#i was nice to the air force academy lady because she was hot and i wanted her

[be-the-glenn-to-my-maggie]

I keep making Top Gun jokes to the military reps that I have to coordinate with for the high school I work at, and they Do Not find it funny At All.

[helaintoloki]

Could you do a Five Hargreeves x reader fanfic where the reader and Five are mean to each other because they like each other. The night that Hazel and Cha Cha invade the Hargreeves mansion,the reader distracts Hazel from kidnapping Klaus and ends up getting kidnapped. Then Five saves the reader and they kiss. Thx

a/n: kinda changed it up a bit here for plot convenience but nonetheless I hope you enjoy!

warnings: language, five being a little sh*t as usual, brief mention of claustrophobia

Well, this certainly wasn’t how you expected your night to end, but you couldn’t exactly say you were surprised considering the complete chaos you’d managed to throw yourself into. Want a little word of advice? Stay far away from the Hargreeves siblings, you’re better off.

“Where’s Number Five?” Your female captor interrogates. They’ve had you as their hostage for about an hour but still hadn’t managed to extract any information from you. It was frustrating, being bested by a stubborn little girl, but Hazel and Cha Cha weren’t about to give up just yet.

“Kiss my ass lady, I’m not telling you shit,” you retort, and for good measure you make sure to spit in her face. It isn’t very ladylike of you but it riles her up and gets the job done.

“Oh, you little-“ she begins to say only to be held back by her counterpart.

“I don’t know about this, partner,” he confesses uneasily. “She’s a kid.”

“And so is Number Five. Are you forgetting we have a job to do?!”

“Look, maybe we should take a breather. Get some donuts, have some coffee, figure out the next move before we do anything irrational. There are gonna be people hot on our trail if we kill a kid.”

Cha Cha stares at Hazel for a long while before finally letting out a sigh, the tension releasing from her shoulders as she looks to you. You’re tied up and helpless with no one coming to save you; those freaks at the academy are probably too mixed up to even notice you’re gone. It’ll be fine.

“Alright,” she resigns, but not before harshly grabbing the back of your chair and nearly throwing you into the closet. “If you try to pull anything funny I’ll kill you.”

“I look forward to it,” you reply sarcastically, a small grunt of annoyance leaving you as she slaps a strip of duct tape over your mouth to keep you quiet. Your words are muffled, but you still make sure to call her every name under the sun as she locks you away in the dark and leaves the motel room with her partner.

A small huff of air leaves your nose as you shut your eyes and try to remain calm despite how extremely claustrophobic you feel trapped in that tiny closet. Perhaps you should have listened the first time Diego tried to shoo you away from him, then you wouldn’t be in this mess.

You’d met the Kraken about a year ago at the boxing ring he’d been working at when he’d caught you trying to steal from the locker rooms. Normally he would have turned you over to the cops and made you their problem, but after seeing how dirty and hungry you were he took you down to his room in the basement where he promptly fed you and forced you to tell him your business. You were an orphan who’d ran off from a shitty foster family, and with no money or family you’d resorted to pickpocketing to sustain yourself. You were granted one night of refuge under his roof and one night only, but then one night turned into one week which then became one month, and now a year later you still found yourself following him around wherever he went. No matter how much he tried to shoo you off or insist you return to the orphanage you stayed, and soon Diego found himself stuck with a new though unwanted companion.

You stayed out of each other’s way for the most part, and sometimes when he was in a good mood he’d help you train in case there was ever a time he wouldn’t be there to protect you and you’d have to fend for yourself. You kinda grew on him after a while, and though he could be a hard ass sometimes he really cared about you. Unlike his relationship with his other siblings, the bond you two had created was relatively healthy and stable. But then the looming threat of an apocalypse came along and suddenly the somewhat quiet life you’d been living for the past year or so had been turned upside down as you became acquainted with his younger— or is it older? You’re still not quite sure— brother.

Five didn’t like you, that much was clear from the get go. He thought you were a nuisance and a distraction and your involvement would only hinder his family’s efforts to save the world. You, on the other hand, found him to be obnoxiously snobby and unbearable to be around, and the fact that he was a trained assassin didn’t impress you in the slightest. You could never be in the same room for more than five minutes without arguing or insulting each other, and now you couldn’t help but feel infuriated with the fact that it was his fault you were in this mess. They were looking for him, after all, and they came to the academy to find him, and instead they’d managed to nab you to get information on his whereabouts— Klaus owed you big time for that one, by the way.

It feels like you’ve been stuck in that closet for hours when the door slams open, though it isn’t Hazel and Cha Cha that greet you on the other side. Five stands before you, annoyed and impatient as he drags you out of the closet and yanks the piece of duct tape off your mouth in one fluid motion.

“Ow!” You cry out in pain, your skin stinging from the sensation as you glare up at Five. “A little warning would have been nice.”

“No time,” he offers before getting to work on untying you. “I can’t believe you were stupid enough to get caught. Once again you’ve proven my theory that you’re just a hinderance to my plans.”

“You know, I think you should see a doctor about the stick you have up your ass. Could be serious,” you quip back sarcastically. You let out a breath of relief when the ropes fall from your limbs and onto the floor allowing you the chance to stand up and stretch after the uncomfortable position you’ve been sat in all night.

“Just stay out of my way,” Five says firmly.

“God, what is it with you?! You’ve been nothing but an asshole ever since you got here! I’m only mean to you because you’re mean to me, you know,” you retort agitatedly. “I don’t understand you or why you’re so cold but would it kill you to be nice for once in your life?”

“You don’t know anything about me, about the things I’ve seen,” he seethes, getting up and close and personal as you stare each other down face to face. “You wouldn’t even be able to comprehend it!”

“Maybe I could if you’d let me try instead of shutting me out all the time! I’m not the enemy here, Five. I want to help-“

“The last time you helped it got you killed!” He finally blurts, shoulders heaving from the ragged breaths he has to take in order to soothe himself. Your brows furrow softly in response to his sudden outburst, and you find yourself taking a step back from the boy.

“What are you talking about?”

“When I landed in the future it wasn’t just my dead siblings I saw lying there, but you, too... You tried to help them and it got you killed, and I’m trying to stop you from making the same mistake but you’re too god damn stubborn to realize it.”

“Well why the hell didn’t you just lead with that!” You exclaim exasperatedly. “I die?!”

“I bet you’re starting to regret ever meeting my idiot brother, aren’t you?”

“I started regretting things the moment I met you,” you reply with wry smile, one that Five can’t help but return. You’re pretty alright, he decides. But that doesn’t mean he likes you, so don’t get any ideas. You’re not enemies but you’re not friends, at least not yet.

“Come on, we’ve got to go before Hazel and Cha Cha realize you’re missing.”

“Yeah, she did mention something about killing me if I tried to pull anything,” you note with a shrug.

“I’m not going to let that happen,” Five replies gently, and his eyes are the most sincere you’ve ever seen them since meeting him.

“Hey, Five, I’m sorry for any trouble I’ve caused you...” you say meekly, your face heating up slightly with embarrassment. You’re not really used to apologizing.

“Don’t mention it,” he replies with a barely visible smile. “I’m sorry, too.”

He takes your hand in his own before jumping you both back to the academy, and though there’s an impending apocalypse Five feels hopeful for the first time since his return. You’re going to be alright, he knows it, and things are going to work out just fine.

[robinrunsfiction]

It’s A Love Story - Part 1

(YN) was sitting at the kitchen table working on her algebra homework when the music that had been coming from the garage for hours finally stopped. A few minutes later five sweaty teenage boys burst through the door.

"You guys are finally starting to sound good," she complimented, albeit slightly sarcastically.

"Thanks kid," Gerard said, ruffling her hair with his sweaty hand.

"Ew get off me," she whined, swatting at him. "And don't call me that."

"Gerard, don't pick on your sister," their mom said, walking into the kitchen. “Ray, Frankie, Bob, would you boys like to stay for dinner?”

“I told my mom I’d be home for dinner tonight, thanks anyway. I’ll see you guys at school tomorrow,” Ray answered with a wave before heading for the door.

"He's my ride," Bob mumbled, following him out.

“Frankie?”

“I’d love to, Mrs. Way,” Frank replied overly sweetly. Gerard and Mikey rolled their eyes as (YN) tried to stifle a giggle.

Frank had been in the same kindergarten class as (YN) and Mikey, and they quickly became friends. They all grew up together, playing in imaginary worlds with Mikey and (YN)'s older brother Gerard and his friend Ray. Even though she was the only girl in their group, (YN) was never made to feel like the odd one out or forced to play the damsel in distress.

Eventually playing make believe gave way to only slightly more realistic pursuits when the boys started their band. Having absolutely no desire to be on stage, (YN) turned her attention toward her interest in fashion and design. She spent hours sketching haute couture gowns and jewelry she could only dream of one day making and wearing.

"Hey Frank, did you start the algebra homework yet?" (YN) asked as the family, plus Frank, sat down at the dinner table.

"Yea I got it done in study hall, do you need help?"

"Yea, I'm stuck on a few on problems."

"It's only the second week of school, you're not falling behind already are you?" Her mom asked.

"No," (YN) mumbled, turning her attention toward her plate, pushing the food around with her fork.

"Are things alright? You've seemed out of sorts when you got home the last few days.”

(YN) looked toward her brothers, who tried to avoid her eye. "It's nothing," she mumbled.

Luckily the boys started talking about the band, and (YN) was relieved to have the attention pulled off of her. Ironically, that seemed to be the theme of her sophomore year.

~

The trouble began the week before the new school year began. Her friend Christine lived in a massive house with a beautiful pool and backyard, so she had invited a ton of kids from school over for an end of the summer pool party. The event was such a big deal, there were even upperclassmen besides her older brother attending.

(YN) found a lounge chair to relax in while she waited for more of her friends to arrive. She pulled off her t-shirt and draped it neatly over the back of the chair and when she turned back around she noticed a few guys looking her way, but she didn't pay them much mind. She had just settled in, eyes closed, when a shadow blocked out the sun

"Hey (YN)," she heard someone say.

"Oh, hey Adam, what's up?" She said when she opened her eyes. Adam was in Gerard's grade, and he hadn't really talked to her much before, especially if it meant having to go out of his way to do so.

"Nothin much. You're gonna be a sophomore next year right?"

"Umm, yea."

"That's cool,” he nodded. “Getting your driver's license soon?"

"Yea, me and Mikey both got our tests scheduled on September 12th, right after our birthday," she grinned.

"Nice, so you're gonna be running wild all over town?"

(YN) burst out laughing at the absurdity of the question. "I doubt it, I'm not the wild type."

"Aw, come on, I bet you could be if you tried," he laughed, leaning down so he was looking in her eyes. "I was wondering, have you ever-"

"Lazzara!" Gerard shouted, cutting him off. Both (YN) and Adam looked over at Gerard who had a strange expression on his face. She wasn’t sure what the look was exactly, but (YN) was certain she’d never seen him like that before and it was a little scary 

"I'll be right back," Adam said with a sly smile and a wink before walking off. 

It took a while, but eventually (YN) was certain that Adam was not coming back. In fact she didn't see him at the party at all after that. However she really didn't mind, because shortly after Adam disappeared Frank arrived and sat down on the lounge chair next to her.

"Sup? Soda?" He said, offering her a can.

"Ooh, yes please," she nodded, taking the beverage from him.

"Hey (YN), did you bring sunscreen?" Mikey asked, seeming to appear out of thin air behind them.

"No, and that reminds me I forgot to put any on too. I hope I don't burn," she grimaced, exchanging looks with Frank and her brother.

"You should cover up then," Mikey said, holding out her shirt that she had left on the back of the chair.

"Oh right," she agreed, a little confused at the level of concern Mikey was taking regarding her skin health as she pulled the shirt over her bikini top. "I bet if you ask Christine, she probably has some sunscreen we could use."

"Yea maybe," Mikey said, draping a towel over her bare legs.

"Stop it," she said, kicking the towel off. "Why are you being so weird?"

"I'm helping," Mikey replied.

"Go away," she snapped, throwing the towel at him. Mikey retaliated by draping the towel over her head and when she pulled it off, he was gone.

"So annoying," she grumbled.

"If we find some sunscreen, I could help you put it on, if you want," Frank offered. "You wouldn't wanna burn."

She couldn't help but blush at the idea of Frank putting his hands all over her back and arms and... "Thanks, umm, maybe," she laughed nervously before quickly changing the subject.

(YN) spent the rest of the afternoon talking to Frank, but she couldn’t help but feel like she was being watched. Whether it was one of her brothers hovering obnoxiously close, or other guys at the party staring at her unabashedly, she had to wonder what the hell was going on.

~

The school year started as usual, but the same feeling of being watched overwhelmed (YN) as she walked down the halls of Our Lady of Sorrows Academy. At first it felt like she was being sized up like a piece of meat and the guys who were looking her up and down were hungry dogs. But as the week progressed, it was as if they couldn't avert their eyes away from her fast enough. When she tried to strike up a conversation with any guy other than her brothers, Frank, or Ray, they were abrupt and cold toward her.

"Can I tell you guys something that’s probably gonna sound crazy?” (YN) asked as she sat down in study hall with her friends Christine and Marie.

“Of course,” Christine nodded, leaning in.

“I know I’m not like hot or popular to begin with, but I feel like almost every guy in school is avoiding me."

Christine and Marie exchanged glances. "Umm, so you haven't heard?" Marie asked.

"Heard what?"

"Well first of all, I don’t think you’ve looked in the mirror recently because sweetie, the summer was very kind to you. You're totally hot, and that’s the problem,” Christine replied. 

“Hot? I'm not even doing anything different,” (YN) mumbled, feeling herself blush as she pulled the cardigan of her uniform around herself more tightly. “And what do you mean, that’s the problem?”

“I heard that Gerard told Adam that if he so much as looks at you, he’ll put a hit out on him. I guess word has gotten around to all the guys in school,” Christine shrugged.

"Are you kidding me?!" (YN) blurted out and the other kids in the quiet study hall looked over at her.

"Miss Way, do you have a problem?" Mrs. Simon, the teacher supervising the study hall, asked from her spot at the front of the room.

"Nope! I, umm, am just surprised at the answer to this equation. I really love chemistry," she lied, trying to cover up for her outburst.

"What are you gonna do?" Marie whispered when everyone in the room turned their attention back to their own work.

"Nothing," (YN) shrugged.

"Wait, really?" Christine asked, totally surprised.

"Yea, because the guy I like is one of the few that won't be intimidated by Mikey or Gee."

"Who?!" Marie asked excitedly.

"I'm not telling anyone, because if it gets out, my brothers will lose it."

"Oooh, star crossed lovers," Marie grinned.

"Hardly," (YN) replied. "I doubt he even likes me like that."

~

"So you're coming to our birthday party, right?" (YN) asked as she and Frank sat at the kitchen table after dinner that night. The algebra homework was mostly finished, but forgotten for the moment.

"Have I ever missed it?"

"No," she rolled her eyes, but smiled. She knew she could always rely on Frank to show up for their birthday.

“Are you gonna make a super big deal out of it because it’s your sweet sixteen?” His tone was a little teasing.

“Oh yea, if I don't get a brand new BMW, I’m gonna throw a tantrum," she deadpanned.

“So you’re finally gonna start acting like a true OLS Academy girl?”

“Ugh, hell no,” (YN) groaned, rolling her eyes again. "There's a reason why Christine and Marie are my only girl friends."

"And it’s not because you spend all the rest of your time hanging out with us nerds?" He smirked.

"You nerds have always been my favorite people to hang out with. You're more interesting than 99% of that school."

"All of us, or just me?" He trailed off, suddenly becoming very interested in the pencil in hand.

"Yea, you're like in first place, then Christine and Marie, then Ray, Mikey, and Gee, then everyone else in the world."

"Damn, that's a lot of people to be ahead of," he replied with a goofy smile.

"Well you're really cool and always nice to me so yea," (YN) blushed.Silence hung between them, and for a moment she thought he was about to reach over and take her hand.

"Umm... (YN), ya know I’ve always-"

"How's the homework?" Gerard asked, bursting through the door from his basement bedroom.

"It'd be easier if you weren't always barging in," (YN) snapped. She hoped the blush on her cheeks wasn’t too noticeable.

"Don't do your homework in the kitchen then," Gerard shrugged.

"It's where the snacks are," she whined, but then a thought struck her like a bolt of lightning. "But I guess that’s fine, Frank will just have to go up to my room where we can shut the door and work in peace and quiet."

"I'll tell mom," Gerard replied.

"Tell her what? That you're annoying and distracting me, her long suffering youngest child, her poor, only daughter, from her studies?"

“Yea I’m the annoying one,” Gerard muttered before grabbing a soda from the fridge and retreating back downstairs.

“I should probably get going, it’s getting late,” Frank said, stretching his arms overhead. His shirt pulled up to show just a sliver of skin under the hem and (YN) couldn’t help but stare.

“Yea, umm, thanks for staying late and helping me,” (YN) said, getting up to walk him to the door.

“Just say the word and I’ll be here,” he smiled.

