#i gotta save up my chips now (i have literally none left) i need a newer Artem ssr so i can enjoy being married to him as well

[gachaparadise]

WE GOT ENGAGED?!?!

[fallingforunrealisticromance]

I've got you - Derek Morgan x fem!reader part3

A/N: Thanks to @wanniiieeee for the idea:)

Warnings: None

Word Count: 1907

***= time skip

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

I checked my phone for what felt like the hundredth time in the past 20 minutes, my body wracked with nerves. After that night at Derek’s, he’d asked me to be his girlfriend and obviously I’d said yes. It was still incredibly new for us, seeing as it had only happened a few days back, but I couldn’t be happier. There were only two things weighing on my shoulders – telling the BAU lot, and Sean. I felt so guilty. Even though me and Sean were nowhere near being official as we’d only been out on a few dates, I couldn’t help but feel like I’d gone behind his back. He’d been nothing but sweet to me and the thought of hurting his feelings was killing me. But I knew I couldn’t be happy with him, not in that way anyway. Derek had suggested to just call him, but this felt more like something that needed to be done in person. So, I’d texted him asking if he wanted to grab a coffee and that I needed to talk to him.

“Hey, sorry I’m late traffic was a nightmare” He said, smiling as he sat down.

“Yeah no worries I get it.” I replied, returning his grin. “So how are you? How’s work going?”

“Yeah I’m doing good. The jobs going great, this new bakery I’m working at is so much better than the last place. You should swing by sometime; I might be able to snag you a free doughnut.” He joked.

“Oh, for free food? I’ll do anything” I said trying to hide my nerves. Sean cleared his throat.

“So, what did you want to talk about?” Here goes nothing. I took a deep breathe before answering.

“Um, the thing is that I- well you know, you’re a great guy but- it’s just- I don’t wanna-“ I stumbled over my words, unsure of how to phrase it.

“Just take a breath Y/N, it’s okay.” Sean said calmly.

“Me and Derek are together.” I blurted out.

I held my breath as my eyes scanned over him, trying to get a grasp as to what he might be feeling. Anger. Hurt. Betrayal. All of the above. But just like his brother, he was impossible to read. He was leant back in his chair, just sort of looking ahead of him. A neutral expression on his face.

“Sean I’m so sorry, I don’t even know how it happened – it just kind of did. You’re such a great guy and if it’s not to selfish of me I’d love to remain friends? But if your mad at me or anything like that I will totally understand.” I rambled anxiously.

Sean let out a small chuckle at my rushed state before leaning forward and placing his hands over mine.

“I’m not mad. These things happen you know. And as much as I enjoyed the dates we had; nothing was set in stone it was all relatively new so don’t feel bad about anything. We will definitely remain friends, I still need my drinking buddy.” He said nudging me arm. “I hope you and Derek will be happy together.” He gave me a genuine smile allowing me to relax.

“Thank you for understanding.”

“It’s all good” He replied. “So, what did my brother think?”

I chuckled, relaxing back into my seat.

“We haven’t told any of his team yet. I’m actually going there later to tell them.”

“Wow today is full of confessions”

“You got that right.”

Me and Sean spent the next few hours chatting about anything and everything

. Suddenly my phone rang, and Derek’s name flashed on the screen.

“Sorry I’ll be a minute” I said before standing up to take the call.

“Hey Derek”

“Hey you. How’s my favourite girl doing?”

“I don’t know I haven’t spoken to Garcia today” I teased.

“Hey, come on now, you know you’re my favourite.” He replied.

“Come off it, we all know Garcia will forever hold that position. But that’s okay because not only do I love her, but I’m also the one you come home to every night.”

“And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

I could practically hear his smile through the phone.

“Anyway, to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?” I asked.

“Well, I wanted to see what time you’d be coming by the office. Oh, and check to see how things went with Sean”

“Things with Sean went great. He was so understanding and not mad at all. We’ve literally just been talking for hours. I don’t know why I was so stressed.”

“Because you overthink everything” Derek quipped.

“Um rude”

“But true”

I rolled my eyes while biting back at smile.

“Whatever. I’ll probably be able to come by in about 10 minutes. Sean has to get to work anyways.”

“Okay I’ll see you in a bit then.”

“Yep see you soon.”

“I love you gorgeous.”

“I love you too idiot”

I hung up the phone before he could bite back a response. Shoving my phone in my pocket I headed back into the café.

“Hey, so I guess it’s time for me to tell the team.” I said to Sean.

“Ah the time has come.” He laughed, standing up. “Well good luck, and if any of them give you shit – let me know”

“Sean in the nicest way possible, what could you possibly do? Tell them off?” I joked.

“Hey! I’ll have you know I can be quite intimidating when I like to be” He defend.

“Mhm sure you can. Now run along to your bakery.”

“You wound me. Truly.”

I laughed before waving goodbye to him and jumping back in my car.

**********************************************************************

The elevator ride to the BAU department was probably the most nerve-wracking trip. I was trying to convince myself that if Sean could accept it, there should be no reason for these lot not to. But to be honest, I think I was more worried about the a million questions we were about to get bombarded with. I mean Emily was already rooting for us. So yep, definitely more freaked for the questions. Derek was right, I over think stuff too damn much. As the doors open, I saw the man himself waiting at his desk for me. As his eyes caught mine, he flashed me that heart melting smile making me forget any worries I had.

“Hey” He greeted before wrapping his arms around me. “You nervous?”

“Nah. I was but realistically what��s there to be nervous about? At the end of the day, I still have you and that’s all I need.” I replied. He smiled brightly at me before leading me into the bullpen.

“Y/N! It’s good to see you.” Spencer called.

“Hey spence. It’s good to see you too.”

“Hey pretty boy, do you know where the others are? I wanna talk to you all.”

Spencer’s brow furrowed. “Is everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine. Can you just grab the others? We’ll wait in the meeting room.” Derek replied before heading to the stairs. I saw Spencer shoot us a look before getting up to find the team. Derek leant back on the table.

“So how are you planning on telling them?” He asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Me? I’m not telling them you are.”

“Why me?”

“Derek they’re your team. Not mine. Plus, I already had to tell Sean and that was stressful enough as it is so why would i-“

“Baby hey, stop pacing I was joking”

I hadn’t realised that was pacing back and forth across the room until he said that.

“Not nervous huh?” He joked. I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. “Hey, come here”

I made my way over to him, standing between his legs. His arms gravitated towards my waist as I looped mine around his neck.

“What’s on your mind?” He asked softly. I moved my hands to fiddle with the collar of his shirt before answering.

“I just really don’t want to mess this up.” I whispered,

“Nothing the team can say will change anything-“

“No Derek I mean this, us.” I muttered. He placed his hand under my chin, lifting my eyes to meet his.

“Nothing you can do will change how I feel about you okay? I’m in this for the long haul.” His words made my stomach flutter.

“I love you.” I said before leaning in to kiss him. Even though it wasn’t the first, he took my breath every time. His lips just felt so perfect on mine.

“FINALLY” A shrill voice from behind us made us jump apart from each other. I turned to see the team standing in the doorway, a mixture of emotions on their faces. The voice that had scared us belonged to Garcia as she stood there grinning like the Cheshire cat whilst clapping her hands happily.

“Details now. When? Where? How long? Can I plan the wedding?” She gushed. I could feel my face burning bright red as I stood there unable to talk. Derek stood up, snaking his arm around my wait.

“Relax babygirl. We’ll explain everything” Derek said to her.

“T-that’s not exactly how we planned to tell you” I said, the embarrassment of being caught by our friends beginning to sink in.

“It’s about time” Emily chipped in, nudging me on the arm. “I’ve been waiting.”

Derek shot her a confused look. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I mean considering what happened at yours the other night, I figured it would happen sooner or later” She replied, shrugging her shoulders.

Derek looked at me. “You told her?”

“She literally came over and I was freaking out of course I told her” I replied, laughing.

“What happened at Derek’s?” Garcia called, her eyes darting between the three of us.

“Emily went over to check on them because neither of them were answering their phones..” JJ answered.

I looked at Emily. “So, you told JJ?”

Emily held her hands up defensively. “She’s my girlfriend I had to.” I rolled my eyes.

“And by doing that she interrupted them about to kiss” Spencer piped up. My jaw dropped.

“You told Spencer too?” I looked at Emily accusingly.

“No! I only told JJ” I turned to JJ, raising my eyebrows expectantly

“He’s my best friend.” She replied.

Derek sighed. “Okay so was there anyone who didn’t know?”

“Well technically me and Hotch didn’t know but we had a feeling.” Rossi answered. “Actually, that reminds me, you owe me ten bucks Aaron”

I threw my hands up. “Oh, brilliant so three of you knew and the other two had a bet on us. Good to know” I said sarcastically.

“I’m feeling rather left out. Why am I the last to find out?” Garcia pouted.

“Gotta save the best till last babygirl” Derek replied, throwing his arm around her giving her a squeeze.

“Good point” She said, the smile promptly returning to her face.

“You two are good together. I hope you’ll be happy” Hotch commented with a tight-lipped smile.

“Thanks Aaron.” I said returning the smile.

“Right” Emily clapped her hands together. “Who wants to go get drinks to celebrate the couple of the hour.” Everyone raised their hands and headed out the door.

“Hey” Emily grabbed Derek’s arm pulling him back slightly. “Be good to her.”

Derek patted her hand. “Always. I’ve never felt like this before about anyone. There’s no way I’m losing her.”

[kpop-cakepops]

Hello, Meant To Be Anon here! I see your requests are open. A pretty big situation going on with my job that's going to leave a lot of people upset and I just am going to need all of the positive vibes I can get. Could I request something fluffy with Wonwoo? Maybe a Snuggle Donation where he cheers up the reader after a bad day? No rush or anything, whenever you have time to get around to it. Thanks!

Hi Anon. I'm really sorry to hear about your job. Know that everything will be okay! You've got this! Here is your request, hope Wonwoo can cheer you up 😉❤ Enjoy and have a good week!!! (I didn't properly proofread this, so please excuse any mistakes!!)

Genre: Fluff

Warnings: None

Word Count: 1,808

Snuggle Donation: Move In// JeonWonwooxFem!Reader

"Just go home, I'll have Mingyu run the launch."

Y/N watched as her boss walked out of her office with a disappointed frown on his face. After making 5 consecutive mistakes, she was finally being sent home.

It had all started that morning when her landlord came to her door to inform her that he'd be selling the building that Y/N and many other tenants called home. It had sent her mind in a downward spiral all day. She had only 2 weeks to look for a new home and on top of that she had a big campaign launch to run at work that she did not have the mind for... hence why she was being sent home.

"Are you okay?" asked her colleague and friend Mingyu as he entered her office to pick up the plan for the new launch.

"I'm great. Just dandy" she grumbled as she grabbed her purse and keys from her desk. "Are you done? I need to get home" Y/N hadn't meant to sound rude, but if she wasn't out of the office in the next 2 minutes, she was sure she'd break down.

Mingyu gave her a soft understanding smile and ruffled her hair before stepping out of her office and walking over to their break room. The tall man slipped his phone out and dialed the only number he knew would be of help for Y/N.

"What?"

"Yes, hello to you too. Did you and Y/N fight?" he asked.

Wonwoo, who had been playing games instantly stopped what he was doing and grabbed his phone taking it off speaker and putting it to his ear. "No, why? Did she say she was mad at me?"

"No. She's just been off today. Seungcheol kicked her off the campaign launch today. She looked about ready to cry." Mingyu shared as he stirred himself a cup of coffee.

"Something must've happened... don't worry about it. I'll give her a call." With that Wonwoo hung up the phone and dialed his best friend's number, however, after one ring he was instantly directed to voicemail. He had known she wouldn't answer his call, Y/N usually liked her space, but his calls always served as a little reminder that he'd be waiting for her and she could go to him as soon as she was ready to talk.

Back at her small apartment, Y/N wasn't ready yet. Her belongings were glaring at her from the places they'd held for years as she sat on her bed. A million and one thoughts were running through her mind. She had nowhere to go, she had finally saved enough to put in a deposit for the business she was planning to start, and now she had 2 weeks to figure what was going to happen with her life. The problem was starting to weigh down on her little by little.

It was after half an hour that the weight of her issues was too much to bear alone. Her hand reached out for her phone and she dialed her best friend's number.

"Hey you"

"Can you come over?" Y/N asked with an arm draped over her eyes, it seemed like that was the only thing holding her tears in.

"I'm outside... I'll be up in a second, yeah?"

"Yeah" she answered forcing herself to stand from her bed and change into comfortable clothes. Comfortable clothes being the ratty old sweatshirt Wonwoo had left behind 2 years prior and a pair of sweatpants she'd used to paint her bathroom when she'd just moved in. By the time she was done changing, she could hear Wonwoo punching the code into her front door. The sound of plastic bags reaching her in her room.

"Y/N?" he called out.

The young woman stepped out of her room with a sigh, her feet stopping right outside the bedroom door. Wonwoo was watching her closely and carefully from his spot and in a matter of seconds opened his arms up for her. Y/n's feet rushed her up to her tall friend and she buried her face into his chest. The weight that had been weighing down on her seemed to lift and the tears she'd been holding back were now being soaked up by her friend's black t-shirt.

"Do I have to kick someone's ass? I don't know where Seungcheol lives, but I can find out." he joked trying to lighten up the mood.

Y/n sniffled lightly. "I'm so tired" she mumbled, her voice muffled by his chest. "How long is this going to go on?"

Wonwoo's arms wrapped around her tightly. "Tired? Last I heard you got to leave work early today" he said jokingly, his words testing the waters to see if she'd tell him what was bothering her so much.

The girl pulled away from Wonwoo enough to see his face and gave him an unamused look. "Can you not? I'm literally about to be homeless"

Wonwoo was rendered silent. He didn't know you'd been going through money problems. "What? Why didn't you tell me? I would have lent you money"

With yet another sigh, Y/N walked over to the bags he'd brought over knowing they'd be full of her favorite snacks. Wonwoo never failed her. "It's not that. My landlord is selling the building and gave us a 2-week ultimatum to move out." She told him. "Not only that but I don't have enough money to put down a deposit for a new apartment on such short notice... I think I'm going to have to pull the deposit on the photography studio... I just-"

Wonwoo felt a slight sense of panic as soon as he saw Y/N starting to get emotional again. If there was one thing to know about Y/N it was that she was smart, creative, and hard-working... but she was also a perfectionist, a very emotional one at that.

"I'll lend you the money, you don't have to worry" he assured her, but he already knew what her answer would be.

"Are you crazy? You know how hard it is to find a decent apartment in the city. Deposits are so expensive one would think you're buying the apartment"

She wasn't wrong, things were ridiculously expensive in the city, but knowing how important her new business was, he didn't want Y/N to have to give it up yet again. "Then move in with me" he blurted.

Y/N dropped the bag of chips in her hands as soon she heard his suggestion. "What?"

Wonwoo was embarrassed. In any other case, two best friends wouldn't be embarrassed to live together, but they weren't any other case. Wonwoo liked his best friend, he like liked her. "M-move in with me. I mean, you need a place to live, places in the city are expensive, Dokyeom is also moving out"

well now he is

"Plus, the last thing I want is for you to have to postpone the opening of your photography studio. You've worked too hard, and as your best friend, I will not allow it."

Y/N felt a large wave of emotions crashing into her. With a slow shake of her head, she picked up the bag of chips she'd dropped. "I don't know Woo... would that really be okay?"

"Of course it'd be okay! You're my best friend. Best friends can live together... I'm not that bad of a roommate" he grinned.

Y/N chuckled and grabbed more snacks before making her way over to her small living room and plopping down on her couch. "You realize how big of a change that will be, right? You'd be living with a girl."

Wonwoo nodded hurriedly, "I'm not a kid, of course I get it"

"Well then... I guess it wouldn't be a bad idea, at least until I find somewhere else to live."

Wonwoo followed her and dropped on the empty spot beside her. His weight shifting over onto her. "Or you could just be my roommate until the end of my lease" he offered.

"God, you're heavy" she groaned as she pushed him off her only to have him lay his head on her lap. "That would be a horrible idea"

Wonwoo smiled up at his friend, his brows wiggling playfully, "what are you saying?! of course it wouldn't. You get to have the handsomest roommate in the world. Why would that be a bad idea?"

With a roll of her eyes, Y/N stuffed Wonwoo's mouth with chips and shook her head, "wow, suddenly I want to stay homeless" she joked, a small smile coming to her face.

"Hey, you smiled though. That's good right?" He thoughtlessly munched on his chips and grabbed Y/N's hand, placing it on his head.

"Only because I have the most handsome best friend and soon-to-be temporary roommate" she replied, her free hand combing through his hair.

Wonwoo smiled, the fact that she was willing to allow him to help her with such a big issue made him feel like maybe a part of her also needed him as much as he did her. "So I'm assuming that's a yes to coming home with me?"

"If you're willing to make a little space for me, then I'll gladly move in with you."

"Okay. We can pack up a bag and you can come with me tonight. I'll ask for the day off tomorrow and I'll come to help you pack up and start the move!" Wonwoo said excitedly causing the girl's tummy to do a little flip at how excited he sounded.

"Calm down, we have two weeks to get everything done. Plus, we still have to run it by your landlord." Y/N told him.

"My landlord will be fine with it. He already thinks you live with me since you always come over." He assured, his eyes glimmered as he stood up.

Y/N laughed and grabbed his hand tugging him back to sit beside her. "Hey, you came to make me feel better you gotta feed me and finish the movie with me"

"Oh! Right! After the movie we can pack though, right?" he asked.

"Of course! We can also call the most handsome best friend and soon-to-be temporary roommate to come and help us pack" the girl said popping a chip into her mouth. Wonwoo looked over at her in confusion. "What? Did you think I was gonna let you kick out Dokyeom? Nice try idiot."

Wonwoo groaned and let his body drop over her lap again, "You won't let a single thing slip by, will you?"

With yet another eye-roll she stuffed his mouth with the chips in her hands. "Hush, we're gonna finish the scary movie we didn't finish last time."

"Goddamn it, Y/N. Not again."

[feralnumberfive]

The Rewatch Academy: Episode 4 of Season 1

“Man on the Moon”

I am in no way a good analyst so my little analysis and speculations probably sound a bit goofy or pretty wild and probably mean nothing at all. Everything I put into this post about each episode is purely what I noticed or thought, whether it’s funny or serious. I will be making jokes, so please just leave it at that (in no way am I trying to make fun of an actor and or character!) I am also in no way saying I noticed this stuff first. This is just what I noticed while rewatching these episodes

☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂

1x01 | 1x02 | 1x03 |

☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂

☂ So at that point Luther had already been alone for about five years (due to his siblings leaving when they were 18 or even 17 according to Diego), and by alone I mean he did’t have his siblings with him. I’m not counting Reginald, Grace, or Pogo because I’d imagine they weren’t the best company. There was a two year gap between Luther getting the serum and then being sent to the moon. He had already been “alone” for five years before he was sent away to be completely alone for four years. He hasn’t had really any social/outside interaction besides going on missions for almost ten years, which means Luther is an awkward dude and he hasn’t been a true leader because he hasn’t had anyone to lead. I don’t think people really realize this and I think that’s where some of the hate towards him comes from 

☂ We see that Luther looks into Allison’s and Klaus’s bedrooms as he makes his way down the hall, and I’m willing to bet he did that for all of his siblings. Makes me wonder how many times the siblings went to Five’s room to visit it or to even check with hope that he had come back  

☂ I wish I could ride my bike around my house and chug a gallon of milk :[

☂ I can’t believe that Reginald still made him wear that leather battle suit 💀

☂ Why are there posters of animal anatomy in the infirmary?

☂ Apparently it takes between two to four months to grow a full beard, so that’s  about how long Luther had been lying there

☂ *suffers through the Allison and Luther scene*

☂ “HoPe I wAsN’t BeInG tOo LoUd”

☂ Vanya and Leonard were really sweet in the beginning. Screw you Leonard

☂ It’s really sad that not one his siblings notice that Klaus is gone. Not. One. 

☂ Are you telling me that Klaus and Five are certified freaks? At least I’m sure that’s who Cha Cha is referring to, or maybe it’s Luther

☂ I tried looking up tortures in Trinidad to see if Cha Cha was referring to any specific event, but I think it’s just a random thing in the show

☂ It’s only when Diego mutters “The boy” that it reminds him either of Five’s superhero name “The Boy” or his new appearance as a teen again so it finally clicks in his head that that’s who the mystery kid is

☂ Diego admitting that he doesn’t really know how to process his feelings!

☂ He’s very protective of his family and that’s something that I love about Diego. He doesn’t know who Hazel and Cha Cha are but all he knows is that they are searching for Five for some reason and that his siblings almost got killed last night

☂ Five doesn't realize the suffering that he’s putting his family through at this point since he’s only focused on finding who’s responsible for the end of the world. It’s ironic that he’s doing all of this to keep them alive and safe and yet him not being with them almost got them killed. Five buddy, you should have included all of your siblings from the start no matter how much they annoy you

☂ Also where has Five been this entire time? He left the van at night and now it’s the next morning. He’s been following the guy but why did it take him so long to corner him?

