#not an april fools bit family of boys emotions too strong

[josephtrohman]

cutest caption :(

[mamabearcat]

I know April Fool’s is over but...

It’s morning here in Australia, and it’s already April 2nd - Good Friday in fact. I woke up after an incredibly stressful week in which I moved my family from the little unit we’d lived in for the past sixteen years to another one a suburb away, while still working retail in the evenings. So much money spent. So much stuff. So many emotions. So little sleep. So it’s not surprising that this morning I had a bizarre dream. A dream in which Inuyasha, and another movie and Easter all got mixed up together.

Kagome gave a tired sigh, doing her best to stretch out her back after folding all the clean cloth nappies from the washing line. Thank goodness Juro was nearly out of nappies - they would be needing them by the time their next baby was born. Which judging by the heaviness in her womb, really wouldn’t be too far away. Thank goodness it was just one baby this time.

The gigantic stew pot on the fire bubbled, releasing the scent of savoury vegetable soup. It smelt almost ready, and the steamed rice sitting on the edge of the fire should also be just about done. Time to call her family in for dinner. She waddled over to the doorway and braced her arms against the frame to take a deep breath, before calling out as loudly as she could.

“Juro, Kuro, Hachiro, Shichiro, Rokuro, Goro, Shiro, Saburo, Hajime, Haruko, Keiko, Natsuko, Akiko, Rini, Satsuki, Momo, Moroha and Inuyashaaaa! DINNER TIME!”

Children poured towards the doorway from where they’d been sent off to play in the forest nearby, after she’d released them from doing their afternoon chores. They eagerly ran towards her, the older ones carrying the little ones. Kagome dropped a kiss onto the top of each head as they passed through the doorway, even though her older boys squirmed a bit. Moroha came last, carrying little Juro who was rubbing his eyes sleepily, his tiny pink nose twitching at the smell of the stew.

“Cawwots Mama?” he asked, blinking at her, holding out his arms and leaning towards her.

Kagome lifted him out of Moroha’s arms with a smile. “Yes, there’s carrots in there for you my baby boy”, she grinned, ruffling his white hair, being careful of his soft ears, still a little floppy. It would probably be another six months before they stood up straight. All her children had inherited her husband’s ears, something she’d been very happy about. She bopped her son teasingly on his twitching nose. “But you have to eat the other vegetables too, if you want to grow up as big and strong as your Papa.”

She shifted the toddler over to rest on her hip as she smiled lovingly at her eldest child, Moroha, now almost sixteen summers old. Older than she’d been when she’d first met Inuyasha. It was a frightening thought in some ways - was she really this young when she’d been off fighting youkai and recovering the shards?

“Did you see your father on the way home sweetheart?” Kagome asked, watching as her family helped to spoon rice and soup into the bowls. Moroha nodded as she joined the line for dinner.

“Yeah, he was just talkin’ to Miroku, he’ll be here in a minute.”

A small scuffle broke out between the triplets over who got the largest piece of carrot in their bowl, and Kagome was quick to step in before the fight got out of hand.

“Rokuro, Goro, Shiro, behave yourselves! What would your Papa say!”

A tall shadow fell through the dooway.

“He’d say he’d hope you’re not causin’ trouble for your poor tired Mama boys, or that stew will be goin’ in my stomach instead a yours.”

The boys glared at each other, but settled down. “Sorry Papa, sorry Mama.”

“That’s better.”

Moroha filled the smallest bowl for Juro, and Kagome put him down so he could toddle over to his biggest sister, making himself comfortable in her lap as he did his best to spoon the food into his own mouth, mostly successfully with a few near misses.

Inuyasha touched his soft nose to Kagome’s in greeting, looking her over carefully. She looked exhausted. He’d been out helping Miroku with his vegetable garden today, seeing he could dig much faster than the human could, but looking at Kagome, he knew it was time to stay close to home from now on.

He helped his very pregnant wife to sit on a cushion, rubbing her back to help ease the kinks out, and she melted against him, looking over her large family with a happy sigh.

Momo spooned out rice and soup for her mother and father, and he smiled approvingly at his daughter as she brought it over to them, then sat down to finish her dinner. The room was filled with the sounds of happy eating, their children finishing up the soup and rice quickly, then turning their eyes expectantly towards their parents as they finished up their own dinner.

“No story until your dinner bowls are washed up and put away”, said Inuyasha firmly, and the children sighed, but got to their feet and lined up at the tub.

“Actually”, said Moroha softly, “instead of a story tonight, there’s something I want to say.”

Seventeen pairs of tall fluffy ears and one pair of human ones twisted towards her.

“It’s something I’ve been thinking of for a while now. And I wouldn’t be leaving straight away, not until after the new baby is born and you’re all settled in Mama. But I’ve decided, and Setsuna, Towa and Hisui are gonna come too. I can make the world a better place.”

She took a deep breath, then stood up, tearing off her typical red clothing to reveal a navy blue suikan and shorts underneath. She plopped a blue hat on her head between her long fluffy black ears. “I am going to be a police officer.”

Everyone blinked.

“What’s a police officer?” whispered Inuyasha into Kagome’s ear.

Kagome smiled with pride at her eldest child. “It’s someone who helps others and stands up for those who can’t defend themselves”, said Kagome. Inuyasha gave his eldest daughter a wide buck toothed grin.

“Well, if that’s what you wanna do, knock yourself out kiddo, I’m proud a you.”

“Wait, what? You’re not gonna try and convince me to be a carrot farmer like you?”

Inuyasha snorted. “The only reason I’m a carrot farmer is to feed you lot. Before you kids arrived, your mother and I travelled around fighting evil and helping people. So if you feel a calling to do that, who am I to stand in your way? Just steer clear of stinky wolf youkai and you should be fine.”

“Inuyasha, it’s been fifteen years since we’ve seen Kouga”, Kagome sighed. “Don’t you think you should let that go?”

“Nope. He called you his. And he stank. Grudge forever.”

Kagome rolled her eyes.

“Anyway Moroha, I agree with your Papa. We will miss you of course, but if you think this is what you want to do with your life, we’re proud of you.” She held out her arms to her eldest daughter. “Just stay safe and come home and visit us once in a while so you can tell us about your adventures.”

Moroha dropped down to hug both her parents.

“I’m so happy! So happy you’re my parents and you love me and you never went mysteriously missing without a trace leaving me with a huge debt to pay off or anything!” she sniffed.

“Uh... okay.”

Moments later Moroha was covered in a pile of brothers and sisters, all hugging and laughing and crying, saying how much they would miss their big sister.

“Aww, look at that pile of fluffy bunnies”, Kagome smiled tearfully. “I love my family so much. I just never expected there to be so many of them.”

Inuyasha hugged her tightly. “Well, that’s what you get for marryin’ me”, he whispered into her ear teasingly. “You know what they say about rabbits.”

[lyricalimerence]

You Never Asked - JJ Maybank

summary: in which jj was the only person who knew but then you two drift because of kie invading the group, effectively leaving you out of the loop, until your grandfather dies. you pick yourself up, and jj makes a stupid comment without knowing.

word count: 1341

warnings: cancer mentions, death mentions, a joke about cancer, coarse language, angst i suppose. this is very badly written, i'm sorry lol

a/n: so the topic of this is very real to me, something i've been mulling over for like a week. i was replaying the end of this toxic friendship i had. i realized the first person i told about my grandfather's diagnosis didn't know he was gone and it kind of stung a little bit. this is a little exaggerated for "entertainment" purposes but i just,,, this is more of my own mental punching bag in a way. somewhere to kind of decompress my emotions towards my delayed emotions. i know it's a mess. it's kinda incoherent and very unedited and rushed i'm just gonna be honest 😌

flashbacks look like this

it almost ached, the pangs in your heart and the fatigue plaguing your mind. your body feels weighed down, you could barely move without needing to take a break. the sky seems dimmer even without your sunglasses, the ocean seems rougher without a clear cause for the current you created in your mind. you twiddle your thumbs, watching as the pad of your right thumb traced over the jagged, bitten-down edge of your left thumbnail.

you were waiting. it seemed like that was all you were doing those days. waiting for jj to realize you were still there, waiting for the pogues to realize kiara couldn't replace you, waiting for your grandpa to get better, waiting for the day you found out he was getting worse, even though you knew he was already gone. he had been for months now. all you could was wait, and it was driving you crazy. your mind running circles are itself, barely recognizing what you used to, only focusing on the new, obstructive thoughts.

you remembered it so clearly. that day on the hammocks.

you had pulled jj out to your backyard where a hammock was held up by two trees overlooking the ocean. your house was always the spot until you were kicked to the curb. jj’s rough, calloused hand was placed in yours as you two sat in the hammock, your ankles pressed together, fighting for who's got to cross over the other’s instead of under.

it had been a miracle you had gotten him away. kiara has recently joined the group of pogues. you felt replaced, like you weren't good enough anymore. not to mention, you had been carrying a burden on your chest for weeks. was kiara carrera so captivating and perfect that no one noticed your eating patterns stuttered, your talkativeness dwindled, and your under eyes became more gaunt and purple stained each day?

you still had sarah and the kooks—in a way. they were your friend group, not your best friend. not the ones you needed. “what’s up, y/n? y’know, kie’s dad is getting us beer in a sec, so can this be quick?”

of course kie had some better alternative that you. you were technically a kook, but kie’s family was better off, you were pretty, but she was prettier, you played the ukelele and would sing tunes for the guys on your dock at night, but kie was better at it. you were never enough anymore. “right, um,” you breath quickened, not bothering to make eye contact with jj, because you knew he’d be waving or winking at kie who was watching from inside your house. your house that wasn’t as big or kempt as hers. “my grandpa is sick.”

jj’s head turned, you could see in your periphery as you kept your eyes trained ahead of you, tracing the edge of the horizon. “everyone gets sick, y/n, why're you making such a big deal—”

“cancer. he’s sick with cancer.” you all but spat, your grandfather was always so good to jj. whenever he would visit, jj would run over, eager to spend time with the benevolent man. why was he acting like such a dick? he must've known he was acting like an asshole because his face drained of color. or maybe you had captured his attention with someone he cared about, since, clearly, that person wasn't you. “esophageal cancer, in his throat, so he can't eat. they can't do surgery to remove the tumor because it's in line with his heart.”

the blond boy next to you took a few seconds, focusing on inhaling and exhaling, watching his chest rise and fall to just make sure it still was. you knew the feeling, it has been all too real for you the past week. how could you notice the slightest change in his demeanor, but he hadn't recognized your ongoing agony?

“your grandpa will tough it out, he always does. he's a strong guy.” you glanced at him, moving your eyes but not your head. you weren't sure if you'd be able to take in his complete expression without breaking down. you muttered something under your breath, only for him to respond. “stage what?”

“four. stage four. he’ll be gone by next summer.”

and he was. your grandfather, light of your life with your absentee parents died in april. april first to be exact. at 12:01 in the morning. you were in the room with him, sarah and rafe sat outside the room waiting for you to exit. they heard your scream rip through the thin hospital walls. it had to have been an april fools joke, right?

but it wasn't, and the one person you needed to hug at that moment, hadn't spoken to you since september. your jj has completely replaced you with kiara. you tried to hate her, place the blame on someone besides yourself, but she was just perfect. who could deny her of whatever she wanted?

maybe you were just selfish. you brought up your grandfather as a way to try to bring jj back to you, evoke some remnants of emotion he had in regards to your wellbeing. you didn't care if those feelings matched the intensity or emotion yours were, as long as something was there, but that didn't happen. and that was almost as painful.

it was july, almost an exact year since your cancerous confession. you had almost forgotten about jj. sometimes you’d see him around and he’d act like things between you two were normal—it pissed you off more than anything. but it hadn't occurred to you that jj had gone on living his life, thinking that his favorite adult in the world was alive. an uncomfortable fallacy you held with you for months.

sarah, rafe, topper, and kelce had managed to get you to go to the boneyard for a kegger, convincing you it would be good. it would finally get you back into routine. so you did. you messed with your makeup in the mirror until your lips were darkened with red, your eyelids shimmered with pink, and your skin was smoothed through the magic of concealer. sarah took a curling iron to your hair, looping strands around the wand until your soft locks of hair bounced around your shoulders in beachy waves. you were wearing a sundress—you couldn tell your heart still felt like it was being punched with each sharp intake of breath and every step you take.

until you got there, and sarah had her elbow interlocked with yours as you walked up to the keg, the guys in front of you. having no intention to actually drink, you moved to step around jj who was manning the keg at the time. “c’mon, y/n, not beer for you?”

you had to will yourself to look him in the eyes, but once you did you realized his emotions were pure. he was happy. he didn't need you, he was happy without you. blissful ignorance is a bitch. “no thanks.”

something clicked at your harsh tone, “has the whole family lost their shotgunning touch? sore throat?”

“what the fuck, man?” kelce was the first to move, ready to punch the pogue, topper and rafe close behind.

jj turned, ready to snap at you to call off your dogs, but your eyes had glossed over, and you lip was starting to bleed from how hard you had bitten down, trying to halt it from quivering. “y/n, what’s going on?”

“he died, asshole.” sarah muttered, pulling you passed the advent of the fight about to break out. before you two could completely get away, jj grabbed your other elbow.

“when?”

your body went rigid, it had been even longer since he had touched you. at all. “april.”

“why didn't you tell me?” his eyes softened, the edges drooping as his smile lines faded away. your heart twisted, he thought he deserved to know.

you knew it was a different reason, but he didn't deserve to know. “you never asked.”

tags - click here if you'd like to be added

@insanitysparkles @anonymous0writer @prejudic3 @ilovejjmaybank @apoguecalledjj @outerbanksbro @xxxxxxxxxxxxxooooooooooooo @calumbroutledge @rudys-pankow @queenofthebees003 @bxllasanosa @write-from-the-heart @popcsheyward @kaitieskidmore1 @abigailpankow @thelocalpogue @fandomsinapile @starkeymarkey @lovingxjj @beatement-l @jayjaymaebank @drew-starkey @mahleeyuh

[spaced-out-julissx]

this post is kinda long ngl

Last night, I came out to my friend as bisexual through text message. God I still can’t believe I did it. She’s bisexual too, so the reason I came out to her first was not only because I trusted her, but she might be one of the few that understands me. I would love to include screenshots of the text messages, but I’m typing this through a laptop and I don’t want pictures here because my whole family can login and can see them. I know I can delete them but I don’t want to risk it. Let me tell you what happened just in case you’re looking for a coming out story to read or help you out.

