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kuberish · 4 years ago

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Hide and Seek [G/t story]

(( Heya y’all. I wrote a little G/t story with some Juna and Flams shenanigans. Worked on this the last few days, hope you enjoy it :> ))

Yellow eyes flashed in the dark, cutting through the blackness like a knife. Wood croaked loudly and a growl rumbled through the air, announcing that somebody had woken up from their slumber. Somebody quite large. This was a very bad sign for her. This wasn’t how her plan was supposed to work. At least, that’s not how smuggling works.

“Shit…”

Juna hid herself behind a large wooden pillar, to escape those big headlights of eyes. Letting her heavy bag slowly clunk on the floor. She looked out for a safe escape route and couldn’t help herself by chewing on her thumbnail from the nervosity. Her baggage was heavy, but nobody could expect three large gold ingots being a lightweight. Maybe it was a bad idea to sneak out during the night, but Juna couldn’t sit still when she found yet another treasure in between gigantic books. Living in a Giant’s house was sure a brand new experience for her. She knew that there was going to be strange items while exploring the place. But never could she have imagined finding actual treasure in this place.

She always thought that Flams was terribly stingy with his valuables as he kept them hiding in his house and refused to spend for goods. What a waste! And obviously Juna needed to correct this. But as she expected, Flams was one of those Giants who could sense when his property was even slightly moved. How would he even wake up from that? This is the third time, it’s happening, there must be a spell that she triggered, but she’s not getting caught this time. He didn’t spot her yet, so there was a high chance she could still make it.

It was dead of the night and the small human child didn’t dare to peek behind her hideout that was behind a large table leg. One single glance of those glowing orbs would be enough to cut short of her little financial trip. Running out a Giant was always the worst possible idea. Two or three steps were enough and she’d be in his grip, going back to her bed. But what doesn’t get seen, won’t get caught.

Turning her head, she dared to take a tiny peek to check the situation where the Fire Giant uncle was located. It was so dark in this gigantic house, but those eyes of his still lit up like there were two tiny lamps inside his eyeballs. A giant figure was sitting up the edge of his bed and checking the surroundings. He knew exactly that she wasn’t in her bed, that guy didn’t even check her bed. The good thing about those creepy eyes, was that Juna knew exactly where he focused his attention on. Grinning to herself, she hid back into the shadows. This was her strategy now. Just keep a safe distance from those eyes and the 100 ft beast won’t get you and stuff you back into her bed.

As she threw her bag over her shoulder and took one step forward. Right in front of her, just a dash away was the entrance. A colossal door for Giants like Flams and at the bottom was a teeny door for humans like her. That’s her goal. She could run for it, but this squeaky wooden floor would give away her location if she ran for it. But if she was too slow, he would notice her as well.

-ccRRKk-

Like on cue, the floor shook slightly and she could feel the wood bend under her feet. The Giant stood up. She heard him grumbling under his breath. He was definitely not pleased to get up at this hour. Well, it’s obviously his fault. He should have continued sleeping instead of looking for her. Juna was just doing the right thing with his money.

But all of the sudden yellow light spread in front of Juna, while her own figure was safely hidden behind the table leg’s shadow. Taking back that step from before, she pushed herself up to the rough surface. The sound of her pounding heart numbed her senses. She wanted to merge with the pillar behind her and just turn invisible, but there was no chance that he would see her. She couldn’t help herself, fear was slowly taking over. This wasn’t just any regular Fire Giant, this was Flams.

‘He doesn’t see you. He doesn’t see you.’

Juna watched dust particles dance in the yellow light while she was holding her breath. Slowly the light moved to another direction and left her back in the dark. From the side she could see the light focusing on the other side of the room, the kitchen. That could be her chance, but as her mind wanted to move, her body was still frozen in place. Her fingers were still buried into the wood. As much as Juna knew Flams, the intimidating presence of a Giant searching for a tiny human, was a dreading pressure on her.

Slowly. Just breathe calmly and silently. Get the excitement in control and focus. The slight trembling of her hands vanished and she finally took a slow step forward. Looking behind her, she saw the lights focusing on far back of the shack. Flams was probably going to check the books on the shelf, last time he found her squeezed in between the books.

Juna went for it and took the chance. Going right for the door would be too risky, but there was another choice. The wardrobe! That one was a safer bet. It was right next to the door and she could easily hide under it as dusty as it looked like. In a fast manner she tiptoed to her next stop with the darkness as her cover. There was no light over her so far and quickly ducking her head in, she made it under the gigantic wooden wardrobe. It was as dusty as Juna expected to be. The ash slightly crunched under her shoes. As Juna crawled further in, she couldn’t help herself but turn around to check for her guardian.

There he was! She couldn’t really see him, but the shadowy figure and the glowing eyes clearly gave it away. But as Juna saw him stomping over to the kitchen, something felt so off. Without a doubt, she saw him taking one step after another, but...

There was no sound.

It hit the little human like a falling out from a tree. It made no sense in her head, how was this possible? She knew these floors and she could feel it literally every time when this fat dude even moved a finger. The wood would groan and croak to his weight, always telling her Flams’ location. This wasn’t fair, he was clearly cheating! Not even a teensy tiny vibration was noticeable. One step from a guy like him would at least shake off every last snowflake on this shack’s roof. There’d be so many earthquakes!! That’s what it felt like when he was walking!!

At this point it felt like even grinding her teeth made more sound than this imposter blimp. Oh, he’s gonna get it. At least ten times back with a cherry on top. Juna would show him. And then she’s going to laugh at him and never make him forget. Those thoughts made every last drop of her fear disappear for good. Now was the chance to grab her victory while he was distracted when checking on the kitchen.

Slowly crawling out from her dusty hideout, she took one slow step and another towards the door. Watching her weight while making no possible sounds. Meanwhile her gaze was focused on the Giant at the end of the room. He still looked so ghost-like to her as there were absolute no sounds from him, besides those visuals. Those eyes were her only indication that he was truly there and…

-blink-

Darkness.

What? WHAT!? He… closed his eyes. Panic gripped the little girl, the figure was gone. She just saw him right there!! He was there, but from all the darkness she wasn’t so sure anymore. Maybe he was still there. It was like looking into a fog and trying to make out a silhouette. But everything looked the same!! Paranoia took over at this point and there was a high chance that he was already on his way to get her! There were no sounds in his steps so everything was possible at this point. The door was so close, it’s all or nothing! She ran.

Before she could even get close to the door, a gust of wind hit her from behind. Right above her head, a door swung open. Before she could even process what was happening, a ray of yellow light exposed her position like a spotlight. She knew exactly who was right behind her, but there was no time to think how he got there, Juna just went for it, even faster. Her impulse told her to keep moving and not look back.

“Oh no, you don’t!”

On one second there was a door right a couple of feet away, but the next second a boot crashed down with a deafening blast cutting off her way. The human screeched from the shock and got knocked back from the impact. Landing on her rear, she looked up completely disturbed to what just happened.

At first there was fear, she could’ve been easily crushed under that boot. But that fear faded away just as fast and anger took over like a wildfire.

“You almost fuckin’ killed me!!!”

Finally she looked up from where the Giant was coming and he was basically just standing inside the wardrobe. Yellow light from the eyes lit up that big grin that was plastered on his face. There was no regret written on that expression.

"Huh, ya look pretty alive to me. Especially for kids who are awake at this time.”

-tok-

Juna just let herself fall on her back and groaned loudly. Defeated. There was no chance and no hope now. She’s been caught and her heart was still playing drums. She just watched the Giant step out with his other leg from the wardrobe as the large face bent over her and watched her pout. A few thoughts build up in her mind. How did he do this? What sort of magic was this? One one side she was terribly angry at him, but on the other hand she wanted to know so bad how he did these tricks. Could she do them as well one day? There were so many questions on her mind, but a few more were more important than another ones.

“Were you hiding in this wardrobe the entire time?! And why do you have your boots on?”

Flams just snorted in response,

“Obviously I put those boots on in my wardrobe. Where else would I do that? I’m not gonna tell you every single one of my tricks. I know, I’m gonna regret it once you know the secret.”

He wasn’t wrong. If she even knew one of those pesky spells, she could easily just avoid them. But her own magic wasn’t advanced enough to detect the hidden spells he put all over the place. She really wanted to know if the shadowy figure was really him or just an illusion, but she knew he wasn’t going to tell her. What would Flams ever tell her anyways.

Two large hands came down for her as thick fingers pinched both of her arms. Juna didn’t even fight back, the fatigue was slowly taking her down. Her body didn’t want to fight, but her mind was still on fire. She showed him her teeth and furrowed eyebrows. Ugh!

By both of her arms the small human got slowly pulled up in the air. Wind rushed by and she began to swing back and forth. Maybe she could get a good kick into his face. But her legs were too short to reach up to that huge smiling face that looked down at her. Large glowing eyes observed her attempt to kick his nose and he only chuckled in response. In return he imitated Juna’s grumpy expression, after all the Giant had to savour the victory. The kid just grimaced and turned her head away from him. What a bully, how dare he.

Before she could come up with a comment, the hands tilted and Juna rolled back on a familiar leathery surface. She found herself on his palm, the fingers curled inwards probably to prevent the incident from last time. The warmth of the surface felt welcoming, but she could never admit that to him. As it began to move back and forth, she saw him walking back to the bed. She could only sigh loudly and unnerved. All this work for getting the gold, for nothing.

Both of them didn’t exchange any more words, but Juna only stared up at him as angry as ever. Flams’ expression stayed the same as usual. Grinning. She hated it so much. He didn’t say anything, but that expression of him said everything. ‘Look at me, I won’

“I’m not giving it back…”

Those big eyes narrowed and one large eyebrow bounced up. Even the light reduced just slightly,

“I don’t care, it’s still mine. Y’know, you can’t just take other people’s property. Even with our deal, I don’t allow this.”

The kid hugged her bag. Juna would fight for this and yelled, “Finders, keepers!!!”

A warm breath washed over her as he sighed. As always Flams smelled of a fireplace. But he was that sort of fireplace that wanted to go back to sleep. The Giant sat back on his bed, technically he could be just done with it and giving her what she wanted. But he knew, it wouldn’t stop there. She would try to sneak out again and again.

“No, y’know what time it is?”

“Time for you to give up!!”

“What were you thinking trying to sneak out in the middle of the night? You? At night? In this snow? There’s no shops open at this time, not to mention you wouldn’t even get into the town in first place! It’s way too far and too cold.”

“I would’ve figured it out! Probably…”

Flams tilt his head forward in disbelief. Sure, you would. But he was done with it now. The massive fingers dived for the tiny bag that Juna tried to hide under her arms. She yelled in alarm and tried her best to kick the meaty fingers away. But there was no use, thumb and forefinger pinched the bag and tugged at it. But the girl clinged for the bag with all her weight. Her heel kicked at the hard surface of his fingernail. She knew where it hurt for Flams, but he didn’t give into the pain yet. Instead his enormous face bent down, showing off his teeth. A deep growl escaped from him, that could easily make any creature shiver in fear. Those huge fangs were almost as big as Juna herself.

The girl gasped in shock, but not from fear but from being insulted. How dare he! The tiny arms pulled even harder and her heels kicked into his palm. She also showed off her teeth, oh she was so angry. Her growl was not quite as deep and loud as his, but it had the spirit. This was a challenge and Juna wouldn’t lose to such an idiot like him. She’s not afraid of him and she wanted him to know that. He should be afraid of her.

Pinching fingers pulled her up from the palm as surprised eyes carefully observed her fight in amusement. Still so much energy at this time of the night.

“If you don’t give up, I will place your bed next to my bed table.”

She let go of her back like it was a hot potato. Nope. Never would she want to sleep there. She plopped back on the soft surface and the bag was already gone into one of Flams’ pockets. He looked slightly surprised that this plan worked out.

“That was fast…”

“That much gold isn’t really worth waking up next to your ugly mug”

“Same. With that face of yours.”

Before she could protest to his input, the surface under her raised up like an elevator and a familiar shelf came in sight. A bookshelf that was located right above Flams’ bed. A small part of that shelf was her room, covered by a curtain. She didn’t have a choice by now and the tiredness poked her as well. Juna could still ruin his morning, so she stepped off from the giant hand, into her room.

“No more trips. I’m tired.”

As much as Juna wanted to counter, her own little fire was too weak for it. She shuffled to her little bed and just fell into her blankets and the last thing she heard was Flams kicking away his boots. More thoughts swarmed her mind. There were so many spells he probably used and she simply couldn’t see them. At least not yet. She was certainly mad at him, but the girl couldn’t help herself but admire his magic. It was flawless. Maybe the day would come when he’d teach her more advanced spells.

She could’ve sworn that she heard him say something to her. But Juna shifted so fast into dreamland Flams almost thought that this little trip of hers was worth getting her this tired.

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is0gild · 4 years ago

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Ice Cream and Fire Oven Pizza - Chapter 22

Pairing: Elsa x Lea/Axel || Side Pairing: Riku x OC

Summary: Modern AU. She's an introvert ball of nerves who works at Ice Palace, a mall food court ice cream shop. He's the outgoing, sassy goofball who works at the Pizza Planet across the way. Hilarity, snark, and fluffy romcom hijinks ensue.

Word Count: 9,146

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER

Credit for super friggin’ cute and super friggin’ amazing cover art goes to the super friggin’ talented ky-jane here on tumblr!

“Alright, Elsa, you can do this! You're going to get up on that stage and you're going to wow them!"

So all that stuff about me not trying out? Total bald-faced lie. Kudos to any of you who saw right through it. Since, you know… I'm so good at the whole deception thing.

"...alright fine, maybe not wow them, per se… but you can do okay at least, right?"

This was all just for fun, after all. It's not like it was anything important, it's not like it really mattered. It was nothing, just a silly childhood dream. Just one moment, one blip in time that would be over before I knew it. No big deal.

"...passable? Surely, you can at least give me passable!"

Now if only I could convince my reflection of that.

Which, judging by the flat look she was giving me from the mirror on my vanity, was not going too hot.

"Ugh!" I huffed, tossing up my hands and turning away to pace my bedroom floor. "Just try not to fall flat on your face and I'll be happy. Can you just do that much for me? Please?" I snapped, facing my reflection once more.

She scrunched up her nose and gave me a noncommittal shrug.

My shoulders slumped and I hung my head, bracing my hands atop the vanity table. "Look, you've been practicing nonstop since yesterday. And yes, I know what basically amounts to cramming sing-alongs for almost twenty-four hours straight isn't going to make up for the lack of any sort of professional training. Or the absence of any real experience. Or the fact that besides karaoke that one night, you pretty much haven't sung in almost a decade except for maybe a personal concert in the shower once in the blue moon. I know you're going into this blind and have no idea what you're doing and others there will be way better prepared than you and-" I frowned, narrowing my eyes, "...and I had a point. Fudge, what was it again?"

My reflection looked remarkably unmoved by my rallying little speech just now.

"Ah!" I snapped my fingers, face brightening before jabbing my index up against the mirror. "The point was that none of that matters! What matters is you've done the best you could do in the time you had! So worrying about it any further is nothing more than a useless waste of time and energy! So just go on out there, have a good time and… and give it your all!" My hands closed into fists and they made weak, halfhearted thrusts into the air over my head as I gave a tiny, "Woo!"

She just drooped her eyelids at me.

I plopped down hard into my chair with a small growl. "I know I suck at pep talks. Yeesh, you don't have to be so negative!"

I don't know why I even bothered. Reflection Me was always such a downer.

Sighing, I propped my chin in my palm while I brought my other hand up to fiddle with the flower poking out of a miniature vase sitting on my vanity. It was the winter honeysuckle Lea had given me, dried out now because I'd wanted it to last. I toyed with its delicate petals, my fingers gentle so as not to break them. Somehow merely touching it seemed to sooth my frayed nerves and lighten my spirits, even if only just a little bit.

My phone buzzed and I checked it to see that it was a text from Lea telling me he'd arrived and was on his way up. I exhaled slowly. Okay, I couldn't procrastinate any longer. It was now or never. I stood up and made my way over to my bed, on top of which laid the sheet music I'd managed to hunt down after some internet searching. Gathering it up with care so as not to wrinkle any of the pages, I then headed towards my bedroom door.

"Who's a pretty, pretty princess? Daddy is! Isn't that right, jelly-belly-welly-bean?"

