#Luckily I got another base for him which was incredibly fortunate

[shikai-the-storyteller]

I don't really have a hard-set design for any of the QSMP characters in mind because I'll see all kinds of cool fanart that look totally different and just go "Yeah that's them!" because the designs are all flexible to me.

...This does, however, make it very hard to translate their designs into custom Figmas because I can't decide on a single look.

[vanillafalvoredcoffee]

I find this really interesting! So I add some Headcannons on this child (Which I call Beatrice for now since I couldn't think of a proper name for her T-T)

(I try to make her a little bit different from the original Beatrice that she's based off, I don't want them to be too similar lol)

Child! Beatrice <3 Headcannons

She used to be a lonely kid that's trapped in her own parent's house...Her parents are pretty neglectful and the reason that they keeping her locked up in there is because the father of Beatrice already has a wife but...apparently his wife is really controlling and doesn't mind killing everyone else to keep him for her own so he had an affair with another woman...well...this is when Beatrice is born

She's born on March 8th

She doesn't like the sounds of shouting or shattering glass because...her father and her mom yells and break things that's around them a lot

Somehow she made a friend, her name is Himawari Takahashi (First name means Sunflower in Japanese) that often talks to her outside of the window while her parents are away

Himawari is her first ever friend she ever had so Beatrice grown quite attached to her really quickly

Himawari is a brave girl and just a bundle of sunshine, she always looks on the positive side and always seem to smile but other than that...she's also really stubborn and would do anything to achieve her goal

When she saw that Beatrice was trapped in her parent's house, she's determined that she'll get Beatrice out no matter the cost

She manages to get Beatrice out of her prison and...well I don't think I should say this but...

Her father's wife found out where she is just as Beatrice got out and she pushes Beatrice off a cliff and Beatrice's head on the sharp rocks on the ground and stage it as a suicide

Ofcourse her friend was devastated to see some 'random person' push Beatrice off a cliff but she got threatened that if she told this to anyone, Himawari would die the same death as Beatrice, so she kept quiet

Fortunately Beatrice got revived by Demaryius and got taken under his care who just happened to walk by

Since then she's has always been fascinated by Demaryius's powers...or rather magic as she calls it and wanted to be a witch that has incredible magic

She really likes reading fantasy books and poetry

When she meets Miss Katherine she wanted to be a writer like her just as much as she wanted to be a witch

She also likes roses and daisies because of how they smell

She's easily frightened

She hates getting jump scared

She likes to prank her loved ones for fun

Beatrice originally has Strawberry brown hair, hazel eyes, and really pale skin from staying inside so much

But her form changes slightly when she got revived and drank some of his blood...every broken bones she got from the fall is perfectly healed but...she still has leftover scars on the back of her head where it is most injured luckily it's not really visible, her hair color stays the same but her eyes has a little tint of yellow scattered inside of it similarly to stars

(Mage! Beatrice...coming soon :) )

What if Demaryius has a Beatrice-like (aka someone who acts like Beatrice) adopted daughter? And what would his other children think about her? (Beatrice is the young girl with blonde hair) She used to be a really beautiful yet cowardly and Clumsy kid but She's also very determined and sweet, especially when somebody mentions magic infront of her she gets very excited...she also aspires to be a powerful witch one day...seems nice right? Well...

When she grows up unfortunately she became...this, when she finally found a way to become a powerful witch she apparently became blinded by her powers she started going crazy with them the first time she got them and became arrogant and sadistic over time...but that doesn't mean her personality when she's a child completely disappear, she's still quite whiney when something doesn't go her way...she's shown your be quite immature too...

Oh well, this is just me rambling about random stuff again! You don't have to answer this if don't want to ofcourse! This is just a silly little senerio I thought about when I see Virgilia with Beatrice....sometimes I thought of Demaryius when I see her for some reason...anyway I'm basically done talking now--

He would honestly find his little daughter

Quite sweet and gentle

Like all of his other children

He speaks softly and gently to his daughter

He finds her sweetness quite refreshing

Like the rest of his other children despite the war going on

He knows that some of his children can be cowardly and he's not surprised since children can be quite scared of the outside world

But going with her adult version

He would wonder where he went wrong

And he wouldn't like it but he would have to erase her memories or possibly turn her back into a child

And fix the damage that has been done

He knows magic memes power and someone can become drunk off of it

And he's not happy that his daughter became this way

It reminds him of the sadistic gods that took their anger out on innocent humans

[harrywritingsbyme]

Story: y/n feels sorry for being herself. sometimes she has trouble accepting and loving herself..even tho she has no problem loving Harry, with all his flaws. he definitely helps her with that ;)

Beautiful

Anonymous Said: 11 and 20 from the prompt list

Based Off Of This Ask

A/N: I got a request for 11 and 20 from the prompt list and they fit perfectly with this. I definitely wrote this with myself, my own struggles, and the struggles of the other beautiful ladies out there in mind. I also wanted to make it a lil bit deeper by incorporating some post-pregnancy y/n had Harry up in there. Also, I wanted do something real fluffy bc what I have planned for Friday is insane. Enjoy🙃

11. “Fuck you have no idea what you do to me.”

20. “Such a beautiful body, why would anyone hate it?”

You were really going through it this morning. For starters, when you woke up you were immediately drawn towards going back to sleep and recouping some of the sleep you’d lost recently. On top of that, your nipples were incredibly sore from breastfeeding and your body was still drained and recovering from giving birth three months ago. But luckily for you though, you were blessed with an amazing husband who didn’t hesitate to take care of you guys’ baby boy. You didn’t even have to ask him, as soon as he saw the exhausted and overwhelmed look on your face when you two woke up to the loud cries of your son, he immediately sprung into action and ordered you to stay in bed and take care of yourself while he tended to the baby and gave you your space. You were able to get a bit more sleep and feel way better than you did earlier on in the morning. Another hour and a half of sleep did wonders for you at this point in your life. That small window of time allowed you to feel rested enough to get up out of bed and get yourself together.

You wasted absolutely no time stripping your sleep clothes off and hopping right into the shower. The water was the perfect temperature and you just stood under it. The hot water pouring down onto your body felt absolutely amazing and you could hands down feel your stress and tension just melting away from it. You were relaxed. Even though you loved your son with your entire being and then some, it was hard. You were so grateful for Harry and you felt like you shouldn’t have any complaints at all.  But it’s just that you weren’t used to having anyone depend on you the way your son just about solely depends on you. So times like these where you were granted a little time to regroup were cherished and seized.

After a nice long shower that was filled with pampering, you turn the water off and you step out to get yourself dried off and dressed. You wrap the fluffy towel from the counter around your body and you head back into the bedroom to grab some clothes. After picking out your daily attire of a t-shirt and sweats, you station yourself on the bed to get ready. But unfortunately for you, you’d stationed yourself right in front of the full body mirror. The second you unwrap your towel from your body, the good feeling that was flowing through you vanished and was replaced with a sad and embarrassed one. This feeling hadn’t reared it’s ugly head in a good while. You hadn’t had the time since the baby was born to take a good look at yourself; and you were starting to feel like you were better off that way.

You always struggled when it came to you having a positive viewpoint of yourself, and in particular your weight. You were constantly battling against the negativity that was coming at you from almost every part of your life. You were in an uphill battle with losing weight and getting to a place where you felt comfortable all the way around. Whenever you took strides to get to that better place, you were always pulled back down. That force was the little comments from family members, people online, and yourself. Whenever you saw or heard what people had to say, you let yourself be overcome with that negativity and in turn it was harder to keep going and push forward. You felt like all your efforts were going to waste and you were never going to see results, inside and out. And at some point you just stopped loving yourself. You managed to love Harry despite his flaws but you couldn’t seem to do it for you. You pretty much gave up on loving yourself. And to make it even worse, you put all of the love inside of you that was supposed to be dedicated to yourself into loving others. The only way you got out of that enormous rut was because of Harry. He made sure to consistently and constantly reassure you that you were beautiful and worth loving. He did daily affirmations and did everything in his power to help you get back on track and work towards your goals.

And for a year you were able to have success in doing that.

After a little over a year of loving yourself, working towards your weight goal, and just feeling good, you got pregnant. When the news broke, you and Harry were over the moon. The two of you were extremely happy and in love that you both could’ve just burst from joy. You were head over heels for Harry and for yourself, and Harry was head over heels for you and the fact that you were head over heels for yourself. Everything was the way it was supposed to be and it was only getting better now that you guys were expecting a bundle of joy. Fortunately for you both, you were able to glide through your pregnancy with only minor hiccups along the way. Since you were always exhausted and you were actively changing, your solid workout and extensive selfceare routines fell by the wayside. You were so tired and just not in the mood that you couldn’t even do the low intensity workouts that your doctor said were okay. The only things you had were your mental wellbeing which was fine, and Harry. You felt bad that you weren’t keeping yourself up the way you’d been doing for the past year and you came down on yourself for it at times. But of course, Harry nipped it right in the bud and brought you back. You couldn’t imagine what you’d do without him throughout all of this.

So seeing yourself in the mirror and taking in your body now was incredibly disheartening and to you it was like a slap in the face to all the hard work you put in along with the tremendous amount of support from Harry. You fully understood that your body wouldn’t be the same after giving birth but you were hoping that it wouldn’t be as bad as it was. That is, as bad as you thought it was. Because you were constantly fighting with those negative thoughts and trying your hardest to love yourself the way you deeply love Harry, everyone else, and now your son, you tended to over exaggerate in your mind how bad something was. If you saw something you didn’t like, you didn’t like it all. And as a result of that, you spent a good amount of time standing there in front of the mirror critiquing your body and asking yourself over and over again how in the hell am I supposed to get back to normal?. You were so engrossed in overanalyzing and critiquing that you didn’t even notice Harry come back into the room.

While you were having some alone time, Harry went into full dad mode. He was able to get bubs to quiet down and let his dad take care of him. He did a quick diaper change so that bubs could be comfortable while Harry made himself something quick breakfast. He played with the baby for a while before giving him a lukewarm bath to get him cleaned up for the day, and he fed bubs, lulling the little boy right into a milk induced sleep. And hopefully, it’d stick for an hour or two so that he could spend some time with his wife. When he makes his way into the room, Harry’s feeling good. He got the baby squared away and taken care of, and his wife was taking some much needed time to herself. He knew that it was a big adjustment for you and he wanted to take as much off of you as possible because you deserved it. After your struggles in the past with your weight and loving yourself, Harry could only imagine how difficult it must be to keep yourself in a good headspace and just enjoy motherhood to the fullest without focusing on the “negatives”.

That’s why when he saw you looking at your naked body in the mirror with a downcast and almost disgusted look on your face towards your reflection, Harry knew exactly what was going on and he had to step in. You were doing so well and the last thing he wanted was for you to fall back into that deep hole of negativity that you worked so hard to get out of. He immediately makes his way over and stands right in front of you so that he’s blocking your view of the mirror. When he does this, your head still hangs low and you can’t even bring yourself to look up at him.

“I look horrible.” You whisper sorrowfully. At this, Harry extends his hands out to cup your cheeks and lift your head up to look at him.

“Baby…” He coos, seeing the saddened look in your glassy eyes. “You are the most beautiful woman in the world, you always have been. You’re even more beautiful now.”

“No I’m not. Everything is worse and I won’t be able to get back from this.” You sigh pessimistically.

“Yes it’ll take time, but you can do it and I’ll be right here by your side to help you through.” He begins, lovingly reassuring you of his full commitment to you. Harry then lets go of your cheeks and moves so that he’s behind your body and so that you can see the mirror again before wrapping his arms around your naked waist. “When I look at you, I see a badass and a strong woman. I see the woman who carried and delivered our son. I see the beautiful mother of my child. I see the woman I married three years ago. I see you Y/n, the love of my life.” He whispers, trying his hardest to hold back his own tears. Seeing you be so harsh towards yourself was not okay with him and it tore him apart. You are his rock, and to see you falling apart was causing him to break down himself.

“I just- I hate it.”

“Such a beautiful body, why would anyone hate it?” He whispers, trying to reason with you. “You’re beautiful.” He reminds pointedly. “Now say it with me.” He instructs further.

“You’re beautiful.”

“I’m beautiful.” The both of you say in unison repeatedly, every time Harry gives you a kiss to your neck. As this continues on, Harry couldn’t stop himself from stiffening up in his pants. The two of you hadn’t been this intimate in a good while and he missed it. He knew that you were still feeling insecure and that his purpose was to reassure you that you’re not what you’re saying you are and that he loves you so much. That’s why Harry was absolutely loving the idea of making love to you so that you could really see how amazing you are and the effect you have on him.

While his kisses and affirmations continue, Harry’s hand slowly strays away from your lower stomach. He slowly but surely makes his way down to the area between your legs, cupping you in his hand with his fingertip resting on your button between your folds. He then begins to circle his finger around your button. You hadn’t felt his fingers in a good while, and you had to admit that they felt really good against you right now. When your pants and small moans begin to hasten and you begin to enjoy him more, Harry swiftly turns you around to face him before lifting you up and lying you down on the bed. Once you’re lying on the bed, Harry quickly undresses himself  before lying on top of you.

“Fuck you have no idea what you do to me.” Harry admires, taking in all of your amazing features. He then begins to work your body, starting with your neck and working his way down. He peppers kisses all across your skin and he continues with his affirmation as he kisses down and up your body. “Wanna make you feel good, wanna make love to you. Can I baby?” Harry asks softly, bringing his lips to yours.

“Please?” You sigh needfully up to him. You really needed to feel good. When you give him this answer, Harry is quick to keep himself propped up on one hand as he reaches down to line himself up with your entrance. When you feel him nudging at your hole, you reach up to pull his face down and connect your lips with his before lifting your hips up a little to give him the signal to keep going. As he pushes into you, you both keep your mouth’s against each others, moaning into one another as he enters you. It felt a bit weird, but it felt really good. You felt full and Harry was filling you. Everything was perfect.

Harry continues to slowly and deeply rock his hips into you while whispering sweet nothings into your ear through his moans and  keeping two fingers on your clit. The both of you were on cloud nine. You were being fully pleasured by Harry and he was pleasuring you and you feel special the way you deserved while receiving amazing pleasure as well. Since the both of you were a bit more sensitive due to the fact that there were so many emotions involved, you and Harry reached the edge pretty quickly. The pleasure was outstanding and you both needed to let go and fully experience it all.

“Wanna cum with me darling?” Harry coos through a moan, continuing to rock into you and rub at your clit.

“So bad.” You whine, feeling his cock hit that sweet spot deep inside you.

“I love you so much baby.” Harry grunts down to you, deeply pushing in one final time  as he begins to let go inside you.

“I love you too!” You gasping response, feeling your own release wash over your entire being. It was amazing to say the least.

“Y’so beautiful.” He says again as he rides the wave of his release. When he says this, he is subliminally signaling for you to repeat it.

“I’m beautiful.” You say softly, still feeling the major shocks of your release.

One round of loving wouldn’t do the ultimate trick in changing how you felt, but it was definitely a good place to start.

Masterlist

[hopespeak-hs-hostclub]

Dirty Little Secret- NSFW Yasuhiro Hagakure One Shot

TW:// NSFW! 18+ ONLY.

Word Count: 1,510

One shot and request below cut!

Can you write a oneshot featuring Yasuhiro Hagakure practicing self bondage please? you can decide how he'd tie himself and what toys he'd use. But I'd like it if he was butt naked, his mouth covered by a multilayered cloth gag, was orgasming non stop, and he was unable to escape his bonds. I guess I'd like this to take place before the Tragedy when everyone was living normally. What if he did this in a closet in an empty classroom at Hope's Peak. He do it thinking that no one would be there. So he gets stuck in bondage and hears some of his classmates of your choosing enter the room. They wouldn't discover him but it does put him in a panic as he tries desperately to stay quiet and not orgasm.

Hopes Peak. A school that traditionally doesn’t care if the students actually attend class, or even learn for that matter, but actually encourage the students to “practice their talent” rather than get an education. Yasuhiro Hagakure is no exception that that by any means. His favorite times of the day are the classes he skips. He loves just sitting in the dining hall, goofing off, scamming reading his friend’s fortunes. But today was a little different. Hiro skipped his first class, like always. He just couldn’t be bothered, because why learn when you can just hang, right? But Hiro, although older than most of his classmates, is still a young guy. He has hormones and gets horny. And every once in a while it happens at school. Could be because of a girl he saw, or, like today, a video he watched in an empty class room. But Hiro kind of planned for this. He typically gets himself off at home- before class. It’s why he’s late so often. But another thing about Yasuhiro is that he loves his mom. So of course, when his mom tells him she wants to have breakfast with him, and drive him to school, he eagerly agreed. Which means he didn’t have any time to himself in the morning, which in turn meant he knew he’d have to take care of it during one of his skipped classes. So he grabbed what he knew he’d need and shoved it in his pockets and backpack as he headed out the door this morning. And that’s where Hiro’s at now. He sat in an empty classroom by himself, in the back. He just watched the hottest video he’s ever seen, and he had to do something about it now. Luckily, the classroom he was in wasn’t an active one. Nobody’s taught, or participated in a class in that room in years, and Hiro knew he would be alone completely… but just to be safe he decided Hiro had to lock himself in the classrooms supply closet. You never know who might wander in or why, and Hiro had to be sure.

Once Hiro had made his way into the closet and locked the door up, he knew he was completely safe from being caught, so he made a risky choice. Hiro quickly dumped the contents of his pockets and bag revealing a rope, some handcuffs, a new toy he’d just purchased over the weekend that he’s been eager to play with, and a handful of cloth gags that he layered over one another, inside and covering his mouth completely, leaving him biting a few, and a few others to muffle himself out. Yasuhiro knew he couldn’t risk getting caught, even though he knew the chances of somebody coming into that classroom were incredibly unlikely, and let’s face it he’s right at least 30% of the time, he knew he has to be careful. Hiro decided to start with, since he planned on tying his hands up somehow, he needed to start by putting the new toy into action. Hiro had recently purchased a two in one toy. It’s a vibrating cock ring, that has a butt plug on the backside. So, as Hiro gently slides the cock ring part over his already hard dick, the other half of the toy goes right up his ass. “Mm.. fck..” he mumbled through the layers of mask, very muffled and quiet. The next step was to remove the rest of his clothing, leaving him totally exposed. He had decided the best position to put himself in was with his wrist tied around the legs of the tall shelf in the closet. He brought the cuffs as well, but was incredibly nervous about not being able to undo those, so he just placed those above his head on the shelf for now.

