#me watching the episode for the fifth time in a row knowing exactly what will happen:

[imabiscuitinthousandworlds]

when you hate a character so much that every time they're on screen you're just glaring daggers and spitting insults and threats of murder and vividly imagine punching their face in (and wayyyy worse things) and literally hissing every time they dare open their mouth

[favefandomimagines]

Completely Enamored 2 (r.s.)

AN: i molded episodes together so there will be time jumps! it just fits well with what i have planned!! xx

You had been in Winterfell for a number of days. Robb had been the highlight of your time there, considering Sansa and Arya went with Ned to Kings Landing.

What you overheard turned out to be correct; your brother wanted Joffrey to be betrothed to Sansa.

After Bran’s accident, you helped him a lot. Told him stories about Kings Landing, making up some gossip about a dragon. Just trying to take his mind off of everything. And when you or Catelyn weren’t present with Bran, Maester Luwin was.

After someone had attempted to murder Bran, no one wanted to take any chances.

Robb found himself falling in love with you the second you retrieved Rickon from him and Theon, to go see Bran.

“Pardon the interruption, but Rickon and I have some things to attend to.” You said, holding your hand out for the boy to take. “Where are you taking him?” Robb asked an amused smile on his face.

Rickon excitedly took your hand before you answered. “I have a story about a dragon to tell. It helps Bran not think about things so much. Figure a bit of fantasy might help.” You answered.

You smiled down at Rickon before walking back towards Bran’s chambers. Robb watched you as you walked away from him, his eyes full of love and adoration for you. “Lady Y/N is quite surprising. Bran hasn’t wanted anyone with him since he woke up.” Theon spoke.

“Y/N is different. She is the kind of woman you want to be around. She’s incredible.” Robb replied. “You’ve fallen in love with her, haven’t you?” Theon asked, ready to poke fun at his friend. “So what if I have? We are to wed by the next fortnight, it’s natural to love your wife.” Robb said. “You really are one of the lucky ones. Actually being able to love your betrothed.” Theon commented before leaving Robb alone with his thoughts.

Lady Catelyn left for Kings Landing a few days prior, for reasons she did not disclose to anyone.

It being the day of your wedding, you hadn’t seen Robb much. Your handmaiden wouldn’t allow it. You had spent most the morning with Bran, making sure he was alright before you left to make the preparations for the wedding.

You were walking out to get fresh air after being held up indoors all day, when a man approached you.

“Lady Y/N,” He started. “Yes?” You questioned. “Your brother, Renly Baratheon, has made the journey to see you today.” He announced.

Your eyes widened at his words when Renly approached on his horse.

“My lovely sister.” He said as he got down off his horse and quickly taking you into his arms. “Why are you in Winterfell?” You asked.

You loved Renly but he doesn’t arrive without sending you a raven ahead of time.

“I have news from Kings Landing, no doubt you were about to receive it, but I wanted to tell you myself.” Renly started. “What is it?” You questioned.

Renly hesitated for a moment before he spoke. “Robert has died.” He answered. It felt like you had received a physical blow and you were unable to breathe.

Renly and Stannis had their issues with Robert but you never did. He was not only a brother but also a father to you. Your father didn’t care whether you lived or died but Robert did.

Your eyes began to well up when Renly pulled you back into him. You let out quiet sobs into his shoulder when you heard a voice from behind you.

“Is there a problem? Y/N, are you alright?” You heard. You relaxed a bit hearing it was Robb but then it became too overwhelming.

Renly was in Winterfell, Robert had died and now you are to marry Robb Stark that night.

You felt his hand on your lower back, which pulled you away from your brother.

Both men saw the tears in your cheeks before you quickly wiped them away.

“If you’ll both excuse me, I would just like to be alone right now.” You said quietly before retreating to your chambers.

Robb turned to your brother, his jaw clenched. “What happened?” He asked. “Robert is dead. Hunting accident with a boar. Your father has been named Protector of the Realm, until Joffrey is of age.” Renly explained.

“I didn’t know that would affect Y/N as much as it has.” Robb spoke.

“She will utterly despise me for telling you this story, but as her future husband, you deserve to know. Our father was going to sell her off to a whore house. He didn’t want a daughter so he willing to get rid of her. Robert stopped him. Said that when she was of age, she could marry a man of high nobility to ensure that a Baratheon would be a king or queen. Funny how things work out. Robert was king and Y/N is marrying you.” Renly told him.

Robb had always assumed you were Robert’s favorite simply because you were his only sister. Not because he was that protective of you.

“I should go find her. You are welcome to stay for the wedding, your grace. I’m sure Y/N would like that.” Robb told him. Renly nodded and Robb smiled softly at him. “I will have someone show you to your chambers.” He added.

Robb went looking for you and stopped short in front of your door when he heard the small sound of crying. He knocked on the door gently, hearing you move around a bit before the door opened.

You tried to hide your grief as best you could, not wanting to look weak around Robb. “May I come in?” Robb asked softly. You nodded your head and let him inside. “If my father could see me now.” You muttered wiping the tears from your face, though you had turned around not to face him.

“You will not find a husband of nobel birth acting like a child.” You said, making your voice deeper to mimick your father’s. “Y/N,” Robb started, as you heard him step towards you. “Robert would not want me crying over him.” You whispered.

Robb places his hand on your shoulder and noticed how it seemed to have calmed you down. He applied some force on your shoulder, telling you to turn around to face him.

“It’s okay to mourn the loss of your brother.” Robb told you. “I cannot show weakness. No one will respect me as your wife if I’m weak.” You muttered. “What those people say does not matter to me. You are going to be my wife and I love you.” He said, the last three words slipping past him.

You looked up at him with wide eyes, praying you heard him properly. “You what?” You asked. “I love you, Y/N. I did not think it would happen so suddenly but it has.” He repeated.

“You don’t have to say it back if you wish not to.” Robb added. He moved to walk towards the door before you stopped him.

He turned back around to look at you and you stood up straighter to reach his lips and kissed him deeply.

Robb was shocked at first but soon melted into your touch, his hands find your waist to pull you closer. When you slowly parted, you rested your forehead against his. 

“Of course I love you, Robb. You are going to be my husband after all.” You said quietly. He smiled down at you before pulling back a ways. “Well, then we have a wedding to attend to.” He said. 

“And, it’s bad luck to see the bride before the wedding, my love.” You told him. Robb laughed lightly at you before he turned to walk out of the room. 

Your handmaiden followed soon after he exited, to get your hair in proper condition. You had never been nervous for anything in your life. However, you were terribly nervous for you impending wedding. Though you had no reason to be. 

__

You and Robb had only been married for what felt like a few days, but had been much longer, when you received the news of Ned Stark’s beheading. Lady Catelyn was back in Winterfell and hated seeing her son so broken over what had happened. 

He was striking a tree with his sword when she found him. Nothing she said was seeming to calm him down. She sent a handmaiden to find you and summon you to her. 

“Lady Catelyn what is it-” You started but stopped short when you saw Robb’s state. “He is not listening to a word I am saying, Y/N. Maybe you will have better luck than I.” She explained to you. 

You nodded your head and took some slow steps forward. “Robb,” You started, though he still swung at the base of the tree. “Robb, please, stop.” You begged, your voice a little louder than the first time. “Robb!” You yelled. 

In a split second, his sword was pointed at your throat. Though you didn’t waiver, just looked at Robb. Once he had realized it was you, he dropped the sword to the ground. “Y-Y/N, I am so sorry.” He said quietly. “You have nothing to be sorry for.” You said, pulling him into you. 

Once you had pulled him into a strong embrace, he let out all the emotion and grief he was holding. You rested your hand on the back of his head, using the other hand to rub his back soothingly. “I’m going to kill every last one of them.” He cried. “Sansa and Arya are still in Kings Landing. We get them back first and then, I will kill Joffrey myself.” You told him. 

Ned Stark had always been good to you. Taking you into his home and letting you marry his son. He was a good man and your nephew took him away from his family. 

After a few moments, he pulled away from you and used the back of his hand to wipe the tears off his face. “A man should no show weakness in front of his wife.” Robb muttered. “You are the strongest man I had ever met, Robb Stark. It’s okay to mourn the loss of your father. He was an honest and honorable man, just like you. And we will avenge him.” You said, cupping his face in your hands. 

__

You were sitting in on Robb’s war council, not wanting to be in your tent alone for what felt like the fifth night in a row. 

“Forgive me, my lord but why is a woman sitting in on our council? She is a Baratheon after all. Her nephew being the King.” A solider asked Robb. “Because she is my wife and a Baratheon. A house skilled in battle strategy. That is the reason she is sitting among us now.” Robb answered. 

They continued to go over multiple strategies, trying to out best Tywin Lannister. 

“You are going to be unsuccessful if you do that.” You spoke. “Tywin Lannister is one step ahead of you, he’s predicting and hoping you’re going to do exactly this.” You added. 

The men looked at you with furrowed brows, Lord Karstark standing up to speak. “And what do you know what Tywin Lannister is expecting, girl?” 

You chuckled lightly as you entertained the man’s foolishness. They were shocked to have seen that reaction out of you, though Robb was quite enjoying it. 

“It seems you have forgotten who my brothers are. Who my father was. If my husband would allow it, I’d be out there killing every single Lannister I came across. And I’d be more successful than you. Yes, you are a valuable ally and a skilled soldier but you are daft, if you think Tywin Lannister isn’t more skilled than you and I.” You said as you rose from your chair. 

“That’s no way to speak to a lord.” Lord Karstark snapped back at you. “She has higher nobility than you.” Robb interjected. “Your grace, your wife does not have the experience I do.” Lord Karstark rebutted. “That may be true but I have watched many lords strategize over the years. The King Slayer being one of them. Tywin Lannister is no fool. He wants to kill all of you and if you go with that strategy, he will succeed.” You spoke. 

Lord Karstark clenched his jaw and gripped the handle of his sword tightly. Robb noticed his movements and stood up to stand in front of you slightly. 

“If you think about pulling your sword on my wife, I will have your head.” Robb said. “Or, she might do it for me.” He added, once he saw the fire in your eyes.

“Lord Karstark, I understand your reservations. After all, you are correct. I am a Baratheon, I lived with three Lannisters, two of which were quite fond of me. But, I am married to your King and my loyalty is with him and it always will be. If you are more concerned with my loyalty rather than winning this war for your king, you are dismissed. I can find my king twice as many soldiers. You may be skilled but you are not indispensable.” You snapped, losing your temper. 

“I beg your pardon.” Lord Karstark replied. “I do not think my voice faltered.” You said. “Your grace, you’ll let a woman speak to me like that.” He said looking to Robb, who was looking up at you fondly. 

He looked from you back to Lord Karstark before speaking. “I believe I did. Not only is Lady Y/N my wife but she is my most trusted advisor. Not heeding her warnings would be a mistake on my part. Especially when she’s right.” Robb said. 

You smirked at the man, who seemed to be a bit flustered at the response he was giving. 

“Now, are there any more concerns about your queen sitting in on council?” Robb asked the rest of the soldiers. When he didn’t get a reply, he nodded his head and sat back down, pulling you with him. 

When you arrived back to your shared tent, you smiled widely. “I do like the sound of ‘your queen.’” You said, happily. Robb smiled back at you before placing his hands on your waist. 

“I am proud of you, my love. With how you are with my siblings and my mother, I assumed you would have cowered. I am pleasantly surprised.” He told you. “When your brother was Robert Baratheon you learn when your temper is needed and when it is not.” You said. “Though if I did not know you, I’d believe you were a Lannister.” Robb said. 

Your smile fell as you looked down at your feet. “I am of no relation to the people who killed your father and who are practically holding your sisters prisoner.” You replied. Robb removed on hand from your waist and placed it on your cheek. 

“They need to be stopped and removed from the throne. I’d rather see a Targaryen sit on the Iron Throne than a Lannister.” You added. “I wanted to speak with you about that. My mother and I have discussed your brother, Renly, to join in our efforts.” Robb said. 

You looked up at him with furrowed eyebrows, wondering what he meant by that. “You haven’t heard. Renly became lord of house Tyrell. We need their men to weaken Tywin Lannister. As well as Lord Frey allowing us to cross.” He added. 

“You are not becoming allies with Lord Frey. I know that man, he wants to get rid of his daughters and he will insist that you marry one in order to let you cross. He is not to be trusted.” You protested. 

You walked away from Robb and began to pace. “Robb, I know winning this war is important to you and I know you would do anything to avenge your father and defeat the Lannisters. But I will not, let you dissolve our marriage to gain an advantage.” You added. 

The feeling of fear began to settle in your body as your hands began to shake. “Y/N, I would not wish of dissolving our marriage. I love you and only you. I’d rather lose this war and bend a knee to Joffrey Baratheon than lose you.” Robb said, noticing your worried state. 

“But Robb,” You started. “You cannot argue with me this time, my love. There is only one woman I am supposed to be married to and that is you, Y/N Stark.” He stopped you. 

The sound of being called a Stark immediately made a smile appear on your face. “I happen to like being called that much more.” You said quietly. 

Robb smiled down at you before kissing you softly. The soft, sweet kiss grew to be more passionate than it when it had started.  

He cupped your face in his hands, making the kiss even deeper. You pulled apart from him quickly before it grew to be anymore than a kiss. 

You and Robb had never really talked about having children before and you wanted to know his thoughts on it. The two of you had consummated the marriage on your wedding night but after his father and the war starting, that was the only time. 

“We never talked about having children before. What if I were to be with child before this war is over?” You asked. Robb laughed slightly before he rubbed your cheek with his thumb. 

“If you were to become pregnant before the new moon, I would be the happiest man in the Seven Realms.” He said. “It would not upset you?” You asked. “There is not a thing you could do that would upset me.” He answered.

You looked up at him, not entirely convinced that he wouldn’t dissolve your marriage for the sake of a victory. 

“Robb,” You started. “Yes, my love?” He questioned. “I need you to promise me something. Promise me that no matter what happens, you will not stop loving me.” You finished, looking down at his hands holding yours. “There will not be a day that goes by that I will not love you.” Robb said. 

You nodded your head before he kissed you deeply once more.

__

Robb had taken a victory over the Lannisters, using a strategy that you had suggested, and captured Jamie Lannister. Though there was one ally that you were not fond of. You never wanted to hate Talisa, she was kind and quite a huge help when it came to helping the wounded soldiers. But it was the way she looked at your husband and how your husband looked at her that worried you. 

What made you more upset was that you were with child. You and Lady Catelyn had some to the conclusion when you hadn’t bled as soon as you should. She even told you that you had a glow about you, which she connected to being pregnant.

It was now dark and you were walking through camp to reach your tent for bed. You were about to enter the tent when you overheard Robb and Lady Catelyn speaking. 

“Robb, you cannot feel this way. You love Y/N. You made a vow to Y/N. Was it not just a month ago that you told her she would be the only woman you loved?” Lady Catelyn told him. “I know, mother. I do not want to feel this way.” Robb said. You heart broke as you squeezed your eyes shut. But that didn’t stop the tears from welling up in your eyes. 

You entered the tent and Lady Catelyn knew that you had overheard their conversation. 

“Lady Catelyn, may I have a moment alone with Robb?” You asked, looking at her. “Of course dear.” She said before leaving. 

The silence was deafening as Robb walked towards you. “You promised.” You whispered. “Y/N,” Robb started. You looked up at him, a couple of tears leaving your eyes. Robb’s stomach dropped seeing the look on your face. “You promised me that you would not stop loving me. Then that girl, comes along and you break that promise.” You said loudly, your emotions getting the best of you.

“I need you to be honest with me, Robb.” You started. “Do you feel something for her?” You asked. Robb’s eyes widened slightly before he looked down at his feet. “I do not know. I know that I love you, Y/N.” He answered stepping towards you quickly. 

The moment you stepped away from him, Robb knew that his small infatuation with Talisa was going to lose you. “If you loved me, you would not even be tempted by another woman.” You snapped. 

Robb knew you were right as the silence filled the room, the only sound coming from the men outside the tent. 

“I’m with child, Robb. I have been ill since the night after council. Your mother helped me confirm it.” You announced, not really knowing what else to say in that moment. 

Robb’s face contorted with multiple emotions; joy, sadness, guilt. 

“Is it worth it if you lose your child? Is it worth it if you lose me?” You asked, your voice small. Robb didn’t answer, and looked at you with guilt on his face. 

You shook your head before exiting the tent quickly, needing some air. 

When you exited, you saw a group of soldiers looking at you who must have heard you argument. Your eyes then landed on Talisa, your hatred for one person never being so strong. 

“There is nothing to see here, go back to your tents.” You ordered. The group quickly dispersed, not wanting to disobey their queen. All but Talisa left you and you made your way over to her.

All you did was stop in front of her and give her a pleading look. A look that begged her not to take your husband away from you.

After a fleeting moment, you moved past her and walked off. You were walking on the outskirts of camp, knowing that Robb forbade from doing so without him or a guard present.

As you were walking, you noticed Jamie Lannister tied to a wooden post. “Ah, the lovely Lady Y/N. How I’ve missed you.” He spoke as you approached him. “Jamie.” You said, giving him a cold stare. “And how is Robb Stark treating you?” He asked. “Robb treats me better than any other man I have come in contact with.” You answered. 

Jamie acted as if your words wounded him, earning an eye roll from him. “You have wounded me, Y/N.” He mocked. “There have been whispers going around camp. Joffrey is not a Baratheon but your child. Renly, Stannis, Robert and I all of dark hair. Joffrey, of golden hair. Sounds a bit out of place if you ask me.” You said, crouching in front of him. 

“What is your purpose for your conclusion, Lady Y/N?” He asked you. “My purpose, is that your bastard son, killed a good and honorable man because he questioned his place on the throne. And I am going to kill Joffrey and any other Lannister who stands in my way. I sincerely hope that you realize Cersei is not worth protecting anymore.” You snapped before standing up straight, and walking back towards camp.

After your conversation with Jamie, you went to the one other place that you felt safest aside from being with Robb. Lady Catelyn allowed to stay with her that night in order for you to collect your thoughts.

“I am greatly sorry, Y/N. Robb simply does not know what he’s thinking.” She told you. “I hope you’re right Lady Catelyn.” You replied quietly.

You had only been able to sleep for a few hours when you woke up. You felt like you were being suffocated and needed to get some air. Along with the nausea of your new pregnancy, the breeze helped.

You noticed that a few of Robb’s men were still awake, Theon included. You walked towards him and placed your hand on his shoulder.

“Theon,” You started before he whipped around and you felt a piercing feeling in your abdomen. It was clear you had startled him and he retaliated as if you were an enemy.

“Lady Y/N,” Theon gasped before quickly pulling the blade from your stomach. He immediately caught you in his arms and began putting pressure on your wound. “Somebody get the king!” He yelled to the remaining soldiers.

You were squeezing your eyes shut tightly, trying not to scream in pain. “Y/N, what happened?” Lady Catelyn’s voice spoke to you.

“She startled me. I didn’t mean to, I didn’t know it was her.” Theon started. “It was an accident.” You interjected, using as much strength as you can muster.

Robb had heard the commotion before one of his men came to alert him.

“Your grace! It’s Lady Y/N, she’s been hurt.” He told him. Robb didn’t need to hear anymore. All he needed to hear was your name and he was half way to you.

He fell to his knees beside you as you laid in Theon’s arms.

“What happened?” Robb asked. “There will be time for questions later, Robb. Right now she needs help.” Lady Catelyn told her son.

Talisa appeared next to your husband, trying to examine your condition but you coiled away. “Y/N,” Robb started. You shook your head before you spoke again. “I would rather die than have the woman who’s seducing my husband save my life.” You spat.

“Theon, bring her to my tent.” Lady Catelyn instructed. She wouldn’t let Robb touch you in your state until you were better.

Theon did as he was told, leaving Robb and Talisa to stand there alone.

“Your grace,” Talisa attempted to say before Robb held up his hand to stop her. “Whatever you think you feel for me is false. I am in love with my wife and I always will be. She is the most important to me.” He said.

Robb didn’t bother to look at her as he walked towards his mother’s tent.

Of course his main concern was your life but the thought of your child hung in the back of his mind.

[thirteen-beaxhes]

Our Last Words - Chapter 8

Summary:  In a universe where the last words your soulmate speaks to you are printed, Cyrus Goodman wants nothing more than to never meet them. And he definitely doesn’t want it to be the blonde-haired boy in his class.

