#at the beginning of 23 they’re so confident that they gonna get 2 very promising teams to compete both AG and WC | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

kaiju-z · 5 years ago

Text

Seon Adventures Episode 23: Blood and Cherry

Following the cliffhanger of Amelia and the rest of the party literally and figuratively bumping into her sister... we carry on into the conversation that happens.

Sabrina, Sab for short, as it is learned, is the younger sister of Amelia, who at one point in her life had lived under the name, or nickname “DeeDee”. Something Sab is understandably confused about Luctan refers to Amelia as such.

When last the two had met, it was 7 years ago, when Sabrina was 7 years of age, when they were seperated by tragic means. In the time since, she had grown into a strong, 18 year old spellcaster, as she performed some of her evocation magic for the party to witness.

It’s hard to tell what class she may be, as Luck notes in his mind, but at the very least he can tell it’s not Divine type.

Smoothing over some perceived sleights, as the two hadn’t reconnected since the incident that seperated them, Luctan explains that Amelia had confided in him her worries and goal of searching, of finding her little sister. Which would be Sabrina. Persuasive as he is, he convinces her of the Air Genasi Monk’s determination and the two ladies hug it out and we get introduced to Sab’s familiar, a very lovely little weasel.

A promise is made to rendevouz later at the Tabernax tavern later, after they each finish their respective job for the day.

As they part ways, Amelia gets a pep talk from the party as the revelation comes that she has a severe case of Imposter Syndrome, having to have kept her own issues to herself. Believing that she had to decrease, as everyone else had to increase their own issues’ level.

That is not the case though, as Luck, Mournimar and Belli make it clear to her. It’s not the case as her own situation and the need to find a balance is just as important as the rest’s.

Promissing to discuss things later, the five and their pets carry on into the rounded out area of the South-Eastern part of town, on the outer wall’s side.

Three buildings in particular stand out to everyone. A Pottery Shop, named “Straight to the Paint ‘, an old house and an Orphanage right next to it.

Luctan’s lack of knowledge of herbalism aside.. A decision is made on how they should handle the establishments.

Luck takes the executive decision to split the party up in 3 teams:

Team 1: Luck and Ficus take to the Pottery shop.

Team 2: Amelia and Mournimar, to investigate the old house.

Team 3: Malak and Belli to have a chat with the heads of the Orphanage.

Learn information, apply that information, reunite and solve the case of the mysterious lightning strikes!

And so they go!

Luctan, making a promise to Belli to buy pot, goes and gets her a flower pot. And paints.(Poor low Int Roll, yaaay!) Charming the shop owner with his words, complimenting his youthful appearance and all that, Luctan learns a bit of info, before he decides to go Assassin’s Creeding up the roofs:

The gnome shopkeeper, having spoken to Mr. Greg, two doors down had come to learn that the old man kept finding left over snacks in his spare room. Quite odd. Crumbs? Maybe a rat infestation, the guard aren’t interested. He complained that someone talked from his chimney. But no one could be found.

On the opposite side of the street, the chimney of Mr. Tim was taken out in one of the lightning strikes. Frankly, the Gnome suspects that, based on whispers around town, The Storm God Dahktot was responsible in some way, maybe the involvement of a cult was in play?

Losing a fight to a fly, aside, Luctan doesn’t get any info or perception on what’s going on from the top of the buildings.

Amelia and Mournimar have far much better, well, Luck, in this situation than Luctan as they confront the owner of the house (you know, after Mournimar suggests breaking in). They meet the legend himself, Old Greg, a crotchety old man in his 80′s, who complains to them about rats in the guest room upstairs.

Guy has a shitty day. As usual. Fucking kids. He hates them kids. Little brats in the spare room get hella loud. He’s such a crotchety bastard. But the suspicion does arise that kids from the Orphanage may be involved somehow.

Mourni figures the vibes in the house are spooky. Old house and magical energy coming form upstairs, one part in particular. Though... The room doesn’t appear to have anything off about it. The dust is lighter, like there used to be a bed and it smells like rotting food.

The two most perceptible in the party notice that there’s a small circle with markings, scribbled out and redrawn repeatedly. Mournimar notices the angle and his eyes are drawn to the fireplace, the wall shared with the orphanage and there is a loose brick hanging off of it.

Mournimar investigates the loose brick. He takes a peek and can notice, in the dark of it, a pressure point. While he fiddles with the bricks, Amelia gives a closer look to the runes carved into the floor. They sadly are unreadable, but one is always the same. Amelia has no idea.

As the two talk actions, Amelia agrees that Mourni should press the button.

Clunking sounds. He holds down the button. Eventually there’s a shifting and the bricks at the back of the fireplace separate and open up... and Mournimar essentially breaks into an orphanage.

There’s a single bed in the room. Pretty plane room, there’s a propped up piece of wood. A bag under the bed and the bed is fairly small.

Casting Pass Without a Trace, Mournimar sneaks inside. He finds a thick heavy book within the sack, beneath the bed. It’s compex in design, intricate and it’s lead bound back. Black, with a fire pattern at the bottom.

There’s a detailed drawing of the ritual circle in the bedroom they started with. With a combined effort, the two make a copy of the ritual circle. And Mournimar draws a detailed map of the building and circle.

The runes are clearer and neater, the main one repeated is the symbol for Conjuration. They figure they should warn the old man. Mourni makes sure the close the door behind himself. Walking back, they do see a picture of a younger Greg, in a canoe.

They try to explain the situation to him, but the old guy pulls a dagger on them, ‘cause he’s startled by the cult shit book. Amelia lies it’s a cake and he buys it.

Back with Belli and Malak, the two go do dad and totally normal daughter activities. Just two bros, hanging out, going to an orphanage.

There’s a chiming. An older Firbolg lady opens the door. The story is that they’re here to play music for the kids. Belli pays attention for weird shit. Malak gives her Guidance. “You’ve got this. They’re just kids.”

There are toys all over the place. Very much homemade.

After the ringing of a bell, 15 kids in a swarm enter the room. (Roll for initiative, j/k).

They kind of, a few of them walk right up to Belli and one of the youngest is in the Firbolg’s arms, as it’s too young. A few sit down as Malak introduces Belli.

“ Wow, are your teeth real?!” asks one child and Belli confirms, as she is an Olf/Erc (Half Orc/Half Elf). The question is raised as the baby in the Firbolg’s arms is asl oa Half-Orc. His little tusks being all nubby and the like as he nibbles on her blue dress’ shoulder.

The kids ask about Malak’s axe and he shows it off, safely, for the kids. A few try to climb Malak to get to the axe, ‘cause that shit’s sick.

The lady introduces herself as Doreen. The head of this Orphanage.

As Belli begins entertaining children with magic and song, Malak converses with Doreen. She has a brother, who left recently. She’s been taking care as best she can of the kids, rough life and the like. Heartend, Malak gives her 10 gold. This will feed them for a while. Grateful for the kind deed, she asks if she can repay him somehow.

Malak asks about the lightning strikes, Belli offers practical lessons. “"Who wants to learn some practical skills?! we can start with knitting and then get to fire!" Seriously, Belli’s gonna blow these kids’ minds.

Doreen guides Malak upstairs and leads him to a room upstairs. There’s a desk in one part of the room, multifunctional, a calendar and stuff. There’s a single painting of a lake. This is Doreen’s room and her office space. Work place, dinner table and the only place she can get some privacy.

She’s still carrying Dave.

Malak scans the room with Detect Magic. A ring of Protection is on the table, given to Doreen by her late husband.

"So kids anyone wants to learn magic or how to play an instrument", goes Belli downstairs.

Questioned about anything off recently, Doreen admits she’s been worrying about Cedric, one of the boys. He was attached to her brother and he never wants to talk to Doreen like with her brother.

It’s probably more of a personality thing. Malak learns that they got on like a house on fire. He was blunt with the kids and Cedric responded well to that.

“"Anyone want to fly? you have to be lighter then ten pounds"”

She mentions that Lord Arwen had come to visit, at least, mentions him by description. She didn’t trust him, though. He was asking similar questions, about the lightning and the children. He focused more on her, thinking she was doing something wrong.

By this point, Belli has taught the kids “Baby Shark”.

Not all the kids are enthusiastic, though. One of the older kids, 7-8 year old being the loner. Slouching, hands in pockets. Belli talks with the boy, who introduces himself as Cedric.

He doesn’t know music and Belli tells him that’s ok. The two end up bonding over the ridicilously chonky boy that is Orion, the Familiar (and we make Sprinkle jokes ooc).

Good times.

Cedric admits he has a “friend”.

Bad times.

Her name is Cherry and he claims she’s not doing well.

They could always go and visit her, suggests Belli. But, according to Cedric, Doreen said they have to leave her alone.

Malak eventually rejoins Belli as she tells tales of the party’s adventures.

Mentioning Cherry to Doreen, Doreen can all but stare in confusion, having no fucking clue who that is.

Belli, followed by Malak, goes to check Cedric’s room and knocks. “Just a minute!” calls Cedric from inside.

Malak opens the door. He’s kneeling down in front of his bed, poured open a sack of his belongings and tears are welling up in his eyes.

And there we have it.

Mournimar stole his tome.

They ask about the book. They ask about Cherry.

Cherry’s real, but he gave her that name, because her skin’s the color of cherries.

“She’s not a tiefling. She, um. She’s real and his friend, not feeling great, but doesn’t live here. “ Belli offers her services. Cedric explains that he’s been trying to summon her. And has killed cats and mice. All these storms that keep happening? It’s due to his failure.

Last time he heard her was a few nights back. She keeps wanting him to try until he does. She hasn’t told him right now where she is.

“She’s from the Feymind Zits- Err... Flaming Pitts?!”

Taking a knee, Malak has an “ I’ma be real with you, chief.” moment with the lad. And he and Belli talk sense into the sad boy. Making him promise not to try and summon her anymore.

“You deserve better than someone, who only talks to you to get you to do something.” - Words of Wisdom by one, Belli Narah.

Malak asks if anyone else knows about the book, where he got the book from (no and Cherry, she taught him how to make it and stuff).

Can you tell me, as best you can remember, what the book looks like?”Black with a fire pattern at the bottom. It looks old, but the pages are still strong.

With Cedric’s promise, Belli passes some things over to him. Her Lute, as well as a piece of Platinum. She encourages him and gives him a gameplan to become a Bard. Making him, essentially, her apprentice.

They share a hug and the youngster gets a headpat.

“ Learn from Freddy Orcury’s works. “

Ignore Cherry, tell her to Fuck off. Cedric promisses to do this.

The party soon reunite in the center of the circle, after Belli and Malak take chase after the book. And bumping into Amelia and Mournimar, with Luctan and Ficus coming down from the roof after that.

The party discuss what’s what and the options they have. Suggestions to outright burn the book are brought up, with Luctan pointing out that they should probably hand it over to Lord Arwen as proof of their work here.

This is essentially the tome of a Warlock. As in. Cedric had accidentally made a contract with a Fiend and become a Pact Of The Tome Warlock. Belli remembers a spell that transports people through planes, one of these spells has to do with it.

Thinking fast, right before the party make their leave, Belli transformed Orion into a fly and sent him to watch over young Cedric,in case something went down.

As the six head back to the spires to have their business transaction, Luctan is positively glowing over the party’s team work!

The talk is had and the party trade the tome for the agreed upon sum and extra for the tome, wich each party member getting 10 platinum pieces.

As we head off to study in the library for our Cherry exam, Lord Arwen mentions that Mountainsteel may have work for us. As he’s on our schedule, that may still occur...?

We go to the Lady Stormweaver National Library. Has a nice plack, marble stone ‘n shit. Grand old building. It’s about the same size as the Echosmith Hall, so it’s a damn big building.

Walking in, there’s a hole in the ceiling with further floors up there.

After conversing with a gnomish man of age, named Podin, the party plans on what research materials to take.

Malak finds that there’s a demonic tome on the 3rd floor, which he learns from a tiefling woman that it once belonged to someone called “ Golgordonix”, an evil dragon, who , who attacked these lands a century ago. His tome, gifted to him by one of the 9 hells.

While the rest go to do their own research, be it about the Flaming Pits, Pacts and the like, we come to an end to the session.

Previous Episode / Next Episode

3 notes · View notes

blouisparadise · 6 years ago

Photo

As promised, here the continuing rec list of fics where Louis is called pet names. Part one can be found here, and when it’s out, part three will also be linked here. Happy reading!

1) Tie You Up and Make Me Scream | Explicit | 2166 words

AU where Harry teases Louis and it becomes a game until they cant handle it anymore and escape to have tent sex while the rest of the boys are in the other tents.

2) Feel The Need | Explicit | 4898 words

Louis and Harry attend Liam's Halloween party. Risky Business ensues.

3) Just Stop Your Crying (It’s A Sign Of The Times) | Explicit | 5864 words

My own imagining of the inspiration for Sign of the Times. Featuring boys in love, even after all this time.

4) We’ll Stumble Through Heaven | Explicit | 6504 words

Louis likes to be a good boy for his alpha.

5) Raised on Rhythm and Blues | Explicit | 8034 words

“That look on your face makes me think you’re not cooking me spaghetti fast enough,” Louis announces as he walks back into the kitchen. Harry knows exactly where Zoe gets her habits from.

“Cooking for my two beautiful and insanely intelligent children, not for the weird bloke that sleeps in my bed and eats all my food,” Harry answers, tilting his head and wondering if he should add more sauce.

6) Forever, Uninterrupted | Explicit | 8578 words

Harry finds a mysterious picture in Louis' bag one night and drives himself crazy over it. It's definitely not what he thinks.

7) Spice Up Your Life | Explicit | 9501 words

After a conversation with his Uni friends, Harry worries that his relationship with Louis has lost it's spark.

8) Infinitely All For Me | Explicit | 10630 words

The Alpha Louis' been betrothed to since he was 14 has finally come of age and Louis' been delivered to his home.

9) Keep Holding Me This Way | Explicit | 13747 words

An English grad student, a frat jock, and an unimpressed rich boy walk into a bar. No one walks out.

10) Let’s Take the World By Storm | Explicit | 14656 words

Harry lifts his head off Louis' chest to look at Louis' face. "What's that supposed to mean?"

