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medea10 · 3 years ago

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My Review of Taisho Maiden Fairytale

How did I get into this anime? Honestly, I think that this was the only romantic comedy that was going to air during the fall anime line-up. And I mean REAL romance and not the office romance of My Senpai is Annoying. So here we go!

Tamahiko Shima is a young man living alone in the countryside. He was banished by his own family after a terrible accident took the family by shock. That accident? Tamahiko and his mother were in a car accident. She dies and Tamahiko permanently injures his dominant hand and is forever seen as useless. So Tamahiko has given up. He will forever live in isolation in the countryside, waiting for death’s sweet embrace.

And then Yuzuki Tachibana enters the room! Originally a student of an all-girl school, she is to be Tamahiko’s bride. In order to keep her family in stable condition (money wise), she was to become a bride to her lender’s son. Yuzuki (or Yuzu) arrives into Tamahiko’s life and turns his once pessimistic point of view into something positive. Tamahiko, who once wished to die after losing everything, finds himself enjoying life with his bought and paid for waifu. Lack of a better term! Even though she is bought and paid for waifu, she’s a perfect waifu!

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: This is a FUNimation exclusive. I was straight-up gob-smacked when I found out that Tamahiko was not voiced by Takahiro Sakurai and Yuzu was not voiced by Manaka Iwami. Damn y’all, got me good! In fact, this was my first time hearing Yuzu’s voice actor. Good job, high praise! I’m assuming FUNimation will one day give this anime a dub, they’ve just been busy with other projects and haven’t really given this anime much attention. As of this date of posting, there has been no word on a dub. Here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

*Tamahiko is played by Yuusuke Kobayashi (known for Subaru on Re:Zero, Zel on Interspecies Reviewers, Arthur on Fire Force, Common Cell on Cells at Work, Tanukichi on Shimoneta, and Marui on Food Wars)

*Yuzu is played by Saya Aizawa

DISLIKED CHARACTER: You know, I was ready to throw Tamahiko’s entire family in the trashcan. I might in due time, but I’d like to focus on bastard father of the year. From episode one, there’s so much disdain for this one character. Time and period aside, you do not cast your son aside because his right arm is permanently paralyzed. You just don’t do that! And we’re not just talking about kicking a child out, we’re talking about putting him in an isolated place and then tell people he died. Worst of all, he got his other children to go along with this disgusting lie and put on an act when it comes to marriage deals and such.

Now the reason why I’m focusing more on the father is because of cases like Tamahiko’s sister Tamako. She’s a classic case of what happens when you have parents that cut coddling off at an early age. If something minor happens, her father would just throw money at someone to make it go away. Even though Tamako acts grown up, she’s still a fucking child! I can’t account for the matriarch of the family and her attitude towards her children because she’s dead. But it’s clear from Tamako and Tamahiko’s flashbacks that daddy dearest is indeed to blame.

SHIPPING: Gotta love that bastard family of Tamahiko by throwing a bride at him and being jerk-ass about it. But Yuzu is so wholesome, she reminds me so much of Tohru Honda from Fruits Basket. This ship is the cutest! Yuzu is just what Tamahiko needs in his pessimistic life. She brought life back into him and encouraged him to do so many things throughout the series. Instead of rotting away in the home, he’s going out, making friends, teaching children, and going to school. All thanks to Yuzu’s encouragement. And no matter what, she’s devoted to making him happy and loves him unconditionally.

We do get cute moments between these two love birds. Even though they are engaged to be married, they’re obviously new to the love game. Despite the era this anime takes place, they’re still teenagers. Holding hands, kissing, or even saying how much they love each other are new experiences for them. They don’t know how to handle their emotions and no way in hell the parents are going to teach them.

Now I did get worried once they added Ryou. Ryou did a lot of flirting with Tamahiko once it was established that she wasn’t that bad of a human being. But she did cause a big rift between the two love birds after she made up a lie as to how she got Tamahiko’s birthday gift (a bookmark). But thankfully, not even that could have torn these kids away from each other.

