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guynamedultimax · 3 years ago

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What if Kirby had a traditional fighting game?

Listen, I know I should’ve done more “FNF fighting game characters” but i doubt anyone cared for that, and even then I lost a bit of interest, so if you actually cared sorry about that, you can still come up with whatever you want for the characters I didn’t talk about!

That being said, I think all Kirby fans here know Kirby Fighters 2. Personally speaking most of it was just the same as Kirby Fighters Deluxe BUT there were five playable Dream Friends. FIVE. Priority to the Copy Abilities a bit too high, isn’t it HAL? Sometimes it feels a bit barebones if you ask me. So I’m here to discuss what would a non-platform Kirby fighting game be.

THE GAMEPLAY

It’s the same as any basic fighting game, there isn’t really that much that the Kirby franchise can offer to make the genre a bit more varied, and that’s mostly due to the fact that Kirby makes friends wherever he goes and combat is pretty much straightforward in these platforming games, the crazy stuff comes from learning specific moves with each copy ability/character in the games and that’s also true for this game.

THE PLOT

I have quite a few ideas for how this can go:

-It’s a “what if” re-telling of Kirby Star Allies where Hyness’ ritual (somehow) also causes space-time rifts across the entire universe to be generated, pulling in Kirby villains from previous games but also allies, which would ALSO explain Dream Friends in the game’s canon a bit more properly.

-It happens in an AU. Plot would basically be Kirby Battle Royale’s but instead of shooting a loadshit of Kirbies onto Kirby, Dedede would just call upon all of their friends to fight for that cake before things escalate and Dedede loses control of the tournament to greater evils, forcing him to work with Kirby to stop the threat, be it old or new.

-Another AU idea but this time it’s original/based on Milky Way Wishes. Galactic NOVA appears every thousand years above Pop Star’s skies, and everyone tries to fight for the right to get the wish. Villain wouldn’t necessarily be ONLY Marx though, most of the Kirby villains could easily win against him if they get to NOVA and get their wish granted. Which means yes, all plots happen at once and Kirby has to deal with everyone at once.

-The least interesting idea: it’s Kirby Fighters 2′s plot but without tag team duos and with all Kirbies replaced with the roster.

THE ROSTER

Now we’re about to have some fun.

RETURNING CHARACTERS: The Dream Friends (and Kirby, of course)

-First up, all Dream Friends are coming back. You don’t even need to change their movesets that much, just add/tweak things, but just for funsies (and for a specific reason too) we’ll also give them specific copy abilities or more than one to categorize them.

-Kirby is the specific reason. He has the same moveset as his Smash Bros incarnation, although he incorporates more copy abilities (and also super powerful stuff like the Star Rod that he usually uses in endgame fights) in it now due to being a traditional fighting game. And yes, he still has his inhale. Using it will have the inhale be replaced by another move in-game, the closest one to a “neutral special” in the opponent’s arsenal. His copy ability is therefore, Smash Bros. And since the game has multiple super moves, we can make his gimmicks from the Kumazaki games the super moves: his level 1 would be a random Super Copy Ability from Return to Dreamland (cutscene is random everytime but damage is always the same), his level 2 would be using the Robobot Armor to stomp foes around, ending with a giant ground pound/fist to the ground and his level 3 is Hypernova Kirby due to the inhale being one of his most unique properties.

-Meta Knight and Dedede will also have heavy Smash influences but they’ll also use techniques from most of their boss fights, such as Meta Knight splitting himself in four clones temporarily for an attack or Dedede actually pulling out an axe instead of his hammer for some attacks based on his Triple Deluxe incarnation. Their copy abilities would formally be Sword and Hammer but with heavy Smash Bros inspiration. Meta can also call in for the Meta Knights to help him in one of his unique super moves. They’d all be there except for Sailor Dee and Captain Vul (one’s an alternate costume and the other is never seen outside of dialogue text).

-Bandana Waddle Dee’s moveset incorporates both Spear and Parasol, but due to the Spear being his most used tool he’ll be categorized with that.

-Marx is the first character with Unique as its own copy ability due to his arsenal being entirely based on his boss fight. Inhaling Unique characters doesn’t always allow Kirby to get copy abilities but when it happens he usually has their most basic move replacing the inhale. Gooey is in the same situation, but i have no idea what would Kirby get from him as an ability since he’s technically player 2 in the Dark Matter trilogy’s first 2 games. Rick, Kine and Coo would technically be categorized as Unique only because they have Fire, Water and Wind in their moveset. You could say they’d be stance characters while Marx is a zoner and Gooey a rushdown character.

-Dark Meta Knight is categorized as Mirror, and Adeleine (with Ribbon as an assist of course) is Artist. Daroach would be Animal, which is missing since its debut in Squeak Squad, as far as I can remember, but he naturally still retains his moveset of calling the Squeaks to help him.

-It’s pretty easy to categorize Magolor as ESP, and Taranza as Spider, while I have no idea what would Susie’s ability be even. Spark? She is mostly around in the Robobot Armor to be fair. The Three Mage-Sisters would be treated equally to the Animal Friends

THE NEWCOMERS

-NAGO, CHUCHU & PITCH: The other set of Animal Friends. I theorize a moveset revolving around the Cleaning ability like in Star Allies would be easy to make, although it can also incorporate moves from other abilities that have been in Dream Land 3.

-CHEF KAWASAKI: I think it’s safe to say this one is pretty easy to do just like the returning Dream Friends. He has a unique moveset in comparison to Chef Kirby that also has him use Kirby’s Final Smash from Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

-LOLOLO & LALALA: Aside from pushing boxes and Gordos they can be the Ice Climbers of the game, and most importantly one of their super moves could have them fuse into their original form in the anime to reference that further.

-SHADOW KIRBY: A clone (in terms of moveset) for Kirby that lacks the inhale ability and has more attacks based on his appearances in Amazing Mirror (and also on Kirby’s unique ability to split in four in these games) and the Kirby Fighters spinoffs. Simple as it is.

-THE MIDBOSSES: They all play the same as their fights too, so doing a paragraph for each of them would be a bit redundant. I chose to add minibosses in because most of them are pretty iconic among Kirby enemies and some of them are also technically friends of Kirby’s. I picked Bonkers (whose coconut throwing and some special moves could make him different enough from Dedede if you ask me), Mr. Frosty (also because we don’t have an Ice-based character in the game), Buggzy (which I can see being the ultimate grappler), King Doo (because we don’t actually have a Waddle Doo in the roster and he’s technically not only their king but also the most unique of them) and Grand Wheelie (look, I like Wheel as an ability ok? it’s like playing as Sonic in a Kirby game)

-KNUCKLE JOE: Taking stuff from both his Star Allies moveset and his Assist Trophy from Ultimate PLUS a few references to the anime and you have the ultimate Shoto character in the Kirby franchise. Ryu mains, this is the character for you.

-GIM: Look, my three favorite abilities are Yo-Yo, Wheel and ESP, in no particular order, so I HAD to include him and the Grand Wheelie. Magolor covers for ESP enough. This lil fella looks more unique than most of the generic Kirby enemies and even among the copy ability ones he’s always been a bit of an oddball due to being a robot. The trickshots you can do with this copy ability make Gim perfect to camp, so he’d be a pretty good zoner as well.

-TAC: He’s been a Helper in Super Star where he also has an unique moveset. Expanding on it and on Tac being generally a copy ability thief could mean more copy abilities can be implemented in a moveset, probably even more than what Kirby can do. Also his design just screams potential to me.

DLC FIGHTERS

WAVE 1: Spinoff Dream Friends

Cuz these guys have been done dirty by Star Allies’ devs. Elline would be the other Artist character in the game and call for Claycia’s assistance in specific attacks. Prince Fluff would play mostly just like Kirby himself did in Kirby’s Epic Yarn and implement specific transformations in some attacks, ending with the tank one from the end of that game. Then we have Gryll. If you know how to make a Tetris/Puyo Puyo based character in a fighting game then good for you, I absolutely don’t know how. What I KNOW however is that she has a float like Peach’s in Smash Bros and I-No’s in Guilty Gear.

WAVE 2: Dream Villains

These guys would all play exactly like their boss fights. Hyness and Sectonia would remain mostly unchanged while Haltmann in terms of moveset is the same as Susie, just without every non-Robobot move that she has.

WAVE 3: Clash of Blades

THAT’S RIGHT, IT’S ALL ANIME SWORDFIGHTERS. They all pull from their boss fights, but Morpho Knight is gonna be a bit more unique compared to Galacta, Dark Meta and Meta Knight, having in the swordfighter equivalent of Akuma’s Raging Demon. Meanwhile, Dark Matter Swordsman and Galacta Knight are completely faithful to the source material, but they’d probably be a bit nerfed due to Galacta’s universe-breaking powers. (you can bet that if we get the remaining legendary heroes who sealed Void Termina in future games they’d be their own separate Wave 5 DLC pack)

WAVE 4: Revival of Old Faces

Nightmare and Drawcia are back and they’re here to stay! Their movesets don’t really need that much changes. Void however is an entirely different beast. He’d be a mix of Kirby, both Zero incarnations and Dark Matter. His design wouldn’t just be giant orb that switches between Kirby and Dark Matter faces, he’d be Kirby-sized and with legs and stubby lil arms like the pink puffball. And you can bet your ass he’d be broken as fuck.

SKINS

If a character’s appearance changed across the series’ history (like Marx Soul, Girl Blob Gooey, Shoppe Magolor, Mecha Knight, Dark Taranza/Taranza in the Super Kirby Clash games, Masked/Shadow Dedede, Anime!Knuckle Joe, Parallel/Pres. Parallel Susie, EX versions and so on) they’d just be an alternate skin/palette swap for the specific character. Multiple characters of the same species with little changes (like a normal Waddle Dee or Sailor Dee, or literally all Kirby colors including Keeby) are the same. I’m also debating on how Dark Mind would be a skin for Nightmare or if there’d be a skin inspired by him for the Dark Matter Swordsman. Zero and Zero Two would probably be turned into palette swaps/outfits for Void (imagine a white Kirby cosplaying as Zero Two that’d be so cute lol).