“I don’t know, but our sex life feels a bit boring, ‘sall,” Louis says, completely avoiding eye contact.

“Boring.” Harry says flatly. He doesn’t say anything more, and Louis looks up to see that Harry seems to be mulling it over.

“Yeah, boring," Louis says, and keeps talking before Harry can pipe up. “I mean, think about it. We’ve been dating since X Factor, and now things are starting to drag a bit. We don’t even have the time for handjobs anymore, much less actual sex.”

11) The Seed Inside You, Baby, Do You Feel It Growin’ | Explicit | 14793 words

Louis really wants Harry to get him pregnant.

12) Oops, Baby, I Love You (In That Order) | Explicit | 25344 words

The minute Louis Tomlinson decides he don’t need no man to start a family, Harry Styles literally falls into his arms.

13) Another Day Gettin’ Into Trouble | Explicit | 25619 words

Harry’s drunk when the idea occurs to him. He’s also a pop star, so sometimes his drunk ideas turn into actual things instead of just ideas. The clone-a-willy kit is one of them.

In Harry’s defense, when he first thinks about it his intention is just to buy the kit and give it to Louis to make his own dildo with, because that’s what he wants anyway, right? To have a penis filling him up?

Then he realizes that it would be weird if Louis made a copy of his own dick to fuck himself with. It’d be super weird. Louis fucking himself? That’s a weird idea. Harry’s pretty sure Louis wouldn’t like that.

Clearly the only solution here is to use his own dick for the mold.

14) Force of Nature | Mature | 25672 words

Louis is a shy, young musician who doesn't want to go to Harvard.

Harry is a confident, second year athlete who likes to have a good time.

When their paths cross while their families are vacationing at the same lake resort, what begins as a summer of fun becomes a defining journey that might just change everything.

15) Up To No Good | Explicit | 26525 words | Sequel 1 | Sequel 2

Harry doesn’t think of himself as a womanizer, not at all. Sure, he enjoys sex, enjoys how women feel underneath him, and by some people’s standards he has sex with quite a lot of people, but that’s no reason to tell him that he can’t have a female PA anymore.

It’s especially no excuse for giving him a male PA who’s possibly the most gorgeous boy in the world who won’t even let Harry look at him for too long.

Sometimes Harry hates his life.

16) Always Come Back To You | Explicit | 28862 words

“I’ll do it,” Harry offers brightly. No one even blinks. “I’ll do it?”

Louis sighs irritably. “Shut up,” he orders, tossing a pillow in the general direction of Harry’s face. This is a terrible time for jokes, especially Harry’s lame, old people ones.

Not that it was an old people joke. Just that most of the time Harry’s jokes consist of knock-knocks or terrible puns. The type of jokes old people like, Louis’ pretty sure. His nan always finds them hilarious when Harry tells her one.

Harry bats the pillow out of the air without even blinking. “Be reasonable, Lou,” he says in his most reasonable voice.

Louis is perfectly reasonable, thank you very much, and he’s also frustrated and upset and tired and he really wants to punch something. Maybe he should have held on to that pillow a little longer.

“You’re not gonna fucking do it,” he snaps. “That’s the last thing I need.”

17) Blind From This Sweet, Sweet Craving | Explicit | 31170 words

"So, I guess we'll go?" Louis asks later, when Harry has calmed down and eaten his weight in Chinese food. He plays with this chopsticks, spearing another piece of chicken and pops it in his mouth. "I mean, I wouldn't mind. We could make it an adventure."

Harry observes him, watches him seated across from him on their old living room carpet, with a container of food on his lap. He's fidgeting, avoiding meeting Harry's gaze–he probably knows that Harry's mad at him for ruining the one chance they had to get out of this situation. And he's not wrong, Harry is definitely very mad. Harry wants to strangle him and castrate him and smack him upside the head.

But he's also Harry's best friend, and despite everything, despite all the fuck-ups and the plot twists and everything just not playing out the way it should, he'd still rather be stuck in this situation with Louis than any of the other boys. He's got Harry's back, and in a weird, abstract way, he knows they'll be able to get out of this situation, together.

Harry sighs. "We're going," he says resignedly, his shoulders slumping.

Oh well. There are definitely worse ways to spend the weekend than pretending to be engaged to his best friend.

18) Cupid’s Chokehold | Explicit | 35326 words

Louis is a Cupid who tries to match up Niall and Harry. It doesn't work out as planned.

19) Mark My Word (We Gon’ Be Alright) | Explicit | 35524 words

"He’s always known that there would come a time when Harry would bond with some beautiful, quiet omega, and they would have lots of curly-haired pups and live happily ever after.

Knowing it and living it are two very different things, though. Watching the object of your affection desperately search for a mate and completely disregard you as an option is all sorts of painful, but it is what it is, and Louis is just going to have to learn to live with that."

20) Who Would’ve Thought | Explicit | 44275 words | Companion Fic

The idea doesn’t come to Louis until they’ve been at the bungalow for a couple of days. Harry has no idea that he’s going to pop a knot. He’s been living his life with the expectation that he’s going to be a beta, and Louis isn’t going to tell him otherwise.

Louis is an omega, though, and most omegas want to be filled up with a knot, fucked the way their bodies are made to be fucked, and Louis is no different. In ten years he wants to have an alpha waiting for him at home who will hold him down and fuck him exactly the way Louis wants to be fucked without worrying that they’re going to expect him to stay at home, open a joint bank account, raise a litter of babies, cook and clean and, most importantly, be submissive. For that to happen Louis needs an entirely different kind of alpha.

And so the plan is born.

21) Tangled Up In You | Explicit | 45152 words

Harry blinks once. And blinks again. And says, his voice dangerous: “Niall, did you get me a mail-order bride?”

Because what the actual fuck. It kind of looks like Niall’s just purchased a person. For Harry.

Niall blinks back at him for a few moments, before throwing his head back and howling with laughter. Harry throws a pillow at him. Hard. “No, what the fuck, Harry.”

“A prostitute then?” Harry also doesn't want a prostitute.

“Of course not!”

“A stripper?”

“No!”

Damn, he’s running out of ideas. He settles for launching another pillow at Niall’s head. Niall bats it away easily, still laughing. “Stop!”

“What did you get me, then?!” Niall must hear the tinge of hysteria in his voice, because he’s pulling himself together, trying to stop himself from laughing.

There’s still a big grin on his face, though, when he says, “I got you a professional cuddler.”

A professional…what. “What?”

22) Nobody Does It Like You | Not Rated | 58820 words

Louis isn't looking for a home, but he finds one in Harry.

23) Tug-Of-War | Explicit | 63000 words

Louis' husband dies suddenly and he is left with nothing. Well, not really nothing. He has Harry. And a St. Bernard puppy named Link, whom his late husband left behind for him. Louis takes care of Link and Harry takes care of Louis. Everything is okay until suddenly, it isn't.

24) Why Can’t It Be Like That | Explicit | 63567 words

A fashion AU with a royal twist, where Louis doesn't need a stylist, Harry's thrilled to have a real life Barbie doll, and they're both very wrong about each other.

25) Perfect Storm | Explicit | 80230 words

What do you do when your best friend asks you and your (now) ex to be the best men at his destination wedding? You can either tell him the truth, tell him you’re not together anymore, and deal with the consequences, or you can pretend you’re still together and roll with it, just pray you don’t spiral. Fake it ‘til you make it. You know, for the sake of the wedding.

Harry and Louis choose the latter.

Check out our other fic rec lists by category here and by title here.

#bottom louis #top harry #fic recs #blp fic recs #blp

263 notes · View notes

hookedonapirate · 7 years ago

Photo

Tangled Up In Blue

Water Under the Bridge (Chapter 28/?)

Summary: Fear for her unborn child, a bruised and broken Emma Swan is determined to escape an abusive marriage. After she drives a long way from home to a small town in Maine, she doesn’t think her life could get more complicated… that is until she ends up falling for her OBGYN, a blue-eyed British man who’s shielded his heart from love long ago. But he may be just what she needs to begin her healing process and start a new life for her child. If only nothing gets in the way.

Notes: I have been at war with this chapter, even long before I started writing it. But thanks to @rouhn, the part at the end made the chapter better than it would've been if not for her.

The main warning here is that it's definitely a tearjerker. I was balling my eyes out writing this, so please grab your tissues!

I have tried to answer all of the unanswered questions in this chapter, but if there’s anything I’m missing or something you’re still not sure about, please let me know. There will be one more chapter and an epilogue, and though I will be very sad when I have to wrap this story up, I am very excited to finally bring you the end of this universe very soon after working on this story for over a year. Thank yo so much for all of your support and for sticking with this story through everything I've thrown at you! You are all truly amazing!Thanks for reading!

*TRIGGER WARNING* Mentions and depictions of physical and verbal abuse/domestic violence

Rated: M

Catch Up: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27

Check out deleted scenes: 1 2 3

Also available on: AO3 FF.N

“I’m going to need you to work a double shift.”

Panic washed over James, hearing his brother’s words through the phone before he threw a quick retort. “I'm sorry, I can't stay. I have plans tonight.” He promised Killian he would watch over Emma and Ian to make sure they stayed safe while Killian was gone… or rather, to make sure she wasn't getting herself into any trouble. He wanted to stop by their house unexpectedly just in case she had something up her sleeve.

“Can't you cancel your plans? Mary Margaret and I have to take care of Ian for the night.”

James furrowed his brows in confusion. “Why both of you?”

“Why does it matter? Emma told us she was leaving town with Killian for a medical conference and she was not at all keen on leaving Ian behind, so Mary Margaret and I both convinced her not to worry about a thing and that we'll both be watching the little duckling. So please, can you just do me this one favor and stay tonight?”

His stomach dropped, his mouth becoming dry as it hung open. Killian had left for the conference yesterday, and he’d left alone. If Emma lied to his brother and sister-in-law, then something was definitely going on. And seeing as he was stuck at work, there was nothing he could do about it.

“James? You there?”

“Yeah… yeah, I'm here,” he murmured, his mind clouded with worry. “I'll stay,” he agreed reluctantly, “but do me one favor?”

David sighed. “We already discussed this; I'm not giving you a raise just for pulling extra shifts-"

“No, not that,” James cut him off. “Keep little duckling safe.” His voice was wrecked as he tried to mask the concern enshrouding him.

“Of course we will,” David assured, a bit offended that his brother would need to remind him to do so.

Ending the call, James withdrew a few shaky breaths. He had to find a way to escape the B&B so he could get to Emma. But how? He couldn't exactly kick all of the guests out of their rooms.

Walking to the exit, he went outside, seeing the snow starting to fall as it landed softly on the ground. His stomach was tight with nerves, his eyes wandering around as he tried to decide what to do. Perhaps he should just call Emma and talk her out of this? He peered down at his phone, pulling up her contact information, his thumb hovering over her number.

Swallowing thickly, he pressed the button and brought the phone to his ear, listening as it rang. As he looked up, it proceeded to ring and ring until he heard her voicemail. James was cursing under his breath when he disconnected the line and began turning around as his gaze drifted down the road. He suddenly froze in his spot, but his reason had nothing to do with the brisk chill of the winter air.

The streets of Storybrooke were embellished with cheerful Christmas decorations; big red bows were tied around the streetlamps, brilliant blue bulbs helping to light up the town and wreaths hanging on the shop doors. The residents were bundled up in their winter coats, roaming the sidewalks with oversized Christmas gift bags, and the evening air was growing dim, so when his eyes fell upon the bright yellow bug parked in front of the pawnshop, the color stuck out like a sore thumb.

Forcing himself to return inside, he occupied himself to keep from growing too antsy, and every few minutes he would go outside to see that the bug was still there. A half an hour passed and he was about to head back inside when he finally saw Neal and Gold step outside.

James darted off to the side, scurrying along the storefronts while trying to be as nonchalant and unnoticeable as possible. Reaching the alley near Gold’s shop, he quickly ducked inside poking his head around the corner of the building to get a close-up of the two men. They seemed to be having an argument as James listened intently.

“Neal, I'm telling you; if you meet her at the park you're never going to see your son. It's just a trap.”

Neal sighed, looking around to make sure no one was passing by to overhear their conversation. “Then what? I just wait for her to appear around town and grab her? I already tried that once at the French restaurant, remember? That was your brilliant plan when you heard doctor douchebag over the bug you planted in the shop discussing his plans with my wife!”

So that was how Neal knew Emma and Killian were at the restaurant that night, James thought. Gold planted a bug in his own shop because he must have known there were people in this town nosey enough to break in. He must have known Emma and the people in her life were on to him. Now the question remained - why didn’t Gold turn James and Killian in for breaking and entering? Perhaps, it would have spoiled their carefully crafted plans. If Killian ended up being brought to the station, he couldn’t exactly take Emma out of Storybrooke, making her vulnerable for the taking. Plus, it would’ve exposed the fact that Gold knew where Emma and Killian would be that night, thus possibly linking the connection between Neal and Gold, James guessed.

“Just calm down and don’t get your panties in a twist,” Gold huffed in irritation, digging into the pocket of his jacket to pull out a slip of paper. “Go to this address. You told me the doctor won't be home, so I say give the wife an unexpected visit before she leaves to meet you.”

There was a twinkle in Neal’s eye, but he immediately became unsure about the suggestion. “But what if he has an alarm system? They’ve known I’ve been in town for a while; they’re obviously going to be prepared for an unexpected visit from me.”

“Don't try to break in,” Gold demanded firmly, shaking his head. “You hide and wait for her to leave the house. She'll be pulling out of the garage, and as soon as she opens the door, you rush inside and stop her. It's that simple,” he explained in a breezy tone.

Neal frowned. “So, I'm supposed to wait outside in the freezing cold?”

The shop owner rolled his eyes, and James was pretty sure he was going to slap the other man. Not that it would knock any sense into the asshole. “Do you want your wife and son back, or not?”

“Well, yeah but-”

“But nothing. You’ll follow my instructions, Dearie, or I'm taking back the ring I bought from her. Got it?”

“It’s my ring,” Neal spat. “I proposed to Emma with it.”