Me and her were just making small talk and talking about our new hobbies that we formed during quarantine and the sort. I was actually doing homework while texting her. And then, all of a sudden, I wanted her to know. Like, I’ve always known I was going to tell her first, but I thought it was going to be in person. But last night, as I was texting her, I just really wanted her to know. It was so powerful, this feeling, of just wanting to go through the screen and come out at her end and just scream it out. I was kind of scared of this all-of-a-sudden feeling, because it doesn’t come with bravery, but rather recklessness and this feeling could either be the best or worst thing for someone in the closet.

Nevertheless, I decided to act on it. And I don’t mean to sound dramatic, but I felt these exact feelings: my leg, which was already shaking, began shaking even more violently. I could feel goosebumps all over my arms. There was a lump in my throat, and thank goodness we were texting rather than talking or else I would have never spit out the words. My stomach felt weird, like somebody was poking me all over, but through the inside. 

I texted her, asking if I could talk to her about something. She said yes, and then my phone stopped working for a whole hour. Great timing. For that whole hour, I was reflecting if I should or shouldn’t. But this feeling was so strong, and I had no doubt in my mind that it was going to be tonight that I would tell her. My phone started working again, and then I told her that it broke down and whatever. Then she asked me what it was that I wanted to tell her. 

So I typed up the words “I’m bi”. I typed them. I didn’t send them. There I was, staring at the blue “send” button, thinking how big that button all of a sudden became. Two words. Two small words. One of them I didn’t even type fully. But they were so powerful, because the second I sent them I knew there was no going back. You can’t just lock yourself back inside the closet. 

I was feeling so overwhelmed, so I went into the notes app and typed up a reason as to why I was telling her. I typed up exactly these words,

“and you're the only one that knows idk i just wanted to tell someone and i really don't want to tell my family they're kinda homophobic hehe”

I was going to send “I’m bi” first and then the message above. So I went back to the text messages. I took a couple of breaths.

It was so much, I literally squeezed my eyes shut and my thumb hit the send button. I felt this huge weight on my shoulders. I felt so many feelings right at that moment, it was crazy. Goosebumps were positively all over my body. Immediately I pasted the message from the notes. That was probably a good idea, my whole copy and paste thing. There was no way my shaking fingers were going to type a whole sentence after sending that.

I stared at my phone, waiting. There was no way I could just look away from the phone. My eyes were glued. I wasn’t even blinking. 

A whole minute passed. A WHOLE MINUTE. I kid you not a whole 60 seconds passed. Those 60 seconds were longer than microwave seconds. I was waiting and waiting. Surely she wouldn’t be mad at me, right? She’s bi. It would be hypocritical, and if I knew she would do something like that, I wouldn’t have told her. But do I honestly know her fully? I mean, I only met her a couple of months ago, but I feel like I’ve known her forever. She’s just so easy to talk to about literally anything! Was this an exception? And just like that, another minute passed. 

That’s it. I can try to go back inside the closet as best as I could. I could tell her April Fools or something like that, and if she says that it’s not even April 1, I’ll just tell her I thought you were supposed to celebrate that holiday all through April. She won’t be suspicious, will she?

“Omg really I'm so happy how'd you realize?”

There. She responded. Immediately after reading that, all my stress, anxiety, every single fucking thing melted off me. My legs stopped shaking, and they always shake. Doesn’t matter if I’m coming out or not. But they were still. And I was just staring back at the screen, my mouth slightly open.

I felt so good. God typing this makes me feel kind of emotional. I did it. I actually did it. And I wasn’t embarrased, like how I envisioned my coming out to anybody every single fucking time. I wasn’t regretting it. I was smiling. And then I was full on grinning at the screen. I came out to someone, and they were “so happy” to hear it. I literally had to get up and hop on my bed a little. I know that sounds cheesy as fuck, but I got on my small sofa bed and hopped a bit. And I couldn’t stop smiling. I felt so good.

So I started telling her how I realized. How I think I kind of have always known but I would suppress it because my family wasn’t exactly open to it. How in middle school I had tiny crushes on girls and kind of...fantasize about kissing them. How I was in love with Lady Gaga, but then I realized it wasn’t just her music that I liked. How reading any wlw book or fanfiction made me feel kind of jealous of one of the characters. How after reading gay literature (such as Simon vs The Homo-Sapiens’ Agenda and Leah On The Offbeat) made me finally accept that I don’t just like guys, and that it was 100% normal. I don’t know, but when you know, you know. I hid it all these years because of my family. My mom literally told me she thinks my brother might turn out gay because he only has a bunch of older sisters, and that her and my dad were trying to “get it out of him”. Whatever “it” was. Guess how old my brother was when she told me that? Like 3 years old. 

I don’t know. I know my parents won’t kick me out if I told them, so I guess I’m lucky on that end. But they just make all these jokes and whenever they meet someone who is gay, they make it point to point it out in a story they might tell during dinner. My mom’s cousin came out as lesbian last summer, and my mom’s aunt (not her cousin’s mom) was saying how she didn’t want to talk to her anymore and for her to not even think about visiting her. I watch old home videos of my mom hanging out with her cousins and throwing around words like the fa**** and great stuff like that. My dad was brought up in a very traditional Mexican family, where my grandparents from that side of the family might whip out a bible if I tell them. You know the sorts. Even my older sister has a bit of both of my parents. She loves stereotyping, in which for example if at work a guy gives her attitude, he’s probably gay. She talks about celebrities’ sexual orientations like she knows, and she makes the type of gay jokes that are not really hateful, but rather uncomfortable. I really don’t like those jokes. They’re like the equivalent to “I can’t be homophobic! I made eye contact with a gay on June 8, 2017!”

Woah there, I wrote a big one, boys! This was just supposed to be a coming out story but turned out to be a whole rant as to why I don’t come out. If you’re still reading this, thanks. It means the world to me. 

But anyways, my coming out yesterday, overall, I rate it bittersweet. It’s like the word bittersweet was made for this exact experience. It was very sweet in the fact that I’m already starting my journey to being out of the closet. I’m not completely out, but let’s just say I unlocked the door, and someone noticed. I’m not out, but I’m not in either, and that’s the sweet part. The bitter is the fact that I felt terrible and like death before coming out, and that was to an open, sweet, BISEXUAL friend. Imagine how I’m going to feel when I tell other people? When I tell my parents? God the thought makes me nauseated. I don’t know how you people that are out do it. I mean, I can’t even stomach the idea, but I’ll get around it some day. If you’re out, you are such a brave little muffin, and I’m proud of you. If you’re closeted, I’m still proud of you for figuring out who you are and for being brave for just being here, having to restrain yourself when you hear homophobic shit. If you’re questioning, you’re still brave for taking the step to figure out yourself, and I really hope you’re comfortable with yourself and you take all the time you need. 

Wow I’m a trainwreck. If you read from beginning to end, thank you you’re so sweet. I’ll keep updating this thread if I come out to someone else or if something happens. Writing makes me feel kind of liberated.

[popculturebuffet]

The Casagrandes Reviews: Operation Dad

In my first look at The Casagrandes, We meet Ronnie Anne and Bobby’s dad Arturo as Ronnie tries to get him to start working in the city to be closer to them.. and when a genuine honest appeal dosen’t work, shenanigans will have to do. Dad stuff under the cut. 

This is one i’ve had in the works since my labor day catchup binge of shows, but kept getting pushed back either due to regular coverage or specifically timed things like the bi visalblity day review of “What Was Missing.  And with Halloween next month, my time to cover this is running out a bit and I feel it’s a great place to start covering this show so, pitter patter.  The Casagrandes didn’t really hook me in at first: It did have two things going for it: An intresting premise A blended family coming together, with our heroine and her big bro being fish out of water in a new family situation. Wheras with the Loud House Lincoln, and by extension most of his sisters, is used to how his house runs, knows the score and knows how to manuvre around it, Ronnie Anne was being dropped into a new situation, with people she KNEW, but only likely from seeing them breifly. It’s one thing to see your cousin once or twice a year, as I did with mine at that age, it’s another to live with them. It had a lot of potential. The other thing was Bobby Santiago, Ronnie Anne’s brother, and one of my faviorite characters across both shows, an endlessly nice guy who while suffering from a terminal case of dumbass, is utterly likeable, helped by his VA Carlos PenaVega, with the spinoff and i’ts build up only fleshing him out more by giving him his job at the Mercado, and showing he has serious buisness acumen  in addition to his many other talents. 

But what made me wary was the lead: Ronnie Anne didn’t get the best intro on the loud house. You know this, I know this. We all know this. No sense beating around the bush: She was a bully, who had a crush on lincoln and masked it by pummeling him. And this was seen as okay by the show which isn’t as suprising in hindsight as Chris Savino clearly has messed up views about women and harassment, and is thankfully no longer part of this. She did get slightly better once she actually showed up, getting genuine chemstiry with Lincoln and being shown underneath the bully exteriror was a pretty nice kid who shared his intress. Granted it wasn’t perfect as the show madei t clear he was terrified of her, but it did at least also make it clear he no longer had a reason to be, and while she’d prank her boyfriend, or assits his sister during her dark time once a year in doing it, and if your wondering if i’m ever going to watch or cover the april fools episodes .. yeah i’m just waiting you know.. for april fools. 

My point is it was kinda mixed and their solution was to soften her up a bit but also act like she and LIncoln weren’t intrested in each other all of a sudden instead of you know, dealing with her past actions and having her make up for them. It was sloppy is what i’m saying and the character while not bad wasn’t in the best positoin to tkae the reigns of her own show. They did add some intresting depth with the move though, showing that Ronnie Anne and Bobby were often on their own, and that Maria moved them to the casagrande household simply because she felt her daughter would be happier NOT having to be the strong one or take care of herself all the time and actually have someone look out for her instead. It was a good emotional reason for hte move and both casagrandes showed up ocasoinally, mostly Bobbi whose still with Lori to this day as seen in the season 5 premiere.  It was an okay foundatoin but it would depend on what they did with her character.. and i’m glad to say.. they made it work. The show still has rough edges, mostly having the same problem ducktales and the loud house itself had during season 1 of juggling such a large cast: Most of them outside of Ronnie Anen and Bobby have only gotten 1 episode, and even then CJ feels underutlized despite being amazing, while the adults outside the grandparents feel underutlized.  Buuut the show is funny, intresting, has good pacing and unlike the loud house, having already learned that lesson, while Ronnie Anne does get more episodes than the rest of the family, it does feel more like an ensemble show and the focus on her feels less like the show not knowing what it has and more like easing the viewers into the rest of the cast by using her as a viewpoint.  Ronnie herself is better, the bully aspects gone. She can still take care of herself, and is still fairly indpentent and clever, but she’s got a sharp sense of humor and a clear love of her family and the fish out of water aspect I hoped for, while not used a ton, still comes up in intresting ways.  Overall i’d say the show is off to a good start.. and it has Melissa Joan Heart and Ken Jeong as a married couple and let’s Ken play a diffrent role for once: A dorky, kind dad instaed of any degree of lunatic. That being said given his character her’s last name is Chang, I can’t help but think this and community are in the same universe and that the Changs have just had to put up with whatever insane phase Senor Chang was going througha t the time every time he visted. I mean i’d love to hear Sid tell ronnie anne the time her uncle came over in a napoleon outfit and revaled he’d taken over his community college with the help of a bunch of children.  But i’m getting off topic, I gots an episdoe to cover and out of the ones I watched this felt both like a great re-introduction into the cast and was easily one fo the best with a great emotional core and great jokes and LOTS to dig into. So i’ve jawjacked enough, pitter pater. Again!

It’s with this episode we properly meet Arturo Santiago, Ronnie Anne and Bobby’s father, Maria’s ex, and owner of one hell of a beard. Ronnie mentioned him back in friended aka the pilot because fuck that airing structure but not the time or place for that moving on. 

We see he video chats his daughter once a day, though today she made hte mistake of doing so on a crowded subway while with her best friend and future wife Sid. NOW we can talk about Sid. Sid was introduced in Friended! over on the loud houd house as part of that mini arc I keep yelling about and will again and again. Sid is Ronnie Anne’s clyde: A best friend whose there as her sidekick, emotoinal support and resident goofus, being a bit of a weirdo and given i’m a giant ass weirdo, you can see why I like her/want to keep her safe from the nightmare that is at last half this fandom. Plus she and ronnie anne are adorable together and have more chemstiry than she and lincoln did.. thoguh the two do have OT3 energy together in his one episode, but that’s for another time. 

Anyways as Sid helps her rangle wifi by them by doing the mecha shiva we soon find out Arturo is coming home! Home lord he’s been off in Peru for too longggg. Point is Ronnie Anne is excited, Bobby is excited, everyone’s excited except for Hector who hates him.. and honestly I can see why the contrast. For everyone else, Arturo is a charming, friendly guy who genuinely loves his kids and only is away from them because he has a lot of important work to do and even with that is still an active part of their lives. Buuuut Hector likely sees it diffrently and is likely homing in more on the fact Arturo is barely there in person for his kids and left Maria to do all the raising them by herself, with her own demanding job.  It’s not a black and white situation is what i’m saying and.. I genuinely love that. It’s a complex thing to deal with: A parent who isn’t there for his kids but it’s hard to say if he’s being selfish or not. He’s not david from roseanne doing this so he can feel good about not wanting to deal with being a father or the death of his brother, Arturo genuinely just wants to help those who need him, even if he has to sacrifice a lot to do it.  Ronnie Anne naturally wants him to move here though and convince him during his visit, and her plan nicely shows off the duality of her charcter: She’s clever and can easily think things through, as his originzation has it’s home office in Great Lakes City so he could still help those in need, just more from the organizational end, as well as i’m assuming GLC’s own homeless and needy. But she also has an 11 year olds understading of complex issues and thus thinks the easiest way to convince him is to take him on a fun daddy daughter day that will make him love the city. Bobby is less optimistic about the plan though.. and that’s because he’s been through this with Arturo already. Granted his job for him was at weenier on a stick because it’s bobby, the boy is a peach of a human being but has the plkanning skills and common sense of a basset hound on qualudes.  He just sugest she enjoy the time. And this says a lot about BOBBY too: He’s used to his dad being out of his life, he’s probably been gone for most of it and while he loves him, he’s had ot get used to the fact he’s probably never going to be regularly in his life and while he understands why his sister’s trying this he wants to spare her the pain he went through. It’s interactions like this that to me show the series at it’s best and what it could be: deeper character interactions that really let the characters and voice cast shine, that still mix well with the usual nonsense.  Arturo arrives and everyone loves him.. and again it’s easy to see why: he’s kind, friendly and to the kids, he’s their cool uncle who lives in another country and as someone with one of those, It does feel neat. Hell he was my cool uncle when he just lived in chicago or seattle, but somehow he had to top those by moving to fricking ireland. So I get where they come from and really relate to it.. I mean I met mine in high school, my family tree is complicated, but still.  So while everyone but Hector is happily remeetinmg their uncle Maria shows up. And it’s awkward, the two not knowing how to greet each other, but it’s very obvious Maria and Arturo are on good terms, it’s just hard when theres so much history there.  Speaking of Maria let’s talk about her since this is one of her only scene’s this episode. Maria is one of my faviorites. She isn’t used a ton, but this is more excusable than it is with the Casagrande parents, as the whole point of Maria uprooting her kids to Great Lakes City was to give them company and someone to take care of them while Maria worked the long and varied hours of being a nurse. She’s a good parent, who just picked a rough career, and made the hard decision to uproot her kids, not for her sake, as it can’t be easy living with both your elderly parents, your sister and her husband not to mention 5 kids, a giant adorable pupper and an obnoxious parrot, but so they’d be happy.. which given Ronnie Anne went from having no friends and largely having to be the rock in the house, to having a sizeable friend group plus her cousins, as well as generally being happy while Bobby went from bouncing from job to job to running the family buisness and planning to expand it when he gets older. She’s a good gentle person who still makes time for her kids, and I wish we saw more of her with her spotlight episode, which was about Ronnie Anne trying to spend more time with her, being one of my faviorites so far. I also like the fact that for once in a cartoon a parent with a time sink of a career isn’t demonized for trying to put food on the table and rather than just quit or have a mean boss or the usual cliches, Maria just found a way her kids wouldn’t be alone. She’s awesome.  Ronnie Anne first tries showing him how great the city is with home cooking and a warm bed, but the first while nice is something he still gets, and the latter in a nice touch is just.. too soft for him. Ronnie meant well, but understadably he’s just not used to it and makes a cot under the stars instead.. he’s not trying to be ungreatful, he’s just sued to it. 

