#but given that i have. both oh. brock. with a period and oh. brock no period for no reason looking was fun

[secondpersonpoetry]

hi! random question, but i was wondering if you know the name of the poem that maybe (?) starts something like “it will be summer” and i think it continues on about a lake and being with friends and saying hello to strangers? thank you!

YES. YES I DO. (i think)

Catherine Pierce's "Probably It Will Be Summer Again":

[artificialqueens]

Found Me Right Next to You (Branjie, oneshot) - Holtzmanns

AN: Back at it again with the oneshots! This one’s been sitting in my google docs unfinished for weeks, but blackhighheels challenged me to finish it if they published their most recent quarantine fic. So, here it is. Hope you enjoy it! Thank you for the continued love that you all continue to send my fics, it makes me so happy. And a huge thank you to Writ for betaing this and also being the best hypeman to ever exist. Title from ‘Ritual’ by Wrabel.

Maybe it’s the quarantine. Maybe it’s the fact that he’s only had his cats for company.

Not that Brock really minds it much. Henry and Apollo have been sticking to his side the entire time and it’s nice, having the chance to cuddle them for more than just an evening between connecting flights out of Nashville.

Brock isn’t a homebody, not really - he’s so used to utilizing all the resources he can to ensure that he’s maximizing his engagement with the public, taking every opportunity that is worthy while flying around the globe and making sure that everyone knows who Brooke Lynn Hytes is. He’s crafted a career that’s catered to him and will take him higher and higher - at least, that’s the plan.

Except now he’s at home because it makes the most sense and it’s the safest thing to do and there’s no way he can take a flight right now, anyway. Being in this apartment makes Brock feel like the present time could easily be the months after Continental instead, back when he’d moved to Nashville and had started working at Play. Waking up and going to sleep and doing it all over again while still being at his home base makes Brock realize how much has changed since then. Because even though this isn’t his regular routine, it’s nice to have the reminder that he’s actually done something with himself.

But such an extended period of time without the noise of his gigs, without the jam-packed schedule that keeps his brain in go mode has given him time to stop. Time to think. Along with more time to actually breathe for a second, and not having to worry about having to focus on where he has to go, what obligations there are for him to fulfil next.

It’s strange, not having to live thirty minutes ahead of schedule the way he normally does. Time almost feels unreal, unimportant - a sensation that Brock hasn’t experienced before.  

It means more time on his phone, more time going through his camera roll and passing selfies that Courtney has taken on his phone, pictures of Steve sleepily eating a breakfast burrito at the airport. Endless pictures of Henry and Apollo because he’ll never have enough. It also means more time scrolling through Instagram, catching up on his feed because he doesn’t really have anything of his own to post, unless it’s his cats.

Seth texts him and asks if he’s in Toronto and Brock doesn’t really feel a pang of regret in his stomach when he says no.

He passes ads from fellow queens about online streamed shows and some other videos of them going stir crazy at home, and bites his lip when he sees posts from the local queens who are struggling. He knows the feeling. He’s glad it’s not him, but he remembers it. Wants to make it better for them.

Brock scrolls past posts from Jose but they don’t stop his heart as much as he expects them to because everything is familiar - how can it not be, when they’ve started texting again?

Sure, it’s all cat related. Jose asks him questions related to Thackery and it makes sense, because Brooke has been a cat dad forever and of course Jose wants advice. Brock had helped to pick Thackery’s name, after all. And he loves all the pictures that Jose sends him of Thackery, the daily stories of all the funny things that he does because they’re all adorable, and because Brock tells Jose stories of Henry and Apollo, too. And now Jose gets it, understands him on a different level.

Jose interrupts Brock’s scrolling with a picture of Thackery perched on along his shoulder blades while he’s lying on his stomach, and he’s all soft with his hair growing out in curls and his eyes all kind, the way they always are when he’s not tired. Jose winks at the camera and the curl in Brock’s stomach doesn’t mean anything.

JC: he gets annoyed if I try and move him

JC: this wack ass cat

BH: you secretly love it, don’t lie

JC: maybe so

JC: he weighs nothing  

JC: my heels weigh more than him

BH: he’d be tiny next to Henry and Apollo

JC: bishhhh we gotta make them meet!!!!!  

JC: when we allowed out again  

JC: I’m going stir crazy lol

BH: maybe when I get to see the Vegas show I’ll bring them with me

JC: stop getting my hopes up like that dumbass  

BH: promise I’ll come watch and bring the cats

JC: you wouldn’t bring them travelling

BH: so you’ll have to bring Thackery here, then  

Jose’s typing for long enough that Brock puts his phone down, starts petting Henry and gives him a little kiss on the top of his head, but then Brock’s FaceTime starts to ring. Jose’s face pops up on screen and he’s looking at Brock with the eyebrow raise that’s reserved specifically for him.

“Nerve, is what your ass has.” Jose tuts, and the sound makes Thackery scamper closer to him, his grey fur blocking Jose’s camera.

“God, he’s so cute. I wanna meet him so bad.” Brock has a cat weakness, everyone knows that. But he can’t help it, not when Thackery’s squished little face is so adorable.

“Gotta pay for a meet and greet. He ain’t free.” Jose scoops Thackery up into his arms, snuggles him close and Brock wishes he had the ability to travel through the screen.

“Yeah? What are you charging?” Henry climbs off of his lap and Brock feels the sudden chill, shuffles lower on his couch so he can grab the spare blanket.

Jose purses his lips. “I dunno if you can pay.” But his eyes are twinkling, a smile on his lips.

“Guess I’ll be missing out, then.” Brock’s own face pulls into the smile that is inevitable with Jose, his stomach lighter than it has been in awhile.

Brock doesn’t get it, but he supposes there’s no point in fighting it. He can just enjoy it, and talk to Jose because it’s nice, because it makes him feel happy and clearly Jose doesn’t mind, either.

It doesn’t have to mean anything.

Brock just likes it.

Jose picks his phone up with one hand, Thackery in the other and plops down on his bed, the room still so familiar to Brock despite the new painting on the wall, the sheets on the bed that he doesn’t remember. “How you keeping yourself occupied while we all in prison at home?”

