#instead of just thinking bout Rosa))

[unovasaved]

*Puts The Substance under my inspirations while I hold my head in hands*

[estinininininen]

FFIV: Delicate Flower (Ao3 link), 1/2, "Rose of Baron"

A younger Kain Highwind thinks a lady wants grand gestures and idealized romance. Chivalry is, after all, about putting someone on a pedestal.

~2000 words, Cecil/Rosa, teenage awkwardness, jousting, medieval sexism, ye olde sports medicine, blood and injury, embarassment. I messed up the post date on ao3, anyone remember the meme 'oh god how do i computer'

There was a long history of chivalric romance in Baron. Ballads dedicated towards lady-loves, serenades pining for a glimpse from the window, romantic epics detailing chaste and loyal admiration from afar - these all young men in Baron at court had heard growing up.

Chivalry had grown even more popular in Kain's generation. At fifteen, when he grew taller almost as fast as he could Jump, Baron was the dominant military power in the world yet without clear purpose. King Odin scrambled to find ways to channel the energy of young men, for not just his two foster sons, but an entire generation told they were due glory and honor.

This led to some appreciation for the songs of Damcyan and the dances of Troia, but it more resulted in endless tournaments. If Baron could not have war, then Baron would have sport. Wrestling, archery, races, fencing, chocobo jousting, and more - traditional combat arts from around the world were open to all. Competitions specific to the Baron military, such as dragoon jousts and acrobatics, were where fame and romance - and tempers - ran hottest. Kain started in the specialized dragon-knight bouts at seventeen, the same year Rosa began her official white mage apprenticeship.

The morning of the dragoon jousts, he woke up at daybreak, his head filled with fantasies of Rosa swooning over his dangerous and thrilling close-call victories against more experienced opponents. He looked for her at the white mage triage tent, not admitting to himself how sure he was she would give him her favor. Instead he wondered what it might be from a girl as practical as Rosa. A handkerchief? A glove? A hair ribbon, the fashionable lady's imitation of the great protection charm?

When she saw him, she turned to her white mage master. Then she turned back to Kain and looked uncertain.

Kain bowed. "Fair lady, sweet Rosa. May I have thee's favor for this day I fight?"

Behind Rosa, the thin old white mage frowned.

Rosa dropped her eyes and said something he had never once expected. "Master Giles does not approve of encouraging dangerous sport," she said.

Kain straightened.

"Huh?" he said.

Rosa's lips thinned. "I don't want you to get hurt, either," she said.

If he had time to think about how to answer this, he might have said something. But his fantasies had never seen Rosa protesting hurting himself on her behalf until some point after she had given him her favor. Kain didn't even have time to think through the logic that continuing to pursue a fair maiden after she had said 'no' was unchivalrous. He stopped talking with her for a practical reason: her teacher didn't approve, and he didn't want to get her in trouble. He backed away, gaping at Rosa like she had grown a second head, then turned around and stumbled away to prepare for his match. He felt like the most monstrous idiot in all of Baron.

Kain thought to look for Cecil. Cecil was not competing that day in anything, which was why Kain had been sure Rosa would pick him. Sixteen was a bit of an awkward age for young nobles at tournaments in Baron. They were either trained up in some standard combat well enough to thrash the junior competition, or deep in their adult specialty training.

Sure enough, Cecil had disappeared into intense study with the Baron air force. He had also started that strange swordfighting style (or were they simply strange weapons?) the King had tried to explain to Kain. At the time the King hadn't told Kain the name of the style, which would have gone a long way towards helping Kain understand why it could be as important as the dragoons.

Kain and Cecil almost crashed into each other.

"Kain!" Cecil said. "I've been looking everywhere for - are you alright?"

"Um," Kain said. For he had just noticed peeking out of Cecil's doublet: a clean but worn-thin handkerchief, embroidered only because the stitches reinforced the hem, just one of many from Joanna Farrell's basket at her and Rosa's home.

"Kain? What's wrong?" Cecil said.

"Nothing," Kain said.

Everything went wrong. In the random draw, Kain found out he was going to joust against his father's second-in-command, the dragoons' acting head. Kain gulped. No matter how kind all the older dragoons had been supporting his inheritance as a military noble, Kain knew stern old Sir Halbright was going to treat him the same as any other upstart dragoon. The same as he did when training them, and the same as he had treated Kain the moment Kain turned fifteen and had to unlearn so many bad habits picked up as a spoiled dragoon princeling - by smashing young pride against the spearpoint of experience.

What Kain did not expect was how quick it was over. Kain and Sir Halbright moved into the arena, bowed, and Jumped. A number of unashamed dragoons on the sidelines Jumped up with them to rubberneck. And there in the sky at level with dragoon heights was a new addition. There was a small airship with a spotter and some privileged viewers, including the King, which was why the dragoons had conceded the honor. Kain saw a brief flash of silver hair next to Odin -

Kain's lance came up to meet Sir Halbright's on instinct, which was perhaps all that kept Kain alive. Halbright's arms moved, and Kain felt something like a bite or kick in his underarm. Halbright's arms moved again, whirling past Kain's confused hands, and a brick wall of reinforced polearm butt popped across Kain's armored temple. The next thing he knew, Kain was lying on his back on the decking of the airship.

King Odin, Sir Halbright, and Cecil leaned over him. Once he opened his eyes, they all sighed, and only Cecil still looked anxious.

Kain had not met the King yet that day and a lifetime of court etiquette told Kain to greet him with a Your Majesty. The words that came out instead were "Wha' happ'n?"

The King moved back. Sir Halbright started muttering as he adjusted something under Kain's armpit. "Lost everything I've ever told you, you did. Tossed you around like a greenhorn. Forgot to expect a counter. Kain Highwind, are you an infant? Are you a child?" Halbright pulled out the soft thing rolled between Kain's armor and skin, replacing it with another to staunch the -

"Hey," Kain said. "Hey. That's Rosa's," he slurred. "You're getting blood all over it."

They ignored him. Cecil tilted his head. "Don't worry, Kain. You'll be at the white mages' soon," he said. The more Kain spoke, the more nervous Cecil seemed.

"That's a lady's," Kain said, sure that he was looking at the handkerchief, until he wasn't. He tried to focus again. "Don't get blood on it," he said. Kain was impressed with how calm the three all were. "Ladies don't like blood," he tried to tell them. Had Cecil ever been around this much blood? Kain thought he would know if Cecil had ever seen anyone this hurt. Kain had always felt a bit unfocused around blood. Not woozy. Unfocused. It was a lot of blood.

"That's a lot of blood," Kain said, and fainted.

For the second time that day, Kain came to flat on his back. He looked up at the canvas top of the healers' tent. Rosa leaned over him.

"Oh! You're awake," she said.

She was wiping away blood from his bared chest and arm like it was all but dried gravy on a plate. Kain felt much better, except for deep embarassment at every aspect of his existence. This was not how he wanted to show Rosa his new muscles. He was not shy. He was not. There were some things it was just not appropriate to show a lady until the Time was Right, a time that was preferably after rescuing her from a scheming villain but before dueling a noble for her honor.

Kain looked at the motes of dust dancing in sunlight around Rosa's golden hair, and he wondered how anyone so pretty could touch anything so nasty as his blood.

Rosa frowned down at him in the middle of his daydream. She pulled his right eye open. "Can you tell me your name?" she said.

Kain swatted her hand away. "'M awake," he said. "I'm Kain Highwind. You're Rosa Joanna Farrell. Today is the first of June. Today is my first dragoon joust, and I got my ass handed to me by Sir Halbright. So . . . really it's like any other day."

Behind Rosa, Kain heard Cecil's familiar laugh and Master Giles's. "So he is okay," Cecil said.

"I'm sorry you lost your first dragoon tournament match," Rosa said.

"Thank you for not telling me 'I told you so,'" Kain said.

Rosa smiled. "I'm just happy you're okay," she said, and it was like a sister, or like a white mage to any patient, and Kain grit his teeth and smiled back while wondering if he could ask Halbright to try again and bump him off for good this time.

Cecil and white mage Giles were continuing a conversation. " . . . and while I'm sure the King means well, you have a say in what means well for you, for your sake."

"Thanks, sir," Cecil said, and Kain heard more familiarity from Cecil for Giles than expected. Giles was the master healer for military white mages, specialized in injury, not the court healer that Kain and Cecil saw for childhood sniffles.

"I mean it, lad," Giles said. "I'd hate to see you chewed up by Odin's passing fancy. He'll come to reason soon, but you'll have the scars forever."

"Hm," Cecil said, and coughed, and looked at Kain. Kain for his part was wondering how hard Halbright hit him. Was he was hallucinating a master trauma healer trying to concince Cecil to . . . leave the air force? That it would leave him upset forever somehow?

"Ah," Giles said, and motioned to Rosa, who started bustling Kain out of the tent to test his balance and the motion of his healed arm. Behind them, Giles and Cecil looked ready to continue their conversation. As Rosa and Kain left, a page came pelting up and announced another dragoon injury, to the forearm, walking under their own power to the triage tent. Rosa hesitated until Giles dismissed her again. "Cecil can help me," Giles said. "He needs to practice his dressing."

Instead of asking what on earth Master Giles meant, Cecil nodded.

Kain let himself be led to the recovery green, where everyone throughout the tournament worked through small hurts. Another dragoon was lying down and breathing after being sick from overexertion. The other, injured dragoon walked up with a hand clasped over his arm wound. They ignored Kain, who had never realized how little noble manners mattered until you felt awful or were bleeding out.

"Rosa?" Kain asked. "Why does Cecil have to practice his wound dressing?"

"Don't worry about it, Kain," Rosa said, which made Kain worry about it even more. "Giles and I are looking after him. Can you stand on one leg and hold your balance for me?"

Kain did so. "And when'd you start looking so tired?"

"Great, you can stop," Rosa said. "Can you rotate your arm all the way around?"

"Do I even know either of you anymore?" Kain said, whirling his arm over his back and around.

"I don't have time to worry about that," Rosa said. "Mmm, no, wait. I'm sorry. It has been a long time since we really spoke."

"It has," Kain said.

"Maybe we can talk later," Rosa said. She continued leading him like a chocobo through paces until she said, "That's it, you're fine," and turned back to the tent without waiting for Kain to respond. "Oh - bye-"

She slipped into the tent without another word.

[artemelle]

Fluffy HC or fic for Marius and his s/o painting together? Maybe one smears paint on X nose and a battle ensues? Ty!

painting with marius <3

when you first bring up the idea of wanting to paint with him, marius eyes’ just immediately light up! he agrees without a single moment of hesitation and is already asking vincent to clear up his schedule as soon as possible. 

he buys you a completely brand new set of brushes + paint + a canvas, despite your multiple protests that you could buy your own...but nope <3 marius wants you to have the absolute best, even if you weren’t exactly as professional as he was when it came to the art form.

marius also gets the two of you matching aprons with your names embroidered on them <3 they’re always hanging near the entrance of his studio, just in case painting becomes a regular thing for you...just drop by his studio any time you want.

speaking of his studio, there is now a designated ‘yn corner’ where he keeps all your tools and artworks. whenever you come around, you’ll always find a post it note stuck on the blank canvas. some notable ones are: “but what if YOU are the art?” + “you’re more breathtaking than any work of art”

anyways, on to actual painting with him hcs...marius stares at you. A LOT. he adores the completely focused look in your eyes, the way your brows knitted together in concentration. every now and then he looks up from his own work, only to find himself completely breathless at the sight of you.

always asking how you’re doing. it’s not that he has no faith in your artistic skills, but he’s secretly hoping that you would ask him for help so the two of you can share a ~moment~

even if you say that you’re doing alright, marius still makes his way to your canvas and shows you “how to properly hold the brush”. really, he just wants to hold your hand. as cocky and as flirty as he is, you honestly can’t miss the pink tint that spread across his cheeks.

sometimes, he likes to have music playing in the background. marius will often use his brush as a makeshift microphone and dramatically sing to you while he’s waiting for certain portions of his artwork to dry. your reactions -- whether it’s rolling your eyes or a laugh escaping your lips -- are the reasons why making a fool of himself is somewhat worth it.

though, if you do ask him for actual constructive criticism, marius is more than willing to give it to you. his voice is always calm when he’s giving his feedback and it always ends with a quick peck to your cheek.

makes sure to frame your artworks, one of them is in the living room in his apartment. marius is always trying to get people to ask about it so he can gush about you.

“hey, yn!”

you turn to face marius as soon as his voice falls on your ears, only to be met with something cool on the tip your nose. your eyes instinctively shut in surprise, opening them to find marius with the largest shit-eating grin playing on his lips. he’s not even attempting to hide it.

“marius! von! hagen!” 

he sheepishly shrugs his shoulders, knowing that the anger that laced your voice was most likely fake. however, as you move closer and closer to him, he fails to notice the paintbrush hidden behind your back.

“to be fair, you look cute with paint all over your face.”

instead of a proper reply, you reach out and paint a streak of pink paint on his cheek. “now, you look cute too.”

marius blinks back at you, processing your actions before moving to run after you, “oh. you’re gonna pay for that.”

“going to have to catch me first!”

needless to say, neither of you finished your paintings that afternoon.

thinking bout following a bob ross painting tutorial with marius <3 pls i feel like it would be so much fun ;-;

—   see if you can request something here  ;  masterlist <3

taglist : @themysticalbeing @xoxovictoriaa @wafflebrian @duhsies @satans-beloved-riv @ultgojo @dreasimping @jisoostan09 @liraajustsimpin @rosa-qing @suga-tofu @roselleviennesstuff @darlingxannie @dazaiaiko @kristyxoxo 

[queertftgs]

Van Life - Writing Drabble

1,146 words, set post vol 4.

I want to write more of this, but in case I don't I'm gonna post this opening here now.

Jack, Rosa, and Jerry hit the road but before they do, they have to eat dinner.

When Jack, Rosa, and Jerry left, they didn’t have much of a plan on where to go, or what to do. They brought just enough clothes to get by and not a whole lot more, depending on what all Jerry had hidden around the van that Jack didn’t know about.

The back seats had been folded down and a bed had been placed there instead. Jerry, however, wanted to make it home. There was a curtain between the front seats and the bed area (by Rosa’s request) and fairy lights draped along the edges of the back area and it always smelled faintly (or not so faintly) of weed.

The car doors opened and slammed closed, jolting Jack awake from where he had dozed off. “Hey Jack,” Jerry called from the passenger seat, “Catch!” If Jack hadn’t of moved, the bag of food Jerry was tossing would of landed on his lap without him having to do anything. But Jerry had not done that and Jack flailed in half asleep panic, knocking the bag of food out of its intended trajectory and onto the ground.

The bus was quiet for a second while Jack processed what had just happened. Everything was fine, and he had just embarrassed himself. “Oh, whoops,” He muttered. Jerry paused mid way on his path to the bed and picked up the bag. The top had been folded and nothing had fallen out, luckily. “Thanks.”

“Sorry ‘bout that, bro,”Jerry said sheepishly. He was smiling, though. Jack blinked sleepily as Jerry flopped on the bed next to him. He opened the bag his bag of food, and Jack absentmindedly realized he should do the same. The picture of the girl with red hair on the side of the bag reminded him of Sabine and Jack remembered what they had done not long prior.

Jerry watched his face while he brought a burger up to his mouth. “You good?” he asked, before taking a bite. “Penny for your thoughts?”

He thought for a moment. And then another. Jerry waited patiently, chewing and staring expectingly. “I’m good,” He said, finally. It didn’t feel like a lie. “Thinkin’ about the funeral,” he said, unwrapping a burger of his own. The funeral had been a few weeks prior. It had been delayed quite a bit because of everything that happened, but much like now they had loaded up the van and hit the road. Had gone to New York. It’s what inspired this whole thing, really.

Jack looked up to the front seat, where Rosa was slurping on a strawberry milkshake and eating french fries. She hadn’t seemed to notice, or at least she pretended she didn’t. She was turning through radio stations. It was still all country songs, which was how Jack still knew they weren’t too far away from his home town. “I put your CDs in the glove box,” Jack said to her.

She looked up. “Oh! I was worried I forgot them, thank you Jack,” she leaned over to the other seat and opened the glove box and pulled out her thick CD book. Jack watched as she flipped through her CDs for a second, but then turned back to Jerry. He had pulled out Jack’s laptop, but looked back up when Jack turned back to him, most of his burger ate and currently in his mouth.

“Hmm mrm mmm fmmmmg?” Jerry said. It might of been a question?

“I didn’t catch any of that,” Jack said, taking another bite himself. He peaked into his bag of food and eyed his french fries. They probably got him coffee somewhere, too.

Jerry hummed and started aggressively chewing what he had left in his mouth. It made Jack smile fondly. Jerry had his drink with him, and took a big gulp to wash everything down before saying, “How are you feeling?”

“Like I need a nap,” Jack said, taking another bite and thought about how to answer while he chewed. “I don’t know. Neutral? I think I’m neutral for once,” This was something his therapist had been working on with him, making him aware of his emotions and how he was feeling. And not, yknow, repressing it and bottling it up.

Jerry hummed, his mouth full again. Rosa had picked out a CD and was playing it now. It was something pop, an artist he was unfamiliar with. “I once tried to get signed to her producer,” Jerry said after he had swallowed. “Back in uni,” he said, and laughed softly.

Rosa squealed in excitement, “Oh my god! I didn’t know you did music!” She paused for a second, “formally, anyway,” Anyone that had been around Jerry more than a couple of hours would know Jerry liked to sing, especially when he got bored. Which was a lot.

“Oh I assure you, I’m never formal,” Jerry laughed, “It was in uni, I was in a cappella groups. Tried to see if I could get on a bigger stage, but, yknow,” He had fries now and a sauce cup balanced on one knee.

“I was in choir in middle school, but I never really got into it,” Rosa said, dipping one of her french fries into her milkshake. “I dropped it the following semester.”

Jack had absolutely nothing to add to this conversation, and sat awkwardly not knowing what to say. Between everything that was going on the first decade of his life, Jack had quite frankly been lucky to graduate and didn’t have much time for extra classes outside of making sure that happened.

He looked around and saw the clock on the dashboard said it was just after 7 o’clock, PM. Below that, in the cup holder, was Jack’s coffee. Yum. He scooted to the edge of the bed and leaned forward to grab it. Rosa caught on and met him there, handing him his still hot coffee.

“Oh yeah, here’s your coffee, Jack, I completely forgot,” Rosa said, interrupting the conversation between Jerry and Rosa were having about the ins and outs of singing, jargon going way over Jack’s head.

“Thanks,” he said,, Ahh, the smell of cheap fast food coffee. Not quite on the level of gas station coffee, but close. He took a sip and everything felt right in the world. Or rather, everything felt right in their little van. The world was too big for Jack to feel right about the state of that. He drank is coffee and ate his fries and basked in the moment, listening to Rosa and Jerry chatter back and forth passionately.

Jack didn’t remember when he dozed off, or where his coffee went, but his head fell on Jerry’s lap before long. Rosa and Jerry paused, smiling at him. Jerry gently pulled his coffee from Jack’s hands and passed it to Rosa. Snores already filled the Van. It felt good to see him relax and rest.

[youllneverknowrac]

Oscar Diaz-Intoxicated

For @gisellyt

“Y/N, you need to drink some water.” You hear your best friend, Rosa, say from beside you. The two of you sitting in the corner section you guys had rented for the night. You had decided to have a girls night with your group of friends and after being at the club for a few hours you were way past drunk.

“Yeah, try to sober up some.” You other friend adds encouragingly,”It’s almost closing time and we have to go home.”

