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sloanerisette · 3 years ago

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Jyoumi Challenge 2021 Day #30: Epilogue

So here it is, the last one! I don’t know *how* I managed to do it, but I finished Jyoumi Challenge again and I had a lot of fun! A lot of these oneshots I’d love to turn into full fics at some point, if I could ever come up with the energy for them all! I do have another real Jyoumi fic at some point, though, and I will definitely post it here when I start writing it/posting it!

I think I also might start posting about other fics I work on? I’m currently writing fics for a Persona 5 AU, and right now that and Digimon are my main fandoms to write for! I’m also doing other writing work for games and will definitely post about that as I go along with it!

Thank you so much to @jyoumifeels for putting this on again and especially for letting me offer a bunch of prompts! They were all fantastic, and today’s was no different, too! As soon as I thought of this prompt, this idea came to mind pretty quickly, and I just couldn’t resist! I hope y’all have enjoyed all my fics so far, and I hope this one is also something y’all enjoy! Over 60k words of Jyoumi fanfic this year, and just over 50k last year! Anyways, I’ve been rambling long enough, so here we go with my last piece for Jyoumi Challenge 2021!

(and just for the record, the exes mentioned are just nameless faceless individuals!)

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“You know, I’m surprised you aren’t out there socializing with everyone else.”

The voice was instantly familiar, and Mimi quite literally perked up when she heard it, and the mirth in his voice was something that felt comforting despite how strange it was. He wasn’t one to sound so… lighthearted.

It was nice.

After setting out a few more plates on one of the picnic tables that had been set up, she dusted off the front of her dress and turned to face him.

She’d seen plenty of pictures, but for some reason it didn’t prepare her for the real thing. The years had been kind to him, and even the slight “dad bod” he had gotten only served to look good on him. It felt fitting.

Of course deep down she had always missed his long hair, but that was something she opted to keep secret.

Mimi couldn’t help the smile on her face, and it seemed like he couldn’t either.

“Well, Shin wanted to spend time with some of the other kids since he can’t always see them as often, and I thought I would just start getting some of the things for lunch ready,” she shrugged.

“Do you want any help?” he asked. The fact that five simple words left her so excited, well… She knew why. She just didn’t want to make anything awkward a mere thirty seconds into their first one-on-one conversation in a long time.

“Sure,” she nodded eagerly, before she nodded back towards the tables, “Do you want to help me get the cups and silverware set up?”

“Sure thing. It’s all paper and plastic, so I figure I can’t mess it up too bad,” he laughed.

A laugh burst from her almost instantly, “You’ll be fine,” she assured him, waving off his comment, “I mean, you’re a doctor now, you can’t be that much of a klutz still,” she teased. Joe shook his head gently as he walked next to her, grabbing a stack of plastic cups and starting to set them down by the plates.

“You’d be surprised. I mean, there’s a reason why I’m not a surgeon. Sometimes I still get a little anxious drawing blood.”

“Still, that’s a lot better than you used to be. I remember that time back at the Big Sight when your brother told us you fainted at the sight of blood,” she said.

Joe laughed, “Yeah, I’d rather take feeling squeamish and being anxious at drawing blood than fainting outright.”

“How’s work been, anyways? I mean— besides the feeling squeamish,” she said, shooting him a teasing smile as she went over to check on the food she had brought along.

“Good. Good but busy. I feel bad because Masao usually has to go to cram school or be at a club or go home by himself, but we’ve been making it work,” he said. Though he kept up something of a smile, she could tell it wasn’t completely happy, and the tinge of sadness creeping in his voice betrayed him, whether he noticed or not.

“Shin’s the same way,” Mimi said, clenching her eyes shut and cringing for a moment as the words spilled clumsily from her lips, “I’m always filming when school is out for him, and then I have to rush and pick him up.”

It wasn’t lost on her that he had mentioned his son was by himself. She knew that Joe and his wife had divorced some time ago back and she had kicked herself when she didn’t reach out to see if he was doing ok or if he needed anything.

But at the same time, maybe it was for the best.

Joe frowned, “I’m sorry,” he started, pausing for a few moments, gently tapping a paper plate against the picnic table as he thought of what to say. “If its any consolation, Masao and I watch your show just about every night. I don’t think we’d be eating half as well as we are without it.”

Mimi blinked.

He watched her show? Nightly? Really?

“Well, thanks,” she smiled, her heart swelling, and unable to help but flush deeply, “Maybe I’ll say hi to you two on my next show,” she laughed.

“I’m sure Masao would love that, though don’t worry on our account,” he told her.

“Well, I’ll try and figure out a way,” she said.

“Thanks, Meems,” he laughed gently, and Mimi smiled when she saw his.

It had been years since she heard that nickname, and she felt her heart pound in her ears for a few moments.

“Anytime.”

An almost awkward silence lingered in the air between them, and Mimi quickly busied herself with pulling out some bottles of water from a cooler she had brought along.

“Do you want one?” she asked, holding up a bottle for him to see.

“Only if you have extra. I’d hate to have one now and there to not be enough later,” he said sheepishly.

“Don’t worry, we have plenty,” she said, stretching over to hand one to him, then grabbing one for herself before she sat down on one of the beaches at the table nearest the cooler. Joe sat down across from her, offering a simple smile before he cracked the seal on the bottle and took a drink.

“Its nice that we get to all meet up for once,” Joe said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Yeah, I know schedules are always killer for everyone. I knew being an adult was going to be busy, but I didn’t know it would be this busy,” she sighed.

“No kidding. I honestly thought someone was going to miss it at the last second and we’d have to reschedule again.”

“Sora said the timing with some of Matt’s test flights on a new shuttle was really tight,” she sighed.

“I’m glad it all worked out. Its been great to see everyone again.”

Mimi nodded gently, and it wasn’t lost on her that his eyes met her in those moments. She felt her heart skip a beat, and she could’ve sworn that Joe seemed short of breath, too.

Maybe she was reading into things a little too much.

“Yeah…” she said quietly, trailing off. She wrapped her hands around the cold bottle of water, letting out a gentle sigh as her gaze fell to the bottle.

“I’m happy that I got to see everyone,” she said, still quiet.

Of course, there were the words she wanted to say but had to hold back for his sake, if not her own as well.

“You know, thinking about it, this is probably the first time we’ve seen each other in like…”

Mimi’s ears perked up and she looked up at him, blinking a few times.

“Since shortly after our kids were born, probably,” she mused.

Joe laughed gently, “I remember that day. Yolei was freaking out because she said you had gone into labor, and before I knew what was happening all of us were piling in through a Digital Gate so we could see you.”

Mimi couldn’t help but smile at the memory. The day of Masao’s birth was an absolute whirlwind, exhausting and dizzying in every sense of the two words, but she wouldn’t have traded it for anything. Especially not since her son was the best part of her life and had been since that day.

“God, I was so embarrassed. You all were coming in as soon as they let me have visitors and I was a mess! My hair was gross, I was still sweaty and exhausted, and, ugh, that hospital gown looked awful on me.”

Embarrassed was an understatement— she had been mortified when Yolei led in the crowd of their friends to see her. Joe shook his head, though.

“I wouldn’t say you were sweaty, more just… a… new mother’s glow?” he suggested. Mimi started to flush and waved off his comment, taking a quick gulp of water to steady herself.

“You’re just being nice. I remember that day perfectly. I was an absolute mess before, during, and after it all.”

“If you say so, Mimi,” he said, gently teasing her, and she playfully rolled her eyes, still smiling.

“God, that day feels like forever ago,” she said with a wistful sigh, “Its so weird to think its been three years since we left New York.”

“Do you miss it?” he asked. Her expression faltered a bit, briefly looking away from Joe in hopes that he wouldn’t notice, but as she looked back at him she noticed the small frown pulling at his lips.

“Of course,” she nodded softly, “I spent about half my life there, how could I not? But…”

She trailed off, going silent, and she felt her stomach dropped. As far as she knew, only Sora, Yolei, and Kari knew all the in-depth details of how things had gone in the past half decade or so, and the thought of opening up to Joe, while something that was a given considering it was, well, Joe, also felt like so much. Especially when today was supposed to be a day of fun, celebration, and bonding after so long.

“…But?” he asked softly. However, when he saw her face, how she was trying her hardest to avoid eye contact, his frown deepened. “Hey, Mimi, I-I’m sorry if I brought up anything bad. It really wasn’t my intention.”

“No, I know,” she said, sucking in a quick breath, swallowing down a sob that threatened to hiccup out of her, “You didn’t know. Plus you’re far too nice to ever do anything like that.” Seeing how he ducked his head, she was glad that, even if it was small, and even if it was just for a fleeting moment, she was able to catch him off guard.

“But, really, I didn’t mean to upset you, and I am sorry. We can talk about something else,” he said. Mimi bit down gently on her lip, shaking her head.

“You didn’t know a lot about me coming back to Japan, did you?”

“…No. I-I just figured you and your family moved back. When I heard about the show, I figured it was because of that, too,” he said, before he sighed. He felt guilty and he looked it, too.

“Its ok. I honestly wanted to keep it a bit on the quiet side. I just wanted to come back with Shin without much fuss.”

Joe opened his mouth, ready to make some sort of fun comment like, “Mimi Tachikawa wanting to keep something simple and quiet? Now I’ve heard everything!”, but there were a few particular words that caught his attention, and he opted to stay quiet with any teasing.

“Just Shin?” he asked. Mimi pursed her lips and nodded.

“You’re not the only divorcee,” she said, holding up her left hand and letting out a sad, breathy chuckle. Joe’s jaw slowly dropped.

“O-Oh. Shit. I’m sorry, Meems. If I had know, I…”

“I didn’t want many people to know. Plus you were going through a lot, too. No need to pile on sadness with more sadness.”

Joe wasn’t at all comforted by her comment, though.

“Mimi…”

“Joe, you’ve been busy for years with medical school, your residency, and being a doctor. No one could have expected you to drop any of that at a moment’s notice. I mean, remember when we were in our early twenties? How we couldn’t keep running to help with all those Digimon who were making their way into the world? There was only so much we could do.”

Joe knew her words were supposed to help her, but he still felt the heavy weight of guilt on his shoulders. Especially because of what it all reminded him of…

His shoulders slumped and his head started to droop down a bit.

“Still… if you had sent a text or something, I could’ve done something when I had the time.”

“Or you would’ve dropped everything you reasonably could have to help me out?” she asked with a quirk of an eyebrow. Joe flushed softly and let out a nervous laugh.

“Well, you’re not wrong,” he shrugged, “We know each other too well.”

“Best friends and all, remember?”

Joe was silent for a moment, but nodded once he seemed to gather himself, “I’m glad we still are. I know its been a long time since we’ve really been able to talk or anything, but I’m glad we are now.”

“Me, too.”

They had grown apart, there was no denying that in the slightest, but they had been able to gel together easily. Like picking up a conversation after a brief pause or distraction. It was nice. Mimi hoped he thought it was nice, too.

“You’re doing well now, though? I mean— of course you are, with the TV show and all, but after everything that’s happened… Sorry, I said I would drop it but I’m just—”

“Worried,” she finished for him. He looked sheepish and guilty, glancing away and scratching the side of his head with an index finger.

“Yeah,” he laughed, “Got me again.”

“I’m good at that,” she smiled, “but I’m fine, honest. We’re doing good. It was an adjustment, but we’ve been making it work,” she said.

“I’m glad,” he said, pausing for a moment, “If any of this is too much, let me know to stop.”

“No, you’re fine. Though… don’t don’t tell everyone else? I’ve been trying to keep it on the quiet side, like I said.”

“Of course, my lips are sealed,” he assured her.

“What about you?” she asked.

“What about me…?” he asked, brow furrowed in confusion.

“Everything that went on with you. I know you got divorced, too, and I wanted to reach out, but…”

She didn’t. And she felt guilty for not reaching out to offer him any type of support, but would’ve felt just as guilty— if not more— had she done so.

Why did all the simple things have to feel so complicated for her?

“Oh,” he said simply, pausing for a moment. He scrunched up his mouth and then swallowed, “Well, it was all fine, too. Mostly,” he told her, “Mostly amicable.”

“Mostly?” she asked with a quirk of an eyebrow.

“It came down to me working too much. Well, we both did, but I guess sometimes I just sort of shrugged things off for work.”

“Sounds like you,” Mimi said, both of them unable to help their frowns.

We just figured— really, she figured— it would be best to… you know, just end things where they were. Masao still sees his mom every so often, but we don’t talk much.”

It was a lot, Mimi had to admit. She didn’t expect that would be the case at all. In all honesty, she had been a little surprised when Joe got married, not out of the idea that she felt he couldn’t ever do it, but more just surprised given his sheer drive towards a medical career that he had held his entire life.

“Well, I’m glad you two are doing well at least,” Mimi said, offering a small smile. Joe nodded.

“Thanks. And I’m glad you two are as well. If you ever need any help, any… anything, just let me know, ok?” he asked, adjusting his glasses slightly.

“I will. But only if you do the same?”

He chuckled and nodded, “Of course, of course. I’ll do my best, at least. You know me.”

“Always want to be there for everyone, but don’t want to lean on people if you’re afraid it might be even the slightest bit much.”

“Guilty.”

Before Mimi could say anything else, she heard sounds in the not too far distance. Both of them turned their heads to look and see the first few of their friends’ kids starting to run into the clearing. Then came Tai, Davis, and Izzy, who were talking and laughing about something. After was another group of kids, along with Sora, Matt, Cody, TK, and Kari, then their own kids, along with Yolei’s daughter and her and Ken.

Masao and Shin were quick to run over to the two with wide smiles on their faces.

“Dad, you missed it!” Masao said, “Bukamon and Gomamon and I had a lot of fun! And we spent time with Shin and Tanemon and Palmon and we saw some Kuwagamon!”

“Yeah! Mama it was so much fun!” Shin said to his mother. Mimi had a wide, excited smile on her face, while Joe’s brow was creased with concern.

“They didn’t try to attack you, did they?”

“How fun was it?”

Joe and Mimi each shot each other a quick look.

“I’m glad you had fun with Shin.

“I’m glad you and Masao hit it off!”

The fact that they spoke in near sync again amused both of them.

“Oh, Masao, did you say hi to Mrs. Tachikawa?” he asked.

“Oh, no, sorry dad. Hi Mrs. Tachikawa! Its nice to meet you!” he said, adjusting his own glasses in a way that was so adorably reminiscent of his father, flashing her a big, toothy smile.

“Nice to meet you, too, Masao. Your dad’s told me a lot about you,” she said, before wrapping her arms around Shin and pulling him in for a hug, “Shin? Say hi to Mr. Kido.”

“Hi Mr. Kido! Nice to meet you!”

“Nice to meet you, Shin,” Joe smiled. Yolei snuck up from behind and clapped her hands on Mimi’s shoulders, causing her to jump in place. Yolei burst into laughter, but Mimi was less amused initially.

“Yolei,” she huffed.

“Hey guys!” she chirped happily, “You didn’t sneak any food while we were all gone, didja?” she asked.

“No, don’t worry. I was just helping Mimi set things up. We really do have a lot between all of us,” Joe said.

“Especially you and Ken,” Mimi teased, sticking her tongue out at Yolei, who returned the gesture.

“Oh, I think Sora and Matt wanted to talk to you,” she said. Joe nodded and stood up, gently placing a hand on Masao’s shoulder.

“Ok, I’ll go see them. I meant to talk to everyone more but we got caught up in conversation,” he said, “C’mon, Masao. I’ll go see my friends and you can spend time with the other kids before lunch,” Joe said.

“Ok!”

With that the two were off, and as Mimi turned her head to look at Yolei, she could already see the scheming look on her face.

“Hey, Shin? How about you catch up with Masao and Mr. Kido while Mrs. Inoue and I get lunch ready for everyone?” she asked with a sweet smile.

“Ok! Nice to see you Mrs. Inoue!” Shin said, waving quickly to the woman before running off. With a soft sigh, Mimi stood up and Yolei followed her over to work on getting food ready.

“Everyone! We’ll get lunch ready shortly! Hope you’re hungry! Mimi cooked up a feast and a half!” Yolei called out.

Joe had looked over his shoulder when Yolei spoke, before he looked back at Sora and Matt. Matt had a sly grin on his face, and even though Sora noticed and lightly jabbed him in the side with her elbow, it didn’t fade.

“Why do I have the feeling you two have been scheming all day?” Joe asked in a way that felt incredibly familiar to back when they were kids and Joe was exasperated at just about anything.

“Not all day, just since we came over and saw you and Mimi sitting together,” Sora said.

“I dunno about her, but I was definitely scheming all day,” Matt said, pausing for a moment as his grin flashed wider for a split second, “Probably all week.”

“Great…” Joe sighed, wiping a hand down his face, “Look, there’s nothing to scheme for! This is the first time we’ve seen each other in years, and the fact that we’re both… you know…” he swallowed hard, “The point is, I would rather just focus on our friendship when we’ve only just started talking again.”

Sora grimaced, “You say that like you don’t want to even make the attempt. All of us sort of know you like her, I think.”

Joe rubbed the back of his neck, “Yeah, that’s also a big reason why I want to avoid this. I don’t want to make things awkward by this whole thing sprouting back up, you know?”

Matt sighed and rolled his eyes.

“Joe, why keep waiting and pining? Why not just talk to her about it? I mean, remember that giant Valentine you gave her? She never stopped being your friend over that, right?”

“W-Well,” Joe stuttered, turning bright red, “I guess you’re right…”

“Joe, I don’t think you need to worry, is the thing,” Sora assured him, “You and Mimi have been incredible friends for years. I doubt that you telling her you like her again wouldn’t suddenly ruin all of that.”

“I mean, you’re right, but…” Joe trailed off, letting out a sigh.

“What?” Matt asked.

“What about our kids? I mean, Masao still sees his mom, and I don’t know much about Mimi’s ex or if her and Shin see him, but don’t you both think it would be a bit awkward if anything happened?”

“What do you mean?” Matt asked.

“You know, suddenly his mom is dating a new man or Masao sees his dad dating some new woman after he and his mom divorced.”

“I think that’s just something he would have to come to accept,” Sora frowned, “Plus I’m sure Masao would want to see his dad happy, and all of us know that there are few things that make you happier than Mimi.”

Joe flushed a deep red and looked over his shoulder towards Mimi and Yolei, who were talking while getting food ready. He let out a sigh of relief that she didn’t seem to hear him.

“You’re right, but…”

Matt gently set a hand on Joe’s shoulder, giving it a soft squeeze.

“Look, we’ve known you for a long time, man. We know what you’re like. All we’re saying is you deserve to be with someone who makes you happy.”

“Thanks…” Joe said.

“We know you aren’t going to up and change your ways at the drop of a hat either, but at least promise us you’ll try and ask Mimi out even just once?” Sora asked.

“No promises, but I’ll do my best,” Joe said, offering a weak smile.

“That’s all we ask for, man,” Matt said, before he and Sora reached over to give him a quick hug. Joe let out a laugh and hugged them back.

“Really, thanks. Its been great seeing her and…” he paused for a moment, lips pursed in thought, “Its hard not to feel the same way as I used to, I guess.”

“We’ll keep our fingers crossed for you,” Sora smiled.

Back at the table that Mimi had placed all the food she had brought along, Mimi had been busy taking aluminum foil off one, Yolei following suit with another.

“How’s Joe?” Yolei asked.

“He’s good. I didn’t expect for us to talk about so many serious topics when he came over to help me with setting the tables up, but it was nice.”

Mimi paused for a moment.

“Well, not necessarily nice, considering some of the things we talked about, but… well, considering this is the first time we’ve spent any time together in years, it was nice.”

Yolei hummed for a moment, “Did you talk about the divorce?” she asked.

“Mostly his. I would have never guessed all the details about it,” Mimi said.

Yolei set the large sheet of aluminum foil she had taken off the container off to the side, “Yeah, when it happened I remember he shut himself away for a little while. Me, Izzy, Ken, and Cody all tried to get him out and to do things when it happened, but he never wanted to,” she frowned.

“That sounds like Joe,” Mimi nodded, “We didn’t get to talking about mine much, so I feel kind of bad. But at least he knows he’s not the only one?”

“You’re one of the only people I know that would try to turn something like that into a positive,” Yolei said with a soft laugh.

“Yeah, you’re right,” she said, “We just hit things off like nothing. I missed it… I missed him.”

Yolei stopped, looking over at her with raised brows.

“Crush coming back in full force?” she asked.

Mimi blushed brightly, “I think so, yeah. Still handsome, still sweet as ever even when he doesn’t realize it… I can’t handle him sometimes,” she giggled.

