#once i get caught up with the reboot then i'll go back and find the original series seasons hopefully

[dandyshucks-moving]

been watching doctor who for the first time while I crochet the xmas gifts, and 1. all my thoughts have a british accent now, and 2. i could fix him

[vianwrites]

I don't know why I am suddenly addicted to these two (Trini and Kimberly from the Power Rangers Reboot Movie), but I am. And, as with everything I end up being obsessed with, I decided to write something about it.

This is just something from the top of my head. One-shot, but maybe will turn into a multi-chapter fanfic. Who knows. I'll be cross-posting it on AO3 as well (when I get home), anyways, Title of this fic is "Eyes Open (Trini's Version) and here it goes:

As the days after defeating Rita Repulsa passed in Angel Grove, Trini found herself constantly wrestling with her emotions. The peace that had settled over the city allowed her the time to truly delve into her thoughts and reflect on everything that has happened so far—from moving to Angel Grove, being caught in and surviving an explosion and later finding her Yellow Power Coin, surviving a car crash unscathed, forcefully being thrown over a cliff and down an underground pool that is hiding a spaceship and learning she was chosen to be one of the Power Rangers, training, fighting an alien menace hellbent on destruction and revenge, and everything in between. Yet, no matter from which angle she reminisced, her thoughts always seemed to circle back to one Kimberly Ann Hart. The Pink Ranger had effortlessly become a core part of Trini's life, and it both thrilled and terrified her. One afternoon, Trini sat in her room. There was no training to be had, no school-related activity to be done, no family responsibilities to take care of. It was just an afternoon all for herself with the sun casting a warm glow through the window. She held a photo of the Power Rangers, the team smiling brightly at the camera, that was taken during their celebratory campfire after defeating Rita. Her gaze lingered on Kimberly, her heart swelling with a mix of fondness and longing that shouldn't have caught her by surprise but did. The realization hit her like a ton of bricks—she was in love with her best friend. The fear that gripped Trini was suffocating. She feared ruining the delicate balance of their friendship, of losing the closeness they had developed. And, most of all, she feared Kimberly not feeling or swinging the same way; that she was just going to make a fool of herself if she confessed. The thought of rejection and loss made her stomach churn with anxiety. The "what ifs"—the consequence of being rejected, the fear of being laughed at, of what it could do to them, of being alone again—plagued her and made her feel like she was one step away from a full blown panic attack. But she knew something has got to give—was bound to give—and knew she couldn't keep this to herself for much longer. Trini knew that the weight of her unspoken feelings would only continue to grow until it consumed her entirely; that it would spring forth unbidden one time without much of her control nor foresight, like a volcanic eruption that is both catastrophic and mesmerizing to watch; a force of uncontrollable nature. It was a terrifying prospect, and not one that was new to her. After all, it was one of the reasons—many, her mother would say—as to why she had been forced to move to Angel Grove in the first place, upending her life once again. And even though she had sworn off ever feeling this way again, here she was, mind overtaken by thoughts of a girl. Her mom would definitely freak more than her coming to that realization if she finds out. But, the thing about almost dying and of thinking about a future that would force them to be heroes once again should anyone threaten the peace they had fought to achieve had Trini realizing yet another thing: that life was, simply, too short to not dare and dream and want and hope and love. Not long after that thought struck her did her phone pinged with a notification. She placed the photo she was holding down and replaced it with her phone that she took from her bedside table where she had left it to charge. Kim's name, and small profile photo, greeted her along with the message she sent. It was just a single line of text, but it was enough to make the cogs in her mind run on overtime.

"Hey Trini, can we talk? It's important," the message read.

Trini wonders if this was a sign from the universe. She wonders if it was a good sign or a bad omen. Was the universe pushing her to do it?

Taking a deep breath, she made a decision then. She would tell Kimberly how she felt, regardless of the outcome or what that "something important" Kim wanted to talk to her about was. She just hoped—prayed, really, to any god that might be listening—that it won't wreck their friendship. She doesn't want to be dramatic—she never was—but she honestly felt she wouldn't be able to take if it does. She would rather be stuck in a crazy time loop fighting Rita again and again by herself than lose the one thing in her life that made everything better. "I'll be there in a few," she texted back. That evening, as the sun dipped below the horizon, Trini found herself standing outside Kimberly's house, looking up at her bedroom window. She took a moment to gather her courage before landing on the flat abutment near Kim's dormer window. Another deep intake of breath and she was knocking on the pane of her best friend's window. When Kimberly opened it with a smile gracing her lips, Trini felt her resolve falter for a moment. "Hey, Trini," Kimberly greeted, her brown eyes a mixture of emotions that played too fast for the shorter girl to grasp. "I'm glad you came." Trini took a deep breath, her heart pounding in her chest. "Well, you said it was important. And I...I also have something important I wanted to tell you. Don't think it could wait either." Kimberly's smile faded for a moment. It made Trini feel guilt at being the cause of it. She stepped aside and invited Trini over the window saying, "Well then, come in." As they settled in Kimberly's room, Trini felt the weight of her confession pressing down on her. Kim quirked another smile that was bordering on playful, "So...should you go first, or should I?"

Trini knew that if she didn't go first, she would lose all resolve she had mustered and so she willed herself to volunteer to speak first. Whether Kim was surprised by that or not, she didn't show it. Her face was a mask of smile that Trini chose to interpret as encouraging.

She took another deep breath—which did nothing to calm the loud beating of her heart and the pounding in her ears—and met Kimberly's gaze, her voice steady but filled with vulnerability.

"Kim, I...There is something I've been struggling to admit to myself for a while now." She paused, her hands trembling slightly before she balled them into a fist. "And, I know I'm not one to mince words or say too much, so I'm just going to go ahead and just say it." "Okay...?" there was a hint of confusion now on the taller girl's face despite her lingering smile. "Out with it then." "I... I think I'm in love with you."

[eternalglitch]

With the new tmnt movie coming out, will that shift your interest in rise and cause a discontinuity of like father like son?

Also was this “.. Green staggered slightly, straightening back up as his eyes darted between the portal and Draxum. He dared not back away, but his breath caught in his throat as his heart hammered away in his chest loud enough to be heard.

“You’re lucky that I took an interest in you,” the yokai concluded. “Imagine where you would be if I hadn’t.”

There had once been a spot for him to come back home to, with people that wanted him. But he couldn’t remember exactly when he had realized he no longer was fit to claim that as his home, or why his family had even bothered to put up with him in the first place.

Draxum snorted, finding something in Green lacking. Green didn’t blame him; he could feel the hole within himself, too. “Go on, then,” he ordered. “We better get moving now if you hope to complete these tasks in an acceptable period of time. You first.”

Green didn’t wait for the collar to warn him; he almost tripped over his feet as he ran over to the portal, jumping through without any hesitation this time.

Anywhere was better than there, in that room.

Anywhere.”

Was this a dream or was it like reflected by something that actually happened?

So I actually don't hold much interest in franchises as a way to sell me on something. I might hold interest in specific creatives, but the general brand isn't that important to me. Hollywood is currently running on 80-90% of pre-existing material creation, as in reboots, sequels, spin offs, what-have-you. They do this because they believe they can count on a pre-established fanbase to make more profit with less marketing work, and I... usually want to make them work for my attention still lmao.

This is obviously a personal preference as to how I approach media, and if you are excited already about Mutant Mayhem I am really happy for you! But I don't consider myself a TMNT fan. I was a Rise fan, and Rise is exactly what I would want and I don't want to look for that within a show that was part of the reason for Rise's cancellation. That brings unfair baggage to it and Mutant Mayhem deserves to be looked at for what it is on its own rather than torn apart for being too similar or different to past versions. That happened to Rise, I don't care to do that to another iteration.

So far, all that Mutant Mayhem has really shown is that characters people recognize are being brought back a certain way. And that's cool, but ultimately holds little interest to someone who mainly cares about plot. I'll see how I feel when we learn more about what the movie will actually be about and how well the writing was done. ^^

tldr they have to woo me. And I play hard to get sometimes.

As for how this effects lfls... regardless of Mutant Mayhem, I've actually moved on from Rise three months ago and have already found a new show that I am watching all the time and talking about with my friends. It happens. I still currently plan to write more lfls and haven't changed my plans on that.

And for that particular scene... I'll leave it up to you. You can interpret it as a dream or as a memory. It does the same thing for the story either way.

[mxtcha-tea]

domestic shiratorizawa

⊹summary; the life inside the dorms of shiratorizawa

⊹pilots; gn![y/n], ushijima, tendou, semi, yamagata, reon, kawanishi, shirabu, goshiki (pairings showed; yamagata x reader, goshiki x reader)

⊹genre; fluff, crack and some cursings (no proofread)

⊹flight details; i've once made a domestic imagines in my old blog so imma make a small reboot of it <3

random shopping

normal day, normal life. you could've seen yourself laying or even napping in your room while a compilation of minecraft songs plays in the background. but no. instead, you're inside an antique shop with Yamagata, Ushijima and Tendou.

you have no idea when, or how did the process happened but you surely is done with getting dragged inside the shop by Tendou and Yamagata.

while Ushijima's stuck on a section, you don't know where, but he's definitely stuck there, "[y/n]! look at what i found,"

Yamagata called you as you turned around to see him holding up a pretty heavy doll. you raise your brow, "what the hell is that?" walking towards him and taking a closer look at the object in hand,

"i think it's a, um, i think a matryoska doll? matroyska? is that how you say it?" "why're you asking me, i don't know jack shit about russian stuff,"

"ah you mean, matryoshka doll?" Tendou butted in, startling you two, "it's also called a 'nesting doll' and did you actually know that it was actually originated from china?"

Yamagata's eyes practically sparkled at that with a surprised look, "from china? really?"

you can only roll your eyes, "and how can you even know all that?" Tendou snickered and put on a smug face, "i'm actually very smart, y'know. ya'll just don't know about it," "says the person in class 2,"

"i blame the mathematic old hags for adding letters in math, and the apple that fucking hit my man Isaac," you tsk'ed and walk towards the next section. Yamagata passive aggressively put the matryoshka doll down and follow after you along with Tendou,

"also, we need to find ushijima, i think he's stuck in some section between here...ah there," you stopped walking and turn to your right where you find Ushijima reading a book.