Now with everything in place and ready, Hiro was ready.

He had positioned the remote to the vibrating ring in a way that he could easily press it behind his back with his hands tied, and once he did he was ready to go.

Hiro quickly gets incredibly hard, with the cock ring buzzing around the base of his now fully erect cock, and the plug part shoved straight up his ass, hitting his prostate perfectly. He decided to leave one hand completely free, so he could play with himself, and he did just that. Hiro immediately started pumping his dick, with such force that he’s lucky he had the gags, or he’d have been screaming otherwise. “Hmmm… fffuck…” hiro muttered under the mask, barely audible. He lifted himself off the floor just a little, before slamming back down onto it, making the plug ram into his prostrate with a lot of force and power. “NNNNNG!” Hiro cried out, in pleasure. With just a few more tugs to his dick, he thrust up into his hands one more time and immediately started cumming, even though it’s only been 5 minutes. The pleasure just became too much, and he’d came all over his chest and hands. He started panting heavily. “Hnmmm…” he whimpered in bliss. But he didn’t have any time to recover, as his dick was still rock hard, and the plug on his prostrate was making him feel like he could orgasm again at any given moment. Hiro had began to lightly play with himself, making him orgasm and cum all over himself once again. “Ahh! Hnnng!!” He cried out as he came everywhere. This repeated a few more times. He couldn’t stop himself from cumming, he felt so amazing.

In total, Hiro came 5 times by now. He was so sensitive, over stimulated, and almost sore but he couldn’t stop. It felt so good. He decided to stop touching himself for a second and just let the vibrator and butt plug do their thing, but as he did that he heard a noise. A click? Then he heard his greatest fear.

“Makoto, thank you for helping me with the homework today. Are you sure this class room isn’t being used?” Asahina asked, assumingely Makoto.

“Well of course! I don’t mind at all Asahina! And no, there haven’t been any classes held in here all year!”

“God this is a nightmare” Hiro whimpered in his head. He felt so fucking good right now, but he should’ve known better. Not only is he totally naked and can’t stop cumming, but his friends are literally right outside the door. He knows he can’t get caught, but he can’t stop. Without even meaning to he cums again and has to literally bite the gag and his tongue to keep himself from screaming out. He wants to stop but it feels too good.

20 more minutes pass, and Hiro’s sweaty, absolutely covered in his cum, with tears running down his face from trying so hard not to make a single noise, when he hears the best thing he’s ever heard.

“Okay! Thanks Makoto! You’re really the best!” Hina said joyfully.

“Don’t even worry about it Hina! That’s what I’m here for!” Makoto responded.

“Ffnk god..” hiro mumbled to himself as he heard their voices get further away. At this point he was so worn out he had to stop, but couldn’t risk getting caught so he had to wait a little while longer.

Exhausted and overwhelmed Hiro took everything off, quickly put his clothes back onto his filthy body, shoved all his toys and Ropes back into his bag and pockets, and ran to the shower room to clean up. As he was leaving the room and walking down the hallway, he passed Makoto who was headed back to the empty room. “Oh, hey Hiro! Where have you been today?” Makoto asked innocently.

“Oh.. uh.. just, catching up on some school work.. I just.. I gotta go though, sorry,” he said in a panic, still out of breathe as he ran the opposite direction.

After Yasuhiro had showered and cleaned himself off to the best of his ability he decided it was best to try and join his classmates for the remainder of the day to attempt to blend in. The whole day went normal and fine, until Makoto walked up to Hiro and pulled him to the side.

“Hey, uh, Hiro, after I saw you in the hallway before? I had to run to an empty classroom to grab a spare notebook for a project. And I .. found this,” Makoto said awkwardly not looking Hiro in the eyes. “You don’t have to say anything, but I’m almost certain they’re yours..” he dropped a pair of handcuffs into Hiro’s hands. “They were just sitting on the shelf..”

A panicked Hiro just laughed and said “okay Makoto! I understand. I’ll use my powers to find the owner and return them as soon as I can!” But on the inside he was dying.

He quickly turned away from Makoto shoved the cuffs in his pocket, and ran out of the room heading home. At least he never officially got caught though.. right?

[botwstoriesandsuch]

hey Kip! I’m sending asks into different writer’s askboxes, inquiring about cool themes/development facts/stuff the author wants to share about their personal favorite work of their own. What’s yours? :)

Ok so this ask is old and when I first got it I was like “dang I don’t really have a lot to talk about, what should I talk about I could those revalink headcanons the Kip Cut that turned into a working fic uhh hmm maybe I’ll just make something new to talk about real quick” and then I did and now there is a 12+ chapter Revalink fic in my drafts and I’m gonna talk about that now, whoopsie doopsie [click "j" to skip]

aHEM, OK so allow me to break out the primary school white board because yeah, I have a lot of thoughts and the oxford comma has not yet made it’s home into my brain. oh and spoilers for paraphrase. for both all of Chapter one and future events in later chapters, but it’s really nothing you couldn’t surmise from the AO3 tags

so I really wanted to tell the story of Revali and Link learning and struggling to love again after the less-than-fortunate events of Botw, but I wanted a...how you say...fresher, approach on the subject? Like I know we always say that fanfic writers writing the same tropes and stories time and time again is good because we eat that shit up--but at the same time I had asian parenting as was told never to half ass anything ever, no matter what. So now I'm gay and extra and have depression maybe and oh would you look at that @motherhyrule has dropped a beautiful revalink prompt right into my lap

Great so now that we have, that, I shall take you on the step by step process on how to make a :sparkles: story. So step one is to spend at least five to eleven business days for your white board to dismantle your genre and themes and work them around your character arcs. Luckily I have prepared one ahead of time

s*breaks out those laser pointers that uni professors use* So let's start with defining genre. As define because I HATE you, fuck you. I want you to suffer and writhe on the ground, motherfucker. How dare you think that I would give you nothing but pure predictable fluff, fuck you and yours

is the set of expectations that your audience has when consuming a piece of media

And the great thing about fanfiction is that unlike movies or book where the genres are more vague like, "oh it's a noir mystery genre. so there's a crime, maybe a murder, and a detective and a criminal." or "oh it's a teen romance. so there's some white people and a morally questionable six-pack 18 year old love interest that will be painted as desirable for some reason" BUT with fanfiction HALF of the work out the window, because as soon as you see those #revalink #aro sidon #zelpha #revali is an idiot and #found family tags you already know what's up.

Now what's so great about genre and expectation? Well the fun thing about it is that

I will use it to fucking break you.

... ... ...

<3 For example! <3

In Chapter 1: Holes, you already expect there to be revalink, you already expect them to be soulmates with the soulmarks and there's angst and yadayada ya. Revali and Link have to match because thatttss what this is all about, this is about them! This is about cute, little soulmarks and romantic words!

But whoooopsie doopsie [disney channel laugh track plays] they DON'T match anymore! Link's got a different mark! The number one rule of this entire genre has been broken whoooooooooooooooops. *ba dum tiss*

You might notice with a lot of my writing that I do this a lot, this whole..."oop but there's one little thing that's different." TebaSaki sick fic? Ok cool, but what if Teba burns an irreplaceable relic of the Rito champion to fight a wizzrobe first to characterize why his dumbass clicks with Saki. Mipha deciding to persue Link? Ok what if she chases after a dragon to externalize this conflict as she pierces it's flesh for a scale. Link fighting a Lynel? Ok but what if it's actually a sidlink angst fic in disguise and it's also world building on how Link deals with the bloodmoon that erases all of his efforts which is sort of similar to how his existence was erased from Hyrule 100 years ago mwaahahaha! Ok now that I say this outloud I think I just have a pattern of using fight scenes to externalize character growth. I like fight scenes...anyways.

I think another great thing about the realm of fanfiction is that with the tagging system, I can basically use a chekhov's gun sort of deal, without doing any writing. You know I'm gonna use that gun marked "soulmates" but you don't know when I'm gonna shoot it, and you SURE as hell don't know how.

And huzzah! One of the main points of conflict both drives the tension between Revali and Link, solidifies the unique genre and setting of this world, while also creating a new mystery that will carry over for the next few chapters.

Is Revali right in that Link's rebirth makes him destined for someone new now? What will Link do with the information that his soulmark has changed? Why did it change? Did Revali's change as well? How does anything fucking work right now?

And sure, you might be able to tell where things will end with them, but you sure as fuck will not know how because I HATE you. Fuck you. I want you to suffer and writhe on the ground, motherfucker. How dare you think that I would give you nothing but pure predictable fluff. I am not your goddamn fairy godmother, I will do as I fucking please. You will suffer as you fucking deserve, fuck you and your little tiny--

/j

Oh! But you might have noticed on my little planning whiteboard thing that there was a little T-Chart! For Revali and Link! That's because the next important thing besides plot (and in a lot of cases, including this one, it's argued to be even MORE important than plot) is

~CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT~

[to the tune of that history of the world video on youtube]

So yes, it's a little T-Chart outlining their character views in relation to the themes. And the great thing about themes is that they're not something you can necessarily predict in the same way you can with the genre and plot.

But now see, I'm very lazy so I'm just gonna plagiarize @hyrule-kingdom-updates thingy [that you should read btw] because they said my point quite clear enough

Now I don't really need to care about those points about bond and relationships and being understood, because I'm dealing with already established canon characters. I'm not some NERD who dabbles with entire casts of ocs who even cares about ocs not me that's for sure ahaahahaahahahahahaahahahahahAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH *cries in my orphaned WTTU fic* AHAHAHA*sobs*DONT FUCKING LOOK AT ME THAT WAY I SWEAR--

/j I love ocs

But the points I do wanna focus on is the idea that characters provide new perspectives on the theme, and that characters growth can be tracked based on their wants, lies, and needs.

So see, themes can be predicted the same as genre/plot because while you can have the same fanfic plots and tropes, theme will always vary!

Sometimes it's a journey of selfworth with Revali! Sometimes it's an exploration of trauma with Link. Sometimes it's about how you deal with the vulnerabilities of love with Mipha. Sometimes there's straight up NOOOO theme, and people just be fucking, and kissing, and baking, and having a good time. And that is totally fine too!

But I'm not a fucking coward.

I'm gonna weave in themes with my plot, because I fucking can.

I'm not a weakling like you.

Do you hear me, 2019 Kip? Do you hear me Demmers? Do you hear me Quill? I'm coming for your ass. You think you're so great, but I'm coming for you. Rest assured that your graves will be as deep as your sculptured pride--

Heeeere is that T-Chart again, plus more!

yyyyyYou might notice that Revali and Link are quite parallel, to paraphrase. Ayoooo, see what I did there? *dabs* I'm a genius. Anywho

They both start off the same way: 100 years ago they were in love and happy. Basically the equivalent of childish naivety. For the first time in their lives, life is whimsical and charming, and they make each other happy. In fact, it's almost a flaw with how they perceive this happiness. But don't worry! It doesn't last long!

You know what happens.

I think the chart is pretty self explanatory. Revali builds walls fast enough to give a republican a wet dream. Meanwhile Link makes every aromantic in the chat groan with his doubled down sentiments in the idea that his chances of being truly happy again are gone.

Now, I can't exactly describe the full on process of the inbetweens, and where Revali and Link are gonna go from here, because...you have to read it for yourself! Heehee...but something I did think was fun was how these character views on the themes are revealed. Because you'll notice that, I never give exposition. Ever.

Ok well, let me rephrase that. I never give exposition scenes. I will never give you a big LOTR fancy wizard scene explaining the ins and outs of a character's question or the world's magic or whatever. I'm a very impatient Kip, and I value efficiency. Nonono, it's all about multi tasking, baby!

Chapter 1: Holes is divided into three parts.

Post 100 Years - Medoh (Establishes Ghost Rev/Bonk Head Link's view)

100 Years Ago - Flight Range (Establishes old Revalink views)

Post 100 years - Mark (Develops Ghost Rev/Bonk Head Link's view in contrast to who they once were)

I think the way that you structure flashbacks is incredible vital, as it's a very quick way to characterize people without having them say stuff like "I used to be like you, until I took an arrow to the knee" or whatever.

And with the main structure of the chapters and the fic as a whole is focus on their characters, that means I can hide whatever other stuff I want in those scenes, becuase you're too busy absorbing the fun character stuff to realizing I'm giving you boring exposition. Like for example:

Post 100 Years - Medoh and Mark

Foreshadowing for the end of the fic

Set up connection to Medoh with Revali

Link has defeated Windblight

Link has been visiting Revali every night for the past few days

Link has already met Kass and presumably Teba

Link doesn't have the Mastersword

Revali's Gale is still an ability that needs master and practice on Link's end

And that's just some of the stuff.

And see, the only reason I can efficiently give all of this information regarding character, and even exposition, is because of the theme. The themes make everything relevant, and everything circles and encompasses one another, so there's absolutely no wasted space. I mean don't even get me started on how it's gonna be to characterize the other characters around this

I don't wanna talk about the other characters too much either because that's spoilers, but you can probably take a gandar based on my notes.

And oh my god this is just on the theme of the faults that come with "soulmates" and "true love" and all that, and how even magical destined relationships still require work and effort, and that no one thing or person solves all your problems. And that's not even TOUCHING the shit on trauma and scars. I didn't think it was even possible for me to talk about botw without touching on that, ha. Ah well, I've been talking for too long.

Revalink has a lot o' writing potential so das pretty cool yeah, I am excite

[popculturebuffet]

Life And Times of Scrooge McDuck Retrospective: The New Laird of Castle McDuck! “And I’ll Remember It Poppa! There’s Always Another Rainbow!”

Hello all you happy people! And welcome back to my look at the Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck! And to make up for lost time im’ doing two instalments this month, and with luck and my schedule holding out I plan to finish the main series in September, doubling up again for the last two months to finish this up. 

Background wise there’s honestly not a lot this go round, as it’s less rooted in history and more Don Rosa’s need to settle an annoying flaw with continuity. Man oh man do I relate to that and having read comics for at least half my life, i’ve seen writers do this by the bucketload to fix decisions from other writers. Sometimes for the write reasons and sometimes because EVERYTHING WAS BETTER ON MY EARTH. Don Rosa, like most writers.. has done both. 

Here though it’s for the good and for understandable reasons: Barks had Scrooge’s origin as a poor shoeshine boy from Glasgow.. but also had a rather famous and awesome story, the Old Castle’s Secret, that also gave them a giant ancestral castle. Rosa fixed this by having the McDuck’s having lost it due to a combination of being driven off the land by a fake ghost dog and poor turns of fourtune meaning they coudln’t pay the taxes to live there and were behind on taxes on it, hence the Whiskervilles having taken it over in part one. 

But obviously the Whiskervilles coudln’t KEEP the castle as Scrooge owned it in present day, thus this chapter explains how he got it. It was a stroke of genius plot wise too as it allowed him to open each act in Scotland and using the castle to measure where Scrooge is in life: As a boy dreaming of getting it back, as a young man who while not a success succeeds at this, and as an older hardned man who realizes he simply doesn’t belong here anymore who has to leave his family’s legacy here behind to start a better one in America. 

The only other real story is that a sequence here was based on the film A Matter of Life and Death, and Rosa detailed in his notes his quest to get a copy as the distribution rights here were a nightmare at the time. Thankfully that’s clearly changed as a quick look on Amazon shows both a standard DVD release, mentioned by rosa in the book and a snazzier release by the Criteron Collection are both easily available. He ended up getting a copy from Canada, and while he didn’t get any insight at least got a neat addition to his collection. Admittedly this dosen’t add much to the story, I just thought it was neat. So with all of that settled, join me after the cut as Scrooge tries to buy back his family’s legacy.

And Scrooge has already arrived in Scotland, having reunited with Downy and Matilda, who as a refresher is more responsible and straightlaced here versus the 2017 incarnation.  Part of me DOES wish they hadn’t glossed over the reunion especially since this chapter is the last time we’ll see Scrooge and his Mom together before her utterly heartbreaking passing a few chapters down the road. But I get why we opened here instead: it’s a captivating open, with Scrooge speeding to the castle, his mother and sister trying to stave the rain off and time clearly of the essence. It sucks you in as we don’t know WHY Scrooge was summoned last time, only that it was bad enough he needed to come home, and thus ratchet’s up the tension until we find out shortly. 

It turns out the back taxes on Castle McDuck are up and the castle is being sold., doing so with some glasses, foreshadowing his iconic specs wearing as the snow and brightness of the praries in various seasons mean his eyes are all done fucked up like mine.  The Whiskervilles are naturally not only the prospective buyer but already trying to take the property prematurely, with Fergus and Jake holding the line, because love isn’t always on time. But Hortense is and when the Whiskervilles mock her daddy and uncle, planning to tear down the castle out of spite, her response reminds us why donald is a ball of rage and badassery...

Have I mentioned she’s my favorite part of this story? Because she is. Her response to scrooge being back is also just pure adorable. 

Scrooge does get a big reunion with his dad and uncle, getting a big hug from Fergus, if squshing his cream cheese sandwitch... and yes that’s apparently a real thing. I mean I do love me some cream cheese don’t get me wrong, but it just feels weird to put it on bread as the only thing, but I guess i’m a bit spoiled with crackers and bagels in my day and age or putting it on tosat with salmon and.. saying all of this both makes me very hungry for cream cheese. So I guess i’ts not all bad it’s just weird to me, especially since I don’t think it’d keep all that well unregrigrated but I also don’t know the times that well. Or maybe when your that poor and hungry, it dosen’t matter how good it is and maybe i’m just spoiled by my upper middle class existance. I dunno. The point is i’m going to go get me some cream cheese be back in a minute. Here have some music. 