The dulcet tone of Rayne cooing down at her own tummy was the first sound to greet me when I walked out into the living room. I blinked, taking in the scene before me as Rayne returned her attention to the, er… "pretty, pretty princess." That is to say, her husband, whose lips were set into a grim line while his left eye gave a little tick. She had him seated in one of the kitchen chairs as she stood behind him, putting the finishing touches on the long braid she'd fashioned his hair into. It was complete with teeny butterfly barrettes, a colorful assortment of flowers weaved throughout, and a giant, frilly bow at the end holding it all together.

More practice for styling her future daughter's hair.

I'd know, since normally I'd be the one sitting in that chair instead of Riku.

Thankfully, it was now his turn to suffer hair bedazzling hell.

"Not one word, Fryse," he grumbled. "Not a single, solitary word."

I held the sheet music up to my mouth, concealing a tiny grin behind it. Then carefully schooling my features, I told him, "I was only going to comment on how masculine and rugged you look this evening."

"Damn straight," he harrumphed, crossing his arms and slouching further into his seat.

"I have the bestest, sweetest, manliest hubby in the whole wide world," Rayne declared happily, pulling his head back so she could plant an upside down smooch to his lips. This seemed to mollify him somewhat. Giggling, she then glanced my way. "You all ready for your big debut, pumpkin?"

Rubbing one elbow, I shrugged, "...as ready as I'm going to be, I suppose."

Her lips twisted sourly as she clipped another glitzy butterfly into his hair. "Still wish I was able to go and give you moral support."

"No no, it's fine," I said hastily with a shake of my head and a small, reassuring smile. "Lea's driving me so it's not like I'm stranded in need of a ride or anything. Plus you have your baby appointment to get to and I wouldn't want to make you reschedule for some silly little thing like this. Really, just don't worry about it."

"Besides," Riku tacked on, "friends and family of those trying out aren't usually allowed in to watch the auditions anyway."

Rayne's cheeks gave a little puff of annoyance. "I'd like to see them try and stop me if I showed up."

There was a knock at the door just then. Knowing it was Lea, I moved to open it and found him standing there, one shoulder propped against the doorframe. He grinned down at me, "Hey, El! Ready to go? I-" he stopped as he looked past me, blinking a couple times. Then the curl to his lips grew a touch evil, "Yo, Raindrop, who's your new gal pal? She's hella cute!"

"Cram it before I curb stomp your ass," Riku ground out through his teeth.

"Threaten me with a good time, mamacita," he purred back at him, waggling his eyebrows.

Riku sneered with a tch, grumbling under this breath, "Better pray we don't meet in a dark alley, clown, because I will crush you."

"Oof, I usually like a girl to ask me to dinner first, but I might be willing to make an exception just this once if ya keep sweet talking me like that, gorgeous," Lea winked. As Riku shot up to his feet with a black look, I ran out the door and grabbed Lea's arm. "Oops, looks like duty calls. We'll hafta continue this later, hot stuff. Call me!" he blew Riku a kiss with a snigger as I dragged him away, slamming the door shut behind me.

I started jogging down the steps, listening to Lea's footfall as he followed close behind. Shaking my head with a soft scoff, I said, "Can't believe Mr Guyliner here is making fun of a dude with flowers in his hair."

"Was only doing it cuz I knew how butthurt he'd get over it," he snerked as he appeared at my side. "Now me personally? Don't have a problem with it. I'd rock a thousand posies in my majestic mane and look damn fine doing it too."

I glanced over at him, one corner of my lips tugging up. "I might have to hold you to that."

He flung himself onto the handrail and slid down past me in a blur. Converse hitting the landing below, Lea spun around to block my way just as I caught up to him, smirking as he brought himself nose-to-nose with me. "Only if you're the one weaving all them pretty lil blossoms into my hair."

My heart spasmed.

Down, girl.

After all, it was only the empty teasing he always did.

I turned my head a little, shooting him some side-eye. "...do I get to choose the flowers?"

"I don't see why not."

"Good." I ducked under his arm to slip past him and make my way towards the next flight of stairs, "Leadwort it is then."

"Well now, that sounds ominous." I could hear the frown in his voice. "Should I be worried?"

I shot him a sly grin over my shoulder. "Depends. Very pretty. Very, very itchy. Hope you're ready to suffer for fashion."

"For you?" he beamed, hopping down the steps two at a time now to gain on me once more. "Totally worth it."

I merely rolled my eyes, electing not to dignify his comment with a response.

Soon enough we'd climbed into his car and were hitting the road. Sunset Hill Auditorium wasn't really all that far, but still a bit further than I'd rather walk. Thankfully Lea had been free and only too happy to give me a lift over, seeing as how Riku and Rayne had a prior commitment on the other end of town. Speaking of, they'd probably left immediately right after us and I idly wondered if Riku was planning on showing up at the doctor's with his hairdo still all fab like that. The image brought a little smile to my face.

It quickly faded however as I stared down at the sheet music sitting in my lap. My fingers twisted at my braid as I took in a shaky breath and blew it out slowly. Now that I'd fallen quiet, I could feel that nervous energy creeping its way back into my chest. It was actually kind of sort of a good nervous. I was a bit loathe to admit it, but a small part of me was looking forward to this.

That said, it didn't mean I wasn't also absolutely friggin' terrified.

I was actually a little relieved that friends and family weren't normally allowed into the auditions. The offer of moral support was appreciated, but ultimately I think I would have been more anxious if Riku and Rayne had been able to come and watch. Anna too, for that matter. I know my sister would have dropped everything to be here in a heartbeat, which is why I hadn't even mentioned anything about this to her. Making a fool of myself in front of strangers? Mortifying, but I'd survive - at least if I royally screwed up, I'd never have to see any of them again and could just pretend the whole big mess had never happened. Not so if people I actually cared about were there to witness me flop hard. And it wouldn't matter how kind and supportive they would have been after any sort of epic failure on my part... in fact, that might have only made me feel even worse.

Still, them not coming was only a minor comfort lost in the sea of dread filling up inside me now. My stomach burned with queasiness and my lungs felt like they were shrinking, making it harder and harder to breathe.

"Hmm," Lea's low hum broke me out of my thoughts. I glanced over at him as he pursed his lips to one side before shaking his head, "Mm-mm, nope. Too tangy. You need to be spoiled rotten with the sugary sweetness."

Feeling that cold anxiety loosen its grip and recede somewhat, I furrowed my brow for a few seconds before it clicked. "Ah. You've ruled out another ice cream flavor for me."

"Yup!" he chirped, switching his car over into the next lane.

"So which one got the boot this time?"

"Ever After."

"Huh," I fixed my eyes on the road straight ahead, squinting slightly. "Didn't you rule out a different flavor previously for being too sweet?"

One of his hands came to rest on the shoulder of my car seat. "Well yeah, but having a sweet tooth is one thing, while suicide by pure, massive sugary overdose is something else altogether. I think you know where to draw the line."

I tipped my head to one side. "Interesting."

"Interesting?" he echoed, quirking an eyebrow as he checked his side view mirror. "...am I wrong?"

"Didn't say that," I muttered, my fingers absently fiddling with the corners of the sheet music. "Just said it was interesting."

He frowned. "Crap. That's gonna bug me now."

I flashed him a half-grin. "I know."

"Cruel, cruel woman."

I just crinkled my nose at him smugly.

I knew he was trying to take my mind off the audition. And the distraction was welcome, but unfortunately brief. I could already feel that frown resurfacing, that apprehensive chill knotting tightening in my stomach once more.

Lea shifted his head slightly towards me, watching me out of his peripheral with a small downward tug at the corner of his lips. "...ya know you got absolutely nothing to worry about, right?" he asked softly. My eyes flicked over to him for a second before staring back down at my lap again. He elaborated, "It's community theater."

My eyebrows knit together. "...so?"

"So that means ya got no one to impress. Nothing to prove. No one's gonna be expecting a Julliard education from you or for you to have a few Broadway shows under your belt. This is all just for kicks. An absolutely zero pressure environment. Just a buncha goofballs who like acting and singing and dancing around in wacky costumes and so have found others who share their same brand o' crazy so they can all geek out together doing what they love in their free time. Doesn't matter to any of 'em how good or bad ya might be. They're not there to judge, they just wanna have a good time." He lightly tapped his knuckles to my shoulder, "So loosen up, will ya? You're gonna have a blast and knock 'em dead."

The knots loosened a little and a small grin found its way onto my face despite myself. "Thanks, Lea."

Surprisingly, his words helped.

For a grand total of two minutes.

Which just so happened to be right about when we were parking in front of the auditorium. Imagine that.

"Break a leg! I'll just chill in the car and you can meet me back here when you're done," Lea told me as he rolled down his window and fished his phone out of his pocket.

I barely heard him over the sound of blood rushing in my ears. Swallowing hard and finding my throat too tight for words, I simply gave a stiff nod before climbing out of the car. Hugging the sheet music to my chest, I stepped over the curb and up onto the sidewalk before pausing to stare at the auditorium's double doors, opened wide to invite people in. My bottom lip tucked in and I made a quick glance back towards Lea who grinned and gave me a thumbs up through his window. Then I looked at that doorway once more.

My eyes hardened. My hands gripped the papers more firmly. My chest puffed up and my spine snapped straight.

Let's do this.

I determinedly marched right up to the bottom of the stairs leading up to the entrance.

Then I spun one-eighty and determinedly marched straight back the way I'd come from.

Lea looked up from his phone, both eyebrows shooting up his forehead. "El? Did you forget-"

Whipping back around, I drew in a deep breath before releasing it.

Alright, let's try that again.

I stomped towards the building once more.

This time I actually made it onto the first cement step before retreating.

Expression blank, Lea said nothing as he watched me do this again (making it as far as the second step up) and yet again (third step). By my next attempt, he'd gotten out and was leaning back against his closed car door, arms folded beneath his chest, ankles crossed. Drat, only the third step again. As I returned and came to a stop in front of him, my eyes narrowed and I released a huff through my nose. He just gave me a small shrug, as if to ask what exactly I expected him to do. I whirled on my heel once more, stormed back towards the auditorium and… fudge! Third step again! Now I was just in a friggin' rut!

Beyond frustrated with myself, I walked up beside Lea this time, folded my arms atop the roof of his car, pillowed my face into them and let out a muffled yell. Then I flipped around, bracing my back against the vehicle and scowled up at the sky.

A pause.

Then Lea piped up, "Ya know you actually have to go inside the place in order to audition… right?"

I whacked him upside the head with my sheet music.

"...take that as a yes."

My shoulders sagged and I hid my face behind the papers in my hands, mumbling, "I can't do this. I'm too much of a scaredy-cat."

There was a snort from him. "You kidding? You're one of the bravest people I know."

I scoffed into the printouts, "Stop patronizing me. I don't appreciate it."

"I'm serious." I felt his hands on mine, gently pulling both them and the sheet music down so I could see him standing in front of me now, hunched down to my eye level. "Do you know what the definition of being brave is?"

"Not Elsa, that's for sure," I muttered, looking away.

"Shush," he flicked my forehead. Rude. "Being brave is not a complete and total absence of fear. No, being brave is taking action despite your fear. Remember your wedding day?"

I fixed him with a dull stare. "How could I forget? I ran away. Like a coward."

"No, a coward woulda done nothing. A coward woulda just done as she was told cuz she would be too chicken to make any waves. A coward woulda stayed, gone through with the wedding and led a miserable life she didn't want just to please her folks. Just because it was the safest, easiest route. But you didn't do that."

"No, instead I oh so bravely ran away like a warrior," I corrected my previous statement with a roll of my eyes.

He nodded, "Exactly! You were frightened, had no idea what you were gonna do, didn't have the foggiest of where to go or who to turn to, and yet you still did it. Took that leap and did the whole independent thing and guess what? You've been thriving!" His hands still cradling mine, I felt his thumbs start to trace soothing circles along my knuckles. "And sure, everything's been new and scary… finding a job, meeting new people, not caving to your family's demands… but no matter how afraid you may have got, you never hid from any of it. You've been facing your fears and meeting each new challenge head on. Now I'd call that pretty damn brave."

Wow, his pep talk game was way, way better than mine.

That said, I still eyed him dubiously. "Really?"

"Hell yeah! Shit, if I had to carry around as much fear inside of me as you do, I dunno if I'd be strong enough to do half the things you've done! You're a goddamn hero, babydoll!" he smiled big. "Now, I know this is something ya really want."

My face heated and I averted my gaze. "...how can you tell?"

"Trust me, I can read you pretty well by now," his fingers tweaked my nose. "So listen up: if you can do all that other stuff that terrified you before, if you can just grab hold and take charge of your life the way you have so far, then this one teensy-weensy audition should be a total piece of cake!"

"You really think so?" I frowned uncertainly at him.

"I know so!" he declared with a laugh. "So whaddya say? Think you're ready to do this?"

Though my chest was still tight with anxiety, I could feel that tiny glow of excitement and longing deep, deep down sparking back to life. I slowly smiled and gave a hesitant nod, "...yes, I believe so."

"Then what're you standing round here for? Go on, scoot!"

I didn't budge an inch. After a few seconds, I hung my head. "My feet won't move."

Lea blinked, then chuckled softly. "Do you need me to give ya a tow?"

I grimaced, "Maybe."

"Alright, I can help you inside, but that's as far as I'll be able to take ya. It'll be up to you to get yourself on that stage."

"Just get me through that door," I agreed quietly.

Linking his hand in mine, he turned and led the way towards the auditorium. I stumbled into a walk behind him, drawing what little strength I could from his warm, steady grip. With his help, I finally made it all the way up those daunting stairs and through that foreboding doorway.

Only to be stopped almost immediately once we stepped inside by someone standing in our way.

That someone being a tall, familiar, skinny guy with a spooky yet snappy suit.

"Elsa!" Jack flashed me what I was beginning to suspect was his signature ear-to-ear grin. "You don't know how thrilled I am to see that you could make it! Here to try out or just observe?"

"...try out?" I said, voice small. Yes, it came out just like that. Like it was a question. Like there was a right or wrong answer and I was just guessing, hoping for the best.

"Splendid, Splendid! Glad to hear it! I'll get you added to the director's list and your name will be called when it's your time to shine. For now, you can just take a seat and watch the others. Lea," he turned his gaze on him now, "good to see you too, but you know the rules. Unless you're here to audition, you're going to have to wait outside."

I unconsciously sidled closer to Lea, squeezing his hand.

Huh. Guess I actually wanted him to stick around and watch me make a fool out of myself. Shocked? I know I was.

Maybe it was because he thought I was brave. Maybe if he stayed, I could trick myself into thinking I was brave too.

Lea snuck a glance my way. Eyes crinkling, he squeezed my hand back before returning his attention to Jack with a sheepish grin and ruffled his fingers through his crimson spikes, "Aw c'mon, man, this is her first time! Could ya maybe be a pal, do me a solid and bend the rules a lil just this once?"

Jack crossed his arms, squinting at him with a flat look. Then he sighed and stepped to one side, his smile back and bigger than ever, "Alright, just this one time though! And you better be on your best behavior, bucko!"

"I will! Scout's honor!" he held up three fingers pressed together and beamed. "Thanks, man! Let's go, El." And with that, Lea was pulling me further inside.

The auditorium was larger on the inside than I expected, with rows upon rows of theater seating stretching out before us. While those seats were far from full, there were still more people here than I'd expected there would be, making me gulp. Auditions were already under way it seemed as I watched a familiar guy I recalled seeing in the food court previously - Joshua, I believe? - dip into a flamboyant bow before jumping down off the stage. Remaining up there was an old, clunky piano on wheels with Mullet Boy from the Blue Sitar seated at it.

"Setzer, you're up," came a call from someone sitting in the middle of the third row, presumably the director. All I could tell about him from the back of his head was that he had choppy, shoulder-length pink hair. Slumping lazily into the seat next to him with feet kicked up onto the chair in front of her was that blonde chick from Cinema XIII - I'd recognize that weird hairdo anywhere.

"Ah, looks like Marluxia The Douche-ah is running the show this time round," Lea whispered into my ear with a nod towards Mr Rosy-Locks as we walked down the aisle. "Not gonna be winning Personality Of The Year anytime soon, but I hear he can be a halfway decent director."