☂ Ope, and there’s a continuation error! When Luther takes his arm out of Five’s dresser, he takes part of the wood panel with him. When it cuts back to Diego talking there’s just a fist size hole

☂ “We barely got out with our lives.” Okay but where were you, Pogo?

☂ It’s funny how quickly they revert to child-like shame when Pogo scolds them. At least they still respect him I guess

☂ Is Hazel eating potato chips with ketchup? 

☂ I think one reason why nobody notices that Klaus is gone is because none of them saw him that night during the attack. They possibly assumed he already had left the Academy??

☂ Looooove the “Shingaling” scene. They are straight up vibing

☂ I don’t know why Luther was frustrated with the van door being locked. It’s not like he could rip the door off or anything.......

☂ I have a two questions here:

Why did Diego know where to find Five based off of the book? Sure he saw that it came from the library, but that doesn’t mean that he’ll be there

Wouldn’t Luther and Diego have seen the smoke coming from the Meritech building? Unless they left immediately and weren’t able to see the smoke even though they probably were still in the vicinity when it began to burn

☂ Five is holding the man’s arm to make sure that he doesn’t get away (hard to tell in the pic below though). He needs that sense of security that this lead isn’t going to escape his grasp, but I’m sure that if he were to run he wouldn’t get far when you can just teleport after him

☂ I got a nice pic of Five (also the dude on the bike that was riding behind Five as he runs up in this shot just does not care that this building is on fire) 

☂ When it shows Five on the ground, it at first starts off with light and slightly comedic music before it quickly switches over to something dramatic. I always thought it was funny that they play the light stuff as we see Five just laying there 💀

☂ You can see just how quickly Five’s face changes from shock to disbelief and disappointment as his only lead is literally blown away from him look, you can pinpoint the exact moment his heart breaks. Also Five definitely would have had hearing issues since we can see that the windows on the building behind him were shattered. He’s staring into your soul....

☂ There’s nothing really significant about this at all, but Whippets are racing dogs and in the comics Five goes to watch a dog race at one point

☂ “I hate sprinkles.” Hey, me too!

☂ I love that Griddy’s is still open despite the damage that was done to it

☂ Diego left home at 17 (which is illegal so I wonder if he was emancipated or maybe Diego ran away and Reginald didn’t care to look for him) so I wonder if the others left when they were 17 too or if they waited until they were 18 

☂ Luther I don’t really think you’re one to talk about being “grown up” my guy. In fairness none of the Umbrellas know how to be fully functioning adults, not even Five who’s about twice the age of his siblings and is almost a senior citizen

☂ “I stayed because the world needed me.” Hey that was basically Five’s reason too, but more so for getting to see his family again. Anyways, like brother, like, uh, brother! 

☂ "And things are never gonna go back to the way they used to be.” You sir just predicted the next week(s) (and technically years in the 60s) of your life and the lives of your siblings! This also applies for what happens after those weeks/years, but we haven’t gotten there yet but it’s certainly not the way things used to be!  

☂ How was Luther upset enough that he wanted Diego to stop talking after he said something genuine and a bit sad?

☂ This whole relationship talk isn’t exactly relatable......

☂ He’s just chillin’

☂ Reginald can ✨perish✨ Oh wait, he already did 

☂ Here I am taking any little scrap and running with it, but when Five says he’s going through puberty twice does that mean that he didn’t get his aging altered by The Commission? In the comics, Temps Aeternalis/Commission stopped Five’s aging but here it sounds like that didn’t happen. Since we haven’t heard anything about Five’s DNA in the tv show we don’t really know much about his aging alteration either. I think that they really do have to leave that part out due to Aidan himself, who is a growing teen, and for the fact that they would need to come up with an excuse for Five’s aging (Aidan already looks different in S2 and he’s taller too). I wish they would bring this stuff up in the show!

☂ Five deflects answering the question of what he’s the best at most likely just because he’s just distracted but also possibly because he doesn’t want his brothers to know at this point

☂ First the feral chimp smile and now this

☂ Five actually sounded serious when he was talking about how many people he has killed and how he’s the ”Four frickin’ Horsemen” which is more so an exaggeration but it still shows us that he views himself as dangerous and powerful. He revealed this to them while he was drunk, even though they don’t really understand, but I wonder if Five ever actually planned on telling his siblings what he did and how much blood he has on his hands. I feel like he would have told them after he had saved the world from the apocalypse, but yet again I could also see him brushing off questions in relation to what he just said to Luther and Diego to hide his past from his family

☂ ✨”Little Psycho”✨

☂ As eerie as all of those ghosts are, it’s a really neat scene

☂ It’s not really meant to be funny, but Klaus denying the duct tape just reminds me of a little kid refusing to go into timeout 

☂ I guess Cha Cha got out through the door next to the bathroom when Klaus was banging his head on the table?

☂ It’s a shame that Patch died right away, I really liked her

☂ Klaus, where you’re going really isn’t any better 

☂ It’s sweet that Diego puts Delores down gently and doesn’t just toss her somewhere. Even though she’s a mannequin, Diego knows that she means something to Five

☂ Well Luther I think it’s pretty self-explanatory what he meant. You just need more context 

☂ Diego: *signaling that someone, possibly a threat, is approaching and to be alert*

Luther: 🕴👁`👄’👁

☂ Even if they did think that Klaus had left the Academy before Hazel and Cha Cha attacked it, it’s sad that it took them this long to think about him

☂ Luther patting Delores is so cute

☂ Say it with me kids, “Patch deserved so much better!”

☂ My heart breaks to see Diego so heartbroken and upset, especially when he says “I gotta go, okay? I can’t be here when they come, okay?” Ugh, that gets me

☂☂☂☂☂☂☂

Feel free to comment or reblog with things you have noticed too!

[buckyscrystalqueen]

Fresh Start: Part 5

Pairings: Bucky x Reader, Cop!Bucky x Reader

Warnings: Swearing.

Word Count: 2,953

A/N: Got the idea for this one while watching ‘The Town’.

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Why is this necessary?” You asked as you walked up the driveway at the Winchester’s house.

“Because I said so.” Bucky sighed as he pushed the doorbell. You looked over at him with one, final annoyed huff before hiking Jess up on your hip and smiling at the opening door. “I convinced her.” Bucky chuckled as he held out the bag of burger meat, buns, and various bag of chips you had picked up that morning when you picked up holiday decorations and decorations for the house. You had no idea how ‘thank you cookies’ had turned into ‘thank you barbecue and pool party’ but apparently that’s what was happening. “This is my fiancé, (Y/N), and our daughter, Jess.”

“Nice to meet you, (Y/N). Come in, come in. Mary’s just getting Sam and Dean up from a nap.”

“We brought food.” You said, not knowing what else to really say as Jess whined and tried to hide.

“Here, I got it.” John said with a nod as he took the bag from you as you walked past a giant play room that looked like a former formal dining room on your left. “There’s a bathroom down that hall over there, only door on the left if you need to change. It goes straight out to the pool. There’s swim diapers in there for Sam that should fit Jess…”

“Oh, no thank you.” You said as you gave up trying to keep your daughter on your hip and let her straddle your stomach to hide in your throat. “We have a pool, too so we have them.”

“You’re lucky.” He said with a nod as he lead you guys past the kitchen that backed the play room and out to the quaint patio. “Pools are hard to come by here. Beer?”

“Yea, two please.” Bucky chimed in as he set your diaper bag down on the bar that ran along a pass through window to the kitchen. You looked back and moved out of the way as the older of the Winchester boys ran past you and jumped into the pool as fast as he could.

“Dean!” A woman yelled as she walked out on to the patio slowly with Sam’s hand in hers. “Apologize. That was rude.”

“Oh, he’s fine.” You said with a shake of your head as you took your beer from Bucky. “If his biggest issue is he ran past some strangers and jumped in his pool, he’s doing pretty damn good. (Y/N).”

“Mary.” She said with a nod as she shook your hand. “And Sam.”

“When she’s done hiding, this is Jess. Who’s missing out on new friends by hiding.” You tried as you kissed the side of her head. “But she’ll get over it.”

“Well I don’t know about you.” Mary said as she gestured to the pool behind you. “But I’m gettin in. It’s hot.”

“Hot!” Sam repeated as he pulled on his mother’s hand.

“Yea, we’re going.” Mary chuckled as Jess picked her head up to find where the little boy’s voice was. 

“You wanna go play with Sam?” You asked her before taking a sip of your drink and putting it down on the bar by your bag. “You can’t be shy. Man up, little girl. Show these boys you ain’t no pussy.”

“(Y/N)!” Bucky hissed as he flicked your arm. You looked over at him and the giant shit-eating grin John had on his face.

“What? You want her to be a little pussy?”

“You are killing me.” He sighed as you sat down in one of the chairs and took off the dress you had on over Jess’ swim diaper and bathing suit. “You’re really killing me.”

“You love it.” You smiled up at him as you set your daughter down long enough to take off your tank top and shorts.

“Up.” Jess whined as she tried to climb up your leg.

“I know, come on.” You said as you picked her up to go swimming with Mary and the boys.

“So I have water wings and rings galore.” Mary said as you walked down the stairs. “Dean tends to dive through the rings and pops them so we buy them by the case load. And neither of the boys like water wings.”

“Yea… my Ma just chucked us in the community pool.” You giggled as you put Jess in a ring that had a plastic bottom for her to sit on. “You either swam or you were drowning.”

“That’s how we learned, too.”

“I tried to do it with Jess.” You sighed as you looked over at your new friend. “But my lovely fiancé threatened to make me sleep on the couch if I did so she doesn’t know how to swim yet.”

“Really? John was the exact opposite. He practically threw Dean into the pool like a football as I screamed from the kitchen.” You nodded your head and shrugged as you gently pushed Jess toward Sam and his float.

“Yea, I’m not the sensitive one in our relationship. I was raised on the mean streets of Brooklyn, New York by the boys in my neighborhood. I was the only girl my age for like three blocks. And that just kinda stuck. So I don’t coddle. That’s James’ job. I got lucky with that one, too.”

“Isn’t it funny how that always works?” She giggled as she leaned to the side so Dean could get out to jump in again. “You always end up finding the exactly right person to compliment us in the end.”

“True.” You said with a nod as you looked back over your shoulder at the man that literally changed your life in so many ways. “So very true.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I feel so naked.” You sighed as you scratched at your throat where your five gold necklaces usually sat. “’s’not right.”

“Stop scratching, baby.” Bucky said sweetly as he sat down beside you on the couch with a pad of paper in his hands. “All right. Let’s start with the most basic. Hair color.” You groaned and let your head fall back so that your currently wet bottle blonde hair fell back over the side of the couch.

“Why ya gotta go afta the hair?” You asked as you ran your fingers through it for a half second before forcing yourself to stop. You hadn’t before realized you did that at least fifty times an hour, and you were going to try to break that habit with your new personality.

“You can stay blonde.” He said as he wrote other ideas down to help you figure out who you wanted to be. “Or you can let it grow out. It’s up to you.” You sighed loudly and met his eyes before covering your face with your hand.

“Don’t look at me.”

“Hand down.” He said as he reached out to push your hand away from your face, which you were hiding because you didn’t put any ‘hooker make-up’ on for this conversation. You simply had a little bit of eyeliner and some mascara and that was all. “You are gorgeous and you know it as well as I do.”

“Besides the point.” You muttered as you went to run your hands in your hair again before dropping it on the couch cushions beside you and shoving your hands under your thighs. “I feel naked.”

“So we’ll come back to hair color.” Bucky said as he put a question mark beside the idea. “And we need to go shopping for new eyeshadows in natural colors for the make-up part?” You nodded your head because you knew that the blue you loved to wear wasn’t really a respectable color to wear every day. “Alright then. So I found a nice online cooking class on Groupon. Six months, twice a week. They shoot prerecorded videos and post them to the website so you can learn as slowly as you want and watch them as many times as you want as well. And there’s a baking one as well thats the same thing, but once a week for six months that I can sign you up for, too. So you can learn how to cook at your own pace.”

“I’m gunna burn the house down.”

“No you’re not, because I will be right there with a fire extinguisher.” He commented as he drew a line through something else on his list. “So that takes care of cooking. Next is job.”

“I can’t do…”

“Stop.” He interrupted as he looked over at you with a smile and grabbed his phone. “Let’s think about what you can do. Realistically. You are amazing at basic math. You said it yourself that you were good at weighing out weed.”

“So what, become a drug dealer again?” You asked before looking down at the webpage he was showing you.

“Medical Marijuana. They are looking for an assistant manager AND before you start in on not being able to do it, they teach you step by step, to make sure you know the job before letting you go out into the real world and manage their store. So you will be dealing with something you know, and doing a job that is easy. And the best part is, Mary is the owner and manager. So that’s a bonus. She’s looking forward to seeing your application, which I will help you with since I know you’ve never filled one out. Which leads to my next thing, clothes. 

If this is the route you wanna take, you can still wear your necklaces, your earrings, the bracelets and the rings. All of that. You can keep the blonde hair, you can go natural, you could even dye it purple if you wanted to. But your hem lines need to change. Jeans and shirts that cover your bra’s completely. Only a little bit of cleavage. Shorts have to completely cover your ass. Don’t give me that look. I’m trying to help you here and you know it. I’d suggest sneakers and flip flops as well. Your heels won’t be fun. But you will have to remember that you are NOT a Townie in that environment. It won’t be easy.”

“What about Jess?”

“Jessie can go to day care.” He said as he set his pad of paper down on his knee. “There’s a really good one just down the road and she will be just fine. And if none of this sounds like a good idea to you, and you wanna just be a stay at home mom, you can. I should be hearing back about that mechanic’s job today or tomorrow and I’m confident I’ll get it. With that and what we have saved from selling all your cars, my car, and my bike. All the cash you had stored in your mattress at home, all the stuff we took from your brothers place, all the furniture we sold… all that money is just building up interest in a bank. We could live off just that comfortably for two years. At the end of the day though, doll, you are the one that said you wanted to grow up. Now I will stand by you one way or another no matter what you wanna do. So you think about it.”

“Why is this so hard?” You asked as you threw your hands up in the air.

“Because your brother and I coddled you too much, sweetheart.” He said as he tossed his notebook on the table and got up to check on Jess to see if she was still napping and grab you a joint from the dwindling stash you had upstairs. “All because we loved you.”

“No, you just loved that I mulled drugs the best.” You grumbled as you sat forward to grab his notebook to look at his list again. “The boobs and all.” You didn’t even stop yourself from running your fingers through your hair again as you looked at the list of things to change to make you more of an adult. It was all terrifying and yet, you wanted it. “You’ll still love me, right?” You asked your fiancé as you looked over at him as he walked down stairs. “If I do this… if I become this person for you, for us?”

“(Y/N), I will always, always love you. Because I know the person inside of you. The woman that I fell in love with, the mother of our daughter, that’s the woman I love. What the outside looks like doesn’t matter to me. I just know that you will have an easier time with this if you don’t try to fit the Townie into Vegas and instead fit the Vegas into the Townie.”

“That makes no sense.” You huffed as he lit the joint and passed it over to you.

“Then look at it this way. You love drug dealer me, cop me, and mechanic me. You love me no matter what I look like on the outside. Long hair, short hair, and baggy shirts to tight ones. I feel the same way. And this is all up to you, doll. Like I said, you can stay home…”

“I wanna change.” You said with a nod as you looked at the ember at the end of your joint. “I need to or I can’t let go.”

“OK.” Bucky breathed as he reached out and squeezed your leg. “Then we’ll do it together. Always.”

——

You were reorganizing your closet and putting your more ‘slutty’ tops in a box to stash away before your first day at work, when you stumbled upon a box you forgot you had shoved on the top shelf of your closet. You smiled to yourself, and picked up the first photo on one of the two stacks in Jessica’s baby box.

“God, you were so tiny, little girl.” You said to yourself as you looked at the tiny new born laying on your chest in the hospital. You set it back in the box and flipped off the closet light on your way downstairs to show your fiancé. He was laying on one side of the couch with Jess sleeping on his chest while he watched the Yankee’s game on TV. “I’m interrupting your shit team.” You said softly as you simply climbed over the back of the couch beside him. “It’s worth it.”

“Don’t do it.” Bucky growled lowly as you grabbed the remote before he could and muted the TV. “Yankee hating bitch.”

“Look.” You said as you set the box on your lap and showed him the first photo with a smile. He sat up the slightest bit since he had never seen these photos.

“Oh, my God. Look at her.” He whispered as he put his hand on Jessie’s back so she didn’t slip when he sat up. “She was so tiny.”

“Six pounds, two ounces.” You said with a nod as you picked up that stack and handed it to him. “Eighteen inches long. Born August 14 at 7:38 PM. Born at 38 weeks and two days.”

“You should have gone through these before we came here.” He said as he showed you a photo of Thor holding Jessie on your old couch in your old apartment.

“I only kept three with him in it.” You said as you leaned against his side to look at the photos as well. “When she’s old enough, she deserves to know the truth about him… about us. She has that right.”

“We’ll see.” He said with a small nod as he continued to look through the pictures while you picked up the other stack.

“I was always surprised at how small she was.” You sighed as you looked at the out of order stack of your pregnancy. “I looked like a damn balloon.” Bucky glanced over at the picture of you at a barbecue at your brother’s you were holding and did a double take.

“Holy shit. Damn, you are so fucking hot.”

“Stop that.” You said as you pushed his jaw with your fingertip. “That was about a week before she was born.”

“I hate that I missed it.” He said as he looked at the photo of Jess’ first bath. “All of it.”

“You had about as much of a choice about it as I did, sweetheart.” You reminded him. “Holy shit, look at this one.” You giggled as you showed him a photo of the two of you on the night you got engaged. “Your hair was so long. I miss it.”

“Maybe I’ll grow it back out for you.”

“The beard, too.” You said with a side eyed glance. “Fuck I love that beard.”

“The beard is a pain in the ass.” He sighed as he looked at a photo of Jess sleeping on Dakota.

“Yea, but that beard between my thighs felt amazing.” You said as you flipped through the stack in your hands to try and get them organized. Bucky grunted and dropped the photo in his fingers as the fabric of his basketball shorts visibly twitched. “Oh, look at this one…”

“OK, memory lane is closed right now.” He said as he picked up the stack of photos beside him and put them back in the box. “You, upstairs, now.”

“Damn… is it that easy?“ You teased as he got up to put Jess to bed.

“Yes, I’m that easy. Come on, Dakota.” With a small giggle, you put the rest of the photos in the box and left it on the coffee table before turning off the TV and jumping back over the couch to go to bed with your fiancé.

[mandadoration]

ice cold

summary: (Soulmate AU) The fates haven’t been kind to you ever since you had your soulmate’s words etched right above your hip in scrawled handwriting, especially since it was a threat. But you had hope that maybe it was in jest, only to realize it was very much a threat when a Mandalorian bounty hunter is the one saying them to you. 

word count: 2, 782

pairing: mandalorian x reader

warnings: swearing, smut, low-key a footjob at first??, public sex, voyeur kink (does a droid count…?), oral sex (male receiving), ruined orgasm

a/n: This wasn’t going to be smut at first, but I was like… a horny bitch sO. Just a short little smut thingie while I keep chipping away at my other series. 

Read this on AO3

You were starting to seriously doubt if those credits were worth having to hide for the rest of your life. 

Okay, so maybe that was an exaggeration. You wouldn’t have to be running or in hiding for the remainder of your life, but you won’t be able to show your face until whatever political turmoil was over and your name was already in the history logs and grey was streaking in your hair. Maker knows how long that will take. 

So for now, after having assassinated some politician or noble or both from Hosnian Prime, you had fled to an ice planet with no name in the Outer Rim to rest and recover for a week or two before you had to continue to keep moving. While it was nice to know that you had the credits to settle down and comfortably lay low for several years, there was no doubt that there were already a handful of pucks and tracking fobs out there literally with your name on it. So instead you had bought the thickest fur coat credits could buy when you had decided on this no name icy rock.

It was still freezing. 

You stare unhappily at your reflection in the quickly cooling cup of caf as you try and think of warmer places and sun under your ridiculous coat. You look like a damn nerf with how the fur curled up around your face. It was a gamble spending the credits to get this. You had bought it in a rush and barely raised a single noise of complaint when the vendor had told you the price. The shopkeeper had watched you with a wary eye, making sure the credits were real and frowning at you when you tapped your fingers impatiently against the table top, but eventually handed the coat over to you as you practically sprinted off-world. What was the point of having such a disposable income if you couldn’t spend it without raising a few suspicions? You wish that you could pull off the noble, high-class lady some of your assassin “friends” could do. If that were the case, you would’ve instead decided to hide away in some secluded resort under the guise of nobility trying to escape everyday life. That was a better alternative than this. You sigh and push the caf away in favor of pulling your scarf over your face to try and make sure your nose didn’t freeze off as you scan the room again. 

The cantina is quiet, save for the howling wind that’s picked up outside. It’s pitifully small and understocked with a single droid bartender idling, not enough customers to even be polishing glasses. There’s only two other people in here, both bundled up like you so that you can’t exactly tell what species they were. You figured that they were from some random outpost miles away in the snow. Some kind of mining business, you think, but the cold is making your teeth rattle and you can’t bother to follow that train of thought. The lighting is minimal here, the swirling snow outside blocking what little natural light there is. 