“Fuuuuuck water and fuck home.” You slur as you stand to your feet, your vision blurry,”I want to danceeee. Let’s dance you boring bitches.”

“I’m calling Oscar.” Another one of your friends say quietly so you can’t hear, going through your purse and grabbing your phone as you make your way to the dance floor.

“I Love this song!” You squeal, making friends with some blonde girl who was equally as drunk as you were. Your girlfriends making sure to keep an eye on you as they sit around the table.

“We should get a shot!” The new girl-Ashley?- says into your ear as you both dance together.

“B-52?!” You suggest

“Yummy! Yes!” She agrees and takes your hand, dragging you to the bar. You both clumsily climb onto the stools and grab the bar tenders attention.

“Hello, hi.” You smile and order the shots once he comes over,”Keep them coming.”

“Y/N. Don’t you think you’ve had enough?” The familiar voice of your friend says as she grips your arm.

“I think you’ve had not enough.” You giggle,”Drink with us, I got shots!”

“Shots, shots, shots!” Hannah? sings from beside you

“You don’t need any more alcohol.” Rosa groans, the bartender sliding the two tiny glasses over as you hand over the cash.

“Buzzkill.” You mutter as you quickly down it, turning to look at Nicole? who just slammed hers down as well.

“There you are.” A girl who looks exactly like your new friend sighs in relief,”Let’s go Jane, now.” She demands, grabbing her and pulling her away.

“Bye!” She calls out drunkenly, giving you a wave as she disappears into the crowd.

“Awe, I’m gonna miss her.” You pout before shrugging and ordering another shot.

“Nope, cancel that.” Rosa says and forcefully pushes you to your feet,”We’re going outside. Some fresh air will do you good.”

“No!” You complain every step of the way, the rest of your friends joining you outside as well. Each of them getting their own Uber until it was just you and Rosa left outside.

“Let’s go back in. They don’t close for like another thirty minutes.” You pout, lightly stomping your foot,”I don’t want to be outside.”

“Stop!” Rosa laughs, keeping a tight hold on you as you try to pull away.

“I got it from here. Thanks for waiting for me.” You hear your boyfriend say from behind you, his grip replacing hers.

“No problem, ella simplemente no dejaba de tomar.” She explains,”I’ll call her tomorrow, you should get her home.”

“Yeah.” He agrees with a nod,”You need me to drop you off?”

“No, it’s okay. I got a Uber.” She declines as you try to turn around to actually look at Oscar.

“Everybody stop grabbing me.” You say and pull yourself away him, nearly tripping off the curb.

“Get your ass in the car.” Oscar says, ignoring your request as he helps you balance yourself before pushing you inside his car and slamming the door shut,”Bye.” He tells your best friend, going to his side and sliding in.

“I thought you said one drink?” He asks as he starts the engine

“I thought you said one drink.” You copy his voice with a eye roll

“Are you gonna have a attitude?”

“I don’t know? Am I?” You say, turning your head to look at him,”I didn’t want to leave.”

“You can barley stand up, you don’t need to be at no club when you’re that drunk.”

“Whatever...loser.” You say amusingly,”Oscar’s a loser, Oscar’s a loser, a loser.” You sing

“This is why I don’t like when you go out with your friends. You get too wasted and then I have to take care of you.” He sighs, keeping his eyes in the road

“If you don’t want to take care of me then I’ll leave.” You offer,”I’ll go, you’ll never see me again. I’ll roll out of the car right now.”

“Shut yo dramatic ass up.” Oscar smacks, a small smirk forming on his lips a moment later.

“So mean to me. I just wanted to have a good time...girls just wanna have fun.” You say and lean towards the radio, connecting your phone to the gigged up old style radio with the cord,”This ones for you.” You say, the music blasting and Oscar instantly recognizing the song.

“Change this shit.”

You Ignore him and scoot closer, your two fingers pressing against his temple roughly,”Punch you in the face, muthafucka I knock ya teeth out

Every time I come through, I got my heat out

If you want smoke, ain't nothin' we gotta speak 'bout.” You shout into his ear, Oscar’s jaw clenching as he endures your scratchy voice,”I'ma start G-checking all you fuckin' clowns

One question, are you fuckin' down?

Wrong answer, here's a hunnid rounds.” You continue, acting as if you’ve had a gun in your hand before you get a bright idea,”Oscar?” You ask sweetly

“What?” He grits out through his teeth

“Do you have your gun?”

“What? Of course I do, why?” He asks, glancing over at you with a perplexed look.

“Let me play with it, it goes with the song. I wanna feel like a gangster.” You explain, your words sounding reasonable in your head.

Oscar doesn’t reply, instead he breaks out in laughter. His hand smacking the side of the wheel,”Fuck no! Play? Estas loca o que?” He wheezes

“Whatever, I’ll buy my own.” You say, scooting away from him and ripping your phone off of the cord,”A pink one. So don’t piss me off or I’m going to shoot you with it, cause I’m a OG.” You giggle

“Shoot me? Is that right?” Oscar laughs,”You wouldn’t. You’d miss me too much.”

“I would.” You smile,”I guess a pistol whip would have to do.”

“You know your mouth gets real reckless when you drink. Like you got no fucking filter.”

“Well if you wouldn’t baby me and make me come home, I wouldn’t be acting like this.” You tell him, reaching over and taking his hand off of the wheel so you can hold it,”But I know how you can make it up to me.”

“Hm, and how would that be?” Oscar asks, bringing his other hand up to take over the wheel.

“Tacos.” You smile,”And I’ll be the best girlfriend over.”

“Tacos? You’re gonna puke.”

“Pretty positive I’m already going to do that.” You laugh,”I’m so hungry, I’m going to starve.”

“Hay comida en la casa.”

“Okay mom.” You say as you play with his fingers,”But I don’t want food at the house...please papi. You know you want some too.”

“If I go, will you stop talking?” He asks teasingly

“No, but I’ll be very happy. You want me to be happy right? I’ll even get out and order them, I can do that. I think.”

“Fuck it, fine.” He sighs, making a detour and driving to the taco truck that was just outside of your neighborhood.

“Yay.” You smile, leaning over to kiss his cheek,”I love you.”

“Me or the tacos?”

“Both.”

He shakes his head, bringing your entangled hands up to press a kiss to your hand,”I’m the only person who will ever put up with your shit, don’t forget that.”

“Like I’m not the only person who would put up with yours? We were made for each other.”

“Tú lo sabes.” He grins, the rest of the car ride being filled with more playful banter and the occasional song performance from you. Oscar pulls into the lot where the familiar truck is stationed and parks a few feet away.

“Pastor right?” You ask him

“Yeah, get me four.”

“Excuse me?” You cough holding your hand out,”Money?”

He scoffs and digs into his pocket, pulling out a 20,”Go.”

“Thanks.” You grin and get out of the car, taking each step carefully,”Hi Emmanuel, hows your night.” You grin to the older Hispanic guy that has been in the community forever.

“Not as good as yours.” He chuckles as he takes in your appearance,”Tell me Mija what can I get for you.”

“Four of pastor and then three of barbacoa.” You answer with ease,”Could I also get a corona?”

“You got it, dame cinco minutos.” He informs before pushing away from the side window and getting your order together.

You walk back to the car, going over to the drivers side, the window already down as Oscar smokes,”Five minutes.” You say

“Aight.” Oscar nods, inhaling smoke before letting it blow out through his nose.

“Let’s go out together next time.” You suggest, leaning through the window,”We haven’t gone out in a while.”

“Maybe, if you really want too.”

“I do. I like when we go out together.” You smile,”Next week?”

“Sure mami, if nothing comes up.”

“Can’t wait.” You say happily, stretching your neck to give Oscar a quick kiss,”Thank you.” You laugh as you take the rest of the joint from him, moving away from the window as you smoke.

“Ladrona.” He jokes, a yawn escaping his mouth after since it was the middle of the night.

“It’s not stealing when I’m your girl.” You retort, taking the final hit before tossing it into the gravel.

“Nah, it’s still stealing.”

“Oh shhh.” You say exaggeratedly, blowing him a kiss after. You don’t wait for him to reply as you stagger back to the taco truck to wait out the last few minutes.

“Ten even, I put some salsa and extra onion in the bag for you.” Emmanuel says when he opens the window back up.

“Thank you, it’s smells amazing like always.” You grin and pay him before grabbing the change and beer in one hand, the plastic bag in the other,”Bye!” You shout out over your shoulder as you walk back to the car. Oscar leans over to push open the door, letting you slide.

“You got a beer? Seriously?” He asks as he takes the bag from you, digging through it and pulling out his order.

“Sure did.” You reply, twisting the cap off and taking a swing,”Ah refreshing.”

“Borracha.” He calls out before taking a bite of his taco.

“Funny, coming from a borracho.” You smirk, placing the beverage in between you guys so you could eat.

He flips you off with his free hand, eating more of his food before taking his own sip of the beer. Oscar eating like a normal person where as you moaned in delight with every single bite.

“Those were the best tacos ever.” You groan in satisfaction, Oscar gathering all the trash into the plastic bag,”Food is always better after a night out.”

“I agree with that.” He says before climbing out of the car to throw away the trash, the beer making you get the hiccups,”Let’s go home.” He sighs when he gets back in,”You’re gonna feel like shit tomorrow.”

“Good thing I have you to take care of me.” You smile, snuggling into his side and Oscar wrapping his arm around your shoulder as you feel your body wanting to fall asleep.

“Always.” He chuckles, driving towards the neighborhood slowly,”I’ll make you some hangover menudo for the morning.”

“Mhm I love you.” You yawn, your eyes closing.

“Love you mami.” He reply’s, letting you doze off. Whenever he reaches the house, knowing that he would not be able to wake you up, he carefully pulls you out and carry’s you bridal style into the house. He groans as he sets you down in the bed, taking your shoes off before covering you up with the thick blanket. Laying down next to you and rubbing his eyes, already knowing that you were going to be a pain in his ass tomorrow when you woke up. Which turned out to be only a few short houses later when you woke him up by running to the toilet to empty your stomach.

“See? You don’t need to be going out with your friends.” He smirks, kneeling down next to you as he rubs your back.

“Shut up.” You cough, more vomit spewing from you seconds later,”I’m never drinking again.” You whine, Oscar keeping his mouth shut and helping you get through the first meltdown of the day. Just like he always did.

[haloud]

day 7- uranus

Michael rolls his head over the back of the lawn chair, closing his eyes, letting all the tension out of his neck and shoulders. Then he blinks his eyes open, staring up at the stars. They’re faint, light pollution from the nearby town, his eyes too unadjusted thanks to the crackling fire at his feet. He’d have to stare straight up for a long time to pick out most of his favorite stars, but the Big Dipper is an old friend, so he’s content.

A car pulls up, and then there are footsteps on the gravel approaching him. He takes a second before looking up. He likes it, that people know they can find him here in the early night. Likes that people do.

“Hey, uh…Michael?”

Michael sits up so fast he cricks his neck at the sound of Max’s voice. Wincing, he rubs it and says, “Well look what the Chupacabra dragged in.”

“Um, yeah,” Max says, doing that awkward thing he does where he rubs the knuckles of both hands together, a nervous habit he’s had most of his life. Michael kicks the chair next to him.

“Sit down, stop hovering.”

Max sits. His long legs sprawl a little too close to the fire, but Michael doesn’t say anything that might get mistaken for nagging, for taking too much care. Anything that might start a fight.

“So I’m guessing you noticed I’ve, uh, not been around a lot lately.”

Michael gropes for a beer from the sixer at his feet and pops it with his brain, taking a deep swig. If Max wants one, he can ask for it, he thinks mulishly, then hands him one anyway.

“You could say that,” Michael says shortly.

“I’m…sorry. I…learned something about our history that I don’t know how to…”

“Oh yeah?” Michael drawls. “’Bout six foot one, beard oil connoisseur, really shitty accent he thinks no one can tell is fake?”

“No, not him. This is something a little closer to home. And I didn’t know how to talk to you about it, so I…but that wasn’t fair to you. Trust me, I’ve heard that plenty from Isobel and Maria. Even Alex dropped by the Pony to give me a piece of his mind.”

“Oh yeah?” Michael says, keeping his voice impressively level. The idea that anyone would stick up for him over Max ignoring him is…not something he knows what to do with.

“Yeah, man. Scary stuff.”

Max laughs without a shred of humor, chugging half his beer at once.

“Okay, now I’m worried,” Michael says. “Just spit it out, man. I’m sure it’s nothing worse than any other shit we’ve dealt with. I am numb to bombshells at this point.”

It’s a long time before Max says anything else. Michael finishes his beer, doesn’t grab another one, just watches the leaping flames in Max’s eyes.

“A few months back when Sheriff Valenti was after me for killing Noah, she sat me down to talk about all the ways I fit the profile. Y’know, uh, white male, 18-40, anger issues...One of those ways was, uh. Troubled childhood. Tried to tell her my childhood was fine, but she pointed out that wandering the desert naked at seven years old isn’t exactly a lack of trouble. Turns out she was the deputy on our case, back then.”

“Huh.”

Explains a few things about the way she used to look at him every time he got hauled in, before she just got used to it.

“She told me that she came to see us in the group home the day Isobel and I were adopted.” Max takes a deep breath.

Stop. Michael wants to tell him to stop. Doesn’t want, doesn’t need to hear what comes next. Doesn’t remember that day, doesn’t have to. He knows, enough, from what people have told him. Can hear the screams, see the red on the walls.

“Good for her,” he grunts.

“She told me that—fuck, Michael, there’s no good way to say this—she said that. That I was the one screaming and drawing on the walls, that you…you calmed me down, but…it was too late, and the Evanses had the wrong idea, and that’s why you were left...” Max chokes off, puts a hand over his eyes. Michael doesn’t have to have his and Isobel’s connection to recognize the awful emotion crushing him.

Michael opens another beer.

“Say something,” Max almost begs.

“Why.”

Michael has to swallow around the lump in his throat, his rabbiting heartbeat.

“Why even tell me this? What fucking good does it do? I can’t—you can’t—nobody can change what happened, even if I believe you—”

“You deserved to know.”

“I wish you hadn’t told me. Since when does the world give a fuck about what I deserve?”

Max flinches. It doesn’t make Michael feel any better. Just like putting a fist in his face wouldn’t make him feel better, and neither would screaming at the world for not being fair. He did a lot of that when he was a child and still believed in a few things that might be listening.

He doesn’t take another beer, if only because only something stronger would put a dent in the feelings he wants to drown, and he doesn’t keep any of that shit around.

“Whatever. It all worked out in the end, yeah? The guy who doesn’t murder people with his hands got the short end of the stick and was therefore responsible for disposin’ of a few less bodies. Highlight of my fuckin’ life, that one. You’re welcome.”

His mind doesn’t go easy on him, whirling with images and thoughts from Max tied to the bed, Max exploding and killing Father Davis to, absurdly, would Alex have ever noticed me if I was preppy Michael Evans. He laughs just to do something with his mouth that isn’t screaming, clenching his left hand into a fist and squeezing the knuckles, though it isn’t as much of a distraction now as it used to be, without the pain.

“Hey, you wanna thank me, make me some business cards—Michael Guerin, mechanic, gravedigger, and total fuckin’ mug—”

He breaks off into more laughter, until he’s bent double, clutching his knees and wheezing.

Max hasn’t said a fuckin’ word.

“Well?” Michael demands, straightening up, looking Max in the eye.

“I don’t know, Michael, I don’t know! I don’t know what to do with any of it, I don’t know what to do with, with you, with everything you’ve sacrificed for Isobel and for me, I don’t know how to be worthy of it, I don’t know how to thank you, I don’t, I don’t know.”

Michael rocks back in his chair, face pointed up at the sky again, drinking in the constellations until he covers his eyes with his hands and lets out a shout of frustration. Everything around them not bolted down lifts and inch and slams back down for emphasis.

Calmer, then, Michael says, “We were seven year old newborns. I’m pretty sure I didn’t do it for gratitude.”

“No, you couldn’t have. Which means you just did it on instinct. It’s just who you are. You protect us, and we, and we…”

“Don’t,” Michael cuts him off, wearily. He doesn’t need to hear any self-recriminations.

“No, Michael, come on. The things you’ve done, the ways you’ve been hurt, you…there aren’t words to describe the gratitude, I just...Thank you, Michael.”

The only sound after that is the crackling fire, and in that silence, Michael floats Max over another beer.

It would be easier if Michael could resent him. If he could want to go back and do it all over again without knowing in a place deep enough in him it could be his cells or a sickness that he’d do the exact same thing, go through all that hell a second time, a third.

“Nobody can change the past,” he says eventually. It’s something Sanders used to say to him any time he made a mistake, when he was just a kid and learning and not a certified ace mechanic who ought to know better. It’s weird, to Michael, right here and right now, having the wisdom of somebody else in his mouth.

This life hasn’t had all bad things.

“But we can try and change the future,” Max says. “I know I’ve done a hell of a job of it these past weeks, but I don’t want to pretend like we don’t know this. I want things to be better between us. I want to be a better brother.”

“Oh yeah? Like how?” Michael’s voice slips into mockery; he doesn’t try to prevent it. “Find me a job that you don’t want? Toss me a hand me down phone when you get an upgrade? Biweekly pity parties? Been there, done that, was given the t-shirt against my will.”

“Yeah, okay, maybe! Just not like that, man, we’re not kids anymore. Maybe we could, I don’t know, try to figure out what being better means together? No more sacrifices. No more charity.”

Michael picks at the label of his latest empty bottle. 

Voice quiet, almost inaudible over the crackle of the fire, Max says, “Dude, my heart only beats because of what you did for me. I came back to life knowing that. This just puts it into perspective.”

“I didn’t do that alone. Liz and Valenti were just as important. More. Rosa kickstarted you. I was just the assist.”

“Michael.” 

“What?”

“What do you need from me? What will help you understand how much you mean to Isobel and me. It’s not charity, man. It’s family. We keep saying that, but I think we need to do a better job defining it, you know?”

What does he need. It’s such a rare question he doesn’t know the answer.

“Free drinks at the Pony for life, a nice, cozy alibi, and your head on a pike instead of mine when Maria finds out.” he says.

Max laughs, the sound strained but genuine, his head thrown back to face the stars.

[theliterarywolf]

How was the sequel to Tales from The Hood, a shitshow?

The original Tales from the Hood, while having some campy horror elements, still managed to present its stories and tone competently while still incorporating themes of struggles of black Americans in urban areas. 

Examples: 

A black politician who’s been trying to fight against police corruption gets beaten to death and injected with drugs post-mortem by said corrupt cops to slander his name. The politician returns from the dead to exact vengeance. Obviously this short tackles police brutality and corruption.

A little boy and his mother who are constantly beaten and abused by what he draws and identifies as a ‘monster’ who, it turns out, is the mother’s new boyfriend. The theme here is Domestic Violence and how often people try to brush it under the rug as just a way of life in the community. 

A former klansman-turned senator buys a building called ‘The Dollhouse’ that is of high historical significance to the local black community, despite their wishes and complaints, to serve as the headquarters for his racist campaign to become governor. The house in of itself was where a confederate-supporter, after the loss of the Civil War, decided to murder all of his slaves rather than see them freed. Their restless souls haunted the place until a ‘voodoo woman’ managed to calm their souls and place them into dolls. You can pretty much guess where this is going and the themes.