“I was so happy when I saw you sitting together and talking,” Yolei grinned.

“I noticed. I’m surprised you didn’t ask him out to dinner for me.”

Yolei blinked, “I mean, I can if you want?”

“Yolei, I can ask a guy out myself, but thanks,” Mimi said, that bright red on her cheeks slowly starting to fade.

“So you’re gonna ask him out?” Yolei asked, head turning in an instant to look at her friend. Mimi stayed quiet for a few moments, deep in thought. She opened her mouth once, at which Yolei leaned closer to Mimi, ready for an answer, though Mimi just as quickly closed her mouth again.

“You’re killing me with this wait, Mimi!”

“I’m not sure yet,” she said before she took in a deep breath, “I would like to, yeah, but part of me is still a little nervous about dipping my toe in the dating pool again. But Joe is different.”

Mimi pursed her lips, “Its a lot to think about. I mean, today is the first time we’ve talked in a long time and we talked like nothing had changed. Like we were just preteens again.”

“Like when he gave you that valentine I’ve heard so much about?” Yolei teased. Mimi let out a loud bark of a laugh.

“God, if he did something like that again, I’m pretty sure I would melt in an instant,” she said, before pointing an accusatory finger Yolei’s way, “Don’t even think about it, Miss.”

“I won’t, I won’t. But I hope it works out, though. I always thought you two would be adorable together,” Yolei told her.

“Me, too,” Mimi smiled.

The rest of the day had gone well, and Joe and Mimi both had spent plenty of time spending time with their kids and talking with their friends after so long, though it wasn’t lost on either of them— or most of their friends�� that they kept meeting each other’s gazes every so often.

Hours and hours later and the sun had started to set in the Digital World, and most of their friends had started to make their ways back home. Both Joe and Mimi seemed to linger as long as they could, each hoping to get one last chance to talk to the other for the day. Even their own partners noticed, and as Mimi started to linger by Joe, Gomamon saw his opportunity.

“Hey, Joe?” the Digimon started, looking up at his partner, “Mind if Palmon and I take Masao and Shin and their partners on one last walk for the day? Just in case we don’t have the chance to visit for a while?”

“Oh— well if Mimi is fine with it, I am,” he said, and Mimi looked over and smiled.

“Fine with me!” she chirped happily, before looking to her own Digimon partner, “Just make sure they all stay safe, ok?”

“Of course, Mimi!” Palmon cheered. Though Masao seemed a bit anxious, Joe set a reassuring hand on his son’s shoulder.

“You know they won’t let anything happen to you. Go on and have a little fun with your new friends.”

And with that, the small group had started to make their ways of, Gomamon shooting Joe a wink, who merely furrowed his brow in confusion in response. Mimi slowly stepped forward, letting her arms swing at her side.

“I owe Gomamon,” she grinned.

“You didn’t set him up to that, did you?” Joe asked, and Mimi laughed and shook her head.

“No no no, honest. I think he’s just too smart for his own good sometimes.”

“No kidding,” Joe grumbled, narrowing his eyes as he saw the group head back into the clearing, then cleared his throat and looked back at Mimi.

The two looked at each other, meeting each other’s eyes and blushing softly. They each looked away for a moment, deathly silent, before, at the same time, they opened their mouths to speak.

“Do you want to get dinner sometime?”

“Can we see each other again soon?”

Both were surprised, falling into stunned silence as they looked at each other, but more than anything, Mimi was surprised that Joe was the one who asked her for dinner and not the other way around.

“What?” she asked. Joe instantly grimaced.

“Ah, well…” he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, swallowing hard, “If you want. I mean— I know— I—” he stammered, suddenly losing any of the words he had memorized over the past hour or so he had started to plan to ask her out.

“I would like that,” she nodded quickly, “I’m just surprised, is all. I thought I would’ve had to ask you in a few months once we started hanging out again.”

“Believe me, I don’t entirely know what came over me, either,” he laughed, “But… I figure that I’ve waited around enough.”

Joe paused for a moment, and then was unable to help but chuckle to himself, “And now Matt and Sora don’t have to worry about me backing out of this if I just do it now.”

Mimi giggled, “Well, I’m glad you won’t let them down, because you didn’t let me down, either.”

Joe was now bright red, opting to stay silent for a few moments as he let his brain process everything that had happened so suddenly.

“Great, that’s great,” he said, clenching his eyes shut for a moment, cringing at his reaction, “I mean, I’m glad. I’m really glad. I just want to make sure this won’t be too much for either of us. With, you know, you and Shin and Masao and I. I don’t want to make anything awkward for anyone, and I don’t want to make Shin feel uncomfortable because I’m going out with his mother.”

Mimi smiled softly, “Thanks, Joe, that means a lot. I’ll make sure to talk to him about this.”

“If he’s not a fan of it, then believe me, we don’t have to, and I’ll apologize to him,” Joe said. Mimi laughed.

“That’s sweet. I think he’ll understand. I’m sure he expected that one day his mom would want to get into the dating game again.”

“Alright,” Joe nodded.

“But the same for Masao, too. I especially don’t want to make anything awkward with his mother.”

“Thank you, I appreciate it. I’ll… figure out talking to him about it. It might be a little awkward, but what conversation do I try to bring up isn’t?”

“I think we can manage it,” Mimi laughed, “If anything, we can all have a talk together at some point? So we can lay everything out and hear them out, too?”

Joe nodded, “I think that would be a good idea, too. We can have a talk with them first and figure out where to go from there. I don’t want to… be some overbearing new boyfriend by any means, but I hope you know that I’m serious about this. All of what this means.”

“Thank you. And trust me, I am too,” she said, before running her fingers along the brim of her cowboy hat, “I’m going to put 110% into this,” she grinned.

That scared Joe a bit, considering how his overly heavy focus on work had done such a number on his marriage, but he didn’t want to mess up again.

“I’m going to do everything I can, too. I’m going to put in my 110%, too, Mimi,” he told her.

“I know you will.”

Her faith in him left him relieved.

“Thank you,” he said, the two of them enjoying a brief moment of silence before they could hear the stampede of footsteps from their kids and the Digimon with them.

“Does seven this Sunday work for you? I know its a bit late, but…”

A big smile came on Mimi’s face at his words, “Nothing sounds more perfect to me. I can’t wait.”

#jyoumi challenge #jyoumi challenge 2021 #jyoumi month #jyoumi month 2021 #digimon #digimon adventure 02 #jyoumi #joe kido #mimi tachikawa #jou kido #kido jou #jyou kido #kido jyou #tachikawa mimi

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firstagent · 3 years ago

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Review! Digimon Adventure: (2020) Episode 59: Bolt, HerakleKabuterimon

In this episode, in the deepest, most subtle metaphor imaginable to highlight and empower Koshiro, his crest test turns out to be a literal Test of Knowledge.

Many of the challenges each kid faces to activate their crest power can fairly be accused of being a little off the mark. Mimi proved her sincerity by abandoning her gut and playing along with a bad situation. Yamato proved his friendship by shutting up and doing whatever Gabumon told him to. Koshiro’s challenge is not going to face this criticism. He proves his knowledge… in a literal Test of Knowledge. Not only is it extremely on the nose, the idea of a dungeon master subjecting the poor hero to a labyrinth of puzzles is awfully tiresome. It goes the way you’d expect, but at least it shows off that even this flat incarnation of Koshiro can be enjoyable to watch when the focus is on him and Tentomon.

We should be happy about the actual bad guys showing up again and possessing a hapless Digimon like in the good old days. It’s better than random bullies terrorizing random areas, right? It would be if it was at all consistent with what we’ve come to expect from Soundbirdmon. It’s been a long time, but giving Nanomon the freedom to defeat Koshiro through an elaborate puzzle runs contrary to their usual operation. Usually a Digimon gets possessed, under the control of a higher power, with no true autonomy. Any strategies executed tend to be in conjunction with other possessed Digimon, orchestrated from above. Nanomon feels more like a twisted distortion of his true self, a big fan of Koshiro’s that’s corrupted to test his mettle through arbitrary riddles. With enough established characters, that sort of possession would make for a great arc story. Instead it feels like the world is bending its usual rules to force Koshiro into an elaborate mental challenge.

In previous mental challenges, Koshiro breezed through them, showing an unbelievable range of information gathering and hacking abilities that singlehandedly saved the world multiple times. It was awful. It cemented his character as little more than a flawless computer expert and info provider with no exploration of why he’s so obsessed with the pursuit of knowledge, no punishment for pursuing too much, and only sporadic points of frustration when the answers are out of his reach. We’re still left asking on the first two, but the third gets some play when Koshiro gets two of the puzzles wrong. The first shakes his confidence as he realizes the stakes. The second shows him caving to the time pressure and leaves him in a deeper mire. It’s too late to expect any sort of depth from Koshiro, but the rare show of vulnerability is appreciated.

Tentomon is instrumental at picking Koshiro up after both failures. His personality is weird enough to shine, and always something to look forward to in Koshiro-focused episodes. It’s always inspiring watching him help Koshiro overcome his hurdles, and he does it plenty here. At times there’s an inventive tact, like encouraging Koshiro to take time to get a puzzle right, trusting his Digimon to make the logistics work under the clock. More often it’s just the usual assurances that he trusts his partner without condition and will ride with him no matter what. It would have been far more fun spinning this dynamic into a sort of confidant Koshiro can bounce ideas off of with sincere feedback, but either way Tentomon’s capable of making it endearing.

The emphasis on the mental game makes it disappointing that it all turns into a standard fight in the end. The evolution to HeraklesKabuterimon is as deserved as any of the Mega evolutions this season, but the fight with GranKuwagamon only seemed to drag things out. The real victory came with Koshiro solving the final challenge, first by deciphering the riddle and second by smoking Nanomon out with his usual hackery. Once that happened, the extra fighting seemed surplus and unnecessary, dragging out a sure win with some unremarkable action. It’s that kind of episode, really. There’s plenty to appreciate in seeing Koshiro struggling and Tentomon encouraging, and even the return of the Soundbirdmon gets noticed, with the right questions raised. It’s a good return for a scenario as humdrum as this one.

My Grade: B-

Loose Data:

Koshiro expresses surprise that he’d return to the mirror caverns again. He’s now the fourth kid, after Joe, Mimi, and Hikari, to return to a previously visited location while on their crest runs.

After Koshiro ended up going down the wrong path after the first riddle, how did he end up on the right path again for the second? Would have been nice to see him have to climb an extra staircase or something to get up there while spending extra time.

Taichi assures Koshiro that he trusts him to figure out the riddle and set him free. This is the exact reaction Agumon should have been looking for from the true Taichi in episode 57 and the one Taichi never gave him.

For a Digimon corrupted by a Soundbirdmon, Nanomon is extremely excited to give Koshiro a second chance after he fails the third puzzle. It’s a lot of leeway when leaving Koshiro trapped in there with Taichi and Agumon trapped would have given the enemy a major advantage.

Nanomon seemed to be using the camera on Koshiro’s tablet to see his progress. That doesn’t require an app or anything to hack into. So you wonder how Koshiro’s able to apply a Snapchat filter using previously recorded material and convince Nanomon it’s an undoctored feed. At least it was previously recorded material and not stock footage Koshiro randomly downloaded on the fly.

See reviews of every Digimon episode at Digimon: System Restore! Support the site by joining our Patreon!

#digimon #digimon adventure:#digimon adventure (2020)

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miminorenai · 4 years ago

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Chapter 21

In the church engulfed in silence —

Sitting on the bench, Charles speaks of conversation he had with Mimi, bit by bit.

Charles “......Even if she believes in Dazai, she said she can’t believe in me.”

Charles “She said he’s never a person who won’t be sad by a person’s death......but a long time ago, I used to be sad a lot too?”

Charles “What’s the difference with me and Dazai? Mimi seems like she’s having a hard time with Dazai......”

Faust sighs at Charles who’s muttering vaguely.

Faust “How rare, for *Shall to show negative emotions.”

(*Faust called Charles ‘シャル’ instead of his full name シャルル

Charles “Negative emotions......?”

Faust “Are you jealous?”

Charles looks up blankly at Faust.

Charles “I’ve never been jealous of anyone before, but......”

Faust “Your UNawareness is a pain.”

Faust “It appears that winning over vampires in the mansion is out of the question.”

Charles “Such thing is non-negotiable/undiscussable, huh?”

Charles “But Dazai —”

Dazai “If you could make my wish come true ···— I might be interested to get on with our discussion.”

Charles “Despite saying it like that, he didn’t tell me after all.”

Charles “What is Dazai’s wish, I wonder? What does he desire to the point pretending not to see Mimi’s favor......”

Faust “......”

From the information they received from Shakespeare, the reasons of resurrection for the great men in the mansion......

......their purposes and backgrounds were being investigated.

But regarding Dazai, his exact purpose remains unknown and has not been reported.

Faust thinks with his finger on the chin, and opens his mouth after a while.

Faust “......Shall. You once said that Dazai’s past might be resemble you.”

Charles “Hmm......yeah.”

Charles “I used to execute......a lot of people. That guy let someone died too, although the amounts are different.”

Charles “I don’t know what caused his double suicide affair, but......”

Faust “If that’s the case, a thought experiment......would you like to play an *association game?”

Charles “Game?”

Faust “It’s simple. — What do you think of the person who’s causing other people to die?”

Charles “......”

Charles’s suffocated by the cruel question.

Faust, observing his reaction, urges Charles to answer with a sharp gaze.

Charles “......Regret, I guess. Even if I said I’m sorry......no matter how much I apologize, it’s not enough.”

Faust “And, there’s no way for atonement.”

Faust “So — what if you could go back to the world before you made a mistake?”

Charles “Huh......?”

He blinks.

Charles “If I can go back......if I can do that, I’ll stop the execution.”

Faust “How? Are you going to let the dying people escape?”

Charles “If it’s possible, I’ll do it then......”

Faust “You’ve got a point there. Then, if there’s a more fundamental solution —”

Charles “Fundamental solution......”

Charles drops his gaze on the floor and thinks carefully......and suddenly raises his face.

Charles “The executioner ···— it’d be good if I were gone.”

Charles “—··· Ah, I see. Perhaps Dazai......”

Charles smiles, as if he discover a star before his eyes.

Charles “......Hey, doc. Lord Vlad said this earlier.”

Vlad “If all the great men who influence the world disappear, what will happen to the future?”

Vlad “……Hmm, how interesting.”

Charles “If Dazai’s purpose is really ‘that’, is it worth trying?”

Faust “The great men to disappear......should we do that experiment?”

Charles “Yeah. If we’re to use that door, we can even try it right away. Lord Vlad said that the abnormality had subsided.”

Faust “No one could use the door properly except for His Excellency Vlad.”

Charles “But I’ve heard of it before.”

Vlad “— The other side of the door is a space-time interval.”

Vlad “It gathers the earnest feelings of humans throughout every era and period. It’s such a door.”

Vlad “If you have a strong will, the door may respond and lead you to the desired place.”

Faust “......I see. It’s certainly interesting to see what happens if we succeed in using the door, but —”

While Faust’s face shows that he’s still has objection on the matter, Charles’s truly in bliss.

Charles “......Yeah, that’s it. It’s different from our original plan, but isn’t it better to fulfill Dazai’s wish?”

Charles “And then, there would be no death to come after this.”

Charles “Isn’t this a good thing? Mimi will definitely understand.”

Faust “— Shall. You......do you aware?”

Charles tilts his head to Faust’s voice, which has a slight suggestion of sounding out.

Faust “His Excellency Vlad still loves human.”

Faust “When he casts something away, he has his own standard, whether it’s necessary or unnecessary for the world.”

Charles “Ah, if I do whatever I want, will he get angry......?”

Faust “It’s not like that.”

Faust “......What are you trying to do is Shall’s own choice, not His Excellency.”

Charles “Uh huh, is that so......? But I’m sure it’s not in vain.”

Charles “Mimi might be sad if Dazai’s gone, but — “

Charles “......I’ll fill the empty hole in her heart.”

—··· A few days later, MC’s going out shopping in town with Sebastian.

Sebastian “Which reminds me, do you still read Dazai-san’s book?”

MC “Ah......, yes. Little by little between works and nights, though.”

MC tries to keep calm and answers the shaken topic that’s suddenly comes to her mind.

MC “To be frank, I still carry it around, even now.”

Sebastian “Right, Mimi is steadily becoming a Dazaist.”

Sebastian “It seems that Dazai-san is also writing.”

Sebastian “If there’s a request, allow me to do the editing or proofreading......”

MC “Sebastian, are you serious......!?”

Sebastian “Of course.”

Sebastian “But, it’s been particularly hard to catch Dazai-san again, nowadays.”

(......That’s right.)

MC hasn’t been able to talk with Dazai since that night he kissed her.

(He’s actually avoiding me after all......)

(But, I’ve been refused many times now, what should I do?)

The feelings of awkward, sadness......various emotions are mixed in MC’s chest and she cannot advance to the next step.

(Even so, I want to talk, even a little......I want to meet Dazai-san.)

When MC’s thinking about such thing, a scenery suddenly pops into her head.

(From what Dazai-san told me, if it’s that place —)

(I feel like I can meet him......)

There’s a strange sense like being called to the multicolored spectacle.

(Yeah......let’s go there.)

Sebastian “Mimi, what’s wrong?”

MC “Nothing......um, Sebastian. Can I take a short detour on our way home?”

And then, MC heads for —

— alone, to the path she visited with Dazai before.

On both sides of the path, the hydrangeas still have their vivid petals. But......

(Dazai san’s —··· not here. As expected, such coincidence will not happen so often.)

(I wonder why? It felt so wonderful when I walked with Dazai-san, now I’m just lonely......)

Except for the changing seasons, the scenery doesn’t change that much, but it looks different.

Instead of someone she couldn’t meet, MC opens Dazai’s book.

(In those days, it was fun to be together, and it felt so natural to be close to Dazai-san.)

(Somewhere in my mind, I was hoping he feels the same way......)

MC “This is......a hairpin?”

Dazai “It’s a hydrangea hairpin. I thought it would look good on you when I saw it in the town.”

Dazai “All right, it suits you well. You look very cute.”

Dazai “You are so good at believing in people.”

Dazai “……Really, Mimi-san is so honest enough that makes you dazzling.”

Thing that were fun and exciting......when MC remembers the days she spent with Dazai, her chest tightened in pain.

(I wonder if we can’t go back like we used to......)

(No, even if we can’t go back —)

(Right now......the scariest thing would be Dazai-san will go somewhere that’s out of reach.)

Dazai “......If you’re going to say that far, then tell me.”

Dazai “What kind of things filled my heart/mind while I kissed you just now?”

MC “......Dazai-san, are you angry? That, or is this also your intention of being a clown......”

Dazai “Hmm, who knows?”

Dazai “Mimi-san, I......I’m afraid of your straightforwardness.”

Dazai “When you’re with me, I ···—”

(I'm still curious about what Dazai was going to say back then......)

(What is making Dazai-san baffled to be with me......?)

For that little while, it seems MC was able to reach the edge of his heart, and while she’s pondering on his words many times over —

MC “Ah......”

Maybe because MC was distracted, the book slips off her hand.

She reaches out to pick it up in a hurry......and catches sight of a sentence from a page that opened by accident.

—「駄目な男というものは、幸福を受取るに当ってさえ、下手くそを極めるものである。」

“A hopeless (useless/no good) man is someone — even at the time he receives happiness — will carry his hopelessness to the extreme.”

(Happiness......Right, Dazai-san too —)

Dazai “Listen, stop have feelings for such man, since I cannot make you happy.”

MC “How about Dazai-san’s happiness……?”

Dazai “I don’t need that. I don’t wish for it anymore.”

That guy, being stubborn, doesn’t even try to accept something like happiness.

(Since the reason for his revival is “to accept punishment for making other people unhappy”......)

(But I —)

—··· MC wants Dazai to be happy.

He scoops up the subtlety of human hearts, and give them incomprehensible kindness in indirect (roundabout) expression.

(But even then, he always takes a step back......)

MC wants to reach out for him —··· who’s alone at a distance and feeling lonely in his whole life, as he sinks into a dark place.

MC “Dazai-san......”

MC picks up the book as if touching his heart gently, and as her feelings welled up, she hugs it tightly to her chest......

......there were eyes staring at Mimi from the shade of tree.

Dazai “I just turned my legs somehow, I wonder why are we attracting each other......”

Dazai “The weak fear happiness itself, huh......?”

—「弱虫は、幸福をさえ恐れるもの」

“The weak fear happiness itself. They can harm themselves on cotton wool. Sometimes they are wounded even by happiness.”

After muttering a sentence he once wrote in ‘No Longer Human’, he laughs, like mocking himself.