Anyways Ronnie indeed takes him on a montage, with some cab headbonks beacause why use an uber that’s cheeper and safer huh? Anyways our father and daughter do have a montage, and hector gets beaten up by a luchadore because this promotion apparently dosen’t get not to attack the crowd. They really need to stop booking that guy.

Ending on our article image, which is really sweet and a real beautiful shot, Ronnie Anne finally gets to her Ronnie Plan. First Arturo cycles through two diffrent assumptions about what she’s asking him about. He first thinks she’s about to tell him about a special boy or girl in his life, his exact words. He backspaces to include that. She says no which.. I guess okay you have other things in mind but you can’t put off him meeting Sid forever. That aside I do think it’s a good indication Ronnie Anne might be bi, and both her parents just easily accepted it which is great. I could be reading too much into this, and I probably am, but I’ve thought I was before on nickeodeon and look how legend of korra ended. 

The next is just hilarious as Arturo tries to let her down gently that he’s not getting back with maria which Ronnie Anne agrees with and was not remotely her point, but I do like as it shows their well and truly done, and it’s nice to see that sort of dynamic with a divorced couple in fiction where it’s not because of lingering sexual tension or anything, just that their apart but have kids to think about and presumibly the split was amicable if again still awkward. Finally Ronnie asks him.. but he gently refuses, since the people he helped need him as much as he wants to stay.. but part of what makes Arturo likeable, especially since he’s in the REALLY throny situation of not being in his kid’s lives in person despite having the opprountiy now, is that he genuinely tries to compromoise, saying he’ll try to up the calls to two a day, and he’ll visit more often. Ronnie Anne sadly and half heartdly says it’s fine and walks off.  So Ronnie Anne vents to that girlfriend she apparently dosen’t have that he cares more about her patients than him and Sid sidgests that part of that is simple: He dosen’t feel she and bobby need him since, as I pointed out earlier, their doing better than ever. So Ronnie Anne intitates a second Ronnie Plan: to convince him she’s a troubled youth and get him to stay and reasssmbles her cousins to help.  Before we move onto this plan that’s totally a good idea and not a borderline Zach Morris evil scheme, let’s talk about those cousins real quick. Quick fire: CJ is really great, a sweet kid and I wish they’d use him more and generally do nto get why they don’t, Carlota is fine but not all that defined at this point but Alexa PenaVega tries.. and why yes it is kinda weird Carlos PenaVega’s wife and the former star of spy kids is playing his sister. And Carl.. I don’t likes him. I just don’t. He did give me a really good episode, which we’ll be covering next month, but he’s just a little asshole with out the charm of fellow little asshole Louie Duck, who alsos cams people but actually gets consqeunces more often. 

That quickfire done Carl does a forgery which depsite me being eh on him, clearly, is a funny bit, to make Ronnie Anne look like she’s failing, but that fails as you’d expect when he can help her with that from Peru.  So it’s on to the actual plan: Which really boils down to this. 

I mean.. that’s essentially the plan convince him she’s running with a dangerous crowd and is breaking bad, dressing up in punk clothes and making a scene at breakfast. She also gets a really neat new haircut, similar to luna’s but spiky which.. why isn’t this her normal hair? and why dosen’t she at least keep the cool leather jacket? I always get annoyed when a character’s temporary costume change is even better than their default design and htey fail to realize it but whatever.  IT starts to work a little but clearly a breakfast tauntrum won’t be enough so Ronnie Anne enlists Sid.. who is frightend,d osen’t recognize her and dosen’t want to get shoved into a locker. .. who hurt you.. tell me.. I have a box to deliver. Just let me pop a quick H on there real quick. 

Anyways, once Sid realizes “Oh that’s not a bully come to shove me in a locker that’s just my girlfriend in the middle of a zack morris grade elabroate manipulative scheme”, which happens once a week their fine, she comes up with one last plan: Have her friends, who are neat but need more filling out, dress up like punks bullying her friend sameer.  This plan.. makes no sense. For one she was already a bully back home.. granted it was because she liked the kid, which no just no, but it’s heavily implied she did the same to the rest of the lincrew too. .which aside from Rusty isn’t a good look. I mean his face is punchable and he mocked hte idea of them being together despite next season hitting on Lincoln’s sisters, there’s a 1:1 chance he hit on her and she shoved him in a locker as is the natural response to anyone getting asked out by that goober. No matter how hard the show tries to pretend that didn’t happen it did. If her bullying kids didn’t get him to move home back in royal woods it won’t work now. 

So they had behind the fish market for their plan, Arturo is directed there.. and sees through it. I mean she’s probably sent him pictures of her friends, he knows who they are and no amount of costumes is going to fix that. I mean you really only changed Nikki’s hair. Why not just have a dance fight. i’m legitly asking dance fights are rad and this reminds me of the venture bros episode where hank, to impress his date, has billy and white pretend to be a street gang to impress his date. Just do that for sid instead of trying to gaslight your dad into staying.  But no while he pulls her into the car, Arturo knows this was a stunt and asks why. When Ronnie Anne tearfully reveals she just wanted him to stay.. he hugs his child.. and agrees. He realizes that if she’s willing to go to these lengths to get him to stay, she must REALLY miss her papa. So he plans to call the office to transfer.  But then while helping her dad unpack, Ronnie Anne finds something and we get another emotional scene: Ronnie Anne finds the letters he got from the various kids he’s helped, and is moved to tears. Props to Izabella Alvarez for her performance here as she reads the letter and realizes just what her dad’s work does ,and why it means so much to him. He truly helps those who need it and she decides she can’t take that awy from it: Sure her dad won’t be around.. but other kids need her dad more. She has a big family, she misses her dad.. but she can live without her dad. They need a doctor. 

So Arutro heads out with a tearful goodbye and Ronnie Anne leaves him a scrapbook of their time together. We then cut to the Santiago sibs playing cards, and being sad about their dad and all that.. when Arturo calls.. and then shows up in person. He took the Headquarters job after all, though a close friend of his we met earlier in the episode but I ddin’t mention will be taking over in Peru, and from earlier clearly wanted to get back out in the field, so it all works out. And it’s a nice character moment; Arturo realizes while his work is important, and as mentioned he does make sure a compient replacment will continue it.. his family can be too and it’s okay to think of himself and them for once. As I said he’ll still be able to help just in a diffrent way and there are probably needy kids who need him here too, if not in the same ways obviously as a doctors without borders type project. So eveyrone shares a group hug and even Hector bursts into tears. And Maria comes in wondering what she missed whiel Sergio asks who wants to tell her. oh sergio.. why didn’t you stay away when you ran away in a future episode.  Final Thoughts: Not much more to say. It’s a well done episode with high emotinal stakes, great acting and some great jokes I didn’t get to, and while the plot of “Make absent parent stay by pretending things are bad’ isn’t new, it’s done well enough here. Overall just a really good episode that shows what this show can do and why it’s unique family setup makes for intresting stories a lot of shows can’t tell, and validates this spinoffs existnace. The episode also really fleshes out Ronnie Anne’s character, and givne Arutro’s been gone since the divorce if not longer, it’s resonable to supsect her earlier bullying might have been lashing out at her parents divorce. It’s just good stuff. Keep an eye peeeld to this blog for my regular loud house and ducktales coverage , and some more casagrandes this october. ANd until then, Go Team Venture!

[lunaleetarot]

Aquarius 2021 Year Ahead Birthday Spread

Starting from the top clockwise, theme in the middle.

1. January 2021-  The Moon- There will be some sort of deception going on under your nose. However it won’t be presented to you this month, but it will be in the near future. Keep in mind this card will make an appearance if you think the worst of your friends and family when in reality they are devoted to you. If you insist you're seeing some red flags, just make a mental note of it until you know more. Playing Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys won’t help you here, you won’t know the whole story until the universe is ready for you to. This card is one of affairs, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s happening in your situation. If it is happening, your partner may be harboring some secrets. If you are the one concealing an affair, even if it seems like your partner is none the wiser for now, they will catch on soon. Someone in your social circle may not want what’s best for you. Perhaps they are growing sick of some negative personality trait or they covet something you have. It’s very possible with this card that you're trying to fool your friends. Perhaps you act nice to their face than gossip about their business all over town? Other than the obvious transgressions mentioned here there isn’t much you can do at this time. If you're not cheating on your partner or selling out your friends then bide your time. You will know the truth soon- and for most it’s not as bad as you think. Avoid dangerous situations and bad energy. You may be dealing with a Pisces here. 

2. February 2021-Ten of Wands- As February approaches so will many burdens. You have a lot of work ahead of you, Aquarius. You’re going to have to put in a lot more work this month than you have been currently. As the month progresses you're going to have to decide if you're going to crack down and put the work in or quit. This card isn’t advising you to take either course of action. It’s just a warning that this will be much more difficult than you originally thought. You will have a lot on your plate. You will be juggling work, family, and other aspects of your life. When you finally rest your head at night, all you do is think about all the tasks ahead of you the next day. To say you’re overwhelmed would be an understatement! Making time to take care of yourself will be key here. Stress-related illness can crop up when this card appears. This card is often present with new parents. This won’t apply to all of you, but caring for a newborn is very exhausting. Childbirth and pregnancy can be predicted here. Sleepless nights caring for a baby could be getting to you. Although it may feel like the end is nowhere in sight, if you keep trying a good ending will be in your future. You may be dealing with a Sagittarius here.

3. March 2021-Queen of Cups- You have a loyal female in your life with strong intuition. She’s sympathetic towards those she loves. This could be your own energy or a female who is close to you like your mother, sister or wife. This person puts others before herself. No matter what she has their back. Sometimes this can be a negative when you're looking at a situation with rose colored glasses. This card can also mean you need to take on the traits of this person. You may not be thinking of the other’s point of view or you're just being down right selfish. You should aspire to be more like the Queen of Cups. How can you be more understanding of other people’s feelings? You may be dealing with someone born on the Gemini-Cancer cusp (June 19-24).

4. April 2021- Ace of Wands- This card is all about creation, so I feel your April will be as well. During this time you will create something that will have a lasting impact. This means a life changing event will take place for you at this time, a child, a new job or something of that nature. However this could be as simple as a new hobby. Your creativity will be directed at your work. You will have new insights that will get you further ahead. This will be an exhilarating time for you. New opportunities and excitement will abound! You may begin a new relationship where there is an amazing spark. This card also represents the birth of a male baby, but that won’t be true for all of you. You’ll be a bit of a thrill seeker this month. Keep in mind this is only the beginning not the end.

5. May 2021- Seven of Wands- This card can symbolize fights. Someone will go out of their way to argue with you and create huge problems for you. There’s someone in your life you will not see eye to eye with. This is most likely someone you care for very deeply. However this person will not respect you or the way you do things. It may be a jealous competitor going out of their way to attack your character. This person wants what you have, and they are willing to trash talk you to get it. This person wants to steal your thunder. You may not know who this person is yet. It’s possible it could be someone on social media. You have the advantage in the long term here though, Aquarius. Clearly you have a lot of your life for others to covet. You have a stronger character than this person. I feel like you're going to come out on top here. You may be dealing with a Leo here.

6. June 2021-The Tower- Destruction will come into your life in the month of June. Everything you believe in is now being questioned. It will feel like your life is falling apart. A bumpy road lies ahead for you. This will be a life-changing month for you. Divorce, death, bankruptcy, infidelity, and serious illness. After the tower moment strikes, you will be left to rebuild your life. This event will appear out of the blue. It will seem like your life is crumbling apart. This will be something you did not expect and will not be prepared for. It could be something as simple as a drastic change in mindset. This will shock the people you're close to because they are used to how you used to be. Don’t be controversial just for the sake of rebellion. This will not be well received. This could also be related to a house fire or a flood. It can also indicate time spent incarcerated, as this is a legal card. Although this is one of the worst cards of the tarot, once this event is over you will be able to rebuild your life. You will become stronger than you have ever been in your life.

7. July 2021-Nine of Wands- This card symbolizes injury. As summer heats up, you're going to feel like just giving up. You feel as though there’s no ending in sight. You have a lot of work ahead of you before you can leave the situation you are in. Small setbacks are going to start piling up and irritate you. To be frank, it’s going to feel like a huge pain in the butt. You may have a fall out with a friend. To make matters worse, you won’t know where you stand with them and how you should act from here on out. If you're after an ambitious endeavor, it’s going to take a lot longer to achieve than you think it will. It will seem as if everything is standing in your way and nothing is going right for you. As mentioned above this card can represent injury and illness. In the age of Covid- now is the time to be especially cautious. You need to take extra precautions at this time. You may be in a lot of emotional pain. You could be carrying a lot of emotional baggage or carrying resentment from past relationships. You may be dealing with a Sagittarius here.

8. August 2021- Queen of Swords- With the queen of swords for the month of August, the blazing sun will be the least of your worries. There will be a female overly involved in your life who loves drama and conflict. You may already know who this person is. She just wants to know the news of your life, she does not actually care about you as a person. Beware because this month she will be more present than before. This is a period of your year where you are going to feel very lonely. If none of this applies to you, it’s possible you need to adapt the queen of swords mentality. This person is very direct and to the point. Even if she comes across as sort of a, well, bitch- at least others know where they stand with her. She tells it like it is. You may need to stand on your own two feet here and stop relying on others. You may be dealing with someone born on the Virgo-Libra cusp (September 19-24).