(YN) nodded, wanting to ask him what he was gonna say before Gerard interrupted him, but couldn’t find the courage to do so. “I’ll see you tomorrow then,” she smiled, holding out her arms for a hug.

Frank smiled back and wrapped his arms around her. She worried for a moment that she was holding on too long, but he wasn’t in any hurry to pull back either. When they finally did part, he waved before heading out into the cool New Jersey evening. (YN) shut the door behind him, and leaned against it with a dreamy sigh, the lingering feeling of his arms around her would be wonderful to fall asleep to that night.

Part 2

[thebad---catholic]

My problems with AOS

Well here I am, 10 years late with an opinion no one asked for, but I have to write this down and throw into the void so that I can be at peace. I’ve been salty about this film franchise for a very long time now. This will mostly focus on Star Trek (2009) with the other two movies sprinkled in.

1. Starfleet

Honestly where do I even begin? In TOS, Starfleet was modeled after the navy (idk how accurately, but Roddenberry was in the air force so I’m assuming he’d know how all that works). You can get a feel for the chain of command, and everything feels natural with character ages and things like that. There’s a procedure for everything.

AOS Starfleet feels more like a high school club than an interplanetary exploration organization. Jim is supposed to be twenty-five when he gets the rank of captain- after he was almost expelled for cheating. He has no idea how to operate or run a starship. TOS Kirk moved through the ranks of Starfleet and was promoted on merit and leadership skills- he worked for his position.

Why was Jim the only person who knew what was happening when Nero showed up? Was there any requirements to joining to Starfleet other than get on the shuttle? Why did the linguist not know the difference between Vulcan and Romulan when they’re the linguist? How did Pike bypass the chain of command to appoint Jim Kirk as First Officer which was an obvious show of favoritism to someone was about to be thrown out of the academy? Why the fuck was he allowed to keep the title of captain? What the fuck?

Speaking of Jim.

2. Jim Kirk’s Character

I...don’t like Jim’s character in this film. It’s not terrible for a younger version of Kirk, but like I said though, there’s no reason Kirk should be this young. And in this one he’s just kinda a douche.

We know from TOS that Kirk gets around, but he genuinely cares for his exes, and in general respects women. He uses sex appeal as a strategy, but more than anything this comes off as a subversion of the femme fatal trope bc Kirk is a man. In the movie, he’s just a standard action movie protag who has lots of sex just because.

The scene when the Orion woman says she loves him and he replied “that’s so weird” is just...so weird? Like I can’t imagine Kirk doing anything in that situation than backing off and explaining that he doesn’t feel the same way. The scene continues with him hiding under the bed when Uhura walks in. Watching how the camera angle makes Jim out to be a voyeur made me uncomfortable then and it still does. It could be explained that Jim is trying to figure out Uhura’s identity or that he’s listening in and people look at who they’re listening to but like...she was in her underwear. You shouldn’t look at people while they’re getting undressed, especially when they don’t even know you’re there? Is that a hot take? Apparently.

In TOS there’s this really nice scene in This Side of Paradise(S1E24) where the whole crew is high (again) and has abandoned ship, leaving Kirk to tend to things. We see Jim move around the ship with a little clip pad and make the proper checks. This is a captain who knows his stuff. That is the Kirk we should have seen if we’re going to see Jim become captain.

AOS kirk goes through a standard “stop being an asshole” arc commonplace for male protagonists, but this happens well past the point he should stop being an asshole. Either the AOS series should’ve been a prequel with Jim becoming captain at the end of the trilogy, or he should’ve been older with a completely different arc- maybe coming to terms with his rank? Imposter syndrome? Learning to trust his crew and building trust with them? Building a friendship with Spock and McCoy? There’s a lot to work with here.

3. Spock and Uhura’s relationship

Why. Like why. For what. Por Que.

I like giving Uhura a bigger role, I don’t like making her a love interest to do that.

It doesn’t make sense for either of their characters. Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, linguist expert who handles all transmissions to and from the enterprise- an icon of black women’s representation is now demoted to Spock’s nagging girlfriend. This bothers me more than a little bit.

It manages to make even less sense for Spock. A hallmark of Spock’s character is his duality. He struggles to combat his emotions and the human half of him. His repeating character arc in TOS is coming to terms with humanity while upholding the Vulcan way of life. Having him in an established romantic relationship before this arc is supposed to happen just makes for a boring romantic subplot about a relationship that shouldn’t happen and that I don’t care about.

TOS Vulcan culture is kinda shitty. Explicitly patriarchal and stuff, and also kinda racist against humans. The source of Spock’s inner conflict is not himself but a society that views him as lesser for being half human. However, one thing that I can certainly understand from a “logical” (logic in quotations bc racism and sexism is fucking stupid) people is ritualized arranged marriages. It just...makes sense to me that Vulcans would simply have their mates chosen for them and then marry that person and be done with it. Neat. Logical. Conformity.

This makes Spock and Uhura’s relationship even stranger. Why would Spock go so against conformity that he dates someone before he truly comes to terms with himself? Even if they throw out ponfarr and arranged marriage, it still doesn’t work but now it especially doesn’t work.

My personal theory is that Spock and Uhura’s relationship was established purely to make shippers shut up. It’s no secret Spirk is the most popular ship from TOS. I have no doubt they knew this while writing the movie. So to quietly wrap a no homo on Spock and Kirk’s friendship, they use Uhura as a prop to do so.

The teacher/student dynamic should only be relegated to fan fiction and the throwaway line about oral sensitivity makes me cringe. Every. Time.

4. McCoy

Karl Urbans performance is easily my favorite part of this movie. He captures DeForrest Kelley so well it hurts. He made Leonard Nimoy cry. His chemistry with Pine made McKirk go from the most underrated triumvirate ship in TOS to rival Spirks popularity in AOS. His scenes with Zachary Quinto are just *chefs kiss*.

So why doesn’t he have more of a role? The triumvirate is missing a third.

In particular, there’s a scene where Uhura, Kirk, and Spock make their way down to a planet to talk to a Klingon. I can’t remember which movie it was or why, but Spock and Uhura were bickering and Kirk remarks “can we do this later?”

The line was funny. It would’ve been golden if it was McCoy and not Uhura.

A fantastic performance by an underutilized character in a movie where that character should’ve been at the forefront.

5. Representation

I am skeptical of any movie that advertises diversity. Nonetheless, it made me happy to know Sulu was going to be gay. This is Star Trek after all, known for its diversity and large LGBT fan base, and an homage to George Takai who’s a gay man irl. So whatever.

The fact that I wasn’t expecting much says a lot about the current state of LGBT rep in media but this blink-and-you-miss-it shit is really starting to get to me.

I mean he jus- he doesn’t even give his husband a KISS. Like why.

6. Destroying Vulcan

WHY. Oh god why.

This isn’t Star Wars, JJ. We don’t do that here.

Imploding Vulcan was the most god awful shock value bullshit plot device I’ve ever seen in a movie and it was done entirely to make Spock sad. Besides the gaping plot hole of “why did Nero go back in time to destroy Vulcan when he could’ve just saved Romulus” I’m just grasping to find a purpose for this particular event. New fans don’t care at all about Vulcan while I was enraged that they would do Amanda that dirty.

It’s not just that they did that, it’s more that they did it like that. Vulcan’s destruction should’ve caused a federation wide meltdown as the biggest catastrophe in the entire franchise. If they were gonna make the stakes so pointlessly high, they should’ve treated the destruction of Vulcan exactly how they would treat the destruction of earth. There a million ways to treat that event with more gravity and million better plot lines that don’t involve G E N O C I D E

7. Miscellaneous petty bullshit because I’m a baby

-lower the fucking stakes Jesus Christ

-Don’t like the set. It’s bright and white and boring and gives me a headache. You don’t need a remake of the old set but like have fun ya know? Shit looks like an Apple store.

-Christine and I are the same in that we are both soft and are thirsty for Spock. Imagine my surprise to learn she wasn’t fucking there. Same with Janice but I’m more pressed about Christine. I don’t even remember the name of that blonde doctor lady who is Not Christine but i didn’t want her.

-The costumes in AOS look boring but still don’t feel like a uniform either. I deadass think Chris Pines outfit in the SNL skit looked better than the actual movie (minor adjustments needed)

-I didn’t notice this at first but someone pointed out that women’s uniforms don’t signify rank and now I can’t not see it. I don’t...think this movie treats women good? Or McCoy? Or just people who deserve better?

-Lens Flare

-I get why they did it but I don’t like that they misquoted the opening theme to say “no one” instead of “no man”. I probably wouldn’t have even notice except they gave the line to Uhura. Comes off as just a touch too “yay feminism” which is really rich coming from that treated Uhura like an object to be looked at when she wasn’t too busy being Spock’s emotional support gf, and completely cut two women from the main cast.

8. Conclusions

If I could describe these movies in one word it’d be generic. Which sucks because Star Trek far from generic.

They’re fun to watch but not think about. It was nice that I got to see a Star Trek movie in theaters. I just wish it as the same Trek I saw on TV.

[weirdthoughtsandideas]

I know a Glee Asoue AU would be cursed but I am curious... if YOU could imagine one, how would it be?

Oh, the things I do for you anons... 

Rachel would be Violet

Kurt would be Klaus

I was first thinking Santana being Sunny, since the New York trio was iconic, but I think Brittany would be the best choice here.

Alright now, under the cut is what I think would happen through all the 13 books...

The Bad Beginning: I can’t decide if they would be triplets or just adopted siblings, but anyways, Rachel, Kurt and Brittany are all around the same age and they are chilling on the beach when suddenly Mrs. Hagberg (you know that teacher from Mckinley who teached a bunch of random classes and who Will took over as a history teacher from) comes to them like “your parents died in a terrible fire”. They must now go live with Sue Sylvester, a mean woman who makes them do chores and tedious tasks. She is also after their enormous fortune who their parents left behind and will be theirs when they come of age. She won’t be as cruel as Olaf, instead she just tries to get their fortunte by blackmailing the bankers and the authorities. But they caught her and the kids are sent away.

The Reptile Room: The kids are sent to Will Schuester, but he prefers to be called Mr. Schue or Will. He likes to sing and dance, and also has a bunch of reptiles for some reason! Brittany instantly befriends all the reptiles while Rachel and Kurt sing all the show tunes they can think of. But then!! Sue Sylvester shows up as a “inspector of reptiles” and calls Will out for breaking safety laws for both reptiles AND children. The kids are like “it’s Sue in a disguise, don’t trust her!” and Will tries to fix everything, but eventually loses and the authorities take the kids and reptiles away from him.

The Wide Window: The kids are sent to Emma Pillsbury, who is very afraid of germs. She is somehow okay with living in a pretty fucking dangerous house, as long as it is spot clean. That’s why she always makes the kids clean everywhere, everyday. Sue barely does anything, she just comes there and messes up the place and then blames the kids for it. Emma believes her and realises she cannot have messy kids in her house!! So she calls for authorities to pick them up. The children are like “hell no we won’t do this again” and runs away

The Miserable Mill: The kids run to an abandoned mill, where a bunch of other runaway kids are hiding. Their names are Mercedes, Finn, Mike, Artie, Tina and Sam. They soon learn all of them loves singing and to get food they usually sing on the streets, or straight up steal. After hearing Kurt and Rachel’s singing voices and Brittany’s dance moves, they are more than welcome into the gang. They have fun and bond with them, until Mrs. Hagberg spots them all in the street once and is like “Oh my god, all the runaway children!!”. Apparently everyone of them has had to deal with Mrs. Hagberg so they all groan as she gets the authorities on them all.

The Austere Academy: Rachel, Kurt and Brittany end up at a school where they meet Santana and Blaine. They are siblings, but their sister Quinn perished in the fire with their parents (atleast, that’s what they think...) The school is miserable as can be, all the other students mock them and there’s not even a theatre club! However, the kids find comfort in Santana and Blaine, especially Brittany and Kurt, who grow quite fond of them. They share some happy and sweet moments with them and then Sue comes and ruins it all. She’s the new gym teacher and decides to let all orphans run laps for several hours every night... in the end, Santana gets pissed of being treated like that and tells Sue one thing or another about what she thinks... which makes Sue fucking kidnap her and Blaine.

The Ersatz Elevator: Rachel, Kurt and Brittany must rescue Santana and Blaine at all costs! By chasing after Sue they eventually get to the rich neighborhood of town. Before they know it, a rich man named Mr. Motta and his daughter Sugar is like “Oh my god, orphans! We need to take them in!!” and just takes them into their penthouse in a building with 69 floors. They are nice to the kids, but they are also pretty stupid. Rachel soon realises Santana and Blaine are hidden in the bottom of an elevator shaft and asks the Mottas for help getting them up from there. But right as they are about to ask, Sue arrives dressed as a “fancy rich person” and brainwashes the Mottas to push the kids down the shaft... where a net is capturing them.

The Vile Village: Sue smuggles Rachel, Kurt, Brittany, Santana and Blaine out of town. To annoy her, the kids start to sing show tunes. Eventually she grows so tired of it she lets them out “to play” for a little while, saying that they won’t dare to run away because then she will drive them over with her car. But what she doesn’t know is that Santana found a syringe Sue has to make her victims sleep, and she stabs Sue with it. Then they all run away towards a nearby village. They explain the situation to the villagers, who tells them to join their cult so no dangerous people can get them. The kids are like “wtf no” and goes away. Though, one villager stops them and whispers that he has a secret self-sustaining hot air mobile home that he is happy to give to them so they can fly away. He even shows them it and it actually seems to be running very smoothly. The kids decide to take it. The man starts it for them, making it fly up, and then he climbs down and tells them how to run it and so on. However, as the kids start climbing up, Sue arrives and tries to literally shoot the mobile home down. Santana and Blaine, who already has climbed up, has to take it higher into the sky... but that will mean the other kids can’t climb on! ;-; But they have to, if they don’t want to crash. As they do, the villagers see Sue and captures her, while Rachel, Kurt and Brittany run off.

The Hostile Hospital: The kids end up at a hospital, and Kurt is like “great, then we can get some treatment for our trauma”. They meet the Volunteers Fighting Disease and gets thrilled, because they get to sing!! But as they are having fun singing with the volunteers, Sue sneaks behind them and kidnaps Rachel. She then uses anesthesia on her to put her to sleep and prepares her for surgery. Brittany and Kurt has to dress up as doctors to get inside the surgery room and rescue Rachel. As they do, they hide as Sue tries to chase them. When she can’t find them, she decides to take her car and drive away. The kids know for a fact Sue never checks her own trunk, so they hide there.

The Carnivorous Carnival: Sue stops her car outside a carnival to use the bathroom, and the kids sneak out. They watch her go back to the car and continue driving, so they think they are safe now. The carnival seems to be abandoned, so they just walk around until they find twins named Madison and Mason. They tell them they are “freaks” because they are “creepy looking twins who say the same things together too often”. Rachel is like “noo you’re not freaks you’re normal” and they won’t listen and have decided this is the place where they belong. They tell the kids that they get food and stuff from the fortune lady (who is that girl pitching Rachel’s TV show in 5x20). Though, she seems ditzy as fuck so the kids don’t talk to her. Suddenly, Sue comes back to the carnival and so the kids panic and decide to dress up. Kurt gets a long fake beard and wig, Rachel puts on a clown costume and Brittany literally cuts her hair and walks backwards. Sue doesn’t seem to recogonise them, until she asks Brittany to help her with her car. From there, she stuffs her into the car and drives off. The the fortune lady comes out and is like “oh but I have a taxi you can take that and drive after them”

The Slippery Slope: Neither Kurt or Rachel can drive but they try their best. Sadly, the taxi runs out of gas and they have to climb the mountain up. However, they get lost and end up with some snow scouts, who are just chilling in a cave. As everyone goes to sleep, one snow scout is like “I know who you are” and makes Kurt and Rachel follow them through a secret passage. As they reach some kind of... burned down mansion, the snow scout explains that this was the headquarters of a burned down secret organisation. Rachel and Kurt are incredibly confused hearing this, but ok?? The snow scouts reveals to be Quinn, the presumed dead sister of Santana and Blaine. Rachel and Kurt believe her, mostly because they had seen pictures of her that Santana and Blaine had carried around, so it must be her. Also, who would just lie about that too? Meanwhile, Brittany is forced by Sue to do a bunch of tedious chores on the mountain top. When Sue isn’t looking, Brittany peeks over the frozen waterfall. She notices three people on the ground and she waves at them. She doesn’t dare to yell if Sue would hear her. Luckily, those three people were Rachel, Kurt and Quinn. All three want to climb up, but in case it’s a trap they decide one should stay on the ground and keep a lookout. Quinn insists that she and Rachel should climb up and Kurt is like “ok”. As they climb up, they have a “very lovely indeed” moment and Kurt sees it all, so he is like “ffs” and starts to climb up after them. Eventually they all end up on the mountain top and confront Sue, who just smirks at them. But then Brittany finds a sledge and they all jump on it and slide down the frozen waterfall. But soon they enter a stream and Quinn falls off! And gets sent into the other direction of the stream! But she promises to meet them again!

