#it happened around the 36th minute

[lulu2992]

Drew Holmes, IP Director for Far Cry, during the 20th Anniversary Celebration Livestream: “[Thanks] to the community, the fans, everyone who’s watching [for] the support, and the love, and the cosplay, and the embracing of... crazy, sociopathic, violent, murderous characters that… Yeah, you know, not gonna lie, it’s… it’s... it’s a take. But, uh… *short nervous giggle* we love the fact that there’s been so much passion”

Me, coincidentally working on a new John Seed x Deputy drawing while I’m watching:

[ddoxhan]

all I wanna do

like a rain shower in midsummer, I need you cuz all I wanna do is be with you

word count : 5.3k words

genre : fluff revolving around two goofballs; scriptwriter! ningning x office worker! reader; experiencing a disastrous date won't stop you from planning the best date for the love of your life

t/w : none :)

a/n : a light-hearted, playful date with ms ning yizhuo! imagine her laughters throughout the entire thing and just seeing how happy she is being with you 🤍 I love this baby so much :') anyways enjoy !!

outfit? check. water bottles? check. portable fan? check. power bank? check. umbrella? check. snacks for your pretty girlfriend? check. after that disastrous date with yizhuo last time, you were traumatized hence the over-the-board preparation for today's date with her. you had planned a lot of events for the day, hoping that she would be surprised with how you made sure things were to go according to plan. her reactions are just the cutest and no one can tell you otherwise.

regardless of whether it was going to rain, or if you lose her in a crowd as her phone dies, or if she gets incredibly hungry that she's in the mood to murder you. yes, that was how the entire date went the last time when you two headed for a mini concert in the outskirts. just thinking about it again sent chills down your spine. never again, you thought.

as you take a step out of your apartment, that annoying ringtone informed you of who the caller was.

"yeah, babe?"

'on the way? or you just woke up and getting ready to throw on just anything?'

"missy, I'm slaying my fit of the year. and yes, I'm on my way. maybe in another thirty minutes?"

'okay, missy. sounds good to me, see you then babe!'

"love you."

'love you too!'

her voice got softer, as usual walking away from her phone to do her own things. she usually lets you end the call, either you'd end it while chuckling at her antics or listening a little longer to hear her humming a song that's on her 36th spotify playlist.

the sun was shining, the clouds were fluffy, and the bus just passed by the stop before heading for yours. was it more than enough time for you to make it? sure, but, that was if you ran for it. you were definitely not waiting for the next one that was going to be in the next 15 minutes.

the run wasn't too bad, giving you a chance to try out your new pair of sneakers. definitely not made for running, but they were sure looking amazing with your outfit. yizhuo had gotten them for you when you had finished that torturing physics paper one semester ago but you couldn't get yourself to wear them. she insisted that you wore it after she saw them in a new display box you got for it when she slept over after spending hours playing animal crossing with you.

'jagi, didn't I get those for you?'

'yep.'

'wear them when we go on a date next week.'

'but-'

'no buts.'

so that was how you were striding in these slides. they made you a little taller, which was the perfect height to pull yizhuo into a hug and rub your head on her hair. she hated those the most, but you love the scent of her vanilla shampoo, calming and soothing. as you stared out the bus window from your seat, your lips naturally curled into a smile as you reminisced those times when you and her took the bus home during your uni days.

when you had shared social law with her, you always took the bus with her after classes at the end of the day. you had known that she lived a little further from campus instead of the dorms and you happened to also take the same bus line as she did. acquaintances bloomed into friends, and you took your friendship with her to the next stage when you confessed that you saw her as more than a friend. you were the happiest girl alive when she said that she felt the same too.

when you had graduated with your psychology degree and her with her communication degree, that was when you found out that yizhuo had not lived three bus stops away from yours. and that was also when she had found out that you lived two bus stops before where she supposedly lived. in summary, you were two idiots thinking that you guys were so smart for trying to fool each other.

she did indeed live in the campus dorm, but just got down the stop where her friend lived at, in a way using her as an excuse to spend more time with you. you on the other hand, did similarly to spend more time with her by pretending that you got off at the next stop after hers. for four months straight, you had took a whole trip around the neighbourhood each time you had social law.

till this day, this was still something that you and her would bring up and laugh about at how stupid you two were. but you didn't complain, you were stupid in love with her.

a ring on yizhuo's doorbell was enough to make her frown from finishing her favourite shampoo to smiling as it indicated that her huggable human was by the door. when she swung the door open, she was surprised to find you with a bouquet of crocheted pink tulips and a puffy tote bag. first, you hated tote bags because you were afraid of forgetting them on your seat. second, what occasion was it for the flowers?

"hello, girlfriend."

"hello to you too. what's with the flowers?"

a toothy grin was all it took to convince that it wasn't a special occasion that she knew, but rather one that you wanted to celebrate because, you just wanted to.

"it's 520 days since we've started dating. so yeah, happy 520!"

"and here I thought that I had forgotten our anniversary or something."

"well, it's still something to celebrate about."

if yizhuo had her clumsy and quirky antics, you had your puppy-like and unpredictable antics. it wasn't once or twice that you had showed up to her front door with tulips or roses, be it real or fake, or crocheted. or that one time you had a spur in the moment and made her beef wellington for lunch. you didn't even like cooking that much.

'I saw this recipe and I thought you would like it a lot!' as she quotes from you.

but none of that can stop her from loving you more as each day went by. the good morning and good night texts were a must and meeting up at least once every day was the base, whether it be face-to-face or through facetime. as much as she could feel her fatigue from her day fade away when she saw that smile of yours, so did you when you heard that laughter of hers when you crack a joke.

"thank you, babe. I like it a lot."

she tiptoed to press a little peck on your cheek, which led to that big ass grin on your face and your tail would have wagged hard like a helicopter, if you had one. seeing your usual reaction, yizhuo went back to her room to proceed getting ready for the day. oh, did you mention that she looks amazing even when she had her hair up in a messy bun, and the most worn out, comfortable home clothes? yeah, now you know.

as you took your spot on the couch, it didn't take her longer than 20 minutes to be in the cutest outfit for your anticipated outing. the opening of her bedroom door prompted you to stand by the shoe rack and put your shoes on.

"ready?"

"mhm."

after you leaving her place, she naturally headed over to the bus stop while you stepped further from it, making her confused at the way you had a mischievous smile on your face. you walked over to her and dragged her along to the nearest car rental shop, rendering her further confusion.

leaving her at the entrance for a bit, you returned while twirling a shiny key with a far too recognizable logo printed on it,

"I knew we were going to the aquarium, but you didn't mention anything about driving there. when did you even have a driver's license?"

"well, surprise."

driving wasn't a practical option since you lived four bus stops away from your now alma mater. public transportation was a pain in the ass during before and after work peak hours but that was more worth than paying for the parking fee. that included having not told yizhuo about your driving capabilities.

your campus was practically in the middle of the city where most necessities were within public transportation reach. it didn't really matter if you had a car or not cause that was how convenient travelling for stuff was. if there was a need for a car, you would just ask minjeong for hers since she drives. even now, you could get to your job without a car, and you only head to office 3 days a week.

"and you rented a BMW?"

"yes?"

the look on her face darkened further as she couldn't comprehend your spending tendencies. you weren't a thrifty douchebag, so this was really a firsthand experience of you being willing to spend so much when there were cheaper options.

"please tell me you're joking. this could easily cost you half of your monthly salary for a day."

"okay okay, yes, I'm joking."

"thank god."

" but I did buy a kawasaki though."

yizhuo's jaw could not drop further as you said those seven words. she couldn't even form words, let alone sentences.

"wha- huh- you- eh?"

"come on, I got a second hand one so it's a lot cheaper. and it was a snatch with its low mileage."

the whole ride to the aquarium was just her bombarding you with questions on why you decided to get a motorcycle, when did you get your driver's license and a whole lot more. the entire ride there. though you weren't annoyed, you found it adorable that she wanted to know more. you being down bad was an understatement, you were just so in love with her that you don't see any chance of you getting back from being down bad.

you sure didn't need a second hand kawasaki to get to work considering the many reasons that would have stopped you from getting it. but there was one extremely big reason to get it that surpass every other. it was yizhuo. at the end of every day where you would drop by her place to spend time together, she would tell you about the things she encountered on the way home on the train, be it good or bad.

you were content with listening to how she would coo at the children and babies she saw, but grimaced at some things she would witness that you don't even want to reiterate. just then you thought, maybe you should get a vehicle to fetch yizhuo after work. as a scriptwriter, the expectation to get things done by her deadlines were brutal, from your nine-to-five job perspective. at times, she would finish past dinner hours and leave the broadcasting station with slumping shoulders while you waited for her at a nearby cafe to have dinner together after she clocks out. it always made a part of your heart ache a little when she drapes her body over you, with her basking in your scent.

she had always reassured you that she would feel her energy pick up when she spots you at your usual spot waiting. and even more so when she hugs you, as if you were her human energizer. but to imagine the days that you wouldn't be there, it was the right decision to get a vehicle for her to relax in after work on the way home. regardless of whether it was this nice BMW or the kawasaki you got, you get to accompany her back home while she talks about her day at the broadcasting station.

to head home together after a long day and lay in her arms on the couch while watching a movie was always your dream. usually her housemates would be around and it wasn't that comfortable to have the whole living room to yourselves. you would either leave after dropping her off or you would spend some time in her room for a while since she would reason that you have work the next day. one day, you would get a house together with her and make that dream a reality. one day.

"for me? this nice ass bike because you wanted me to get home safe?"

"yep."

she looked at you in disbelief, worried that the cost of this damn bike would put a hole in your wallet while you had a sheepish smile knowing exactly what she had in mind.

"I know it sounds crazy but trust me, I've planned this for a long time."

"how long?"

"roughly 5 years."

as yizhuo mentally counted, she figured that that was when you were still freshmen back in university. although she was flattered by the fact that you fell for her since then, she couldn't help but feel bad. and you knew she would from the way her smile fell a little, just enough for you to be able to tell.

"don't feel bad babe. I did say it's for you, but it's also for me, for us. it's a lot better than having to squeeze into the train and having body odour rubbed all over my face."

the joke managed to lift her mood as she giggles at the way she could relate too. well, you could say that this kawasaki was a dream motorcycle that you've had your eye on for some time now too. her hand reached over to yours on the gear stick, her eyes looking into yours, feeling that she was the luckiest girlfriend on earth.

"you're welcome, and let's go see those penguins, shall we?"

"welcome to underwater haven, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! I will be your guide today, so make sure to remember how I look like. you wouldn't wanna get lost and bump into the polar bear."

the crowd laughed at the humor of the male guide, before following to enter into the aquarium for the day.

in one hand, was your professional camera to capture the beauty of the animals (as well as your girlfriend), and yizhuo's hand intertwined with yours in the other. although she was more fond of furry animals in the petting zoos, she absolutely loved the way your eyes would sparkle when you tell her about your favourite aquatic animals that even she had managed to remember by now. you looked like an excited child jumping around and she just wants to give you all the kisses that you deserved for being so cute.

"oh! that's the angelfish. isn't it such a nice shade of pastel blue? and the way they just look so pretty."

"yes yes, very pretty."

and her gaze was just fixated on your smile that hasn't fell ever since you stepped foot in here. she couldn't give a damn about all these fishes that looked the same to her. all it did was make her crave for some good sushi, but she shall not talk about that while you're here. maybe in the next few days, she should bring it up. for now, she would enjoy this aquarium date.

"did you have fun?"

"mhm. did you? weren't you bored a little halfway?"

"I mean yeah but when I look over to you, wow best day ever."

you shot yizhuo a glare before relaxing when you knew that she had eyes only for you.

"I love you too."

that sheepish smile on her face made you chuckle at the way you found it cute, realization for the nth time that you would never be able to win against her. be it her random rendezvous at odd hours or cheeky remarks like this.

"so where would lunch be, ms. 'I have a BMW now so we can go anywhere we want'?"

she's just not gonna let you breathe huh?

"well, it is a thursday today. so you know what that means."

"the bazaar!"

the first time she found out about the bazaar, she had always gone there either alone since her friend had clashing schedules or would resort to the cafeteria food which she disliked a little. after knowing you through social law, she deciced to persuade you to accompany her there.

'you mean be your chaperone?'

'I wouldn't put it that way, think of it that you're there as my food mate.'

it was a weekly food bazaar that happened at the city square, filled with all kinds of food from all around the world. yizhuo was always down to try anything that was edible, while you were just there to be with her as you didn't fancy trying new things.

'come on! try this, the vendor said it's glutinous rice cooked in a bamboo tube.'

'it looks questionable.'

but to be honest, it did taste good. while she had a habit of ordering a variety to try, she wouldn't hesitate to share it with her friends, encouraging them to head to the bazaar to try out too. when you looked back and thought about it, she was also helping out the local businesses that had a hard time. she tried to deny, giving you the reason that they had better food that whatever the cafeteria served. however, you would notice each time you stood by her while she talked to the vendors. the way her eyes fold into crescents, truly grateful that they were doing great.

as you spent more time with her throughout your days, you harbored feelings for her and they just grew out of control when you would malfunction from being around her. you were there once as an acquaintance, now you were back there again, as her girlfriend. wow, thinking about it made you feel overwhelmed.

"are you sure we're able to finish this?"

"if we can't, we could bring it over for minjeong."

"I'm pretty sure she would be too full from lunch with jimin. you know how those two are."

"well, I guess this is all for us!"

just watching yizhuo enjoy the food in front of her made you feel as if you had ate. if your girlfriend was happily full, then so were you. at some point, the vendors didn't change often, and they soon became permanent at the bazaar, being able to find a crowd of customers for themselves. you didn't remember how it happened, but when yizhuo would always recommend it to the people around her, you knew who it was because of.

"what? is there anything on my face?"

your gentle gaze had her rub the sides of her mouth, then her cheeks. full of food while she mumbles, it was just a sight too adorable. you succeeded at holding back your urge to squeeze her cheeks, or you would end up with a flick on your forehead.

"nothing, you just look really pretty."

"thank you, but I can't tell if you're being sarcastic cause I am stuffing my face full of food right now."

"nothing beats a happy girlfriend who loves her food. and it's cute."

extending a hand over to clear that sauce stain on the corner of her mouth, you looked so lovesick, it almost made the people at the table on the right gag. what did single people do to be punished like this?

you would only cut it out with the lovey dovey eyes when yizhuo made sure that you were eating enough unlike when you were in your final year. that final year research paper had you lose 5kg throughout the journey and you wish to not experience that ever again. sleep was an option and so was food. if it wasn't for her threatening to have your meals properly or she would not see you again, you would have probably fainted at least twice that year.

so now, you have a wonderful girlfriend and a stomach full of good food. the day was going spectacularly smooth without any problems. but you spoke too soon when the sun had set and night had came.

after the bazaar lunch, you were to drive to a restaurant by the beach that yizhuo had really wanted to try but didn't insist on going as it was far. since you had rented a car, it was only right to bring her there. before night would fall, it would have been perfect to enjoy the sunset by the time you would have arrived considering the journey.

that was until the car started to smoke on the front all of a sudden. pulling over to the side of the road, you had to call for help from the nearest car repair shop to send a tow truck. you weren't going to risk driving there despite it being a short distance, not with her in the car.

as the tow truck arrived along with another car, you thanked the foreman for offering to drive you two to your destination when he couldn't get you a spare car. nevertheless, you managed to reach just in time to sit by the beach to admire the sunset with yizhuo. that was before it got windy and droplets of rain turned into a downpour.

"why is it always like this whenever we decide to go out for dates?"

she was feeling a little down from the mishaps from the car to the downpour. to be frank, you were too, since you had hoped that the date ended perfectly since she had looked forward to it a lot. although she didn't verbally express her excitement, you could tell from the way she had already put together an outfit for the day a week before and marked the date on her calendar with a big red circle and hearts around it.

"babe, things happen. plus it was my fault that I didn't check the car properly before today."

"it's not your fault, like you said things happen. just why on our dates..."

you were half soaked from the rain even with an umbrella. as you sought shelter at nearby shop, yizhuo wasn't soaked as much because you had wrapped yourself over her to make sure she didn't. that also made her a little more upset as she was scared you would get sick because of her. on the brighter side, you were at a vintage shop where they had quite a collection of film cameras. you had to take the opportunity to get one from here before you left. but first, back to making your girlfriend feel better.

"hey hey, babe. look at me."

you placed your hands on her cheeks and made her face you, squishing them a little. around her colleagues, she was competent and very professional when dealing with the producers and directors at her workplace. but when she comes home and relaxes around you, she would turn into a small little kitten that needed her favourite human pillow. just like how you had her pouting and leaning into your hands.

"things don't have to always go as planned. it's best if it did, but now that it didn't. we're here at this vintage shop and it looks like there's a lot of stuff to explore around here."

"sure we missed the sunset for a little, but we stumbled upon this place."

and with that, your girlfriend was back to her normal self.

"okay, but promise me you're not going to get too many things. nothing else is going to fit that glass case."

"yes, ma'am."

giving her a tiny salute and a cheeky smile, it was another mission success of making the best out of a (sorta) ruined date.

"I did mention not to get too many things, but you did get something that was very expensive."

"but it does take really good film pictures. plus, a good camera to fit the most beautiful model in the world."

yizhuo scoffed at the compliment but couldn't help but blush a little. thankfully, the downpour had come to a stop, only a small drizzle remained.

as you headed towards the restaurant that you had made reservation for, you couldn't help but feel super lucky at that moment as the sky was still lit and the ambience of the waves hitting the shore, as well as the drizzle adding its touch. along with the beautiful sight of her while her hair is blown by the wind, that gorgeous smile making you fall for her all over again.

arriving there, you were brought to your reserved table before ordering whatever she wanted on the menu. the wait wasn't too long, which was good as it was quite eventful before this meal. as you indulged in the local delicacies, you couldn't help asking yizhuo if she was in for some alcohol. and knowing her, she wouldn't pass on the offer.

you only drank a little as you would still need to drive back, as the foreman had mentioned that it wouldn't take till the next day to fix the car. just as you wrapped up your fulfilling meal, your phone rang, indicating the caller to be the foreman.

"yes, mr. lee. is the car done?"

"I'm very sorry miss, but I've called to inform you that we've come across another problem from the engine as we looked into it earlier. we would need another day for it as we are closing soon."

"ohh... umm... alright then. we'll look around for somewhere to stay for the time being. thank you very much."

hearing how you would need to look for somewhere to stay and seeing that apologetic smile plastered on your lips, yizhuo just knew that the plans for the day had changed for third time.

