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let-fans-be-fans · 4 years ago

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STAR WARS Episode 8 - The Last Jedi

Only read after watching The Mandalorian s2 e8

Imagine a Lucasfilm Story Group that has actually worked as a group since 2015. Chuck Wendig’s draft of the first Aftermath novel has been roundly mocked and pulped before ever being committed to print. This isn’t about that, though. This is the germination of the story seed that is planted in The Mandalorian, so join me as we explore one of the possibilities that could have happened within the Star Wars universe: What If Grogu (the Child/Baby Yoda) first appeared in TLJ?

Ahch-To, the steps. Luke Skywalker regards his guest Rey with a quizzical expression, telling her simply but firmly “I can’t take that, but there is a place for it somewhere...” and the two move inside Luke’s little hut. Passing by a large levitating pod, Rey (and the audience) experiences mental flashes of meeting Finn. Smash-cut to Finn himself waking up in the recovery suit in the med-bay. Finn/Rose/whatever sub-plot (this post isn’t about fixing THAT car-crash, let it marinate) ensues, does what it does. This timeline’s Rian Johnson, however, is co-existing with LFL’s Story Group and especially Dave Filoni. They’ve cooked up one hell of an A-plot, and it continues thusly:

Rey never sees what is in the pod, and begins to wonder if Luke is messing with her or starting to go a little peculiar from isolation, on account of how he talks to it. In fact, something is starting to make her feel slightly more at ease. Maybe even a little guilty when Luke’s mood turns sombre and he says, “I know. About Han, and Ben...” We maybe even get a little nostalgia-boost by Luke opting to use the training remote and blast-shield helmet to start training Rey. It’s like poetry, it rhymes.

All through this time, Luke has not withdrawn himself from the Force out of shame. He has always kept himself open to it, learning from the spirits of his teachers. The night that Rey decides to leave and try to aid the Resistance (or to confront Kylo Ren for her own reasons) is the night that Luke receives a visitation from two very unexpected spirits.

That’s right, y’all. The first Force ghost appearance of a non-Force-sensitive character in the Saga. Padmé and Anakin show up to give Luke the news that some strange, dark figure has attempted to kill Leia by shooting at her private chamber on the Resistance flagship, only for Luke to not understand why they don’t know the attacker’s name. “You don’t need to hide it, to protect him. You know, as well as I do, that it was Ben!” Anakin shares a concerned look with the spirit of his wife, and the next thing he says would absolutely blow the cinema audience out of every single seat in the house. “Luke? Son, listen to me. Who is this Ben?”

That’s right. Anakin Skywalker, the former Sith Lord Darth Vader, has absolutely no idea that our sequel trilogy’s Vader-like antagonist (his own grandson) even exists. Even as the Force ghosts watching over Luke and Leia and their families for all this time, both Padmé and Anakin explain that from their perspective, something is bending the Force itself around Ben Solo, pulling him away from not only the Light side, but also from its Dark side. “The boy, Ben Solo, is living his entire life surrounded by a wound in the Force. This wound, it’s very subtly, slowly eating him!”

Luke is still in shock from hearing the ghosts of his parents telling him what is happening to Kylo Ren. Rey is trying to keep him out but the villain is urged by his twisted Master, the Supreme Leader of the First Order. Their telepathic communication is picked up on by Luke, who all at once sees what has truly become of his nephew. Ben Solo appears to his uncle, surrounded by tendrils that look like animated cracks in a pane of window glass. This is the wound in the Force, and its presence is felt most strongly by the eldest living Force-sensitive on the island of Ahch-To. A short cry splits the cracked and bleeding image of Kylo Ren and Rey wakes with a sudden start. Luke is frowning as he looks toward the floating cradle, then he makes his decision. We (and Rey) are about to meet the 100 % physical in-camera puppet. Cast and crew are made to sign an infinite supply of Non-Disclosure Agreements, Rian Johnson is talked into only letting Mark Hamill, Daisy Ridley and the puppeteers onto the sets while everybody else is shooting their things.

The cradle pod swings back its protective lid slowly, and there he is making his debut before an audience that paid full movie theater (remember those?) ticket prices. Exuding full fucking “Gizmo in the box on the coffee table” energy, the Child glances sleepily between Rey and Luke. This is why the legendary Jedi Master left the civilized New Republic, he tells Rey. The massacre of his first generation of Jedi students, the betrayal by his nephew, all of it would have been for nothing if he couldn’t save one very important life. Rey is sworn to protect the Child, who is old enough now to speak his own name. “Grogu? Is that what he said?” “One of his protectors told me it’s his name, right before telling me how I looked just like my father. We had a pretty good laugh about that...”

Leia/Poe/Holdo subplot, and [THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH WILL ONLY INCITE SHOUTY BEARDO YOUTUBERS TO SCISSOR THE HEADS OFF ACTION FIGURES THEY BUY WITH THEIR OWN MONEY, THEREFORE IT IS CENSORED TO SHIELD THE AUTHOR FROM PROSECUTION]

Before the Holdo manoeuvre, the Hyperspace Karen or whatever you want to call it, Rey acts out the plan that she and Luke have concocted in secret so that Chewbacca in the Millennium Falcon can safely evacuate both Luke and Grogu. Rey hasn’t been told about the wound in the Force that swirls around Kylo Ren, but for some reason she can now see the same churning mass of tiny cracks in reality, and they spread out behind the Supreme Leader Snoke in much the same manner that Palpatine’s throne sat before the spiderweb-looking window of his tower on the Death Star. This is it, we think. Snoke is the wound in the Force drawing Ben away from his true self. Even as the lightsabre that Rey brought with her ignites and strikes Snoke dead, the audience is thinking along with Rey that the wound is going to close up.

IT GETS BIGGER. AND IT FUCKING CONSUMES SNOKE’S BISECTED CORPSE LIKE A SHADOW VERSION OF THE THING FROM THE 1982 MOVIE

So no. Rey sees it happen, but Kylo remains completely oblivious as he takes up leadership of the First Order. Something about the way he accuses Rey of the murder makes us think he really believes it too. As Rey narrowly escapes, haunted by the sight of the living animalistic wrongness that ate Supreme Leader Snoke, General Hux is rather confused. “Forgive me, ah, Supreme Leader. But you are the first Supreme Leader of the First Order. There was never a previous holder of that position, my Lord.” I know! Right!?

The Resistance’s last ships have limped along the supply line to the long-abandoned old Rebel holdout on the silicate world of Crait. The wreckage of Snoke’s flagship the Supremacy, hangs in space, permanently suspended in the wake of the Holdo manoeuvre. From the epicentre, a single pinprick of darkness begins to expand hungrily to devour the light from the hyperspace explosion. The great wound left in the Force crawls across the destroyed vessel, the thinnest tendril of its immense darker-than-space form now separated from Kylo Ren. Or, so it would seem, anyway... Reunited with Rey, Luke gives her an understanding nod when she informs him of how the lightsabre of his father was literally ripped in half by the destruction of Snoke’s flagship. Some of the elder members of the Resistance don’t have the slightest clue what Rey’s mysterious words mean. As far as they know, Kylo Ren has been the brutal enforcer of the First Order, only recently declaring himself the first Supreme Leader of the faction. Finn and Rose both speak up in defense of Rey, both of them surprised to hear that Leia also knew of Snoke’s death and the destruction of the flagship by her erstwhile friend, Amilyn Holdo.

Nobody can agree what happened, because a large subset of Resistance personnel share vague, half-formed memories of things as Luke, Rey or Leia tells them. No droids, or Chewbacca, share their recollections, and uneasy looks pass between members of the post-war generation and the Skywalker twins. It’s a quirk of the Force! Every sentient born after the death of Emperor Palpatine, the unfortunately waylaid Maz Kanata informs them via hologram, possesses a significantly higher potential for Force abilities than the generation who grew up on the fringes of the rise of the Empire, the clamp-down on Jedi and suspected Jedi.

It would seem that this Force baby boom did not extend to First Order space (being mostly disaffected ex-Imperials, their families would be more careful to weed out any aberrations in the bloodline and try not to be of interest to the Emperor) as only Kylo Ren, their rightful Supreme Leader and master of the Knights of Ren demonstrates any ability to touch the Force. That voice that only he can hear in the presence of Darth Vader’s ruined helmet tells him, its tone and pitch and cadence shifting (starting as the booming bass rumble of Vader’s synthesized voice before being joined by the harsh rasp of Snoke. The low, menacing tone of Maul and the cackling, wheezing Palpatine.) Power is the only thing worth holding onto. Let the past die, kill it if you have to. Cut out the weakness that keeps you bound to things like family...

“This is not going to go the way you think.”

Driven on by the maddening chorus of voices, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren has now managed to track his hated Resistance opposition to the deserted world of Crait. Ships entering the vicinity of the mysterious hyperspace blackout are slowly consumed, vanishing into the great wound and becoming officially non-existent. Alone against his crazed nephew, the Jedi Master Luke Skywalker steps out onto the crystalline plain before the bulkhead doors of the former Rebel base. He cannot be hit by the guns of the lumbering walkers that his errant nephew orders to fire on him. Kylo’s attempts to telekinetically barrage Luke with the salted earth of Crait simply do not phase the man. As he calmly reminds Kylo: “The Rebellion is reborn today. The war is just beginning. And I will not be the last Jedi.” Kylo Ren’s dangerously unstable lightsabre blade harmlessly passes over Luke as he ducks out of its reach. Finally, the angry young man seizes his moment and lashes out at Luke’s midsection. Nothing?

The Jedi Master nods his head slowly, the camera pulling back to reveal him sat in a meditative posture atop a flat-headed rock just off the shore of his home island on Ahch-To. Focusing his will through the Force, Luke appears not only in front of Kylo Ren, but also between Leia and Rey inside the base. The two of them in turn are surrounded by a loose semi-circle of the younger, more Force-sensitive recruits of the Resistance including Finn and Rose Tico. All of them, opening their conscious selves to the Force, are helping to shoulder the burden that Luke has taken on. Proudly, Luke slowly rises from his seat and sends a mocking salute to Kylo. “See ya ‘round, kid...”

The last supplies are loaded onto what few Resistance carriers and short-range fighters they have left, as well as the famous Millennium Falcon. Rey and Grogu both agree that their first priority is to properly re-establish contact with Luke Skywalker. Furious, Kylo retreats to his ship-board meditation chamber, pounding his gloved fists into the ashes surrounding the remnants of Vader’s helmet. Cursing the scavenger girl seems to spark some interest in the bizarre otherworldly whispers, the flash-image of Rey in the dark young man’s thoughts prompting the inner voice to remark, “We shall be re-united soon enough. Yes, you will see what new powers I possess in time, sister...”

SMASH TO END CREDITS!

#megapost #Star Wars #Baby Yoda #The Last Jedi #Luke Skywalker #basic story structure

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i-am-grell · 5 years ago

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Stuck in Quarantine? Here are some (Mostly) YA Book Recs that (probably) won’t be on other people’s lists!

Forgotten by Cat Patrick

Every night, while sixteen-year-old London Lane is asleep, her memory of that day is erased. In the morning, all she can “remember” are events from her future. London is used to relying on reminder notes and a trusted friend to get through the day, but things get complicated when Luke Henry enters the picture. Luke is not someone you’d easily forget, yet try as she might, London can’t find him in her memories of things to come.

When London starts experiencing disturbing flash-forwards, she sets out to learn about the past she keeps forgetting - before it destroys her future.

Mosquitoland by David Arnold

After the sudden collapse of her family, Mim Malone is dragged from her home in northern Ohio to the “wastelands” of Mississippi, where she lives in a medicated milieu with her dad and new stepmom. Before the dust has a chance to settle, she learns her mother is sick back in Cleveland.

So she ditches her new life and hops aboard a northbound Greyhound bus to her real home and her real mother, meeting a quirky cast of fellow travelers along the way. But when her thousand-mile journey takes a few turns she could never see coming, Mim must confront her own demons, redefining her notions of love, loyalty, and what it means to be sane.

Told in an unforgettable, kaleidoscopic voice, Mosquitoland is a modern American odyssey, as hilarious as it is heartbreaking.

Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin

Everything is in ruins. A devastating plague has decimated the population, and those who are left live in fear of catching it as the city crumbles around them.

So what does Araby Worth have to live for?

Nights in the Debauchery Club, beautiful dresses, glittery makeup...and tantalizing ways to forget it all.

But in the depths of the club - in the depths of her own despair - Araby will find more than oblivion. She will find Will, the terribly handsome proprietor of the club, and Elliott, the wickedly smart aristocrat. Neither is what he seems. Both have secrets. Everyone does.