The door to the cantina opens, and all heads turn to see who it is. 

Your heart drops when you recognize the glint of beskar and the emotionless helmet of the Mandalorian in the threshold. You immediately burrow deeper into your coat and scarf, hoping that he would see that there was no one of import here and would leave, but he knows better than that. He scans the room once, his gaze stopping when he spots you huddled in the corner with wide eyes. Before you can even think about trying to leave, he strolls right up to your booth, footfalls heavy as he slides in the seat across from you without any preface. You stare at the dark ‘T’ of his visor, jaw clenched shut to stop your chattering. The Mandalorian places a puck on the table, and slides it over, showing the rotating hologram of your face. Your gaze is torn from your scowling image as he shifts to show the blaster he’s got attached to his hip. You don’t say anything, but instead opt to narrow your eyes and fix him with the harshest stare you can muster as you sit motionless in your seat. You doubt it actually does anything, but you were not about to let him bring you in after you had made the biggest paycheck in your life. 

“I can bring you in warm,” he says, voice smooth despite the crackling of the modulator, “or I can bring you in cold.” 

“I don’t think I can get any colder than I already fucking am,” you retort before you can even realize that now you’re burning up, heat emanating from the words scrawled across your left hip. At that, both you and Mando freeze, and it’s not because of the cold because now you can feel sweat trickling down your neck from the warmth that’s blooming though you, knowing the same is happening to the still bounty hunter across from you. You burst out in bitter laughter, the sound echoing through the cantina that you now realize is empty of the two previous patrons when Mando walked in. You tug your scarf down to try and combat the sudden heat. “Just my luck,” you chuckle, “that you of all people are my soulmate.” You lean back in your seat. Mando makes a sound of agreement, but he’s relaxed a little, too, shoulders slumping down from their previously rigid stance. Besides that, he betrays nothing.

You’re not sure what Mandalorians thought of soulmates, but in your culture, soulmates were a sacred thing. Two beings bound together with the song of each other’s voice, marked by their words on your skin. In this great, wide universe, it was rare nowadays that you would find your soulmate. Light years and status separated people from each other, especially with how rocky things were with the New Republic trying to get its feet under itself. If your soulmate was found, it was a celebration of such a sacred moment. But if you remember, your planet had been torn apart by war, and soulmates were the last thing on everyone’s mind as they scrambled to survive. You included. 

You pick up your cup of caf again, now completely cool, and take a sip as you watch Mando over the rim. That searing heat is starting to fade away, but the words stay warm. You feel your cheeks start to get splotchy from the cold. He tugs at the cape around his neck, but his gaze never drifts from your face. You won’t lie, his unyielding gaze is making you uncomfortable. If you could just see him, it would make things easier, not to mention you want to know what your soulmate looked like. You put the cup down. 

“I don’t suppose you can let me go?” you ask him. He shakes his head. 

“Bound by fate or not, I still gotta take you in. I’m guessing you won’t mind if you get colder, hm? I’ve heard carbonite can be quite cold,” he responds, tapping his fingers on the table before reaching out to take the puck back. Maker, his voice sounds so nice. You wish you could spend forever listening to it. It was nice and rich, and you swear you could hear the slightest tinge of flirtation when he talked to you. Still, he was a bounty hunter, and he still had the intentions to bring you in. You tilt your head and smile. 

“I think I do mind,” you say, voice low. In your mind, you formulate a little plan. You just needed to distract him until the wind outside died down a little… “I don’t really like being in carbonite. Doubt there’s anyone that actually likes it.” Mando sighs.

“That’s too bad,” he says cooly. Good. At least he’s entertaining you so far. 

“Quite.” You tilt your head as you rake your eyes over him, finger trailing over the rim of the cup in circles as you gnaw on your bottom lip, the other hand playing the with collar of your fur coat. 

And now you’re dragging your shoe up his leg, ignoring the ammo and the armor as you gently make your way up higher and higher and higher until you hear his breath hitch. You grin wickedly as you press the sole of your boot against his cock. Besides the smile playing at your lips, your face betrays no emotion, mirroring the lack of emotion on Mando’s helmet as you continue to play with his cock. 

“What are you doing?” Mando grits out, voice low. He hisses at a particularly rough swipe. You’re usually more nimble and do things with more finesse, but it was difficult when your boots were thick and your legs were half-numb from the cold. However, Mando still responds, shifting in his seat and spreading his legs a little wider under the table; looks like he doesn’t mind you being a little rough. You wish you could see how hard he was for you, but instead you focus on how his hands clench on the table.

“What do you mean?” you ask innocently, pouting your lips as you continue to prod him under the table. 

“We’re in public,” Mando mutters, but you feel him thrust up.

“There’s only a droid,” you scoff, nodding your head in its direction where it still sits idling. You pull your foot back, preening and how he lets a sound of displeasure. “But let me know if someone else walks in,” you add on, just before you slip under the table. 

“What are you-- oh--!” Mando’s knee jerks up, narrowly missing your face and hitting the table when you palm him over his pants. The lighting is nearly none down here, but you can see how much he’s straining under his pants. You hum under your breath, cursing your numb fingers as you fumble with the buckle, and pointedly ignore the blaster. But eventually you get it open, and you pull his throbbing cock from his pants. He’s half hard, deliciously thick, and you nearly moan when your fingers barely touch each other when you wrap a hand around it. 

As you smear the precum beading at the tip around the head of his cock, you peer at him from where you kneel between his legs. “Are you getting off on this?” you murmur. “The idea that someone could walk in and see me kneeling here?” A low groan rumbles in his chest when you give him a few pumps. His cock grows every passing second. You lick your lips before enveloping as much of him as you can in one fell swoop. He curses, a gloved hand reaching down to thread through your hair and tugging. You hate to say it, but you gag a little, his size forcing your chapped lips to stretch around him almost painfully. The inches you can’t swallow are taken care of by your hand, rotating your grip around him as you pull back. 

“I don’t bargain with bounties,” Mando says to you, breathless, chin to his chest as he observes how your eyes shine from tears. You spit into your palm and go back to languidly stroking him. The grip in your hair tightens. 

“Who says I’m bargaining?” you ask him, and suck the head of his cock as you pump him up and down. His legs twitch, and you dip your head down again. He’s amazingly receptive for someone that usually comes off so cold. You don’t complain. Instead, you bring your free hand to play with his balls as you continue to blow him. He huffs out a short laugh. 

“Then what are you doing?” he says back, voice strained, cutting off into a strangled groan when you gag around him. You’re aching and wet, but that was the least of your issues. You were too busy trying to hear the wind that was starting to die down over the roar of blood rushing in your ears. But Mando’s soft moans were so sinfully nice, drawing your attention back to the microscopic thrusts of his hips as he tries to hold back from fucking your mouth. You briefly what it would be like for him to actually do that, to hold your head steady, grip tight in your hair as he fucks into your mouth like that’s all you’re good for in the safety of some room instead of the open floor plan of a dingy cantina. 

You pull back, licking your lips as you pump his fat cock in fast, tight motions as you give yourself some time to breath. While you do so, admiring how he squirms in his seat, you spot the beginning of your handwriting in the same spot your mark is. Left hip. The I don’t think is cut off by his shirt, and you reach a thumb to move it out of the way. Mando’s other hand comes down to grab your wrist. “Don’t,” he warns, voice gravelly as he brings your hand away from his hip and back to his cock. You roll your eyes, but bring your head down again, if not for his sake then for yours, trying to ignore how your knees feel sore from kneeling on the cold, unforgiving ground. Mando has started to slowly release his self-control as he nears closer to orgasm, thrusting to meet the warmth and softness of your mouth.

Over his pants and your own gasps for breath, you hear the wind outside has died down significantly. You amp up your ministrations, taking him deeper and curling your tongue up the thick vein on the underside of his shaft everytime you go up, trying to speed up his orgasm. He audibly moans as that; he tries to smother it, but it’s loud and clear in the quiet of the cantina. Mando pulls at your hair painfully.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he growls under his breath. You feel his balls started to tighten and pull up as he teeters on the edge of cumming. It hurts, but you manage to pull off of him with one last hard suck and wrench out of his iron grip on your hair, removing your mouth and hands as he thrusts into open air, watching with sadistic amusement as cum dribbles pathetically out of him and down his cock as lets out a barely audible moan. You can practically feel his frustration from where you were. You pop back up from under the table, staring right where you think his eyes would be as you lick your lips again and wipe the saliva dripping down your chin off. His hands are back on the table, gripping the edge of the table in a tight grip, shaking with the effort of keeping his sounds contained. “You little shit,” he says after a moment. You smile at him with bruised and swollen lips, blinking up at him through your lashes, opening your mouth as if to say something, and you know Mando is looking at your glistening lips--

Instead you toss your cold cup of caf in his face and upturn the table. You dash to the door of the cantina before Mando can react, pushing the table off of him as he tries to get his bearings and tuck his soft cock back in. The bartender droid jerks awake, beeping at you as you leave without paying. It’s blisteringly cold outside, the wind biting at any exposed skin and nipping at your face, but you grit your teeth as you pull the scarf back over your face and jump on your speeder bike, hightailing it out of there and away from the cantina. The heat from the words on your hip start to fade as you get further and further away, but the burning, bubbling feeling of arousal stays. 

You know he’s letting you get away. The Mandalorian wasn’t called the best in the parsec without reason, and it would be easy for him to track you down again. He never lets a bounty get away. Having to leave this damned ice planet was no great loss to you. You had credits to spare and get you as far from here as possible. Not too far, maybe. Just enough that he’ll have to work a little to find you. You will be waiting for him when he does. You miss him already, and you’re really wondering what he sounds like unhindered by the helmet and unhindered with the fear of being walked in on.

[drunklander]

Drunj!Der Yells About Outlander

Thoughts on Ep. 502

Watched this episode after winning Wynonna Earp trivia (fuck yeah, The Shit Tickets!) at a bar, put on by a queer af podcast, followed by going to see a queer af movie, and was all ready to get my Beauchamp fix... And it was like oh here’s a taste and a hint that we’re gonna end up in a story line similar to what we’ve already done multiple times, but now on to the menfolk.

For real though, this episode was like an OL greatest hits clip show. It had all the stuff we’ve seen before. A time traveler who wants to go home? Check. Rape PTSD? Check. A man being a dad to a kid who isn’t/might not be his? Check. That same man being the absolute worst? Check. Claire being reckless with future medicine? Check. Townsfolk questioning Claire’s medical knowledge in favor of the local Man of Importance? Check. Jamie trying to be on both sides at once? Check. A villain who seemed to have died the previous season and should have fucking stayed dead? Check.

We’ve literally seen all of this stuff before.

For a show that spent the first part of season two claiming to be a political drama and then last season claiming that they “weren’t political” I see we’re back to just leaning hard into politics that have direct parallels today.

No fucks left to give about the system Murtz is kind of my favorite Murtz. Like this dude spent his whole life living by a code and an oath and was fucked over by the system so many fucking times that he’s ready to just burn it all down. Curious to see how they walk the domestic terrorist vs. freedom fighter line with him for the rest of the season.

Got all excited about the bread title card because yay medicinal mold, but of course, the lead character was relegated to the B story.

Old timey medicine baffles me. Like the fact that bleeding someone was like a catchall remedy boggles the mind.

I feel rull bad for Mrs. Whoeverthefuck though. She tried.

Also, shit like this makes me be like, yo Claire, you sure you wanna stay here? Jamie’s really not all that and a bag of chips. But you do you, boo.

Speaking of Jamie, his hair looks really good. A thousand fruit baskets to the new wig person.

Lulz at Knox thinking the Gathering was about being loyal to king and country. Dummy.

Srsly though, Murtz Valmurtz is really getting under their skin. Is he like the *only* Regulator leader?

The convo between Knox and Jamie is literally as relevant today as it is in the 1770s. But yeah, the show IsN’t PoLiTiCaL.

The fact that fuckers think those at the bottom should be happy with their lot because “lol it could be worse” need to be punched in the face and taken out of power. Stat.

Also any time someone in power talks about civility as a reason not to rise up against injustice, I want to punch them. Because they deserve it.

I want to punch a lot of things.

This whole episode is very Les Mis, tbh.

Literalol at Claire covering dead guy’s face and not his body cavity before Bree comes in.

Aw Bree, why you gotta be a buzzkill? We were cheated of badass Doctor!Claire in S3. Let us have this.

Also, yeah, Claire, Bree’s fucking right. Which you’d think you’d know by now what with alL THE FUCKING TIMES YOU’VE BEEN CALLED A WITCH. AND NOW YOU’RE UPPING YOUR GAME TO LIKE NECROMANCY?!

Also the more she says no one will find out the more annoying it is because *clearly* someone *is* gonna find out and we’re gonna be back on the “she’s a witch!” “I’m not a witch!” “you literally have a dead guy in your closet!” merry-go-round again.

Today in most on-the-nose shots ever: How convenient that Marsali just happens to be doing some butchering right there, right then.

Petition for the show to go full Shondaland and just turn into a backwoods medical drama with Claire and Marsali, and all the others (cough the men cough) can fuck on off.

Tarring and feathering is like the old timey version of #AlwaysPunchAFascist but dialed to 11.

Oh the baggage behind Jamie saying redcoat man will someday wear his scars with honor that none of these fuckers know about...

Ok so clearly the English know that Claire’s a doctor so whenever shit hits the witchy dead dude fan, can we please have a quick resolution and not that dumb af “Claire goes to jail and of course her cellmate is a lesbian because Diana sucks at writing queer characters” nonsense?

Man Jamie is *not* subtle with this convo at the jail. Like Knox is right there and he’s just like hey buddies, I have people and we’re Scottish and y’know how we feel about protecting people vs. obeying the English.

I AM SPARTACUS FITZGIBBONS!

Aaand, naturally, the fuckwit preaching civility is the one to kill a man in cold blood. Rise up, motherfuckers. Rise up.

THANK FUCK ROGER IS A TERRIBLE SHOT BECAUSE IF THAT SQUIRREL DIED I WOULD LEGIT QUIT THE SHOW. RUN AWAY AND BE FREEEEEE YOU PRECIOUS LIL WILDERNESS FLOOFER!

Roger is, and I cannot stress this enough, the fucking worst.

He’s like look how shitty I am at being a soldier but then bitches about having to try to learn. And then he bitches about how dumb it is to shoot at squirrels as if being able to hit a squirrel wouldn’t make hitting a much larger thing, like a man who is shooting back at you, that much easier. And also, how the fuck does he think they get meat to eat? Shooting it, you twatwaffle.

And he’s like so fucking butthurt about being left behind. Like no shit, asshat. You’re bad at being in the past and have made no real effort and you whine a lot and are generally the worst. Of *course* you were left behind. Stop being emo about it and maybe actually try.

“He doesn’t respect me, Bree.” Yeah, no shit. Because you’ve done LITERALLY NOTHING to earn his respect. WHY ARE YOU SO TERRIBLE IT’S LIKE THEY’RE INTENTIONALLY TRYING TO MAKE HIM SUCK.

He also is like butthurt that his wife is a better shot than him when she gets the turkey he misses. How the fuck are we supposed to ship this. Ugh.

#BreeDeservesBetter

Oh Bree, sweetie, Jem won’t get hit by a car, but there are like eleventy million ways to die in the past. Just stick with the “you want to stay with your family” stuff.

Roger clearly doesn’t want to stay and is gonna pull a Fred and make Bree feel bad about wanting to all season, isn’t he. Fahkin’ doucherocket.

“I want to go but I’ll stay for you and look how magnanimous I am as I whine about it and make no effort to acclimate to the time.” Take your martyr card and shove it, Rog.

Shorter Jamie Fraser: “If you stand for nothing, Knox, what’ll you fall for?”

I’m already over Roger singing all the time tbh. Mostly because it reminds me that soon he won’t be able to do that anymore and we’re gonna be subjected to like half a season of him being more insufferable than he already is.

Wait, was Joan already born last episode? Or was there another time jump? Is Marsali preggers with baby #3? I lost track.

I love this scene between Claire and Marsali with my whole heart. Marsali especially.

CAN WE PLEASE JUST HAVE A WHOLE SHOW OF THESE TWO BEING ALL BADASS AND DOCTORY TOGETHER!?

Although, quick question, how fucking long is Claire planning to keep that un-embalmed body lying around in an un-refrigerated surgery/root cellar? Just curious...

Because you know someone’s gonna find it eventually and that’s gonna be a whole to do and I really need to stop being preemptively annoyed at plot lines that haven’t actually happened yet.

And with all this talk of plowshares and swords, I really am going to be singing Les Mis for days...

How long have these biddies been living on the Ridge? The fucking Leoch folks spent like a minute with Claire before they were like yep, she knows what’s up. These folks have apparently been here for months and are like loool, pass. They live in the fucking woods. You’d think they’d be more open to Claire’s brand of medicine.

Omg are they like the accidental antivaxxers of the Ridge?

#VaccinateYourFuckingKids

I mean, Bree, I think there’s some difference between Claire pretending to be a dude doc and telling folks to wash their hands and Otter Tooth.

Season 2 Claire and Otter Tooth on the other hand...

Ok so Jamie needs more men so that means next week is AHS: Beardsley Farm and then maybe (hopefully) instead of being like lol jk you can all go home, it actually goes right into the battle thing. Still not sure if they’re gonna do Roger getting hanged as the mid-season big thingy and then do the Bonnet nonsense in the back half or keep trying to do both of those at once.

Hey, Roger, pro-tip, next time you see Morag MacKenzie, maybe don’t fuCKING MAKE OUT WITH HER YOU FUCKING DUMBASS.

Claire’s totally right about how they should go back. Honestly, they should. But instead of talking with her like Claire is now with Roger, he’s just being all moody about how he’s bad at the past and wants to go back. You’re shooting yourself in the foot, broski.

Oh hey Husband the Quaker. And is that a fellow Quaker named Hunter with him? Are we gonna get Denny and Rachel this season?! Please and thank you that’d be great, I love them.

Murtz talking to his squad is full on Enjolras being like don’t worry fam, Marius will stand and fight with us. His place is there, he’ll fight with you.

The two very different but very similar ways Murtz and Jamie approach being Laird of their squads is fun to explore.

Bree lecturing Claire about changing the future by saving a few backwater hicks like Claire didn’t spend years trying to fucking change all of Scottish history is a bit rich. Like writers, we get it, you’re trying to be like oh snap, wait for the consequences of this bread!science! But like come the fuck on. We sat through all of season two.

“You’re a good dad, you know that?” Oh man, I’m getting that déjà vu about a shitty man getting kudos for being a good dad to a kid as if that negates all of his shittiness.

Oh hey, Bonnet’s back. Clearly we couldn’t have just let him die last season. Gotta drag shit on for longer than it has to. This is the [Outlander] Way.

If they were gonna keep him around as a villain, they shouldn’t have (in addition to all the other reasons) included him raping Bree. Jamie, Murtagh and Bonnet all making choices within and outside of the law to various degrees in order to make their living in the Colonies would be a really interesting contrast. But nope, gotta just go all in. BeCaUsE tHe BoOk.

Also I hate with the passion of a thousand fiery suns the Jemmy’s paternity stuff. Le sigh.

Remember in season one when the show was about Claire and she was in episodes for longer than 10 minutes?

I miss Claire.

[starrywonn]

cafe latte

not requested

a/n: a purely self indulgent barista jisung au bc i was STRESSED and i was watching re-feel and a LOT of cafe videos

pairing: barista! han jisung x baker! reader

genre: fluff

scenario type: bulletpoint

word count: 1.9k

warnings: none

jisung was a barista at the nineteen cafe

honestly speaking, he didn’t even plan on working here

he helped his friend, chan, once because he was bored of waiting for him and somehow, he got dragged into working at the cafe

he wasn’t complaining though

i mean he got some pretty amazing coffee, unlike the acrid, watered down liquid the uni cafeteria served

and he got to hang out with his friends who also worked there

so jisung was a real winner here

until the cafe’s main baker, woojin leaves the shop

jisung was almost bawling when he announced it

jisung: does this mean i’ll never get to eat any of your chocolate croissants anymore??? T^T

woojin: if you keep this up, i’ll bring chocolate croissants for everyone but u

jisung: nOOOOO i’m sorry :“”“”“” i love u please…. not my croissants…..

honestly, at that point, woojin wasn’t even sure if jisung loved him or his pastries more

but woojin still had to leave and they had to find a replacement asap

recruitment posters were put up all over the campus

baker needed! nineteen cafe @ jyp university. walk-in interview

so when you, a broke university student, see it, you thank the heavens

you baked pretty often and your creations weren’t too bad if you said so yourself :]]

plus the cafe was on campus grounds so it’s definitely worth a shot

you stand outside the cafe and your legs turn to jelly

“come on y/n!! it’s just an interview!! you have to do this or you’ll spend the rest of your life broke!!!!!” you whisper scream to yourself

you finally make your way in and look around the cafe

soft acoustic music is accompanied by the chatter of patrons and the clinking of cups on ceramic saucers

a well-built man dressed in a white button up and black pants tends to the cash register

there’s no one ordering anything so you scutter up to the counter

“hi, uh, i’m here for the interview?”

