#also sets up the sequel abit

[gravelyhumerus]

Criminal Minds College AU - Chapter Seventeen

Fandom: Criminal Minds

Title: “I may just take your breath away”

Relationship: Jemily

Summary:

Exams, pizza, board games... what more could a girl ask for?

Slow-burn Jemily college AU where they live across the hall and despite all odds, the universe pushes them together. AKA they’re silly gay babies who pine after each other for months.

Read it on AO3

Tumblr:  One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen, (bonus scene), Seventeen, Eighteen, Nineteen, Twenty

 “That was a lot of chess,” Emily complained, nearly chugging her latte as she and Spencer left the coffee shop. 

She pulled her beanie onto her head and braced herself for the snow as the taller boy held the door open for her. Emily almost slipped on the slushy tile floor on her way out but managed to keep her balance. 

“Fifteen of the multiple-choice questions to be precise,” Spencer replied. The salted sidewalk crunched under their feet as they made their way across campus. 

“I’m so glad it’s finally over,” she admitted. “I think I’ve had enough philosophy to last me a lifetime.” 

“I’m enrolled in ‘Minds and Machines’ next semester,” he said. “I think I might try and get a double minor this time around.”

“What’s the goal? Three PhDs by the time you’re 24?” Emily quipped. 

He was well on his way, having completed his engineering degree before she managed to graduate high school. He was 17, only two years younger than her, but somehow seemed like a kid. A kid with more education crammed into his brain than she could ever master in her life.

“Something like that,” he replied with a smile. His hair was getting long and he had tied it back during the exam. With last names starting with P and R, they were seated near each other in the large exam hall, and she glanced over at him as he fussed with his hair. 

They stopped at the red light, watching as the cars and busses wooshed past them, sending the slush flying into the snowbanks. It had been a fairly sunny day, but bitterly cold. Now, the sun was setting and the campus was bathed in a warm golden glow. The snow had fallen the night before, leaving fluffy white snow covering their campus. 

Emily had spent most of the day holed up in the library with Spencer, with him quizzing her on fallacies and philosophers. With his eidetic memory, he only really needed to read the material once. Earlier in the semester, she did feel useful when it came to editing each other’s essays. He always got bogged down with detail, word vomiting everything he knew, and she helped him with his structure and argumentation. 

More studying awaited her back in her room. She rubbed at the back of her neck as she thought about the upcoming evening spent hunched over her desk studying criminal justice, a subject that left her questioning her degree half the time as she was forced to learn about the muddled ethics of justice. 

That week, she had survived on minimal sleep, eating mostly bagels and coffee to sustain her. Her body was protesting with each step, and she had suffered from a constant tension headache for as long as she remembered. At least her college had that golden retriever walk around at the library yesterday, she thought to herself, sarcastically. Animal therapy definitely relieved all her stress. As if petting a dog for five minutes would fix the anxiety of finals season. 

Two more exams, she reminded herself. You’ll make it. 

Despite this mantra, Emily was conflicted. While finals were killing her, the end of the semester also meant winter break. Emily would be forced to go “home” for the holidays. For most college students, that meant going back to their respective towns and being surrounded by their loved ones. Emily, on the other hand, didn’t have anywhere she called home. Last winter break, her mom had at least been in DC, and Emily was able to catch up with some of her international school friends who were in the city. This time, her mom was stationed in London, and Emily knew she’d be roped back into her old life. She didn’t know anyone there and knew most of her break would be spent alone. 

The last place she had called home was Rome, and now that was tarnished by her complicated past with that city. 

Emily was good at being alone. Being an only child of a workaholic single mom meant she learned to keep her own company. She read a lot. She got good at running away, escaping her nannies, and skirting security in order to roam free. She’d be fine. 

The problem was that Emily had gotten used to this. She rarely spent a moment alone these days. Whether it was walking to class with Spencer, or Hotch, or Derek, getting lunch with the team, surprise coffee dates with Penelope and spending almost every evening with her girlfriend, she hadn’t been left alone in ages. She didn’t miss it. 

Their residence building had a warm yellow light shining out of the windows and a soft red brick facade. In the summer, ivy grew up the south facing side but in the winter, the ledges were covered in snow and the stone steps were slippery. She trudged forward, excited for the warm embrace of the dorm. 

Spencer had other plans. He reached into the garish yellow plastic newspaper box that was stationed next to their doorway and retrieved this week’s newspaper. 

“Come on Reid,” Emily said. “Just subscribe to the newsletter or something like the rest of us.”

He held up the cover to her in surprise. Usually it reported the news of a recent sports victory, or a change of policy announced by the administrators, or even a fun event held on campus. Sometimes there was even a dramatic protest or an important speaker coming to campus. But this week, the headline surprised her. In large font printed across the page read: “Multiple student politicians fired amid financial scandal.” 

“That sounds bad,” Emily said. It did seem way more dramatic on newsprint than on a website, so maybe Spencer was onto something with his affinity for the printed word. 

Grabbing a copy for herself, she then walked inside to escape the cold. Warm air greeted them as they entered their residence hall, and both students kicked the snow off their boots before trudging up the stairs. They read as they walked, but the route to their rooms was already muscle memory, so neither worried about stumbling on their way. 

Normally, Emily wouldn’t willingly touch this sort of student politics with a ten foot pole. Sure, she was involved with the Criminology council, but there was a difference between the kind of person interested in petitioning for better accessibility to faculty events or running a bake sale, and the kind of students to embezzle thousands of student dollars like what the current student government executive seemed to be accused of doing. 

She quickly ran her eyes down the page, the contents jogging a memory from Halloween, of Hotch and JJ discussing the early stirrings of said scandal. 

“You know,” Spencer said, “I’m surprised they got a lot of this information, it’s notoriously difficult to file FOIAs for student governments, as they’re technically private corporations. So the fact that they got these files means that this is a much bigger scandal than one might assume.”

Corruption, bribery, embezzlement, nepotism. All words that jogged memories of hiding in the corner of political fundraisers, overhearing the worst of politics from too-drunk elites sipping on their wine and munching on charcuterie. 

“I hate politics,” Emily said, stuffing her copy of the paper into her bag. 

“I find it interesting. It’s basically a microcosm of our current political climate. In fact, I have subscribed to the print edition of fifteen student papers in the region,” Spencer said, “I like to keep informed on the coverage of student issues, and compare them to our own.”

“Why?!” Emily said with a laugh. “You know you can just look them up online.”

Spencer gave her a withering look, and she should have known better than asking about his aversion to tech. He loathed having to use his computer, as the LCD screens apparently gave him a headache. Penelope even gave him a pair of blue light glasses to attempt to alleviate the issue.

Then, he began to speak, at length, about the dying printed news industry and why print copies were better for understanding than screens et cetera. She made sure to nod and hum at appropriate points, but her mind kept wandering. 

She wondered if her girlfriend was in her room. Emily missed her any time they were apart and she yearned to hold her in her arms once again. But she shouldn’t. She needed to work. She had too much to do. Her grades had slipped, slightly, this semester. Everyone warned her about how college would be harder than high school, but no one ever warned her how much the expectations were raised in second year. 

Two more exams. She clutched her coffee tighter. She’d rather do anything else besides study at this point. Her body was exhausted, her mind frazzled. She wondered if she could even manage to get through a chapter of revision before conking out on her desk. 

As she said goodbye to Spencer and struggled with her keys that were tangled up in their corresponding university-branded lanyard, JJ’s door opened.  

“Hey girlfriend,” JJ greeted her, sounding way too much like a straight girl greeting her platonic friend for Emily’s taste. She gave her a pass because it sounded cute in her voice. 

“JJ!” Emily said, somehow surprised to see her despite the fact that she lived right across the hall. Her girlfriend was dressed in sweatpants and an oversized sweater, with her straight hair tucked behind her ears and her face bare of make up. Her face was lit up with a smile, and Emily rushed towards her, planting a soft kiss on her lips.

“Hi JJ,” Spencer said as Emily and JJ kissed. 

When they pulled apart, JJ gave Spencer a smile as a greeting and asked them how their exam went. 

Spencer babbled about their Logic exams for a minute or two, as Emily basked in JJ’s presence. She grabbed onto her hand and found that it was so much hotter than her own and wasn’t sure if she held on tight because she was cold, or if she had missed her girlfriend. 

“I’m just glad it’s over,” Emily said. “I never want to hear about fallacies again.”

Spencer seemed to want to say something, but fell silent at Emily’s tired expression. 

“Wanna come in for a bit?” JJ whispered in Emily’s ear. Apparently she said so a touch too loud because Spencer replied instead. 

“Sure!” he said, and then walked into JJ and Penelope’s room. 

“I should really study,” Emily tried to argue, but a single glance into JJ’s deep, blue eyes had Emily melting. 

JJ’s room was much messier than Emily had last seen it. Both desks showed clear markers of the ongoing exams, with papers and books piled high. In addition to this was an assortment of pillows strewn all over the floor.

“You guys are back early!” JJ said, after checking her watch, “I thought it was a two hour exam?”

“I finished in an hour,” Spencer said, “and Emily only needed an extra half hour on top of my time.”

Damn straight, Emily thought, feeling somewhat competitive with the boy-genius despite herself. 

She really should study, but the prospect of seeing her girlfriend outweighed the desire to sit hunched over a textbook for another evening. 

Emily and Spencer kicked off their boots, placing them neatly on the mat by the door before peeling their jackets off and hanging them on the back of her door. Emily wasn’t sure if she liked winter. Whenever her mother was stationed in the Middle East she yearned for snow, but now that she was experiencing the Nor’easter for the first time, the desert sounded like a good time. 

“Well there goes my plan,” JJ said, blowing her hair out of her face with a puff of air.

Spencer flopped onto Penelope’s neatly-made bed, collapsing into the assortment of pink pillows while carefully keeping his take-away cup upright. Emily sat down next to JJ on her bed.

“Your plan?” Emily asked. 

“Yeah,” JJ said, sounding a bit shy. “I had this whole plan to make up a blanket fort here for you, and I would surprise you with it when you walked in.’”

JJ gestured with her hands at the mess. Blankets and pillows were strewn about, and a bundle of fairy lights were laying in the middle of the floor. 

“Then you came back early,” JJ concluded. “Spence, I thought you’d keep her occupied longer!”

“You didn’t tell me that,” he replied. Spencer looked quizzically at her, shrugged, then took another sip of his coffee.

“I just wanted us to have a cute date night,” JJ admitted. “I know you’re so stressed, and you deserve a break.” 

Emily grabbed her girlfriend’s moving hands and held them in her own. She felt overwhelmed. JJ was so… thoughtful. Caring. Attentive. So many things that were absolutely foreign to Emily. No one had ever tried to impress her like this. 

“It’s okay,” Emily said. “We don’t need anything special to have a cute date night. You’re cute enough.”

JJ gave Emily a goofy smile in response. 

“Okay,” JJ said. “If you say so.”

“You’re building a blanket fort?” Spencer asked. “I actually have some experience with blanket fort architecture.”

“You do?” JJ asked, raising her eyebrows skeptically.

“Of course,” he replied, seeming almost offended that she questioned him. “It sparked my interest in engineering. I wanted to overcome the problem of chair-tippage when it came to building the structure, so I devised a system of counter-weights that I found increased the structural integrity by 53%. My mom always told me that I could be an architect, but I thought the sciences better suited my intellect.”

“Oh?” Emily asked, genuinely interested. How would someone measure the structural integrity of a blanket fort? 

“Actually, I have some blueprints. Let me grab them,” he said, standing up and making a move for the door. 

“Of course you have blueprints,” JJ laughed. 

“I should probably go feed Gideon, anyway. I’ll be right back!” Spencer  said. Before closing the door behind him.

“Gideon?” Emily asked. 

“His fish,” JJ said, “the one he won at the fair. It’s named after his professor, I think.”

She shrugged. The kid was weird, they tended to just accept that. 

“I guess Spencer’s joining us on date night,” JJ said. “Sorry. I know you’re stressed and probably want to be studying, but I thought we’d order pizza and just have one night off. Just us. And Spencer.”

JJ planted a firm kiss on Emily’s lips, leaving her dazed and blushing. 

“Relaxing sounds perfect,” Emily said, pulling her girlfriend closer to her. “I can’t believe it’s already exams. This semester has flown by. Soon it’ll be winter break, and I won’t get to see you.”

“I can’t imagine you not being right across the hall,” JJ said. “Who will give me kisses when I want them?”

JJ kissed Emily, sucking on Emily’s bottom lip slightly before pulling apart to look at her. 

“I know you’re joking, but I hope you’re not kissing anybody else, no matter the circumstances.”

With that established, Emily pounced on her girlfriend, pushing her onto her bed and kissing her deeply. She intertwined her fingers in the blonde locks that were splayed out in a golden halo and breathed in deep, taking in the warm scent of the lilac candle that burnt on her night side table. 

All her worries melted away at JJ’s touch. Emily’s brain was filled with the feeling of JJ’s lips on hers, with her lithe form beneath her. Exams, student politics and thoughts of home were wiped away, and her stress faded into background noise. 

JJ’s pliant form writhed under Emily’s, her hands sneaking below Emily’s sweater and dancing over her back. They deepened the kiss until they were making out like teenagers in JJ’s dorm with the door still open a crack. 

This was how Spencer, accompanied by Derek, found them when they pushed open the door with blanket fort blueprints and bags of potato chips in hand. 

Spencer made a surprised noise, which made Emily aware of his return. She jumped up and pulled apart from JJ with a dark red blush gracing her cheeks. 

“Woah there ladies,” Derek said with a laugh. “Keep it in your pants!”

“Guys! I was gone for five minutes!” Spencer whined. 

Emily stood up awkwardly, stuffing her hands in her pockets as she watched JJ sit up and pat her hair down in a huff.

“Sorry,” Emily grumbled, not really meaning it. She would never be sorry for kissing JJ, but she was sorry for the awkwardness

“Pretty boy dragged me down the hall,” Derek said in explanation. He had Spencer’s rolled-up fort plans in his hand, and lightly smacked Emily’s head with it, making a comedic thwap noise as it made contact. “Hope you weren’t in the middle of something?”

“Only JJ’s legs,” Emily quipped to everyone’s surprise, even her own. JJ hit her jokingly and blushed. 

“Hey!” Derek laughed, “Let’s keep this PG!”

“You called?” The voice of Penelope Garcia—PG if you will—rang out from the hallway, and within seconds JJ’s room was filled with just about all their friends standing around in a slightly awkward silence: JJ, Emily, Spencer and Derek were joined by Penelope with Hotch in tow. 

The latter two of them had grown closer recently and walked into the room with white shopping bags with the walrus logo printed on the side, looking like they had just returned from out in the cold. Penelope and Hotch going thrifting together, that’s new! Emily thought to herself and decided to file the observation for later. The image of Hotch watching Penelope’s customary fashion show was enough to make her laugh under her breath. 

“We’re building a blanket fort,” Spencer announced, changing the subject to the task at hand. “Are you guys helping?”

“Oh you know I will, boy genius,” Penelope said with an excited smile. 

Emily looked over to her girlfriend. So much for date night.

———

Without much questioning about why they were building a blanket fort, the team got to work. In college, sometimes things just happened. Impromptu blanket forts were par the course. In their defense, any excuse to not spend the evening burying their heads in textbooks was a welcome reprieve. 

It started with just a few blankets draped in the space between JJ and Penelope’s beds, but with Spencer’s instruction, a verifiable architectural marvel began to take shape. 