The final entry centers around a gang-member who, after getting hunted and shot down by rival gang-members, is taken into police custody and is given one last chance for freedom by a doctor’s new, radical behavioral therapy program. Said therapy takes a note right out of A Clockwork Orange and bombards our main character with alternating images of brutal gang-violence and KKK lynchings. After which, he is berated with apparitions of all the people he’s shot and killed; including a little girl who was a victim during one of his drive-by shootings. Of course, this kind of therapy will only be successful if the subject shows some remorse...

And all of this is wrapped in a framing device of three gang-members trying to find some drugs at a funeral-home, even harassing the funeral-director, which turns out to be a portal into hell.

... *deep breath*

I have to do a ‘Read More’ because this post got long. But I implore you guys to read on to see the abyss of insanity and bad directions that were taken in regards to the sequel of this movie. Please.

The sequel decided to throw ALL NUANCE AND TACT out of the window and give us such wonderful stories as: 

A white girl and a black girl are on a road-trip and decide to go to the... ugh... Museum of Negrosity where the owner chastises them on thinking that the uncomfortable racist memorabilia he owns (collections of minstrel show cartoons, golliwog and pickaninny dolls) are things of the past instead of acknowledging them as parts of America’s racist past. And, for some reason, the white girl is obsessed with buying one of the golliwog dolls because she had one when she was little. Anyway, they sneak back in later with the white girl’s brother who happens to be the black girl’s boyfriend, so they can steal one of the dolls. Through hijinks, the doll comes to life and grows to the size of a human being. The brother/boyfriend gets whipped to death, the black girl gets cut in half by a minstrel-colored guillotine, and the white girl... Fucks the giant golliwog doll, gets pregnant, and a few days later, has her stomach torn open as a bunch of baby versions of the doll go flying out everywhere.

Some gang-members track down a former pimp who’s changed his ways to try and shake him down for some owed money. He doesn’t comply, so they kill him but, golly-gee! How are they going to get the money now~? Oh, I know! Hold a scam medium hostage so he can perform a seance to talk to the pimp to find out about the money. But, oh no~ It looks like the medium’s powers decide to actually work this time~ Ooh~

Two douchebags hookup with two hot chicks and, after the world’s worst game of Cards Against Humanity, they decide to roofie the girls so they can record themselves raping them so they can post it to ‘le dark web’. ... Lo’ and behold, the girls turn out to be vampires who were playing 4D chess to rope the two douchebags in so they can use them for their own recording-something-brutal-to-post-online scheme. 

And... The LAST one. Oh my God, the LAST ONE. *deep breath* Okay.

So we follow a black republican councilman who is married to a white woman and they’re expecting a baby after a long line of miscarriages. But the wife is having weird bouts of bad dreams and insomnia. What are the bad dreams about? 

... I need you guys to understand. That I am not shitposting when I type the following words. *deep breath* Okay. 

The wife is being haunted by the ghost of Emmett Till telling her that she doesn’t deserve to have her baby. You know? Emmett Till? The victim of one of the most brutal, horrific murders in America due to one of the most disgusting, vile acts of racism? THAT EMMETT TILL?!

So..! The black councilman is working for a white politician who... I’m just going to put a direct quote from the movie so you can get where they were coming from.

“That man wants to close down ten more voting locations, all of them in black districts!”

Anyway, after a house-call from a doctor who brushes off the dreams as hormones, the councilman hosts a party for the politician who’s running slogan is ‘Let’s take Mississippi back!’ Gee-golly-willickers! Can’t imagine where they were coming from with that one!!

So the party goes on, the politician even congratulating our councilman on his ‘white wife’, but said wife rushes downstairs after having another dream; ranting about ‘that boy from the field has decided to LIVE! And if he lives, our baby’s going to die!’ And she runs outside with a machete to try and kill the ghost of Emmett Till (who, again, very real person and victim of racist brutality). 

So the councilman’s mother and the local voodoo expert drive up and the voodoo expert tells the councilman that Emmett Till is trying to talk to him about the nature of sacrifice. The next day, the wife is talking about how her stomach is getting smaller, but the councilman doesn’t want to hear any of it and calls the doctor again. And, guys..?! If shit hadn’t jumped the rails before?! The train just starts doing cartwheels from here. 

The doctor is suspiciously short-tempered with the politician this time around and he does examine the wife to confirm that her stomach is indeed shrinking. However, when he’s told that the councilman is the father, he storms out and snaps “I don’t work for coloreds!” 

Then the wife runs out of bed and tells the doctor that the councilman isn’t her husband and that he kidnapped and raped her. So both the wife and the doctor drive off and the councilman realizes that the world has somehow gone back to the era of Jim Crow. 

... Oooh my gosh, typing this is making me want to commit toaster-bath but it gets so much worse..!

So, after the voodoo expert comes to chastise the councilman about not ‘respecting the sacrifices that have been gifted to you’, he is able to see the ghost of Emmett Till (who was a real person, why is this happening..?!) who is there to tell him that he’s decided that he wants to live. Which means that the world will never see the brutal images of his body at his funeral and that will cause a Butterfly Effect in history that will make it so that the Civil Rights Movement never happened. 

You may be questioning the logistics of this, but don’t worry! The ghosts of the girls killed in the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing in Birmingham come to explain and further berate the councilman about ‘respecting the sacrifices that have been gifted to him’ and working for a racist politician. 

But wait! There’s more! *whines* I keep crying out to God but he won’t answer...

They’re soon joined by the ghosts of the three Freedom Riders who were killed during the Mississippi Burning Murders, the ghost of Civil Rights Activist Medgar Evers, and DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. 

Not to mention several other unnamed figures who walk up while everyone else starts chanting about ‘respecting the sacrifices that have been gifted to you’, who look like Rosa Parks and Frederick Douglass, just to name a few. 

... I need a drink. I need a cold, stiff drink. ... Almost done. 

So, in comes the Klan. You know, the white-robed bastards; I hear they have an outreach center a few cities away from me. Sure, fine, whatever. The wife is leading them along with the white politician who hits the councilman’s mother in the face with a baton and Emmett Till stops time just as reinforcements show up to tell the councilman that, in order for everything to go back to normal, he has to join the ranks of those who sacrificed. 

“If what you want is worth us dying for, how come its not worth you dying for?!”

And, at first, the councilman disagrees; even being dragged away by Klansmen. However! It’s his wife angrily spitting in his face that makes him realize that this world isn’t the world he wants to live in. So he runs over to Emmett Till to tell him that he will join him... And then he’s beaten to death, becoming a sacrifice to get the world back to normal. And, once it is, his spirit joins Emmett Till’s and walks off into the great beyond. 

So! Not only did this schlocky, B-movie horror movie sequel decide to use a REAL LIFE VICTIM of racism-driven brutality as a story-device, but it also wants to put forth the message that the people who lost their lives during the Civil Rights Movement? Yeah, they HAD to die! Otherwise the Civil Rights Movement would never have happened~!

You see why I hate the sequel to Tales from the Hood so much? Not even mentioning the terrible framing segments of a racial-profiling robot being told these stories so it knows what ‘criminals’ to go after, but this movie is just a temple of ‘WHY?! WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS?!?!?!’

[punkcupcakestyles]

Love Song

Part 15

Catch Up!

Sofia Welsh-De La Rosa and Timothée Chalamet will star in new Amazon series and, honestly, I won’t talk about anything else ever again

Amazon Prime has just announced the release of its new original series set in 1970’s New York. According to Hollywood Reporter, the new series will be lead by Sofia Welsh - De La Rosa, Timothée Chalamet, and Logan Lerman, and will be produced by Jordan Peele (Get Out and Us) and directed by Christina Hodson (Birds of Prey). The ambitious project is in talks with some other big names in Hollywood, such as Meryl Streep and even Robert de Niro, to join the series.

Honestly, I’m gagging. 

This might come as a surprise as both Sofia, who has been enjoying lots of Oscar’s buzz for the third year in a row, and Timothèe are on the prime of their movie careers, as two of the most prominent young actors in Hollywood, but according to many sources, Sofia has been looking for a way to work with Peele for a long time, while Timothèe is excited to add some action to his resume, after his role in Hostiles and The King. Also, rumor has it, Amazon is willing to pay a hefty (and I mean hefty) amount of money to sign the young stars. 

As for Logan Lerman, this is his the actor’s first TV role since 2005 and is set to be his comeback after his career faded a bit to the background. With the star-studded cast, Amazon is hoping this to be the platform’s next big hit. 

There is no doubt that Sofia, Timothèe, and Logan are three of THE most talented young actors today, with Sofia being the reigning queen of the pack. Recently, the actress has played a pirate, a thief, a devious courtesan and a feminist writer trying to bring down love, and she’s been rumored to have just signed a deal with Disney to play her very own princess, as well as an undisclosed character in MCU’s highly anticipated Black Widow. She truly has the range, Darling!

Sofia was seen having coffee with Timothèe early in the week, before the show’s announcement, which sparked rumors that the actress had ended things with Harry Styles after he had dinner with his ex in London. She was also seen leaving the James Corden Late Late Night’s studio with Logan...

@BobbyC I’m sorry but all of them are gay...

@Peanutbuttah Eh, she can’t act anyway

@Loveisloud @peanutbuttah She can act, she has been in commercial and art-house movies and has received rave reviews every time. You just don’t like her because she’s dating your fave. 

@Arewethereyet she’s an sl*t. So glad Harry’s done with her…

@Soph Are you drunk Buzzfeed? One does not leave Harry Styles for anyone!

****

Harry was cooking. 

The air smelled like garlic and butter and I breathed in deeply, just realizing how fucking hungry I was, as I followed him to the kitchen. It just occurred to me that I hadn’t eaten anything that day, other than a cup of coffee that Harry had made me in the morning. It was a little strong for my taste, I liked mine with sugar, even when my mom kept telling me I was being violently disrespectful to coffee. I didn’t care, not one bit. 

I never really ate on interviews or auditions days, it made my tummy feel funny and I was usually afraid that my clothes wouldn’t fit like they were supposed to after, so, no food for me, thank you. Usually, D would force-feed me as soon as we were done, practically shoving fruits, nuts, and salads down my throat (sometimes even a burger!), but today I was way too anxious and excited to even pay attention to her efforts. I was going on a date with Harry, I couldn’t care less about anything else!!!

And now, I was fucking hungry and it smelled even better in the kitchen.

“I didn’t know you cooked,” I smiled, looking at the pasta that was boiling on the stove and the bubbling alfredo sauce. Grilled prawns and a green salad were carefully plated in rustic blue and gold plates.

My eyes traveled to him, and I saw him hesitate for a second before he gifted me with a shy smile. He was so lovely, it was no surprise that my head became fuzzy every time I was around him. Even the most superficial thought struggled to grab a hold to my brain. I wondered if anyone could keep their wits around him, but somehow, I doubted it.

“It takes my mind off of things,” he finally said. “And I kinda wanted to impress you, I guess.” 

The admission made my heart soar in my chest and I beamed at him as he stood in front of me. I admired his beauty for a second, his skin was slightly tanned and it looked almost delicious against the white fabric of his shirt, and his smile was warm, making me feel giddy as he trapped me against the counter with his arms on each side of my body. 

I wanted to kiss him, so so badly, but instead, I let my fingers brush over his neck until they reached the tips of his hair. It tickled and he laughed softly with the most wonderful smile.

“Really?” I asked him softly, cause I didn’t want to break the intimate moment we were sharing. 

“Yeah. A bit silly, innit?”

“No, it’s not silly. But, if you wanted to impress me, then you should’ve made a chocolate lava cake,” I teased. “You would’ve gotten me, then.”

“Chocolate, uh?” The right corner of his lip shot upwards, and an adoring feeling hit me right in the chest like a tidal wave. 

“Yeap.”

“I’ll keep it in mind for next time,” Harry muttered, his words getting lost in the air as he leaned down to kiss me.

I realized that it was all I wanted: To kiss him slowly, maybe even for hours. But I knew I had to stop him. I was under his spell and there was nothing I could do about it, nothing I wanted to do, anyway. But even I could admit that this was just a dream, one that I wanted to remember every second of. So when he was gone, I would still have those memories. 

So before his lips could brush mine, before he could melt my brain with his kisses, I pressed my forehead to his and dropped my hands to his chest, right where his heart was beating rapidly. 

“Sorry,” I said shyly, casting my eyes down so I wouldn’t have to look at him, not a few more seconds, not until I had gathered the will to stand strong by my decision. 

“Is there something wrong?” His voice was full of sincere concern, a little bit rougher as well, which made his accent more noticeable. 

“No,” I shook my head, finally looking into his green eyes. “Everything’s perfect.”

“You just don’t want me to kiss you?”

“It’s just...I want to remember every bit of tonight,” I said, as I tried to ease the utter embarrassment that was crawling over my chest. Who said stuff like that? Writers in cheesy movies or bad teen shows. Fuck. 

“Except for my kisses?” He insisted, almost like a little boy fishing for reassurance. I brought my fingers to his cheek and grazed them it until he smiled at me. 

The answer was “fuck, no”. His kisses were a memory I wanted to carry with me forever. But I also wanted to have that night, so I could carry it with me, and compare it to every other date, every other person that would come my way. 

“I want to remember the little details,” I said, shrugging my shoulders. “The dinner you made, which is really close to burning, the grandpa pants…”

“Hey! These look cool! And the sauce, I have it under control!”

“If you say so,” I sneered mischievously, twisting my lips into a mocking smile as he pretended to be offended. “And I want to remember everything you did to make me feel special”

Harry’s arms looped around my waist as he pulled me to his chest and I hugged him back and looked at him, battling the need to just lean in and kiss him. His lips were so pink. 

We both sucked at the whole “no kissing allowed” thing, and somehow that made me feel a lot better. For once, I wasn’t the needy, dreamy one. 

“What do you think?” I asked in a whisper, smiling against the brush of his lips as he bumped our noses together.

“I want to kiss you, Sof, all fucking night long,” he pouted. “Been thinking ‘bout it all day.”

“I’ll make it up to you. Just...lemme have this, yeah?”

“Why?”

“Cause…” I laughed embarrassedly. “I already have your kisses in a little folder in my brain. Now I wanna have this.”

“Is it just me in that folder?” Harry asked, suddenly interested in some other thing that frowning. Curiosity and amusement were burning in his stare and I rolled my eyes at him, almost scoffing at the fact that was the only thing that had managed to catch his attention. 

“Mostly you…” I conceded, even though the petty part of me was all for rolling out with a long list of names before I got to his name. “And Sebastian Stan…” I said, not being able to resist it. 

“Bucky Barnes?” His eyebrows twisted in confusion and he looked at me as I licked my lips, considering just how weird I wanted my answer to be.  

“And the cartoon, too...” I replied, a little bit too casually for it to go unnoticed, but Harry didn’t seem to notice, cause as he was nodding thoughtfully, his hands traveled to my neck again, making me look at him as he dipped his head down to reach the curve of my neck. 

“That’s a bit greedy, baby,” He whispered against my skin, pressing soft kisses down to my pulse point. I wasn’t sure if that was technically a kiss, and I didn’t care, it felt so good. “Someone else?” He was cheating, and we both knew it. I could feel his smile growing bigger, and I sighed as he grazed his teeth over the curve of my neck and let his tongue soothe my skin. “Babe?” He insisted, just to tease me. It was hard to think, and he knew it, but I wasn’t going to admit it just yet. 

“Uh.” I licked my lips and struggled for a second, as I struggled to remember what was it that I was going to say. “Chris Evans, “ I began. “and uh, Michael B. Jordan. Mmm… and Logan Lerman.”

“Isn’t that the guy you’re gonna work with?” He asked, stopping suddenly to look at me. I fluttered my eyes open and smiled when they could finally focus on him. 

“Yeah, him and Timothée Chalamet.”

“Mmmm...I don’t know if I want to share my folder with them,” Harry pouted, which made me laugh. I realized it was no laughing matter, but still, a warm, almost giddy, laughter kept bubbling out of my tummy. 

“Why? Does it make you jealous, H?” I teased.

“Should I be?”

“Mmmm...I don’t know. I honestly think I would let Logan fuck me...those eyes, man.”

“So funny, S…” Harry rolled his eyes. He was not as amused as I had expected him to be. 

“You shouldn’t be,” I said softly, looking him in the eyes, serious and sincere.  

“You sure?” He asked and I was sure he wasn’t talking about Logan Lerman anymore. 

“I’m sure, baby.” I wasn’t even lying. “So, who’s in yours?” I asked, cause maybe that’d take attention away from myself. I didn’t think things through though, cause he had a whole bunch of options for his answer. Who could it be? One of his supermodel exes? His singer ex? This wasn’t a fun game at all. 

“You.”

“Oh, so THAT’S how you answer that kind of question!!” I exclaimed, which made him laugh, and, as he did so, his dimples showed on his face, making him look a little boyish. He was fucking pretty, Jesus. 

“I’m not even trying to be a good boyfriend here,” Harry chuckled, and I relished on the way the word `boyfriend” sounded out of his lips. So pretty, so fucking pretty. “My folder is called “When Sof’s not around”, and I think we need to fill it up, so I don’t run out of thoughts.”

“Oh, we don’t want that,” I scrunched up my nose and shook my head at him as a smile played on my lips. I was so fucking happy and I couldn’t even figure out why. 

“No, we don’t.” The tip of his tongue lapped across his pink lips, and I followed it with my eyes, taking a second or two before I peered up to him again. “I was hoping we could kiss all night,” he said softly. “and maybe I could eat you out by the pool.”

“I didn’t bring a swimsuit…”

“You wouldn’t need one, baby,” Harry laughed, a mix of mischief and endearment lacing with it. I couldn’t stop staring at him, and my knees wobbled a bit as he leaned down, bumping our noses together one more time, as the soft brush of his lips against my skin made me shiver. 

“Don’t cheat,” I whispered and his soft laugh echoed down in every inch of my body. His lips grazed over my forehead, as he pressed a soft kiss to my skin. 

“Ok, baby. We’ll do it your way.”

“Thank you.”

“I think it’s silly, y’know?” He started, pushing me back so he could look at me with his bright green eyes. “We’re just starting, Sof.”

****

I wanted to kiss him. 

I looked at him, licking a spoonful of dessert with my head propped on my hand as I listened to him talk, but all I could think of was how much I wanted to lick the trace of chocolate out of his lips. 

“Is there something wrong, S?” I noticed there wasn’t much concern in his voice, not like there usually was when he asked me if I was ok. This time, there was a hint of mockery, almost as if he knew exactly what I was thinking and that all I wanted to do was to sit on his lap and press soft kisses from his jaw to his lips. 

Fuck.

“No,” I smiled sweetly, cause I wasn’t one to go down without a fight, and I took his hand in mine and pressed it to my lips before I looked at him again. 

“Were you distracted?” His smile was turning more devilish as the seconds went by and I felt myself get warm as he leaned closer, his hands dropping to my thigh and pressing softly to it.

He wasn’t gonna win. I was not going to let him. 

“Nope,” I said, letting the ‘p’ pop between my lips. “Tell me about your album, I promise I’ll be a grown-up about it.” 

“Nice save…” Harry chuckled. “I think you’re gonna like it.”

“I have recently discovered that I’m a very jealous person. I don’t think I’ll like it, but I’ll be happy for you.”

“You shouldn’t be jealous.” A smile tugged on his lips and I felt warm, so warm inside, I couldn’t help but smile as well. “And I think you’re like it, especially since I made a few last-minute changes, against Jeff’s will.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, he kept saying I had the guts, the audacity to change the album when we’re about to drop the first single.”

“What changes?” I insisted, because Jeff’s feelings were the least of my concern at the moment. 

