jackets was started for the pure purpose of rocking out. Christopher James, lead vocalist, wanted to be loud and make’em dance with the visceral organic sounds of distorted guitars and booming drums, not to mention a sexy voice. We are super excited to share their new single and an exclusive interview with you today. You can take a listen now! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsemX7z51oE Can you talk to us about the inspiration behind your latest single, "Wasting Time"? The song Wasting Time was almost forgotten about. It was dug up from an old voice memo recording on my cell phone from 2015, way before Pink Leather Jackets was ever a concept. I remember at that time I was still getting over the end of a significant relationship but I was working hard to stay motivated to get myself out of a drag and stay focused in music. I was studying a couple different songwriting books when I wrote this tune. This song uses symbolism of building a paradise for a relationship and then abandoning it and watching it fall apart. When you’ve built something like that with someone, and they leave, you wonder if its a waste of time trying to get them back. Anyway I found the song, tried it with the guys and it came out like a kind of power pop rock, so here we are. How has your community contributed to your success? We’ve been entertaining our communities all across southern Ontario, Canada over the last 2 years since we started. It’s been told that Toronto and the greater Toronto area (and maybe southern Ontario in general) is one of the toughest areas to entertain. We think by the time we head over the border we’ll be well polished thanks to them. We’re truly grateful for our supporters across southern Ontario. We’re also grateful for our mentors throughout Port Credit and among Toronto. We’ve been lucky enough to get genuine reactions about our material from real people out in public bars. Over time they let us know which songs to record and which to scrap. We’re grateful for that too. What advice would you give other musicians? Hone the craft. Give the people what they want within your artistic integrity. Get paid. Its up to you to lead the journey. Describe to our audience your music-making process. I can’t say there is any one set process to making our music. Most of the songs off of this upcoming EP were written by myself and then I’d show them to the band and we’d polish them up. The song Call You When I’m Drunk, which will be out December 6th with the rest of the EP, was mostly written by our guitar player Steve with minor lyrical collaboration from myself. I think we’re all really happy with the batch of songs on this EP. It’s only the very beginning of our sound but it feels like a good beginning so far. How did it feel when you released this new music? It feels great! Its exciting for us to take our first steps with putting out our first ever songs as Pink Leather Jackets. We plan to keep fueling this feeling. If you could collaborate with any musician/band, who would it be? And why? Tough!!! I would love to have someone like Josh Homme or Julian Casablancas or Jack White or Mark Ronson produce a Pink Leather Jackets record. Each of those people have such distinct sounds and to be in a room with any of them and absorb that time together I can only imagine would be incredible and unforgettable. What first got you interested in music? All of us were raised with music in the household and raised by hobbyist musician Dads. I think we’ve all been brainwashed since birth to follow this path. Classic rock, progressive rock, and pop rock were in all of our houses growing up, but we truly appreciate all music in all genres across the board. A good song is what it really comes down to for us. A good song will always keep us interested in music. - Chris Woolley, lead singer/guitar Read the full article

#PinkLeatherJackets

0 notes

kaedekisaragi · 8 years ago

Text

Kaede Kisaragi Watches The Flash S3E14 - Attack on Central City

Pack your toothbrushes, we going to the restaurant at the end of the universe.

Barry Allen is one awesome bf. He has gotten a full course breakfast PLUS balloons. All before 6:30. V-day and all, yes? Meanwhile, at the labs, Harry is very much stunned by HR's giddiness. Or HR's unhealthy curiosity on how Harry brushes his teeth. Harry demonstrates his love for HR by spitting toothpaste in HR's coffee. Class act.

So the team is also similarly uncertain about HR's decorating. He also has made them Friends' day Cards, the equivalent of V-day in his earth. And hey, look, personalized cards: "You have sped into my heart, Jesse quick". Wally agrees, anyway. And seems that the two have not yet told Harry. Wally is nervous. Barry cheerfully agrees that HR is right, they do deserve to celebrate their win over Grodd. Iris is all too happy too, kissing her "friend" Barry.