And Araby may find not just something to live for, but something to fight for - no matter what it costs her.

Switched by Amanda Hocking

When Wendy Everly was six years old, her mother was convinced she was a monster and tried to kill her. Eleven years later, Wendy discovers her mother might have been right. She’s not the person she’s always believed herself to be, and her whole life begins to unravel - all because of Finn Holmes.

Finn is a mysterious guy who always seems to be watching her. Every encounter leaves her deeply shaken...though it has more to do with her fierce attraction to him than she’d ever admit. But it isn’t long before he reveals the truth: Wendy is a changeling who was switched at birth - and he’s come to take her home.

Now Wendy’s about to journey to a magical world she never knew existed, one that’s both beautiful and frightening. And where she must leave her old life behind to discover who she’s meant to become...

Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore

Jody never asked to become a vampire. But when she wakes up under and alley Dumpster with a badly burned arm, an aching back, superhuman strength, and a distinctly Nosferatuan thirst, she realizes the decision has been made for her.

Making the transition from the nine-to-five grind to an eternity of nocturnal prowlings is going to take some doing, however, and that’s where C. Thomas Flood fits in. A would-be Kerouac from Incontinence, Indiana, Tommy (to his friends) is biding his time night-clerking and frozen-turkey bowling in a San Francisco Safeway. But all that changes when a beautiful undead redhead walks through the door...and proceeds to rock Tommy’s life - and afterlife - in ways he never thought possible.

Bloodthirsty by Flynn Meaney

Attention, all girls reading this:

We get it. The message is coming through loud and clear: You think vampires are hot. Your little sister thinks vampires are hot. Your mom thinks vampires are hot. Every single female on the face of the earth thinks vampires are hot. Girls love vampires, and I love girls. Unfortunately, girls don’t seem to love me.

So I’m making a change. For all the guys reading this, say a little prayer to the high school dating gods for me. Here’s hoping that girls think fake vampires are hot, too.

Awkward and allergic to the sun, sixteen-year-old Finbar Frame never gets the girl. But when he notices that all the female students at his school are obsessed with a vampire romance novel called Bloodthirsty, Finbar decides to boldly go where no sane guy has gone before - he becomes a vampire, minus the whole bloodsucking part.

With his brooding nature and unusually pale skin, it’s surprisingly easy for Finbar to pretend to be supernatural. But when he meets the one girl who just might like him for who he really is, he discovers that life as a pseudo-vampire is more complicated than he expected.

This hilarious debut novel is for anyone who believes that sometimes even nice guys - without sharp teeth or sparkly skin - can get the girl.

I’m Not Your Manic Pixie Dream Girl by Gretchen McNeil

Beatrice Maria Estrella Giovannini has life all figured out. She’s starting senior year at the top of her class, she’s a shoo-in for a scholarship to MIT, and she’s got a new boyfriend she’s crazy about. The only problem: All through high school Bea and her best friends, Spencer and Gabe, have been the targets of horrific bullying.

So Bea uses her math skills to come up with the Formula, a 100% mathematically guaranteed path to social happiness in high school. Now Gabe is on his way to becoming student body president, and Spencer is finally getting his art noticed. But when her boyfriend dumps her for Toile, the quirky new girl at school, Bea realizes it’s time to use the Formula for herself. She’ll be reinvented as eccentric and lovable Trixie - a quintessential manic pixie dream girl - in order to win her boyfriend back and beat Toile at her own game.

Unfortunately, being a manic pixie dream girl isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and “Trixie” is causing unexpected consequences for her friends. As the Formula begins to break down, can Bea find a way to fix everything she’s messed up? Or will the casualties of her manic pixie experiment go far deeper than she could possibly imagine?

Starters by Lissa Price

A girl with a terrifying choice. Her parents? Dead. Her brother? Sick. Her way out? Get paid to be somebody else. Who can she trust? No one.

Callie lost her parents when the Spore Wars wiped out everyone between the ages of twenty and sixty. She and her little brother, Tyler, are on the run, living as squatters with their friend Michael and fighting off renegades who would kill them for a cookie.

Callie’s only hope is Prime Destinations, a disturbing place in Beverly Hills run by a mysterious figure known as the Old Man. He hires teens to rent their bodies to Enders - seniors who want to be young again. Callie, desperate for the money that will keep her, Tyler, and Michael alive, agrees to be a donor. But the neurochip they place in Callie’s head malfunctions and she wakes up in the life of her renter, living in her mansion, driving her cars, and going out with a senator’s grandson.

It feels almost like a fairy tale, until Callie discovers that her renter intends to do more than party - and that Prime Destinations’ plans are more evil than Callie could ever have imagined...

#ya #ya books #ya novels #book recs #book recommendations #reading #bookworm #young adult #young adult novels #young adult books #im so bored

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sunshineandfangs · 5 years ago

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Cartref Enaid Mini Sequel

I’m sorry Tumblr gave you such a hard time, but I did receive your ask in the end! Also, apologies for the brief radio silence, I was in the Adirondacks over the weekend. My delay since then...ah totally my own procrastination lol.

Mini-sequel to Sol & Viento (speed boat racing) can be found here. Mini-sequel to Cartref Enaid below. Yes, I played around with events a bit for the increased Drama™ Apologies for the lack of smut. It’s decently long though for a mini! It’s honestly not really a mini.

Ping: @scarletwidow-shipper

---

Caroline laid in the grass beneath her tree, feeling the warm rays of the sun on her naked skin. She still wasn’t quite sure how such a tiny town had so much drama occurring in it. The creation of a Hybrid, the breaking of his curse, the birth of a new lineage.

And that wasn’t even touching on yesterday’s events. The awakening of the entire so-called Original Family. Six old vampires and an old witch all inhabiting one town.

The infant Bennett certainly played with fire.

An amused sounding croak disrupted her thoughts, her only warning before a piece of high-quality cardstock fell point first onto her bare nipple. The blonde cracked an eye open to level a disgruntled glare at her familiar, the minor trick rather typical of the raven when the mood struck.

She rubbed her skin, the sensation more uncomfortable than painful, before flipping the card around deftly. Her eyebrow rose.

Branwen was all but cackling from her branch perch.

Please Join The Mikaelson Family This Evening At Seven O’Clock For Dancing, Cocktails & Celebration

And on the backside:

Save me a dance? Fondly, Klaus

I shall find the finest of branches to inhabit in order to bare witness to what shall surely be historical events.

Caroline didn’t bother to reply, sensing that, teasing aside, this ball would indeed be the catalyst for something potentially world-altering. The last time so much magic gathered in one place, the Children of the Blood were born.

---

Klaus’ smirk was wooden, only a tiny fraction of his attention on the human chattering away in his ear. His siblings, even Finn, were putting on a convincing show of casual ease. But he knew all of them were tracking Mikael’s and Esther’s movements across the room.

A thousand years of habit and instinct were roiling beneath his façade, screaming to flee or fight. To tear his dear Mother’s heart out for the second time. To throw every one of the clueless humans in Mikael’s path and try his damndest to end things once and for all. To-

He and and six other ancient creatures pivoted slightly as an eighth stepped into the room.

In the privacy of his own thoughts, Klaus could admit that it was a gamble to invite the Fae. Their actions and motives tended to be inscrutable, and she may just be his ruin.

As he cut through the crowd toward her, a resplendent figure clad in silken ocean waves and moonlight, he made a calculated bet that her uncharacteristic generosity towards him would win out. But if nothing else her mere presence would throw a wrench in Esther’s plans.

---

Caroline felt several pairs of eyes shift towards her. Seven were wary, one was angry, one was confused, and the rest were gawking humans, mildly glamoured by the hint of her true nature.

She held out her gloved hand as the Hybrid stopped in front of her, accepting the kiss he pressed to her knuckles.

“Hello, Klaus,” she greeted with a slight nod.

“Good evening,” he returned carefully. Some of her amusement likely played across her face. What a stark contrast, this wary politeness to his earlier confidence.

Curls tickled her bare shoulders as she cocked her head a fraction, eyes darting from Klaus to the other ancients in the room. She looked back. Her silver-blue eyes met and held his ocean-blue ones. “You may call me Caroline.”

“Well met, Caroline,” he uttered, shifting to offer her his arm. She took it and he gestured toward the crowded room. “Shall we, then?”

The two wove their way through the throngs of people, even as Caroline flicked her gaze upward and slowed her steps.

“I do believe you are about to be called away.”

Klaus followed her gaze.

---

His elder brother looked a bit tense, indiscernible to the humans, but the rigid line of his shoulders stood out to those that had known him for centuries.

“If everyone could gather, please.”

Klaus’ eyes traced over the similarly uncomfortable forms of his siblings, reluctantly moving toward the staircase himself to take his place.

He spared a moment to eye Mikael. The man’s malevolent gaze was already trained on him from where he descended the steps beside Esther. His suspicion only heightened as he watched her gently brush his arm, the two sharing a look before settling their eyes on the crowd below.

The wood and metal of the railing just brushed the fabric of his pant leg. This was the closest Klaus had been to Mikael in over a century. Last they met with so little space between them, his beloved horse had paid the price, its beheaded body pooling blood that seeped into both their shoes.

And before the night was through, he knew more blood would be shed. One way or another.

“Welcome, thank you for joining us...”

He tuned out his brother’s lying spiel (as if they had ever gathered together quite like this) far more interested in training his ears on the mutterings of his Doppelgänger and her self-proclaimed protectors.

Fortunately, the three took little care with where they spoke, and unsurprisingly revealed that Esther (and Mikael) well deserved his continued scrutiny. Unfortunately, his parents were far more discerning, the two vanishing upstairs behind a wall of burning sage.

As people began to trickle into the ballroom, Klaus lead a random woman into a waltz. Most of his attention still focused on his Doppelgänger and her whispered plans to follow after Esther.

The woman spun away, seamlessly replaced by Caroline, her eyes half-lidded and faintly glowing as she peered at him. Her hand shifted in its place on his shoulder, a slight increase in pressure as she spoke.

“Should I be offended by this lack of attention, Klaus?”

A large portion of his regard switched to the Fae dancing with him, evaluating if she truly felt an insult. He was relieved when he realized the glimmer in her eyes was more playful than malicious, though he engaged in some flirtation all the same.

“Not at all, Caroline, surely you are the most alluring being in the room.”

Her lips quirked. She looked both pleased and exasperated by his flattery. For all that the normally hollow words rung true. And all the while the two stepped flawlessly across the ballroom, all but gliding in time with the music.

She was a wonderful dancing. And he was about to tell her so before his mood plummeted at her next words.

“Your little brunette curiosity has been spirited away.”

Klaus nearly froze as he re-extended his senses, internally cursing his distraction when he noticed the girl had indeed vanished. Locked behind sage as well, no doubt.

His fingers twitched against silken skin and fabric, forcing himself not to react as the wicked creature’s hand slid up his shoulder to his cheek. A gentle caress brushed the light scruff on his face and he looked at the blonde in his arms, gaze likely dark with his frustration.

Now her eyes held a glint of malevolence. “Do not glower at me, Niklaus Anselson. You have yet to give me cause to seek your death.” He barely twitched beneath her hands, the two of them still whirling gracefully around the room. “In fact, I rather think I shall snatch the girl myself for a few days. What intriguing sparks of magic run in her otherwise human veins.” His lips thinned as her eyes continued to sparkle with mirth. Breath washed hot and sweet across his face as she leaned closer, tilting her head slowly to whisper in his ear. Her voice nearly inaudible even to his keen senses.

“I am rather doing you a favor, Klaus. So, one last piece of advice before I go...if I were you I would consume nothing that I did not witness from source to tongue.”

She slowly pulled back from his lax grip, her scent swirling around him. Petal soft skin brushing against him.

“Until next time, Klaus,” she murmured before departing.

---

For all her taunts, Caroline was far less reluctant to help the Hybrid than she made it seem. Something about him still tugging at her curiosity. And as all her kind do she made good on her word, vanishing with the strange girl as soon as she was released from the witch’s grasp.

---

“My sons, my daughter, come forward.”

To her credit, Rebekah’s lip only trembled for a split second as the five of them fanned out around the flaming pentagram. Finn so determined only because his beloved Sage waited in the wings. Kol eager for blood and smarting at this final familial betrayal. Elijah imbued with the ferocity that arose when someone threatened his family. Their parents, at last, no longer counted among its number. And Klaus? Klaus could feel the wild baying of his wolf in his blood. Utterly despising the cause that brought him to this dark hill. Yet part of him was also delighted, each of his siblings at his side, united.