I wished I could have played it cool. Maybe that would’ve made me look more interesting, aloof, unapproachable, and all those things a girl should be in front of her crush. But my heart was racing and the world was turning chaotic as my head ticked, like a tiny little bomb. 

I needed to know. 

Tick, tick. 

“You’re already sure you’re not gonna like it,” Harry smirked, surely unaware of the mess inside my head. “You might as well wait for it.”

No!!! TIck tick. 

“Oh, please, please, pretty please?? What’s the advantage of this if I can’t get a tiny sneak peek?”

“Well, for instance, you get me to cook for you…”

“It was delicious, thank you.”

“And you get me to eat you out at night when you’re not being stubborn and imposing kiss-bans.”

“I like that very much, too,” I giggled, looking at his green eyes as he got just a bit closer, just an inch away from me. 

“So it’s not such a bad deal, is it?”

“I guess not.”

“Good.” His bottom lip rolled into his lips and he bit it thoughtfully for a couple of seconds as his eyes kept burning little holes into my soul. That’s how it felt. “Let’s watch a movie, baby. Are there any bans on cuddling?”

“No, not yet.”

His fingers squeezed mine and he got up swiftly from the table, smiling brightly as we covered the few steps to a different room near the pool, where a giant screen awaited for us. There were a bunch of individuals blue chair, blue and velvety, and a larger one, that was meant to comfortably fit two. The room was dark, only lit by the lights coming from the screen, and I followed him blindly until we were sitting side by side. Slowly, we found each other, and as Harry sat against the armchair, I settled between his legs, cuddling up to his chest while his large hand rested on the curve of my waist. 

He smelled like a lazy Sunday morning when the rain is lightly tapping on your windows and all you can hear are the chirping birds when still early, so the world hasn’t woken up just yet and you get to focus on that feeling, on the promise of what’s coming. 

He also smelled like pasta and chocolate, and I didn’t mind that at all. 

He felt soft, comforting, and sweet, but above all, he felt safe. I was safe with him. 

And, I struggled for a bit, trying to understand what came next, what was the warmth and giddiness that settled in my tummy every time I looked at him. 

“You ok, baby?” Harry asked and I nodded absentmindedly, not ready to let my thoughts go just yet. What was it? “Wanna watch Set It Up?”

“Yeah, whatever you want. your choice.”

“Are you sure you’re ok? You don’t say that often.”

“Oh, shhh, Harry I always do whatever you want.”

“We definitely have different definitions of ‘Whatever Harry wants’” He mused and I propped myself up to look at him, almost suspiciously, almost angry.

“Do we? What do you want?” I asked. 

“To kiss you. And for you to stay the night.”

“I have a bed, y’know?” I quirked my eyebrow, looking at him as I had already won the argument. 

“Yeah, unfortunately…”

“And we promised we would behave tonight.”

“You can stay in a different room,” he offered. “Or I will.”

“What’s the point then?”

“You won’t have to miss me in the morning…” he shrugged. I laughed out loud, despite my best efforts to look offended. “And I won’t have to miss you.”

“I’ll think about it.”

Love. 

He looked a lot like love. 

And love looked a lot like him. 

***

Harry Styles and Sofia Welsh were out grabbing Fro-yo and I’ll never be as cool as either of them

Yes, I know what you’re gonna say: Are they paying you to write this sh*t? And the answer is yes! someone’s paying me to write this sh*t! Alas, neither Harry nor Sofia is. I wish. 

The usually private couple, and bear in mind I am using the word couple loosely here as they haven’t confirmed to be dating, gave the world a glimpse of their relationship as they stepped out in Los Angeles to grab ice-creams and bubble teas, along with friends.

Ever since the rumors of their relationship spread around, the couple has been mostly keeping a low profile - which is not very surprising as Harry Styles is not very open about his personal life since he was a member of One Direction and a large part of his fans believed him to be romantically involved with one of his bandmates (that was a mouthful! And also very true, there has been a lot of conspiracy theories about it)

Sofia, who’s in the middle of an Oscar campaign (and has been showing us just how much designers adore her), sported a pair of leggings, a crop top, and a large blazer, a perfect outfit for the ever-changing LA weather, and looked happy and relaxed as she waited for Harry to get their orders. Both stars took photos with fans and left together in Styles’ classic car…

****

We were made out of good intentions. 

We slept together that night and every night after that for an entire week. We didn’t do much, we kissed and cuddled, and spent our mornings lazily together until one of us had to go out to the real world. We even went out and we kept stealing looks and smiles at each other, like two little kids that were too shy in front of their crushes. 

Photos were taken. Articles were published. Midge was elated. 

Harry’s new single was coming out that night, and there was going to be a party to celebrate it. If it was a hit, they were going to celebrate their success and all the hard work that went into it. It was a flop, and it was not going to flop, they were going to drink for better times ahead. 

“Fuck!!!” 

I stared at the ceiling, willing my body to move and failing miserably at it as every little muscle in my body contracted painfully. My arms hurt, and my legs felt like they were on fire. 

I just needed 5 more minutes before I got up and got ready to leave. 

It was day 4 of “my new life” as my trainer liked to call it, and after another lunch of grilled chicken and steamed broccoli, I was ready to quit. I had trained and dieted before for different roles, but this time, I had a feeling she wanted to suck the life out of me. It even made me reconsider if I needed to be in a Marvel Movie. Would Midge kill me if I quit?

“Sof…” The male voice scared me just a little, as I thought I was alone in my house. I turn around just slightly, as much as my tired poor body could handle and smiled as I saw Sam standing by my door. “Can I come in?”

He was holding a tray, with something that looked like a sandwich, coffee, and a glass of water, along with a white bottle of medicine. I nodded, grunting even at the soft movement, and he walked quickly to my bed, setting the tray down before me as he stood awkwardly. 

“Shouldn’t you be at work?” I struggled to ask while I propped myself up and sat criss-cross on my bed. I sounded angry, and maybe I was, why would he bring me a sandwich? It was all I wanted to eat and all I couldn’t eat at the same time. 

“I’m off work today, and I wanted to check on you. Cat told me you’ve been feeling under the weather. I called your mom and she told me you should “just eat a sandwich and take an aspirin”, so here they are,” he said, offering me a childish smile as he pointed the tray with a little too much joy. 

“I can’t eat a sandwich,” I sulked. “And I need to get ready, I have to go to Harry’s.”

“You can eat a sandwich. And he can wait 5 minutes, you’re always there.”

I realized we hadn’t talked about the kiss, not really. I avoided being alone with him, and whenever the occasion presented itself, Sam would go out of the room, giving me space and maybe waiting for me to be the first one to reach out. I had never done that. Honestly, I didn’t think I would.

“You’re right, Sammy,” I said, picking the sandwich in my hands and noticing that he had already cut the crust off. “Thank you.”

It was weird between us, tense and quiet, and I didn’t like it. I bit into the bread looking at an empty spot on the wall as I waited for him to say something. Anything, I would take it. But Sam remained silent, pressing his palms on his thighs as he went to get up. 

“Sam,” I called for him and I smiled shyly when he finally turned around. He took his time, though, and for a moment there, I was scared he was going to leave. “I’m sorry.”

“That’s not what you want to hear when someone you like kisses you.”

“I shouldn’t have…”

“Did you want to?”

“Yes,” I breathed and I realized I wasn't lying. I did want to kiss him, there was no use in denying that. 

I put the sandwich down on the plate and moved closer to Sam until I could see the golden freckles that were hidden in his light brown eyes.

“Do you remember that night when you came through my window and stayed the night with me?”

“Yeah, I heard your dad scream, and I wanted to be there in case…”

“I know, Sam. I’ve wanted to kiss you ever since then,” I admitted and he kept staring at me as if he was considering what his next move would be. Would he kiss me? Did I want him to kiss me?

“You’re not being fair to me, Sof.”

“I know. You haven’t been fair to me either, but here we are.”

There was a moment of panic, cause for a second, I thought he was going to kiss me. He leaned over me and I held my breath as I looked at him, not able to stop him just yet. But as his lips brushed over my forehead, I closed my eyes, smiling as he pulled away from me. 

“Eat the fucking sandwich, Sof,” he replied and it wasn’t enough. I took his hand before he could leave and I licked my lips, peering up to him with something more than just fear pressing up to my chest. 

“Are we good?”

“Yeah.”

“I guess we’ll talk about it again when he gets back with his ex.”

That was a low blow, and we both knew it, but I just stayed quiet as he left the room, wondering if I deserved it. 

****

It took me a while to get ready, so I was late for Harry’s party. I went straight to the pool, where a large screen had been set up and the new video seemed to be on a loop. I couldn’t find Harry anywhere, but at the same, he was all I could see. I stared at the screen, looking at his golden skin as he was surrounded by the adoring crowd, at the way they kept touching and the expression on his face as he leaned into them. The song didn’t even matter, cause all I could focus on was his stupidly beautiful green eyes. 

I mean, I had watched his videos before. I had seen him fly through the sky and be surrounded by kids, but this was different. Those were entertaining and beautiful, and I felt the emotion in my tummy simply because it was him, and somehow, just seeing him made me happy. But in this one he meant to capture your attention and a little bit of your soul. He wanted to be desired and to be free along the way. And it was such a fucking sexy video.  

I lost count of how many times I allowed myself to watch the video, but it was probably too many times. After a while, I decided it was time to look for the real Harry, who was still nowhere to be seen, so I left the pool, smiling and greeting everyone as I passed by. 

I hoped he was alone, cause I wanted to fucking kiss him like no one else was looking. I wanted to tell him how lovely, talented, and amazing he was. I was going to kiss him a lot and praise him, it couldn’t get better than that. 

I looked for him in the living room, where a small crowd was throwing back cocktails and beers and went out to the front door, where people were lounging about, a bit drunkenly. But he wasn’t anywhere, and I was starting to feel uneasy. 

It took me more than a few minutes to make my way to his room because people kept getting in my way. I did my best to smile and engage in silly conversations about nothing, but my heart was growing heavy and my brain was too anxious to even remember if I had succeeded. 

I heard him talk even before I stood by his door. I couldn’t quite tell what he was saying or who he was talking to, but I noticed that his words were a little bit slurred, and his accent dripped thick in his low voice. The door was slightly ajar and I pushed it open and stood by the frame as I saw him talking on the phone. He had his back to me, so he didn’t notice that I had arrived, not that it mattered. 

“C, you’re drunk,” I heard him say and I wished he had just said a different name. “No...I know I told you it was just a PR relationship...Cause I need time to figure out...Really, C? Wanna know if I still love you? You’re not being fair...” The last part came out as a dry laugh, and I knew I had to leave, it was rude and inappropriate, but, most importantly, it was breaking my fucking heart. But my feet seemed like they were made out of cement, and my legs had chosen that moment to numb out of pain. So, I was still standing there when he turned around, and probably saw the tears that were threatening to spill down my eyes. 

I wanted to know the answer too. Could I know it? It’d save us a lot of pain. 

“Bye, C.”

He dropped his phone to the bed and I looked at him as he walked quickly to me. He looked flustered and worried, but it all seemed so distant, that it didn’t matter. 

“Baby,” Harry said, but that wasn’t my name. Did her call her baby too? He probably did, he was a ‘baby’ kind of guy. “Are you ok?”

“Yes, I was looking for you cause I wanted to check if you wanted me to post something on Instagram,” I lied. “D already drafted a tweet, it’s really simple.”

“Sof, how much did you hear?”

“Nothing. I’m gonna get a couple of photos and uh, I’m gonna go home, I think I need a rest day.”

His hand went to grab mine, but before he could do it, I turned and walked away rushing down the stairs until I could get lost in the crowd. 

Fair? None of us was being fair. 

[walpurga-nacht-academy]

Djinn’s Bride! ~A Celebration of Love~

Part 7

[Walpurga Nacht Academy]

[Djinn’s Lamp]

Djinn: EEEEEEEEEH!

June: HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!

Blanche: Hi-Himalia-senpai’s snapped!

Marcia: WOOOOOOO! GO FOR IT SENPAI! TEACH HIM A LESSON!

Djinn: HEY! HEY! HEY! PU-PUT THAT THING DOWN! IT’S AN ANTIQUE!

June: HAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!

Diana: … That table.

Rosa: I-IT’S MARBLE, ISN’T IT?! IT’S DEFINITELY MARBLE! AND IT’S MASSIVE TOO SO IT’S GOTTA BE HEAVY! AND SHE’S PICKING IT LIKE IT DOESN’T WEIGH A THING! IT’S SCARY! IT’S SERIOUSLY SCARY!

Blanche: Gi-Giants were said to be able to shatter mountains with just a kick… Still for a human, this is something else… But…

Rosa: Eh? Bu-But?!

June: HAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

Djinn: STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!

[CRASH]

[SMASH]

Rosa: IT-IT PASSED RIGHT THROUGH HIM!

Diana: … As expected.

Rosa: ‘AS EXPECTED’?! WHAT’S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!

Blanche: Djinn are creatures made of smoke and held together by magic. The fact that objects can pass right through them should be obvious. 

Marcia: Cheating! That’s just straight up cheating! Booooooo!

June: … Tsk.

Djinn: AAAAAAAAH! NOW YOU’VE DONE IT! YOU’VE SERIOUSLY DONE IT! MY PRECIOUS COLLECTION!

Cass: Pre-Precious…

Blanche: … collection?

Rosa: Huh? You mean those gaudy figures you have displayed on that shelf?

Djinn: THEY’RE NOT GAUDY! THEY’RE COLLECTOR’S ITEMS! EACH IS WORTH MORE THAN YOUR MISERABLE LIVES WOULD FETCH ON THE SLAVE MARKET!

Rosa: EEEEEH?!

Djinn: AAAAAAAH! THEY’RE ALL SMASHED! MY FRIENDS!

Marcia: … ‘My friends’... I’m kinda feeling sorry for this guy again…

Rosa: I know what you mean…

June: FUCK ‘HAT!

Rosa: YOU’RE STILL GOING?! EVEN AFTER WHAT JUST HAPPENED?! YOU’RE STILL GOING THROUGH WITH IT?!

June: SHUT IT!!

Blanche: Se-Senpai!! Even if you swing with all you’ve got, it still won’t make a difference! His body-

June: Yeah, yeah! I ‘eard all ‘hat smoke crap y’all were talkin’ ‘bout! If ‘hat the case, ‘hen [OVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER-]

[CRACKLING]

Marcia: HEY, HEY, HEY! ARE YOU REALLY GONNA USE YOUR UNIQUE MAGIC IN SUCH A CRAMPED SPACE?! WE’RE IN CLOSE QUARTERS, YOU KNOW?!

Rosa: AAAAAAH! WE’RE GONNA GET BURNT TO A CRISP! 

Cass: Mi-Mi-Miss Himalia!!

Vita: Fufu~

June: [-CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARG-]

Djinn: [TIME’S UP!]

[CLICK]

June: !!!

Rosa: EEEEH?! WH-WH-WH-WHA-

Marcia: WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!

Cass: Mi-Mi-Miss Himalia!!

Agatha: Ehehehehehehehe… the… big… chowder… got… trapped…

Vita: My~ What a delightful sight~

[BANG, BANG]

Blanche: It’s an hourglass… Is that one of his abilities? But that means…

Djinn: Alright!!

All: !!!

Djinn: Now I’m seriously pissed!! Those things cost a fortune! Not to mention the marble table! And the fact that ever since you’ve come here you’ve done nothing but insult me! You are all incredibly rude guests!!

Marcia: It’s not like we wanna be guests in the first place!! If you can’t stand us that much, then just evict us!

Rosa: That’s right! That’s right!

Djinn: Didn’t you hear me, girlie?! I said my master is to stay here and become my wife! None of you are leaving until that happens! I’m not playing around anymore!

Rosa: Grrr! Marcia!! Stop dragging your feet and just do it already so we can go home!!

Marcia: Haaaaaa?! Are you stupid?! Are you seriously that stupid?! I’m not doing it! I said it already, didn’t I?! I’m not going through with this plan! Besides, I don’t even understand why I should stay when Himalia-senpai is already in that hourglass over there?!

Eh… actually…

Rosa: Wh-What’s with that weird expression? Like you’re just realizing something…

Blanche: … I have a bad feeling about this.

Diana: Mm.

Marcia: That’s right!! I don’t have to stay!! Djinn!

Djinn: … Seriously… these were limited editions too… Hm? What now girlie? Are you finally ready to just go along with it?

Marcia: There’s no need for that! Not when you have the perfect bride right there!

Djinn: Hm? What do you mean?

Marcia: Hahaha! Come on! Don’t play coy! Just look at Himalia-senpai! Doesn’t she have a nice face and long eyelashes? Even though she works all day, her hair still looks nicely taken care of! And she’s got that busty figure too! Won’t she make for a perfect wife instead of scrawny, boyish, old me? Hm?

Djinn: … Hm. 

Marcia: See, see~ It’s not rocket science! So let’s just forget about this whole marriage business! It never would have worked out between us. You know that! But with Himalia-senpai, I’m sure you’re gonna have tons of excitement! So, how about we give her to you, and you just let us-

Cass: N-NO! 

Marcia: E-Eh! Ca-Cassandra! Was that you shouting?

Cass: Mi-Miss Pyroeis! We can’t d-do that! I refuse to leave Miss Himalia behind! It’s i-inhumane!  

Rosa: A-Amazing, I think it’s the first time I’ve seen Cassandra so adamant about something…

Diana: The bond between them is strong. 

Marcia: I-I get it! But isn’t it inhumane to make me marry that guy also?! 

Rosa: You sure use morality when it’s convenient for you…

Marcia: Haaaa?! Don’t think I’ve forgotten that you wanted to sell me out too!! Actually! We should throw you in the bargain too! 

Rosa: You monster!! If anyone should be thrown in is you and Dies-senpai!! You’re the cause of all of this!! 

Marcia: Ok! Ok! I’ll admit that I might be a little at fault here! 

Rosa: Just ‘a little’-

Marcia: But what about Blanche?!

Blanche: Excuse me?

Marcia: You’re the one who brought up the artifact in the first place, weren’t you?!

Rosa: That’s right!! If you haven’t brought up the issue of the lamp then stupid Marcia wouldn’t have shown it to us!!

Marcia: Yeah!! The stupid me wouldn’t have brought it out and then senpai wouldn’t have gotten her grubby hands on it!! So it all comes down to it being your fault!

Blanche: !!! That-!

Rosa: Repent! Repent, you monster! 

Marcia: Mistakes should be paid in full!! So that means you’re the one who has to stay behind!!

Blanche: A-Absolutely not! I refuse to be punished for following the rules of-

Marcia: Like I care about that!! You’re gonna take the fall whether you like it or not!!

Rosa: That’s right!! That’s right!!

Agatha: The… hopping… chowder… should… take… the… amoeba… with… her… eheheheheheheheheheh

Rosa: GRRRRR! You’re still going on about that?! Maybe we should throw you in as well!! 

Vita: Now, you are simply talking out of turn, little rose~

Agatha: Stupid… amoeba… wants… her… head… bitten… off… I… bet…

Marcia: As far as I’m concerned all of you should be thrown in!

Rosa: Right back at you!

Agatha: Annoying… lot…

Vita: So much excitement~

Blanche: Keep calm all of you!!

Rosa/Marcia: SHUT IT!!

Cass: Th-Th-Th-Th-This is-!!

Diana: They’ve turned on each other. 

Cass: Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-What should we do? If we don’t act now, then-

Djinn: … You guys.

Cass: Eeeek!

Diana: …

Djinn: Is it possible? 

Cass: U-U-Um?