“And she sold it to me, so it's mine,” Gold reminded him, gritting his teeth, irritation lacing every word. “Now, are you gonna stand here and argue with me or you gonna do as I say so you can get your family back? This is the whole reason I agreed to help you, even with knowing how risky it was. We’re family and we both know how it feels to lose loved ones. We were reunited for a reason and I don’t want my efforts to go to waste, got it?”

“Yes, I got it,” Neal grumbled resentfully as he turned around, making his way to his car, and James retreated into the alley so as not to be seen. After Neal pulled away and Gold disappeared inside, James pulled out his phone, making a brisk dash to the B&B, his fingers frantically moving as he dialed Killian’s number.

“Killian, where are you? You need to get home NOW.”

There was silence on the other line, but he knew Killian was waiting for more answers; either that or he was frozen in fear, thinking something happened to Emma. James looked behind him, glancing at the pawn shop one more time before speaking again with a bit more clarification.

“You were right about Emma - she's in danger.”

He hung up the phone without explaining himself, but he was confident that Killian would do everything he could to rush back home. James tried to stay calm, but he couldn't. He couldn't let Neal get his filthy hands on Emma again, but there were visitors piling inside the Bed and Breakfast, so he did the only thing he could think of. He knew David would finally can his ass for this, but he didn't care. He needed to get to Emma.

“Sorry, there are no more rooms available for the night.” There were several.

As disappointed as the group was, James was able to usher them out without problems before making a sign to leave on the desk, letting people know he'd be returning soon.

~~~

Emma was sipping a soothing cup of hot cocoa in her cozy pink pajamas and fuzzy slippers, her lips forming a weary smile. Her body was still sore, but it was difficult to complain when she was surrounded by people who loved her. They were all sitting around the fireplace enjoying the company and celebration of the holiday. And Ian was safe and secure in Mary Margaret’s arms as David sat next to her with his arm wrapped around her shoulder and kissed her forehead.

It was a bright, cheerful Christmas morning, and it certainly looked the part. Everything that had been ruined by Neal was cleaned up, the photo frames were replaced and the decorations were still intact. The Christmas tree was lit up next to the window and the curtains were open, affording a wintery view of the backyard with the woods behind the house stretching wide and covered in a soft blanket of white. The only thing that could make the morning more perfect would be the addition of little children running around and playing with their new toys. But the group didn't seem to mind; they opened presents in between passing Ian around the room, making sure everyone got their chance to spend time with him.

The last several days had been rough. She'd spent the night in the hospital before she couldn't stand being there anymore and wanted to leave. She had to go the Sheriff's station for questioning, and still had this feeling in the pit of her stomach. It was something she couldn't quite explain, but Killian had to keep reminding her that Neal was in a cell and he could be sent to prison for a very long time. There were so many things going against him - bank robbery, breaking and entering, threatening and assaulting an officer, abuse, kidnapping. The list went on and on.

Gold was also arrested for kidnapping, and he confessed to everything in hopes of shortening his sentence while Belle took Collette and went to live with her father. It turned out Gold and Neal were half-brothers and had the same father, and Hades Underbrooke had dug up this information when he was trying to locate Neal’s whereabouts so he could contact him. James had informed her Hades previously ran a small private investigative firm, and had hired James in the past to perform his dirty work. When James wouldn’t take the job, Hades wanted him to pay for turning him down, so when he found Neal in Tallahassee, he told him he was James. He also used the information he found on the connection between the half-brothers to bribe Gold into helping him. As soon as the kidnapping scheme had failed, Hades had fled town and no one had seen him since.

There was also the fact that Killian didn’t actually go to the conference like he’d said, but she couldn’t be too upset because she hadn’t exactly been honest with him either. They both lied to protect each other, and she guessed it was a good thing he was able to get to her when he did. She didn’t even want to think of the damage Neal would’ve done before the police arrived, and although Emma couldn’t rid herself completely from the memories of that night, she was hopeful for the future.

It still felt surreal though. She didn’t have to be on the edge anymore. She didn’t have to twitch with fear, afraid that Neal might jump out of nowhere and attack her at any moment. She was still opening up to the idea of being free from him, but it would take some time for her to fully believe she could be.

“Emma, would you like to open your gift from me?” Killian’s voice towed Emma from her thoughts, and she looked over at him as he held a small, rectangular-shaped gift on his hand.

She smiled, accepting it while bracing herself. She hoped he didn’t go all out, and she hoped he liked the gift she got for him. Peeling back the perfect, silver wrapping paper, she revealed a dark blue gift box and carefully removed the lid. The gift inside stole her breath. It was a sterling silver bracelet, and held two charms with twenty-four karat gold-plated accents. One was a heart engraved with her son’s name and a blue topaz crystal birthstone, representing the month of December - the month he was born. The other was a pair of baby feet aligned with the same birthstones.

“I hope it’s okay, love. You can of course add more charms to it with the names of loved ones and their birthstones, or whatever you’d like.”

Emma looked up at him, her eyes clouded with tears. It still amazed her that she actually had people in her life she could call loved ones, although she was pretty sure he was referring to future loved ones, as in additions to their family. Emma wasn’t opposed to the idea.

“It’s absolutely perfect.” Her words were strangled as she managed a smile. “Thank you.”

“Of course, sweetness,” he cooed, offering a small grin as he took the bracelet out of the box and fastened it around her wrist, dropping a kiss to her forehead. “Anything for you, my love.”

Emma’s stomach was coiled with knots as she handed him his gift. “It’s… I hope you’ll like it,” she stuttered. “I’m not very good at picking out gifts,” she admitted timidly.

Killian’s smile only grew. “That is okay, love. It would be difficult to top the gifts you’ve already blessed me with - you and Ian.”

Emma’s heart fluttered, and he accepted the proffered present, removing the wrapping paper to expose a square gift box. Opening it up, he pulled out a bronze mechanical pocket watch hanging from a chain adorned with beads, the case mounted with a skull and crossbones. To Emma’s relief, a wide grin overtook Killian’s face as he opened it up. The inside revealed the watch face and the gold cogs and inner workings behind it.

“Turn it over,” Emma told him, and he raised a brow in curiosity as he complied, closing the watch and flipping it over.

The back was engraved in beautiful lettering that he read out loud, “Every second that goes by, my heart contracts for you.”

“I would’ve gotten you a stethoscope but a watch seemed way less lame. Plus you can use it to keep track of your patients’ labor contractions too,” she laughed.

“Aww, that is so sweet,” Cordelia chirped with googly eyes.

“That’s a wonderful gift, Emma,” Rosabell complimented.

“And the most romantic gift award goes to Emma,” David added with a soft chuckle. “Although, the bracelet is a very close second.”

“Ruby and I helped her pick it out,” Mary Margaret boasted with a vibrant smile.

“When I saw this in the jewelry case, I knew it would perfect for you,” she told Killian.

He laughed, sweetly kissing Emma’s lips. “And you said you weren’t good at picking out gifts. This is brilliant, love. Thank you.”

Emma was blushing as she gave a soft shrug.

They all finished opening their presents, and had a big Christmas dinner in the afternoon that the ladies prepared while the men watched football. The day was flying by pleasantly, and after dinner, the guys washed the dishes, allowing the women to relax in the living room. Emma was laying a sleeping Ian in his bassinet in the other room when Mary Margaret came up behind her, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“You okay, Emma?”

Emma was surprised as she turned around, facing her friend who had a concerned expression on her face. “Yeah, I’m fine,” she assured with a smile.

“Well, I know you’ve been through a lot, and I just wanted to make sure. What you did was really risky… but I’m glad you’re okay,” Mary Margaret confessed, and Emma was taken aback. She wasn’t surprised that her friend cared for her, but she didn’t realize how much. Judging the deeply worried look in her eyes, Emma could see the wreckage embedded within.

“I know it was. And I’m sorry I worried everyone, but it was something I needed to do. I had to make sure my son was safe. I couldn’t let Neal hurt him.”

“I know, Emma. You don’t have to explain yourself to me. You were thinking like a mother. I just wanted to say that… you’ve grown so much since you came here. And I’m glad you showed up in our lives.”

Again, Emma felt like crying as a smile bloomed over her face. She didn’t realize the effect her actions had on everyone. “I’m glad too,” she murmured adamantly.

“Oh and I know that you used the money you got from your engagement ring to pay for our trip,” the brunette pointed out suddenly.

Emma’s eyes widened in surprise. “How did you-?”

“Killian told us. And don’t be mad at him; I kind of forced it out of him,” she laughed.

“Well, I wanted to do something special for the both of you.”

“I know, and I just wanted to thank you again. You’re a good friend, Emma.”

“You are too.” Emma’s heart was surrounded in warmth, and she was drawing Mary Margaret into a hug when she peered up, seeing James quietly enter the room so as not to disturb Ian.

The brunette left as Emma crossed her arms, eyeing him suspiciously.

“How is it that whenever hugs are involved, you always show up?”

James chuckled. “I don’t know, I guess I’m attracted to them.” He opened his arms, and she answered him with a hug, sighing in to him. “At least I’m not the last person to get one this time,” James murmured, kissing her cheek and tucking his face into the crook of her neck.

Emma's heart twisted. She knew he’d been concerned about her. She knew she’d put him - all of her friends and Killian - through hell by bating Neal into Killian's home and turning off the alarm so he could get in. Plus she’d had doubts when Neal pointed fingers at James. Of all the people in her life, she had believed the one person who had hurt her and damaged her the most. That was the influence Neal had over her before that night. She had guessed until she was finally able to stand her ground, he would've always had his claws in her - always had power over her - no matter how much she hated him.

“I’m sorry I didn’t believe you...”

“Hey, none of that,” he soothed, affectionately stroking her hair. “You don’t have to apologize. I deserved it. I haven’t exactly been the ideal citizen of this town. And you are too important to me to let him get in between our friendship.”

Emma’s heart fluttered at the sincerity in his voice, and she squeezed him a bit tighter, resting her head on his shoulder, feeling comforted by his words. It had been a while since they had been together like this. Everything had been hectic lately and with James seeing someone and Emma doubting him, she felt like had lost her best friend, so it was nice to be in his arms and hear his voice. “I missed you, James,” she whispered softly.

“Missed you, too… so much. You had us worried though. I’m just glad Killian made it when he did.” James pulled away, his eyes full of emotion.

“I know… I’m…” Flooded with guilt, Emma lowered her gaze to the floor. She hated what she had put everyone through.

“Hey…” James captured her chin, lifting it up so she was looking him in his vibrant blue eyes. “It’s all over with now. Neal can’t hurt you anymore, and none of us are going anywhere. We all love you Emma, and that’s not going to change.”

“I know,” she breathed, offering a small smile. “I’m just thankful to have all of you in my life, even though I don’t deserve it.”

“You deserve all of it and more,” he argued quickly and took her hand, lifting it to his lips and pressing a kiss to the back of it. When he lifted his head again, a storm was brewing in his eyes as he encased her hand with his, rubbing the knuckles with his thumb. “Besides, if anyone’s to blame, it should be me.”

“But, James, you turned down the job. None of this was your fault.”

“If I had never become involved with Hades in the first place, he would have-”

“He would have done the exact same thing. You are not responsible for his actions.”

“But maybe he would have left town if he couldn’t get anyone to do his dirty work and if he had to pay for a room at the B&B. He would’ve gone off to find someone else.”

“Yeah and maybe if I had left Neal a long time ago, if I had never married him, he would’ve found someone else to hurt and abuse. The important thing is you stood up to Hades and turned him down. You’re a good guy, James. Don’t forget it.”

The corner of his mouth pulled into a bashful grin. “Thanks, Emma.”

She offered a similar smile in return. “No problem.”

James stepped up to Ian’s bassinet, watching him as he slept. “I’m just glad the little duckling’s okay.”

“I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to him. He’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I would do anything to protect him.”

“And he will grow up and do anything to protect his mother. He will be strong and caring like her,��and he’ll have the women swooning over him because he’ll be a handsome stud since he’s acquired his mother’s good looks. Plus, he has those big blue eyes to make the ladies melt.”

Emma smiled and nodded in agreement. “Men with blue eyes tend to have that effect.”

James shrugged as though he were unsure of the statement. “I know I do. I mean, do you think Rose is with me because of my charming personality? I think not; that’s David's department.”

Emma laughed. “I think there’s more to like about you than just your blue eyes.”

James blushed and smiled. “Well thank you, Emma. I do try. I mean, I still think Rose is way too good for me, but I’ve been an outstanding gentleman with her. And very respectful. You could say I’ve come a long way.”

“I know you have, James. And I have complete confidence that you won’t disappoint her.”

A wide, cocky grin cracked his lips, his eyes lighting up with mischief. “Oh, I’m quite confident I won't either.”

Emma knitted her brows in confusion. “I was talking about in the long run, but why do I have a feeling you’re referring to something else?”

James shrugged, feigning innocence. “I’m truly touched that you have faith in me, believe me. No one else ever has, but I know there is one thing she won’t be disappointed with.”

“And what’s that?” She narrowed her eyes, not sure if she actually wanted to know the answer to that.

He cleared his throat and suddenly seemed nervous as he spoke quietly. “I will tell you, but it’s our secret, okay?”

She nodded. “Of course.”

“Rose and I haven’t had sex yet.”

Emma’s mouth dropped almost instantly, surprised by this information.

“I told you I’ve been an outstanding gentleman,” he reminded her.

“Are you sure you aren’t gay?” she teased, throwing his own words back at him from when he asked the same thing about Killian.

James frowned. “No, I’m not gay.”

“That’s something I didn’t really need to know.”

The sound of Killian’s voice made Emma’s heart flutter as he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pressing gentle kisses to her cheek. She melted, her body surrendering to him and getting caught up in his warmth.

“Just don’t go around kissing my Swan, and you and I have no problems.”

James rolled his eyes in irritation. “It was just a small peck, showing affection for my friend after I was afraid I would never see her again. Should I just be prepared, knowing that you’re going to constantly toss that in my face in the future?”

Killian shrugged, considering the idea. “Perhaps, but since you helped me out with Neal and have proven to me over and over that you care for Emma, this will be the last time,” he promised sincerely as he nosed her cheek and tightened his hold around her.

James suddenly looked up, a broad smile blooming over his face.

“There you are. I’ve been looking for you,” Rosabell said, approaching James and kissing his cheek. “What do you say we go home now? A big dinner makes me want to take a long nap.”

“I agree,” James took her hand, glancing between Emma and Killian. “Thank you for having us over.”

“Of course, mate,” Killian said with a small smile as he extended his hand.

Accepting the gesture, James shook it before drawing Emma into a hug.

Emma looked over his shoulder, seeing the uneasiness and tension brewing between Killian and Rosabell. When they were all in a group together, it was different, but with just the two of them standing in front of each other and staring awkwardly away from each other, Emma knew there was something going on that she wasn’t aware of.

“Thanks for everything Killian,” Rosabell said and tentatively shook his hand.

“Thank you both for coming over to join us.”

The four of them walked out of the room, and James and Rosabell said goodbye to rest of the gang before they left.

Emma didn’t question it, but there was an unsettling feeling seated in the pit of her stomach that wouldn’t disappear.

With warm hugs and goodbyes, Liam, Cordelia and the Nolan couple left shortly afterwards. Killian shut the front door behind them and turned around as Emma crossed her arms, staring at him with uncertain eyes. He observed her in concern, the smile that had been etched into his lips for most of the day slowly fading. “Emma? What’s wrong, love?”

Emma decided she was just going to be blunt. She needed to know the truth. She needed everything to be laid out on the table. “What’s going on between you and Rosabell?”

Confusion flashed in his eyes and he stepped closer, but Emma didn’t budge. “What do you mean?” he asked, hurt by her words.

“I mean you’re supposed to be friends and yet neither of you have barely said two words to each other all day. You both seem awkward and uncomfortable around each other. You told me that you worked things out with her, but there’s something you’re not telling me,” Emma accused wearily. “I trust you, Killian, with all my heart, but you’ve proven to me you’re capable of hiding things from me to protect me. I don't want that. I want us to be open and honest with each other.”

Killian appeared to be stunned. “Like you've been honest with me? You could’ve gotten yourself killed, love,” he bit out in a harsh tone.

The words screeched through her ears; she didn’t want to start a fight, but there were too many things that had been unspoken and needed to be spoken. They needed to be acknowledged. “Killian, I know that, but I told you, I did it for us.”

A wave of apology came over him and his eyes fell to the ground as he expelled a soft sigh. “I know that, love. But I was still worried sick about you and Ian. I love you both and I don't want to lose either of you.”

“I can’t take back what I did, but I can tell you I hated lying to you. I hated that we had to lie to each other, even though we did it for the right reasons. I want us to tell each other everything.”

“Agreed, Emma. And I assure you the only thing I kept from you regarding me and Rosabell is… she threatened to go to the board about us if I didn’t take the initiative and do it myself. And I hated how she looked at me all day and how she felt bad that she had given me this ultimatum, so on Monday I’m going to tell them.”

Emma’s eyes widened in disbelief. “What? Why? You haven’t been my doctor in months.”

“It doesn’t matter love. Romantic relationships between doctors and patients are forbidden, even after treatment or care has ended. And with Neal and the hearings coming up, you know he’s going to bring up our relationship. It’s best to confess now before it blows up in my face and I lose my patients and my practice.”

Emma shook her head. She couldn’t believe he was actually going to do this. “I can’t let you do that.”

“Emma-”

“No, I can’t let you get in trouble because of me. I’ve already put your job at risk by falling for you. I can’t let you do this.”

“And why not? You risk your life for me and your son, but you can’t let me risk my career for you and Ian?”

“Killian…” Emma’s voice was strangled as she stumbled for words. She didn’t know how to respond to that. He raised a fair point but she still couldn’t let him ruin his life for her. “You’re an amazing doctor. You help women through their pregnancy, you encourage and inspire them and you help them give birth, and I…” her voice trailed off as she felt the threat of tears wetting her eyes, “I’m just a waitress. I’m not worth ruining your life.”

Killian’s eyes grew dark and hooded; he appeared to be completely and utterly wrecked. “You really have no idea, do you? You still don’t understand that I would literally do anything for you. You ask me to run through fire, and I’d run through fire, gladly.”

“Then please don’t go to the board,” she pleaded.

“I have to, Emma. I don’t have a choice. If I don’t, Rose will. And once I do then we can put this all behind us.”

“But don’t you see? I can’t! This is all far from being over! Yes, Neal’s in jail, but I’ll have to face him in court and I’ll have to rehash everything he ever did to me. I’ll have to relive those moments when he belittled me and hit me and made me feel like nothing! When he tore me apart in every possible way he could.” The last few words were strangled before she suddenly burst out crying, no longer able to hold back.

Killian’s demeanor visibly transformed, his heart clearly aching for her. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close to his chest and allowing her to sob into his shirt. “I know, love,” he whispered, gently stroking her hair. “I know, and I will be there for you through everything.”

Emma shook her head and pulled away from him, wiping her tears and sniffling. “I can’t let you do that. I can’t drag you through this mess with me.”

Killian stared at her blankly. “What do you mean? I’m already in this.”

“But, I need you not to be. Killian, I came to this town a damaged woman, and I barely started healing when you came into my life. I started loving you when I thought I could never give my heart to anyone ever again. And I want to give you everything I am - everything I have - but right now I don't even know who I am anymore. I need to figure that out. I don't want to drag you through what I have to face with Neal. I want you to be able to live your life and fulfill your dream of opening a fertility clinic.”

Killian’s eyes were welling up with tears as he stared back at her. “What are you- what are you saying, Emma?”

Emma swallowed down her fear as she held his gaze. “I’m saying I should leave with Ian for a while. I think I need some time to figure out who I am again. I’ve been with Neal since I was seventeen and then I met you, and I haven’t had a chance to breathe.”

A tear slid down Killian’s cheek, making her heart hurt. But she knew this was for the best.

She lifted her hand, wiping his tear away with her thumb as she mustered a small smile. “It won’t be forever. I couldn’t stay away from you if I wanted to.” Emma pressed her forehead to his and she closed her eyes, another tear rolling down her cheek. “Please… I need to do this.”

“But where will you go?” he asked, cupping her face in his hands.

“I’m not sure. Maybe Boston. Or maybe Regina would have a good recommendation since I’ll still have to present in court.”

He nodded and pulled her close, holding her tight. She could feel him starting to shake as a choked-out sob left his lips. “If you think this is the best thing for you and Ian, I will… I will let you go.” The whispered, broken words barely escaped his mouth, but the tears were flowing freely down his face. “I don’t want you to leave, but I want you to be comfortable with who you are. And just know that you’ll always be my Swan, no matter what.”

“Always.”

