#like i gotta put on a character as one of the Donut Girls & the second i’m not charming and borderline flirting & I just go on autopilot—

[rosesradio]

🧍

[itsdappleagain]

hell yeah baby backstory time

it is time for the boston tea party caper!!

notes under the cut assss always

this episode is a bit of a mix-up for me. i like it but not my favorite all things considered. i'm still excited though- some of the moments in this episode are GOLD

HQ!!!

JHSGHSD "hey red hows san diego" "not great" "im not talking about you girl"

"i thought he lived in the cloud"

player looks so unamused pls

PLEASE "though i am hearing voices again" HOW WAS THAT RELEVANT. WERE U HEARING VOICES BEFORE

shadowsan is the best character here he's so funny

THE "THAT IS NOT WHAT I MEANT"

if they vowed to use their "superpowers" for good and ivy hotwired that car later on i guess maybe they used to steal cars and then decided to go straight maybe

ivy is so cool

OH hey also by the way their younger designs. SO GOOD carmen should have gotten a dorky in between phase we were robbbbed

small

not trey and his butt chin

i like how the screen glitches when its paused on trey. new headcanon this is a powerpoint presentation they threw together right then and there

you dare knock LYDIA

"i got this" zack says with the confidence of a man who just ate taco bell learning they won't see another restroom for eight more hours on the road trip

the talking through the race kills me every time 😭you can't hear each other

man this racetrack has an overhead drone keeping exact pace with the leading car

zack had a chase devineaux phase too once

carmen sandiego: oh no no we're rated for seven year olds!! the boston tea party caper: the mafia boss who lent us money threatened to put a hit out on us if we didn't commit a robbery for him on a suspicious front for a money laundering operation for the mob

the main reason i dislike this episode and need for speed is because zack doesnt ever get to learn. he was impulsive and it was bad in duke of vermeer, he was impulsive and it was bad in boston tea (okay fine, it shows us his younger self! fine with that) BUT THEN HE IS IMPULSIVE AND ITS BAD AGAIN NEXT TIME. FOR THE SAME REASONS whyyy wouldn't they take duke of vermeer as an opportunity to show his growth instead of making him out to be some angry no control childish idiot who sacrifices untold amounts for a little payback. and drags ivy down with him EVERY TIME

there's something so cool and sinister about ivy smiling, reassuring him, and then slowly pulling down the ski mask to hide any emotion. ivy and zack seem like they could have been prime targets for VILE recruitment- they could have gone down a much darker path

shadowsan was so invested

carmen's puberty crammed in those few months between the boat and the boston holy shit

player accidently saved zack and ivy's asses by turning off those cameras jgjsgkd

the second perspective of zack crashing into the wall kills me every time pls

here goes carmen with "its for your own safety" who taught her that phrase

i love how z and i immediately think that this person couldnt possibly be...i dont know. an employee or a manager or someone who works at the donut place. she's gotta be another thief. i mean they are right but like why

the giant ass green vault behind the fridge door 😭

WE'RE FOLLOWIN THAT LADY FOLLOWIN THOSE BREADCRUMBS TO THE DOUGH

wait didn't they arrive in a truck parked on the other side of the building

carmen ALSO had a chase devineaux phase

???? isnt that truck she just stole the one they got there in???

i mean carmen. girl. you kicked them out of their own robbery and then stole their car did you expect them not to follow you

carmen's devineaux side coming out <3 also completely shameless carmen cant drive comic plug

there are so many car accidents literally everyone could have died in for these two (this and need for speed) episodes. credits roll as the paramedics show up to carmen who just CRASHED HER CAR INTO A FUCKING HOLE HEAD FIRST

they had to make sure to show us that carmen was literally the worst driver possible to justify zack being there

i love zack immediately getting super friendly with the random woman who just stole their car, crashed it, and then stole it again with them inside

carmen: haha suave quip zack and ivy, the two most neurodivergent bitches on the planet: IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR

also carmen looks hilariously uncomfortable wedged behind this shipping crate. she's experiencing her first infodump

the loaning money joke is actually very funny

i kind of like how awkward carmen still is in some areas. she still talks like a VILE operative- she reports her every move to player, she simply responds with "understood." because thats the only way she knows how to relate

ANGY

ivy: oh no camera: zooms out to show the most outraged face the animators could draw

screenshots of all time

can you imagine your weirdgirl little 16 year old classmate dips and you see her a few months later and she's turned into this trenchcoat wearing 5'7" long haired adult woman whose only goal is to make your life a thousand times harder

not quite sure how this episode said "oh yeah. her classmates who knew her as a kid constantly call her by the wrong name and disrespect her despite constant corrections. and also her mother figure, seeing the new her, disowns her with the proclamation that this new person killed her child when she took this new name and betrayed her" and made it not transgender

le chevre was so cool about everything for like three minutes

HEY okay my favorite detail of the show is that when carmen runs in this episode she gets way out of breath because she isn't in shape yet i LOVE that detail

i have never heard more emotion from gina than when she went "YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME"

THROW HER OVERBOARD

el topo is also cool about things for like three minutes

zack and ivy bounce constantly between dumb orange cat energy and golden retriever who would jump into the ocean for a guy who petted them once energy

legend has it carmen still manages to throw el topo and le chevre in the water every time they are within a mile of it

i love le chevre backing up and running away from her because he's like oh shit. wasn't she like the best in our class?? is she going to kill me or something?? why did she leave VILE what the fuck im booking it nah

YEAH I NEED THE ROPE CARMEN IS SO MEAN IN THIS EPISODE ITS SO FUCKING FUNNY

IVY RESPONDING TO THE ASK FOR "MUSCLES" WAS A UNIVERSAL LESBIAN WIN FOR EVERY SINGLE PERSON ON THE PLANET GOD WHAT AN ICONIC SCENE. MILADY. ALL SHE HAD TO DO WAS KISS HER HAND GOD

its never brought up ever again that ivy's "shirt" is actually a blue undershirt and a black vest and that is criminal we needed a gay vest. something

the slomo kick is so hot

LE CHEVRE STEPPING ON HER HEAD

those plates must have hurt so fucking bad

okay well. you DO commit crimes

"the police have no idea they exist" okay. TELL THEM

SEE? VEST.

"got any room for us on your next job?" "you know what? sure! come along and help me take down this global criminal organization. uhhh what are your names again btw?"

yall i dont think eddie is going to want to see you for the money

A FLYING CAR he said yeah zack that was smart

i love how offended by literally everything the bostonians do shadowsan is

THEY MADE SHADOWSAN GET IN THE BACK BEHIND THE SEAT HAHAHAHHJHD

that hq wont be so wasted when you die of hypothermia! good luck carmen

alrighty, thats the beantown caper all done! only two more to catch up on before I'm on time again for my favorite episode this saturday >:)

[hellsingmongrel]

That sure was a fuckin’ JOURNEY

(Spoilers, AGAIN, for Trigun, Trimax, and Tristamp)  Welp.  I hyperfixated on the entirety of Trigun Maximum that I got through it in like a day combined of reading, and that was WILD.  Actually had a headache from fixating so hard and from all the megasads, but now that I’ve seen the conclusion, I’m feeling a lot clearer in my brain.

What made me kind of cackle at the end was that Meryl and Milly.  Became REPORTERS.  People who complain about Meryl being a reporter in Stampede can just sit down.  It’s canon.  They just moved the timelines a bit.  Also, HOLY SHIT was that the most “The Power of Love and Friendship” solution to the battle I’ve ever seen out of a magical girl anime!  And honestly, it made SO MUCH FUCKING SENSE.  Needle-noggin’s unending, exasperating pacifism actually did save the world!  Who would have thought???  And I sure as Hell did not expect EARTH to still be functioning and sending out rescue ships!

NGL, though, there was a stretch where I legit was worried it wouldn’t have a happy ending AT ALL, and boy did that make me even more worried!  It was SO DARK.  So much death and horror and actual sexual assault (which is the one that I REALLY didn’t expect, and especially not with the character it involved, wow, :U)  Nor did I expect Knives to come out of it on the other end actually going “...Wow, ok, yeah, I was a shit.”  And for a while, there, it felt like a TOTALLY different story than it started off as!

Nightow did a good job of bringing it back around full circle at the end, and in such a way that yeah, Vash was having to be back on his bullshit all over again, but he didn’t have the weight of everything he was running from emotionally weighing him down like he had before, which made it seem so much nicer!  Sure, he’ll have to deal with people getting hurt and killed, but it seems like he’s not going to be putting the blame for literally every little thing that happens on his own shoulders.

I gotta say, when it comes to Stampede, I’ve seen some people saying that the Knives we get in episode 11 is super out of character and he would NEVER do what he did, but man.  I gotta say.  After reading the entirety of the manga, I do not agree with that criticism.  There was a time there when he SUPER tried to shut down any compassion he had for Vash, so I can totally see him trying to use him for his own goals.  I’m still excited to see how they handle the rest of the story they’re telling with the new series and stand by my assertion that Stampede Vash should be wrapped up in blankets and given cocoa and lots and LOTS of therapy and hugs and cuddles and head pats and told everything’s going to be ok.  But he seems like a much younger Vash, who you only saw a few times in Max, but who had the same sort of naivete.  It’s an interesting reimagining for the boy, but it all still feels very much like our favorite donut-addicted doofus.

Also, I have mountains of Vashwood feels that I don’t have the current capacity to handle and will have to stew on for a while, because GOOD LORD that was one hell of a fucking ride in THAT regard, too.  Meanwhile, literally his relationship with Meryl and Milly feels almost like the protective, constantly-worrying parent.  I know Meryl and Vash is a huge ship, and that’s totally valid, I just do not see him feeling that way for her at all.  o_O  The part where she was bawling and he was kneeling down to talk on her level had HUGE “adult talking to an upset child” vibes for me and nope.  It just reinforced the “This man looks like he’s barely old enough to drink, but he’s literally old enough to be everyone’s great, great, great grandparent!”  He still lights up like a giant golden retriever puppydog when they show up, because he adores the fuck out of the insurance girls, holy shit! It just doesn’t seem romantic to me at.

All in all, I gotta say, when I was big into anime and manga, Hellsing was my top favorite and Trigun was my second favorite, solely based on the Trigun anime.  But after the really unsatisfying way Hellsing ended for me, and after seeing the way Trigun Max was done, it absolutely blows Hellsing out of the number one spot for me.  It’s just SO GOOD!  I was seriously doing myself a major disservice, not reading it for so long!  Not that I had much control over supply chain issues for very small rural towns with little access to foreign goods.

There’ve been rumors that Dark Horse is planning a special edition rerelease of the manga (same as they did for Hellsing a few years ago, apparently.  That’s on my bucket list) and I will ABSOLUTELY be buying those if and when they do!  GIB GIB!  LEMME HAVE PHYSICAL COPIES!  I HAVE A MIGHTY NEED!

[noladyme]

La Cuervo - Chapter 12

She is used to the biker-life, having grown into a woman in the familiar embrace of SAMCRO. A bad decision and a gun-shot later, she gets whisked off to Santo Padre, and put under the protection of another club. What is supposed to be a short stint in the Mayan headquarters just north of the border to Mexico, turns into something more; when la quervo begins to develop feelings for el angel - and he seems to return them in kind...

TW: violence, blood, drug use, alcohol, smut, fluff, angst

In the spirit of "The Crown Princess of Charming", this is a story about O.C. Nina and Angel Reyes. It is obviously non-canon, as characters who have passed on on Mayans M.C. are present in it, and others have been excluded completely. Nina is written as a cis-female, but I have tried to keep her race and looks as ambigous as possible. Should you find any of this story offensive, please let me know.

12.

She stepped out of the trailer the next morning, freshly showered and made up. The sun was blaring down from a cloudless sky, but in spite of her determination to make the best of a shitty situation, it was still difficult to enjoy the beauty of the day. She went in to the clubhouse, and was met Chucky; holding out a mug of coffee at her. “It’s good that you’re still here”, he smiled. “Yeah…”, Nina said quietly, before leaning forwards, and planting a chaste kiss to his cheek. Chucky immediately blushed, and rushed out of the door, to go open the office.

EZ had set up a couple of plates for them, with donuts and orange juice. “Gaby’s been busy with school…”, he said apologetically. “How very dares she?”, Nina gasped in jest. They sat down, and began their usual morning banter. It felt almost like a normal morning, save the murky cloud of gloom from Nina’s breakdown the night before hanging over them.

Coco and Gilly came in to the clubhouse, and the smaller biker immediately walked over to her, and put a hand on her cheek, before bending down to press a kiss to the top of her head. He didn’t say anything – he didn’t need to – but his gesture was welcome, and Nina gave him a half smile. “I’m good”, she replied to his unspoken question. Coco nodded, and Gilly squeezed her shoulder. “How is Camille?”. “Healing. But she’s not talking about what happened to her; probably too scared. Creep went down earlier this morning to check on her”. Nina’s smile widened. “Creeper’s in love…”, she said. “He’s probably just horny”, Gilly muttered.

“I hope that’s just it. That chula is too clingy…”, Coco said. “Coco! She just had her ass beat by a complete psycho…”, Nina said. “I can feel bad about that, and still think she’s annoying”, Coco shrugged. “She’s one of those girls whose so desperate to belong to an MC in one way or another, she’ll fuck anything in a cut, and do anything to be let into the family. Like she gets off on the patch in itself". “That’s harsh”, EZ said. “You didn’t hear her talk, boy scout”, Coco said. “I love your bike, Coco. I’ll do anything for the club, Coco. Don’t take off your cut when we fuck, Coco… Fucking loca”. Nina scowled at him for a moment, but Coco seemed steadfast in his opinion, and disregarded her chiding eyes. The four of them sat for a few moments, and talked about nothing and everything; before the men had to get to work around the yard. Nina went into the front office, and put on the oversized Romero Bros. shirt. She spent the rest of the morning taking calls, and filing paperwork.

In the afternoon she finally had a few moments to relax with a book, before she needed to restock the shelves and fridges of the clubhouse. It felt good to keep busy – it kept her mind of her shitty situation – but her foot seemed to be more busted from her kicking the barbell than she’d thought, so having some time to put her feet up in the trailer was a welcome break. She’d left the door ajar to let in some fresh air. The tiny fan she’d nabbed from templo – which Bishop hadn’t complained about her taking, probably feeling guilty about whoring out her old man – was not strong enough to work against the heat that would stream in, if she’d left it completely open. She’d taken the picture of Abel and Thomas, and set it next to the small framed picture of the Reyes family on the beach, that EZ had set up again; after he’d thought he had the trailer back.

She recognized the sound of Angel’s bike rolling onto the lot. He wasn’t alone, as she heard Daniella’s voice once he turned off the engine. “Baby, I’m just saying; don’t you think it’s weird that she just dropped out of nowhere from up north?”, the blonde said. “What are you saying?”, Angel asked. “Why is she here?”, Daniella replied. “Does it matter? I’m not with her anymore, Dani”. Nina peeked out between the blinds of the small window over the cot, and saw Angel putting an arm around Daniella, and placing a short peck on the corner of her lips. Daniella giggled, and tried to pull him in for a deeper kiss, but Angel seemed to get distracted by something else, and went to hang his helmet on the handlebar of his bike.

Unable to sit by quietly, Nina put down her book, and stepped out of the trailer. She shot a hard look at Angel, who managed to keep his cool demeanor; but she saw a ghost of something resembling pain in his eyes. “Hi, Nina”, Daniella smiled overbearingly. “I heard you felt under the weather last night. How are you doing?”. “Dani…”, Angel muttered. “I’m great. I finally got rid of that case of the clap Angel left me with”, Nina replied. “Just some friendly advice; you can get it in your throat as well…”. Daniella’s eyes widened. “Right… You probably knew that already. Was it a present from you?”. She walked by them, and onto the porch to go into the clubhouse. “Are you gonna let her talk to me like that?”, she heard Daniella snarl at Angel. “I’ll talk to her”, Angel muttered. “You better…”.

Less than a second after Nina had closed the door behind her, Angel slammed it open, grabbed her arm, and pulled her with him towards templo. His expression was angry, and Nina saw Daniella smile smugly at her as they went. She went to sit by the bar with Riz and Hank, who looked confused at the situation. Once inside the dim room, Angel pressed Nina against the wall next to the door; keeping them out of sight of the people in the bar-area. He pressed his body against her, and grabbed the back of her head; before devouring her lips in a deep, passionate kiss. Nina tried her best to keep quiet from the pleasurable signals Angel’s lips were sending to her groin. She pressed her hands against his chest, and made him step back. “I’m sorry, cuervo”, he whispered, his eyes almost desperate. “Fuck. I hate this”, Nina whispered. “Me too…”, Angel replied. “I gotta set you right… She needs to think…”. Nina nodded. Angel frowned deeply, and pressed a short kiss to her lips, before his voice boomed at her. “You don’t talk to her like that! What the fuck is your problem?”. In spite of the plan, Nina was too proud to just stand by. “Fuck you, Angel…”, she roared. “Watch your mouth”, he growled in reply. He kissed her again, and Nina gasped against his lips. “What are you gonna do? Smack me around?”, she said. “Don’t fucking tempt me…”. He blew out a deep breath, and pressed a final kiss to her lips, before kicking the chair by the door, creating a ruckus. They nodded at each other, before Angel stomped out of the room, leaving her behind.

Nina took a long moment to calm down. She was flustered, as a strange mix of anger, pain – and if she was being honest to herself, horniness – rushed through her veins. Finally, somewhat settled, she went back into the bar-area, and got behind the counter; looking appropriately chastened. Angel was stood next to Daniella, looking every bit the returned champion, and without a word, Nina set down a beer in front of him. Daniella very obviously ignored her, and focused on running her hand up Angel’s chest. Nina wanted to barf at the sight, but managed to keep her lunch down this time. Hank raised a brow at her, and she shook her head slightly, before beginning to fill the fridge. Riz got behind the counter, and squeezed her hand covertly, before handing her a cigarette, and taking over her task. “Go take a break”, he said shortly. Nina gave him a thankful smile, and went back outside.

She sat down on the steps, and blew out a deep breath. “I deserve an Oscar…”, she muttered to herself, and lit her smoke.

---

Spending the evening serving beers and drinks to the club members, her “ex” and his date wasn’t the easiest task. EZ had apparently been told to keep his distance from her, while Daniella was around; to make it clear how unimportant, and last week’s news Nina was. This left her behind the bar alone, and the friendly banter she was used to from the Mayans was limited. Angel and Daniella left at around 10 pm, and Nina sighed in relief as she saw them close the door behind them. Having to look at Angel laying it on thick while flirting with Daniella, made her want to scream. It was beyond any kind of petty jealousy she’d felt in her life before. Daniella wasn’t just touching something she wanted; she was touching what was hers, and Nina couldn’t do anything to stop it.

Bishop came up behind her, as she was cleaning some glasses at the end of the night, and patted her shoulder. “Let the prospect do that. Come sit down”. She quietly followed him over to a table, where Taza and Hank were seated. Bishop sat down across from her. “Palo’s been in touch. He says the attack on Camille was all Sala”. Nina frowned in confusion. “I pressed him a bit”, Taza said. “He swears her attack had nothing to do with Gael’s death”. Nina scoffed, and chuckled sarcastically. “Sure. That’s why they left her in one of your tunnels”, she said. “We’re not saying we believe him”, Hank said. He pushed a packet of smokes towards her, and she took one, letting him light it for her.

Nina sat for a moment, going over everything that had happened the night of the party, and the day after. “Daniella was acting weird when she came by the other day”, she said. “She seemed surprised I was here”. “She probably was”, Taza said. “So far, everything points towards her being the snitch; but we still need to know how much she’s been sharing with the Vatos. That’s why Angel needs to…”. “Yeah, I got it… But that’s how he found out she wasn’t me…”, Nina sighed. “She called him after she saw me; and then all of a sudden, Camille gets dumped where they know you’ll find her… He was trying to send a message. He got the wrong woman; but he knows I’m here”. “Palo claims that he doesn’t suspect us of hiding you, and that we’re still at peace”, Bishop said. “But what about Camille?”, Nina asked. “She’s innocent in all this”. “Vatos Malditos are paying her recompense for the beating at the hands of one of their members, plus something on the side for us; as a show of good faith”, Taza said. “Because she’s part of the Mayan family”, Nina muttered. “And they aren’t supposed to touch family…”. “I don’t know if I’d call her family. She’s mostly been spending her time as a human condom for whoever she can get her hands on. I think even Riz tapped that, before she climbed on the Coco-train”, Hank said, a slight smile on his face. “And now it’s Creeper”. “Nina, you’re still safe here”, Taza tried, having figured out what she was actuallytrying to say; but Nina just shook her head in irritation.

She leaned back in her seat, and let out an exasperated sigh. “This is bullshit… We know they took her because they thought she was me. Why is Palo stalling?” “Possibly to get more info on Mayan business before he makes his move. If he can take out us and get you at the same time, that’s two birds with one stone”, Bishop said. “He wants our business with SAMCRO. He doesn’t suspect they have anything to do with his primo’s killing”, Hank said. Nina took a deep huff of the smoke. “Does SAMCRO know?”, she asked, and blew out the smoke. “I’m calling Chibs once we’re done here”, Bishop said. “But I think you know where their allegiances lie”. “With the Mayans”, Nina said. “With you, mija”, the president said. Nina looked down, feeling her cheeks burn. “SOA wouldn’t go back on their deal with you… They’re loyal”. “Yeah, they are… But us taking you in has only sealed that deal even more”, Bishop said.

