#went ahead and formatted this like a thread! hope that's okay!

[nocentis]

@chidoricry said, “Stop pouting. We have work to do.”

╳┆Although he hardly considered assessing their options pouting, he'd rather not argue so early in the morning. He was no stranger to being accused of brooding, anyway. Perhaps it had something to do with the well-worn worry lines or the tension that never seemed to leave his shoulders. Whatever it was, it hardly mattered now. So long as he inevitably finds what he came here for, he cares not how his newest acquaintance interprets his demeanor.

"We should take the second path and head left at the fork," he advised, pointing to the trails branching from the base of the cliff and using his hand to illustrate. "It will be denser at first, but once we clear the thickets, it will lead directly to the temple."

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 294: A Half-Assed Escape

Previously on BnHA: Mirio was all “SURPRISE I’M BACK THANKS TO OUR RESIDENT SEVEN-YEAR-OLD WHO RECENTLY EARNED HER BACHELOR’S OF BEING A TOTAL BADASS.” Kacchan was all, “you know what, Dabi’s been trending long enough, time to remind the fandom what a real G looks like,” and he blasted his little bleeding body back into the fray and was all “FROM HERE ON OUT CALL ME DYNAMIGHT!!” Mirio was all, “AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA... oh, you’re serious,” and Kacchan was all “!!”, and so that’s the story of how my son got murdered twice in one day. Meanwhile in the Todoroki Drama Zone, Deku was all “STOP MURDERING MY FRIEND” and Dabi was all “THAT’S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS” and fandom had a whole big debate about Whether Or Not Dabi Trying To Murder Deku’s Friends And Mentors Is Any Of Deku’s Business, which went exactly how you think it went. Anyway, so then Deku yelled at Dabi, and Endeavor was all moved by his manly words and randomly went to go uppercut Machia in the chin. And, seeing as how the Momoserum finally chose that exact moment to kick in, Machia is now down for the count.

Today on BnHA: The Miriosquad handles the Nearly High End Noumus, freeing up Jeanist to jasphyxiate (okay that one doesn’t really work so well) the rest of the League. Compress is all “TIME FOR THIS MILD-MANNERED SIDE CHARACTER VILLAIN TO SHINE”, except that by “shine” what he actually means is “use his quirk to punch a literal hole right through his own ass to free himself.” The rest of the chapter is basically just a back and forth between him and Jeanist, with Jeanist trying to recapture him, and Compress repeatedly thwarting him by chopping more holes out of himself because HE’S FRESH OUT OF FUCKS, AND THE ONES AT THE STORE ARE ALL SOLD OUT, MOTHERFUCKERS. Anyway, so with Compress basically dying and all, Horikoshi is all “you know what that means”, and delivers a freshly-baked villain flashback revealing that Compress is a descendant of Harima Ouji, a.k.a. the Peerless Thief, a.k.a. some famous guy whom Gentle mentioned this one time for like two seconds back in the day. The chapter ends with Compress finally demasking himself and dumping Tomura back onto the ground, a.k.a. The Worst Possible Place For Tomura To Be. ( •﹏•)

WHY IS CRUST HERE YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD

-- OH WAIT, SHIT. OH

AIZAWAAAA you’re alive and receiving medical help thank GOD. HOW MANY EYES DO YOU HAVE. AND MIRKO!! HOW MANY LIMBS DO YOU HAVE, OMG

so is this Aizawa dreaming about Crust’s final moments, then?? jesus. with All Due Respect to Crust’s memory, does Aizawa not already have enough misplaced guilt on his conscience as it is?? “nope, we’re gonna keep piling it on. that’s all he is now. three limbs, an indeterminate number of eyes, sexy hair, and Guilt” well shit

motherfucker y’all really out here placing an oxygen mask on Gran Torino’s corpse. fucking shounen characters. each one comes with a lifetime warranty

DAMN YOU HORIKOSHI WHY DO YOU KEEP SHOWING THESE CLOSE-UPS OF HAWKS’S UNCONSCIOUS FACE ALL WHUMPED OUT AND EXHAUSTED. HOW MUCH MORE OF THIS ARE WE GOING TO GET. ARE YOU PLANNING ON KILLING ME WITH THE UPCOMING CONVALESCENCE ARC, BECAUSE IF SO, AT LEAST HAVE THE DECENCY TO TELL ME AHEAD OF TIME SO I CAN MAKE A WILL

for a moment I considered going back and checking my previous recaps to count how many times I’ve already made a joke about Dabi’s fire incinerating Hawks’s wings but not touching so much as a hair on his five o’clock shadow, so that I could calculate whether or not I could possibly get away with making that same joke one more time. but then I realized I could just do it in this kind of roundabout way I’m doing right now instead. so there you have it

FFFFFFFMT LADY AND MIDNIGHT NOOOOO

PLEASE BE ALIVE. PLEASE RESPECT THE SIGN ON THE FRONT OF THE BUILDING. THE ONE THAT SAYS “NO LADY CHARACTERS ALLOWED TO DIE”, WITH THE FINE PRINT AT THE BOTTOM “AT LEAST NOT UNTIL HORIKOSHI GIVES US LIKE TWENTY-SIX MORE OF THEM FIRST IF THAT’S THE WAY HE WANTS TO PLAY IT.” IT’S A GOOD SIGN, PLEASE RESPECT ITS WISHES!!

so anyway though, Jeanist is giving a speech about how god knows how many people all worked together to bring Machia down. and now RHA is getting in on those fabric puns too, I see. “A SINGLE STRAND MAY BE THIN BUT TOGETHER THEY FORM A STRONG ROPE” oh so you think you guys are funny eh? I’m a frayed knot

MEANWHILE EXCUSE ME BUT WHY ARE YOU FUCKING CRYING BLOOD, HOLY SHIT

fffffff. so much for him taking over as the Number One once all this is over. so let’s just recap real quick, because Horikoshi has long since made it clear that one of his plot goals for this arc is to wipe out every single member of the Billboard Top Ten. so how we doin?

Endeavor - was just figuratively eviscerated in front of the entire nation by his homicidal zombiepunk son. also burnt half to death and possibly down a lung. will almost certainly be forced to retire after this one way or the other

Hawks - lying prettily in a medical tent. wings status: gone. hair status: still perfect

Jeanist - WELL I THOUGHT HE WAS FINE BUT APPARENTLY HE’S OUT HERE DYING, JESUS CHRIST

Edgeshot - MIA, last seen fighting Re-Destro. I really want him to have kicked RD’s ass because fuck that guy, but realistically they probably fought to a draw at best

Mirko - alive but in critical condition and missing something like 1.5 limbs

Crust - dead, currently haunting Aizawa’s traumatized dreams. now he’s gonna be triggered the rest of his life by people giving him the thumbs up, THANKS A LOT

Kamui Woods - was set on fire which is His Weakness. thoughts and prayers

Wash - last seen floating hospital patients to safety as Tomura’s wave of decay descended towards him. probably dead ffff

Old Man Samurai - haven’t seen this fucker in a hot minute, who even knows where he’s wandered off to

Ryuukyuu - currently being treated for her wounds, looked pretty bad off. but it’s hard to tell how hurt she is since most of the injuries were acquired in her transformed state. SHE BETTER GET WELL SOON

anyways, so yeah. so much for the top ten. guess that’s another reason Horikoshi brought Mirio back now, huh

so there’s a big panel of everyone fighting the Noumu while Machia lies there all “blurgh.” good riddance my dude. it took like twenty chapters and a hundred people to stop this guy so I really fucking hope he stays down. you’ve had your fun

anyway so Jeanist is sending another steel thread towards Dabi! and he’s all “just a bit more!!” fklklj this is gonna go real well isn’t it

meanwhile Mirio’s fighting a Nearly High End with all of these weird rock formations jutting out of its skin. go on and kick his ass then, Mirio

“each of these guys is probably just as strong as the Noumu from Kyuushuu” hold on I thought Ujiko or Tomura or someone said that wasn’t the case? not that Mirio would know I suppose. anyways let’s just hope he’s wrong cuz if not these kids are probably screwed

kLSDKFHLSKHGLKLK OH MY GODDDD

IIDA FUCKING TENYA YOU’RE A PEACH. THINKS THE NAME IS OUTRAGEOUS, CHECK. USES IT ANYWAY, CHECK. “JUST BECAUSE I DON’T UNDERSTAND DOESN’T MEAN I CAN’T BE SUPPORTIVE.” WHAT A CLASS ACT