For all two of you that didn’t clear out, Fergus naturally for the time, turns out to be sexist, insisting Jake get “The Women” home.

Though Rosa gets a great joke out of it by having Jake wonder if he can even reign Hortense in. And I do love Hortense’s character. Whlie i’ts simple, she’s simply an angrier version of her son without the penchant for half-assed schemes, it works and makes her stand out against the more subdued rest of the McDuck family outside of Scrooge. 

Fergus explains HOW it got so bad to Scrooge: While the McDuck ancestors pooled resources to automatically pay the taxes, eventually only having two poor old men who could barely keep their family fed and a slightly less poor pulp fiction writer somewhere in America meant the taxes piled up and the Whiskervilles are within a whisker’s reach of gettng the castle, something mentioned in part 1. 

It also provides a great payoff to the first part of Scrooge’s journey: while the boy bemoans only having gotten the 10,000 dollar check from the mine sale, and that will only just about cover the castle’s taxes, he feels disheratned as it’s ALL he’s accomplished.. but in a nice moment from Fergus he points it WASN’T all for nothing: Thanks to his work they get their home back. His family can move from the cramped confines of Dismal Downs back to their ancestral homeland like they always deserved. While he may of not achieved his goal of being rich yet.. he still achieved his goal of buying the castle back, the very thing that set him on this path in the first place. It’s telling though that it takes a reminder of that, that Scrooge is loosing sight of the very human, for lack of a better term, reasons he set out: while he’s finally built a better life for his family, if just so.. all he can see is that he’s not RICH. The money is starting to cloud his judgement.. and i’tll roll over him entirely before the series is over. 

The Head of the Whiskervilles shows up with the Sheirff.. whose also a Whiskerville lest you thought unfair and crooked policing was a strictly american thing. But Fergus points out their too early.. and Scrooge flashes his check. And when the Head Whiskerville scoffs at a mcduck having money... Scrooge points out he didn’t believe in ghosts either and brags about his awesomeness in the first chapter, revealing what he did and leaving The SHierff pissed and the older whiskerville ready with a plan: he decide......

Sadly not with children’s trading cards but with swords, and gets past the legality issue by simply challenging Scrooge’s pride and angering him into accepting. Argus, the head whiskerville whose name I just got from the comic, reveals his plan to the Shierff: While he’s dueling Scrooge Sheirff can snatch the bank statment.. though why Scrooge didn’t you know, cash it before coming and how an american banks tatment is valid in early 1900′s Scotland...

So the Duel is on.. and like the money he’s made, the Duel is another Marker of how far Scrooge has come and how despite still not having made his fortune yet he’s rich with EXPERINCE. His experince fighting cattle rustlers and pirates means he has the reflexes to easily outfight his opponent.. though him saying he learned how to fight “Injun Style from Buffallo Bill”, i.e. learned how to fight like a native american from a white guy and beat Sitting Bull with it just makes me feel like i’m watching that episode of Saved by the Bell where Zach has to learn not to be racist but then thinks this outfit is acceptable. 

Scrooge also tracks the guy using the tracking skills he learned from the blackfeet which again feel like the picture above , but send Argus running.. only to lure Scrooge into a fight on the castle battlemnt in the pooring rain and disarming him. Luckily the spirit of Sir Quackly gives the lad his sword back and Scrooge wins the fight.. but promptly gets hit by lighting while celebrating Caddyshack style. 

No really Scrooge is.. or close as he got knocked into the water and is now in heaven. Sir Quackly naturally doesn’t want to see the last hope of the Clan McDuck dies and goes to talk to the tribunal of McDucks to sort it out hence the Matter of Life And Death connection. 

The Tribunal is made up of former McDucks.. it turns out Scrooge is here because of Quackly: the lighting was SUPPOSED to hit the tower, distracting Argus, and they prepare to write Scrooge off because their more concerned with golf than the fact that their whole clan’s future is on the line.. which I do not get because unless you are Tiger Woods or the Film Caddyshack, golf usually is the boring garbage water of sports and this is from someone who dosen’t like sports to begin with. I do like the Missing Links of Moorshire though so there’s that. And golf episodes of shows are usually good.. the sport itself is just incredibly boring. And I sat through Mank. I know boring. I know wanting hours of my life back. Golf is the Mank of Sports. 

What we get is a pretty tiresome sequence honestly: Quackly points out the tribuanls faults while their just dicks who only care about golf. Which again, Mank of sports. Or if you prefer the Cloud Atlas of sports but with SLIGHTLY less untetionall racisim and sadly much less Tom Hanks and Hugh Grant. The point is golf sucks and while I ilke the REST of this chapter this bit just dosen’t work for me and was clearly funnier in Rosa’s head, with the assholes not thinking much of Scrooge’s achievements and only liking him when they find out he’ll be a tight wad, the only funny joke in these draggy as hell three pages, not counting the start and finish of the sequence which arnet bad, as they send him back to earth with Quackly mentioning the dime, but not giving out WHY it’s important. That he has to figure out on his own and all that good stuff. 

So Scrooge uses his dime to unscrew the bolts and back at the castle while Argus TRIES to pawn it off as Scrooge being a coward and depart with the bank draft.... 

Damnnnn that’s badass, he gets the bank note back (only knowing because one of his ancestors mentioned it, though with his memory of the dying dream gone he dosen’t know WHY), and has Fergus run into town to pay the taxes tonight before any other shenanigans happen while he keeps the two scheming dogmen captive long enough for Fergus to get too far for them to catch up.  Argus plans to go with plan “Do a murder on Scrooge”.. but fines Scrooge is far from unprotected and not the only badass in his family.. I mean Hortense exists but I mean that ther’es more than two... you know what jut look at the ghost heads. 

So the two run for their lives..... also they forgot you know Hortense exists.. she’d revenge murder all of them and they both know it. 

So with the land safe and the taxes paid so the Family can implicitly move in, we end on a beautiful sunrise as Scrooge prepares to leave soon. Despite all the setbacks and hardship Scrooge is deterimend to still make it and knows he won’t fail forever. When Fergus mentions Gold at the end of a rainbow, Scrooge takes that, and the golden dawn as a sign. WHen Fergus understandably asks if he’s sure he’ll make it this time.. we get a nice nod to Bark’s best and most notable painting “always another rainbow to close us out”

It’s a beauitful and inspiring statment.. no matter what you face.. there’s always a light at the end of it. Always another opportunity, another goal to reach, another hill to climb.. and life to live... and it’s one i’ve taken to heart and always will.. and one that will land Scrooge his fortune yet. 

Final Thoughts: This chapter is alright but like I said the two page sequence in heaven dosen’t really work for me. It’s just not funny enough and really shoudl’ve been trimmed down a page so we could get more character stuff with Scrooge and his family> Otherwise it’s a tightly paced thrilling chapter in Scrooge’s life, showing just how far he’s come and how far he has left to go. The DIsmal Downs chapter serve as a good marker of where Scrooge is and where he’s heading as I mentioned earlier, with this one showing that while he’s not hit his goal yet, he still got his family their true home back, beat his enmeis and is a legend to be. Ther’es always another rainbow.. and he just needs to find it. All in all a decent chapter outside those two pages, and a good setup for the next three glorious chapters. 

Next Month on LIfe and Times: One is Scroogey and the other is FLINTHEART GLOMGOLD, as Scrooge meets his arch enemy and rides a motherfucking lion. And if “rides a motherfucking lion” doesn’t make you come back I do not know why you read this.  Next Time On This BLog: What is that, that Freaky Thing? It’s A naked Mole rat as we return to Kauai this time with Kim Possible and Co as Drakken tries to capture stitch and Jumba wonders if Rufus is one of his or not. 

See you at the next rainbow

[peterstanslizzie]

Reacting To: The Hollow (Season 2 Episode 3)

Episode Title: The Return

Spoiler Warning: Kindly proceed if you’ve already seen the episode or aren’t bothered about spoilers.

1. Adam and Kai aka Kaidam exit the portal but didn’t make a soft landing. It appears they have returned to the main game setting of ‘The Hollow’, but most likely on another level with different rules. Adam tries calling for the Weird Guy, otherwise known as Weirdy but he still is a no-show.

2. They head inside a castle (not Colrath, the dragon’s castle from last season) to try to find Mira. I wonder if they’ve tried contacting her on her cell phone? Hey, it’s worth a shot? The castle is pitch dark inside but lucky for them, Kai can use his fire powers to light the place up. However, there are a couple of distractions that are in their way; Creepy-crawly ones. Eww...

3. As they’re trying to navigate themselves through the castle, we spot an elf or gnome spying on them. And it’s really agile and keeps swooping over and around them. The elf, who appears to be a she, attacks Adam and Kai with her large fish hook (?) because she thinks that they’re invading her castle home. 

4. She swings her knife-hook thingy at Kai and it leaves a small wound on Kai’s finger. It’s actually bleeding a little; Oh my poor baby! So, bleeding is possible in this game...well, if this is all still a game that is. Kai freaks out and randomly faints into Adam’s arms. How cute! But how dramatic lol. Nonetheless, I stan how much of a disaster gay he is. 

5. We find out that she needs to fill her cap with blood in order to survive despite not being able to tolerate the sight of blood. Kai hesitates at first but Adam reminds him that if they are still playing the game, they need to cooperate with her. 

6. As a return, the gnome gives the boys a riddle to help them find Mira, before suddenly disappearing. The riddle goes like this, “To find others of your kind, you must leave this world behind. Here’s a clue if you wish, look for water without fish.” At times like this, they really need Mira to help them decipher that riddle quickly. 

7. Kai theorizes that the “water without fish” is referring to a puddle and he begins jumping into various puddles in the castle, much to Adam’s dismay. Why are there random puddles all over? I haven’t a clue. Here is when we get some tea about Reeve; Apparently, Adam and Mira couldn’t get along with him and he decided to quit the team. Yea, but why couldn’t they get along with him? From my deduction, Reeve seems like the kind of person who has a short temper and likes to march to the beat of his own drum. 

8. Kai spots a wishing well, which most probably is the solution to the riddle. And it actually is! They descend down the well but they are caught off-guard by a stream of rapid water at the bottom, which washes them out of a waterfall. They survive but are totally exhausted.

9. They wash ashore and are then dragged and taken by a group of parrot-people I’m assuming. Adam and Kai wake up and are startled by what they’re seeing. These cockatoo/parrot people are able to communicate with them but it’s very....parrot-like I guess. Meaning, they speak in very broken sentences and like to repeat themselves. 

10. The leader of the group mentions about Cherufe, the leader of their island and how they wanted to sacrifice them to him so that he doesn’t destroy the island. Luckily for them, they are not the ones being sacrificed but the leader mentions about another one of their kind who is about to be sacrificed instead. And that person is Mira probably?

11. They think that Mira is the person under that mask. I don’t think it is; That’s too straightforward. It has to be Reeve or Vanessa or something. Let’s see if I’m right. 

12. All of a sudden, a nearby volcano starts erupting and the parrot-people start chanting for Cherufe’s name, signalling that he is on his way. Adam jumps onto the platform to rescue the masked person and it turns out to be Skeet! Okay, so I was wrong. But if Skeet’s there, where’s Mira? Didn’t she trail behind him last episode. 

13. Adam tries to get him out of there but the parrot-people stop him because they don’t want to make Cherufe angry. Speaking of Cherufe, it makes a grand entrance by emerging out of the volcano after a spout of lava was released. Everybody is freaking out.

14. Adam again tries to free Skeet from his restraints but the knots are tied really tight. Kai distracts Cherufe with his flamethrower but it’s not having much of an effect. After putting a little more vigor into it, Adam manages to set Skeet loose and the three of them start running away from the monster. 

15. Skeet tries to use his super-speed to quickly run away but he forgets that they’re on an island. Fortunately, Kai manages to spot a boat and they are able to escape from Cherufe’s wrath. 

16. It also helps a lot when the monster is a volcano monster that turns into stone once it comes into contact with seawater. 

17. As Skeet is telling Adam and Kai about how he ended up in such a predicament, his recollection is pretty much aligned to what Adam, Kai and Mira had went through. He says he got split up from Reeve and Vanessa. Also, Skeet is aware about Reeve being Adam and Mira’s former teammate. 

18. As day turns into night, they are still stuck on the boat, paddling to who knows where. Skeet tells them he just wants the game to be over so that he can go home but Adam is adamant (lol that rhymes) that they find Mira first. 

19. It’s great that Skeet reminds all of us the rules of ‘The Hollow’, that is if one team player dies, it’s game over for the rest. This means that Mira, Reeve and Vanessa are all still alive. 

20. The scene cuts to...OMG finally we see Mira and she’s running from something or someone firing green lasers at her. Where could she be? Will she bump into Reeve or Vanessa or maybe other players of The Hollow? (like the ones we’ve seen in the trailer). 

21. Yay! More backstory! Mira and Skeet knew each other since preschool and based on his body language and expression, it seems to me that Skeet has a crush on her. Cute! I would ship these two hard but I need to see how Skeet would interact with Mira first.

22. Adam notices that something is pulling the boat fast and he tries to paddle the boat in the opposite direction but the force is too strong. Since Skeet has super speed, I think he could pull a Dash Parr from the Incredibles and use his legs as propellers for the boat. Let’s see if he does that. 

23. Kai, with his super intelligence figures out that the boat is being pulled in by a cluster of nuclear plants that have cooling pumps that suck in massive amounts of water. All of Adam’s efforts aren’t really working and they need to think of something fast or they’ll be toast. C’mon Skeet, use your powers!

24. Suddenly, a spacecraft/hovercraft flies over them and begins firing red lasers at the nuclear power site, where there appears to be ANOTHER TEAM! And the ship seems to be targeting this other team. Their powers are as follow: One guys is able to teleport, the other guy is able to shoot lightning bolts and the girl has Black Canary’s power of sonic screams. And with their combined effort, they are able to overwhelm the ship at first but it suddenly comes back and shoots another round of lasers and hits the girl and she disintegrates into digital dust! OMG Did she just die?

25. Adam, Kai and Skeet witness the entire thing and they also catch glimpse of Weirdy casually walking towards the other team. They try to get his attention but they’re too far away.

26. Weirdy inform the remaining two members of the team that it’s game over for them and they also end up pixelating (Is that a real word?). I wonder where they went or if they’ve woken up from the game? I hope that they’re not gone GONE. Weirdy then disappears soon after. So, is he supposed to be one of the bad guys of this show or what? It’s hard to tell. 

27. Adam, Kai and Skeet manage to get themselves off the boat before getting sliced into pieces by the pumps. Adam spots a satchel that was left by one of the guys who disintegrated and he goes through its contents. He finds a map but it’s not the same one from before. It first shows the three regions Adam and Kai have been in: the castle, the volcano island and the nuclear power plant. But within a split second, the maps starts closing in and the locations start disappearing. It could be that the map is resetting itself once another team takes its possession. 

28. I can’t tell if either all the locations have been erased or only the nuclear power plants is the only remaining location on the map. Skeet tells them about an idea he has on how to escape the game, which is to lose the game on purpose. I understand his plan but I don’t think they should risk themselves like that. 

29. The flying spacecraft returns and begins firing at them. Skeet attempts to test out his idea but Adam saves him in the nick of time. Adam is such an amazing hero. He be saving everybody, even those who weren’t on his side. The three of them hide behind a corner as the ship lands and a bunch of soldiers emerge out of it. I’m getting such Star Wars vibes here. 

30. Skeet still believes that losing the game will work and calls for the soldiers to come to him. This obviously annoys Adam to no end and they start running away. They reach a dead end and as the soldiers are about to corner them, Mira calls for their attention from inside one of the nearby buildings.

31. The episode ends on a cliffhanger where the soldiers start firing at them. They’re obviously gonna make it alive. Duh! Stay tuned for my reaction to episode 4, which will be out very soon.

[thisdiscontentedwinter]

Bad Blood - Chapter 26

You can read it on AO3 or find the Tumblr Chapter Index here. 

___________

Peter sits on the couch and listens while Stiles tells him what he knows about Gerard’s plans. It amounts to the fact that he had a map on his desk with a circle around the warehouses on Elm, and Chris had already told them that before he got shot. So Peter steers the boy more into generalities, and Gerard’s training methods, and listens to his stuttering heartbeat while he calmly relays things, and wonders if the boy even knows what a conflicted mess he is. It’s clear that he’s terrified of Gerard—his body’s responses can’t be hidden—but it’s also clear he’s learned how to repress them.

He’s just as terrified of Peter, probably.

Peter finds his gaze drawn occasionally to the scar on his throat.

Peter doesn’t trust the boy.

And that’s not because he thinks that Stiles is another Kate Argent, another hunter wearing a false face. He doesn’t trust Stiles because he doesn’t think that Stiles can trust himself.  

“Thank you, Stiles,” he says at last. “This has been very helpful.”

Stiles’s hands are shaking as Derek leads him away. They go upstairs this time, and Peter hopes Derek is showing the boy to the bathroom. He stinks of sweat and fear.

“You don’t believe him, do you?” Laura asks quietly after a moment.

“I do,” Peter says. “But I don’t trust him any more than I’d trust any other cornered animal. He’s scared, and fear drives people to crazy things.”

Allison’s forehead creases. “Scared? No, he’s like this all the time.”

Peter tilts his head. “He’s been scared for years, Allison. He’s good at hiding it, but I can hear his heartbeat.”

Allison has no answer for that.

The pipes groan and creak as the shower is turned on upstairs.

***

In the afternoon Peter leaves the loft, his senses on high alert. He takes the Camaro and parks it outside the grocery store on Forest Street. He goes inside and buys a few things. More coffee, some snacks, some bacon. Some chocolate for Laura. And then he walks the three blocks over to the Beacon Hills Animal Clinic, checking to make sure he’s not being followed.

The bells on the door ring as he pushes them open.

Deaton appears from the back rooms. “Peter. What’s going on?”