~~~

Killian couldn't believe Emma was actually leaving. Even if it wouldn’t be for good, he was dreading it with everything inside of him. He cursed himself for every time he wasn’t honest with her and for not going to the board immediately, but none of that mattered now. Emma needed to do this and he knew that. All he wanted was for her and Ian to be happy. All he wanted was for them to feed off of each other’s strength. He never wanted to see them hurting or in pain. He wanted the best for them, even if he didn’t get to witness it.

He couldn’t believe how much of an impact she had on him over the course of a few months, but if felt like much longer. If felt like he had known her for years. When she touched him, it sure as hell felt like years’ worth of healing - years’ worth of love.

“We will miss you Emma… very much,” Mary Margaret murmured, embracing Emma into a hug.

It was a sunny winter afternoon, and unseasonably warm as they gathered outside of the Nolan’s loft, but to Killian, it was cold and dreary and unpleasant. He kept telling himself he couldn’t think like that though. This was Emma’s chance. It was her chance to go out of this small, boring town of Storybrooke and to heal and find happiness.

Besides, it wouldn't be forever, he kept reminding himself.

“I will miss you all so much.”

There were many tears and hugs and long, heartfelt words of endearment as Emma said goodbye to all of the people she’d grown to love. Liam and Cordelia were taking the situation better than Killian had originally expected, but he knew they were sad to see her go.

Emma promised to keep in touch with all of them and send them updates about Ian. James was traveling with her to make she arrived to Boston safely and got settled in properly. Rosabell wasn’t happy about it, but if given the choice, James would pick his best friend who had gone through hell and back. Killian wasn’t all that happy about it either, but then again, there was nothing that could really make it better. Only knowing that Emma and Ian would get there safely was what kept him sane.

“If anything happens to them, I’ll have your head, James. You know that right?”

“Then it’s a good thing nothing will.”

Killian was swaying Emma’s son delicately in his arms, smiling down at him through teary eyes, knowing the inevitable end was near. He knew Ian would soon be taken away, but he tried not to think too much about that. He wanted to enjoy the few moments while they lasted.

“Now remember, lad…” he whispered with a shaky breath, his thumb stroking his cheek as Ian blinked up at Killian with those big blue eyes that were brighter than the sun. “Be good for your mum. And don’t let her get into trouble.” Killian tried desperately to hold back his tears. And it didn’t matter that there were many people to witness him in shambles, but he had to stay strong because he knew this was the best thing for Emma. He wanted her to able to cope with things in her own way. He wanted her to be healthy and strong and not be held down or haunted by her traumatic past. The future he envisioned for Emma and Ian didn’t allow for anything less. “I know you’ll look out for each other.” A tear managed to roll down his cheek as he lifted Emma’s baby boy, pressing a soft kiss to his forehead. “And maybe one day we will be a family again.”

“Of course we will.” Emma’s sweet voice pulled Killian’s gaze and he flashed a frail smile. “You’ll always be our home no matter where we are. We both love you, and we’ll never stop.”

Her words had a comforting effect on him, his heart overwhelmed with joy. “And both of you will always be my home. But never forget you’ll always have a home here with me. Whenever you decide, or if you decide to come back. I’ll always be here waiting for you, my love.”

Emma’s green eyes were glossy with tears as she smiled and threw her arms around him and Ian, holding them close. “I love you so much,” she whispered in his ear.

“I love you. More than you will ever know.” Emma found his lips, capturing them softly and tenderly, and yet her movements were desperate as she curled her hand around the back of his neck, her fingers sifting through his hair. He didn’t even care who was watching them.

Killian breathed her in, memorizing everything about her - her scent, her warmth, the feel of her body against his, her lips, the taste of her tongue, the taste of her, the sound of her voice, her breathing - before he had to let her go. It was one of the most difficult things he had to do, but somehow he let her go… eventually.

Emma licked her lips, her cheeks stained with tears as she held his scruffy cheeks in her hands. Both of them were silent for a few moments; there were so many things he wanted to say, but he didn’t have the energy to say them out loud.

“Please don’t say goodbye,” he muttered, his voice cracked and shattered. Hearing her say goodbye may possibly kill him.

“I’ll see you again. How’s that?”

A smile curved his lips as he cradled the back of her head and placed one more kiss on her lips. “I’ll be counting on it.”

Letting go of Ian was another one of the most difficult things he ever had to do, and when Emma scooped her son up in her arms, he never tore his eyes away.

“Are you ready, Emma?” James asked as he waited patiently by the passenger’s side. He would be driving them there but then flying back without being an interference with Emma's need to be on her own.

Her eyes were glued to Killian’s and she didn’t nod or acknowledge the question; she only said everything to Killian with her eyes she couldn’t possibly put together in words as he did the same.

When she started to turn around, she paused, looking back at Killian. “Oh and if you do go to the board… I know everything will work out fine. Everyone has faith in you and trusts you. If they can’t see what a great doctor you are then it’s their loss.”

With that said, she walked away and strapped Ian into his car seat before she stole one more glance of him and waved before getting in the passenger seat.