Esther and Mikael regarded them all with cold eyes.

Elijah shifted a fraction. “Whatever you think of us, killing your own children will be an atrocity.”

“My only regret is that I did not let you die a thousand years ago.”

Rebekah minutely flinched at hearing such words from the mother she had only recently renounced. “How can you say that?! You,” her glaring eyes switched from mother to father and back again, “the both of you made us what we are!”

It was Mikael that answered this time. “And we are about to rectify that, daughter.”

She sneered. “Don’t call me that! You lost that right when you stabbed your sword through our hearts.”

“Enough,” Esther cut in. “ For a thousand years, I've been forced to watch you. Felt the pain of every victim, suffered while you shed blood. Even you, Elijah, with your claim to nobility, you're no better. All of you. You're a curse on this Earth. Stretched out over generations. If you've come to plead for your life, I'm sorry, you've wasted your time.“

Klaus felt his nails start to shift into claws. “All this talk is boring me,” he taunted. “How do you intend to end this, Esther? You failed to bind us together and you’ve only one White Oak Stake.”

He didn’t like the glee that lit in Mikael’s eyes, the calmness with which Esther replied.

“My magic combined with the Bennett bloodline will easily invoke power you cannot even imagine.”

Mikael continued where she left off. “Or perhaps you can, boy.” Their eyes locked across the flames, each imbuing equal hatred in their glares. “After all, you danced with her.”

---

Caroline felt the tugs of magic pull at her being. She could resist them if she wanted. But why would she, when it would bring her precisely where she wanted to be?

Her sunset lit tree dissolved around her. Branwen faded to shadow as she flew across the void. Caroline’s own form blurred as it crossed time and space to the site of the summons.

Around her burned a flaming pentagram. Five agitated immortals at its perimeter and two near gloating ones at its heart. Her eyes caught on Klaus’, his form beyond the two before her, his eyes colored golden with wolf and fire. There was a flicker of betrayal before it was swallowed by wrath.

The woman turned to face her, stepping closer to where Caroline stood near the ring’s edge.

“Nature’s Hand, I beseech you! Cleanse the world of this foul taint, help me undo what should have never been done!”

Rather than directly answer, the blonde slowly walked the boundary of the circle, arbitrarily coming to a stop part way around. Her back and side now mostly faced Klaus and his siblings. She settled her gaze on the man who had stood silent as his wife entreated her.

“About some things the Fae can be remarkably simple creatures, and we all love a bloody revenge story.” Behind her, Caroline could hear a sub-vocal growl. She ignored it. Her gaze shifted to the witch. “But you? A witch your age should have a far better grasp of just what Nature is. And yet all you toss around are words like ‘balance’ which you do not understand. For all that you claim guardianship over the skewed ideal.”

The air shifted around them, none of them knowing how to react to this unexpected denouncement.

And on silent wings a shadow cut a swath across moon and stars and stillness, flying through the witch before she could even take a breath to retort. As quickly as she had come, Branwen vanished.

All was still once more, people stunned, confused, the only sound the crackling of fire. And then, Esther fell. Her body crumbling to dust in an instant.

For a moment, no one knew how to react. Yet Caroline was unsurprised when Mikael lunged toward her, rage and grief painted across his face. Whatever faults and virtues created the Destroyer, the man did love his wife.

However, it was in vain. She simply flowed around him, swiping an intricately carved stake with ease, and tossed it high into the air.

“Yes, we do love a tale of vengeance,” she repeated as she faded from view, intangible as she watched them all move in a flurry of blurred limbs, intent fixed on one little stake.

She would interfere if Klaus was in true danger of perishing, but she doubted it would come to that. No, he would emerge victorious alongside his siblings. Hunt for her in the following days as she loitered around this tiny town.

Waiting for him.

---

Current and upcoming sequels here.

My poll for the initial focus of my multi-chapter is also still up here.

#Klaroline #KlarosummerBingo #Klaroline Fanfiction #Klaroline Drabbles #My Writing #Ask #Answer #Anon

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bellarketogether · 7 years ago

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Dumb drabble I’m working on. Casual Braven, grieving Bellamy, all the Bellarke feels. Takes place towards the end of the time jump.

...

He awoke with a start.

“Bad dream?” Raven teased, not even looking up from the small hunk of metal she was hovering over, one hand holding a screwdriver and the other steadying the rickety desk lamp. Bellamy could have pretended he knew precisely what she was working on, but even that would require having an intermediate knowledge of computer engineering. Which he did not.

It occurred to him that he had fallen asleep in her room, suffering from a distinct lack of clothing, which was unusual. The lack of clothing not so much, but the sleeping over outrageously so. They had drawn their lines in the sand long ago, laboring over the many rules and complexities of casual sex. She had even crafted a flowchart, which would have made him laugh at the time, had he not been so utterly uncomfortable about it all. Part of him had feared that trying to put more restrictions on it would do more harm than good, ultimately tying dozens of tightly-woven knots in an affair that already had the potential to be a game of Emotional Russian Roulette.

But, unsurprisingly, Raven approached it like she approached every other project in her life: with careful and concise analysis and impartiality. She had never been one to fall victim to the suffocating emotions of most girls. Not since Finn, anyway.

And him? Well, his apathy stemmed from a different place entirely. A dark hole that had carved a gaping pit somewhere deep inside of him—a hole that he had futilely attempted to repair with the metaphorical duct tape and safety pins. The darkness lay dormant most of the time, but the poorly-patched fissures still managed to breathe fresh grief through his veins when the world fell silent, and he could suddenly hear the guilt whispering vigorously in his ears.

When he did not respond in kind, she continued, unfazed by his silence. “I think I’ve finally figured out how to get the comms back online.”

He said nothing, but was vaguely aware of the now-foreign sense of hopeful electricity that ran down his spine.

“Reprogramming the system wasn’t enough,” she said, more to herself than him. “With the motherboard fried, there wasn’t much I could do. But then it hit me!” She snapped her fingers for emphasis. “The communication hub uses pretty much the same parts as the security system in the detention center. Monty helped me take it apart and, lo and behold, damn near identical motherboard. A few minor alterations and we should be ready to roll.”

The unusual feeling bubbled in his chest once more, but the rational part of his brain immediately corked it.

It was as though she read his mind. She paused in her task, swiveling her chair to face him. She really was quite pretty. She always had been, however unconventionally. Her hair tied in a messy knot on the top of her head, her dark lashes lowered in his direction, studying his face. He purposefully looked away. An unfortunate byproduct of their occasional rendezvouses: how well they had come to understand one another.

“We’re finally going to know for sure. One way or another. I promise.” Her voice was quiet and somber, and it reminded him of the way Abby Griffin used to speak to the patients for whom it was too late.

This kid gloves treatment knocked something loose in him.

“We already know,” he said firmly, yanking his t-shirt back over his head with more animosity than was really necessary. As he continued getting dressed, he was uncomfortably aware of her gaze on him all-the-while. “What?” he snapped.

“Don’t be an ass.” And just like that, any semblance of warmth was zapped from her tone. “If you think I don’t know—that we all don’t know—then you’re just stupid.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” He haphazardly fumbled with his shoelaces with trembling fingers, suddenly anxious to get the hell out. This was the clear price he paid for falling asleep in her room.

“Okay,” she said mockingly. He heard her chair creak as she turned away from him once more. Then, a frustrated sigh—another creak, this one more hesitant. “Listen, Bellamy. What happened to Clarke was hard for all of us.”

The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end just hearing her name.

“But we all know it was hardest for you. And we know why.”

No. They didn’t. They had their theories, but nobody could really know what he had gone through. What it had been like to lose the other half of his everything. The head to his heart. He had tried to do as she said—oh, how he had tried. He had locked his heart in a box and tucked it beneath the floorboards, hidden away. Out of sight, out of mind. He had been all head since that fateful day. He had to. His heart simply couldn’t take the overload. Not without her to balance him.

“You were in love with her.”

And there it was. That stupid word. That stupid, useless word that people abused so carelessly, day in and day out. Nobody really understood what it meant. Not really. Probably not even him.

“Call it what you want,” he said simply, shrugging his jacket on. “But she’s gone, so it doesn’t really matter how you define it.”

#formerly deputytoby #text post #fan fiction #bellarke #it's so bad #but i miss my babies so much

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finn-nelson-for-the-win · 7 years ago

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Changing Priority- Chapter 14

So I meant to post this yesterday, that way I would spread posting 3 new chapters over the span of 3 days…but after work and whatnot yesterday, I was way too tired to edit and post this. So yeah…I hope you enjoy this chapter and as always, thanks for reading/reblogging/liking/following/etc. and just basically boosting my ego and inspiring me to keep writing and posting for you all.

Chapters 1-13 can all be found right here!

Unfamiliar Territory

Rae had spent all of Friday after she got off work trying to recover from her hangover and catch up on sleep, cleaning, and Netflix binge watching that she had been neglecting for the past week; however, this left Saturday as Rae’s only free day to run some necessary errands prior to the new semester of Uni beginning on Monday.

After spending a couple hours tending to the plants in her garden on campus, Rae walked to the Campus Bookstore to purchase all of the necessary textbooks that she needed for the upcoming semester, at least according to her professors.

Nine books…nine FUCKING BOOKS!?! ALL FOR ONE CLASS?

“Ugh, you have to be shitting me…” Rae mumbled, earning a chuckle from one of the student workers at the bookstore that was restocking the books on a shelf a short distance from Rae.

“Do you need help finding any of your books? I see you’ve amassed quite a collection already…” asked the short, lanky boy as he took a short break from placing books on the nearby shelf.

“Uhm, yes, actually! This book right here, ‘Art Across Time: Volume B’…I know you guys have it brand new to purchase or rent, but do you have any used copies to purchase or rent? This one book costs more than I was planning to spend an all my books this semester, combined!” Rae replied incredulously.

“Yikes, yeah, that book is a pricey one…unfortunately, if it isn’t on the shelves, we don’t have it. If you don’t wanna pay this much you might be able to find it online for cheaper, but I wouldn’t bet on it…”

“Ah, I see…well, thank you anyways.” Rae said politely as she debated purchasing the book now or taking the risk of being unable to find it online.

“Sorry I couldn’t really help, but let me know if you need any further help…”

“Don’t worry about it and yeah, okay. Thank you!” Rae added, giving the worker a friendly smile, before deciding it best to get the textbook now regardless of the price.

Rae walked out of the aisle of alphabetized books sorted by course titles AIS through ART and found an unattended counter to set down the growing pile of books she had been carrying to give her arms a rest before pulling her cell phone from her purse.

Rae opened up her mobile banking app to ensure that she had enough money in her account to purchase all the textbooks she would be needing and gasped audibly when she noticed her account balance.

Holy shit! It looks like the direct deposit from my tuition refund finally hit my account!

Rae breathed a sigh of relief because her hard work the previous semester had paid off and she had not only received a high enough GPA to maintain her academic scholarship, but also to qualify for the tuition assistance her job offered. Between the two scholarships, Rae had more than enough money to cover all her expenses for this semester while still having a decent amount of money left over.

Rae knew that it was already getting late and the bookstore would be closing soon, so she sighed and picked up the stack of books she was going to be purchasing before walking to the opposite side of the store.

Well…so much for that tuition refund I got…

Rae waited in line for the next available cashier to ring up her purchase and tried to mentally prepare herself to spend roughly three paychecks worth of money on a total of twelve textbooks.

***

Rae had been putting off thinking about the current situation between her and Finn with some success over the past day and a half, but as she began the nearly hour long walk back to her apartment with her recently purchased textbooks, her thoughts began to wander.

In a much more sober state of mind, Rae was not nearly as affected by what she had discovered while browsing Finn’s Instagram as she had been Thursday evening on the floor of Izzie’s kitchen, but she was still confused.

As much as I love Izz and Archie, they’re too emotionally invested in Finn and me becoming a thing to give me a straight answer about all of the questions holding me back from making the first move with Finn.

I need an unbiased opinion in the matter…

As the sun continued setting, the chilly January evening air began to set in and Rae found that she was less than halfway to her apartment and her fingertips and the tip of her nose had nearly lost all feeling.

I suppose I have nowhere else to be tonight, so I have some time to spare…

Rae crossed the street a short distance up the road and walked towards the café that she had been frequenting for the past couple months. When she walked inside, she skipped the line that she would normally stand in and decided to grab a table and warm up a bit more before putting in her order.

Shit! What if I see Eric the Barista today…will it be awkward?

Rae pushed the thought to the back of her mind after a quick look toward the counter where the only employees she could see were a number of girls around Rae’s age and the man in his mid-forties that Rae has always assumed to be the owner or manager of the café.