AND KACCHAN IS RESPONDING WITH AS MUCH DIGNITY AS HE CAN MUSTER

WOW, SON. IT’S ALMOST AS THOUGH YOU HAVE A HOLE IN YOUR TORSO, OR SOMETHING!! although listen up, real talk, the fact that Kacchan of all people can’t muster the energy to yell at someone questioning his ability to kick ass is HIGHKEY troubling and we may be in need of an intervention here soon :/

now Jeanist is finally turning his attention to the League! was... was it not already on the League. omg

ACTUAL SCREAMING AHHHHHH FUCK FUCKLK LK AHHLKHKFFFF

hey so um. what the actual fucked up hell. my soul left my body. imagine if you saw the reflection of this panel on your bedroom window. you would never sleep again

OKAY RHA TRANSLATORS ARE YOU HAVING YOURSELF A LAUGH AGAIN

THIS CANNOT BE WHAT HE’S ACTUALLY SAYING RIGHT. BUT IT’S RIGHT IN THAT UNCANNY VALLEY OF NOT BEING QUITE SURE, THOUGH... (　ﾟдﾟ)

(ETA: just a next-day clarification here, apparently my sleep-deprived ADHD word-skipping brain completely skipped right over the “a” in that last panel, so what I read was, “and Shigaraki’s limp noodle.” so yeah, the moral of this story is always read the speech bubble carefully before you start making running jokes throughout the rest of your post, folks.)

oh wow he’s really freaking out lmao

to be fair though, I’d argue that Dabi has gotten pre-tty close at this point :’) thrilled for him, really I am

but anyway, well then figure something out you big dramatic robot-armed fiend. didn’t you just say you could touch your own ass? can you not just Compress yourself to break free?? does it not work on you? or would you be stuck afterwards lol

(ETA: I was picturing him compressing his entire body at once, not just chunks of it. ghhhlkh.)

um

holy shit Jeanist. are you stupidly trying to cut off their air, or are you going for more of a sleeper hold (jleeper hold??) thing instead. the latter would be way smarter and faster and probably safer as well just saying

but unless Spinner is just being super dramatic, it sure looks like he’s fucking strangling them djslkjlk. this will certainly cement his popularity among the villain stans. good thing you’re not running for office any time soon bud

anyway so I have no idea what these guys are trying to do now. what is this

do you even have till the count of 5 at this rate. I mean

OH MY GOODNESS

HE’S REALLY FUCKING DOING IT!! HE’S COMPRESSING HIS BUTT!! OMFG. TOMURA HIDE YOUR NOODLE!!!

WHAT THE FUCK

DID YOU COMPRESS A PIECE OF YOUR OWN ASS. FUCKING WHAT. PUT THIS MAN’S PICTURE IN THE DICTIONARY NEXT TO THE WORD “LOYALTY”, HOLY CRAP

HOLY SHIT COMPRESS

“HOLY SHIT DID THAT GUY JUST PUNCH A HOLE THROUGH HIS OWN ASS IN ORDER TO SAVE HIS VILLAIN PALS. FUCK IT, HE DESERVES TO ESCAPE”

jeez, talk about... A HALF-ASSED ESCAPE ATTEMPT :D :D :D hahaha. but real talk though, Horikoshi has clearly never tried to leap twelve feet straight up in the air multiple times in succession with only half his glutes though. everyone, I regret to inform you that this panel right here on the left may be slightly unrealistic

also where the hell is he going to go?? did you pack a jetpack away in one of those little marbles sir. and what about Dabi?? and Skeptic too, I guess, but we don’t really care about Skeptic

(ETA: at this point I had to stop reading for about two hours because I had to go out and take care of something; that’s also why this is being posted later than usual lol. anyways so where were we.)

oh my lord

the existence of a translator’s note here implies that the earlier line about Compress being able to reach Tomura’s junk was not, in fact, ad-libbed. hmm. hmmmmmmmm

anyway so now he’s grabbing Compress again because OF COURSE HE IS, so now we’re right back to square one! except now Tomura and Spinner are secured inside of little marbles, and presumably Compress is the only one who can release them

oh nevermind he’s just maiming himself again instead, SHEESH

Skeptic a man is dying please have some goddamn respect

so, uh. is he gonna die, though??

I really can’t tell wtf is going on here, this is the most confusing the art has been in a while. Horikoshi put all of his spoons into that creepyass close-up panel earlier, that bastard

OMG WHAT ARE YOU SERIOUS

DON’T FUCKING TELL ME THE “COMPRESS IS RELATED TO THIS THIEF GUY FROM OLDEN TIMES” THEORY IS ACTUALLY TRUE WHAAAAAAT. OH SHIT

so apparently Harima was a Robin Hood type guy who stole from... heroes?? wtf. are heroes the 1% in this scenario. y’all didn’t have any Fortune 500 CEOs to steal from?

THAT’S THE BLOOD THAT FLOWS THROUGH YOU, OH SHIT. and in a related oh shit, the fact that we are getting a Compress flashback now of all times doesn’t bode super well for him. ffff

MEANWHILE THE TODOROKIS ARE STILL TODOROKI-ING

listen here boy if you touch one freaking hair on Shouto’s candy cane head I swear to god --

WHAT DID I FUCKING SAY!!!

SHOUTO NOOOOOO. WTF YOU’RE LITERALLY THE ONE GUY WHOSE WEAKNESS IS ABSOLUTELY NOT SUPPOSED TO BE FIRE. DABI YOU SHIT, YOU BETTER WATCH YOURSELF!! I’M PRINTING OUT A COPY OF THAT COMPRESS PANEL!!! KEEP AN EYE OUT ON THAT BEDROOM WINDOW YOU PUNK!!!

SO NOW POOR SHOUTO IS UNCONSCIOUS AND FALLING!! SOMEONE SAVE HIM!! WHO CATCHES THE CATCHER

COMPRESS LITERALLY HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE RIGHT NOW, WHAT IS HAPPENING

PLEASE DON’T CALL TOMURA LEADER OF THE “PLF” YOU KNOW I CAN’T TAKE IT SERIOUSLY WHEN YOU DO THAT. ARE YOU DYING. ARE YOU JUST A FUCKING HEAD NOW WTF

(ETA: “masks are removable, makeste” you know what it’s been a long day okay lmao. or I suppose Compress is really the one who is lmao.)

GASPPPPPP

okay. okay. looooool okay then

WHY WERE YOU COVERING THIS SEXY MOP OF HAIR UNDER THAT HOOD YOU TOOL. IT WOULD HAVE LOOKED SO GOOD WITH THE TOP HAT. I’M SO MAD AT YOU RIGHT NOW

as if it wasn’t enough for him to demask himself, he also had to get all shirtless and then do this weird attempt at a sexypose too huh

hard to say exactly how much of his torso is currently missing, but safe to say that’s proooooooobably not good. :///// fuck

on the other hand, Kacchan also has a torso hole and he’s still flying around like he just drank a dozen red bulls, so

this man lost his ass and he’s still out here monologuing like it’s the last two minutes of The Prestige. one might say he is monologuing his ass off

so he let Spinner and Tomura free, but is Dabi still trapped in his marble?? wasn’t he all on fire and stuff?? hopefully he can still turn off his quirk in there because if not that’s a pretty fucked up way to die. somewhere out there Snatch’s ghost is all “YEAH I’LL SAY.” oh how the turntables

last but not least, sooooooo. Tomura. back on the ground. that’s. um. ...shiiiiiiiit

[hauntedfalcon]

living in midnight

for day four of Nile Freeman Week: "Nile & Struggle" plus a fantasy AU in which superheroes exist, Nile isn't one of them, and she doesn't let that stop her. 1700 words, rated M for swearing. content warning for wounds and needles because it's Nile's turn for sapphic patching up, as a treat

the title is from Lianne La Havas’s “Midnight”. many thanks to @flightsofwonder for beta reading <3

read on AO3 or below

Nile opens her eyes to see an unfamiliar ceiling. There is an unfamiliar pillow under her head, and she is recumbent on an unfamiliar sofa. Above it is a window, where streetlights reflect in the sinuous trails of raindrops.

Rain. Knives. Three attackers. She fought like hell, might have broken someone’s arm, but they landed one good hit. They left her for dead in an alley. She watched her own blood run into a puddle.

She bolts upright--and hisses when a wave of agony breaks over her, starting in her abdomen and shooting everywhere.

“Please don’t move,” says a softly accented voice. “You’re safe here. I haven’t seen your face.”