Brock shrugs. “Mostly wading through my emails, they’re a mess. Trying to work out here and there, though that feels fruitless.”

“Gonna get all swole, Toes?”

Brock snorts. “As if. I’m not Kameron, I don’t have that level of dedication. I’m good with staying toned.”

“You used to look great to me.” Now Jose’s the one bringing them back there, that weird line that they both like to cross over, as if they don’t have boundaries between them.

“Used to, huh?”

Jose rolls his eyes. “You know what I mean. My ass is tryna compliment you and you’re mouthing off already.”

“Don’t act like you don’t like it.”

Brock knows that Jose does, because that’s why it’s so fun with him. That’s why they’ve started to FaceTime so much, because he’s missed the way he gets to wind Jose up a little.

And maybe he has a little smile on his face every time that he hangs up after a call from Jose, because even if they’re not physically in the same place, he always feels a little lighter, a little happier after time with him.

Brock’s kitchen looks like it’s been hit by some drag tornado, from the old shake and go wigs hanging off of the handles of his cupboards to his baby queen outfits that definitely don’t fit him anymore.

Quarantine brings out quite a few sides of Brock, including, apparently, a deep cleaner. Though now everything is beginning to look more chaotic than not, and Brock wonders how on earth he had gotten everything to fit inside the storage boxes in the first place.

His phone rings with Jose’s contact popping up on FaceTime, and he swipes to accept it without a second thought. Jose’s curls are hidden under a beanie and Brock wishes that he could reach through the camera, pull the hat off and ruffle his hair.

“Thackery missed you.” Jose holds his kitten up, who looks as if he’s already grown since their last call a few days ago.

Brock grins. “Thackery did, huh?”

“Mhm. Made me call you and everything.” Jose clicks his tongue, shrugs even as his eyes gleam.

Maybe, just maybe, Brock knows that it’s not just Thackery, not Thackery at all. Maybe it’s the little smile that Jose’s trying to keep back, the way Jose’s fingers are tapping on the table in front of him.

But then Jose’s brows knit, and he’s leaning closer in towards the screen and Brock can’t help but feel self conscious and want to pull back a little, because what’s Jose looking at?

“Why the hell are there shoes hanging from the handle of your fridge?”

Oh, yeah.

Brock has to stifle a laugh. “In the process of cleaning out all my old drag. Figured it would be best to get out everything and sort through it.”

“Chile…” Jose lets out a slow whistle. “You gone and messed up. That’s gonna take you years to clean up.”

“Good thing I have you for company while I do so then, huh?”

“Does this make me a judge on Project Runway or some shit? Do I get to judge your outfits?”

Brock holds up a rather unfortunate leopard print jumpsuit from his baby queen days, which wouldn’t be as appalling if it wasn’t green and purple. “Judge away.”

Jose physically recoils, pulling back from the screen. “You’re telling me you’ve worn that in public?”

“Shut up.” Brock snorts, placing it in his ‘toss’ pile. “It worked at the time.”

“I’m sure it did, what, in 2003?” Jose giggles the way he always does when he can’t hold himself back, when he’s excited by his roasts, and Brock makes a face.

“I’m not that much of a drag grandma!” But it’s no use, because Jose’s cracking up even harder, and so Brock sticks his tongue out at him like the twelve year old he is. “I got better outfits, I swear.”

“Pull ‘em out. Maybe model them too.”

“With no mug or any padding?” Brock raises an eyebrow.

Jose hides his laugh behind his hand. “Fashion.”

Brock can’t help but join in at that. “You’re so stupid.”

“And yet you love it.” It’s so natural, the way Jose says it, that Brock nods along, almost doesn’t realize the implications.

If there even are any implications.

With Jose, he just doesn’t know anymore.

“You find a place yet or what?” Jose’s question makes Brock wince, because it’s another reminder of the fact that he’s moving across the country without everything exactly in place like he needs it to be.

“Sort of.” Brock manages as he closes off yet another box with packing tape. “It’s not available ‘til April fifteenth, though.”

He’s going to have two weeks of managing his entire life in boxes, stacked in the corner of Bianca’s old apartment that she’s letting him stay in. He wants to get to his own apartment already, unpack everything and spread out the way that he deserves to, the way that Nashville doesn’t necessarily let him do so.

It had been a no brainer when Brock’s contract came up with his landlord, because signing his life away in Nashville for another year until next March is the last thing he wants to do. He’s been in Nashville for work, because it’s given a kickstart to his career but he’s already outgrown it. He wants more, he wants to be away from the south and closer to his friends and sunshine and beaches and-

“I know you. You’re freaking out about that, aren’t you? About the dates not lining up?”

Jose knows him too well.

“I’m not freaking out. Not really.” Okay, maybe Brock is, but he doesn’t need to show that. It’s just annoying when he can’t have everything under his control, with every last detail figured out to make sure that things happen as planned.

“Think of it this way. You’re not gonna be stuck in yeehaw-land anymore. That in itself? A cause for celebration.” Jose tips an imaginary cowboy hat and Brock’s not sure why it’s as funny as it is.

“Yeehaw-land? Nashville’s plenty progressive, y’know. All the gays live here.”

“All the yeehaw gays. Speaking of yeehaw gays, even Kameron’s left and come to LA. It’s about time your ass followed.”

“Why, you miss me?” Brock looks up at the camera, sees Jose’s indignant face but also the red on his cheeks.

“No. Only a little.” Jose’s lower lip is pushed out in the slightest pout but just enough for Brock to catch.

“Then I miss you only a little, too.” Brock waits for Jose’s telltale offended gasp, and it arrives right on cue as he stacks the boxes near his front door.

“Only a little? Bitch-”

“You said you miss me only a little, too!” Brock walks back to his phone and the crossed arms, the pout on Jose’s face makes him crack up. He’s so easy.

“You know what I meant.” Jose huffs, and Brock loves it, he really does. “So. Where you gonna stay ‘til the fifteenth, then?”

Brock doesn’t miss a beat. “What, are you inviting me to yours?”