The Grim Grotto: The kids end up at a submarine run by the Puckerman brothers, Noah and Jake. They are nice to them, but they have both a shared trauma over their father just leaving them, which leads to them having a lot of bitterness. They easily get angry and can have outbursts when you least expect it. Rachel, Kurt and Brittany act a bit as therapists for the troubled brothers, sharing their own traumas and stuff. They also ask about the secret organisation thing and the Puckermans tell them there is in fact a secret organisation that’s more of a fire cult. Their family used to be a part of it and the organisation all just hate each other and light each other’s houses on fire. So it’s a mess. Eventually, a telegram is sent to the submarine. It’s from Quinn, who somehow knew they were on there, and tells them to meet her at a hotel in the city. The Puckermans take them there and tells them good luck. Sue doesn’t show up, just like she didn’t show up in TMM, because I just think sometimes we gotta let them have a rest.

The Penultimate Peril: A taxi pulls up next to the shore and tells the kids to jump in. The taxi driver is named Shelby Corcoran and she tells them she met Quinn after they got separated, but that Quinn won’t show up at the hotel until later, because she recently found her siblings flying by the self-sustaining hot air mobile home and decided to try to get to them. However, there are some weird people in the hotel and Rachel, Kurt and Brittany have to act as concierges to get information on them. They are unsure, but honestly they don’t have anything better to do so why not? The hotel is run by the Figgins siblings - Principal Figgins and Abgail Figgins. The sister and brother looks identical, but they are both, according to Shelby, complete idiots, so they won’t be of any help. As the kids get into the hotel, the discover Will and Emma, who apparently now are a couple, and also Sugar Motta with her dad. They eavesdrop on their conversations, but nothing really important happens. Then Sue arrives. The kids become tense and want to hide. Then they realise they can report her to the Figgins siblings! The Figgins siblings are like “wow! A criminal! We must have a trial!” and then they just have a trial in the middle of the lobby?? The kids are a bit happy at first, but then they realise the Figgins siblings know nothing about trials, so they just escape. There’s a boat just lying next to the hotel and they take it and sail away.

The End: As they sail away, Sue has also escaped the trial and swims after them. Brittany starts to splash water in her face as Rachel starts to sing show tunes to annoy her and Kurt tries to make the boat go faster. Suddenly, a wave sends them off, making them separate from Sue. They end up on a tropical island, where they once and for all can rest. Even better is when Santana, Blaine and Quinn arrive after seeing them sail away from up in the sky. They all live a happy life on the island and occasionally send letters to the main land, checking up with the people. Apparently, Sue just gave up or something after the kids sailed away and turned herself in. The kids live on the island until they turn 18 and decide to sail back to the shores to get their fortunes. Happy endings for all.

So, yeah. I just wrote directly from my head down everything, so much doesn’t make sense every time. But it doesn’t have to, because I was just pitching it.

[vcg73]

Glee Memories

Someone reblogged an old post to which I had contributed this run-down of my entire Glee fan experience. It made me laugh to read it, because I cannot deny ANY of the reactions even now. This is truly what it was like to watch the show in original air date Fox TV real time - endless mid-season hiatuses and all. Reposting just my own section:

Season 1 - SO good and fun! I want to see more of this!  Kurt, I love you. You’re so funny and I especially loved the second half of the season when you started singing solos and being a Cheerio!  Even the characters I didn’t really embrace I still want to learn more about. And the songs, and the hope for next year’s competitions…  Damn you, summer hiatus!

Season 2 - OMG, not as fresh as last year but still some amazing stuff!  Burt and Carole are cute together, though a little oblivious. Why didn’t we ever get any blended Hudmel family scenes?  Especially at Christmas.  *pout* Didn’t care for Kurt being basically sidelined at Dalton Academy for half the season, and his crush is kind of an oblivious jerk, but I have hope. Things much better by the end with Kurt back at McK and no joy to the bullies. Can’t quite make up my mind if I want to forgive Karofsky. He was awful, but also terrified. I’ll make up my mind next year. Aw, Jean Sylvester has died, I liked her.  Finn, a funeral should not inspire you to dump one girl and chase another. You big drip. Too bad about Nationals, but it’s okay that they didn’t go straight to the top. More reason to put out all the stops next year!  I liked this season a lot overall. Damn you, summer hiatus!

Season 3 - What the fuck has happened to this show? Blaine transfers in, acts like a dick, steals opportunities and insults people, but by the end every single character is completely up his ass. Wha-?  Wait, are Finchel a couple again for the 4,869th time, or are they broken up again?  I can’t keep up.  Am I really supposed to care about the suddenly evil Warblers and their smirking meerkat boss? Cause I don’t.  Warbler Council I miss you.  Shue, you’re horrible, get off my screen. Sue, go with him, you’re not funny anymore. Kurt ends up stuck in Lima with no prospects, while Rachel of the world’s worst audition gets his spot at the fancy performing arts school? What the hell!  And what do you mean, he only applied to ONE school, that makes no sense given his historic ambition to escape Lima, and determination to help Finn get out too. Someone at NYADA is a lazy bastard who couldn’t be bothered to send out the acceptance letters until JUNE, so most of their prospectives have probably accepted other offers by now.  This entire season made no sense and left a bad taste in my mouth. Thank God for summer hiatus!

Season 4 - Better in some respects. Really stupid in others. Kurt does an amazing audition and gets a second chance (that he should have had the first time) to get into his school.  I’ll take it.  Blaine, you’re a lying, cheating, selfish sack of shit and I’ve given up hoping you’ll ever improve. Just go away and stop horning in where you don’t belong. Adam Crawford, you’re a cinnamon roll too good for this world, but no way too good for Kurt. :)  I’m not usually a shipper, but you’re forcing me to ship hard.  New Glee Club, your boring clone selves need to step it up and show some originality if you want anyone to like you. Uh, wow, did that nasty Cheerio girl really try to kill the other girl by making her anorexic and totally get away with that with no consequences? Epic fail. Shue, you’re revolting. Oh, Unique. I like you, but why did you leave a star position at Carmel only to be meek about being shoved into the background at McKinley?  Really thought Blaine might get offed in that stink-bomb of a school shooting episode. It would have had emotional resonance for others and retired that character with a shred of dignity. Wasn’t that the point of having people declare Blaine teen angel/Jesus-standin for half the season? But no. Nothing happens and they chuck Becky-used to be cool but now is just super annoying-Jackson under the bus instead. (Also, why did nobody on the New York side even seem to know this headline-making event even happened?) Rachel, taking insensitivity and selfishness to new heights in New York. Why is Kurt suddenly your care-taker and general servant? Blech. Sarah Jessica Parker, completely wasted from great starting potential. Did Sam’s brain fall out in the deep end of the swimming pool and float away? Cause, whoa. Finn? Finn! Pay attention, dude. Cut your losses and go to your classes at Ohio state (or wherever). Burt, thank you for squashing that stupid proposal idea. But where is Adam?  Come back, adorable little cupcake!  Summer hiatus, thank you, I need a break but kinda like where everyone finally ended at the last of this year. This has definite potential.

Season 5 - Dead Finn = sadness. I kind of wish they had just retired him to off screen college somewhere. Wait, what?  God Damn It Writers! You can’t just transplant Finchel’s planned storyline to a totally different couple and expect it to make perfect sense, especially with no work or real character improvement to the horrible hair-gelled menace!  Copy glee club remains boring, and I don’t give a rat’s ass about their wash-rinse-repeat romances or lifeless competition performances. What the heck has happened to the timeline of this show?  Where did Adam go? Oh hey, it’s Demi Lovato and Adam Lambert!  Aww, I really like Elliott. It’s about time Kurt got a genuine friend. Rachel, just go away. I can’t deal with you anymore. Burt has been replaced by a pod-person. Creepy puppets more lifelike than most of their human counterparts by now. One Three Hill, I love you!  But I can already see that this is another great start with soon to be wasted potential when the contracts run out.  Damn it, writers! Don’t put Blaine in NYADA, that makes no sense at all.  If this school was as particular as you claimed, he wouldn’t have even made it to the audition round. Combat Jocks are all hot for Kurt, YESSSS!  Santana, I’ve never liked you because you’re horrid to everyone but you’re finally starting to grow on me a little. Aw, Chris Colfer’s episode plays like old time Glee!  Fun. More, please. Shirley MacLaine gives me the creeps as the old cougar lady. And we’re taking an early hiatus after shedding viewers like snake-skin all season. Can’t say I’m not relieved. I’m determined to see this show through, but my god…  

Season 6 - Only a dozen episodes this year? I can make it.  Ooo, Kurt dumped the albatross and sent him packing. That’s promising.  Rachel’s ego blew up in her face and she’s back in Ohio. Even more promising.  New New Directions, I surprisingly actually like you guys a little, though I liked One Three Hill much better. (And the Apples, whatever happened to those folks?) This could actually end with a bang instead of a whimper!  Aaand, I spoke too soon. Kurt get your cute butt out of Ohio, you can do so much better in New York, preferably single and dating new appreciative men!  Whoa, Sue is full on demented and dangerous this year. Why is she still in a teaching position again? Shue, you’re useless. Get off my screen. Santana previous potential goes right to hell in one fell swoop. Nice briefly knowing you, emotional development. Kurt, I’m serious, go back to NYADA and find whatever locker you left your spine in please. DO NOT take that asshat back for the 8,937th time, please!  He’s not worth it.  You … what …?  Oh my God, he did it, and fucking Dave Karofsky actually helped them along.  *beats head on wall*  No, please tell me everyone isn’t about to bend over backwards to put Rachel back on top of the heap again!  *sigh* That’s it. I’m done. 7 episodes left of this series and I just can’t take it anymore.  The writers-room monkeys have mixed pieces from 10 different puzzles, mashed them into a frame with a mallet, eaten the finished product, shit it into their hands, and tossed it at the few remaining fans still watching through the bars.

And that’s what you (lucky souls) missed on Glee!

[momofmusa]

Social anxiety, processing disorder and academic failures.

Social anxiety: I use to have it really bad as a child.. Would cry for no reason if in a crowd and it  didn’t matter if I were with family... I was painfully shy as well. Now I worked up a resistance to at times when  I feel it coming on  depending on where I am going.. ( I also learned to release my inner bitch as well) Now that I have a child and he’s developed a social anxiety, I have to set the pathway for and with him... I am working on things to take him out to where he isn’t stressing or rocking side to side when there are too many people... We went to the Minneapolis Art Museum yesterday.. We argued going out the door of our house.. Not bad serious argue but, I had to tell my bickering son lets get out and breath a different air. Plus. He needed a hair cut because, I did a horrible job on him.. So at the art museum, as I parked my car, he asked to stay in the car.. No.. Come with mom. Stay with mom and you’ll be ok.  Son: mumbled all the way in saying, I’ve been here before.. I said, it’s been a while.. Once we got through the door he felt this peacefulness of the place... Despite people being around, they were quietly eating, drinking coffee to walking around minding their own business looking at art.. The lady who welcomed us in and gave us maps gave him a sense of ease so he reached over and took the map from her that she was handing to me being close to her.. He took the lead walking up the stairs and walking around. A few times he got a bit irked and made a U turn away from a tiny crowed of people.. After a while he was calm and chatty..  A customer gave us free tickets to view the Native American Womans stories.. We walked through that area... We looked at a monk statue meditating.. I asked if he’d like to take up classes to do that.. Son: immediately.. No!  I can do that at home.. Me:  Sometimes it’s nice to get away from home to meditate.. Son: No.. I can do it at home.. I let it go... I said, perhaps mom can create /decorate a certain area of the house to create a zin space... Son: no comment.. Walked on. .I, myself, love Asian and Moroccan decor.   Anyway. He didn’t want to leave the musuem after I asked if he was ready to go several times..  We walked everywhere, watched the huge water fountain, walked in the outside garden and met up with a friend.  Meeting up with an old friend was rare and it made his day. The museum is huge, spacious, quiet and clean.. I believe this is what put my son at ease after a while.. 

I’m working on what to do in order to get him out of the house.. Next week it’s the planetarium... He is so into space, sci fy, science etc.. Something the school failed to tap into him despite me advocating for them to do so..  Youtube is his best friend..

I have to mention days before the museum, I pulled him out of the house bickering..  Again, his spirits lifted when we drove around, went into a huge clean Holiday gas station to get hot cocoa for him and coffee for myself.. We drove around town and he was relaxed and chatty... 

I kind of know my son.. I see simillarities between us and some not...  I was slow to learn, he has a processing disorder.. I had to learn his processing disorder isn’t him being lazy, not to get frustrated at him making him nervous or defeated, that it’s not going to go away and understand he is not me understanding some of the simple basic things I did at his age... 

I know not all people or children with processing disorders are introverts who have social anxiety issues.. My son use to be very out going, sports, plays at school, sports events with big crowds.. It was when he started to see the difference between his class mates understanding and processng information that he couldn’t to teachers forcing my son to just sit and wait until the school day was over because, they didin’t know how to work with him is what build this child I have to work with.. They are not 100% to blame.. I blame myself as well. Now I am working on fixing academy broken child who was told to sit or depend to a mom who works full time trying to make a pathway & plant seeds for us both so he can stand on his own two feet when I am not or no longer here.. 

Sorry.  I am tired. It’s office topic from my favorite discussion fo Outlander...  I had to get that off my mind.  

[runephoenix6769]

Winter Solstice Part 2

NaNo WriMo.. 

Corralling of Schnee Headcanons into a lil fic. Looking at a Teenage Winter Schnee and the family dymanic. 

Part 1 and 2 uploaded to Ao3.

Back in the safety of the dressing room and far from prying eyes, Winter let out a squeal of delight, allowing her sword to clatter to the floor  as she flung herself into the arms of her coach, who hugged her tight, spinning in heady celebration.

“I did it! I won!”

“Yes, you did Leibling!” Violet squeezed her tight, “I’m so proud of you!”  Letting go, she gave the teenager a wide smile, “- Now, you must shower and get ready, the award ceremony will be starting soon.” She began to untie the back ribbons of the chest protector and wire underneath. “Arms up.”

Winter dutifully obeyed, glad once the oppressive armour was off.  Still buzzing from her victory, she tried to wriggle out of her breeches,

“I was right he was a faunus.” She rolled out the pant legs only for them to get stuck on her ankles causing them to turn inside out. Plopping back down on the bench, she stuck her legs out. “He was so fast, he almost had me.”

Violet let out a laugh as she began to tug on the breeches,

“I never doubted you for a second.”

“I got him with that feint though, didn’t I?”

With one least hefty tug the breeches came off along with her socks. Before her coach could start folding them, Winter reached,

“Let me.”

Meticulously folding her clothes, a chore her father often told her was beneath them,  as her coach began to gather their belongings scattered throughout the room, her eyes flickered to the Atlas Academy poster. Hot on the heels of her success, maybe this would be the perfect time to make a request.  

“Violet?”

“Yes, leibling,”

Winter peeled a towel from her gym, bag wrapping it round herself,

“I was considering, maybe, progressing.”

“Progressing?”

“From the epee to the sabre.”

Standing behind her, Violet began to peel off Winter’s hair net and remove the million and one pins it took to hold it in place, teasingly she asked,

“So you think you’re ready for the sabre, eh?”

Winter gave an indignant tip of her head,

“I do!” She turned, to look up at the woman who had become a second mother to her with a proud grin, who with gentle hands began to coax Winter’s long coils of white hair over her shoulders, “It’s my family’s legacy.”

“If that is what you want-“   The woman mirthfully bopped her on the nose, causing Winter to giggle and shake her head, “-That is what we shall do! Now go shower, you don’t want everyone to think that you are a smelly little grimm.”

Underneath the soothing hot water that prickled her skin, she happily hummed away a song favoured by her younger sister.  She couldn’t wait to tell Weiss and her mother. Yet another trophy to add to the collection in her father’s office, maybe if she asked nicely he would consider taking her personal trophy for his office and allow the larger one to rest in the family trophy case alongside her mother’s and Opa’s trophies and shields of victory.

After her name was engraved on it, of course.

Over the heavy thrum of the shower, muffled raised voices began to drift into the bathroom.  Winter froze, straining to hear.  

“…useless…. Wastral.. pay.”

“Sir…”

“Where is she?”

Goosebumps began to stipple the young girl’s pale skin, as her father’s irate voice boomed, echoing with the acoustics of the room.

“Sir.. She’s..”

“Get out of my way.”

“Winter Schnee!”

With a shudder, she watched the soap suds swirling round the drain. Maybe she could pretend she hadn’t heard him.

“Winter Wisteria Schnee, Get out here this instant.”

Inside the cocoon of the cubicle, she turned the dial, holding onto it to steady herself as he legs began to quiver.

“But Sir.” She heard Violet begin.

“I will not have it! She came close to losing…. And to a faunus, no less!”

Squeezing her eyes shut and a bid to stop the tears that threatened to spill as her father continued his barrage,

“What on earth are you teaching her? I do not pay for marginality, I pay for perfection.”

Hurriedly, Winter wrapped a towel round herself as her father began to gather steam. Head bowed, she reluctantly stepped out of the cubicle. His eyes like icy glimlets focused on her. He roared,

“What was that disply? That was mediocre at best! Your form was sloppy, your sword engagement lacklustre.” Winter cringed as he bellowed, “Look at me and stand up straight when I’m talking to you!”

