#AND I JUST WANT GINA MY BELOVED TO BE HAPPY

[princemick]

MICKLORE for dummies

here;s part 1 with his racing history

because over roc weekend people seemed to have gotten to know him a lot better so here's a bunch more of mick info that I deem as essential

so under the tab I will add a bunch of stuff that kinda break trough that introverted pr trained wall he has.

this will be broken into facts, quotes, moments and videos.

--enjoy--

Mickfacts:

he speaks, english, german, french and italian but beraly speaks italian and french because he doesnt feel comfortable enough with them

the f-2002 is his favorite of his dads cars

during a lot of 2022's off season he has been dirt racing in the states where he bascially races for as long as the car runs together with gina's bf (x) (x)

apperantly recognizes the italian anthem before the german

can't choose himself for a dream team so his dream team is michael and seb

couldnt choose between lewis and max in 2021 "because theyre both nice to me"

he used to play drums as a kid

his middle name is 'junior'

he is named after Mick Doohan (5x mtotogp champ) who used to live close to Michael who were really good friends and so him and Jack Doohan (f2 driver) have always been and are still close friends.

apperantly introduced himself to kevin when he got back to haas with 'suck my balls'

modified said off road buddy that he does mud racing with so it goes quicker then intended

he seems to have extra clothes with him at all times bc he borrowed an extra pair of pants and shirt to callum for their f2 podium celebration

his dad wanted him to study engineering (also interesting piece of related information: he said he would have become a biologist if not an f1 driver in this video)

he refers to his dog angie as his best friend

in F3 he won 5 races in a row. race 22 til 26 of the 2018 season.

he started doing champions for charity where he organizes a football match every year with a bunch of german sports players

mick denies it but this man has bleached his hair

Mickquotes:

"a bomb, a knife, a serial killer. I mean that comes all together so.."

"I mean if poeple ask me if I'm mick I usualy just say no. I learned that from my dad."

"can I eat this?" procedes to eat it

"you guys are gonna do pushuupss"

"can I go and pet it?? play fetch??"

"those cars are so shit"

"deutsche, german..WHA??"

"you sure??"

"my dad, my dad, my dad, my dad"

"I just wanna get to my dad"

"beep beep beep"

"I won f2 and f3 for a reason"

"you guys are fucking brilliant, FUCKING BRILLIANT! fucking hell- sorry for all the swearing guys"

"I have a problem with italian bread tbh"

"PTW man, PTW" (pwt means prove them wrong)

"so you have to be smooth, realise that its an old lady and treat it that way, take it easy and enjoy the ride"

"hmm, have you ever driven on the road blindfolded?"

"ah, I was fine" after crashing

"I'm glad it was you I was fighting against"

Mickvideos:

prema stranger things - where he bascially just shouts his ideas and is loudly jock and himbo coded

The 5 Second Challenge - him having to really quickly talk and think shows how he thinks really well aka himbo

The Taboo Challenge - where he has to explain something without using specific words

Seb And Mick Take On The Formula 1 Tower Challenge! - where Seb and Mick ask eachother questions as they play mega jenga

Mick and Dan at the 2021 russian gp presser - just wholesome

Mick and Sean cook pizza together - him being wholesome and happy and speaking italian

Prema Trivia Challenge - giving ultimate himbo rights

him hugging every haas mechanic after his last race w them

mick post Q2 in Canada

the groundhog video

Some minutes with Cyrus Watches: Mick Schumacher

The Texas Red Hot Sauce Challenge - shows his relationship with gary (his old race engineer) really well

Guess the Flavour: Japanese KitKat Taste Test - shows how weird mick is sometimes

Map The Track - himbo.

Mick celebrates with the team after first F1 points - hes so beloved

Gina and Crorinna's congrats after his first points

okay there's much much more, if you wanna get more into it I reccomend watching more of his prema and haas videos and just keep updated with him over his time at mercedes

dont be afraid to send me asks with questions or anyting!

and special thank you to 2/3 of the pillars of mickblr @acrosstobear and @schumaclerc for helping me out w some micklore and @stoffelvandoornegf for this post

[jessicafurseth]

Reading List, Heatwave edition.

"This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognised by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. ... I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no 'brief candle' for me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible." [George Bernard Shaw]

[Image: Robert Herman (1980) via 90sanxiety]

*

"Some philosophers claim that the emotions artworks evoke are really 'pseudo emotions'; we feel them at one degree of remove. I can think of no better support for this thesis than the experience of listening to Paula Cole in CVS. The hopes of young love, the disappointments of middle age, the curdling resentment that ensues: I feel some inkling of it all. But mostly I’m just tapping my foot as I wait to pick up my prescription." This is incredible. [Mitch Therieau, The Paris Review]

Empire of dust: what the tiniest specks reveal about the world [Jay Owens, The Guardian]

#GraveTok [Jessica Lucas, The New York Times]

Semesters for adults [Allie Volpe, Vox]

Your movers have opinions about your relationship [Gina Cherelus, The New York Times]

How to Take a Photo of Your Girlfriend [Kate Lindsay, GQ]

"Collective effervescence is the way we feel connected when we’re in a crowd of other people, even if we don’t know them. When we’re all focused on a concert or a play or a movie, we feel a sense of social connection and it makes us feel really good." After the pandemic, people forgot how to behave in public [Alex Abad-Santos, Vox]

"If we want to replace our culture of trauma with a culture of resilience, we’ll have to relearn how to support one another—something we’ve lost as our society has moved toward viewing “wellness” as an individual pursuit, a state of mind accessed via self-work. Retreating inward, and tying our identities to all of the ways in which we’ve been hurt, may actually make our inner worlds harder places to inhabit." I Was Wrong About Trigger Warnings - Jill Filipovic, The Atlantic

Is Tradwife Content Dangerous, or Just Stupid? [Kathryn Jezer-Morton, The Cut]

Why Barbie Must Be Punished [Leslie Jamison, The New Yorker]

"When you get a woman in her 40s or 50s who has progressed in her career and is probably more willing to speak her mind, I think it's intimidating to the insecure men in our workforce. They would rather diminish that woman, not promote her, keep her in her place. It's not that they don't want her in the workplace — they just want her in a role that's going to support the men in the workplace and not compete with them. And certainly not give them a contrary opinion." Women Face Age Discrimination at Every Age, According to a New Study [Kelli Maria Korducki, Insider]

"Algorithms do the work for cheap, but when they reflect our taste back at us, it feels misshapen and insulting, a crude and unfair representation. When everything is available, all knowledge, all information, all entertainment ….nothing is perceived as valuable. Not the labor that creates the thing, not the person behind it, not the thing itself. The only valuable thing is our time, and if we spend it on something that isn’t amazing, isn’t exquisitely for us, we understand it as time wasted, instead of time gloriously wandering." The Sterile World of Infinite Choice [Anne Helen Petersen]

"We are living in a streaming paradox. As both an entertainment business model and a consumer experience, streaming has become a victim of its own success. It is a paradigm shift that is beloved for giving us more choice than ever before, while also making it harder than ever to actually enjoy that abundance." Streaming Has Reached Its Sad, Predictable Fate [Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic]

Every “chronically online” conversation is the same [Rebecca Jennings, Vox]

The Wild History of Not Eating Meat - on Alicia Kennedy's new book, "No Meat Required: The cultural history and culinary future of plant-based eating" [Diana Hubbell, Gastro Obscura]

My first boss busted me for skiving off work. I still don't regret it. [Anna Codrea- Rado]

"That myth of a restful vacation becomes something of a self-fulfilling prophecy. I’ll tell myself that I need to get away in order to relax, but then I’ll get more stressed as I prepare for the trip. I’ll cram too much into the days beforehand, from finishing up work tasks to finding time for a pedicure. By the day before departure, I’m a wreck. And yet, rather than question this approach, I’ll see it as evidence of how much I needed that holiday in the first place. But do I actually need a holiday or do I just need more breaks in my regular life? Would I be so desperate for a holiday if I had a little more breathing room in my day-to-day?" The myth of the restful vacation [Anna Codrea- Rado]

[loveforsblog]

The Broken Dream

The snow flakes was so early this year is it? "Gina said "I think so" Nathan reply to her.thier get married when Gina was only 19 and Nathan was 21 after the tragedy to Gina.(back to year 2022)Once, I caught sight of how women deserve to be loved. She ask me if I could her "hello my dear can you help me to carried this bag?" The old lady ask I help her to carried old lady's shopping bags up a staircase in an underpass. She thanked me and timidly asked me to help walk her to her house.

She told me she was in a rush because her husband waited to meet her whenever she went outside. As we approached, I saw a nearly blind man walking with a cane outside of the lady's house. He came up to us and took his beloved's heavy bags from me "thank you for helping my wife carried her shopping bags, I'm blind so I just wait her here" . I immediately recalled how often I was too lazy to meet my boyfriend on the way home from the supermarket or from the train station.

I lost my leg when I was 19. I was dating the boy that time then suddenly I feel dizzy "hey are you alright?" The boy ask me I don't know what happen that time I just know when I up woke up im in hospital bed room. The doctor come" Are you Ms. Gina Perez?" The doctor ask "yes I am, why ?"I answer " Ms. Perez do you go to any doctor before? "The doctor ask again "hmmm no why it's their any problem?" I ask 1 time again" he remove his mask and say " Ms. Perez you have a bone cancer we need to remove you one leg to survive, the cancer was spreading we need to cut it immediately" the doctor said and go out said I feel my whole world stop I don't know what to do just 5 more month and the competition begin that time I don't know what to do if I cut off my one leg I can't able to dance again or even walk again. More days came and I'm still thinking what would I do no one knows about my situation and suddenly my door Bell rang it's Nathan my boyfriend he come to tell me about moving to other countries. After a while, he suddenly decided to move abroad, claiming that he wanted to earn some money for us. I wanted to believe him, but was convinced that he was lying.

I told him we needed to break up and that it would be better for him. One month later, my doorbell rang. I took my crutches, opened the door and there he was. I didn't even manage to get a word out before he hug me and I can't even manage to push him away . He kneeled down in front of me, hold my hand and said, "You're an idiot! I didn't run away from you. We're going to the hospital tomorrow and there's a prosthesis waiting for you. I went abroad to earn money so you'll be able to walk again - do you understand?" I was so overwhelmed with emotion that I couldn't utter a single word - I just hugged him tightly and cried. And I realized that all my dreams was gone after my surgery the doctor said I can't able to dance again because theirs a lot of consequences when I try to dance again.