"we need to look for a motel?"

"hey! you don't need to put it that way."

the ends of your ears started burning a little as you hid your face in your hands, trying to lower the rising temperature of your cheeks. her word choice had caught you very off guard while she remained calm.

"it is what it is. plus, we could get separate rooms so why so shy?"

she was definitely having a great time teasing you.

you managed to find a decent place after asking the locals. but being there on the weekends only meant that there was no such things as vacancy. however, you still decided to shoot your shot, praying for two rooms.

"we've got only one room left, with a single bed."

and you definitely didn't expect that shot to miss entirely. it was better than no rooms at all, and it meant using the same room as yizhuo. you had to repeat that to yourself several times to fully register what you had heard. number 1, you had not slept over at her place before as you didn't want her housemates to feel uncomfortable with your unfamiliar presence. number 2, it would only be you and her in a room. nothing would probably happen, given that you would be sleeping on the couch.

"where are you going?"

"to sleep...?"

drying your hair with the provided towel, you glanced over to your girlfriend who already dried her hair and changed into a set of pajamas that you had got from a nearby shop. you were in a similar one with a different color, reminding you too much of what married couples would usually where in dramas. 'enough!', you thought.

as much as you wanted to wake the next morning in your arms, you held yourself back as it might make her uneasy. what if she's not used to sharing the bed with someone? what if she thinks it would be hot? what if you snore? what if―

before you could complete all the possible scenarios from overthinking, yizhuo stretched out her arms, telling you to hug her. and so you did. as you fell for her temptation, she pulled you in closer to make you fall onto the bed. as she leaned over to place her lips on yours, your brain short-circuited with too many things happening at once. pulling away, all she saw was a shocked puppy speechless and thoughtless.

"you good?"

"huh?"

"were you going to sleep on the couch?"

"yeah..."

it was as if you lost your ability to speak because all you could do was nod or give short answers to her questions. well, you were being considerate for your girlfriend in case she didn't want to share the bed with you and you were more than willing to let her have the bed for herself. after all, the bed wasn't the biggest and it was just fitting for two people, no more, no less. but she didn't mind at all.

"why when we could just sleep together?"

you hit her a few times for her choice of words and she just wondered what she said so wrong. 'sleep together', technically you were going to sleep together but not sleep together. there was a difference, but you were just being overly sensitive from the way that your body was in close proximity with yizhuo.

it wasn't like you didn't cuddle with her before in the living room while watching dramas and movies. it wasn't like you didn't hug her every single time you would leave by the end of the day. it wasn't like she wasn't already clingy and always finding an excuse to stick right next to you, be it be holding hands or just pulling you into a bear hug. but why was this time so different just because it was on a bed?

"you could take this as practice before we get married in the future."

right, that was why it made you so fidgety and anxious like a teenage girl who was in love with her first love. true enough, she was your first love, if you were to minus out the short fling back in high school that wasn't even a relationship nor situationship.

your relationship had not even turned 2 years old and yizhuo already had confidence in that you would marry her when the time comes. and she was darn right that you would. that day just sealed the deal where you definitely couldn't see yourself spending the rest of your life with someone else other than her.

the way she would enjoy your rants about sea animals that she couldn't care less, the way she reminds you about spending too much, the way she held your hand throughout the whole date.

although she wasn't interested in the many species of fishes that you knew, she didn't complain about it and just enjoyed how you were ecstatic about them. she would nag you a little about getting too many vintage cameras when you wouldn't even use some of them, but she knew that every single one you've bought had at least taken one picture of her. she knew that physical affection wasn't your way of expression where gift giving and words of affirmation was, she made sure that you felt hers.

just like this very moment, you could feel it through the way her gaze bores into your eyes, letting you know that she loved you as much as you did for her, if not more.

"okay, if you say so, wifey."

"oh? already agreeing to the proposal?"

"no way, I will be the one proposing to you in the best way possible when that day comes."

"but does that mean you want to marry me?"

yizhuo was glad to see how you snapped out of your trance with the playful banter between you and her. not only that, your string of thoughts had brought you to a conclusion that sounded like the best one to your life story.

"yes, ms. ning yizhuo. I would love to marry you."

"cause all I wanna do is be with you."

[xxsp3llb0undxx]

Years go by, without you by my side

Joel Miller x Wife!Reader [2.6k]

Disclaimer: Please do not repost my work to other sites or claim as your own, this is purely written from my imagination and from the help of the series. All rights of the main storyline goes to the writers and producers of The Last Of Us.

Summary: 20 years had passed since the day everything went to shit, Joel lost everything; he was a recluse - or so he thought.

WARNING: GORE ,, INFECTION ,, BLOOD ,, VOMIT ,, MENTIONS OF DEATH ,, SWEARING ,, ONE SIDED LOVE ,, UNREQUITED LOVE ,, SLIGHT TOMMY X READER

MASTERLIST TLOU

Life was good before all of this mess, Joel was happily married and his daughter, Sarah, finally had a mother figure in her life to teach her everything she needed to know about being a woman. The first time Sarah had gotten her period, Joel was terrified; his baby was hurting and she wouldn't stop crying, he had no clue what to do but then Y/n stepped in and guided Sarah through it all. She had made sure the young girl was fully stocked up on pads, chocolate, pain killers and a hot water bottle. Joel had never felt so grateful to have another woman in his life that his daughter could talk to about the things he didn't have a clue about.

The small moments between his wife and daughter made his heart swoon, he was scared Sarah wouldn't approve of their relationship at the start and he would've completely gave up on his love life if his daughter was ever uncomfortable. But, luckily for him, his daughter instantly clicked with Y/n, they were suck at the hip. Everywhere Y/n went, Sarah would be trailing behind, rambling on about random things earning the softest of smiles from the older woman. When Joel and Y/n broke the news to Sarah about them getting married, she was ecstatic. Her smile huge, eyes sparkling. Her happy squeals filled the air, she was practically bouncing off the walls at the news of her dad finally being happy.

Well, that was 3 years ago. A lot had happened in those years, Y/n and Joel tried for a baby but their luck wasn't working. Until it did. It was September 26th, 2003 - Joel's 36th birthday. Y/n had woke up feeling sick, rushing out of bed and into the bathroom down the hall. Last nights dinner coming back up. The noise of her throwing up must've woke up Joel, as he opened their bedroom door and carefully made his way down the hall to the bathroom, Y/n was hunched over the toilet as she continued to throw up into the toilet bowl. Joel crouched down beside her, rubbing his palm up and down Y/n's back, the gesture made the older woman lift her head up from the toilet bowl and look over at Joel; his hair was all over the place, eyes half lidded.

"You okay, sweet pea?" Joel's voice was laced with sleep, his Texan accent more noticeable. Y/n looked at Joel with teary eyes, she hated the feeling of being sick; the feeling of being an inconvenience to everyone around. Joel brought his wife into his chest, wrapping his warps around her smaller frame. "Hey, don't cry darlin' everything's going to be okay." They stayed like that on the bathroom floor for what felt like hours, until Sarah started banging on the slab of wood telling her parents to hurry up so she could get ready for school.

After the whole ordeal in the bathroom, Y/n had went downstairs as Sarah had finished getting ready; telling her dad he had 15 minutes before she had to leave for school. The aroma of dark roast coffee filled the kitchen, making Sarah fake gagging noise. "I don't get how you and dad can drink that stuff." The small comment made the older woman laugh. Before Y/n could reply, the sound of boots hitting against the wooden stairs brought her focus to the staircase to see Joel ready for work, his hair slightly damp form the shower he had. Sarah hugged her father and wished him a happy birthday, not forgetting to bully him over his age.

Once they had eaten breakfast, Sarah had ran upstairs to get something, neither of her parents knew what, though. Tommy was waiting in the truck as Joel gave a goodbye kiss to Y/n, telling her to take it easy today after her being sick an hour prior. Sarah bounded down the stairs and gave Y/n a hug before rushing out the door, the older woman stood in the doorway watching her little family drive off.

Y/n did some house cleaning throughout the day, preparing the the vegetables and chicken for dinner later that day. Another wave of sickness hit her again, she barely made it to the bathroom before she inevitably threw up her breakfast. She flushed the toilet and got up to brush her teeth for the second time that day. Y/n opened the cabinet where the Miller's kept painkillers and first aid things. Her eyes caught a white box on the top shelf, a pregnancy test. Y/n closed her eyes for a second before picking the box up and opening the packaging. She used the test and put on a timer for 5 minutes as instructed on the leaflet. When she checked after the timer went off, she saw two lines - Positive.

A lot had happened in the space of Sarah and Joel coming home, and then Joel having to go get Tommy from the police station. The world fucking ended. There was fire everywhere, people were screaming as cars and trucks drove past them. Tommy was trying his best to find a way out, Sarah wouldn't stop asking questions about the things happening, Joel was panicking and he was right to do so, this was a fucked up nightmare. Then everything got worse, a plane fell from the sky the engines ablaze, and then the next thing anyone knows; the truck flips upside down, smoke pilling out of every nook it could escape from. Joel had gotten Sarah out on his side but Y/n and Tommy were trapped opposite them. "Joel, baby, don't panic. Keep Sarah safe, we will meet you guys down by the river. I love you." Those three little words sounded like the last time Joel would ever hear them from you, and maybe he was right to assume.

Tommy and Y/n walked along the streets, staying in the shadows to not draw unwanted attention to themselves. Tommy's hand clasped tightly around Y/n's, he would never admit it but he always had a thing for her before his older brother finally snatched her up for himself. The trek to the river took quite awhile, probably because of all the infected lurking around ready to pounce at any sound. Just before they had arrive, Tommy pulled Y/n back to the treeline and held her face in his hands, her eyes glistening with tears. "I want you to run, okay? I can't let you get hurt" - "Yes, I know you love Joel but you need to protect yourself at all costs, angel." With that, Tommy kissed the crown of Y/n's head and proceeded to walk over to the area he was supposed to meet his brother but before he could, Y/n tugged on his wrist and placed the pregnancy test in his hand. "Tell Joel I'm sorry and that I will love him until my last breath." Then she was gone. Tommy stared at the plastic stick in his hand, he swore he could hear his heart shatter.

Bang! A gunshot ripped through the air, cries and screams followed shortly after. "You're okay, baby girl. You're okay" - "I know it hurts but you gotta let me pick you up, okay baby?" Joel looked over to his brother, begging him to help but all Tommy could do was stand there looking lost. Sarah died in her fathers arms that night, her blood staining Joel's clothes and skin. He lost his daughter and his wife was probably dead, Tommy told him they got separated on their way to the river. "Before we got separated - she um, she told me to hang on to this for you, I know it's shit timing but I'm sure she would want you to know either way." Tommy gave his brother the pregnancy test, Joel took it with shaky hands as he stared in disbelief. He didn't know if he should be happy or angry, his daughter was dead but there was a chance he could still have some light in his life, only if he could find his love.

20 years had passed since that fateful day. Y/n had been on her own for majority of the apocalypse, she gave birth to her daughter, Amelia, in a QZ in Atlanta. Y/n tried her best to do everything she could to provide as much of a normal life for her daughter but it was hard, it was hard without Joel or Tommy by her side. So when Amelia turned 16, she was taught how to use a gun and how to take down infected when it was necessary. Y/n had snuck out of the QZ one day with her now 19 year old daughter, and started heading in the direction of the only place she knew could keep her and her daughter safe. Wyoming.

The trek was long, Amelia begged her mother to let her take watch so Y/n could rest but she always waved her daughter off, she would destroy everything if anything were to ever happen to her baby. After 4 days of nonstop walking, they finally made it to Wyoming, but that was only the start. They had to make their way to Cody and find where Tommy was holed up this time, he cut all radio contact a couple weeks ago and it scared Y/n, Tommy was all she had left of her old life and she wasn't willing to give that up.

Amelia and Y/n had ran in to an elderly couple living in a cabin in the forest, they had kindly given them directions to where the two women needed to go, not without warning though. Y/n had bid her farewell to the elders and set off with her daughter in the direction of what she hoped to be the direction of Tommy's settlement. After getting past the "River of death", Amelia turned to her mother and pointed at a small camp fire in one of the cave by the river, Y/n being on guard when it came to other people being close, she grabbed her daughters wrist and pulled her along, telling her to just keep moving.

It was dusk by the time Y/n and Amelia had made it passed another river, they were going to continue when they heard footsteps approaching and the sounds of hooves in the distance. Y/n pulled her daughter close and drew her gun, aiming it in the direction of the fast approaching footsteps. After a couple minutes, a young brown eyed girl comes around the corner, she's with an older man, once she notices two guns pointed at her and her travelling partner, her eyes go wide and she fumbles for her own gun.

"Drop your guns or we will shoot." A soft Texan accent rips through the crisp air, Joel's ears perk up, he hasn't heard that voice in a long long time. He studies the older woman, taking in how her skin is paler in comparison to his own, her long hair hidden under a hat. Before he could say anything, the sound of an army of horses came galloping in their direction. Joel pushed Ellie behind him, he can't let anything happen to her, not after what happened to Sarah.

"Put your guns down." The four people huddled in the middle of these thugs on horses, obeyed and dropped their guns to the ground. "Have any of you been around infected?" - "Now don't lie either, because my little helper here will rip you apart if he smells anything on you." Y/n and Amelia let the dog gladly sniff them and give them a quick once over before moving over to the other two behind them. The deep growl made a shiver run down Y/n's spine, she gripped onto her daughters hand, keeping her as close as possible. The dog had settled down after a couple seconds and Ellie had began laughing as he licked her face. "Well it looks like you've bought yourselves an extra 10 seconds." - "What are you doing here?"

Y/n let out a shaky breath before speaking but Joel had also spoke at the same time. "I'm here for Tommy" - "I'm looking for my brother." Joel looked over at Y/n, his assumptions had to be true, he finally found his wife after 20 years. The group rode horseback to the settlement, leading who seemed to be the one in charge. It took about half an hour til they had arrived at the big wooden gates of Jackson. The gates had opened with a soft creak, the group of riders making their way into the settlement. Joel looked around, his eyes locked onto his brother; who was standing on some stairs helping fix something.

"Tommy!" Joel called out, catching the attention of not only his brother but Y/n and some others in the community. "What are you doing here man?" Tommy had a huge smile on his face, Joel brought him into a hug patting his brothers back before breaking apart. "I came to save you, of course." That earned a chuckle from his younger brother. "Who's that you brought with you?" Tommy asked pointing at Ellie, Joel shook his head telling his brother he would talk to him about it later.

Y/n hopped down off her horse, Amelia trailing behind her mother hands stuffed into her jacket pockets. "Tommy?" Her voice still sounded like thick, sweet honey. Tommy whipped his head in the direction of the voice, his smile faltering before he wrapped the smaller woman up in his arms, he clung to her as if she would disappear if he let go. "Now what are you doing here, angel? Last I heard, you were still in Atlanta." Y/n smiled up at Tommy, telling him everything that had happened in the QZ and asking if she could seek refuge in Jackson with Amelia. Tommy instantly welcomed them in, he was glad to have his family back.

Joel and Ellie were in the mess hall with Tommy and Maria when Joel had noticed Y/n and Amelia join them, he still couldn't figure out if it was her or not. So he just went for it and called out the nickname only he would call her, he hoped she would react to it. "Sweet pea? Is that you?" Y/n's head snapped up and stared at Joel, tears rimming her eyes. Her lip quivered as she stared at the man she thought she would never see again. "Joel? Baby, where have you been?" The tears had fallen then, sobs wracked her body as she clung to her husbands body, 20 years without the love of her life had fucked her up but she glad she can finally introduce her daughter to her father.

Once Y/n had pulled away she motioned for Amelia to come over. "Joel, my love, this is Amelia. She's - she's your daughter." Joel looked at Amelia, she had his eyes and Y/n's hair, the perfect mix between both. He held her in his arms for what seemed like forever, he finally had his family back but he will always feel that loss for Sarah. Joel could finally be happy again, he had his daughter and his wife, but most importantly, he had an annoying little shit bird of a 14 year old whom he loved like his own. Joel Miller finally got his happy ending, that's all he ever wanted.

[4littlefishies]

The 36th Floor - See You At 8

satoru gojo x suguru geto

warnings: none

wc: 4.5k

previous chapter here

note: after this chapter, something happened inside me and i started writing 10k word chapters, so this is the last of the "shorter" ones, if you will :)

The entirety of January is full of working on projects to get ready for the upcoming conference. The first two weeks are busy as they always are at the beginning of a new year, but the closer they get to leaving for the trip, tensions slowly start to rise.

Satoru starts showing up early and leaving work late in order to finish up everything on the correct deadlines. He notices dark circles starting to form under his eyes come the last week of the month. “Just a couple more days, Shi.” Satoru says, looking down at Shiro as he adjusts his tie, ready to head off to work. He’s leaving an hour earlier than he normally would in order to have some time in the office to himself to work without being bothered by anyone. “At least we’re almost done.” He huffs to himself in the mirror before grabbing his keys and wallet and throwing his bag over his shoulder before he heads out the door. 

He puts his headphones in as he heads down to the lobby. He’s leaving so early in the morning that the lobby is desolate, the sidewalks are barren, and the train is nearly empty. The sun hasn’t even come over the horizon by the time the train makes it to his stop. He finds himself unable to think about anything other than work; What details he needs to add into the presentation; what details he needs to take out; how he can portray the data in the most effective way to get the point across. 

Satoru quickly makes it to the office and pulls open the door to the lobby, right away noticing the lack of people that are normally there. He heads towards the elevator and quickly gets in, not having to wait for anyone else. After pressing the 36 button, he grabs his keycard to the office out of his bag and watches the numbers on the display steadily rise until it finally reaches his floor. The doors open to the hallway, dark from lack of movement.

The lights flick on as he steps out of the elevator, making Satoru squint his eyes at the harsh bright lights now irking him. He uses his keycard to unlock the door, pulling it open once he hears the click of the lock mechanism unlocking itself. He steps into the darkened office as the lights come to life around him. Letting out a tired sigh, he makes his way into the area that holds his, Shoko, and Suguru’s cubicles. 

Satoru sets down his bag on top of his desk before taking his headphones out and puts them back in the case before sitting down in his chair, wiggling his mouse to get his computer to turn on. He sighs again as he sets his chin in his palm, checking his emails from the day before that had come in after he left for the evening. He looks at his calendar, planning out his day around the things that he needed to get finished first. 