Tendou skipped towards him and smack his shoulder, "you okay, wakatoshi-kun? you sure did took longer to look at the stuff here," while Tendou chats with Ushijima, Yamagata look up at the shelves as something caught his eyes.

he tried to reach it while tip toing but due to his height, he can't reach it. then, he jumped from his spot to grab the object but end up hitting his head onto the board, "AGH, FUCK!" which causes you all to look at him, watching him hold his head while shivering from the pain,

"are you okay, yamagata?" ushijima ask, putting back the book on the shelves, "yeah, yeah, i'm just tryna get that," he shakes his head before pointing up.

you followed his finger and caught a glimpse of an old polaroid. it's a little bit dusty but other than that, it looks new. Ushijima reached it from his spot and managed to grab it, "here,"

he hands it to Yamagata as he instantly recovered from his recent pain and snatch it from Ushijima's hand, subtly thanking him with a grin, "why do you even need a polaroid?" Tendou asked, leaning his arm over Ushijima's shoulder with one brow up,

"pfft, for journaling of course,"

a gust of wind went through you while staring at him with a poker face, the same with Tendou with a small cat like smile. Ushijima just looked the same,

"okay," "WHAT'S WITH THE TONE??" you blinked and just knit your eyebrows, "i mean, since when you started journaling? you're not even the type of person to do something aesthetic,"

he pouted and just crosses his arms, "so what? that doesn't mean i can't do it, right? have faith in me god darn it. and honestly, my journal looks good so far," "well, fine,"

you waved your hand at him and continue going through the other section. and just like that, "hey wait!" Yamagata tailed after you.

Tendou snickered at the two and focus back on Ushijima, who's still watching the display yet again, "have you thought of what to buy wakatoshi-kun?" "i'm not sure, there's a lot of interesting stuff here," "well, you've only been in this section but okay~"

studying

"agh, why did those idiots really have to call me at this time...?"

you groaned, slowly walking through the halls with a slouched figure. tracing your fingers along the wall with a dejected look. you're suppose to sleep today.

an hour or two long sleep. it's finally the weekend which means the time for you to sleep all of your problems away. drifting into slumber with fluffy pillows and warm blankets, enjoying your dream as long as you can.

until your ringtone annoyingly rings next to your ear. you answer the call, and again greeted by the most annoying human in the planet,

"[y/n], we need you at the gym right now!"

"huh? oh fuck off Tendou, i need to sleep right now,"

"nuh uh, you can sleep later after you go to the gym,"

"why? are you, i don't know, practicing or something?"

"you have to find out. if you don't move your ass from that bed, we'll send Hayato to wake you up~"

". . ."

and now, you find yourself standing in front of the door of shiratorizawa's volleyball gym. not only that Tendou wakes you up from your sleep, you also had to WALK all the way from your dorm to the gym,

"i'm gonna add more time to their practices after this..."

sliding the door open, you expect them to be doing serves or maybe spikes.

but instead, you're seeing them—as in the 3rd years—all sitting down at the middle of the court, with books around them.

and what's even more confusing is that they somehow managed to bring a table inside. no, not the flip-able table.

literally a whole ass table.

Reon looks up from his book and notices your figure standing on the door way. he waves his hand at you, you did the same but still with a confused look.

Yamagata was next to see you as he abruptly stand up from his spot, shaking the table in the process,

"Hayato! stop shaking the table," "oops, sorry. ah, wait, [y/n]!"

that caught all of the boys attention as they look at you, "what taking you so long to arrive?" Tendou asked, a pen rested in between his upper lip and nose.

Semi smacked him in the face—earning an 'ow'—before shaking his head,

"their dorm is literally far from the gym, and why do you even proposed your idea of studying at the gym anyway?"

you make your way towards them, Reon patting the empty spot next to him. you sat down on your spot as Yamagata did the same. seemed like he was waiting for you.

Tendou rubbed his nose and pouted at Semi, "this was the best place to study anyway! it have much more room,"

"we should've gone to the cafeteria OR the LIBRARY," Semi groaned, looking back at his book before writing on it,

"pfft, the cafeteria's no fun. and i got banned from the library," Reon looks at Tendou with confusion, "well, it's not surprising,"

Tendou shrugged, "i was also banned from the library," Ushijima said, not looking up from his notes as you knit your eyebrows at that,

"you're also banned from the library? Satori, what did you and Ushijima did—" "anyways, um,"

he cut you off, fidgeting with his pen before pointing it at you, "right, you need to tutor us on this subject~!"

you blinked, looking down at the book they're studying about, "haven't the teacher covered this already?"

"well, i'm sorry, class 6. but we have no idea how this thing works. maybe only Reon, but look at Semi,"

Tendou wrapped his arm around Semi's neck, practically head locking him, "he's from class 1 and i think you should teach him about this the most," "I'll rip your fucking head off, Tendou!"

while both of them tried to strangle each other, Yamagata caught your attention next,

"and also, it won't be fun without you, y'know," Reon nodded, "and don't forget that you can't leave me alone in this,"

"oh right," "hm? what was that?" Yamagata asked. you just shake your head with a defeated smile, "nothing..."

after clearing your throat, you snatched Semi's book away before flipping through the pages,

"okay you scumbags, it's time to learn,"

oblivious enough

the birds chirped from the tree, the hallway's as loud as ever. Semi and Tendou's leaning against the window, each of them drinking apple juice and eating yakisoba bread.

it was silence between them before Semi spoke, "hey, Tendou," "yes Semi-Semi?" "y'know,"

Semi turned his head to look at Tendou as the redhead did the same, "have you, noticed the relationship between [y/n] and Yamagata lately?"

the latter made a thinking face, before nodding, "hm, seems so,"

"do you think, either one of them ever noticed about it?" Tendou shakes his head at the question, "nope, i don't think they do. in fact, they might be completely oblivious to it,"

Semi snickered, "right, like that one time..."

"[y/n], do you think my lips are dry right now?"

you look up from your clipboard, seeing Yamagata pointing his lips, "hm, nah. they're fine, but if you want, i can but on some lip balm,"

his eyes sparkled at that as he nodded his head with excitement, "sure!" you walk towards your bag with Yamagata following you. opening the zipper and search inside it, you pull out your lip balm,

"here, hold still," you put a hand on his cheek while the other applies lip balm onto his lips. it was a slow process but he managed to not move at all while making eye contact with you.

once you finished applying, he pop his lips before humming, "mn, cherry," "let me know if you need anything else,"

he nodded with now flushed cheeks as he smile at you. you did the same, gently patting his arm.

from a distance, Shirabu looks at them with a disgusted look, "ugh, can't they be more subtle about it,"

Kawanishi shrugged, "just let them be,"

"how can i redo my memory? i don't need to see that this early," "well, what if it was us?" "i would be twice as grossed, i can put my own lip balm," "hm yeah, you're right, i honestly would be like that too," "good,"

"haha yeah, now that i think about it, they do it all the time right?" Tendou nodded at Semi's statement before hearing the all too familiar voice just a few meters away from them,

"[y/n]!"

you turned your head around while still sipping your drink. Yamagata stood in front of you, holding out his visibly crumpled necktie with a small smile,

"my necktie!" "ah again? whatever," you give your drink to him as he hold it for you.

grabbing the necktie from his hand, looping it around his collar shirt and started tying it with a concentrated look,

"i can't say that it'll be clean when i finished tying it," "it's okay! that's why i'm asking you to do it, messy or not, at least i have it on," "hm, yeah,"

after you finished tying it and patting it a little, Yamagata hugged you, "thank you!" "yeah, you're welcome,"

the aura literally radiates on the slightly crowded hallway as some of the students who passed you talked among themselves.

Semi and Tendou stared at you two, expressionless eyes but with a small smile,

'ah, right,'

Tendou sighed, intertwining his fingers together and lifting it up to his cheeks, "ah, young love~"

"we're all the same age,"

"young love~"

bonus; reliable kouhai

lifeless.

is what goshiki would say when he took a few glances at you from his book. you promised to tutor him about this subject he's struggling on. but didn't really expect to see your slouched form walking inside the library.

he's not even sure if you even hear anything you're saying right now, "get a shovel and two-" your head hit the table, creating a loud sound and catching the attention of almost everyone inside the library,

"[y/n]-senpai, um, are you okay??" you groaned and rapidly blink your eyes, covering your forehead, "yeah, 'm just..."

a yawn escaped from your mouth before you can even finish your sentence, "...tired. those stupid senpais of yours need help tutoring too even tho being grown ass men,"

goshiki closes his book and creating a small 'thump', snapping you out from your mind,

"well, if that so then you didn't have to come, you could've just tell me and i would be fine with it!" your hoarse laugh caught him off guard as a shade of red ran across his cheeks, "i can't break a promise, tsutomu. why do you even think i agree on tutoring you?"

"uh, cause you want to help me with my studies?" "one of it, and cause i enjoy tutoring you," he can feel his cheeks heating up more when you made eye contact with him, a small smile laced upon your face,

"and honestly, you're smarter than i thought. class 4 right? that's cool," he looked away, trying to calm his nerves down, "t-thanks! a lot of people thought i was in a lower class, so i, i appreciate it,"

goshiki took a peek at you, now burying your face onto your face, "also, senpai," "hm?"

"you should take a nap for now, i think i can start understanding this formula," you slightly look up at him, "you sure? i was prolly talking craps just now," "yeah! your health is more important anyway,"

you hum, offering him a warm smile, "thanks, i know i can count on you," you rested onto your side and close your eyes. lips slightly parted and just like that, you're deep in your dreams.

he pursed his lips, slowly leaning against the table to look at your face. it's calm, peaceful and beautiful, kissable lips. he wonder if he could lean in a little closer until you two-

goshiki instantly jolted up and hit himself on the head, face's covered in the color red, 'no! don't think about that, curse you Tendou-San for introducing me to those mangas...'

Tendou's faces ran across his mind as he grunted,

'why're they so pretty??'

[obx-snippets]

Round Two || JJ Maybank

Summary: After the beer pong game at the boneyard, Y/N has been reluctant to play another game with JJ. But after she plays another round with him at one of Topper’s parties, the date is inevitable.

Pairing: JJ x reader

a/n: So I decided to make a part two from Newton law of beer pong. You can read it below if you haven't already! But I sort of went overboard! Anyway hope you enjoy it and I would love to hear your feedback! xxx

Newton’s Law of Beer Pong (Pt. 1)

Masterlist

Word count: 6k (SORRY)

Warnings: underage drinking, cussing? Making out but that's about it.

**^ gif credit to the lovely @ptersparkers ^**

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Y/N's eyes are close to spinning out of her head as she exchanges a glance between Sarah and Kiara. The two polar opposite girls are standing before her, spitting out excuses to hold Y/N back from attending Topper's party tonight. Kook parties are usually jampacked with coke and expensive rum, which is generally topped with a beer pong table. And the Pogues wouldn't be the Pogues if they didn't crash a party in Figure Eight.  