“No-I wasn’t-I’m gonna whoop your ass.” Jose grumbles. “Just for that, you can’t stay here anyway.”

“No worries. Bianca’s got an empty pad. I’m crashing there.” If Brock hears a hmph from Jose, he ignores it. “Rooming with you would be fun, though.”

“Fun? You’re the messiest person to exist. My living room’s gonna be run over with your stuff the second you step in here.”

Brock can’t even deny it, because Jose is right. “I always cleaned up after myself though, didn’t I?”

“Only whenever you left.”

So maybe that stings more than Brock wants it to.

It’s easy to pretend like the last year has never happened, that they’re just friends and casual friends at that, that they get along easily and there’s no weird history behind the two of them at all. Except that there is, and no ignoring the elephant in the room is ever going to change it, not when neither of them can resist poking the elephant from time to time, just to see what will happen.

Brock wonders if things will change in LA. Because they’ll be within a drive of each other, not a plane ride away, because the excuse of distance won’t really apply anymore.

Well, once the pandemic is over.

The pandemic isn’t over, but Brock’s finally moved into his own place and begun to unpack his boxes and is already getting a bit of a tan from the California sun, and he feels better than he has in ages.

Henry and Apollo aren’t as traumatized by the move as Brock expected them to be, something he’s grateful for. They’re curling up on his sofa under a ray of sunlight as if they’re meant to be there and Brock supposes that maybe they are, that they all are.

He opens up FaceTime to call Jose as he finishes throwing the last of the empty boxes in his closet, because why wait to give Jose a tour of his new place when he has nothing else to do?

Jose picks up on the first ring as he always does, like Brock is used to him doing so. He’s holding up Thackery to the camera because he knows Brock’s weaknesses, and Brock can’t help the little aww that leaves his lips, not when Thackery’s sniffing the screen with interest.

“Officially moved in.” Brock grins as he says it, because he has his place, he’s home. His new home.

“That two weeks at Bianca’s wasn’t so bad, was it?” Jose lifts Thackery to sit up on his shoulder, and it amazes Brock how the cat doesn’t immediately fall off.

Brock falls onto his own couch with a sigh, squinting into the camera when the sunlight shines on his face. “Nah. But it’s nice to be done.”

“Now that you’re mostly unpacked and shit, it’s time.” Jose’s voice is suddenly all business and Brock raises an eyebrow.

“Time for what?”

“To steam clean my carpet. No, to meet Thackery, dumbass.” Jose reaches behind himself, scratches Thackery’s head, and Brock can’t resist the soft expression his face falls into.

But he can’t. “Did you forget the fact that we’re all supposed to be at home right now?”

Jose doesn’t miss a beat. “And? You just moved across the country, Miss Thing. That’s not staying home.”

“I mean, I’m technically home now.” Brock knows his argument is weak, and Jose does too, from the look that he throws at him on camera.

“You sound like you’re trying to convince yourself.”

“What if I accidentally give you the coronavirus or something? Maybe I’m carrying it from all the travelling. I don’t wanna be the reason you end up in the hospital.” Sure, it’s far fetched, but who knows, really? What if meeting up really is dangerous?

Except Jose pays no attention, letting out a snort. “Listen to yourself. Besides, if I get Miss Rona, I’m also gonna get you to nurse me back to health. So it’s a win-win.”

“You think I’m gonna play nurse for you?”

“I know you’re gonna play nurse for me.” Jose grabs Thackery, holds him up to the camera. “Look. Thackery’s even crying a little ‘cause you won’t visit him. You wanna make my cat all sad?”

Brock lets out a laugh. “Now you’re being ridiculous.”

“You’re making this newborn baby cry, that’s what’s ridiculous. Now come see him. When’s the last time you had some human contact in person, anyway?”

“I had movers help me yesterday.” Brock offers, but he knows it’s a weak defense.

It makes Brock weigh his options after he hangs up, ping pong them back and forth in his brain. He’s the kind of person who blooms in solitude, who finds the lack of interaction restful because his brain needs the time off. So quarantine has been helpful, really, in giving him that downtime, the opportunity to stop thinking every minute of the day and following his schedule down to the second. His biggest obligation has been feeding his cats and occasionally himself, too, a far cry from what he’d been doing a few months ago.

But as nice as it is, it has been a long time. Especially when the last ones to cuddle him were his own cats.

He’s only one person, so what harm could going to Jose’s do, anyway? Except that they’re not supposed to, they’re supposed to stay home, and what if Brock messes things up for everyone else by visiting Jose?

But he’s also now moved across the country, which definitely hasn’t helped by any means. So what will a measly visit to Jose’s house really do, anyway?

Besides, Brock misses him.

Brock’s phone buzzes, and it’s a picture of Jose with Thackery on his lap, mid meow. Brock wonders if he really has a choice in the matter.

He’ll stay in Jose’s front doorway, maybe, not come inside. He’ll keep a six feet distance. He’ll be socially conscious as he should be.

Jose’s bed is as comfy as Brock remembers it to be.

He’d been planning on staying in Jose’s entrance and keeping his jacket on and leaving after five minutes, really, he had. But then Jose had thrown himself onto Brock in a hug and buried his face against his chest and Brock couldn’t help but squeeze him tighter because he’d missed him.

And what’s the point of staying six feet apart now, anyway?

Brock’s back on his side of the bed and Jose isn’t beside him because he’s gone to make some popcorn in the microwave, so he’s scrolling through his Instagram. There’s a picture hanging on Jose’s wall that hadn’t been there before, and he’s changed the organization of his makeup on his vanity mirror. But everything else is the same - the drag tucked in Jose’s closet, the curtains along the window that always let the light in when the sun rises, the pictures on Jose’s dresser that he has of Alexis and his mom and his friends back in Tampa and-

Jose’s put a picture of the two of them up, too. The one where Jose’s resting his head on his lap and they’re in the backseat of an Uber enjoying Chicago together, alone for the first time in what back then had felt like months. It’s the same photo that Brock still has in his ‘favourites’ album on his phone, because he’s never gotten around to removing it. Not that he ever will.