While Emily knew that Penelope would be all gung ho for this sort of project, it was certainly amusing to see Hotch in his khakis and dress shirt crawling around on the floor like a child with the rest of them, tying off blankets and very seriously maneuvering the different parts of the structure. 

Sheets were draped here and there, tied together to form ceilings and walls. Two chairs stolen from the common room, loaded with backpacks on the seat for support acted as the entrance to the fort. 

While it was crawling space only, Emily had to note that there was a sense of awe when you emerged into the open space of the main fort-area. It was surprisingly big, fitting all six of them with ease. The key to the whole design was a curtain rod Hotch had stolen from the boys shower that lifted the roof up. 

The design was strangely reminiscent of Baroque architecture, which she was sure was due to Spencer’s designs. This was a fact that Emily kept to herself. She always tried to rein in the ‘I lived abroad’ conversation points so her childhood could remain under minimal scrutiny.

Emily’s exhaustion transformed into excitement as she relished the time hanging out with her friends. Music played from Penelope’s computer as they worked, they began to work as a cohesive group, each member doing their share. It was nice to do something besides sit at her desk and obsess over memorizing facts and statistics, or figuring out the proper argumentation for an essay on a subject. Making sure that a bunch of blankets didn’t crash onto them was treated with the utmost seriousness, and the whole group was focused with intense concentration at their own tasks. 

Spencer did, in fact, have literal sketches of blanket forts in his notebooks, but the details of which were fairly incomprehensible to her. While she believed that he did the math, his chicken scratch was just about indecipherable, and his drawing was little more than a few shapes on a page. Despite this, it was laid out on the centre of the dorm-room floor for them to reference. 

At one point, as Emily stood on JJ’s wheely chair, she feared that the fort had all come crashing down as she lost her balance and grabbed at the blankets to stop her fall before tumbling onto Derek with a yelp. 

“Sorry,” she muttered as she climbed back onto her feet and fought off the blanket that had wrapped her in a shroud. 

She flinched as she realized she had ruined it all, a pit forming in her stomach. She looked at her friends in concern, but instead of yelling at her for her mistake, or shunning her for ruining it for the rest of them, they smiled at her and helped her up.

“It’s okay!” Spencer said cheerfully. “I know exactly how to reinforce that wall.”

“You okay, Emily?” Hotch asked, righting the wheely chair as JJ fretted over her. 

“I’m good,” she answered, still confused as to why they weren’t mad at her. 

Instead of making a big deal over the set back, they went back to work. Soon, the fort filled out and it returned to its former glory. Arguably, better than it was because they had draped fairy lights throughout the inside, making the space glow with a warm orange light. 

Inside was filled with pillows and big enough for all of them to sit comfortably so it was a comfy lounge space. It was cozy and warm, the antithesis of the bitterly cold night air outside. 

“You know what?” Hotch said. “This is a damned good fort, Reid.” 

The group muttered in consensus. They all had piled into the space, and as the excitement wore off, Emily was wondering what happened next. What does one do in a blanket fort? She had vague memories of building one in her room, but she had just sat inside and read a book. 

“I hear the RA’s storage room has a ton of board games,” Penelope said. “They pull them out for socials and stuff.”

“That’s all well and good, but we’re not asking Strauss to let us in,” Derek argued. “I still think she thinks we were responsible for that fire alarm last week. She’s been giving me the evil eye ever since.”

“Who said we had to tell her?” Emily said. “We could just… borrow… them…”

“I mean, they are for us to use, anyway.” JJ’s eyes had a mischievous look in them as she looked at Emily.

“That is true,” Hotch said, the scowl that was usually a fixture on his face turning to a smirk. 

“That’s stealing, guys,” Spencer warned, as if they didn’t already know that. 

“We’ll give them back,” Emily said with a shrug. “Come on!”

Penelope led the way to a dark wooden door on the main floor, it was labelled simply “Storage,” but the computer science student assured them that it was where the RA’s stored all of their supplies.

“It’s locked,” Penelope huffed.

“Do you have a bobby pin?” Emily asked her in a hushed voice. She wouldn’t have gotten this far if she hadn’t learned how to pick simple door locks. She had trouble with deadbolts but a simple latch she could probably do within a couple of minutes.

The blonde pulled a hot pink bobby pin out of her perfectly curled hair. Emily snapped it into two, bending one end into a longer L-shape. Sticking that into the bottom of the lock and holding it in place, she used the other side to feel for the pins that held the lock in place. 

Emily could feel all eyes on her as she confidently knelt in front of the doorknob, the group keeping watch for her as she worked. No one questioned how or why Emily knew how to do this. She had her reasons. 

This definitely broke all sorts of residence rules and if they got caught, they knew they’d get into shit, but no one seemed to care that much. They just wouldn’t get caught. 

After a couple minutes, Emily’s hands began to sweat. What if she couldn’t do this anymore? She tried to centre herself. She had made it through infinitely more stressful situations in the past. It was the eyes of her friends on her that made her nervous. She was finally accepted by a group, and she desperately didn’t want to let them down. 

Then, it clicked, and she was able to turn the brass knob easily. Emily made a noise of excitement, got to her feet and yanked the door open. 

Instead of an empty storage closet, on the other side of the door was Erin Strauss, their RA, in a passionate embrace with David Rossi. Her shirt was unbuttoned and he was in the middle of sucking on her neck. 

“Dave?!” Hotch called out, startling the couple. 

Both groups stood stock-still, neither knowing what to say. While Emily had hid the bobby pins, she wasn’t sure who was in more trouble, them for breaking into the room or their RA for using the space for unofficial purposes. 

The room was small and cramped, with a pile of poster board mostly obscuring the one small window that lit the space. Strauss had been hoisted onto the desk, her legs straddling the other student. Emily could see a shelf filled with the board games stacked on the left side of the room, but they seemed unimportant at the moment. While Emily had known about their illicit love affair, she had never expected to see it in action. 

“Hey guys,” Rossi said after a moment, his unwavering confidence carrying on to this moment as he pulled apart from Strauss, who was furiously buttoning up her shirt and trying to sort herself out. 

“What are you all doing in here?” she demanded, standing up and putting her hands on her hips. “This room’s meant for RA’s only.”

“Well,” Emily said, startled by her own audacity, “Dave isn’t an RA so…”

“We just came for some board games,” JJ said in her most diplomatic voice, despite clearly wanting to laugh at the situation, “then we’ll be off.”

“Take them and go,” the RA said in a strangled voice, her face beet-red and as she avoided eye contact like it was the plague. 

Clearly not as embarrassed as Strauss, Rossi simply smirked, collected a few board games into his arms off of the shelf, then deposited them into Emily’s arms. 

Realizing that given the circumstances, they couldn’t be picky with their choices, the stunned group thanked him then scurried away, back upstairs with their loot. The silence remained until they made it back to their floor, where they all burst into laughter.

“What on earth was that?!” Derek exclaimed. 

“Rossi and Strauss,” Spencer muttered. 

Emily and JJ made eye contact, remembering all those weeks ago when they had caught their friend emerging from the RA’s room down the hall in the middle of the night. They had known that Rossi and Strauss had hooked up that night, but had no idea that it was a whole relationship.

“I see it,” Hotch commented. “I mean, I don’t know your RA too well, but Rossi likes a woman with authority.”

Derek and Emily fake-gagged in an exaggerated manner at the comment. 

“I think I need to bleach my eyeballs after that display,” Emily muttered. 

“Ooo-kay!” JJ said, pointedly changing the subject. “It seems like we have most of the pieces to Clue… I think we could manage a game of that. We also have Scrabble, Yahtzee and Snakes and Ladders. Uh… also a pack of cards.”

“At least it’s not chess,” Emily said, thinking about her seemingly endless exam that afternoon. 

“Agreed,” Spencer said. 

“We do not have chess, no,” JJ said with a quizzical laugh. 

———

After ordering a couple of pizzas to the dorm, they all settled in to play a board game. After a few minutes of debate, they decided to play Clue (or Cluedo as Emily continuously referred to it as). The board was laid out: it was vintage, with a teal and yellow colour scheme and some scuffs and rips showing its age. In their blanket fort, they were seated in a circle, all secretly looking at their Clue cards.

“Can I be Professor Plum?” Spencer asked before they had even gotten the pieces out of the box. 

“Of course pretty boy,” Derek said, “I’ll take Mr. Green.”

“My sculpted god of thunder looks excellent in green,” Penelope flirted, choosing the white piece for herself. 

“Did you know that in the original version of Clue, Mr Green was a Reverend, but they changed his name for American audience because they believed that the American public would object to a parson as a murder suspect?”

“Good thing you’re on our trivia team, Reid,” Hotch replied.  

Emily was Miss Scarlet, of course, and was seated right next to JJ, who had chosen to portray Mrs. Peacock. Hotch claimed the remaining piece: Colonel Mustard.

Emily loved board games. Her nanny in France, who was a kindly elderly woman that Emily only knew as “Madame,” would play with her each Sunday after church. She has hazy memories from that time, but the warm glow of sunlight streaming into their Parisian apartment as she learned how to play Cluedo. Emily would always try to cheat, but knew better than to try to do so with her immensely observant girlfriend seated to her left, JJ’s hand resting casually on Emily’s thigh.

She looked at her cards and grinned. She had been dealt her own character, she noted, as Miss Scarlet’s name was printed in bold on the top of her first card. It felt weirdly validating to know that she herself was innocent. Also in her hands were the cards for the candlestick and pistol, as well as the observatory. She marked these off of her card and tried to gauge her opponents' reactions. 

JJ was checking her phone with her cards face down, tracking the pizza’s arrival. Spencer was sprawled back, his long legs taking up way more room than was necessary, jotting down notes on some scrap paper. Presumably some statistics and probability for the possibilities of the cards that were sealed in the envelope in the centre of the board. Penelope smiled over at Derek and flirtatiously tried to sneak a peek at his hand. 

After the initial rounds being dedicated to moving around the board, Emily finally made it into her first room: the lounge. There, she decided on her first suggestion.

“I suggest,” Emily said, in her most dramatic, formal voice, which was particularly suited to the role of Miss Scarlet, “that Mrs. Peacock committed this heinous crime in the Lounge with-” she hurriedly grabbed the candlestick, “the candlestick!”

She knew that it wasn’t the correct weapon, but using it would narrow it down to someone ruling out either JJ’s character or the lounge as the scene of the crime. 

“Moi?!” JJ said, sounding almost offended at the accusation. “Your own girlfriend?!”

Emily grinned evilly at her, but internally she felt giddy. It was the first time she heard JJ use that word in front of their friends. JJ moved her piece into the Lounge. The others chuckled lightly at their antics.

“You have no alibi for the crime, Mrs. Peacock,” Emily said, “and I am merely making a suggestion.”

JJ glared at her, but said nothing. Emily turned to Derek, who was seated at her left. 

“What do I do?” Derek asked, looking around the room, slightly confused. 

“Do you have any of those cards?” Hotch asked. 

“Yeah-” Derek said, moving to show his hand. 

“No!” Penelope stopped him. “Just show one of your cards to Emily if you can prove her suggestion was wrong.”

He made an “o” with his mouth and sneakily showed Emily the Lounge card. Emily noted that, and that it was Derek’s card. Mrs. Peacock had yet to be proven innocent, and Emily gave JJ a suspicious glance. 

She loved this game. 

As the game progressed, Emily noted a few things about her opponents. A part of Emily was profiling her friends subconsciously, reading each of their strategies like a book. 

Penelope always seemed to luck out on her dice rolls, covering a lot of terrain and gathering information like it was a cup of tea. But, she seemed to take it personally when someone accused Mrs. White of having killed Mr. Boddy and gasped every time someone made that suggestion. 

Hotch seemed to take the game very seriously, and was at it like he was an actual police officer solving crime. But, it didn’t seem that he completely understood all of the rules, and definitely hadn’t played before, so he spent most of his turn grumbling as he skimmed the rule pamphlet. 

Spencer, on the other hand, had memorized the rules, common strategies and probabilities of the different outcomes, so Hotch often looked over to him nervously as the boy wrote longhand equations in the notebook that he pulled out of his bag for the very occasion. 

Derek also had never played before, and regularly made ‘accusations’ rather than ‘suggestions’ when he entered a room, frustrating Spencer to no end. But, Derek was smart and seemed to be picking it up as he went along. That was until he made the same suggestion twice in a row, both times making Hotch show him the exact same card. He asked Reid endless questions about specific rules, and more than once he made the boy double check in the rule book when Derek tried to make a rather unorthodox move. 

JJ seemed to be the only one genuinely trying to have fun. She munched on the Cheetos that she stored in the bottom drawer of her night stand, and made conversation. Her strategy seemed to be exclusively focused on playing the game like it was the 1985 feature film Clue, playing the role of Mrs. Peacock with a fake accent and treating it like an actual murder-filled dinner party.

After a solid twenty minutes of gameplay, the pizza arrived. With minimal grumbling from Hotch, who was apparently on a roll, they took a break to eat. 

“Did you see this?” Spencer said with his mouth full, lifting up the copy of the newspaper that he had grabbed earlier.

“Don’t get me started,” JJ grumbled and took a sip of her pop. 

“What happened?” Hotch asked, the conversation piquing his interest. 

Spencer explained—with the assistance of JJ who apparently knew one of the people involved through soccer—the entire scandal. Apparently, last year there had been very little interest in the leadership roles, so the President of the student government had simply waltzed into his role. He then hired all of his friends, his girlfriend, his roommate, and together they embezzled thousands of dollars of student funds. 

“I can’t believe they’re getting away with this,” JJ muttered. “Is there no oversight?”

“It’s always the same,” Emily replied. “Who’s going to oversee them? The college? They’re corrupt too.”

“This sucks,” Derek said. “Wish someone good would run for government, for once.”

Emily shook her head in frustration. It all just reminded her of her childhood. Embezzlement, corruption and nepotism all were casual topics discussed over family dinner in her home. She had higher hopes for students her own age, would they not break the cycle? Or was it just a microcosm of the outside world? 

“You should run Mr. Lawyer Man,” Penelope teased Hotch. “You could take any of these clowns.”

Hotch raised an eyebrow at her and went back to his pizza, brushing her off. Emily smiled at him. Penelope was right, he might actually do a good job if he set his mind to it. 

The people that surrounded her now were nothing like her mother’s friends—or the kids she had been forced to hang out with when she was younger—they were genuinely kind, supportive, and seemed to like Emily for Emily. When she told them she was an ambassador’s daughter, they had been more concerned with the cool places that she had been able to travel to than whatever power she had. At college, Emily finally exhaled fully, slowly relaxing more and more into herself. 

But, the topic of politics always set her on edge, especially since the semester was ending soon. Her mother had already begun to leave her voicemails about the galas, fundraisers and events that she was required to attend over Christmas break. She pushed thoughts of the future aside and focused on the warmth that surrounded her. With some music playing softly (a song that JJ liked by Vampire Weekend), the softness of blankets under her, and JJ leaning on her slightly as she ate her dinner, Emily felt at peace. She knew she could handle winter break, because she knew that these friends would be here when she came back. 

After years of leaving a school midway through the year only to show up to some new boarding school or international school each time her mom was reassigned, Emily never had a chance to put down roots. But, with each bite of pizza, Emily felt herself becoming even more firmly rooted. Not to this place, but to these people as their lives became more entwined. 