After a few months we decided to get married and I decided to give up my dreams and go to states to stay their for goods. After a month I get pregnant and give birth to healthy baby boy. we decided to go to my sister house because

My older sister got married. Her husband is a picky eater and is very hard to please when it comes to food. Every time he openly criticizes her cooking, I always recall my sister's ex-boyfriend. Whenever she cooked chicken liver, he always ate it and said he'd never tasted anything better. It later turned out that he was actually allergic to chicken liver - he just loved my sister very much.Im already turning 49 this year and I'm always thank to the man who always been in my side. Thank to may prosthetic leg I can manage to do house hold chores and I can easily go to the place I want . And sometimes I thinking about what happened if didn't loose my leg if I hadn't a disease and hadn't to remove my leg, would I still have a happy family like this? and suddenly my husband came to pick me up "Honey what are you doing, are you still thinking about will you dance?. Nathan asked "no, I'm just thinking about how handsome my grandson Matthew is" smiling at Nathan "Ok honey let's go and lets see our handsome grandson " and kiss may forehead. Sometimes you think to stop dreaming because of the problem but God have plan to us so don't loose your hope and continue to dreaming because we have our own destination God have plan to us just like me maybe this was his plan for me until know theirs a lot o

person around me who always supporting me Nathan may beloved husband may son Luke also may grandson Matthew some and I'm so happy to meet them all.

Character

*Nathan (husband)

*Matthew (grandson)

*Sister

*Brother in law

[butchnavi]

OKAY I CANT BELIEVE IM SAYING THIS BUT AFTER THIS EPISODE IM OFFICIALLY ON THE RINA TRAIN 😻

[lunarrumor]

gina calling ricky out for his shitty behavior

1000000/10 i love this scene i cherish it close to my heart

[incorrectmlpquotes]

Insert Holiday Pun Here

Well folks, the holidays are upon us, and I’ve been too busy to attempt to be funny. SO, I thought I’s treat you all to something a little different. 

[This joke would be funnier if my name was actually Gina]

I’m going to go through the holiday (read: Christmas, because let’s be honest: Hearth’s Warming is a Christmas expy) episodes and give my thoughts on each. This will not include the Equestria specials because I haven’t seen them (but I have read the IDW 2014 holiday comic and oh boy, that’s a post of its own). I’m not going to recap them (much) because it would take less than two hours to watch them all. Take a break from Charlie Brown and Rankin Bass to appreciate some true holiday classics.

Hearth's Warming Eve, Season 2 Episode 11

I don’t like it.

It’s hard to be the first of anything. You’ve got a lot to set up and only twenty-two minutes to establish lore and tell a complete story. I didn’t care for the Nightmare Night episode the first time I saw it, but upon rewatch it held up better than I remembered. Plus, it had the benefit of being really funny.  This only has a few moments that gave me a sensible chuckle.

What a shocker! An earth pony with no ideas.

Ostensibly, this is a very important episode because it introduces the holiday and gives us some Equestria history, but I never expected this show to have such a mean-spirited holiday episode. And I don’t just mean the pony summit that is supposed to show animosity. The beloved Mane Six begin the episode by grousing with each other.

The holidays stress me out too, and I wouldn’t have a problem if they resolved this by the end of the story, but they don’t. The name of the show is “Friendship is Magic.” This grinch’s heart should be growing three sizes, not reminded of family gatherings that turned into verbal brawls.

And then there’s the play. Obviously, the personalities of Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity get turned up to an eleven in their respective roles, but it just rubs me the wrong way. Especially since the other three are depicted normally. The three heroes bond over how much they hate their bosses. This is a relatable notion, but a weird choice for a children’s program. In the beginning, the three races of ponies were divided by hate, and now they’re being brought together…by hate. Talk about your mixed messages. 

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I don’t like it when they fight unnecessarily.

2/5

Hearthbreakers, Season 5 Episode 20

It was a long wait for another holiday episode, and it was worth it.  This one delves into a topic that I don’t see too many shows acknowledge: that different families have different traditions. And more importantly, that someone else’s traditions aren’t bad or wrong just because you might not enjoy them. It should be an obvious lesson to respect other’s differences, but the amount of people who lose their minds when told to have a happy holiday is any indication, it bears repeating. This time of year can be difficult for blended families or people coming together for the first time, and it’s especially relevant for this changing world. It stands to reason that the very stubborn Applejack would be a stickler for tradition and have difficulties being flexible.

How rare it is to see Pinkie Pie be the peace keeper?

4.5/5

A Hearth's Warming Tail, Season 6 Episode 

This one is a mixed bag for me. I am a big fan of A Christmas Carol and I do enjoy when shows do their own version. The story itself is fun, with the added twist of higher stakes than the original, but the framing devices gives me pause. Twilight freaking out because Starlight doesn’t want to celebrate a holiday is a little over the top. No one should be pressured to celebrate a certain way or celebrate at all if they don’t want to. Maybe someone has bad memories with the holiday and doesn’t want to be reminded of past events. Maybe they can’t stand the over consumption and commercialism of this time of year. Maybe they belong to a religion that doesn’t celebrate Christmas and are very tired of being constantly ignored. Maybe they work in retail. The reason doesn’t matter. 

It’s such an easy fix. Maybe instead of being indifferent towards the holiday, Starlight’s nervous that she’s going to be in such a big group and worried that she’ll mess things up. Twilight gives her the book to show that you can’t really ruin Christmas Hearthswarming because blah blah blah togetherness. I don’t know.

Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but this episode aired a year after people lost their minds over a red paper coffee cup, so my concerns aren’t unfounded.

3.5/5

The Hearth's Warming Club, Season 8 Episode 15

It was like the writers saw inside my brain and realized the issue with only recognizing one holiday that gets celebrated in the pony equivalent of December. 

The set up for the Breakfast Club-esque story has some issues, but I'm willing to look past them because I enjoy the episode. The best things that come from the magic school storylines are the exploration of the non-pony lore.

We had to wait eight years, but there was finally an acknowledgement that other holidays exist. 

4.5/5

Best Gift Ever (aired between seasons 8 and 9)

The gold standard by which I’ve held all the other episodes. Everyone is perfectly in character. No one had to resort to stupid “Gift of the Magi” BS that they could have easily done.

I’ve never seen a kids show display so succinctly how stressful the holidays are, while simultaneously expecting you to have a good time. It’s the most wonderful time of the year, right? Why aren’t you having fun? What do you mean you don’t have time to clean, decorate, bake, wrap presents, send out cards, do crafts, mail gifts, and spend time with loved ones while also working/going to school/ continuing to be a human being? 

I have been in this exact position, spending an hour inputting packages, and explaining that the delivery times were not guaranteed. 

But this friend group really needs to discover the magic of waiting until after Christmas to have your get-together.  It lessens the stress and gives you something to look forward to. Plus, you can snag those post-holiday deals.

I have pulled a Pinkie Pie and ignored the rules of a White Elephant exchange because I had already gotten everyone a gift. No one seemed to mind.

Forget the magic anthropomorphic horses, the most unrealistic thing about this show is how easy it is to make friends as an adult. It's trite to say that friendship is the greatest gift of all, but I am going to see my friends after New Years, and after not being together for over three years, I really couldn't ask anything better.

A totally heterosexual explanation for this image exists.

The chef’s kiss of holiday episodes. I will even forgive them for airing it in October. I will be watching it again this year while the rest of the family watches Die Hard.

5/5

Shoutout once again to whoever posts the images on the wiki gallery. You remain the funniest person on the internet.

[sunset-bobby]

HSMTMTS S3 Ep8

Finale!!!!

Happy Birthday Ricky!!!

Biggie??

“I’m Ashlyn’s boyfriend” not Ricky’s bestie 😭😭

EJ you good?? Ricky asks

Oooo Where is Gina

Val’s a college student so ofc her and Ash won’t work

“The right person”

Ricky thought she was talking bout him

Sir how have you not read the script….Ricky you mess up and ruin this for my baby i will disown you

Miss Jenn my beloved

awww yay solo for Emmy…she sounds great

What in the Glee is this (not my friend said EJ looks like Finn)

me: Jet better sing this ep my friend: or be kissing ricky

Ahhhh Maddox and Ashlyn

Ugh fuck off Channing

EJ tryna get him to leave and everyone else could not see this

But we’re theatre kids

He’s trying so hard not be too much and she thinks he doesn’t care

It’s not a show if miss jenn doesn’t sing

Nini !!!

We all know she’s leaving

Kourtney you got this 😭😭

EJ put a lot of effort into this production value

Yess Carlos

It got crazy…it’s you

What are they talking about???

Omg they’re both gay!!

What are y’all thinking

yess representation of black mental health issues

oh clearly they are not thinking the same thing 😭😭

Kourtney I believe you

If Channing ruins Kourtney’s moment I will physically fight

Callback moment to the flashlight

Also will be fighting channing

Fight him Gina!!!!

Yes costume change

The fact he tried to ruin her solo was racially motivated 😒 but she pushed through as she should

Not claps from Corbin

Nini’s here - Ricky okay one girl this summer

Fight him Ricky do it

“Just Friends”

Why everybody look like they’re having a im in love moment during ricky’s solo 😭😭

Oop he looked right at her and the only thing i’m here for is EJ angst

EJ angst like i asked for

The daddy issues

I’m crying he hung up on him

Oh i asked for him to cry i ain’t mean it 😭😭😭

Not he ain’t get one

There was no Jet solo??? what was the point of casting him

Not she was gonna leave w/o saying goodbye to Kourtney at least

Ahhhhh omg not he remembered her

Why did no one punch him

What team?! crying

If Corbin Bleu starts singing to you EJ knows you stop walking

I’m sobbing they’re so good

They’re trending

She remembered

Okay, Hair, okay outfits

What did he do to his hair

oh this is gonna be bad

Oh wtf

Nah cause Jet said that too quickly for that to be edited

Big red rlly came out so easily

Good for him

 continuously I asked for EJ to finally slap him, and he finally admits that he wants to slap him and then they’re brothers and then he almost starts crying

Oh

I’m sorry no we did all see this coming except for you apparently

Yay Rina but also like justice for EJ

dude can you at least kiss her

oh shit oh shit oh shit

This is not disney wtf

EJ casual is a better person than me because I would slap the shit out of Ricky and we all know if roles are reversed Ricky would’ve slapped the shit out of him

[linnamonrolls0]

The Thing About Illicit Affairs... : Chapter 7

Lin-Manuel Miranda x Reader

Summary:

“And you know damn well, for you I would ruin myself, a million little times…”

When you pictured moving to New York City, an apartment in Washington Heights was a far cry from your Gossip Girl dreams. That was, until the guy next door flashed you a smile that could light up the entire city and your world turned upside down…

Mature / Warnings: SMUT (yup, finally), cheating, slight kinda age difference; I'm like really into sweater!Lin so that's also a thing / 3299 words

Chapter 7: (Don't) Say No To This

11:08AM - Lin: Gmorning beautiful. Be there in 5? :)

11:08AM - Me: See you sooooon 🥰

It’s fine. I’m fine. This is going to be fine.

I keep telling myself that as I quickly run a brush through my hair, smoothing out any last tangles and making sure I’m happy with my light makeup. It’s cold, so I slip a soft cardigan over the cami I’m wearing, trying very hard to look like I’m not trying too hard. If this were a normal situation, I wouldn’t put any effort at all into looking nice just to build bookcases with a neighbour, but then, Lin is another story entirely. I’d be kidding myself if I said I don’t care what he thinks.

I wonder if he’ll notice…

I snap a quick selfie and send it to my groupchat with Anya and Gina, asking for their opinions. They bombard me with replies immediately, first with approval and then with many questions about who exactly I’m trying to impress with this sexy-casual vibe, wanting to know what in the Netflix-and-chill is going on.