Grabbing a pen from the cup next to his monitors, he writes out a sticky note to plan out what he’ll do and when. He’s not in his chair for longer than 10 minutes before he hears the sound of another set of footsteps coming down the hallway. He doesn’t even turn to see who it is until the footsteps turn and walk into the small area of cubicles, now causing Satoru to look and see who’s here so early.

“How long have you been here?” He hears Suguru ask as he turns around. A smile makes its way onto his face as he hears the familiar voice. Satoru lets out a soft chuckle and looks down at his watch as Suguru sets his bag down on his desk before taking a seat in his own chair.

“Not too long.” Satoru responds, looking over at Suguru who’s now facing his own computer and turning it on. The two of them have been so busy with getting ready for the conference that they’ve barely been able to talk about anything other than work for the past weeks. Neither of them have any time to think about it with all of the work they each have on their plates. Nanami keeps giving Satoru more and more to get finished before they head out on Friday, and Suguru is just as swamped, trying to help out.

Both of them sit at their own computers, typing and reading away. Time quickly passes and eventually, people start showing up at the normal time for work. Just before 9am, Shoko enters, sitting down quietly at her desk for a moment before she speaks up. 

“I don’t like when you guys are quiet like this. It’s weird.” Shoko says, looking between the two of her friends. They don’t look up at her as they’re both intently focused on their work.

“Sorry, Sho, just super busy getting ready for this conference.” Suguru responds, already sounding tired of working for the day. He continues clicking away, sending emails to different departments in order to get all the paperwork he needs before they leave. Satoru doesn’t say a word as he listens to the conversation, wishing he could talk for even a moment, but he knows that he’ll get distracted if he lets that happen. 

Satoru and Suguru hadn’t talked about anything other than work in what felt like months, but in reality it was only about two weeks. Once the projects started getting heavier, time to talk about anything else became few and far between.

The further that they get into the hectic week, the more time seems to run together. Monday seeps into Tuesday which then bleeds into Wednesday. Before they know it, it’s 3pm on Thursday afternoon. Satoru finds himself thinking about how he hadn’t been to the cafe with Suguru, let alone even by himself in over two weeks. The most they see each other is at their final meeting Thursday afternoon. 

“Alright, so that’s your schedule for the three days that you’re going to be there.” Nanami says with his hands clapped on the table in front of him. “Ijichi has all of your flight and hotel details, so I’ll let him go over that with you.” He stands up with a quick smile and excuses himself out of the conference room, needing to head back to his office for another meeting. Satoru looks down at his notes from the meeting, messy with times and locations of different meetings and workshops throughout the weekend. He looks back at Suguru for a split second, noticing he’s also looking down at his own notes as Ijichi starts to talk. 

“Okay, here’s the details for your flights,” Ijichi starts, handing printouts of everything to both Satoru and Suguru. “And these are the details for your hotel.” Satoru looks at the papers briefly before straightening them out and tucking them into his folder. Suguru does the same before shooting a quick glance at Satoru, only to see he’s focused on Ijichi, dark circles under his eyes and all.

Ijichi nods and stands up from the table, Satoru and Suguru standing up as well. They gather their things and head back to their cubicles to finish out the last couple hours of the workday before they leave in the morning. “Do you wanna meet at my place in the morning? And then we can head to the airport together?” Suguru suggests.

Satoru’s heart speeds up in his chest, realizing that the trip he’s been anticipating for the past 2 months is finally happening. “Sure! Do you think 8 is good?” He suggests, trying to account for the time it takes to get to the airport and through security.

“That works for me! I’ll send you my address.” Suguru says as they make it back to their cubicles. Satoru smiles as he sits down and gets back to work, Suguru doing the same. Right now is the time that they’re focused on making sure all the finer details are perfect and where they need them to be within the presentation. 

5pm quickly approaches and Satoru finds that he still has so many little things that he can make better. He’s focused on one specific part of the presentation that he was particularly worried about. He wasn’t exactly an expert in the subject that he was presenting, but he sure as hell was going to seem like one.

“See you in the morning!” He hears Suguru call out from behind him. He turns around and offers up a tired smile and a wave. Suguru smiles back at him, before turning to head towards the front door, his jacket on and bag thrown over his shoulder. He looks over at Shoko’s empty cubicle realizing that he didn’t even hear her leave. Hm. He hums quietly to himself, closing up his computer after working on a couple more points that he needed to work on, deciding to finish the rest on his computer at home. He stands up and pulls on his jacket before putting all the paperwork he needs into his bag. He grabs his headphones out of the pocket and puts them in his ears before making his way towards the front doors. 

First one here and last one leaving. At least the worst is behind us. He sighs as he pushes open the front door and heads down the hallway. He hits play on his music, hoping that something upbeat will make him feel a little less exhausted for his commute home. 

Satoru decides to pick up dinner on his way home, opting for chicken katsu from a restaurant near his building. He makes it home as fast as he can, wanting to work on his presentation some more. He reaches the 36th floor and fishes his keys out of his pocket before sticking the key into his door. Kicking his shoes off and flicking on the lights, he makes his way into the kitchen and sets his food down on the island with a yawn. 

“Wow, Shi, I am exhausted.” Satoru says as Shiro walks out to greet him, her bright eyes looking up at him, waiting for food. “Alright, alright, let me get changed first and I’ll feed you, okay?” He says to her, turning to head towards his bedroom. He pushes open the bedroom door and heads straight into his closet, immediately stripping out of his suit and putting on sweats and a tshirt. He heads back out towards the living room, looking at the mirror as he passes by. Dark circles make their home underneath his eyes and he’s surprised, widening his eyes at the sight. “Wow, I look exhausted.” He huffs out, heading back out towards the kitchen. 

He picks up Shiro’s bowl before pulling open the fridge and grabbing her leftover food from the morning before mashing it up in her bowl and adding a couple extra treats on top because he’s going to be gone for the next three nights. She meows loudly at his feet, hurrying him along as he takes too long for her liking. “Okay, alright, I’m getting there!” He says with a smile as he tries not to trip over Shiro as she weaves in between his feet as he walks. He sets it down with a soft chuckle at how excited she gets. 

He chooses to sit down to eat dinner at the island rather than at the table. Finally pulling out his phone to check for what feels like the first time today, he first notices a text from Suguru. It has his address, which isn’t too far from the office, as well as a second message.

‘See you at 8 :)’ He reads with a smile on his face. He starts typing out a response, excited for tomorrow. 

‘I’ll be there! 😁’ He sends back, setting his phone back down to continue eating. He quickly finishes, trying to have as much time as possible to work on the last tiny details that he needed to. Tossing the empty boxes in the trash, he heads down the hallway to his home office to grab his laptop before making his way back out to the couch. He sits back on the couch and puts his feet up on the coffee table, pressing play on some quiet music to help him focus.

He quickly dives back into his work, trying to make every tiny detail perfect. The presentation is far past acceptable, but Satoru is unhappy with anything that’s less than perfect to him. He sits on his couch with his feet up for hours until he looks at the clock and sees it’s well past 11. 