The way his heart flips doesn’t mean anything, because it’s just normal with Jose, that’s all. Jose always makes Brock smile and makes him happy and maybe a little tentative but that’s their status quo, it’s what he expects with him.

It’s just nice to see that Brock’s up there for Jose with everyone else, too.

One of the younger local queens from Toronto is on Instagram Live, and Jose’s still in the kitchen, so Brock clicks on her profile because he wants to get to know the newer ones a little bit better. Miss Fiercalicious is exactly how Brock remembers her from whenever he’d gone back to visit last, and it’s fun, shooting the shit about straight celebrities that they’d like to put in drag, especially when Jose pops his head in the doorway.

“What about Troye Sivan? I’d wanna make him over.”

Brock’s not sure if Jose’s voice is loud enough to carry over the microphone, or if they should even show that they’re hanging out, but he can’t resist a snort. “Troye Sivan is not straight.”  

Jose’s walking over with Thackery after dropping the bowl of popcorn on his dresser and maybe things don’t matter anymore, maybe Brock doesn’t really care about the implications of what could happen because he turns the camera towards Jose, gives the phone to him.

Except it’s hard to talk when Brock’s brain is mush, when Jose’s grinning like that and dropping Thackery on his lap, when the queens on their screen are confused but excited as hell. What words matter, anyway, when Jose’s plopping himself down on the bed beside him as if no time has passed at all, curling into his side and fitting perfectly?

He ends the livestream and Jose is looking up at him with an eyebrow raised, a silent question that Brock doesn’t know how to answer. So he just shrugs, tugs his arm around Jose in a little bit tighter.

They don’t have to figure everything out now, not when they have seemingly endless time ahead of them. But somehow, this feeling of coming home is exactly what Brock has needed, and one that he doesn’t want to let go.

Tags: branjie, brooke lynn hytes, vanessa vanjie mateo, canon compliant, holtzmanns,

[youvebeenlivingfictional]

Will You Give Me Shelter Part Six

Previous Part | Next Part | Masterlist

Pairing: Eddie Brock x Reader x Annie Weying

Rated: T (for now; will go up later, probably?)

Notes: Not Beta-Read.  1 light swear

Summary: After that dinner, my relationship with Eddie was better than it had ever been. In the weeks following, Annie and I had started texting daily (which started with an adorably devious ‘I got your number from Eddie’s phone >:)’ ). 

“You two are killing me.” Annie sounded equally amused and bored. I glanced away from my screen, smiling to see her leaning back in Eddie’s usual chair, her arm thrown over the back, head propped on her hand.

“She’s killing you, babe, not me,” Eddie said from where he’d taken to pacing in front of my desk.

“No. No, it’s definitely both of you,” Annie said.  

After that dinner, my relationship with Eddie was better than it had ever been. In the weeks following, Annie and I had started texting daily (which started with an adorably devious ‘I got your number from Eddie’s phone >:)’ ). Neither Eddie nor I brought the incident in the front-hall up, either. Maybe he’d had more to drink than I’d thought and didn’t remember. What was more likely, though, was that we had mutually silently agreed to never bring it up.

I often found myself thinking about it, but I tried not to dwell on it for too long. I liked working with and being around Eddie too much to jeopardize our relationship, and I had never gotten so close to anyone in such a short period of time as I had to Annie.

The truth was, beyond the near-kiss with Eddie, I sometimes thought that Annie was flirting with me.

That made me feel stupid. There was no rhyme or reason as to why she’d be flirting. She had Eddie. And while she had casually dropped into one of our recent conversations that she had dated women in the past, I was sure it didn’t mean anything. I took it as a sign that I had been out of the dating game for too long, and was perceiving the most innocent of comments as something they weren’t.

They had missed their dinner reservation that night-- Annie had been called back to the firm only a few minutes after she’d left, and Eddie had stayed behind to work a little longer. By the time Annie made it to the office, Eddie and I had ordered takeout for the three of us.

It had been almost two hours since then. Annie’s coat had come off, and I’d found out that it was basically twice as attractive to watch women roll their sleeves up as it was to watch a man do it.

“It’s her, I promise,” Eddie said, rounding the desk to crouch behind Annie’s chair and rest his chin on her shoulder.

“Obviously Alvarez hadn’t been expecting the defendant come right out and say that. That clearly wasn’t part of their game plan.” I shook my head, turning back and crossing my arms.

“A good lawyer doesn’t ask a question that they don’t already know the answer to. So either he’s a shitty lawyer or he’s playing up his reaction for effect,” I argued.

“She’s right,” Annie piped up. I smiled at her, mouthing my thanks. My smile widened when she winked at me.

“Oh, no. I can’t have you two ganging up on me,” Eddie whined.

“Now who’s playing up his reaction for effect,” Annie said, lightly flicking the top of Eddie’s head.

——————

“You should come over for brunch this weekend,” Annie said, looping her arm through mine as we headed out of the building. I frowned a little.

“I can’t this weekend.” Annie pouted, and I spotted Eddie’s hand giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze.

“Next weekend?” He asked. I nodded, smiling.

“Sounds good.” We said our goodbyes and I turned down the block as the two of them got on Eddie’s motorcycle.

——————

“Another date? What has gotten into you?” Maddy asked, impressed, watching me rifle through my closet. I glanced back at her. I hadn’t told her that last time hadn’t been anything of the sort but felt like at this point, it was too late.

This time, however, it really was a date.

After dinner at Eddie and Annie’s, between Annie’s albeit light interrogation and the stupid thing I’d almost done, I’d made the decision to sign up for a few dating apps.

I hadn’t spoken with most of the people I’d matched with, but most of the ones I had spoken to had either only wanted to hook-up or had barely gotten beyond the small-talk phase.

“So how long have you been talking to this guy anyway?” Maddie asked.

“A couple of weeks. We got coffee last week— I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you getting all excited,” I added quickly. Maddy narrowed her eyes at me.

“Tell me he’s cute, at least. Was he one of my picks?”

I pulled my phone out of my back pocket, pulling up Mark’s profile and passing the phone to her. Her irritated gaze disappeared fairly quickly at his profile.