The warmth was slowly returning to Rae’s fingertips and rosy cheeks as she skimmed through the various required readings she had purchased or rented for all her classes. When Rae began to feel bad about loitering at the small table in the far corner of the café as she people-watched and took advantage of the coffee-scented warm atmosphere that had a vague familiarity to Rae, she decided that if she wanted to stay any longer, she needed to order something.

Rae stood from the table and left all of her belongings behind to save her spot as she walked up to the counter with her credit card and cellphone in-hand.

“Hello! Can I have a hot chai latte with soy milk?” Rae said to one of the female baristas behind the counter that she often saw when she came in before work most days.

“Sure thing! For here, I’m assuming, since you have all your stuff over there, huh?” Rae chuckled and nodded as the barista entered Rae’s order into the machine in front of her, “And your name is…wait, I know it…don’t tell me…”

“Rae!”

“Seriously, Eric? I was just about to guess that!” the Barista jokingly complained as she wrote Rae’s name on the order.

“Hey, Jessie, this drink is on me today…” Eric said to the barista that had taken Rae’s order as he walked up to the counter and gave Rae a toothy smile that made his simple steel lip ring stand out against his impossibly perfect, white teeth.

“Ah, you’re too late, buddy!” Jessie replied as she handed Rae the receipt and her credit card back, “You’re all set, Rae. We’ll call your name at the other counter when your order is ready!”

Rae thanked Jessie and gave Eric a small smile before walking back to her table in the far corner of the café.

Almost as soon as Rae had sat back down and put her card back into her purse, she heard her phone buzz a few times against the table where she had set it down and she pressed the home button to unlock her phone.

Chloe: So guess who I just finished FaceTiming that is apparently much more up-to-date on the situation with your sexy coworker than me, your best friend for nearly a decade…

Chloe: No guesses?

Chloe: Abbie! I feel so out of the loop…is this punishment because my family went to Italy for Christmas and I couldn’t come visit you like we had considered back in August?

Rae: No, that’s not it at all. It’s just a lot to tell you about via text and I’ve been really busy with work lately. Plus, last I heard, you didn’t have internet access, so I didn’t know that FaceTiming or video chatting was an option for you.

Chloe: I was dying without internet and I felt so dead to the world, so I caved and paid a fucking insane amount of money to get wi-fi at our hotel for the rest of the week.

Chloe: We leave tomorrow, but maybe we can FaceTime tomorrow? Or once I’m back home if there’s a day we are both free? I want to know everything!

Rae: Yeah, I don’t know when I’ll be free since my classes start on Monday, but I’ll let you know.

Rae locked her phone and dropped it into her purse before sighing and covering her face with her hands.

Chloe is probably the last person I want to discuss the whole situation with Finn with until I figure a few more things out.

Rae was brought back from her thoughts by the sound of someone politely clearing their throat to get Rae’s attention. She lifted her head from where she had been resting on her hands to see Eric the Barista standing behind the chair opposite of her with her latte on a small plate in one hand and a small platter of various pastries in the other.

“Oh! Were you calling my name? I didn’t even hear you, I’m so sorry…” Rae replied with an embarrassed smile as she removed her elbows from the small table to allow Eric to set down her drink.

“Don’t worry about it! When I finished making your drink I saw that you were busy on your phone and I had a spare moment, so I decided to just bring your drink directly to you and greet you properly,” he replied with a shrug after setting her latte down before continuing, “I also wanted to drop these off for you…”

Eric placed the small rectangular platter down on the table as well and Rae soon realized that the platter had a small slice of coffee cake, banana nut bread, and lemon poppy seed cake.

“Oh, I didn’t order those…” Rae mumbled.

Though they DO look really good…

“I know, but I thought you seemed a little out of it today and thought you might like a little snack if you plan to stick around here sipping your latte for a while. I didn’t know what you liked, hence the variety, but they’re all fresh and I can assure you that they’re halfway decent!”

“Thank you, Eric. That was really nice of you…completely unnecessary, but still nice,” Rae replied as she turned the plate to examine the different pastries, earning a chuckle and smile from Eric.

“Eric, wait…” Rae found herself calling as Eric slowly turned to walk away from her table.

What the fuck are you about to do, Rae…?

Is this a good idea? Probably not. Will it make things any worse than they already are? Probably not…

“Yes, Rae? Do you need anything else?” Eric asked, slipping back into customer service mode so fluidly it was clear to Rae that he had a lot of practice with this.

“You mentioned that you had a spare moment…I don’t know if you had something else you needed to do or whatever, but uh…I could use the company, if you want to that is…these pastries are best when shared with a friend, right?”

“I suppose I could stay and chat for a few minutes…” Eric said with a wide grin as he untied his apron and hung it over the back of the chair opposite Rae before taking a seat.

“So Rae…if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were keeping tabs on me to ‘accidentally’ cross paths with me while I’m at work, since Saturday evenings aren’t your usual time for coffee…”

“My ‘usual time’? Who is keeping tabs on who, now?” Eric laughed at how Rae had turned the tables on him, but she quickly continued, “I honestly didn’t even see you when I came in and then you just show up out of nowhere…”

“Yeah, I actually spend most of my shifts in the back where the kitchen is. All these fresh baked pastries don’t bake themselves, you know!” Eric replied as he tore off a small piece of banana nut bread that Rae offered him on the plate and popped it into his mouth.

“Huh, I never would have taken you for the baking type…they’re quite good though, so my compliments to the chef,” Rae added as she used a fork to cut off a small piece of the coffee cake and brought it into her mouth.

“So how are you, Rae? Like I said earlier, you seem a little off…unless you frequently visit small coffee shops at night and sit with your head in your hands like you’re in the middle of a mental breakdown or an existential crisis..? Which if you do, that’s fine…I’ll only judge you a little bit…” Rae chuckled dryly because Eric was not far off from the truth, but his friendly tone seemed to be all the encouragement Rae needed to open up a bit more about what was on her mind.

“Well I was walking past here and was really cold, so I came in to warm up. But you’re kind of right, I am a bit off, I suppose. I just have a lot on my mind and I’m trying to process everything but I’m not really making any progress.”

“Would you care to elaborate at all, Rae? I’m a great listener, or so I’ve been told…”

Rae looked up from her latte that she had been staring at for some time and saw Eric turned around slightly in his chair and having a silent conversation with Jessie from where she stood behind the counter.

Less than a minute later, Jessie approached their shared table with a smug smile and placed a cup down in front of Eric before walking away.

“I could feel a story coming on and I thought a cup of tea would pair nicely with whatever story you were about to tell me…” Eric relied when he noticed Rae’s look of confusion as he dropped the teabag into the cup of hot water to steep.

“Ah, I see…well almost immediately before coming here I spent nearly a month’s rent on textbooks for the semester that starts on Monday at my Uni’s campus bookstore …which I’m not too thrilled about…”

Eric nodded to show that he was still paying attention as he removed the teabag from his cup and took a cautious sip to avoid burning himself.

“But mostly I’m just sort of…confused and maybe a bit…uhm, conflicted about something…”

“About what?”

“Uh, about a boy…that I work with…”

“Ah, I see,” Eric replied as he took another sip of tea and tore off another small piece of banana nut break, “what is there to be confused or conflicted about?”

“Well I’ve been working with this guy for a few months now and I thought he was a total jerk at first, but slowly we became friends and I got to know him a bit…well long story short, I had a few friends insisting that he was flirting with me for a while before I even grew to like him and see him as more than just a coworker, but now I do like him…a lot…and I don’t know what to make of his feelings, since his actions have more or less remained unchanged and I am always getting mixed signals from this guy…”

Rae had not intended to go into this much detail when telling Eric about everything that was on her mind, but as she sipped her chai latte and he drank his tea and they both nibbled on the pastries he had brought, the words kept coming and she told him almost every minute detail about the situation as Eric sat listening and reacting quietly when appropriate.

“And so now there’s my childhood best mate, Chloe, the one I mentioned earlier…well, she wants to chat with me so I can fill her in on everything that is going on with my coworker and I don’t know what to say, you know? I obviously can’t say ‘oh he still flirts with me at work, but after I got shitfaced the other night I found him and his ex on Instagram and gave myself a panic attack because it seems like if he really liked me he would have made a move by now, since he’s had like two months to move on from his ex-girlfriend’ but I mean, that’s the truth…”

Rae had run out of things to say and she sat in silence for a moment and took another sip of her drink that had cooled down a bit too much and was barely even warm at this point, but Rae was too distracted to notice or care.

Eric sat in silence, nodding slightly as he drank the last bit of tea in his cup, processing everything that Rae had said and trying to gather his thoughts to say something.

“Hmm…that’s quite a predicament you’re in, Rae…do you know what you’re planning to do or to tell her? Because it seems to me that before you can tell her what’s going on, it may be best for you to figure it out with yourself.”

“I have no fucking clue what I should do at this point. This is all unfamiliar territory for me, Eric. I don’t really find myself being the object of men’s affections very often—if that’s even what this whole situation really is—so I’m still struggling to navigate my way through what everyone is telling me and how I feel.”

“I find that very hard to believe, Rae, but okay…do you mind if I give you my input? A little bit of insight into the mind of a guy from the perspective of a guy…”

“Not at all! Please, I’d greatly appreciate it actually, since I already know what everyone else I would talk to has to say about this whole thing.”

“Well, I can’t speak for all guys, of course, but it seems to me like if he is stalling to avoid making the first move, it’s because he’s nervous that he’s going to screw it up. Based on everything you told me, I don’t doubt that this bloke is interested in you. But if he has been interested in you for a couple months now and it has mostly just been flirting, he’s probably in a similar position as you are and he’s trying to decide the best way to go about this that won’t backfire on him if you do not reciprocate his feelings…This coworker of yours seems kind of shy, so as a shy guy myself, I can tell you that it’s fucking nerve wracking when you finally decide to be more obvious with your flirting if you aren’t even sure that the person you’re flirting with will react well…” Eric looked away from Rae and began nervously examining his fingernails as he gently bit the inside of his bottom lip which made his lip ring wiggle in place slightly.

“I suppose you could be right…it’s kind of reassuring to hear that someone like you who has never met my coworker and is not particularly biased is coming to the same conclusions as all my closest mates and coworkers. So clearly I’m not reading too much into things with him, right?”

“Right! So if that is the case, he might need a little bit more confirmation from you that you are interested in him…I’m not saying that you need to make the first move or let him, uh, ‘whack it in you’ or, uhm, ‘explore your secret garden’ as some of your friends have suggested,” Eric began with an embarrassed chuckled before continuing, “but I think it could do both of you some good if you can both be more forward with your flirting just so you are both confident that the feelings are mutual.”

“I think you’re right, Eric. Thank you for letting me vent and complain about the woes of my pathetic excuse of a love life to you.”

“It’s been my pleasure, really. I really hope all this works out for you, Rae! I know it’s not my place to say this, but I just don’t want you to rush into anything you’re not ready for and I don’t want you to regret not doing anything, so I’d say just take your time figuring things out but let the pieces fall as they will and try not to force anything…If it’s meant to be, then it will be.” Eric gave Rae a smile and stood from his chair before putting his apron back on.

Rae suddenly realized how long they had been talking for when she saw that the majority of the patrons who had filled the café before had left and they were down to a very small crew of employees who were mostly just talking behind the counter, since there were no new to customers to attend to at the moment.

“I’m so sorry for keeping you so long! I hope you don’t get in trouble for taking such a long break instead of working!” Rae said with concern as Eric stacked the plates and cups they were now finished with for him to take away from the table.

“In all honesty, I wasn’t even scheduled to work today, so I can’t imagine I’ll be in any trouble.”

“If you aren’t supposed to be working, why are you here then?” Rae asked in confusion.

“It’s kind of hard to say ‘no’ when your family owns the café…” Eric replied with a dramatic eye roll as he started walking away.

Eric was a short distance from Rae’s table when he slowed to a stop and turned around, a look of hesitation and inner conflict obvious on his face before it was replaced with the toothy smile Rae was used to seeing on his face when he was taking customers’ orders.

“I’m really glad I got to see you today, Rae. I hope everything works out how you want it to with your coworker, because I could tell how heavily the stress of all of that was weighing on you when you first got here. Be sure to come in and see me again sometime soon, okay Rae?” Eric gave Rae a quick wave with one hand before continuing his path towards the kitchen and disappearing behind a door.

***

Sunday morning Rae had woken up in an unexpectedly good mood that she decided had to be attributed to her conversation with Eric the Barista the prior evening. Their discussion had given Rae a lot to consider, but more than anything, it had given her a new sense of clarity that certainly did not go unnoticed by her coworkers during her shift at work.

