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galaxyedging · 1 year ago

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Special Agent Ortega x f!reader

WC:2.7k

Warnings: P in V sex. F!receiving oral. Canon type violence. Death. Swearing.

Summary: Ortega makes the mistake of crossing the wrong woman.

Trust

Ortega should have known better. The bathhouse had been quiet when he entered. Not enough to raise his suspicions but given it was the most popular bathhouse in the surrounding area, he usually expected to hear the sounds of a good time coming from behind the doors lining the hallway.

What should have aroused his suspicions is that not one girl had come near him. There wasn't one offer to scrub his back. His favourite girl didn't come by to offer to scrub more than his back. There wasn't any 'accidental' intrusions to see if the rumours were true that he was packing far more than a Smith and Wesson.

The cigar in his hand was about half way done when he started to worry that turning down the love struck advances of his best girl may have put him in ill favour, Hell hath no fury and all that. That's when the thought struck him and the cold metal met his back. Shit. He'd be worried about the wrong woman.

"Drop the cigar in the water." You nudge the barrel of your gun further between his bare shoulder blades.

He holds the cigar up in his fingers to regard it. "That would be such a waste."

"You can waste it or I can waste you when you try to burn me with it." You counter.

"Do you think I would do that to you?" He scoffs.

"Oh, I know you would." Ortega lets out a scream unbecoming of a Special Agent in Charge as you tip the ice bucket over him to extinguish his potential weapon.

"Puta!" He shakes the cold water from his hair as it drips down his spine.

"There's no need to be rude, Nacho." You tsks.

"I've told you not to call me that. Only my abuelita and my loving wife call me that. You are neither." He scowls over his muscular shoulder.

With a hand lay over your heart you gasp. "Oh, Ignacio. You wound me."

"Given half the chance I will." He smirks.

Moving back slightly you smile to yourself. "I know and that's why you won't get one. Up. Slowly."

Ortega stands in the tub, as he gets to his full height he grabs a towel to cover himself.

"Nuh-uh. Drop the towel." There is no way you are giving him anything he can use against you.

"Are you that desperate to see what you are missing?" He makes a point of stretching his long legs as he steps out of the tub. His long cock dangles as he does. Even soft and cold, he's impressive.

Mentally shaking away any thoughts of just how impressive he can be, you tell him. "No. I just really don't trust you."

Ortega laughs. "You're one to talk."

He still blames you for what happened between you? That's rich. "Imagine my surprise to find that you'd gone straight."

"It made sense. They hand those out to anybody willing to sell their soul to Uncle Sam." He jutted his strong chin towards the badge on his vest a few feet away. If you're going to kill and con people you might as well do it with benefits." His broad shoulders shrug and the muscles ripple in his back. A back that used to be marked by trails from your fingernails.

"Sell your soul? I thought I owned that?" You tease.

"Only until death do us part. After that I'm free." He bites over his shoulder as you ogle his ass.

His perfect profile comes into view as he turns to you, highlighted by the afternoon sun.

Taking another breath after the one he stole you snipe. "Oh, you'll miss me."

Ortega turns to you, his tongue wets his lips. He'd like to say he'd forgotten how beautiful you were. As if you didn't haunt him.

"Never." He challenged.

So many unspoken feelings and unmet desires hung between you.

The first shot rang out, cutting through the thick air. It was far enough away that the direction that it came from wasn't clear. The direction became clearer when the bullets splintered the wood of the door.

"Down!" Ortega pulls you down behind the tub with him, his hand cradles your head protectively.

"Do you think they're after you or me?" You asked while loading your gun.

Ortega noticed that you hadn't held a loaded gun on him. It softens him for a second but he doesn't let it show. "Debating if you can throw me to them to save yourself?"

"I mean, even if they aren't after you. You are a very distracting sight." You let your eyes rake up your husband's naked body.

Another two shots break through the door as Ortega reaches for his pants and discarded holster.

"That was closer but it only sounds like there's one of them." Snatching up your second gun from your boot, you head towards the door.

"Wait." Ortega calls after you as you let bullets fly back through the holes in the door with impressive aim.

A pained shout comes from the other side. Ripping the door open, you find the source of the pained groaning propped up against the wall; his right hand was limp at his side and his pistol was just out of reach. With your gun trained on him you edge forward to check the hallway.

Finding it clear you moved back to take a good look at the man on the floor. He is a complete stranger to you.

"You son of a bitch!" The man growls at Ortega as he appears, now wearing pants.

An amused smirk tugs at your lips. "Well he seems to know you."

Ortega rolls his eyes at you before kicking the man's booted foot. "Who are you?"

"You're one of those damn city boys that killed my brother!" The man bares his teeth. As he clutches the hole in his arm.

Ortega looks bored as he answers. "Your brother tried to draw first. My partner was just quicker."

When the man makes a grab for his gun, Ortega's bullet split his skull. The last flicker of life is the twitch of his finger against the grip.

"Don't you just make friends wherever you go." You bat your eyelashes at Ortega.

"What can I say? I'm charming." He steps closer, a small part of him hopes you remember just how charming.

His body is reacting to being close to you and he's thankful he grabbed some pants.

"Who told you that?" You try to keep some of your sassy while you also try to remember why you hadn't kissed your husband in over a year.

He steps closer still. "You…once upon a time."

"I was young and naive." Your words don't have to travel far. Your back is almost at the wall and he's still achingly close.

"It was two years ago." Another inch closer.

"I'm still young. Not so naive." You wave your gun to the side of him.

"You wouldn't shoot me." His plush lips are tantalisingly close. "Not to kill anyway."

His breath mingles with yours as you defiantly breathe. "Try me."

His lips finally touch yours. All the hate and bile is burnt away by the passion you still hold for each other.

As his lips meet yours over and over his fingers grip your waist as he inches them under your shirt. Not for the first time, Ortega reflects on how much he loves that you wear masculine clothes. They are so much more form fitting around your ass and hips. His greedy hands make their way to them. He grasps handfuls, making you squeak into the kiss.

"Such pretty sounds for me. I bet I can make you make more." The words leave his mouth then he's on your neck, sucking and biting from your ear to your collar.

With his lips at your neck feeling so good your heart and mind get lost back in a simpler time. When it was just the two of you in love. Then the world got in the way. The last four years you'd lived separate lives, only seeking each other out when the need for each other became too great. All under the veil of hating each other. The hate there was real so it easy to stretch it over the two of you to cover up the love you still held for each other.

This big score that you were here for could set you both up for life. The reality was that you still couldn't trust the man that broke your heart. It was much better to keep him at arm's length. "I don't know. It's been a while. My tastes might have changed. Someone might have taught me something new."

"Why do you have to do that? Always running your fucking mouth." His hands find your arms to drag you off the wall.

For a second you think he's done with you until he grapples you towards an open door with a bed just in view. The bed soon hits your back as he throws you up on it. Your jeans are wrenched from your body then he drops to his knees and the end of the bed while pulling you to the edge of it. Before you can work out what his is doing, his tongue flattens against your folds.

"Oh, Ignacio!" The sensation is completely new to you.

It feels beyond any pleasure you've ever felt, and Ortega has given you plenty, as his tongue parts your folds to slip inside you. It rolls inside your wanting hole for a moment before travelling upwards. It swipes at something that has you gripping his short hair tightly. Each repeated movement seems better than the last. It doesn't take long for you to feel something that you've only felt with your husband's cock or fingers inside of you. It builds almost to a peak. Then Ortega sucks on the spot he's been licking. A scream shakes the wooden building as you come. You'd heard many a tale from Europe about women climaxing without their partner entering them. This is your first experience with it. The utter delight of it is only dulled slightly by the thought of who taught your husband about it. Maybe it was the beautiful woman you saw him and his partner meet earlier. The thought varnishes even quicker than it appeared as Ignacio's lips find yours, still covered with the slick he drew from you, it's tangy and sweet on your lips. They stay glued to yours as he undoes his pants and removes his holster to slip inside you. He groans against them as he sets a hard rhythm. This is purely about him chasing his own release now but not for the reasons you think. Ortega is intent on marking you, claiming you with his release. He secretly hopes his seed will finally take root and bind the two of you back together. The thought of it pushes him over the edge. He presses his hips flush to yours to pump his thick, creamy cum as deep as he can. You can feel his warmth spread, you hope it spreads far enough.

Neither of you speak while you enjoy the excuse for closeness. When Ortega finally softens, he pulls out. He's too busy getting up and doing up his pants to notice how you tilt your hips on the bed to keep his seed inside you.

With your jeans unceremoniously dumped at your feet, Ortega finally gets around to what he knows is coming. "What do you need from me?"

The fact that you have to need something from your husband to seek out his touch stabs at you briefly before you get to the matter at hand. "I hear you have a lead on the Sixth Gun."

As if you'd said the magic word, a gun shot rang out outside, quickly followed by another. Two more followed in quick succession until it was a pattern. Two quick gunshots followed by a pause. There must have been ten pairs in all. Each getting progressively closer. There was a long stretch of quiet until heavy footfalls sounded on the stairs, they came to a stop at the far end of the hall. Both you and Otega grip your weapons ready. A single shot rings out and the footsteps retreat. These a moment of confusion before a man, a thing, rushes through the door. It heads straight for Ortega. It moves so quickly he doesn't have a chance to aim properly. He gets a quick shot off to the thing's leg, which barely slows it before it starts to claw at him. It gives you time to get a good aim at the thing's head. One shot and it's down.

Only with it sprawled on the floor do you recognise it. "He was dead. You shot him between the eyes."

Before either of you can process more feet approach, their steps hurried and stumbling. Thankfully that all come down the same narrow hallway so your position is well defensible. In the ensuing fight you try to ignore how good it feels to be fighting side by side with your husband again. This is how it should be. It's how it always was, the two of you, perfectly in sync. Until that damn job in Blackwater. The trust between you was cracked right down the middle. There was so much damage done the two of you were lost and you still hadn't found your way back to each other. Once the bodies are all dropped, Ortega grabs your hand to lead you. "Come on, we're getting out of here."

You don't question what he means by 'we' as you follow. Stepping over the bodies strewn on the hallway floor you make your way down the stairs and out into the dimly lit night.

"My things are at the Inn. My horse too. I'm grabbing them and getting the hell out of here." Ortega informs you as the touch of his hand still warms yours. As if he feels it too he adds "I could do with back up getting through the valley. It's not a great ride on your own."

"My things are in a house at the edge of town." Your lips tell him. Your eyes tell him so much more.

"Not so fast there, Partner. I believe we have a deal." The man you'd seen Ortega with earlier, another badge wearing Pinkerton, steps out from the side of the building.

"I've just seen what that damned gun can do. I'm out of here." Ortega turns to leave and winces at the unmissable sound of a gun being cocked.

"Now, Mercer. Let's not do anything stupid." Ortega finishes his sentence, whirling on his partner, drawn gun in hand.

Following Ortega's lead you point your own guns at Mecre.

"Oh! The little missus is going to back you up?! I thought she hated you?" Mercer Has a dig at his partner. While you look a little stunned. "You don't think he talks about you? He has your picture in his pocket watch. He always flaps his gums about you when he's drunk. All the pathetic regret.."

"Mercer!" Ortega warns.

"Well partner if you want to suddenly trust the woman you've been telling me you can't for the last couple of years, go ahead. How about you? You about to trust him after what he did? Do you know how much that gun is worth?" Mercer's words sew the seeds of doubt between you and Ortega. In another in sync move between you the two of you draw your second gun on each other. Mercer quickly draws one to aim at you. The three of you are caught in a standoff. All exchanging silent conversations with a glance.

"So what it really boils down to is trust." Mercer finally breaks the silence. The silence is further destroyed by gun shots. As one of the three of you falls.

A/N: According to Google (so it might be wrong), Ortega is from the Spanish for nettle, so I googled Spanish first names that came from 'stinging' as I thought it fit him. It gave me Ignacio meaning 'fiery one', then I looked for pet names of Ignacio, and Nacho was too cute to pass up.

#pedro pascal character fanfiction #special agent ortega #the sixth gun #special agent ortega x f!reader

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maggie-004 · 1 year ago

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(Un-) Lucky coincidence - 2

Jenna Ortega x Fem reader

Summary: Y/N, a nursing student, comes to the aid of Jenna Ortega, a famous actress, after she falls and gets injured outside a shopping center. Despite the initial awkwardness, Y/N's nursing skills impress Jenna.

Words: 782

Everything in cursive letters is German so … pretend I guess.

I tried to keep my cool. Of course I know who she is, I basically grew up with her, I watched her since Richie Rich, Stuck in the middle and literally everything else. “Oh you are Jenna Ortega, that’s so cool, I always wanted to be an actress, but I’m way to shy” I said and hoped to not scare her away. “Really? You don’t seem like a shy person at all, I mean you just came to help me, even though I am a total stranger to you” Jenna looked at me questioning. “You know, I really have to help, its my duty and I am required to” I explained. “Required as in required by Law… or how exactly do you mean” now I really confused her. “Yes I am required by law, as a person with medical knowledge, it’s illegal to not help. I could get into serious trouble” I explained when Lauren finally came back with everything we needed. “Hey here’s everything you need, but I’m leaving now, Tom is waiting for me, I called him to pick me up. So bye” and then she really just left, without asking if I need help or, well I don’t know what the hell that was even Jenna seemed to notice as she asked me “Uhm why did your little friend just took of like that?” Ironic because Jenna is way smaller than Lauren but she has a good point. “Well I’ll be honest I don’t really understand, but ever since she has Tom, her Boyfriend, she ghosts me and we currently are drifting apart, but that’s really not important right now, let’s get you fixed up” I really started to get emotional, so I changed the subject and I really need to get a look at that wound. I really could’ve used her help, I wanted to use the non – touch technique but that’s not to easy if you are alone in an definitely dirty environment. I have no other choice, I just need to get her cleaned up. “Let’s get this over with, don’t flinch but this is cold, it shouldn’t burn though let me know.”

“Okay…no it’s just really cold but no burning.” Jenna did in fact flinch, but that’s okay “Yeah it looks good, it won’t need stitches, how are you feeling anyway? Are you dizzy, do you have a headache or are you feeling tiered?” I asked her because she does have a bump and I just want to make sure she doesn’t has a concussion. “No, really I’m perfectly fine, thank god it doesn’t need stitches.” Thank god I thought to myself. I did check way to late for a concussion. “ okay now just the band aid… aaand done. Perfect, but do you wanna get checked out in the hospital?” I asked her. “No not really but thank you so much for helping me. It’s impressing how calm you are, I could never. Hey can I buy you an coffee as a thank you?” she suggested. “Well I’d love that, but I’m not quite sure if you should go in there, it looks like there are all the people inside, your acting, better said your projects reach sooo yeah” I said a little bit sad, because I thought she’d ghost me now, but hell no I was so wrong.

