#but like. this time last week i did not have a single bit of footage. didn’t have anything until tuesday night and that was only one part of

[therosevest]

sending another rough version to this lady so she doesn’t kill me with her mind i guess idfk

[sweatervest-obsessed]

okay so i'm thinking post!prison reid and reader break up bc he's not ready to be in a relationship after everything that happened in prison. they just don't get back together bc when spence is finally ready it's been a while and they both think it's too late and no one makes a move and they remain as friends UNTIL jj's love confession brings some feelings back onto the surface - reader finds out about it and (cue jeid and their weird, longing glances🥲) has a whole it's all really over moment and then there's distance between her and spencer until there's a confrontation about it and BAM a love confession and second chances😁😁

THIS IS SUCH A MESS but i hope you get my point</33

Um yeah so, absolutely. Some angst for you indeed. I love a convoluted and angsty fight, especially whenever someone is arguing in circles with someone else because they're both just so passionate but angry, anyways, heheh, enjoy!!

WC: 1.5k

TW: Arguing, mentions of violence, mentions of prison, mentions of guns, honestly if you watched CM then that is your TW.

“I just want to know why you’ve been so distant lately. I mean, this is the first time I’m speaking with you one on one in over a week, and it’s because I manage to catch you in the office at nine fucking pm Y/n.”

"So what do you want me to say, Spence? What could I possibly have to say to you? I'm pretty sure Jennifer said everything there is to say."

This caused Spencer to lose all of the oxygen in his body. It froze up. You weren’t supposed to know what JJ had said, no one was supposed to know what JJ had said. 

You and Spencer were in the bullpen of the BAU. Luckily for both of you, since it was so late, no one else was there. Neither of you were extremely public when it came to your relationship, which meant neither of you would have chosen to have this conversation fight in a public place, but no one else was around.

I want you to say something you're afraid to say. Something you'd never tell anybody. And you better make it good. Cause if it's not, it's going to be the last thing you ever say. What's it gonna be?

“How did you know about that?” He whispered. 

“JJ asked Garcia to go through the footage, apparently she wanted to make sure no one could ever access the audio from it.”

"Y/n I--" Spencer closed his eyes, his jaw set. He didn’t even know what to say at this point. You had both clearly made up your minds about this, yet neither of you wanted to see the carnage, the outcome of it all. So, instead, you chose to stand in the middle of the bullpen, fighting against one another.

Fighting for one another.

"I just don't understand why you're so upset about this."

“Spencer–you didn’t even tell me about it, I had to find out about it from Penelope, and who knows who else she told. You were afraid to tell me, yet that giant genius brain of yours can’t, oh I don't know, comprehend just a teeny tiny little bit why this makes me upset?" For the millionth time this evening, you scoffed. 

Something you would never say aloud, not even to your partner. Your deepest, darkest secret. Impress me, or I'll kill him.

"Y/n--"

Spence, I've always loved you. I was just too scared to say it before, and now things are really just too complicated to say it now. I'm sorry, but you should know.

"Fuck Spencer I have been in love with you since I first fucking joined this team." You gasped out. The air around your head got thinner and felt dizzying like you were floating through the air now that this was off your chest. "And I loved you when you asked me on a date. I loved you through Emily's death. I loved you when you asked me to move in with you. I loved you through when Morgan left the team. I loved you through Hotch leaving. I loved you through fucking Cat Adams. I loved you even after I came home one night and you were making out with her against our fucking door. I loved you through every single case and every single flaw. I loved you when you fucking relapsed a few years ago. I even loved you when you went MIA for weeks and then found out you were in a fucking Prison. And I still fucking love you now. But, instead of being together, you asked for a break."

"That's not fair..." He whispered.

"What? Respecting you and your boundaries? Knowing that you needed time to readjust after you had been released, and believing in your promise that once you felt ready to try a relationship again you'd come to me and talk to me about it? And then watching as you fall for JJ all fucking over again? With your stupid fucking glances. This isn't a goddamn tv show Reid, I can see when you both stare at one another across the room, I can see it."

"We don't.."

"You do. You both do. And then, you tell me that Jennifer fucking Jareau is willing to make her last words the fact that she has always loved you and has always been in love with you, and you---" Your voice froze, the sound cutting out. You looked straight at Spencer, not caring about the tears running down your cheeks. You watched as his hand twitched up. When the two of you were dating, Spencer used to wipe away every single of your tears. But now he wouldn't even lift his hand.

"I--what."

You took another breath, trying to calm down, and really think through your words. "This woman who has been your best friend for over a decade just fucking confessed her love for you, in a life-or-death situation, and you're telling me, that she just fucking made it up, pulled it out of her ass, or at least is telling you that she did and now the two of you are going to act like everything is normal and okay?"

"Y/n..."

"You were in love with her for years Spencer. And now, all of a sudden she confesses her love to you, and that changes nothing?"

"No, Y/n, it doesn't. It changes nothing. Does it hurt a bit? Yes. Does it change the fact that I love you? No." Spencer was trying to keep his voice level, hoping you'll continue to match his volume since he didn't want anyone to potentially stumble by and hear your argument. His hand reached for your wrist, but you couldn't bear to feel his skin against yours.

This caused you to let out a water laugh, tears sliding into your mouth, ugly but pouring down your cheeks. A waterfall of grief in all of its rawest forms.

"You still love me."

"Why-Why is that funny."

"I have been waiting to hear those words since you walked out of that fucking prison and the first time I hear it in years, it's because you're trying to justify loving someone else."

"That's not true."

Make it a million and one, you scoffed.

"I have loved you since the moment you first walked through those doors. You were in a pale blue pair of pants, and a black sweater--I remember it because Emily complimented the pants. I spend my whole life loving you and manage to never fully give you every single piece of love I have because there's simply not enough time in the world. I would kill for you. I would go to prison all over again if it meant you would be okay in this world." Spencer ran a hand through his hair, his voice strained. But his eyes never left yours. "Last week, when that unsub had his gun against your head, I fired before he even spoke, not because I assessed it was the right time or whatever fucking excuse I gave to Emily. I fired that bullet because if you died in front of me, I'd......The only thing I was thinking about the entire fucking time JJ and I were stuck in that room was how the fuck I was going to be able to tell you I love you one last time because I wasn't fucking smart enough to take my chance and say it to you every single day."

Your chest was heaving, but you didn't move towards him. It didn't feel right, it didn't feel real.

Spencer was able to take your hand in his, enclosing it between both of his, trying to get you to look at him. "I should have told you the moment I was ready to try a relationship again, but I thought you...I thought you had moved on because I wasn't worth waiting for."

This caused you to laugh again, eyes red from crying. "Don't fucking start with that shit Spencer.''

"I'm telling the god's honest truth."

"I waited for you throughout all of Prison. I waited for you through Maeve. I am still pathetically standing right fucking in front of you, waiting for you to hopefully realize that you still love me."

He kissed your hand. "And I don't deserve you at all for it."

"Do you still love her?"

"Y/n."

"Answer the question, Spencer. Or I'm done. I-I can't do this any longer, watching you....the way she looks at you just--"

Spencer pulled you into his arms, enclosing your body in his arms and kissing the side of your head. "I have always, and will always, love you Y/n Y/l/n. And I want to spend the rest of our lives proving to you that I would choose you, I want you, over and over again."

“That’s not an answer Spencer.” You whispered, rigid in his arms.

“I-I.” He closed his eyes. “I did. And I still do love her, but not like that. I haven’t been i-in love with her since the moment you walked through those doors.”

Spencer felt the weight of your head against his shoulder as you finally conceded and hugged him back, tightly. “Let's go home.” He muttered into your head, waiting patiently for you to hum in agreement. 

Neither of you moved though. You both stood there, locked eternally in the other’s embrace, enjoying the peace you felt for the moment, even though tomorrow was a new day, where you would have to sort through how you really felt about all of this. 

But tonight, you stood with your arms around your love, forever.

[mettywiththenotes]

I know the general conclusion people are coming to is "wow so nothing has changed the civilians haven't changed their minds nothing has changed in society" but. how many chapters has it been since the end of the war. actually a better question would be how many days/weeks has it been since the end of the war. because idk man things aren't going to change as quickly as that

You have to factor in how no one outside of Izuku, Shouto and Ochako knew about them wanting to save the villains. When the footage of the final war is inevitably shared around, the first thought probably isn't "wow they saved those bad guys" but likely just the fact that they stopped them from doing more damage meaning they can put them in jail or whatever

Even when you put that aside, society is unlikely to change in a short space of time anyway because there was the general idea that the heroes winning meant bringing things back to how they were. And bringing things back to how they were means a society that favors the good quirks and good victims over the people who are ignored and those who slip through the cracks. If they get that back, then of course things aren't going to change immediately

And in the end, they did get it back. The villains have been stopped. The heroes prevailed. Society is rebuilding as fast as possible like nothing happened. But we've been shown that the idea "things are going back to normal" is usually accompanied by the implication it may seem like that but really things will change in an inevitable way

The saviour squad as a whole (Izuku, Shouto, Ochako, Hawks) all have the potential to speak up about their experiences, prove the world/country wrong about their surface-level view of villains. Shouto and Ochako could relay their thoughts, what their intentions were, what their conclusions are now. Izuku could choose to tell everyone what he saw in Tomura, the crying child. More than that, he could do some introspection, think over his time with Tomura (USJ, mall scene, war arc and so on) and talk about his thoughts too. Hawks being one of the first of the heroes who tried and failed to save his villain is an interesting parallel to Izuku, and also shows that he could have a personal account on this too

With all this in consideration, I believe that it's not going to be a random relaying of these experiences in bits and pieces over the remaining chapters, but rather a single united action together - like their own televised interview or something. It's not like Hawks wouldn't have the power to organize it, the HC literally has the authority to put what they want in the media. Though whether that happens or not remains to be seen

But the point I'm trying to make is that this is going to take time. The whole of society isn't just going to wake up and realize the error of their ways after all of that. There has to be a beginning, a starting line, to the conclusion that maybe villains deserve something better

I say that this is going to take time, while knowing that we have only 3 chapters of the story left... and while it frustrates a lot of people, it's looking to me like this is going to be an open ending. I imagine the very last chapter will show the starting line of change. Personally I'm okay with that, I think it would be compelling. Depending on how it is set out, I don't think it would be a bad ending

Idk how exactly to end this post but... it just seems like people think that all hope is lost because the civilians didn't all collectively wake up the day after the war and change their minds, and I don't think it works that way. It will take time. I believe Hori may give the story an open ending so we are shown the starting line and in the end it will be up to us how things change specifically

[jo-harrington]

Corroded Coffin Fest - Day 29 - Behind the Music

Summary: What happens when Corroded Coffin stars in their first documentary?

Word Count: 986

Rating: T

Warnings/Themes: Boys Will Be Boys Shenanigans, Humor, tiny bit of angst, FOI references, Dustin Henderson is a little shit, semi-related to my fic Best Spring Break Ever

Note: OH GOD, ok I may or may not have taken liberties with this one. Maybe because my friends and I did a dumb ass thing like this when we were teenagers fucking around with a video camera. JUST...it's gonna be fine guys.

Check Out the Main Post for @corrodedcoffinfest here! Even if you didn’t start on Day 1, you can still join!

Tagging: @the-unforgivenn at her request.

You can find my masterlist here.

Please do not interact if you are not 18+.

Enjoy!

"Do you guys want to help us with a project for AV Club?"

The entire lunch table stopped their conversing and turned their attention to a nervous Dustin Henderson.

"Oh no," Gareth scoffed. "We're not helping you with another nerd project like we did during Spring Break."

"It's not a nerd project!" Lucas protested.

"If it's for AV it's a nerd project," Dave said matter-of-factly.

“Whatever it is, I’m not driving you guys around again,” Eddie interjected, “the van still smells like old socks and cheese ball farts.”

“Ed, I think that’s just what the van smells like,” Jeff failed to contain his laughter.

“Come on you guys had fun last time,” Mike argued. “And this time you won’t even have to do anything except sit there, look cool, and talk about Corroded Coffin!”

It was like a record scratch, all of the hemming and hawing ceased and, instead, the older boys asked how they could help, all while the freshmen looked like the cat that got the cream.

Turns out the project was another scholarship thing--who knew that they gave out AV Club scholarships--to film some kind of amateur documentary.

They were sure was an easy win before they even filmed a single piece of footage.

"No one else is gonna do one about a garage band," he said confidently. "We just film you guys performing, maybe get some b-roll of you setting things up--"

"Alright," Eddie agreed.

"--and a few interviews where you share your pet peeves and darkest secrets." It was said with the utmost nonchalance.

"Excuse me?"

"Yeah," Dustin grinned. "It'll win for sure. Corroded Coffin: The Ups, Downs, and Upside Downs of an Indiana Garage Band. Uh...the title is a work in progress."

It took bribery in the form of Claudia Henderson's Scotcheroo Bars before they finally agreed.

It happened over the course of two weeks; two cameras--one belonging to the Wheelers and one borrowed from the Hawkins High AV department--along with all sorts of equipment were toted all around Hawkins. Claudia even chaperoned them on a Tuesday night so they could get footage at the Hideout.

When all was said and done, and the documentary was ready, they all posted up in the Wheeler's basement with pizza, popcorn, and soda.

The freshmen each gave speeches before starting the projector, laughing along as the older boys heckled them.

"So without further ado," Dustin announced as they took their seats. "Behind the Music."

The video started off with hazy colors and sloppy B-roll, a title card courtesy of Will's artistic talents, and Lucas's narration about the most metal garage band in the state, and then immediately cut to footage of the band performing at the Hideout.