ALL LINKS IN REBLOG

~~~~

Saturn - Sleeping At Last

One year later

“We should really stop watching it.”

“We should.”

“So. Next episode then?”

“You bet,” Cyrus said, grabbing the remote off the table and loading up the next episode of the show. TJ reached to the other side to grab the remaining popcorn, accidentally nailing Cyrus is the head with his elbow. Cyrus just turned around and glared at his boyfriend, while TJ held up his hands in surrender, trying as hard as he could to control his laughter.

“I can’t believe you’ve done this, TJ. Did our relationship mean nothing to you?” Cyrus said, dramatically turning around and moving to the opposite end of the couch, crossing his hands and pouting.

TJ finally let out a laugh, sliding to Cyrus’ side of the couch to wrap his arms around his waist. “I’m sorry, Muffin. It was an accident! It’ll never happen again.”

Cyrus just huffed, turning away from TJ, trying to escape his embrace. TJ sighed, an idea sparking in his head.

“Cyrus, please forgive me. I don’t wanna do this,” he said sneakily, positioning his hands around Cyrus’ waist.

“Wait, what are you going to do-” Cyrus started but what interrupted by TJ tickling him. Cyrus began to giggle desperately tried to leave the couch but to no success.

“TJ, oh my god, please! You know I am weakened by tickling!”

“But you haven’t forgiven me!”

“Okay, okay! I forgive you, I forgive you!”

With that, TJ stopped tickling Cyrus, a smug grin on his face. He wasn’t victorious for long though, because Cyrus immediately tackled him and the two of them fell off the couch, landing on the floor in a heap. This just made the two laugh even more, so much that their stomachs started to hurt.

“God, I love you, TJ,” Cyrus said without thinking. As soon as he realised what he said, he smacked his hand on his mouth in shock. TJ turned his head, eyes wide at Cyrus’ words.

“Y-Yeah?” TJ asked, his voice barely louder than a whisper, soft and hopeful.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to go, Cyrus thought to himself, but at that moment, he realised that it didn’t matter. Because it was true. And he didn’t want it to happen any other way.

“Yeah. I love you, TJ. Probably doomed to that fate ever since we talked on the swings for the first time all that time ago,” Cyrus said, grabbing TJ’s hand, his voice shaky. “Remember, a year ago, when I told you I was scared of getting close to someone? It was stupid.”

TJ kept listening, all his attention focussed on Cyrus, a small smile on his lips.

“Because I could never be afraid of getting close to you, TJ Kippen.”

TJ’s eyes filled up, as he smiled at Cyrus. He brought Cyrus’ hand to his lips, kissing it and saying, “I love you too, Cyrus. How could I not? How could I ever even think about not loving the beautiful Cyrus Goodman?”

Cyrus also smiled wide, his eyes also filling up. They moved closer to each other, both leaning into a kiss, filled with all the love they could muster. When they pulled away, Cyrus started laughing.

“What is it, Underdog?” TJ asked, unable to keep the happiness away from his voice.

“I just realised we are such a cliché couple,” Cyrus laughed.

“And why is that?”

“We told each other ‘I love you’ on our one year anniversary!”

This sent even TJ laughing, as the two leaned on each other in an attempt to get back on the couch. They sat down, Cyrus cuddled close to TJ, his head on his chest, as TJ played the next episode of the show they were watching.

“Honestly, we win when it comes to anniversaries,” TJ said, stroking Cyrus’ hair. “Brooklyn Nine Nine, popcorn, and ‘I love you’? This is the best day of my life.”

Cyrus hummed in agreement, leaning into TJ’s touch.

“But then again, every day I get to spend with someone as amazing as you is the best day of my life.”

Cyrus looked up at TJ, his eyes fond. “Okay, this isn’t fair. You don’t just get to reference Jake Peralta at me and expect me to be okay, Teej.”

TJ laughed, pulling Cyrus closer to press a kiss to his forehead. “I can’t help myself, Muffin. It’s true.”

Cyrus, too, began laughing, wrapping his arms around TJ’s waist, pulling himself closer to him as the kept watching, sharing popcorn. Occasionally, they would also try to toss the popcorn into each other’s mouths. They failed miserably every time.

“You know, for the basketball captain, you sure have terrible aim,” Cyrus joked after TJ had missed for the fifth time in a row.

“Hey,” TJ said, moving back. “I’d like to see you try and do it.”

“And what will you do if I do it?”

TJ paused to think for a while and said, “I will pay for all your baby taters and milkshakes for the next year.”

Cyrus’ eyes lit up. “Challenge accepted.” He took a popcorn kernel, and with more concentration and intensity than he had ever devoted to something even vaguely sport related, Cyrus aimed and it landed in TJ’s mouth.

“Yes!” Cyrus cheered, jumping off the couch. “I actually did it!”

TJ tried to act upset, but he couldn’t control his smile at seeing his boyfriend act so cute. “I’m trying to be mad, but I can’t when I’m eating popcorn and you’re acting cute.”

Cyrus smirked at TJ. “Looks like you’re gonna have to pay now.”

TJ groaned, hiding his face in his hands. “Oh god, this is horrible.”

“Oh shut up, you love me.”

“What would I do if I didn’t?” TJ said, sighing with a smile.

*

A few hours later, they were still on the couch, now watching a movie. Cyrus was resting his head on TJ’s chest, playing with their hands. TJ was using his other hand to stroke Cyrus’ hair lazily.

“You know,” Cyrus said. “I did ask Buffy, Andi and Jonah to come hang out too.”

“Yeah, why didn’t they?” TJ asked, looking down at Cyrus.

Cyrus looked up. “They were all like, ‘Who hangs out with friends on your anniversary?’ and stuff. Anyway, Jonah had plans with Libby.”

“They’re still going strong, huh?”

“Yeah. Ever since Jonah met his soulmate, he’s no longer scared of losing Libby.”

“He met his soulmate? But that would mean…”

“Yeah. It was only once. I don’t think even he knows who it was.”

“How did he feel?” TJ asked.

Cyrus was silent, trying to remember. “Honestly? I don’t think he minded much.”

“How come?”

“Well, he said that it didn’t matter to him. He loves Libby, so he doesn’t mind being with her even if she isn’t his soulmate. Libby feels the same.”

“I’m happy for them.”

“Me too.”

Cyrus was silent, deep in thought. TJ stopped stroking his hair for a bit. “Hey, Cy. We don’t have to keep talking about soulmates, okay? I know it stresses you out.”

Cyrus smiled gratefully at TJ. “Thanks.”

They were quiet, Cyrus continuing to play with his and TJ’s hands. Then, he said, “Anyway, I have a suspicion.”

TJ furrowed his eyebrows. “Which is?”

“Have you noticed something about Buffy and Andi?”

“Hmm. I don’t know?”

“Just that they’ve been getting closer…”

“Cyrus of course, they’re gonna be close they are best friends! And since their experiences last year, they have had only each other to truly understand. So,” TJ stopped, suddenly realising what Cyrus was saying. He looked down in surprise at Cyrus, both bursting out in laughter.

“You don’t think?” TJ said, in between laughs.

“I’m just saying! Not yet. But I’m just saying,” Cyrus said, shrugging.

“Oh my god, Cyrus.”

“Don’t tell me you weren’t thinking it!”

TJ’s silence was enough Cyrus needed for confirmation.

“I knew it.”

They laughed, forgetting the movie for a while. TJ looked at Cyrus laughing, knowing that somehow he was falling more in love each second he spent with Cyrus. Sensing TJ staring, Cyrus looked up at TJ, pulling him in for a kiss.

“Now. Let’s see how exactly these two are going to fall in love,” Cyrus said as he pulled away, restarting the movie as he leaned into TJ, their hands clasped together.

*

“So I was thinking,” TJ started.

“Yes?” Cyrus said from the kitchen where he was clearing the dishes.

“There’s a trampoline park in town that I haven’t been to before,” TJ said nervously. “And I was thinking.”

“Yeah?” Cyrus asked, his excitement coming through.

“Do you want to go there together tomorrow? On a date?”

Cyrus just smiled, going up to TJ and giving him a kiss. “I would love to.”

TJ smiled and leaned in for another kiss. They both just smiled, resting their foreheads together for a while. Suddenly, TJ pulled back, worried. “Wait, what time is it?”

Cyrus looked at his watch and sighed in relief. “It’s 5:15pm. But I haven’t checked my phone in a while. Probably should, just to see if my mom has called.

Cyrus reached over to his phone that had fallen off the couch, only to find it completely out of charge. He groaned. “Shoot. She’s probably pissed. I should go home.”

“Do you have to?” TJ asked, pouting.

Cyrus giggled, kissing TJ’s cheek. “Yes, I do. Unless you want my mother to ban me from coming here.”

He gathered his stuff and TJ walked him to the door, reluctant to let him go.

“Happy one year,” Cyrus whispered, kissing TJ when he reached the door. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” TJ whispered back, hugging Cyrus.

“So, tomorrow?” TJ asked after pulling away.

“Tomorrow,” Cyrus said, smiling as we walked away. Before he went too far, he looked back at TJ standing in the doorway, blowing a kiss to him which TJ caught dramatically.

God, he loved him.

Cyrus practically skipped all the way home, still high on happiness. He opened the door to his house, smiling and full of hope. His mother was standing at the stairs, looking worried. As soon as she saw Cyrus, she walked up to him and said, “Cyrus where have you been? It’s past 6 o’clock!”

“Wait, what? No it isn’t,” Cyrus said, confused. A small seed of worry began to grow, but he refused to think about it. “I left at 5:15pm so it’s now,” he said, pausing to look at his watch to prove his point, but he froze. It still read 5:15.

No, it wasn’t true.

Cyrus ran up to his room frantically, his mother yelling after him. But he couldn’t hear her. When he reached, his eyes landed on a clock.

6:29pm.

Wait no. Maybe, maybe everything was okay.

Cyrus opened his bathroom door and lowered his shirt to look at his left shoulder, hoping against hope that he would be met with solid black words.

But all that met his eyes was a soft, muted grey.

No.

~~~~~~

i’m sorry. i really am.

only 2 updates left! (one more chapter and then the epilogue) so hope you guys liked this chapter!

[stokan]

Top 20 Things of 2018

1.) Beychella How do you make a long awaited surprise album between two of the biggest names in music that is also one of the year’s best feel like complete afterthought? Set the bar as high as Beyonce’s Coachella appearance.

First awards show performances, then music videos, now music festival gigs: is there anything that Beyonce CAN’T turn into high art?

2.) Explained by Vox The most exciting development in the world of television in 2018 was radically breaking the rules on episodes length. We saw 30 minute dramas, and hour long comedies. We got shows like Maniac where episodes were as long as 49 minutes and as short as 27 minutes. Now television creators can tell exactly the stories they want to tell in however much time they want to tell them in. And perhaps nowhere were these loosened restrictions taken better advantage than Explained, Vox’s documentary series for Netflix. Many topics cant sustain a full length documentary, but, say, 14 minutes explaining cryptocurrency to me? Sure! 17 minutes on designer DNA? Sounds great! 20 minutes on the origins of K-Pop? How do you say “yes please” in Korean? Every episode has a different narrator, a different look, a different feel, and varies wildly in subject matter. Yet they are all exactly the length they need to be. The only thing left I really need explained to me is why no one thought to make this series before.

3.) Serial Season 3 If Explained was a great example of the latest evolution in television, then the new season of Serial is at the front line of the evolution of our newest artistic medium: podcasts. Serial’s third season was nothing like its second, which was in turn nothing like its first. It’s a series still figuring out what it CAN be, while now defining forever what it NEEDS to be. Serial this year explained a deeply important topic in a way that wouldn’t have been possible through any other medium. They always say if you’re a writer you have to ask yourself what form of writing your idea needs to be. Don’t write a play that’s really a TV show, or a movie that should be a book. And now we can add to that don’t make a TV series that’s really a podcast. As Homecoming proved this year, the two mediums are very different and better equipped to tell different stories. And after hearing Serial Season Three I can’t imagine there will ever be a better way to explore the current American criminal justice system. It was 2018’s version of Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle. It may not change national food safety standards, but it hopefully will do something perhaps even more important: it will make us never again take lightly the election of local judges and sheriffs. It was a podcast for the heart, the head, and the time capsule.

4.) Black Mirror - “Hang the DJ” I know this technically came out December 29th 2017 but I’m counting it here because nothing was more 2018 than this. The sadness, the isolation, the uncertainty, the living in a world you don’t understand the rules of anymore, the unfairness of modern life, but the ultimate perseverance of hope and love: it’s all there in the best episode of Black Mirror’s third season. It made me cry out of sadness and happiness in equal measure. Could anything be more 2018 than that?

5.) Kesha at the Grammys Ok so maybe one thing was more 2018.

The Grammys, an organization led by Neil Portnow, a man who said this year that “women need to step up”, and an organization that didn’t offer its one female Album of the Year nominee a solo performance spot, also offered us 2018’s most powerful show of female solidarity and one of the most moving moments of the Me Too era. It all amounted to the perfect encapsulation of this year. Kesha scream crying and then collapsing into a sea of strong supportive women WAS 2018.

6.) Eighth Grade My favorite movie of the year was also the year’s best horror movie. It was so real, and visceral, and intense, and frightening that at times I literally had to remind myself to breathe. I watched at least half the movie through my fingers and on the edge of my seat. Proving what everyone who has lived through it already knows: there’s nothing in the world more terrifying than being in junior high.

7.) Big Mouth Speaking of junior high, the other side of the pain and trauma of growing up is humor, so why it took this long for someone to make a comedy series explicitly about puberty is beyond me. I guess, of course, making a show like this work is a fine needle to thread. It wouldn’t work without being animated and being on a streaming service that lets them go as far as they did. It wouldn’t work without writing that is both laugh out loud funny and deeply compassionate and human in equal measure. And it wouldn’t work without one of the best voice casts on TV, including a true tour de force from Maya Rudolph. But work does it ever. In a just world junior high health class homework would be simply watching this show.

8.) Emma Gonzalez speech Here’s how long 2018 was: this was from 2018.

Finishing off my personal 2018 Growing Up Trifecta is the most powerful 12 minutes of the year. That high school students could be more inspiring, articulate, and better leaders than the President of the United States is sadly, at this point, a given. But that they are now more effective and efficient than him at starting genuine political movements still feels revolutionary. The kids are our future, and our future has never looked brighter.

9.) Childish Gambino - “This is America” video 100 years from now if theres only one cultural artifact that still exists and is still remembered from 2018 this will be it. A “you know where you were the first time you saw it” level cultural event. No song will ever be more closely associated with its music video, and no music video will ever be more of an avatar for an entire cultural moment than this. THIS is, of course, a truly shocking and horrifying (in a good way) music video from the former fifth lead of the TV show Community. A profound and brilliant piece of art underscored by a fun-sounding dance song. The year’s most complex and important social-political message delivered in 4 minutes via YouTube. This is America indeed.

10.) Drake - “God’s Plan” video While Donald Glover may have perfected the music video as art form, it goes without saying that long ago Drake mastered the music video as promotional tool. And in that sense the music video for “God’s Plan” seems like minor failure. It seemed to sort of come and go from the culture, especially in light of the success of the In My Feelings Challenge. But for me, there was nothing more heartwarming and human this year than watching Drake give away almost a million dollars to strangers. It was an idea so simple it’s shocking no one had ever done it before. And so affecting I was shocked it didn’t seem to penetrate the public consciousness more. There’s so much going on at all times now it’s hard for anything to truly break through all the noise, but this really deserved to. It’s impossible to watch this without smiling, and is there anything 2018 needed more than that?

11.) Nanette The dumbest debate this year was whether or not Nanette was stand up. Form and genre aren’t delineators still worth discussing in 2018. It’s now only about the message and the messenger, everything else is just details. An important fresh voice, the most timely, and sadly, timeless message imaginable, delivered in a way that reached and deeply affected seemingly every person you knew? What is there to debate? Nanette may or may not be stand up comedy, but it’s definitely RISE UP comedy. And in the end, that’s all that matters.

12.) Amber Says What Please click on the link above. The final two minutes are by far the best comedy of 2018. It still makes me laugh so hard that it causes me physical pain. You’ve been warned.

13.) A Star is Born trailers A Star is Born is maybe a perfect film. The performances, the songs, the direction, the fact that there’s literally no human being on earth who could have played her part and made the movie work like it did other than Lady Gaga. It was all perfect. But there was actually something better than watching A Star is Born: anticipating watching a A Star is Born. Before the first A Star is Born trailer came out I thought the whole project sounded dumb and unnecessary. After I finished watching the first trailer I knew I was going to see A Star is Born opening night. True story: I was at a movie where the same A Star is Born trailer got played three times in a row for some reason. And it was riveting every time. There was no grumbling at all in the audience, and I for one was sad when it didn’t replay a fourth time. So as much as I loved A Star is Born what I would really love is be able to still want to see A Star is Born for the first time.

14.) Ariana Grande - “thank u, next” It’s genuinely impressive that a song released in November could be the song I listened to by far the most this year. Somehow it took less than two months for this song to feel completely ubiquitous. Hell, even the PHRASE “thank u, next” is omnipresent now. Forget Song of the Summer, this was maybe our first Song of the Winter. Which is perfect because has a hit pop song ever sounded more winter? It’s cold, but it keeps you warm. It’s the sadness of the holidays with the life reaffirming joy of the holiday season. It’s a sweater for you to wear on the dance floor. And it’s clearly exactly the song so many of us needed. No matter how many times I’ve heard it (and as I said, I’ve listened to it, uh, A LOT) its existence feels like a holiday miracle. Having a new and fresh take on the breakup song in the year 2018? That shit IS amazing.

15.) The proposal at the Emmys This is literally the only thing anyone remembers about this year’s Emmys. It was amazing, and special, and made anyone who watched it believe in true love. But for me it still cant touch the most heart-melting awards show moment of all time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCJrku4fSxk

(Was this whole entry just an excuse to link to one of my absolute favorite YouTube clips? Perhaps.)

16.) Succession When I saw the promos for Succession I literally made the sound UGH out loud. The last thing the world needs is another show about rich white people behaving badly, I thought. How could there possibly be anything original left to say on that topic? Who on earth is still greenlighting shows like this in The Year of our Lord 2018?

People much smarter than I am clearly, that’s who.

Because from writing, acting, production design, direction - whatever element you want to focus on - this was the best and most exciting new show of 2018 by a wide margin. People have been saying for years that TV is the new movies; this show made movies look like the old TV. It was the most vibrant and perfectly crafted big budget feature film of 2018, stretched out over 8 episodes on HBO. Did it have anything new and important to say about the world? Probably not. And turns out, I couldn’t have cared less. The phrase compulsively watchable might have been invented just to describe the world these actors and writers created. I would watch the team involved with this show dry paint. 

17.) Angels in America on Broadway Angels in America is the best play of the past 30 years and its not even close. So the fact that it would get a production that’s this good is just unfair for everyone else on this planet who makes theater. It was so good it made all other plays I’ve seen since seem small and cheap and unimportant. It was such a towering achievement that it has made the entire rest of theater as an art form seem insignificant by comparison. When you hear old people talk about seeing Brando in Streetcar or watching the original production of Death of Salesman I now can relate to what they are talking about. I’ll be thinking about Andrew Garfield’s final monologue for the rest of my life. It was unfair that we the audience had to all leave the theater when the lights finally came up and that we couldn’t all just live in that feeling forever. The eight hours I spent watching this play are what art is all about.

18.) Jesse Plemons in Game Night If dying is easy, and comedy is hard, then they should cancel the Oscars and give Jesse Plemmons Best Supporting Actor right now for his work in Game Night. And ok, maybe it wasn’t the BEST performance of 2018, but it was DEFINITELY the best performance relative to what it needed to be. It should have been a dumb throwaway part in a big-budget mainstream ensemble comedy. But Jesse Plemmons crafted a performance so strange and singular and memorable that it elevated the entire movie into something way better than I’m sure even its creators expected. I legitimately don’t know how everyone didn’t break in every one of his scenes. It’s a master class in the comedic power of silence. It should be studied in acting classes everywhere. And 20 years from now when Game Night is considered a comedy classic, Jesse Plemmons will be the main reason why. You heard it here first.

19.) The 1975 - A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships Saxophones? Electric guitar solos? Backing choirs? A concept album about being uncomfortable with the internet? Dumb pretentious song titles? This album couldn’t be any more in my wheelhouse if I made it myself. Its best song is basically a modern reimagining of “We Didn’t Start the Fire” for God’s sake!

For me this wasn’t just an album, it was an experience. It was big music to get lost inside of. And I did. At age 36 it’s nice to know that sometimes I can still feel 16. And it’s fitting that a band named The 1975 would be the ones to make music that’s so transporting.

20.) Emma Stone Ok so as someone who once argued in this very space that Emma Stone deserved an Oscar nomination for Easy A, it’s clear I’m pretty deep in the tank for Emma Stone. But even an Emma Stone hater would have to admit than this was a banner year for Emma Stone. Signing up for the insane acting challenge that was Maniac and completely acing it while totally exposing two-time Oscar nominee Jonah Hill in the process? Going toe to toe with Olivia Colman in the battle of the best acting performances of the year in The Favourite? Coming across as more charming than Jennifer freaking Lawrence ?!?

2018 was Emma Stone’s year, we were all just living in it.

[hopevalley]

WCTH Write-Ups: 1.5, “The Dance”

Good morning, and welcome to another episode write-up! Two in a row! I feel like I’m on a roll, here!

In the last episode, we saw answers to a lot of questions, mostly in regards to the church fire. Cat was innocent, the fire was an accident, and Mr. Spurlock framed Cat out of bitter spite because she told him she wasn’t interested in him.

In this episode, the town finally gets some new miners! 

12 of them, to be exact. This doesn’t even come close to replacing the 47 who died, but I guess it’s a start? Anyway, they’re not too happy about walking into the saloon only to find it’s inhabited by a whole classroom. 

“We’ve spent six days crossing this cursed country. We came a long way to work in this mine. Least we can get is a drink.” Six days? That’s it? I mean, that’s nothing compared to how most of these people got out here. They were probably able to take a train and then get wagons instead of having to cross it all by horse, so... I don’t know. Six days is nothing. Try six months of travel and then I’d feel like you deserved a drink.

“Company’s just hiring single men.” Gee I wonder why. Maybe that has something to do with it being cheaper and easier, and they can house ‘em in the saloon rooms in smallish groups. I mean, there can only be so many rooms up there... Maybe 3? That puts four men to a room up there...

Anyway, I love Emily Dickinson so much, and for an episode to start with one of her poems is lovely. Billy Hamilton might be scummy, but Andrew Walker, his actor, does a beautiful delivery of the first stanza. 

“Hope” is the thing with feathers - That perches in the soul - And sings the tune without the words - And never stops - at all -

First of all, this poem is a delightful addition to the series, but I don’t think that its theme should be overlooked. This is a poem about hope, but the series itself isn’t just about the general concept of hope, it’s about...the kind of hope that you feel through the worst times in your life, that protects you, that gets you through the storm; it’s about...hope everlasting. So it’s really fitting that it’s here, but I think with all of the other things that go on, it’s easily passed over.

Also, Billy is a smoooooth criminal... Calling her professor... That’d make me feel special, too. ;)

Anyway, Abigail returns for this episode, and we see a bunch of town women coming together to unravel sweaters to repurpose for baby blankets and clothes for Carla, a very pregnant lady. 

Also present are Florence, Elizabeth, Cat, Mary, and someone I don’t know.

“My husband wasn’t a chivalrous man, but he provided just fine for Caleb and me.”

I just want to say that I enjoy Mary’s character a lot. We don’t really see anyone else like her for the rest of the series, so it’s sad for me that after her little plotline wrapped up, she left the series.

Most of these women are able to admit to their husbands’ faults in, perhaps, more private company, but I think Mary’s admission is realistic and to-the-point. Her husband wasn’t much of a romantic, or maybe even a good lover, but he did all right as a provider and that was good enough. These days we might find it really sad to think about—I know I do—but in 1910 things would have been a lot different for these women. A reasonably good provider was about as good as it got, sometimes.