ATTACKING ASSIST CHARACTERS

Characters who appear in other characters’ attacks. Like the aforementioned Squeaks, Meta Knights and Claycia. Normal Dark Matter would appear in DM Swordsman’s attacks in some capacity outside of the eye laser and the Gordo Throw would return from Dedede’s previous Smash incarnations alongside the Waddle Dee Throw from Brawl. And naturally Magolor can call in the Lor Starcutter for one of his super moves. I am actually considering giving Tac the ability to throw random items/enemies at opponents, with the Bomber being one of these. It’d be a very RNG attack with the Bomber being the best outcome, blowing on the opponent’s face.

HELPERS

All characters in the game can be called on for an Helper attack, that can help you in some form against the opponent by either damaging or tampering with the opponent or by having you get healed or with some buff. Outside from the playable roster enemies that give you copy abilities would also be Helpers, but the specific ones I’m not so sure on.

BOSSES

Characters you can fight in Arcade mode, in Story mode or in a specific Boss mode. There’d also be a Ganon’s Fury (Hyrule Warriors) inspired mode where you’d play as the bosses pitting them against each other. I specifically picked Dyna Blade, Whispy Woods, Landia, Star Dream, Kracko, Great Edge, Pyribbit, Ice Dragon, Fire Lion, Masher, Grand Mam, Metal General, Kibble Blade and Pon & Con.

STAGES

There’d be quite a lot of stages, but I haven’t thought out specific ones except for Green Greens, Butter Building, a Ripple Star stage, one for Dedede’s castle with stage cameos by Tiff, Tuff and Escargoon from the anime and every final boss’s fighting arena.

THE MUSIC

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is gonna be nothing compared to this one. We’re getting all the important music from all pre-Kumazaki games, all music from Kumazaki games and spinoffs, and online arrangements with focus on orchestral (Desolo Zantas), metal (GaMetal, of course) and EDM (Acid Notation, Qumu and various others), including stuff like Itoki Hana’s vocal arrangements. We’re going all out on this one.

Aaaaand that’s it. Thanks for coming to my TED talk. Stay hydrated.

#kirby #fighting game #meta knight #king dedede #game idea #bandana waddle dee #Kirby Star Allies #dream friends #kirby battle royale #queen sectonia #max profitt haltmann #void termina #nightmare kirby #drawcia #WHEN IS THE NEXT KIRBY COMING OUT FOR FUCK'S SAKE

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lady-divine-writes · 4 years ago

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Kurtbastian one-shot - “Confrontation” (Rated PG13)

Summary: Things get heated at Blaine's first post-quarantine competition when his father and his old coach make a surprise visit. (2397 words)

Notes: Warning for homophobia. Blaine friendly.

Part 68 of Outside Edge.

Read on AO3.

"This is not happening... this is not happening... " Blaine mumbles, pacing back and forth, arms wrapped tight around his torso but carefully so as not to dislodge any of the hundreds of crystals Kurt had applied by hand to this new costume he'd made especially for him.

A costume so intricate and lovingly crafted that Sebastian turns green every time he's in its presence (even though Kurt has made him close to a dozen of his own).

"It's going to be all right," Kurt says, trying his best to calm Blaine down. He reaches out a hand to stop him but decides against it. He understands the pain of suffering from this level of anxiety. Standing still when you're about to rip out of your skin can be the worst feeling in the world.

"I'm not doing this... " Blaine decides, tapping his right fist against his left elbow. "I'm not---I'm not doing this... "

"Too late, champ," Sebastian teases, tucking his button-up into his slacks and joining the freak-out already in process. "You've already skated. No backing out now."

"No jokes!" Kurt hisses. "That's not what this is about!"

"Then what is it?" Sebastian asks, growing concerned when Blaine starts to curl in on himself. Sebastian steps in front of him, feeling a need to shield him from prying eyes wandering by. "I was in the can for all of three minutes. What in the hell happened?"

Kurt leans into Sebastian's side and whispers, "His father's here. And his old coach."

"What the fuck?" Sebastian turns in a circle, half looking for the men in question (even though he's never seen either, so he has no idea who he's looking for), but also searching for a place they can hide, get Blaine out of the public eye. "What the hell are they doing here?"

"I... I don't know. I don't know how they even knew I'd be here," Blaine replies.

"They'd had to have Googled you," Sebastian says, eyes darting back and forth over the crowd.

"Why would they do that? My dad said he never wanted to see me again! So what's the point?"

"I don't know," Sebastian admits. Would it be too much to ask that it's because the man actually cares about Blaine? Sebastian doesn't know a thing about him other than he punched his son and threw him out onto the street, so he can't answer that question, but from the outset, most signs point to no.

Sebastian hopes the man proves him wrong.

He isn't one for seeing the good in people. He'd rather believe that most are self-serving assholes, that way he's not disappointed when he's right. But this is Blaine's dad. And regardless of Sebastian feeling a bit jealous of his relationship with Kurt, Sebastian secretly prays that one day Blaine and his dad can make amends.

Sebastian spots a line of locker rooms, the doors painted to blend with the walls. They're about the size of the average closet, but hunkering down in a cramped room is better than waiting around for the inevitable. "Come on, guys. We can duck in there."

Kurt takes Blaine by the elbow as Sebastian leads the way, barking out a frustrated, "Excuse us. Excuse us," to the skaters yet to perform, who have opted to do their off-ice warm-ups smack dab in everyone else's way. Sebastian frowns when he remembers that used to be him once upon a time - constantly showing off, always in other people's space. His coach had told him it was an effective intimidation technique.

It's not.

It's just annoying.

Blaine sighs as they reach the blue metal door, relief in sight.

It turns out to be premature.

"Still under rotating those triples, I see."

Blaine sighs again, but this time it's a sound of utter defeat, and something inside Kurt snaps. He whirls around, putting himself between Blaine and whoever might be behind them, saying, "Don't you have anything nice to say?" before he comes face to face with two older men trying way too hard to appear important in their expensively tailored wool suits, out-of-place with everyone else around them bundled up in jeans, sweaters, and puff jackets. They can't even wear simple cloth masks, opting for those overpriced dome things constructed of 'space-age materials', clear so people can see the entirety of the wearer's face.

From the corner of his eye, Kurt sees Blaine turn slowly, as if he would rather be anywhere but here, which sucks because Blaine had an amazing skate! A skate Nathan Chen would have been proud of! But that's about to be ruined by the presence of these two a-holes!

"Nice about what?" the same man retorts, and even though that sounds like the sort of remark one would expect a coach to make, Kurt just knows that this man - with the same dark hair as Blaine's, glued to his scalp with a tremendous amount of product, sucking in his lower lip as he grins - has to be his dad. "His lackluster choreography? His offensive song choice? This fruity costume? Or those skates?" He pops his lower lip in disgust as he gestures down to the black Edea skates Kurt customized with rainbow crystals. "Jesus, Blaine! Why don't you carry one of those rainbow flags out on the ice with you! Or tattoo one to your face! That way everyone knows!"

"Most people already do!" Blaine argues, surprising his friends. But it delights Sebastian more. Despite his 'dapper charm' that he lays on thick as oatmeal, Sebastian suspected Blaine couldn't be as meek as he seemed around him and Kurt. Looks like he was right. "And guess what? No one seems to have a problem with it! And if they do, they have the courtesy to keep it to themselves!"

"That's because you're a figure skater. You're surrounded by gays, aren't you?" he snarks, shooting a pointed glance at Kurt. Blaine's old coach (Simon, if Kurt remembers correctly - supposedly a huge deal though Kurt has never heard of him), who has yet to say anything, has the dignity to look embarrassed by Mr. Anderson over that remark.

"Has he always been this much of an ass?" Sebastian seethes. "Or is he doing this for our benefit?

Blaine's first instinct is to defend him, even after everything the man has done. He is his father after all. But he stops himself, gives Sebastian's question a solid think.

And his answer is yes.

Yes, he has.

He's always been an ass. To him and, to a lesser extent, his mother. Nothing has ever been good enough for him. Gold medals, sponsorships, scholarships, endorsements - not a single thing that has come from Blaine's skating has his father ever been proud of.

"What you see is what you get," Blaine says diplomatically. Mr. Anderson's thin-lipped grin drops like a lead weight, and Kurt snickers.

"Your edges have improved," Simon puts in haughtily. "Don't know how that happened."

"It's called practice," Kurt says, "dedication... and the perks of finding a better, more supportive coaching team."

Simon's eyes travel from Kurt's face to a smug Sebastian, and the man rolls his eyes. "I'll bet."

"So, is this what you gave your family up for?" Mr. Anderson asks, waving a hand towards Kurt so vehemently he nearly smacks him. "Or are you still waiting in the wings?"

Blaine's cheeks burn, speechless that his father held on to those words he overheard and is now throwing them in his face, especially since he never told Kurt about the phone call that got him kicked out. Not entirely. And as far as he knew, Sebastian hasn't either, confirmed by the confusion on Kurt's face.

"You're talking to your son," Sebastian growls. "You haven't seen him in over a year, haven't talked to him during a global pandemic even once to find out whether or not he's okay. He just won his second gold medal of the night. But you're stomping over here like you have every right, and all you care about is his sex life?"

Mr. Anderson raises a stern finger. "This doesn't concern you."

"Yes, it does! Because after you pulled your little homophobic stunt and blackened his eye, he started living with me. In my house." Sebastian stops himself from clarifying further when he notices they're attracting attention. He didn't mean to out Blaine's abuse. Sebastian had no right to let that slip. But with the tunnel of red obscuring his vision, he'd started to forget there's anyone else around. He's got to apologize but now isn't the time. "He owes me nothing. Happy to have him. But you? You owe me plenty."

"What?" Mr. Anderson scoffs. "Do you want me to write you a check?"

"No. But a little gratitude, knowing that your son was in good hands this entire time, might be nice."

Mr. Anderson laughs through his nose. It's as unattractive as it sounds. "Never happening. I offered to take him back. He felt he knew better. If Blaine chooses to live in a den of sin, that's his business."