Dazai “Mimi-san, I’m afraid of you. Since when you’re with me, I feel happy......”

Dazai quietly leaves the place, as their thoughts and feelings passing by one another —

He then goes towards the man who summoned him.

Charles “Welcome, Dazai.”

Dazai “It’s an honor to be welcomed directly to your stronghold.”

#ikemen vampire #ikevam #ikevam dazai #osamu dazai #ikevam spoilers #kind of literature chapter haha #it's getting depressing to translate his route xD #dang #I pretty much want to hug both of them #both dazai and charles #since I'm on my break today #I manage to translate two chapters~#so happy to get rid of that procrastination haha

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dappercritter · 4 years ago

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Invader Zim: Taller Tales of Terror - The First Fic That Wasn’t

This was going to be my first fanfiction that I ever published, but things came up and I found other story ideas and fandoms to get into. However, because there’s nothing I hate more than leaving a story untold and forgotten.

So like a writer jilted by a big name studio working on a big superhero movie that went terribly wrong after they left, I’m going to share it with you good folks to see if you still think there’s hope for it in some capacity. If so maybe I’ll choose to revive it in some capacity, or one of you kind folks can adopt it. Whatever you think of the once untold tale I’m about tell you, I hope you enjoy it.

The fic would have been either a mini-series/anthology or a movie-esque sequel—or two—to Enter the Florpus.

It would have followed the stranger further misadventures the kids would go on as teenagers, all of which have at least something to do with getting taller, literally or metaphorically.

Although I'd do my best to recreate the series' darkly comic tone, there'd be more to the story than just that. I'd like to do a sort of character study with my fanfics and explore what they would do as they got older, how they would change if they could change, if they'd mature and try to connect with each other more, or if they really do just hate each other. It'd be like a coming-of-age story but done in the style of Invader Zim.

But don’t be fooled, folks! It's not going to be one of those big dramatic fanfics with high stakes (nor any smut) thrown in. At it's core it's still just a fun, dumb, mildly disturbed "What if?" sort of fic. There would be a bit more emphasis on character and plot than normal, because I do love me a good character-driven plot, but still plenty of room for (what I hoped would feel like) the usual weird dumb creepy fun that original series excelled at.

The story is set in basically the same continuity (or at least the closest thing to a continuity that can exist in Invader Zim) as the show and comics. The only difference is that the Battle of Meekrob actually happened—but not really.

Long backstory short, there was a big showdown between the Irken Armada and the Meekrob-allied Resisty, but Zim and Dib missed it because a food fight got them stuck in detention. Zim tried to get Skoodge (who was rooming with him at the time because the scrapped Season 2 episodes were sorta canon here) to cover for him until her got there, while Dib tried to get Gaz to take Tak’s ship to provide support against the Irken. By the time they got out, however, the battle was over, Gaz blew the whole thing off to get a new game, Skoodge and some other Invader became the war hero Zim always aspired to be, and The Almighty Tallest decided to cancel Operation Impending Doom 2 because after the big exciting space battle they felt like they couldn’t top anything after that. Suffice to say, Zim took it pretty hard. Dib however would have seen this as something of a win since Zim still failed in a sense. Albeit it was a very anticlimactic win, even to him.

The actual story would have taken place about 5 years after the Battle of Meekrob, where Zim, Dib, and Gaz have made it to high school (or “hi-skool” as this is the Invader Zim universe, after all). Setting wise, things haven't changed much but the characters have made a few surprising or not-so-surprising developments. The most important of all, so important that it would be the focus of the entire story, in fact! would have been Zim developing a brand-new disguise utilizing an exoskeleton, based partially on the Almighty Tallest, in attempt to make him look like a normal teenager AND impress superiors. Naturally, things go horribly yet amusingly wrong for everyone involved.

Now just where and what has everyone been up to/going through in those five years? Here’s a rundown:

-Zim spent those 5 years obsessing over his crushing failure, begging the Tallest to give him another chance, which they refused every time. Being stuck on a planet of smelly, stupid, and increasingly annoying creatures for so long without any real victories has left him bitter and frantic with more shmoopiness than usual. Even the little "VICTORY FOR ZIM!" moments he used to have got harder and harder to come by. By the time he reached high school, he was so messed up he didn’t realize his classmates had all had growth spurts until Dib easily overpowered him in one of their petty fights and points it out to the whole school. Thus, leading to the new exoskeleton and subsequent schemes to redeem himself in the eyes of the Tallest while looking normal in the eyes of his human classmates. Unfortunately, due to his desperation and general lack of understanding about the human body, the exoskeleton comes out looking like a lanky robotic nightmare with clawed fingers that jerks around like a big cybernetic marionette.

-Dib meanwhile has been doing slightly better. He and his paranormal research are still looked down upon, but he's persevered through the hope that someday he'll prove he's right. After (indirectly) stopping Zim from joining the Battle of Meekrob, Dib got a small confidence boost, thinking of it as a big step to exposing for Zim real now that he’s effectively trapped on Earth with him now. Although, following a rather blunt intervention from his family, he's started thinking about what he’ll do with himself once Zim is gone. He still hates his guts and he's still hellbent on beating him, but he's also started getting out more and trying to socialize more—however awkward his attempts may be. That he's also gotten taller and his head isn't quite as big compared to the rest of his body has been good for his self-esteem too. But make no mistake—when he's not going for runs, working shifts at his dad’s lab, or looking into a “totally normal” science major, he's toiling away on improving his array of anti-Zim strategies and defenses.

-Gaz is doing pretty good but she is totally done with Zim and Dib's junk. Although she's still her old apathetic self, she's doing everything in her power to broaden her horizons so she doesn't end up in the same, stupid rut that they ended up in. She would have gotten into indie art and game development; although her work is still fairly obscure, it's quickly gaining attention for it's macabre, edgy, punishing and geeky nature. (Imagine the works of Jhonen Vasquez, Toby Fox, Hidetaka Miyazaki, and Hideki Kamiya mashed together.) She also participates in e-sports tournaments on occasion, if only because crushing countless so-called “gamers” brings her amusement. Her psychic powers have also gotten stronger with her age, and she likes to experiment with them whenever she can—usually when somebody really annoys her. She's doing fine in the story until, after a run-in with a certain unkillable spoiled brat at an e-sports tournament, sends her over the edge and she trashes the place in a Carrie-esque episode. This gets her sent to anger management therapy, and now she's trying to find a way out to avoid sitting through an endless slog of "sappy" sessions.

-Gir would still be insane.

-Minimoose would still be the ultimate techno-lifeform Minimoose.

-Zim's Computer is still tired.

-Prof. Membrane is still the greatest and most powerful scientist who ever lived but he’s also trying to make time for his family more and mentoring Dib to be the successor to his legacy he always thinks he was meant to be. That is if is experimental new immortality machine doesn’t work out. May or may not have to fend off Clembrane whenever he comes to visit.

-The Almighty Tallest are still living content, tyrannical lives. They didn't take canceling Operation Impending Doom 2 very hard because, as it turns out, they just got bored with it after a while. (Of course, Zim's repeated interference didn't help keep their spirits up either). However, they'd come up with the perfect plan to obtain absolute control of the universe AND get the feeling back: by making Operation Impending Doom 3 a thing and setting up a huge hype campaign for it. Thing go pretty well for them until Zim calls them and tells them about his new exosuit. They believe that Zim is trying to make himself look like a Tallest so he can lead a rebellion against them and get revenge for treating him like garbage. (He's not, obviously, but they're too dumb and paranoid to realize this.) So, they pretend that they're ok with it and let him carry on his merry way while they figure out how to dispose of him without making him look like a martyr figure of some sort, thus giving the other Irkens they mistreated any ideas.

-Tak would show up again in the second half and this is where it gets spoiler-y. She would come to Earth on the Tallest’s orders with a squad consisting of a reformatted Mimi, rogue SIR units, as well as Tenn and Skoodge who she had recruited to aid in her vendetta against Zim. She would subsequently reveal that after drifting through space in an escape pod, she crashed landed on Meekrob just as the battle was about to begin, and using the element of surprise, rescued Tenn from captivity and assisted Skoodge and the Tallest in devising a battle strategy so brilliant that it crushed the Resisty and Meekrob’s alliance and earned her the status of Irken Elite. She grew comfortable in her new position but could never get over her fear that Zim would eventually ruin it all again, so she waited and prepared for the day she would strike back. I don’t know how or if she would adopt an updated disguise (perhaps a hologram of her older humansona projected over her, Tenn, and Skoodge standing on top of her shoulders?) or hide in the shadows while Tenn, Skoodge, Mimi and the berserk SIR squad did her dirty work.

-Skoodge would have gone from aspiring to be Zim’s friend to being his worst enemy after Tak turned him to her side by digging into his past with him, making him realize how little his supposed old friend cared about him. Despite this he still keeps an unusually cheerful disposition—even repeatedly apologizing to Zim whenever he attacks him—and acts as the heart of Tak’s squad. He thinks of them as his real friends, so he always goes out of his way to help them out or keep the energy up. Even though Tak looks down on him because of his size, she appreciates his gullibility and unquestioning loyalty. Tenn just thinks he’s nice, especially since he’s good at keeping the SIRs in check.

-Tenn has recovered from the traumatic escapades she endured on Meekrob at the hands of the rogue SIR units and imprisonment under the enemy, returning to her usual competant Invader self—something Tak values quite a bit in an armada largely composed of egomaniacs and morons. Tenn values Tak’s companionship even more, viewing her as a conquering hero who not only won the most important battle of Irken history, but also, her heart. …Not she’ll ever act on her feelings. That would inconveniance the mission! (Although Skoodge has picked up on this and gladly supports her, thinking they’d make an adorable couple.) After investation revealed that Zim was supposed to receive the rogue SIR units instead of her while he trashed the Megadoomer that was rightfully assigned to her, she bought into Tak’s view that Zim’s very existence was a threat to all Irkenkind, gladly assisting her efforts to eradicate him.

-Mimi and the rogue SIR units have been reprogrammed to be less insane and follow orders again thanks to Tak and Skoodge’s efforts. However, Tak also had a berserk mode installed specfically for eradicating targets with optimal, brutal efficiency. Mimi still tends to glitch though. In addition to Mimi retaining her cat holo-disguise, the berserker SIRs would gain new disguises resembling either feral cats or rabid teacup poodles. (I hadn’t decided yet.) Tenn still gets anxious around them.

-Gretchen might show up again and would possibly get to reconnect with Dib, maybe even finally be honest with him about her feelings for him when she surprises him with her surprising new position at Membrane Labs: the janitor.

-Keef will… er, uh… actually, don’t get your hopes up.

Well, I think that’s everyone important. Okay back to the plot now!

So, right up front, the biggest part of the plot as well as the biggest reason why I got uncomfortable with the whole thing was there wiould be some romance in here between a few couples and that it would have figured into the plot. The most significant of all: ZAGR (a.k.a. Zim and Gaz Relationship). But I wanted to make it feel organic and even sweet without sacrificing the feel of sardonic madness but also keeping it in the wholesome zone.

I always felt like Zim and Gaz were a natural fit for each other (like quite a few other people, admittedly) because I always felt like their personalities were a good fit and they could have a lot in common. The story would follow them as they unexpectedly developed a romantic friendship, bonding over their resentment of the Earth and humanity, their absent family members, a love of technology of questionable intent, and subjugating those who anger them. It would all start with Gaz agreeing to help Zim improve his suit and his unassuming human act just to get back at Dib for annoying her. At first they’d be acting entirely out of spite and necessity, but as they spent more time together, they’d start to enjoy each other’s company more.

Gaz would be the first develop feelings, since she voluntarily rejected the concept of love instead of being programmed to reject it like Zim, as she slowly realizes how much they have in common—much to her horror. Zim would take more time but when he begins to understand how he feels about and just what these DISGUST feelings are, he’d handle it just as poorly. (e.g. I pictured a scene where Zim has such a hard time admitting his feelings for Gaz that he ends up vomiting black goo like he’s possessed or something. For comedy of course.) But they’d both start to open up to each other in the end, if only because they’re the only two people in the universe they can stand. Gaz would try to help him overcome his anxiety and stop caring as much about what humans think of him, while he would be someone that she can actually relate to.

Dib, however, would take sincerest offense to it. He’d be totally freaking out, nearly diving off the deep end to put his plans to defeat Zim into action and expose him before he could be exposed. He’d also make a point of demanding what Gaz could see in a monster like him, even reminding her of everything that Zim had done. Probably in an exchange like this:

DIB: He stole our organs! He tried to crush the planet with Mars! He kidnapped me and threatened to turn me inside out! He tricked me into helping him teleport Earth into outer space so his rulers could destroy it! He turned me into bologna, Gaz! (*holding back tears*) BOLOGNE!

GAZ: I thought you got over that.

DIB: Well, physically I did, yes, but not mentally.

Gir would be pretty on board with it though.

The other biggest plot of the series would have been Tak’s return and the reveal of her and the Tallest’s master plan to destroy Zim once and for all: kick off Operation Impending Doom 3 by placing Zim on trial, executing him, and completing Tak’s plan to turn the planet Earth into a snack bowl for the Tallest (which she still insists is a good plan, she just never got to complete it) big enough to feed them while they watch the conquest of the rest of the universe in style. Zim and the Membranes get through to her and her squad, and possibly the other Irkens, by turning them against the Tallest to stop the Irkens once and for all. Maybe.

Finally to wrap this little nightmare up, here’s a vague outline of the stories I had planned for this wannabe whopper:

-A Whole New Nightmare – Following an amusing prologue about how Zim and Dib ended up missing the battle of Meekrob, Zim finally realizes that his natural Irken height threatens to expose his façade to all the classmates who have reached proper adolescent human height. He creates his exosuit then proceeds to cause a scene when he calls the Tallest and goes to hi-skool. Meanwhile, Gaz bugs Dib about still wasting his time bullying Zim. Zim then challenges Dib to a contest of normalcy: a series of challenges that are just overhyped normal teenage things like loitering, hanging out with friends, and finally a dance-off. Whoever loses has to admit they’re a complete weirdo and admit they’re most embarrassing secret. Dib wins the first round, but after he blows off Gaz to hang out with the other kids, she and Zim strike up a nice conversation and he wins the second round. The final dance-off ends in a draw when Zim and Dib both end up looking like total dorks. The story ends with Dib and Zim standing up for themselves against their judgemental peers, but Zim ends up overtaking his big speech and convincing his classmates to completely forget about his bizarre new appearance.

-Gaz the Befriended - Zim and Gaz make a deal: Gaz helps him fine tune his suit while posing as his "NORMAL HUMAN!" friend, and in return he helps her figure out how to control her powers while posing as her friend so she won't have to go to anger management counselling. While they do drive each other nuts, they eventually learn they have a lot in common and start acting like real friends. Dib grows suspicious of their "friendship," sets out to uncover the truth.

-They Follow - Dib goes on social media to share his findings on Zim with the world in an attempt to verify all his evidence via wisdom of the crowd. Zim finds out and retaliates by joining social media as well to make himself look like a hard luck case in an effort to gain sympathy from the (basically ignorant) public. As their war of words escalate and their follower bases grow, they end up starting a flame war that threatens to destroy society itself.

-Star Dib - Hoping to find some real help, Dib sends a message to outer space looking for reinforcements. He ends up with what remains of the Resisty, who dissolved after their crushing defeat on The Battle of Meekrob. Taking pity on them, he volunteers to become their new leader. Shenanigans ensue on a galactic level.

-C for Conspiracy - Dib stumbles across a mysterious conspiracy involving Earth tech being backwards compatible with alien tech. He wants to take it on himself, but realizes that he might actually need Zim’s help. So he has to swallow his pride and ask him for help, and as if that weren’t enough he has to put up with his and Gir’s (who tagged along) antics.

-Night of the Living Prom-goers - Prom night comes along and all the hormonally-imbalanced kids are ready to go, except for Zim, Dib, and Gaz. Until Gaz works up the nerve to ask Zim out, which he actually accepts. While Gaz prepares for her perfect tolerable evening, Dib desperately tries to convince her that Zim’s up to something while trying uncover his true motives, only for her to snap at him and challenge his views on Zim. Little do either of them know, Zim plans to use the prom as an experiment to harness Gaz’s power for his own ends. But at the same time, he ponders whether his friendship with Gaz is just a means to an end or something more. Either way it will be a night they will never forget. Or survive! Probably.

-The Return of Tak’s Revenge Rises - Tak finally returns to take her revenge on Zim and the Membrane siblings. Striking them when they least expect with the aid of an upgraded MiMi, a squad of berserk SIR units, and two fellow invaders Zim had wronged in the past.

-Doomed Together - Following Tak’s strike, the Almighty Tallest kick off Operation Impending Doom 3 with a mission of utmost importance: sending in the Irken Armada to ensure Zim is destroyed once for all so they can finally proceed with absolute universal domination. Now, Gaz, Dib, and some unlikely allies must come up with a plan to save their even more unlikely new friend and the rest of the universe from the most fearsome force in the universe! It’s basically the grand finale.

And that is all there is, or was, to Taller Tales of Terror. I can’t guarantee I’ll ever revisit it, what with all the other stuff on my plate right now, but I’m glad to have finally shared the story of my first fanfic with y’all.

So, tell me, my filthy monkey maggot mutual friends. After all that horrible rambling, what did you think?

14 notes · View notes

wickedpact · 4 years ago

Text

anyways @ THE ANON THAT ASKED ABOUT THE GREG RUCKA PODCAST TRANSCRIPT: i did it

Long Ass Post under cut

(literally not kidding there’s an hour long podcast worth of transcript under this cut)

Mimi: Hi I'm Mimi Chan, welcome to culture chat, thanks for joining the conversation. Hi everyone, happy Friday. You might want to watch The Old Guard movie on Netflix before listening today. You can also read my film review to get hyped up for viewing – which is linked here.

Greg Rucka and Leandro Fernández‘s The Old Guard comic has been adapted to film that is available for viewing on Netflix. As the writer of both the comic and screenplay, Greg brings insights on the movie and the decisions behind some of the deviations from the comic.

For fans of the comic, have no fear, the characters and story follow pretty closely to the original. I am fortunate that I developed a friendship with Greg during our weekly conversations and felt comfortable asking candid questions about the adaptation.

Greg shares insights about the film that prompts a discussion on how the film speaks to the crisis our country is currently in amidst the covid19 pandemic and the lack of accountability from our government.

The Old Guard, directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, is available on Netflix now starring an amazing cast including: Charlize Theron and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

For those that don’t already know: Greg Rucka is a New York Times bestselling author of hundreds of comics and nearly two dozen novels. He has written for film, television, and video games. His career has included critically acclaimed and Eisner-winning work in both the creator-owned and work-for-hire arenas.

I’m loving these conversations and hope you are too. If you are, please rate my podcast on your platform of choice.

Finally, if you would like to support with a donation, you can become a patron of the show by visiting my website or Patreon.com. For comments or suggestions, please email me at [email protected] or reach out on social media @sifumimichan. Now on with the show!

[the phonecall starts]

Mimi: Hello, hello, Greg Rucka!

Greg: How you doing, Mimi?

Mimi: Great since last week, um, I'm great also because I got to watch The Old Guard!

Greg: [BIG GASP] You did?

Mimi: I did, I did! Apparently I qualify as a real journalist to Netflix. [laughs]

Greg: [also laughs] Right, you sent the media inquiry and they said ‘sure’!

Mimi: I said, ‘you know, what? It would be great if I actually saw this before talking to Greg, and then I could really have a conversation.’ And I was like, ‘wait, why don't I just check if I can?’ And then naturally--

Greg: Lo and behold!

Mimi: Yeah, if you ask, uh, you know,? That’s when things get done.

Greg: [finishing her 'if you ask' thought] --you shall receive, yeah.

Mimi: That's right, that's right.

Greg: It's interesting to me because I know that for some people... you know, they had no problem getting access...

Mimi: Yeah.

Greg: And then, you know, the friends and family screenings were a freaking nightmare to arrange.

Mimi: Oh really?

Greg: And they were like 'oh no you can only give it to only like seven people'

Mimi: Yeah.

Greg: And it's like 'oh hey dudes calm down' but, you know, uh, it won't matter come midnight tonight--

Mimi: That's right!

Greg: --Everyone's gonna have access!

Mimi: That's right. so I was so excited to be able to watch it and, um, man-- I almost feel bad talking to you right now because I feel like you must be really kind of exhausted from talking about the film --as much as you love it! I just I can only imagine that it's been hour after hour after hour of inquiry, so I feel a little guilty.

Greg: There has been a lot of talking about the movie, yes. There has not been a lot of talking about the movie with you, however, so that that does distinguish it.