The hard edge to his voice had, like molten dust, poured down her spine made her instinctively correct her stance, attempting to fix a point aside from his gaze.  The vein is forehead was bulging; his cheeks mottled an ugly red. Every word, lashing her like an epee, slicing into her skin.

“But Father, I won!” She admonished, immediately regretting her momentary lapse in propriety as his eyes tightened and his mouth set into a grim line.

“That is neither here nor there. You missed opportunities and failed to take advantage of his flaws.”

“But…”  Shivering against the cold water rolling down her skin, she began to protest.

He hissed,

“What were you thinking shaking that filthy animal’s hand first?”

“I … I  .. I wasn’t..”

Winter bit into her bottom lip with her teeth in a bid to stop it trembling.

“Exactly,..” He continued, his voice becoming menacing, “ Today your actions brought nothing but shame to the family…Do I need to remind you that you are a representative of the Schnee name and shall behave as such. What you did today will give them ideas above their station. That the SDC is some…”

Winter’s face crumpled, fearful she could no longer hold back the rising tide, she bit through her lip, the tell tale metal taste of blood on the tip of her tongue.

Her Father spat,

“You are a disgrace!”

Violet stepped in front of her shielding the young girl behind her with her hand, and with a forceful growl,

“That .. Is.. Enough!”

For a moment her father’s face looked as if he had been slapped.  

“What!!”

Nothing good could come of this as the teenager watched her father’s nostrils flare drawing himself up to his full height. Winter gave a small tug at the back of her coach’s tracksuit jacket, timidly begging,

“Violet…. Please…”

The older woman held one hand out keeping Winter firmly behind her,

“Your daughter is the junior champion of the WORLD! The least you could do is show her some modicum of support! Maybe .. I don’t know.. tell her you’re proud of her??”   Like a raging Ursa, Violet seemed to swell and grow tall, “-And another thing, everybody who competed today deserved to be here. They are the best of the best.. In.. The.. World regardless where they come from! Everybody here has put blood, sweat and tears getting to this standard.” The coach began gesticulating with her arms, “If it was easy, it wouldn’t be a competition would it? Winter went out there, did her best and she won. What more could you ask for, you absolute buffoon!”

Chest heaving, the fencing instructor glared at Jacques Schnee. The only sound to break the sudden silence was the plinking of water dripping from the shower heads onto the tiles. It seemed to Winter like her Father sucked every available particle of the steamy air deep into his chest before he let it out in one huge burst,

“YOU’RE FIRED!”

“AND YOU’RE AN ARSEHOLE!”

With a sniff, Jacques Schnee made a huge display of checking his cuff links and straightening his tie.

“Mark my words, Miz Hildebrand, I will make sure you never find employment in Atlas again!”

“Good,” She cavalierly replied, “I never liked the weather much anyway. Now get out of the ladies locker room, or do I have to call security?”

Winter watched as his top lip drew back, showing his teeth and his eyes became pin point focused. He peered round the offending woman,

“I want you presentable in ten minutes. You will find your attire on the bench.  I will not tolerate tardiness.”  

Winter tried to steady her voice,

“Yes, Father.”

At the sound of the door banging shut, Winter let loose the rising tide, clutching her protector round the middle as she sobbed.  Violet held her tight, cradling the young girl’s damp head to her chest in an attempt to sooth her.

“There, there. It’s ok.”

Through her sobs, the shaking girl whimpered,

“Please don’t go! Please….. Just apologise….. Please.”

“I’m sorry.. Leibing..”

“Please…” She begged, “Tell him you didn’t mean it.”

Tenderly, Violet attempted to stroke the wet hair out of Winter’s face,

“I cant.. I cant take back what I said because it’s all true.”  She began to guide Winter over to the sink, “Best not keep him waiting eh?”

Reluctantly, she let go of the comforting warmth that smelt of polish and cinnamon.

Making quick work of drying her hair and setting it into her signature bun, she savagely pushed the pins in that would hold it in place.

Had she really expected anything else?  She had been a boob to think otherwise.

He was always like this, taking every bit of joy out of her life.  It was because of him that her summoning was lack lustre, demanding she take a fencing instructor instead of her mother teaching her.  

She had adored the mornings with her mother, the pair of them rolling back the giant rug in the grand ballroom that protected the floor, the weak autumn sun, reflected off the snow of the mountain tops, twinkling, had penetrated the gloom of the oversized mansion.  Dripping in sweat from the heat of the numerous fireplaces in full roar, practising her drills over and over, learning from her Mother how to parry, break ground, riposte.

Even when pregnant with Whitley, Willow had begun to teach her eldest daughter the fundamentals of glyph usage, parting the wisdom that the Schnee’s could time-dilate and the best could even summon their vanquished foes.

At the age of ten cusping on eleven, Winter had lost her first match, an argument between her parents had ensued  and suddenly out of nowhere the lessons ended,  Violet had come into her life, along with extra private tutors for her education. The children’s schedule had changed to education in the morning, music in the afternoon and sports in the evening, resulting in her seeing her mother less and less.  

Now he wanted to take away the only comfort she had known, other than Klein.

With determination, she stepped back into the locker room to be greeted with a suit bag hanging off her locker.  Unzipping it, she retrieved it from the hanger only to hold it at arm’s length.

It was a dazzling white with hints of pale blue, the Family crest stitched into each shoulder. On the back a larger version but under pinned with SDC emblazoned across the back. The material felt stiff, more like a starched suit rather than the soft comfort of the track suit she had been looking forward to wearing.

“I HATE IT!”

“Winter.”

In a fit of temper, she tossed it on the floor,

“No! I’m not wearing it!” Watching as the water seeped into the material, marring the whiteness, a spiteful satisfaction built in her chest. It bubbled and boiled in her veins like a kettle on a furnace, “I hate him!” Pulling on her white t shirt and track suit top, with her name stitched in cursive and her Family emblem on the chest.

“You don’t mean that!”

Almost rounding on Violet, as she tugged at the track suit bottoms in an off light grey with dark blue accents,

“I do!  No matter what I do, nothing will ever be enough!” Hopping up and down, she tugged at the bottoms in frustration, “I hate the SDC!”  She began in a tirade, “I’m not stupid, I know what they are doing, I know what people think of us. And it’s all entirely his fault!”

Zipping up her jacket, she turned to look at her reflection in the mirror. A hint of colour crested on her usually pale cheeks. Behind her Violet lay a calming hand on her shoulder.

“Maybe, when you are the head of the SDC you can change things?”  

A loud knock reverberated against the door.

Cupping Winter’s face in her hands, Violet stood back, examining her,

“Look at you” She stated like a proud mother hen, “You’re a picture. This will be the last time we see each other for a while, smelly lil grimm.”

Winter examined her, she had never noticed the slight crows feet at the corner of the woman’s eyes, or how one was green and the other a mixture of gold and emerald, a few silvery hairs peeking at her temples.  The teenager flung herself into a hug, breathing in the scent that over the last five years she had to come think of as home. Her eyes prickled as Violet hugged her back.

Another bang.

“Its time to go, Leibling.” Winter gave a sniff, “Its not good bye. We’ll meet again sometime soon.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

Reluctantly, Winter let loose her grasp. Collecting her gym bag and leaving the SDC uniform on the floor, she paused at the door, forcing herself to inhabit the skin she wore when in public and a sense of maturity into her voice,

“Mistress Hidebrand, I wish you the best of luck in all your endeavours and I hope to remake your acquaintance in the near future.”

The woman gave her a warm smile,

“Good luck, smelly grimm.”

In preparation, the young girl straightened her shoulder’s far too small to be expected to bear the load of Atlas. She stepped through the door without a backwards glance, into the blinding white flashy lights of the press and the waiting ire of her father.

@winterschnee-frozenelegance

[formerlyrunephoenix6769]

Winter Solstice: Chapter 2

(Winter Schnee Fanfic from my h/c I used to have from my old blog. I shall be tagging this under   formerlyrunephoenix6769 rwby fanfic  to make chapters easier to find) 

                                   A Sorrowful Parting

Back in the safety of the dressing room and far from prying eyes, Winter let out a squeal of delight, allowing her sword to clatter to the floor as she flung herself into the arms of her coach, who hugged her, spinning in heady celebration.

“I did it! I won!”

“Yes, you did Leibling!” Violet squeezed her tight, “I’m so proud of you!” Letting go, she gave the teenager a wide smile, “- Now, you must shower and get ready, the award ceremony will be starting soon.” Her practiced nimble fingers beginning to untie the back ribbons of the chest protector and wire underneath. “Arms up.”

Winter dutifully obeyed, glad once the oppressive armour was off. Still buzzing from her victory, she tried to wriggle out of her breeches,

“I was right, he was a faunus.” She rolled out the pant legs only for them to get stuck on her ankles causing them to turn inside out. Plopping back down on the bench, she stuck her legs out. “He was so fast, he almost had me.”

Violet let out a laugh as she began to tug on the breeches,

“I never doubted you for a second.”

“I got him with that feint though, didn’t I?” "Yes you did! It was crafty."

With one last hefty tug the breeches came off along with her socks. Before her coach could start folding them, Winter reached,

“Let me.”

She meticulously folded her clothes, making sure the creases were lined up and straight. It was a chore her father often told her was beneath them but it was something she took joy in giving her the feeling that she could take care of herself. Her coach began to gather their belongings scattered throughout the room, Winter's eyes flickered to the Atlas Academy poster. Hot on the heels of her success, maybe this would be the perfect time to make a request.

“Violet?”

“Yes, leibling,”

Winter peeled a towel from her gym, bag wrapping it round herself,

“I was considering, maybe, progressing.”

“Progressing?”

“From the epee to the sabre.”

Standing behind her, Violet began to peel off Winter’s hair net and remove the million and one pins it took to hold it in place, teasingly she asked,

“So you think you’re ready for the sabre, eh? It is a whole different sort of movement and swords play. ”

Winter gave an indignant tip of her head,

“I do!” She turned, to look up at the woman who had become a second mother to her with a proud grin, who with gentle hands began to coax Winter’s long coils of white hair over her shoulders, “It’s my family’s legacy.”

“If that is what you want-“ The woman mirthfully bopped her on the nose, causing Winter to giggle and shake her head, “-That is what we shall do! Now go shower, you don’t want everyone to think that you are a smelly little grimm.”

Winter shot her a grin at the moniker before padding into the shower block.

Underneath the soothing hot water that prickled her skin, she happily hummed away a song favoured by her younger sister. She couldn’t wait to tell Weiss and her mother. Yet another trophy to add to the collection in that adorned her father's walls, maybe if she asked nicely he would consider taking her personal trophy for his office and allow the larger one to rest in the family case alongside her mother’s and Opa’s trophies and shields of victory.

After her name was engraved on it, of course.

Over the heavy thrum of the shower, muffled raised voices began to drift into the bathroom. Winter froze, straining to hear.

“…useless…. Wastral.. pay.”

“Sir…”

“Where is she?”

Goosebumps began to stipple the young girl’s pale skin, as her father’s irate voice boomed, echoing with the acoustics of the room. "Winter Schnee!

“Sir.. She’s..”

“Woman, get out of my way......”

With a shudder, she watched the soap suds swirling round the drain. Maybe she could pretend she hadn’t heard him.

“Winter Wisteria Schnee, Get out here this instant.”

Inside the cocoon of the cubicle, she turned the dial, holding onto it to steady herself as her legs began to quiver.

“But Sir.” She heard Violet begin again.

“I will not have it! She came close to losing…. And to an animal, no less!”

Squeezing her eyes shut and a bid to stop the tears that threatened to spill as her father continued his barrage,

“What on earth are you teaching her? I do not pay for marginality, I pay for perfection.”

Hurriedly, Winter wrapped a towel round herself as her father began to gather steam. 'Dont allow him to get a cadence'. Head bowed, she reluctantly stepped out of the cubicle. His eyes like icy glimlets focused on her. He roared,

“What was that display? That was mediocre at best! Your form was sloppy, your sword engagement lack lustre.” Winter cringed as he bellowed, “Look at me and stand up straight when I’m talking to you!”

The hard edge to his voice had, like molten dust, poured down her spine made her instinctively correct her stance, attempting to fix a point aside from his gaze. The vein is forehead was bulging; his cheeks mottled an ugly red. Every word, lashing her like an epee, slicing into her skin.

“But Father, I won!” She admonished, immediately regretting her momentary lapse in propriety as his eyes tightened and his mouth set into a grim line.

“That is neither here nor there. You missed opportunities and failed to take advantage of his flaws.”

“But…” Shivering against the cold water rolling down her skin, she began to protest.

He hissed,

“What were you thinking shaking that filthy animal’s hand first?”

“I … I .. I wasn’t..”

Winter bit into her bottom lip with her teeth in a bid to stop it trembling.

“Exactly,.. You never think...” He continued, his voice becoming menacing, “ Today your actions brought nothing but shame to the family…Do I need to remind you that you are a representative of the Schnee name and shall behave as such. What you did today will give them ideas above their station. That the SDC is some…”

Winter’s face crumpled, fearful she could no longer hold back the rising tide, she bit through her lip, the tell tale metal taste of blood on the tip of her tongue.

Her Father spat,

“You are a disgrace!”

Violet stepped in front of her shielding the young girl behind her with her hand, and with a forceful growl,

“That .. Is.. Enough!”

For a moment her father’s face looked as if he had been slapped.

“What!!”

Nothing good could come of this as the teenager watched her father’s nostrils flare drawing himself up to his full height. Winter gave a small tug at the back of her coach’s tracksuit jacket, timidly begging,

“Violet…. Please…”

The older woman held one hand out keeping Winter firmly behind her,

“Your daughter is the junior champion of the WORLD! The least you could do is show her some modicum of support! Maybe .. I don’t know.. tell her you’re proud of her??” Like a raging Ursa, Violet seemed to swell and grow tall, “-And another thing, everybody who competed today deserved to be here. They are the best of the best.. In.. The.. World regardless where they come from! Everybody here has put blood, sweat and tears getting to this standard.” The coach began gesticulating with her arms, “If it was easy, it wouldn’t be a competition would it? Winter went out there, did her best and she won. What more could you ask for, you absolute buffoon!”

Chest heaving, the fencing instructor glared at Jacques Schnee. The only sound to break the sudden silence was the plinking of water dripping from the shower heads onto the tiles. It seemed to Winter like her Father sucked every available particle of the steamy air deep into his chest before he let it out in one huge burst,

“YOU’RE FIRED!”

“AND YOU’RE AN A/RSEHOLE!”

With a sniff, Jacques Schnee made a huge display of checking his cuff links and straightening his cravat.

“Mark my words, Miz Hildebrand, I will make sure you never find employment in Atlas again!”

“Good,” She cavalierly replied, “I never liked the weather much anyway. Now get out of the ladies locker room, or do I have to call security?”

Winter watched as his top lip drew back, showing his teeth and his eyes became pin point focused. He peered round the offending woman,

“I want you presentable in ten minutes. You will find your attire on the bench. I will not tolerate tardiness.”

Winter tried to steady her voice,

“Yes, Father.”

At the sound of the door banging shut, Winter let loose the rising tide, clutching her protector round the middle as she sobbed. Violet held her tight, cradling the young girl’s damp head to her chest in an attempt to sooth her.

“There, there. It’s ok.”

Through her sobs, the shaking girl whimpered,

“Please don’t go! Please….. Just apologise….. Please.”

“I’m sorry.. Leibing..”

“Please…” She begged, “Tell him you didn’t mean it.”

Tenderly, Violet attempted to stroke the wet hair out of Winter’s face,

“I cant.. I cant take back what I said because it’s all true.” She began to guide Winter over to the sink, “Best not keep him waiting eh?”

Reluctantly, she let go of the comforting warmth that smelt of polish and cinnamon.

Making quick work of drying her hair and setting it into her signature bun, she savagely pushed the pins in that would hold it in place.

Had she really expected anything else? She had been a boob to think otherwise.

He was always like this, taking every bit of joy out of her life. It was because of him that her summoning was lack lustre, demanding she take a fencing instructor instead of her mother teaching her.

She had adored the mornings with her mother, the pair of them rolling back the giant rug in the grand ballroom that protected the floor, the weak autumn sun, reflected off the snow of the mountain tops, twinkling, had penetrated the gloom of the oversized mansion. Dripping in sweat from the heat of the numerous fireplaces in full roar, practising her drills over and over, learning from her Mother how to parry, break ground, riposte.

Even when pregnant with Whitley, Willow had begun to teach her eldest daughter the fundamentals of glyph usage, parting the wisdom that the Schnee’s could time-dilate and the best could even summon their vanquished foes.

At the age of ten cusping on eleven, Winter had lost her first match, an argument between her parents had ensued and suddenly out of nowhere the lessons ended, Violet had come into her life, along with extra private tutors for her education. The children’s schedule had changed to education in the morning, music in the afternoon and sports in the evening, resulting in her seeing her mother less and less.

Now he wanted to take away the only comfort she had known, other than Klein.