Once Kiara was sober enough to hear Y/N story about JJ making a move on her, she objected to the whole idea of meeting him again. She knew all JJ wanted was a quick hit, and he would only break Kiara's lovely friend's heart. Besides, Y/N was too sweet and calm ever to mix herself with JJ, and she simply thought they weren't a match.

Sarah Cameron, on the other hand, though it would be good for Y/N to open up and try something new. Though the kook princess and Kiara were on unfavorable terms, they decided to link mutually to discuss their friend's decision.

Though Y/N was only gawking up at them from where she sat at the edge of her bed, it almost felt right hanging out with the two girls. Sarah is midway through stating her case while Kie is deflecting every one of her points, trying to get her to understand that JJ would only hurt her. "Um, guys?" Y/N chimes in quietly, raising her dainty finger to catch her two friends' attention. Both girls hear her silent plea and quiet themselves to listen to her opinion, seeing as they haven't let her talk since they arrived. "Maybe I shouldn't go to the party. I'm not really feeling it anyway."

Kiara shook her head, frantically, "No, no, it's totally fine if you go. I'm just saying that you avoid the beer pong table at all costs."

Sarah crossed her arms with a pout touching her rose-tinted lips. "Then she won't be able to see JJ," she sassed, rolling her eyes.

"Uh, that's my point." Kira rebooted sarcastically, mimicking Sarah's tone.

"Well, I don't mind playing him again..." Y/N mutters nonchalantly, suddenly finding a loose thread of her comforter quite fascinating. She misses the look of utter betrail from Kie and the giddy, triumphant smile from Sarah.

Kiara rakes her hand through her dark curls, her fingers getting lost in the knots she formed. "He's playing you, babe, " she whines frustratedly, hating that her point wasn't getting across. Of course, she thought JJ deserved the best after all that he's been through, and Y/N could be the perfect candidate, but she knew the blonde surfer's routine. Then again, JJ has never offered another go at beer pong in exchange for a date. Especially against someone who is likely to beat him.

In Sarah's eyes, realization sparks as she stands straighter, taking in her friend's flustered state at the mere mention of the Maybank boy. "Oh my god," she beams with a sparse squeal, making Kiara cringe and slightly flinch away from her. "do you have--like do you like him or something?"

Y/N's mouth fall's agape, her tongue is twisting in itself, not able to find the right words. She is silent for too long before Kiara's lips oddly turn upward into a smirk. "You didn't say you actually liked him." she giggled, "I thought you were just horny for JJ."

Y/N gasped and shoved Kiara somewhat away from her, the girl barely budging, letting giggles surpass her lips. "Oh, she is totally horny for JJ." Sarah nodded. Y/n turned to her with an exasperated look, and she shrugs with a semi-panicked look on her face that was fighting off a smile.

"I'm not horny for anyone!" Y/N whines, falling back on her soft bed, covering her face with one of her cushions.  

"Damn, even I'm horny for JJ sometimes." Kiara snickered before a cushion went flying toward her face. "I'm joking, I'm joking!" she laughed, tossing the pillow back on time when Y/N sits up to catch the cushion and places it on her lap with a huff.

The girl was clearly frustrated, and Sarah softened her teasing smile before kneeling to meet her eyes. "Come on, you can't tell me there's not a small part of you that finds him attractive." she quirked a brow, noticing a tug on the corner of her lips.

"Well yeah, of course, I find him attractive." Y/N shrugs, "You'd have to be mental not to notice him. But saying I like him seems a tad over the top when I've only ever spoken less than a couple words to him.

Kiara placed herself next to Y/N, the bed slightly dipping from her weight. "You don't have to like him." she sighed, the look in her eyes indicating her next words would be regrettable. "You and I both know--actually the whole damn island knows about JJ's body count. He's never settled down, and seeing that you could possibly just be another person on his list bothers me. You're so much more than a quick fuck, and I want JJ to see that. That's why I am allowing you to go through with the beer pong game and go on a date with him."

A snort slipped Y/N's lips, and she tilted her head toward Kiara, raising her brows. "You're allowing me?"

Kiara placed her chipped painted nail upon her friend's lips, quickly shushing her. "Just let me have this moment to feel like I have some authority."

Sarah rolled her eyes, resting her hand upon Y/N thighs before laying her head down to peek up at her friend through her mascaraed eyelashes "Well since you're going on a date, I can't let you go to a party looking like that." she says with a tinge of hope lacing her tone, shaking her head disapprovingly towards her friend's outfit choice. Y/n frowns, looking to Kiara to see her opinion, only to be met with the girl painfully nodding in agreement. She looked down at her outfit, not seeing the problem of always wearing a large t-shirt sported with a tennis skirt. It was comfortable, and she quite honestly didn't see the problem.

Y/N looked up, squinting her eyes in defeat as she watched Sarah's mouth turned up into an ever-growing smile that she could finally dress up her friend who thought fashion was overrated. "I'll agree to the makeover and act like your words didn't hurt just now."

Sarah is quick to her feet and peppers Y/N face with soft kisses while Kiara giggles happily, wrapping her arms around her torso from behind. While their laughs boom around the room, Kiara lies back, pulling Y/N down against her stomach, the girls piled up on top of each other while Sarah continues her kiss attack.

•••

Y/N going to a kook party was a rarity in itself. She was always known to keep count of how much her friends drank, maintaining a perfect tally in her head. Unlike the keggers, the kook parties were more intense. It was usual for teenagers to be enticed with the fanciest alcohol and the finest drugs. But being in the circle of friends that included, Rafe, Topper, and Kelce, sellers steered clear from Y/N.  

While the music was bouncing off the walls of Topper's ample living room, Y/n was squeezed between Kelce and Sarah while they looked head at Rafe and Topper on their second line of coke. After seeing the Cameron boy take another swig of his fourth beer, Y/N rolled her eyes ever so slightly, adding another tally to Rafe's list. He was only allowed five, and she wasn't afraid to slap the cup out of his hand if he dared go for a sixth.

As she eyed the crowd trying to find the familiar face of Kiara Carrera under the flashing lights of red and green, she felt Kelce glancing at her in the most obvious way possible. Before her lips could touch the rip of her red solo cup, she turned her gaze to the boy seated next to her; his mouth slightly gaped open. "You okay?" Y/N asked, an amused smile gracing her lips.

Kelce chuckled bubbly in embarrassment that he had been caught shaking his head before sipping his beer. "Nah, nothing. You just look weird." he shrugged. Sarah's keen ear enabled her to catch up on Kelce's comment and jolted her body forward to stab the boy with a malice glare. The boy having realized the look on y/n face as she looks down at Sarah's wardrobe's choice, he quickly trampled over his words. "Wait, no, I mean that in the nicest way possible. You just don't usually dress like that."

While Sarah snapped at Kelce, Y/N leaned back, letting her back rest while the two began roasting each other over the smallest things that wouldn't hurt them in the slightest. As much as she loved the loose, soft material of her brown shorts that Sarah provided, the white short-sleeved turtle neck was suffocating. Sarah was sure to match everything with simple gold jewelry and leather-strapped sandals that let her feet breathe, unlike her usual tennis shoes. But as soon as her lovely blonde friend asked to curl her hair, that's where she denied. Instead, she let a loose ponytail drape over her shoulder, already feeling soft strands breaking free from the black velvet scrunchie.

Letting her head drop back against the couch, a silent groan vibrated in the back of her throat as she pressed her palms against her eyes, making stars flicker behind her eyelids. She was thankful she settled for a bare face tonight with the exception of a tinted moisturizer and cherry chapstick that was resided in her flimsy pocket.  

A harsh flick to the forehead brought the girl to pull her hands away, her sight blurry as she tried to make out the person whose head was hanging over hers. JJ's blonde hair tickled her chin, and his blue eyes piercing into her's made her face go red. "Round two y/l/n?" he quietly questioned, his mint breathe fanning her face, his gum squeezed between his smug smirk. She smelled the lace of weed on his muscle tee, but it was nothing out of the ordinary considering where they were.  

"Sort of busy," Y/n sighed, pushing his face away with her hand before he could notice her flushed expression over the proximity of his face. But JJ had already seen her cheeks tint and was proud of the effect he had on her without even trying. Sitting up, she twisted in her seat to face him again. His fellow pogues didn't surround him, so she assumed that they had dispersed to dive into the free alcohol. Sarah and Kelce were already maneuvering to the other side of the couch, both infatuated in the conversation like hearing the latest gossip. Unlike Rafe and Topper, Kelce never had a problem with JJ, but he did enjoy the rivalry every so often.

"Busy lounging around?" JJ quirked his brow, leaning his arms on the back of the couch, his veins straining.

"It takes some effort. You know us kooks, lazy as hell." she shrugged, her voice laced with chaste sarcasm. Since having more interaction with him at the boneyard, her reticence toward the blonde felt like a fleeting memory.

As JJ tapped his fingers to ponder her words, his lips pursing, Y/N eyes quickly dropped to his rings, admiring how the luminescent party lights glistened off them every so often. "I think you're an exception. Considering you use at least more brain cells than I do, I'll give you some credit and lay off the kook card for tonight."

Y/n slowly peered over her shoulder to see Sarah already nodding furiously and waving her hands to shoo her away. Kelce narrowed his eyes at the interaction, looking between the two girls to wrap his head around what was going on.

"You comin'?"

Y/n hummed in response, her brows pulling into a deep furrow having muffled out any voices as she faced JJ. Her heart began beating against her ears as she registered what he meant. The beer pong game would mean having to go on a date, but she hadn't fully agreed to the rules. Kie's words lingered in the back of her head like a taunting siren. She didn't know what she felt toward JJ besides fighting the urge to kiss the smirk playing on his lips at the moment, seeing her face begin to flush while deep creases formed on her forehead. She didn't want just to be one of JJ's flings or whatever he liked to call them. Maybe it would be a date and nothing more. It didn't necessarily mean anything would happen. As long as she doesn't let him make a move, everything would be fine.

At least that's what she hoped.

Too deep in her rambling thoughts, Y/n didn't notice JJ lifting his thumb to caress the worry lines on her forehead, smoothing them out until her face softened. He could practically feel the warmth beaming off her skin, which only boosted his ego more. His blue eyes never left hers, and she was squirming under his gaze. The effect he had on her was becoming terrifying for her, and she swatted his hand away, a small scowl etching on her face that JJ found quite adorable regardless of her attempt to be annoyed.

Y/n pushed herself off the couch before spinning on her heel to heave through the crowd of dancing teenagers. She was sure JJ was following not too far behind to meet her at the beer pong table that resided in Topper's backyard. The pool was splashing out water from the riled boy's taking turned jumping in while music was becoming muffled out as she approached John B and Pope, who was setting up the table for the game they knew was about to start. They had picked a grassy area where fairy lights hung above them held by tree branches, and they were sure no kooks would bother them. Kie, who was chatting with a Touron about the environment, was the first to spot her. She was quick to abandon the other girl with a quick goodbye before skipping toward Y/n and tugging her into a tight hug as if they hadn't just seen each other a couple of hours ago.

