#I think after the movie is over he gets a bunch of horses and starts living out his horse girl dreams

[starlene]

The bit in Barbie where they go to the school, Ken sees the school logo and goes “A man on a horse! :)” lives rent-free in my head.

[couldnt-think-of-a-funny-name]

random percy headcanons:

wants to be the photographer friend SO bad and he technically is but like 70% of the pics come out blurry or weird bc there was a monster attack in the middle of them. his instagram is truly so chaotic looking.

literally always has seashells on him someone will ask him for a pencil or spare change and he has to empty all his pockets of shells to find it. drops his backpack and a bunch of shells fall out. kicks his shoes off and sand and shells fly out and his mortal friends are like percy What the Fuck

his eyes glow underwater!! bioluminescent king. no one told him though and he didn't find out until he joined his school's swim team and terrified everyone (he managed to convince them his contacts were having a weird reaction to chlorine lmao)

he really likes art!! he doesn't just pretend to for rachel's sake he genuinely enjoys painting with her. he likes splatter paint, collages and pop art styles the best. one day after splitting some edibles they realized percy could manipulate water colors and went CRAZY with it

will ask to be excused during class and comes back like an hour later with scorch marks all over his face bleeding from one of his ears covered in dust missing three fingernails rips in his jeans and a fat lip and the teacher is like percy what the actual hell were you doing in the bathroom all this time and he's just like uhhhhhh I have ibs

the brand from camp jupiter did unfortunately (for sally) Unlock something in him lmfao he keeps getting shitty little tattoos. usually stick-n-poke but someone's friends cousin's girlfriend's brother has a gun that gets brought to parties every now and then. most of them are sloppy but you can tell what they are HOWEVER he has one that was supposed to be a seal that came out looking like one of those shitty ms paint crying memes. annabeth laughed at him for ten minutes straight when she saw it.

he wanted to dye his hair blue but he was too chicken to bleach his entire head so he just did the tips. his hair is curly though so it looks absolutely ridiculous but he loves it

percy and annabeth get a crusty little yappy white dog in college and he carries it around like a baby lmao

back to his chaotic instagram, he's got so many pics of him like, relaxing at the bottom of the mariana trench or hugging a giant squid or riding on a whale shark and his mortal friends all think he's just really good at photoshop and this is a very specific bit he decided to commit to. they're always like lol percy where do you even FIND these pictures are you subscribed to like scientific journals for the laughs? but no he just took them all on his shell phone

has an ongoing prank war with annabeth's little brothers bobby and matthew but like it's Unhinged. they're playing 5D chess and she has no idea whats going on

weird tshirts!!! he loves them! like

shit like this or those 'women want me fish fear me' shirts, anything with a funny or incomprehensible slogan is going in his closet right along with his band tees lmfao

bought estelle a panda pillow pet when she was born 🥺

can NOT bring himself to eat seafood no matter how many times poseidon has told him its fine. he's like NO these are my FRIENDS JONATHAN WAS TELLING ME ABOUT HIS GRANDDAUGHTERS WEDDING LITERALLY YESTERDAY WHY IS HE ON A PLATTER DAD. they had to give up and just start eating normal land food at the palace every time he comes to visit lmfao

gets into horsegirl antics with hazel she NEEDS to know everything the horses have to say. they spend hours gossiping in the stables.

movie nights in the poseidon cabin were 10000% a thing and when he was missing annabeth and thalia and grover (and a few others) would still sleep in there every now and then and talk about how much they miss him :(

percy and beckendorf had the worlds most elaborate handshake

he DOES impulse buy stuff just because they're ocean-themed. stuffed animals, home decor, school supplies, clothes, you name it he bought it if theres like a fish on it

has more scars from crashing off his skateboard than he does from monster attacks

grover is somehow the only person who's ever noticed percy is severely claustrophobic

has a deep passion for adele. I can't explain this one I just feel and know it to be true.

he and annabeth both proposed to each other at the same time and they were SO mad about it they kept yelling over each other's speeches lmao

he can SING but he doesn't know it. sally keeps trying to record him singing to himself but something always happens to the camera and she loses the evidence

called chiron a brony one time and mr d thought it was so funny he was nice to percy for an entire week

the camp keeps trying to convince him to teach sword fighting lessons to the younger kids but he can NOT bring himself to swing a sword at a 9 year old so he keeps getting injured

has the most complicated iced coffee order in the world his go-to local coffee shop finally just put the damn drink on the menu and named it after him

he IS the quiet kid in the back of your math class that always has his hood up to try and hide his headphones and eats increasingly elaborate meals out of his backpack when the teacher isn't looking. one time someone caught him with a rotisserie chicken in the middle of a geometry final.

he argued that he DID have enough to share with the class

currently obsessed with the image of him knocking back a container of sea salt as if it was a shot and his mortal friends being like hey! what the actual fuck! and he's just like uhhhhh anemia kills!

its his birthday<3

[nyx-thedragon]

Newsies thoughts part 3

so I just finished watching Newsies 1992 for the fourth time, and noted down a bunch of things I noticed or thoughts I had. I didn't do this the third time I watched bc that one was with my brother and I wanted to focus on the movie and talking and joking with him lol.

anyway, I noted down a lot of things, so prepare for a long post. (these are in order of when I thought of them, and I'm typing them from my notes app so enjoy my train of thought/how my brain thinks)

1- shoutout to Mr Kloppman for taking care of the boys

2- what's the story behind the lady that comes in singing about her son in "Carrying the Banner"? she fucking slays, but I'm very confused about it

3- they're literally just a bunch of teenage boys who've been dealt an awful hand in life but try their best to keep everyone's morale up and stay positive (me realizing how sad the reality of the newsboys is)

4- all the older newsies taking care of and helping the little ones I love them so bad

5- you can tell how close the newsies are with each other I love it. family for real

6- why does Les carry a wooden sword almost the whole movie?

7- "this is my brother David. he's older" "oh, no kiddin'"

8- love love love how all the newsies just adopt David and Les into the group immediately

9- Pulitzer needs a magnifying glass to read the big-ass headline lmao

10- Seitz lowkey seems to kinda be on the newsies' side

11- why does the crowd boo when the old guy is holding up the "round 58" sign? (during the scene where there's a boxing match going on)

12- Les and Davey immediately follow Jack in running from Snyder even though they've never been in trouble with the law

13- Davey stops Les from putting his head in the horse mask thing (?) (when they're in Medda's theatre)

14- Jack just staring at Davey while Medda coos over Les

15- genuinely Jack did not need to pull Davey by his tie. he could've grabbed his shoulder, but no. had to pick the gayest option

16- Davey inviting Jack to his house after just meeting him literally like not even 12 hours ago. and then inviting him to stay the night?? down bad behavior for real. and he seems so nervous to introduce him to his parents too ??

17- Sarah Jacobs please give me a chance please please please

18- ngl the scenes with Jack and Sarah are a little bit like,,,cringe?? idk they just don't feel right idk if they have enough chemistry for Sarah to realistically be Jack's love interest

19- bro just casually steals a horse and no one goes after him ??? (during Santa Fe)

20- the stupid fucking calculation thing Pulitzer does with his arms omg it's so funny for no reason

21- Kid Blink either doesn't see or just doesn't care that one of the Delanceys is mocking him

22- Jack puts his hand like right next to Davey's face and then slowly moves it away lol (when Jack is asking Davey what he should say to the other newsies when first planning the strike)

23- Davey staring longingly at Jack while he's up writing "strike" on the board

24- "i need some of those...what do you call 'em?" "whatever you want!" (from a random newsie in the crowd, love whoever that was)

25- Spot Conlon hears Davey say one sentence and is like 'yeah this guy never shuts up once you get him going, i can tell' (hence "walking mouth")

26- who is the newsie that just appears behind Jack while they're in Brooklyn talking to Spot??

27- Mush and Davey friendship i love you so

28- where does Race get a harmonica from for "Seize The Day"?

29- love all the littles standing on the statue pedestal during "Seize The Day"

30- Jack and Davey jump up on the statue pedestal and start kicking each other. playing footsie, boys?

oh dear lord i did not realize i noted down this much holy shit

31- Davey immediately looking for Les when the cops show up

32- the Refuge needs better security at the gate cuz how did newsies sneak in TWICE

33- they had time to choreograph a whole dance routine bro (the little seize the day reprise thing)

34- "everyone remain calm" "let's soak 'em for Crutchie!"

35- Davey gets pulled away by someone in the crowd while trying to help Jack (during the big scene when they get ambushed by the police at the distribution place)

36- why are half of the Brooklyn guys grown ass men?? and they're intimidated enough by Spot Conlon to let him be the leader? man i love Spot Conlon he's so cool

37- Spot and Kid Blink lowkey friendship love it

38- Dutchy being horizontal for the picture

39- the workers at the restaurant just watching the chaos of "King of New York"

40- i hate Snyder's face. it makes me uncomfy

41- Sarah Jacobs, how is your hair perfect right after waking up tell me your secrets

42- if they wanted the Jack and Sarah love interest story to actually work better, they should've fit more scenes of them talking

43- nah cuz actually wdym Jack's "real" name is Francis?? he doesn't look like a Francis at all (this is just me being baffled that he could be named Francis, of all things)

44- who is letting Kid Blink hang off the fucking balcony bro he is nawt gonna land on his feet

45- Race and Blink being Medda's #1 hype men <3

oh my fucking god i'm so sorry this is so long i apologize profusely. if you've made it this far, go get a little treat for yourself

46- Jack and Davey are so grabby with each other when Davey is warning Jack about Snyder

47- Medda i love you !!! (tried to fight off the police to defend Race. "he's just a child")

48- how are the newsies losing the fight against the police? there's like a thousand of them and not as many of the police (or at least it seems there's a lot less police)

49- Denton trying to get to Jack when he's captured by the police

50- Race trying to gamble with the judge, he's so unserious

51- the look Jack gives Davey when Snyder starts telling the truth about Jack (his real name, his dad not being out West)

52- i keep accidentally mixing up Specs and Dutchy lol. probably cuz they both wear glasses (i feel so bad for this omg i'm so sorry Specs and Dutchy)

53- no yeah, security at the gate of the Refuge is awful. 6 boys snuck in at once !!

54- why did Pulitzer tell Jack to shut up and listen THREE TIMES when he wasn't even talking ???