Mimi: Ah, you are too kind to me, too kind to me. So, first of all-- and you're gonna have to sit here and just take it -- I'm just so unbelievably excited for you and a huge congratulations-- I mean-- I already knew from the trailer, that it was going to be a quality and just an intense and well-written film, because you wrote it. But, upon watching it --you know, of course, you know, Oscar [her bf or husband maybe?] got to jump into my media pass. He was privy!

Greg: I was gonna say, did you say 'you can't come in here while I watch it', you know?

Mimi: I mean, you know-- he's not gonna tell anyone. But we were, we were completely enamored. We were super super excited, and it wasn't just an action film, you know. I think beyond that, what you and Gina brought to it was just-- the strength of the characters, which is something you and I have discussed so much, and how that is what drives a story, and so beyond it being a good movie I just really feel like you were able to tell the story that you conveyed-- not only in the comic, but, you know, come to life. And so I'm, I was, I'm just so excited for you.

Greg: And I'm delighted to hear it

Mimi: I have been reading reviews-- I wrote my own little review-- you know, since I got the access and all, I felt like obligated but, um, obviously, I'm not the only one with this opinion. You must feel-- I guess validated is the wrong word, because I think, you know where you stand with your work, but it must feel really good being your first screenplay.

Greg: I-- wow. um. Hm. I -- so Netflix sends, um, an email like on average once a day, sometimes it's been twice a day, with sort of like 'here's the press round up'!

Mimi: Yeah

Greg: And so I’ve woken up the last couple days to 'here are the reviews!' and I immediately delete. Right? Because I don't want to see them, um... and that's just me, right. That’s just me trying to negotiate how I feel about... reviews and my relationship with them. And, it isn't the most mature way to deal with them, I am the first to admit, um, but I-- for better or worse, I'm in a place where I feel like, well if I invest in a review --that is a positive review-- the amount of work... um... the amount of work required to do the due diligence on the reviewer and also on then, say, negative reviews is such that I just-- I'm not going-- I can't devote it.

Mimi: Right, mm-hm, yeah, it's a rabbit hole.

Greg: So some of the reviews-- and all that said, some of this stuff is getting to me anyway, right, I mean, I got-- you know people text me and 'oh look here's a review' and it is gratifying as hell. Uh... at the end of the day --and I learned this with my novels pretty early on, is that at the end of the day, you know, a great review is wonderful, and it'll make you feel good about yourself, and maybe it'll sell more books... but at a certain point in -- and you know this-- you've experienced this... as you make the thing, and then at a certain point it goes into the world and all you can do is be like... you know, ‘are you wearing clean underwear and hopefully you'll find a safe home’ [<-- he’s talking like he's the story's mother with that statement]. You know, hopefully-- hopefully there will-- there are people out there that will embrace. So the extension of that is that... Netflix reaches something like 130 million plus households around the world. alright, Um, I'm pretty sure out of a theoretical 130 million people who might see the movie, uh, you know -- I would be surprised if, you know, 30 percent of them didn't-- you know-- couldn't stand it. I wouldn't-- I wouldn't be surprised. Right? There are going to be people who are going to see it and it's not going to be their thing.

Mimi: Yeah

Greg: they're not-- it's not going to speak to them-- they're not going to like the choices that we made-- that they're going to be offended, or just bored or whatever. And... Can’t do anything about it!

Mimi: Yeah.

Greg: All I can do is stand beside the work that we've created and say I am proud of what we did here, and I feel that we, um, we honored the source material, and --I believe -- in many ways improved on it.

Mimi: Yeah and that's something I definitely want to get into. I mean my take was obviously-- I'm a fan of your comics, so I know the comic, I know the story, and the immediate thing as a comic book quote unquote fan is like: you're comparing, right, you're comparing the story, you're comparing the characters-- and, you know, when I wrote my little review I thought about what I could say, you know, I could I could criticize action, I could talk about this... but I really feel -- and this maybe, it's because you and I have been talking for like 11 or 12 weeks straight now, it's literally like... the perfect story at a time when we need it most. I think there's strong women, there's a diverse cast, and ass kicking to greedy individuals of the world is exactly what we need right now!

Greg: Like oh yeah, there's some lovely wish fulfillment. Yes, you know, it's like 'oh, you know, rich selfish pharma asshole? Yeah oh no you got an axe in your head! Too bad!'

Mimi: I know! I was like, ‘so Greg, so Greg!’ and-- you know, we've talked about this before like now that I'm reading your novels and your prose, it's, it's I hear you speaking to me in my head even though usually it's an audio book-- and so even watching the film Oscar and I immediately were like 'I wonder what pharma did to piss him off recently' and, you know, so it's just it's so great--

Greg: Exist!

Mimi: -- to be able to kind of watch it-- [laughing] Exist, right right. So, um, so let's talk about--

Greg [gearing himself up]: Let's talk about insulin prices maybe, uh, you know, I mean. Doesn’t take much--

Mimi: Yeah and you and I discussed this, uh, previously as well that you do feel that at the end of the day you wrote a better story, and I already put a disclaimer at the top of this podcast that yeah--

[Both at once] total spoiler alerts big spoiler alerts!

Mimi: --but there's no way I'm not going to talk to you about it! Which is, um, you know, the ending obviously is so, uh, different than what was laid out in the comic. One is, uh, Andy is still bleeding! What the hell! [laughs] so that's the first thing. But my big takeaway and the thing I loved, and I think that was probably a decision by both you and Gina, um, was Nile really becoming kind of the heroine and finding herself in her own, but also really the one to bring everyone back to what was purposeful and what was meaningful-- finding that why, you know, and I think that was a really really powerful choice and I actually really enjoyed that choice. So I was wondering, um, you know, for you of course knowing the story already, and then going 'okay here I am going to adapt' it like at what point did you realize like-- that was something that needed to change?

Greg: Well, um, I mean if people have been listening to interviews some of this is going to sound a little repetitious. I will say that, you know, the first draft of the screenplay I did with, uh, Matt Grimm(?) as sort of my producer in quotes, at Skydance and when we finished it-- or when I finished it-- and he had given me all the notes and I’d done revisions, and we put it in front of Don Granger(?) at Skydance-- and Granger came back with three notes. And I have dealt with a lot of Hollywood types and in the main-- most of their notes are crap. And Granger has yet to give me a note that wasn't spot dead on. And the biggest of the three was, um, you know, he said-- I really like-- it's really good-- he says ‘Nile has no impact whatsoever on this plot. Um, if you remove her the story changes, but the plot doesn't’. And I sat there and I went-- you know, bewildered -- and I sort of looked at the source material and I was like 'you are absolutely correct. You are absolutely 100% correct'. So the big thing that happened between the first draft and the second draft was that I thought of the second draft as-- this is the Nile draft-- like the first draft had been the Andy story. And then the second draft was me going, ‘okay you have the Andy story, now what is the Nile story? Really really take a look at that and figure out how to bone it up’. So and I honestly think that in large part it was the execution of that, uh, was one of the things that Gina responded to so strongly when she was given the screenplay. And then when Gina came aboard, there was just consistent work in fine-tuning not just Andy and Nile but everybody else's stories throughout the work. But it was, um, it was absolutely, you know, I mean-- it was-- it was-- it was malice of forethought. It was-- it was 'Nile has to be able to shoulder this and we need to serve her well'

Mimi: Yeah and--

Greg: Andy was never the question, it really was: can we do right for Nile?

Mimi: Yeah no and that really definitely shines through. And I think there's that says so much about you as a writer, as a screenwriter, as a storyteller, because there are a lot of people, um, that would not be able to have that humility in writing and maybe take that feedback and criticism. because, you know, this was not like you adapted someone else's comic, like this was already your comic, you know, so they're basically giving you notes on what's already your story-- and did you find that aspect of it, uh, challenging or was it just kind of second nature-- because I know you as a person, so I know that you would take criticism well, if it is well meant and if it was constructive. but at the same time when you're in it though, and you've put so much work into those drafts-- it's not like 'oh let me just write this' and it takes five minutes, you know? You put so much into it. So how's that process for you?

Greg: You know, it was not-- it wasn't as difficult as some people seem to think it might have been. And maybe it's simply that I'm at an age where I'm able to look at my work with some degree of objectivity and I, long ago, past the point of believing that, uh... that that the work can't be improved. and I went into the process eyes very wide open, you know, I think one of the reasons Skydance was willing to let me write the drafts was because I made it clear up front that I understood... The movie was not the comic. It needed to be a different thing, and one of the things that they were adamant about were the things that I kept. Now, I had a conversation with Granger once where I said 'I'm kind of surprised nobody ever came to me and said ‘you got to get rid of that armored car sequence' and he looked at me and he said 'if that hadn't been in there I would have wanted to know why, and I would have made you put it back. That’s one of the things that we bought' for instance. So I think, you know, if there was anything to recommend me, it was that I entered the process... fully aware that this had to be a different animal.

Mimi: Yeah, yeah.

Greg: And that was liberating. And there are certain things-- for instance, you know, um, in the comic book there's the sequence in the Paris safe house on the stairs in the apartment. And when Charlize came on one of the first notes was 'we're gonna have to change that sequence'. Because in recent memory Charlize Theron has done a pretty intense action sequence--

Mimi: Yeah.

Greg: --coming down the stairs in an apartment.

Mimi: Atomic Blonde, yeah

Greg: You got it! And it was like oh that-- that's a gimme. And the result of that was the discovery of Goussainville right, which is this real town 30 minutes outside of Paris that is a ghost town; it's been a ghost town since the early 1970s.

Mimi: Wow, yeah it was a beautiful location

Greg: Yeah and-- and the place is real, and they didn't shoot in Goussainville. They shot-- they shot that at the same place where they shot the medieval castle flashbacks.

Mimi: Okay.

Greg: That's all the same estate.

Mimi: Nice, nice.

Greg: It's about an hour outside of London. Which gives you an idea of the magic--

Mimi: Of the magic of movies yeah! And do you feel like maybe because your experience as a comic book collaborator... like you have to collaborate. I’ve learned about this a lot more as I’ve spoken to so many creators -- like you and Michael for instance-- on Lazarus, like the way you collaborate, it's not 'I write you draw, period' like-- you-- there's a lot of back and forth, a lot of questioning of your decisions and-- ‘arguing’ may be the wrong term, but, you know, there is a lot of, uh, collaboration in terms of Michael giving you feedback and vice versa, and not feeling like 'oh you're stepping in my territory'. Do you feel like that is probably something that maybe even conditioned you for the screenwriting process?

Greg: I think so. If -- I mean-- I don't wanna-- I don't wanna pat myself on the back over much. But I do think that I am, um, I think I'm certainly a willing collaborator if not always a good collaborator on projects. Um, that if the people I am working with... want to engage that collaboration, I tend to respond to it very well. Um, and I think that's something that absolutely was learned through comics. And I can think, you know, immediately of Gotham Central which doesn't exist if Ed Brubaker(?) and I don't learn how to work together with Michael Lark(?) very quickly and very adeptly--which to this day, is one of my favorite collaborations in comics ever. I don't think you get to work, like, 52 for DC, um, if you don't learn how to collaborate, and to collaborate well.

Mimi: Exactly.

Greg: Which isn't always which isn't always saying 'yes and' sometimes you have to put your foot down and say 'no but'

Mimi: Yeah.

Greg: Um, and there were plenty of arguments to be had, you know, in the process of this. Um, but most of those arguments frankly didn't occur until really late in the stage, and they were always focused to the same end. It was never-- that-- there was never an argument about, um-- there was never an argument about intent. there was always an argument about 'what's the best way to do it' right, 'what's the best way to execute' and, you know, I lost as many of those as I won, and... In the end... it seems to have all worked out, because, you know-- it is by no means a flawless motion picture. But I think it absolutely is a successful film. I think it does, it does, it tells its story well, it is moving, it is exciting, it is fun, it has a heart to it...and it leaves you with some questions! And they're not just plot questions-- that-- it leaves you with some stuff that if you are inclined to think about, there's a lot there's a lot to unpack.

Mimi: Absolutely. Yeah. I mean... the question, of course, that whole immortality-- like some people immediately will be like 'of course I’d want to be immortal' I'm like 'but would you want to watch everyone you know die?' and then 'all right would you be alone' and, you know, of course Booker's-- you know, um-- punishment, have you, of being alone quote unquote for a hundred years... I mean a hundred years, you know, you think-- that's a long time.

Greg: Right.

Mimi: And so, uh, I do have to ask though what's up with Andy! Like --you're-- you left us in such a --in such a state! Oscar’s like 'you have to ask Greg what's going on with Andy' or do we not-- we cannot go there?

Greg: Look, the film has a very obviously-- very obvious 'in case of sequel break glass' scene. Right, I mean-- and that's how I've been referring to it. The 'emergency sequel' button is right there. And all they have to do is go 'beep' and you have your entree into another story. Um, the question about Andy really is whether or not the immortality is the thing that matters, right. Where she is left at the end of the film, I think, asks some really cool questions about who this woman gets to be moving forward. Um, and should we be able to do a sequel, you bet your ass we're going to interrogate the hell out of that. Um, but... one of the things that I particularly like about the movie-- and I say this with the, you know, 'in case in case of sequel break glass' proviso, is that the movie doesn't need a sequel. The movie has an ending, it is a complete work. It does not say, uh, 'unless there is a second story this story doesn't have merit or value or mean anything'.

Mimi: Right.

Greg: It stands absolutely on its own.

Mimi: Yeah.

Greg: Um, should there be an Old Guard 2, then I suspect an Old Guard 2 is gonna be arguably contingent on making an Old Guard 3. That, once you enter into a second part you are actually saying 'we are we are talking about, uh, a collection, we're we're talking about a completion here' and that movement in that structure is in act 1 and act 2 and act 3. But as it stands now as you walk away from it-- all right, so maybe Andy's gonna die. You know, maybe the next day she crosses the street she's hit by a truck.

Mimi: I'm gonna guess no on that!

Greg: But maybe. Or maybe, maybe she gets to go for 50 years, you know, and die of old age. Finally.

Mimi: Right, um, and I liked what she said, when there was that realization point by others that, you know, she was possibly losing her mortality and she said 'it doesn't matter, we go in the same way, and we come out the same way, as we always did' so nothing changes.

Greg: ‘This changes nothing’

Mimi: ‘This changes nothing’. And that really resonated with me because you kind of go ‘okay it's not about the immortality or the magic or the fighting or any of that', you know, it's like, who she is and what her purpose is has been-- you know, it was just I thought it was really--

Greg: Well and I think thematically right, um-- hold on a second sorry-- um, I think, um, thematically that that is the crucial thing right? Um, it is an issue of -- okay at the end of the day... you can strip away the whole immortality of this movie and it's still saying the same thing. And it is saying that how you live your life matters. And the decisions you make, and the choices you make, and the ways you... choose to help people, matter. And they matter beyond an accounting you will ever be privileged to see. And the... obvious and I suppose easy, um, analogy for that right now is the act of wearing a mask in public.

Mimi: Yeah.

Greg: Your decision to wear a mask in public may save the life of somebody literally on the other side of the world.

Mimi: Yeah.

Greg: And that may be the person who will cure cancer, I mean, to draw it really big.

Mimi: Yeah yeah that's the ripple effect.

Greg: Right yeah, we don't know the value of the life. And I’ve talked about this as well but, you know, if you use the good place, um, term of moral desert--

Mimi: Yeah.

Greg: --if you're trying to live your life in search of moral desert then-- you-- that's a fine reason to do good things, but it is a flawed motivation. That the motivation needs to be 'we do the best we can and we try to help others because that is what we should do'. And what the film is able to say 'is these people have been around long enough that it is possible to see it'

Mimi: Yeah.

Greg: But that isn't the reason you do it, right. And Andy says --and I think this is important she says that to Booker-- you do it on faith. You know, she says to Booker, 'have a little faith, Book'. Um, that she has come through all of this with this reaffirmation, that there is that... there is a worthiness to the effort itself. That we engage in the struggle for the sake of the struggle. And I can't think of anything frankly more resonant in July of 2020 than that right now. We are living in a time, in a place that is genuinely the worst it has ever been in modern history. I mean it genuinely is.

Mimi: Yeah.

Greg: We're looking at this-- this makes the start of World War II look like a fucking picnic. The crises that the world is facing and the bad actors who are attempting to keep it going, who are actively fighting attempts to fix it, uh, is staggering. We are facing a banality of evil at this moment that is incomprehensible, if you really start to think about it. And it is on every fucking level, you know, it's it is from foreign students we're going to kick out of the country--

Mimi: I know that's infuriating.

Greg: The only reason to do that is to kill higher education, at a time when higher education is its most vulnerable. It’s the only reason to do it.

Mimi: Yeah, it's all insidious

Greg: That is-- that is a-- that is a direct, direct attack on the intellect of the country. It is it is an attack trying to make the United States dumber, because the stupider we get the easier we are for these fucking fascists to control. Right, we have-- we are at war with Russia, but we have the GOP and the president refusing to admit it, because they work for Russia.

Mimi: Yeah yeah.

Greg: Right, but we are at war with Russia right now. All right, there's no question. We have a president who is actively promoting a white supremacist agenda, because he wants a race war, because he wants a civil war, because that way he won't have to lose the election and he won't have to leave, because if he leaves he's going to get raped to death when he goes to prison.

Mimi: Tell me how you really feel, Greg!

Greg: We are-- we are literally at a staggering crisis.

Mimi: Yeah yeah no, and when you're explaining all of those things about the film that was exactly what I was thinking was, well and that is why it's so frustrating when something as simple as, I hear people say ‘well I don't believe I should have to wear a mask' that's why it's so infuriating-- [they talk over each other a little]

Greg: --selfish thing to do

Mimi: Yeah.

Greg: It is a staggering selfishness. I-- [mocking] 'oh it's hard for me to breathe wearing a face mask' it's like, 'you're the same guy who won't wear a condom because it doesn't feel good!’ you know, and it's like-- and-- I’ve got no tolerance for that, I literally have no tolerance. You know, you can't do-- it's funny, you're asking ER people to do it 24 hours a day.

Mimi: Exactly

Greg: They seem to manage it!

Mimi: Have you seen, uh, Jon Stewart lately, he's been doing a lot of interviews and there was this one where he's like 'yeah, I mean what happened to wearing a mask as like a sign of a medical professional? So the next time you go to surgery you're to tell your surgeon 'don't you dare wear a mask, get that liberal shit away from me, because I'm an American, I don't need your mask--'

Greg: '--I don't need you I’ll take those dreams(?)--'

Mimi: Yeah yeah

Greg: It's bullshit, it's selfish bullshit, and it's propaganda.

Mimi: Yeah right.

Greg: And it comes down from, you know, it comes down from, you know, the hissy fiddler in chief.

Mimi: Yeah. Lack of leadership.

Greg: Exactly.

Mimi: I'm living in it in Florida, too. Let me tell you that that trickle down is no joke, here.

Greg: I hate to tell you, Mimi, but [sarcastic] thank you, Florida. You know. Florida: the reason why the rest of the country can't have nice things.

Mimi: I know! Florida wins, every time it's so embarrassing!

Greg: I would be, I would consider moving [if he lived in Florida], simply because I would be infuriated.

Mimi: I know and, you know, I thought about it in 2016, but then I thought ‘I will stay and fight!’ because of you! You’re the one that wrote at the end of Lazarus to stay and fight, and now it's your fault that I'm staying! [Both laughing]

Greg: But see and here's the thing, right-- we can, we can rag on Florida, easy target, the fact of the matter is there are plenty of Floridians who are wearing masks and looking around and being like 'what the hell is the matter with you guys'.

Mimi: Yes! So we're trying! We’re trying!

Greg: And this is the other thing the vast number of people who are trying to do right, the people who do have empathy, the people who do care, we outnumber these guys! But the problem in being in a situation where we're all in it together is it doesn't take many people who say 'I'm not in it with you' to fuck it up for everybody else. That’s the problem. And then that is tied to the fact that those of us who do look at one another with empathy are resistant to-- for instance, taking a baseball bat to the people who are ruining for the rest of us. And this is one of the things frankly that we need to get over. We need to get to a place where it is not-- it is not tolerated. We need to get to a place where-- and the starkest example is this, you know, if you're going to pull out that racist bullshit somebody needs to hit you. There was a time when racists were scared and the reason they were scared was because they got punched in the mouth. And we stopped punching Nazis in the mouth!

Mimi: Yeah.