“Oh yeah you’re right there are a lot of people even out here staring at us. Well I’d invite you to my hotel room but I kind of don’t have one, so I’ll have to sleep on a bench tonight. They cancelled my room last minute. Everything else is full, I literally don’t have a place to stay” Jenna explained to me, woah I didn’t think anyone would be stupid enough to cancel a room for a celebrity, but boy was I wrong. “Hey Jenna, if and really only if you want to you can come to my place for a coffee and we could look together for a place for you to stay. But really only if you feel safe” I offered to her. “Yeah that would be literally so nice of you, plus I’d love to see how people here actually live.” she simply said.

A/N still, English is not my first language. Still hope you like it :)

#jenna ortega x reader #actors #jenna marie ortega #jenna ortega x you #jenna ortega #the fallout

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sianagrace · 7 months ago

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Julie and the Phantoms

Julie and the Phantoms (JATP) is a one-season-wonder musical comedy series created by Dan Cross and David Hoge, with the notable executive production of Kenny Ortega (HSM, Descendants, Cheetah Girls, etc.). With the recent passing of her mom, Julie gets kicked out of her school’s prestigious music program for being unable to emotionally perform. When looking through her mom’s things she stumbles across a “Sunset Curve” CD and accidentally welcomes the “phantoms” into her world. Luke, Alex, and Reggie, AKA “Sunset Curve”, were a boyband from the 80s that died prematurely. After hearing Julie sing and realizing they can be seen when they play their music, they form a new band, Julie and the Phantoms.

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While the show does employ a dual-focus narrative for the heteronormative pairing of Julie and Luke (never “resolved” because (a) the actor who plays Julie is a minor and Luke is not and (b) the creators were hoping for a second season, possibly with a follow-through for the more age-appropriate love interest, Nick) they also use it for the sort of rivalry that Robynn Stilwell discusses in Smash. Episode six, “Finally Free”, presents the culmination of the competition between Julie and her ex-best friend, Carrie, in their back-to-back musical performances. Carrie and her band, or rather, backup dancers, perform “All Eyes on Me”, a me-myself-and-I song dedicated to Carrie’s greatness and high social status. Though their performance is technically clean and impressive, it also solidifies a class and character difference between Carries and Julie: Carrie’s dad is a rich music executive and she is, in every way, a quintessential Disney-fied mean girl. Julie is by no means low-income, but her single-parent multi-child household and the recent loss of her mother do not position her as privileged either. Notably, Carrie is blonde and white and Julie is multiracial and brown. Though never directly stated, one may argue that this intersectional identity that Julie has is the “other cultural aspect�� (Stilwell 384) used to provide deeper meaning for the show. Julie and the Phantoms perform “Finally Free” an uplifting song up to interpretation: free from grief, from judgment, from fear. All of the songs performed by Julie and the Sunset Curve boys stand out from Carrie’s due to their emotional depth and interpersonal interaction: Julie interacts with her bandmates, while Carrie’s are solely there for show.

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The “inevitable coupling” in this series happens through an inevitable, albeit unconfirmed, grouping. In the first episode, we watch Sunset Curve interact with a waitress named Rose, to whom they gift a CD and t-shirt. As they exit the venue, Luke comments about how big their band is going to be, how much that waitress’s compliments resonated with him, and how excited he is to play the Orpheum. Minutes later when Julie’s looking through her mom’s things she stumbles across a Sunset Curve CD and t-shirt. We’re never told Julie’s mom’s name in the show, but given their physical similarities and how much Julie associates her with flowers, it’s widely considered that Rose was, in fact, Julie’s mom. In the final episode, Julie and the Phantoms perform at the Orpheum, fulfilling the band’s dream, and one of her mom’s. Almost every song the band sings together includes a duet section for Julie and Luke; singing/performing is where most of their connection and relationship advancement comes from. As Stilwell concludes, the creators employ duets and musical cinema to “create character relationships that would take longer to establish through normal exposition like dialogue...” (393).

With the exceptions of “Unsaid Emily” and “Perfect Harmony”, every musical interlude is incorporated fully into the physical and time constraints of the series, establishing this as a backstage musical. Most of their singing/playing is in preparation for a performance or purely for practicing and jamming together. There are lots of wide shots showing the band collectively in Julie’s garage, advancing the narrative as they perform.

@theuncannyprofessoro

#oxyfilmmusical #televisionmusical #Youtube

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worldcatlas · 9 months ago

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SNW: Children of the Comet

Spoiler warning: some!

We’ve got a promising start right out of the gate on Strange New Worlds episode two, with some cool-looking aliens on a desert planet in full head-to-toe costumes. This is what I come here for.

Peak sci-fi.

Both aliens wear full-length robes in shades of orangey-brown, with structured hoods that may or may not have built-in hats. The taller alien wears a robe that appears to be made of wool felt or another heavy natural fabric, cut and layered in looping twists that give it an interesting, organic appearance. On the right, the smaller alien wears simpler, lighter robes, but with a beautiful beaded tabard that covers their chest and shoulders and trails all the way down to the ground, creating a similarly “busy” look. Both outfits give the impression of being lovingly handmade by people who haven’t invented replicators yet.

Oh yeah, the computer could whip that up in about ten seconds flat.

However, we only get a brief glimpse of our new friends before the story moves up to the Enterprise, where Cadet Uhura has been invited to dinner in the captain’s cabin. Of course, this can only mean one thing: full dress uniform. Right?

As Uhura narrates in the turbolift, we can see her standard issue formal wear consists of a jacket with a surprisingly 24th-century-style band of colour across the shoulders. This is bordered by a strip of black fabric and a thin line of gold piping, above a tasteful charcoal grey for the rest of the body and sleeves. The matching trousers are also grey, with another stripe of division colour down the leg.

The Starfleet equivalent of a tux and bow tie.

…all of which makes her look mighty silly when Lieutenant Ortegas reveals the dress code is “BBQ casual.” Which is also great, as we get to see Erica’s adorable midriff-baring athleisure look.

Dude. WTH??

Fortunately, Captain Pike isn’t bothered, having perfected his own “Grill Dad” aesthetic for the occasion. He welcomes the ladies in a muscle-hugging blue sweater, worn beneath a dark grey apron that somehow also looks tailored to his physique.

Seriously, sir, please get those delts under control.

As dinner goes on, we get a better look at the details on the dress uniform. The red fabric on Uhura’s jacket is decorated with tiny Starfleet deltas, and we can see that the collar is made of a ribbed fabric, which is a bit of an interesting choice for a formal garment. We also get a good look at her gorgeous gold sunbeam earrings, which coordinate nicely with the gold piping and combadge.

Sorry, I’m an autumn, does the uniform come in rose gold?

Finally, we never get a good view of the whole ensemble, but Nurse Chapel’s sleeveless top and joggers are my favourite look of the evening. I initially thought this was another jumpsuit, with the high neck and chunky zipper down the front, but no, just a very cool shirt and pants. I love the monochrome palette for a “future-casual” look, especially with Chapel’s platinum hair.

I am hereby starting a petition for casual Fridays on the Enterprise.

Next, the costume and prop departments join together like Tuvix as our heroes change into EV suits for an away mission. We get a great look at these heavily-accessorized costumes as Spock, Uhura, La’an, and Kirk (not that one) heroically slow-walk toward the camera. Like the other uniforms, the EV suits indicate the wearer’s department by colour, here on the front panel in the middle of the chest. Each suit appears sculpted and tailored to the wearer, which is probably no sweat in the 23rd century, but certainly represents an impressive amount of work in the 21st.

Do they have to keep those stocked in every colour? What if an away mission is all blue guys? I have questions.

Sidebar, as Nurse Chapel helps the away team prepare, we can see Spock is sporting some absolutely WILD sideburns in this episode.

It’s okay, she thinks they’re cute.

The EV suits also include these strappy thigh holsters for a phaser, which are weirdly military-ish for a Definitely Not Military organization like Starfleet. I would be curious to know how much of the design is influenced by the need for modern TV to be Cool And Sexy.

Starfleet got their gear this year from a police auction.

The overall design of the suits is very sleek, with lots of little details that add polish, like the LED lights on the chest and Batman-esque tool belts. Even the combadge is a metal disc built in to the front panel. These elements really sell them as functional space suits, which is… a bit of a problem, as they look centuries beyond anything the 1701 had by Kirk’s time.

Somehow, they got a downgrade along the way. (Image from TOS “The Naked Time”)

Oh, and they have jetpacks. Obviously.

Obviously.

The episode ties up with our pals back in the desert, allowing us a closer look at the wonderful materials work here. With the hoods down, the costumes’ built-in hats seem to have disappeared, which is fine because we get to see the adult alien’s cool dinosaur head. If you look closely, her shirt has a notch at the back of the collar to account for the spines.

Maybe the head spikes explain the shredded fabric too…

Overall, I really enjoyed the contrast in this episode between the perfectly-replicated clean lines of the Starfleet uniforms and these natural, organic-looking garments that are full of detail and movement. It feels rare to see something like this in a world of angular, sterile starships, and – although I love metallic fabric more than life itself – it’s refreshing.

Refreshing like space rain on an alien desert.

On the other hand, colour is nice too, and these guys are still in the Brown Age. I think I’ll stick with the replicator.

Crew credits: The Costume Supervisor on this episode was Karen Lee, the Costume Consultant was Gersha Phillips, and the Assistant Costume Designers were Sarah Goodwin, Heather English, and Emily Jasper.

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dybdahlsvisitportugalspainfrance · 1 year ago

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Ubeda, Spain

August 12-14 2023

After having our minds blown in Cordeba, we headed to Ubeda - a tiny village located in the "Mer de Olives" - the sea of olives. Spain has 300 MILLION plus olive trees and I'm not kidding. One can travel miles and miles and miles and see only olive groves.

We are in the region (think “state”) of Andalusia and we have been here for most of our time in Spain, so far.

Úbeda is a municipality of Spain of 35,000 people located in the region of Andalusia. The town lies on the southern ridge of the Sierra Nevada's so-called Loma de Úbeda, a table sandwiched in between the Guadalquivir and the Guadalimar river beds.

The Parador de Úbeda was the first palace converted into a Parador in Spain in 1910 and is located in a former palace which belonged to the dean of the Sacred chapel of El Salvador. It was built in the 16th century and altered in the 17th century. It is beautiful.

Our room:

And the view from both our balconies:

The beautiful Church of San Salvador! The photo below shows are parador to the left of the church and in the shade. Our room is in the upper corner by the church.

From the website:

The building, of Renaissance architecture, stands out for its façade and the splendid central patio, one of the most beautiful in Úbeda. The large windows on the façade flood the interior with light, where the elegant rooms and majestic halls are fully equipped for holding meetings and events.

Úbeda was declared a World Heritage City for its Renaissance monumental complex. A walk through its historic center explains this title granted by the heritage and historical wealth found in its streets, palaces, churches and museums. The city is also rich in crafts, gastronomy and Andalusian folklore. The title is shared with the city of Baeza, also notable for its Renaissance monumental complex and located a few kilometers from Úbeda.

The Parador Ubeda is the former palace of Don Fernando Ortega Salido. Originally a Moorish palace – he had it rebuilt to his liking – then had the chapel built right next to it. Hemingway, Pio Baroja, Garcia Lorca, and Paul Bowles have all stayed here at the Parador, so it has attracted a particularly literary crowd!

We took a little walk around the place town and then had dinner and went to bed. We had a big day the next day exploring the olive oil process. This begins with us going into the groves and picking the olives.

Below is Ken, olive gatherer extraordinaire, holding his high tech olive harvesting tool and his trusted assistant, Judith.

Next lay out the net...

And get some instructions on what to do and what to pick and not pick...

Then the "combing" begins...

Lots of people used the high tech tool - but Mark just used the walking sticks - Amateur!

Lots of people got into the action and we got a pretty good crop. Then we gathered up our olives

And I snapped this. I have entitled it "Spanish Gothic"

We also visited an olive tree that was 200 years old and still producing olives. I'm impressed!

This might look - to the untrained eye - liike it is 4 trees - but nope - one root. Next step - take the booty to the factory to turn those olive into olive oil.

George is the designated "pourer" and the process begins. We didn't just go so some ol' olive oil producer, we visited the producer that won the grand prize for the best Olive Oil for 2023, Oleícola San Francisco Olive Oil Factory.

We learned that a black olive and a green olive are the same - just in different stages of ripening. The are more than 700 varieties of olives but we picked Picual Olives. There are only three types of olive oil - 1. Extra Virgin. 2. Virgin and 3 Lambaste (DO NOT EAT THIS!!). Extra Virgin must be perfect in lots of categories and have no chemical and process with no heat. Virgin is just not quite Extra Virgin and the last is used for lots of things - but is low quality and should not be eaten. I wrote "should" because while it is illegal to sell for consumption in the EU - it is not illegal in the lots of other places - like the US. If the bottle says "Olive Oil" you are getting Lambaste. Or CRAP! We also learned they harvest from October to January - but depending on weather it may be September to February. They went through every step which was fascinating - BUT I found this YouTube that can tell you much better than I can. Two things... She begins the video right outside our parador AND she doesn't know that in Spain - you do NOT say "hasta la vista" (as in the Terminator.). I'm sure you say many other farewell greetings - but all I can think of now is "Adios." But despite those things - this video is great!

youtube

After the process was explained to us - we tasted some oil, (spoiler alert - the one in the blue glass is the best in the world.)

Next, we went to work making lunch. It was so much fun!

We made a delicious salad - but I took no pics of that. :(

Lunch was great and then with our newly found knowledge and some olive oil, we headed back to Ubeda. After our seista - i could get real use to this - FYI - we took a nice walk around the city stopping at a a potters shop who is bringing back pottery of the past - like this birthing pot.

The midwife is there to catch the baby - but this cuts down on the mess. Used centuries ago - this potter is bringing back the vessel. I'll get back you on how I feel about this.

We continued our walk until Carolina had another edible discovery, churros and hot chocolate. Both the churros and hot chocolate were different for the things we know in the states.

The churros in the US are covered with cinnamon and sugar - but not here. The hot chocolate here is like a warm chocolate pudding. I heard rave review.

For dinner, Joe, Daphne, Mark and I did a supermarket run and did wine, cheese and jamon in the room. We didn't START in the room, we started in the courtyard after I made sure it was OK - but then - when we were almost done - the guy who told me it was OK - came toward us waving his hands - saying "FORBIDDEN!!! No big deal - be packed up and went to our room. You can't scare us!

Ubeda was a wonderful place and we loved our time there - but tomorrow we leave for Toledo.

We are loving Spain.

Stay tuned.