“ok hold on,” the man turns around, “channnn, there’s someone here for the interviewww”

a blond walks out of the kitchen, covered in flour

“hey, i’m chan. the manager here. i’m gonna make this quick since i have to continue to try and make brownies,” he dusts his hands on his apron and gestures to an empty table in the cafe

“what’s your name?”

you stutter out your name and he scribbles it in a notebook he takes out from his pocket

“alright, y/n, how long have you been baking for?”

“about six years”

he scribbles again

after that, the interview is a blur from your sheer nervousness

“ok, this is the last bit. can you make a batch of brownies? we have to gauge your abilities”

you follow him to the kitchen

“wait, weren’t you trying to make them just now?”

chan ignores your question

“if you need anything, just call me!!”

and with that, he strides out of the kitchen

oh, wow, okay, so this was happening now

you put on the apron on the counter and pull out all the ingredients and utensils

it’s like something takes over you

your hands move on their own and it truly is a beautiful sight :“))))

jisung walks into the back to get ready for his shift but to get there, he has to get past the kitchen

the smell of chocolate wafts into his nose

he pauses

this was the best thing he’s ever smelt

"god? is that you?” jisung whispers

you snort, “yeah but you can call me y/n”

jisung freezes up and his eyes widen

“holy shit. cool. gotta go. uh, bye.”

jisung runs out and almost slams into chan

“woah woah woah, what’s got you so jittery??” chan asks

“nothing BYE”

jisung bolts for the cashier, “ changbin, i’m here!!!! you can go nOw”

changbin, although very confused, leaves

it’s about a little into jisung’s shift when you come out to call chan

in your hands are a tray of the freshly baked brownies

you offer one to chan and he almost cries from joy

“this …. is absolutely amazing….”

he passes one to jisung who is still shaking on the inside

jisung bites a corner off the chocolatey treat

he almost swears that his soul leaves his body because it was THAT good

he gives you a thumbs up and a big smile

chan offers your brownies to a few others who all give great responses, making your confidence shoot up

“okay, y/n, we’ll send you an email if you’re accepted,” chan says

“ok, thanks”

you leave the store and celebrate

that went way better than you had expected

all you have to do now is to wait

that can’t be that hard right?

oh but it was

every notification from your phone and laptop made you leap from your chair

it’s two days later when you get the email

dear y/n, we are pleased to announce that you have been hired as nineteen cafe’s new baker. please come to the cafe tomorrow for your first day. thank you.

*cue celebration pt.2*

the next morning, you bust into the bakery, ready to kick some butt

the cafe is empty, save for chan and changbin setting up

the early morning light pours into the cafe through its ceiling-to-floor windows

chan notices you and hands you a slip of paper with all the stuff to be made

“there’s a file of recipes in the kitchen. it’s on the shelf above the bowls”

you thank him and look through the list

strawberry shortcake, coconut cake, chcoolate chip cookies, brownies, blueberry muffins, raspberry cheesecake

and there was a second page….

the list was so much longer than you expected

one thing at a time

you took out the bowls and ingredients

following the recipe, you managed to whip up a pretty decent cake

the rest of the baked goods you made were also pretty good

you place them in the display fridge

you heaved a sigh of relief

you didn’t screw up on your first day!!!!

go you!!!

second day of work

good news: chan gives you free reign to experiment and come up with new stuff

bad news: the stand mixer breaks

worse news: the stand mixer can only be fixed a week later

kind of good news??: you’re gonna get buff

so you have to ask for help from the rest of the nineteen staff

working with all of them, BUT jisung, is great

but you have to get help from him since you don’t always wanna bother everyone too often

search chaos in the dictionary and you’ll get a photo of you and jisung baking

you’ll make a bowl of batter and having that half that bowl gone after 5 minutes

“HOW AREN’T YOU DEAD FROM SALMONELLA YET??¿?¿¿??”

or when you bake anything with chocolate

oh my GOD

you’ll go to grab a baking pan

and when you come back, the packet is suddenly so light

you: did you eat the chocolate again

jisung, chocolate covering his mouth:

you:

jisung, chocolate still covering his mouth: …no

he’d pop into the kitchen even when you don’t need his help just to screw with you

“oooOOOoo, is this a new recipe”

“nope. also don’t eat the chocolate chip cookies,” you say, still focused on making frosting

jisung just lets out a roar of laughter

“ok i won’t”

“but i’ll eat the muffins”

“jisUNG NO”

but all that eating of RAW batter and other stuff finally gets to him

jisung calls in sick

as much as you want to laugh at him, you’re kind of concerned,,,,

like he ate,,,, so much,,,,

you ask chan for jisung’s address so you can visit him

he gives you a face but gives you the address anyways

while carrying some porridge and medicine, you knock on his door

a very pale and dishevelled jisung opens the door but he gives you his usual goofy smile

“can’t get enough of me huh?” he chuckles weakly

“yea, sure whatever you want to think. anyways, i brought some stuff”

“come on in. it’s a little bit of a mess though”

his coffee table is covered in papers and his laptop is playing an episode of brooklyn nine-nine

cushions are strewn on the couch, a blanket draped over them

“i’ll leave the medicine on your kitchen counter but you should eat the porridge now before it gets cold”

jisung nods and you hand him the tupperware box

he gladly opens it and eats a spoonful

“this is so good,” jisung says

“thanks”

you sit next to him quietly as you watch the show

“how are you feeling??” you muster up

“i literally have not seen the light of day in 5 YEARS, my stomach has not known pain like this” he says between mouthfuls of porridge

“that’s what you get for eating so much RAW batter”

“i know but it was so GOOD!! it was totallly worth it”

you shoot a glare at him and he returns a cheeky smile

you try your best to keep a straight face but you can’t help laughing at him

the buzzing of your phone calls for your attention

you grab it and look at the caller id

“oh shit. sorry ‘sung, i gotta go. uni calls! bye!!”

you scurry out of jisung’s apartment and sprint to campus for your project

a few days pass and jisung returns to work

he’s back to almost bouncing off the walls

but when he comes into the kitchen with your tupperware box and a cup of coffee in his hands, he’s flushed red

jisung leaves them on the counter and zooms out of the kitchen

you finish kneading the bread and pick up the cup of coffee

a heart sits on top of the foamy milk

you take a few sips before realising the small piece of paper on the saucer

your cheeks feel a slight warmth as you read the note

“thanks for the food and stuff!! let’s get dinner some time soon ok?? - jisung”

you kind of want to scream but you probably shouldn’t

what do you do????

do you text him??? tell him in real life??? give him another note???? maybe you should just burn the note and pretend he never gave anything to you???? 

all that fills your mind for the rest of the day is the note

soon, it’s the end of both yours and jisung’s shift

you grab your stuff from the lockers in the back

as you try to leave, jisung tries to enter the narrow doorway

you shuffle left and jisung shuffles right

��sorry,” you say as you go in the opposite direction

and so does jisung

HHHHHH

you stay put as jisung moves past you

turning around, you call out, “hey 'sung! are you free right now? i know a good sushi place around here”

jisung almost jumps from his skin and you can see the crimson creeping up his ears under the fluorescent lighting

“yea- yea i am!! just give me a minute to grab my stuff,” he replies

he comes out with his backpack soon after

jisung grabs your hand and brings you out of the cafe

“lead the way!!”

[spiftynifty]

TeeVee Podcast’s Voltron s8 review

I’ve been waiting eagerly for TeeVee’s review of s8. If you recall, their s7 review was what gave us the man getting choked up about Shiro’s relationship. 

The link to the podcast is here but if you’d prefer a sort of transcript, here are some of the highlights for me. I didn’t always catch who was speaking but I wrote down initials where I could. S=Shanon, A=Antony, M=Moises, C=Chip D=Dan. The panel is divided on their feelings on the season. 2 of them seem to have hated it, one liked it, one thought it was fine, and one feels mixed about it. Anyway here we go, some great quotes ahead. 

Under the readmore cuz it’s long. 

S: "After 7 seasons of a show that was going to be one of the animated series of the decade, they not only did not stick the landing, they fell on their butts, rolled off the mat, off the lines, into the judge's table and their leotard popped open"

"A lot of the plot was callbacks to things from seasons ago that we really probably didn't need to see again." "I wasn't entirely sure that they weren't gaslighting me."

Man Shannon is calling out some great points. She's calling out the dropped druid plot thread, and wondering what the point was of showing Lotor's past when he's dead, and nothing can change in his present and his redemption can't really happen.

A: "endings are hard. I was disappointed with this season [...] it was let down by poor plotting and that final battle made me throw my hands up in despair most of the time. But I have enormous sympathy for the EPs. Maintaining a longform episodic story is hard. And to pull off an ending that satisfies even MOST of the audience is harder yet. and let's not forget they were always upfront that vt always had 'editorial interference' from up top. Toys, the fact that it's aimed at children, corp resistance to some of the more modern social issues that they've tried to tackle. THAT SAID, we don't know what happened on this production, who had the final say, what they argued over. and I say this cuz a lot of the fandom drama over it assumes a LOT over how media and entertainment like this is made that simple ARE. NOT. TRUE. Some of the stuff I've read has been ABSURDLY offbase, like that there were different writers rather than just 1 the whole way through which ignores how TV is made. And if you think these writers just go off and write a script without talking to anyone first and then they come back with something that must be filmed without any changes, THAT'S NOT HOW ANY OF THIS WORKS. [..]we don't know who made these decisions. The studio isn't always the bad guy. Sometimes they rescue things that would otherwise have been a horrible mess. And unless you were IN THE ROOM, you don't know, and neither do any of us. So let's all bear that in mind. [...]You can't lay the blame OR credit on any one person. For any of this." 

They're laughing & making so much fun of the final 3 episodes and how baffling they were. 

"Don't even get me started on Voltron merging with Atlas [and the crew disappearing] that was a bad, bad idea." 

"But that was the ONE time Shiro was back with the team!"

a couple dudes are relatively ok with the Allura death because we've never seen a WOC heroically sacrifice herself for the universe and usually it's the Shiro hero character D: They also point out that technically she wasn't fridged so.. yay?

Antony and Shannon vehemently disagree. 

A: "My problem with that ending was more just that it was... not. good." he makes a comparison to RotJ where Vader still dies and it's his SON, who lives, who 'redeems' him. "This was none of those things. It felt like a terrible lesson. You can be so evil that you kill literally billions of people for 10k yrs but if you say sorry just before you're about to be executed it's alright, dw about it, we'll put the universe back to rights. NO, that's a terrible lesson!!"

S:"They had the LIONS. That's my problem. Throughout this series we've had stakes going up but there has always been a trading of ideas, what can we do, what can we figure out, up to the point where they wind up sacrificing the castle, but they go through steps before that 'is there anything else we can do’. And here, there's not even... she didn't even get to say goodbye to Coran! This is the one character, WOC, and she has sacrificed throughout this entire series. She lost her planet. She lost the last connection she had to her father in the AI. She kept LOSING things over and over to the point where she sacrifices her crown to help Shiro. and the thanks she gets is that she has to turn around and say nope I've got to away and fix all of this and apparently never see you all again. It really, REALLY REALLY bothered me. All of my friends who have CHILDREN who watch this show, universally the kids were upset and angry and tearful and HATED that outcome. This did not feel like a triumph. Having to lose Allura like that robbed any kind of triumph in the success of saving all the universes. And I think that's one of the reasons that this last part of the season sits so poorly with me. I feel like it should have ended in a triumphant way. even if it meant losing a couple of the team members or the lions. Of course that takes away the toy aspect which is why that's not an option. We already had several tragedy arcs in this series. Zarkon, Honerva, and Lotor had tragedy arcs. Why does Allura have to have one too? We've had enough." 

Antony & Shanon KILLIN IT on this podcast y'all.

C: "This series relies so much on 'oh wait, there's a new upgrade', 'oh wait, there's this new thing'" A: "Well that was the entire final battle." C: "So there's this handwavy Allura has to sacrifice herself. The heavy lifting wasn't done to make this an earned moment."

S: "I do think, whether it was at the direction of DW or WEP (Vld IP), without those little epilogue cards, there is the potential opening that Allura might be able to return.[..]It was open to interpretation."

One guy likes the Shiro ending for the surprising progress aspect, even though he's not thrilled about how it was put together. also he isn't convinced the epilogue wasn't planned. He likes a lot of s8 but all the stuff he likes is tied to stuff that he really didn't like.

S:"The shiro card is the other reason that I think those things were shoved in. For me, that turns Shiro's entire character into a token when he wasn't before. When they introduced his sexuality, it was done BEAUTIFULLY. There was this conversation with his significant other a mature relationship that ran into its problems and therefore couldn't happen anymore. Adam could've been Adele, and nothing would have changed about that conversation. It was not the defining characteristic of Shiro. It was just something else about him."

S: "And then s8 happens and Shiro is divided from everybody on the team. There are so few interactions of any kind that aren't just barking orders. or making plans. Keith is the prime example. Their friendship had been a backbone of this series and suddenly they can't even stand more than feet 5ft from each other. 

A: “It’s barely evident, yeah.”

M:”And the same with the rest of the main cast. And if they had set that up at the end of s7, that he’s going to go into the background a bit, it wouldn’t have felt as weird.

S: “And they didn’t! S7 was miraculous in the fact that even though he’s no longer in a lion, he’s still got a vital part to play in the series. And s8 erased that. It pretty much neutered him! And the kind of message is once you've revealed this character to be gay, we've gotta keep him out of the way. And if they had not put those end cards in, again the fact that he's a gay man is just the fact that he's a gay man and it's not any bigger or smaller aspect of his character, but they did not EARN him marrying random bridge crew member #3."

A: "and RETIRING! A man who LEFT adam because he felt he had to go and fight."

A: "He left the guy he loved before because of his devotion to"

S:"To fighting to making things right"

A:”To being a soldier and doing the right thing.”

C:”Isn’t the whole point then that he achieves that?”

M:”The fighting’s over and he can leave that behind and he can actually be happy.”

S: “He wouldn’t’ve. I don’t see it.”

M: “I violently disagree.”

C: “I think it was a nice endcap for his character."

Moises also likes this because it’s not a BYG scenario and he gets retired. Shannon is extremely exasperated by these takes. 

S:”For me, it’s like Tangled. You go through Rapunzel and Flynn, going through their adventures, getting closer, getting to know each other, they save each other, things like that. And then she’s reunited with her parents and then we get and endcap that says ‘for political reasons her parents decided they needed to marry her off to the prince in the next county, sorry’. That would’ve had people RIOTING. Thats not how you do a story with characters that people care about. And to shove shiro off onto this random character that we--his name is never spoken!”

A:”No he had like 3 lines in the entire season.”

S:”He had 3 line sin the season, you don’t know his name unless you watched the subtitles, and in the audio narration for the visually impaired, they called him Adam in the endcap. They called him Adam! They fixed that now. It feels like a hugely clumsy attempt to grab the woke points for a character that didn’t need them.”

Moises then talks a little about Shiro and Keith and how he and Shannon both thought there was something there, and still do, but they can’t know what happened behind the scenes and to theorize on the intent of that relationship is “conspiracy theory land” and trying to decide what the writers were prevented from doing is like “reading tea leaves and chicken bones”. He references people extracting things from his own writing. 

M: “As much as I wanted to see that relationship flower and flourish, the fact that it didn’t, look, it’s one of a million times that’s happened for me, with fiction, where things didnt turn out the way I wanted to see them.”

S:”I’m talking about 2 different things, as far as Shiro’s character, vs shipping  issues. I feel Shiro’s character was done a disservice that if they were going to end him in a relationship with another man, they didn’t earn it by throwing that little endcap on.”

M:”Yeah, they could have brought back one less robeast or something.”

S:”The other thing is, I think there is enough out there as far as interviews with JDS and LM to show that at the very least I think they meant to leave it openended. Again  if you take out that endcap, the last shot includes a shot of just Shiro and Keith, together, same screen, looking up as the lions go away, without saying anything further. I know I pie in the sky hoped that they were gonna kiss this season when we did our s7 recap and yes that was the shipper in me talking. I truly did not expect that they would be able to go that far. What I did not expect was for them to tear it down. And I feel like that’s what they did. Between the complete absence of interactions in s8, and then throwing that epilogue in there.”

Dan doesn’t understand how that could be because he sees no reason for them to do that. Shannon patiently explains about DW’s history with LGBT characters but Dan insists that the creators told the story the way they wanted to and he’s fine with Shiro getting a marriage even if it’s a character they don’t know. 

Overall the panelists love the show still, and in most cases prefer to consider it in the realm of s1-6 with a weak final double season (7&8) or that the show ends after s7. They would all love to know how long the NDAs last, a making of perhaps, to know what the heck happened and what changed along the way. Big mood my dudes. Big mood.

[punkscowardschampions]