Y/n quirked a brow once she pulled away, seeing the suggestive grin on Kie's face as she wiggled her shoulder in a little dance. "You're goin' on a date with JJ..." her tease was breaking off into a squeal with every word, making Y/n bite back a smile and shoved her away by her shoulders.

Rolling her eyes, she ignored Kie's giggling as she approached John B, seeing that he was filling the last cup with beer. The brunette stole a glimpse in her direction before focusing back on the work at hand. "Yo, y/l/n. Glad you could make it," he said, lining up the cups, so they were perfectly in place. "ready for round two?" a side smile tugged on the side of his lip as he finally let his focus drift to her.

She wondered if JJ told his friends about the bet he made with her and began absentmindedly tugging on the golden charm bracelet loosely draped around her wrist. "As ready as I can be, I guess." she laughed softly.

"So that's a no?" Pope commented, sipping his kombucha juice, knowing he had to be sober for this game.

"Nope," she popped, already dreading that she had to withstand going on a date only to be bailed a day later.

Pope hummed, nodding in understanding. "Kombucha?" he offered, stretching his cup out toward the girl. JJ would kill him if he admitted that he was the only one that was told, besides Kie, about the bet he made with her. Since JJ was owned by Y/n that night at the boneyard, he had taken a more liking to her and thought his blonde buffoon of a friend could use a companion that actually thought before taking action.

She nodded promptly before making her way around the table to sip the sweet herbaceous beverage. She had never made much of an interaction with the pogues. They were always friendly with her anytime she saw them drifting by on the HMS or when she would pick some food up from the Wreck. She felt like she had one foot in the Cut while the other was, unfortunately, in Figure Eight. She stayed out of the Kook and Pogue nonsense, and both sides respected that, not pestering her anytime she would hang out with either tribe.

"Hey, this is my side," JJ grumbled from beside her as he let the ping pong ball drop on her head before he caught it.

"Both sides are the same, " Y/n pointed out, passing the cup back to Pope, looking down at the back table with red solo cups decorated for the game.

Kie was already behind Y/n to push her by her shoulder to the other side of the table. "Best not to argue with him," she whispered, patting her shoulder once more before giving her space to warm up. Sarah was stumbling out from the house crashing into John B's arm, her face red from the short run. Y/n wasn't sure if the girl was really athletically inclined, and swatting birds with a tennis racket wasn't an exception.

Y/n let out a shaking breath, wringing her hands as she took in the table's appearance. She peeked upward through her lashes to see JJ already fixed on her, casually tossing the ball from either hand. He passed a quick wink in her direction before bouncing the ball and making it into one of her cups with ease. Y/n was suprised with his sharp point and let the warm liquid from the cup he scored flow into her mouth. As soon as she finished her drink, she paused, letting the liquid settle on her mouth before swallowing. She narrowed at the table, slightly tilting her head to see that it was tilted.

She laughed under her breath, realizing why JJ wanted that side of the table. His chances of winning were higher on his percentage, perceiving that since his side was heaving upward due to the small inclination of the hill under them, gravity would assist in his ball landing into her cups without much effort. JJ and Pope exchanged glanced, practically seeing the gears shifting in her brain. Now JJ was never the person to say he was in love, but he was in love with Y/n Y/l/n brain. How it was quick to fix a dilemma or figure something out without so much as a glance. He knew he wouldn't get away with his scheme long enough for her to analyze her next moves.

The wind blew her loose strands in her face, and she didn't bother to fix it, too focused on probing the next move. JJ's eyes were fixated on her, swallowing hard. He knew she was always beautiful, especially when he would see her lounging at the beach with Kie or beating Sarah at golf anytime he would deliver groceries with Pope. He knew she played early in the morning on Saturdays and always made sure to take that route on his way to specific houses. He loved overhearing her and Pope having a philosophical conversation and her effortlessly winning at constant debates. But something about her right now took his breath away. She was in her element, his heart warming at the sight of her rose-tinted lips curving to a smile as she appeared to figure out her game plan.

"I'll hand it to you, you almost had me there." Y/n said, closing one of her eyes to aim for her target. She could hear the sound of Kie's faint whisper commenting a fleet 'I love you' for good luck while Sarah cheers a quick 'whoop.'

"Almost?" JJ questioned, crossing his arms over his chest. Playing dumb was his specialty. If it got Y/n to show off, he didn't care as long as he got to see her mumbling under her breath every time she made a shot.

For the first time, Y/n made real eye contact with JJ, a surge of confidence swimming in the depth of her y/e/c iris'.

"Yeah, almost," she smirked, making JJ wither into a puddle. It suited her too well.

With her fast momentum, she bounced the ball and made it into his cup.

•••

To much of Y/n's dismay, Kiara provided JJ with her phone number after her victory the other night. He hadn't mentioned anything after the game, and she hoped he probably let the date idea slide. But before she stepped out of Topper's house, he wrapped his hand around her wrist and dipped down to graze his lips against her ear.

"Be ready for tomorrow, princess."

The whispered words sat within her dreams all night. She could still feel the warmth of his breath tickling her neck and how it sent goosebumps throughout her whole body. She longed for that sensation again. She wanted to feel his thumb caresses her wrist and the chill of his rings like it had before. She would never confess any of this if she wished to hear the lecture from Kiara about JJ being a fuck boy. She believed his title wholeheartedly, but a part of her really wanted to spend the day with JJ.

Even if he was blasting her phone at five in the morning.

Her dainty hand blindly searched her nightstand in the darkness before feeling her buzzing phone. Her eyes squinted as the bright light from her screen scoured her face to read JJ's caller ID.

"Hello?" she croaked into the speaker as she squeezed the bridge of her nose and let her eyes flutter shut, dousing in the darkness just for a few more seconds, already feeling the onset of a headache.  

"Are you still asleep?" his shout brought her to groan and pull the phone away from her ear.

"Obviously not if I'm talking to you." she snapped gently, hearing JJ chuckle over the line. The sound made her smile despite her fight for sleep, heaving her eyes shut.

"I'm outside, so hurry it up."

"Why so early," she whined, "we could have done something in the afternoon."

"The earlier, the better babe." he cheered. She heard him greet someone in passing with a cheerful good morning, the person probably wondering why a pogue was outside the Lynch residents.

Y/n shook her head but used her voice, realizing he couldn't see her disapproval with the pet name. "Don't call me that." she snipped.

"You don't like it?" he teased. Though she couldn't see his face, she could hear the smirk pulling on his lips.

"No, I don't." she flatly replied.

"Yeah, mhm."

"I'm serious."

"I'm sure you are."

"I hate you."

"Just get up. You won't regret it. Promise." he chuckled. He hung up before she had time to protest, leaving her to stare at her dark ceiling, relishing in the last bit of rest she'll have upon the crazy day ahead of her.

Drinking coffee wasn't needed as an energy boost that morning. She was wide awake; her eyes squeezed shut while she clings to JJ's waist as she sat on the back of his dirtbike. He was speeding down the empty roads of Figure Eight that would soon mesh into the Cut. Her yellow sundress was flowing behind her, along with her hair. JJ smiled at the feeling of her hands squeezing him tighter anytime he would speed up or wobble the bike just to hear her squeal. But as they crossed over a bridge to enter the Cut, he slowed down, feeling her head rest on his back as she took in the lively colors of the morning sky, the sun setting on the horizon of the glowing waters to greet the day. A smile played on her lips, already feeling butterflies in her stomach, thinking about the day ahead.

The morning breeze nipped on Y/n sensitive skin as she stared ahead of her, confusion settling upon her features. With her hands running up her arm to find some warmth, she watched JJ ordering ice cream at a small, quaint ice cream parlor. JJ must have been familiar with one of the young workers there and tried to block out there chatting. She was no doubt one of his girls that he had taken home upon the many others that she had heard of. Her breast was practically jutting out of the buttoned-up blue polo she sported with the icecream logo etched upon her bosom. Y/n let her eyes drop to her own, and quickly pulled up the deep v-line of her dress, suddenly feeling a bit self-conscious.

JJ came strutting back; his signature red cap place backward on his head. He held up two cones of strawberry ice cream, shaking them teasingly. Icecream was never an ideal breakfast choice, but when JJ told her strawberry ice cream was the same as having strawberries on your pancakes, she was forced to comply with the gorgeous toothy grin on his face. But she was definitely going for a coffee later.

"This is not gonna settle well with me," Y/n mumbled as she walked alongside JJ down a sidewalk, the beach waves crashing against the shore nearby. She licked the cold "breakfast" and scrunched her nose from the sudden burst of sweetness that was too overwhelming for her taste buds.  

"Strawberries. Strawberry ice cream. Same difference," JJ shrugged nonchalantly, taking a bite from his ice cream, bringing Y/n's eyes to widen in horror. The blonde took notice of her gaze and raised a querying brow. "What?" he questioned around a bite of ice cream.

"Did you just bite your ice cream?" she asked, eyeing the bite mark that was slowly melting from the sun hitting the side of his face. His blue eyes were sparkling as he smirked, admiring his delicious icecream.  

"Yeah, what about it?" he took another slow, painful bite, keeping his eyes on her's the whole time, enjoying how she cringed and shook her head. "I get more servings that way."

"You psycho." she laughed, looking ahead and nipped on the strawberry cream with her lips. The cool breeze that picked up around her was suddenly not a problem even if she was eating icecream. As they strolled down the sidewalk, their hands would occasionally brush each other and brought Y/n to let in a sharp breath. JJ's eyes dipped down to her hand and let his ring clad fingers lazily intertwine with hers. She was surprised by his public affection, even if the gesture was small. She allowed her hand to relax and held his, fending off the smile once she notices some surfer girls walking by, eyeing her with a scowl. The best part was, JJ didn't pay them a second glance as he nonchalantly began swaying their hands playfully, happily biting into his soft-serve strawberry delight.

The blazing North Carolina sun was now blazing down on them from above after the long walk to the beach. They exchanged pointless stories about their separate friend groups, JJ's being more enticing. She wished she could experience a day with the Pogues out on the HMS, but she knew her place. She wasn't even sure what "this" was. Would she end up in his bed tonight? Would he go off to ignoring her, earning himself brownie points that he was able to go on a date with a Kook? In her opinion, it wouldn't be much of a victory. She didn't see herself as the hottest Kook in her area. Some beat her rank and standards by a hundred, and all she did was watch. Too deep in her own draining thoughts, she didn't notice how JJ watched her as she stared at the water, kicking off her sandals to start her challenge of collecting shells without getting wet.