But I think it wiser not to respond to those texts when I hear a knock on my apartment door, another rhythm that alerts me it’s him.

I give myself a final once-over in the mirror (a replacement to the one I broke) and adjust my glasses before I run into the living room, tossing my phone onto the couch and swinging the front door open to reveal Lin standing in the hallway with a giant toolbox.

I wouldn’t admit it out loud but my heart skips a beat when I take a second to admire him; his hair is a little longer, he’s abandoned his beloved goatee in favour of light stubble, and he’s wearing a dark grey-flecked turtleneck with jeans and… socks. It’s weird, but on him it’s all cute. Ah, whatever, I guess he did only have to cross a hallway to get here. He could really get away with anything.

“Hey, you,” Lin says with that ever-dreamy smile. Does he know how his smile makes my heart flutter? I missed it. It’s been over a week since I last saw him; we’ve been texting almost constantly, but of course that isn’t the same.

“Hi! What the heck do you need all that for?” I joke, nodding toward the toolbox. More so to distract myself; because really, in the back of my mind I’m wondering, why the flying fuck does he look sexy in a turtleneck, of all things? Surely that cannot be normal - either I have a sweater kink I never knew about, or there’s just something about him looking like this that kills me. Probably both.

“I figured we should be prepared for any eventualities, you know?” He laughs, strolling past me into the living room and setting the toolbox down on the floor, “So, where are these bookcases?”

“Riiiiight here.” I grin, reluctantly tearing my gaze away from him and dragging over the boxes to the middle of the room. His eyes widen at how many pieces they’re in. “More than you bargained for, huh? I didn’t expect it to be this messy either.”

“Well, let’s get going! This shit’s not gonna build itself.”

“Wait!” I say, “First things first, we can’t think with decaffeinated brains. So, coffee?” I offer.

“Of course.”

“Sugar?”

“All of it!”

“No wonder you’re so damn sweet,” I remark, turning to head across the living area to the kitchen before Lin can respond to that. I know my flirting is a little out of line, but I can’t help it when the opportunity presents itself - and he isn’t exactly shutting me down. Quite the opposite, he’s only indulging my advances with that charming smile, looking at me like there’s nowhere else he’d rather be, and it doesn’t help when he looks like that…

—————

As the Nespresso whirs on the countertop behind me, I turn to catch Lin admiring the triptych of photos I’ve recently hung up on the last bare wall in the living room. Mounted in simple black frames, the pictures depict three of my favorite spots in my hometown, each street bathed in the warm glow of sunset from a series of lockdown walks. Alongside fond memories of growing up in and around these familiar places, they remind me of the peace I felt walking those quiet streets not so long ago, my only moments of solace amidst the fear induced by the pandemic I thought we’d never see the end of. I’d never been so glad to be wrong, and these serve as a reminder of the hope amidst all the chaos. We could all use a little more hope, even now.

“These are beautiful,” Lin compliments, “Where did you get them, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“I took them, back home.” I can feel myself blushing again, and I curse my lack of control over my reactions around him, thankful for the room’s worth of open-plan distance between us. “So… thank you, I guess.”

“They’re yours?” His statement carries a hint of surprise. I can’t help but wonder why as he continues, “Of course! You’re a photographer.”

“Well… I don’t warrant that title. It’s just a hobby,” I say meekly.

“Nah.” Lin shakes his head, still looking at the pictures before he turns to me again. “With art like this, you should own that title.”

I shift my gaze to the ground, suddenly somewhat bashful as I busy myself with adding milk and sugar to our coffees. “Thank you. I don’t have as much time for it now, but I try to…”

“Damn. Have you taken any here?”

“A few. I… could show you, if you want?” I offer, beckoning him over as I grab my laptop from the kitchen island, sitting down on one of the barstools and setting the coffee mugs on the counter.

“Oh my god, yes!” He practically leaps across my living room and takes a seat on the barstool beside me. I can feel his gaze fixed on the screen over my shoulder as I power up my laptop and open the right folder; I’d call it too close for comfort, but that might be my fault more than his.

“Here…” I slide my laptop across to him.

“Can I scroll?” he asks sweetly. I nod, and now it’s my turn to admire him as he looks at the various pictures I’ve collected over my first few weeks in this neighbourhood and back in the city. His curiosity is quickly replaced by awe; it always warms my heart to see anyone appreciate my photography, but every compliment means a little more coming from him. “Please don’t be offended, but… Would you consider selling these?”

“I’ve never really thought about it,” I respond honestly, starting to mull over the idea, “I guess it would depend, to whom and why.”

“I’m thinking of, I don’t know, maybe like a Heights version of what you have here?”

“For you?”

“Yeah, if you could?”

“Of course! Do you have any favorite spots around here? I can try and do those…”

“Please don’t take the trouble, I just thought if you have any shots that would work…” Lin insists, almost apologetic for asking.

“No way. Tell me and I’ll make it work.” The idea of putting together a photographic representation of his love for this place brings me almost as much joy as my own triptych did.

“Are you sure? I’m happy to pay, like, whatever you want,” he says emphatically.

“Fuck, no. Anything for you, Lin. Anyway, after these stupid bookcases, I’ll owe you again!”

—————

Once we’re sufficiently caffeinated, we settle into a pretty good flow with the bookcases, sitting cross-legged on the rug in the middle of the living room, deciphering the instructions and putting the Ikea furniture together with all its bits and pieces. Lin has managed to convince me to connect his phone to my surround speakers; so an eclectic mix of showtunes and pop songs fill the background, allowing any moments of silence to feel comfortable rather than awkward.

“Who the heck plays a playlist in order?” I laugh as he places his phone on the coffee table, out of harm’s way.

“Try anyone with musical sense! Have you even heard of a mixtape?” he says in mock outrage.

“What, like burning CDs for people?” I tease, knowing that’ll get a reaction out of him. I love how dramatic he can get over the most random things.

Lin stares at me, comically horrified. “No, cassettes! You know, those things you can’t shuffle, like, at all? The nineties?” He pauses for a second, suddenly realizing. “Oh.”

“Yeah, not a fan, I’d barely developed sense in the nineties… So I’m cool with Apple Music now,” I say playfully, grabbing his phone and hitting shuffle on his playlist just to wind him up, avoiding addressing the inevitable age thing for now.

“You have so much to learn,” he says with an overdramatic sigh, “For your first task: give me the screwdriver?” I pick up the right tool, holding the screw in place. His finger brushes against mine as he reaches for the screwdriver and the little zap of electricity causes me to let go before he’s gripped the handle. The tool falls to the ground and I yelp as it narrowly misses his foot.

“Oops!” We both reach to pick it up, bumping heads in the process and laughing rather than getting back to work. I grab the screwdriver, very nearly dropping it again.

“If I’d known you were such a klutz…” Lin chuckles, shaking his head as he reaches out to take it back. “Give me that before one of us gets hurt.”

“I’m not that bad,” I huff, pointing the screwdriver rather dangerously at him to ironically illustrate my point.

“I beg to differ.” He takes the screwdriver from my hands, safely this time.

“Screw you!” I giggle, throwing a small screw at him.

“Really?” He smirks, catching the screw and raising a brow as I feel myself blushing again; beyond the pun, the innuendo is not lost on either of us. “Okay, can you hold this?” I do as he asks, holding the piece of wood in place as he joins it to another piece. “And that’s how you do that.”

As this goes on, he continues giving me instructions; our arms end up in some sort of interlaced tangle with me holding the pieces into place and him assembling them, and we’ve ended up painfully close together in the process. I pray he can’t feel my heart racing next to him, and I hope he doesn’t notice my cheeks turning red the more I think about what we could be doing instead…

Until he does.

He’s putting together a particularly tiny attachment that is meant to support one of the shelves, his hands deftly working around the pieces as I hold it together, biting my lip when his fingertips brush against mine yet again. I thought all his attention was focused on the task until Lin looks over at me, practically glaring.

“Stop that.” I give him a questioning look, and he drops the screwdriver to gently place his thumb under my bottom lip, pulling it from my teeth. “That.”

I see how it is.

I smirk, “What, am I distracting you?” Feeling a little bolder, I move even closer to him, until our faces are barely a couple of inches apart. All complications aside, I know what I want, but I can’t be certain I know what he wants. Does he?

“Don’t…” Lin whispers, his eyes locked on mine. He’s normally an open book, but for the first time, I struggle to read him.

“Or what?” I ask innocently, before he leans in, his lips finally claiming mine in a kiss that sends my racing heart into a frenzy. When his tongue finds mine, it’s like water in the desert, breathing life into me yet again. Our hands abandon the pieces and frantically find each other, he slips my cardigan off my shoulders and I couldn’t care less where it ends up once I shrug it off. He has one arm around my waist, pulling me onto him, his other hand tangled in my hair, my hands gripping the front of his sweater and pressing against his chest, enough sparks flying to start a fire right here.

He sighs, and the deja vu of the whole thing is not lost on me when he reluctantly breaks the kiss, though his arms are still around me, his fingers still playing with the ends of my long hair. “We shouldn’t,” he whispers, “But god, I want to… I want you.”

“You have me, Lin. I’m right here…” I respond, leaning forward to gently nip at his neck, or at least what of it is exposed above his turtleneck. I hear his breath catch and he tightens his grip on me. I lean in to his touch, welcoming it and trying to pull him down to the floor; if I’m honest, I would let him take me anywhere.

“Mmm, not like this…” He shakes his head and guides my legs to wrap around his waist, standing up, “You deserve better than that, mi querida.”

I don’t know what my deal is with him and Spanish, nor could I figure out how he knows about it. The word rolls off his tongue in a distinctive accent and he has me distracted long enough to move us over to the sectional sofa. I tug on the hem of his sweater, he lets me pull it over his head and throw it over the side of the sofa, quickly followed by the t-shirt he’s wearing under it. I trail my fingers over the smooth, lightly tanned skin of his chest and he bites his bottom lip as he gently lays me down on the cushions, holding himself above me, our eyes locked and I can feel myself drowning in that sea of dark brown again. He helps me out of my cami and tosses it somewhere across the room, his hands immediately on my breasts and his lips at my neck. He hooks his fingers into the band of my leggings and tugs them down in a swift movement; all too eager, I kick them away.

“Is this what I’ve done to you? You knew…” I blush fiercely as he slips my panties off and runs a finger delicately over my already wet folds. “Good girl, you’re already dripping…” I’m surprised by the whimper that escapes me as he carries on teasing, both with his fingers and his words, his lips still biting and sucking at my neck. I gently tug on his hair, just about long enough to grab, eliciting a soft moan from him. “I’ve been thinking about you for so long,” he whispers against my bare skin, “But this…” The warmth of his breath sends a shiver through me that I’m certain he feels, and as his finger continues circling my clit, I’m surprised how close I am just from this.