He then straightened back up, eyes scanning the people gathered here for a second before his face lit up, "Oo, let's sit with them!" His hands went to my shoulders and he steered me into a sharp turn down one of the rows. Coming to a stop next to two more faces I vaguely recognized, Lea greeted, "Ladies, mind if we join you?"

The two women looked up at us with friendly smiles, the ginger nodding, "Of course! Take a seat!"

We did just that, with the pair of them to my right and Lea to my left. He reached across in front of me to fistbump the closer of the two girls, "Sweet! Redheads of the world unite, booyah!"

I looked over with a timid grin. It was time once again for another one of my little misadventures into the world of small talk! Clearing my throat and tapping my sheep music against my knees to straighten them even though they were in no actual need of straightening, I asked, "It was Tiana and… Ariel, I believe?"

"Mm-hm!" Ariel closed her eyes as her smile grew. "Elsa, right? We haven't officially met yet, but I remember seeing you around at 7th Heaven that one night! You and Lea were amazing at karaoke! Well… really more so you. No offense, Lea," she giggled.

"None taken. I know my gal's got a beautiful pair o' lungs on her," he slung his arm around my shoulders, hugging me close and pressing a kiss into my hair.

Tiana leaned forward to look past Ariel and meet my gaze, "You really do. Do you work with a professional voice coach or anything?"

I blushed, tugging on my braid. "I, uh… no. No, nothing like that."

"Really?" Ariel's lips formed a surprised little 'o'. Then her face brightened once more, "Well, if you're looking for someone, I can put you in touch with mine if you'd like. His name is Sebastian and he's absolutely wonderful. He can be uptight and a bit of a party-pooper, but he gets results!"

Squeezing my braid harder now, I gaped at her slightly. "You actually have a voice coach?"

This was community theatre, as Lea had made a strong point of earlier. People here weren't supposed to have friggin' voice coaches!

"Yup! I'm going to be a famous singer one day and finally leave this sleepy town to tour all over the world, after all, so it's important I do my best right now! I've been practicing ever since I was-"

"Eric to the stage please," Marluxia's voice suddenly echoed throughout the room.

Ariel gasped excitedly and struck a finger up to her lips, shushing Tiana, Lea and me (despite the fact that none of us were talking) before eagerly sitting forward in her chair, practically buzzing with anticipation. That silver-haired Setzer guy - oh gosh, had he come in costume or was that crazy getup just what he normally wore? - swaggered cockily down the stairs to the right of the stage while another dude was coming up the left. The newcomer had short black hair, dimples when he smiled and I suppose what some might call Prince Charming good looks.

Ariel plonked her elbows down onto her knees and propped her chin up in both hands with a delighted sigh. "Isn't he dreamy?"

Tiana wrinkled her nose and muttered to me behind Ariel's head, "She has a bit of a crush."

"You're one to talk," Ariel snorted, elbowing her in the arm. "Naveen's should be up next. Believe me," she smirked towards me, "you haven't seen heart-eyes until you see the ones Tiana has for this guy."

"Shut up, do not!" she laughed, swatting her shoulder.

Brushing her off, Ariel suddenly pointed towards my sheet music. "May I?"

"Oh, uh… s-sure," I handed them over, freeing up both my hands to strangle my braid now. Noticing this, Lea took one of them in his own, shifting it over to the armrest between us and lacing his fingers into mine. The warmth of his palm against the back of my hand brought me some comfort and I felt a little less restless.

Ariel squinted at the papers for a second before grinning, "Oh wow, I love this song! Good choice! Although, if I remember correctly…" she flipped towards the end. "Ah, yup! A second singer does come in. They only have a couple lines though. I can go up with you and fill in for those bits if ya want, the director shouldn't mind!"

"That's really nice… thank you," I smiled, taking the pages back. Sally had said pretty much the same thing when I'd texted her to make sure the song would be okay, but that still had meant I needed to find someone to sing those few extra lines. I hadn't counted on someone finding me instead. Thank goodness for small miracles.

This was one of my most favorite songs too. One from a musical I'd watched over and over again when I was a child, so often that it'd probably driven my parents to the point of insanity. I had just identified so much with the character who sang this number and it still to this day held a very special place in my heart, even after all these years. I knew this song forwards and backwards. Knew it like the back of my hand. I figured if I had any chance of leaving any sort of good impression here today, it would be with this song.

Looking up from the music notes scrawled across the papers, I saw that that Eric person had left. He'd been replaced by a man with a newsie hat on over his wavy, dark brown hair and was singing something jazzy. The way Tiana was reddening while Ariel giggled and whispered to her, I suspected this had to be Naveen. I tried to just sit back, relax and enjoy the show. Tried to banish the anxiety from my thoughts, instead focusing more on Lea's hand now toying with my fingers. On the way he lightly traced up and down their lengths, making them tingle pleasantly. Hoping that little tingle would help keep the nervousness at bay.

But it didn't.

I began to flinch slightly with each new name called, fearing it would be mine. Feeling a little relief when it wasn't, as well as a little annoyance from just wanting to get this over and done with already. A flinch for when Olette was called, who was sitting with a boy with black spiky hair held up by a headband. I idly wondered if it was that buddy of hers who hadn't been able to make it to Friday night drinks - Pence, I believe? Another flinch for when Yuna was called, some brunette with mismatched eyes who sang a pop song I was unfamiliar with. Two more flinches for each of her friends when their names were called, a perky blonde with a long ponytail full of small braids and a freaky looking goth chick in a tight, strappy leather outfit. And yet another flinch for when Rhyme was called, a girl whose sweet demeanor was at odds with the little skull on her black cap and the rap number she'd chosen to sing.

I had to keep resisting the urge to glance towards the doors in back. The ones leading to the outside world. To freedom. Not for the first time, I wondered… what if I made a run for it? You know, just straight up booked it? The idea did hold merit and was very tempting. Nay, extremely tempting.

The only drawback? I'd hate myself.

Because as much as I was dreading this, Lea hadn't been wrong. This was something I wanted. Like… really, really wanted. I'd been trying to lie to myself, pretending I didn't really care, downplaying how important it actually was to me. But this was something I'd dreamt about since I was little. Sadly, I had lost that dream somewhere along the way as I had grown older. Had misplaced and forgotten it in favor of pleasing my parents, of fulfilling their wishes and expectations for me and how I led my life. I had carelessly discarded it, giving it up for nothing more than useless childhood fantasy.

But now it had found its way back to me and I'd been given a second chance. And even if it ended up going nowhere and turned out to be nothing more than a deadend, I still had to try. I just knew that this was something that I had to do. That I needed to do. For me. For the sake of my own happiness.

...gah, just why did it have to be so scary though?!

And all these women trying out before me? Were so not helping! They were all so amazing and talented. Each one seemed better than the last. Each one had most likely been practicing for this audition for days, if not weeks. Each one had probably done this at least once before. Everyone knew everyone here and were all friends. Everyone, that is, except for me. How could I, a stranger with no real experience or training and very little preparation, possibly even hope to stand a chance?

Man, making a break for it through that back door was looking better and better by the second.

My fingers clutched the sheet music more tightly, wrinkling and creasing it after I'd tried so hard not to this whole time. I didn't really seem to care anymore. I could feel the blood draining from my face and-

"Yawn, total snoozefest," came a sudden whisper in my ear.

I jerked my head around towards it, blinking owlishly at Lea once, then twice. "...huh?"

"Her," he nodded to the current girl trying out, her long golden hair ending in curls. "That Aurora chick. She's got me just 'bout ready to hibernate over here."

My wide eyes darted back and forth between her and him. Then it happened. A tiny snerk, escaping through my nose before I could stop it. Too late I clasped a hand over my mouth. After a short pause, I lowered it to whisper back, "You don't really mean that. You're just trying to distract me."

He bobbed his shoulders and grinned. "Is it working?"

I looked away now, carefully schooling my expression as I attempted to smooth the crumples out of my sheet music. "...maybe."

Next up was Tiana. "Jeez, talk about frog in your throat," Lea murmured low out of the corner of his mouth. A mutinous little snort burst out of my nose and I tried to shush him. Then it was Ariel's turn. "Love that girl to death but I'm sorry, a warbling seagull sounds better." I bit back a soft pft and pinched his arm. I was trying not to laugh, I really was, but each remark was so ridiculous, so stupid, so obviously not true that it was hard to resist. A Snow White was called next - now that was a stage name if I ever heard one. At least, I hoped it was. She'd gotten about halfway through her audition when I heard a hushed, "Tch, who taught her to sing, a buncha tone-deaf coal miners?"

I spluttered, clamping my hand firmly over his mouth. "Okay, you need to stop now," I hissed out in a poor attempt to hide my amusement.

There was a mischievous gleam in his eyes. Then I felt him licking my fingers.

"Ugh, real mature," I scrunched up my face, snatching my hand back only to wipe it off on his cheek a second later.

"Psh, acting like ya don't like it," he sniggered, cupping the side of my head so he could pull me in and rub his damp cheek to mine.

I squirmed, trying to break free. "Gross! Why? Just… why?"

Grip holding me firmly in place while he still nuzzled our cheeks together, he cooed, "Consider it a good luck charm from me to you! Now you have no choice but to knock their socks off!"

"How old are you, seven?" I grunted, trying to wedge an elbow between us. "You seriously need to gro-"

"Could Elsa please step onto the stage now?"

Both Lea and I froze for a split second. Fudge, I'd all but forgotten where I was and why I was here. Now it all came crashing back to me.

Ka-thunk.

What was that, you might be wondering? Oh nothing really. Just the sound of my heart plummeting to the bottom of my gut.

Before I'd even realized what I was doing, I'd sprung up onto my feet and was walking briskly towards the center aisle with all the grace and dignity I could muster. As if I couldn't still feel Lea's slobber drying on my cheek. Good luck charm, indeed. I'd show him good luck!

...that hadn't come across sounding as threatening as I would have liked.

It took a few seconds for it to really sink in. What I was doing. Where I was going. What I was about to do. I was about to audition… to sing in front of all of these people. I had to remind myself that this was something that I really, truly wanted. It was hard to remember right now in this exact second, but the desire was still there. Way deep, deep down inside of me, there was still that tiny spark valiantly burning away, smothered and small though it may be at the moment.

As each step brought me closer to that stage, I felt it again. That chilly dread pooling in the pit of my stomach. The iciness seemed to spread outward and I slowly grew numb. My mind started to feel detached and far away from the rest of my body, like I was no longer in control of it. Instead, it was more like I was only a passenger as it kept moving me forward seemingly of its own accord now, taking me up those stairs leading to my doom. That's right, my doom. I wasn't being over dramatic here at all. Not one bit.

Conceal, don't feel.

As I started crossing the stage, I was hardly even aware of Ariel out of the corner of my eye, whispering something to Marluxia before he gave a curt nod and she was scrambling up those steps after me. My ankle boots against the hardwood echoed loudly throughout the quiet theater. Too loudly, it felt like. But it paled in comparison to the thundering of my heart - oh gosh, could everyone else hear it too?

Conceal, don't feel.

All too soon, I was reaching the pianist and offering him the (rather abused at this point) sheet music with a shaky hand. He took it, looking it over briefly before setting it down on the music rack and smiling, "Just give me a nod when you're ready."

Ariel popped up then, plonking down onto the bench beside him with a grin. "I'll just sit with Demyx here and jump in for the parts you need me. Don't worry, you'll do great!"

My mouth tightened into a crude approximation of a smile before I turned to face the audience.

Big mistake.

Jeez, were there more people out there now? I could swear there were more people. Somehow, I willed my feet to move me closer to the front and center of the performance area. My fingers were running along my braid nonstop, up and down, up and down. My breathing had become so rapid and shallow. It felt like I wasn't getting enough oxygen into my lungs. Could the air be thinner here on stage? You know, all the way up at this higher altitude of a whopping five feet?

Conceal, don't feel.

My eyes darted from face to unfamiliar face, not sure where to look. At the director maybe? That'd make sense, right? He'd be the one to decide my fate here, after all. I glanced down at Marluxia. At that blonde chick next to him - maybe she was his assistant director? Did community theater even have an assistant director? Well I suppose it would just depend on- focus, Elsa, focus! I squeezed my eyes shut with a grimace before opening them back up, looking to that pair once more. By their expressions, they both already seemed so remarkably unimpressed by me and I hadn't even begun yet. No, staring at them would only rattle me more.

I gripped at my braid more tightly and my gaze shifted about once more, almost desperate now, searching for what, I wasn't quite sure. But at last I seemed to find it - a face I knew. Lea's face. There, suddenly, like a beacon in the crowd. I wasn't quite sure how I'd not seen him until now. When our eyes met, he merely bobbed his head slightly and smiled at me. So small, so simple. And yet it filled me with such warmth and encouragement.

Lea thought I was brave.

And maybe, just for this one moment, I could pretend to be.

I inhaled deeply, my breath a raspy hiss through my nose. Holding it in for a couple seconds, I then puffed it out softly, releasing my braid and letting my hands fall to my sides. Finally, I gave Demyx a stiff nod over my shoulder.

Welp. This was it. No turning back now.

It was probably only a second, maybe two, but it felt like an eternity before that first piano note sounded. When at last it did, I swear it practically gave me a heart attack and my knees almost buckled. But I steadied myself, my clammy hands smoothing the nonexistent wrinkles out of my dress as I let the tune wash over me, trying to find solace in its familiarity. I kept my eyes fixed on Lea. Anywhere else and I knew I would lose my nerve completely. I could hear it coming in the music. My cue to start singing. I sucked in a breath.

"Every inch of me is trembling," oh gosh, that had never been more true than it was in this very moment, "but not from the cold. Something is familiar like a dream I can reach but not quite hold." Was I too quiet? Pretty sure I was too quiet. Licking my dry lips, I pushed my quavering voice to be louder, "I can sense you there like a friend I've always known... I'm arriving and it feels like I am hom-" I choked, my tongue stumbling over the word. My pulse flatlined, my blood turned to ice in my veins, and every atom in me was screaming at me to run, run, run.

But I resisted. I don't know how, but I did. Maybe it was Lea's reassuring gaze still holding mine. Maybe it was that spark deep down inside, flaring up obstinately to fight back against the cold fear closing in around my heart. Whatever it was, I remained rooted to the spot, clenching and unclenching my hands and eyes hard.

"I have always been a fortress," my heart hammered in my ears as I stubbornly pushed on, pretending I hadn't made a mistake, "cold secrets deep inside. You have secrets too, but you don't have to hide." Lea folded his arms atop the back of the chair in front of him, bending forward to rest his chin atop them and looking quite content. Feeling emboldened, I went into the chorus, "Show yourself, I'm dying to meet you. Show yourself, it's your turn." I think my voice was getting stronger. Perhaps it was only wishful thinking. "Are you the one I've been looking for all of my life? Show yourself, I'm ready to learn... Ah-ah, ah-ah!" I rang out the last bit and I heard Ariel's voice echo an answering call behind me.

"I've never felt so certain, all my life I've been torn," some of my tension was beginning to melt away and I took a tiny step forward. "But I'm here for a reason, could it be the reason I was born?" I could feel something bubbling up inside my chest… giddiness, maybe? "I have always been so different, normal rules did not apply. Is this the day? Are you the way I finally find out why?" A smile was beginning to find its way onto my face. I couldn't believe it. A small, but actual, genuine smile of pure joy.

"Show yourself, I'm no longer trembling!" I burst out suddenly, almost triumphantly. Lea was lifting his head back up, face slack, eyes round. I had no idea what that meant. Was it a good reaction? A bad one? Either way, I was spurred on to do better. "Here I am, I've come so far! You are the answer I've waited for all of my life! Oh, show yourself, let me see who you are!" I wasn't even looking at him anymore. I was starting to forget about where I was, just getting lost in the was the only thing that mattered to me anymore in that moment.

I brought my voice back down, singing slowly, sweetly, "Come to me now, open your door, don't make me wait one moment more... Oh, come to me now," I repeated the line with more energy, "open your door, don't make me wait one moment more!"

"Where the north wind meets the sea," Ariel chimed in now and I took the moment to close my eyes, pulling in a big breath and reveling in the delightful tingle in my chest. I was entering the home stretch and there was no fear left. Only excitement. "There's a river full of memory... Come, my darling, homeward bound…"

"I am found!" I sang, putting all I had into it, letting the last word stretch and ring throughout the theater. "Show yourself, step into the power! Grow yourself into something new!"