"You're gonna fall in," JJ stated confidently, his hands on his hips as he stood next to Y/n, looking out on the water.

She was currently pulling her hair back, a determined look in her eyes. She was growing more comfortable with JJ and was acting as if it was another day with Kiara. The boy made a small comment that it was impossible to grab the prettiest shells without getting wet, and once a challenge struck, there was no turning back for her. JJ didn't notice himself starring, involuntary smiling watching her mumble to herself, most likely timing the wave's push and pull.

Y/n reached one of her hands out toward JJ, and he handed her the velvet scrunchie she had on the other night. She tied her hair back, slipping it into a low messy bun that was already letting strands fall to her face. "Where's the faith, J?" she teased, backhanding his stomach, which was already hard from his sudden flexing.  

"Lost somewhere with my positivity." he shrugged, eliciting a laugh from Y/n, "the waves are too quick anyway and that hundred dollar dress is going to be ruined by the end of the day."

"It's all about timing." she nodded, rubbing her hands together, hoping her calculations were inorder. " I mean, we only see half of the wave, and it all depends on the wind. A wave increases in size quadratically relative to the wind's speed and reaches its maximum capacity when it's traveling about as fast as the wind. It not that breezy out, so they shouldn't come hurdling in too quickly. Besides, all I'm seeing are Surging waves that don't crash or spill, and they just bulge up before crashing against the shore, giving me enough time to grab at least two shells. Technically speaking, I could only get wet up to my ankles, maybe my knees, if the contact is strong enough..."

JJ didn't even mind that she was absentmindedly rambling on. He swore he fell in love with more than her words at that moment.

He would never pay her a compliment saying how beautiful her mind was but instead watched her contently as she finished her speel. Her face began to redden, seeing how JJ was tilting his head, his arms crossed over his chest, waiting for her to finish. "Sorry..." She laughed, tucking loose strands behind her ear before looking ahead again.

"You're gonna fall in," he deadpanned one last time before watching her run toward the water. The tide was pulled back, letting her kneel down and collect a hand full of shell. The water glistened over pink and white shells she had found, smiling to herself that she could finally brag to JJ.

When she looks up to show the boy her pretty shells, JJ was already in front of her, heaving her body over his shoulder. A scream slipped from her lips that soon led to giggles as he began spinning around, water hitting her face. "JJ! Put me down!" she tried hardening her voice, but was only met with a light smack to her bottom. "Hey!" She yelped and began pounding on his back. There were undoubtedly other people on the beach who were staring at them, but JJ didn't have a care in the world.

"Put you down, you say?" JJ suddenly paused; the sarcasm lacing his animated tone brought her face to fall.

"Don't." she snapped, her playful tone disappearing with the fear that she would have to meet the icy water below.  

JJ smirked, feeling her tense under his arms that he tightened around her waist. "Oh my. Well, there just so happens to be a vast body of water to plunge into right here!"

"I will kill you!" she hit his back again but was only met with a giggling response.

The outcome was inevitable. JJ had moved deeper into the water before letting himself and Y/n plunge under the ocean's salty waves, notwithstanding her constant protest. Y/n was the first to resurface, her scrunchie disappearing somewhere in the water, her hair slicked back while water droplets slipped from the tip of her flaring nose. Once JJ's head appeared, his laugh was cut off with the sudden splash of water hitting his face. "Told you, you'de get wet." he snickered, wiping his hand down his face to adjust his eyes from the water attack.

Y/n bobbed in front of him, her scowl turning into a smile that brightened her features. JJ felt every wall tumbling down at the mere sight of her. He just realized she wasn't wearing makeup, and it suited her so well. He wasn't used to spending time with girls besides Kie, but he never felt this pang against his chest with other girls. He liked talking about technicalities and theories, unlike the Tourons, who would only go on and on about an ex-boyfriend. Seeing someone as amazingly smart at Y/n Y/l/n letting loose in his presence was something he could get used to. This whole bet started as a tease, and getting at her was out of the question when it came to asking Kiara's approval. She shut down the idea constantly. But once she let him go through with it, he wanted the day to be perfect. Even if they weren't very familiar with each other, it was a start.

JJ was abruptly submerged underwater as Y/n surged forward and hopped up to push him down by his shoulder. She ends up underwater as well but was picked up by JJ, his arms circling her waist only to plunge her back inside, a loud snort leaving his lips. He pulled her back up, and she slapped his chest repeatedly, coughing up water.

As they calm down, JJ ended up patting her back, helping her calm down from the water that invaded her lungs. He apologized, but she couldn't take it seriously from his grin that hasn't abanded his lips since the start of the date.

"I'm okay now." she breathed quietly, turning her body to face JJ.

"So, how was the first date?" JJ asked her, swaying his arms in the water. Though his tone held playfulness, his eyes were hopeful, making her heart flutter.

She hummed, pondering the thought as she led her focus to the blue sky before meeting his blue eyes again. "Besides almost drowning, close to perfect."

JJ gasped dramatically, placing his hand on his now bare chest. She hadn't even noticed when he pulled it off to tackle her into the water. But she wasn't complaining how the sun danced on his tanned chest. She sunk lower into the water, letting it kiss her chin before raising herself back up. "Close? I did like everything right," he complained.

"You gave me icecream for breakfast." she retorted with a purse touching her wet, salty lips.

"Strawberry ice cream!" he reiterated slowly for her to catch onto his point that it was the same thing as having a fruit bowl in the morning.

"Plus two hundred calories!" she laughed at his pout as he rolled his eyes. "and the 4.2 grams of protein doesn't count."

"Well, we walked on the beach," he tried again but only watched with annoyance as Y/n tilted her head, already reading her expression of disagreement. "that screams romantic moment."

"You threw me into the water." she shot back quickly.

"There is no winning with you." JJ shook his head.

A comfortable silence loomed over them, his cerulean eyes washing over her features. The droplets that settled on her cheek were glowing from the golden sun's reflection. She grew smaller under his hungry gaze, noticing he was moving closer to her until he was towering over her silhouette slightly. She swallowed hard, her eyes flickering to his lips just for a moment as she bit down on her own. "You already know I never lose," she whispered.

"Yeah, I've noticed," he chuckled softly. His hands brushed the sides of her hips, letting his fingertips ghost over the fabric of her sundress that she wished would disappear. She wanted nothing more than to feel his bare hands on her.

The sensation was overwhelming once his hands were slipping under her dress, caressing her thigh to coax her body closer to him. Her chest was flush against his, her eyes fluttered shut, feeling his warm breath fanning against her head. "Well, if I don't calculate everything, I might miss something. I don't like unexpected things." she rambled quietly, trying to pry his eyes off her. One of her fingers fiddle with the shark tooth necklace dangling from his neck while the other was holding onto his bicep.

Keeping an arm secured around her waist, JJ used his finger to lift her chin to finally meet his eyes. She was melting in his grasp as she observed him lick his lips, his nose tapping against her own. "Bet you didn't calculate this," he whispered huskily against her lips.

The space between them was suddenly closed as he tilted her head to place a sweet lingering kiss on her lips. He took his time, not wanting to scare her off. She felt her heart speeding up and almost whined when he pulled back. His smirk quickly reached his lips, watching her mouth slightly part. She was speechless, and she craved more of him.

She slipped both her hands to his face to cradle his cheeks as she pulled him down to meet her lips again, deepening the kiss. It was bold of her, but JJ didn't mind. He smiled into her lips and snaked both arms around her waist to press her against him. They were synchronized, and she would be damned if she even thought this moment would end soon. She tugged on his wet hair ever so slightly, causing him to let out a low moan into her mouth. Feeling the vibration in his chest made her take in a deep breath, and he took the chance to slip his tongue against hers. Everything she was doing was uncharted territory, but experiencing with JJ Maybank was a blessing, and she soon fell in sync with his warm lips.  

Her lips tasted just like JJ imagined. Strawberry ice cream.

@drewsephsmiles @obxlife @illbesafeforyou @rudyypankow @jenniesquared

[emachinescat]

I've decided to watch MacGyver from the beginning (again), and I'm live tweeting the experience with every tweet tagged with #savemacgyver. I thought it would be fun to share my collected thoughts from the episodes on here as well.

My Thoughts on S1E1, "The Rising"

Good old Lake Como.

"How do I look?" Always amazing, Mac, though here you are so bebby. Gosh, tiny Lucas is tiny.

Ugggh, Nikki. My least favorite story arc in the show. Even with her redemption arc, even her face makes me mad.

I am soooo glad this awkward flirting is only in this episode. Mac and Nikki have never vibed with me.

JACK DALTON

"Who loves ya, baby?" We all do, Jack.

I always wished they would have played more into the original Mac's reason for not carrying a weapon - not just so he doesn't get caught but because he doesn't like them. That was actually one reason I used to be so upset at the reboot when it first came out. I still feel like Mac's character was off for this first episode - a little too cocky, not super developed. But still lovable, and with so much potential!

It's so cool to see how much Lucas has grown into this character over the years, really making it his own while still holding on to its essence.

Lol "serious bad-assery" - Nikki thinks she's so cool. (Spoiler: she's not.)

Lololol Nikki is the Walmart brand of Riley.

Mac in glasses. Adorbs.

Man, I'm already so ready for Matty. Patti is the off brand version of her.

I always love watching Mac rifle through stuff to find his improvisation supplies!

First MacSplaining session! Electromagnets!

"Is this George Clooney's house?" I miss Jack so freaking much.

Mac kind of looks like a penguin with that waiter outfit on and I'm living for it.

The second Mac hack is so Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew.

"Why don't you ever flirt with me like that?" Um, Jack, do you want your partner's girlfriend flirting with you, daddy fixation or not?

There are two kinds of oops, accordng to Jack Dalton: Oops - I just stubbed my toe / Ooooooops - Zombie apocalypse initiated.

Mac's hair is so shaggy.

"START THE DAMN BOAT!" Classic.

"Hold this and get out of my way." Dang, Mac.

The bad guy is the dude from Galavant hahaha. I know this guy has been in so many things, but he will always be Gareth to me. (That's his name, right? Gareth?)

W H U M P

I actually love the consistency of Mac always having that scar even seasons into the series (except for the last time, in the river). Overall great attention to detail!

That is a LOT of blood in the water.

Lol I'm pretty sure Grandpa Harry didn't say that in so many words, Mac.

Poor traumatized bebby. What am I saying? I live for this stuff.

Awww, lil Bozer. So smol. So pure. And now I want waffles.