Nina took a moment to let his words settle. “And Daniella? What’s gonna happen to her?”, she finally asked. “For now, nothing”, Bishop said. “Angel’s going to treat her like a queen; and hopefully she’ll slip up, and tell him about her deal with VM. We might even be able to use her to give them false leads”. “And me?”, Nina said. “You do what you’ve been doing up until now… Except Angel”, Bishop replied. Nina shot him a dirty look. “For now…”, Taza added. Bishop looked like he would have rolled his eyes, if he wasn’t too proud for gestures like that. “Look, I don’t care what you two do when this is all over, but we can’t let anyone outside the club know you haven’t split. That includes hangarounds who might talk to the bitch. Keep it in your pants”. “Yes, sir”, Nina muttered, and got to her feet. “Anything else I need to know? Or do I just go put on the chastity-belt you’ve probably had forged for me…?”. “Yeah”, Bishop said, almost in a growl. “We’re gonna have one of us here each night, to keep an eye on the place”. “And me, I’m guessing”, Nina said. “You make it sound like I grounded you”, he said. “Didn’t you?”. Bishop frowned at her, but Nina simply turned around, and left the clubhouse.

“I like that kid”, she heard Bishop mutter, just before she closed the door behind her.

---

There was a quiet knock to the trailer-door, just as Nina had finished getting ready for bed. Outside stood Angel, with a look on his face, which Nina recognized immediately. “Daddy says I’m not supposed to let you in”, she said, a smile ghosting her face. Angel stepped inside, pushing her backwards, and closing the door behind him. “Papi says he doesn’t give a fuck”, he growled, and attacked her lips. He turned her around, and pressed her against the door; leaving no room between their bodies. His presence invaded her senses, and as he moved his lips down her neck, Nina winced.

“You smell like her perfume…”, she said. Angel stepped back, and brushed his thumb across his lower lip. Nina’s eyes were hard, and her heart was beating a million miles an hour. She grabbed the collar of his flannel, and sniffed it. “It’s your shirt… Take it off”. Angel looked confused for a second, before a fire lit in his eyes, and he quickly shrugged off his cut, and opened his shirt, yanking it off, and leaving him in his beater and jeans. “What else do you want?”, he asked with a ragged voice. “I want to know what you did with her”, Nina said. “I didn’t do anything. I just took her home…”, Angel said. “No, before all this… what did you do with her that makes her want you so much, that she’s willing to sell out me and the club for you?”.

She pushed him backwards to sit on the cot, and straddled his lap. Not wearing anything other than panties and a top came in handy, as her core rubbed against his hardening bulge. It was all she could do to not moan, and grind against him. “I don’t know…”, Angel almost whispered. Nina took his hand, and placed it against her left breast. He stroked his thumb against her hardening nipple, over the fabric of her top. “Did you make her come?”, Nina asked. Angel looked almost offended at her words. “Ma’, I don’t fuck a woman without making her come…”. “No? Then; what did you do? Did you touch her like you do me?”, Nina said. She moved her and down between them, palming Angel's bulge; and he responded by letting out a short breath, and swallowing thickly. She leaned in to put her lips to his ear. “Did you have her on her knees in front of you, as you drank a beer, and let her suck your cock?”. Angel didn’t reply, and Nina sat back again. “Nina… I’m…”. “You did…”. “Mami, it’s a powermove… I was just trying to…”. Angel was flustered, and in spite of Nina’s angry expression – or perhaps because of it – he was growing harder by the second. “Did you eat cereal off her skin, before fucking her senseless?”. “No. That was only you”, Angel said. “And thanks for the compliment”. He tried for a sly smile, but Nina drew her lips back in a sneer. “Was she ever in your bed? In our bed?”. He shook his head, and cupped her face. “She was never in the house… ever”.

Nina pushed his hands away, and got on her feet. “Did you lick her pussy?”. “No”, Angel whispered. His eyes were earnest. “What? I can’t hear you”, Nina said. Angel stood up, and stepped over to her; towering over her, and placing a hand around her throat, to hold her in place. His face was less than an inch away, and his expression was hard. “No! I didn’t lick her pussy. I only do that with women I’m serious about!”. Nina nearly crumbled in front of him; all of her anger and need for control washing away. “But… You tried to, the first time we…”. “Yeah. I did”, Angel growled.

Suddenly, his lips were on hers again, and she melted in his arms. Angel put his arm around her, and turned her around, to make her lay down on the cot. He tugged her panties down, and threw them somewhere behind him; before he pushed her legs up, and instantly dove to the apex of her thighs. Angel’s tongue made a languid stroke between her labia, before he let it dip just inside her opening. He lapped at her wetness, while his fingers found her clit, and began rubbing circles on it. There was no gentleness. Angel was like a hungry beast, and Nina was like the first meal he’d had in weeks.

The smallness of the cot didn’t leave room for them to both lay on it, and Nina had to put one foot on the table to make room for Angel’s shoulders between her thighs. Nina felt herself beginning to shake. “Fuck… fuck, Angel!”, she gasped. “When I’m good and ready!”, he growled against her heat. He thrusted two fingers inside her, and moved his mouth’s focus to her clit. He suckled at it as if life itself came from that tiny spot, and his fingers curled back and forth inside her; drawing her closer to her undoing. The thumb on his free hand began probing at her back entrance; pressing and making her sphincter work. It was overwhelming and so, so good. Nina grabbed on to Angel’s head, simultaneously wanting to push him away and pull him closer. She began whimpering, and her abdomen began convulsing, as the most intense orgasm she’d ever had washed over her. Everything went white, and Nina cried out an almost pitiful yelp.

Before she had a chance to come down from her high, Angel got on his feet and undid his jeans to let himself spring free; and then – with no gentleness – moved Nina so he could sit down on the cot. He pulled her on top of him by her hips, and pressed her down onto his cock. “So… fucking… tight!”, he growled, as he finally bottomed out. “Move!”, he demanded. With shaking legs, Nina pressed her knees into the mattress, and began moving on top of him. Rutting to get as close to him as possible, Nina desperately searched Angel’s lips for a kiss, which he willingly gave.

Angel took a firm hold of her neck, and each time she lowered herself he let out an almost angry grunt. “I love you”, Nina gasped, as once again he entered her further than she’d ever felt anyone before. Angel instantly froze. His eyes were wide, and he looked at her like she’d just told him the most unbelievable thing in the world. “You… what?”. Nina felt her cheeks beginning to burn. “I… love you, Angel”. “Me?”. He laughed in disbelief, and Nina bit her lip to keep from grinning. “Te amo, querida... I fucking love you!”, Angel said, and grabbed the back of her head, to attack her lips in a passionate kiss.

Angel snuck out of the trailer a few hours later. All bikes save Angel’s and one more were gone, and as he kissed Nina goodbye in the doorway, Hank came out of the clubhouse. He looked at them, and shook his head. “Alright, Romeo. Get the fuck out of here, or I’m calling Bish”, he said. Angel pecked her lips one more time. “Say goodnight, Nina!”, Riz called out. “Goodnight, Nina”, Nina grinned, and went back inside the trailer, closing the door after her.

---

The next few days went much like that one had. During the day, Nina was quiet, and pretended not to feel sad about being ignored by both Angel and the rest of the Mayans, whenever any non-patch was around – which was pretty much always, as there was always some hangaround or other in the clubhouse. Daniella made an appearance each night, throwing herself into Angel’s arms; and shooting smug glances at Nina.

The first three nights – where first Coco, Creep and then Gilly had watch – Angel showed up at the trailer just after midnight, and they spent a few hours together. They didn’t just have sex; they’d also talk and share stories from their lives. The more Nina got to know Angel, the more the words; I love you, made sense. She was beginning to understand how he’d become the man she’d fallen for. His Mayan brothers knew he’d come by, but kept their mouths shut; up until the fourth night, where Riz caught Angel giving Nina a goodbye kiss in the doorway of the trailer. The next day, Bishop tore both Angel and Nina a new one; and in the evening, Riz found himself taking a beating from Angel in the cage. Daniella was there, cheering Angel on. He’d apparently told her he caught Riz checking her out, and needed to show him who she belonged to. After that, there were no more night-time visits.

The pda between Angel and Daniella – mostly coming from the latter – was painful beyond belief to watch. The blonde would crawl onto his lap whenever she could, and she had no shame in going in for a kiss, any chance she got. As far as Nina saw – and she couldn’t avoid seeing it – Angel didn’t respond in kind, but accepted the kisses with closed lips, and sly smiles.

One night, after Daniella had shown up in an outfit that resembled a bikini more than a top and shorts, and a bright, sequined purse – which, when she opened it, revealed a none too easy to hide pack of condoms – Angel managed to get her to take a ride home from EZ, by telling her he was needed at the table. It wasn’t a lie, as they had a run in a few days, but none the less, he looked relieved when she left. The rest of the Mayans left after about an hour’s meeting, but Angel and Bishop didn’t come out of the room with them. Nina was around the corner, out back; so, the two men didn’t see her, when they finally emerged from templo. It was the presidents turn to take watch on the lot that night. “I can’t keep this up, man”, Angel said. “I’ve been laying it on thick, but she’s more interested in my dick, than wanting to talk about what happened that night”. “Then fucking sleep with her!”, Bishop said. Nina almost dropped the tray of glasses she was carrying. “I’m not doing that!”, Angel said. “Why? You usually don’t have a problem with bedding pretty girls”, Bishop replied. Nina gently sat down the tray, and went to stand by the doorway, to better be able to listen. “Because of Nina… I can’t do that”, Angel said earnestly. “Angel…”, Bishop began. “I fucking love her, ok? I love her…”. There was a moment of silence before Bishop spoke again. “Good… That’s what I wanted to hear. God knows that girl could do better; but for some reason, she seems to care about you, and she deserves to be treated right”. Nina couldn’t stay hidden anymore, and walked out of the back room. “Then let me end it with Daniella”, Angel said.

“You can’t…”, Nina said. Both men turned to face her, looking surprised at her appearance. “Not until you have the information the club needs”. Angel stepped towards her. “Querida; treating you like I have… It’s killing me. You don’t think I see the look on your face when she…”. “It hurts…”, Nina said. “And it’s hard to keep reminding myself that it’s not real. But if Daniella is feeding Palo with information; if she gives me up… It’s not just me who goes down, it’s the entire MC. You said it yourself; it’ll be war”. Angel clenched his jaw, and his brows were deeply furrowed. “I’ve been taking three showers a day for the last four days, to wash that bitch of me. I don’t want to do it no more”.

Bishop sat down at a table, and gestured for them to join him. “What do you have so far?”, he asked. “Like I said in there… She talks about how it’s weird that Nina suddenly showed up. That I shouldn’t trust her”. He lit a cigarette, and took a huff from it, before handing it to Nina. She gave him a soft smile, and accepted the smoke. “That’s all? She’s not a rocket scientist. She must have let something else slip”, Bishop said. “What about that night with Sala?”. Angel rolled his eyes in annoyance. “She just said he lost interest, and spent an hour making me tell her how it was his loss; and that she was a hot piece of ass”. Nina chuckled slightly. “What about what you’ve been feeding her about us?”, Bishop said. This was news to Nina. “I told her about the run the day after tomorrow. We’ll know when we know”.

Nina coughed up some smoke. “Wait, what? You told her you’re meeting up with SAMCRO?”. She continued coughing, and Angel took the cigarette from her; and reached for her pocket, where he’d obviously noticed she’d been keeping her inhaler. Nina slapped his hand away. “I’m fine!”, she growled. “Are you trying to get SAMCRO in trouble?”. Bishop shook his head. “There’s no trouble, Nina. Reaper knows the VM might show up, and they’re ready for a fight if it comes to it. But most likely – if they do come – it’ll just be to check what kind of business we’ve been doing together. And we’ll be able to confirm that Daniella’s the snitch”. She blew out a deep breath. Bishop was right – again – but she still didn’t like it. Angel placed a hand at the back of her neck, and gently massaged it. He was trying to calm her, and succeeding slightly. “We got the Sons back, and they have ours. We’ll be fine”, he said.

Bishop looked between them, and sighed. “Look, I’ll close up here. No one’s around; so, go… Netflix and chill, or whatever it is you people do”. Angel looked at him confusedly, while Nina’s heart jumped in glee. “Bish…”. “Go! Before I change my mind”, Bishop said. “Don’t let outsiders catch you coming out of the trailer in the morning”. At this, Angel got on his feet, and more or less dragged Nina out of the door by her hand.

They hardly made it to the trailer, before Angel had his lips on hers. He pressed her against the side of it, and had his knee between her thighs. Nina was giggling at his frantic attempts to open the trailer door, while he simultaneously tried to open her bra under her top; when the sound of a trashcan falling over, made her jolt. “Racoons. There’s a shitload of them around here”, Angel said. He finally opened the door, and smacked her butt. “Get in there…”.

They spent the rest of the night in each other’s arms again; back in their own little bubble of bliss.

---

tags: @doloreschanal

[violeswaifu]

🌸YUKIMURA CHARACTER/ROUTE/EVENTS SPAM!!🌸:

Lately I’ve done a lot of spams that I hope people have liked. I’ve done a spam on a lot of shadow routes but also 2/3 of the top rated Slbp rated characters.

(Saizo✅ and Masamune✅)

(I combined Saizo’s with his little brother, both different summaries ofc)

So I guess it’s time to include Yukimura in a spam? Here’s my collection of photos of him and lengthy opinions as always. Like a lot of words ahead

Our lovely Donut lover. I actually like donuts a lot and this is something we have in common so like +500 for you

The Sanada brothers are so amazing and adorable haha. Nobuyuki was actually in an event recently, idk what to think yet but he’s hilarious in the routes/events. Yukimura has a really fun and unproblematic family so it’s always refreshing 😂 (totally not hinting at Saizo and mainly Masamune)

Our so called shy boy seems to know what he’s doing hey?

☝🏼these screenshots were right next to a picture of my husbands (like my real life one) sleeping face and idek why but it was hilarious.

Did you read the claim me at last epilogue or remember it? If you want more screenshots of it let me know 😂it’s a will do

I always like including these type of pictures, considering giving a girl a hairpin or Kanzashi, often were signs of marital status, class, etc. But right here samurai give their women hairpins as in a marriage proposal, correct me if I’m wrong though

So before we begin: I tried my best with this review, for some reason writing this review had me on like 100 with being hyper. I also asked a friend to assist me since it’s been awhile since I’ve done Yukimura’s

Route summary as always kinda spoilers:

Remember how I said Masamune’s route gave me my virginity back? Yeah Yukimura’s is full on cavity sugar filled rom-com with the dark military drama

He’s kinda like a “I SHALL GIVE MY LIFE FOR MY CLAN AND MILORD SHINGEN! 😈” but mixed with a “😳🥺”

Sanada Yukimura , The Sword of Japan. One of the Sanada Ten Braves and second son of the Sanada clan

favorite food consist of donuts🍩

His weakness: women

So basically as most light routes go:

you get sent off as a poison tester in place of your younger brother Yahiko. Disguised as Yahiko you arrive to Shingen’s castle with a big pat on the back.

No really Yukimura was quick to welcome you into the ranks of men. Gotta be with the bros right? He’s so cheery about it too, like he’s so pumped up about MC being there that his retainer even had a: “I didn’t know you were doing that kind of recruiting” statement

I’d also like to add, Yukimura and Masamune visit each other’s routes quite often 😂

(tbf the only reason Masamune found out MC was a girl was because he pulled out his sword on Masamune and it cut her. SO THANKS YUKI!)

This was from a recent event story 👇🏼

Anyways, as Yuki starts to experience confusing attractions to MC (his whole experience with this is fucking hilarious)

But bam all of a sudden Yukimura finds out the MC is actually a woman because silly MC ups and slips off the roof one lovely evening and by accident he touches her chest while grabbing her. He puts two and two together then realizes, “oh shit” she was a girl.

He’s so horrified from having done this to her that he later swears to protect her and help keep her identity a secret. (He’s so cute isn’t he 😂)

Long story short, this fails because Saizo figures it all out (ofc he did lmfao) tells Shingen

she almost died

Spoiler: After Saizo and Shingen engage in a conversation about this, they concluded that MC might be a spy for the Oda. So they ordered her to be beheaded (ouch)

and then Yukimura is like

“WAIT SHES MY WIFE!”

then next thing you know they’re on their way to meet the Sanada fam.

So although there is the cute, happy parts, you’ve gotta expect the sadness ahead.

So one thing, as always the parents in this game aren’t always angelic..or alive.. haha sorry

Yuki’s dad well his dad’s expectations for Yuki is to die in battle basically. So that’s pretty interesting to look for in this route. Especially because MC’s father died giving his life up to war.

MC is pretty badass in this one too, she’s got her risky battles and their hard challenges.

MC is awesome because yk she’s not gonna just let this guy go and kill himself.

So she does something special

Spoiler:

She gave her dads hairpin to him before battle so as a promised he’ll live to return it for her.

To conclude:

MC: 9.5/10

Funny and cheesy vigin 101: 10/10

Sadness and angst: 7.8/10

Hot and bothered: just wait for the claim me at last event

Anyways Yuki is really fun and events don’t do him justice with his goofiness. I’d say it’s definitely worth it. Saizo and Yuki are definitely a good pair to do

Hell finish off the family and do Nobuyuki and Shingen next if you haven’t done it 😂

If you haven’t done Shingen’s yet: Beware, his is literally so smutt filled 🌝

Any questions or want recommendations just comment below.

Want me to do another character that I haven’t done?

(Someone actually asked about the top three the other day @gay-noodle-clan thanks for the idea 🥰)

-Raaven

-(Thanks Phebe for the help with this!)

Oh yeah I wrote this at 1:20am exactly for no specific reason.. it’s currently 9:20am and I’ve edited this so if you saw this before the edit..I’m sorry you had to see the hyper

Shadow routes I’ve reviewed:

Naraukami Kyoichiro

Kirigakure Hotaru

Mitsuba Kaede/Sogo

Routes I’m currently doing: Fujibayashi Genya

Routes I’m doing next: Fujibayashi Sakuya

My Favorite routes:

Hotaru and Kyoichiro (they are the best pair to do in the shadow routes)

[cobaltusami]

Tropical Vacation pt 8

Well, this isn't the fic I was planning to release next, but oh well-- I was feeling It.

Hey hi hello dolls! It's been a long ass time since I've updated this series, and unfortunately there aren't many tickles in this part, but there Is a ton of fluff! either the next part or the part after will be chock full of tickles! (Or both)

I hope It's alright!

Characters In this part: All of DR1 girls excluding Junko and Mukuro, All of the DR2 girls. Lee!Chihiro

Word count: 3429

All previous parts, as well as my other fics, can be found here!: Masterlist

Hina kicked at the sand absentmindedly as she gazed longingly out at the water. “Man, I really missed seeing the ocean but…” She crossed her arms and made a face. “What good Is it If I can’t swim in it!? I’m like a fish, If I don’t swim In water I’ll die!!”

Sakura smiled amusedly at her best friend. She can be so dramatic sometimes… “Hina, they said It was safe to swim In…”

“Yeah but Monokuma didn’t give me any of my swimsuits…” She mumbled dejectedly, kicking a rock into the water.

Yeah, they didn’t exactly get the chance to pack their stuff or even ask Monokuma for specific things from their rooms. Aside from the morning announcements he hasn’t even shown up-- not that anyone besides Byakuya was complaining.

“Ugh!! That’s It!” Hina ripped off her red jacket and tossed it to Sakura. “Hold my jacket, I’m going In!”

The Martial artist fumbled the piece of clothing, caught off guard by the swimmers sudden outburst. She quickly grabbed the brunette’s arm to stop her. “W-Wait! Instead of doing that… Why don’t we just go find the store and see If it carries swimsuits?” She suggested.

As usual Sakura was the voice of reason amongst the chaotic gays.

Hina paused, thinking it over. “Okay… That sounds good In theory, But what if they don’t carry them?”

“Then I’m sure they’ll carry donuts… we’ll get some to cheer you up then ask Usami if she knows where the swimsuits are.”

Aoi giggled as she took her jacket back from the tall girl and tied it around her waist. “I like the way you think!” She grinned. “Let’s go!”

“Alright, Let’s just ask Nekomaru where the store Is.”

They both looked to Neko, who had stuck around to keep an eye on Mondo.

“No need! I can show you where it is if you want.” Mahiru volunteered, suddenly behind the two.

Hina squeaked as they both quickly turned to face the Photographer.

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you both.” The red head apologized with a sympathetic smile.

“Geez Mahiru!” Hina giggled, placing her hand over her still racing heart. “You got me good!”

“Are you sure? We don’t want to trouble you.”

Mahiru nodded with a smile. “I’m sure. Actually, I was coming to find you two. Apparently Usami has something to tell us girls...”

The two tensed. It’s not a motive, Is it?

“What do you think It is?” Hina asked as she started walking with Sakura and Mahiru.

“I’m honestly not sure. Normally she gathers all of us, not just the girls.” Mahiru responded.

As they crossed over the bridge to the second island, the girls of both classes came into view. Even Toko, surprisingly.

“Hey Toko!” Hina waved her hand at the writer. “Glad to see you out of your room!” she smiled as she turned to face her.

“W-Where Ha-Have you two b-b-been?!”

“We were checking out the beach.” Aoi answered. “Sorry, did we worry you?”

“D-Don’t b-be ridiculous! Why w-w-would I worry a-about you m-m-meatheads?!” she blushed.

Hina smiled and wrapped her arms around the awkward girl’s shoulders in a hug. “Aww, You WERE worried about us!”

“S-Shut up!” Toko blushed even more, batting the brunette away.

Soon enough, Usami appeared out of nowhere. Much like they were used to Monokuma doing. “Love love! Hello everyone!” She greeted the group cheerfully. “I hope you are all getting along okay!”

“We’re doing fine, Usami.” Chiaki smiled, patting Chihiro on the shoulder. She had brought them along and wanted to include them In on whatever Usami had planned.

“I’m glad to hear that.” Usami replied. “As some of you may know, I no longer have my magic stick…”

“Magic stick?” Sakura repeated quietly, confused.

“It’s a long story.” Mahiru whispered back.

