#guest-starring nowhere bbs

[pennumbra]

Lil Nowhere King-themed mini doodle dump! 🦌🧁

[lucky134ever]

Chapters: 2/2 Fandom: Star Wars - All Media Types, Fifth Element (1997), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren Characters: Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey (Star Wars), Luke Skywalker, Armitage Hux, Poe Dameron, Amilyn Holdo, Snoke (Star Wars), Sheev Palpatine | Darth Sidious, BB-8 (Star Wars) Additional Tags: Crossover, Fan Comics, Guest appearance by Chirrut Îmwe and Baze Malbus, AI H.U.X., H.U.X. is sort of J.A.R.V.I.S., No one is on spice, except for the author, Level of being dramatically tired: Ben Solo Summary:

A crossover no one asked for, bundled with cheetah outfits and dumb jokes.

 According to the H.U.X. intelligent system: Rey - nobody from nowhere. Occupation: top-class specialist in illicit arms. Special features: has no recollection of past events.

Ben Solo - the descendant of the crystal keepers. Occupation: taxi driver, illegally engaged in AI development. Special features: hates his family.

System protocol: BADABOOM

[ssatoritendou]

Ideal Husband | i.

kuroo tetsurou

Pairing: kuroo/reader

Word count: 1,700

+ summary: kuroo made a mistake in pissing you off now he is cooking you and your younger brother dinner. Something your mother says to you gets you thinking 

Genre: Fluff

"Kuroo pick me up!" B/n said. Y/n's mom was working late tonight and couldn't pick up her little brother. She asked me and the coach if she could bring him to our practice. Right now she was filling up water bottles and he was hanging on to my leg wanting to play before she came back. "Alright squirt." I picked him up and placed him on my shoulders. "You want to learn how to block right? Y/n said you want to join an elementary school team." "Yeah, Kuroo. I want to be a middle blocker like you." I laughed "Alright boys huddle up. Today we are going to teach B/n here how to block." "I don't know Kuroo. Don't you think Y/n will kill you? She is very protective of him." Yaku said. "She would never kill Kuroo she likes him too much," I smirked at b/n's comment. "Even if she calls him a roaster-headed dumbass." My smile faded. "Now c'mon let's play I want to block one of Yamamoto's spikes and not one of Lev's weak ones." "Why you little brat-" Lev said but was cut off by Yaku kicking him. "Alright, boys settle down, and let's get into formation." I said, "Let's play."

"Kuroo looks really hot with kids doesn't he?" "Yeah, it makes him seem more mature. Like the ideal husband and father." You overheard some girls say. "Kids? Oh hell no Kuroo Tetsurou!" You picked up the water bottles and ran towards the gym. As soon as your eyes landed on Kuroo you saw your 4-foot tall brother on top of his shoulders. "Kuroo Tetsurou put my baby brother down now!" "Oh, crap." You heard him say. He put down B/n. "Everybody do ten laps." "Good luck Kuroo." Yaku said to the roaster headed captain. "Yeah Y/n looks pissed," Lev said. "B/n why don't you go and do some homework while your sister yells at me," Kuroo told him. You walked right up to him. "Why do you like giving me a brain aneurysm every chance you get?" "I'm sorry ok? It wasn't even that dangerous." "Not that dangerous? You are like 10 feet tall and he's 4 feet tall that's 14 feet that's a high drop. You could have hurt him." "Ok, I am sorry that I almost killed your brother. To make it up to you I'll make dinner tonight for the both of you since your mom is working late." "It better be good. Now go join your team and run so laps." "Excuse me?" "Yeah, captain it looks like you put on a couple of pounds." He took a water bottle out of your hands and squirted water in your face. "Kuroo! L/n! Stop flirting with each other and get back to work." Coach yelled. You felt your face get a little pink. "Roaster head give me your damn towel." "Why don't you try and reach it shortie." He smirked. With that, you kicked him in the shin which leads him to crouch. You took the towel off of his neck. "Captain it seems you forgot I played soccer in middle school. Now I didn't kick you that hard so I suggest you do the remaining 7 laps." You walked away wiping your face of the water. You walked over to the benches and set down the bottles. You kissed the top of B/n's head and went back to reviewing your notes on new plays. 

Kuroo, B/n, and you took the train back to your house. As soon as we got home B/n was tired so you took him upstairs to bathe and get into his pajamas before having dinner. When we got downstairs you saw Kuroo was actually cooking. "I didn't think you were actually going to cook." "What did you expect me to order in food and just pay for it? What kind of gentlemen would I be?" "I didn't think you were a gentleman Kuroo after the stunt you pulled today." "You are one to talk Miss.L/n after the stunt you pulled." "You started it. Don't start something you can't finish." You smirked at the cat like-boy. "Oh, I know something we can both start and finish." He wiggled his eyebrows. You felt my cheeks redden. "Y-You are disgusting sometimes." "I meant dinner Y/n. I need some help. Jeez, don't be so dirty." He laughed his obnoxious laugh. "Kuroo are you dating my sister?" B/n asked out of nowhere. "B/n what?" "No, sadly I'm not so lucky. Why are you asking buddy?" "Because if you were we could be brothers." bB/n smiled at Kuroo. It was kind of sweet. Kuroo patted his head. "But we are already bro's. Volleyball bro's." B/n stared at him in awe. "Wow, awesome." "Now go help Y/n set the table up for dinner and wash your hands."

After dinner, you helped Kuroo clean up as B/n sat on the stairs waiting for me to take him upstairs to read him a book. "When is your mom supposed to be home?" "I don't really know. Maybe 2-3 more hours at the max. Why are you asking?" "I don't feel comfortable leaving you alone at night with B/n." "What's that supposed to mean?" "What if there is an intruder?" "Fine, you can stay till my mom gets home if you want to. I'll set up the five-star guest coach suite. After I put B/n to bed." "I'm not staying over." "Kuroo I don't want to hear it. It's going to be late and I don't want something bad happening to you either." "Aww, you care about me." "Piss off. I can't get in trouble with all the girls and the team." "Girls?" He questioned. "Oh yes. If you want to know some girls thought you were cute with B/n today." He hummed at this comment. "Ok B/n let's go to bed." "Can Kuroo read me a book tonight? He is staying over right?" "I mean if Kuroo doesn't mind?" You looked at Kuroo. "Yeah, buddy sure. I'll help you with the dishes after." "Sure. Let me get the extra blankets and pillows."

"The kid is asleep and nicely tucked in. Now I'm ready to clean the dish- You did them without me?" He said sadly. "Uh yeah you were taking too long and I was getting bored after I made your bed." "Five stars indeed." He chuckled. "Are you going to go to bed?" "Uh, probably not. Why?" "You wanna watch a movie?" He smirked. Little did you know that he had a plan. He planned to watch a horror movie with you hoping you would cozie up next to him for comfort. "Sure. What movie do you want to watch?" "How about the new Ring?" "Yeah, sure I have been meaning to watch that. Can you set up the tv and I'll get some ice cream." He smirked and put the movie on. You walked over with a tub of ice cream and two spoons and handed him a spoon. "Eating out of the tub classy." "Shut up." You smiled. You sat down next to him and began to watch the movie. 

As the movie progressed Kuroo watched you carefully but noticed you weren't getting scared. He began to think you didn't want him to see you so vulnerable. He stretched his arm over to your shoulder. You noticed this and chuckled on the inside. You heard something upstairs. "Kuroo pause the movie." "Aw Y/n are you getting scared." He began to teased You heard whimpers of B/n upstairs. "No. I'll be back down in a couple of minutes." You got up from the couch and went upstairs. "Hey sweetie what's wrong?" "I had a nightmare." "It's ok sweetie I'm here. Shhh." You hummed and pulled him into a hug. He probably heard the movie while he was sleeping. "Is Kuroo still here?" "Uh yeah. Do you want to come downstairs and sit with us?" "Yes please." He said rubbing his eyes. You picked him up and carried him downstairs. "Hey what's wrong?" "Someone had a nightmare and asked if he could come downstairs and watch a little tv we can finish the movie another time." "Ok." He smiled. B/n snuggled into your side and Kuroo put on some cartoons for him to watch.

You felt someone tap your shoulder you rubbed your eyes to see your mom. "Hi." You said quietly noticing that Kuroo was asleep on your shoulder and B/n was nowhere to be found. "I already brought him upstairs so don't freak out." She said. You nodded. You skillfully removed yourself from Kuroo and walked over to the kitchen where your mom was waiting for you. "What's Kuroo doing here?" "He cooked dinner and he said he wanted to stay until you got home. Then I said I didn't want him walking this late to go home. So I made him a couch bed so he could sleep on it. Plus it was easier taking care of B/n because he likes Kuroo a lot." "He cooked and wanted to make sure you weren't alone?" "Yes." "Oh, my baby girl that boy likes you." She smiled. "Uh what no he doesn't." "Yes, he does. He's very sweet towards you and you should he the looks he gives you when he's over here. I thought you would have noticed by now." She giggled. "Not to mention he's good with kids. To be honest I was looking at the three of you on the couch and you guys looked like a cute little family. A very cute husband and wife." "You sound ridiculous mom. Now if you excuse me I'm going to bed." You walked upstairs before you noticed Kuroo's uniform in his gym bag. You picked it out and figured to wash it before he woke up. Truth be told you were distracting yourself from the fact what if Kuroo did like you?

[fantasyoverreality98]

BB AU Shenanigans 1/?

Art by the lovely @theo-oface​

Summary: Gaius’ private moment of relaxation is interrupted by the rest of the Bloodbound gang.

Author’s Note: First off, for context, you would need to see this post.I don’t know what to say about this, honestly, there is no excuse, but it seemed hilarious and this is what came out of it. A couple people asked to be tagged and I apologize in advance that you have to put up with this so @kelseaaa​ and @tyrils-star​ I’m sorry and if I forgot to tag someone else, sorry about that too! 

Word Count: 749

---

It had been well over a hundred years since Gaius Augustine had been able to take a proper bath. He glanced at the clock, and seeing that he had plenty of time before his guests arrived, decided to renew a ritual from the time before his imprisonment in the Onyx Sarcophagus.

On several occasions, he was known to enjoy a hot dog in the bathtub. All the upperclassmen of the 1920s did it, and he must admit that he’d missed it. Once the food was finished, he placed the hot dog, garnished with a dollop of mustard, beside the apartment bathtub.

“Ah, I missed this,” he mumbled to himself, reaching for the taps. The tub filled with hot water, steam swirling in the air.

Gaius settled into the bathtub, closing his eyes as he took a deep breath. With a sigh, he leaned back and let the quiet of the apartment settle over him. It had been a very long time since he felt this peaceful.

After a minute, he reached over and grabbed the hot dog, sitting up and pulling his knees toward his chest. He savored the meal, smiling to himself as memories of the past greeted him.

The door burst open as he raised the hot dog to take another bite, and he turned his head to the bathroom entrance, eyes wide.

Lily Spencer froze in the doorway, her lips twitching for a moment before she burst into laughter and walked away without a word, shaking her head. Her cackles echoed throughout the apartment, ruining the relaxation that, until mere moments earlier, Gaius had been enjoying.

“You guys won’t believe what I just saw!” Lily struggled to get her words out through all the laughter.

Furious, Gaius set the remainder of the hot dog on the plate and tried to find a towel to cover himself up. Before he had a chance, Kamilah strode into the room, arms crossed over her chest.

“You can’t be serious.” While Lily continued to snicker from the living room, Kamilah looked down at him with a frown, the disapproval clear. “Why are you still doing this? The fad died out nearly a century and a half ago.”

Gaius glanced over Kamilah’s shoulder and saw Lilly whispering to Jax. A second later, Jax’s face contorted into what could only be described as pure horror and disgust. Adrian and Amy were nowhere to be found. Yet.

“Why are you in my apartment?” Gaius yelled, nearly snapping off a piece of the porcelain bathtub when he gripped the edge. Were it not for Lily and Jax watching from the other room, he would stand so that he could escape.

But the two of them continued to stare. Lily was doubled over, her eyes shining with tears as she tried to catch her breath. Jax shook his head, glaring at Gaius when the two of them momentarily made eye contact.

“Get out.” Gaius was tempted to force them to leave, until Adrian’s and Amy’s voices came from just outside the apartment.

As soon as they entered, Lily told them what she’d walked in on. Amy joined her best friend in laughing, while Adrian looked unimpressed.

With a sigh, Adrian crossed his arms over his chest. “This isn’t the first time he’s done it. He used to do this weekly back in the 20s. Once I caught him—”

“Enough!” No longer caring, and just wishing more than anything to be freed from this embarrassing moment, Gaius stood up.

Immediately, Amy’s mouth fell open, her eyes growing wide. Kamilah turned away and strode from the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her before anyone else could stare at him.

Gaius muttered curses under his breath as he stepped out of the bathtub, grabbing the towel from the rack nearby and wrapping it around his waist. He flung the door open, glaring at everyone as he made his way to the bedroom to get dressed.

“Staying in shape, I see!” Amy called out to him.

He felt heat rush to his face and slammed the bedroom door shut, taking a seat on the bed with a sigh. It seemed that his meal would have to wait.

Gaius stayed in his room for a long time, yearning for a simpler time when he could enjoy a hotdog in the bathtub without ridicule.

Alas, it seemed the time for that had passed. And so, he would have to continue it in secret, never to be spoken of again.

[allaboardtheloonyexpress]

I Rewrite “The Force Awakens”

BACKGROUND INFO:

It has been thirty years since the Battle of Endor. The NEW REPUBLIC rules most of the Galaxy. However, the Republic is spread thin fighting Imperial Holdout factions, which still control pockets of the Outer Rim and key worlds along hyperspace routes. Fortunately, none of these Holdouts are currently working together. The largest surviving holdout is the FIRST ORDER, which holds a large portion of the Southwest Galaxy. Worst of all, they are working on what looks like a Death Star, STARKILLER BASE. Because of this threat, the New Republic has sent a group of Special Forces, led by General LEIA ORGANA to take down the FIRST ORDER, led by the mysterious REGENT SNOKE. Rumors imply SNOKE is a powerful Force-User, as is his apprentice, REY. Unfortunately, LUKE SKYWALKER, the last JEDI KNIGHT is nowhere to be found. He disappeared seven years ago. The last person to see him was his apprentice and nephew, BEN SOLO, who has been looking for him ever since…

PLOT SUMMARY:

The movie opens largely the same. POE DAMERON is visiting JAKKU, a planet on the border between NEW REPUBLIC and FIRST ORDER space, meeting LOR SAN TEKKA, picking up a map to Luke’s whereabouts. Unfortunately, the meeting is interrupted by REY, who has arrived with a battalion of Stormtroopers, which includes FN-2187. You know the scene. POE DAMERON is taken captive, but not before he gives the map to BB-8, instructing him to “Find Ben. Get help.” The dialogue between REY and LOR SAN TEKKA lets us know this is her homeworld. She was abandoned here as a child before LUKE SKYWALKER found her and took her away. She leaves the village after ordering it destroyed, returning to her Star Destroyer.

There, she meets with her subordinates, ADMIRAL HUX, CAPTAIN PHASMA, and FN-2187. There, they go over the fact that they failed to get the map, but they suspect POE had a companion on JAKKU. The basics of the politics are explained: right now the REPUBLIC is stretched too thin to give the FIRST ORDER their full attention. However, the REPUBLIC is slowly taking out the other Imperial holdouts, and certain Senators are calling for a full-scale invasion of FIRST ORDER SPACE. The call to invade is particularly being made by the Senator from HOSNIAN PRIME. “HOSNIAN PRIME?” HUX asks. “That’s in the Core itself, practically next to Coruscant. The entire Republic fleet must stand between us and them.” His frown turns into a wicked grin, and he only says one word. “Perfect.” No further detail is given. The conversation turns to FN-2187, and why he’s here. Rey reveals her plan: POE DAMERON must escape with FN’s help. His ability to shield his mind from the Force will allow him to infiltrate the NEW REPUBLIC base under the nose of BEN SOLO. He will then let the NEW REPUBLIC know where to find LEIA so they can kill her, destroying their morale. More importantly, FN is to get his hands on the map to LUKE SKYWALKER.

FN does as he is told. He helps POE break out, notably avoiding shooting his fellow STORMTROOPERS. POE gives FN the new name of FINN. FINN is notably struck by this, in a “I’ve never had a name before” kind of way. However, their escape is detected, and the TIE squadrons shoot them down, and POE seems to die. FINN is left stranded in the JAKKU desert. However, he finds BB-8, who has been in the care of BEN SOLO, who we see on screen for the first time. We learn he has been trying to find a ship offworld, as POE had their ride. The scene then unfolds largely the same as before. FINN and BEN make their way offworld in the MILLENIUM FALCON. With neither being an experienced pilot, they get lost, sending the MILLENIUM FALCON quite a ways off course into the OUTER RIM, which is dominated by Pirates. Speaking of Pirates, a group of them capture our heroes, and declare their intention to sell the ship (and its crew) on the black market. They were, in fact, just about to sell some other stolen goods to some dealers that are arriving now… except these dealers start firing on the pirates. Meanwhile, the pirate ship is taken and boarded by the leader of these vigilantes… HAN SOLO, with the ever faithful CHEWBACCA at his side. We learn that HAN has dedicated himself to hunting down the pirates and slavers that prey on the innocent people of the OUTER RIM, since the NEW REPUBLIC won’t pay attention to this area. His vigilante crew includes PAIGE TICO, who led the shootout while HAN disabled the ship. (ROSE is also among them, but apart from a mention by PAIGE perhaps, we won’t see her.)