"Eat your waffles." Three words I will never say no to.

"Give me Wang." -Bozer, 2016

Am I the only one who finds these intimate scenes between Mac and Nikki hella awkward?

QUARANTINE, sounds familiar.

Lol "cyberteam." Once Riley Davis comes along, they will be obsolete.

Jack just wants a hug.

I always hated the clinical white room in the pilot. Can't wait for the War Room.

I love the interactions between Jack and Riley.

Mac and Riley EYE CONTACT.

"You two are on timeout from now on." 😂😂😂

THE MOMENT WHERE HE GRABS HER HANDS

Lol, thanks for telling me that's a paperclip. I was so confused.

"Riley has so much hair!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

I love how Riley takes charge. Her confidence is 🔥🔥🔥

"You know what, never mind, I'd be pissed at you too." 🤣

Jack's so proud of his daughter. 💕

"Is that real?" Bless Jack's heart. He's such an old man.

Patti is a square. Pretty, competent, but boring. I miss Matty.

"My man never jokes about tin foil."

Ooooo Nikki is alive. Poor Mac. His whole world keeps getting turned on its head.

Jack can be scary when he wants to be.

Poor, poor, Mac. When he faces Nikki, he looks like a kicked golden retriever. (Also, NEVER kick a dog.)

I'm just eating up all this angst.

Mr. Wizard lololol

Mac hanging from a plane is soooo iconic.

"Don't get cocky. You're the only other one here." Haha, the SASS on this girl.

"Go ahead, you aready had me killed once." Also, oof. Undercover or not, Nikki is cold. I can't stand her.

Excuse me, Patricia, but I would consider running over your neighbor's dog (or any dog) a damn catastrophe, too.

"Sometimes a purge is necessary to fix what's broken." Codex, anyone?

Love this whole chase/fight sequence so much. The music, action, everything... perfect.

The sweat on Mac's forehead when dangling out of the 🚁 - such a great detail!

"YOU GO KABOOM, I GO KABOOM"

Kind of weird to me that Mac seems to be using so much guesswork with this bomb, especially when we know that he's one of the best specialists out there.

That fight scene in the back of the vehicle is one of my all time favorites. The whump is excellent.

Okay, but when does MacGyver ever do anything the way Jack has in mind?

DIY or die. Still so lame, lol. The parachute is awesome, though.

Oof. That landing looks painful and the whumper in me loves it. Even more, I can't get over how worried Jack is as he rushes to Mac's side. ❤️❤️❤️

That break in his voice when he asks if Mac's okay is just... AYSKTUFYIFUYliIIGUOG

Mac burning Nikki's pics like that old Taylor Swift song.

Bozer calling Jack his bestie is so weird and funny to me.

I am so ready for Bozer to get over Riley. They are so much better as friends.

Lol "Those fries won't cook themselves." The crack of a whip, man.

Jack calling Riley a little rascal and then gently asking Mac if he's doing all right there, pal ... taking care of his kids, and I am DYING.

The Three Amigos... come on, Jack. You can do better than that.

Is it bad that I'm actually a little surprised that Jack knows what a Phoenix is? Just seems like something he wouldn't care to learn, especially since he's a sci fi junkie but I never really hear him talk about fantasy.

Oooooooo Nikki's on the loose. Gotta end with suspense, to hook those viewers and make them want more. Well, I want more of this show, but not because of her.

Well, awesome re-watch of episode 1. Definitely not my favorite by a long shot, but so iconic and with some amazing moments! It just makes me that much more excited to get to see the show and the characters grow!

If anyone wants to join me in my re-watching and tweeting adventure, please do! It's my way to take about an hour a day in my busy, busy life to commit to the #savemacgyver movement. (And to enjoy my favorite show yet again!) If you do tweet as you watch, make sure to tag EVERY tweet with ONLY #savemacgyver so we can keep that hashtag trending! :)

Thanks for letting me share my (numerous) thoughts on this episode. This was really fun, and I hope it's something you all enjoy, too. I'll probably go ahead and post episode 2 tonight since I just watched it. I'd love to know what you all think of the episode in the comments! ❤️

[multiversecarnavep]

Her role in Harvey Dent's past was updated into the currently prominent Two-Face origin: Batman Annual #14 (1990), a story called "Eye of the Beholder."[9] In this story, it is revealed that Dent's father was an abusive alcoholic who would nightly play a game with his young son: "I'll flip a coin: if it's heads, I beat you. Tails, I don't." Dent spends a lifetime burying his rage and resentment, only to discover that the coin was two-headed all along. While Dent is torn between loving and resenting his father, Gilda clearly despises him; she scoffs that after a lifetime of abuse and cruelty, the only thing Dent's father ever gave him was a coin.

Gilda tries to comfort Dent as his sanity deteriorates. She pleads with him when, upon awakening from a nightmare, he races out of their bed in the middle of the night and goes to his office, "where it's safe". After Harvey is disfigured, Gilda visits him in the hospital to try to give him back the coin. It was in his pocket during the trial, and was also hit by some acid, scarring one side of the coin. She last appears in this story right after Two-Face murders his corrupt former assistant, Adrian Fields, tearfully explaining Dent's abuse history to Batman.

Gilda does not reappear until Secret Origins Special # 1,[10] where she (here named Grace) appears on a TV talk show focusing on Gotham's villains. She talks about a time when one of the criminals Dent put away as D.A. returned for revenge by taking her hostage. Two-Face eventually rescued her, beating the ex-con to the point of death, but holding off because Grace demanded he stop. This represents a rare case where Two-Face is not influenced by the coin, but rather by someone else's welfare. She tries once again to appeal to his "good" side, but fails. At the end of the interview, she professes her belief that, one day, Dent would return to her.

Gilda returns in Batman: Two-Face Strikes Twice.[11] Here, she finds herself at odds with her now-ex-husband, as he believes their marriage failed because he was unable to give her children. She later marries Paul Janus, a reference to the Roman god of doors who had two faces, one facing forward, the other backward. Two-Face attempts to frame Janus as a criminal by kidnapping him and replacing him with a stand-in, whom Two-Face "disfigures" with makeup to make it look as if Janus has gone insane just as Two-Face had. Two-Face is eventually caught by Batman and sent away, and Gilda and Janus reunite. Years later, Gilda gives birth to twins named James and Luke, prompting Two-Face to escape once more and take the twins hostage, as he erroneously believes them to be conceived by Janus using an experimental fertility drug. The end of the book reveals a surprise twist; Batman learns from Gilda that Janus is not the father of Gilda's twins - Dent is. Some of his sperm had been frozen after a death threat had been made against him, and she used some of it to get pregnant. Batman uses this information to convince Dent to free the twins and turn himself in.[12]

Post-Zero HourEdit



Gilda Dent destroying incriminating evidence against her husband Harvey Dent in Batman: The Long Halloween. Art by Tim Sale.

After the events of Zero Hour: Crisis in Time, Gilda's entire history has been revised. She has a larger role and story arc in The Long Halloween,[13] a maxi-series that is part of Two-Face's origin in Batman Annual #14. During the nearly year-long story, a serial killer called Holiday systematically murders prominent gangsters. During the series, Gilda's marriage to Dent shows signs of strain; she wants to settle down and start a family, while he is obsessed with capturing Holiday. In a private monologue at the end, Gilda states that she was the original Holiday killer, having committed all of the murders up until New Year's Eve. Gilda indicates that Dent murdered Alberto Falcone on New Year's Eve, taking her place, and that he was the one responsible for the crimes from that point on. The confession is only known to readers, since Alberto confessed to all the Holiday murders upon his capture. Gilda destroys the evidence of her crimes and leaves Gotham City.

Due to the success of The Long Halloween, the events of the story have generally been accepted into continuity as the "official" story of Batman's early years, given that Zero Hour retconned the events of Batman: Year Two and rendered them non-canonical. In Batman: Dark Victory, the Calendar Man is about to reveal Holiday's true identity, but an enraged Two-Face cuts him off.

In Greg Rucka's novelization of Batman: No Man's Land, Dent thinks that Gilda is dead.

Post Infinite CrisisEdit

In the "One Year Later" story arc Batman: Face the Face, Dent mentions Gilda when recalling his past life, but the Two-Face persona states "No, Harvey. She's gone now".

During Dick Grayson's tenure as Batman, she appears standing over a wounded Harvey Dent. The Riddler reveals that she faked her death and was institutionalized following The Long Halloween, where she met Mario Falcone, who suffered a similar breakdown following the event of Dark Victory. After getting involved upon their release, Falcone kept Gilda like a prisoner, and she conspired with the Riddler to steal Two-Face's coin and entice him to rescue her. Knowing that Falcone was on Dent's tail, Gilda faked Harvey's death by appearing to shoot him at point-blank range. When they were finally reunited, she explained how much she missed him, and that she now believed in Two-Face as well as Harvey Dent. Feeling betrayed and manipulated, Two-Face tried to kill her, but hesitated, only to be stopped by Batman. To save Harvey, she shot Batman with a .22, knocking him out and allowing them both to escape. Her ultimate fate remains unknown, and Dick even expressed doubt that she was in fact the real Gilda Dent.[14]

New 52Edit

In the New 52 reboot, Gilda is a socialite that Bruce Wayne introduces to Harvey at a graduation party. She is killed in front of Harvey by Erin McKillen.

Other versionsEdit

FlashpointEdit

In the alternate timeline of the Flashpoint event, Harvey Dent has a wife and twin children. When the Joker kidnaps Dent's children, Mrs. Dent is emotional while her husband asks Thomas Wayne (the Batman of this timeline) for help in their search.[15]

In other mediaEdit

FilmEdit

A Victorian era version of Gilda appears briefly, without dialogue, in the animated adaptation of Gotham by Gaslight.

Gilda appears in the two part animated film Batman: The Long Halloween, voiced by Julie Nathanson.[16] In this version of events, Gilda takes the blame as the Holiday Killer, motivated by her anger at the Falcones after she had a past relationship with Alberto that ended with Falcone ending the marriage and forcing Gilda to get an abortion of her and Alberto's child.

TelevisionEdit

A character analogous to Gilda, Grace Lamont, appeared in Batman: The Animated Series, voiced by Murphy Cross. In the episode "Two-Face", she is D.A. Harvey Dent's fiancée. Alongside Dent's best friend Bruce Wayne, she watches helplessly as Dent loses his grip on sanity while going after gangster Rupert Thorne. After Dent is disfigured and becomes Two-Face, Thorne plots to use Grace against his new rival. A couple of Thorne's men disguise themselves as police officers and offer Grace a handheld tracking device, in case Two-Face ever approaches her. Two-Face eventually does, bringing her to his lair and wearing a scarf to cover his scars. She nearly succeeds in persuading Two-Face to reform, when Thorne's men show up, revealing that Grace inadvertently betrayed him. Nevertheless, Grace helps Batman and Two-Face fight off Thorne's men, and remains by his side as he is taken into custody with Thorne.