“Can we talk?” Peter asks. “Also, can I put this bacon in your fridge while I’m here?”

Deaton waves him through.

Moments later, his bacon safe, Peter leans up against the examination table as Deaton goes over all the surfaces in the place with antiseptic.

“You want mountain ash,” Deaton says, “but for humans?”

“There must be something, right?” Peter says. “Magic is all about balance, so where’s our equivalent of mountain ash?”

“Most people would tell you that mountain ash balances out the fact that werewolves have claws and fangs and incredible strength,” Deaton says.

“There must be something,” Peter says. “Alan, I need any advantage I can get.”

Deaton exhales slowly. “Then I’m sorry, I don’t know of any substance that would disable humans without having the same effect on werewolves. Certainly nothing you could use as a barrier in the same way humans can use mountain ash.”

“Nothing at all?” Peter asks.

“I’m sorry,” Deaton says. He taps his fingers along the counter. “Have you considered that you’re looking in the wrong place?”

“What do you mean?”

“Herbs and potions and magic might not help you against the hunters,” Deaton says, “but technology could. If you want to set mantraps, Peter, then maybe you need to take a leaf out of their playbook instead of mine.”

Peter narrows his eyes for a moment.

Deaton’s mouth quirks, which is the closest he ever comes to a real smile. “If their technology can stop you, Peter, it can sure as hell stop them too.”

And Peter supposes that yes, yes it can.

***

Peter returns to the loft, and unpacks his groceries. He slings an arm around Laura when she comes to inspect what he bought. She nabs the chocolate first, and then catches his gaze. Peter can’t help his smirk.

“You’re up to something,” she says suspiciously.

“I have an idea forming, yes,” Peter says.

“And is it an idea you’re willing to share with your alpha?”

“It most certainly is.” Peter listens for a moment. He can hear Allison and Stiles’s heartbeats upstairs, and Derek’s too. Derek will be able to hear him, but the humans won’t. “How would you feel about tripwires, and flash bombs, and explosives and whatever the hell else is considered an arsenal?”

“To use on the hunters?”

“Who else?”

Laura looks hesitant. “I mean, maybe. Why? Are you planning on breaking into a military base?”

“Nope,” Peter says, and flashes her a smug smile. “I’m planning on breaking into Gerard Argent’s house.”

Laura raises her eyebrows. “Excuse me?”

“Look,” Peter says, “we can’t go to Chris’s house, because Gerard will be watching it to see if Allison runs home. And he can’t be lurking around his house, because you know who’s already watching that?”

“Who?”

“The good deputies of Beacon Hills,” Peter says. “It’s still a crime scene. But fortunately we have an in with the sheriff.”

“Peter, if there was anything in that house, wouldn’t it already be in an evidence locker?”

“Oh, I’m sure they took everything they found,” Peter says. “Just like I’m absolutely sure they didn’t find everything, or the FBI would have been crawling over the place like ants at a picnic.”

Laura nods cautiously. “Maybe.”

“Shall we go and ask Stiles?” Peter asks.

Laura nods, more decisively this time.

Peter leads the way up the steps.

He finds Stiles and Allison in Derek’s room. Derek is on the bed reading, and the humans are sitting on the floor playing some game with a pack of cards. Stiles looks better today. He’s wearing a borrowed shirt of Derek’s that’s a little baggy on him, and a pair of sweats with a pink stripe up the side: Laura’s. His feet are bare.

“Stiles,” Peter says.

Stiles looks up from his cards, and makes to rise.

“No, stay there, you’re fine.” Peter steps inside the room. “I wanted to ask you some more questions about Gerard. Specifically his house.”

Stiles glances to Derek before answering. “Okay.”

“I need to know what kind of weapons he kept in the house,” Peter says. “And not just firearms, but also things like explosives, and grenades, and, you know, the really illegal stuff.”

“Okay,” Stiles says again, and proceeds to rattle off a list. Peter only catches about half of it, and understands even less than that.

“You know what?” he says, grabbing a pen and a pad of paper from Derek’s desk. “How about you write that down?”

Stiles nods.

***

Peter takes his phone outside onto the balcony to make the call. It’s a bright day. A cool breeze plays around Peter as he brings up the list of contacts in his phone.

“Peter,” John says when he answers. “Everything okay?”

He says everything, but Peter isn’t a fool. He knows what John’s really asking.

“He’s fine,” Peter says. “Fed, and showered, and currently playing cards with Allison.”

John exhales. “Thank you. What’s happening?”

Peter inspects his list. “When the police checked Gerard’s house, did they find any proximity fuses? Or any short range sonic devices?”

“No.” John’s tone is suddenly sharper. “The only weapons my guys found were legal.”

“Good,” Peter says. “Then that means all the rest of this stuff is still there too. I have a list here that reads like the inventory of a particularly bloodthirsty video game.”

“What are you thinking?” John asks.

“I’m thinking that I’d quite like to use some of Gerard’s technology against him,” Peter says. He consults his list again. “Like infrared tripwires, whatever it is you do with those.”

John huffs out a laugh. “Jesus. You have no idea what you’re talking about, do you?”

“None at all,” Peter says. “Those of us in the fur and fangs set have really never needed this kind of stuff. Luckily I know a guy who knows how it all works.”

“Luckily,” John responds wryly. “But what’s the actual plan here, Peter?”

“The plan is to rig one of those warehouses on Elm to explode as soon as Gerard and his goons get inside it,” Peter says.

“Hmm.”

“You’re not a fan?”

“No, I like it,” John says. “It’s a good idea, but it needs a little finessing.”

“That’s where you come in, John. You bring the finesse.”

He likes the way that John’s laugh warms him.

“But who will bell the cat, Peter?”

“What?”

“It’s an old story,” John says. “A bunch of mice agree that in order to be safe, they need to put a bell on the cat so they can hear it coming. Which raises the question of who will bell the cat. And of course nobody wants to and everybody makes excuses not to, because it’s so dangerous.”

“Did you just liken an apex predator like myself to a mouse?”

“Put your ego away for a second,” John tells him. “The problem with your plan isn’t rigging some warehouse into a fiery death trap, it’s that whoever has to lure Gerard there stands a good chance of becoming collateral damage.”

“Is this where your finesse comes in?” Peter asks, more archly than he’d intended.

John isn’t ruffled. “It’s a good plan, Peter. Getting hold of Gerard’s arsenal is a good idea. We just need to find a smarter way to use it once we have it.”

Peter is somewhat mollified by that. “Agreed.”

“Okay,” John says. “So let’s focus on actually getting the weapons first. Gerard’s house is still under guard. How about I swing by there at five and tell Parrish I’m taking over for an hour or so, so that he can get a meal break? That should give us a window to find what we need. I’ll have the garage door open for you. Do not bring the Camaro, for God’s sake. Can you get your hands on something a little more nondescript?”

“I think Deaton has a van.”

“A van would be good,” John says. “A van that doesn’t say ‘Beacon Hills Animal Clinic’ would be better.”

Peter checks the time. “I think I can hire a nondescript van from somewhere by five.”

“Good.” John pauses for a moment. “I don’t suppose you’ve got any idea where to look for this arsenal?”

“I do, as it happens,” Peter says. “There’s a hidden door in the basement, behind the cabinets in the gym.”

“Stiles,” John says, a note of wonder creeping into his tone.

“Stiles,” Peter confirms.

“Is he…” John trails off.

“Baby steps, John,” Peter reminds him. “Baby steps. I’ll see you at five.”

[mzyrimworld]

Duster Part 5 - Quadrum 4

At the end of the last quadrum (Fall), our colony of now 7 people and 6 animals were receiving distress calls, including one from the newest colonist’s ex-husband, which was quite the quandary...

And the distress calls don’t let up! It sounds like this man could be useful in a fight, but the colonists haven’t come across any mechanoids yet and we’ve heard they can be incredibly lethal. Will they risk it?

The base is still expanding, including a gaming room in a nearby mountain. They could use more storage space, but - if they do go out to rescue anybody - some of that food may disappear.

6th of Jugust: The colonists have decided to take a risk and go out to rescue somebody! Only Henry of our original three is going, together with the more aggressive animals, as well as Lisa and Beryl. Hopefully the travels will help to keep Beryl out of trouble as he struggles with his Wake-Up addiction.

The same evening, they have arrived at the easiest option - the outpost where Lucya’s ex-husband is being held! There’s only two people visible at the moment, but there could be more hiding inside...

A third did emerge, but it didn’t take Henry and the animals long to dispose of him! The other two are suffering badly...

And after a short skirmish the remaining two opponents are downed, but not dead. Fortunately there’s already a prison cell to hold them until they’re ready to leave. Lisa hasn’t taken too much damage, though it might be painful to travel again soon on that leg...

The worst off is the poor ibex ram, who has now had a hoof shattered to match his jaw, though it looks like it should still be able to travel on, if slowly...

And Jethro got a little battered, but nothing that ought to be permanent.

Perhaps most importantly, we have an eighth colonist! Insert a joke here about greedy criminals becoming politicians! Still, his high social skill could come in very handy for the colonists, and we hear he can be kind? I have to wonder if Lucya agreed to rescuing him...

One small issue though - Beryl’s not going to be the only addict in the colony now, as though the others won’t be sick of dealing with grumpy people suffering with withdrawal symptoms...

The next morning the rescuers have decided to take a chance and try to risk the man near the sleeping mechanoid. They brought plenty of food for travelling, they just have to hope they can sneak the man out without causing too much trouble...

Whilst they are journeying, back at the main base the colonists discovered that the female alpaca is pregnant! I don’t know how long alpaca pregnancies last, but hopefully ex-vet Henry will be around in time to oversee the delivery.

That evening our travelling colonists arrive at the distress call - and the man in question is alarmingly close to the sleeping mechanoid. Still, they haven’t come out here just to turn around again...

Vladimir, perhaps as the newest, is sent in (with Henry and Lisa poised to cover him) and he successfully recruits our nineth colonist! Vas is not a good-looking man, but he is skilled with all weapons, and building materials. Could be very useful, once he recovers...

None of his wounds are that bad, and he even has a bionic ear!

Though perhaps I should say if he recovers, and his injuries so far - despite their best efforts, that mechanoid looks rather awake to me...!

Oh no! A colonist has been killed! Lisa was doing well together with Henry, giving enough distraction to allow Vladimir and Vas to escape, but first a shot took off her arm and then, when she tried to retreat, a shot straight to the torso destroyed her heart!

No time to mourn yet, the mechanoid is still upright...

And it’s downed with no further deaths! Original colonist Henry is completely unharmed, and Beryl looks fine too.

Here we can see the damage done to the mechanoid - it was Lisa using the revolver, and I believe she was responsible for destroying the fluid reprocessor and possibly also the arm; she went down fighting.

The only other one to be injured is the ibex ram, but it only appears to be bruises; it’s had far worse injuries recently.

With both missions done, the travellers plan to head home in the morning, taking Lisa’s body with them for proper burial.

Back home, the other colonists are not having the best time either - a cold snap is killing off plants, and the muscle parasites are back, infecting Zeiph again but now Dead as well.

But, on the bright side, the female muffalo is pregnant now too.

And late that evening the travellers and prisoners arrive back, several of them still injured and needing to rest.

While the others were gone, the homebody colonists helpfully built a larger prison for just such an occasion. Perhaps it might tempt the captives to join the fold, like Lion before them.

Not that this young man seems especially skilled, but a spare pair of hands doesn’t hurt.

This woman is older, but hardly more skilled. Somebody needs to invest in schools on this planet!

There was a cargo pod drop of smokeleaf nearby, and I don’t think we can blame Lucya for greeting the news that her ex-husband would be living in their colony by promptly getting stoned* and going back to work.

*Please note that we do not condone drug use, and the words and actions of the colonists do not reflect our views as a company. Please consult your doctor if you or somebody you love are having trouble with drug use.

I should confirm that there have been no positive relationship developments so far, despite the number of colonists around now. There also haven’t been any fights, despite some people getting rebuffed. There must be drama sooner or later though...

Finally, Lisa’s body is interred respectfully in a decorated sarcophagus. Hopefully they will be able to avoid having to extend that room for more sarcophagi any time soon.

Can we get a Lisa montage? We’ll try a brief Lisa montage. Get some unlicensed sad music!

*Very unlicensed sad music*

What can be said of Lisa Hogan? She crashed from the sky into our colonists’ lives, slowly bleeding out from a wound in her shoulder.

She was the first to join the colony, having been rescued, despite sleeping on the half-dirt floor of a very basic room. She might have just left, but she stayed.

She wasn’t particularly skilled, but she helped out with the research when others were busy, and got involved in the fights when necessary.

Despite only seeming to be 39, she was born 2,284 years ago. The other colonists probably should have asked her about that. And how she stayed so optimistic when this was almost bound to happen. Plus how she fit all those dreadlocks under a cowboy hat. Now we’ll never know.

May she have her own joywire in the afterlife. And at least she got immortalised on TV rather than dying in obscurity.

Anyway, back to the living colonists, Lucya is not the only one lighting it up. Beryl seems to have decided that the best way to get through the withdrawal symptoms of one drug is to binge on another.

He’s not managing much of a binge, though, because between the two problems he winds up on the floor unable to move for several hours. Luckily somebody usually hauls him to a bed to sleep it off.

Until his bingeing coincides with an electrical fault the sets the building on fire!

Don’t get excited though: other colonists came running quickly to put the fire out and put Beryl to bed again. He should be the majority of the way through his Wake-Up withdrawal symptoms now, I’m sure the colonists are hoping it will soon be in the past.

Perhaps we shouldn’t complain though, without Beryl’s various breakdowns the rest of the season would have been very boring. Perhaps Vladimir will pick up the slack next season as his Psychite withdrawal kicks in too...

Final stats:

Henry: No change

Jethro: No change

Dead: Now with muscle parasites

Zeiph: Now with muscle parasites again

Ibex ram: Now has a shattered hoof as well as its jaw

Lisa: Lost arm, heart, life </3

Lion: No change

Beryl: Constantly on the verge of a breakdown

Female alpaca: Pregnant

Female muffalo: Pregnant

Male alpaca + muffalo: Fine

Lucya: Not thrilled to be around her ex-husband

Vladimir: Going into Psychite withdrawal and seeing ex-wife

Vas: That face ain’t improving, but at least he’s got good hearing?

Colony: Lost one colonist, gained two

[lalainajanes]

Based on those posts about Therapy Humans that float around. IDEK guys this is not my genre.

Star Crossed World

A persistent beeping fills Klaus’ tiny berth, bouncing around the metal walls. Echoing, growing louder, snapping Klaus out of the first stretch of decent sleep he's managed to get in weeks.

The words that spill from his lips, unintelligible and thick with exhaustion, are not appropriate for company.

Luckily, Klaus has none.

He scrubs a hand over his face, absently wonders when the last time he shaved was. Grooming rather fell to the wayside when you’re only company was a disembodied voice.

The A.I. had come with the ship, an unfailingly cheerful presence that had introduced itself as Josh. Klaus had grown up with various AI’s – his mother preferred them to human servants who tended to be noisy and have an excessive amount of opinions – but they’d always been carefully programmed and unable to speak unless spoken to. Speaking to them was strongly discouraged because, as his parent’s had insisted, it wasn’t as if they were equals.

Josh was far more verbose than any of the AI’s Klaus was accustomed to. He exhibited curiosity about Klaus and where he’d come from. Had even managed to execute some tact, and move on to more general subjects, once his inquiries about Klaus’ well known family had been met with terse replies.

Josh also offered suggestions unprompted, many of which were incredibly helpful since Klaus was new to the mechanics of a ship. A few were less welcome – Klaus was perfectly capable of researching brothels should he desire to. He did not need a rundown of which ones were purported to be the most cleanly and which offered non-standard services. He was well aware that the endorphins released after climax improved a human’s mood.

As aggravating as that conversation had been Klaus hadn’t considered activating the protocol in Josh’s programming that would prevent him from speaking out of turn. Having another entity attempting to nurture him – even ineptly – was novel and the part of Klaus that was homesick, that missed his siblings desperately, appreciated it.

For an AI Josh was also a little on the sensitive side so Klaus makes an effort to keep his tone from being harsh, “Is the ship on fire?”

Before retiring to his bunk Klaus had issues a single order, that he only be awoken if the situation was life and death.

He’s been suffering through a drawn out bout of insomnia, a common side effect to adjusting to living in space. He’d read about it while he’d been hastily throwing together plans, had figured he could deal with it. He’s finding it’s much more difficult than anticipated.

Having spent his entire life on the biggest, most prosperous, planet in The Aesir System Klaus had been less prepared than he’d realized for life on a ship. The terraforming on Odin was designed for human comfort – the temperatures were perfectly regulated, vegetation flourished and the air was filtered and fresh. Before spending his life’s savings on a ship that had seen better days Klaus hadn’t spent more than a week onboard one. As a child his family had taken occasional jaunts to the Vanir planets though even those had stopped once his mother’s parents had passed on.

Had he been a less stubborn sort of person Klaus might have already given up. His hands were covered in bandages (because he’d run out of skin fixative and it wasn’t cheap). Every muscle in his body ached constantly, strained by the physical labor required to keep the ship running on his own. He was lonely though he’d never admit that. He’d kept to himself the few times he’d had to make a stop planet-side for supplies, did his best not to seem hopelessly out of his depth when he took in terrain that defied logic, traversed cities filled with species he’d only ever read about.

As children the acquaintances he and his siblings cultivated had been strictly monitored. They weren’t permitted to interact with anyone who could possibly reflect badly on the family name. Mikael had wanted to be Chancellor, had no qualms with using his children as bargaining chips to fulfill his political ambitions.

Klaus had always hated it. Had preferred to keep to himself rather than dive into the den of snakes his father considered company befitting a Mikaelson.

Finn had been lucky enough to fall in love with his handpicked bride. Elijah chose duty, gave up Katherine Pierce for the daughter of a top ranking general. Though Katherine was an obnoxious harpy, in Klaus’ opinion, and he thought Elijah well rid of her, his dislike was personal, unlike Mikael who thought her too low born to ever be family.  

