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acacia-may · 2 years ago

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What are your songs for Finral x Finesse (FinFin is their shipname, right)?

Hi anon! Thank you so much for this ask! I'm still getting to know all the ship names, but, yes, I think FinFin is the name for Finral x Finesse! I am so excited that you've asked me about them because their ship playlist is actually my favourite to listen to (linked here if you're interested. Though I will warn you it does contain some angsty songs and a few songs that are mainly (affectionate) jokes at Finral's expense).

My most listened to song on Spotify this year "Line Without a Hook" by Ricky Montgomery and mxmtoon is actually from my FinFin playlist, but since I already made a post about it and talked about two of my other favourite Finral x Finesse songs "Little Wanderer" by Death Cab for Cutie and "Candle on the Water" (one of my favourite Disney songs) in my post about them for the ship bingo game, I've decided to choose some other favourites for this ask!

"Oceans Between Us" by The Icarus Account

"Make You Mine" by PUBLIC

"Only Us" by Carrie Underwood and Dan + Shay (originally from the musical "Dear Evan Hansen" but I like this version a lot)

"I Wanna Make You Happy" by Victory

"The Long and Winding Road" by The Beatles

"It Only Takes A Moment" by Kate Baldwin and Gavin Creel (from the musical "Hello Dolly")

"Maybe Don't" by Maisie Peters and JP Saxe

Bonuses:

A Bit Angsty: "Nicest Thing" by Kate Nash

A Bit Cheeky: "Two Princes" by Spin Doctors, "You're the One" by the Vogues, and "Honey, I'm Good" by Andy Grammer

The song "Oceans Between Us" by The Icarus Account could have been written for this ship. The lovely, overarching theme of this song is just so fitting for Finral and Finesse. Though the singer is traveling far away (with "miles and miles that [he's] yet to go" he hasn't forgotten his beloved who is waiting for him to return ("But tell me you love me and tell me again/ You wait for forever, you wait till the end"). If that isn't enough, there are also lines like "You're the only reason I come home/ My love" and a whole section of "You're the only one"s. It's an incredibly sweet song (for an incredibly sweet ship), and I think it really suits them. The ending, "You're mine forever and I'm yours/ Yours till the end" always brings a smile to my face.

The Icarus Account - Oceans Between Us (official audio) - YouTube

"Make You Mine" by PUBLIC was my fifth most listened to song of 2021 (probably because it was on my Finral x Finesse playlist). Every time the line "put your hand in mine" comes up I always think of Finesse grabbing his hand when he's dropping the letter out of the spatial portal in Episode 154 (one of my all-time favourite Black Clover episodes). While I don't see them hurting each other all that much and there are a few bittersweet moments in this song, I mainly disregard those and focus on the bits I think are very fitting to this ship given that "You know that I want to be with you all the time/ You know that I won't stop until I make you mine" is a pretty good way to summarize all of Finral's newfound motivation to become a man worthy of Finesse's love.

PUBLIC - Make You Mine (Official Lyric Video) - YouTube

"Only Us" was originally from the musical "Dear Evan Hansen," but I've linked the version by Carrie Underwood and Dan + Shay. I'm not sure where to even begin with this one since I'd really like to just copy and paste all of the lyrics into this post. The opening of the song just screams Finesse to me. She recognizes that Finral is insecure, but she loves him anyway and encourages him that he doesn't have to convince her that he is enough for her (i.e. "I don't need you to sell me on reasons to want you/ I don't need you to search for the proof that I should/ You don't have to convince me/ You don't have to be scared you're not enough"). She knows that the past is painful, but she wants to move forward from that into something better, brighter, and happier together ("And what came before won't count anymore or matter").

Then the second verse just perfectly captures how I think Finral feels in this relationship. Finesse is his first love, but he never could have imagined that she would actually love him in return (i.e. "I never thought there'll be someone like you who would want me"). I think one of Finral's biggest motivations as a character is that he is starving for the unconditional love he didn't receive as a child, and when we meet him in the canon, we see that he is looking for it in all the wrong places (i.e. by practically throwing himself at every woman he sees). On a certain deep level, he really feels like he doesn't deserve to be loved, especially to be loved unconditionally, on the merits of just being Finral, but that doesn't stop him from wishing for it. I think the lines ""But if you really see me/ If you like me for me and nothing else/ Well, that's all that I've wanted for longer than you could possibly know" really speak to that.

What's so beautiful about Finral and Finesse as a ship is that she does see him for who he is and loves him for that, and I think that this song really captures that (especially the lines "You and me/ That's all that we needed to be/ And the rest of the world falls away"). That "'Til you're the only one, I still know how to see" line is just an added bonus.

Carrie Underwood & Dan +Shay - Only Us (Lyrics) - YouTube

"I Wanna Make You Happy" by Victory is a little on the nose given Finral's vow to "be the one to make Lady Finesse happy." However, it's a cute song full of warm and fuzzies for a cute ship full of warm and fuzzies.

Victory Boyd - I Wanna Make You Happy (Official Lyric Video) - YouTube

"The Long and Winding Road" is a Beatles classic, and one of my favourite songs of all time. I think it fits the context of this ship extremely well because even though Finral has left Finesse to find his own way in the world, he is coming to realise that "the long and winding road" of his life's journey will eventually lead back to her. It's almost as if his heart has been with her all along, he just didn't know it.

"The long and winding road/ That leads to your door/ Will never disappear/ I've seen that road before/ It always leads me here/ Lead me to you door"

The Long And Winding Road (Remastered 2009) - YouTube

I know "It Only Takes a Moment" is a showtune (from the musical "Hello Dolly") so it's a little out of the box, but it was just too perfect to pass up. I mean, if anyone is going to believe that "It only takes a moment/ To be loved a whole life long," it's Finral. This kind of hopeless romanticism just fits him so well, and I imagine that if he was to tell the story of how he fell in love with Finesse if would very much be a love at first sight kind of thing (on his side. I think it was a slow burn thing on her side). She was his first love, and, yes, I might be teasing him a bit with this song choice but it's pretty undeniable that he really was taken with her from the first time he saw her. When I listen to this song, I like to think of Finral explaining to his squad that he loves Finesse and has since the very beginning. These lines: "It only takes a moment/ For your eyes to meet and then/ Your heart knows in a moment/ You will never be alone again" especially just feel so much like him and his attitude towards his relationship.

Not to mention the fact that the line "I held her for an instant/But my arms felt sure and strong" always makes me think of this:

It Only Takes a Moment - YouTube

"Maybe Don't" by Maisie Peters and JP Saxe was a big inspiration for my Finral x Finesse story, "I'll Be Waiting," (especially the lines "We should never speak again/ Because I like you/ And lately it's been only getting worse/ So we should never speak again/ Because I want to/ I've run through every outcome and in every one I'm hurt.") I think this song as a whole really captures Finral's conflicted feelings in trying to reconcile the fact that he loves Finesse with the fact that she is probably going to marry his brother (which, I think, he knows will leave him heartbroken if he doesn't emotionally distance himself). Meanwhile, Finesse cares about him and is trying to gently suggest that maybe he doesn't have to do that. (The gentleness and almost shyness of that "maybe don't" sentiment feels a lot like her to me). I especially love the line: "I should always be alone/ You said maybe don't" and think the line "'Cause I run from the things that I want the most/ You said I get that's what you do but, maybe don't" is particularly fitting for these two.

Maisie Peters - Maybe Don't [feat. JP Saxe] [Lyric Video] - YouTube

Bonuses:

If you want something angsty, there's the song "Nicest Thing" by Kate Nash (YouTube Link Here). I like to imagine Finral as the singer and Finesse as the "you", and I especially like the line: "I wish you'd never forget/ The look on my face when we first met" since it always brings up a mental image of this:

He looks like he’s been whacked on the back of the head, bless his heart. 😂🥺💕 I really think the opening lines of this song sum up how he feels about her too (even if he knows (or thinks he knows) that it’s nothing more than a pipedream to imagine they’d end up together):

"All I know is that you're so nice/ You're the nicest thing I've seen/ I wish that we could give it a go/ See if we could be something."

If you're feeling a bit cheeky and want something that's more about poking fun at the situation there's always "Two Princes" by Spin Doctors (YouTube Link Here). No offense to Langris intended. The song is nice enough to admit that they're both "princes who adore [her]," after all.

"Marry him, or marry me/ I'm the one that loves you, baby, can't you see?/ I ain't got no future or family tree/ But I know what a prince and lover ought to be"

Or if you'd rather the song poke fun at Finral (in the most good-natured and affectionate way, of course), there's "You're The One" by the Vogues (YouTube Link Here; Spotify link here since Tumblr won't let me embed more than 10 songs). Don't get me wrong, I love Finral and am rooting for him and Finesse, but he can be a little too insistent with his "I want you only, you must believe me"s for my taste, so this song is poking fun at that a little.

"Honey I'm Good" by Andy Grammer (YouTube Link Here) is also good for poking fun at Finral for the same reason. Plus, it has this great (and very catchy) refrain:

"So nah, nah, honey, I'm good/ I could have another, but I probably should not/ I've got somebody at home, and if I stay I might not leave alone/ No, honey, I'm good, I could have another, but I probably should not/ I've gotta bid you adieu, to another I will stay true"

(Warning: there's one bad word in this song)

Thank you so much again for the ask and for indulging me (and bearing with me to the end of what turned into a very long post)! Cheers!!

#song ask game #answered anons #thank you for playing and for the ask!#fin fin #FinFin #they're sweet #i love them so much #finral x finesse #finesse x finral #finesse calmreich x finral roulacase #finral roulacase x finesse calmreich #this post got away from me

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silly-rainbow-kid · 22 days ago

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(PJO OC rp blog!)

Name: Lyra Moore

Age: 17

Pronouns: She/they

Parents: Iris, goddess of rainbows and messenger of the gods, Henry Moore, probably mortal

Cabin: 14, Iris

Friends: Karla, daughter of Hephaestus, Damien, son of Aphrodite, Gavin, son of Dionysus, Jenny, daughter of Hermes

Abilities: - Photokinesis: She can manipulate light and use it to her advantage. She uses this ability to make holograms (like her mother), blind her enemies, and create small rainbows in her hands. (She usually gets distracted by this.) - Lithokinesis: She can grow clusters of crystals from her hands. (She gets distracted by this as well.) (this may sound random but um like I have a little bit of logic behind it- kind of anyway- basically I kinda just thought this would be a cool power for an Iris kid because.. crystals can make rainbows? It makes sense in my head-)

Personality: She’s usually energetic and hyperactive, she finds it hard to focus sometimes. She gets overwhelmed easily and likes solitude and quiet. She likes hiding in the woods when life becomes too much for her to handle.

She's lived in Camp Half-blood since she was 9, when her dad died. She doesn't leave unless it's an emergency situation. She doesn't like the outside world that much. Chiron keeps wanting her to think about what she'll do as a career when she leaves camp, but the truth is that she doesn't want to. She's terrified of leaving the protected bubble that encompasses the camp.

Her favorite place in camp is the arts and crafts center.

//will add more details as I think of them!