It is only then that HAN realizes that one of the people he has rescued is his own son, BEN. The two of them catch up on the FALCON, with FINN as their guest. We hear FINN’S cover story: he is a child soldier who didn’t like how expendable he was. We get a feeling he may be lying to himself. From their conversation, we learn the following: when BEN was four, he was sent to live with LUKE to train to be a Jedi. HAN was so angry at losing his son that he left LEIA, and admits that he still hasn’t forgiven her for separating them. For some years, BEN trained as a JEDI along with several other children, including, sadly, REY. For some reason, one day REY snapped, and killed her fellow students, with BEN being the only surviving student. (He was fourteen, by the way. REY was eighteen.) The only other survivor, LUKE, found BEN among the wreckage. He told BEN to go find his mother, while he would “do something I should have done years ago.” BEN obeyed, but never saw LUKE again. BEN says he is following LUKE’S trail to a lost JEDI TEMPLE. HAN expresses skepticism. If LUKE was doing anything useful, where is he now? HAN invites BEN to rest and recuperate with his old friend, MAZ KANATA.

Meanwhile, we go to STARKILLER BASE. It is a large base, similar to the DEATH STAR in all aspects, save one. Above the main laser, there is a strange metal ring. (It must be featured prominently in the shot.) REY arrives, accompanied by her underlings, and is met by COMMANDER PRYDE, a spymaster of the FIRST ORDER. The conversation establishes that the FIRST ORDER rose to prominence because they came across some mysterious weapons depots and Imperial credit stores that allowed them to quickly rebuild their forces. They have continued, in fact, to have more lucky finds like this. PRYDE’S job has been to determine if they have a mysterious benefactor, and what he wants. PRYDE’S travels have taken him “from Kamino to Moraband.” He admits he has found nothing, and asks if STARKILLER BASE is ready. HUX confirms it is, and says, “The GATE RING should function perfectly.” PRYDE leaves for BASTION, the FIRST ORDER capital, before letting REY know her master, REGENT SNOKE, is waiting for her.

We cut from that to TAKODANA, where we meet MAZ KANATA. BEN asks MAZ to contact LEIA to meet them there, and let her know POE is dead. Exploring, he discovers ANAKIN’S lightsaber, which triggers a flashback. He is a child, eating with his fellow students. REY walks in, clearly cut up and hurt. One student confronts her, asking where LUKE is. “LUKE is dead. Get out of my way or you’ll be too.” Scared, the students try to take her down, but she cuts through them like butter. Terrified, BEN is backed into a corner. She tries to persuade him to put down his sword, but he brings down the building on them both. Later, he is found by LUKE and R2-D2. The flashback ends with MAZ meeting him. She gives him the lightsaber, as she feels it is his birthright. Finally, FINN calls the FIRST ORDER, letting them know the Map, BEN SOLO and LEIA are all about to be on the same planet.

Sorry to cut away from all that, but we finally get to see REGENT SNOKE! He's not CGI this time, unless we want to make him an already established alien species. (He can still be played by Andy Serkis.) He asks about REY'S progress in hunting down LUKE, and says she may not be ready to face her old Master. REY disagrees, and sets off to TAKODANA. Meanwhile, HUX is given the order to demonstrate the new power of the FIRST ORDER. He calls up the SENATE in a standard, "supervillain addresses the masses scene". (Hux's actor should chew the scenery like bubble gum.) We now find out what makes STARKILLER BASE special: the "gate ring" lets them fire their laser at any point in the galaxy without moving! HUX demonstrates this by destroying HOSNIAN PRIME, which sends the SENATE into a panic!

We cut to TAKODANA, where BEN falls down, overcome by the destruction he just sensed in the Force. The destruction of HOSNIAN PRIME is announced over the HoloNet. HAN lets us know the situation is serious, as he says something to the effect of, “HOSNIAN PRIME? The FIRST ORDER is too far away. Wait? They can do WHAT???” But ain’t nobody got time for that! The FIRST ORDER is attacking! FINN comes out to be picked up, but instead he is attacked by TR-8R! He tries to tell him he’s a double agent, but TR-8R doesn’t listen, and FINN is forced to kill him in self-defense. FINN is captured by stormtroopers, and only not killed because CAPTAIN PHASMA arrives, saying “Excellent work, FN-2187!” As FINN notes, she should have told the other Stormtroopers not to attack him, as he just killed one of his friends for nothing. PHASMA basically shrugs and says, “Hey, had to keep it secret.” FINN is clearly shocked and quite angry, but they’re off!

While all this is going on, HAN tells BEN to get out with BB-8. BEN naturally objects, but HAN says, “No matter what, they can’t know where LUKE is.” BEN proceeds to run, before being confronted by REY. BB-8 runs off while BEN faces REY. BEN futilely tries to drive her off with his blaster, which does not work, and REY’S facial expression seems to say, “Really? When has that ever worked?” She advances on him, and while he fumbles with his lightsaber, she knocks him out with the Force. She leaves carrying him with the Force, telling the FIRST ORDER to leave.

Just as they’re doing so, the NEW REPUBLIC force arrives, led by LEIA and POE DAMERON! (Who, as it turns out, is not dead.) However, the only person there to meet them is HAN, who is not happy to see LEIA. Their conversation tells us about BEN’S childhood. He has had trouble controlling his Force Powers, particularly when sleeping. When he was four, his power nearly destroyed their house. LEIA naturally decided she and HAN weren’t safe around him, and gave him to LUKE for training as a JEDI. HAN never forgave her for that, and left. She brings HAN and his crew back to the NEW REPUBLIC hideout to discuss plans to take down STARKILLER BASE. The idea is right now, several REPUBLIC worlds are in panic that they could be next, calling for immediate surrender. Taking out STARKILLER will let the REPUBLIC take out the FIRST ORDER. HAN points out that BEN is on STARKILLER BASE, and he might die if they blow up the base. LEIA agrees, but she can’t call off the attack. If another world suffers the fate of HOSNIAN PRIME or ALDERAAN, she would be responsible for millions of deaths, compared to just one. She tells HAN to try to save BEN, as it will take some time for her to get her fleet of X-WINGS and Y-WINGS ready. She also tells him to take out the shield generator for the base.

Speaking of BEN, we cut to him, strapped to a table, with REY sitting beside him. As REY explained, he has been shot up with a bunch of sedatives that are only beginning to wear off. Their conversation is surprisingly cordial, at least on her end. She expresses her surprise that he’s not with LUKE, as they were very close at the Academy. She reads his mind to find out LUKE’S location, but he is able to reverse the stream, and gets a look in her mind. He sees something that terrifies him. She simply says, “Well, now you know,” and leaves to report to SNOKE. She leaves behind a group of Stormtroopers, ordering them not to let BEN leave until she sends for him. HAN and CHEWIE land on STARKILLER in the FALCON. After this, FINN arrives alone, claiming he is here to take BEN to REY. The commanding officer is skeptical, as FINN is one soldier. He calls in to clear the transfer, before FINN shoots the other Stormtroopers. There is a call in, which FINN fumbles before shooting the intercom. He proceeds to let BEN out of his bindings, and BEN proceeds to strangle him. (As you do…) FINN only talks BEN out of killing him by pointing out BEN is in no fit state to fly. They make their way to the hangar, where they find the FALCON. Realizing HAN is likely there, BEN calls him on the comlink. They get back in touch, with HAN telling BEN to stay put while he takes out the shields. FINN interjects, saying he knows how to turn off the shields more subtly. HAN tells them to go do it while he sets up explosives on the base. (The idea is that they will distract the FIRST ORDER while POE attacks.) FINN and BEN proceed to press-gang PHASMA into turning off the shield, before leaving her in the trash compactor. Unfortunately, HAN is captured by some STORMTROOPERS, who take him to REY.

REY is very happy with this, as she is furious BEN has escaped. She makes an announcement over the intercom, saying, “BEN, I have your father. If you want to see him alive again, come to the main antechamber in one hour.” She proceeds to pour out a drink for herself and Han. She is somewhat starstruck by HAN SOLO, saying he is legendary, and LUKE mentioned him a lot. She openly speculates what she’ll do to LUKE when she meets him. She says SNOKE expects her to kill him, but she wants to thank him. After all, if not for, she would have stayed on JAKKU forever. SNOKE would not have found her, and she certainly would have never found out about her father. HAN asks her what the hell she’s talking about. REY notes that for years, no one has asked why SNOKE refers to himself as “REGENT” SNOKE. As she points out, a regent has one job: rule until the prince, or in her case, the princess, is ready to rule. REY, as she claims, is the daughter of none other than EMPEROR PALPATINE himself. HAN is skeptical. PALPATINE never had a family. Moreover, he died thirty years ago, and REY is still in her twenties. REY then clarifies; PALPATINE never wanted children, but his court kept a sample of his DNA preserved just in case. Some time after his death, this DNA was used to create a child. In order to protect her from the NEW REPUBLIC, she was hidden on a backwater world until she could be brought to safety. Unfortunately, the scientists were arrested for war crimes, and by the time SNOKE found out about her, he didn’t know where she was. HAN is skeptical, which annoys REY significantly. But now it’s time to meet BEN.

They meet in the antechamber, with HAN surrounded by stormtroopers. There, REY delivers her ultimatum: if BEN surrenders himself to her, HAN will go free. There is a prisoner exchange, and as they pass each other, HAN simply says, “I’m sorry.” He grabs BEN’S blaster, and begins firing wildly at the Stormtroopers. As he calculated, the Stormtroopers start firing back, and one shoots him in the chest. BEN lets out a massive scream, which begins to tear the room apart in a display of raw Force Power. HAN’S last words are just, “Get out of here.” FINN takes the hint, and tears BEN away, just as POE begins his attack on STARKILLER BASE, accompanied by HAN’S gang, including PAIGE TICO. Unfortunately, they are not able to destroy the base, but they are able to destroy the gate ring, meaning that, until it is repaired, STARKILLER will not be able to fire from far away. POE, under LEIA’S orders, orders a retreat.

While this is happening, REY confronts BEN and FINN. First FINN tries to fight her off, but not successfully. It is not until BEN gets ANAKIN’S lightsaber out that this becomes a real fight. Even then, it is clear REY has the upper hand, and she is only not killing BEN because she wants him alive. Nonetheless, BEN manages to land a lucky cut, temporarily stopping REY.  After this, a stray bomb landing on the base separates them, and FINN and BEN manage to make it to the FALCON. They take the FALCON back to LEIA. There, LEIA tells BEN to go find LUKE, and get his help. Meanwhile, she and POE will make their way back to REPUBLIC space. She will let them know the FIRST ORDER is vulnerable, but only if they attack quickly. She has to abandon the base, as the FIRST ORDER will almost certainly follow them in order to silence her. The movie closes with BEN landing on AHCH-TO, finding a hooded LUKE, and handing him his lightsaber. The two men look each other in the eyes after years of being apart, and the credits roll.

[mandochlorian]

trouble (smuggler!ben solo x reader)

part I

part II

summary: Ben’s supposed to be a smuggler, right? That means giving you the shipments that he promises, not putting you in a life-threatening situation.

general masterlist

star wars masterlist

You clench your teeth, looking at the time. He’s late. He’s never late. In the five years that you and Solo have been doing business together, he’s always been on time.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” you mumble to BB-3, dismissing its defeated beeps as you sit on the bridge of your ship. In five years, you’ve always met at the same place. But he’s nowhere to be seen.

Grunting, you turn to head back into your ship. Grabbing the comms, you search for the Falcon, holding the headset up to your ear. “Ben! Where the hell are you?!” You shout to him, frowning at the static you hear, “stop messing around!”

From inside the Falcon, Ben lets out a loud sigh, “Great just what I need right now!” He shakes his head, looking at the small fighter ships following him. Chewie roars, telling him to answer you. Ben sighs, grabbing the headset, “Listen, Princess,” he begins, frowning as the Falcon jolts from being shot at, “I don’t mess around.”

You roll your eyes, biting the inside of your cheek in frustration, “You’re late!”

Ben lets out a small laugh, “There are worse things than being late!”

Tired of his shenanigans, you hold your head in your hand, “Like what? Being killed by your client for not delivering, like I will be if you’re late!”

“No!” Ben shouts back at you, the shitty connection making his voice hurt your ears, “Like being shot at by three tie fighters!”

“Tie fighters! What?” You exclaim, eyes wide, “Ben, what have you gotten yourself into?!”

Chewie roars, punching in buttons as he tells Ben they’re heading into hyperspace. “Punch it, Chewie!” Ben nods, hoping his father’s dice really do bring them luck. Ben holds the wheel steady, his shoulder pressing the earpiece closer to his mouth, “It’s not my fault, okay? Just be ready!” He announces before dropping out.

“For what?!” You shout to the void, not getting a reply. A loud noise rips the sky apart, and you look outside the front window. The Falcon comes out of hyperspace, followed by smaller ships on its tail. “Shit!” Turning to BB-3, you crouch down slightly to speak to him, “Send a transmission to Captain Solo, give him our location, tell him his son has done it again.”

BB-3 watches you run outside the ship, gun and saber in hand before it does its job. Looking into the sky, you eye the Falcon attempting to land beside your ship. Aiming your blaster at the ship that continues firing at Ben, you hold your breath and fire rapidly at it. As it focuses its attention on you, you can see its weapons firing up. “Shit.” You whisper again, breaking out into a sprint as it’s fire follows behind you closely. In its distraction, the Falcon is able to land.

You skid into its ramp, nearly colliding with Ben who rushes out. He holds your arms, looking to you, “I’m here! I’m here!” He exclaims, taking a deep breath.

When he sees your angry expression, he lets go of you and takes a step back, “What the hell have you done?” You ask him through clenched teeth.

“Nothing!” He presses, reaching into his pocket and fiddling around to find something.

“Where’s Chewie?” You frown.

Ben finds what he’s looking for and pushes it to you, clasping your hands around it, “Just don’t let them get this.”

You look down at the red hard drive, “Stars, Ben,” you mumble, “What is this?”

“It’s serious. It’s deathly serious.” Ben admits, his eyes wide as he stares into your eyes, “Don’t let anyone get their hands on it.” Upon instinct, you and Ben both grab your sabers, giving each other a glance before turning to the unwanted guests.

“Okay, I promise,” you whimper, frowning at Ben’s serious expression. Turning to your ship, you’re about to head to it when Ben pulls you back.

“Hey.” He mutters, “If something goes wrong, stay in the ship. Don’t hesitate to leave. Anything for the plan to be safe, okay?”

You don’t answer. You just give him a look before rushing to your ship. You call out for BB-3, making sure he takes care of it. You sigh, shaking your head down as you watch the droid hide the harddrive. A pull. Something tells you to go outside.

Your eyes can’t believe what they’re seeing. The three people, covered in white armour. Stormtroopers, still here from the days of the Empire. “We know you have it, Solo.” One of them speaks up, ignoring you as you walk up to the three of them.

Ben tilts his head as he pouts, “No clue what you’re talking about.”

Frustrated, the left trooper rushes up to Ben, shouting, “If you act like a fool,” he points his blaster to Ben’s head, “then you’ll die like one!”

“Step away!” You order, staring the trooper down, fire and hate in your eyes. Your green saber is ignited, pointed in his direction. The trooper lets out a scoff, making you raise your eyebrows incredulously, “Get that gun away from his face.” You snarl, hopelessness entering your chest along with fear. How are you getting out of this one? It’s not like you can control minds, you’ve never been good at that. You’re better at physical force using. Shit! Shit shit shit

He knocks his blaster against Ben’s forehead, not enough to knock him out but enough to make you flinch and gasp, “What are you going to do about it?”

A sudden roar makes the trooper rapidly turn before one of his friends are shot down by Chewies bowcaster. You take the opportunity to rip the trooper from Ben, pressing the end of your lightsaber to his chest before igniting it with a huff. His body falls limp. He falls to the ground. Your chest rises and falls slightly as you look at the one trooper left, who looks at the three of you before stumbling back. Lifting your hand, you freeze him to his place as you put your lightsaber back on its hilt. Ben swings his saber, slicing into the stormtroopers stomach.

Just like that, it’s quiet and they’re all on the floor. Turning to Ben, you take a step toward him, “What now?”

Chewie roars happily, his arms stretched towards you. “Chewie!” You smile, jogging to him in order to get a legendary Wookie hug. When you pull back, you smile at him, “I bet those troopers are a sight you never thought you’d see again.”

Chewie nods, giving you a shrug and a roar before Ben walks up to the two of you. He puts an arm around you, looking to Chewie, “Aren’t we lucky to have her?” Ben sighs happily.

“You’re lucky you’re not dead this time!” You look up at him, eyebrows furrowed.

“This time?” He repeats, giving you a confused look.

You stare up at him through your lashes, “There’ll be more, of course. You didn’t think they’d give up that easily, right?”

“Right, right!” Ben nods, looking to the ground awkwardly as you pull away from him and his hold. Chewie watches with an amused look on his face to which Ben frowns at while your back is turned.

You turn around, letting out a sigh, “Ben, do you have the shipment?” You ask. His face falls. “Great.” You sigh shakily, one hand rubbing against your face as you close your eyes, “I’m dead.”

“No, no,” Ben shakes his head, “It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not,” you laugh, looking up into the sky, hopeless, “I had to deliver that to Kanjiklub tomorrow morning to pay off my end of the deal.”

Ben’s lips are parted, watching you idly as you sit down on the ramp of the Millenium Falcon, just thinking of a way out. There’s no way... you’re dead now. They won’t give you any more time. You’re done. Catching eyes with at Ben, Chewie nods his head towards you. Ben raises his hands, confused until Chewie pushes him towards you. He stumbles, coughing awkwardly before he sits down next to you. Smiling, Chewie heads into the Falcon.

“It’ll be okay,” Ben tells you, looking at your old ship, “You’ll be fine, I know it.”