“He’s hot.” I rolled my eyes at her tone.

“What, you don’t think I can pull that kind of action down?” I asked, glancing back at her.

“Oh, you obviously can, this is the proof, wow.” I snorted, pulling a summer dress out of the closet and holding it up to myself, biting my lip. “So did that last date not go anywhere?” Maddy asked. I could feel her watching my face in the mirror, and I was careful not to let my face fall. “Nope. Didn’t go anywhere.”

——————

“Good, you’re up.”

I blinked tiredly, rubbing my eyes.

“Eddie? It’s like two in the morning,” I mumbled, glancing at the clock on the bedside table.

“I need you to come in. Like, now.”

“To work?”

“Yeah. I’m already here. And I have coffee and bagels.”

“Where the hell did you get a bagel at 2 AM?”

“We can talk about that later.” He paused.

“I know, I’m asking a huge favor, but just— come on, this is big.”

I groaned, running my hand through my hair.

“Okay. Okay okay, I’m on my way.” I hung up before he could thank me.

“You okay?” I glanced behind me, smiling a little to see Mark rolling onto his side.

“Got called into work,” I said.

“Well, hey, if you don’t want sleepover, just say so.” I smiled, leaning down and pecking his lips before I got up to hunt for my clothes.

——————

I probably looked like hell, and like I wanted to kill him, but Eddie smiled when he saw me nonetheless.

“One of the overnighters couldn’t handle this?” I asked, sliding into my seat and waiting for my equipment to boot up.

“Not the way I’d want and you know it,” Eddie said, already in his usual spot. I rested my chin on my hand, closing my eyes briefly as opening them again when I felt the coldness of my monitor light flicker on. I sighed, pushing my hair back from my face. I wordlessly held my hand out for Eddie’s drive but got nothing.

I turned my head, brows raising when I saw him staring at me.

“What?” I asked. He cleared his throat.

“You’re uh— I’ve never seen you in glasses before,” he commented.

“Contacts are tricky at 2 AM,” I said.

“And you have a hickey,” he added. I felt myself flush, fighting the urge to reach up and cover it with my hand. What good would that do? He’d already seen it.

“You gonna give me the footage or what?”

“Oh, yeah,” Eddie patted his pockets down before finally locating it and handing it over.

I worked almost on autopilot, letting Eddie tell me what and where to cut. By the time I was really waking up, I realized what it was: a ride along for the capture of Evan Smithson, a man that had escaped prison nearly a month ago.

It was like he’d been waiting for me to realize, and when I turned to him wide-eyed, he was grinning.

“I know,” he said. He slid his arm around my chair, turning us back toward the screen.

“Come on, we need this ready by six and we’re almost done.”

——————

The news of Smithson’s capture was splashed across every major paper and news outlet by ten that morning, but we had gotten it out first. I didn’t even bother asking Eddie who he’d gotten in good with to be allowed to tail them.

Lewis had been so pleased with our work that he’d given the both of us the rest of the day, and Eddie and I had packed up faster than ever before.

I was more than a little clumsy in my sleepiness, but Eddie was as sure-footed as ever. I’d nearly spilled an entire cup of cold coffee on my editing bay, but Eddie had caught it, righting it before any more than a few drops could hit the desk.

“Turn off the fucking sun,” I grumbled as we stepped outside. Eddie snorted, arm sliding around my shoulder and drawing me a little closer as we walked. In another circumstance, I might’ve pulled away or brushed him off, but I was too tired to care.

“We gotta get you home before you totally pass out,” he said. I hummed, agreeing. He let go of me to hail a cab, and I leaned against his back as he flagged one down.

——————

“Up, come on.” I grunted as Eddie lightly shook me. I got out of the car, not bothering to fight him on paying the cab driver. I was surprised to find us outside his and Annie’s place.

“... this is not my house,” I said, watching him find his keys. He looked back at me.

“You know I think you’ve got the makings of an investigative reporter,” he grinned, “I couldn’t remember where you live. If you want I can call you a cab,” he added. I shrugged, stepping inside.

“Sure. I’m just gonna,” I let myself into the living room, sitting in the corner of their couch.

“‘M just gonna rest my eyes,” I mumbled, letting them close for a moment.

——————

“Oh, honey. Eddie really put you through the wringer, didn’t he,” I heard. I hummed, leaning up into the fingers brushing my hair away from my face.

“You with me?” The voice asked. I took a moment to process before I shook my head. I heard a chuckle.

“Alright. You go back to sleep.”

——————

“She up yet?” Eddie asked, setting his coffee mug down as Annie came in. She shook her head, sitting down across from him.

“Out like a light. She must not have been sleeping when you called her.”

“No, don’t think she was,” Eddie agreed. Annie’s lips twisted, remembering the bright hickey she’d spotted.

“Thought she wasn’t seeing anyone,” She said, glancing back into the living room.

“Maybe she wasn’t.”

“Maybe she still isn’t,” Annie offered, “I’ll ask.” Eddie shook his head.

“No reason for you to ask.”

“We’re friends. Friends talk about these things,” Annie said firmly.

“Well, just don’t talk about them when I’m in the room,” Eddie requested. Annie watched as he got up to put his mug in the sink.

“It could work, you know,” She murmured, and frowned as his shoulders went rigid.

“Just leave it alone, babe,” Eddie begged. He turned back to her, tipping her head up for a kiss.

“‘M gonna go get some sleep,” He said, giving her shoulder a squeeze before heading to their room. 

[duckapus]

Okay, I’m only ever going to do this rant once and then everything’s gonna go back to being happy weirdo time.

I FUCKING HATE THE KANTO REGION IN POKEMON!

Like, I know they had to start somewhere, I get it, and it was great for its time. But the battle system is broken in some pretty important ways and unbalanced in the ways that it isn’t broken, there’s one only Dragon type that you’re not likely to catch, only one Ghost type that gets its advantage against Psychics taken away by also being Poison with no alternatives(since the entire Bug type is one of the things that’s broken) and the Pokemon sprites look... Like That. And if you do anything out of the ordinary(and you would have eventually due to either rumors or curiosity) the whole game unravels into a garbled mess.