With determination, she stepped back into the locker room to be greeted with a suit bag hanging off her locker. Unzipping it, she retrieved it from the hanger only to hold it at arm’s length.

It was a dazzling white with hints of pale blue, the Family crest stitched into each shoulder. On the back a larger version but under pinned with SDC emblazoned across the back. The material felt stiff, more like a starched suit rather than the soft comfort of the track suit she had been looking forward to wearing.

“I HATE IT!”

“Winter.”

In a fit of temper, she tossed it on the floor,

“No! I’m not wearing it!” Watching as the water seeped into the material, marring the whiteness, a spiteful satisfaction built in her chest. It bubbled and boiled in her veins like a kettle on a furnace, “I hate him!” Pulling on her white t shirt and track suit top, with her name stitched in cursive and her Family emblem on the chest.

“You don’t mean that!”

Almost rounding on Violet, as she tugged at the track suit bottoms in an off light grey with dark blue accents,

“I do! No matter what I do, nothing will ever be enough!” Hopping up and down, she tugged at the bottoms in frustration, “I hate the SDC!” She began in a tirade, “I’m not stupid, I know what they are doing, I know what people think of us. And it’s all entirely his fault!”

Zipping up her jacket, she turned to look at her reflection in the mirror. A hint of colour crested on her usually pale cheeks. Behind her Violet lay a calming hand on her shoulder.

“Maybe, when you are the head of the SDC you can change things?”

A loud knock reverberated against the door.

Cupping Winter’s face in her hands, Violet stood back, examining her,

“Look at you” She stated like a proud mother hen, “You’re a picture. This will be the last time we see each other for a while, smelly lil grimm.”

Winter examined her, she had never noticed the slight crows feet at the corner of the woman’s eyes, or how one was green and the other a mixture of gold and emerald, a few silvery hairs peeking at her temples. The teenager flung herself into a hug, breathing in the scent that over the last five years she had to come think of as home. Her eyes prickled as Violet hugged her back.

Another bang.

“Its time to go, Leibling.” Winter gave a sniff, “Its not good bye. We’ll meet again sometime soon.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

Reluctantly, Winter let loose her grasp. Collecting her gym bag and leaving the SDC uniform on the floor, she paused at the door, forcing herself to inhabit the skin she wore when in public and a sense of maturity into her voice,

“Mistress Hildebrand, I wish you the best of luck in all your endeavours and I hope to remake your acquaintance in the near future.”

The woman gave her a warm smile,

“Good luck, smelly grimm.”

In preparation for the coming fight, she straightened her shoulder’s far too small to be expected to bear the load of Atlas. She stepped through the door without a backwards glance, into the blinding white flashy lights of the press and the waiting ire of her father.

Feel free to like and share :)

[ruffsficstuffplace]

And The AWRD Goes To... (Part 23)

The bathhouse was a very different place on Wednesday mornings. With the first years generally having it as a free day, and the upperclassmen already having sailed off all over Mistral on missions earlier or even yesterday evening, it was quieter, less crowded, and less busy.

On Wednesdays, students and staff could just relax and take their sweet time, no competition for the stools in the washing up area, the personal lockers, and the limited space in the baths. On Wednesdays, you could reflect, soak, and perform all the beauty regimes you wanted in peace. On Wednesdays, you could slow down, maybe even stop altogether, notice some things that might have escaped your attention during the rush to get ready for class.

Things like the ancient but sturdy wooden floors, carefully varnished and maintained over the centuries; the well-worn, smooth, and sturdy rocks that lined the baths; the minimal amount and unobtrusive placement of modern amenities like vending machines, and how even they were designed to look like wood or traditionally used metals like brass.

Things like the elaborate murals on the wall, depicting tranquil forests, blue skies, and sparkling lakes populated by blooming plant life, exotic animals, and divinely beautiful figures.

Things like what exactly your teammates looked like completely naked.

“How…?” Weiss whispered as she stared at Ruby, taking off her clothes and putting it in a basket.

“Hmm?” Ruby said as she laid her short shorts on top of her skirt. “Did you say something, Weiss?”

Weiss blinked, wondering if maybe this was some sort of sleep-deprived hallucination and her brain was simply superimposing Yang’s frequently bared muscles over her sister’s in a moment of confusion—their skin tones were close enough, right?

Then Ruby removed her underwear, and Weiss had to reckon with the fact that no, she did not have anything remotely close to that in her memory, real or imagined, which meant that everything she was seeing in front of her was all probably the same thing everyone else in the bathhouse saw.

“You need some help, Weiss?” Ruby asked.

Weiss blushed. “W-What? Help with--” she looked down at herself, frowned. “Oh, right, undressing, sorry—really out of it right now!” she said, blushing as she hurriedly undid the buttons of her uniform’s jacket.

“You sure you want join me down in Mistral, Weiss?” Ruby asked. “I think not getting much sleep last night and all those times you passed out earlier this week might have made you sick”

“What makes you say that?” Weiss asked as she unbuttoned the back of her skirt.

“Your face is all red, and you’re acting really weird and distracted.”

Weiss winced. “… Okay, you’ve got good points! But I’m sure a nice, long dip in the springs, then some fresh air and sunshine down in the city will go a long way to making me feel better!” she said as she pulled off her undershirt.

Ruby looked skeptical, but nodded. “Alright... but we’re definitely getting milk after, and breakfast, too!”

“Whatever you say, Ruby!” Weiss said as she put the last of her clothes in the basket, took some towels, and headed off with her to the ladies’ washing up area. The two of them sat next to each other, the space between them and the next occupied stool so great that they may as well have been alone there.

“Isn’t this really nice, Weiss?” Ruby said as she took the wooden bucket hanging off her faucet, started filling it with hot water.

“What is…?” Weiss asked, her hands trembling as she fumbled about trying to pick up her own bucket.

“The bathhouse here in Haven, silly!” Ruby said as she turned off the water, picked the bucket up in both hands.

Splash!

Ruby shrieked with delight, shook her head, and brushed some of the wet locks of hair off her face. With ever wider eyes and redder cheeks, Weiss’ watched the water drip and pour down her skin and around her well-defined and toned muscles, Weiss’ knuckles turning white from 0how hard she was gripping her bucket.

Ruby opened her eyes again, Weiss wrenched her face away, shoved her bucket underneath the faucet, fumbled about as she tried to turn it on. “The ones my family could afford were really bare bones,” Ruby said, oblivious. “It was all concrete, cheap tile, and rubber non-slip mats, and sometimes they didn’t even bother to replace them when they got broken or ripped up!

“What were the bathhouses you’ve been to like, Weiss?” Ruby asked as she picked up her hand towel.

Splash!

Weiss shrieked as she dumped freezing cold water all over herself, conking herself with the tub after her arms reflexively over her chest to hug herself. She whimpered as she started shivering, and shakily rubbed the new sore spot on her head.

Ruby stared at her, clutching her hand towel tightly and close to her chest. “Uh, Weiss…?”

“F-Force of habit!” Weiss lied through chattering teeth. “I usually just took baths in the stream by our house, where the water’s icy cold all year round!” she said as she hurriedly brought her tub back under the tap, frantically turned the hot water knob. “Great for waking up, and my whole family swears by the health benefits of freezing cold water!”

She shut off the water after the tub was full, brought it over her head, and very, very carefully poured it over herself, yelping at first until, shivering in pleasure by the end.

“So you just bathed out in the woods all the time?” Ruby asked as she put soap on her hand towel.

“Yep...” Weiss muttered as she put her tub down. “Hoshiko was a good distance away from our house, about a long bike ride through the woods, and their onsen was really small and the only one in town, so there wasn’t a guarantee that there would even be space by the time you got there.”

“Did you ever worry about Grimm?” Ruby asked as she cleaned her arms.

“Barely at all, actually,” Weiss replied as she picked up her own hand towel and followed suit. “Even before I started training for combat school, it’s hard to worry about getting attacked when basically everyone in your entire family is a huntsman or a huntress, and goes out on extermination missions on the reg.”

Ruby’s eyes brightened up at that. “Your whole family...?”

“Yep!” Weiss said. “Grandpa and Grandma are obviously teaching, though they still deploy if the Council asks them specifically; Winter’s active all over Remnant, as you already know; myself and my little brother Whitley are in-training, with him still in combat school; while my mom is officially in temporary retirement to take care of my brother, but takes care of security and missions in and around Hoshiko nonetheless,” she said, moving onto her legs now.

“Our whole house basically looks like a mix between a hunting lodge, a field laboratory, and a remote storage facility for old records and equipment, and that’s not even getting into all the exterior facilities my grandpa and grandma have built over the years, like our training grounds...”

“Can we go see your place and meet the rest of your family sometime?” Ruby asked as she soaped up a leg.

“Of course!” Weiss said, smiling at Ruby. She her mouth slowly fell open, she blushed, and quickly turned back to herself, scrubbing her skin with renewed intensity. “I mean—you know—with Akko, because we always go back to Hoshiko together, and maybe even Diana if she wants to go, to!

“Ah, it might be really cramped in the house since we already have so many people living there at once, but maybe we can just go camping outside by the stream? It’s really nice and peaceful there, and there’s already a cooking pit we can use to roast marshmallows and cook dinner, and like I said, my whole family are basically huntsmen and huntresses, so there’s little to no chance of us getting attacked and killed by Grimm while we’re sleeping!”

Weiss stopped in the middle of scrubbing her leg, now turning red from the friction. “… That didn’t come out right...” she muttered as she switched to the other.

“I’d actually really like that, Weiss—the camping, not the Grimm.” Ruby replied. “You think we can invite Yang, dad, and Uncle Qrow, too? They’re all basically training, current, or teaching huntsmen and huntresses, too, so they can take care of themselves.”

“Sure, sure! Just get your own sleeping bags, and maybe food, too—there’s only so much wild game and produce in our garden to go around.” Weiss said. “… And, now that I think about it, tell Qrow to bring his own alcohol.”

Ruby chuckled. “Oh, don’t worry: Uncle Qrow will do that, whether or not you asked him to!”

Weiss smiled, before she started working on her chest. “So, by means of deduction, I’m assuming your father’s a teacher at an academy somewhere?”

“Mhmm! Same school me and Yang studied at, and Uncle Qrow used to be a teacher for before he went back to the field: the Bunker!”

Weiss blinked, and stopped. “… Huh.”

“It’s okay: it really IS full of functional nutcases,” Ruby said. “You’d think the stories about tinfoil hats were a joke, but they’re really not...”

“Ah… I see, Ruby!” Weiss said nervously. She opened her mouth, before she quickly shut it again.

Ruby noticed. “It’s actually really nice once you get past the weirdness.”

“So I’ve read!” Weiss said. “It’s really admirable, actually, what they do in the Bunker, taking in students with all kinds of disabilities—and helping them adapt to normal life, too, I didn’t mean that in--”

Ruby put a soapy hand on Weiss shoulder, she tensed up. “Weiss… it’s fine.”

Weiss relaxed, if only a little. “Sorry… it’s just that...” she tensed up again. “… I know how sensitive those kinds of issues are, with huntsmen and huntresses, I really don’t want to cause offense.”

“It didn’t feel like you did anything wrong, Weiss,” Ruby said. “Anyway, you want to wash each other’s backs?”

Weiss blushed. “E-Excuse me?”

“You want to wash each other’s backs?” Ruby repeated. “I thought I might offer since you and Akko did it for each other yesterday, and Yang always complains when she has to do it alone.”

“O-Oh, sure, that’s very kind of you, Ruby!” Weiss said. “You know what, how about we do you first...?”

“Sure!” Ruby said as she rinsed off her towel under the tap, then put some new soap on it. “Ready when you are, Weiss!” she said as she held it out, and bent forward, smiling at Weiss.

Weiss swallowed the lump that had suddenly formed in her throat, before took Ruby’s hand towel from her, and dragged her stool behind hers. She looked at the expanse of wet, glistening back muscles in front of her, and felt herself began to sweat.

With shaking, trembling hands, she held Ruby’s towel up in both hands, and started slowly bringing it to her skin…

Meanwhile, in team AWRD’s dorm, Diana was busy at her desk, correcting factual errors, spelling mistakes, and sometimes commenting on the incredibly creative if bizarre analogies and comparisons Weiss made in her notes and drafts.

She hadn’t really been paying much attention to Akko’s experimenting on the far side of their room, adorning their wall with all manner of papers and materials from Nick’s office, but she couldn’t help but notice when Akko’s murmuring and talking to herself suddenly stopped.

Diana looked up from her scroll, saw Akko standing still and looking wary.“Is something the matter, Akko?” she asked.

“I have this gut feeling that Weiss is in trouble...” Akko said as she turned to Diana.

“Has she sent a message of any sort?” Diana asked. “I’ve got my scroll on Focus mode.”

“No, but you know what they say, when you’ve known someone for a long enough time, you can form a kind of connection with them?” Akko said. “Well, it’s like that.”

Diana nodded. “I’ve heard and read about that phenomenon, yes. Do you think it might be anything that requires immediate investigating?”

“No, not really…” Akko looked down. “I usually feel worse when Weiss is really in trouble, life-or-death bad. This is like, ‘Couldn’t or didn’t study for an important test’ sorta bad.”

“Then I suppose we can ignore it and get back to work,” Diana said as she turned back to her scroll. “Ruby is with her, isn’t she? If your instinct is correct, I’m sure the two of them can handle it together,” she said as she put her hands back on the keyboard extension.

“Hrrm… yeah, I suppose you’re right...” Akko said, turning back around to the mess of papers on their wall. She stared blankly at it for a moment, before put her hands to her head and cried, “Kuyashiiiiii…!”

Back in the bathhouse, Weiss was in a similar state of distress, but for a very different reason.

“You okay, Weiss?” Ruby asked as knelt behind Weiss, washing her back now.

“I’m fine...!”

“Really? Cause you’re suddenly REALLY tense.” Ruby paused, and looked up over Weiss’ shoulder and at her reflection on the mirror. “Oh, and your face is all red, again too... do you feel sick...?”

“Nope!”

“Alright...” Ruby frowned before she returned to washing Weiss’ back.

Soon enough, the two of them were shampooing their hair, Ruby’s sticking up in wild, random spikes from when she’d worked in the shampoo, Weiss very carefully working it down the base all the way to the tips.

“Sure you don’t want me to help with your hair, Weiss?” Ruby asked. “I help Yang’s with hers all the time, and I only need to let my shampoo sit for a while before I rinse it off.”

“Nope, nope, I’ve got this!” Weiss replied. “Sorry, Ruby, there’s only a handful of people I trust to help me with my hair—it’s really important to me.”

“Okay…” Ruby said, before she peered at Weiss’ hair, so long it almost hit the floor. “I guess you’ve been growing it out for a really long time, huh?”

“Ever since I started being in control of my haircuts! Little over a decade, if I remember right.”

Ruby nodded. “You know, I’ve always wanted to pull off long hair like yours and Yang’s, but I could just never do it—it just always got in the way of things, and I never figured out how to keep it back!”

“It’s definitely got its many pitfalls, and requires a lot of effort and maintenance beside, yes,” Weiss replied. “But, I could help you grow it out and how to fight with it, like I did with Akko! She used to cut have it cut short, too, until she decided she wanted to grow it out like mine and Winter’s.”

Ruby brightened up, before she relaxed. “Hrrm… thanks, but we probably can’t, Weiss; Uncle Qrow said every scythe wielder he knew had to have short hair because of how the weapon and all its techniques work.”

“Why not try growing it out anyway?”

“Eh, I’ll probably end up chopping it off during training again, and have to cut my hair SUPER short so it doesn’t look weird,” Ruby replied, before she sighed. “I guess I’m just going to be stuck with short hair like this for the rest of my life...” she said as she picked up her tub, and started filling it again.

“Hey, it’s not like you aren’t already pretty cute!” Weiss said.

Beat.

“I mean, your hair! You aren't—I mean, you are already pretty cute with short hair like that! It looks great on you, honest!”

“Weiss…?” Ruby asked she shut off the water.

Weiss tensed up. “Yes…?”

“You’ve got some shampoo about to run down your left eye.”

“Oh.” Weiss closed it, felt it drip over after. “Thanks, Ruby.”

“No problem!” Ruby said as she resumed lathering her hair. “Oh, and Weiss?”

“Yes?”

“You look really cute with long hair like that, too,” Ruby said. “Kind of like one of those princesses from the fairy tales that have people traveling miles and miles just to see how beautiful she is.”

Weiss made a noise.

Ruby frowned, and peered at her. “… You okay, Weiss?” she asked.

“Yes.” Weiss replied, her voice barely a whisper, her face burning red.

Ruby picked up her tub “I think you should give your voice a rest, and just spend some time soaking in the bath; I think you really are getting sick...” she said, before she rinsed herself off.

The two of them spent the rest of their time in the bathhouse in silence, Ruby humming to herself as she soaked, Weiss silently sitting next to her, taking long, deep breaths, and letting them go slowly, taking advantage of all the hot, soothing steam in the bathhouse.

“Haah!” Ruby sighed happily as she put down her empty bottle of strawberry milk on the counter. “Man, nothing beats ice cold milk after a hot bath!” she said to Weiss, smiling and unaware of the pink milk mustache that had formed on her upper lip.