And Abigail echoes Mary’s point:

“You’re right, Mary. We all know how hard it is to find a good man.”

And then Carla: “Or a good father for our children.”

That they have to sometimes choose whether he’s a good husband, good lover, good provider, or good father is just awful. But that’s that on that, I guess. 1910, everybody!

Carla’s definitely at that late part of pregnancy where everything hurts and nothing is comfortable and sleeping is basically impossible. Doubly so for her because she has a little boy to take care of already, so it’s not as if she can take a nap whenever the mood strikes!

“Mounties and marriage: two subjects that don’t go together. At the academy they told us, if the Mounties wanted you to have a wife, we would have issued you one.”

Watching Jack put his foot into his mouth at the speed of light should be a little fun, and I know when I first saw this episode I was amused, but this is my fourth or fifth time watching this episode... Now I can’t help but think that this kind of...set up is actually an ongoing problem in the series. That is to say, Jack didn’t actually say anything bad? Anything unreasonable? Elizabeth literally just twisted his words to make what he said sound worse. I mean, women aren’t delicate, but he can’t exactly come out and say, “If a woman wants to pee she has to sit down or squat, and out in the wilderness with other men/soldiers around, it’s not exactly conducive to cultivating a full and loving marriage.” Or, “Imagine being pregnant out there with no help for miles if something goes wrong, or when you need to deliver.” 

Jack is being perfectly reasonable and he’s saying it in a way that gives the audience the idea that he was hoping to make Elizabeth laugh. But she doesn’t laugh, and the narrative, since it mostly follows her around (even the music does this), suggests that he’s some kind of vaguely misogynistic guy who underestimates women’s skill and ability or even their perseverance.

Sound familiar?

Yeah, it sounds like s4 and s5 Bill Avery, right? Consistently painted as unreasonable for overestimating women. Even though nothing about Bill’s personality in the early seasons would suggest he is that type of person at all.

Well, I guess they had to pass Forced Foot in Mouth Syndrome onto someone. (And the really nasty part of me can’t help but think that Jack is kind of a victim of this literal writing disease for quite some time... I wonder if or how much this played into Dan’s choice to leave the series, in the end?)

But that’s just speculation.

Anyway, that whole scene can be summed up as “Elizabeth fishes for a date and pulls out the wrong fish. Maybe. Flings it back into the sea.”

Listen, we’ve all been Mary at some point; we’ve all done something completely embarrassing in a store and wanted the ground to swallow us up. Luckily for her, a reasonable looking man helps her pick up the mess and introduces himself as Dewitt Graves. 

This scene is actually like, several levels of good, because even the music changes to accommodate a feeling, in this case, Mary at the counter being told her tab is full. Nobody gets mad at Ned over this, but I wish they did; heck, I honestly wish he had his own plotline. But the way the camera pans to Florence while the piano plays is just so...awful. I mean, sure, we know Florence is going to gossip about this incident, but in this particular moment what’s highlighted by the narrative presentation is Mary’s situation. We’ve probably all been there, too: had a card declined, or a card reader couldn’t read it at least. It’s awful, and it’s much worse for Mary. How’s she going to pay that tab off? (I also noticed the yarn in her basket... I wonder if it was to make something for Carla’s baby...)

It’s Mr. Graves to the rescue! Thank goodness. Even that scene is awkward and embarrassing...but at least she didn’t have to put everything back.

*Ned is the company store owner, so seeing him transition to a regular mercantile would be super, super cool. Plus he wouldn’t be a very popular person in town since he has to balance store credit and can’t do much more than the company policy allows him to, so that would have been a really fun plot to have.

Albert and Caleb interacting is another good scene, because Caleb gets to complain a bit about his family’s situation, and Albert gets to be understanding (and actually in more than just the episode he was introduced in, which sounds goofy but we need to be thankful for the little things). 

We also find out that Mary’s a pretty good cook.

After a couple of episodes without Abigail, it’s nice to see her back, and her patience is literally unmatched. I howled with laughter when a coworker told me he wanted to plant pickles in his garden; he had no idea that pickles came from cucumbers!! Literally no idea. NONE. I could not contain my amusement. But Abigail is kind to Elizabeth and instead of mocking her ignorance, she makes each new thing into a learning experience. And Elizabeth takes it in stride and even mocks her own ignorance a little bit.

“At home they were just in the serving dish... magically.” A shared joke; this was honestly and truly pretty cute.

Florence just barging into Abigail’s place out of nowhere was hilariously in character, but hey, she’s come with that hot goss so I guess that’s almost like she’s got a key. ;)

I love how Abigail doesn’t rise to the lure of gossip, though, and is just...practical about the situation? Mary’s had it harder than most, so it was nice of that man to buy her groceries. 

“I don’t think we can judge each other’s circumstances, Florence.”

“Are you ready to forget your Noah?”

“I will never forget my Noah, but at some point life goes on. For all of us. For you, too.”

And then Carla falls in the front door crying out for Abigail, kind of ruining this scene, or shunting it into the background.

Honestly, and again, this is the Abigail I loved as a character. She was good, but she wasn’t perfect, and her advice was always pretty gentle. I think she could have delivered it a little better, but she’s not wrong. Life does go on. But it made me think of Florence in s5, when Laura and Bill returned the note from the coat pocket to her. We learn about Florence so slowly that it’s wild to think at this point in the story we don’t really know her. She was madly in love with her Paul, and we know he adored her, too. 

I never got the feeling that Abigail felt that way about Noah, but something I’m more than willing to praise this show for is its diverse showcasing of relationships. Not every marriage was one of love at this time, and not every marriage that started out with love stayed that way. That’s still true today, though, isn’t it?

Anyway, these women oftentimes couldn’t support themselves, so relationships were their best bet. And I love that Abigail takes Mary’s side; it’s not fair to judge. As we see later in this episode, Mary’s position is difficult.

But back to this scene: when Carla needs help, even Florence rushes to help her and reassure her. 

This is the good stuff, you know what I mean? Abigail offering to let Carla move in for a while, Florence reassuring her that someone will look after her older boy, Elizabeth touched and moved by how these women step up and help one another.

“They go through life with such grace under fire. It makes me realize just how little I actually know about the real world. These women are teaching me by their example that when each of us offers a small kindness to a neighbor, it can become a very large blessing to the whole community.”

Like, Elizabeth isn’t stupid. She might be ignorant about how much work goes into making pickles, but she’s observant and willing to learn. In Elizabeth’s former life, she had no reason to think about these sorts of things; what ‘small kindness’ would she have offered her Hamilton neighbors? What kind of ‘community’ was she a part of there? It was a very different place and a different way of living. Here, in Coal Valley, small kindnesses oftentimes go a long way. People don’t have much; sometimes small kindnesses are all they have to give.

I really loved the touch of Mr. Backus showing the guys around a bit...recommending they all become a teetotaler (sober) like him. It’s not a long scene for him, but he’s clear-headed and obviously making an effort to improve himself...and he’s happy with that decision. It’s also kind of cool that he goes over to hang with Jack a bit afterward and have a drink of coffee.

Anyway, Billy puts on those smooth moves again with Elizabeth, and of course they work. He keeps it pretty low-key, though. And he doesn’t finish the poem. :(

Jack’s suspicion of him is kind of...eh. The guy hones in on Elizabeth but like, she’s the only really young woman in town that we’ve seen. Mary might be the next oldest? It’s hard to say. 

Anyway, any sane young miner would have the hots for Elizabeth... Just sayin’.

The real question is: who is that curly haired guy and why didn’t he stick around?

I still really enjoyed Sam (the miner that Jack locked up) telling him that night in the jail was actually “kind of peaceful.” I’m pretty sure this is when Jack decides to move into the jail.

James, the former school bully, asks Caleb about his mom’s attempt to get a new husband, which of course Caleb denies. 

I had to look James up to see if he was supposed to be the son of a character we know, and...I don’t think he is. His last name is Fermont. Maybe he’s the son of the unknown dark-haired woman who was at Abigail’s house for the sewing circle?

Anyway, there’s something to be said, again, about Ned. 

He handles all telegrams so he knows everyone’s business. Even police business. It’s wild that he doesn’t have a larger role in the story at any point, and has never had his own arc.

“No one’s ever called me Mr. Graves.”

He’s charming. You know, he’s not the most attractive guy ever, but he’s a good person and he’s got a nice sense of humor and he’s humble. I liked Dewitt a lot from the start. And y’know what else I like? That he looks a mess after a day in the mine. You know this guy works hard and he’s tired as heck and all the lines in his face took 10x worse with the coal dust, and... Just... He could be a real person.

And he clearly thinks Mary is cute and sweet as heck. I love her hesitation, though; she’s not sure what she should do, but she invites him to dinner because it’s what’s best for everybody.

“I know it’s making me a better person.” Elizabeth wanting to be a better person is great, too.

Jack’s intrusion and comments are so pointed though. “All you need is good aim.” I mean, also, I don’t know that he ever is shown going hunting again? Huh.

Anyway, Billy starts pushing a little more seriously; and Elizabeth doesn’t quite accept the bait. She admits she has dreams but says, “Dreams are like birthday wishes. Say them aloud and they might not come true.”

And then we get the part of the season that drives me bonkers: the poem that Billy gives to Elizabeth and claims as his own.

I wrote an entire post about how this drove me nuts, so I won’t repeat too much of it here, but c’mon. This is a famous ballad that Elizabeth probably grew up playing on the piano, or at least singing ‘round the piano. I find it really hard to believe she wouldn’t immediately know that he didn’t write it.

I mean, she does say, “It’s very familiar... I can’t place the poet, though.” But the fact that she doesn’t remain suspicious about that is wild.

On the plus side, Andrew Walker has such a blessed ability for reciting poetry. I wouldn’t have minded hearing him recite more. He’s good. 

I think with a little tweaking, I could have found this whole thing a bit more believable; maybe a different poem, one that she probably wouldn’t have had such an exposure to. Something more...obscure that she probably did read in the last few years, but which might have been easily forgotten in her studies. Not something she probably grew up singing? I don’t know.

I guess I just gotta give the writers credit for the way Billy tries to push off her feeling that it’s familiar with humor/romance and she just goes with it.

Listen, Dewitt is a good man. He doesn’t push Mary’s boundaries, he apologizes easily, he shows an understanding of Caleb’s situation, he waits for Mary to be seated before he sits, he’s genuinely sorry about taking the wrong hook on the wall... 

I was frustrated with Caleb watching it, but I totally got it. 

I think my favorite thing about this scene is that when Dewitt asks Mary to the dance (in this roundabout awkward kind of adorable way), she says she honored but asks to have time to think about it, and he’s fine with that.

“That’s all a man can ask for, is a little bit of hope.”

It’s sweet, but it’s not over the top. 

Mary’s conversation with Caleb is a little sad...but I feel like he’s just too young to really understand what it is she’s saying when she tells him: “Things don’t always turn out the way we want them to. Now, I’m your mama, and I’m going to do what I have to do for our family.” And then, a little bit later, “I need to look out for our future now. It’s what I’m doing as your mom. And you need to understand that.”

Clearly she’s trying to say, “I can’t provide for us by myself. I need a man and it’s not what I want to have to resort to, but that’s just how it is. It sucks but you need to understand that I don’t have a choice.”

I mean, we’ve seen her situation: the tab is full at the company store, she’s relying on Caleb to catch fish just to have something to eat that isn’t potato soup, and without store credit even potato soup is off the menu. How are they going to last the winter? 

In its own way, the whole situation is tragic. Even if Mary wasn’t madly in love with her husband, that doesn’t mean she doesn’t want the time to grieve properly. Unfortunately her feelings aren’t allowed to matter; she can’t let them. She has to do what she can to ensure that her son has a future.

Something I don’t like about this episode is the suggestion that the town had a midwife “for years” who “left after the mining accident.” It’s one of those situations that might have been best left alone. I would have preferred that Abigail be an unofficial midwife or something, or even a short discussion about how their supposed midwife was just a woman who had birthed six children or eight children in her younger years and had experience and was better than no one at all.

The only reason I can think of that a midwife would leave town would be if she was afraid the town’s infrastructure would collapse and it would die. But eh. I think the worldbuilding around this midwife is extremely fragile and not very well-done. At least it was mentioned? I don’t know.

The Elizabeth/Jack conversation about Billy is kind of painful...and again we have Jack flinging his foot down his own windpipe... Sigh. The more it happens the less I like it. 

That’s all I can really say right now.

Elizabeth’s conversation with Mary is... I don’t know. It’s heavy. Not gonna lie, I wanted to see Mary all done up. That said, it’s probably for the best that Elizabeth brought up Caleb and ruined the moment. 

Mary tries to be frank with Elizabeth about her situation:

Mr. Graves is a good man

I think he may care for me

I didn’t think another man would ever pay attention to me again

I’m not willing to waste another minute frittering away my son’s future when this could be a chance for us.

Elizabeth says she “understands” to which Mary says, “I don’t think you do understand. You were raised with all of the options in the world available to you, and I have next to nothing.”

Mary isn’t wrong, and this is something I like about the early episodes; Elizabeth has GOOD INTENTIONS by saying she “understands” but there’s no way she fully can. She can’t really grasp what Mary is going through, not fully. It’s a shame because Elizabeth really didn’t mean any harm by it; she also really did want Mary to wear a pretty dress! But Elizabeth’s worry about Caleb came at the expense of her worry for Mary, and what that did was alienate Mary from feeling like she could rely on Elizabeth.

This is the kind of “miscommunication” that is believable and real, and that I wish the show had continued to utilize where it matters.

And here we’ve got it... Florence busts into the jail where Jack is and tells him that someone stole her late husband’s gold watch. 

“Someone broke into your house?”

“Right in the middle of the night with my child slumbering nearby!”

Missing is: gold watch, cufflinks. Both out of her top dresser drawer. 

Well, Florence has a child. Apparently. I don’t think we ever find out who the child is, let alone see them. I’m pretty sure this ends up retconned by the end of the first season/at the beginning of the second. Unless Florence’s “child” is a cat.

Anyway, something I do appreciate? That Florence is asked to keep quiet about this (so that the thief doesn’t get nervous and skip town) and...she actually...does so.

I find it hard to believe that the entire class would panic over a snake, but okay.

Caleb’s talk with Elizabeth is nice. She’s not always very good at talking to other adults about their pain, but I think she’s pretty good with the kids. Adults can’t help but see hidden meanings and nuance in everything; kids tend to just hear the words that are said.

Anyway, Caleb’s struggle with the memories, with the idea that maybe for his mom memories are painful, but for him they’re all good... That gets me a little in the feelings. And how Elizabeth just jumps in to let Caleb talk about his dad by asking what he was like... Man, she really is pretty good with the children. They need to grieve too, and oftentimes it’s in a way that’s different to how we as adults get through it. Her place as a bit of an outsider lets her ask these questions without any issue.

And Caleb doesn’t say anything, you know, revolutionary about his pa. He just says that he was tall and strong and funny, he liked to sing and whistle and fish, and they cooked fish together on the riverbank after they caught ‘em. “Nobody can replace him... Nobody.”

Abigail goes to the dance with Carla’s instructions to dance a waltz for her (which Abigail does, with Mr. Backus) and a promise to return soon.

Last year I made a post about how this dance is a great example of the magic of season one and I don’t want to repeat it too much here, but in the first few seconds you get an idea of how well off people are financially just based on what they wear; you see Cat and Ned as part of the musical trio who is playing. You see the younger women with their hair down or partially down and all the older women with their hair up and you see Abigail take charge to get the party started (this would be more or less her job as the highest ranked mine employee’s wife).

Even cooler, some kids did come to the party. The dances are short. The second the waltz comes on Abigail gets the dance she told Carla she’d get, and Elizabeth comes into the room with Billy Hamilton.

And then Caleb shows up in his dad’s coat. 

Which gets me right in the feelings every time, but the best part about it is that, at first nobody even really notices he’s there; the other kids don’t mock him or anything. Everyone is just...touched when he cuts in on his mom’s dance with Dewitt.  

And Dewitt bows out gracefully--and a few people seem touched by it but most people are wrapped up in their own dance and a big deal isn’t made of it. It’s just a nice, short, surprisingly touching scene.

The episode ends with Carla in labor, Billy being sweet on Elizabeth, and Jack getting a telegram that says the company Billy claims to have worked for...has never heard of him. 

DUN DUN DUN...

Overall Thoughts:

The plot in this episode is a lot calmer than before. We have small things going on, but the big plot was definitely the concept of ‘moving on’ and of, I guess, doing what needs to be done—or at least respecting other people’s decision to do so.

I don’t actually have a lot of thoughts? I guess I sat around going, “Wow there are a lot of people named William in this series who go by something else I guess.” 

But other than that, I was pretty much satisfied with this plot. Very little about it annoyed me or made me want to do editing. I really enjoy Mary as a character, too; her motivations are unique to her in this show and I wish they had been a little more thoroughly explored overall, but we get a decent amount of attention on her for a background character! (Still, her story alone could be almost its own novel.)

To end, how about the entirety of that Dickinson poem, hm?

“Hope” is the thing with feathers - That perches in the soul - And sings the tune without the words - And never stops - at all - And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard - And sore must be the storm - That could abash the little Bird That kept so many warm - I’ve heard it in the chillest land - And on the strangest Sea - Yet - never - in Extremity, It asked a crumb - of me.

(314) Emily Dickinson

See you all again next episode!

[heather-in-heels]

Sam

This is a love story, but it is only love in the sense of meeting a person who changes you forever. You meet them at a time in your life when you need their fresh set of eyes the most. As a result, you wind up in love with them. Not a romantic love, but a thoughtful love where you know you left an imprint on their heart and they left one on yours, too.

Sam was a New Yorker, I live in the Los Angeles Valley. East Coast. West Coast. Over 2000 miles in between. That has all the trappings for a romcom waiting to happen, but in reality it doesn’t pan out as meet cute as you imagine. 

We met on Tinder. Another setback. This is the end all, be all, of the apps for hookups. Swiping and uploading your best photos — voila, maybe you find your true love because an algorithm and narcissism said it should be so!

I’ve always liked to read the captions. His read, “If you have a good world view and you enjoy movies, candy, wine, and adventures... I think we would get along just fine.”

Swipe right. Hard right.

So I gotta ask what you do for work cause you clearly have more than the rest of us :-)

Also... hi :-)

That was his first message to me. I had to dig far into the recesses of my Tinder profile to find it. The message made sense if you know me. Most of my online dating photos are me with brand mascots. I write about characters and they’re in 70%, if not more, of my iPhone’s photos.

Hi Sam. Winking emoji.

That was my first message back to him.

Sam was staying in Canoga Park, a part of the San Fernando Valley I knew well(ish). It was a little more foreign to him. Kind of like how I felt about Brooklyn, where he lived and I had never been.

We talked for several days, on and off the app. He asked me out. I said yes and our first date was on March 12th. Sunday. I never go out on Sunday nights. That’s because I am boring. I go to bed early. There was something about him, though. If the conversation in person was half as good as the one through text,  I had to meet him. This could either work for or against me, but that’s the bet you take on any date. 

When Sam walked into the restaurant/bar, my eyes felt like a row of jackpot symbols at a casino. He looked like the actor Patrick Wilson. He dressed well. He was funny and thoughtful and witty. I felt like I won some kind of lottery I didn’t know existed. We all put our best foot forward on the first date, but this wasn’t the best version of him. This was him. I was seeing every bright part right now. The color gold in a world gone gray. 

This was exactly the kind of person I wanted to be with when I saw my future. Previously in this episode of Heather’s Life, I had dated nothing but scrubs as my girlfriends liked to call them. I didn’t know what it was like to date a good guy.

I went to the bathroom at one point and when I came out, he was chatting with the people at the table behind us. He had also hung up my coat, that I had carelessly tossed onto my chair, onto a hook. I stood and watched him speaking with these people for a moment, smiling. It was so him. Charming the whole room and everyone in it.

I’m leaving out my favorite detail. He came bearing a gift. We had been talking about our favorite candy before we met and I said mine were Twizzlers. He brought a pack with him. 

I never ate the Twizzlers. It was such an unspeakably simple, kind act that I wanted to hang on to them.

We talked about our lives and selves and dreams. He told me about how he saw Daft Punk live at their Alive tour. We talked about our mutual love for EDM. He talked about his DJ’ing he had done before. Rick and Morty, and how he identified as Rick. Anne Hathaway, his celebrity crush. His dream of becoming a late night talk show host. How he hated missing the turn exits on the freeway and having to drive further out.

Sam was a man of spontaneity, something I, as a person, have never been able to do. No, wait. I was spontaneous once. I used to take trips, even though I had debt and little money to spend. Then I turned 30 and stopped doing a lot of things. Sam insisted that this was no excuse. No way to live. He had debt too, but it didn’t stop him from showing up or living life. 

Hours later, we got ready to leave. He offered to give me a ride home. I never say yes to these kinds of offers. But, I felt safe with Sam. I knew it would be okay. 

We drove the short distance back to my place, singing along to Taylor Swift on his Apple Music. Full blast to “Style.” We missed an exit on the way, but he laughed it off. 

A good first date. An even better first kiss.

Life went on. He went home and I stayed put. Both of us worked a lot. I should add here that he worked so much. Rivaling myself, and that is not a good thing either.

A few months later, some texts in between, me going on dud dates with other guys, Sam texts me to say he’s coming back to California. “Let’s hang out!”

I jumped at the chance to see him again. 

See, it happened. A second date. We weren’t supposed to get another, but we did and the catching up was even better the second time around. Things were changing for the both of us, on the up and up. I was getting my student loans paid off. He was interviewing for new design clients in San Diego.

Another drive back to my place together, and then we decided to go out again the next night.

Three dates? Inconceivable! He had a surprise for me this time. We were going to a carnival. He was the driver and I was the passenger. But, even though I had no idea where this carnival was, I still directed him to the right place. I had a feeling I knew where it was when he mentioned seeing certain landmarks and it wasn’t in Van Nuys. I won a stuffed otter as a prize. 

Later that night (well, it was more like later that morning), we drove back to my place. I had a thought on the way there. Why go home at all? He had always wanted to go to Malibu and I live close enough. It was a beautiful night and I suggested that we drive down to the ocean. 