The Pokemon designs are very simplistic(which is fair enough, all things considered) and while I don’t dislike any Pokemon, no Kanto Pokemon breaks my top fifty. This wouldn’t grate on me so much if the complaints that always show up about the new Pokemon didn’t boil down to:

“It’s just a bird”

“it’s just a rodent”

“it’s literally a pile of trash”

And on and on and on.

Then there’s the evil team and, honestly, what were Team Rocket even doing? Like, Giovanni’s big reveal feels like it should’ve been some important story event but other than a few spots like Lavender Town they’re literally just another trainer class. They only really become relevant in Gold and Silver, and that’s because they’re falling apart and trying to get their boss to come out of retirement! And yet they’re heralded as the end-all, be-all of evil Pokemon characters.

And the anime. Oh god, the anime. Strap in, because this is where I really get angry.

So, first off, everyone except Butterfree and maybe Brock’s Zubat are assholes who constantly give Ash shit, even if it’s completely unjustified. The worst of this from my perspective was the opening for the episode with Bill’s lighthouse. Ash is excited about having a full team of Pokemon and whatever amount of badges he had at the time(I don’t remember how many because I don’t rewatch it that often since it makes me angry) and is chattering about it because he’s a happy kid.

However, Misty and the Narrator seem to think that he’s on an ego trip and needs to be brought down a peg, so they point out that he got the badges and team because the gym leaders and Pokemon felt sorry for him. This is a bald faced lie, by the way.

On the Pokemon side of things, we have Pikachu, his starter(a completely valid way to get a Pokemon by the way) who he had to risk his life for just so it wouldn’t hate him. Butterfree, who he technically caught by battling it(throwing the ball before calling an attack counts in the games, so it should count here) and then trained up through two evolutions in less than a week. Pidgeotto, who he also caught by battling(I think). Bulbasaur, who hated him(and humans in general) until he saw how good he was and even then only joined after a battle. And Charmander and Squirtle, who he didn’t battle but did thoroughly impress(in Charmander’s case by literally saving its life).

Then there’s the Gym Leaders. of the two that I know for a fact he’d have faced by then (who also both happen to be there, what a coincidence) in both cases he was interrupted just when he was about to deliver the finishing blow, and then impressed them with how he dealt with the interruption. However, instead of Brock or even one of the Pokemon pointing this out, it’s just treated as one of many “lol yeah Ash sucks” moments and after he goes and catches a Krabby with his bare hands to get back some self-esteem prove them wrong it’s never discussed.

And then there’s the executive meddling. Do you want to know why Ash releases Butterfree? Why Charmeleon and Primeape just don’t listen, but Ash never switches Char out for someone who will? It is because the writers were legitimately required to keep him as a moronic rookie with a poorly-made but still marketable team. They were thankfully able to(mostly) leave this mindset (and the part where everyone’s an asshole) behind from Orange Islands onward, but yeah. This.

And let me just say, in-universe the Kanto League is in shambles. Of the gyms, Pewter is fine even if Brock’s family isn’t, Cerulean was giving away badges(shirking of duties), Vermilion is fine even if Surge is a dick, Celadon was turning people away just because they couldn’t handle the cacophony of smells in their perfume side business(not only am I pretty sure that isn’t a valid reason to refuse a gym challenge, but the ban was issued by gym trainers, rather than Erika herself, which I’m pretty sure is even less allowed)(and for the record I can barely smell anything and I would’ve been overwhelmed in there), Fuchsia was actually fairly pleasant, Saffron was being run by a mentally unstable and emotionally deprived woman with psychic powers who saw other people as playthings, Cinnabar was pretending it didn’t exist(shirking duties: extreme edition) just to avoid tourists, and Viridian is literally run by a crime lord, and when Ash was there two and a half known criminals with no disguise were covering for him. 

Also, the referee in his match against Ritchy clearly had some sort of vendetta against him, since getting kidnapped in the middle of a match was apparently grounds for possible elimination and he was given no recovery period and sleep is a valid status effect even in red and blue and should not count as a Knock Out. There’s a bunch of other issues I have with Indigo League but this is supposed to be about Kanto in general.

My second biggest problem (after Indigo League) is the over-saturation. everything either has to have Kanto, or reference Kanto, or have Kanto characters and i’m SICK OF IT. I don’t care if Red’s showing up for the twelfth time. I don’t care if we have a chance to get a Charizard. My first response to the Let’s Go games was “why?”

So yeah, I hate Kanto and any genwunners can lodge their complaints with my over-leveled Excadrill. 

[nightcoremoon]

spiderman 3 wasn’t bad because of bully maguire

spiderman 3 was bad because it was a chopped up incoherent mess of conflicting ideas, tones, GENRES.

TW rape mention. yes, really.

sandman and harry would have been good. sandman and venom would have been good. harry and venom would have been good. and all three at once could even have been done satisfactorily. but together it was a horrible disaster. none of them had their time to shine. flint was a magnificent way to tie into the first movie. harry was a magnificent way to end his character arc. topher grace, much as I love him, was horribly miscast for eddie brock. venom, fine, but not eddie. tom hardy played both well. but I think hardy is a much stronger actor than grace. one played charley fucking bronson and the other played eric fucking foreman. y’all gotta know your reaches! but anyway it’s fine I guess. it made for a decent viewing in no way home (which I have my own laundry list of gripes about). but even then, that’s not the biggest problem with the movie. and no, the emo peter wasn’t a problem either (it actually makes perfect sense for his character; it’s what peter himself thinks is cool, not what actually is cool). and NO it wasn’t wasting dr connors not once not thrice but TWICE.

the SECOND biggest problem is with the editing.

ok so individual scenes look passable to… beautiful. the introduction of sandman is obviously the highlight of the film. it was a very important pioneer for graphics design technology, and in my mind it’s probably the single most important thing in the history of making cgi look true to life (for all of its glory… and all of its horror). all of the fight scenes are well choreographed, visually stunning, and advanced the plot somehow. all of the character defining scenes were well done save for one character in particular who I will discuss momentarily. the scenes are good in their own rights. but they’re out of order. peter dancing in the street looking like dahvie vanity was not supposed to happen after supposedly killing uncle ben’s murderer, it was SUPPOSED to happen after getting the job over brock. and everything else was nonsensically crammed together like tetris sardines. it RUINED the pacing. there is a 40 minute period where venom does not appear or speak, and he is supposed to be the main villain of the movie. that’s the second biggest problem.

the biggest problem is Mary Jane.