ENDING: Yuzu gets a letter from her old school chum. Despite being sent far away, Yuzu still kept in contact with her girlfriend Midori (who is now about to be married and currently pregnant). I’m going to shut up about the fact that these girls are practically teenagers and having to go through this. I just gotta keep telling myself that it was a different time even though this is so wrong. ANYWAYS! Yuzu decides to go away for a week to visit her. These young lovers are to be away from each other for that amount of time. What will Tamahiko do? He’ll survive, he’s a big boy, he’ll be okay! Well, the week passed by rather quickly and…

An earthquake hit!

Wow, and they were specific about the date and time this hit and it even has its own name. Let me look up this, “Great Kanto Earthquake” and see if…

OH DEAR GOD NO!

So on September 1st, 1923, the Kanto region of Japan was struck with a 7.9 earthquake. Many different accounts said the big tremor lasted anywhere between 4 minutes and 10 minutes. Many of the aftershocks were above 6.0. The earthquake caused a fire-storm, a tsunami, and civil unrest between the Japanese and Koreans. The death toll reached up to 100,000 and more.

So Yuzu might be dead. We don’t know. Certainly not Tamahiko! I know Tamahiko is supposed to be the pessimistic one here, but I am very pessimistic about all of this! Look, when I asked for more action for this cutesy rom-com, I didn’t mean a deadly earthquake that killed hundreds of thousands of people. I didn’t know that Yuzu being surrounded by fire in the opening theme was foreshadowing! Don’t kill off Tohru Honda’s possible ancestor!

Tamahiko and Ryou decide to make the long trek from Chiba to Tokyo. Ryou was worried since her little brother was working in Tokyo. Once there, they saw the carnage up close. Luckily, Tamahiko had a nice support team while in town. Ryou helped him look for Yuzu. Tamahiko’s uncle and sister (Tamako) were transferred to this location to help with the ailing. Plus, his friends Hakaru and Kotori were in town helping people as well as him.

Tamahiko thought about this very carefully. After his accident that killed his mother and took the use of his right arm, Tamahiko became extremely pessimistic and was at the point in his life where he didn’t care if he lived or died. It wasn’t until Yuzu came along that things changed for the better. He now gets along with his younger sister and reconnected with his uncle. He’s going to school and has friends. The neighborhood kids trust him. All of this was because Yuzu was there to support him in everything he did and everything he wanted to do. So he’s not going to lose her to this tragedy.

The search for Yuzu had its ups and downs. Fortunately, Tamahiko and Tamako ran into Midori who was thankfully safe and so was her unborn baby. However, she’s unsure of where Yuzu is because during one of the fire storms, Midori and Yuzu were separated. But Tamahiko gets lucky running into two hungry children who say they have an older girl that cared for them but was really injured. It was Yuzu! Tamahiko swoops in and carries her to safety. In Yuzu’s unconscious state, we see a lot of her past including the time Tamahiko’s father purchased Yuzu to become his son’s wife.

Thankfully, Yuzu pulled through and the first thing she sees as she wakes up is Tamahiko. She was so happy to see him alive that she pulled him in and gave him a big smooch. So we get a happy moment among Yuzu, Tamahiko, and friends. Everyone in this group is reunited and expected to make a full recovery. And then Tamahiko’s bastard father enters. Because Tamahiko’s uncle (a renowned doctor) was transferred to Tokyo to help with the injured and dying, bastard father tracked him down for an emergency request. Tamahiko’s youngest brother got severely injured in the earthquake and needs medical attention.

Uncle tells his brother to fuck off, I’m helping people here and you’re not going to bully me away from my post and giving him the name of another doctor who could help. Whether or not bastard father decides to take that offer, the anime doesn’t tell. And while they’re in the same area together, Tamahiko ends up saying he’s glad that his father and the family are safe. Bastard father still treats him like he’s dead. Let’s hope we never see him or his other unpleasant children again.