“So have I… I hear your voice through that wall and I can’t sleep until…” I murmur, sneaking a hand down between my legs, just to tease a reaction from him. He tries to pull my hand away, but instead I move it over to palm him over his jeans. He involuntarily grinds against my hand and I take that as an opportunity to undo his button and zipper. He wastes no time in briefly getting up and divesting himself of his remaining clothing, letting me enjoy the view. He may not be as fit as the guys I previously thought were my ‘type’, but god damn, there’s something unbelievably sexy about him that draws me in. He’s immediately back over me; we know we want this to last, but all the pent-up frustration has already got us readier than we’ll ever be. This is not the time to be taking things slow.

I close my eyes in anticipation, but instead I feel him still above me. “What happened?” I ask, looking up at him.

He looks into my eyes, with equal measures of lust and concern. “Are you sure you want this?” he asks earnestly. I sigh. I appreciate that he cares, but right now all I can think of is finally having him, after all this time pining from afar and fantasizing alone…

“Yes, Lin. I want you, this, everything…” I whisper with certainty, as he shifts his gaze away, guilty. “Look at me,” I gently cup his cheek and our eyes meet again, “Are you sure?”

He nods, though his expressive eyes betray him - behind the desire, I can still catch the lightest hint of conflict. “Yeah. I’m sure.” He lowers himself down to meet my waiting lips, silencing any questions I may have with a kiss as he finally enters me, slowly at first and then all at once. I bite down on his lip as I adjust to him, arching my back, wrapping my legs around his waist and slowly taking him deeper, sighing when he’s exactly where I want him. “You okay, baby?” he whispers. I can’t deny it’s been a while and this kind of throws me off, how gentle and careful he’s being even in this stupor of lust, though from his slow movements I can tell he’s holding back, his hands firmly gripping my thighs.

“Mmm…” I nod, moving my hips against his, letting him stretch me far beyond my limits, but still, “More…”

“Oh… Feels good but I don’t wanna hurt you, princesa…”

“I don’t care, just fucking hurt me. Please.”

Lin gradually increases his pace, starting to lose control, meeting his hard thrusts with my hips as I let my hands wander over his body, caressing every inch of his smooth skin, reduced to a whispering, whimpering mess as he repeatedly hits that sweet spot within me like he somehow just knows exactly what I need. I clench around him, digging my nails into his back and probably leaving a fair few scratches, only encouraged by the sounds of his moans and incoherent words under his breath.

“You… Fuck, yes… You’re mine,” he murmurs, punctuating a string of curses with harsh bites to my neck.

“Mhmm…” I purr in agreement, holding onto him tightly, tugging on his hair, anywhere I can reach.

“Say it…” he growls, stopping his movements, his hands firmly gripping my hips.

I whimper in protest as he holds me still for a moment; “All yours, Lin…”

If he ever mentioned it, I wouldn’t confess to the sound that escapes me when he pushes me to my peak again, something between screaming his name and crying out in ecstasy, but it takes me a while to regain my composure between waves of pleasure. His thrusts get rougher, harder, more frantic. I can barely breathe before I tense over him again when he lets go as he whispers my name, more loving and lustful than I’ve ever heard it before, filling me with his heat, his release resulting in mine mere seconds later.

For a few moments, all we can hear is the sounds of our own heavy, uneven breaths as we reluctantly come back down, letting the high subside. Trailing one hand up to the back of his neck, I pull him in for another kiss and he’s more than happy to indulge me, his lips slowly and delicately caressing mine.

I catch a glimpse of us in the mirror nearby, still entwined in each other’s arms - flushed, blushing, satisfied… And for now, nothing else exists. In this moment, nothing else matters but him…

Chapter 6 / Chapter 8

[aquariusshadow]

Live!Blogging HSMTMTS s2x5

okay i expect proper gina treatment this episode

lesss goooooo

--

are...are we at sebs farm??

yep okay

i cant focus with the sheep baaa'ing in the background hahaha

aye they addressed the 4th wall thing

happy birthday carlos!!!

"my love language is riddles" oh boy...

omfg i forgot about this dude...i guess we are continuing miss jenn's love-story arc?

omg lily

forgot about her too

i just...hmmm ideally i would think her character will get really good development but honestly i kinda doubt it?

idk i guess we'll see

i hate how long it took me to figure out this scene is where the wolves attack the beast in the OG movie

GINA YOU DESERVE BETTER

RICKY ISNT WORTH IT

and we snuck in an 'ok boomer' reference

man i miss good pizza

pizza hut my beloved :(

ricky...it really wouldnt be fair if they shoved nini into the show now

those lollipops look amazing

RICKY YOU IDIOT

why would you ask gina about getting nini on the show

good lord

RICKY NO

gina you better put him in his place

YOU GO GIRL

YOU TELL HIM

gina porter you are amazing

bless ricky's young and immature highschool mind

but good lord

oblivious soul

im so glad gina was blunt

is it just me or is ricky really...clinging onto nini

like

it seems a bit much?

im really glad theyre not putting nini in the show

that really wouldnt be fair to everyone else

omg are we really doing a love triangle with miss jenn

or a love quartet thing with zack too

i mean i knew this from last season

but

idk i dont have much of an opinion on this tbh

EJ PLOT EJ PLOT EJ PLOT

finally

awwwww he's making carlos a bday tribute thats so cute

i love carlos' and gina's friendship

"sebby" awwww

get you a friend like gina

awwwwwwwwww this is so precious

no thoughts only gina

beautiful

dancing

singing

<3

yea ricky you better be in awe after all the shit you pulled

i really hope this song is gonna go on spotify cuz holy shit its so good

oooooooooooooo

ej and gina scene

after so long

awww those smiles

...........oh

i see

i see it now

i get the ej/gina ship

if ej treats her right then im all for it at this point

SEBS GONNA PLAY A SONG

YES

OMGGGGGGGGGGGGG THIS SOOOOOOOOONG

nostalgia trip oh my god

that riff tho

his voice is so pretty

that talent

i want him and gina to sing a duet

precious

absolutely precious

ej's looking longingly at gina

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

okay

i wasnt vibing with them last season

but

given all the heartache gina's been dealing with

this is gonna be cute if they write this properly

oh ffs

are we really doing a rival beauty and the beast show

also, correct me if im wrong, arent most broadway shows more likely to not use real animals during performances due to health and safety stuff

so if anything

its more impressive that the east high kids are doing both animals and characters

ah and nini is gonna be apart of this afte rall

gina noooooooo dont leave

--

Alright so, I still really like the potential of Rina but at this point, until Ricky figures stuff out, and dare I say, matures a little bit more (just a little bit--he needs to learn communication skills overall bless his soul), Gina really needs to find someone who will put her first. If that’s E.J. then hell yea, I’m all for it! 

I don’t hate Ricky. In fact, I like the writing for his character overall because it makes sense given everything he’s been through while in high school.

That being said, I don’t think I’ll ever really vibe well with Rini. They’re cute at times, but there’s nothing really substantial with them that is showing me legitimate character growth from both parties.

Seblos rights. Gina/Carlos friendship rights.

I need Gina’s song on spotify.

The talent this episode was astounding.

[strawberryshortcakegirl]

Guac and Evie Rewatch: 1.02 of HSMTMTS

Hi!! Went on vacation for a while but the rewatch blogs are back!

Why is it that all I remember from the Read-Through episode was chaos

I love how Big Red simply acknowledges that EJ is basically a Hollister model and then you see EJ's promo pic for Season 3 and it all makes sense

Okay so right now Nini is talking about if you look in the background there's like some tickets and flyers for musicals and things hung up in her room. And we all know Nini's phone case is a Playbill phone case too. I just feel like Season 2 Nini kinda ditched her love of musicals way too fast

So I just searched up Throb and realized that it's not an actual smell/perfume or whatever. My whole life is a lie.

OKAY BUT IMAGINE SOMEONE JUST COMES UP TO YOU AT A MALL AND SPRAYS PERFUME ON YOU-

EJ calling Ashlyn the bomb proves that this was filmed in 2019

Time for mental health time with Evie! Okay we see that EJ says that he's only pretending to be happy about playing Chad on his Insta story because inside he's a "bucket of sadness." It's obvious that his goal on Instagram is to seem like a person who has his life figured out and gets whatever he wants. Therefore, he says "blessed to be playing Chad" as if that's the part he wanted all along and he was expecting it.

Idk why they are so amazed by the rehearsal room

How does Miss Jenn not know that Natalie Bagley is the stage manager lol

This has bothered me since day one: Miss Jenn goes from Gb major to F major when singing We're All in This Together. Still the high note was amazing and I relate to Gina mouthing "yessss" after hearing it

"Abysmal read through, a brilliant opening night" I think a more accurate quote from my experience would be "Abysmal rehearsal, a mediocre opening night" but whatever

Big Red I mean if you took the SATs every week you would get better at it and then you could turn in your actual highest score... 😏

SEB IS SO CUTE WHEN HE SAYS I JUST WANNA RAISE THE ROOF GAHHH

Carlos and Miss Jenn just scrolling through Zac Efron's Instagram while they wait for the blocking rehearsal to start is a mood

Shouldn't Miss Jenn be reported for making two exes kiss? Especially since one of them specifically states that she doesn't want to

DATING HER DOESN'T MEAN YOU OWN HER ASHLYN QUEEN I'm currently trying to get my friend to learn that CRUSHING on her doesn't mean you own her -_-

Carlos and Gina knowing the Big Book of Broadway kinda predicts their friendship in Season 2 which is pretty cool

Honestly the dancers in this show are legendary

I think when I first watched the series, I always hated Ricky and him being all desperate until he talked about his parents going through some trouble. I like how they added that in early. It gives more depth to Ricky's character than him just chasing after Nini

How come Nini's room is twice the size of my room T_T

You can tell Gina is just talking to Ricky so she can get Gabriella but eventually later in the conversation, she gets much more real and genuine

Ricky dancing to HSM at midnight hit too close to home

Ashlyn just playing piano in the empty auditorium is somehow kinda majestic. Idk why. And she was so unpopular in Season 1. When she saw Nini, she immediately said she could leave immediately. And then in Season 2 she was the lead <3

TODAY I LEARNED THAT MISS JENN SAID BATHS KEEP ME SANE NOT BATS

Yeah I would kill for an autograph from Andrew Lloyd Weber so I'm not judging

WONDERING IS THE BEST SONG OF SEASON 1 AND I WILL FOREVER STAND BY THAT. It's so raw because it's live. Tim has wrecked that now with the autotune in Season 2 and 3. Bring back the quality from Wondering Tim

The whole gigantic package just to hold Vanessa Hudgen's (V-Hudge's... O_o") phone though

Haha Portwell was so different back then

I do think it's truly excellent that the two villains of Season 1 became two of the most beloved characters of the show.

Welp that's the end!! Btw these are now called Guac and Evie rewatches :)

[tehcoop]

I am an old. I'm an old, old fandom lurker wandering from one fandom to the other for the past (oh God) two decades. I've read in everything from Gundam Wing in my (not that) delinquent high school years to Due South to Stargate Atlantis, Harry Potter, Star Wars, yadda yadda yadda, on and on up to The Witcher, most recently. 

And then The Old Guard.

Guys... Guys.