Djinn: Are you all fighting over who gets to stay in the lamp with me?! 

Diana: …

Djinn: Maaaaaan! I’m so honoured! After all the nasty things you’ve said and done, you do really want to stay here, don’t you? Hahahaha, you should be more honest with this type of thing, you know!

Cass: U-U-U-U-Um…

Rosa/Marcia: STOP LIVING IN YOUR DELUSIONS!! YOU IDIOOOOOOOOOOOT!!

Blanche: … This is a disaster…

Vita: Fufu~

Djinn: Hmmmm~ But picking just one is really hard… What should I do? What should I do? Mmmmm~ This is choice is really difficult~

Agatha: He’s… saying… that… but…

Vita: He is certainly enjoying himself~ My, though I must admit all this excitement does conjure up fond memories of my own marriage arrangements~ Fufu~

Rosa: Eh? Your own- Does that mean?!

Djinn: Marriage arrangements… Hm… an omiai, huh? Then… hm…

Marcia: He-Hey, he’s muttering to himself with that serious expression… Sh-Should we be worried?

Djinn: An omiai meeting… WHAT A WONDERFUL IDEA!!

Blanche: … I have a bad feeling about this…

Diana: Mm.

[RUMBLE]

Rosa: THE FLOOR IS MO-MOVING!

Marcia: EEEEEH!! IT’S SPLITTING APART!

[RUMBLE]

Cass: EEEEEEH!!

Diana: …

[RUMBLE]

Marcia: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH- Eh? It stopped? Why did- GEH! WHAT’S WITH THIS SET UP?!

Blanche: … It’s a panel show studio.

Djinn: THAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT’S RIGHT BUNNY GIRL! Since it’s the fated union between two extraordinary souls, I’m sparring no expenses~ We’re gonna have a quiz that will go down IN HISTORY! I’m bursting with excitement!

Rosa: Quiz?! What quiz?! Hey, hey, what’s going on here?!

Djinn: Hmmm, you’re kinda dumb, fluffy hair. Gonna have to deduct points for that.

Rosa: HA?! 

Djinn: But since I’m such a nice guy, I’ll explain it to you! See, what the busty vixen said got me thinking: if I have to be stuck with one of you for the rest of eternity I should pick the one that annoys me the least! It only makes sense to go about it this way, right?!

Blanche: I… I suppose so, but still…

Marcia: WHAT’S WITH THIS PANEL SHOW SET UP, HUH?!

Djinn: Oh, this? I just thought it would be way more interesting like this! Add a little spice, you know?

Rosa/Marcia: GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!

Djinn: SO! LET- US- START- THE- QUIZ- OF- A- LIFE- TIIIIIIIIIIIIME~

back | next

[salmonthestoryteller]

If x(y)=n…

Prompt: "You don't have to stay."

Science Bros. Set post s2 in a nebulous s3

Michael had never hesitated to enter the Wild Pony before, but he hadn't been expecting this phone call. Had debated about calling pretty much everyone in his phone directory multiple times, before finally getting in his truck and driving over.

Maria frowned at him when he finally entered.  "She's in the back.  I told her she could stay at my place, but she said to call you."

The other patrons were gone, as was the staff.  She was clearly finishing her own tasks for the night.  Michael could only shrug - he didn't have an explanation for that.

"I didn't know Liz and you were close." She added after a moment.

"We bonded over her jailbird experience." He quipped.

They'd actually bonded over science when Isobel was in the pod, and again while trying to save Max. But since most of their group tended to forget Michael was a genius unless he was jamming it down their throats, it wasn't worth trying to explain.  Most of the group, except Liz, he corrected.  Who, for reasons he still couldn't explain, had kept in increasing contact with him after she'd left Roswell last year.

Somehow, instead of her new co-workers, Liz was dialing his number at 2am to complain about setbacks in her research.  It had taken weeks of accepting her phone calls before he was calling back to bitch about his calculations not showing the results he wanted in his continued attempts to unlock the secrets of their homeworld technology. Both their phones set to speaker as she bustled around some brightly lit medical facility and he moved around his bunker or the junkyard - talking at odd hours of the day or night.

Liz grinned at him when he entered the room, so apparently she had not reached the upchucking portion of her drunken night yet.  She was on the floors though, nursing a bottle still. So they could still get there. "Mikey." She greeted.

"Ortecho." He stopped in front of her. "You do know there's only room for one alcoholic genius in our friend's group, right?"

Liz wrinkled her nose, seeming to contemplate the idea.  She grinned again, apparently having found a satisfactory answer.  "Well, then, I claim the spot. So you have to be the sober genius from here on out."

Michael sighed, and held out his hand.  "Up we go. Let's get you back home."

"Don't wanna go home." Liz informed him.

"Why?"

"Don't want Rosa to see me all-" She waved her hand to indicate her inebriated state.

Michael considered telling her that she should have thought of that sooner, before deciding he really didn't have the right to be lecturing anyone about their life decisions. "Okay, so do you know where you want to go?"

Liz seemed to consider that for a moment. "The Pod Caves."

Michael stared at her for a long moment, trying to decide if he'd heard her right. "The Pod Caves?"

Liz chose that moment to grab his hand and raise herself unsteadily to her feet.  "I wanna go to the Pod Caves."

"Okay, I'll take you there."

Liz wouldn't leave the bottle, insisting she had paid for it.  Michael decided if she hadn't, she could work it out with Maria later.  The drive to the abandoned mine would probably have helped sober her if she hadn't been continuing to drink from it the whole trip.  He'd thought to stop at the gas station for bottled water and aspirin, seeing as there would be none at the cave and acetone wasn't going to help her hangover like it would his.

When he parked, she got out by herself - stumbling up toward the mine but not entering.  "Max kissed me here." She announced.

"That's knowledge I could have lived without, Ortecho."

"Two years ago today.  Well, yesterday." Liz continued, not bothered by his sarcasm.

Michael froze, but sighed.  Well, that kind of explained the situation.  But if Liz was still hooked on Max, then why weren't they together? Instead of making everyone miserable by moping separately?  He grimaced at the thought. Hi Pot, Meet Kettle.

"I'm still soooo mad at him." Liz continued unprompted. "But I also miss him. I miss him lots."

Yeah, this was hitting close. Not as much for the present day, but for ten years prior that statement could have been his own words. Because he had been mad at Alex for his part of their messy equation.  But he'd also spent every day missing him. "I get that." He finally offered.

"We are the smartest people in our group." Liz continued, apparently taking that as permission to continue. "But we are also a couple of dumb fucks when it comes to relationships. We suck at them."

"C'mon, let's get inside." He'd noticed her starting to sway and had a feeling she would pass out soon. He reached out a hand, planning on guiding her to the destination, but apparently Liz took the gesture differently, and she threw her arms around him in a hug, sniffling into his shoulder. He hugged her back, awkwardly at first - taken by surprise - but more firmly as she continued to hold on.

"Not fair. Relationships should be like… like science.  X and y cause z reaction and only alter if n is introduced."

"Yeah, definitely doesn't work that way."

When she drew back, he led her gently toward the mine, using his powers to help her keep her footing the few times she stumbled.  "I want to be with Max, but I'm not sure if we're good for each other."

Michael wondered if he should be keeping a checklist of ways this conversation referenced his own issues with Alex. "Maybe we're looking at it wrong."

"What do you mean?" There were blankets in the cave, and she didn't hesitate to wrap herself up in one before sitting down in front of the pods.

Michael grabbed his own blanket and joined her. "Maybe we're thinking about relationships like they should be n, when they're really… finding all the equations where y and x equal n."

Liz frowned.  "So we're looking for a completed experiment. When relationships are actually research and development."

"I mean we never give up on our research." Michael pointed out.

"Just our relationships." Liz filled in the blank. "It kinda makes sense. In a weird way that I'd never talk to about anyone else but you."

Michael couldn't help but laugh, and Liz joined him.  By the end, they were leaning against each other, still occasionally falling into bouts of snickering.

"I think I'm going to throw up." Liz informed him suddenly.

"Yeah, I figured." He'd brought the water into the mine with them, and he floated one of the bottles over.

"You don't have to stay."

"I know, but I will."

[mercurryblack]

Chapter 8: Rosario

A certain Garland girl spends a peaceful evening with LLAC’s leader.

❃❃❃

“You’re late, chica.”

Rosario Garland had never been the kind of girl to make others wait. She may not have been perfect, but she prided herself on making sure that she was at least fifteen minutes early when she was meeting with anyone, regardless of the importance of their meeting.

The girl was patient if nothing else, and that trait had proved itself invaluable when she started dating Lillian, who was also an early bird. It had come to the point where it had become a friendly competition— whoever was the last to arrive would pick up a check, and vice versa.

Not that it really mattered, however— she couldn’t recall the last time she had lost to Lillian.

“Of course you’re here already. Why is it that you always come first?” Lillian said, greeted her girlfriend with a side hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“Would you prefer it if I came last?” grinned Rosario, nuzzling up to her.

Lillian shrugged. “You know, sometimes I wouldn’t mind if— wait.”

Rosario’s grin widened. “Heh. Gotcha again, Lilly.”

“Okay, I set myself up for that one.” Lillian sighed, her cheeks turning pink as she understood the entendre. Pretending that she wasn’t caught off guard, she coughed loudly and continued. “So, what have you been up to these past few days, Rosa?”

Rosario let out a long breath as she answered. “Ohhhhh, y’know, the usual. I’ve been helping my parents with th’ Dulcinea in my downtime, and making sure Sirocco and Socorro stay out of my room. School’s been drop-dead boring, though. Pbbbllltt.” She blew a noisy raspberry. “I shoulda become a Huntress like Dad used to be.” 

Lillian nodded, as the two started to walk. “It’s got its ups and downs. How’s the restaurant doing, anyhow?”

“Pretty well. We got flatscreens installed, so with the Festival upcoming, it’s reached the point where we don’t have to eat leftovers from the day’s menu any longer.” Rosario rolled her eyes. “I know it’s saving Lien, but papa’s got a butt-load of dosh saved up from old contracts. You think he’d be less of a tightwad.”

“Eh, it’s practical. Huntsman mindset and all that.” Lillian shrugged. After a moment, she smirked and gently elbowed Rosario. “Maybe your folks should’ve invested in a McGarland’s franchise instead.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Rosario scoffed, shaking her head. Her brown hair swayed across her shoulders. “Y’know, I asked mamá about doing that a while back, and she said that— word for word— ‘she’d sooner shove her head in a boiling fry vat than ever involve herself with her shit-eating malaka of an idiot brother ever again.’”

Lillian nodded, humming pensively. “This ‘idiot brother’… the same one who tried to take her as his wife? Helios something-or-other?” She asked.

“Apollo, actually, and yeah.” Rosario replied. “I never actually met the guy, don’t really want to. All I know ‘bout it’s that papá found out and beat him up in some ritual fight, and won the right to marry mamá, and they eloped to Mistral City and lived happily ever after, blah blah blah. Just the same story they tell me on every single anniversary of theirs.”

“You swamp clans are a laugh a minute, aren’t you?” Lillian remarked dryly.

“Tell me about it. I’ll take the Dulcinea over being sent away to Laurelboros anyday.”

“If I get another break, I’ll try and pay you a visit over at your place. Who knows what my feminine charms could bring, hm?” Lillian half-jokingly suggested.

Rosario laughed. “Yeah, that’d be a hoot— see how many poor schmucks try and hit on the biggest lesbian in all of Mistral.” She said. “But enough about me, Lilly— what about you? Anything new in your life, my dear Huntress?” She asked, leaning her head sideways and curiously raising an eyebrow.

“It’s been… stressful. You heard about the whole SYBR case in the news, right?”

Rosario nodded. Days prior, the news of the two members’ deaths had flooded the news outlets. While the details of the case still remained confidential, the media hadn’t shied away from the gruesome way in which the murders had taken place. “Yeah, Dad was pretty shaken up about it. He used to be pretty close with Yaara and Berilo— well, all of them, really. They were in the same year, I think.” She bit her lower lip. “What about it?”

Lillian sighed. “Well, we’ve been assigned to help out with it.”

“Yeesh. How’s that going?” asked Rosario, wincing in surprise.

“Right now, the whole thing is shitty. It was done neatly, whoever did it made sure they weren’t leaving any clues.” Lillian pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration.

“Ugh, we haven’t made any progress since the initial investigation. I feel like dead weight.”

Rosario affirmingly placed a hand on her girlfriend’s shoulder, giving it a gentle rub. “Hey, hey, don’t beat yourself up over it. I’m sure you and your compadres will find out who did it. Who knows? Maybe you just haven’t looked in the right place yet.”

Lillian turned to the Garland girl, her eyes half-lidded and her expression unamused. “Really. Not the right place. In the exact place where they were murdered, Rosario?”

“ … Okay, not my best moment of reassurance, but you know what I mean.” The Garland girl winced.

Lillian rolled her eyes. “Sure I do, cabeza hueca.”

Rosario glowered. “I may be stupid—”

“Yes.” Lillian cut her off, visibly holding back a laugh.

“This is you getting back at me for that “came last” bit, isn’t it?”

“Also yes.”

***

After twenty minutes’ worth of a pleasant stroll, the pair finally made it to the upper cliffs near the base of Haven Academy. It was mainly a residential area, but just behind the pagoda-style houses was a cozy picnic spot overlooking the mountain’s majestic waterfall. Only a select few were in the know, yet it was a popular dating spot among those few.

So it was just as well that they were here now, in the evening when nobody was about to interrupt them.

Lillian had thought it would be a good idea to bring Rosario to a place that wasn’t a restaurant. The Garland girl had more or less grown up in one, so a change of scenery was best for both of them. Undoing a backpack that Rosario had handed off to her earlier on, she tossed a blanket to Rosario, who spread it out on the grass while Lillian undid the cloth surrounding their meal’s basket.

The couple ate their food— a pair of bocata-style sandwiches the Garland had made herself— as they overlooked the city. It made each of them drift away from the issues in their minds; doubts, worries, and problems fading to the back as they took in the serene moment.

Naturally, Rosario figured it was a bit quiet.

“Uh…” She began, attempting to come up with an appropriate point for conversation. “So, Lilly, how’s your training going? The Vytal Festival’s coming up in a couple’a weeks after all, right?”

Lillian coughed on her bite of food. “Oh, yeah, right. Vytal.” She had almost forgotten about LLAC’s prior plans for the festival. For a second, it seemed like only yesterday that she and her team had been drilling for their matches.

“My cousin Robin— she’s in her second year, I think you’ve met— she’s popped around the shop once or twice while you were there. She’s entered her team already, says they really have a shot at the championship.” Rosario continued. “You could probably kick her butt, though.”

Lillian nodded. “I’ve run into her a couple of times. Her teammate… Kogane or something? She went and bought a couple of new Mistrali-styled uniforms for me and Am when we first arrived in Haven, after bawling us out for wearing what she called ‘unfashionable’ Atlesian outfits.” She huffed disparagingly. “Yeah, as if her three-inch heels are any kind of improvement over a tac suit, but whatever.”

She paused, taking a bite out of her sandwich. “Oh, and just so you know, I could kick your cousin’s butt. No sweat. But I doubt it’d happen anyways.”

“Whff’a maffr? Iff’ere—mllpp— s’there a problem?” Rosario asked, swallowing a particularly large bite as she turned to Lillian.

“No… it’s just that I think it’ll be much better for LLAC to not participate in the festival altogether. We promised to help Detective Yuen with solving the SYBR case.” She pursed her lips. “So I think it’s safe to say that we’re not going to be fighting anytime soon.”

Rosario threw her arms up, stunned. “Not going to fight? Are you shitting me? I’ve seen you guys throw down in exhibitions, remember— between that goth’s agility, your sister’s durability, the hat kid’s unpredictability, and your strength, you’re totally fit to win it! You’re one of the best fighters I know, amiguita, no way are they gonna keep you from the Festival!”

Lillian rolled her eyes. “Well, be that as it may, it still won’t change the fact that we’re busy with the murder investigation, and this year’s festival is being hosted in Vale. It’s too far away, no way are we going to get a pass from Detective Yuen to compete.” She replied.

“Man.” Rosario muttered, shaking her head. “That just ain’t right. You talked to the rest of the team about this yet?”

“Not yet, no, but I figured I’d tell them tomorrow. If they agree with me, I’ll talk to Professor Lionheart about withdrawing from the tournament.” She scratched the back of her neck. “And if they don’t… well, I’ll figure something out. But that’s not important right this minute.”

However, the nagging thought of how her teammates might not agree to her proposition stayed in the back of Lillian’s mind. Either way, she was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Seeing the girl’s troubled expression, Rosario leaned in to rest against the crook of Lillian’s neck. “Okay, I get it. Enough serious talk.” She said, before turning her attention again to the view from the mountaintop.

“I never realized how pretty it is when you get just a little higher up.” 

She lived in the area just underneath the cliffs, and had little business anywhere higher, so she’d never paid much consideration to coming to the summit before. Now that she did, she was slightly awestruck by how small Mistral City looked from up on high.

“It’s even prettier when you see it all the way up, right from the academy grounds.” Lillian said, her voice calm.

“Lucky. Means you get to take it in all the time.”

“Well, after a few years there, you’ll get tired of the view and much rather be down in the city proper.” Lillian shifted her shoulder. “But do you want to know about the one view I’ll never get tired of?”

“Sure. Where’s that?” Rosario asked, looking up to face her.

“Here,” Lillian gently placed her hand atop Rosario’s own and stared at the city below them, before turning her gaze to her girlfriend. “Right beside you, Rosa.”

After a moment’s pause, Rosario pulled her beanie down and averted her gaze, trying to hide her suddenly flushed face. It was usually her who threw around corny romantic remarks and double entendres, but when Lillian said something to make her blush…

Well, she could dish it out, but she wasn’t very good at taking it.

“You have the prettiest eyes I’ve ever seen, you know that?” Lillian said, giving the Garland girl’s cheek a soft brush as she gazed into Rosario’s turquoise orbs.

“Yeah, and you have the cheesiest compliments.” Rosario replied, still blushing. “But thanks, I like yours too. They’re, uh…” She trailed off, too distracted by Lillian’s eye contact.

They lapsed back into silence, looking over the cityscape dotted by lights under a darkening evening sky.

“…Time like this, kinda makes you wish this moment could last forever, doesn’t it?” Rosario asked offhandedly.

“You mean, this moment with your hand on my abs?”

Rosario tilted her head downwards, and noticed that her left hand had indeed found its way onto Lillian’s stomach.

“...You mind?” She asked in a faux innocent tone, glancing back up.

“Hmf,” Lillian smiled, wrapping an arm around Rosario’s shoulder. “Not even a bit.”

Rosario grinned, slowly closing her eyes as she melted into the embrace. “Then, yeah… this is a moment I could live with.”

[danwhobrowses]

Predictions: The AEW Women’s Eliminator Tournament Winner

The brackets are on, and yesterday on Dynamite the AEW Women’s Eliminator Tournament began with Leyla vs Rosa. While I won’t give away the winner it was a good match.

Since it’s just kicking off, I’m going to offer my predictions for who will win each round, and the final bout itself and be the one to challenge for Hikaru Shida’s AEW Women’s Championship

Also cheap plug, I did do a long post profiling the Joshi entrants Here give it a read if you’re interested, I do think I added more info than Tony did in his Bracketology video.

Spoilers for AEW Dynamite 11th Feb 2021 below

USA Bracket - Round 1 Leyla Hirsch vs Thunder Rosa The result of this hard fought match is already decided, while I would’ve been happy with either it did indeed make sense for the winner to be Thunder Rosa. Leyla was strong in the match and her placement in the tournament and the first match is proof that AEW definitely have stock invested in Hirsch, but Rosa is recognized due to being a former NWA Women’s World Champion and that pedigree has to carry over in this tournament.