A month after the tragedy, Tamahiko and Yuzu were able to make it back home to Chiba and kinda pick up the pieces around them. Their house managed to stay sturdy during the quake and aftershocks and Chiba wasn’t as wrecked as other places like Tokyo. So this would be a perfect time to celebrate Tamahiko’s birthday. Unfortunately, Tamahiko wasn’t able to celebrate his birthday because Yuzu was away in Tokyo and that date was the big quake. During the celebration, Tamahiko thanked his big support-net of friends and loved ones for everything. And we end with a kiss of Tamahiko and Yuzu.

Okay, I love happy endings and everything, but I can’t really buy the fact that everyone in Tamahiko’s inner circle (and then some) were safe from that earthquake. Did you get a load of that kill-count? This earthquake took out a lot, even in surrounding areas of Tokyo and outer-lands. There were fire storms! FIRE! STORMS! Tamahiko is one lucky son-of-a-gun to have all his friends, family members, and relations come out of this tragedy alive. But aside from my thoughts on that matter…

So cute! This anime was just too cute for words. I was so happy in the first episode watching this that Tamahiko didn’t turn out to be a jerk considering his up-bringing. I want more from this story. I want to see Tamahiko and Yuzu get married. I know they gave me imaginations from Ryou and Tamako imagining Yuzu in a wedding dress, but I want the real thing. Now is it possible we could get another season?

If this series was popular enough, then I sure hope so. I believe there is enough material between the time the anime ends and where the manga ends. However, this might be a case where they want to keep this anime pure with the Tamahiko x Yuzu aspect. Apparently, things get hot and heavy in the manga. I personally would love to see more of this series, even if it involves having to see Tamahiko��s bastard father again. But what do you think? Is this a cute, overlooked series? I say give it a watch!

If you would like to watch this maiden fairy tale (pardon the pun), FUNimation has all of the episodes available for streaming.

#anime review #taishou otome otogibanashi #taisho maiden fairy tale #yuzuki tachibana #tamahiko shima #ryou atsumi

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missbemaeve · 4 years ago

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IF ONLY I THOUGHT OF THE RIGHT WORDS, I WOULDN’T BE BREAKING APART - YSTLC

remembering you running soft through the night, you were bigger and brighter and whiter than snow ( pictures of you ; the cure )

henry william castle, the bad boy with a heart of gold

“but man is not made for defeat. a man can be destroyed but not defeated.” – ernest hemingway

– BASIC INFORMATION –

» full name - henry william castle

» nicknames - harry

» age - nineteen

» birthday - march ninth, nineteen-sixty-five

» birthplace - manhattan, new york

» zodiac sign - pisces

» current residence - brooklyn, new york

» gender - cis male

» occupation - full time journalism major, art/philosophy minor student at nyu

– HEALTH –

» physical health - harry is averagely healthy. his achilles heel would be his lungs ; he’s smoked since he was fourteen and so his lung capacity is not as great as it could be but it doesn’t bother him because the only thing he runs from is his feelings.

» scars - he has some on his hands from pottery equipment when scoring clay ; he has one on his shin from where he and maeve were ice skating and he fell and her blade sliced through his jeans when they were younger ; he has many smaller ones from riding his motorcycle on his arms and legs from wiping out.

» broken (any) bones - he’s never broken a bone but he’s also not particularly adventurous, aside from his motorcycle riding, so it’s unsurprising.

– MENTAL HEALTH –

» extrovert or introvert - intensely introverted

» logical or creative - he balances the line between logic and creativity. because of his dual minor, he’s spent a lot of time reading about formal logic but he gets a lot of his emotions out with creativity via painting, sketching, pottery, and photography.

» optimist or pessimist - pessimist ; he’s found that preparing himself for the worst allows him to be pleasantly surprised when things turn out better.

» phobias / fears - oblivion ; he doesn’t know what is out there but the thought of an empty void paralyzes him.