55- Davey was just standing in the courtyard outside Pulitzer's, how did no one see him?? he wasn't even hiding, dude

56- Mush shows up to get the "Newsies Banner" papers twice - once by himself and again with Kid Blink

57- "can you read? read that" (Race making sure the kids will be able to read the paper love him for that)

58- Race and Les's little friendship moment is cute ("when the distribution bell starts ringin', will we hear it?" "nah")

59- Race's reaction to Roosevelt is funny. "Roosevelt!?" (bro is shocked)

60- Denton hanging out with Les while Davey gets his papes

61- Race cheering when Jack kisses Sarah. "Jackie boy!"

whew oh dear lord I am so so so sorry for this being so fucking long. I didn't even realize I had noted down so many things I feel bad for making folks have to read this whole thing if they want to see all my thoughts. maybe I should split this in half and have two posts instead of this long one?? idk let me know what you think. also, if I got the names wrong for any newsies, please let me know I'm still learning lol.

uh yeah, this post is over now. stay hydrated, get some rest, and stay cool

[wee-miss-noone]

List of books/Tv shows/other stuff that I would like to see Chase and co. visit

This is non-exhustive lsit so feel free to add more.

Also this list will include non-book media, because as far as I'm concerned things like plays and tv shows have to have a (physical) script at some point and you know what a script is? A story written out on bunch of pages tied together in book-like fashion. Check-mate baby.

Carmilla. This one is self explanatory. A hot lesbian villianess flirts and sort of seduces naive fair haired maiden. Somehow both the stuff of Chase's dreams (bcs vampires yay) and his worst nightmares (bcs he has to hang around Buddy, and also doubful consent). I just wanna watch these two dance around the plot trying to figure out how to make it work onsidering their relationship over all.

Swan lake. Idk I just think aesthetic would be pretty. Also I just imagine Chase only watched the Barbie movie version so he has no clue what he's in for. He's dissapointed though there's no unicorn.

Any isekai manhwa. I just wanna see how Chase's profesional story-hopping works within the context traditional isekai. Like is he just isekaining into the body of the od Heroine or is he also hijacking the mind of the isekaied real heroine?

She-ra and the Princesses of Power. Chase gets a cool sword, Buddy gets to be a cat (provided he's not going to take on the role of the Shadow Weaver but let's just assume that's not the case). also they are obligated to flirt again. Great!

Thorn of Court and Roses. Especially after Buddy and Chase grow closer. Feyre flips off all the male love interests and goes off to make out with Amarantha which incidentally solves her riddle breaking the curse (yeah I know Amarantha's very evil, but also I never cared for those books and I just thought it would be funny.)

lowkey Coraline but only with Chase. Yes it will be dark and unsettling, but I still think it would be interesting to see Chase dealing with Other Mother given his own baggage.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Chase and Buffy are just too much alike for this not to be fun. Blonde cheerleader-sort-of types that are willing to go anything for those they love and are sassy to boot (and crushing on vampires as if it's their job). Also depending on what season this would be Buddy could be either Cordelia, Drusilla, Gloria or Anya(? or Willow technically in one specific season) but to be honest I would really like to see him as either Gloria or Drusilla (RIP Spike, torn between these two women only for them to start making out).

Howl's Moving Castle - again just for Chase and Deacon maybe. I wanna see Chase inerract with book Howl.

My Lady Jane. Adding this one purely bcs I wanna know if Guildford Dudley would hate Deacon the same way all the other horses in stories do.

Okay this one is tricky but if they figured out a way to get into digital world, one of those "I was sold to One Direction/Justin Bieber is my new roomate/boss" self-insert fanfics. Purely for Chase as a treat/threat

[hanasnx]

i hav been obsessed with ur blog and how u write anakin since i found it, i have a prompt and i would love to see what u do with it. all i will say is greasy nic addicted pothead linecook anakin. thank u god bless 🙏🙏

no bcos this is my sweet spot actually. something about linecooks having a sailor’s mouth, barking shit at people in their way, sweaty from labor and from the heat of appliances, flirting with the cute waitresses & giving them meals to go home with…

☥ he’s the guy that works the most, probably as much as he can, bcos hes like… hobby-less

☥ i’m imagining dane cook’s look from the movie “waiting…” so the black bandana around the hair to keep it out of his face. eyebrow piercing, maybe some lip piercings ….. ooooo

☥ the nic and pot is so real and so special to me. you’d more often than not catch him outside in the back having a smoke. one time he came to work with a bong and he passed it around with the other ppl in the back

☥ horsing around constantly with his coworkers like theyre all siblings that hate each other

☥ but when you walk in,,, he gets so bashful sometimes

“heyy, miss (y/n)…“

his coworkers mocking him, batting their lashes like, “hEyY, mIsS (y/N)—“ and he whips em with a towel a little to get em to shut up

☥ always leaning on things, any excuse to get closer to you. you pick up a plate and he throws a towel over his shoulder and hes chewing on a toothpick and hes like, “when’s your shift up?” bcos he wants to hang out with you after even if its just smoking with you in his car

☥ he’s got that oral fixation, his vape, a cig if hes got it, pre-rolls he has in the pocket in his apron, toothpicks, toying with his snake bite lip rings when he talks to you

☥ you get so nervous around him bcos he looks so big and mean and acts so commanding in the kitchen. you like him in that black shirt he wears all the time even if it’s stained with food and sweat and it tucks so nicely into his apron

☥ listening to his shitty music on his shitty radio and every other song he’s like “ohhh this is a good one, this is a good one—“

“this is your playlist, ani—“

“shut up and listen. this chick is a genius. listen to this.”

he’s such a jackass.

he’d probably grab your hand on the way out and twirl you to the song. “dance, waitress, dance.”

☥ he rly would be so greasy. so disgusting. i love the word to describe him. greasy. smelly from working istg you’d love his musk. like the stench mixed with his deodorant and cologne. you’d joke with him how he smells so good and that you wanna stick his nose in his pit and he laughs it off like “knew you were a freak.” even tho that’s not technically what you meant but now you’re thinking about him shoving your face in his taint

☥ imagine the two of you finally smoke together as an excuse to hangout and suddenly youre straddling him in his backed up seat and making out like you’re trying to inhale each other. all that sexual tension finally having a space to be worked out as youre grinding down on his halfie and he’s got a joint still pinched in between his fingers

maybe he does you inside his car and the next day you can’t stop flirting with each other hardcore during work. he starts grabbing your ass discretely whenever he can, and your fingers draw down his chest while hes eyeing you hungrily. trying to lure you outside during his smoke break for a quick make out and grope session because he just can’t stay away from you

☥ bet a bunch of your coworkers think hes so hot and youre listening to em knowing youre the one doing him after the shift

[navarresimp]

ALL NUMBERS FOR GASTON

You do not know what you have brought upon this cursed website

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

Genuinely always enjoyed extremely over the top dramatic flamboyant arrogant bastards who get redeemed as a character. I also love that never in the game he is an actual antagonist, he just makes himself very hard to get along with in the first half of the game and makes every fight as a partner extremely frustrating just because you killed a snake before he could once. 10/10 petty behaviour. You actually feel for him when he no longer is crusader captain because you know he's a sucker for attention and cares a lot about how others perceive him. Also spears are genuinely underrated weapons to give to a character. He's the definition of Christian boy guilt. 5 stars most arrogant man in Mikado (alive) would buy again

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

Him canonically striking a pose when winning against Merkabah is by far the funniest fucking thing. He would absolutely do that again. I like to think he does that after every battle. He probably does it in front of a mirror sometimes.

Also him being a picky eater evident by his hunter association dialogue. Yes autistic king I get it.

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

Ik it's not really canon(thank god) as it is like a hallucination by nanashi but like the downright pedo dialogue at the start of the Beach DLC (Ew Ew Ew banana peel banana peel tomato tomato crucify the french boy)

4. If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in?

Faith the unholy Trilogy: make this man experience the religious horrors and see how long he'd survive

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

Titanic by Falco (it's about fully giving into decadence and being brave enough to take the fall)

6. What's something you have in common with this character?

Massive ego and flamboyancy

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

The insanely scrumptious fanart that people post every now and them. Also everyone unanimously agreeing that he is the worst battle partner and is only good when auto grinding.

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

The fandom consists of like 3 people and a bunch of dead shitpost accounts brother there is nothing to criticise when there is nothing to begin with

9. Could you be roommates with this character?

No, I genuinely think he would get very pissed by the way I organise and sometimes forget to pay rent (judging how decked out his family is he would probably be a landlord sympathiser).

10. Could you be best friends with this character?

We are already besties

11. Would you date this character?

HELL NAH

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

Most homosexual homo to have ever sexualed but is extremely repressed. Has memorized most of the bible and will drop psalms occasionally (even after killing God it's just that ingrained) Autistic, his first special interest was the bible, but autism wasn't yet invented in 1432 Mikado so everyone thought he was a child blessed by God. Knows how to ride horses, was taught by his father and knows how to cook, taught by his grandmother. After the peace route he discovered a cooking show DVD and rewatches it constantly. Is iron deficient, passed out often during puberty. Has NPD. If he lived in the real world he would be very rude to customer service staff but leave a 100€ tip.

13. What's an emoji, an emoticon and/or any symbol that reminds you of this character or you think the character would use a lot?

Fork emoji

14. Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character.

Light academia: white and brown hell yeah

15. What's your favorite ship for this character? (Doesn't matter if it's canon or not.)

16. What's your least favorite ship for this character?

Literally any ship that ships him with an under age character or him and his brother (I can't believe I have to say this)

17. What's a ship for this character you don't hate but it's not your favorite that you're fine with?

Forget the insanity of angels and the weird time bending shit that went on in Mikado for a minute and Gaston x Jonathan would actually become an interesting narrative of two gay guys who had their gayness repressed by a super religious kingdom and the inherently classist feudal system whose heteronormative structure demands heterosexuality to uphold the godchosen oppressor class and the tragedy of one becoming the very essence of the force that oppresses(angel) and the other bing forced to kill his lover to achieve freedom. Doomed yaoi if you will

18. How about a relationship they have in canon with another character that you admire?

If the writers knew how to cook they would've utilized the clear parallels they established between Toki and Gaston. Their friendship could've genuinely went hard. It does go hard but only in my head unfortunately.

20. Which other character is the ideal best friend for this character, the amount of screentime they share doesn't matter?

Bestie behaviour

21. If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?

His extravagant speech, that is on the other hand very weird to Google how do you write the past tense of dilly dally

22. If you're a fic reader, what's something you like in fics when it comes to ths character? Something you don't like?

There are like 2 fics I love them all

23. Favorite picture of this character?

These two I made I can't decide

24. What other character from another fandom of yours that reminds you of them?

Apollo Justice Lawyersona Shin Megamitourney Acesei

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

Genuinely don't remember anything that happened between 2013 and 2018 including my first play through. All I know now is that he is literally me.