Sam was so excited to do it. The drive was a straight shot down one road. The top to the car was down, the wind was blowing, and Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” was blasting on his Apple Music. It reminded me of that moment in the movie The Perks of Being a Wallflower when the main characters are driving through a tunnel listening to David Bowie and feeling, as the protagonist Charlie called it, infinite. Every time I turned to look at Sam, he was grinning from ear to ear. He was having the time of his life. And even though I was a mess, with my hair everywhere and no makeup on, I was too.

Life and time went on after that night and we went back to our respective worlds. October approached and with it the New York trip I was going on. I had been working myself to the bone every night after work for months and was exhausted and excited for it to finally come together. Sam had mentioned we could hang out when I got to New York. We FaceTimed a few times together and he, somewhat begrudgingly, admitted he would go with me to Katz’s Deli. There were way better food places than Katz’s to go to, he said.

What was our last conversation about? The last conversation I had no idea would be the last one? Bob Ross. He loved Bob Ross and I found a game on some website that you could play and told Sam about it. We admitted that it did look a little challenging to play and maybe it could be played by someone else later on.

That was the last time I talked to him.

I found out about Sam’s death on Friday September 28th. I was packing my suitcase for the New York trip. Then, I saw a Facebook post about him. He had died.

The five stages of grief rolled out fairly quickly. Denial, because it felt like a sick joke. Anger, because I could not understand. Bargaining, because all I could see was this beautiful, living, laughing boy. Why did he die when so many horrible men get to live? Depression. Acceptance.

I haven’t gone through the fifth stage yet. I think I’m still stuck in the fourth.  

I put a black dress in my suitcase first, rolled into a tight ball. The Twizzlers occupied their own side pocket. I gradually packed throughout the night in between taking calls and answering texts from concerned friends and family. Sometimes I would pause while packing and stare off into space. Or I would pack while crying because my brain kept telling me to move forward.

When I arrived to the airport on Saturday, I felt like I was walking through JELL-O. Everything was a dull roar. I stared off aimlessly into space for about an hour before I decided to go sit at a bar. I drank at a rock and roll themed bar and talked to a stranger sitting next to me about what had happened. I don’t know how we stumbled into this conversation. He was a VP for a banking firm in New York. Had 500 employees under him. Knew what it was like to lose someone and shared his own story with me. I felt less alone.

The turning point, which I tell everyone about, happened at 12:30 AM on a Sunday morning. I had arrived to my hotel by then and didn’t know what to do with myself. I was hungry and went to the pizza place next door. In front of me was a couple from Australia. Behind me was a guy from Atlanta. Behind him was a woman from Fort Lauderdale. Everyone was from a different place in the world, all gathered together for pizza.

It changed everything for me, this moment. This was the first time in years where I felt a connection. I haven’t gone out or done much in awhile now. I sleep, I work, I go home, and work some more so I can pay my student loan off. This loan has taken over my life and it totally shows.

I don’t live, and I am trying very hard to get better about that. This is something Sam, in the little time I knew him, told me I needed to do. I used to fight him on this. Everything is too expensive. He would counter that he also had debt. I need to be working during this time. He told me you can work at any age. Finally, I would get to the bottom of it all and admit that everything was so fragile. My life is like a carpet that is always close to getting yanked out from underneath me. I don’t have a husband or children or a house or anything that a lot of people have at my age. I’ve gotten to the point where I am grabbing this carpet and refusing to let go because I am too afraid of what happens when there is no more carpet. 

At the core of myself, this kind of behavior infuriates me. The me that I am and have always been. The me that Sam saw. She sees me doing this and knows it’s actually childish behavior. She is a person who tells me to be kinder, keep doing more, and do not believe one state or city or country can stop you. She keeps the faith that it will all work out even though she doesn’t know how.

That Sunday morning was the first time in awhile I felt connected.

Several hours later, I prepared to say goodbye. I had asked his cousin in advance if I could go to his service, out of concern that it would not be appropriate since I knew so little about him. She graciously said I could go. The outfit I had to wear, the drive into Brooklyn, the absolute feeling that this was concrete and final. He was gone.

The drive to Brooklyn was my first one there. As the car got closer to the building, I saw all of the cop cars blocking off the streets and everyone heading into the building. There were so many people. Every single one impacted by him. Most of them were crying.

I had never been to a funeral for an Orthodox Jewish family before. The actual burial would take place off-site. No cremation. No flowers or wake. A shiva would be held on Wednesday. The men and women sat on opposite sides of the room with folding tables standing in place between us. We may have been separated, but grief held everyone together like a nasty cobweb we were all trapped inside. 

The first moment I heard the fine print details behind Sam’s debt was when his brother delivered his speech. I knew Sam had debt, of course. Knew how much and how he had incurred this debt. 

What I didn’t know that even in debt Sam kept giving to everyone he knew. He continued to financially support his family. He paid for everything he could with the little he had. He gave what a reasonable person would not or what they would try to excuse themselves from doing. When I told him I was coming to New York, he offered to let me stay at his place. I laughed when I heard that. Part of it was because it was funny, since I assured him I already had a hotel room. The other part was that I could not imagine making an offer to a person I barely knew.

In retrospect, I saw that every action, every decision, came from a place where kindness and love were put forth first. Give, and maybe ask questions later. He loved you for who you were and wanted to be there to support you at every turn.

I cried a lot.

When I left, a monarch butterfly flew in front of my Lyft car. That butterfly was completely Sam’s spirit. I just knew it. He would not want me to go back to the hotel and cry. This was a big week for my career and my dreams. Months of hard work went into this week. I could not disappoint the people involved. This meant just as much to me as it did to them.

What followed, in light of a deeply dark day, was a beautiful week. The gala was a hit, I walked up to the NASDAQ stage instead of crawling this year (young me crawled so I could walk... I get it now!), and the panel was amazing. 

“Great minds unthink alike.” It was the company 15th anniversary theme and one I felt throughout the entire week. Connection remained a personal running theme for myself. I felt myself connect in New York City. This was a city that used to scare me during previous visits because I didn’t think I had a place there. It was different this time. I have friends, I have work. I have a network that I did not have years ago. I can walk anywhere. Everything is open 24/7, there’s something new to explore, and new faces just waiting to be met.

I saw a similar monarch butterfly a week ago. It made me smile. I knew it was him. Don’t ask me how I knew something like this. I just do.

Sam came into my life at a time when I needed a new perspective. He taught me that there are men out there that will love me for who I am. He also taught me to go out there and chase adventure. I’m 30. I’ll be 31 soon. It sounds like it’s a little late in life to learn lessons like these, but I don’t think it is. 

I wonder if this is just the beginning.

For the rest of my life, I will be thankful to have known him. A little bit of time is better than no time at all and he was, and will always be, a teenage dream to me.

[katychan666]

“I’m not going anywhere.”

 Magnus’ heart still hurt because he lost his position, but it was starting to get better, the pain was already milder, because even though he lost his previous position, he had other things in his life to look forward to.

My take on the continuation of the Malec scene at the Hunter’s Moon at the end of the episode. This does include some spoilers from the new episode.

The serious expression on Alec’s face suddenly softened up and a little, lopsided smile spread across his face, Magnus slowly looking up at him. Magnus wasn’t smiling, there was a little frown in between his eyebrows, doubt in his eyes and he felt his heart pounding in his chest. Yes, he didn’t want Alec to leave and even though the young Shadowhunter expressed his wish of not to go to Alicante without him, the warlock still feared that Alec hadn’t decided about staying or going. Taking that job would be great for Alexander and his future, but it would break Magnus’ heart completely. He was already feeling crushed from having the position of High Warlock being taken away from him, so the thought of Alec leaving made his chest tighten.

Alec then simply leaned closer to him, eyes fluttering shut and connected their lips in a short, but sweet kiss. Magnus felt a little smile tugging at his lips after Alec pulled back, fingers wrapping tightly around the pool cue and he looked up at Alec, who was wearing a much wider smile on his face now. “I’m not going anywhere,” said Alec simply, the decision already made a long time ago. While it was true that it was his dream to live in Idris, some things and people were more important. Besides, he’d miss his friends in Idris and being away from Magnus would drive him insane. No job was worth that.

Finally, a bright smile spread across Magnus’ lips as well and he looked down, biting onto his lip to prevent himself from smiling too widely, his chest feeling warm, ready to burst with happiness. Alec, on the other hand, leaned back down again, to go back at playing the pool and Magnus quickly narrowed his eyes, placing a hand over Alec’s cue and he shook his head. “Hold your horses, Shadowhunter,” said Magnus playfully. “It’s still my turn,” he then added and Alec straightened himself up and gave the other little nod.

“Very well then,” said Alec and pulled back away from the pool table. “Show me what you’ve got,” said Alec, urging Magnus to a little battle and Magnus accepted the challenge, showing Alec exactly what he got, pushing four balls into the holes in a row and Alec just watched his boyfriend, jaw dropping and he narrowed his eyes. He thought that he was going to win, but he soon realised that he was going to be a loser. Again.

“Try to beat this, Alexander,” said Magnus after he missed pushing the fifth ball into the hole and turned around to face his boyfriend, waggling his eyebrows and Alec narrowed his eyes, clicking his tongue and he went back to the pool table, leaning down. As he bent down and tried to focus on the game, Magnus stepped behind him and whistled silently, smiling deviously, enjoying the sight of Alec bent down like that. “What a view,” commented Magnus and Alec frowned, looking behind his back.

“What?” asked Alec, clueless to what Magnus was talking about.

“You should bend down a bit more… you’ll be more comfortable that way,” said Magnus, who was now just joking, but his jaw dropped when Alec actually listened to him and bent down a bit more, supporting himself on the table. Alec thought that Magnus was trying to help, but he should know better; Magnus and his dirty mind were having a completely different plan.

“Like this?”

“Perfect, darling,” said Magnus, his eyes travelling down Alec’s back, stopping on his other assets and he waggled his eyebrows. “You look amazing bent over like that,” he then added and Alec finally realised what the other had in mind and quickly lifted himself up, turned around and placed his hands over his backside.

“Magnus!” whined Alec, face red now and Magnus started laughing.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” said Magnus in between his laughter and looked down, Alec huffing under his breath, but a smile spread across his lips as well when he saw the bright smile on Magnus’ face. He knew that that smile was genuine and not forced like the one before.

Magnus was leaned against the pool table and Alec came closer to him, place the cue onto it. No longer in the mood for playing – since he was going to lose anyway – Alec took the pool cue out of Magnus’ hands as well and placed it next to his, the warlock watching him with interest in his eyes and he sighed as Alec placed hands onto the table, trapping him between it and his own body. Magnus reached up with his hand, hugging the back of Alec’s neck and he pulled him down for another kiss, Alec softly gasping when Magnus kissed him again, more desperately and Alec pressed his lips together as he pulled back, knowing that Magnus still didn’t feel completely fine. But Alec knew that Magnus would take some time to accept how things were. Like Catarina said, being a warlock meant everything to him.

“I’m not in the mood for playing pool anymore,” commented Alec and Magnus hummed in amusement.

“That’s because you know you’re going to lose,” said Magnus, his voice teasing and Alec rolled his eyes.

“No,” he stated and looked down when he saw the ‘you’re-not-fooling-anyone’ look on Magnus’ face. “Well, fine, maybe you’re right, but,” said Alec and made a short pause, shrugging. “I just want to go somewhere else,” he then said and Magnus slowly nodded, because he too wished to go somewhere else.

“Yeah, let’s get out of here,” said Magnus after a while.

As they made their way out of the Hunter’s Moon, Magnus’ hand slowly found Alec’s and the Shadowhunter happily allowed Magnus to link their fingers, swinging their arms lightly as they walked. “So,” said Magnus and glanced at Alec. “Where are we going? It’s still a bit too early for us to return back home,” said Magnus and Alec shrugged.

“We can just walk around New York for a bit,” suggested Alec.

“Walking sounds good,” said Magnus and for the next few moments, the two of them spent completely in silence, walking hand-in-hand around, making their way to the park. While Alec was thinking of a way to spend the next day, Magnus felt his mind darkening again and he kept looking down.

The new High Warlock of Brooklyn was already named. Lorenzo Rey. His long life rival and he wrinkled his nose. He wouldn’t mind if someone else got the position – Catarina, for example – but having Lorenzo to be above him just filled his heart with uneasiness. He took great pride in being the High Warlock and now it was just taken away from him. Alec, who was in the middle of planning their next day, noticed that Magnus was wearing troubled expression on his face, Magnus’ hand gripping onto Alec’s and the hunter stopped walking.

“Magnus,” said Alec softly. “Hey, look at me,” he said and Magnus snapped out of his thinking and he looked back up, frowning. When did they stop walking? “Are you okay?”

“No,” said Magnus and gritted his teeth. He wanted to appear cheerful since they were out on a date, but he couldn’t. “The new High Warlock of Brooklyn had already been chosen,” he grumbled and Alec sighed, placing his hands on top of Magnus’ shoulders, who was chewing on his lower lip now. “Lorenzo Rey,” he then said, almost spitting out the guy’s name and Alec narrowed his eyes, because he could sense a lot of hostility as Magnus said that name.

“Lorenzo Rey?” asked Alec and Magnus slowly looked back up at him. “Sounds like a bad villain name,” said the Shadowhunter and Magnus burst into loud laughter, Alec’s comment bringing him to a full blown laughing fit, because it was just so unexpected. Alec kept looking at his boyfriend, who was still laughing, tears present in his eyes and a smile spread across Alec’s face as Magnus was trying to get his laughter under control.

“Oh, Alexander,” said Magnus when he finally managed to get himself under control and he shook his head. “You really do know how to make me feel better,” he then said and Alec beamed at him proudly and he shrugged.

“I try,” said Alec. “So, I guess you don’t like this Lorenz guy, huh?”

“Oh, we have a long past together,” said Magnus and shuddered. “Dislike would be a mild word to describe how I feel about him,” he then huffed under his breath and he rolled his eyes. “And they just had to name him as the new High Warlock. He’s gonna use every opportunity to rub it into my face and-”

“Let him. He’s not gonna be a good High Warlock,” said Alec, feeling confident in his words even though he didn’t know the other warlock. “And soon others will see that and you’ll get your position back. I’ll put in a good word for you as well,” said Alec, trying to help, but Magnus shook his head, not wanting Alec to use his position and power like that.

“That won’t be necessary,” said Magnus. “I’ll get used to it. I just need some time, that’s all,” he said and pressed his lips together. “And you,” he then said and Alec nodded.

“Well, I’m not going anywhere,” said Alec for the second time that evening and Magnus smiled when Alec pressed a kiss on top of his forehead. He then looked down and Magnus wrapped his pinky finger around Alec’s, who chuckled at that and pressed his forehead against Magnus’, closing his eyes for a split second. “Hey, we should pay your friend Catarina a visit,” suddenly said Alec and Magnus looked at him. Catarina sounded very worried about Magnus, so Alec thought it would do both Magnus and Catarina Loss good if they saw each other in person. Plus, going over to Catarina’s place meant seeing Madzie, which was a plus in Alec’s opinion.

“Cat?” asked Magnus and cocked his head to the side.

“She’s the one who told me about how devastated you were,” said Alec. “So, I was thinking… it wouldn’t hurt anyone to pay her a little visit, because she was very worried. Plus, we’d get to see Madzie,” added the hunter and Magnus grinned.

“Okay,” said Magnus and nodded, because Alec had a point. It’s been a while since he last saw his friend and Madzie, who was as cute as a button. He and Alec had the opportunity to babysit the little warlock a few times and Magnus was quite happy to see just how well she and Alec got along. She brought the childish side of Alec out and it was adorable. “Let’s pay Cat and Madzie a visit,” he said in the end and Alec happily smiled.

“Awesome,” said Alec and followed Magnus into the portal once the other created it, taking them straight over to Catarina’s place.

Alec was right about the visit, it did a lot of good to Magnus. Catarina was Magnus’ long time friend and while he had a heart to heart conversation with her, Alec was chasing around the place with Madzie, Magnus watching the two of them play with a smile on his face. His heart still hurt because he lost his position, but it was starting to get better, the pain was already milder, because even though he lost his previous position, he had other things in his life to look forward to.

[lightsandlostbells]

Skam Italia episode 1 reaction

I was on the fence to whether I would watch/react to this one, because a) some of the production choices turned me off, namely the Sana casting and b) this will be the fourth time I have seen S1 unfold and like, what more can I say about it, really

but I decided to watch because all of these remakes have been helping me learn about film-making and storytelling and how the same material can play differently depending on cinematography, music, acting, editing, etc. for better or worse. and well, I had a lot of thoughts on it.

Clip 1 - one day this monologue will simply be Jonas reading the lyrics to All Star by Smash Mouth

For a moment I wondered if the opening monologue wasn’t going to be Eva’s writing, and she was reading it to Jonas (Giovanni) and he was going to give her some kinda condescending mansplain-y constructive criticism. Turns out it wasn’t but that might actually be an interesting way to adapt that scene (although the idea of watching this scene for a fifth time is not ideal).

Honestly I’ve seen so many conflicting takes about the opening speech that I’m just going to accept it’s something that I can’t get the significance of as a non-Italian and leave it at that. I do appreciate that they did change it to be something that’s specifically Italian.

This Eva is very … cute? I don’t mean that in a derogatory way. Her personality seems a little meeker and marshmallowier than Emma’s or even OG Eva or Hanna. 

@skamremakesfromhell mentioned this in a post that Skam France and Skam Italia make it more obvious that the Eva and Ingrid characters were once friendly and OG Skam and Druck keep it more ambiguous. Most people I’ve seen react to Skam initially assume that Ingrid and Sara are like the school’s mean girls/popular clique rather than girls who have a history with Eva. Personally I prefer the ambiguity because it subverts expectations (especially when you’ve seen a million teen dramas featuring the requisite clique of popular bullies) but I guess you always learn by the end of the episode that Eva and Laura have a history so they don’t drag it out too much.

Eva waving at them is charming, but maybe a little much, though that’s kinda why I think she’s a cuter character. She’s the only one of the Evas trying to get a reaction out of the other girls. It makes you wonder what she thought would happen. Did she want a wave back? She really wants Laura to still like her. Also, notable that it’s the Sara character (I think) who gives her the finger, not Laura.

Also Giovanni is the only one of the Jonases to not notice Eva looking at Ingrid/Laura despite her being the only one to wave. Depending on your POV, it’s because he’s so wrapped up in explaining himself that he doesn’t notice Eva’s little moment of distress, or that his back is turned to Laura so he simply doesn’t notice. Or a combo of both.

I did like the visual choice of having Martino behind the bars (trapped in the friend zooooooooone) as well as his line, which according to the subtitles, is something like “in a couple there are no secrets but there also aren’t secrets between friends” which is some decent foreshadowing.

The banter seemed like Eva was more cool with them teasing her without that undertone of ganging up on her, or at least she played it like she was very amused by it. 

Clip 2 - chilling at home

I liked seeing Eva going about her evening alone, rummaging for food, that kind of casual solitude when you’re on your own.

Good job making that video chat look realistic.

No hate toward the actor himself but how old is Martino IRL … I think he’s fine performance-wise so far and he and Eva had some nice friendly chemistry in this conversation, but that dude just does not seem like a teenager. Which means some of the stuff he does later is going to look worse coming from someone who seems old enough to know better.

I looked him up and he’s like 20-21 in real life, and color me surprised. Not a teenager, but not as old as I would’ve guessed.

Martino being like “aw come on let me see” when Gio shows up, lmao you obviously do not want to see what happens next, bro. A girl is going to be a turn off for you.

Tiny changes of little importance - the first Sara to get a septum instead of fake lashes, and the first Jonas to enter through the front door like a normal person rather than climbing through the window/balcony.

I think it was a nice detail that they established that Eva is deliberately avoiding events and parties because of Laura. It adds to her loneliness and lack of friends, and it’ll be a bigger step of character development when she starts going out.

How long were the boys at Elia’s? Or did they go over there two days in a row? Because the first clip is definitely meant to be Friday and this one is Saturday, unless it was originally supposed to be the same day and they changed it for whatever reason. Gio not answering his phone during that time period is way different than not answering for like 5-6 hours. 

Giovanni calling her a koala is cute. Is this a specific Eva-and-Gio thing, or is this typical slang, like do Italians call each other koalas? That’s adorable.

Gio, they teach you in Lying 101 not to give more details than you need to.

His acting is a little odd here and I’m not sure if it’s shaky acting or a decent job of portraying someone lying out of his ass. For now I’ll be generous and go with the latter.

I thought the chemistry between them was a little off, but well, at least they seemed cozy when they were about to get it on. 

I was kind of confused as to why they showed the phone lighting up at first except, duh, it was to show Gio was lying about his phone dying. Not sure how I feel about that shot? Seems like too much POV breakage/hinting to the audience. I think it’s a good idea but maybe they could frame it in a more subtle way, like Eva and Giovanni are going at it in the frame and only eagle-eyed viewers would spot the phone.

Also I see that it’s Martino trying to get in touch, so I find that better and more subtle than if it were like … Laura. Martino texting in itself is NBD, it’s just that Gio’s phone is not dead.

Clip 3 - theater kids

This is not a relevant observation in the slightest but I’m entertained by the little details, like when Eva snacks on that cracker/cookie thing you can see a giant-ass crumb fall down her sweater from a distance, or in the previous clip there’s some fuzz stuck to her foot when Gio wraps it around her waist. It’s really really small stuff and probably not intentional, tbh, but I do like when Skam keeps things not perfect. Life is full of crumbs and fuzz, embrace it. 

I love the theater kids and their quirks in every version. These two are giving off middle-aged office manager vibes. 

Again, it is nice for Eva to consider a social event in line with her avoiding them because of Laura.

Clip 4 - Giovanni ruining the couple’s getaway 

I think this is the first time an Eva has called out a Jonas for being boring and not partying. Which, I mean, depending on the company I would probably prefer doing something mundane with some good friends than going to a party with a bunch of assholes.

And I thought Druck made it more obvious, Skam Italia just blatantly says Martino’s mom is crazy.

The acting is weird because I wouldn’t say it’s stiff, exactly, but a lot of it is very … acting. The handshake between Eva and Gio is cute, though.

Clip 5 - party time

Eva, I hope you charged your phone before you went out (9%).