9. September 2021- Knight of Wands- You will be making some sort of movement or traveling this month. This card represents a fast-paced friendly individual. Something is about to enter and exit your life quite dramatically. Although you have a younger person’s enthusiasm, you still have the maturity that it takes to get the job done. You’re ready to dive in and make your dreams a reality. If this doesn’t resonate with you, it could be someone new that has entered your life. As mentioned above don’t get too close to them, because they probably won’t be around for very long. This person is a go-getter, they won’t let anyone get in the way of their aspirations. This card also means you will have a change of residence. You or someone close to you will be moving. You may be dealing with someone born on the Scorpio-Sagittarius cusp (November 19-24).

10. October 2021-Queen of Wands- You will surround yourself with a friendly individual who loves animals. You could be the person with this energy, or it’s another person in your life. This is most likely an important woman in your life. If this isn’t you or your lover- the person this energy is representing will have a lot of say in your life this month. This person wants to move further in her career. Since she has this energy she will likely be promoted to a leadership role in her company. This person is a good friend or ally. Although this person likes to be the boss, she takes other people's feelings into consideration before she makes decisions. She tries her best to treat everyone fairly. If you have the ability now would be a good time to take a trip to the zoo or be around animals. Even taking a walk off the beaten path could be very beneficial to you. Beware sometimes the Queen of Swords can stand between you and what you want. You may be dealing with someone born on the Pisces-Aries cusp (March 19-24).

11. November 2021-Temperance- This month is going to be quite boring- in the best way possible. You will achieve contentment in all areas of your life, and a healing process will begin. In some cases contentment is better than happiness. Happiness can oscillate back and forth, but contentment is much calmer. You’re not going to be bombarded with surprises. You will find comfort in knowing what is going to happen next. This is a nice quiet period after the year you’ve had. You will finally have time to breathe. If this doesn’t resonate with you, it could mean you need to find balance in your life. You need to manage your time better. If this is the case the Temperance card is telling you that you need to take control of the situation. This is a guardian angel card, someone is watching over you at this time, Aquarius.  You may be dealing with a Sagittarius again here.

12. December 2021- Ace of Cups- As we move into December, we see the ace of cups which usually means a sweet and pure love! I believe this could mean the start of a new relationship for you! So expect your love life to be of interest to you this month. However this may not be a long term relationship, but enjoy it while it lasts. This is also a pregnancy card. Specifically the birth of a female child. If this doesn’t apply to you it could be your mother, sister, or someone close to you. This card can also mean a new beginning after a tragic ending. This card also means you will have a lot of dinner dates with friends and family. Hopefully we won’t have to socially distance anymore by then!

13. Theme of the Year- Page of Cups- There are a lot of wands present, and a lot of Sagittarius cards drawn. I feel like you may be dealing with a few people or one person of this sign frequently in your upcoming year. This year a message is coming to you. This is a card of emotional immaturity. There is someone in your life who is soft and sensitive. Although this person lacks maturity they crave love, attention and care. This could be you or someone around you. This person is going to be sensitive. With the nature of the rest of this reading I take this as a mixed bag. This sensitivity is probably coming from a good place, but I don’t think it will stop anyone from seeing this behavior as annoying. This is all about emotions and love, but you will act childish in your pursuit of these things. The behavior will be moody, silly and selfish. This person will act a lot younger than their age. This is most likely a day dreamer. They prefer to think about things rather than doing them. This card can also mean an admirer has their eye set on you. If you are single and reading this it’s a good sign. However with three queens in your spread there may be lies and deception in your life this year (March, August and October especially). This can indicate gossip and infidelity. If it is infidelity the people around you will know about it before you do. The loss of a job due to slander, or you can lose career opportunities due to high school like behavior at the office.

[multimetaverse]

HSMTMTS 1x02 Review

The Read-Through was a great ep that surpassed the already high bar set by the premiere. Let’s dig in!

I had read about it in reviews but wow that Ashlyn and Nini duet was amazing. Julia Lester has a very powerful voice. It really was a wise decision for to show to film the kids singing live as much as possible

‘Wondering’ the song really highlights that although the show knows how to poke fun at itself and the movies, it is a deeply earnest show. It’s hilarious that Miss Jenn decides that the drama teacher of all characters needs a power ballad and of course Ms. Darbus herself was never a very important character in the movies but rather than play the whole situation for laughs they actually deliver a really moving song that gives a lot of depth to the role of Ms. Darbus in the musical and ties in beautifully with Nini’s conflicting feelings regarding Ricky

I’m pleasantly surprised at how they’re already giving Ashlyn some depth. I wasn’t sure if I’d like her that much based off of the little we knew of her before the show premiered but she really brings a lot to the table. I’m very glad they’re not going the cliche route of EJ is embarrassed to be seen publicly with his weird cousin. I like the little touches we get with her like her wearing her grandma’s glasses and her over exuberance at the read through. I’m curious to learn more about her and EJ’s families because although they’re cousins they are very different people

A really strong ep for Ricky and one that sure’s to please Nicky shippers. Dousing himself in cologne because he thinks the ‘pheromones’ in it will please Nini was such a teen boy thing to do (and loved the brand name throb). It’s good that Nini called him out for not taking the musical very seriously, for having auditioned just so he could be close to her, and for not being able to commit to things. He really needed that wake up call and it led to some good character growth when he buckles down and learns the choreography which was a funny scene and it reminded me of Phil Dunphy doing the same thing on Modern Family

Strong work by both Joshua Bassett and the writers with the glimpses we get of Ricky’s home life. It was a sad but realistic detail when Ricky didn’t want Big Red over because of how tense things have been at home. And I liked that Mr. Bowen sat down and watched Ricky practice rather than just going back to bed or berating him. I’m sure Ricky’s mom isn’t trying to hurt Ricky by staying in Chicago but just ghosting her family like this is only delaying the inevitable conversation she’’s going to need to have with her husband and Ricky

So far the show is doing a good job of balancing angst and drama and romantic moments for Nicky. Nini was clearly impressed by seeing Ricky performing the choreography in the library and she then avoided EJ on her way out. She definitely had a bit of a moment when she made eye contact with Ricky during Wondering and again she avoided telling EJ what was up. Kourtney bluntly asked her if she really wanted to be with EJ and Nini’s answer didn’t sound all that convincing. I don’t blame her for being torn, she and Ricky had gone out for a while and it was only a little more than 6 weeks ago in universe that she told Ricky she loved him

The show took a big step towards making Nini’s choice easier by somewhat villainizing EJ. I’m glad that Ashlyn correctly called him out for being scary and for pointing out that he doesn’t own Nini. Him saying that he wanted to stay with Nini because she made him a better person right after asking Ashlyn to steal her phone so he could read her messages sure was something

It’s true that as Ashlyn said EJ is being paranoid but as the old saying goes, just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean that they’re not out to get you. Ricky really is trying to win Nini back and breakup her and EJ and Nini really does still have some level of feelings for Ricky. That of course doesn’t justify his bad actions but the motivation for his jealousy and insecurity are there. And we also get an important line from Ashlyn about how EJ could stand to not always get what he wants. He clearly expected to win the lead and be with Nini for a long time only to have Ricky waltz in at the last moment and pull out the rug from under him

 In a way I’m glad that they’re starting to unravel NJ now because that will ultimately make things less messy when the show starts guiding Nicky back together. As I’ve said before, love triangles usually devolve into someone cheating on their significant other in some fashion and the less emotional cheating we get on this show the better imo

Miss Jenn continues to be a G rated April Rhodes and I’m here for it. It’s wildly inappropriate for her to basically nudge Nini and Ricky back together because it will help the show and she believes in their chemistry but it’s exactly the kind of stuff she needs to be doing in her role as an agent of chaos. Her going hard with the solo during the read through and making such a big deal out of Gabriella’s 2006 phone was too funny. We got another phone call with her mom about money problems, we’ll see what comes of it.

Gina made a big splash this ep. I liked that her plot involved convincing Ricky to stay as an indirect way to get Nini out of the way, that was clever of her. We get a little glimpse of how being a transfer student and her desire to make a place for herself colours her actions and we get to see how observant she is. She went full on villain at the end though when she took Nini’s phone and put it in EJ’s bag. Gina has no way of knowing if there actually is anything on Nini’s phone regarding her and Ricky but she’s clearly picked up on the spark that’s still there between them. EJ would be a fool to work with her because they are not in fact after the same thing; EJ wants to be the Troy to Nini’s Gabriella but Gina wants to be Gabriella in place of Nini and I doubt she cares who plays Troy. Those are mutually exclusive goals right there

Good ep for Big Red as well, his cult line was funny and his awful readings of the stage directions was hilarious. He continues to be a steadfast friend for Ricky, they’ve got a good bromance going on

A pretty funny ep all around, lots of great lines. I think my favourite is the exchange between Miss Jenn and EJ where she said he was lurking and he says he was going for loitering

Not quite sure what to make of Carlos thinking that Ricky was going to assault him in the library. I did like the start of a possible friendship we see between him and Ricky. Seb gets some lines and we learn he’s a piano playing farm boy with milking glasses and he’s a sophomore like Carlos. It will be interesting to see when they start something with Seblos and how far that relationship will go this season. Seb is in all 10 eps this season if Joe Serafini’s imdb is accurate which puts him above all the other guest stars

It wasn’t romantic of course but just seeing a bunch of guys holding hands with guys and girls holding hands with girls really shows how much further HSMTMTS will be able to go than Andi Mack was. There’s just no way a mass hand holding scene like this would ever have been allowed to happen on Andi Mack. And the casual way Nini referred to one of her moms sending her fortune cookie sayings in a regular ep instead of one of the two or three designated textual gay eps per season that Andi Mack was allowed was refreshing 

I really liked the skate park and shooting at an actual high school continues to pay off for the show

Looking Ahead:

It’s looks like most of the clips we’ve seen on various trailers came from the first two eps so we’re in largely uncharted waters going forward. Hopefully someone uploads the next ep promo

We know EJ has an apology song coming up so he likely gets caught sooner rather than later and I wonder if Gina gets exposed with him or if her breakdown scene we saw in the promo relates to something else

Until next week wildcats

[carmintros]

@ariwalters     /      ❛   ｡   ✩   ﾟ my eyes are probably playing tricks on me again, but is that really  awsten knight? oh, wait, it’s just  adrian “ari” lance walters. yes, that  twenty-four  year old  drummer, who i am pretty sure is a  visitor. according to the talk of the town, he is incredibly  flighty & unpredictable, yet undeniably  outgoing & adventurous. that is precisely why  a playground at dawn, a carnival ride that just keeps spinning, chasing waves on a beach, laughing until you cry & jackson pollock paintings  remind me of them so much, but then again you know what they say about  leos, we’ll see how that one turns out !   penned by kit  /  mst & they / them

car crash tw, ptsd tw, alcoholism tw

Ari Walters

Age: 24

Gender: Non-binary, he/him

[Between the Bars] - “Haha, not totally sure why this one comes to mind but like everyone says it’s like me with alcohol and stuff but I don’t really see it, I think I’m fine.”

D.O.B: August 15, 1995

Why the name Ari?

“Oh! I was named after my dad ‘cept he was always called Adrian so they called me Ari so no one got confused or anything!! It always worked really good too!”

Ethnicity: white

Relationship Status: In multiple relationships “I fall a little in love with everyone, I think, because everyone is beautiful and wonderful. I’m kind of the classic definition of poly, lol. People underestimate how much communication that takes though!”

Sexual Orientation: pan “Like I said, I fall in love with everyone! I can’t help it, haven’t you ever watched someone go about their life and you can just tell if they’re gentle or rough, if they need love or if they’re loved, et cetera? I love it and I love them.”

Appearance:

Height: 5’7

Ari resembles a puppy with ADHD. He is constantly moving, constantly engaged with the world and constantly interacting with everyone around him. He has to be active. If he sits still he might fall asleep and he still gets nightmares of the wreck.

His signature ‘thing’ has been his dyed hair for years. He doesn’t think he would recognize himself without it at this point. He thought about dying it back to brown for April Fools day one year but realized it’s been so long since seeing his real hair that he didn’t remember what color to get to match his roots.

Ari has an almost compulsive seeming need to be the most colorful person in any space he’s in. He wants to stand out and he does so by being a walking color wheel. Strangely, he manages to make his outfits cohesive.

You can’t get too close to Ari without noticing how tired he always looks. His eyes are always a little swollen and bloodshot and his skin has the uncomfortable thin appearance of someone much older or much sicker than him. If he’s asked about it he jokes that he’s just ugly (though most people would agree he is anything but ugly).

History:

Ari can split his life into a perfect before and after the wreck.

Before. Ari had a perfectly wonderful childhood. He was loved and taken care of in his historical Boston home. His dad taught Marine Biology at Harvard, his mom was the perfect socialite and Ari and his sisters were happy

His days consisted of school and drawing and going to the beach with his dad to learn about the animals. If Ari was to assign an emotion to that period of his life it would be love. If he had to assign a color it would be pink.

His life before was like something from a 50s sitcom. It was perfect. He knows rationally that he’s seeing through rosy lenses. He thinks he remembers his dad having an affair. He knows his sister and he argued a lot and he was such a mischievous child it kept him in trouble a lot of the time. He knows this. But it feels different. It feels idyllic compared to after.

His entire world shattered when he was 13. His family shouldn’t have even been out. If only he hadn’t argued with his sister. If only he had just set the table then maybe his dad wouldn’t have suggested eating out. Maybe if his mom and little sister had been home instead of in California they could have told his dad no, it wasn’t their day for eating out and they would all be fine eating at the house. Maybe if his sister hadn’t forgotten her phone and made them turn back so she could retrieve it because she was so scared of missing a text from her boyfriend.

Maybe….

Maybe they wouldn’t have been crossing the intersection when the other driver plowed through it. Maybe they wouldn’t have spun out and hit another car. Maybe his dad and his sister and the little boy from the other car and the driver who caused it all would still be alive. Maybe…

After. Ari doesn’t remember the crash itself. He doesn’t remember seeing his father’s body crushed against the interior of their car even though he’s since been told he was trying to pull him out. He doesn’t remember his sister’s glassy, dead stare though he was told he screamed at her to wake up. He doesn’t remember the ambulance ride but he’s told he fought the paramedics to try to get to his family.

He doesn’t remember getting to the hospital and being admitted.