Kirsten Dunst did as good a job as she could with the material she was given. but what is her character arc in each movie? be the love interest who needs to be saved from everything all the time. that’s it. the green goblin is attacking and MJ is in danger, Peter rescues her and she gets a crush on him. those rape dudes are attacking (told you) and MJ is in danger, Peter rescues her. they kiss. oh no the green goblin is attacking AGAIN, MJ is in danger AGAIN and Peter rescues her AGAIN and she falls in love with him. and so on. all she exists to do in these movies is get kidnapped and make peter’s spider dick hard. it is such a damn shame that those movies happened before the feminists really pushed to have women with agency in films and books and video games and stuff. remind me what aunt may did in these movies again? or gwen, or betty, or… anyone who was female? contrast with the amazing spidermans and the mcu spidermans. AND SPIDERVERSE. totally different beast there.

MJ’s character is unlikable, peter’s character does shitty things that make him temporarily unlikable, and their dynamic together is very… bland. you could cut MJ from 2 and 3 very easily and still potentially have a cohesive movie. raimi has strengths and he has weaknesses and his weakness is ingrained subconscious misogyny. oops. we expected better from the man whose claim to fame was a movie where a tree rapes a woman? 🤔 yeahhhh I don’t like evil dead 1. 2 and 3, good and phenomenal, but 1 is like. :/

so it’s nothing to do with the easy answers and it’s everything to do with the director is a little weird and Sony has never made a good business decision in its life.

[thrashermaxey]

Ramblings: Barrie Broken Hand, McDavid Near Miss (Dec 23)

Barrie Broken Hand, McDavid Near Miss, Barzal Hattie, plus more…

With the NHL going dark for a three-day Christmas break starting today, every team except for Calgary was in action on Saturday. Let’s jump right in to what happened and what it could mean.

Mathew Barzal scored goals number 10, 11, and 12 on the season with a plus-3 ranking in the Islanders’ 5-2 win over Winnipeg. The Isles’ rookie is now on a four-game point streak in which he has seven points (4g-3a). With 35 points in 36 games, Barzal is second among NHL rookies with 0.97 points/game. I’m sure there will be debate on this point, but the Calder Trophy competition is currently a two-horse race between Barzal and Brock Boeser.

Jordan Eberle earned the primary assist on all three of Barzal’s goals. He is on a four-game point streak of his own with six points (1g-5a). Should John Tavares skip town after this season, Barzal should be fine inheriting the number one center role, and maybe someone like Brock Nelson would slide in as the number two center. But it would be interesting to see how wingers like Eberle, Andrew Ladd, Josh Bailey, and Anders Lee are affected. I know I’m putting the cart before the horse here, but we never know what next season will hold. With the league’s second-ranked offense (3.56 GF/GP), the Isles’ offense is worth riding whenever possible in the here and now.

Josh Bailey recorded an assist in this game, extending his point streak to eight games. Bailey might become the player with the highest point jump from last season to this season, as he now sits tied for second (with Tavares) in NHL scoring with 46 points already.

*

Brad Marchand scored a goal and added two assists in the Bruins’ 3-1 win over Detroit. Of all the players I own this season, I have probably received the most injury notifications on Marchand, a testament of how much he has been in and out of the lineup due to various injuries. But of all the players to play at least 20 games, Marchand is current fifth with 1.23 points per game. So you shouldn’t waste any time getting him back into your lineup when he’s ready to go. This is also why points per game can tell you more about a player’s production than pure points. But injury proneness is still something to pay attention to.

*

The Edmonton Oilers won their fourth consecutive game, but it didn’t come without a scare. Connor McDavid left the game late in the third period after blocking a shot with his foot. Fortunately, x-rays came back negative. According to coach Todd McLellan, McDavid is expected to suit up when NHL teams return to action on Wednesday, although his foot is sore. Here’s the film:  

Connor McDavid blocks a shot and needs help limping off to the dressing room. Uh-oh. pic.twitter.com/HrfRQm2wo1

— Faizal Khamisa (@SNFaizalKhamisa) December 24, 2017

Before he left the game, McDavid scored a goal and added an assist.

Leon Draisaitl recorded three assists in this game. He now has a four-game assist streak with seven assists over that stretch.

*

Everything is right in Leafland again. Not only did the Leafs snap their four-game losing streak on Saturday, Auston Matthews returned to the Leafs’ lineup after missing the past six games with a concussion. He scored a goal and added an assist in 18:42 of icetime while back on his usual line with William Nylander and Zach Hyman.

*

For this ugly sequence of events, Zac Rinaldo received a match penalty, which means an automatic one-game suspension with the possibility for more. Some (like Paul Bissonnette) will argue that punching Samuel Girard was the only thing that Rinaldo could do in that situation with Girard coming at him. But given Rinaldo's track record, he won't be given the benefit of the doubt by the league.   

Yikes. After already taking out Nathan MacKinnon, Zac Rinaldo with a nasty punch on Samuel Girard pic.twitter.com/FsmZwWKajF

— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) December 24, 2017

If you’re looking at MacKinnon’s 8:14 in icetime and thinking he left the game with an injury, he was actually given a game misconduct after fighting Josh Archibald in the resulting melee.

But the Avalanche player that fantasy owners need to worry about because of an injury isn’t MacKinnon or Girard. It happens to be Tyson Barrie, who has been diagnosed with a broken bone in his hand after blocking a shot in the first period. Barrie is currently tied for second among defensemen with 27 points (4g-23a) in 34 games, so his loss will be felt.