Serena Deeb vs Riho Next up is the first return, current NWA Women’s World Champion vs former AEW Women’s World Champion. Already on paper this will be an absolute banger and while Deeb is Number 1 in the Women’s Rankings right now, I have to give this bout to Riho. She has the comeback energy and as a former champion it doesn’t make Deeb look weak, we can see more of Deeb often but Riho’s comeback cannot be redone so easily.

Tay Conti vs Nyla Rose (likely w/ Vickie Guerrero) I do seem to make a habit of contradicting my explanations, because I have Tay Conti with the upset! Nyla is established as a former women’s champion and has already squashed Conti before, but that’s how we make the victory big. Conti has been steadily improving since her debut, getting some proper shine during her NWA Women’s Title match with Deeb. With continued strong outings in Dark I could see Conti outwitting Rose, especially with Dark Order or at least Anna Jay in her corner to neutralize Vickie. Every tourney needs an upset and for the USA bracket it’s this one, this could also have negative effects on Nyla where we could pick up from we left off on that dressing down she got from Vickie against Shida.

Anna Jay vs Dr Britt Baker DMD (likely w/ Rebel ‘Reba’ Tanea) With Conti beating Nyla we have the Round 1 storyline in the tough spot this puts Team TayJay in. Should Jay win they will have to fight each other, that thought can hang on the back of Conti and/or Jay’s mind in the bout which can lead to Baker sneaking a win. On top of Baker progressing this can lead to a story of tension between Conti and Jay - which can lead into Round 2.

Japan Bracket - Round 1 Yuka Sakazaki vs Mei Suruga Alas, the Japan Bracket is stacked, and yet someone has to lose. Sadly, the Apple Girl will be taking the fall against the still very-over and entertaining Magical Girl. I feel that AEW will lean into Mei’s ‘inexperience’ since she’s 21 and only has 2 years of wrestling - while also glancing over the 300 matches she’s had. This won’t be too bad though, Yuka like Riho will have the comeback energy and there is the story of Mei wanting to proceed in the prospect of fighting her teacher.

VENY vs Emi Sakura I do expect a good showing from VENY, but in spite of Suruga’s failure to make the next round I will still hand this win to Sakura. The veteran experience of Sakura will pull through over VENY’s technical offense as she will push to escape the shadow of the ‘teacher’.

Maki Itoh vs Ryo Mizunami Maki Itoh is over. She hasn’t even stepped foot in Jacksonville and she is over, as she should be. So knowing this, AEW would be absolute fools to not have The Cutest in the World progress in the next round. Mizunami will get some cool points for being her experience but Itoh’s charisma and two middle fingers will prove to be too much for the MAX VOLTAGE stablewoman as Itoh’s rise to megastardom continues.

Aja Kong vs Rin Kadokura You have to pity the one who draws Aja Kong. Sadly I don’t think anyone’s giving Kadokura much of a chance to progress. Hopefully she gets to show off some of her skills and not simply get squashed, but Kong is Kong, she will steamroll when she gets the chance into Round 2.

USA Bracket - Round 2 Thunder Rosa vs Riho Rosa carries one of the stories of Round 2, the lingering feud with Baker. Unfinished business is blocked by Riho’s comeback on the path to the tournament, and I see Riho winning the battle of the former champions, but not cleanly. I can see Baker once again pulling a sly one to rob Rosa of revenge and a title rematch with Shida, though I could also see Riho winning cleanly and Rosa turning heel. It can go either way but Rosa is less likely to me for what I’m thinking.

Tay Conti vs Dr. Britt Baker DMD (likely w/ Rebel ‘Reba’ Tanea) Since Anna Jay was unable to beat Baker, friction could start to show between the team of TayJay if Anna feels that Tay is at fault. After all, the two are best friends and yet Conti has yet to join the Dark Order, after months of publicly inviting her and them having her back. This tension could also gift Baker the win while also opening a mini-feud between the two friends before they smooth things over and have Conti officially join. By then however, the Good Doctor will have already progressed and is relieved to not be facing Rosa.

Japan Bracket - Round 2 Yuka Sakazaki vs Emi Sakura Unable to face her Protege, Sakura can drive into the match with the intention of avenging Mei instead, even perhaps having Suruga in her corner for the bout. This could be the battle of styles for the Joshi bracket with Yuka’s aerial and speedy wrestling against Emi’s all-round and grounded offense. Guts can be shown at either side but the winner will be Yuka once again. Having beaten the upstart and the master, she will have the momentum to look legitimate in the face of potential victory.

Maki Itoh vs Aja Kong Itoh and Kong have history, they may not have wrestled as much but Itoh has often grown to never back down against Kong even when her fellow TJPW members have to pull her away. That being said, if there’s anyone who can shoulder the heat of beating someone as over as Itoh, it’s Aja Kong. While Itoh would play the cool tweener against Mizunami, against Kong she would be the defiant badass, even in defeat she will look resilient. While it is a shame to only get 2 matches out of Itoh in the tournament, we could still use this momentum in other ways, perhaps a longer Itoh vs Kong program in a battle of respect? It would definitely give Itoh a strong rub to beat Kong but for the tournament it may not be on the cards.

USA Bracket - Final Riho vs Dr. Britt Baker DMD (likely w/ Rebel ‘Reba’ Tanea) The USA bracket final will have the prestige of the first Women’s Champion of AEW going against the top personality of the roster, and AEW’s faith in Baker will pull through as they further look to making her the face of the women’s division - as they had intended before her injury. I do want to avert from screwy finishes but this could also be a time where Rosa’s temper may flare and end up helping Baker against Rosa’s intentions, or it could simply be a clean win to show Baker’s competence. Regardless, Riho’s comeback is finally halted by Baker who starts to step her way into the top of the women’s division card.

Japan Bracket - Final Yuka Sakazaki vs Aja Kong Yuka is over, but if she were placed against Maki Itoh there would’ve been huge risk of her being booed, this is why Kong goes over against Itoh to give Yuka the clear babyface dynamic. Yuka’s topped the student, the teacher and now she must face the master, and she will win. Absorbing the bulldozer offense and slipping past Kong with her agility and high flying wrestling, Yuka gets the rub to be the babyface joshi who tops the bracket of the tournament.

Tournament Final? Right now the bracket is a little unclear what happens after, there’s a winner on the Japan side and the USA side, but do they face each other or both get a title shot? I am thinking the former though we have yet to have a triple threat for the Women’s Title anyway.  However, if I were to speculate a 1v1 it would make sense that the final opponents are Dr Britt Baker DMD vs Yuka Sakazaki While Baker secured a heel turn against Shida, her defeat to Yuka is what led to her brutal side showing. Baker took out one of Yuka’s teeth, so revenge will be on the cards for the Magical Girl - but not victory. Sadly, if they are to face each other for the main winner, the tournament - and later the title - goes to Baker. It feels like this is the plan and it gets more heat on Baker to get the win back against Yuka with similar levels of brutality. Yuka stays the strong babyface but Baker’s tournament win leads into her winning the AEW Women’s Championship and then perhaps even 5 opponents already in line (Yuka, Rosa, Riho, Shida and a returning Kris Statlander), on top of that we have midcard stories established through the tournament itself and the building of new stars.

Winner: Britt Baker

But aside from Nyla right now, I would be happy with anyone. It’s no offense to Nyla she’s just had her go twice now and this is the chance for a fresh opponent and heel contender. And Baker hasn’t faced Shida for the title yet, which is why she is my favourite to win.

[popculturebuffet]

Ducktales: Challenge of the Senior Junior Woodchucks! and Quack Pack! Review/Thoughts

Hello errybody, I’ve decided being a huge fan of this verison of Ducktales, and someone who likes reviewing stuff and going on and on at length about it, to review this season’s episodes as they come out, both to get me writing critically again, and to get more non chat content on the old tumblr.  First, while you likely don’t care a little about my history with the ducks; While I , sadly though i’m trying to correct it, haven’t read MUCH of Carl Barks classic donald duck comics nor that of his avid fanboy and clear sucessor in quality and talent Don Rosa, I did read Rosa’s utter classic “The LIfe and Times of Scrooge” mcduck in high school and the story stuck with me sense. I’ll go into Life and Times another day hopefully, but naturally when the reboot was announced I was excited.. a great voice cast, and donald,my boy, as part of the main cast. The show has been a joy to behold and with steven universe having taken a bow JUST a week ago and Covid ravaging our lives, it coudln’t of picked a better time. But do these episodes keep the momentum from an utterly marvelous second half of season 2? The short answer is “Fuck yes” but the long answer is under the cut. 

Challenge of the Junior Senior Woodchucks! While “Challenge of the x” is a popular snowclone title I can’t help but think of superfriends with the title... or now I thought of it shortly before writing this, hearing “Meanwhile at the legion of doom” when they cut to fowl.. or rather “Meanwhile at FOWL” but in that same announcers voice. I”m a dork, that should be obvious But I was hyped for both episodes: Violet is a faviorite mine, I ship her with huey so them interacting for the first time was wonderful to me, and.. okay the subplot didn’t hook me and we’ll get to that, but we had her dads and one of my other faviorites (I have several, get used to it now) , Lena , at least putting in an apperance. And honestly.. the main plot lived up to it. As I said I didn’t really dig the sub plot, more on that in a second, but I REALLY enjoyed this. From the begining Huey was my faviorite of the three triplets, easily, as it’s fairly easy for me a grown ass dork with anxiety, self confidence, anger issues, depression and constant self doubt, to relate to a little duck with the same and I’ve loved Danny Pudi since community, so naturally I was excited for his turn for a spotlight season.  And again the show didn’t disapoint.. Huey has a rather decent arc with some unexpected turns: First unexpectly, the trailer lied as while Huey and Violet look ultra competiive, theirs no real confilct..s econds after that bit the two shake hands (after a good 20 seconds of adorable and hilarous failure to do so that fits both like a glove.), and try to be good sports. The problem is instead internal: As Huey muses to his siblings (Webby very much included, getting her own great bit of encouraging Huey while also assuring Violet she’s also great he just needs it more, which is accurate) “If i’m not hte best junior woodchuck who am I”. Like Louie last season towards the begining (when he didn’t have a clear purpose in their adventuring dynamic) and towards the end (When della nearly took it away from him), he’s nothing without his sense of who he is. It’s easily why he’s the one to comfort him when his other siblings are either torn between two friends or you know, Dewey. Louie knows what it’s like to be rattled about who you are.  And WHY Violet outclassing him rattles him so much is intreating and to me makes a ton of sense: Huey’s identity to me is so wrapped in his intellegence and woodchuckery because , besides being oldest, it’s what he HAS on his brothers. When you think about it, Louie is the charmer, Dewey is charsmaticin his own way and loves hogging attention not to mention being fairly athletic... to stand out Huey NEEDS his brains to be the one with facts, and plans and his book.  He may not be the first on the front lines but he’s the first to solve a trap or figure out where they are if scrooge or his mom hasn’t already.. and if someone’s markdely better at that, and worse in an activity that’s wholy his own and now it’s been revealed impmortant to his mom.. just who is he.  The poor kid simply breaks down at the thought and takes bigger and stupider risks, which is sad to watch.. and thankfully lightned by his delightful mental brekadown in the form of the stephen root voiced JW Guidebook, a talking hallucination who gives huey his knowledge and edge back in the contest.. but it’s STILL not enough. And that’s when the other intresting bit comes into play: Huey.. has a moment of weakness. Despite the guidebook saying to always save your fellow woodchucks when violet gets stuck slipping in a tree.. he does nothing and leaves, despite JW  , whose now become his concious, begging him not to. It’s a sad, well done moment, and one that makes the story richer. Naturally violet escapes and when huey falls off the lava bridge to the finish line in a nother moment of desperation, and after a returning JW burns because apparently ducks and sabrewings are fireproof but imaginary manfestations of knowledge arne’t, she saves him... and is a good friend and woodchuck in NOT chastizing huey for his moment of weakness earlier, but comforting him, revealing she’s tried three times before and adding some more depth to her character: Despite her awkardness with people, she’s a kind, caring person, and gives Huey the lesson he needs: faliure, and the ocasional bout of moral weakness, is okay.. what matters is you learn from it, dust yourself off and keep going. Huey bows out due to this, as while violet is more than willing to let him pass with her, Huey knows he hasn’t earned it, yet, but he can keep trying and that this is her moment, not his. And in that, I feel learns that he dosen’t NEED recognition to be his best self.. he just needs to be a good person and a good woodchuk. I’ts a damn fine story and despite not being the intended premire, works as a great one.. mostly. And also yes I ship them.. as much as two ten-elven year olds can be, but they are adorable and geninley have a good repore.  And before I get to the dispaointing subplot, i’d be an idiot if I left out Violet’s family: We meet her dads, hilariously wearing shirts that say i’m with dad which is also really fucking adorable, and have our first onscreen conformation that Lena’s now her adopted sister, with Lena loudly screaming it in one of the best lines of the episode.. it’s clever to me: it over the top makes sure that we know yes, these men are gay and her parents.. but in a needed way given disney’s tendncy to dance around that or loudly proclaim a minor character no one cares about is gay in a way they can edit out. It’s a great step forward for the channel and the company and good on the crew for going ahead with it and good on disney for not beign dumb about it, nor, like again they have a bad habit of doing, loudly shouting about it to the media. Excellent work. 

Now i’m done rambling about Huey’s psyche and america’s new faviorite gay couple, I gotta get the suplot out of the way: while the whiporwill is freaking adorable as is dewey’s bond with it, otherwise this plot is.. really damn weak: it has some good jokes (Louie’s blunt no when Scrooge asks if hte family wants to fight a bear, Webby’s disapointment when she finds their not walking in the path of literal giants, Donald’s runner with the spy drone mosquito (and Della’s instiance to just let it suck his blood), and Della proving she has the family temper with her own donald brand angry dance) it’s just.. not enoguh. It feels like it’s an oblogiatory plto for the family and while it does set up the season’s overaching plot with a strong character, as it’s intresting learning that Scrooge had an idol at adventuring and thus is following a legacy himself, overall the subplot itself is just there and distracting from the much more intresting A-Story. That being said it was at least sorta worth it for the ending bit where huey and violet suprisingly find launchpad at the end of the trial in a cave.. as do the duckfamily, both groups crying out “Launchpad?!” with launchpad giving out a hilarious “that’s me, i’m launchpad” and while the setup for it was weak, the idea of the family going around the globe to find missing mysteries wile fighting fowl over them is a great concept. Overall a really damn strong start to the season with a weak b-plot and i’m gald even if this isn’t what htey planned to start with it’s what they went with.  Quack Pack: Quack Pack.. is one of disney’s secret shames.. I mean it’s not SO secret as it’s on D+ while this show’s predecessor wonder over yonder and superhero fantasy classic american dragon jake long are not for reasons I sitll don’t get, but that’s a rant for another day. It clashed badly with ducktlaes,was meiocre most of the time (It helps the two episodes I did watch were donald focused as he, a nicely redeisgned dasiy, and their co-worker kent were the highlights), with the boys somehow being more obnoxious than they were at their worst in the original ducktales.  Now that’s off my chest the episode itself.. is really damn good and a nice take on sitcom parody, with the family getting ready for a photo. Dewey’s “since the internet” line in paticular killed because, having watched boths ome of the best sitcoms (roseanne, designing women) and some of the absolute worst (My wife and kids, last man standing,home imporvment etc), most modern ones i’ve seen, even the good ones, have kids written this terrible way. Otherwise though it was highly enjoyable and having Jaleel “Urkel/Sonic the Hedgehog” white here to take the piss out of his former genre as Gene (and doing such a great job I really want to see Gene back next season), is the icing. That and Huey going half insane trying to figure out what’s going on, as well as the unsettling reveal of the studio audience.  Really the ep is a laugh fest, as well as the glorious arrival of goofy who to my relief, wasn’t a hallucination.. which itself is a great gag as is the offscreen internal thought of “okay so now htey ahve to take goofy with them on this deadly adventure all the way back to the states?”. The using of the adults old designs, as well as having dewey do the triplets dance and wear an outfit similar to theirs from “Mr Duck Steps Out” (Which I saw earlier this year and other than daisy’s horrifying early voice it wasn’t half bad). It’s just hard to go into and throughly enjoyable. But analysis right the real meat is in my boy donald: Going into the ep I genuinely expected Dewey to be the obvious source of the wish: while knowing gene was involved meant it was easy to see it was his fault HOW was a good question.. but having Donald do so and throughly enjoyable, and naturally gives us two great gags int he rwo: Donald’s VERY donald response “I wish for that 6 times a day! how wsas I supposed to know I was rubbing up against a magical lamp” and everyone spouting off their catcphrases, all either actual ones, basically something she does all the time turned into one (della) or poor beakly who gets “i’m not a spy” for some reason an dis cross about it. But the fact Donald not only figured it out quickly but wants to stay.. is perfectly in character. Donald in general, and especailly here, dosen’t WANT to be an adventuer anymore: he does it for his family, but he’d probably perfer the tgif lifestyle where problems are minor and solved with heartwarming lessons.. not full of lingering restiments, damage you caused, or loosing a decade of your sisters life and having to struggle to care for her kids. The rest of the familys looks when he gives his reasoning say it all: they really get why he wants this.. but Huey, who nicely got to be the one to break the sitcom news to them on top of everything else, makes an even better one: their lives are who they are.. this.. isn’t real. LIkea tgif sitcom it’s a plastic imitation of life that’s nothing like it: it’s comforting sure since hte real world is fucking complicated and miserable at times.. but hiding from it dosen’t fix things.  And while Donald, of course angrily denies this while his family ends upf ighting the studio audience, it’s Goofy, loveable guest star and everyone’s other faviorite dad, who gets his friend to see the truth: eveyr family has thieir own normal. He and max are  widower and his kid. Just a family of three (I”m counting PJ since , by his tene years at least, Peg is missing, though Iw ish she’d come back as her and goofy would be cute and she deserves better than Pete but whatever, and his dad is an emotionally abusive douchehead). But their happy, they make memories even if goofy like donald can’t walk five feet without the universe, and that’s what counts> it’s a touching sentiment and i’m happy Donald now has a friend whose also a parent and probably made similar sacrifices, and some Donald hasn’t had to just yet and probably won’t now dellas back, but made it through. So donald helps his family fight the  humanoids, take sa picture and it’s just a genuinely sweet ending... a great episode with a great concept that also opens the door for the return of the world’s other best dad more times. And again I want to see him smooch pete’s ex wife. This is the hill I will die on apaprently.. and with that I leave you. it was a good start a fun thing ot dive into and I hope for more.. oh and before I go, while i’m not a GIANT max and roxanne shipper, Idon’t dislike the ship I just don’t hav ea large attachment, it was absolutley WONDERFUL to see that they went to prom together. Okay i’m done, until next week, courage and stay safe. 

[piccolina-mina]

What Matters is the Now

A/N: OK, For the lovely @craashdowns who wanted a hectic family gathering sometime in the future with a little awkwardness and a whole lotta love. Of course, it’s me, so there’s a little angst too. 

Also, if given the option between DeLuca family fun and Ortecho family fun, the answer is always both. So here’s some Christmas DelTecho family fun. Happy New Year, love. I hope you like it. 

—

Some things she had no way of foreseeing.

She wouldn’t have it any other way, though. It made her cherish life’s most treasured moments all the more.