Janis & Jimmy

Janis: Back in time? Jimmy: he ain't even back yet Jimmy: I'm fucked off beyond belief Janis: 'Course he ain't Janis: 😑 Jimmy: good thing I am 'cause there weren't nowt for Cass to make for tea but don't worry dad Janis: What a prick Janis: so little satisfaction in sorting it and being the perfect son when he's not even gonna be sorry/care Jimmy: least I can win big brother points Janis: 👍 Janis: What really counts tbh Jimmy: I've sent her for chips and whatever else she can get her grubbies on so 🥇 Jimmy: what you doing? Janis: Nice one Janis: Not a whole lot, still chilling down in the barn 'cos know I'll have to chat to someone about some irrelevant shit if I go in Jimmy: it is decent in there but it's shit that you aren't here Jimmy: 'cause you could be & that's what pisses me off Janis: I know, wish I was Janis: could go for some chips right now, like Jimmy: get a lift? Jimmy: your massive family gotta have some uses Janis: 😏 Not totally about the chips, babe Janis: am hungry though Jimmy: I'll get you different food if it's a dealbreaker Jimmy: you know you wanna watch a 12 & 6 year old fight over the remote Jimmy: like they ain't been inside all day Janis: Bless 'em Janis: Better than having to watch a 15 & 16 year old though like, go in a different room you privileged fucks, you really need the 'big' TV #exposed #thankslads Jimmy: 🙄 Jimmy: I'm gonna have to take 'em to the park or whatever tomorrow 'cause it's bollocks Jimmy: that's your invite Jimmy: help me milk my sickie Jimmy: fuck knows when I'll get a full day off again Janis: Sure, long as my lady love's got hers too, like Jimmy: she won't leave me alone so yeah Jimmy: must smell like you or summat Janis: 😍 Janis: least she weren't there to watch, she woulda defs gone for you #nohope Jimmy: 😂 Jimmy: the audience you really want Janis: nah, get enough of that with the cats lurking like creepy fucks Jimmy: if you noticed them hanging 'bout then 💔 'cause I was clearly shit at keeping your attention Jimmy: gutted Janis: I didn't Janis: You know you weren't Jimmy: I know you weren't Janis: 😳 Jimmy: think of somewhere you wanna go tomorrow, yeah? Jimmy: fun shit Jimmy: even if it ain't #goals Janis: I'll think on Janis: What kinda shit are the kiddos about? Jimmy: whinging Jimmy: nah but for real Cass is into all kinds of shit as long as it ain't the kind of shit your sister likes Jimmy: easy pickings for you there Janis: What about Malahide? they've got the castle and all that but if that ain't up to scratch, day at the beach Janis: even I wouldn't complain, like Jimmy: 👍 Jimmy: that's actually a really decent idea Jimmy: I should have enough money for the train knocking 'bout Janis: If you like, I can cadge a life from one of my not-as-shit siblings, literally quadruple the time on the train, which is alright if we gotta but if we don't, result Jimmy: I wouldn't complain Jimmy: the dog'll be enough of a nightmare as is Janis: Poor baby Janis: she can sit on my lap Jimmy: if you sit on mine she ain't Jimmy: not her fault she's never been nowhere though Janis: firstly 😍 Janis: secondly, it don't matter if she's badly behave, my brother will take us in his hippie van so she can walk about more Janis: hopefully the kids don't get a contact high like soz but it'll chill 'em out so 🤷 Jimmy: least he won't be a brother I have to worry about fighting me then Janis: 😂 God no Janis: none of my brothers are harder than me and that's that on that Janis: he might chat to you on some weird shit you have no interest in but that's about your lot, it'll be fine Jimmy: firstly 😍 & secondly also 😍😍 Jimmy: stop being hot & not here it's a bit rude Janis: I know, right? Janis: Take it up with your Dad tbh but don't 'cos bigger sins and 🖕 Jimmy: any chance your brother can also bring you here now? Janis: So Igs, I have a dick appointment... Janis: 😏 Jimmy: if he's chill he's chill, yeah Jimmy: don't make the rules Janis: If you want me DOA 'cos shame 😳 Jimmy: You won't remember it in a bit Janis: So tempting Jimmy: so be tempted Jimmy: go on Janis: You just left Janis: but I've not stopped thinking about you Jimmy: alright then come back Jimmy: I'm thinking about you right now Janis: Fuck...okay but I can fully hide in your room if your Dad comes back, yeah? Jimmy: fuck him Jimmy: he don't matter Janis: I don't wanna get you in trouble though, actual trouble Jimmy: you won't Jimmy: if he wants to start shit that's him Janis: Okay, coming over Janis: track someone down to tell I'm still alive, like Jimmy: 👌 Jimmy: I need to shower do you want me to wait for you so we can do it together? Janis: Wait Janis: I want that Jimmy: doing my bit for the water bill Jimmy: my dad can't say shit Janis: Definitely start your argument there, babe Jimmy: 👍 Jimmy: tah Jimmy: don't wanna talk to him but if I gotta Janis: Well he's the one that fucked up today so what's he gonna say really Jimmy: 🙄 loads probably Janis: 😒 Janis: I'm gonna distract you though Jimmy: you'll get through the door see the 🐶 and only have eyes for her Janis: I mean, she is pretty demanding but nah Janis: you got my full attention right now Jimmy: 💕 Jimmy: I want it Janis: Thank fuck Janis: be awkward if you didn't now Jimmy: I did reckon that maybe I'd get it out of my system and be like Janet who? but Jimmy: I weren't ready to go yet Janis: 😑 Janis: Got a day or so left in us then you reckon? Jimmy: 🤞 Jimmy: if you don't take me somewhere shit tomorrow I'll give you another day, only fair Janis: 👍 oh tah Janis: dickhead 😏 Jimmy: for real though, it made me want you more Jimmy: that's weird, isn't it? Janis: is it? Jimmy: I didn't reckon I could Jimmy: but you were just Janis: I'm glad I didn't disappoint Janis: 'cos I want more of you too Jimmy: piss off would you Jimmy: not to be all 😍 but 😍 Janis: 💪 Janis: 'course not Jimmy: You know what you were & it weren't disappointing Janis: You're cute Jimmy: alright shut up Janis: Nah Janis: gonna have to wait and make me cutie Jimmy: you're gonna make me 😳 Jimmy: stop Janis: 🤤 Jimmy: how long can I let my sister be out getting food before I reckon she's been snatched? asking for a friend Janis: I think you've got a while yet Janis: I'll let you know when you can worry Janis: got her phone, yeah? Jimmy: yeah Jimmy: glued to it more than we are Janis: practically born with one these days Jimmy: can't blame her she had loads of mates back home Janis: yeah, must miss them loads Janis: least it ain't too hard to get back, when she's a bit older, like Jimmy: fuck knows where any of us will be this time next week the way my dad carries on Jimmy: he's gotta be with someone right now 'cause he ain't here Janis: true Janis: most likely, coulda at the literal least text Jimmy: I know he ain't got loads of mates Jimmy: must be busy, don't wanna think about it 'cause how ungoals Jimmy: what's the opposite of 😍 Janis: 🤢 Janis: Basically Janis: doesn't put me in the mood either don't worry Jimmy: I take back what I said before, that's the hottest thing you've ever said to me 💕 Jimmy: save me from the repeated history Janis: 😂 Janis: I can tell you all about how unattractive I find him if that works, easy Jimmy: don't think 'bout him if it's such a turn off, only gives me more work to do Janis: Don't be a slacker, babe 😏 Jimmy: never even faked it Janis: 💪 Jimmy: 🥇 Janis: I'll allow it Janis: I felt it Jimmy: I still feel it Jimmy: you Janis: You're killing me Jimmy: I don't wanna make it weird but Janis: ? Jimmy: I don't know just Jimmy: it's not been like that for me before Jimmy: all the 'shade' to my ex maybe Janis: I feel it too Janis: so not weird, just us usual at this point Jimmy: I really can't stop thinking about you, I know I already said it Janis: I know, I seriously can't Janis: and like Janis: give a shit about judgment that ain't why I'm saying it Janis: but I don't do things like this, this quick, usually, you know but I just Janis: wanted to so bad Jimmy: I get it Jimmy: me either, for all my chat Janis: Yeah? Janis: makes me feel better, like, it was happening regardless but I was a bit worried you'd notice Jimmy: there have been other girls, scattered about but I've only had the one girlfriend Jimmy: & you know how that went Janis: Yeah Janis: can't help being so youthful Jimmy: & we were mates first for ages it wasn't like this Janis: Makes sense Janis: I'm a casual billy no mates as well all know though so 🤷 Jimmy: me too Jimmy: we did try and be mates after but it never quite happened Jimmy: Barry's #influence Janis: Jealous type? Jimmy: not that simple but let's say it is Janis: Fair enough Jimmy: there was just a lot of shit happening & not Jimmy: for all of us Jimmy: how fucking cryptic, am I a paddy now or what? Janis: 🍀 getting so acclimatized babe Janis: but seriously, you don't owe me nothing if you don't wanna talk on shit, it's cool Jimmy: I know Jimmy: You're just Jimmy: easy to talk to? or I like it whatever Janis: I like talking to you and all Janis: I know I don't say loads (or do I? #chatty) but I barely talk to my own fam never mind anyone else so believe me like Janis: you're honoured, is what I'm saying Jimmy: can't get a word in, can you? Jimmy: I'm that dickhead Jimmy: I don't know it's like rule 1 of this new roof is there was no before & alright but Jimmy: there was Janis: Nah, if you were you'd be too much like my Sister and there's no way I'd have even fake kissed you never mind really fucked you Janis: sometimes you wanna talk about that shit Janis: it don't always stay before, good or bad Jimmy: 🎻🎻🎻🎻 like Jimmy: I'm shutting up now Jimmy: Take a turn, girl Janis: You don't have to but alright Janis: what you wanna know Jimmy: only what you wanna tell me Jimmy: I'm not here to dig Janis: hmm Janis: okay Janis: don't be weird, yeah, usual rules Jimmy: 👌 Janis: It's weird because I didn't want to tell anyone about it or talk about it before but now it's happened I kinda do but also, there's still no one I would wanna but you really so Janis: that was my first time, like, proper sex Jimmy: well now I'm glad I didn't disappoint Jimmy: shit Jimmy: I'd have never have reckoned that Janis: That was the plan Janis: to not let on, not 'cos I don't trust you or nothing but idk, why make it a big deal but Janis: there you go Jimmy: you could've told me Jimmy: I probably wouldn't do anything different 'cause you know Jimmy: but I don't know, I'm just saying, you can tell me shit from now on if you want Janis: I don't know, people get in your head about that shit, don't they, like everyone says first times are crap but if you didn't know then you wouldn't be different and it didn't have to be Janis: and it really weren't Janis: so, thanks, yeah? 😉 Jimmy: Goddamn it, Jillian, stop trying to make me fall in love with you Jimmy: how do you take your first time at anything and just fucking 🥇 Jimmy: bit rude Janis: You ain't mad about it Janis: team, remember Jimmy: I'm like in #awe Janis: Shh 😌 Jimmy: sort of wish I could tell everyone so I could big you up how you deserve Jimmy: won't though Janis: People reckon they know anyway 'cos obviously if some dickhead from School ain't bragging about swiping my Vs to everyone it couldn't have happened Janis: dunno how #goals everyone would rate that but I appreciate Jimmy: 🙄🙄 Jimmy: it'd get twisted so like I said, I won't but 🥇 seriously Janis: 😍 Jimmy: how far away are you? Janis: Under 10 minutes Jimmy: Cass is back, I'll fight her for your share of food Jimmy: what could be more #goals Jimmy: get a boyfriend who'd smack down a 12 year old girl he's related to for you Janis: 😂 Janis: My hero, truly Jimmy: I don't even know how you like your chips Jimmy: probably some weird way Janis: Lemme guess, gravy Jimmy: say something snide, you can't Jimmy: it's good Janis: 😏 just that you're an absolute stereotype Janis: but I seriously ain't fussy, when you've got a Dad who insists on doing needlessly fancy shit to everything, it's good to just have some straight up junk Jimmy: peas are good too Jimmy: there's loads of shit here anyway Jimmy: remind me not to give my sister money again Janis: 💸💸💸 Janis: I'll try it your way, impress me, boy Jimmy: if I don't with the food, I'll do it after Janis: You better Jimmy: have I been all chat even once? nah Janis: that's why I like you Janis: no bullshit Jimmy: so you can believe me when I say shit first time is a myth but it does get better the more you do it Janis: I will, even if that sounds like a ploy to get me to fuck you more Janis: not mad Jimmy: maybe it is Jimmy: a bit Jimmy: but I still think we can make it true too Janis: 'course we can Janis: as long as I wasn't awful, hence I had to check before or you'd feel like you had to be nice, like Jimmy: don't sound like me Jimmy: you got the right boy? Janis: If I ain't don't tell him Janis: you sound hot Jimmy: [sends selfie] I am Jimmy: you have kissed lads before though? you're not gonna tell me that you just smashed that 🥇 too, are you? Janis: DAMN Janis: better make that my phone background asap 'cos #boydonegood Janis: nah, I've kissed lads Janis: not loads and like I said, it sucked every time but Jimmy: thank feck for that Jimmy: not that it sucked but they exist Janis: Why? Janis: Can't deal with me being THAT good? 😏 Jimmy: nah I can't Janis: 😂 Janis: I'm glad I had though or I might not have agreed to our deal Janis: I felt nothing but I knew they liked it, so it'd be alright Jimmy: did they ALL fall for you or just me? Janis: One of them unlikely as he's a massive prick who's rode every girl in his School and most at ours Janis: then the other was a kid in Brazil because we always go back to where my Dad's fam is from so I saw him a lot when we used to go back more Janis: maybe but you know, years ago now Jimmy: he so did Jimmy: just thinking about kissing you Jimmy: you know what it makes me feel like Janis: Tell me though Jimmy: I don't even know how to Jimmy: it just sounds like bollocks but its not Janis: I believe you Jimmy: I wish we could stay in all day tomorrow Jimmy: but I can't be that dickhead Janis: We've got time Janis: however long we wanna Janis: not going anywhere yet Jimmy: I believe you Janis: Good Janis: You're making this holiday bearable, hell, this fucking town right now Jimmy: I don't have to say likewise Jimmy: even before when it was meant to be only fake bearable Janis: Yeah Janis: You're just better than everyone else here, that's facts regardlesss of what we're doing Janis: I should've found that out sooner but whatever Jimmy: like you said, we've got time Jimmy: when you get here stay outside for a bit, I know it's probably gonna piss down but I want Jimmy: I wanna just be alone without kids and fucking dogs & dads that might appear or not whenever Janis: Okay Janis: I want that too Janis: we're showering anyway Jimmy: & I'll keep your chips warm for you, I'm not an animal Janis: 💕 Jimmy: gimme a phone background Janis: [Cute selfie which we should defs find for each other 'cos yas] Jimmy: 👌 now I really wanna be alone Jimmy: so what you've just been walking around looking like that? bit rude Janis: Who do I think I am, honestly? Janis: Getting off the bus though, if you see me, don't let me go to the wrong house for a laugh, tah Jimmy: Hang on, what's your name again, Jasmine Canvas? summat like that Janis: 🙄 you wish, art hoe Jimmy: me? yeah alright Jimmy: you & your flair Janis: I won't apologise for being #inspired Janis: get you some concealer from gracie if CG gets mad about it Jimmy: I won't say soz for how much I've touched it since Jimmy: or cover it up for them dickheads Jimmy: what did you say before? Can't censor #art Janis: When it fades I'll give you another one Janis: so you remember just how much I want you Jimmy: I'm not gonna let myself forget Jimmy: or you Janis: I don't plan on letting you either Janis: but giving you one every time we screw might be a bit excessive Janis: don't wanna leave you that sore, poor boy Jimmy: just cover me tonight it's not gonna be topless weather at the beach even if I am that northern Janis: How can I refuse such an offer? 😍 Jimmy: you can't Jimmy: but I don't want you to Jimmy: I just want you until we have to crash Janis: Give me some too? Janis: I like them Jimmy: how can I refuse? not gonna Janis: You're fun Janis: and hot Janis: I really really like fucking with you Jimmy: 😳 Jimmy: it was fun that really got me Jimmy: fuck knows when I was last called that Janis: You are Janis: people are idiots Jimmy: we're both dickheads Jimmy: & I like you Janis: Backatcha Janis: See yours, come out and kiss me please Jimmy: I was about to ask where the fuck you were Janis: Shut up, I didn't get lost or nothing, you kept distracting me, as per Jimmy: you shut up, saying please when you know it kills me Janis: 😈 Jimmy: how do you look so Jimmy: who looks good in the rain? piss off Janis: 😏 and people reckon i'm unbearable now, keep giving me compliments imma be so bad Jimmy: Nah? I'm so mad at you Jimmy: Can't you tell Janis: 😞 Janis: can't you see this pout Jimmy: [kisses her by biting the pouty lip and pulling it in 'cause how dare she be so cute bye] Janis: [Makes noises 'cos gotta be quieter inside and also damn boy] Janis: still mad? Jimmy: Maybe Janis: Do what you gotta do 'til you ain't, I'm ready Janis: challenge accepted Jimmy: [keeps kissing her 'cause they extra] Janis: am I staying the night? Jimmy: yeah Janis: Good Janis: reluctantly go in now then Jimmy: would you have come all this way just to kiss me? Janis: 😶😳 Jimmy: then we can't go in yet Jimmy: [more kisses 'cause he's swooning bitch] Janis: I want to kiss you all the fucking time Jimmy: go on Janis: [Kisses first to end him] Jimmy: [Gotta give her a loud reaction back 'cause she's earning it] Janis: Fucking hell baby Janis: that ws the best thing I've ever heard Jimmy: if you wanna hear it again you know what to do Jimmy: whenever Janis: I don't wanna hear anything else Jimmy: but I've gotta let you get a word or sound in sometimes Jimmy: if only for me Janis: only for you Janis: fuck I'm so wet can we eat later or is that so anti-social and rude Jimmy: we can Jimmy: Cass & Bobby eat the speed of light, they were basically done before you got here Janis: I promise to be good and social and everything we need to be later Jimmy: I'm not asking for nowt Jimmy: you're here, I got what I wanted Janis: not yet you didn't Jimmy: alright yeah Jimmy: so come on Janis: 😍 Jimmy: [Hand holding to go inside, making Winnie's dream's come true]

[goodguidanceptc]

Ironman New Zealand Race Report  March 2, 2019

Welcome masochists and insomniacs. When people ask me about my races, I usually try to deliver a balance of facts (split times, data, total race time) and feelings (mind & body perceptions, key moments) in an entertaining yet succinct report. As usual, that often means STRONG LANGUAGE. Here goes:

Prologue:

A few weeks prior to the trip, I learned that I’d been selected for the “Ironman New Zealand Experience,” an online contest, administered with typical Kiwi approach by the local council. Read: relaxed, with ZERO Ironman lawyers involved. Six men and six women were selected--based on online posts--to learn a haka, perform at the athlete dinner and attend an after-race luncheon that included a presentation and performance of Maori history and traditions. 

I suspect my "pick me! pick me!” post got me plucked from a small applicant pool. Supporting evidence: of the twelve selected, two others were my training buddies from Chicago, Christine B. and Bernie Mc. SIDE NOTE: Each winner was allowed one additional guest at the luncheon--so a very special thanks to Christine for graciously counting my wife as her guest which meant I had both my wife and son at the luncheon.

Haka is Maori for “breathe fire.” Historically, hakas were performed by Maori warriors prior to battle. These days they are performed ceremonially to celebrate major milestones (marriage, retirement), honor important guests or--perhaps most notably--to intimidate opponents at athletic events (here’s a link). Outside of New Zealand, the most famous and awe-inspiring hakas are performed my the Maori All-Blacks National Rugby team prior to each match. 

I learned that there are hundreds of haka versions, each with its own inherent weight baked into the story it’s presenting. Although it was very different than the aggressive, male-only, pre-battle version the All-Blacks perform, I personally felt a tremendous honor and reverence for the one we learned.

The haka preserves indigenous culture, energetically injects traditional language into a modern forum, gathers and channels group energy by seamlessly melding ritual gesture and movement with raw emotion. It all adds up to a sum greater than it’s parts that’s simultaneously respectful and rebellious. Taken as a whole, the haka is something like how the Incredible Hulk would dance if the Incredible Hulk danced.

All of which is just to say that before I even started the race, I’d already experienced that tremendous joy that comes with receiving an unexpectedly perfect gift. IMNZ was already a success before the race even started. Now, let’s get back to facts...

Total race time = 11:33

Not a PR, but a mature result. “Mature?” you may be wondering, “Really?” Granted, few people would describe anything I do as mature, so perhaps a better word is un-deluded. Why? Because plantar fasciitis made for a “No-Run November” (all long runs performed in a pool), I hadn’t done enough resistance training, and winter holidays not only make it impossible to train, they make it nearly impossible to fuel properly. 

In his book, Elite Minds, Dr. Stanley Beecham suggests giving yourself a W when you trained your best and an L if you didn’t. My record for this training sequence (Nov-Feb) was 89-20-11. ( I gave myself T for Ties on days when training went right but something else went bad...usually diet.) In other words, a respectable-but-not-stellar W average (.741) earned a respectable-but-not-stellar result.

But still, the haka was awesome.

Pre-Race

Slept well. Ate well. No mechanical issues. Huddled briefly with most of the training buddies and Iron sherpas prior to warming up properly in the water.

Swim (1:06 total swim time)

Clear sighting, aggressive line, good tactics (drafted when possible), and even got some help from the current towards the end. That said, the two turn buoys at the far end were both a raucous scrum. First time I ever took a hard shot to the lip. My best swim ever. 

T1 (7:49)

"T1 is a 400 meter run from the swim out...” My ass. If that’s 400 meters, I’m Leslie Jones from SNL. Plus, AFTER the “400 meters,” a winding grass staircase comparable to any third-floor-walk-up or Wisconsin helix--easily another +50 meters at an +8% grade.

Once I did get up Mount Metric Bullshit, I moved right along. Sprayed on some sunscreen, stuffed a plastic bag under the regular bike jersey with some light gloves (in case it was nippy for the first hour), shoes on in the tent. Go.

Bike (5:38, technically a bike PR)

Two loops. Windy? A tad. The outbound tailwind was so strong, I struggled to maintain target watts. Get that? I didn’t have to pedal as hard as I’d trained to because I was easily traveling +20 mph on flat sections. Ditched the plastic bag and gloves at the first aid station because it was sunny and mild and I was feeling really great. Of course, logic dictates that inbound would be a shitstorm. Which it was. Oy. Mixed with some crosswinds too just in case you, oh I dunno...tried to pee on the bike and took too long...or wanted to take in some nutrition. Nasty. I caught myself using a bastardized mantra from IMAZ, “Frontside fast side, backside strong side” which morphed into “Out bound, throw down; In bound, get down.” whenever I was tempted to chase or draft.

A word on drafting: it’s illegal in Ironman races. BUT! By slipping into the draft zone of somebody passing faster than you are passing then letting them go, you can save energy and still stay within the letter and spirit of the rule. That said, 12 meters = 6ish bike lengths so don’t be the fucko that lingers.

Repeated that song and dance inbound on both loops. It’s a terrible thing when you can’t stay in aero-position because you gotta pee but can’t pee because the wind stuffs any momentum you need to keep your leg straight long enough to break the seal. But it WILL keep you legal.

For you data geeks: Normalized Power was 197 but I AVERAGED 20 m.p.h.

Another notable: the bone-shaking chip-seal they use to pave most New Zealand roads. It just rattled my whole rig from pedals to fingertips to helmet. That shit literally rattled my Torpedo bottle right out from between my aero-bars about halfway through. I’d already taken in the nutrition so I left it (apologies to all the Tidy Kiwis and the whole leave-it-like-you-found-it philosophy) and just held fresh bottles in with my thumbs as needed.

T2 (4:13)

Efficient but could have been a tad quicker. At this point in the race, I was on plan, feeling good and ready to attack the run. Nutrition was on point. Legs were solid, stomach was a non-issue and weather conditions were near ideal. Sunny and delightful low 70s. I was actually looking forward to Run Special Needs where I’d planted a fresh shirt and an extra bottle of nutrition.

Run (4:36 aka: avg 10:39/mi)

I went sub-4 hours in Louisville under raining mid-40 degree conditions. If I could have just matched that, I’d have delivered a juicy PR of under 11 hours.

It seemed reasonable that flat IM-LOU shitstorm would vaguely equate to hilly IM-NZ sunny delight, yes? 

No.

That three loop run over what my training bro Andrew T. would call offensive hills was having none of that nonsense. Turns out, I was woefully undertrained. My legs were just not up to the second and third loop of hills, despite biking to plan, executing nutrition properly, and taking the first loop at a very easy RPE.

In past reports I’ve shared some of the actual mental chatter that runs through my head but in this case none of my mantras were very interesting or helpful. What I have learned to do when I’m truly falling apart is to reinvest in technique. Focus on the extremely immediate present, which I used to counter punch one particularly angry and persistent neg that I just couldn’t shake. See if you can pick it out of the following scientifically gathered brainwave transcription:

...chatter-chatter-chatter...BREATHE...left-right-left-right-Toe-off-knees-up-hands-up-lean-easy-at-the-ankles-glutes-tucked-somebody-fucking-LIED-to-me-goddamBREATHE!-Toe-off-knees-up-hands-up-lean-easy-at-the-ankles-glutes-tucked-somebody-fucking-LIED-to-me-goddamnit-Toe-off-left-right-left...chatter-chatter-chatter...BREATHE

On a slightly more-vulnerable note, I will share this: typically, a few tears leak out at special needs. Hormones? Pain? Mental breakdown/relief that the marathon is half over? All of the above, probably. Just a few moments of a grown man losing it. (Do NOT watch Ricky Gervais’ After Life while jet lagged. But DO watch it. Amazing. Shut up. Don’t judge my process.)