“But It appears that Monokuma must have one of his own. Because there’s some new buildings on this island!” Usami explained, surprised. “One of such buildings, Is a women’s clothing boutique. Which is why I asked you all here.”

Sonia’s face brightened. “Really?? Wow! That Is wonderful!”

“I thought I should tell you all first before I told the boys.” Usami giggled. “I thought It might be a nice chance to bond with the other class’s girls.”

“And enby.” Chiaki and Mahiru both said at the same time. Chihiro smiled at the two girls In response.

“Right! I’m sorry, I’ll remember that for next time!” Usami apologized. “Anyway! There’s also a spa on the Island! So enjoy yourselves!”

She disappeared from sight, leaving the group to talk amongst themselves.

“This has to be a trick of some kind.” Kyoko said thoughtfully. “A motive, Maybe?”

“Yeah, I am not trusting It either.” Peko agreed.

“It’s gotta be a motive, It’s been too peaceful!” Hina chimed in.

“What If Monokuma put ‘Saw’ movie level traps in the clothing?” Ibuki theorized. “And the moment we put on the clothes-- SQUISH! BLEH! Off with our heads!”

Mahiru cringed at the gory sounds Ibuki tried to make, sighing softly. “I doubt he would have time to do that. But It’s definitely suspicious…”

“And why only things for girls?” Akane thought aloud. “It seems like a trap.”

“I think we should check It out regardless.” Celeste smiled. “I think a spa trip sounds lovely, perhaps even worth the risk.”

“I GOT IT!” Hina yelled in realization, all attention now on her. “WHAT IF MONOKUMA PUT SHARKS IN THE SPA?!”

“This again…? H-Hina I doubt there Is enough water for sharks in the spa.” Sakura sighed. She loved this girl, but sometimes she could be a bit… out there.

“She might actually be onto something.” Kyoko surprisingly agreed with her wild theory after a moment of thinking.

“H-H-How wo-would that e-even be possible?” Toko stammered in disbelief.

“Maybe not specifically sharks, but that would be the least suspecting place to put something dangerous.�� The detective calmly theorized. “It may be too dangerous to check out without more muscle power.”

“Why do we need more muscle power? Sakura, Peko an’ I can handle it!” Akane grinned.

“No offense to you three, but there is strength in numbers.” Kyoko responded, to which Sakura and Peko nodded in agreement. “But there are less places to hide dangerous traps In a boutique, So I think we should be okay to check that out.”

“And then we get the boys to go with us to the spa?” Peko asked for clarification.

“Yes. I think that would be wise.”

So with the group in agreement (except for Toko, who immediately went back to her room), the girls and enby headed to the boutique to investigate.

After some time looking around for clues or traps, they were shocked to find it was literally just a normal clothing store… or so It seemed.

“That’s strange.” Kyoko said, surprised as she inspected a piece of clothing.

“What? Did you find something?” Chiaki asked, yawning as she approached the detective.

“It’s… just clothes.”

“You mean, These are actually safe?” Sayaka asked curiously, poking her head around the corner to look at the two girls.

“It appears so… I’d still check before you try anything on but--”

She was already back around the corner with Ibuki. “Oh my gosh, Ibuki! With some leggings this would look so cute on you!”

Sonia giggled. “I agree!”

Ibuki looked at the frilly mini dress held up against her body in pure disgust. “Eugh! Ibuki doesn’t do this style anymore, It makes Ibuki feel restricted.”

“Okay, maybe not this dress then…” Sayaka put it back and looked around for another one. “We should match for our concert though.”

While the three looked through the costume dresses, Chihiro was on the other side of the store looking at all the cute casual dresses. They felt a little self conscious looking at them.

“Hi, Chihiro.” Mahiru greeted, approaching the small programmer with her girlfriend in tow. “Are you alright?”

Chihiro jumped in surprise, immediately letting go of the dress they were looking at. “O-Oh! Hi Mahiru… Hiyoko.” They greeted the two girls shyly.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you!” Mahiru apologized with a small smile. “I was just coming over to look for a new sun dress.”

Chihiro nodded, absentmindedly going back to looking at the dress they found as Mahiru began shuffling the articles of clothing on the rack.

The red head stole a few glances over at Chihiro, noticing their hesitancy. “Are you okay?”

Hiyoko tilted her head curiously as she too looked up from the dresses.

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine! S-Sorry… am I distracting you?”

The two ultimates exchanged glances before looking back at the small enby. “Of course not… I’m just concerned about you.”

“O-Oh… there’s no reason to be concerned, I’m okay… really.” Chihiro put on the best smile they could, but Mahiru, who constantly photographed smiling people, immediately knew it was forced.

Hiyoko’s eyes scanned the clothing rack in front of Chihiro until she noticed a disturbed article of clothing, she walked over and plucked it from the rack. “This Is a cute dress.” She commented, drawing both Mahiru and Chihiro’s attention.

Hiyoko looked at the Programmer and smiled. “You should try It on.”

Mahiru had to do a double take, had someone replaced her fiery imp of a girlfriend with someone sweet???

Chihiro blushed brightly. “Um… I-I could never pull that off…”

“Sure you could.” Mahiru smiled, following Hiyoko’s lead.

“I-I don’t know…”

“Chihiro!” Sonia bounced over brightly. “You would look adorable in that!”

“Maybe If we found a sweater to go with it you’d feel better.” Chiaki smiled.

“Ooh! And some accessories!” Sayaka joined in.

Chihiro had a bad feeling about this…

“R-Really girls, I-Its okay! I was heading over to look at skirts anyways!” They tried backing away, but the girls weren’t letting them off the hook that easily.

Meanwhile, Hina found the swimsuits much to her excitement. They were pretty cute too! Some of them were plain, others had skirts to them, pretty patterns, bikinis, one pieces… you name it, they had it.

Hina picked up a red tropical flower patterned bikini with a skirt. “Check this out Sakura, It’s so cute! And It’s my size!” she squealed happily.

The martial artist stopped what she was doing and looked over at her best friend with an amused smile. “It looks nice.”

After another moment of searching she produced a similar bikini and showed It to Sakura again.

“That kind of looks like the last one.”

“Mhm! Except It’s white with red and pink flowers! What do you think?”

“It’s… pretty?”

“Good, Because It’s your size.” Hina grinned impishly.

Sakura paused. “Hina… I don’t do bikinis.”

“Why not?”

Sakura immediately got flashbacks. She recalled when she had first started gaining muscle and went to the beach with her friends, she had gotten stared at and made fun of. She was made so uncomfortable that she just went home.

“...Reasons.”

Hina pouted. She knew that was code for something serious. “Fine, I don’t want you to be uncomfortable… I’ll keep looking.”

“Thank you for respecting my--”

They were interrupted by Chihiro shrieking, they looked at each other in alarm and bolted in the direction of the sound. Upon rounding the corner they found Chihiro wrapped up in Sayaka’s arms while Chiaki and Mahiru tickled them.

Sakura sighed in relief upon seeing it was just something harmless.

Hina grinned. “You good Chihiro?” She couldn’t help but tease them.

“Hehehehelp mehehe!” They squealed as Chiaki squeezed their sides.

“Why are you all ganging up on Chihiro?” Sakura asked, feeling some pity for the smol programming bean.

“Why not?” Hina retorted. “Chihiro’s too cute not to tickle!”

“Hinahaha you’re not hehehelping!” They blushed even more.

“Oh sorry~ I’ll help you now.” Hina smiled innocently, approaching the trapped enby. The swimmer fluttered her fingers against their belly, drawing even more squeals of laughter. “There, do you feel helped now?” she giggled.

“Hahahahahaha! That’s nohohohot whahahat I meheheheant!” They whined.

“Chihiro started crying because they did not feel they could pull off this dress.” Sonia explained gently, holding the dress up. “So the others are trying to cheer them up.”

Sakura frowned. She understood where Chihiro was coming from, but literally Chihiro would look so fucking cute in that dress. It was a white ruffle sundress with a light yellow ribbon sash.

It was bewildering that Chihiro didn’t think they could pull it off…

Sakura scanned around until her eyes fell on a light yellow sweater with short sleeves, she picked it up and walked back over to the giggling programmer.

The girls stopped tickling and looked at the piece of clothing in the tall girl's hands. Chihiro slid to the floor in a heap of lingering giggles and soft gasps.

The white haired girl sat down next to them. “Chihiro, I understand how you feel. You feel like everyone Is going to be staring at you and judging you.”

They nodded meekly, staring at the floor.

“And maybe people have done that to you before…” She paused as Chihiro nodded again. “But you’re among your friends here, and we aren’t judging you In the slightest.”

“Yeah, Sakura’s right.” Chiaki agreed, sitting down too. The other girls followed suit. “We would never judge you.”

“We all have things we are self conscious about, Chihiro.” Sonia smiled kindly at the enby. “I am self conscious about my skin.”

“R-Really…? But you’re so pretty…” Chihiro looked at her.

“Thank you, but so are you.” Sonia pinched Chihiro’s cheek gently. “I burn in the sunlight, The kids I went to school with used to call me ‘Princess lobster’. So I try to avoid exposing myself to the sun.”

Chihiro blushed at the compliment and looked back down.

“I’m super self conscious about my weight.” Hina spoke up next. “I’m always weighing myself. I used to get teased for how many sweets I eat, my friends told me I was going to end up alone because no one would be able to look at me.”

“Hina, You’re gorgeous. You don’t have to worry about your weight!” Chihiro frowned.

“I used to get made fun of because I had braces when I was younger.” Sayaka shared. “They said I’d never be a singer because the metal in my braces would mess with the recording equipment.”

“Do I even need to say what I’m self conscious about?” Hiyoko sulked, folding her arms across her chest. “I’m short.”

Mahiru put her hand on Hiyoko’s shoulder. “You’ll hit a growth spurt someday.” She teased. “People called me a boy growing up.”

“I-I-I’ve al-always been s-s-s-super c-c-clumsy. People h-h-have always ma-made fun o-of me for It.” Mikan said softly.

“Of course they have, You’re a walking pile of pig barf!” Hiyoko snapped.

“Aah! I’m sorry!” Mikan cried.

Mahiru shoved her hand over Hiyoko’s mouth and pulled her into her lap to keep her contained. She sighed. Welp, so much for her being kind…

“People I went to school with used to accuse me of stuffing my bra, and constantly harassed me because of my home life.” Akane said quietly.

“I was feared, I was told I had monster eyes. Most kids avoided me.” Peko chimed In.

Kyoko looked down at her gloved hands then back up at Chihiro. “I think my insecurity should be obvious…”

“I got made fun of for loving video games. And I’ve got some pudge.” Chiaki poked her stomach.

After a moment of silence the girls looked at Sakura, who gave a hesitant sigh. “Do I need to say It?”

“Yes.” All except for Chihiro said in unison.

Sakura sighed again. “I get called ogre. People call me a freak or abomination. When I started bulking up, people told me that I looked better before and I lost a lot of friends because they were embarrassed to be seen with me.”

“Remind me to smack Hiro and Hifumi when I see them next.” Hina said quietly.

“Hiro doesn’t mean any harm by It.” she waved her off.

Hearing their friends being open about their insecurities made them feel a little better about opening up.

“Um…” Chihiro kept staring at the floor. “Kids I went to school with knew me when I Identified as a boy… and the first day I went to school in a dress, I got beat up and made fun of. Since then, I’ve been afraid to wear dresses… N-Not that skirts are much different… I’m just kind of traumatized by them.”

“Chihiro, You are adorable and beautiful.” Hina smiled warmly.

“Trust me, If anyone comes near you to beat you up or make fun of you… they’ll have a lot of people to get through first.” Chiaki added.

“You are one of a kind, don’t let people like that ruin something for you.” Sakura said gently.

Hina side eyed her, receiving a quiet; ‘shut up’ In response.

Chihiro sniffled, wiping their eyes. “Th-Thanks guys…”

“If you don’t want to try on the dress, We respect your comfort zone. You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” Mahiru put a hand on their shoulder reassuringly.

They looked at the dress In Sonia’s lap, then back up at the girls. “No… I… I want to try It on.”

“Are you sure?” Sonia asked.

They nodded, more sure this time. “You’re right. I need to learn not to take things to heart so much. Everyone has something they don’t like about themselves, even the people who picked on you.”

“That’s exactly right.” Kyoko nodded with a faint smile.

Chihiro took the dress from Sonia and stood up, they were about to head to the dressing room but they were stopped by Sakura, who handed them the matching sweater she found for the dress.

The enby gave her a smile before taking the article of clothing and retreating to the closed room with a new pep in their step.

A few minutes passed by, and something had occurred to Mahiru. “Wait a minute, Ibuki? You never said what you were made fun of for.”

Ibuki looked up at the red head, previously she had been drawing shapes on the floor with her finger waiting for Chihiro to come out. “Oh, Ibuki didn’t?”

“No, You didn’t.” Chiaki confirmed, eyeing the musician.

“Welllll…” Ibuki looked away sheepishly.

“Were you not bullied?” Sonia asked.

“N-No. Ibuki was bullied.” She sighed. “Ibuki was made fun of for the way she talks In the third person. Also the way she dressed.”

“I think It’s… endearing.” Sayaka smiled.

“Ibuki didn’t mention It because Ibuki didn’t want to be reassured or complimented.” She smiled shyly, tapping her index fingers together. “Ibuki doesn’t know how to take compliments…”

“I understand that.” Sakura responded.

Hina, again, side eyed her best friend. “I will hype you up and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

“Nothing huh?” She didn’t even bother looking at Hina, she blindly squeezed at the swimmer’s side, making her squeak and giggle as she twitched away.

“Come to think of it…” Kyoko hummed, glancing over at Celeste. “You didn’t say anything either.”

“That Is because there Is nothing I was made fun of for.” Celeste smiled, closing her eyes as she did.

Hmm… doubtful.

Chiaki looked at the wall clock. “Chihiro’s been In there a while… I think someone should go check on them.”

Before anyone else could volunteer, surprisingly, Hiyoko was on her feet. “I’ll do it.” with that she disappeared into the back room as well.

Mahiru blinked in surprise. “Should I go with her?”

No one got the chance to answer before Hiyoko came back out, Chihiro In tow.

The Traditional dancer stepped aside so the girls could see Chihiro, they were absolutely radiating happiness. “S-Sorry, I kind of froze up… How do I look?”

“Ohmigosh, Chi you look so cute!!” Hina squealed.

“That dress looks like It was made for you, You look so pretty!” Sonia beamed, stars practically in her eyes.

The Programmer giggled and twirled around in the dress happily.

The other girls quickly got over their surprise and flooded Chihiro with compliments. (even Kyoko and Celeste complimented them, shockingly.)

The rest of the boutique visit hit different for the group, they felt a lot lighter and closer than before.

Sayaka and Ibuki had decided to just coordinate colors, that way they could both wear something they wanted to wear.

Hina and Sakura found a few swimsuits they liked.

Chihiro got a bunch of different dresses and had a mini fashion show with Hiyoko, Mahiru, and Chiaki.

Right then.

Time to go find the boys and check out the spa...

[thankskenpenders]

So, about the movie...

At long last, a week after it came out, I was finally able to see the Sonic movie. The Daytona 500 being held across the street from my favorite theater and conflicting work schedules had been keeping me away, but now I’ve finally seen it. And it was...

Decent!

Which is way, way, way, way, way better than a movie with this awful premise has any right being. That’s for damn sure. I enjoyed my time at the theater. I don’t know how they did it, but they did it. If you like Sonic and haven’t already seen it, you will probably get a kick out of this film. If you don’t like Sonic (or Jim Carrey), there is very little in this movie for you

Okay, now that that’s out of the way, it’s time to break that whole movie down. This will contain full spoilers for the Sonic movie

This movie kinda gave me deja vu because it’s set up so similarly to the Bumblebee movie. Both open with a slavishly faithful CGI sequence on another planet to ensure long time fans that the creative team gives a shit, but a conflict sends the title character to Earth. There, they form an emotional bond with the human lead as they’re pursued by the bad guys, who are working with the US government and tracking the energy signature of the title character. This setup worked extremely well for Bumblebee, because it’s so similar to the usual plot of Transformers. For Sonic, it was... a mixed bag. But it worked better than I expected

(This shot does not happen in the movie.)

That opening though, huh? Green Hill Zone looked great, and I was pleasantly surprised to see they did, in fact, use the Hyper Potions track from Sonic Mania in the actual film. (The piano rendition of the Green Hill theme used later was also lovely.) Longclaw was also interesting. I’ve seen one person bring up all the bird-themed ruins in Sonic 1 and 2 as a possible source of inspiration for the character, and I think that’s a valid take. And man, the echidnas! I wasn’t expecting that AT ALL. I guess that was probably the Knuckles Clan or something? I would never, ever picture them being alive during Sonic’s lifetime, but like... I guess Knuckles had to come from somewhere, right? If they do another movie with Knuckles, will the rest of his kind have died out?

Sadly, though, this sequence felt like it was over in a heartbeat. We barely see Sonic’s life on his home planet, and we’re expected to feel emotional over Longclaw’s sacrifice when she only gets like three lines before Sonic is sent to Earth. This is a common theme with the film--it goes for these big emotional beats that it just does not earn with its rapid fire pacing

Anyway, then we fast forward and Sonic’s a teen. This is actually kind of an interesting one if you’re constantly neck deep in Sonic Character Analysis like me, because it’s a pretty different take on the character. It’s hard to give them credit for doing something somewhat fresh with the character, though, because like... how much of that was intentional, and how much was just Hollywood writers trying to squeeze a generic action-adventure movie out of Sonic? (Honestly, it’s probably mostly the latter.)

The closest other piece of Sonic media to the movie would probably be Sonic X, a story in which Sonic isn’t really the protagonist. The Sonic of the anime is fairly emotionally distant. He cares deeply about his friends, and does nice things for them, but he’s totally fine with running off on his own for extended lengths of time, and he doesn’t really talk about his feelings. He’s not the character the audience is meant to sympathize with, but is instead this cool older kid who Chris wants to impress. This is pretty much in line with how Sega likes to depict the character. He cares about his friends, but he’s also cool with being a loner. It feels like he only runs into them incidentally, usually when Eggman is causing trouble, and then when the crisis of the week is taken care of he’s back to going on his own adventures. There’s a reason why one of his catchphrases is “long time no see”

The Sonic of the movie is the polar opposite. His main conflict is that he’s lonely and desperately seeks friendship. He’s also an overly-eager, extremely earnest goober. He literally flosses twice. (Which I loved.) I’ve seen him compared to Silver, and honestly, that’s not a bad comparison. I did like it, though! I don’t mind Sonic being a more emotionally open character, like he was in a lot of older Western media. I mean, he cried in like the second or third episode of SatAM

It’s just that, like many things in the movie, it feels less like a deliberate creative choice and more like a logical string of decisions to make when writing a generic action-adventure film for general audiences. Sonic’s the only one of his kind on Earth, so of course he’d be lonely. He has to have some sort of arc for audiences to connect with him, and if he’s gotta be accompanied by James Marsden for the whole movie, well, his arc’s gotta be about them becoming friends

I’ve gotta say, though: Ben Schwartz is great as Sonic. As much as I like Roger Craig Smith, I wouldn’t complain if he became the new main voice of the character. And thanks to the redesign, he looked great. I can’t imagine how nightmarish this movie would’ve been if Sonic wasn’t cute

My main fear with this movie, though, was that Sonic wouldn’t really be the protagonist. As a fan of Transformers, I know all too well that the cost of doing a full CGI character usually means that said character can’t really be the star of the film. Optimus and Bumblebee aren’t the stars of the Transformers movies--they’re supporting characters who are primarily present for the sake of the action scenes. The humans are the real stars in those movies, and the robots are barely even characters. I was terrified that Sonic would be the same, with the actual character I paid to see taking a backseat to James Marsden The Cop

I’m not quite sure if they struck the right balance there, but they did better than I worried they would. Sonic is central enough to the film and gets enough screentime that you can easily say he’s the protagonist. BUT there is absolutely too much of Tom and his family. The human cast is fine, the performances are fine, and there were a few good jokes, but every time the movie tried to get me to care about Tom’s life I was bored out of my mind. It’s just so trite and passionless. The other characters barely felt fleshed out at all, including Tom’s girlfriend (wife?) and Agent Stone. The little girl who gives Sonic the shoes had some cute moments, though

I do, however, love the part in which James Marsden is walking around in a San Francisco t-shirt, to remind us that he’s planning on moving to San Francisco... which then becomes the excuse for Sonic to think about San Francisco and accidentally send his warp rings there, which becomes the excuse for the buddy road trip aspect of the film. And as much as that was a focus of the marketing, the actual road trip part is like... maybe 20 minutes of the movie? There’s like three scenes with Sonic and Tom on the road and then they’re in San Francisco for act 3. The movie tries to act like they’ve formed this deep bond and I just did not give a shit. I don’t care about the cop. All Cops Are Bastards, and that absolutely includes Tom, whose dream in life is to join the extremely corrupt San Francisco PD

The whole excuse for Sonic having to sit in the passenger seat of a car going the speed limit for a good chunk of the movie is also, just. Stupid. If he doesn’t know where San Francisco is and time is of the essence, just... give him a map?

And then there’s Jim Carrey. I was worried about this one. The previews tended to highlight his most Jim Carrey Being Wacky moments, and as fond as I am of movies like The Truman Show and Bruce Almighty, that’s just. That’s not Robotnik. I was pleasantly surprised by the actual movie, though! I thought he was pretty good. I’m not sure what incarnation of Eggman I’d most compare him to, but like... it was close enough, and he was entertaining enough. I’d pay to go see another movie with him as Robotnik. Sure. (Especially with how he was looking at the end of the film.)