Once dinner was over, the game continued, and thoughts of politics left their minds. By then, Emily narrowed it down to the weapon (the candlestick), two rooms (the kitchen and the billiard room) and she was pretty sure that it was Colonel Mustard that had committed the crime. 

She had a decision to make: walk all the way from the study to the billiard room, or risk being wrong by making an accusation. She was pretty sure both Hotch and Reid were on the right track, as the younger boy’s scribbling in his notebook had gotten even more intense and the older boy was beginning to look around suspiciously, as if the others were trying to read his notes. 

She had pretty much ruled out Penelope, JJ and Derek as competitors, as the trio spent most of the time talking, and genuinely trying to have fun. Emily, Reid and Hotch were all way too into it, but Emily was competitive and this was her game. She wasn’t going to lose to Hotch, no way. Reid winning she could blame on his boy-genius nature, but Emily decided that Hotch was going down. 

The two boys seemed to have come to the same conclusion, all eyeing each other across the board, the tension palatable between them as their competition became heated. 

She nervously tried to move to the billiards room, deciding to play it safe. Better safe than disqualified. But, as soon as she made that decision, she regretted it as Spencer straightened up on his turn and said: “I’d like to make my accusation.”

“Write it down,” JJ prompted, as per the rules. He jotted it down in his paper. 

Then, with bated breath, they watched as he grabbed the envelope out of the centre of the board, and read the cards. His face fell when he saw one of the cards, so he must have been wrong. He placed them back into their envelope and back onto the board. 

“No dice?” Emily asked. 

He shook his head. 

“Statistically speaking that should have been right,” he grumbled. “My math was wrong.”

“Boy genius isn’t a good detective, huh?” Penelope mused. 

A few turns went by, with Derek, Penelope, and JJ moving around the board or making suggestions. 

Emily rolled the dice, making one square from a room. She sighed. She’d make a suggestion next round. 

On Hotch’s next turn, he made an accusation, which he wrote down on a pink sticky note that Penelope had handed out when the game started. He checked the envelope. 

Emily held her breath. She was sure he had it and that the game was over. She should just call it quits now. She went to bite her nails out of stress, but stopped herself, they were starting to get long and she wanted them to look nice. 

A moment passed as Hotch compared his cards. After he saw the third card in the envelope, his expression revealed that was also wrong. 

Boys, Emily thought. Always so overconfident. 

She made a suggestion instead of risking it: “Miss Scarlet—er myself I guess— in the Billiards Room with the pistol.” 

It was a gamble. If she was right, and the people who knew she had her own card and the pistol caught on, they would also know that it was the Billiard Room, because no one would be able to disprove her theory. If she was wrong, someone would have the card for that room, and she would know that the crime occured in the Kitchen. 

The second seemed to be true, as Derek showed her his card with a small illustrated image of the Billiard Room on it. She was right. She knew what it was. But, she would have to wait until her next turn. She was going to win. 

But, it was she who was overconfident, because as she was too busy preemptively celebrating her win, Derek casually made his accusation. 

“Hey I’m right!” he exclaimed, holding up the cards and his own hot pink sticky note. 

In his semi-cursive scrawl read: “Colonel Mustard, Candlestick, Kitchen.” These guesses matched the cards hidden in the envelope, and Emily’s own deduction that she planned to make on her own turn. 

“You guys really thought I hadn’t played this game before?” Derek laughed. “I’ve got two sisters, board games were everything.”

“Were you hustling us, Morgan?” Spencer demanded. 

He smirked. 

“Should’ve put money on the outcome,” Derek said with a laugh. “I’d be rich.” 

Emily threw her cards onto the table in defeat. JJ shot her an empathetic look, and Emily tried to stuff her frustration down to pat her friend on the back for the surprising win. He deserved it.

———

After the game concluded and the pizza had been completely eaten, the group parted ways, heading to bed, or for more midnight snacks or to finish up some studying, leaving JJ and Emily alone and to start? a game of Scrabble. 

The board was ancient, and quite a few letters were missing, but with music droning on JJ’s laptop, and the soft fairy lights overhead, neither girl minded too much. 

Emily looked at her letters:  O, B, S, O, T, B, W and thought hard, rearranging the wooden pieces to try and formulate a word. After a long day of academia, and investing so heavily into the game of Clue, she probably had only one or two working brain cells and both were telling her to play the word ‘boobs.’  

Her eyes flicked to her girlfriend, who looked absolutely gorgeous in the warm light. Her blonde hair almost glowed, and she had an adorable expression on her face. Emily couldn’t help but glance lower, thinking about the real world examples of her Scrabble word.  

She played the word with a cheeky grin. 

“‘Boobs,’ Emily?” JJ scolded. “Really?”

She sounded angry, but there was a hint of a smile tugging at her cheeks and Emily could tell the girl found it funny. 

“I can’t help it,” Emily said. “I haven’t thought of much else since last weekend.”

She raised and lowered her eyebrows in an exaggerated manner, making JJ laugh and kick her lightly in protest. 

JJ then played the word ‘throw,’ using the ‘o’ from ‘boobs’ to form her word, earning her thirteen points. 

“I don’t think you can throw boobs, babe,” Emily said. “They’re usually attached.”

JJ rolled her eyes. 

Emily made it her mission to find the funniest words possible, working extra hard (and missing out on some good points) in an effort to make JJ laugh. ‘Armpit,’ ‘meaty,’ ‘hoagie,’ ‘urine,’ ‘joint’ and her piece de resistance: ‘boner.’ All while JJ was playing incredibly normal, and often strategic words like ‘axis,’ ‘snow,’ ‘vain,’ ‘snag’ and ‘writings,’ hitting multiple double- and triple word scores on the way. 

“This is fun,” Emily said, sneaking a handful of JJ’s Cheetos out of the family-sized bag next to the blonde, while she was distracted by playing her turn. 

“I don’t understand how you’re winning,” JJ muttered. 

Emily shrugged, “Guess I’m just a genius.”

“Reid? Is that you?” JJ joked. “Why are you disguised as my girlfriend?” 

“Would Reid do this?” Emily said, leaning over toward her girlfriend and pressing kisses all over her face until she fell back. Then Emily straddled her, their lips meeting in a passionate embrace that left both girls panting. 

“I would hope not!” JJ exclaimed with a laugh, making a face at the thought. 

They laughed and went back to making out, with Emily careful not to disturb the game pieces. JJ sucked onto Emily’s bottom lip, making her weak in the knees and she struggled to support herself over JJ’s shorter frame at the motion. 

“We should-” Emily tried to say between kisses, “finish the game.”

JJ kept deepening the kiss, going so far as to grab onto Emily’s butt to hold her in place on top of her.

“You’re trying to distract me,” Emily chided, “because I’m winning! I see right through your plot.” 

She sat up and went back to her tiles before playing another funny word: ‘suck’ for twenty points. JJ grumbled,fiddling with her own tiles, as Emily collected a few out of the bag. 

Emily was preening as she rearranged her own tiles and didn’t notice as JJ put down her word. When she went to play her next word (‘zap’) and only then did she see what word JJ played. 

‘Love.’ 

It was there. Clear as day. Written vertically and connected to the word ‘snow,’ it was unmistakable. Emily looked at it for a long moment, trying to figure out what it could possibly mean that her girlfriend very intentionally played such a loaded word. Was it the only word that fit? Did she only mean that she loved the snow? Was she also reading into it? 

Emily looked up, making eye contact with JJ. The blonde blushed and looked away, nervously fiddling with the necklace around her neck. Emily smiled faintly at the warmth that flooded through her, but alongside that, was the sharp pang of anxiety. Was she supposed to acknowledge that? Would that make it weird? 

‘Zap’ didn’t feel appropriate when her girlfriend may or may not have confessed her love for her. 

She played it anyway, deciding that making a big deal of it would just complicate matters. Besides, did she love JJ? She didn’t know. It was all so new. She liked JJ a lot. She definitely like-liked her in the traditional sense of the world. But Emily had never been in love before. She’d loved people before, Matthew for one, and her mother in a way, and she loved Derek like a brother. But being in love was a whole ‘nother ball game. 

JJ won the game after playing ‘equinox’ for twenty two points near the end, beating any lead Emily had gained from her silly words. JJ deserved it in the end, as the blonde would sit and stare at her letters until they formed the most complex words that Emily had never even heard of. Emily’s eyes drooped and she was barely able to create three letter words by the end, while JJ was still surprising her with her vocabulary. 

Emily shook JJ’s hand to congratulate her for the win. JJ grinned and kissed her. 

Then, they looked around and realized two things: it was past one in the morning and Penelope hadn’t come back to the room yet and that all of the blankets that JJ owned were currently being used in the blanket fort. 

“Can we sleep in my bed, tonight?” Emily asked. “I’ll help you clean up in the morning.” 

JJ nodded but was in the middle of texting Penelope, wondering where on earth her roommate had wandered off to. Within a minute she got back to JJ saying: with derek! will explain tmrw!! 😘 🧚‍♀️ 😳

JJ showed Emily the message and both girls giggled. Emily saw that coming, but didn’t realize it would be a game of Clue that finally sealed the deal.

Exhausted but happy and relaxed after the game night, Emily and JJ tumbled into Emily’s bed and cuddled up together. Between JJ and Emily, the word ‘love’ was left unsaid that night, but Emily fell asleep that night feeling a new warmth in her chest.

[jawanaka]

grass, clouds, psionics, and spring for the elemental writer asks!

Thank you Poetikat! Ask here in case anyone wants to ask something!

Grass: What’s the biggest change you’ve made in your WIP since you started it?

I think I've discussed it here and there but the biggest change I made from the original outline for The Swallow Of Novigrad (which obvisouly impacted the sequel quite abit) was that Morvran was originally supposed to die in the final battle. There was various reasons for this, partially that I wanted someone close to Ciri to bite it to drive home the lssons of the fic and partially because then I didn't have any interesting ideas where to go with his character. But then he (and his and Ciri's relationship) grew in the telling so he survived.

Clouds: How clearly do you picture a scene before you start writing it down?

Oh, this varies alot. Some I have clearly pictured a long time ahead, other just come to me. Often I have scenes where I know that character X need to do Y but I have no clear idea of the setting and dialogue before I start writing. So the opening sequence of The Sins of Fathers I had very clearly pictured, including its recurring phrase ("The Empress was coming to Toussaint") but the scene with Triss in the same chapter I han no real ideas part from "need an update on Triss and also Yennefer related angst". Then the tents, the magical equipment, the longing looks across the river and Fringilla infodumping showing up came to me.

Psionics: How do you get into the heads of your characters?

With a blunt object.

But in all seriousness, I read, take inspiration and go deep into the wiki to find things in their background that would make them tick. Some characters are easier the others, Ciri for instance while others are harder.

Spring: Have you ever scrapped (a huge chunk of) a story to start over?  Why did the change come about?

In my current WIP the actual tournament was going to be a bigger thing and some of the characters take part. I coulnd't make it work pacing wise so in the end I scrapped that whole part.

Thank you again for the ask!

[celebritytgcaptions]

Requests (5/23/2021)

Hi lovelies! I’ve been getting so many requests & I’m working hard to get all of them in the queue. Thanks for sending them my way! I’m writing to let you know that the queue is now full until the end of June. I was able to get every requests from my May 8th post in there except for a few. Requests from May 8th for captions featuring Katy Perry, Jenna Fischer, Marisol Nichols, Addison Rae, Ariana Grande, Erin Kellyman, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Jhene Aiko, & Kirstin Maldonado will be posted in early July.

But there have been an absolute ton of requests since then too, yay! So I’m listing all the requests that I haven’t gotten to below. If you made a request but don’t see it below that might be for a few reasons. 1) I’ve written it already and it will be posted in June. 2) It’s one of the requests I posted on May 8th so I won’t talk about it here. 3) I considered it a demand not a request (for example, I received two that said “Anything with,” that wasn’t really a request just telling me to do it. Sorry if this bothers some of you but it is an issue with me so make sure you word your requests AS requests). Either way, thanks for the love, lovelies! :D

Anonymous said:

Could you do one with either Kelley O’hara or Alex Morgan from the USWNT about a guy soccer player watching the US win the world cup and then want to be them or something like that?

I actually know who both those are (shockingly enough, I don’t really follow sports) so sure thing!

Anonymous said:

Could you do lorengrey captions? She’s so hot

Sorry sweetie, don’t know who that is. :(

Anonymous said:

Hi I just had an idea for a game you could do. It could be where someone has to say as a boy what they’re like physically in stages. So first stage is hair color for example, second stage could be height, third stage could be body type, etc. An example would be if I was a black hair, short height, thick body type, I would match up with someone like Nicki Minaj. Just an idea which you could extend on. Hopefully it makes sense. I appreciate you!

I actually have a game like this mapped out called “Build a Sissy” where you choose age, hair color, and bra size, but it would take a LOT of work to make so I haven’t written it yet. Maybe some day though. :)

Anonymous said:

I would love to see a Tori Kelly caption. Her hair and body are not typical but beautiful for a white girl. I say that last sentence respectfully. I think having a caption with her would be great

Sure thing! Tori Kelly is a cutie. :)

Anonymous said:

Ok I'm not sure if u'll know these 2 cuz even I had to look them up for the names but anne dudek and maitland ward theyre the 2 blonde sisters from white chicks not sure if uve seen it but if u can could u make a caption for them please?

I DO know who they are! I’ve been thinking about doing a White Chicks caps because there’s a lot of cute looks in that movie (especially for Busy Phillips who I just love) so sure thing!

Anonymous said:

Could u do Yvette nicole brown from community? Id like to see some big girl love

Sure thing!

Anonymous said:

I already know that this request is probably gonna be a No but I still have to ask whats the ruling on GCI enhanced celebrities like Taylor swift from Cats?  Or is that too much like "Furry" stuff. Now I'm Feeling this will be a No for multiple reasons

So it is not an issue with CGI “enhanced” celebrities but for Cats it is because I do not have a Furry fetish and I get uncomfortable thinking about writing caps for it. But I write caps with “manips” all the time (photoshopped images of celebs) so I’m not ruling out CGI enhanced celebs all together.

Anonymous said:

Can you do one of Lindsey stirling? And for the story can it be a guy trying to learn Violin but he cant seem to focus he even tried hot female teachers but it didnt work then he gets a male teacher than he starts focusing and wanting to please the teacher he becomes a sissy sorry its a long request

Sounds fun, sure thing!

Anonymous said:

Hi big fan and I think you’ve been doing amazing work. Is there anyway you could do a story about a guy who loses a bet to sorority girl and is forced to get his nails painted and turned into a girl? I love the idea of having a boys nails painted against his will. I’d love one with Selena Gomez but if you think another celeb would be better I leave that cumpletely to you.

Totally! This sounds fun. :D

Anonymous said:

Can you do thelma and Louise?

I’m assuming you mean Geena Davis & Susan Sarandon from Thelma & Louise so yes. Yes I can. :)

Anonymous said:

Can you do a caption from the movie bridesmaids? Like when theyre all trying on dressess or something?

I haven’t seen Bridesmaids (I know I know) but I can try something. :)

Anonymous said:

it would be super cool if you could do some more games! They’re my fav

Glad you like them! As long as I’m not on hiatus, games will be posted every second Saturday. I’ve already got two set for June. :)

Anonymous said:

Hey huge fan of your recent work and super excited about new caps!! Do you think you could do one about a college guy who drops out in pursuit of being a stand up comedian, but the comedy club needs a female comic so they turn him into a girl? I was thinking maybe Nikki Glaser, she so funny and sexy. Thanks can’t wait to see all your new stuff!!