So the getting dressed scene definitely felt, uh. A little male-gazey in a way that the other versions haven’t. Not Michael Bay making Transformers movies one-handed level of male gaze, just enough that I noticed. In those other getting ready scenes, the Evas were shown in varying states of undress, but it felt like a practical thing and not for titillation. This time around, there are definitely some pans up Eva’s body clad only in her bra and underwear and some full body shots (and it’s in shadow but there’s one shot where I thought she was completely topless, though in context I don’t think she is). Not a huge fan of that. At least it didn’t last long.

This is unrelated but this is something I deeply appreciated about Skam, I would not have said the girls were sexualized. Even in scenes, for instance, when Eva and Noora were shown in their underwear and T-shirts, it was casual and not sexy. I’m pretty sure the only nudity on the show was dudes and something like Even walking out of the hotel room naked is the total opposite of a sexualized moment.

Eva’s mom comes home mid-montage. I can’t quite get a read on their relationship yet? Eva is not open with her about where she’s going, but her mom still lets her go out. But Eva having both her parents in the picture is a significant change.

Oh God I love that fucking theater guy who dresses and acts like your car salesman uncle on a family wedding dance floor after a few drinks.

I know Laura’s words are chosen for cruelty not accuracy, but Eva’s eyeliner doesn’t seem particularly excessive, except for being smudged.

Well, Eleonora, that was gay. That was really, really gay. The gayest Noora intro yet. A round of applause.

Why did you fuck off home immediately after gently touching a stranger’s face instead of making further conversation, though? Or is that part of your red-lipped allure? Now I’m imagining Eleonora just constantly fixing girls’ hair and brushing eyelashes off their cheeks whenever she’s in line at McDonald’s or buying toilet paper, then vanishing and leaving a trail of broken hearts across Europe. 

The shot of Eva in front of the mirror, all fractured into multiple Evas, is some good stuff. Eva giving Vilde (Silvia?) a hug was also nice. Again, this Eva’s a marshmallow.

Legitimately one of the best parts of all these remakes is seeing all the Chrises/Alexes/Sams/Fedes be thrilled and bond instantly over their shared names.

This time Eva excused herself and Fede before Silvia asked them to leave so at least she was spared that extra humiliation.

Oh but she makes up for it by having Boy Fede call her a dick tease in front of Laura and Sara.

Boy Fede was kind of hilarious in a douchey way.

The text message afterwards has Eva downplaying the party’s shittiness to Gio, btw, saying she left after she saw people doing the train/conga. Sparing herself further embarrassment.

General Comments:

I’m not happy with casting an actress who is apparently both white and non-Muslim as Sana. Like all Skams I’m watching this on Google Drive/unofficial websites, but if this were say, a film showing in theaters, I wouldn’t buy a ticket for it on that basis. If it were a show I could watch or stream legally I wouldn’t give it the views. It’s really not excusable. Actually one of the most obnoxious things is that they also had this Sana wear a hijab. That annoys me even more than if they’d just said she was a Muslim who chose not to wear one. Probably because a hijabi actress has like … barely any opportunities for roles that will let her wear one.

Unpopular (?) opinion: if we give them the extreme benefit of the doubt that they searched and searched and just couldn’t find a single Muslim actress for the role (and I doubt this is what happened but going along with this hypothetical situation), then it probably would have been better if they rewrote the Sana character to be another racial, ethnic, or religious minority, played by an actress from that group. Because Muslim representation is of course important, especially in the current political climate, and I don’t mean to minimize that at all, but there are other minority groups who could have their stories told accurately, which is part of Skam’s importance. 

Also, there’s one thing I want to address about the use of offensive language and whether it’s justified because it’s realistic/accurate. I am not commenting directly on the stuff seen in the Skam Italia trailer because we don’t yet know the context and whether it’ll be called out, and I’ve also seen some conflicting translations of it. But on a general note, I don’t think that “realism” should be an automatic get-out-of-jail-free card for characters saying offensive things. It depends on how it is handled within the text. I am sure that there are Norwegian teenagers who say much, much more offensive things and use slurs more frequently than the main kids in Skam. But Julie chose to present our protagonists as largely open-minded and willing to grow. For all we talk about Skam’s focus on realism, it often presents an optimistic, even idealistic worldview. Feuds end in peaceful dialogue and understanding. Worst case scenarios are averted. Friends usually support each other in times of need. Hardly anyone is a true villain. It’s debatable how much of that is realistic. But it’s hopeful, and it’s the model that teenagers need. 

Think of it like this, an admittedly extreme example: Julie could choose to set American Skam in a conservative town and made all the characters Trump supporters - because hey, realism!  That is an accurate representation of certain parts of the United States. But I’m guessing most of us wouldn’t enjoy watching the version where Trump fans are our heroes and they’re never challenged on their beliefs. There are some shows where I can tolerate, even enjoy terrible people being terrible, but that’s never been the appeal of Skam.

Anyway that’s my limit of hot’n’spicy discourse for now. I’m trying to stay in my lane but I had to get that out since the Sana thing especially is unavoidable.

Overall the show felt distinct enough that I had some thoughts on it besides just being the 4th version of these scenes that I’ve watched. 

The acting is a mixed bag for me so far, some moments worked and some didn’t. I thought Martino was decent and the non-Eva girl squad was fine. Not sold on Gio yet. Eva herself had some moments I enjoyed but when it got more serious it fell a little flat. I do think she has a likeable personality, though.

The visual style of the show is certainly striking. It’s flashier than OG Skam but I like the colors and the energy.

I’m a completionist so I will probably keep watching because that is how my brain works. 

[inazuma-eleven-translations]

Animage June 2013 Kobayashi Yuu & Oohara Takashi Interview

Full scans can be found here: http://inazuma.pmsinfirm.org/?p=317

Animage June 2013: Highlight: Grand Prix Kobayashi Yuu (Kirino Ranmaru) and Oohara Takashi (Tsurugi Kyousuke) Interview

Translator’s Notes: THIS is the extent of Inazuma’s popularity in Japan! First place for three years in a row in one of the biggest anime magazines, Animage, not to mention a song from the anime being displayed on a huge screen in Shibuya! I’ve seen them – those screens are massive and I can’t believe IE GO was playing on one! Ares, I eagerly await you. Make my boys popular again~

Regarding the voting method for The 35th Anime Grand Prix: The target of the votes cast were characters who appeared from December 2012 - November 2012 (excluding flashback episodes). This includes Inazuma Eleven GO, Inazuma Eleven GO Chrono Stone, and Inazuma Eleven GO The Movie Kyuukyoku no Kizuna Gryphon, but all votes for characters that appear in more than one series were added together.

Like a Gallant Flower

Male Character Division First Place

Kirino Ranmaru

Raimon Junior Second Year/ DF Shirt Number 3

A humble boy who contributes to the team with his common sense. It’s a shame he was separated from the main characters in the new series. His gorgeous Keshin Armed form can be seen on page 26.

Flowers Bloom!

Since both winners of the male and female division have flower-based names, we decided on a flower theme feature this month!

BIG NEWS

In response to fans’ ranking of all Inazuma characters!, we can announce a project to turn the most popular characters into figures! For more information, please see page 15.

Male Character Division Second Place

Tsurugi Kyousuke

Raimon Junior First Year/ FW Shirt Number 10

The strong, silent type. He’s usually cool, but when he makes a special move his cry stands out with passion. Be it Keshin Armed, regular clothes, or French armour - any style seems to suit him well.

BACKSTAGE

Kobayashi Yuu

Since Kobayashi-san is used to taking many kinds of photos, even though it was her first time to use a bangasa (oil paper umbrella), as expected she looks wonderful with it~ By the way, the bouquet of flowers on the first page is, naturally, a bouquet of orchids – Ranmaru’s flower. ‘You made your Mom proud. Thank you!’ she said with a smile as bright as a bouquet of flowers~

Oohara Takashi

Oohara-san confessed nervously that he was not used to taking photos ‘It’s my weak point, so I’m really sorry,’. Not to mention, taking a photo alongside Kobayashi-san - ‘Taking a photo with a professional model – this kind of pressure is no joke!’. Don’t worry, you look really cool, Oohara-san~

Thanks to Inazuma Eleven Fans’ passion, it’s a third consecutive victory for Inazuma!

Inazuma Eleven GO took first place in our Anime Grand Prix. Congratulations on your 3rd consecutive victory!

Oohara/ Kobayashi: Amazing! Thank you so much!

First of all, since Kirino Ranmaru took 1st Place, and Tsurugi Kyousuke took 3rd place in the male character division, please share a few words about your victory.

Kobayashi: As with last year, to receive this title is a huge honour and I’m deeply moved. Since I have the wonderful opportunity to play Ranmaru-san, I want to congratulate him! And I also want to thank everyone who voted for him!

Oohara: Putting the fact that he was up against so many great characters aside, I was surprised Tsurugi came third. I really want to express my thanks. I really believe that it’s all thanks to everyone’s support that Tsurugi was able to come this far.

In addition, Tsurugi, Tenma and Aoi’s character song ‘Te Wo Tsunagou’ won first place in the anime song division.

Both: Ooh! (Applause)

Oohara: That was unexpected (laughs). But to be honest, I was really pleased with Tsurugi’s ‘Darou?’. I have a feeling I won’t get another chance in my life to say a better ‘darou?’ than that… Ahh, I got a little carried away.

Kobayashi: Get carried away!

Oohara: No, it’s all thanks to KMC-san (T-Pistonz + KMC) - it was their idea when they wrote the lyrics. I’m really happy that I got to sing with Tenma and Aoi-chan. Thank you so much.

Next, while we call out a few of the top places in each division, let’s look back over the past few years. Second place in the TV Show division was episode 24 ‘Chikai wa kono Kata no moto ni’, the last episode of the Medieval France arc.

Kobayashi: I remember those few episodes well. Even just hearing the word ‘Kata’ (flag) brings back memories. Ranmaru-san was troubled over what kind of role he played for the team, felt some jealousy towards Shindou-san, and after all that thanks to Kariya pushing him forward he was able to travel to Medieval France. I thought together with Ranmaru-san about what kind of role he should play to benefit the team to the best of his ability. I was also moved by Ranmaru-san supported Jeanne-san with those words of encouragement. I thought he was speaking to himself too with those words.

What did you think of his Mixi Max with Jeanne?

Kobayashi: His hair suddenly grew longer, and he wore glasses; it was really beautiful. I wanted to congratulate Ranmaru-san on his full-body transformation.

Oohara: Chrono Stone episode 21 is a top contender for one of my favourite episodes too.

Kobayashi: Oh, thank you!

Oohara: The catalyst for everyone’s Mixi Max is different for each person, but in Kirino-san’s case, he first had to accept himself - he supported Jeanne with his words of encouragement ‘If I can do it, so can you!’. Then it happened all of a sudden. I also like the words Kirino-san said just after he summoned his keshin Brynhildr. ‘My role isn’t to stand at the front line. In order for Shindou and everyone else to focus on attacking, my job is to support everyone!” is what he said.

Kobayashi: That’s it exactly! Thank you for remembering!

Oohara: It made me think that apart from participating in the heart of the battle, it also takes strength to encourage and protect.

Kobayashi: Listening to Oohara-san talk about it now makes me think that everyone in the Raimon Eleven also feels that Ranmaru-san is looking out for them. They know that in a team people who defend are just as essential as people who attack.

To continue, 3rd place was Inazuma Eleven GO episode 44 ‘Ten made Todoke! Minna no sakka!!’, the climax of the first series.

Kobayashi: Fire Tornado DD was so cool!

Oohara: They finally mastered it! That’s how I felt. Could you say it was the showpiece of the first series? After winning the tournament, Tenma says ‘Soccer is definitely happy too. Right, Tsurugi?’ and Tsurugi replies ‘Don’t ask me!’ but in reality I really liked that conversation.

From Oohara-san’s point of view, how was the young Tsurugi that Kobayashi-san played?

Oohara: If you take away Tsurugi’s thorniness, he becomes a very honest child. I thought it was wonderful. Especially the scene where he cries out ‘Nii-chan not being able to play soccer any more is a lie, right??’ - I was really moved. Back then, before we recorded, Kobayashi-san came to me and said very politely ‘This time I’ll be playing young Tsurugi. Thank you for the honor,’. Actually, I should be the one saying thank you! (laughs)

Kobayashi: It was a great honour.

Oohara: Naturally I did kind of want to try playing young Tsurugi too, but I think I couldn’t beat Kobayashi-san’s performance.

Speaking of Tsurugi, he’s had a pretty rough life. He underwent Spartan-style training on a solitary island at distant sea.

Kobayashi: That’s one of Tsurugi’s attractive points, that there’s a lot to him. And when he’s crying out the name of his special moves, it looks really cool. Even though he’s normally calm and composed, he suddenly bursts into blue flames. It always makes me think, ‘how wonderful!’ after recording!

Kirino’s development happened thanks to Kariya nonchalantly pushing him forward.

To continue, in fourth place was episode 29 ‘Jidai o tsukuru otoko tachi’.

Oohara: That’s the episode Tsurugi Mixi Maxed with Okita-san. I was interested in how Tsurugi would persuade Okita-san, but it was more to do with his actions and behavior rather than persuading him with words. I thought that was very Tsurugi-ish.

Kobayashi: Tsurugi is always calm, and everyone watches him from behind, while he tells things like it is. He’s quite intellectual. That episode showed another side to him too. Okita-san might have reminded him of his brother, Yuuichi-san~

Oohara: His brother being in hospital has taken his toll on him.

Kobayashi: I think that’s understandable.

Oohara: Oh, thankfully Nishiki-san and Sakamoto-san also Mixi Maxed. Since they have the same first name, when Nishiki-san Mixi Maxed I thought it was amusing that he said Sakamoto’s full name - ‘Mixi Max - Sakamoto Ryouma!’. I also like the relationship between Zanark and Nishiki. Since the ending was a little bit rushed, I wanted to see more.

Fifth place was episode 18 ‘Minna ga kaettekita!’, the episode where Kinako and Zanark appears and there’s quite a bit of drama.

Oohara: The one where Kurama-san used ‘Winder while wearing his casual clothes. Against some delinquents.

Kobayashi: That’s right, a casual-clothes Sidewinder. There was many different scenes of many differents places in that episode. I was happy about that. Stuff that hasn’t appeared yet in the main story. Even though every character has surely got their own lives, we could only imagine what they’re doing in their personal time so far.

That episode became a turning point for Kirino.

Kobayashi: Ranmaru-san started to show he’s worrying over Shindou-san. Since these feelings are a delicate part of Ranmaru-san’s heart, I tried my very best to portray that was gently as possible. But Kariya-san, with those wonderfully sharp eyes of his, notice Ranmaru-san worrying and reached out to him. I was really glad.

Oohara: Kariya’s developed quite a bit, in these surroundings.

Kobayashi: He has. He went as far as to feign a stomach ache and gave up his place to Ranmaru-san for the Time Jump, since there was a limit. Even the way he talked to Ranmaru-san about it was very Kariya-san-ish. He read Ranmaru-san’s mind. Ranmaru-san, you really owe Kariya-san one!

Oohara: Since we haven’t really seen such a human-like drama like this before, I was happy. I thought it was very tenacious.

In the new series, the troubles continue for our Playmaker!

Now we’d like to ask about what you think of the male character division. Following Kirino, Tsurugi and Kariya, Shindou took 9th place.

Oohara: As always, Shindou-san had a year full of worries (dry laugh). Since he had the best view of everyone’s individual situations, I felt it was expected of him to worry so much but he’s gone through a lot.

Kobayashi: Yes, in the new series too he’s also put through a lot of trouble…

Oohara: Soon enough, there’s going to be a hole in his heart with worry.

Kobayashi: Oh no! We need to take care of him. Ranmaru-san, I definitely want you to escort him if he needs to go to hospital! In the last series when Shindou had to go to the infirmary, Ranmaru-san escorted him there!

When Shindou was Captain of El Dorado Team 02, that was also pretty tough.

Oohara: Out of al three teams, I think Shindou got the worst deal (laughs).

At that time, Kariya was bickering with Beta and started running wildly.

Kobayashi: If Ranmaru-san was there in that situation, I think he’d definitely scold Kariya-san. While I think his mischievousness is one of Kariya’s attractive points, it was just too much for Shindou-san at that time! (laughs)

Kobayashi-san, you’re still a huge Shindou fan like always?

Kobayashi: Yes, I love him! As Tenma-san adapts to being Captain, Shindou-san supports him and looks out for the team. He’s really a person that all the members can rely on! A big part of why I love him is also because of Saiga Mitsuki-san (Shindou’s voice actor).

Oohara: Oh yeah.

Kobayashi: Saiga-san also really looks after everyone after we finish recording. She’s a kind and wonderful person.

When Kirino was watching El Dorado Team 2’s match who was constantly muttering to himself ‘Shindou, Shindou…’

Kobayashi: Yes!

Oohara: In the original script he said ‘Now of all times I can’t be by Shindou’s side…’

Kobayashi: That’s right, he did!

Oohara: I thought ‘Oh, that’s a very typical thing of Kirino-san to say!’ but in the final version it was omitted.

But even without him saying it, the viewers could definitely understand it’s what he was thinking. (laughs)

Kobayashi: But I really, really wanted to say that line so it’s a pity! That’s what I really thought Ranmaru-san felt, from the bottom of my heart. His was urging Shindou-san on with his gaze alone.

Oohara: Kirino-san and Shindou-san have a bond of trust so deep that it would make you jealous. You can really feel those two support each other together. I want to see them together when they were younger. I wonder how they met?

Kobayashi: Me too, I want to see that too! Of course, I’d also like to see more about Tsurugi-san and his brother. I think their relationship as brothers is great.

Since Kobayashi-san is an only child it seems like you admire sibling relationships.

Kobayashi: I do!

Oohara: I wanted a younger sister (laughs).

Kobayashi: I like Oohara-san’s older sister a lot!

Okay then, Oohara-san – out of Kinako (Female Character Division 1st Place) and Beta (same division 3rd place), who would you prefer to have as a younger sister?

Oohara: Kinako!

Kobayashi: That was a quick reply!

Oohara: What I like about Kinako is that she’s so innocent and she really thinks about the feelings of everyone around her, and is kind to everyone. It left a big impression on me when such a cheerful kid like her joined the story during such a difficult time for the Raimon members.

Kobayashi: Her first appearance was funny too. She was wearing the number 10 uniform.

Oohara: Tsurugi lost it to her in a shoot off.

Kobayashi: I’d like to see that story drawn one day. Kinako-san’s Mochi Mochi Kinako Mochi looks delicious. I want to eat it!

Oohara: As for Beta on the other hand, her cuteness and her brutality are two sides of the same coin – I think I like that. She’s a little bit scary, but it’s quite realistic. It’s refreshing to see her voice actor change her voice from sweet to scary in an instant.

Kobayashi: Beta-san makes me a little bit nervous.

Oohara-san and Kobayashi-san’s personal Anime Grand Prix are?

So, we’d like to hear about your personal choices out of Inazuma for the Anime Grand Prix.

Oohara: Out of the TV series, if I look from Tsurugi’s point of view, it’s Inazuma Eleven GO episode 41 ‘Kessen! Amano Mikado Stadium!’.

The one where you practice Fire Tornedo DD.

Oohara: Tsurugi said to Tenma ‘You showed me how soccer should be played,’. They’ve come this far and he was able to express his feelings in words to Tenma. Therefore, I think it was a very important scene. Of course, there are a lot of episodes that I really like, but for Tsurugi episode 41 is unforgettable.

As for the Male Character Division?

Oohara: I wish I could say Sangoku, but (laughs) I’ll have to go with Tenma. If it wasn’t for Tenma, I don’t think Tsurugi could have played real soccer again, nor could he have made such good friends and even his relationship with his brother might have become strained. Tsurugi is who he is today mostly because of Tenma.

You always say you like Sangoku, but what is it about him that you like?Oohara: He was cool from his very first line! I thought his conversation with Shindou-san was really cool. Didn’t you feel it?

Kobayashi: I felt it! The whole team loves Sangoku-san. The time he invited Tenma-san to his house and made roll cabbage for him – I get the feeling whatever he served would have been delicious.

Oohara: All in all, I think he’s a good man, with a good balance.

Kobayashi: When he entrusted the goalkeeper position to Shinsuke too, that was very masculine. No matter how many goals are scored he stays optimistic.

Oohara: He keeps standing up again and again. He doesn’t get discouraged! (laughs)

When Sangoku-san speaks, everyone becomes roused up (laughs). To continue, your second-place character.

Oohara: My favourite female character is Kinako-chan. I was happy when she gave Tsurugi candy. He was standing a little bit further away from everyone, so she took the time to go over to him and he said the candy was ‘Umai’ (*delicious – masculine version) (laughs). In the Anime Song Division, I liked the movie version of the song ‘Niji o Koete Ten Made Todoke!’. I always liked Ten Made Todoke, and Terasaki Yuuka-san (Tenma’s voice actor) said that this song has the power to bring tears to your eyes. You can really feel the characters power up. And in the opening, they literally soar to the heavens and fly through space (laughs).

Kobayashi-san, it’s your turn.

Kobayashi: It’s so hard to pick a favourite episode from the TV series… From Ranmaru-san’s point of view, the Medieval France arc, episodes 18 – 21. In those four episodes I became completely absorbed in playing him. Especially in the last episode, 21, since Ranmaru-san was helping Jeanne-san and everyone else it was very moving. As for the male character section… I gotta pick the whole team!

Oohara: Huh, you can do that? I should have said that too! (laughs)

You feel like you can’t pick just one?

Kobayashi: I just really like everyone! Shindou-san, Kariya-san, and of course Tsurugi-san and Tenma-san. So please let me pick everyone! What should I say for the Female Character Division? I really like Kinako-san and all of the managers, but I think I’ll go with Jeanne-san. She made Ranmaru-san’s heart stronger.

Finally, the Anime Song Division – the ending theme Kirino sang ‘Bokutachi no Shiro’ was left out of the vote ranking this time.