His eyes burn from having looked at monitors and screens all day. Just a little rest. He thinks to himself, letting his head fall back and his eyes close for what was only supposed to be a moment.

~~~~~~~~~~

“What the fuck Satoru?” Suguru whispers angrily to himself as he looks at the time on his watch as he climbs out of the car, grabbing his bag. Satoru was supposed to be at his place at 8 and it’s currently just after 9. When it was 8:15 and Satoru wasn’t there yet, he decided to text him. After multiple texts that went unanswered, Suguru resorts to trying to call him. Every call goes to voicemail, leaving Suguru slightly worried, but mostly frustrated. Once 5 phone calls had gone unanswered, he decided that he was going to go over to Satoru’s place.

He hurries into the lobby from the chilly outside and thankfully gets into an elevator and quickly up to the 36th floor. Suguru was admittedly exhausted from the week leading up to this, so his lack of sleep did not help his irritation towards Satoru at this moment. 

“He better be fucking dead or he’s gonna be.” Suguru says to himself as he approaches the door, knocking politely at first. When Satoru doesn’t answer, he knocks harder, getting progressively more frustrated at the situation. After a minute of knocking normally gone unanswered, he starts pounding on the door with the side of his fist, doing anything he can to get Satoru to open up.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Fuck!” Satoru exclaims as his eyes look down at his watch, the pounding at his front door abruptly waking him from his sleep. “Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!” He continues to shout at himself as he jumps up from the couch and rushes towards his front door, unlocking it and pulling it open as fast as he can. 

He opens the door and without even looking at who it is, he turns and heads back into his apartment, hurrying to gather everything he needs. “Satoru what the fuck!?” He hears Suguru shouting from behind him as he steps inside and closes the door. He’s thankful that he’s already packed almost everything he needs, but he’s still rushing around grabbing the last minute things that he had left out that he needs for the trip. “It’s 9:15, what the hell dude?” Suguru continues shouting, following Satoru into his room. 

“I know, I know,” Satoru starts, bursting into his closet to change out of his clothes from the night before. “I’m sorry!” He shouts from inside his closet and he puts on the first shirt he pulls off of the hanger. Suguru’s sigh can be easily heard from the other side of the door.

“Satoru, if we miss this flight, we’re both fucking dead! How could you be so irresponsible?!” He says, standing at the edge of Satoru’s bed with an exasperated sigh while Satoru continues running around making sure he has everything he needs. He feels like he’s going to puke at the feeling in his stomach.

How could I be so fucking careless? He runs his hands through his hair, running into the bathroom to grab the bag that he needs off of the countertop. Suguru watches as he runs between his closet and bathroom. He picks up his bathroom bag and makes his way back towards the living room to add it into his larger bag. Suguru follows him out of his bedroom, shaking his head in disappointment.

“What were you even doing?!” He shouts as Satoru heads back towards his office to make sure he’s not leaving anything important behind. 

“I said I’m sorry, Suguru, but you yelling at me for it is not making it any better and it’s not gonna change anything! I was working on the presentation some more and I fell asleep and forgot to set an alarm,” He spits out. It sounds more harsh than he would like it to as it comes out of his mouth, but it’s too late now. He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes for a moment, trying to calm down before he scurries back out into the living room with the last folder that he needs in his hand. 

Quickly shoving it into his backpack and zipping it up, he looks up at Suguru who’s standing near the front door looking furious, his eyebrows furrowed together and his hands balled up into fists, shoved deep into his pockets. Satoru runs over to the front closet and Suguru steps aside to get out of his way. He pulls it open and picks out the first jacket he grabs, yanking it on and running back over to grab his bag from the kitchen island. 

“Shiro, Shoko will be here later tonight, okay?” Satoru shouts into the apartment as he slips on a pair of sneakers. He quickly grabs his wallet, keys, and sunglasses before looking at Suguru. “Okay, let’s go.” Suguru quickly pulls open the front door and steps out into the hallway, throwing his bag back over his shoulder as he waits for Satoru to lock up. He decided to go push the elevator button to hurry it along while Satoru follows closely behind. 

“I already have a car waiting.” Suguru says curtly. The way he says it sends a shiver down Satoru’s spine. 

I fucked up. Bad. The elevator ride is silent and makes it down to the lobby in what feels like record time. They make it to the car and load their bags in the trunk before climbing into the back. Satoru can see Suguru looking down at the map on his phone, checking to see how long it’ll take them to make it to the airport. “It’ll be fine.” Satoru says, trying his best to help calm Suguru down.

“Satoru,” He starts, still sounding extremely frustrated with him. “I don’t want to hear it right now.” Suguru spits out, sounding like a parent talking to their child. Satoru lets out a silent sigh, deciding to look out the window, resting his chin in his palm rather than trying to talk to Suguru.

I won’t bother him right now. The corners of Satoru’s mouth pull into a frown, angry with himself for not setting an alarm. I just wanted to make sure everything was ready. How could I be so stupid? The ride to the airport feels like an eternity as they race the clock to make it to their plane.

“You should get your passport out now so you’re not trying to find it in there.” Suguru says, rifling around in his bag for his own. The way he says it is nothing like the normal way he speaks to Satoru. It nearly makes his blood run cold as it finally settles in just how upset Suguru is. He wants nothing more than to turn to him and apologize, but he decides that it’s best to give Suguru some space, at least until they make it to their destination. Pulling out his passport, the driver pulls up to their terminal.

Both Suguru and Satoru let out a quick thank you as they climb out of the car and grab their bags from the trunk. They hurry into the closest doors before looking around to check where they need to go. Suguru heads towards where the signs are pointing them to go, not even bothering to tell Satoru to follow behind. Satoru notices that Suguru seems to know where he’s going, so he follows closely behind. 

Thankfully, they make it through security without any issues. Satoru looks down at his watch, seeing that it’s just after 10. He follows behind Suguru who already seems like he knows exactly where he’s going, and at a pace that would have anyone breaking a sweat. Satoru’s eyes widen as he realizes that their plane is leaving in less than 5 minutes. 

Suguru turns around and looks at Satoru for the first time since they entered the airport. “We gotta go.” He says with his eyebrows raised, looking worried, causing both of them to pick up the pace as they walk through the terminal towards their gate. “25 is where we’re going.” Suguru says as their hurried walk turns into a jog and eventually into a run as they see that they’re only at 11. Satoru can think of nothing else other than hoping that they make their flight. 

They can finally see the gate when they hear their names over the PA system. Not slowing down at all, Satoru hears as the woman says that this is the final boarding for their flight. “Shit.” Satoru hisses out, trying to run even faster, trying to hold his backpack from bouncing up and down as he runs, trying to keep up with Suguru. They make it to the gate that’s empty of people and pull their tickets up on their phones, ready to have them scanned as they approach the doors to board the plane. 

Both of them let out an audible sigh of relief upon seeing that the doors are still open and the gate attendant is still standing at the ticket scanner. She gives them a surprised look as they run up with their tickets ready, slightly out of breath. Suguru scans his first and walks through the doors down the jet bridge towards the plane. Satoru scans his ticket and gives a thankful smile to the woman as he hurries through the doors. They close the door behind him, causing his eyes to widen. We barely made it and it’s all my fault. 

Looking down at his ticket for the first time as he walks through the door of the plane. He makes his way past all the seated passengers, being the last one standing as he walks through the seats already full of people. He finds that his seat is only 6 rows back. He smiles to himself, slightly relieved as he realizes that it’s in the seats that have a bit more legroom than the normal ones. As he sits down, he sees Suguru a couple rows back. His shoulders feel slightly heavy, realizing that they won’t be sitting next to each other. 

It’s probably for the best that we aren’t sitting together… At least right now. He makes it to his aisle seat and sets his bag on the floor. Man, I screwed up. Satoru tucks his bag underneath the seat in front of him as he sits down and buckles his seatbelt, ready to relax a little bit on the 4 hour flight before he sees Suguru again. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Suguru sighs as he takes his seat, extremely relieved that they both made it onto the plane before they shut the doors. The stranger in the seat next to his is a pretty good indicator that Satoru is seated somewhere else. He silently thanks whatever higher power that they weren’t seated next to each other, at least for this flight. I can’t fucking believe him. How could he be so irresponsible? He shakes his head as he lifts up the window shade, opting to look outside at the tarmac instead of at Satoru as he walks onto the plane. 

He pulls his headphones out of his bag and slips them over his ears as he feels the plane start to back away from the gate. Pressing play on his music, he rests back against the seat and closes his eyes, taking a deep breath. It’s fine. We made it.

The plane quickly taxies its way onto the runway and before Suguru knows it, they're in the air and on their way to Shanghai. He finds himself looking over to the seat beside him instinctively wanting to talk to Satoru, completely forgetting about being mad at him before he remembers that he’s seated a few rows in front of him. He can see Satoru’s white fluffy hair peeking over the seat and it makes him smile for the first time that day. I just can’t stay mad at him. He lets out a sigh, looking out the window once more before closing the shade and closing his eyes, hoping to get a little bit of sleep on the 4 hour flight. 

When he opens his eyes again, he can hear a voice over the PA system. He blinks the sleep out of his eyes and removes one of the cuffs from his ears to hear what they’re saying. He catches the end of an announcement saying that they will be landing in Shanghai in about 30 minutes. After putting his headphones back over his ears, he stretches his arms, trying to rid his body of the stiffness from flying. I really needed that nap. He opens the window shade to look at the ground and gets an eyeful of the sun. Quickly squinting his eyes, he lowers it just enough that it covers the sun and he can still look outside. 

The water of the ocean below is glittering from the sunlight, a beautiful blue that reminds Suguru of a certain someone’s eyes. He sighs to himself, feeling much less frustrated with Satoru after his nap, but still upset with him. I miss him, he thinks, looking down at his lap wistfully. Suguru and Satoru hadn’t talked about anything besides work in what felt like forever. He was working on the presentation. Suguru has a mental battle with himself, feeling bad about being so upset with him, but also not feeling bad because he almost made them miss their flight. But we didn’t miss it, he argues with himself.

Suguru watches out the window for the remainder of the flight, watching as the sparkling sea turns into land and they touch down safely on the runway. He can’t help but look up the few rows at Satoru’s white hair that peeks over the seat. He sticks his headphones in his bag and slings it over his shoulder as he waits for the doors to open to start letting people off. A soft smile sits on his face as he thinks about the full weekend of work that he and Satoru have planned ahead of them.

chapter 10

[tortoisebore]

IDK IF YOU’RE STILL DOING THIS BUT!

How would wolfstar act during Barbenheimer? Who wants to see what? How are they dressed?

EEEEEEE i am ALWAYS doing these ALWAYS i love them so much 🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶 ((i have some unanswered ones in my inbox i promise im getting to don’t worry 💕💓💞💖))

okay first off we’ve established that they’re both insufferable wanna-be film critics & everyone hates them for it. so keep that in the background. they’re annoying as hell.

so they get wind of oppenheimer first. the teaser plays at a midnight screening of “nope” ((sirius is a jordan peele stan)) and it’s just a bunch of fire and black and white shots of cillian murphy so they’re both like “🙂 huh okay fun.” but then christopher nolan’s name is on the screen and sirius is nearly flying out of his seat bc he’s potentially the world’s biggest chris nolan stan. and he’s hitting remus on the arm and he’s all “👹 FUC K! !!!” and remus is like “oh good another nolan movie that’ll be fun love that” and enduring sirius’ semi-quiet fangirl moment but then he catches on to what the trailer is actually about and “oppenheimer” comes on the end card and then he’s ALSO having a freakout moment & he’s all “oh fuck 😧😧😧 oh fuck it’s oppenheimer 🫢 oh fuck 😵 oh fuck cheistopher nolan’s doing oppenheimer 😵‍💫😵‍ oh god.”

so for the next couple of months they’re both telling all their friends “yes so we’ve heard the inside scoop about nolan’s new film, very ambitious, word on the street is that it’s all practical & the b*mb isn’t CGI” and “did u know that christopher nolan himself created an atom b*mb on set to 1/36th scale” like they’re just making shit up from these random reddit threads & illegitimate news sites and everyone’s like “yeah great okay sure no one cares 🙄”

but then fall rolls around & remus overhears someone on the actual street talking on the phone about a barbie movie. and he does a little google and there it is, greta gerwig is doing a barbie movie with margot robbie, and holy shit sirius is going to freak ((he’s also a greta gerwig stan, they both are, obvi. sirius’ favorite of hers is ladybird and remus’ fav is little women, also obvi)). remus makes the mistake of sending sirius the article ab the movie in a text instead of in person where he could have done some damage control and he immediately gets a facetime where sirius just screeches at him for a good three and a half minutes before a single coherent word comes out of his mouth. so yes, he’s very excited for barbie, and remus is excited for greta gerwig to make everyone cry over a doll.

so they know about the movies separately and then the barbenheimer phenomenon takes over, and they become aware that not only are both movies coming out in july, they’re coming out on the same fucking day. and when they find this out they’re at home on separate sides of the apartment and marlene texts in the gc like “are we doing barbenheimer weekend orrrr” and they both take a minute to catch up but then they’re meeting in the living room like WHATTTTT😵😵😵😵😵😵

they plan a whole weekend. on saturday morning remus gets up early and makes waffles in the heart-shaped waffle maker sirius found months ago specifically for barbenheimer weekend breakfast and even puts red food coloring in the batter so they’re pink hearts with whipped cream and cherries to top it all off. and they do black coffee to drink because it gives oppenheimer vibes & they couldn’t think of anything else appetizing to go with it in a breakfast scenario.

they’re going comfort over style for the premiere bc they’re ab to be at the theater for like seven or eight hours, but sirius is wearing a hot pink malibu barbie baby tee for the occasion. remus is ✨not✨ wearing hot pink bc he’s a ✨warm autumn✨ & it’s ✨not✨ his color but he made sure sirius took one of his sweaters bc he always gets cold at movies and complains he’s freezing until remus gives him his own & that is “not happening this time, sirius, get your own fucking sweater.”

they’re doing barbie first. they got the tickets the second they went on sale, two seats in the middle of the row ⅔ of the way back into the theater bc that’s where sound designers sit for screenings & it’s a perfect view. they get their giant sodas and a big popcorn to share, plus some m&ms they snuck in to do an m&m/popcorn mix ((god tier movie snack fr)). they’re enraptured from the very first scene. giant barbie on a desert background. barbieland. the dream house. ryan gosling. all of it. it’s a masterpiece. they both cry at the end & they’re caught off guard bc wtf this wasn’t supposed to be about mothers??? what the hell???

they have a forty-five minute break between movies where they recover in the lobby for a while & refill the popcorn, but they’re getting one water bottle to share this time bc bathroom breaks are not an option & oppenheimer has like a three and a half hour fucking runtime. like they’re doing bathroom breaks twenty seconds before the movie starts bc missing part of this film would actually destroy them psychologically

they do it in IMAX, obvi, ⅔ back in the middle of the row. it’s an out of body experience. they don’t speak or move the entire time. they don’t speak or move while the credits play. they leave the theater in silence. they go home and sit on the couch and stare at the wall and remus goes “we……we should have seen barbie last.” and then they both look at each other like 😐👀? and then they’re getting up and rushing back to the theater and seeing barbie again

the next day they’re getting together with all their friends to do barbenheimer day 2 and trying not to spoil it but they’ve already talked to each other about the individual movies too much, like they laid in bed and talked about the fucking movies like idiots for multiple hours, so they need new feedback to talk over & correct everyone’s wrong opinions

and like obviously everyone hates them

[saucy-mesothelioma]

Meso's Mixtapes: Tabitha Scarlet

Jesus it's been a hot minute since I've done one of these.

I got into Scarlet Hollow one or two months ago when I got the game on sale then proceeded to play through it four separate times in one day, so it was only a matter of time before I wanted to contribute to the fanbase. And since it's been a while since I've done a playlist, I figured what better time than now.

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

9 to 5 by Dolly Parton

Gotta Get Up by Harry Nilsson (I think this song fits Tabitha for two reasons: one having to do with where I first heard this song, and the other being the actual lyrics. First: I was introduced to this song from the TV show Russian Doll, which deals with a woman trapped in a time loop of her 36th birthday [It's a good show, I highly suggest it]. This song plays at the beginning of every loop, and thanks to that I associate this song with having to get up for those monotonous days that feel like you're reliving the same day over and over again. Due to Tabitha's job and general demeanor, I highly doubt that she doesn't view her normal routine as being the exact same thing over and over again. Secondly, we have the actual lyrics for this song: "We used to carry on and drink and do the rock and roll | We never thought we'd get old, though | We never thought we'd grow cold, but now". When Tabitha was younger, she was able to prioritize her relationships rather than her work. She was able to hang out with her friends even with her mother constantly over her shoulder for the most part, but when she got older, she was forced to shift her focus to her work. She used to be able to go over to Stella's every day, but now she's got a mine to look after.)

Lucretia My Reflection by Sisters of Mercy

Barton Hollow by The Civil Wars

Alles im Griff (auf dem sinkenden Schiff) by Udo Jürgens (The primary theme of this song is saying that you're fine when everything is falling apart around you; the title basically translates to "Everything Under Control on the Sinking Ship". Despite all of the shit happening to Tabitha, her cousin, and her friends, her attitude always seems to be that of just bottling it up rather than really taking the time to completely process it, or at least that's how I see it. The ship of her life is slowly sinking, but she keeps going on as if things are more or less fine.)

Mrs. Bluebeard by They Might Be Giants

This Town by Jinkx Monsoon

Coal Miner's Daughter by Loretta Lyn (Ok yeah I couldn't help myself. The story of the song is so ironic when you compare it to that of the Scarlet family, but with the title is was too funny not to include in the list.)

Heroes by David Bowie

Dream a Little Dream of Me by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong

Get Out of My House by Kate Bush (Obvious secrets of Scarlet Estate aside, I think this song does a very good job of representing Tabitha's treatment of her relationships [both romantic and platonic]. The singer of this song is desperate to not only keep other's out of her life remove the "stains" of those she has previously let in. She's locked the door to her "house" and the mere suggestion of someone wanting to enter, no matter the reason, is cause for retaliation. One of the first things we really learn about Tabitha is that she's pretty much shut out those who were in her life, somewhat due to Pearlanne but also by her own means, and even with the player character she is still rather reluctant to fully let them in.)

Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now by The Smiths

Pressure by Billy Joel (It feels obvious to me that Tabitha was forced to grow up far quicker than she should have, primarily due to the expectations of her running the Scarlet Mines. She's had to deal with pressure her whole life: from her mother, from her job, and from the Scarlet legacy. She sees people like her cousin and Stella come in "with your faith and your Peter Pan advice", and especially in the case with her cousin she often laments that she is the one who must take on the pressures of the Scarlet name, primarily with the mine but also with the pain that their family has caused [such as with Charlie's payment of years].

Badlands by Bruce Springsteen

Poor Girl by X

Sans toi by Michel Legrand and Corinne Marchand (This is a song from the French new-wave film Cléo from 5 to 7, and it's a film that I personally think Tabitha would like because she can relate to parts of it)

My Silver Lining by First Aid Kit

I've No More Fucks to Give by Thomas Benjamin Wild Esq

Pretty Lavinia by American Murder Song

Kingdom Come by The Civil Wars (Despite feeling that the tone of this song fits her well, I also personally like the contrast it holds to Tabitha's view on her situation. Deep down, she wishes to run away like the subject of the song and have a peaceful, simple life of her own, but she feels unable and incapable of doing so. She can't fly away til kingdom come, because in her mind she has already fallen back into a fate she can't escape from.)

[quincyhorst]

RG: Émile and Ladji post-FFI

Some more ÉmiLadji, now this time from the reserve keeper's POV too, because he also went through his own issues post FFI.

...I found this while browsing my drafts. I have no idea why I hadn't posted it here before, oops-

Here's a post I recommend reading for better context. And this one, too.

Back when the "Ogre" match happened, Émile stood in the bench the whole time, although not by choice. Originally his expectations about the match were positive, like usual, but when in just 15 minutes the rivals were winning by 6 goals... He started to feel very nervous, and it got even worse as the match kept progressing with the score getting worse and worse.

I'm not sure if this match was treated normally with a half-time and such, but I like the idea that around the 18th enemy goal, Émile started to beg the coach to play, completely distressed. He couldn't just stay there and sit! Maybe Ladji had an issue catching those goals, but maybe he could do it instead! The french coach was quick to listen and act, but to both their surprise, Ladji refused to leave the goal himself and begged Émile to stay on his place.

Eventually, the frenchies straight up left the field at the 36th goal, and thus the whole mess that fell over RG happened. Given he was not the one who failed to catch so many goals Émile was -partially- free from being the center of drama, although he couldn't help but feel guilty upon what had happened. For a while, Ladji's stubborn choice to stay in goal puzzled him, and it became the first major obstacle on their relationship. But as Émile searched for an answer, he finally got it by the keepers main words.

"Regardless who played, the match would've ended the same. They were too strong for both of us. Besides, if somebody is going to be ridiculed from now on... I'd prefer it to be me than you."

(Remember, Émile is part of the team Celebrities, at the literal same level as Pierre, Julien, Ronnie... Maybe it was his movie collection or not, but he seems to be carrying a HUGE fame.)