Oooo, Nikki Glaser is great. Sure thing!

Anonymous said:

Can you make a caption about a guy who makes fun of curvy and thicc women, where the women get their revenge and turn the guy into Nia Jax?

You got it!

Anonymous said:

Hi Me again on the topic of the assembly line worker caption sequel if you do it i just an idea for the story like before depicting the sissies "first time"  but you can have it be that the coworker doesnt know and is telling everyone about the chick he slept with last night and the sissy is just thinking "if only they knew"idk i thought it was good anyways thank u again

So this message is in reference to a sequel caption that was requested & that I did write and will be posted in June. I’m sharing it here to let the anon know that I wrote the cap BEFORE I got this second request so there will be a followup but the story will be different. I hope that’s ok.

Anonymous said:

Hi idk if u watch wrestling or not I see u have some captions of wwe womens wrestlers but im not sure have far ur knowledge of it is? Could u do a caption of Rhea Ripley if u know her?

I have never seen a single episode of WWE, I do not watch wrestling, and yet somehow every time someone requests a wrestler I know who she is. Don’t ask me how because I do not know. Anyways, yeah I can do a Rhea Ripley one. :)

Anonymous said:

Could you do a caption about a janitor for sissy co. That finds out the strange goings on at work and tries to blow the whistle on the whole operation but is caught and turned into a sissy maid for the sissy co. Corporate office abit specific I know but ive been thinking on that awhile however u do it will be perfect thanks

You got it!

Anonymous said:

Could you do katheryn Hahn from wandavision specifically the 80s look with the Big hair and aerobics outfit

Oooo, sounds nice. I’ll type that up for sure. :)

Anonymous said:

Hi big fan of your caps!! Do you think you could do a cap where a football player wants to go to the NFL but gets hurt, so they turn him into a female commentator, maybe Lauren Rutledge? If you don’t know her, she’s been a college football reporter for awhile and was also a former Miss Florida. Anyways I just think any guy would be lucky to be turned into her and I love your caps keep up the great work!!

Me: *googles Lauren Rutledge to see if it’s who I’m thinking of* How do I know who this is? Anyways, yes I can write this. :)

...for some reason there are no GIFs of her though so I’m just gonna move on.

Anonymous said:

Hi I'm the one that requested the LONG list of celebs I'm still really sorry about that I didnt realize how many it actually was till I looked back so I wanna retract some for your sake tell ya what if you havent done any already just do the ones that are specifically marked (as in the ones detailed by movie or show theyre in) the ones that are just names you can leave out i knoe its still alot but hopefully that takes some weight off of ya sorry again

You don’t have to be sorry! Like I said, in the future I’d ask that folks limit requests to no more than 3 celebs at a time but you didn’t know that. I’d never said that before. I typed up every celebrity and they’re going to be sprinkled in during June. Hope you like them! :)

Anonymous said:

Hello ^^ I love your work. Can u make a caption with the name "jules" and Ariana Grande please? Thank you

Sure thing!

Anonymous said:

Hey, not really an ask, but something I needed to share

I'm the one that asked for the Stephanie Beatriz caption from a whole back, and I absolutely loved how it turned out. Each time you roll out a new caption is like a small thrill to me and I read them right as they're released.

Now this wouldn't be an ask if I wasn't asking something, right? Well, next month sees the release of the "In the Heights" movie, and there's an opportunity there to do a series of captions using stephanie Beatriz from that same movie.

In conclusion, I love your captions so much, you're amazing!

Awww, this is such a sweet message. Thank you! And YAAASSSSS! Ever since the first trailer for In the Heights dropped I was like, “I must write a caption with her in this!” So you can imagine how fun it’s been waiting this entire time. *eye twitches*. We’ll have to wait until the movie comes out for me to be sure I can find a good image but this IS a caption I want to write. :)

Anonymous said:

Hi I just recently came across your blog and fell in love with it!! The caption with the football player being turned into Bella Thorne is one of my favorites!! I’d love so much if you could do a sequel or something to that cap it was so amazing and I need to know what else happens to “her”. I’m not sure if this is possible or if you even do sequels but this cap was great and I look forward to all the others!!!

Glad you like it! I’m always looking for sequel captions to write on Throwback Thursday so you’ll get this for sure. :)

Anonymous said:

Hey big fan! Do you think you could do a caption where a short guy gets made fun of by all his girl friends for how short he is? Ariana Grande is fairly short and I think a caption of her (of age of course) would be awesome

You got it!

Anonymous said:

Can you do one with the bella twins as two guys who fought over the same girl then the girl turns them both into look alikes of her but then they start fighting over the same guy

Yep!

Anonymous said:

Do you know suzy berhow? Or angie Griffin? If so would love a caption of either of them please

Sorry sweetie, I don’t know who those are. :(

Anonymous said:

Would appreciate more Sia captions please when u get the chance

I will remember that. :)

Anonymous said:

Can make some Winnie Harlow caption please? I adore her style

Sorry lovely, I don’t know who that is. :(

Anonymous said:

How about instead of removing the captions with Demi in them ,the images of Demi were just replaced with another celeb and if Demi is mentioned by name in the caption then that could be edited  to mention a different celeb. I respect Demi's decision I do but lets not lose some well made captions. Also if you could please make a caption where Amy Adams feminises a fan and raises them as her daughter and Kristen Stewart makes you her submissive wife that would be appreciated. I'm a fan of them.

So about the Demi Lovato captions: I understand your feelings but I’m still going to delete the original captions. Because of how my captions are made I can’t just go back in & swap out an image or edit the text, I have to remake it from the ground up. I am hoping to do that with some (maybe all) of the Demi Lovato captions & re-publish them, but I’m still going to delete the originals.

I can do the Kristen Stewart one for sure and I’ll TRY to do the Amy Adams one I just am not 100% sure I can find a pic for that but we’ll see. :)

Anonymous said:

If it’s possible before your summer hiatus could you do a caption with Amanda Crew (silicon valley, sex drive)?

I will do one with Amanda Crew but I can’t commit to doing it before the hiatus.

About the hiatus: I don’t know when it’s going to be. I want to TRY to make it to at least July 18th because I have a specific game in mind I want to post for 5 years of Celebrity TG Captions games, but after that I have no idea. I’ve been writing caps for a longer stretch of time since normal since I’ve switched to a part-time blog so I might burn out at any second but for right now I’ve still got some juice.

[noirbriar]

Qingyaji & Longyequ things

So this has been bugging me a long long time and I probably will get flak for this post but I am still putting this info dump and attaching some theories of mine regarding the movies from all the resources we got. Including speculation of the sequel at the end. Before you hit me yes, I read,listen and do speak chinese. (not A grade but I passed anw *flicks report books away*) and a pathetic amount of japanese. Ready for word dump? Scroll on. 1) Dong Tu / Eastern Realm Remember when Qing Ming was asked by his master to head to dong tu? Qing Ming lives on Dong Dao or Eastern Isle.Why go east?? This.THIS. I had to search up abit and translation was not good because dong tu didn’t mean east literally.And they should have probably came up with a better term in movie script. Its an old old label for china and was also used the Journey to the West to label the country as its in the east region. *facepalm* 2)The directional gods  The main crux of QYJ. And before I start I’m going to list them clockwise. Black Tortoise / north  Azure Dragon / east Vermillion Bird / south White Tiger / west there’s a fifth but its not commonly used Yellow Dragon OR in japanese its 黄竜 (おうりゅう), representing the emperor in the centre although the japanese believed the centre represents the concept of void. Got it? Now I add the cities in QYJ in pinyin and their translation and where the characters are from north / Bei Du / Northern City / Boya east / Dong Dao / Eastern Isle / Qing Ming south / Nan Jiang / Southern Territory / A-Long (Longye) west / Xi Yu / Western Region / Hong Zhi (the dead monk in case you forgot) But in movie that the order of duty became this. north / Black Tortoise / Boya east / Azure Dragon / Qing Ming south / Vermillion Bird / He Shouyue  Boya west / White Tiger / A-Long (Longye) Alot on the chinese fandom and I believe that they each represent region they came from as its more logical to protect their land first rather than the main problem of the snake (remember early on when they plotted and were sus of each other.) while western fans believe its by drawing lots as Qing ming said he was unlucky to get Qinglong. Or was this a ploy He Shouyue and for his scheme? This was not clarified in the movie.So do what you will with the knowledge. 3)Qing Ming, Boya and Fox Demons Not in movie but mentioned. And here I will use both jp/chi names. Before that I want to say that in the novel or historical Boya/Hiromasa DID NOT have a beef with foxes. 

Foxes/Kitsune in japan are not as damned as their chinese counterpart. They are even honoured and prayed for business and agriculture in Inari Shrines.This begin sometime in Heian era where Seimei and Hiromasa was born in. Minamoto no Hiromasa was actually a noble, an official and part of the royal family.He is also master in Court music or gagaku. Titbit: Rajoumon and Suzakumon were locations where he received his popular instruments fue/flute and biwa. (This biwa was mentioned in movie!Yes the one poor Killing Stone stole.) The were the head and tail of Suzaku avenue in the old capital city.Why I mentioned this, because I want to point out Boya’s ties to the Vermillion Bird or in japanese,Suzaku.You link it? You link it. Qing Ming/Seimei was rumoured to be half Fox. His mom is Kuzu no Ha. The white fox of Shinoda.She married Abe no Yasuna who saved her. Although she left as her identity as a fox was revealed.Or in some, was found out by young Seimei. In the movie, she was hunted down and left Qing Ming behind.Although her love is evident and remained to her husband and son. Her shrine irl is said where people pray for children as well  In the old onmyouji movies, he is iconic for his ritual/court dances or bugaku (done only by nobles) also btw Seimei has his own shrine and its small but lovely See how I mentioned one was good in music and another in dance. mmm yes. heh. BUT. Historically. These two had nothing to do with each other. At all. And also. Hiromasa was born AD 918, Seimei AD 921.  Now imagine Boya being the older one and Qing Ming younger haha. 4)Setting of Movie The director only confirmed it as a fantasy timeline while artwise they set it around second dynasty(??)( I can’t find the video but was one where they discuss architecture in movie). However a popular theory I found was its set in Late Tang dynasty in Wu Zetian’s era where economy and trade (silk road, maritime) was booming in her rule.  However.Seimei and Hiromasa in Heian era meant its during China’s Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom Period.After Tang Dynasty. Part of why I believe in qingyaji qingming and dong dao have their own court as much as other regions are their own cities/country because simply out of repect to the author,a japanese. (also a japanese composer) and also why he is dressed in japanese court wear.and why he needs to return dong dao. Do what you will with this. 5)A-long / longye / Longyequ things Or Takiyasha hime.Who was stripped of her title and escaped execution and later dabbled in onmyoudo and black magic and...frogs.And her goal was to gain the throne. This popular folklore and also been written by Yumemakura Sensei in the novels but I need check its contents (why is onmyouji novels only in jp and chi QAQ) Very very close to the bare minimal summary we got of Longyequ. Where officials are targeted and murdered.A revolt by the Southern Territory army 10 years ago.  And remember who is also a noble? Boya/Hiromasa. IS THIS WHY OUR POOR BOY IS GETTING HURT? So this is about it that I have in my half asleep brain. Take my findings with a pinch of salt while we await for longyequ! now i will yeet myself out.

[popculturebuffet]

Top 10 Sealab 2021 Episodes (Comission)

Happy 2021 Everyone! After an utterly AWFUL fucking year, it’s nice to be in a brand new year with brand new possiblities, new projects you’ll see soon, finsihing the old.. and all that good stuff. And good friend of the blog and only patron and contributer kev had a great suggestion to comission to kick off the year. Since it’s 2021 it’s only fair ot honor one of the very first adult swim shows, one taking place in the same year and still one of it’s funniest and fucking weirdest, and as we’ve seen that threshold is vast: Sealab 2021 Sealab was created by the wonder twins of Adam Reed and Matt Thomspon, and if those names sound familiar.. that’s because their the guys who created Frisky Dingo, a cult classic i’ll defintely have to write about someday soon, and more famously and in Matt’s case still to this day, Archer. Yup, after adult swim jerking them around lead to the closing of their initial studio, the two moved to FX and here they are. So yeah this is where the roots of a lot of archers workplace shenanigans and petty dickery come from.  But even ignoring what it’d lead to, Sealab on it’s own is pretty damn good and holds up pretty well. Some jokes.. have not aged well, especially the treatment of Debbie as the villiage bicycle, but on the whole most of the humor is just really funny, really weird and really insane and I still love it after this revisit even if some episodes didn’t hold up so good, most of them held up good or even better than I remembered.  The show was THE first abriged series, taking bits of old forgotten and seemingl really damn boring hannah barbara show sealab 2021, and using the footage to tell the tale of a bunch of assholes, weirdos and what have you running an underwater research station.. and being so bad at it or getting into such other insane bollocks it often blew up. Continuity was loose, jokes were the priority, and dialouge was key since the animation was not great in any way shape or form, but the cheapness was enough of a charm and improved enough with time that it didn’t really matter. The show was good and set the bar for adult swim shows for better or worse alongside other greats like Home Movies, Aqua Teen Hunger Force and others. It also had a unique cast of mostly small time actors, and bafflingly one respected news pundit as local asshole idiot head Stormy, and broadway legend Henry Goz as series MVP Captain Murphy. It was good, it was part of my childhood and teen years, and I love it so. I bought the dvds, quoted it decently and will again now Kev’s brought my fire for the series back.  So naturally for a series like this since regular reviews just don’t.. work on something this insane sometimes, i’m instead counting down my top. 10 . episodes. Yes top 10 lists are comissionable, 5 bucks a pop. As long as I know the series well enough i’d be glad to and here I ws more than honored to. I also uped my game this time and rewatched every cantidate and thus I feel this may be one of my best lists yet. So without further adeu... grab your grizzlbees oninon burst , your bebop cola and your pitcher of whale cancer. this is the top 10 episodes of sealab 2021!

10. Tinfins  This one’s a classsic just for it’s uniquness, taking the piss out of glitzy and vapid hollywood insider shows and their annoying hosts, while also being delightfully weird, from mocking the show’s own animation by having detailed cgi used to map the limited animation, to Erik Estrada’s interview where his fictional self is clearly having none of toni and is also clearly getting wasted, to the utter bizzarity of Kid N Play being the films directors.. it’s just a good time. 

But what REALLY makes the episode are two things: The first is a series of increasingly bizzare commericals for Grizzlebees, a fictional restraunt that would become a staple of the show: From a simple commerical showing off their onion bursts, to their kids meals with tonic water, to Henry Goz’s utterly bizzare farm based commerical for it, to finally a commerical about depression being okay because grizzlebee delivers that’s pitch black as it is utterly hilarious, it’s just one hit after the other.  The crown jewel of the episode of course is the trailer ofr tinfins itself, which is insane and includes great bit after great bit, the best being the titular mecha shark cutting the power “How the hell can it cut the power? It’s a shark. “ Holy Crap indeed. 