"Shit we look so good!" Gareth got to his feet and clapped immediately, then grabbed Dustin by the shoulders and shook him.

"Quiet, sit down!" The others shoved him so he would get back into his seat.

Over the course of ten minutes, they covered all manner of topics. From how the guys all met, to where they learned how to play, to how they chose their songs.

The basement was tense by the time they reached some more delicate topics; specifically, what the worst part of being in the band was.

"Eddie's a turd burglar," Dave sighed on screen. "Got a real stick up his ass...can I say ass?"

The video then cut to Eddie.

"Nobody listens to me," he whined. "I'm the oldest, the leader. Shit, I've been in the band longer than any of them have. This is my band."

Next was Jeff.

"He said that?" the younger guitarist scoffed. "He's one to talk when he tried to abandon the band and make it on his own a few years ago. Is he the worst member of the band? No, I think that's Gareth. He's our drummer and he can't even stay on tempo! Messes us all up."

It kept going and going, and as they watched each other absolutely lose it on screen, the members of Corroded Coffin all sunk into their seats in shame.

The screen faded to black and it was silent. So silent you could hear a pin drop.

Of course this was the perfect timing for Mike to shovel popcorn into his mouth.

Then soft strumming began; the screen faded into Eddie sitting outside of Hawkins High with his guitar, fiddling with it and then scribbling in his notebook.

"If it's so hard sometimes," narrator Lucas asked via voiceover, "why do you keep doing it?"

Gareth and Jeff entered into the shot from offscreen and Eddie's face went from concentration to joy seeing them. He waved them over and started talking animatedly. Dave was quick to join from another direction, immediately ruffling Gareth's hair as he reached them.

"Because of the music," Eddie answered in the voiceover, and then the scene changed to the shot of him in the drama room where he did his interview. "And because they're my best friends."

The basement suddenly got less tense, and the guys clapped each other on the shoulders.

The shot transitioned to Dave.

"I used to be a loser at my old school," he scoffed. "I had friends but...Corroded Coffin? I feel like I belong in this band. Belong with these guys. I haven't even known them for that long. That's gotta mean something."

Then Jeff had his own words of wisdom.

"I think I wanted to quit one time; when Eddie quit...it was hard, without him. And my dad said if I really wanted to make music work I had to work hard."

The scene switched back to the Hideout, in slow motion, as Jeff continued.

"Nothing good was ever worth it if it wasn't hard work. So yeah it's hard but we keep playing and keep fighting, and then someone farts and we laugh it all off and start over again.

The screen faded to black.

"Together."

[lulubelle814]

In Every Life - Part 4

Part 3 - In Every Life Masterlist

Masterlist

He brushed some falling hair out of her face, and she leaned her face into his palm as I did so.  A gust of cold wind fell upon them, and she began to shiver.  Disregarding society properties, he removed my coat and placed it around her to help keep her warm.  

He could tell she appreciated the added warmth.  “I’ve always wanted to dance, but my health never allowed it.”

“One day, you will dance.  We will dance, even if I have to sweep you off your feet and hold you while I carry you around the dance floor.  Come, love.  We must get you back to your hotel for some rest.”  He felt this sadness for her, especially when her tremors became more noticeable.  What could he do to help her, to protect her?  He didn’t know, but for now he picked her up bridal style once again and started walking to her  hotel, feeling her calm down in his arms and never wanting to let her go.

Bolting upright in bed, Tom took a moment to catch his breath.  The dreams were starting again, this time more vividly.  It wasn’t the same each time; however, he was always there, or at least a man who looked eerily similar to him.  Even moreso, there was her.  She was a bit different in each one, but there was no mistaking it.  It was her in every single one.  Sometimes her hair was a chocolate brown, sometimes curly.  Sometimes it was jet black.  On one occasion, her hair was a dark blonde.  Although he never saw her face, he knew it was the same woman each time.

Every time, though, they were either running into each other, in love, or grieving.  The consistency in each scenario was her eyes.  They were blue like the ocean after a storm, and sparkled like the stars, nothing he’d ever seen before, not even close.  It wasn’t until the last dream or two that he noticed she had a light freckle in the vague shape of a heart on her upper lip, right at the cupid’s bow.

Looking at his watch, it was 5:30 in the morning.  Much too early to go to campus.  All his papers had been graded.  Rather than lay restlessly in bed, he got up to let Bobby go potty early.  Grabbing his laptop, he took his dog out into the garden to run around, potty, and just have a good time while he set himself up on his garden bench, making notes about his latest dream.

By this point, Tom kept the document open and at the ready, never knowing when these dreams would pop up.  Sometimes the dreams would come every night, sometimes every few days or weeks.  After the first few, he started writing them down.  Tom had thought about writing a book for some time, but he could never pin down the topic.  Inspiration seemed to escape him at every turn, but now it seemed the topic found him.

And something in his gut told him it was important.  Each time he had a dream, it felt so incredibly real, as if he were watching footage of something that’d happened years before.  It gave him the idea to possibly hire an assistant.  His department head had been on him about hiring someone for quite some time saying it would help him with his workload as well as with research for the book he was contemplating on writing.  The more he wrote down regarding these dreams, the more he realized his department head (Ian Reynolds) was right.

When Tom arrived on campus, he stopped by Ian’s office.  “Ian!  How are you this morning?”

“I’m alright.  Didn’t sleep well last night, but I’ll live.  What can I do for you, Tom?”

He stepped into the department head’s office, hands in his pocket.  “I’d like to take you up on your offer for a TA, if it’s still available?”

Ian stood up and stepped around his desk.  “Of course!  I’ll put out an inquiry with a few people who I think might be a good fit, but of course you’ll have final approval.”

Olivia had to get up early.  It was her turn to open the shop today.  Luckily it wasn’t far away.  Just a few steps out of her door and down the stairwell.  She’d opened this bookshop roughly 6 months ago.  It happened one day when she was visiting her favorite coffee shop, Deja Brew.  She’d become a regular there and had become friends with the owners, Brad and Chad.  They’d originally been leasing the space, but the landlord didn’t want to manage the property anymore.  The boys (as she liked to call them) were making enough money at that point that they bought the building, finding it was a good investment for them.  

After a not so lengthy discussion, they leased the space to her so she could finally set up the bookstore she’d always talked about.  Brad and Chad gave her a huge discount on rent, only because it was her.  Along with renting the space, there was a tiny apartment just above the store that came as part of the bargain which worked well in her favor.  It’d allow her to save the rent money she was paying at her current place.  

It took a few weeks, but she got the bookstore setup.  Brad and Chad helped where they could.  All 3 came up with an arrangement to share employees, making the bookstore more of an extension of the cafe.  They even put in a glass door so patrons could go directly from one shop to the other without having to go outside.

Everything came together when the store name was drawn on the front window: The Reading Nook.  

It was when she moved into that tiny apartment that the dreams started for her: bits and pieces, but the more dreams she had made her realize she should start writing them down.

And today was no exception.

“Any more of those dreams, Liv?”  Chad was curious.  Olivia started having these dreams sporadically over the last few months.  She’d started making notes about them, thinking it’d make a good story after Louisa’s encouragement.

“Last night I dreamed that I was in a marketplace at a flower stall, and a soldier came up to me to say hello, and we spent some time together.  I still couldn’t quite see his face, but everything in me says it was the same guy.  This time, he was blonde and in some sort of military uniform.”

“I can’t wait for you to write this book!  You are going to, right?  You have to!  I need to know how this story goes!”

Liv couldn’t stop laughing.  “I make absolutely no promises, but if it happens, I’ll let you know”

There were pieces she didn’t tell them about, details gathered over time from various dreams.  The worst part was that she could never quite remember his face.  While dreaming, she could see it clearly, but once awake, the details seemed to run away from her.  Lately it seemed that might change, the picture slowly becoming more clear.

She had to leave.  There were a few things she had to take care of today, namely her laundry.  Her building didn’t have machines.  So she packed up her laundry in a large basket, a book, and a fist full of quarters and headed to the laundromat for the next 3 hours.  Thankfully there were 2 machines open when I got there.  Once I got my laundry going in the washers, I pulled out my book.  

Not even a few pages in, she heard the door open and felt a pair of eyes on her.  Looking up, Robert was looking at her while holding his own bag of laundry.

“Fancy meeting you here.”  They both laughed.

“I’d think a fancy doctor like you would have your stuff dry cleaned.”

He grinned.  “Just for my suits.  For everything else, I prefer to slum it.”  She laughed so hard that it caused her to snort.  As she watched him start his own laundry, she cleared out the seat next to her.  He’d brought his own book to entertain himself.  Instead, they spent the next couple of hours chatting and laughing.

Oliva woke up with a smile.  She usually did when she dreamt of him, whoever ‘he’ was.  This time, his name was Robert, a doctor.  Pulling out her notebook, she wrote the details of her latest dream.  Once finished, she realized it was only Saturday, and her dream seemed to remind her that she had laundry to do.  Her tiny flat didn’t come with a washer or dryer, but she came to enjoy her trips to the laundromat.  It was a blessing that the laundromat was close, allowing her to walk as her car was a piece of junk and ready to die at any moment.

So just like in the dream, she gathered her dirty clothes into a basket, grabbed a fist full of quarters as well as a book to read and her writing notebook before heading to the laundromat.  Her washing machine was on the fritz, and the landlord promised to get it fixed soon.  That promise was made 2 months ago.

With it being early on a Saturday, she only managed to snag 1 washing machine meaning she’d be here for quite a while.  It was her own fault, really.  Putting off laundry until a Saturday?  She was lucky to find 1 free machine.  

While waiting for her first load to finish, Liv read through some of her dream notes, connecting the dreams that were related.  From what she could deduce, most fell into 3 groups.  The first one seemed to be from the mid to late 19th century where she was sickly but not entirely sure why.  The second one seemed to be occurring during a war?  There were a few wars this could have been but her gut said it was The Great War (WWI).  And the last one?  There was no doubt from the fashion alone that it was set somewhere in the 1970s.  There were a small handful that didn’t fit within any of those parameters, but those were few and far between.  

Tom heard about a new bookshop that opened just off campus, attached to the coffee shop everyone loved.  He didn’t have the chance to make it there, but he was up early on a Saturday morning and decided it would be a good time to finally visit.  

Since it wasn’t that far from his apartment, he decided to walk.  It was a nice day.  The sun was out, and there was a light breeze.  His mind wandered back to his recurring dreams and was at the bookstore before he knew it.  Looking up, he saw the sign: The Reading Nook.  It made him smile.  Without further hesitation, he went inside.  A clerk was spotted behind the counter asking if he needed any assistance.  The clerk couldn’t have been more than 19 or 20.

“Anything I can help you find, sir?”  He looked to the clerk, seeing his name was Clark.  “Just browsing, but thank you.”

Clark went back to reading his textbook, no doubt studying for an upcoming exam.  Tom took his time wandering through the aisles.  They had the classics like Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice, but it looked like there was also a small section dedicated to local authors, not that there were many.  Right now it wasn’t even half a shelf, but the intent could clearly be seen, mostly by the label that said ‘local authors.’  He loved that whomever ran the bookshop wanted to give local authors a space and thought that maybe, just maybe if he finally got his book written, perhaps it could be on that shelf as well.

The entire space was very nicely put together.  No doubt about it, though.  This shop felt homey, a place he wanted to hang out.  Looking to his left, he saw there was an entrance directly into the coffee shop.  On both sides were comfy chairs, some with small tables.  It looked like the perfect place to get out of his office or apartment and work on grading papers or working on his own book while drinking tea and eating a pastry.  Applause was needed for whomever set this all up.  They did an amazing job of it.

Looking at his watch, he realized he’d been there for 2 hours already and had to get going.  Tom spent so much time exploring and admiring the bookshop that he hadn’t spent any time looking for something he might want and left empty handed.  He had laundry to do and had put it off long enough.  

In the meantime, Olivia finally finished washing, drying, and (yes) folding her laundry.  Using the back door (as per usual), she took it all up to her apartment and put it away before heading back downstairs, wanting to check in how things are going in the store.

“Heya Clark!”

“Hello.”

Clark wasn’t a very chatty person, but he never failed to help customers when they had questions which was fine with her.  She knew he was studying when there weren’t customers to help or additional tasks that needed to be done.  In fact, she encouraged it as he was in university, and he was one of the very first people she hired.

“How’s today going?”  She was curious.  Although it was her usual day off, she liked to check in on how things were going.

“It’s been busy off and on.  One guy came in this morning for a couple of hours.  Didn’t buy anything.  Just went about exploring the store.”  He sounded bored, but it’s hard to tell if he’s actually bored since that’s how he sounds all the time.

“That’s fine.  I like it when people like to just hang out.”

Rather than responding, he nodded and continued his studies.  She walked about the store double checking that everything was in order.  Pausing by the ‘local authors’ shelf, it was woefully slim.  To be fair, she’d only been open 6 months but was eager to expand to give more local authors recognition.  One day, hopefully, Olivia would be able to host small book events, perhaps authors reading samples of their work.  Right now though?  Business was still kind of slow, and she wasn’t sure she had the ability to set up something of that magnitude.  Not to mention, she didn’t have any chairs for an occasion like that.

Maybe an open mic night for poets and authors to come and read their works?  That was a thought.  She’d still need to get chairs for something like that and maybe a podium of sorts.  Maybe Brad and Chad might have some ideas?

Thankful for the inside door, she went over to Deja Brew.  They were having a lull in their afternoon.  So after getting drinks and some pastries (which Chad had hidden to consume later), the three of them chatted.

“I think that’s a great idea!  It’d bring in new people, and local writers could get their work heard.  You should totally do this!”  Brad was super encouraging.