Klaus had thought his turn was coming, had been dreading the parade of plastic smiles worn by acceptable possible spouses that he’d have to endure.

A heavily buried family secret had saved Klaus from such a fate though it had cost him. In his old life he had access to every comfort, luxuries most people could only dream of.

When he’d left the home he’d grown up in he’d only had a hastily packed bag containing essential personal belongings and a few small trinkets he’d stolen away with. His access to the family accounts was cut off though Mikael hadn’t been able to touch his personal ones. Klaus imagined he’d tried, took great satisfaction in imagining how he must have fumed at being denied.

It was one of the things that kept him going.

“The ship is in perfect working order,” Josh tells him. “You’re being hailed by a courier ship and it’s urgent.”

That made no sense. Klaus hadn’t ordered anything- wouldn’t because the courier ships charged ridiculous fees. He sits up, reaching for a tablet. “What is it?”

“The manifest only lists a single package aboard,” Josh supplies helpfully, even as Klaus accesses the information himself. “From a University on Thoth.”

“Tell them I don’t want it.” It certainly sounded like something he couldn’t afford.

“I can try. But when I told them you weren’t available they insisted their delivery is time sensitive and must be opened within the next two hours. And, that as it was sent in your care, you’ll be held liable for its expiring.”

“The package is alive?” Klaus exclaims, shooting to his feet. Honestly, only an AI wouldn’t think to lead with that information.

Josh isn’t really capable of variations in pitch put the pause is long enough to seem pointed. “It’s obviously a Therapy Human. What else would come from Thoth?”

Klaus’ only knowledge of the planet was vague recollections of Rebekah begging their mother to plan a shopping trip. Something about how the fabric produced by their artisans being the best in the galaxy. “I don’t want a Therapy Human,” he says, reeling. “I don’t need a Therapy Human.” He hurriedly pulls on a shirt, sits to tug on his boots.

“Humans are social creatures,” Josh remarks and Klaus assumes that’s a disagreement.

“Can’t I send it back?” he asks.

“One moment,” there’s an extended pause and Klaus waits anxiously, pacing the few steps his cabin allowed.

“I’ve scanned the typical contracts. Returns are permitted if the Therapy Human doesn’t suit.” Well that was a relief. Unfortunately, Josh’s next words make it clear that Klaus wasn’t quite off the hook. “Which rarely happens, according to the information packet, since selections are carefully done to ensure the best match. It would be your responsibility to return Caroline to Thoth.”

“Caroline?” Klaus asks.

“Your Therapy Human,” Josh supplies.

Klaus groans, running his hands through his hair as he considers his options. Thoth was on the outer edges of the galaxy, a cluster of planets far outside the usual shipping lanes. A trip out there would cost a fortune in fuel and he had no contacts out in that direction, no way of picking up any income when he got there. “How much would a cryosleep set up cost me?”

Josh quotes a figure that would just about eat up all of Klaus’ emergency money.

“Fuck,” he grits out.

Josh is unsympathetic. “You’ve about ninety minutes left in your provided timeline. What do you wish to do?”

Klaus has very few choices and not a single one he’s especially thrilled by. He grabs the ladder and hoists himself up. “Begin docking procedures. I’ll accept the delivery.”

He’d figure everything else out later, starting with who exactly had seen fit to order him a Therapy Human, when he wasn’t in a time crunch.

Klaus hadn’t bothered to check the time on Odin when he’d placed the call. He’d been seething, his hands shaking with the effort not to smash something (because he couldn’t afford to repair anything – not now). He’s viciously pleased when Kol’s face fills the screen, eyes half open and disgruntled. He squints, “Nik? It’s the middle of the night. You’d better have a damned good reason to be interrupting my beauty sleep.”

Were this a call made for a more friendly reason Klaus might have taken the opportunity to needle his brother’s vanity. “You got me a Therapy Human?” he spits out. “Had you been imbibing something illicit again?”

Kol perks up immediately, “Oh, did she arrive already? How wonderfully efficient. Do you like her? I picked out a pretty one, just for you.”

Klaus grits his teeth together, sucks in a shallow breathe through his nose and tells himself he has to be calm. He wasn’t sure how Kol had managed to impersonate him but he needed more details before he contacted the Thoth University where Caroline had been trained. He might be furious but he’d like to avoid landing Kol a lengthy prison sentence.

Though it was entirely possible that his brother would manage to change his mind.

“Why is Caroline under the impression that she’s been corresponding with me?”

Kol grins, obviously immensely pleased with himself. “The thing with procuring illicit substances, brother, is that one meets all sorts of talented people. “I’ve got all the family videos at my disposal. Putting together a voice sim was a breeze. I told her I was shy and she didn’t push for a video call. Probably part of her training.”

“And how is it that you have a copy of my I.D. chips?”

“A magician never reveals his secrets, brother.”

“How did you pay for it?”

Kol shakes his head in mock disappointment, “You’ve no imagination, Niklaus. Do you think I’d only copy your I.D. chips? Dear old dad has quite the clever stash of hidden accounts. It’ll take him ages to realize one’s been emptied, and he’ll never trace it.”

Klaus mulls that over. Kol was alarmingly clever, particularly in matters of mischief. He’d rarely been caught, even when they’d been children and logically he should have only gotten better at covering his tracks. He has one last question, “Why did you get me a therapy human?”

Kol sighs in annoyance, “Rebekah’s in cahoots with your ship. Managed to hack in and download your vitals. She knows you’re not sleeping and she’s afraid you’re going to get space dementia and stop eating and wither away. I told her you’d do something far more dramatic like steer your ship into a star and go out with style. She wasn’t comforted for some reason. So I promised to take care of it.”

Right. Klaus makes a note to call Rebekah more often. He’s been careful not to do it often, afraid she’d be punished for refusing to cut off all contact with him. Evidently that had been a mistake if she’d gone to such lengths.

“And your mind jumped to Therapy Human because…”

“I always said you were a little off, didn’t I?”

Klaus resists the urge to ask further questions, well aware that Kol wouldn’t offer more info. Had he been closer, still in his family’s favor, he might have been able to exert more pressure. He’d just have to accept that this was, in Kol’s mind, a good deed.

“Tell Rebekah to send me a list of times she’ll be free to talk without mother hovering. We obviously need to have a discussion about boundaries.”

“Yes,” Kol says blandly, “I’m sure a discussion will immediately cure our sister of a lifetime of meddlesomeness.”

He cuts the feed without bothering to reply. His timing is impeccable because he hears the squeak of boots on metal approaching. For a moment his heart beat picks up, a kick of fear, before he remembers that he’d told Caroline to come find him once she’d eaten.

He’s been alone for weeks, had become used to being alone. It’ll take some adjusting to another presence. He’s only got the door to the cockpit open a hair and she raps her knuckles on it. “Come in,” Klaus offers, spinning around in his chair.

She smiles, open and friendly, the sort of smile that’s impossible not to respond to. She’s changed out of the thermal jumpsuit she’d been wearing in her cryochamber into a pair of snug black pants and a soft looking blue sweater. His eyes linger on the length of her legs for a too long moment before snapping back up to her face. She is, as his brother had said, very pretty. Her skin’s the sort of fair that requires protection from the sun and Klaus wonders if it could possibly feel as smooth as it looks.

Perhaps he should have paid more attention to Josh’s brothel rundown.

She’s got a bottle of water in one hand and she lays the other on his shoulder briefly. Klaus stiffens under the touch and she notices, “Sorry. My training emphasized tactility. But I understand if you’re not accustomed to it. Would you prefer I didn’t touch you?” She helps herself to the co-pilots chair, curling her legs up and swiveling to face him.

It’s been a long time since Klaus has been tongue tied in the presence of a woman but he’s finding words difficult. In truth he has little objection to her touching him but he knows enough about Therapy Humans to understand she’d find the thoughts racing through his head off putting.

He clears his throat, “Caroline. May I call you Caroline?”

Her brows furrow, “You’ve been calling me Caroline for weeks,” she says slowly.

Any lascivious thoughts immediately flee Klaus’ brain. He had to tell her the truth. “No, that’s the thing. I haven’t. You’ve been speaking to my brother.”

Her denial is immediate, “That’s not possible. Clients are vigorously vetted.”

“I’m sorry but I’m afraid my brother’s talents for deception are unparalleled.”

Caroline studies him intently, weighing the truth of his words. She wraps her arms around her legs, “Why would he do that?”

“Honestly? I’m not entirely clear. If I had to wager I’d guess 10% genuine concern for my well-being, 20% compassion for our sister who does fret over much, and 70% a desire to see if he could do it.”

Her nose wrinkles, “If that’s the case I wonder how he did such a decent facsimile of appearing appealing when we spoke since he’s obviously a cretin.”

The tiny burst of jealousy that settles low in his gut is unwelcome, “Oh?” he asks. “Appealing how?”

She shrugs, “I thought you, or well, he, was lonely. Were the things he told me about your family a lie?”

Klaus bristles, “What precisely did he tell you?”

Caroline’s eyes don’t leave him, soft with empathy, “That you found out your mother had an affair. That the man you thought was your father is a harsh man and that he was always hardest on you. That you left everyone and everything you’ve ever known behind instead of continuing to try to play the role of the perfect son.”

Klaus’ lips press tightly together, embarrassment and anger roiling through him.

“You don’t have to say anything. Just know that I’d never tell anyone things I learned in confidence. You don’t have to worry about that.”

He nods tightly, reaching out to make minute (and not strictly necessary) adjustments to their flight path.

Caroline seems content to let him have his silence, watching the stars with great interest. She sips steadily at her water and once she’s done Klaus offers another. She’d been under for a month according to the data they’d been transferred. All because of his brother’s machinations. The least he can do is ensure her comfort. “I’m fine,” she murmurs. “Thank you, though,” she twists to look at him once more. “Actually, can I ask you a question?”

“Of course.”

“Were the drawings yours? Or did your brother do those too?”

“Drawings? They were probably mine,” Klaus says. “Kol’s hopeless with a pencil or paints. Why?”

“They’re why I picked you.”

Klaus blinks, surprised. “You picked me?”

She hums a confirmation, smirking playfully, “What, did you think I was ordered out of some catalogue? Please. Do you know what the demand for Therapy Humans is like? We go where we want.”

“And you wanted to come to me?” Klaus asks incredulously.

“There was one of a forest. Not the kind of forests we terraform now but one like the pictures from Old Earth. Where the trees could grow as high as they could manage and they tangled and every shade of green you could imagine was only broken up by pops of other colors where flowers grew wild. My mom used to tell me bedtime stories. A princess who escapes her castle and finds friends in a forest. A maiden in an enchanted sleep under the cover of trees, waiting for true loves kiss. A girl, who wanders off the path, finds danger but defeats it. I loved them but it had been forever since I’d thought of them. The drawings brought it all back.”

“Are you close to your mother?”

“I was,” Caroline answers, sorrow in the words.

“I’m sorry.”

Her eyes close for a moment, and Klaus sees a hint of wetness, wishes he had something to offer her. She shakes her head, “I’m fairly certain that I’m not the one who’s supposed to cry so let’s talk about something else. What’s the plan now?”

���I have to figure out the best course to Thoth. What we’ll need for the journey.”

Her head turns to him sharply, “What? You’re taking me back?”

Klaus gestures around him, “A Therapy Human isn’t in my budget, love. Nor do I need one.”

She tips her head to the side, a hint of challenge in her blue eyes, “Really? You’re happy in this teeny metal box all by your lonesome? That’s not what Josh said.”

Klaus glares at the ceiling well aware that they’re not technically alone. He’ll have to remember to make sure that a recording of this conversation doesn’t get played for Rebekah. “Josh shouldn’t be gossiping. And happiness has little to do with finances in the real world, I’m finding. ”

She waves a dismissive hand, “My contract is paid for the next year. I won’t cost you a cent. I have a generous stipend for food and clothing and things. What if I want to stay?”

That takes him aback, “I… hadn’t considered that.”

Her smile is teasing, “I’ll forgive you for being self-centered since you’ve been in hermit mode for months but don’t make it a habit.”

“Do you want to stay?”

“Maybe. Stand up, let’s test something.”

Klaus thinks about arguing but something about the set of Caroline’s shoulders tells him he’d be wasting his breath. He rises slowly, watches warily as she does the same. He sucks in a gasp when she steps into him, tucking her face into his shoulder. “This is a hug, Klaus. Try it.”

Tentatively he winds his arms around her, finds he can’t help but savor the weight of her body so close to his.

He tenses when she makes to pull back but manages to resist holding her tighter.

“Huh. You’re not as terrible at that as I anticipated.”

That’s the oddest approximation of a compliment Klaus has ever received.

“Did you hate it?” Caroline asks. “While some humans function better with regular physical contact there are some that are touch averse.”

He hadn’t hated it. Not at all. Klaus shakes his head. “It was… fine.”

Caroline beams up at him. “I can work with that. I’ve always wanted to see the rest of the galaxy. Didn’t have the money to travel but, when my aptitude test scores came back, I figured becoming a Therapy Human was my best shot. You’re my first assignment and I’d rather not fail it.”

Klaus thinks about pointing out that she wouldn’t be failing anything given the circumstances but Caroline plows ahead. “What if we try it out? Give me a month, you can chart a course vaguely in the direction of Thoth. Just… a scenic route.”

No one would ever accuse Klaus of being a pushover. Twenty minutes ago he’d had a plan but somehow Caroline had blown it to smithereens. “A trial,” he says. “Fine.”

She hugs him again, more aggressively, all soft curves, warm skin and exuberance, and Klaus acknowledges that he’d never had a fighting chance. He can easily see a month stretching two, two stretching into the full year. “You’re not going to regret this,” she tells him, sounding almost smug.

Klaus isn’t sure if he will or not. If she stays the year, if they work together, what happens then? Would he want to let her go? Could he convince her to give up her job and stay just because he wanted to?

Was that even possible?

He hears her yawn, an insistent one that sends a shiver down her whole body. “Let’s get you to a bunk,” he murmurs and she nods against him.

“Please. Cryosleep is weird and I’m exhausted.”

He’s read that, isn’t surprised when she stumbles when he begins to usher her out of the cockpit. “We can talk more tomorrow.”

While she slept Klaus would do some research, figure out just what the rules and boundaries were. He’ll get Kol to send him everything even if he has to induce Bekah into histrionics to make it happen.

He’s been aimless since leaving his home planet. It’s probably long past time to start planning for his future.

[chatoyism]

You Look Perfect || Mark One Shot

→ Summary: You and Mark basically grew up together. You found each other when you were little, went to elementary school together, moved out of Canada with each other by your sides, went to Prom together and proposed. All that was left was to finally bring both of your lives and turn it into one. 

→ Genre: Romance, Fluff

→ Member: Mark Lee

→ Words: 2.5k

A/N: Hey everyone! This is the first one shot I’ve ever done based on marriage! I’ve been listening to Ed Sheeran’s “Devide” album recently and decided to based this one shot on the beautiful song, “Perfect”! Enjoy!

You took one good look at yourself in the large framed mirror, about as tall as your body whilst you stared into your reflection, checking all around you for any kind of imperfection. Twirling around from side to side, you shuffled around in your white dress, adjusting the fabric around your waist so that it didn’t tighten too much. The dress was getting quite uncomfortable, the lace wrapped around your shoulders starting to dig into your skin, the high heels you wore aching the soles of your feet. It was difficult getting used to wearing a dress as luxurious as this one, but it was going to be worth it.

You watched as the assistants helped you with your outfit, putting on some dazzling jewels onto the final piece and styling your hair, twisting it and tying it into a bun so it didn’t hang low before they finished your look with simple makeup and some flower hair accessories. Patting on with a makeup brush and swiping some peach tint on your lips, they finally gave you the mirror to which to hold onto and stared at the reflection looking back at you.

“You look absolutely stunning, Miss Lee.” One of the assistants smiled whilst you gazed at your complexion.

You had never seen such a beautiful side of you. The hair, the makeup, every part of your face that you didn’t believe would be pretty, suddenly came to life. You couldn’t believe it.

This was you. This was the new you.

“The man you are about to marry is so lucky to have such a beautiful woman as his wife.” The others smiled. “I’m starting to fall for her myself!”

“Thank you, everyone! I-I just can’t believe it!” You exclaimed with joy, pulling the assistants in for a hug and wiping the single tear off your cheeks.

“I’m speechless…” You looked at yourself in the mirror one last time.

“And your soon-to-be-husband will be just as speechless once he sees you walking through that door!” They all cheered before they lead you out of the room. You took one big deep breath and let it out, heart beating at an incredible pace.

That’s right, I’ll be married to him.

Married to Mark Lee.

'Cause we were just kids when we fell in love.

Your mom allowed you to play out on the playground park while she went to speak to one of her childhood friends who also had a child of her own. At first, as a little kid, you had to bribe her into going out to play since you didn’t like Barbie dolls and pink things and preferred to be adventurous, explore a world beyond the house door. Shaking her arm with fury, she gave you one last look before finally accepting it.

“Alright, alright, you can go off now. Mommy will be watching you!” She said and nudged you slightly, making you jump up with glee.

“She’s a very impatient one, isn’t she?” Your mom’s friend chuckled, looking over at you and your excitement before checking up on her own child.

“Yeah, she is. She can’t sit down!” They both laughed.

You took off for the swings, sitting on the littlest one that would fit you since you were no longer a baby, and forced yourself forward, and swung back with momentum.

“Mom’s not here to push me…” You thought and got off it.

Running off towards the slide, you jumped up onto the platform and got into the tube before sliding down with hands in the air.

“Weee!”

Landing on your knees, you stood up and brushed the dirt off before looking for something else to play on, until you suddenly collided with another human being that smacked into you down the slide.

“Oh no! Are you alright?” The person sounded concerned and got off you who was fortunately not crying.

“Yeah, I’m alright. Be careful next time!” You reassured and looked up at the guy that landed on you.