Kobayashi: In the TV series, Bokutachi no Shiro was a duet between Tenma-san and Tsurugi-san – it was wonderful~ Everyone please vote for it next year! Okay, I pick ‘Te o Tsunagou’. I thought it was a wonderful song, like something they’d sing at a get-together or party. It was refreshing to see everyone wearing headbands, and you get the feeling that anything is possible. I once saw that ending displayed on a big screen in Shibuya.

Oohara: Seriously??

Kobayashi: Yes! I just happened to be walking through the street and by chance I saw it playing on the big screen. I was really moved. So it’s left a deep impression on me.

So Tsurugi’s ‘Darou?’ rang out for all of Shibuya to hear?

Kobayashi: Yes~ Tsurgugi-san, you were so cool~

Does Kirino appear in Galaxy?

Finally, let’s talk about the highlights of Inazuma Eleven GO Galaxy. In any case, the first match against Teikoku was a bit of a mess, and ended in a loss.

Oohara: Right? I wonder what’s going to happen afterwards. None of us were told anything about what happens next.

Kobayashi: Yes. From the title ‘Galaxy’, I wonder does it imply something to do with outer space?

Oohara: It’s got the longest name so far. It’s really thanks to everyone’s support that the Inazuma series has come this far. From here one too I think exciting things are going to happen, so please continue to support us.

Kobayashi: You can tell from the title it’s going to be a fantastic series. We can only imagine what’s going to happen! I’d be happy if you could get together with your friends and watch Galaxy! Thank you for all your support!

I think perhaps that many readers are wondering when Kirino will next appear in Galaxy (laughs).

Oohara: As expected of such a popular character (laughs).

Kobayashi: What a great honour. I’ll also wait impatiently along with the readers for Kirino’s next appearance! 

--

Kirino and Tsurugi ‘Souji Jikan’ (*Souji is the designated time period where students work together to clean their classrooms and the rest of the school…)

Kirino and Tsurugi haven’t had many chances to interact a lot up until now - what do you think would make them bond?

Oohara: Speaking of which, the first person Tsurugi used keigo towards was Kirino-san. (Translator’s Notes: Keigo is polite Japanese - for example, kouhai should use towards senpai. I made a post about Tsurugi using keigo towards Kirino here:  http://inazuma-eleven-translations.tumblr.com/post/158941896068/use-of-language-to-show-character-development  )

Kobayashi: It was~

Oohara: Since Kirino was very annoyed by Kariya, he asked Tsurugi ‘Don’t you think he’s a Seed?’ but Tsurugi told him something like, ‘Chigaimasu yo~’ (I don’t think so).

Kobayashi: Wah, Tsurugi-san! (She smiles FULL of affection)

Oohara:Well, wasn’t that what he said?

Kobayashi: Yes! They had the conversation under the shade of a big tree (laughs). I’m sorry, but the way Oohara-san said that just now was just wonderful! (calms down). For sure, the first time Tsurugi used keigo left a deep impression. I thought he was someone who understood the importance of being polite to his upperclassmen.

Oohara: He’s quite sportsmen-like, Tsurugi. (Note: Sports clubs are particularly strict about kouhai using keigo with senpai)

When he was a Seed, the importance of sportsmanship was probably pounded into him.

Oohara: Tsurugi’s social etiquette is better than you think. He shares that in common with Kirino-san... I think they could bond over some kind of volunteer activity. Like cleaning the school.

Kobayashi: Wah, souji! Yes, they’d do it to the best of their ability!

Oohara: Also, since Kirino is a second year, he could tutor Tsurugi in the library.

Kobayashi: Wah, if they did that kind of thing I’d be so happy! I think Ranmaru-san would do his best to revise as he tutored Tsurugi-san. Both of them are hard-working so they’d definitely bond!

[blessed-but-distressed]

#FindEmmaSwanAFriend

Feeling left behind by her more successful, settled friends, Emma Swan moves to Scotland on a whim. Sure, she’s winning at Instagram, but something is still missing from her new life. Fortunately, her friends back home are on it. #FindEmmaSwanAFriend goes viral. Enter Killian Jones, reluctant columnist, who is on the hunt for his newest subject, and may just have found her. CS AU.

also on ff.net

Tagging: @katie-dub , @wholockgal, @kat2609, @whovianlunatic, @optomisticgirl, @ladyciaramiggles, @the-lady-of-misthaven, @emmaswanchoosesyou, @ilovemesomekillianjones, @biancaros3, @cigarettes-and-scotch-whisky, @ms-babs-gordon, @ab-normality, @andiirivera and whoever else asks me.

Thanks always to the cool-as-fuck @lenfaz, for her tireless efforts in keeping me motivated.

Emma

One thing you could say about Emma, she knew how to hold a grudge. She knew how to hold them close, how to nurture and how feed them until they grew up big and strong, and there were no shortage of people on her shit list. For instance, to this day if a certain person with the initials N.C. ever came waltzing back into her life, even a decade after the fact, she was pretty sure she still had enough latent rage bottled up to cause serious bodily harm.

Forgiveness had never really been her thing.

And yet…

She could play the strong and silent type all she liked, but the truth was, life was better with friends. Even when they had been an ocean away, her life had still been a flurry of group texts and Skype dates, of close confidences and harmless gossip. And national laughing stock or no national laughing stock, she missed it. She missed them.

She was almost surprised by the intensity of it, as it rose up inside her. That unfamiliar longing, the one she’d thought she’d long buried along with the rest of it. But as she sat in that unheated sedan, watching the landscape disappear beneath a blanket of fresh snow with a virtual stranger, she couldn’t see the point in pretending anymore.

Emma Swan was not an island.

So yes, she’d forgiven them. Conditionally. There would be atonement, of course. Apologies, and care packages and promises to never, ever, ever, fucking do something like that again. And it felt like a good thing, like a salve to her wounded pride. Like the grown up thing to do.

That is, until Ruby started stalking Killian Jones on Facebook.

“You didn’t mention he was hot.”

“Who?” Emma asked absently, still trying to get herself situated in front of her laptop screen without spilling her cocoa or her bowl of popcorn.

“Your writer guy. Killian?”

Emma almost spat out her mouthful of cocoa, mental alarm bells ringing. “Rubes…”

“Chill,” the brunette advised. “Take a yoga breath. Yes, okay, I looked the guy up. Of course I did. I wanted to make sure he wasn’t an axe murderer. But, wow, you have been really holding out on us.”

“He’s not… It’s a professional relationship, Ruby. Don’t make it weird.”

Or professional enough. Not that any other of Emma’s professional relationships involved watching Pixar movies with nephews, or frank admissions of orphanhood, but hell, what did she know about journalism? Maybe that was standard.

“So you mean you haven’t noticed he’s sex on legs?” Ruby pressed, her tongue peeking mischievously out of the corner of her mouth.

Okay, so Emma had noticed. It was kinda hard not to notice, especially when he insisted on wearing such tight jeans all the time, and button downs with the sleeves rolled up to expose criminally toned forearms. She didn’t even want to get into the scruff situation. Or that smirk. Whatever else the man might be, he was not modest about his looks.

“Please don’t objectify him. Trust me, he doesn’t need the ego boost. Anyway, I’m pretty sure he already has like a harem of casual conquests for that.”

“Wow,” Ruby said, folding her hand under her chin thoughtfully. “That sounded almost catty. Are we perhaps a little jealous of Killian Jones’s harem?”

“I’m not jealous. I have…” Okay, so Emma’s love life comprised entirely of streaming Sex in the City episodes ad nauseum whilst snuggled inside her hideously unfashionable, but unquestionably warm Portland Pirates pyjamas. But that was fine, she was still fresh from the whole Walsh debacle. It wasn’t like she couldn’t go out and find a guy, if she wanted one. “…Other concerns,” she finished lamely.

“Right,” Ruby said, sounding wholly less than convinced. “So you mean you don’t want to see the guy’s embarrassing high school pictures then? Because I have hit the motherlode. We’re talking ponytail. Grunge phase.”

Emma groaned. “Please tell me you didn’t Friend Request him.”

A sheepish grin crossed her friend’s features. “I plead the fifth?”

“God dammit, Ruby.” The last thing she needed was Killian Jones getting yet more dirt on her. He already knew way too much as it was. And Ruby was second only to Mary Margaret in the blabbermouth stakes. It was a disaster waiting to happen.

There was a pause. “There’s a fang earring.”

“You’re kidding.” The gods couldn’t be that kind.

“I’m really not.”

Ruby looked like the cat that got the canary, and rightfully so. Maybe Emma had this whole thing backwards. Maybe it wasn’t about how many of her secrets Killian could extort from her and her friends. Maybe it was about how many she could extract from him.

“I love you.”

“I know.”

Your friend Ruby added me on Facebook. Friendly lass. Very chatty. KJ

I know. Nice ponytail, by the way. ES

…

I knew I should have deleted those. KJ

I’m so glad you didn’t. ES

I bet you are. Well, laugh it up, lass. Ruby’s albums aren’t entirely devoid of compromising pictures either. The one titled Spring Break ‘10 has been especially… revealing. KJ

Oh god. I forgot about that. Brb. Changing my privacy settings. ES

A little late for that, lass. If I’m going down, I’m taking you with me. KJ

Truce? ES

Truce. KJ

On her best days, Emma could pack out a lecture hall with nearly 200 warm bodies, but come Friday afternoon the numbers tended to dwindle as most of her students made an early start on their weekends. A good thing too or else she might not have noticed him there, seated in the back row, whilst she was mid-way into comparing the war of 1812 to its more modern counterparts.

She stuttered to a stop, put off by the sight of him, hand on his chin and apparently listening intently.

“One.. uh…” She shot him a glare as she fought to remember what she was saying.

“One might be tempted to draw parallels here, of course. The kind of hubris that led Thomas Jefferson to state that conquering Canada would be 'a mere matter of marching’ is hardly unique to American foreign policy. Think about it: Vietnam. Afghanistan. Iraq. All intended to be swift, decisive victories that were anything but. I know this is history, kids, but don’t be afraid to make connections. It’s true what they say: 'What has happened before will happen again. What has been done before will be done again. There is nothing new in the whole world.’ If I want you to take anything away from this course, it’s this: People don’t really change. Politics have always held an attraction for the arrogant and the short-sighted. Especially in the United States.”

As she waited for the laughter to die down, she glanced up at the clock above the whiteboard to see her hour fast drawing to a close. “And now that I’ve disparaged my country for your amusement, a reminder that next Thursday your argumentative essays are due. Was the War of 1812 just a footnote in the greater Napoleonic Wars, or was it a defining moment of a young and fragile nation? You decide. Either way, I want to be convinced!”

Killian waited for the last of the students to shuffle out before he approached Emma at her podium, still gathering up the last of her leftover handouts. His hands, the real and the plastic, were in his pockets, a grin stretching over his lips.

“You quoted Ecclesiastes,” he said by way of greeting, unable to completely keep the surprise from his voice.

Emma shrugged, trying to keep her attention on packing away her supplies and not Killian Jones’s opinion of her teaching methods. “It’s been known to happen.”

“Isn’t that a conflict of interest? Mixing scripture and history? In my experience, the two don’t tend to mesh well.”

Emma paused in her motions to raise an eyebrow. “Awfully philosophical today, aren’t we?”

He spread his arms, indicating the lecture hall they stood in. It was one of the university’s oldest, each row back even steeper than the one before it, which sometimes culminated in Emma feeling like she was performing live at Red Rocks. But she liked it, musty as it was, the wooden desks engraved with literally centuries worth of graffiti from bored college students. It had character. “Seems like an appropriate venue for philosophizing, don’t you think?”

“C'mon, Aristotle,” she said, pulling him towards the door by his sleeve. “You can buy me a drink.”

They didn’t go far, settling in the back of the closest Mexican restaurant to Emma’s office, two bottles of Corona sat on the table between them, a wedge of lime sticking out of each.

“So…” Emma started, absently picking at the label of her bottle. “Was there a reason for your visit, or was this just a standard evaluation of my teaching methods?”

“Eh, no. Not exactly, lass,” Killian admitted, reaching up to scratch behind his ear. “Actually I was hoping to run something by you.”

He was nervous. Emma could tell. And that made Emma nervous. In her experience, if someone was afraid to ask something of her, it was usually because she wasn’t going to like it. Not. One. Bit.

“Oh, really?”

“I wanted to change the format of our little…” He made a vague gesture in the air, “…agreement.”

Emma was wary. “Change it… how?”

“Well,” he began, pulling himself up straighter in his chair. “For one thing, if I have to read another one of those responses from your website, I will actually gauge out my own eyeballs. They’re creeps, Swan. Sociopaths. Perverts. People who still live with their parents. You can do better.”

She wasn’t sure whether she should be flattered, or horrified. “O…kay. So, what’s the game plan?”

“Just, hear me out alright? I’ve given this rather a lot of thought. What if, instead of just shooting fish in a particularly grimy barrel, we try a more… old fashioned approach?”

“Old-fashioned?”

He winced prematurely, as if already anticipating her negative reaction. “Well, not old-fashioned exactly. But certainly adopting more tied and true methods. I thought the column could double as a how-to guide, of sorts. How to make friends in a new city.”

“What kind of methods?”

“I thought we might ease into it. Mutual friends. Actually, it was your friend, Ruby, that gave me the idea.”

Considering recent events, Emma did not like the way this was going. Her displeasure must have shown on her face, because he was quick to correct himself.

“Well, not Ruby herself. But in befriending me, I couldn’t help but notice that she has a Facebook friend in my extended circle of contacts. Edinburgh based.”

“Really?” Before she knew what she was doing, she already had her phone out, her Facebook app booting up.

“Aye,” Killian said, leaning in to peer at the device upside down. “And she has rather more than 39 Facebook Friends.”

Emma snatched her phone back to her chest, eyes narrowing. “What? I’m not sentimental.”

If anything, he looked amused. “Clearly. So this friend of hers, her name is Belle French. Ever met her?”

“Belle?” Emma asked, scrolling through Ruby’s friends list until she hit paydirt. Belle French. The brunette in the picture wasn’t immediately familiar, but when she opened up the profile and saw the woman’s birthplace, something twigged.

“I haven’t met her, but I know who she is. She’s the Australian girl Ruby dated freshman year.”

She waited for some leery comment, some perceptible widening of his eyes, but there was nothing. Emma had clearly been spending too much time around college boys.

“But that was before Ruby and I were friends,” Emma continued. “I think she transferred to another college or something.”

“And would you have any moral objections to befriending an ex of your friend?”

Emma considered that. “I mean, I’m pretty sure the break up was fairly amicable. Ruby isn’t exactly the type to get emotional over something like that. Or she wasn’t. Maybe now. But, you said she lives here?”

“Aye, she works in a library in Morningside. Children’s librarian. She does all the little voices when she reads to them.”

Emma frowned. It was way too much information to be accidentally gleaned from the internet. “Stalker, much?”

“Journalist, Swan,” he corrected. “Journalist.”

So has your friend blessed our endeavours? KJ

You mean did she give me Belle French’s email address? Yes. ES

And she didn’t mention any glaring personality defects or mutations? KJ

Jfc, mutations? ES

Let’s just say trawling through your inbox these past weeks has been quite an education and leave it at that. KJ

Yeah, you can’t just say something like that and not back it up with pictorial evidence. ES

I’m only thinking of you, Swan. KJ

Jones. ES

Prepare yourself. KJ

-KJ has sent you an image file-

Oh my god. Why would they send me that? Why would, what even? ES

I DID try to warn you. KJ

That’s a tail, right? ES

I certainly hope so. KJ

Killian

“Texting your new bird?”

Killian looked up from his phone, only to see Will giving him a conspiratorial look over his pint of ale.

Truthfully, Killian sometimes rued the day he ever became entangled with the likes of Will Scarlett. There was something squirrelly about the man, and it wasn’t just his Midlands accent.

No, Will was more the the type of friend who liked to document each and every night out with a series of steadily more incriminating posts to social media, under the guise of 'havin’ a laugh’. Not to mention the fondness for off-colour jokes and mysterious disappearances whenever it came time to stand his round.

Your man in a crisis, he was not.

“No new bird,” Killian replied coolly, slipping his phone back into his pocket and taking a long sip of IPA.

Robin was taking far too long to arrive.

“Then an old one?” Will enquired, undeterred by Killian’s reticence. “Are you and that Kiwi chick still a thing? Because if you’re not, I was thinking of-”

Killian held up a hand, forcing the man into silence. “You’re not her type, trust me.”

“What?” Will demanded, affronted. “Two-handed? Worried she might prefer a bloke who can multi-task?”

If Killian wasn’t still nursing his first pint he might have punched him. Instead he settled for letting his prosthetic land on the table in front of him with a heavy thud. His false hand had fallen to the mercy of Lachie and a permanent marker the previous evening, so he’d foregone it today in favour of the more utilitarian hook. It had made him feel self-conscious on leaving the house, but now he appreciated the way the metal glinted menacingly by the low light of the overhead lights.

“Erudite,” Killian corrected, rather enjoying the look on Will’s face as he grappled with whether to be offended or not, the word ironically failing to appear in his own personal lexicon.

Mercifully, before Will could decide either way, Killian spied the third member of their party finally approaching, and turned to him in greeting.

“Sorry I’m late, lads,” Robin said, as he took a seat opposite Killian, shedding his jacket. “The in-laws were late to pick up Roland. Some tosser tried to drive his lorry over the Forth in this wind and it fairly well cartwheeled over. Both lanes closed. Bloody nightmare.”

Though they’d grown up together, Robin was in many ways the complete antithesis of Will. Where Will was flighty and irresponsible, Robin was dependable and steadfast. Though of course, Robin had a young son at home, and a wife not long in the ground. Fucking cancer. You could argue he’d come by his virtues naturally, but it was hard to say for certain. Many a man had managed to forge themselves into something altogether stronger under the flame of adversity.

He reminded Killian almost uncomfortably of Liam at times, if Liam had only managed to hold onto his sense of humour post-having kids.

“So who’s round is it?” Robin prompted, though he was already digging around for his own wallet. Killian didn’t need to look up to tell that Will’s chair was empty, and he breathed out a small sigh of relief.

“Cheap bastard,” Robin chuckled, almost fondly. Like Will was a chronically misbehaving puppy that he couldn’t quite stay mad at, no matter how many pairs of shoes it chewed through. Not an entirely erroneous description, now Killian thought about it. “Has he been giving you a hard time?”

“No more than usual,” he shrugged, but he knew the way he was currently grinding his jaw probably spoke volumes.

Robin considered him closely. “I think it might be time to switch to something stronger.”

“You just got here,” Killian pointed out.

“Well, I’ve got some catching up to do, haven’t I?” Robin said with a wink, clapping Killian on the shoulder as he made his way to the bar.

Lagavulin was his answer, coming back with three tumblers of amber liquid clutched precariously in his hands. Killian wasn’t a habitual whisky drinker, but he wasn’t one to turn down a dram of the good stuff. Let alone a double.

“You’re keen,” Killian noted, taking his tumbler with a grateful tip of his head.

“First night without the lad since, well… since just after the funeral, I suppose,” Robin said soberly. “Might as well get properly scuttered.”

The last time Killian had been properly scuttered he’d vomited in the back of a taxi and slept with his ex-girlfriend. Not the most promising of prospects.

“Do me a favour, will you?” he said suddenly, digging into his trousers pocket. “If I somehow get it into my head to call Tink tonight, do you think you can just throw my phone off a bridge instead?” he asked, tossing Robin the offending device.

“Whatever you say,” Robin agreed with a mock salute. But before he could tuck it away, the phone buzzed in his hands, causing a sly smile to appear on his face.

“You’ve a text. A few of them, actually. From an Emma?” He raised a significant eyebrow.

Killian snatched the phone out of his hands, and tucked it back into his pocket, sight unseen.

“American Emma?” Robin asked.

“Aye,” Killian grumbled out, taking the first sip of his whisky and letting it warm his insides.

“So it’s going well, then?” Robin ventured. “The column? I’ve been following along, for the most part.”

“S'fine. Well, alright, it’s been a disaster, actually,” Killian corrected. “The lass hasn’t taken to it, and most everyone who responded to the ad in the first instance was just a mouth-breathing creep looking to get laid. I’m going to have to tweak the entire format.”

“But you’re still setting her up with strangers, yes?”

Killian shrugged. “In a manner of speaking. Already got the next one nearly lined up. A children’s librarian from Australia. Quiet lass. A friend of Tink’s, actually. She mentioned that her divorce just came through. Might be in need of some friendly distraction.”

“Emotionally unavailable librarian type, you say?”

Killian hadn’t even noticed Will slip back into his seat, but he already wanted to punch him again. He turned to him with a cold stare. “Don’t even try it.”

“She have a thing for the educated blokes, too?”

Good to know someone had googled 'erudite’ on his phone outside.

“Oh, c'mon,” Robin coaxed, in a rare show of treachery. “This entire thing is about Emma making friends, yes? So why keep her all to yourself? Why not make a group outing of it? I would love to meet her, and I’m sure this librarian can handle anything our Mr Scarlett dishes out.”

Killian wasn’t sure why, but something inside him twisted uncomfortably at the idea of Emma mixing with his friends. Not that he thought she might embarrass him, or vice versa. Though introducing her to Will might belay all of the efforts he was making to save her from Edinburgh’s creep contingent. It just felt… like it would go poorly.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea…”

“Oh, really? And what were you planning on having them do?” Robin said, in a way that was far too reminiscent of Liam sat at his desk, dismissing Killian’ story pitches out of hand.

And god damn him, Killian caved. “They have a karaoke night in the pub up the stair. This librarian, Belle, apparently she’s quite into that.”

“Belle,” Will whispered dreamily, and Killian kicked him under the table.

It was stupid, now he thought about it. Supposing that Emma and this virtual stranger might bond over mutual humiliation as they warbled their way through a Best of the 80s karaoke mix. He was an idiot.

But Robin, on the other hand, merely grinned. “That’s brilliant. We could get a few more people together. Make a night of it.”

“You remember when I said it would be a bad idea?” Killian reminded him.

“Trust me,” Robin said. “I have it sorted.”

With a growing sense of foreboding, Killian finished off the last of his whisky, and pulled out his wallet to pay for the next round.