“How?” You ask, looking to him, “How the hell could you know that, Ben?”

He turns to you, pressing a hand against yours. He rubs the back of your hand gently and he gives you a smile; a kind, genuine, fond and loving smile. “Because,” he mumbles, taking a gulp, “you have me.”

“You got me into this mess!” You exclaim, pulling your hand away from his and standing up to pace.

“Yeah? Well!” Ben fumbles for words, standing up too. He tries to push away the feeling of rejection entering his chest. “I’m gonna get you out of it!”

“How?”

“I just will!”

“How?!”

Letting out a frustrated grunt, Ben matches up to you. His hands pull you towards him, he leans down to press his lips onto yours. Ben’s lips are pressed to yours for a few seconds before you pull away, looking at him with wide, dumbfounded eyes. Ben takes another gulp, “You don’t have to be afraid, I’m not going anywhere.”

You eye Ben’s features, looking into his eyes, then his parted lips, before returning back to meet his gaze. You press your lips back to his, closing your eyes and moving your lips against yours. Ben’s eyebrows raise slightly when you take a step closer, feeling your body pressing against his.

“Alright, kids,” Han announces, “I think that’s enough.”

In shock and surprise, Ben pulls away from you rapidly, even taking a step back for safe measure, “D-Dad?” He stutters, eyes wide as he stares at him. Then it clicks and he turns to you, “You snitched on me to my dad?”

Han gives you a nod, “Good to see you again, Y/N,” he smiles kindly, bringing you in for a hug, “You surviving?”

You let out a laugh, scrunching your nose, “Barely. Your son has been a lot of trouble.”

Han lets out a humph, looking at Ben, “Who have you pissed off now?”

Ben takes a breath, “You’re not gonna like it,” he admits, watching as his dads face falls, “Empire enthusiasts...”

“Just what we needed!” Han exclaims, a furious smile on his face, “That’s great! While you’re at it, why not get Kanjiklub on your back too!”

“Well, actually...” you mumble, eyes plastered onto the ground as you try not to awkwardly laugh.

Han's face falls, “Great. Chewie, you were supposed to take care of him!” A roar comes from the ship and Han just runs a hand through his face while he lets out a big sigh.

Before he can speak again, Ben speaks up, “Wait, look.” His eyes are on the sky, squinting at what looks like a transport ship... with the Imperial symbol on it, “We gotta go!”

“Shit!” You curse, “Okay, you lead the way, I’ll follow!”

Ben shakes his head, clasping a hand onto your arm, “No, they’ll separate us! Come with me.”

“I can’t!” You shake your head, “My ship.”

Han looks between the two of you, eyes landing on yours, “He’s right, kid. We all go in the Falcon. And I’m driving.” Han rushes into the ship.

“Ben,” you call out to him, “The harddrive.” You gesture to your ship.

He gives you a look, all he says is “Hurry.”

And just like that, you’re jumping from the landing pad of the Falcon, soaring through the air and landing into a sprint. Ben watches you for a few seconds, seeing you begin to run, and he admires how talented you are. Your heart beats loudly in your ear as you reach your ship, seeing BB-3 beep up at you, happy to see you.

“Hey, Bud!” You lean down, “We gotta go. Now!” BB-3 follows you outside your ship, and you bend to carry him as you run. He’s too slow on his own. He’s heavy, but you manage, almost making it to Ben. Your heavy breath, mixed with the pounding of your head with each rough step makes it hard for you to hear what Ben’s shouting at you from the ramp of the Falcon.

You only realise his shouts were a warning sign when a green blast shoots you back into the ground. BB-3’s body goes flying into the air, landing on your left arm and sending a massive wave of pain through it. You shout, cowering into a ball as you squeeze your eyes shut at the pain. Your whole body feels like it’s aching now, and you struggle to breathe properly. You’re winded. Everything is so disorientating.

From your position on the ground, you can see the transport ship landing. Behind it, a larger ship comes out of hyperspace. A number of troopers exit it and fall back onto the ground, weak and exhausted. You whimper, feeling tears brim your eyes as you look to the Falcon.

Ben’s shouting, trying to run to you but Chewie holds him back. He punches buttons on the side of the ship, and you see steam erupt from the ramp controls. It begins to close, slowly.

Weakly, you reach a hand out to BB-3. He begins moving, slowly towards the Falcon. And then he speeds up, you push him with the force. He beeps loudly, moving faster than ever. Ben notices, reaching a hand out and doing the rest of the work to pull BB-3 on to the ship just before the ramp closes.

You breathe, seeing black spots take up all your vision. The world underneath you feels as though it’s moving so quickly, even though your head is pressed against a stable surface. With one last breath, exhaustion overcomes you.

Ben solo taglist: tveitjolraas bepo-is-sorry 

[nightcoremoon]

here's some controversy that has nothing to do with social issues.

a lot of people hate the band five finger death punch. saying those words provoked a visceral response in half the people reading this, and a "who?" in the other half. they're a groove metal band; similar to slipknot, mudvayne, disturbed, all that remains, system of a down, korn, and killswitch engage. they're one of those really controversial bands that are hated because they're ~not real metal~ by dumbshits who think that NWOBHM is the only valid metal genre. even though england ruined metal and punk but that's a conbfetsation for another day.

now, if you just don't like metal, that's fine. I don't expect everyone to like every genre. so obviously you won't like them, or any band in the genre. obviously. and these are not the people who are being targeted with this post. no, this goes to those who love metallica, ozzy, megadeth, slayer, pantera, testament, opeth, tool, manowar, meshuggah, children of bodom, cannibal corpse, fear factory, mercyful fate: this is to the people who love metal. now, I say this as one of us, but metalheads are one of the most judgmental groups of people in history. and frequently I find that metalheads make the same remarks in regards to their opinions on five finger death punch.

they do nothing but covers. they just yell and cuss. forty year old men with teenage angst. bad musicianship. they look stupid. they fuck their sisters and daughters. they sold out to the military. they're gay. they do too many ballads. they're redneck bait. they're toxic masculinity and macho personified. they rely on guest stars to carry their songs. they're talentless hacks.

these are all complaints I've heard multiple times from multiple people. and frankly I'm sick of it. I'm sick of hearing the bullshit complaints rather than the ACTUAL REASONS why they aren't the best band in the world. which I'll go through now.

they have an overreliance on breakdowns as if they were a post-hardcore band but they're not. breaking benjamin also skirts the line between post-grunge metal and post-hardcore and have many breakdowns, but the difference is that BB's breakdowns have math rock roots and use different patterns that syncopate well. five finger's breakdowns are... eighth notes. it's the difference between, say, black veil brides- who have excellent syncopated breakdowns- and as I lay dying, who have shitty and boring breakdowns. the only difference is that AILD has blast beats (and is fronted by an abusive asshole), and five finger has... ivan growling threats or whatever because they think that it sounds cool to have metal blaring while he says shit like "you wanna disrespect me? I will slap you so fucking hard you'll feel like you kissed a freight train, fuck you," or "if there was ever a time for you to back the fuck up it's right fuckin here and right fuckin now" or "it's not the size of the dog in the fight it's the size of the fight in the dog," or "in the end we're all just chalk lines on the concrete, drawn only to be washed away; in the time that I've been given, I am what I am", etc, all preceding screams. and no these are not exaggerations, these are literally exact quotes. there's also one that plays radio chatter from the military while he goes "hut hut oorah", which is different slightly. and in any case, they have done nearly a hundred different solos over their career, there is NO REASON for them to have such a ridiculous amount of breakdowns. they rival memphis may fire in that regard, but MMF actually has great breakdowns. churko is a metal producer, NOT a hardcore producer, and they sound empty when you strip out the vocals.

sometimes they will overuse a chorus, and hit the pop music pitfalls of having a song that's over half chorus. I'm sure they did this so the label would be happy with singles because the music industry is a commercialized garbage fire and holding it against the artists would be so fucking stupid especially since tool (the best metal band in existence) fucking said it best, "all you know about me is what I sold you, I sold out long before you ever knew my name, I sold my soul to make a record, dipshit, then you bought one; I've got some advice for you little buddy, before you point your finger you should know that I'm the man and if I'm the man then he's he man and you're the man as well so you can take that fucking finger and shove it up your ass". translation; the fact that you know a band at all means that they sold out to even exist in the first place because that's what selling out is. so even this complaint I have that sometimes they have repeated chorus is more of a complaint about a music industry which dumbs things down to sell radioplay to the lowest common denominator, which EVERY SINGLE ARTIST IS GUILTY OF. so moving on.

sometimes they'll have songs which are fairly simple from a harmonic/mechanical standpoint. opening verse chorus verse chorus solo bridge chorus chorus ending. verse goes some mix of eighth and quarter notes and rests in 4:4, solo is just the vocal line of the chorus, bass and drums are nonexistent and only serve to be a melodic backbone, and the music only exists to serve the lyrics... oh wait I can make the exact same arguments about metallica, rage against the machine, pantera, disturbed, and a hundred other bands. those guys aren't hated as much as five finger. hmm. wonder why.

the lyrics are often angsty. namely that they deal with honor, government corruption, mental illness, we live in a society, religious corruption, abandonment issues, recovering from toxic relationships, hey wait a minute these are all just insanely common topics for metal songs!

they usually play in the same key- wait shit every band has a favored key.

they do a lot of covers- wait shit they have literally more ALBUMS than covers.

(yeah that's weird to me too, but they only did a new level by pantera, from out of nowhere by faith no more, bad company by bad company, mama said knock you out by LL cool J, house of the rising sun by the animals, gone away by offspring, and blue on black by kenny wayne shepard... that's 7. they have 8 albums now.)

so shut the fuck up forever about the cover songs. metallica and the deftones and a perfect circle all had fucking cover ALBUMS, van halen only has a career because of the kinks, and every single rock band in the world is just ripping off the beatles, pink floyd, black sabbath, the who, led zeppelin, and cream. pick a legitimate reason to hate on a band, hypocrite.

alright what else...

"they're gay"

I'm not gonna dignify that with a response.

"they suck"

so does your favorite band. boom roasted.

"they're bad at music"

I'd like to see you do better then.

"they sold out to the military"

no they support the veterans and the troops; they fucking hate the military if you pay any attention at all. they believe in the good parts of the military that the government pays half our taxes to make us believe. you're not better than anyone else just because you see through one specific piece of propaganda because odds are you're blinded by another dozen. they write songs about how war is hell and how when vets come home they should be treated better. and anyway when you're in the dog eat dog world of the music industry hey guess what you need a market to sell to or else it's back to baskin robbins. I don't blame them for one second. if I had the option of endorsing cops to pay my bills you bet your ass I'll fly a blue lives matter flag and sell my soul to make money, and then donate shit to the black lives matter movement. flying a flag is worthless if I can do actual good with the money that those dumbasses send in. and name better irony than fighting to abolish a group that pays me to do it go on I'll wait.

"you're just a fanboy"

a) it's fangirl but metal elitists don't give a shit about the LGBTQ and b) just because I like a band doesn't in any way diminish the validity of my statements and any bias I might have is easily countered by whatever bias you might have and c) they're not even my favorite band you idiot I just think there's way worse out there just like I think it's unfair to say nickelback is the worst band in existence when drunk mom rock like hinder buckcherry savingabel and kidrock exists, and limp bizkit is standing right there, and d) they're not even the worst groove metal band, just look at fucking lamb of god, and e) if I was a fangirl I wouldn't have pointed out the flaws you fucking brainless troglodyte, and f) even if they were my favorite band in the world it doesn't matter if you think they suck because music taste is subjective anyway you goddamn moron. those guys write their own music, play their own music, perform their own music, and they love their fanbase more than most other bands. andrew biersack and kellin quinn and pepper keenan and glenn danzig and liam gallagher and axl rose and van halen and ted nugent and kurt cobain HATE their fans, or at least are huge fucking assholes. but not five finger. jeremy played until he literally broke his back; he's as devoted as phil collins, and if he made like atreyu and sang while drumming he'd be singing from a wheelchair, or like dave grohl when he broke his leg right in the middle of a concert, went to the hospital and got set and put in a cast, THEN CAME RIGHT BACK TO THE FUCKING SHOW AND PLAYED GUITAR AND SANG IN A CAST AND WHEELCHAIR. oh but wait, people say phil collins and dave grohl suck too, and turn around and suck mustaine's dick even though he's the biggest asshole in thrash metal behind tom araya and drunk james hetfield. point being, just because x doesn't like y doesn't diminish z's opinion.

"the singer fucked his daughter lol lol his grandchild is his son too lol lol his daughter is his wife lol lol it's funny because rednecks and incest lol lol" he's from colorado not alabama you dumb motherfuckers, and all the lol incest in georgia jokes are rooted in good ol yankee classism. also the guitarist is hungarian so the american redneck jokes don't even fuckin work. shut the hell up, you have all of the intellectual capacity of a common bog leech.

you can dislike the band. you can say you don't like it. you can say that you'd rather listen to different music. that's fine! that's okay! listen to justin bieber if you like him, listen to taylor swift if you like her, listen to new kids on the block if you want! I don't care! but stop expressing your opinions that you stole from someone else as fact. all you're doing is meme bandwagoning so you can find a community because you don't have the social skills necessary to meet people through the things you love so instead you try to pull serotonin out of making other people feel as miserable as you do.

with that being said, fuck all of the annoying dudebro douchebags who listen to the band and show 5FDP next to the confederate flag, blue lives matter flag, don't tread on me flag, punisher skull, trump sticker, and the crossed assault rifles on the back of your truck. you're all shit for reasons other than your music taste.

[skincarebeautymakeuptips]

Everyday Makeup Products for Zoom School

Learn in a beautiful way with everyday makeup products

Remember that feeling of rolling out of bed and doing your 15-minute everyday makeup routine (thanks, YouTube!) before running out the door for school? Quarantine may have halted that last part, but an everyday makeup routine is just as essential now that you’re heading back to the classroom in a new way: over Zoom. 

In fact, it’s probably even more important now to invest in the right concealer and lipstick shade when you’re learning in the virtual sense. The last thing you need is to look washed out or have blemishes accentuated by the HD camera on your Macbook, and everyday makeup can do wonders for your self-care and self esteem during these uncertain times.

Things are definitely a bit different at school than they were last year, but you can still wow your new classmates with beautiful everyday makeup. All you need is a bit of concealer, brow gel, and perhaps a bit of sparkle… and you can do it all while wearing pajamas. Mira is here with a bit of Beauty 101 as we share our favorite everyday makeup products to make a statement this school year.

Boy Brow by Glossier, $16

Fun fact: Boy Brow is Glossier’s best selling product of all time. Why? Because it’s the everyday makeup product that makes everybody feel beautiful and on their best brow game. This brushable, creamy wax gives you impeccable arches that look completely natural, yet perfectly precise. You could tell your virtual classmates over Zoom that you’re not wearing any makeup products and just woke up like this, even if it’s definitely not true, because Boy Brow looks that effortless and will be your best brow secret throughout the rest of quarantine. Oh, and did we mention that it even contains Oleic Acid, Lecithin, and Atelocollagen to smooth and condition your brows?

Shape Tape Concealer by Tarte, $27

Every beauty influencer’s favorite concealer turns 20 this year, and believe us when we tell you that Shape Tape lives up to the hype. Very few makeup products cover dark circles and instantly brighten up your look the way this cult favorite does, and the top Mira ratings for blendability, hydration, and anti-creasing mean that you’ll always be able to say “bye bye” to dark under eyes and care for the delicate skin in this area. If you’re in the mood for a more advanced beauty look before class, this everyday makeup also works as a great highlighter when contouring your face!

Natural Matte Eyes Eye Shadow Palette by Too Faced, $59

When in quarantine, a little eyeshadow can go a long way in making you feel pretty. Or in this case, own your pretty with one of your favorite pink and powerful beauty brands. Natural Matte Eyes Eye Shadow Palette has 30 shimmer and matte shades to beautifully blend your everyday makeup looks for more than a few compliments on your Zoom call. Eyeshadow isn’t as much effort as you may think, as you can just add a simple wash of color over your lids for an instant boost of beauty. Or you know, show off your skills with a magnificent halo eye or cut crease… there are no rules in everyday makeup!

Extra Illuminating Moisture Balm by Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, $69

Casual reminder that staying inside doesn’t mean that you should skip out on your skincare routine. This is a time for sheet masks and a sparkly moisturizer, like this one from Bobbi Brown Cosmetics! It’s extra in the best way, made with ultra-fine pearl pigments to energize tired skin and restore your natural radiance. Wear it alone as it absorbs into the skin for your most gorgeous complexion, or get that dewy glow by wearing it under your foundation. It looks natural and radiant, yet extra at the same time. What more could you want in an everyday makeup product?

BB Cream by NYX Professional Makeup, $13

You can’t have a list of everyday makeup without BB cream, the #1 product to hydrate your skin and give you a dreamy, dewy glow with minimal effort. And you can always count on NYX to deliver affordable, high quality products that enhance (but don’t change!) your natural beauty. Apply this BB cream before a Zoom meeting for a burst of moisture and confidence.

Tinted Moisturizer SPF 20 by Laura Mercier, $43

You may have heard that skincare comes before makeup, and while that’s generally true... you can totally have your tinted moisturizer and wear it too. This cult favorite by Laura Mercier has nearly perfect reviews on Mira Beauty, with guests writing that it lasts for hours, looks beautiful and bright, and feels extremely lightweight on your skin. All ages, all skin types, all different tastes in makeup, you’re sure to fall hard for this everyday makeup. It gives you a luminous glow that looks lovely on camera, and contains SPF to protect against sun damage even while staying inside.