Nile collapses back down to the pillow and touches her face, just to be sure. Her mask is still in place. She drops her hand and forces one eye open, blurry with pained tears, to get a look at whoever dragged her in from the alley.

A white woman. Dark shoulder-length hair. Youngish, maybe Nile’s age. Dressed all in black, much like her--not for stealth but for soft goth vibes. Cute, if she’s honest, but this isn’t the fucking singles bar, get it together Freeman.

“I staunched the bleeding,” her rescuer says, “but I was waiting until you were conscious to do the stitches.”

“Do we have to?” Nile groans before she can stop herself.

A blink-and-you’ll-miss-it smile. “I’m afraid so. Would you like some fortitude?” The amateur surgeon holds out a bottle of Everclear.

Ugh. Nile takes the cap off and drinks deep, leaving enough in the bottle to sterilize whatever needs to be sterilized. It tastes like ass and lingers at the back of her throat.

Before the alcohol can set in and obliterate her senses, she says, “Can I borrow your phone?”

The woman hesitates. Very wise of her.

“Listen,” Nile says. “We had two leads come in at the same time. Al-Tayyib took one and I took the other, and mine was a decoy, which means...” She can’t, won’t, say it aloud. She hates how feeble she sounds. “I just have to check in with him. Please.”

The woman hands her a smartphone, unlocked. Nile hits the keycode to make the call anonymous, then dials Joe’s shitty flip phone from memory. He keeps it on silent when he’s on the rounds, and he’ll only answer if he’s safe.

Pick up, she wills him, because if she has to hear his stupid cheerful voicemail greeting now of all times, she’s going to scream right in front of this poor woman who didn’t ask for any of this drama in her life. Pick up, pick up, pick--

“Pronto.”

Nile’s gut tightens (painfully, but that’s not what matters right now) at the sound of another unfamiliar voice. The assassin. Joe walked into a trap.

“Where is he?” she demands, trying to sound hard and not like she’s lying on a stranger’s couch with an open wound.

A gust in the speaker. Is he laughing at her? She strains to hear anything that would give away their location: traffic, a clock tower, machinery, anything. There’s nothing else. No hint of Joe yelling in the background, either.

“I will return him to you presently,” says the asshole. Very formal.

“What, after you shank him like your goons did to me?”

“They were instructed not to kill you,” he says in a voice that wouldn’t fog a window in January. “Did you die?”

White-hot rage flares out of her with no place to go. “Where is he, you son of a--” But he has already hung up on her.

Nile resists the urge to growl. If this was her phone she would throw it against the wall. Instead she quickly deletes the record of the outgoing call, and hands the phone back to the woman, who pockets it. “Thank you,” she says tightly.

“I’m sorry to say so,” says the woman as she holds the tip of a curved needle in a candle flame, “but you are in no condition to save anyone right now.”

She blows out a sigh in answer. When she pulls the hem of her shirt up and peels away the medical tape and bandage pad, she discovers that the woman is absolutely right. This isn’t the worst Nile has been hurt and still fought, but it is pretty bad.

And it’s one thing to trash a gang of traffickers while she’s actively bleeding. It’s something totally different to track down a guy who has been three steps ahead of them this whole time, and seems to have removed his sense of morals with an ice cream scoop.

There’s only one thing left to do: say a silent prayer. The way she learned to pray feels insufficiently casual for the circumstances; she wishes she knew more about the format of the rakat. All she remembers is, “God hears the one who praises him,” so she starts on the Lord’s Prayer because praise comes before petition.

In place of, “Give us this day our daily bread,” she substitutes, “Get Joe out of this with his head,” and then she has to hold back a giggle at the rhyme. She must have lost a lot of blood.

The woman wipes the needle down with Everclear. “You know, I met the old Guardian too.”

Nile eyes her carefully. She won’t say Andy’s name in this woman’s presence. She won’t say Joe’s name either, much less her own. She won’t slip no matter how much blood she’s lost or how strong the alcohol is or how fundamentally good and trustworthy this woman seems or how much this is going to hurt. “Not under the same conditions,” she presumes.

“Very similar,” the woman says with another fleeting smile. “I hope she’s well?”

“She’s good,” Nile hastens to reassure her. “She retired.” And she left Nile her nom de guerre and all the weight that went with it.

“I’m glad she made it that long.”

“Probably thanks to you,” Nile says, and she gets a longer smile for it.

Then the needle bites into her skin and Nile whimpers softly and throws an arm over her eyes. She’s hard. She’s tough. This is what she does.

The woman’s gloved hand pinches the wound closed as she stitches. She works quickly, professionally. “I’m really glad you found me,” Nile manages. “I can’t exactly go to a hospital.”

“I think you would be surprised,” the woman says. “You are well loved in this city. People would protect your identity.”

That’s not it. Nile can’t go to hospital because there’s a chance her mom would be on shift, and the only thing worse than keeping her alter ego secret from her mom is the idea that she would find out because Nile came in on a gurney. She can’t do that to her.

A tug, as she ties the thread off, and then a snip of the shears. Nile lifts her head and looks down at a slightly puckered, neatly stitched, no longer bleeding knife wound.

Her laugh sounds brittle, just this side of hysterical. The woman glances at her. “I have work tomorrow,” Nile says weakly.

The woman tapes a fresh bandage over the wound. “Me too.”

No rest for the righteous. “The struggle is real, huh? Sorry for keeping you up late.”

“I will call in if you do,” the woman offers.

But going into the office in the morning might be the soonest opportunity to make sure Joe is okay. Nile pulls her shirt down and zips her bomber jacket over it. “I should go.”

The woman sets one hand on Nile’s arm. “Please stay. You shouldn’t be out alone tonight.”

“They might have been watching when you brought me inside,” Nile warns.

“Then I will need your protection, won’t I?” the woman says without blinking, as if she’s not the one that just saved Nile’s whole life.

Nile cracks an incredulous smile but the woman just gazes at her solemnly.

“Okay,” she says at last. “Okay, I’ll stay. Thank you. And I’m sorry for bleeding on your couch.”

It’s not enough, but the woman just sets about cleaning up her supplies. Nile settles back against the pillow and wills her muscles to unclench.

“May I ask,” the woman asks as she washes her hands, “why you do this? You don’t have superpowers.”

No, and none of the people who do have taken this city under their protection. Flippant, lazy answers parade through Nile’s mind, because she’s not in a charitable mood. Anger issues. No one else is gonna do it. I’m a giant masochist, actually.

But when she opens her mouth, the first thing that comes out is Andy’s answer, from when Nile asked her years ago. “Because there are people worth fighting for.”

Then Joe’s answer: “People who won’t get justice any other way.”

And, finally, one that’s all hers. “I have a responsibility. This is my city”

She’s going to pass out any minute, but beneath her fatigue there’s still a live coal of the feelings that made her put this mask on in the first place. This is her damn city. She spends so much time in the guts of its shitty justice system, and the rest of the time punching assholes, that she sometimes forgets her city is full of ordinary, decent people. Good people. People who will bring someone in from the rain. People like…

“What’s your name?” Nile asks, and then catches herself. “I can’t--give you mine. Sorry. It might be safer if I don’t know yours.”

“Celeste,” says the woman.

Good people like Celeste. How comforting that is.

Her pain is down to an ache instead of a burn, and her eyes drift closed. In the morning, she’ll be out of Celeste’s hair. She’ll shower at her apartment, carefully, and she’ll go into Legal Aid, and Joe will be there, a little banged up but alive. He’ll hug her, quick and tight, and they’ll loiter by the coffee maker and speak in low voices and sort out their next play. And when the work day is over, they’ll go with Andy and Quỳnh down to Booker’s for drinks and darts, and Nile will order a bouquet of flowers sent to Celeste’s apartment in thanks. Everything, for given quantities of everything, will be fine.

Confident in her safety, secure in her purpose, Nile rests.

[celestialtitania]

Need You Here (Part 1)

Thank you to @nagemeikenu for betaing! Written for Day 8: Princess and Knight AU of Marichat May. They're around 15/16 here, for context. Can also read on AO3.

@marichatmay

Marinette looked both ways of the palace corridor, doing her best to sneak out without being seen. She slowly crept forwards, gliding her feet to avoid the sound of her footsteps.

Spotting a few guards coming her way, Marinette ducked behind one of the long pillars decorating the palace.

"And just what are you doing, Princess?"

Marinette jumped a foot in the air before she whirled around, instinctively dropping into attack position with her legs spread apart and palms facing outward. Just before she unleashed a burst of flames, Chat Noir appeared in front of her.