OOC info:

main acc is @jaxie-the-kat

//ooc talking in a post will look like this!

my name's jaxie! it's been a while since i've done any roleplays so this'll be fun! I'm major ADHD so if I'm being buggy or something let me know!! i don't wanna overstep any boundaries.

please interact if: You have a question about my character! In fact please do! It helps me think of new backstory details or whatever. You or your character are also a child of Iris! Meeting godly siblings is always fun!

okay to interact if: You just wanna talk to my character! She's very nice and loves new friends to chat with!

do not interact if: You don't know basic decency. This is pretty self explanatory lol I literally can't think of anything else to put here rn just don't be a jerk

that's all i can think of to add right now, thank you for reading! have an awesome day!

oh and my pfp was made using this picrew!

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casspurrjoybell-27 · 1 year ago

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Claimed by the Beast - Chapter 3b

*Warning Adult Content*

Alpha Energy - Part 2

- Knox -

After the women leave, she dabs at Everett's damp cheeks with her fingers.

"I know Knox can be a bit much to deal with, but trust me, you aren't in any trouble with him. No one around here is going to kill you."

"You don't know that."

"Oh, I do. I'm married to Gavin, after all. My name is Josie, by the way."

"Wish I could say it's nice to meet you, but I'd just be lying."

Everett dries his remaining tears on Knox's shirt before turning to face Josie.

"Is Gavin a member of the club?"

Josie snorts.

"More like the president."

Everett immediately sits up in his seat, his expression hardening.

"Well, I definitely can't trust you now. Everything I say, you'll just report it back to him. I should go."

"Don't. Please?"

Josie grabs Everett by the hand as he stands, her eyes pleading for him to stay.

"I know what happened to you tonight. You had your entire world flipped upside down, and it doesn't help any when you're suddenly taken by a group of strange men."

Everett slowly sits back down.

"No, it doesn't."

"I like to think I'm pretty good at reading people," Josie says.

"Once they realize you mean them no harm, they'll let you go. This will all be over soon, okay?"

Everett scoffs, shaking his head.

"Despite what you've seen tonight, The Fallen Angels are good men. They don't hurt women, children or innocents like you, so you really have nothing to worry about. And if this situation ends up putting you in trouble, I know they'll protect you. Knox most of all since he apparently gave you such a hard time."

"Right now, you're safer being here than out there where The Jackals can get you," Josie says. "How close were you to the man that died tonight?"

"His name was Shaun and I... we've only known each other for a few weeks. Do you think it's dumb for me to be this emotional over someone I barely knew?"

Josie shakes her head.

"It's natural. You saw the man get shot and die right in front of you. I'd be more concerned if you were sitting here with a dry face."

"How do you know all this? Did Knox tell you?"

"No, if I give my man enough kisses, sometimes he'll turn generous and will loop me in on club business," Josie says with a cheeky grin.

"You're not like the others. You're... different. How the hell did you get mixed up with these monsters?"

Everett glances down at her big, round belly.

"I pray for your baby's future."

"No need for that." Josie laughs, waving him off. "I told you already, The Fallen Angels aren't like that. They're not monsters. They're actually the ones who saved me. I'd be dead if it weren't for them."

Everett gasps.

"Dead?"

A dark look settles in Josie's eyes, slightly dimming their shine.

Everett remains quiet, allowing her to continue if she wants to.

Seconds turn to minutes before she talks again.

"It happened six years ago," Josie whispers. "My father worked in the pharmaceutical industry, granting him access to things every drug lord craves. One night, a man who'd been trying to blackmail my father for money and drugs kidnapped and beat me. He wanted to use me as a bargaining chip. I was with him for three excruciating days. Long story short, the cops were always one step behind at catching the guy, so my father grew desperate and reached out to The Fallen Angels. If the money is right, they'll take on jobs that the police should be better at doing. Anyway, they found me, saved me... and I've been glued to Gavin's hip ever since."

Everett places a hand on her bouncing knee, squeezing gently.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through that."

"I still have nightmares sometimes but I'm mostly over it." Josie sighs, then she plasters on a sympathetic grin. "What happened to you tonight, you'll eventually heal from it. The pain you're feeling won't stay with you forever."

"I hope you're right."

Everett exhales deeply, quietly contemplating what his next move should be.

No one here will lend him a helping hand and after chatting with Josie, his thoughts towards The Fallen Angels have become even more complicated.

"Seriously, you're going to be fine," Josie says. "Try not to stress so much."

Everett rolls his eyes, not at Josie, but at the unfortunate situation he's trapped in.

"I'm stuck with Knox for God knows how long, so that's easier said than done."

The sound of heavy footsteps approaching has both of them turning their heads.

Knox casually strolls into the kitchen looking like a fitness model ready for their photoshoot.

He's barefoot, shirtless, has his hair down and is rocking the hell out of a pair of grey sweatpants.

Little is left to Everett's wild imagination.

He stares hard at the man, shooting invisible daggers from his eyes.

He barely notices Josie giggling next to him.

"I'm surprised I didn't find you outside trying to climb the gate to escape," Knox says to Everett.

He walks to the refrigerator and takes out two bottles of water.

"Have you eaten anything?"

"Why do you care?" Everett grumbles.

"Has he eaten anything?" Knox turns around to ask Josie.

She shakes her head in response, still grinning at both men.

"Don't give me that look, Red. Whatever you're thinking, I suggest you dead it."

"Not a chance," Josie laughs, then stands to leave. "And stop giving this kid such a hard time. He's gone through hell tonight, remember? Tone down that big Alpha energy, for God's sake. It's enough to suffocate an entire room of people," Josie says her goodbyes to Everett before waddling out of the kitchen, leaving him alone with the man whose guts he despises.

They glare at each other for a long while, making the temperature inside the room soar.

Can Everett really put his trust in Knox, or did Josie feed him nothing but lies just now?

Everett still isn't sure which path he should walk.

The one that'll lead him closer to Knox or the one that'll send him running in the opposite direction.

"Your cell is dead," Knox speaks, his deep voice breaking the silence. "I couldn't find a charger that's compatible with it, so I'll have to buy you a new one tomorrow. Then you can reach out to your folks."

Everett nods.

"Okay."

Knox takes a step forward, sighing softly.

"The room next to mine has been cleaned out. You can stay there for the night or you can stay with me. Whatever makes you comfortable."

"Oh..." Everett drops his gaze to the table, nervously fiddling with his fingers on his lap. "I don't want to be alone tonight. I'm afraid of what might happen when I close my eyes to sleep, I'm scared of what I might see..."

Everett doesn't flinch when a hand rests on the back of his neck.

He remains motionless when Knox's thumb slowly moves back and forth across his warm skin, caressing him and calming him.

"If The Jackals later decide they want me dead, will The Fallen Angels protect me like Josie said?"

"Look at me, Everett."

Everett lifts his head and falls fast into Knox's smoky eyes.

"I will keep you safe until every single Jackal has been dealt with," Knox says. "My brothers will, too. Now let's get to bed. It's late and you need to rest."

Everett is beyond exhausted, so he doesn't put up a fight.

He grabs a few snacks out of one of the cupboards and then follows Knox back upstairs, deciding to put his trust in the man.

"I'm not actually sleeping on that hard ass floor, so I'm taking the left side of the bed. That cool with you?"

Knox smiles, nodding.

"Whatever you want."

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tellthemeerkatsitsfine · 4 months ago

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I made this post in November 2023, to collate the main things I'd found up to that point that reference the Chocolate Milk Gang, and try to explain why that seemed important (not sure I totally succeeded on the latter goal, but I definitely managed the former). I'm bringing it back today because there's an update! And it's a big one! Honestly, I'm flying to London in about 10 hours and was not planning to spend any time today looking at stuff, just listening to old things I've heard before while packing my bags, but there is a new development that I have to address!

Chortle's external links page today had a Russell Howard interview in The Telegraph. That link's actually been there for a couple of days, at first I glanced at it and thought no, I would not like to read an article in a right-wing publication about the comedian who used to be cool (okay maybe not the most groundbreakingly great comedian in the world, but he did used to be cool) before getting into Jordan Peterson/a few other weird right-wing things and ruining my ability to enjoy him.

So I didn't click the link at first. But I saw it again this morning, and curiosity got the better of me. Largely because I was up last night going through my folder of Chocolate Milk Gang content, and Russell Howard does tend to be a good source of Chocolate Milk Gang content. He and David O'Doherty seem to be the two CMG members who are most likely to tell stories from those years. In DO'D's case, I'd guess that might be because of how formative and important he considered those experiences to his comedy career, according to the "biographical details uncomfortably written in the third person" page on his adorably DIY website: "But then in 2002 he went to Edinburgh with a new show "small things", met comedians such as John Oliver, Bret McKenzie, Taika Cohen, Andy Zaltzman, Josie Long, Jemaine Clement and Daniel Kitson each doing wonderful and unique things, and decided that he definitely did want to be a stand up comedian." He doesn't actually use the term "Chocolate Milk Gang" there, but all the names on that list are certified CMG. I'd consider the core CMG to be those people, Andy Zaltzman, Alun Cochrane, Demetri Martin, Isy Suttie, and you have to mention Gavin Osborn even if he wasn't actually doing comedy in Edinburgh, just for all the crossover CMG work to which he's contributed.

Anyway, that's why I think DO'D is one of the members who's most likely to talk about the CMG days. I'm slightly less charitable in my guess as to why Russell Howard does it, as his historic connection to that group is his greatest claim to artistic merit, in a career that later went in another direction. But whatever the reason, I know he does tend to reference it, so I thought I'd give the interview a read.

I'd thought I might get a quick reference to some story I already knew, but this article delivered far more than I'd expected. I'm going to copy-paste:

In the early days, he carried a notebook everywhere, to consistently hone his set. “I was teased a lot. They’d go, ‘Got your notes, have you kid? What are you revising for?’ ” Howard loved the battle-hardened “road dogs” he’d compère and open for, and they took to him. Where he fitted in less was in the “rock ’n’ roll” scene of trendy Noughties comedians, who looked more like they should be fronting bands (Russell Brand and Noel Fielding led the charge) than clowning about.

I of course was interested to see this bit, because that's nearly as close as we ever get to a direct CMG reference. It's "The guys with the bags" that they've said was what Andrew Maxwell used to call the Chocolate Milk Gang, because they carried notes and books around. I've heard Russell Howard mention this before, that he was always making notes because he got to open for John Oliver and Daniel Kitson early in his career (separately, Kitson and Oliver unfortunately never worked together because the world could not handle that collaboration), and found it difficult to work with geniuses while not being a genius (his words, not mine - I agree with him, but those aren't my words), and wanted to try to retain everything he could and use it to get better at comedy. But until I read this paragraph, I hadn't connected that to the "guys with the bags" thing about CMG members always writing things down like fucking nerds.