Anyway, I was all business during the Special Needs of this run but lost it right after a particularly steep descend where some guardian bros had set up an “unofficial aid station” consisting of Red Bull, handles of vodka, and liters of Jaegermeister. A runner just ahead of me had grabbed something off their card table and their robust cheering were suddenly horrific screams warning him off of chugging it. I was just tickled and toasted at the same time and it all came gushing out. Just all kinds of quads burning gasping ugly face craughing (learned that word from a tweet praising After Life, btw). Of course my male ego would NEVER allow me to overly express vulnerability in front of the drunken bros, thoughtful though they were. So I kept running. A woman running along side me kindly asked if I was okay, I said, “Oh...yeah...this...just happens,” between gulping breaths, “The good...news...is...it’s much...later...than usual.” Which cracked her up, so... y’know, pay it forward.

After slogging my way through the third loop, and making my way through the finishing chute, where the normally incomparable Mike Reilly butchered my last name, I was told that I’d been on the leaderboard during the bike and immediately fell off during the run.

So even though I did not over-bike, I did under-train. Plus, I did not need to go directly to Medical in shock, which suggests that my race plan, nutrition strategy and execution was pretty spot on. IMAZ was a PR of 11:19 and IMNZ was 11:33.

OVERALL RACE GRADE: C. Just a C. 

OVERALL EXPERIENCE GRADE: A+

As with prior races, IMNZ yielded some incremental improvements. As I said at the top, this was a mature result, with which I am unsatisfied. I haven't yet done my best race. I haven’t yet DONE MY BEST. There is clearly opportunity for improvements to all five aspects of my racing:

Swim was well executed. Still room for growth.

Bike was properly executed. Adequate. If anything, I could have pushed more.

Run. Ugh. Time to throw myself into Runner’s World and CARA and make like Forrest Gump and Prefontaine and Mo. Also, back to Hokas. Or maybe Altras. The Brooks I ran in were farts. The blisters on my toes had blisters. Not kidding.

Fuel strategy and execution was on point, although I was a few kilos heavier than previous races. Holidays and too few resistance training sessions.

Transitions were adequate.

Am I one of the guys at the pointy end of the bell curve? Clearly still yes. Maybe I’ve just evolved beyond a standard group training plan. Self-Coach? I’ve got the credentials and experience. Back to a previous coach? Maybe a new coach? I’d take some applications. Yes.

In the meantime, I’ll see you in Chattanooga for some 70.3 action in May, 2019. That’s only two build cycles. Ima go noodle around in TrainingPeaks.

WAIT. HERE’S THE BERNIE STORY...

Bernie McNally is one of those people I am just glad to have in my life. This race report would be wholly inadequate if I didn't share how this amazing woman is absolutely unstoppable.

First, she got everybody who trained for New Zealand (at Well-Fit) a fleece.

I forgot to mention she broke her ribs in a bike accident a few months ago.

Then, in what can only be described as the luck of the Irish, she charmed her way into the “New Zealand Experience” haka class. Just showed up and got in. Turns out one of the women selected didn’t show up. Classic.

Here’s the unstoppable part: at around Mile 110 of the New Zealand Full fucking Ironman race, she hit a cone and went over her bike handle bars. Road rash up her arm, split her knee open and cracked her head/helmet on a curb. A bystander said, “Do you need some help? I’m calling an ambulance.”

Her reply?

“Just help me get my chain back on.”

So he did. And she finished the bike. The medics in T2 told her she needed stitches.  She said she didn’t have time, to just patch her up so she could get on with it. She finished the race with half an hour to spare. Words fail.

All I know is this: whenever I’m feeling like I can’t get it done--and it can be anything from driving in traffic to folding laundry to a holding pace on a long run--I know exactly what I’ll hear. 

A thick, sassy, Irish brogue doing the haka.

WITH GRATITUDE FOR…

I’m very grateful to my lovely wife Susan and my wonderful kids, Peter and Veronica for their support. Susan, you are my salvation.

I’m grateful to have the expert professionals Coach Russ and Coach Sharone and the entire Well-Fit staff and athletes who generously share their wisdom.

I’m grateful to my inspiring and impressive training partners. Especially the seven hardcore savages that got it done in New Zealand--Adam, Christine, Dan, Kelly, Megan, Mike, Will and Bernie.

I’m very grateful to anybody willing to excuse my terrible smell, deplorable language and barbaric sounds during training.

Maximum gratitude to Well-Fit, Get-A-Grip, Fleet Feet and all the pools I use.

I’m grateful for Crushing Iron (C26), Matt Fitzgerald, Joe Friel, Training Peaks, Scott brand bikes, Apple, Ironman.

Thank you to all the on-course maniacs cheering and making signs and wearing all sorts of crazy outfits to show love and support. For strangers exercising.

I’m grateful that I’m able to race triathlons. I’m grateful to you for reading.

[jouska-the-deer]

A Short Quiz

Chapter 25: A New Adventure

As crowds of people exited the community center, Amy stood patiently by the entrance, waiting for Sonic to meet up with her. She scanned the faces of everyone leaving looking for him, despite knowing Sonic would likely come to her eventually. Still, it gave her something to do while waiting.

Just as the remaining guests were trickling out the door, Amy saw a couple of faces she forgot she was avoiding. She quickly pushed her back against the community center wall and looked away. Unfortunately for her, they saw her anyway.

“Oh, there you are,” Sonia said, stepping out of the way of the entrance and closer to Amy. “I was hoping to talk to you before we left.”

Amy crossed her arms and continued to look away, her ears lowering a little as well as her head. She gave no reply, so Sonia continued.

“I’m sorry for insinuating very personal things about you and Sonic so soon after meeting you. The way I behaved was very childish, and it’s none of my business what your relationship with Sonic is like.”

Manic stepped forward, scratching his head awkwardly.

“Yeah uh, same as her. Sorry about assuming stuff. It was kind of a jerk move.”

“Oh.” Amy’s posture relaxed, and she looked over to them with a neutral expression. “Well um, it’s okay… I guess.”

“Manic! Over here!”

They all looked in the direction of the call, seeing a cat in punk style clothing waving at Manic from the driver’s seat of an old truck.“That’s my ride,” Manic stated. He turned to Sonia and Amy. “I’ve gotta go. See ya guys later.”

Sonia and Amy watched as Manic ran over to the truck and hopped in. When Amy returned her view to Sonia, she had a more serious expression than before.

“Amy…” She closed her eyes for a moment. She took a short breath before speaking. “What I said earlier, about you having personal experience in getting Sonic to open up, I didn’t just mean it in a romantic way.”

She paused again. Amy listened intently as Sonia began speaking.

“Sonic seems a lot happier now. When we first met him, he acted like he was happy… but we could tell he was faking it. We didn’t know if that was just how he was when he wasn’t on TV, but we had a feeling something was wrong… He never really spoke to us often, but recently, he’s been willing to talk to us a lot more. And he talks about you a lot, how much fun he’s been having hanging out with you. He’s more lively… and I know you had something to do with it.” Sonia smiled. “Thank you, so much. It doesn’t matter if you’re just friends or something romantic, I can tell you help him feel better, and that’s what really matters.”

The large amount of flattery caused Amy to blush, a smile appearing on her face as she looked away bashfully. “M-My pleasure.”

Sonia took a look at the parking lot, then returned her eyes to Amy.

“It’s a long drive back home, so I have to get going.”

“Oh, okay.”

“I hope we can talk again soon. I’m sure you have lots of fun stories to tell.”

“You’ve got that right,” Amy said with a small chuckle.

“Goodbye, Amy.”

“Goodbye.”

Sonia began walking to her car, and Amy turned her attention to the front entrance again.

It appeared that nobody was leaving anymore, which made Amy worry a little. Sonic said to meet him here, so where was he? Amy didn’t want to walk inside to check if he was there, because what if he came by the entrance and didn’t see her? But where else would he be? Suddenly, she felt a couple taps on her shoulder. Amy let out a surprised yelp.

“Woah! Amy, it’s just me.”

Amy turned around, panting as her heart raced.

“Don’t sneak up on me like that! And what took you so long?!”

“I’ve been busy helping Tails put my presents into his car. And I didn’t mean to scare you like that. Sorry.”

Amy released a breath, trying to calm herself. Her eyes went to Sonic, and they both stood silently for a moment. It felt as though Sonic needed a little push to speak, so Amy tried to provide it.

“So…”

It wasn’t much, but Sonic took it as his queue to start speaking. He ran his fingers through his quills as he spoke.

“Well… I had a thought and, this place doesn’t seem that great for talking about something serious…”

He paused again, cheeks red with blush. Amy once again felt the need to push him to continue.

“Okay…?”

“And uh… birthday cake and chips aren’t really real food or anything, and…” Chest rising and falling quickly as his heart raced, Sonic was showing obvious signs that he wasn’t having the easiest time speaking. “I thought- well, it was more like Tails’ idea a while ago- what I’m saying is-” Sonic stopped talking for a moment, looking down and realizing something. Without even thinking about it, at some point he had begun to mess around with the bracelet Amy gave him, just like he did while talking to Amy under the table. He smiled and took a deep breath.

“Would you like to, have dinner someplace with me? And talk about everything while we’re there?”

A loud squee rang through the air, followed by a short giggle. “O-Of course! I’d love to!”

Sonic could see Amy’s eyes sparkling with excitement, her smile brighter than it’s ever been, making it impossible not to smile too. He took a glance at the parking lot, to where Tails was placing the last of his gifts into the trunk of his vehicle, then looked at Amy.

“Tails is gonna drive everything to my house, and I’ve got to go with him to help unload everything. I could… get something sort of nice on while I’m at home? Maybe… pick you up later?”

“It sounds perfect! I could get something nice to wear too.”

“Is eight fine? To pick you up?”

“Yep! I’ll be waiting for you.”

“Great!”

Both of them couldn’t contain their smiles, absolutely excited for later that day. Shyly, Sonic stepped forward, opening his arms and welcoming Amy into his embrace as she stepped forward too. Not too long after, they were sharing a relaxing kiss. When their lips parted, Sonic and Amy let out a quiet giggle.

“Get a room.”

In an instant they both separated, looking at Tails with bright red faces.

“U-Uh…” was all Sonic could manage to say. Amy looked at the ground and said nothing.

Tails chuckled. “It’s about time you figured out you liked her back. It only took a million years.”

With a whine, Sonic looked away.

“Hey, I’m happy for you,” Tails informed. “Just don’t go smooching each other everywhere you go. It’s embarrassing for everyone.”

“I wasn’t planning to.”

“Good.”

Amy cleared her throat. “I-I’m… going to go home now. See you later.”

Sonic watched as Amy started walking away. “Alright. Uh, I’ll see you later too.”

“Bye,” Tails said with a wave.

Amy picked up the pace until she was running home, and Tails chuckled as she ran off bashfully.

“Can we just… forget about this?” Sonic asked pleadingly.

“Nope, but I’ll save you from talking about it on the ride to your place.”

“Thanks.”

With a sigh, Sonic began walking with Tails over to the car.

“Did you even ask her out at all?”

“I thought you weren’t going to talk about it.”

“We aren’t in the car yet.”

Sonic huffed.

“We’ve only been together today… and I asked her out right before you saw us…”

“Finally. I’ve been telling you to ask her for weeks.”

With a heavy sigh, Sonic opened the passenger door of Tails’ car.

“Okay,” Tails said while sliding into the driver’s seat, “I won’t talk about any of that stuff now.”

“Thanks.”

After starting the car, Tails carefully pulled out of the parking lot and began the drive to Sonic’s house.

The quiet conversations of people in the restaurant mixed with slow violin music playing over the radio were heard as Sonic and Amy were escorted to their booth. As they were seated, Amy looked around, admiring the soft lighting and well-decorated walls and tables. Savory scents added to the atmosphere, as well as the cozy seating and elegant menus. It almost felt wrong to order a lemonade instead of something fancier when the waiter asked what beverage they would like. To be fair, Sonic ordered a soda. When the waiter was out of sight, Sonic casually leaned a bit over the table, further showing his disregard for table etiquette. Not that Amy minded.

“You said you were confused about some stuff, right?”

It was a bit sudden of a question, but the whole reason they were here was to discuss their relationship… and to be on a nice date, but the main focus was figuring things out. Amy was nervous, but once everything was sorted out, she would feel better… she hoped.

“Yeah, I um…” Her heart was racing, but she knew she had to get this over with. Momentarily closing her eyes, she reminded herself that everything was going to be fine. “I don’t know if you want anyone else knowing that we’re together.”

Sonic scratched his head, a shy smile appearing on his face.

“I wouldn’t mind people knowing. I don’t think I’d want to go announcing it to the world, but, if someone asked I wouldn’t deny it. Are you alright with that?”

Amy breathed a barely noticeable sigh of relief.

“Yeah. I am.”

“There’s one thing sorted out,” Sonic said with a soft laugh.

The waiter came by with their drinks and asked if they needed more time to order. They both agreed that they did, so the waiter left them for a few minutes. When he returned, he took their orders and menus, then walked away.

Sonic turned his attention to Amy again.

“So, anything else you need to ask?”

“Oh, um…” There were more questions she wanted to ask, but Amy didn’t know which one she should ask next. She settled on one that seemed like it would bother Sonic the least. “Are you okay with us… being close together in public? Would you be uncomfortable if I was right next to you with other people around?”

A small chuckle was heard before Sonic replied.

“Amy, look where we are! We’re literally on a date, in a fancy restaurant, surrounded by people. Well, they’re probably too busy talking to each other to notice us, but still.” Sonic smiled brightly. “If I was uncomfortable being seen with you, I wouldn’t have suggested us coming here. Plus, we’ve hung out a lot before now, just not… as a couple.” A hint of red dusted his cheeks. “So, don’t worry about that. I’ll say something if I get uncomfortable.”

“Okay. Good.” Amy breathed another sigh of relief.

“You know what, I actually have something I wanted to ask you.” Sonic rested his arm on the table, displaying the bracelet he got as a present. “How’d you make this? It looks great, pretty much professional.”

“Oh, I got some help from Tails,” Amy replied, casually sitting back in the booth. “The trinkets were made with his 3D printer, but I designed all of them on the computer. Also, Tails tested it to make sure it was durable enough to stay together even with how active you are.”

Glancing again down at his bracelet, Sonic’s enthusiastic smile softened to a more sincere one. “Thanks again, Amy. It really makes me happy knowing all the effort you put in.”

Amy blushed intensely. “You’re- You’re welcome.” She giggled shyly, looking away and noticing the waiter returning. Quickly, she tried to compose herself as the food arrived.

As expected, the food tasted great, though if it didn’t, the price would have felt like a rip-off. Amy ate much more slowly than Sonic, not just because Sonic had the tendency to scarf down everything he ate, but also because Amy’s mind was still plagued with one last question. This one, much tougher than the others that came before it.

“Something still on your mind?” Sonic asked, tilting his head.

As difficult as it was, Amy felt she had to know the answer. She took a deep breath, trying to keep herself relaxed. Through deep red cheeks, she spoke.

“Have you figured out if you love me or not?”

Immediately, Amy regretted her choice of words. Was it too pushy? Was it too personal? Did it make Sonic uncomfortable?

“Amy…”

“I’m sorry-!”

“Amy.”

She shushed herself.

“You were still wondering about that? I sort of thought it was implied.” Sonic chuckled nervously, then reached for Amy’s hand. Gently, he took it in his own and brought it to his lips.

“I,” he planted a kiss to the top of her hand, “love,” another kiss, “you,” and another.

Amy’s face was completely red. She looked away, covering her face with her free hand and retracting the one Sonic had shortly after, covering her face with that hand too.

Sonic chuckled. “Now you know how I feel all the time.” Suddenly, he heard Amy sniff, and his heart raced as he began to panic. “H-Hey! I didn’t mean it in a bad way! I’m just not used to-”

Turning her head to face him, Amy showed an enormous smile. Sonic sighed in relief.

“Oh.”

“I love you too,” Amy said softly.

Smiling, Sonic wiped away her tears.

“I’m glad we’re on the same page.”

Sonic and Amy continued eating, casually talking to each other whenever they had something they wanted to share. Once they were done and decided to skip on dessert, Sonic asked for the check and waited for the waiter to return.

“So, you wanna do something after this?”

“I need to get to bed early today; I have work tomorrow. ”

“Oh right. Sorry, I forgot. How about another time?”

“Of course!”

“How about Wednesday? I could pick you up after work.”

“That sounds perfect.”

“Great!”

The waiter arrived with the check and soon, everything was paid for and Sonic and Amy were headed out the door. A few steps away from the entrance, Sonic stopped to say something.

“Amy,” he said, his tone sincere, “if you ever have any questions for me, please ask them whenever they come up. I don’t want you to feel confused about anything… or alone…”

Amy smiled gently. “I will.”

Letting out a breath, Sonic nodded. “Thanks.” Then he stepped over. “You ready to go?”

“Yep.”

Amy giggled as she was scooped into Sonic’s arms, and then they were off to her apartment.

It wasn’t long before the familiar buildings of Station Square began to pass by, and soon Sonic was setting Amy down by the entrance of her apartment building. She smiled gently as she was set down, but clearly had something to ask. She turned to Sonic.

“So… what happens after this?”

“Well, we have a plan for Wednesday.”

“I know. What I mean is…” Amy paused for a moment, deep in thought. “It just… it feels different now. What is it going to be like? Hanging out while we’re a couple?”

“Oh uh…” Sonic scratched his head, wearing a slightly nervous smile. “Honestly, I don’t think it’s gonna be too different from when we were hanging out as friends. Maybe there’ll be more kissing and stuff, but other than that, it’ll be the same fun as usual.”

Amy nodded, but her expression said she was still a little confused. In response, Sonic placed his hands on her shoulders, speaking in a soft and cheerful tone.

“I’m not completely sure what the future’s gonna be like, but we’ll just find that out together. It’ll be like a brand new adventure, right?”

With a chuckle, Amy nodded firmly.

“Yeah.”

They both smiled, then pulled each other in for a hug. Sonic sighed contently.

“This is… really nice. I actually can’t wait to be able to do this with you more often.”

“I feel the same way” Amy softly replied.

A moment later, they leaned back a little, just enough to see the other’s face. Sonic was blushing a fair amount, and Amy found it to be absolutely adorable.

“I love you, Amy.”

I love you too, Sonic.”

They slowly leaned closer, until they were sharing a wonderfully soft kiss, savoring it for as long as possible. Sooner than Amy would have wished, though only forever would have been enough, Sonic gently pulled away.

“See you later, Amy,” he said, leaning forward and planting a kiss on her cheek.

Giggling softly, Amy waved. “Goodbye, Sonic.”

Waving himself, Sonic took a few steps away, then finally took off.

Only for a moment, she stood there, watching Sonic, her boyfriend, running down the street and out of sight. Today was incredible, and she knew every other day she would get to spend with him would be incredible too. With a content sigh, she turned to the apartment door, walking inside as the sun continued its dip into the horizon.

She knew that being Sonic’s girlfriend wouldn’t really change much, but what it would change was going to be wonderful. Being able to kiss him more, being able to cuddle with him more, being able to relax into his arms when she was weary… Amy was excited just thinking about it. And they were going to continue going on fun trips to interesting places together too. Sonic really was right. Being together with him, it was going to be a new adventure.

[ohfrickfanfic]

Alone Time

Anon request: Hey girl<3 love ur fics, I was wondering if you could do one where female reader is on the road with Tyler and josh as a photographer and they are in a van because haven't really taken off yet and someway or another they get some time alone for the first time in forever and do it in the van. Please no daddy kinks or blood play thank you so much xxx

Warnings/Tags: None fairly fluffy and vanilla

"I'm gonna miss you so much, but I'm so proud of you and Josh." You say siting on the edge of the open trailer attached to the van; swinging your legs as the boys pack; about to embark on their first series of shows and music festivals since the departure of Nick and Chris, and the addition of Josh to the now two-piece band. You and Tyler have been dating for about a year and things have started to get pretty serious lately; even loosing your virginity to each other. You really hope the two of you can  keep your relationship alive despite the distance.

"I have a feeling you're not gonna miss me all that much." Tyler says with a curious looking smile.

"Are you crazy? Of course I'm gonna miss you Tyler I love you!"  You respond puzzled as to why he thinks you wouldn't miss him.

"Well it's just that me and Josh were talking and we know you love photography and we really need a photographer for the road so we were hoping you would come on this journey with us and be our photographer, that way you'd never have to miss me." He smiles.

"Tyler, I would love to ,really I would but I don't think my little crop sensor DSLR camera that I just use just as a  hobby is going to be able to do any justice. I don't even own a wide enough lens and I don't think my cameras ISO capabilities are high enough for how dark some of the venues might be."