[smolcinnamonchipmunk]

This might be incomprehensible because I just woke up, but bear with me

Had a dream that I was one of nine dragons/people (because of course shapeshifting, lmao. But for some reason I was the only one who could shift naturally) that were experimented on and we had no memories of our dragon selves exactly, but we were each different and I was number 3 because I had one of those tags on my dragon ear.

And instinctively we knew not to like some certain people, but we didn't know why until I was in dragon form with the others and was asking like, what I looked like because we came across a field guide like paper describing dragon appearance and stuff, and either one of us started acting weird or this random guy showed up and started describing my dragon with, like, almost reverence?

Like in movies and shows where the bad guy talks about something in a almost obsessive/possessive-loving way where it sounds like they're way too into the whole thing, or like the hunter describing the joy of the hunt way too much in HTTYD 3.

And I can't remember how he described my dragon but he was talking about the importance of documentation and just kept circling around me. I suddenly remember being human and I don't know if I turned back or something happened, but the dude was straight up weird?? Like, pinned me to the ground and licked my neck beneath my right jaw bone a few times, and I think my being human was forced because all I could really do was snarl and TRY to push this guy off. And the others couldn't help because a bunch more weirdos had burst in while this dude was being weird.

And this part wasn't really explicitly said in the dream, but it's one of those things where you know it's a fact in the dream, but the weird dude was also a dragon-guy that was experimented on, and I think he was 1.

Anyways, this entire dream there was like an almost nauseating overlay over my first person perspective, giving me a third person perspective of myself as well. And once I get defensive enough that my eyes turned dragon-esque (which was fairly quick) the guy laughed and got off of me, and was talking about the importance of experimentation or something? It definitely gets real weird after that because suddenly we're all in a dark room of testing equipment in our dragon forms (mine was the smallest one, smaller than most horses) and we found out that we were being experimented on in the present because the bad guys had a premonition or whatever about this whole thing 25 years in the past, and I fought two of my cousins at some point, idk it went off the rails lmao

Anyways, there's my random dream of the day. I might draw the weird dude later and a dragonsona

[crescentblossom66]

Prompt 15 Stallion

The Express Owls looked one more anxious than the next, as the dreaded trailers arrived. Hat Kid and Bow Kid, meanwhile looked thrilled, they had been looking forward to filming this particular scene of the movie. The Conductor filled out the form needed as the delivery person arrived to bring the horses that were required to chase after the train in the next scene of the. Why the Western director chose to real use real animals instead of CGI irked his subordinates who had to not only take care of the horses, but also somehow ride them to film the movie.

The purple eyed girl immediately took a liking to the white horse that was carefully brought out of the trailer, moved closer the animal and stretched out a hand to pet the face of the horse. Hat Kid soon did the same trying to tame one of the wilder horses, the owls were more reserved shaking at the mere sight of the mares and stallions. “Alright, boys, lets start recording!”

Hat Kid and Bow Kid wasted no time getting on the horses and riding around a little to get a feel for riding. “Uh...I don't think this is a good idea, boss...” One of the owls started, but was immediately shut down by black clad bird.

“Are ye the director or me, lad? If I say it's a good idea, it is a peckin' great idea!” The owls flinched at his voice, now stuck between their fear of the horses and their director's anger. Obviously, the poor Express Owls were more afraid of their boss, so they reluctantly tried to get on the horses, one got thrown off immediately causing the Conductor to sigh in disappointment.

After around two hours, Hat- and Bow Kid managed to get a good feel for their horses and had no trouble riding behind the train...the owls on the other hand fared rather poorly. One owl had injured his wing on take 5, another ate sand as the horse stopped swiftly, and launched him off his back and straight into the ground. All this of course made the yellow owl rage more and more. “How can ye all be so incompetent?! It cannae be that hard to stay in the saddle!” The owl that ate sand spoke up, annoyed enough to talk back to the pissed off bird.

“This is not a horse, sir, this thing is a demon!” The Conductor looked at the owl then back at the stallion with a beautiful red coat.

“This wee lad is givin' ye trouble? He ain't lookin' so bad.” Even the two girls were reluctant to approach the wildest horse of the bunch, yet the yellow bird approached it without even hesitating. The horse shifted its ears back and showed sign of agitation. “Alright, laddie, time ta show ye who's the boss 'round these parts.” He jumped on the stallion's back who immediately tried to buck him off and get throw him either over his head or down his back, yet the director seemed to have no trouble staying on, shifting his weight accordingly. “Yer gonna tired befer me!” The owls watched in awe and the two girls started to clap and cheer at the amazing display, it caused him to grab his hat and hold it outstretched in one had, like a cowboy. A few moments later, the rebellious stallion calmed down, tamed by its skilled rider. “See, that's how ye do it!”

The next take of the scene ended up a lot better than the previous ones, it was as if the group of horses calmed down after seeing their leader being bested by the old, yellow owl.

[elwolfen]

Alfred Molinathon Day 17

Dudley Do-Right (1999)

Snidely K. Whiplash

His Role: Genuinely the best part by a long shot. He's just so god damn silly and over the top! I knew this going in, but man, I laughed way too much (then again, I kinda laugh easily). His voice was a few octaves higher and really did sound like someone from an older cartoon (I don't know how accurate it is the cartoon, never seen it fully). Very Rippen-y role, which makes sense.

I was surprised about all the screen time he got, I understand he's the bad guy, but we see more of him than the main character, the guy whose name is the title... and I don't care, more Molina for me.

Was surprised to see that the three characters knew each other as children, and he wasn't even British. I like to think that's what becoming a bad guy entails. You gotta practice an English accent. Also, he just outright kisses Kid Nell on the cheek as an example benefit of being a bad guy. He then kisses her on the lips when they meet after 20 years! Like, bro, you can't just do that! I know she seemed fine with it, but damn. Also, about this scene? Dudley gets upset at her kissing Snidely... are you blind!? He kissed her! That really pissed me off.

I was surprised at how successful he was during the duration of the film. He robbed a bank, started a gold rush, and completely took over Semi-Happy Valley! Like, wow. He became a full-on capitalist. He even went golfing! Yet his fall felt so unearned.

I liked his army of grunts. It's just a bunch of yes men, especially Homer. It was funny during the scene when Snidely pretended to run off with the bank money and gold, but he was actually disguised as a grunt because he's so damn tall! There is another grunt who's tall, but it's Molina, he's gonna tower over everyone... except for Brendan Fraser, he towers over Alfred, and that shocked me.

Also, the D.D. scene? Someone should have said Dick Dastardly. That would've been funny.

~~~

The Rest of the Movie: I thought I was gonna hate this and find it so annoying, I was pleasantly surprised to find it wasn't horrible. But I don't love it because when we aren't watching Snidely, we have to watch Dudley and oh boy, that was the most boring shit. I don’t find "dumb character does dumb things" that funny at all. It was really disappointing because Brendan Fraser was very prominent in my childhood and was hoping he wasn't awful in this... look, it's not his fault.

Nell, Snidely and Dudley? Twilight. That's what that whole thing reminded me of. I know Twilight clearly didn't invent love triangles, but it popularized bad love triangles, I couldn't stop thinking about it, I hate that kinda thing. My answer? Poly.

What a waste of Horse, by the way.

~~~

Heads up! The depiction of Native Americans may make plenty of people uncomfortable, and a very random slur is brought up during the gold rush news coverage. I wiped my head around so fast, like why?

[all-the-things-2020]

No Better Place - Chapter 11

Summary: Cassidy meets the family and two new horses join the herd.

Word count: 2400+

They settled into a comfortable routine. Javi still came most days to work with Buster, but now he spent the night a few times a week. Cassidy kept a couple of casseroles in her freezer, ready to pop in the oven on the days Javi stayed over. They were cheap and each one would feed them for several days. Saturday nights, they went “out” to Chucho’s to watch movies and snuggle on the couch. Her own VCR had broken and she hardly used it anyway, so even though they sacrificed some privacy, it was worth it to enjoy a film on Chucho’s 36 inch television once a week.

“You should come with us to the party tomorrow,” Chucho said one Saturday night as they were waiting for the video to rewind before putting it back in the case.

“Aw, Dad, she doesn’t want to spend the day with a bunch of people she’s never met,” Javi said.

“They want to meet her,” Chucho said. He turned to Cassidy. “I know you have work to do, mija, but I’m getting tired of everyone asking me why Javi won’t bring his novia around to meet everyone. They think there’s something wrong with you.”

Javi snorted. “They do not,” he said. “They just want to tell her embarrassing stories about me.” He took Cassidy’s hand and squeezed it. “You don’t have to go.”

She looked between the two men. Chucho had a pleading look on his face, while Javi looked slightly smug. “Actually,” she said, “I would like to meet some of your relatives.” Javi shook his head, while Chucho laughed.

“Oh, baby, you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into,” Javi said.

She put her arms around him and hugged him tight. “That’s what everyone said when I started dating you,” she reminded him. “And so far I don’t regret a thing.”

He tilted her chin up and kissed her. “Ay dios mio, get a room,” Chucho teased as he punched the eject button on the VCR and removed the videotape. “Or better yet, go back to Cassidy’s place so I don’t have to hear ‘Oh, Javi, oh, Javi’ all night.”

One Saturday night, after a marathon of The Godfather and The Godfather II, Cassidy had opted to spend the night rather than drive home so late, and Chucho had teased them mercilessly the next morning, complaining that he needed to soundproof the walls of Javi’s bedroom if she was going to sleep over again.

“Shut up, Dad,” Javi said easily.

“Yeah, shut up, Dad,” Cassidy repeated. “I really should get going, though. If I’m going with you tomorrow, I’ll need to get all my barn chores done early.” She stood up and Javi walked her to the front door.

“He’s going to tease the hell out of me now,” he said quietly.

“What do you mean?”

“You called him Dad,” Javi said. “I’m sure you can imagine what he’ll read into that.”

She laughed. “Sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I was just mimicking you.” She put a hand on the back of his neck and pulled him down for a goodnight kiss. “Call me in the morning when you’re ready to go.”

He pressed his forehead against hers. “Be careful driving home,” he whispered.

“Always,” she replied. She kissed his lips again gently, and then headed for her truck.

*********************************

Javi shifted nervously in his seat. Cassidy sat between him and Chucho, who was driving, and he didn’t know what to do with his hands. If he put his arm around her, his hand would be brushing his father’s shoulder, but the bench seat was crowded with three of them jammed into the cab. His right elbow was pressed against the door and his left threatened to jab Cassidy in the ribs.