Like, she never in her wildest imagination would have expected herself there, at that moment, standing at the screen door waiting for what she thought was lost to her so long ago.

She gained so much back, and she doesn’t know what she did to deserve it, but she’s thankful all the same.

An old beater came into sight, speeding down the open road kicking snow up everywhere. She hugged the parka around herself tighter, the chill in the air setting in as puffs of her breath spurted out in a cloud with each exhale.

If she smiled any harder her face would split in half, or maybe it was the cold that made it feel that way, but she hadn’t felt this happy in a long time.

The car pulled into the driveway with a jerked halt, and she bounded down the stairs, snow crunching beneath her feet before stopping at the edge of the stairs and trying to rein herself in.

To Maria’s comfort, she was just as enthused. The car door swung up with wild abandon, and all Maria saw was a mess of dark hair beneath a poofy hat that looked oddly familiar and made her chuckle.

That bright smile that haunted her dreams and followed her everywhere, burned in her memory, and that familiar laugh.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Rosa teased. She trudged through the snow with no preamble or embarrassment and threw herself into Maria’s arms without question.

Maria squeezed her tight. It’s been years, and she still can’t stop herself from clinging to her best friend as if she’ll never see her again.

She held her like she’d slip from her fingertips if she blinks – like if she held her tight enough, she wouldn’t lose her again. But Rosa always understood because she hugged her the same.

“You’re such a little shit, ” Maria mumbled into Rosa’s neck. She smelled like leather and peppermint, and she was warm and alive, and there. “That joke has gotten old.”

“Not for me,” Rosa quipped. She pressed a kiss to Maria’s cheek and pulled herself back, a sparkle in her eye that Maria never thought she’d see.

“It’s been four years, Rosa,” she snorted. She headed around back to grab Rosa’s bags.

“I know. You’re getting old.”

“We’re getting old,” Maria countered.

“You’re the one who’s over the hill now,” Rosa slung her bag over her shoulder with a smirk.

“You say that like you didn’t use to be older,” she growled with no heat.

It had been years since Rosa rose from the dead like something out of a supernatural film, but she still hadn’t fully grown accustomed to the differences. They made due in the end, but their friendship had evolved into something different and unexpected.

She felt like she missed out on the girl who was her best friend, and instead, she got a little sister in return. Their boundaries were off; their experiences different.

Life flowed through them, and she thanked the universe for that, but life experience still kept them apart. She was right there in front of her, but sometimes they felt worlds apart.

“How are you doing,” she asked softly, knowing and trusting the answer, but asking anyway. She couldn’t not ask it.

It took some time before Rosa stopped responding to the inquiries with anger and accepted them for what they were.

“I’m great, Maria,” Rosa said softly and with reassurance. She squeezed Maria’s arms, looked her dead in the eye, and didn’t look away. “I really am.”

She nodded content with the response, for now. The chill was setting in, and snowflakes clung to Rosa’s hair – her cheeks red.

“I would have come and picked you up from the airport, you know?” She called over her shoulder as they climbed the stairs and stood in front of the screendoor.

“It’s cute how you believe you would’ve had the time. Besides, I had some stops to make,” she said cryptically. Maria didn’t want to guess what those were, but before she had a moment to respond, her mother was at the door.

“I felt you here,” Mimi’s voice was soft and soothing, serene. She stared at Rosa as if she was looking through her before enveloping her in that way only Mimi can.

She looked on, but the two women didn’t say anything. They clung to each other as if there was a tether between them, and Maria imagined there probably was.

She could never comprehend the full extent of Rosa and Mimi’s bond. It was bone-deep. She asked her mom once, but Mimi only smiled at her – kissed her on her forehead and shrugged, and she knew Mimi probably didn’t have the words for it either.

Even then, she looked on, and Rosa and Mimi were on some other wavelength silently communicating with each other. What? She couldn’t possibly know.

When she thought back, it made perfect sense that Mimi was the only one who knew Rosa wasn’t gone for good before any of the rest of them did.

She saw Rosa everywhere, bits and pieces of her spirit – in the bricks of the Wild Pony, a stretch of highway through the desert, and in Liz’s eyes.

The secret to unlocking Rosa – to unlocking a lot of things lay in her mother’s mind, fragments, and bits scattered, and shattered, seemingly disconnected and nonsensical.

She thought her mother was broken, for years, and she couldn’t figure out how to fix her. She just wanted to fix her and get her mother back, the person she loved most in the world.

And now, she did. She had her back, intact and capable, and some days, the guilt ate away at her. But most days, most days, she was just thankful to have her back.

It’s been four years, and she can’t believe her luck. She didn’t think Mimi coming back to her was a possibility. She gave up hope– had to file it away and be practical, but then, the two most important people in her life returned to her, and the connection was somehow each other.

“You’re fretting, baby girl, I can see it in your eyes,” Mimi pulled away from Rosa and wrapped her arms around Maria tight, her hair brushing against her cheek. “Let’s get inside. Come on now. It’s too cold.”

The warmth of their home was enough to knock you over. It was a stark contrast from the chill outside. The smell of cinnamon and spices permeated the air, baked yams, posole, and ham – a myriad of scents wafting in from their tiny kitchen.

And the music made her smile. She could see the moment Rosa recognized the familiar sounds – the way her lips quirked up in a fond smile as they neared the kitchen and the crooning in Spanish got louder.

Arturo was living his best life in his element. He was singing and dancing around the kitchen, a little two-step as he used to Sundays at the Crashdown.

He was vigorously stirring some of his secret sauce on the stovetop, his back turned to all of them, as he shook and shimmied to the music.

“Mimi, querida, come taste this,” he bellowed, not aware they were all behind them. “It’s magic; the best yet.”

He dipped the wooden spoon deep into the pot, pulled it out and blew before turning around, and nearly jumped in surprise.

“Papi,” Rosa breathed, her face lighting up like the Christmas tree in the front room.

“Mija,” he choked out, and Rosa was bounding to him the way she used to do when she was small.

Maria couldn’t hide her smile. A lot had changed over the years, but nothing brought her more joy than seeing the progress Rosa and Arturo had made.

It was bumpy for a while, but time and distance made some of their issues fade away, and while they had a lot to work through, the tension that used to be between them when she was younger diminished.

“You’re finally home,” he cried out. He hugged her tight, and the only thing that took her out of watching the sweet father/daughter moment was Mimi wrapping her arms around her too.

The front door opened and shut, a gust of cold air wafting through, loud stomping followed by Liz’s voice.

“Ay estupido, I had to go to four stores to find cranberry sauce, but the grocer was trying to hide them in the back. Why the hell are you hiding them in the back? Just give them to me, dios, and the traffic was out of control, why are so many people on the road on Christmas, don’t they have famil–ROSA!”

Liz’s eyes grew wide as they fell on her sister, and she dropped her puffy coat on the floor right there and then.

She was a flash of all dark hair and red lipstick, hurling herself at her sister in a tight hug, their bodies melding together until they were practically one person.

“You’re back,” Liz breathed into her sister’s neck. “You’re finally back,” she cried into her neck.

“Liz, you saw me over the summer,” Rosa laughed, attempting to extricate herself from her sister’s tight grip.

“That was months ago,” Liz happy sobbed. “I didn’t think you were going to make it this year. You said you wanted to go to Paris,” she sniffled into her older/younger sister’s neck.

“I did Paris in October. There was no way I was missing you guys for Christmas,” Rosa pulled Liz to the couch as they caught up, a lively chat of Spanglish flowing between them with ease.

Maria always marveled at how they fell into place – clicked like they transcended time, slipped into the familiarity of sisterhood that she always was on the outside of.

The truth is, she loved Rosa with everything in her, but she still hadn’t adjusted. And sometimes she felt on the outside of the Ortecho sister magic.

As if sensing her feelings, Rosa reached out without even looking, summoned for Maria wiggling her fingers.

“I have to go check–” she started, a bout of emotion caught in her throat.

“Get your fucking ass over here, hermana,” Rosa demanded firm and determined, her dark eyes meeting Maria as if she could see right through to the core of her.

It’s possible she could.

She crossed the room, laced her fingers with Rosa’s until the younger girl tugged, pulling Maria down smack dab in the middle of her and Liz.

Rosa pressed her head into the side of Maria’s shoulder, and Liz did much the same, and they spent a few long moments simply breathing and existing at this moment with one another.

“I know you guys worry about me,” Rosa said softly. “But I swear, I’m the happiest I’ve ever been. But part of that is getting to do what I love, and what I love is traveling, seeing the world this…” she pulled the neck of her dark sweater down until her shoulder was exposed, and revealed her latest tattoo.

It was vibrant colors, and swirls, some sort of constellation Maria wasn’t familiar with, but seemingly all Rosa.

“Papa still thinks you’re in art school,” Liz mumbled. “If he finds out the truth –”

“It’s a good thing he won’t then, right?” Rosa shot Liz a warning look and that same rebellious smile she always had.

“I loved art school, but I feel like I learn more from traveling. I’m free to explore what I like, not the pretentious white-washed shit, and tattooing has taken me places I never dreamed about. I’m really good, you know.”

“Including famous rockstars?” Maria asked, her brow raised. “You’re getting close to the lead singer, I’ve noticed.”

“More like his drummer. She’s my type these days,” Rosa winked.

“I’m sorry, what am I missing here? You’ve been tattooing celebrities? Dating musicians? And you haven’t shared any of this with me?” Liz was rightfully affronted.

A small part of Maria was happy she still shared secrets with her best friend that Liz didn’t know about. Rosa must have sensed it since she squeezed her hand and shook her head in amusement at her glee.

“Don’t you follow her on Instagram?”

“She only posts pictures of artwork and tattoos!” Liz exclaimed, still shocked.

“That’s her professional Instagram, Liz.”

“Why did nobody tell me this?” Liz mumbled.

“You and that Luddite boyfriend of yours don’t do social media, so what difference does it make?” Rosa chuckled.

“Max is on Instagram,” Liz couldn’t help but defend him.

“Yeah, I saw. They’re all pictures of you, with the occasional selfie of him in a hat sprinkled in. Please, tell him that the sheriff hat works, but the baseball caps do not. And if he needs some pointers, maybe Kyle can help him with that,” Rosa snorted.

“Your brother does love his thirst trap photos,” she sighed. “I never complain.”

“OK, first of all, eww,” Rosa shuddered. “Second of all,” her voice trailed off as she heard Mimi giggle as Arturo took her for a spin around the kitchen. “What’s going on there?”

Maria and Liz exchanged a silent look that did not go unnoticed by Rosa. Both of them shrugged at the same time.

“We don’t know,” she said after a while. “Haven’t been able to define it, and they don’t seem interested in defining it either,” she mused.

The truth was, Arturo was the person who helped her the most in the aftermath of her mother coming to. Hell, he helped before.

He would visit her mother at the adult facility every week until the day she was miraculously lucid.

He was the one who got her settled into life while Maria was running the Pony. p> A couple of years ago, the three of them pooled their resources. Well, she and Arturo did, and they moved into that very house in the desert away from town for a sliver of solace.

They all had their own rooms, and Arturo and Mimi were always seemingly platonic, but there’s a companionship between the two of them, that she could never explain.

She and Liz stayed up nights trying to figure it out and how they felt about it, but in the end, Mimi and Arturo made each other happy, and that was enough for them.

However, it didn’t stop them from noticing that their parents had gotten decidedly closer than ever before.

“If we’re making this sisterhood official, I’m not going to complain about it,” Rosa joked with a smile.

She grabbed Maria’s hand, tangled their fingers together, her skin stained with ink and henna, and Maria’s gold jewelry on every finger.

“She looks happy,” she nodded in Mimi’s direction as she and Arturo bumped each other out of the way while cooking. “My question, is when will you be?”

“Rosa,” Liz purred, rolling the “r” for all it was worth.

Rosa promptly ignored Liz.

“Oh, she’s definitely back,” Maria flashed a smile. She attempted to hide the fact that Rosa’s words struck a nerve.

“Liz minces words, Maria. I don’t.”

“It’s called tact, Rosa,” Liz side-eyed her sister in sister in spectacular fashion, and she stifled a chuckle.

“Who needs tact with family? Life’s too damn short for that shit,” Rosa snipped back.

“You’re never going to stop reminding us, are you?” Liz was only half teasing, but Maria never missed the panic in her eyes when she spoke about anything referencing death, and the years they spent without her.

“When you get second chances, you take them,” Rosa responded.

The two sisters let the silence settle between them, and Maria almost thought she was spared when Rosa directed her attention back to her.

“Which is why I need you to take advantage of your second chance, Maria,” Rosa said firmly. There was that hard glint in her eye that told Maria she meant business.

“I don’t know what you mean,” her voice was clipped, and she knew it. Tears stung the back of her eyes.

“Don’t give me that. I know better,” Rosa’s hand in hers was warm, real, alive, and her grip was tight.

“You were supposed to meet me in Rio –”

“Something came up,” she contested unconvincingly.

“You came up. You’re fearless, Maria. Bold and vibrant. The world is infinite, and so are you–”

“Did you read that in a fortune cookie in Beijing?”

“San Francisco actually,” Rosa deadpanned ignoring her snort. “It’s been three years, Maria. Mimi is fine. You have to stop putting your life on hold, bracing for the worst to happen again, and just live it.”

She hugged herself, the lump in her throat keeping her from responding.

“I’m sorry,” Rosa sighed. “I love you, and I just want you to be happy. You’re still tethered to that bar and to this town like your whole life isn’t ahead of you. You’re still hiding behind Mimi, and she doesn’t want that. I know it.”

She nodded curtly, springing from their cuddle pile on the couch and running her hands down what she come to refer to as her favorite holiday jeans.

She had the urge to make herself busy but knew her mom and Arturo would only kick her out of the kitchen.

“Alexa,” she called out sure and resolute. “Play Maria’s mix.”

Alexa followed her direction, and shortly after, the living room flooded with music.

She started dancing, wild and free, spinning herself into circles and laughing hard enough to release the tension that she was feeling.

The Ortecho sisters glanced at each other before heaving themselves from the couch and joining her.

She opened her eyes and saw Rosa staring at her inquisitively, and she grabbed her hand, pulled her close until their foreheads were touching, and then spun her around.

Rosa smiled, somewhat relieved that Maria wasn’t upset with her.

She turned to Liz, twirled her around like they were eight playing ballerinas in their socks on the kitchen tile of the Crashdown.

She sang, and they laughed and twirled, and she breathed. Her heart always felt lighter when there was music involved.

She stilled when warm hands wrapped around her waist and pulled her close. The same hands that would caress her face before pulling her in for quick kisses, the same palms that pressed against her forehead when she was sick.

Mimi tucked her head into Maria’s neck before pushing her outward and spinning her back in until they were facing each other. Foreheads pressed against each other as her mother smiled at her.

She could never get enough of that smile, the sparkle in her eye, the way Mimi could light up a room.

“You know the rules, baby girl,” she grinned. “No dance parties without me.”

Mimi’s skirt flared out with every move, her jingle bell earrings tinkling, and she chuckled thinking about the years she spent thinking of her as her very own Ms. Frizzles.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Arturo dipping Rosa beneath the mistletoe and smacking a wet kiss to her forehead while Liz giggled.

The DeLuca Ortecho Christmas was going well.

They giggled and danced until their heart’s content before Arturo needed a breather.

“OK, I need water. Now, which one of you is going to help me finish up the tamales?”

“Oh, you need help now, old man?” Rosa quipped.

“You insult me? You … woman child?” Arturo was proud of himself for his witty retort and beamed at the laughter he elicited.

“I was going to help you and share the spices I brought from Guatemala, but if your feelings are hurt–”

“Nevermind my feelings, tell me about these spices.” They disappeared with Liz in tow reminding Arturo of the last time Rosa was anywhere near a kitchen.

Mimi turned to her smiling warmly. “You going to tell me what’s up? I know a dance it out when I see it.”

“Really? A Grey’s joke, mom?”

“Hey, I had a lot of catching up to do.”

They sprawled across the floor catching their breaths, heads sticking beneath the tree like they used to do when she was young.

Mimi told her each bulb was like a star, and they would lie there and talk for hours.

“Your energy is all mixed up. It’s all muddled. Highs and lows.”

“You’re breaking the rules,” she whispered softly.

“I’m not reading your future, just your energy.”

She pulled a face.

“Rosa thinks I’m hiding behind you. She thinks I’m not living my life because I’m afraid of … I’m afraid of –”

“Losing me again?” Mimi supplied. She tsked and cooed words and sounds of reassurance and soothing.

Maria sank into it, burrowed herself into her mother’s embrace and sighed.

“Is she right?” Mimi murmured into her hair. “Are you putting your life on hold because of me? You know I don’t want that. I’m OK, honey. I won’t lie and tell you I’ll never leave you again, but I’m perfect right now, and the now is what matters.”

She sniffled a bit, eyes wet and voice thick. “I don’t know,” she smiled when Mimi’s lips brushed across her hairline. “Maybe she is, but …”

“But what, baby?” Mimi brushed Maria’s hair aside absentmindedly and pressed another kiss to her hair while staring at the twinkle lights with childlike awe she never lost.

“But I mostly like making up for old times,” Maria admitted. “It’s not just that I’m afraid you’ll slip into darkness again or that I can’t turn it off. It’s …” she sighed. “It sounds selfish, but I missed being taken care of, and I’m not ready to let that go yet.”

The admission was something she felt but didn’t know how to verbalize until that very moment. She wouldn’t have been able to hide it from her mother for long, though.

Mimi always saw through her. It was her way, some combination of mother’s intuition and her gift and abilities.

“As long as I’m able, I’ll never stop taking care of you,” Mimi’s voice was liquid steel as tears flowed freely down her face.

“I wasn’t myself for years. I know that, and time was stolen from us. I’ll never let that happen again,” she cupped Maria’s cheeks, her hands burning hot into Maria’s skin sealing the promise.

“But the best of me was always you, Maria. As long as you exist, so do I. My heartbeat is outside of my chest, she’s fearless and strong. She’s kind, smart, and beautiful.

“She’s soft and gentle, and she’s the very best of me, and if you think for a minute I won’t care for her, protect her, fight for her … honey, I’ll never stop taking care of you, but if you need extra TLC, then you have it. I’ll love you so much, I’ll smother you.”

Maria laughed, comforting warmth in her chest at her mother’s words.

“That won’t stop, but I need you to take life by the reins and follow your heart’s desires, too.”

“I know, mom,” she sighed. “I’m working on it. I swear.”

“Good girl.”

Nonstop swearing is what tipped them off something had gone awry. It still amused her to no end that Arturo had the mouth of a sailor. He was only rivaled by Rosa who upped her game with a few new languages.

She and Mimi sat up only to be met with the smell of smoke.

Liz ran in breathless with flour streaks across her face. “Alright, MiMar, where’s the extinguisher?”

Maria and Mimi looked at each other and groaned.

–

A half-hour later the kitchen was coated with filmy white residue, and she was pretty certain Arturo hadn’t been that angry since the time she and Rosa snuck out the house for a protest in seventh grade.

“He’s hangry,” Liz whispered beside her. “He fasts all day in preparation for Christmas dinner.”

“I don’t understand what happened,” Arturo swore under his breath. “Didn’t that boy with the brillo pad head fix the oven?”

Rosa’s snort was unmatched, and no matter how much time had past, there was still no love lost between her and their extraterrestrial friends, even when they were more like family now.

Before she could respond, the power went out.

“You have got to fucking be kidding me,” Rosa groaned.

Liz checked outside and then pulled up her phone. “Seems to be the whole area.”