Jessie and Wally go tell Harry. Harry drops his shit when she tells him. But he acts very cool and casual, accepting Jessie's happiness comes first and foremost. But given his pause and questioning her about it being WALLY she loves, I think he obviously does not take it as well as he seems. But anyway, time to look for a place to live! Wally is nervous.

Cisco is bitter of being permanently in the friendzone, not helped by Caitlin saying she and Julian are just friends. As Caitlin assures him someone for him might be just around the corner, Gypsy leaps out of a breach... And blasts a smiling Cisco. She also blasts Flash too, immobilizing him, but she's caught offguard by Harry and his gun. One lockup at the pipeline later, they interrogate her and discover that she had been manipulated by grodd. And they realize this must mean he's in Earth-Prime too, else he couldn't manipulate her.

The gorilla army stands in the hills, looking off towards Central City.

Barry has a broken moment where he realizes Grodd keeps evolving, while they always fight him the same way. They need to change how they face him. Harry suggests using their knowledge of the future to predict Grodd's attack and stop him preemptively. Harry has an idea to modify Vibe gear so they can have cisco see the future he doesn't know of yet. He goes off to work (on the only pair, mind you) and drags Wally with him... Weird. Cisco goes to talk to Gypsy so she can help, because no way she'll say no to him. Which she does. He charms her into staying, after she drops a 'Luke Starkiller' reference that geeks him out in a multiple-earth level, saying she gets to get revenge on Grodd and spend time with 'his face'. She says she saw the horrors Grodd has in mind for Central City, and she won't take part in this fight. Cisco, upset but relenting, lets her leave.

Wally is good following Harry's instructions, and he also is glad for how well Harry took to the news of him and Jessie. Harry says his daughter deserves happiness, and Wally makes her happy. Wally says they'll visit him a lot too on earth-2... And Harry reveals that his health is not what it once was. He's been to a doctor. He doesn't know how long he has. He asks Wally not to tell her.

Team all set for Cisco's vibe experiment.

Cisco "Harry, if this thing fries my brain..." Harry "It's an improvement~" Cisco "Was that Rocky?" Harry "Yeah, Burgess Meredith."

Harry loves his BFF Cisco ^^ Or would, if Harry didn't reveal right there that the amplified vibing can be possibly deadly. Cisco vibes blindly... Intersection State and Oakhill. They assemble the SWAT on the place, but... It's too late: Grodd speaks through Joe, knowing Joe is important to Barry. He pulls his own gun and SHOOTS AT JOE'S TEMPLE, AND FLASH MANAGES TO BE FASTER THAN A SPEEDING BULLET, THE BULLET JUST GRAZING HIS FOREHEAD! This was all just a distraction... Grodd's real target is a limo carrying an army guy.

Joe's alright, and when he got controlled, he got glimpses of Grodd's mind, just like Gypsy. Harry has an idea about using the kind of machinery used for treating depression to help Joe recover Grodd's memories, assuming the mind control goes both ways. Joe's okay with the plan. Iris goes to barry, who is hitting a deep low, feeling nothing he does can stop his loved ones from being brought harm. He can't just send Grodd away... They gotta kill him. Iris doesn't like that. He counters that even Ollie has killed and still remains a hero. She shoots back that this weighs on Ollie's head every day. Barry is considering this only because if he kills Grodd, the attack won't happen and Iris may live. She says his kindness is why he's so beloved, and he should never compromise. Her life isn't worth that.

Wally tries to tell Jessie to spend as much time with her dad as she can, but naturally, he has poor choice of words. He tells her about her dad's sickness. Jessie... finds this unbelievable and stands up to go talk to him. And by the looks on his reactions, he really WAS bullshitting Wally to keep Jessie for himself. She lays the ultimatum. Not losing a beat, he resumes the experiment on Joe. Joe's brain is lit up, and he makes a portrait of the man Grodd captured. Who is unknown to them. Grodd, meanwhile, uses the general guy to infiltrate Fort Reynolds, a NUCLEAR MISSILE TRANSPORATION BASE!