“For Christ’s sake, settle down, mijo,” Chucho grumped. “Just put your arm around her.”

Cassidy chuckled and scooched closer to him. Chucho shook his head. “You’d think you were a couple of junior high kids on the way to their first dance,” he said.

Javi knew it was silly but he couldn’t help it. He hadn’t brought a girl to a family function in years. Not since Lorraine. He slid his arm around Cassidy’s shoulders and pulled her closer. She laid her head on his shoulder.

“I’m just nervous,” he admitted. “They’re all going to tease me and ask a million questions and embarrass the hell out of us.”

“They’re family,” Chucho said. “That’s what they’re supposed to do.”

When they pulled up outside Tio Ricardo’s house, there were already more than a dozen vehicles parked haphazardly in the driveway, front lawn, and down the street. Ricardo lived in an older subdivision with one acre lots and a semi-rural atmosphere.

“So, who’s birthday is it?” Cassidy asked as Javi helped her down from the truck.

“My cousin Arturo,” Javi replied. “He’s turning eighteen. Probably champing at the bit to ditch the family party and go out with his friends.”

It took some time to introduce Cassidy to everyone. Even the kids were curious about the woman who was dating Primo Javi, even more so when they found out she had horses. Soon Cassidy was deep in conversation with three little girls who had brought their toy ponies along with them.

“So,” Tio Ricardo said, handing Javi a cold beer. “You better not leave this one at the altar, you hear me?”

“We’ve been dating less than two months,” Javi said. Ricardo simply looked at him. Javi sighed. “Look, Dad already told me what he’ll do to me if I break her heart. You don’t have to do it, too.” He took a drink of his beer. “I’m not gonna hurt her,” he said softly.

“Good,” Ricardo said. “And by the way, if she hurts you, I’m siccing Abuela Graciela on her.” He laughed and slapped Javi on the back. No one crossed Abuela Graciela, who was close to ninety years old but still ruled with an iron fist. Even the wildest teenage boy in the family dreaded doing something to bring him to her attention. Her tongue was sharp and if Javi could have taken her down to Colombia and turned her loose on Pablo Escobar and the other narcos it would have saved the whole world a lot of trouble.

******************************

Cassidy had a great time at the party, even though she didn’t know anyone and half the conversations going on around her were in Spanish. The three little girls, Ana, Maria, and Chelsea, were enamored with her and she had a standing invitation to “play horses” with them any time.

She’d also heard the story of how Javi left Lorraine at the altar at least six times and several stories of stupid things he’d done as a kid and teenager. Chucho assured her only half of them were true, but wouldn’t tell her which half. And the food was amazing. Ricardo’s wife had insisted everyone take some leftovers home with them, so on the ride home, she and Javi carefully balanced foil trays and packets of carne asada, homemade tortillas, and potato salad.

“Now I see why you two accept every invitation,” she said. “You get free food.”

Javi chuckled. “Yeah, Dad hates to cook, so we live off leftovers for a couple of days.” He rubbed his hand up and down the outside of her arm. “I should start bringing some over so you don’t have to feed me every time I spend the night.”

“I don’t mind feeding you,” she insisted. “You’re doing so much around the place, I feel like I owe you. And feeding you is cheaper than paying you.”

Javi leaned in and whispered, his mustache tickling her ear, “You’re already paying me in other ways.”

“Nah,” she whispered back, “that’s not payment. I might do just about anything for my horses but I’m now whoring myself out for them.” She winked at him, so he’d know she was kidding.

Javi just shook his head. She wondered just how much he knew about her financial situation. So far, she was hanging in there, and she didn’t want him to worry about nothing.

************************************

Javi pulled up next to Cassidy’s house to see two strange horses trotting around in Buster’s pen. They were smallish pintos, one black and white, the other red and white. Both had tangles in their manes and tails and bright yellow stickers on their rumps.

Buster whickered at him from the arena, where he was standing at the rail, staring at the newcomers, his nostrils flared. Javi walked over to him. “Did they kick you out, buddy?”

Buster flicked an ear at him but kept his eyes on the other horses. “It’s just temporary,” Cassidy called from the barn. She walked toward them. “They’re pretty bonded and I didn’t want them to freak out too much.”

“I thought you were going to get one horse,” Javi said. She’d sold Dawson a week ago and last night she’d headed for the local auction to buy a new project horse with part of the money.

“So did I,” she admitted, stroking Buster’s muzzle. “But like I said, they’re very bonded and I couldn’t break them up. And they were cheap enough.”

“How much did you end up clearing?” Javi asked.

She wouldn’t look at him. “Fifty bucks,” she said quietly. He sighed. Fifty dollars wouldn’t buy much hay, and now she had two more mouths to feed. She’d planned to spend only half the money she’d gotten for Dawson. She’d sold him for five hundred, which meant she’d spent four fifty on the two pintos.

“Two twenty five a piece doesn’t seem cheap to me,” he said mildly. “Unless you know something I don’t.” The horses looked half wild and personally he wouldn’t have paid more than a hundred and fifty for either one.

“I had to go that high to outbid the meat buyer,” she said. “But if I can retrain them fast, I can try to sell them as a pair. They might be good for a drill team or something like that. The auction guy said they might be mother and daughter. The black and white is about eight and the chestnut is about four, so it’s possible.”

“Let me know if you need any help with hay or anything,” Javi offered.

“I’m fine,” Cassidy snapped. “I didn’t clear much profit off Dawson but so what? I’ll just sell a couple extra articles this month. I have a shitload of ideas.” She bit her lower lip. “Come on, let me introduce you to my new wild girls.” She walked purposefully toward the pen, and Javi followed. He’d touched a nerve, but he didn’t want to push her.

The mares were wary but were easily lured to the fence with the carrots in Cassidy’s back pocket. They were small, the four year old not much bigger than a pony. “They’ll be great kids' horses if I can calm them down,” she said, rubbing the older mare’s forehead. The filly snorted and shied away. “Great 4-H project or gymkhana, especially the young one.”

Javi wasn’t convinced, but he kept his mouth shut. They seemed a bit too wild, even more so than Buster had been when he first arrived. Buster had been scared but he’d been fully broken already. These two were more like mustangs just off the range, and Javi sure wouldn’t trust a kid with either of them, but Cassidy was the expert.

“So, when does my boy get his pen back?,” he asked, half joking.

“Couple of days,” she replied. “I want to pull out the wall between two stalls so they can share a bigger one, then I’ll move them into the barn. I’ve been thinking about doing that anyway, so I’ll have a foaling stall just in case I ever get a pregnant mare.”

“Or you decide to breed Cricket?,” he asked.

She whipped her head around. “I’m not breeding Cricket,” she said firmly. “She’s a lovely mare and God knows I wish there were more horses like her in the world, but with all the horses being dumped at auction, there’s no need for me to be adding another backyard bred horse to the world.” She leaned against the fence and stared off into the distance. “That’s actually a good idea for an article. ‘Why You Shouldn’t Breed Your Mare.’ I need to remember that.”

They spent the rest of the day tearing out the wall between the two stalls on the end of the aisle. Cricket and Nugget, the other rescue horse, who was unable to be sold yet because of a chronic tendon issue that needed time to heal, watched for a while but got bored quickly and went back to dozing in the back of their stalls.

“Tomorrow, we’ll sand everything down, pull out any loose nails, and cover the edges up with new boards,” Cassidy said when they were done. “You gonna stay tonight or go home?”

“Dad’s expecting me,” he said reluctantly. “He’s got some paperwork he wants me to help him with. Some kind of permits he has to file before he can build a ditch or something.” Honestly, Javi hadn’t been paying full attention when Chucho had explained it to him. But he was very familiar with bureaucratic red tape, and he’s promised to help his father fill out the forms.

“Then I’ll see you tomorrow,” Cassidy said. She pulled him in for a kiss and he slid his arms around her waist. He wished he could be with her every night, but neither of them was ready to take that step yet. He kissed her again and headed home.

*****************************

Cassidy was kind of glad that Javi couldn’t stay that night. She fed all the horses, put Buster back in his stall, double checked the gate on the pen where the new mares were, and went into the house. She fixed herself a sandwich for dinner, fed Linus, and then parked her butt in her desk chair. She brainstormed some ideas for an article on reasons not to breed a mare, did revisions on a finished article on bareback pads, and got several paragraphs done on her latest work in progress.

Last of all, she went over her spreadsheet. This month would be tight, since she’d been counting on more of a profit off the sale of Dawson, but she’d be able to make her mortgage payment and feed all the animals, and that was all that mattered. Still, she’d have to work her ass off to build her emergency cushion back up.

[choicesfrog]

what do your ocs/mcs/lis smell like? (not in a weird creepy way asdfghjk but in a what's their fav scent/their house smell way yk)

Thanks for the ask! Don’t worry I got what you meant! This got way too long, but it was fun to think about 😄

Dez really likes the scent of mint (and also eats mints/chews mint gum peppermint not wintergreen). I imagine Indigo having a citrusy smell from body wash.

Since Sloane likes lavender I imagine Carolina started using lavender scented shampoo. Also, lots of lavender soaps and candles.

Milo I think would probably have some super strong smelling cologne that gets its smell all over everything. He thinks it smells good, as for anyone else? Not so much 😅

I imagine Eloise and Hana really liking floral smells. Lots of flowers in their house. Gardenias, roses, lilies the works. I would imagine they both use some kind of floral perfume, but with a softer smell.

Elaine loves the smell of the ocean and tries to visit the beach whenever possible. I imagine Liam enjoying the smell of baked bread and baking scents in general (if that makes sense), reminding him of baking with his mother.

Similar to Liam, Lennox and Kate enjoy the smell of baked goods. You’d think they’d be tired of it after working in a bakery all day, but they both have a major sweet tooth. I imagine they still bake at home.

Jade likes the smell of cinnamon and strong smells in general. Naomi enjoys fresh air, nature, and just the smell of the outdoors, bringing her back to her time living on her family’s ranch.

So for Valentine my mind keeps coming back to this really gross smelling candle we had where I used to work that was a Halloween themed scent. I can’t even describe what it smelled like other than strong and gross, but I feel like he’d be into that? Also, herbs and spices. I imagine he’d join Ava on her witchy endeavors.

Marella likes the smell of typical bubble gum, cotton candy, and really any candy related scent. For some reason I imagine Andy liking the smell of movie theater popcorn. Those two probably watch a bunch of ridiculous movies together, so buttery popcorn is a common smell.