He wasn’t that much taller than you expected, dressed in a colourful jacket with black sneakers and a snapback, he looked incredibly stylish compared to you who wore some plain black jeans and a pastel blue shirt.

“I’ll be careful! I’m Mark Lee!” He cooed and pulled out his hand.

“I’m Y/N Kim!” You gladly shook it.

Barefoot on the grass, listening to our favorite song.

You were casually strolling through the park one sunny afternoon, headphones over your ears blocking out all of the noise from the outside world as you seeped in the lyrics of the music. Your hands were placed in your pockets keeping it warm while you watched the clouds, birds and cars go by.

The smell of the trees and freshly cut grass helped take away the work from school and toss it far into a place you never want to see. Taking a walk through the park was one way that helped you feel free from the world and release your energy from inside.

You headed towards the favourite tree that was perched upon the only hill of the park. On the top of the hill was a blossoming oak tree with leaves sprouting in all directions, a large tree trunk and some room at the root of it which was perfect for relaxing and shading yourself from the sun. The colours were beautiful from a distance, even more spectacular in Autumn when the orange and red leaves come to life.

Walking towards it, your eyes landed on a familiar figure that was reading a book in his hands with headphones on and back resting on the bark of the tree. His porcelain skin shining from the sunlight that managed to find its way through the tree made his figure look almost like he was filming a movie. His doll-like eyes reading every word and sentence, and his beautiful black hair that was whipped to the side like a tidal wave.

You casually took a seat next to him and rested your head on his shoulder, slightly making him jump.

“Oh, it’s just you.” He chuckled lightly, peering over his shoulder to look at you. “You really scared me then.”

You laughed it off, chuckling at his reaction.

“Don’t be so naive Mark! We’re just getting used to Seoul right now!”

You and Mark lived in Canada where you both met at the playground. You both absolutely loved the weather, especially the fresh air from the nature and the freedom. However, didn’t like it when you had to move out of the country along with Mark to South Korea where your parents were going to work at. At first, the new land and area were unfamiliar to you and it took some time for you and him to learn Korean and get used to the environment. It was difficult and it meant that times would get rough, but you were lucky to have him by your side.

You looked at the book he was reading and read out the title.

“Me Before You, by Jojo Moyes,” You read aloud. “Isn’t it a romance book? Are you really into couples right now?”

He laughed at your question and took his headphones off, luckily hearing you speak past the audio.

“I’m just interested in it. It seemed like a good book you know.”

“Mark, you’re only in the second year of High School and you’re already reading Adult Novels? That’s one big leap to me.” You crossed your arms as a joke, looking at him with a hint of sarcasm.

“Come on. It really is a good book! You should read it!” He begged.

“Also, I’m listening to this new group that just debuted in SM Entertainment, called EXO. They have this really cool song called ”What is Love“ and it's awesome!” Mark said and took his headphones and placed it on your head.

“Not bad! It's actually pretty good!”

“Of course its good, they’re already popular!” He jumped up with glee. “I’m going to be just as popular and become an author!”

You laughed at him, standing up in a weird pose and giggled when he looked at you with a weird look.

“What’s so funny? I’m not joking!”

“The way you say it sounds so stupid!” You rolled on the grass.

“Well, I’m not going to give up now!” He yelled and tackled you with a hug, rolling down the hill and taking your shoe off your foot before running away like a little child.

“Mark Lee! Give me my shoe back!”

Baby, I'm dancing in the dark with you between my arms.

It was the night of the Senior Prom Dance. All of your friends were over at the large concert room just over on the other side of the campus grounds while you were busy sitting in silence in the music room. Everyone came in with beautiful tuxedos and gowns, dressed to perfection with lovely hair and sparkling jewellery. Unlike you, all the girls and boys had their own partners to dance with, someone to get drunk with, someone to party on the dance floor and have a one-night stand soon afterwards.

It was a crazy night, everything was just all some flashing lights to you. However, when you expected your first and only option to be available as your partner for prom, it turned out that he was already taken with the addition of being asked by thousands of other girls. The night couldn’t have been better for you, and you turned towards the place that made you feel the safest.

The Music room.

It was silent, nothing could be heard and darkness enveloped the room, the only light that came in was from the window that shone the moonlight inside. Tears streamed down your face, wiping it off your cheeks only for it to pour down your face again. It didn’t stop flowing, your first love taken away from you like they meant so much to you. Actually, they really did.

You sat in the corner, away from the visible view of anyone that happened to walk by the room and see someone suspicious sitting randomly in the pitch black darkness. You didn’t care if someone saw you really, you just wanted to let out your inner emotions and get away from the party.

In your already put on blue dress, you looked at the invitation letter you were about to give to him before Prom until he was taken by someone else. Tossing it away to the other side of the room, you crawled into a ball with sadness.

The door to the music room suddenly opened wide, a figure walking in which made you close your mouth, hoping to block the noise of your cries from escaping. It was a male, dressed in a black and white suit walking around as if he was looking for something.

Despite the darkness of the room, he saw past the black and used the moonlight to navigate around, making him suddenly turn towards you in the corner. You gasped in shock, almost a bit too loudly as he started walking towards you, taking each step slowly hoping not to scare you.

It was until he bent down on one knee and looked into your eyes. You couldn’t see it, but you could feel it.

“You’re not pretty if you cry Y/N, wipe those tears away.” His deep voice whispered into your ears.

“M-M-Mark?” You asked and quickly wiped them away. “W-What are you doing here? I-I thought you were at the dance.”

You stood up from the corner and watched as Mark rubbed the back of his neck, looking down with a hint of sadness.

“Well, I should be, it’s just…” He paused. “My date abandoned me for someone else, and used me as a way to get her date to go with her…”

You gasped at his statement, looking down in guilt as well since you felt sorry for him. At first, you were glad that he was abandoned, but turned your emotions around when you realized that there was no one else who would enjoy the night with him.

“Why did you come here then?” You asked, glancing up at him. He grinned.

“I came here to see you.”

Mark suddenly pulled out a red rose from the inside pocket of his tuxedo and handed it to you.

“I knew that you were alone tonight because I saw the look on your face that day my date asked me to go to prom with her. You looked… surprised… shocked… like everything came crashing down while I was being taken away… I felt sorry because I knew that I was your first option for prom.”

Your mouth was wide open, unknown to the situation that was happening when you took a look at Mark who had a tear fall down his cheek.

“I felt responsible, that I made my best friend cry, and ended up leaving her like trash without truly realizing my true feelings. I left her without understanding what true love really meant…”

“I love you Y/N.” He confessed.

It was quiet, nothing was heard but the silence between you too as you just looked into Mark’s eyes that were building up with tears. You seemed to regret it, wanting to take him in your arms and tell him that he was alright by your side. However, the eyes you looked into was real. They knew you like you knew him.

You didn’t care in the end and wrapped your arms around his waist, enveloping him in a hug while his sobs were trapped in your embrace.

“I’m here for you Mark, you don’t have to be alone anymore. I’m here whenever you need me.”

You took his rose from his hand and placed it softly on the ground before turning to Mark.

“May I have this dance?” He offered, making you giggle.

“You may.”

He took your hand and wrapped his around your waist while you placed yours on his shoulder and let the moonlight shine on your figures. It was quiet but peaceful, just you and Mark together, away from everyone else who partied on their own. You felt great to be able to listen to his heart beating for you, his warmth radiating on your skin.

“I love you Y/N.”

“I love you more Mark.”

Time went slow. Everything was put in slow motion as you watched peoples eyes travel to you and your fiancee. It was silent for a second, the veil pulled over your head which made you stare at your fiancee in awe, his lips pursed into a beautiful smile as he couldn’t contain his inner feelings and looked at you lovingly. It was a wonderful feeling.

This is the start of a new journey together, a path to happiness where we can live and die in each other's arms. This was it, this was the moment.

“Will you, Lee Min Hyung, take Kim Y/N as your lawful wedded wife?”

Nothing could be heard, it was quiet, everyone’s eyes were peering at the two of you who looked into each other's eyes with love, affection, happiness and other feelings exploding inside of you.

“I do.”

“And will you, Kim Y/N, take Lee Min Hyung as your lawful wedded husband?”

It was it. It was the moment. Five seconds had gone by and nothing could compare the feeling you felt inside your heart, the outburst of emotions and the amount of love and words you’d love you say to your fiance before the final announcement. You couldn’t keep still, biting your lip with anticipation and impatience wanting the time to go faster and the best moment to finally arrive. Everyone was waiting.

Everyone was watching, your parents, his friends, your friends, everyone.

I have faith in what I see,

3…

Now I know I have met an angel in person,

2…

And she looks perfect, I don't deserve this,

1…

“I do.”

You look perfect tonight.

[fuckyeahjamieandclaire]

Outlander began on Amazon. Are you excited it’s finally on a terrestrial channel so more people can see it?

It’s fantastic. It’s very much a Scottish show and Scotland is very much a character in it — it’s so integral to our story.

Do you have to apply a sense of humour to get through all the sex scenes?

The first series was my first time doing anything of that kind on TV and I think naivety helped. But it was important for the story and I like that it’s told as much from the female perspective as possible. It’s interesting to have a woman of that time be sexually liberated. But the actual doing is always awkward and there are too many people in the room who you have to try to look in the eye afterwards. But you giggle your way through it.

Have a lot of your friends and family seen it?

I think for some members of my family it’s better they don’t! My mum has seen it. We just don’t talk about those parts [the sex scenes]. There are certain episodes I tell my dad he can watch. I don’t think he wants to see the others — and I definitely don’t want him to.

Were you prepared for how huge it was in the US?

I had no idea. I didn’t know about the book series. I had never done TV so I had zero expectations. I was just so delighted I’d got the job and that it was going to shoot in the UK so I’d be back on this side of the world.

It has a feverish fan base. Do you get chased down the street?

No, luckily Sam [Heughan, her co-star] gets all the chasing!

Sam didn’t have any big acting roles before this either, so you’re doing it together…

So much so. We have each other’s backs and it’s great that you have somebody to confide in and share an experience like this with who knows exactly what you’re going through.

Do you miss Sam when you’re not filming?

A healthy break from each other is sometimes good! We’re great mates and we check in every now and then but he goes off to his life and I go off to mine.

There’s so much speculation you’re a real-life couple. How do you handle that?

There’s nothing to handle. We aren’t and we’ve always said that we’re not together. It’s nice that fans believe in the story but that’s not the reality. If it’s harmless speculation, that’s fine, but sometimes people take it a little further and can get abusive to the people who are in our lives — that’s when it crosses the line. But it’s rare and in this industry you need a thick skin.

You play a World War II nurse in the show. Are you OK with blood in real life?

When I know it’s fake or prosthetics I’m fine. I find all that stuff so interesting. For research we were given the British Army World War II booklets that were given to nurses, and I learnt about the different bandaging and splintering in the field. For series three we did a liver operation and I had an adviser surgeon and surgical nurses telling me how to handle the instruments. It’s fascinating.

Which of your co-stars were you most star-struck by?

So many — Simon Callow, Bill Paterson, Frances de la Tour, Dominique Pinon — we get amazing guest stars. Very quickly you get down to work but there’s always that moment of ‘oh my God!’ Simon is an incredible raconteur.

Is there a natural progression from modelling to acting with Cara Delevingne doing it too?

I suppose all of it is performance in one way or another. A few have done it really successfully, like Charlize Theron and Andie MacDowell. But acting was what I always wanted to do, I just segued into fashion by accident and stayed longer than anticipated. I enjoyed my years as a model — I got to travel the world and made incredible friends. But I feel very fortunate I got to come back to acting.

What now after Outlander?

I hope the show continues for as long as possible. I was fortunate enough to do a great film last year [Money Monster] and I hope I can just have an interesting career. I’m writing a script I’d eventually love to direct and I’d love to do something with Sharon Horgan — she’s a genius.

Outlander season one is on More4, Thursdays at 9pm. Season three begins on Amazon Prime on September 11

[vldrarepairs]

Admiring the Decor

Happy (late) birthday @atimelordswife! I hope you’ve had a wonderful day, and I hope the next year of your life is as amazing as you are! Thanks for being a fantastic friend and so encouraging and kind to me for as long as I’ve known you. You are such a blessing. :)

Not exactly based on, but a nod to your fic eiffel for you.

Thanks so much @flusteredkeith for reading over and helping with the ending!

Hunk was starting to run out of excuses. There were only so many ways to explain why he woke up outside of his room as many times as he had lately. Even worse, he kept waking up in the same room as Keith, which meant he couldn’t even use the same excuse each time.

“I just wanted a midnight snack, and I got lost on the way to the kitchen.”

That earned him a curious look.

“I needed a part for my lion.”

“In the training room?” Keith had asked as Hunk scurried out into the hall.

“I was on my way to brush up on my Altean. The simulator’s down that way.”

At least that one was a half decent excuse, and Keith simply nodded.

“I was just...admiring the decor?”

“In my room?” Keith had asked, frowning.

“Yeah, I just figured I’d check and see if anything was different, you know?” Hunk scanned the walls briefly before sending Keith a bright smile. “Looks the same. Night!”

“Night, Hunk,” Keith answered, sounding both baffled and resigned.

Hunk lost track of the number of times he woke up outside Keith’s room, narrowly avoiding yet another awkward lie to explain why he was there. Honestly, it was for the best, since Hunk had never been the best liar.

Fortunately, he was a skilled inventor, so he could find a way to solve his own problem.

His first solution was a lock on his door that would sound an alarm if he opened it without disarming it first. He tested it to be sure it wouldn’t sound outside of his room, and he hoped it would be loud enough to wake him up.

When he woke up in the training room, watching Keith take down the training bot, Hunk realized it, in fact, was not.

His second solution was putting a few things between his desk and his door. A borrowed chair or two and a small bookcase he found in storage should have been enough to wake him up before he could leave.

They were for a little while, but then a week later, he was in the kitchen, and Keith was staring at him over a bowl of food goo.

“Just a late night snack,” Hunk murmured as he walked over to grab a bowl of food goo and rush back to his room.

His third solution was to sleep in his lion and hope his lion would wake him up before he could sleepwalk out of the hangar. That worked for a couple days before he apparently learned how to fly his lion in his sleep.

Thankfully, Coran was the first to spot him, and Hunk woke up to Coran’s voice echoing around him.

“Is everything alright?”

Hunk jolted upright and looked around. “Uh, yeah! Everything’s fine! Just uh… bonding with my lion.”

“Well, I admire your dedication, but shouldn’t you be sleeping?”

Hunk stared down at the castle and sighed. Maybe it was time to admit he needed a little help. “Well, about that…”

“My brother had a problem with sleepwalking, actually,” Coran said as he dug through some supplies in the medical bay. “Happened a lot when he was stressed. Right before he got married, he tried to walk out of the airlock! Luckily, we had one of...these!” He tugged out a wide band that looked almost like a silver bracelet. “Try it on.”

“What is it?” Hunk took it from him and examined it.

“It’s a gravity control!” Coran grinned. “You turn it off before you go to sleep! Can’t walk if your feet are in the air.”

“Can’t I just turn it back on? I flew my lion in my sleep.” Hunk ran his thumb along the inside.

“You can only operate it when you’re awake. It monitors your vitals, so it won’t work if you’re asleep.”

“I can give it a try…” Hunk slipped it on his wrist and immediately felt small indentations raise around his pulse point. “Whoa…” The outside lit up with a few buttons, some of which he could read after learning some Altean with Pidge.

“That should help with the sleepwalking, but perhaps you should consider figuring out what’s causing it.”

“Sleepwalking? That explains a lot,” Keith’s voice sounded from behind Hunk.

Hunk jumped and turned to look at him. “Whoa, were you there the whole time?”

“No. I just came here to restock the training room.” Keith rummaged around in the cabinets for a box. A half-healed cut ran up the side of Keith’s arm, the Altean medicine already working on what had to be a fresh injury.

“We’ll need to stop and pick up some more soon.” Coran reached over to a monitor on the wall beside the door to type in a quick reminder to himself. “And maybe we can pick up some atious tea while we’re at it. It’s good for stress.”

“Stress? Who’s stressed?” Hunk frowned. “I’m not stressed.”

Keith raised a brow. “Can you help me carry this to the training room, then?”

Hunk shared a quick look with Coran, but he nodded. “Sure.”

They were both silent as they walked to the room, Hunk carrying a small box that Keith clearly could have carried himself. He knew Keith probably wanted to talk, and part of him just hoped Keith wouldn’t want to do so over a quick sparring match with the Gladiator.

“So, what’s wrong?” Keith finally asked while putting supplies in the storage wall.

“Honestly? What isn’t wrong?” Hunk sighed. “We’re still out in space, fighting this war, and I miss home and I’m tired.”

Keith nodded along, carefully rearranging supplies as he listened. “Yeah, it’s rough.”

“Plus, this whole sleepwalking thing just made everything worse. I don’t know why I kept-” He cut himself off and looked away. “I mean, I haven’t been sleeping well.”

“So, why me?” Keith glanced over at him, already guessing what Hunk hadn’t finished asking. “Why not Lance? Or Pidge?”

“I don’t know.” It was mostly true. Hunk had a pretty good guess, but he wasn’t about to admit that.

“Okay.” Keith closed the storage door and turned to Hunk. “How can I help?”

“I’ll just…try this for now.” Hunk motioned to the bracelet still on his wrist. “Thanks, though.”

Like every other solution, it worked for a while. Plus, sleeping while floating over his bed was pretty incredible. He was actually feeling rested in the mornings, and he stopped showing up outside Keith’s room.

Until the night when he woke up in Keith’s bed right next to him.

Hunk stared, a stream of curses running through his mind as he tried to slowly slip out from under the sheets.

“Going somewhere?” Keith asked, looking up at him.

“This, uh...isn’t what it looks like.”

“It looks like you forgot your gravity control bracelet.” Keith pointed to Hunk’s bare wrist.

Hunk groaned. “It must have slipped off.”

“You said my name.”

Hunk froze, caught between panic and horror. “I did?”

“Yeah, in your sleep.” Keith sat up. “Wanna tell me what’s going on?”