This movie smacked me in the face and shook me to my core. It was everything I've never known I wanted in an action movie because it just never occurred to me that it might exist. Two female leads! One of them is black! Eighty. Five. Percent female representation behind the scenes. 85%! Amazing character beats. Everyone has their own arc and motivations. No stereotyping. It's just beautiful.

And then there's Joe and Nicky. 

I have never related so hard to characters or to a relationship in my life. I love my badass immortal husbands so much. It's ridiculous. I could gush for hours. I'm nothing like them, of course. I identify as a mostly straight, mostly cis, so white I reflect sunlight (though I hope I'm at least an ally to BIPOC) woman. There's nothing particularly badass about me. But I still relate like hell to these characters. 

I love to laugh like Joe, and completely understand his protective instincts. And then there's Nicky. I relate to him more than any character I can think of currently. I'm introverted and can be kind of intense, but I'm also patient, kind, and nurturing. And if anyone does anything to hurt my family, especially my kids, I can rip you apart with just my words. (Seriously, I think my mother in law is afraid of me now after she got a talking to when I called her out for being shitty to my spouse. Our relationship is Much Better now). 

Most importantly, I am deeply in love with my wonderful spouse who happens to be a trans woman. 

And guys, I'm angry.

Remember, I'm an old. I've been searching for scraps hinting at any kind of queer love story in all kinds of media for decades. And I'm angry because I shouldn't have had to. 

I shouldn't have to read into a maybe not on purpose significant glance. I shouldn't have gotten excited when two characters grabbed each other in anger because clearly they're so in love. I shouldn't have been delighted when an actor bit his lip to hint at a love story in film, or that a writer said that a character was gay years after the books were written. I made myself believe that those little bits of subtext were enough and somehow better than getting it outright because then we can tell our own stories, right guys? I preferred reading fan fiction because I could think of the hot guys I wanted to pair up in the way I wanted. I even stopped watching a lot of gay movies because they were always so sad and full of strife, and I just couldn't relate to them. I just wanted my fluffy romantic comedies. Fan fiction was literally the only place that I could see any kind of healthy queer relationship.

Which is how I got to be almost forty and still identifying as mostly straight even though I'm in a queer as hell relationship. In each of these canon stories, the character's sexuality was part of the conflict, and I was never particularly conflicted about mine. I just liked who I liked and craved a healthy, stable relationship. Or when I did see characters like Klaus in Umbrella Academy (who I love) who is comfortable with their sexuality, he's also so fantastically ridiculous that I can only laugh or cringe at him. I enjoyed many of these stories, but still related more to the Jane Austen heroines I saw in straight stories even while I preferred to chill by reading about say... John and Rodney accidentally making a baby or something.

And then Joe and Nicky come along. And they're beautiful. They're a goddamn interracial, interfaith, committed, happy, unkillable gay couple. In canon. They are the most married. They're 900 plus years of married. Their sexuality and relationship are incredibly important to who they are and to the story without being the conflict of the story. Or without being a walking stereotype of one thing or other. Instead, you have two men casually stating their love for each other, blatantly declaring it, cuddling, and kissing all while they each have their own stories, skills, and motivations. 

I have literally never seen that before. Except at home, in my own house, where my spouse and I get to be our own people, but then support each other, tease each other, and cuddle at the end of the day. It was beautiful to see something that reflected the kind of love I always wanted and now get to have. In canon, on screen. Seeing Joe and Nicky's love makes me so deliriously happy that I'm incredibly angry I've never seen anything like that on screen before. Just imagine what it would have been like seeing that kiss in a crowded theater.

So why am I writing this? Because this movie is important. It's so goddamn important. I'm so happy it exists. And I want you all to know the actual weight of all the years of going without characters like this. What it means to say that I'm furious that I've never seen this before after decades of searching. How ridiculous it is that I still identify as mostly straight possibly because I've never really seen nuanced, flawed, real queer characters before. Instead, I've imagined and created evidence of gay relationships from nothing while ignoring the awful canon hetero relationships my favorite shows have forced on us. All while still unironically sighing over Mr Darcy and Clueless. I'm tired, y'all.

I want to see all the stories with all the people in various configurations. Romances, action, sci fi, fantasy, everything. The Old Guard did it. And they did it well. I'm done with the queer baiting. I don't think I can look at many of the fandoms I have loved throughout the years the same way again. I'm incredibly grateful to Gina Prince-Bythewood, Greg Rucka, Marwan Kanzari, Luca Marinelli, and the rest of the cast and crew for bringing me these already beloved characters. It's so refreshing to finally get what I've really wanted all these years. Representation absolutely fucking matters. 

And now? I'm gonna go back to being a lurker. I'll read all the Old Guard fanfiction I can. I'll watch all the movies, read all the comics because I want more stories like this, dammit. I'll probably go back to giggling over and overanalyzing little character moments in all kinds of fandoms again. Mostly, I'll just go back to quietly taking care of my little family. And I might post something again in another couple of decades when my kids are off to college. And God, do I hope it doesn't take another couple decades to get more characters like this. I hope that my kids get all kinds of stories I never did growing up so that they can figure out who they are and who they relate to before they're almost forty frigging years old. It's about goddamn time.

Thank you for listening to my TED talk.

[pluviophile-bookworm]

HSMTMTS 2x11: Let us pull up a chair as the dining room proudly presents... the reason for my next mental breakdown

I can't believe myself, honestly. Oversleeping on the one day of the week that I've got something exciting to wake up for? Oh well, I'm up now and I'd better go ahead and do this before my dashboard has showered me with spoilers. I mean, I have never really minded spoilers, but when it comes to this, somehow I do. Though I do wish something had forewarned me about last week's snap ending (get it, 'snap'... I'll see myself out). I'd better dive in already.

Yes, Mr Mazzara, that's what I've been saying for a while! Ok, maybe I haven't been very vocal about it, but it was in the foreground of my mind that they should have asked for Mr Mazzara's help re: transformation! I'm just glad he pointed it out. Not that he could have done much while he was busy playing therapist for his beloved Miss Jenn. Oh well.

Were those Ash and Ricky doing actual paired-up warmups? That is what they should have been doing for weeks now. That and having actual off-stage interactions, too. But I still subscribe to the theory that the gang had some good rehearsals off-screen — otherwise there's no way they could have been this good on stage as we saw in the previews. I said it last time and I'll say it again — not everything is for us to see.

Wow. The one time our leads are in unison, and it is about both being injured. The East High drama club must be cursed — they can't have one production run smoothly and without what can only be described as pure unbridled chaos.

They don't have any understudies? That explains some things... but also how? But also, I'm so happy Ashlyn is going on. No way she would have missed her first (first of many, right?) chance of being the lead because of some 'minor' injury.

Ricky and Nini still can't talk to each other properly. Oh well. Take your time. It's not like I care about this pairing anymore.

Did EJ just use the word 'dig'? Boy, the boy's got it baaaaaad. Also, what is it going to take for these two to realise they're in love? For all we know, they might have that big kiss we're all dreaming of and still be like 'nah, it's nothing, we're buddies'... give me a break! But I mean, at this point they might just be turning into Redlyn 2.0, where even a kiss doesn't define things. But hey, if they do follow in Redlyn's footsteps, that only means good things in their future, right?

What did that fake French git do to my boy Carlos? He's not supposed to look this inanimate until right before the climax of the play! Well, I mean, at least Seb serving as his interpreter means that Seb gets more lines for a bit. Too bad he can't go on for someone with more lines in the play.

Miss Jenn's 'words of inspiration' were less than inspired... yeah, this show's going down. Or it would, if it depended solely on her. Let's hope the kids do better. I mean, I know for a fact they will... at least for about 5 minutes of the thing. There is still room for things to go wrong and I'm scared.

Oh, my sweet boy... I wish I could jump in there and do something to help him feel less nervous. Thing is, if I were there, I'd probably be the most nervous of them all, even if I were playing Townsfolk #3 or something, and everyone's nervousness would rub off on me, and I would be making things worse instead of helping. So yeah, I'm kind of glad I'm not there.

Ahhhh who called it? @redlyncentral was it you? Ash got flowers for her Biggie! And there's a card whose contents we've yet to see. But that doesn't seem to be helping either. My sweet, sweet Reddy... I hope and pray he'll be alright.

Well this is awkward! Who told Mike to show up and shake everything up right now? Miss Jenn is literally on the brink of exploding, and now she's stuck in this completely unnecessary love triangle. She needs some space. And a quiet place to breathe, thanks Mr M for suggesting it.

'Did we forget to build a mote around the school or...' Yeah, you tell her, Rick! That girl whose name I never want to pronounce (because it makes me think of much nicer people and she's making me hate it) has no business being there. She's not... being given a redemption arc, is she now? Some people just don't deserve it. And if hating her is an unpopular opinion now, well, I never did care much about having popular opinions. I can live with that.

'Lily, scram!' Yes, thank you, Natalie! I've always wanted someone who would voice my thoughts in a way that the characters can hear them. Make this girl a main next season, won't you? (Just so we're crystal clear, I mean Natalie, not the other one.)

OMG Mr M is in the play! In a way... I love that!

I love, love, love the way they did the prologue. 'Repulsed [the prince makes an over-the-top gesture of repulsion] by her haggard appearance [the witch shows off her face to the audience]...' I love this. I would pay a lot for a chance to see their entire play, you know?

Oh dear, somebody give my boy Reddy some sort of... medical aid against all the throwing up! I've got a nice pill that helps me with my bad cases of motion sickness. Hey, so maybe I could have helped if I were there after all. Great, now I feel bad. But also, is all the throwing up an excuse on the writers' part to keep my boy off-screen for the majority of this episode? Because it's a really lame excuse.

Gina's 'Many questions' continues to be a mood. What exactly is Miss Jenn expecting from the kids? Last-minute adjustments? No way. This spells disaster.

Was Carlos on vocal rest or something? Because he shines like the star he is... despite all the very obvious nervousness backstage. I mean, I wouldn't have it any other way, but... oh well, I wouldn't say it's unrealistic. In my personal performing experience, the most nervous ones perform the best. (So... what is that saying for my boy Reddy? Good things only.)

I've already had the opportunity to geek out about Be Our Guest yesterday, but... I mean, just look at them! Carlos doesn't need actual candles to be on fire, Ashlyn is stealing the scene without any lines in it, Gina is absolutely gorgeous, and don't even get me started on EJ and Big Red looking at their girls in absolute awe! This is everything!

Aww, look at them! Gina and Ashlyn dancing together, I mean. They're sisters and it really shows. And I love them both so much.

Kourtney is an absolute show-stealer! I'm still upset about some casting choices (one of them is in this scene, doing his absolute best with the crumbs he has been given), but she is absolutely perfect. I think I'll rewind and watch this entire scene again before moving on with the rest of the episode.

I'd just like to point out that Frankie's voice in his lower register is everything!

'You absolutely dusted that stage'... Not EJ making a pun so punny even I could not have thought of it... boy is absolutely smitten!

Not me tearing up when Jordan Fisher appeared as Gina's brother... like, I knew it was happening — I knew it even before it was announced. And I still teared up because, well, it's emotional in-universe and out.