Sebastian shakes his head in disbelief. Blaine's father isn't talking about pre-marital sex. Hell, if Blaine was kicking it with some busty blonde cheerleader this whole time, his dad would probably be ecstatic.

He's referring to the fact that the three of them are gay.

Some people.

Well, if he wants to be an epic jackhole, fine. Two can play at that game.

"You know, since you're so concerned with who your son is being intimate with, since that matters so much to you, it might interest you to know that he's not just screwing Kurt here. He's fucking me as well." Sebastian pauses, lets those words sink in, and soaks in the delicious fallout. He doesn't know whose reaction he likes better - the men in front of him scowling like he farted in their masks, or the boys standing beside him, staring at him wide-eyed and growing pale. "Oh yeah," Sebastian continues, fueled by the conflicted awe in Kurt's eyes specifically. "The three-ways are plentiful, in every position."

"You... you little liar!"

Sebastian shrugs. "I mean, that's what it's all about, right? What do you think's been going on at my house while he's been living there? He's gotta pay the rent somehow."

"You're disgusting!" Mr. Anderson sneers.

"You're one to talk - a middle-aged man whose only concern about his son's welfare is where he sticks his dick! Give this a lot of thought, do ya? Talk about it over dinner and shit?"

Mr. Anderson takes a step forward. Blaine and Kurt take a reflexive step back - social distancing and all. But Sebastian doesn't budge. "You listen here, you... !"

"Is there a problem?" a man dressed in a red, white, and blue windbreaker emblazoned with the name of the rink they're in, asks. They'd been so engrossed in this pissing contest, no one noticed the man cut through the crowd to reach them. Mr. Anderson steps back, aggressively straightening his jacket. Kurt thinks he hears a seam pop, and he flinches on behalf of a thousand-dollar sports coat.

"No," Mr. Anderson answers quickly, annoyed by the interruption. "No problem."

Seeing a way to put an easy end to this, Sebastian speaks up. "Actually, there is. These men aren't coaches or skaters. And they're harassing us. So could you please... ?"

Mr. Anderson chuckles. "Right. Good luck with that. I have no intention of going anywhere."

The attendant shakes his head. "I'm sorry but... " He turns to Mr. Anderson "... I'm going to have to ask you gentlemen to leave. We need to keep this area clear."

Mr. Anderson's eyelids narrow to slits. "What?"

"We have a capacity limit." The man points to a sign posted nearby. Neither Mr. Anderson nor Simon looks. "Skaters and coaches only. Everyone else has to go back to the bleachers."

"Are you kidding me!?"

"Unless you have a pass... "

Mr. Anderson looks at the three boys. They lift laminated tags attached to lanyards hanging around their necks. Blaine's says 'Skater' in neon green letters, Kurt's says 'Assistant Coach' in bright orange, and Sebastian's says 'Coach' in yellow. Mr. Anderson and Simon have no such lanyards.

Technically, they don't even have tickets to the event.

Simon used the clout he has left to get them this far.

"I'll have to call security if you don't leave," the man interjects, reaching for his walkie.

Mr. Anderson sniffs, tries to retain his composure, but he's not a man used to taking no for an answer.

Or being bested by teenagers.

"I'll be seeing you boys again," he says low, like a threat.

"Absolutely!" Sebastian says. "Stop by Westerville Ice-plex anytime so my uncle can serve you that restraining order Blaine should have filed the first time around!"

Mr. Anderson doesn't look the least bit amused when rink staff leads him away, glaring venomously at them over his shoulder as he's escorted to the double doors. The three watch, waiting till he's completely out of sight before they breathe easy again.

"That was fun," Blaine says brightly, trying to make light of this newly tense situation.

"Loads," Kurt agrees.

"I'm so sorry about that. He had no right to talk to you guys like that. Especially you, Kurt."

Kurt smiles. It gets lost behind his faux Chanel mask, but luckily it reaches his eyes. "You don't need to apologize."

"Look, Blaine," Sebastian starts, "I'm really sorry for bringing up... "

"Don't worry about it," Blaine cuts in. He'd happily forgotten about that. He wants to drop it. "It shouldn't be a secret. That's how people like him get away with doing what he did."

"Still, it was kind of shitty."

"Yeah, but that wasn't your fault."

Sebastian puts a hand on Blaine's shoulder and gives it a squeeze. It's the closest thing to a hug he can offer.

"Come on." Kurt puts his hand over Sebastian's. "Let's go get Blaine's medals and head home, hmm?"

"Sounds like a plan." Blaine turns to Sebastian, disarming mischief in his hazel eyes. "So... about that three-way... "

"You mean you, leftie, and rightie?" Sebastian winds a possessive arm around his boyfriend and ushers him quickly through the crowd towards the medal stand. "Be sure to tell us all about it in the morning."

#Kurtbastian #sebkurt #sekurt #sebastian smythe #kurt hummel #figure skating #blaine anderson

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likethetailofacomet · 6 years ago

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Cross Space and Time Ch. 3- Chance Encounters

Kenji and the Hero team deal with the aftermath of April’s epic battle with Silas.

Pairings: Kenji x April, Dax x Poppy, Jake x Kara

Tagging: @ooo-barff-ooo @zaffrenotes @sleepwalkingelite @endlessly-searching-for-you @mind-reader1 @brightpinkpeppercorn @simmerbychoices @cordoniantrash @indiacater if you would like to be added or removed let me know!!

He burst through the door to the clock tower, a crazed look in his eyes, chest heaving. Once inside he shifted back into human form, the familiar metallic ripple passing over his body, leaving him feeling a little weaker as it always did when he changed back. Collapsing to his knees, lungs on fire, throat completely raw from screaming her name into the void, the pain continued to wrack his chest, ribs aching from the way his breath was coming in shallow gasps. He'd wanted to burst in here, demanding that Dax get the Prism Gate running again, that they find a way to get her back. But once he was Kenji again, once Talos was gone, the resolve left him and the pain had taken over.

Eva trailed in after him, absolute despair written on her face, cheeks still tear stained and red though she was no longer crying. April had been the first friend she'd really ever had, the first person she trusted with her secrets. She'd taught her how to let go of pain and how to let old wounds heal. Eva took a shaking breath thinking about this new wound, this new pain, and how the only person that might help her past it had been April. No, she corrected herself, is. Is April. We'll get her back... her caramel eyes drifted to the crumpled figure on the ground that was Kenji and she felt a sharp stab in her chest witnessing his pain. He loves her, fiercely, she knows this with a firm certainty. We have to get her back. We have to. She knelt behind the man that had become her friend, draping her arm over his shoulders.

“Hey, Kenj, we'll get her,” she muttered, tears starting to roll down her cheeks again. Damnit. She blinked furiously and forced them to stop. She had to be strong for Kenji and Dax and Poppy...for April. “We're gonna get her back, Kenj, we will.”

Kenji stiffened at her touch at first. He'd become so accustomed to the way April's hands had felt, the signature warmth and feeling that only she could give him, and Eva's touch was different. It startled him slightly, but he was grateful for her support, leaning into her, both of them needing a friend so badly.

Dax and Poppy slowly made their way down the spiral staircase, Poppy's eyes still glued to the communicator watch on her wrist, her hands trembling, mouth agape. She was still waiting for it to blink back on, for the projection to show April floating back down from the glowing aftermath of her battle with Silas with a victorious grin on her face, perhaps giving them some cheesy line about missing her. Dax was muttering things over and over to himself, scientific terms that Kenji and Eva didn't understand. It was like watching a computer malfunction.

“Dax,” Kenji croaked weakly, Dax not hearing, stuck in his loop of equations and hypotheses. “Dax!” Kenji said louder, with more urgency. The small man snapped his goggle laden head towards Kenji, who'd gotten to his feet with Eva's help. “What do we do?” he asked him, hoping beyond hope that he would know the answer.

Dax opened his mouth as all eyes fell to him. He closed it again, swallowing, then took a breath and said, “I'm...not sure... I...I'm not sure we can...”

“Dax...?” Poppy put her hand on his arm gently, turning him towards her. Her face had fallen at his words, fear making her doe eyes even wider than normal. “Dax, what do you mean? There's got to be something we can-” she started gesturing around the clock-tower, at the lab equipment they'd assembled there in their underground headquarters.

Dax placed his hands on her arms and she flicked her eyes up to his. “I don't know, Poppy. We...we don't have any of those prisms... the gate,” he turned to Eva and Kenji. “The gate, I could rebuild it, sure, but, it runs on those prisms, and they were destroyed in...” he trailed off, not sure what to even call what happened. “I don't know the first thing about where to find more... or how to, I don't know, manufacture them? I... I don't know...” he muttered, clearly upset that he didn't have a scientific solution.

Kenji took a shuddering breath, nodding, understanding what Dax was saying, the pain ripping through him again like a dull razor being dragged across his flesh. Eva felt the sting of it hit her between the eyes, spreading through her nervous system like lightning, every nerve twitching with the knowledge that she truly might never see her friend again. Oh, April... It was Poppy that spoke next, alarmingly calm. “Okay, well,” she piped up, “well we know what we have to do then, right?” She looked around at all of them, their forlorn eyes on her, not sure where she was going or why she wasn't drowning in the sorry that they were lost in. She and April had known each other since grade school, had referred to one another as soul sisters. “We have to rebuild the gate,” she looked at Dax pointedly. “We have to find some of those crystal prism things,” she glanced at Kenji and Eva, “And we have to open another portal so April can come home.” She nodded with finality. “But right now, we need a drink. Come on, no excuses, we all need it.” She was waving her hands in a “round-em-up” sort of motion.

“Poppy...really? Now?” Kenji groaned. The last thing he wanted to do was go to the bar that he and April had danced in, her head resting against his shoulder, their hips pressed close together, where he'd kissed her like he'd never kissed anyone, and that was saying something...where they'd... But then, a drink or ten might help with the way his entire body was burning.