9. In the Closet A bottle episode, which Sealab really excelled at and not the last on this list by a mile, as the show’s key was it’s dialouge the episode had a simple premise it quickly managed to have make some pretty insane turns. Marco, played by the glorious Eric Estrada and Muprhy, played by the late and very game Harry Goz, have been trapped in the suply closet for a few days, with Muprhy, being muprhy, having already married a bucket who has a history as a “Hookermop” named wendy. Soon other sealabians get caught inside too, and it results in plenty of hilarious gags, From muprhy sucker punching the hell out of everyone, to Sparks panicking under claustrophiba, to the repair guy getting sucker punched and no one caring much about his well being. This one lives off of Muprhy as while the others are good, Goz as he usually did during his time on this earh and on this series before his untimely passing, steals the whole damn show, and the ending, where it turns out Muprhy adopted and starved a bunch of fighting dogs, is a nice twist on everything. And the punchilne to it is utterly fantastic “It could be worse” “How in the hell could it possibly worse?!” “We could be out there.. with Stormy”. 

8. The Legend of Baggy Pants Speaking of Bottle Episodes and Captain Murphy being awesome.... this one narrowly beat out the episode it’s a spirtual sequel too, the classsic all that jazz, but this one is easily better. Like that one it’s a bottle episode that’s almost entirely just Captain Muprhy on some sort of shenanigan, with only abit of other cast, in this case Hesh, Eggers, and an unfortunate phone operator. In this case the premise is simple, kind of nuts, and utterly hilarious and utterly captian murphy: Captain Muprhy is having a round of Golf in Sealab, which is weird but fits the character but what ratchets it up to funny is apparently this underwater research station, for no reason, has a pro shop. So after loosing his last ball in a reactor, and sending poor hesh in to get it leading to the advent of the glorious Monster Hesh, Muprhy spends the entire episode tooling around in his “Muprh Mobile” trying to find the pro shop. As a result it’s basically 11 glorious minutes of Harry Goz going absolutely mental as muprhy, and it is as great as that sounds. From Muprhy’s sudden hatred of pod 6, to his bullying of Eggers, a hapless sealabian he runs into and then tries to run over, his bullying of dolphin boy and then trying to run him over, to his compuance as eggers steals his stuff and then his muprh mobile, it’s just glorious riffing from one of the best in the buisness and Harry is still deeply fucking missed by yours truly. RIP you magificent stalion. 

7. Cavemen One of the series final episodes, and easily one of it’s best. While the later Seasons get some flack. While season 3 is a bit weak,a s Goz’ tragic passing left them stumbling, Season 4/5... it’s complicated, is REALLY damn good and has some of the series finest episodes which many probably never saw. Case in point, Cavemen.  Cavemen is another spirtual sequel this time to lost in time, which also didn’t make the list, but this one is also better. Like LIT, it focuses on one of the series best dynamics: Brainy super scientest and often only sane man Dr. Quinn and all around idiot, moron and bane of everyone’s existance, Stormy, played by Brett Butler and Ellis Henican, both of who nail the two and this episode. The two are trapped in a cave after Stormy’s stupidity blew up sealab, and his trail of dead rabbits lead a shark to him and quinn. The result is a TON of great back and forth as Stormy tries to make Quinn see him as his best friend, Quinn rightfully shouts at Stormy for... everything, and Stormy tries to show off some ancient cave painting she himself made, that quinn quickly figures out because he left his paint around, and shows that off in a very clever gag I can’t convey correctly here. We also get knife fights and Quinn beating stormy over the head with a dead rabbit, an da surprisingly solem ending where the two hold hands as they die before heading up to heaven for a happy and weird ending. Overall an episode that’s really hard to dive into as it’s just relaly damn good and all in the performances, gags and pacing, as it’s done entirely in real time. Easily worth a watch. 

6. Shrabster Another great late season episode and another really experimental one. This one’s told from back to front, then we’re given the ending. It ends up working really well as it not only jacks up interest but the story itself is great. Asj it ends up turning out over the episode Dr. Quinn’s created the solution to world hunger: The shrabster, a hybrid of crab, shrimp and lobster. Grizzlebees, naturally wants it and after finding out Sparks didn’t actually own the rights, have Shanks, muprhy’s replacement, try and steal it, only for him to fall in love with the creature and spirit it away to give it a better life.. before shooting it in the end and eating it himself. We also get some good runners as Sparks starts speaking in slang and gets his neck rightfully snapped for it by Quinn, Stormy keeps eating shellfish despite being allergic, and we get the glory that is dan and don, two grizzlebees reperceives played by reed and thompson who are just an utter delight. I also ALMOST forgot the fucking announcer whose just fucking hilaroius the whole damn time with his various segways. 

5. HappyCake An early classic and damn worthy with a simple, batshit premise, which as should be clear by now was Sealab’s Bread and Butter. Muprhy’s happycake oven has been stolen, so he sends Stormy (who knows about the captain’s bedwetting and thus must be silenced) Quinn and a fishman out to find it in the ocean. Turns out it’s Sparks, in a character defining episode, fault as he’s working on world domination, and thus is working on driving murphy insane and thus stole it. He and marco discuss Marco becoming his henchman and getting metal teeth, Muprhy goes nuts, it’s a damn good time. Also a lot of talk of Michael Cain so that’s always a plus now I know who he is. And of course it has one of the series best lines period “Pudding can’t help the void inside” but it’ll help. Only this low because i’ts a bit structually messy compared to what’s to come and given it beat out two really damn good structurally episodes for this slot, that should say something. 

4. Hail Squishface! No best of list would be complete without this one. Once again the show banks itself on a simple premise: Captain Muprhy buys a white blob, a gloop, from a vendor and gives it liquor and gremlins style his little buddy multiplies and he soon gives them out to the crew. Everyon’es on board except Quinn.. whos naturally proven right ot be suspicious as the gloops methane output will doom them all and only muprhy, whose gone insane and is wearing squishface like a fez as you’d expect, wants them alive leading to what you’d expect: a flamethrower battle between muprhy and the crew with murphy decked out like a transformer.  This one’s just endlessly creative, from the various glooptransformations to the finale to the gags, i’ts just great. The fart gags are also.. actually pretty funny, which given i’m not a fart gag guy most of the ttime, speaks to how well executed they are and use the gags of htem being fart machines. Also we get muprhy in a fez and that alone cements it as top 5 matieral.. but as for the top 3. 

3. Moby Sick

Our last late season entry and the third to last episode of the show ever, this is top 3 for a reason, even above a classic like Hail Squishface. This one just has so many insane jokes packed in I forget quite a few despite them all being pretty damn great.  The premise is dour: A whale named Avalard shows up in Sealab wanting to die, as he has whale cancer. Stormy recognizes him as the star of the show “Gotta Have that Dick”, even saying “I gotta have that dick!”.. which of course they have a loop of ellis saying in the credits he correctly assumes will haunt him for the rest of his days. And if a whale starring in a cheesy 90′s tgif sitcom wasn’t enough we get the best gag of the episode as Marco eats some of avalard’s whale cancer leading to an insnae kool aid style add

And of course Marco later puts on a Mayor F Whale outfit and eats the cancer.. and his way out of avalard. But before that we get fights over wether the whale should die or not, including the guy on the pro whale side stabbing him, Debby’s rambling nosense and Shanks, who first builds a wooden whale to put his brain in .. that promptly sinks “and all my puppies were in there!” and then goes on a far right pundit show and gets into a giant robot phsyical challenge.. which frankly we need more of. Tucker Carlson would be .0001 percent more tolerbale if he were getting his ass kicked in a gundam is what i’m saying. 

2. Feast of Alvis I’ll be brief here, which in an article where i’m already trying to be brief says a lot but since I JUST covered this one a few weeks ago for my best holiday special lists: Feast of Alvis is, like most of sealab, deeply creative, deeply batshit and deply fun as Muprhy pushes his violent frontier version of jesus on everyone, with predicably great results. I watch it every year for damn good reason, it has some of the series best gags, including “Cram a penny o nthere” And great satire about the supposed “War on christmas”. I’m only being so breif as I said pretty much all I had to say last time. Exxcept this: Adam Reed is a DAMN talented voice actor both as virjay (though in hindishgt he REALLY shoudln’t of been playing a hindu man, especially since otherwise the series actually cast poc), and in various rolls and kills it as alvis here. So what could top one of my faviorites? Wellll.

1. Chickmate Another early one and as should be clear the best. It incapsulates the series the best, has the funniest jokes packed into it’s 11 minutes and in general is just an outstanding episode that throughly defined the cast and their rolls and chemistry.  Debbie’s biological clock is ticking and she wants to have a baby, and after mothering a dolphin dosen’t help decides one of the sealab men will be the father and auditions them. It goes as well as you’d expect: Muprhy thought she’d become his mommy, and not in a kinky way, Sparks provides one of the series best gags by giving her a modest proposal by jonathan twist and giving us the utter black comedy joy of him describing “ribs dripping off the bone”, Stormy’s tape gets interrupted by Hesh who clasically screams “Hesh wants some sex”, Marco freaks her out with his muscles and quinn seems sucessful before ultimately botching it and Debbie decides none of htem are worth it. We also get stormy’s untieontally racist and throughly stupid use of the term “Black debbie” to describe the other debbie, which he gets rightfully called out on. We also get this exchange as a result Quinn: What if everyone started calling you white stormy? Stormy: You mean there’s a .. black stormy Quinn: (Beat to take in the stupidity) no. 

It’s funny, it’s clever, and it’s just damn fun. Easily the series best outing and the reason it became what it became. And overall.. the series is just really good. it’s on HBO Max if your curious, and if you haven’t vistied that lab underneath the sea. maybe i’ts time to. Goodbye, Goodbye, goodbye for now, until then.. play us out marco and debbie. 

[hykwkagas]

Review:

Shinonome Ayumu - Her Love in the Force

MS2 - Falling in love + Epilogue

Ratings-

Plot: 4/5

Romance: 4/5

MC: 5/5

Total: 13/15

I went into his MS2 expecting greater things, which thankfully it did, but his Epilogue was a little underwhelming to be quite honest. It was what I expected of a Shinonome route but it still let me down a little having finished it.

Plot: 4/5

We get a continuation from his MS1, where we delve deeper into the connection Sachi’s husband, Sekizaka, has with the politician who apparently has affairs. The plot for Shinonome’s MS2 gets much darker, with the mistresses said to be involved in a terrorism plot. There are also more things that the MC is involved in, and having Chiba, one of her closest friends be involved with her too was neat. I liked that both Naruko and Chiba were more involved in the things MC does as friends than they were in other routes. The writing doesn’t feel too choppy, minus a few incomplete sentences here and there, having both MC’s and Shinonome’s connections be more expanded upon along with the main plot. For the Epilogue, I did liked how they tied in Sachi’s wedding with Sekizaka, as a form of closure for Shinonome, but I’ll elaborate more on that in the romance section since I have quite a few things to say about that. Continuing off in the MS2, I like the whole involvement of Soma, Goto and particularly Kaga who is Shinonome’s direct supervisor. It wasn’t just a random side support for the MC or to chastise her type of situation, but the fact that it involved the main plot to counter terrorism was well done. I especially liked MC’s interactions with Kaga in Shinonome’s route, though I do think he’s still a meanie wherever route he goes lol.

Romance: 4/5

I think it’s very obvious at the start of his MS2 that Shinonome already caught on to MC’s feelings for him, although liking it to a crush rather than love. He comforts her when his jokes got a little too far, surprised that it was actually far deeper than what he thought it was. I think when MC cried in his arms that day, he probably had the time to self reflect on who MC was to him and if he was going to pursue her as a love interest, though there is a part of me that wants to believe that he had already made that decision from the start, only choosing to go after it abit harder after her show of emotions. Naruko brought up some good points in her lines when she likens a similar relationship to what the MC and Shinonome has to a friendship, and it did felt very friendship like. Shinonome had to come to terms with himself that Sachi, his love, was already a married woman and that MC was also creeping up on him as a potential love interest. Since we’re on the topic of Sachi, I didn’t liked how her after wedding in the epilogue just turned into a cute little tidbit story considering the others epilogues had been spicier. It was also kind of frustrating having to wait on Shinonome saying that he loved MC, and I do get that was the main point driven for the epilogue, but just felt that it could be done better considering his personality. Having read the previews for his sequels, I assume the writers will make Shinonome’s and MC’s romance into this slow burn trope, so I’ve kept that in mind as well when writing this review. There were fortunately many great lines Shinonome had as well in regards to him liking both Sachi and MC differently, which I thought was pretty neat. He likened Sachi not as a married woman he was in love with, but rather a woman he loved that got married in MS1. It was bittersweet for sure. While he appears more smooth in his way of talking about Sachi, and appears more rough towards MC, I do like his approach to MC better as it felt clumsier, something that I think only MC knows about him. Kaga apparently knows this too, however, as he called either Shinonome or the MC a child, over a jealous display when Kaga had called her over.

MC: 5/5

Let me tell you the patience Shinonome’s MC has is amazing. I would probably complained from being his gofer and having to take up his mean jokes, but the power of love trudges on. I gave his MC a full 5 points because she’s very honest with her feelings. It takes guts to admit to a person you love that you know loves someone else, that you loved him and that you also accept that it could be unrequited. While it appears that she does everything Shinonome asks her to without a doubt, the scene with Soma, Kaga and essentially Namba asking her to spy on Shinonome made me like her more. It must be tough to snoop on someone you liked and respected, but she chose to set those feelings aside, albeit momentarily, as she had to do her job as a Public Safety student. She did it in an empathetic way too, which was really nice to see. One of my favourite scenes of her was when she worked with Goto during their undercover, and having been stuck with him after getting caught. It showed how far she got in the Public Safety world that Goto - along with the higher ups instructions - would also bring her along to a real undercover mission and I do think it speaks volumes that it’s a two person mission. Granted, she’s already an officer, but they already knew she wasn’t used to the city work and that she still could do far better from where she was currently at. Her tenacity in both her private and public life is admirable, and she had to be with a love interest like Shinonome. She’s a very cute MC, who I do feel gives off a puppy vibe, and I find myself laughing and crying along with her during scenes. With how complicated Shinonome’s life and personality is, I appreciated her good hearted nature.

[witchsheartbooks]

How would the crew deal with having a partner with insomnia?

As someone who suffers from insomnia. I felt an obligation to write this one myself. Enjoy!~

Claire:

-She comes into your room, a look of concern on her face as she notices the bags under your eyes.

-You insist that you’re fine and explain about your chronic insomnia.

-She can’t help but feel guilty.

-She sits next to you, placing a hand on your shoulder and smiling warmly at you.

- “If you can’t sleep then I’ll stay up with you okay, [Y/N]?”

- You give her a nervous smile and insist that it isn’t necessary for her to do that.

- But Claire has always been that type to look more after others than herself, so she insists.

-“If we put a movie on, do you think you might fall asleep that way?”

- You weren’t entirely sure it would work, and you didn’t quite want Claire ruining her sleep schedule.

-Claire does in fact win in the end, putting on a movie for you both and sitting next to you on the couch.

-The two of you snuggle under a crochet blanket while Netflix runs in the background.

-The program quickly turns to white noise and midway through the second program you notice that Claire is fast asleep against you, lightly snoring.

- You eye the analog clock on the wall, noticing it was already past three in the morning.

-Though with the combination of warmth and two sets of white noise, you actually find yourself drifting off as well.

-It seems her little idea worked after all.

Ashe:

-He lingers in the doorway and his more cheerful mask is replaced with his more neutral and serious looking expression.

-He slowly walks over and leans against your back.

-His chin rests on your head. Keeping his tone gentle as he addresses you.

- “Trouble sleeping, [Y/N]?”

- You smile up at him trying to mask your looming exhaustion.