There were some other little interesting tidbits here with Eggman, although again, a lot of that is less “let’s do a new take on Eggman” and more “let’s do a marketable movie with Eggman in it, which requires us to explain some stuff.” Like him straight up just being a normal human from Earth, with none of the confusion present in the current “two worlds” canon of the games. Or him apparently being an orphan who was bullied in school, and who trusts machines more than other humans. It’s a safe way to depict the character in a Hollywood movie, but I thought it worked

The way they got to his nickname was kind of funny, though. Like, obviously they didn’t put Jim Carrey in a fat suit, and thank god for that. So instead of mocking his weight, the nickname is derived from the egg-shaped robots he uses. Which made sense, I guess. It at least felt logical for this incarnation of Sonic, who had annoyingly been calling Tom “Donut Lord” the whole movie, to make up the nickname “Eggman.” (Said robots, by the way, were a weak point of the movie to me. They just didn’t have that Eggman whimsy and felt very safe and very Hollywood. Honestly, though, if they had just made Robotnik’s ship grey and slapped some hazard stripes on it, it’d probably be fine.)

As a whole, I thought the humor of the movie was... okay. Sonic had a lot of good moments thanks to Schwartz’s great performance, as did Robotnik. There were just so many weird lines, like James Marsden telling Robotnik that he was breast fed, or the agonizingly long child trafficking joke with Sonic in the duffel bag. Stuff like that

The action was great, though. They definitely owe a lot to the Quicksilver scene in that one X-men movie (I forget the one), but they had a lot of fun with Sonic’s powers and it felt extremely true to the character. Seeing him do one of his Smash poses during the San Francisco fight was great. The action scenes were an absolute delight

And then the ending. Oh, that ending

So, I had already heard that Tails shows up in the stinger before I saw the film. And when I heard that, I expected it to be like, the classic Tails origin story. Maybe Sonic would return to his planet, and run into this precocious kid who decides to follow him around... but no! Not at all! Tails is already the Tails we know and love. He’s already an inventor, he’s already tracking down Sonic. I’m shocked that Sonic actually stayed with Tom instead of running off to have new adventures, but hopefully this is a sign that more characters will be brought into the fray if they make a sequel

And boy, they better make that damn sequel. This movie had a great opening weekend and a positive reception. They have no excuse not to. GIVE US SONIC AND TAILS GOING ON AN ADVENTURE

Other stray thoughts

Holy shit they put Sanic in the movie

The Sega logo animation meant that Kiryu from Yakuza was in this movie for a few seconds

The pixel art credits sequence, which featured both the Sonic 2 special stage and Get Blue Spheres as well as the Eggman logo screens from the Studiopolis Zone boss, was cute

The Saturn logo could be seen on the diagram of the other habitable planets

Robotnik had a label for “Badniks” on his circuit breaker. I wonder if the drones in the movie are intended to be Badniks, or if we’ll see actual ones if a sequel gets made

Also, was it implied that Robotnik committed war crimes for the US government

One of the government guys who I think only got one line was played by Garry Chalk and as such sounded exactly like Optimus Primal

I can’t tell if Sonic getting a red race car bed was an intentional shout out to the Archie comics or if it’s just a coincidence, but I loved it

A dude about my age wearing a Sonic Mania t-shirt literally stood up and clutched his head in shock when Tails showed up

After the movie a very excited kid got his mom to take his photo with the Sonic display in the lobby. Afterwards he was so excited that he flossed

I can’t believe they talked about Olive Garden so much

[ourimpavidheroine]

I’ve gotta say, I’m really enjoying these stories. Also, your late father sounds like an amazing man. I can really see the inspiration for LoLo come out in your mentions of him.

When my mother got pregnant with me - a planned pregnancy, they were young when they married but I was born 16 months later - my father knew from the get-go that he wanted a girl.

This was (and, I am sad to say, still is) an unusual thing for a father to wish for. Most fathers wish for a son. My Dad, however, was raised by a drunken, abusive, narcissistic man and he was afraid that if he had a son he’d just turn into his father. He thought a daughter would help him break that cycle of abuse. 

When I was born he told the nurse who brought me out to him in the waiting room that I was an angel, and Angel was the nickname that he alone called me.

He and I were very, very close, something that made my mother and younger brother jealous. (I didn’t really see or understand that until after he died when I was 26.)  There was nothing whatsoever or remotely sexual about it, which is what people usually assume when a father and daughter are very close. As my girlhood best friend said to me a few months ago, my father thought the sun rose and set on me, thought that I was his fairy princess. All of my odd, Autistic/ADHD weirdness was something he loved. I always knew he loved me not just despite my weirdness but because of it. (Something that my late wife did as well.)

My father was a brilliant man. He graduated high school at 15 and went into university to study architecture. Academically he handled it, but he was way too young to handle the social aspects as well as the responsibility of it and so he dropped out a year later. Things were apparently hellish with my grandfather and my Dad enlisted in the Army on his 18th birthday. This was 1965 and the US started sending soldiers to Vietnam. Not my Dad, though. He took some tests the military gave him and after boot camp spent his entire three years on a Nike missle base in the middle of Milwaukee, working on one of those huge old mainframe computers (you know, the kind with punch cards). I’m guessing they didn’t send the really smart ones off to be killed.

He taught himself how to be an architect through reading books at the library, including textbooks that he would sit and read at UC Berkeley’s library, even though he wasn’t a student there any longer. Then, after he had learned that, he read through engineering and physics textbooks. Then he read through every single book he could find that taught him how to actually build the structures he had learned to draw. He was completely self-taught, and the man not only designed and built complicated, Broadway-worthy theater sets he also designed and built houses from the ground up. He wanted to build a rock retaining wall at our house (which was located at the base of a hill and was on an incline) and so he went to the library and got a book about how Romans built walls and spent three years going to the local river to source variously-sized river rocks to build that retaining wall, which he did completely without any kind of mortar, just balancing the rocks perfectly. It’s still standing, 40 years later.

He always worked at very menial jobs - he was a line cook, a stocker in a supermarket produce department, an RV park manager, etc. He was terrible with money, didn’t understand it at all. We lived right on top of the poverty line. He had zero executive functioning and that caused a lot of problems for all of us and meant a lot of broken promises, too.

I am completely sure that like me, like both of his grandchildren, he had Autism and ADHD. Not diagnosed of course, they weren’t in those days, But he had them nevertheless.

He was a voracious reader and introduced me to sci fi and fantasy. On my eighth birthday he gave me his copies of The Lord of the Rings and had me read them. (This was 1977, trust me when I tell you those books were not a household name at that point.)  He’d wake me up at 3:30 am and we’d go fishing together, him with a thermos of black coffee, me with a bottle of orange juice and a box of Entenmann’s mixed donuts and we’d sit there in happy silence together, fishing and enjoying each other’s company. He was a wonderful storyteller and only once did he get angry with me. He never laid a hand on me or my brother but the one time he got angry with me he slapped me across the face and then the both of us cried.

He taught me many useful skills, like how to jimmy locks and how to walk through people unseen and how to learn on my own how to do things and how to make the world’s best pie. He always told me that I could absolutely anything I put my mind to. When I asked him once if that meant I could be a father - I was joking - he looked me straight in the eye and asked me if I actually wanted to be a father. When I told him no he responded that he had said if I had put my mind to it, and he wasn’t vouching for anything I pulled when I didn’t care.

He also told me that I was the strongest person he’d ever met and when I scoffed at that he shook his head and said, “Angel, most people see you and they have no idea at all what’s inside of you and what you are capable of. There is nothing in this life you won’t overcome. Someday, when we’re both dead, you come find me and tell me I’m wrong.” (So far, he has not been wrong.)

He was a functioning drunk; he only drank after 8 at night, however. Just enough to make sure he’d not be hungover in the morning. He was a night person and all his life only needed about 4 hours of sleep to be completely rested.

He loved movies but he hated to go alone and usually took me. Not all of these movies were appropriate for kids my age but there it was. When I was eleven he took me with him to see The Elephant Man and I broke down completely, devastated and sobbing, horrified at how cruel people were to the lead character, just because he was different. After the movie we sat in the car and he held me until I was done crying and when I was all done he told me to never forget how the movie had made me feel and to remember that no matter how different people were from me they were all human and deserved kindness, compassion and understanding. This was a lesson I have tried very hard to live throughout my life. He took people at face value, and that included everyone. I don’t think he was particularly woke based on 2021 sentiments but he tried very hard to treat people equally and that included queer people during the AIDS crisis, too.

He was a feminist and believed women should be equal to men. He walked the walk, too: he cooked, he cleaned, he changed diapers, etc. And by that I mean he did them as par for the course, as part of his daily life. He did not rely on my mother’s emotional labor to remind him to do shit. He just did it because things needed doing and he was a grownass man, not a man-child. He did not consider caring for his children as babysitting, either.

He liked to sing. My mother and brother have opera-quality singing voices - for real, both of them are quite gifted - but his wasn’t like that, it was just a perfectly ordinary, passable baritone, just like mine is a perfectly ordinary, passable alto. He sang and he whistled when he was happy and I do the same. He used to make up funny little songs and rhymes on the spot, he had a gift for improvisation that way. I wish I had inherited that but alas! No.

Even when he was a boy all of the neighborhood kids would come to him with broken toys to be fixed. He quite genuinely liked kids and even teenagers and spent a lot of time working with the local high school drama department, building the sets, working as the stage manager and setting up and working the lights and soundboard (he taught himself to do that as well) and even directing some of the plays when the drama teacher was out on maternity leave. To this day I still get contacted by people who were in school with me or my brother who tell me what an influence my father was on them, the special things he did for them to make sure they knew he was paying attention and cared. One guy a couple of years ago contacted me on Facebook and told me that he got into some trouble after high school, even got imprisoned for a few months. My father visited him in prison and afterwards took him to AA with him, became his sponsor, helped keep on the straight and narrow. He named his oldest son after my father, in fact. I hear a lot of those stories.

He loved books and he loved music and he taught me to love those things as well. He fell in love with my mother when he was seventeen and married her five years later and came to regret it - like his father, his wife was an abusive, narcissistic person. He stayed with her, though, until my second year of university, when he abruptly walked out on her, went to AA and quit drinking. I asked him about it later; he told me that he had wanted to leave her for years but knew that if he did he’d never see me or my younger brother again. The courts in those days automatically gave kids to the mother and my mother was an accomplished liar and would have told the courts anything and they would have believed her. Once I was out of the house and secure, then he was done. (The fact that my brother was only fifteen and left to fend for himself with my mother was...not good. Not good at all. My father was not perfect and he was not a saint and that was a mistake that still has repercussions today.) He did not do enough to protect me from my mother while I was growing up, however. He regretted it, he told me later. I understand now that he was constantly walking a knife’s edge, trying to keep her satisfied enough so she wouldn’t try to take me away from him, but it took therapy long after he died for me to really understand that.

His special interest was model railroading and he built these amazing, intricate landscapes, all by hand and by scratch. The man took latex molds off the sides of rocks to build mountains with and built buildings out of tiny pieces of wood and such. I spent many hours with him as he built, listening to music and reading or just laying there, thinking my thinks, or sometimes chattering nonstop to him.

He called me, every single Friday night, right after the X-Files ended, right after the child’s voice said “I made this.” My phone would ring and we’d chat for hours, talking about the show (we both loved it) and whatever else. He lived about 5 hours away from me at the time and we did talk at other times during the week but that was our standard date. He died in the middle of Season 2 and to this very goddamn fucking day whenever I hear that “I made this” I wait for my phone to ring. And I cry every single time because he will never call me again.

I absolutely think that meeting my late wife via the X-Files was my father, watching out for me. When my twins were newborn and pretty much all I did 24x7 was breastfeed them I re-watched the entirety of X-Files on the DVDs I had and I’d talk to my father in my head, telling him about his grandchildren.

He’d always buy the new Stephen King books in hardcover and read them and then give them to me to keep. He especially loved the Dark Tower series but I haven’t finished the ones that were published after he died. I bought them myself but they are still sitting on my bookshelf, unread. I just can’t.

He died in the hospital after being in a coma for a week. The ICU nurses were very kind and showed me how I could turn off the life support machine if I wanted to and told me that I could be in there with him as long as I needed. They very considerately closed all of the curtains and closed the door to the room. I was alone with him in there and I turned off the machine and I held his hand and I sang to him as he died. I didn’t want him to be alone. 

He was right. I was strong enough to do that. It hurt, though. It still hurts.

He’s buried in California with a free military headstone because my comfortably upper middle class grandfather refused to shell out for a headstone and I was flat broke. Many years later I had a regular stone engraved with the words, “Go then, there are other worlds than these” and I placed it at our summer cottage here in Finland for him. I like to think that he and my late wife are keeping company. They never met here, but they would have liked each other very much, that I do know.

[sheinthatfandom]

So I haven’t seen all of season 2 yet I’m only like the first 30 seconds of #7 I believe it’s eye for an eye idk I’m on a treadmill when I’m watching it and it’s hard to read anyway I have thoughts... surprising I know!!!

Hopefully the read more works on mobile but I’m tagging in case

[[MORE]]

Vanya: holy shit they really got me liking Vanya now good fucking job!!! She’s likeable relatable I fucking feel for her and don’t wanna fast forward her sections... I still do but it’s due to anxiety of her affair getting found out and as soon as I see that doesn’t happen I actually rewind to see her scenes so good fucking job everyone. Though the ending of the episode I just saw yeeesh.... shit gonna go bad. Also I’d bet money her giving breath of life to Harlan is going to be really fucking important idk if it’s end of the world important but I can see it being important to season 3 or being important by the end of the season somehow. I mean it’s vanya... this gotta go back to her somehow.

Luther: he went from worst to.... well not worst. Someone else I feel a lot for from his feelings about his father and holy shit seeing this man who idolized his father just get ripped apart was rough. Then his obsession with Allison just... again I’m really believing she rumores him into loving her cause so far her two husbands have been honest about shit and willing to walk away from her yet Luther can’t. In s1 when she’s driving in the car thinking of all the times she rumored someone and one was her rumoring someone into loving her. I really hope we find out this season if it’s Luther.

Allison: I like her this season. That’s shocking I know but I do. I think having her away from Luther and Diego helps and also not being around vanya and kinda acting all I’m seconds older and know more than you thing. I did not like the diner scene with her husband only cause I got a bad feeling all those witnesses are going to cause trouble now. Never leave witnesses I mean come on your husband was arrested for you punching out some asshole what do you think 30 racist eye witnesses to you having magic is gonna do?

Klaus:used to be my favorite but this season not really. Idk if it’s the cult thing but I’m not into it. The thing with David is.... God it’s so hard to watch. I wish he would just talk things out with Ben and then he could do shit the right way! Instead of causing David to sign up for the army over a week early. What if now David never meets Klaus? Here’s hoping #5 pulls a s1 and we get a redo of shit before this ends and Klaus can like not get David to sign up early.

Ben: Ben needs more lines and I really hope he doesn’t pull a Klaus with terrible ideas and uses his brothers body to get close to the girl he likes just.... no. Please Ben you give such good advice to Klaus don’t be the type of person who can’t take their own advice. I do appreciate that episode one finally shows him kicking ass and I hope to see more of that without everyone dying. And I wish he coulda said more to his father, also I wanna know how the mf died like yoo give a bitch a clue!

Diego: now the worst. From one of the first to the worst just wow. I appreciate his story and I appreciate the consistency to him having a hero complex and just being a fuck up. But if Doctor Who taught me anything it’s that you do not fuck with the timeline and he is actively trying to destroy it. For what I’ll never understand. In episode 1 it did say on a newspaper that it was the president declaring war so.... I’m guessing he’s the reason for this apocalypse. And wow if anything will destroy your heroic self perception faster is realizing you ended the world. Or he’ll cling to it even harder and be over bearing. I will say seeing him stutter broke me. Regnald was right but his future self is the cause of Diego’s and all the siblings mental and emotional problems and that needs to be remembered.

#5: the best wow just wow he is a joy and a delight and omg he’s a killer I mean I knew that but.... holy fuck did you SEE that!!!! First the donut shop and now this like FUUUUUUCCCKKK!!! So good!!!! I wish he would talk to his family about his plans and about the Commission but in all honesty no one ever listens to him. Except vanya but without her memory I’m not sure if she’ll be much help. I don’t like him working with the handler but I get why

Side characters

The handler: still love to hate her don’t trust her but the woman has got style the only thing that Ickes me out is that she kinda seems like she’s flirting with 5 and that’s a child’s body so eww no

Grace: She’s real??? I though she was from Reginald’s home planet or something I mean didn’t she die in bed or something in s1 and there were missiles and lights and stuff idk ohhh unless that was on earth this earth ooohhhh

Pogo: move over baby yoda I need baby pogo merch!!!!

Raymond: ya’ll better not kill this man I love him I hope he doesn’t end up fearing Allison but I need him to live

Sissy: the same

Carl: kill the fucker

The swedes: I love them I get they have to die and I certainly don’t want them to win but fuck they are enjoyable! Sad the milkman is gone but I liked his funeral music.

Lila: now this is where imma get some shit but I do not like her. I didn’t like her from the group therapy and the few times I started to like her I went right back to not liking her. Now that I know she’s the adopted daughter of the handler Nope Nope time to go.

Reginald: still hate him for what he’s GOING to do to the kids but man that scene with 5... how tf do ya’ll humanize such a monster??? Good job writers. And seeing him with grace and pogo he seems likeable but... I can’t forget what he put them through especially when the abuse is so evident in their adult selves.

And I think that’s it let’s see what the upcoming episodes show

[currentlyreadingmanga]

Toilet-bound Hanako-kun Chapter 17: The Little Mermaid (Part 2)

Previously:  we started a new arc and things get complicated for both Yashiro and Hanako. We met “the other Hanako” and with that, we got a glimpse of Hanako’s backstory (if his reaction is anything to go by). After being so shaken by the encounter, Hanako starts to avoid Yashiro and it couldn’t happen at a worse time since the Mermaid’s followers found her and now are trying to get Yashiro to sever her bond with our ghost boy and to go with them instead. The chapter also brought up the concept of trust and how Yashiro views her relationship with Hanako so far (with Tsuchigomori putting in his two cents and talking a little about how Hanako probably feels), and I really really love how the author is handling it so far.

Now onto the next chapter!

Ohhhhhh!!!!! That’s the image from the anime opening!!! The one that I think made every anime-only go “wait….what???”. This image was pretty disturbing without context, but now knowing that the shadowy figure could represent his brother, it adds another layer of yikes ngl

Ah, right, when we last left off, the fish had forced Yashiro into the water when she declined their invitation. A great way to get her to trust you, guys. Truly a phenomenal job.

………..

I want to be where the people are, I want to see- want to see 'em dancin'~~

Again: that’s fucking rude! Don’t you go dissing my girl like that, she’s a bit ditzy but she’s wonderful!!

I was gonna say “how do you expect her to come with you after trash-talking her like that?” but that’s probably the angle they’re going for. They’re trying to crush her self esteem so that she has no choice but to think that going to their world would be the best thing she could do. Clearly, they’re not above using dirty tactics.

…………..sigh Yeah I was afraid of that. Like, the way I see it, Yashiro’s concern with popularity stems from her own desire for people to like her (it goes hand in hand with her romantic personality), so if these fish tell her “Oh, you’re nothing more than a walking disaster as a human, no one will love you if you stay here. but if you come with us, you will be loved by all”, it doesn’t surprise me that she would be tempted by the idea.

Oh, is Hanako finally here?

There he is!! And as always, he arrives just in the nick of time and rescues her with great dramatic flair. Also, there’s something about fish!Yashiro’s expression that is just really funny to me.

He says “your world may be kind to her...this one my be cruel...but it doesn’t matter” 

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh ಥ‿ಥ you tell them, Hanako! They have no right to try and take Yashiro away from this world and him. Also, this page is beautiful holy shit, it’s simple yet detailed where needed. “Are you gonna praise the art style every recap?” you ask……...yeah, probably

ಥ‿ಥ  I love them so much ಥ‿ಥ

You know? Sometimes I forget how scary Hanako can look sometimes. But then his eyes go all black and he smiles like that and I remember.  The threat seems to be enough to send the fish packing, though, even if they do say that they won’t give up on getting Yashiro to go with them.

Ahhhh, this makes me so happy! They’re clearly still learning to interact in a more “serious” manner around each other. It’s a slow process but they’re communicating more effectively (Yashiro with her speech to him when she gave him the donuts and Hanako apologizing not only now but also after the confession tree incident) and it’s really nice to see. And just look at how happy that made her! That��s all that she wanted, for him to reach out to her after he avoided her for a while. Another thing that I really appreciate is these rare moments where we get Hanako acting sincerely, no jokes or cheeky smiles, just him laying out his genuine feelings; especially here, since it proves that what the fish said was wrong.

I feel the need to point out that she’s not denying it. Like, yes, she meant it as friends, but the implications are there and don’t think for a second that I don’t see the “badum, badum, badum” and the blush. The romantic chemistry they have is very apparent and I’m living for it.

OH! There it is! Well, I’m glad that the reveal didn’t take very long (even if it was a pretty important thing to be spoiled on).

That’s a nice detail. He’s trying to act naturally but this is clearly a sensitive topic for him……..which makes me think that Yashiro’s assumption last chapter will be right.

……………..yeah, there it is. Can’t say I’m particularly surprised but it’s still a hard pill to swallow. I talked about it last chapter (and maybe during some of the other chapters as well) but with the clues we’ve been given and considering Hanako’s behaviour, the theory that makes the most sense to me so far is that Hanako probably killed his brother in self-defence. Then again, this is still pretty early in the story, so there’s probably a lot we still don’t know. Like I mentioned earlier, Hanako also has moments where he looks/acts scary, so there could be something more to that. It could also just be a side effect of him becoming a supernatural but  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Hanako asks her if she really wants to get to know him after learning that, and tells her that if she does, he will tell her everything someday. And this is a great step in the right direction. Not only it puts Yashiro’s concerns ("does he trust me?”) at ease, but also it shows his current feelings ("i’m not ready to share yet, but i need to let het know that) and his willingness to open up and be vulnerable in the future. Character development, gotta love it.