Killian waved back as he watched James drive them away, his heart crumbling a bit in his chest.

~~~

“You doing okay, Em?” James asked, and as they crossed the town line, Emma couldn’t help but remember the first time she came to this town. And it was all because of a flat tire that she decided to get a room for the night. A flat tire changed everything for her. She had been scared, a nervous wreck, but the people in Storybrooke had quickly wormed their way into her heart. And she would never forget that.

Now, because of her, she had worried so many of them. She had put Killian and James in danger because they wanted to protect her. Not to mention, what if Gold or Hades had wanted to find Ian while he was under the care of the Nolan’s? She could have put all three of them in danger. And August had gotten shot in the leg, causing extensive permanent damage, so Graham was taking over as Sheriff for the time being. Ad it was all because of her. She was afraid that the guilt would always be plaguing her and eating way her insides - another reason why she needed to leave. She felt too guilty.

“Yeah, I’m fine. What were you saying?”

She was sure James didn’t believe her, but he didn’t pressure her, and instead continued talking about whatever he was talking about when she’d become lost in her thoughts. She was grateful he was going with her and that she and her son wouldn’t be alone during the drive there. At the same time, she knew she needed some space and she needed time to reflect on everything that had happened. During her time with Neal, she had lost her identity somewhere along the line, and she’d never had a chance to really get it back. Emma always had issues with self-confidence, probably because nothing she ever did for Neal was ever good enough. Most of time, he treated her like chewed up gum on the bottom of his shoe, so that was the value she had placed on herself.

Being with Killian had helped her gain some of that confidence back, but to Emma, it wasn’t good enough. How could she give her heart and soul to someone and accept them completely if she didn’t completely love and accept herself? The last thing she wanted to do was hurt Killian, but knowing she wouldn’t be able stay away for too long was the only thing helping her cope with all of this. Emma wanted to be open with him; she wanted to give him everything he deserved and in order to do that, she needed to take this trip. She needed to take a step back and separate herself from everything. She needed to forgive herself for everything she allowed Neal to do to her, for what she put herself through and for what she had put all of her loved ones through.

But to be completely honest, she really just wanted to go back home, run into Killian’s arms and hold him and Ian like there was no tomorrow.

A/N: To those of you who read A Helping Hand, I'm taking votes on which story I should update after this because I don't like to leave you lovelies hanging for too long, so let me know. You can leave a comment, send me a pm or an ask :)

@resident-of-storybrooke @followbatb @weplaydumbb @strawberrycupcakeprincess @shady-swan-jones @kmomof4 @ultraluckycatnd @phoenixsxul @eala-captian @teamhook @i-love-books2014 @andiirivera @piratesbooty63fan @missclois86 @fallensites @harrietmjones @winterbaby89 @wordsmith-storyweaver @andiirivera @slimacwrites @jennjenn615 @its-about-bloody-time-cs @liloproductions @followbatb @klar425 @hey-it-is-jess @ascolinwishes

#cs ff #cs ff au #captain swan #cs fic #tangled up in blue #my fic

41 notes · View notes

vocaotome · 8 years ago

Photo

A META ON THE CRAZINESS THAT IS KATSUKI YUURI AND HIS STUBBORN ASS SET ON RETIRING

I’ve seen a lot of people write metas on wtf actually happened during the last 2 episodes of Yuri!!! on ICE and Yuuri’s frustrating decision to retire, but so far I haven’t managed to 100% agree with any of them so I wrote my own!

In this meta I’ll try to answer the following questions (and no, “anxiety made him do it!!!” isn’t a magic answer), discussing almost everything solely from Yuuri’s POV:

-When exactly did Yuuri start seriously considering retirement? And why? Why didn’t he consider the option of working under another coach?

-Why did he decide to tell Victor only the day before the final, even though Victor deserved to know it much earlier as his coach and boyfriend?

-Why did he buy pair rings and exchange them in a location that clearly expressed his romantic intentions towards Victor when on the next day he was planning to ask Victor to go back to Russia, ending their professional relationship and severely straining the personal one?

Okay, so you guys remember the first episode?

Yuuri is NOT a quitter. Boy is actually competitive as fuck, and he actually gets annoyed when people automatically assume that he’s weak enough to freak out and retire over one failure. He isn't thinking of retirement here yet, but still he’s grieving for Vicchan and is highly upset over his performance. At this point he didn’t have any solid plans about the exact path to take., and after he fucks up and fails to qualify for worlds, he severs his bonds with Celestino but he still doesn’t completely given up.

For the next few months Yuuri is frustrated intensely by the fact that he finally got be on the same playing field as his idol and made a complete mess of that chance, and it’s not possible for him to think of stopping at such a low point. He fights his depressed feelings by skating Stammi Viccino with a thought process that was probably something like “if I can skate Victor’s routine I probably still am worth something, right?” When he skates the routine in front of Yuko he still is trying to be positive, and if left alone he probably would’ve chosen to continue skating even without any outside intervention, though it would’ve taken him some time to finish his soul-searching. We’ll never know, because soon after that Victor appears, dick out in the onsen and all, and offers to be his coach and he's like fkhdgsfkdfj!!!

Before I continue further let me classify three facets of Victor that we see in this show:

Victor the skater, Victor the coach, and Victor the person.

When Yuuri interacts with Victor in ep2 he’s mostly treating Victor as the first one, the idol he has always looked up to, and his initial reaction is glee and joy because Victor! Freaking! Nikiforov! says I inspired him! He's so close to me!!! I get to see him skate at my childhood rink!!! What a time to be alive!

But with Victor here, new problems arise. Yuuri actually has to pick concrete, timed goals now instead of just “someday”, and as one of my friends at the yoi discord server pointed out, Yuuri tends to get nervous when shit gets real, and having your lifelong idol as your coach is as real as things get. To make things worse, Victor starts to appear inconsistent in his offer to help. Mid ep2 he proposes the Onsen on Ice event that would decide which Yuri’s request he prioritizes. Considering how Yuuri treated him kinda distantly after he dropped everything to answer Yuuri's request to coach him, this might be him trying to see if Yuuri really wants him here (something like “Was he not serious when he asked me to be his coach? I’m not forcing into his life without his consent, am I?”), and/or him being salty, and/or him trying to rouse Yuuri’s competitive spirit. But let’s ignore that since Victor isn’t the focus here.

Look at Yuuri’s face when Victor says “Sure” to Yurio’s declaration about what he wants if he wins (Victor going back to Russia with him and becoming his coach). Him agreeing to return to Russia if Yurio wins really shook Yuuri up, I think. Making Yuuri compete for Victor even though Victor had declared that he's gonna be Yuuri’s coach just in the last episode made Victor appear to be an amazingly flighty guy who changes his mind very easily, from Yuuri’s perspective. (I thought the same back then, ngl. I know he had faith that Yuuri would win and the Nishigoris’ comments had also convinced him that using Yuuri’s competitiveness is a good idea, but why even put that up to chance??? Can you imagine the mess it would’ve turned into if Yurio won?)

It made him think that amazing as Victor may be, he can disappear at any point if Yuuri makes a mistake (way to convince the poor guy of your sincerity, Victor =.=), and he shouldn’t expect Victor to stay here any longer than absolutely necessary- which, he assumes, would be the Grand Prix Final.

The earliest he mentions retirement is mid ep2, then he confirms it again in ep3 at the end of Onsen on Ice (thoroughly confusing because dude you just won??? why???), and towards the end of ep4 he talks about this season being his last again. He's still bitter over Sochi, he desperately wants to properly utilize the short time Victor will be by his side to redeem himself this season since our boy is hella competitive. He refuses to go down as the skater who qualified for the final only once and retired after fucking up. He doesn’t begrudge Victor for not promising a long-term commitment because Victor’s the living legend, of course he needs to go back eventually. But while he’s here Yuuri wants to learn all he can from Victor, and express that through his own skating, so that he can both regain his own pride and prove to the world that Victor's precious time wasn’t wasted.

Now one may ask, why not continue even longer then??? He’s 23 at this point and doesn’t have any injuries holding him back, so he can still go for several years.

Because continuing means there's another chance of messing up. He might be able to do well this season, he knows that it’s very unlikely to do as bad as Sochi. But if he continues for a longer time without Victor by his side he might do worse than this season and he doesn't want that. He wants to leave on a high note. He tries to convince himself winning a gold with Victor's help is the most he can do, setting a bigger goal is like setting himself up for failure, LET'S PLAY IT SAFE.

A part of him probably must be pissed by this because Yuuri hates compromises, just look at his face in the above pic when he’s told to downgrade his free skate, no wonder he doesn’t obey Victor in the end. But his low self-esteem and anxiety manage to convince him somehow that no matter how much he hones his skills, there’s no telling when his nerves will betray him, so he shouldn’t bite off more than he can chew.

Over the course of the series his confidence grows and he begins to regain his love for skating, but it's still not enough to make him rethink his plans to retire. He now views Victor with an exasperated fondness as the latter takes baby steps towards being a good coach and they manage to be a good team, and he no longer thinks Victor is flighty enough to randomly leave (as proven in his “I know!” during the garage scene when Victor tries to convince that he wasn’t serious in his threat to resign), but they never had a proper conversation about their future plans after the GPF and he has no reason to think Victor, the living legend, will completely give up his chance to go back to skating.

(This pic is here simply because it’s too pure for this world and needs to be included in every meta post.)

Yuuri also gets to know Victor as a person during this period and after the cup of China their relationship takes a more intimate turn, but while that bolsters his confidence in some ways, it also gives him a new reason to panic. He had always been ready to let go of Victor the coach at the end of GPF, but when the Makkachin thing happens and they're forced to stay apart, he's hit full force by the extent of his yearning for Victor and and is torn by the idea of losing both Victor the coach and Victor the person in near future.

When they were reuniting in ep9, Yuuri’s request to take care of him until he retires kinda confused me tbh because Yuuri knows that Victor definitely is staying until GPF at least??? I saw the scene as him being kinda desperate and not thinking very clearly at that moment. I think he was actually planning to explain his reasoning for retirement and then ask Victor to be his coach until he retired, but he ended up doing the second part first, resulting in a case of word vomit that from Victor’s POV sounds very much like a request "please say that you want to stay forever" (and is probably the true wish in Yuuri’s heart that he will not allow himself to want). He doesn’t backtrack on his words, which probably is because he probably thinks that Victor also expects him to retire at the end of this season (after worlds), Chris did say there were rumors of Yuuri’s retirement circling around. Otherwise this seems like an overly aggressive demand like "please give up your skating career for mine", since he hasn't told Victor about how soon he plans to retire yet? I don’t think Yuuri would do that on purpose, and probably doesn’t realize how Victor took his words until the next moment.

Note that when Victor wishes that Yuuri never retires before Yuuri has a chance to bring up his plans of early retirement and makes him lose the chance to explain himself by showing giddiness at the prospect of being able to coach him indefinitely, Yuuri gets teary. This is him realizing that yes, Victor is indeed willing to give up his career for Yuuri ("killing" Victor the skater), Victor is willing to make such a sacrifice because of the personal connection they've developed. That's why he's so bold and downright cheeky in ep10, because he's convinced that Victor the person is willing to be by side for a long time.

But he also doesn't want Victor to do it like that, Victor the skater was the one who brought them together in the first place and Yuuri loves him. Yuuri is also unaware of Victor's internal troubles, lack of L&L and everything, and has no idea just how much Victor has been enjoying teaching him compared to the time he was competing. A selfish part of Yuuri simply wants to see Victor on the ice regardless of all circumstances, so I think he might have tried to convince Victor even if he did know. (I personally don’t think his decision to let Victor go is influenced by outside influences, as it’s been proven in ep6 Yuuri can be selfish in a good way and he doesn’t give a shit about unrelated people’s opinion at all. Yuuri himself wants to see Victor skate again, and he’s under the belief that Victor wants the same but is making an emotional decision to do otherwise.)

Yuuri also suffers from imposter syndrome often, and it’s possible that he is convinced that retiring for the sake of "someone like Yuuri" is a massive sacrifice Victor would regret later, and he doesn't want to fuck up their personal relationship if Victor looks back at this decision in the future and feels that Yuuri forced him to retire. So Yuuri cuts off the possibility of that happening by finalizing (almost) his decision to retire, despite how much he still wants to skate and wants to do it by Victor's side. This way even if Victor decides to retire for some reason (Yuuri probably can’t imagine any except age), at least it won’t be Yuuri’s fault.

I was confused why he went for "Victor should stop coaching me and go back to skating, I'm gonna retire" instead of "Victor should stop coaching me and go back to skating, I'm gonna continue with a different coach since I don't wanna hold you back". After some brainstorming, I think letting Victor go and continuing under another coach is a very unappealing option to him for multiple reasons: he’s simply too attached to Victor the coach, even with his flawed ways Victor was still the best thing specifically for Yuuri. Both of them have a co-dependency problem, and Yuuri is aware of his own issues though doesn’t realize how it’s equally bad for both him and Victor. Russia cup proved to him that he can still survive without Victor and isn’t helpless, but he still isn’t confident that he won’t do worse in the next season if he becomes cut off from Victor’s constant, intimate support. Competing under a different coach would definitely do that, with the only possible exception being maybe Yakov...But that’s still too much of a long shot and depends on a bunch of different things (Will Yakov accept a skater from a rival country? Will Victor be allowed to be with Yuuri to give him mental support when he has no official reason to?). If you accept my theory that he wants to go out with a bang, continuing for another season under such unsure and less ideal environment than his current one is too big of a risk for Yuuri without enough reward. EDIT: This meta offers one other plausible reason, which is the possible financial issues Yuuri would have to face if he doesn’t do well enough during his post-Victor years and ends up only damaging his image and losing sponsors. It makes sense considering Yuuri’s tendency to not realize his own potential, it’s possible that sponsors are more than ready to look past his previous season’s failure and totally want to support Japan’s Ace who represented Japan in the GPF two years in a row, but Yuuri would fail to realize that and be much more nervous about being dropped.

Let’s mess up the ep order for a bit to talk about Yuuri and his standards. These are his thoughts during his FS on ep9.

Since he doesn’t believe in himself enough to think he has that much more to offer, he just wants to reach the highest possible goal he thinks is possible for him and stop. This is kinda hilarious yet sad, because Yuuri’s true aim is actually much, much higher. Throughout the whole series it’s clear that ever since the time he used to copy routines together with Yuko, his standards for skating have all been based on Victor. Yuuri has always wanted to be on the same level as Victor, and it doesn’t even end at that.