#Youtube

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lenievi · 1 year ago

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snw2 #8

My personal episode ranking based on my enjoyment: 3 - 6 - 4 - 2 - 8 - 1 - 7 - 5

I read some opinions and I’m mostly just having conversation with those opinions... I don’t really talk about the episode itself.

I wonder if they will also address Kirk’s part in the war - based on TOS, he should fight against the Klingons, he should see planets transformed into slave labour camps, he should have an experience with war.

My HC for years has also been that McCoy participated, but now - unless told otherwise - I’m gonna probably HC that he was ship bound.

To me, it was always interesting to kind of hc that Kirk, McCoy, and perhaps even Scotty have had a war experience, but not Spock. (which is why I don’t want a war with the Gorn to happen... like a season long arc or something because tos!Spock doesn’t feel like a character affected by war. But it’s possible they’ll make him experience something to better understand Chapel, idk)

Some time ago, I saw someone say that La’an also participated in the war, and I was like hm, I don’t remember that from the show, and I don’t think that, and it’s good that the episode made it clear that she didn’t participate in the Federation-Klingon War, since she didn’t need to sit at the dinner, nor did she have any open hostility toward the Ambassador. I believe that her and M’Benga’s connection is something else entirely. (unless Pike just likes her better and didn’t ask her to participate, or she actually just said no)

in some way, this episode did get some background to the finale of SNW s1 regarding Ortegas. (it still doesn’t truly explain her hatred towards Spock, but maybe Spock broke Chapel’s heart, so she can’t stand him after that idk)

obviously because of the stripes (but stripes are weird) M’Benga always seemed like having a commander rank, but now it was confirmed and it’s like ??? because UNA ISN’T A COMMANDER, SHE IS STILL A LIEUTENANT COMMANDER (I’ll never understand the ranks in SNW)

there is a possible storyline, so it lines with TOS (since McCoy is a lt. commander). M’Benga will have to eventually resign and heal, and after some years, he’ll return back to the Enterprise, but he won’t be trusted with a CMO position again. Perhaps, he won’t even want it. I’ve always got an impression that M’Benga was new-ish during his first appearance, since McCoy had to reassure Kirk that M’Benga knew what he was doing. (Like sure, maybe only McCoy treats Kirk and he never gets in contact with other doctors, but...)

(or they’re just relatives, not the same characters)

people saying how this episode threaded backward, that humanity should be evolved and above all of this imho forget that it wasn’t that way in TOS - people were bigoted, people were prejudiced, and people with not so perfect mental health were accepted into Starfleet. You can’t think of all 23rd century humans as Kirk and you can’t take everything Kirk says as being true for everyone else (it wasn’t even in TOS). The thing with Kirk is, he was bigoted and prejudiced against the Klingons (and not just the Klingons). Period. When faced with something, the Gorn, the Horta, his first instinct was to kill and violence. There was that one episode (I think it was the Spectre of the Gun) where Spock was like “you wanted to kill” and Kirk said “you’re right”. So the violence is still inherent in him (and through him in humanity). But Kirk made the choice not to kill, Kirk makes the choice every single day to be and do better. But not everyone is there. Not everyone has that privilege.

And while M’Benga is a doctor now, he used to a soldier, some special ops or something. He became a doctor after that.

“Sometimes you pretend something long enough, it becomes the truth.”

He’s speaking from experience. And maybe, it never becomes the truth. You just want to believe it does.

And like the biobed, some thing are broken beyond repair. And all you can do is manage.

In the Conscience of the King, if Kirk wasn’t there, Riley would possibly kill Kodos/Karidian.

Not everyone is Kirk.

But the thing is, because Kirk was the hero of the show, he couldn’t do otherwise in the 1960s. They won’t make Pike kill someone either, most likely. But they can explore these things with side characters imho In TOS there were characters, starship captains even, who did terrible things, but they were always the bad guys, or it was always a mental illness, so I think seeing a character we’re supposed to root for not being able to take a higher ground, is quite interesting

and who’s to say that M’Benga killing someone, Chapel covering it up, Pike and M’Benga’s friendship maybe getting some cracks won’t come back later. This episode ended as it did. Maybe in s3, there will be consequences, maybe M’Benga’s guilt will eat him up, maybe he’ll be send somewhere to heal, because he is broken. And maybe not. We just don’t know and it’s early to judge. Not everything needs to be resolved in one episode, since this isn’t a truly episodic show. And the characters have arcs.

I’m rewatching SG-1 where a lot of episodes just end, typically after something heavy happens, without any real conclusion or judgement or the viewers being spoon fed, and I like that this SNW episode did that. (but also as I mentioned, I don’t think I’m watching Star Trek for “Star Trek”)

in any case, I liked the episode

(I watched the episode twice, and the first time I thought the Ambassador killed himself... my second watch was done after I read everyone saying that M’Benga murdered him... so I’m kind of looking forward to any kind of continuation that will make it clear what really happened)

#snw nonsense

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blues824 · 2 years ago

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May I request dormleaders with Wednesday Addams like s/o I saw your morticia one and just had the ask

I was waiting for someone to request this. Even though there are many interpretations of Wednesday, I will try to stick to Jenna Ortega’s interpretation in the show.

Riddle Rosehearts

You both become academic rivals very quickly. Since you had been trained in all things magical and borderline satanic, you had your path carved out for yourself. Riddle had the Twisted Wonderland education from his mother.

He had to admit that he did find you a little intimidating at first. You never smiled or smirked. You would always talk about the most macabre things as if they were normal to you, which they were. You knew how to use weapons of all sorts and even managed to create ones of your own.

You have even threatened the headmage. Riddle would’ve beheaded you if you had any magic that he can control, but since you didn’t really have any magic past your visions, he was shit out of luck. The worst thing was that you had won your battle with Crowley, and everyone heard about it. You were now more intimidating than the head of the school.

One day, Crowley had decided to volunteer you for a school-wide assembly. To be specific, you had to play your cello as an introduction for him to enter the stage. As Riddle sat with his dorm, he had to admit that you did wonderfully. He even brought you a rose that he grew himself to congratulate you. Even though you thought that roses were boring cliché’s from romance novels, you still accepted it and thanked him.

When y’all actually get together, no one is surprised. Actually, everyone is relieved because they finally get a break from the rivalry. In fact, they were all surprised when they saw you both dancing in the middle of the labyrinth. Ace was about to gag when Trey and Deuce covered his mouth with their hands and Cater pulled out his phone and started recording the two of you. It was one of the few instances where they saw Riddle smile, and it was adorable to them that you were the cause of his smile.

Leona Kingscholar

You were skilled in every section, even physically, so you both became rivals in that. He hated that you seemed to be faster and more agile than the best of his dorm, so he started training his dorm members even harder.

You were just naturally very intimidating, and Leona looked like a small kitten in comparison to you. Of course, he wasn’t intimidated, but you held more influence than anyone else in the entire school. You weren’t afraid of anything. Speaking of…

When Leona got word that you had used your specific ‘charm’ (threatening exposure on the overblots because he knew that RSA would accept you for your perfect grades if things went south) on the Headmage, he couldn’t help but feel a small ounce of pride. Finally, someone stood up to that useless crow.

However, we all know that Crowley doesn’t do anything for free. For one of the school assemblies, the Headmage volunteered you and your musical talent to play as a sort of segway into the meeting. Leona was impressed at how well you did, and even applauded you.

When you guys got together, everyone was actually surprised. You both often clashed heads before, so how the heck did you pair so well? Turns out, neither of you exactly know yourselves. Well, maybe the lion did. You reminded him a lot of the women at home: fierce warriors who have earned respect by climbing the ranks with hard work. He actually found you very attractive because you were competent and willing to take big risks to get what you want.

Azul Ashengrotto

You both became rivals because you would always advise people not to go to Azul for a contract. You were as cunning as he was, so he thought it was to get ahead of him. He realized your true intentions when you went up to him and told him that this was a new low, even for yourself.

As he sits in his office, your words play on repeat in his head. There was no special way you said it, but he could tell that you were disappointed in him. He couldn’t even try to focus for the next 2 days as the shame and guilt came avalanching into his brain.

Then, he heard from some customers in the Lounge about how you were able to threaten the Headmage. It was then he realized how much influence you held over the school, despite being magicless and in a world that wasn’t your own. You were able to blackmail Crowley, who was in charge of one of the most prestigious schools in Twisted Wonderland.

However, it came at the small price of playing your cello for a school event. Everyone had to admit that even though you had a very pissed off face, you played beautifully. Azul thought you had every right to be angry, but brought you a bouquet of black dahlias for the end of your performance. If he weren’t overseeing the finances of the event, he would’ve accompanied you by playing the piano alongside you.

No one was surprised when the two of you got together. The two of you together were an unstoppable force, building up on each other for the better. You even volunteered your time to perform a few dances that your father’s side of the family had taught you. They were mostly Spanish and Latin American dances, and even some ‘emo’ dances, but you had ‘fun’ teasing and teaching Azul these dances so that the two of you could make more revenue for the Lounge.

Kalim Al-Asim

I’m going to be honest, I feel like he fell for you the first time he laid his eyes on you. He had never seen your style of clothing or someone with your one-of-a-kind disposition. He always tried to give you gifts, but it always made him sad to see you turn them down.

He is very impressed and in awe of your skills and intelligence. Your mind is a forest with traps set, but Kalim manages to evade all of them. He only wishes to help the forest thrive, and once you finally see it he is so happy.

When he heard that you had threatened Crowley, he was probably the last to hear. He asked you what the heck happened and you had the most intimidating smile as you told him that you were temporarily moving to Scarabia while repairs were being made to Ramshackle. He forgot about the first part about you threatening the Headmage and made preparations for your stay.

Now, you followed Crowley’s terms as per your agreement and agreed to play your cello as an opening for the assembly happening the following week. Kalim sat front-row, cheering you on. It was a tad embarrassing, but you were grateful (even if your face didn’t show it).

When the two of you officially got together, again no one was surprised. Kalim constantly followed you like a puppy in love, so everyone was kind of expecting it. You had to admit that the love the two of you have reminds you of the love your father and mother have. He made you smile in ways you hadn’t known before, and you made his heart burn for you.

Vil Schoenheit

Another instance where you both clash at first. You had the macabre beauty of a person no longer alive. As if you were simply moments away from drawing your last breath. He often got annoyed (but was also envious) by your lack of care about anyone’s feelings

Now, he has to admit that he admires your resourcefulness and determination. You are willing to go to any length to achieve whatever you want to, and he’s seen it in the Housewarden meetings. He now sees you as friendly competition rather than a true rival (read: he likes you more than Neige).

When he hears that you had threatened Crowley with announcing to the press that he is making a magicless, ‘helpless’ student live in a dorm that was about to cave in at any given moment and how you were about to bring down NRC by calling it discriminatory, he was shocked. In a good way, of course.

Now, since the Headmage needed to benefit in some way so that his ego could have some form of recovery, you agreed to play your cello as an introduction to the day’s topic in the upcoming assembly. Vil thought the sounds coming from your instrument were absolutely beautiful. After, he tossed a black rose to the stage, and it landed directly in front of you.

Another case where no one is surprised. Sure, you both were rivals at first, but you both were cunning and clever. Your intellect and resourcefulness combined gives the both of you unimaginable amounts of influence and power, like the king and queen of a country.

Idia Shroud

He was definitely terrified of you. The fact that you never smiled was enough to scare him, but your cold gaze and the constantly-angry expression on your face absolutely shook him to his core. He mostly tried to avoid you as best he could.

You both were incredibly intelligent. So when the time comes where he has to upgrade his younger brother, he realizes that anyone else could mess it up. He stutters a lot while asking for your help, but he lets out a sigh of relief when you follow him to Ignihyde.

When he hears about how you threatened Crowley into moving you temporarily into Ignihyde while also demanding that he fix up your dormitory, he is impressed. Not a lot of people can demand things from the Headmage, so you must have had serious material to blackmail him.

However, it came at a price. It was a small one, but it was still an inconvenience to you. You had to play your cello at the school assembly. Idia couldn’t summon enough courage to go in-person so he watched through his tablet, but he realized that he should’ve gone because the device couldn’t do your talent any justice.

When you do get together, everyone is either shocked or relieved. Sure, you both were very smart, but anyone could see that Idia was terrified of you at the start of your already unexpected friendship. However, now whenever you two are seen with each other in public, everyone sees the lovesick grin and dopey smile on his face as he looks at you.

Malleus Draconia

He was very intrigued by you. You had no respect for anyone who didn’t respect you in return. You caught his attention when you calmly held a knife to his retainer’s throat as you stated with clear diction that the only stupid human present was the half-fae.

Again, you both are very intellectual and intelligent. The only difference is that Malleus wants to become friends (and even more) with you. You, however, think friends cause weakness within you. If he could prove to you that being vulnerable isn’t the same as being weak.

When he catches wind that you had threatened the Headmage into hiring construction workers to restore Ramshackle, he extended the offer to let you stay in Diasomnia. Not only could it be beneficial for your ‘friendship’, it would allow the two of you to get closer to each other.

But, you then told him how you would return the favor by playing your cello at the upcoming school event. You would only do a couple of songs, but it still made you angry. However, the young Prince was absolutely delighted! Didn’t you know that you could both do a duet. Should he play the violin or the piano to accompany you?

When you do begin courting, Malleus becomes a puppy of a dragon. Sure, in public he holds his head up high. In private, he melts whenever you run your hands through his hair. He can tell that you would do excellently ruling by his side, with your skills and mind you could do anything

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fiadorable · 2 years ago

Text

67 Great Things in Serene Squall

Strange New Worlds season one episode seven... we're starting a mutiny 🏴‍☠️

T'Pring gets the opening monologue!

Long distance relationships are hard - I like the ritual of Spock and T'Pring both sitting down with a PADD and a glass of wine to try to bridge the distance

Spock narrowly avoiding a spit take as T'Pring drops "I have been doing research on human sex" right out of the gate

T'Pring rightly does some research on human culture to better understand her boyfriend, but seems to skip the part where she confirms that Spock is ready to embrace or even acknowledge that part of himself

Spock being distracted while walking with Chapel is delightful

Chapel helping a friend out with his relationship trouble

"Spock, are you telling me your girlfriend is moving too fast for you?"

"Don't try to be smarter than the truth"

"Also - pro tip: Pay better attention to me when I'm talking because…" "You are very charming and I am completely missing it?"

Dr. Aspen/Captain Angel's character is so cool, they are a treat to watch laying the groundwork for the takeover as early as this dinner (calling Pike a boy scout to prompt him to take risks later on in the episode)

Pike is 100% Starfleet's boy scout, in the best sense

Looks like Pike made lasagna for dinner, but La'An interrupts with the announcement they've arrived before they can eat

Bridge troubleshooting!