» problems - because of his past, it isn’t unimaginable that harry has a hard time trusting others and building any sort of worthwhile relationship. the week he was born, his mother surrendered him at a fire station in manhattan with two letters: one for him to open someday and one for whoever found him. he was adopted by a loving couple who gave him everything he ever wanted but he never learned how to let himself feel wanted. the one friend that he let in and even fell in love with, as much as a teen could love, was ripped from his grasp and he has never opened himself up to the possibility of that pain since. he finds it easier to just be on his own.

– PERSONALITY –

» goals / dreams - harry doesn’t let himself plan further than a day ahead. whatever happens, will happen and he can’t let himself care. he thinks that maybe one day he’d like to be a reporter and tell stories that need to be told himself.

» quirks / habits - he chews the caps of his pens and the ends of his paint brushes when he’s lost in thought ; he leaves notes everywhere (on napkins, in margins of books and articles, etc.) of half-complete trains of thought

» likes - seeing the sun set and rise in the same night ; creating art (he’s sold a few pieces to local galleries from a series of a mysterious girl) ; satire ; dark and observational humor ; going in to old, large cathedrals and just sitting in a back pew while he just looks at the stations of the cross and stained glass and thinks in the quiet ; reading existentialist work ; the color grey

» dislikes - overly-chatty people ; people who try too hard ; thinking about what lays ahead ; screwball or farcical comedy ; the smell of coffee ; his workspace being too organized

» flaws - he has a hard time learning to let go of things. everything that he’s ever gone through has only piled on top of his soul and weighed him down. he can get annoyed and angry relatively easily.

– FAMILY –

» parents - sienna grace davis-castle ( adopted mother ; kate beckinsale ), william peter castle ( adopted father ; bill nighy ), abigail barnes ( birth mother ; thandie newton )

» sibling(s) - none.

» children - none.

– APPEARANCE –

» height - five feet, nine inches

» weight - one hundred and sixty pounds

» eyes - brown

» hair - brown

» face and complexion - harry is half-black so his skin is light brown. in the sun, where he spends very little time, his skin only darkens and he doesn’t burn. he doesn’t have any freckles or moles on his face.

» build - lean and trim, subtle muscles ; average height

» defining marks - he has several tattoos up his arms and on his torso ; he’s rarely seen without facial hair because he thinks it makes him seem less approachable.

» dress style - he tends to gravitate more towards sweaters and jackets; he wears jeans and band t-shirts when he’s just hanging around his apartment. it’s rare to see him without his messenger bag where he keeps a notebook and a sketch pad with pencils in case inspiration strikes. on his right wrist is a woven bracelet that he’s had since he was eight years old ; he tells most people that he can’t unknot it and doesn’t care enough to cut it off but he’s actually just never been able to make himself take it off.

» faceclaim - jordan fisher

– ROMANTIC & SEXUAL –

» marital status - unmarried.

» sexual preference - heterosexual.

» ever had sex - he’s had several hookups since he went to college but none that have mattered or panned out.

» opinion on sex - it’s whatever to him; sure, it’s nice but it’s not like it always means something. he’s pretty careful to let any girl that he hooks up with know that it’s not going anywhere.

» opinion on relationships - they all end at some point and someone gets hurt so it’s best if they just don’t happen to begin with.

» turn on’s - snarky and sarcastic girls who can match his wit ; the feeling of nails gently tracing across his skin ; the way a girl’s gaze drops from his eyes to his lips in the split second before they kiss ; dark, curly hair ; honesty

» turn off’s - girls who try too hard to get his attention ; lying to him

» past relationships - maeve standish ( zoey deutch )

» current relationship - none

» future relationship - elise marie kent ( sophie turner )

– FRIENDSHIP –

» big group of friends or several close friends - preferably none ; he’s a lone wolf and doesn’t really see himself finding anyone to actually be friends with. he’s fine with his acquaintances as they are.

» best friend - even after her death, maeve standish. she’s the only person that he ever found that understood how he felt in his life.