-You insist that it isn’t a problem and you can handle it.

-He knows better, his medical experience gives him more insight on the matter than you choose to disclose.

- “Oh? When’s the last time you slept?”

-Your tongue catches in your throat and you give him a more nervous smile.

-He sighs gently, shaking his head and goes to rifle through his bag.

-He leafs through the pages of a leather bound journal before slapping it shut with one hand.

-He retrieves something else from his bag and offers it to you.

- “It’s one of my own variations of a sleep aide. It might not work all the time but perhaps I can strengthen it if you ever grow immune to certain dosages.”

- You perk up and thank him with a tight hug.

-He pets your hair and insists you take one and lay down.

-He also stays with you until you fall asleep.

-Going so far as to lay next to you and spoon to see if that helps.

-Which with the combination of the aide and Ashe’s warmth, you quickly drift off.

Wilardo:

-He blinks calmly as he listens to you admitting about your insomnia.

-He beckons you over to join him, patting the space next to him on his bed.

- You tilt your head in minor confusion but comply to his nonverbal direction as you stare over at him curiously.

- “I’m well aware of how it is to have a tortured mind while wanting to just shut down and get rest.”

- He leans closer to you, chastely kissing your temple before leaning back only slightly.

- “I could offer you a distraction, [Y/N]. I have plenty of ideas. Ones of which could have your mind wander to other more pleasant things.”

-He spoke to you in a gravely low tone of which always caused you to shiver in delight.

- A blush dusted your cheeks and out of shyness you lightly put your hand on Wilardo’s cheek to push his face away.

-He simply chuckles at your reaction.

- “Alright, Alright. Though I do have other ideas.”

- Hearing this, your attention is on him again, giving him a quizzical look.

- “ [Y/N], exactly how much do you know about flower meanings?”

- Your eyes nearly sparkle once you make the connection of where he was going with this.

- He grins at you and takes your hand, leading you out of the red room.

- The two of you somehow find yourself in a vast fantasy space.

- The two of you in a large field of flowers while stars littered the expansive sky and water around you.

- Neither of you could fathom how you got here but enjoy your time none the less.

-He sits with you and points to certain flowers, explaining about their colors and meanings.

- You always enjoy hearing him go on about his profession considering it’s the most he ever tends to speak.

-After a while, you find yourself slowly succumbing to fatigue.

-You lean on Wilardo’s shoulder, still listening as he went on.

-You don’t remember when you fell asleep.

-But Wilardo gives a faint hint of a smile at his handiwork.

-The next morning the two of you are no longer in that space.

-Though you both hope to visit it again.

Sirius:

-He’s been eyeing you the past few days, studying your patterns and contemplating how to approach the situation.

- A classic case of insomnia with a dash of sleep deprivation caused by it.

-He had gone over the necessary options for what he could do for you, over analyzing them actually.

-He calls you to his room in the evening and he has tea ready for the two of you.

- “Sit with me, [Y/N].”

-He meant business and you could tell. Though there was something else in his eyes, concern?

-So, you comply to his instruction and eye the warm drink in front of you.

-You glance over to him curiously, wondering what this was all about.

-“[Y/N] you’ve been fatigued as of late.”

-You go pale and simply stare at him as his brilliantly captivating crimson eyes rest on you.

-You didn’t think he had noticed in the slightest, but that was a foolish thought. How could he not notice?

-You weren’t exactly good at hiding when something was wrong, so he was bound to confront you about it eventually.

-Though your boyfriend was ever the worrywart, so you couldn’t help but smile, upon realizing he had been thinking so much about you.

-You then openly admit your insomnia and sleep deprivation to him.

-He rested his cheek against his fist as he listened to you.

-He gently scooted the tea cup towards you again.

- “I know how much you enjoy my brews, s-so…I thought I’d make one that might help you sleep.”

-He then tried to mask his blush by lifting his own cup to his lips for a sip.

-You noticed though, you always did.

-You drink your tea with him and it’s lovely as always.

-A mix of Chamomile and Lavender, he had explained to you that it was good for quelling anxiety and assisting with relaxation.

-He then of course rambled on abit about some other teas before catching the sight of your smile.

-Realizing he was rambling, his blush returned, and he waved his hands abit.

- “W-What the devil is that look for?”

-You explain to him that you find his ramblings to be cute and that you enjoyed listening to his voice.

-It takes him…a few minutes to process your statement.

-His blush nearly lit up his whole face and even covered his ears.

-You decide to distract him by asking him to read you a story!

-Specifically, Lewis Carrol’s Alice in wonderland and its sequel, Through the Looking Glass.

-He eyes you warily but after a moment, he seems utterly delighted, a grin spreading across his lips.

-The two of you curl up with your tea in his bed, bundled under the covers.

-He begins to read to you and his voice is smooth and lovely to listen to.

-Occasionally you’d catch charming linguistic cues from his faint English accent and that only made you melt.

-You quickly lose yourself, enamored by the sound of his voice and the way he narrates the story.

-The combination of the finished tea, the warmth from being next to him in bed coupled with his voice sent you briskly to dreamland.

- The two teacups set off to the side on the side table and you snoozing peacefully while leaned against his shoulder was something he found to be cute and utterly endearing.

-He could get used to this, perhaps he wouldn’t openly and verbally admit it.

-But should you ask him for this again or for it to become an evening routine, he wouldn’t complain.

-He brushes a wisp of hair away from your face and places a kiss on your forehead.

-He was the affectionate type, just more so behind doors and he never really initiated such things.

-He watched you for a few minutes and the sound of your breathing lulled him to sleep right along after you.

-The book dropping gently on his lap as the two of you slept there, propped up against each other.

-Both of you share a Wonderland esque dream and speak of it when you both wake in the morning.

Noel:

-You walk into Noel’s room since you were unable to sleep.

- He smiles kindly at you as always, greeting you cheerfully as he quite enjoyed your company.

-“Good evening, [Y/N]. Did you have a good day?”

- You nod and find yourself joining him at the window where he stood.

-Though as he looked at you, his warm expression shifted to one of concern.

-He had noticed the bags under your eyes.

-“You’re having trouble sleeping again aren’t you, [Y/N]?”

-You had wanted to keep that information to yourself, but Noel could always read you.

-You simply give him a nod but follow up with insisting that you can handle it.

- He isn’t convinced, worry is still evident in his features.

- Noel always worried for you, just as he worried for his two best friends but even more so.

- He takes your hands and holds them gently.

- “As you know, I’m nocturnal. How about you stargaze with me! I’ll talk about the star names and constellations!”

-You beam at him over his enthusiasm and nod.

-You always found Noel to be utterly adorable when he got into his mindset about stars, constellations, and space.

- His tone was warm and gentle even as he spoke passionately about his interests.

-He nearly talked your ear off.

-Going so far as to pull out books, star charts, maps and many other texts.

-Noel always liked having his examples for you so that you could follow along easier.

-At one point you mention how it’s a shame that you are stuck staring at the star clustered sky behind a window.

-An idea hits him, and he takes your hand again, pulling you to him.

-You blink and the both of you appear in a fantasy space.

-One of his own construction, you’ve been here before.

-It was filled with flowers, moon boats, stars littered the sky above you both and even the water that held the floating moon boats was overflowing with stars as well.

-You both lay back in the field of flowers, watching the sky above you.

-Your partner continues his ramblings and occasionally you watch his expressions.

-You find that fatigue begins to wash over you, the more you focus on Noel’s voice.

-He notices that you drift to sleep and smiles to himself.

-He places a kiss on your forehead and goes back to gazing up at the stars while you rest there next to him.

~Mod Sirius

[sleepykittypaws]

2020 Theatrical Holiday Premieres

Updated: December 10,  2020

Lina From Lima (holiday-set drama written and directed by Maria Paz Gonzalez; starring Emilia Ossandon, Sebastian Brahm and Cecilia Cartasegna; A Peruvian woman working for a wealthy family in Chile prepares for a Christmas trip home to see her son, her first in a decade, but things don’t go as planned) - Jan. 4, festival (Trailer); also available on HBO Max as of Oct. 8

The Lodge (Christmas-set horror film starring Riley Keough, Jaeden Martell and Alicia Silverstone; A soon-to-be stepmom gets snowed in with her fiancé's two children at a remote holiday village. Just as relations begin to thaw between the trio, some strange and frightening events take place.) - Feb. 7, Rated R (Trailer); also available on Hulu as of May 5 

The Crossing (a.k.a. Flukten Over Grensen; Norwegian-language film directed by Johanne Helgeland; In WWII Norway, two young children’s parents, active in the resistance, are captured by Nazis just days before Christmas, leaving them to fend for both themselves and the Jewish children they find hidden in their house) - Feb. 14, Norway/US TBA (Trailer, Website)

Tidy Tim’s (holiday comedy starring Shane Woodson, Rich Williams and Jennifer Day, about a father and son run who run a rickety used car lot in Southern California that is facing foreclosure.) - Feb. 15, Rated PG-13, festival (Trailer) also available on DVD Oct. 6

12 Days of Christmas (holiday movie starring Annie Newton and Drew Petriello; directed by Michael Boyle; Best friends home from college on Christmas break navigate an unplanned pregnancy, making it a tricky holiday with their families) - Mar 7, Cinequest Film Festival (Facebook, Website, Trailer) also available on DVD Sep. 1

The Last Christmas Party (indie drama starring Samantha Brooks, Anna Clare Kerr, Lainey Woo, James Williams, Martin Drop and Gabriel Armentano; directed by Julian Santos; Three college couples attend the last fraught party before Christmas break; filmed in New York) - June 7, Festival (Website, Trailer) available on Amazon Prime Nov. 13

Merry Christmas, Yiwu (Documentary from director Mladen Kovacevic focusing on life for workers in the Chinese city that has over 600 Christmas ornament and decor factories.) - June 24, Hot Docs Film Festival (Website, Facebook, Teaser)

A New York Christmas Wedding (starring Chris Noth, Avery Whitted, Joe Perrino, Adriana DeMeo and Tyra Ferrell; written and directed by Otoja Abit; As her Christmas Eve wedding draws near, a woman is visited by an angel and shown what could have been if she’d allowed her feelings for her childhood friend to flourish instead.) - Aug 21, Festival (Trailer, Trailer 2) also available on Netflix as of Nov. 5

A Christmas Cancellation (holiday movie starring Lauren Melty, Marcus Ellison and Elliott Kashner; written and directed by Justin Timpane; A group of fictional TV characters who become sentient as their show is set to end; filmed in Washington, D.C.) - Aug. 31, American Golden Picture International Film Festival (Website, Facebook, Trailer) available on Amazon Prime Nov. 13

A Christmas Tree Love Story (holiday movie starring Gregory Piccirilli and Ashley Holliday Tavares, filmed in Georgia; Two old friends reminiscence while searching for the perfect Christmas tree) - Sep 8, Richmond International Film Festival (Website, Trailer); also available on Amazon Prime as of Dec. 21

Blackbird (drama starring Susan Sarandon, Kate Winslet, Sam Neill, Mia Wasikowska and Rainn Wilson;  A woman with ALS who wants to end her life on her own terms, gathers her family for one final Christmas celebration) - Sep. 18, Rated R (Trailer) also available VOD

We Three Kings (faith-based film from writer-directors Joseph and Stacie Graber; starring Michael W. Smith, Rebecca St. James and Nice Davies; The story behind the Christmas carol; filmed in Denver, Colo.) - Sep. 27, festival (Website, Trailer)

It Cuts Deep (horror-comedy from writer-director Nicholas Santos; A couple on Christmas vacation trying to figure out their future have their lives turned upside down by a disturbing stranger; filmed in Cape Cod, Mass.) - Oct. 8  (Website)

The War With Grandpa (holiday-set family comedy starring Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, Uma Thurman, Jane Seymour, Rob Riggle and Cheech Marin; A grandfather comes to live with his daughter, ousting his grandson from his room and prompting a declaration of war from young to old) - Oct. 9, Rated PG (Trailer), available on digital Dec. 15 and DVD Dec. 22

The Wolf of Snow Hollow (holiday-set horror comedy written, directed and starring Jim Cummings, alongside Riki Lindhome, Robert Forster and Chloe East; A small town sheriff tries to keep control of a panicking small town as a string of murders on full moons makes the townspeople think supernatural thoughts) - Oct. 9, Rated R (Trailer)

The Food Club (a.k.a. Madklubben; Danish film directed by Barbara Topsøe-Rothenborg and starring Kirsten Olesen, Stina Ekblad and Kirsten Lehfeldt; A women abandoned by her husband on Christmas Eve leans on her friends, a widow and lifelong singleton who take her to Italy to take part in an culinary adventure) - Oct. 22 Denmark (Danish Trailer)

Fair Haven (partially crowd-funded indie from Red Skies Studios starring Bobby McGruther and Amandalyn McLellan; A death in the family brings a musician on the verge of making it back to his hometown for the holidays) - Oct. 24, Catskills International Film Festival (Facebook, Indiegogo)

Friendsgiving  (a.k.a. Dinner with Friends; starring Kat Dennings, Malin Akerman, Christine Taylor, Aisha Tyler, Jane Seymour, Chelsea Peretti and Ryan Hansen; directed by Nicol Paone; Friends host a chaotic Thanksgiving dinner) - Oct. 23, Rated R (Trailer) also available on blu-ray Oct. 27

Gledelig Jul (a.k.a. Another Happy Christmas; Norwegian comedy starring Anne Marit Jacobsen and Otto Jespersen; directed by Henrik Martin Dahlsbakken; The story of a family coming together for holidays for the first time in years, where secrets are revealed.) - Oct. 30, Norway  (Website)

A Christmas Gift from Bob (sequel to 2016′s A Street Cat Named Bob, based on the book; starring Kristina Tonteri-Young and Luke Treadaway; A ginger cat saves a homeless man at Christmas) - Nov. 6 UK (Trailer)

My Dad’s Christmas Date (UK holiday-set, comedy-drama starring Joely Richardson, Jeremy Piven, Roger Ashton-Griffiths and Olivia-Mai Barrett; directed by Mick Davis and co-written by Brian and Jack Marchetti; A teenager struggling to cope with her mother’s death signs up her depressed, widower father for a dating service) - Nov. 6, limited (Website, Trailer, Trailer 2) Also available on iTunes

The Santa Box (family movie from writer/director Spanky Dustin Ward and starring Cami Carver and Shawn Stevens; A girl who thinks she’s cursed by Christmas finds a note in a Santa Box left on her doorstep that changes everything; filmed in Utah) - Nov. 6, limited (Facebook) also available via DVD and digital on Nov. 10

Julemandens Datter 2 (a.k.a. All I Want for Christmas 2; Danish-language family film sequel to the popular 2018 movie; After Lucia becomes the first girl to gain entrance to the Santa School, she most prove her best friend, Oscar’s, innocence, after he’s wrongly accused of a crime and expelled from school.) - Nov. 12, Denmark (Trailer)

A Wrestling Christmas Miracle (low-budget movie from right-wing Justice for All Productions, starring Ken Del Vecchio and Oriana D’Agostino and re-using many scenes from last year’s A Karate Christmas Miracle; A young wrestler gives up the sport to make a movie he hope will wake his comatose friend for Christmas) - Nov. 15, festival; also available as of Nov. 27 on Amazon Prime

Malous Jul (Danish-language fantasy film from Frederik Norgaard; starring Karla My Nordquist and Lars Ranthe; A troubled girl finds herself spending Christmas on an island with a family of elves) - Nov. 19, Denmark (Website)