He wanted to surpass Victor, and even last year (when Victor was still competing!) he had actually aimed for the gold even though he never declared it. But it truly is such a high goal that he can’t say that to anyone, and is mocked by Nishigori when it slips out. This probably why Yuuri admires Yurio, who is a tiny bean but has the guts to declare what Yuuri can’t bring himself to.

There’s one thing that my thoughts are still unclear about. Yuuri’s original goal wasn’t actually just the gold medal itself (the physical item and the status that comes with it), but the idea of facing Victor, his inspiration, as a true equal. When Yuuri said that he wanted to have Victor step down as a coach in ep9, I first thought that he wanted it because he wanted to go against Victor next season, and was surprised when it turned out to not be the case. This skating season will always be lowkey unsatisfying for Yuuri because Victor is not in it, despite how much he respects his other competitors. In Yuuri’s mind Victor >>>>everyone, so I would expect him to be super frustrated if he retires right before Victor returns, allowing the opportunity to face Victor again slip away. The only reason I can think is deep rooted Sochi trauma that whispers to him that he won’t ever be able to surpass Victor no matter how much struggles for it, and this season is the only time he’ll be able to get the gold. (EDIT: as mentioned above, financial uncertainty might also play a role.)

The two dominating traits that make up Yuuri are so strangely contradictory, but they work together to mess him up: his pride as a hard worker makes him aim for the very best and refuse to do anything half-assedly, and his low self-esteem punishes him if he slips even just a little bit from the extremely high standards he has set for himself. Yuuri has too many conflicting desires as well-he loves Victor the person, Victor the coach, and Victor the skater. He needs all of them but he knows he can't (he's not Victor level extra™ yet), so he chooses to let go of Victor the coach which he thinks will distress Victor the least. (ding ding! WRONG CHOICE)

Before he does this, he gets the rings which confused me at first because dude, you're planning to practically FIRE Victor tomorrow, is this the right time??? Then I realized that it's possible that the rings both serve their original purpose of being good luck charms and also a statement to Victor that although Yuuri is breaking off their professional relationship, he doesn't want to let go of Victor completely, they are connected by more than just their bond as a coach and a skater. If we look at it like that this was the perfect time to make the statement Yuuri did, nothing softens the blow of huge decision bombs more than trading wedding rings in front of a chapel with a choir singing in the background. XD Also it might not be very clear at first glance, but Yuuri is SHIT at being empathetic. He definitely doesn’t realize how distressing it would be for Victor to be suddenly told “go back to Russia and compete” and the amount of emotional pain he’d experience from being forced into a long-distance relationship without prior notice. Yuuri becomes so caught up in his head that he often fails (remember poor Minami in ep5?) to realize how his decisions can impact others. He’s just satisfied that he has made his intentions clear, and is being lowkey arrogant (even though he doesn’t mean to) that he knows what Victor wants. He probably does know that it would at least ruin the lovey-dovey atmosphere they have going at this moment, so he delays delivering the bad news as much as he can.

However, I think the revelation that he had gotten drunk and danced in the Sochi banquet might have had something to do with his performance the next day. Victor had told him to “Skate the way you like best” just earlier, but instead of doing that he ended up being so obsessed with technical points that he lost points in presentation (just a touch down in the flip won’t lower his score that much). His anxiety might have made him interpret things badly, like “omg I thought Victor came to coach me because he found me inspiring, but in truth it was something else”. Depending on whether he saw all the pics or not/whether he learned about “Be my coach, Victor~”, the “something else” he suspects can be a bunch of things, like Victor found him comical/Victor just wanted sex etc. Anyhow, it might be possible that at the start of ep11 he is afraid that Victor doesn’t think of him seriously as a skater despite Victor’s fondness for him as an individual. Being a skater is a part of Yuuri’s identity that won’t go away even if he retires, his efforts and his accomplishments are a reflection of the person he has been until this point, of his hard-working personality and his dedication. The idea of just being regarded as the funny drunk who made Victor curious would crush him. (This whole paragraph is just my speculation though, I don’t have any evidence for this part.)

I don't think his failure in his SP did much in regards to his plan to retire, the only thing it did was make him more upset than normal because he knows that this is his very last chance to redeem himself and any small mistake is unrecoverable. There’s no “next time”.

However, a bunch of other things did happen to convince him that sending Victor back to the ice was the right choice. Victor kept observing the skaters with far more interest than we’ve ever seen him do, and Yuuri interprets that as Victor longing to go back to competing himself. This is a hasty judgement on Yuuri’s part because Victor never said anything about that. Even after the anime has ended we don’t really know what he was truly thinking then. Even the story writer Kubo has mentioned that she hadn’t decided on what Victor’s thoughts really were, but from the way it was presented (look at his smile! wide, bright eyes!), personally I felt like Victor was less jealous of the other skaters and more appreciative of their unique strengths, the way a coach would be. I do think Victor is being innocently insensitive here, because he really should’ve realized that his gushing might be interpreted differently by Yuuri (even Sara, who was sitting beside them, stared at Victor at this).

I'm kinda glad JJ fucked up his SP (sorry JJ! You're still the king!) because that actually helped Yuuri regain his self-esteem a bit, he couldn't look down on himself from past year without also looking down on JJ, and Yuuri has always been kinder to others than he has been on himself.

But that still doesn't change his plans to retire, rather it makes him sort of complacent. "I've done well enough, this is as far as I can go, I'll do my best tomorrow and hopefully get the gold now that JJ is a lesser threat, so that I can redeem myself and prove to everyone that Victor didn't waste his time on me". The part of him that hates to compromise must be screaming but the stress from the competition and his anxiety is working together to push it down.

He shares his plans with Victor that night and is confused at Victor being upset enough to cry, because isn't this the best choice? Doesn’t Victor also want the same thing?? Because of his imposter syndrome issue and his blindness to his own potential he doesn't understand why Victor feels Yuuri quitting is such a shame.

Like I mentioned before, Yuuri is convinced that Victor was originally planning to stay only until the end of GPF and later changed his mind to stay longer for emotional reasons that Yuuri doesn’t support. Victor is right when he says Yuuri is selfish, he never took Victor’s perspective into account when making his decisions, his focus was on doing what he needed to do to protect his own glass heart. (I find it fascinating how Yuuri doesn't MEAN to be mean -pun, haha- but he ends up doing just that very often because he doesn't have the mental space to care about other people's feelings. Also if my hypothesis on Yuuri taking the Sochi banquet revelation as a negative thing is true, he probably feels like that Victor doesn’t really respect Yuuri’s abilities as a skater as much Yuuri would like him to despite how close they are personally, so he might be lowkey bitter.“You came to Hasetsu to date me and you still can do that, y u so mad”. Also if he knows about the ‘be my coach Victor’ thing, he probably thinks that his drunken appeal was the main reason behind Victor’s decision, not his talent like he had hoped.)

I do think Victor is also to blame for the fact that Yuuri was able to hide his intentions for this long. If Victor was planning to stay with Yuuri for a long time, he should’ve sat together with Yuuri and discussed their plans for the next season waaay before this. Too bad we don’t see the details of their argument afterwards.

Right before his FS Victor tries to be nice and supportive despite how frustrated he is (bless you Victor baby you’re so in love), and Yuuri calls him out on it. He knows Victor is not a conventional coach. He’s savage in his taunts but overly adoring in his praise, and the safe, predictable encouragement he first tried didn’t feel genuine enough to Yuuri, so he complains.

I don’t want to discuss Victor’s POV because that’s not this post’s focus, but I believe Victor was trying to play it safe until this moment because he didn’t want a repeat of China cup and freak Yuuri out. Here Victor is starting to realize that when Yuuri says he wants Victor to be himself, he wants the whole package deal- Victor the person, Victor the coach, and Victor the skater.

Remember this scene from ep10? See the similarity? Here Yuuri is being all “let me have my dorky boyfriend, you don’t need to act professional just because you’re also my coach”.

Similarly, in ep12, I think the message he’s trying to give is, “Victor the coach has crazy-ass standards because Victor the skater is OP as fuck, don’t stop being your unreasonable self just on my account, I’m not that weak”. Let’s go back to ep5 for a bit to see just how unreasonable Victor really is.

(I’ll let you know that the subs missed the word “at least”. Victor wanted Yuuri to “score in the hundreds at least”. CRAZY MAN.)

Back to ep12. Here Victor sees that Yuuri is actually ready for criticism, that he’s feeling lonely and out of his element because of Victor’s gentleness instead of seeking comfort in it. Yuuri hates being seen as weak (as evidenced in his refusal to heed Victor’s advice to downgrade his jumps in ep5), and Victor decides to take a leap of faith and give Yuuri exactly what Yuuri wanted- a friendly taunt accompanied by positive reinforcement (win and I’ll kiss your gold medal) instead of negative like his failed attempt in china (fail and I’ll resign). It was his way of showing Yuuri the believes in Yuuri even more than Yuuri believes in himself, just how Yuuri asked him to back in ep7.

He uses the word “break”, hinting to Yuuri that he might return (thus giving Yuuri a hint that regardless of how he does in the FS, he won’t need to feel responsible for Victor’s decision), and also the phrase “warm-up mode” (implying that he still believes that everything Yuuri has done so far still isn’t his best, and he can do more). His tone throughout the speech is teasing, not like “why do you suck so bad”, rather “I can’t believe someone so damn good that I, THE LIVING LEGEND, chose him hasn’t won yet, this is ridiculous, give me your 100%”. Yuuri notices that and cracks up, look at him so happy. ;;

“Oh my god my boyfriend/coach/idol is so ridiculous in his demands, I love this man”

And Yuuri goes and skates a flawless program, and gives Victor that 100% he had asked for. There are a couple things to note in his monologue during his routine, many of which are the basis for the earlier parts of this post. Although he tweaked his routine for a higher difficulty, he doesn’t obsess over the points this time, he just clears his mind and focuses on presenting his tribute to all the love in his life, Victor being featured in a considerable portion of it.

During this last chance, he finally once again chases the goal he had given up since Sochi, to be on equal standing as Victor. He also admits that he doesn’t truly want to stop, and wants to continue skating with Victor and his loving support.

But he can’t keep Victor the coach without killing Victor the skater, so he chooses to let the former go.

However, he does greatly love and appreciate Victor the coach, so he’s determined to display the results of Victor’s efforts through his skating, to all the people who have kept mocking Victor about him not being serious enough.

Once his performance is over, Yuuri is glad that he managed to give his 100% and didn’t let his nerves get the better of him, but it distraught because this is the end. (Still no explanation why he has to retire himself, though)

Or so he thinks. Yuuri is forced to rethink his life choices when he ends up breaking Victor’s world record.

Look at his expression here. Like “HOLY SHIT, THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I GIVE MY 100%?!” Even Yuuri, with his massive self-esteem issues, can’t help but see his own potential at this point. Undermining himself after he has broken Victor’s world record is basically undermining Victor himself, and Yuuri would rather jump off a cliff before that. The only thing that could make him happier was being able to truly be on the same playing field as Victor which becomes a possibility when Victor hints to a desire to return to skating competitively.

Victor’s body language in these frames is so important here. I think Victor has realized by this point that unless he gets the chance to face Victor as an equal, Yuuri will never get complete closure and get past his perceived failure from the previous year. Victor doesn’t just glomp Yuuri, he first shakes Yuuri's hand and then pulls him into a one-armed hug. Yuuri’s being shown that he’s being taken seriously as a fellow skater, congratulated with a formal handshake by Victor the skater, not just his coach+ boyfriend. Even when he does hug Yuuri, he’s still holding onto Yuuri’s hand. Look how ecstatic Yuuri is when Victor claims that Yuuri breaking his record was "ultimate diss as a competitor". Just look at that smile. "I MANAGED TO GET VICTOR TO CONSIDER RETURNING" is so much more important to him than "I MIGHT GET A GPF GOLD". My guess is that until now he simply didn't think he could accomplish anything special by continuing, but not only does he feel more hopeful about what he can do, but Victor appreciates him as a competitor! Hurrah! Since he’s Katsuki Yuuri the king of lowkey assholes, I wouldn’t be surprised if he thought something like “Victor is feeling frustrated because of me! I want to frustrate him more by breaking his world record again if he manages to take it back!”

Note how Yuuri doesn't worry about the score of the skaters who skated after him at all, no "oh crap if skater X gets more than this specific number of points I won't get the gold medal" which is odd since the gold medal was a real possibility at that moment, normally people would worry (like how JJ did about Otabek). It was like the gold medal itself mattered less to Yuuri than being on the same level as Victor. He managed to successfully skate a flawless program on the same difficulty level as Victor with a perfect quad flip as the cherry on top, and that was enough to calm him down for the moment.

The happenings of ep12 chip at his plan to retire bit by bit. Recognition from Victor as a worthy competitor convinces him that there might be worth in returning after all. Seeing abandoned Makkachin tissue box hits him with the reality that Victor won't be his coach anymore, it simultaneously breaks his heart and reminds him that he can make his dream to skate against again Victor a reality if he just fights against his self-deprecating notions a bit harder.

And of course Yurio's performance-during the later half of which we didn’t get Yuuri POV so I can't say exactly how, but it inspired him enough even before the results got announced. Each of the pics above have Yuuri's eyes sparkling indicating strong emotions (though you can't tell from the still screenshots).

I think the main two things Yurio manages to do are this:

1. Yuuri put his 100% into Yuri on ICE, but Yurio put his 120% in the way he added an extra quad and did many jumps with his hands raised. Remember, Yurio’s stamina is pretty meh, boy almost broke down after he was done. He shows Yuuri that his “I can’t do any better than this” thinking is BS, and Yuuri becomes curious what he himself can do if he continues and puts his 120% next time.

2. Yurio also showed to Yuuri in a shounen manga style that there are still many worthy opponents™ for him on the ice and he couldn’t afford to become complacent just because he had established a world record. Also Yurio changing up his jumps and overexerting himself to match Yuuri’s FS also shows him that he is also being regarded as a worthy opponent™ in Yurio’s eyes and gives him even more of a confidence boost. EDIT: This point is covered in more detail in this lovely meta also about Yuuri’s motivation behind not retiring!