“I’d need to get a number of chairs.  Should I get a podium?  Or just a small platform?  What about….” Chad cut her off.

“Lady, chill.  It’s simple.  Stick with some folding chairs.  Get a small podium.  Makes people feel like they have a barrier between them and the audience.  We can help advertise on our social media.  WHICH, by the way, you still need to finish getting yours set up.”

Olivia groaned.  Social media wasn’t something she was into.

“I’ll help you finish getting it set up which shouldn’t take very long.  Once that’s done, all you have to do is post pictures of the store and such.  Anytime you get a new shipment in, you can post about it.  Maybe even use it to have some sort of weekly book recommendation?”

That caught her attention.  “Chad, you are brilliant!”

He grinned.  “I know.  Now go grab your laptop, and we’ll get working on it.  We’ll worry about the open mic night later.”

An hour later, her instagram account was set up.  He even walked her through how to do posts on her phone which she appreciated.  Olivia uploaded a picture she loved of the shop as her first post and listed the address and hours.  Brad and Chad were her first followers along with their coffee shop account.  On top of that, their next post introduced the “bookshop next door.”

The next morning, she woke up to find over 200 people had followed her account!  Hitting a wrong button, her screen refreshed, and she noticed her follower count quickly went up.  She took this opportunity to do her second post.  This time, it was about the local authors section of her store.  It was something she wanted to bring attention to in order to help give them more of an audience.

By late afternoon, it was over 1k and still climbing.  In addition to the increased number of followers, there was a DM containing a message that made her smile.  It was from a local author named Samantha Loman, not one she’d heard of before.  She asked what the process would be to have her self published book on the shelf of local authors.  Olivia quickly wrote back that she’d love to meet up to discuss this.  After a bit of back and forth, it was agreed that they’d meet the next morning around 9 am.

Isabelle watched from afar as the crown was placed on his head.  His father had passed only the night before, but England could not be without a king, not for long.  She only stayed long enough to see the coronation.  As a peasant, a mere fruiterer's stall in the marketplace, that was all she was allowed.  Once the initial coronation was complete, she fled from the castle, trying not to cry.  When she entered her home, the dam holding back her tears burst open.  Thankfully the house was empty, at least for a while longer.  No one would wonder what caused the tears.

She woke up the next morning, eyes still red and puffy from the day before.  There was no getting out of handling the stall today.  Her father had matters that needed tending to.  Thankfully there were several customers to keep her mind occupied.  By mid afternoon, there was finally a lull.  

A strange woman was seen skulking about the marketplace, not really buying anything.  It seemed she wasn’t actually looking for anything.  Isabelle felt bad for her, especially when she noticed everyone avoiding the old crone.  It seemed the elderly lady might be hungry.  As she came closer, Isabelle selected two pieces of fruit, stopping the lady as she was about to pass her stall.  “Here,” she said.  “You look like you might be hungry, and we have some extra today.”

The lady smiled at her.  “You are most correct.  Thank you, child.  I would pay you for these items, but I do not have any coins with me.”  Isabelle smiled at her.  “Do not worry.  Consider this a gift.”  The lady smiled back at her.  “Your benevolence shines through your actions, innocent one..  I have one thing to offer, some insight to your current predicament with the newly crowned king.”  

Isabelle had been most careful, not mentioning her feelings for the new king to anyone.  Despite the absence of communication, a deep and inexplicable connection existed between them, a secret tie that drew her to him without the need for conversation; however, circumstances guaranteed the two would never meet.

Suddenly, the elderly patron froze, her eyes turning a stunning white.  When she spoke, it sounded unworldly.  “The one you seek, the one for whom you are fated will be found not in this life but in one yet to come.”  Isabelle didn’t know how to respond to this especially as she didn’t believe in reincarnation, but the crone’s words felt true to such a point that her heart would not allow her to dispute it.

Olivia was startled awake by her phone.  Looking at it, the screen read Clark.  He was supposed to be manning the store this morning.  “I’m sorry, ma’am.  My roommate said he’d give me a ride, but something came up.  I’m making my way to the bus stop, but I'll be about half an hour late.”

“It’s okay,” she assured him.  “Things happen.  I’ll cover for you until you get here.  See you soon!”

Clark was always on time, and she couldn’t fault him for something out of his control.  Grabbing a large, fluffy towel, she jumped in the shower and got ready for the day.  Since she had a meeting with the author this morning, she wanted to dress a little nicer.  Forgoing her usual screenprint shirt, she opted for a 3/4 sleeve navy shirt that had some sparkles, feeling like it represented the night sky.  Pairing it with a nicer pair of jeans and ballet flats, she threw on the clothes and shoes, grabbed her purse, keys, and sunglasses as it was sunny outside and took them downstairs with her so she could take off as soon as her employee arrived in order to save even a little bit of time.

Things were a bit out of order around the counter and reminded herself to have a chat with the other clerk who typically closed the store.  It didn’t take long to get everything back in order before it was time to open the shop.  

He’d always been so reliable that she never thought about hiring another person but realized it was definitely time to do so and sent off a text to Chad and Brad asking if they knew anyone who’d be interested.

Half past, Clark finally arrived, apologizing profusely.  “Don’t worry about it.  Shit happens.  I’m just glad you called me.”

Already running late thanks to her employee not showing up on time to run the store once opened, she had to use her crappy car to try to make it on time.  Starting the engine, sputtering noises could be heard.  “Come on!  Please start!”  The begging seemed to help as the car finally started up.  Pulling out onto the street, she hoped there wasn’t much traffic, especially since it was just past the university.  In an attempt to avoid university traffic, she took a shortcut through the nearby neighborhood.  Suddenly the car made startling noises.  Pulling over to give it a moment to cool down, she reminded herself to take a deep breath.  As she did so, the car made a series of sad sounds before shutting itself off.  Attempting to get it to start backup, the car protested and emitted smoke from under the bonnet.  “Son of a bitch!”  This was not how she saw the day going.  It was obvious she wouldn’t make the meeting with Samantha and sent her a DM to apologize and reschedule as her car had died.  In a fit of frustration, she repeatedly struck the steering wheel with her fists.  Giving up, she laid her head at the top of said steering wheel for a moment until there was a knock on her window, jarring her out of her self pity trip.

As the coronation began, I saw her attempting to hide among the crowd.  My heart called out to her, but duty prevailed over desire.  There was no way around it.  Law required me to marry a lady of nobility.  It saddened me greatly but even more so when I saw the young lady depart.  It wasn’t the first time I’d seen her but would likely be the last.

Soon after the coronation, meetings with my council revealed more issues with France.  The best solution provided to avoid war was marriage to Catherine of Valois, the daughter of the French king; however, I knew deep in my soul that this princess would never own his heart, for it belonged to another.

On the eve of the wedding, I managed to sneak myself out of the castle, leaving my cursed crown in my chambers and took his horse, galloping through the forest to clear my head.  I needed some time alone to think about the events I was being forced to endure.  Suddenly, I spotted an elderly crone trip and fall onto the forest floor.  Quickly dismounting, I ran over to help her as there was a distinct possibility she may be injured.  “Are you alright?  Are you hurt?”  I bent down to help her back up as she indicated she was alright.  

“I thank you, young man.  I find I have a hard time because these old bones are not as they were in my younger years.”

“Do you live nearby?  I would be honored to help you home if you wish to go.”  I was concerned for her health, not wanting her to fall again without the aid of someone to help her.

“I will be alright, young man, but for your help and kindness, I have one thing to offer.”  I began to protest, saying there was no need to repay me, but I was cut off, sunned as her eyes turned a dazzling white and began to speak in an unearthly voice.  “Although your search may not bear fruit in this lifetime, the one who completes you will be found in the future, in another life yet to come.”

I was stunned.  How could this crone know the pain held within my heart?  For though I was saddened at her prophecy, my soul felt it  to be true.

Tom was startled awake from this dream by his alarm.  His dreams typically cycled randomly between three different time periods, always him and the same girl, but this was the first time he found himself in this type of setting.  Him?  A king?  It was unfathomable, but he felt the words of the soothsayer ring in his mind.  It was the first time his dreams gave indication to soulmates.  He thought previously that these dreams were just the creative portion of his dreams finally manifesting story ideas.  Could that be all it really was, his dreams toying with him?  Or was there an actual connection between them?

It took a few minutes for him to add this latest dream in the document he used in anticipation of writing the story he’d been thinking (well, dreaming) about.  Taking longer than he expected, he was glad he had allotted extra time before classes today as per usual.  Normally he’d stop for coffee but opted to skip it today.  With the university being so close and the weather unusually nice, walking seemed like the better mode of transport today.  Gathering his bag with graded papers, laptop, and other supplies, he headed out the door, locking up behind him.

Looking around the neighborhood, it didn’t pass his notice that the neighbor 3 doors down planted new flowers.  From what he could tell, they looked like peonies in a variety of colors, mostly purple and white.  The only reason he knew what these were was due to them showing up in some of his dreams, causing him to look up the type of flower it was so that he could name them correctly.

Just up ahead, he heard alarming sounds coming from a car that pulled over followed by smoke coming from the front of it.  Concerned for the driver, he decided to investigate, just to make sure they were okay and see if they needed help.  Approaching, he noticed the driver was beyond frustrated and couldn’t blame them.  No one enjoyed car trouble.  So he knocked on the window to see if he could offer any assistance.  “Are you alright?  Can I offer any….”

When the driver looked up to see who was knocking on her window, the breath was knocked out of him.  He was gobsmacked, and the driver returned a similar look of shock.  She had a look that was strikingly familiar to him, but he couldn't quite put his finger as to why. Tom was certain that he had seen her before, but he just couldn't seem to recall where or when. He wracked his brain, trying to recall her name or where he had met her, but the memory was just elusive enough to evade him.

Olivia raised her eyes to see who was at her car window, only to be met with the sight of a man who looked incredibly familiar to her, but she couldn't quite place where she had seen him before. She squinted, racking her mental database for any resemblance to a person she knew, but nothing came to mind. As she stared at him through the driver's window, she tried to make sense of the nagging feeling of familiarity that came over her.  Rather than be rude, she rolled down her window.  “I’m so sorry.  It seems my car has decided it no longer wants to operate.”

Olivia stepped out of the car to get a better look for which he was glad.  It allowed him a closer look at the beautiful woman he’d stumbled upon.  Silence surrounded them, neither knowing what to say, both refraining from getting closer to the other, both closely observing each other.  

Normally, the quiet would make two people feel awkward, but with them, it felt peaceful.  She was the first to break the quiet.  Giving him a small smile, she introduced herself.  “I’m Olivia.”  He smiled back.  “I’m Tom.”  Gesturing to her car, he continued. “I know a good mechanic who can come take a look, but it might be a while.”

“I’d appreciate that.  I’m hoping it can be revived, but this may be the final nail in its coffin.”  Tom smiled at her response.  Pulling out his cell, he called the mechanic he used.  “Hey, I’ve got a friend whose car has died.  Are you able to come take a look at it?”  All Olivia could hear was his side of the conversation.

“A tow truck?”  He glanced over to Olivia, silently asking if she’d agree to a tow truck to which she nodded.  “Yeah, that would be great.  How soon can it be here?  An hour?  That’s not bad.  The car’s dead just 3 houses up from mine.  So you can use my address on file as the pickup location.”  Placing a hand over the phone for a moment, Tom quickly asked her, “do you want to be here when they tow it?  Or they can just come get it with the information I’ve given him.”

“They can just take it.  That’s fine.”

He went back to his conversation.  “She says you can come pick it up without her present. I'll move it in front of my place just in case.  You should have the address on file.”   He gave the person on the other end of the line the car make, model, color, and license plate before concluding the call.  Placing her car in neutral, they pushed it to the front of his house to make it easier for the tow truck to get to.  Guiding her inside, he texted Ian to let him know there was a personal matter that needed attending and wasn’t sure when he would make it in today.  Ian told him not to worry and would have his classes for the day covered and would see him tomorrow.  About an hour later, the tow truck arrived and hauled her car to the shop. 

“Would you like something to eat? There's a nice cafe near the mechanic.”

Olivia couldn't hold back a smile. “That sounds nice. I'd like that.”  Normally she didn’t get in cars with strangers (except the occasional cab), but something about him felt oddly familiar, comfortable even.  

They loaded up in his car and were at their destination shortly after. It was a quaint little place with small tables but a yummy looking selection of treats. While he ordered a scone, she opted for the blueberry muffin. Both items were larger than standard, and they ended up sharing. 

“What do you do for a living?” Olivia was curious. 

“I'm a professor at the local university, English literature. And you? ”

“I own a bookshop. It's not much, but it's mine.”

He raised an inquisitive brow. “Oh? What's the name of it? I love a good bookshop.”

Olivia felt a bit nervous for some reason. “It's called The Reading Nook.”

His face lit up. “I was just there the other day! Very lovely place! I love how you've set it up.”

She couldn't help her blush, never good at accepting compliments. “I….uh….. thank you.” There was a quiet pause. “Surely you must have work today?”

“I took today off. So I have some free time.”

“What are you doing with the free time given to you?”

He looked down at his boots, as if he were embarrassed.  “Me?  I’m using it to meet a very pretty lady.”

It was like something clicked. Suddenly, she recognized him: the soldier, the baronet, even the doctor.  Just as the realization hit her, Tom had the same recognition: the flower girl from the market, the secretary, and the sickly lady who was poisoned by her mother.

Each felt as if the missing puzzle piece to their hearts fell into place.  Suddenly, nothing else mattered.  It was as if they were the only 2 people in the entire world.  Both had similar thoughts, recognizing each other from their respective dreams.  They spoke simultaneously.