He only starts remembering sitting in that big hospital room alone for what felt like hours (he knows now that it was only a few minutes at a time) while nurses bustled past the door outside trying to focus on the lives that were at risk after the crash. Even still, the evening comes in flashes. A teary eyed woman with a heavy accent telling him his mom would be there soon and rubbing his back. A doctor, young and frazzled, bursting into his room to tell the cops to leave and stop asking him about it. The smell of oil and burning metal seared so strongly into his skin it made his head hurt.

He remembers the funeral. Closed casket, both buried at the same time. He remembers packing up the house and selling it and moving to New York. He doesn’t think he felt real during that time. He kept waiting to wake up and find out it was just a terrible dream. Part of him still hopes he wakes up.

–

His mom didn’t try to neglect his mental health when they moved. Despite having help from family she still had to take on two jobs, she had two children to raise alone and she had just lost her husband and little girl. It was hard to be everything Ari needed her to be too.

She did her best. He was sent to a mental health clinic and given regular therapy sessions for a while where he was diagnosed with PTSD and a trauma based phobia regarding riding in cars.

She put him in music lessons to give him an outlet. She enrolled him in an arts high school so he could find similarly minded creative young people and hopefully make friends in their new city.

It didn’t really work. You can’t throw a shattered kid back into society and expect them not to drown. And Ari drowned.

When he was almost 15 he tasted alcohol for the first time at a sleepover. The idea of it had fascinated him since the wreck. How could one liquid be so influential that it would lead you to kill other people? What did it feel like to slip into a haze that strong.

His first sip was revolting. It burned on the way down and he was convinced he could still feel it burning his stomach. He almost put the bottle up and gave up on learning its allure. Something about it still called to be explored and who was Ari to say no?

He snuck the bottle into his bag and drank a little more the next day after school. Just enough to feel warm again and for his brain to quiet and center just a little bit more.

The alcohol made everything better. He felt more human again when he was tipsy. It didn’t take long for Ari to begin to crave it just to function. He started stealing it from his mom’s cabinet and then from the sweet old lady who paid him to take her groceries upstairs. When he was caught stealing from them he started trying to steal it from stores.

He was caught right away, of course, but not by an employee. Instead he was caught by a tall, average looking man in his early 30s. The man, who Ari soon learned was named Sean, offered to buy the alcohol for Ari and invited Ari over to drink with his girlfriend Eliana. Ari agreed immediately.

That night he lost his virginity to the pair. The two adults offered to keep Ari’s alcohol supply always filled so long as he continued to sleep with them. Ari instantly agreed.

—-

After he started drinking he somehow managed to pull his grades up. He felt real when he was drunk. He felt functional. He could do his coursework and practice the drums and paint and even explore New York. He quickly fell in love with the city and learned how to navigate his borough on his skateboard. He learned what buildings he could sneak into and hookup with classmates in without being caught, all the best places for graffiti and where the coolest homeless people hung out.

As Ari progressed through his teenage years his ‘adventures’ got crazier. He broke into the zoo ones and barely escaped getting caught. He hitchhiked out of the city and spent a weekend far upstate before calling his mom from a payphone and getting her to pick him up. He smuggled paint into his homeroom and painted an abstract mural on the teacher’s desk.

Not everything was illegal. He once snuck into an early morning wholesale flower market and convinced a florist to buy him enough white roses to leave one on every grave in The Cathedral Basilica of St. James cemetery and even convinced some of his friends to help him distribute them. He raised money once and bought everyone at his school pizza for lunch so “the lunch people get a day off.”

When he was asked to play drums for a new band that was forming he had to say yes. It was just a chance at another adventure.

—-

He never expected them to get as famous as they did. He figured they would disband rapidly and he could go to college for marine biology. Like his dad. Obviously, that didn’t happen.

Miraculously for all of Ari’s adventures and alcoholism he didn’t have any major scandals during the bands active time. He left that for Jae.

Instead he tried to fly under the radar. He didn’t want anyone picking up on his issues. He maintained his alcoholism, adventured in the cities they toured through and focused on art when they weren’t making music.

—

Slowly he began to tire of not remembering as much of his life as he wanted to. People Ari had no memory of would come up to him as though they knew him. He got an STI without even knowing who it was from. He woke up in places he had never seen before. He destroyed things in his house and drove people away.

The catalyst came just before the band was put on hiatus and he was approached by an ex. Apparently during a drunken escapade he hadn’t used protection and had gotten the girl pregnant a few years ago. She’d had the baby and suddenly he was being asked if he wanted to be a father. He didn’t, of course, but he also didn’t want this to ever happen again.

Ari used the move to California as a chance to change everything. He swore he was going sober and wouldn’t return to the lifestyle he’d had before.

—

Now, freshly sober in California, he’s trying to figure out how to balance his new life. He’s still adventuring but it looks different without drinking. He isn’t sure if he likes it or not.

Personality -

“Ari is a rollercoaster. It could get exhausting except you don’t see him that often since he’s dating half the town at any given time. But he’s a blast anyway, especially when he’s sober enough to know up from down. You will have the most wild dates with him but you’ll have the time of your life. He rented a barn once and hired a band so we could have a ‘good old fashioned barn dance’ because he’d just seen one in a movie. It was insane. Best date of my life. That’s why it’s such a shame that he drinks so much. When he’s sober or only tipsy he’s amazing but the more drunk he gets the more the shine wears away. We actually broke up because he punched a hole through a mirror once and cried that he hated how he looked. I just… couldn’t do that. I hate it but I couldn’t.” Jessica B, ex-girlfriend.

Ari is the pinnacle of a yes-man. He agrees to almost everything so long as no one is hurt and he seems very morally grey. So long as no one gets hurt he’s down to try anything. He is high energy and always seems super cheerful. Ari is the kind of person who draws others to him just by how cheery and upbeat he is.

Ari is a romantic at heart. He says he falls in love with everyone and it honestly feels true. He sees something beautiful in everyone he meets and so he always dates multiple people at a time. It helps that he needs company all the time or the negative emotions he’s pushed away since he was a teenager begin to come creeping up.

He can never let that creep up. When it does it overwhelms him and he feels as scared and as lost as he did the entire year following the crash. He doesn’t talk about those emotions and he definitely doesn’t acknowledge that anything is wrong even when it’s exhausting to keep the smile. He doesn’t want to validate them and make them real. Ari will do anything to keep himself from ever feeling that sad and broken again.

It’s part of why he’s such an adrenaline junkie. His thrill seeking is one of the things he’s most known for in his fame. He has an adventure list a mile wide with everything from “Show up at an airport and take the next flight wherever it goes” to “scattering change along the city streets for people to find.”

Hobbies:

Art. Ari loves abstractivism and unconventional art. One of his projects that he was working on before coming to Carmel was saving every bottle from every drink he had over the course of a year so he could display it as a piece. He wasn’t sure about the title for it yet.

Exploring

Going on dates and adventures

He really wants to get a normal job because he thinks it would be hilarious to, say, work at a deli or diner because he’s technically a rock star.

Health:

Ari has PTSD. He doesn’t acknowledge it but it definitely impacts his ability to exist normally. He’s terrified of cars (he still doesn’t drive but he claims it’s because he would rather just skateboard everywhere) and he acts more recklessly to try to distract from it.

Physically he’s actually pretty healthy (aside from his chronic exhaustion). He eats well and works out, now that he’s quit drinking (besides a few relapses here and there) he is largely a super healthy individual.

wanted connections

Partners!!!! Ari is pan and poly so he is down for however many partners he has at any given time. He loves going on dates and hooking up. The more the merrier as far as he’s concerned, too!

Baby-mama. Ari found out he got someone pregnant and it was the largest catalyst for sobriety. They have a rocky relationship regarding the child because Ari really doesn’t feel ready to be a dad but I’m open to if they’re civil or uncivil outside of that.

Confidant. Everyone needs someone they can trust. Even Ari, who’s close relationships never seem to get past sleeping together and casual dating. This can be a friend, a friend of a friend or even someone he’s sleeping with.

[modestmuses-a]

5, 6, 11, 18, 21, 23, 26, 30, 34, 35, 43, 50 - ekko

//CAS I ALREADY DON’T SHUT UP ABOUT THIS BOY AS IT IS.  WHY WOULD YOU ENCOURAGE ME AND SUBJECT MY FOLLOWERS TO THIS??  i’m gonna have to fuckin readmore this for length because Christ…

Unusual Headcanons | accepting

5. How many blankets / pillows do they like to have on their bed?

One of each.  When it’s exceptionally warm out, you can nix the blanket.  Although, “blanket” is kind of a strong word for it.  It’s really more of a threadbare rag at this point.  When it gets cold out, he does think, “Hm, I better replace this,” but then he immediately forgets about it upon waking up and getting on with his day.

6. What do they normally dream about?  Nightmares or nonsense?

Thanks to time travel fucking with his circadian rhythm, it’s very rare for Ekko to get any more than three or four hours of sleep at a time.  More on that here.

But his terrible non-existent sleeping patterns, coupled with a whole host of repressed negative emotions that he hasn’t properly worked through because he doesn’t want to burden anyone with his problems, mean his nightmares are frequent and severe.  Usually of the ridiculously gory variety.  His nightmares typically end with him dying in some over-the-top, Final-Destination-esque way.

(Speaking of, my favorite death from those movies is from the third one, where the girl stumbles backwards into a nail gun and takes several nails through the back of her skull right out the front of her face.)

If you were to watch them, like, as a horror movie, some of them might be laughable.  (If you’re into that sort of thing.)  And indeed, he does try to laugh some of them off, although whether it’s genuine laughter or him trying to put on a brave face and again refusing to acknowledge that he’s got Issues is up for debate.

11. Bar soap or liquid?  Do they like loofahs?

Bar soap.  No loofahs.

18. Do they prefer cats or dogs?  Or neither?

Ekko doesn’t really have a preference!  He’ll drop scraps down to stray animals when he has the scraps to spare, and he’s made a number of furry friends of both species this way.  Sometimes, you’ll just see random animals tailing him as he walks through the city, ‘cause they’re hoping to get more food out of him.  He feels guilty when he doesn’t have anything to give them.

21. Did they have any fears growing up that they’ve since conquered?

Ekko used to be afraid of trees when he was younger and would always hold his breath when he walked by the cultivair.  This is because he heard a story about a man who accidentally inhaled a tree seed and ended up growing a tree in his lung.  He now knows that it’s ridiculous to be afraid of trees for that reason since the odds of it happening to him are infinitesimally small, but he’ll still tell people the story of Ol’ Tree Lung whenever they pass the cultivair, regardless of how many times his present company has heard it before.  Most of his friends are sick to death of Ol’ Tree Lung by now.

23. How do they show fear?  Sweating, shaking, blankness, anger, etc?

Ekko shakes something fierce when he gets scared.  He also starts stammering and messing up sentences on account of his brain working much faster than his mouth.  He’ll start a sentence and not finish it.  Tries to restart the sentence slightly different this time and doesn’t finish that one either.  Starts a sentence, cuts it off, starts a different sentence about a completely different thought, loses track of that one, too.

desperately tries not to cry

26. What are they most passionate about?  What could they debate about for hours?

Ekko is passionate about… eating the rich.  When are we bringing back the guillotine again?? kfhdgkdf

No, but seriously, Ekko is pretty adamant about “Capitalism sucks” and believes that the best use of wealth is providing for those less fortunate than you.  He doesn’t have a lot, but he’s always using what he does have to help the Lost Children and his parents first and himself second.  He sees people living these lives of luxury, and it makes him sick ‘cause he’s just like… *gestures @ starving orphans* “Y’all wanna like… maybe do something about this sometime?”

He believes that no one should have that much money for any reason because they should be putting it towards making society a better place instead of just… sitting on it.  There is a reason I associate Billy Talent with him (and why “Man Alive!” is his main verse tag) and it’s because they have a lot of songs that just absolutely shit all over capitalism.  I made a playlist for Ekko, and the first four songs on it are Billy Talent criticizing capitalism for the flawed, soul-sucking system that it is.  (Three of the four are from the Dead Silence album.)

Anyway, Billy Talent tangent aside since I can’t control myself…

On April Fool’s, there were a couple IC posts of rich characters saying, “Rich people don’t have rights!” but then claiming to be exceptions to the rule.  Like, one of them said, “I have rights ‘cause I didn’t choose to be rich.  I was just born into a rich family.”

And let me tell you, I had to physically restrain Ekko ‘cause he was p i s s e d.  He was in time-out that day, haha!  “Oh, I’m so sorry, it must be so hard for you to have been born into a life of privilege,” he fumes to himself in the little corner I’ve trapped him in.  “NONE OF YOU ARE EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULE!  NONE OF YOU HAVE RIGHTS!  AND WHEN THE REVOLUTION COMES, YOU’RE GOING TO THE GUILLOTINE WITH THE REST OF ‘EM!”

Me, desperately trying to calm him down like, “No, no, shh, look at the date!  It’s probably just a joke!”

He’s like, “IT FUCKING BETTER BE.”

Tl;dr: Nothing gets Ekko riled quite like rich people being shitty and annoying.

I was also going to mention that Ekko’s passionate about maintaining hope and will argue the importance of not giving up and not letting bad situations turn you into a bad person, but this answer is already hella long, so here’s a brief passing mention of it lmao

30. Is there something about their personality they want to change?

Ekko is… angry deep down.  Or maybe not even so deep down.  Maybe right there, just under his skin.  And he wishes he wasn’t.

He often questions his own goodness, wondering if he’s not just Fake Nice to conceal the wretched thing he actually is.  If you skim the top layer of sweetness off of him, you’re left with this horrid, bitter, hateful little beast.  Or that’s what he thinks sometimes, anyway.

Whether it’s justified or it isn’t, anger is such an ugly emotion, and he’s worried it’s going to cause him to hurt someone he cares about someday.

I often worry about my portrayal of Ekko and how damn inconsistent it is sometimes ‘cause in one thread, he’s this sweet helpful angel who wants to do his best, and in another thread, he’s more bitter than the blackest coffee, but like.  This be why.  He’s a good person.  Just deep down, he’s angry about A Lot, but even deeper down, he’s an even better person.  He feels like his anger is the thing standing between him and being the best person he can be, and he wishes he could get rid of it, but alas, it seems to be stuck to him.

I mean, maybe it wouldn’t be if he ever bothered to resolve any of his Issues, but y’know.  Helping others comes first, so :’)  He’ll worry about helping himself when he’s dead.

34. Are they the jealous type?  What are they most likely to be jealous of?

Hmm, I wouldn’t say Ekko is much of the jealous type, no.  Like, his anger towards rich folks isn’t because he’s jealous of their lifestyle or wants what they have.  It’s because he wants them to be decent fucking people for once.  It doesn’t make sense to a lot of people, but he’s content stomping around in the gutters.  He does wish things were easier on his parents, but he can’t complain about the life of freedom he’s been allowed to lead up to this point.