Glow Kit - Sugar by Anastasia Beverly Hills, $40

Tinted moisturizer is ideal for subtle radiance, but you’ll need a highlighter to glow all out on your Zoom conference call. And don’t think it’s only for glam looks, as you can easily incorporate this sparkly must-have into your everyday makeup routine. Just sweep a bit onto your cheeks, nose, and forehead for a little shimmer that will definitely make you want to keep checking yourself out in the camera during your call (we’ve all done it,) or try a few highlighter hacks for something a little more subdued. Our favorites? A tiny dab of highlighter in the inner corners of your eyes to help you look instantly more awake and alert, or placing a bit of product in the Cupid’s bow area to fake a plumper pout.

Volum' Express The Colossal Big Shot Washable Mascara by Maybelline, $8

Here at Mira Beauty, mascara has a special place in our hearts. And also our beauty collections. It’s one of the best beginner products that many of us began using at the start of our makeup journey, and it’s never let us down when we want to look simply beautiful, but not too OTT. Even if you haven’t touched your falsies in months, a drugstore mascara like the Volum' Express The Colossal Big Shot by Maybelline can help frame your eyes and give you the long, luxurious lashes you desire. Just apply a coat or two and you’ll be good to go with any everyday makeup look!

Balm Dotcom by Glossier, $12

Ah, Glossier. The go-to beauty brand when you want to look natural, but still get that flawless skin that dreams, and Instagram filters, are made of. But you can’t get your lips get lonely either, which brings us to Balm Dotcom. This lip balm is packed with antioxidants and natural emollients to hydrate and nourish dry, chapped lips, and it’s available in seven flavors like Birthday and Coconut to make your Zoom calls more fun. Get a taste (literally) of natural beauty as this everyday makeup leaves a subtle tint and hydrates your pout with rich ingredients like Castor Oil, Beeswax, and Lanolin.

The Multiple by NARS, $39

Mood: all monochrome’ed out with nowhere to go. Except you know, a Zoom class with tons of people to compliment the beautiful color on your eyes, cheeks, and lips. As the name suggests, The Multiple by NARS is a multipurpose tool that saves you time and money while you apply one shimmery, spectacular shade onto every feature of your face. Celebrities love to own this look on the red carpet, and wearing it may just make you forget about the fact that you’ve been staying inside for months. Choose from a range of shades, including a shimmery tangerine like Puerto Vallarta, rose gold like G-Spot, or Copacabana for a sparkly pink, pearlescent hue that you’ll never want to put down.

Vitamin C Serum by Mario Badescu, $45

Your everyday makeup look needs a friend, and its name is Vitamin C. Many forget just how important this nutrient is, as it’s basically essential to the skin... yet isn’t produced naturally by the body. But don’t worry, there’s a serum for that. It’s made by your favorites at Mario Badescu (AKA, a VSCO girl’s favorite brand) to give your skin a burst of brightness while evening out complexion for better makeup application.

Matte Liquid Liner by NYX Professional Makeup, $8

There’s just something about eyeliner that can make you feel more put together, even when you’re really, really not. It’s one of Mira’s favorite everyday makeup products to put your eyes on full display throughout your conference call, and the options are endless with the Matte Liquid Liner by NYX. Use the felt tip pen to create an epic wing, or just apply a line on the top lid for simple beauty. At under $10, Matte Liquid Liner is used by tons of influencers and celebrity MUA’s. Why? Because the ultra-black, matte formula means that it won’t reflect the light in strange ways while on camera, making this liner perfect for your Zoom calls.

Glitter & Glow Liquid Eye Shadow by stila, $24

“This is seriously the best glitter eyeshadow I've ever used! The pigment is great, zero fall out, and stays on all day.” Mira reviews are all about the Liquid Eye Shadow by Stila, as it looks magnificent on your eyes and won’t give you the creasing or shadow fall out that most powders will. While this formula looks like it was made for more dramatic makeup looks, don’t let the shimmer fool you. More subtle shades like Wanderlust or Dollish create the illusion that you just spent an hour perfecting your sparkly eyeshadow, even though you spent like five minutes and it still looks perfect. Pair it with Stila’s Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner to be the true star of your conference call!

Insta-Blush by Revlon, $12

Living the cream. Or dream… probably both with this everyday makeup must-have by Revlon. The “Insta” in the name of this cream blush refers to several things. For one, it gives you a sheer, natural finish in seconds that suits any makeup look. It also looks subtle enough on camera to give you just the right amount of color on your Zoom calls, without looking too clown-like or risking the HD Macbook camera picking up any streaks. In fact, certain shades of the Insta-Blush are so lightweight and blendable that it can even double as a contour stick!

Brow Powder Duo by Anastasia Beverly Hills, $23

Don’t underestimate the power of powder. Brow powder, that is. Anastasia Beverly Hills is likely one of the first brands that come to mind when you hear the word “brows,” and for good reason. You won’t be disappointed with this long lasting and volumizing powder that lifts your arches and creates the ideal shape for everyday makeup. It’s been proven that brows are the most noticeable feature on your face, and you’ll draw attention in the best way with ABH in your collection.

From the classroom to Zoom, learn more about all your favorite everyday makeup products on Mira.

Source: Everyday Makeup Products for ZOOM School 

[khanlusa]

TFA Teaser

4 chapters into this god damn rewrite and it is 17.3K words already.

Here’s the scene I just finished up, which is the new gang finally getting off Jakku so I can actually start diverging from the fucking plot more. Vace just decided after 10 years of waiting and with the First Order looking for their new guests its time to get off this rock.

-

Rey could barely keep her thoughts straight. It felt like she was vibrating, and her heart raced all the way to Niima Outpost.

The sun had broken the horizon by the time they arrived, and folk were already going about their lives, ferrying supplies or messages, looking for work or browsing market stalls, all of them trying to avoid the attention of First Order patrols that walked the outpost. Most had no luck, and the Stormtroopers appeared to be stopping people at random and demanding information.

Rey clenched her jaw and stuck close to Vace’s back.

Barter chips were for scavengers, but credits still had value in Niima and credits Vace had. Away from the market stalls on the other side of town was Bunker Row, stores and housing repurposed from old military buildings like most of the outpost. Which military was anyone’s guess, but it didn’t matter to the current owners; they were just happy to be selling their wares out of the freezing cold. Of course, Niima demanded extra payment for that privilege.

They needed long-term supplies, sealed rations, bonding tape, a new welder, and some small but critical replacement parts for air and water filtration. Each time they came out of a store, Rey held her breath, watching the streets for any signs of hostility as they slowly loaded up the speeders. The Stormtroopers were present every time, harassing, handling, and shoving folk away when they didn’t get their answers.

For once Niima’s enforcers were nowhere to be seen. Rey clenched her hands.

“Almost done,” Vace murmured, ducking into the last store. Rey followed her after a moment. Ship parts and tools were everywhere inside, hanging on hooks from the ceiling and lining densely packed shelves. Rey kept her eyes on the door while Vace got what they needed.

The giddy, vibrating sensation died down, replaced by a tension that pulled taut the muscles of her back and neck. Her thoughts drifted to Taunul and the way Finn’s eyes deadened recalling it.

Vace passed her with a quiet “come on.” She carried a sealed crate of replacement parts for life support. They left the store and quickly secured the box to Vace’s speeder.

“That’s her! She took it from me!”

Teedo’s reedy voice hit her ears like a whip, and Rey turned to see the little Hutt slime pointing her out to a couple of Stormtroopers. Even with the snow mask on, he recognised her by the speeders. The troopers started running towards them, one yelling commands to freeze, the other alerting the rest, and Rey instinctively threw her hands out with a grimace. The Force slammed into the troopers and sent them flying, startling everyone and giving Rey and Vace the opening to jump on their speeders and race out of Niima.

It wasn’t enough to avoid being followed.

Six First Order speeders raced after them across the plains, catching up bit by bit on the open terrain until Rey swore she could feel them breathing down her neck by the time the Maze was in reach.

Vace signalled to separate, and at the first split in the canyons they took different paths, forcing the First Order to do the same.

The disruptive roar of multiple speeders bolting through the Maze echoed all around her, but Rey knew the canyons well, confidently navigating the turns. One of the troopers inched alongside her and lifted his blaster. Rey clenched her teeth and threw her hand at him, electricity crackling down her arm and out through her fingertips. A small shock caused him to jerk away from her, wrenching the handles of his speeder to one side and turning his vehicle too far. He smashed into the canyon wall and immediately fell behind her in a tumble of fiery wreckage.

A tangle of narrow, coiling passages in the Maze sat dead ahead. Rey allowed the remaining two Stormtroopers to get within ten feet of her before accelerating. Heightened reflexes were the only reason she didn’t smash into the wall at the first tight curve. Neither of her pursuers was as lucky, they both turned too late and crashed into each other, then the wall, and exploded behind her.

She lowered her speed for the rest of the tangle and sped up again once she was out, eager to return home, hoping Vace had similar luck.

A quick and winding path through the canyons brought her back home, and Rey smiled when she saw Vace speed into view alone. They pulled into the hangar, and Rey wrenched off her snow mask, breathing hard.

“Are you alright?” she asked, but Vace was already guiding her speeder towards the Truth Seeker. Rey quickly did the same, and they brought the speeders close to the ship’s cargo lift.

Vace patted her shoulder. “Help EROX get everything on board. I’ll get the ship online.”

Nodding, Rey ran to the house proper and found EROX and Finn packing things away in the main room. “First Order spotted us! We need to get everything loaded, now!”

EROX dutifully lifted two crates onto his shoulders and ducked through to the hangar while Finn baulked. Rey held up her hands. “We were chased, but we lost them in the canyons. It’ll be okay, I promise.” Whether he believed her or not, he nodded and hoisted one of the crates, following after EROX.

As far as she could see they had all the essentials packed up, save for a few personal items she quickly stuffed into a satchel, Force related educational texts, lightsaber tools, and Sulia’s Holocron. The purple, gold-framed octahedron was more sentimental at this point than practical, but Rey would sooner lose her hands than leave it behind, so in the satchel it went.

The Truth Seeker’s engines roared to life, and a wave of emotion crashed into her. Rey coughed, shaking it off—now wasn’t the time. She turned, the satchel slung across her back, and hauled a crate of food into her arms, hurrying through the back door into the hangar. Finn and EROX passed her by, and she could see the ship’s cargo lift was down, the speeders and a couple of crates already loaded.

On the way back, Rey threw the switch for the hangar blast doors and machinery groaned to life above them, light and snow spilling into the dim chamber as the ceiling split open.

Time stretched out, images of the First Order rushing in blasters hot flashing through Rey’s mind, but it took only a few minutes of jogging back and forth to load all the boxes. Once they were sure everything was loaded, Vace hurried into the hangar with Poe in her arms. “Get in!” she barked, BB-8 whistling right behind her.

“<<They’re coming! I saw TIEs!>>”

They piled onto the ship, and EROX sealed the boarding hatch just as the deep boom of an explosion sounded from the front door.

Vace carried Poe down the central hall and into the medbay, setting him down on the single bed available. “Rey, Finn, turrets!” she barked again, darting passed them into the cockpit where EROX followed only a moment later.

Rey gestured quickly, “this way!” Finn followed her to a ladder just behind the cockpit that would take them where they needed to go. He climbed down, and she climbed up into a familiar seat. She clipped in, and the chair slid backwards along a rail to the topside gunner dock where it turned around and anchored with a dull clunk. Grabbing the wired-in earpiece, Rey opened the channel between the gunner docks and the cockpit. “Finn, the comm should be right in front of you to your right, mounted in a white socket just below the canopy.”

He didn’t respond.

The ship lifted off and cleared the blast doors, turning with a slight tilt just as Rey caught sight of three TIEs rocketing towards them. The deflector shield flickered to life just in time to absorb strafing fire, dissipating it through rapidly fading oscillations of gold.

Vace didn’t waste another second. The Truth Seeker shot through the air, angled for the stars.

“Wait!” Finn’s voice finally came through. “Stay close to the ground! It messes with their sensors!”

The ship quickly angled back down, swerving hard to the left with the three TIEs in hot pursuit. Rey grabbed the controls and zeroed in on one of them, firing two quick bursts of yellow energy. One missed, one clipped the wing and trailed smoke through the air but it kept flying.

A shot from Finn blasted the wing off in a spray of fire and metal, sending the TIE into a death spiral. It hit the tree line, snapping the first few branches before it sank out of sight.

The Maze gave way to the plains, and the remaining TIEs strafed again. Crimson bolts shot wide. Rey clenched her teeth. She returned fire on one, but the nimble starfighter managed to avoid it, bobbing and weaving in unpredictable ways to make itself a harder target. Finn seemed just as hard-pressed to hit the other one as it adopted the same tactic.

Old starship wreckage began to pass them by, and Rey realised they were already at the Graveyard. The Truth Seeker turned sharply, twisting as it went, and the hull of a Star Destroyer engulfed Rey’s view barely six feet away. A burst of fire and metal signalled one TIE fighter colliding with a protruding command tower Vace knew was there.

The last TIE avoided the hazard and levelled out, firing on them. Starbursts of red and gold raced overhead, electrical booms that rattled through the canopy, but the shield held. It dipped below her field of vision before Rey could get a clear shot at it and she sucked air through her teeth, hoping Finn could see it.

Clearing the Star Destroyer, Vace made another hard turn. She followed the flow of the landscape, dipping, swerving, and rising sharply to bring them alongside the same Star Destroyer she and Rey scavenged only yesterday. She skimmed the surface too, racing the length of it to a gap between the bridge and the ground.

The Truth Seeker knifed easily through the space, and so did the smaller TIE fighter, but it had nowhere to go as Rey fired at the same time as Finn. They both hit a wing and sent it spiralling into a snowdrift.

Vace angled the Truth Seeker skyward, and the bright blue sky rapidly faded, giving way to the deep blackness of space. Rey blinked a sting from her eyes and glanced at Jakku falling behind them, the curve of the planet growing prominent, the thin band of atmosphere holding everything in except for them.

She held her breath, counted, watching it slowly grow smaller in her field of view. A sharp, pale grey shape caught her eye in the distance—a Star Destroyer, a new one, First Order.

They were headed away from it.

Vace spoke firmly over comms. “Exiting gravity well, jumping in 3, 2, 1…now!”

[mtvswatches]

Wynonna Earp 3x03 Colder Weather

Click here for previous recaps!

Stray thoughts

1) They’re doing a Dolls retrospective in the previously-on and oh God, it’s going to be one of those episodes, am I going to cry my heart out?

2) Wynonna is sad, drunk, and angry – a dangerous combination. Yep.

3) God, they even changed the music for this episode… They’re really going for emotional devastation, aren’t they?

4) So, the vampire lady that had Doc all tied up in the season opener is back. He called her Countessa, but then she begged him to say her name, and I wonder if this has some other meaning? Like, maybe she needs him to say her name for some spell or something? I don’t know. Anyway, apart from being a vampire, she moonlights as a seer. And she tells Doc that she’d seen a warrior would die – Dolls – and that he should give up trying to get with Wynonna because she loved Dolls, too, and he’d be forever competing with Dolls’ ghost. Ouch.

5) Really, dude?

6) Waverly and Nicole are having a very important conversation that everyone should have with their loved ones – what happens with my remains when I die? I’ve had this conversation several times with different people and they’re all very much aware of what I want to be done with my body, but I guess I’ll be dead and they can do whatever they want and  I’ll never find out. Anyway, Nicole’s wish is to have a sky funeral, which sounds whimsical and cute but it’s actually pretty gross.

7) Uh-oh. Waverly has just found out that her father – well, not her father-father, you know what I mean – had only made arrangements for her mother’s and Wynonna’s burials, not hers… and that’s so unnecessarily cruel? Did they adopt her or were they charged with her? I really need to find out what’s the whole story about Waverly and the Earps!

8) Wynonna is in denial. She continues binge-drinking and shooting Peacemaker, but she’s not finding any peace. It’s Doc who can finally comfort her and convince her to pay their respects to Dolls. They actually comfort each other…

9) Who dis?

10) Waverly is kind of freaking out, saying she’s hungry and how that reminds her that Dolls will never eat again and then she starts laughing (her little breakdown reminded me a bit of Anya’s in The Body…) and Doc then smashes a glass against the wall (kind of like what Xander did in The Body…) They’re preparing a wake for Dolls at Shorty’s, which I guess we’ll end up being more like a sad party with everyone getting drunk and shots being fired because nothing can go right in Purgatory, not even a wake.

11) So, I took an instant liking to Star Hand guy for some reason, and thankfully, he seems to be Dolls’ friend. Doc is demanding evidence, as he should. Question is, how did he find out Dolls was dead? Is he a Black Badge agent, too? Did he come here to say his goodbyes or is he going to be a mainstay? And with this I’m reminded of…

12) Hmm. I have some questions…

NICOLE: My parents were travelling again and they told me I could go to this music festival with my aunt and uncle. Here. WAVERLY: In the Ghost River Triangle? NICOLE: There was an attack. A man in leather. So much screaming and blood. WAVERLY: The demon Dolls killed at the cliff? Bondage Bob? NICOLE: For years, my parents just told me that everybody died in a forest fire and that I had... I had somehow escaped, but... you know, it just didn't explain the nightmares. WAVERLY: Yeah, I've... I've heard them. NICOLE: Last spring, when... Widow Mercedes said his name... Bulshar... it was like this shotgun went off in my head. And Dolls helped me. He got me files, he... he told me that... Black Badge had been covering up these massacres for years. The Cult of Bulshar.

I’m not sure I’m on board with this backstory they gave Nicole literally out of nowhere? And the same demon that committed this massacre is the guy Dolls killed on the hill? The one Waverly names “Bondage Bob”? I just… I don’t totally buy it. I know it could be completely possible for her to have suppressed these memories because of trauma, but… it all feels a bit thrown together at the last minute? Why couldn’t she just be a human, a kickass human but a human nonetheless? Why does she also need a supernatural and traumatizing backstory? I don’t know, I’m still a bit iffy about the whole thing.