The answer left the reserve conflicted. He was still pissed off for not being able to do anything, but he could at least start to see where Ladji came from. As the FFI came to an end the two managed to at least be on good terms again, which was appreciated. Émile felt so bad on the idea of losing a friendship with such a cool artist like him...

When returning home, Émile saw from the sidelines the huge shitshow the media had turned into due to juvenile soccer. And things didn't got any better when reuniting with his family. They were happy Émile didn't went by much trouble (And hell, his father was willing to help cover anything that could hurt his reputation)... But the sudden dissing of his teammates and the main keeper started to make him uneasy. He tried to do all he could do defend them, but it was futile. Rose Griffon was now a bad-luck name among everyone. Time only made Émile realize even more the reasons behind Ladji's choice back then. Don't get him wrong, his family is WAY nicer than what's pictured here, but such a huge stain would have hitted them in many ways otherwise.

Gradually, things returned to their normal pace for Émile. Though with a little twist, and that he was in constant contact with the former Rose Griffon members; given he had gotten almost all their numbers and some addresses, even. However, even if it had been almost a month away from the FFI, Émile couldn't help but still think about Ladji, wonder what could be of him. So, getting his address thanks to Pierre, he decided to contact him via a letter. Originally it was to check out on him... But right at the last minute, he decided to ask if they could hang out some time. Don't mind him, he just wanted to see the artist in action one last time.

Time kept passing, perhaps even more than Émile would've wanted, yet with no response. Pierre told him he also had been ignored in person, which made things even more upsetting. However, right when he had almost given up, his older sister surprised with the main keeper's letter in the mall. His reply was quite short, but he did accept to hang out together! Hell yeah!!!

And this is where everything I've written before happens, after their first visit the two become close with one and another, even to the point they attend Uni together thanks to Émile's aspiration to become a cinema director. Studies might be quite hard at times, but student life isn't bad, making tons of friends! And yeah, he's still in contact with the other RG members to this day too :')

Every weekend, he and Ladji like to go to Carrousel Cafe as a place to rest, given is nearby the university. Plus, Laurent's work hours occur there, so the three like to spend time and talk for a while. Curiously, it was also here where Émile gained the idea for his final uni project... But here's where I end the post.

[manbehindthemask]

I'd love to hear the explanations behind some of the songs you choose for Jules as well

god you know i love talking about music i could kiss you on the mouth

here's the playlist i have for jules (so far)

I/Me/Myself - Will Wood

“While I whittle my bones until I’m brittle, am I pretty now? / For some reason I find myself lost in what you think of me / And too confused to choose who I should be”

Jules identifies as cis BUT he likes using ‘they’ pronouns every once in a while. He also plays a lot with gender when it comes to clothing and self expression, too. As confident as he appears, his childhood has left him with the desire to be accepted by others. He constantly yearns for approval because his mother never gave it to him.

Goodbye Horses - Q Lazzarus

“And I said, “Oh, no, sir / I must say you’re wrong / I must disagree, oh, no, sir / I must say you’re wrong / Won’t you listen to me?”

Jules tries to keep a positive outlook on life even though his positivity is usually beaten down pretty quickly by others. He’s also incredibly naive about the world and how dark it can be. Even when people argue with him, he believes there’s more to the world than darkness.

Season 2 Episode 3 - Glass Animals

“Leftover breakfast cereal for lunch / She’s broken but she’s fun”

Jules is a fun dude to be around but boy does he have internal emotional issues that have left him scarred. I also feel like this song reflects the sort of chaos that is Jules’ life, both in an impoverished stance and in general.

Savages - MARINA

“Is it running in our blood, is it running in our veins? / Is it running in our genes, is it in our DNA? / Humans aren't gonna behave as we think we always should / Yeah, we can be bad as we can be good”

Again Jules’ naive outlook on life often has him giving people the benefit of the doubt. He believes that at the heart of it all, people are good. Even so, he has seen the bad with his own parents, especially his mother. Deep down, he’s afraid of what people are capable of.

Inked in Red - Vision Video

“So here I go again, I’m crawling on my knees / Through the jagged era of uncertainty”

Reflects the way Jules travels to try and find meaning in life. Each piece he makes, he thinks maybe he’ll figure out what it’s all about and what he’s been put on this earth for, but each time he returns to being uncertain and looking again for that meaning.

Them Changes - Thundercat

“Why in the world would I give my heart to you? / Just to watch you throw it in the trash”

Jules wears his heart on his sleeve but people aren’t always nice to it. His parents were always distant if not abusive, and his ex turned on him the minute he admitted to being gay. When he falls for Jason, he’s terrified it’ll all happen again, but he trusts his gut.

KEEP YOUR HEAD UP!! - MilkCan

“It was the 36th time that he'd broke my heart / It was the 80th time that I'd fallen apart / I knew from the start it was gonna be rough / But not as painful as this”

Jules never really learned a healthy way to handle his emotions when they’re not positive. He also is the kinda person to wear his heart on his sleeve, so it definitely gets broken often.

Dummy - The Regrettes

“I know you can't figure me out / Don't you wish you knew what I was talkin' about? / You got my tear stains on your shirt / I'm the worst, what a curse / But you don't have a doubt”

Jules is so, so emotional. Sometimes he can’t handle his own emotions and it is what causes people to push him away. He just wants people to like him but that's so hard to manage when you're just... emotional and vulnerable.

Lowlife - That Poppy

“Old suitcase, clean getaway / I'm the one who takes the blame again / New day but the same lines / I feel like a victim of the dollar sign”

It’s no secret Jules’ upbringing was not great, but once he was old enough to leave his home, he felt so free. He still has to deal with the weight of the world when it comes to having money to just survive from day to day, but it’s still far better than being home with his parents.

that's probably more than enough but you know me, i love an excuse to share some music <3

[the-purple-elf]

What does she regret the most in life?

CW: abortion

Do not read if you are sensitive to the content mentioned above.

Xalendyra sank deeper into her hood, casting a furtive glance around the street before dipping into an alleyway. She counted the number of dark gray stones in the wall, just like the housemaid had directed her, until she came to a grating that she paused above. She stomped her foot twice. It was less than a minute when a monotone voice spoke in a whisper: “What’s the color of the sky today?” 

“There is no sky but the constant ward,” she replied as instructed. With a slight purple glow, the grate lifted and levitated to the side. 

“Enter.”

Dyra levitated down into the hole, disappearing into the darkness below. The grating replaced itself with barely a scraping noise against the street.

She felt secure enough to remove her hood and blink in the darkness. 

“Continue.” 

She placed one foot in front of the other, her heart beating faster at the thought of stepping into a trap or plunging into a hole. She put her hand out and used the wall as a guide as she continued until she turned a corner and finally saw the beginnings of magical orb lights ensconced in the walls at intervals. Her shuffling steps brought her to a chamber with a portal, but there were no inhabitants within. A sign instructed her to place her hand upon a pedestal, and she did, pressing her palm flat against the cold stone. Nothing in particular happened, so she raised her hand up and pressed it flat again. And again.

“You don’t have to ring it so many damn times,” came a voice at the same time as the portal flashed a brilliant purple. A tall, matronly-looking figure appeared with jet black hair. She had dark purple skin, and luminous eyes that settled judgmentally on Dyra. “How can I help you?” As her eyes raked Dyra’s form, Dyra let the cloak part to reveal her gently protuberant belly.

“Oh. I see,” The matron, said, clucking her tongue and approaching. Her silken robes rustled as she folded her hands together in front of her. “Is this what you truly desire, my dear?”

Dyra swallowed hard and nodded. Part of her wanted to turn away and run back down the dark hallway, but a nagging voice in her told her to stay and get this over with.

“Aren’t you going to ask for my reason?” She asked quietly, feeling shame turn her cheeks hot. She wanted to put her hands on them to cool them down because her hands felt like ice.

“The simple fact that you do not desire to carry this child is reason enough. It is your choice.” The matron answered lightly, moving so smoothly to the nearby bookshelf that Dyra swore she was levitating. She let her fingers brush along the spines before she pulled one out of the neat row and brought it over to Dyra, pressing it into her hands.

“Take this. Open it when you are ready and read the 36th line on the 107th page. It is enchanted to do what must be done. Find a place to be alone for the next few days. It will not be painless.” 

She then turned and walked to a desk, selecting a healing potion and returning with it. She also pressed this into Dyra’s hands.

Dyra clutched the book to her chest and slipped the potion into her pocket. She began to reach for her coinpurse, but the woman’s warm hand on her arm stopped her. 

“No payment is necessary,” she said in a chiding tone. “Put your coin away. I do what I do for the good of Suramar City. Though births are rare, I believe they should be wanted.” She looked at Dyra with some sympathy and tenderness, then it was quickly gone, replaced by her stoic expression. “If you have complications, seek a healer. You may leave through the portal.” And then she turned and swept back through the portal in a flash of light.

Dyra looked down and wept. Wept from the guilt and the shame of what she was doing, even though she knew it was in her best interests. She would never bear her husband’s child.

(Thanks anon! I know it's heavy, but I had the idea the other day when someone mentioned children and I realized that Dyra had been married for so long to her monstrous ex-husband there were bound to be oopsies and this would explain why she has no children today.)

[asamandra]

Whumptober 2022 - Day 8

Everything hurts and I’m dying  - Back from the dead

“No,” he breathed. “No, no, no, no, no. Don’t do that to me!” 

He slithered over the floor and landed on his knees, ignoring the pain running through his legs. 

“No, babe, please… please, wake up,” he breathed and reached out. 

Nile’s skin was cold and blood ran out of her mouth and nose.and she hadn’t moved for more than ten minutes now. 

“Babe, please,” he said again and for the first time in his almost five hundred years he could understand Joe and Nicky. 

“Nile,” he said. “Nile, please!” 

It was the first mission with his team in the last five years and he’d been happy to see them. But when Nicky had said that they needed their help, he and Nile had left their exile and came back to the team. 

“We have to help them,” Nile had said. “Children are disappearing and their organs are harvested to be sold to rich people.” 

Booker had swallowed hard because disappeared children were the reason why Joe and Nicky had refused to talk to him for more than hundred years. 

“Sure,” he had said and nodded and then they had taken a shuttle to New Amsterdam, 36th habitat, Mars. 

The mission wasn’t too complicated, they could rescue the children and arrest the kidnappers. But one of them hid in a closet and while Joe, Nicky, Andy, Quynh and Lorelay accompanied them to a glider he and Nile wanted to collect the evidence. 

Booker had just hacked into their computer when Nile had warned him and slammed into him to push him out of the way but now she was hit. 

“Babe,” Booker whispered after killing the man who had killed her. “Please, please wake up. Please, don’t leave me alone!” He pleaded. 

Countless times he had seen Joe or Nicky in distress when one of them had died. He had never understood it. Until now. Until this very moment where he sat beside Nile, looked at her dead body and hoped that she would wake up, that she would move a finger and breathe. 

And then she jerked, gasped and came back to life. 

“Nile!” Booker breathed relieved, tears ran over his face. He doubled over, his forehead on the ground and thanked God multiple times. 

“Book?” she asked, clearly confused. “What happened?” 

“You… you’re alive,” he said and sat up on his knees. “You’re alive!”

“Of  course I’m alive,” she said. “I’m immortal, remember?” 

“I… I thought… I thought…” he sobbed and Nile sat up and wrapped her arms around him. 

“I’m alive, Booker,” she said and kissed his cheek. “I’m alive.” 

[borisbubbles]

Eurovision 2022 Ranking:

While I’m working on the final chapter for my 2021 ranking, I will announce the obvious: I am of course NOT going to do a full 2022 pre-show ranking lol. There’s no time, and besides, I would be forced to rank 2022 twice, back-to-back and there’s no fun in that!  So instead, I will do it here, JUST to have a pre-show order of sorts. Can you guess which songs I’m refering to by merely reading these acid-laced descriptions?

Also um, spoiler: I don’t like this year much. 

In 40th place, the fuckin’ Todrick Hall song In 39th place, oh great another overdramatic theatre gay. In 38th place, “Boys With Emotions”, the Salvaduncan remix. In 37th place, “I am gnome”  In 36th place, Rock ‘n’ Roll Gays In 35th place, vegan Pollapönk In 34th place, hola mi bébébé In 33rd place, some kid attempting a 90s Not joke. In 32nd place, ASTOUNDINGLY, we finally find Bulgaria. In 31st place, the worst lyrics of the year (”The battle of the life is bigger than you know // to act so selfishly is unforgiveable // the air is what they need, the air is what they breathe // THEY DIE WITHOUT IT!!! IT’S UNFORGIVEABLE!!!” is there a bdex for text?) In 30th place, a handsome ghoul. in 28th and 29th place, two songs that have a dead first minute: One of them transitions into a midtempo pop ballad while the other becomes an uptempo poprock song, you get no points for guessing which one I prefer.  In 27th place, right above Denmark, the song whose country I WOULD have guessed as Denmark if I hadn’t known any better. (also this song DOES sound like Elhaida Dani, what’s up with that?) In 26th place, staggered dithering to a Yohio track. In 25th place, a camp pastiche of Green Day.   In 24th place, drunk uncles at a peasant wedding. In 23rd place, one of the biggest EDM disasters WAITING to happen. I am of course refering to We Are Domi, d’uh.. In 22nd place, spoken word (with an insipid song built around it I guess) In 21st place, some likeable Hellene filler In 20th place, You don’t wanna test mah limits...x In 19th place, “Willow” by Taylor Swift. In 18th place, the biggest bullshitters in the universe, if only they could bs themselves into actually going viral...x In 17th place, a lowish ranking for Kalush because I don’t condone bad sportsmanship. (#VidbirWasn’tRiggedGiveItARest #LeaveEnvelopeLadyALOOOONE) In 16th place, again, SHOCKINGLY, we somehow find Malta’s slice of generic Swedish scammer schlock? It could have been even higher if Hamilton Travel had paid me more for the sponsorship. In 15th place, a good Aviicii tribute, how nice that Estonia get to pretend they’re Swedish for another year. In 14th place, a deepfake In 13th place, ALSO a deepfake?! but this one is accompanied by a Gabri Ponte protégé, so a bonus point for that. In 12th place, the most popular entry amongst Spanish border guards In 11th place, QUEEN Ronela only because the new drop bangs less than the original! In 10th place, a charming bunch of kids living the adventure of a life time. In 9th place, booty hypnotic, make it want mo mo mo mo In 8th place, @Itsamemaro  in 7th place, adlib queen <3 In 6th place, the worst kept secret in the universe <3 In 5th place, country aunties / haim hags / incoming shock qualifier queens In 4th place, the winner of Eurovision 2022 In 3rd place, 🦉�� In 2nd place, Competent Tanxugueiras + the man who moistened all of Europe through sheer eyecontact. In 1st place, Konstrakta because sanitation of both the body and mind are of paramount importance! Here’s a fun graphic giving you some visual perspective: 

WILL THIS HOLD AFTER ESC 2022?! Probably not (I’m already looking for excuses to rank Brividi dead last <3) but this is what it looks like going into rehearsals!.  (ESC2021′s top five will be up in a few days)

[ghostiewriter]

chapter one | tale of a slightly unstable teen hero

Summary: JJ is starting to gain recognition around New York as the new hero in town. However, some complications arise with his new chemistry partner. Oh, and turns out he isn’t the only bloke around here with powers.

Warnings: John B is a simp, I feel like that needs a warning tbh. Umm there’s a lot of swearing (I’m Scottish, don’t judge), again some violence and fighting, also some cute ass moments between JJ and his mum so enjoy that

Word Count: 8.1K

A/N: Sooo there’s finally some Jiara in this chapter!! Hope you enjoy👀and I’m not responsible for any feels caused by JJ and Georgia Maybank!!

masterlist // taglist // ao3

“Spider-Man does it again! Report of our favourite web-slinging hero saving the day once again after a fatal accident left an apartment complex on the corner of 5th and 36th street in flames. The teen hero arrived at the scene not long after the distress call was made to the local fire department and managed to rescue over twelve people that were trapped on the top floor. New York thanks Spider-Man once again.”

JJ grinned as he leaned back in his seat, sparing a smug look towards John B in the driver’s seat. JJ didn’t usually carpool with John B but it was getting colder and his extra-curricular activities were wearing him exhausted by morning. Plus, the last time JJ skated to school when he was half asleep, Pope had to pull him out of a trash can. Turns out raccoons can be very territorial and did not appreciate the blond taking a small visit into their home. He was pretty sure he still had scars on his back from some of those little bastards.

“Three weeks on the job and you already have a little fanbase,” John B commented, reaching over to turn the radio down a little since the reporter moved onto some irrelevant news neither of the boys cared about. “Soon you’ll have a swarm of fangirls chasing after you while you fight crime.”

“Don’t be jealous, JB,” JJ grinned, both arms behind his head as he looked at the passing view. “I’m sure one of my groupies will slum it down for you.” He teased, only laughing when he felt the flick on his forehead.

As much as he hated to admit it, JJ had seriously enjoyed the past three weeks. They were intense, impulsive and unpredictable. Just how JJ liked his life to be. It wasn’t easy at first though, it took a good few attempts before the people of New York actually labelled him as a hero. Maybe it was because he was some young bloke who popped out of nowhere with abilities that no could really understand. Or maybe it was because he was going around in a red ski mask, blue shirt, a red vest with an awfully drawn spider on it and some blue joggers. He looked like a right on idiot, especially with the chunky goggles Pope added to his costume. But if it kept his identity secret, then so be it. The last thing JJ wanted was a bunch of journalists swarming his apartment, especially since he wanted to keep this whole alter ego away from his parents. In fact, he wanted to keep it away from anyone who wasn’t John B or Pope.

It was safer that way.

“At least that’s one more that Pope.” John B said nonchalantly.

“As if, dude!” JJ scoffed, grinning at the distressed—and fairly high pitched—‘WHAT’ that came from the brunette. “Oh, c’mon, Pope created a whole ass bat signal for me! You just sit there and look pretty! Pope gets at least two groupies.” He said with a shrug.

It was true. JJ knew Pope was smart, but this was next level. After realising that JJ wasn’t getting the recognition he needed to be labelled a ‘superhero’, Pope had come up with the ingenuous idea to infiltrate the police radio stations. Not only did they have full access to updates on crimes around the city, but Pope even felt a little fancy and made it so JJ would get a notification sent to his phone the second there was a job for Spider-Man. That boy was way too smart for his own good, but JJ was grateful for it.

“Aw, you think I’m pretty?” John B asked with a teasing grin.

“Yeah,” JJ smiled, reaching to place his hand on John B’s shoulder with a squeeze. “Pretty fucking ugly.”

John B’s smile instantly dropped as he scowled at JJ, who was happily snickering at the sudden change in mood. “Whatever, Spider-boy.”

“Yikes, low blow.”

The rest of the journey was spent in a similar vibe, except with JJ checking his phone every five minutes. He couldn’t help it, but the past three weeks had been some of the most exciting in his life. JJ had been labelled the troublemaker his whole life, the one that was throwing pencils into Mrs Ramirez’s curls because they looked like little hoops. Or even just doing his damn best to avoid the work he was given. It was a force of habit. JJ’s brain was running at a million miles a second. Nothing could hold him down, keep him entertained for longer than thirty minutes at most. And his teachers had constantly reminded him that his impulsive nature and high energy would lead him nowhere good in life.

All JJ had to say to them now was a massive ‘FUCK YOU!’ because how wrong they were. It was those qualities that made JJ the perfect hero. He could react quick to a sudden change, he was always on his feet, he had found something that not only could he channel all his energy into—but he was damn good at it as well. John B and Pope had warned him that it was best to keep himself humble, to not get too arrogant. But who was he kidding? JJ made a pretty fucking bomb superhero and everyone loved him. It seemed like he deserved to feel arrogant, to soak in his time in the spotlight. He enjoyed every single second.

So, can you really blame JJ for checking his phone, wanting an excuse to put that mask on and do the one thing he is good at? Except for skateboarding. Everyone knew JJ was the best skater in Queens.

Unfortunately, there was no sudden crimes that JJ could use as excuse to ditch school. A true tragedy, if you asked him. It seems like he will just have to suffer through another day of learning things that either happened way too long ago, didn’t make sense to him or he just truly didn’t care about. Which just happened to be basically every subject—excluding wood-shop. Except he was taken out of the class because apparently making mini bongs for birds is not okay. Who would’ve thought.

“I don’t see what the issue is—it’s a fool-proof plan!” John B argued as the two boys made their way through the corridors of Midtown High. Only stopping once they reached John B’s locker where he exchanged his books and JJ checked out the hallway for anything that caught his eye.

“Bro, you have a ten-year plan to end up with Sarah Cameron,” JJ stated bluntly. “And even then, you end up as her second husband—“

“No one can prove what happened to the first.”

“It’s fucking sad, JB.”

“It’s a solid plan.” John B stated simply and shrugged his shoulders, deciding to ignore JJ as he rolled his eyes, muttering something about John B being a ‘hopeless fool’. John B only grinned wider and glanced at his watch before whispering a small ‘shit’ to himself. “I gotta go, see you at lunch.” And with that, John B was zooming his way down the corridor.

“You know it’s really creepy that you plan when you bump into her!” JJ called down the corridor, but he doubted John B heard him. “Like really fucking creepy…like restraining order level creepy!

Once he noticed John B’s head turn the corner, undoubtedly on his way to ‘coincidentally’ bump into Sarah Cameron, JJ calmly made his way to his first period class, not in a big rush to get there.

**********

You see, after the incident in wood shop and many others after that, the school had taken the decision to move JJ into a class they deemed more valuable of his time. Chemistry. Stick the ADHD kid in a room full of chemicals…seemed about right. However, JJ was being transferred half way through the term with absolutely no knowledge in chemistry other than how to make a Molotov cocktail. Therefore, he didn’t really see an issue in showing up to a class he was already hopeless in. His teacher disagreed.

“Mr Maybank, it’s nice of you to finally join us.” Mr Marino—a middle-aged bald man who had looked as though he had been through one too many divorces and contained most of his knowledge in the form of his beer belly—commented as JJ entered the class.

“Oh, you wouldn’t believe what happened to me!” JJ sighed dramatically.