I find the next paragraph interesting too. A lot of CMG references talk about them as being nerds of the circuit, in contrast to the other comedians who were described as things like slick, shouty, glamorous, cool, hard-partying alcoholics. I hadn't seen a lot of specific names mentioned as who those people were, though Andrew Maxwell, Jason Byrne, Craig Campbell, and of course the name coiner Glenn Wool have been referenced, I think, as some comedians who were around then and not of the CMG ilk. Those guys were always mentioned with the caveat that the "jock bullies vs. nerds" framing of it was just a joke, and they were in fact all friendly with each other. Then I guess you have the worst person in the world whom I mentioned in the above post, and that sure sounded less friendly and more like actual bullying-for-being-a-nerd of the sort that I thought only happened in high schools from 80s movies. Basically, the CMG was a bunch of nerds who were bullied by the Irish and the Canadians.

That's all I'd heard in previous references, throwing in Russell Brand and Noel Fielding is a new addition. That's kind of interesting, might be something people are quicker to throw under the bus now than they were ten years ago. Though I note that they don't actually quote Russell Howard's exact words there, so he may not have said anything of the kind.

Anyway, I was quite pleased with that paragraph as another scrap of quite direct CMG referencing, and not expecting any more. But here's the next paragraph, until the end of the article:

“There was a thing coined early on – me and my generation were ‘The Milkshake Brigade’, because we’d do Edinburgh and then go to an all-night cafe called Favorit and have milkshakes, while the rock ’n’ roll comics would go to a pub called The Penny Black, drink until the early hours, and perform the next day. They’d all be in skinny jeans and look like the Kings of Leon, while we just had milk around our chops.” He laughs. He has never performed drunk or hungover, and never would. “I can’t think of anything worse, I’d just get all sad and angry. You��ve got 20,000 people listening to what you say, and everyone’s laughing, and you’re creating this moment, so to have your senses blurred in the middle of that would be crazy. I’d rather make notes than get wasted.” A sensible man. And besides, if all the Noughties comics were lined up now, I say, it’s probably only “The Milkshake Brigade” who are still going strong, all these years later. Howard gives this some consideration, flipping through a mental Rolodex. “Yeah, probably, thinking about it, you’re right.”

We have a name drop! We have another CMG name drop! Sort of. So that's interesting. Because the worst person in the world called it the Chocolate Milk Brigade, and I accused him of not even getting the name right. But now, bonafide CMG member Russell Howard has called it "The Milkshake Brigade". What the fuck? What's the truth, guys? What words did Glenn Wool actually use? I need to know this! Were the milkshakes you people bought even chocolate? To be honest I have always found it slightly odd that they were named after chocolate milk because they bought milkshakes, "The Milkshake Brigade" would make more sense. But Russell, that is not the term that's used on your own Wikipedia page!

...Look, for the record, I am aware that the likely reality is that "Chocolate Milk Gang" is a term that someone who may or may not have even been Glenn Wool probably said like once or twice in 2002, it made David O'Doherty laugh so he remembered it, he mentioned it in a couple of interviews and a few articles quoted those, and I have turned it into a whole big thing when in fact it was never a thing. And there are slightly different variations on the term because it was never used for real more than once or twice, so no one remembered the exact wording. The term "Chocolate Milk Gang", as I used it, has become far bigger than it could ever have been in its original usage - if nothing else because of how I think of someone like Gavin Osborn as being CMG, even though I don't think he was drinking milkshakes in Edinburgh in 2002. Because Gavin Osborn has performed with a lot of the other CMG members in their seminal works of the 2000s, and that's what I actually mean when I say Chocolate Milk Gang. I mean that particular group of comedy people who were all grouped together for having a few vaguely similar ideas, and appeared in each other's shows, crossed over with each other a lot personally and professionally, and in 2022 I was dealing with the staples of my own life disappearing on me and needed some niche thing to get obsessed with so I picked that. I am aware of that. I'd just like to state for the record that I'm aware of that.

Now that I've stated that - what the fuck, guys? What's the truth? Were you a gang or a brigade? Did chocolate milk not even come into it at all? What is Russell Howard talking about? Why couldn't he have mentioned Favorit in a print interview a couple of years ago, saving me hours and hours of trying to Google it based on how I heard it pronounced in audio interviews but never saw it written down? Did comedians really not come up with the groundbreaking idea of carrying bags with notes in them until Daniel Kitson invented comedy-as-an-art-form in 2002, or is this an oversimplistic rewriting of history over some guys who just walked around wearing t-shirts and not being alcoholics?

They have a point in those last couple of paragraphs, though. The Chocolate Milk Gang had quite a good hit rate for people who were successful. The video that I consider to be quintessential CMG, Cowgate, features an amazing number of comedians who went on to huge careers, brought together before they were famous (I mean, Daniel Kitson and Demetri Martin had both won Perrier Awards by then, but none of them were nearly as famous then as they'd go on to be):

youtube

Adam Hills wasn't part of the CMG thing, though he was another guy on stage there whose career would take off in a massive way later. But you did have Daniel Kitson, Demetri Martin, John Oliver, and David O'Doherty on stage together and I'm pretty sure at least one or possibly two Conchords were playing music in the background there (that's not even counting Russell Howard, who wasn't there yet). That seems like a pretty good rate of comedians who'd go on to success, if you compared it to any random other handful of 5 to 7 comedians who might have all been on stage together at some other comedy night in 2003, and then check where they all are now. And while they did appear together at other times, it's not like they all got successful together or even the same way - they spread across various countries, and all did their own things. And all those things worked. To be fair, I guess Noel Fielding and Russell Brand's things have worked pretty well too, whatever those things may have been. But where is David McSavage now? On that Irish LOL thing and last year he got on the front page of Chortle because someone threw a pint glass at him, but other than that, nowhere! Probably.

What a thing to happen today, when I was not planning to do anything except pack bags and obsessively re-check everything in preparation for my flight to London this evening, but then I have to stop and write a Tumblr post because we have a rare and exciting direct CMG mention. Well sort of. A direct MB mention. I refuse to call them that, The Milkshake Brigade isn't nearly as cool.

All right, this is my post about John Oliver’s appearance on Russell Howard’s podcast that’s going to get way more detailed about the Chocolate Milk Gang than anyone wants (I can already picture the @lastweeksshirttonight reply to this to say they care, so I should amend that to say there is one person who wants that, but they have already listened to the episode and don't really need to be told what's in it, leaving this post still of interest to no people). So here is a cut.

It's been just a little bit over a year now since the couple of months I spent doing constant posts to update everyone on my progress through the rabbit hole of understanding the meaning of "Chocolate Milk Gang". A journey that started with an effort to just explain the name, but grew much bigger than that. Consider this post a continuation of those ones.

Okay. Okay. In order to find all the things I wanted to reference for this post, I decided to make one folder on my hard drive called Chocolate Milk Gang, where I collect all the video, audio, and PDF files that reference or relate to it, and I've got to admit I had a moment of looking at the whole folder and saying, "This is all starting to feel a bit Beautiful Mind." But anyway, it is convenient to have it all in one place.

Anyway. Here are the couple of clips I cut out of that podcast for that folder:

There's a lot to unpack here, comedian gossip-wise. Football stories that I'm always happy to hear again. Between Kitson's radio shows, Russell Howard/Jon Richardson's radio show, and The Bugle, I've heard enough different stories to suggest that apparently Al Pitcher's wedding was a hell of a time.

There's also some stuff in that Edinburgh clip that isn't specifically relevant the the CMG, but is relevant to some other stuff I've been posting about in the last few months. Stuff about the difference between British and American comedy, and how I'm pretty sure those differences are largely shaped by the Edinburgh Festival. Specifically by the fact that anyone can go to the Edinburgh Festival, making it very different from something like Just For Laughs that we have here, which is invite or audition only. And I think this is what makes British comedy much more similar to Australia/NZ comedy than it is to North American comedy, because they have MICF. Though I don't actually know what I'm talking about.

John Oliver sums it up well here:

You can kind of finish your ‘bulletproof’ – to the extent that that was true, which it wasn’t – but as close to a solid set of comedy that you can produce. At that point, you’re finished, really, right? So what are you going to do? Are you going to keep doing that? There’s probably many cautionary tales that will show you that’s not the way to human happiness. So then you start to break it. And that was where Edinburgh, for me, was so massively important, that you throw away that safety blanket, and then the next year you come back with a brand new hour. You spent a number of years making that twenty minutes, now you have to spend eleven months making an hour.

I wish he'd expanded a bit on the "not the way to human happiness" part, because that interests me. Going to comedy around here, I've seen how different it is from what I hear from British stuff, and obviously there are lots of reasons for that, mainly that I'm comparing low-level stuff that's local to me against great comedians from Britain. I know that Britain also has low-level club comedians, I just don't hear much from them all the way over here.

I have heard a little bit of fairly low-level comedy in Britain, and it's still notably different from what I hear here. Also, some of the comedians I hear around here have been doing it a long time (including my brother, who's been doing it 13 years, doing regular pro spots for over ten, makes enough money off comedy each year so he could probably almost live off his comedy income alone if he didn't mind being extremely poor), have done quite well. I've tried to see what their ambitions are, what the path is that they're trying to get on to the next thing. And there just doesn't really seem to be one. There are occasional spots on CBC that people would like, but those are so rare, so few compared to the number of panel show spots that comedians can try for in Britain, if they want to go that way. And obviously, in Britain, the new comedians are all trying to put together something good enough to take to Edinburgh, even if at first it's just the twenty-minute set that John Oliver was talking about in that clip for a mixed bill thing. No one here is doing that. They're pretty much doing the exact thing that John Oliver described as "not the way to human happiness", perfecting their 20-minute set so they can impress increasingly important club promoters for years and years and years.

It seems to me like a bad idea to dedicate your whole life to the thing that John Oliver (probably accurately) described as "not the way to human happiness", but I'm interested in how many other options there are. You can try for TV and radio spots, I guess, but there aren't many of those here. Some comedians around here try to audition for the Winnipeg Comedy Festival and Just For Laughs, but not many get in because there aren't that many spots available. A couple of people around here have started podcasts, but contrary to what the front page of Chortle each week might suggest, surely not everyone in the entire world can start a podcast. You could sell your soul to social media, obviously - that's always an option no matter what your field is. But if you want to do comedy and don't want that, what else are you supposed to do? I don't ask that question facetiously, I would genuinely like to know and I wish John Oliver had expanded on his point in that podcast to answer it. Which I guess he did, and the answer was to go to Edinburgh until you get good enough/enough attention to do your own tours. Or, in his case, you have Ricky Gervais happen to mention your name to Jon Stewart when The Daily Show is looking for a British correspondent. Also you start a podcast.

Anyway. That's the part where John Oliver explained some interesting stuff about the intersections between the comedy industry and the comedy craft, but that's not what we're here for, is it? We're here for some comedian gossip! And this podcast episode provided on that front.

Okay. To explain the significance of one part of that clip, I have to go back a bit. To summer 2022, when I spent ages looking things up to try to find the explanation for the name “Chocolate Milk Gang”. I’d found that it had to do with them being sober when all the other comedians were drunk, to them being considered vaguely nerdy compared to other comedians who were more shouty or smooth or alcoholics. So I got the gist, but this wasn’t enough to fully make sense. I kept coming back to asking: But why chocolate milk, though? Do they drink the chocolate milk? Do they talk about chocolate milk on stage? Do they regularly sacrifice cows in the middle of the night? Or was that just that one time?