Cassie actually likes the smell of garlic. She’s also one that likes smells that remind her of cooking and happier times with her parents. She remembers eating large, strong smelling meals with her family. Garlic reminds her of her favorite garlic and butter noodles. The smell of hay and the forest remind Imogen of her beloved horse. I still picture her to be a major horse girl. Maybe opening up a rescue for them after the story. She also wears fancy perfume, and she likes floral and vanilla scented ones.

Theo likes the smell of coffee and coffee grounds. They needs their coffee in the morning to wake up/stay awake after all nighters. Trystan likes the smell of books having read a lot when she was younger.

Ruelle is another who loves the smell of nature, the forest, the river rushing by. They’re all smells that she can carry with her to remind her of home, even if she’d rather keep on traveling than return. Nia likes the smell of roses and sweet pea. I imagine her gravitating more towards floral and springtime smells.

Charlotte likes the smell of chocolate, crisp air, and wood burning in the fireplace. She enjoys cozy nights in, in the winter. I think of Emma as a fall and pumpkin spice person for some reason, so fall smells.

I imagine both Lily and Olive are super chaotic, and their home probably doesn’t smell too great sometimes, when they’re in their apartment and not supervising the Shadow Den. Lily likes the smell of pizza and uses really outrageous toppings. Olive is pretty similar in liking food smells. Usually fast food/junk food, French fries, potato chips (sour cream and onion). Just because vampires don’t need food, doesn’t mean they don’t like smelling it.

I feel like I don’t “know” Erica and Amalia enough since I’m not too far into It Lives Within, but I’ll probably update this when I figure something out.

[the-firebird69]

This car is a tragedy and we made some comments but it goes slower than last year's model and it looks weird and it doesn't stay with a look that it started with 100% And they are building it because they're stupid and say they want to use last year's model and you're not really doing that and they're limiting their own people and others because they're not very smart so we're wondering what that is and we're wondering about the stashes and cashes and it's in their trying to starve people out of everything it's not the same thing they're stupid and you tell them it's kind of in your head what you're doing and they don't get it so you break on through a lot of people have and you see that they're playing involves a few moving parts of the same nature and it's crappy and it's not well done and they're kind of stifling people but not extremely effectively they're shrinking and it's getting worse for them soon they'll be gone and this propane incident is going to cause it they had a lot to do with Michael too disappearing and they had a lot to do with several others who are higher up in the pseudo empire getting hurt and they are going down and that was leading the trumpsters we plan on attacking Stan and Sherry and they appear to be using Jason but Jason is Obi-Wan Kenobi if you watch the movie he shows up not really that quick yeah it looks like he did it and people think so we did too and he hit his own people because they're in the damn way and they do that a lot and it says it's the same way and you bring some back and says don't get in the damn way when I see the move and he's going to go after them they're going to take him out of the family and they're going to say he gets nothing they're going to leave their stuff through their own people which makes sense their own people are shrinking and they can't stay here and he is in a lot of trouble and they're shrinking a lot in Oregon Washington State and a couple other areas in the midwest hit was too much and soon they'll be out and they're talking about kidnapping our son a lot quite a bit. And you understand that they don't do s*** we understand they don't do s***driving around like babies threatening making noises making his life hell and a whole bunch of babies are doing it now and we have to shut them down all day long it's a it's a living nightmare this is a nightmare but our son has to live and daughter has to hear it is just enough to choke a damn horse and a million times we're going to get to it soon enough and we made it too very soon we are going to get to it it's going to be a lot quicker than people think we have to fight this behavior and very rude and we know about it but yeah this is disgusting I want to say that our son and daughter went through a hell for us and you're still in it and these people are in trouble I don't feel bad for them at all they're very mean to him the whole time and they're mean people and they're learning from these people they'll be held to pay shortly and a lot of people going to be checking out the pseudo empire is going to begin an offensive it is going to be coming up tonight and it is going to be a big one now they had to prep for this and it had to get stuff ready but really there not well liked they just left the Midwest after trying to hand us our hat a million times and people were running around him for years from this group harassing him putting him in the hospital over and over and this group of idiot is the same and they're not going to be here shortly it costs the empire lots of stuff from territory and they're moving out on it shortly.

Thor Freya

Olympus

[tokkiyuna-rabbit]

I found a post on spinosaurus you might enjoy. I can't send complete links over the ask box so I broke it up a bit.

h ttp s : / /w w w. reddit . com/ r/Dinosaurs/comments/1i7t6l0/a_message _t o_ the _dinoscalers/

Mystery as in you don't know why you made the character part of the Jiangxi province. You might be able to figure it out if you posted her and talked to people, I was thinking, but I could be wrong.

The library of Alexandra may not have even been destroyed by Caesar. Some records state that Alexander was accidentally blocked by a bunch of Egyptian boats (ironically enough), and had then burned to get them out of the way, which spread and may have only set part of the library on fire, mainly the storehouses. Which, while they held many books, is a far cry from the entire library.

Also, since it was part of a larger international educational campus of the Mouseion, it is unlikely that they held the only copies of all the texts contained within. After all, people from all over the world came to study, and we know texts were translated for that.

The entire Library of Alexandria would probably have been destroyed along with the entire city by Aurelian about 100 years later. And apparently it was already in decline, with the scholars being expelled from the city, so they would have taken texts with them. There may be some records of the campus and the books being moved to a new location, as well.

So, If the Library of Alexandria was part of the Mouseion, and the Mouseion still existed long after the fire, then it is unlikely that the library was destroyed by Caesar. Especially given how meticulous Emperor Caesar was with keeping texts and records in the first place, I doubt he would have wanted to risk it burning.

And still, with all of that, we still don't definitively know where Punt was. The Red Sea region, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Yemen, the horn of Africa? Who knows? Somalia did name a region Puntland after the mysterious old kingdom, though.

I used to want to be an archivist or librarian as well, but I hear those are actually way more fast paced than how they are depicted. Also, I don't think the pay is high enough to live on nowadays.

I see your own archivist is evolving, lol. I think she looks and sounds great! Funny thing is, I remember from older posts and discussions that Nayeon was almost named Tokki, as well. But we still can't figure out on if we thought Yamato was named in relation to Yamatai.

The king not wanting to be recorded falling off his horse was definitely Joseon. Given what we know of the utterly strict caste system, making extra records was probably the only way they could ever rebel and have some power in their lives. After all, they would have been born into the role with no other options in life. It could have even been fun for them, given their protections. The real question is which ruler gave the record keepers and archivists immunity to retaliation for keeping the records, and was it a forethought or a law created later.

Actually, looking it up, the records are a Korean national treasure called the sillok (Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty), and appears to have been primarily started in the Joseon dynasty. Although the records of the last two kings may actually have been compromised due to Japanese rule.

All the same, it appears as if the records are complete enough for a movie to have been made about one of the rulers, known as Diary of King Yeonsan. Which could be interesting to watch if it follows what the archivists put down!

From a religious standpoint, the Latin word for left is similar to the word sinister, so there are groups that believe left handedness is a sign of evil. It's a real issue in some religious schools, from the stories I have heard. In other places it is just culturally considered rude to use your left hand instead of the right.

Yeah, my dad still sees me as his little girl, so he likes my BF but also pretends he does not know we are dating sometimes.

I love the image on Reddit! And it's so true. I swear T-rex fans are annoying (just kidding. I don't actually care about it). Anyway, the image is adorable and I love it. Thanks for showing it to me!

Oh that! Yeah, I am still curious about that. Though, I think I remembered. But, the reason is too dumb that I cannot bring myself to admit it. I am also too shy to say anything. I don't wanna look like I am obsessed with their country cause we all know how well that goes.

If that is truly what happened, then that has to be the most misfortunate thing to happen. Considering you mention Emperor Caeser was with records and such. And even if only the storehouses got burned, it is still sad to hear.

I hadn't been aware the library was part of a bigger sysetm. This is my first time hearing this. Though, it would make sense. Translations of texts have always been a thing hasn't it? Especially if scholars from different places gathered up in certain places from time to time.

Regardless on who destroyed the Library, it's gone for good. A bit sad nonetheless. Even if we think that hadn't had the answer of where Punt, they still must of had something that perhaps we will never get the chance to know.

I wished I could still be an archivist. Studying for a career I don't have too much passion in is annoying. The pay is somewhat ok. But, considering that my boyfriend is going to have good paying career then I feel like I need a career that makes money too. I mean I went to university for 4 years. My other option was to be a teacher, but with how things are then I will rather not.

Also, thank you! So far, I love on what I am doing. Originally, I wasn't going to make her have a prosthetic because I was too hesitant to draw it (and cause I just have some bad memories associated to character designs with prosthetic). But, after looking at some, I decided to just try it. So, now her design is there. Nayeon's name being Tokki is a nice choice. Though, I would say it would definitely make her sound part of the show since some character names are just their species. By Yamato, you are referring to Japan right? I am not too familiar with Japanese history or names, so I never heard of Yamatai. I did search it up and it could be a strong possibility. But, I wouldn't be sure either.

I assumed it was Joseon. For some reason, I also assumed it could have been the predecessor as well. And definitely, I mean if the King was bad then the archivists would hesitate to put that information down. Especially if they had immunity and the ability to do so. I am sure all historians are thankful on whoever gave them such immunity. I mean, so much history perserved and less likely to be bias (Well, not true because humans are biased creatures. There are rarely unbiased things).

I remember hearing a lot of books were destroyed by Imperial Japanese troops. So, the last two Kings' records being compromised isn't a surprise at the slightest. I mean, if they compromised it and made it seem the country was in a decline then they could justified their actions (though I think they believed themselves to be the best "race" of Asia? So, who knows on that?)

That sounds like it would be an interesting watch. I will have to watch it whenever I don't have 4 assignments due on a Sunday. I hope it does follow the archivist. I wonder if there are other stories of any mischief from them and others.

I can understand the cultural side of things. I think it has to do with restrooms or something. Religiously, I guess I can see where they are coming from. But, I mean if you are still writing down what you are being taught then it really shouldn't matter. Then again, I am not religious so I don't know if it would be right of me to say anything. All I know is that my classes at a Catholic church did not seem to care or there were no left handed people in my classes.

Oh, so your dad is aware of your own boyfriend. My dad is unaware and it will probably stay like that until further notice. My boyfriend told me that once he settles in his career field then he would probably want to talk to my dad.

[only-a-heartbeat-away]

Hi again!

I hope it wasn't for so shitty a reason. It does hurt and you do have to not touch it too much but healing isn't that bad. I have done healing with both a ring and a stud. Despite everyone saying no rings, you can't heal them. I had better luck healing mine that was pierced with a ring rather than the stud.