13) Will this turn into a supernatural version of “P.S. I Love You”?

14) Obviously, Dolls knew he was going to die, hence the ominous letter. Wynonna takes it out on Jeremy because he knew and he was trying to help Dolls but he didn’t say anything to anyone else, trying to respect Dolls’ wishes. Wynonna feels betrayed, but I don’t really get why? First of all, all of them know they can die at any time, that’s part of the gig, right? So yeah, Dolls being aware of his own mortality shouldn’t be that surprising considering his line of work. Second of all, they all witnessed that this dragon-power was taking a toll on him, didn’t they? Am I crazy? So yeah, Wynonna might have pretended it wasn’t an issue, but she knew, they all knew… I guess it’s easy when you’re mourning someone’s death to have someone to blame, but Jeremy hardly deserves it.

15) So, Quinn, Xavier’s friend, is all chummy with Doc and I’m here for it. Wynonna asks Doc if he knew Dolls was dying, and Quinn is like “duh! Of course, he was!”, which was exactly my reaction. Wynonna is not an idiot, so she had to be in complete denial not to see that he was dying. Anyway, apparently, he was also Black Badge.

16) Oh, great. The fucking revenants stole all the serum Doc had concocted for Dolls and are streamlining it. This should end well.

17) So, Jeremy placed a coded message for Dolls’ friends to come to his funeral. See? How can you be angry at Jeremy?

18) Wynonna wonders why Dolls didn’t attempt to do anything to get better, and the answer is blatantly obvious for both Quinn and Doc – because of her. I’m guessing she’ll take this information to further flagellate herself over Dolls’ death.

19) The vampire lady, Katalin, stole Waverly’s purse, for some reason, maybe she’s a klepto or something, but she didn’t use any of her vampire powers to do it? Like, she just grabbed and took off, awkwardly running in her heels? Kind of disappointing, but also super hilarious.

20) Ay…

21) Waverly enlists Doc to help her get Dolls’ letter back, and they sneak out all secretive, but… it’s a wake with literally 5 freaking guests… I think the three people left will eventually notice they’re gone?

22) “Why torture yourself? I don’t.” HA! Yeah, right!

23) Quinn suggests that Black Badge is not really gone – well, duh – and that they might come to retrieve what’s left of Dolls…

24) Yep. A bunch of jacked-up revenants have just crashed the party. Coolio.

That’s alright, Wynonna’s got it.

25) I do appreciate a good early 00s callback…

26) WTF

27) OMG, Waverly trying to lose it and turn the table but realizing it’s too heavy and then just throwing the cards on the floor and giving a little shout? *chef’s kiss*

28) Oh, shit, Katalin now knows what Waverly is?! What is she???

29) Aw, Nicole just set Wynonna straight, told her that everyone is grieving Dolls just as much as she is and that she should go apologize to Jeremy. I do really love their quiet yet strong bond.

30) Quinn is fucking torturing Jeremy with a goddamn stapler and why does everyone keep treating Jeremy like crap? Quinn wants to get Jeremy’s drugs to become a dragon and storm BB headquarters. Wynonna gets through to him by admitting that she is also haunted by the ghosts of the people she lost, but their best revenge is to go on living. Be brave. Live. For me.

31) Ouch, I didn’t know that something as small as Wynonna giving Quinn Dolls’ badge would hurt like a bitch, but it did.

32) Damn, damn, damn.

That whole scene simply destroyed me. Wynonna finally decided to cremate Dolls’ body to prevent BB from coming after it to continue experimenting on him. And then they bury him, each of them placing a personal item that symbolizes their relationship to Dolls. It fucking devastated me.

33) Waverly asks Wynonna what her plans are for when she passes, casually mentioning that she doesn’t have a spot on the Earp’s burial site. Wynonna doesn’t make a big deal of it, and instead, tells Waverly that they will live for about another 80 years and then, they’ll be buried together at the homestead. That’s all the reassurance Waverly needs. She might not be an Earp, but she’s Wynonna’s sister, and that’s all that matters.

34) Damn, Dolls.

35) Does Katalin spend the whole day playing with her Tarot cards? #quarantinemood

So… she admits that she only stole Waverly’s purse to get Doc’s attention. They have a short conversation about the days of yore and then…

Damn Doc, he can’t just keep it in his pants, can he?

36) That was an emotional rollercoaster of an episode. Dolls wasn’t one of the characters I loved the most, but I understand how important he was to the narrative and to each of the characters, so I’m glad to see he got a proper send-off. I really hate it when shows gloss over the aftermath of a main character’s death and skip forward all the grieving and uncomfortableness of mourning. That being said, this being a supernatural show and all, I’m skeptical that this was the last we’ll see of Dolls. Anything can happen, right?

37) Hope you enjoyed my recap, and, as usual, if you’ve got this far, thank you for reading! If you enjoy my recaps and my blog, please consider supporting it on ko-fi. Thanks!

[floraluniversal]

"Can't sleep?"

Send me “Can’t sleep?” to have a tired conversation with my muse in the middle of the night.

It was a cold tired night, dark clouds moved to make way for the hopeful glow of the sparkling stars. Stephanie opened the door leading to her balcony as quietly as she could, suddenly being hit by the cold air. She had to be quiet as for the first time in her life, she had a guest sleeping over. 

BB has been welcomed to the Warrior’s base many times now, but this was the first time her sisters allowed him to sleep over.  It was a wonderful evening. They ate food, attempted to play video games together and binged movies with Stephanie being absolutely blown away by every cheap CGI effect and every piece of animation, believing all of it to actually be real. It wasn’t long before it got late and Beast Boy passed out on her bed.

Stephanie tucked him in under her blanket and sat there next to him for a moment before standing up... It was strange. Very strange... She was so used to being alone in that room...And now he was there, sleeping so peacefully. Knowing of all the time they spend together, if someone took a peek at them at that moment it would look like they were more than just... 

She shook her head at the thought, her cheeks burning red as all sorts of conflicting feelings flushed her entire being. She’s been noticing them for a while now, unsure of when they exactly appeared. Leaning against the railing, she stood there, looking at the moon.

Even if it looked that way, was it supposed to be? She thought to herself. Even if the foolish idea of something sparking between them was possible, would it be allowed by fate? Even though they get along, is she allowed to feel that way when this is not what she’s supposed to be? These feelings were oh so confusing... And yet so lovely, they couldn’t be described.

The sound of the door behind her sliding open broke her line of thought.

“ I’m sorry... Did I wake you up? I didn’t mean to... I was just thinking about stuff.” she said to him as she turned to face him, unsure of wether or not she should tell him about what...

“ Beast Boy? ” Stephanie began “ Do you ever think about what you’re supposed to be and feel? All those expectations people have, some image you have to uphold... The things we’ve been denied by our labels. Do you ever just want break free of that? Do and feel whatever you want to and express all your emotions as you please? ”

She looked back up at the moon. He must’ve thought she was being ridiculous, asking things like that out of nowhere...

“ Nevermind... I’m just overthinking things. ”

[jorja58144741646-blog]

Known Ways Music Affects The Mind

I really like pop music. J-pop is probably the hardest genre of Japanese music to categorize or describe. As is the case for "pop music" in the United States, a great deal of totally different sounds are likely to fall beneath this label. Numerous the bands tend to have a cutesy, "bubble-gum" pop sound whereas others are likely to exhibit a extra edgy dance, r&b, or funk sound. The teenager idols of Japan are just as big (if not larger) because the Britney Spears and Nsync's of the U.S. The members of bands comparable to Morning Musume, Tanpopo, Luna Sea, and Da Pump are worshiped as popular culture icons. The love for these icons is so nice that the loss of life of certain Japanese pop and rock stars in recent years reportedly devestated some younger fans so much that they took their own lives out of despair. In highschool, an in depth friend laid her hand on my shoulder and informed me that my style in music was just like that of a trashy, 12-yr-old girl who lived behind a mall. It used to truly be a supply of embarrassment for me, especially when I got here to NYU, which is basically populated by individuals who satisfaction themselves in having by no means heard the songs on pop radio (how anybody prevented hearing "See You Again" or "Uptown Funk" last yr, I am going to never know). But then I came to phrases with my taste in music, and now I realize that pop music is nowhere close to as dangerous as folks make it out to be.

Russians have all the time loved track contests, so it was no surprise that in 1977 the Soviet Union launched Intervision - a competition broadcast throughout the bloc and meant to rival Eurovision The primary winner was Helena Vondráčková 's Painted Jug - a song that sounds remarkably like an oompah band covering ABBA , showing there was little cultural divide between East and West back then. But the perfect thing about Intervision was its scoring system. If you happen to preferred a music, you turned all of your lights on, in keeping with Chris West's e-book Eurovision! A Historical past of Modern Europe Via the World's Best Track Contest. For those who hated a track, you turned all of your lights off. The winner was the one which precipitated the best electricity surge. The late 90s to early 2000s was when pop-punk completely hit the floor, becoming absolutely huge. Bands corresponding to Sum forty one, New Discovered Glory, and Simple Plan were among the many most performed artists on the radio, and Blink-182 was a serious success and extremely revered with their breakthrough album Enema of the State (1999). Even Avril Lavigne discovered success in the scene, often called the "pop-punk princess" (although lately, she's completely modified her sound and is not considered as such anymore, however it's acknowledged that at one point she was). It was round this time when the theme of friendship started to indicate up increasingly more ceaselessly, but not a lot as it will later on. K-pop is never artist generated. It is dreamed up in board rooms filled with dudes in fits who reek of garlic and soju. The songwriting is farmed out to individuals whose job it is to shit sugary gold. The casting call goes out and the teams are formed based on looks alone. Dancing will be taught; singing will be dubbed or auto-tuned. These children aren't artists, they're barely even performers. They're circus animals who do as they're instructed. Any hassle, any hint of insurrection, and it is the door, kid. The look of the music - particularly for the girls - is sexed-up, but in reality Ok-pop is as conservative because it will get. It dares not offend anybody, and in the process proves itself to be the unoriginal, uninspired, company produced SHIT that it is. Hosted by songwriter Ross Golan, who has penned hits for Ariana Grande, Selana Gomez, Flo Rida and Justin Bieber, And The Writer Is… is a podcast that is all about songwriters. Each episode, Golan, along with one visitor magicaudiotools.com songwriter, talk about what goes on behind the scenes within the music trade and the way each guest made their name in music. It is a candid, insightful and often very revealing look into the people behind the most important hits. Now in its third season, visitors previously have included Nick Jonas, Ryan Tedder, Julia Michaels and Justin Tranter.When asked which decade has the worst music, their responses fanned out in broadly chronological order, with the 2010s getting forty two% of the vote, the 2000s getting 15%, and the Nineteen Nineties, Nineteen Eighties and Seventies coming in pretty equally with 13%, 14% and 12%. This may lead an informal reader to conclude that the individuals polled were all of a sure age, however it appears to be an evenly held opinion. Of individuals aged 18-29, 39% voted for the 2010s, whereas the determine for the over 30s was forty three%, which signifies most of the fun is in digging up outdated songs, slightly than maintaining with the brand new.To the diploma that radio stations would concentrate on playing a certain type of music that appealed to a certain narrow demographic of listeners, the report labels and publishing corporations would oblige by intentionally in search of out and financing musicians who may create music tailored to the needs of those specific radio stations. Thus the assorted sub-genres of pop music, in all places on the earth, had been created in a type of feedback loop between broadcast radio and the file labels. Types and genres of pop music all the time changed and developed, but all the time in response to the market pressures of selling recordings and being profitable.The extra you listen to one thing, the extra tightly connected you might be to what's about to occur subsequent," she says. So you get immersed in it differently than you probably did the first time. You've got this sense of virtual participation, which is what individuals report once they try to describe a strong piece of music. They're going to discuss how the boundaries between themselves and the music seem to dissolve. So by listening to music again and again, you may accelerate that orientation to sound."Rockabilly" often (but not completely) refers to the kind of rock and roll music which was performed and recorded within the mid-Fifties primarily by white singers reminiscent of Elvis Presley , Carl Perkins , Johnny Money , and Jerry Lee Lewis , who drew primarily on the country roots of the music. fifty three fifty four Elvis Presley was vastly influenced and integrated his type of music with some of the greatest African American musicians like BB King, Chuck Berry and Fat Domino. His type of music mixed with black influences created controversy throughout a turbulent time in history however that didn't cease them from creating what we name Rock n Roll. fifty four Many different fashionable rock and roll singers of the time, akin to Fat Domino and Little Richard , fifty five came out of the black rhythm and blues tradition, making the music attractive to white audiences, and will not be often classed as "rockabilly".

[theabominableblogger]

Rewatching “The Force Awakens”

Welp, “The Last Jedi” is officially coming out in theaters FRIDAAAAYYYY so I thought “... I might as well rewatch the last onee.... I mean... why not?”

*scats opening theme crazily out loud*

GUYS THEY TELL YOU WHO “THE LAST JEDI” IS IN THE OPENING CRAWL!

Plus Yoda actually calls him “the last of the Jedi” in Episode 6

That Imperial ship passing in front of the planet there looks like a big fat middle finger.  Like “Haha suckas!”

BB-8!

So, age old question, is BB-8 a boy or a girl?  I think BB-8′s a boy...

Oh hi Max von Sydow, who’s barely in this movie!

So how is the Max von Sydow character connected to Luke?  And how does he have the last bit of the map needed to find Luke?

Yeeep, this is a J.J. Abrams movie

Oh that one Stormtrooper had a freaking flamethrower!

“I’ll [Poe] come back for you [BB-8]!”  Aaawww...

I like that the first indication we get that Finn is not an ordinary Stormtrooper is that we actually hear him breathing.  You never hear the other Stormtroopers breathing, just their voices.

*Kylo Ren’s leitmotif starts playing*   Yessss, blare those French horns, John Williams!

OH THAT’S AWESOME

Lens flare!

Take a shot every time one comes up in this movie.

“So who talks first?  You talk first, I talk first?  It’s just very hard to understand you with all the... apparatus...”  OK, so there’s the indication that Poe clearly knows who Kylo Ren was before he turned to the Dark Side so he absolutely gives no shits and goes forward with the straight on mockery.  Amazing.

He’s probably like “Ooooh why hello, Darth Edgelord.  I like your cape, did your mom make it for you?  NO, BECAUSE SHE AND I ARE TOTES BFFs NOW, I HAVE A DROID FOR A SON, AND YOU HAVE A STUPID FACE!”

Oh hi Phasma, who barely has anything to do in this movie!

You guys got Brienne of Freaking Tarth to play a bad guy, and she doesn’t do anything?!?

Aaawww, BB-8!

That’s the nightwatcher!  And it pops up in “Forces of Destiny!”

John Boyega!

Phasma’s armor in that shot doesn’t really look as shiny as it usually does.  Maybe it’s the low lighting

Rey!

Oh I love Rey’s theme

No lie, Rey’s speeder kinda looks like a USB drive

Man, Zazu looks terrible....

What the heck is that?

*imitates Unkar Plutt*  ONE QUA-TAH PO-TION

So has anyone actually taken the time to figure out how long Rey has been on Jakku based on the tally marks on the wall?

BB-8 looks so offended that Rey just shushed him

Oh my gosh, BB-8′s little “Yep!”

Guys, I want a BB-8 so bad now.  Please get me one.

Holy crap, what the heck did they do to Poe?

Oh hello Hux!

I like the little hissing noise that happens when Finn takes off his Stormtrooper helmet

WHY IS THERE A CABLE?!?!?

Wilhelm Scream!

Oh, there’s a targeting thing on the windshield too!

How the heck could Kylo sense that Finn was exactly that one Stormtrooper who was freaked out at the village?  And how does he know Finn’s identification number?  Did he extract the number just on the whim of it?

“No droid can be that important!”  “This one [BB-8] is!”  ThAT’S HIS SON, DAMMIT

Finn gradually stripping off all of his Stormtrooper gear reminds me of “The Prince of Egypt” for some reason.  Plus there’s a sequence of him trekking through the desert to get to a settlement.

“They’re [Hux’s soldiers] obviously skilled at committing high treason.”  The sass is strong with this one...

Hux is like “Son of a bitch...”

Happabore!

Finn’s face when he sees Rey beat off Unkar’s men!

*Rey charges at Finn like an angry bull*  Pfffttt...

“Yes I am.  I'm with the Resistance, yeah.  *whispers* I’m with the Resistance.”  Finn is the K2-SO of the sequel trilogy.  Brilliant.

“[Finn] Stop taking my hand!” Oh let him!

*Rey offers Finn her hand*  Thank you.

AN:  Just a heads up.  I’m only 31 minutes in.  Because I am a motormouth and the video’s stalling so I got time to write down more thoughts.

“That one’s garbage!”  Don’t call the Falcon garbage!

Run, little soccer ball [BB-8], run!

*Rey and Finn absolutely wreck the Niima outpost with the Falcon*  Guys... no...

Holy shit so what exactly happened at the Battle of Jakku that so many Star Destroyers crashed to the planet’s surface?

“I’m [Finn] getting pretty good at this!”  That’s great, kid!  Don’t get cocky!

*The Falcon makes a sharp right out of the graveyard*  OOOOHHHH THAT WAS NICE!

According to the script for this movie, this dude’s name is Mitaka.... please tell me his first name is Hakuna

Wouldn’t Kylo recognize the make and model of the Falcon?  Because, you know, that’s his dad’s ship

“What girl?”  The one.  The one you’re gonna get super pissed at/obsessed with in the next movie.  Because status and other crap.