You really can’t spare ten minutes? KJ

Hey, if you want to sit here and grade forty nearly identical papers about Alexander Hamilton that use a factually inaccurate, albeit brilliant, Broadway musical as an academic reference, you’re welcome to switch places with me. ES

And you make it sound so inviting. KJ

Just spit it out, Jones. ES

Alright. But first, some caveats: 1) It was not my idea, 2) My hand was forced, 3) I am paying you. KJ

… ES

A few of my friends have taken it upon themselves to intercede in our Grand Experiment. Or to put it more plainly, in the interests of ruining my life they have decided to turn your friend-date with Belle into a “group-outing”, with both them and I riding shotgun. KJ

Scottish friends? ES

Mostly English. Or John might be Welsh, actually. He doesn’t say much, so it’s hard to know. KJ

Do you actually have any Scottish friends? ES

Fewer than you’d think. KJ

And how many people are we talking here, on this “group-outing”? ES

You’re being remarkably calm about this. KJ

How many? ES

Max 10. I promise. KJ

And you can vouch for them? ES

Most of them. Will is a tosser, but you can sort him out. Might be good for him, even. KJ

Just… ES

Just don’t leave me on my own with them, okay? You know I’m not good at small talk. ES

Roger that. KJ

Thank you. KJ

You owe me one, Jones. ES

Killian was already halfway up the stairs from the station when he felt the phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out, checking the caller ID. It wasn’t a number he recognised, though the area code was local. He was tempted to hit ignore, but in his line of work tips and sources came in all kinds. He answered.

“Mr Jones?” The voice on the other end of the phone was young, and to his ears, tearful.

“Aye?” No one ever called him Mr Jones. Not if he could help it.

“It’s Ashley. Ashley Boyd? The babysitter?”

Ah, yes. The lass that picked the boys up from school, and watched them until their parents came home from work. Barely out of school herself, from what he could remember. A blonde slip of a girl that even Lachie couldn’t bear to misbehave for. But why would she be calling him?

“Aye, I remember. What’s the matter, lass? Are the boys okay?”

“They’re fine. It’s only, Mr Jones… that is, the other Mr Jones, he was supposed to come home and relieve me an hour ago, and he’s not answering his phone. I called and left a message but…”

Killian’s heart leapt into his throat.

“…I mean, I don’t mind the extra hours usually, but I have an assignment due this week and…”

He tuned her out, his mind launching into a million terrible scenarios, each more horrific than the last. An hour late. Not answering phone. Not like Liam. Not at all.

“I’ll be right there,” he barked into the phone, taking the steps down two at a time, an arm already raised to hail a taxi.

He was halfway to calling Elsa when he remembered she was in London this week, meeting with potential investors for her next show. No need to worry her unnecessarily. Not immediately.

Instead he settled for dialling his brother’s phone on a loop, leaving a series of increasingly frantic messages.

“Where the fucking hell are you? Pick up. Pick up.”

“You’d better be in a bloody ditch, you bastard.”

“Please don’t be in a bloody ditch. Call me right back.”

By the time the taxi pulled up at the house he practically threw a handful of notes at the driver, and raced up the drive, gravel crunching ominously underfoot.

His stomach lurched to see Ashley was still there, pacing the kitchen with a stricken look on her face.

“Mr Jones?” She said, her relief evident. “Oh, thank god. The boys have been asking questions and-

"Aye, thank you,” he said, cutting her off before she started to spiral. He emptied out the rest of his wallet and pressed the cash into her sweaty palm. “Appreciate you staying, love.”

She looked uncertain for a moment, but after a coaxing nod from Killian she gathered up her coat and bag, and headed for the front door, visibly relieved to be absolved of responsibility.

He went into the living room to check on the boys, still bickering gently over a pair of action figures.

“Uncle Killian?” Callum asked, when he emerged from the hallway. “Where’s Daddy?”

“Just running a bit behind today, is all. You monsters hungry, yet? I was thinking pizza for dinner. Just while your Mum is away.”

In Killian’s experience, very little served to distract quite as well as the prospect of pizza. The boys seemed happy at least, moving on to arguing over toppings. Whilst they hotly debated the merits of pineapple vs no pineapple, he snuck back into the kitchen, phone already at his ear.

That was when he heard it. The crunch of gravel outside. Throwing his phone down on the counter, he sprinted towards the front door, pulling it open just in time to surprise the hell out of the person on the other side.

Liam. Liam. He was looking a little weary, and visibly sweating despite the chill, but otherwise no worse for wear.

“You fucking wanker,” Killian said by way of greeting, pulling his brother into a forceful hug against his will.

“Ger'off me,” Liam complained, and Killian released his hold on him, still shaking with leftover adrenaline.

“What time do you call this?”

“I’m so sorry. Are the boys-?”

“They’re fine. Oblivious. Expecting pizza, because I had to give them something. Might have overpaid your babysitter to the point of bribery though. She was freaking out. Hell, I was freaking out. Where the bloody hell have you been?”

“I didn’t mean to worry you. My phone died. I was already running late…”

At that Liam gestured towards the clock above the stove, and Killian had a momentary panic all his own.

Emma.

He’d forgotten to text Emma and tell her he would be late.

Shit. Fuck.

I am so sorry. Family crisis. Now resolved. I’ll be there as soon as I can. KJ

Swan? KJ

By the time he made it back to the Jinglin’ Geordie it was already half nine, and karaoke night was in full swing. Or it was for one lass, anyway. Belle. He recognised her from when he’d scoped out the library, now currently sobbing her way through the first verse of Wild Horses.

He’d thought she was almost pretty the first time he’d seen her, in a fussy librarian kind of way. Now it was hard to tell either way, with her face blotchy and the mascara streaming down her cheeks.

Bloody hell.

He looked around for Emma, for any of his compatriots, but the place was nearly empty, save for a handful of barflies at their usual posts. If he had to guess, he’d say the crying woman might have had something to do with that.

There was only one other customer, sat at the furthest table from the stage. She sat nursing a gin and tonic, reading from a stack of paper s in her lap by the light of her phone.

Killian slid into the seat across from her, his hands already steepled in front of him. He startled her as he did so, the red pen sliding from her grasp and disappearing somewhere on the grimy carpet.

“So it’s going well, I see.”

Sarcasm hadn’t been in his original plan, the one he’d been slowly forming in his mind on the taxi back into town. He’d had every intention of returning in a shower of profuse apologies. Free drinks. A bit of grovelling if necessary.

But upon seeing the fucking joke of an evening it had turned out to be, Killian could feel the apologies turn sour on his tongue. Why should he feel badly, when Emma clearly wasn’t even going to try? She was marking essays, for chrissakes. On an evening out. And who the bloody hell knew where his friends had got to?

As if sensing his mood, or simply projecting one of her own, Emma’s eyes narrowed.

“You think this is my fault?” she hissed, her stack of papers scattering as she leaned forward. “You think I wanted tonight to turn into Moaning Myrtle’s Greatest Hits? And who are you to talk? At least I showed up!”

He couldn’t say that their harsh whispering was attracting an audience, but the bartender certainly shot an annoyed glance their way.

Swallowing back an angry retort, Killian motioned for Emma to follow him, and lead the way to the side door. It opened out into a small designated smoking area, empty save for a derelict set of garden furniture and empty kegs. He motioned for her to take a seat, and she did, hugging herself against the cold.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here,” he said evenly. “But I really did have an emergency. I thought Liam- Bloody hell, it doesn’t matter what I thought. The point is, my nephews needed me.”

“I’m not mad about that!” Emma said, her voice gradually softening as she spoke. “I get it. Family stuff. It’s important. What I’m mad about is you sending me in blind! I know you know she got divorced this week. You’re you. Stalking people is your forte. So why not warn me? Why let me sit through two hours of this poor girl just unravelling before my eyes?”

She was right. He had known. Tink had warned him, in fact. And he’d simply dismissed it, figuring it wasn’t relevant. Clearly he’d underestimated the potent cocktail of alcohol and song, and all the ways it could dredge up the worst possible feelings.

He should have known. He’d paired them often enough, once a time.

He decided on a new strategy: contrition.

“How long has she been crying?”

“Since about half way through Tiny Dancer. No one could get the microphone off her after that. Not that a lot tried…”

“And my friends?” Killian asked gingerly.

“Ditched about half an hour in. I think they said something about the pub downstairs. Not that I blame them.”

“Bloody traitors,” Killian snarled.

“To be fair, they did ask me to go with them. But I thought I should… stay.” She shot a regretful glance towards the door they’d just exited, as if even now she felt guilty for leaving the girl inside.

“And Will behaved himself?” Killian asked, surprised.

“Oh, no, Will is definitely a jerk. Major jerk. But Robin’s okay. And your girlfriend is nice.”

Killian nearly choked on his own saliva. “My girlfriend?”

“It’s Tink, right? The one from New Zealand? Is that really her name?”

“Not my girlfriend,” Killian wheezed out, still fighting to regain his composure.

“Really?” She looked almost amused. “Will said…”

Next time he thought about punching Will Scarlett he was actually going to follow through.

“Will is a wanker. As discussed. And Tink is a lovely lass, but she and I have always managed to make a right mess of things. So to say she’s my girlfriend is viciously overstating what we have.”

“So you do have something?”

Killian groaned, wondering how he came to be explaining his not-even relationship to Emma Swan, of all people. Was this payback for interrogating her about that Walsh fellow? Was this karma come back to bite him?

“We used to date,” he admitted. “Now she mainly just yells at me. Which she used to do before, only now there’s very little make up sex involved. Barely any, unless there’s been far too much alcohol consumed.”

“Sounds healthy,” Emma said, patting him on the shoulder in a way that could only be condescending.

“Says the Queen of Healthy Relationships. How close were you to marrying a guy you didn’t even love, again?”

She gave him a shove, and he elbowed her back, but neither of them put any feeling into it.

“So, Swan. How about we go put Ms French in a taxi and fetch our compatriots. I feel a song coming on.”

“You’re going to sing?” she asked doubtfully.

“Aye, if you will.”

“I’m not really a singer…”

“I somehow doubt that. I can tell about people, Emma Swan, and you are a singer at heart.” He wasn’t sure how he was so certain. But he knew he was right.

“Yeah, in the shower, maybe…”

“A duet, then?” he suggested. “How do you feel about Sonny and Cher?”

“Please, god no.”

“A Whole New World?” he offered.

“You can’t be serious.”

“Elton John?”

“Better.”

“Elton John it is.”

[captainsleepingbeauty]

11 Questions Meme

Tagged by @theprinceofprinces. Boy, I hope you know I don’t back down from a challenge lol.

Some answers are long, so I’m gonna put it under the cut.

1. Apples or bananas? Apples (specifically granny smith or gala).

2. Favorite season and why. Autumn. I love the crunchy leaves, the pretty colors, sweater weather, hot apple cider, late thunderstorms, Halloween... basically, the aesthetic of fall is The Best and I really like pumpkin spice and pecan pie, both of which are hard to find outside of the season.

3. TV or movies? Hmm... I like how short tv episodes are but I also really enjoy cinemaphotography... So both?

4. Would you rather eat one thing for the rest of your life or be able to drink whatever you wanted? Drink what ever I wanted. I would get so bored of eating the same thing by like day four I’d regret everything.

5. Favorite song(s) and why. My dude, why. Okay here goes (in no particular order):

- “Waltz of the Flowers”, Tchaikovsky. It’s just really peaceful and relaxing for me, and I like to imagine dancing to it in a pretty ball gown with the love of my life (who I have to find...). It also makes me think of peaceful nature walks.

- “Wait For It”, Hamilton: An American Musical. Idk the lyrics just really hit home for me. Like, “I’m not falling behind or running late/ I’m not standing still/ I’m lying in wait” just helps me calm my anxiety that I’m not doing enough with my life. I really identify with Burr, honestly, for a greater part of the story. (But I’m opinionated af.)

- “Stars” from Les Mis, Collabro. Chills. Everytime. I love it so much.

- “Carol of the Bells”/”Wizards in Winter”, Trans Siberian Orchestra. My Christmas/winter holiday jams, and therefore I am lumping them.

- “No Place Like Home”, Todrick Hall. The beat, the tempo, the lyrics... and the message is rebellious and I love it.

- “Expensive”, Todrick Hall. It makes me feel badass and hot af.

- “Shape of You”, Ed Sheeran. I can’t not dance to it. An impossible task.

I could go on, but I’ma cut myself off here.

6. Soup or salad? Salad.

7. Art or sport? Art. All of them. I’ve never been very athletic and I don’t really watch sports, but I have loved music and writing and art and theater since I was a kid.

8. Song or dance? Hmm... I like to sing and I like to dance, but given the choice between to two... I can’t pick. I’m not very good at this either or thing...

9. Favorite name(s) and why. W H Y would you ask this of me. Why. I put so much time into picking character names, I know so many...

- William. Idk I just really like the name William. It sounds kinda regal, but also common.

- Stevie. Considering it as my chosen name bc nicknames have gotten Out of Control with my college friends and I’ve never really liked my birth name. Long story short, we each have Avenger/Marvel nicknames (Save our dear Indy, for Indiana Jones) and I’m Steve. Cue gender dysphoria and never liking my name anyway, and suddenly I’m JaysaSteve and considering calling myself Stevie bc it’s gender neutral. Whoops.

- Anastasia. It is just a really pretty name imo. It also means ‘resurection’ which is pretty neat.

- Charlie. It’s neutral -- is it short for Charolotte? Charles? Who knows!

- Basically any name that’s unusual or not common. There’s a lot of names I like because they sound pretty to me. Others I like because of their meaning.

10. Tell me a story. *screams for an hour* 

Okay, story time. Every fall, the ladies in my family (and before I went to college me as well) go up to Warrens, WI, aka Cranberry Country, for Cranberry Fest. My first year was when I was in fifth grade. We got to the fest at about 7 am and started wandering through the rows upon rows upon rows of vendors’ tents. We came across one (that I now know is there every year) that sold shawls and covers and the like. I found a sheer black shawl with orange jack-o-lanterns on it. Since Halloween was approaching and is my favorite holiday, I thought about buying it. It cost $15 or $20, I think. But, since I had maybe $100 for the day and it was only about 8 am, my mom said I should wait, just in case I found something I wanted more later in the day. We could always come back.

So I decided to wait, and we left the tent. We fought down the rest of the aisle that was packed with people, but before we reached the end, an elderly lady got our attention and stopped us. She had a plastic bag in her hand.

I don’t remember exactly what she said, or really even what she looked like, but I’ve never forgotten her. 

She said she had seen me looking at the shawl in the tent, and that I really liked it, but then I walked away. She had hurriedly bought the very shawl I had been looking at, then rushed to catch up with my mom and I before we got lost in the crowd.

In the bag was the shawl. She gave it to me, a gift simply from the kindness in her heart. She expected nothing in return, just that someday I’d pass the kindness on to someone else.

When we caught up to my aunt and grandma at the end of the aisle, my mom had to tell them what had happened because I was crying.

People can be cruel, and that sticks with us, sure. But this lady did something kind simply because she could, and thought that I should have this pretty shawl that I had looked at with slight longing.

(Oh jeez, I’m crying now, almost 10 years later.)

11. Do you like where you currently are in life? No. I’m impatient to get to were I want to be (not living with my parents, a job I like, successful as a writer, an urban apartment, maybe not living in the US, living life as the nonbinary person I am and hanging out with friends...) and I’m just frustrated. I feel a little trapped, and I can’t express my gender at home because my family doesn’t understand nor do they really try to. I know I’m meant for bigger things but I just can’t get there *clentches fist*.

Tagging.... @theprinceofprinces! Big surprise, I know. Much shock, very startled.

1. What’s your stance on pineapple of pizza? 2.  If you could choose a superpower, what would you chose? 3. What color are your bedroom walls? 4. Do you like to cook? If so, what’s your favorite thing to make? 5. Kringle or danish? 6. Is there a song that you hate? 7. What’s your preferred method of transportation? 8. Eye color? 9. What motivates you? 10. Water park or amusement park? 11. Riddle me this: Everyday I stalk you all day long, with every move you make, I never make one wrong. I vanish twice a day witht he sun’s height and fall. I will follow you everywhere, even the bathroom stall. What am I?

[rainbowravioli]

What made your mind think that Yuuri's arc can't be fixed? I'm just curious, and I feel sorry for you because of the damn sadness again. *hugs you* You don't have to answer this, of course, I'm sure a lot of people already asked, and if you don't want to share it publicly, then it's fine. I'm still curious about it tho. I lately feel also kind of triggered towards 2nd YoI season. I can't still forget they removed Yuuri's anxiety, a trait of his (if they even know he has it). It still bothers me.

Thank you anon *hugs*

Let me start by saying that I’m typically a more positive and optimistic person than I may appear. I usually hope for the best and I’m actually very forgiving. For like a month after the finale I read through every single pro-finale meta trying to make my feelings match with most of the fandom who were happy and satisfied with it. I made an active effort but it didn’t happen.

So, I’ve made my feelings on the YOI finale very clear by now. Here’s the thing about that episode though: while I’ve rewatched all other YOI episodes countless of times, I only watched episode 12 five times. And never in a full rewatch of the series, I always stop those at 10.

I watched episode 12 twice on the day it aired; once in livestream and once with the subs. I watched it again to write these. I “watched” it a while ago with my cousin since he hadn’t yet (I was mostly on my phone though and made an effort not to pay attention). The fifth time was last week with @soobaki, and it was the first time I truly watched all the episodes in the series in a row and that…changed things. Possibly having @soobaki to immediately talk to as things were happening helped with that. 

I want Yuuri to get gold in a second season. Hell, I want Yuuri to get every single gold medal he can possibly get to make up for what they did to him. Give him Worlds, give him the Olympics. Shower him in gold medals and let him break all of Victor’s records. But it will never hold the same meaning. 

Yuuri losing gold in season one is just such a disservice to his character and a huge betrayal. I mean, I already went over how perfectly set up everything was for him to win gold and how having him not win actually validates a lot of terrible things (his self doubt, his fears, Yurio’s entire behavior, everyone who called Victor’s seriousness as a coach into question, etc) so I’ll try not to stray too much here and focus on the topic at hand: meaning. And why season 2 will never be able to replicate it.

Season 2 can go one of two ways: continue the current skating season into Worlds or time skip to the next one and redo the GPF circuit all over again. 

If Yuuri continues in the current skating season and wins gold at Worlds, it won’t be as meaningful as gold in the GPF. Yes, in real world standards Worlds is much more important, but in in-universe standards, the GPF was the crucial competition for Yuuri’s character because of what happens in the first episode. Yuuri makes it to the GPF for the first time at 23 years old and he’s so excited to prove himself and skate on the same ice as Victor and finally be his equal and then everything goes wrong. There’s a reason Victor vows to make him win gold at the next GPF, there’s a reason that’s the competition that Yuri on Ice focuses on. Because it would be Yuuri taking it back. It’s Yuuri rising up from a really deep and personal loss and becoming better, rising above it, overcoming his setbacks and proving himself to everyone. The GPF matters personally to Yuuri, so winning gold at any other event will not have the same impact as it would have for Yuuri to go from a humiliating and painful last place to the gold medalist and new world record holder. 

If Yuuri skips to the next season he can go for the GPF again, sure. But there will be no Yuri on Ice. Do I even have to say anything about Yuri on Ice? I’ll say it anyway. Yuri on Ice is a love letter. A love letter to Yuuri’s skating career and to all the different types of love he has in his life. It encompasses his feelings for skating, for Hasetsu, for his family, his friends, and for Victor. It was choreographed in a joint effort between Yuuri and Victor. It’s the first time in Yuuri’s entire skating career that he made such important creative decisions as choosing the music for his routine and choreographing; things that Yuuri had been dreaming about doing for years now but never had the courage or encouragement to before Victor came along. Yuuri talks about how much he loves this routine, how important it is to him. Yuri on Ice is the perfect representation of “love wins”. So for Yuuri to win gold without it in s2…it would be empty. 

Episode 12 sets it up so well. Yuuri skates a perfect performance that moves everyone to tears and truly serves as the ultimate culmination of his journey. He breaks Victor’s world record. How meaningful and moving it would have been, for him to get the gold that was rightfully his with a perfect performance of Yuri on Ice, at the GPF, one year after his loss. Instead his character gets exactly nothing.

So yes. I don’t feel like this was a simple delay that we can get back anymore. We can never get this specific meaning back. Yuuri was robbed and so were we. 

[cyndalyssa]

DA Link Here

So, since about last summer, I've been watching The Loud House, and it's a genuinely entertaining cartoon most of the time. True, there are some episodes that are stupid, but every show has their handful of stupid episodes, and I'm willing to forgive them if the stupid is not a consistent thing. Plus, I'm always up for a show about family bonds and promoting positive relationships between siblings (despite, you know, siblings having a tendency to fight). I will admit... I didn't like One of the Boys. The Loud Brothers were basically "Loud Sister Schtick" + "Gross Boy Stereotype", and that was just done to make Lincoln's sisters look better in comparison. I've always hated it when a show has to put down boys in order to raise girls up, even when I was a little girl myself. Ugh, it's just one of those episodes you're hyped for because interesting concept and it's a major let down. Still, that episode got me curious about a scenario where the Louds meet a counterpart family of ten boys and one girl, so I decided to indulge that concept and try my hand at it. At first I named these guys the "Noisy Family", but then I later changed my mind and named them "Rowdy." It'd be easy to make the boys exactly like the corresponding Loud Sister (and Brother), but I decided to have a little more fun with personalities and quirks for these guys to make them more unique. After all, I didn't want to go the route of "There's two Luans!" or "There's two Lolas!" and so on and so forth. So, without further ado...