“Yes, now. We all just had a truly shit day, and we deserve to drown our sorrows, just for tonight. That's it though, you got that? Tonight is for feeling bad and wallowing but starting tomorrow we're working on getting April back and we're not stopping until we do. Got it?” Her bubbly tone had taken on one of authority and it almost made Dax laugh with adoration.

“Got it, Pops,” he kissed her on the nose, a small smile on his lips. No one could cheer up a crowd as lost in their pain as they were like his Poppy. They made their way to Kenji's night club, and told Skylar to keep the shots coming until they fell over.

Jake had landed in New York two hours ago. After calling Mike and Rebecca to let them know he'd made it safely, he'd checked into a hotel and immediately headed downtown. He'd looked up the address, well, former address of Prescott Industries, and figured what better place to start looking for the man of bronze than the last place he'd known him to be. As he fought through the throngs of people crowding the streets, horns from taxis and buses and cars blaring in his ears, he finally found himself standing in front of a large crater in the ground, broken shards of glass and twisted metal sticking up at jagged angles, smoke still rising from the wreckage. Seeing the coverage on the news had been one thing, but seeing the devastation at street level, the whole block cordoned off with yellow police tape and wire fencing was entirely different. This Prescott guy must'a been working with Rourke, he thought, this is right out of that guy's playbook.

He looked up and down the street suddenly aware of how stupid he'd been in hoping to find his mark so easily in a city like New York. He cut himself off from the panic before it set in. Alright, Jake, you just got here, just get your bearings, get a drink, and tomorrow we start getting answers. He turned around and headed towards a cabaret themed bar he'd just passed and headed inside. One look at the forlorn group already at the bar told him that he wouldn't feel out of place here.

He took a seat next to a nerdy looking guy with big green googles perched on his noggin, a pretty girl leaning against his shoulder. He ordered a beer and the bartender had it to him in record time. New York minute, he mused, faster than a southern second. Taking a swig he felt a pair of eyes on him and turned to see the man next to him gaping at him.

“Hey, goggles, you good?” Jake asked.

“You're Jake McKenzie,” Goggles answered.

Jake blinked, hand frozen mid air, beer half way to his mouth. The rest of the group was now staring at the two of them. “How the fu-”

“La Huerta. You were one of the group that got off...I remember the news story...I remember your trial.” he said.

“Oh,” Jake's eye brows flew up but at least the guy's explanation made sense. “Yeah, that's me,” he saluted him with his beer and turned back towards the bar.

“Do you know anything about the crystals?” Dax asked in a low voice, serious eyes still trained on Jake.

Jake turned back slowly. “What...how do you...” his heart was beating fast. Could he have lucked out like this? This you, princess? He silently asked Kara. She didn't answer, she never did, but he thought maybe it was her, pointing him in the right direction.

“Science nerd,” he pointed to himself, “Researched everything I could about La Huerta after that story, after you all just appeared out of thin air...”

Jake nodded. “I might know about the crystals. What can you tell me about the Metal Man?” He was leaning his elbows on his knees, staring intently into goggles' eyes.

“What do you want to know about him?” Kenji asked from three stools down.

#cross space and time #hero #hero au #es #endless summer #endless summer au #hero es crossover #choices fanfiction #jake x mc #jake x kara #kenji x mc #kenji x april

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13unknownmind · 6 years ago

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The Arrowverse is back The Flash S5E3

Well this is a little late but this last week has been hell and I mean that is an almost literal sense but anyway let's get to it.

The Flash if you are not caught up on this season please by all means get on the CW app or download Showbox check them out and then come back and read the other posts I got in this one all under the ... #my thoughts on the arrowverse... and let me know what you think. Now without furthering the Adu let's talk about it.

So we have seem a lot go on in the short time The Flash has been back and I am so loving this season from the still poppin' pop culture references to the epic fight scenes and yes we all know I love the adorableness that is Nora West-Allen. I did actually take paper notes this time so I am "prepared" lol

Now we are just gonna start form what in my perspective is the most notable things going through the episode from beginning to end so let's go.

Aight first we are learning about cicada and his metahuman serial killer looking self. We have this lovely line that I feel in this situation I would have said. "So we're dealing with a meta human Jack the Ripper... Amazing." From my boy Cisco I love this line because not only is it so beyond accurate it just kind of brings things for me into perspective for what if to come.

Now I know you are tired of reading Nora is so adorable in how ever many different ways but I can't help it she is in my opinion by far the most adorable Character in the flash ever, I love this character so much cause she not only broke The law of speedsters everywhere but all she wants is to be with her dad and I just love her so much. I have to aawwww all the time while I am watching this show anymore.

Alright so let's get to the new wells... Harrison Sherloque Wells... It's french lol

This dude is not only a stuck-up think she knows it all kind of dude but he just assumes that he is right because he's been supposedly called to 37 other Earth's to fix the cicada situation granted they were all David Hirsch but to this point we know that this one is not... This is going to be great to see what comes from this dude joining the team which I am assuming is going to be for most of the rest of the season.

Now like I said we got some poppin' and pop culture references as always and this was so great I had to "thank you very much for coming Cumberbatch" obviously a nerd will get this and for anyone who did thank you. Those of you whose heads it has flown over my boy Benedict Cumberbatch also known as in recent pop culture Doctor Strange was cast in the role of Sherlock Holmes in the show Sherlock I loved this and am so glad that it was a thing, thank you again Cisco Ramon.

Cisco my dude you got to stop drinking and you got to chill out Gypsy might come back I hope... For real I doubt it cuz she's got a lot to do she got a big job and all that good stuff but man you got to just let her go.

Now the next notable thing to me comes after they have sat down and talked about Harrisons payment I had to rewind for this one cause I wasn't sure what I heard honestly. "We are being approached by either ate all sensitive man or a frightened baby giraffe" either way dang I am not sure if this was supposed to be insulting but it was surely funny in my head. Thank you Wells for this oddly humorous moment.

Well we all know that Caitlin has her dad situation to figure out so Ralph being the good friend that he is said let's go so he and Caitlin went to visit her mom and I agree with Ralph she's hiding something but anyway that's a thing for later in the season. her mom got an attitude real quick and defensive about the situation deflecting it as a mourning wife or whatever... We all know she had something to do with it so let's just move on from there, Caitlin said aight let's go and Ralph so being the good friends that he is said no let's find out. After having committed what most would consider a felony and finding her dad's stuff came in and Ralph had a moments of adorable friendship after having essentially broken into Caitlin's moms files which I think was really great.

Little side thing Caitlin's birthday is her mom's passcode aawwww.

No there is the matter of the suicide note she supposedly found all lies and we can clearly see that by the end of the episode, which we will get back to in a moment.

Why does cicada want a Vibe specifically like I know he was an easy target because of Joe and that situation but why specifically vibe that confused me for a moment I'm still not fully getting it.

alright well we're moving on to just past the initial contact that cicada made with Joe and looking at the scenes with Nora for a moment this little girl she feels bad about the timeline about what she did but there's nothing she can do to change it so she's got to live with it and fix it... now this ladies and gentlemen young speedsters I hope you are listening. This is the reason we do not time travel or mess with the timeline.

No we're going to move on to the next thing with Nora here she took Barrys advice she stopped took just a moment thought about it and then went into action I am so proud of her.

Okay now let's just take a moment here. "THE DEATH OF VIBE" clickbait of the century. LoL

Okay so now the situation is handled Cisco's chill cicadas gone and Nora being the adorableness that she is the personification of "I did good" sounding so nervous and timid she's adorable I just want to hug her. And Barry being the good Dad "You did great." I loved this moment.

All right so moving on to the next notable thing that I saw cuz there are some things here and there that just stick out more than others you know. "I'm watching you Holmes" this was great cause I grew up around a lot of gang activity and stupidity so I have heard thing similar to this many times before I laughed out loud after this was said. Good job Cisco.

I know let's get serious for just a moment here what is going on with Nora and Iris' relationship I don't get it like a mother and a daughter I supposed to get along and want to be around each other and all that so why is Nora kind of standoffish around Iris? I am not fully understanding like I know they spend all their time together or whatever like Nora said but what is up?

All right Caitlin and her dad's old game becoming a code I love this cause they are bringing this around and giving us a full story and background with details even minut, and Caitlin of course cracking the code finding the "Caitlin come find me" message that's what's up I love that I cannot wait to see what happens next.

Last thing we see Harrison and Nora talkin in the lounge and we get a really strange moment they're talking about Nora coming back to change the timeline and Harrison ends up asking "was the decision your own?" With an odd look from Nora he quickly covers it up with "of course it was" and Nora continues on goes to get her purse and is moving in with Barry and Iris for the duration of her living in this time... there's a lot there and I am not sure if we can unpack it all right now so we're just going to say we will find out again in the next episode of The Flash.

Final thoughts

Are we going to see Harrison becoming part of the team like Harry?

Will we ever see Gypsy again?

Who is cicada really and why is he doing what he doing like I know we saw a daughter or at least what I'm assuming is a daughter but what?

Will we be unmasking him soon?

Caitlin's dad it looks like my theory was incorrect and he might not be cicada. Though it is still undetermined.

Does Ralph maybe have a thing for Caitlin?

What is Cisco going to do now that Vibe is dead?

Could Nora be working with cicada possibly? Cause I want to know what Harrison meant by "was it your decision?"

What is going on this season?

Last thing I really want to see more of that flash Museum.

Alright well thank you all for reading I am very glad that I can provide these little blurbs, if you enjoyed this and would like to check out more of my stuff like I said the tag is #my thoughts on the arrowverse so thank you like I said for reading please come back. Let me know what you thinkI look forward to hearing your thoughts and theories about the arrowverse as well. God bless you ✌️

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elizabethrobertajones · 8 years ago

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12x15 watching notes

I actually finished watching the episode hours ago but right after I went and literally watched a big chunk of season 8 instead of this episode which is metaphorically a big chunk of season 8 >.>

this "expectations" thing is turning into a bit of a joke because I never know what to expect any more. This was much easier in Carver era :P From the previews it looks like a bit of a "monster of the week" with a hellhound and I sort of feel things are about to go up shit creek for Crowley and he's distracted with the Winchesters which is his life story, but MAY let them find out finally. Gonna make Mary working with the BMoL look like a good decision.