There are quite a few artists who get slammed for 'native gear" that instantly tells me people didn't read. Blackie Lawless and his stuff in the Wild Child/Last Command era and his song Trail of Tears.. he's first nation, Blackfoot. Chuck Billy of Testament for his Native Blood and Trail of Tears songs. He grew up on a reservation. Grand Funk Railroad gets it and Farner is first nation. Ronnie Radke's tattoos. he's first nation. Robbie Robertson gets it for his "native" rhythms and that man is first nation too. Hendrix was Afro-Cherokee and no one remembers that which is why Little Wing sounds the way it does. I feel like we are so caught on this "rock and metal are just old white people/men" that no one actually sees or looks for the incredible diversity that exists in the musicians. I don't know how many times i have had to come out with knocking people over the head with "SLASH you idiots" when they say they have never seen a glam artist of African decent. Sorry, this is one of my personal soap boxes.

I had a funny encounter with a younger metalhead that was with their mother at a Sepultura show. They got on me for my Danger Danger patch that is right next to my Immortal patch on the back of my battle jacket and my Megadeth patch is surrounded by glam band patches. They started on the oh you probably don't like heavy music blah blah.. and I got to turn on them and show them pictures of me with bands that were on their patches on their vest. The mother's response still makes me laugh when she turned on her kid and said "you don't fuck with older metalheads. They'll teach you." Most of my encounters haven't been bad. I've gotten more bad reactions walking up to people with I love the band on your shirt and the oh this is a band, I don't care it was just a cheap shirt response than I have people walking up to me asking about what I am wearing.

Favorite shirts are hard. I have a Black Sabbath tour shirt that I cherish. It is too worn to wear any more but I was thinking about framing it because it has so much meaning for me. To wear, I have a Keifer Band shirt that is so soft, fits me like a glove and the imagery is so subdued I can get away with wearing it to work which I love for obvious reasons. I also have a Rotting Christ shirt with Dracula crawling out of the grave on the front that I love the artwork on.

I will never understand the I spent money on this thing that I have no idea about and don't even like. I ain't got the money for that, if I am honest.

I am not much into mainstream musicals but I have seen Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Rocky Horror both, a couple times each. I got to see Bach when he was in Rocky Horror on Broadway in the early 2000s which took me climbing on a Greyhound bus and a bunch of nonsense to get to. I got to see Lazarus, too, which is a musical Bowie wrote about Thomas Jerome Newton after the events of Man Who Fell to Earth. Sadly, I didn't see it until after Bowie passed. They did a single memorial presentation of it after and I about sold my soul to see it since they didn't think they would be performing it ever again. I saw Spamalot because Monty Python musical, you have to. I saw War Horse which left me in tears. The musical/play with all the puppetry for the horses is infinitely better than the movie in my opinion. I don't know if it counts as a musical persay, but it is a completely sung story. I saw King Diamond perform all of the Abigail album as one show which was amazing. I would argue that it is definitely a metal musical/opera/something like that.

I've always wanted to see the Evil Dead Musical and Jesus Christ Superstar but I haven't seen either of them live yet. Do you like Musicals? Are there any that you love or would love to see?

On a related topic, I adore the Dracula ballet. The costumes in it are stunning. How do you feel/do you like classical music performances? Things like symphonies, ballet, tap dancing, anything along those lines?

-Jake

Well one of them was my mom who is adamantly against any piercings that aren't the basic ear ones (which is really funny to me because she has a belly button piercing so...🤔), so she almost definitely exaggerated it on purpose, but the other two were professionals who likely felt obligated to explain all the risks and my stupid anxiety ridden brain overthought them. Regardless, now I'm thinking about going through with it, so thank you for that lol.

Hey, you're preaching to the choir here, to say I get pissed off by that is a big understatement. I once went off on someone who wholeheartedly claimed that there were "no women or black people in rock". I spent like three straight minutes just naming every black person and/or woman in rock I could think of, and really confusingly, when I said Jimi Hendrix, they scoffed and said "Oh come on, he doesn't count" like what??? And that Slash part reminds me of when my mom and I were watching tv and a commercial that he was in played, and my mom asked "wait, is Slash black?" I was like "how did you not know that?" (and before anyone's like "well maybe she never saw a picture or footage of him before" believe me, she has numerous times)

As someone who's a big fan of both glam and thrash metal, I get shit like that a lot. An older guy at my local record store was really tearing into me once because he noticed I was buying a Megadeth album with *shock* *gasp* several glam metal albums. He was saying all this nasty shit, including "you're only into metal because you think the guys in the band are hot". Yeah okay buddy, I'm a lesbian and asexual so not in the slightest but whatever helps you protect your fragile masculinity, I guess. Thankfully the owner was nearby, told the guy to fuck off and leave me alone, and even asked me if I felt safe being in the store alone after that, but like come on, that kind of shit should never happen. Also wow, Danger Danger, that's another band I hardly ever see anyone mention!

I've also had more moments of me going up to someone wearing a band shirt and them being like "What? Oh, no, I don't listen to them. I don't even know who they are/I don't even like them" and taking offense to me daring to assume they're a fan then having people come up to me and question me on my band shirts. Again, I don't have anything against people who do that, it doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things, but it's kinda weird to spend money on something you don't know or maybe even hate.

That Rotting Christ shirt sounds super cool! That framing idea is pretty good, it sounds like you wore it a lot and would be an excellent momento.

Those all sound awesome! I'm envious that you got to see RHPS, especially when Sebastian Bach was in it. That's a musical pretty high up on my "want to see" list. As you might be able to tell by that last sentence, I LOVE musicals. That was actually the type of music I was into before I got super into rock and metal, and I still love them dearly. And about the King Diamond thing, if a band has a concept album that they play the entirety of in one concert, I believe that counts as a musical. Might be an unpopular opinion but whatever lol.

I've seen Phantom Of The Opera, Love Never Dies, Rent, Cats (three times), Grease, Aladdin and Frozen. I'm also gonna be seeing The Lion King in just a couple weeks. And that's only counting "professional" ones, I've seen many more performed at schools and community theatres. Some shows I really want to see include Jesus Christ Superstar, Wicked, Six, Heathers and Rock Of Ages.

I like classical musical performances! Never heard of the Dracula ballet, but it sounds awesome. I saw The Nutcracker in 2019, and even though the audience wasn't great, the show itself was delightful. It was stunning seeing all the dancers on stage, and the costumes and lighting were all gorgeous. Would definitely go see it again if given the opportunity.

It seems to me that you've met quite a few musicians. If so, who was the nicest/your favorite? And if you're comfortable sharing, the least nicest/your least favorite?

[atinylittlepain]

Of Saints and Sinners - Chapter 6

Joel Miller x f!reader/f!oc

series masterlist

The team starts their journey home and things start to change between her and Joel. Will she finally start letting him in? Or will he have to forget about her and whatever they had shared?

warnings | 18+ angst, canon-typical descriptions of injuries, smut-adjacent (finally)

The group spends the rest of the night in the old gas station. In the morning she tells them she wants to get back to Jackson in one trip. Joel keeps his mouth shut after their conversation last night, and it’s agreed that they’ll all keep moving, five days until they’re back home. 

Alex and Steve might be fooled by her confident attitude, but Joel can see the way she winces when she hoists herself up onto one of the horses, Steve swinging his legs over behind her. One night wasn’t going to heal the damage she had been dealt, and Joel can see she’s feeling it. Regardless, the group sets off on the highway back towards Wyoming.

The days start to pass languidly by, long stretches of squinting highway and nights spent hunkered down in withering buildings. She hasn’t been talking much to any of them, only sharing faint whispers with Steve that Joel pretends to not be curious about. He’s trying hard to not be such a guy about it, but honestly that’s never been an issue until her. For the first time since the world ended, Joel Miller is jealous.

He tries to hold onto what she had told him, that Steve wasn’t her man. And the further along the journey home they got, the more Joel was starting to understand their relationship. This was an intimacy past whatever Joel was getting worked up about. This was two people who had been through everything together. Something deeper than sharing love, or blood, or a name. They had shared life, or whatever there was left of it. 

He was still trying to figure out how Alex fit into this equation. They treated him like a little brother almost. Someone a little less worn than them, but still dear. What Joel saw before him was a family, the only kind that could arise in a world like this.

They’re two days out from home, settling in for the night. Her and Joel stay up while Alex and Steve get some rest in the first leg of the night, hunkering down in another cleaned out gas station. 

They sit shoulder to shoulder, backs against an old beer cooler. 

For maybe the first time, she speaks up first, “what kinda records do you have?”

“Don’t have many, you’ll have to share whatever you’ve been stashing. A buggy Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Hank Snow.”

“A real country boy, huh?” She quirks up her mouth in a split grin at him. He thinks to himself, this is new.

“Well what would you prefer?” He’s playing along. It feels weird to him.

“I’m guessing you weren’t listening to much Mazzy Star before this all went down?” He looks at her blankly, she smiles.

“That’s one I did manage to find, their 1993 album, seemingly intact. I’m gonna play it until it’s worn out when we get back.” He likes the sound of that, the promise of her presence.

“Anything else?” She turns her head, resting her cheek on her shoulder as she looks up at him. “You know Elliott Smith?” Again, Joel’s got nothing. She lets out a short laugh. “How about the movie Good Will Hunting?” 

“Robin Williams, right? A bunch of therapy talk.” He’s rewarded with a wide smile. “Yeah, Elliott Smith was the soundtrack to that.” Joel nods, afraid to admit he can barely remember the movie in the first place.

“He was big in Portland, where I was from, at least in the indie scene. My dad - he was a disc jockey, always on the up and up on music, always bringing home good shit for me to listen to. Elliott Smith was my favorite artist he showed me. You might like him, he’s folk-adjacent, lots of guitar.” He’s never heard her say so much at once, and even though he has no idea what indie or folk-adjacent means, all he wants is for her to keep talking. For just a second, Joel feels like he’s in a different world with her, a world in which none of this ever happened. Just two people talking about music on a normal night. And then he blinks back into reality, the still fading bruises on her neck, the bandage wrapped firmly around her arm, the way she talks in the past tense. She seems to snap back into this world at the same time, clearing her throat and looking down at her hands in her lap. He hates it, the sudden drop.

“Anyways, gotta get home first. But I’ve got one of his records too, I’ll play it for you.” Just like back in that field, Joel doesn’t know what he’s doing until he’s already done it. He reaches out, sliding his palm under her own, interlacing their fingers. Her lungs catch on an inhale, turning her face to look at him from under those damn eyelashes. His other hand ghosts over the hinge of her jaw, thumb brushing the arc of her chin. While his brain blares the what the fuck alarm, he’s leaning into her, twisting in until she does the rest, leaning up and forward into him, and it’s a kiss that could only be shared between two broken people. It’s a trembling brush, a frightened test. She squeezes his hand and he closes the gap this time. The second one is a little more certain. I want this. I want you. This is real. I’m terrified that this is real.