Ryan Rowdy: Upper left hand corner, reading a book. The oldest of the bunch, Ryan can be described as a cool big bro that unfortunately has a tendency to be uptight. With him being the firstborn, he thinks that he's the "dutiful son" that has to be the exemplar for everyone else, so he's often working for good grades, behaving himself when other boys rebel, and watching his siblings when his parents are away. He can get pretty cranky and bossy, and sometimes, he's just so weary that he shoves his nose in a book and ends up letting things run wild. Ralf Rowdy: Upper right hand corner, lifting weights. The second born, like his counterpart Leni, is dumber than a sack of bricks but is one of the nicest guys around. He's the muscle of the group, bearing great strength that can both be a help and a hinder to his siblings, either helping them get their stuff out of hard-to-reach places, or ending up breaking something. He's also a major savant in the area of exercise and muscle, so while he's the worst tutor in every other subject, he'll be extremely helpful when it comes to gym. Remy Rowdy: Lower left hand corner, reciting lines. The third Rowdy brother can be considered a drama king. While this applies positively to his acting abilities, leaving him a star in the school theater, it can also mean that he overreacts to everything that happens. The others groan when he freaks out over something minor and is hard to console, and it can be hours before he calms down, usually with the help of his favorite show tunes. Doesn't help that he's a bit of a neat freak for the majority of the time--the only time when he isn't is when he cooks, since he's accepted that it's a messy job. Rico Rowdy: Lower right hand corner, with the cards and top hat. The fourth boy is an arrogant and mischievous attention hog of a magician who loves to pull pranks on his siblings (most often popping out of nowhere to intentionally spook someone). With invested interest in the mystical and otherworldly, he can be strangely creepy when he's not obnoxious, and nobody really knows if he's just a really good illusionist or has actual magical abilities. He won't tell, and he'll keep on holding things back with a smug smile on his face. Rudy Rowdy: Upper left, next to Ryan, wielding lasso. Much like fellow fifth child Lynn Loud, Rudy's a very energetic and rough hothead. However, instead of being a traditional athlete, Rudy prefers to take his energy to a more country approach. Joining junior rodeos, riding horses, and heck, even going to the shooting range, this boy worships all things country. He enjoys watching Westerns, listening to country music (don't you dare badmouth it in front of him), talking in a Southern accent, and hogtying his siblings. He'll use anything as a spittoon for the gum he chews, much to everyone's disgust. Reagan Rowdy: Girl in the center. Being the middle child and only girl of the family, she's considered the sanest member of the family like fellow outnumbered counterpart Lincoln Loud. While trying her best to remain sweet and feminine (liking dresses, makeup, doing her hair, and other stuff), she's hardly the delicate flower that her brothers sometimes consider her to be. Being in a family of mainly brothers, she has a thick skin and a fighting spirit to keep any one of her brothers at bay--especially if they're having one of their aggressive and careless days. She sometimes gets uppity--either with a "girls rule, boys drool" mindset or "I'm not like other girls because I'm tougher than my female classmates", but her brothers and friends won't hesitate to take her down a peg when she goes too far. Raph Rowdy: Lower right, by Rico, holding a palette. He's considered the quietest of the family, being a shy artist who'd rather go and draw or paint than talk to anybody. He's usually the brother that gets picked on the most, but he's very good at ignoring teasing from his brothers (though from classmates, he's more visibly hurt, and that sometimes gets his siblings protective of him). He's usually bonding with his sister instead, and they go and play creative games together. Raph has a wild imagination, so some of his art can be really strange sometimes, especially if he's putting a unique perspective on a common thing. Redd and Reed Rowdy: Lower left, by Remy, with Redd doing push-ups and Reed meditating on top of him. They are the designated polar opposite twins of the family like Lana and Lola Loud. Redd is a tough, militaristic kid, always on guard for a fight and being a drill sergeant toward his siblings. He holds himself to a strict routine with wake-up times, mealtimes, school time, homework time, training time (what other kids refer to as playtime), and bedtime--sometimes trying to hold his siblings to the routine (for example, playing his horn early in the morning). Reed, on the other hand, could be considered a flower child, a more relaxed kind of person that just wants everyone to get along. Thinking himself one with nature, he'll often be meditating at a park and trying to connect with the cosmos, and thinks himself more enlightened than everyone else. He very much dislikes going to school, thinking that they're trying to brainwash him from his hard-earned enlightenment and turn him into another brick in the wall. He ignores schedules, not willing to let them restrict his freedom. Redd thinks Reed is insane and arrogant over non-conformist views; Reed thinks Redd is uptight and too bound by pointless rules. They're both right to an extent. Still, Redd won't hesitate to jump in to protect his twin when he needs him, and Reed knows just how to relax his twin and allow him to be more agreeable. Plus, they're willing to swap some of their dinner--Redd eats the meat, Reed eats the veggies. Rich Rowdy: Upper right, by Ralf, counting dollar bills. As a four-year-old prodigy like his counterpart Lisa Loud, Rich can easily be considered the smartest member of the family. However, instead of being a little scientist, Rich is a little businessman, and is often the source of extra income thanks to coming up with some pretty neat business ventures (sometimes in conjunction with one of his brothers or sister). He's also got keen social awareness and charisma, and thus can attract a crowd with little effort (helps that he's adorable). However, nobody quite knows when he's being an honest businessboy or a con artist, he tends to be a haughty little bugger, and he can unfortunately be driven by greed while dipping into the classic four-year-old selfish behavior (he doesn't like to share). Rory Rowdy: Top row, smack dab in the middle. Rory is the baby of the family, and while he only knows a few words and can barely walk, this kid is just 1000% done with everyone's nonsense. It's theorized that his first sentence would probably be sarcastic, since his face already has a snarker feel to it. He's quite content to play by himself, though if one or two siblings play with him, he'll accept it, so long as it doesn't escalate into chaos somehow. He'll either escape when that happens, or cry when he can't escape. Whew, that's a lot to talk about. But, hey, I love doing things like this. I'd like to make a fanfic about the Louds and Rowdies meeting, though I'm not sure if I'll get around to doing it when I'm already working on MLP fanfiction. Either way, the scenario's fun to think about.

[louiseblue1]

Susan being around in ep16 has no bearing on what will happen at the end of the season, or are people forgetting that Felicity only broke up with Ray IN 3x20?! Or that Oliver asked Sara to move in with him in 2x20, 3 eps before he revealed he was in love with Felicity? Point is, things can move quickly when the writers are ready for the dominos they've set up to fall!

Perfectly said, Nonnie. It’s like these people always going on about there not being enough time have never watched a single episode of Arrow. The writers have shown us EVERY season they love to bring things down to the wire before resolving things. It’s happened four times in a row now. And it’s going to happen a fifth time. I’m not sure how some people can continue to claim bemusement at the impossibility of it all when they’ve been through this multiple times before. It seriously confounds me the folks who carry on about there only being X amount of episodes left and how can Olicity reconcile in that time? 

If you’re not going to remember any of your history in Arrow, you’re always going to be this confused and befuddled. It’s like they’ve gone to a magicians show and seen a lady cut in half and put back together four times and yet every time, they call 911 half way through the act to report a woman being murdered on stage. It’s kinda weird tbh. 

I get that people can’t see how it’ll play out, that’s what the show is working hard to keep a secret so they can have their prestige moment, just like the magician. The magician doesn’t start his act with a detailed description of how the trick works, he just does the trick and assumes people know that it is a trick, and the taadaah moment is coming. They don’t expect people to jump up in the middle of the performance and scream at him that he has to hurry because the woman is bleeding out. No, she’s not. He doesn’t have to hurry. He knows how the trick works. It’s exactly the same for the writers. They don’t have to get rid of Susan for Olicity to reunite. They don’t have to do half the things some people seem to assume is necessary for a reunion, and they certainly don’t have to do it when those people think it should be done for it to still work. 

Know how I know that? 

Because I’ve watched the show. Like this Nonnie pointed out - I watched Raylicity in 320. I watched Sara and Oliver in 220. I watched the Olicity relationship get resolved in S3 with a 1 minute speech from Oliver. And yet people still insist of banging the ‘there is not enough time’ gong over and over again. Learn from your history, folks. Be reassured by it. Because at this point in time, it shouldn’t be this difficult to imagine how things can be resolved very quickly when the writers want it to be resolved. This isn’t exactly rocket science, guys. This is an Ikea flat pack that has not only paper instructions but a DVD how to which comes with it. 

Sinceriously. 

[drink-n-watch]

  Genre : Comedy, Slice of Life, School, Short

Episodes s1: 13

Episodes s2: 13

Episodes Mi: 12

Studio: TV Saitama

  I’m a short person and I understand Atsumi’s pain. When I was in university I was asked not once but twice if I was looking for my parents. Anyways, Atsumi is a high school student but her short stature and youthful looks make people mistake her for younger all the time. And beyond that it’s just though to reach things when she goes shopping and stuff. Thankfully her younger brother Atsushi seems to have avoided the short gene and he is quite tall. So tall in fact that despite being in fifth grade of elementary school he looks about 30! As you can imagine, misunderstandings abound!

In case you guys didn’t know a recorder is a type of flute and a very common instrument to learn in grade school. I had to. And a randsell (randoseru) is a type of hardcover backpack that is more or less standard for younger students in Japan. Now you know everything I did going into this series.

this happens a lot…just me?

Every time I review a short series I mention that I have lowered expectations on the production side. Typically these shows have drastically smaller budgets and teams and I think it’s only fair to keep that in mind. That doesn’t mean you can’t do anything great with it but just don’t expect luxury!

Seasons 1 and 2 of Recorder and Randsell are fairly run of the mill as far as visuals go but the voice acting is pretty good, particularly in the leads Atsushi and Atsumi. Even more particularly for Atsushi who has to sound like an adult, as in have a voice timber that would naturally come out of a full grown man’s body and vocal chords, but still act like a child. And not a crazy child or anything. It’s a tough act and I think he does a great job!

Recorder and Randsell Mi is effectively the third season and it went through a visual overhaul. The backgrounds now seem to be colourful photographs with a heavy are filter on them. The character models have been refined the the animation is visibly smoother. The comparison is almost shocking and I must say, Recorder and Randsell Mis a visually interesting show that stands out. I’m not sure if mu screencaps really show it. Let’s see…

Seasons 1 and 2:

Mi:

You would think that having a premise that naturally puts children insinuations that aren’t suited for their age would be just rife with landmines Just look at my gif…It’s one of the only ones I could find… but I have to say, seasons 1 and 2 were actually very sweet. There is a running gag where Atsushi gets mistaken for a pedophile while walking home with his little friend from school but that’s as raunchy as it gets. There is no fanservice whatsoever, no real loli or shotacon to speak of and the bulk of the episodes centre on the rather caring and supportive relationship between two siblings.

I was looking for an anime to distract me from a brilliant but emotionally taxing series I’m watching and Recorder and Randsell was exactly what I needed. I watched all 26 episodes in a row and it left me feeling light and refreshed!

You may have noticed that I’m only talking about seasons 1 and 2. Well Mi takes a bit of a step back narrative wise. There are still a lot of sweet moments and I giggles a few times. I am happy that I watched Mi. But this is where the humour starts to go more the shota/loli rout. Most of the 12 episodes of Mi revolve around adult women openly finding 10 year old Atsushi attractive or a 17 year old wanting to date Atsumi because she looks 12 but is legal, and his friend trying to be matchmaker because he’s afraid if that relationship doesn’t happen the guy will end up in jail after going for an actual grade schooler. It’s presented in a much softer way than I make it sound and still mercifully free of fanservice. Like I said, it does have a few good moments as well, even in this context. I liked that the aggressive lolicon had an older brother who was very disapproving and only attracted to much older women. We then see him a few times in backgrounds going after little old ladies and that was pretty funny and subtle touch. Still, on the whole I just didn’t find Mi anywhere near as charming as the previous seasons if more pretty to look at. You win some, you lose some I guess.

uhm

Still, considering the core premise and all the potential pitfalls, I gotta say Recorder and Randsell did pretty good for itself. To the point that I would watch another season if it came out. It really wasn’t what I was expecting at all, and I can’t quite think of any other show I can compare it to.

Favourite character: Kobayashi – the only character to have age appropriate romantic interests well along with Atsushi actually….

What this anime taught me: Keep an open mind but not too open

“No great story ever started with someone eating a salad”

Suggested drink: Coming of Age

If you do this one watch a single episode a the time – not all 38 in a row like me…..

Every time Atsushi gets mistaken for an adult – take a tiny sip

Every time we see Sayo – cheer

Every time someone mentions height – take a sip

Every time Hina smiles – take a sip

Every time Atsushi is in class – take a sip

Every time Atsumi goes shopping- take a sip

Every time Take quits his job – sigh

Every time Atsushi gets new clothes – Anticipate!

Every time Atsumi cooks something – get a snack

Every time we hear sirens – stash the booze…

Every time Atsumi gets pulled around – take a sip

Every time sensei runs away – take a sip

You know the drill – Pinterest has tons of pics and I’m adding a few here

Recorder and Randsell -A Risky Endeavour Genre : Comedy, Slice of Life, School, Short Episodes s1: 13 Episodes s2: 13 Episodes Mi: 12…

[torentialtribute]

The Open 2019: Tell Brooks Koepka he can’t do something and he’ll prove you wrong

One of the men behind the machine has a funny story to tell about a time that life is a bit

It was 2014 and the American had arrived at a pub in Ascot to dine with Pete Cowen, a Yorkshireman in his sixties with the fine reputation for coaching elite golfers and an equally distinguished record talking bluntly.

Earlier that day, together with Koepka & # 39; s caddy, Ricky Elliott, they went to Wentworth to see if Cowen would be the right man to play the short game of a ranked player outside the top 40 of the to improve the world. After Cowen had a challenge to make a few bunker shots, it was time to eat.

Brooks Koepka wins majors for fun will prove you wrong if you say he can't do anything. "

Brooks Koepka wins majors for fun, and will

<img id =" i-34bd23cafc0136c0 "src =" https://i.dailymail.co .uk / 1s / 2019/07/16/20 / 16130944-0-image-m-24_1563306221322.jpg "height =" 655 "width =" 634 "alt =" He is a hot tip to win The Open, which Friday starts at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland "

<img id =" i-34bd23cafc0136c0 "src =" https://ift.tt/2jQyJnN -image-m-24_1563306221322.jpg "height =" 655 "width =" 634 "alt =" He is a hot tip to win The Open, which starts Friday at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland "

Cowen takes over the story. & # 39; This pub was very nice & # 39 ;, he tells Sportsmail . & # 39; Lovely place. Anyway, I entered it first, I got a table for us and I wait for Brooks, in which he walks back, hat goes, and goes to the toilet.

& When he returns, I say: "See that attractive bar girl there? She asked about you. & # 39; Brooks now has this little smile. "Oh yeah?" He goes, so I said to him: "Yes, she said you look like a tw-e in that hat."

& # 39; He looks at me strangely and asks: & # 39; What is a tw * t? "Bloody hell. Americans. So I'm going," It's a cool guy, Brooks, a cool guy. "

& # 39; The funny thing is that not many people know this, but now we have a WhatsApp group – me, Brooks and Ricky – it's called TWTH, for Tw * t With The Hat. & # 39;

Five years later, with Brooks Koepka back in Britain in pursuit of a fifth main title in 10 starts, perhaps the most deadly big-game hunter since Tiger Woods can probably get away with wearing of his hat in any way he wants.

The rise of Koepka was remarkable, as the public indifference was in response, if you took his word, maybe I am right: maybe I will not get the full credit that I deserved it. But maybe he doesn't even want it. Maybe, and just maybe, he's exactly where he wants to be – the best golfer in the world by a street, but with just enough of a sense of injustice to feed his stay to

Indeed, if you have the ancient art of taking a snub – real or imagined – under the knee and it turned into gold, then it is the great man from Florida with a huge game. It is a recurring theme in the story of how he became the best golfer in the world

The American star watches during the practice round of the 148th Open Championship the practice round for the 148th Open Championship "

The American star watches during the practice round for the 148th Open Championship

While the 29-year-old is getting ready to enter the Open in To play Portrush this week, members of his inner circle share parts of that story with Sportsmail – from the bloodline to the armed bandits to the Bollocking to the bet.

& # 39; Believe me & # 39 ;, says Cowen, & # 39; anyone who thinks this guy is boring is wrong. Very wrong. That game face he shows hides a lot.

Koepka & # 39; s story starts with genetics and a car accident, his great uncle, as is known was Dick Groat, who played basketball in the NBA in the 1950s and then twice won the World Series of baseball in the 1960s.

But golf was always the most natural destination at home in Florida with his sports-possessed father, Bob Koepka, who did odd jobs on the course in Pennsylvania that Groat bought.

Koepka Sr reached scratch without a lesson and the two of them, Brooks, his eldest of two sons, had plastic clubs. He was decent, but golf only became Koepka's focus until he was 10, when his babysitter's car was hit at a crossroads and he broke his nose. Golf course Okeeheelee of West Palm Beach.

<img id = "i-765592a0802c93ed" src = "https://ift.tt/2jQyUiX -0-image-a-19_1563305980153.jpg "height =" 423 "width =" 634 "alt =" Koepka has been working hard on The Open because he is looking forward to adding another big win

Koepka was working hard for The Open while looking to add another important victory

When he was 11, he was on his high school team and at the age of 13 he had finished his father's five-year series at the Sherbrooke club championship and I finally beat Bob.

I wanted to go to the University of Florida but their coach Buddy Alexander never tried to recruit him, so he ended up in the state Bob Koepka tended to remind his son of the crazy man on the way to a triple all-American. psychological pattern established. & # 39; The thing about Brooks, if you tell him he can't do something, you light a fire in that guy & # 39 ;, tells Joey Diovisalvi Sportsmail .

Since 2016, Diovisalvi is the physical person trainer behind the golfer, credited with one of the strongest and biggest hits on tour. & # 39; You say he can't handle something, he'll prove you wrong. Spectacular. & # 39;

By the time Koepka became a professional in 2012, without ever having made the American Walker Cup team for his best amateurs, many did not think he had the challenge to rule the golf world.

The second level of European golf, the Challenge Tour, is not the typical starting point for American pros, but Koepka had failed to get through qualifying schools for the PGA tour and European tour.

Ricky Elliott (right), Koepka & # 39; s caddy, checks the scorecard during a practice round on Tuesday "

(), The caddy of Koepka, controls the scorecard during a practice session and checks out the scorecard during a practice session lap on Tuesday

He bounced between outposts of Kazakhstan to Portugal to Finland in shared rental cars, winning four times in a period of two years that described the happiest time in his career

& # 39; He was even then a huge hitter & # 39 ;, said George Murray, a 10-year veteran of the European Tour. & # 39; He would hit six irons in par 5s and you think, & # 39; OK then. & # 39;

& # 39; There would be tournaments where he would win with 10 shots.

Murray was in a taxi in Kenya with Koepka during the most surreal. I did not say you could immediately see that he would be the world episode of the career of both men when they were mid-night by an armed man were stopped at a gas station.

& # 39; I don't like to talk about it & # 39 ;, Murray says. & # 39; I was on a flight from South Africa and we were in the taxi days. Murray, a fishmonger since his retirement in 2016, adds: & # 39; I think someone would. & # 39; & # 39;

Murray, a fishmonger since his retirement in 2016, adds: & # 39; I think someone would say that Brooks has done very well for himself since then. "

The CV shows that he was US Open winner in 2017, US Open and PGA Championship winner in 2018 and PGA Championship winner again in 2019. The player with only one European Tour victory and two regular titles on the PGA Tour has disappeared 4-11-1-6 -13-1-39-1-2-1-2 in its last 11 majors, when it matters most, it appears, but why?

Pete Cowen believes a decisive moment came with a loud conversation before the breakthrough of Koepka at the US Open in Erin Hills 2017.

<img id = "i-ee937e00b6e93087 "src =" https://ift.tt/2jQyUPZ "height =" 423 "width =" 634 "alt = "Koepka is a big driver of the ball and his short game always keeps under pressure a big driver of the ball and his short game always keeps under pressure"

Koepka is a big driver of the ball and his short game is always also under pressure

His game has always had strong components – he strikes it a mile and his game under pressure – but mentally, Koepka, who now and then his flat is mocked disposition, used to slip into destructive funks on the course. & # 39; Everyone thinks he has been empty all his life – no chance & # 39 ;, says Cowen. & # 39; He was right before

& # 39; I gave him the fun of his life before he won the US Open. He was constantly complaining all week before in Memphis, "Oh, poor me, why am I left second?"

& # 39; I said to him: & # 39; You have to have the attitude of a champion, you have to enjoy adversity a bit, see it as a challenge. "It is as if he was shocked, so spoken to him. But the penny dropped. I signed the flag after winning the US Open and gave it to me.

Cowen, who among others Rory McIlroy, Sergio Garcia and Henrik Stenson has coached, adds: & # 39; Funny to Brooks, you challenge him, & # 39; he replied.]

& # 39; Now he is the quietest man in a major and that is massive, he has a setback, he forgets.

Diovisalvi, the physical trainer of Koepka, has been manipulating the American competition since 2016, when he first started squatting in the top 20.

& # 39; When he first came to me, he was immediately finished, & # 39; How can you help me take the next step? & # 39;

& # 39; It helps that he changes the way to pro-golfer looks

& # 39; But his gift is intensity and hard work. & # 39;

His tr ainingspartner and good friend is Dustin Johnson, the world No. 2. & # 39; You can imagine how we play them against each other & # 39 ;, says Diovisalvi. & # 39; They will try to outdo the other.

<img id = "i-ba8b194b69abe08b" src = "https://ift.tt/2jQyVn1 -0-image-a-22_1563306049304.jpg "height =" 423 "width =" 634 "alt =" Koepka has never finished in the top five of The Open, but that can change to the top five of The Open this weekend but that can change this weekend "

Koepka never finished in the top five of The Open but that can change this weekend

& # 39; With Brooks you have to understand its intensity. I go to training for seven days in a row, have a Monday every now and then and start seven more. He lives for it. I'm not sure if people outside see the passion we see with this man. & # 39;

Diovisalvi has a story of the Sunday morning prior to Koepka's final round at the 2017 US Open. in the gym and then I have this crazy idea, & # 39; says Diovisalvi. & # 39; He decides a few hours before he is about to set his own record at 225 pounds and 15 repetitions on the bench press. I thought, "Brooks, what?" And he says, "I know my limits, buddy." Well, if he will be like that …

& suddenly we all start with betting and he goes for it. At this point you should know the funny thing about Brooks – you have this big mammoth of a man, but when his body collapses, he makes this high squeaky sound. Every time again. So he squeaks and gets up to 15. Incredible sight.

I won that bet and then won the US Open.

It is the common thread in his story, from lecture to world beater.

But it seems reasonable to assume that those thoughts and irritations have been key factors in the storm that has swept over the past two years

This week it's blowing in Northern Ireland and the Open Championship, where Koepka never finished in the top five.

Source link