Finally! Someone in Trek who listens to music that sounds like it was made later than the 1960s. It's the antagonist, but it's a start.

"Interesting. He hasn't snipped his emotions yet."

Pike and Ortegas bridge banter I

The sound design for the ship moving through the asteroid field is great - all of the external ship stuff is great in this episode. I feel like I have a real sense of how the ship is moving in relation to its surroundings.

Asteroid laser trap!

Camera shot from behind Pike so we see what he sees on the bridge - I like it

Kaboom!

The laser net is a great first test for Spock - if he fails, then I'm betting the trap would disable the ship and then the Serene Squall would swoop in and attempt to take over the Enterprise. But if he passes, then not only does Enterprise get to continue on and reach the point where the crew is separated, but Spock is now off kilter from being forced to use his "gut". Either way is a win for Angel, although I'm betting they were hoping Spock would be able to solve the puzzle so they could fuck with him some more

Visible sigh of relief from Number One and Ortegas as the puzzle deactivates

Angel's little crab-legged ship is cute

Spock and Angel's "maybe you're neither" nonbinary discussion

Pike and Ortegas bridge banter II

In the future people will be accepting enough of other people's fashion choices that they will deliberately ignore the increasingly villainous vibes from a self-professed humanitarian aid worker's wardrobe as they approach their destination

Headcanon: Pike had Una and La'An do rock paper scissors to see who was going to be on the away mission with him

And as Pike beams away with the chief of security, there's Angel's first check, but not mate

Very clean takeover of the ship all things considered

Spock is a beast in hand to hand combat, dang

Everything about Remy the pirate is a win as are Pike's very reasonable, non-threatening-yet-not-impressed facial expressions

Number One death glaring at Spock from down the hallway as they march her to the transporter room 😂😂

The entire interrogation scene from "Handsome and witty. Aren't you a charmer" to "What's wrong with my cooking?"

Chapel is wearing the perfect white jumpsuit to be camouflaged on this empty white ship

I know those are Jess Bush's actual tattoos on her wrists and hands, but I would love to see an in universe explanation for them, it's an interesting character beat

Action!Chapel and her Hypospray of Doom

Pike butters up Remy like he's a dinner roll at Golden Corral while dishing out chili (?) to a pirate crew - it's a nice parallel because he's using the same tactics as Angel

Never ever put the senior staff together in a holding cell, come on, guys

"More good news: I convinced these guys to sell us to the Klingons."

Bahahaha Number One is suspicious (and rightfully so) and Ortegas is convinced Pike's lost his mind

The idea that Pike and Number One regularly start mutinies on away missions gone wrong is amazing and I need fic, please

Chapel trying her damnedest to get that SOS out to Starfleet

Chapel is the fault in Angel's plan - she's the worst person who could be left on the ship with Spock

Once Captain Angel reveals themself, their sarcasm gives me life

Great twist that they don't need any information from Spock, they just need Spock himself as bait

Gasp STONN???

T'Pring immediately starts out with "Who are you", no hi hello nothing, just who are you and why are you calling me

Sarcastic death threats have never been sexier

Angel's look of incredulous disgust as Spock insists that Vulcans aren't swayed by emotion 😂😂😂

Angel being pissed that Chapel is on the stupid ship in the first place, ruining their little back and forths with Spock

"Love is the only thing that makes the cold loneliness of space bearable"

Setting the mutiny in motion 🏴‍☠️

"Now let's get those transporters hot and trade lovers" 😂 what am I watching

"Spock, you are failing to communicate effectively" 😂😂😂😂

"Oh, you guys are fun"

Angel's plan going completely to pot because one little nurse got missed when they took over the ship

The pirate ship has a goddamn steering wheel

Backdoor codes!

Pike and Ortegas bridge banter III

Chekhov's necklace

"The question isn't what you are. It's who you are"

"Our mutiny is still in progress" as pirates literally climb the walls in the background 😂

Just a normal shift on the bridge, on the way back into Federation space to deliver some pirates to the authorities. Then out of nowhere… "Arrrrgh me mateys!" Your captain affects an old Earth pirate accent and demeanor from behind you. It is hilarious and sudden. The Dad vibes are off the charts. You beg the captain to stop before you burst into giggles on the bridge and ruin the carefully cultivated image of "where fun goes to die". You feel his frown and hear him sit back in his chair, but he desists and ship travels on. Your reputation is intact and the morale is lifted.

T'Pring's unwavering faith in Spock's faithfulness is beautiful and heartbreaking, as is Spock's relieved "of course" as T'Pring confidently says the one thing he's wondering if he's capable of

"So I know for certain there's no feelings between us" uuuuugh the angst… the mutually unrequited feelings (because I do think Spock does feel something for Chapel even if he can't or won't accurately quantify it right now)

With this episode ending on Stonn and T'Pring walking to Sybok's cell together, I wonder if he helped her do the prisoner swap - maybe he was even on the ship with her and we just didn't see… hmmm…

Sybok and Captain Angel had better return in Season 2

#star trek strange new worlds #serene squall #st:snw #snw great things #such a good episode #such a palate cleanser after the previous week #i proofread this 11 times but if i messed up angel's pronouns someone have mercy on me and let me know

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alpacaparkaseok · 3 years ago

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Alright here comes said ask:

I’ve only just read the first cut and I-…I will fight somebody. What is happening, do I even want to keep reading!!??? Was she drugged? A scream??? 😭 it’s too late for this 🤦🏽‍♀️

What do you mean the house reaks of death 😭 (it better be Alexandra’s dead body up in this house or I WILL fight you)

The book from the library??? (Confirmed)

Oh yeah Ortega…the dead body can be his (sorry not sorry Ortega, it just can’t be my boys) too, that’s allowed (by bad Alexandra we don’t even know if you’re guilty and I’m offering you up as a lamb for slaughter). Oh shit…someone snuck in the house to kill him before he could say anything??? Or perhaps just bc said person is a psychopath? (Looking at you Yaddy, and yes that physically hurt me to type out). Oof if it was Yadiel the body is not gonna be pretty…the little lunatic 😒

A TRAITOR???? B WHY !!!??!!! I-

…. 😶…I really don’t even know what to say. I have so much 🕵🏽‍♀️🕵🏽‍♀️🕵🏽‍♀️ to do. I guess it would make sense it wasn’t Yadiel who came to her like a dream??? Bc even in a half asleep state I feel like she would just sense the wrongness you know? Like a visceral response to his presence.

Oh ho ho 🕵🏻 Yoongi is on it for me??? Agreed not Hobi or Namjoon (or so YOU want me to believe right B??? Help you’ve just created a paranoid monster 😂). I hate to say this…and I’ll deny it if anyone asks me about it again (idc if it’s in black and white right here lol) …but Seokjin is off his rocker enough to be suspicious 🥲. My heart tells me never but it says that for all of them 😭

Wow I’m actually really surprised (possibly slightly impressed?) that she didn’t immediately rule out Taehyung and Jungkook too…

Okay but going back to the first scene…a caress along the jaw…a familiar caress along the jaw. Now who has touched her that way before? Taehyung certainly…jungkook too (don’t think I forgot about the whole finding comfort in his arms thing, I’m still 🙃 about that), Jimin? I feel like he might have in the alley or the… I wanna say barn? (It’s been too long since those chapters). Jin??? Seokjin did too I think. Ugh. That could be any of them now that I write it out all 😭. I’m fairly certain against Yoongi and Namjoon…even if that makes me a 🤡 at some point. I just don’t see it (oddly enough I’ve also written those two off from being endgame…coincidence??? I think not. Wait but wouldn’t that also make them perfect candidates for being the mole??? Cause surely reader wouldn’t end up with said mole. Look at the paranoia you’ve created). I also don’t see them being in that sort of position with reader.

Unnatural reason??? 🕵🏽‍♀️ I’m still suspicious about a potential drugging…idk how bc idk how drugging someone would work but surely there’s some kind of gas or something that would make you drowsy without suspicion (oh duh there is, carbon monoxide…tho idk how much would knock you out like that without killing you?)

Oh yes yes, see drugs.

Ugh. Not you making Seokjin even more suspicious, already awake? 🤦🏽‍♀️ Then her falling back into his arms on accident!!?? It’s like you want to hurt me specifically (I’m dramatic I’m sorry).

Okay but for me Yoongi trusting Namjoon with reader says a lot (also does this mean we are finally getting more one on one namjoon moments???)

Okay what’s killing me is why would they not try to hide or disguise that it’s betrayal??? That doesn’t sit right with me. Why would they be so obvious when the clear result is the whole house being on edge and trusting no one? UNLESS, that’s exactly what the person who killed Ortega wants you to think…you know what they say, a house divided. I’ve split decision come to a theory (and by that I mean yes I have a theory that I will be sticking with but no it was not a unanimous decision, even tho the only one deciding on it is me 😂)

Not Jk calling her jagiya 🙃

WAIT why was Yoongi awake so early!!!?? Rookie mistake Mikayla…rookie mistake, he literally told you not to trust him smh (I’ve devolved into speaking in the third person, are you happy???). I don’t want to believe Tae or Jungkook could be it but if something is keeping her from trusting them, some gut instinct, it might be best not to??? Idk, somewhere in the back of her mind she knows who it is…recognized the build and touch, it’s there…

They’re gonna be so hurt when they find out she didn’t trust them tho (when it turns out it was none of them bc I refuse to believe your peanut butter lies).

All I have to say is

1. Yesh, drugs.

2. the process of you wondering who killed Ortega and then realizing that it was one of the boys was hilarious to read sksksk

3. so the 🕵🏽‍♀️🕵🏽‍♀️ begins

4. love how you're like, "yeah, it's not Yoongi obviously" to "WAIT BUT WHAT IF IT IS"

5. WHAAAAT did you just say that Seokjin is suspicious? never thought I'd see the day

6. nope, they aren't really trying to hide the fact that there's a betrayal. thus commences their plan to take the entire clan out from the inside.

7. also love the fact that a part of you is clinging to the idea that it was actually none of them.

#miksancheese #b:asks #htss:asks #ah the theories begin again #so ready for all of it

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idio-cies · 4 years ago

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Jatp- Perfect Harmony Dissection

Holy Moly this show has taken me by surprise in the best possible way.

I forgot how good Kenny Ortega is... and omg the dynamics in this show are just *chefs kiss* anyway that’s for another post

All of these songs left an impression with me, but Perfect Harmony just got the cogs working in my brain so I wanted to dissect it because I can’t stop thinking about it.

This will be long but I hope people will bear with me.

I found out that Madison and Charlie wrote this one together for the show, so that’s cool. So, even if this is Julie’s fantasy/daydream, it objectively also has “Luke’s” input as well, considering Madison and Charlie were writing with the characters in mind.

The lead up to this song is Julie realising she is falling for Luke, and has Luke on the brain, so she slips up with calling Nick, Luke yadayada significant to say her crush has changed as well blah blah blah.

I first thought it was strange that they are all in black? They weren’t performing for anyone other than for merit. However Black is of course associated with death, mystery etc, but in this context ,with them being “fancy” it deems them as more elegant than anything. I like using this site for colour reference. Please make of it what you will, but I’m sticking with classy and mysterious with this performance.

Then I noticed how Julie and Nick are the centre of attention, plus Nick and Julie seem to improvise? They aren’t doing as the others are. Whether they are meant to or not. I think this is meant to draw parallels, with Nick sliding on the floor and Luke tumbling, then also the lift, how here it’s short and sweet, yet with Julie and Luke there are two and the second is drawn out and more meaningful etc.

I think she must be dancing normally in reality throughout this, but I’ll come back to that later.

So let’s get into this song.

“Step into my world”- I find this interesting because Luke is the one stepping over into hers, but also this is like some “in-between” that they're in; significant of the Limbo that the guys are currently stuck in and also the fact that Julie is the bridge. The world is probably metaphorical for music as Luke helps re-establish it in Julie and is also the guy where music is his whole world, as he lets all of his emotions out and connects with people. It’s a running theme being called up again. However, you cannot deny the possible connotation of Julie potentially stepping over with them. It’s also ironic as Luke “steps” into Julie’s world “I’m sorry we came into your life” - Luke, ep 1, and literally steps over here.

“Bittersweet love story about a girl”- undeniable. Their story is bittersweet. Impossible to be together; yet have a connection that runs so deep.

But now we see the scenery, and it’s all monochrome and the candles just scream romance, but also to me, of serenity.

I mean even the dancefloor reflects to make it look as if they are dancing on water or in an in between world. The reason why I point out monochrome gives the intention of “black and white” there is a lack of complexity, it is clear about how true their bond is, and to them it isn’t complex. Also I can’t help but think of yin and yang which can also be included here as they balance each other out. Julie yin, Luke yang. This is ironic considering Julie is always symbolised with light and Luke the contrast with a dark and being, you know, dead.

I also came across a gifset of the parallels to dirty dancing that Perfect Harmony dance had, and again, the colours are flipped with the pair which is just... interesting in this instance.

“Shook me to the core “Voice like an angel, never heard before”- pretty simple, Luke has always been amazed with Julie’s talent, plus a metaphor commonly attached to Julie, being called an angel. He is also calling her unique. Passage of touch.

But then we get the touch. So I think this whole hand passage thing is reflected in the time they tried to hold hands, then the last time and they could then touch. In this instance though it’s like Julie is the one being resurrected. Again, this could be another metaphor of his hand in helping her find her music again, but you cannot overlook the other implications.

So here is where they dance. I am no dance expert, but dance does have it’s own language that I think everyone can interpret, but I will try my best to explain. I also think “harmony” can be a way to express dance partners as well.

“Here in front of me”- I do think this is in reference being able to touch them, but the drawing up to her hands is so interesting because of the eye contact and draw. It’s more intimate.

Then they go into something similar to what the routine is meant to be in reality, but instead they make it like a pulse on the line “they’re shining so much brighter”

I point out a pulse because it’s “living” and it just juxtaposes with who Julie is talking about; the guys.

A twirl and lift on “than I have ever seen”- This is Julie talking about the guys. Ray calls them angels and then at the end of season they literally freaking glow so... (also pronoun change to collective when Julie starts singing)

“Life can be so mean”- ep 8, after Luke told him their demise would be one of three ways, Julie was going to be hurt all over again. Julie and Flynn had an understanding that the world was being cruel when they were discussing it. Also I just feel their dance here is like they are interpreting a rough ride/rollercoaster. They swing arms then tuck and twist.

“But when he goes, I know he doesn’t leave”- Luke will be in her heart, like she found with her Mum. She did let them go, and she understands she will have to do that, but they will live on in her heart.

Also hand over heart, as she “falls” into him and he doesn’t let her fall. That’s just cute.