Barry beats up on a poor sandbag with his flash-fisticuffs. Breaking it open. Harry walks in, and shows himself to be on Iris's side, saying he is not proud of all the stupid ideas he's had, and Barry should not kill grodd. If he kills Grodd, it'll only make easier to kill the next enemy. The team is called to the cortex, because HR got an idea thanks to renowned Alfred Yankovic, a poet from his world (Yes, Weird Al, cuz of that hair). General guy has a military hairdo. They found his identity: General Mcnally. And he has the highest clearance, being able to fire nukes in seconds. Which he just did. Yay. Barry goes by himself, since if he fails to stop the missile, kid flash and jessie gotta evacuate everyone to safety.

Flash arrives at the ballistic launcher, and he has little time to disarm the launch. They don't know the disarm code. Only that the code is five-digit. So Flash, in a frantic few seconds, rapidfires all possible combinations until he lands 45127. Grodd, seeing it failed, sends his gorillas to attack. STAR Labs detects them. Barry is decided not to kill Grodd, so he'll need everyone's help here.

Earth-19. Gypsy gives intel on someone to a guy in aviator glasses and scarf. As soon as he leaves in a flash, Vibe is there to talk to her. Vibe defies her shutting him down, saying he is able to vibe her feelings and knows she's a hero like him, not just an officer. He needs her help getting something to stop grodd. On Earth-Prime, Jessie Flash and Kid Flash are waiting to meet the enemy army. With few odds on their favor. The kid speedsters do their job distracting the main army while Flash rushes Grodd... and gets swatted aside. Kid Flash is next. And then Jessie. Grodd mocks Flash for not being willing to kill him...

...Flash reveals his trump: Vibe and Gypsy bring Solovar to the fray. Gorilla on Gorilla brawl! The battle goes to the top of a building, then Grodd gets pushed off the building. Solovar is victorious. The army submits to him. Solovar is about to kill Grodd but Flash stops him, reminding him how he spared Solovar, and vows to keep Grodd on Earth-Prime. Solovar accepts.

ARGUS is called in to take Grodd. Barry feels bad, but Caitlin thinks what little good Grodd had on him is gone, and for all she cares, he can rot next to King shark. Cisco would pay for that fight. Gypsy tries to leave, saying she only helped for the city's sake, but Cisco aggressively confronts her on her feelings for him. She aggressively kisses him and tells him she is too much for him. Cisco swears to marry her XD

Harry is leaving for Earth-2. He makes clear he'll murder Wally ANYWHERE in the multiverse if he hurts Jessie. Wally swears he'd need to be dead before anyone hurts her. They shake hands.

Barry fixes a romantic night for him and Iris on their apartment. He's realizes that there's always another way to fix the future... Like making it THEIR future... POPPING A RING AND KNEELING! WITH A RING THAT BELONGED TO HIS GREAT-GRANDPA IN WORLD WAR II WHEN HE WANTED TO PROPOSE! HE ASKS IRIS TO MARRY HIM!

Stinger. Wally and Jessie watch Casablanca. She doesn't get it, but it's his favorite movie. She says she's in mood for burgers, so he runs off to get some... AND HELLO SAVITAR IS HERE AND HE'S DASHING TOWARDS WALLY WHAT?!?

...Seriously, is this the way to end an episode? Bad show, no donut for you. I kid of course.

Harry being an asshole even when he's not in mortal danger was expected, so was his constant annoyance and elitist attitude towards HR's 'moron qualities'. We should give these two a spin-off. Cisco being the aggressive flirt was a nice change from deer-in-headlights Cisco. Especially since Gypsy is TOTALLY fem-cisco. And I'll admit, I genuinely did not expect Barry to try and marry Iris this season. This makes me worried. Very worried.

I wish that they'd have spent more time fighting the gorillas. I mean, both this and last episode we had a shortage of gorilla brawls. Speaking of brawls, solovar vs grodd... felt too fake. The CGI on CGI all out brawl on a CGI background... yeah, too much CGI. It felt fake. It was nice to callback to Barry's sparing of Solovar, maybe using this as a building brick for estabilishing Solovar as a future ally of the team, in any future gorilla city forays.

0 notes