“Let me guess: your alarm didn’t go off.”

“It was my pet monkey, sir. Has a mind of its own.”

“Your pet monkey?”

“Yup, his name is JB. Nasty wee guy but I keep him around, he’s a good laugh. Could do with a shower though.”

“Take a seat, Maybank.”

“I can feel the love.” JJ grinned before he turned to look at the class. It was set up with eight workbenches, two seats at each. His eyes scanned over each one before he caught an empty seat at the back-left workbench, the only empty seat—and just his luck it was next to the curly haired beauty for the trip.

JJ was starting to think he might actually enjoy this class.

“We just keep meeting, sweetheart. I think it’s a sign.” JJ whispered to her as he took his seat next to her, definitely sitting a little closer than he had to. He tried not to smirk when he noticed her subtly moving away from him. JJ always loved a challenge.

“Or a punishment.” She replied bluntly, not even sparing JJ a glance.

“Aw, is this how it’s going to be for the rest of the year, princess?” JJ muttered with a pout. He tried not to smile when she finally turned to look at him.

“Rafe got a concussion.” She hissed.

“So?” JJ frowned.

“So? You caused it!”

“And I should care because?”

“He is banned from the football team for six weeks!”

JJ stared at her blankly. “And…?”

“He is the captain!”

“Boohoo, they’ll survive without him.” JJ shrugged, leaning back in his stool as he flashed her one of his usual girl-charming smiles. “But hey, if you’re really stressed out about it, I’m sure I can help you find a way to relax.”

“You’re a pig.” She stated with a small huff, stubbornly turning to face the front, planning to not even give him the chance to redeem himself. Trust me when I say Kiara is an open person, always there to give people a second chance. But JJ Maybank was not one of those people. In the three times she had met him, he had been nothing but a shameless flirt who had no care for the world beyond his sex life. She could be judging him too quickly, but in her defence, he hadn’t given her anything else to work with.

However, Kiara assumed her behaviour was clear enough that she didn’t want to talk to him, that she could gladly go the rest of the year without willingly speaking to him. But this is JJ. Hyperactive, unable to sit still JJ. He didn’t get the hint.

“So, do anything interesting this weekend?” JJ asked her, that classic smirk of his on his lips. But she didn’t answer him. Instead, she kept her gaze on Mr Marino and his oh-so interesting talk on bond orbitals within an atom.

JJ raised his eyebrows when he received no reply from her. “Giving me the silent treatment now? That’s a bit rude.” He commented.

“So is giving someone a concussion.” She stated.

“Do you want to know what I did?” JJ asked.

“No.”

“Geez, princess, no one ever taught you manners?” He teased, taking the pen he was spinning between his fingers to gently poke her arm. She only huffed and moved her seat further away.

“Okay, alright, fine! I get it…” JJ trailed off, and Kiara couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief. But she spoke to soon. She heard the scrape of a chair and suddenly she could feel the warmth of JJ right beside her, their elbows just touching.

“Is there an issue, Mr Maybank?” She heard Mr Marino call out but the boy next to her just shook his head, that mischievous glint shining in his eyes.

“No, please carry on, Alan.” The blond replied, his fingers tapping against the worktop counter.

Kiara sighed. She knew very well that she could put her hand up and complain, or even ask Mr Marino to change seats after class ended. But she was stubborn, and she would be damned if she gave JJ that satisfaction of knowing that he got under her skin.

This was going to be a long year.

**********

“She called me JB! That basically takes three years off my plan!”

“Dude, I don’t know if this is really sad or creepy now…” JJ grimaced. He had spent the last fifteen minutes listening to John B and his ‘coincidental’ encounter with Sarah Cameron. And if he was being honest, he was concerned for his friend. And his stomach…this boy needed to let JJ eat his lunch before he had to hear one more comment about how ‘yellow is totally her colour’.

“I mean, it just compliments her complexion so well! C’mon, how many people do you know that can pull of yellow and not looked totally washed out!” John B argued. But JJ just met him with a blank stare.

“When the fuck did you become a fashion expert?” JJ spoke up, his nose scrunched in confusion.

“I took a class once.”

JJ looked at him with his mouth agape. “Who the fuck are you?”

“Piss off, I wanted to learn how to dress better.”

“Says the guy that wears horrible thrifted Hawaiian shirts.” JJ deadpanned. John B only rolled his eyes and turned his attention back onto Sarah.

JJ followed his line of sight towards Sarah Cameron and her group, and he was shocked at the sight. He noticed the usual people in their uptown outfits and obnoxious laughs he could unfortunately hear from his seat. But it was the sight of his chemistry partner looking quite cosy under Rafe’s arm that caught him off-guard. His eyebrows furrowed a little, but hey, JJ should have seen this coming. The uptown kids like to stick with each other. Yet, JJ couldn’t help but find the sight quite uncomfortable to look at—Rafe had that effect on people. It was a surprise he managed to score…JJ paused. He had spent a whole hour with her and yet, he didn’t even know her name.

He nudged John B, yet neither one of them looked away from the group. “Hey JB, who’s Sarah’s new chick?”

“Who?”

“The pretty curly haired one standing next to her, dumbass.”

“Oh…I don’t actually know—“

“—Kiara Carrera. Relocated here from Kernersville, North Carolina. Her father owns a large chain of restaurants around the country. She is also the only junior other than yours truly doing three AP classes, including environmental science, biology and English.” Pope finished, panting a little considering he had literally just ran into the cafeteria and heard the last few words of their conversation.

JJ looked up at Pope with a mix of awe and fear. “What, you forgot her national insurance number as well? How the fuck do you know all that?”

“The school files.” Pope answered easily as he turned his laptop around and with the screen facing them, JJ decided he was definitely a little scared of Pope.

“Those are meant to be locked away in some super, secret network thing!” JJ hissed, only to be met with a smirking Pope.

“As if, it’s easy as fuck to hack something as amateur as the school’s firewall. Could do it with my eyes closed.” He grinned at the two of them. “Why, JJ? Hiding something from us like…I don’t know…your middle name being Belinda.” He snickered.

“YOUR NAME IS BELINDA?!” John B gasped, looking at JJ with wide eyes.

“Shut up, would you!” JJ hissed at the both of them, leaning over the table to flick John B on the forehead. “I was named after my grandmother.”

“Aww, Grammie Belinda.” John B cooed. JJ only glared at him.

“Hey, Grammie Belinda was a saint, don’t disrespect her like that.” JJ huffed, pointing a finger towards John B. He then turned to Pope who had made himself comfortable in the seat next to him.

“Why were you asking about Kiara?” Pope asked JJ, snatching a few chips from his plate. JJ swatted his hand away but didn’t stop Pope from doing it again. “Does JJ have a little crush?” He teased, pouting a little.

“Piss off,” JJ laughed as he nudged Pope with his shoulder. “She’s just my chemistry partner.”

“Ooh, so you guys have chemistry together?” John B grinned, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Fuck off, JB. Go back to stalking your little uptown princess.” JJ commented, returning the grin as both friends shook their head. They both knew the other meant no harm.

“Well, if you two little lovebirds are done having your moment,” Pope piped up, both boys looking over at him. “I need you to meet me on your rooftop at nine sharp tonight.”

“Damn, Pope, finally taking me out?”

“You wish, Spider-Boy,” He grinned, but the look he was giving made JJ a little nervous for what Pope had hidden up his sleeve. It could honestly range from a pet raccoon he befriended to creating some weird Frankenstein bug. “Just be there.”

John B pouted. “What about me?! Is this where I become the third-wheel?”

**********

“Mama?”

“In here!”

JJ dropped his bag by the couch as he made his way to the kitchen, the soft sound of the click telling him the door shut behind him. He sniffed the air as he walked in, seeing his mum at the stove and grinned a little, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

“What’s for dinner?” He asked, peeking over her shoulder.

“Spaghetti,” She hummed, a soft smile on her lips as she peeked a glance at her son. “How was school?”

“The usual,” He answered with a shrug as he made his way to the fridge, grabbing a bottle of water before heading towards his usual spot on the counter. “Teachers still don’t appreciate my comments, Pope said smart things I didn’t understand and JB was a love-sick puppy.”

She grinned, shaking her head a little. “I find John B’s attempts to woo that girl quite admirable actually,” She commented. “It wouldn’t kill you to be a hopeless romantic every once in a while.” Yet, she only laughed when she saw JJ’s face scrunch up in disgust.

Despite JJ’s reputation for being an adrenaline junkie who loves to live life on the edge, these were actually his favourite moments. The little moments he shared with his mum, just the two of them. It is one of the few moments in his life where he feels relaxed, no expectations or pressures. And as sappy as it sounded—and no offence to John B and Pope—but JJ wasn’t ashamed to admit that she was one of his best friends, one of the few people in his life he truly cared about. People like her are the reason he enjoys being Spider-Man, because despite the shit people in the world, there were some genuinely good people out there, like Georgia Maybank.

It was hard to believe JJ and Georgia Maybank were related. She was a sweetheart, the type of woman who would take time out of her own life to volunteer at local food shelters despite having just done a twelve-hour shift at the hospital. She is the type of woman to buy flowers and hand them to strangers on the street just to brighten someone’s day. She is the type of woman who would work her ass off to give her son all that she could, despite the struggles she faced with the bills and rent because her son was her life. She was the opposite of JJ’s hyperactive self.

But boy, did they look very similar. From the sandy blonde hair the two of them shared, to the bright blue eyes, to even the exact same smile. JJ really was a carbon copy of his mother. And there was a small part of her, one she would never outwardly admit, that adored the fact JJ looked so much like her. Like a primal mother instinct, she loved her son and she loved that everyone knew he was her son. She would be damned if someone ever asked her to hide that.

Georgia was the type of mother that had that warm aura around her, the one that made you just trust her with your life. The hugs she gives just makes you want to stay in her arms forever, because everything is just better with Georgia Maybank. JJ knew that and he always reminded himself of that. No matter what shit he gets into, no matter how much he may envy the uptown kids—none of them will ever have Georgia Maybank and he would gladly flaunt that.

He may not have designer clothes or a fancy car to drive to school. But they don’t have Georgia Maybank, dancing around barefoot in the kitchen while she badly sings along to some old 80s song that is playing on the radio, just to make him crack a smile.

JJ grinned as his mother grabbed his hand, pulling off the counter before they jokingly began to waltz around the small kitchen, some classical song playing from the small radio that sat on the counter by the stove. JJ only laughed as he apologized for stepping on her toes again, but she didn’t mind. She just smiled and continued to dance.

“Why do I have to do this? I’m starving, woman!” He whined playfully as he twirled his mum around a few times.

“Because, JJ, one day you’re going to have a beautiful girl—or boy, I won’t assume—that will somehow fall for that charm of yours,” She spoke softly, placing a hand on her son’s cheek, a proud glint in her eyes when he rolled his eyes at her statement but still had a small smile on his face. “And I will be damned if I don’t teach my son how to sweep a girl off her feet.”

“Nothing says romantic like stepping on a girl’s toes.” He stated bluntly.

Georgia only laughed and ruffled his hair before she turned back to the stove. She grabbed two plates, putting in a larger portion for JJ—which with his new transformation wouldn’t actually be enough but he will sneak out during the night to eat the leftovers when she’s asleep—before placing them on the small dining table in the corner, gesturing for him to join her.

The rest of the dinner was fairly uneventful, simply just JJ telling her about John B’s updated seven-year plan with Sarah Cameron and Georgia sharing any particularly interesting stories about patients she had to deal with during her shift. JJ really let this dinner sink in. As much as he loved his mother, her inability to say ‘no’ and be so giving kind of bothered him. Because she had taken up extra shifts for a few of her colleagues due to something about the ‘stress of wedding planning’. JJ had been seeing her less and less—and though it was good for his recent Spider-Man shenanigans—this dinner made him realise just how much he missed her. Just a nice, wee dinner with his mum, nothing else. And everything seemed to be going well, until he heard the radio presenter’s voice flowing through the kitchen.

“Locals say that Spider-Man is the next best thing to happen to New York since deep-fried pizza! But I don’t know, Janet. I mean, who is this kid? Where did he come from? There just seems to be a lot of unanswered questions with this so-called hero. Can we really trust some prepubescent boy who probably spends his day with his head in a textbook? It just doesn’t seem—“

The radio presenter was cut off by Georgia turning the volume down. “People can’t appreciate a good gesture anymore.” She huffed. JJ watched her closely as she finished off washing the last of the dishes before turning to face him, a small frown on her lips.

“I think he’s doing the city a favour.” JJ said half-heartedly with a shrug.

Georgia nodded, her fingers gently fiddling with chain around her neck, well more specifically the gold ring attached to it. “I know but,” She sighed. “What a shame, putting all this pressure on a poor teenage boy. Oh, I feel bad for his parents!”

JJ coughed a little. “It could be his decision, you know.”

Georgia continued as though she hadn’t heard him. “I could only imagine how stressful it would be have your son out there, throwing himself at danger.” She shook her head as she made her way to where JJ still sat at the dining table. “Promise me you wouldn’t do something so careless?” She asked sweetly, gently cupping his face in her hands as she looked down at him.

Now, JJ knew there was a teasing tone to her words. She wasn’t being serious because, how could she? Her son being a superhero with crazy powers? Not possible. She and JJ shared everything and it was because of that he couldn’t help but feel a wave of guilt wash over him. He hated lying to his mum, he hated keeping secrets from her. They were always close, JJ never felt the need to hide things from her. There was always such a comfortable vibe between them. But he knew how she would react if he told her the truth. He knew she would freak out and make him stop. And JJ didn’t want to stop. As much as he hated the guilt that bubbled inside him, he pushed it away and gave her a grin.

“Of course not, I would come up with a better name than Spider-Man.” He joked lightly and closed his eyes when he felt his mum press a kiss to his forehead. He nuzzled his head slightly as he wrapped his arms around her, resting his head against her stomach. He smiled softly when he felt her hands running through his hair, just like the way she used to do when he was younger and struggling to fall asleep. He tried to hold back a yawn.

“That’s my baby boy.” She said with a gentle laugh.

“Mama, I’m a not a baby! I’m a man now.” He whined but he didn’t pull away from her grip just yet. He missed his mum’s hugs, sue him.

“You’ll always be my baby boy.” She commented with a small shrug.

“Yeah, yeah,” He murmured. After a few moments of silence, he looked up at her, giving the best puppy-dog eyes he could. She was always a sucker for those. “Can I go hang out with JB and Pope tonight?” He asked with a sweet smile.

She rolled her eyes but nodded. “Just be back before your father gets home.”

**********

JJ rubbed his hands together as he stared at the view from the roof. New York looked absolutely stunning this time of year, especially at night. The sky was pitch black, and it should’ve seemed daunting. But the bright lights of the city illuminated everything. It was mesmerising, a sight that JJ would never get tired of seeing. And with his newly discovered powers, he found something therapeutic about swinging around the city and being surrounded those bright lights. It felt like he was swinging through the stars—he obviously didn’t share that with the boys, they would take the piss out of him. Speaking of which…

“Where the fuck is he?” JJ hissed, turning to look at John B who only shrugged in response. As much as JJ liked New York at night, it was cold. The lower body temperature caused by the spider bite really didn’t help the situation. He had a hoodie and a jacket on and still the light breeze was making his teeth chatter.

“I don’t know.” John B shrugged. JJ rolled his eyes in annoyance. It was 9:15pm and JJ was about five minutes away from freezing to death.

Just then, the rooftop door opened and a wild Pope was sprinting towards then, panting heavily as he ripped his backpack off and quickly unzipped it. Words were leaving his lips but between the panting, neither of them could work out what he was saying.

“Dude, calm down, breathe!” John B exclaimed. Pope nodded and took a minute to catch himself.

“Your lives are gonna change forever!” He grinned before looking at JJ. “Strip.”

JJ raised his eyebrows. “What?”

“Strip.”

“Dude, it’s like fifty fucking degrees, I am not gonna fucking strip!”

“Stop whining and do it!”

JJ huffed and started to take his clothes off, muttering some very…colourful phrases towards Pope. However, he didn’t get much time to question his friend’s demands because the second he was stripped down to his boxers, he had a bunch of fabric thrown at him.

“Wait…is this…?” He trailed off, looking at Pope with a new look of excitement shining in his eyes.

“You bet,” Pope grinned. “Say hello to your brand-new suit, Spider-Man.”

JJ excitedly began to pull the suit on, suddenly forgetting all about his theatrics with the cold. But Pope wasn’t done with his surprise.

“The suit is a total upgrade!” He began, his hands moving wildly as he spoke. “The fabric is strong but flexible. I have added small web-shooters to go over your spinneret glands so you can have a more direct shots. There are a few extra things I’ve added like a small heater to keep you warm and a few sensors, so we can keep track of your vitals. Oh, and for us—” He paused before handing John B a silver bracelet.

John B looked at the bracelet in confusion. “Uh, thanks?”

Pope only grinned and showed John B that he was wearing a similar bracelet. He slipped it off before unclipping a small oval shaped device from the middle of the bracelet. “This is the coolest part,” He nodded for John B to copy his movements. “To be honest, these took the longest. I had JJ’s suit done like two weeks ago but—”

“And you made me wait this long? Dude, I looked like a weirdo running around in joggers!” JJ groaned, but there was no real hostility in his voice.

“Just put on your mask, dude!”

JJ rolled his eyes but didn’t answer as he slipped the mask over his face. He was a bit surprised at how easily he could see through it, way better than the goggles he had before. The suit was a perfect fit—props to Pope after it took an hour to get all of JJ’s measurements. The material was tight and breathable, practically clinging onto JJ like a second skin. Oddly enough, he felt far more comfortable in it than his last costume. Pope clearly liked the colour scheme, having kept the red and blue palette but with a massive spider on his chest, with lines wrapping around him to look like a web. He looked totally badass, he felt badass. He felt like a proper hero from one of those comic books and posters Pope has around his room.

“So, how do I look?” JJ asked, flexing as he gave the boys a little spin. Pope only grinned, proud of his creation. John B gasped, clearly just as hyped as JJ was.

“Dude, your ass looks great.” John B commented, causing JJ to snort.

“When does it not look great?”

“Guys! The last surprise!” Pope piped up, causing both boys to stop staring at JJ’s ass and instead turn to him.

“These little guys,” He said, nodding between the small oval devices in his and John B’s hands. “Are gonna help us keep in contact with you while you’re swinging around. Little ear pieces so we can help you out and keep tabs on you if you need any help.”

“Where’s my bracelet?” JJ frowned beneath the mask.

“You don’t need one, dumbass. Your ear piece is connected into your mask!” Pope grinned proudly. JJ let out a scoff, shaking his head.

“Pope, you fucking genius!” He yelled, and he pulled his friend into a tight hug. John B, feeling a little left out, quickly joined the hug.

“This is so cool, dude, now we are like an actual team!” John B grinned.

Pope was the first to pull back, looking at JJ with a wild look in his eyes. “I think it’s time for Spider-Man to show the city his new look.”

JJ grinned under the mask, already beginning to take a few steps back. “I think you’re right.” And without a second thought, he left himself fall off the edge of the building.

On that October night, New York watched their own hero swing through the streets, letting the cheers and whoops of the strangers sink in. They watched their hero in a new light, a more professional one. The next day, he was no longer that kid running around like some wannabe. He was Spider-Man, the new saviour of New York and a beloved hero.

It was wild what a good new suit could do for your reputation.

**********

“Did you see the pictures The Daily Bugle released?”

“He looked so hot!”

“I’d let him save me any day!”

“You don’t even know what he looks like…”

“So? Have you seen those arms? Nothing else matters!”

JJ couldn’t help but let the smirk on his face grow as he walked through the corridors of the school. It was the day after his new suit reveal and he wasn’t going to lie, he was soaking in all the attention. He was particularly enjoying the twitter thread that was made about his ass. John B didn’t lie, his ass did look good in this new suit.

He continued his way through the sea of students before he made it to his chemistry class, not surprised that people were still talking about Spider-Man. His eyes instantly glanced over at Kiara, who was sitting at their workbench scrolling through her phone.

He grinned as he quickly past the other students and sat quite comfortably in his seat. His eyebrows raised slightly when she didn’t react at first to his appearance. His curiosity got the best of him as he leaned towards her, peeking over her shoulder to see what she was looking at. Now, JJ won’t lie to you, but when he saw her staring at pictures of Spider-Man, his ego definitely inflated a little. Okay, maybe more than a little but you get the point.

“You a fan?” He couldn’t help but ask, trying to keep his smirk to himself.

Kiara quickly snapped her head to look at him, slamming her phone down screen first onto the desk. “Can you mind your business?” She huffed, trying to calm her heartbeat a little. She didn’t even hear him come in, which is odd since usually you could hear JJ from a mile away.

“Aw, c’mon, Kiara! I thought we were besties now.” He grinned to her, wiggling his eyebrows a little. He leaned forward on the desk, bringing him a little closer to her. His forearms were pressed against the desk, his body leaning on them. She noticed how close their hands were. But after yesterday, she refused to left JJ get under her skin again. Or at least let him see how much he is bothering her. So, she stayed where she was, not moving back like he expected.

“You know my name.” It wasn’t a question, more a statement.

“Surprised?” He whispered, smirking a little when he noticed he wasn’t moving away. JJ risked it a little more and moved a bit closer.

“Took you long enough.” She replied with a shrug. JJ’s grin only widened.

“Oh yeah, counting down the days, princess?” He raised an eyebrow. He noticed her lips quirk a little, like she was fighting back a smile.

“You wish, pretty boy.”

“You think I’m pretty?”

“Shut up.”

“I think someone has a little crush, Kiara.” He grinned at her, only to witness her roll her eyes and push him away.

“In your dreams, Maybank.”

“Oh, you’re definitely in my dreams, Kiara.”

She rolled her eyes again but didn’t bother replying this time. She instead focused her gaze on the front of the class as Mr Marino entered the room, beginning the lesson. But if she had glanced over to the blond sitting on his right, she would’ve seen he was smiling throughout the whole lesson.

**********

“Thank you, dear!”