“The truth is finally breaking through”- either their feelings or just what will be revealed to us. Though they are parted and Luke does the spinning on the ground so I expect a pitfall somewhere along the way (probs Caleb)

But he rolls right back to her

“Two worlds collide when I’m with you”- Well, the fact that they are the living and the dead.. so. Plus in-between. Don’t know how to interpret the dance here, I just like the swishy steps

“A voice is rising so, so high”- how Julie comes out of her shell. Also can’t help but link to the angel motif. Plus, Julie is lifted up, she is the catalyst, she is rising up in fame really. Luke is one of the people who helps her soar as well.

“We come to life, when we’re in perfect harmony”- Julie always being told she looks “alive again” when she’s doing music again. Music and playing with Julie is what makes Luke and the guys feel alive. I gotta say, Charlie and Madison do exhibit some good harmonising.

The lift that happened is like the improv that Nick and Julie do, but then Luke and Julie here make eye contact as she comes down again, but goes back to similar to the dance she is meant to be doing. Until she reaches up on the line “We say we’re friends”, he also helps lift them up.

“We play pretend”. I mean, they kinda do. Luke tries to pass off his feelings with the guys, but that boy is WHIPPED.

“You’re more to me”- right off the bat, I like it. Arms out and a hug. YES. Also just look at that bliss on her face, bless her.

“We create” well yes they create “the perfect harmony”

The cut off is abrupt as Julie snaps back to reality. Then she looks in the mirror and realises Luke isn’t there and that she must’ve gone insane. This is what gets me. I think this is the moment that she realises that her feelings for Luke are deeper than she realised and I think she truly thought that they may have been dancing together in the end.

Is this just an extremely vivid daydream, because she had one of these when she mentally performed “I got the Music” and she must’ve done something during that time as she took someone’s drumsticks during her little renaissance. So what happened in real life? Did she just dance around a little, humming a bop? I just... I imagine that this is just a very lucid daydream, which is fair enough, relatable, but it just interacts so much with real life rather than actually just being all in her head. I just find it interesting.

The full version has some lines that I also want to point out. In the second verse there are these lines:

”You set me free”- Luke sings this line which can mean that she will set his soul free- she is a part of his “unfinished business”

“You and me together is more than chemistry”- Julie sings this line. We know that chemistry was pointed out by Alex and Reggie to Luke, and I believe Flynn also says about them being an appealing pair when performing. But they are more than chemistry. I mean they do work well together and they care about each other deeply, but I also can’t help but think of the “signs” her mother was giving her, and believing that the guys were sent to her.

“Love me as I am, I’ll hold your music here inside of my hands”- This is sung by both of them. They already do this, but holding their music in each other’s hand is interesting. I guess this is saying about trust and that they will do it together. I also think this relates to being able to finally hold hands. It’s like the saying “Whatever’s mine is yours”. They share pain, they share lyrics, their passion for music etc.

Then in the bridge we have the lines “I feel your rhythm in my heart”- I have a feeling that they are in sync with each other, they can immediately click and tune in with a melody. It’s also ironic as Luke doesn’t have a heart.

“You are my brightest burning star”- Luke sings this line. It makes sense. As I have said previously, Julie is this beacon of light, Luke clearly is in awe of her and inspires him. He also straight up calls her a star in ep 9 as well

“I never knew a love so real”- oh man, the irony. Their connection is pure and true, it’s just so annoying that he’s a ghost

“We’re heaven on earth, melody and words”- again with the metaphor of the middle ground where I suppose Julie sits. I understand the idiom and the bliss that they feel, and the connection they have and share with people. It’s just interesting as at the moment earth is currently Luke and the guys’ afterlife.

Anyway, that has been my dissection of Perfect Harmony. Thanks for reading if you’ve gotten this far 😅

PS. the lack of visual aids is because Tumblr hates me, I apologise

#jatp #julie and the phantoms #juke #julie molina #luke patterson #jatp julie #jatp luke #jatp meta #jatp analysis

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snootchie-bootchies · 4 years ago

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Top ten shows I binged in Quarantine

WARNING MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS IF YOU WANNA WATCH ANY OF THESE SHOWS

10. Sex and the City

This show came out I was born so I didn’t get to watch it while it was airing but quarantine was the perfect time to watch it! It’s the first thing I wanted to watch since I would hear a lot about it on the internet. I have to say it did not disappoint. The chemistry between the four main girls was amazing, and I really enjoyed their friendship. It was fun watching them grow from the very first episode to the last (I ignore the movies they are not canon to me sorry about it). I got watch Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda, and Samantha fall in love, out of love, accept themselves, and take on the city and have sex of course!

9. The Office

The first time I heard about The Office was from my older brother as it is his favorite show. All of my friends watched it and would tell me to but I had no way to so. When we got netflix during quarantine it was one of the first things I wanted to watch. I binged this summer and it made me feel closer to my brother as I understood his humor more. The show is hilarious and the cast had great charisma together. It was cool to see where actors like Steve Carell, John Krasinski, Craig Robinson and many others got their start. I loved watching Jim and Pam’s love story, and Dwight is definitely my favorite character. Overall I understand all the hype around this show.

8. I am not okay with this

I watched this show during summer as well, and holy crap what a show! I was already fan of Sohpia Lilis, and Wyatt Oleff from IT but omg I was so impressed with them after this show! The plot is an interesting one and that ending was insane, so sad there won’t be a season two but what can you do?

7. Hollywood

Definitely one of my fave shows of all time! I’ve seen it about 5 or 6 times. It is a story about old Hollywood but it’s not how you think it is as it a rewrite of it. It was written and created by Ryan Murphy who also created one of my other fave shows of all time Glee. The show has solid cast such as Darren Criss, Jim Parsons, Dylan Mcdermott, and Holland Taylor. The show will make you laugh, cry and wish you lived in old Hollywood! It will also give you a better understanding of how Hollywood works.

6. Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist

This show came out in January but I did not start watching it until the first week of quarantine so Idk if I counts as a binge but oh well. This show is so amazing. It is about a girl who can hear people’s thoughts through song, and she has to figure out a way to help them. It also helps that the show stars Pitch Perfect’s Skylar Astin, and Glee’s Alex Newell. The story is solid, and the song selection is definitely unique with songs from all sorts of genre’s, era’s, and artists.

5. Outer Banks

Oh my god what a great show! It came out in April or May I think but I didn’t watch it until September. The show is about a boy named John B who lost his father at sea and now he and his friends are looking for the treasure his dad was chasing. It has friendship, romance, adventure, and betrayal. This show really made me miss hanging out with my friends. I can’t wait for season 2!

4. Cobra Kai

This show is apart of The Karate Kid series which I have been a fan of since I was a kid. It came out two years ago on Youtube Red and I wanted to watch it then but had no way to. When it got added to netflix this summer I immediately stopped what I was watching to watch it. It follows the bully from the Karate Kid series Johnny Lawrence. He opens up his childhood dojo to help a kid named Miguel with bullies. Eventually more kids start to join, and Danny Larusso the protagonist of The Karate Kid movies opens up his childhood dojo. The show follows new kids including the kids of Danny and Johnny.

3. Dead To Me

I watched this show after season two came out. I was really impressed with this show! The plot really shocked me and I couldn’t tear my eyes away. Linda Cardellini, and Christina Applegate are the leads of this show. Christina Applegate’s husband died in a tragic accident, she meets Linda Cardellini and forms a friendship with her. That is all I will say about this show.

2. Julie and The Phantoms

This show I just finished today, and OH MY FUCKING GOD! This show is a masterpiece and deserves all the hype. It is directed by Kenny Ortega who directed the iconic HSM Series and many more. It’s about a girl whose mother died, and she lost her passion for music. She meets these three ghost who died before they got their big break. They help her find her passion for music and form a band with her. The show will make you laugh, sing, and surprisingly cry. The music is amazing, and the main characters have such amazing chemistry musically, and friendship wise. This show will make you feel good, and look up all the songs on youtube when it’s over! 100/100 recommend.

1. Euphoria

I LITERALLY HAVE NO WORDS FOR THIS SHOW OH MY GOD! I binged it at the end of summer, and it is literally one of the best show’s I’ve ever seen. It follows Rue a teenage girl who’s had drug abuse problems since she was thirteen. She just got back from rehab and meets this girl named Jules. They become best friends, and eventually more. I’m not gonna give to much of this show away but oh my god If you have not watched it you should. However it may trigging to some viewers as there is nudity, drug use, physical abuse, and violence. The show follows more characters than just Rue but she is the main. Zendaya definitely deserved the Emmy for this show!

#Quarantine Binge #Sex and The City #The Office #I am not okay with this #Hollywood tv series #Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist #Outer Banks #Cobra Kai #Dead To Me #Julie and The Phantoms #Euphoria #Netflix #HBO #NBC #Tv show ranking #Tv show review #Multitvshowedit #Myedit

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artificialqueens · 4 years ago

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When We Went From Friends to This, Part 1: Week 1 (Branjie) - Writworm42

A/N: Fic summary: At the start of their first year of college, roomies Brooke and Vanessa have to quarantine together for two weeks. Fourteen days is a lot of time to bond, but it’s also a lot of time for things to get complicated.

For the lovely Ortega–merry super belated Christmas <3 Thank you Holtz for betaing & suggesting a song for the title, Bean for answering my questions about whether UK stereotypes are true, and Ortega for being patient fdhsjkf

Title from Paper Rings by Taylor Swift

TW for implied weed use

Day 1

“I still can’t believe you gotta go in-person to all these classes, you sure there ain’t a Zoom option?”

Vanessa snorts, and she’s pretty sure that Silky can hear her roll her eyes on the other end of the line. “For dance majors? Bitch, you know that ain’t gonna work.”

But Silky is too stubborn to be fazed by common sense. Instead, her voice gets a little more urgent. “We’re only first year. Start out with something that doesn’t need to be done in-person, then switch majors to dance once this is all over. C’mon, I can’t have my bestie dying Miss ‘Rona here!”

“Christ, you sound like my mom.” Vanessa huffs. “Look, the uni is being very careful, okay? Why else do you think I gotta quarantine for two weeks ahead of the start of term? Plus all clubs have been suspended and meals and showers are booked with time slots for each room. I’m literally seeing no one except the people in my classes and the bitch I’m sleeping next to.”

“But—“

“Listen, I’m at the dorm now, so I gotta go. I’ll call you later, alright?”

“Bye.” Silky’s begrudging send-off brings a flash of guilt to Vanessa’s chest, but only for a moment. Pushing her feelings aside, she hip-checks the door to the dorm building, trying to make her way inside without disrupting the large box she’s holding with one arm or the suitcase she’s trailing behind her with the other.

“Hi, I’m Vanessa Mateo, I think I’m supposed to be room 96?”

The suspiciously stoned-looking guy at the front desk barely looks up from the computer as he slides the keycard across his desk, and at first, Vanessa hovers, waiting for him to launch into a spiel about rules, but a moment passes without him saying anything, so she surges on. The building is a bit of a maze, its cement walls cold and drab despite the colourful posters plastered across it in a desperate attempt to make it more hospitable. By the time she finally reaches her room, she’s almost grateful that she’ll have to stay in it 24/7, given the impression the building and staff have left so far. No matter, though, right now, all she wants is to put down what she’s carrying and collapse onto her bed.

She shifts uncomfortably for a moment, trying to balance her box while also maneuvering her card towards the keypad, but the effort is unsuccessful–when she finally manages to tap the card, she’s met with another obstacle, having to actually open the door without any free arms.

It’s probably not the best impression to kick the door open and promptly drop almost all of your stuff before falling on top of it. Scratch that, it’s definitely not the best impression. Especially when Vanessa looks up at the owner of the voice that’s holding back laughter, asking if she needs help in a soft, calm twang.

Her roommate is tall, blonde, and nothing short of gorgeous. And even as she makes a motion as simple as offering a hand, Vanessa can tell that this girl is the picture of poise and grace.

“What’s your name?” The girl watches with piercing eyes as Vanessa dusts herself off, fighting off a fierce blush as she straightens up and catches her breath.

“Vanessa, but my friends call me Vanjie.” She extends a hand again, and this time, the girl seems rather shy as she takes it, nervously brushing a piece of hair behind her ear.

Huh.

“Nice to meet you, Vanessa. I’m Brooke.”

Day 2

Brooke, as it turns out, is the polar opposite of Vanessa–quiet and reserved, so introverted that Vanessa has to wrestle information out of her. What Vanessa learns about her is interesting - she’s a dance major too, she’s from Toronto, she decided to study here because she wants RAD training as well as to get trained in other styles. She plans to minor in costume design, having an affinity for and attraction to any pattern that involves leather or lace (a kinky detail that Vanessa, much to her shame and embarrassment, files away hungrily). She has two cats back home, Apollo and Henry, that she misses terribly. Everything else Vanessa knows, though, had to be acquired sneakily over their first night together, more observation and speculation than actually asking. Like how Brooke must be a fan of Schitt’s Creek , given that she put out a ‘ fold in the cheese ’ sign on her desk. Or how Lana is probably her favourite artist, because she has a weird habit of not checking if her air pods are actually connected to the school’s shitty bluetooth network and it’s always the first couple notes of Summertime Sadness that play from her laptop before she catches her mistake. Or how her ass is one of the best Vanessa’s ever seen, because Brooke has no shame changing in front of her–

She strikes that part from her mind almost as quickly as she thinks it in the first place. The important thing is, she’s got to spend two weeks with only Brooke to keep her company, and if they stay in this silence, it’s going to get very awkward very soon.

“So… How d’you like Scotland so far?” Vanessa starts, grimacing internally at how stupid the question sounds. But Brooke doesn’t seem to mind; in fact, she smiles kindly as she looks up from her computer, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear again.

“To be honest, I haven’t really seen much of it… Pretty much came right here after I came off the plane.” Her smile turns apologetic as her face flushes pink, clearly self-conscious about the lacklustre answer. That’s okay, though; Vanessa can still work with it.

“Probably a long flight, huh? What’d you do to keep yourself entertained? Or are you a plane sleeper?” Vanessa adds with a teasing grin, and much to her delight, Brooke laughs.

“Nah, I can never sleep on planes. Unless I knock myself out with Gravol or something, at least.” Brooke chuckles, giving a small wink. “I just read a bit, then the airline showed The Notebook, so I watched that.”

“I love that movie!” Vanessa gasps, “I swear I’ve probably seen it, like, three thousand times. It’s just so–”

“Romantic!” Brooke finishes. “The poor guy next to me must have hated me for all the crying I did.”