» ever lied to a friend - no. he’s honest because he doesn’t have any reason not to be ; the truth always comes out anyway.

» the most horrible thing they did to a friend - [ see deepest regret ]

» list of friends -

; maeve standish ( zoey deutch )

; [ eventually ] james houseman ( david corenswet )

– MORALITY –

» ever been drunk - yes, he’ll occasionally find himself at a house party on weekends if his classmates ask him.

» lied to a significant other - considering his only real one was maeve, no.

» cheated on significant other - never.

» gotten into a fight - only one with maeve’s father the night that they returned to their apartment without her.

» deepest regret - not fighting harder to keep maeve safe with him before her parents sent her away.

» religion - he doesn’t believe in anything; he’s a staunch atheist

– MISCELLANEOUS –

» playlist - shorturl.at/dMZ67

» instagram -

» gifboard -

» inspiration -

#bio #harry castle

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mesaylormoon · 7 years ago

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Film and Fluff Blogging: A Review of The Edge of Seventeen

Today I’m going to take a slightly different direction and review a lighthearted dramedy. This review will not center around an Oscar bait movie, but it will definitely help me begin a trend of reviewing films that are not what one would consider the best of the year. But with that said, this one is also one of my favorites. In fact, The Edge of Seventeen is everything I believe Lady Bird should have been.

For those of you who have seen it, you know that The Edge of Seventeen was one of the most positively reviewed comedies of 2016, and it’s easy to see why. Unfortunately, it saw a sad showing at the box office, not even being able to gross $19 million. I had only seen one trailer for this film while preparing to watch another movie that was already released on DVD with a friend, so I suppose that this poor turnout seems predictable. There was no push for constant advertising, at least in my experience, so that could certainly be a reason why no one had the pleasure of seeing it.

The Edge of Seventeen tells the story of Nadine, a girl whose life becomes caught in a circle of drama after her best friend begins dating her brother. As you would expect, this ruins Nadine’s relationship with her friend, drives her further away from her brother, and causes her to become much more withdrawn and pessimistic. In order to overcome all of this, Nadine must learn to cope with the awkward events surrounding her life, in order for her to grow as a person and accept what the world will give her.

Films like The Edge of Seventeen fascinate me. I have never been a fan of movies like this, but I find it appreciable that the plot is centered around something so awkward, yet so emotionally charged. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a movie that chose to discuss the conflicts involving a relationship between a best friend and brother, nor any other relationships like this, but considering how terribly this story could have been written, it was tackled with great care. The story is obviously not an epic, but everything about it feels real. The emotions Nadine feels while witnessing these polarizing events, her failing familial ties, her longing to compensate for the company she doesn’t have, all of it feels like something that could take place in reality. For such a small story, the screenwriters did everything that they could with it. I never realized it, but now I see that a great story can also be one that seems alive. I don’t think many people can relate to this sort of story, but people can easily become invested in it. The fact that the movie features such a humorous protagonist also attributes to the movie’s likability. Which leads me to another element of The Edge of Seventeen that I’d like to discuss: the characters.

Nadine, being the main character, is the one I’d like to analyze first. I’d like to say that she is a well-developed character, one that is more well-thought out than most. She’s self-loathing (in a comedic, lampooning sort of way), a troublemaker, sarcastic, reserved, witty, an old soul, and has a sad lack of fashion sense. By no means anything new, but I do like how easy it is to identify the traits that make her personality stand out. Not many screenwriters take the care to make a character’s personality definable, and to finally see one who seemed more well-written was refreshing. Nadine comprises everything good about The Edge of Seventeen.

But this leads me to the more problematic characters in this movie: Nadine’s best friend Krista and Nadine’s brother. Neither of them are particularly likable. Krista and Nadine’s brother Darian have the most negative traits out of everyone in this movie. Their biggest flaws are obvious--they are both incredibly selfish. I understand that because Krista and Darian have feelings for each other, it’s difficult to resist their temptation to start a relationship. But what’s more important is to consider the well-being of others, in this case, Nadine. The two force the poor girl to suffer through the awkwardness of their romance, not caring at all how lonely, isolated, and miserable it makes her feel. This to me makes them the least likable characters I’ve watched in recent memory.