Also may be a way to un-Buckleming Crowley's choice with some better characterisation...

[rare edit to yell at past me oh my god. Also at Davy OH my GOD - note to self stop being so cynical about literally anyone but those guys writing :P]

As far as I can tell from the outside looking in, though Dabb's been working through a really serious important list of loose ends, this is from the odd pile of things that end up on his desk complaining about one of his episodes which is "we need more Winchesters in glasses!!!!" after he gave us a few minutes of it in 8x14, and he shrugged and went, okay, someone find a reason to put them in the glasses again. Why not.

Oh yeah we're on the monsters' side. Starting again with the cute vampire girl from last episode saying "they're dead. they're all dead" and Mary shown killing a vampire. Before any title cards. Mary's POV is on the other side of it. Telling us the world is changing and then Sam squinting suspiciously at Mick's briefing about exterminating all the vampires. And the "pick a side" thing for Sam - monsters on one side, mom on the other.

Awwwwww 5x20 Crowley and his hellhound. A simpler time. When they were trying to cram Lucifer back in the cage. Funny reminder now to have moments before Lucifer bound in Crowley's spare room.

Oooh right there's Kelly and Dagon stuff in this episode. I think Cas too? You know I completely forgot because the previews were avoiding them but I'm pretty sure one of the episode descriptions actually mentioned them... Whoops. I guess this episode is going to be split between all that. At this point I don't really trust the writing not to be ridiculously more complex and layered than I can guess from right here, so I'll just enjoy these cold open people camping and laugh that I wrote a Winchester family camping trip as the code to 12x14

I can't believe this guy is looking up bear attacks in the woods while they're camping. And she's a vet. Pfft :P How does he even have signal though.

Awww no they're going their separate ways. She seems unconvinced that it's going to work out anyway :<

He needs to stop asking trees to marry him.

Oh no now I'm invested in these people. They do not deserve to be eaten by hellhounds.

Nooooo

Oh no that was unintentionally hilarious with the puffy jacket throwing fluff everywhere.

Pfft some extras from the Walking Dead wander into the Bunker making obvious pop culture references. Do we even analyse that mention of Dad or do we just laugh hysterically and move on?

Wait so that time when they seemed to have it on set they weren't just fucking around with the baseball bat because they felt like making one but it was actually going to be in an episode oh my god

I wonder if Mary has been watching The Walking Dead or if she hasn't had time.

Being distracted by Mittens:

Wait - Sam is clean... is this meta or are we still in the pop culture reference?

mittensmorgul The things on Dean, "ghoul, wraith, siren."

elizabethrobertajones yeah They fought a SIREN WHAT HAPPEN I want to know everything

mittensmorgul I DON'T KNOW?!

elizabethrobertajones I bet if it was "back to back to back" they didn't have time for it to be complicated

mittensmorgul I mean, DEAN fought the siren, Sam is completely clean

elizabethrobertajones WHY IS SAM CLEAN

mittensmorgul And Dean's been wearing his underpants for four days People are screaming OOC

elizabethrobertajones oh god

mittensmorgul I have no idea

elizabethrobertajones Ahahahahah "Frodo"

mittensmorgul Sort of reminded me of how he looked after he killed the stynes

elizabethrobertajones Is that a thing

mittensmorgul :D

elizabethrobertajones maybe they intentionally USE those code names maybe Mary talked to Sam wait if Mick is telling Sam where to go has he given them "back to back to back"

mittensmorgul yes...

elizabethrobertajones and Dean did all the killing and Sam was clean Okay THERE'S the symbolism I was looking for :P

mittensmorgul do go on... :D

elizabethrobertajones I am literally paused just at "Frodo" and his missing campers message so idk what happens next but yeah :P Dean's being used as the weapon here and Sam's coordinating Aka trying to turn him into Ketch or Mark!Dean Sam doesn't have any blood on his hands for these hunts and they're coming too fast for Dean to process them and work out shades of grey ....

mittensmorgul Yep

elizabethrobertajones which means the Negan thing is probably a reference to how bloody it has all been and not just a joke >.>

mittensmorgul nope

elizabethrobertajones they're trying to turn him back into a bloody single minded hunter like John this is awful I LAUGHED now I feel horrible about it all :P

elizabethrobertajones Also Dean not being a germ freak about it all is probably a bad sign >.>

elizabethrobertajones Oh no Sam lying epically

mittensmorgul yep

elizabethrobertajones reminds me of 8x01 when he tells Dean how he found Kevin but he actually did that Dean like Purgatory Dean Wait fuck that baseball bat is his purgatory weapon *slides under the table* Go away Negan This is worse than the Eliot Ness thing

this show is getting too meta for its own good... Is this what happens after 12 years?

Anyway Sam comes up with something to baffle Dean with his technology know-how implying Dean is too dumb to follow - Sam rattling off computery sounding things and Dean sitting there bloody and unwashed and the John-Negan baseball bat in front of him and Sam like "the computer told me" and Dean being like "lol computers are good at monsters and porn" - he really is in a bad way :< I think one of those things where they balance Sam and Dean out. But Sam is WORKING on Dean as he said he would last episode - he's intentionally wearing him out, letting him channel that need to kill things in a way Ketch couldn't get Dean to indulge in because Sam knows Dean better and where his lines are. Taking him back to back to back to back on hunts stops Dean from having down time and appreciating the finer things in life, so he gets less and less nuanced as Sam works him down >.> Because as last episode showed, Sam aligns with Mick, Dean with Ketch but, like, obviously NOT because they're both competent and kind and multifaceted. But Ketch is the Mark!Dean parallel, and wearing Dean down like this... yeah.

Honestly though baby wipes are so good they probably COULD get all that gunk off in an emergency

elizabethrobertajones Wait Dean is rejecting the Bunker's shower after flicking siren bits everywhere and being gross this is actually 8x14 inverted

mittensmorgul RIGHT?!

elizabethrobertajones we start with him loving the Bunker and bitching about Sam messing it up and in 8x13 he goes on about the water pressure and now he'd just be happy with baby wipes

mittensmorgul D:

elizabethrobertajones .... and in 8x14 he puts that pic of Mary down and it feels like home :<

mittensmorgul I think they really are doing their best to invert 8.14

elizabethrobertajones 10x22 also used that pic of Mary I hope it's inverted in other ways

mittensmorgul but...

elizabethrobertajones like signing up for crazy ventures to get rid of all demons/monsters

"You smell like roadkill" ominous.

"I'm using that fancy shampoo you keep hidden" I love that they read a bunch of fan fic before they joined the show

Okay so Mittens informed me there's mass hysteria about the next moment because of audio nonsense, which means I swapped from fuzzy bad sound to full crystal clear noise cancelling headphones with all the sound settings done properly, and caught Sam saying "love you too" to Mary and Dean like "catch ya later" to Cas.

[side note: had no idea what she meant because I hadn’t heard a word of it before she told me there was hysteria]

I'd already squeed just to see them pull up having these conversations because the set up is beautiful: Sam has picked a side and Sam and Dean are now at odds, and THESE are their sides. After last episode we could only hope/guess that it was logical that Dean n Cas might be a bit of a team in opposition to Sam, Mary and the BMoL but obviously that was just guesswork. Knowing Sam already IS a faction with Mary and Dean doesn't know it, Sam starting this with a mention of "mom" as they get out the car and this little, uh... symbolic diorama? unfolds shows very clearly he's communicating with his faction; Dean also on the phone shows that they have a split, that he's in contact with someone who could be HIS faction and even before he said Cas I kinda knew because see above, guessing, and also the fact that he IS in contact with Cas more. So yeah, lines drawn between them. Something about them getting out the car together but not looking at each other, talking to their respective sides is just... really really well done. Also the way they're talking over each other? They're distracted with their own things, and not communicating, not listening in on what the other's up to.

Of course then they summarise to each other - DOUCHEBUSTERS.

I am offended

Mostly because it's like "lol Brits"

I feel bad there are hunters they hate more than the Ghostfacers, honestly.

Dean has better news - something's killing angels in IDAHO. Specifically, the town that 7x15 took place in. So that's 9x06 and 7x15 all at once. Wheee.

"Diner waitress Sara Deshenski has met an untimely and violent demise at the hands of an irate alien, so says her diner manager, Herb Nelson"

Bloody hell another dollar in the space jar

they really are going for it this season

they're finally sending Dean to space :')

The picture of burned angel wings in a trashy newspaper is so sad though... Look at Cas being sad.

Look at him still not knowing how to do the badge thing. I cry. My heart is overflowing with love for Cas. He needs Dean beside him to turn his badge around and laugh gently at his mistakes.

It does suggest he's kind of stagnated as a hunter, because he hasn't managed to figure this out yet >.>

He's trying though - he's Solange now! He knows you rotate out the identity from time to time.

Oh dear, Cas dealing with a real conspiracy nut. In 6x21 we were ROBBED of Cas's side of the investigation into HP Lovecraft, probably because lovable comic beats were not how to make us think Cas was the bad guy but they’d be nothing else but, because that’s who Cas is, ALWAYS. Now, though, he's got to do all the social stuff on someone who's basically Ronald Resnik'ing this. I hope he has better luck not dying >.>

He has a pic of the Queen's head taped to an alien which just makes me wonder if this is a thing to do with the BMoL and their terrible terrible bad wrong intel... Sometimes they know a thing, mostly they don't... But they managed to scrape up a few grains of truth here and there. Obviously she's not an alien or lizard person but who knows what else she might be >.> I like the whole Torchwood thing where the Queen was a werewolf and that was a royal family thing :P

Cas hanging his head in despair that he's actually considering waiting to see what this guy's evidence is.

Poor Cas

*Cas attempts to smile*

this description of the alley fight is hilarious

Kelly as the brood queen - remember the season 10-11 hiatus stuff about Bugs as the mytharc after we spotted the little VFX insect escaping Amara's cloud?