The clearest explanation I'd found came from a 2007 article that said:

Part of a new breed of stand-up dubbed the Chocolate Milk Gang for rejecting a hard-living ethos, they include the likes of Daniel Kitson, Demetri Martin, John Oliver, David O’Doherty, Josie Long and Alun Cochrane, and can be characterised by their romantic sensibility, intelligence, geekiness, love of indie music and passive-aggressive, alpha male competitiveness.

But that doesn't explain the name. Sure, chocolate milk is a sort of nerdy drink, but there had to be a reason why that specific drink got used in their nickname. In the early 00s, I was hanging out with my high school friends, and we were nerds who didn't drink (not until I was of age) and liked to imagine ourselves as romantic and intelligent, but we never named ourselves after chocolate milk, because that is not a thing that just automatically happens to everyone who’s not an alcoholic.

So I kept searching. There were just barely enough references to the term on the internet for me to be pretty sure it was really used, but few enough references for me to occasionally wonder if I'd made it all up. There are really very, very few direct references to the actual name “Chocolate Milk Gang” out there.

They are so rare that I once listened to an entire Comedian’s Comedian podcast episode featuring the worst person in the entire world, just because I’d read that he mentions the words “Chocolate Milk Gang” in it, which turned out to not even be true. Actually, in the ComCom podcast, all he did was talk a bunch of shit about David O'Doherty. However, on a different podcast months later, he talked to a different guy about how DO’D had (shockingly) disliked the comments he'd made on the ComCom podcast, and it’s there that he mentions that DO'D was in a Chocolate Milk Gang. And I listened to both episodes. I listened to two hours of the worst person in the world talking, just so I could hear someone say the words “Chocolate Milk Gang”, because instances of that name being dropped were so rare. And he didn’t even actually say “Chocolate Milk Gang” – he got the name wrong and called them the “Chocolate Milk Brigade”. And listening to those two hours pissed me off so much that I temporarily lost respect for Stuart Goldsmith, a guy I very much like, just because he was able to be in a room with that guy and not punch him in the fucking face.

I hate to focus on the worst person in the world, but in the interests of laying all the Chocolate Milk Gang references out in one place, here's a compilation I made of that guy talking shit on two podcasts, and the Chocolate Milk Brigade reference is about 15:30 into it:

I get into the McSavage stuff because me listening to all that bullshit (and taking the time to put it into a compilation) really shows how far I was willing to go to find direct references to the Chocolate Milk Gang. They were not easy to find. I take it for granted now that I've figured it out, but it took ages.

I did, however, find a number of things that described the phenomenon, without using the specific name. Notably, this clip from the Stewart Lee TV show, Alternative Comedy Experience:

Or this clip from Russell Howard and Jon Richardson's BBC 6 Music radio show, recorded live from the Edinburgh Festival in 2007, with Richard Herring as a guest, looking back at Edinburgh 2006:

Interesting that both Lee and Herring identify them specifically as being strange and different for not spending the entire month of August drunk. That probably says more about Lee and Herring than about anything else.

So they go by many names, apparently. The Chocolate Milk Brigade, in the words of David McSavage. The Hanging Around Gang, in the words of Stewart Lee. The annoyingly sober nerds of the circuit, according to Richard Herring. The Guys with the Bags, in the words of Andrew Maxwell. An International Crime Syndicate that Sometimes Organizes Soccer Matches, in the words of John Oliver (okay, he was talking about FIFA when he said those words, but I think they also apply to the CMG).

That Stewart Lee clip came so close to using their actual name, but they still didn't quite say it. The rare instances of the actual name being referenced include that bullshit McSavage saga, that extremely weird Jay Richardson article that I quoted above (honestly the paragraph I quoted barely scratched the surface of how weird that article is, it's worth reading the whole thing), and a few scattered old articles that all seem to be quoting each other. The term "Chocolate Milk Gang" is mentioned on Russell Howard and John Oliver's Wikipedia pages, but not the Wikipedia pages of any of their less internationally famous core members (David O'Doherty, Andy Zaltzman, Daniel Kitson, Alun Cochrane), which is odd as you'd think it would be more likely to come up on pages for people for whom the CMG stuff was a larger proportion of their total career success.

But the main reference to it, of course, was what I called the Holy Grail Audio Clip, because it took me so much effort to find it, a few weeks of scouring the internet. It's the only clip I've found that really clearly lays out an explanation of what the Chocolate Milk Gang was, while using the actual name. It's from David O'Doherty's episode of the Comedian's Comedian podcast, which really should have been the first thing I checked, looking back (I consider it very lucky that David O'Doherty went on the ComCom podcast before the worst person in the world did, because otherwise we wouldn't have gotten his brilliant episode at all):

God, re-listening to that is reminding me of how exciting it was to find it for the first time. Actually, to illustrate how exciting it was, I still need to get a cat and name it Stuart Goldsmith. Early in the episode, DO'D talked a bit about his early Edinburgh days, and I paused the recording to make a post on Tumblr about that discussion, and how close they came to discussing the Chocolate Milk Gang, and how much I wanted my answer. In that post, I said something like: "Stuart Goldsmith, if you can get an explanation out of David O'Doherty for the term 'Chocolate Milk Gang', I will name my first cat after you." As a joke about how I do not want kids but felt that this was important enough to offer something on the same level as letting him name my firstborn. A bit later in the same episode, when Goldsmith delivered on that, I made a follow-up post to 1) share the above clip and declare that the Holy Grail had been found, and 2) admit that I do need to name a cat after Stuart Goldsmith now.

I've just dug up the post that I made after I first heard that clip, and in it, I transcribe what DO'D said. I shall copy/paste:

David O’Doherty: ’02 was the year where I came [to Edinburgh] with a show, I’d been a bit sad and tried to write a show… and I met just a bunch of people. I met Kitson, I met Conchords, I met Taika Waititi, who’s a movie director now, I met Zaltzman, I met John Oliver, I met Josie Long – I’d met her before but, we were all just trying to figure out a kind of a thing that we wanted to do. And it didn’t quite fit with what was successful around then, because none of us were… I guess you could categorize it as quite low-status individuals. As in, we didn’t walk out with smoke machines, and if we did shout from off stage it was something ironic, about, like, “Get ready to try and stay awake for an hour, because this room is bullshit. Ladies and gentlemen!” You know, and that was… whereas before, that was the start of shiny floor comedy that we see on TV now. So it was like people in tailored suits and bowing, and getting the adulation – that was just never a thing I wanted to do. My father’s a jazz musician, and jazz is like the opposite of that.” Stuart Goldsmith: In those comedians that we’ve named, do you see a sort of reflection of your styles in each other’s work? Because there are sort of similarities, like a common trope of that kind of gang is to treat something gentle and meandering and whimsical as if it’s, you know, like a rap battle or something. To kind of pretend like you’re Notorious B.I.G., talking about a unicorn. David O’Doherty: Oh, that. Yeah, I mean, that’s… that’s pretty low, what you’ve just said. Stuart Goldsmith: [laughter] Well it’s something that’s copied a lot now, and I think it originated with Kitson and with you doing Late ‘n Live. That whole thing of going, “strap in, buckle up.” But now, every idiot in tight jeans is going, “Strap in,” but without a sense of why. David O’Doherty: Right, yeah. Yeah, I guess we were… yeah, that’s a good point. I mean, I’ve always felt that I’m trying to say something reasonably profound. I’ve never done a show that was just a load of jokes, and was just trying to fill the time with talking about, you know, fairy lights and bunting, which was sort of the perception, I think, people who never came to the shows, or some people who reviewed it, would have had around the time. Of like, “Where is he from? I don’t know, but I’d like to visit it.” You know, I’ve always tried to talk about the things that were important. It’s just that those things manifested themselves as the tale of a suicidal lobster, which was the first show here, or whatever it was then. So, you know, none of that was very tough. I remember once, we were referred to as… Me: Oh shit. Oh shit. Please, for the love of God, tell me what you were referred to as. David O’Doherty: …because everyone else was getting really drunk backstage at Late ‘n Live, and we used to go over and get, to [inaudible, I assume it’s the name of a shop that sells milkshakes but I can’t tell what he said, it’s not important] and get milkshakes, we were called the Chocolate Milk Gang. Which isn’t something you see… Stuart Goldsmith: By who? David O’Doherty: I think Glenn Wool, or something like that. Stuart Goldsmith: Okay, for people who don’t know Glenn Wool, he very much typifies the… David O’Doherty: Well, he was certainly then, he was like a party, a mega-party dude then. I remember Andrew Maxwell… Stuart Goldsmith: [laughing] Sorry, even your use of the phrase “mega party dude” firmly establishes you as a chocolate milk guy. David O’Doherty: I remember Maxwell, who’s a friend of mine – Andrew Maxwell is such a much more alpha character – brackets, shorter – than me, and he once said to John Oliver, “You lads, you’ve always got bags.” Because we had, as in a backpack or a satchel. And we probably had, like jokes, or like, books, and he was always like, “What’s in your bag?” Like there was something going on, just… we have effigies of you, and we have ceremonies that you’re not allowed to come to.

Before finding that clip, I'd spent an number of Tumblr posts speculating about whether "Chocolate Milk Gang" was a name they'd given themselves, or whether it was something they got called by the media. I never would have guessed that when I got my answer to who coined the term "Chocolate Milk Gang", that answer would be Glenn Wool. So technically, the name "Chocolate Milk Gang" has a Canadian origin. That's fun.

In that copy-paste of that my old post, I would like to draw your attention to this quote: "…because everyone else was getting really drunk backstage at Late ‘n Live, and we used to go over and get, to [inaudible, I assume it’s the name of a shop that sells milkshakes but I can’t tell what he said, it’s not important] and get milkshakes, we were called the Chocolate Milk Gang."

I said at the time that it didn't matter, because I was so happy to have the central mystery answered that I could overlook one little confusing bit. But of course, I still tried for a while to look it up. I couldn't quite understand what DO'D was saying - it sounded to me like "favorait", or maybe "fav-o'rait"?

I Googled all these things, but it was hard when I didn't even know what type of place it was. I was picturing a sort of 7/11-style corner store, a place that was open late and sold milkshakes. But I didn't know for sure, so I was just Googling a word that I didn't know how to spell, with no definite context. Throwing in the word "Edinburgh" didn't help.

At some point I took to Google Maps, and then Google Earth. He said the went "over" to get milkshakes after Late 'n' Live, which suggested to me that it couldn't be far from the Gilded Balloon. They wouldn't travel all that far in the middle of the night when they'd just done a long comedy show. So I looked around the map to see if I could find anything by that name, but nothing came up. I eventually gave up on it.

However. However. Here's a shortened version of the clip I posted earlier, of John Oliver on the recent Russell Howard podcast episode, talking about Edinburgh. A clip of just the part that's relevant to this post, where he talks about the CMG days:

He said it! He said it! He didn't quite say the words "Chocolate Milk Gang" (though he came so close), but he did say the same word DO'D said, the name of the store. And John Oliver said it more clearly than DO'D did, I could be more sure I was hearing him correctly, so I was inspired to try Googling again.