“It’s you…..”

Both became quiet again before Tom spoke up. “But how? I thought they were just dreams.”

She shook her head.  “I have no idea.   I even started writing mine down to possibly base a book off of them.”

“I was doing the same.”

Each pulled out their computers and began to share their files. There were too many pieces of overlapping information to dismiss it as a weird coincidence, but it would take a lot more time to really go through all of it. 

“I wonder…..” Olivia spoke.

“Yes?”

She felt silly even suggesting this. “I wonder if these dreams might be….”

“Past lives?” He finished her sentence. She nodded. “There's one way to find out. Research.”

Before they could dive into it, Olivia’s phone started ringing: the mechanic.  

“Bad news, I'm afraid. Your radiator is leaking bad, and your engine is barely holding itself together, but the main issue is your fuel injector. It's completely shot. No idea how this car lasted this long.”

Olivia let out a deep sigh. “Can it be fixed?”

The mechanic let out a soft laugh. “Technically yes, but it would cost you so much that it'd be cheaper for you to sell this for parts and buy a new car. If you decide to do that, I'll make you an offer on this vehicle.”

Olivia groaned. “I'll have to think about it for a bit.”

“Not a problem, ma'am. We'll hold onto it for you until you decide.” With that, she hung up the phone. 

“Not good news, I take it?”

She shook her head. “He said it'd be cheaper to just buy another car and sell the current one for parts.” She buried her face in her hands. “What am I going to do? I can't afford a new car.”

Tom moved around to sit next to her and pulled her into his arms. His comforting hold along with his musky scent helped her find some calm. “We'll figure it out. Don't you worry.”

They discussed what little they’d found for the next hour or two before Liv got a call saying she was needed back at the bookstore.  Tom happily volunteered to take her, knowing where it was.  When they arrived, Clark was frantic.  He had a family emergency and had to go to his parents, probably for a few days.  Olivia shooed him out of the store saying that family comes first before turning back to Tom.  “Looks like I’ll be covering his shifts for a while which is fine.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”  Tom wanted to be of service somehow not to mention he didn’t want to leave her presence just yet.  Looking around, there were a few customers in the store.  One older gentleman looked like he had a question.  So rather than wait for Olivia to respond, he went to assist, especially as she was currently ringing up a customer.

This was how the remainder of the day played out.  When there weren’t patrons to help, Tom worked on putting books back where they belonged and tidying the shelves while Olivia went through financial books.  

Neither of them noticed Brad and Chad observing them from next door.

Once the shop was finally closed, Tom and Olivia sat down in the comfy chairs by the doors that joined her shop to the coffee shop next door.  “Thank you so much for your help today.  You didn’t have to, but I appreciate it.”

He smiled back at her.  “I was more than happy to help.  Still am if you need more help while Clark is out.”

“Be careful.  I might just take you up on that.”  Liv let out a small laugh, secretly hoping Tom would show up, not necessarily to help, but she enjoyed his presence and realized that although they had just met that morning, she was quickly becoming attached to him.  What she didn’t realize was that Tom was also quickly becoming attached to her.  

Before parting, they exchanged numbers.

When she checked in on her store’s instagram site, the number of followers had tripled from that morning and continued to rise.  

Suddenly her phone ping’d.

Chad: I found the perfect person for you.  Says they can start as soon as tomorrow.

Olivia: That would be great!  Clark is out for a few days, and I could use someone sooner rather than later.

Chad: What time do you want them there?

Olivia: The store opens tomorrow at 10.  If they can come at 9, I can spend some time with them going over a few things.

Chad: Sounds good.

Olivia: What’s his/her name?

Chad: Their name is Rain (pronouns they/them)

Olivia: Good to know.  I don’t want to accidentally offend my new employee on their first day.

At 9 AM on the dot, there was a knock on the shop door.  There stood a shorter individual, maybe 5’4” with short, dark brown hair and a look of complete confidence and badassery.  Olivia already had a feeling this would work out well and let them in. 

“Thank you so much for starting on such short notice!”

Rain smiled back at them.  “Not a problem!  I go to the local university and have been looking for a part time job.  I overheard Chad yesterday at the cafe asking Brad if he knew anyone looking for work, and I just kinda shoved myself in there.”

Olivia laughed.  “I’m glad you did!  What’s your major?”

“Digital and Social Media Management.”

“Holy shit, really?”

Rain nodded.

“I just got my instagram page up and going, but the whole thing confuses me.  I’ve never been great at that kind of thing.”

Rain smiled.  “I’d be happy to take a look!”

Olivia was so happy she could just scream.  “That’d be fantastic!  But let me show you around the store first.”  They spent the next 45 minutes going around the store, Olivia showing them where different sections were before showing them how the register worked.

“Have you thought about upgrading to a more digital register platform?”

Olivia shook her head.  “I have a hard enough time with my new IG account.  I think a digital register would make my brain explode.”

Rain laughed.  “They’re super easy.  There was one at my last job.  If you want, I can show you which one they had, and it wouldn’t take more than a few minutes to teach you how to use it.  Once it’s set up, it’s pretty self explanatory.”  They pick it all up very quickly.  Once the store opens and customers start coming in, Rain really shines.  Olivia makes a note to get name tags made.  In fact, Chad and Brad have extras next door with a label maker that she can use in the meantime. 

“Hey Rain.  I’ll be right back.  Can you hold down the fort for about 15 minutes?”  Rain says it’s not a problem.

When Olivia checks in at Deja Brew, she lets herself behind the counter.  The staff there knows her and doesn’t say anything.  Going into the back office, she spots Brad.  “Hey.  Do you still have some extra name tags?”

“Yeah, babe.”  He opens a drawer and pulls some out along with the label maker.  “Whacha want them to say?” He asks this, knowing Olivia is helpless with this kind of thing.  10 minutes later, Olivia goes back to her shop with 4 name tags: hers, Rain’s, Clark’s, and an extra blank one as a just in case and gives one to Rain.  “I’ll get better ones made, but here you go in the meantime.”  Rain saw that not only did each of the tags have names but also pronouns, and it meant a lot that Olivia got their pronouns correct.  “Thanks!”  Rain then happily put their name tag on.

“I want to look into getting aprons for everyone in the store as a kind of ‘uniform,’ but I haven't found one I really like yet.”

This made them smile.  “I can definitely help with that!”

Olivia grinned.  “Careful there, Rain.  I may not let you go if you keep this up!”

They smiled and laughed a bit.  “Not a problem with me!”

About an hour after opening, she heard the bell chime: a customer arrived.  Looking towards the front, it wasn’t just any customer.

“Tom?  What are you doing here?”

He simply grinned back at her.  “I had a feeling with Clark out that you might need some help today?  Or perhaps just some company?”  Just as he finished his question, he noticed a new person behind the register.  “Ah, I see you’ve already got some.”

“Rain is my newest employee.  Just started this morning.  I love them already!”  This made Tom happy.  A slew of people came in behind him, cutting off her reply.  Olivia turned to help them, but Rain was already on it, helping a couple who came in together.  Tom went to help someone who came in by themself, and Olivia observed, waiting to see if anyone else needed help.  It was unusually busy for a Saturday morning.

When Rain was finished helping customers, Olivia took the opportunity to go over their school schedule in order to set up their shift schedule.  “I don’t want you to miss any classes or be late because of me, and I want to make sure you have plenty of time to study, which you’re welcome to do here when it’s dead or even when you’re off the clock.”

They were able to agree on a schedule that worked for both of them, some of the shifts overlapping a bit with Clark. 

Rain stayed through closing, agreeing to come in the next day as well to continue learning the ropes. Well, more to make sure they didn't have questions but would also start working on the shop's Instagram page. 

Tom stayed all day as well, having brought the notes he wrote down about his dreams, only having left long enough towards closing to pick up food for him and Olivia. Italian food was selected for which Olivia was grateful. Not only was she starving, but Italian was also her favorite. 

They chatted over dinner about things like books and personal interests. When dinner was finished, Olivia invited him up to her apartment as she hadn't brought her computer to the bookshop that day. 

“You have a lovely place! It's also a very convenient location.” 

She couldn't hold back a smile. “It's nice living just above my shop. Helps reduce travel time.” Tom laughed at her bad joke. 

Olivia grabbed her computer, and they went about comparing notes for a while. They placed a copy of their notes on a shared file, using a third page to coordinate names, dates, and locations. There was so much to go through, and it got later and later into the night. 

Taking a break, Olivia made some tea and brought out some biscuits. 

Before she realized it, she'd fallen asleep, her head sliding down to land softly on Tom's shoulder. He didn't have the heart to move and wake her up. He leaned his head back and fell asleep shortly himself. 

Robert took his wife to a movie as she'd been complaining that they never went out anymore. Emma'd been acting peculiar, and if this is what it took to help her feel better, then he'd go out with her more often. He noticed she was going out more and more on her own and wanted to somehow show her that he was still in this marriage with her, even if he didn't quite feel it himself.  Something in him said she was having an affair, but he dismissed it.  If she was truly that unhappy, he thought she would talk to him. When they arrived at the Rialto, popcorn and drinks were purchased, and seats were selected. It was looking to be a sold out show. Emma left to use the toilets while Robert held their seats. 

Likewise, Audrey and George were visiting London in early December for his work trip, and she was itching to go see the new Christmas movie Miracle on 34th Street starring Maureen O'Hara, having loved her movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame. 

They arrived a few minutes late, having gotten a bit lost getting there. George went to get treats from the concessions stand while Audrey scouted out seats, finding an empty seat here and there before spotting 2 together. She maneuvered herself to take the one furthest in and placed her coat over the seat next to her for her husband. Without thinking about it, she went to place her arms on the arm rests and startled herself by finding it was already occupied. Looking to her left, she started to apologize. 

Robert had been watching the dancing drink and popcorn on the screen when someone's arm landed on top of his. Looking to his right, he was getting ready to give them the ‘why don't you look where you put that arm’ but found himself, instead, getting lost in the eyes of a complete stranger, a beautiful woman who he had to remind himself was not his wife. 

When Audrey locked eyes with him, she forgot for a moment that she was already married. Both sat there feeling a jolt of electricity from the touch, mesmerized until their respective partners took their seats. 

Both had issues paying attention to the film in front of them. Rather, their fingers slowly found the others, entwined in a forbidden hold there in the dark with someone that was not their spouse while their partner’s eyes were glued to the screen. It started with a pinky tapping her hand and ended with holding hands under the arm rest. Occasionally his knuckles would brush along her thigh causing her cheeks to turn pink, even more glad for the darkness of the theatre.  When the movie came to an end…

Tom and Olivia woke up holding hands in the same manner, fingers entwined. Looking at each other, they didn't have to speak to know they had the same dream.

To say they became inseparable would be an understatement. While the next few days were extremely busy for them both, they spent as much time together as they could, even as far as Tom bringing student papers to her shop to review while she helped customers. 

Things eased up when Clark returned. His dad had been in an accident but thankfully made a swift recovery. He and Rain hit it off as friends when they got a chance to meet. Well, at least as much as he could show enthusiasm which wasn't much. 

Rain settled themself in nicely, revamping the shop's social media page, even creating the book of the week suggestion as well as “blind date” with a book. 

Olivia and Tom were able to spend more time over the next few days, working on the notes about their dreams, and found some information.

Olivia found the first connection. “This article from 1974 talks about a Valerie Hutton who was shot during a gas station robbery gone wrong. It says she was there with her fiance, Robert Laing.”  That’s what they called him in his dream with Valerie.

The next find was from Robert. “I managed to find a record for Captain James Nicholls. It says here that he fought in the great war but died in battle.”

“That would be World War I, right?” Robert nodded. 

The site he found had some good information, including a picture as well as an unsent letter from Captain Nicholls that was seemingly preserved as it was in his tent and subsequently placed in a file, found years later and uploaded to a WWI preservation site.

Olivia managed to find an article regarding the death of Valerie Hutton.

The most startling article they found regarded a building collapse killing all residents, including one Dr. Robert Laing. 

The more they found, the harder and harder it was to deny their unspoken theory about soulmates and reincarnation, though they never did find any information about their shared dream regarding the movie. Nothing was found for Grace Narracott, and the only mention of Josephine was from the obituary of Sir Thomas Sharpe. 

“Highgate cemetery.  That’s not too far from here.  Perhaps a trip is in order?” Olivia quickly agreed.  Looking at the time, it was only mid-afternoon.  The bookshop was manned by both Rain and Clark who kept things running like clockwork.  Tom and Olivia decided it was as good a time as any to go check it out.  When looking on the cemetery website, they were able to get a general idea of where to look.

While Tom started the car, Olivia picked up 2 hot chocolates from next door as it was getting colder these days.  Tom input the address into his GPS, ready to go once Olivia climbed in.  “Thank you, darling.”  He took a sip, and his eyes brightened.  “This may be the best hot chocolate I’ve had in a very long time!”

She smiled.  “I’m glad you like it!  It’s my favorite.”  They sipped their drinks and chatted as the GPS guided them to Highgate.  Along the way, they chatted a bit about their findings and finished their hot chocolate.

When they arrived, Tom looked at the plot coordinates provided and searched around for markers which Olivia was able to find.  They were able to find a place to park nearby where Thomas and Josephine should be buried.  

After about 25 minutes, they finally found it.

Something about being at the grave of 2 individuals they had dreams about electrified the air.  This spot felt both foreign yet familiar at the same time.  Any lingering doubts disappeared as they looked at each other, gazing into one another’s eyes.  Before either realized what they were doing, Tom’s arms were wrapped around her as Olivia’s wrapped around his neck, lost in a searing kiss that could be felt across time itself as if the missing link from the chain was finally complete.