“You certainly seem excited today, Rae. You do realize that the semester starts tomorrow, so what reason do you possibly have to be as happy as you are?” Archie asked with a joking scoff as he took a seat at the table Rae was sitting at in the break room.

“Ugh, don’t remind me about classes starting. As it is, my bank account is still trying to recover from buying all the textbooks I’m going to need,” Rae said with a cringe.

“If you truly must know, Archie, I am quite happy today I suppose…I just feel so at-ease with, well, everything.”

Archie furrowed his eyebrows and gestured with his hand for Rae to continue, so she took a deep breath before continuing the conversation that she had known would be brought up at some point today.

“So do you remember what I told you Friday at work about me drunk crying on Izzie’s kitchen floor on Thursday evening? Well, I basically gave myself a panic attack because I was overthinking the whole situation with…‘Alphonzo’…after I sort of stalked him and his ex-girlfriends’ Instagram pages…” Rae replied, trying to ignore Archie’s noticeable surprise as she casually told him more about her recent drunken antics.

“So there’s that…and do you remember the guy from the café across the street that I mentioned had paid for my coffee and was flirting with me a bit…?”

“Yes, I remember that too. I also remember the look of jealousy on Fi—Alphonzo’s face when you were talking about that, so if your goal was to make him jealous: mission accomplished! Seriously, he did not stop glancing over his shoulder at you for the rest of his shift on Friday and then—ugh, I really shouldn’t be telling you this, so you have to swear that you never heard it from me, okay?—and then yesterday he was asking me a bunch of questions about you and the barista you were talking about…”

“Are you serious, right now? How did the even come up in conversation!? What kind of questions was he asking?” Rae asked slightly embarrassed that she had been a topic of conversation when she was not even at work.

“Well someone else came in with a cup from the café and Peter and Melissa were chatting about what you had said and were wondering if ‘Rae’s not-so-secret admirer’ had been working or not and so he was asking me if I had ever seen the barista you were talking about, if I had ever gone to the café with you and seen you interact with this barista…If I thought you were interested in this barista more than you were letting on when you told the story…and he was asking me about whether or not I thought you liked how forward the barista was in terms of giving you free coffee and leaving a note on your coffee…stuff like that mostly. He was trying to be casual about it all, but I know him too well.” Archie replied with a self-satisfied smirk.

“Wow…that’s kind of a great and crazy coincidence because yesterday evening I went to the café and I ended up talking to that barista, his name is Eric by the way, for like two hours…about Finn…”

“Wait, so let me get this straight, Rae. You spent two hours last night talking and getting relationship advice about the bloke you like from a guy who two days prior gave you free coffee and flirted with you and professed his love for you in the form of a note on the side of your coffee cup…?”

“Well, uh, sort of? I mean, he didn’t profess his love to me on my cup on Thursday! He just complimented me and told me how much his day is improved when he sees me come into the café…and…holy shit, I fucking friend-zoned this poor lad, didn’t I!?!”

“It sort of seems like it, Rae. I mean this guy, Eric, clearly likes you enough that he wanted to give you free coffee and make sure that you knew how much he appreciates you coming into the café when he’s working…and then you pour your heart out to him about another guy…”

“Aw, now I just feel like a terrible person, Arch! Eric was so supportive and he seemed happy for me because I was happy after talking it all through with him, but like, I’m pretty sure I would react the same way if I just got hardcore friend-zoned and wanted to play it cool…” Archie reached out a hand to pat Rae on the back to help soothe her as she continued, “Eric is like…really attractive, too! And he was so nice about everything and he didn’t even make the situation too weird or anything!”

“That’s a good thing though, right? That Eric was able to put aside whatever feelings he may or may not have for you and give you genuine advice because he wants the best for you…”

“Yeah, it was so nice getting the opinion of a guy on the whole situation with Finn…”

“Uhm, excuse me? What am I if not a guy? A potato!”

“That’s not what I meant, Arch, and you know it. I just meant a guy that wasn’t wrapped up in the whole situation and a close mutual friend of both people involved…”

“I guess you have a fair point…” Archie said with a chuckle before realizing how much their conversation had veered off-topic, “Oh, so the reason you’re so happy today is…because you talked to your Barista Buddy and…?”

“Oh, yeah! I talked to him about the whole situation and I feel like I have a good idea of what I need to do and how I can show ‘Alphonzo’ that I’m interested without putting myself out there too much and then at some point one of us will have to take the chance and make the first move, but I’m not as freaked out about all of this as I was up to that point.”

By this point, Rae and Archie’s break had already ended, but they had simply continued their conversation back at their desks in hushed whispers to avoid being overheard.

“So what now?”

“Well, I guess I just sit back, relax, and wait for—“

“Finn! Hi, how’s it going?” Archie called in greeting before sharing a nervous smile with Rae.

“Hey, Archie. How are you this morning, Rae? You look really nice…are you dressed up today for something, or someone, special?” Finn asked as he took a seat at the empty desk on Rae’s left side, opposite of Archie.

“Hiya Finn! And thank you, but do I really seem like the kind of girl that would dress up and alter my appearance for the benefit of another person?” Rae scoffed, feigning that she was offended at his implications but smiled as she continued, “I’m just giving you a hard time, Finn…I dressed up for myself today, mostly. It just feels nice to get dressed up and look pretty from time to time, I guess!”

Rae looked down at her outfit as she adjusted the sleeves of her cardigan and plucked off imaginary bits of fluff and debris. Rae had paired one of her favorite dresses that had a very short multi-toned blue flowy skirt and a pale denim bustier top with navy blue tights, a long gray cardigan that was nearly longer than the dress itself, and neutral taupe ankle boots with a small, chunky heel. Rae’s hair, which she had straightened earlier that morning, was beginning to re-curl itself because of the humidity of the chilly January air, but it appeared to be done intentionally leaving Rae’s hair in bouncy, gentle purple waves opposed to her usual mess of ringlets and spiraling waves. She completed her look with very simple makeup, focusing mainly on drawing attention to her eyes and naturally long eyelashes and completing the look with subtle berry-toned lipstick.

Rae seldom looked in the mirror and felt completely happy with the image staring back; however, Rae felt happy and she could see a uniquely happy glow in her appearance that made her feel truly beautiful today and it felt nice to know that others were beginning to take notice of the change as well.

***

Monday morning Rae awoke earlier than she would have liked and began reluctantly getting ready before beginning her hour-long walk from her apartment to campus.

After taking her first Computer Programming course last semester, Rae’s interest in programming and design had been piqued; however, after sitting through an hour long class this morning in which the professor introduced the Programming for Media Arts course Rae was enrolled in this semester, she had a sinking suspicion that she would likely grow to love or hate this course, but it was entirely too early to tell which.

Rae walked out of the building and had to stop to allow her eyes to adjust to the bright gray light of this overcast January morning after sitting in almost complete darkness during her programming class.

When the brightness was more bearable, Rae pulled her phone from her pocket and began to check the time when she could vaguely hear someone calling her name.

“Rae! Rae-Rae!”

She looked up to see someone on a bicycle riding towards her that was waving with both hands to get her attention from some ways away. It was not until this person on their bike got much closer and Rae could make out the tattoos on their arms that were peeking out from the sleeves of their jacket and the messy brown hair tousled by the wind that she realized who had been trying to get her attention.

“Good morning, Finn!” She called when he was only a short distance away from her.

“Hey Rae! I’m running late but I’ll talk to you later…” Finn replied without slowing his speed, calling over his shoulder and trailing off as he rode his bike further out of earshot of Rae.

What time is it? 10:09 AM…

This is great…Finn is already nearly 10 minutes late for his shift to work and yet he still makes a point to say “hi” when he sees me.

Rae did not even try to wipe the smile off her face as she walked to grab a chai latte from a coffee shop on campus before walking to work.

Since it was Monday, Rae’s scheduled shift did not begin until noon, but as she walked into the office building that she worked on and it was still a quarter to eleven, Rae decided that it was better for her to be early to work and take the extra time to work on assignments for one of her online courses using the Wi-Fi at work rather than risk being late to work if she went back to her apartment or remained on campus.

As Rae sat in the break room at work, scrolling through social media on her phone after figuring out which of her online classes would require more immediate attention, Rae began regretting her decision not to grab something to eat before walking to work. Between work and the three hour long Business Marketing class Rae had later that afternoon, she quickly realized that she likely would not have a chance to eat until after she was done with her class that evening.

Rae was debating buying a snack from the vending machine in the break room when she heard the quiet scraping of a chair next to her being pulled out from under the table where she sat.

“Hey there, Chop!”

“How’s it going, Raemundo?” Chop replied as he used a fork he had grabbed from the drawer in the break room to stir the Cup of Noodles he had just pulled from the microwave.

“It’s going,” Rae said, chuckling as a rogue noodle dangled from Chop’s mouth as he took the first bite of his noodle soup, “how are you today? Did you have any classes yet?”

“I’m good, thanks!” Chops said before stopping to get another mouthful of noodles, “And nope, no classes today, but I’ve been at work since 8am! Do you have classes today?”

“Yeah, I had class earlier this morning. And I have a two hour shift at work starting at noon and then class again after that…This semester has me constantly running back and forth between classes and work,” Rae explained with an annoyed eye roll.

“That’s awful, Rae! I’m so sorry!”

“It is what it is…”

“It looks pretty cloudy outside today, I wonder if it’s going to rain,” Chop mused when there was a lull in the conversation as he looked out the window to the parking lot for their office.

“I hope not! I’m walking back to campus after work,” Rae replied with a small frown after she looked outside the window as well and was fairly certain that it would begin raining within the hour.

“Well, I can give you a ride! You said you’re working a two hour shift? We get off work at the same time!”

“Thank you, Chop, but no thank you. You’re done for the day after this and I’d hate to put you out and make you go out of your way just to give me a ride to campus. I don’t think it’ll rain, or if it does, I’m sure it won’t be so much that I can’t walk the twenty minutes or so back to campus.”

As if right on cue, mere moments after Rae decline Chop’s offer, a sudden boom of thunder followed by a downpour of rain began, making both Rae and Chop jump slightly out of surprise before chuckling at the irony of it all.

“Uh, I’m sure the rain will stop soon…” Rae mumbled, not even fully believing her own words.

“It’s no trouble, really. Finn and I live less than a mile from campus, so it’s not even going out of my way, honestly! Just let me know, okay? But if it is still raining after work, I will not take ‘no’ for an answer, Rae! I will be driving you to your next class because I simply cannot have my Raemundo walking in the rain!” Chop said as he pointed a finger at Rae, adding emphasis to the point he was trying to make.

“Fine, but I’ll let you know if anything changes.” Rae replied as Chop threw away the empty Cup of Noodles container and waved goodbye to Rae before exiting the break room to get back to work.

Rae was still looking out the window at the rain pouring down and collecting in puddles that would undoubtedly flood the parking lot by the time the rain began to let up—if it let up—when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her from behind in a surprise hug.

“Guess who…” Rae heard this person sing-song and Rae instantly smiled when she realized who it was.

“Hmm…whoever could it be?” Rae replied with a chuckle as she turned her torso slightly to return the hug Rebecca was giving her.

“Are you on break or are you just coming in at noon?” Rebecca asked as she pulled out the chair Chop previous occupied and took a seat beside Rae.

“I start at noon, but I’m only working for a couple hours”

“Yay, we get off work at the same time! That’s perfect!” Rebecca exclaimed, nearly bouncing out of her chair with excitement.

“Uh, what’s perfect?” Rae asked as she quirked an eye brow up in confusion.

“I was just realizing how hungry I am and I don’t know if you have class immediately after work or not, but if you don’t…Will you do me the honor of being my lunch date today?”

“I’d love to!” Rae said with a smile.

“Splendid! I have to get back to work right now, but I’ll be waiting for you out here in the break room after work and we can go from here!”

Rae waved goodbye to Rebecca and continued scrolling through social media on her phone until it was close enough to noon that she could justify logging into her computer and getting to work.

Rae switched her cell phone to silent and walked into the main office area. After scanning her badge at the small machine on the wall, Rae began walking towards the closest open desk when she was very nearly knocked to the ground by someone who had hurriedly stood from their chair and began walking without watching where they were going.

“Oh shit, my bad, girl! Are you alright?” Finn asked as he placed a hand on each of Rae’s shoulders to steady her after he had inadvertently collided with her.

“Yeah, all good, Finn!” Rae replied with an embarrassed chuckle.

“Phew, that’s a relief…I saw you today when I was riding my bike through the middle of campus on my way to work!”