“Droid, please!”

Where the heck is the Ileenium system?  Probably in the Outer Rim as per usual I suppose?

Pretty sure BB-8 just flipped Finn off

“[Rey] You got a boyfriend?  Cute boyfriend?”  Oh my God...

The hell is that?  It’s even got teeth!

HAN AND CHEWIE!

Han’s like “Oh yeah.  Reunited with my baby.”

Where and what the heck are half the things/planets Han and Finn talk about?

Why didn’t Han have BB-8 hide with Rey and Finn?  He doesn’t know the Death Gang is working with the First Order so isn’t it only common sense that he take extra precautions?  Well then again, this is Han we’re talking about...

“I got a bad feeling about this.”  That’s prequel style IGABFAT

Take a shot every time someone fires a blaster at a sealed door and it opens

“I [Han] never ask that question until after I’ve done it.”  Same.

“This is not how I thought this day was gonna go.”  Also same.

Hi Andy Serkis (Supreme Leader Snoke)!

I like how Kylo just slowly turns toward Hux like “Excuuuusse me, bitch?”

I know Snoke here is just a hologram but dang the motion capture gets so much better in the next movie

Please tell me we get more of the Knights of Ren in the next movie.  C’mon, Rian Johnson, don’t let me down.

*claps with each word*  More flashbacks concerning Kylo’s turn to the Dark Side, please!

Ohhh the Force theme!  I hear you, John Williams!

“I didn’t know there was this much green in the whole galaxy.”  I mean, it is a green screen...

“Women always figure out the truth.”  Salud!

I would love to see/read an AU of Rey working as second mate with Han and Chewie

*sings along with the “Jabba Flow”*

“Where’s my [Maz] boyfriend?” “Chewie’s busy working on the Falcon.” *spit take*

Skeksises!

“Forgive me.  I feel it again...” *resists urge to sing “Johanna” from Sweeney Todd*

“... the pull to the light.”  Oh thank God.

How the heck was Vader’s helmet recovered from Endor?

“Leia doesn’t wanna see me [Han].”  Why the heck not?!?

Wait, that attack on the village in the beginning was Finn’s first battle?!?

The heck...

Biggest question out of the whole movie:  how was Luke’s first lightsaber recovered from Cloud City in Episode 5?

Yoda...

Palpatine?  Did I just hear Palpatine?

Alec Guinness Obi-Wan...

The heck kind of ship is that?

“These are your first steps...”  Ewan McGregor!

So Maz isn’t Force sensitive but she knows about it... please tell me she’s met Chirrut somewhere before the events of Rogue One

Roll those r’s, Hux!

No, not Martha Jones!

How the heck are the beams separating after being shot into space?  Were they separately programmed to hit a specific planet before Starkiller Base fired them?

“Where’d you [Maz] get that [Anakin’s lightsaber]?”  “A good question... for another time.”  Well that’s mighty convenient!

*Kylo Ren’s leitmotif starts playing*  Here we go...

Han just shot that Stormtrooper without looking.  Badass.

That’s like Hawkeye in “The Avengers” shooting down that one Chitauri without looking

*in best TR-8R voice*  TRAITOR!

Those wave vortexes though!

*Kylo pops out of nowhere*  Oh crap!

I like how when Kylo uses the Force to make people stop in place, it’s just like they literally freezed and they look so uncomfortable and rigid when it happens

I just noticed that whenever Adam Driver speaks like really softly, his voice gets a little high pitched

So how did Kylo knock out Rey with the Force?  Is it like a unique Force ability that’s already out there?

In Rebels, the loth wolf knocks Sabine out but it’s more of a roofie breath effect.  Here, Kylo does this kinda pulling motion when he does it.

Oh my God, Leia...

GOD DAMMIT, 3PO

OH MY GOSH BB-8 RUNNING TOWARD POE WITH JOY!

#WeNeedMorePoe2k17

Fun Fact:  the medic attending Chewie is played by Christopher Lee’s niece

“Princesses...”  Excuse you [3PO]?!?

“R2-D2 has been in low power mode ever since Master Luke went away...”  Well, that’s convenient!

Something I want to see:  young Ben Solo traveling with his dad Han Solo. 

Dad Solo:  A Star Wars Story

“Where am I [Rey]?”  “You’re my [Kylo] guest.”  Is Kylo always super smarmy with his prisoners?

*Kylo takes off his mask*  Oh no, he’s... a regular human being... with somehow perfect hair...

*shrugs*

I mean, hey, apparently we’re getting Beefcake Kylo in “The Last Jedi,” so I guess this was Star Wars getting its fandom ready...

Hey guys, I found the cast of Rogue One.

“You [Rey] know I [Kylo] can take whatever I want.”  EEEUGGHHHHH

This is how the script describes Kylo’s first attempt at reading Rey’s mind:  Kylo Ren nearly TOUCHES HER FACE...  THEY'RE BOTH SURPRISED: they react to a feeling that passes between them -- AN ENERGY THEY RECOGNIZE IN EACH OTHER. And then it's gone. Adversaries again.

STAR WARS, EXPLAIN!  I AM CONFUSION!

“You... you’re afraid... that you will never be as strong as Darth Vader.”  OOOHHHHHH

So what is Snoke’s backstory?  Apparently he’s older than both Plagueis and Palpatine and he’s got his face cut up like a Papa John’s pizza.  So what’s up?

[Kylo starts stalking down the hall] *starts scatting “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees*

Bwahahahahahaha... *deep breath*  HAHAHAHAHAHA!!

Those two Stormtroopers though!

So to power Starkiller Base, they suck the energy out of a Sun?  Wasn’t that used in “Revenge of the Fallen?”

“It’s just another Death Star.”   AMEN!

“Some things never change.”  “True.  You [Han] still drive me [Leia] crazy.”  AAAGGHHH

*Han and Leia hug*  AAAAAAAAAAGGGHHH

What the heck is Galactic Standard Time?  The announcement at the base said that everyone needs to re-synchronize their time to that.  So does that mean there’s a Galactic Daylight Saving Time as well?

“We’re making our landing approach at light speed?”  Uhhh yeah... that’s gonna work out well...

*The Falcon slides to a stop*  Yeaahhhh no, everyone’s dead after that.

“That’s not how the Force works!”  Best.  Line.  Ever.

I still want that on a poster.

If Rey could get a hold on a blaster, why can’t she also just knock out a random trooper and take his armor?

Finn, why did you leave Phasma at the desk by herself?!?!?

What are those two troopers?

*Finn and Rey hug*  Aaaawwww....

“It would take a miracle to save us now.”  Oh but of course.

No lie, Kylo with his mask on kinda reminds me of Daffy Duck for some reason. 

Aaw Finn gave Rey his jacket!

“BEN!”  WhAt, Daaaad?!?!?

Oh that shot’s awesome

“I’m [Kylo] being torn apart.”  HI BEING TORN APART, I’M DAD!

NOOOOOOOOOooooooooo....

*Han runs his hand along Kylo’s cheek before falling*  Gooodd.... I’mmmm not OK, I am not OK

*Leia senses Han’s death with the Force*  AAAAAAGGGHHH

Take a shot whenever you see a random Stormtrooper go flying from an explosion

I just realized that when Kylo was giving his little speel, he was looking directly at Rey and completely ignored Finn standing right beside her.

“TRAITORRRRRRR!!”  Oh there ya go.  Now ya pissed him off.

“That lightsaber- it belongs to me!”  IT BELONGS IN A MUSEUM!

*Rey uses the Force to summon the lightsaber*  WHOOOOOOO LET’S GOOO!

Oh wow, they’re just hacking down trees right and left.

Ex-PLOsions...

*Rey does a somersault*  PARKOUR!

I love how Rey’s just basically using the lightsaber like a bat.

*softly*  Oooohh the Force theme...

That shot’s awesome too.  Holy crap.

Rey just sliced up Kylo’s face and arm like a Christmas ham.

[Rey and Kylo get separated]  *sings*  We’ll meet again... don’t know when... don’t know where...

I wonder if Rey even knows who Leia is.  Stupid question but it’s gotta be asked sometime...

Someone hug Chewie, dang it!

The first thing R2 does when he wakes up is insult 3PO.  Amazing.

So how long was R2 asleep?  In extension, how long has Luke been away?

Leia:  May the Force be with you

*cries*

Skellig Island [Ahch-To] looks gorgeous

How long has Luke been standing there?  Did he know Rey was coming and go “Oh, I gotta do a dramatic turn around and reveal when she comes.  Better get ready...”

*Rey offers Luke the lightsaber*  So was there a hand attached to that?

It would be pretty freaking hilarious if in the next movie, Luke takes it and then pulls a Moana and just chucks it.  I would literally die laughing.

[succinct-assbutt]

I Think I Wanna Marry You...(Part 3)

Pairing: Dean X Reader.

Warnings: fluff, mild angst, Dean being a jealous bb

S/P/N- Sister’s Preferred Name.

Word count: 5k O_O

Summary: Dean, trying to get accustomed to Y/N’s family and her life in Boston, finds himself worrying about their very own lives together and what the future holds. Will he manage to find a permanent position in her life, or is it all just a role he must play for these two weeks?

Part 1

Part 2

A/N: I’ve been writing this over a span of two weeks and had initially planned to divide it into two or three parts, but decided against it. I hope you like this.

Tagging: @sassyspn67 , @awkward--jay , @daesunglg​ ,  @hayleynightcore​

                                                      ~*~*~

Dean prays his nervousness doesn’t show in the weak smile he offers the table of gleaming faces. They all stand as the three of them approach, all with welcoming smiles, all eyes trained on Y/N as she walks to them like a prodigal daughter returning home after so long.

 S/P/N goes in for an immediate hug once she’s close enough and engulfs her little sister, squeezing the life out of her. He tries not to chuckle at the way Y/N groans—countless stories about their childhood together, about how close they were and unbreakable bonds and up until today Dean has never once met S/P/N, but he can’t help but find the way she treats her sister amusing.

 The grin on her face is wide as she pulls away. “Look at you!” She says, eyes raking up and down Y/N’s face. “You’re so different now, oh my God!”

 “Please don’t start with me, we only just got here.” The y/h/c-haired girl replies as she straightens out the creases in her skirt. Before she can even get another word out, her mother is at her side, an ambient smile gracing her face.

 “Well, S/P/N’s not wrong.” Her voice is a deep baritone, husky and rich as she gives her daughter a kiss on the cheek then turns to the boys. And that’s when the anxiety comes flooding back.

 A queasiness in his stomach, a twitch in his jaw—something basic and miniscule like breathing or blinking, something he does unconsciously, suddenly feels mechanical. Forced. But the elder Winchester masks it with an amiable smile, the corner’s of his eyes scrunching up. Y/N’s mother’s eyes then travel to his own and her face lights up. “Dean…”

 “Marilyn…” He smiles.

  They hug like their old friends, like this isn’t their third (fourth?) time meeting; that’s the kind of person Y/N’s mom is. Everyone is her friend. Everyone is adored company rather than a burden, and Dean can’t help but feel a bit intimidated by this level of kindness because God, could he pick a leaf.

 Her face folds like dough when she simpers. “looking dapper as ever. Sam, don’t think I’ve forgotten you.”

 S/P/N cuts in, earning the elder Winchester’s attention. “So you’re the esteemed-Dean, huh?” She asks, brown eyes scrutinizing him; despite being her blood, she looks nothing like Y/N. A few join similarities here courtesy of genetics and maybe some shared habits, but Dean knows Y/N enough that he’d be able to distinguish her if she even had a twin.

 “Wow.” S/P/N turns to Y/N with a ribbing smile. “You really know how to pick ‘em.”

 “Shut up.” Y/N rolls her eyes, but the pink-tint in her face is undeniable—so she’s nervous, too. Good. Someone has to be, he thinks. Maybe Y/N can take his place in this apprehensive state, salvage him from his feelings.

 “The stories I’ve heard about you…” S/P/N says fondly. “Welcome. It’s great to finally meet you.”

 “Yeah, likewise. Your sister goes on and on about you.”

 “Likewise.”

 Dean’s expression then shows hwo taken abck he is at that very moment: his eyes widen a smidge and his brows quirk. Turning to Y/N, he asks, “Does she now?”

 The young hunter’s face is a deep red as she shoots her sister a dangerous look, jaw clenched. “Really?”

 “What?”

 Rolling her eyes, she then links her arm with his. “Come on, Dean. There’s still a ton of more people we have to meet.”She says  as she turns and strings him along with her. They scuttle aside, leaving Sam deeply invested in chatter with Marilyn as they venture into the crowd. Amused, the elder Winchester’s smirk doesn’t leave his face as they move.

 He leans in, voice hushed. “So, you talk about me a lot, huh?”

 “Shut up, Winchester.”

 “That’s not a no.”

 “It’s not a yes, either.”

 “Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night.”

 Y/N then halts to a stop and whips around to face him, face constricted with irritation. Satisfaction floods Dean at the sight; pretending they’re in a relationship doesn’t mean abandoning his liking for razzing the young-girl. If anything, he reasons, it’s a catalyst.

 “Dean,…”She warns, her voice as thin as ice. “I’m warning you…I’m not one to shy away from slapping you right in front of all these people?”

 “You wouldn’t do that to your boyfriend…”Smirking, he goes to wrap his arms around her waist and pulls Y/N in, tipping his head down to look at her. Her expression then falters for a moment; her face falls and the fire in her eyes fades; but its brief, almost indiscernible, because seconds later her pout resurfaces.

 Their bodies are flush together, her nimble waist caged in his hands, and Dean tries so hard to ignore the way the tips of his fingers heat up at the contact.

 Instead, he chuckles and loosens his grip. Y/N manages to slip out as she rolls her eyes—even then, her blush is still evident.

 “Come on…”She links Dean’s hand in hers, and leads him over to another table crowded with some cousins and aunts. The garden is dotted with various people, all smiling when they see her, all going in for hugs and pecks on the cheeks and all giving such sly smiles when Y/N says that Dean and her are dating. Some congratulate them, some, whom Dean has had the pleasure of meeting before like Y/N’s cousin Garth, hold a teasing glint in their eyes.

 They talk to relatives and uncles and eerie aunts who, right in front of Y/N, try to hit on Dean. The garden is buzzing with life from all ends, music floating amongst chatter of guests, people dancing,  and as she talks more and more with old friends and relatives, he can see the young girl gradually unwinding.

 Her smile, ever-present and as radiant as star, grows with each second, with each interaction. She’s mirthful. Happy. If that’s the case, Dean wonders, then why was she so reluctant about driving out to Boston? Why had Y/N shown the idea of coming out here such disdain?  The question swims in his mind, but that’s as far as it goes. Dean doesn’t bother asking. That’s not his focus now—his focus now is playing his part and helping her get through these two weeks without any setbacks, and so he allows himself the luxury of sitting back and indulging in the buffet with Y/N. Their earlier hunger returns with a vengeance once they spot the table lined with various foods.

 They’re stacking piles of pastries onto their plates, when all of a sudden comes a voice.

 “How did you two meet?” Uncle Gary, a burly bull trapped in a man’s body, inquires. He’s got hair as grey as the ash on his cigar, and each time he speaks, the thick mustache atop his lip wiggles like a caterpillar. His wife, Steph, stands by his side, eagerly staring and waiting for a response.

 “Uhm..”Dean’s gaze slides to Y/N. She looks back at him, a brief horror flashing on her face. For a few seconds, they panic. Shit.“We met…”

 “In the park!”

 The elder Winchester, shocked, glances over at his girlfriend. She’s smiling at her uncle, her cool demeanor seamlessly in place. If you look hard enough, you can see the glint of pride in her eyes from just saving their asses.

 Uncle Gary’s thick grey brows quirk curiously. “In the park?”

 “Yeah…” Y/N affirms. “Well, by the park. I was, uh, walking my dog one morning when all of a sudden this car comes speeding out of nowhere as we’re crossing.” She casts cursory glance at Dean, who tries not to smile, both in appreciation and subtle arrogance.

 “Yeah.” He supplements, earning the attention momentarily. It’s kind of funny how synchronal they are—a close call like that, teetering along the line between exposing themselves, but Y/N manages to redeem them, and Dean, like a dancer moving to the tune of her symphony, follows without a beat.

  “See, I was on my way to work that morning. I was late, so you can imagine what a rush I was in, right? So there I am, cursing to myself as I speed down the road, one hand on the wheel and the other on my tie, when this fuzzy little poodle—“

 “Jack Russell.” She corrects. “ He was a jack Russell.”

 Dean raises his finger in benediction.  “Right, Jack Russell. So—all of a sudden, he jumps out onto the road and I’m in shock. “

 “Luckily, with quick reflexes like Dean’s, he managed to swerve out of the way. He misses him. ” The young girl plays the role so earnestly, her furrowed brow and weary eyes expression selling her distress. “God, poor Kujo was shaking like a leaf. “

 “So, Y/N, pissed as hell, tries waving me down. She’s running after my car until I finally pull over and she comes up to my window, and just starts exploding.” Dean’s eyes widen for emphasis, his hands waving in the air. It’s a known trait of his. Whenever telling story, to try and spice thing up or make them seem much more exciting than they actually are, the elder Winchester will flail around and pull faces, and Y/N won’t admit it, but she find it absolutely adorable.

 “She’s going on about calling the cops and road rules and safety, but at that moment all I’m focusing on is how goddamn y/e/c her eyes are.” He explains. He doesn’t notice that, as soon as the words leave him, the young girl’s face flushes red. He goes on, says something more, something that makes Aunt Steph’s face fold and crease like cookie dough as she smiles, and then finishes off with a firm arm around her shoulder.

 He gives it a firm squeeze, his eyes crinkled with a smile. “Long story short: I didn’t even show up for work in the end.”