18 months later

Olivia and Tom stood at the small podium in her bookshop in front of a packed store.  “Thank you so much for coming to support our book!  We’ve spent so much time working on this and are extremely proud of how it turned out.”

One person raised their hand.  “How did you come up with the idea?”

Tom laughed.  “I guess you could say it came to us in a dream.”  

They wrote and published the book as fiction, especially since most of what they’d dreamt about couldn’t be proven with any amount of research.  Plus, a number of people would probably think Tom was nuts to say he was a reincarnation of King Henry V.

The event was catered by Deja Brew, and local members of the press were in the audience.  It didn’t even take 2 months for it to reach the top 10 best seller list in the New York Times, Amazon, and other book sites.  People couldn’t get enough of it.

Not only was their book a huge success, the shop became immensely popular.  A lot of thanks for that was due to Rain and their ingenuity on the shop’s instagram page, so much so to the point that although they weren’t going to graduate for another 6 months, companies were already reaching out, interested in hiring them.

Clark continued to work part-time at the store, having another year to go at university.

As for Tom and Olivia?  They married a few months prior to the book launch.  To say they were happy would be an understatement.  Their book agent had them scheduled for several appearances for quite some time; however, they had to limit how many appearances they would be doing and for how long.

Why?

They found out 2 days after the initial book launch that they were expecting.  Tom and Olivia would welcome a baby boy on March 3rd: Henry Thomas Hiddleston.

Taglist: @vbecker10 @eleniblue @msdjsg7 @lovingchoices14 @buttercupcookies-blog @mischief-dream @queenoffiresign88

Taglist is open!

[idyllcy]

Gamer girl bathwater

Word Count: 2.7k

Summary: It's just water for a video. Right?

You grin at the camera. "Hey!! So, today I'm going to react to some streamers! It's been a long time request by the majority of you, and since I'm a decently sized account, I think it could be beneficial to both sides!"

The video plays, and you go through all of the footage.

You stare at the screen.

"So," You hum, watching yourself click onto Twitch. "I heard one of the really popular streamers was streaming right now, so I wanted to check it out."

Clicking into Komaeda's account, you blink at the chat. He's... really pretty.

"Hey... does he have merch?" You click around on his account, and you pause. "HE'S SELLING BATHWATER??? Wait."

The stream screams at you, and you grin evilly. "Okay. I am an adult who makes adult money, who makes reasonable adult purchases. Having said that, this is content for a video. I'm buying the bathwater."

The chat yells, and you tip a hundred dollars to Komaeda's stream. You lean on your face onto your palm on the facecam, and you press six zeros after the one.

jackielope: ?????? A MILLION???

"No." You retype the number. "I'll donate a million if he agrees to sell the gamer girl bathwater."

coffeeandsalt: They've done it. They've gone insane.

You grin at the camera, and the stream watches as you donate a million dollars to the streamer.

Komaeda blinks at the number that flashes on his screen. What.

user 600613S donated four dollars to user K0M43D4.

"Thank you... user 600613S for the donation," Komaeda blinks, registering the number in his mind. "... Is this enough for an actual basin of gamer girl water?"

Komaeda purses his lips and smiles in amusement. "I don't think so. How much are you going to pay? You think 4 dollars is enough?"

You donate another four dollars with a message. "I'll wire you 1 mil if you ship it over to me."

Komaeda blinks wordlessly. "..."

Your stream yells at you in the chat, and you grin.

"And how do I know you're not lying?"

"I'll take you in pms right now. I'll message you on discord," You type in chat, and Komaeda pauses. "1 mil."

Your chat explodes as you actually manage to dm him successfully, and you hide your discord. You watch yourself log off of the stream quickly, and you watch yourself type through the chat with him. Nagito Komaeda had sold you his bathwater for 40 bucks.

You laugh as you edit the footage, and you finally finish after four long hours of sitting with your back hunched like snow white's stepmother. Opening the camera to record the last bit, you grin.

"So," You shake a bottle in your hand. "I finally got the bathwater. You guys watched me actually do this on stream earlier, but I did end up wiring him a lot of money and getting the bathwater. In the process, I also found his onlyfans, but that doesn't matter as much. What matters is that you all get a video in two to three weeks of me doing something with this."

You finish editing, and you upload the video, crashing into bed, ignoring how much shit you've just stirred up from a single video.

Komaeda sits in his room, cheeks red, fanning his face with his hand. There is no way you. you were buying his bathwater. What would you even be doing with it? His favorite streamer? The one who inspired him to stream? The Youtuber who seemed to have more fans than possible? You asked for his bathwater? God. What were you planning to do with it? He's kind of scared. He's also kind of turned on...

You wake up two days later, staring at your ceiling, completely out of it.

"Right. I need to make a video before the water goes bad." You pull yourself from bed, grabbing your camera. "We're going to make a cocktail."

You set up the camera, and you grin as it starts recording.

"Hi! So," You hold the package up, all of the addresses crossed off. "I got the water as stated in my last video. I did buy it. Yes. He didn't let me pay him a million dollars, but I did end up paying him much more than he requested. We're going to purify this water because I don't want a tapeworm, and then we're going to have a little fun with it."

You bring out a Brita, pour the water into the pitcher, and leave it out to filter. You flip through your phone, and you laugh at your comments. The malicious ones are amusing, but the idea of your entire fanbase losing their minds at you offering a million dollars for a random streamer's bathwater was funnier. The comments are losing their minds over you.

kisskiss69: You know, I thought they were already pretty cracked, but offering a million dollars to an egirl-based streamer is taking me out.

sonyar: ONLYFANS??? Don't be shy 👀 drop the link ♥

You laugh, closing your phone.

The Brita finishes filtering, and you turn the camera back on.

"Alright," You shake the pitcher. "We're making a beverage. I have a shot glass; I have half a pitcher of water; I am going to drink all of this like regular water. If you're new here and wondering if there's something wrong with me, please know there are a lot of issues. Please be more specific when asking. Alright, cheers."

You hold the shot glass up, and you grin. Placing it on the counter, you bite on it, throwing your head back to take it. Gotta give the fans what they want.

Pulling the glass from your lips, you swallow.

"There was no taste... However, I do NOT want any of you guys doing the stupid things I do. Do not drink bathwater. It's HIGHLY unsanitary, even if you filter it through like I did," You remind. "I'm going to drink the rest of this and then go on stream. Stream will not know I was drinking bathwater the entire time. They will notice it's a different mug from what I usually drink out of, though."

The stream runs smoothly, and you press the water to your lips.

blatantsing: What happened to the bathwater?

You purse your lips. "The video comes out in like three days! Ah, right. Since I remember, I'm going to Anicon this year. I'm cosplaying, so... if you want a pic, come hunt me down in the crowd like you always do."

fluffypillow69: Ooh! Who are you cosplaying as?

You grin. "You're going to have to guess. It's a new cosplay, so it's none of the one's I've previously done."

You finish the last of the water, and you grin at the chat. "I'm going to finish stream here. I have to edit, and you'll see the video soon."

When you post the video, the internet breaks. You gain 20k subscribers overnight, and suddenly Twitter is trying to cancel you. You aren't even bothered, laughing your ass off. You were free today. You wanted to watch the male stream. He's so pretty.

"So," Komaeda fiddles with his fingers on stream. "I'm going to be reacting to that one video where the Youtuber drank my bathwater. Please... do not come for me. I haven't watched it yet, and I wanted you all to watch me die on the inside. I'm a huge fan of theirs... so this was very conflicting."

The comments flood, asking why.

"I..." He hides his face in his hands. "Don't know whether to be disturbed or turned on."

You double over in laughter, watching Komaeda pull up the video and start it. He has a stuffed animal in his arms, and you laugh whenever he has to pause to laugh or hide his face in embarrassment. He's cute. He's adorable. You're literally in love with him. You don't expect him to like you, though. You did make a video of drinking his bathwater.

Komaeda finishes the video, and he places his hands together, leaning on his fingers. "I'm going to. That was one rollercoaster of a video, but that was way funnier than I thought it would be. I... do not know what possessed me to send them my bathwater, but it was a funny result. I hope none of you decide to buy my bathwater. That thing is already taken down from my website."

You fall off your chair in hysterics. That was hilarious.

You keep his stream running in the background as you style your wig. Komaeda plays Minecraft, the sounds of the rain and pigs filling your room. You'd usually style your wig on stream, but you suppose styling it while doing something else works too. You were excited to finally get to lie to everyone about your height. It was a joke. You had to stick to platforms to even want to achieve the character's height.

You wonder who Komaeda's going as.

Typing with your free hand, you ask him who he's going as.

"I'm going as Servant!" Komaeda smiles. "He already looks eerily similar to me, so I thought I might be able to pull it off."

You freeze in the adjustment of your wig.

The black wig in your hand suddenly feels so much heavier.

Oh, you're going to have the time of your life at Anicon.

The day of the convention itself arrives, and you've never been so glad to have not booked a table. It smells like shit here. The sweat and perfume coming from everyone's body is a whole mess. You almost want to throw up, yet you continue through the crowd. You were going to find Komaeda. You were going to find the gamer boy who sold you his bathwater and was in love with you. You were going to die on this hill if it's that what took you. You were going to hunt down servant even if it took you a lifetime.

You finally find him, head sticking out from the crowd, and you cough and get into character.

"I've been looking for you," You step next to him, reaching for his chain.

Komaeda's eyes glimmer as he sees you, and he smiles. "Kamukura-san!"

"Meshi," You hum flatly. "Did you get lost?"

Komaeda's fans crowd around the two of you, and they stare at you.

"They look kind of familiar."

"I don't know how, but they're... I'm jealous of their gender."

"Give it to me."

You stare at Komaeda, and you hum. "Alright, I'm breaking character. Can I get a photo?" You laugh, and Komaeda freezes, eyes wide. He recognizes that laugh. You were cosplaying as Kamukura? You were cosplaying as... his crush? His master? Oh. oh. That's surprising. You... did you plan it? Is his luck speaking? Did you plan this? No. There's no way you'd plan something as silly as matching with him for a cosplay.

"Hm? Komaeda?"

"Yes!" He stumbles over his words. "You can. I'm so sorry. I spaced out. Your cosplay is really nice."

"Thank you," You beam, and one of the fans takes a photo of the two of you.

"Can... I get them from you later? You can send them to me," He mumbles as he lowers himself to his knees, the chain still in your hand.

"Yeah," You get into character, dropping your expression and hardening your eyes. The fan has you step on Komaeda's crotch, and your eyes widen.

"Excuse me???" You stare at the fan, and they grin at you.

"Please?"

"I'll step on his thigh, but I don't know about... his crotch."

"I'm fine with it," Komaeda mumbles. "For the picture. The effect."

You furrow your brows at him, yet you don't argue with it. You're careful to not press too hard, and you tilt your head, mimicking a sneer. A larger crowd forms around the two of you, and you hear people whisper about the whole situation. You wonder if you're going to get canceled a second time. Komaeda stares at you with madness in his eyes, and the fan finishes, handing you your phone back.

"Thank you!" You grin. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry. Did it hurt? Please get off of your knees. I'm going to get flamed for having you kneel-"

"Please marry me," Komaeda mumbles as you help him up.

"What."

"A-ah, I mean," Komaeda rambles and looks for an excuse, and you purse your lips. "I'm sorry. I blurted it out in character before I even had the chance to think."

"It's fine," You smile. "enjoy the rest of con!"

Komaeda watches you leave, hearts in his eyes. Ah. He likes you. A lot.

The two of you wake up to your cosplay photos trending the next morning.

"GOOD MORNING STREAM," You yawn, holding your head up with your hand. "I'm so tired. I did not sleep well yesterday at all. No, user 420tits, it was not because I slept with someone. It was because I couldn't get the stupid image of Meshi out of my brain."

K0M43D4 joined the stream.

You blink at the screen.

K0M43D4: We're trending on twitter

"Huh?" You click open your Twitter, scrolling through your feed. "Wait... this isn't. OH, shit. This is my stan account. Let's pretend that we didn't just see me try and find myself on my stan account."

jackielope: was that... a Komaeda stan account?

"No," You shoot the user down quickly, neck growing warm. "Ah, we are trending. Really hard. Why is there a twitter headline for us. HUh??"

K0M43D4: I'm sorry you have to trend with trash like me...

"Komaeda, in unfiltered honesty, I'd jump your bones if given the chance. Don't say that about yourself."

The stream chat spams, and you read Komaeda's live tweets about him panicking. You stare dead into the camera, forgetting that Komaeda's on stream. "I want to fuck that man so bad."

kisskiss69: KOMAEDA'S STILL ON STREAM.

You stare into the camera, your heart visibly dropping, and you panic. "ALRIGHT!! I'm logging off for the day. I think I need to sleep before anything else. See you all when I recover from telling Komaeda I'd smash."

You toss your phone to the side. You need time to mentally recover from that. You don't want to see yourself get flamed for telling Komaeda you'd smash. You... you don't know. You'll sleep it off, hopefully.

You did not, in fact, sleep it off. You wake up to 30k more followers on Twitter, and you stare at your notifications, scrolling through. You pause at Komaeda tagging you in his tweet. Do... do you want to see this? Is this a smart decision?

Holy shit, Komaeda wants to fuck you too.

You quote retweet it, joking when Komaeda was free. You never thought you'd live to the day that you get laid because you bought bathwater off of someone else.

Komaeda on the other hand? He's in stream when he receives the notification. It's already hard enough streaming with his face flushed from embarrassment. He pauses his game and hides his face in the plush in his hands. Half of your subs are logged on in his stream, and the chat goes wild.