Ariel came in one last time, "You are the one you've been waiting for…"

"All of my life!" I belted out, finishing the line she'd started. "Oh, show yourself! Ah-ah, ah-ah!" I vocalized the notes a few more times, each round louder and more confident than the last before finally ending the song in one long crescendo.

The auditorium was suddenly very quiet except for my low panting as I tried to catch my breath.

Then I heard it.

The sound of clapping. More specifically, of one single person clapping very enthusiastically, reverberating noisily around the otherwise dead silent room.

Feeling my face erupt in heat, I immediately buried it in my hands. I knew who it was, even before I parted my fingers to peek between them out into the audience. Yup. There he was. Lea, up on his feet to give me a standing ovation while everyone else remained seated, staring at him blankly.

The dork.

Ariel was at my side now, snickering as she muttered behind her hand to me, "This is why they normally don't let the boyfriends in to watch."

He didn't look like he planned on quitting any time soon either.

"Hsst!" I blew through my grit teeth at him discreetly. Well… as discreetly as I could, given I was still standing on a stage in front of a room full of people. "Stop it," I whispered, narrowing my eyes on him. I could see Jack making long, annoyed strides towards Lea. "You hear me? Stop. It."

He seemed to take 'stop it' to mean 'applaud harder and pepper it with a few shrill whistles for good measure.'

I sighed, hanging my head and pressing my fingers between my eyebrows.

"D'aw, I think it's cute," I heard Ariel laugh and I hazarded a glance up again. Lea, finally spotting Jack coming for him, had vaulted himself over some chairs into the next row and was trying to make a run for it. "Your boyfriend is your biggest fan."

"...yes," I rubbed a curled finger over my lips, eyes crinkling as I watched the little scene he was making. Sally had been waiting for him on the other end of the seats opposite of Jack. Realizing his mistake too late, she snagged him by the ear before he could backtrack and started dragging him out of the auditorium. "Yes, I suppose he is."

I still had to sing my second song, the one from Wicked itself. That one ended up being a lot less nerve-wracking. Don't get me wrong, a few jitters yet remained to wriggle about my insides, but I was still riding the endorphin high from getting through my first song, making the second one seem like a breeze in comparison. When I was done, the only acknowledgement I got from Marluxia was an impassive, "Thank you," before he was calling the next person. I hurried off the stage and had a quick word with Jack and Sally before saying my farewell and walking outside.

The sun was beginning to set by now, making the shadows stretch long. It wasn't hard to spot Lea, leaning against his car as he thumbed through his phone and waited.

My heart swelled and my feet suddenly had a mind of their own, propelling me forward.

He glanced up, pocketing his phone and grinning big at me as he used his foot to push himself up off the car. "Hey! You kicked some serious ass up th-" A surprised grunt was forced out of him as I suddenly crashed into his chest, hugging him tightly around the waist.

"...thank you for that," I muffled quietly into his shirt.

Lea was very still for a second. But then I felt a small chuckle rumbling throughout his body as his arms slowly wrapped around my shoulders, returning the embrace. "Nah, that was all you, El. I just provided the wheels that got ya here."

I loosened my grip but didn't fully let go. Just enough so I could lean back slightly to smile up at him. "Thanks for coming with me. I didn't think I'd wanted anyone here, but… it made a difference and meant more to me than I realized it would. And thank you for encouraging me to do this and…" my nose wrinkled a bit, "...and for making me get up on that karaoke stage a couple weeks ago, despite my multiple protests."

He snorted, but his face softened as he brushed some of my hair behind my ear, his thumb just barely grazing along my cheek with the gesture. "What can I say? Being a pushy, overbearing asshole is one of my many wonderful talents."

"That's not what I meant," my eyelids drooped.

"I know," he hummed a laugh as he pulled me in for another hug, squeezing me close as he rested his chin atop my head. We stayed that way for a few seconds more before he released a heavy sigh. Then he pulled back, cupped my face with both his hands, tenderly pressed his lips to my forehead, and...

...blew a goddamn raspberry.

I gasped and shoved him away, furiously scrubbing at my brow with my forearm. "Ugh, was getting more of your slobber on my face completely necessary?!"

"Oh without a doubt! I know what a huge fan of it ya are," he smirked cheekily as he made his way around his car to open the door for me. "Now then, shall we get you home, m'lady, so we can spread the good news?"

I squinted at him with a frown as I followed him over and took a seat. "...what good news?"

"That ya got the starring role, of course!" he chirped down at me.

"I did not-" I was interrupted as he shut the car door in my face. Huffing and buckling myself in, I waited until he was climbing into the driver seat to try again, "They won't even be announcing who's getting what part until next week, but I seriously doubt they're going to give me a lead."

"You're right, my mistake," he stuck his key into the ignition and twisted it, shooting me a wink. "They'll give ya two."

"Goodness, I'm getting two leads now?" I fought the upward tug I felt at one side of my mouth. "Do you even know how plays work?"

"Course! That's why I know for a fact that they're just gonna give you all the parts."

I bit back a grin. "Huh. A one-woman Wicked show. Now that'd certainly be a… choice."

"And one I have every confidence in you to pull off!" he nodded chipperly as we exited the parking lot.

I just shook my head at him. Honestly, I didn't care what part I got. I'd be honored just to be included in the chorus if they even gave me that much. But no, all that I really cared about was that I'd actually done it. Gone through with the audition and lived to tell the tale. And sure, it had scared me out of my mind, but in the end it'd been worth it. Because you know what? Turned out I'd absolutely loved singing on that stage. And I knew for sure now that this was something I wanted to do… something that I wanted to play a part in my life, no matter how big or small. And so what if I most likely wasn't going to get the lead this time around? I could just use this experience to learn the ropes and get better prepared.

Better prepared, that is, to totally crush it at the audition for the next show.

Author's Note: And yet another scene where I included the full lyrics of a song sang by a character - again, it's not something I would normally do, but I felt this was a rare occasion where it's important enough to Elsa's character growth that again I shouldn't just gloss over it. But gosh, I feel so awkward writing detailed singing scenes! Why oh why did I have to make her want to do something with singing? This was a story decision I fast grew to regret, haha xD I hope it turned out okay tho! Anyhoo, for anyone out there who hasn't seen Frozen 2, the song she sings this chapter, Show Yourself, is from that - I suggest you give it a listen if you haven't heard it before :) Actually hearing it does it way more justice than I could ever do in writing xD And I've decided that Disney movies still exist in this AU, they're just musicals now and the characters in those musicals most likely just all have different names than their Disney movie counterparts, but the plot is otherwise unaffected xP Fun fact: The ice cream this chapter, Ever After, is named after Corona's keyblade and I imagine its description on the menu would look something like: "Let down your golden lemon soft serve! A specialty from Corona, this treat is garnished with edible flowers and served in a stack of purple waffles cones to form a tower."

So, did Elsa manage to impress the powers that be at the audition? Will she make the cut and land a part the musical? Will she get a lead, a bit part, or the boot? WAS Lea's slobber actually lucky enough to tip the scales in her favor? Find out… NOT next chapter xD No, we have something else on the horizon for next time… could that fated yet dreaded weekend with the folks finally and at long last be upon us? Stay tuned to find out!

Thanks for reading, I super duper appreciate it! And an extra BIG thank you to those of you who’ve liked, reblogged, and followed so far, seeing those lil notifications always brings the biggest, goofiest smile to my face!

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER

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kpophours · 5 years ago

Text

An Outstanding Transformation

➵ A.C.E: (Ravenclaw) Sehyoon x fem. (Slytherin) reader / one shot, Hogwarts AU / fluff

➵ warnings: (a teeny tiny bit) sexual suggestiveness

➵ word count: 2.4k

➵ series: Donghun, Sehyoon, Yuchan

"You should be thankful to be partnered with him. He's basically a genius.", Jiwoo says, twirling her blond locks around one finger and staring out of the window.

"He's weird.", you mumble, scrunching up your face in concentration while looking down at your parchment.

"He is. I mean, how could he not? He's best friends with Byeongkwan.", your best friend admits, grinning slightly.

"Don't talk about Byeongkwan like that. He's a genius. An evil genius, but a genius nevertheless.", you retort, feeling a bit protective of your classmate.

"I know, I know - you have a soft spot for him.", Jiwoo teases, plucking the quill out of your hand and trying to tickle your nose with it.

"I do not...", you mumble, quickly snatching it back again, "I don't have a weak spot for anyone, so please leave me alone before I hex you. I really need to study."

Jiwoo huffs. "But why? Sehyoon will wing that Transformation project with or without you, so why even bother?", she whines, poking you with her wand and making you yelp.

"Well, I'm not going to rely on a weird Ravenclaw - especially not when I can do it better myself. Also, I’m actually still working on my History of Magic essay right now and haven’t even thought about Transfiguration yet. That will have to wait until tomorrow."

"You know, sometimes you're really weird for a Slytherin. He could do all the work and you could just relax, why get competitive about it and do it yourself?"

You throw the blonde an exasperated look. "Because I don't trust him. No one is that intelligent. Especially not someone that... weird. And quiet. And... Well, I don't like the way he looks." At this, Jiwoo blinks a few times, before bursting into laughter, which makes several students glare at you.

Right, you're still at the library - hopefully Mrs. Pince didn't hear you or you're in for a good scolding.

"Hush, be quiet now.", you hiss at Jiwoo, ducking your head and pretending to edit your more than poorly researched essay.

"I'm just saying, with his blond dyed hair? He could pass as a Malfoy, so he could actually pass as a member of our house.", Jiwoo whispers back, before quickly getting up and - finally - leaving you alone.

In the end, it's Sehyoon who asks you out on a study date. You guess it’s nice that he’s actually trying to act like a research partner. Nice is just not really your thing, most of your friends call you "honest" - but the right way to describe you might be "blunt". In the end, you still agree to meet the quiet Ravenclaw in the library.

You're actually quite early, but he's already seated in front of one of the big arch windows; books, parchment, quills and ink pots littering the table in front of him. He's immersed into a book, his eyes almost flying over the pages - no one is able to read that quickly and actually absorb any of the content, you think.

"Hi.", you say, sliding onto the chair opposite the blond Ravenclaw and propping your chin on one hand. He looks up, startled by your sudden appearance - then, he breaks into a smile. Your heart stops for a second, before it starts pounding against your rib cage.

"Oh, hello! It’s great that you could make it today.", he answers, his brown eyes sparkling in the bright sunlight.

"Uh, well, we are research partners, so...", you retort a bit bitingly, crossing your arms in front of your chest, ignoring your still fast beating heart. You guess you have to agree with Jiwoo... Sehyoon is more than handsome, but it's not only his looks... It's more his whole aura. You would never admit it out loud, but maybe you're a teeny tiny bit intimidated by him and his intelligence.

“That we are indeed. So, have you thought about what kind of Transformation we should attempt to present to the class? I was thinking about turning the water of the Great Lake into chocolate milk.”.

You don’t think you’ve ever heard him say so many words to anyone before as he’s usually one of the more quiet ones, even in class. You blink a few times at him, actually taken aback - he suddenly doesn’t seem so shy anymore.

“I… uh. Well... Okay? Let’s just… do that?”, you agree a bit dumbfounded - you actually haven’t even thought about this project yet, still too absorbed into your History of Magic essay. So, going with his idea seems to be the polite way, even though his plan sounds a bit… ambitious, to say the least.

Sehyoon snorts, quickly pressing one hand over his mouth to stifle the noise. “I am kidding, we are definitely not going to transform the Great Lake into chocolate milk! I don’t think most of the magical beings - or normal ones, come to think of it - in there would survive that. Too much blood on our hands. Maybe you, as a Slytherin, don’t mind that too much, but as a Ravenclaw, I do prefer to have a clean slate.” His eyes are glimmering mischievously and his lips twitch, but you already have a retort ready: “You’re best friends with Byeongkwan, it’s absolutely impossible for you to have a clean slate.”

The corner of his mouth curls into a smile and he cocks his head to one side. “Touché. Well, back to our project, now - do you have an idea?”

You lean back, interlacing your fingers and biting down on your lip. “Not really, no. I’m still writing my History of Magic essay, so I had no time to think about Transfiguration yet.”

“Mhm.” He actually looks a bit disappointed, picking up his quill and writing something down, “That’s okay. I have a few ideas - we can talk about all of them and then agree on one, if that’s okay with you?”

You sigh inwardly, but nod.

It seems like you’re in for a long afternoon.

“You’re going to transform into one another?!”, Jiwoo cocks one eyebrow, obviously trying (and failing) to stifle her laugh. You kick her shin under the Slytherin table, trying not to look too smug about the painful expression crossing her face. “No need to get violent.”, she grumbles, picking up her discarded fork and shooting you a dark look. You smile innocently, taking a sip of pumpkin juice.

“But that transformation might actually be a good idea, then you’ll finally know how broad this glorious body of his really is.”, your best friend suddenly says, looking very pleased with herself when you choke on your drink. You cough, windpipe feeling painfully tight all of the sudden, tears springing into your eyes.

“You really can’t be left alone for more than two seconds with one another, huh?”, an amused voice from beside you says, before someone gently smacks your back to help you free your windpipe.

“Thanks, Donghun.”, you say when you’re finally able to breathe again, loosening the green tie around your neck a bit.

“No problem. What were you guys talking about?”

“Nothing.” - “About Sehyoon.”, Jiwoo and you say simultaneously, making you glare at her. Donghun raises one eyebrow, his silver piercing catching the light of the many candles floating above you.

“You choked because of Sehyoon?”

“Not yet.”, Jiwoo answers, grinning proudly at her innuendo.

You turn your eyes towards the enchanted ceiling, sighing exasperated and pinching the bridge of your nose. “Donghun, please remind me again that I’m not allowed to use any of the Unforgivable Curses.”

“You’re not allowed to use any of the Unforgivable Curses, but if you should use one now, I’d provide you with an alibi.” You can hear the smirk in his voice and nod. “Thanks. Not exactly the kind of answer I wanted to hear, but better than nothing, I guess. So, today won’t be the day I murder my best friend.”

Jiwoo giggles, not the slightest bit disturbed, happily continuing to munch on her carrots. “You love me too much and would never actually kill or torture me. You’re always all talk, no action. And just so you know, you can admit to actually wanting to know how broad Sehyoon is. There’s no shame in that - it’s all in the name of science, right?”

You helplessly look at Donghun, who just shrugs. “I won’t comment on that. And I need to go now.”, he grins, gaze sliding towards the giant double doors where a very special Gryffindor just walked through, “I’ll see you later at the common room. Oh - wait, one last thing before I leave: Sehyoon actually asked me to switch seats with him so you’d get partnered with him. Thought that might be of interest to you.” With that, he slides out of the chair, quickly making his way towards his girlfriend, who greets him with a bright smile.

“Well. That is definitely interesting to know.”, Jiwoo remarks, lip twitching.

You close your eyes, taking a deep breath. “Today. Is not. The day. I murder. My best friend.”, you repeat calmly, before shooting her a death glare.

She just continues to grin at you.

Working together with Sehyoon proves to be… easier than anticipated. Transfiguration has never been your strong suit, you’re more of a Potions genius - which explains your close friend- and partnership with Donghun - so the meetings with the quiet Ravenclaw actually help you improve a lot.

You’re continuing to meet every afternoon that week, quickly managing to make progress. Sehyoon is never condescending and also not one to show off, he’s actually always very patient, calm and collected - even when you accidentally transform his blond hair into bright green one time (which, might you add, kind of looks amazing on him).

You soon notice that you were completely wrong about him - he really is that intelligent. And he’s not even that quiet, once you get to know him better, you notice he’s actually very funny, often muttering witty remarks under his breath and breaking out into that breathtaking smile of his, when you can’t help but giggle at his antics.

It’s Friday evening and you’re the last students in the library again, only a few minutes are left until Mrs. Pince is going to close up.

“I think we’re really going to wing that presentation on Monday.”, you say confidently, while beginning to sort the ridiculous amount of books you used today back on their shelves. Sehyoon just nods, keeping quiet. You frown at his reaction, pouting a bit and trying to distract yourself by sliding another book on one of the top shelves. It somehow manages to slip out of your hand though and almost hits your head, but Sehyoon - standing directly behind you - thankfully manages to catch it just in time.