Awww, my boy Reddy is so in love with Ashlyn... I mean, who wouldn't be... but — not Ricky saying Lily might not be as mean as they thought. Especially not to Big Red of all people. To him, she was just as mean as they thought.

'Side hustle project in the south hallway'? Ooh, what is it, I want to know now!

Why do I feel like things are a bit too awkward between Kourtney and Howie? Not that I'm too invested in their relationship, but if it bothered me, imagine how it must feel for the stans.

No, Ash, you absolutely do not need to add any fancy riffs to the song! Especially not just because L... well, that girl did it. You're unique and lovely and a literal Disney princess inside and out. That girl? She's just a wolf in a sparkling golden dress.

Awww... Big Red literally lowers Ash's blood pressure! Those two are such an amazing couple! (Full disclosure, though, he kind of does the same for me too; the other night I had this horrible nightmare, and I woke up in cold sweat in the middle of the night, and then... ok, getting too personal there.) The point is, if even the fantasy of a Big Red hug makes me feel better, imagine what his actual presence would do for Ash at that moment. Where is my boy? Everyone seems to be looking for him.

Oh... guess they took my advice to give the poor boy something for his vomiting issue. Good for whoever thought of it.

And we're back to the Porter siblings... forgive me if I still can't wrap my head around calling Gina's brother Jamie. I don't know about you guys, but thanks to my lovely new friend Paz he will always be Theodore to me. I guess we can headcanon that as his middle name. Anyway, I love it that they made a joke about the hilarious height difference between him and Gina because, well, it's the only thing I can think about when I look at the two of them. It reminds me of me and my little cousin who has been taller than me since she was 10, and is still growing taller now at 13. But, I mean, it's not very hard to be taller than me, since I'm so, so short... ok, this is not about me. Moving on.

Was I the only one who actually laughed out loud at Ricky drinking from the bowl as the Beast? I mean, that part has always made me laugh in the original movie, but something about Ricky's take on it makes it even funnier.

Meanwhile, my girl Ash is absolutely killing it as Belle. Not me having the very same expression as Big Red while watching her... gosh, I love both of them so much! Also, no offence to the rest of the cast, but Julia really is the best vocalist out there. Out of all of them. I said what I said.

My apologies to Ricky, but his voice is just not it when it comes to playing the Beast. Still, with the other option being him putting on that fake deep voice from the audition, I'm glad he didn't.

Ahhhh Portwell nation you ok guys? Since we didn't get them singing Something There, this is very much the next best thing... and boy, is it good!

Those glances between Kourtney and Howie, on the other hand... what on Earth is happening there?

Ok, so you all know just how strongly I feel about Seb's casting as Chip, and yet... boy had one line and absolutely ate it up! Give him an actual singing role next time, Miss Jenn!

EJ being starstruck by Jamie not because he's a big music producer, but because he's Gina's brother... excuse me while I sob!

Excuse me, what!!!! 'A big brother figure'? Boy, this didn't turn out the way I thought it would... now I'm scared.

Way to ruin things, Jamie! And I don't even mean the fact that his name is not Theodore. It doesn't matter what his name is anymore. He might just have put a spanner in the works of Portwell, and they were just doing so well! Ugh, I'm so frustrated. I wish I'd never boarded — what did I call it — 'the majestic S.S. Portwell'. What if it doesn't set sail now?

And there goes another disappointment... Carlos' 'the orchestra hasn't vamped this much since Bop to the Top' line had nothing to do with Seblos, and everything to do with what might still be the downfall of this show. I am not ready.

No. Miss Jenn did not just say that. She did not just tell Ricky — who, may I remind you, not that anyone's forgotten, just fell off of a high place last episode — to 'jump off of something high'. I realise she's under all the pressure, but that is not an excuse. Well, at least she heard herself.

Oh my gods... Nini — well, Nina, actually — did not just call him 'Richard', did she? That's it, that's the point of no return. And well, I kind of wanted them to reach it.

Told you, didn't I? I told you that-girl-who-must-not-be-named was evil! I always follow my intuition and it has not once deceived me. Redeem that, if you can! Guess what? You can't. We've just reached another point of no return.

Wait, a bloody cliffhanger? I cannot handle this. I physically cannot handle this. If you need me, I'll be sitting on my bed in shock, trying to process everything that happened. I'll need a while to get a grip on myself.

[organic-guacamole]

Alright here's the real post of ep206

as usual, spoiler alert.

I'm literally so late today omg😭

I watched it with @sunshine-julie-molina and another friend so it was worth the wait✋

North high's video i-

I still don't think it should be "legal" in terms of the competition rules but whatever. Antoine is adorable though, as expected.

AW SEBBY

He's not wrong, they probably will win because of ✨ friendship✨

Ok but... imagine a seb and EJ friendship 🥲

GINAAAAAA

That exit sign thing shouldn't have been as funny as it was✋

Ashlyn babyyyy

I'm just gonna say it, I'm glad the writers picked up the Ashlyn insecurity thing, but I really really hope they execute it properly.

I don't like how they're not just explicitly saying it. Like it's not a bad word, why can't you just say that she feels that because she's not skinny and fitting into society's typical image of "the perfect princess", that she can't be Belle.

She thinks she's too fat to be Belle.

There, was that so hard to say Disney?

As someone that's insecure about their weight and body image, I don't appreciate how they're constantly hinting at it instead of outright saying it. I think if they play it out right, showing how Ashlyn compares herself to Lily more, it could work.

INFINITY PLUS ONE VIBES WITH THAT BALL EXERCISE.

Seb hula hooping omg don't touch me

Why is he so adorable all the time

Not them getting me all excited about a seblos improv scene, just for them to cut away✋

Finally Ashlyn stops trying so hard to get through to Gina, I mean yeah you offered up your home, friendship, support and love to her, and Gina's just been brushing you off but come on hear her out.

If you can't tell, that is complete sarcasm. Good for you Ashlyn for knowing your worth /gen.

EEEEE MIKE BOWEN HAS ARRIVEDDDDDD

They're so sweet, I swear if they aren't endgame...I'm perfectly fine with jennzzara. It's a cool subplot but I couldn't care less who she gets with, they both like her a lot so I'd be happy either way.

Please I felt like I was intruding on that kiss uhhh.

🥰😍❤️✨EJ✨❤️😍🥰

I want that grey sweatshirt, it looks so soft ahhhhh.

YES EJ, WE'RE MOVING ON FROM NINI WOOHOOO

"watch your tone"

damn-

Ngl Ms Jenn would be a scary step-mother.

Right here we go, Gina and Ashlyn, take 2.

PLEASE NOW I SEE THE SIMILARITY BETWEEN EJ AND ASH-

It's a Caswell thing😌

That flashback scene was really good wow, I honestly thought we'd have to wait longer to see what the secret was but I guess not👀.

Gina handled that so well, she stated what she needed to say, acknowledged that he's with Nini, and got her closure. That's nothing for her to be embarrassed about.

I guess she thought she'd leave and not have to address it or see him again but either way, she did well and I'm proud of her.

Ricky. That's it. That's all I'm gonna say.

ANTOINE MY BELOVED. THANK YOU FOR ADDRESSING THE FACT THAT NO ONE EATS ALL THEIR FOOD IN SHOWS AND MOVIES-

That always confused me, you're paying to eat at a restaurant, at least eat it?????

Julia/Ashlyn's vocals>>>>>>>

Let's applaud Kaden for grabbing that guitar and doing what needed to be done.

And because we love him.

YES KOURT

Good on you for fully committing and owning your feelings, despite this "relationship" with Howie being extremely rushed and not making much sense considering what you've said for the entirety of season 1 and like 5 times in this episode alone about not needing a guy, but YES IM STILL HAPPY.

Although I'm not gonna lie, I half-expected Howie to say that he's gay at the end there-

Wow take notes Ricky. Your dad and teacher just sacrificed something important for them, to help you. Think you can try to do that for Nini, Gina or like, the entire theatre department?

THE ROSE SONG.

THE ROSE SONG.🌹

I can't be the only one that's pissed that Carlos is gonna post the video of this.

Like let North High think they got East High beat, then shock them on opening night with the song, this'll just cause them to try to come up with something to one up East High.

DAMNIT CARLOS.

[beyondd-dazedd]

EPISODE👏 REVIEW👏 hsmtmts season 2 episode 9 let’s go

let me start off by saying pORTWELL NATION HOW WE FEELING??? more on portwell later

i liked this episode! not as much as the last one but i kind of expected that. it’s kind of the nature of television where if you have a big episode with a lot of plot then the next episode will be character driven.

ej my beloved. i love him so much and that’s it. that’s the tweet.

we love the zoom vibes very topical (also does covid not exist in the hsmtmts universe because that is a very interesting concept)

seblos tension?? no thanks. but ej and ash being cute?? yes please. also ashlyn saying red is her soulmate made my heart SO happy. also ej’s face when gina popped up was enough to fuel my portwell heart for at least the next week.

i loved the dive into gina’s character a bit more this episode. she was so soft omfg and i’ll give her this her attempt with the gate agent was a good one.

ASHER!! ok i thought jack and gina’s dynamic was very cute but not enough to live up to portwell excellency. i like how easily gina opened up to jack because the only other people she really does that with is the caswells who are obviously very close to the whole situation. i think it was good seeing her talk more about herself and her life and her confusion about everything. i thought it was really clever that they used jack as a cheeky andi mack reference but also as a way to help move gina’s character forward because she really needed that push. gina was so precious in this episode for so many reasons. she really did better with her improvising which seemed to be something she struggled with whether it was due to things going on during the Yes And episode or just her struggling with being able to improvise. seeing her actually be able to do that with jack warmed my heart. i love how gina really openly communicated how she felt closer towards the end. she basically was like i think you’re cute jack but i need someone who is going to be there (cough cough EJ). i thought the banter was really cute between them at the end and jack telling her where the safest place on the plane was just made me so happy.