They freeze before slowly unfurling from each other, resting their heads back against the wall. He’s afraid to look back at her and see regret, but she breaks the silence first, “was that alright?” He thinks his head’s going to explode. She’s asking if that was alright for him?

Joel swallows, “uh-hum, yeah. Was that alright to you?” Neither of them have looked at each other yet, just glancing at each other out of the corners of their eyes. He sees the sliver of her smile. “Yeah, that was alright, Joel Miller.”

… 

Over the next two days of travel, she gets quiet again. Joel thinks he royally fucked up, that maybe the more she thought about what they shared, the less alright it became to her. He feels selfish, downright ridiculous, that this is what he’s worrying about. He can see that she’s still in a decent amount of pain in how she moves, sudden, wincing jerks. She won’t let any of them look at her ribs again.

Mercifully, it’s an uneventful return home. They make it back through the mountains, and their appearance on the edge of town causes a serious stir, people gathering to watch the ragged crew ride in. They dismount, and Maria is quick to take her under her arm and out of the crowd to a former doctor’s house. Joel can hear hushed whispers regarding “the saint’s” return. Back home, back to all her secrets he still doesn’t know.

Steve and Alex look at Joel, both nodding to him, before walking off towards their home. The job is over, and Joel heads home too.

Ellie is begrudgingly happy to see him return, asking too many questions that he refuses to answer. He wonders if things will return to the way they had been, an icy distance, Steve’s warning. He hopes they won’t.

…

That night, there’s a knock at Joel’s door. It’s Alex. Joel steps out, sitting with the man on the porch.

“Thought you’d wanna know, she’s doing alright. Doc did a full checkup. No broken ribs, just some serious bruising, have her taking freezing cold baths to reduce the swelling. She’s at home now, sleeping like the dead. Think she’s already feeling a lot better just being back.”

Joel nods at this, not realizing he needed so badly to know how she was doing.

Alex takes a sharper inhale, “Steve also told me to tell you he was sorry for being a dick. He’s a hard one to get an apology out of, just a little too proud.” Joel huffs at that.

“Don’t have to apologize. I get that, wanting to keep someone safe. I was happy to help you do that.” Alex rubs his palms on his thighs before standing up, turning to leave before thinking twice and looking back at Joel.

“Don’t tell her I told you this, but she told me she likes you, Miller. That’s a high compliment. Thinks you’re one of the good ones. Please don’t prove her wrong.” Before Joel can respond to this, Alex is already shuffling off his porch, walking out into the dimming night.

…

Joel tries hard to get back to business as usual. Picking patrol shifts back up, working with Tommy. He doesn’t see her around at all that first week back, figures they have her laying low while she’s still recovering. He sees Steve at the bar one night and the man nods at Joel, a silent extension of peace, a thank you.

He wonders to himself if it’s better to just forget what happened, that it’d be best to let it lay dormant, to stop thinking about her. But he can’t, the feeling of her hand in his is what he falls asleep to and wakes up with.

Joel certainly isn’t a romantic now, nor was he before. He learned not to be the hard way, with Sarah’s mom, who left him and his babygirl before he knew love was capable of hurting, of destroying. And then he lost Sarah, and with her, whatever he thought was left of his heart. 

Something seemed to slide back into that space with Ellie, but now, he can feel it filling out to the brim with her, this wild, strange, dangerous woman that he still doesn’t know, not really. He tries to tamp it down, drown it out, but the thoughts of her keep pouring in. She’s ten years younger than him, and while Joel knows time doesn’t count for much in this world, it feels like a chasm, one big enough for her to not want him at all. But then he remembers that night, that shared moment, and he has to believe he’s not being a fool for feeling this way.

His mind rolls like the tide with these wonderings, these worries as he moves through the days. And then, it’s two weeks since they’ve returned, and he gets another knock on his door on a Tuesday night.

She’s wearing the same thing he saw her in that day at the childcare center, soft, faded t-shirt, grubby jean shorts, and duct-taped sneakers, a zip-up hoodie hanging loosely over her frame. He can see that she’s got two vinyls tucked under her arm.

“You owe me a turn with your record player, Miller.” A ghost of a smile in the corners of her lips. He opens the door wider, letting her slip inside.

“Yes ma’am. Was wondering when you’d be coming for a listen.” Joel can handle patrol shifts, clickers, raiders, general danger, without much anxiety. But having her here, in his space, is making him nervous in an embarrassing way.

“Doc finally cleared me for daily activities. First day of freedom since we got back. Been thinking about this the whole time though.” He knows she means the record player, but something in him still flips over at her words.

She holds up both records for Joel to see, “I brought Mazzy Star and Elliott Smith, the ones I told you about, think we can listen to both tonight?” 

He nods, “Ellie’s out wreaking havoc with some other kids, won’t be around to give us any grief. We can listen to whatever you want.” She gives him one of those rare, cracking smiles. He thinks that’s all he really wants these days.

She lets him lead her upstairs, and he only now starts to realize he keeps the record player in his bedroom. Jesus christ, man, calm down. She lets out a sigh when she sees the player set up, tentatively walking over and thumbing through the sparse crate of records Joel has. 

“Man, feels like Christmas morning,” she murmurs, mostly to herself. The record player is set up on an old end table, Joel sits down in the armchair next to it, elbows on his knees, watching her carefully kneel in front of the player. She lays her two records down on the floor, seemingly trying to decide which to play first.

“I think I have to go with Elliott Smith first. Haven’t heard him in twenty fucking years.” She slips the record onto the table, letting the needle catch. The opening chords of “Speed Trials” kick up and she smiles until her cheeks are rounding up under her eyelashes, eyes closed.

Joel’s only half paying attention to the music, his focus more intently on the seeming ecstasy she’s in, nodding her head with the drums, letting out a sigh as each new track begins. She opens her eyes a squint, catching him staring and he looks away, trying to listen closer to the music.

She just keeps smiling, “ah man, this last track is so good.”

I'm in love with the world

Through the eyes of a girl

Who's still around the morning after…

She’s mouthing along to the lyrics, Joel feels like he’s going to combust.

I could be another fool

Or an exception to the rule

You tell me the morning after…

She looks at him, her smile slackening as she slowly stands. She shuffles over in front of him and offers out her open palm, he takes it and squeezes lightly. 

Crooked spin can't come to rest

I'm damaged bad at best

She'll decide what she wants

I'll probably be the last to know

No one says until it shows, see how it is

They want you or they don't

Say yes…

Joel stands, his and her feet shuffling until the toes of their shoes skim. She splays her other palm over his chest, fingers grazing just below his collarbone. He lets his hand furl around the curve of her neck, thumb resting on the aching roundness of her cheek.

They both jump when the needle catches the end of the record, warbling off. She huffs a laugh, eyes still caught with Joel’s.

He swears he hears his voice crack when he asks her if this is ok but he doesn’t care because she’s smiling and then she’s nodding and then she’s leaning up and in and the first kiss is soft, a remembering, a test. The second is a bit firmer, more confident. The third, she slides her palm up from his chest, to his jaw, drawing into him a bit closer. The fourth, they untangle their hands, his going to the hilt of her spine, hers draping over the tops of his shoulder blades. The fifth, he lets his palm rest heavy on her back, pressing her body fully against his. She swipes her tongue across his lips and he’s already letting her in, tasting into him. They can feel their battering heart beats where their chests press against each other, shaky and unsure of where they’re going next until Joel is cupping her hips in both his hands and gently walking her back towards the end of his bed. The backs of her knees hit the sheets and she’s stumbling back onto the bed, taking him with her as he awkwardly tries to hold himself up. She lays back and he’s hovering over her with his knee between her legs and his palm beside her temple and he laughs, really truly laughs. She brings her hand up, thumb brushing over his lips.

“What is it?” He sighs, “it’s nothing, it’s just — kinda feel like I’m back in highschool right now.” She giggles and Joel thinks it might kill him, “Joel Miller, are you blushing?”

“Mm, shut up,” and with that he’s diving back down to meet her and this kiss is different. It’s desperate, licking into each other, teeth bumping, huffed breaths, and the clicks of spit. She starts to work at the buttons of his shirt and once he catches on, he sits up for a moment, yanking the thing off over his head by the collar before settling back into her. He shivers as her palms run over his bare skin, nails grazing his back, his sides, up his chest. He dips his head into her neck, leaving nips along her throat as she gasps under his touch. She lets out a strangled whine when he brushes his lips at the hinge of her jaw. He presses back, pulling her hands with him to bring them both standing. His hands grasp at the edges of her hoodie, he sees a flicker of something in her eyes, but she still lets him shrug the jacket off her shoulders. Joel runs his fingertips down her bare arms and she shudders. He stops at the bandage around her left forearm, she looks down at the floor.

“Almost all healed now. You still gonna like me with another scar added to the list?” He frowns at that, dipping his head to meet her gaze, swooping in for a swift, hard peck. “Don’t even say shit like that,” he murmurs, bringing his attention back to the task at hand, fingers ghosting along the hem of her shirt. He doesn’t miss her flinch this time.

“I just – well, you’ve seen my back. Kinda a mood killer,” she laughs lamely at this, swallowing hard around an ache in her throat. 

“Hey, no. I — I want you, however you are, however you let me.” Joel feels like his mouth is full of cotton and he speaks before he can even think, “you’re – you’re wild, you know that? Make me feel like my head is gonna explode everytime I look at you.” She lets a small smile spread at that, still gazing down at her shoes. He brings his palm to her jaw, coaxing her face up towards him. 

“Don’t gotta do anything you don’t want to, but you gotta know I want all of you, if you’ll let me have it.” She nods slightly, eyes a bit teary as she catches Joel’s gaze. What she says comes out as a hoarse whisper, “Think I need some time. I know you’ve seen them. I’m just not ready, but I want to be. That ok?” Joel takes hold of her hand, squeezing. She squeezes back.

“It’s ok, darlin. Give you all the time I got.”

[ticketstomydaydreams]

Lately

(All We Have: Part Three)

Part One: Home

Part Two: 5:3666

Colson x Female Reader

Summary: Your late night routine with Colson continues as you prepare for his daughter's visit, but feelings start to arise...