"I was afraid you would say that which is why..." He trails off reaching into the the trailer and pulling out a brown box and handing it to you. "I know you're Birthday isn't until next month but..go ahead, open it."  He says excitedly.

You open the box to find a full frame sensor camera, and a wide angle lens. "Tyler!" You gasp. "Thank you so much, but really you shouldn't have, you and Josh are barely making money from this yet, you  should have saved your money and put it towards new equipment or something.

"No baby I wanted you to have it.  It's not brand new or anything but the guy at the used camera shop said this is perfect to get you started photographing shows and what not. Josh chipped in too; we really want you to come with us but it's yours to keep regardless of your decision." Tyler says just as Josh returns from the house with another box of equipment.

"Oh you gave it to her? What'd she say?" Josh asks sweaty and out of breath as he loads the box into the trailer.

"So what do you say? We can't pay you or anything yet, but I know we'll be able to one day, but for now I  can pay for your food and stuff on the road." Tyler looks to you for an answer.

"Yes of course! Thank you! You guys don't have to pay me the camera is more than enough." You place the camera box down to your left and hop down from the trailers edge pulling both boys in for a hug. "Eww Josh you're all sweaty." You tease.

"Yeah, well why don't you guys quit the cute stuff and get back to helping. He jokingly pushes you both towards the house.  

"I'm so happy your coming with us. We're gonna spend so much time together. Tyler slips his hand in yours as you make your way back to the house for more equipment.

*****************************

Tyler's words were  naive a best; sure you spend a lot of time together; a lot of time between shooting pictures helping to lug  Tyler's heavy ass piano up and down venue stairs, a lot of time sleeping in a cramped van next to each other but never with each other and only for a span of four hours here and there if you're  lucky, and more notably a lot of time with Josh. It's not that you have anything against Josh; you love Josh, he's such a good friend to Tyler and to you as well and he makes for great company but any rare alone time you and Tyler would be able to have is instantly deterred by Josh's presence, and the lack of intimacy is taking a toll on both of you.  Having recently lost your virginity to each other, your want for each other is almost constant, no matter how busy or tired you both are but all you can manage is a few sporadic heavy make-out sessions whenever Josh is out of eye shot for more than a few minutes, whether it's when he stops to use the bathroom, or decides the taco bell drive through line is too long and goes inside to order.

*****************************

Tonight's a successful night;  the boys are finally starting to have more and more people attending shows and tonight has been by far the most yet.  It's not a ton, but it's definitely a lot  more than the twelve people that attended the first show outside their hometown,  at the Park Ridge VFW in Illinois. You snap picture after picture of the performance; you've never seen the boys, especially Tyler, look so proud. After the show it's back to lugging equipment into the trailer and time to head back on the road to the next show. It's Josh's turn to drive; you and Tyler laying in the back with nothing more than a quick kiss goodnight before falling asleep.

*****************************

A few hours later you're woken up by the sudden sputtering of the van, and look out the window to see you've come to a stop in a rest area off the side of the highway.

"Please don't tell me the van just broke down." Tyler says sleepily, rubbing at his eyes.

"No, sorry man, ran out of gas." Josh says. " I thought we had enough to make it to the next gas station, it's only a half mile away, the exit is literally right there." He huffs, clearly frustrated and slightly embarrassed by his miscalculation. "You guys stay here and rest I'm just gonna walk to the gas station and fill up a gas can I'll be right back."  He says as he exits the van.

"I've never been more happy to run out of gas in my life." Tyler says as soon as the van door closes.

"Tyler why would you be happy to run out of gas." You ask completely puzzled by his words.

"Because now I get to do this.."  He says moving to straddle you, placing soft wet kisses along your neck.

"Mmmm Tyler!"  You moan, knowing your desperate need for intimacy is finally about to be fulfilled. Tyler helps you rid yourself of your shirt tugging it over your head and begins kissing down your bare chest; stopping only to tongue at each nipple before moving lower, fumbling with  the button of your black skinny jeans as his lips ghost over the  flesh below your navel.

"Tyler...Tyler..Stop!" You whine as you squirm under his touch.

"What's wrong baby?" He asks barely lifting his mouth away from the surface of your skin.

"Nothing, it's just that we don't have much time, and as much as I miss feeling that tongue of yours..." You pause to drag a finger lightly over his lips. "I miss something else much more." You tease brushing your leg up against his denim covered bulge.  He groans in agreement and you quickly undress each other; completely unfazed by the light sheen of sweat beginning to pool on your bodies without the air conditioner running in the late summer heat.

"God I've missed this so much." He breathes into your neck as he pushes into you. "Mmmmmm feels like you have too; so wet for me baby."   He mutters against your flesh, kissing up your neck and connecting your lips.

"You have no idea how m-much." You moan into the kiss, running your fingers through his fluffy brown hair, tugging lightly; some pieces stuck to his forehead and neck with sweat, as he slowly  thrusts.

"Uhhh you feel so good." He pants, arching his head back slightly; you seize the opportunity you kiss him gently right below his ear where you know he likes, he closes his eyes humming lowly in response and driving his hips harder into you.

"Fuck, Ty...Yes...so good."  You whine wrapping your legs around him and pulling him in deeper. He grunts loudly, hooking one hand around your leg, pulling it from around himself and placing it over his shoulder, hitting your spot from a whole new angle.  "Oh shit Ty, right there, don't stop."

"Mmmmm you like that baby?" He grinds into you holding your leg

"God yes....Oh shit I'm gonna cum." You cry out as the pleasure building in your core comes to a peak, Moans of his name falling from your lips as you ride it out. Tyler's thrusts speed up chasing after his own orgasm, finishing just moments after you.  The two of you collapse into  into a sweaty pile, your leg sliding from his shoulder down to his  side.

"I love you so much." He breathes heavily, pushing sweaty locks of hair from your face. "We need to find a way to do this more often, even if it means I gotta kick Josh out of the band." He jokes.

"I love you so much too and I agree" You smile. Just then you hear the gas cap being unscrewed, followed by the glugging noise of gas filling up the tank, and scramble to get dressed. Josh screws the gas cap back on and opens the driver side door just as you both finish slipping  on your shirts; Tyler's pants up but still unbuckled.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here." Josh teases.

"Hey Josh, you wanna sleep now, I'll drive." Tyler tries to change to subject. "I'm kind of awake now."

"I'll bet you are." He laughs. "Sure I'll sleep on the sheets you two just fricked on, no problem." He chuckles as the two boys lazily switch spots, climbing over the seats in the van. "I swear there better not be a wet spot." He jokes, settling in to the makeshift bed.

"No promises." Tyler laughs throwing his arm around the seat preparing to reverse out of the spot in the rest area.

"You know if you guys ever want  ummm.. alone time, you can just tell me to get lost or something, well not lost-lost but you know what I mean." Josh says mildly embarrassed.

"Yeah we already decided, we're just gonna kick you out of the band." Tyler's perfect laughter fills the van.

"Not cool." Josh playfully pouts.

"Hey Babe, you still wanna sleep some, or you wanna come up here and keep me company." Tyler asks. As tired as you are his warm smile lures you to the the passenger seat and you climb over in the same manor the boys did. Tyler rests his hand on your leg as he drives.

About twenty minutes out, you hit heavy traffic from what appears to be an accident up ahead.

"Any ideas on what we could do to kill time while we're stuck in traffic." Tyler jokes, loud enough for Josh to hear. Josh groans half asleep in protest to Tyler's innuendo.

"Hey you wanna see some of the shots I've gotten so far." You ask Tyler, pulling out your camera bag from under the passenger seat.

"I'd love to babe, I bet they’re as amazing as you."

[survivenovascotia]

Episode 1 - I have no idea what I'm doing. - Eric

Everyone’s pretty active. Certain people know each other and I’m pretty much a newborn deer in the ORG community. Chrissa says “I’ve added pretty much everyone” as a contact but didn’t add me. So then I added a few people and no response or people added me back. Like my god I could go home for being a newbie. No hun.

I have no idea what I'm doing. It's honestly been so long I'm just trying to talk to everybody and get to know them. I don't remember when the time to start alliances are and other things and it's a whole mess but we are working with it!!

Russell deserves all the wins

So I think Austin and I may have started an alliance. He seems pretty nice and I believe that he wants to be loyal especially since it's only be 2 hours since the game started. I'm hoping tomorrow us two can find some other people to make a larger alliance. I get good vibes from Heather and Chips specifically. Chips I knew before I left the community a while back, and I know he has a lot of passion for ORGs which I think is very valuable in an ally. I also really like Heather because we are very similar people. We are both starting college, both just returned to ORGs. It just kind of felt meant to be. Obviously I have to listen to who Austin likes too. I think when I played orgs in the past, my errors were both not making the alliances soon enough, and also trying to control them. If I want to win, I have to play differently.

Im BACK. Imma make this quick. Welcome to Cast First Night Impression Vibes Coco~ Havent Spoken to him too much yet since it was 4AM when things came out for him. Seems sweet. Says he played on tengaged and zwooper. Stephen~ We played in the past. I think 2 games, one where I was completely against him and one where I tried to be on his side then everyone voted him out early. I think both were atomic games. He messaged me right away since he knew I took a long boi break which was nice. Gotta talk to him a bit more. Austin~ Seems pretty chill, we had convo about horror stuff and atm talking about Winners at War (I'm not gonna spoil anything. Don't yall worry) I can definitely see potentially working with him. Livingston~ Talked for a little bit. Shared a little bit of theatre stuff with each other since he does a lot of tech for his school where as I do onstage and offstage things. There is potential. Dylan~ We talked a bit. Im vibing. I hope he is too. talked more music tastes and all. POTENTIAL Eric~ Eric and I are one. We were talking and realized we are the same person and are the voices in each others head. I definitely want to work with him the most out of anyone so far. Splat/Evan~ Pretty chill tried talking to him. I feel a connection but like not like the biggest. I think things could definitely look up in the future tho Chips~ CHIIIIIIIPS. I love Chips. I didn't talk to him as much as I should have my previous game with him like 2 YEARS AGO. We talked a lot today and I think this game I can possibly work with him. Glo~ We played a big brother org together toward the beginning of my break, which was a rough time in my life and why I stick to survivor games. She messaged me and I messaged back, but I have yet to get another message from her yet. We will see in the morning. FOR IDOL SEARCHES: I checked an I am gonna write down the paths I take. I got a deadend this time.

GLO GLO is spilling the tea . I have only done live chat with DYLAN so far but OMG we connected and he reminded me of two players I loved and do to this day one for over 10 year the other for 5 years who are close to me to this day. Me and Dylan connected talked about life game laughed shared stories and somehow FINAL 2 has evolved and I am super happy about this.

Ok this is the most social I’ve ever been at the start of a game I called Gloria since we’re both I Love Money alumni & we hella bonded ??????? She’s so sweet 🥰🥺🥰🥺 we literally talked for two full hours on cast reveal day, wow. I would love to work with her far into this game, maybe even to the end 🤭 if we could do that Stephen is cool, I’d like to work with him. He’s loyal & smart & good at challenges so ✌🏻 Eric & I had a very interesting dynamic in middle earth, but I think we were able to smooth over that together Evan also seems really cool, I just met him but we’ve already switched friend codes so it’s getting pretty serious also glo was like ‘You better not betray me for a man you have a crush on’ and I was like uhhh I’m emotionally unavailable don’t worry glo you’re safe

I feel less stressed atm. Chatted to a couple people. Nothing major, no alliances made (or if add production to it). I hope I can continue manoeuvre my way to find a footing in this alliance otherwise I’ll be the first boot and be annoyed at myself. Just worried about past connections and my no connections.

Heyyy, first confessional of the season!! So the tribe seems pretty chill, no one i hate, a few i know. Dylan and Heather might be an issue if they hold grudges? But i doubt it. What I’m really looking for healre is a solid group of 4, I could see chips and heather being a part of that as they arent goats, but who knows. The idea is to group with people who will play and take the heat off me, instead of goats who might gang up on me at end game

Personally coming into this game as a new player, one of my biggest concerns were past relationships. So I talked with my secret alliance member Choo about who he has played with in the past, and he mentions Austin. After doing that, I ask Austin who he has played with in the past, and he tells me that he has never played with anyone before. Immediately I knew he was bullsh*tting. However, I really need to keep my mouth shut that Austin lied about this to me, but when the time comes, I'll be sure to expose his ass.

My strategy in this game is to create as many options for me to take as possible to get to the end. The way I'm doing that is by playing the "clueless 16 year old" card so that people see me as naive, when in reality, I'm probably just as ready to backstab, lie, cheat, steal just as much as any of these people are, if not more. So far it seems to be working and I sense that a lot of people feel as though they can trust me. But I will take the option that best suits me.

Immediately I was able to create a secret alliance with Coco, due to a mutual friend, being Evanw919. Evan is one of my best friends irl and was actually the person that introduced me to this game. After talking to Coco a lot, I feel as though he is someone I can trust, and I do intend to go as far as I can with him... unless it's in my best interest to take him out if necessary. I may intend on trusting him, but I don't intend to let friendships impact my decision making.

First day went great I feel ! Everyone is super nice so far and I hope we can win a few challenges together.  COCO IS HERE! I love coco and hope we can go far together already . I have trusted him before and it turned out really good for me.  Glo is a sweetheart and gotta love her. Livingston is nice and so is chips tho I feel they may need to go down the road.  Stephen and me have talked a lil in the community so I feel I can maybe trust him . I'm excited and nervous to be playing again but ready to go ! 

I like this cast and like the people on my tribe i hope they are not too annoyed hearing about my internet but they have to know what they might be dealing with obviously it only happens at certain times depending how many people are on the internet with rogers, so if i get voted out cause of it i won't be mad, but also i am hoping for a lockdown end sooner than later so we can switch providers. as John Coffey said it's a very bad time to be having these internet problems.

Okay! The season is officially on! Not much to report about yet but I want to make a confessional right now just in case I forget to do it later. Gotta avoid those strikes! So far all I know about my tribe is that John Coffey and I briefly played together in a previous game, though we weren’t ever on the same tribe, and Chrissa and I played together at some point though I can’t remember anything about when we did. I’m looking forward to the challenge and I hope we can crush it!

I have managed to talk to everyone on my tribe and I definitely feel good vibes from most apart from maybe Livingston who doesn't really seem interested in talking to me. What is interesting that Evan asked me if I had known anyone from previous game(s) and I told him I knew Austin and Livingston BUT Austin told him that he knew NONE. So now Evan doesn't trust him but trusts me. I really like  Evan,Eric, Heather, Austin and also Glo and Dylan. I'd like to work with them but mostly with Evan, Eric, Heather and Austin.

Right now what I'm trying to do is to get these people caught in a lie, but I intend to save the lie to expose them when the time is right. People say one of the worst mistakes you can make in survivor is playing too hard too fast. However, playing hard quickly can be gotten away with if you are sneaky about it and don't get caught. I'm trying to get these people to think I'm incompetent as they aren't even aware they are being manipulated

2ND Confessional OK so far my 2 favorites I have talked to are Dylan and if the truth is being told we are in 2 man alliance. @nd I have messaged with most is CoCo real name David. He said he is knew to orgs and is afraid of alliances happening which probably is true. Dylan and I both like CoCo so we are bring him in as our 3rd hopeful in a possible alliance. CoCo actually said he wanted to work with me so hopefully I have him and Dylan watching my back as I will them if they stay loyal but if they run their mouth goodbye quick if needed. So far I am happy with these two and have no idea what other two I hope to round up. Both Dylan and I agree about getting CoCo with us and hope it don't backfire with a new player to orgs.

I’ve chatted to Kevin and acted like I’m paranoid (I am a wee bit but I’m definitely adding spice) and he’s like “If I hear your name I’ll let you know” which is what I’m looking for. If I can play a ditzy “I’m just happy to be here!” act I think it’ll make the more strategic players come to me and make them act like I’m a pawn in their chess game. (I have good episode title material Yass). Also I’m gay.

I love music video challenges, but everyone seems to not like them so I am a bit nervous. I got closer to Coco and I love him!! I definitely wanna work with him and he said he feels comfortable with me Austin and Eric, which same so I right now feel good but its only been a day. I hope we get a good score, although we already know one person who would prefer to not be in it oof.

The idol hunt, love the idea. Me and Darcy are working together and telling each other where we went. My first way was a flop, not helpful. Darcy’s first route was T2, R, L, R, R and went out and my first route was shorter. I think if we keep going this way we’ll get to the idol soon. I told Darcy to go T2, R, L, R, L, L as I think that will bring us closer.

They voted Call Me Maybe. I want to die but I want to win more so HEY I JUST MET YOU

Have I confessed too much in the past few hours? Nah. So Coco and I are planning to work together and we seem to be on the same wavelength and he seems to trust me. He shared about his idol hunt and I think we are gonna try and map out together different tunnels. I mentioned how I dont think anyone would have the idol yet, but I could be wrong.  We also talked about hoping to get Austin and Eric in to potentially work together, which I am down for as long as we can get the numbers. I do think I have to feel out more before I do anything drastic as we LITERALLY HAVENT DONE A CHALLENGE YET. Any who, I think I am having a decent social game at the moment, but you know thats just my point of view. I hope no one hates me yet (thats for later). I wanna do a tribe call but Im lowkey nervous that chaos will ensue or it will be too quiet for some reason. I mainly want it to form more bonds with people, and possibly play a jackbox game of fibbage to see who the best liar is (it is a science).

Looking at my options for a four-man super-team power-rangers/voltron alliance, my instinct is to team up with Chips, Heather, and Dylan. While one benefit is I have some prior experience with each of these guys, the main reason is that each of these have made a consistent effort to talk to me and we have some form of rapport. Glo has also tried to talk to me but like, I know nothing about her? Its been hard to have a clear conversation. The others are fine, we’ll see how we go.

should i aim for chips-heather-dylan for a 4 alliance? or chips-heather-eric?? i know its early but this kind of alliance should be i think, at the same time though being pushy can lead to being seen as a threat... maybe i should wait to see if we loose immunity

The tea is that today Evan told me he had formed a secret alliance called "Florida" w Heather. I am okay w it because I trust both of them! We made an agreement that Evan would check tunnel 1, I would do 2 and Heather would check 3 for the idol. I hope I managed to put myself in a decent position. That's all for now I guess.

So last night we decided to pick Call Me Maybe as our song for the Lip Sync challenge which is iconic and the pretty people tribe will win!! Today was a little bit more lowkey. I spent a majority of the day finishing off my persuasive speech assignment. Towards the afternoon though, Heather talked to me about how we could work together in the game and I was REALLY glad for that. I was intending on talking to her anyway about starting an alliance with her. Earlier, Austin and I confirmed our strategical bond by making an alliance and talking about who we would want to join us. I said Heather and Austin said Coco. I really like both so I'm glad. Heather told me that she was told about the 4, so it's nice to see that everyone's on the same page. Hopefully we win the challenge, but at the moment I feel good about the group that's beginning to form.

My one fear in this challenge (aside from public humiliation) is that I think our songs a little basic and too over done? We’ll find out how the judges feel I guess

I don’t have much new to report other than Mac saying he wants to work with me in the game. So I’ve got that going. John’s a fantastic guy and I’d love to get something going with him too. That’s a far cry from a majority in this game but it’s a start. I’m hoping we can pull through and win this challenge so we don’t have to worry at all about going to tribal first. I’m not confident enough in my position in the game right now that I’d be able to survive a tribal.

Soooooo a alliance finally started with me eric , evan, heather,and coco which I'm 100% down for with the time being . I really like everyone tho so I hope we win this first challenge . Even tho I really hate music videos . I'm awkward and never know what to do . Hopefully my tribe can carry me by with this one .

Eric tells me about this 5 person alliance plan, with himself, Austin, Heather, Coco, and myself. What I tell him, is that I am completely comfortable going with his plan and that I feel blessed to be a part of the group. However, what Eric doesn't know, is that I was the one who initially created this plan. There's a core secret 3 person alliance here with Coco, Heather and myself, along with two semi-trustworthy guys in Eric and Austin. The best part about this, is that Eric and Austin have no idea that they are on the bottom of the alliance. In fact, they think they were the ones to instigate it.

So tis' 10:53 PM on a april 12th night and the alliance between myself, Heather, coco, austin and evan is official. Coco really wanted evan involved and honestly evan is really cool and kind of a mini-me so I'm fine with him being involved. Austin and Heather also like evan so everything's good. I hope we win the challenge because I like the whole tribe but the others haven't talked with me quite as much. Glo is nice but when she dms she, she explains herself like Im silently disproving of her which is weird because she can do whatever she wants idc she's a queen. Chips is nice and we talked the most out the other 4, but sometimes I don't understand what he's saying. I don't think that's a bad thing necessarily, but I just feel more comfortable around the other 4. Stephen and Dylan are nice as well and I think they are cool, but we just haven't really got to talk that much. I really hope we win the challenge because I don't want to vote anyone out but we will see.