MY BABY EJ i loved him in this episode despite how little screen time he really had. him being a bit of a kid with all of his and ash’s old stuff gave me big flash backs to being a senior and trying to hold onto childhood before college. also it was a side of him we don’t really get to see. he’s very intense and that’s just who he is but seeing him be a little goofy made my heart happy. also can we talk about gina being the first person he calls about ash painting his nails because 1) YES FUCK GENDER STEREOTYPES and 2) he wanted gina’s opinion on that which was so cute but also i loved that you could still see that his nails were painted when he meets gina at the airport partially because i’m a sucker for little continuity things but it also shows that he didn’t really care what other people thought. he just wanted gina’s opinion. also i feel like we’re one step closer to bi ej and since i project on him too much and i’m bi that makes me happy. EJ IS BI DISNEY ARE JUST COWARDS. also his dancing was so endearing omfg

PORTWELL NATION the ending was so amazing. gina really had that moment of realization that ej had in the quinceañero episode which was AMAZING but also gina saying that she’s just waiting for a sign for the right person and ej just showing up at the airport to pick her up and he has a granola bar for her?? shows he’s the right one. so he obviously knows gina well enough to know that her go to snack is a granola bar. he also brought it just in case she was hungry. he also took her bags for her aND HE DROVE TO THE AIRPORT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT TO GET HER AND PROMISED TO DROP HER OFF IN THE MORNING. it’s obvious that he gets her and she gets him and it also shows both of their progress from season 1 to now. gina is allowing people to help her after spending most of her life pushing through on her own and ej is becoming more and more selfless when he was used to being self centered to meet everyone’s expectations. i would pay all of the money in my bank account to see some of the missing scenes where ej and gina are getting to know one another.

alright moving promptly along to literally everything else in this episode. nini is clearly having issues focusing on her music account. it could be from all of the changes recently or it could be because her main topic of song writing has been her love life and without ricky she doesn’t really have that. she’s just nini. however i did love seeing ash and nini team up to write the song. we need to see more of them together because that’s an iconic friendship (would also love to see more of nini and ej being friends because everything before this episode felt very tense between them. rightly so but still). ricky this episode was so relatable. i have been exactly where he’s been. wrapped up in a blanket feeling sad over things and just replaying everything that went wrong (i’m a ricky apologist through and through and i’ll admit it. some of y’all are just way too harsh on him holy shit). i HATE lynn but i hate her a little less because she mentioned therapy for ricky. all in all though she’s still a shitty parent and it’s evident that ricky has suffered from her mistakes. ricky’s song BROKE me. like i spent 30 mins crying over that song because joshua’s voice is just so raw and emotional and he has an amazing way of capturing the emotion of songs when he sings them. i also think the contrast between ricky and nini’s varying degrees of ability to write songs right now is interesting. i’m sure we’re going to have another season 1 moment with a big confession and them getting back together but i sort of don’t want that. i am a rini shipper until the day I die but i understand what it’s like getting out of a relationship where your whole identity is built around the other person and i think they both need time to grow and mature as people before they get back together. but this is a disney show so i know that they won’t go for that.

all in all, good episode!! there’s a lot of plot lines that need to be wrapped up and some stuff to propel them into season 3 so i’m interested to see what they decide to address now and what they decide to leave for the next season. i was not super into the plot for this season at the beginning of it but i think episode 5 was really a turning point and really got my attention for the rest of the episodes. i’ll catch y’all back here next week for another review

[re-diesirae]

16. Claire

When she woke up, the room was dark and barely lit by the light of the computer screens. Claire pushed herself up carefully and found Leon sleeping by her side. His hair perfectly combed, and his arms crossed over his chest. She didn't want to wake him, so she remained silent, letting herself get lost in her thoughts. Her headache had gotten a little better, but she wanted those painkillers, just in case.

Claire hated when she woke up in the middle of the night since she could never go back to sleep again. That left her lying in the darkness, thinking of a lot of useless things. That's why she had started staying in the office at night. That way, whenever she woke up in the middle of a night, something that happened often, she would drag herself into the lab and work on her research. She would often find Saya there, and the woman would make her hot chocolate, and they would either end up working the entire night or just casually chatting with Saya. Claire preferred that to the solitude of her apartment.

Well, I can't complain. I do have company. It's just that he is deeply asleep.

Thinking about Leon brought her memories of their earlier chat, and she was mad at herself for blushing when the agent had casually commented that he liked her. She already knew Leon liked her as a friend, so what was she doing getting flushed about it? Unfortunately, she couldn't control her physiological responses. Claire had always liked Leon. Even since Raccoon city, but back then, she had seen him go all over Ada, and she knew he still was all over her. They had had their moments after leaving the city, and she had thought about him often in the later years, but he had somehow become a platonic love, and she was okay with that.

Oh, Claire. You're just cursed. The decent men that you come to love and who care about you are the ones you can never have. She laughed at the irony.

"May gods kill me. What am I even thinking?" she whispered to herself as she looked at the sleeping man.

Ada was lucky; the woman should just swallow her pride and accept Leon once for all. That would make things easier for her. He would be happy, and she'd feel happy for him as well. That was the right thing to do..., right?

"Yeah, because at the end, you'll be alone." that little voice that had come to speak in her head so often whispered, "He will go to his beloved, and even your brother will leave you for his sweetheart. What will be left for you? An empty apartment filled with nightmares that lurk in the shadows and solitude."

Claire shook her head. If that voice was her conscience, she seemed to have a pretty rotten one, but maybe that inner voice wasn't wrong after all. Leon and Chris would make their lives someday. They wouldn't be agents forever, and when that happened, she would probably be in the way, but who was she to stop them from being happy? If Chris wanted to marry, she'd approve it. The same with Leon, even if it was that infamous spy.

"But you know you don't like it. You don't want him to go to her."

"Ugh, shut up," she mumbled, rubbing her temple.

" He likes her much more than he'd ever come to like you, even though you loved him that much."

Claire shook her head, trying to push away that annoying little voice.

"Pathetic, aren't you? Loving someone you shouldn't. It's your curse, maybe, Leon knows it too. All those who have come to you have died, one by one like Steve, like Piers, like Neil,"

Why did it have to mention Neil?

"Loving you would drag him to death. He'll die….painfully, just like they did."

Claire rubbed her head, maybe stronger than she had intended, but the pain made it hard to hear the voice, and that was a good thing, but suddenly, she felt a couple of warm hands grabbing hers and forcing her to stop.

" Hey, stop that…" Leon whispered, "You'll hurt yourself."

" Leon? I am sorry, did I wake you?"

"Don't worry about that. What happened? "

"I…"

I had an unpleasant conversation about you with my subconscious. Yeah, tell him that, so that he can take you for crazy.

"I had a nightmare... I have them pretty often. Sorry, I didn't warn you about that."

"Want to talk about it?"

"I'll rather not."

She stared at her hands. Leon was still holding them, and she cursed herself for wanting to stay like that for a bit longer.

Get a hold of yourself, Claire. You are not a teenage girl; you're a grown-up woman in a pretty bad situation. You can't be wasting your thoughts and energy on these stupid things.

Unfortunately, Leon wasn't helping. The man was rubbing her hands with his thumbs, a gesture that probably wanted to soothe her. He was worried, and she felt a pinch of guilt; she could at least try to tell him a part of what was making her uneasy.

"Neil…" she muttered.

"What?"

"Neil Fisher. My nightmare…" she lied. She felt bad about lying, but well, it wasn't entirely a lie. Part of her reaction was related to him, after all.

She felt his gaze staring at her, but he didn't reply as he waited for her to continue.

"I guess you might call it a trauma. Neil was a nice man, and for the first time in years, I thought I had found someone. It was stupid of me. I let my guard down. "

"You loved him?"

Love? She had liked him, yeah, but it couldn't be called love. They had things in common, and she had found his company pleasant, but their relationship never went beyond that. She somehow grew attached to him, and then she had thought that, maybe, something could happen there. How wrong she'd been.

"I don't think I would call it love. There was affection, but not real love. Call me old fashioned, but I am the kind that thinks there's no real love than the first. Neil was. someone special and what he did, god, it just tore me apart in so many ways."

She was honest. Neil's betrayal hurt more than anything. Neil broke her trust, the respect she felt for him, and she felt cheated. Maybe, to some, it would sound exaggerated, but to her, his betrayal had touched her deeply.

"It just….keeps tormenting me. I can't see anyone without thinking if that person would do the same. I just…., I recommended him for the job. He had experience, so I thought that he would do a good job, but if I think about it. Maybe if I hadn't, all that crap that happened would have never happened and, everyone: Pedro, Gabe, Edward, and Gina; they would all still be alive…"

"What happened was not your fault."

"It somehow was. I mean, Neil had access to our information because I rejected the spot and recommended him instead. If I hadn't been so biased about him.."

"You couldn't have known. Claire, you made a mistake, but it wasn't your fault. Some people are just good at hiding who they are. There was no way you could have foreseen what he planned."

"I guess… you might be right. I am sorry, I can be silly at times."

"Hey, it's okay. Don't worry about it."

"Thanks, Leon." she said with a friendly punch on his arm, "What times is it? Chris is certainly late, or it's just me?"

"He is late. It's 4 am. It'd be dawn soon."

"Ah...I think I've never been so grateful about sunlight."

"Not a morning person?"

"I am more a night owl, but mornings are okay, though. Do you think they'll bring us breakfast?"

"Who knows," he snorted, "But I'm sure they bring us some nice guns."

"They better do." she laughed, "I shouldn't complain. This little one saved my life enough times…"

The woman looked at the old rifle she'd picked on the village. The thing was old, but it had worked well until now. Still, she'd rather have something a little more powerful if she was to enter the underground facilities.

"But the girl is old. I don't know if her firepower will be enough for whatever is inside that laboratory."

"You tell me. I miss my guns."

"Don't worry. I can persuade Chris about sharing his toys."

"No doubt about that. Chris would never refuse that look."

Claire winked at him with a smile. She knew Chris had a soft spot for her, and with the years, she'd learned to use that to her advantage.

"What about you? Can you refuse it?" she laughed.

Leon meditated on his answer. His lips curled in a mischievous smile.

"Guess that would depend."

Claire rolled her eyes, ignoring the man's soft laughter. She pushed herself up and walked to the computer once more. Claire had skipped the night surveillance since she'd been tired, but now it was a good time to look through it. She had trusted that the facility security system would keep them safe.

"Signs from our little friend?" Leon said, approaching her after checking his gear. It seemed to be a habit of him, perhaps acquired with the years since she'd not seen him do that before.

" Let me see….well, look at that. Our ugly friend is finishing its diner-breakfast. Ugh, not something I fancy watching the first hour in the morning."

The image on the screen was nasty, and she knew that if that screen had not been a security camera, the screen would be a bloody mess. The B.O.W was the same that had attacked them in the cave, or at least the same type of beast. She felt chills as she stared at the same spider-like body crawl through that corridor, the claws on its front limbs impaled the bodies of some unfortunate Carriers.

"This thing intrigues me. I hope we can gather more information about it."

"I just want to know what it is and how I kill it. That's enough for me."

The redhead couldn't help but laugh about the boldness in his statement. Maybe it was that deadpan tone he had used, but she had found his words amusing.

"Do you think that's the one who attacked us?"

"Hard to tell. For all we know, the place could be crawling with those." Leon replied, shaking his head, "That's why I said what is it, and how do I kill it."

" I got you, Leon. If I figure that out, you'll be the first to know; but it's the first time I see B.O.W.s that "eat" B.O.W.s. I mean, I know there are some specimens that are extremely hostile to their kind, but to feed on each other?"

"These people are sick, so I wouldn't be surprised if they did it on purpose."

Claire was thinking of any reason why Neo-Umbrella would want to create a mutant who fed up with other mutants when a soft beeping interrupted her line of thought. She realized it was Leon's communicator when the man pulled it out from his pocket and answered.

"Hunnigan. It's so good to hear from you again."

" I can say the same thing, Leon. I got contacted by the B.S.A.A Alpha team just a while ago. They'll be arriving at your location within some minutes."

"Sure, they can take all the time they want. It's not like we'll be going anywhere."

"Funny, Leon. It's nice to see you still have your humor," Hunnigan said, amused.