I tried Googling potential spellings with the word "Edinburgh" for a while, but nothing came up. Then I realized something (and this part isn't going to make this post sound less Beautiful Mind-y): this is a tradition that started in 2002. The Gilded Balloon burned down in December 2002, and was rebuilt nearby. So in August 2002, when the CMG started, the Gilded Balloon was in a different place to where it is now. All that searching on Google Maps/Earth, I was looking in the wrong spot.

So I did some Googling to try to find the original address for the Gilded Balloon. My CMG research from the last year has led me to know a hell of a lot about the Gilded Balloon, because so much CMG history took place there, and I cannot emphasize enough how thorough I have been in my research. I know its layout and how the backstage looks quite well, since it was heavily featured in that Tim Minchin documentary (I even know more than I need to about how the dressing rooms look, by which I mean there were more shots than I needed of Tim Minchin with his clothes off). I know all about Karen Koren and Late 'n' Live and all these things. I know about the fire. But I couldn't find its original exact address.

I do, however, know it was originally in a place called Cowgate, which is a neighbourhood and/or street and/or square (this is why I've named the cow sacrificing event Cowgate, even though that occurred at the new location in 2003). And I found that the fire that burned down the original Gilded Balloon started in something called Hastie's Close. So I went to that place on Google Earth, figuring the fire couldn't have spread all that far. I set the year to 2005, which was the closest year to 2002 for which Google Earth had archive data around that location. And I explored the area.

I didn't actually expect to find anything, really. But then, suddenly, it appeared before me:

Mystery solved! Another mystery solved! Look, to be honest, most of this post has just been to give context that tries to explain why the fuck I was so excited to find an Edinburgh diner that, as I now know because once I knew exactly what I was looking for I was able to Google the place, closed down years ago. It's exciting because it's the last little piece of the answer that I was so excited to find last year. I can finally fill in the blanks of the transcript of the Holy Grail audio clip. That's what David O'Doherty actually said: "…because everyone else was getting really drunk backstage at Late ‘n Live, and we used to go over and get, to Favorit and get milkshakes, we were called the Chocolate Milk Gang."

It turns out that Favoirt is not a 7/11-style corner store, it's a diner that even had a license to sell alcohol late (according to its front window), but is the sort of place that appears to be more about the milkshakes than about being a bar. And it is, in fact, very near the original Gilded Balloon. Or at least, it's very near the place where the fire that burned down the original Gilded Balloon started. I am so pleased to tie up this loose end.

Why does that matter? Look, I'm not quite sure, but it definitely seemed important. Look, why does anything matter? Anything at all?

Like I said, a lot to unpack in that podcast episode. I have now unpacked one tiny part of it, and it was the least important part. But I did unpack it. It's unpacked now. You're welcome.

...As I keep saying, there are worse things I could have gotten deeply obsessed with as a way to cope with the changing world in pandemic times. I could have gotten really into Jordan Peterson, like some ex-CMG members/hosts of podcasts about a box for things people like, that I could name. At least I didn't do that. I just occasionally spend two hours on Google Earth to find a long-closed diner in Edinburgh. I'm doing fine.

#Youtube

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cheri-translates · 4 years ago

Text

Headcanon - When you’re angry and say “Don’t touch me”

Original title: 当你生气地说 “你别碰我”

Original writer: 池离子 (chi li zi)

[ VICTOR ]

You’re seated on the sofa, staring at the hour hand of the clock as it points to “1″, trembling with anger.

Victor! He promised that no matter how busy he was, he’d return by 11pm. Yet, even now, he hasn’t even called to give you an explanation. His phone is turned off, you couldn’t find him at the office, and all the employees had already knocked off.

Feeling upset, you think about heading to bed, but your immense worry causes your hands and feet to turn cold, and the blanket is unable to keep you warm. As such, you have no choice but to send message after message to Victor.

Since you once made a promise with him not to head out at night, you wait for him to return home obediently. With this thought in mind, you climb into bed, covering yourself up before breaking into tears.

Click.

Although separated by the bedroom door, you can still hear the sound of the main door opening gently, followed by the soft sound of leather shoes stepping on the wooden floor. You know that he has finally returned, but you have no intention of forgiving him for breaking his promise and not returning your calls.

You hear the rustling of clothes being removed, followed closely after by the sound of the bedroom door opening gently, the familiar footsteps nearing you quietly. The space beside you on the bed dips slightly, and you can feel Victor pulling the blanket from your face.

"Dummy... why are you covering yourself up? It’s so stuffy.”

He speaks softly.

When Victor's hand is about to touch your face, you suddenly grab the blanket and turn over, your back facing him. He’s clearly stunned, and then realises that you weren't asleep, and are even a little angry with him. So he shakes your shoulder and says a soft “I'm sorry”.

"Don't touch me!" You shrug his hand away roughly. Curling yourself up, you begin to sob again.

Victor wants to pull you up, but you avoid him with equal determination, before dropping a cold “don't touch me.”

Victor sighs, then explains himself in a fatigued voice. “Sorry. I returned very late, and it’s my fault. When I drove past the park after work, I saw someone selling the taiyaki that you like, so I bought one. I didn’t have a firm grip on my phone and it fell into the water, so I couldn't turn it on.”

"I was going to buy a new phone along the way, but Goldman suddenly rushed over, saying that E Company requested to terminate our partnership due to contractual issues. Because we were pressed for time, I drove to E City with Goldman to hold a meeting, and only managed to rush back at this time... I’m sorry."

After listening to these simple words, you can’t help but feel an ache in your heart. You sit up with guilt. Despite how tired Victor was, he still had to deal with you being angry when he returned home. This... is really sad.

You turn over to look at him. Realising that your eyes are red, he reaches forward to hug you gently, leaning against your ear to say another “sorry”.

There’s a paper bag sitting at the corner of the bed, and you’re able to see half of a cold taiyaki.

"I'm so tired... let me hug you for a while..."

He embraces you tightly, and you reach out to pat his hair, as if touching a helpless child.

[ GAVIN ]

"Sis-in-law, he really doesn’t take advice. I already told him not to rush ahead, but he did it anyway. Now, he doesn’t even dare to step into the house, and it’s really difficult for us...”

You’re listening to the voice message sent by Eli. Gavin was injured during a mission, and was caught red-handed by you. Eli is the spy you’ve arranged to be by Gavin’s side.

“Eli, tell Gavin that I’ve fallen sick, and that I haven’t told him about it because I don’t know what illness it is yet.”

"Sis-in-law... is this... a good idea?"

"Trust me. I can give your team a brilliant tomorrow.”

"Thank you, Sis-in-law!”

Turning your phone off, you lie down quietly. Thirty minutes later, you hear Gavin opening the door while shouting your name. You listen as his footsteps draw nearer, finally pausing at your bedside.

“Wake up, are you okay? What happened? Are you okay?” Gavin reaches out, wanting to pull you over to himself. Enraged, you slap his hands away and yell at him. “Don't touch me!”

Sure enough, he stops, and you hear him sitting down. What follows after is a protracted silence.

Your thoughts: I’m doomed. Does he find me annoying?

Gavin’s thoughts: Something’s wrong. I definitely did something wrong. What did I do wrong? Anyway, I should admit my mistake first.

"Sorry... I was wrong..."

You hear him saying this softly.

"Why were you in the wrong?”

Gavin is dumbfounded.

"I don’t know...”

Despite your anger, your heart aches. As you sit upright, you hear him asking with concern, “Are you sick? How are you feeling now?”

"I'm not sick. I asked Eli to call you home. He said that you were badly hurt and was afraid to see me. Am I that fierce?"

Gavin shakes his head.

"I'm not afraid of you being fierce. You can scold me however you like, but I'm afraid that you’d get tired after scolding me, and feel sad when you see my injuries, so I didn’t dare to return."

Pearl-like droplets of tears fall again, and he hurries forward urgently, wiping them away.

"Don't cry..."

"Where did you get hurt this time... don't be afraid to let me see. What I’m most afraid of is not knowing anything. Don’t refuse to come home..." You’re held in his arms, sobbing as you finish your sentence in bits and pieces.

He coaxes you while rubbing circles on your back.

“Okay, okay... next time, I’ll come straight home. I promise."

[ A few days later ]

"Sis-in-law, didn’t you say there wouldn’t be a problem? Us poor kids had to carry weights on our backs while climbing up a mountain...”

[ LUCIEN ]

You dislike that bunch of female students! You! Really! Dislike! Them!

Under the pretext of the lecture, they’d look for Lucien. Once Lucien finishes his class, they would surround him, and Lucien would be in the middle, explaining the questions to them patiently.

It annoys you to death!

You’re nestled in the sofa watching a show. Having finished his shower, Lucien steps out of the bathroom, wiping his hair dry while walking towards you.

“MC, the bathroom is already warm and I've filled the tub with water. You can take a bath now.”

As if you couldn’t get angrier, you notice that the tone of voice he uses with you and the female students is obviously the same! So you purse your lips, ignoring him.

Thinking that your lack of response was because you couldn’t hear him over the sound of the TV, he sits beside you on the sofa, leaning in closer.

"Little Butterfly?”

You turn your head away, unwilling to give him any attention.

Assuming that you’re feeling shy, he reaches out to hug you, but is pushed away. He even hears this:

"Don't touch me!"

Lucien's hand stops in the air. For a long time, neither of you speak.

Just when you decide that you’re causing unnecessary trouble and turn to glance back at him, it’s as though you see the ears of a large canine drooping, its tail swinging slightly.

Why does he look wronged? Also, he's a fox, not a dog!

"MC... do you no longer like me?”

You watch as his handsome brows furrow. His movement of leaning over causes his bathrobe to reveal his neckline, and you’re cornered by him on the sofa.

"Don't touch..."

Before you manage to finish speaking, Lucien buries his face into the crook of your neck, his damp hair rubbing against your shoulder and earlobe gently. His hand reaches out to hug you tightly, and you can hear his muffled voice from the side.

"Are you leaving me? Don't leave me..."

Huh? You heart aches instantly, and you pat his back.

“Okay, okay... I’m not leaving you. I was just angry because those female students like you so much! I’m sorry for just now...”

"Next time... I’ll pay more attention... So MC, shall we take a bath together?”

"?"

Today has once again been part of Lucien’s plan.

[ KIRO ]

As you stare at the black circles underneath Kiro’s eyes, a certain thought drifts to your mind.

He must have accepted too many job offers, then failed to get proper rest!

You’ve already told him several times to reject work if he’s able to. After all, he should give himself a break. The last time, he was so tired that he fell asleep on the sofa in the makeup room and was caught red-handed by you. Now, the situation is not only worse, but he spends his free time accompanying you.

This is outrageous!

"Miss Chips! Let's watch a movie tonight! I starred in it! You’ve seen the trailer and poster, right?" Kiro picks up the cap which he uses as a disguise, then hops around you excitedly. But you just can’t ignore the blackish hue underneath his eyes.