MiscellaneousEdit

Grace returned to animated continuity in the comic series The Batman and Robin Adventures issues # 1 and # 2, where the Joker manipulates Two-Face into thinking that Grace and Bruce are having an affair.[17] Two-Face abducts her and tries to kill Robin, but is ultimately thwarted when Grace jabs the jagged edge of the scarred coin into the disfigured side of his face. The story ends with the implication that their relationship is now damaged beyond repair.

Grace appears again in The Batman and Robin Adventures issue #22, in which Two-Face's life is thrown into chaos when he loses his coin during an unplanned breakout from Arkham Asylum, and is forced to replace it with a quarter. Little Jonni Infantino, the mastermind behind the breakout, threatens to hurt Grace if Two-Face doesn't provide information on one of Rupert Thorne's thugs, Weird Tony Hendra, whom Two-Face prosecuted as Harvey Dent.

[dukereviewsxtra]

Duke Reviews Xtra: The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Hello, I'm Andrew Leduc And Welcome To Another Duke Reviews Xtra Where We Continue Our Look At Disney...

Last Sunday On Duke Reviews, I Reviewed Disney's Fantasia Which Features Mickey As The Sorcerer's Apprentice Well, Today We're Going To Switch Mickey With The Voice Of Hiccup From How To Train Your Dragon In Jerry Bruckheimer's Version Of The Sorcerer's Apprentice...

This Film Stars Nicholas Cage As Balthazar Blake, Who Is A Sorcerer In Modern Day Manhattan That Fights Against The Forces Of Evil In Particular, His Arch Nemesis And Former Partner, Maxim Horvath (Played By Doc Ock) While Searching For The Prime Merlinean, The Person Who Will Inherit Merlin's Powers...

This Turns Out To Be Dave Stutler (Played By Jay Baruchel) A Physics Student Who Balthazar Takes As His Apprentice, Giving Dave A Crash Course In The Art And Science Of Magic And Sorcery So They Can Stop Horvath And Morgana Le Fay From Raising The Souls Of Her Evil Dead Servants So They Can Take Over The World...

Will Dave And Balthazar Stop Them?

Let's Find Out As We Watch The Sorcerer's Apprentice...

The Movie Starts With An Intro By Ian McShane...

Balthazar Spends The Ages Trying To Find The Prime Merlinean With No Child Being Successful Until The Year 2000...

When A 10 Year Old Named Dave Stutler (Played By Ben Stiller's Son From Night At The Museum) Encounters Balthazar In His Antique Store, After Straying Away From His Class Field Trip. Giving Dave The Dragon Figurine, It Comes To Life And Forms A Ring On Dave's Finger, Revealing Dave To Be The Prime Merlinean...

But When Balthazar Goes To Get A Book Of Spells For Dave, Dave Accidentally Knocks Over The Grimhold, Releasing Horvath From His Prison...

(Start At 2:34)

Found By His Classmates And Teacher, Dave Is Ridiculed By His Classmates When He Tells Them What He Saw Only For The Shop To Be Completely Empty, But Either Way Dave Keeps The Ring...

Fast Forwarding 20 Years Later, Dave Is Now A Physics Student At NYU Where He Meets His Childhood Crush, Becky Barnes (Played By Teresa Palmer)...

No, Not Bucky Barnes, Becky Barnes Though The Possibility Of Relation Can Be Questioned...

With His Feelings For Her Quickly Coming Back, He Repairs The Transmitting Mast Of The Radio Station She Works At After It Is Struck By Lightning. Released From The Urn After 10 Years, Horvath And Balthazar Escape To Continue Their Missions With Horvath Being The First To Get To Dave..

(Start At 0:38)

Landing On Top Of The Chrysler Building, Dave Refuses To Help Balthazar As He's Been Under Psychiatric Care Since They First Met But Saying That Once They Get The Grimhold, He'll Leave, Dave Decides To Help By Taking Balthazar To Chinatown Where It Has Been Located While Giving Dave Sorcery 101...

But When They Get There They Discover That Horvath Has The Grimhold And He Has Unleashed One Of The Evil Sorcerers That Was Inside Of It With This One Being A Chinese Warlock Named Sun-Lok, Who Fights Balthazar Until It Ends Up On The Streets Of Chinatown...

(End At 2:47)

Changing His Mind After Defeating Sun-Lok, Dave Becomes Balthazar's Apprentice, Giving Him A Book That Holds The History Of Sorcery As Dave Agrees To Take On The Responsibility Of Being His Apprentice...

Meanwhile, Horvath Goes To Visit A Current Evil Sorcerer Named Drake Stone, Who Is A Criss Angel Type Magician (Played By Doctor Doom From Fan4stic) To Ask For His Help Against Balthazar And Dave...

Taking A Break On A Bench, Balthazar And Dave On A Bench Across From Becky's Radio Station. Figuring Out That Dave Likes Her, Balthazar Is Somewhat Negative On The Relationship Stating That Love Is Not Good For A Sorcerer...

But Dave Follows Her To A Subway Station Where A Mugger Robs Them At Gunpoint, Stealing Becky's Grandmother's Bracelet But Chasing After The Mugger, Dave Uses His Magic To Knock Him Out And Return Becky's Stuff, Impressing Her...

The Next Day, Horvath Plans To Use The Satellite Dishes In The Financial District When The Spell Is Cast By Morgana, While Balthazar Continues Training Dave Only To Be Interrupted By Becky Who Comes Over For Dave To Tutor Her In Physics. Despite Trying To Put A Dampener On Their Relationship, Balthazar Leaves..

Showing Off His Tesla Coils, Dave Uses Them To Make Musical Sounds From Stevie Wonder's Superstition...

To OneRepublic...

So He Can Impress Becky...

It's Not Quite Can You Feel The Love Tonight But...It Works...

But As Becky And Dave Start Somewhat Of A Relationship, Dave Gets Encountered In The Bathroom By Stone And Horvath, Who Ask Dave Where The Grimhold Is After Telling Him The Truth That Veronica Is Inside Of The Grimhold...

Saved By Balthazar, Who Traps Horvath Inside Of A Mirror Temporarily And Knocks Out Stone, Dave Tells Him That He's Tired Of The Lies And Wants To Know The Truth Which Leads Balthazar To Tell Dave The Entire Backstory Again So That Dave Will Know Everything..

Getting Ready For His Date, Dave Attempts To Clean Up The Lab But Frustrated At The Mess, Dave Brings A Broom To Life Which Leads To A Recreation Of The Sorcerer's Apprentice Scene From Fantasia...

(Start At 0:25)

And Yes, I Know That Some People Complained That "They F-ed This Up This Is In No Way As Good As Fantasia!" And While That's True I Still Like This Scene For What It Is, The Actual Sorcerer's Apprentice Scene With Hiccup From How To Train Your Dragon...

Chastising Dave For Using Magic As A Shortcut, Dave And Balthazar Get Into A Big Fight Which Leads Dave To Storm Out In Anger...

Seeing Becky With Her Friends, Dave Leaves In Defeat Feeling Like He Doesn't Belong But Following Him To The Rooftop Where Balthazar Had Taken Him, Dave Is About To Throw Away The Ring, But She Stops Him, Saying That Nothing Is Ruined And That She Really Cares About Him...

Disguised As Dave, Drake Traps Balthazar So Horvath Can Search The Lab To Find The Grimhold As Horvath Reveals That The Reason He Turned Evil Was Because He Was Jealous Of Veronica Choosing Balthazar Over Him...

But Freeing Himself Balthazar Fights Horvath And Almost Loses Until The Real Dave Arrives To Save Him But Unfortunately Drake And Horvath Manage To Find The Grimhold And Leave With It...

Following Them In Balthazar's Car In A Chase That Ends Up In The Mirror Dimension From Doctor Strange, Horvath And Drake Still Get Away By Turning A Person Into A Veronica Look Alike...

Knowing That Balthazar Let Horvath Go For That Reason, Balthazar Finally Comes Clean That Veronica Was His One True Love Which Leads Dave To Decide That They Are Going To Get Veronica Out Of The Grimhold And Destroy Morgana Forever...

Back At Drake's Apartment, Drake Wonders How They're Going To Open The Last 2 Shells Of The Grimhold Only For Horvath To Use A Parasite Spell To Steal Drake's Powers And Life Force...

So He Can Open The Next Shell Which Releases Abigail Williams, A Witch From The Salem Witch Trials Who Kidnaps Becky At The Radio Station But Unfortunately After That, Horvath Uses The Parasite Spell On Her So He Can Eventually Free Morgana...

I Guess It Just Comes Down To...

Arriving At Drake's Apartment For The Grimhold, Balthazar Gets Caught In A Persian Rug Quick Sand Trap While Dave Gets The Grimhold Only For Horvath To Enter With Becky With His Cane On Her Throat Stating To Give Him The Ring And The Grimhold Or Becky Dies...

Realizing He Has No Other Option, Dave Does Just That Only For Horvath To Fire A Energy Bolt At Becky And Dave Which They Dodge And Flee As Balthazar Escapes The Quick Sand Trap...

Apologizing To Balthazar For Failing, He Accepts Saying That He Would Have Done The Same Thing Before Flying Away On A Giant Metal Eagle To Becky's Shock...

Dave Tries Dropping Off Becky But She Won't Have It As She's Involved Now So They Come Up With A Plan To Use Dave's Tesla Coils Strapped To Balthazar's Car To Defeat Morgana As Horvath Unleashes Morgana From The Grimhold In Battery Park...

Finding Them, Balthazar Fights Horvath Off As He Raises The Bull Market Bull Statue To Life So It Can Chase Balthazar. Believing Himself To Be Victorious, Dave Arrives To Halt Horvath's Celebration By Using Tesla Coils To Destroy His Cane, Defeating Him And The Bull..

But As That Happens, Becky Disrupts The Spell By Moving One Of The Satellites Which Leaves Balthazar To Suck Morgana's Soul Into His Body, Freeing Veronica...

With Balthazar Not Breathing, Dave Uses His Magic To Resuscitate Him So He'll Live Happily Ever After With Veronica As Becky Arrives For Her And Dave To Live Happily Ever After By Taking The Giant Eagle To Paris...

We Get An End Credits Scene Which Reveals That Horvath Will Return In A Sequel That Will Never Happen Thanks To Everyone, Who Didn't Like This Film...

And That's The Sorcerer's Apprentice And How Could Anyone Not Like This Movie?