Aw no the way he describes angel blades as "star metal" it feels weirdly poignant... Angels are cosmic - who knows what those blades are made of

(Zerbe knows, but aside from Zerbe)

"man in black - well, beige!" if this isn't foreshadowing Cas getting a better coat.

I love how yellow eyes is still like, actually really deep and weighty and dramatic and scary still. Most things on this show have been completely run down INCLUDING Lucifer into being over-done. Such a good pick for this season.

Obligatory bear or cougar reference. I know it's not hellhounds but 8x16 has Prometheus actually killed by a bear off screen and I find that hilarious and I'm thinking mid season 8 now. I think it was also initially reported in one of the cracky publications like the one Cas got ahold of (knowing he has to read that sort of nonsense to get a lead also is a sign of him developing as a hunter).

Oh gosh the perfect blurring of Baby's engine over hellhound growling. Listen to her, she's such a sexy beast :D

[edit at past!me: Okay I’m useless at predicting stuff but I wasn’t to know Dean x Baby would be a thing this episode so I’m proud of this at least... can you even objectify a car? She’s already an object]

Now we know that Gwen knows for sure about big invisible wolves coming after her, the promo scene where Dean jokes about what truth they could tell her and Sam describes how they lie (a lot) to her is even worse, because of course Sam and lying is clearly a huge thing this episode and he describes how the lie will "give her peace" and help her sleep at night. Dean's being manipulated by Sam (PS I did not sign up for this) is probably very similar - Sam thinks Dean will sleep better at night if he doesn't understand all the details of these jobs they're doing and he's keeping Dean in happy dumbed down hunter mode.

Playing INTO the top layer of Performing Dean, really.

Dean's only joking about the ridiculous truth because he doesn't know how important it is to HAVE the truth yet, and he's empathising with Gwen's position of being told the truth and finding it completely unbelievable because he's also at the point where he can't concieve of the truth.

Guys there is a hellhound sniffing your BUTTS

Sam n Dean are wearing black coats and hold their badges the right way up

Omg it followed them in.

AAAAH that's intense okay that's good writing. Thanks Perez. You are so good at tension. They all sit down and chill.

this completely changes "elephant in the room" to "hellhound in the room"

Anyway Sam does the Ronald Resnik thing with Gwen telling her with authority as the FBI that there was nothing supernatural about it

"You're no longer in any kind of danger okay?"

Also they really don't have the right approach because telling her there's no danger??? WRONG. They need to at LEAST follow the lead on her BF's deal to tidy up loose ends, such as the fact that demons often catch a dozen people at a time when they're doing the crossroads thing... They'd need to AT LEAST go back to where the deal was made and check nothing else happened?? Where is your instinct???????

Too busy lying to her

It's so horrible that their visit allowed the thing in and now it's in there with her

I AM SO WORRIED ABOUT GWEN HOLY CRAP

"Oh yeah she's gonna sleep like a baby" *cut to Gwen being stalked*

Oh no now she heard it

GWEN

Omg she's okay

*heart slows down*

Some nice relaxing Crowley and Lucifer nonsense to chill with

Crowley is really enjoying having a proper nemesis since the Winchesters are more like friends now so it's not as fun to catch them and chain them up and taunt them.

Crowley says he's ten steps ahead of whatever Lucifer thinks he's doing. HM. Well he sure wasn't LAST episode.

Well he's behind on his paperwork anyway. The ridiculous windows also suggest peeking in on it - the sense the secret will come out.

This is such a great writing/directing combo

Cut to Sam and Dean actually telling the truth

Sam leaves out the detail about Dean being the cuter brother

Pfft

Okay I nearly spat tea at Dean being like "make you feel better. It was his idea"

This whole lying thing really isn't working out for Sam. And Dean's reaction to it is killing me.

"Did you really want something like, a hello kitty backpack. or the death of an enemy"

Dean and kids... he gets them

- mittensmorgul tort reform

elizabethrobertajones what like the cake

mittensmorgul basically to eliminate the sort of "law suits" like that ridiculous baby nonsense torts are civil legal cases

elizabethrobertajones Aah so if he'd actually listened he could have got rid of all the silly petitions :P

mittensmorgul like suing people over EVERYTHING. Usually considered frivilous, petty, or vindictive nonsense yeah :P and it was item #42 on his list (which also made me think of Door #42 in Heaven, aka the "escape hatch"

elizabethrobertajones that seems like a fairly apt summary of the problems :P if they just listened and paid attention they would eliminate so many stupid problems by actually dealing with things like the bigger picture things like reforming the way things work

[here follows about 10 minutes of sending pictures of cake back and forth while we debate what a torte is in our respective countries]

Why is Crowley still clutching the key for Lucifer's Facilities room?

NOT MOOSE

PEACHES

God dammit has Berens been chatting to Perez about Drowley

GWEN. She's like the ultimate outside eyes on their life, suddenly getting the whole truth when Crowley bitches them out for the Gavin thing on speaker phone

It's brilliant

how has this NEVER happened before

12 seasons and there's still new nonsense to explore

"have the kennel guards killed" YoU'RE STILL ON SPEAKER PHONE GWEN CAN HEAR THIS

Dean doing the "blah blah" gesture while they're all listening in on this NONSENSE like it's no big deal, overhearing a meeting between the King of Hell and his advisers

(Also this is a great way to tie the seemingly unconnected minions to the main story aside from having them deliver news since they didn't come specifically to tell Crowley about what's up with the MotW it's all completely incidental and if Sam and Dean hadn't already been on the case, well...)

(ALSO I love how in one episode the whole dynamic of Crowley and Hell somehow feels so much more like a proper court? And he's got proper assets and people and... I don't know, I love this depiction of his life)

Crowley dropping in on the random MotW conversation

Aaah it's all shaken up

eeep clear shot of the moose skull in Cas's truck. DO NOT WANT

Aw Cas has a friend. Kelvin! Do things EVER go well when he and random angels work together? NO. But I like Kelvin because he seems to like Cas for now, and they're working on the same thing... HOW CAN THIS GO WRONG?

Aside from the fact he mostly appears to be here to be a redshirt for Cas unless he has Vital Info or something because Heaven has much better resources to track her than Cas who is doing it the hunter way.

Mom Hellhound... What a shocking twist :P I mean, I wasn't expecting this backstory because I didn't think there'd be one, but the fact this is the Mother of All Hellhounds and she was preggers when she escaped and Lucifer took her in like... wooow.

*snorts at how cool Gwen is at Lucifer being locked up* Like, cool, well, at least he's not our problem. I mean I have the king of hell in my living room but he seems reasonable, and they're all reassuring me that Lucifer is safely locked up so I'll just... Yeah. Good.

Also Dean again repeating the lie that's been told to him and backing up the story etc, happily going along with the truth as he knows it while we - and someone in the room - knows it's a lie

God really sucks at making things though. Like, he put so much violence into the world? Eve and Leviathans were his creations too and they were... not exactly perfect. Pfft.

Crowley is excited to work the case... Oh dear, now he's learning to be a hunter

"Just when I thought this gig couldn't get any weirder" "Oh it can always get weirder"

Thanks Dabb

Aww the demon minions are so competent at being sneaky good for them. I have no idea who I root for here. I don't LIKE Lucier or want him free, but Crowley's minions being hilarious is like... my favourite thing. Whatever they're doing. I just love it. So... little bit conflicted about what I want here

Although making demands of Lucifer is a bad idea.

When Dean says sticking with Sam to keep her safe, he MEANS it I mean Sam once fucking GUTTED a hellhound SINGLE HANDED like dang he's the best bodyguard you could ask for right now

"Take care of her" "of course" or does he trust-

wait

no he's just being precious about the car. A beautiful, beautiful woman.

I guess we know why Sam doesn't get to drive so often; Dean just is THAT precious about her

Sam is not here for Dean fantasising about the car

Crowley like "you."

"... why of everyone ever did I have to fall in love with YOU" probably

Uhoh Cas and an El Sol sign... He and Kelvin seem to be drinking water. The director appears to be like "how many angles of Misha's face are necessary? Better try one more just in case" *rotates camera to bask in him some more*

Heaven is stable in a way where there's nothing drastic to report. All the huge dramas since it was last a big plot thing itself have meant the angels have been trying to deal with everything and so busy headless chickening about all that they haven't really been in-fighting. The death of all the alpha personalities helps too I guess.

"This is an all hands on deck situation Castiel. Including yours" "Okay so you're here for my hands" Yeah that was snark. A grade snark. In a Cas way.

"you got more field experience than the next thousand angels combined" I don't know if I should be more sad for Cas or Heaven

El Sol over Cas as Kelvin asks him if he would go back to Heaven - all his sins wiped clean... And challenging him over what he feels is home. Earth is quirky and smells like hay (pfft Cas's truck) but does it FEEL like home to Cas? he already FINALLY feels welcome in his family with the Winchesters and has expressed openly that he loves them and they proved that he was family to them, so emotionally he's really tied down already. But what feels like HOME to Cas?

And yeah this is happening in Idaho. 9x06. The FIRST time Cas gets asks what he is, what he wants to be... Oh gosh. Finally. FINALLY. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH

*quietly takes off my Dean!girl hat and puts on the Cas!girl one*

Now this mission has a different hook for him. The angels know he's already working it but Kelvin offers him a different sales pitch because they know that Dagon is going around killing angels just as Cas does, or at least SOMETHING massively more powerful than the average angel is - his help is suddenly very necessary because they are SCARED and Cas is COMPETENT. So they can give him the resources he needs - much like the BMoL are offering to Sam and Dean. Do the dirty work for them and be rewarded with a platinum membership card

Holy fuck Joshua

Dabb...

...