At first, Krista seems like a fun character, what with her being supportive of Nadine throughout the hardships in her life, and even being a good companion at parties. But after she caves into her desire for Darian, she immediately loses any likability she could’ve had. She does nothing to redeem herself for anything she had done to her best friend of a decade, and honestly, talking about her anymore would just make me seethe.

Darian is just as bad. He is self-obsessed and enjoys feeding into his mother’s favoritism of him, and this makes him annoying, as well. At the very least he does become a bit sympathetic by the end of the movie, when he reveals how much he dislikes the issues of his life, and I suppose that, at best, makes him a salvageable character. That doesn’t necessarily make him a good character, nor does it make him well-written.

However, another element of The Edge of Seventeen I enjoy is the pacing. Although the story is slow-moving, viewers are given the time to sympathize with Nadine and her struggles, making their experience watching the movie that much more immersive. Whether Nadine is strengthening her relationship with a new friend or trying her hardest to remain neutral in the midst of an inappropriate romance, audiences are given a great amount of time to wallow in every negative emotion she does. Anyone caught between the selfish decisions between a best friend and brother would feel just as irritated, closed-off, angry, and embittered, and in just about every scene, Nadine’s navigation of the ordeal is explored in detail. Hailee Steinfeld is fantastic as our lead actress, and every expression and line of dialogue perfectly encapsulates the joys and frustrations of learning to ignore a situation as awkward as hers. To balance all of the grief with positive moments, Nadine is also able to share comedic moments with a boy named Erwin, and her history teacher. Almost every scene with these secondary characters are great, and it’s great to see that a character as likable as Nadine is able to find comfort in spending time with people outside her family.

The ending and the character development are the last things about the film I would like to discuss. Even if it isn’t perfect, I suppose it ends the story in a satisfying way. After Nadine stops acting out in anger and sees the errors of her ways, she stops herself from making even more foolish mistakes, and becomes more considerate of her family. This leads to one of the best scenes in The Edge of Seventeen: her lament to her brother. Her lament is very simple, but so impactful and relatable that you’d swear she’s speaking to everyone who feels insecure about who they are. She begins by apologizing for everything wrong that she had done that night, and admits to being selfish, too. She understands that many of her actions had led other people to suffer along with her, and expresses legitimate guilt about what she had done. To add to the emotional weight of this scene, she expresses frustration about how much she resents herself, as well as her fear of not being able to change who she is. From this point on, Nadine is ready to become a better person and forge better relationships with her family. Again, this leads back to the idea of the necessity of relatability in a narrative. Almost every teenager struggles with a lack of self-esteem, as well as insecurities regarding who they are as people. Anyone around Nadine’s age can identify with her lament, and will find themselves moved by her declaration of change. This leads to a satisfying conclusion, and a peaceful feeling that Nadine’s will be more content with her life.

The Edge of Seventeen is one of the most entertaining movies I’ve ever seen. I hope that it grows a larger cult following, as the story is so well-told, and leads to many heartfelt and dramatic moments. It makes for great entertainment for a chick flick night, so if you haven’t seen it with any friends, a chick flick night would be a great time to watch it. It’s well-written with genuine drama, and that’s more than enough for me to say that it’s amazing.