(TдT)(TдT)(TдT)

OH!!!! Are we shifting perspectives to the suspicious girl?? Because I remember that in the anime she was always the one that spread the rumors over the radio, or, well, the intercom, I guess. And since we now know that she’s Hanako’s brother’s assistant, there’s a very high chance of seeing him again. I’m both excited and terrified by the prospect. ALSO what the actual fuck is that on the left. Why are there body parts seemingly floating around??? is this just an artistic choice or are they actually there?? Either way, it’s creepy as hell.

Oh, god, it looks like those things are actually there in the room and just imagining being there gives me goosebumps. But yes, anyway, there she is! And Natsuhiko, too! Gotta say, kinda missed our suspicious person 1 and suspicious person 2. He’s worried about letting Hanako’s brother run off but she says that he wouldn’t have listened to her if she had tried to stop him anyway. Which is interesting, since while Hanako does march to the beat of his own drum, he still seems to take what Yashiro and Kou say into consideration (even if just a little bit).

Oh? “boundaries within cities”? Like, not just within the school? We know that she has knowledge of the boundaries thanks to her conversation with Yashiro in the library but maybe she’s expanding her search to reach a bigger scope?

Natsuhiko is worried about the chance of our wonder trio finding out they’re the ones behind the changes in the rumors. And that’s a valid concern, since Hanako is in charge of maintaining the relationships between humans and supernaturals, and he obviously would have to intervene. 

………...I-I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t this omfg. She certainly has him wrapped around her finger, huh?

(⚆.⚆)  Oh boy, there he is, oh boy. 

I’m sorry I just have to point out how utterly done she looks. Like, since she slapped Natsuhiko for touching her hand, I’m guessing she’s not a very touchy-feely person, so this must be quite bothersome for her. Still, her expression is wonderful lol Also! It looks like not caring about people’s personal bubbles is something that runs in the family……….oh, is that why she called him a cat? Possibly.

Okay, so he says that this is not his usual outfit (and that explains the more Japanese-style outfit I saw him wearing in the spoiler) but he wore it because he “was seeing Amane for the first time in ages.” So there’s the confirmation about the fact that he hasn’t been at the school for a significant amount of time. And, again, that’s very suspicious.

Okay. Listen. He looks very cute. But Hanako’s terrified expression keeps reappearing in my mind when I think that. So I’m gonna wait and see what’s the deal with this boy because for now I mostly feel….unsettled.

“He looked happy to see me,” he says, while floating around in a childlike manner. I, uh, um. Are you sure about that, honey?? Because it sure didn’t seem like it to me. 

Also: “But I still can’t move around that well yet. They chased me off.” So that’s what happened on the rooftop. He said that she had helped him get here, so maybe his spirit form hasn’t fully “materialized” enough  for him to move around comfortably.

(⚆.⚆) (⚆.⚆)  Remember how I said that I felt unsettled? Well, this really isn’t helping the matter jfc

Wow he’s really clingy, like, even more than Hanako by the looks of it. He’s like my cats when it’s time for me to feed them. Also! Sakura! I’m guessing that’s her name, right? I can finally stop calling her suspicious girl lol

But yeah, quite the trio we have here. Now that Hanako’s brother is here, I’m guessing that their little ensemble is complete since they would work in direct opposition to Yashiro, Hanako and Kou.

Oh! I feel like I’ve said “oh” so much this chapter….oh, well. The fish are back! “We’ve found him” Are they talking about Hanako’s brother? Do they know who he is or maybe they are mistaking him for Hanako?

Ah, no. They saw what happened in the rooftop the other day; they recognize him and they remember how shaken Hanako looked at the time so they want to win him over to be able to fight against Hanako. I mean, it’s not a bad plan. Hanako’s brother doesn’t seem to want to hurt him but by that one interaction they had, we can see that their relationship definitely has some complicated layers.

So what’s been happening with the rumors has reached even the mermaid’s kingdom? That really makes me wonder exactly how interconnected the different worlds are since information seems to travel quite fast.

Natsuhiko spotted the fish and…

*me, remembering his comment about wanting to see how the fish are on the inside*  (⚆.⚆)

(;;⚆_⚆) (;;⚆_⚆)

(ﾟдﾟ；) yeah, I don’t think he’s gonna listen to you, Sakura.  jfc that’s a face that’s gonna appear in my nightmares

Σ(ﾟДﾟ|||)  (ﾟдﾟ；)  Σ(ﾟДﾟ|||)

……………………don’t get me wrong, I wanted the fish to stop interfering but. not like This. I-Well, that’s certainly a way to end a chapter omfg. The fact that Sakura and Natsuhiko, seem to be used to him doing this kind of thing is…...concerning, to say the least.

[andtails]

A Prelude to Chaos Control - Chapter 6: Flying Toward Freedom

Click here to start from the beginning. You can also read this story on FanFiction.Net or Archive of Our Own.

*****

Chapter 6: Flying Toward Freedom

“H…hey! No fair, Sonic!”

“Haha, ya snooze, ya lose, pal!”

Tails shook his videogame controller in frustration as Sonic’s character sped past him, having hit the orange kitsune’s kart with heat-seeking missiles, causing him to spin out of control and off the cliffside racetrack. Seconds later, his car materialized back onto the asphalt, ready to race once more. Holding the trigger button on his controller, Tails accelerated, his tires screeching as he ripped down the raceway, eager to take his revenge on the blue hedgehog.

They were now on the final lap. Sonic, who maintained the lead over his little brother and the other competitors, heard the sound of another kart rapidly approaching. The blue hedgehog chuckled to himself as he dropped spiked tacks from the back of his car.

“You think you’re sooo clever, don’t you?” Tails expertly dodged the tacks and deployed his own weapon; a banana cream pie launched itself from a spring in the back of his kart, landing squarely on the hedgehog’s character as his vision became obscured.

“Ah, shoot!” Sonic spun out of control and crashed into the side of the mountain, the orange kitsune passing him by as the blue hedgehog reversed his vehicle, hoping to catch up before the end of the race. By the time Sonic crossed the finish line, though, Tails was already spinning donuts, confetti raining over him as the crowd cheered his victory.

“You win this time,” Sonic took off his headset and set his controller down, looking at the young fox beside him on the hospital bed, “but I’ll prove victorious next time!”

“Oh yeah?” Tails pulled his own headset off his triangular ears. “Well, I guess you could say you were…too slow.”

Sonic watched as his younger brother broke into a fit of laughter.

“I’ll make you eat those words!” Sonic jumped onto the orange fox, tickling him on his sides, causing him to laugh even more, waving his arms and kicking his legs as the blue blur enacted his revenge.

“Now you’re playin’ dirty!”

“How ‘bout this,” Sonic pulled himself off the young kitsune and sat back on his side of the bed, “best two of three: winner does all the chores for a week.”

“Oh, you’re on! Just don’t come cryin’ to me when you’re eating dirt again!”

As they put their headsets back on, though, they heard a feminine voice at the doorway, clearing her throat to get their attention. The nurse approached the two brothers, disapprovingly staring at the orange and blue laptops that sat in front of their respective owners.

“I thought we urged against screen time, Mr. Prower?”

“Hehehe, well…” Tails placed a hand behind his head in embarrassment. “I figured that I’d reward myself after finishing all my books.” He pointed at the stack of thick texts sitting on the bedside table, the nurse wondering how he had managed to read them all in such a short amount of time. “Besides, I’m feeling a whole lot better, and it has been five days anyway.”

“Ya can’t refute that logic, Miss,” Sonic added, patting Tails on the shoulder.

“In any case,” she continued, ignoring the fox’s arguments, “the doctors are approving your discharge. You’ve healed quite remarkably since entering our care, and we believe you’ve gotten well enough to finish recovering at home.”

“Great!” Tails exclaimed, jumping out of bed. “Now I just gotta grab my stuff, and we can be outta here.”

“Hold on there.” the nurse placed her hand on Tails’ shoulder. “Be sure to sign out with the front desk before you leave.”

“Will do, Miss!” Tails replied, giving her a thumbs up. He continued packing his belongings as the nurse took her leave, closing the door behind her.

“Ever hear back from the shop?” Sonic leaned back on the bed, his hands propping up his head.

“Oh yeah.” Tails turned around to face the blue hedgehog. “They said my plane is ready to go! The manager even moved it by semi-truck to the local airstrip.”

“That’s just a hop, skip, n’ a jump from h—” Sonic was interrupted by a gurgling sound coming from the orange fox.

Tails looked down and placed a hand on his belly. Looking back up at the blue hedgehog, he blushed in embarrassment, laughing nervously to himself.

“I’ve gotcha covered, pal.” Sonic got up and approached the window, pointing out into the distance. “See that park? They have this fantastic chili dog vendor there. We can stop on the way…my treat!”

“You know full well we share finances.” Tails smirked, taking his gloved hand off his gut and playfully punching Sonic in the arm.

“Yeah, I know.” Sonic took in a deep breath of the fresh, early-afternoon air. “I’ll do the heavy lifting and place the order for ya, then. Sound good?”

“Hehe, sure,” Tails replied, the two brothers sharing a laugh.

“Alright, then. Time to finish packing.”

Sonic closed the window and helped Tails fill the two duffel bags. Looking around to ensure they didn’t forget anything, the duo turned off the lights, took the elevator down to the first floor, and checked out with the front desk.

“Fresh chili dogs with the works, here we come!” Sonic exclaimed as the two walked through the automatic doors, eager to satiate their hunger and return home.

*****

Rouge entered a fighting stance as Eggman’s robots stormed the command center. She was quickly surrounded by a group of oval-shaped, orange soldiers with turquoise eyes and wide smiles made of glowing panels. Surrounding the outer perimeter of these Egg Pawns were a small, albeit more fearsome group of Egg Knights, who had a similar shape as the Pawns but were covered in silver armor and sported pointy shields and large javelins.

“Wooahhooohoohooo.” Eggman’s laugh echoed throughout the room, bouncing off the walls and causing the bat’s sensitive ears to ring. “My mechanical minions will ensure you are captured. ATTAAAAACK!” Eggman sat back down in his chair, polishing off his sandwich as the Egg Pawns approached the jewel thief.

“I don’t like getting my hands dirty,” Rouge said, tightening her silk gloves, “but you gave this girl no other choice.”

She rushed forward and punched the nearest Egg Pawn, causing it to fly backward, knocking over a few more robots before colliding with the metal wall on the opposite side of the room. Taking no time to catch her breath, she approached the next Egg Pawn, knocking it over with a roundhouse kick, rotating her leg around as she made a winding jump, her boot cracking its outer shell as it fell to its side, knocking over several more like dominoes.

“I’ve got to say, she is pretty good,” Decoe said, sitting comfortably on the sidelines with his mechanical brother.

“I agree. She is not only a good sneak, she is also adept at fighting,” Bocoe replied.

“Quit your blabbering and call in some reinforcements!” Eggman yelled, pointing at his minions with teeth clenched.

“Yessir!” they said in unison before returning to their posts, using their computers to redirect a few more groups of robots to converge on the command center.

Meanwhile, Rouge took flight, using her wings to effortlessly maneuver in the air. After dodging a javelin attack from an Egg Knight, she grabbed the weapon from the robot, which still held its handle, and dragged it around the circular room, knocking over its mechanical comrades like bowling pins.

“There!” Rouge’s eyes were fixed on the exit, now cleared of the soldiers still recovering from their fall. She swooped into the passageway, landing gracefully on the floor before dropping to one knee to collect her breath. Wiping sweat from her brow, she looked behind to see a group of robots running toward her while the rest were still on the floor. “No time for beauty rest just yet.”

The jewel thief ran down the hallway, stopping at a large stairwell.

“Hmmm…” Rouge placed a finger to her chin as she devised the rest of her escape plan. “There should be some sort of roof access above. If I can get to the top of Eggman’s fortress, I should be able to fly on out of here no problem.”

She climbed several flights of stairs until she reached the top floor, placing her hands on the metal bar on the door leading to the roof as she took a few moments to catch her breath. Rouge had plenty of time before the slower Egg Pawns would catch up with her.

Meanwhile, Robotnik monitored Rouge’s progress through his monitor, toggling through various security camera live feeds as the bat made her way up the building.

“Decoe! Bocoe! Ready the outside lasers! We’ll see to it she doesn’t escape with my Chaos Emerald.”

“Aye aye!” they responded in unison, preparing the weapons scattered all along the perimeter of the fortress, which included hundreds of yards of concreted land surrounding the building, lasers mounted on several patrol towers and along the central building itself. The gate surrounding the fortress was electrified, and the single exit to the encampment was guarded by an army of Egg Pawns and several large mechs, ready to attack on sight.

“She may’ve slipped through my fingers for now, but she’ll soon be back in the palm of my hands.” Eggman formed a fist and raised it in the air, laughing maniacally as his mechanical minions finished preparing the remainder of the fortress’ defenses.

“Has Eggman finally fallen off the deep end?” Bocoe asked his brother with a whispered voice.

“You assume he hasn’t already,” Decoe replied, using a metallic hand to partially cover his mouth.

“Quit your yapping and be on the lookout for Rouge!” Eggman yelled, his eyes studying the jewel thief through his monitor as she recovered from her sprint up the stairs and pushed through the door.

Rouge found herself on the roof of the building, rain dripping down her face as she observed her surroundings. Beyond a few cubicle cooling units and a helicopter on the far side, there appeared to be nothing abnormal waiting for her on the roof. When she peered down to the ground below, though, her heart stopped as she realized just how much danger she’d have to overcome if she wanted to escape alive. She watched as various robots and mechs of all sizes circled the building, covering virtually the entire area surrounding the fortress. She also noticed the towers scattered around the area of the base were buzzing with energy, searchlights roaming the perimeter and laser turrets searching for their target, a far cry from the defenses she deactivated when she first invaded the fortress.

“This is hopeless.” Turning around, she glanced over once more at the unoccupied helicopter. “Wait a minute…maybe this is my ticket out of here?” Rouge walked toward the vehicle, getting a good look at the flying machine before her.

“With my wings, I wouldn’t have enough momentum to gain the height needed to bypass Eggman’s defenses,” She opened the door to the helicopter, surprised to find it unlocked, “but with this bad boy, I could fly up high and be out of range of Eggy’s attacks.”

She sat down in the driver’s seat, staring at the buttons, levers, and knobs along the dashboard. “The only problem is I’ve never flown one of these before.” She shrugged her shoulders and analyzed the controls. While Rouge never operated a helicopter in her life, she had experience flying other forms of aerial transportation, so not all hope was lost.

“Let’s see…” Rouge flipped some switches on the dashboard and turned a key, bringing the helicopter to life. “Ah yeah, now we’re talking!”

Flipping a few more nodes, the propellers began to spin. Pulling the joystick in front of her, the flying machine lifted itself from the ground, hovering in place as the jewel thief plotted her next course of action.

“Let’s see…to be safe, I should probably fly this thing as high as it’ll go before leaving the area.” Rouge maneuvered the helicopter upward, the contraption wobbling as it gained height, her inexperience clearly showing.

Eggman watched the entire take-off through a security camera on the roof.

“Blast that bat! Why’d I leave the keys in there in the first place?” Robotnik’s face turned red as he slammed his fist against the dashboard.

“A more important question,” Decoe whispered to his brother, “is why he even has a helicopter in the first place.”

“I’ll have you know,” Eggman replied, having become adept at comprehending their whispered speech, “that evil geniuses like myself bent on world domination enjoy a little fun every once in a while, and a helicopter is more exciting to pilot than my silky smooth Egg Mobile.”

“But enough about that,” Eggman barked, pointing a gloved hand at his robotic servants. “Shoot her out of the sky before she gets away!”

Decoe and Bocoe returned to their stations, taking control of the nearest laser turrets positioned around the headquarters and the surrounding watchtowers. By this point, their efforts appeared futile, as low visibility and the helicopter’s current height made accurate aiming almost impossible.

“We’re losing visual contact,” Decoe said.

“Rouge is almost out of our range,” Bocoe added.

“Give me that!” Eggman pushed Bocoe off his chair, remotely taking control of one of the large mechs stationed near the outer perimeter near the gates. Using his keyboard and mouse, Robotnik was able to expertly maneuver his large, silver mech through the perspective of the live feed camera built within its digital eyes.

“Now let’s see…” Eggman tilted the mech’s head up and zoomed its vision until he spotted the helicopter off in the distance. With a few more clicks of the keyboard, Robotnik locked on to the target and fired multiple laser blasts at the escaping helicopter. Eggman enhanced the image further, allowing the party to see black smoke billowing from the helicopter’s engine.

“Darn it!” Eggman yelled.

“But it looks like you hit your target, doctor,” Bocoe said, pointing at the monitor from behind the evil genius.

“That may be true,” he replied, “but by the time the helicopter is forced to ground, Rouge will be long gone.”

Robotnik turned around to face the two mechanical brothers once more. “I want you to follow the trajectory of the helicopter and inspect the crash zone. See if you can recover the Chaos Emerald she stole.”

Giving Eggman a salute, Decoe and Bocoe ran out of the command center. Eggman sat back down, watching the monitor as the helicopter flew away, black smoke lingering in the air as Rouge disappeared completely from the mech’s enhanced field of vision.

“One day, she will pay.”

“Mark my words.”

*****

“It looks like I’m home free.” Rouge leaned the joystick forward as she flew the helicopter away from Eggman’s base. “What a sap! Leaving your keys in the helicopter was a rookie mistake.”

Before she could gloat further, though, she heard a loud explosion behind her. Peeking out the window on the right-hand door, she gasped as she saw black smoke coming out of the engine from behind the cockpit, creating a cloudy trail as the flying machine began to slowly lose altitude.

“Dammit!” Rouge sat back down in the pilot’s chair, watching as flashing lights lit her dashboard. “Yeah yeah, I know!” Maneuvering the craft once more, she discovered that she was still able to control the direction of the helicopter, even if she could no longer raise her altitude.

“Uffdah.” Rouge wiped her brow and leaned back in her chair. “That’s a relief. I can just glide down to safety and ditch this hunk of junk when I’m back on solid ground.”

Unfortunately for the jewel thief, though, the helicopter’s engine had other plans.

Rouge heard another explosion from behind. Looking out the window once more, she watched in horror as fire engulfed the back of the helicopter, the vehicle rapidly losing altitude. Looking forward, the bat saw an island in the distance. Rubbing her eyes to ensure her vision wasn’t deceiving her, she found the island floating above the ocean waters below.

“That must be Angel Island!” She surmised that the helicopter should be able to reach the island before descending too low, and it was her only opportunity to avoid the water, so with what little control she had left over the careening aircraft, the bat glided in the direction of the island.

Another few minutes went by. The helicopter was now over the floating island, approaching dangerously close to the trees below. Rouge opened the left-most door and peered down at the ground. Taking a deep breath, she dove out, planning to use her wings to escape unscathed. As she jumped, however, she collided directly with a large oak tree, hitting her head against the thick bark as she fell to the forest floor.

A 60-foot fall would’ve easily killed the jewel thief, but the branches covering the length of the tree broke her descent every 10 feet or so, leaving bruises and scratches instead of life-threatening injuries. Nevertheless, she was nearly unconscious by the time she reached the forest floor, her body sprawled out near the base of the oak tree, leaves slowly falling to the ground, landing on and around the bat, her body soaked with rainwater as the storm continued its downpour.

If Rouge were awake, she’d have been thankful to be outside the vicinity of the helicopter, which brought several trees down with it before exploding, fire spewing from the smoldering mess of twisted metal as the flames engulfed the wreckage and spread to the trees surrounding the crash.

*****

After their fight with Dr. Eggman, there was a mutual, unspoken understanding that Sonic would look over the young kitsune in the hospital while Knuckles, the sole guardian of the Master Emerald, would return to his duties on Angel Island.

And that is exactly what he did.

Whereas the trip from the island to Seaside City took about 15 minutes, thanks to the speed of the Tornado 2, Knuckles’ journey home took half a day; after walking the entire way, climbing up a mountain to allow himself to safely glide down to the floating Island, he chose to celebrate by napping on top of the Master Emerald for the remainder of the evening.

A week went by without issue. He used the time to relax after the battle with Eggman, thankfully not having sustained any injuries. He called Sonic and Tails in the hospital from time to time, otherwise electing to take it easy; from Knuckles’ perspective, the brotherly duo was more than suitable to retrieve the Chaos Emeralds, even if their efforts would be delayed. His true purpose was to guard the most important one of all: the Master Emerald, the source of the Chaos Emeralds’ power, a mystical gem that could grant any evildoer the ability to spread untold chaos and destruction across Mobius.

And so he guarded the Master Emerald, as he had always done, sitting on the stone steps of the shrine deep in thought, allowing the rain to pour over his fur as he pondered recent events.

That Tails is certainly a resilient little fox. He’ll stop at nothing to help his friends. For such a little guy, he always seems to put his life on the line to thwart Eggman’s schemes.

“Definitely commendable,” Knuckles turned around and peered up at the Master Emerald, “but the shock he gave himself up there, and the battle at Seaside City…maybe Sonic should have him sit things out going forward.” He looked at his feet and crossed his arms. “I get the strangest feeling things are only going to get hairier from here.”

“But still…” The red echidna walked up the stone steps and observed the Master Emerald, the sprinkling rain rolling off the perfectly cut gem. “Tails’ dream about the Master Emerald…and surviving that intense shock with mere bruises on his hands…maybe fate is drawing Tails into this ordeal? Maybe it is the will of the Master Emerald beckoning Tails play a role in the events to come?”

Knuckles’ monologue was cut short by the sound of an explosion in the distance, black smoke bellowing into the sky.