"I'm getting laid because I sold my bathwater, oh my god." Komaeda's ears burn hard, and his eyes widen in realization.

cr2ssie: Komaeda, if you don't fuck them, I will.

"NO!" Komaeda yelps a little too loud. "I'll respond. I... I'll do it. I... oh my god. Do you think they'll let me post it on onlyfans if I give them half of the profits?"

The stream says yes.

"I'll... is that too quick? Oh, my. I'm going to. I'll figure it out. I promise." Komaeda stumbles over his words. "I can't believe they want to sleep with trash like me..."

Komaeda jumps on the opportunity to message you back. You're almost caught off guard at how quick Komaeda responds to you. You have to take a moment to breathe.

kmda: If the offer is still available..?

Fuck yes.

A new feeling of excitement bubbles in your throat, and you chew on your bottom lip.

600613S: Always.

[the-technicolor-whiscash]

me reading your posts about astronaut history (i literally do not know anything at all but am drawn in by your thoughts and read all the posts all the way through)

Thank you lmao I know too much about the early astronauts and have no one to subject to my knowledge so I bring it here. I cannot deny i definitely have a little bit of a parasocial thing going on there but unlike many who blindly deify these men I at least acknowledge that many of them were extremely flawed (which speaks to why so many of them got divorced because they were workaholics riding death machines for a living) and while i greatly enjoy learning about them and poking fun at them, I will be the first to admit that some of them should not be admired for anything other than the work they did. Alan Shepard was a total dog who cheated on his wife obsessively (and he was also kind of a bitch if you didn't play his game right), Buzz Aldrin's a notorious shithead who was a raging alcoholic and even the other astronauts couldnt stand being around him, Jim Irwin was an abusive husband before having a religious experience on the moon and becoming an evangelical, and several of them went on to become republican politicians. These guys were a product of their time and their upbringing. Nearly all of them were former military test pilots. None of them were good at expressing human emotions except for maybe Alan Bean (whose artistic spirit caused him issues in the astronaut office but resulted in some of the most beautiful space artwork) because they effectively had the emotions beat out of them by the nature of being a test pilot and watching up to 50% of your coworkers get turned into ground beef.

The early astronauts were an interesting crowd in a totally unique time in human history. That's why I like learning about them, learning about their dynamics, their personalities. Do I think I'd be capable of being friends with many of them? Absolutely not. Truth be told I get on pretty well with former military folks but what I can't stand is an ego. These sons of bitches had egoes that stretched up to the moon and back. And part of the issue is that the astronaut selection process back then was looking for the all-american boy (preferably with a degree in engineering) who just so happened to have a personality capable of being stapled into a capsule with as many as two other dudes for a week or two with no private toilet. I am extremely glad that we've moved beyond that in our astronaut criteria and have gone on to hire people who can express human emotions. And also gay people shoutout to Sally Ride for being the first known queer person to fly in space (even though she wasn't out at the time she flew). We may not have gotten the first man in space but we did beat the Russians on gay people in space so I'd consider that a space race victory.

Oh also don't take my word as gospel here much of my knowledge comes from firsthand sources which have a certain degree of bias from whichever astronaut has chosen to write a memoir to capitalize off of the last successful thing he did in his life because he figured it could net him a little cash (Buzz has done this many times, Fred Haise has done it most recently albeit with a fair bit of success because at least his book is pretty funny) and every single one of these guys has a different description of events depending on the angle he's coming at it from so while I try to read as many different perspectives as I can, outside of video/audio footage, official documentation, and mission transcripts you are never going to get 100% of the story from just a personal account. That's part of why i read the transcripts I didn't even know about the piss tube problems on Apollo 7 because as far as I can remember Wally didn't even mention it in his memoir but it takes a prime seat in the transcripts. But that's also a point of view you should take to all historical research there is never just one perspective and each perspective outside of the genuine technical facts has biases and opinions one way or another.

Anyway this got long but I'm glad you enjoy my carefully curated astrodrama

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

I’ve spent the last few weeks watching the ACMS streams from Edinburgh 2019, which might be the longest I’ve gone on any comedy thing, since starting this blog, without writing a post about it. Normally I’m writing posts about things as I’m watching (reading, listening to) them, but I happened to dive into this one while I was having a breakdown and dealing with a bunch of other really difficult stuff, and just wanted to watch and not write, and now I’ve realized I managed to watch all ~40 hours without mentioning it on this blog at all.

ACMS is a mixed-bill thing that runs in London and Edinburgh where Thom Tuck and John-Luke Roberts host a bunch of different comedians to do whatever they like, it’s the sort of thing that I want to understand better. In that I often tend to not “get” clowning or experimental-type comedy, with some significant exceptions (oh my God was John Kearns' latest stand-up special ever great), but by and large, I like my comedy to come from a person standing there while saying stuff into a microphone. ACMS has some of that. And also a lot of other things.

I’d seen bits of their stuff on YouTube before, their Comedy Blaps (featuring quite a few well-known people) and some clips that had been recorded there. And I saw one night of it live when I was in Edinburgh a couple of months ago. That was… well, it was a thing I’d wanted to experience while I was in Edinburgh. There were a lot of acts on. A couple of them were good. A bunch of them I did not enjoy so much. But it was 2 AM and I was watching people do weird things I didn’t understand and I felt like I was “experiencing the festival”. And Thom Tuck was hosting and he was great fun.

They livestreamed all sixteen nights that they did from the 2019 Edinburgh Festival, and I was sent the videos from those streams months ago, early this year sometime. At the time I was quite excited to look through them, but ended up just skimming them – skipping through and watching a few bits and pieces that looked interesting, but not all of it. Because the whole sixteen-video collection was nearly 40 hours of footage, and at the time I was deeply into my binge-listen of either Elis James & John Robins stuff or Peacock & Gamble stuff, I’m not sure but either way I could not fit forty hours of video into my schedule.

Actually, I think it was probably the former, because I do remember at one point stopping it at some random point, when Thom Tuck was fairly disoriented and/or drunk, and was trying to bring on the next act but didn’t know who it was, so he just started saying stuff, and announced that the next comedian on would be Ian Boldsworth. Which got a big laugh, and I remember that when I first watched that on a skim, I did not get the joke. When I got to that point again this week, I went, “Ohhhh, I get it now. It’s because this was 2019, so Ian Boldsworth was definitely not waiting in the wings to appear on a comedy show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, he was sitting in a house in the middle of nowhere in England, hating every single person in that building, probably every person in that city. Good joke, Thom.”

That is one of the few reasons why I knew Thom Tuck from before. I didn’t know a lot about him going into this. I knew he was pretty good on one episode of Do The Right Thing. I knew he used to be in a sketch group with Humphrey Kerr, posh tall man who used to flirt with Jon Richardson on 8 Out of 10 Cats/Catsdown, and with David Reed, guy who married Danielle Ward (I’ll say the same thing here that I say about Jonny & the Baptists and Gary Delaney – defining a woman by her better-known male partner about is problematic, but I’m pretty sure it’s fine the other way). I knew they were supposed to win the Perrier Award instead of David O’Doherty but got deemed ineligible for being a play, I don’t know why I knew that, I guess I heard someone mention it on some podcast or other.

Anyway, the other thing I knew about Thom Tuck is that he was incredibly funny on the Peacock & Gamble stuff. They interviewed him from Edinburgh in 2012, and then had him back on their FUBAR Radio thing in 2014, and his episode of the latter is one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard. Peacock & Gamble at their best in general is among the funniest thing I’ve ever heard, and their segment with Thom Tuck as a guest was one of the funniest bits in that entire radio run, and Ian Boldsworth gets a lot of the credit for that but Thom Tuck sure deserves a fair bit as well (and, you know, also some to Ed Gamble).

So I didn’t know a huge amount about Thom Tuck when going into this, but I’ve sure watched more of him now. I knew a bit more about John-Luke Roberts. A couple of years ago, I read all this stuff about him doing brilliant absurdist theatre and revolutionizing comedy, and I thought, “I want to be able to understand cool things like experimental comedy. Maybe I’ll watch that and see if I can find a way to enjoy it.” His 2022 Edinburgh show, A World Just Like Our Own But…, had just been livestreamed on NextUp, so I watched that. And I was shocked at how incredibly easy it was to enjoy. So funny, so smart, so well-written, captivating, so accessible for something that was so absurdist. I then went to Go Faster Stripe and watched one of his other shows – I can’t write the whole title, it’s the one with a title that’s like an MIA song. I liked that one a lot as well. I’m glad I watched them in that order, because I think the 2022 one was a bit more accessible, so I went into the MIA-titled one with a better idea of what sort of thing he does, and that made it easier to understand. But neither was hard going, at all. They were just good. Really, really good.

So I went into these ACMS videos with a good opinion of both the guys who host it. A few weeks ago, I decided my schedule is a bit clearer so I should finally watch these things for real. I went through all 40 hours, finished it last night.

It was… I mean, I’m glad I watched it. Felt like I experienced the Fringe. The good stuff and the bad stuff. Some of the acts were really entertaining. Some were the sort of thing where I could tell they’re probably good at what they do, it’s just not my thing. Some where things where I think I might enjoy it if I saw a full hour and I were in that room in person, it just doesn’t really translate to seven minutes on a screen five years later. Some seemed like they’re probably good at this, but were using ACMS to try out wild untested ideas, and not all of them worked. And some of them seemed like they might just be shit at comedy. To be honest, with my limited understanding of the more alt- side of alternative comedy, I couldn’t always tell the difference between that last option, and the middle ones. But I gave it a good guess. And I got properly entertained by at least a couple of the acts who were on each of the nights.

To be honest, my favourite parts were the compering. Which means I think my favourite nights were earlier in the festival, when Thom Tuck and John-Luke Roberts were both on. They’re both so quick-witted, and clearly so experienced at working together in this specific format, their dynamic was enormous fun. A huge amount of playfulness, a tiny bit of tension, enough inside jokes to be borderline obnoxious, but I like borderline obnoxious inside jokes.

That came up in the podcast stuff I went looking for, after really enjoying both the hosts. I went and listened to their ComComPod episodes Thom Tuck’s from 2015 and John-Luke Roberts’ from 2018. John-Luke Roberts’ was a brilliant episode, I thought. He came off as so incredibly intelligent throughout it, had so many thoughtful things to say, and it all felt really natural. I wrote a post recently in which I threw out some names of comedians who come across as really intelligent in their work and/or when they’re just talking unscripted, and I really want to add John-Luke Roberts to that list after listening to him go back and forth with Stuart Goldsmith.

Here’s a specific thing I noticed while listening to this: John-Luke Roberts and Stuart Goldsmith are both people who are unafraid of a little dead air, and that’s to their credit. So often, when I’m listening to an interview, I’ll hear a really complex question to which I’d love a complex answer, but the person has to reply immediately, and even if they’re given ample time to talk (which they’re often not), they’re not given ample time to think. I often think I wish they could get the questions in advance, go away and really consider what their answer is, and them back and explain it in greater detail than they could off the cuff.

There were several points during John-Luke Roberts’ ComComPod episode when Stuart Goldsmith would ask him one of those really deep and thought-provoking questions, and John-Luke Roberts would take a noticeable amount of time, like 5 or 10 seconds, before answering. A few times I looked at my phone to make sure I hadn’t accidentally paused it or anything. Stuart Goldsmith employed the technique that I’ve heard him use in a lot of interviews, where he’ll ask a question and then just shut up for ages, letting his guest talk themselves around to a more interesting point than they could get to if Goldsmith were jumping in with the natural ways that interviews usually guide conversations along. But combine this with John-Luke Roberts’ willingness to stop and think before answering, and you got some odd-sounding pauses. Followed by interesting discussions.

Thom Tuck’s episode was… different from that. I mean, it was also interesting. But it was different from most interviews I’d heard. There was a surprising amount of tension underlying most of the conversation, which I found fairly entertaining, but also odd. Stuart Goldsmith made it clear that he’s a huge fan of Thom Tuck’s work, possibly to the point where this is why Stuart challenged him harder than he’d usually go, like he expected more of Thom. And it was clear that they’re friend in real life, which you’d have to be, to be able to say some of the stuff they said to each other. For example, when Stuart Goldsmith said: “Do you think the accusation could be levelled at [ACMS] – […] – I mean, it’s kind of a kind of a hothouse of really exciting artistic ideas and stuff like that, and is it also at the same time, a kind of clique-y, sixth former-y, self-congratulatory experience?”

That is an amazing thing to say to Thom Tuck’s face at all, much less to leave it in the edit of a podcast. Mainly because, based on my experience with ACMS (16 nights from Edinburgh 2019 experienced via videos, one night in person in Edinburgh 2024), it’s very accurate. Thom Tuck says as much, and then says he thinks it’s okay because the audience are part of that clique. Which is a good answer. Like I said, it’s borderline obnoxious in its level of inside jokes, but the audience are in on the joke, and that’s fun. I enjoyed watching a lot of it because I frequently like comedy that’s sort of clique-y and self-congratulatory. But it definitely is that, and… I mean, if you think your friend has made something that flawed, you’re supposed to say so to other friends, behind their back, like everyone else does. Not to them directly. And definitely not on a podcast that you publish.