JJ nodded his head a little in acknowledgement and gave the older woman a small salute. “Always here to help, ma’am.” He said, handing her the small handbag that he had just rescued from the hands of some man who had tried to steal it from her.

“Aw, you’re really starting to win over the senior citizens.”

JJ rolled his eyes when he heard Pope’s voice through his earpiece. “Dude, I think she pinched my ass.”

“Lucky you, older woman, that’s hot.”

“JB, shut up.”

JJ snorted a little at the bickering, extending his arm out before he was swinging between the buildings with no trouble. He had been using any free time he had lately to be out in his suit, getting used to all the cool, extra bits that Pope had added. And he won’t lie, the boy really outdid himself. JJ felt like a total badass, being able to swing around and save people and feel like a real hero. He also enjoyed the change in attitude people had with him. He was Spider-Man, the city hero. He was appreciated. He was wanted. Not something JJ felt very often.

“Anything happening around town?” JJ asked, his eyes scanning the streets below, waiting to see any conflict. He couldn’t help but feel as though there was a part of him that was on edge. He couldn’t really explain it, it was like a bad shiver down his spine. It was a similar feeling he felt before that bank robbery fiasco a few weeks ago. It was a nasty wee feeling, one that had him on alert. Something was wrong, he didn’t know what. But he could sense it.

“Nah, everything seems to be fine. Maybe you should take a break, you’ve been swinging around for, like, three hours. You need to rest, dude.”

“What?” JJ muttered, so quiet that the boys on the other side barely heard him. That couldn’t be right, he can feel it. Something isn’t right, something bad is going to happen. “Guys, are you—”

He was cut off by a series of screams.

JJ’s body was reacting way before his brain did, like his hero side just leaped into action at the alert of any distress. He was swinging as fast as he could, his arms burning a little as he got closer and closer to the sound of those screams. He could hear his blood pumping in his ears, could feel his heart rate pick up. The adrenaline coursing through him, making him forget about the burning in his muscles from the three hours of patrolling he had done.

“That’s fucking weird, there is no police reports coming through.”

JJ ignored the voices coming through the earpiece, his whole body feeling rigid as he crouched on top of a building, looking at the carnage below. There, in the middle of the square stood what looked like a moving black cloud. Civilians were screaming and running away, but the black cloud just remained. His eyes narrowed slightly, like he was waiting for it to do something, to lash out. But it didn’t. He opened his mouth, ready to ask Pope if he was just imagining something when he heard the black cloud speak.

“Spider-Man, oh Spider-Man! Come out, come out wherever you are!” It spoke in a raspy, demonic voice. Whatever this way, it wasn’t human. JJ may have failed biology, but he knew that for sure.

“JJ, don’t. We are have no idea what this thing is. It could be a trap—”

“I got this, Pope.” JJ muttered, ignoring his friends’ pleas to think this through as he swung down, landing a couple of feet away from the black cloud. “You called?”

Suddenly, in the middle of the cloud, JJ swore he could see lips begin to materialise. He frowned beneath the mask but didn’t move away. His fist was clenched at the side, ready to react if the cloud tried anything.

“Ah, we finally meet, Spider-Man.” The cloud spoke again. The voice sent shivers down his spine. JJ pushed away that feeling of discomfort. Something about the cloud felt familiar, but he couldn’t tell what. It was like an annoying itch he couldn’t reach.

“Am I supposed to know who you are?” JJ questioned. “Look, dude, if you’re a fan, I appreciate it, but you don’t need to scare away a whole block of people to get my attention. You can just ask for an autograph like everyone else.”

“JJ stop provoking it!”

“You’ll know me soon enough.” The voice replied ambiguously. JJ furrowed his eyebrows together. Whatever this cloud was, it was being far too vague for JJ’s liking.

“PEOPLE OF NEW YORK, I SPEAK OUT TO YOU!”

JJ winced, clutching his ears. His body was on high-alert, his ears sensitive to pick out any small noise or rustle. He looked at the cloud and then at his surroundings, noticing how every screen—every phone, every billboard, every electrical compliance in this vicinity that he could see—was projecting the black cloud. It was broadcasting to the whole city. JJ couldn’t help but wonder where the fuck the hidden camera was. How was it doing this?

“YOU LABEL THIS KID AS YOUR HERO! YOU TRUST THIS CHILD WITH YOUR LIVES! YOU ARE FOOLISH!” The voice boomed, suddenly the black cloud began to form tentacles that were slithering from whatever was at the centre of it. “LET ME SHOW YOU THE TRUTH! LET ME SHOW YOU WHO YOU HAVE TO PROTECT YOU!”

JJ was a little too distracted by the concept of a cloud broadcasting to the city that he didn’t even notice one of the tentacles slithering towards him. It wrapped itself around his leg before swinging him into the nearest building.

JJ let out a small oomph as his body made contact with the brick wall. He could hear yelling in the distance, the sounds of people screaming. But nothing was overpowering the ringing in his ears as he slowly dragged himself to stand up.

“JJ, GET UP! JJ!”

“Jesus fucking Christ,” He muttered, blinking a few times before he turned back to look at the cloud. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise and quickly rolled over to the side, the tentacle that threw him smashing into the wall not even a second later. That rush of adrenaline hitting JJ again as he quickly swung out of there, not even looking behind him until he knew he was a good distance away to assess the situation.

“IS THIS WHO YOU WANT PROTECTING YOU? A COWARDLY TEENAGER? C’MON, SPIDER-MAN! LET’S SEE WHAT YOU’VE GOT!”

JJ swore under his breath, trying to catch up with his thoughts as he watched more tentacles appear from the cloud. “Where the fuck are they coming from?” He muttered before swinging down to a lower building rooftop, crouching at the edge. He narrowed his eyes as he extended his hand out, shooting a web towards the centre of the cloud. There had to be something solid within this thing, something he can grip on to, something he can fight. But he was met with nothing. “Fuck.” He frowned before he began to crawl down the side of the building.

“You seem a bit jealous, mate!” JJ called out, watching as all eight of the tentacles seemed to snap their attention towards him. God, that was scary. “Don’t you have to tell me some wild origin story before you kill me?”

“MY AIM ISN’T TO KILL YOU, SPIDER-MAN. NOT YET!”

“Oh, that’s really reassuring, thank you so much.”

“I WANT NEW YORK TO SEE HOW PATHETIC YOU ARE. HOW USELESS THEIR SAVIOUR IS.”

“A bit of an odd wish, if you ask me.” He murmured to himself, quickly snapping his wrist before swinging around the black cloud. He watched as the tentacles reached out for him, just grazing him as he swung between the buildings.

“JJ, FIGHT BACK!”

“How the fuck do I fight something that isn’t solid? Get a vacuum? If you have one big enough, please do share. Call the ghostbusters or something!”

He heard more screams, some closer than he expected. He assumed everyone ran off, but when he turned his head to the side, he noticed a man standing there, frozen in fear. More importantly, he saw a car heading straight towards the scared man.

“Shit, shit, shit,” JJ yelled as he quickly yanked his web, spinning around and landing in front of the man, his hands extended out in front of him. Seconds later he felt the impact of the car, the weight and momentum it came crashing in at hit him strong enough to make him slide back a few feet. “Go, dude!” He yelled at the man, who had finally come to his senses and thanked JJ profusely before sprinting away. JJ groaned and threw the car away from him, huffing slightly.

“HOLY SHIT, JJ! THAT WAS A CAR!”

“Oh, no shit, Sherlock! I thought it was Barbie’s Dreamhouse.” Only JJ would be sarcastic while his life is in threat.

But it was that sarcasm that distracted him long enough for one of the tentacles wrap around his ankle, yanking him down from the small jump he had taken so the web he was currently gripping snapped with ease, preventing him a quick escape like he planned. He didn’t even have time to scream before he noticed the tentacle bringing him closer to the middle of the cloud, his eyes widening slightly.

He wiggled around in the tentacle’s grip, trying to find a way out but it was relentless. He wasn’t sure what was real or not, not sure if he imagined screaming in his head or if he actually did as he was dropped into the centre of the cloud.

Then, he felt nothing.

JJ was vaguely aware of his surroundings. He didn’t know if his eyes were open or not, but it was dark. He tried to move his arm, but it felt constricted, like he was swimming in something really thick. His brain was screaming at him to call out for Pope and John B, to move his hands and swing out of here, to do something. But another part of JJ felt completely content in this situation. He couldn’t explain it, but something washed over him, like a massive electric shock that made him aware of just how…familiar this seemed. It was similar to the feeling he had earlier.

He felt safe, understood.

And then that feeling was gone.

Suddenly, JJ found himself being thrown around in circles, something holding a tight grip on his ankle. But soon enough, that let go too and JJ was soon flying through the air, too out of it to even react fast enough to web onto something or soften his eventual crash.

JJ felt the air be completely knocked out of him, his body bouncing off the concrete a couple of times before he rolled over. It took him a few attempts to finally open his eyes, take in his surroundings, to see he was in some dingy alleyway. He turned his head to the side, briefly seeing a black blob in the distance. He could hear some muffled yelling.

“HEED THIS AS A WARNING, SPIDER-MAN. NEXT TIME WE MEET, IT WILL BE OUR LAST!”

JJ vaguely furrowed his eyebrows together before turning his head to stare at the blue sky above instead. When the ringing and the muffling was over, he could hear the screams of his friends coming through the earpiece.

“JJ! JJ, PLEASE FUCKING ANSWER, DUDE!”

“JJ, ARE YOU DEAD?!”

“WHY WOULD HE FUCKING ANSWER IF HE WAS DEAD!”

“SHUT UP, I’M FLUSTERED!”

JJ frowned a little, his whole throat felt dry and numb. There was also a metallic taste in his mouth that told him he must’ve bitten his tongue at some point. God, he hated the taste of blood. “It…It felt…”

“OH MY GOD, JJ!”

“IT FELT LIKE WHAT BUD? YOU GOOD?”

“It felt just like me.” He finally got out.

Then everything went black.

[kuramirocket]

María Clemente arrives in high heels and is tall, tanned, with an easy smile and a small tattoo at the corner of each eye – one of the moon and another of the stars – the significance of which only she knows. She has a degree in business administration and until a few months ago worked as a driver for ridesharing firm DiDi and from September 1, along with her colleague Morena Salma Liévano, she is set to become the first transgender lawmaker to serve in the Chamber of Deputies of the Mexican Congress. Clemente’s journey to this point has been a difficult one but she believes the real challenge starts now. Among her objectives as a lawmaker, Clemente has identified modifying Article 1 of the Mexican Constitution to make it more inclusive as well as safeguarding the labor rights of app-based delivery and passenger drivers.

Born in Mexico City, Clemente will celebrate her 36th birthday on October 11.

 “We have broken the glass ceiling for the political participation of the trans community,” she says with conviction. Until now only one transgender woman, Rubí Araujo, had been elected to office in the country as a city councilor in Guanajuato in 2016.

In the June 6 legislative elections in Mexico, there were around 40 trans candidates, leading Clemente to state “it is difficult to consider oneself a representative of a population where there is no consensus toward a political vision.” But she adds that both colleagues from other parties and leaders of the trans movement view her election “as a victory.”

“It’s incredible to be a voice for a population in such an important place as Congress, where the laws are made,” she says. Her priorities now are: “To listen to my colleagues, drive an agenda in favor of sexual diversity and by building a judicial structure, make the integration of the trans population ironclad.”

The first step is to pore over rules, codes and laws in search of any discriminatory concepts. Furthermore, she is also seeking to bolster the National Council to Prevent Discrimination (Conapred), to make it more efficient and to guarantee its budget.

Additionally, after 18 months as a DiDi driver, Clemente has first-hand knowledge of the protections app drivers require. “Drivers are users of the app in the same way the passenger is, and as such our hard work does not translate into labor rights because the app is not recognized as an employer. We want to table initiatives to protect their labor rights.”

Politics as a safe haven to come out

Clemente’s life, straddling the Cuauhtémoc district and the suburbs, has always been intrinsically linked to metropolitan politics. She was born in Tlatelolco but grew up in Cuautitlán Izcalli, in the State of Mexico. The daughter of a neighborhood activist, the first thing she did when she turned 15 was to join the party ranks. “I was an activist for the sake of being an activist, through pure conviction,” she says. “I consider myself a working-class woman, I understand the solutions from that viewpoint.”

Clemente came out as a trans woman seven years ago in what she considered her safe haven: politics. “I came out of the closet during a meeting of the university council at the Autonomous University of Mexico City,” she says animatedly. “I couldn’t go another day without doing it and I had to keep attending the meetings, so I arrived at the council one day and it was the first day of my official transition.” She remembers she asked for the floor for a minute “to tell them what was happening” and asked for their support. “I had done it before occasionally [come out as a woman] but this was the first official day, it was saying that this is forever, and for every day.”

Clemente found at university – and later in Morena – a safe space to come out. She did receive the support and unconditional love of her mother and friends, “and that is the most important thing.” That affection has served to consolidate Clemente in her new position.

“If you had told me 10 years ago that I would be where I am now, I wouldn’t have believed it,” says the politician.

[rustbeltsinologist]

Reflecting on Bruce Lee's Films

I recently finished watching all of the five films that Bruce Lee starred in. I'm yet to watch The Green Hornet or any of his earlier works, and the David Carradine-led show inspired by Lee's ideas called "Kung Fu," turned me off when I gave it a try. I think it's fair to look at his five starring roles as representative of his body of work. Spoilers ahead in case you haven't seen any of these. Below, I will be talking about "The Big Boss" (1971), "Fist of Fury" (1972), "Way of the Dragon" (1972), "Enter the Dragon" (1973), and "Game of Death" (1978).

I would say that "Enter the Dragon" is the best one. If you are only going to watch one Bruce Lee movie, watch that one. If you liked that a lot and then you want to see more of him, then you can check out his other movies. But if you just want to watch more good kung fu movies in general from the '70s, then I would probably suggest moving on to "Five Fingers of Death," "Five Venoms," "The 36th Chamber of Shaolin," or "Boxer from Shantung." All of Bruce Lee's movies explore the meeting between East and West, how kung fu can be taught internationally to people from around the world, his special philosophy of martial arts, and some interesting social dynamics. "Enter the Dragon" explores some questions of race, and features a multinational and multiethnic cast among whom include Lee's students.

My second favorite was "The Big Boss," his first starring role that also saved his family from a tight financial situation. This one is interesting because it features Lee playing a pretty humble, working guy who ends up standing up for his fellow workers when they are about to go on strike because their coworker went missing and the boss isn't willing to help search for his whereabouts. Bruce Lee's character ends up getting courted by the bosses as a middle man between management and the workers, but he soon finds that they are using him, and he loses the respect of the workers in the process. While all of this is going on, the ice factory that Lee works in is secretly running engaging in human and drug trafficking. After his love interest is murdered, he goes on a rampage that is bloody and awesome for the last third of the movie. His physical prowess is impressive and in the end he gets his revenge, but is also a broken man.

At this point, I am split between "Way of the Dragon" and "Game of Death." "Way of the Dragon" is one of the best explorations of East meets West in a Hong Kong martial arts movie that I've ever seen. Lee plays a charming Charlie Chaplin-esque character who travels from Hong Kong to visit his immigrant relatives in Rome, Italy. His observations and humorous interactions with the Europeans around him are a delight and, I think, come from a place of both personal experience and intelligent ironic joking. The fighting in this movie is top notch. "Game of Death" is amazing for several reasons. There is so much about this movie that is great, but there is also so much about it that is terrible. The entire idea of putting together this movie and releasing it 5 years after Bruce Lee’s death is a terrible one. The idea of using two stunt doubles to pretend to be Lee for 70% of the movie is terrible. The cutaways to old shots of Bruce Lee in other films are terrible. And most of all, the inclusion of actual real-life footage of Bruce Lee’s real funeral is absolutely terrible. Now all that being said, the story of the movie on its own, is actually pretty good. I was entertained and interested in the plot the whole time. The idea of a movie star being killed by the mob and then getting revenge on them after faking his death is actually a really cool one. The stunt doubles did a pretty decent job of mimicking the way in which Bruce moved around and carried himself. When you see their faces, you know they're obviously not him, but from a distance it’s not too bad. It also helps that most of the time they had the doubles wearing sunglasses, bike helmets, or bandages wrapped around their heads. After watching this movie, I found the entire 35 minutes or so of uncut footage that we have anymore of Bruce acting in this movie. He basically shot three fight scenes that were supposed to happen back to back, in the last third of the movie. Only two of those were actually included, and in cut up fashion, in the end product released in 1978, and only 11 minutes of footage actually has the real Bruce on screen. The final movie minimizes the significance of the fight with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar that we get to see in the original footage. Bruce’s original script idea was genius and was the most perfect representation of his entire philosophy. The original plot had him reluctantly being forced to partake in an international martial arts gauntlet in a pagoda in Korea. After his sister is kidnapped by the Korean mob, he is forced to go partake in this competition. There is an unspecified prize at the top. There are 5 floors of challengers, each practicing a different martial arts style: Karate, Hapkido, Praying Mantis style Kung Fu, Filipino Eskrima, and finally Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who is practicing Bruce’s own style but he’s 7’4”. That is the final fight in the original story, but in the final movie it is second to last, which lessens its significance, again. After the final fight, Bruce is beaten, bloody, tired, and unable to walk straight. He just walks down the steps and doesn’t even bother to go up to the top. Whatever is up there is not important to him. Now tell me that isn’t an amazing idea for a martial arts movie, made by a guy who specifically emphasized that one should fluidly adapt different fighting styles? In every fight, he finds each style’s weakness and uses that to win. This shows his belief that being too rigidly traditionalist about one style was not the best approach. The barrage of Bruce Lee clones and recuts after this movie are an insult to him, but also are an interesting snapshot of the bizarre pop culture world at the time. Fortunately Hong Kongers were not interested at that point and had already moved on to other great martial arts stars like Jackie Chan, Gordon Liu, and Sammo Hung.

Finally, I place "Fist of Fury" last. My favorite part of it is when Bruce Lee keeps putting on different costumes and making funny faces disguised as different people. It's sequel is atrocious.

After watching all of these movies, I want to say that my overall verdict is that Bruce Lee absolutely deserves the reputation he has. It is sometimes said that after a star dies young, their work becomes overrated and that they are only that famous because of their tragic real-life story. I think that in the case of Bruce Lee, this is not true. He really was that exceptional. His philosophy, his charisma, his fighting style, and his visions for his films were all superb, above and beyond the norm.

[antique-traveler]

you’re gonna be here for it

read it on ao3

Five could feel the energy pulsing from his palms, through the gaps in his fingers as he curled his hands into tight fists. There was something distinctly exhilarating about telling Reginald off like that. Now he ran down whatever street it was he had jumped too (he was too excited to really care) and felt that familiar tug build up in his ribcage. He followed that tug, pulled it back, let it launch him forward to… spring, it looked like. Christ, he had done it! He balled up his hands, wrapped himself around the tug and jumped to winter. Twenty seconds ago he had been in an unusually warm November, now here he was, running down the street with gentle snowfall landing in his hair. He gaped at the world around him, let that energy build back up, followed it, and-

Jesus Christ. What happened? All around him were ruins. Crumbled buildings and decades-old scaffolding set ablaze, the sky scorched a dusty grey. Five stopped in his tracks. Instead of that breezy March he had just visited, or the biting chill of winter he ran through, the world he stood in now was dry and hot, completely devoid of life. He took a tentative step forward and felt a rustle under his shoe; a newspaper. April 1, 2019, the date read. Seventeen years, he had jumped. Seventeen years and it led him here.

He clenched his fists, searched around inside him for that energy, that tug that would get him home, but he found nothing. He felt sweat forming on his brow as he tensed himself, trying to find that blue glow that would save him, but there he stood, a normal, non-glowing thirteen-year-old in a wasteland.

He saw beside him a street sign. 36th and Wharf St. God, he knew where he was, he was only a few blocks from the Academy! He found his bearings and sprinted towards his home and prison, begging whoever would listen to let him find something, anything other than ruins.

Turned out no one was listening, though. Laying on top of the rubble was the iron gate bent into the shape of an umbrella. The Academy had been flattened, just like the rest of the world. Five felt his breathing quicken, panicking at the thought of losing his last chance to survive this… apocalypse.

“Vanya! Ben! Dad! Anyone!” He looked around the ruins of his home and saw no one.

Except for a hand. A hand sticking out under a crumbled stone pillar, bearing a tattoo on the forearm. He ran over to it, not caring if he tripped on rubble as he excavated the body from the debris. Finally, he could make out a face. It was gaunt, with a scraggly goatee and curly hair, black eyeliner smudged around the eyes. Klaus, Five thought. He looked up, and saw a foot across what used to be the foyer. Brown skin peeked out from beneath fitted jeans and black kitten heels. He clawed his way through the wreckage, and saw tight curls around a beautiful woman’s face. Allison. Next he found what he assumed to be Luther, judging by the blond hair and ridiculous muscles. Ben, Vanya, Dad, Pogo, Grace, all of them were nowhere to be found. Lying beneath a splintered oak door, though, was a stranger. The man had tightly shaved hair and a respectable goatee, and wore a ridiculous harness adorned with every manner of knife Five could think of. He grabbed the man’s left arm, rolled up the sleeve and… there it was.

It couldn’t be Vanya, her lips weren’t nearly as full as the body in front of him, and she certainly could never be as tall. He didn’t have the right skin tone to be Ben, so that left Carmen. Maybe that name wasn’t right anymore. Five sat back on his heels and looked at the body in front of him. He supposed it made sense, somehow. He and Carme- Two had never been close, but Five knew how much she (he?) always hated that uniform skirt, and the expectations to be a strong Hargreeves sister.

He lay a hand on Two’s face and felt his eyes start to sting. God, he had missed so much, and he had no way to get back.