Her eyes are alight with excitement, and Vanessa can’t help but pick up on it, because finally , the perfect topic, and Brooke likes Vanessa’s favourite movie, and maybe she likes other stuff that Vanessa likes, and they can talk about that together, and–

“So what’s your favourite scene?” Brooke asks eagerly, and Vanessa claps her hands over her face.

“That’s the worst question to ask me, bitch!” Vanessa groans, but grins behind her hands when Brooke laughs, a string of apologies flowing between giggles.

“Sorry, sorry, I should’ve known.” Brooke puts her hands up in mock surrender. “Too many to choose, right?”

“Right.” Vanessa giggles a little too. “Although…” she brings herself up on her elbows as soon as the idea hits her, and for some reason, her heart skips a beat as she formulates the question, a rare flash of nerves hitting her square in the chest.

“Maybe a rewatch would be a good reminder?” Before she can verbalize what she’s thinking, Brooke beats her to the question, blushing again and chewing on her lip.

It’s cute, how shy she is, and Vanessa makes a mental note that she’ll have to help her new roomie break herself of those habits.

“Yeah, lets.” Vanessa smiles warmly, sliding off her bed to grab her laptop from her desk. “Here, we can use my computer.”

She’s only just grabbed the computer and turned around when she falters, realizing with a sinking dread what decision is next.

Either she has to invite Brooke onto her bed, or Brooke has to make room on hers.

It’s just a bed, it’s just a bed, it’s not like you’re inviting her to snog, it’s just sitting down to watch a movie…

So maybe Vanessa’s never had anyone but her friends lounge on her bed before, and her friends certainly don’t make her feel as nervous as Brooke does. Maybe Vanessa’s bed is a little small and Brooke is a little pretty, and the thought of being that close together makes her mouth go dry. And maybe the sudden uncertainty in Brooke’s eyes, too, is imagined, or else doesn’t mean anything that Vanessa thinks it could mean, rejection or reciprocation or suspicion of what Vanessa’s feeling. None of that changes anything right now, because Brooke is smiling again, tapping the space beside her bed to beckon Vanessa over.

“C’mon, let’s watch. If you want, we can even try to find the director’s cut.”

Day 3

Vanessa’s fast-developing fascination with Brooke’s ass isn’t helped by the sight of Brooke stretching on the floor that greets her as she comes back from her shower.

“Oh, hey!” Brooke lifts her leg up into a needle stance, peering between her legs before shifting her weight onto one hand and waving to Vanessa with the other. Her hair is still wet from her turn in the showers, and her current position is causing stray drops of water to trickle onto her arms, making it all too easy for Vanessa to give into temptation and watch as the droplets course over each one of Brooke’s muscles.

Bloody Hell. Vanessa’s got to do a better job of keeping her hormones under control.

“Hey yourself.” She tries to keep her voice casual as she grabs a pair of PJs from her bedside drawer, turning away from Brooke to change.

It’s strange. Vanessa never used to be as shy as she feels now, self-conscious of her nakedness as she drops her robe and begins to re-dress. A few months ago, this would’ve been no problem at all; to be honest, she’s not sure it would be now if she had a different roommate. But with Brooke next to her, watching her or not watching her at all (she can’t decide what’s worse, really), it’s different. She can’t help but wonder what she must look like, what Brooke must see if she’s actually looking. What does it feel like, being in Brooke’s head? What does everything seem, looking through Brooke’s eyes?

But Brooke is comfortable changing around her, and even though there’s no actual rule that says so, Vanessa feels obligated to feel comfortable, too. Partially because if it’s a non-issue, then feeling embarrassed about it might fade. And if that fades, then so will the way she feels every time she lays eyes on Brooke at all.

Right?

Vanessa whips around quickly, the sudden, eerie feeling of being watched making her forget that she doesn’t have a shirt on yet.

“ Christ! ” Brooke hits the floor with a thud, flushing beet red as she scrambles to cover her eyes. “Fuck, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to see–”

“I’ve seen yours, now you get to see mine.” Vanessa rolls her eyes and laughs, hoping that the light tone and faint smirk she forces herself to slap on disguises how secretly mortified she feels. And thankfully, the comment does work; the redness dissipates from Brooke’s face, and she giggles a little, though her gaze stays firmly planted on the ground until Vanessa slides on her t-shirt. Just like that, the awkwardness fades from the air, and things are back to business as usual as Vanessa begins to comb out her hair. Brooke finishes stretching, Vanessa goes to the half-bath to blow her hair dry. Brooke sits at her desk and types intently, Vanessa tries not to peek over Brooke’s shoulder to see who she’s talking to. Brooke stretches out on her bed to look at her phone, and Vanessa does the same to play around on hers.

“Oh, it’s our turn for dinner.” A reminder notification at the top of Vanessa’s screen alerts her to the time, and she shuffles up to slide on shoes and get going, only remembering what she’s wearing at the last minute.

“Gimme a second, we can go out like that together.” Brooke grins, swiping yet another strand of hair behind her ear as she drops her sweatpants and swaps them for a pair of pajama pants.

“Are you sure?” Vanessa frowns, but Brooke just shrugs, a wry smile spreading on her face.

“I’ve seen yours, now you get to see mine.”

Day 4

They do morning stretches together the next day, and Vanessa has to admit that lust gets pushed aside by jealousy the minute they slide into the splits. Vanessa can do them, even if she hates them–it’s not that she can’t. It’s not even that she’s inflexible, she wouldn’t have survived in dance up until now if she were. But Brooke? That girl is on a whole other level. She slides into the splits with no effort at all, falling into position almost instantly and yet extremely gracefully, then does the one thing Vanessa hates, because it’s the one stretch she can’t do. She grabs a high foam block and puts it under her front foot. And then, just when Vanessa thinks she can’t get shown up even worse, Brooke grabs a second block and slides that under, too.

God, Vanessa wishes she could hate Brooke. But Brooke is too sweet, too kind, and too encouraging to even hold her pretzel-like tendencies against her, especially when she turns to Vanessa and taps her foot, offers her tips on how to get herself to that level of flexibility.

Vanessa tries to tell herself that the way Brooke’s eyes seem to linger on her every few minutes is just that generosity, a teacher monitoring her pupil. But even after Brooke helps Vanessa slide a small book under her foot, elevating her leg just enough, the lingering continues, and it’s hard not to let wishful thinking–at least, she thinks that’s what it is–take over. And that feeling only gets stronger as they move to their next stretch, one where they’re toe to toe with their legs spread wide and Brooke is grabbing Vanessa’s hands to pull her hardly an inch away from her chest.

Is it just Vanessa, or is Brooke blushing? And is it just Vanessa, or are Brooke’s hands just a little sweaty under their softness, warm and gentle as if they’re trying to hold Vanessa with as much tenderness as they can? And is it just Vanessa, or has Brooke’s chest gone still, her breathing stopped until Vanessa straightens out again?

“Your turn.” Vanessa offers, pulling Brooke into the position she’d just been in, and from the way Brooke comes to a harsh, sudden, stiff stop, but her muscles don’t shake and her breathing doesn’t change, Vanessa can tell she’s holding back. Almost as if she doesn’t want to get too close.

Vanessa’s imagining it. She has to be imagining it. There’s no other explanation, not a heterosexual one, and Brooke is…

Come to think of it, Vanessa doesn’t know for sure. But she can’t ask, not now; it would be too strange. So instead, she pulls Brooke forward sharply, resisting the urge to giggle when the blonde grunts in surprise at her strength.

“No holding back.” Vanessa shakes her head, smiling far too warmly for Brooke not to know what this is really about. “You can trust me, okay?”

“Okay.” Brooke smiles up at her, and then her muscles relax, and everything feels back to normal.

Day 5

“Truth or dare?”

Brooke turns to look at Vanessa, shifting to sit up as she smiles dubiously. They’re lying on Brooke’s bed together, pressed up against each other in an attempt to both fit in the small space of the double underneath the fuzzy, tickly cushion of Brooke’s top blanket. Vanessa rolls her eyes at Brooke’s skepticism, rolling onto her back to look up at her, grin wide on her face.

“C’mon, you know you want to. We can scroll Reddit later. Truth or dare?”

“Um…” Brooke crinkles her nose as she thinks, and Vanessa has to swallow the thought of how cute the blonde looks like that.

Although admittedly, the fact that she’s starting to hope Brooke keeps thinking isn’t just so she can watch the way Brooke’s brow furrows and muse quietly to herself about how seriously Brooke is taking this choice. Rather, it’s because she knows what she wants Brooke to pick, and the longer Brooke thinks, the more opportunity there is for Vanessa to hope she’ll pick up on the psychic signals she’s trying to send her.

Pick truth, pick truth, pick truth…

“Dare. But I’m not licking anything and I’m not going anywhere naked.”

Damnit.

Vanessa frowns, chewing on her lip as she tries frantically to think of a dare she can ask Brooke to do. It has to be appropriate, obviously, nothing too crazy like she might ask of Silky or her other, closer friends. But it can’t be boring, either—-if there’s one thing Vanessa doesn’t want to be in Brooke’s eyes, it’s boring.

Then, she thinks of the perfect thing. Something that might get at her truth question, that isn’t too high-stakes but definitely still has a bit of an ‘oh shit’ factor—exactly what you want from a dare.

“Dare you to prank call your last ex. On speaker. ” Vanessa smiles triumphantly, sticking out her tongue to tease her roommate. It’s foolproof—depending on the voice, Vanessa will know who Brooke has dated. And if she’s dating someone already, then surely she’ll say that, since admitting it is no problem.

Only, from Brooke’s face, there’s definitely a problem.

“I don’t want to play anymore.” Brooke heaves herself up off the bed, face becoming stony and cold as her eyes cloud over with something that Vanessa can’t quite decipher. Something mixed with anger, sure, but also something…

Crap. Crap, crap, crap. The magnitude of what Vanessa’s just asked of her new friend hits her like a train, and she feels like both the dumbest and worst person in the world at once. She called Brooke out, put her on the spot, and if she is queer? Pretty much just asked her to out herself. Which, unlike someone like Vanessa, who has a pan flag on her desk, not everyone is willing to do.

Brooke isn’t just feeling cornered, she’s feeling afraid.

“Aw, c’mon Brooke, you don’t have to do it if you don’t want—“

“I said I don’t want to play!” Brooke snaps.

There’s a beat, Vanessa’s own heartbeat the only thing she can hear amidst the crushing silence.

“Brooke—“ Vanessa tries again after a moment, her throat going dry as she tries to cut through the sudden tension, but Brooke just turns to her desk, scoops up her things and storms towards the door.

“I’m going for a walk. See you at dinner.”

She slams the door on her way out, and suddenly, getting an answer to Vanessa’s question doesn’t really matter anymore, because there’s no satisfaction in what a reaction that strong might mean. She drops her head in her hands, staying there for a moment before punching the mattress underneath her, rocketing up and grabbing her phone.

“Silk? Yeah, I’m okay, don’t worry, I just… I fucked up.”

Day 6

They don’t talk about it at dinner, nor afterwards. They don’t talk about it the next morning, not during their morning stretches or at breakfast, either. It’s not that they don’t talk; they say good morning, ask each other questions about what time breakfast is, what time Brooke is going to be on a call with her parents. But that’s about as far as it goes; Brooke sticks to business, asking and answering questions in as few words as possible and avoiding Vanessa’s gaze at all costs. It’s torture, the tension eating away at Vanessa’s mind and stinging in her chest. She fucked up, and she fucked up bad , and despite Silky’s advice, she’s not so sure she can fix this.

Still, she supposes it won’t hurt to try.

Brooke is in the shower when Vanessa decides to sneak out, purse over her shoulder and mind ready for a mission. There’s a supermarket open within walking distance of the uni right now, and technically, she’s not supposed to leave campus at all except for emergencies. Which this is, so it should be okay, right? At least, that’s what she’ll say if she gets caught. She’ll have to be fast, and sneaky, and careful not to run into anyone who might ask where she’s going. Come to think of it, she hasn’t been for a walk on the grounds yet, not since arriving–how will it work? Will she have to plan a route? Give it to the front desk? Get a pass or something, to make sure she comes back within the allotted time? This could be dangerous, very dangerous…

“If you’re gonna go to the shop, can you get me a pack of cigs?” The stoner at the front desk doesn’t even bother looking up from whatever he’s doing on the computer as she tries to sneak by, stopping in her tracks at his voice.

Christ, really?

“Sure, whatever.” Vanessa rolls her eyes, a little irritated at how easy this actually is. So much for danger and adventure.

She comes back about an hour later, throws the guy his pack and launches that he owes her eleven over her shoulder, and skips back into her room with a jumbo bag of ketchup Lays in her knapsack.

“Peace offering?” Vanessa grins down at Brooke as the blonde’s mouth drops open first in surprise, then delight as she snatches the snack from Vanessa’s hands.

“Where did you find these?” Brooke squeals with delight as she tears the bag open, breathing in the sharp, slightly-sour smell that makes Vanessa’s nose wrinkle. Still, seeing the look of utter joy on Brooke’s face makes Vanessa so happy that she can’t help but smile, too.

“International aisle.” Vanessa sits on the edge of her bed proudly. “Figured you might like them, seeing as you always say you’re craving them.” She winks, and Brooke rolls her eyes, but giggles despite herself. But the moment passes as soon as it had come, and then they settle into silence again.

Come on, Vanessa. Just face the music. Apologize. She deserves that from you. Vanessa bites her lip, her hands curling into fists as she tries to force her heartbeat even again, because the longer the silence goes on, the more awkward it gets, the more she realizes that it’s now or never for her to make things right.

“Brooke–”

“We don’t have to talk about it.” Brooke says quietly, her voice flat and lifeless and… scared, almost. Vanessa sucks in a breath, her chest sinking as she realizes what’s going on.

“Well… Do you want to?” Vanessa prods, but Brooke doesn’t even look up from the bag of crisps, which suddenly seem to be the most interesting thing in the world despite the dullness in the blonde’s eyes.

“Honestly, I’d rather we didn’t.” When she finally speaks up, her voice is barely above a whisper, and it’s enough to make Vanessa’s heart break.

Not just because she’s lost her chance to apologize–because she knows that tone, knows that look. Knows the hesitancy and caution behind it, the anxiety and the feeling of being trapped and overwhelmed. Knows what kind of revelation that voice and that look are hiding, and how the information Brooke is trying to avoid isn’t actually set in stone yet.

Jesus, she’s fucked up way more than she thought she had.

“Okay.” Vanessa finally nods, sighing deeply. “But if you do… I’m here, okay?”

Brooke hesitates for a moment, but when she does look up, her eyes are full of a gratefulness that’s surprisingly warm. “Okay.”

This time, when silence falls, it’s not awkward, but full of resolution.

“So…” Brooke finally breaks it this time, a slow smile spreading on her face, “They just put up the newest season of The Bachelor online, wanna watch it? We got snacks, after all.” Brooke waves her bag in the air, and Vanessa smiles.