Word count: 2,200+

Feels: late night emotional feels

Warnings: Pure cheese

Companion playlist:

Machine Gun Kelly - Lately

Beck - Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime

Gavin Mikhail, LIEZA - I Like Me Better (Acoustic)

A/N: I haven't written in a long time because life has been busy/hard, so it might be a bit sloppy. I'd written a bunch of notes and paragraphs so have pulled this chapter together just about. Case's visit is the next chapter and it's part way there. Thank you for all the lovely messages I've received during my hiatus. You are all so appreciated 😘

_________

“Baze, you outdid yourself there!” Rook said, leaning back and rubbing his stomach

“Yeah, that shit was fucking fire” Colson adds, through his last mouthful of food

“So good! That’ll be a tough one to top tomorrow” Slim says appreciatively

“No problem guys, you know I’m happy to grill shit all day long” Baze laughs and jokingly salutes, soaking up all the praise for his cooking “Your turn tomorrow is it Kells?” he says, eliciting a laugh from the group as he nudges Colson

“If y’all are happy with burnt toast or mac n cheese, then I’m ya man” he replies 

“Yeah, I think it’s safe to say we can leave the cooking to the rest of us masterchef” you tease as you stick your tongue out at Colson, laughing when he flips you his middle finger.

Baze stands up from the table and picks up his plate and Rook’s

“Ah don’t worry about that dude, I said I’ll clean up tonight. The chef doesn’t do the dishes” you say, gesturing towards the plates in his hands “You guys go chill, I’ll sort this”

The guys stand up and leave the table, thanking you as they head back into the house. Colson stays behind and starts stacking up dishes on the table

“Making yourself useful for once are you?” you tease him again

Putting the plates back down on the table in a playful strop, he replies

“You’re well too cheeky today. You want my help or not kid?”

You hold your hands up “Okay, okay. I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth”

Colson sat on the kitchen counter while you rinsed everything and loaded the dishwasher, scrolling through his phone when it started ringing

“Hey-yo, it’s Case!” he says excitedly, as he answers the FaceTime call

“Hey Princess, how’s my girl?”

“Hey Dad. I’m okay, just watched Popstar again” she says laughing 

“Argh, again? How many times you gonna watch that? That movie is cheese” he groans

Caise laughs “It’s corny but I love it. Whatcha doing?”

“We just finished eating and I’m helping Y/N do the dishes”

“He’s not helping” you say in the background

She gasps, excited “Is Y/N there? Let me see her”

“Hey Case” you wave as he turns the phone round so she can see you

“Hiiii” she says “I can’t wait to see you!”

“Hey!” Colson pouts, turning the phone back to himself “You didn’t even say that to me”

“Daaaad, put Y/N back on a sec. I can’t wait to see you too duh” she replies

“I see how it is” he says, and passes the phone to you

“Guess what Case, I ordered some coconuts with the food delivery after you mentioned you wanted to try some the other day”

“Yes!” she says “I saw loads of tiktoks of people drinking from them. I’ve never tried it!”

“You got more dances to teach me?” Casie was obsessed with learning tiktok dances

“Yeah, I’ve been practising. Can you do some of the makeover ones with me? Like where we do my hair and stuff?”

“Of course, we can do a girls day. Although, I’m sure your dad would let you give him a makeover” you say, sticking your tongue out at Colson as you move over to where he’s sitting so you’re both on camera

“No point arguing with you two is there” he says, putting his arm round your shoulder

“Hey Case, what time is your flight?” he asks

“I think it gets to LA at 15:00. I’ll check with Mom and I’ll text yoooou” she replies

“Okay little special girl, can’t wait. We’ll see you Thursday”

“See you soon. Love you Dad. Oh, love you too Y/N. Byeeee”

You both respond “Love you too” in unison as she waves goodbye and hangs up.

Colson still has his arm around your shoulder when he says “You wanna hit the studio?”

“Sure thing” you reply “Get down and help me load the dishwasher then”

“Yes boss” he says, causing you to roll your eyes as he salutes you and jumps down from the counter

________

You check your phone and see it’s gone midnight. “You know, we’re gonna have to kick these late nights while Casie is here. Can’t be doing our usual sleeping til 2pm, she’s gonna have loads of ideas of stuff she wants to do while she’s here” you say, looking over at Colson, reclining back in his seat with his feet on the desk and smoking a joint. Neither of you were getting much work done this evening, you’d been absentmindedly scrolling through old samples and lyrics while Colson chatted about Casie. You loved hearing him talk about her, his whole demeanour seemed to soften and he was always so excited in the lead up to her arrival.  “Casie is so chill, you know that, she just rolls with it” he replies

You stand up and stretch “Right, I’m gonna go to bed and try get some sleep”

Colson pulls you towards him so that you fall into his lap and he squeezes you tightly so you can’t get away “Nah, stay up with me. I’m not tired, I’ll be bored without you” he pouts

His arms still wrapped around your waist, you take the joint from between his fingertips and take a long toke “I’m not the only person in this house y’know, the guys are still up”

He lets go of you and pinches the joint back from you “Yeah I know, but I like our late nights”

“Yeah me too” you turn in his lap and smile back at him “But we should at least try and go to bed earlier than 6am”

“Who are you kidding?” he laughs, poking you in the side so you flinch at the ticklish touch “You’re a worse insomniac than me. No way you’ll be sleeping”

“Colson..” you whine, giving him a faux stern look 

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right” he says as you stand up and offer your hand, which he takes, making a big deal of standing up, letting you pull his weight as he moves out of his slouched position. “I’m not tired though” he mumbles as he follows you out of the studio “and neither are you” and you roll your eyes affectionately at his petulant grumbling

Lying in bed reading, sleep doesn’t come easily to you and you check your clock: 2:00am. You can hear the soft sound of a TV being played at low volume from Colson’s room next door, knowing he’s still awake is making it even harder to settle. You’d become so used to spending all night with him recently, it seemed strange to not be with him now. Admitting defeat to yourself, you climbed out of bed and headed out into the hall, knocking softly on his bedroom door. Hearing him shout ‘come in’, you entered his room sheepishly and were met by a big grin as he paused what he was watching “Why are still awake? I thought you said we HAD to go to sleep” he says in a mocking sing-song tone. 

“Shut up” you said, as you crossed his room and climbed into the empty side of his bed

“Uh oh, was I right? Little Miss Insomniac is admitting I’m right?” he chides, leaning over and poking you repeatedly in your sides “I’m right aren’t I? You couldn’t sleep” 

He continues his tickle attack, him laughing along as he watches you belly laughing at his touch, unable to control yourself. “ADMIT IT!” he says, now pinning you down on the bed so he’s towering above you, squeezing your sides and squirming his fingers into your armpits as you writhe beneath him, choking on your laughter. You manage to shout out “NEVER!” but this only encourages him further. You struggle to catch your breath as he tickles you and you eventually cave and shout out “FINE”. He immediately stops and looks down at you, his final resting position straddling you with a leg either side of your hips and you lock eyes as you catch your breath. The eye contact between you lingers for just a few seconds longer than feels normal and you feel your stomach do a little flip, catching you off guard as you stare up into his blue eyes. He starts to laugh and just like that the moment has passed.

Climbing off you and laying down next to you, his back against the padded headboard, he says “I knew I’d get you to cave”

“Pfft, any confession given under duress isn’t admissible in court” you fire back 

“Whatever” he laughs, and throws his arm around your shoulder pulling you into his chest

You settle in to him and look up at the TV on the wall across from the bed and see the film he’d been watching ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’.

 “This is, like, my FAVOURITE film” you beam, reaching over him for the remote to unpause

“I know” he replies “You always talked about it and I finally watched it properly a while ago, it’s a beautiful film”

“Yeah, I love it, it’s uncomfortable viewing though” you say, your voice getting quieter as you continue “Something always hits home hard when I watch it” 

You feel him hug you into him just a fraction tighter as he mumbles “Oh yeah for sure, the characters are way too relatable” 

He seems lost in thought for a moment then continues "You know, I actually watched it a couple of times since you mentioned it… it's like depending on your mood, you can relate to either Joel or Clementine, then it might change the next time, I dunno… I mean both of them are pretty messed up and intense but different y'know…but they just keep coming back to each other like fate or something, I can never tell if I'm rooting for them or not. Like, they know it'll most likely go wrong again but they do it anyway… "'

He looks down at you, cuddled into his side, your eyes focused on the screen and gives you a gentle squeeze.. "Chime in at any time Y/N, you're letting me ramble again…" he chuckles softly, a hint of self-consciousness in his voice. 

"Nah, I just enjoy hearing your thoughts, because… " You trail off, not looking up at him. The film has got you in your feels again, it seems to open something up that makes you feel vulnerable. Colson rubs his long fingers up your arm "Go on…" "Well, because I'm the same, I pick something different up each time.. I just think that…Well, I feel like everyone is just..", you sigh, "… we're just always looking for some form of connection, because sometimes we see things in people that we want so badly, so we chase something that isn't there…" 

You can hear Colson chewing his lip just above your head before he speaks softly 

"Yeah… and sometimes we're blind to the things that are actually there, right in front of us…" 

You turn your head subtly and look up at him, but his eyes are fixed on the television, his lip still pulled between his teeth as if he's deep in thought.

"Hmm.." is all you can utter in response, your chest swirling with an emotion you can't quite place as Colson shuffles further down onto his pillow, keeping you pressed against him

Neither of you say anything else as the movie continues, both too tired to pry into what the other is saying and within half an hour you feel Colson's arm around your shoulder grow heavier as his breathing gets deeper. 

The credits start to roll and you slide out from under Colson’s heavy arm to reach for the remote. Turning the TV off, you sit on the edge of the bed in the now quiet room, the only sound, Colson’s soft breathing. You turn to look at him in the dim light of dawn creeping in through the drapes and that feeling comes again, a pang in your chest, as you watch his chest rise and fall, the peaceful look on his face. 

You shake the feeling off, standing up slowly, ready to creep out to your bedroom when Colson’s sleep laced voice mumbles out behind you “Hey, where you going…”

You sit back down “I’m gonna go get some sleep” you say pushing the ruffled hair off his forehead. He reaches up and wraps his hand around yours “Stay here with me…you know I hate sleeping alone” You avoid his blue eyes, feeling him watch you in the semi-darkness as you slide back under the covers next to him, rolling away to face the window.

He moves closer to you, “You okay Y/N?” he whispers, stroking the hair from across your ear

“Mmhmm” you murmur, suddenly hyper aware of his presence next to you.

He pulls you back into him, wrapping his arms around you and bringing his knees up to meet the back of your legs, spooning you tightly and whispers “Night” against the back of your neck. 

You allow your body to relax into him, you’re so tired and you want to sleep but that funny feeling rises in your chest again. 

Shit.

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