Your head spins from the adrenaline and you turn around to him, wanting to thank him - but his face is suddenly very close to yours and you actually forget to breathe. You see tiny flecks of Gold in his eyes, hidden in the depths of their beautiful, brown color.

Anyone who says brown eyes aren’t beautiful or multi-colored must never have actually looked into any, you think - because you’re certain you could get lost in these ones.

“I…”, you begin, but don’t even know how to finish the sentence.

“Mhm?”, Sehyoon just makes, his gaze flickering from your eyes to your lips and back again.

“Do… You... uh…” You still don’t actually know what you want to say, your head emptying itself of every single thought when the blond Ravenclaw smiles at you.

“Yes?”

You take a deep breath, clearing your throat. “I was thinking… Maybe… uh, we could visit Hogsmeade together? Tomorrow? If you want to? It’s totally fine if not, I just thought, that maybe, because-” You’re stumbling over your own words, heart pounding so loudly in your chest that you almost miss his quiet chuckle. He pushes a stray strand of hair behind your ear, cocking his head to one side.

“I would love that. The first butterbeer is on me.”, Sehyoon answers softly, his eyes twinkling happily.

You release the breath you’ve been holding, smiling up at him. “Oh, good - great, yeah, that… sounds good.”

“Exactly, we will be able to talk some more about the Transformation project.”, he says, leaning back a bit.

You bite the inside of your cheek, disappointment flooding you. “Oh, uh, that’s… true, I guess.”, you mumble, quickly flashing him a fake smile.

He snorts at your expression, suddenly taking your hand in his. “And maybe about many more things. Because there’s still so much I want to know about you - and isn’t that kind of my task and purpose as a Ravenclaw? To gather as much information as possible about anything - or anyone.”, he says, his lip twitching.

Your heart, currently pounding twice as fast thanks to him holding your hand, skips another beat at this, but you can’t help but roll your eyes at him. “I think there’s still much to learn for you. Especially about the art of flirting.”

Sehyoon actually laughs out loud at this, tugging you closer to his warm, broad body. “Well, I’m an adept student and I’m willing to let you grade me.”, he whispers, leaning closer to you again, his lips almost touching yours.

“What are you doing?! This is a library, not... not an establishment for... for these kind of things! Out with you, both!”, Mrs. Pince’s shrill voice bounces through the (thankfully) empty library, making you both jump.

“So sorry, Mrs. Pince, it won’t happen again - but we are standing in front of the love potion section! So can you really blame us?”, Sehyoon quickly retorts, obviously suppressing his laughter and already tugging on your hand to practically drag you out of the library and into the dimly lit hallway.

There, you can’t help but begin to giggle, your hand still securely in his.

“So, I’ll see you tomorrow?”, he asks quietly, after you’ve both calmed down a bit.

You can’t help but smile at him, nodding enthusiastically. “You will. But only because I really want an Outstanding on the Transformation project.”

He grins and actually has the audacity to wink at you, making you even more weak-kneed. “Oh, that I can manage.”

… as you find out on Monday, he’s right about that.

You actually do get an Outstanding on your project.

That same day, he gets a (mental) Outstanding from you on your first kiss.

Incidentally, that is also the day he starts being an outstanding boyfriend to you.

[masterlist] | [requests]

#A.C.E #A.C.E fanfiction #A.C.E fanfic #A.C.E one shot #A.C.E fluff #A.C.E Sehyoon #A.C.E Wow #A.C.E Wow fanfic #A.C.E Wow fanfiction #Sehyoon fluff #Sehyoon fanfic #Sehyoon one shot #A.C.E Hogwarts au #A.C.E Hogwarts #Ravenclaw Sehyoon #Kim Sehyoon

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cryptidofthekeys · 7 years ago

Text

Schneeplestein x Tiny!Reader

You were wandering around the home of the SepticEgos, humming quietly to yourself as you surveyed the scene.

Anti was scaring Chase, all while getting scolded from Marvin. Robbie was sitting there, watching Jackieboy-Man, occasionally talking to him and having a very confused look on his face.

Angus and Shawn appeared to be arguing over god knows what, its best to stay out of they're way when they are arguing.

Bing (no, not Bingiplier sillies, Bingsepticeye-- cause the boy needs more attention tbh) was standing there, his arms folded behind his back as he watched over the others, he saw you and gave you a small wave.

You smiled, waving back to Bing, he was the main protector of the group, sure him and Anti haven't seen eye-to-eye but, nonetheless, Bing is the one who stops fights when they happen.

Just like now... Shawn threw a punch at Angus... Bing immediately rushed over and grabbed them both by the wrist [ Dear Users, it is not wise to engage in combat, acts of violence such as this is an extreme danger to your health. Cease this useless aggressive behavior and apologize to each other for whatever caused this. ]

Shawn and Angus sighed and nodded at Bing's words, its not wise to argue with a robot, especially not one like Bing.

You rolled your eyes, Shawn and Angus always had a few arguments here and there, nothing TOO serious, they always settled things in the end.

Finally, Schneeplestein... He was actually walking over towards you, you looked at him curiously, wondering what he wanted, he usually never came out of the lab, well besides for food and such. "(Y/N), I need your assistance, come vwith me."

You nodded at his words "Okay then." It beats being up there with all the noise, the lab was very quiet and peaceful, you followed him, sighing in relief when you got into the lab, finally some peace and quiet.

You looked to Schneeple and tilted your head "So, what did you need exactly doc?" You watched him walk over and grab a vile of some sort.

"I vwas vwondering if you vwould... erm, try zhis little... serum out. It's supposed to enhance ze body's immune system."

((Shhhh--yes, boost the body's immune system, best excuse-- no one would fall for that, he could literally just say 'hey, drink this' and it'd probably work better haha-- I didnt have anything else so improvising lol))

You blinked, looking a little concerned by this "Are there any bad side effects? Or anything harmful?" You had a skeptical look on your face now. "I dunno Schneeps... Couldn't you get Chase to do it?"

Schneeplestein sighed "Chase... izn't here at ze moment, I believe he vwent back to see his kids for awhile und ze last time I tried to azk za ozers fo' help ....Anti didn't vwant to. Marvin vwanted to enhance zis serum even more with hiz ''magic''... Jackie vwas scared, Robbie ...not much can be done zhere... Angus und Shawn? ....They'll probably try to punch me und Bing is technically a robot."

He did have a point... ...Well shit... You sighed "Fine... It... doesn't have to be in needle-form does it?" Schneeple shook his head, much to your relief "Vwell it can be done eizher vway, drinking it or needle."

"DRINK DRINK DRINK!" You quickly spoke, not wanting ANY part of the needle, at this, Schneeple nodded and gave you the vile. "Only drink half fo' now. Just to be on ze safe side of zings."

You nodded and looked at the serum, sighing, you braced for the taste of bitter and sour, quickly gulping down half of it, it actually tasted sweet in a way... Strange, afterwards, you gave him the vile back and looked over at him.

Schneeple curiously looked at you "Do you feel any....different?" ...A few moments passed, before suddenly, you fell to your knees and winced "Ugh... Well... t-that's new... S-Schneeple..." You looked up at him, concern written in your face.

Schneeple had a panicked look as he knelt by your side "(Y/N)? Vhat's wrong? Vhat do you feel?" He asked, panic lacing his tone.

You gasped and squeezed your eyes shut, you felt weird, really weird... A few more moments passed, you slowly opened your eyes.... Everything was now so bright, the lights almost hurt to look at and-- wait.... They seem a lot larger than last time... You blinked, then glanced over at Schneeple who wore a look of curiosity and yet worry.

Oh god... Schneeple was huge! He was way taller than previously, your instincts immediately took over and you sprinted for a place to hide, of course to no avail, Schneeple quickly scooped you up before you could get away.

"(Y/N)...! Calm down, its only me!..." He began whispering some soothing words in German, something about his tone made you instantly relax into his hand. You took some shaky breaths, glancing at your now gigantic surroundings...

"S-S-Schneeple... What.... What was in that serum? That.... That WASN'T anything normal! What did you do to me?!" You screamed, yelping however when you felt some shifting, you were then plopped down on the desk.

"Calm down! Liebling... I'm sorry, I didn't know somezing like ZIS vwould happen, I don't even know vhat could have caused zis. I thought I had created za perfect serum, one that could help everyone... So zhey vwouldn't get sick so easily. I guess all I done vwas create somezing zat can turn people teeny tiny."

You recognized Schneeple's tone, his voice, laced with defeat and failure, you sighed and looked at the giant doctor "...Schneeps... Your a great doctor, honestly... Not EVERYTHING can turn out right the first time around, maybe it'll take a bit but you'll perfect that serum eventually. Or maybe make something even better than that, your a great doctor! You've saved Chase and Jack a few times ya know."

Schneeple looked at you, smiling a little at those words, he gently scooped you up again and hugged you carefully "Zhank you liebe... Zat means a lot."

You hugged back, well, as best you could anyways "You know being tiny isn't all.... THAT bad.... It's... interesting to say the least..." you admitted, looking up at Schneeple.

"Really now? Vwell... To be honest, you do look razher... adorable, meine Kleine..." He had a blush on his face now, like he had blurted out something and was embarrassed by it.

You had heard him say liebe/liebling before, you knew what those meant but meine Kleine was a different story "What does that mean?"

Schneeplestein sighed "It means 'my little one'..." He mumbled out, which made you smile and giggle "Aww, that's cute. I like that nickname..." You had a red tint on your face.

Schneeple smiled, he then shook his head and had that serious look on his face "I vwonder if Marvin haz anyvway to turn you back to your normal size..." He stood up, holding you in hand carefully "Do you vwant to come vwith me?"

You bit your lip, realizing how loud it'd be now up there... You quickly shook your head "I'd rather not..." This made Schneeple nod and set you down on the desk "Alvright, I vwill be right back und please, don't stray to far from ze desk here..." He said with a stern tone which you giggled at.

"Yes sir" You then watched as he walked back upstairs, and then you sighed, sitting on the desk casually...

You heard the door slowly creak open from upstairs, you curiously looked over and you instantly froze when you saw Anti approaching... You quickly looked for a place to hide, noticing there was some books, you quickly dove behind them.

"Ńo̸w wh̛ere̕ the f͢uck ̨di҉d̨ t͡ha̸t͏ ͞do̶ct̡or̶ ͜pu̢t ͢i͠t҉..҉.͠.?̷" That glitchy, distorted and layered voice made you shiver, you curiously peeked from behind the books, wondering what he was talking about.

You watched him rummage through the doctor's things, not caring if he broke something or not, you glared at him but its not like you could stop him or anything... Not right now anyways.

You quickly ducked back into place when you saw him approach the desk, you then froze in terror, praying he didn't look behind the books... Unfortunately he did, he pushed the books aside, almost knocking you off along with them.

Your eyes widened and locked with Anti's, he blinked in disbelief then got a little too close for comfort "(̵Y/͜N͏)҉? Wh̶at̨ t͝h̵'̀ fùc̷k͞ ̛ar͜e ̕y͡a d͘o҉i̸n̛g̷ ̸'̷e͞re̢? An' ̨w͢h̴y̕ are ya͟ ͜so.̀...̸ smal̷l͞?͢"

You opened your mouth but all that came out was gibberish, you then began sprinting away, of course you didn't get very far before you were scooped up in the glitchy demon's iron fist.

Anti smirked and brought you closer to his face "̧Hey c̛'mon̵ ńow̧.̵.͟. I̴ts r͘ưde t̀' just͡ ͞u͟p n ̀ru͘n li͏kę t̡h͞a͡t͠.҉ I ͝as̵k͠e͏d̸ ͟ya ͟à s̛i̢mple q̶ùe҉s͝t̴io͢n͝,̨ s ͜h o ̧r͘ t͢ y~"

You struggled in his grasp and stared up into his black eyes "Let... Let me go Anti." You said shakily, now dealing with Anti was already difficult even at normal size but being tiny? This was going to be worser... Worser than ever.

Anti merely sneered, baring his sharp canines "̷Aww~ ́W̢hat͠'s ̢w͘ro̧ng ̸(Y͟/N)͜?̧ ́Y̨'̵ s ̨c̛ a ̛r̸ e̕ ͝d͞ ͜n͞o̴w?̢~"

You grumbled and glared at him "I'm s-serious Anti, this isn't f-funny... Put me down, or else..." You tried to sound threatening which was difficult.

Anti merely laughed and dangled you by your foot, which made you shriek in horror "O̸r͜ ȩls͜e ͢w h͏ ̡a̛ t?~ Whądd͝ya̛ '̵t̢iņk ͜y͡er ̛gu͜nna d͏o?̡~ ͟Huh? ́Ì d҉o̕n't '̴t̴i͘n̷k̸ y͝er̵ ͢in ̵A̶ N͢ Y͢ ͏p͏osit̢ion ͢t'͞ ͠b́e ţellin'͠ ͠me what͟ ̷t̸' ̴do͘ ̨rig̡h҉t ͜no͢w~̶"̸

You struggled against his grip, grumbling lowly "Why do you have to be such an ass?..." This just made Anti smirk and swing you, which of course made you scream.

"D͢o̢n't ͡b͡e͘ s̛o r͝ude~!̕ M̧' ͘ju͝s͝t͞ ͜ha̶v̧i̸n̵' sơm̀e͢ fųn̶~̢"̵ He cackled, his voice being way too loud for you to handle.

"ANTI, GET ZE FUCK AWAY FROM ZHEM!" You winced and covered your ears at Schneeple's yelling, but a sense of relief flooded over you to hear from him.

"Let (Y/N) go Anti... Don't make me get Bing down here... You know how he gets vwhen you mess vwith his users." Schneeplestein hissed lowly.

Anti rolled his eyes and plopped you down on the desk rather harshly, he simply grinned "͝I͡ ͡ẁas̕ ónly̢ ́h̴av̵i͠n͏'̀ so҉mę fu͠n̸~̕ ̡Ye̕r ҉a̛ll͢ ́b̕o̵r͡i͝ng͟ y̵a̶ ̵knơw̶ ̴tha̴t̴?̶"

Schneeple growled and pointed to the door "Get ze fuck out of here." Surprisingly, Anti listened for once and left.

Schneeplestein rushed over and gently scooped you up, sighing "I'm so sorry Schätzchen! I vwish zat door vwould have been locked..." He grumbled, looking over you for any bruises.

You looked at him and sighed "It wouldn't have done any good you know that, but don't worry Schneeps, he didn't ACTUALLY hurt me... He was just being an asshole."

Schneeps sighed "Vwell... Zat's good at least... I'm glad I got here vwhen I did." He glared up towards the door, making a mental note to give Anti a good scolding later ....Actually, he had something better in mind...

(( That'll be revealed in a lil bonus at the end~ ;) ))

You nodded at his words "So, did Marvin have any way to turn me back to normal size?" Part of you wanted to stay small actually... but the other part knew it would be very dangerous with the others around and how loud they were.

"Vwell, ja, he does but, he said he needed some time to study ze spell und get it vright." Schneeple finished, adjusting his glasses.

You nodded, you couldn't hide the smile on your face, you get to be tiny just for a little while longer "Well, at least he HAS a spell ....Let's just hope he doesn't mess it up" You shivered, remember a few spells he messed up before.

Schneeple cringed as well "True..." He didn't have much room to talk, Schneeple knows he's had his fair share of fuck-ups in the past, but he tried not to let that bother him.

You yawned slightly "I'm tired... Schneeps, do you have a bed down here?" You asked curiously, he practically lived in the lab anyways so it wouldn't be surprising if he had a bed down here.

((he doesn't just live in the lab/basement-area like some kinda hermit-person trust me, he's 50% in the lab and 50% outta the lab ...kinda-- just shh the man loves to work))

Schneeple nodded, of course he did.... He then walked over and plopped down on the bed with you in hand, he then placed you on his chest "To be honest meine liebe, I'm a bit tired myself."

You smiled up at him, laying down and then curling up on his chest, your smile grew when you felt his warm hand over you, it felt like a blanket... a really warm and comfy blanket.

You yawned again and closed your eyes, snuggling into Schneeple's chest "Sleep tight Schneeple.... ...Love you big guy."

Schneeple smiled and closed his eyes, for once he seemed to relax which was a rare sight, he usually overworked himself "Sweet dreams meine Kleine..."

You both drifted off into a peaceful dreamland, being tiny did have its perks, even if it was dangerous, you honestly didn't mind at this point if you stayed tiny or not... You could get used to giant doctor cuddles.