I don't have the brainpower to hold together the threads of the show directly connected to Dabb

elizabethrobertajones "The Gardener's got a plan" this does make me think of Metatron though I like Joshua but... it's sort of ominous these small time angels with a big time connection to God and God is not so great himself

mittensmorgul yep

elizabethrobertajones in the 9x23 thing [rewatch; not currently posted because this is literally how far I am] I got distracted writing about Metatron answering to "God" because he's modelling himself AFTER god and later talks about how God was not such a great Creator and how Metatron saw behind the curtains like.. Metatron's plan is sneaky and awful and cruel but he was behaving like God??

mittensmorgul yeah, but Joshua was the gardner God talked to. Joshua just listened, and tended the garden Chuck thinks of as his "greatest creation

elizabethrobertajones who has some sort of cruelty in his own creation making hellhounds and leviathan

mittensmorgul yep

elizabethrobertajones Joshua seems nice and all but God related to him as a gardener just as he related to Metatron as a writer

mittensmorgul after he locked up the darkness, he was trying to create that balance on his own, but he really lacked the finesse to do it properly

elizabethrobertajones which is ominous :P

mittensmorgul yeah

elizabethrobertajones Hm and the writing is controlling the narrative on a BIG scale

mittensmorgul yep

elizabethrobertajones gardening, if you were controlling the world, would be clipping it into shape like just tidying it up taking out some weeds like say eliminating all monsters

mittensmorgul but if we're about balance and finding better ways, and Chuck's still talking to Joshua... now that he's reunited with Amara maybe things CAN be better now?

elizabethrobertajones maybe?

mittensmorgul hopefully?

elizabethrobertajones I haven't watched to the end of this scene don't know if Joshua is still talking to God :P

mittensmorgul BUT CHUCK SAID THAT DEAN WAS THE ONE CARRYING THE STORY NOW

elizabethrobertajones yeah

mittensmorgul he put the earth in DEAN'S hands

elizabethrobertajones Dean gets to decide what happens and he doesn't approve >.>

mittensmorgul Dean's the gardener now

elizabethrobertajones :D And he tends to the garden in the traditional ways which WORK and keep a good sort of peace

mittensmorgul I think he likes the weeds

elizabethrobertajones eyah he relates to the weeds knows some dandelions can be pretty

mittensmorgul he thinks he's one of the weeds

elizabethrobertajones no need to rip them ALL up yeah >.> poor Dean

mittensmorgul heck, most of the "weeds" are food for the bees balance

elizabethrobertajones CAS SAW IT ALL back in 7x21 the whole plan it was perfect

Anyway Cas has some shit to think about while Dean gets his act together to just ask him to marry him and put an end to all this uncertainty

Awww this guy wants to be the king of the crossroads I'm rooting for him

ew the other demon wants to make hell great again. Kill the white guy. Leave the new king of the crossroads alive

Nooooo

I am disappointed.

Also annoyed Lucifer is free again

But blah I liked that guy :< This show sucks. Stop killing the great one off PoC

Thinking of which, I hope Gwen survives because she's brilliant and also incidentally hispanic which shouldn't be a thing at all except now I'm terrified she's going to be added to the show's stats because I just don't TRUST them

Dean in glasses! Crowley flirting with him... Dean being flattered (smiling to himself ew) but telling Crowley to shut up for appearances sake

Crowley saving Cas being the thing that finally makes Dean say thank you and feel like Crowley has gone a bit soft. (Also stop being genre savvy about saving the girl of the week, Dean :P)

Glasses give him +5 nerd points

"Maybe I've rubbed off all over you" *Dean comically shudders*

They're getting along. It's horrifying.

Berens definitely pulled Perez aside and gave him a talking to with diagrams and flowcharts about how this all happened

This is such a good scene I watched it like 3 times but the third time I went back too far and saw Lucifer kill the poor demon guy I liked again so my mood is yo-yoing around

I seriously appreciate the subtext for the whole bi!Dean project and the fact that they're exes who've now moved to this weird comfortable happy place where this all happens? The way Dean reacts? God, why did it have to be Crowley but now we're here, I am so appreciative for the sake of the bizarre way this show is running on and on and on past several points it could have ended and made Drowley less of a strange point of CONSISTENT data. But here we are. Dean is cheerfully wandering around with Crowley, deflecting flirting, smiling to himself, being nice about the whole saving Cas thing because of course this is a bizarre point in the love triangle too - I mean... So weird. God, this never should have got this far. So Crowley can make a joke about rubbing off all over Dean, and Dean just playfully shudders about it, and and... what the heck is this even any more? The show has been playing along with it for so long... I don't even know if they're DOING anything with it, except for their vague horror that they have to preserve this dynamic and are being faithful to the characters to move them through all this as realistically as they can.

Anyway in more current developments thoughts, Dean again being honest and emotionally genuine and friendly. Crowley might be lying about Lucifer but Dean, who is caught in the middle of everything but in a really good place of his own, responds really well to everything. Him being happy and sweet and OPEN is all the more crushing because you know terrible stuff may be about to happen with reveals of more deceit or manipulation, but Dean's being put in this "can do no wrong" place while he's unaware of everything, so reaching back out to Mary, not falling for Ketch's shit last week, thanking Crowley this week... Always being caught in the place of dramatic irony with lies Crowley and Sam are telling... yeah.

Sam in glaaaasses

can he even legally drive with the distortion of wearing glasses that aren't his prescription?

Gwen, don't puke in the car

Dean is so distractingly attractive

yeah that's it that's the entire scene

Gwen manages not to puke in the car, because Sam pulled over in time. I SWEAR it is the same place Dean pulled over to puke in in 11x10

She takes on all the guilt and responsibility for her boyfriend's death just for having invited him out to the woods, as their goodbye thing, when she never loved him as much as he loved her; she was going through the motions before breaking up with him and moving away.

"Why couldn't I just tell him the truth"

Liiiies

"I lied to make things easier!"

Ooh Mittens pointed out Gwen is a vet too - Sam and vets is a thing because AMELIA. (And a dog just hit them lol)

Poor Baby. And Dean was just worried Sam would fuck up her brakes! Dean's concerns again being based on small scale what he knows and not the big horrible truth, which is that Ramsey is gonna jump all over his car

Although not strictly Sam’s fault here

The car is almost sort of Hellhound proof? She's not breaking through the windows?

"We should leave!"

Can you drive faster than a hellhound? I'd LOVE to watch Sam try. But he decides to fight instead of driving off to try and prioritise getting Gwen away from danger

I love that the view through Sam's glasses showing us Ramsey is all fucked up and distorted because they're the wrong prescription glasses... BUT it gives us a similar "eye" back to her like the distorted view when the camera pretends to be her.... She and Sam staring each other down :D

Oh fuck if Sam kills her could he start doing the trials again? Like, working with the BMoL, casually bring it up at staff meeting and suggest that he's ready to go for round two?

Bad idea Sammy

COOLER TO THE HEAD. ILY GWEN

Yeah I was getting Baby (the episode) vibes from Dean's love of the car and the fact that was the last time she got smashed up but now the green cooler is back in play I'm yelling :P She protects her boys and everyone who rides in her.

I LOVE THIS SO MUCH LOOK AT THIS *gestures the entire scene wildly*

Aw crap no the blood splattered Sammy in the right place and everything

Sam no

Don't even THINK about it

*Sam huffs his shoulders*

He did also get the blood all over him unlike how Dean was the one splattered at the beginning of the episode, so I guess all that stuff that wigged me out has a flipside - that Sam still is a great hunter who will get his hands dirty and take the burden onto himself. It was unsettling, yeah, but Sam's still Sam? Maybe? I'm not sure what this is saying tbh because it was SO clear in the opening but I don't know enough has changed right now, and ALSO in the next scene Sam is clean again like he washed off and changed before he even reconnected with Dean which just makes me think he felt guilty standing around splattered in hellhound blood because they remember what THAT led to last time... Sparing Dean's feelings or hiding what he's up to?

"And this is why you don't drive!"

AHAAHAHAHHA someone hugged Crowley

Best moment.

He's been thanked by everyone now, and got to see the gratitude of the random girl of the week... If Lucifer weren't waiting for him back home he'd almost have had a good day, if he could nurture something like that in his twisted black heart :P

"He seems nice"

"Yeah" *Sam and Dean pull faces*

Crowley like "welp that happened" when he walks in to see Lucifer gone

Lucifer wings!

Oh :P Crowley's got him on a leash or something. Nice. Lucifer underestimates how many steps ahead Crowley is even after he TOLD him it was 10, he remembered 2...

Wow he's powerful over Lucifer

Now the part where Lucifer doesn't have any chains but he's still trapped

Hah okay that was masterful

Perez owns Buckleming. He's 10 steps ahead when they think they're 2 :'D

How do you EXPLOIT their bad writing like that for your own diabolical ends? That's just

wow

that exposition and set up for Lucifer and Crowley in 12x13 was some of the shittiest writing the show has ever produced about a major plot event and that's saying something. I felt my soul leave my body. And I was so upset Perez had that big spooky reveal at the end of 12x12 and Buckleming got handed the "here's how to explain it" brief and I don't care if they knew what was coming later, they wrote 12x13 as the shittiest episode ever, with no effort on their part. I was like, wow, this is stupid, and it FIT their style. It was part of their THING to make Crowley look like an idiot and make us question wtf he was doing and they presented it all so terribly, so boringly, so... unimaginatively...

we actually bought that was what had happened

so the actual reveal that Crowley is 100% in charge and always has been

actually

came

fucking

plot twist

I'm sending Davy a fruit basket

Yay Dean talking to Cas on speakerphone

Oh no is Cas at the playground?

Oh dear, he's actually going back to Heaven... That can't end well

Dean: "Does he sound weird to you" YEAH OKAY it definitely IS dodgy. We listen when Dean doesn't think Cas sounds all right, because DEAN KNOWS. HE ALWAYS KNOWS. DEAN IS THE MOST ACCURATE COMPASS FOR TELLING HOW CAS IS AND HE ALWAYS KNOWWWS

How can Davy ruin me with Destiel in an episode where they talk twice briefly on the phone and there is barely anything about them in the structure?

Pfft

Dean also has a better instinct for Cas working with Heaven the BMoL parallel/they a parallel for Heaven, than he does for Sam doing it apparently.

ANYWAY ET GOES HOME. We powered through season 8 just there I guess :P But it's not the end of season drama it's happening in episode 15.