She let herself relax and straightened. "Oh, it's just you. What are you doing here?" She demanded to know.

"Just wanted to see what you were up to," he answered innocently. "Didn't think you would be ready to attack me so easily though."

"A Princess must always be prepared," Marinette sniffed at him.

"She should also be in class," Chat observed.

"You won't tell I'm skipping, will you?" Marinette blanched.

"Not if you take me with you!" Chat chirped, wrestling his helmet off his head. "I want to skip training too!"

She and Chat Noir had known each other for as long as Marinette could remember. His father was an important advisor for her father and they'd always gotten along as children. Now, he was training to be a soldier and was one of the top candidates to be her personal guard. Not that she needed one.

Marinette narrowed her eyes at him. "You'll get in more trouble than I will," she warned him.

"Yeah, but you'll also get caught without me." Chat grinned back. "I know more of the secret pathways of the castle than you do."

Sadly, it was true. Nobody let Marinette wander around on her own, so she didn't have as many opportunities to explore. She nibbled on her lip as she weighed the pros and cons of letting Chat Noir come with her.

"Why aren't you going to class anyways? I thought you liked Master Fu," Chat remarked, making Marinette scowl at him. "I wish I could train under Master Fu." He sighed wistfully.

"Why? You don't appreciate Master Su-han?" Marinette teased.

"Of course, I do! He's just very opinionated in his ways, I can't always keep up is all," Chat tried to defend.

Marinette simply raised an eyebrow at him. "Don't think I didn't notice that you didn't answer my question!" Chat retorted making Marinette flush.

"I'm the Princess, I don't have to answer anything if I don't want to," she told him loftily before glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. "But, if you must know…" she trailed off, anxiously picking at a loose thread in her dress. "I can't master one of my katas and I'm too scared of disappointing Master Fu," she confessed, burying her face in her hands.

"You're afraid of disappointing him so you're going to skip class?" Chat Noir blinked at her.

Marinette felt her eye twitch. "Yes, I know my logic is flawed but if you can't help me, you might as well leave me alone!"

She whirled around, intending to storm off but Chat caught her hand before she could. "Wait!" he cried, "I didn't say that."

She peeked at him cautiously over her shoulder. "You were going to find a place to practice on your own, right?" Marinette bobbed her head as she turned around to face him. "No offense, Princess, but that's no way to learn."

He took his hand, the one that wasn't holding hers, and gently tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "Allow me to help you," he whispered.

Marinette almost didn't hear him, lost in his sparkling green eyes. "Okay," she breathed out, ignoring the way her heart was pitter-pattering in her chest.

Lacing their fingers together, they ran through the corridors. Once, he had to tug her back and spin them into an alcove to keep them from getting caught. Feeling him so close to her, all Marinette could do was desperately grip the fabric of her dress hoping the moment would quickly pass.

Thankfully, aside from that incident, they made it to the empty field without being caught. Marinette's face felt hot but she didn't want to give her brain anymore time to come up with wild fantasies.

"Let's get started," she ordered, dropping into formation. As he circled her to check over her stance, Marinette felt extremely self conscious. Continuously reminding herself that she was the Princess here, she managed to keep herself calm.

"Okay," Chat finally nodded. "Go ahead and try the kata."

Taking a deep breath, Marinette did. She could feel the fire gathering in the pit of her stomach as she swept her back leg forward and it rushed forth as she swung her arms. But by the time she would thrust her palm to release the fire, it would just sputter out, dissipating in the air.

She sagged in disappointment, Marinette had really thought she'd done everything right this time. "Well? Where am I going wrong?" She interrogated Chat.

He was cupping his chin, seemingly deep in thought. "That seemed right," he admitted. "Hold on, let me try doing it."

He went through the motions, creating a beautiful burst of flames at the end.

Marinette bit her tongue to keep from calling him a show-off. He'd done it exactly the same as her, so why wouldn't it work for her?

"Your breathing was fine," Chat listed and Marinette had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. Again, it would do no good to antagonize him, even if he did keep telling her things she already knew.

"And it's just this kata giving you trouble, right?" Chat checked with her.

"Yes," she answered acidly. "My bending is fine otherwise."

"Do it again for me?" He requested. She shot him a glare but obediently performed the kata. Again, she couldn't even produce a spark.

Chat appeared before her so quickly, she involuntarily took a step back out of sheer surprise. "W-what are you doing?"

"Do it again but this time sweep your leg with more force," he ordered.

Gritting her teeth, she did as he asked. This time when she thrust her palm forwards, a brilliant blaze of flames was released. "I did it," Marinette stated numbly.

"You did," Chat agreed.

"I did it!" Marinette shouted with glee, throwing her arms around Chat's neck. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She cheered, squeezing him tightly.

His hands hesitantly came to her waist and she could feel his chest vibrate as he chuckled. "Don't mention it, Princess."

Something in his voice sent tingles up her spine and she moved away from him. "I-I have to practice. And show Master Fu."

Marinette backed away from him and dropped into a curtsy. "Thank you once again, Chat Noir."

He bowed. "My pleasure."

As she turned to leave, she gave him one last look. "Maybe having you as my personal guard wouldn't be the worst thing in the world," she confessed.

As Marinette ran off, she privately admitted to herself that the flush on his cheeks and the dazzling smile on his lips was more than worth the blow to her ego.

[ftstorm]

My take on 5x10

Welp, that was a big one!

You know, before going into this episode I reminded myself this was the first episode of a new era, the first episode completely made by the new team.

So with that in mind my expectations were "Okay, let's see what they've got."

And oh boy did they surprise me.

DISCLAIMER: this text post is long af, not kidding.

1. THE INTRO SCENE.

You guys have no idea how glad I am that we got Mac doing a usual MacGyvering in his house. It's been ages since they implemented this format of showing his dynamics outside Phoenix and around his house.

I wasn't worried about the proposal thing at all. Guys, you have to accept that MacRiley was always going to happen after that 4x04 episode.

There was also the fact that this was the intro scene (usually the most important plot issues happen in the outro scene), Bozer's weird reaction and the melancholic audio cue.

If that proposal was happening, they would've made it more uplifting.

(I gotta say that watching Monica Marcer and the official MacGyver account making damage control in Twitter 3mins into the episode was a funny experience)

So my initial questions about Mac wanting to propose were: "what are his motivations?" and "how is this not going to work out by the end of the episode?"

The second question we got the answer later on. The first question remains unanswered. If we take on Mac's words, he says:

Mac: Unexpected, I know, I know. But that's why I like about it. You know ever since I lost my dad and Jack I've been thinking about the bigger picture. A commitment to make things work it's exactly what Desi and I need. A grand romantic gesture. *cue melancholic music*

Here we're presented with a bunch of things worth analysing, in my opinion.

He's trying to see the "bigger picture" which, for me, it means he's trying to tackle down different issues from his life with one specific, efficient action [the proposal]. Those issues being:

> his current romantic relationship: make is aware they have an inconsistent relationship > his performance at work: he needs balance between his personal affairs and his work, which is based on saving the world in a daily basis and for that he needs to be focused. > dealing with his past losses: to my understanding, saying "ever isn I lost my dad and Jac I've been thinking about the bigger picture" means that he doesn't want hopelessness to take over him, he wants to keep on moving and being proactive about his life.

So... you have to understand that in some sort of way, this proposal thing is a signal that Mac is healing. In some sort of way, if you were in Mac's shoes you would see that it was a positive thing for him. A step forward.

The thing is, we [the audience] have an extended understanding of the situation and we know that an engagement would be an incredibly rushed decision.

As well as it is that Mac's trying to move forward, he obviously hasn't been able to pinpoint the true issue behind his relationship with Desi. He isn't wrong about them lacking in the commitment department, but forcing the relationship to scalate isn't the right move. He should be asking himself: "Why are we avoiding commitment?"