“Uhh…” Hunk raced to think of a lie that would make sense, but the truth slipped out instead. “I’ve been dreaming about you. I think that’s why I keep… you know…” He grimaced. “Sorry.”

“Why me?” Keith asked. Of course it had to be the same question Hunk had tried so hard to avoid earlier.

“Well, I mean, we kind of bonded over that whole scaultrite thing? And you being funny and stuff?” Hunk shrugged. “Maybe I wanted to spend more time with you. Don’t tell Lance, though.”

Keith chuckled. “I won’t. But, you know, if you want that, all you have to do is ask.”

“Really?” Hunk brightened. “Okay! Yeah, we should hang out!” He paused, some of his enthusiasm waning when he remembered where he was. “Probably in the morning, though. I’ll just…” He slipped out of bed and looked back at Keith. “Sorry about this.”

“You sure you won’t just wind up back here?”

Hunk could feel the blush rising in his cheeks, and he could only hope the room was dark enough that Keith couldn’t see it. “I mean, we talked it out right? I should be fine now.”

Keith patted the bed beside him. “You’re already here. Just stay the night.”

“Wait… what?” For a moment, Hunk wondered if he was asleep again and imagining things. This was exactly the sort of thing dream Keith had been saying to him for the past few weeks.

“You won’t have to sleepwalk if you’re already here. Problem solved.” Keith shrugged and flopped back onto his pillow. “Besides, we both need the sleep.”

“Oh...okay.” Hunk sat beside him, uncertain for a moment, but when Keith didn’t change his mind or say he was joking, Hunk relaxed and slipped under the sheets beside Keith. He closed his eyes, drifting off to the sound of Keith’s breathing beside him. Even if he hadn’t exactly told Keith the whole truth, he felt lighter now. Confessing his crush could wait for another day.

[ferrelwarden]

To Be Lost At Sea

        Too quiet, that was my thought for the majority of this year. Faye having moved on and the guild having temporarily dissolved after the whole ‘host’ incident, I have to say I was relatively pleased to have my time to myself again. Few months that was enough. Taking on a few deals, joining up with some old acquaintances it was normal or at least as normal as things get for me these days. It wasn't until a few months ago when an old friend came up to me with a proposition and I realized something might have changed.

        “Don’t tell me you’ve gone soft!”

        Halvar, Hal for short. Met the guy after first arriving in Lion’s arch, gave me my start, or at least the push to it so to speak. “What d’ya mean?” I remember shooting him a cold look after that to which the Norn responded with a huge bellowing laugh. Who knows how this guy managed to sneak around so long, and after he told me he took up piracy I had to agree sea life suited the guy better.

        “Don't play me like that” He would start walking up to me and condescendingly patting my shoulder against the dark wet wall of the tunnel. “Trekking off to the Reach once a month, I know you won't admit to it but ya got friends there I can see it” at the mention of that a pang of annoyance at Faye triggered in my mind. Thinking on it, maybe I didn't miss her so much. “And now!” he would start then stop as if holding back a laugh. “And now you reject my offer for one of the biggest scores you’ve had in over a year.” he shakes his head and moves past me into the light outside. “Whatever Charr” he would toss a wave back which i would nod to grunting slightly. I intend not to follow, still, I can’t say my intentions ever lead me well so I found myself following anyway.

        “How big we talkin’…” I start gruffly, staying a few steps behind the Norn who, now that we were out in the light of day and the warm breeze of Lion’s Arch I could smell the scent of salt lingers on his clothes tattered clothes.

        He would turn round sharply, a knowing grin over his face. “Big” he would laugh heartily “And I ain’t talking ripping off the trading company big, I'm talking busting into the Queen’s throne room big.” I pondered on those words for a second, attempting to not give the Norn any sign I was considering it. Still I was following him and asking for more so maybe the act was in vain. Due to Hal’s reputation I didn’t doubt the legitimacy of his claims but I made a point to scale all of them down by half before really taking them in.

        What can I say, the guy gets me. After walking around Lion’s Arch long enough for the sun to start setting and enough drinks that I could start believed the lofty profits he bragged about I tentatively agreed.

        My only real concern about disappearing for three, maybe four months was Faye, the aforementioned twig that has become a persistent thorn in my side. Even though at this point, one I was strangely unwilling to be rid of. I couldn't let her know what I was doing but at least to shut up her nagging voice in my head I should consider telling her I won't be around.

        So that’s what I did. Sending a bird from the Lion’s Arch docks with the most vague details I could muster that wouldn't trigger some sort of idle brained panic, we were off.

                                                              *****

        At this point I should probably mention what we were doing. Turns out Hal was spending his year a lot more wisely than I had on small petty projects or strange Twig based business ventures. He on the other hand had come across news, some of which I had heard floating around some of the less reputable parts of the city but had assumed was some bullshit rumor. Some old Lion’s Arch shipwreck that hadn’t been found until recently. Hal, as he put it was planning on “Getting down there quick as bloody possible, bashing some heads together and making off with the loot.” Not the best laid plan, but I guess that’s why he wanted me to come along. Unfortunately the only directions we had came in the form of an encrypted note that had been intercepted on the way to the Lion Guard. It seemed it was my job to figure this all out and get their crew to set our target.

        Luckily being an experienced crew it wasn't too hard for them to atleast put the first pieces together. Judging by the bird used and the layout of the seas around here it had to be set in the Sea of Sorrows, at very most the edge of the Strait of Malchor. Fortunately for me, Hal said I was needed, being more familiar with the political side of Lion’s Arch and that gave me a higher chance of deciphering it. He would later add, though a mug of ale that he’d hoped that would give us an edge on any other crew that got wind of this.

        So that's what we did, setting off in high spirits fresh salt air and strong wind freeing up the pressures of land and a heavy mug of ale to bring them all right back. I wouldn’t admit it to Hal as the old brute comes over,  heavily barging his shoulder to my side, but it felt good to be around guys who got my line of work. Not to mention half of them being complete assholes, in the truest sense of the word, helped me settle in relatively quickly.

                                                              *****

        The note took a little longer than I had hoped to crack, tossing what Information I could to the captain. A larger, brutish Charr called Vidar who definitely had a head more for exploration than the politics of Lion’s Arch. We could at least head in a vaguely positive direction.

        By now having gotten close to completely solving the thing, I remember resting back in my chair, taking in the air and closing my eyes to feel the rock of the boat, the wind around it and the clatter of people above. My eyes open, a devastating crunch of wood from above my head. Frowning I quickly pushing myself up from the desk remembering to lock my pistol and sword to my belt before barreling my way up to the top deck.

        What met me, I wasn't quite ready for.

        My experience as part of the crew so far had lead me to connect breaking wood to a few rowdy crew members, nothing that a kick to the back of the leg and a well placed sword wouldn't fix. This on the other hand might get a little messy. The crew, most of which was now up on deck, would be manning cannon as another ship [surprisingly quickly] gained pace on us firing and sending waves of ocean clattering over deck.

        Jogging up to the front I quickly found Hal who desperately set me to carrying cannon balls over as he returned fire. Now I think back on it things should have probably been the other way around. Though I could handle the task easy enough, the Norn was at least two heads taller than me and had a physique more of a warrior when compared to mine that was more used to lifting pens and skirting the darkness of hallways than siege warfare. I imagine I would have considered that at the time but the noise of the waves and the rabble of the crew around me didn’t exactly put me in the mindset for considering my actions.

        It was only now I understood how close the ship had gotten. Feeling the salt spray of the ocean slash over my face and bringing my sight up to see heavy boards thumping down against the side of our own ship. I heard Vidar screaming, maybe spiting would be a more accurate description. “Three of you fix the hull! I want the rest of you dogs to meet them head on, I'm taking those fuckers for all they are worth!” With that he would leap down the stares skidding across the water soaked deck and quickly mount the planks to meet the approaching crew head on.

        I remember [at the time] thinking this was either incredibly inspiring or incredibly stupid i couldn’t say which but I couldn't comment anything on the guys skill. Seeing him displace two of the approaching force to the sea below and a third quickly follow I took my sword in hand as the two planks that weren’t blocked by a wall of angry Charr funneled people onto the ship.

        At this point, things start to get foggy. Initially sticking close to Hal, we try to keep an eye on each other, but the sea of incoming bodes doesn't let that last long. The clash on metal and the ring on gunfire in my ears was not the kind of fighting I was used to so I had to adapt quickly.

        Being used to quick and quiet strikes strangely found the idea of that very alien now, being completely trapped out in the open two opposing forced butting heads I tried to focus on what i knew. I stayed like that for awhile, not taking much in, not more than I needed to.

        A slash to the right.

        Gunshot to the left.

        It seemed to be working for me until I gained a moment of clarity.

        Hal, reeling back against the side of the ship another Norn at his throat. Now that felt natural more what I was use to. Quickly deflecting an incoming strike and kicking my attacker in the chest to loose him in the crowd then tucking down to get lost between them as well, it wasn’t to hard to get over to Hal. Clearly the Norn had been enjoying his time or Hal might have been overboard by now. Taking a deep breath I dash forward as if disappearing and reappearing at his side, raising my pistol and firing as I use my speed to kick the Norn over the side of the boat. Hal seems to out of it to react  but offered a grunt as he gets his breath back.

        Unfortunately I wouldn't have been as stealthy as I might have thought. Seemed my friend knew a little bit about losing himself in the crowd as well.

        Pain strikes its way up my shoulder feeling his sword slash my skin. Spinning on one foot I don’t have time to respond. I hear a bang and feel myself spin off balance crashing back against the side of the boat knocking my head. Swearing loudly I growl, my vision foggy with blood I kick back against the weakened wood of the deck and lunge forward bringing my knee quickly up to his abdomen sending him lurching forward then shoving him back with the butt of my gun, winded and gasping for breath. Looking down at him I try to regain myself. Through my blurred vision I kick him back down to the ground, drawing my pistol, my foot bearing his chest down to the deck.

        Three short bangs.

        I only fired twice, Once to make my point and another to finish it. Moments later I’m thrown forward feeling a splitting pain in the back of my skull. Cursing again I watch as the ship seems to turn on its side and everything fades to black.

                                                          *****

        “Damn it!”

        I clattered back against the back of the wooden headboard as the light seers its way into the back of my skull. Shielding my eye I tried to look around. Noise of movement outside the chamber wall called my attention as I tried to figure out where I am.

        Not dead thats for sure and by the looks of it we are still afloat.

        I attempted to open my eyes again, with more luck this time. Shielding it from the light of the torch though it still stings and even beyond that my vision couldn't quite seem to stay still, my left eye blurred and unclear, burning at the light of the room.

        I quickly decide to keep it closed.

        Using only my right eye now I can put together a more complete picture. Hal pressed into the room followed by a Charr who introduces herself as Ylva. I was in to much pain to care and the laugh of the Norn rang in my already battle weakened ear. “Man they did a number on you!” He laughed shaking his head as Ylva brought a sodden rag up to my other eye. Before I can shoot something snide back in Hal’s direction the pain is back. Cursing loudly I wince as Ylva held my head still as she digs the cloth in deeper.

        “What are you..!” My protest is cut off my Ylvas unimpressed tone. “Alcohol” I heard her start with a little bit of glee in her voice now as she set down a bottle to my side. “Rum! Actually!” she added even more pleased now “Not great use for it but should stop any real infection” she took a moment to think before continuing. “You were lying on the deck quite some time before we got to ya.” she put her hands on her hips as I considered continuing to belittling her but reconsidered it and instead spit out a half-hearted thanks, biting my tongue to not add anything more. She nodded pleased at the reaction and glanced over to Hall who is now Awkwardly checking over my face.

        “How is it?” he started, pointing at what I could only assume is a pretty heavy gash at this point. I frown bringing up a hand to touch the soft tissue of my eyelid, even the roughness of my own pads burn as the pain seems to ward me away from trying it again.

        I considered my words for a moment “Not great, Blurred and anything I am making out is either painfully bright or only serves to confuse the other eye.” I bite my tongue again to distract from the pain that came when I tried to relax my face and let it open.

        Ylva instead responds “Sounds about right” to which she reaches into the draw next to me pulling some black leather patch over my head. I'm starting to get a little annoyed, feeling crowded by the two of them so I start to push myself out of the bed pulling the rest of it on myself. “Open your eyes” she said, which I did and thankfully I found the lack of light helped my good eye finally focus.

        I snort “Great…” I mutter to myself staring over to the light to check before cursing again. Despite myself I nod in thanks to Ylva who throws an unimpressed look at Hal which was returned with a shrug that could only be interpreted as ‘Well-that's-the-Best-You’re-gonna-get’

                                                          *****

        In not to much time, though I still feel my head throbbing from the impact and despite the recommendation from Ylva I get back to my note preferring to have something to focus on rather than being dead weight to the crew. Having the burning pain in the front of my skull to concentrate on didn’t appeal much to me also. Still I couldn't work on it for long. Growing more and more frustrated with myself and the extra distance I had to move my head to take in both sides of my desk between jotting my own notes and the letter itself which by this point is pretty much complete, bar any professional farewells and a few side notes.

        Feeling almost complete with the piece but mostly annoyed I pushed myself off the chair pacing up and down the cabin growling at myself and slamming my fist down hard against the wall. Keep my eyes closed for a second I looked up into the glass of one of the port holes. Its night out and I hadn’t noticed time passing so quickly. That isn’t what struck me so hard though.

        Reflected back at me in the Darkened glass.

        The first thing I remember looking into that reflection was not recognizing the face that looked back, drained and tired, fur still blotched with red and burn marks from before, just under the thick leather blocking my eye from the pain of the light. The second thing that hit me was how much it reminded me of Trib.

        I stood there for a moment staring blankly at the tired face looking back not wanting to consider where thoughts of my sire might lead me. Even knowing that I couldn't help my mind wander anyway.

        I never disliked the guy. Hell after I left he’s the one bit of guilt I have cutting my ties to the citadel so quick. I’d checked on him a few times and he seemed happy. I say seemed, maybe I just wanted to see it that way. He was never particularly close to his partner but the few times I’d managed to catch sight of him she was never around. I wondered if he's lonely. If he blames himself. How he continued on with his life now his old one seemed to be gone but beyond all that, I hoped he still saw me as the Brevet he once knew and not what was looking back at me then. I can’t help but give a quite saddened laugh. Hell if he didn’t think I was already dead he’d probably kill me. That thought, at least, in its grim nature gave me some levity and I made it a point to try to check on him the second we hitch back into port.

                                                           *****

        The next passing weeks that thought didn’t leave my head. Less to my concern were the weekly arriving birds with notes from Faye about her bizarrely normal life to which were replied to with fittingly vague lies. Not long after what I started to referring to internally as the Trib incident I dedicated myself to finishing the note and not soon after that, my job done. The rest of my trip was relatively calm, still adjusting to my new situation, I found myself helping around deck and drinking with Hal recounting his stories and sharing mine from when Lion’s Arch was attacked and hearing about Ylvas experience leaving another crew based out in Gendarran Fields to join up with this one. She expected that would bite her in the ass soon enough.

        Being completely honest with myself, apart from getting used to the less subtle combat situation it was a life I could get used to. Little dedication beyond the men around you and freedom of the worry of the land. It had been awhile since I’d managed to mesh so easily with a group. Thinking back on that now, it was probably thanks to Faye that I’m even able to enjoy these quiet moments right now.

        As the evening calms down and the rest of the crew finish up, I set down to writing her another note, more genuine this time;

            “How’s it going soldier.

           Should be back in a few more weeks. Been thinking

           about ya and hope your store is going well [For my

           wallets sake more than anything else!]

           I won’t be able to pop straight up there when I get

           back, I’ve got some loose ends to clear up will fill you

           In when i get there.