Some Kind of Christmas (holiday movie written and directed by Davien Harlis and produced by his own Act1Scene2 Productions; starring Tomathan McGinnis, Mariela Perez Calderon, Andre Lamar and Derrell Lester; A man comes home for Christmas for the first time in years, but finds his holiday spirit tested when he hires a fake boyfriend to bring home for Christmas) - Nov. 19-21, Cinevision in Ga.  (Website)

A Carolina Christmas (right-wing, faith-based holiday movie from Dalton Pictures; A new city inspector tries to stifle a town’s Christmas celebrations; filmed in South Carolina) - Nov. 20, limited (Making Of Series)

Michael McClean’s The Forgotten Carols (filmed adaptation of the long-running, faith-based, original musical; filmed in Cedar City, Utah) - Nov. 20 in select theaters (Website, Trailer)

The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two (holiday movie sequel to the 2018 film starring Kurt Russell as a sassy Santa, Goldie Hawn, Kimberly Williams-Paisley and Tyrese Gibson; directed by Chris Columbus; Kate Pierce—now a cynical teenager—is unexpectedly reunited with Santa Claus when a mysterious, magical troublemaker named Belsnickel threatens to destroy Christmas forever.) - Nov. 25 (Trailer) also available on Netflix

Fatman (action-comedy written and directed by Ian and Eshom Nelms, starring Walton Goggins, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Chance Hurstfield, and Mel Gibson as a “rowdy, unorthodox” Santa Claus who is fighting his popularity decline when a 12-year-old hires a hitman to do him in after receiving a lump of coal the previous season.) - Nov. 13, Rated R (Trailer), available on digital Nov. 17

A Christmas Carol (live-action animated feature starring Andy Serkis, Carey Mulligan, Daniel Kaluuya, Martin Freeman and Leslie Caron; abstract re-telling of A Christmas Carol when, during a children’s paper theater telling of the classic story, we enter the imagination of a child hearing it told.) - Nov. 19, limited release (Featurette, Trailer) also available in the UK starting Dec. 4

Katherine Jenkins: Christmas Spectacular (concert film featuring the Welsh opera singer's 2019 Royal Albert Hall Christmas show, including special guests Vanessa Redgrave and Bill Nighy) - Dec. 1 in UK, also available VOD

The Loss Adjuster (holiday movie starring Luke Goss, Martin Kemp, Joan Collins, Gary Siner and Cathy Tyson; An insurance adjuster’s wife leaves him a week before Christmas and his day just gets worse from there, until he discovers how truly lucky he is with the help of some Christmas magic) - Dec. 1 in UK (Trailer, Facebook) also available same day digital in the U.S.

Christmas in the Jungle (Latvian-Estonian family adventure movie, with mainly English dialogue; starring Paaru Oja, Tonu Kark, Rukman Rosadi; directed by Jaak Kilmi; When a 10-year-old girl is moved to the tropics by her parents, she has trouble getting into the holiday spirit, so she and a local friend head into the jungle in search of the Christmas Shaman; filmed in Indonesia) - Dec. 1 in Estonia

Saving the Spirit of Christmas (holiday musical written, produced and directed by members of the Grand Prairie Arts Council; A teen mourns the loss of her favorite Christmas traditions due to COVID, prompting the Spirit of Christmas to visit her) - Dec. 3, drive-in, benefit premiere at South Grand Prairie High School

Dear Santa (feature documentary from filmmaker Dana Nachman; based on the USPS’s Operation Santa, which allows people to adopt and answer children’s letters to Santa.) - Dec. 4 (Website, Trailer) Also available VOD

Lost at Christmas (holiday movie starring Natalie Clark and Kenny Boyle; After being dumped by his fiancé after a rejected proposal, two strangers stranded in the Scottish Highlands join forces to try and get home in time for Christmas; filmed on location in Scotland) - Dec. 4 in UK (Website, Trailer) also available VOD on Dec. 7 (UK only)

Nomadland (drama starring Frances McDormand, Gay DeForest and Patricia Grier; directed by Chloe Zhao; Exploring the life of a modern nomad, who travels the country looking for temporary seasonal work; starting at the holidays) - Dec. 4, limited (Trailer)

Our Lady of Guadalupe (Directed and written by Pedro Brenner, starring Guillermo Ivan and filmed in Mexico, the holiday-set, faith-based story of a reporter sent to research the meaning of a miracle who ends up needing one himself) - Dec. 10, limited (Trailer)

Silent Night (UK action-thriller written and directed by Will Thorne, starring Bradley Taylor and Cary Crankson; An ex-con hoping to go straight and spend a nice Christmas with his daughter, but who gets drawn back into the criminal life) - Dec. 11 in UK (Facebook) also available on UK VOD Dec. 14 and DVD Dec. 28 

Christmas on Mars (a.k.a. Un Natale su Marte; Italian Christmas comedy from director Neri Parenti; filmed in Rome) - Dec. 17 in Italy

The Lost Christmas (Dutch comedy about a theater producer who tries to save his theater from a Coronavirus-caused crisis by putting on a spectacular holiday show that goes horribly wrong; filmed in Velsen) - Dec. 21, Netherlands (Instagram, Trailer)

Pieces of a Woman (partially holiday-set drama starring Vanessa Kirby, Shia LeBeouf and Ellen Burstyn; A home birth goes horribly wrong, leaving a family and community to pick up the pieces) - Dec. 30 (Trailer), available on Netflix, January 7, 2021

Creatures (holiday horror-comedy about a group of students who find an adorable injured alien, only to find he’s being chased by terrifying creatures) - Dec. in UK (Facebook, Trailer, Trailer 2)

[leeeovitate]

April 22,2020 3:23AM: It was not intended but this ended up becoming my high school memoir.

I sifted through my old journals. I have been obsessed with notebooks and pens back then, maybe a little bit until now. You see I wanted to be an artist. At least 5 of them were filled with songs and rubbish from cover to cover.I remember the first song I wrote way back in 2007 or 2008. It was called “Putting Traces” and the first I ever played was for my grandmother on her birthday. I played a video of it I recorded with my sister at her dinner party. I don’t think she appreciated it or maybe it just wasn’t any good but she was polite about it. It was called “Thank you for everything”. My first songs notebook was a tinee tiny one with the Eiffel Tower in black on the cover and silver on every page. Then I got obsessed with buying every journal that looks cute or has music related designs or the ones with London and Paris or other European countries that I would love to visit. Then I bought every pen to my liking and spent my lunch money on paperbacks. I was basically a resident at National Bookstore or the stationery section of every mall. I scanned them all tonight, those journals. I forgot about some songs but when I read the line it comes like a flashback to me. That is why I kept writing. It immortalizes the moment. When I play that song, I feel like the emotions turn into concrete and I could go back when I want to feel it again. I was so sure of myself in the songs I wrote before. I knew what I wanted and that was to make music. Maybe I had that dream of being magically sent a record deal. I wanted to have a world tour before 18 but the world was never in my favor. I remember setting a deadline and counting down like Lena did on Beautiful Chaos. I think I also set it on 100 days but nothing happened.

High school is the best years of my life. I remember one of my friends borrowing my songs journal and told me all my titles sounded nice. I have one friend who writes fiction, legit ones and we would talk after class until our fetch arrives and then we’d talk more on the telephone when we get home. I don’t have that in medschool. One time, our teacher made us do a school project. It was to write to a novel incorporating our topics on math class. Epic, I know. I planned it out alright, written everything with a plot but I never finished it and ended up rushing for the deadline. I won’t ever forget that. I loved doing it so much. My fiction writer friend, she ended up writing a sequel for the story she submitted as a math project. Then I also read some of the stories my classmates made. I felt surrounded by talented people and it felt really good. Then in English class, junior year we were required to have a green journal and have at least 3 entries per week. It could be a diary entry, poem, essay, sketch, whatever you like. We also had drama class. I remember saying the lines “The cat sat on the mat.... etc” with different emotions. I freaking nailed it. I loved it so much. The we were also asked to advertise a specific product we made up by pairs. Ours was a perfume and I played a fairy. The nicknamed me “Mama Fairy Tree Rapunzel Country Girl”. I had really long hair and used to braid it. Then I played guitar singing country songs. We also assigned ourselves to greek mythology characters, mine was Gaea. I was also quite tall back then and they say my limbs were long so I was like a tree with roots to the earth and that is where they all came from. We had to write a play for our final project. I was “musical director” and I was not good at my job but I freaking enjoyed it so much.

The senior year we had lit classics and we just have the best teacher on mythology and poetry. Wont ever forget him reprimanding me for reading “statue” wrong. Freshman year, we have 2-hour PE classes and the last hour was spent however we wanted. We would play and sometimes we would just sit around our teacher’s cassette player singing along to our favorite songs while the wind is blowing at the topmost floor of our high school building. Oh what I would do to go back. There was a time when I chose a ribbon as prop for gymnastics practical exam and danced to Avril Lavigne’s “Freak Out Let It Go”. I hated individual stage work but it was something we all had to do and my high school crowd were not mean. I used to choreograph dance routines, unbelievable if you see me now but yes, I remember when I did that. I would do it all over again. I have that one friend, the least I expected of all, who got into kpop. It was epic.

When we are feeling lost, our CLE teacher taugh us to open the bible at a random page and read those two sheets spread open. Whatever we have bothering us, God’s answer are within those pages and it is up to us how to interpret it. I think it also became a project like we were meant to do it everyday for a month or something. She collected money for a journal but it was never delivered though. I have no idea what happened. We also made a promise to meet in March 2020 or 2021 as a class but I think everyone forgot about it or are just too busy, these days. In high school, we made so many films too. Man it was great. You probably could already tell how much I enjoy acting and the I have this friend who is a really awesome video editor.

We also had the best advance chemistry and advance physics teachers. One time at the physics lab, I was busy reading my some Paulo Coehlo I did not notice that I got called in class. That was epic. My teacher threatened to confiscate my book, thank God she didnt. My only argument was “This is not a pocket book, Ms. Violeta.” Our statistics teacher, freshman year who entered the congregation of nuns kept saying “K” in class. It was really funny, my friend and I tallied the number of times she said it until we ran out of scratch paper. Would you believe that the highest grade I got in high school was in Geometry and the lowest I got was in Calculus? Lol I turned in an unfinished Calculus final exam because my tummy was upset but my teacher won’t accept it. I could not tell him what I was feeling at the time so I shaded the letter C in every item and I kind of flunked the exam. I was not that frustrated though. I was never the grade conscious type.

There is this cafe we frequented back then, It was called “Book Latte” and we got membership cards so we could rent books and chill in secluded spots. The place was really fancy but not that wide. Pizza Hut on the same mall became “our spot” with someone I used to consider one of my best friends. One of our friend’s became our go to for schoolworks and shooting videos or movie marathon. In math class again we had to do a song adaptation with video. We did a remix but Fall for You by Secondhand Serenade will always remind me of that. It goes “because tonight will be the night that I will study math over again don’t make me change my mind”. There was a competition in relation to Buwan ng Wika or our Foundation day every august. For the first 2 years of high school it was song adaptation and for the juniors and seniors it was song composition. For the first year, we did Awit Ng Kabataan by Rivermaya and my author/video editor friend wrote the lyrics. I think we skipped on sophomore year. I was not yet comfortable with exposing my songwriting in general at the time. I struggle with confidence issues until now. They assigned me for our junior year. I did it on guitar and piano. I had piano lessons when I was 9 but I did not appreciate it until years after. Our Environmental Science teacher who used to be in a band helped us out abit and they were rushing with the deadline for the song, I kind of backed off. My clubmate did it instead. Senior year, Had the song done early and we got first place. I was truly grateful.

I joined Guitaristas club freshman year. We were assigned into tutor-tutee. I was a tutee of course. I was assigned to someone who was like the great guitar player who was in a band and I was crushing on. He was so nice and he taught me guitar. I wonder if he still remembers me though. I don’t think he’ll recognize when we see eachother on the street. The the club changed it’s name to Tokata club and I spent two years there. We once played Back to December as a band on family day. The guy on drums is someone I was crushing on. I nicknamed him Orange because he told us about Battaglia delle Aranche, not sure if I remember that correctly. The past years I hated waking up early. Most often I’m late for class that they made me class monitor for like 2 years or so. I hated staying at home and I would wake up early. Some days I get to school at about sunrise and he would be there too. That was how we became really good friends and I became close to his younger brother too. My senior year, Speakers zone. It was a new club and it was accidentally not included in our new club ballot sheets. I think they accidentally printed out the old ones from last year. Our english teacher told us about it and only like 7 or 8 of us joined. All from our class. Every monday morning, we had to do a news report after flag ceremony. We were assigned sports new, weather, current affairs, celebrity, etc. It scared the shit out of me, stage fright and shit. I wanted to get over that so I forced myself to audition for our Literary Musical contest, newscasting category and got picked but I lost. I talk really fast and my nerves get the best of me. I was so scared, I wanted to chicken out minutes before the contest. I wanted to walk away from the stage instead of towards it.

We also had monthly trips and my favorite was doing grocery shopping the afternoon before with my groupmates. We assigned to prepare meals and took turns to cook. We went to islands, camps and other educational sites. It was so fun. Although I could not bloody swim and some days I feel sad because of being away from home. I missed 2 trips and forever hating my parents for it. I know they were just concerned but I missed out on alot. It was heartbreaking. I think it was because on our first trip, we climbed a mountain and stayed at a beach and I asked my parents to come over because my chest was aching but turns out I just needed rest. I don’t think I went home with them though or maybe I did, I kind of forgot. I stayed and missed the team building activities but I got to watch the games. Second trip, I missed. They talked about ghost soldiers and stuff. Third trip, we had to swim from one island to another which I couldn’t so I used a canoe, sort of. My mom accompanied us that time, she helped out with cooking and some other things. We stayed for 2 nights and one of my friend’s mom visited us too. Fourth trip, I think it’s that another one I missed. One time, we thought we discovered dinosaur remains, yeah our imagination were that wild. Some of us went fishing and the rest of us stayed at the Marine Biology site. We played ins and one of us tripped on a huge rock which was shaped like a dinosaur’s head. Then we started digging and then we talked about the islands around us making up stories about it. That night, we all slept at the rooftop and had a shadow show. Then we saw shooting stars. One unforgettable experience I had was getting lost in the mountains and getting help from NPAs because they freaking had rifles. It was raining and should have be frightening but at the time, it was more fun than scary and they brought us safe and sound to our campsite. I had a nightmare that night but I loved literally sleeping beneath the stars. I forgot how many trip we went to in total but I am thankful for each and every single one of them

It is funny how I went from a kid with all the big dreams to who I am today.

[3d-dragon]

STORY INFLUNCE GRID by one of the mods at @badcharacterdesign​

Basically want inspires me as a whole, but they fit better like this, also there will be another one posted too cause too many things inspire me honeslty.

Laputa/Castle in the Sky - A  Hayao Miyazaki flim, this is a masterpeice in my mind and is often forgotten from what I have seen. Its one of my fave works from studio ghibli.  Its about a girl who is descended from an an old advanced race that lived in the Sky. She and her friend band together with pirates to uncover the truth of the Castle in the Sky, and stop it from being used to destory the world. While old advanced civilations are done to death these days, back then it was new, and even now it holds up waaaay better than any other. It gives a good moral reason why they abandoned their kingdom in the sky to return to the earth, and that governments normally can’t be trusted with such powerful things. It has animation that to this day looks amazing and has alot of character, and don’t even get me started on the soundtrack. The soundtrack of this movie is wonderful and will stick with you for a good long time. The main leads are abit...bland, but the pirates sorta make up for it, and everything else is amazing. This movie has all my fave things honestly, and if you haven’t seen it you should check it out.