Weiss tensed up. “… I hear it certainly is refreshing!” she replied, before she brought her freshly opened bottle of plain milk to her lips and started chugging it. She gasped for breath as she pulled it away, coughing as she set the almost empty glass back on the counter.

“Woah—you okay there, Weiss?” Ruby asked, reaching out to touch her arm.

“Fine!” Weiss said, raising up her other hand and stopping her. “Totally fine… okay, maybe a little dehydrated from soaking too long...”

“Hmm, we should probably get some water to go while we’re still here in Haven,” Ruby said, before she turned back to the barista behind the refreshment counter.

“On the house,” the barista said as they pulled up a four-liter bottle with a handle. “Your friend there looks like she could really use it...” they said with a sly smile.

Weiss’ eyes widened, before she glared at them, Ruby was oblivious. “Oh, hey, thanks!” she said as she took it, before the two of them made for the exit.

They picked up sandwiches at the dining hall, before they were riding the elevator back down to Mistral, Ruby at the front of a bright red bicycle, Weiss riding in the cart attached to it, sitting on a sleeping bag with an umbrella above her.

As the gears started turning and the platform started descending, an important question occurred to Weiss: “Hey Ruby, how low into the city are we going, anyway?”

“Oh!” Ruby said. “Sorry I forgot to mention, we’re going down to the lower levels; it’s the only place my family can really afford, and our budget, too, probably.”

Weiss eyes widened.

“Ah—would you rather not go that low?” Ruby asked. “I can always try finding some other stores up at the mid-sections.”

Weiss shook her head. “No, no need to, Ruby!” she said as she began to relax. “It’s been a long while since I’ve been there, and the city’s a big place, too; I think it’s a pretty safe bet that they don’t even remember me anymore.”

They did.

Note: Majority of the Bunker’s students tend to be PWDs, have learning disorders, have mental health issues, are at-risk youth, or many other traits that might make conventional education in mainstream schools like Sanctum and Atlas CA (Combat Academy) difficult, if they hadn’t already tried and found it wasn’t a right fit for their needs.

However, they also have a sizable population of non-disabled students who simply like the smaller class sizes; the atmosphere of innovation and unconditional acceptance of everything that isn’t directly, unquestionably harmful to others; and especially their emphasis on using technology to make many aspects of life easier, coupled with some of the most generous research grants at the Combat School level.  

Ruby and Yang so far are the only ones who went there; Akko, Weiss, Sucy, and Jasminka were all from Sanctum (it’s a VERY big school), and the others were from overseas, or took the Hunstman’s General Competency Degree (GCD) to get into Haven.

To give you an idea at what life in the Bunker is like, a common question among professors holding practice matches for the lower levels is, “What do I need to do to give these children an equal-opportunity deathmatch?”

[stargleeksil-blog]

Criminal Minds s05e18 “The Fight” review - or more aptly named, one of the most exciting episodes regarding the guest stars. HOLY MOTHER OF FUCK!

Episode 18 – The Fight

Heyo!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I don’t like the name of this one, it leads me to believe it might involve some sort of fight club, and I’m not looking forward to that one.

Let’s see what happens before I make judgy assumptions, though.

Hold up, a report of a body in Presidio Park? But that park is fucking huge! And at night, how are they hoping to find anything there?

Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, last year in October I was in San Francisco, so I know all about the Presidio Park because I’m a nerd and a geek and a Disney-heart so I visited all the awesome things and museums there.

“We need to call the FBI. It’s starting again.”

Wait. They have a serial killer that’s already been killing and they haven’t gotten him yet? Oh god.

God, that girl is such a teenager it drives me nuts.

Hey. I know that girl! Hold up.

That’s Nicole from Zoey 101!!!!!!!! Oh my god, my Nickelodeon teenager self is coming out XDDDDDDDDDDDD

And that dude was in Castle! Oh god, I’m so frigging excited about this episode right now!

Hey! He was in Castle, too!

Oh god, this just turned out to be one of the most enticing episodes yet!

Wait. How does he know the kid? Is he stalking her?

Did he just abduct the father and daughter? Oh dear.

Creepy.

Wait. Hold the fucking phone.

Is that fucking Forest Whitaker? OH MY GOD I LOVE THIS EPISODE SO MUCH ALREADY! JUST BECAUSE OF THE GUEST STARS!

Oh my god, I’m so excited right now.

Oh my god, he’s kicking ass like a BAMF, I love you, Forest!

Hey, Forest!

“You never were one for offices.”

“A medical condition. I’m allergic to bureaucracy.”

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

So let me get this straight, they killed four dudes, over four days, waited a year, did the same thing. And it’s repeated itself? Why haven’t they investigated it beforehand?

“Which means we have three days before the trail goes cold again.”

Ah. Gotcha.

Hold up. So after the four dead men, they killed the dad and the brunette daughter? ALEXA! WATCH OUT!

So he’s asking the BAU to help him out with his theory. I knew this episode was gong to be awesome.

“I mean, you don’t have time to be chasing an angle like this one.”

True.

“So my team works the bodies in Presidio Park while your team tests the theory about the fathers and daughters.”

Awesome.

“And if I’m right, both halves of the case help solve the other half.”

Amazing.

“And you already asked the director and she said no.”

Ruh-roh.

“She is not strong in thinking outside the box.”

Damn straight.

“You ignore her order and you’re wrong, you’re done.”

“I’m telling you Hotch …”

Oh, my boy is determined! I’m super excited right now, and we’re only five minutes into the episode!

Mother Teresa: “I have found the paradox that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.”

Lovely?

So pretty!

“The tenderloin district has a high concentration of drug addicts and homeless people. All the victims have been transients.”

So glad I stayed away from that one. Nothing against transients, I’m just not a fan of drugs.

“So this unsub’s choosing easy targets that won’t be missed. He’s not concerned with the challenge of the hunt.”

“All these victims are part of a larger plan.”

Oh dear.

“Reid, did you find any significance to the dates?”

“Nothing historical. It’s gotta be personal for the unsub.”

Oh god.

“Morgan and I will go to the coroner’s office.”

He sure knows how to treat my boy.

So they’re cooperating with Cooper’s team.

“We’ll investigate the dead men, and his team can see if there is a missing father and daughter.”

Yup.

“Why isn’t his team on the jet now?”

“Because the director wouldn’t authorize them joining the investigation.”

“They’re working against the director’s orders?”

Oh boy.

“Or you could get in serious hot water if the director thinks you’re helping to defy her.”

Uh, yeah.

Forest Whitaker with a blackboard. Shouldn’t be doing things to me, but it is.

Oh my god! That’s Michael Kelly! He’s this hot shot on House of Cards, but I love him nonetheless… I’m not a fan of shows about the presidents … sorry.

“Trying to get out of the heavy lifting, eh?”

Oh my god, he’s British. I love British accents!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“Actually, I’m setting up a two-way ilnb with a 500-megawatt transmitter and single-polarity lnb, both operating in the KU band.”

“What did she just say to me?”

XDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Smart ladies. I love this episode already.

“At least we’re blessed with a nice setup.”

Ha, I love the sarcasm.

“I know a guy who knows a guy who knows a slumlord who gave us a great deal.”

I love this episode so freaking much.

“So how do we conjure victims of a crime that might not have been committed out of thin air in a major American city?”

This Brit is SMART.

“Only 45% of the population’s white, what does that leave?”

“360,000.”

Ooh, he’s a smartypants, too.

“Well, okay, if you wanna show off about it.”

Ha.

Okay, just so you know? This is going to be fucking long. I’m already three pages of Word doc into this episode, and I haven’t even reached 10 minutes. Fuck.

Sorry.

“What the hell is he doing with them?”

Did Hotch just say ‘what the hell’? Whoa.

Oh god, this is seriously sick. He’s holding fathers and daughters. And makes the fathers fight the previous fathers for their lives and their daughters’? I wanna barf.

“I love this guy.”

Me too.

“And the prophet speaks.”

Ha.

I knew he was a smartypants here.

What’s going on?

“The video was shot by a camera on a tripod, which means he probably doesn’t have a partner. It would be almost impossible for him to take your family prisoner and do surveillance simultaneously.”

True.

“He doesn’t leave anybody with knowledge alive.”

Did you have to say that to her, though?

“Your theory’s right. We know he’s killing homeless men as well as fathers and daughters but let us work it.”

Wait, why?

“If you got back to DC now, the director won’t know that you ignored her order.”

“Look, I know you’re sticking your neck out on this thing for me.”

So cute.

“This isn’t about me. I want to protect you.”

I love you guys so much.

“I won’t ignore my gut again.”

So he’s haunted by the fact that he listened to orders and got back, but they found a second killer on a case hew as working? Oh honey.

“I don’t care what it cost me.”

Oh boy.

“My people will be on the record, and we’ll use yours to double manpower.”

Awesome.

And another body was found.

Ugh.

Emily: “So how does a Brit …”

Mick: “A handsome Brit.”

“How does a Brit end up in the FBI?”

XDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

I sense something here.

“So, is it true that no one in the British special forces is allowed to admit they’re in it?”

Seriously?

“I don’t know. I’d have to ask around about that one.”

Ha.

“These victims might actually be fighting with each other.”

Damn.

Finally they’re onto it.

“It sends a message to the prisoners he already has. You lose a fight, you die.”

Oh god.

“I think the unsub’s been locked up. It’s where he’s learned to control his own prisoners.”

Wow.

“The loser is executed.”

Fuck.

“Admit it, I’m starting to grow on you.”

You’re starting to be full of yourself, Mick.

“If I’m right, there’s somewhere else we need to be delivering that profile.”

Maybe, but at least tell her where?

So that’s San Quentin? It has one heck of a reputation.

And apparently Shemar’s dad did time there. Wow.

Rossi: “This is one for the books, eh?”

“Yeah. You spend much time here?”

“Maybe half a dozen interviews. You?”

“Six years, three months, four days.”

Wait. He served at San Quentin and he got out alive? White boy, you are amazing.

“I ever got my shot at redemption, I was gonna take my game to the other side.”

So cute.

“Criminals are the ones who make the rules, cops are the ones who gotta learn them.”

Oh wow.

It’s so weird seeing him as an ex-criminal. He usually plays a role of authority. Funny.

“This kid, best sniper I’ve ever seen.”

No need to gloat about it.

“So, what are you wearing?”

REALLY?

“A gun.”

I love you, Emily.

“Hey, Mick, explain something to me. How come I’m out on the street and you’re sitting on your butt on some roof?”

XDDDDDDDDDDDDD

“Well, you heard the man. Do you really want me to expound on my own prowess? It’s undignified.”

Why am I suddenly shipping Emily and Mick? XDDDDDDDDDDDD

“Care to expand on that? All I see are guys clocking junkies.”

Lol.

Did he not just tell Prentiss to stay close? Why doesn’t she listen?

Frack. They chased the wrong dude.

Frack.

“You up for a ride to San Quentin?”

Well, that’s romantic.

“It’s like the old days, spending all your time interviewing prisoners.”

“Don’t go getting sentimental on me.”

I love those two interacting together so much!

Did they not kick her out yet? Ugh.

“Let me talk to her for a second.”

Oh he’s walking on thin ice.

“No, ma’am, I do not think you’re stupid.”

I DO!

“I want you back here today.”

“I can’t do that.”

Wait, what now?

“You can fire me tomorrow. Right now, I got less than 24 hours before a father an da daughter turn up dead somewhere in the city, and I refuse to be on an airplane while the son of a bitch dumps their bodies.”

“Now, with all … all possible respect … I gotta go.”

I would have told her to go fuck herself.

“So where were we?”

XDDDDDDDDDDDDD I love Forest so much.

 “Is it true you interview Charles Manson before they transferred him out of here?”

“Three straight days, 1988.”

Wow.

Wait. Manson was held in San Quentin? Wow.

“What was he like?”

“Small.”

What?

“What are you doing?”

“My dad was army. In my house, we marched.”

“He must be proud of you.”

You’re so cute!!!!!!!!!!!

“Well, Cooper obviously had a lot of faith in you. He plucked you out of the academy, right?”

Apparently.

That’s nice.

“What is it?”

Uh yeah, it doesn’t make sense that the journal is out in the open. Journals are private and are kept hidden if you know someone might see it.

“What’s in it?”

“So she’s defiant, and she wants her parents to read it.”

But why put in on paper in the first place if she wanted others to know about it? She could’ve told them.

“Unless it was forced on her.”

What?

So a family counselor told her to do it? Oh dear.

“Where was the office?”

“The tenderloin district.”

Boom.

“Good work, Morgan.”

Yup.

“Can I talk to your analyst?”

Do you really want to do that? XDDDDDDDDDDD

“Talk to me.”

“Penelope Garcia. Sam Cooper.”

Wait, he knows about her?

“Sam Cooper? As I live and breathe, and here I thought you were a story someone invented.”

I love you, lady.

“Here’s what I need from you.” 

“Roger that. Gonna hack like the wind.”

I love her so much.

“Prepared to be wowed, sir.”

“All right, my tribe.”

Someone please get her over here so I can kiss that pretty mouth of Kirsten’s.

“Shazam.”

They got the fucker.

Oh Jane is smart. She lied about hating her dad so she could save him. I love her so much right now.

God, I hope they find Jane.

“We’re two blocks away.”

“Don’t shine it on the street.”

“Then why the hell are we up here?”

“Just give me the rooftop.”

They don’t want to spook him, smart.

“This guy was locked alone in a box for three years. If he feels trapped, his animal instinct’s gonna kick in … and since he can’t dig his way out of here, I guarantee you he’s going to the roof.”

Yup.

Come on, honeys.

“Drop the gun!”

“Don’t do it! Put it down!”

“Get off the wall!”

Oh god.

Oh fuck!

Oh thank fucking fuck that Mick is a straightshooter.

Oh my fucking goodness that was hard on me.

I’m not ready to lose Emily.

“You guys wanna watch out for this one. She’s gonna have a hard time getting over me.”

Oh god!

“Like kicking a virus.”

I love Emily so much.

“You know, I could have just missed.”

“With your ego?”

“Not a chance.”

XDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Are Mick and Emily actually flirting? I love this!

“I actually think San Quentin was nicer.”

What?

“Yeah, trust me. It’s not.”

“What do you mean?”

Oh my innocent poodle.

“Oh, so you’re calling me directly now, huh?”

“Don’t be insolent. I still plan on reading you and Agent Hotchner the riot when you get back.”

Oh god, I hate that bitch.

“It’s something to look forward to.”

Ha!

“Now, don’t be an idiot. Get on that jet with his team and get back home. I have a pile of cases for you.”

I hate Strauss.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“So what exactly did she say?”

“She said that she’s gonna buy us a steak dinner when we get back.”

“Right.”

XDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD “A toast!”

Can we just talk about the fact that they’re fucking toasting with Forest fucking Whitaker?

Amazing!

 Okay, so this episode was all kinds of amazing. Sure, it could have been better , and they could have given Forest a more rounded character, but I loved that he was jagged and rough and not perfect, and it was so amazing. I’m officially shipping Emily with mick right now, and I don’t care if it doesn’t happen cannonly, I’m still shipping them.

Can’t wait for the next episode.

[phaniecastello-blog]

Practice Challenge 1

((Well, here it is, finally!! I know it is long, but maybe you will like it, I hope so.))

The promise

“…plie, releve, plie, releve…” I was listening to Miss Dorothy words as she was instructed the ballerinas to do the correct positions. I raised my glance from my sketchbook to verify the details on the blonde lady’s tutu; the texture of the tulle had to be properly capture in here, as well as the subtle folds that make the outfit look so feminine. The gratifying whisper of the graphite as it strokes here and there has always been one of my favorite things about drawing; it’s just as if the pencil has his own dance on the paper that once was blank.

I was there again, sitting on the flat wooden floor in the corner of the big white room. Even though I always have been way better with portraits, I had decided to practice making some complete body drawings. I just needed a good sketch to keep the image on my mind and then make it come to life in my free times at home; those times when my mother lets me breathe from all the runway rehearsals and photo shooting sets.

“That would be all for now ladies, I will see you all at our next class” Miss Dorothy paused the classical music in the middle of a violin solo, while the young ballerinas started walking towards the dressing rooms, braking the peace of the room with their voices.

Wait, what?! I was going to be here just a few minutes. Loretta is going to kill me.

I stood up as if something in the floor suddenly had pinched me and put my sketchbook and pencils back in my purse as quick as I could.

“You lost track of time again, don’t you, pretty girl?” I turned to see the thin, tanned skinned woman with the simple black dress and leggings. She has a sarcastic little smile on her face.

“Yes…! Thank you for letting me in, again, Miss” I answered. She nodded. She was a kind but strict person. I have always wanted to be part of her ballet class, but my mother never let me try; the day she found out I signed up without her permission and that I used to spend my Saturday afternoons there, she showed up making a scene in front of everyone! Since then, Miss Dorothy had never let me sign up again. It wasn’t like she was afraid of my mother, she was just a refined and pacific woman, that had no need to be involved in those kinds of problems with anyone; I didn’t want to cause her any problems either, so, I was absent for a long time, until I consider the danger had passed, and beg her to let me stay at least in one corner, quietly, just to do some sketches. A week ago, she finally accepted.