Greg: we've stopped punching Nazis in the mouth! And we have spent way too long right now trying to reason with people when they are working from a place that defies reason. If you start your argument with 'you don't have a right to exist'. I'm not going to convince you! I have no obligation to convince you! None! None whatsoever! You look me in the eye and you say 'because you're Jewish you should die,' I get to say, 'guess what, here's the baseball bat'. That does not engage me. I will engage you about policy decisions.

Mimi: Mm-hmm yeah.

Greg: You know, Mark is fond of saying-- I remember he said 'I missed the days when I used to be able to argue with my republican friends about policy'.

Mimi: Yeah yeah I know.

Greg: You can't do that anymore, now it's about ideology and it's not even valid ideology. It is a demonstrably invalid ideology and we know it.

Mimi: Yeah yeah yeah the moral compass has been completely destroyed.

Greg: And we know how that happened and we know why that happened.

Mimi: Yeah.

Greg: And we all know that Mark Zuckerberg is not doing anything to fix it, because Mark Zuckerberg is a chicken shit.

Mimi: Oh you mean 'Mark Zuckerberg, comma, the known pedophile'? Who doesn't believe in checking facts?

Greg: Yeah. I'm talking about Mark Zuckerberg, who was recently seen having sex with dead goats.

Mimi: [laughs] That one, okay got it. [laughs again, pause] so, uh……... The Old Guard... I'm just kidding!

Greg: No, but, okay but to bring it back around, I think that... look, there's one of the things that I love about the movie, and I think Gina and especially Charlize's performance, carries is the melancholy of it. But to end the movie on this note that Nile brings. This grace note that is, I think, it's not a call to arms, but it is an affirmation of what we can do. It doesn't matter, it literally is-- take away their immortality, the message is the same. and I'll take that message right now, man, without hesitation.

Mimi: Yeah it's true, she made the choice to get into the fight and to, you know, back up her team, her new family basically is what it is and, um, I would be amiss if I didn't talk about my unbelievable love for Nicky! [pause] and Joe! I, oh my god, [fangirling intensifies] so I loved it as much in the comic, but seeing it on screen... There was just something very magical for me, especially, you know, the scene in the truck and Joe does his 'my boyfriend' speech. you know, I-- oh my gosh. I think I rewound and rewatched that part because it was just so beautiful and so perfectly executed and, um-- that relationship to me, is just that's what I need right now. Like I need to believe in love, and I need to see, um, the happy parts of the film.

Greg: Marwan killed that, but I gotta tell you, one of my favorite moments is the moment when they're in the lab and, uh, and Nicky being like, 'much as I like watching you sleep...' and just the warmth between them on that and, you know, 'I’ve been thinking about Malta' and 'which time in Malta' and--

[both, very cutely] 'Ah that time in Malta!'

Greg: Yeah and I just, you know, Luca and Marwan. I look-- the casting on the movie is superlative. I just --I cannot imagine how they could have cast better. But the genuine friendship between Luca and Marwan, behind the scenes. They were, you know, they were going out and drinking at night, and Leandro has a photo of the two of them, uh, between setups outside of the soundstage at Shepparton, and they're kicking a soccer ball back and forth! They just, you know, they just loved each other as people.

Mimi: Yeah.

Greg: You know what I mean? They were tight.

Mimi: Yeah yeah it translates! It really, it really translates on film. Like it's, you know, obviously maybe they're not like in love and like this couple, but you could see there's this chemistry, and they're friends, and there's a love for one another and, um, oh gosh it really translates. And so yeah-- I oh-- I just want to take Nicky home with me.

Greg: There is a shot-- it's one of the last--it's the last, I think, solo shot on Luca and it's the moment when he's looking at the sociogram, and he's just got his head cocked to the side... and it is... it's one of those things that you can only do in film, right, because it's --literally the camera, he is looking past the camera at this thing that the audience isn't seeing, and all it is him looking at it, and it's not like his he's doing facial calisthenics or anything.

Mimi: Right yeah

Greg: And I look at that shot and I just adore him-- and I can't even tell you-- I don't know if he was acting. It looks like acting to me!

Mimi: Right yeah Luca did such a spot on--

Greg: But that look in that moment. And me-- I just go-- like oh my god. He is so good.

Mimi: Yeah yeah.

Greg: He is so good.

Mimi: So let's talk a little bit about being on set because I know that you, uh, of course it's Stump Town but you weren't as involved in it the way that you were with this film being the screenwriter... um, you know, what was just kind of some memorable moments for you or what challenging moments even?

Greg: Challenging moments? Okay, um, this is gonna get me in trouble. I’ll tell you-- so I’ll tell you a couple of my favorite stories. Um, challenging was-- there were a lot of night shoots. And it was roughly, you know, I mean we're talking on the ninth, and I think I got back from England almost a year ago tomorrow, right. And I had been in England for about four or five weeks working on the film. And, a lot of those were night shoots on location. And that meant that you would, you know, end up going out during the day and you would have to wait until full dark in England, in summer. So there was literally shooting on the shortest night of the year, you had three and a half hours of darkness in which to shoot. And it gets a little bit of a grind.

Mimi: Yeah.

Greg: You know, you're out there, and you're tired, and it is late, and it is cold, and there are only so many, you know, Americanos you can get from craft services (?) [laughs] yeah, um, and that was... that was exhausting. Um, I will tell you the best day I had.

Mimi: Yes.

Greg: Um, and this is going to piss people off, if they ever hear this and they won't so. Um, Mark Evans is this wonderful wonderful man, who was the producer on the movie. He was the guy on the ground. And when I arrived there had been, um, I mean-- so the long and the short of it is this: I got fired from the project in January of 2019. They brought in another writer for about six to eight weeks, they fired that writer. They brought in another writer, uh, and at that point Gina was re-engaging me. And then I ended up, by the time I was back out there, I was rehired on the production. But in that interim of like two and a half, three months, there had been different scenes and variations on the script. And so when I arrived the draft was this Frankenstein thing that was some of my original stuff, and some of the stuff Gina had done, and some of the stuff the last writer had done, and then the stuff that I had been doing throughout May and into June before I got there. And we ended up, um, on this day and it was super hot, and it's the sequence when they are filming-- it's the sequence outside of Andy's mine. And it was the arrival at the mine and then it's the scene with Andy and Nile outside of the mine. And those were shot at a quarry, um, in or near... I want to say Sussex.

Mimi: Okay.

Greg: So it's about an hour and a half outside of London and it is already scorching hot as we're headed out there. And we all know it's going to be all day, because we're going to have to, um, set everything up to then shoot dusk as dawn, right?

Mimi: Yeah.

Greg: So I'm staying at this hotel and they have a driver, you know, the driver was assigned to me and I forget his name-- he was lovely, it was this great guy, and these guys are all interesting anyway, like the set drivers-- there's a whole discussion to be had about these guys. This guy is terrific, and we're driving down and we're talking, because I like talking to these guys, and, you know, I'm not going to be able to write in the car because I'll throw up everywhere. And he tells me that, oh yeah, you know, his parents moved down here and this and that, and I knew going out that day that Mark and I were going to spend the day in a trailer trying to compile everything into one collective draft. And I already wasn't looking forward to that, because I’d be like 'I'm gonna be in a goddamn trailer all day doing that. I don't wanna...’ [grumbles]. But I said to him 'wait a minute you're from around here?' he says 'oh yeah, you know.'[pause] '...you know, any good pubs?' and he says, 'uh, I do, yeah, there's a great old pub I can think of' and I say 'okay'. So we get to the location, and we are in the middle of nowhere because it's a FUCKING quarry.

Mimi: Right.

Greg: And base camp where they put the trailers is literally a mile from where they're shooting.

Mimi: Okay

Greg: Right because you have to go up this hill and up these little roads to the quarry. It’s an old quarry. and I get there, and nobody's around, and one of the assistants says 'oh Mark's over there' and I go okay and I go to Mark's trailer and I knock on the door, and I open the door, and he's sitting there. And it's not glamorous. Understand these are not the movies star trailers, these are not airstream trailers, these are absolutely no frills-- like there-is-a-bathroom-and- two- tables trailers, right? There's nothing sexy about them. This is not--I know what people think of when they go oh 'you're in a [noises]'. No! This trailer-- I mean Charlize may have had a glorious trailer--

Mimi: Right, this was not Charlize's trailer

Greg: Yeah Kiki might have, you know, I don't know--

Mimi: This is more like a middle school trailer.

Greg: Exactly. The example is this is the kind of trailer that they bring to the elementary school when they've run out of classrooms, right

Mimi: Right.

Greg: Right and so Mark's sitting there. And he's-- and the thing about Mark is he's got so much energy, and he says 'Rucka!' and I say 'Mark! ...let's go to a pub.' and he goes '...can we do that?' and I say 'do we have to be here today to do this? There a reason you have to be here, in this trailer, to do this work?' and he goes '...let's go to a pub!'. So we find the driver, and I say to him-- I think his name was Steve-- and I say 'Steve, can you take us to that pub?' and he says 'yeah!'. So we get in the car-- and we drive, and it takes about 20 minutes, and about 15 minutes into the drive Evans is looking at me like 'this is not go-- I thought it was nearby'. And, you know, its like-- it is nearby, but these are little narrow roads --

Mimi: Right right.

Greg: --the driver had to orient... and we finally get to this place-- this beautiful old pub up on top of this hill--

Mimi: Wow.

Greg: --in Sussex, on the hottest day of the year so far, underneath these trees, at these benches-- and this is an old pub, like they closed at like two and didn't open again until five and we got there at like 1:30. So we got there, we get lunch, we get a plate, and we sit out there and we work until like 5:30-6. And about halfway into this Mark's like 'we're gonna get in so much trouble for doing this'. It’s my favorite day on this set right now. literally lo and behold by about the time five o'clock, six o'clock, rolls around he's starting to get calls from his assistant being like 'they want to know where you are'.

Mimi: Right. [jokingly] 'We’re working offset!'

Greg: And we did! We got it all compiled and then we drove back to location and-- we were there when they did the actual shooting and everything. But that was, and will probably be to the end of my days, one of my most favorite film experiences, which is the part of making the movie where we got to go 'we get to go do this now'

Mimi: Yeah yeah.

Greg: You know, and that was, it was a treat. I loved it.

Mimi: I love that, yeah. And it's so great because you needed some creativity. Like a trailer just doesn't do it, so I thought that made it a lot of sense. How much fun, though, because I often hear that when people are filming in different places, you don't get to explore in the way that you would like to. So it's nice that you kind of were able to take a mini break. A one day break.

Greg: But it really was --and I do kind of mean it-- was a present.

Mimi: Yeah.

Greg: I have photos from time on set, and there's a shot... the house that was used for Merrick’s apartment, is called the jura house, and it's apparently owned by some Russian oligarch, and it's a very shi-shi, fancy, you know, 800-architectural-awards house.

Mimi: Yeah.

Greg: And I have a photo of Evans and me-- I think Leo took it --and we're literally sitting on the floor, in the basement, which is where all the monitors were set up, as they're filming upstairs... backs to the wall, each of us with our laptops on our knees, each of us using these, uh, rifle bags that have been doubled and tripled over as pillows. And that's the experience on The Old Guard. It’s literally [?? I’m not sure what he said, ‘doing our best’ maybe ??] and, um, yeah, so yeah. It is a remarkable-- and you know this, you made a movie-- it's a remarkable amount of hard work. You come out of the experience going-- and I’ve said this before-- once you are involved in the making of a movie, you can never walk away going 'god how do they manage to make such a bad movie?' The question is always 'how did they manage to make a movie?'

Mimi: Yeah.

Greg: The mere act of forcing this kind of bizarre storytelling into creation... is it's staggering. It defies any realm of logic... the precision required, the commitment required, the attention required, to create something that's going to exist on somebody's eyeballs for a second or two or three. Shot by shot. You know, um, it's insane.

Mimi: Yeah it is, yeah and there's so many moving parts, you know, and you're such a huge part of this one and so I'm so excited to see how well it came together. and it-- from what you could see, because you were saying 'oh, you know, everybody was close on set they were playing soccer and all these things' and it's like, you can see that it's a film that has, you know, cohesion. like it's very well put together, like you could feel that everything was in its place, like I could see you got along with Gina, I could see that, you know, you could see each part was where it needed to be, because seeing sets that fall apart-- and you-- it isn't a question of how movies fall apart and they don't, you know, go from one process to another, there's no, um, you know, synergy between the people working. But it really really did come together and I'm super super excited for you, and excited for the sequel! My my only thing--

Greg: Potential! [sequel]

Mimi: Potential! Oh I think I think that, uh, viewers are going to want more. like I said, it's a film that we do need right now and I think it's a refreshing, uh, type of thing where we can kind of just take a moment away and be lost in a film. I think that's a gift, because I find that that doesn't happen as often as I'd like it to these days! Uh, but, um, but yeah the casting, everything was beautiful, and I'm so happy for you, as a writer but also as a filmmaker now. My only quarry, my only disappointment is I was not around to, um --especially since there could be a sequel-- to at least audition for Qynh because I know there's some awesome sword work that could be coming in the future! And I'm so like-- but I'm super excited because Veronica, you know, the little we did get to see of her, she did a fabulous job! But I was like 'man I would have liked to throw my hat in for that one'. [laughs]

Greg: Gotta talk to your agent!

Mimi: I know!

Greg: I didn't have anything to do with casting!

Mimi: I know, I know, I know. No, but it's super exciting to see kind of that how it all comes together. Especially reading it, right, because of course like I said, I've read the rest of the comic. I know the new one just dropped!

Greg: Yeah, issue five will be out next week.

Mimi: That's very exciting! So yes so, uh, listeners go ahead and grab that! Get the whole thing though, so you could see it from beginning to end! Because, uh, it does kind of complement seeing the movie, you know, it complements it. You get that backstory, you kind of get the feeling for the characters in a different way, and like you said they're different mediums. Um, but both really amazing stories, and a lot of fun to, um, to be a part of. And to experience so super exciting [they both make weird excited noises] so, uh, hopefully we'll talk again next week, I know you have been going crazy with all these interviews but, um, everybody go and watch The Old Guard right now! Because it is available, you can turn on your Netflix and you don't have to wait, it's right there!

Greg: Right there!

Mimi: Right there for you!

Greg: In fact you won't even have to search for it!

Mimi: No, it's gonna be number one!

Greg: It's gonna shove it in your face!

Mimi: Yeah it'll be recommended for you, and, um, I also, uh, you know, as a filmmaker. I know that you guys don't need as big of a push because it's Netflix and all but, you know, give it a little rating! Go on to imdb and give it some love. Um, because why not? [laughs] Alright Greg, I don't want to take up much more of your time, I think you need to unwind and enjoy this. Congratulations on your film and, uh, we're super excited for it!

Greg: Thank you Mimi!

Mimi: That's all for today's episode! Thanks for listening to culture chat and hope you enjoyed the conversation.

#it was completely random whether i included the 'um's tbh #also warning greg goes on a Political Rant in the middle so if that kind of thing bothers you: there it is

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dumbchickwrites · 4 years ago

Text

office affairs -- part 4

Pairings: CEO!Sam Wilson x Reader

Summary: Sam is the CEO of the Red Wing PR agency where Reader has been working for the past two years. Problem is, they both think one hates the other. However, when their friends set them up on a blind date, they’ll realise it was all a big misunderstanding.

Words: 2.1k

Warnings: language, Reader is still thirsty, fluff, Mimi wants to gossip.

A/N: This series is part of @marvelmaree‘s birthday challenge. You can find the masterlist on my blog and hers! Enjoy!

Brunch with your friends and your sister is always a good time. You can’t complain. You have drinks, food and some of the people you love the most. And on this particular Sunday, you still feel the euphoria of your date with Sam.

All weekend you tried to let it go already, telling yourself that you were acting like a middle school girl. But at the same time, who cares, right? Once again, you reminded yourself to let yourself be for a moment, without your self-consciousness stopping you from simply feeling.

“Is she daydreaming again?”

“I bet she’s thinking about Sam.”

“Who’s Sam?”

“No one, baby. Eat your food.”

Someone snaps their fingers in front of your face. You blink a couple of times before frowning at the owner of said hand. Maria doesn’t flinch under your glare.

“Where did you go?” Noelle asked.

You take a sip of your mimosa before you answer.

“Back at L’Orage.”

“Annnnd…?” Natasha pushes.

“We—” you begin, but your gaze meets Michelle’s.

She’s looking at you like she also wants all the tea. Your eyes lower to her empty plate, hers follow your gaze. You know what she’s thinking, and she knows what you’re thinking.

“Mimi, you’re done eating right? Why don’t you go watch some TV inside?” you say before her little hand reaches the basket of pastries on the table.

“But—”

“Auntie Henny is right,” Noelle cuts her and you roll your eyes at the nickname. “We don’t want you to get sick, right?” she says, rubbing her belly.

“Okay, Mommy. Can I get more juice from the fridge, please?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you!”

Just like that, she’s back inside the house.

“I thought the use of that nickname was forbidden in this house,” you say.

“We’re in the backyard,” your sister gives you an innocent smile.

You throw your napkin at her but she easily catches it.

“Anyways. We kissed.”

“Huh,” Natasha crosses her arms over her chest and lays back on her chair. “But?”

“What?”

“There’s a but. There’s always a but with you,” Maria says.

“There’s no but. We kissed, that’s it. It was a very nice kiss. Then he took me home—Back here!” you add quickly when you see how big Maria and Natasha’s eyes got. “He said he’s down for a second date.”

“So how do you feel about him?” Maria asks.

“Do you want me to tell you you were right? Because that’s not gonna happen.”

Maria gives you a look. You sigh.

“It turns out he doesn’t hate me at all. He was actually kind of shocked when I talked to him about that. He thought I didn’t like him,” you take another sip of your drink. “I like him a lot. He’s nice, funny, he listens to me when I talk.”

“Annnnnd…?” this time it comes from Noelle.

“And I kinda want him to bend me over a desk some time.”

The four of you burst out laughing like madwomen.

“More seriously, I guess I should thank you guys. I had a really nice time.”

“Aw, you’re welcome, sweetie,” Natasha rubs your arm. “Personally, I think you guys are a match made in heaven. Literally.”

“Don’t jinx it, Nat!” Maria exclaims.

Natasha makes a zipping motion over her lips with a little smirk.

As Noelle refills your champagne flutes and you move on to another topic – here Noelle and Laetitia, the mother of the new kid in Mimi’s class --, you can’t help but feel grateful for this moment.

You were lucky to find people you can rely on other than your sister after so many years. After everything that happened. Sure your sister is your best friend and vice versa, but sometimes you can’t help but feel guilty about all the stuff you dump on her.

It’s not easy for you to interact with people and maintain healthy relationship. You try your best to find a nice balance between over communicating and totally isolating yourself. You’re still a work in progress though.

That’s why all this dating business was pushed aside for a few years.

Maria and Natasha end up spending the rest of the day at your house. You order takeout, drink some more – responsibly though, all while binge-watching Disney movies and playing board games with Michelle. It’s the nicest day you’ve had in a hot minute.

When the girls leave and it’s finally time for bed, you go to sleep with the ghost of today’s smiles still dancing on your lips.

In your opinion, Mondays are overrated. You never understood this whole thing anyway. Sure it’s the beginning of a new week, but it’s still a day like the others.

This particular Monday though, is a bit special. You’re excited to see whether or not Sam had the flowers delivered in your office. So excited that you’re walking around with a huge grin, your face beaming as you step into the elevator.

“Well good morning m’lady,” Scott from HR greets you when you step off the elevator. He’s at the front desk, talking to Rumlow.

“Morning Scott,” you say, still smiling.

“You got a secret admirer, huh?” Scott asks.

“Excuse me?”

“Your office is filled with flowers. And I mean filled. Janet walked by ten minutes ago and she hasn’t stopped sneezing since. Y’know, allergies.”

“Oh, um… I—” you stutter, not really knowing what to say.

“I’m just messing with you, kiddo. Just—If it’s a dude from around here, just make sure you stop by my office some time, ‘kay?”

Okay… You need to end this conversation now. You can feel your cheeks heat up with embarrassment. Honestly, it’s not that you don’t like Scott, everybody likes Scott. It’s just that he can be a bit too much sometimes.

“Sure thing, Scottie. You have a good day, okay?”

You don’t wait for his answer before you keep walking towards your office, climbing the stairs leading to the first floor with ease.

A woman you don’t recognize is standing in front of your office, staring at the glass wall. The cleaning crew must have left the blinds open again despite your multiple notes.

“Hello,” you greet her before you reach your office. “Can I help you?”

You can’t see the inside yet but Scott was right, the scent is strong. Just how many flowers did Sam send?

Her gaze meets yours as she whips her head towards you, her long burgundy hair following the movement. She’s wearing a green suit, a bold but beautiful contrast with her skin tone.