#the edge of seventeen #the edge of seventeen review #hailee steinfeld #woody harrelson #2016 movies #2016 movie reviews #coming of age #coming of age movies #new classics

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sunken-standard · 7 years ago

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Hi there! Could you possibly turn your considerable talents to prompts 27 and 57, please? (if nobody has got in ahead of me!) Tom-verse if possible, but I'm happy to leave the artistic decisions to the artist :-) Ellis

I tried for Tom-verse, but I justcouldn’t make anything fit (though, I mean, if you squint, it couldmaybe fit in there before the first ficlet in the series). Sorry! For some reason the unicorn prompt just tripped me up (I’m evenreusing a bit I had written and scrapped for the other one becauseI’m just coming up empty). I’m so off my comedy game and all aboardthe train to angstville, apparently. Also, just pretend thechronology fits with the actual timeline of the show and Surrey hasthe year-round summer of LA.

“Sometimes I just don’t wantto exist”/ “You asked me if unicorns were real”

“Didyou ever wonder if unicorns were real? Like one horse somewhere inprehistory with some kind of keratinous carcinoma or something thatstarted it all?” Molly said, staring at the 14thcentury ‘unicorn’ horn (that of a narwhal, most likely) mounted onthe wall of the study.

“Probablysomething along those lines, could have been an oryx or a rhino thatsomeone saw while in an altered state. Between ergot, mushrooms,natural fermentation, and all manner of disease andnaturally-occurring poisons, added to the fact that there was noreliable way to record an experience, it’s amazing we as a speciesever came to any consensus about the nature of reality,”Sherlock said as he searched the club treasurer’s desk.

“Saythat at a physics conference sometime,” she said.

Officesupplies, sweets, nail clippers, cap for a memory stick but no memorystick (bugger), sticky note with password to company server(P@55vv0rd, how clever), deck of naughty playing cards (didn’t evenknow they still made those); nothing useful. Bollocks.

“Whenhave you ever been to a physics conference?” He paused in hissearch.

“Never. But I’ve heard stories.”

“Whenhave you 'heard stories?’”

“Anex-boyfriend is a theoretical physicist. That one was more schizoidthan sociopath, though.”

Ugh. Another one. He wished she wouldn’t talk about them. He’d muchrather pretend she wasn’t an actual woman and never had anyboyfriends at all, for reasons he didn’t care to examine at themoment. Or ever. He went back to rifling the drawer.

“Haveyou ever considered your time would be better spent by taking up ahobby instead of wasting it on relationships? Knitting, taxidermy,paragliding?”

“Sexis a hobby.”

“Nymphomaniaisn’t a hobby, it’s an addiction.”

“Well,what do you know, we have something in common,” she said lightlyand, in Sherlock’s opinion, rather cruelly.

“Notan addict, I’m a user, there’s a difference.”

“AndI’m not a sex addict. Though, I mean, I’m not a user,either, because that sounds like I’m just looking for a sugar daddyor something. I just like sex. A lot. I mean, we only get so muchtime, might as well enjoy it.”

“Yetwhen I say that about any number of arbitrarily illegal substances, Iget crucified.”

“Wellit’s not like I’m going to suffer a collapsed vagina from repeatedpenetration, unlike a vein and a needle. Or, you know, literally diefrom too many orgasms.”

Hegrunted as he popped the secret panel behind the drawer. He reallyhoped it wasn’t booby trapped. Good thing she was being so annoying;if he started thinking about her vagina and repeated penetration hemight get sidetracked.

“Isthat his girlfriend or his daughter?” Molly muttered as shelooked across the lawn to the pool.

Sherlocklooked for himself; the client’s midlife crisis girlfriend and eitherher sister or her friend (hard to tell, they both had the same dyedblonde hair and Instagram brows and noses picked from a book in aCzech bargain-basement plastic surgeon’s office) were lounging indeck chairs. Nothing particularly striking about them; he wonderedwhy she sounded a bit bitter. Wasn’t like her. Best not to ask, hethought, lest he actually get an answer. Solving the case shouldcheer her up.

“Girlfriend. And she’s got nothing to look forward to but a life ofdisappointment and melanoma. Come on, I want to check thegroundskeeper’s cottage before he gets back from shaving thetopiaries or painting the grass green or whatever other crimesagainst nature these people feel the need to commit for the sake ofappearances.”

“Wow,is that…?”