Although, I was never safe, never free. Having a high caste in this country had a price to pay, and a big one. Several eyes following you at least 3 days per week. I’m talking about the media; paparazzi, reporters… A picture of her daughter with the Dance Academy as a background wouldn’t be my mom’s favorite.

Before getting out of there I put on my sunglasses, the heels I took off when I arrived in order not to scratch the wooden floor and pulled the edges of my gray hood further over my face. I knew it wasn’t the best disguise, but it had surprisingly worked for a complete week, I also knew that ritual was pathetic, but every time I remembered all the reasons the media had given me to avoid them, I forced myself to ignore the embarrassment.

The media “love” my mother because she gave them drama and juicy news back when she was a selected; and now she is a famous and successful fashion designer, so, they can’t ignore her, even if they wanted to. But me… the fact that my personality isn’t like Loretta’s seemed to disappoint them. The good thing is some of them were creative enough to made up things about me, others just liked to have fun calling me “hypocrite” every now and then… No matter what I did, they were never content with me.

“Hey, Loretta, I’m here!” I greeted my mom as I entered to her office. I had to run into thousands of photographers, magazine staff and a big bunch of skinny, narcissist, superficial… people to reach her. I have to mention that I had been part of that bunch since I pronounced my first words, but for a change, I had never fit in it.

Everything was being settled for the new autumn/winter collection to come out to the world, so, the place was a chaos. It was always a chaos. Before this one we had the “creative chaos”, my personal favorite, when you can see all kinds of fabrics of many different colors on every table, people around my mother trying to make the best suggestion to impress her, people sawing some details on the unfinished dresses, assistants running from here to there, and, the best part, beautiful sketches of all the designs, posted on every wall… I liked that environment, where you could almost touch the ideas floating in the air and then you see them turning into beautiful clothes.

I can’t lie, Loretta was one of the best fashion designers in the whole country, maybe even in the world. I mean, not for nothing she was a very famous woman, although, being part of the -now- King Spencer selection could have helped a lot!

“You are late, hun” she said scowling, while she was fixing the sleeves of a tall brunette girl; she must had been new, because I didn’t recognize her.

“I know, sorry. I had to stay late at the school to do some… project, but Peter drove as fast as he could” Pete was my driver and bodyguard. He and I had an agreement, he wouldn’t tell mom about my visits to the Dance Academy and I would let him use my car for his personal use, twice a month on his free days.  

I kissed her cheek and she gave me a  fake grin, a sign that she wasn’t convinced. “Well, then, what are you waiting for!? Nancy is waiting for you”

I sighed, relieved that she didn’t react like I expected. Actually, she had been acting surprisingly indulgent, lately; and I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing.

I entered to the makeup room and noticed that Nancy suddenly hide something behind her back as soon as she spotted me. She waved at me with her free hand.

“What are you hiding from me, now, Nancy?” I asked to my young, personal makeup artist.

“Nothing, Miss. Just wanted to keep this magazine I liked, to cut some hot guys from it” She answered with a nervous tone, fanning the magazine in front of me as it had no importance, but when I noticed the name of it I understood what she was trying to hide.

I scoffed a smile, moved by her failing efforts to protect me. “…Girl! I receive almost all the magazines of the country and even international ones at home every week. I’ve read the article this morning. There’s no need to hide it” I acknowledged, sitting in the chair in front of the big mirror, as straight as I could to show my strength.

The magazine contained the announcement of my ex-boyfriend engagement with a French actress, Arlette … something. The news shocked me, but only because it had been just a year since I rejected his offer to run away with him and travel the world together.

“Are you alright, then?” She asked in a shy tone while she was preparing the face lotions, brushes and makeup to start working on my face.

“Yes, I am. You know more than anyone that we ended in good terms, and surprisingly, it wasn’t that hard to let him go. The problem still is…”

“I know.” She interrupted. Nancy was the closest I had to a friend, sometimes I feel like the makeup sessions are more like therapy for me or maybe a confessionary. We had discussed the Dylan situation before. After he left I was upset, but he wasn’t the reason. I was upset because I hadn’t had the courage to run away, to go to an adventure and leave this… good, but not satisfactory life.

We remain in silence for some minutes while she cleaned my skin with an oiled product that had a peculiar citrus smell “Besides, there are tons of better guys out there. This could be a perfect timing to be single” Nancy continued, handling me a magazine which read: “Nathaniel Schreave, Illéas most eligible bachelor. Ready for the selection?”  on the cover it showed a very good picture of our Prince, he looked very handsome.

I raised an eyebrow glaring at Nancy. “What? I know you like him. Once you said you admire people that has real power and stays humble, like him. I remember it, because I was thinking: What I admire are his nice abs. But your reasons were good, too”. I tried not to laugh at her words, failing.

“I had read this magazine, too, and, you know what? … I have been considering this since then” I said smirking. She grins. I looked down to the magazine on my lap, again “I wonder what she would say” My mother hated the royals for a simple reason. She couldn’t be part of them.

“Oh no! Not again!” Nancy said raising the volume of her voice and leaving my eyeline unfinished. “You can’t lose this opportunity too, because of your fears!” A frustrated look appeared on her face.

I suddenly feel annoyed. How dare she talking to me like that.  “Hey! Watch that tone, Nancy!” The true was that the only reason I felt offended, was because I knew she was right. She looked down at her shoes ashamed and disappointed at the same time and then continued working on my face.

I spent the next 30 minutes of silence meditating about what she told me, about the selection, about how I was going to fix this…

“You are ready” She said with a barely audible tone. I stood up and brush my shirt with my hands, even when I knew it was as clean as it could be. I opened my mouth to speak but she did it first. “Look, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have to talked to you like that. It’s just… I think you’re kind of nice and I don’t want you to have anything else to regret…”

I half smiled “Thank you… I’m sorry I shouted at you. I didn’t have to take out my frustration on you” She nodded and gave a grin. “Also, I already took my decision about this selection thing.”

“…and I also think it will be great to experience what you once lived… Ugh no! This doesn’t sound convincing, does it?” I asked Moe. He was looking at me with his little bright black eyes. I was sure mini pigs are easier to convince than Loretta Castello. I had been rehearsing my words for almost half an hour inside my room. It had been a long day at the fashion studio, but I didn’t want to prolong this anymore. I sit on my bed, holding the application letter in my hands. I realized it doesn’t matter which words I use, she will never say yes to this, but I don’t care, this time I will do what I want to do. I filled the letter with all my personal info and when I finished I felt determined to talk to her.   I was walking towards my door when I listened to a knock on my door “Are you still awake, bambolina? She asked with a sweet voice. The one she used when she’s going to ask me to do something. Like that time when she asked me to be part of an underwear photoshoot at 5 am at the theme park. The good thing was that time I had the opportunity to negotiate my art classes. “I need to talk to you” she added. I kept the application letter in the first drawer of my desk and opened the door. “Yes, I’m still awake, come in” I invited her, although she was already inside my room, sitting on the edge of my bed. She patted the bed at her side for me to sit with her. “Okay, what is it now?” I said with a smirk as I took my place beside her. “Don’t say it as I always ask you crazy things, Estefanía!” I scoffed and make a sign with my hand for her to continue. She took a deep breath as if it was hard for her to pronounce the following words. “I think you should apply for the selection” Loretta most have noticed the shocked look on my face because she tried to justify her words “… before you say no, just listen to me for a second. I think you have not entirely recovered for that break up you suffered with Dolan, and...” “His name was Dylan, mom” I corrected her, still surprised by her words. She never showed much interest about that matter. The day I told her about it she just hugged me tight and said “I told you so” and she never mentioned it again. I guess she just wanted to give me space. “…whatever! That jerk doesn’t deserve to be remembered. So, I think you should take this opportunity to heal and to try to get a new love” She conclude. I couldn’t believe my ears. I thought she hated the royals, since Prince Spencer eliminated her from his selection. “That arrogante, privo di tattoo…” She always shrieks, even when I have read a whole different story in the magazines. With all she did and said about the other selected on the interviews, I was surprised she didn’t get kicked out sooner in the competition. She had been trying hard to change since then, but something in her words just didn’t fit fine, this time, but I wasn’t going to miss this opportunity. “Hmm… I think you might be right, mom, luckily I last as much as you, there” I said in a reflexive tone. “Sure, why not? I will apply!” I agreed before she changed her mind. “Estefanía, take it for me when I say, those girls will do whatever it takes to win… and you have to promise me you will do the same! No matter what, you have to fight hard!” Her tone was scaring me, it’s like something had possessed her. But 5 seconds ago, she was all sweetness! When she saw my terror face, she changed her tone “…I’m just telling you this, because I don’t want them to hurt you, bambolina” She said pulling my head closer to her shoulder and stroking my curly hair. “Just promise me you will do it” I didn’t like that tone or what she was suggesting, that wasn’t my idea to apply to this competition, I just wanted to meet Nathaniel and get the opportunity to know him more; also, the experience sounded appealing, I could finally meet real friends, real people, and in the process, I could show the Illéans I wasn’t the superficial, hypocrite girl that the media had made them believe. But this wasn’t the time to argue with Loretta, if making a simple promise was what it takes for her to let me do this, I will do it. “I promise”

[captain-zajjy]

Solstice, Chapter 2 - A Final Fantasy XV Story

Pairing: Ignis x Female Original Character

AO3 | Chapter 1

Both Valeria and her mother had received invitations to attend the party at the Citadel to commemorate the signing of the treaty with the Empire. But work didn’t pause for politics, so Valeria found herself getting ready in her office suite at a few minutes past seven, doing the best she could with her hair and makeup in the small, poorly lit bathroom, mildly annoyed that she had missed out on her evening jog.

Her mother was already at the party and sent the family driver back to pick her up. The Citadel was draped in black and gold, no expense spared on decorations and catering, and predictably packed, a veritable catalog of Lucis’s best and brightest (save the Crown Prince, of course). Valeria recognized most of the Lucian guests from similar events in the past, but she was surprised to see Kingsglaive uniforms on all the guards.

But it was a special occasion, after all. And the party was crawling with Niffs. White and red garbed Imperials dotted the crowd, and it was strained smiles and awkward pleasantries all around; just because they were now at peace didn’t mean either side had to like it.

Valeria caught sight of her mother’s dark bobbed hair among the crowd and, after greeting several women with whom she’d gone to school, made her way across the ballroom.

“Ah, my lovely daughter, Valeria,” her mother said smoothly, introducing several people Valeria recognized as potential investors. That explained why her mother was laughing at all their bad jokes. Valeria smiled and played along, but she was relieved when the men moved on to the bar.

Her mother immediately turned off the charm and gave her daughter an appraising once-over. “Why didn’t you wear that new black dress?”

Because I didn’t choose it for myself, Valeria thought. Going on twenty-three years old and her mother still tried to pick out her clothes. It was embarrassing. Aloud, she said, “I just like this one.”

Her mother frowned, as if to say navy blue was somehow too ostentatious, but blessedly let it go.

Instead, she said pointed to the little leather bag attached to Valeria’s wrist containing her phone, ID, lipstick, and some gil if she needed to call a cab to make a quick exit. “Get someone to check that. Your phone makes you so antisocial.”

Valeria spread her hands in exasperation. “Anything else I’m doing wrong?”

“Oh, hush.” Her mother gave her a playful swat on the arm. “You look very nice. Did you see Godric Octavio over there? Why don’t you go say hello? I can’t believe a handsome young man like that is still single.”

That’s because he’s an insufferable shit. Godric Octavio was indeed quite handsome, perhaps even better-looking than the Crown Prince himself. The Octavio family shared a common ancestry with the Caelum dynasty, claiming descent from the eighth son of some ancient and virile king, and the resemblance was still there to some degree. Valeria didn’t care about any of that, but if it would get her mother off her back…

“Fine,” she muttered.

“Don’t slouch, dear.” Her mother always had to have the last word.

Valeria migrated over to where Godric Octavio was attempting to flirt with some poor serving girl.

“Hello, Godric,” she said cordially. The waitress gave her a grateful look and quickly disappeared into the crowd.

Godric hungrily took in Valeria’s appearance with heavily-lidded eyes. He’d clearly taken advantage of the open bar.

“Valeria Soleil,” he slurred, pushing a lock of dark hair out of his eyes. “You’re looking good. Way better than high school,” he added, gaze glued to her chest.

Charming. Valeria ignored the sudden, overwhelming urge to take a bath and forced a smile.

“How kind of you to say.” Much as she wanted to, she couldn’t be outright rude to him - that would inevitably make its way back to her mother and then she’d never hear the end of it. But that didn’t mean she had to be nice.

“I’m surprised to find you all alone over here,” she said with a dark smile. “Don’t tell me you’re losing your touch.” At the Academy, Godric had always, always been surrounded by a gaggle of girls.

Something coherent flashed behind his eyes, a recognition that ‘oh, we’re going to play this game,’ before they glazed back over with drink. Before he could respond, an ear-splitting rumble shook the roof above them.

Valeria jumped, startled, but let out a laugh when she looked through a window and saw a hundred sparkling points of light blanketing the nighttime sky.

“Let’s check out the show,” Godric said, taking her arm. “And make both our mothers happy.”

That made Valeria smirk. She followed her escort out onto the terrace, ignoring the way he kept bumping into her as they walked. Along with the rest of the party-goers, she watched the impressive fireworks display heralding Lucis’s peace with the Nifleheim Empire. And she might have even enjoyed it, if not for Godric trying to slip an arm around her hips.

“You know, you never gave me the time of day back in school. Heh heh...I bet us being here like this now would really piss Scientia off.” When Valeria turned to frown at him, Godric drained the remains of his drink. “Where is old four-eyes anyway? Not here, obviously, since he’s not up your ass.”

That gave her pause. Were they really so obvious that even a blockhead like Godric Octavio had taken notice? Not that they ever did anything other than socialize, anyway. He’s drunk, she reminded herself. And trying to get a rise out of you.

In response to his question, Valeria shrugged, trying to look indifferent. “Out of town, I guess.” No one needed to know that she’d spoken with Ignis on the phone just yesterday.

“I never could stand that smug son of a bitch,” Godric muttered. “Always walking around like he was hot shit, all because he works for the Prince.”

“Well, the feeling was mutual, I assure you.” Valeria turned back to the fireworks, trying to squash the little bead of irritation that cropped up at someone badmouthing Ignis. Were it socially acceptable, Scientia would kick your ass, she thought with a smile.

She wondered if he was back on the road to Altissia now. He’d texted her several times to tell her that the car had broken down, but mostly to lament the Prince’s lackadaisical attitude toward the whole affair.

Poor Iggy. Did all royal chamberlains have to deal with this sort of thing, or had he been saddled with a particularly difficult charge? Valeria had texted him back with the hopeful reminder that, at the very least, he’d be getting help from Lady Lunafreya soon.

Godric wandered off in search of another drink, or maybe another female, as the fireworks continued to pop and crackle overhead. Unsurprisingly, it seemed they’d pulled out all the stops with the display, each wave of light getting brighter and louder than before. The force of the it had even started to shake the furniture on the terrace, plates and glasses rattling against tabletops.

A massive boom actually knocked some of the decorations over, and caused Valeria to sway slightly on her feet. She looked around her then, seeing faltering smiles and hearing nervous laughter. If this was part of the show, maybe the were overdoing it a bit.

A deafening crack sounded, and the floor suddenly fell away from her feet. No, this wasn’t part of the show. This was wrong. Very wrong.

When Valeria next blinked, her face was inches from the floor tiles and screams filled her ringing ears. She pushed herself to her feet, strangely fixated with the tear in her pantyhose and the little bit of blood welling up on her knee. Another blow sent her sprawling into a serving cart, and she found herself mumbling an apology to no one in particular as she picked herself back up.

In front of her, a corner of the terrace had simply vanished. People were covered in plaster, dust, and splintered wood. Some were moving; many were not. In the midst of the rubble she made out the bloody ruin of half of Godric Octavio’s handsome face.

Valeria stared at the scene before her uncomprehending, like there was some disconnect between her eyes and brain. A tug on her arm and her name being shouted in her ear drew her attention away from the horror.

“Valeria, we have to go.” Her mother grabbed her hand.

Valeria blinked at her. “Mom, what…?”

“Now, Valeria.” Valeria allowed herself to be lead along by the hand like a small child, trying to fathom just what was happening. The building continued to rumble and shake. A huge mass of people clogged the entrance to the stairwell, pushing, screaming, shouting.

“Move!” Valeria’s mother was shorter than her daughter, and rail thin, but she shoved people aside with the ease of a man twice her size, pulling Valeria through the crowd and fighting their way down the stairs.

A siren began to blare, not just in the building, but throughout the city. Valeria had never heard it before, but its meaning was clear: Get out. Run.

Her mother stepped over a splayed body on the landing, pulling Valeria along when she balked. Sorry, she wanted to say to the unfortunate person. Maybe they should stop and help, but she was too afraid to do anything but follow where her mother pulled her.