“Hi!” she smiles. “I’m sorry, is this your office?”

“Yes. You’re new here, right?”

“Yes, yes. My name is Gamora, I’m the new Digital Manager,” she offers her hand for you to shake.

You introduce yourself as you shake her hand. “… I take care of—”

“Events, yes. It’s written on your door. Anyways, I was just looking at the flowers in your office. Must be nice. My boyfriend… He’s not really that kind of guy.”

“Um…”

Once again, you don’t know how to talk to people.

“Sorry if I’m being weird.”

“Oh, no, it’s… Don’t worry about it. So where are you from?” you ask.

You figure you should at least try to make small talk with her. She seems nice, she has a very kind face. There’s something about her eyes though… She’s clearly been through a lot.

“I’m from New Asgard, in Norway.”

“Wow, how did you end up here?”

“My boyfriend, Peter. He lives in the US and he asked me to move in with him. I couldn’t say no.”

The name makes you flinch, but you wipe the discomfort away as soon as it appears. Peter is a common name. In this city alone there are hundreds of them. You need to get used to it, it’s been years already.

“Well, on behalf of the entire Red Wing team, I’d like to say welcome,” you give her a genuine smile.

“Thank you so much. That means a lot.” With a sigh, she throws one last glance towards your office before she starts walking away. “I better find Scott, we’re not done with the tour yet. I’ll see you around, I guess?”

“Sure. Have a good day!”

Once she turns around the corner, you take the last few steps that lead you to your office.

“Oh my God,” you whisper.

Your office is filled with flowers all right. It’s not just fifty like Sam said. At least a dozen of bouquets of red roses, tulips and peonies are scattered around your office. On your coffee table, the empty spaces on your bookshelf, the floor… everywhere but on your desk. Thank God, the scent isn’t disturbing to you.

“Oh my God,” you whisper again.

You can’t believe your eyes. You set your bag on your desk and draw the blinds over the glass walls to keep the prying eyes out of your business. Walking around a bit, you take the time to inhale and admire every single bouquet.

“Wow, he really wasn’t joking.”

You turn around to find Natasha and Maria standing in your doorway, holding huge mugs.

That’s right the morning coffee. Morning coffee is always in your office on Monday and Wednesday.

“Aw sweetie, don’t cry!” Natasha grabs a tissues from the box on your coffee table and hands it to you.

You didn’t even realize you were crying. Damn, he really had you in the palm of his hand, huh?

“It’s just, no one has ever done something like this for me before, and I feel stupid now because I’m crying for fucking flowers.”

“Hey, it’s not stupid, okay?” Maria chips in. “From what you told us, you’re not used to this kind of treatment, so it’s perfectly normal to feel overwhelmed right now. Here,” she hands you one of the mugs she’s holding. “Mantis told us you just got in so we figured you didn’t have time to make your cup of tea yet.”

“Thank you.”

You take a sip of the beverage, the hot liquid helping with the lump in your throat.

“Is… Is he here?” you ask.

Their offices are located on the floor above yours along with Sam’s, so you rarely see him during the day.

“Not yet,” Natasha replies. “He’s late. Something about getting Falcon a new cone.”

Oh yeah. He mentioned his dog’s surgery Friday night.

“Good morning, ladies. You talking about me?”

There he is.

Sam is standing in the doorway, a smirk on his lips, always handsome. A warm feeling spreads in your chest at the sight of him, and this morning’s grin is back in an instant.

“Samuel,” Maria greets him. “You’re late.”

“Ah shit. The boss wouldn’t like that, would he?”

“Whatever,” Maria rolls her eyes at him.

“Maria, come to the kitchen with me, I want to see if the pastries have been delivered already,” Natasha says, grabbing Maria’s arm.

“But shouldn’t we go with—” her sentence is cut short by Natasha’s pointed look. “Ohhh. Right.”

The girls shut the door behind them as they exit your office, you and Sam left alone.

“Morning,” he says, slowly approaching you. “Do you like the flowers?”

“I do, very much. What happened to the fifty flowers, though?”

Sam shrugs. “They were supposed to represent the number of times I wanted to kiss you. But as the weekend went by, I lost count, so…”

Goddammit.

“Come here,” you mumble.

You grab his hand and pull him closer to you, your free hand finding its place at the back of his neck. The kiss you give him is slow and sweet as you do your best to express your gratitude. You’ve been on one date, yet he has managed to make you feel more special than you’ve ever felt. He really is something. Sam kisses you back, and you can feel him smile as he does.

“Thank you,” you say when you break the kiss. “This is… wow.”

Sam keeps your body close to his, not wanting to let you go just yet.

“You’re welcome. So… about that second date. How do you feel about roller skating?”

Your eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

“I kind of like it. I haven’t skated since I was a kid, though.”

Sam nods. “Dinner and roller skating. Let’s say… Wednesday?”

“Wednesday sounds good,” you smile.

“Okay.”

Sam peppers small kisses on your lips and the corner of your mouth before letting you go. You instantly feel colder.

As he walks to the door, you seat at your desk and power up your computer, ready to start the work day.

“Wait, I need one more,” Sam says.

He rounds your desk and spins your chair so you’ll face him, before giving you another kiss. Once again, he peppers small kisses on your lips and cheeks and this time, you can’t help but giggle.

“It’s not even noon yet and I’m having the best day I’ve had in a while,” he whispers.

“Stop it. You’re gonna make me blush,” you joke.

“Now that would be my greatest achievement.”

Sam leaves shortly after that, leaving you to start working with the same dumb smile from earlier on your lips.

***

Tags: @marvelmaree @ljstraightnochaser @blackmissfrizzle @youdonotghostnickfury @minillamakeup-blog

#maree's29thbirthdaybash #sam wilson fanfiction #sam wilson imagine #sam wilson x reader #sam wilson x black reader

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voodoochili · 4 years ago

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My 75 Favorite Albums of 2020

Every year produces excellent music and 2020 was no exception. The exceptional thing about this year, though, is the loss of livelihood so many musicians suffered as a result of the pandemic. To better celebrate all I’ve listened to and loved this year, I’ve expanded my albums list from 50 to 75 albums and included a highlight track from each in the Spotify playlist below. If you like what you hear, why not throw the artist a few dollars on Bandcamp?

Check the Spotify playlist HERE.

Without further ado, my favorite albums of 2020. Happy New Year, and happy listening!

10. Playboi Carti - Whole Lotta Red: Carti’s long-awaited opus has only been out for a week, which is probably not a long enough time to give an album as sprawling and surprising as this one a full critical evaluation. But I do know when I’m hearing something that’s unlike anything I’ve ever heard: this album rearranges hip-hop at the molecular level.

Whole Lotta Red is overstuffed with invention, the glitchy, expansive production giving Carti ample opportunity to glom onto the contours of the beat and experiment with his voice. That voice is the album’s main attraction: it squeaks, it squeals, it roars, it spits, it shudders, and organizes itself into irresistibly ignorant mantras (my current favorite is “Lamborghini parked outside, it’s purple like lean”).

Across its 24 tracks (which feels like too many, sure, but only the 5-minute long Kid Cudi-infected droner “Metamorphosis” overstays its welcome), Carti plays with listener expectations, annihilating rap songwriting conventions (why do you need verse-chorus structure if every line is a hook) as he defiantly proclaims his desire to be unlike anybody else. Though it bears some resemblance in sound and subject matter to Future’s Monster (and much of the production owes a debt to the work of Lil Uzi Vert’s favored Working Of Dying collective), Whole Lotta Red firmly establishes Carti as a totemic figure connecting mainstream and underground sounds.

9. BbyMutha - Muthaland: BbyMutha is a natural born spitter, armed with a drawly stutter-stepping flow that routinely annihilates unconventional instrumentals. She glows with supreme confidence and comfort in her own skin, especially when she’s dripping with disdain with those who’d dare refuse her the respect she deserves. A 25-track opus that earns every minute of its runtime, Muthaland is an engrossing immersion into Mutha’s world, balancing a fascination with the occult (“Sorry I don’t fuck with n****s who don’t fuck with Satan”) with grounding interjections from close friends and her four children. Boasting rockstar fantasies like “Heavy Metal,” bad girl anthems like “Nice Guy,” and dancefloor-ready jams like “Cocaine Catwalk,” Muthaland is a tour-de-force by one of rap’s singular voices, and if she’s really finished with music as she’s claimed (rappers never really retire, but Mutha has indicated she wants to focus full time on her Apothecary), the game will greatly miss her incisive punchlines and crudely empowering perspective.

8. Westerman - Your Hero Is Not Dead: In 2020, Mid-’80s sophistipop grew into one of my favorite comfort foods. Westerman’s Your Hero Is Not Dead struck me directly in the sophistipop sweet spot, evoking the attention-to-detail and synth-heavy craftsmanship of that era and pairing it with harmonic complexity and a piercing emotionalism that recalls his idol Neil Young. On songs like “Blue Comanche” and “The Line,” Westerman constructs tales as twisty as his melodies, economically exploring how people relate to each other at the beginning and end of romantic relationships. Westerman complements his tasteful palette of synth sounds with intricate and lyrical guitar playing, most notably on the sighing, gorgeous instrumental “Float Over,” which softly segues into the title track to end the album on a gently-rising high note.

7. WizKid - Made In Lagos: The focal point of the sub-Saharan Afrobeats renaissance, Lagos is having one of the most exciting musical moments of any city since Kingston in the early ‘70s. WizKid is one of the scene’s biggest stars, with an ability to combine the sonic tapestry of his hometown with Caribbean-influenced beats and vocal styles. Made In Lagos is a masterwork of sound design, bringing creamy bass, chicken-scratch speckles of guitar, tasteful interjections of saxophone and brass, and an intoxicating mix of acoustic and electronic percussion, all offered in service to an immaculate vibe that matches the album cover’s shiny, monochromatic color scheme. Made with lockdown in mind, the album eschews uptempo dancefloor workouts in favor of stress-relief and romance. WizKid plays the perfect host, tamping down his melodic flights of fancy and embracing a song-serving smoothness. He’s a warm and inviting presence throughout, laying out the red carpet for a cross-continental cast of collaborators like H.E.R., Skepta, Burna Boy, and Damian Marley. The result is a truly global pop masterpiece, capable of brightening even the dourest day of a miserable year.

6. Ka - Descendants of Cain: Firefighter by day and rapper/producer by night, Ka is a master of allusion. He organizes his thoughts into themed collections of metaphor, illustrating the bleak realities of street life with gnomic symbolism. On Descendants Of Cain, Ka’s strongest work to date, the enigmatic rapper expresses himself through a litany of biblical references, drawing parallels between ancient parables (he goes far deeper than the Cain/’caine double entendre that rappers have been using for decades) and the stark code of morality with which he lives his life. The 48-year-old hermit produced the project himself, creating an immersive sonic realm, crafting expansive, noir-ish backing tracks populated by late-night saxophones, sparkling pianos, and the occasional shot of sweeping strings. Once again, Ka’s music comes almost entirely without drums (certainly without “beats” in the traditional hip-hop sense–every once in a while, he adds an open hi-hat or a subdued shaker), the artist preferring to let his music swirl around his half-whispered words of wisdom. The album ends on a tearful, sentimental note with “I Love (Mimi, Moms, Kev),” in which the artist ditches the biblical lyrical conceit and expresses his love for his wife, his mom, and his best friend atop light percussion and a warm soul sample.

5. SAULT - Untitled (Rise): Rise is the second part of a diptych that SAULT recorded in response to the movement that exploded in the wake of George Floyd’s death. Black Is, the first part, is a great album (you’ll find it in the lower reaches of my 2020 list), but the mysterious UK collective fulfilled their immense potential with Rise, a propulsive, powerful, and danceable album that doubles as a thought-provoking examination of the nature of freedom and liberation. The album tackles weighty topics–police violence, fake-woke “allies,” protest, cultural appropriation–but handles them with an inspiring effervescence and a propulsion meant to usher right-thinking people into the streets. The music itself is an intoxicating marvel, combining elements from every trendy musical movement from the early ‘80s (post-disco, post-punk, house, hip-hop, whatever the hell ESG was) into a percussive and surprisingly cohesive cocktail. The album immediately makes its greatness known with its first four songs, one of the strongest opening runs of any album in recent memory: the swaggering, funky, keep-your-head-up anthem “Strong,” which features a drum solo from SAULT architect Inflo, the soaring, club-ready vamp “Fearless,” concept-establishing, string-heavy interlude “Rise,” and especially “I Just Want to Dance,” the best song ESG never wrote.

4. Fiona Apple - Fetch The Bolt Cutters: Fetch The Bolt Cutters arrived with the kind of universal acclaim that can make some people suspicious. The Pitchfork review got a lot of attention, not just for its perfect score but for its bold statement that “no music has ever sounded quite like it.”

That statement might’ve been slightly hyperbolic. Fetch The Bolt Cutters has the kind of propulsive left-hand piano figures, chest-thumping percussion, and impassioned vocal performances that we haven’t heard since...the last Fiona Apple album. But the album deserves its experimental reputation. These songs mess around with song structure and melody in ways that resemble avant-garde singers like Meredith Monk, use overlapping vocals that occasionally evoke the works of post-modern composers like Luciano Berio, and echoing modernist composers like Edgard Varese in the way she wrings pathos out of rhythmic elements.

Though Fetch might be a slight step down from The Idler Wheel, it’s an invigorating listen, packed with the soul-baring confessionals that only Fiona is capable of executing. Combining literary wordplay with plainspoken directness, Fiona forces the listener to confront her trauma and contemplate her diagnoses of patriarchal ills. The songs are uniformly excellent–especially opener “I Want You To Love Me,” the most “traditional” song on the record, and “Shameika,” a burrowing childhood rumination with a happy ending–but Fetch The Bolt Cutters stands out to me as a collection of amazing moments: when the jig-like “For Her” fades into an unforgettably painful cadence (“Good mornin’, good mornin’/You raped me in the same bed your daughter was born in”), Fiona’s ground-shaking vocal intensity at the end of “Newspaper,” her dogs howling over the outro of “Fetch The Bolt Cutters,” the winking repetition of the title phrase on “Ladies.” Her albums display more than enough ambition to forgive the long gestation periods, but hopefully we won’t have to wait another 8 years for Fiona to bare her soul once again.

3. Drakeo The Ruler - Thank You For Using GTL: Embroiled in a Kafkaesque legal saga that shines a light on the worst aspects of our horrendous justice system, Drakeo The Ruler spent more than three years wrongly incarcerated for a crime he not only did not commit, but for which he was acquitted (for more info on Drakeo’s ordeal, read Jeff Weiss). He’s now mercifully a free man, mostly due to the work of his lawyer, but at least partially because of publicity generated by Thank You For Using GTL. Recorded over the phone from prison during the height of the pandemic, it’s a miracle that an album created under such sub-optimal conditions sounds as excellent as it does, but credit producer JoogSzn–who not only supplied the creeping, head-nodding backing tracks but recorded Drakeo’s phoned-in vocals–and engineer MixedByNavin for the project’s astonishing fidelity. Drakeo and Joog spent hours on the phone to record the album, in the process paying thousands of dollars to GTL, the predatory telecom company of choice for the L.A. corrections system, whose mechanical interjections serve as a constant reminder of the injustice that made the album necessary. Of course, a good story is a good story, but that alone doesn’t get an album on 2020’s most prestigious Best Albums list (mine). It’s a classic rap album, perhaps the best ever released by an incarcerated rapper, and a thumb directly in the nose of the D.A. and the LAPD. The album is a lyrical marvel, packed with winding wordplay and outlandish flexes, as Mr. Mosley takes aim at 6ix9ine, cackles at sorry-ass Instagram haters, and sneers at American-made cars (“To be honest, a Hellcat isn’t a foreign”). Each song has a carefully considered concept, the rapper’s punchlines building upon one another to make an airtight case for his status as L.A.’s top dog. He contrasts his own whip-crashing lifestyle with flashy wannabes on “GTA VI” and “Backflip or Sumn,” mourns a favorite department store on “RIP Barneys,” and proves he still doesn’t rap beef on “Maestro’s Tension.” The album’s masterstroke comes with “Fictional,” the final track, in which Drakeo exposes the prosecution’s use of his lyrics as evidence in criminal proceedings as the farce it is: “It might sound real, but it’s fictional/I love that my imagination gets to you.” Drakeo’s story was a rare bright spot in 2020, and a rare one with a happy ending. Just last week, the rapper released Because Y’All Asked, a studio-recorded version of Thank You For Using GTL, giving the album’s songs the clarity they deserve. But I think I’ll mostly return to the original, which will live on as an excellent album and a vital document of post-George Floyd America.

2. Pa Salieu - Send Them to Coventry: Hailing from the middle of nowhere–or, more accurately city in the English Midlands only known in the states for its middling Premier League team–Gambian-British artist Pa Salieu served up the most distinctive, visceral, and daring rap debut of the year. His style fuses elements of grime, drill, afro-trap, dancehall, and the darker edges of U.S. hip-hop into a percussive slurry, injected with the urgency of his struggle to survive. The magic of the album comes from the way Pa’s fluid flows interact with the shimmering and foreboding production (Felix Joseph and Aod lead the cast of the project’s sound architects), which is perfectly suited for cold city nights. He slips effortlessly into the pocket, toe-tagging the beats with a combination of aggression and trance-like meditation and uttering casually powerful pronouncements (“I'd make a killa riddim offa any riddim/The grind can never stop 'til I'm wrapped in linen”) that make you believe he’s Britain’s next great rapper. Pa keeps the vibe consistent throughout, but the moments that stand out are the moments when he locks into an unbreakable groove over no-frills production, like on singles “Block Boy,” “Betty,” and “B***K.” The artist’s wry sense of humor and brash confidence keeps the album from feeling bleak, but Send Them To Coventry wisely ends on “Energy,” a warm and bright ode to keeping your creative spark safe from the prying forces of fame and fortune.

1. Kassa Overall - I Think I’m Good: “I think I’m good”–a phrase that’s ran through my head throughout this shitstorm of a year. Sure, I postponed a wedding, cancelled trips, and saw my friends and family much less often than I would like, but I count myself among the lucky ones. Still breathing, still sane. Though it was recorded and released before the pandemic started, Kassa Overall’s I Think I’m Good became a lodestar of sorts for me. It’s a brilliantly introspective and deeply personal album about existing in enclosed spaces–whether a jail cell, an NYC subway car, or the inescapable prison of your own body.

Kassa Overall made his name as a jazz drummer, touring with icons like Geri Allen, but his solo music incorporates elements of hip-hop, classical, and trap to create a wholly original milieu. The album features contributions from over 30 accomplished voices, ranging from luminary Vijay Iyer, to Kassa’s saxophonist brother Carlos Overall, to virtuosic pianist Sullivan Fortner, to venerated activist Angela Davis. But all the disparate elements come together in service of Kassa’s deeply personal and engrossing vision.

Taking partial inspiration from Kassa’s struggle with manic depression, the music fluctuates between meditative calm and unbearable tension, mimicking the patter of an unquiet mind. Album opener “Visible Walls,” is a mesmerizing prayer for salvation soundtracked by fluttering harps, piercing woodwinds, and heartbeat percussion. “Find Me” buries a plea for help within a cacophony of sampled voices and rattling piano notes. Fortner’s piano guides us through the hauntingly devastating “Halfway House” and the Chopin-indebted “Darkness In Mind,” each highlighting a different stage of grief (despair and acceptance, respectively). The arc of I Think I’m Good concludes with the hopeful “Got Me A Plan” and “Was She Happy (For Geri Allen),” a Vijay Iyer-assisted tribute to his late friend and mentor.

It’s ironic that an album that so deeply explores the feeling of isolation vibrates with such a collaborative spirit. I Think I’m Good feels like an answered prayer–a community coming together to check on a beloved friend who’s gone through a tough time: “You good, man?” “I think so.”

Here’s the rest of my list.