 “Wow.” Aunt Steph’s grey eyes go wide like planets. “Unconventional grounds indeed.”

 “That story was a rollercoaster from start to finish! Loved it!” Uncle Gary, smile engulfing his face, slaps a friendly hand onto Dean’s shoulder who glances at Y/N.

 The pair shares a confided glance, their pride shining in the way they smirk at each other. They’ve pulled it off.  

 The elder Winchester offers a proud smile, fighting the urge to turn to his partner, to pull his lips back in a teasing smirk, for the smugness in his eyes to say I told you so, I told you the doggie hit-and-run would sell. Instead, however, he focuses on Uncle Gary telling him about his very own Terrier that nearly got hit by cyclist as she and her aunt wander off to the sidelines.

 “Well, well, well…” Someone says from behind them.  Dean instinctively turns; his eyes meet with a pair of deep blue ones staring intently at him, at Y/N, a lopsided grin set onto the stranger’s face. His hair, a deep onyx, cascades down his neck to his shoulders. He’s dressed in a suit, very official, very formal, and it makes the elder Winchester’s stomach turn for a moment.

 “Look who it is.” The stranger says.

 Dean furrows his brow. “Excuse me?”

 “Rick!”

 His head snaps in the Y/N’s direction, and his confusions swells even more when he sees the wide grin lacing the young girl’s face.

 Her eyes trained on the stranger, she shakes her head slowly. “Oh my God.”

 “Missed me?” The stranger smirks at her, then goes in for a hug.

 Dean steps aside and out of the way, trying not to bump into the table and almost topples over a tray of croissants. He watches, bewildered, as the two exchange pleasantries. Y/N’s arms are slung around his neck, as she giggles then pulls away.

 “Very much.” She smiles at him. “Wow. It’s been so long.”

 “Hasn’t it?”

 “Dean!”

 The elder Winchester, attention grasped, looks to her. She points at the blue-eyed man. “This is Rick—Rick Montoijia! He was my neighbor when I still lived my parents from, like, two houses down. Uhm, rick, this is my boyfriend, Dean.”

 “Heya.” Rick stretches his hand out for a shake. Hesitating, Dean eyes it momentarily and then finally accepts the gesture.

 “Hi….” His eyes scan the stranger’s face dubiously, his grip firm, trying to assert dominance. And all of a sudden, something has brewed in his chest.

 Something hot and vehement in the space below his ribs; an energy, a sense of intimidation. It’s stupid to feel, yes, but Dean can’t help it—his chest floods with a jealousy as he lets go of the other man’s hand.

 With an excited smile, Y/N addresses Rick. “What are you doing here? We—I haven’t seen you in ages.”

 “S/P/N’s wedding.” He points to Y/N’s sisters standing a few meters away. “Obviously I knew you’d be in town for that. I figured,’ well, when was the last time I saw Y/N L/N?’ and here I am.”

 “Here you are.” Dean cuts in.

 All eyes shift to him. Y/N peers over Rick’s shoulder, trying to get a better glimpse, and the green-eyed hunter offers a strained smile; one far from genuine, something the young girl is obviously familiar with, because her smile begins to melt away at the sight. Dean doesn’t care. His gaze then shifts to Rick, whose smile is still smeared across his chiseled face.

 “Uhm, yeah…”The dark-haired man laughs nervously. “Here I am. So…”His attention averts onto Y/N. “How long are you gonna be in town? We need to catch up.”

 “Definitely. I’m here for—“

 “We’re here—“

 “—for two weeks. Yeah, we’re here for two weeks.” Y/N finishes, voice holding a dangerous edge to it. Dean chooses to ignore it, instead focusing on the way the dark-haired stranger’s face lights up with mirth.

 “Wow. That’s great.”

 “It really is, Rick. Anyhow, it was great meeting you, but we have to go.”

 “What?”

 Dean doesn’t give her a chance to object as his hand goes to Y/N’s waist, and he nudges her forward, quickly trying to get away as fast as possible. Luckily, they succeed; standing behind them, Rick offers a weak, awkward goodbye as they move further away. In his chest, dean’s heart thrums rapidly, incessantly.

 His jealousy boils like a hot stew, threatening to spill over, and he suffocates it; he’s being irrational. He’s being stupid. That guy is just one of Y/N’s many friends, he reasons. He’s just another familiar face from Boston, a ghost from her past, nothing too serious…

 But the call to worry is stronger than reprimand for Dean.

 When she notices his stiffness, Y/N turns to look at the elder Winchester. Concern swims in her y/e/c eyes. “You okay?”

 Attention grasped, Dean turns to her, finds her imploring eyes set on him. They’re back inside, sitting with Sam and the bride and groom, and the band is playing some variation of Eric Clapton’s Wonderful Tonight.

 Trying to stifle his feelings, the elder Winchester regains composure, offering a tight-smile. “Oh, yeah.”

 “Sure? You seem…absent. Like something’s bothering you.”

 “No, nothing’s wrong.” He lets out a sigh. He tries to steady the quaking in his core, letting his gaze drift across the room. Y/N scoots closer in and rests her head on his shoulder. Her hair tickles his jaw.

 “If you say so…”She says with sigh, her breath fanning against his skin. Her body is warm against his, like a tepid lava flowing down his skin, soothing, therapeutic almost.

 “Good job back there with nearly killing my dog, by the way. Put on quite the show.”

 The elder Winchester laughs. It’s soft and feint but she can feel it in the rumble of his body beneath her head.

 “Yeah, well, what can I say—I’m a sucker for theatre.”

 “Are you now?”

 “Oh yeah, massive fan. Plus, anything to get my story told.” Dean senses it hanging in the air like a string suspended between them, a silent question. It’s quiet for moment.  He then tips his head to glimpse down at her, a smile playing at his lips.

 “Say it.”

 “I don’t want to.”

 “You have to.”

 Y/N bites her smile back, a row of her chalky white teeth contrasting the burgundy on her lips, then lets it all bubble out. “Fine! You were right. Your good looks and charm won me over—there, are you happy?”

 Dean doesn’t bother to try and mask his smile. “Extremely.”

 “What’re you guys talking about?”

 His head turns; S/P/N waddles over and pulls out a chair a few seats away, smiling as she sits down. She folds the pleats in her burgundy skirt over.

 “Stuff.” Replies Y/N, head still draped against Dean’s shoulder.

 “What kinda stuff?”

 “Couple stuff. Dean and Y/N stuff. You wouldn’t understand.” She smirks; then Dean pokes her side and she lets out a giggle; it’s a sweet, quiet sound, like the hum of a bird or the wind wisping through the trees, and it makes the pit in the elder Winchester’s stomach from earlier yawn open.

 As Y/N speaks with her sister, the elder Winchester feels a flood of melancholy coming on. He can always tell when it’s happening; it’s like watching everything around you happening at a normal pace when all of a sudden things are slowed down, sluggish, delayed. That’s what Dean feels like right now. He loathes it.

 The evening is electric and dressed in a celebratory energy. More guests have arrived for the dinner, all pouring in in massive crowds and gaudy sartorial dresses. Dean has to stand when he greets them all, offering an amiable smile, the occasional hug and peck as they all fawn—oh my God, the Dean? Y/N’s Dean?

 It gets annoying having to hear everybody so jubilant over meeting him, at a point. They’re excited to be meeting their sister’s boyfriend, their niece’s lover, the man whom she, too, shall bring back here to Boston in a few years to wed. To them, Dean assumes, meeting him is a gateway to another one of this sartorial dinners just a few years ahead.

 To him, it’s plain insulting.

 Why did he even agree to this? Playing pretend had seemed less tedious in his mind. Doing it now, the elder Winchester is wrought with negative emotions; with jealousies and blind resentments and a bitterness because he shall have anything but this future with Y/N, and God, is he pissed.

 “Dean,” She says, pulling him from his reverie. Aunt Steph and good ol’ Gary sit across from them, sipping on some champagne and laughing with Y/N’s parents, and to their left is S/P/N and Japheth. Everyone is laughing and chatting and the air reeks of jubilance, except for the corner where a heavy grey cloud hangs over Dean’s head.

 Y/N’s hand is on his as he turns to her, her y/e/c eyes trained intently on his. “What’s wrong?” She pries. He has to say something. Lying would only act as a catalyst for his negative emotions (lying to Y/N, at least). So, instead, Dean heaves a heavy breaths and gathers the feelings in his chest into a single nest.

 “Nothing’s wrong.” He says. “I’m just trying to let this all sink in. Your family. It’s pretty overwhelming meeting all the people in your life who mean the world to you.”

 “I’m sorry if this isn’t how you planned to spend the next two weeks, Dean.” Y/N’s gaze falters, moving to their hands loosely draped over each other.  

 Dean’s eyes follow. He shrugs and, taking her hand in his, slowly links them together absentmindedly. Their fingers fit perfectly, like a key slipping into a lock, like a tight knot, and he tries to ignore it.

 “Don’t be, Y/N.” He replies. “Besides—I’m the one who offered this in the first place. I don’t really have the luxury of complaining.”

 “Should I give it to you?”

  “Keep it.”

 “Sure?

 When Dean finally looks up, he finds Y/N’s eyes trained on him, her lips pulled back in pleasant smile. In the background, the music slows to a stop as it shifts to the next song. More upbeat, more jazzy and fun. The room’s chatter provides the perfect undertone, but Dean ignores it—all of it, because all he can focus on right now is Y/N.

 His Y/N. For tonight, for two weeks.

 Whatever.

 He’ll take what he can get, even if it’s having the honor of playing her boyfriend for a period of time and then going back to being just her best-friend; to being her Dean and not her Dean.  Going back to a life where she sees their relationship, although intense, as nothing more than a deep friendship.

 It’s only been a few hours, but it’s crazy how much can be revealed to you in such a span of time. Dean sees it now—sees Y/N and, even if he didn’t think it possible, even more of her than he already has. He sees Y/N in her element, with her family, with her friends and with a sense of mirth radiating off her…And as great as it is, all it does for him is nudge at the thought that he shall never be part of that.

 They mean a lot to each other, he knows that much, but today has made him wonder if he will ever be part of Y/N’s suburban life, whether he’ll breach past their life spent in the bunker and in pages of lore and into that which holds this very idyllic essence.

 The thought, daunting and unfortunately saddening, hits the elder Winchester like a ton of bricks. He immediately turns away. He rests his focus on something—anything—that isn’t Y/N smiling at him and causing an uproar in the space behind his heart.

 The night simmers on, laced with laughter and chatter and smiles too bright for Dean to bare. He only watches from the sidelines, an observer, a spectator...Y/N is the center of the orbit that is the eclectic crowd. She smiles and the entire room responds with an abundance of simpers; her laugh is a mellifluous symphony overpowering the music, her eyes glint like the stars in the sky and she throws her head back and captivates the attention of everyone in the room. She reels them all in like a magnet, like she’s magic…

 And to Dean she is…

 She always has been and always will be. She is ethereal and glimmering and inside her is a flame and a tornado and such vehemence that would tear a mere mortal apart, but doesn’t even scratch her skin the slightest.

 Y/N is magic and she will always be magic, and Dean knows this. He wishes he didn’t, but he does, and it hurts…Because the hollowness in his chest that comes from watching her so radiant makes him wonder why he said yes to the torture of being just another planet in her orbit in the first place…

 ~*~

 The list is exceedingly long, but what stands out predominantly on the account of things they were meant to discuss before they left home (but didn’t), is the sleeping arrangement.

 Standing in their hotel bedroom, the elder Winchester stares at the single bed, at the six fat pillows nested at the head and the vast comforter definitely two huge for two. It’s a lover’s suit; of course the hotel would be expecting customer’s to be doing anything but sleeping in these sheets, but Dean’s case is the exception.

 Y/N is in the bathroom getting ready for bed. The sound of the shower running echoes throughout the otherwise silent room and the elder Winchester feels a small welt of nervousness claw at his belly. They’ve shared beds before. This shouldn’t be a big deal…

 But…

 God, he’s acting like a teenage boy with this. It’s not that hard, Dean tells himself. They can even divide it into two regions if they want, Y/N’s, and then the extremely comfy one with the extra pillow for him. They can sort this out. It doesn’t have to be awkward, eh tries to reason, but something tugs at his gut and tells him otherwise, because Dean feels all sorts of anxious.

 Maybe it’s the thought of lying to sleep with her after the mortal sin they’ve just committed throughout the day: fraud. Artifice. Maybe, Dean thinks, it’s the fact that they’ll have to pretend to be together even as they lay to sleep that terrifies him maybe it’s the lover’s suit. He and Y/N are anything but. All the times they’ve slept in the same bed in the past, it’s been in dingy, itchy, sketchy motels, not five stars hotels that probably provide complimentary condoms.

 He lifts the thick blanket on the bed and crawls under it, trying to get comfortable. The bed is cloud, embracing him, engulfing him into its form like it’s an amoeba and him its prey. God, this is comfy. Dean’s eyes flutter and he tips his head back in subtle ecstasy.

 Right at that moment, the door to the bathroom swings open.

 Y/N stomps out in pajama shorts and a towel clasped tightly to her chest, eyes wide as she glimpses around the room. Opening his eyes, Dean then ctaches her gaze.

 “Sorry.” She apologizes and points to her beg at the foot of the bed. “I just need my shirt from my suitcase. Don’t look!”

 “No promises.” But he doesn’t, instead covering his eyes with one hand. He hears the patter of feet and the rustling of clothes as Y/N retrieves the garment, then rushes back into the bathroom. When she returns, a moment later, this time she’s fully clothed.

 “The pressure here is ace.” Y/N says, holding her fingers up in an appropriate gesture as she saunters towards the bed. She hauls her bag off and onto the floor, then climbs up, pushing the blanket aside.

 “I can’t remember the last time I took a shower and didn’t want to get out.”

 Dean lowers his hand and looks at her; hair wet and clinging to her skin, her face is bare, all the makeup from today washed away into the drain. A few pimples dot the surface of her cheeks and, although feint, there’s a single splatter of freckles just below her jaw line that Dean always finds himself admiring.

 “That’s good to know. In other news: the sleeping arrangement. How’s this gonna work?”

 “You mean top or bottom?”

 “Grow up.”

 Y/N’s grin never falters as she laughs. “I don’t really mind, Dean. If it bothers you, you could always take the floor.”

 “I never said it bothers me…”

 “Does it?”

 Her eyes are staring intently into his and he’s trying too damn hard to not get caught up in them. He shouldn’t. the moment is far from appropriate. She’s basically telling him to get out of the bed and spend the night on the floor like a hound, and heaven be damned if Dean is going to let himself focus on anything but defending himself.

 So he tips his head back slightly, locks his eyes on hers, and says, “Not at all.”

 “Then goodnight, Winchester.” Y/N smiles, before turning the night-light off and wiggling further under the blanket.

 Dean mirrors her. He slides beneath it, letting it came up to his chest and closes his eyes. He can feel the steady beat of his heart, the pulse of his blood. Sleep hovers over him like a phantom but never once dares to preside.

 Minutes pass and he’s still awake. The elder Winchester fidgets, turning on his side, eyes meeting the bright glare of the moonlight invading the room. He checks his watch on the bedside table. Two am. Still up. His eyelids feel heavy and a yawn pries his mouth open, but Dean can’t sleep, and it’s an insomnia, the worst kind of insomnia, that he’s too familiar with.

 He’s dabbled in it in the past; with the mark of cain and in purgatory. When he was demon, when Sam was soulless and when Cas was presumed dead. Dean knows this plague, greets it like an old friend, doesn’t even bother fighting it, but there’s no denying that it’s annoying. He wants rest—needs it. The last thing he needs right now is a visit from this phantom that keeps him up, staring at the blank ceiling.

 A few seconds subside when silence is broken by hushed voice.

 “Dean ar—you’re awake?” Y/N rolls over, her droopy eyes meeting his.

 The elder Winchester nods silently. His eyes burn.

 “How come?”

 “I don’t know.”

 “What do you mean you don’t know? You don’t know why you can’t sleep?”

 “That’s what I just said.”

 The sheets shift. Y/N props herself up on her elbow, looking at him, her eyes still swimming with sleep. He wonders what woke her, but remains silent as he turns to meet her gaze.

 Y/N’s eyes are somber and intently set on him; there’s a weight on her heart for a moment, something that visibly bring out the worry in her gaze. “Nightmares?”

 She’s been with him through all of them; all those times mentioned, all those calamites in his life, Y/N has walked through them with Dean. Consequently, she can tell when something’s up. It’s comforting for Dean to know that’s she’s so in sync with him, that they’ve got this visceral connection that alerts her when something’s up, but unfortunately now it’s a bit of a false alarm.

 He shakes his head. “No. Just can’t sleep.”

 “Oh…” She voices simply and within a moment the solemnity fades. Then comes the sound of the sheets shifting, Y/N sitting up and she turns on the nightlight. The warm light right away glares onto the side of his face. Dean squints, lolling his head to the side.

 Y/N’s hair dangles around her face as she looks at him. “Anything I can do to help? Get a glass of water, sing you a lullaby?”

 “Rock me to sleep?” He supplements.

 She shrugs. “Anything.”

 Then, chuckling, elder Winchester turns away and allows his gaze to float back to the ceiling. y/N continues to speak in the background, going on about the day and tomorrow and how everything’s going to go down so that everything turns out as planned. She’s notified Sam already, apparently. Unlike Dean, he won’t have to do much besides be himself and distract Marilyn for the weekend…

 But for Dean, Y/N proclaims, it’s going to be a long two weeks: he’s going to have to do a lot more than he’d anticipated; more work, more fraud. For the following days he must wear his disguise as though it is anything but…and the funny thing? Dean knows it’s going to be elementary…

 Because they can only get so much closer.