They tumbled out into the city street along with the handful of others who had managed to make it all the way out of the building. The air seemed almost like a solid mass, thick with smoke and dust. Beneath the drone of the emergency siren was the whir of engines overhead, the rat-a-tat of gunfire and boom of explosives.

With one hand clinging to her mother and the other clasped over her mouth in a vain attempt to the filter the choking air and stem her coughing, Valeria ran, trusting her mother to understand what was going on, to lead them to safety. The city of Insomnia was no longer recognizable, like they had been plucked up by an invisible hand and dropped into a warzone, the faraway kind she read about in the newspapers, not where she lived. Not the impenetrable Crown City.

As they rounded the corner of a narrow alley, her mother skidded to a halt, and Valeria collided with her back. In front of them eerie red lights hovered in the gloom, and there was a clattering of metal on metal as mechanical men emerged from the fog with rifles drawn…

Gunfire rang out and Valeria felt her body being shoved aside, searing pain ripping through her left shoulder. Her mother twisted and spun, her body hanging in the air for what seemed like an impossibly long time before crumpling bonelessly to the ground.

Valeria crawled over to her on her knees. Her mother’s dark eyes were rolled to the back of her head, the grey dust covering her body punctuated by at least a dozen bloody, red holes.

“Mom!” Valeria screamed, shaking her. “Mama! Mama!”

Run. It was her mother’s voice, not coming from the body Valeria clutched, but firm and commanding, directly in her ear. Run.

Valeria looked up and saw the magitek soldiers reloading their rifles. Run.

She dropped her mother’s body and took off, back down the alley. She ran and ran, tears stinging her eyes, smoke filling her lungs, not stopping for anyone or anything in the streets. She might have even been running in circles for all she knew, but eventually found herself on a broken causeway where the fog wasn’t as thick, where far off in the distance she could see what remained of the Wall.

Eventually her legs gave out and she fell to her knees, left arm hanging limp and numb. Her entire left side was covered in blood. Oh, she thought, feeling strangely detached. They shot me.

When the adrenaline started to wear off, she began to shake, her left side seized up in pain, and she collapsed on the pavement. Valeria couldn’t say how long she laid there, trying to find the moon and stars through the haze. By the time they came for her, her tongue was stuck to the roof of her mouth and nothing hurt anymore.

She found herself being scooped up by metal arms clad in white and red, muffled voices saying something about the ‘medicus.’ She wanted to fight back, kick and scream at them for killing her mother, but she couldn’t move.

They’re going to kill me too, she thought, as she was dumped into the back of some sort of vehicle. Was there even anyone left who would care? The company might erect some kind of memorial in her honor, and people would say she was taken too young, say she had so much potential, but they wouldn’t actually grieve her loss. Her father and Ignis might, but they both had their own lives, complete without her in them. That thought somehow made her sadder than the idea of her impending demise.

And with that sense of loneliness, the darkness enveloped her, smooth and cold and comforting.

Despite their numerous misadventures, Ignis had to admit he was enjoying his time on the road. It was good to stretch his legs, to actually wander the wilds outside of the city instead of reading about them in books, to finally put all that combat training with the Marshal to good use.

Noctis remained ambivalent as ever, but Prompto and Gladiolus seemed to genuinely enjoy and appreciate his cooking at camp and compliment his skills on the battlefield. Ignis didn’t do these things for praise, of course - it was all part of his job - but it nonetheless felt good to be acknowledged by his friends.

And so he woke (before the others, of course) with a particular sense of fullness, not pertaining to food or hunger, but a contentment of the heart and soul. His intention was to watch the sunrise over Galdin Quay with a good cup of Ebony in hand before they embarked on the ferry for Altissia and Noctis’s wedding. He had a suspicion this might be the last chance he had to relax for a while.

As it was, his hunch proved correct, but for reasons he never could have predicted.

Strangely, he found the coffee counter empty - it may have been early, but Galdin Quay was a luxury resort and staff worked around the clock. After several minutes and several impatient knocks on the counter, a young barista shambled over, her eyes red as if she’d been crying. Ignis supposed she must have been dumped by her boyfriend or some such and decided not to complain, but before he could open his mouth she spoke.

“I’m sorry, uh...for the wait. It’s just-” Ignis thought she might start weeping again, but the girl managed to keep it together. “My brother was in Insomnia. He was so excited about his new job in the city...I’m sorry. I’m sorry. You just want your coffee, don’t you, sir?”

Ignis felt something churning in the pit of his stomach, the instinctive sense that something had gone horribly, terribly wrong.

“Has...something happened in Insomnia?”

The way the color drained from her face indicated he was right to fear asking the question.

“You don’t know?” she whispered. “Six, you’re not...are you from there?”

Ignis nodded, his bad feeling evolving into full-blown panic, but he managed to keep it inside. “What’s happened?” he demanded. The girl pointed a shaking finger at the newsstand next to the counter that had somehow managed to escape his notice during his quest for coffee. Ignis picked up the morning’s paper.

Insomnia Falls. He blinked, adjusted his glasses, but the words remained. Beneath the headline was a photo of, presumably, a street in the city filled with rubble and covered with ash. The unmistakable red lights of Imperial craft were just visible through a thick shroud of smoke.

He collapsed onto the nearest stool, his mind racing to comprehend what was in front of him. An Imperial invasion...the Treaty signing...a trap...King Regis dead. Ignis looked back up at the barista and she nodded without a sound. Yes, it’s real. It’s all real.

“Keep it,” she said, gesturing at the newspaper. “And this is also on the house.” The steaming mug of coffee she placed before him had lost all its appeal, what with the massive lump forming in his throat.

His first instinct was to go and immediately wake the others, to let them know the horrible news, but he stopped himself from getting up. Let them - especially the Prince - get a few more hours of blissfully ignorant rest before the course of their lives was forever altered.

Instead, he got out his phone and dialed his uncle, then Valeria, then half a dozen other people he knew had been in the city last night. Each number went directly to voicemail. Of course, he thought. Whether directly or through collateral damage, the Empire would have destroyed most of the cell phone towers serving the city.

That realization didn’t exactly ease his concerns, but for now, he had to believe they still lived. The Prince remained his priority, perhaps more than ever, for if they’d killed the King, the Imperials surely would not be content to just let his heir go on living. At least for Noctis, he could still do something, could still protect and comfort him.

Val, he thought, be safe. Be strong. All he could do for her now was hope.

[atlaswriting]

I look at Abram.

Like, really look at him—and for the first time since meeting him, notice the pools of sadness that out color the blue. I can feel myself sinking into them, the heavy, stick sad filling my mouth and lungs with the rancid taste of hopelessness.

“She’s amazing and she never gets enough credit for it.”

I nod, “Have you ever met her?” I flick my eyes back and forth between Abram and Mrs.Pierce who is talking about post traumatic stress disorder and the epidemic it’s created of the military. She speaks with such fervor that my heart stutters in my chest. She’s pretty, tan skin and short black hair that is unevenly chopped to her jaw when she wears it down, but it’s difficult not to notice the scar behind her ear, sickeningly in the shape of a bullet hole, or the way she jumps at the slightest of sounds.

Her eyes have hollowed with terrors I could never imagine and she keeps her personal life private, despite students asking about the wedding ring wrapped around her finger.

My attention slowly focuses back on Abram as he replies, “Here and there,” he says nonchalantly, “We were sort of—,”

“You met her?” I ask, reaching for my book and grasping it, “What was she like? What does she looks like? Is she nice?” The words tumble out of my mouth like a waterfall and I almost neglect to see the teacher pause her lesson to look at us, “If you would’ve started with that, maybe I wouldn’t have been so mean to you,” I tease, “When are you going to see her again and can I c—,”

“Miss Allaire, would you like to share with the rest of us what conversation could be more important than this topic?”

I roll my eyes toward Mrs. Pierce, “I don’t know, maybe everything else?” I don’t know what I’m saying—my excitement vanishing into something bitter, something burnt, and something not me, “Am I supposed to care about some made up mental illness?” I ask—my mouth opens, but my mother’s words come out.

Her cheeks begin turning red, and then purple. Bile rises up my throat and my stomach clenches tightly.

“Detention, Miss Allaire. Tonight.”

“That’s not fair!” I argue, suddenly standing in my seat, the rage tugs me up and slams my fists down on the table.

Abram stands too, holding his hands toward the teacher and I, “I don’t think she meant it the way it seemed, did you Elise?” His voice is calm, soothing, I want to crawl inside of it. Instead I feel my jaw clench and I shake my head.

“You bet I meant it. We have to sit in class all day and listen to this,” my hand moves toward the whiteboard, “Why not teach us about unicorns and fairies while you’re at it?”

“Elise,” Abram chastises.

Mrs. Pierce’s face is a mix of anguish and hatred, “Mr. Kempe, Mrs. Allaire, you’ve both won yourselves detention for the next three Fridays as well.”

♡ ♡ ♡

I’ve been staring at Abram’s Instagram for the last two hours. Carefully treading my thumb over the surface of the phone, afraid to press down too hard.

“So he liked your picture—from two years ago?” Sophie asks. She stabs her fork into her salad which is mostly croutons and bad decisions. I nod. “I wonder if he’s followed me yet,” she muses, she uses her free hand to swipe at her phone. I watch as her shoulders double forward a little bit.

“I’m guessing not?”

She shakes her head, “Maybe he just doesn’t know it’s me—there are like, three Sophie’s at this school.” I watch as she holds her phone up and takes a picture of herself. She sends it in a direct message to him. Placing it down face up on the table she watches obsessively for a notification.

“Or,” I begin, using my fork to move around my salad, every few minutes picking up the least amount I can and allowing it to pass my lips, “He just doesn’t care. Maybe he doesn’t—,”

A sharp squeal cuts through my cynicism and she turns her phone around to face me. It’s a picture of Abram, smiling, while standing in the line for food. We both turn our necks around just in time to see him leaving and Sophie is as graceless as ever at waving him down.

I can’t help but feel a pinch of jealousy as I watch her, the unfamiliar feeling creeping up my spine. She grabs onto his arm as he gets closer and pulls him down so he’s forced to sit beside her. The jealousy becomes more obvious, gnawing violently on my bones. My fingers curl around the fork, knuckles white from pressure.

“I was just about to tell Elise how wrong she was—but you showed up in perfect time,” Sophie smiles brightly.

I take the moment to shovel cut up cucumbers into my mouth, things I should really start doing with my words.

Abram smiles—this time for real, any traces of sad was gone he’s back to being a literal ray of sunshine, “I could list a few things she’s wrong about, but tell me, what is it this time?”

“We were talking about our followers on Instagram—you hadn’t followed me yet and Elise was trying to suggest you didn’t want to—but that’s not right, is it Abe?” She pushes her bottom lip out into a pout and I snort, but it leads to a cough.

Sighing softly, I lean my head to the side, “Sophie, you should really stop, you’re embarrassing yourself.”

She beams back at me, sweetly—but I knew the venom behind her lips could rival mine, “Not as embarrassing as following the new boy right after he arrives and him not following you back for what—two weeks?”

I want to point out that Abram didn’t follow her either, but there was no point. I simply offer a small shrug, I hardly use Instagram anyway.

“Oh,” Abram cuts in, “That was you. I didn’t even realize—I thought that was some dude I went to school with back in Boston. He was totally creepy; I guess you just look like him.”

The water I’m drinking nearly squirts out of my nose. It’s not lady like and if my mother were here she would slap the back of my hand. I’m quick to recover, straightening myself out and turn my attention to Sophie whose arm has fallen to her side.

“Besides,” I say, suddenly feeling bad for the girl, despite everything, she’s been my friend since I was fifteen, “He has a girlfriend. Don’t you, Boston?” I ask.

He nods, taking a bite of his sandwich, “I do. Yeah, but we’re long distance.”

“Do you have a picture?” Sophie asks.

He’s apprehensive as he pulls out his phone, when he’s found the right picture he tilts it toward Sophie, who hides her laugh with her hand.

“I want to see too,” I reach across and grab his phone.

That hair, those eyes, those chubby cheeks.

They were mine.

They used to be, at least. That girl didn’t exist anymore. I killed her.

The world around me begins going in and out, a dark haze developing in my peripheral. I toss Abram’s phone across the table and wipe my hand against my skirt, trying to get the feeling off of my skin.

The next words out of my mouth are said through gritted teeth, “You’re dating that hefer?” A look of confusion passes over his features before settling on anger. White. Hot. Anger.

Beside him, Sophie is laughing, “Well I wasn’t going to say it.”

“What gives you the right to talk to people this way?” I’m not the only one standing anymore. Abram is too, “To treat people like they’re beneath you—like—like they were a piece of gum on the bottom of your shoe.” His face is red, a vein in the side of his neck protrudes and I reach for my bag but my stance is uneasy at best.

“Screw you, Abram Kempe,” I say, stepping over the bench and walking toward the exit.

♡ ♡ ♡

I don’t stop walking until my knees become too unsteady to move and my body crashes onto the stone fountain in the front lawn. My heart is beating something violent against my chest, a haunting tune only I could hear. I wish more than anything I could rip it out of my chest; drown it in the water behind me. I want to not feel anything. Because not feeling anything would feel better than feeling everything.

Pulling out my phone, I try, with shaking thumbs to type a text message to Kai—Abram—Kai.

Please tell me you’re not in Middlebury

I stare at my phone; each second that passes is tighter pressure on my throat. A minutes passes and I think I’m going to suffocate.

You’re not at Middlebury Academy, are you? Please tell me you’re not.

Kai: I am… Why?

Kai: Sylvia, are you here too?

MISSED CALL FROM KAI

Kai: STOP ignoring me! Jesus Christ.

I’m not. I’m not there. I know people who are…

I’m sorry I didn’t mean to freak you out.

I have to go to bed. Good night.

Kai: Please stop doing this.

Kai: My heart can’t take it anymore—I can’t take it anymore. I have one heart in this chest, have mercy on me.

Kai: Please stop treating me like a second choice. I’m not a last resort. Either stay with me all the time, or none of the time. It’s not easy, but I don’t want easy—I want you.

Kai: The choice is yours.

The panic attack rushes over me like a sledgehammer. Waves crashing into my lungs, filling them up. I sputter out air the best I can. I pull the tie that’s hanging loose around my neck looser because suddenly it’s starting to feel more like a noose. I’m sitting in silence for a while—ten, twenty, thirty minutes go by before I have the courage to text him back.

I love you. I want you too. Only you.

♡ ♡ ♡

I arrive, unkempt and a little more broken than before, to Mrs. Pierce’s classroom. Kai—Abram hasn’t arrived yet and part of me hopes he was sent to another teacher.

She’s sitting at her desk with her phone pressed to her ear, she doesn’t notice me because I can hear the gentle way she speaks into the phone. A drastic difference than the way she carries herself in class.

“I’ll be home around 8 or so, I think. Are you okay until then?” She asks, “Are you having a bad day today?” I watch as her shoulders roll and she runs a free hand through her hair, which is now out of its bun. “Okay, I’ll try to get home sooner. Gabriel? I love you.”

I step a little further into the room, gripping my bag like it would offer me any sort of protection.

“How long have you been standing there, Allaire?” She asks. I wonder if the last name was a military thing.

“I just got here,” I lied. I can see in her face that she knows I lied. “Mrs. Pierce,” I say as she looks down at her book, “I—,” my teeth dig into my lips ( american horror story: having to apologize).

“I’m sorry with how I acted earlier,” my mouth forms around the unfamiliar word, it’s weighty and awkward, “That was awful of me and I don’t know why I said that—I don’t believe any of it, I’m sorry though, I really am.”

She nods, “It isn’t going to take away your detentions.”

“That’s okay,” I admit, “I don’t want it to.”

Her attention focuses on something behind me and as if I were in a horror movie I turn around slowly. My cheeks catch on fire and it burns down my spine. The vulnerability of apologizing paints a target on my back.

After a few minutes of Abram, Mrs. Pierce and I sitting in silence she stands up, “I should be able to trust you two enough to last another hour, right? I have something at home I need to get to and I can’t be here all night babysitting a couple of teenagers.”

Abram is first to speak, “Do whatever it is you need to do. We’ll be here.”

I watch her go; something inside my chest wants me to yell at her to come back. I don’t want to be alone with Abram.

Kai.

Abram.

He’s quiet and immobile. I stare at his back, his shoulders tensed tightly and he keeps his head down. I look at his phone that’s half hanging out of his pocket—I want to grab it and block Sylvia—it would be better. He deserves better.

“I’m sorry,” I blurt out. I blink away the tears; afraid he’ll turn around and see me for the haunted house I am. I scratch at my skin, try to will all the horrors back into my bones. I stare at his back, still unmoving. My eyes scan over him: and I wonder, not for the first time, how someone so bright could get sucked into a person whose dark is deafening, someone so hideous everything she touches turns to shit.

“Abram did you hear me?” I want to reach forward, tap his shoulder, but I’m afraid to touch him, “I’m sorry—I don’t think about what I say sometimes, I say stupid things. I don’t mean to, I just do,” my mouth is a floodgate of apologies and it’s cracked wide open. “I’m sorry.”