He doesn’t really get jealous of other people’s relationships either.  Like, I mentioned in a reply to Draven that in the Academy verse, Ekko has a crush on Ahri.  (But only in the Academy verse.)  But like, he doesn’t really get jealous when she dates other guys.  In fact, he expects it.  He hasn’t said anything about his crush on Ahri (although it’s probably a bit obvious), and he’s never going to because he doesn’t expect anything to come of it.  He lowkey doesn’t want anything to come of it because he feels like it’ll just make the dynamics in their friend group weird.  So, really, he’s got no problem with her dating whoever she wants.

35. Are they possessive over their things?  Or over other people?  Both?

The only thing Ekko is especially possessive of is the Zero Drive, for obvious reasons.  It’d be just… the worst to have that fall into the wrong hands.  Time travel is a huge responsibility, Ekko says as he abuses the shit out of it to skip class and get infinite Halloween candy.  Can you imagine what would happen if any of the shadier characters in LoL had the ability to time travel??

He isn’t particularly possessive over the rest of his things, though, and he’ll frequently give stuff up to people he feels could use it more.

As for people… I wouldn’t call him possessive, so much as protective.  He might seem a bit possessive of his friends at times, but it’s only because he’s trying to keep them out of trouble.  Whenever he tells people, “I don’t want you hanging out with so-and-so,” it’s not because he’s being possessive, it’s because so-and-so has Bad Vibes written all over them.

In the modern/K/DA verse, he’s friends with Akali before she gets famous.  She ran away from the dojo and lived on the streets for a while, and it was there that she met Ekko, and honestly, he probably did a lot more than he realizes to keep her out of trouble.  Who knows what kind of bullshit her dumb ass would have gotten into if she hadn’t been trying to set as good of an example for Ekko as she could?

Anyway, modern verse Ekko despises modern verse Shen.  Akali gets back in touch with Shen, and Ekko is extremely vocal about how terrible he finds this whole idea.

And it’s not that he’s possessive of Akali.  In fact, it’s quite the opposite.  When she needed to leave him to join K/DA, he let her go ‘cause he understood that was her big dream and it wouldn’t have been fair to keep her there.  She was destined for better things, and he wanted to see her get off the streets.

But it’s just that… he’s heard stories about the way she was treated at the dojo, so when she tells him she got back in touch with Shen, he gets pissed and tells her that she can’t expect him to support her ripping open old wounds.  He’s just scared that Shen’s going to hurt her again, so when she tries to introduce the two of them to each other, Ekko’s cold towards Shen at best and openly hostile towards him at worst.  He might be inclined to strangle the guy if Akali didn’t have herself situated between them in a somewhat fruitless effort to ease the tension.

43. Do they like living alone or with another person / other people?

Ahaha, Ekko is a huge people-person, actually!  I think he’d just die if he had to live alone.  A big reason he spends so much time away from home and out on the streets is because his parents are never home, and the house feels too empty without them.  He’ll roll back home in the evening, when his parents are getting off work, to enjoy their company for a bit before they both pass out, but unless somebody else is there, he doesn’t want to be either.

If he had to live alone, there wouldn’t be any point in him having a house or anything ‘cause he’d literally never stay there.  He’d always be out chasing adventure and other people’s company.

50. Where do they see themselves in 2 / 5 / 10 years?

God, this is hard because the thing is that Ekko is terrible at making plans for the future, especially long-term plans.  Thinking about the future causes him major stress, especially when he thinks of possibilities that might involve him relinquishing some of his freedom, which is a lot.  Like, he has no desire to go to school or join the workforce - at least not in any sort of traditional way - or any of that, and the fact that he’s not going to be 16 forever is just something that he prefers not to think about!

Anyway, let’s take a crack at it, nonetheless…

In two years, Ekko hopes to have worked up the courage to tell his parents he doesn’t want to go to the academy in Piltover.  Listen… he’s working on it.  But like, he thinks at least part of the reason they work so hard is because they’re trying to put money back to send him to school, and… he’s really torn about it.  He’d feel guilty if they kept working to send him to school without knowing he doesn’t want to go, but he’d also feel guilty if he told them he doesn’t want to go and crushed all their hopes and dreams.  So, really, it is a lose-lose.

But hey, two years is plenty of time to work up the courage, right?

In five years, Ekko’s unsure of whether he’ll still be living with his parents or not.  He knows that he wants to get them into a nicer house, and as such, he’ll likely have to find some way to make money other than thievery.  So, he might consider commercializing an invention or two.

He knows his parents are fond of Piltover for whatever reason, and he would reluctantly let them go there, if they wanted.  That’s why he isn’t sure if he’ll still be living with them or not because if they do choose to go to Piltover, he’s absolutely staying behind in Zaun.  He wants them to be happy, but he’s not going to abandon Zaun like that.  Plus, he can still come visit sometimes, so it’s like… whatever.

He would also like to make a little more progress on the Z-Drive by this point, maybe getting it to the point where he can go back days instead of only minutes.  Just in case.  You never know when that thing you did three days ago is gonna come back around to bite you in the ass.

In ten years, he’ll be 26 and probably (sadly) a bit old to be running around doing dumb teenager things.  Still, he can’t see himself abandoning the Lost Children.  They’ll still need someone, you know?  A large part of his mission with the Lost Children has become keeping them out of trouble, more or less.  The bad kind of trouble, anyway.  Keeping them away from chem-punks and out of the factories and away from drugs and potentially dangerous augmentations, so on and so forth.

He’d like to keep doing that, keep helping kids stay out of bad situations.  Maybe start some sort of home for them, where they can come get a bed and a warm meal.  Or something like a school, but where they’re allowed to study what they want and hone the skills they think will be most useful to them, instead of some arbitrary curriculum they’re not even interested in.  Maybe a bit ambitious for only ten years, but… he hopes to at least be on his way to that sort of thing by then.

He wants to see Zaun be a better place, and children are the future, and he doesn’t want to see any of them fall through the cracks.  If there’s any hope for Zaun to get better - and he believes there is - it starts with its children being happy and safe.

So, his plans are currently:

Tell his parents he doesn’t want to go to the academy.

Get his parents somewhere nicer ‘cause they deserve it.

Improve time travel maybe.

Find a way to get as many children out of harm’s way as humanly possible.

And that’s basically it.

[hundredsunny]

op oc #3: APRIL

im baaaaaaack

u are about to read about my prime DAUGHTER april. the rogue princess. a real pokemon! hahahhahaha she nabbed herself the AURA AURA FRUIT yo this is wild so get ready to learn about ol’ blue eyes!!!!!!!!!!

NAME: april (i dont have a surname for her i cant think of anything and ive had her for 8 years im sorry) EPITHET: “aura shooter” ooOOoOOoOoo AGE: 18 (pre) 20 (post) BIRTHDAY: april (incredible would u have ever guessed) 5th!!!  BIRTHPLACE: nimbasa island in the south blue SEX: female HEIGHT: 5′6″ WEIGHT: 122lbs HAIR COLOR: sandy brown EYE COLOR: blue APPEARANCE: before she escaped her home, she wore an icy blue dress underneath a navy blue cloak and her hair down with a CROWN of course but she hated wearing it a lot. her hair when worn down reaches the middle of her biceps. after she escaped she ONLY wore her hair in a ponytail and she always wore a red bandanna with a white arch atop her head at all times!! it was a gift from her mamma the QUEEN herself. she also wore a white t-shirt with red triangles bordering the collar and the ends of her sleeves. does that make sense? i sure hope. she wore a red sash around her waist and then she popped on some black pants and boots. real piratey. also some of her hair kinda pops out in the front so theres a good chunk that sometimes covers her left side. look at u go princess. AFTER the timeskip she cut her hair so it reaches just above her shoulders, and instead of wearing her hair up and with the bandanna, she wears it down but with a black headband. her bandanna is tied around her left bicep (fashion inspo: zoro). she wears a green sleeveless crop top, and theres a scar that reaches from the back of her shoulder to the end of her collarbone. she earned that shit from her wild timeskip training. oof. shes ok. she wears light-washed pants and some addidas-lookin shoes lmao she also wears a rly loose belt too. also she has gold earrings and thas about it. her eyes are round and just v pretty and blue. her nose turns up at the end just a tad bit and it’s so cute she’s so cute. she has a dimple on the right side of her mouth. her mommas face :’) shes fairly skinny but after the timeskip she gained some muscles made 4 punching douchecanoes  REPRESENTATIVE SMELL: vanilla FAVE FOOD: pasta FAVE DRINK: lemonade  FAVE SEASON: fall REPRESENTATIVE NATIONALITY: australian BOUNTY: initial bounty was 60,000,000 (for being runaway royalty) but after dressrosa she SKRTED up to 155,000,000 DEVIL FRUIT: aura aura fruit a paramecia type. the fruit allows the user to manipulate their energy. with the aura aura fruit, users are able to detect the aura of others, repel the aura of others, and project their own. the power of aura is mood-sensitive and can change a lot. can u believe april is lucario 6 forms of aura: red is physical nature, orange is intelligence, yellow is sheer willpower, green is healing, blue is emotion, vioilet(i THINK) is mental communication. i forgot what i wrote down for the aura types lmaoooo the biggest drawback of this fruit is that the user can only use a limited amount at one time. another drawback is that they cant manipulate other people’s aura??? it’s rly hard to explain this but trust me it makes sense when it’s put into action i promise SKILLS SET: most of her attacks are used with red aura since it relates to physical nature. wild. “aura bullet” is just shootin aura goodbye. i love pokemon. lmao. uh “aura detect” is when she can see what someone else’s aura looks like, so basically she can determine if someone is a bastard or not before they even open their mouth. “aura clone” clones herself with aura and that takes a LOT of effort to pull this one off especially when she wants to use multiple clones. “aura bomb” yo this one is wild she uses it for diversions and escaping since it kinda acts as a smoke bomb but when she uses this thing in battle OOOOH BOY. “starstorm” ok this is like the “im going to die after i do this move” kinda thing. it combines all the damn types of aura and it just RAINS down on ppl. goodbye april. anyways there are more basic moves but i dont rly wanna get too into that rn im sorry PROFESSION: runaway princess lol CREW: straw hat pirates  PERSONALITY: an easygoing girl. v mellow for the most part but there are times where she can get pretty goofy (thanks jack). if the wrong buttons are pushed, she becomes a HURRICANE. she does have confidence issues but since she met luffy, she’s really started to overcome them. shes got a horrible habit of being sarcastic and also she asks a LOT of questions holy SHIT honey. she is TERRIFIED of heights so when franky lays down a good ol coup de burst, her soul leaves her body. g o o d b y e. she was very cold when she first met luffy and the gang bc she lived with the person who killed her mom AND jack left sooooo she was a little bitter. eventually she learned to rly live with the mugiwaras. when she first joined the crew, she was very shy and timid and tried hard to fit in. she was SO intimidated by zoro like he genuinely scared the fuck out of her so she always tried hard to not be a Fool around him but once she got comfortable with everyone she just had a good ol time. “hey grassy ass!! :))” “can u fucking not call me that”. she has the CUTEST laugh oh me oh my. honestly just a rly passionate gal, she just wants to be strong and be able to protect her pals. refuses outside help. bros out with luffy and usopp and chopper sometimes but also judges them from afar like nami does. it all just depends on the day. truly. i once wrote a series of one-shots where each one was an adventure that april had with one other straw hat. luffy was the first one, and THAT was wild. zoro’s was fucking baller. so on and so forth. rly shows off her dynamic with each member. april? shes honestly just a good person and im proud of her bc she works so hard  LIKES: training, traveling, every single animal ever, reading DISLIKES: heights, the marines, the heat, people who walk horrifically slow in crowded places WEAPON(S): aside from her devil fruit shes got a dagger she sometimes uses. jack gave one to her right before he left HISTORY: OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO king jed and queen serena had a baby girl. APRIL. that made her the princess. anyways she grew up as any princess would--spoiled. however the spoiling never got to her head bc serena was so good about teaching her things like that. serena was a goddess i love her pls come back. serena was wildly popular with the citizens of the kingdom bc of her caring and friendly personality. she would always take april into the kingdom every day and pay visits to the citizens. out of all the citizens they paid visits to, the most common faces she saw were those of the solo family. cain was jed’s most talented and trusted knight. he and his wife celeste had 2 kids: jack and sho YO. jack was 7 yrs older than sho and 3 yrs older than april. april and jack became fast friends and often explored the kingdom together. regular kid stuff u know. jack’s mom was always like “jack NO u CANNOT take the PRINCESS to the farms thats FILTY” hahahah but they went anyway.  jed? a dark man. idk who hurt him or what made him so murderous. but. he was tired of serena treating the citizens like equals. he believed that royalty should be viewed as gods.  when april was 8 jed killed serena oh god there it is theres the tragic anime mom death. as soon as serena died, the dynamic of the kingdom instantly changed. soon after jed took total control, people began leaving the island. eventually, the island became so empty that only a handful of families remained. jed did not allow april to leave the castle at all, and with that rule, it damaged the friendship that she and jack had. ofc around that time jack’s dad ran off as well so he stopped tryin to visit her for a bit. but then once he got back into his groove hed sneak all about, avoiding the night patrols, and hed just sit outside of april’s window and talk to her.  when april was 11 she discovered a devil fruit hidden away in the trashed artifacts that belonged to her mother. she ate the devil fruit and was like “now im strong, fight me JED” but lol she got her ass whooped poor bby when april was 16 jack left the island, leaving her completely and utterly alone. the exposure to such loneliness began to change april into a more reserved, bitter person.  2 yrs later the STRAW HATS stumbled upon the island. at that time april had started a habit of sneaking out of the castle to roam the empty streets of nimbasa, but during one of her strolls, she encountered robin, franky, and brook. she ended up knocking them unconscious bc she felt threatened. the second group she met consisted of zoro, chopper, and sanji. they had been captured by guards and were brought into the throne room to be interrogated by jed. april was required to be there as well so she kinda sat in her throne and looked mad the entire time. sanji was like “NO WHY DOES SHE LOOK SO MAD SHE NEEDS TO BE HAPPY” and zoro was like “ive never seen someone so happy to see my face” and chopper was just having a crisis bc they were abt to be tossed into the shadow realm at the hands of the king. zoro got mouthy and jed didnt have none of that shit so he told april to kill zoro but she just knocked him out instead. that pissed jed off. THE NEXT person she met was luffy. she only met luffy bc he infiltrated a banquet thing by sitting underneath a cart. classic luffy. she didnt meet nami and usopp until WAAAAY later. yadda yadda yadda shit goes down (i wrote a whole arc for this. it’s called the princess and the pirates lmao original but yes i wrote an entire arc for her recruitment and it’s A Lot) ANYWAYS luffy asked her to join the crew but she declined at first bc she thought pirates were just like her father: power-hungry and murderous. however that obv changed when she was exposed to the straw hats more when luffy defeated jed who ate the ___ ___ fruit (tbh i forgot what fruit he ate im sorry) she KNEW she belonged with the straw hats. :’) she still be sailin with the legends. shes had some wild times obv. her arc comes a bit after thriller bark. woopie!!!!!!! like always, lemme know if u wanna know more about her!!!