11. Yves Tumor - Heaven To A Tortured Mind 12. Shackleton & Waclaw Zimpel - Primal Forms 13. Bob Dylan - Rough & Rowdy Ways 14. Duval Timothy - Help 15. Lil Uzi Vert - Eternal Atake 16. Moodymann - Taken Away 17. Secret Drum Band - Chuva 18. J Hus - Big Conspiracy 19. Headie One & Fred Again - GANG 20. Tiwa Savage - Celia 21. Andras - Joyful 22. Bill Callahan - Gold Record 23. King Von - Welcome To O’Block 24. Flo Milli - Ho, Why Is You Here? 25. Chubby & The Gang - Speed Kills 26. Madeline Kenney - Sucker’s Lunch 27. Empty Country - Empty Country 28. Smino - She Already Decided 29. Destroyer - Have We Met 30. Yves Jarvis - Sundry Rock Song Stock 31. Ela Minus - Acts Of Rebellion 32. Creeper - Sex, Death & The Infinite Void 33. Alabaster DePlume - To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals, Vol. 1 34. Good Sad Happy Bad - Shades 35. The 1975 - Notes On a Conditional Form 36. Kate NV - Room For The Moon 37. $ilkmoney - Attack of the Future Shocked, Flesh Covered, Meatbags of the 85 38. Eddie Chacon - Pleasure, Joy and Happiness 39. Kenny Segal & Serengeti - Ajai 40. Bad Bunny - YHLQMDLG 41. Kahlil Blu - DOG 42. Califone - Echo Mine 43. Boldy James - The Price of Tea in China/Manger On McNichols/The Versace Tape 44. Bufiman - Albumsi 45. Moses Boyd - Dark Matter 46. Thanya Iyer - KIND 47. Jyoti - Mama You Can Bet! 48. Obongjayar - Which Way Is Forward? 49. Rio Da Yung OG - City On My Back 50. Young Jesus - Welcome To Conceptual Beach 51. Owen Pallett - Island 52. Oceanator - Things I Never Said 53. Shootergang Kony - Red Paint Reverend 54. Shabason, Krgovich & Harris - Philadelphia 55. Six Organs of Admittance - Companion Rises 56. Lido Pimienta - Miss Colombia 57. Kelly Lee Owens - Inner Song 58. Polo G - The GOAT 59. Actress - Karma & Desire 60. Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher 61. Porridge Radio - Every Bad 62. Yg Teck - Eyes Won’t Close 63. Mozzy - Beyond Bulletproof 64. Ratboys - Printer’s Devil 65. R.A.P. Ferreira - Purple Moonlight Pages 66. Ulver - Flowers of Evil 67. Rina Sawayama - SAWAYAMA 68. SAULT - Untitled (Black Is) 69. Ezra Feinberg - Recumbent Speech 70. Davido - A Better Time 71. Hailu Mergia - Yene Mircha 72. HAIM - Women In Music Pt. III 73. Half Waif - The Caretaker 74. Key Glock - Yellow Tape 75. KeiyAa - Forever Your Girl

#kassa overall #pa salieu #drakeo the ruler #fiona apple #sault #ka #wizkid #westerman #playboi carti #bbymutha

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thecandywrites · 4 years ago

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Jewel Of The North Part 5

Woo, it finally happened, the do is at the end of the chapter. Again, a thousand thanks to @monstersandmaw for sharing ice orcs with me. I’m having way too much fun.

Jewel Of The North

Part 5

You were walking towards the barn, feeling the slight burn of the sun on your skin as you watched Noah bend over to trim your horse's feet, his ferrier tools in the stand around him. His shirt was dirty and sweaty and hugging his muscles beautifully and the chilled lemonade in your hand didn’t compare to the fire of lust and love and adoration in your heart and mind as you waited until he was done with that particular hoof and stood up and righted himself to approach closer.

“Thirsty?” You offered the lemonade to him before he grinned giddily as he got it and happily gulped it down and you watched the apple in his throat bob with the motion.

“You need another or did that quench your thirst?” You asked once he had downed it.

“Almost.” He admitted before he pulled you to him and kissed you deeply. You could taste the sweet lemon and sugar from the lemonade and just a hint of the pulled pork from lunch.

And of course the kiss progressed and you suddenly transported to your bathroom where he was pinning you against the wall so he could pound into you as the hot water sprayed all around you and to feel the heat of his body wrapped around your own and practically pulsing inside you as he was stretching you to the max and grounding you yet making you feel lighter than air as his mouth was on your own, swallowing your whimpering cries of ecstasy was pure euphoria and no sooner had you cum in the shower before you were rolling around in the silken sheets of your bed, trying all kinds of positions.

“How close are you?” Noah rumbled as you could tell he was getting so excruciatingly close himself.

“I already came in the shower, it’s your turn Babe.” You cooed.

“Nope, wrong answer.” Noah teased before he pulled out and left you trying to grab him to pull him back before he attached his mouth to your sex and promptly devoured you before you were pushed to the edge.

“There you are, now, let’s try to do this together,” Noah encouraged before he settled himself back into you and started to really stroke himself into you instead of the heavy pounding and good god, it was the best sex of your life and together you reached your climaxes as you both tightly held the other, wrapped up in comfort and warmth and each other as the rest of the world faded away, leaving the two of you in peace and happiness. Then the blare of the alarm...

You woke up the next morning, your underwear soaked in your essence and got a quick shower and got dressed before you called your kids.

“Good morning sleepyheads.” You cooed.

“Good morning.” you heard them both answer sleepily.

“Aww, did I wake you up too early? Before noon?” You teased as you got your shoes on.

“Yes.” They answered.

“It’s summer vacation, it’s still am so it’s morning.” Xander grumped.

“Oh it’s only 10 am there, that’s still sleeping in plenty.” You gently argued.

“Which means it’s seven there, you’re on vacation, why would you get up so early on vacation?” Skylar complained.

“Because I’m going fishing today, with Noah and Sakura but we’re going to really be in the middle of nowhere because he’s taking me to tribal lands where there are no cell towers for miles so you won’t be able to get a hold of me and so this was my chance to check in today.”

“Is this the same Noah that flew you in?” Xander questioned.

“Yup, the same Noah I spent all day Tuesday watching his daughter who I would adopt and take home with me in a heartbeat if I could.” You confessed.

“The one who lost her mom?” Skylar remembered.

“Yup, the very one. She’s the one that’s in the same boat you’re in.” You confirmed.

“Because her mom died and left her all the land that she got the same way you got your estates.” Xander recalled.

“Yup and because I have a lot of first hand experience with that kind of thing. I’m gonna try to help her and her dad deal with it. At least better than I did in the beginning.” You revealed.

“Cool.” Xander chirped.

“So do you like Noah? Is that why you’re spending the day with them?” Skylar asked curiously.

“I do like him. Noah is...well...he’s awesome. He has been nothing but respectful and perfectly pleasant and professional as a pilot and a friend and I can see why he’s friends with everyone up here because he’s a good friend to have.” You answered.

“No like, like him like him, like romantically.” Skylar specified as you heard Xander go ‘oh gods’ in a groan in the background.

“I’ll be honest. Yes. But I think it’s one sided, because he has been friendly but he hasn’t really been flirty or anything. But I haven’t been super flirty to begin with.”

“Good!” Xander boomed.

“Hey, as I recall, I believe both of you were ok with me moving on romantically since your dad died and you two were the ones that set me up on that date with Alex.” You countered with a frown.

“Which was a disaster.” Skylar remembered.

“True.” Xander conceded.

“But Noah is a bush pilot in the Arctic Tundra, that’s one of hell of a niche Mom and he can’t do that in too many other places, he’s an ice orc which is a tribe that originated up there and rarely move away. I mean it’s an awesome job and sounds kick ass, and I’ll bet it’s gorgeous up there but from what you’ve told us about him, I don’t think he’s gonna give all that up. And you have it too good right where you are and you shouldn’t move either. Just leave it as friends Mom.” Xander pleaded with you and you hated to admit it but he was right and had very good points. Xander had inherited all the sensibleness from Andy.

“I know, you’re right.” You conceded even though your heart and soul were throwing tantrums within you and clinging to your fantasies for dear life.

“But you should still enjoy your time up there mom. Maybe we can come up and see everyone some time when we’re all together.” Skylar offered sweetly just as the first few tears started to fall as you nodded in agreement. Grateful they couldn’t see you.

“Yup, there’s a really nice hunting and fishing resort up here, maybe we can come back here and stay there.” You offered as you discretely wiped the tears from your eyes and willed yourself not to cry any more. Feeling like a teenager with your first soul crushing crush.

“I’ll try to call you guys later ok? Be good for Mimi and PawPaw and Granny and Papa ok?” You urged them. “Love you lots, bye.” You bid them.

“Love you too Mom, bye.” They echoed.

You found your composure and finished packing your things up that you felt you would need today. Extra sets of clothes and layers just in case you fell into the water or the temperature decided to vary greatly, your emergency spices just in case you cooked whatever you caught. Snacks just in case you didn’t catch anything. An emergency kit just in case anyone gashed their hand open and needed medical attention. A few handheld games for Sakura to keep her quiet just in case she wasn’t fond of fishing and battery packs for your devices along with a few other essentials. You were determined to have a great day fishing with Noah and Sakura and prayed that you would have a good day nonetheless and to have peace in your heart so you could enjoy the moments today and commit them to memory.

When you were done you walked the now familiar route to Noah’s house, hoping you weren’t coming too early and no sooner had you stepped foot on the porch when the door opened to reveal Noah with a bed head worthy of a few more fantasies and a bright happy smile that shamed the sun that had you mirroring it as the dogs rushed past him to greet you excitedly too before they left to do their business.

“Good morning, hope I’m not too early.” You greeted bashfully.

“Nope, just woke up, wanted to make sure I didn’t sleep in and miss you.” Noah reassured you as he ushered you inside before you set down your stuff by the door before you went to the kitchen together to get coffee and breakfast ready as the two of you easily fell back into a routine, that while it was new, it was somehow so familiar and comfortable and second nature to you both and it was while you were scrambling eggs that you noticed Noah give you a look you didn’t quite know how to read. It wasn’t bad but it filled you with...you didn’t know what, excitement? Curiosity? Giddiness? What?!

“What?” You asked over your shoulder.

“Um, I was just thinking…”

“About?” You prodded.

“About…” Noah took a deep breath and looked particularly nervous all of a sudden as he started to wipe his hands off on a rag from mixing together pancake batter.

“I wanted…” Noah began before his thunder cat rubbed against your leg before it started to climb you like a tree again.

“Ah, Baby, I’m cooking, I can’t have you on my shoulders right now, your hair will get in the food.” You cooed to the cat before Noah came over and got the cat off your shoulder before the cat tried to use it’s sharp claws to dig into your clothes and howled in protest. “Sorry, he really likes you.” Noah confessed as the two of you worked on getting the cat’s claws out of your clothes and once successfully detached he went to the back sliding doors and put the cat out and shut the door so it wouldn’t interrupt further.

“So you were saying you were thinking about what again?” You prompted once he was done.

“Right, um, so, uh, I wanted you to meet the rest of my family.” Noah finally blurted as there was a hint of fear in his eyes which gave you just a moment of pause.

“Oh, to discuss Sakura’s inheritance? Do you want to make sure they’re all comfortable with me being involved in any of it?” You supplied since that was the only reasonable, non romantic reason you could think of for meeting them. Trying to stamp down your hopes that he wanted you to meet his family for any other reason.

“Yeah, sure,” Noah confirmed with a nod as his shoulders sagged in defeat just a little.

“Ok, cool, when?” You asked.

“Well, today my Mom was going to be calling everyone to see what times would work best for everyone while we went fishing.” Noah informed you.

“Oh, well I’m free the rest of the week, so I’m free whenever. If it would help I can provide references, like my analyst and my own lawyers or even see if they can suggest anyone to use up here.” You suggested.

“Only if you wanted to.” Noah answered you could see he was trying to cover up his disappointment. Was he disappointed with you? Is that not what he was asking or wanting from you?

Meanwhile- Noah was internally and existentially screaming and screeching into the void and cursing himself for being so chicken shit to not say what he really wanted. He was such a coward and he was so epically and historically bad with words. All he wanted was you. He wanted to be with you. He wanted to court you or even fight for the chance just to try. He was so hopelessly in love with you it wasn’t funny and if he had one more sex dream about you, his nuts were going to explode along with his head. He wanted to pick you up and sit you up on his counter and feast on you for breakfast before Sakura would wake up. This was his one shot to confess his feelings and he was blowing it and he couldn’t stop it. Like being in a river that’s way too strong and carrying him away from shore and he was doing everything in his power to fight against it but the stronger he struggled, the stronger the current and he couldn’t get traction and he was running out of time and he was missing his chance on happiness and his happily ever after with you damn it.

But then you were sniffing the air and turning to take the eggs out of the pan before they burned and his moment was gone. He wondered if you would freak out if he just came up behind you and hugged you and started kissing you, would that be inappropriate? How would you react? Would you like that? Be put off and leave? Freak out? Turn and kiss him back hopefully? Grind your ass into his manhood? He could dream.

Then he heard a giggle. Damn it, Sakura was up and his chance to have you all alone to himself was over.

“Good morning Pumpkin.” You cooed when you heard the giggle and looked over at the stairs to see Sakura spying on you from them.

“Good morning Paradise.” She answered before she came all the way down the stairs.

“How long have you been up there spying huh?” You asked as you came over to her and hugged her tight.

“Since Angry Pants climbed you.” Sakura answered and suddenly Noah was wondering if his instincts just knew it wasn’t the right time. Dang it. Well the day was young, he would hopefully have another chance some time today. Or at least that was what he was going to be praying for.

“I see, well let's get you some juice and breakfast, we have an awesome day ahead of us and we need to have food as fuel for it.” You urged her as you got her some eggs to start eating and some juice as Noah went about pouring the pancake batter in the other pan to make the pancakes before you went back to the stove to work on the bacon and the sausage before you would make Noah’s eggs and your eggs and stood side by side in front of his stove as you wanted nothing more than to have him put his arm around you. Around your shoulders, your waist, you didn’t care. But something, you were craving his touch and his closeness even though Xander’s words tortured you from the back of your mind. What if this was a fantasy escape for you? What if it was nothing more? No, your heart assured you that was not the case. What if all he wanted was just help with his daughter and nothing else from you? Perhaps that was what you feared most right now. Because you were ready to offer yourself and everything you had up to him and what if he didn’t want you romantically? You would have to learn how to be content with a platonic relationship with him but you did get close enough that your arms were touching and you could feel the heat roll off of him and the stove and you just wanted to cuddle into his side.

And then you felt it, his hand splayed comfortingly on your back and if you could have sprouted wings and hugged him with them you would have, before the hand went to your far shoulder and suddenly he was resting his arm over your shoulders and you took that as a sign that snaking your own arm around his waist was an ok move as you both leaned into the side of the other. And you were afraid to look but the happy contented smile on your face as mentally you were going ‘fuck it, I want to be happy and close to him right now’.

All that mattered was right now and right now your brain was swimming in endorphins from just this little touch. It was heaven. Maybe he didn’t mean it to be as intimate as you felt it was but you didn’t care. You were just...happy. So happy right now. You haven’t been this happy in...a very long time and in your wildest dreams, you would find a way to make this work. Maybe he isn’t great with words? Maybe he’s showing you through his actions how he feels? Maybe.

You did everything in your power to stay right where you were because you didn’t want to move, you didn’t want to break the bubble you were in because in your heart you wanted this moment to last forever. But once all the eggs were fried and all the bacon and sausage and potatoes and onions and pancakes were cooked you both begrudgingly parted to take the food to the table to eat but sat kitty corner from each other at the small table and if he had reached out to hold your hand you would have held it but he was using both of his hands to eat his breakfast but Sakura was just happy to jabber on about all the different kinds of fish you could catch today as you gave Noah a fond smile as you just let her tell you all about fish. You could listen to her talk for hours on end about anything she was passionate about.

Once breakfast was done, you quickly did the dishes while Noah and Sakura got ready and packed up for your ‘adventure’ and once packed up, you let the horses out in the pasture and taken care of for the day before you loaded up his truck as the dogs jumped into the bed of the truck to watch the stuff since they were coming too and made a quick stop at a little outpost/ grocery store to get supplies like bait and beer since you had already packed a bunch of snacks and drinks for Sakura at home from what you had bought the other day. But this place had local moose jerky and homemade doughnuts that you needed in your life ASAP.

“Hey Noah,” a guy greeted him as you were around the corner letting Sakura pick out whatever her heart desired.

“Hey Tim.” Noah greeted back before they shook hands.

“Have you heard anything from Derek or Evan or anyone from their gang?” Tim asked him.

“Nope, picked up their loads yesterday though cause no one could get a hold of them.” Noah answered as you made sure to stay out of sight.

“Well I finally talked to them today and turns out they went drinking with some super hot Moscow Doll. They must have partied pretty hard because they’re still wasted as of about half an hour ago and can’t hardly move even now. They actually pissed and shit themselves because they couldn’t get up to go to the bathroom.”

You did your best to hide your erupting snicker under Noah’s who snickered and laughed at their misfortune.

“Gross, well I don’t know what you could have expected, they’re young and stupid and stupid is as stupid does I guess.” Noah shrugged.

“True.” Tim nodded. “So what are you up to today?” Tim changed the subject.

“Taking Sakura and our new friend Zara fishing.” Noah answered, feeling bad to call you ‘a friend’ because if he had been brave earlier he could have asked you out and he could be introducing you as his girlfriend.

But alas, chicken shit was he.

“Oh,” Tim blinked but smiled wide as you seemed to take that cue and appear from the other aisle.

“I heard my name.” You announced.

“Zara, this is my friend Tim Baker.” Noah introduced.

“Zara Kingsley, pleasure to meet you.” You greeted sweetly as you shook his hand, kind of grateful you weren’t wearing any makeup or anything and dressed down and hopefully neither Tim or Noah would make the connection that you were that Moscow Doll. Which honestly was an awesome alias.

“Pleasure’s all mine.” He returned as he shook your hand firmly. “That’s a strong hand shake.” Time appraised, impressed.

“Sorry, day job, I’m an LMT, strong grip is in the job description.” You tried to laugh off.

“A what now?” He asked.

“LMT- it’s an acronym for licenced massage therapist, like EMT or CEO.” you supplied.

“Oh sweet, did you just move here?” He asked hopefully.

“Unfortunately no, just visiting this time. My home base is in the Great Lakes.” You answered before you got into your wallet and handed him a business card as he whistled at it.

“Wow, that’s the fanciest thing I’ve ever had in my hand.” Tim appraised which got you to chuckle.

“That’s not a nice comparison to Tammy, she’s plenty fancy.” Noah teased which got everyone but Sakura to laugh harder.

“I take it Tammy is the better half.” You assumed as you glanced down to see a thin gold band on Tim’s left hand.

“Nope, I’m the better half, I’m the best thing in her life.” Tim smoothed his hands down his front, stroking his beer gut affectionately as he smiled cheesily which got you to laugh even harder.

“Oh that poor woman.” You and Noah answered in unison as you both shook your head.

“Jinks!” You managed to get out first as Noah snapped his fingers in defeat but smiled happily nonetheless.

“Ha! I win, I get to buy the snacks and the beer.” You insisted as you pried the beer from Noah’s fingers and took Sakura to the checkout counter.

“Hurry before your Dad stops us!” You giggled to Sakura who took the opportunity to grab handfuls of candy from the display by the cash register to add to her ‘loot’.

“Just friends? Really?” Tim questioned a little disbelieving as he gave Noah a meaningful look but a knowing smile.

“She’s only been visiting in town since Sunday and I’m the one who flew her in.” Noah revealed, dropping his voice down to a low murmur.

“I see, well it seems she’s great with Sakura, she’s got strong mom vibes and she seemed like she a could be a local if you asked her to be.” Tim appraised.

“Well she is a mother, has two kids of her own back home.”

“And the dad?” Tim asked.

“Dead, she’s widowed.” Noah answered.

“Oh perfect, no asshole ex or visitation or anything like that to deal with, just what you needed, you’re practically made for each other.” Tim grinned mischievously as Noah gave him an unimpressed look. “Well stop yapping with me, take her fishing, take her to the Honeymoon spot or something, don’t be keeping a gem like her waiting.” Tim urged him as Tim noticed you had gotten your stuff and had left the store with Sakura in tow and you sure did look like a perfect fit for Noah and Sakura to him. You just exuded sweetheart and that’s what Noah needed in his opinion, and you were really pretty au naturale too. He could see there were sparks there and he would be praying that Noah would make a move before you would leave as Noah left the place and happily rejoined you in the truck and drove to the airstrip before the two of you loaded everything onto the plane as Sakura happily kept the dogs on board and got settled in herself and once it was all packed up, the three of you settled in and by now you had grown almost used to the feeling of taking off before Noah turned the plane north eastern and flew, you could see the snow capped mountains and pockets of lakes and streams and super intense greens from the wilderness splattered with pockets of civilization, and just the majesty of it all took your breath away and you prayed your brain was recording it so you could dream about this moment in the future. It was just perfect.

Noah flew the familiar route to the perfect spot, where it would just be the three of you for miles and miles around and hopefully the fishing would be good too.

And once it was in sight he pointed it out to you.