~~~

Two weeks and a hell of a lot of coffee later and things were… normal, for the most part. Sure, Five’s body was 45 years younger than it had been a fortnight prior, but the important thing was that he had his family back. The Hargreeves had fallen into a strange sort of normalcy after saving the world and the timeline; for the most part, they all lived in the Academy again. Klaus had technically been homeless before this all started, Luther had lived on the goddamn moon, and Five was physically thirteen, so none of them had many options for living situations. Vanya wanted to distance herself from her past, and Diego had realized how truly shitty it was to live in the back room of a boxing gym, so that just left Allison to get her own apartment. She was adamant that she wanted to be with her siblings as much as possible, but the divorce court ruled she needed to have a stable living situation to have visitation with Claire.

And of course, Ben was gone. Five walked past his old bedroom on the way to the staircase leading to the foyer, and never could stop himself from peeking in. It was frozen in time the same way he was: forever a door into the life of a lonely seventeen-year-old trying to cope with an abusive father figure and his own inhumanity.

Five’s days had developed an oddly comforting schedule: wake up too early for a thirteen-year-old and too late for a 58-year-old, have coffee with Luther, spend the day reading or revelling in being with his family again, dinner with all his siblings, and in bed by 11:30. He knew that other people his age were either in seventh grade or halfway through a prostate exam, but he found solace in the Academy, especially now that dear old Dad was gone.

There was something he was yet to address, however: Diego.

Five only learned his name by reading Vanya’s (slanderous) book, and it took him far longer than he’d like to admit to stop calling him a ‘she’. He would be lying if he didn’t say he let himself mess up sometimes, allow himself to call Diego ‘Carmen’ again, just so he could pretend he was back in 2002, and everything was exactly the way he left it. Now, though, he didn’t have that luxury.

He had to face his shortcomings head-on whenever he asked Diego to pass the coffee pot, or he saw him walking shirtless from the bathroom after a shower with his newly flat chest on display for all to see. Five had to fight the urge to look away in shame, or to stare at his sister’s brother’s sharp jawline. He knew that whichever path he chose would only end in awkwardness and humiliation, so he decided to simply avoid Diego whenever possible. Sure, it wasn’t the most polite option, but at least he could escape whatever sappy, emotional conversation was in store if he slipped up while Diego was around.

If there was one thing that Five had learned in the last 45 years, though, it was that he couldn’t run away from his problems forever.

Going through puberty once already meant that Five knew that his pubescent body was about to start overloading his body with hormones, and he was incredibly prone to acne. It was a chore, but Five knew that unless he wanted to go through constant red itchiness for a second time, he had to commit to a steady skincare routine. Allison managed to get him some high-quality face wash and moisturizer and whatever-the-fuck-else through some brand deal she’d done on social media, so he spent fifteen minutes every morning and night rubbing different serums and elixirs into his face until he felt slimy and raw.

It was a Tuesday, if he recalled correctly, when It happened. He was doing his morning routine in one of the upstairs bathrooms, still in his pajamas (Klaus called them “old man pjs”, but Five thought they were too comfortable to care), when Diego walked in, bare-chested and stood in front of the mirror besides him. Just as Five looked up from applying his coconut-scented moisturizer, he saw Diego drag a razor across his cheek, making a clear line through the shaving cream covering his face and defining his goatee. Five hadn’t even had his morning coffee, and he was too tired to notice that he was staring at Diego’s reflection and curling his hands ever so slightly into fists.

Diego brought his hand down to rest on the counter tentatively, not breaking eye contact with his reflection. “Why don’t you take a picture? It’ll last longer.”

Five blinked and looked away, pretending to busy himself with packing up his ointments and creams. “Uh. Sorry.”

“S’alright. I, um…” Diego sighed and looked down at Five beside him, “it must be a lot.”

“I guess.” Five rocked on his heels, “Uh, when- when did you-”

“Come out?” Diego cut him off. “Couple years after you disappeared.”

“Ah. I see.”

“When you saw me, in the… you know, did you recognize me?”

Five sighed. What a question. “Not at first, no. You were wearing a shirt that covered your tattoo, I had no clue who you were. For a while after I figured it out, I just called you ‘Two’, but then I read your name in Vanya’s book, and…”

“Gotcha.”

Five knew that they would hit this roadblock whenever he imagined this conversation. They’d say the polite stuff, both want to address the uncomfortable muck that is their relationship as (new) brothers, but neither of them would know how to proceed. Five was too old and impatient to wait around for Diego to break the ice though, so he figured he might as well take the plunge.

“I’m an old man, Diego,” Five said, feeling his voice break embarrassingly, “I’m ashamed to say I’m a bit… uneducated. What with the apocalypse and all. Sorry if this comes off as rude, but I… I don’t think I understand completely what it is this all… is.” He gestured to Diego vaguely, avoiding eye contact.

“Yeah, that, uh, that makes sense.” Diego sighed and set his razor down on the counter, bracing his hands against the edge of the granite, face still half-covered in shaving cream. “So, I’m tra-transgender.” (It never gets easier saying that, Diego had thought to himself). “Didn’t really jive with the ‘woman’ thing, so I… did all this. Cost a lot of friends and a lot more money, but, you know, here we are.”

Five stared up at him, brow furrowed. “When? Uh, when did you go through with it all?”

Diego huffed, “Uh, changed my name legally in 2008, went on hormones 2012, and I’ve had these bad boys,” he looked down and patted his bare pecs, “since last year.”

Five stared up at his brother, really took him in. He was certainly more muscular than the last time they had seen each other, though Five wasn’t sure if it was Diego himself or the hormones he was on that was responsible for that. His shoulders had widened out a bit, his frame becoming more solid, more firm. Beneath his pecs ran two scars, perfectly straight, the skin only slightly puckered beneath Diego’s nipples. His face was much more angular and square, brows thicker and jaw more pronounced. He had shaved his hair down short again, once more revealing that scar that ran across his temple. And God, how could Five ignore that beard? It wasn’t long or particularly bushy, but it was thick and well-taken care of. Five absentmindedly remembered the moustache he had been so proud of two weeks ago.

Five furrowed his brow and looked around the sink, trying to find the right words to not come across as ignorant or rude. “How, um, did you know?”

Diego dragged the razor once more across his other cheek, scraping off stubble and shaving cream to leave a clean line between his skin and his goatee, “Took a while, to be honest. Dad didn’t really foster a very open-minded environment ‘round here, so I didn’t really know what it was. And then once I did figure it out I had to keep it to myself for a while. First person I told was Klaus, naturally, ‘cause of all his…” Diego gestured vaguely.

“Yeah.”

“I waited to tell everyone else, though. Kept coming up with excuses for why I shouldn’t, but they all found out eventually.”

Five hummed nondescriptly, leaning against the off-white tile wall beside him so he could face his brother. He wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not, but he thought that Diego looked remarkably similar to the last time Five had seen him, back in 2002. That scar that ran through his left eyebrow was from crashing through a stained-glass window during a museum robbery in '98. He still kept his nails trimmed short, and had that same intense look in his eye as he had had all those years ago.

"You didn't answer my question,”Five said.

Diego wiped his face off with a towel and raised an eyebrow at his brother.

"How did you know?" Five repeated.

Diego huffed. "Why do you care?"

"Because l missed it the first time!" Five didn't mean to raise his voice like that, but it felt like he came to that realization at the same time he said it. He feIt energy building up inside his fists, trembling with anger he didn’t know he had. “I missed it the first time, and I’m only now getting to meet my brother, alright?” He let out a shaky breath, ashamed at his outburst. He felt so small, so weak compared to his brother. Diego was strong and masculine and everything that Five was two weeks ago.

Diego stared at him and sighed. “Jesus, Five, I… I don’t know what to tell you. I fuckin’ hated myself, so I changed. Simple as that. I-” he swallowed and looked around the room, searching for the right words, “I needed to be a man. None of me was right. I had to do something about it.”

The air between them was thick and filled with words unsaid. Five felt like he could relate to Diego, in some strange way. Being a man, but not looking the part, being stuck in a body that wasn’t his own. Helet out a breath that he didn’t know he was holding. God, he had been so naïve. He had thought that all he had to do was clench his fists tight, go back in time, save the world, and then he would be done. He could just exist with his family without any conflict. Boy, had he been wrong.

He had missed so much.

Five cleared his throat after staring into Diego’s eyes for probably way too long. “Right. Thank you for… answering my questions. Good talk, Diego.” Five made his way toward the door, but a hand on his chest stopped him dead in his tracks.

“You don’t have to miss anything else.” For all the shit he got for that intense look in his eyes, Diego really knew how to look soft when he needed to. He lowered his voice and knit his eyebrows together. “You’re gonna be here for the rest of it.”

Five swallowed, not tearing away from Diego’s gaze. “Mmm-hmm.”

“No, not ‘mmm-hmm.’ You’re gonna be here for it.” Diego placed a firm hand on Five’s shoulder and pulled him into his chest, arms wrapping solidly around Five’s tiny frame.

Five was stunned, frozen solid, confused by his older brother, who used to be his younger sister, towering over him, squeezing him so tightly he was almost claustrophobic. He simply let Diego hold onto him (and he would never admit that he brought his own arms around Diego’s waist). If he was being honest, he didn’t believe Diego when he said that. Five was so used to missing his family’s lives he was sure that the pattern would only continue. But here, standing in the bathroom, smelling freshly of coconut-scented moisturizer, Five almost let himself trust his brother.

[96thdayofrage]

"First of all," Lt. Richard Zimmerman said during Chauvin's murder trial in Hennepin County District Court, "pulling him down to the ground facedown and putting your knee on a neck for that amount of time is just uncalled for."

The head of the Police Department's homicide unit added, "I saw no reason why the officers felt they were in danger if that's what they felt, and that's what they would have to have felt to have to use that kind of force."

In your opinion, should that restraint have stopped once he was handcuffed and prone on the ground?

"Absolutely."

Zimmerman said department policy requires that prone suspects who are handcuffed — as was Floyd on the night of his death — must be taken off their chest as soon as possible.

The lieutenant went through the Police Department's use of force policy and brought up several provisions that run counter to what the prosecution is contending Chauvin and other officers did wrong on May 25, when Floyd was kept-face down and cuffed behind his back for more than nine minutes as he became unresponsive and died later that night.

Prosecutor Matthew Frank asked Zimmerman whether he was ever trained to put a knee on the neck of someone in handcuffs.

"No, I haven't," he said.

Zimmerman said such a tactic would fall under the most extreme level of force by an officer, that being "deadly force."

"If your knee is on someone's neck, that could kill them," he said.

Frank then asked how much a threat a suspect would be once handcuffed.

"The threat level goes down all the way," the lieutenant said. "They are cuffed; how can they hurt you? ... You getting injured is way down," apart from possibly getting kicked, he continued.

Once the cuffs are on a suspect, "that person is yours," said Zimmerman, who joined the department 36 years ago. "He is your responsibility. His safety is your responsibility. His well-being is your responsibility."

Under cross examination, defense attorney Eric Nelson noted that Zimmerman has not worked as a patrol officer for several years and does not teach defensive tactics. He also noted that police officers sometimes need to "improvise" to protect themselves regardless of training.

"You would agree, however, in a fight for your life, you as an officer are allowed to use whatever force is reasonable and necessary, correct?"

Zimmerman agreed.

"Minneapolis Police Department policy allows an officer to use 'whatever means available' to protect yourself, correct?" Nelson asked.

Zimmerman agreed.

The lieutenant under questioning acknowledged that handcuffed suspects can still pose a danger.

"That person can continue to thrash his body around, correct, and part of the reason police officers restrain people is for their own safety, correct?" Nelson asked.

"Correct," Zimmerman said.

The prosecution rose again and sought to undermine several of the defense's points raised while questioning Zimmerman.

Most notably, Frank asked the lieutenant whether he found the circumstances of Floyd's arrest called for Chauvin "to improvise by putting his knee on Mr. Floyd for 9 minutes and 29 seconds?" To which Zimmerman replied, "No, I did not."

Zimmerman also said his review of police body camera video revealed no kicking by Floyd once he was subdued on the pavement.

Judge Peter Cahill adjourned proceeding for the day shortly after 11:30 a.m. once Zimmerman was done testifying and said court would reconvene Monday morning.

The first witness called Friday was Jon Edwards, a Minneapolis police sergeant, who has been on the force since 2007.

Edwards said he was just beginning his shift on the night of May 25, when he was alerted by the previous shift's supervisory sergeant that Floyd "may or may not live." Edwards added that he was directed to the intersection where Floyd was arrested "just in case we had to secure that area and make contact with any of the officers" still there.

Edwards said he got to E. 38th Street and S. Chicago Avenue about 9:30 p.m., met with officers J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane, who ordered them to turn on their body-worn cameras. The officers then explained where they interacted with Floyd. Edwards said he directed them to up crime scene tape to "preserve any potential evidence that was there."

He ordered them out of their squad and began canvassing witnesses. He encountered Charles McMillian, one of the first witnesses to Floyd's detainment and death who testified earlier this week. At the time, McMillian refused to give Edwards his name or provide information.

"I told him he would be very valuable if he would provide us with information," Edwards said. "He told me he refused to say anything and wondered if he was under arrest; and I told him no, and he told me he wanted to leave."

Edwards explained that state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension personnel arrived and took over control of the crime scene as Kueng and Lane were escorted to City Hall for a debriefing. The officers' squad and Floyd's SUV were towed away by the BCA as evidence in what was classified as a "critical incident."

Law enforcement control of the crime scene was lifted shortly before 4 a.m., Edwards said.

The sergeant's testimony helped lay a foundation for the testimony of Zimmerman, who worked in the homicide unit at that time and joined Edwards and the other officers the scene of Floyd's arrest.

Zimmerman testified that he was at home when he learned of the incident and his presence at the intersection was needed.

The lieutenant arrived and asked, "What's going on?" to law enforcement on the scene, according to officer bodycam footage shown in court.

Zimmerman located Kueng and Lane, then "determined they were involved officers" connected to Floyd's arrest, he said.

"We needed some more people out here," Zimmerman testified telling Edwards, as well as "we need to get these two guys downtown" for their debriefing.

Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter. The other officers on the scene, Lane, Kueng and Tou Thao, are expected to go on trial in August on charges of aiding and abetting Chauvin.

On Thursday, jurors heard from a supervisory sergeant that Chauvin downplayed his actions, at first not disclosing that he used his knee to restrain Floyd, and later that night after Floyd was taken to HCMC making that disclosure to his boss but failing to say for how long.

Recently retired supervisory Sgt. David Pleoger spoke to Chauvin on a cellphone that night after receiving a call from a 911 dispatcher about a possible use of force by officers seen on city surveillance cameras.

Pleoger's body-worn camera captured his initial phone conversation with Chauvin, who said, "Had to hold the guy down, he was going crazy … wouldn't go in the back of the squad."

Pleoger testified during livestreamed proceedings being viewed around the world that Chauvin didn't say anything about putting his knee on Floyd's neck. Prosecutor Steve Schleicher then pressed Pleoger on whether Chauvin's force was appropriate.

"When Mr. Floyd was no longer offering up any resistance to the officers, they could have ended their restraint," Pleoger said as he offered the first account of Chauvin's words and behavior in the immediate aftermath of Floyd's death.

He testified that Chauvin told him that Floyd "became combative … after struggling with him. He suffered a medical emergency, and an ambulance was called."

Also testifying were the two paramedics and a fire captain who responded to the scene that night. Derek Smith, a paramedic, checked Floyd's carotid pulse and pupils as he lay motionless under Chauvin's knee.

"I looked to my partner. I told him, 'I think he's dead, and I want to move this out of here and begin care in the back [of the ambulance],' " said Smith, noting the agitated crowd of bystanders. "In a living person, there should be a pulse there. I did not feel one. I suspected this patient to be dead."

Smith told the court that despite never sensing a pulse, they continued trying to save Floyd. "He's a human being," Smith said. "I was trying to give him a second chance at life."

Fire Capt. Jeremy Norton testified about meeting up with the ambulance at E. 36th Street and S. Park Avenue, where he saw Floyd being treated by the paramedics and Officer Thomas Lane.

"He was an unresponsive body on a cot," Norton said of Floyd.

After Floyd was brought to the hospital, Norton told his department supervisors what happened. "I was worried that a man had been killed in police custody," Norton said.

The day's testimony started with 45-year-old Courteney Ross recalling her relationship with the strong, physically active man she called "Floyd."

Ross talked about their mutual oxycodone addiction that started with prescriptions for chronic pain and led to purchasing street drugs. She said they were off and on the drugs and by May she believed Floyd was using them again.

The defense is trying to raise the possibility that Floyd died of a drug overdose from pills obtained by Morries Hall, who was with Floyd at Cup Foods the day he died.

Ross said she and Floyd got pills in May that reminded her of "the same feeling" she had from similar pills she took in March, a stimulant that kept her up all night and left her jittery.