“What’s this? Is the island under attack?” Knuckles scanned the dark sky above, not seeing an aerial assault or signs of a fleet preparing to wage a fight on his turf. “No…but whatever it was, I need to investigate.” The red echidna ran down the shrine’s steps and toward the direction of the explosion.

Navigating through the thick forest of the island was effortless for Knuckles. After all, as the sole occupant and caretaker of the floating island, it was his duty to know every square meter of his ancestral land.

Pushing thick foliage away, Knuckles emerged from a patch of tall grass to find what remained of a downed helicopter and scorched trees surrounding the crash site, the fire having since been put out by the intensifying storm. Investigating the charred remains of the aircraft, he found the cockpit empty, as well as the surrounding area of the crash site.

“Hmmm…” Knuckles placed a gloved finger on his chin. “No bodies, no survivors…no sign that someone was actually piloting this thing. They must’ve jumped out before impact.”

Proving his theory, a feminine voice could be heard in the distance. He approached the groaning sounds, the noise becoming more audible with each passing step, until he found Rouge on the ground, scratched, bruised, and seemingly unable to move.

“Hey, I know you. You’re that jewel thief who tried to steal the Master Emerald before.” Rouge didn’t reply, instead moaning in pain, not having enough energy to carry on a conversation.

“Well, it’d only be right to make sure you’re okay.” The red echidna inspected the bat before him, moving her arms and legs gently. “Nothing appears broken, but—” Knuckles was interrupted by the bat herself, who shot up, pushing him to the ground as she intently stared at him, crossing her arms.

“What do you think you’re doing? I hope you weren’t up to any funny business!”

“W…what?” Knuckles blushed as he looked up at the angry bat above him. “I’d never do anything like that, you ungrateful bat!”

“S..sure…” Rouge began to say, her sassy attitude giving way as she fell back to the ground, too exhausted and banged up to continue taunting the red echidna.

Knuckles pulled himself up and observed the injured bat, checking her pulse before picking her up and slinging her across his right shoulder.

I don’t like the thought of bringing that bat anywhere near the Master Emerald, but I can best tend to her wounds at home. She better not try and take the Master Emerald once she is recovered…

The red echidna made careful strides in the direction of his cabin, Rouge unwittingly along for the ride.

*****

Tails looked up at the sky, observing the dark clouds beginning to creep in from the distance. He shivered at the thought of a thunderstorm, especially considering his current location: an open park the length of a few blocks in Seaside City. Trying to suppress his fears, the fox looked over at Sonic, who was about to order food from a small vendor as he sat at a nearby picnic table, keeping the duffel bags by his side.

“I’ll have a dozen chili dogs with the works!” Sonic slapped a palm on the vendor’s counter as he placed his order.

“Ahh, m’best customer Sonic!” exclaimed the chef, a portly pig dressed in a white apron, a large snout covering his pink face. “A dozen fully-loaded chili dogs comin’ up!”

Before Sonic knew it, the chili dogs were complete, piled up like a pyramid on a large plate. The fresh, brown chili was still bubbling as it completely submerged each deluxe-sized hot dog and their accompanying buns, dripping to the chili dogs below like a multi-layered fountain. For added measure, the chef sprinkled a healthy dose of shredded cheddar cheese over the hotdog pyramid, the cheese instantly melting into gooey goodness upon contact with the searing hot chili.

Sonic began to drool as he eyed the mythical creations before him while mindlessly fumbling in his wallet for cash. The blue hedgehog tossed a bill to the chef, his eyes widening in shock as he inspected the payment.

“Hey Sonic, the dogs were only 25 dollars. I think you overpaid.”

“Keep the change, ol’ friend.” Sonic grabbed the plate of chili dogs as he made his way back to the picnic table. As the hedgehog walked away, the chef eyed the 100-dollar bill carefully before placing it in the safety of the cash register.

“My best customer indeed...”

Tails looked on as Sonic walked toward him, careful to balance the plate so the hand-crafted dogs would survive the brief journey to the table. Sure enough, the chili dogs arrived unscathed; Sonic placed the plate at the center of the table and sat down across from the orange kitsune.

The two brothers grabbed their first serving, the blue hedgehog devouring a full hotdog with a few large bites while the young fox ate with more care. Given Sonic’s speed, the hotdog pyramid blocking the two from seeing across the table was quickly reduced to a small pile. Unsurprisingly, the blue blur ate most of the chili dogs, but Tails didn’t mind; he was approaching maximum capacity anyway.

Letting out a loud belch, the hedgehog quickly covered his mouth.

“Excuse me!”

The duo laughed, Tails pinching his nose with one hand and waving the other in front of his face for comedic effect before returning to the half-eaten hotdog on his plate. Sonic laid down on the bench on his side of the picnic table in satisfaction, placing his hands behind his head for support.

“So,” Tails began, as he polished off his hotdog, wiping away excess chili from his muzzle with a napkin. “What’s the plan now? As far as we know, Eggman may’ve collected all the Chaos Emeralds by now.”

“You know me, Tails,” Sonic replied, reaching for a half-eaten chili dog while lying on the long seat, throwing it up in the air, catching it in his mouth, and swallowing it whole. “I’m usually not the plannin’ type o’ guy. I leave that sort of thing to you.”

“I suppose.” Tails placed a hand on his utility belt, feeling the Chaos Emerald detector within, a pang of guilt creeping out of the young kitsune’s subconscious once more.

The two brothers sat in silence, enjoying the fresh air on their faces, as they spent the last few moments of relaxation together before committing themselves to discovering Eggman’s ultimate plan.

Surely that attack on Seaside City must’ve had some purpose. Otherwise, what was the point?

Tails pondered to himself in silence as he rested his arms on the table, using them as a support for his head as he stared blankly in front of him.

“Regardless of our plan,” Sonic interrupted Tails’ train of thought, sitting up and looking at his younger brother across the table, “I’m just happy you’re feeling better and will be by my side the rest of the way.”

Tails smiled brightly in response to the blue hedgehog’s warm comments.

I couldn’t imagine staying in that hospital without Sonic there with me. He’s been such a good friend. I’ll do what I can to stop Eggman’s latest scheme…for both of our sakes.

“Why the serious face all of a sudden?” Sonic stared intently at his younger brother, whose face was tightened up and eyes narrowed, as if filled with a new sense of determination.

“Oh, sorry…” Tails placed a hand behind his head in embarrassment.

“You don’t need to apologize for being yourself, buddy.” Sonic reached over the table to rustle the kitsune’s hair. “Always be yourself…remember that.”

“I will, Sonic.” Tails smiled as the blue hedgehog sat back down, his hand rubbing his bulging belly. “Let’s say we grab a doggy bag and bring the rest of these chili dogs home?”

“You bet!” Tails patted his own belly in satisfaction.

As Sonic got up from his seat, though, a familiar voice could be heard from several yards away, calling him from a distance. She didn’t seem to be very pleased to see the blue hedgehog.

“Ah geez…” Sonic tried to rub the displeasure from his face before the confrontation commenced.

“SONIC! You have some explaining to do!”

“Ohh, hiya Ames! What’s happenin’?”

“Don’t what’s happenin’ me, Sonic!” Amy Rose was dressed in her red skirt, sporting shorter quills than the self-described blue boyfriend before her.

“Did I do somethin’ wrong?” Sonic placed his hands forward as if to impede the angry pink hedgehog, fire growing in her eyes as her teeth clenched in anger. As she stepped forward, the angry girlfriend materialized her Piko Piko hammer from her hammerspace.

“What? You don’t remember?” Amy asked sarcastically, setting the hammer down and folding her arms as she looked away from the duo’s picnic table.

“Why don’t you tell us what Sonic forgot, Amy?” Tails assumed Sonic was at fault, which was generally the standard order of things in their relationship.

“Alright,” Amy exhaled deeply, ignoring the blue hedgehog next to her, “but only for Tails’ sake.” Looking at the concerned fox, she continued. “Sonic and I had a date scheduled last week, but he totally bailed on me! I’ve been planning it for weeks, had the outfit picked out, even had food catered in. But…” tears welled-up in the pink hedgehog’s eyes as she finished her story. “Sonic never showed up! I waited for hours but still no sign. I had to throw out all the food, too!”

“And worst of all,” she looked menacingly at the blue hedgehog beside her, “he didn’t even bother to answer his phone!”

“Amy, I…”

“No excuses, Sonic!” Amy waved a gloved finger in his face. “You’ve done this to me so many times, I’ve lost track.”

“I know, but…”

“No buts, Sonic!”

“But…”

“What did I just say?”

Sonic brushed a hand through his blue quills as sweat rolled down his brow.

“This time I had a good reason.”

“So you admit all the other excuses were BAD?” She turned her face away, her arms still folded. Amy was caught off-guard, however, when Sonic grabbed her hands, the pink hedgehog allowing her arms to fall at his unexpected touch.

“Look Amy, I’m sorry for forgetting our date. Honestly, but you see…Tails…” Sonic’s voice began to crack as he turned away from his girlfriend. “Tails was in the hospital.”

“Not good enough, S—” Amy stopped halfway through her rejection, so prepared to remain mad at her boyfriend that it took a while to process Sonic’s words. “Tails…was in the hospital?” Amy’s attention turned toward the orange kitsune, who was watching quietly.

“O…Oh…”

In all her years chasing the blue blur, and listening to his endless barrage of lame excuses, she hadn’t quite heard one like this, a reason that was both truthful and sincere. She looked back at Sonic, whose eyes were closed, arms folded, and head down, his face somber as if in deep thought.

“Yes, well…I’m fine now, though.” Tails scratched the back of his head and chuckled nervously. “I suppose you’d like to hear more?”

“…Yeah.” She couldn’t find anything else to say. Instead, she joined the company as they sat back down at the table, leaning against her blue boyfriend as the orange kitsune recounted the events that transpired, nibbling on one of the leftover, lukewarm chili dogs in front of her.

“I heard Eggman was defeated a week ago, but the media coverage didn’t mention your injuries.”

“No, I guess not…” Tails’ turned away from the hedgehog couple, shifting his gaze to the sky above. “People don’t seem to care about sidekicks, huh?”

Sonic opened his eyes as he noticed Tails’ voice begin to trail off, sadness returning to his younger brother’s face once more.

“People care about ya, Tails.” The blue hedgehog pulled himself away from the pink hedgehog, Amy nearly falling over from the sudden loss of support. “They were just more worried about Eggman’s destruction is all.”

“And besides,” Sonic gave Tails a thumbs up, “you’re not one for publicity, am I right?”

“I suppose.” A smile returned to Tails’ face.  

Sonic always knows what to say. I don’t know what I’d do without him...

Sonic chuckled, itching his nose while grinning at his younger brother. “Well, we should probably mosey on out of here.” As Sonic got up to grab a to-go bag from the vendor, Amy stopped him with her intimidating voice.

“Hold on, Sonic…you may be off the hook this time, but I have my eye on you, so I’m coming with!”

The blue hedgehog turned around, itching the quills on the back of his head.

“Well…the more the merrier!” Sonic chuckled nervously as he walked backward to the vendor, grabbing a bag from a dispenser.

Storing away the delectable leftovers in the doggy bag, the trio made their way to the hangar where the fixed-up Tornado 2 was stored, itching to get home in order to plan their next move.

*****

Click here to continue with chapter 7!

[frommainetospain2020]

The Visa Saga

Ultimately, the most daunting part of the pre-study abroad process, is obtaining a visa. In the era of COVID-19, this daunting task is magnified ten-fold. Not wanting to be outdone by my 2016 counterpart, I took it upon myself to be overly abundantly prepared for my visa appointment. The pandemic has limited travel to the point that people need a valid visa in order to get into the country. CIEE had to push the dates of orientation because of all of the delays with getting placements, and getting the necessary documents to people.

The hardest part of the process, as I said in my previous post, is to get the background check. The background check also requires a thing called an apostille, which is basically an internationally accepted notarization. If you ask others within my program how long the FBI apostille process took, the answers may shock you. I, however, went a different route. The Boston consulate allowed a state police issued background check. Let me back up a second. I couldn’t get the FBI background check and apostille because my fingerprints were rejected, and the places I could go to have them done were extremely limited. Because of this, I got them from the Maine State Police and the Secretary of State. My apostille, from the time I sent in the request, to the time that I received it, was about a week. The FBI, in contrast, takes like 8 weeks.

In the same regard as college study abroad Steven, I made like 4 copies of everything. If they needed an original or a copy, I was gonna be ready for it.

So, I won’t bore you with the knitty gritty details about the visa process itself. If you’re curious, it’s available online. Google it. These blog posts, while shared for you to read, are a way of helping me to remember these experiences, when I inevitably forget them a few years down the line.

So let’s get to the experiences themselves... Picture it, Bangor, August 3, 2020. I had gotten a Greyhound ticket to get to Boston because the thought of driving in Boston stresses me out. I drove to Bangor International Airport in the morning for my bus which left at 9 AM. I parked my car in long term parking (which cost me $22 after a day and a half. The second trip was more manageable, which I’ll explain in a bit). Eventually, the bus came and a handful of people got on with me.

Now, if you’re reading this, and you’re a Facebook friend of mine, you may recall a post about how you could make a sitcom solely based on the characters you meet on a bus. And to that notion, I was most definitely not kidding.

Enter character #1. Smoking mother who doesn’t understand online banking. The woman sat a few seats behind me. At some point early in the ride, she called her bank, and I could tell from the tone of her voice that she was agitated. She apparently didn’t know that certain transfers in online banking had a charge that went along with it, and was asking for the bank to remove them. Sorry lady, that’s not how it works. She also left her kid as she stepped off the bus to smoke. “I’ll be right back” she said, to her son who was like 5. In her defense, it was super quick, but anyway...

Enter character #2, the woman with a better resting b**** face than me. It’s no secret that I like to sit alone on transportation. So, I was banking on not having to sit next to anyone. Until we got to New Hampshire... There was a girl sitting across from me, and by the time we got to Portsmouth, NH, we were the only two that were sitting by ourselves. However, when a rider needed a seat, he looked at the two of us, and made the decision that I looked more approachable. At least, as approachable as one can look with a face mask. So you win this round, lady with a better RBF than me...

In all honesty, the guy who sat next to me was super nice, and helped me navigate South Station to get where I needed to go, so cheers to you friend. I don’t remember your name, because I’m writing this over a month after it happened, so I apologize.

So, after a grueling 5 1/2 hour bus ride, we make it to South Station. For this initial visa appointment, I opted to couch surf with my cousin, who lived in Boston. So I made my way to the Fenway T Stop.

When I got there, I wasn’t sure how strict Boston was with jaywalkers, so I walked to the crosswalk at the end of the street and waited for the walk signal. Spoiler alert, that didn’t really last very long...

So my cousin greeted me, but I sat quietly for a bit because my cousin and her roommates were working virtually, so I mainly just surfed the internet.

That night, we went to a Greek restaurant, and I got a gyro. Barely ate any of it, because, you know, the whole “stomach the size of an egg” thing. But I digress...

She had an air mattress that I slept on, but deflated drastically by the time the morning came.

By that point, it was time to go to my visa appointment. I made my way to the consulate, showed the doorman my ID, he printed me a name badge and I made my way upstairs. The elevators were interesting, because you choose your floor from a screen and the elevator you get will get you to your desired floor. You gotta enjoy the little things.

The appointment took a bit longer than I anticipated. The person processing the visas was in a meeting, so it was a lot of “hurry up and wait”. In this time frame, a guy went up to the counter a few times for some reason, speaking in semi-understandable Spanish. Once I finally could come to the window, there was a woman who looked like a Spanish Ariana Grande beside me. I assume she was trying to either get a green card for herself, or her American husband. At least, that’s what my subpar Spanish skills understood.

After having to fix a field on my visa application, I was told to email the consulate in 3 weeks to see if the visa is ready, so I had accomplished what I needed to do. I made my way back to my cousin’s apartment and waited until I could go to the bus terminal for my return ride.

My cousin and I then went to a Mexican restaurant, basically next door to the Greek one from the day prior. I got a burrito bowl, and again, barely ate any. To kill time while my cousin and her roommates were working, I decided to crack away at my read-through of the Song of Ice and Fire books. I eventually made my way back to South Station and to the bus terminal. This bus was PACKED. The line of people was suuuuuuuper long. I barely found a seat. Luckily, the woman I sat next to was getting off in Portsmouth, the first stop, so once she left, I had the seat to myself.

Enter bus character # 3: The loud woman who doesn’t practice common courtesy on a bus full of people. Again for all of you Facebook friends out there, I made a post about a woman that sounded like Pensatucky from Orange is the New Black. Yeah, this is her. She was talking to her boyfriend, I’m assuming, but she was doing so extremely loudly, in a practically quiet bus. The girl that sat across from me looked at me, and we both gave a look of “WTF?”. I conversed with this girl for most of the bus ride, where we talked in depth about Harry Potter, which ya’ll know I’m very oft to do.

The return to Maine was rough, because it was pouring rain off and on. Because of the weather, the bus driver said that he was gonna drop Bangor off at the park and ride instead of the airport, which posed a problem, because my car was at the airport. Eventually, he said he’d go to the airport, so it worked out fine.

So, I paid my $22 parking fee and went on my way. This was also rough, because the rain made the Interstate drive very difficult. I didn’t get home until close to midnight.

Fast forward 3 weeks. Picture it, Bangor, August 24, 2020. I, again, take the Greyhound to Boston. The same bus driver. This time, it was boarded at the park and ride, so I didn’t need to pay $22 to park there, which was nice. Also this time, I managed to keep my seat to myself, which was nice. This bus ride probably had the least amount of interesting bus characters, but honestly, I don’t mind...

The bus ride was fairly standard, the main difference between this one and the first one, is that this one had much less people at the big stops.

When we got to Boston, I maneuvered my way to the Arlington stop. I had gotten a hotel room this time, as my cousin was moving out of Boston. I stayed at the Hotel 140 in Back Bay. Not horrible, but not great... So, the first thing I did in the hotel, was the thing I do literally every day of my life. I took a nap. 

After that, I ventured out to find something to eat for dinner. I went to the Prudential Center, which was just down the street. There was a lot of construction happening, so it was a bit tricky to maneuver, but I managed. I decided to see what stores were there and see what food outlets there were. While doing this, a guy was maskless and a security guard told him to put on a mask, to which he replied “I have freedoms.” or some BS similar to that... I discovered a grocery storeesque thing called Eataly. Some of you may have heard of it. It had a bunch of Italian food and other stuff, but it was EXPENSIVE. So, long story short, I didn’t buy anything there.

The meal I ended up having was a chicken caesar salad from California Pizza Kitchen. I managed to get a couple meals out of the half portion salad. If that salad was a half portion, I’d hate to see the full sized one...

After I got the salad in a to-go container, I bought a few Vitamin Waters at the CVS right next door, and went back to my hotel. That was about the extent of what I did of interest that night.

In the morning, I wanted to try to take advantage of the hotel’s continental breakfast, but it was very mediocre, so I decided not to. I decided to walk to Dunkin Donuts. I ordered 2 egg and cheese wake up wraps, and 10 Munchkins. If my dieticians read this, I know. I shouldn’t have them. I’m making progress though, so 🤷‍♂️.

Because I’m lazy, I took the T back, because it was about a 15 minute walk. I ate one of the wraps, and a single munchkin, and then set off for the consulate, which was basically right around the corner. Went through the same song and dance, show the doorman your ID, get the name badge, go to the 9th floor, yadda yadda yadda.

So I go in, and there’s a girl at the visa counter who I learned is doing the same program I am. After her initial appointment was done, they got my visa for me. When they handed it to me, they handed it via my Italian visa. This confused me, but then I turned back a page to see my Spanish visa on the other side. So to that, I bid them farewell, the guy at the consulate said “Enjoy your time in Spain!” and I left.

Because checkout at my hotel was at 11, and my bus was at 4:30, it was gonna make for a long afternoon. When I got back to the hotel, I took a shower and surfed the internet for a bit, before I had to check out.

Once I checked out, I went to the T station, where the card that I thought had money on it didn’t, so I had to buy another. I took the T back to South Station. From there, I continued to read through the Song of Ice and Fire books, as well as checking social media, as one is oft to do these days. I used my power bank sparingly to last the time I was there. I gotta say, 5 hours of downtime in a bus terminal is ROUGH.

So, fast forward to right before boarding, and enter bus character # 4, thug looking guy with a heavy NY accent. This guy was actually super nice. We chatted before the bus boarded. He’s the same age as my mom, but honestly looked much younger to me. We mainly complained about how long the bus was taking, but yeah, despite not being crazy, I’d still classify this guy as a character.

The biggest character on this bus ride was actually the bus driver. He was, I’m guessing, from India or a similar country. When someone was parked where they weren’t supposed to be in Portsmouth, he honked his horn and loudly called them a motherf*****, so that the passengers could hear. 

I wanted to wrap this up since it’s a pretty long blog post, so basically we got back, no issues, and I drove out of the park and ride to drive home. Shortly before my exit, the right lane of the interstate was blocked off for construction. This was like 11:15 at night. So I had one lane, and as much visibility as my car headlights could give me. Unfortunately, that wasn’t much, because I accidentally hit a porcupine. 😢 I almost hit a skunk too, but he was enough in the closed off lane to be out of the way. This broke the clamp on my exhaust system and started making a noise until I got it fixed. It was a mess.

Anyway, that’s the end of the visa saga, meeting interesting characters along the way, and getting the thing that got me where I am now. In Madrid.

Fin.

[kimonobeat]

aiko bon “Profile Interview” Chapter 5 (2/3)

ーWhat kinds of part-time jobs did you do the most of?

aiko: I worked part-time at my dad’s bar when I was in junior college. I wasn’t gonna get to see my dad as much when I started living on my own, you know? It was honestly just an excuse to see each other. My goal when working there was to show up and let him see that I was doing just fine. I think I actually went there about 4 or 5 days a week. but it didn’t really matter how much I did or didn’t go, he gave me 50,000 yen a month. I’d work maybe 3 or 4 hours at a time and would  just make it in time for the last train going home.