Bonus: Schneeple smirked upon seeing Bing and walked up to him "Bing, I need to tell you somezing"

This made the robot blink and turn to stare at Schneeple [ Yes User 3? ] Bing awaited, making weird beeping noises.

Schneeple leaned close to Bing and whispered "Anti was messing vwith (Y/N) earlier und zhey could have gotten hurt because of him... You may vwant to deal vwith him later~"

Bing made a loud beep noise and nodded, a glare suddenly appeared on his face [ Duly Noted dear User, I will see to it that he gets what he deserves ]

Schneeplestien chuckled and patted Bing on the back "Zank you very much Bing" Oh yes, this was perfect... Although, Schneeple wondered if he'd pay for it later, Anti could be vengeful... ....Nah. It was worth it.

((I wanted to add some lab-work n stuff but tbh I feel like Schneeple would be too hesitant and worried for your safety while working, after all he DEFINITELY doesn't want you hurt. And Bingoboy never gets hardly any attention, sure he's not really canon technically but I love Bingsepticeye-- heneedsSomeG/Taswell*COUGH*-- anyways @pizsospa here’s some Schneep G/T for ya IfeelLikeitsnotpacedasgoodasIwantedBUTohwellI’llgetpacingrightonedaylmao

#g/t fluff #g/t writing #g/t community #dr schneeplestein #antisepticeye #shawn flynn #angus the survival hunter #chase brody #marvin the magnificent #jackieboy-man #robbie the zombie #bingsepticeye #I know some of them arent in it for long but shh-#jse community #My Story

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flapperfromthefuture · 7 years ago

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Confession time: I am a crazy plant lady. I take good care of them and they make me happy, so it’s okay, right? When I’m a little down, I repot a plant or two and I feel great. When my anxiety is ramping up, I buy a new plant. Or two. Succulents are like five bucks. They’re cheaper than ice cream and they don’t have any calories.

I may have too many plants.

So when I drove past one of my favorite spots in town, the Matthaei Botanical Gardens, and saw this sign, I did the full cartoon slam on the brakes and shouted to no one, “Put that on my calendar!”

This sale kept me awake at night for two weeks. When it finally arrived, I got to the gardens at 10 on Saturday morning, because I wanted to see the good plants before they got sold (anxiety!). I wasn’t planning to stay long or even buy more than one or two plants. I’ve been to the orchid sale and bonsai sale and the flower basket sale so I know these events get crazy and I get anxious, so my trusty strategy has always been “get in, get plant, get out,” and it’s never let me down .

But there’s regular crazy and then there’s succulent crazy.

At only a few minutes past 10 in the morning, I found myself at the end of a rapidly growing line that had already spilled outside the actual building.

Now, if you’ve read my previous post you know that I’m a Disney veteran who does not get thrown off by a line—but they don’t sell exotic plants on Peter Pan.

People on their way out were passing by every few minutes, carrying giant boxes full of plants that I. wanted. A man the size of a linebacker hustled by with his arms full of air plants. A girl with a giant Amazon box full of plants said, “Can’t wait to get them home and introduce them to their brothers and sisters!” and I wanted to cry.

MY plants needed new brothers and sisters!

This was not the usual plant crowd either. Sure, the requisite elderly ladies in sun hats and purple sweatpants were there (aka my heroes) but there were also hipsters with too many tattoos and questionable blue hair stripes, people with kids, babies in strollers, college kids excitedly planning where to put their plants on their single windowsill.

I texted Stella, “Good news! I’m not the only crazy plant lady. Bad news: the crazier plant ladies are going to take all the good plants.”

“Yeah man, you gotta get in there,” she said. “The plants need you!”

The young couple behind me were in full complaining mode. “We don’t want to spend our whole Saturday waiting in line,” they agreed, and bailed.

Those people wouldn’t last long on New Year’s Eve in Epcot, I’m just saying,

I was now about halfway to the entrance.

I focused on my phone so I wouldn’t look at the people leaving and the plants they had bought, but still, I was consumed with anxiety. What if they ran out of plants? What if I got in there after all this effort and all the plants left were gross and dying? What if my dream plant is in there? I don’t even know what my dream plant would be, but what if I have one and it’s in there and being bought by someone right now who won’t know how to take care of it and it’ll die—

An elderly woman with pentagon-shaped glasses—yes, pentagon-shaped, five sides—brushed past me and decided to address the entire line.

“It’s worth the wait!” she said. “They won’t run out of plants, I promise. I’m only leaving because I have too many. But it’s worth it!”

I watched her head out the door, wondering what adventures awaited her.

“I want to befriend this person but I can’t leave the line,” I texted Stella.

I have worn glasses since the second grade and I have never seen pentagon-shaped frames. They were tortoiseshell. Where does someone buy pentagon-shaped tortoiseshell glasses? What experiences has this person had that made her go, “You know what? Rectangles and ovals are boring. Life is short. I’m going with the pentagons.”

I would buy her whatever drink she wanted to hear her life story.

After a good 25 minutes (which as my dad will tell you, is not that bad, especially for a big ticket ride. We could do 25 minutes for Toy Story Mania in our sleep), I was at the entrance to the show. My muscles started to tense, ready to run in as soon as the young volunteer who got the coveted job of “bouncer for the succulent sale” deemed me worthy of entering.

“This is pretty crazy,” I said, flashing my best smile.

“It always is,” she said. “You can go in now.”

I swear I heard a choir sing.

There was a table full of cardboard boxes and I made sure to take the smallest one, as an attempt to counter my hoarding tendencies. At this point, I swear I was only going to buy one plant, maybe two. Stella wanted one, and A needed a new hanging plant for her office.

I ventured into the fray, carrying my little empty box in front of me for protection, and a third mission made itself imminently clear: survive.

If you’ve ever been in a crowded elevator and then the elevator stopped and another dozen people got in, and the elevator was also full of plants and also an actual greenhouse with glass walls that, you know, conduct sunlight, you would understand the vibe of this sale.

In other words: claustrophobia officially triggered.

There was a line around each plant table, a line to get into the line for each table, a line to pay, and plenty of people were in a line but had no idea what the line was for so there was a ton of confusion and “Is this the line to pay or the line for air plants?” and people jostling for position and it was far from the chill and relaxed ambience that you usually get in a botanical garden. This was Black Friday for succulents.

A woman behind me loudly complained that she had just set down a plant she wanted to buy for two seconds and someone had grabbed it. No one around her looked sympathetic.

It was every plant person for themselves.

I don’t remember when I transitioned from “buy two plants” to “buy every plant” but it must have been somewhere around the time that a guy tried to sell me this rare little beauty—for 45 dollars!

I put that sucker right back. Do I look like I started buying succulents yesterday?

Of course, I almost bought a rare plant from Indonesia that depends on ants colonizing its root pod for nutrients. I almost bought three of these.

I thought A might like one as well, and then I would have to get one for Stella too, because who wouldn’t want a super-cool ant plant?

When I told A, she was horrified.

“If your plant lived that would mean you had ants! In your house!” she said.

“I thought they looked cool!” I said. “And they were only 7 dollars!”

“You’re paying 7 dollars TO GET ANTS!”

Fortunately, sanity prevailed in the moment, and I put the ant plants back. Still, I was in frenzy mode. I picked up a plant, then put it back a few minutes later. I grabbed a plant for Stella, fell out of love with it, then got her a different one. All the while I’m weaving in and out of the endless lines of hot, sweaty people, their faces all dawning with the sudden realization that humans are indeed animals and we will resort to our most primal instincts in mere seconds.

Perhaps the more evolved being is . . .the humble succulent?

Fortunately, Disney trained me well, and I wove in and out of the crowd with a minimum of panic symptoms. I did have a quick fantasy about bumping into my first anxiety therapist and saying, “I did it! Look where I am right now!” But then I would have had to shove her aside to get to the plants.

And then, I saw it—the Holy Grail of the succulent sale—the only hanging basket left in the entire joint. I grabbed it before I could even read the tag to know what kind of plant it was. And not to brag, but I read very quickly. That’s how heightened my reflexes were.

“That’s a really nice one,” another seller told me. “Just don’t overwater it, and it’s almost indestructible. Hey, and it’s my last one! You were lucky.”

I clamped down on this thing so hard that you’d think I was trying to sneak it out of the country. Actually, getting it out of the sale was almost as hard.

Now that I was struggling to make my way through the throng with this basket on my arm, people were whipping around to look at me and loudly ask if there were any left.

When I said, “Sorry, this was the last one!” they looked at me the way my cat does, when he’s hungry and bites down on whatever body part I’ve make the mistake of exposing to get my attention. The narrowed eyes of, “You have something I want. Prepare to die.”

My box was now stuffed tight with six little plants—one for Stella, one for A, and (cough) four for me. A volunteer very kindly offered to get me a bigger box and that’s when I realized, “I gotta get out of here.” You know, the way that Dorothy or Coraline or whoever is having a great time in the other universe until something makes them realize, “This isn’t right! I have to go home!”

This was my Auntie Em moment. But getting out was even rougher than getting in, plus I had this hanging basket on my arm, and it was the last hanging basket in the entire sale.

I finally understand the expression, “People were on me like I had the last bump of coke at the party.”

It took three different attempts, but I finally got in the right line to pay. It took all my strength not to duck out and take one more look-around or grab one more teeny tiny plant that was only $2 and needed a home where it would be loved . . . anyway, I cashed out, and honestly it was cheaper to get seven plants than to go out to brunch, so I did really well.

As I made my way to freedom, past the now even longer line, people looked at my hanging plant with envious eyes. “Did they have a lot left?”

I hustled my way past before anyone could offer me money for it.

The line was easily three times longer than when I went in—instead of extending just outside the building, the line now went around the building and into the parking lot. So if I waited 25 minutes, those people waited around 90. That’s a Space Mountain during spring break wait.

I made my way to my car, which was parked a full nautical league away, carrying this box and heavy hanging plant. My arms were shaking by the time I made it.

I had been at the gardens for two and a half hours.

When I got home, my cat was waiting for me with an expression of, “What did you bring home this time?”

The Apocalyptic Succulent Sale Confession time: I am a crazy plant lady. I take good care of them and they make me happy, so it's okay, right?

#ann arbor #anxiety #funny #gardening #plants #succulents

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recentanimenews · 6 years ago

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Who's That Pokémon? We Rate 9 of Detective Pikachu's Monster Makeovers!

At last, Detective Pikachu is out in the US! Now we can see our favorite fluffy ball of electricity test his deductive powers in the first-ever live-action Pokémon film. But, as we've seen, he's not the only video game critter in this film.

Ryme City is full of Pokémon from all across the generations, from Snorlaxes to Snubbulls. Spotting them all in the trailers and ads alone has been an adventure—so much so that when we decided to take a closer look at the Pokémon featured in the film, we knew there was no way we were going to catch them all! So we picked nine prominent 'mons who show up in the movie and pitted them against their earlier versions.

How close did the film iterations get? We think they're pretty good as a whole, but we're rating them one by one below. How do our insights fare against yours? Any others you think nailed it? Let us know in the comments!

So, without further ado, let's get this Poké-party started!

Charizard

The final form of Gen I starter Charmander (at least until the Mega X and Y versions rolled around), Charizard has always been a force to be reckoned with. Various Pokédex entries tell us all the things that make its searing fire even hotter: its bond with its trainer, its mood, and whether or not it's been through especially difficult battles.

It looks like Detective Pikachu's Charizard is just as much of a beast as its predecessors, with the added detail of reptilian scales and many more tiny teeth than its usually visible four. The progression seems like a natural one design-wise, and there was never any question who this brute was when he first appeared in the trailers.

Verdict: A mighty lizard indeed.

Psyduck

When we were kids, Psyduck was hilarious. As adults, Psyduck is a mood. Seriously, if I were confused all the time and had a constant headache, I wouldn't want to clear a path for a bunch of ten-year-olds, either.

Movie Psyduck has gotten a bit of attention in the trailers as Pikachu's sidekick, requiring smooth elevator music on car trips so its head doesn't explode and generally being in the way. So we've gotten to see a bit of this particular critter in action. And... yep. Psyduck definitelly looks like a duck with a migraine, from the ruffled anxiety feathers to the beady, exhausted eyes. Psy-ai-ai.

Verdict: Get this poor kid some Excedrin, I can feel the migraine from here.

Flareon

Eevees and their eeveelutions have one major job in the Pokémon world: be cute. Well, and have specific skill sets that work wonders in battle, but "be cute" is the primary one. Jolteon? Cute zappy boy. Leafeon? Cute leafy boy.

So all we need from Flareon is a cute fiery boy. Not sure about they eyes yet—maybe they'll chill out once its eeveelution is over—but the rest of the critter looks extremely fluffy and huggable. Which, again, is pretty much all we ask of an Eevee.

Verdict: Not sure about the eyes, but would still pet.

Jigglypuff

Speaking of a Mood, here's this little karaoke star.

If you've watched the Pokémon anime, you know all too well that this weird little creampuff's temper is heavily reliant on whether or not you stay awake through its performance. But considering one of its skills is singing opponents to sleep, your odds aren't good... and it looks like the movie's Jigglypuff has that same microphone/marker from the anime, so that dude napping nearby can probably expect to wake up to a scribbled-on face.

Jigglypuff is our first reminder on this list that Pokémon are weird. Some of them are just downright unsettling. Jigglypuff may be a pink fluffy sphere, but it inflates. Like, inflates. And gets super passive-aggressive. So the Ryme City version may look a little creepier than the anime one, but we're calling that completely understandable.

Verdict: A good round weird child.

Mewtwo

Whoa. This Legendary turned out looking super cool.

Mewtwo's almost alien look brought a dose of sci-fi to the Pokémon world. Where most of its creatures can be realted to something of this world, this big guy is unmatched... well, almost. There's those Mega-Evolutions to reckon with, after all.

He loooks awesome in Detective Pikachu, sporting those familiar determined eyes and almost amphibian-looking hands. Plus, in the midst of the Pro-Fluffy/Anti-Fluffy Pokémon Discourse, the choice to make him alien smooth was a no-brainer. We can't wait to see what kind of trouble he causes.

Verdict: He's back and as cool as ever!

Lickitung

Oh, yikes. Oh, big yikes.

Usually when a CG creature looks uncanny and slightly terrifying in a film, it's not on purpose. But this interpretation of Lickitung is pretty much exactly what it's supposed to be, and that just happens to be uncanny and slightly terrifying. From its massive human-looking tongue to its beady little eyes to that bald pink turtle... thing... face.

Congratulations, movie. You nailed it. And it's horrifying.

Verdict: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

Mr. Mime

Can we all just agree on one thing going forward? Mr. Mime is, like, a guy. That's an actual small dude sitting there. Look at him. He's just a small, weird-looking dude. And to the movie's credit, it looks like they just went along with that briefing.

His Pokédex entry has two major points about him. The first is that he's really good at mime, which we can guess from the name. The second is that, if you interrupt him in the middle of a bit, he'll slap you. Guys, this is just a small, angry mime pretending to be a Pokémon so he can beat people up. Why is no one bringing this up?

Wait, what was I talking about? Oh, right. He looks spot on in the movie.

Verdict: Tiny angry man.

Ludicolo

To behind-the-times Pokémon fans, this little dude probably looked like Psyduck in deep cover when it first showed up in the trailer. But that's Gen III's Ludicolo, a sort of duck/pineapple thing that loves to dance. Known as the "Carefree Pokémon," it's also been known to appear when laughing children are near.

Its Grass/Water origins are evident in the way the film has chosen to interpret the brim of its hat, making it look especially leafy. The choice to render the pineapple-shaped beard as—well—a beard is pretty interesting, too. The top of the hat also goes with full pineapple leaves, driving the look home.

Verdict: Creative and a little crazy. We hope Ludicolo is having a nice day.

Pikachu

We can't close out this list without addressing the movie's star, Detective Pikachu himself! Since Detective Pikachu is a specific member of his species, we went ahead and made comparison images for both hat and no-hat iterations.

Then again, reference pictues almost aren't necessary; Pikachu has become one of the world's most recognizable anime and video game characters. The zappy rodent is a mascot for the brand, and one of Nintendo's most popular characters. There's been a bit of Pro-Fluffy/Anti-Fluffy debate online since the reveal, though—for the record, the author is definitely Pro-Fluffy, since it mimics that look a lot of pudgy real-world rodents have of wearing puffy pantaloons over their tiny legs.