Wow ok Im in an alliance. Me like that. I named us the prettier people because we call our tribe the pretty people tribe. I really like the people in it as it includes Austin, Eric, Evan and Coco. Evan wants to make Coco Evan and I the core 3 in the group, however, I feel closest to Coco and Eric as of right now. Lets hope we need to talk game more LATER since I want to win the challenge rather than vote someone off. Im hoping I can somehow get alliances with the Eric Austin side, making us a core 3, and the Coco Evan side making us a core 3.

Oop Stephen is trying to form a tight 3 person alliance, today is the rise of the game play

So i decided on forming an alliance of three instead, smaller but a bit less intimidating, and I let Heather choose the third for diplomacy, she chose austin who wouldnt be my first choice but still good. Hopefully this is a good first step.

Alliance 1: The Prettier People: Me, Coco, Austin, Eric, Evan Alliance 2: The Chatty Trio: Me, Austin, Stephen (Stephen mentioned sides with Livingston and Chips as well so Id say they are affiliations) Alliance 3: Unnamed as of right now and yet to form a chat: Me, Coco, Evan I guess Austin sees us working well together so Id say that's definitely a plus so woo This happened very quickly. It has been quite an Easter in Canada

Sunshine and myself had a nice long Skype call last night getting to know each other! Darcy was there for much of it as well but it was mainly Sunshine talking. It feels really good to build a bond early on and I’m hoping we can keep that up and work together in this game. Right now Jessie seems to be the least active person on the tribe. She doesn’t really speak much in tribe chat and I’ve only had a brief conversation with her in PMs.

WE WON! Call me maybe more like Call us the winners BABY WOOOOOOOOO

Hey so I just got off an almost hour long call with Glo... and she is terrifying!!! Seriously if it wasn’t for the fact I’m 80% sure I couldn’t do it I’d want her out first. HOWEVER We Won!!!!! party party. While early tribals can be good I feel like I’m doing well enough in the bonding not to need it.

WE WON WOOOO. I was so worried!! We can all live in peace for a day Bless Up

Russell deserves to win

Well we lost the first immunity challenge which is a huge hit to morale. My only goal for the next 24 hours is to just convince people to not write my name down. I don’t feel like I’ve bonded as much as I should have with some people but I think I can keep my name off the block. I’ve already spoken with Mac, Darcy and Kevin and they’ve all agreed to work with me. So that’s 4 of the 5 majority there. I had a long call with Sunshine last night so I think I can get him on my side as well. I should be okay. But things can change so quickly in this game. As for who I’d like to vote out. Jessie has been the least active in tribe chat. But Dan is who I’ve spoken with the least out of everyone. Kevin being on exile island makes this vote both easier and more difficult. There can’t be a rock draw. Someone is getting straight up voted out.

I asked the chat if anyone had animal crossing & Evan was like ‘chip does’ literally WHAT how close are y’all ?? Evan said this was his first ever ORG. Also he straight up asked me who I knew already & who was trustworthy. Like HUH. We played smash bro’s together tho after that so I think we’re chill Anyways, I like everyone on the tribe. Glo wants to form a threesome w us & Coco which I am down for. Heather & Eric both scare me 😟 I always get so paranoid at the start of orgs I’m So glad we won that challenge bc I would be so scared of going home 🥺🥺

in alliance with Dylan who stole that video and challenge we won. My power went out and neighborhood destroyed with storm all I could do was in house by window scene and was worried I wouldn't get anything submitted but I did get something in thank goodness but I sucked. I have talked to Stephen and have talked to Chips and like both of them. I like Coco also but time difference is killing us trying to chat live but we will make it happen. I am proud of Dylan in that video so much. I want to talk live with Austin cause I have a feeling I will like  him but time will tell. Glad did not have to vote anyone out and i was scared it might have been me. We only won by a point so that was close call for sure. I still try to message and reach people but getting some to talk live is hell. Only one I talk game with is Dylan and nothing heavy yet. lol

At the immunity challenge today, I believe I did a very good job staying in the middle in terms of how much work got done. I didn't do all the work, but I did enough so that I wouldn't get targeted for doing nothing

There's no denying that online survivor attempts to be fairly similar to how survivor is on T.V. However, there are still some very key differences between the two. One very important distinction is how much easier it is to get away with lying. This is because for one, they can't read your face, and two, the person lying has time to think about what they want to say before they say it. These two factors can make it much easier to lie compared to real life. Right now I'm lying to almost everyone except for Coco, who I feel would likely be a goat who I can take to the end. Don't get me wrong, I am ready to play this game very hard and do what it takes to win, regardless of if my tribe mates see that or not.

Gloria is lowkey weirding me out a little bit. Why does this old lady want to video chat with a 16 year old boy that she's never had a SINGLE conversation with? Why is she consistent continuing to ask about it? These are questions I do have, but in the game of survivor, sometimes you can't always know the answer. If I did ask, I could potentially find myself in hot water and cause bad vibes from her, so as of now I just need to keep declining her requests to video chat until I send her old ass home.

So coming into this game, I see Kevin and Darcy on my tribe, and I have a relatively okay history with them. However, Kevin is the only one that is really talking to me right now other than Sunshine. Sunshine is sooo TALKATIVE AND ANNOYING!!!!! OMFG HE WONT SHUT UP! However he is good in challenges, so he needs to stick around. honestly I have had no game talk with anyone as of yet, so I dont have much to write about.

Hey sis, not much has happened which is worrying. Me and Darcy haven’t found the idol which is annoying. I talked to a couple people about the vote and some hadn’t made their mind and I said Chrissa or Jessie as the vote. The lack of people talking is scary tbqh.

I hate losing cause judges are blind they are wrong anyway on a personal note if i am still in the game at this point my internet should be running better cause my mom finally gave in and called bell to switch. But i am gonna be real no one has messaged me so idk how safe i feel.

Me being able to get Chrissa out first vote. WOW COME ON NEWBIE! Snakes, they like to stay hidden. Blend in. If a person sees a snake slithering around hissing all the time, people will react negatively to the snake. But if the snake has been blending into it’s surroundings, the person wont realise. I don’t know if I’d call myself a villain or anti-hero. The reason why I want Chrissa out is because she has a bad social game and I want to keep around people who I’ve bonded with. (I swear I’m kind in real life!)

It’s certainly looking like the vote is going to be Chrissa tonight. I’m a little sad at that since she’s a genuinely wonderful person. Something about this game is just making me super depressed. Everyone’s been so nice and friendly. Everyone has put effort into the game. But Chrissa’s name was the first one thrown out and it’s just sticking. I can’t even think of another name to throw out instead. This game is going to be rough to play I think. Usually I’m not so invested in my other tribe mates but I would truly like for all of us to win this game.

[reviewdoctorwho]

Marco Polo- All the Splendor Telesnaps Can Display

This is one of my favorite First Doctor serials, which is saying something since none of it actually exists. For those of you who aren’t aware, back in the 60s and 70s the BBC (among other channels) wiped a metric ton of master videotapes from many TV series, Doctor Who included. Since the First and Second Doctors were filmed exclusively onto videotapes, it meant that every one of their master copies were destroyed forever. Over time people have found copies of episodes around the world, artifacts left over from old BBC foreign broadcasts. Some serials, such as this one, are completely missing, while some others are missing just one or a couple episodes. Even more interestingly, sometimes in missing episodes there will be a snippet of someone getting shot or a monster blowing up or some other violent acts, because all that survived were the pieces cut out of the broadcast in foreign markets due to censorship. As a result of this wiping, a huge percentage of the First and Second Doctor serials only exist in reconstructions made with the audio (every single episodes exists as audio even if the master tapes were dumped) and telesnaps, screenshots of the recording television screen kept for record keeping purposes. Thanks to the people who piece these together, we have a very thorough idea of what these episodes would have been like, but we are still missing out on the hard work put into our favorite show back in the day. Every Classic Whovian has a missing serial they’d love to see completed, and for me it’s this one (it used to be Enemy of the World, but they found that several years ago and it is literally as amazing as I could’ve ever hoped for).

Synopsis: Interestingly, this story is narrated by the titular Marco Polo as he writes his memoirs. He begins telling an interesting story about the strange group of people he met in 1289…

The Doctor and crew land in the snowy Pamir mountains, their TARDIS completely broken and shut down after escaping the craziness that was the previous serial. They begin to investigate their surroundings, trying to find a way to survive and avoid the Mongols they discover looming in the area. The Mongols track them down and are about to kill them, thinking they are evil spirits who have just materialized on the mountain, when Marco Polo arrives on scene and stops them. The crew join Polo’s caravan, which is headed to see the Kublai Khan, and the Doctor tells Polo about his “flying caravan” and how it needs to be repaired so they can leave. Our four heroes are introduced to Tegana, a Mongol warlord on a peace mission to see the Khan, and Ping-Cho, a young Chinese girl whom Polo is escorting to the Khan so she can be wed to a 75 year old dignitary. Tegana and Marco Polo begin creating their own plots to steal the TARDIS- Tegana so that he can use it to destroy the Khan, and Polo so that he can use it as a bargaining chip to earn his freedom from the Khan- as soon as the Doctor repairs it. Over the next several episodes, the caravan moves across the Gobi desert, with the TARDIS crew trying to figure out how to escape now that they know that Polo intends to take the ship for himself. Tegana’s attempts to steal the TARDIS get more cunning and more violent, but he manages to escape blame on merit of his (seemingly) faithful servitude to Polo and the Kublai Khan.

Eventually, the crew makes it to the Khan’s summer palace. The Doctor meets with Kublai Khan and they end up becoming friends, bonding over their old age and all the issues that come with it. They start playing backgammon, and the Doctor makes bank but then bets it all on the freedom of his TARDIS and loses. After some arguments over who the TARDIS should belong to, our four heroes are locked up yet again and only escape when Ping-Cho and Susan tell them about a plan they overheard in the palace, a plot created by Tegana to sneak into the throne room and kill everyone, including the Khan. The crew escape capture yet again, alert Marco Polo, and they all head into the throne room to find Tegana having killed many a dignitary but subdue him before he can kill the Khan. Tegana takes his own life rather than have it taken by the Khan’s men, and as a reward for saving the Khan The Doctor and his companions are given the key to the TARDIS and allowed their freedom. Things even work out well for Ping-Cho, who is freed from her dreaded arranged marriage to the 75 year old dignitary when he is found dead after drinking an elixir of life (mercury). She chooses to stay with the Khan’s court and enjoy freedom in splendor. As the TARDIS fades away, Polo is granted freedom to go home back to Venice.

Background Info: 

This is one of the hard-historical serials that were present in the first season (which was 50% historical and 50% hard science fiction since it was supposed to be an educational show)

This is the first serial to feature The Doctor interacting with a famous historical figure

First serial written by John Lucarotti. Lucarotti had worked with show creator Sidney Newman on several of his largest shows both in Canada and in England, and he contributed three serials to Doctor Who, all First Doctor stories.

A photo from this serial was the first ever Doctor Who cover photo on the magazine Radio Times. The show and Radio Times have a long-standing history of cover features, and this was the very first one to receive the treatment.

This was the second and final directorial credit for Waris Hussein on the show. He was the director for An Unearthly Child and had been supposed to direct half of all episodes of season 1 (of which there are 3 more serials after this), but left because he wanted to direct more plays.

Opinion: I love this serial. Yes, at times it does drag on (I mean, how many times can shady stuff happen and people literally bring you evidence that Tegana did it before you start thinking they may have a point?), but that’s what happens in these old 7-part serials. The shame with these telesnap reconstructions is that you can’t see what they actually looked like in action. The shots of the sets, especially with regards to the caravan, are so lavish looking. I imagine that if we had the actual episodes in full it may not look as opulent, but it is far and away one of the best set designs we’ll see for a long time. Every character is incredibly strongly written and I love the scenes between Ping-Cho and Susan as well as Ian and Tegana because the actors’ chemistry is so great that you can feel it without even having to see it. Phil Sandifer points out an interesting quirk about this episode, one that I loved without realizing that I loved it until I saw it pointed out in his review. The characters in this serial that we encounter throughout the entire thing are surprisingly diverse. Even currently on Doctor Who we tend to focus on one culture and/or race at a time. Typically, if the Doctor is getting involved with a group of people, they are often fairly homogenized. In this one, however, we get a western man, a Chinese woman (although the actress is actually Burmese, but still, yay not-yellowface!), and a myriad of Asian characters (sadly, these are almost entirely yellowface. Gotta love the 1960s) all interacting with each other as they trek across the desert. I just think that this story is fascinating because the hard-historical episodes are pretty rare, making up half of the serials in this season but then dropping rapidly until there were no hard-historical ones anymore by season 5. Out of all the ones I’ve seen so far, this one is the first where I could really get invested in the history without being bored to tears. John Lucarotti used the actual memoirs of Marco Polo to create his story, and it shows. I definitely wouldn’t want to show this as anyone’s first Classic Who serial or anything, but once you’re comfortable with the tone and format I’d recommend giving this one a watch. Or, more accurately a listen. It’s on YouTube if you’re interested!

Favorite Moment: Like I said, I enjoy the whole thing, but let’s just all gather ‘round and enjoy these lovely colorized photos from the set that shows you just how amazing this serial looks.

[lordofthebigtimesupernatural]

Aight aight, have you ever played the wii fit?? Because I can see Keith, shiro, and all the others playing on it. (Shiro gets perfect on all the games)

Wow, so this is majorly late. I’m sorry. I had to go on Hiatus and I am glad I did. I would have been way too stressed with school and then writing you guys terrible one shots to amazing asks :(. I have till Tuesday with finals and then I AM FREE and I can write more Single Dad Shiro AUs, because a lot of you sent in asks a while ago. Please don’t worry, I have every ask saved and am getting to them slowly. Hopefully when summer gets here I can do more! This made me laugh because I used to love Wii Fit but it’s been so long since I played it that I had to google some of the games. I do hope you enjoy and thanks for your patience!

Enjoy!

x.V.x

              “Mydaddy got me a new game.” Keith announced as he entered his home with hisfriends trailing behind him. Lance grumbled under his breath at Keith’sannouncement. So what if Daddy Shiro gotKeith a new game, I got a kitty. The kids each hung their backpacks on thehangers in the hallway and Shiro smiled at this while heading into the kitchento begin making necessary snacks.

              Keithled Hunk, Lance and Pidge into the living room where the TV and a Wii was setup. While Keith set the new game up into the game console, Hunk cuddled upbeside Hunk while continuously cooing at what a good girl she was. Red was inheaven with all the love and attention from Hunk and eventually from Pidge too.

              “What isit?” Lance asked as he flopped down on the couch.

              “WiiFit.” Keith said simply and didn’t even bother to take a seat on the couch.Lance frowned, sitting up slowly. WiiFit? Isn’t that a physical game? Lance was familiar with the video gamesthat didn’t require him to move his butt from the couch. Not that he wasn’t anactive boy. Lance was currently on the T-ball team with Keith and also stilldid his gymnastics too. So, when it came to video games, Lance didn’t to belazier than usual. After all, why shouldhe put in that much effort?

              “WiiFit? That sounds gross.” Thankfully, it was Pidge who spoke up. Keith poutedbut continued to turn the game on.

              “Daddysays I need to exercise some more and this is how we both work out together, ‘causegyms are yucky.” Keith almost shuddered as he remembered his one and only visitto a public gym. He and his daddy had entered the gym and had left in a recordtime of 37 seconds after entering the building. “It’s really fun, and we don’thave to go outside.” Keith nodded as he went through the menus just as Shiroentered the room with a few bowls of fruit and chips.

              “Oh.That’s good. The outdoors and I don’t get along too well.” Pidge answered asthey joined Keith and took a controller. Keith beamed to himself when Pidgejoined them.

              “Oh, youcan Hula-Hoop? And bike ride? Ooh is that an obstacle course?” Hunk askedexcitedly. He gave Red one last belly rub before jumping to join his friends.Keith smiled and handed Hunk another controller.

              Shiroset the snacks down on the coffee table but pulled the chips back when Lance reachedfor them.

              “Sorrybud, if you want chips you’re going to have play a game with us. Otherwisethere is plenty of fruit for you.” Shiro winked with a smile and Lance scowled.That wasn’t fair. How was a kid supposed to be mad at someone like Shiro whenShiro’s face literally was the definition of happiness? How was that even fair?

              Lancepouted to himself with arms crossed over his chest and he refused to move fromthe couch. With a small laugh, Shiro could only shrug before taking anothercontroller from Keith. Lance felt one of his eye brows rise. Shiro was playing too?

              “You’replaying?” Lance asked dubiously while Keith and Pidge argued over what to beginwith.

              Shirochuckled and began to lightly stretch out his arms and legs. “Of course. WiiFit is fitness time for everyone. Including me.” Shiro explained causing Lanceto frown. Even Shiro was going to exercise, not Lance would literally be theonly one out.

              “Daddysays I don’t get out enough, so we do Wii Fit at least 3 or 4 times a week so Ican stay in shape.” Keith said with a nod when he and Pidge finally settled onwhat looked like a Hula Hoop game. Lance’s interest peeked. Hula Hoop? I thought we’d be running?Lance figured he could do Hula Hoop, who knows maybe he’d even win? Quickly,before Keith could start the game, Lance snatched up the last remote and addedin his player. From the corner of his eyes he could see Shiro grinning at him.

              “May thebest player win! You all will be great.” Shiro said encouraging andsurprisingly he earned a soft scowl from Keith.

              “Don’tfall for his tricks.”

              Everyonewas confused by this but no one spoke up about their confusion. Instead theyfocused with new determination as the game began.

x.V.x

              “Whydidn’t you say that your daddy was a freaking genius Wii Fit player?” Pidgedemanded hotly after losing yet anotherround in Wii Fit by none other than Takashi Shirogane. Shiro pretended toignore the children and coughed in order to hide his laughter. He felt a littlebad at always winning but he couldn’t help it, even when Shiro was trying tolose he always somehow managed to get back into first.

              “I triedto warn you.” Keith hissed back with a frown. “Daddy is wicked good at this.You can’t fall for his smiles and nicety because he will kick your butt.” Keithpointedly looked at Lance this time who squawked in protest.

              “So nowwhat? There’s gotta be something that he isn’t good at!” Pidge rubbed theirchin thoughtfully. Hunk beamed at he ate a slice of watermelon, while Shirowiped away some of the juice.

              “Idunno.” Keith eyed his daddy skeptically, as Shiro pretended to not hear them. “I’venever seen him lose before.”

              “He’sgotta be bad at something!!” Lance cried out dramatically and Keith sighed. Ifhis daddy was bad at something then they hadn’t found it yet. Because so farhis daddy had been the victor at: Cycling, Hula Hoop, Parachuting, running,Obstacle courses, running and even Karate. There had to be something he couldn’t do.

x.V.x

              “Whatthe – how can someone be good at Segways?”

              “It’s agift?”

              “Daddy,don’t. You’re making it worse.”

              “I’msorry kiddo.”

              “Segways.Segways.”

              “Yes, weheard you the first thirty times Lance.’

x.V.x

              “…”

              “Don’teven say it.”

              “…”

              “Daddy,I am warning you.”

              “…”

              “Daddy…”            

              “I suredanced my way to victory, didn’t I?”

              “I’m sodisappointed in you.”

x.V.x

                            “He was blindfolded.”

              “Maybehe was cheating?”

              “Hey!”

              “Mydaddy would never cheat.”

              “Thankyou son.”

              “His visionsucks too much to see through cloth anyway.”

              “I re-trackmy thank you. How dare you?”

x.V.x

              “Youwere a skater boy.”

              “Pleasedon’t Daddy Shiro.”

              “I saidsee ya later boy.”

              “…”

              “Lancewill be back. He just needs to take a break in the kitchen. Screaming is normaltoo. Don’t worry Dad Shiro.”

              “Daddyif you sing another song about skating, you are forbidden from playing again.”

              “…Yesson.”

x.V.x

              “Daddy,why would you make Hunk cry?”

              “I-I’msorry. I swear I put the controller down! I-I didn’t even touch it.”

              “Howcould you daddy? Shame on you.”

              “Please,no. Forgive me. Please.”

              “It’stoo late.”

              “Noooooo!”

x.V.x

              “Daddy.The tv almost broke.”

              “I havea mean swing?”

              “That’sno excuse to let go of your Wii Remote. They have straps for a reason.”

              “I’msorry.”

              “Iexpected this of Lance. Not you.”

              “He’sright.”

              “Thankyou Lance.”

x.V.x

              “Ha! Ha!Ha! We beat you! We finally beat you!” Keith cried out in excitement as hisfriends and he finally started cheering loudly. Shiro smiled fondly at the restof them as they jumped up and down and hugged one another. It was as if theyhad won the lottery or a trip to a vacation spot. Though to kids, this might beeven better than winning the lottery.

              They hadfinally beaten Shiro.

              At a balancinggame to get balls through the correct holes.

              Lance, Hunkand Pidge had all abandoned their controllers in order to keep Keith’s steadyand help out their friend. Making it 4 on 1 but Shiro couldn’t argue at all. Itwas far too adorable and admittedly he was too busy taking pictures thanfocusing on balancing his own ball. He would accept this loss with happinessand grace, because these kids were just too cute.

              In theend, the kids had been victorious for once and it made up for the running tallyof wins to losses.

              Shiro:67. Kids: 1.