“I know. I saw you too,” Rae began with a small chuckle, “and said I ‘hi’…and then you said ‘hi’ and that you were running late and would talk to me later”

“Yeah, you didn’t seem to recognize me when I was first trying to catch your attention, so I was almost afraid that you weren’t really you or something!”

“Nope, it was me, I was just distracted and when you were riding you bike I didn’t recognize you until you got a bit closer,” Rae chuckled nervously as Finn dropped his hands—which she just realized had been resting on her shoulders during their entire conversation—and gave her a quick smile before side-stepping to walk past her.

Rae noticed that the desk beside Chop was empty, so she set her badge down on the desk and pulled out the chair to take a seat.

“Long time no see, baby girl!” Chop called, giving Rae a wink as she began logging into her computer and Finn returned to his desk on the opposite side of Chop.

“I know! I haven’t seen you in so long…how are you?” Rae replied catching on to the joke immediately.

“I’m good thanks…not much has changed in the last, oh, twenty minutes,” Chop replied with a laugh.

During this short exchange, Finn kept looking from Chop to Rae in confusion as he waited for them to explain what inside joke he was being left out of before finally Chop clarified.

“Our Raemundo here was sitting in the break room before her shift and so I sat with her during my break and we were chatting a bit,”

“Ah, I see.” Finn replied with a nod as he returned to work, only slightly averting his attention away from Chop and Rae’s conversation.

“Which reminds me! While I appreciate the offer, Chop,” Rae began after quickly glancing over at Chop as she continued checking her email, “I made plans for lunch as soon as I get off work and they can give me a ride back to campus when we’re done. So I won’t be needing a ride after work. Thank you for offering though, Chop. That was really considerate of you!”

“You, uh, you offered to give Rae a ride home from work today?” Finn asked unable to hide that he had been tuned into their conversation.

“Well not home, because she has a class after her shift, but yeah! It started to rain really hard during my break and she and I get off work at the same so I just figured…”

“Oh, no, that makes sense. That was nice of you Chop…The offer stands for me too, Girl. If you ever want me to give you a ride somewhere after work, just let me know!” Finn replied after quickly regaining his composure and shooting her a crooked grin.

“Uhm, a ride on your bicycle?” Rae asked, raising her eye brows and unsuccessfully containing a smile.

“No, of course not,” Finn mumbled as a blush spread across his cheeks, “I do have a car…I just didn’t want to drive my car and have to find parking if I only worked for a couple hours today…”

“No need to justify yourself to me, Finn. I was just having a little fun with you,” Rae replied with a smirk which only caused Finn to blush a deeper shade of red and seem more embarrassed as he nervously bit his lower lip, “I appreciate the offer nonetheless and I’ll be sure to keep it in mind, thanks!”

The clocks on the wall chimed, signaling that it was officially noon, and Finn stood from his desk chair and began walking toward the exit, turning back to give Chop a nod and Rae a wave and small smile before walking out of the building.

@eveerez @tinakegg @hey1tskat1e @bitchesbecrazy89 @kneekeyta @milllott @protectfinnnelson @arathewallflower @jackiewalsh2013 @pink-royaute @i-dream-of-emus @lurkernolonger @bitchy-broken @nutinanutshell @mallyallyandra @borntosik

A/N: Hello, my darlings! Okay, forreal though: what did you all think of how savagely Rae *accidentally* friend-zoned Eric the Barista by venting about all her boy troubles? (This was certainly not my proudest moment, I must admit...) 😅😬😅 Do you still think Eric poses any threat to Finn's chances with Rae after reading this chapter? 🤔 I know some of you were probably worried about that possibility after I introduced him into the story in Chapter 12...

The end is nigh (just kidding...sort of...) and there's only one more chapter to be posted this week, probably late tonight or early tomorrow morning. Big things are in the works and there's a lot of stuff happening both in this story line and in my real life, but yeah...this should be fun. 😅

I look forward to hearing what you all think of this chapter and the next one to come...14 chapters down, and 1 more to go (for now)...let's do this shit! 😁

#mmfd #my mad fat diary #mmfd fanfic #my mad fat diary fanfiction #Changing Priority #chapter 14

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finn-odell · 6 years ago

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I Fight the World, I Fight You, I Fight Myself

Self-Para || Finn History

Things should have been feeling easier for Finn. He was no longer completely alone in the world. There were people out there who knew what he was doing, and he had support. He couldn’t talk about details, or who he was pursuing, but he finally had people that he could turn to if things got too difficult. Despite having support now, things seemed to be more complicated. He knew exactly why that was. He’d promised himself that he would stay far away from any woman that would cause him to feel anything more than friendship. The problem was that Finn hadn’t accounted for the potential of meeting someone that he would immediately click with.

As he made his way to a meeting with the members of the gang at the bar that he worked at, his mind went over the various times he’d met up with Eve. She was so far removed from anything that he was doing now, and he knew that getting involved with her was likely to end up in pain for someone, but he couldn’t help himself. A smile crossed his features as he thought about her. She had no idea how much he needed his time with her. Eve reminded him who he was, she reminded him that he had a reason to do this job and do it well. The sooner that he accomplished his goal, the sooner he would be done with this mission and he could potentially find an alternative. Living a life that was full of lies had taken such a huge toll on him already, and he was afraid that even having Eve to remind him of who he was that it wouldn’t be enough to keep him from losing himself.

Arriving at the bar, he walked inside and spotted the faces of the criminals who had become familiar to him and a smile formed on his face. He stepped up to them, greetings passed around to the ones he’d come to know. It seemed weird, not hating the men who were essentially the reason for his life being so complicated. These were, by all means, despicable men who did terrible things regularly without even feeling remorse. Finn looked at these men seeing what his future would have been if he hadn’t gotten a wake up call when he was younger. Somehow, it seemed almost a joke that he was now here doing undercover work involved in things he’d thought he had gotten away from.

The meeting was to organize another task. There was conflict, as there often was, between another group of men in the area. Finn and the others he tended to roll with had gathered a bit of a reputation in the gang for being effective at finding people, and getting things done. They were tasked with finding a particular person, someone who had unfortunately tried to play both sides between their gang, and a rival. The boss was not going to allow someone to try and sabotage the efforts he’d made to strengthen their stronghold on activity in the area. Finn didn’t think anything of the mission, just because they were tasked with finding this man and bringing him in, didn’t mean that they would be involved in much more aside from that.

Once the meeting finished, Finn followed people out of the bar. “Alright, we leave tonight, be ready at six. He’s hidin’ now, but he ain’t gonna be hidin’ for long.”

“Don’t worry, Mac here is like a hound. Dude can sniff a track for anyone.” One of the others vouched for Finn.

Finn laughed and shook his head. “Been doing this shit too long, you get used to finding signs.”

He’d become trusted and he’d become essential. Nobody else could figure out how to find people, and between information that he sometimes got, and generally looking around and piecing together information, he was able to provide a skill nobody else could. It was good for him, if he had something that nobody else did then he was sure to stick around, and he was sure to be noticed. It was bad only because it put a lot of attention on him, and sometimes that attention was more than he was wanting. It was an uncomfortable place for him to be in knowing that he sometimes had the spotlight on him. It’s what made his trips out of Chicago much more difficult. He couldn’t just up and disappear without letting people know he was going anywhere and when he would be back. It also meant that if he was called, he had to go immediately. He didn’t have a choice.

“Well, Mac, you’ll be putting that nose to test tonight. Fucking six o’clock, asshole. Don’t try to disappear, or be late again.”

Finn rolled his eyes. He still wasn’t living down the time he’d stayed at Reyna’s too long and came back to Chicago late, missing a meeting. He’d paid a dear price for it, and the healing that he’d had to go through after took a while, and every so often if he still moved in the wrong direction he would feel a sharp pain in his side that made him wonder if he’d broken a rib when he was getting kicked. It didn’t feel broken, however, and there was no use in going to a doctor to have them confirm whether it was or was not. It didn’t matter either way. They wouldn’t be able to do anything for him if it was broken.

Once everyone separated, Finn hopped on a bus taking it to another stop. He went into a store, grabbed something to drink, and then waited for another bus. Taking that one, he ended up at a store where he bought a new shirt, and some jeans. After that he hopped on yet another bus. The whole time he paid attention to whether he was being followed, and what faces were around him. He got off and went into a place to order a deep dish pizza. When he got out and grabbed a taxi. After having gone all over the damn city and not being followed, he felt safe enough to head to his destination.

He arrived at the apartment complex, running up to the door, and when he was let inside he was searched. All his weapons were taken from him and he left his bag of purchases while he moved further into the room with his pizza. Sitting in a chair he looked up at the familiar face of the FBI personnel assigned to oversee his work. He slowly opened his box of pizza and began to eat, ignoring the impatient looks of the people sitting there waiting for him to divulge information.

After a few bites into his pizza one finally huffed and began the push for information, “So?! Are we gonna sit here all day watching you eat, or are you going to tell us what’s going on?”

Finn swallowed, his eyes on the one who had the outburst the whole time before answering, “We’re looking for a dude named Gino. He was working with our crew, and it looks like he’s trying to flip. Trying to sell information about this crew to another crew. I’ve met him once before. He’s a sneaky punk. They want me to find this guy with some of the others, bring him in for interrogation. See if we can find out what he’s told the other crew and see if they can get information on the other crew.”

“What happens when he gives up that information?”

He shrugged and took another bite of his pizza. “They’ll probably just kill him. They don’t do traitors.”

The ease with which he stated that, and the fact that it didn’t phase him should have come as a shock, but somehow Finn saw this desensitization coming. “They won’t give him a chance to try and work some info?”

Finn scoffed. “Nah. From what I can tell, they can’t afford to have someone who isn’t trustworthy. I think you’re forgetting these guys beat the shit out of me for missing a meeting, and I wasn’t even going behind their backs at the time. I just lost track of the time.”

“Stupid motherfucker.” One of them grumbled.

His head snapped in that one’s direction, and Finn’s eyes narrowed on him. “I don’t see you out there sacrificing your life. I don’t see you out there lying day in and day out. When I see your ass out there doing the shit that I’m doing, then you can talk to me. I’m sacrificing more than just my life for this job. I’m sacrificing happiness, family, friendships, my own damn health. I had shit to take care of, I learned my lesson, I’ll be more careful next time. Doesn’t matter anyway, that situation is all taken care of, won’t happen again. Still, doesn’t give you the right to judge what I’m doing and how I’m handling this.”

“We have every right to judge.”

“Look, you want information. You want to know what the fuck is happening, and you want to find out who the boss is. You want to know who is doing all the puppeteering. I’m the guy who is going to give that to you. So either you back the fuck off and let me do what I’m doing, or you find someone else to do this shit, or ya know... do it yourselves. Oh... that’s right, you’re too much of a pussy to do that.”

Finn stood from his seat. “Next time you want to make a comment on me, asshole, make sure you have the balls to come at me.” He shoved the pizza box at them. “Here, you can eat that. It’s what you’re good at. Put your best talents to use.”

He walked towards the door hearing his name called, and he turned around. “You better watch your mouth. It’ll get you into trouble, and if you piss off the wrong people you’re going to find yourself in a whole world of hell and no way to get out of it.”

“Is that a threat?” Finn stepped up to the one who had been cocky with his commentary so that his face was inches from the man. His voice was low as he faced-off with this man. “If you’re going to threaten me, make sure it’s a valid fucking threat. I’m already in a world of hell with no way out. I don’t expect to survive this shit. So, if you want to scare me... Try. Again.”

He spun on his heels and stalked out of the room without another backward glance at the two men. Taking roundabout ways back home he arrived at his apartment still fuming. He picked up his phone, about to text Eve in an attempt to cool down and remind himself why he had a reason to make it through this, but he decided against it. He needed to put himself in the right mindset for the night, and right now he was not where he needed to be. He was about to do some unpleasant shit, and making himself soft before he went out there would only cause him to second guess himself, and he needed to keep his head straight.

#larpara #p: i fight the world i fight you i fight myself #lareve #larreyna #tw: gang activity #(made it look easy. can't look away. you like the pain.)

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superkickingit · 8 years ago

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Meeting The Young Bucks and Finn Balor; New Orleans Wizard World Comic Con; WildKat Wrestling Show;��ROH TV Taping!

These past few weeks have been INSANELY busy for me. Right before Christmas I had officially launched my YouTube channel SuperKicking It With Kelsi. I had released one promo-style video, but I had planned on going to Wizard World Comic Con in New Orleans to get my first real content filmed. My plans for content included: interviewing Jason David Frank about CM Punk and other things (but that fell through unfortunately), getting some interviews with artists selling wrestling-themed artwork, and I was hoping to stand in front of Finn Balor’s table and shoot a funny bit with Fake Nick about the Bullet Club defecting to Balor Club or something along those lines.