[kellykadesperate]

@marami38: If you’re still taking prompts for this weekend I think it would be fun to see them in the future.  Maybe it’s their 20th or 25th wedding anniversary and they’re getting ready for a family gathering at the pub. Talking and reminiscing about some of their happiest moments and remembering some of their worst moments and how eventually it was the worse moments that helped make them even stronger.

On a side note, I just wanted to say how much I LOVE your work and A Different Kind of Love is one of my faves, as a matter of fact I think I might just re-read that this weekend :)

first of all, thank you so much for your lovely words about ‘a different kind of love’ and second of all i am so sorry that it’s taken so long for me to get to writing this for you. it’s by no means amazing but i enjoyed looking at robron this way and writing them in the future like this, hope you enjoy it <3

Robert’s tie is crooked and he’s trying to put it right, failing a little and then he feels his husband’s presence in the room almost immediately. 

He hears Aaron let out a little tut and then he’s walking towards him. 

“You and your flipping ties.” Aaron says, comes closer and then he’s fixing the tie that Robert’s knotted foolishly in his haste. 

Robert looks up at him and Aaron smirks at his husband. Robert’s heart flutters as he looks at the man he loves more than anyone in the world. 

’After all this time. Still. Still I get butterflies when I look at you.‘ 

“What ya looking at?” Aaron urges, finishing with the tie and then looking up at Robert. He’s aged so well, his eyes are still so green and bright despite the wrinkles around them, around his mouth too. He’s paler too, slower in his movements but it’s understandable after they all realised that his lungs were acting up, an aftershock of the shooting all those years ago that caused lasting damage. 

Robert’s eyes flutter a little, freckles still scattered across his face as he ducks his head and looks at Aaron. His Aaron, that still remains, after everything. He’s shorter, wispy grey curls, lines on his forehead but God he’s so beautiful, he’s still so beautiful.

“You.” Robert shrugs before grabbing Aaron by the waist and kissing his neck. It still works. It still makes Aaron almost melt into his arms and roll his head back, laughter filling the room. 

“We need to go downstairs.” Aaron whispers, close and warm and right into Robert’s ear. “We’ve got a whole party waiting down there.” He says, feels the need to smile as he speaks, as he thinks about their family downstairs, balloons everywhere, catering courtesy of April and Marlon. 

“Let’s tell them to go home.” Robert moans, he’s such a kid and Aaron has to slap at his chest lightly. 

“It’s our anniversary.” Aaron says, pretending to be annoyed and then Robert winces a little at the slight pressure applied to his chest by Aaron. “Sorry, did I hurt ya?” Aaron’s voice is dangerously worried and Robert presses a kiss to Aaron’s lips. 

“Just getting on a bit aren’t I.” Robert’s reminded as Aaron strokes his arm playfully. 

“Good thing I’m still interested in ya then eh.” Aaron’s good at this now, so good at making Robert not feel like shit for getting older, for getting past it like Liv likes to tease him about.

Robert’s eyes are all watery suddenly and Aaron frowns. “What’s wrong?” He says softly. “Rob?” He adds, feels worry race through him.

“Twenty five years.” Robert whispers, he can’t believe it. He can’t believe that their lives have flashed before his eyes and now he’s standing here, dressed in a suit and tie, with his family all downstairs ready to celebrate such a milestone. "I didn’t think we’d get here.“ He admits.

Aaron’s eyes go all soft. “I did.” He says. “I always knew you’d be the one for me, that you’d end up just being it for me.“ 

Robert’s heard it before, nights after nights but it still makes his knees grow weak and he tells himself it’s not just because he’s getting on a bit. 

It’s all because of Aaron, Aaron, Aaron.

Robert shakes his head, smiling to himself as he sits on the edge of their bed and watches Aaron follow him, sitting next to him on the bed and clasping their hands together. 

They do this now, sit and hold hands and watch the world go by as they think. "You know I love you don’t ya?” Robert says and even though Aaron rolls his eyes, as if to say ‘of course’, it still niggles in his mind. “More than anything." 

Aaron nods, small circles being formed in Robert’s palm. "I know Rob.”

“After everything, everything that’s happened between us,” Robert looks up at Aaron and smiles. “I’ve never not loved ya.”

Aaron twitches, there’s dark memories, their stumbles and breakdowns back in the early days and then even more heartbreak. There’s so much he remembers, so much that he can think of that sometimes makes him question whether Robert ever loved him, but then this happens. Then Robert reminds him of all this love, all the love that was always there and he just - he just melts.

Aaron kisses Robert’s temple and rests his head there, hearing Robert’s heartbeat. “After twenty five years eh?” He’s been married to the same man for twenty five years. He’s loved him for even longer than that. 

“We’ve had a good run haven’t we?” Robert says, sighing deeply like he does now. Aaron’s eyes flicker up to him and he raises an eyebrow.

“Not done yet though.” Aaron says, almost reassuringly. 

Robert nods his head slowly. “I know that.” He says before growing silent and looking around the room. “Remember when we first bought Jacob home and his crib practically fell apart the minute we walked through the door with him.”

Aaron suddenly breaks out into a smile and he rolls his head back as he thinks of the memory. He remembers cradling their son in his arms, all brown curly hair and soft freckles and these amazing eyes, hearing Robert walk through the door and then let out a huge gasp as the delicately built crib collapsed all at once. 

“God Jacob couldn’t settle for hours. Had to sleep in our bed didn’t he.” Aaron says, looks towards his husband and then rests his head on his shoulder.

Robert smiles, “We loved it though.” He admits. “We’d spend hours just watching him sleep.” He adds, feels himself fell back into the man he used to be, he was so confused still back then, so scared about his future, about this responsibility that he now had for his son.

Aaron decides the party downstairs can wait and another memory slips into his mind.

“Do you remember when we took Jacob and Annie to the beach and it poured down?” Aaron’s fighting back laughter as he sees Robert roll his eyes.

“You mean the time I got drenched in the rain, carrying two small children on my back ‘cause you were too busy stuffing your face in the car?” Robert’s voice is deeper, makes Aaron’s heart flutter a little as he hears him speak.

“We’ve raised two good ones, haven’t we?” Robert adds and then sees the way Aaron looks almost shy about it. There’s no denying the fact that Robert’s the super pushy proud parent who radiates whenever his children achieve anything. Aaron loves it, makes his heart ache with happiness sometimes.

“We have yeah.” Aaron whispers, thinks of Jacob and his wife, their little boy Freddie and then thinks of Anni, with her blonde locks, long lashes and this sparky personality, their little girl, with a little girl of her own.

“Grandparents too now.” Robert chuckles, holds Aaron’s hand tighter and then he’s all emotional again. “Thank you.” He says, it’s so sincere that Aaron’s a little taken aback.

“What for you idiot?” Aaron says, it rolls off the tongue.

Robert shakes his head and then holds his hands up to cup Aaron’s face. “You have no idea how much you changed my life.” He whispers, thinks back to that confused mess of a man who only cared about status and money and getting what he could. He’s not him anymore and that’s down to Aaron.

“Thank you for giving me a family, people to come home to. Thank you for - for making me finally believe that I won’t end up alone in the end." 

Aaron’s crying, tears roll down his face and then he leans forward and kisses Robert’s hand lovingly. 

"In the end, I’ll be here. By your side.” Aaron says, grazing their noses together. “Like always. Because I love you Mr Dingle.”

Robert’s face lights up and he nods his head. “And I love you Mr Sugden.”

It’s never got old, probably never will.

Aaron smiles, has a hand on Robert’s thigh now and he looks up at his husband. “You know after everything, all that stuff that happened before…” he thinks of their mistakes, thinks of prison and the drugs and Rebecca and all the cheating and the heartache. “It was worth it.”

The deep lines around Robert’s eyes grow deeper and frown lines become visible. “Did you mean that?” He asks, he thinks of it all too, all their dark times.

Aaron nods, blinks softly. “It made us stronger I think.” He pulls a face that makes Robert laugh. “It made us strong, made me believe that we could fight through anything as long as we do it together.”

Robert nods, tears fall down his face and he ducks his head towards the floor. 

“Some days I think you were a fool to forgive me you know.” He admits, doesn’t say 'most days’.

“If I didn’t then - then I wouldn’t have all these happy memories would I? I wouldn’t have two beautiful children, two amazing grandchildren.” Aaron pauses. “I don’t know where I’d be.” He admits gravely and then clears his throat, rubs a hand over his eyes to stop tears from falling. “I just know I wouldn’t be happier." 

Robert settles a little and then clears his throat, catches his breath as if it’s hard to breath and Aaron has a hand on his back instantly. "You alright?” He says, worry laced in his voice.

Robert nods, looks up and then he’s kissing Aaron tenderly, holding the back of his neck and then deepening their embrace. 

Aaron pulls away, smiles warmly. “You know Annie’s made us a cake?” He reminds his husband. “One I want to eat tonight.”

Robert rolls his eyes, “So has Vic, I bet everyone has made us something.” He laughs but he loves it really. He loves how supportive everyone is of the oldish guys who live at the Mill. 

They’re silent for a second and they hear the music from downstairs and then chatter. 

Aaron stands slowly and then Robert does the same, snaking a hand around Aaron’s waist.

“Dance with me.” Robert whispers, smiles into Aaron’s chest and then he feels Aaron shuffling his feet, he’s reminded of their wedding day. 

“I don’t dance.” Aaron teases.

Robert nods knowingly, “You just shuffle, isn’t that right?”

  “Yeah, that’s right Sugden.” Aaron whispers, hearing the music from downstairs and getting caught up in the romance of the moment. “I want this until the day I die.”

Robert swallows down the lump in his throat. “As you wish Dingle.” He teases, gripping a little tighter. “I���m not going anywhere, I promise ya.”

Aaron nods against him, knows that Robert can’t promise such a thing because he could break down any day now considering the fragile state of his lungs, but it doesn’t matter. He knows that Robert will never leave him the way it matters to some people. Robert will always be his.

Aaron sways a little, finds a rhythm and then he leans in to kiss Robert again. They stay like that for a while, Robert plants kisses on Aaron’s neck and it makes the younger man tingle all over as they dance together. Aaron’s head falls on Robert’s shoulder and he leaves it there, feels his husband’s heartbeat against him and it makes him feel safe.

“C'mon then mister.” Robert finally says as they break away, hearing the music from downstairs die down. Aaron rolls his eyes like he doesn’t want to leave but he nods all the same and reaches for Robert’s hand to walk them towards the door. 

“You’re going to love my speech.” Aaron declares, puffing out his chest and laughing and Robert’s eyes widen. 

“You’ve made a flipping speech?” Robert’s voice is all high and suddenly he looks so young again. It makes Aaron tingle. 

“Yep.” Aaron teases, kisses Robert’s forehead. “I’ll make you cry.”

It makes Robert smile, he thinks of how far Aaron’s come, how boldly he’ll talk about their love story to anyone who wants to keep about him. He remembers walking in on Aaron telling Jacob and Anni about how they first met when they were only young, skipping over all the illegal stuff was hilarious to watch. He remembers the way Aaron’s eyes sparkled almost as if he relieved it all and was able to get so caught up in the moment of it all. 

“I bet you will.” Robert laughs, deep and firm. “I love you.” He pauses, a hand on Aaron’s. “Happy anniversary Aaron." 

Aaron’s smile is so wide Robert thinks it could blind the sun. ”Twenty fifth anniversary Sugden. Not just any old one.“

Robert arches an eyebrow and then it’s almost like he remembers something as he darts towards the drawer and gets out a small box before opening it in front of Aaron.

It’s a solid silver wrist band. Shiny, expensive.

"Robert -” Aaron says shakily, can’t believe it.

“I checked. It’s differently silver for this anniversary.” Robert smiles before shakily taking the bracelet out and pulling Aaron’s hand towards him. It fits perfectly.

Aaron tuts, water in his eyes. “Makes my silver thing look like shit now.” He sighs.

“Not possible.” Robert says adamantly. 

Aaron chews on his lip and moves towards his side drawer, revealing solid silver cufflinks with their initials inside. 

“Sorry,” Aaron says as he passes them over to Robert.

It’s mad, Robert thinks, that aaron still doesn’t get it. After all these years. Robert takes them and then he’s hugging Aaron, crushing their bodies together and burying his head into Aaron’s neck.

“I fucking love you Aaron Dingle.” Robert says as he pulls away and Aaron looks so relieved, so happy.

“Love you too.” Aaron says before finally opening the door of their bedroom. "Come on then, let’s go get bladderd and then try and have more than one round of sloppy sex tonight yeah?“

Robert laughs, it’s true now that he can’t handle his drink, gets sloppy way quicker now and Aaron, bless him, has to look after him the whole night and put up with sex that hardly lasts more than ten minutes. 

"You’ll carry me up here though won’t you?” Robert says, thinks of Aaron supporting him when he’s all silly and drunk. 

“You know I will.” Aaron smiles before leading them into the hallway and catching a glimpse at their hands, holding each other’s tightly together as the sound of party poppers fill the air and all their loved ones appear in front of their eyes, happy, smiley faces mirror their own.

[sparklieststeph]

Prince "Xiuo" Reaper - English accent, male - Xiuo is the main character with a very posh accent. Think Hermione Granger, but male. At the same time, he's still a teenager, so he isn't stuck-up. His nickname is pronounced She-oh. He has a lot of dialogue, and a lot of it expresses pain. Be prepared to make your voice crack up for the effect of crying, sounds of pain, and occasionally putting on a seductive tone. This accent stays this way well into the book, and doesn't fade until very close to the end.

- Example Dialogue:

"My name’s Prince, but people ‘ere just call me Xiuo.” (friendly tone) "A.. c-car accident.. What a shittay way to die.. Mum should’ve died in ‘er sleep.. and dad of somethin’ epic like.. lightnin’.. like ‘e wanted.. and not so soon.. not so.. s-soon..” (somber tone) "'ello, Queen of the School. ‘aving a good day so far?” (cheerful tone)

Xavier Reaper - Slightly nerdy voice, male - Xavier is the twin brother of the main character who hides his English accent. He can be given a nerdy tone, or just normal. He's very awkward and nervous, so don't forget that. He doubts a lot of the supernatural things that happen in the story. He's romantically involved with Mei Lin, which means at points dialogue will only be between him and her, and occasionally you'll have to work with who voices her in order to line up the dialogue you say at the same time.