 Because they, before today, already spent nights in bed chatting about everything and anything that came to mind; because he already used to walk inches close to her and comb his fingers through her hair and laugh and feel (God, did he feel), and so maybe this is going to be a walk in the park. Maybe it will be easy, Dean thinks—until he’s reminded of earlier at dinner and the gaping hole in his chest.

                                                       ~*~*~

Part 4

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[wiremagazine]

MIAMI BEACH PRIDE EVENTS SCHEDULE

*Official Miami Beach Pride Event

THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 2019

PAMM FREE COMMUNITY NIGHT* Perez Art Museum Miami 1103 Biscayne Blvd., Miami 7-11 p.m. Admission: Free

Join in for a Miami Beach Pride celebration like no other on the waterfront terrace of the Pérez Art Museum Miami with live music, drink specials, drag performances and more.

DOLL BRAWL TWIST 1057 Washington Ave., Miami Beach 1 p.m. - 5 a.m. Admission: Free

Pride kicks off with a new round of Doll Brawl competition on Thursday. Athena Dion referees and hosts this weekly event, pitting contestants against the reigning doll. The show starts at midnight. Music by DJ Aulden Brown. "Never a cover… Always a groove."

FRIDAY, APRIL 5, 2019

SUNNY-SIDE-UP BRUNCH + ONE LOVE T-DANCE Palace 1052 Ocean Dr., Miami Beach 5 p.m.

Get your drag brunch on at Palace, hosted by Tiffany Fantasia 12-4 p.m. Then, at 5 p.m., Party at the One Love T-Dance hosted by TP Lords with music by DJ Cesar Hernandez.

A SUNSET PRIDE CELEBRATION* The Standard Spa 40 Island Ave., Miami Beach 5:30-8:30 p.m. Admission: $35

A Sunset Pride Celebration is an opportunity for the staff of the It Gets Better Project to connect with influential members of the LGBTQ community, and to advocate for the important, often life-saving work the Project and its affiliates are doing on a daily basis on behalf of LGBTQ youth. Complimentary transportation will be given to attendees going to the Miami Beach Pride VIP Gala.

MIAMI BEACH PRIDE VIP GALA* Emanuel Luxury Venue 1723 Washington Ave., Miami Beach 7:30-10:30 p.m. Admission: $125

Join in for an unforgettable VIP Gala evening complete with live entertainment, an open bar and delicious hors d'oeuvres. Meet the 2019 Ally Grand Marshals, Judy and Dennis Shepard, while enjoying music by Beth Ann Sacks. Dress code is cocktail attire.

SALVATION PROUD Treehouse 323 23rd St., Miami Beach 10 p.m. - 5 a.m. Admission: $30 advance tickets

Start your Pride weekend in style at Salvation Proud. Dance to the beats of DJ Isaac Escalante and DJ Rafael Barreto. Tickets available at urgemiami.com.

PRIDE KICK-OFF PARTY* Basement at Edition Hotel 2901 Collins Ave., Miami Beach 11 p.m. - 5 a.m. Admission: $29 advance tickets. $49 VIP presale

Kick-off your Pride weekend with DJ Anne Louise, DJ De Felipe, Deejay Smeejay, and DJ Theresa at Basement – with a nightclub, bowling alley, ice-skating rink, and award-winning sound and lighting. Put on your gear, have no fear and get ready to go underground.

ALWAYS PACKED TWIST 1057 Washington Ave., Miami Beach 1 p.m. - 5 a.m. Admission: Free

Get ready for superstar DJ Bill Hallquist as he packs the room with sexy men dancing into the morning hours. Arrive early to avoid the lines. "Never a cover… Always a groove."

SATURDAY, APRIL 6, 2019

SATURDAY BRUNCH EXTRAVAGANZA Palace 1052 Ocean Dr., Miami Beach 11:30 a.m. or 2 p.m.

Enjoy delicious food and fabulous drag queens! Hosted by Noel Leon with music by DJ Josh Riptide. Serving two seatings, 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.

HEAT - THE MIAMI BEACH PRIDE POOL PARTY* The Clevelander 12-8 p.m. 1020 Ocean Dr., Miami Beach Admission: $29 presale ticket, $49 VIP

Get ready to party with some of Miami's hottest guys at a sexy pool party with state-of-the-art lights, sound and LEDs. Enjoy beats by DJ Dan Slater and DJ Dani Brasil. VIP tickets include 2 free vodka drinks before 2 p.m., express entry, and access to the private lounge.

PRIDE FESTIVAL VILLAGE* Lummus Park 1116 Ocean Dr., Miami Beach 12-10PM Admission: Free

Nowhere is the spirit of Pride and enthusiasm more apparent than during the extraordinary two-day Festival on Saturday and Sunday, featuring two stages with world-class DJs, performers, and celebrity entertainers. Enjoy special performances throughout the day, along with 125 vendor booths, food, and cocktails. The Festival also includes the Pridelines Youth District and Safe Zone, Lambda Living Lounge, BB&T Food Pavilion, "The Garden of Eve" Women's tent and many family-friendly activities. Emily Estefan will headline Saturday.

PRIDELINES YOUTH DISTRICT & SAFE ZONE SPONSORED BY THE MIAMI MARLINS* Lummus Park On the grass between 11th St. & 12th St. off of Ocean Drive 12-8 p.m. Admission: Free

The Pridelines Youth District & Safe Zone sponsored by the Miami Marlins is a fun, interactive Pride zone dedicated just to LGBTQ young people and their allies, ages 14-20. The District is a safe space packed with activities and surprises, including fantasy makeup, special Miami Marlins guests, selfie opportunities with Miami's top drag queens, neon dance parties, a graffiti wall, contests, prizes, and more. Enjoy free food, round-the-clock snacks, non-alcoholic beverages, and a place to charge your devices.

LAMBDA LIVING LOUNGE SPONSORED BY TRULIEVE* Lummus Park 12-10 p.m.

Enjoy the Lambda Living Lounge sponsored by Trulieve for the "more experienced" Pride-goers. Stop by to get out of the sun, relax and enjoy healthy snacks and surprises.

AHF NORTH VIP LOUNGE & CELEBRITY CRUISES VIP LOUNGE* Lummus Park 2-10 p.m.Admission: $150

Enjoy front-row VIP status for the Miami Beach Pride Festival from two exclusive VIP Lounges, the AHF Lounge and the Celebrity Cruises Lounge, located next to the two main stages. Get complimentary cocktails and delicious food at both VIP lounges as you watch the entertainment and browse through the Festival attractions. You will also have exclusive meet-and-greet opportunities with Pride VIPs, celebrities and performers.

DIVERSITY T-DANCE Palace 1052 Ocean Dr., Miami Beach 5 p.m.

Party with Tiffany Fantasia at Palace's Diversity T-Dance. Enjoy beats by DJ TonYYnoT from New York.

ABSOLUT OPULENCE Hôtel Gaythering 1409 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach 8 p.m. - midnight

Hôtel Gaythering and Absolut join forces to embrace the community and celebrate taking Pride in Diversity 365 with an Absolut takeover of Gaythering featuring complimentary Absolut drinks from 8 p.m. to midnight.

URGE SPEKTRUM* The Loft 11 p.m. - 7 a.m. 1439 Washington Ave., Miami Beach Admission: $40 advance tickets

Celebrate Pride at Urge Spektrum, the official Saturday night party at The Loft (previously known as Score). Party all night long with the legendary Amanda Lepore and music by DJ Abel and DJ Nacho Chapado.

MUSCLE BOY SATURDAYS TWIST 1057 Washington Ave., Miami Beach 1 p.m. - 7 a.m. Admission: Free

Enjoy VJ Nathan's videos all night in the Video Room, where they'll keep you dancing all night. Get there before midnight because it will get very packed and you might not get in. Music by DJ Mika spinning deep house all night in the main room until 7 a.m. "Never a cover… Always a groove."

SUNDAY, APRIL 7, 2019

ACTION!* The Hangar 60 NE 11th Street, Miami 6-11 a.m.

Party with world-renowned DJ/producer Ivan Gomez from Spain, plus an opening set by Colombia's rising star DJ Musso and LPN resident DJ Carlos G. Hosted by Enchantress Valeria Coutier and her hot dancers! Tickets available at lpnparty.com

THE OFFICIAL VIEWING BRUNCH Palace 1052 Ocean Dr., Miami Beach 11:30 a.m. - 2 p.m. Admission: $80/per person

Get front row seats to the Miami Beach Pride Parade while enjoying delicious food at Palace. Hosted by TP Lords and Missy Meyakie. Featuring Joanna James and Elishaly D'Witshes. Music by DJ Josh Riptide. Serving one seating from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

11TH ANNUAL MIAMI BEACH PRIDE PARADE* 12-2 p.m. Ocean Drive Admission: Free

For the 11th year in a row, the Parade will be one of the highlights of a full week of Pride events. The length of Ocean Drive along the Art Deco district will be closed to traffic and open wide to our proud South Florida LGBTQ families, friends, co-workers, allies, Pride sponsor organizations, groups, and businesses. Please refrain from bringing backpacks and large bags. If you must bring these types of items, you must use a see-through bag.

PRIDE FESTIVAL VILLAGE Lummus Park 12-10 p.m. Admission: Free

Nowhere is the spirit of Pride and enthusiasm more apparent than during the extraordinary two-day Festival on Saturday and Sunday that features two stages with world-class DJs, entertainers, and celebrity entertainers. Enjoy special surprise performances throughout the day, with 125 vendor booths, food, and cocktails.

LAMBDA LIVING LOUNGE SPONSORED BY TRULIEVE* Lummus Park 12-10 p.m.

Enjoy the Lambda Living Lounge sponsored by Trulieve for the "more experienced" Pride-goers. Stop by to get out of the sun, relax and enjoy healthy snacks and surprises.

AHF NORTH VIP LOUNGE & CELEBRITY CRUISES VIP LOUNGE* Lummus Park 2-10 p.m. Admission: $150

Enjoy front-row VIP status for the Miami Beach Pride Festival from two exclusive VIP Lounges, the AHF Lounge and the Celebrity Cruises Lounge, located next to the two main stages. Get complimentary cocktails and delicious food at both VIP lounges as you watch the entertainment and browse through the Festival attractions. You will also have exclusive meet-and-greet opportunities with Pride VIPs, celebrities and performers.

PRIDE 2019 DISCO BALL T-DANCE TWIST 1057 Washington Ave., Miami Beach 1 p.m. - 5 a.m.

TWIST opens at 1 p.m. for a rocking happy hour; then, join in at 6 p.m. for the Disco Ball T Dance with the infamous DJ Lady Bunny taking the decks in Bar 5. Do not miss this party! Lady Bunny will keep the ground floor of TWIST dancing and sashaying. The entire upstairs opens at 10 p.m. Arrive early to avoid the long line. DJ Paulie will continue the party until 5 a.m.

PRIDE NATION T-DANCE Palace 1052 Ocean Dr., Miami Beach 5 p.m.

Continue the festivities at Palace during the Pride Nation T-Dance with a very special guest DJ and hot go-go dancers.

SUNDAY HEADLINER PERFORMANCE: ICONA POP* Celebrity Cruises Stage Lummus Park, Miami Beach 9-9:30 p.m.

Electropop duo Icona Pop, whose breakout hit "I Love It" topped charts worldwide in 2013, will perform at Miami Beach Pride as the headlining act.

FIREWORKS* Over the ocean off of 11th street 10 p.m.

Enjoy the beautiful Pride fireworks show over the ocean from the sands of South Beach.

CLIMAX PRIDE: TRIBAL EDITION* The Loft 1439 Washington Ave., Miami Beach 10 p.m. - 5 a.m. Admission: $39.99 for early tickets

The official event for Sunday night Miami Beach Pride will feature RuPaul's Drag Race: All-Stars' DJ Nina Flowers, and Climax resident DJ Jerac. Hosted by the Legendary Alan T. Featuring Enchantress Valeria Coutier and her hot muscle dancers. Tickets available at climaxmiami.com.

This was originally published in Wire Magazine Issue Special Issue 2.2019

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New Post has been published on https://travelonlinetips.com/at-least-5-reasons-why-albuquerque-is-americas-coolest-city-for-geek-travelers-3/

(At Least) 5 Reasons Why Albuquerque Is America’s Coolest City for Geek Travelers

New Mexico in general and the area around Albuquerque, in particular, have been a haven for geeky travelers long before Heisenberg ever “graduated” from high school chemistry to hardcore “cooking”. Needless to say, there are plenty of (legal) things to do in Albuquerque.

If you’re a nerd through-and-through — someone who appreciates a good nuclear museum or the physics behind hot air ballooning, ABQ (as it’s known to locals) should be at the top of your bucket list.

Here are just five reasons why …

Things to Do in Albuquerque New Mexico

In just a few short days, we found so many amazing, adventurous, and geeky things to do in Albuquerque. Here are five of our favorites (and a few honorable mentions) in New Mexico’s most popular destination city.

#1: Hot Air Ballooning

Of all the things to do in Albuquerque, you probably already know that it’s the officially unofficial world hub for all things hot air ballooning. For three very good reasons. Firstly, the annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is perhaps the world’s largest, most popular, and most fun hot air balloon launch party. Professional and amateur balloon pilots culminate from around the world to participate in this massive event. There are balloon rides, races, music, photo contests, food … it’s like Burning Man, but without all the hippies and insane desert heat.

Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum, Albuquerque © Mike Richard

Second, the Anderson Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum is ground zero for everything you’ve ever wanted to know (or didn’t even know you wanted to know) about ballooning. It tracks the history of the sport from centuries ago, right up through the manned, record-setting, trans-oceanic flights of today.

Hot Air Balloon Ride with Rainbow Ryders, Albuquerque © Mike Richard

Lastly, and most obviously, the area around ABQ offers some of the best conditions in the world for actually going ballooning. I highly recommend a ride with top pilot Troy Bradley of Rainbow Ryders. Bradley has flown more than 6,500 total hours, around the world in 45 states and 13 countries. He’s set nearly 60 world records and his stories will blow your mind, perhaps even more than the balloon ride itself!

#2: National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

Hardcore geeks — and honestly just about anyone — will find something of interest at Albuquerque’s National Museum of Nuclear Science & History. Of all the things to do in Albuquerque, this has to be the nerdiest. As “the nation’s only congressionally chartered museum in its field,” it’s home to some of the most fascinating nuclear-related exhibits in the world. Everything from nanotechnology to nuclear medicine to the process and disposal of nuclear materials is explored. The museum also offers a variety of historic exhibits that show the science and aftermath behind the dropping of the world’s only-ever atomic bombs in Japan.

Bomber Plane Albuquerque's National Museum of Nuclear Science & History © Mike Richard

In addition, the museum’s large, outdoor Heritage Park is home to dozens of one-of-a-kind bits of aviation history, including decommissioned planes, rockets, missiles, and even a nuclear sub sail.

#3: Petroglyph National Monument

Petroglyphs — historic designs and symbols carved into rock — are among the most valuable pieces of written human history in the world. Petroglyph National Monument is among the largest sites of its kind in North American with more than 24,000 glyphs. The meaning behind the vast majority of them is a mystery to historians and archeologists, but they provide substantial clues to the way Native Americans and Spanish settlers lived between 400 to 700 years ago. The park’s geological formation is also found almost nowhere else in the world, making it all the more unique. A variety of dedicated hiking trails around the park lead to sites where visitors can view hundreds of different glyphs.

#4: The Darkest of Dark Skies

Ribbons and Stars of the Milky Way © Abdul Rahman

“Astrotourism” has grown exponentially in just the last five years. With little light pollution relative to similarly-sized cities, the area around Albuquerque offers excellent opportunities for dark sky parties. For amateur astronomers and photographers, it’s a stunning place to see the sky like our ancestors saw it. On a clear night, views of the Milky Way are quite literally breathtaking!

#5: Everything Breaking Bad

Heisenberg Parking Only Sign, Albuquerque © Mike Richard

I don’t really need to point this out, right? Albuquerque is home to everything Breaking Bad and, if you’re a hyper-obsessed fan of the show like me, it’s almost overwhelming just how many BB-related points of interest you can find throughout the city. Visitors can get their photo taken in front of the house where Jesse’s girlfriend overdosed, Walt and Skyler’s house (which is sadly, but routinely, peppered with whole pizzas on the roof), and, of course, The Candy Lady for a “Blue Ice” demonstration that reveals how the show’s prop meth was really cooked.

Honorable Mentions (or “Other Fun Things to Do in Albuquerque”)

Spaceport

© Spaceport America

Spaceport — home to Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo and the modern day private space race — isn’t technically open for public tours. But, the fact that the company’s home base is in New Mexico speaks volumes about the state’s long-standing dedication to hardcore science.

American International Rattlesnake Museum

© Mike Johnston

Albuquerque’s Rattlesnake Museum is a museum. Full of just rattlesnakes. How rad is that? Its goal is to explore how rattlesnakes, in particular, and other “less desirable” animals in general influence our lives. I don’t know for sure, but I’m going to assume that this is the only museum of its kind in the world.

Apothecary Lounge at Hotel Parq Central

Mixology and cocktail culture have exploded in recent years. Not surprisingly, one bar in Albuquerque puts a chemistry-centric spin on their affection for artisan tipple. Bartenders at the downtown Hotel Parq Central’s Apothecary Lounge could teach a masterclass in cocktail chemistry and they’re happy to share the knowledge and flare with hotel guests. As an added bonus, the bar’s rooftop terrace offers some of the best views in the city.

What are your favorite things to do in Albuquerque? Let us know in the comments!

The post (At Least) 5 Reasons Why Albuquerque Is America’s Coolest City for Geek Travelers appeared first on Vagabondish.

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