That’s just one example from an interview that was overall riddled with an odd tension that gave it an interesting edge. Fairly soon after the above quote, Stuart Goldsmith made a joke about how obviously Thom Tuck must be exaggerating how drunk he is on stage at ACMS, because if he were really that drunk that often then it would be a sign of a problem, that sure would be bad, but obviously it’s fine. A fairly soft joke, that Thom Tuck responded to by saying of course he plays up how drunk he is on stage, but even if he didn’t that would be fine, because alcoholism isn’t even a real thing, actually, people just call it that because they have to put labels on things, they’re all convinced that if you drink a lot it’s some huge problem but really it’s just a fake construct, and it’s all bullshit anyway, it’s not a big deal. And Stuart eventually managed to regain control of the conversation enough to point out that he was being disproportionately defensive and angry, and did he want to explain to why? To which Thom Tuck said “I drink too much,” and then the discussion take a sharp turn.

I’ve got to give Stuart Goldsmith credit for that one, actually. I think he handled it expertly, finding his slightly prickly but overall relatively normal and jokey chat accidentally suddenly turned into a discussion of his interviewee’s drinking problem. Such a familiar discussion, too. “Obviously I’m not an alcoholic, that’s actually a term with definitions so complex that they’re basically meaningless, I just drink too much but there’s no need to label it” – as I listened to Thom Tuck say that stuff on a podcast, all I could think was, “Wow, that sounds a lot like bullshit. Which I know because I’ve said that stuff lots of times over years, and I was always bullshitting when I said it. But you don’t realize just how bullshit your own words sound until you hear them from someone else.”

Stuart Goldsmith steered things real quick into his therapy angles, and an interesting discussion came out of it. The other thing I think I learned from listening to that chat in particular was – “Oh, there’s something wrong with him. That’s what it is. He’s one of those people with something wrong with him.” I realized that I don’t expect that from the alt-comedians. I observe the alternative, experimental comedy people from the outside, trying to understand what they’re doing, assuming everything they do and say is carefully created and crafted to give a certain impression. I don’t assume the same thing about straight stand-ups – obviously I know they have also created and crafted an act, but you can see the way the things they say are shaped by the type of person they are (usually – sometimes it seems like they’re trying to lie about it, but that can be interesting too). I realized that, when I was watching all the stuff get said in these ACMS videos and I was trying to guess why they were making certain choices, it hadn’t actually occurred to me that the reason Thom Tuck gets on stage and acts like there’s something wrong with him, is that there’s something wrong with him. I mean, obviously he’s also acting and doing his job, the way every comedian gets on stage and gets into a persona. But it’s not all a perfectly curated illusion, just because it’s alternative. Sometimes, if I don’t “get” what they’re doing, it’s because there’s nothing to get. The guy’s just drunk.

I listened to his ComComPod episode about halfway through the ACMS videos – before I heard it, I’d assumed he was pretending to be drunk. After I heard it, I thought he’s probably not pretending, and that seemed a lot more likely. Exaggerating, and playing it up, I’m sure. Not entirely pretending.

Thom Tuck isn’t even all that “alternative”, I don’t think. Not like John-Luke Roberts, with his absurdist theatre. I’m pretty sure Thom Tuck just does regular stand-up, when he’s not compering stuff. I’ll find out soon. I’ve gone back to Go Faster Stripe and bought the one Thom Tuck stand-up show that’s on there, which is from 2011. It’s about Disney sequels, which was the show he was discussing when he appeared on Peacock & Gamble; it sounded really interesting there, and it didn’t occur to me until this week to check whether it had been recorded.

I’ve also bought all the other John-Luke Roberts shows that are on Go Faster Stripe. There are four of them in total. I think I’m going to watch all four in order, re-watching the two I’d seen before. I’m interested in how that’ll look now that I’ve seen him do more stuff.

So anyway, this post has gone in quite a few different directions. It’s because I’ve got several weeks worth of comedy that I’ve suddenly decided I want to write about all at once. I’m sure there will be more posts on this subject, as I think of more things I want to share. But in the meantime, I’m very glad I watched that stuff, all 40 hours, even the minutes that were not the best. It’s sure an experience. And I did discover some stuff I liked. The two main comperes, for a start – I’ve not got one Thom Tuck show and several John-Luke Roberts shows to watch. Those videos are where I first discovered John Hastings – when I skimmed them initially, I happened to watch a couple of John Hastings appearances, liked them a lot, bought his stuff on Bandcamp, liked that too, then he put some stuff on YouTube, I’m now a proper fan of his. There were a few other people who were new to me and whom I enjoy enough to look up, after this proper watch. And a few people I already liked, and enjoyed seeing in a different environment.

Anyway, I think I'll cut this rambling off here. I'm sure I will come up with further ramblings for follow-up posts in the near future.

[averageartistamber]

It's Ultraman Day!

Y'know, I first heard about Ultraman through the Godzilla fandom, and honestly, I kinda slept on it until very recently. Ended up getting into it when I heard about the upcoming release of Rising and found out that a decent chunk of content is accessible on YouTube. Okay, gotta admit those "Ultraman Without Context" videos were also a huge thing that sold me on the series, as a thorough enjoyer of Wacky Shit.

So, for Ultraman Day I'm gonna start briefly yapping about the Ultraman Stuff I've seen so far. It's almost entirely the newer stuff, but I might check out some of the older shows.

Let's start with the first series I checked out, Ultraman Blazar (as it was the most recent at the time).

Note there will be some spoilers here and there.

Blazar

-The series I started with, and it's pretty different to typical Ultraman faire. Has this...Not really darkness but I guess kind of a grounded sort of...moodiness? Dunno if that's the right word. The whole V99 Conspiracy plot gave it a distinct flavour that I haven't seen so far in the other shows.

-The fight scenes are pretty fire, as Blazar himself is an incredibly fun character to watch. The whole "feral" shtick took me a bit off guard at first, but it makes him really unique. The spear/javelin main weapon that transforms into different things is such a ccool concept for a "base" power.

-The dynamic that Captain Gento has with Blazar where the latter occasionally takes control is really neat, even when he's just doing it to observe. Gives the Funny Caveman an interesting bit of depth.

-I quite like SKaRD as an attack team, even if they never really score a single W for the entire series. Emi in particular is one of the best Human characters I've seen so far, probably since she essentially gets a whole side plot attached to her (The after mentioned conspiracy and wanting to find out what happened to her dad.

-I honestly did not expect to end up liking Earth Garon in particular as much as I did, even if he just gets his ass kicked constantly. I think the scene that truly sold me on him was in the episode where he's given his AI, therefore a real voice and personality. The scene where Emi is freaking out after being hit with the Monster of the Week's Fear Ray and Earthy tries to calm her down. Did not think he'd be chill like that honestly it was a pleasant suprise.

-One of the big highlights of the show was definitely the monsters (which I thing all of them bar Red King, Guigass and Demaaga are new?). Pretty much all of them have creative and memorable designs. I will go Blazar levels of feral if they ever reuse Dorgo, Nigikagachi, Molgusion, Deltandos or Zangill (If he counts) again.

-Speaking of Zangill, his episode is probably my favourite on its premise alone: Guy shows up to ask for assistance with collecting the wandering souls of all the Monsters of The Week that the heroes had slain. Including one who's Real Fuckin' Mad and tries to get revenge. It's so freaking cool. Makes you wonder about literally every other MotW show actually...

-At first I found Big Bad a bit anti-climatic. I think I walked into my first Ultraman series expecting some big badass final boss with an EEEEEEvil Alien Overlord or something. But instead, the main villain of Blazar is basically just Some Old Guy (who is fiercely determined to cover his crimes, fatal consequences be damned).

Honestly, from the other shows, he's currently tied with Rising's Dr. Onda for the best Ultraman Big Bad. I've been a little disappointed with the others I've seen so far, which I think I'll explain further when we get to them.

-Last thing, the opening song makes me feel like that Spongebob Ascending Meme. It's awesome (I especially like how they show the monsters, starting with a newspaper then going to TV camera footage and satellite images.)

Overall 8.5 WHOOOYS! out 10

Next time I'll probably yap about either Z or Decker (or maybe Rising?) when I get around to/ remember to do it.

[purplekoop]

I made my last post about Concord apparently the night before they announced they'll be pulling the plug on this game that barely lasted 2 weeks, with the shutdown coming on the 6th of this month.

I think it'd be a bit shallow of me to just point and laugh, even if there is something very much comical about this, I think it's more... sad, oddly. And concerning, very much concerning.

Concord apparently spent 8 years in development, which could very well be a bloated number (my own project War Bots could very arguably be considered ""in development"" for like 3 years now because I've been working on concepts and character designs for that long but it's a bit misleading when a development program hasn't been touched yet), but still with any kernel of truth it means a lot of time and resources were put into this game. Maybe the devs really didn't care, which kind of shows through in the final product, and the only drive behind the project was from higher-ups eager to ride the highs of that one game that suspiciously came out exactly 8 years ago now. Maybe that's why the designs feel so incoherent and the whole premise feels so dull and careless. But like... 8 years? god, imagine working on anything for 8 years, only to be met with a resounding "who cares". That's the nightmare scenario of any creative project.

The death of Concord truly is as much a death as a game can get too. Single player or local multiplayer games can still flop but be able to get some recognition after a lack of initial success. Comparing hero shooters to fighting games once again, even if a lot of old arcade fighting games made after the initial boom of SF2 were objectively ass, there's still so many that have been preserved and appreciated just because it's neat to see what characters or mechanics they had to offer, which could very well go on to inspire something new. Concord, along with most live service online-only games, doesn't get that luxury. When it's gone, it's gone. Whatever ideas Concord did have going for it, those will be totally lost aside from whatever spare footage or anecdotes are made in this miniscule window of time.

I dunno, it just doesn't sit right with me to point and laugh at this one. There's a timeline where Concord had a niche in the hero shooter subgenre, with its fans who like it and its world and characters. Maybe those didn't show up because there really wasn't anything there worth caring about.

My sympathies go out to the devs who worked on the game. Hopefully they can quickly find work on something else, but that's another depressingly tenuous facet of the industry to get sad about.

[sholtiscapstone]

No. 4 Progress Update!

Hey, everyone! (LONG UPDATE!)

For this update, I wanted to say that my production went well on the 11th of March, and since then I’ve been in post-production. Post has been the most difficult process of this project, but I’ll save that for my next update, as I’m planning to send my cuts to Sharla in the coming days for her approval. 

This update, however, is about how my production went… it was HORRIBLE!

Now, that’s a bit of an exaggeration but it definitely felt like an accurate word on the day. On the Monday of filming, only a few hours before my interviewees and I were meant to meet, a person I had confirmed since January backed out. It was really hard to deal with that as one of Sharla’s biggest pushes for me with this project was to have a wide age range, and this person who backed out would have been a branch for my other two interviewees, and it’s hard to get someone in a similar age range on a random Monday at the last minute. This person canceling also caused me to miss my bus to campus so that was a whole other issue haha. 

Either way, this cancellation turned all of my plans upside down. The time I had set aside to prepare for my questions and rehearse what I was going to say was thrown out the window. Instead, my time went to contacting every single woman I knew and could rely on, asking them if they could come to film my project for a few hours. It sucked that every single person turned me down, but obviously understandable, though it did mess my morale a bit. 

Thankfully, I had asked for two of my best friends’ help behind-the-scenes that day, and had to sacrifice one of them to be on camera. This threw off things for my other friend as she had to now be in charge of monitoring cameras and checking sound, when I had hoped one could be in charge of each. It also threw off how much time we had for filming itself, as my friend who I put on camera at the last second didn’t have the same time to prepare that I gave my other interviewees, as I had asked them to come with things already prepped. I almost had another person able to take over in the stead of the one who dropped, but they couldn’t make it to campus in time for us to get useful footage. 

As for setting up, Jeff from ACM was the best as he showed my friends and I everything that needed to be done. Also, Lauren from our class was a help with showing us where to go and answering my questions over and over again haha, so thank you very much to them. Going back to Jeff, due to his patience the setup for our production was awesome. We had a lot of issues with the sound cutting in and out once we actually began filming though we got that solved ASAP. 

Now, for the actual discussion part, my interviewees were amazing. Jalen and Professor Sam killed it, and Sophie, who agreed to join only hours before, was amazing. Aubrey, my friend behind the camera, also came through controlling 3 separate cameras along with listening to our sound to make sure we were okay. Things still cut out through the filming but she got that patched in a couple of seconds each time. I do wish that people hadn’t kept coming in and out of the room, though, as my interviewees confessed afterward it distracted them, and the door is also heard on the sound, but at least that’s the least of our issues. 

Either way, I think that filming went well considering I was even able to do it. I’m grateful to have the friends and support system I do to have gotten this done. I had wanted to do a vlog to show you all my prep for that day but my entire plan got shot down due to unforeseen circumstances, but because of my support system I still was able to get things done. 

Below are some images from the set we did so you guys can all see how it turned out, and how it compares to my inspo! Anyway, I'll be posting another update in a few days about the transition from production to post, so I'll see you guys then. You should all be seeing footage by the end of this week too, so yay!

Best of luck to everyone else for these coming weeks. Almost there!! I know it's stressful but it's not as bad as it seems, really. Also, feel free to reach out to me if you need help or anything, I'm always down to support :)

[copper-wasps]

-Entry #3-

The screen blinks to life, lines and squares of red and green breaking apart the image with a dull drone of static. It doesn’t last long, the picture piecing itself back together into something blurry, slowly focusing into a clear view.

Once again the recording shows a bland, simplistic motel room, but not the same one from before. This one is different- faded green paint and ratty blinds that look like they’ve seen better days. A set of twin beds with matching brown sheets, a single nightstand between them with an old twin bell alarm clock. There’s a little lamp mounted into the wall above it, but there’s enough light peeking through the blinds that its kept off.

The camera is settled on the far side of the room, presumably propped up on a stand as there’s no surface to be seen beneath it on the edge of the frame. It captures a wide view of the small room, and while the beds are empty, the room itself is not.