ーWhat was it like working with your dad?

aiko: I was so tired…… It wasn’t embarrassing or awkward at all. The customers always wanted to talk about the Hanshin Tigers though. I don’t know. Some people would also say horrible stuff to me too, like, “Oh, you wanna be a singer, huh? Just quit now while you’re ahead.” My dad didn’t get any super nasty customers or anything. I don’t think they meant it quite like that.

ーSo was that the only place you experienced working at part-time?

aiko: No, I had a few part-time jobs in high school too. The first job I ever had in my entire life was being a miko. My friends told me to give it a try during my freshman year of high school because “the pay was good”. I decided to keep it a secret from my parents. Then I was hospitalized with appendicitis right before I was supposed to start. Once I’d healed, I started going regularly and was a miko during wedding ceremonies. I get this feeling I tied a pretty loose knot between sooo many couples. It might as well have not even been a knot. (laughs)

ーDid part of you want to do that job because of the outfit you got to wear?

aiko: There was that too, but I used to love doing interesting things like that. I didn’t really want a regular part-time job. Being a miko was a pretty interesting job though. “If you’re family of the groom, please sit over here. If you’re family of the bride, please sit over here.” I had all those lines memorized. Then I’d hand it off to someone else for the San San Kudo part. After working as a miko, I had a job where I had to wear a mascot suit too.

ーOne of those jobs where you put on a mascot suit and gesture around?

aiko: Yeah. I used to go to amusement parks and do Anpanman shows too. I was Butaman though, so I wore a Butaman suit. I was Rapitan at Tojouko Land, and this character named ‘Kotaro’ who was the mascot for a bearing company in the Midousuji parade. The Kotaro suit had these two, round eyes for a head, and the body was a silver outfit that sort of looked like an F1 racer. Anyway, I got into the Kotaro costume but it was so hot, I was just waiting around without the head on. The cameramen who came over to photograph the race queens asked if it was okay to take pictures of ME! (laughs) I was like, “Me? Really!?”

ーAnd you didn’t mind, did you? (laughs)

aiko: The parade was exhausting, though. I couldn’t see because I had this thing on my head, so I had these girls holding my hands to guide me along the entire time. I walked for over an hour holding balloons and just looking at the ground the entire time saying, “Are we there yet? How about now?” Oh, and I just thought of another one. You know when “Itadakimasu” was making rounds to each province? I was in the lion costume. (laughs) The costume was so big on me it just flapped around. I did quite a few costume jobs for dispatch companies. I worked at Lawson part-time too. I quit after about a month though.

ーWas it too ‘normal’ for you?

aiko: Yeah. It just made me wanna sleep sooo bad. When you work part-time at night, you have so much free time. I was SO sleepy. I think I already slept too much as it was. Another part-time job I had was working as an OMC card in a call center as an operator. My job was to answer customers’ questions, like, “Will this be a recurring payment? What's my balance? How much do I have left on the account?” over the phone. I was once a beer girl at baseball games. I worked part-time at Mister Donuts too. I couldn’t stay at any of them for long though. It didn’t matter what job it was, I just couldn’t do it.

ーWhat kinds of things did you do most often when you were hanging out with your friends in your junior college days?

aiko: Hmmm… I’d shoot the breeze talking about dumb stuff with this one guy who was a year below me, or with my other classmates. We also enjoyed bowling and karaoke. Everyone was always trying to get me to come to parties, but I’ve never really been interested in stuff like that. Just look at it this wayーI’m pretty sensitive, so. (laughs) So whenever I went to parties, I’d just end up feeling super exhausted by the whole thing. I’m also not really a big fan of people who know tons of drinking songs. I mean, you’re just forcing yourself to drink, you know what I mean? Like, they start singing, “Nagai’s gonna drink~ Nagai’s gonna drink~ Nagai’s gonna drink it in 5 seconds~”, and then you’ve gotta chug the whole thing while everyone else counts, “One, clap clap. Two, clap clap. Three, clap clap.” I have this image in my head that people who know a lot of those just play too hard. I always thought to myself, “If I ever followed them, they’d ditch me on Mount Ikoma.”

ーWhat does that mean?

aiko: There’s a mountain in Osaka called Mt. Ikoma. The Ikoma Cemetery and Ikoma Amusement Park are there to. Anyway, I was always worried someone would bring me to the top of the mountain and ditch me there. If they were hitting on me, I thought sure I’d get left behind. I was too scared to ever go no matter how often people invited me. I always had it in my head that if I followed them, at the end they’d try to kiss me, take all the money I hadーor depending on the placeーshoot me. (laughs)

ー(laughs) So mixer parties were off the table, then.

aiko: Of course they were. My classmates went to quite a few though. They were always asking, “Hey aiko, we’re going… to a mixer, wanna come?” I’d always answer, “Oh, nah, thanks though.” Especially because that was right around the time the economic bubble burst. Things still had that bubble afterglow back then, though. Y’know, around the time “Konya wa Boogie Back” came out? That was back when you called guys Ashi-kun or Mitsgu. A couple girls I knew had Ashi-kuns of their own. “What’re you gonna do when you graduate, then?” I’d ask, and they’d just say, “Hm, get a job I guess?” That’s why I kinda just, I don’t know, felt like I was too different for all that. I would’ve never been satisfied with stopping after music school. Because of that, I only keep in touch with one of the friends I made when I was at music school. Her name’s Toshie. Whenever I have a concert I still make sure to tell her to come every day. We keep in touch.

ーWas she one of your classmates as a popular music vocal major?

aiko: Yeah, she was. She’s all about Japanese drums and yoga right now. (laughs) I’ve been blessed with friends that constantly make me think to myself, “Wow, we share a real bond” ever since I was a high school student. I had friends like that in high school too. Toshie was that friend for me in music school. When I stopped going to school completely, she’d bring me small amounts of rice at a time in plastic bags and hang them on my doorknob. “I’m worried about you,” she said. “Make sure to eat.”

ーYou’ve had friends like that help you out in all kinds of ways, haven’t you?

aiko: I really have. I used to have these friends who would come over to my house every day whenever I’d just broken up with someone. That’s why I’m still friends with those people now. Just recently I got a package in the mail from one of those friends out of the blue. I was like, “What’s this?” Then I looked in the cardboard box and saw all this “Oi Ocha” in it. It said, “Please drink a bunch.” (laughs) They knew I loved “Oi Ocha” so they sent me some as a gag gift. Now that I think about it, some of my friends send me text messages every single day that say, “I love you aiko!” too. (laughs)

ーAre most of your friends people you met when you were in high school?

aiko: My high school friends are my main squeezes. Or like, an employee at a clothing store that I got to know in music school that I ended up being friends with afterwards. I mean, I introduced myself to people and talked with them while I was in music school, but in the end were just ‘school friends’. Which is why my high school friends mean that much more to me, I think. I guess part of me just figured they all had friends and I didn’t really try hard to get to know them. But my classmates in high school are the kind of people who’d say, “Don’t worry Aiko. If you’re ever bedridden, I’ll take care of you.” (laughs) I tend to get lazy about that sort of thing, even though I know I shouldn’t. I did in music school too, and that’s why I tended to hang out with my classmates and underclassmen in high school more even though there were a few other people who were like, musical majors that I used to chat with.

ーFor example, when you were at school, did you ever go anywhere with your classmates between classes?

aiko: No, never. I’d just say, “I’m going home” and would leave. I was living alone in a room I was renting close to the school, so we’d all used to gather there in the beginning. We’d do that between classes sometimes too. And also at lunch. It became a thing for everyone to come over to my house and eat lunch. Everyone would get so excited they started acting kind of selfish.

ーYou mean like, leaving their trash everywhere and not cleaning up after themselves when they made a mess while eating?

aiko: Exactly. One time my friend left cigarette ashes everywhere and didn’t even clean it up, or apologize. They just said, “Oh well.” That pretty much ended that. I was like, “Welp, nothing else to talk about then.”

ーBut if you had friends over right after starting music school, you must’ve had quite a few friends.

aiko: I only had one left by the end. To be really honest, at the beginning it sort of felt exactly like high school. Going to music college was like, an extension of high school. I just wanted things to be fun again. Right after I started school I made a bunch of friends I was pretty close with. I even had a group of friends who were in the popular music vocal department, but it just felt like it wasn’t really working out to me.

ーAnd then when you closed the shutters, you didn’t open them back up again?

aiko: Not much. I normally don’t, and when that happened, nobody really talked to me. Before I do, people tell me, “Hey, you’re being kinda… y’know…” I work hard in my own way to make things work. I’ll even change my approach and try getting back in contact with people too sometimes. It’s not a done deal, is what I’m saying.

ーYou just lose your patience with people, is all.

aiko: Maybe that’s it. Once I’m done dealing with someone, that’s it. Doesn’t matter if they apologize to me either. I just feel like they’re someone I can’t get along with, so it’s no use apologizing, no matter what they say.

ーSo was that it during the whole time you were at music school? You just stopped hanging out with people?

aiko: Yeah. I thought to myself, “That’s it, I’m not having anyone over at my place anymore.” Then everyone started saying, “Hey Aiko, you mad about something? If you’re mad, then just say so! What happened? You seem down. You can talk to me about anything y’know!” because I was acting differently from before. But I’d already decided I wouldn’t go back on it, so I turned ‘em all down and said, “Nah, I’m not mad at all. I’m not thinking ‘bout a thing! I’m fine, I’m fine, seriously, it’s nothing.” I used to get real shy when it came to stuff like that.

ーYou’re cautious with people to a certain extent until you get close to them now, you mean?

aiko: Yes. I started needing a lot of time to get close to people.

ーBut you were really outgoing up until that point, right?

aiko: Yeah, super outgoing. The thing is though, after that happened I became a lot more shy. I guess, like… it was like this switch went off inside me. Like a switch for being shy just flipped on.

ーNow that you’ve got that ‘off/on’ switch, do you spend a long time checking people out before you become friends with them?

aiko: No, I’ve just sorta learned to talk my way out of things, so maybe now people don’t think I seem shy to them. At first glance, you’d think I was just, y’know, normal. For example, let’s say the person I’m talking to is thinking to themselves, “Well, next time then!” For me though, I require a lot of courage to even go next time. They might think it’s something easy, but for me it feels like a really big deal.

ーYou’ve always given nice, clear answers in interviews without any issues since you debuted, though. I would’ve never thought you were shy.

aiko: That’s ‘cause I may be shy, but I really wanted to be a singer. (laughs) That’s the only thing I’ve had as my goal, all this time. And to achieve that goal I’d do just about anything, no matter how hardーit doesn’t feel like a big deal to me, I guess you could say. Coming to Tokyo and being away from all my closest friends and family was really, really hard on me, but I was fine with it because it was a step closer to working in music. Interviews are the same way for me. I just think to myself, “It’s not the same thing as singing, but I hope they feel something, and a lot of it.”

ーSo you overcame your shyness for that reason?

aiko: Yeah, exactly. In this world where SO many people are debuting every single day, the writers, magazine people, and people at radio stations probably have to listen to a ridiculous amount of songs every day, you know? They probably get tons of demo tapes and samples to play. I thought that if maybe, people remembered me as being this really positive person and not just my music, I’d get lucky and stand out more to them because of that. I don’t even mind if someone only remembers me as “that lively girl with the kappa haircut”. When someone tells me that they’re gonna give me 3 minutes to talk, I bare everything for 3 minutes in the hopes that they’ll learn a lot of different things about me.

ーAnd when you do that, you set aside your shyness for a moment.

aiko: Yeah, yeah. That’s why the people I talk to always seem to think I’m a really outgoing person. Then they’re like, “Here’s my contact information. Text me anytime!” and I just can’t bring myself to. (wry laugh) I’m the same about getting messages, too. I’m the type of person who worries 3 days after I get a text. “I still haven’t texted them back… What do I do!?” I still would hand out my calling card in the beginning, though.

ーYou mean business cards just for when you were “aiko”?

aiko: Right. I just wanted to be included in everyone’s groups. Pony Canyon, Ever For Music, and ‘aiko’. Instead of having one for the record company that promoted me, one for the management agency that backed me up, and another one for aiko, I had them all lumped together. I was trying to be part of everyone’s cliques at once.

ーAnd that one business card was one of the ways you showed it.

aiko: Exactly. Instead of saying, “Let’s do this this from now on!” I was like, “This is what I’m doing as of right now.” I wanted to create circles with everyone instead of being at the center of everyone else’s circles. I wanted to know more about them, and I wanted them to want to get to know me instead of just being diplomatic and taking their business cards. I’d rather be a part of people’s life by making them think, “Oh, is that what aiko’s like? I guess I’ll listen to her music then.” I use my business card to get people to care about me even the smallest amount. It was never with the intention to get them to do all the selling for me.

ーInstead, you wanted to “make sales together”.

aiko: Right, right. I started working as a radio DJ during my music college days, and I’ve watched so many promoters come by. Everyone’s trying the hardest they can to promote their release to the director. Even when the director says they don’t have the time, they just ask, “When are you going to be done with whatever work you’re starting right now?” and wait until they come back. After watching that happen, I felt like I had to brace myself for that once I was in that position, promoting myself along with them. I’d ask them to advertise me but had no intentions of creating that pyramid shape; that’s what the business card was for, making it feel like we were in it ‘together’. When I had business cards made through Pony Canyon, though, they told me that I couldn’t have “The Fuji Sankei Group” printed on it because, “You’re not an employee.” (laughs) So I said, “That’s fine. I’ll draw a picture instead!” and drew a picture where their logo would’ve gone. (laughs)

Read more: Previous « Index » Next

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S1 Ep28: Bakura Can Still Kill Everyone If He Really Wanted To

First off--my apostrophes work again! Many thanks to the tumblr staff who helped out and will never see this post. Now I can update without looking like my computer is encrypting itself as I go.

So guys, I’m all about weird TV and weird movies. I watched the entirety of Color of Pomegranates. I just want you to know that because when I say that “wow this got weird real fast” we are going by my metrics. It’s not as weird as Color of Pomegranates, because well...it has a plot that isn’t under four layers of symbolism and esoteric Armenian poetry, but whenever we have a Bakura episode, stuff just gets UNEXPECTED.

But first, the most wonderful thing has happened:

I mean kind of a weird choice to put some of these things together, but this was about .5 seconds of screen time, I’m just special and can pause to realllllly take it in. Mm.

(Read more under the cut for EVEN MORE FOOD)

Man!

MAN!

What did I do to deserve all this good anime food in the same episode as Bakura doing something completely nuts (again)?

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and we have to go back to cards, which for some reason is still the crux of this show...I think. This is still a show about cards, right? I’m no longer completely sure.

At the start of the season, Yugi was gifted these two cards as entrance tickets to the Island of Regret where they are now hanging out. These cards are how you collect your prizes if you win. The one with money is the prize of 3 million (or is it 300 million? It’s been a while since I’ve heard the number). The blank one is the chance to beat Pegasus. I assume your soul will go in the blank one after he beats you.

Youknow, it’s really a shame we never got to see the stats on Grandpa, Mokuba, and Seto cards. I don’t think they even had any. I mean, when Bakura turned his friends into cards, at least they had stats.

Anyways, some of our contestants have suddenly remembered that they actually have no right to this contest.

But, turns out Pegasus also has an interest in anime food, so he’s done something a little extra for...some reason.

DEAR LORD. I mean it’s not a real eyeball but think about the eye grease for a moment. Firstly, I don’t even know if you have to grease up a false eyeball and I want to look it up but I am too afraid. Secondly, now my mind is thinking of every unctuous substance that may or may not grease up a false eyeball. It does not pair well with pumpkin soup.

There’s eyeballs...in the soup...

This is when you go home. This is when you say “sorry Gramps, but...I am pretty sure that guy is a cannibal, I gotta goooooo.”

I mean, again, it’s not a real eyeball but freakin A are they having a weird halloween dinner party? Why would you do this? Why would you EVER put your own eyeball facsimiles in the soup? Is it like “eat my ass” but “eat my eyes” ?

Pegasus doesn’t get many guests and I can start to see why Kaiba hated him so damn much. Can you imagine working with this guy on a daily basis as the head of a large corporation while constantly getting pranked with his weird ass eyeballs?

Does it say “I open at the close?”

Why did they do -- what?!

This was all about a stupid bracket? What the hell, Yugioh?

The boys decide to throw caution to the wind about what may or may not be in this bizarre dinner that not even Pegasus wants to eat and they fully gorge themselves and get a real good food baby belly going.

I guess Yugi didn’t really eat because he is fully alert and his empty beacon eyes are still one of the most spooky things on this show.

Yugi decides to hand off his card to Joey right in the view of Bandit Keith, and Joey only takes it when Yugi convinces him that now they’d have twice the chance to beat Pegasus. I mean, not really, actually, but it was still a nice thing to say. Yugi is a kid of sooo many good intentions.

Mai goes to bed and says this actual line from the show.

Despite the fact that she’s so acidic about...eh...75% of the time, she really is the nicest person they have met on this horrible, terrible island. In fact, everyone is ready to tuck in to the most clearly haunted murder castle as if eyeballs weren’t just hanging out in their soup. What a bizarre heartwarming round of goodnights, as if there wasn’t clearly several people out to very much kill them living in the same castle as them.

This is how Agatha Christie novels start.

This episode does not actually dive into Joey’s gigantic donut dream, which is a shame.

Because this episode, it’s time for our B-team to shine.

I love the implication here that Tristan first knocked on Bakura’s door, woke him up with this and then Bakura clearly answered along the lines of “Bollucks, Tristan, I am not doing this right now” to which, Brakura dragged him down to Tea’s door in the hope that Tea would be at all reasonable.

Which backfired him in a major way because Tea and Tristan are desperate to chase some snipes and prove themselves useful.

I honestly can’t tell if Bakura even likes these guys. I mean, I get that they’re school friends but, this guy was introduced as totally murdering them and then getting magically “cured” with the same cure that failed on Seto Kaiba. The fact that this meek little fake-british accent can get so easily snowplowed by Tea and Tristan is never clearly just an act or just him getting snowplowed.

But, apparently there’s some part of him that is still that tiny little nice-side-of-Bakura, so dutifully, he decides to babysit, since the only other psychic they got around is currently having an eyeball-soup induced dream.

Back at the dueling arena, Tea decides to stand guard/do nothing as usual.

Tristan reveals why he has a grudge against Psychics.

Tristan’s character is pretty flat. It basically revolves around mothering everyone elses problems and pining about Serenity who is barely a character on this show. I always figured that Tristan was at least smarter than Joey and Yugi, who can be kind of...dumb, but it turns out Tristan is just as empty between the ears.

He gets completely fascinated by a beam of light shining through a window. Forget looking for cameras. Forget the fact that this room was full of Pegasus’ mooks, some of which were standing right behind Kaiba. Na. He’s gonna Sherlock Holmes straight to this window.

During Bakura’s desperate pleas to get these two assholes back to bed, Yugi is getting some crazy as hell conspiracy theories from Grandpa.

Oh, so he’s like a normal grandpa then? Once my Grandma told me that the entirety of San Fransisco would fall into the ocean during an Earthquake and she was EXTREMELY concerned about my safety (despite the fact I live inland, not in San Fransisco), so this dream Yugi’s having sounds like a pretty average dinner conversation with your Grandparents.

No one expects Bakura, not even the colorist.

And then for some reason they want Tea to go first in their climb up the tower although no reasonable girl in a mini skirt would do this in front of two boys.

Isn’t she a freakin dancer? Maybe she’s not as strong as Tristan but she’s certainly the best balanced of the two and could climb way easier because she’s lighter. And Bakura is clearly the weakest but, whatever.

Back in dreamland, Yugi’s grandpa join’s up with the other cards in card hell as if they’re some sort of Grandfather, asshole son, and ghost child card hell trinity

Oh yeah, I nearly forgot I was watching an anime for a second. Nothing like devilish blue fire to make you remember oh yeah, that’s a fine anime fire choice.

But rather than dwell too much on that artistic direction of blue fire, lets see if anything at all was inside of the red herring tower.

They’ve been slipping a picture of this chick all over the place. I’m surprised it took until now, when she’s like 15 feet tall, for them to finally notice “Hey maybe there’s something up with this random chick who is clearly a dead person Pegasus was close to”

Now I gotta get a little art nerdy on you for a moment because this storyboarder is really good at sneaking in people’s reactions right near the focal point without making them the focal point. This whole framing of Bakura’s tired face happens so quickly and I just want to spend a little moment for us to appreciate our storyboarder’s sense of humor.

Now, somehow. SOMEHOW things are going to get weirder.

Because with all this dream sequence stuff happening this looks like it’s a dream but I’m going to come out and say no, this is actually happening. They have, indeed, fallen into some tomb under the castle covered in Egyptian murals and people are chanting about sacrificing souls as offerings.

This happens SO QUICKLY.

THE HELL????

Like remember when I was like “How did all these skeletons get here? what’s up with these skeletons?” I didn’t actually really want them to tie up those loose ends but here we are.

So this has been going on this entire time!? For the past 28 episodes? When Kaiba was like “man Pegasus is the worst!” He didn’t feel like bringing up the crazy killer cult that was living under the island?

And to top it off, Bakura already knows what’s going down. He knows and is quickly getting more and more urgent to get away.

Oh, and PS, The cards we’ve been using these past 28 episodes are now giant stone tablets. Bakura mentioned once that the millennium ring was supposed to work alongside Duel Monsters. And he was like “but duel monsters is like ten years old so whatever” but it turns out that was a complete lie because there’s an ancient version that uses 10 foot tall tablets instead of cards. Their decks would be like 6000 lbs.