The Story Is Great, The Action Scenes Are Amazing, The Cast Was Good, I Just Honestly Enjoyed It As Much As I Enjoyed The National Treasurer Movies Who's Director Jon Turtletaub Directed This..

You Know Some People Consider This As One Of The Disney Reboots But I Seriously Don't And The People That Do Are Idiots Only Question I Have Is Why Did This Movie Not Do Great?, Is It Because There Wasn't A Nicholas Cage Freak Out In It?

Newsflash! We Do Not Need A Nicholas Cage Freak Out In Every Movie He's In!

The First National Treasurer Movie Didn't Have A Nicholas Cage Freak Out And Look How Well That Did At The Box Office Where The Second One Did And Look How Bad That One Ended Up, I Still Like The Second National Treasurer Movie And I'll See The Thrid One When And If It Comes Out But Still...

Either Way I Say Don't Listen To The Haters And See This Movie...

Till Next Time, This Is Duke, Signing Off

[fly-pow-bye]

Ducktales 2017 - “Terror of the Terra-firmians!”

Story by: Francisco Angones, Madison Bateman, Colleen Evanson, Christian Magalhaes, Bob Snow

Written by: Christian Magalhaes

Directed by: Matthew Humphreys, Tom Owens

Storyboard by: David Baker, Tom Owens, Vaughn Tada, Brandon Warren

Part 1 of the DuckTales 2017 Catch-Up Week!

The episode starts with a family trip to the movie theater to watch a horror movie called The Beast. Huey, Dewey, Louice, Mrs. Beakley, Launchpad McQuack and...Lena, the new girl that was introduced in the last episode. We didn't have to wait too long for more Lena, though we'll have to wait a bit longer for Scrooge. This plot did not need him anyway.

We get a little touch of everyone's personalities by their reactions to the film. Mrs. Beakley didn't like that the movie wasn't family friendly. Louie hated the movie for not being as action-packed as he hoped it would. And Launchpad...well...

...he's utterly terrified. He can't just be a bad pilot, he has to lack common sense, too. In the movie, they apparently disguise as non-mole men, so he spends most of the people accusing people of being mole men. In other words, The Thing. Anyone disappointed by the lack of Launchpad McQuack is going to like this episode, even if he's just here for that one running joke.

The most relevant reactions are shared by the three main characters of this episode: Webby, who loved the film, Lena, who loved the film in pretty much the same exact way, not helping her status as "Webby, but older and that one other thing", and Huey, who hated the film because it was so unrealistic. Huey is more of a sciencey person; if it's not documented in the Junior Woodchuck Guidebook, it's not real.

Webby asks him about the existence of other creatures, the most pressing one being the titular Terra-firmians, a mythical species that live underground. We can already see the lesson being set up, along with the whole "Mulder and Scully" approach that is present throughout the entire episode.

Lena gets an idea to stop this fighting: while Mrs. Beakley is distracted by Launchpad tearing apart the poster, they go inside the subway to find these rock people and settle this debate once and for all.

So Huey, Webby, and Lena wander around the subway to find a "closed for renovation" sign. Lena decides to push it aside, because as we all know, it's good to trust people who don't follow signs. There isn't as many subtle hints in this episode as the last episode, because that reveal already happened. Now, she's more of a "mysterious rebel that plays by her own rules". We know this because she actually says that.

So how is Webby so sure that they're real? Simple: her secret diary has all the details. How would she know any of these details? There is some indication that she could have made this up, but the story lines up very well with the original Terries and Fermies. This series is a clear reboot, so anything can go at this point.

Suddenly, some tremors happen, and they see claw marks on the wall. Webby sees this as proof. Huey, however, disregards this claw mark and is more interested in something else. Both of them see the same thing, they come to different conclusions.

In Huey's case, he's more interested in rocks! Huey is definitely showing shades of a certain other red-head-accessory wearing nerd who loves books and probably likes rocks, too. He's not interested in financial reports as of yet, even though living with a very, very, very rich duck could give him that interest.

Webby also brings up that rock people shouldn't be so out there when dragons and headless horsemen, which is something I thought they wouldn't bring up because that would be inconveinent to the plot. He put it in the book, therefore it's real now, and that's what matters! Suddenly, they hear a pretty weak call for help from an abandoned subway train.

That was intentional, because this was all a big prank by Lena, getting caught writing one of the messages. Webby gives her a high five anyway, because they're best friends, and best friends love it when they mislead each other.

Suddenly, some dark figures show up, and the first thing Huey decides to do is throw a giant rock at them. The bigger one manages to dodge it, and one of the smaller ones tells Huey to watch it in a familiar voice. Clearly, it's the mole people!

Nah, it turns out to be Mrs. Beakley, Launchpad, and the other two nephews. Good luck telling Launchpad that, as the running gag of him believing in mole people continues. I'll admit that I'm not as familiar with DuckTales canon as, say, Powerpuff Girls, but I thought he was more clumsy than an outright man-child, as he's actually called in this episode. He seems like the most fitting character for this gag anyway.

Mrs. Beakley immediately begins to antagonize Lena for most of the episode, and correctly blames her for getting the children into this mess in the first place. Why? Because she knows it as she sees it.

Lena: Yeah, sure, blame it on the mysterious rebel that plays by her own rules.

See, I told you! She outright tells her she's not going to be hanging out with them any more once they get out of there. For most of the episode, Mrs. Beakley goes back to her "overprotective grandmother" character she had in Woo-oo, which was one of the lesser parts of that episode.

Speaking of lesser parts, they see some rock people look menacing in the distance. The last episode was a Warriors pastiche, this one is more of a monster movie pastiche.

Once again, we get two interpretations: Webby thinks it's rock people, while Huey thinks it's an hallucination based on a methane gas leak. That Junior Woodchuck Guidebook is pretty thorough, as Huey implies he only believes the book! One interpretation they can both agree on: the tremor caused rocks to fall on the entrance to this subway, causing them to be trapped.

They decide to split up. Huey goes with Webby so they can continue fighting in the A plot, Lena and Mrs. Beakley go and try to unscrew the passenger cars, or specifically Mrs. Beakley does all the work while Lena looks at her phone. Oh, teenagers!

Launchpad goes to fix the train with Dewey, so we can get some more mole people humor. Louie gets to follow Huey and Webby, and tell the audience that what he's seeing is entertaining while eating popcorn. Another running gag. That may not be the exact reasons, but that's what I'm thinking.

Most of the focus that doesn't involve Webby and Huey arguing over the existence of rock people involves Mrs. Beakley and Lena. Mrs. Beakley is trying to repair the train, while Lena is playing on her phone. Her logic is that if she helped out, she would have to leave sooner.

Of course, Mrs. Beakley has to ask who raised her, and we get more of her sad expression about that. Nice to see that plotline continuing, though in this part, we get to see something more.

Launchpad manages to fix the train, while starting to think that everyone is a evil transforming mole man, including himself, and the lights come on. This leads to what was the big twist for The Beagle Boys Birthday Massacre, and this episode is going to greatly expand on it. If you haven’t seen that episode, I’d recommend it.

← The Beagle Birthday Massacre! 🦆 The House of Lucky Gander! →

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Honestly, maybe you should spoil yourself anyway, as it's a reveal that makes Lena, and this episode, a lot more interesting.

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In the last episode, it was revealed that her amulet, which she shown off in the first few minutes, contains Magica De Spell, an evil sorceress who appears to be a lot more serious in the reboot. We only see her in this shadowy ghost-like form, possibly a reference to the times she seperated from her shadow.

It’s made clear that Lena is doing some sort of plan with her aunt, though said plan isn't made clear as of yet. This raises a lot of questions that will hopefully be answered as the series goes on. What is she planning? Does it involve the Number One Dime? Will we see Magica's true form eventually? Most importantly, will Lena betray the Ducks in the end, or will she stand up to her aunt? The last one is going to be touched upon.

Magica shows up as soon as the light shines on her, much to Lena’s dismay. She quicky goes to the left to hide this shadow before Mrs. Beakley turns around. It's a striking image, and it also works as a twist even if there was no real build up to it. There wasn't much build up in the last episode either.

It's almost like they didn't think this episode was good enough, so they threw in this Lena plot to make this episode feel important. They did something similar in The Great Dime Chase, though with this episode, they were actually right. There are some exciting scenes, like Launchpad managing to start up the train, and the Terra-firmians rolling around the train and persumably causing more tremors.

If it feels like I'm skimming over the Terra-firmians, it's because the episode kind of does too. For the vast majority of the episode, they're just sillohuetted rock people. The ducks are absolutely terrified of them, the rock people are terrified of the ducks, and they accidently get them into trouble multiple times as already seen.

The Terrafirmians manage to do another disaster unintentionally: cause Launchpad to crash the train. I have a feeling that was a foregone conclusion anyway. Everyone seems to be okay...with one major exception.

Mrs. Beakley gets caught under the wreck. After all of the build-up, being trapped under a train before she even gets to do anything off-screen is kind of a bad way to go out. Lena is given two choice, one by her own conscience, and one by Magica: save her, or don't save her. She even gives her reasons, mainly that she's keeping her from her friends.

It's not much of a spoiler to guess that Lena decides to save Mrs. Beakley, but she did have to think about it. It adds to her most interesting part in the plot. Also interesting: the way she saves Mrs. Beakley. I won't spoil it, but it's awesome. Highlight of the episode.

Everything is all wrapped up in the end, very quickly. Launchpad just gets told that mole people aren't real by Mrs. Beakley, and he just instantly throws that running joke away. Maybe she's just that convincing.

As for Huey and Webby's fight, the Terra-firmians are real. Huey learns his lesson by adding it to the guidebook, much like he did with the headless horseman, and pretty much goes back to only believing in the book. It's not a bad thing to expect proof before believing in something, which does add a bit of a point to the mole people jokes. Other than that, it's just a Santa Claus meets the M&Ms joke; the tremors don't really have a payoff.

Speaking of being convinced two paragraphs ago, because Lena saved her from being crushed by the train, Mrs. Beakley apologizes to Lena and says she'll let her hang out again. With this and Webby in Woo-oo, I guess it's just that easy to get Mrs. Beakley to trust you. As for Lena...she's apparently playing the long game. You sure tell me!

How does this episode stack up?

This is another episode where the B plot is far more interesting than the A plot. We get far more expansion on Lena’s character, and it's great to see more Magica. Other than that, it's a pretty by-the-numbers plot with not much payoff. If it wasn't for the Lena plot, I would need a new rating. Thankfully for DuckTales 2017, I'll have to use it later.

Next, we're going to get lucky. Wednesday and Friday, new DuckTales reviews.

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