“That’s where we’re going.” He pointed to it as he got in position and descended and made sure to put the right landing gear down and touched down into the water before taxing himself around to the best spot in the lake where a few streams came in and out of the lake before he turned the plane off and lowered the back hatch/tailgate down to the right height so you could fish off of it before he got his camping chairs and practically set up his own dock on the tailgate complete with a cooler full of ice and beer and drinks and camp chairs and snacks and rods and reels and tackle and everything.

“Ooh, I like this, this is wonderful.” You praised as you sat down in the other camp chair that Noah set up just for you as Sakura was sitting in her kid’s camping chair.

“And the great thing about being in the water like this is the bugs aren’t as bad and you don’t have to worry about bears as much, moose can still swim out this far though but at least we can see stuff coming.” Sakura beamed happily as she got all her snacks and juice boxes and stuff set up around her as the dogs happily sat on the edge and looked out into the water and basked in the sun before Noah got all the fishing poles out and got them set up before he handed you one before you cast it out.

“Nice cast.” Noah praised.

“Thanks, my family are big fishers. We would go fishing all the time both in childhood and adulthood and we would go out and usually catch our limit. What is the limit by the way?” You asked.

“There isn’t one, we’re on Sungilak Tribal Lands and this whole area and for oh, probably a hundred miles in any direction is still our lands and we don’t have limits on fish or game or anything. So since you are a guest of the clan and have permission from two clan members, you don’t have any limits on anything you catch either and you don’t need any licenses or anything. Our permission and invitation is enough.” Noah reassured you as Sakura beamed proudly at you too.

“Aww, thanks.” You answered, feeling particularly touched by their gesture as you realized this was a great honor. For them to share their birthright like this was incredibly generous. You knew Noah was of humble means, and this was perhaps one of the few things he could share with you and it was incredibly precious.

“Can I get a few pictures of this?” You asked hopefully.

“Sure.” Noah nodded before you took pictures of Sakura sitting next to you in the chair with her little fishing pole, the line hanging off the edge in her sunglasses and snacks and dogs looking pretty as a picture before you got selfies of the two of you and the drop dead gorgeous scenery.

“Smile Noah.” You prompted as you got pictures of him actually fly fishing off the back of the tailgate before he flashed you a brilliant smile and you knew this picture you’d be treasuring for a lifetime.

“Can we have some music?” You asked hopefully.

“Uh, good luck getting a radio channel up here.” Noah replied.

“Not a problem, I have premium Spotify and dozens of playlists downloaded. What do you like to listen to?” You asked as you got your mini portable bluetooth speaker out of your bag and turned it on since it was freshly charged before you got your phone to connect with it and brought up the app.

“Don’t care, listen to whatever you want.” Noah obliged.

“Ok, everyone’s favorite classics- it is.” You decided before you had the phone shuffle on the playlist.

“Ooh,” Noah oohed when a very familiar favorite started to play. Ok, you were officially perfect in his book. Perfect music tastes, perfect cooking skills, perfect mother figure to Sakura, perfect...everything. You were generous and charming without being fake or insincere, you were beautiful and confident and independent and loving and supportive and protective and incredibly intelligent and naturally sweet natured but had enough gumption to not put up with bullshit. You weren’t a doormat and he could only admire and adore all of it. You had every reason to feel like the hottest shit ever but you were humble enough to be unassuming and discrete but there wasn’t a part of you he wasn’t impressed with.

Then the fish started to bite and that’s when the day went from good to great. And what was even better, is because of the cold storage compartment of the plane which was like a walk in freezer/cooler but on an plane with several bins inside to keep things separanted, Noah had the good sense to clean out and line the biggest one with a giant tarp, all you had to do was load the fish into it and they would stay cold until you got home. Very convenient.

“Could you teach me how to fly fish?” You asked as he seemed to be getting better fish and more of them fly fishing than you did.

“Of course.” Noah immediately agreed before he had you use his rod and reel and showed you how it was done and you were over the moon when he wrapped himself around you to do it. His hands over yours to show you where to grip the rod and to feel the warmth radiate off of him and even though it was already comfortable weather wise, with him so close you practically melted having him so close, with his front pressed comfortably to your back and his head and over your shoulder. You wanted to lay your head back and rest it against his chest and just to have him hold you.

Meanwhile Noah felt that this was his opportunity that he had been silently praying for all morning, if he didn’t take the leap now, he was going to regret it. You were here, you were practically in his arms and every instinct was screaming at him to offer himself to you. It was now or never. So it had to be now.

“I didn’t originally want you to meet my family tomorrow as an advisor. It’s not that I don’t want your help with Sakura and her inheritance, because I do, we need it, desperately. But, I really really like you and I want to court you regardless and I wanted you to meet them as my girlfriend rather than advisor.” Noah finally confessed as he just stared longingly at your hair in a ponytail, appreciating all the hues and strands of color in your hair, fantasizing about how soft it would be through his fingers as not looking at your gorgeous face was somehow easier than if he was looking into the very eyes that tortured him when he wasn’t looking at them or the face that lit up his world.

“I know you have your life in the Great Lakes and I don’t want you to give that up and I am never going to ask for you to give that up. And I know looking at the way things are now, it doesn’t seem like we have much of a future and I’ve been afraid to ask you cause I don’t know how this could work. But I want to try to work it out anyway.” Noah confessed as you slowly turned around to look at him. Afraid that you were dreaming or had fainted and were hallucinating.

And you saw hope and fear in his eyes as he bit his lips to force himself not to speak anymore and wait for your answer, it was the same look he had this morning as you felt a little vindication that he did try to ask you this morning but lost his nerve and your heart soared that he obviously felt the same way you did and that it wasn’t all in your head, this was real, he was really asking you out and he really cared for you enough to ask at least as you smiled up adoringly and gratefully at him.

“Sakura,” you called.

“Yeah?” She immediately got up and came over.

“Did you hear your Daddy?” You asked her, just to make sure you didn’t imagine it.

“Yup, I want you to be my Mama too.” She added brightly and you couldn’t help it, you started crying but your smile was brighter than any star.

“I want to be your Mama too Sweetie, more than anything.” You reassured her as you turned out of Noah’s frame and hugged her tight.

“Yes, my answer is a resounding yes.” You finally answered Noah before you pulled him down to your height to kiss him soundly as his arms wrapped tightly around you, the fishing pole long since been put down and practically forgotten as you felt in your soul that this was your last first kiss with him. And boy oh boy was it a good one. Full of love and hope and promise and tasted better than you could have imagined and definitely worth the wait. This wasn’t going to be a passing fling, nope. This was gonna be a forever thing, you could already tell. And you were finally, going to be happy- if only you could make Noah equally happy.

From there, things fell into place even more, you took tons of pictures of you and Noah together and you caught enough fish to fill that whole freezer compartment and thanks to a little on board galley on the plane, you were able to cook up fish for lunch and dinner and the dogs happily ate fish too and by the time it was evening you found yourself sitting on a huge cushion right on the back hatch with Noah sitting behind you with you cuddled into his lap as Sakura was securely nestled into yours and with the big blankets surrounding the three of you and the dogs cuddling over your legs, you were both comfortable and content and Noah must have kissed your temples and cheeks a thousand times as he sat with you. HIs wistful sigh music to your ears as you were sure your own was to his. Even though the day had spurtterd in the beggining, it sure did end perfectly in your book.

Only when the sun was finally setting for the final time did you pack it up. Sakura long since fallen asleep in your arms and with Noah’s help you were able to pack her up in her spot before you helped him get everything ready to go before he flew you to his home.

“So did you want to stay over tonight?” Noah asked hopefully.

“Oh yeah, if you’re sure you want me there, I’ll stay for as long as you’ll have me.” You confirmed.

“Oh I’m as sure as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west,” Noah mirrored since his boner seemed to spring to life at the notion.

“Awesome, I’ll just get the rest of my stuff from Taylor’s house tomorrow, it’s already late but I packed enough that it should get me through the night and into tomorrow, easily. I packed enough clothes just in case I fell into the water, like twice.” You revealed.

“Are you like, always prepared for everything?” Noah asked, his tone light and almost teasing.

“Yes. Long before I was a mom, I was the mom friend. There’s very good reasons why my purse never weighs less than like 9 pounds. It’s because I keep everything in there. Coming up here, I packed two of everything just in case one of something got lost. But turns out the gods knew that there would be two families that would be benefiting from my visit and I couldn’t be happier about the second one.” You beamed.

“Yeah, not to sound weird or anything but since you brought it up, I’ve been praying for the last year and a half for the gods to help me find Sakura a mom and someone who could help us and Sakura has never taken to anyone the way she took to you. And well, I mean I adore you too because if you’ll recall the first time we met, I just stared like an idiot with my jaw on the floor because you are very easily the most beautiful woman I have ever met or known and I was really afraid to say anything after I found out you were an heiress because I didn’t want to make it seem that it was only after I learned that that I was attracted to you. And honestly watching you have a date with Doug was torture for me and I was terrified you were going to fall for…” Noah explained.

“Oh his “charms”,” You snickered a laugh before you pretended to gag.

“Ew, no. He was absolutely ridiculous. Sakura told me in the bathroom that night that his boys pushed her down and didn’t apologize and I was ready to rip his head off. And please don’t be freaked out either but when I hugged her for the first time, I instantly loved her, like the same feeling I had when I gave birth to Skylar and Xander and I got to hold them for the first time and you have that ‘there’s my baby, my most precious possession, I’m gonna love you and cherish you forever and i will kill anything that dares brings you harm’ kind of feeling. And hugging you for the first time felt like hugging home, but it just was one that I didn’t know yet so…” You confessed before you heard Noah sniffle.

“Really?” Noah asked.

“Is that weird?” You asked with a little bit of a grimace.

“Nope, I was praying for that, I was praying for the right woman to love Sakura like her own, and well, me for me, flaws and all.” Noah revealed.

“Well then we are both answered prayers for each other because I was praying for the same thing. Although I’ll warn you, my son Xander will be the hardest to deal with. He’s very practical and rational and unfortunately, very skeptical too. He loves to play chess and cards and do things like negotiate and debate. And he’s way smarter than he should be for his age. He’s the one that likes to have everything figured out and planned before he takes his first step. His room is immaculate and he’s getting into cooking and he actually measures every little thing and me and my ‘eyeball it and measure it with your soul’ kind of thing tend to clash a lot. He will stay up till midnight just doing research for fun. He is very much like his father. He breeds ball pythons for fun and he has all the genetics memorized by heart and he keeps the snake room spotless, all on his own without any nagging or anything like that from me.” You warned.

“Skylar will be eaiser but she’s very emotional and you just have to be really patient. She’s also either super quiet or super chatty, there is no inbetween. She will talk your ears off. Also she wants to bake cookies and cakes and pies. Every. Single. Day. And nothing has enough sparkles or glitter for her.”

“We’ll all find a way to get along, it’s gonna be ok.” He reassured you before he kissed the back of your hand sweetly.

You got back to his home and found a note from his mom. The family would be coming together on Sunday since that’s when most had the day off and that they would be coming to her house for a big family meal and invited you to bring a dish to share if you wanted to.

“What should I bring?” You asked Noah.

“Anything you want, but we got all day tomorrow to figure it out. Come on, let’s get her to bed, and us to bed.” He hinted as he took your hand and led you upstairs as Sakura lay knocked out over his shoulder as he carried her into the house and led you upstairs. He had waited all week to have you by his side physically and he didn’t want to waste another minute of your presence and once she was tucked into bed and her door shut he was on you and walking you towards his room.

And you’d be lying through your teeth if you were to try to deny you weren’t excited about this either. But Noah’s kiss and touch were unlike any other and you were greedily taking everything he could give you and trying to give back in kind and you just needed more...more kisses, more touches, more feel, more contact, more...everything and you don’t know how it happened or exactly when but somehow between him attaching his mouth to yours just outside of Sakura’s room, and him, reaching around you to open his own bedroom door, somehow most of your clothes had come off you as you felt the cool air hit your skin.

Your bra was unhooked in the back and your pants and underwear were already off and by the time he got you into the room and the door shut and thankfully locked, somehow your shirt and bra now disappeared as did all of his clothes except for his socks which he was trying to toe off just trying to get you to his bed since his weeping cock was pressed between the two of you.

Taylor had not been exaggerating. Noah was packing. You knew Ice Orcs were as big as orcs came. But damn. Biggest cock you would ever probably get the pleasure of handling and it was all yours, you could barely wrap your hand around your prize and Noah’s moan was equally delicious and Noah practically ripped the blankets off the bed trying to get into it but when you felt his legs hit the mattress, you pushed him back onto it, and sent him landing on his back with his lower legs hanging off the bed, he was surprised but thrilled all the same and when you nuzzled his heavy sack with your nose and then with the tip of your tongue, he was the one left grabbing the sheets in anticipation.

Neena was ok with receiving oral sex but she hated giving it because she just didn’t like the taste of precum, let alone cum and thought it was gross and always gagged the moment his cock touched the back third of her tongue. So to have you even hint at it was driving him wild and when your tongue licked from the back of his ball sack, through the two balls and to the base then, towards the tip, he was nearly undone. And then to have you kneel between his legs and start sucking him off, his eyes nearly rolled back too far but his answering strangled moan was all you could ever want in response. You knew he didn’t want to wake up his daughter but with just this bit of sucking his body, especially his thighs and stomach was almost shaking and twitching from fluttering so much. It must have been a while for him to receive this kind of pleasure and you were unbelievably pleased that you could give it to him and when you started to gently massage his scrotum and oh so gently scratch at it, he bucked his hips, sending the head of his cock to the back of your mouth before he pulled them back.

“Sorry.” He tried to apologize.

“Don’t apologize Baby, it’s ok, did Neena have a strong gag reflex?” You cooed as you detached your mouth from his length so you could talk to him but your hand stroked him lovingly.

“Uh, yeah,” Noah confirmed.

“Hmm, well I don’t.” You hinted and that was your only warning before you worked on sucking as much of him into your mouth and throat as you could and he pulled so hard on the sheets, they popped off the corners of the bed and the noise that fell from his throat was the best reaction you had gotten yet.

“Zara, please, please slow down or stop, I’m, I’m gonna cum. I can’t cum yet, you’re not, I haven’t pleased you yet.” He whimpered which warmed your heart that he was so concerned about your pleasure.

“Do you only have one round in you?” You posed as you pulled off but nuzzled the cock all the same, giving the blue cock that ended in a pink head some sweet kisses.

“N-no.” He answered.

“Then let me give you this one easy, next one you’ll have to try harder to earn it.” You cooed before you went back to it as your hands stroked up his thighs to his abdomen as he reached down and laced his fingers with yours to hold your hands as your head bobbed enthusiastically as his precum coated your mouth. This had to be the most delicious cock too. His precum was comforting and alluring and just a little zesty, like wildberries, more intense flavor but full what your body craved before you brought his hands up to your face so he could stroke your face which he did before his fingers finally settled into your hair as you wrapped your arms around his hips and shoved your hands between his fine ass and the bed and clawed your hands into his ass as Noah keened in bliss and arched his back off the bed as his fingers tangled in your hair before he got two good fistfuls of your hair and pulled your face closer as you did your best to suppress your own gag reflex as the head of his cock hit the back of your throat.

“Oh gods, oh gods, Zara, Baby, I can’t, I can’t hold on...” he panted desperately as his hips bucked and every other muscle in his body seemed to tense before one last slam and his cock erupted with seed that spilled down your throat as you swallowed around him, your lips suctioning around you just kept swallowing as he whimpered and keened and shuddered his release and he was left a sweaty mess as his body welcomed a few aftershocks as it basked in the afterglow as you made sure you swallowed down every drop of his precious seed before you slowly let it slide out as you pulled away and happily watched as his heavy cock fell to the bed under it’s own weight.

“Good?” You asked as you climbed up his body, kissing trail up him before you settled onto his chest.

“The best, I didn’t think...I didn’t know...it could be that good.” Noah praised having a hard time coming back to his senses. While part of him wondered how much experience you had had to get that good, he didn’t care, you were his now. And he was never going to let you go. That was the best blow job of his life, of the millenium. His mind was blown, his body was officially blessed by having you of all people do that to him.

“Now don’t fall asleep, you have me to please now.” You giggled as you traced a little pattern on his chest as he caught his breath.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he reassured you as he wrapped his strong arms around you and held you tight.

“I love you.” He cooed.

“I love you too.” You easily mirrored. And it felt like the most natural and easy thing to say. And completely truthful too before he cupped your cheek and pulled you further up to kiss him soundly.

“I didn’t kiss you Tuesday because that’s what I did with Neena, I kissed you…” He began.

“I know, same reason I called you Babe on Tuesday, it just felt right.” You reassured him.

“Exactly.” He grinned appreciatively.

“Now, my turn to treat you like the goddess you are.” You growled as he playfully nipped at your neck and ear as you giggled gleefully as he rolled you over and it was his turn to kiss you senseless and mark a trail down your luscious and plump body, making sure to worship all of his favorite curves, from your breasts to your belly which he just adored to your hips and his favorite curve, your mound. Perfectly crowned with curls and dripping in anticipation of him and he took a lot of satisfaction in knowing that he was responsible for this as he settled between your legs before he had you set your powerful thighs on his shoulders and delved in.

Nothing could have prepared himself for this. But you tasted better than anything ever had before. It was sweet and spicy and purely addictive as he delved in and slurped and gave his tongue the work out it had been craving for practically a week as his own hands now cradled your glorious ass to cant your center right where he wanted it and it was your turn to writhe between him and the sheets beneath you.

Andy, truthfully, was not a good lover. He loved and adored your blow jobs but returning the pleasure, he was hopeless. He didn’t know how to please you, because all of his sex education had come from porn and besides pounding his cock into you, he didn’t know what else to do to please you and never bothered to learn.

Noah though? Oh bless this man’s heart, body and soul. Because he was eating you out like you were a seven course feast and he had been starving for most of his life and when he added a finger and then two and found that oh so sweet g-spot and worked it like it was his mission in life and he had been put on this planet for the sole purpose of finding it and working it to perfection while his mouth circled around your clit and sucked hard- it was all over, your legs kicked out and your knees tried to snap shut around his head and clamped his ears to his head as your own hips bucked and your own cry of bliss and ecstasy practically bounced off the walls. This was the greatest oral sex you had ever had the pleasure of recieving. It was official, he was a sex god.

For once you didn’t feel like you were wasting yourself or your gifts on someone. He was deserving, he was worthy. He was amazing and epic and wonderful and you loved and adored him.

“You still here?” Noah teased as he licked his lips as his self satisfied smile beamed up from between your legs. He still had it and he could give you the best gift possible and there was no one more deserving of that- than you, and he did his best and he was happy that you were well pleased with him and his efforts.

“Oh my gods, that was, epic, amazing, perfect. Like I’m trying to keep my soul in my body.” You explained with a giggle as he kissed his way back up your body to your mouth before he kissed you soundly as you wrapped yourself around him as you came down from your own afterglow before he slid right in.

“Oooh, perfect fit.” You purred up at him as he settled into place. You were stretched perfectly but not uncomfortably. Stuffed perfectly full and you melted into the bed when he didn’t pound, but actually stroked himself in and out of you, adjusting the angle of his hips until he found the perfect one for you both and every stroke felt like a blessing he was pouring into your being.

Then he worked up the tempo and the rhythm.

“Please, please don’t stop Noah, I’m so close, I’m so so close.” You begged as you felt your peak draw ever closer as Noah’s own body started to tense up as you clung to him and then that’s when he seemed to lose some semblance of control as his hips went from measured to almost a heinous pace as he started breathing even heavier and more labored as his hold on you grew almost desperate and it was enough to send you over the edge into bliss and when you inwardly constricted and fluttered around his length, it undid him and he came falling after you, pumping your canal so full, the seed had nowhere else to go but to seep out where you were joined as you both breathed heavily, trying to catch your breath as you just held each other as you looked up from the bed through the sky light to see the aurora borealis come out and move messmerizingly across the sky. It was so beautiful. And you were so happy and content to share such an intimate moment with Noah. He was such a gem. This perfect jewel of the north who had been waiting for you to come and find him and cherish him and love him. And you would do your best to do so for the rest of your life.

Once you two fully relaxed you looked around and noticed the bed looked like a hurricane had come through the room.

“Come on, help me make the bed, then we can sleep.” You gently urged him as he begrudgingly let you go and together you made quick work of putting the sheets back on properly and fixed the many layers of blankets before you quickly went pee in the bathroom and at least picked up all your discarded clothes in the hallway and put them in Noah’s room while he went to the bathroom himself before you met back into the bed and cuddled, looking up at the northern lights before you both drifted off to sleep.

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