Also you die at the end of Ancient Duel Monsters, that part is different, too.

I have so many questions.

I mean you find out when you’re a kid that Ring around the rosies was actually about people dying of the plague and go “eh that’s sad” but it’s nothing like Ring around the Rosies killed people and made serial murderers into magical evil psychics.

I mean it’s never actually said, but there’s enough evidence here that I’d like to think Yugi was sleep running all over the castle during half this episode saying “grandpaaaazzzs” while Bandit Keith was like “OMG are any of them going to go to bed so I can finally steal their stuff?”

But back to the stuff that is actually not a dream and definitely happening. Pegasus pulls back his hood and decides to give them a quick Q and A before he outright kills them.

And so, Bakura, who has been playing dumb for...I dunno, 10+ episodes, who has been doing nothing spectacular and who has been clumsy and sort of a space cadet finally reveals that “yeah, that mind wipe did literally nothing, I’m a still an evil son of a bitch”

And they have a...shine off. Or something. It’s very hard to look directly at.

Thing is, from what we’ve learned, Pegasus is super duper powerful because he’s been killing people under here for many, many years. Every time he does a murder, his power grows. Which means...Bakura should be at a loss since he’s like 12 and...how many people can a 12 year old really murder?

Says a lot about your relationship if you can’t take 2 steps forward without getting Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind-ed 4 steps right back where you started.

Welp that’s it, guys! that’s Season 1! Bakura did it! He beat Pegasus! Why Bakura decided to retcon the REAL ending of Season 1 and just put everyone (including the villain) back as if it never happened is a little weird, but hey--at least I got through it. I did it. I recapped all of Yugioh Season 1. I’m proud of me!

Bakura will go back to playing dumb probably for another 10-15 episodes until he can steal that eyeball off of Pegasus. Apparently there wasn’t a good enough opportunity for eyeball theft when he was doing the weird laser show thing.

I assume somewhere, Pegasus is also sitting on his bed in his day clothes and thinking “the hell just happened?” but rather than look at one of his zillions of security cameras is like “well, that’s psychics!”

I’d like to think that Bandit Keith saw Bakura dragging Tea and Tristan’s bodies down the hall and they just nodded at eachother like “crazy evening, amiright?”

Also, a lot of this episode would have been different if any of these people locked their own doors. Like this, for instance, wouldn’t have been able to happen.

Then five minutes later the sun rose.

I mean it’s the only explanation for all the nuts stuff that went down last night.

Next week, on Yugioh:

Will Pegasus have a splitting headache for all of tomorrow and be wearing sunglasses the whole time? Will Pharaoh reveal that in his time off he got really into All My Children? Will they seriously go the third day without washing their clothes? These kids must SMELL.

The hell just HAPPENED?

[lokiandbuckyaremine]

15 Years Later

Prompt: I got many anon requests for Seb, so I am going to combine them all. I got requests for #’s 3, 4, 7, 9, and 14.

3. Why does she keep avoiding me? It’s not like I did anything wrong.

4. She always pushes me away. Why is this hard?

7. C'mon you and me, right now...Let’s do it.

9. I just need some alone time with her.

14. I trust you, I don’t trust them.

Summary: You and Sebastian were high school best friends back in the day. You had very strong feelings for him back in high school, but now that you’ve gone your separate ways, things have changed. That is, until he walks in to the coffee shop 15 years later. Will your feelings back down or will they revive again after this reunion?

A/N: Hope you all enjoy this! :)

“Miranda I can’t, I got night shift. I promise next weekend we’ll go.” You rolled your eyes at your very difficult best friend.

She whined into the phone. “Ugh, fine. Have fun at your pathetic job.”

You chuckled. “Hey! It’s your job too missy.” You switched the phone to your left ear so you could finish cleaning up your kitchen.

“Yea, yea. I know. Talk to you later chica.”

“Bye.” Hanging up the phone, you finished putting away the dishes in your kitchen. You checked the time on your phone and realized that the night shift was almost starting. You ran quickly upstairs and grabbed your keys, and darted back down and out the door.

You worked in a cute little Coffee Shop on the corner of Main Street, which became very popular after the first year it opened. Miranda’s mom owned the shop and hired you on the spot. Enjoying free coffees was only one of the many perks. 

The bell dinged as you walked into the coffee shop. “Hey y/n!” You turned and smiled at Miranda’s mom. “Hey Kathy, you ready for me?” Kathy chuckled and handed you your apron. “Always.” She says with a wink. You gladly take it and walk behind the counter to start putting up fresh baked goods. “Oh, there’s something I should warn you about.” 

You looked up at her and frowned. “What’s that?” Kathy sighed and grabbed the end of the counter. “Supposedly they are shooting scenes for a Marvel movie down the road, and they are hosting like a mini party for the opening or something like that.” You smiled up at her. “Oh c’mon Kathy, you know how much I love Marvel movies. I think you should be more worried about me more than them.” 

She chuckled and tapped her fingers on the counter. “Which would be why I’m giving you a heads up so you don’t drop dead when you see that Soldier guy or whatever his name is.” You giggled and blushed. “His name is the Winter Soldier Kathy. Gosh, get it right.” She smirked and rolled her eyes. “Thanks for covering, sweetie. I gotta run.” You smiled and handed Kathy her keys. “No prob, have fun.” She waved and walked out of the door.

A couple of hours went by, and people came in and out of the shop. No Marvel people had showed up yet, and you couldn’t help but be more eager as the seconds ticked by. Handing a Bear Claw to a customer you looked at the time. 8:30 pm. You sighed and wondered if they would ever show up. 

The bell dinged and you looked up from the cash register. Walking in was none other than Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johanson, Paul Rudd, Anthony Mackenzie, and Tom Holland. You waved to them as Chris walked over to the counter. “Hi, I’m Chris Evans. We called earlier for the Marvel party.” You stood there beaming. “Oh my gosh. Hi! Welcome! Yes, it’s such an honor having you here. I am such a huge fan!” 

Chris chuckled and flashed you a breathtaking smile. “Why thank you, darling. I don’t think I caught your name.” You blushed and smiled. “Y/N. Y/N Y/L/N.” He tipped his hat and winked. “Nice to meet you. Do you have a table set up for us?” You closed the cash register and walked around to guide him to 3 tables set up together. “Right here, Mr. Evans.” He smiled at you and sat down. “Please just call me Chris.” Anthony sat down next to him and punched his shoulder. “Or call him Capsicle. He loves that.” 

You giggled and motioned for the others to sit down. “Would it be weird if I called you guys by your character names? I’ve kinda always wanted to do that.” The gang laughed and Robert looked at you with a smile. “All depends on whose side you’re on.” You looked at him confused. “I’m sorry, what?” Chris playfully threw something at Robert. “Sorry, y/n. He means are you Team Cap or Team Iron Man? For the new movie coming out.” 

You thought for a second and then shuffled your feet. “I’m sorry to do this but, I’m gonna have to go with Team Cap.” Anthony and Chris “yessed” as they high-fived one another. “That’s the best team.” You heard someone say.

Turning around you saw a face that you thought you’d never see in a million years. Standing in the doorway was none other than your best friend and high school crush, Sebastian. Linked to his arm was a beautiful blonde. Jealously started to sting in your stomach. “Seb? Is that you?” He walked over to you and wrapped you in a tight hug. “Ya, it’s me.” You released him and grabbed his arms. “Whoa, you beefed up.” You giggled along with him. The blonde walked over to you and cleared her throat. “Hi, I’m Margarita. His girlfriend.” 

Sebastian looked at you for a quick second and then waved to Anthony. He walked right past you and didn’t even care to chat with you any longer. What was with his sudden attitude change? It was like you never existed. 

Minutes passed and you walked back to the counter without another word and grabbed a tray of pastries to bring to the table. Once you set the tray down, Seb raised his hand. “Hey y/n, mind getting me a coffee?” You glared at him and walked away. 

Seb looked at Chris confused. “Why does she keep avoiding me? It’s not like I did anything wrong!” Chris stuffed a Donut in his mouth and shrugged. “Don’t know man. You haven’t seen her in 15 years and walked in with a girl in your arms.” Seb looked at Chris with a raised eyebrow. “So?” Chris leaned forward so he could whisper. “So, you think maybe that isn’t the best way to great your best friend?” Seb sat back in his chair and sighed. “She always pushes me away. Even when we were younger. Why is it so hard this time to talk?” 

Chris chuckled. “Are you that oblivious, Sebastian? She avoids you because she likes you. Come on dude.” Seb rubbed his eyes and glanced at you. “I think I just need someone alone time with her.” Chris nodded. Sebastian got up from his chair and walked up to you at the counter. You glanced up from counting money and didn’t even bother to look at him again. “Hey.” 

Looking at him, you responded. “Oh hi stranger. I don’t believe we’ve ever met before.” He rolled his eyes. “Y/N, stop.” You shrugged your shoulders. “Why Seb? I haven’t seen you in 15 years and then you ignore me because you’re too caught up in that chick over there.” You nod in the direction of Margarita. He sighs and places his hands on the counter. “Do you wanna hang out sometime? Ya know catch up on each other’s lives.” You shrug. “Sure, but is that gonna be ok with Miss USA over there?” He chuckled at your sarcasm. “It’ll be fine. We’re not really a thing.” 

A small smile crept on your face. “Oh really Mr. Ladies Man? What are you doing here anyways?” Seb chuckled. “Are you serious? I’m here for the new movie.” You perked up. “What?! Really? What role did you get?” He blinked a few times in a ‘how dumb can you be’ kind of way. “Y/N, I’m Bucky Barnes. The Winter Soldier.” You stopped what you were doing and knocked over your coffee. “What?! You’re him--but I thought. Wait what?! You looked so different. Your hair. Your body. Bucky’s so hot.” You slapped your hand on your forehead. “I just said that out loud didn’t I?” 

Sebastian roared with laughter. “Yea, you just did. So, uh, you think Bucky’s hot?” He wiggled his eyebrows at you. You blushed and played with your fingernails. “Shut up Stan! Not anymore, after I found out who plays him.” Seb clutched his heart in a dramatic way. “That hurt.” 

You threw a paper ball at him and giggled. “What time does your shift get over?” You looked up at the clock. “In another hour or so.” Seb smiled widely. “Great. I’ll help you clean up and then we can head over to my place.”  You nodded then grabbed his arm. “Wait, what about your girlfriend?” He sighed and grabbed your hand. “She’s not my girlfriend. Well, she is but. I don’t know. I don’t wanna be with her anymore.” 

You looked at him confused. “Um are you blind? She’s gorgeous! Why the heck would you wanna break up with her?” He looked at you and kissed your hand. “Because I was just reunited with my high school sweetheart and fell madly in love.” He winked and then walked swiftly back to the table. Man, you really hope this hour goes by fast.

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A/N: I think I’m going to make this a 2-parter. I had way too much fun writing this. LIKE, REBLOG, AND LEAVE COMMENTS.

Should I do a Part 2? Please let me know! Thanks!

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#26: Season 3, Episode 13 - “Boy On A Rock”

Louis is under the impression that Twitty's ex-girlfriend Allison is hitting on him judging by the looks they've been exchanging. A plot filled with wonderful miscommunication ensues! Meanwhile, Steve volunteers at LJH and Ren competes against Tom for a spot to march in the annual Rose Parade. 

This one opens with Steve driving Louis, Twitty and Ren to school. Steve takes the opportunity to tell them that he’s signed up to be a parent volunteer at their school, to Louis and Ren’s absolute dismay. It’s pretty great when Louis asks if he’s going to embarrass them and Steve says “Well, that’s probably unavoidable.” Well, at least he knows. But, since he knows he’s embarrassing.. why can’t he make a conscious decision to dial it down?! 

We see that Twitty is talking quietly on the phone to someone before he hangs up and reveals it was Allison and that they just broke up. I love this bit because it comes across as refreshingly grown-up. Another thing that feels more High School than Middle School to me. It’s also a very nice moment for Louis and Twitty’s friendship. Louis is super comforting and soft spoken here all “Dude, I’m sorry...” Awww. I love it. 

At school, the flag core is rehearsing their routine for the annual Rose Parade. Coach Tugnut tells them, “Hey! Don’t get too cocky. One miss-twirl and, well..... We all know what happened to Shamski.” This is so funny. Whatever “unfortunate incident” happened to this Shamski guy has opened up a spot on the team. Literally no one else wants the spot other than Ren, so Tugnut is about to give it to her by default -- until good’ol Tom Gribalski comes jogging into the picture, late due to Opera Club running overtime, hoping to try out. Tugnut tells them both to practice and they’ll hold official tryouts after school. 

Louis is in class about to take a quiz when Allison walks by the door and starts cheekily smiling at him. I swear to god this is so freaking funny. Louis does a double take because... why would she randomly stop and stare at him like that?! There’s this sultry, instrumental Spanish flamenco music playing and it kills me. 

The girl is literally biting her lip... what de heck. 

Of course, this is all it takes for Louis to start thinking he’s God’s gift to earth and that every woman ever must be after him. He goes to talk to Tawny about it and says Allison gave him “The Eye” which is great. Tawny thinks he’s being ridiculous so Louis is all “Sounds like you’re jealous that ~the ladies~ are checkin’ me out.” Oh my god. Tawny says “We had our little thing, and now we’re just friends. I’m fine if the ~ladies~ are checking you out” -- which we know is a lie but okay. Again, this all feels very high school to me and I love it tbh. 

Later in the cafeteria line, Allison gives Louis another look. THE MUSIC KICKS IN AGAIN AND IT’S MY FAVORITE THING. This melody gets stuck in my head constantly. I just hum it and laugh to myself because it’s so dramatic and overly romantic sounding for this situation. Louis is now totally convinced that he’s not crazy and she’s definitely into him. Tawny’s had enough already and flat out asks Allison if she’s been checking him out and she says “I have. I like his look.” WELL, DANG. It’s amazing because as soon as she says that, one single chord from the flamenco guitar plays as she walks away and I die every time. This counts as music humor to me. 

Louis gets lost in his thoughts and it zooms into his brain to show us these two elderly men chillin at a Deli discussing the current drama of Louis’ life. WHAT?! 

This show is so freaking random. I don’t even know where they come up with this stuff. I used to think these guys were stupid and pointless, which they kinda are. Especially since we’ve never seen them before and they’re only featured in this one episode. But, the more I thought about it.. the more I started to find it hilarious. One of them thinks Louis should go for it and date Allison, the other thinks it’s wrong because she’s his best friend’s ex. Um, I agree with the latter. Twitty and Allison broke up THAT MORNING and Louis is already considering going in for the kill. I cannot. He’s insane. But that’s already been established many times and these Deli men are just the icing on the cake. 

Just then, Steve busts out of the kitchen shouting “HOWDY, KIDS! STEP RIGHT UP TO BIG STEVE’S TEXAS BARBECUE!” Are you kidding me right now? Yeah, ya know how I said if Steve knows he’s embarrassing he should just do his best to dial it down? It’s like he purposely turned it up to 11: 

I love how Shia does the shirt-over-the-head thing to hide from the embarrassment, lol.

Cut to the flag core tryouts. Ren tries her best, but of course, Tom blows her away. Some stock music that reminds me of “76 Trombones” from The Music Man plays while he does his routine, lol. Steve is now on trash duty and comes over to Ren and asks how it went. She says she’ll probably be watching the parade from home again and Steve is clearly a little mad. You can tell he’s gonna do something about it which... come on, man. Let the better person win. Coach Tugnut goes on to say one of my favorite lines when Tom asks which one of them made the team: “Well, I could tell you that right now... But it would be better for your character if I were to prolong the agony for a couple more hours.” So good. Tugnut says quite a few gems throughout the series, tbh. 

Tawny is me once again and confronts Louis about him seriously considering getting together with Allison. She, too, agrees that it’s way too soon. It cuts to the Deli guys and one of them just says “What does she know?! Ehh, this corned beef is too fatty!” which just makes me laugh. Louis suddenly agrees about it being too soon and says he’ll put a stop to whatever’s brewing between him and Allison IMMEDIATELY. Just then, Allison approaches him and it takes all of 0.5 seconds for Louis to completely cave. 

The flamenco music is playing again here, btw. 

Honestly, y’all gotta hear what this music sounds like for yourself so it can be hilariously stuck in your head too:

Louis goes to the bathroom to talk to himself (and the guys in his head) out loud, as you do when you’re in crisis. Speaking of the bathroom, ya know how I’ve mentioned a few times that Louis moved up to 8th grade in Season 3? Well, this scene is one of the few that definitely confirm it!! The door clearly tells us that he’s in the 8th grade bathroom. Ayyyy!

Still not sure why the bathrooms are segregated like that tho??? Is that a thing?

Tom is in one of the stalls practicing his flag routine and Louis is shocked. He’s all “TOM! What were you doing in there?!” but Tom turns the tables “The better question is, who are you talking to out here?” Gotta love how Louis owns his craziness and explains “OH! Well, there’s these two old guys who hang out at a Deli in my head and help me out with lifes little problems.” Fantastic. Louis asks Tom where Templeton Park is and we get one of the best moments ever. (Tumblr won’t let me embed more than one thing, so click that link to see what I’m talking about. Tom is the GREATEST.) So, yeah. Louis finds out that people call it “Temptation Park” because it’s a popular makeout spot. Seriously, these kids are in high school ok. I refuse to believe otherwise. 

Basically, to shorten and simplify this subplot: Steve bribes Tugnut with donuts so that Ren will get the spot on the flag core... which she does. Ren finds out and gets mad because she a very fair-and-square person. So, she in turn bribes Tugnut with a cheese calzone to ensure Tom gets the spot instead... which he does. THE END!

Ren handing her flag over to Tom -- whose life has just been made. 

Louis is a nervous wreck around Twitty because he obviously knows that he should not be messing around with Allison in any way shape or form. So when Twitty asks if he wants to hang out later, Louis makes up some bogus excuse about needing to go sock shopping with his dad. Wow. As usual, Twitty knows that something’s up. 

CUT TO ~TEMPTATION PARK~! The miscommunication culminates here and I love it so much. Louis meets Allison at the park and she lays out a blanket for them and everything. They get comfortable and she asks “Soo, you wanna try something fun?” and Louis’ voice cracks so bad when he answers “.......su..re....” Oh my freaking god. He’s totally thinking they’re about to makeout or something and it’s too much. It only gets worse when she asks him to slip into a bathing suit she brought with her. I’m dyin right now. The guys in his head are all “No good can come of this!!” - Ain’t that the truth. This is where Louis draws the line. He tells her that Twitty is his best friend and what they’re doing is VERY VERY WRONG. Allison is confused out of her mind like “....what are we doing?” Then we get one of my favorite Louis quotes: 

I cannot get over how CONFIDENT Louis is?! He thought he could easily make a 36 year old woman fall in love with him. Now he assumes Allison can’t resist his gorgeousness as if he’s 1997 Leonardo DiCaprio. Chill, Louis. 

It’s here that we finally learn the real reason why Allison has been checking him out and invited him to the park. She explains “I don’t want to date you, I want to paint you!” Louis is crumbling, oh man... And it only gets worse. She says she wants to recreate her favorite painting “Boy On A Rock” and she was staring at Louis so much because said boy on the rock is literally Louis:

I swear, if Shia had to actually sit for that painting... that is iconic and yet another poster that should exist if Even Stevens ever becomes as big as Seinfeld. Which it won’t. But still. I’d buy it. It’s actually a real painting by Dan Haberkorn, who was the art director for the show. He has it up on his website in high quality! It’s amazing. I so wish he’d sell prints/posters of it! Gah. 

Allison just keeps going on about the similarities between Louis and the painting: “See? Not really handsome, kinda of quirky, a little off...” “OK I GET IT!” Louis interrupts, lol. That must’ve been a wakeup call. Since Louis stopped their non-existent relationship because of Twitty, Allison tells him he’s a very good friend. I like that. They’re cool after that and Louis poses for the painting. (cover photo) I love the quote here: 

Allison: “Louis, you look perfect. Except you’re missing one thing...” 

Louis: “My dignity?”

Twitty happens to be passing through the park and sees Allison running her hands through Louis' hair to make it look more like the original painting. Twitty gets pissed at Louis for lying which leads to the most ridiculous chase sequence. The way Shia runs is so funny, omg. There’s also some stock song that’s sung in gibberish or something that plays here and it always gets stuck in my head, too. Which sucks because there are no actual lyrics, lol. Louis falls into some mud while running which irks me every time. That poor bathing suit! 

He ends up wandering into the middle of some girl scout meeting. They call him a mud monster, accidentally toss a cake on his head, and start chasing him as well, lol. These chases are also amazing because Louis is screaming the entire time, and we all know how great his scream is. Twitty eventually catches up to him and I love this dialogue so much:

Twitty: "So, why're you running?"

Louis: "CAUSE YOU'RE CHASIN' ME, TWITTY!"

My mom and I quote this at least once a week. This is a nice scene, though. The two of them have a heart to heart. Louis basically says it was stupid to let a girl come between them, so they agree that “from now on it’s friends first” -- Disney’s way of saying “bros b4 hoes” which is definitely what two 14 year old middle school boys would say instead. 

Then the girl scouts catch up to him again and the episode fades out on Louis running from them: 

Some say he’s still running today...

And that’s it! This is one of my personal favorites, guys. I LOVE the Louis plot here, haha. I’ve said before, I’m a sucker for teen drama and seeing Louis spiral into insanity over girls will never not be entertaining and endearing. I think this episode is funny, solid, fast-paced, and quotable! AND again, it’s a personal fave. This one has a lot going for it imo. It kinda kills me to place this one at 26, juuuust shy of the Top 25 (which, can you believe we’re about to hit the Top 25?! I can’t!) but yeah. I like this Ren plot too because it involves Tom and he is the best. 

In case you missed the last entry you can read it here. 

Thanks for reading! 

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