Seeing that you’re ignoring him, he grins and steps forward, tugging on your hand. Fuming, you slap his hand away.

"Don’t touch me!”

Kiro’s hand pauses in mid-air. In just a few seconds, you hear the sound of sobbing.

"Miss Chips..."

Turning your head to look at him, you see that tears are flowing down his cheeks. His eyes are red, and he’s wiping his teardrops with the back of his hand.

Is this the prowess of an actor? Being able to summon tears at will?

His sobbing turn even more aggrieved, and he carefully reaches out to tug on your hand again. Your heart aches, and you don’t fling it away this time.

"Miss Chips... do you hate me? Don't hate me... I work hard because I want you to lead a life which is worry-free, at least in terms of money... I love you so much..."

Ah! Stop talking! I’m a sinner!

You quickly give him a hug, patting him on the back.

“That will never happen! I like Kiro the most, but I’m very worried about your health. You’re still so young, but you’re this tired every day, so of course I’m distressed and angry. I don't hate you...”

He nods, planting his chin on your shoulder.

"I’m already very happy! I haven’t had to worry about money at all. You’ve worked so hard that I’ve got a surplus of wealth now! I want you to turn down a few projects and stay at home with me for a while, okay?”

You feel some movements on your shoulder. He’s nodding.

"Miss Chips... I like you so much..."

"I like you too!"

"Then you should kiss me now!"

He says with a grin.

(Did he follow Lucien’s study plan?)

[ SHAW ]

“Spring Thunder! Spring Thunder! You! Spit it out right now! Give it back to me!”

[Regarding the nickname] The CN version of MC’s “Mary Sue” alias is 刘春梅 - Liu Chun Mei (“Spring Plum”). Meanwhile, the CN community likes calling Shaw 刘春雷 - Liu Chun Lei (“Spring Thunder”)

Amid your blood-curdling screeches, Shaw dolidges your flailing hands and successfully chomps down your final strawberry cake.

...

With no intention of speaking to him anymore, you stagger a few steps, collapsing onto the sofa.

Shaw opens a bottle of Cola and a bottle of Pepsi in the kitchen, mixing his favourite, unique drink happily.

When Shaw returns with a large cup of mixed Cola and sees your current condition, he calls out to you twice. However, you have no intention of paying any attention to him considering your enraged and depressed state.

He sits beside you, patting your head.

Your eyes are sharp, and you slap his hand away, saying the cruel words:

"Don’t touch me!”

In Shaw’s heart, he knows that something bad is about to happen. You didn’t call him “Stinky Brother” this time, which meant that you’re genuinely angry.

“No way, what’s up with you? You have such a reaction just because I ate your cake?”

You’re in no mood to argue with him. Your favourite strawberry cake no longer exists. Without it, you will crumble.

"Spring Plum?”

"..."

He sets down the Cola, attempting to wrap an arm around your waist. But he’s slapped away once again.

"Don’t touch me!”

"..."

You watch as Shaw retracts his hand, gets up, grabs the keys, opens the door, then leaves. All in one swift movement.

Stinky Brother! He was obviously in the wrong, so why is he the one throwing a tantrum!

You close your eyes, missing that sweet and wonderful strawberry cake. Your mind has no room to think about Shaw.

After some time, you hear the sound of the door opening, followed by Shaw’s footsteps, then something being placed on the table. He sits beside you quietly.

Opening your eyes, you see that Shaw is seated, giving you a piteous look.

The scene before you resembles a world famous painting.

"Sister... I'm sorry... I went to buy a new cake..."

On the surface, you seem engrossed in your thoughts. However, your heart has long since been doing flips.

"Forgive me, okay...? Don’t give up on me just because of the cake...”

As though you’ve just survived a huge bloodbath, you sit up with a “hmph”, then pull the cake box over. Sure enough, there’s an entire cake, decorated with strawberries.

Placated, you wrap Shaw in a hug and give him a kiss.

"What are you talking about, my beloved Shaw? Why would I not want you! I want you more than cake!”

Shaw's eyes darken.

"In that case... let me see just how much you want me..."

–

More translated and original works: here

–

[ Permission to translate ]

池离子: OK! Just state that the source is LOFTER池离子. Also, if you’ve posted it, could you also take a screenshot for me? No need for the whole thing - just a little will do!

#mlqc #cheri shortcake

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4ragon · 2 years ago

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Vacation All I Ever Wanted is honestly one of my favorite fics ever and I've been Thinking about it again so I thought I'd drop some love in your inbox. I wanted to say the Chapter 12 scenes with Klavier and Phoenix looking for the ring on the beach are my favorite, I feel like most fic authors when they tackle the relationship between those two in the aftermath of the events of aa4 it's usually from Klavier's perspective and Phoenix is usually put together and knew all along and knows what to say, ya know? But I think your version from Phoenix's perspective is so much more interesting. he's awkward and he didn't know Klavier wasn't responsible at first and Klavier isn't willing to just talk about it! You just wrote all the characters so well in Vacation. ( also the way it just cuts from them casually being on the beach to '...Klavier was supposed to go down when Kristoph had.' was so good.) I love the whole fic but I wanted to give some love to that particular chapter

Ahhhhhh oh my gosh thank you very much. I'm always so happy when I hear people are still enjoying fics that I've finished, you know? Like, the idea that they have any sort of longevity is baffling to me.

I think I could write so many fics just about that weird strain between Klavier and Phoenix, it's so interesting to me. Like, having to work through his issues with Klavier and Kristoph, having to separate the two in his mind, knowing logically that a literal child listening to his big brother could not and should not be culpable in what happened to him versus having to internalize that idea emotionally. Like. I don't think it'd be so easy to get to a place of forgiveness, even if you logically understand someone else isn't at fault, you know? And I think it would also take him a bit to realize how much he was subconsciously comparing the two, and how unfair that was.

Actually, I had this original idea that didn't quite make it into the fic to change people's names in the narration depending on who's POV we were in. I think I wrote the first couple of chapters (before I posted any) with that in mind, but I realized that was going to get confusing, so I just kept that exclusively in dialogue. But I wanted to at least use different character's names in dialogue to help illustrate how they felt about each other.

I.E. before chapter 12, I think Phoenix only ever called Klavier either Gavin or Prosecutor Gavin, but he started making a concerted effort to call him Klavier by the end of that chapter. And that was his way of learning to think of Klavier as his own person, and not just in relation to Kristoph.

Anyway, uh, not sure anyone ever noticed that, but w/e. I do try to pay a lot of attention to the different names and nicknames of the characters, and what they mean for various moments. (Though hey, sometimes I just use it to make it clear who's talking without using dialogue tags.)

Anyway, uh, sorry, that was deeply off topic, but I do just love these two, and think that exploring them working through their differences is really interesting. They both were deeply hurt by everything, but they really need time to work through that together and come to an understanding.

Anyway, thank you so much for the ask!!!!!

#j #i dunno what to tag this as

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tartagilicious · 4 years ago

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Hi, I've got a bit of a weird request for MLQC. What would be different with an MC who was a player of the game before somehow getting pulled into the first chapter of it? They don't have to have played through everything, but definitely at least up to ch 13, after Lucien's reveal. Which of the guys would notice MC acting weird? Would MC ever tell them? How would they react? How does this mess with the plotline?

😳 wait when I tell you I used to think about this on a daily basis- I’ve never gone into much depth with it though, so I guess now is a better time than ever! let’s say that for drama’s sake, this person has played up to chapter 29, since I think that’s the last chapter she reunites with them after being gone for 6 months.

Lucien:

- In my eyes, this always starts with the MC waking up confused in her apartment. She recognises the area around her based now what she’s seen in the game and is familiar with though she obviously thinks it’s a dream. Until, that it is, there are texts from in game characters that come from the phone on the bedside table. She’s more unsure then.

- She explores the apartment briefly and is freaked out when she recognises the kitchen, but decides that she should try visiting some other places she remembers from the game to try and confirm what’s going on. On the way out, she runs into Lucien, who’s leaving his apartment at the same time.

- By chapter 29, the last we’ve seen of Lucien is when you’re reunited and he confesses those things to you while he thinks you’re asleep. Because of this, and also because of outside sources, this person understands his situation and his personality much more. There’s a lot less hesitancy, but she isn’t sure what Lucien knows at this point. At the very least, it’s comforting to her that she has the upper hand when he’s not quite smitten for her yet.

- I always end up confiding in Lucien because I’m biased, though normally, that’s obviously not a good idea T-T

- Though of course, early Lucien is very far from a threat, so he notices how bewildered she is to see him and is more concerned than anything. It’s hard to know what to say without completely revealing everything, but I can imagine she’d be struggling either way. She would probably slip up once, maybe referring to something personal between them that hasn’t happened yet out of nerves

- He’d be polite about it, not even a bit wary because I don’t even think the MC knew she had an evol yet, and he’d know that. It’d be better just to assume that she’s spewing nonsense than actually looking very deep into it.

- I have a feeling that this would end up messing with the plot pretty badly, actually. She knows a version of him that doesn’t exist yet, and this would be a singular issue imo. His personality is night and day when comparing to the beginning to how he is currently. It would get her into a lot of trouble either way, but could possibly also force Lucien go undergo development much much earlier

- I can imagine her trying to curve his betrayal. he tells her to meet him at the place he tells her his real motives (the news station?? that skinny and tall building idk ;-;) and she just flat out says no. you can’t leave me if I don’t let you >:)

Victor:

- this!!!!! I have such a soft spot for victor and it shows in how this plays out in my head. Without a doubt, the only person that I would trust with the information that I was pulled into the game is Victor. Throughout most of the game, mostly later chapters, Victor is kind of like her partner — she learns to trust him with almost everything, and they work through the situations they can together. They save each other’s lives countless times. This is a lot for one person to carry while the other is clueless of any of that ever happening.

- Next, I feel like it’s reasonable that she would try to seek out everyone else, and where better to find Victor at this point than LFG? Conveniently, once she gets in the office, Goldman hunts her down to tell her that Victor’s waiting for her in his office to discuss the final terms of investment. talk about nostalgia lol

- personally. I’d feel panicked going up to his office. Victor is a very intimidating guy when you aren’t close to him, and acting as you normally would around him will not only be possibly humiliating but also just not effective at all.

- she would devise a plan in her head and as they talk, would slip in small details that kind of further the plot without revealing too much. so for example, mention how the investment is so important to her because she was an orphan and wants to make a name and prove that anyone can do what they dream to. he’d probably try asking more about that, but if not, she could always go into further detail like how she was injured pretty badly trying to save someone else around that time, but doesn’t really remember why and wants to find this person to see if they’re doing okay. This would advance their relationship like 10 chapters, but it would be pretty hasty. This would just be to let him know who she is and what kind of things the future will contain

- Once he figures out what she’s doing, he’d ask what her purpose is — why did she seek him out? to this, she’d most likely reveal her dilemma, and how she was pulled into this world from hers, and knows what will happen for months in the future because of the circumstances

- whether or not he’d retain this affection that he has for the MC when knowing that she isn’t technically who he’s looking for is up for debate, but regardless, something like that is definitely too good to pass up. he’s always been connected to black swan, and knowing her and enlisting her help would most likely come in handy.