And that's when he'd find out that they have very deep and important trust and communication issues.

~~~~

2. Moving on. MURDOC.

Russ: I can process it more efficiently by having it all spread out ahead me, you know. I reckon see the bigger picture at once.

This is when I realized that the episode was centered on this whole "bigger picture" idea. Russ struggles to see the full picture until the very end and Mac finds out that he hasn't been seeing the full picture of his life at all by the end of the episode.

Fast forward, the team's in Mexico, Riley knows about the ring already and she has already had the talk with Bozer in which she refers to her feelings for Mac in a past tense.

Then Murdoc appears.

And as if the episode wasn't already a rollercoaster after Mac's reveal, now Murdoc shows up to put everything upside down.

First I gotta say, man Dastmalchian is SUCH A GOOD MURDOC. Excellent actor. The way he delivers his lines, his facial expressions, all of it make an original and very entertaining Murdoc.

He always gives me such a Andrew Scott's Moriarty vibes and I love it.

Secondly, his dynamic with Andrews: *cheff kiss*

I loved how Andrews was so over Murdoc's theatrics, to the point his facial expression screamed "Why did I even reclute this guy" LOL.

Back to the story.

This is something I was hoping it wouldn't happen but at the same time I don't see another way it could've happened which is the explanation behind Murdoc's escape and how Phoenix didn't know about it.

Because what they told us is that the FBI didn't let them in on Murdoc's escape, right? Does that imply that the FBI has a corrupt agent in charge? Does it imply that the order of not letting Phoenix in came from above? Maybe someone with higher clearence than Matty? A politician? Governement conspiracy?

It smells like plot hole, tbh. I feel like the Murdoc's escape is a classic "it is what it is". We'll see if they come back to this in later episodes.

~~~~

3. BIG SECRET REVEAL 1.

By now we're at the point of the rollercoaster where you're going up and up and up. Your tension building more and more as you're getting close to the drop.

Bozer and Riley's audio was the drop.

You know, during this scene I jumped from my seat, closed my eyes, cringed, squealed, my heart accelarated, forgot how to breathe...

As a person who is a little bit bipolar when it comes to romance (I can be very shy about it or very outspoken about it) that scene made me SO UNCOMFORTABLE.

Imagine having your feelings exposed not only to the person you have feelings for but also his girlfriend who happens to be your friend, your boss and the criminal that's threatening to kill hundreds of people.

I was like: "Not like this!!"

And Mac's reaction didn't help because of the lack of it. I don't know what I expected but his slightly monotone reaction broke my heart.

Thankfully, I've recovered since then and I don't mind that it happened that way.

Still, imagine how suffocating it must've been for Riley. That idea was what made me so uncomfortable and I think that's what they were going for. They wanted to make it as straightforward and awkward as possible.

But it doesn't end there. It's followed by Mac revealing the ring to Desi (and Riley). Mac's in "fuck it" mood and Desi kinda panics.

Little side note here, using GUM and a DIAMOND to break a bullet proof glass... BIG YES. That's an intrinsic MacGyverism.

~~~~

4. BIG SECRET REVEAL 2.

Then we get a breather from this drama by introducing another drama, Leanna's death.

Bozer's reaction to the news was heartbreaking for my already heartbroken heart.

I have my suspicions as to why they decided to kill her... The other episode completely made by the new team was the Quarantine one (5x06). During that episode Mac and Bozer bond over Bozer's pain. After learning about Bozer's mom, Mac chooses to share a piece of his own pain with him.

So, hear me out, I think they writers are planning to help Mac process his own grief THROUGH Bozer's grief. Keep in mind that we still have a Bozer centered episode coming up.

This is just a theory. I may be wrong, but I think it may be right too.

Back to the episode.

Once again we see a three dimensional Russ. He does something accordingly to his own judgement thinking it's the right decision [hiding Leanna's death], he realizes he screwed up, he gives Bozer a very heartfelt apology about it.

Henry's acting talent shone with this narrative. Actually, most of the actors had the chance to shine THANKS to the NARRATIVE. Murdoc, Andrews, Desi, Mac, Russ and Bozer... they all had their highlight moments (I'll talk about Riley later).

Parenthesis here... THE NARRATIVE HAS RETURNED THEIR SOULS TO OUR DEAR CHARACTERS!

WOW, they aren't brooding, angry, sad or whiny ALL THE EFFIN TIME. ABOUT TIME!

~~~~

5. LAST ACT.

For the third or fouth time in this episode my heart broke again when Mac was friendly towards Riley, after she explained herself. It really felt like he was friendzoning her.

But here's something to point out. Riley visibly relaxed when he reacted that way. What does that tell us?

> She had been so tense up until that point. Imo, she's on the defensive now. You can even see it in her wardrobe, make up and hairstyle choices. They're very contrasting to Riley's most vulnerable moments in this show (like when Audrey broke up with her).

Riley has had a year to sort out her feelings. We see in this episode that she spoke about them in a past tense. Whether she achieved it or not is unknown. We just know that she has at least tried to move on.

> She was mostly afraid of ruining her close relationship with Mac (who's her only family, along with Bozer) and her friendship (?) with Desi. We've seen it over and over again: Riley DID NOT WANT to get in the middle of them.

Keep that in mind as we go in the last scene.

It took me a while to figure out a possible thread of thought inside Mac's mind. Why did he look at the ring and decided to go to Riley's house? It really didn't make sense to me.

One moment he was thinking about his proposal and somehow that lead to him having the necessity to know if Riley still had feelings for him? Why??

My theory is that he went to her apartment for permission.

His question was a way of asking Riley for permission to propose to Desi. It was a way of reassuring himself that proposing was still the right decision.

In a way, he could also be fishing for an excuse to not do it [the proposal].

Because now he has doubts. He's confused, unsure.

Mac asks:

Mac: Hiding your emotions and letting it pass. Did it go away?

What could her answer have been? Here I wanna go back again to Riley being emotionally defensive, added her strong desire of not wanting to be in the middle of Mac and Desi's relationship.

I think she would've said "Yes, it worked."

Because it also lines up with my idea that the love triangle has changed from "Riley's a better match for Mac" to "Mac needs to win Riley's heart".

Riley's done her job. She worked out her feelings. Now it's time for Mac to sort out his humongously messed up internal self and reignite her spark. That's what I think.