"Well, someone needs to keep the mood up."

Hunnigan snorted.

"Anything important that we should know?" Leon said, "The jammer disconnected us from the rest of the world, so how about an update?"

"Well, I think I can fill you up with all the recent events, and perhaps you could do the same."

"Sounds fair. What do you have to tell, Hunnigan?"

"Is Ms. Redfield with you? I believe this might be of her interest, as well."

"She's right here."

"72h ago, exactly two hours after your disappearance, there was a bioterrorist attack launched over Hughesville."

"What?"

Claire was staggered in horror. There had been an attack in her city? Hughesville wasn't even a big city, so why would terrorists target it? Was that her fault, too?

"Luckily, I was informed by a TerraSave contact that there were few casualties. Most of the people of the city had successfully evacuated in the first 3 hours following the first attack thanks to the emergency procedure that Ms. Redfield had implemented some months ago."

"The Aganisia Procedure…" she whispered, " God, so it worked as it was supposed to."

"Yes, Ms. Redfield, and from what I heard, the results were satisfactory."

"If Aganisia activated, it means Anathallis got set into motion, as well. Did the B.S.A.A take the emergency call in time?"

"I was going to that. Indeed, B.S.A.A squads were deployed even before the first report of the bio-attack was done to the authorities."

"Oh, god. So it worked," she sighed in relief, "We've not used the procedure in real situations, only on simulations, so I was worried it might not work in a real context."

Leon looked at her quizzically, but she motioned at him, articulating a silent "Explain it later."

"It worked well, Ms. Redfield. You should be proud. The government wants to contact you once you have returned to the US, to talk about the possibility of implementing it in other cities, but we can discuss that later."

"So, what about the attack?" Leon asked.

"Yes, of course. The B.O.W.s used in the attack are from the C-virus. B.S.A.A managed to suppress most of the small scale weapons without major losses. However, the bigger ones represented a major challenge."

"So, they use C-virus Bioweapons? Damn, so Neo-Umbrella is still mass producing them."

"Mostly, yes. The attack was under control. However, a second attack launched late in the evening. This time, the attack forces included a new kind of B.O.W."

"A new...kind?"

"An unidentified specimen. It was suppressed by B.S.A.A elite Alpha Team."

"Chris…" Claire and Leon muttered at the same time.

"Yes, Mr. Redfield and his companions dispatched the entity after finding B.S.A.A Betta Team completely decimated."

"What did the B.O.W look like?" Leon asked, and Claire realized that the man was thinking the same as her. Could that new B.O.W be like the ones they had found in this place?

"I ...I don't have the details about that, I am sorry. I haven't received the report yet."

"That's fine, Hunnigan. Is the attack still on?"

"Yes, however, it seems that B.S.A.A. is handling it well. "

"Well, that's great. "

"That's all I have to report at the time being. It's your turn, Leon."

"There's not much I can tell you. We are in an isolated area. Judging by the vegetation, we are in highlands, and according to Claire, somewhere in Germany. The locals have been all infected with Plagas, but I have no idea which strain. There are also new B.O.W.s, but I can't tell if they'll match with the one seen in Hughesville. They're extremely violent and hostile with anything that moves, including other infection carriers, so we've tried to avoid confrontation. One of them found us last night. We barely made it alive…"

"Leon, that's terrible. Is any of you hurt?"

"We've been better, but it isn't anything serious: scratches and some bruises. We noticed a behavior pattern in this B.O.W.s. Their movement seems restricted to nighttime, and they seem to feed on other infection carriers. We reached a facility where we believe the responsible were carrying their research. I manage to inactivate the jammer that was interfering with communication, and so we can look for information once Chris's team arrives."

"Understood. I shall inform the higher-ups about this. Leon, be careful. I know it isn't an official mission, but…"

"Don't worry, Hunnigan. I consider it official."

"Okay, let me know if I can help with anything."

"Sure."

Claire watched him put down the command, look at her with an eyebrow raised.

"Care to explain it now?"

" Aganisia is the emergency evacuation protocol I designed for TerraSave. Once it sets in motion, it automatically starts the Anathallis procedure, which is a direct notice and deployment of B.S. anti-terrorist troops.

"I get it. Any particular reason about the names, though?"

"I… I like orchids," she shrugged. There was no deep reason behind the names. At that time, she had seen the flowers, and she found the sound of the name appealing.

"Orchids?"

"Well, what's wrong with that? Orchids are pretty."

Leon couldn't stop himself from laughing, and Claire just smiled shyly.

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[brbgonnacryinacorner]

Bliss

The bisexual and pansexual flag hung proudly on the shared walls of their apartment. Morning light spilled from the blinds, causing a golden yellow hue across the bedroom, waking Beanie up. “Happy birthday my beloved wife,” she yelled into the morning air, rousing Eve up. 

“Mm...morning beautiful wife…” they said groggily. “Wait, it's my birthday already?” 

“Yea, now get your sexy ass out of bed. I want pancakes.” 

“Anything for your dear wife,” pecking her platonic wife on the cheeks. 

A buttery aroma whiffed up to Beanie as she walked out of the bathroom. “Hot as always.” She walked up to her wife from behind, wrapping her arms around their waist, tipping her toes up, and placing her head on their shoulder. 

“Say you, my lovely wife.” They looked back at her affectionately.

“No, you. You're always hot and sexy, I’ll let you stab me any day.”

“Mmm ok. So we can both agree that we’re the hottest wife duo,” they said. 

She hummed in agreement before asking, “is it pancakes for breakfast?” 

“Yea, whipped cream or syrup?” 

“How about both,” she replied with a sheepish smile, “Nutella as well.” 

“You have such good taste Beana,” grabbing the toppings for their pancakes.

“Your pancakes are the best…” Beanie moaned, stuffing her mouth full with whipped cream and pancakes, a dab of sticky syrup and Nutella across the corner of her mouth. “Just like you,” she added, sending a wink across to Eve. 

The tip of their ears going red, they exclaimed, “Sttoppp, you're making me blush. Also, slow down, you're going to choke.”

“You're right. I'd rather choke on you rather than on a pancake, though I wouldn't mind it since it's yours.” 

“Mmm, and I’ll let you choke on me,” Eve teases. 

Beanie grinned, “I’d like that.”

~

“Evieeeeee…. When are you done with your drawing? It's your birthday and I want to take you out. I’ve already stabbed a few people while waiting for you.” Beanie groaned from their bed, sprawled across the bedsheets, her head hanging from the edge.

“You didn’t.”

“Yea but I could’ve.”

  Eve added a couple more strokes onto the paper and stood up. “Ok, I’m done. Where are you taking me?”

“It’s a surprise,” Beanie beamed.

When Beanie said to take them somewhere, they didn’t expect to drive an hour away to some mall. “If it was just some kind of mall, we could’ve just went to the one that was a 5-minute drive away…” Eve mumbled. She only answered with a grin.

For the first few minutes of entering the mall, they spotted nothing special. It looked like a regular mall with all your typical stores. That was, until Eve saw an ice-skating rink in the distance. “Oh my fucking god Gina you did not.” Without warning to the other, they dragged Beanie over to the rink, practically vibrating with excitement. “Can we?” Beanie could only laugh at their childlike actions and nod, not having the time to reply as she was pulled away again. 

They hastily got ready, but not without Eve complaining about how bad the rental skates were. Nevertheless, they were still almost bouncing up and down on their seat like a child, despite the discomfort of their shoes.

Once Gina tied up her laces and got up, Eve somehow managed to run to the entrance in those skates of theirs. Still, they waited for Gina to get on the ice with them.

“How did you know that I wanted to ice skate?” Eve asked, while they were still getting use to the ice.

“I heard there was a new ice skating rink opening and I remembered that you used to ice skate in your childhood,” Gina shrugged.

“Oh my god I love you so much Gina,” they beamed.

Even with Gina’s hand in theirs, she still managed to stumble over and trip, most of which Eve helped her up immediately. “Oops looks like I feel for you,” Gina flirted after tripping and Eve catching her.

“Oh my god I can’t with you.” They said, exasperated with the horrible pick up line.

After she got used to gliding on the ice, yet she didn’t let go of Eves hand. The music was blasting through the speakers and children’s squabbles all around, but they heed them no mind, lost in their own worlds. Jokes and puns were thrown around, smiles never leaving each of their faces. Swaying to the beat of the melody, occasional trips and stumbles from Gina, endearing looks from Eve, a couple hours passed just like that.

Slightly hungry from ice skating, Gina took them to a fancy looking dessert shop. “You didn’t have to take us somewhere this expensive…” Eve mumbled once they seated.

“I wanted to treat you, you know. You deserve extra good things on your birthday.”

After skimming through the menu, Eve took the first thing that they saw that looked nice, which is a strawberry filled fraisier. While Gina took a chocolate fondant. In the midst of enjoying their dessert, Gina took out a nicely wrapped present, and handed it to Eve. “I know you broke your iPad and wanted a new one for drawing so I got you one.”

“WHAT THE FUCK GINA,” Eve nearly screamed if it wasn’t for them being in public. From a while ago, Eve broke their beloved tablet by accidentally sticking the tip of the charging cable in while clumsily taking the charger out. Ever since then Eve complained about not being able to draw on their tablet. Gina thought of getting a new one as the best gift for them, instead of finding a technician and getting scammed by them. As grateful as Eve is for the gift, they can’t accept this. “I can't get this, you know that Gina.”

“Just take it you idiot. And happy birthday Eve.”

~

“Cmon I've got everything ready for the movie.” Lifting the blankets up for Eve to get inside the cozy area. Propped up against the bedrest with plushies, stuffed animals and various pillows scattered all over, they started up the movie. As the movie rolled on, the pair each added commentary on the movie, letting out unusual facts on random topics here and there. With the both of them snuggled up together in the dim room, the light radiating off in just the right angle, everything was perfect. Eve couldn’t help but gaze down fondly at Gina, pressing a light kiss on her forehead. “Ew, you're being disgustingly cute.” Gina said when she noticed what Eve was doing, using the plushie she was holding to hit their shoulders. Seeing that as an invitation to a pillow fight, Eve grabbed the nearest pillow to whack gently at Beanie’s arm. With a competitive gleam in her eye, she couldn't back down from a challenge, “oh you’re on.” 

Thus, what started off as a light, innocent hit turned into a full on pillow fight. Giggles echoed in the room as each of them swung the pillows at each other. Eve hurled at Beanie, raising their pillow to take a blow onto Gina, only for her to duck the shot, pillow hitting nothing but air. She saw her chance and charged at Eve, poising her pillow up high to attack Eve, successfully getting a hit in. They fought as if at war with the other, not giving in to the opposing side. Eventually, after half an hour of feather floating everywhere, they ran out of energy and fell back onto their bed, gasping for air and erupting into laughter. Eve looked over at the girl next to them, grinning from ear to ear. They didn't know what they’ll do without her by their side. Two lost souls finding each other, completing each other. Who knew such great friendship could bloom over the internet. Finding comfort in the other despite being half a world away. Eve couldn’t imagine a life without Gina.