- Example Dialogue:

"Have you been smoking again, Prince!? Mom will be so upset..." (initial shock, fading into disappointment) "Shhh! Gram and Pop are sleeping!” (whisper-screaming, rushed) "Did you see that link about people seeing some guy before they died?” (curious tone) "No, psychics aren't -- ghosts aren't real." (stern tone)

Amy - Needs to be able to sound stuck-up, female - Amy is one of the smaller, but first antagonists of the story. She strongly dislikes Aquina, because of her own crush on Prince. She needs to sound judgemental and rude during most dialogue. She's a very angry character.

- Example Dialogue:

"Aquina, yeah. We know.” (annoyed tone) "Seriously? They just met each other!” (angered disbelief) "What, bitch, are you mad that you weren't satsifying enough for him? Huh!?" (very aggressive tone)

Tyrell Connor - Fuckboy, male - Tyrell is Xiuo's best friend initially, but goes on to upset a lot of the group. He's very flirty, almost obnoxiously so, and tries to have 'swagger'. He's all about partying, but sometimes has emotional moments.

- Example Dialogue:

"First: Find a party. Next: Attend party. Third: Get craaaaazy!" (joyful tone) "Damn, fool, props if he smashed that so quick." (proud tone) "Aquina, right? How ya doin’, momma? He treating you right?" (flirtatious tone)

Brian Greenwood - Any tone, male - Brian is one of the most neutral characters. He's very relaxed and doesn't have all too many lines, despite occasional points of view being in his perspective. He's the boyfriend of Rebecca, who shows up about the same number of times as him. - Example Dialogue: "Come on, Ty. We're your boys." (reassuring tone) "Wh-What!? I thought he was joking! Who would.. who would actually do that!?" (very anxious)

Aquina Baxter - Sweet, but not super feminine voice, female - Aquina is one of the main characters of the initial part of the story. She has a lot of dialogue, but doesn't often raise her voice or get too emotional. She's friendly and kind, but also very, very awkward. She can come off as shy or quirky. Her name is pronoucned A-key-nuh.

- Example Dialogue:

“I’m sorry, Prince.. I’m.. here for you, okay?” (empathetic, gentle tone) "Oh, thank God. If he bit his lip one more time, I was ready to dive into the pool." (relieved, slightly angered tone) "Is.. sex a drug?" (nervous tone)

Mei Lin - Very sarcastic, monotone, female - Mei is a strong supporting character of the story. She has a tone that makes her sound uninterested, much like April from Parks and Recreation or Raven from Teen Titans. She hides a lot of her emotion around big groups, but shows what she's feeling inside when she's around few people, and only those she trusts. Unlike her parents, she lacks a Chinese accent.

- Example Dialogue:

"Now that we’ve established how clueless some girls can be..” (indirectly insulting) "Homecoming, prom, graduation.. That’s all this year a-and.. What if it goes wrong and we don’t remember it as the great thing it’s supposed to be? What if--" (worried, progressively growing faster) "It would be in your best intentions to not type anything else. Ever." (grouchy tone)

Mariana Rivera - Hispanic, very girly/high-pitched, female - Mariana has one of the highest pitched voices of the characters in the beginning of the story, but she also has a hispanic accent. The accent can be sacrificed if your voice for her sounds great, but it's preferred to be kept with an accent. She's generally clueless and bubbly, but when pissed off, she is incredibly aggressive. Know that you'll have to say some lines in Spanish.

- Example Dialogue:

"I can't go to that shit. Brujeria, you know?" (denying someone) "Wow.. You look gorgeous! You neeeeeeeeeed to let me borrow that dress sometime." (excited tone) "Why are you being such a bitch, Amy? You go from that hoe Sierra, to this slut, and now you want to fight me? ME?" (aggressive tone)

Grama Lou - Elderly, female - Grama Lou doesn't say many lines, when she does, they're all tearful. She's the very sweet grandmother character that just wants the best for her family.

- Example Dialogue:

“...There’s been an accident.. William a-and.. Hyori.. their car was in a collision.. neither.. neither.. of them..” (struggling, crying)

Poppa Ron - Elderly, male - Poppa Ron says even less lines than Grama Lou does. He's much more stern than she is.

- Example Dialogue:

“..Your mother and father were in an accident. They didn’t.. make it.” (strong tone)

Mr. Baxter - Mature, deep, male - Mr. Baxter is an abusive father who doesn't care for his daughter. He shrugs her off like she doesn't exist much of the time. He's more focused on his job than his family and isn't a direct antagonist, but shows to be one.

- Example Dialogue:

“What is it, ‘quina? I’m in the middle of a very important call.” (annoyed tone, said after sighing)

Announcer over intercom - Anyone, preferrably female - This character only speaks once and their voice will be edited if they can't deliver the voice to sound the way an intercom sounds.

- Example Dialogue:

"Prince and Xavier Reaper, please come to the office. Prince and Xavier Reaper, please come to the office."

[betwixt-these-pages]

A Ghostly Mortality

by Tonya Kappes

on Tour February 28 – March 30, 2017

Synopsis:

That ghost sure looks . . . familiar

Only a handful of people know that Emma Lee Raines, proprietor of a small-town Kentucky funeral home, is a “Betweener.” She helps ghosts stuck between here and the ever-after—murdered ghosts. Once Emma Lee gets them justice they can cross over to the great beyond.

But Emma Lee’s own sister refuses to believe in her special ability. In fact, the Raines sisters have barely gotten along since Charlotte Rae left the family business for the competition. After a doozy of an argument, Emma Lee is relieved to see Charlotte Rae back home to make nice. Until she realizes her usually snorting, sarcastic, family-ditching sister is a… ghost.

Charlotte Rae has no earthly idea who murdered her or why. With her heart in tatters, Emma Lee relies more than ever on her sexy beau, Sheriff Jack Henry Ross…because this time, catching a killer means the Raines sisters will have to make peace with each other first.

Book Details:

Genre: Cozy Mystery, Paranormal

Published by: Witness

Publication Date: February 28th 2017

Number of Pages: 336

ISBN: 0062466976 (ISBN13: 9780062466976)

Series: Ghostly Southern Mysteries #6

Purchase Links: Amazon 🔗 | Barnes & Noble 🔗 | Goodreads 🔗

Read an excerpt:

Lawdy bee.” Granny scooted to the edge of the chair and lifted her arms in the air like she was worshiping in the Sunday morning service at Sleepy Hollow Baptist and the spirit just got put in her.

I sucked in a deep breath, preparing myself for whatever was going to come out of Zula Fae Raines Payne’s mouth, my granny. She was a ball of southern spitfire in her five-foot-four-inch frame topped off with bright red hair that I wasn’t sure was real or out of a L’Oréal bottle she’d gotten down at the Buy-N-Fly.

“Please, please, please,” she begged. “Let me die before anything happens to Emma Lee.” Her body slid down the fancy, high-back mahogany leather chair as she fell to her knees with her hands clasped together, bringing them back up in the air as she pleaded to the Big Guy in the sky. “I’m begging you.”

“Are you nuts?” My voice faded to a hushed stillness. I glanced back at the closed door of my sister’s new office, in fear she was going to walk in and see Granny acting up. I sat in the other fancy, high-back mahogany leather chair next to Granny’s and grabbed her by the loose skin of her underarm. “Get back up on this chair before Charlotte Rae gets back in here and sees you acting like a fool.”

“What?” Granny quirked her eyebrows questioningly as if her behavior was normal. My head dropped along with my jaw in the “are you kidding me” look.

“Well, I ain’t lying!” She spat, “I do hope and pray you are the granddaughter that will be doing my funeral, unless you get a flare up of the ‘Funeral Trauma.’ ” She sucked in a deep breath and got up off her knees. She ran her bony fingers down the front of her cream sweater to smooth out any wrinkles so she’d be presentable like a good southern woman, forgetting she was just on her knees begging for mercy.

“Flare up?” I sighed with exasperation. “It’s not like arthritis.”

The “Funeral Trauma.” It was true. I was diagnosed with the “Funeral Trauma” after a decorative plastic Santa fell off the roof of Artie’s Meat and Deli, knocking me flat out cold and now I could see dead people. I had told Doc Clyde I was having some sort of hallucinations and seeing dead people, but he insisted I had been in the funeral business a little too long and seeing corpses all of my life had brought on the trauma. Truthfully, the Santa had given me a gift. Not a gift you’d expect Santa to give you, but it was the gift of seeing clients of Eternal Slumber, my family’s funeral home business where I was the undertaker. Some family business. Anyway, a psychic told me I was now a Betweener. I helped people who were stuck between here and the ever after. The Great Beyond. The Big Guy in the sky. One catch . . . the dead people I saw were murdered and they needed me to help them solve their murder before they could cross over.

“I’m fine,” I huffed and took the pamphlet off of Charlotte Rae’s desk, keeping my gift to myself. The only people who knew were me, the psychic and Sheriff Jack Henry Ross, my hot, hunky and sexy boyfriend. He was as handy as a pocket on a shirt when it came time for me to find a killer when a ghost was following me around. “We are here to get her to sign my papers and talk about this sideboard issue once and for all.” Granny stared at me.

My head slid forward like a turtle and I popped my eyes open.

“I’m fine,” I said through closed teeth.

“You are not fine.” Granny rolled her eyes so big, I swear she probably hurt herself. “People are still going around talking about how you talk to yourself.” She shook her finger at me. “If you don’t watch it, you are going to be committed. Surrounded by padded walls. Then—She jabbed her finger on my arm. I swatted her away with the pamphlet.

“Charlotte Rae will have full control over my dead body and I don’t want someone celebrating a wedding while I lay corpse in the next room. Lawdy bee,” Granny griped. I opened the pamphlet and tried to ignore Granny as best I could.

“Do you hear me, Emma Lee?” Granny asked. I could feel her beady eyes boring into me.

“Don’t you be disrespecting your elders. I asked you a question,” she warned when I didn’t immediately answer her question.

“Granny.” I placed the brochure in my lap and reminded myself to remain calm. Something I did often when it came to my granny. “I hear you. Don’t you worry about a thing. By the time you get ready to die, they will have you in the nut-house alongside me,” I joked, knowing it would get her goat. The door flung open and the click of Charlotte Rae’s high-dollar heels tapped the hardwood floor as she sashayed her way back into her office. The soft linen green suit complemented Charlotte’s sparkly green eyes and the chocolate scarf that was neatly tied around her neck. It was the perfect shade of brown to go with her long red hair and pale skin.

“I’m so sorry about that.” She stopped next to our chairs and looked between me and Granny. She shook the long, loose curls over her shoulders. “What? What is wrong, now?”

“Granny is all worried I’m going to get sent away to the nuthouse and you are going to lay her out here.” The words tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them. Or did my subconscious take over my mouth? It was always a competition between me and Charlotte, only it was one-sided. Mine. Charlotte never viewed me as competition because she railroaded me all my life. Like now. She’d left Eternal Slumber with zero guilt, leaving me in charge so she could make more money at Hardgrove’s Legacy Center, formerly known as Hardgrove’s Funeral Homes until they got too big for their britches and decided to host every life event possible just to make more money.

Excerpt from A Ghostly Mortality by Tonya Kappes. Copyright © 2017 by Tonya Kappes. Reproduced with permission from Witness. All rights reserved.

Author Bio:

Tonya Kappes has written more than fifteen novels and four novellas, all of which have graced numerous bestseller lists including USA Today. Best known for stories charged with emotion and humor and filled with flawed characters, her novels have garnered reader praise and glowing critical reviews. She lives with her husband, two very spoiled schnauzers, and one ex-stray cat in northern Kentucky. Now that her boys are teenagers, Tonya writes full-time but can be found at all of her guys’ high school games with a pencil and paper in hand.

Catch Up with Tonya Kappes on her Website 🔗, Twitter 🔗, & Facebook 🔗

  Giveaway:

This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours for Tonya Kappes and Witness Impulse. There will be 1 US winner of one PRINTED set of The Ghostly Southern Mysteries #1-6 by Tonya Kappes. The giveaway begins on February 27th and runs through April 2nd, 2017.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Get More Great Reads at Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours

  Quick Reasons: I was a tiny bit confused about some plot things; entertaining, snarky, head-strong character; love the setting and dialect; love that a loose end played on throughout is used as a mini introduction to the next book; I might just have to pick up the rest of this series!

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fishing for more

entertaining

devoured it

purple prose

Huge thanks to Tonya Kappes, Witness Publishing, Partners in Crime Tours, and Edelweiss for sending me a free digital copy of this title in exchange for an honest review! This in no way altered my read of or opinions on this book.

  First things first: I went into this book KNOWING I hadn’t read any of the previous books in the series. I knew, going in, that this might potentially lead to some confusion about the world and/or characters. I warned myself the confusion might, at times, be more than anticipated. So I wasn’t blind or oblivious to the fact that there might, reading this, be problems waiting for me. This being said… I was pleasantly surprised when I managed to get through most of this read without a hitch! While some past events went unexplained or were left up to me to figure out for myself (the relationship between Emma Lee and Jack Henry, for instance)–I was able to piece them together fairly easily, and remain convinced of the world and characters. Of course, there was still a little bit of confusion about certain things…but in the end, I was able to dive into this story and remain curious and enthralled throughout. This basically boils down to this for potential readers: while I still recommend starting at the beginning (because I’m usually that type of reader) you could pretty easily slip into the story later on if you want or need to.

The characters are realistic and entertaining. Emma Lee was a snarky and head-strong character throughout the read; not once did she allow anyone to talk down to her, or sway her mind once she’d set it, or tell her what to do. I really loved following her on her ventures to find her sister’s killer–while it’s clear from the get-go that she’s not a professional detective or cop, she made the journey quick and fun. The moments with her sister were mixed parts aggravating, endearing, and totally believable; the moments with Granny, who’s a spitfire all her own, were both hilarious and heart-wrenching.

  I had such a fun time following the clues in this murder-mystery, I’m considering picking up the rest of the series (and starting from the beginning this time)! This was an entertaining, snarky, believable read with some wild and head-strong characters. I recommend this to lovers of cozy mysteries, sleuthy characters, and small towns with big hearts. Follow the clues, penguins, and see if you can figure out who the killer is before the big reveal! I promise you’ll be just as surprised as I was!

Blog Tour, Excerpt, Giveaway, and Review: A Ghostly Mortality A Ghostly Mortality by Tonya Kappes on Tour February 28 - March 30, 2017 Synopsis: That ghost sure looks .