With Barrie leaving the game on his third shift, we were able to get a look at how the Avalanche’s blueline situation might shake out with Barrie out of the lineup. Nikita Zadorov led Avs’ blueliners in both overall icetime (26:43) and power-play time (3:52). Zadorov recorded an assist with a plus-3 and five shots on goal, three hits, and three blocked shots, making the most of his opportunity for the handful of his fantasy owners out there. I’m not rushing out to add Zadorov, who has eight points in 30 games. But he is at least worth keeping an eye on.

My initial reaction was to assume that the youngster Girard would be able to step up into a greater role, but he amassed just 17 minutes of icetime total. He’s got a bright future, but 19 years of age is very very young for an NHL defenseman.

Lost in the Rinaldo kerfuffle and Barrie injury was Derek Stepan scoring two shorthanded goals in this game. In the first Yahoo fantasy hockey league I played in, I would have rejoiced. That league counted shorties (as well as game-winning goals, if you remember when that was a popular league category).  

*

Interesting article on the beginning of a possible decline by Sidney Crosby. From the article, by Larry Brooks:

Of the 29 NHL forwards who had played as least 500 minutes at five-on-five entering Saturday’s final pre-Christmas matches, just four had scored fewer than four goals at full and equal strength.

Arizona’s Max Domi had one. Kings rookie winger Alex Iafallo had two. Florida’s Aleksander Barkov had scored three.

And so had Sidney Crosby.

It’s true that Crosby, who currently sits 25th in NHL scoring, is experiencing age-related decline. But a portion of that has to be attributed to the previous two long seasons of the Penguins. He hasn’t had much time to rest.

Speaking of the Penguins, who were shut out by the Ducks on Saturday, here’s a trade rumor involving Kris Letang mentioned on the Headlines segment on Hockey Night in Canada.

*

Earlier this week I received a message from a friend asking me at what point I would cut Justin Faulk, because he was about to do exactly that. As a Faulk owner in a deeper league, I’m glad I didn’t take a sip of his Kool-Aid. Faulk scored two goals on seven shots on goal in the Hurricanes’ 4-2 win over Buffalo. However, anyone who has been thinking about dropping Faulk recently has been justified in asking the question. Faulk now has points in two games, but before that he hadn’t recorded a point in 12 games.

In pure points leagues, Faulk barely appears rosterable with just 10 points in 35 games. Faulk has at least 15 goals during each of his last three seasons, but entered this game with only one goal. Faulk is only down slightly in terms of shots taken, so the fact that his shooting percentage is only 3 percent this season when it has been around 7-8 percent is significant. If you can get Faulk for very cheap, I say do it, particularly in multicategory leagues. This Geek of the Week is over a year old, but it explains well what you are getting in Faulk.

One other Hurricanes’ note: Cam Ward started again, allowing two goals on 22 shots. With Scott Darling struggling mightily, Ward has now started back-to-back games and four of the last six games. Over that stretch he has a 2.18 GAA and .922 SV%, better than what you’d expect from Ward (and what Ward’s season numbers really are). He’s owned in only 10 percent of Yahoo leagues.

*

James Reimer stopped all 38 shots he faced in shutting out the Senators on Saturday. With Roberto Luongo injured, Reimer has now started nine consecutive games. Reimer’s overall season numbers (3.15 GAA, .908 SV%) might look unattractive, but over his last seven games he has allowed just 14 goals with a .946 save percentage. He’s still unowned in about three-quarters of Yahoo leagues, so he’s another name to look for if you need goaltending help.

*

The Blues’ top forwards have struggled with Jaden Schwartz out of the lineup, having scored just six goals in the past six games entering Saturday’s game. Vladimir Tarasenko ended a three-game point drought with an assist on an empty-net goal from Alexander Steen, who scored his first goal in 18 games. A sniper who normally shoots in the 10-15 percent range, Steen is shooting at just 4.9 percent, which explains his lack of goals (four goals in 32 games). He could be worth buying super low on.

Brock Boeser is shaping up to be one of fantasy hockey’s top stories in 2017-18. Boeser was projected by many to reach 20 goals in his rookie season. He has managed to do that even before the Christmas break, scoring his 20th goal on Saturday. The summary of pretty much every Canucks games recently: “The Canucks lost, but Boeser scores.” If you bought on Boeser early on, congratulations. You now have a top-5 NHL goal scorer. Not rookie goal scorer. NHL goal scorer.

Here’s Boeser’s first 19 goals:  

The @CBCSports montage of all of Boeser's 19 goals this season#Canucks pic.twitter.com/xNErKJJOt1

— Ryan Biech (@ryanbiech) December 24, 2017

And here’s goal number 20:  

We have another #BrockBoesMonster sighting pic.twitter.com/EWwOtRUWtP

— Stephen Laidlaw (@SteveLaidlaw) December 24, 2017

A 21 percent shooting rate is high for most players. But Boeser’s ability to find position and fire his wrist shot with great accuracy should mean that his goal rate may not regress much. Boeser is already on pace to be a 40-goal scorer in an era where 40 goals is the new 50 goals.

One other Canucks’ note: Don’t start Jacob Markstrom right now. He lets in way too many soft goals. I'm not even going to bother to back that point up with statistics. 

*

The scary part about the success of the Vegas Golden Knights: They’ve done it for most of the season without their showcase player, Marc-Andre Fleury. He stopped all 26 Capitals’ shots he faced in earning his first shutout as a Knight. He’s reeled off three consecutive victories. Yes, he’s worth starting in all leagues.

In a night in which fantasy owners were gifted with plenty of shutouts, Andrei Vasilevskiy, John Gibson, and Martin Jones also earned goose eggs. Hopefully you didn’t load up on players from Minnesota, Ottawa, Pittsburgh, Washington, or Los Angeles. All of those teams were shut out on Saturday.  

*

Finally, I’d like to take the time to wish all Dobber Hockey visitors a very Merry Christmas. Enjoy yourselves during this three-day break from hockey, and remember to do it safely. In the meantime, feel free to air your fantasy hockey grievances below.

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For more fantasy hockey information, follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding.

from All About Sports http://www.dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-barrie-broken-hand-mcdavid-near-miss-dec-23/