The whole thing that this is the Question for Cas. The BIG question. The ENDGAME question... Of course we have to make him jump through a ton of loops and explore what he really wants, but if this is powering him towards an actual DECISION?

But he was doing well as hunter!Cas without their resources and he loves his human family and they love him, and unlike 8x23, since everything is being inverted, he is more emotionally aware now not to run off and leave in the same way he was planning to in 8x23

Anyway this did not go how I was expecting! I was expecting Sam to not tell Dean right away but instead we end another episode with Dean getting the SAME news in the same spot (hi table) and... taking it in about the same way over 1 conversation he did in 2 episodes. He already had to deal with Mary, and at this point it just seems like his family are going after the BMoL like lemmings.

Boy is he betrayed though.

Sam's compartmentalising things again. Because of HIM the alpha is dead. They were as helpless as the "girl of the week" if Sam hadn't been there. Sam saved all their butts from the alpha vamp while making it sound like THEY did it.

I suppose Mick made him the bullet

to his recipe

that he then magnificently got from Mick

and you know

actually shot the alpha vamp with

Also ARGH "How much you hate them" "No, WE hate them, us, together" - just, Sam. Sweetie. They tortured you. Even YOU felt upset to hear Mary was working with them and needed 3 days to box it all up enough to talk to her.

Sam seems to be acting like Dean's just being over-protective now to hate them irrationally because they hurt Sam, while Dean can't even believe he has to make this into an issue which should be one of those unbreakable brother things they they do as a team. He's not even the literally injured party here, not in the same way.

Dean looks gorgeous while he's thinking it over. Flippin' heck. Stop.

Anyway he gives Sam the same basic talk he gave Mary, essentially, about not liking it. Admits Sam is right about working with people they don't like, and that clearly he's wrong. He TRUSTS Sam and wants to trust Mary. And she has given Ketch the burn it all down speech, where Dean now says they get out as soon as it stinks.

I don't like that Dean thinks working with Crowley is comparable. Crowley is someone Dean has learned to trust in his own very specific way after being burned MANY times by him but also having a sort of attachment they've grown through all the years of being nemeses. They're used to each other and can generally rely on each other for exactly the things they rely on. Saying, well we just worked with Crowley, let's give these guys a shot because we don't like either of them, does not BEGIN to cover the range of issues with the BMoL... Even the ones they KNOW about

"The second something seems off, we bail" Okay I haven't seen a promo for 12x16 but I know the synopsis so I don't think it'll last long :P

Dean's FACE in that last moment though

Ow.

#12x15 #season 12 spoilers #my stuff

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womanversusthigh-blog · 7 years ago

Text

What’s in a year?

About a year ago was the last time I wrote in this blog. I lost steam, and felt like it wasn't really worth it to put my thoughts on paper (er, online) so, I stopped. I never even put a race report up for IM Canada, one that I sent to my team, that's been sitting in my OneNote for a year, that I just was too lazy to put up here. I now kind of feel like while a year later, it's dated, it was still fun to re-read, and I'll put it up after this.

A lot has happened since my last blog post about having an Ironman hangover (which is a really, really real thing.) I closed out my season with two more podiums, one 3rd place AG at Luray International, and one 2nd place OA Female (WHAT!?) at Bethany Beach in September. I ended the season with Marine Corps as I always do, closing in on a decent time of a bit over 4 hours, I believe my 3rd fastest to date.

I kept my business rolling, made it through a semi-uneventful winter and trained my ass off for in both cycling and swimming for what I thought would be a key race for me - the Chesapeake Bay Swim. Until in late February…I found out I was pregnant. Fast forward through a bunch of medical pregnancy stuff, grumpiness, and other unpleasantries: because I was in semi ridiculously good shape for it being "off season" while amping up hard for the Bay Swim and a few key races, I was lucky to have an easy first several months. I raced four times: Rock 'n' Roll half in March at 8 weeks, The North Face Trail Half in April at 14 weeks, and the Kinetic International Bike Relay Portion at 16 weeks, followed the next day by the Kinetic Sprint. Last but certainly not least, I still did my favorite charity ride, Bike MS - 70 miles on the Eastern Short of Maryland at 22 weeks. None of them were PR's except TNF (my only trail half on the books! Ha!) but man, I was thankful to still be out there.

District Multisport athletes and a few awesome cheering squadders after the end of The North Face 1/2 and 10k!

Lauren and I before the Kinetic Sprint!

Again, not to bore anyone but just to set the stage ;) I had very few complications aside from a couple rough weeks, mostly dealing with pain due to the fact that I'm shaped like a 12 year old boy and there just wasn't room for baby boy to "pop". (Yes, it's a boy. No, I'm not telling you name ideas.) I probably wasn't obviously showing to people who didn't know me until about 20 weeks, but started to really feel it around 16.

I've been reading The Pregnant Athlete and following it month by month, along with a few other titles that have helped me wrap my type A control freak self around the many things which I cannot control. Have I embraced this? Not completely, because I know it's temporary, and my brain works in a way that is constantly trying to overcome rather than accept. It's a fault of mine, but one that keeps me motivated to be better. Do I enjoy being pregnant? Not even a little bit. Am I happy to be having a wee one? 100%. Couldn't be more excited to meet the little dude. Am I enormously thankful to God and every higher power being everyone believes in for making this not absolute hell and letting me keep training and working and living like a (mostly) normal person? YES. Yes I am, and I remind myself of that every single day.

I decided to archive the remainder of this pregnancy with my workouts, mostly for me, and for other pregnant athletes, as something to look back on. So, here's where I am at 7 months (27 weeks):

I started teaching spin at Off Road several months ago and that, I love. It's allowed me to do something I enjoy - but share my love of cycling with others. It's been a needed physical/mental challenge and something different to look forward to since conventional training has been harder. Learning to balance music with profiles with personality has been a good learning experience that I'll continue with after wee boy comes!

I took over the IG account for Off Road one day and was asked to post a little something about cycling while pregnant. This was the first “bump pic” I semi reluctantly posted to the social media world, but it was worth it to start the discussion.

I'm still joining my crew at Pacers for Saturday morning runs. I'm still able to gut out a solid 10 miles, at about a 10-11 min pace depending on who I'm running with. As a frame of reference, I was in the mid 8's before pregnancy. Adjusting your expectations and knowing you're still out there doing what your body is meant for, is key. The first 2-3 miles of every run is brutal, my legs are swollen and feel like lead, but after I hit a rhythm I'm able to settle in. I also became a Rabbit #RADrabbit Ambassador, which has been a super fun community to be a part of! (I also get SWEET gear from a woman owned company that I love.)

I'm hitting yoga at least once a week. After I took a prenatal intensive from my wonderful friend Abra (which was amazing, she's fabulous!) I learned enough modifications to keep practicing safely while I grow. I was relatively unchanged in how I modified things until about 22 weeks.

I'm bike commuting about 20 miles a week and still riding outside: in addition to teaching spin and also going to class 1-2 times a week, I'm nailing down about 60-70ish miles of cycling a week, and THIS MAKES ME SO HAPPY. Riding is the thing I feel least pregnant doing. Aside from body position changing, and an initial drop in power, I still feel strong and powerful on the bike.

Swimming was awkward at first because of the baby position. It's back to comfortable now, so after a month off of feeling extremely defeated in the water (I had made SO many gains training for the bay swim, and I know this is how it's supposed to go down, but when youre a slow as hell swimmer and you make so much progress, this was the toughest pill to swallow) I went back this week - twice. My pace per 100 has dropped about 15 seconds, but, swimming in a cold pool when you're large and pregnant with constantly swelling extremities feels pretty good.

I'm paddleboarding a bit, too - this is a good time to work in things that are fun and active but not very taxing. It also gets me some solid catch up time with friends :)

Overall: I feel relatively good, probably a little grouchier than normal me, and I have even less of a filter than I had in the first place. I've gained 20 lbs since Ironman Canada, which I think is about 13 lbs from my normal weight. I'm constantly slightly nauseated now that there's less room in there, but not enough to make me stop eating ;) Smaller snacks and frequent reminders that I need fruits and vegetables, not cupcakes, are needed :) I'm more tired than I think I've ever been in my life, and it's impossible to combat with a lack of caffeine. Oh, and I'm not being a freakshow on restrictions - if the cheese is soft but pasteurized, I'm eating it. I've had a bit of wine at dinners with friends. I drink my daily allotment of caffeine. I drink a ton of soda water, which I think I've sampled every single flavor of at this point. I wake up at the damn crack of dawn and often struggle to get enough sleep, but a 15 min nap in the afternoon usually does the trick. I'm mentally focused on prepping my life differently, finishing our home renovation (oh yeah, that's happening too!) and balancing owning an event focused fundraising business while giving birth at the height of event season. Because why make things easy? I'm also lucky to be working on contracts with clients who are understanding and willing to work around this. I've stayed focused on my tri team, District Multisport, as well, as I'm on the board and we're working through what's coming up next season.

I'm thankful for my teammates, and my close friends, and my family, who haven't treated me like “the pregnant lady.” When I was racing early on (and still considered it for this weekend….but decided a kick to the belly in the swim was too risky) not a single one of my teammates asked if I should be doing that - rather, they were supportive and thought it was awesome I was still out there, while on the other hand, I faced a lot of questions, and still do, from others! And running with an obvious belly - that'll defffinitely get you some commentary. My Off Road and Pacers crews have been the same way - just awesome and supportive as they always are - and many of them who have gone through it themselves have offered some great advice and humor along the way. Mike, my sister, and my parents also haven't side eyed me for running and cycling to my heart's content (but my body's brake light, too - that's KEY.) as I think they've just gotten used to me being crazy, and this is just a different breed of it.

In summary, everything else won't be this long ;) but, I felt like I had to start letting this all out somewhere aside from my brain and my pets. I hope I can look back on this in another year, when I've crushed some epic goal race with a 9 month old on my hip at the finish line, knowing that staying fit, happy, and healthy, made the journey my own!

#pregnancy #running #cycling #swimming #yoga #offroaddc #foreveryrun #triathlete

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