Gavin:

- I think I’ve implied that these events take place somewhere in the first few chapters rather than the first so :( I’ll just continue with that. that might even work better, because it gives them at least a bit of a connection to this person. I don’t really remember what happens in the first few chapters, ngl, but I think it’s pretty calm.

- Gavin!!!! whether he’s your favourite or not, you can’t deny that this man is a literal pilar of support. he’s the knight in their dynamic, whereas she’s the queen. she knows he’s not as intimidating as he seems, and her immediate friendliness might throw him off a bit, but I think it’d be a good thing.

- part of the reason he backs off so much in the earlier chapters is so he doesn’t overwhelm her with all of these sudden developments (like coming back to be her personal guard, about black swan, etc) In the original plot, Gavin knows much more than he lets on, always more than the mc does at the very least.

- this would probably change their relationship a lot. I mean, obviously, whoever this is that’s been pulled into the game is bound to have a different personality to the normal mc. she’s more joking and doesn’t hesitate so much, and obviously is a lot smarter and confident due to knowing the future. she doesn’t have to rely on Gavin for information like the original mc does. instead, she acts with him.

- this literally takes 27 chapters in the game. when she meets Gavin in that evol institution in ch27, that’s the first time they fight comfortably side by side.

- Gavin would definitely notice such a drastic change in personality from the shy and kind girl he knew in high school. he might comment on it a few times, but I feel like a personality change is a bit easier to justify, especially since it’d been a few years. she technically has the mc’s memories, so it’s not suspicious or anything. he’d probably eventually let it go.

- though, I think it’s pretty plausible that he’d find out you’re not actually the mc he knows later, maybe by mistake or by you telling him. but by then, he’s also grown attached to this new version of her and doesn’t mind as much.

Kiro:

- you wouldn’t have to tell him you were pulled into the game. he’d know.

- with his connections as Helios and also just his general memory of the mc, it wouldn’t take very long for him to figure out that she’s not the person he’s been chasing for years. and the mf would probably point it out too, scaring her half to death.

- of course, he doesn’t know how she appeared, just that she did, replacing the actual mc. but, despite how he’s very honest about knowing she isn’t who she says she are, he’s empathetic. it’s hard not to be when she has the mc’s face.

- she’d tell him what happened and how she appeared, partly because she wants to trust him and partly because he seems a bit threatening, but either way, I see him as an eventual ally. she knows the inner workings of everything and would be a great help to him in messing with black swan. they’d pretty much be an unstoppable duo with their combined knowledge.

- as they get closer, she feels it’s necessary to tell him that he doesn’t have to leave to protect her. she can handle herself, and him ever leaving would only cause more grief and make things complicated. he would probably tell her not to worry, that he wouldn’t just leave unprompted.

- when he ends up leaving anyway, it stings more than it did watching it on a screen.

- though, that also makes the reunion more memorable, and it would probably go differently as well. maybe kiro is this mc’s LI?? that would be cool asf

#I lowkey wanna write the kiro one hm #UHH #mr love queen’s choice #mlqc #mlqc victor #mlqc lucien #mlqc gavin #mlqc kiro #mlqc x reader #mr love queen’s choice x reader

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rijurambles · 4 years ago

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Carly Justice: Dorky Attorney AU

- an ace attorney au?? It's more likely than you think

- Characters that I know for sure;

- Carly as Apollo Justice

- Twilight as Phoenix Wright

- Ailynna as Trucy Wright

- Luto as Kristoph Gavin

So, basically! I had a trilogy AA au but the placements were kinda off and I already had so much art of them that I couldn't really scrap it or change them, so I turned it into a Apollo Justice Era Au! It is one of my favorite games, after all. Originally, this also included Dual destinies and SOJ but since I actually haven't played them (I only know bits and pieces) that it would be best to not include them for now, or at all. Besides, I'm not even sure that I like DD or SOJ all that much (I love Athena tho).

Anyways, about the characters! Carly was Athena orginally, and even though she fits her a lot, I also liked her as Apollo. Plus, it brings out the more left brained side of her which is a very fun perspective!

Twi was already Phoenix before, but also seeing him go up against Luto and being a Dad™️ was an opportunity that I couldn't pass up. Also, those lines!! He gets to be snarky and I love it!!

Ailynna is an oc that most of you don't know. I originally made her for a challenge on ZA, and she was feeling very underused but since she fit Trucy a lot, I let her take the spot! This also made me grow to love her a lot more.

Now, Luto as Kristoph, you might be wondering? Isn't he supposed to be the anti-hero and not specifically the villain? Well, yes. But he's had his redemption arc across a lot of my AUs, and I'm happy with how those go. So I wanted to explore the concept of him actually being evil! It turned out pretty well. I would've made him Klavier otherwise.

Speaking of Klavier, I have no clue about him. Currently he's Ghirahim but something about that just doesn't sit right with me. I was thinking about changing him to Quill but I doubt he'd be as outgoing. That being said, I went a different direction with Luto for this AU - perhaps I could do it with him as well?

About the Gramaryes- any ideas?? I've been indecisive about them since the start. Technically, Nadetta and Eshana could be present, but I don't think either of them really fit any of the gramaryes. Eshana could make a good Thalassa, but I'm still on the fence about it.

But I've rambled for long enough about this. Let's see the doodles!!

If these turn out sideways I'm gonna go feral.

These are Carly's sprites- I loved drawing them! I made a little headcanon that she has her hair up during trials. I think she'd have a really aggressive Objection/Hold It/Take That to go along with the Chords of Steel (added bonus of her being a singer). I've always liked the idea of the eyes glowing red when someone uses the Perceive ability.

Also, I'm going to keep the last names from the original game for the purpose of the puns. Carly Justice also has a nice ring to it.

Because of the dum dum image limit, I'm gonna reblog this later with the rest of the doodles. I hope you enjoyed!

#ace attorney #aa #loz #zelda #ace attorney au #crossover #Carly Justice: Dorky Attorney AU #AU #Carly #Twilight #Ailynna #Luto #apollo justice #aa4 #riju'sramblings

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ahwuum · 5 years ago

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uwu uhh jerevin for you: whatever you do don't imagine skittish golden boy who is super protective of His Crew being nervous and doing a lot of digging or "snooping" for info, and potentially tracking down, newer members just to keep an eye on them, so much so that Geoff starts giving less and less notice to Gav BC "trust me, will you? He won't kill us or you, I've checked." 1/? -B

Jeremy starting off as a new crew member, Gav unknowing, and getting cornered with a knife by Gav in the penthouse like “who are you??! how’d you get in here?! who hired you?!!” Jeremy is just so confused, stuck somewhere between, “okay fuck, a knife pointed at me on first day, what did I do?” and “Who wears this much golden jewelry and is still attractive?”. Geoff rounds the corner, sees this, and just pulls Gav away sighing. Jeremy swears he hears annoyed grumbling and protests from both 2/? BThey later "meet" again on better circumstances (with Geoff in the room, just in case). Gavin, huffly, apologizing but honestly meaning it (even if he does blame geoff for not telling him to expect a stranger). J understands, and honestly probably, would have reacted similarly. Gav getting tasked with taking J to meet the others and enjoys telling him ""true stories"" (rumors) about the others just to spook him. 3/3 -B

(I just got home so I can answer this properly now but aaa anon this was so lovely to see in my inbox thank u omgg 😭)

okay YES tho!! Gav vets people thoroughly, he makes sure he knows every single detail about someone’s history when looking into them.I think it was probably borne from a bad experience, maybe he was stretched a bit too thin in the early days of the crew and did a cursory glance at their background, then just let them in for a meeting with Geoff, only to have it be a fucking ambush and Geoff barely makes it out alive, so Gavin never EVER lets someone near their crew if he doesn’t know their fucking favourite pet’s name, that’s how thorough he is.

And then??? This guy shows up at the penthouse out of nowhere?? Of course the first thing Gavin does is pull his diamond encrusted dagger (a lovely gift from his boi that he treasures and carries with him everywhere) from the sheath in his boot (custom made by Jack, god love her) and presses it against the guy’s throat hard enough to bleed.

Jeremy’s just. Freaking out. Because he knows this guy. The Golden Boy, who doesn’t? But he’s a fan anyway, so he definitely instantly recognises him, realises his mistake but still has a moment of ‘how the fuck does he look that good when practically all he’s wearing is gold!!!’ and just kinda accidentally blurts out “You’re beautiful...” because he’s an idiot, apparently.

And of course Geoff comes running in to pull the knife from Jeremy’s throat and haul Gavin away somewhere private to talk, all the while apologising to Jeremy while Gav’s slung over his shoulder, protesting profusely and pounding his fists on Geoff’s back like a child.

Geoff explains who that was, tells Gavin he’s sorry, but he’s been busy with jobs lately and this guy was a fan, a kid, so easily readable that Geoff knows he’s trustworthy (and the background check Matt did helped, even if it wasn’t nearly as thorough as Gavin’s would have been) and he was going to tell him literally right as Gavin stumbled upon him.

So he arranges a proper meeting this time, and Gavin apologises because he really does feel bad (especially after doing his own background check and finding that there really was nothing to worry about this Jeremy guy) and Jeremy, flustered, tells him that he forgives him and completely understands, makes a joke about how next time Gavin should buy him dinner first, though (which he regrets immediately from how corny that was, even though Gavin clearly doesn’t seem to mind)

And then of course he takes lil’ J around to meet the others, telling him stories that he really should know are fake by how absurd they are, but he must be too starstruck by Gavin to question them, because by the time they get around to meeting Ryan (the one he’d spent the most time hyping up as basically the grim reaper himself), Jeremy looks about ready to pass out.