Things were going okay as I was walking around the Con with my friend Steve who was filming for me that day.

I quickly realized we were late for Finn Balor’s Q&A panel, and I wanted to get b-roll of that to use in my comic con compilation video. So we headed upstairs...little did I know what would happen next!

We walked in a little late unfortunately, and I saw people waiting in line in a not very crowded room to ask him questions. I debated getting in line for a minute or two, but I decided to just go for it even though I was a little nervous to go up there in my costume. As soon as I stepped up to the mic, Finn began to realize what I was holding: A Fake Nick Jackson. He really seemed to laugh and enjoy it. He asked if I could bring it up there, but the doll was attached to me by a belt so I asked if it was okay if I went up because it was physically connected to me, literally. He said yes. So I got to sit down and talk to Finn...he was laughing, and I was laughing. And really the feeling was indescribable.

And it’s surreal, but I wasn’t nervous somehow. I felt and still feel like I am made to do that sort of thing: Interacting and talking with people in the profession that I respect and love more than anything in this world: wrestling. It feels like it was a dream, but it felt very comfortable in the moment. And it’s a memory I will never, ever forget! I feel so lucky and grateful to have had that interaction with him.

Finn couldn’t have been a nicer person. He didn’t have to let me on stage. He didn’t have to interact with me for what felt like a good bit of time. He also had a really cute interaction with a little boy who was overwhelmed when he asked Balor a question later in the panel. Finn went down and picked up the little boy, and it was a very sweet moment. The story was even picked up by Bleacher Report and some other sites. Very cool!

Nick Jackson also posted a picture of me on stage with Finn. I guess someone sent that to him. That was really nice/funny of Nick to post that. And as I was about to find out first hand just one week after meeting Finn, the Young Bucks are also nice, cool, and genuine people just like Finn!

At Wizard World, I also met and talked with Luke Hawx of WildKat Wrestling which is a New Orleans-based wrestling promotion. We discussed setting up a future interview(s) for my YouTube channel! I had just attended their local show the night before our meeting. I had a lot of fun at the show and also got to meet Stevie Richards who is the current champion of the promotion. He couldn’t have been any more of a sweetheart!!

I also met and talked with Rhett Titus at Wizard World. He wrestles for ROH and had also wrestled at the WildKat show the night before. He was funny and very nice to talk with! He even asked to take my picture with Fake Nick so he could text it to real Nick Jackson, haha! That really was one of the things that helped make my day so special and memorable!

I had so much fun at Wizard World Comic Con, and I even made some new friends while there!

Shortly after too sweeting Finn Balor, Fake Nick deflated - he popped him (literally!) Luckily my mom and I were able to patch Fake Nick and restore him to perfect health later in the week (hahah!)

Monday I went to RAW in New Orleans. I saw Undertaker and Shawn Michaels. And marked out to see Jericho win the US title belt. I had a really fun time! Of course I had to sport my two Young Bucks pins on my shirt even while at RAW because I will always represent my boys [my bois--hahaha] You can buy these pins and a Kenny Omega pin at Patti Lapel’s website

Fast forward a few days to Friday, January 13th which is my birthday. Coincidentally it fell on a Friday this year, and I was actually born on Friday the 13th as well (some people say that explains a lot about my personality, haha!). Sometimes I feel like I’m unlucky, but these past few weeks have been like a dream, and I feel like the luckiest person in the world! On my birthday, I flew to Atlanta with someone I really like and think is very cool and fun, Paul. We had lunch with awesome people, went to my first basketball game (The Celtics vs The Hawks--I’m happy that the Celtics won since that’s who we were rooting for!), had a great time at Torched Hop Brewing Company, and went to a bar and listened to some live music after the game.

The next day was the ROH TV tapings at Center Stage Theater in Atlanta. I was going to participate in the meet and greet to meet The Young Bucks.

The Bucks requested I bring Fake Nick and wear my costume. Haha, it was really weird having to pack Fake Nick in my luggage...I can only imagine what the TSA guys thought when my bag went through the X-RAY machine!!! I also made a new element for my costume: a Matt mask (I printed out a picture of Matt Jackson’s face and pasted it on some cardboard, cut it out, and attached it to a Popsicle stick so I could hold it in front of my face if I wanted to). I think it came out really funny!

Getting out of the Uber and arriving at the show early, everyone stared at my costume. I felt really nervous but excited. It was funny but I saw a sweet boy and his dad who actually saw me at comic con in New Orleans at that Finn Balor panel. They told me they remembered me from the weekend before, and I talked to them for a good while. They couldn’t have been nicer. The boy loved my costume, we took a picture, and he was so sweet and cute!

Then we filed in for the meet and greet and got in the official line. It was the moment of truth (they say never meet your idols or someone you look up to because you could be disappointed or they could wind up being mean and you’d never think of them the same way again), BUT I’m happy to report that wasn’t the case with the Bucks!!! They were so cool, friendly, and down to earth. They seemed genuinely amused to see my costume. They took pictures to send to their wives, and told me to tweet the picture we all took together which they both ended up retweeting. I’ll never forget how nice they were. But again, it was so weird that I didn’t feel very nervous at all while talking with them. It just felt fun and natural.

Somehow, I managed to slip in between the cracks and meet Cody Rhodes without officially buying a ticket to get a picture with him. I went up to him and asked him how much it was for a picture, to which he responded, “You know what...screw the ticket, let’s take a picture.” Since I had a Bullet Club shirt on and had fake Nick, I said “Bullet Club 4 life” haha. I also said how much I enjoyed his matches at Final Battle as well as his debut at WK 11 (wish I would have remembered to tell him how much I enjoyed his Bullet Club vignette/video package. That was one of my favorite vignettes of all time--that’s the way you hype someone’s debut!). He thanked me and said he was very happy with his performance at WK. He also asked me if I wanted to see “something cool.” I said yes, and he pulled up his jacket sleeve to reveal the cuff links he was wearing...gold bullets! I said “Wow, that’s spiffy!” I really liked meeting him, and it was totally unexpected.

I had a few interactions with some other people as well. Larry Legend asked to take my picture for the ROH Facebook Page (which they posted later!). I was very honored and happy they enjoyed my costume. Legend tweeted about it just the other day, which also flattered me greatly.

I also met The Addiction! And Cheeseburger, haha. That was fun too! The people running the show and who work for ROH were so nice and accommodating. They came up to me and asked if I would like to store Fake Nick behind the merch table, which really helped because he was so difficult to carry around.

The seats were GREAT. The value of the tickets were GREAT. You go to a WWE show and you sit through a ton of commercials and watered down matches for a very high price usually, but the ROH tapings were worth every penny. It was very long; The show lasted about 5 hours, which did kind of hurt my back to sit for that long, but I think I got a great value for the price I paid for those tickets. And most important of all: the wrestling was PHENOMENAL. There were quite a few great matches throughout the night (they taped four episodes worth of content).

Seeing the Bucks and Cole wrestle live for the first time was really amazing and it lived up to my expectations. It created an energy and buzz in the room that gave me legit goosebumps (yeah, I know I am very corny...I don’t care!)

Lethal, Bobby Fish, and Christopher Daniels all had some cool moments throughout the show (I don’t want to say any spoilers so I won’t go into detail). There was a funny crowd interaction having to do with a broom that was ridiculous but a lot of fun at the same time. Rhett Titus was in a match so it was neat to see him again as well!

There were so many good quality matches. It’s going to be hard to attend other WWE events again and have it feel as exciting as this was to me.

I had an amazing time at the show and in Atlanta, and it’s truly a time I will never forget!

People doubted me along the way on this journey, but I think I am exceeding even my own expectations in what I am doing with my show so far. (and it’s only the beginning!) All I know is that making wrestling my life’s work is looking more and more like it’s in the realm of possibility (I hope!).

In this world, nothing has captivated me the way that wrestling has, and I am forever grateful for discovering it. It truly is the love of my life. Passion is contagious! And if I can spread this passion for wrestling to even one person through my excitement and passion for the “business that I love” and for the wrestlers who put their bodies on the line to entertain the fans, then all the hard work will have been worth it. I have never been so fulfilled and satisfied with the work that I have been doing in my entire life.

I can’t wait to see what the future will hold in this next year, and 2017 certainly has gotten off to an amazing start so far. #LUCKY

Support wrestlers, support wrestling, support each other! And thank you to everyone who always supports me - It’s always noticed, appreciated, and I truly am forever grateful.

<3 Kelsi - SuperKicking It With Kelsi

@theyoungbucks @ringofhonor

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placetobenation · 5 years ago

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As King Corbin aptly said on Friday Night Smackdown, NXT is all anyone can talk about! It’s true, it’s damn true to quote the man that Corbin retired, Kurt Angle.

Who’s going to attack who. Who’s going to show up where. Who’s going to face each other at Survivor Series. There are plenty of storylines to answer those questions. And the interest is growing! Just look at NXT’s ratings for Wednesday night as they pulled almost even (822,000 to 813,000 according to Nielsen) in viewers for the Wednesday Night War with AEW. My question is will it only be NXT taking shots at RAW and Smackdown or will over the next two weeks, will we also get RAW taking shots at Smackdown as well in traditional blue vs. red rivalry.

WHAT IS HAPPENING?!?!?!?!?@AJStylesOrg @FinnBalor #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/HY6x5hgBt9

— WWE (@WWE) November 7, 2019

This week, we get a nod to the Bullet Club with an AJ Styles – Finn Balor stare down at Full Sail University. We also get more into what could be the end to Seth Rollins’ babyface days. Days that have seen Seth fighting for, yet failing it seems to capture any and all the major titles in the WWE. At what point will Rollins just lose it? I’m looking forward to it.

This means war.@NXTCiampa, @SuperKingofBros, @RealKeithLee, and ??? will battle #UndisputedERA in #WarGames at #NXTTakeOver! #WWENXT https://t.co/5NnDh0SZKS

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) November 7, 2019

One spot left. Who's ready to go to war? #WarGames #WWENXThttps://t.co/DoNCsRZ7L4

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) November 7, 2019

What we’re also looking forward to is War Games! Are we headed towards a War Games between the brands? We already know we have two NXT War Games to look forward to and after all of this week’s excitement and tryouts, 14 of the 16 contestants have been announced. On the women’s side, we’ve got Rhea Ripley, Tegan Nox, Mia Yim, Candice LeRae vs. NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler, Io Shirai, Bianca Belair and TBD. For the men, it’s the Undisputed ERA vs. Tommaso Ciampa, Matt Riddle, Keith Lee and TBD.

Finally, we have a pair of matches set for the upcoming Survivor Series with the RAW vs. Smackdown vs. NXT having a championship theme.

Women’s Champions: NXT’s Shayna Baszler vs. Smackdown’s Bayley vs. RAW’s Becky Lynch

Tag Team Champions; NXT’s Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly vs. Smackdown’s The New Day vs. RAW’s The Viking Raiders

Plus, the WWE Championship is on the line with champion Brock Lesnar facing Rey Mysterio, Jr.

What’s next for The Fiend and the Universal Championship? We may get a clue from across the pond!

Color me a traditionalist, but I’d love to see Survivor Series come back to Thanksgiving Day Night, but I know that will never happen.

MONDAY NIGHT RAW

RESULTS

Non-Title Match: Charlotte & Natalya defeated Women’s Tag Team Champions The Kabuki Warriors (submission Natalya over Asuka)

Buddy Murphy defeated Cedric Alexander

Andrade & Zelina Vega defeated Sin Cara & Carolina

Rusev defeated Drew McIntyre (DQ when Bobby Lashley interferes)

The OC defeated The Street Profits & Humberto Carrillo

Non-Title Match: RAW Tag Team Champions The Viking Raiders defeated the East Hampton Polo Boys

NXT Title Match: Seth Rollins defeated NXT Champion Adam Cole (DQ when Undisputed ERA interferes)

What we loved:

.@QosBaszler and @BeckyLynchWWE have an INTENSE meeting on #RAW ahead of #SurvivorSeries.@WWENXT continues to make their presence felt! pic.twitter.com/1Fe4OVvWG9

— WWE (@WWE) November 5, 2019

Becky vs. Baszler – If you missed it, go back and watch it! In what could be one of the best pieces of business this week, the RAW Women’s Champ goes face-to-face with the NXT Women’s Champ in a verbal spat not to be missed.