Also, if anyone has any idea on how the song that played in that scene relates with the moment please share it with me because I don't really understand the song choice lol.

~~~~

6. ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

Desi. I'm not sure what's going on in her mind. She seemed stressed out by the ring, very serious about Riley, lenient with Mac... I'm really not sure.

My guess would be that she doesn't want that type of commitment but she wants to be with Mac yet she can't ignore Riley so does that mean she has to end it with Mac? That's the thought process she may have had? Idk...

I'm glad they let her be mature about it, with no overreactions, no whining, no blaming, nothing of that style that we're used to see in her.

I'm also glad about that moment when she defeats Murdoc and Andrews. THAT'S HOW YOU WRITE A TOUGH DESI. It was filmed with such a gracefulness and elegance. I liked it.

From a MacDesi point of view, she's probably being open minded and giving him space and waiting for him to come back to her... but somehow I got the vibe that she's actually... running away?

Lastly but no less important.

THE HISPANIC REPRESANTION OMG. RUSS SPEAKING SPANISH AND THAT CUMBIA MUSIC FILLED MY HEART WITH SO MUCH PRIDE!!! :')

[campkeeper-archive]

To my dear friends and curious followers...

     Okay real-talk, I’m gonna go ahead and address the elephant in the room over here...

     A lot of factors went into why I’ve been absent in the roleplay community that have put a significant weight on my shoulders. Real life stuff has happened in the last 8 months that I’ve been trying to...I guess, deal with? I’ve been toiling with my mental health and working with professional help to work through some deep-set trauma that’s come to light since December, as well as work through my creative burnout with other outlets. 

     But when it all comes down to sitting at the keyboard with a character waiting for a voice in front of me, it boils down to the question of ‘will this be fun? or will I turn this into a blunt object to beat myself over with?’

     Now just to emphasize before I elaborate, I do not connect this feeling of self-deprecation to anyone’s actions or words. No individual has added this pressure on me, so please do not feel guilty or self-conscious over the thought that I might be pitting the blame of my burnout on you. That is NOT the case at all!

     Actually, if I’m being honest, as much as I try not to care about everyone I interact with (as doing so can most definitely take a toll on my health) I have a bad problem with putting myself in other people’s shoes and assuming too much about what my partners might “truly” be thinking. So when I haven’t responded to a thread in so long for whatever reason, I don’t forget it like I try to when I tell myself ‘it’s just supposed to be fun’, it eats at me every time I look at my draft count. I think of every thread I’d LIKE to continue, but have no drive to write for, and I think way too hard on it. My partner may genuinely not care at all how much time it takes me! My partner may see me respond to our thread after MONTHS and think ‘oh yeah! we had that going on! cool cool!! glad she took her time :)’, but nah man, my brain gets mean. Really, really mean, and boy does it drain me dry and hollow.

I love roleplaying. I’ve made so many dear friends through this hobby, that giving it up feels like a huge sacrifice for a problem that feels so trivial. Hanging the hobby may be one option, but it’s one among many I’ve considered and I’ve yet to try one that sticks.

I don’t know if I’ll stick around. I may prove myself wrong and end up playing something that sticks. I may find another format to write in where there’s no room for that pressure (looking intensely at Rolescape, and Discord to a smaller degree). I may stick around on David or my self-insert for a while if I feel drawn to it.

What’s certain, however, is I miss you all dearly. I miss creating with y’all, and bouncing stories and shenanigans off of each other. I miss the time we spend talking about our muses, relationships, character development we want to put them through, stories and plots we want to work on. I miss it all.

I miss you all, and I love you dearly. I hope no matter what I decide on, you don’t forget that most important fact.

                                                    --With Love,                                                               Laamb

[lazyfox411]

Some more Qrow Angst

Ruby is in trouble so she calls her uncle qrow for help. Warnings I guess for alcohol use and a dude being.. creepy?

Let me know what you think! And sorry if this ends up formatted strange, I'm in an airport and using my phone which I normally dont do for posting fic..enjoy..

Qrow smacked his lips as he polished off what was left in his glass. He played his fingers along the neck of the bottle, contemplating another.

Tai cleared his throat, nestled in an armchair across the room. His eyes immediately flicked back down to the novel in his hands when Qrow looked up. It was subtle, but it was enough. Qrow left the bottle where it was. This was Tai's house, he would at least try to behave. If not for Tai, then for the girls. Even though it was late, so Yang was already locked away in her room for the night, and Ruby was out at a friend's.

No sooner had the thought left his mind than his scroll, tucked away in his back pocket, began to vibrate. He pulled it out and looked at the contact photo: Ruby's smiling face. Tai was fully immersed in his book now, and after years of living with the man in a small dorm room, Qrow knew not to interrupt him when his nose was stuck between pages. He quietly stepped into the kitchen to take the call.

"Hey, kiddo, what's up? I thought you were at your friend's, Violet, or whatever her name is."

"It's Velvet," Ruby corrected softly, and in that instant, Qrow knew there was something wrong, very wrong, because he had never heard his niece speak in such a quiet, timid voice.

"Ruby, what is it?" he asked.

"I lied," she replied, barely a whisper. "I lied, Uncle Qrow, I didn't go to Velvet's, I went somewhere else. These kids at school were having a party, and they asked me to come, and I did, but now everything's getting out of hand, people are drinking, and they're breaking stuff and yelling and this one guy has been following me around all night, and I don't know anybody here, they're all older than me and I'm hiding in the bathroom but people keep knocking on the door--"

"Whoa, slow down there, kid, just breathe for a sec," Qrow tried to keep his voice steady, but just about every muscle in his body was tensed and ready to spring to action.

There was a muffled knock, and someone shouted from Ruby's end of the line.

"Occupied!" Ruby called out. She must have put her scroll closer to her face then, because Qrow didn't have to strain to hear, "I'm scared, Uncle Qrow."

"Where are you?" Qrow demanded. Ruby rattled off an address. "Alright. I'm gonna get Tai, and we're gonna get you out of there."

"No!" Ruby cried, "You can't tell Dad, please, Uncle Qrow, you can't let him find out. He'll be so disappointed in me."

That made Qrow pause, if only for a split second. Did Ruby think so little of him that she didn't care what he might think? But that didn't matter, not right now, because his niece was in trouble, and she was trusting Qrow to help her.

"Okay. Hang tight, kiddo. I'll be there as fast as I can."

"Please hurry."

Not even seconds after hanging up, Qrow was scrambling up the stairs. "Going to bed, goodnight!" he called to Tai, not much caring about his reading anymore.

Qrow burst through the door to the spare room he'd been staying in, kicking it shut behind him and grabbing his weapon from where it was leaned against the wall. He threw open the window and leapt into the night air.

There was a moment of vertigo as his body plummeted towards Tai's flowerbeds on the ground below, before he erupted in feathers and propelled himself higher into the sky. With all the places he'd been, the things he'd done, the missions for Oz, he had never flown this hard.

The only thing faster than his wings was his mind, racing a mile a minute, tearing him apart from inside. What was Ruby doing at a party with people she didn't know, people older than her, and a lot less innocent and a lot more reckless? Ruby was smart, why would she make the decision to go there? Unless she thought it was something okay. Unless she had seen her uncle drinking and wanted to try it for herself. Unless she'd heard the stories Qrow had told from his younger days, about the wild and reckless things he'd done. He was regretting those things now more than ever before.

It was easy to spot the house, it was the only one on the street with all the lights on, music was blaring, and kids were scattered over the lawn. Qrow swooped down, only to have a red plastic cup thrown at his head. With an indignant squawk, he dove into some bushes.

Nobody seemed to notice a grown man stepping out of the shrubbery; they were too drunk or didn't care, or both. Qrow brushed the leaves from his hair and started up the walkway. The obnoxious music was starting to give him a headache.

He nearly keeled over when he opened the front door. The crowd inside was generating a powerful stench of weed, body odor, and booze. It was even louder in here, people were shouting and breaking things. Qrow flinched as an expensive-looking vase was thrown and shattered against the wall. But he had more important things to worry about.

"Bathroom?" he asked a kid next to him.

The kid pointed to a worn set of stairs leading farther up into the house.

"Hey man," he said, "cool sword. What are you, like a huntsman or something?"

Qrow gripped the hilt, feeling reassured. He was an adult. He could handle this. And even if he couldn't, Ruby needed him, so he would try.

The kid who he'd asked about the bathroom and had liked his weapon was trying to give him a beer now. Qrow brushed him off, thinking he would very much like a drink of something to calm his nerves but now wasn't the time. He elbowed his way through a sea of dancing teenagers to get to the stairs, nearly tripping over someone passed out and sprawled across the landing. Qrow did his best not to step on her and continued on his mission.

What he heard at the top of the stairs curdled his blood.

"Come on, Little Red. Open the door. I'm sorry, let me make it up to you. We can get out of here, go back to my place--"

The guy didn't finish his sentence, because if he did, he would have lost his Adam's apple. Qrow shoved him against the wall, blade millimeters away from his throat.

Qrow had never really believed in the term "seeing red" until now. He was seething, breathing so hard he could hardly get his words out, and in that moment, he could have killed this guy.