Adelaide paces back and forth in front of the twin beds, arms crossed over her chest, right hand raised to her lips to gnaw at the nail of her thumb. She looks confused and frantic, frustrated and overwhelmed, perhaps even slightly manic. Her hair is held back in the twin braids from before, a bit loose but otherwise held together, still in the same dirt covered clothes- lacking the ruined jean jacket.

The little time stamp in the bottom corner of the screen logs nearly nine full minutes of pacing before she finally drops herself to sit on the edge of the bed furthest from the window, pushing her choppy bangs back from her face with a long suffering sigh.

“Okay…I guess I should give some sort of recap…or uh, an explanation?” She mutters, dropping her arms across her lap as she looks to the camera, pale blue eyes alight with an anxious flare, “I uploaded the last entry after I…came back…and was able to view the footage the camera captured. I don’t know where I went that night…but I was gone for four days.”

Adelaide falls silent for a moment, still seemingly struggling to process that bit of information herself, before she eventually continues her explanation, “I woke back up in that motel room last night, and after watching the footage to find out what happened I left immediately. I’m in the next town over now, I got to this motel at around three in the morning, uploaded the last entry…I tried to get some sleep, but that hasn’t really worked out for me. I just…”

She hesitates then, worrying her lower lip between her teeth, before dropping her head into her hands with a frustrated groan, “When I first watched those tapes I thought it was crazy how much they all lost track of time like that…days, weeks, even months without any memory of what happened…but now its happening to me too and I’m just as clueless as I was at the start…”

She takes a moment to recollect herself, rubbing at her temples with a deep sigh that does nothing to relieve any of the tension along her shoulders. Finally she drops her hands back to her lap, absentmindedly picking at her nails now as she raises her gaze to meet the camera once again.

She still looks frantic and lost, but there’s a glint of determination to her eyes now, a harder edge to her voice, “I still don’t have a lot to go on, I’m still figuring things out, but I’m not going to let this thing drive me crazy like it did my dad. I’m going to lay low for a little bit, try to come up with a plan…and then I’m going back out to Rosswood to try and find the others.”

Adelaide gets up from the bed as she finishes speaking, crossing the room to where the camera stands- and cuts off the recording with a quiet click.

[airasora]

I hope this doesn’t come off as rude because it’s just an observation I’ve had.

I don’t think I’ve seen anyone who edits Disney do it like you do. You only edit with your few chosen ships and nothing else whereas everyone else has their main ships sure but they edit with lots of different characters and change it up all the time.

Is there a reason why you don’t ever edit anything else? Does it not get boring editing the same couple over and over again? How do you come up with new edits to do cause surely with things like Hollina you’ve used all the footage in all the ways that it can possibly be used and you can see in some of your videos that you’ve reused situations.

Again sorry if it’s rude I’m just genuinely curious cause I’ve not seen anyone go so in-depth with their ships like you do and I find it interesting.

I have very recently edited with new characters so I'll be honest and say I find the timing of your ask a little ironic cause I am indeed for the first time in years ACTUALLY editing with new characters. So I wouldn't say it's rude, but it's a little weird you're asking this when the newest edits I've made are with characters I haven't edited much with before... 😅

I mean, my first Charmine videos was from December. And my Sinric stuff is from January. My last Hollina video is from November 2021, that's a year and a half...

So I'm not entirely sure why you're asking this now?

But like I said, I don't think it's straight up rude as such, but the way you're phrasing it does sound like you're judging me at least a little bit 😂

I disagree that I've done everything I can with Hollina. There's plenty of footage for them both that I've never used before and considering how many Hollina AUs I have, I have absolutely not run out of stories and situations to put them in. There's a few shots I have reused over the years, but it's very few and it's usually ones that I worked too hard on creating to use just once. It's also worth noting that since there are indeed AUs, every single one of my Hollina videos are from Hollina AUs. So some videos belong in the same universe and story. So of course some situations will be repeated there because it's the same story they take place in 😊

If I found it boring, I'd stop. I'm not forcing myself to edit anything I don't want to. And for a while, all I wanted to do was Hollina.

Then all I wanted to do was Thraxette for a bit.

Now I'm working with entirely new characters. Except Odette, since I'm using her for MxDisney, but her family is Medusa from The Rescuers and Michael from Peter Pan. Also two characters I've never edited with before.

I think the best way to explain how and why I go so in-depth with my ships is that it's just the way my brain works. If something is worth doing, it's worth doing right. So when I get into something, I tend to hyper focus and sometimes that lasts a week, sometimes months and then sometimes years, like Hollina did 😂 Not to say I'm not into Hollina anymore, but I'm not hyper focused on them anymore.

I also have ships I hardly ever do any work with. Like Robin Hood and Basil. I've shipped them for YEARS and only ever made like 2 videos with them.

I think what's also an explanation why I sometimes hyper focus on one ship for a while is also dependent on you guys. If I create a ship and loads of people get really into it, I get really into it. I didn't expect Charmine to become this popular, to the point where I've received SEVERAL asks and comments and AU ideas from you all! That, to me, is so amazing and makes me want to do more with them, because I also want to create what I think you guys will enjoy as well! So when you guys seem to be into a ship I like as well, I get more encouraged to make more with them.

Robin and Basil isn't straight up unpopular, but it's not nearly as popular as some of my other ships. Which is completely understandable, it's an anthro ship and what I usually do are humans 😂 so that's a ship I kinda just keep to myself sort of 😊

I've also always been very imaginative. Nothing is ever really... I don't know what to call it; "shallow" in my head? I go into depth with stuff, I like to analyze, do Easter eggs, inside jokes and get really deep into a plot or idea.

I think another way of saying it too is that I don't like canon couples. Or like, they don't interest me much. Why? Because they're already together. We know their story, we've seen how they get together. Of course you can still create your own universes for them and whatnot - and I do have a few canon ships - but it just doesn't trigger my creativity. With crossover couples, you have to make up stuff yourself. So why not go into depth? Why not imagine every single way these people could interact? At least, that's how my brain entertains itself 😂

I'm never bored. And that sounds weird, but I'm serious. I don't know what boredom actually feels like. My brain can always come up with SOMETHING. And it's never vague, it's always detailed and complicated.

That's why I can keep coming up with new stuff for the same ships. That's why I don't get bored with it. That's why I still enjoy working with characters no matter how many times I've already worked with them.

I've never had a problem with creating a ton... my problem has always been limitations. Hence why my response to your ask became this long 😂 Once I get going, I can't stop!

So, no. I'm not bored working with the same characters. Because I keep coming up with new stuff to do with them 😊

Thank you for your question!

[pixiemage]

Storytime!

So two years ago, when quarantine was still being upheld in schools, my brother was hired to edit a high school production of Beauty and the Beast. Every student recorded their videos and vocals at home, and his job was to splice it together into one cohesive show. (Granted, that's hard to do when every single person is filming with a bad camera and awful acoustics and different lighting and - anyway. It was rough but it worked.)

ANYWAY the problem arose when he had a week left to finish it, and a bunch of students still hadn't sent in their videos. He was down to the wire and he didn't have the footage he needed to finish the damn thing until like four days prior to its air date.

Well I used to be a film major and I know my way around an editing program, so I volunteered to help. (My brother was living at home at the time bc quarantine so he was literally down the hall.) I fished out my bro's laptop and edited smaller scenes for him while he did the big stuff. We had three days and we pulled two all-nighters in a row to get this shit done (and actually, he might have pulled three, because by the last day the poor dude was hallucinating). I took two hour-and-a-half naps to get enough shut-eye to keep going, he crashed once or twice himself, and our mom kept coming upstairs to load us up with food, water, caffeine, and the occasional energy drink.

BUT THE POINT OF THE STORY

At some point on Day 1, my brother showed me this video, which I somehow had never seen. And I was already giggly because we'd been in a bit of a silly mood for half the night. And that little YTP just sent me. And for the next few days in our slowly degrading states of exhaustion and lack of sleep, every so often one of us would pull it back up, and we'd just devolve into uncontrollable laughter. It was a hell of a mood-lifter!

I'm fairly certain I crashed for like 10 HOURS afterward when all was said and done, but like - for how much we laughed, and for the chance to jump into an editing project, and for some quality time with my brother? Damn. It was worth every sleepless hour we spent in that room.

i keep seeing the gif set so here’s the video clip

[galaxofmuses]

It had been a week, just about, since the odd encounter at the Cafe, with the woman and her little folder.

But now it seems something has come full circle.

A report comes in, having found a secret lab location that had been working on BOW's for the black market. But it had already been raided and taken down, all that remained was destruction. The place barely intact, but just enough for exploration. The scouts who had gone in, and brought back their details, reported that there had been almost no security footage. Everything wiped clean, save for files from before the destruction.

No ideas who, or what, did it.

And a neat little safe, left out to be found specifically. Filled with files, hard drives, and details of everyone who worked there, who had been buying from them, and the exact infections or monsters they had been making once upon a time. All the foot work paper trail work done, and left out like a present.

With but a single note brought back to the DSO, written in purple ink.

'I said I would handle it, and I did. Take a vacation.'

Leon stare at the note as he gathers his thoughts of what or who could have done this. Everything is taken and cleaned up and neatly packaged all for him. Knowing the reality that these items would have been in a disarray and leading to frustration of where and what these information could be. Then on the back of his mind has an inkling of who could have done this. Yet, his memory is so fuzzy from those vacation days of movie watching, drinking and spending time with his dog.

With his work schedule always coming back around the corner and dealing with these bioweapons. Saving people. Hearing the praises from his workplace. It's always the same day, same pay, yet he keeps protecting the ones he cares about, but for how long? He never takes a chance to breathe until his coworkers really push him out from his workaholic cycle.

This situation turned upside down since now this issue has been taken care of and well....possibly go and relax for once. The thought really unsettles his mind.

"......Another vacation huh?" muttering to himself softy. Oh he can hear his coworkers tease him that a secret admirer is watching up for him. Taking the deep breath to take another sip of take out coffee and well. Aside reporting what's in that safe, there's really not much he can do.

'Hey! Maybe your secret admirer is gonna take you a nice beach vacation!'

the two people broke into fits of laughter until Leon gives them a dark stare which of course shuts them up for once. Oh he is so close to break into a proud smile.

"I'll take care of the last bit of the report. It's the least I can do."

[chorusfm]

Liner Notes (June 1st, 2024)

The first great pop-punk album of summer 2024 is here. Plus, some other random thoughts on other things. This week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here. If you’d like this newsletter delivered to your inbox each week (it’s free and available to everyone), you can sign up here. A Few Things * I liked this article in the Washington Post that looked at the data behind when people think America was “great.” The answer? It’s not an era; it’s an age: “The good old days when America was “great” aren’t the 1950s. They’re whatever decade you were 11, your parents knew the correct answer to any question, and you’d never heard of war crimes tribunals, microplastics or improvised explosive devices. Or when you were 15 and athletes and musicians still played hard and hadn’t sold out.” * All the AI fails from Google have been getting the headlines lately, but the story I think has still been underreported is the fact that Google search kind of sucks now. The core product has been suffering for a while, and the recent leaks show the company has been pretty shady as well. Usually, when that happens, it’s a steep line down. As an owner of a small blog, I’ve seen this reflected in our traffic for years; I stopped even trying to get ranked and don’t pay attention to our search traffic. But every time I Google a recipe and have to handle three fourths of a page of SEO slop, I am reminded of it. It’s too bad that Google and Facebook basically murdered the online ad business, and right now, does either offer much value? Instagram? For me, it’s probably Gmail. However, that only powers my email backend and I use Mimestream as the client. These companies are so big and dominant that it’s hard to see competition even getting a foothold to disrupt them, but damn. In Case You Missed It * Rare 1997 Footage of Blink-182 Live * The Black Keys Cancel Arena Tour * Spotify to Discontinue Car Thing * Liner Notes (May 25th, 2024) * Best Case – “Heavy Seas” (Video Premiere) * Bert McCracken Announces Solo Project * Balance and Composure Announce New Album * Four Year Strong Announce New Album * The Menzingers Announce Deluxe Album * Albums in Stores – May 31st, 2024 Music Thoughts * In this house, summer begins when the first new pop-punk album drops that makes me feel like sunshine is pumping through my veins. This year, it’s officially Super American’s awesome Gangster of Love—just a ridiculously fun, energetic, creative, and all around blast of an album. There’s a lot of classic pop-punk here, but I also love the quirkiness and what feels like a little Relient K and Motion City Soundtrack influence in their style. This is going to absolutely dominate my next few months, and the only complaint I have is the album cover is preventing me from wanting to purchase it on vinyl. (Their previous album is also a lot of fun, but this one is exploring some new things that elevate their sound to the next level.) * Happy 25th anniversary to Blink-182’s Enema of the State. No album in history has had a bigger impact on my life. * Arrows in Action’s new single “Hello Sunlight” is another solid tune, and Neon Trees are finally giving us new album information next week. Their run of singles has me anticipating this one quite a bit. * Ben Platt’s latest didn’t stick with me on first listen the way his last did. It has a nice breezy feel that maybe I’ll come back to one of these summer nights and connect with, but my first listen had me checking how many songs were left multiple times. Not usually a good sign. * Days Away’s Mapping an Invisible World is still one of the most underrated albums ever. I listened to it twice this week and still marvel at how modern it sounds. Someone press this to vinyl, please. * Super American got me back on a Relient K kick, and every single one of their albums puts a smile on my face. * Cassadee Pope’s upcoming “return to pop-punk” album is interesting. She has obvious vocal chops, but the album doesn’t have the hooks I… https://chorus.fm/features/articles/liner-notes-june-1st-2024/