“Shove over, mate. I wanna see what kinda mess the girls are this year.”

#rpdr fanfiction #brooke lynn hytes #vanessa vanjie mateo #branjie #college au #lesbian au #when we went from friends to this #writworm42

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maxattack-powell · 4 years ago

Note

Top 5 male LI in Choices and why?? 😊

Yay! I get to gush about my boys 😁 thanks @carinacassiopeiae!

I think we all know what my first one is going to be 🤣 but I’ll put them all out there and play fair. Honestly, a lot of these are probably paired together for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place... no real 4th or 5th haha.

Top Five

1. Chris Powell

Why? TF was the first book I ever played in Choices and he was so sweet to MC when he first met (crashed into) her (“oh no, your outfit!” *runs to get napkins*)... I guess I fell for him haha. He wasn’t perfect at first, but he worked hard to right his wrongs and is very thoughtful/caring when it comes to his friends and family. He’s very understanding, tries ridiculously hard on things he attempts, and believes there is good in everyone. All of this reminds me of another great man, one Steve Rogers, aka Captain America. I love a loyal, honest Cap.

2. Ernest Sinclaire

Why? He’s basically Darcy lol. And I love me some Darcy. This poor guy has been burned, badly... though we don’t find out for quite some time. Which means his initial impression is rough, but when he starts to trust again and opens up, it’s breathtaking. I feel like he’s one of the best 180 character developments in Choices, because once you crack him open, he’s a completely different person. He’s so tender, so caring (the women/children!), so proud of MC and everything she does, so supportive, so devoted... *blissful sigh* He’s a sweet and proper Darcy man.

3. Adrian Raines

Why? Well, he’s an extremely complicated character. He was loving man and proud father, living a simple life and loving it... before he lost it all. Becoming a vampire changed that, but eventually he realized what he had become and hated it. So he worked hard to transform into a great man. He would sacrifice himself for the greater good if needed. He’s attentive, hyper aware, very smart and calculating, but most of all he wants to be good with a passion and that makes him honorable and trustworthy. I mean... Kamilah trusts him with her life - that says a lot.

4. Hayden Young/Damien Nazario

I know I typed two - but hear me out: I can’t choose between them, and here’s why...

Hayden - the way this man loves, and I mean MC, others and most importantly, life itself... is amazing. It’s indescribable. Sure, he’s not technically a biological man, but he has the heart and mind of one. A great one. Watching him experience life, more so after he gets woke, is a wonderful experience. It’s almost like seeing the world through the eyes of a child... so innocent, so pure. He understands just how fleeting life is, because he’s been fighting for his since he was first turned on. The pain in his eyes when he realizes he wasn’t a “real” man, but the way the fog vanishes from them once he learns to live and love again... it’s beautiful.

Damien - he’s just about Hayden’s polar opposite, but that’s only part of why I can’t choose between them. This man is real, like painfully real. He’s stubborn, he’s brutally honest, he’s blunt and to the point, but he also knows what’s right and he will die fighting for it. For them - because he knows how dark the world can be and he won’t let it get them if he can help it. But that’s what makes him so endearing, because he chooses to still let MC, Nadia and Hayden into his world despite all of that. Despite his frustrating past and failures. He knows what’s worth the risk, and he never gives up. Ever.

5. Liam Rys/Drake Walker

I know, another shared LI lol. I can’t choose because they are each ideal in different situations. Both are kinda perfect (to me) and here’s why...

Liam - he’s a prince for crying out loud. Disney has worked hard to make many little girls grow up wanting to be a princess. But besides all of that, the man is amazing. Being a political figure is difficult - but being a royal, yikes. Still, this man has such a level head, and talk about loyalty. He knew Leo wasn’t cut out for the job, but someone had to do it. He stepped up and sacrificed so his brother could be free, knowing what it would mean for his own life in return. Liam is loyal to a fault - to his country and it’s people, his family, his friends and of course (eventually) his love. Some of which never deserve it, but he gives it anyway. Look at how he cares for publicly sour people like Drake and Olivia - he can see the good in eveyone and he tries to be who others expect him to be while never losing who he really is inside. He’s fair, he’s just and he’s made of steel. He’s basically Superman.

Drake - in the beginning, this guy is salty, but he honestly has a few reasons to be. People can be rude, snobbish and down right shitty when they think someone isn’t worthy. But Liam could always see his true value, his true character just like Drake could see his. This man loves his best friend, and he knows the pressures Liam endures, so he sacrifices his own comforts, his own desires to stay close and be there for him. Whenever. Wherever. Dispite what others think of him. That is loyalty you can’t buy, and Liam knows it. Once you crack through Drake’s crusty shell, you are gifted with such a sweet and kind soul. He loves animals (horses yay!) and is ridiculously kind. He looks after MC even though he knows she’s supposed to be doing it for Liam - and even when he tells her he has feelings for her (or she tells him), he denies himself... because he loves Liam that much.

Honorable Mentions

Zig Ortega

I love this guy, and if it wasn’t for Chris, who kept me diamond broke and distracted with his blue eyes and cute smirk... Zig would have been a big contender. I feel like I still have so much to learn about him. I never gave him enough time because I was always guilty when I didn’t choose Chris lmao.

Ethan Ramsey

This man is an onion. Layers, upon layers, upon layers... I haven’t read through Open Heart many times, but I’m pretty sure I would fall for him pretty hard if so. He’s an interesting character, very intense while somehow incredibly soft. He just needs to be peeled...!

Logan NoName

One can assume he has no last name because he’s basically a runaway who got caught up in the auto theft world. It hasn’t been an easy life - he has scars, both physical and emotional, and they run deep. He’s good at this life, but it’s because he had to be. And he loves his crew, but that’s because it’s the only family hes truly ever known. He deserves so much more.

Flynn O’Malley

This guy is a pitbull. He fights for what’s right, and never lets go. He’s also very sweet, and insanely loyal. He’s also pretty sassy and I love his “John Bender” attitude haha. I’ve always been sad we only got to see him and the Veil of Secrets crew for one book...

Jax Matsuo

This guy is old school, in every way. If tradition had a picture next to it in the dictionary, you’d find one of Jax. He doesn’t forgive and forget easily, but I honestly don’t blame him. It’s hard to be cheerful when people are constantly trying to kill you off. Even so, he stands up for what’s right, he stands up for “the little guy” even if he doesn’t know them. He is justice.

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erintoknow · 5 years ago

Text

the truth won’t die when they pull that trigger

Spiraling - A Fallen Hero: Rebirth Fan-fiction

Keep working that crack brigger. One day it’ll be wide enough for you to walk on through. [Stigmata]

[Read on AO3]

Holding your breath, you fall from the top of the bridge strut to the traffic below, jets slowing your descent. You’d tagged the car in your HUD and timed the jump, but it’s another to actually do it.

The limousine bounces as you hit the roof. Tug at the mind of the driver and she settles back into her focus. Another nudge and she hits the button to bring up the privacy screen between her and the backseat.

Here we go.

You’re in control.

The past month has been burned on following up the lead from Marconi. Nudging open the cracks. And where you can’t get Jane to snoop around, Ghost is there to pick up the slack. You put your left hand to the roof and wake up the Nanovores. They open up a circle just big enough for you to drop through, landing next to your target.

George Vanderpoel looks up from his cellphone, a look of shock on his face.

“Oh, don’t bother calling for help.” You cross your legs, gesturing towards the driver. “She can’t hear us.”

He swallows, putting his phone down with trembling hands. “Stay away from me…”

“Mr. Vanderpoel,” You laugh, the distortion turning it into a flat, ugly sound. “I’m not going to hurt you.” You pause, make a show of shrugging. “Probably.”

He doesn’t dare look away. “What do you want?” His voice cracks.

“Just a chat. Between friends.”

“I know who you are.”

“You don’t. But, I know you. Mayor Alvarez’s personal aide.”

He frowns, tries to keep a stone face. But his hands give it away even if his internal screaming didn’t. “What do you want with me?”

“You’re a man of integrity.” You lie. “Tough on criminals.”

His expression remains guarded. “You’re a criminal.”

“Maybe. But there’s worse ones out there.” You hand dips down to your belt. There’s no small amount of satisfaction at watching him squirm, heartbeat pounding. You pull out a photocopied piece of paper, pass it over to him. “This look familiar?”

He frowns, not sure what to think, who to believe. “I didn’t sign this.”

“Thought so.” You sigh. “Oh, Mr. Vanderpoel, someone close to you has been very naughty.” You hand dips down to your belt again. Pulling out a card, you flick it towards him as well. “Your buddy, Ava? That’s the code for her safe. Give it a look.” The Chief of Staff’s personal safe might be out of yours or Jane’s reach for now. But no one will suspect Vanderpoel.

He turns the card over in his hands. Suspicion mixed with worry starting to win out over fear. “What? What’s your game here, Ghost?”

“There’s no game.” You lie, again. And then, since you’re already lying and you need him on your side; “I’m not the bad guy here, despite what a few suits want you to think.” You add a telepathic weight to your words, willing him to believe it. “It’s a shame. Can’t trust anyone these days.”

“I don’t–” The car slams to a halt, sending both of you rocking forwards.

You straighten up, on alert. The Rat-King pulls your attention past the driver’s panicked alarm and towards someone coming straight towards you. You stand up. “It’s been good talking with you, Mr. Vanderpoel.” You drop your voice, “Stay out of trouble now.”

Climbing back out onto the roof of the car, you take stock of the scene. Almost at the other end of the bridge and this whole lane of traffic has come to a halt. A glint of movement catches your eye and – there! Some asshole is weaving his motorcycle across traffic. Straight at you.

Knew you would be here? And which car?

Hrm.

The Rat-King braces you as you reach out, grab the offending mind and pull. Force him to drive in a straight line towards you. He doesn’t get far before a car slams into his motorcycle, sending him rolling across the pavement. You hop down to the road, wincing behind your helmet.

The traffic slows to a stop around the both of you as the other man gets to his feet. Rubberneckers. Who’s the interloper? Not one of Vanderpoel’s men. Not a Ranger. Dip in a little further, get the name ‘The Handyman.’ There’s a name you recognize. No mods, not a boost. Just some fancy gadgets and a preoccupation with playing detective.

You hum to yourself, watch him hold a hand to his bleeding head. He really doesn’t belong here. Can feel Vanderpoel’s eyes on you as you step forward. The performance never ends.

You let The Handyman take off his helmet, smooth back his black hair before tucking on a cap. “You’re not who I expected to show up.”

The Handyman’s eyes flash behind his diamante mask. “Disappointed?”

You shrug. “Don’t care.” You plant your feet, watching for any sudden moves. “Stalking Vanderpoel?”

“I have my sources.” The Handyman pulls out a wrench, spins it in his hand. “We knew you’d be targeting him.” He flashes a grin. “And this is a perfect ambush spot.”

You tsk, shaking your head. “And you didn’t think to warn him?” You shrug, hands palm up in an exaggerated gesture. He’s making this so easy. “What if I blew the poor guy up?”

“You wouldn’t.” He sounds more like he’s trying to convince himself. “I had a hunch.”

“Horrible.” You sigh, “risking someone’s life on a hunch.” You glance back at Vanderpoel. He’s still listening, good. “Hoping I’d take him out for you?”

“That’s not true and you know it.”

You step towards him, pulling your cape around you. “I’m not the one to convince here.”

The Handyman takes a step back. Reaches a hand back to his belt. “Don’t think you can trick me.”

Take a breath. Can already hear the distant thrum of helicopters in the distance.

Time to stop stalling.

You rush the man as he pulls a gun from the holster on his belt. The shot goes wide, as you slide under his aim. Rise up and grab his arm, snapping it backwards and twisting his thumb until he drops the weapon in a cry of pain. A hand comes down on the back of your helmet sending an electrical charge coursing through the suit system.

Panic shoots through you. Ortega!? Here!? You drop The Handyman, scanning the perimeter. Sweep your arm behind your head and you find the EMP charge. Your sigh of relief is met with a knee in your abdomen. Reeling backwards and coughing for breath you grab at the offending leg, twist the foot sharp the wrong direction.

The Handyman screams, collapsing to the road. You don’t give him a chance to recover. Kicking him in the ribs. “You – you really think you… had a shot against me?”

“I’m not…” He wheezes, pulling himself to his feet, one hand clutching his side. Favoring his uninjured ankle. “I’m not done yet.”

“Very heroic.” You hiss. “Give up.”

He tosses something at you, pellets that explode in a burst of light and chaff. You don’t need sight to pick out his mind however. To re-close the distance and kick the second gun out of his hand. Follow up with a punch to the face that lays him out back on the ground.

His hand goes for something else on his belt and you bring your boot down, pinning his wrist to the asphalt. “Stand down.” For just once could someone admit they’re beaten and go away already?

He’s grinning up at you with a bloody smile. Irritating. You press your boot against his wrist. You’ll give him something to smile about.

The Rat-King pulls at your attention with a chirp of alarm. You twist sideways, dodging silver claws. As if by magic, Lady Argent stands over The Handyman’s beaten body. An irritated scowl on her face. Late to the party? Shame about that LD traffic, huh?

Argent glances down at him, “Can you move?”

“Y–yeah…” He half-gasps it, voice rasping in pain as he pulls himself away. Hoping for a hand-up. It doesn’t come. Oh, this guy has a lot to learn about Argent it appears.

She shifts focus away from him, no longer concerned. “Then get out of here. I’ll wrap up our project.”

Really?

You can’t help the laugh as you clap your hands together. “The Rangers were in on this scheme?” Sure, let’s just have all your enemies discredit each other on live broadcast. Make this real easy. Who in the Farm wants to take the hit? You rest your hands on your hips, let The Handyman crawl away, he doesn’t matter. “Lady Argent…” You shake your head. “Of course you’re the one needlessly risking lives.”

“Whatever.” She bristles, flipping back her hair. “I’m not the one that set this up.” She glances back at The Handyman, takes a step forward to put herself between the two of you. “He had a plan, I liked it.”

He raises a shaky thumbs-up. “Not… the first trap we’ve sprung together.” His grin is triumphant despite being spotted with blood. “I set them up, she knocks them down…”

“...don’t say it…” Argent groans, pressing her fingers to the bridge of her nose.

“Gotta use the right tool for the right job.”

“...why do they always need to talk…”

You glance between the two. “Adorable.” Vanderpoel is still watching. Still listening. Jesus. This has gone phenomenally better than you could have expected. Rangers and vigilantes working together – knowingly putting city officials at risk? “So you’re in on it.”

“I’m not. I’m just here to bring you in.” Lady Argent drops her hands to her side, flexing her fingers as she shifts her stance.