                                 Best of luck

                                                                    -Ferrel Warden”

[maplesyrupandroti]

Tokyo: the land of sushi, kitsch, and trains

It has been a whirlwind of a week. From writing the solicitors exam on Tuesday to attending convocation on Wednesday, moving back to Bradford on Thursday, and then leaving for Tokyo,Japan on Saturday, June 24, 2017. My super amazing mother dropped me off at Pearson airport for my 7:30 flight (yes, that meant leaving our house at 4AM). About 24 hours later, I arrived in Tokyo and checked into Nui Hostel in Asakusa. The lobby of the hostel was live with people, drinking and generally having a good time. I was informed the hostel was having a sushi night. After settling into my mixed 8-dorm bed, I happily went to the lobby to enjoy some delicious, albeit expensive sushi. It was worth every penny as it was indeed fresh and made right in front of me! I wouldn't expect anything less from Tokyo. After dinner, I wandered around the neighbourhood and found myself staring at a random gold horn - I was at the Asahi building (Asahi is one of the popular beers in Japan). I wandered some more before I became tired, as I assumed I would from the long travel day. I settled into my hostel for a good nights sleep. Day 2 started off early. I woke up at 7AM and found myself at the Senso-ji Temple, one of the oldest Buddhist temples in the area. The stalls in the nearby street had yet to open so I found myself one of few people walking and exploring the Temple and surrounding gardens. It was very peaceful, with some people lighting incense and offering prayers. I also gave an offering in exchange for my fortune: I received a small fortune which I still have yet to understand. It reads: "Just like looking at the treasure of other people beyond the valley. Let's stop to hurt your heart and give trouble to your mind. If once a chance comes you can meet an excellent fortune. Just like a giant happy bird fly up to the sky, you will succeed in this society, and rise to be famous in the world, meeting with so many fortunes". At this point, I was super hungry and Japan does not really have breakfast. I decided I took the subway to the Tsujiki Fish Market. Luckily I bought the 72-hour subway pass which meant I could go on and off the Tokyo metro and Toei line as many times as I want. The confusing part is that there are so many other private lines. Anyways, getting to the Market proved difficult as I could not find the right entrance for the subway line I wanted. The Tokyo metro system is remarkable but for a tourist like myself, it gets very confusing very quickly. As I stood there looking lost, a man asked me if I was lost. He, Santiago, offered to walk me to the subway. He seemed very excited that I was from Canada and that I had visited his native Italy. He invited me to lunch. I agreed because, why not? I then made my way to the Tsujiki Market. I explored, tried many different samples, and ultimately decided upon a fish, cheese, and potato patty. Then, I saw some icecream in sight and of course, I indulged in green tea icecream in a traditional waffle cone. I then tried taking the subway to meet with Santiago but of course, once again, I was lost. I ended up walking for an hour before I finally found my way. I visited another temple nearby, as I was lost already, so why not! I hopped on and made my way to Shibuya, home of the loyal dog Hichako and the Shibuya crossing, where a lot of people cross at once. Santiago and I then went for sushi at Uobei. It was very cool because you sit in a long line with people, order on a touch screen, and the food comes on a conveyer belt! It was a unique experience and the food was delicious. I also tried the local beer and some sake! When it came time to pay the bill, I realized I had inadvertently went on a date as Santiago insisted he pay. I tried to politely refuse but he was persistent. We then walked to Yoyogi Park which was serene. Sitting in the park, you would never think that you're in one of the world's biggest metropolitan! I politely parted ways with my accidental date and headed to the Meiji Shrine. It's a beautiful shrine in a forested area. Ofcourse, on my way out of the forested area, I got lost and ended up walking for an hour out of my way to make it back to the metro. At this point, I was extremely exhausted and although I wanted to see Harajuku (super close to the shrine), I decided to call it quits and head back to the hostel. I was out like a light by 10PM. Day 3 started off with what was left unfinished from the day before: Harajuku. Not before getting lost and taking the line ofcourse. Eventually getting back in track, I headed straight to the popular Takeshita Dori. Various clothing, jewelry, and makeup shops lined the street. As did delicious crepe stands! I indulged in a blueberry cheesecake crepe and called it breakfast. I could not resist the stores and ended up buying many, random souvenirs, from cat magnets to press on tattoos (why?). After walking around for what-felt-like ever, I made my way to nearby Kawaii Monster Cafe. When I think of Tokyo, I think of this type of kitsch cafe. I had researched this the night before and knew it would be the perfect amount of kitsch for me. I was not disappointed! I choose the Mushroom room which was decorated with baby bottle lights, giant animated mushrooms, scary rabbits, a creepy but playful merry-go-round and much more kitschy things! Some of the staff were dressed in classic Harajuku style. I was not sure why until the music started and realized they would be performing a show for us! It was quite interesting, playful, crazy, and fun. To really immerse myself in the experience of this cafe, I decided to eat a giant icecream parfait for myself. It was 2300jpy, so very expensive but I HAD to try it. After this experience, I took the metro to the Tokyo Metropolitan Building to get a free view of the city. I knew Tokyo was big and busy but I was not prepared for what I saw. The view was incredible and everywhere I looked, there were buildings on buildings. Truly a "city". Sadly, it was overcast, as I expected and knew from my research, and I was not able to see Mt.Fuji. At this point, I started to feel really hungry for non-dessert foods and decided to go to Tsuta Japanese Soba Noodles, a Michelin Star restaurant that Chris had been raving about and insisting that I go. I found myself in what appeared to be a residential area. The restaurant, a 9-guest only, bar-style was at the base of an apartment building. Luckily, I did not have to wait in line, as I had been warned that many people do since the restaurant has become famous and only seats 9 people. As with many services in Tokyo, I placed my order on the vending machine, and prepared myself for some Soba noodles. I decided to go all out and get one of the more expensive dishes of Noodles in beef broth, pork, beef, and wontons. It was delicious, although I'm not sure if I'm a huge fan of ramen. After dinner, I headed back to the hostel. I decided to make a pit stop at the Senso-ji Temple and get some more souvenirs, as I wasn't able to find anything for my dad at Harajuku. I found him a cool shirt and even managed to find Noori a shot-glass for his collection. With my many random souvenirs in tow, I went back to the hostel to pick up my bag. I was couchsurfing that night with Ayako M, a girl I found on the popular couchsurfing website who had a ridiculous amount of positive reviews. Her apartment was far from where I was staying, in Kodaira, but she had so many great reviews and seemed like an amazing person. Inevitably, I got lost on my way to her place. What was supposed to be a one hour train ride turned into two hours. I arrived at her house around 11PM. Normally, I would be a little scared in an unknown place, being lost and trying to find my way, but the city was bustling with people: the trains were packed for the most part even though it was late at night. Luckily, Ayako was still awake and had just returned from work half an hour earlier. We stayed up and chatted for a bit about Japan and Canada. The reviews were all correct about her; she is really kind and welcoming! I was not sure about what I wanted to do the next day, Wednesday but she helped me come to a decision. I wanted to go to Hakone but the weather did not look promising and it was about 2 .5 hours away on train...or in my case, it would have been more like 3.5. The reason I keep getting lost is because google maps isn't the best and I did not have a map of all the different train lines. The map for the Tokyo Metro and Toei line was helpful for those stops but I didn't have anything similar for the private lines. Day 4, I slept in as I was exhausted from walking everywhere and seeing so much in Tokyo. I went to the station, bought a Pasmo reloadable card, similar to the Presto, as I would be needing this for the remainder of my trip, as the metro and toei line do not run in this part of the city (I guess I should have just bought a 48 hour pass instead of 72 hour. Oh well!). I made my way to Mount Takao for a classic Onsen experience. It was rainy that morning so probably the best thing to do was to soak in natural hot spring water in a spa-like atmosphere (butt naked). Yes, in an onsen, you cannot wear any garments. Because it was a random weekday, there were only a few people there. I was probably one of 10 people there the entire time. It was a freeing and relaxing experience. After the onsen, you can shower there using products they have. I used some magical shampoo and conditioner, to the point where my hair two days later feels just as good as it did when I first washed it. After the onsen, I returned to Ayako's house. We were supposed to go for drinks that evening but both of us were too tired and fell asleep after chatting about our travels. Ayako is adventurous and has to many countries alone like Iran, Jordan, Israel and more! It was nice to hear about her experiences. The next morning, day 5, I packed up my belongings and headed to Shinjuku Station, a station that holds the world record for most people visiting a day (3 Million people use the station every single day!). In Shinjuku, I would be staying with Misato, another girl from couchsurfing. I arrived early, left my belongings in a locker at the train station, and headed out for lunch. I decided on a classic "fast-food" conveyer belt sushi restaurant. I still cannot believe that sushi is a fast-food in Japan, since it is typically an expensive outing in Canada. After lunch, I explored some stores in Shinjuku and wished that I brought a larger luggage so that I could bring many souvenirs for myself and my family. Tokyo is definitely an amazing food and shopping mecca. I met with Misato at the train station and we walked to her place, a small-ish two story, modern apartment. We chatted about our lives and I followed her around as she did some errands around Shinjuku. We then went out for dinner at a place selling mostly yakitori. We ordered so many different kinds of yakitori, edamame, and shishito peppers. Misato informed me that I, like many North Americans, was not properly eating edamame (now I know)! After dinner, we went back to Misato's place, where her friend joined us for drinks. We drank wine and talked some more. I learned that Misato likes horse back riding and has done many WWOOF's around Canada and New Zealand. Day 6, I woke up at 4AM to catch my flight to Bangkok! Sadly, I was forced to check-in my carry on because it was over the 7Kg limit allowed by Air Asia. I wish I knew earlier, as I thought it was 10kg, so that I could have purchased many items and brought a larger luggage for souvenirs! Some mental notes I made about Tokyo: people generally keep to themselves and are not loud or rambunctious. Japanese people are extremely orderly. They wait in an orderly fashion for the trains, always stand on the left side of the escalator, never talk loudly, if at all, on the trains or in public. The women are always fantastically dressed! I adored their outfits. The men all wear white shirts and black or navy suits. I did not see a hint of colour even once! This was quite interesting to me as the women were so much more fashionably dressed. Misato tells me that the women in Japan are very judgmental of one another so it's necessary to keep up with the latest fashion trends. All the department stores have grocery stores and food stalls in the basements, which is very handy when you're shopping and get hungry or want to take home groceries. Lastly, I noticed that there were few babies and children in and around Tokyo. I probably only saw about 5 babies total in my entire trip! I asked Misato about this and she told me that there are few births in Tokyo and that the population is declining. That's it for Tokyo. It was a great time. I would love to go again when I have more money and for shopping mostly. On to Thailand!

[peterstanslizzie]

Re-watching Lizzie Mcguire: Episode 2.8 (Inner Beauty)

Miranda and Lizzie making detention fun

- Gordo wants to expand his filmmaking repertoire and so, he wants to shoot his own music video for the song, ‘Us Against The World’ by Play, starring his best friends, Lizzie and Miranda whom are both practicing their dance moves in Lizzie’s living room:

“Britney, Britney, Janet and J Lo” vs “ Brtiney, Janet, Janet...”

- The both of them then take a snack break to which Gordo get all concerned about because he thinks they’re not taking his new venture seriously. Relax Gordo, there’s nothing wrong with taking a break lol. 

- In school the next day, we see Miranda being upset about getting a B on a recent Science test. She basically feels like she’s coming up short, which I can totally relate. 

- To make matters worse, she now thinks she’s fat after looking at the stills Gordo took of them from rehearsals the other day. It’s sad to see her nitpick every single body part on that photo. Anyways, it’s pretty clear what direction this episode is going to take and what issues that are going to be tackled, which are body dysmorphia and eating disorders. I definitely have my own personal opinions regarding how Miranda’s storyline was handled in this episode but I’ll save it for the ‘Overall Thoughts’ section. 

- Lizzie and Gordo are clearly shocked to hear how negatively Miranda views herself and she also declares to them that she’s going on a diet. 

Crash Diet Woes

- At lunch, Gordo notices that Miranda isn’t having anything to eat. Miranda gives the excuse that she had a very heavy breakfast in the morning. Even after Lizzie tries to offer her some of her own lunch, she strangely acts like she just got a paper cut and has to go to the bathroom to run her finger over cold water. Girl, we know you’re not a good actress...stop it! 

- After leaving in a hurry, both Lizzie and Gordo are even more concerned now because it’s obvious that Miranda is forcing herself to go on a strict diet. Lizzie even points out that Miranda is not that kind of person to starve herself like that.  

-  After school, Lizzie and Miranda are going through another practice session and this time around, they’re showing their moves in front of Lizzie’s mom, Jo. Jo is super impressed with the girls and asks Gordo if she can be in his MV (music video) too. but he kind of indirectly shot her down lol. But worst of all, she was trying to act all cool despite being disappointed about being turned down:

Her face here definitely does not read “I’m kidding” lmao

- Anyways, throughout the rehearsal, it’s very apparent that Miranda is starting to feel woozy based on her facial expressions. Despite this, she still insists that she and Lizzie continue practicing. Big mistake here because a few seconds into their next run-through, she becomes lightheaded and drops to the floor. They all rush over to help her up and they ask her what’s up. Miranda lies again and says she had a really heavy lunch when she definitely did not. Lizzie is definitely concerned about her best friend’s wellbeing. 

Defensive Miranda

- Some time after Miranda’s fainting spell, Lizzie and Gordo are discussing what they should say or do with regards to Miranda’s problem. Well, it’s mostly Gordo who’s talking because he’s not giving Lizzie any chance to give her two cents. But I got to say this; It’s unfortunate that Gordo thinks that just because Miranda is a girl, he feels like he can’t talk to her about the issues she’s facing with her body image. As her best friend, I feel like he should at least hear out what's going through her mind. But again, I need to remember that Gordo is just a teenage boy and he can’t help but to feel awkward in this type of circumstance.

-  Next, we see Lizzie at the mall with Miranda to shop for new outfits for their upcoming MV shoot. As I’ve predicted, Miranda feels dejected going through the rack of clothes she thinks she won’t look good in. Lizzie tries putting things into perspective with Miranda but she just gives off this nasty and defensive attitude towards Lizzie.

Again, what’s with the attitude?

- Lizzie decides to come clean and be honest with her best friend by saying that she’s making a bad decision by going on all these crazy fasts. I generally feel like what Lizzie said to Miranda was appropriate, especially after reminding her that they’re best friends and she should feel comfortable being able to open up to her. 

- Miranda is just not having it with Lizzie and says something really passive aggressive and in the end, she just storms off. I feel like being Miranda’s friend is exhausting at times. 

- At home, Lizzie is feeling down about what just happened and she explains to her mom about the problems she’s facing without revealing Miranda’s identity. Poor Jo first thought that her own daughter was the one with body image issues. Also, who is Lizzie fooling when she tells Jo that she’s talking about a friend? It’s pretty clear that this friend she’s referring to is Miranda lol. Well, at least to me it would have been obvious.

-  Well, Jo is just as shocked to find out that the person is actually Miranda and she freaks out about it some more after connecting this to the fainting incident in their living room a few days ago. Luckily, she calms down and tells Lizzie that if the situation doesn’t improve in a few days, she will have a sit down with  both Miranda herself and with Miranda’s mom. Daniela. 

Opening Up

- It’s the day of the actual music video shoot and Miranda surprisingly shows up. Gordo tries apologizing to her for the comment he made about her eating too much but Ms. Sanchez is still upset at him for who knows why. Lizzie then steps in and apologizes to her for butting into her life and her issues at the mall.  But she also tells her that she’s very concerned about her wellbeing and it’s actually scaring her. Aww poor baby.

- In my opinion, I feel like Lizzie doesn’t have to explain her concern over Miranda. I think it’s very obvious that Lizzie only has good intentions. But I guess sometimes it’s good to break it down to the other person who is going through the motions. Fortunately for all three of them, Miranda opens up to them about all the issues she’s facing at school and the pressure she feels coming from her parents regarding what she wants to do in the future. 

- Because of the overwhelming pressure she’s facing, she feels like she needs something in her life that she is able control, which are her eating habits. I think this is a very common feeling to have amongst people who suffer from eating disorders or body dysmorphia. And I like how Miranda explains that it’s something that she really feels deep within even though it doesn’t make sense on paper. It’s just how our brain works really. 

I wonder if that look Miranda is giving to Gordo is a good one or a bad one lol

- Lizzie explains to Miranda that she relates to her struggles as well because she too, feels pressure to fit in. Even Gordo shares the same feeling for being non-muscular and probably short lol. She then reassures Miranda that being her best friends means that they will support her through this no matter what.  And  in the end, Miranda thanks them for having her back. I'm glad she came around lol.

Rock those flips Hilary!

The teacher definitely has some moves of his own too!

- The episode ends with our favorite trio watching the fully-shot iconic MV of Miranda and Lizzie dancing incredibly and looking amazing together at the same time. But most importantly, they look healthy and happy.

Miranda is definitely feeling herself in this music video

B-Plot: Matt’s 5687th Career, An Artist 

The resemblance is uncanny

- In this episode, Matt’s storyline centers around him being an artist, to which his school apparently thinks he’s a very talented one at that. They notify Jo about his ‘newfound talent’ and she wants to nurture that in him. I can already tell this whole plot is going to be campy. At least Sam is questioning this whole thing:

“Sensitive? Matt eats mud!”. ICONIC

-  We then see Matt creating a portrait of Lanny in the backyard using the splatter paint technique, if I’m not mistaken. As expected, he makes a mess outside because he got his paint all over the patio, the plants and even Lanny himself. I don’t get why Jo is encouraging this given all the shenanigans he  pursued in majority of the past episodes. But most of all, I wonder who is the teacher at his school who thinks he has this talent? I could be wrong though; He might actually have a gift....

- Later, they decide to take Matt’s work outside and both Matt and Lanny are now going through pieces of junk outside to see what can be used for his next masterpiece. I smell disaster in the horizons for sure.

- And I was right! The Mcguire home is ridden with all the trash Matt and Lanny brought home with them from the junkyard.  Jo and Sam sees this and they are just shocked. But I’m very surprised to see that Jo is still trying to encourage Matt. I thought she would put her foot down by now. 

OK. This should be the trigger lol

- Matt pretty much butchered poor Sam’s car. Jo finally sees that Matt has crossed the line (when she should have reeled him in days ago) and tells him to stick to creating art on paper. This boy needs to be restricted, which come to think of it...it’s not really an appropriate word to use given the main storyline of this episode but I’ll just leave it at that lol.

Overall Thoughts

- I feel like this is the first episode of Lizzie Mcguire so far that dealt with a very serious topic, apart from maybe the bullying situation Matt was facing in the season 1 episode, ‘Sibling Bonds’. Episodes like this one really stood out to me over the years till today because it was mainly on an issue a main character was facing both physically and internally.  And it had nothing to do with relationship drama or girl drama. So naturally, the episode was very memorable.

- In terms of the execution of Miranda’s eating disorder storyline, I had issues with it but I also have some positives to say. Let’s start with the negatives; I just feel like the show kind of made it seem that Miranda’s body image issues went away within a week of it popping up. You can see by the end, Miranda was happy with how she looked in the music video. In fact, she was even praising herself. And that’s just not the reality of most people’s struggles with ED and body dysmorphia. These things just don’t go away so quickly. That being said, I definitely don’t think Miranda had an eating disorder based on what I’ve seen in this episode. But because things are shown through the lens of a children’s TV show camera, things might not appear to be so clear cut. 

- But I could view them having showed the viewers that Lizzie and Gordo having Miranda’s back no matter what means that they will continue to be there for her in case the issues she’s facing do come back. Moreover, I wish that the show would’ve added a separate conversation between Miranda and her mom or at least show Jo talking to Miranda because I think including adults in this would add more seriousness to the situation. Again, this is a TV show that is targeted towards kids and young preteens. So, there’s bound to be some problems here and there. 

- As for the positives, I recall myself pointing out earlier in this review that Gordo should feel like he should be able to talk to Miranda about her issues. And so, I’m very glad that he was included in the scene by the school staircase with Miranda and Lizzie. If it were just the two girls, I would honestly be upset because Gordo is supposed to be Miranda’s best friend too and differences in gender shouldn’t dictate the conversations best friends should have with one another. So, that made me feel really glad.