“Youasked me if unicorns were real. Apparently they are,” he saidas they approached the groom, busy saddling a white pony with a pinkmane and a rather realistic horn somehow affixed to its head.

“Huh,”Molly said. Then, as the pony lifted its tail and did what allanimals do, “The internet lied. That was supposed to be arainbow.”

Sherlocksmirked, then schooled his face before addressing the groom. Wouldn’t do to look happy while questioning the main suspect.

“Sothe groom was actually the birth mother and she was helpingthe ex-wife steal from the client? I will never understand richpeople. Kinda sad for the little girl, though,” Molly said,looking out the window of the train.

“Alwaysis,” he dismissed, but not rudely. He hoped.

“Imean, I kind of sympathize with the ex-wife, especially after seeingthe girlfriend. A woman gets to a certain age and she’s just…disposable.”

Helooked at her askance; that uncharacteristic note of bitterness wasback in her voice again.

“Isthis about Tom? You broke it off with him, why are you still upsetover it?”

Surelya few months was more than enough time to get over him. She barelyblinked before moving on from other boyfriends.

“It’snot about Tom. Well, maybe some of it. I’m just tired ofstupid men always coming out on top in these things.”

“Hardly'on top’ in this case. His nine year old daughter already resentshim, which is unlikely to change, he can’t perform for hisbarely-legal fiancée—yes, I found a ring while looking for thememory stick—without the help of a little blue pill, and she’lltake him to the cleaners in the divorce settlement within five years,provided his hypertension doesn’t kill him first, at which point thedaughter gets it all anyway. That is, if there’s anything left bythen. He has a mountain of debt and he’s made nothing but poorinvestment choices since his ex-wife left.”

“Youknow about investing? I thought you hated City boys and the entireconcept of money.”

“Iknow a bit. Mrs. Hudson knows more. She did successfullylaunder the earnings of a not-insignificant drug cartel for thebetter part of twenty years.”

Theway Molly’s lips pressed together and her eyebrows rose as she tippedher head indicated she really wasn’t very surprised.

“Evenso, ’s still not fair, is it?”

“Verylittle ever is,” he said.

Hedidn’t like Molly being so pessimistic. It was out of place with theorder of things. He’d much rather she talk at length and in greatdetail about her vagina and its numerous exploits if it meant shewasn’t so… down.

“SometimesI just don’t want to exist. It’s still a man’s world and being asingle woman over thirty sucks.”

Nothinghe could really say to that without sounding like a completearsehole. Just because he didn’t voice any opinions on it didn’tmean he was blind to the struggles competent women faced. Hell, heknew what it had done to his own mother, and she’d been relativelylucky in the stable, supportive partner area.

“Well,you’ve always got me?” he said, more in the form of a questionthan a statement. He squinted to make it look like he really wasn’tsure if that was the correct protocol for offering support; hecouldn’t let her know he meant it so sincerely that he refused tothink about the feelings it stirred and what that might mean.

Sheglanced at him with an expression on her face he couldn’t read, thenlooked back out the window. "I suppose I could find a worsesidekick,“ she said after a few moments.

"Sidekick.” He raised an eyebrow.

“Well,yeah, obviously. I did solve the case, after all.”

“Youdidn’t solve the case. You found the memory stick, and that was justdumb luck. I solved the case. He made the check out to me.”

“Itwasn’t dumb luck. I knew they had cats, and I know where toy-sizedthings end up when there’s a cat around.”

“Yes,and if you want a sidekick you should get another cat. I’ll just beyour… consultant.”

“Consultantpain in my arse,” she said, her lips twitching up a bit at thecorner. It was a start.

“Theysay 'follow your bliss…’” he said lightly, which earned himone of those impish smirks that gave him a mild, almost pleasant formof indigestion.

Sidekick. Honestly. Though he supposed there were worse fates than playingsecond fiddle to Molly Hooper.

#anonymous #drabble ask meme round 3 #sherlolly #sunken's secret stash

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