2. Yurio gets the gold, and the loss of the gold medal by such a small margin simply lights a fire on Yuuri’s ass. XD 0.10 point is such a cursed amount, it’s so small that Yuuri can’t hate on himself for not performing well enough, but still it made him lose the gold. Though during the opening ceremony Yuuri looks more or less satisfied, the way he had been soooo close must have been vexing.

TBH Yuuri’s main problem (at least imo) still hasn’t been solved at this point. If he continues, he will have to take on the challenge of competing without Victor’s constant support. But for the first time in a long time, he’s feeling confident enough to do it, and trying to at least do his part to lessen the co-dependency thing he and Victor have going on.

I’ve seen people interpret this as Yuuri asking Victor to be his coach for one more year and I’m super confused, is it a dubbing issue? Because the sub shows it clearly that he asked Victor to continue skating, not coaching Yuuri. The Japanese sentence he says is “僕と一緒にあと一年競技生活続けてください=Please continue skating competitively (overly literal translation-‘competitive life’) together with me for one more year”.

(Look at my baby. So confident. So beautiful. T^T)

He’s literally issuing Victor a challenge here, from one skater to another. Yuuri does still plan to let go of Victor the coach, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t love him, and plans to use what he learned from him to beat Victor the skater! Ironic and hilarious =D Victor is like YES GOOD I’m proud of you! Then he drops the bomb:

Yuuri is shook because this is more than he ever expected. Until now he was only confident about their personal relationship which was bound to become a least a bit strained when Victor returned to Russia, but now he’s getting everything he wants. Normally people would be worried that that’s too much for a person, but I guess Yuuri has such a high opinion of Victor that he immediately accepts that Victor can pull it off. This is one case where Yuuri’s hero-worshipping and lack of ability to see things from other people’s perspective is useful, lol. One other reason he isn’t blaming himself is that this is totally coming from Victor. Unlike last time where Victor agreed to drop his career in favor of Yuuri’s thanks to Yuuri’s poorly timed request, here Victor is taking on the extra load purely out of his own will. Competing separately would’ve definitely been better than just Yuuri retiring and Victor continuing, but the amount of time they could spend together on a personal level would’ve decreased either way ( depending on what Yuuri would’ve done after retiring/how his new coach would’ve managed his time). Victor is being selfish here, refusing to give up his pupil to another coach and not willing to end up in a long distance relationship with his boyfriend.

Victor makes it even easier for him by issuing his own challenge: I’ll work hard to keep your request but get me 5 gold medals from Worlds in return! While utterly ridiculous and halfway likely to not come true (there are so many possible unknowns-injuries,illnesses,family issues), the demand shows Yuuri the level of faith Victor has in him, and he agrees.

With that, Yuuri finally is assured that he will be able to physically stay by the side of his idol/coach/boyfriend for a long, long time, which is something they BOTH want, and that’s why he’s so calm and happy when they’re being lovey-dovey on the ice later at the exhibition. “Stay close to me”, indeed!

And with that I’m officially out of juice, phew. I’ll see if I can edit this later to make it more compact and improve the flow, I think I stated many points more than once because I tried to stay mostly chronological.

ALL HAIL VICTUURI!!!

#yuri on ice #yoi #yuri!!! on ice #yoi meta #meta #Katsuki Yuuri

547 notes · View notes

lovelytable · 8 years ago

Note

1-90 for make me admit stuff ask

1: would you have sex with the last person you text messaged?

well i mean considering it was a group chat full of my str8 friendos i would have to say hard no

2: you talked to an ex today, correct?

technically but it’s complicated

3: have you taken someones virginity?

VIRGINITY IS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCT but also no

4: is trust a big issue for you?

not really. i’m actually a little too trusting.

5: did you hang out with the person you like recently?

yes

6: what are you excited for?

spring break is in 20 days and i’m going to spain with my spanish class so the hype is real

7: what happened tonight?

i’m actually answering this in the morning but last night i went for a walk with my dog and my friend and we adventured all the way from her house to target and back and we made some nice friends and screamed into the void to tell it to stop playing country music and all in all it was a good evening.

8: do you think it’s disgusting when girls get really wasted?

no. let them live. just please don’t vomit on me and also be safe.

9: is confidence cute?

ehhhhh i don’t really like this question. like i like confident people but that’s just because they’re healthy and happy with themselves and that’s admirable and beautiful but “cute” isn’t really the right word.

10: what is the last beverage you had?

water

11: how many people of the opposite sex do you fully trust?

GENDER IS A FLUID SPECTRUM AND THERE IS NO “OPPOSITE SEX” but also 5 off the top of my head. 6 if we’re counting guy fieri.

12: do you own a pair of skinny jeans?

i don’t own any jeans that aren’t skinny.

13: what are you gonna do saturday night?

next saturday is my birthday and i really don’t know what i’m doing. probably hang out with my friends. make some s’mores. maybe see a movie (because i’ll be 17 and so r rated movies are an option and yea).

14: what are you going to spend money on next?

candy and flowers for my friends. only one of them has a bf and she’s not doing valentine’s day with him so they’re all getting presents from me. i love.

15: are you going out with the last person you kissed?

16: do you think you’ll change in the next three months?

of course. next month i’m going to spain without my family and by may i’ll have taken my ap exams and i’ll also have been in a play and god i really hope between all that i grow up/glow up a lil.

17: who do you feel most comfortable talking to about anything?

my friend who i went for a walk with last night. she was one of the first three people i came out to (i did it via text bc i’m a fucking loser) and out of all my friends she’s the one who’s the most honest with me so i like to return the favor.

18: the last time you felt broken?

february 10

19: have you had sex today?

20: are you starting to realize anything?

yessSSSSSSSSS AND IT’S FREAKING ME OUT

21: are you in a good mood?

i’m too stressed to be in a good mood.

22: would you ever want to swim with sharks?

not really. like don’t get me wrong i live for adrenaline rushes but i don’t really like swimming in salt water. it burns. also swimming with sharks is problematic. but anyway.

23: are your eyes the same color as your dad’s?

nope. he’s got brown and mine are blue. i’m a spitting image of my mom though.

24: what do you want right this second?

a magical machine to do all my homework for me

25: what would you say if the person you love/like kissed another girl/boy?

good for them but also BUDDY BOI WYD

26: is your current hair color your natural hair color?

yea. i did some colorful streaks last week for a project but by now i’m pretty sure they’ve washed out.

27: would you be able to date someone who doesn’t make you laugh?

no. that’s the most important thing imho.

28: what was the last thing that made you laugh?

my own awkwardness

29: do you really, truly miss someone right now?

miss isn’t the right word. i need to talk to some people but i’m not filled with a bottomless pit of longing or some shit.

30: does everyone deserve a second chance?

most people do but definitely not everyone.

31: honestly, do you hate the last boy you were talking to?

oh god no. he’s in the aforementioned 5/6 people.

32: does the person you have feelings for right now, know you do?

hard maybe. i think so??? but i’m a mess.

33: are you one of those people who never drinks soda?

no. i mean i haven’t had soda in forever and i usually choose water over soda just because health and also bubbles in my stomach are not the best feeling but i still like it.

34: listening to?

just got done listening to in the heights for the billionth time

35: do you ever write in pencil anymore?

every day

36: do you know where the last person you kissed is?

n/a

37: do you believe in love at first sight?

no. i promise i’m not some cynical angsty teen but i just don’t think that’s possible.

38: who did you last call?

ummm i never make actual phone calls they kind of stress me out but it was probably my mom or dad

39: who was the last person you danced with?

my friends

40: why did you kiss the last person you kissed?

n/a LET ME LIVE

41: when was the last time you ate a cupcake?

thursday? i think? i ate a muffin this morning tho

42: did you hug/kiss one of your parents today?

not yet but they just came back from a run and that’s a lil gross

43: ever embarrass yourself in front of your crush?

sweaty my life is an embarrassment

44: do you tan in the nude?

i used to but i burn really easily and now i’m more about the soft, unwrinkled skin life anyway

45: (woOAAHHHHH WE’RE HALFWAY THERE) if you could, would you take back your last kiss?

N/A

46: did you talk to someone until you fell asleep last night?

47: who was the last person to call you?

i think it was my grandpa

48: do you sing in the shower?

i perform

49: do you dance in the car?

i. perform.

50: ever used a bow and arrow?

actually yea in 5th grade i went to this cool camp thing and we did archery

51: last time you got a portrait taken by a photographer?

a couple weeks ago we had school pictures with the clubs we’re in

52: do you think musicals are cheesy?

some definitely are but they’re so good

53: is christmas stressful?

certain aspects of it are but in the end it’s two weeks off of school so i can’t complain.

54: ever eat a pierogi?

ever eat a what now

55: favorite type of fruit pie?

does key lime count

56: occupations you wanted to be when you were a kid?

i remember when i was really little and didn’t understand how business worked i really wanted to work at sonic so i could wear roller skates and bring back the pancake on a stick. if that didn’t pan out my backup plan was being a dinosaur.

57: do you believe in ghosts?

sure

58: ever have a deja vu feeling?

i’m living a deja vu feeling right now sis

59: take a vitamin daily?

i used to. i need to get back on that.

60: wear slippers?

no. i have perpetually cold feet but i refuse. fuzzy socks are where it’s at.

61: wear a bath robe?

eh sometimes

62: what do you wear to bed?

usually an old t shirt but it depends on how hot/cold im feeling

63: first concert?

i’m lame i’m sorry

64: wal-mart, target, or kmart?

target obv

65: nike or adidas?

nike only because adidas sports bras ain’t shit

66: cheetos or fritos?

cheetos

67: peanuts or sunflower seeds?

peanuts (although sunflower seeds are very aesthetic as far as snacks go)

68: favorite taylor swift song?

my second favorite song i ever had was love story

69: (aw yisss) ever take dance lessons?

i used to when i was really little. that lasted 2 ish years and then i did gymnastics for like 8 years.

70: is there a profession you picture your future spouse doing?

i don’t picture a future spouse

71: can you curl your tongue?

NO AND EVERYONE IN MY FAMILY CAN DO THE FOUR LEAF CLOVER THING AND ALL SORTS OF WEIRD SHIT AND I CAN’T EVEN WINK AND MY FACE MUSCLES IN GENERAL ARE WOEFULLY INADEQUATE

72: ever won a spelling bee?

YES.

the day is february 18, 2011. my birthday. i stand before my elementary school along with the other nerds who participated in uil academics. they begin to announce the winners for the district-wide spelling competition. 7th place. 3rd place. “and corbell elementary is proud to present the first place medal to...” i look around. all my classmates have already taken a seat upon collecting their medals. i am alone on stage. i grin with the realization. “SUZI”. the crowd goes wild. my parents are cheering. obama is there.

73: have you ever cried because you were so happy?

all the tim

74: what is your favorite book?

WE ARE THE ANTS BY SHAUN DAVID HUTCHINSON OH MY GOD EVERYBODY NEEDS TO READ IT ASAP

75: do you study better with or without music?

with

76: regularly burn incense?

no but i have a few candles in my room

77: ever been in love?

no (?)

78: who would you like to see in concert?

hank green and the perfect strangers

79: what was the last concert you saw?

NNNNN/AAAAA LEAVE ME ALONE

80: hot tea or cold tea?

both

81: tea or coffee?

both.

82: favorite type of cookie?

chocolate chip

83: can you swim well?

i mean i haven’t drowned yet

84: can you hold your breath without holding your nose?

yes but not for very long

85: are you patient?

god no

86: dj or band at a wedding?

87: ever won a contest?

actually yea i won a book giveaway last summer on here but i never claimed it

88: ever have plastic surgery?

i haven’t yet but i probably will. i don’t have self esteem issues or anything but i just want to.

89: which are better black or green olives?

ew neither

90: opinions on sex before marriage?

live your life just pls be careful

BONUS (because there’s only 2 more anyway)

91: best room for a fireplace?

living room

92: do you want to get married?

not really. the only reason i ever would would be out of spite but in that case it would probably just be eloping or something bc mi familia would not contribute.

1 note · View note

zeroviraluniverse-blog · 7 years ago

Text

For Dodgers and Indians, spring training is about turning the page from their 2017 postseason heartache

Visit Now - http://zeroviral.com/for-dodgers-and-indians-spring-training-is-about-turning-the-page-from-their-2017-postseason-heartache/

For Dodgers and Indians, spring training is about turning the page from their 2017 postseason heartache

GOODYEAR, Ariz. — The morning after the Cleveland Indians fell to the New York Yankees in the American League Division Series, general manager Mike Chernoff’s fatherly duties took him to a local elementary school to watch his 6-year-old son, Brodie, perform in a first-grade concert. Chernoff’s heart was in the endeavor, but his mind kept flashing back to the Tribe’s 5-2 loss the previous evening and an ending that came far too abruptly for comfort.

“I am sitting there in a fog,” said Chernoff, inadvertently lapsing into the present tense. “I’m enjoying my son’s event. In some ways it’s helpful because you can separate your work life from what’s happening in this amazing moment for your son. But it was hard. It was really hard.”

The defending champs have the best chance at winning this year’s World Series, but a half-dozen rivals have cases for why they can prevent a repeat.

As spring training begins, we identify baseball’s elite — the teams with a chance to compete — and the teams that aren’t even trying to win this year. Where does your squad land?

Rewarding Luis Severino for a breakout season might seem like like the easy call, but manager Aaron Boone has a rotation full of alternatives.

2 Related

About 18 miles from Cleveland’s spring training camp in Goodyear, the folks in Dodger Blue know the feeling. Alex Wood, a starter for the National League champions, landed tickets to college football’s national title game between Alabama and his beloved Georgia Bulldogs, and he was counting the downs toward a victory when quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw a 41-year touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith to pull off a win for the Crimson Tide.

For Wood, a product of the UGA baseball program, the moment wasn’t a fraction as painful as watching the Astros cavort on the Dodger Stadium infield after World Series Game 7. But it did put a crimp in his recovery process.

“That was two tough losses there, not far apart,” Wood said. “I saw the pass go up, and I was like, ‘Aww.’ Then my heart sunk into my stomach when I saw him about 12 yards in front of our D-back. Flip the page, right?”

Talk to players, managers, coaches and baseball executives, and they’ll reflexively tell you that 29 MLB clubs are destined to finish their seasons on a down note because for 29 teams, the season is guaranteed to finish with either a loss or a failure to make the playoffs. The Houston Astros were the lone exception last year, on their way to a cigar-chomping, champagne-spraying celebration and a season-ending parade.

Still, some teams have more reason than others to lament unhappy endings. At the Indians and Dodgers spring camps, the offseason routine made for an emotional tug of war.

“The first week or two are the hardest because you’re just second-guessing everything,” Cleveland infielder Jason Kipnis said. “Anything can happen in a playoff series. You come up short, and you’re like, ‘What changed? Everything worked before. Why did we stop doing this?’ All these questions start coming, but the answer is that no one changed anything. It’s just the game of baseball. It’s a tough-ass game, and it’s hard.

“As players, we’re conditioned to have a short memory and turn the page faster than most people because we usually have a game the next day. Suddenly, there’s no more season to play, and you’re like, ‘What do I do?’ You’re just stuck with memory of the last game or the last series. Once you start to turn the page on that, you finally start getting more excited for the redemption of next season. You learn from your mistakes, absorb it, and you move on.”