"You stay away from my niece," he spat. "Stay away, and if you so much as look at her again, this blade is gonna be the last thing you ever see. Understand?"

The guy nodded as much as he could, given one wrong move could cost him his head.

"Say it," Qrow growled through his teeth.

"I- I understand." He was obviously drunk, but fear shone through his glassy eyes. Good.

"Get the fuck out." Qrow lowered the sword, and gave him a shove towards the stairs for good measure.

When he was sure the guy had left, Qrow turned to the bathroom door.

"Ruby," he knocked softly. "Ruby, open up, it's me, it's Qrow."

"U-uncle Qrow?" Ruby sniffled from inside.

"Yeah, it's me, I'm here, kiddo. Can you open the door? Please." He just had to see her. He had to know she was alright.

After a few moments, the door opened with a soft click, and before Qrow could brace himself, Ruby crushed him in the tightest hug he'd ever received. And he returned it.

"Ruby," the air rushed from his lungs, and he fought to refill them. "Kid, what the hell are you doing here? Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"You came," Ruby managed. Her voice was shaky. "I'm so, so sorry, Uncle Qrow, I'm so sorry, it'll never happen again, I promise."

"I'm just glad you're safe," Qrow murmured, gently stroking her hair. "Let's get outta here."

He escorted her down the stairs and to the door, shielding her from stray elbows and flying objects, and they left the property altogether. He kept a steady hand on her shoulder the whole way.

They had a decent walk ahead of them. Cabs wouldn't take passengers carrying giant weapons unless they had a huntsman's liscence, and Qrow had left the house in a panic, not thinking to grab his wallet. Even then, there was no money in it.

Ruby was silent as they plodded towards home, which was unusual for her. She kept opening her mouth like she wanted to speak, but then changed her mind. Finally, Qrow couldn't take any more of it.

"Spit it out," he said, not unkindly.

She stared down at her hands. "I'm sorry, Uncle Qrow."

Qrow sighed. "I'm just glad you're safe now. But I hope you learned your lesson, 'cause I'm pretty sure you turned all my hairs gray after tonight."

That made Ruby smile a little bit, and Qrow put an arm around her as they walked.

"Seriously, though," Qrow said, losing some of the light tone, "what were you doing there?"

"These kids at school," Ruby explained, picking at a loose thread on her sleeve, "they told me about it, and they said if I didn't go, then I might as well not bother coming back to school because I'd be a laughing stock. And you know what? Those kids weren't even there tonight. I don't know how I could be so stupid."

There was a bit of relief that washed over Qrow that he wasn't the immediate cause of this, then guilt at the fact he might have been at all. Stronger though, was anger, threatening to bubble over. He had some very specific words for Ruby's schoolmates, but he bit them back for now. He stopped walking, and knelt to look Ruby in the eye.

"You are not stupid. You made a mistake tonight, we all do. What's important is that you recognized it. And those kids at school, don't let them, or anyone else, speak to you like that. And if they do, you need to tell me. Tell me, or your dad, or some friends or a teacher, tell somebody. Understand?"

Ruby nodded, "I understand."

Somewhere along the way back, Ruby grew tired, her feet started to drag, and her eyes drooped. Somewhere along the way, Qrow crouched down and mumbled, "Get on board," and that was how he ended up sneaking back into the house with Ruby clinging to his back like a koala.

It was late, and all the lights were out, so Tai was probably gone to bed. Qrow didn't much feel like dealing with an angry dad tonight. He lowered Ruby to her feet as they tiptoed through the kitchen towards the stairs. Qrow cursed when he stubbed his toe on the banister. The whole thing set him off balance, and he landed, unceremoniously, on the staircase with a resounding thud.

"Shit," he muttered, listening for the sound of footsteps to tell him what little luck he had had run dry. The house was silent.

"Come on," he whispered to Ruby, "let's get you to bed."

Ruby kicked off her shoes and crawled under the covers as soon as they got to her room. Qrow eased the door shut, and lowered himself to sit on the edge of the bed. It hit him then that he was exhausted, and sore from falling up the stairs.

"Uncle Qrow?"

"Yeah?"

"You won't tell Dad about this, will you?"

What was left of Qrow's energy may as well have seeped down into the floorboards and been absorbed by the moonlight. He rested his forehead on his hand and sighed.

"Kiddo, I don't think this is something I feel comfortable keeping from your dad. Tai'll kill me if he finds out I kept this from him."

"He'll kill me, too!" Ruby protested.

Qrow chuckled and shook his head. "You're his little rose petal, he'll get over it. But, Ruby, if you don't tell him, I will. You're growing up, and you've gotta learn to take responsibility for your actions. I'll tell that you now, because I know how much it sucks to learn the hard way."

Ruby sighed and laid her head down on her pillow. "You're right."

"You'll be fine," Qrow assured her. "Just get some rest now."

"I can't fall asleep."

"You didn't even try yet."

"Uncle Qrow," Ruby looked up at him with puppy dog eyes, "will you stay with me? Just until I fall asleep?"

Qrow answered by closing his eyes and leaning back. Ruby snuggled into his side.

"Thank you," she whispered. "For everything."

"You're welcome, kiddo."

[neioo]

Fanfic Rec! ( • ω • ) 

Rules I’m constraining myself to: I’ve either had to read the fic more than three times and/or have thought about it years in the future. (This means I’ll have to leave out some other fics I really enjoyed reading and thought were well written) 

A bunch of different fandoms will be under the cut! (as I expose what I ship across the board too lol)

We’ll Meet Again by George deValier (usuk) (complete)

This is the first fic of george’s that I read, and I’ve read it multiple times, and it’s been integral in my shaping of characterizations within my own hetalia fics. I could include all of his works, but this one stands out the most. I also listen to the vera verse songs and get extremely nostalgic, so there’s that

WW2 AU. London pub owner Arthur Kirkland is driven to distraction by loud, brash American fighter pilot Alfred Jones. Unable to stop it, Arthur finds himself falling for Alfred’s charms… just as the pilot is preparing to leave for war.

Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue… by anonymous (pruaus) (unfinished)

This fic is odd in the sense that I found it while suddenly getting on a pruaus kick, during which I followed a bunch of pruaus people on tumblr. Eventually, I would find out years later that I was going to the same college as one of these people and become friends with them. So not only does this fic have a nostalgic tie to it, I find the story brilliantly written with wonderful characterization, though it is in a weird format.

Inspired by the film 500 Days of Summer, I’d really like to see a couple meet and fall in love, but eventually one (or both) ends the relationship because they realise it’s not working/they can’t imagine spending their whole life with this person/what have you. I’d really love to see how the relationship develops, with the happy times and the eventual bad times as it falls apart, and then the hope of finding love elsewhere.

Redeemer by CocoaCoveredGods (L x Light, Mello x Matt, Mello x Light) (complete)

I can’t tell you how happy I am that I found this fic after 6 or so years. I can’t tell you how nostalgic is makes me for my death note phase, remember when I would read this in my mom’s office, minimizing the fic on a laptop I hope she never checked. The writing is phenomenal. The format on this site is wonky, but doable to read. (I’m even reformatting it myself right now). It’s mostly everything I could have wanted in a death note fic; it even inspired my own very complex death note AU back in the day. In some alternate reality, I wrote that instead of AWH. I plan to maybe make a personal paper copy for myself of this fic I love it so much. It is on the level of George’s stuff on how much it means to me.

The story takes place *after* Death Note ends, although the main characters have not died. Here the Yellowbox Warehouse is essentially the pinnacle of L's 6-year long offensive against Kira, who believes L to be dead, when he really isn't. L faked his death, and proceeded with the case behind the cover of his three top heirs, Mello, Matt and Near. Kira himself doesn't succumb to his defeat, but is instead rescued at the last moment by his nemesis lover who decides that a more apropos end to the God of the New World is not death--but redemption, in the form of a new case and a 5th so-called Kira, that L and Light must bring down together... or risk losing everything. Yes, there is actually a plot LOL Buuuut, this puppy has yaoi and pairing's aplenty. LxLight and MelloxMatt are technically the mains, but when you cut straight down to it, this is a story about Light and Mello and how they go from hate to need, from enemies to lovers, and maybe even something more...

and indeed there will be time --orginally by lawlietismyfavorite, but they have since deleted their account :’( (the fic is still on AO3, though!) (L x Light) (unfinished)

I love death note, okay? After the beautiful live action series came out (the recent japanese one not that fucking netflix shit), I felt the need to read some fanfic of the series again, and I found this. HOLY SHIT. It’s a soulmate AU that goes through the plot line of the manga/show and fuck. Light is Ace?? The writing is so good?? 

L is the greatest detective of not only this century, but of six centuries. And then there’s Light.

Between the Lines by Klitch (Fushimi Saruhiko/Yata Misaki) (complete)

I’ve read this fic about 5 times and have accepted it as canon for this stupid show

The first time Yata saw him the kid was sitting in the corner of the cafeteria all alone with his bought lunch spread out before him, painstakingly picking out the vegetables and stacking them according to color and size.

Picking up the Pieces by SilverThunder (Fushimi Saruhiko/Yata Misaki) (complete)

I really like K. It’s a weird show, and it has copious faults. Maybe I just really like that the characters have so much potential, and this fic (as well as the one above) truly expands on that potential. This fic is an excellent exploration of these two character’s relationships, there’s just the right amount of angst. I’ve read it multiple times.

A whole year, gone from his head just like that - and how many memories could you fit in that time, anyway? It wasn’t a question Yata thought he’d ever have to ask, but with so many things changed between Saruhiko and himself, he wasn’t about to leave it alone.