They just can’t help themselves, can they? “Not to protect Mr. Vanderpeol?”

She snorts, waves the idea away. “He’s perfectly safe. Don’t play politics with me.”

“You ought to pay more attention when a banshee gives you a warning.”

“Yeah, whatever. Your cosplay doesn’t impress me.”

You frown. “That overconfidence is going to ruin you.”

She eyes you, shifts position again as her fingers elongate into claws. “I’d like to see you try, villain.”

Argent moves faster than you’d expected. But you’re still faster. Dodging some strikes, deflecting others with the armored plating on your arms. Your first match-up was abbreviated – already exhausted both body and soul.

There’s no point in waiting for your death any more. You’re past it. Past living. There’s only this moment, this fight. Either you win or you die. And that’s still a win.

Argent’s movements are quicker, anticipating you with an unnerving accuracy. Can pick up her surface thoughts, that she’s been studying the recordings of your fights.

Fair enough. So have you.

You roll out of reach of her arms, the two of you pausing for breath. This is the third time since the Marconi fiasco that Argent’s cut an operation of yours short. It’s starting to feel like she’s hounding you specifically. You watch her, waiting for movement. “I’m not the one that put all these people in danger.”

Not this time.

Not anymore.

What more do you need to prove?

Argent narrows her eyes at you. “Don’t try that with me. I don’t give a damn about politics.”

She really can’t help herself, can she?

You twist out of the way of her claws, catch a knee to your chest. Moving with the blow you slide back, grab her leg and flip her off her feet, sending her rolling backwards. “Why?” You yell after, “Afraid I’ve got a point?”

She gets to her feet, snarling. “Shut up and fight already, cheater.” She tenses, ready to jump.

You grin behind your helmet. “No tricks that time.”

She grins, a predatory smile, and jumps towards you. At the last minute you step aside. Her claws catch your arm, pulling you backwards with her.

Wait – shit –

Argent hits the ground, pulling you down. And then she’s on you, hands digging into the sides of your suit, trying to slip razors in between the plates. Heart pounding in your throat, you buck under her, grabbing her hands and twist her off.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck

this has to stop right now, needs to end fuck shit piss goddamnit

Argent’s eyes glance down at your hands, pick up a note of confusion. You don’t get time to examine it because you replace it with punching her in the face. She reels back, gouging more groves into your ablative plates.

It’s just Argent. You’re just fighting Argent. That’s all. Just a woman that can crack open your suit like a can-opener. Nothing to freak out over.

It’s fine.

You’re fine.

You. Are. In. Control.

Take the chance to step backwards, hand touching the guardrail. Let the nanovores get to work. Roll to the side as Argent comes after you. Touch another point on the rail. A chunk of the railing drops to the road. Tripping hazard.

You’ll trick her over the edge. If she can survive being flushed down sewers, she can survive a swim.

Or that’s the plan – a kick catches you in the back as you try to put distance between the two of you, send you to the ground. Roll out of the way and hit her in the ribs as she tries to follow-up.

It’s getting harder and harder to predict her attacks. Her mind focused solely on your next movement. It’s unsettling, like looking at the reflection of yourself in her silver skin. Distorted.

Can’t let it get to you.

Catch her on the next attack, grab and swing, bringing your knee up and pushing her back. She staggers backwards. Rights herself just before she would have tripped over the edge.

Damn it.

She launches herself at you and – fuck, this is the wrong direction to do the whole ‘over the edge trick’ now. You just need her out of the way. A crowd is gathering around the two of you now. Standing there, gawking. Watching. Always fucking watching and doing nothing.

Maybe it’s time for the audience participation round…

Roll backwards out of Argent’s reach. Snare the mind of the nearest civilian. Young woman. Dazed, she doesn’t back up in time. You grab her, pulling her in front of you.

Argent stops, flexing her fingers. “Coward.”

“Don’t care.” The woman in your grip struggles until you twist her arm back, just painful enough to give her the idea. She freezes. Hyperventilating. Fuck. Is this really what you’re reduced to now? You feel sick.

“Let her go.”

“No.” You grit your teeth. “You go.”

Argent drops her hands to her sides. Still watching you. “You’re no killer.”

“You – you willing to bet on that?”

She takes a step forward. “Yes.” She takes another step.

“Let her go. Don’t bring other people into our fight.”

Panicked thoughts in the head next to yours and it sets your teeth on edge. The Rat-King curls protectively around you, trying to dull the worst of it. This is… what’re you doing?

Really?

You let her go.

Neither you nor Argent move as the woman, weeping, scrambles back into the crowd, into someone’s embrace.

Argent braces herself again. “See? That’s better.”

“Fuck you.” You snarl.

Why the fuck did you do that? Hostage taking isn’t going to help Ghost’s public image. And it – it… fuck, that woman –

A spike of alarm from the Rat-King pulls you out of it just in time to dodge the kick in your direction. You twist sideways, intending to get Argent from behind. Instead your foot catches on something and you stumble. Argent is on you immediately, and something sharp pierces your side.

Shove her away and stagger backwards, you hit something with the back of your foot. The railing. Back here again. Fuck. Okay. Take 2.

Argent moves to press her advantage. You twist out of the way, using your cape to obscure the movement. She slashes at the fabric, hissing and you spin around to kick her over the edge.

She anticipates you – catches your leg and pulls you off balance. For a moment you’re in the air and there’s a hint of green on the horizon –

and then you’re falling again.

#fallen hero: rebirth #fallen hero fanfic #fanfiction #fhr/Ariadne

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ambistep · 5 years ago

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Mina, 31

Retribution spoilers, Argentstep, Chargestep, some angst, lil bit soft. tw: brief suicide mention

Mostly inspired by talking to @cheion-writes and the moodboard she made, but then I got a little mopey and then someone gave me a little drabble prompt, so I kinda smushed them together.

Mina drags Argent outside for once. Julia wants answers but only gets feelings.

~ ~ ~

It’s a coffee place, but they both got hot chocolate.

The daytime heat has started to bleed away and somewhere around midnight, Los Diablos actually got really nice. By day, these streets would be bustling, throbbing with the human crush of the downtown area - but right now, it is a few wait staff, scattered night owls, some other couples and just these two - two of the most dangerous women in the city.

Mina winces a little - her chocolate is still a little too hot to drink. Her date doesn’t have that problem. “I thought you’d like it - everything feels softer at night, quieter - even the stuff that isn’t. Maybe it’s different if you’re not a telepath but… daytime feels like shouting. Frantic.”

“Usually I’m working if I’m out this late.” She leans back in the wrought iron chair. In the cute little faux-gas lamp light of the cafe, she’s much less argent, and something closer to gunmetal grey. A little more handsome even, if Mina were being honest with herself, though she rarely is. “But I get it. It’s like… being in public without being in public.” It would be easy to miss but the corner of her lip does tug toward a smile.

“Exactly!” Mina laughs in triumph, “I knew you’d appreciate it.” That’s the bedrock, what makes this whole thing work - even when it shouldn’t. Being open with their weirdness, their quirks, their hang ups - not having to bury it away for the sake of performing ‘normal.’ But there’s something bothering her. Mina can tell. “…what?”

She leans forward, downing a scalding sup from her cup. “You were arguing with Ortega.”

Mina wrinkles her nose - a tic when faced with discomfort - usually with the truth. A bad habit for a habitual liar. Her voice is a little weak. “Ah. I thought we said no mind-reading.”

She scoffs, “Please. I can tell when you’re stuck on Julia. You space out when you think I’m not looking, and you talk like you’re thinking far away.” Years and years away, Ximena suspects. “It’s either really cute or really sad, but you were doing it the whole walk over.”

“You’re making that up,” Mina’s indignance is mostly for show - mostly. Her expressions, her voice patterns are impeccable - the result of Farm training and a mountain of social anxiety.

She relents, caught out, “Fine, fine. I heard you two back at the lounge .” And then defends herself, “What? I have good hearing - and I know I heard one of my names.”

Mina grimaces, “Yes, well. We haven’t exactly been discrete, you and I.”

“What, don’t tell me Julia fucking Ortega, who kissed four of the five members of the Calamity Clan, is jealous or something?”

“That was like eight years ago, how do you even know about that?” She sounds halfway between grossed out and impressed. “And… not exactly.”

~ ~ ~

“What is it then, jealousy?” You fold your arms across your stomach protectively, closing your eyes then looking up toward the ceiling - anywhere but her face.

“You know me better than that. Not jealous.” Julia steps in close, her strong hands resting on your shoulders. “Confused maybe. A little hurt. It’s just… you seem good for each other. And…” You can’t read her thoughts, but you know what’s coming. Ortega pulls back a little, turning away, “I think we both said we loved each other once.”

Oh, Hell. You’re tearing up a little. Come on, Mina, you were trained better than that.

“Stop me if I’m wrong.” You don’t. Julia goes on, “Last we settled on it, I kind of felt like maybe we still do, even if… even if we can’t figure out what to do about it. I want to be there, waiting for you, but…”

You put your hand up to your mouth, clenched in a fist, knuckles to your lips to keep them from twisting into some embarrassing shape. “I know, Jules…”

“So I just see you two and I… why couldn’t I be there for you , like she is?” That’s hurt - real hurt in Julia’s voice. She covers it up quickly, “Okay, and maybe I get a little tiny, itty bit jealous.” She turns back to face you, flashing her smirk - that unfair smile. It is eating at you, just having Julia this close. “I’m still only human, yeah?”

It’s too absurd, you almost laugh - not for the reason she thinks. Only human. It’s your turn to be jealous. Your fist unfolds and you gesture, trying to gather your words and be stronger about this. “It isn’t fair. I know, you shouldn’t have to deal with all of my…” you hate to curse, you really do - part of the conditioning you struggle breaking, but in this case… it fits, “…shit. It’s just… simple with her.”

Julia laughs, shaking her head in disbelief, shoulders slumping a little, “There’s a lot of words to describe Angie, and simple is not one of them.”

That’s fair. So what did you mean? Conceding the point, you try again, “Fine, it’s more like…” …you don’t have to worry about feeling like monsters together. You can’t say that though. “…there’s things in our lives we’re working through, and it’s hard to relate that to other people.”

You messed up, you know you messed up. That hadn’t been what you wanted to say but you can’t say what you wanted to say. Ortega’s whole body tightens - that’s real anger coming off her - you shrink back.

“You think you’re the only two ‘working through’ things? What do you think I’ve been doing - I am still doing, Mina? You don’t tell me anything, and then want me to understand, I can’t even talk to you most of the time, only talk at you. I must be insane - I fucking buried you and I was still waiting for you.” She paces away from you, putting distance, brushing her short hair back, trying and failing to cool off. “So yes, it makes me upset, knowing that you can open up with her. I want that with you. But ay! Fuck me, right?”

She throws her hands up, “I know I loved you, and I know I’m trying, but I… I don’t know, are you?”

Your thoughts are so far outside your body that you can’t know what it is doing - probably making an ugly pathetic face, but it’s the only way to weather the body blows Charge is hammering you with. It would be good, nice, to slip away, escape into Yasmin’s body right now, and be Not-Mina. Yasmin who can match Julia with her own charming smile, who can slip out of a cute little dress, who can afford to be reckless and carefree for a single solitary night.

“Come on, Mina, say something, give me something.” She’s angry - no, she’s begging, and you’re not even being present. She’s right to be mad - she wants to have this still but God, you have to throw her a lifeline, because she’s slipping away, and you can’t let that happen.

It is hard to pull out words that will mean anything when you aren’t ready to go near those truths. Your voice comes out brittle - if Julia were to push back, you would crumble, “…I’m sorry. I’m trying, I know it doesn’t seem like it, but… every day, I’m getting closer. To being someone who you can reach, to figuring out how I can be Mina again, or what that would even mean.” Your voice is a whisper, because any more and it quivers,“You have been, so, so patient.” So you settle on truth - not the whole truth, or the factual truth but… Mina, just do this without any lies, alright? Let’s promise.

There’s still that anger, that tension in her limbs, but the heat has cooled. She turns away and you don’t even think about it - unusual - you hug your smaller body into hers, your cheek against her back, “I can’t talk about it yet, not all of it, but… the place where I was, was so dark, and so far away. I can’t… there were pieces of Mina all over, and I wasn’t even me. I don’t have words for those kinds of depths.”

Objects can’t kill themselves, but you tried anyway - and those were the better days. You wished you’d fought harder but all too often, you gave them what they wanted: no mind to think, no will to break, no voice to cry suffering. A hollow vessel. It was how you survived.

“I- I forgot how to be human.” You’re rambling. Your tears are making her shirt wet. Quit it. “I was… I am, sometimes still - so, so angry, and I have to hold on to it because sometimes it is the only thing that keeps me together. It made me strong enough to piece myself back together, to set foot in this city again.” You wonder if any of this will make sense to her. Then you wonder if it even makes sense to you.

“And I had to come back. A part of me will always belong to Julia Ortega. Always. Wherever I’m going, I know it can’t be someplace without you.” She treated you like a human, pushed through your boundaries and made you believe you could have something like that.

She gave you hope for some kind of better life, and sometimes you hate her for that - but never for very long.

“I know you’ve been waiting. I just… I have to work harder, settle things,” face your enemies, then put down that anger, put down that past, “then I can stand in front of you, and be just… Mina.” But you have to build that future first - a future where those orange brands on your flesh won’t matter so much.

Your hands are wrapped around her, clasped to her chest - and her hands are on your hands. She’s quiet - the fire’s gone out, “I don’t need a perfect you - this one’s fine.”

You laugh, a bitter, wet laugh, “She’s not. She’s really, really not. But she’s getting there.”

There’s a pause, “…is Angela helping with that?”

Your tears are starting to dry. It is a good question. What’s the true answer? No lies - you promised yourself. “…yeah, she’s helping.”

Julia turns to you and… looks strange to your eyes for a moment. Her smile is strained, thin. Age tugs at the corner of her eyes. There’s a scar you don’t remember near the bottom of her left ear. Not strange - this is Ortega. It’s just not Ortega from eight years ago, it is Ortega now, and God, you have to try and remember that there is a world of difference between the two.

Her thumb wipes at your eye, gently brushing past your cheek, “…can I kiss you?”

You’re wondering if you could even withstand it - but your body must have answered first. The space between you closes and it is the softest, gentlest kiss. She’s worried she’ll scare you off. Worried you’ll disappear. Again. But not this time, you’re better at this. You’ve been practicing.

She smiles - a real smile. Charge’s kind of smile. Stronger again. And maybe old Ortega isn’t so far away like you thought. “Good luck. I’ll be here.”

#fhr #fallen hero: rebirth #scribbly #argentstep #chargestep #angst? soft?#mina oh #julia ortega #lady argent

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