The Dodgers, Indians and Astros all won 100 games in 2017. What does history say awaits them in 2018? Of the 23 teams to win 100 games prior to 2017 in the wild card era:

• Five missed the postseason the following season • Seven won 100 games the following season • 19 won 90 games the following season • The 2012 Phillies were the only team to finish .500 or worse (81-81) • The teams had an average win percentage of .589 (a 95-win season) • Two won the World Series and two lost the World Series

Source: ESPN Stats & Information

Flash back to early October, and the outlook was promising for both clubs. The Indians were barely two weeks removed from a 22-game win streak, and they seemed to have all the pieces in place to go the distance and erase the pain of a Game 7 loss to the Cubs in the 2016 World Series.

The Dodgers, who peaked at 91-36 in late August, righted themselves after a late-season wobble and entered the playoffs feeling confident, with a healthy Clayton Kershaw leading the staff and home-field advantage throughout the postseason.

The oddsmakers were on board. At the end of the regular season, the Westgate Las Vegas Super Book gave the Indians 30.8 percent odds to win the World Series, with the Dodgers close behind at 28.6. The Astros, who joined Cleveland and Los Angeles as one of three 100-win teams, were third at 14.3 percent.

But the Astros’ balanced roster and #HoustonStrong karma ultimately prevailed. The Indians took a 2-0 lead in the ALDS, then hit a wall. They batted .171 (28-for-164) against the Yankees and scored five runs in their final three games. Designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion and outfielder Michael Brantley were limited by injuries, and staff ace Corey Kluber absorbed two straight poundings amid whispers of lingering back problems. Four months later, the perpetually stoic Kluber isn’t dropping any hints about his postseason physical limitations.

“I was good enough to pitch,” Kluber said. “I just didn’t get the job done.”

The Dodgers eliminated the Diamondbacks and Cubs in the NL playoffs before losing to Houston in a classic, seven-game World Series. They’re now 30 years removed from Kirk Gibson’s circling the bases in celebration of that momentous World Series homer off Dennis Eckersley.

Players from both teams went back to their everyday lives in the offseason. Kipnis traveled to Maui and Puerta Vallarta for a couple of friends’ weddings. Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner got married and spent his honeymoon with his bride in Dubai. Francisco Lindor, Cleveland’s resident energizer and All-Star shortstop, took part in his traditional offseason workout in Orlando, Florida, with Barry Larkin, Dee Gordon and friends. Lindor arrived in Goodyear with a new look, a searing analysis of his 2017 shortcomings and a strong desire to bring a title to Cleveland.

Edwin Encarnacion and the Indians couldn’t believe their season was over after the 2017 ALDS. Ken Blaze/USA Today Sports

Other players sequestered themselves in their man caves until the fog lifted, mindlessly occupied themselves with household chores or kept tabs on the lack of news among friends on the free-agent market before drifting back into their routines.

“I started back up in the weight room, but mentally, I wasn’t quite there yet,” Dodgers infielder Logan Forsythe said. “That Game 7 loss stuck with me a little bit, but after a while, I just kind of got over it and prepared for next year. Physically, I felt about the same. Mentally, it took a little bit longer.”

Both teams went relatively light on offseason activity. The Indians lost first baseman Carlos Santana, workhorse reliever Bryan Shaw and outfielder Jay Bruce to free agency while adding first baseman Yonder Alonso on a two-year, $16 million deal and signing outfielders Melvin Upton Jr. and Rajai Davis to minor league contracts.

The Dodgers won major creativity points when they shed the salaries of Adrian Gonzalez, Brandon McCarthy and Scott Kazmir and brought back Matt Kemp in a December trade with Atlanta. They spent $2 million on former Marlins starter Tom Koehler, who’ll get a crack at the bullpen role that Brandon Morrow so adeptly filled last season, acquired lefty Scott Alexander from Kansas City and re-signed Chase Utley to a two-year deal.

Players and teams get in gear for Opening Day in Florida and Arizona. • Complete spring training coverage »

Prognosticators are sanguine about the prospects for both teams. Baseball Prospectus’ PECOTA system projects the Dodgers and Astros to win 99 games each, the Indians to come in at 97 wins and the Yankees to win 96 in 2018. No other MLB club is projected to win 90 games.

“When you look at the core, there are guys here who are still on the come and trending in the right direction,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “The veteran players here are very productive. To force an acquisition or an overhaul doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. I give our front office a lot of credit for standing pat. Not to say we weren’t in on deals, but you have to understand what really makes sense for our organization. We’re very sensitive to that.”

In Cleveland, they’ve experienced enough heartache to distinguish between types of hangovers. In 2016, the Indians played 15 postseason games and knew that everything would end, win or lose, with a Game 7 matchup against the Cubs. Last year, the Indians were pushing and preparing for an ALCS matchup and a possible World Series return when the Yankees crashed the party. Cleveland’s advance scouts suddenly changed their travel plans and came home, and the general manager woke up after Game 5 of the ALDS and attended his son’s school concert.

“You’re going 100 miles an hour because you always think you’re gonna play the next day,” Chernoff said. “Then suddenly you just slam on the brakes and stop.”

Chernoff looks around Cleveland’s camp this spring and sees some players who have yet to fully flush the pain from their systems. But the Indians’ core group has been together a while, and manager Terry Francona will never allow his players to dwell on the negative for very long.

“You don’t see bitterness here,” Chernoff said. “You see motivation and drive.”

The same mindset applies in Los Angeles, where the Dodgers regard 2017 as a springboard as much as they see it as a missed opportunity. Cody Bellinger joined Corey Seager as a budding young star, and Turner, Chris Taylor and Joc Pederson were among the players who performed valiantly in October.

“We left every single ounce of energy and focus we had out there, from the front office down to the coaching staff and players,” Wood said. “There weren’t a lot of regrets in terms of things we could have done differently. The only focus now is looking forward and figuring out how we can finish the drill, so to speak. Losing the World Series is something you won’t forget until you right the ship and finish it out.”

Cactus League games will begin in a few days, and Opening Day is less than six weeks away. For the Indians and Dodgers, looking back in regret is no longer an option.

#2017 #Dodgers #heartache #Indians #Page #postseason #Spring #training #Turning #Sports #Sports News

0 notes

caredogstips · 8 years ago

Text

23 Amazing Date Ideas For The Guy Who’s Broke AF

Men, I get the struggle ofkeeping up with lease remittances, student lends and monthly bills.

And I’m not going to lie, girls love to be pampered … aka you picking up the check on a date. It shows you are confident, musing and have your sh* t together. So when you finallymeet that special girl, your invoices can pile up even more .

But let me share with you a little secret: You DON’T “re going to have to” splurge on palatial dinners to impede( at the least the best use of) us interested.Yes, we want to be taken out to have a good time. But with a littlecreative design, between you and me, you can come up with some time plans thatreally don’thave to blow your budget.

Don’t get me wrong; fancy dates are astonishing. But however cliche this may sound, many girlfriends genuinely do believe it’s the thought that weighs. Extending that additional mile in projecting a appointment will realize her super impressed with your creativity.

When taking it to the next stage, there is no better behavior of getting to know her than simply being yourself. Don’t be afraid of escapade and spontaneity.Laughing and giving loosewith one another is such an integral part of every relationship, and that doesn’t payment a thing.

These may not be your favorite projects, but trust me; they are a great way to triumphing a girls heart.So suck it up, and take one for the team when youre be prepared to impress( but divulged AF ).

And trust me guys; if she’s glad, you’ll be happy.

1. Move on a romantic saunter at sunset.

Now I know nostalgic moves and sunsets are probably one pace beneath having a needle poked in your see. But you’re not getting very far without this kind of date.

The Brooklyn Bridge is an breathtaking discern to take a stroll if you live in NYC. And good-for-nothing beats the Golden Gate Bridge if you’re on the Western coast!

Any special landmark or scenic itinerary works just fine.

2. Cruise in a blow-up paddleboat or hire a rowboat on a lake.

Let’s think of this as afternoon exercise, so you can kill two birds with one stone.

A blow-up boat can be found at most discount stores, if you don’t already have one. Its fun to do several times over the summer.Besides, it can double as a beer cool for your next summer banger.

You are also welcome to hire canoes and kayaks for very inexpensive — sometimes for nothing.

Chilling on a pond is the ultimate summertime initiatives to woo your hunny.

3. Stargaze.

Whether you’re gazing from the back of a station wagon or on a rooftop, stargazing “re in the right” style to go.

Dont forget a cozy blanket, binoculars and a bottle of wine or a six pack.

4. Cook a yummy dinner for her at your place.

Set the counter with flowers, candles, a pretty tableclothand dont forget the finest background music.

Ask her to dress up, and I know you will hate this part, but make sure you do, extremely. The items are whatcount, and you’re the buster with no coin, so recollect, I’m helping you out here.

5. Teach her your specialty.

This is one you’re actually going to enjoy.Whether its surfing, snowboarding, ice skating, skateboarding, golfing or playing guitar, share it with her, and contrive an breathtaking daytime around it.

Hint: If your favorite activity is shotgunning brews and playing video games, you might wanttore-think thisplan.

But overall, she’ll be excited to better understand you, and what better path to personalize your time together than with something you genuinely experience doing?

6. Have a selfie-stick photo shoot afternoon.

OK, don’t gag on this one. I’m on your line-up, recollect?

Plan out some scenic spots to take her. Girls are all about great pics, so peculiars are, she will have a lot of enjoyable with this.

If youre feeling genuinely wily, periodical out some favorites from the shoot, and frame them for her for one of your next gifts.

Again, this is mawkish, but occasions are you’re is gonna have to make up for all the money you’re saving with corniness.

7. Take her hiking.

For the adventurous girlfriend wholoves the outdoors and workout, scheme this on a sunny afternoon, and pick a great destination to defeated the heights.

Now if she’s a high-maintenance diva, either tone down the course a little bit, or lower her like it’s hot.

Pack a backpack for two with all the right snacks and sucks. And irrigate! Don’t forget water.

8. Travel on a winery tour.

If shes a enthusiastic wine buff, touring and tasting is the ultimate date for her.

Any winery will do. Many don’t indict any fees for a tour and tasting. Plus, bitches affection wine.

9. Take her to a classic gondola show.

Guys love cars, right? Well, girlfriends love them very. If shes a vehicle fiend, you will both really have fun goingto a cruise darknes. If she’s not, occasions are she’ll become one.

After admiring hot rods, ice cream or a milkshake would be the end to a perfect date…or perhaps exactly the beginning.

10. Run on arun or go on the beach.

Whats better than a romantic stroll on the beach? Well, I’m sure there are a fewthings you would rather be doing with her.

This idea resounds so overplayed, but it’s certainly timeless. Running and sauntering are always revitalizing, and there’s something deep calming and nostalgic about doing so by the beach.

It’ll get her primed for those working happens you’d preferably be doing that I mentioned earlier.

11. Volunteer at live animals shelter.

Volunteering ever acquires everyone feel good. It also can tell you a great deal about what kind of girl she is on the inside.

Bring the dogs for a saunter, and experience a fun afternoon surrounded by furry friends who will really appreciate the attention.

The right girl won’t be able to contain herself around all these puppies. Trust me on this one. Puppy-dog gazes bring out the best us.

12. Take your dogs to a dog park.

If either of you are a baby owned, this is a piece of cake. Your pupswill desire it, she’ll adoration it, and so will you.

But “theres” two things to remember on this one: One, don’t think of your dog as plagiarizing your year; think of him as your wingman.Two, the best way of a girl’s center, and every lieu else, is through her puppy.

Definitely. Like. Her. Puppy.

Pro tip: Dont forget to deliver her puppytreats! It will give you a plow of your own, I promise.

13. Leave her a home spa night.

OKguys, in this case, number 13 is your lucky amount. This time is likely to be nostalgic, tightening and just plain old-time enjoyable for the both of you.

Pamper her all nighttime long, and finish it off with going cozy in the bathtub. You’re welcome.

14. Order takeout.

Set up a casual, candlelit carpet picnic for two.

Surround the place with pillows and blankets, acquiring it actually comfy.Maybe whip out some “Magic Mike” moves…choice is yours.

15. Take her sledding.

Obviously, you’ll necessary a good snowfall for this one. But the purpose of it all is this won’t cost you a dime.

Hot chocolate, marshmallows and beakers are a must to bring out this time for after you two are soaked and ice. Plus, warming up together doesn’t sound so bad , now does it?

16. Go bike riding.

This one’s not bad at all. Mapout a path along the beach or a lagoon, if possible.

Bring intelligent goodies, liketrail mixture, strength barrooms and water bottles.

You better be a good biker. It will be pretty embarrassing if she inhales you.

17. Have a homemade pizza night.

Who doesn’t love to do pizza, guys? Set up all of the ingredients, and make a pasty together. It’s certainly not that hard, even if you suck at cooking.

End the nighttime astounding her with gelato, and you won’t be sorry.

18. Run to a drive-in movie.

The night wouldnt be complete without boxed movie snacks. Bring somepopcorn and Milk Duds( which you can buy at a reasonably inexpensive cost, as opposed to those crazy movie prices ).

Check out this list of drive-in movie theaters throughout the country you can go to!

19. Become to a beer-tasting at your neighbourhood brewery.

Find a brewery near you for a tasting.This time was literally drawn for you . It’s like when you get person a endowment that’s privately for you.

Except you’ll enjoyed it, she’ll enjoy it, and everybody’s happy. Breweries are super “hip, ” so even if she doesn’t desire beer, she’ll be excited only to snap visualizes and tell her friends she went.

20. Have an outsidecampfire.

Make sure the weather is fire pit-worthy, certainly. Also make sure you don’t burn the house down.

Be prepared with wine, smores and lodges for toasting marshmallows.

Stop rolling your eyes. When you got no coin, you still gotta satisfy the hunny.

21. Shed an old-fashioned picnic at a romantic spot.

Give the place some really good supposed; something withspecial “ve been meaning to” her or the both of you.

Arrive with a bouquet of daisies and knapsack filled with a covering and her favorite snacks.

Yes, of course your chums would giggle their tushes off if they saw you here. But DGAF; they’re not the ones you need to impress. And while they’re off being “cool, ” you’re off going laid.

22. Stay in and have a movie marathon.

Cuddle on the sofa, make gourmet popcorn with enjoyable transcends, and have the best nostalgic movies lined up for this one.

“The Notebook, ” “Love Actually, ” “The Longest Ride, ” “P.S. I Affection You, ” “How To Lose A Guy In 10 Daytimes, ” “Maid In Manhattan” are classics.

Come on guys, a real man can get through “The Notebook” just fine. And whether you declare it or not, I bet you’ll even like it.

So nip it, and don’t forget additional butter for the popcorn.

23. Have a chocolate microchip cookie broiling night.

Her sweet tooth will appreciate this, and so will yours.

After they’re all done, consider yo’self, and make sure you have milk for dunking.

Have fun, and think outside of the box.Dating doesnt have to be expensive, butyou’re going to get out of it what the hell are you put into it.

The post 23 Amazing Date Ideas For The Guy Who’s Broke AF appeared first on caredogstips.com.

from WordPress http://ift.tt/2uBW2Ta via IFTTT

#IFTTT #WordPress

0 notes