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind -  Another Studio Ghibli movie by Hayao Miyazaki, and its another realling under rated one. This one does have a princess, but its about her doing what is needed to keep her valley safe in a post apocalyptic time when man-kind has destoryed themselves and the earth. Its a very good movie, and is better than the manga [which I think was made after the movie....hard to say..plus while some parts are cool its honeslty very weird] While it doesn’t feel as complete as some other works,  I love the world built in the movie, and how a so called toxic land is what is  fixing the world, showing how mother nature needs not mankind, but mankind needs mother nature. The main lead is also relatable and almost like a biologist in her time. In all, its a good movie that I feel people need to check out more.

Bambi - When I try to think of my fave Disney movie...this is oddly it. I like alot of their movies....but this one has a strong place in my heart.  Tyrus Wong is honeslty probably the only reason I like the flim, who basicaly made the tone and feel of the movie. The artist alone is a big inspiration to me, but I don’t know him well enough to put him down, and will say its cause of him I want to get back into pastels, charcoal, ink, and watercolor traditional medias. The movie is just sorta like a slice of life, and honestly actually has a pretty good sequel. I hope to study more of his work, and improve in the animation field, and work on trying out cel animation.

Solatorobo Red the Hunter - One of my fave games ever, it takes place on landmasses in the sky and is about stopping monsterious war machines as well as finding the truth about Red, the character you play as. You also don’t have any weapons, and thus have to use your enemies weapons against themselves. It has the old advance civilzation thing, but its also done right, and is quite surprising. Its a good game, and has amazing world building and style. Honestly I really love the world and alot of the characters, though the main cast does tend to be predicable. It also has a good soundtrack, though its opening theme is my fave.

Ace Combat 5 the Unsung War -  I normally don’t like shooting games, and such war time games....but throw in cool planes, flying, good controls, mythology, good characters, and good story and you get this fun game! I love this game to bits, and is a big inspiration on if a game is just good it will draw in people that normally don’t play those games. If you can, give this game a play, and maybe you will see what I mean.

Retro Future - More of a style than something actually like the others, I love the looks of a classy future. Its one of the reasons I love electro swing and want to make something based on this ideal. A good example of this would be the Alien movies  [ 1 & 2] and Alien Isolation, with  an 80′s future look. [Though I prefer more 1950s looking furture....with model ideals and not all the racisim and shit]

BIG O -  Do I know what Big O is about? Nope. Do I love it? FUCK YEAH! One of my fave animes of all time, it has that classic retro future look but with a sorta post apocalyptic feel. Its amazingly animatied and dubbed, and its world is strange but so very interesting.The soundtrack is amazing too, and thus is one of the best underrated animes in my mind.

FLCL -  Another anime I love, and its only 6 ep long series, though I do hear their might be 12 more made....though only time will tell. Honestly though I love FLCL, it has a sweet soundtrack, amazing animation, and just is so strange and fun, but at the same time sorta serious in its own way. Its a coming of age story,  and is honeslty so amazingly weird that I love it. It has amazing visuals and an interesting world that we only get to peek at. I love watching it and hope if the do make more for this anime its done right.

Space Dandy -  Is one of the most creative, colorful, and strange animes to date. I really love it, and it has amazing animation to boot. Its pretty much also shows how strange and amazing space and other life forms can be. 

Sonic the 1999 Movie - As strange as it sounds, this was one of the first movies I ever saw, and its stuck with me since, and to this day is the only thing I consider to be not horrible with Sonic’s name on it. The animation is very nice, and if a very story things where fix as well as 1 voice, it would be pretty damn great. I love the world shown in this movie, an its amazing! I love the looks of it, and it inspires me to no bounds. [What can I say, I have a weakness for sorta  post apocalyptic places and floating islands/landmasses so to speak].

Steven Universe -  One of the best series to date its amazingly well animated, world built, and has amazing characters. I honeslty praise this series, and thing it sets an example that ‘yes this is the direction we should be heading,’ with a diverse cast and beautiful animation and backgrounds. The only down side to this grand series is its shitty fandom. I’d be a move active fan if not for the fans....ANYWAY honestly this show inspires me to try harder with my own animation and artwork. It also has amazing songs that just make you cry each time.

Homestuck - Ah yes, the series that got me trying again, what can be said about it? Well other than I AM STILL WAITING FOR MY FISH PRINCE HUSSIE!!! FUCKING GIVE HIM A GOOD END ELSE I WILL FIND AND TAKE HIM FROM YOU.  Anyway  if it wasn’t for this series I wouldn’t have met alot of cool people nor have made my angels. It also showed how amazing the webcomic gene can be, and that its amazing what people can do. Sadly though like SU it has a pretty....lets say bad fandom. While I am lucky with never meeting those fans often it still hurts and I am glad that I normal just did my own thing. Homestuck was a strange thing that was amazing.

[mceproductions]

November 2018 Blurbs

11/1/18 In Novembers Gusty Gale...The one baby song that sticks with me is that line from Chicken Soup with Rice... The fact that I know that and can sing falsetto really sets a tone. Rice Lake run today as Scholarships needed answering somehow the fact that i can only qualify for one and yet still can deal with classwork is a mystery. Eli in 2 Weeks and hoping Basketball at the Vikings Stadium at months end. Mom said shed go with on Saturday to St. Paul but in case not contingency is the Queen Movie. Stinks about Nutcracker being lousy Grinch remake for Christmas Movie it is. 11/2/18  Patti and the Bravada im trying to buy. Something tells me thats got to answer itself very soon. Ellen wasn't going to St. Paul either so contingency may now be in place. Work at least had benefits being sorted out. Also Lego Harry Potter man that game was fun, glad for the port, now they just need to port other lego games. 11/3/18 Bravada is now mine thanks to mom. More crucially Queen Movie was luckilly in town, at theater that is now only open weekends. Confusing yes, just hoping this isn't premant closing like Bruce. Movie was near perfect as Rami Malek Crushed It, a term I almost never use. Andrew fried microwave after 18 years. It was overdue but man it stinks that its gone. ReLife Anime...If episode 17 had me tearing up, the other 15 1/2 should be just as interesting. Unlike that other show A Sister Is All You Need, a premsise about slice of life, authors and drinking that wears dull quick. 11/4/18 So begins a short week, mainly due to assurance needed for initial plans. Just wish they could have called me in for one more day, i have assurance but still could have used it. Pete Davidson is really hurting based on this weeks SNL no matter his mindset and well wishes, he's hurting. Packers more so...and Ricks final Walking Dead, what a cop out...So glad I'm done with the show, no matter how interesting teenage Judith looks. One more detail, just when I thought 2018 had used up all its anime...Rapping Zombies on a Show that really should be used by the ZombieLand Sequel coming out next year, they can spit licks. 11/5/18 Remember Remember...An annual watching of V For Vendetta and its poigancy highlights today. Bravada is now officially mine just have to get it al registred and isured without it breaking my bank. Also never trust pictures for all purchases on Ebay, miffed on that count. Very long day tomorrow, even work may be overshadowed by this, could have used this 2 years ago on that fateful night. 11/6/18 The Blue Wave of election day. Unlike 2 years ago when that blowhard of president peeved off the country, this made me glad i was working. Plenty of distractions. But Walker is gone from Wisconsin and the Blue Wave crested at the house. Not the complete washover those wanting Trump gone hoped for but still great. 11/7/18 Those 2 dopes i call younger brothers...Somehow they dont get it. Only thing they do get, is how awesome Red Dead Redemption is and how i wish to high heaven it came out for the Switch. 11/8/18 This time of year when the cold comes out, the stuff you like to do seems impractical. I have a vehicle that I cant use until i get it titled, and a nephew coming in 1 week who may not even see me a bunch. Lone thing giving me some solace, the black Friday Ads popped up today. So many possibilities. 11/9/18 Winter has shown in full force, proof being, those 2 dopes stuck here. Me having to suffer through it until I head to work. Holding off on Grinch until next week, possibly seeing it with Mom and Eli. 11/10/18 RWBY Continues to astound. Salems storied history with Oz, wholly molly. Christmas season always seems to bring out the best when it comes to treats. Lately my favorite seems to be those nougats. Fresh and gooey all in one sweet package. Badgers sure do stink. That guy getting revenge on Pete Davidson especially the Ariana Ringtone that was worth it to see during SNL, Liev Schriber sure is not funny though. 11/11/18 Vets, heroes who give thier daily lives to defend all that we hold dear and sacred. Also fitting its the centiniel of said remeberence. New guy on Cap 2 Tristan, I'm really liking, seems to hold his own quite well. 4 days until Eli comes looking forward to it. 11/12/18 Why does family make the easy things so difficult, once again those 2 dopes. Store had Black Friday stuff being assembled today. Be glad to use debit card tomorrow when i get bulk of my funds back. Last few days have been rough. 11/13/18 GameFlip, an app ive been using to buy mainly Amazon cards is really having it both ways with me. Great to find digital codes for almost nada, but this one guy who i bought a card from on Sunday has been really screwey. Really miffed on that front. Said digital codes allows me to rewatch The Meg during work lunch. 11/14/18 Final Project for class has me creating a full training seminar. Stinks knowing that I have to do it on too broad a subject issue. Mobility in the workplace, having to do with wheelchairs and other devices. Wow city this is hard. Christmas box has been dug out, begining decorating tomorrow before Eli shows up. Hunters at play this weekend. Also glad store discount expands to food for rest of year. 11/15/18 Dad is 60 feels weird to say that. Well Eli, a little bit intimidated by me, but we have a week to fix it. Got A debt collection thing from WITC On the same day i finaly knocked off tuition. I know i wanted to not have autopay on tuition but this is ridiculously overkill. Likley watching Fantastic Beasts Saturday when we get back from Rice Lake, glad like the Queen movie this is in town. 11/16/18 Nora and Eli, weird combo that sends him into his Grandmas arms. Glad thats occuring while im not at home. At least my and Erics Grandma got to see him, just not sure how much longer that will be a possibility. One week to Black Friday and the trucks for delivery have tripled. The sales will be worth it but the work on the other hand, wish that just came faster. 11/17/18 Stags day, the first day of hunting season a little less crowded around the area. Went with mom and Eli to see Grinch but showing ended up being sold out. Eli for being 4 is just a near ball of energy, even if we never gave him sugar Wish he could calm down, mom somehow seemed chill with it, might have to take her advice on this issue. Cute when he has to be, bullet like mom put it on all other fronts. As for Fantastic Beasts, it seemed overstuffed for its own good a two hour episode like youd see on Netflix or somewhere else. Though Depp did win me over as Grindlewald. 11/18/18 Eli was better today, and we managed to actually get some stuff done. He ended up being major help with placing ornaments on my tree. Work however was a mess, misinformation abound. Thursday outside better not be a bigger mess. Oh wait its the Black Friday sale yeah it will be. 11/19/18 The thanksgiving week is always wacky, Monday somehow is wackiest. Eli went with Mom to meet Rafe while I mainly spent it finishing decorating the room. Green Light Strand isnt working will have to replace it. Cayedn surprsingly got a deer and Eric is really helpful on that front. Work meanwhile was nuts, this time however, with Split Pants. May have to get new ones before Thursday Night. Glad this week a lot of stuff on Itunes and Amazon is on sale. Will likely take big advantage of this. Andy possibly thew wrench in plans, hopeful that i dont have to cancel. 11/20/18 Lone day off this week has me stopping at WITC to finish work i have assigned since i have no class tomorrow. Had to pick up pants as my others split. Will hold off on game or blu ray until thursday night after work. Mom and Skillet cookies glad she makes them but could wonder what else around here might break as stove is going. Our turkey is set for tomorrow as Eric and compay leave before parade on thursday. Hopin to get Eli once more to do craft project, want to surprise mom on that count. 11/21/18 The day before, aka the busiest travel day of the year. Made rudolph feet with Eli, a lot bigger than i pictured him to be. Had to wear split pants as replacements didn't fit. Turkey was good, unexpectedly tried Moms squash that was really tasty for some odd reason. Back outside for carts tomorrow, first time since the summer and i get thrown to the wolves on the big one. Colder than usual i will admit. 11/22/18 Eli seemed sad to leave us, but at least i got him the ornament he made ready before he did. Another thanksgiving the parade in full glory. Lions crappy game, Cowboys decent game, and Wal-Marts annual 6pm sale. Cole really needed to be slapped. He must think im dumber than i look. Best part is always the low price movies and tv shows. Annual pickups of Flash, Arrow and Big Bang Theory. Handmaids Tale DVD counts too this time along with Jumanji and a film i personally wanted to see but heard crap about, Assassins Creed. Not looking forward to the rain tomorrow. 11/23/18 Quieter than usual actual Black Friday. Couple that with Rain that washed away snow, pretty off day all around. 11/24/18 Plans for Basketball with Andy and Carynn are officially scrapped, could remedy that in another surprise way. Something about today that just felt so much more off than usual. Lingered at Library, lingered at Store, even lingered at McDonalds stuff i would not normally do on a day like this. Ralph Breaks the Internet I'll hold off on for now. Really still want to see Grinch. Badgers finally lost the Ax after 15 years, really makes you think. 11/25/18 Finally got Wolfenstien 2 downloaded for Switch, will look forward to play something else besides Zelda for a bit Smash Bros awaits in the wings. Christmas gifts are starting to take abit of idea form. UCF continues to climb, will need upsets by Texas and Northwestern to have a shot at Playoff but without QB is risky. 11/26/18 Mom threw out her back, not sure if it was from picking up Eli but she seemed more out of sorts than usual. Other replacement for Cap 2 joined, liking him so far. Small issue with Chyenne who was on phone for nealry 15 minutes in the middle of the aisle, and nobody said a peep. If it was me, would have been fired. Privelege indeed. Guy at McDonalds may be homeless, was tempted to report him but with all the white calling blacks for doing normal stuff no way id risk it. 11/27/18 This day always seems to be the quietest when it comes to stuff coming out, almost nothing. One movie I wanted to get for Eli when he was here finally showed up. Wrapped up DVD's as gifts for Eric and them. 15% extra coming Thursday. Not sure what itll be used for. 11/28/18 Rare Wednesday I had store duties as well as class. Got extra 15% card for the even 25%. Glad ill be able to use it this time. Unlike what I originally had intended for The 30th. Could use some more snow around here. 11/29/18 25% discount thankfully goes 2 days so held off on that. Visited WITC the Christmas decorations are great as usual. Visited Menards but the so called enchanted forest seemed lacking. At least I was able to get bulbs and another set of blue lights. Sold ticket, hopeful Andy can get in tomorrow and enjoy himself. 11/30/18 Contigency Plan #2: Animated Grinch, OK Cumberbatch was excellent and Pharell ups Anthony Hopkins but the movie was just simply Ok. 25% got used well for Moms clients and Connor and Amber. Andy and Carynn got in and enjoyed themselves. Also got thier save the date and details on the  Weddding. Looks like a fun 4 day trip next May. Last Part of Year begins, lets see if this can finish strong. Never  figured at start that id be blogging this but just goes to so. 334 Days down 31 to Go.