Whether or not you like the fluff, the little star is undeniably Pikachu through and through. He's got the zigzaggy tail, the emotive ears, and those teeny-tiny little paws. Even having the voice of actual Deadpool doesn't compromise the cuteness. As an added bonus, our little detective looks extra adorable when attempting to navigate a giant coffee mug.

Verdict: We love him. But that's a given.

How do you feel about the various Pokémon designs in the film? Any you think deserve a shout-out? Let us know in the comments! And don't forget to check out Detective Pikachu in theaters!

-----

Kara Dennison is a writer, editor, and interviewer with bylines at VRV, We Are Cult, Fanbyte, and many more. She is also the co-founder of Altrix Books and co-creator of the OEL light novel series Owl's Flower. Kara blogs at karadennison.com and tweets @RubyCosmos.

Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: [email protected]

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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papermoth-bird-blog · 6 years ago

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New Orleans: Stranger & more familiar.

There is a Kurt Vonnegut quote that Asa referenced the other day that has been ringing in my ears ever since. It goes something like “Strange travel plans are like dancing lessons from the universe.” Being both a lover of dancing (above most things) & a true believers in *signs*, it has been on my mind. There are so many levels to it-the trust for your dancing partners, learning to let go, making the most out of everything, forgiving yourself for the fumbles, etc. Mostly, trusting your gut.

I few days ago, I found a little bit of loneliness seeping in. Not an overwhelming amount, but as someone who really loves heart-full chats, I realized it had been some time since I’ve really talked to someone with my heart. I noted that, and kinda kept it in my brain, filling “maybe try to make friends” on my to-do list. I really like my alone time. I also really like my social time. It’s funny, that recently I kind of waver back and forth between the extremes- spending so much alone time that I start to feel lonely, and then spending way too much time around people that I find myself getting ever-so grumpy (which isn’t usually part of my demeanour). It is about balance, and I think this trip has been an excersize it that so far.

The past few days, I’ve made an effort to slow my pace a little more. I spent one day in City Park. Which is a very big park on the “lakeside” of the city. It’s one of two big parks in the city (the other being Audubon park one the far west side of the city; which I went to the following day). City park is the home of the Museum of Art, the sculpture garden, golf course, a theme park called Storyland & a really beautiful botanical garden. Audubon park hosts a golf course, the city zoo & the most lively, filled duck pond I’ve ever witnessed. The parks were nice for sure, but the trees themselves were amazing- in particular the ones in City Park. Many of them are well over 500 years old, & my favourite one of all was estimated to be around 860 years old. I sat in the roots of that tree really trying to sink in and ground. I held on the obsidian stone Mare gave me before I left & did our grounding ritual- hugging the tree and following its roots all the way down into the earth, then to the core of the earth itself, then back again. It worked in part, but I did kind of wish I had another witch to sit in the ritual with. It did feel so, so, nice to sit at the base of that tree though. It felt like a great-grandfather I’d never met before. I felt it’s basey-vibration and felt so oddly comforted. It was like all the high-frequency, anxious energy just got absorbed & ceased to exist under the (very very wide) canopy of that tree. I sat there a long time. Even as the tour groups passed & they all kind started at me half-hugging the tree. It felt dis-loyal to leave just because of on-lookers, and so, I stayed.

There were a few other huge oaks throughout the park as well. The other notable one is known as the singing oak, which happens to be my friend Troy’s favourite tree (it’s the first thing he told me I should do when I got here). It houses wind-chimes of all different sizes- really huge base ones, to teeny-tiny fairy-like ones. Apparently they are tuned to fill out the scale of African music. Which I thought was cool.

The museum was also pretty interesting (Although the Ogden was still my favourite). It contains a lot of the typically expected pieces- oils from dutch masters, a mogdalini, a picasso, a warhol, etc. My favourite exhibit was actually the one being displayed in the front hall. It was Tina Girourard’s work (in collaboration with Haitian artisans) called Bondeye: Between & beyond. It was a collection of Voodoo flags based one what to appeared to be a slightly different archana of Tarot cards. It was stunning. bright, detailed, full of thought, history. Very provoking, memorable-- and very New Orleans.

As I waited for the streetcar (which was very late) I spotted some familiar faces in the crowd. A couple I have actually sat behind in the ride up to the park, and then again at several points in the museum. When the streetcar finally did arrive, I again, happened to have sat right behind them. The woman in the pair spun around & told me she had seen me earlier & we got to talking. Olga is from New York via Arizona via Azerbaijan, but now in LA- Not Louisiana (as she’s had to correct people), but Los Angeles. Sam is born & raised in Los Angeles, but a francophile & lover of travelling too. We chatted a bit- they thought I was a local (lol) and were asking me for recommendations, which I gave them. We talked for a long while about travel & they told me to text them when I’m LA. Which is cool. Olga also gave me a bunch of recommendations for Arizona, which was really nice, because, in terms of travelling, that’s the area that makes me a little more nervous- just because I don’t have a car.

I actually ended up running into them the very next day at a little cafe in the French Quarter called Cafe Beignet. We again, swapped things-to-do lists. I was just coming from Audubon park & they were just going, so we parted way... But in a small place like this, I’m sure we’ll cross over again soon. I stuck around the quarter, because it was the weekend & all the busking musicians were out. Holy Moly. They are great here. I wish I could have spent hours listening to each one. Or more so, I was really wishing for a swing dance partner (but to be fair, even in Halifax I can’t always find one). There are also other types of booth/tables set up. Especially along Royale. Tarot card readers, artists-- my favourite of all time was a lady that was live-painting.... using a marionette.

P.s! I found my all-time favourite place for noms. The Cafe Verti, which is also on Royal (if I remember correctly). I mean, as a vegitarian, I expected to miss out on many of the New Orleanian classics-- but this cafe does a veggie version of the PoBoy called “the green giant.” It was also recommended that next time, I get the green giant with olive tempanade as well. I’m already planning on going back there in the next few days. It is a very hole-in-the-wall type of place--- so honestly, you probably wouldn’t find it unless you were specifically looking for it. It’s sooo worth it though.

Later on, Asa & I ended up taking Kozmeaux for a stroll to Cafe Flora. Which, for those familiar with the old establishments of the northend of Halifax, is very much like The Good Food Emporium. Everyone knows everyone, or every will know everyone eventually. Of course, it has it’s NOLA twist to it- you sit under palm trees, etc. Across the street is Big Daddy’s which is apparently the after-hours hang out spot in the Marigny. We sat around talking about weird paranormal stuff & life yadda yadda. One of the humans that works there is named Sal Geloso. Apparently he was voted New Orleans best street musician by Rolling Stone magazine. I’ve never seen him play, but I tell ya he dresses like a rock star for sure. We met one of the regulars Jeremy. Who is a super brilliant mathematician & physicist. Who used to be a hypnotist. Who now does massage one the side. (!!!! um hello signs from the universe).

Actually Asa did talk to me about the zebra races from the day before (Which I missed because my stoopooood American SIM isn’t working properly- so I missed his text). Apparently it only happens like once a year! And I only missed it by happenstance! What are the chances of that! He also told me about a fight that almost/kind broke out in front of the house the night before between drunken people outside the Hangover Club. He felt the argument really coming to a peek, so he grabbed his Ocarina & hid, softly playing. There was something about the strange melody that broke the spell of inebriated anger... and it broke up like pretty much right away. And now I know, I should always carry an Ocarina on me. Just as a side note too- Asa & Leon’s circus is called the Magic Bean Circus. They are trying to put together a ten-year anniversary of this tour they did, with a festival they are going to call BeanStock. Which sounds veryyyyy much like a cousin of white rabbit. They aren’t entirely sure where it’s gonna be yet, it seems- either upstate New York, or New Orleans. They are gonna get Odetta Hartman, Leon’s sister to kinda headline it seems. I looked her up & she’s great. If it gets proper legs, I’d definitely go if I could make it happen.

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Last night, I stayed out late... which honestly was a challenge because I’m still runnning on what I call “farm time” which means waking up at 6:30 and going to bed around 8. Honestly, it’s allowed me to utilize my days really well. It was worth changing for this show last night tho. It was a Gasa Gasa which is a punk venue in Uptown. The line up was Nick Shoulders & they okay crawdads, Baby Tony & the Teenies, and Max & the Martians. Nick Shoulder’s band is old-country, on the susp of punk- mostly in aesthetics, but definitely comes through in the music to a lesser extent too. They did a Hank Williams-esque version of Blonde’s Heart of Glass which I was a fan of. Honestly, this band in particular was right up my alley. Female drum player. Folk-punk vibes. They had solid chemistry as a group. More importantly though. Nick’s yodelling made my heart melt. (lol) ---I mean. I loveeeeee old country & bluegrass. It’s kinda why I came down to the south in the first place. As soon as they started- I felt a wave of “oh yeah, this is why I came here”.

Baby Tony & the Teenies is a super unique duo. If I were to try to describe them, it would probably be something like “freak-doowop” or “Alien Rock n’ Roll.” B-52s would be the closest relative I’d say. It was super fun. And there were a few people that got up to dance (which---- TANGENT TIME---- people are sooooo dang good at dancing down here. I mean. I shouldn’t be surprised. This is where the two-step is alive and well. Apparently in Lousiana, they have the cajun-two step, which is a double-step one direction, double-step the other. I was so jealous though, but too shy to ask a stranger at the time. Next time, I refuse to be shy).

When I walked in I was literally the only one there. Actually. Well, besides those performing. I felt so much pressure to be engaged with the music (which honestly, wasn’t hard). It’s been so long since I’ve been uncomfortable like that. I mean, in Halifax, I go to things by myself all the time... but it never really feels that isolating. I either know the performers, or run into someone, or at the very least the venue is familiar to me. This was all freaky-fresh & so I just tried to casually lean... without unintentionally sinking in the wall beside me. After a while, more people showed up-- but they were obviously friends of the band.

A cool card is something I don’t really like trying to carry around in my pocket. So I kinda vowed to myself that I wouldn’t leave without talking to someones--- I mean I honestly did come all the way across town (well, canada originally) to see them play. So I went up to Eli from Baby Tony, to introduce myself. Sometimes I forget I can be an interesting person. I always kinda underestimate myself in being able to bring an interesting story into an interaction (I don’t know why, honestly, my life is super strange & wonderful). Anyways, we very quickly found common ground, exchanged Instagrams & agreed out art styles would definitely get along. Their band is finishing up a mini-tour, just coming up from Florida, then back home to Athens, Georgia. They mentioned that if I was ever in Georgia, I should message them via “the world wide web.” I said the same about Canada. It would be super cool to see them play in Halifax, but I especially think they’d go over well in Montreal.

The show ended & I stopped by the okay crawdads to say I really enjoyed their set-- because I really did. I told Nick I was jealous of his dancing & he said he was about to ask me to dance but was feeling shy. But he then did invite me to the St. Roch tavern tonight for more country music. Asa & I are going to Preservation Hall, but I think we will go afterwards. Nick also told me to go to Country Tuesday-- which is the thing Milly is playing, so as it happens I was planning on going anyways. New Orleans is definitely a small, interwoven place like Halifax. It’s certainly nice to slowly be integrating in that way. In some part, I wish I was staying longer too, but I guess that’s part of the excersize itself. Not going to lie though, I’m having very vivid daydreams about coming back here for longer. Maybe for Mardi Gras. And maybe bringing a few friends. There are definitely some people in my life that NEED to meet this city-- I’m definitely thinking of Steph Rybczyn here, but there are many others too.

-------------------------------------------------

The Ten of Cups.

My friend Kirsti is organizing a collaborative project between a whole bunch of artists in the northend to make a Tarot Deck. We each get assigned a card that was randomly selected. Mine is the Ten of Cups. Which is the card representing Divine love, Blissful relationships, Alignment & Harmony. More simply; joy, peace & family. Feels pretty good having that card, but I don’t know what I’m going to do it yet. My Illustrations tend to be a little darker than that usually. I am kinda looking at it as a guiding card on my whole trip tho.

It’s also nice I can start thinking about it now. I’ve definitely had my mini-sketchbook in my pocket, while I stop in the little gallery & shops, making little sketches of elements I find inspiring. I’m sure many of the sketches will make some sort of more concrete appearance in my card.

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lexidem-blog · 7 years ago

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dreams: parallel universes. kinda like a video game; each level was a crazier world. one was this beautiful pastel gradient one w/ these tall beautiful alien ladies bouncing on big pastel spheres. then i used the taxi service which was run by “kind demons” and u had to tell them which hill to take u to and then they just appeared and u were there but everything was fuzzy and dark blue and it took about two seconds n u were dropped off and took a few minutes to be conscious again. giant phone book full of hill names. bag w/ it as bottom. xbox game theif rides in a tropical place. paddle to the other side of the lagoon and then there was a ride i’m little boats w/ like half real half plastic ducks on it. running into the ocean but it was really hot water i was at a family party in a huge backyard and there were sooooo many dogs!! but then it was june and cold and ppl were trying to swim a dream that adele michaela madi and taylor kept being rly rly rude and then were acting like i was being ridiculous for being upset. carol was angry then agreed with them. adele would ignore me whenever i spoke. then later taylor apologized and said i was right n we were in a relationship so it was like back in high school and she made out w/ me and then i was like “ur straight” and told her abt her future and she was like no way i’m in love w/ u n i was like yea but ur straight in the future lol jordan skype showing me t-shirt’s all ugly she was annoyed in big weird space hbd mackenzie emoji straight to 😎 from ❤ lily frankle loook for vid dt n amusement park makeup skipping laughing feet in holes. racing game grandmom real cars. purple mascara. til mirror. lots of tickets. amy talking about marriages florence across table “knew you’d choose jordan” told her i didn’t choose her two dreams about florence’s parents checking in on me & one miimz checking i wouldn’t kill myself but angrily hours: 9 big confusing party was cuddling two girls then graduation but swim i got low place in figures b/c it was split into junior senior but one award set. then hiding but it was m n okay but then they like lost it b/c i held them too tight cuddling. also video games chris beds idk. then i think chris was antagonist. two submarines battling. kept shrinking ourselves but we were inside antagonists lair n breaking all the like dinosaur skeletons. halloween costumes mom orange wig. downstairs laundry washing bloodstained gown using bar soaps scrubbing. surrounded by half dead little girls doing same woke up in a cold sweat i couldn’t shake b/c all the blankets are cold n damp too. very long dream moving to africa to study abroad. still don’t know what country in africa. started by visiting to see if i’d like it disney style thing could see coronado springs. stranger things kids? then was home n there was maybe gonna be a storm so i was gonna miss my flight but made it. iphone has stopped working so was using my env3 but then phone started working. michaela and other swim ppl were there again saw her friend got bad vibes she got annoyed and i said all her friends still give off mean popular kid vibes. purple lit tunnel after long security/suitcase weird stuff. took like 7 different flights to get to the right country. u could see soooooo many stars and a huge planet and it was on the sea n there were so many mountains. then i had one i was at this place on rollerckatser w/ these girls from a glasgow band and they wanted to be my friend. the one was vegan and knew like ellie’s friends. then i was in this shop thing then a hut and some guy was fingering me and everyone was like “no that’s their job” these like beautiful ethereal women that lived in the water next to the shop. then i lived w/ han n cal n ppl and was tucking them into bed n we were having vegan food n wine also a part w/ a trick where id be chained in the middle of this part and tricked other ppl into me being set free n then ran to find a bus but they were all taking ages then bethany was there more cold sweat 13 hours don’t remember which night. started in moms house and kept feeling stressed. was w/ other ppl and went in an elevator kept checking around each corner. turned out main characters sister was villain and had made it so every time u went in a different room u went into this disorienting like parallel universe and back. walked towards evil sisters hub and hid in jewelry store that was closed for the night. could make self invisible. turned out sister had made eating meat a requirement for her followers? i (main character now?) revealed that she was evil and everything was okay. scaffolding ? climbing. something about a little boy (my child?) none. two hours sleep. i was in a little shelter and held a teeny tiny baby german shepard and pet an american eskimo but their fur was v matted. i was on my moms street and taylor and i were laying down and holding hands and men kept being like “ooooh”. then we were at a party and it was the weirdest mix of people in this weird space that looking back seems maybe. spacestationy? idk how else to describe it. but then i went to the kitchen and it was p normal but like huge and american and laura was there and she was being v sweet as usual and i was talking about baking and left to go to this other meet up thing. these 3 people there wanted me to make them v specific huge drawings in chalk pastel. one of the people was michael from IT who wanted it to be of his one professor and he had a photo of him in his pocket in an envelope. we were about to clean up the cakes n all but then i remembered i needed to grab stuff from this other stall (they were in like fair-esque stalls) and the lady in charge gave me the key and it was like this old cottage and when i went inside i felt like. suffocated. b/c it was rly hot and stuffy. but grabbed my stuff (two stone carvings of giraffes, two of a smaller animal, and two of lions that i realized were poorly done w/ the mane so i was like oh man i’m gonna put fur over them to fix the manes) they were v heavy and i held them in my shirt folded up like a child. the one girl kept saying she needed the chalk pastel thing by tomorrow n i was stressed 10 hrs. i was back w/ florence n hanging w/ her and miimz and we were all v happy very stressful. one w/ big bridge. driving. one w firefly patrol jordan replied. i was rly angry. also she cut her hair soooo short went to cheesecake factory. they said i couldn’t eat alone. was like wow i gotta tell marte at a play w/ like alice. walking down the stairs. colonial british men. teal set on stage. had to go to bathroom. amy and leah woke up and if rainbow reflected mckenzie room plants then on bed w/o her and tab but pad all over the bed trump was paying me to meet up gave me £700 florence mom debt angry dorney water park uber 2 stars

Brie

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ezatluba · 7 years ago

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'One Of A Kind' Collection Of Animal Eyeballs Aids Research On Vision Problems

July 2, 2017

Eyes come in all sizes. These belong to a domestic cat (from left), an owl and an octopus. The Comparative Ocular Pathology Laboratory of Wisconsin has 56,000 specimens in its collection â including 6,000 from more exotic species.