When he finds out later that these were all lies, the illusion shatters and suddenly Jeremy very much wants to strangle the life out of Gavin (and maybe kiss him too but shut up!! That’s completely unrelated to how gorgeous he’d looked pressing a knife into Jeremy’s throat)

#jerevin #fahc #ragehappy #hcs #asks #anon aaaaa thank u so much for this it was *chef's kiss* perfect!!#And yea I just really like a Jerevin version of that scene in princess mononoke #like #Gavin's holding him at knifepoint and his first words are 'you're beautiful'#Jeremy...#u got it bad bud #:')

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iristheweirdo · 4 years ago

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The first thing I want to talk about is my family. First, there's me. Tomorrow, I'll be starting back virtual school and that's exciting, to say the least. I like Swedish Fish and drawing on Ibis Paint X, an app that I just recently installed. I've always liked to write, and I admit it, I tried to keep a diary once. A real, bookish one, but I failed miserably, like I had with all of the others I spent my money on. It was called Cattitude and I found it at Barnes And Noble with my grandma a year ago. I liked it, it had lots of cute quotes, but nonetheless, I haven't touched it in months. Next, my mom. Her actual name is Brenda, but not even my dad calls her that. She's very kind, although she gets really grumpy from time to time. I remember one time about a year ago, when she snapped at me in a store, I think. During the ride home, I asked her if she hated me, and I started feeling really bad when she started apologizing. Mom said she loved me so much, and told me to call her out anytime I felt like that again. I said I would, but now, I just take the hits for some reason. When Mom yells, all I do, being the sensitive train wreck I am, is go to my room and cry. I don't like crying, but it's the only way that I get feeling better again. Moving on, my dad. His real name is Desmond, but our branch of the family calls him Papa. Out of the house, though, I refer to him as Dad. He got married to Mom in 2002. I see their wedding pictures and I really wish I was there. I've only been to two weddings, one for an old babysitter that I don't remember quite well, and my cousin Abby's wedding. I was the flower girl, and it was really fun. I don't talk to her husband much, and his name is Russell, but I would consider us compadres once we break the ice and talk for once, besides just "hi" in family gatherings. Last, my siblings. Now, I don't really consider myself as a hateful person, but I'm definitely not best friends with my siblings. There's Gavin, who's seven and starting second grade, and likes Phineas And Ferb: Mission Marvel. Until two days ago, we've been going to Cadence Academy with my sister, and it sucked. We hated the food and the weather was always too hot, but the teachers forced us to play in the scorching sun, and the bathrooms were disgusting. And when I told my mom, she still made us go! Like, who does that? Anyways, we started watching Phineas And Ferb and my brother started liking it. Now, when my brother gets into a show, he gets into a show. He watches it hours on end, could care less about the TV shows that the rest of the family wants to watch. Then, there's my sister. During 2017, I thought having a sister would be awesome. Little did I know that what awaited me was a monstrous part of childhood that is still ongoing! And her name is Hazel. She looks more like Dad, and my mom says I look like Dad too. To be coming honest, she's only my "friend" in certain scenarios and hates me every other day. Also, the youngest of my family call each other "friends" when they're tolerating each other, and when they don't like each other, they barely even talk with each other. It gets on my nerves bad. But, that's all my family, so I'm signing off.

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atombombbagel · 7 years ago

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Could you do a little bit, only if you want to about fem sole interacting with little kids/infants being really good/maternal and all the companions, romanced please, plus maxson reacting please? And I do have to say it's wonderful reading your work! Think I've read everything you've written here!

The feeeeels. Also,thank you so much! I’m glad you are enjoying my work xD

Cait: Cait leanedback on the wall with her arms crossed, looking around when she spotted Sole,rocking a small baby in her arms, using her fingers to gently coo the babbling bubba.She never thought she’d find herself smiling at the sight of it, because she’dnever been a child-loving person, or maybe she was, and she’d tried so hard topush the thought out of her head. Thanks to her parents.

She watched in awe as Sole leaned in and pecked the baby’shead, lingering as they took in his scent (the new baby smell). Her heart sunkinto the bottom of her chest as she remembered that Sole told her she waslooking for her own child and she really felt for her at that moment. Solewould have been a great parent to Shaun and she would help in anyway she couldto reunite them, not only for Shaun and Sole but for her younger self, wholonged for a mum who actually loved her.

Curie: Curie couldn’thelp but watch Sole with a smile plastered on her face as Sole kneeled downnext to a child, who was interested in petting Dogmeat. Sole stroked Dogmeatfirst to reassure the child, who’d probably never seen a dog before, let alonepetted one. The child giggled as Dogmeat waged his tail at the love and attentionhe was receiving, and Curie laughed from across the way. Sole looked over herway with a smile on her face as she beckoned her over.

Curie walked over, her heart fluttering when she watched thechild reach over and give Sole a hug, Sole wrapping her arms around the smallerchild. She didn’t have much experience with children being locked up in Vault81 for eighty three years but watching Sole made her realise that she wanted afamily and if she wasn’t good at being a parent, Sole could teach her how.

Danse: Sole wasbabysitting one of the settler’s toddlers as they worked, tending to the cropsin the greenhouse. The toddler was sat happily between Sole’s legs as Sole helda book in her hands. She was leaning down talking sweetly to the child as sheflicked through the pages of the book. The child looked up at Sole, repeatingher words as they pointed to the pictures on the pages.

Danse watched silently as he sat opposite Sole, drinkingfrom a bottle of Nuka Cola. Brotherhood was his life and that’s all he everthought until he met Sole, and as he watched her teach the child to read hefelt a pang in his chest. He wanted one. Not just any one, one with Sole, whowas so loving and maternal. He put his drink down and moved so he was sitting nextto Sole, he leaned over her shoulder, resting his chin on it as he listened in.He could see himself like this with his own little ones, now all he had to dowas convince Sole.

Deacon: He’dalways had a soft spot for kids since he was one himself, during his time in theUniversity Point Deathclaws. He thought his dream of having kids would havebeen fulfilled when he met Barbra, but it hadn’t. But now, as he watched Soleplaying tag with a small child, maybe he could finally have that family he’d alwaysso desperately wanted. He laughed as Sole pretended to be disappointed when thechild ‘tagged’ them, switching roles as they slowly chased the child, deliberatelyfailing to catch them.

His heart pounded in his chest at the thought of Solecarrying his baby, the thought of his child padding into his room and climbingin between himself and Sole as they found solace by sleeping between them.

Sole poked Deacon in the chest and he looked up at her in surpriseas she’d snapped him out of his thoughts.

“Tag,” she said with a laugh, running away as she waited forDeacon to chase her, which he did, he always would.

Gage: Gage saw childrenas a weakness, something your enemies could take advantage of and in some cases,he wasn’t wrong about that. But, he started to change his mind when he witnessedSole carefully wiping the blood off of a small boy’s knee. He’d fallen over andscraped his leg whilst playing and Sole had seen him do it.

“Be strong for me,” Sole said as she carefully wrapped a smallbandage around the child’s leg. The boy sniffled, wiping his nose with the backof his hand, “there all done,” Sole said with a smile, she pulled a CottonCandy Bite out of the box she kept in her cupboard, handing it to the boy. Hegiggled taking it.

“Thanks miss,” he said, running off to show his mother. Gagehad seen the whole thing and it did something to him, something he couldn’t explain.Wait, was that, feelings? Oh god.

Hancock: He’drealised many years too late that he wanted a baby, he’d only come to therealisation as he watched Sole fuss over a couple’s new baby, no, after shespoke so highly of Shaun and about being a parent. And even though her missingchild was still out there, she stayed strong, not faltering as the couple askedher to watch their child. She sat on the couch, the baby lying on her knees ashe covered her face with her hands.

“Peek-a-boo!” she said in a baby voice, beaming as the babybabbled and giggled. Hancock found himself smiling at the sight, Sole urged himto sit beside her, but he was afraid of scaring the baby with his less thanideal looks, but Sole assured him it would be fine.

He sat beside Sole and leaned over, he was afraid when thebaby stopped laughing and looked at him, tilting its curious little head.

“Uh, peek-a-boo?” he said in a husky voice. A smile wasbrought to his face when the baby burst out laughing. He may have been toolate, but there were other ways they could have kids.

MacCready:MacCready’s ears perked up when he heard the soft laughter of his son, Duncan,echo through the house. He went to investigate, finding Sole’s fingers gentlydancing at the small boy’s sides as she tickled him. A smile grew on his faceas he watched the woman he loved get on so well with his son, something he wasafraid wouldn’t happen when the two had first met.

“Daddy help!” he called playfully, erupting into another fitof laughter when Sole ticked under his arms. MacCready dived into the room,picking up Duncan and holding him up in his arms, “She’s coming to get usDaddy, runnn!” MacCready darted through the house with the smaller boy in hisarms, the two of them laughing loudly as Sole chased them, “get her daddy,” Duncancalled as MacCready put him down, his dad grabbing Sole instead.

“Nooo!” Sole whined as MacCready pinned her down, ticklingher sides.

“We’ve got you now,” Duncan said sitting on Sole’s stomach,he tickled under her neck, before giving up and laying down on her chest, “I’mtired now,” he said sleepily, closing his eyes. MacCready laid down on theground next to Sole, looking over at her. He’d never been more in love with herthan he was at this moment.

Maxson: Arthur Maxsonwas standing in front of the Signal Interceptor talking with Proctor Ingram,they were in deep discussion about their huge mission ahead and then he noticedher. A smile pinched at the cornersof his cheeks as he watched her, her head tilted back as a sweet and delicatelaugh escaped her lips as she laughed at something funny the squire had said. She was talking to one of the young squires, she wasadjusting his coat before she leant down and showed the child how to tie theirshoelaces.

Scenes of what he saw as his future life with Sole and theirchild flashed in bursts across his mind, and he found himself grinning from earto ear. He wanted Sole to find Shaun and when she did, she could come back andbe with him and they could be a family. He wanted nothing more than that.

Nick: Nick smiledsadly at Sole who was leaning over a crib with a sleeping baby inside it. She wasgently brushing her fingers over the soft baby’s cheek, lulling it with hertouch. Nick couldn’t help but feel sad for Sole as he knew their baby, Shaun,was still out there without his mother and she was without her son. He movedcloser to Sole, squeezing her shoulder with his hand.

“We’ll find him,” he said reassuringly, and Sole smiled backup at him before turning and looking back at the baby. He wondered if Sole waslike this with Shaun when he was born, he was sure that they were.

“I know,” Nick sat down next to her, leaning over the criband smiling at the sleeping baby, he’d could see how good Sole was, and he’dhelp her find Shaun, if it was the last thing he’d ever do.

Piper: “aaandwhat’s his name?” Sole pried out of Nat, who had been confiding in Sole about aboy. She would have asked Piper about it, but she didn’t want to be teased byher older sister.

“Gavin, but I don’t know if he likes me back,” Nat leanedback on the sofa as she sipped on a bottle of Nuka-Cola Cherry. Sole wrappedher arm around the younger girl’s shoulder as she listened to her spill hersecrets in confidence. Neither Nat or Sole heard or saw Piper sitting on thestairs listening to them talk. She wasn’t mad, she thought it was sweet thatNat was confident enough to trust Sole like that. Sole looked over finallyspotting Piper and she smiled at her, receiving a smile back.

She could see Sole being a great parent and that made herheart beat quicker in her chest just thinking about it. Although they couldn’t physicallyhave children together, they’d find a way, because deep down they both wantedit but that was a discussion for a later date.

Preston: Preston stoodin the doorway as Sole kneeled down on the ground in front of the girl, Erin,on the bed. She was tearful, and Sole tried to console her, telling hereverything would be alright. It didn’t take long for Preston and Sole to find Erin’scat and return him to her. She jumped up and wrapped her arms around Sole’swaist, to which Sole leaned over and loosely hugged her back, which made Prestonsmile.

“Thank you, thank you,” she repeated, “here,” the girl helda few bottlecaps in her hand and Sole shook her head as she closed the girlshand.

“you keep your caps Kid,” she ruffled the girl’s hair, “What?”Sole said as she turned and notice Preston staring at her.

“You’re so adorable, you know that?” he said with a heart-warmingsmile stretched across his face, Sole reciprocated the smile, patting Preston’schest as they passed him by. He couldn’t wait to have kids with Sole, if theywanted to of course.

(There was another reactsimilar to this, but I accidentally deleted it when I was looking at it, sorryabout that, I’m an idiot like that xD)

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