“Liz, I swear to God, if you gave Max a sneak peek of your new lingerie, and he lost his shit like a 13-year-old boy watching porn, and now we have to sit through a Christmas blackout–”

“Rosa!” Liz turned several shades of red, but it still didn’t match her father’s.

“I– don’t really want to hear this, no…” Arturo muttered under his breath turning to a tray of mostly burnt empanadas and half-cooked enchilada.

“I do,” Mimi chimed in. She waved her hands around. “I can light candles, and I have some lanterns. So, what did he say when he saw you?”

As usual, her mother was a bit too gleeful hearing about someone else’s sex life, particularly for someone who was mum about her own.

Although, she’s sure she doesn’t want to know the details.

“It wasn’t me– Max, not this time,” Liz stammered. “We haven’t done that since Memorial day.”

“Because it was the perfect holiday to shut down the whole town with a bang… your bang,” Maria teased.

“I expect this from Rosa. I don’t need you ganging up on me too.”

“They’re just jealous, honey,” Mimi hugged Liz as they went around the room lighting candles. “I mean, I’ve seen who you’re working with, and I’m jealous.”

Arturo cleared his throat. “Alright my lovely ladies. We’ll have to make do with this.”

He presented a platter of food, the mostly cooked enchiladas with his special sauce, overcooked empanadas, a small pot of collard greens, some posole, Mimi’s test pie, and her classic red velvet cake.

“Not a bad spread, Papi, Mimi, "Liz nodded in thanks, her face illuminated by the candle near her plate in front of her.

Arturo grunted.

"Papi?”

“That Max, he’s a good boy. And I’m not judging you, Elizabeth. But…” Arturo waved his hands at their smorgasbord. “He needs to control himself better.”

“Papi,” Liz turned beet red ignoring Rosa’s laughter. She couldn’t blame Rosa. She was trying not to laugh, too.

“I didn’t say anything when he blew a fuse at the Crashdown a few months ago. I know what you two were …”

“Dios, Papi, I–” Liz interjected mortified.

She wasn’t sure, but she was pretty sure Rosa had buried her head into the tablecloth to stifle her laughter, and Mimi’s hand darted across the table to pat Arturo’s in a halfhearted attempt to make him shush.

“Mija, I understand you kids, you,” his voice lowered. “Sexy text pictures of yourself…”

Rosa squeaked.

“… but can you maybe not rile him up like this on the Lord’s day? It’s a time for family and food, and right now I can’t actually see my family or enjoy all the food I planned. Maybe think about these things.”

“He didn’t– we weren’t– it’s not him, Dad. Can we just bless the food and eat please?”

“I just want to say,” Rosa started. She ignored the wary expression half the table shot her way.

“I just want to say I’m thankful for moments like this. I never envisioned my future, stopped believing I would have one.”

Arturo’s voice hitched, and Mimi patted his hand.

“For a while, a long while, I didn’t, ” her voice got that distant tone that Maria suspected was Rosa’s way of detaching and coping. “But I would die a thousand deaths if I knew it would lead to this.

"I can’t imagine anything better than spending the holiday with my family. I know I didn’t always appreciate you before, but I’ll never be able to explain how much I love you all. I’m happy, healthy, alive, and sober. And maybe everything I went through was worth it for moments like this.”

Her eyes were blurry, but from what she could see, so were everyone else’s.

She felt Mimi grab her hand and squeeze it, words unspoken because they never envisioned this either.

Her family was small, and it was different, but this was it. They were it. It was hers.

And it took her some years to realize that. Longer to appreciate how thankful she was.

Because moments like those were ones she dreamed of.

She said it before, the first time she squeezed Rosa tight after reuniting with her for the first time in a decade, and Rosa, the little shit, she remembered.

Their eyes met over the table as Rosa hugged Liz, and then others expressed their gratitude as well.

“Alright, people,” Mimi dabbed at her eyes. “If we don’t dig in, the food will get cold, and there’s no way of warming it up.”

They dug in. The conversation was light and the laughs flowed freely. They spoke of memories old and new. She couldn’t remember the last time the holidays felt so warm, even in the dark, with burnt food, and a chill creeping in.

Arturo was midway through a story from when he was a boy when they heard scratching and scuffing at the door.

Their eyes met around the table a sense of panic, worry, and bone-deep fatigue after years of being on guard.

Arturo grabbed the baseball bat Mimi kept by the stairs. She slipped a knife beneath the sleeve of her shirt, and she doesn’t even want to know what Rosa had.

They huddled together, creeping toward the front door. Liz peeked out the window but all she saw was dark shadows.

The door blew open with the wind, and Arturo raised the bat, just about to let it down when she shouted at him to stop just above their visitor’s own yell.

“It’s Kyle!” She recognized the familiar scent of his aftershave and the energy he radiated – a deep green.

“It’s me, dammit,” Kyle dropped his arm from a protective stance over his face.“It’s just me.”

“Maybe we knew that and still wanted to bash your face in,” Rosa teased.

“Can it, squirt,” Kyle replied his lips turned up in a smirk.

“Fuck you,” Rosa quipped back with no heat.

“Rosa, language,” Arturo chastised.

Rosa rolled her eyes but hugged her brother anyway. An exchange of words flowed between them the others weren’t privy to.

Of all the hard changes made and adaptations, the Valentis accepting each other as siblings was the easiest.

Their relationship was fairly easy, like traditional older and younger siblings in the height of adolescence – love, affection, annoyance, and chiding.

They rotated the roles at will, but as much as a stink Rosa put up she loved being the annoying little sister.

“I thought the days of you trying to kill me were over,” Kyle teased Arturo as he hugged him.

“I like to keep you on your toes.”

“I brought mom’s coquito,” he held up two jugs. “One virgin, of course.” He winked at Rosa and handed them to Mimi after embracing her warmly and exchanging kisses.

“You know if you led with that, we wouldn’t have tried to attack you, right?” She slipped the knife down her sleeve and laughed at the way his eyes lit up.

He hugged her and whispered in her ear. “So, where’s the food?”

“Ah,” Maria laughed. “So that’s why you really came,” she headed to the dining room and he eagerly followed.

“I came because I love you guys, and yeah, okay, for Mimi’s red velvet cake, but I’ll happily build up to that with whatever else you have lying around.”

“Didn’t you eat at home, asshole?” Rosa’s words were contradicted by her handing him a plate.

“Mom went on a cruise this year. I was left to my own devices,” he shoveled a tamale into his mouth and hummed. “I didn’t burn down the kitchen, though.”

“Weren’t you eating at your girlfriend’s house?” Rosa asked around a mouthful of cake.

“I’m sorry, you have a girlfriend now?” Liz asked.

“And you didn’t tell us?” She added. “Kyle, I’m a bit hurt. You know how much I love knowing these things.”

“These enchiladas aren’t cooked all the way through, you know,” Kyle deflected.

“I would tell you to screw off, young man, but this coquito is divine,” Arturo raised his glass, perfectly content.

“Food at this girlfriend’s house wasn’t the best, I’m gathering?” Liz snorted as Kyle shoved more food into his mouth as if he hadn’t eaten in hours.

“Oh, it was … fine, it just, um, I –” he stammered.

“No flavor, right? Gringos,” Rosa snorted.

“Rosa,” Mimi admonished, though she couldn’t help chuckling to herself.

“What? The only person there who knows how to cook well is –”

“Please, shut up, Rosa!” Kyle glared at her. “ Or else I won’t give you your Christmas present.”

“Oh, you actually got me one this year?” Rosa shot back.

“Just because you didn’t like what I gave you last year doesn’t mean I never gave you one.”

“Well, I had gifts for you all, but it required power. Since someone blew out the whole town, I’m going to have to hold off,” Arturo grumbled.

“Papi, I told you, Max didn’t do it this time,” Liz sighed.

Kyle snorted. “Oh he totally did,” he sliced a hunk of red velvet cake and kissed Mimi’s cheek. “I’ve been craving this all day.”

Mimi patted his cheek affectionately, and Maria rolled her eyes. Her mother affected nearly every guy she had ever known her entire life.

“What do you mean Max did it? How do you know?” Liz was affronted.

“Oh, I was there when he blew his gasket, and it was not –” he cut himself off when everyone turned to stare at him.

“Why were you with him? Liz asked.

"What worked him up so much, poor boy?” Mimi asked concerned. “Oh shit, he finally knows, huh?” Rosa smirked. “I knew it,” Arturo added triumphantly.

“Kyle,” she tried to keep herself from laughing as the realization hit her. “You’re the reason he flipped out again, aren’t you?”

Kyle looked sheepishly around the room.

“Kyle,” Liz prodded, annoyed that she was one of the few who hadn’t figured it out. “How did you set Max off so badly that he blew out the power in the entire town?”

“Maybe, I should go,” Kyle responded, hesitant.

“KYLE!”

“He found out who my girlfriend is,” he answered simply. “It was sort of a meet the family dinner,” he shrugged.

“You’re dating fucking Isobel Evans?!” Liz shrieked. “And no one told me this?!”

Rosa nearly choked on her coquito. “Oh, baby. Oh honey, no.”

Maria glanced at Mimi, realization hitting them at the same time. They both found it best to keep their mouths shut.

Arturo happily refilled his glass of coquito and sat back enjoying the drama.

“Kyle…”

“Anyone want any more cake? I’m going to get some more cake.” He shuffled into the next room with Liz on his heels, as the others broke out into laughter.

Yes, for better and worse, through ups and downs, she dreamed of nights like this. She never thought she would have them again, but she was happy that she did.

Her family was messy and weird, and their experiences were unlike anyone she’s ever known, but they were hers, and she was glad to have them back.

“See,” her mother whispered in her ear, coming up behind her and wrapping her in a warm embrace. “We’re OK now, baby.” She kissed Maria’s temple as they stared at everyone around them. “You can breathe now.”

So she did.

[crimsoncityhq]

The night has been advertised by multiple commercials in the civilian’s homes, and even dead bodies littered on some residence lawns. It’s dusk on a Thursday in February. The gates to the Fire and Ice Festival are lowered after hours of waiting in the biting Chicago tundra, and the crowd, over 4,000 strong, rushes in. Most are expecting a night of drunken freedom, cozied up by the outdoor heaters that promise a warm welcome, but some foresee the chaos bound to erupt across the lawn.

The first act takes the stage, and anyone who isn’t inebriated, courtesy of the open bar, is perceptive enough to realize that, no, that’s not Kanye West. Instead they are mesmerized by the lyrical lip syncher Dante Yeast—he looks enough like him, it’s better not to question it. One would think that the O’Sheas, Vasiles, and the Fausts all gathered in one spot would spell disaster, yet the evening rolls on without a hitch, despite the tensions slowly building in its periphery. Fausts members, too, are scattered across the ocean of bodies, but some faces are missing, figureheads who pull the strings.

 Maybe they’re absorbed by the crowd; maybe they thought better of attending, but there’s a sense of unease that settles in the air. It’s not quite right, but no one can put a finger on why. Another beer, and the thought is lost is the swell of the music—if they didn’t know any better, they’d think the bass replicates the sound of distant explosions.

You’re free to start plotting. You can start posting starters/threads tomorrow, February 20th, 2020 at 7:30PM CST !  Part II coming February 24th ( Plot Slots can be found below the cut ! )

We’re going to allow each person to choose two plot slots for two characters max .If there are any leftovers, we’ll let members know when they can sign up for thirds.

You’ll notice that some of these plots are public, so feel free to have your character react to them/ notice them even if they aren’t happening directly to your character. However, if something feels like it happened privately to another character, please check in with their Mun to see if it’s okay for your character to know.

To be clear: these are not the only things that happen to your character during this plot drop and you are more than welcome to cook up your own trouble.

To sign up for a plot slot message the main! You can start doing that as soon as right now!

CHARACTER A, CHARACTER B, CHARACTER C, are approached by the venue to play as impersonators for the opening act of the show. However, it turns out…they are the show along with other noteworthy impersonators. 

CHARACTER D & CHARACTER E end up camped out at the ticket box office on the other side of the lawn seats. They want a refund for the musical event after their cards were erroneously charged the next day on ADAM & EVE. Much to their surprise they come face to face with CHARACTER F( Faust ).

AUTUMN DAWSON is shitfaced prior to arriving at the music festival. They try to crowd surf before the opening act, and would get immediately dropped if NATHAN BURR didn’t catch their fall. 

CHARACTER I & CHARACTER J purchased tickets to meet the bands backstage. They are led by the security detail of the event to two tents filled with a scent of gunpowder. Upon further inspection, they find a crate of fireworks. Do what you will.

CHARACTER K jumps on stage to hijack the mic and accidentally falls and breaks their ankle.

CHARACTER L & CHARACTER M are dosed with PCP by a stranger serving up “free” cocktails. Everything is a blur and they both snap back to reality an hour later, but they’re in the middle of an intense fist fight.

EFFIE FAUST & CHARACTER O engage in a mud wrestling contest that is being judged by no one whatsoever. 

CHARACTER P & CHARACTER Q make out in a port-o-potty, but realize shortly after they’re locked inside. It’s up to CHARACTER R to either let them out...or tip them over.

CHARACTER S is mistaken as Pat Benatar. ASLI DEMIR drunkenly convinces them to go on stage to sing LOVE IS A BATTLEFIELD.

 CHARACTER U & CHARACTER V go hard on the alcoholic beverages & psychedelic treats  at the start of the festival, by the end of it neither of them know where their shoes or wallets are. 

CHARACTER W finds their soulmate in a drunken stupor and grinds on them for the better half of two hours, only to realize the grindee is ZHI ROU, who has been uncomfortably shifting away from them this entire time. 

CHARACTER Y breaks all of their glow sticks and covers themselves in the liquid. It’s all fun and games until that shit starts to burn. CHARACTER Z does their best to quench CHARACTER Y with every bottled water they can find.

 CHARACTER A1, CHARACTER B1, & CHARACTER C1 are hired security guards for the event. They have no clue who hired them to do it. 

INGRID VASILE  starts to overdose on COCAINE. LEV VASILE notices their struggle and assists them to the med tent. DOMINIC MURPHY is around the med tent and notices the commotion. 

 CHARACTER  F1 tries to charge their phone using the musical equipment & gets electrocuted. Also it starts to play the most recent song listened to on their phone which is SONG OF THEIR CHOICE. 

GRIFFIN DYER is held up at security when they try to enter the venue, because they tried to smuggle in a small animal. CHARACTER H1 isn’t really security and jacks the animal instead.

SERENITY MICHAELS starts to question their sanity when they see a small animal run in circles in front of them and jet off towards the direction of the port-o-potty. 

RACHEL BYRNE feels something small and furry scaling the back of their dress, and, assuming it’s someone’s hand, slaps DAHLIA CAVALLI in the mouth before the small animal scurries away and they have to apologize.

CHARACTER L1 chases the small animal and just when they are sure they’ve caught it, the animal bites them on the neck. CHARACTER M1, who is higher than a motherfucker and hallucinating, sees CHARACTER L1 cradling their neck and automatically assumes a vampiric transformation is happening. CHARACTER L1 has to survive the following attack from a stranger with a pocket knife.

CHARACTER N1 is on their fifth drink at the venue. They hear a loud slurping noise, only to find the small animal lapping their beer in hand. Out of surprise they scream which causes the animal to shit on their hand and run away. CHARACTER O1 looks on in amazement, wonder, and terror as CHARACTER N1 wipes their hand on an unknowing CHARACTER P1. CHARACTER O1 is conflicted if they should say anything but takes a Snapchat video of the whole scenario anyway. It goes viral on Tik Tok the following evening.

The small animal finally gets caught by SANTIAGO PEREZ in a battle that lasts 10 minutes. The small animal is then given to CHARACTER R1 whom they assume is the owner. 

CHARACTER S1 is lost to the world, and passes out directly in front of CHARACTER T1 that had just spent twenty minutes in line for a cup of water. The cup of water is spilled on top of CHARACTER S1.

NAOMI WASHINGTON & CHARACTER V1 become instant buddies when they chant to the sound of “SHOTS” around the crowd. IRINA KOSHKIN takes this literally and pulls out their gun ready to fire. 

CHARACTER X1, CHARACTER Y1, CHARACTER Z1 all show up to the venue wearing the same exact outfit. You have declared them your number 1 enemy for the entirety of the music festival. 

CHARACTER A2 is high as fuck and thinks they’re making a flower crown for CHARACTER B2…..except it’s a crown of shrooms instead. CHARACTER B2 wears the crown, but has to swat CHARACTER C2 away who keeps trying to eat them. 

CHARACTER D2, CHARACTER E2, CHARACTER F2 suffer from dehydration. They try to find help at the med tent, but they can’t find where it is. 

ROSA LEON gets handsy with the bartender at the open bar and leads them away for a quick fuck, allowing RYAN HAYES and CHARACTER I2 to raid the bar freely.

 CHARACTER J2 is the aforementioned bartender and realizes a moment too late their station is being cleared out. Instead of returning to their position, they throw on some neon bracelets and join the party.

 CHARACTER K2 is doing some sick backflips in the middle of the crowd and are called out by the currently performing act mid-set for drawing attention away from the stage. CHARACTER K2 does another backflip to retaliate, but accidentally kicks CHARACTER L2 in the face.

JESSE VALENCIA hijacks a ELECTRIC BLUE STRATOCASTER from the backstage, and they are not caught. 

DAVUT DEMIR feels like they’re being watched and finds a silhouette with a rifle narrowed in on them perched upon a nearby building. They quickly retreat to find OPHELIA O’SHEA and P2 and warn them about the occurrence, who realize there are multiple snipers surrounding the pavilion. 

CHARACTER Q2 swears they heard a sound of explosions over the music, being in front nearest to the stage. They grab the microphone and scream, “WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE.” CHARACTER R2 & CHARACTER S2 start to openly panic. 

CHARACTER T2 (O’Shea) gets into a physical altercation with CHARACTER U2 (Vasile). They don’t stop until one or the other is knocked unconscious. 

ANDREA REED & BIRDIE MENDOZA try to leave the event, but notice that they’re trapped in the auditorium. CHARACTER X2 makes it to their vehicle, but is stuck in place by the surrounding vehicles around them. Unable to escape fully, they return back to the venue. 

CHARACTER Y2 hates their life at this music venue, because they’re stuck behind a rather sweaty individual. Their sweat keeps hitting them in the face, and at one point, they catch it in their mouth. It incites a ferocious bout of vomiting, and CHARACTER Z2 is trying to help, thinking they’ve been drugged, but CHARACTER Y2 can’t even explain what it is that made them sick.

 TATIANA BLANTER is hit with a spare bullet, but no one is able to find where the source is. As no one around seems to have their gun out. CHARACTER B3 conceals their weapon perfectly. 

 NOVA DEVERAUX suffers a panic attack due to the crowd gathered, and clings onto CLARA DAVILLA who is unable to get them to the med tent.

 CHARACTER E3 feels something warm splash on their face. They are unsure if it’s warm beer or urine. They’re pretty sure it’s warm beer, but remain conflicted the rest of the festival. CHARACTER F3 offers the shirt off their back for CHARACTER E3 to wipe the liquid off their face. 

 CHARACTER G3 is doing photography for the event, but realizes midway through the show that the performers aren’t who they say they are. They spot a face they know to be Faust affiliated in the crowd and scurry off toward the exit, only to be stopped by CHARACTER H3 (Faust) at the door.

MILES ST CLARE is the first to notice the lack of Fausts at the start of the music venue. They make their way to the police station in hopes of figuring it out, but instead they encounter burning police cars and chaos.