From left: Andyworks, Ralf Hettler, vicmicallef/iStockPhoto

There is a little room at the University of Wisconsin-Madison that is filled with the eyeballs of animals — everything from the duck-billed platypus to the two-toed sloth to the boa constrictor.

"We think we're the largest collection of animal eyeballs," says Dick Dubielzig, who founded the Comparative Ocular Pathology Laboratory of Wisconsin in 1983, but he admits that this is hard to prove. "Maybe we should go to the Guinness people and see if they have an answer to that."

If there's a bigger collection out there, though, he has never heard of it. And every day, the mail brings about 20 more specimens to the lab. "About two-thirds of what we get are globes," Dubielzig says. "That means the whole eyeball."

The collection now has more than 56,000 eye specimens. Most are from dogs, cats and horses — sent in by vets who wanted help diagnosing eye disease. But the lab also has about 6,000 specimens from more exotic species.

A few days ago, for example, a couple of okapi eyes showed up, courtesy of the Bronx Zoo in New York. Dubielzig says it was the first time the lab had gotten eyes from this strange-looking relative of the giraffe.

"We pretty much have any kind of an animal you can think of — any kind of a mammal you could think of," he says.

Pathologist Gillian Shaw retrieves glass slides that hold carefully cataloged sections of eye tissue from the Wisconsin lab archive.

Courtesy of University of Wisconsin-Madison

Pathologist Gillian Shaw put on gloves and picked up one of the okapi eyeballs, which looked like a wet, gray hunk of ragged flesh about the size of a golf ball.

"I think this animal had sudden blindness or something, yeah?" she asked a colleague, who consulted the submission form that came with the eyes. Shaw then used a razor blade to slice the top off the eyeball, so she could peer down at the vitreous, a gel-like substance that helps the eye maintain a round shape, and the lens.

"I don't see anything grossly wrong, or obviously wrong," Shaw mused, "though I admit this is the first okapi eye I have seen myself."

When eyeballs like these arrive, she and her colleagues take photos and embed the eye in paraffin wax to preserve it.

Preserved samples fill blue boxes that are stacked up against the walls of this lab, and thin sections of eyeballs are put on the microscope slides that fill cabinet drawers. It's all carefully organized. So if you're a scientist who wants to study the architecture of the eye — or eye disease or anything eye-related — this is the place for you.

"This is a resource that's unlike anything else in the world. It's a one of a kind," says Ivan Schwab, an ophthalmologist at the University of California, Davis, and the author of a book called Evolution's Witness: How Eyes Evolved.

Shaw inspects one half of a dog's diseased eye that was submitted to the lab for analysis. She found evidence of extensive bleeding inside the eyeball and a detached retina — likely caused by chronic high blood pressure.

"It's the Taj Mahal of ocular specimens," Schwab says.

And the collection even has a very special human eye. One of the reasons Dubielzig got so interested in eyes is that one of his own gave him very poor vision, starting in childhood. It turned out he had an exceedingly rare eye disease, and his eye was later surgically removed — he added it to Wisconsin collection.

"What I say is that you're not really an eye pathologist unless you have your own eye in your eye collection," Dubielzig jokes.

Sometimes researchers ask the lab to help them figure out whether a species even has an eye and, if so, where it is.

"We tried to find the blue glaucus eye," recalls Shaw, with a laugh. "We were not successful finding the blue glaucus eye. It's a strange little rubbery thing, from the ocean."

Leandro Teixeira, the lab's current director, says he has been collaborating with colleagues who have been studying the effect of the Zika virus on the developing eyes of laboratory animals.

He opens up a small black case to show off teeny tiny eyes from dragonflies, spiders and a squid. Then he pulls out some plastic bags filled with fluid and the big gray eyes of elephant seals. "So these are very large eyes," he notes.

But he would like to get specimens that are even bigger. Teixeira says that a colleague recently told him that he had somehow gotten ahold of a well-preserved eye from a blue whale. "I'm excited about that eye," says Teixeira.

The one Dubielzig really wants is an eye from a giant squid, which has the biggest eye of any living animal — it's the size of a dinner plate.

"But there are no intact specimens of giant squid eyes, only rotten specimens that have been beached," he says.

He also needs eyes from the echidna, or spiny anteater, and some of the bigger whales. So if you've got any, you know where to send them.

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bellabooks · 8 years ago

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“Pretty Little Liars” recap S7 Ep14: Power Play

Previously on Pretty Little Liars, Spencer played ping pong until her bullet wound bled, Caleb got gassed in the face by the Liar’s Lament, and Aria was the most adorable little bad cop you’ve ever seen. We pick up at Ezria’s apartment, where Ezra arrives looking for Nicole, who went rogue after a therapy session. Aria tells him that Nicole is asleep in their bed, and leaves to go crash at Ali’s place. I’m placing bets now that Nicole goes full tilt bonkers and tries to murder Aria. Here’s hoping she’ll go after Ezra instead? I was gonna sleep on the couch, but Nicole said my jacket was keeping her awake sooo… Over at Ali’s place, Ali offers to make Aria some dinner, but they are both shocked to find the evil board game has been moved to Ali’s house. Damn Ali, how did you not notice a giant honking black box in your kitchen? Also, it’s been seven years of this nonsense: does no one in Rosewood have a security system? This is not the edible arrangement I ordered!! They call Spencer, who has just spent the night rolling around with Marco. She blows off the Liars for some morning cuddles, but Marco soon has to leave to work on a “classified” case. Before we’ve even recovered from seeing Spencer Hastings in that underwear, we zoom over the Lucas’s loft, where Emily makes Hanna smell her shirt to make sure she can wear it to work. Emily takes off her ratty t-shirt and Hanna tosses her a new one: I know we joke about Hanna and Mona’s lesbian endgame, but if you can watch Emily Fields change shirts with zero reaction, you are probably straight. Emily has spent all night tracking Sydney and spilling coffee on herself with nothing to show for it. While Hanna worries about her lost puzzle piece, Emily steals her toast and tells her not to worry about something she can’t control. Guys, I don’t think Emily realizes what show she’s on. Yes, I know, Emily in a bra = swoon, but how about that see-through fridge?! Emily rushes into work late, where Paige is just leaving the staff meeting. Emily invites her to lunch, but Paige is distant, telling her that she got offered the assistant coaching gig at U of Iowa. Paige tells her that she doesn’t have a reason to stay in Rosewood, but before Emily can protest, she’s distracted by Alison. Paige rolls her eyes and storms out. Spencer arrives home to see her dad’s luggage, and immediately starts rifling through his briefcase for clues. Never change, Spence. Peter walks in and finds her, but Spencer has already discovered that Peter arrived in the states a week ago and was secretly hunting down Mary Drake instead of visiting his daughter in the hospital. His daughter who got SHOT IN THE CHEST. He tells Spencer that he did what he did to protect her, and that he’s working with a private investigator to find Mary. Cool story, bro. Peter was too busy touching up his roots to visit his daughter in the ICU. Ezra and Aria get coffee, where he tells her that Nicole found her wedding dress and realized they were engaged. He apologizes for being a shitty fiancée, and assures her they can go back to normal. Moments later, Aria finds Ezra picking up the scattered pages of their book: Nicole read it and flipped out, but not before scrawling on a page that one of their memories kept her going while she was in jungle prison. If this season doesn’t end with Nicole standing over Aria wearing that wedding dress and holding a weapon I will eat my freaking hat. Back at school, Ali tells Emily that she’s decided to have an abortion. She tells Emily that she was manipulated by Archer throughout their relationship and feels like he robbed her of making her own decisions. Emily tells her that she doesn’t need any excuse: it’s her body and her choice. They’re interrupted by Marco, who tells Ali that someone mailed Archer’s finger to the cops. He asks her who would want to kill Archer, and she’s like “I don’t know, every patient at Wellby and probably me?” She tells him she’s not sorry he’s dead, and he tells her that he’s still looking for Mary Drake. Maybe you can open an investigation into all the f#&@s I give. The Liars convene around the board game, where Hanna is flipping out about Archer’s finger. She wonders if they are being punished for not finding Charlotte’s killer, which I totally forgot was the main plotline of the first half of the season. That story never made sense to me, because of A.D. wanted to find Charlotte’s killer, they have all the resources! Like, instead of spending hours painstakingly crafting an evil board game, they could have solved that shit by now. Priorities, people. The game whizzes to life and selects Alison as the next player, with an additional threat: they have to solve the puzzle before the cops figure out they killed Archer. There can be no more screw ups. Hanna and Spencer talk about Marco, and Hanna is concerned that Spencer is sleeping with a cop who isn’t Toblerone. Spencer wants to find Mary Drake before her dad can, so they call up the P.I. to get some leads. Aww look, A.D. built a teeny tiny box of pasta filled with money in Hanna’s kitchen! Emily and Paige are at the high school, where Emily tries to convince Paige to stay, hoping for another shot at their relationship. Paige tells her that she came back to Rosewood for her, but instead of feeling confident, she feels like her scared, closeted high school self all over again. It also doesn’t help that everywhere she turns, there’s Ali and Emily whispering secrets and touching each other’s hair. So this board game has a teeny tiny figure of me kicking some trash cans? That’s on brand. Ali tells Aria over Skype that A.D. has sent her coordinates for a location. Aria agrees to go with her, but when Ali ducks offscreen to puke, Aria gets a private message from A.D. telling her that Ezra would leave her if he knew the truth. Aria picks up her game piece and throws it with surprising accuracy at a wine glass. Meanwhile, Hanna and Spencer are going door to door, where Hanna is harassing residents about Mary Drake’s whereabouts. When they visit the last house on the street, they are shocked to find Pastor Ted answering the door. You remember Pastor Ted, right? Hanna is shocked to see him and they catch up. He tells her he hasn’t seen Mary Drake, but as soon as the girls leave, there’s Mary creeping over his shoulder. So I creep creep yeah, just creepin on the down low, cuz nobody is supposed to know… Back at the teacher’s lounge, Paige sees Ali’s abortion pamphlet and receipt, which are sitting in full view on the table. Ali then storms in and snatches it out of her hands, but come on girl…don’t just leave your receipts for your secret abortion floating around. Paige realizes that this is what all that whispering was about, and that maybe she does have a shot to win Emily back. Aria and Ali follow the coordinates and end up at a baby clothing store. Wow, A.D. is a real dick. Ali goes in and is given a scanner by the employee and told to register for ten items. Meanwhile, Aria gets a set of coordinates of her own, and wanders off, leaving Ali alone. my OTP is Queers and Bicycles Paige and Emily grab some pizza, and Paige tells her that she’s holding off on her Iowa decision. She puts her decision to a race: apparently during their relationship, they would have races to make life decisions, which explains SO MUCH about Emily’s post college life. Emily takes her up on the challenge and they start a bike race, which is adorable and sweet and ever so gay. Just two sporty lesbians pedaling their hearts out. They stop biking, and Paige tells her she’s already made her decision and they kiss. And it’s a nice kiss too, with a sweeping camera pan, and laughter and hugging. Is Paily finally, after all this time, endgame? I’m rooting for them, but a lot can happen in the remaining 6 episodes. Ali finishes her registry and the clerk hands her a bag with a gift for the donor. Ali is like, “the what now?!” and opens the bag to find a necklace with Emily’s name on it. She has flashbacks of being forcibly inseminated in the hospital and realizes that she’s carrying Emily’s eggs. I know this is supposed to be a SHOCKING reveal, but we all called this from the moment Emily’s eggs “disappeared” from the clinic. Ali feels faint and stumbles out of the store. Aria arrives at her location to find a limo waiting for her. She hops into this strange car filled with her mortal enemies because at this point, why not? She finds Sydney waiting for her in a dramatic black cloak, offering her a whiskey. Aria accuses Sydney of being the second shooter/game maker, and Sydney is like, “sure, whatever”, but Aria notices she’s wearing an ear piece. She goes to roll down the privacy screen, but Sydney warns her not to. Apparently, A.D. has smelled Aria’s desperation, and wants to use it to make her switch sides. Aria refuses to join A.D. in torturing her friends, but Sydney tells her she should take the deal and peace out while she still can. Look, I know this sitch is bad, but we can still get drunk in this limo senior prom-style Ted visits Hanna at the loft and reveals that he lied about Mary Drake. He tells her that they had an affair in college, and that he is Charlotte’s birth dad. He shows her a picture of Charlotte (then Charles) at summer camp with another kid…a kid named Lucas. DUN DUN DUN. Ali shows Emily the necklace and tells her that she’s carrying her baby. Emily is devastated, and Ali recalls getting impregnated at the hospital. Ali calls the clinic and cancels her abortion appointment. Spencer comes home and her father is pissed that she went behind his back, which is rich. No one is here for your tears, Peter! Spencer wants to know why he’s keeping her from Mary, and we FLASHBACK to Mary (disguised as Jessica) creeping on Spencer in her bedroom. She sneaks out past Veronica, but is busted by Peter. She tells him that she just wanted to see her daughter, and that she just found out that Charlotte was not dead but alive. She asked him to help her kill Jessica, but he refused, so Mary killed her sister with Peter’s heart pills and buried her in the Hastings backyard as revenge. Normal non-creepy parental things, nothing weird about this! Back in the present, Spencer realizes that her dad knew about Charlotte all this time. He promises to protect her, which LOLOLOL you’re about 7 years too late for that. Also, I love how NONE of this was revealed to the cops throughout Spencer’s months-long incarceration in the doll house. These Rosewood parents hold onto their secrets tight, y’all. Aria finally arrives at Ali’s house, where she’s confronted by all the Liars for abandoning Ali. Emily is heartbroken, and everyone is upset about the pregnancy. Aria says that they can’t let the game tear them apart, and on cue the game lights up and pings Hanna as the next player. Hanna is pissed that she has to go again in Aria’s place, and Aria gets a text asking if she’s picked a side yet. Will Aria betray her friends, or will she go double agent and save the day? If this series ends with Aria fucking Montgomery saving the world, I will never stop laughing. Whelp, this baby shower is gonna be awkward AF! In two weeks, Mona FINALLY gets to play with the board game and put her adrenalized hyperreality to the test and we get the return of Wren. Last week, I mentioned that Charlotte’s birth dad could be in play as A.D., and now we know he’s Pastor Ted. We still haven’t seen Jason or Melissa, who could easily be suspects as well. Tweet me your PLL conspiracy theories @ChelseaProcrast and I’ll see you in two weeks! http://dlvr.it/P6TRCh

#Television #PLL #Pretty Little Liars

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