Natalya & Charlotte – As we’ve said in the past, the pairing of these two veterans is a great thing for the Women’s Division. Putting them over in a non-title match over the tag champions means that soon we’ll get a tag team title match between them and The Kabuki Warriors. My question is will we see Paige come back to exact revenge on her former tag team.

Adam Cole – What’s not to like about the NXT Champion? Who else could main event back-to-back shows that aren’t his brand? First, taking out Daniel Bryan on Smackdown and then going toe-to-toe with Seth Rollins on RAW. Well done, BAY BAY!

Rey Mysterio, Jr. – Viva la little man! Mysterio strikes back with his trusty partner, a lead pipe, to exact revenge on WWE Champion Brock Lesnar. And to boot, he should get a title match at Survivor Series.

Dio Maddin – Sticking up for the King, Jerry Lawler is never a bad thing! Unfortunately, Maddin paid the price courtesy of the WWE Champion.

The BRAWL continues between #RAW and @WWENXT! pic.twitter.com/PdqIe03tfL

— WWE (@WWE) November 5, 2019

BASK IN HIS GLORY. @RealKeithLee#SurvivorSeries is for the taking. #RAW #WeAreNXT pic.twitter.com/p45PxGZYxR

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) November 5, 2019

High flyers – Keith Lee flying high replicating Ricochet in a post-main event melee! Love it!

What we didn’t love:

Another loss for Humberto Carrillo – At some point, Carrillo has to win a match on TV, right? It’s great to face Seth Rollins, AJ Styles and now the OC. But if you lose every match, what does it get you? You have to start building him up with some victories or else it becomes a losing streak like Curt Hawkins.

Another loss for Sin Cara & Carolina – See above. For a feud to be successful, it can’t be one-sided. Yet, this one is.

NXT

RESULTS

Pete Dunne defeated Damian Priest (submission)

Taynara defeated Santana Garrett

Non-Title Match: Champion Shayna Baszler defeated Dakota Kai (submission)

#1 Contender’s Match For The Cruiserweight Title: Angel Garza defeated Tony Nese

Dominik Dijakovic defeated Isaiah Scott

Keith Lee, Matt Riddle, and Tommaso Ciampa vs. The OC (no contest)

What we loved:

Absolute respect to #TheOC who came to “our house,” walked through the front door and tore the place down. The #USChamp and Best Tag Team in the World can hang with @WWENXT. Anyone else who wants to walk through our door better be ready to go. #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/HZDkpWJ52I

— Triple H (@TripleH) November 7, 2019

Welcome to Full Sail, The OC – Way to start the show! AJ Styles, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson delivering a beatdown to the NXT roster reminiscent of The Outsiders using Rey Mysterio, Jr. as a pinata into a production truck. Then, to lay down the challenge to NXT after a week of NXT taking charge of RAW and Smackdown was needed and well played. And remember, The OC completely got to skip going to NXT before joining the main roster.

Tommaso Ciampa – To the OC: “Welcome to the main roster.” Well done Goldie!

The NXT response – Keith Lee and Matt Riddle are easily making themselves into main event talent every week on NXT. Throw in former champ Tommaso Ciampa and you’ve got a dramatic six-man main event against The OC that ends in a wild melee to a returning Finn Balor.

Welcome to Survivor Series Finn Balor – After a week of wondering where Finn Balor stands on the whole NXT vs. RAW vs. Smackdown rivalry, we now have a slight glimpse into that picture. Balor seemingly came out to help his NXT mates in the main event only to deliver a knockout pele kick to Ciampa, a kick that AJ Styles acknowledges with a “two-sweet” gesture, a nod to their Bullet Club days in Japan. And yes, I love that Mauro Ranollo referenced that on the broadcast, something not usually done since it was pre-WWE days. Could Balor be strattling both sides of the battle?

War Games Build – A heavy concentration on who Shayna Baszler & Rhea Ripley would pick for their team in War Games, including a match between Baszler herself and Dakota Kai – a quality non-title match that made Kai look good and established her into the War Game mix. That match leads to a full out brawl with Ripley’s team and a Mia Yim’s kendo stick save of Team Ripley. With Yim getting the final spot instead of Kai, could we see a turn in Kai’s future after being shunned? Also, how come Baszler doesn’t have her sidekicks, Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir on her team? Right now, we’ve got Rhea Ripley, Tegan Nox, Mia Yim, Candice LeRae vs. NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler, Io Shirai, Bianca Belair and TBD.

Angel Garza – A win over Tony Nese nets him an NXT Cruiserweight Championship match next week against Lio Rush. Way to get some heel heat too after the match by slapping Rush instead of shaking his hand. It gives us more than just a match thrown together. Emotion and storyline added to athleticism is always a productive method!

What we didn’t love:

Santana Garrett vs. Taynara – A bit clunky at times, I expected a bit more considering what else we’ve gotten from what is red-hot, stacked women’s division in NXT week after week. Call it an average, albeit short – just four minutes – match and possibly just an off-night.

No update on Johnny Gargano – He is the emotional soul of NXT. Don’t let a week go by without updating his situation after being put out by Finn Balor. Maybe, we’ll just see him as the fourth member of War Games and they’re just waiting for that surprise in a week or two.

FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN

RESULTS

Smackdown Tag Team Title Match: The New Day defeated The Revival to win titles

Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Ali and Shorty G

Sasha Banks defeated Nikki Cross

Carmella and Dana Brooke defeated Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville to gain spot on Women’s Survivor Series team

King Corbin defeated Roman Reigns

What we loved:

THEY DID IT FOR WOODS!@WWEBigE & @TrueKofi have made #TheNewDay 7️⃣-TIME #TagTeamChampions! #SmackDown @XavierWoodsPhD pic.twitter.com/b3o5AWnBbm

— WWE (@WWE) November 9, 2019

It’s a New Day, New Champs – Kofi Kingston is a champ again as Kofi and Big E reign supreme as Smackdown champions once more. Of course, this will only fuel the IWC rumors that The Revival are headed out in 2020 to AEW or elsewhere.

King Corbin’s heat – Easily the top heel heat on Smackdown. Corbin draws it and the crowd loves to dish it. Having Dolph Ziggler and Bobby Roode help him out could point towards a Survivor Series team grouping in a few weeks.

Walter and The Imperium – As you know, we’re big fans of WALTER from NXT UK and NXT. It makes sense to unleash them at a Smackdown in Manchester, England to further the NXT vs. Smackdown vs. RAW feud. Getting them some TV time with new tag team champs, The New Day and Heavy Machinery makes a lot of sense for the NXT UK Champion WALTER, Fabian Archer, Marcel Barthel and Alexander Wolfe

Will he stay or will he join – Sami Zayn’s continued pursuit of Daniel Bryan has some legs and some intrigue to it, especially with all of the chaos and uncertainty headed towards Survivor Series. Plus, add in The Fiend attacking Bryan backstage and we could find out our next feud for the new Universal Champion. A Global Faction of Cesar, Nakamura and Bryan led by Zayn mixing with the Firefly Fun House could very well be worth watching.

Different week, same result – NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler attacks Smackdown Women’s Champion Bayley. After a confrontation on RAW with Becky Lynch, Baszler is becoming must-see TV on every show to see who she’s going to take out next.

What we didn’t love:

Fire and Desire Fail – Since when did Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville become jobbers? It seems like they lose every week in some form or fashion. Yes, I realize that’s an exaggeration, but I think they are better than what they are being portrayed. Maybe Sonya Deville would work well as a member of Shayna Baszler’s War Games team? Hmmm…..

Fury and Strowman – So, now we’re supposed to just accept them as a team? We know that Tyson Fury isn’t going to be around much due to his boxing commitments. But after hating each other for a month-plus, they just team up to beat up The B Team of Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas. We’ll chalk it up to a taping in Manchester, England for a fan pop and see where it goes from here.

LOOKING AHEAD:

Since RAW was taped Friday in Manchester, England after the Smackdown taping, we know there are some things set to unveil Monday night on Veteran’s Day. All we can say, as to not spoil things, is that it could be a K-O of a night.

Thanks for letting us share our thoughts! Shoot me an email at [email protected]. We’d love to hear you comments and suggestions! You can also check out my blog, The Crowe’s Nest as we delve into more pro wrestling, sports entertainment and the World of Sports. My apologies ahead of time – I AM a Patriots and Red Sox fan! If you’re not down with that, I’ve got TWO WORDS for you… NEW ENGLAND!

#IFTTT #Place to Be Nation

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jayfurr · 6 years ago

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Tuesday, August 21, was the seventh day of our vacation, and the fourth day of our nine-day Baltic Sea cruise. We would spend the next four days in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Finland, stopping off in Estonia’s capital Tallin, then spending two days in St. Petersburg, Russia, and then finishing with a day in Finland’s capital, Helsinki.

We didn’t know much about Estonia before stopping there, other than that it was one of the three Baltic republics illegally annexed by the Soviet Union after World War II and which declared independence in the first phase of the dissolution of the USSR. Oh, and that they’re culturally and linguistically related to the Finns to the north as opposed to the other Balts in Latvia and Lithuania to the south. Tallinn turned out to be a charming city, with an Old Town up on a hill overlooking the harbor, a massive concert venue for the every-five-years Estonian song festival, and lots of shopping and tourist-friendly restaurants to visit.

Ask us what our main memory of Tallinn is, though, and you’ll probably get “holy crap, the crowds”.

See, they let a lot of cruise ships come to town at the same time!

{insert look of stunned surprise here}

Long story short, Tallinn’s tourist spots were crowded. As in, there were at times over a dozen tour groups, each being led by a different tour guide carrying a pole with a number on top, all trying to cram into or navigate through the same space. Some groups were large, some were small. Ours was one of the small ones — we had, again, paid for the “exclusive” small-group tour that allowed a maximum of fifteen people. That sure saved time on roll calls as our guide checked to see if we’d lost anyone. But heavens help us, that didn’t mean we didn’t deal with crowds and thousands upon thousands of other tourists anyway. And yes, those other tourists had just as much right to be there as we did. But unfortunately, the upshot of it all was that it was hard to enjoy the city as much as we might’ve — everywhere you turned, there was another herd of tourists stampeding toward you — and we didn’t even get in to one of the major attractions, the Russian-constructed Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. We got in line with everyone else to fight our way up the steps into the cathedral and after a half hour, we were just on the doorstep when … it was time to turn around and go find our guide to move on to the next stop on our itinerary. (We hear it’s a nice cathedral.)

But we did see some nice things — the stadium for the song festival, the Old Town up on a hill, St Nicholas’s Church where they put on an organ concert every day for the tourists, the medieval walls of Old Town Tallinn, the fairytale quaintness of Town Hall Square… it was all very pretty and scenic. And crowded. We had excellent sunny, clear weather the day we were there, with highs in the mid-60s (Fahrenheit), and our tour guide was very competent with a pretty good command of English. So all in all, it was a good day.

http://furrs.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/August-21-Videos-03.mp4

[spacer height=”20px”]We had lunch (chicken and potatoes, with beer) at a little restaurant off Town Hall Square and eventually wound up in the (crowded) shopping district, where Carole got a lovely hand-woven wool cape for a surprisingly low price. I know what you’re thinking; it was probably mass-produced in Korea and shipped in, right? We don’t think so. The woman we bought it from, in a little stall just off Müürivahe Street in the Old Town Tallinn, didn’t have any two of the same design and claimed she’d made it all herself and could answer questions about her technique. Prices in the places like Estonia, St Petersburg, and Finland were just low compared to what we’d pay for things back home in the USA.

Teppanyaki Fun #1

Teppanyaki Fun #2

Teppanyaki Fun #3

Teppanyaki Fun #4

Teppanyaki Fun #5

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We ended the day back on the ship, of course, and had dinner at the specialty restaurant called Teppanyaki. Teppanyaki (as you may know) is a style of Japanese grill cooking that focuses on entertainment with juggling and witty repartee between the chef and the diners. We’d done a Norwegian Cruise Lines teppanyaki restaurant once before, in Hawaii, and had been disappointed. Our chef was light on banter and basically just cooked. Not so on the Norwegian Breakaway. This guy was amazing. He was Filipino but had excellent English and even better juggling skills. He could toss an egg over his shoulder and catch it on the edge of a cleaver held behind his back — and not break the egg. (The food was good, too.)

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

What We Did On Our 2018 Summer Vacation, Day 7 (Estonia) Tuesday, August 21, was the seventh day of our vacation, and the fourth day of our nine-day Baltic Sea cruise.

#baltic sea #baltic vacation #travel

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endorsereviews · 7 years ago

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Maxwell Finn – Facebook Ad IQ Academy

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