It just sucked that the new world they’d built was still so easy to break.

to be first, to be best by kittebasu (chanyeol) (iwaoi) (complete)

haikyuu!! is odd for me because I don’t care about it anymore, but I really like this fic, and I’ve read it about 5 times. The characterization is on point, and the story is extremely well written.

Hajime is apparently something of a masochist, and as he stares down at the tie-dyed AREA51 T-shirt in his hands, he thinks“I’m totally in love with this asshole, aren’t I?”

Cat's Cradle by evocates (Fujioka Haruhi/Ootori Kyouya/Suoh Tamaki) (complete)

every new years eve, since 2011, my brother and I have watched Ouran High School Host Club. for the past 4 years, I have read and re-read this fic without fail in the days after

Kyouya had been able to see the red threads between people’s fingers since the day he was born. A song of fate, and the breaking of. Tamaki was a man who could never be predictable. Vague spoilers up to Chapter 63.

"Relationship Stuff" by arokitty, Ponderess (shinara) (complete)

This fic helped me realize I was asexual. It’s beautifully written.

"Relationship stuff" — that's what Yasutomo kept calling it on the occasions we discussed how things were going between us. He never failed to say it dismissively, as if it was an annoying plague he was forced to put up with. But even when I told him that he could opt out of it at any time, he did not pull back.

[lithromantic asexual Shinkai, aromantic asexual Arakita, quasiplatonic Shinara]

You Really Ought To Know by isengard (midotaka) (complete)

I really like this ship, and out of all the fics I’ve read of it, this is the one I adore the most (obviously enough to read it three times)

The Fates have an important message for Takao Kazunari.

A Gradual Fall by grassandcitrus (originshipping) (complete)

This maybe isn’t the best written fic, but it has a lot of heart, and for a ship that there is little content for, this fic served me well. It’s hard to write a realistic pokemon AU, but this feels grounded. For whatever reason, this ship still means a lot to me, so when I get in the mood for it, I’ll re-read this fic.

Meeting Wallace turned out to be a life changing event for Steven. He realizes that pretty early on. Other things, however, come with time.

The Punchline and the Resulting Silence by youremyqueen (thiefshipping) (complete)

from the author: “so i went ahead and wrote ygotas fic because, hell, if LK can record videos in which he vocally flirts with himself while playing video games, and then write gay porn about it, I sure as hell can write gay porn about it too.” yeah. 

In which Marik destroys many household appliances, Bakura naps doggedly, and they sometimes pretend - with very little success - not to be in love. (YGOTAS, thiefshipping. ridiculousness meets poeticism meets more ridiculousness.)

Six Days As Boyfriends by sitabethel (thiefshipping) (complete)

I just really like this ship and I have since I was a 14 don’t @me

In order to avoid talks of arranged marriage, Marik convinces Bakura to trick Ishizu into thinking that they're in love.

The Longest Job & The Smallest Favor by emanthony (hisoillu) (complete)

everyone in like march-ish of 2018: omg in the new update of hxh illumi says that he and hisoka are engaged!

me having watched 10 episodes of hxh 4 years ago and having a faint idea of the series: who?

me: *looks up fanfics of them*

me: *finds these two*

me: *proceeds to read them 15 times and gets obsessed with the ship*

Illumi is forced out of the Zoldyck estate and seeks a living arrangement with an associate. He's not altogether pleased with it.

Hisoka is a floor master at Heaven's Arena and has the unexpected pleasure of spending time with one of his oldest acquaintances. He doesn't share Illumi's frustrations.

///

A sequel to the Longest Job, another HisoIllu fanfiction.

Hisoka and Illumi have been living together for six months now without much trouble. But when Illumi's youngest brother goes missing, Hisoka manages to make the situation just a bit too complicated and much more fun.

Lessons in Etiquette by KnockKnockBadminton (promtis) (complete)

I knew nothing about this video game but for whatever reason decided to look up fanfic for it after seeing some fanart, and then because this one was so well written, I, again knowing absolutely knowing about this video game or the series it’s a part of, binged the entire 164k fic in like two days. I’ve also re-read it and convinced my brother to buy the video game as a result. He refers to them as the “leather boy band” and sends me updates about his play through lmao

Begins in high school. From Prompto's desire to befriend the sullen, bullied prince blooms a relationship even the Astrals themselves could not have foreseen. Basically fills in the gaps from Brotherhood to the fall of Insomnia. Some liberties taken.

say it like you mean it by spaceburgers (takuleo) (complete)

Ever since playing the video game, I loved the dynamic between these two characters, and this fic is a wonderfully crafted and fun to read AU staring both of them.

Wherein Leo is a transfer student, Takumi is overly competitive, and they're doing Romeo and Juliet (but not as the titular roles).

[dragon-zena]

fantasy au excerpt: Madena is Fucking Pissed

I haven’t been writing or drawing a lot, lately, but if you don’t use your skill, u fuckin lose them, so in order to practice my writing ive been working on this tiny...drabble thing; takes place in the fantasy au, although a lot of worldbuilding and vernacular is thrown to the wayside because have u ever tried to worldbuild for a fantasy story? shits hard and stupid. 

story under the break 

god i hope this posts in the correct format

Madena is saying nothing, stone-faced, and it occurs to Narla that they are her mother's royal advisor for a reason, and that reason is not simply because they can cut through tension like a knife. Right now, the advisor’s brown eyes are absolutely stormy, flashing an angry gold, and their mouth is thinned into a straight, terse line. Their tan face is flushed in agitation, threads of midnight-colored hair fluttering around it. The air around them crackles dangerously. Did the wind pick up? Narla shudders.

Dinah, across the conference table, smiles as though she hadn't just threatened the crown princess of the kingdom that she was visiting-- hadn't just threatened Narla. She gives little reaction to Madena's change in demeanor, almost as though it was expected. Though, Narla thinks, that couldn't be. She, herself, didn't see the change coming.

“There is no reason to feel threatened, here. I simply wanted to offer...ideas that may be of assistance,” Dinah says it so innocuously, dark hair falling to the side as she tilts her head, and yet Madena's face darkens monumentally.

“You are no ruler, Dinah; you're not even a leader. Your words have little to no power, here, and you would do well to remember that.” They stand, snarling, “You do not threaten Princess Narla. Not when you have originated from the equivalent of a galaxial garbage deposit.”

“You,” they continue, and Narla's head is spinning because they've suddenly ended up right in front of Dinah, eyes glowing a full, smoldering gold, “will not manipulate this kingdom into a war for a speck in the woods that you've put yourself into. No.”

“M-Madena,” Narla squeaks out before clearing her throat. She knows that her eyes are impossibly wide. “Come back over here. I pledged to hear everyone out, and D-Dinah...is no exception.”

Dinah shakes her head before standing, “It's of no circumstance, Princess Narla. I should not have used my words in such a manner. Your advisor-- Madena-- was correct in putting me in my place. They have good sense.”

Even still, she smiled knowingly, almost smugly. It unnerved Narla.

“Though, I’m unsure of how you learned about my...humble origins, advisor. I had no clue that there was an oracle that could look back in time instead of ahead of it. I learn new things, every day, it seems. Quite impressed.”

Narla simply clears her throat, again, looking away. There's a swoop in her stomach, and she doesn't know why, but Dinah having this information makes her feel incredibly on edge.

Madena wrinkles their nose before all traces of anger flow out of them, and they return to the princess’s side fairly quickly. If they share Narla's sentiments, they show no sign of it. “Great. Let's finish this, huh?”

“R-right.” Her tiny, black hands shake minutely, and she takes a second to quell the anxiety that is suddenly churning in her gut, “Dinah. I appreciate you bringing your issues to my attention, but I can't just-- I-- the majority comes, first. I have to stabilize the rest of my kingdom, and then I'll create a way for you and everyone around you to...live and breathe easier. I just need time. I'm new to-- to all of this.”

“Of course,” Dinah stands and bows, “I expect nothing less. Thank you for hearing me out.”

She exhales calmly and goes to exit the room, brushing against Madena's shoulder. Madena starts to look miffed, once more, hands twitching at their sides, but before they can speak (or act) on their agitation, Dinah turns back to Narla.

“Princess?”

Narla blinks at her, “Yes?”

“Make sure that you do not look down or underestimate that people who work under you. Each one of them could have characteristics that you've never seen before.”

Without further ado, she strolls unhurriedly out of the door.

“Well,” Madena says, crossing their arms, “that went horribly. Pretty sure she'll be starting some sort of revolt in a few weeks.”

Narla groans, “We definitely said the wrong things.”

“Most revolutions happen when the voices of the minority are ignored,” Madena agrees, eyebrows furrowed, “but I feel as though she has something under her sleeves.”

“Up her sleeves,” Narla corrects.

“That's what I meant.”

“Of course, Madena,” Narla chuckles slightly before sobering up. “What-- why did you get so upset, earlier? I've been threatened, before, you know.”

Madena shrugs, and resolutely looks away.

“Madena.”

“Look, I've just-- I've seen her before. Not--” they pause, nose twitching, “--not physically, but in one of my...flashbacks? Premonitions? She's not here to be philanthropic or a martyr or to help people. She just has...a really mean, chaotic energy?”

At Narla bewildered look, they exhale forcefully and begin to pace, fluctuating between picking at their palms and wringing their hands, “I can't-- I can't explain it, Narla, but I-- I just--”

Narla grabs their hands gently, “Hey.”

Madena flinches slightly, and a flash of lightning passes through their conjoined hands. Narla’s eye twitches at the shock, but she appears otherwise unbothered, letting go of Madena’s hands with a timid apology. They slump against her, “I don’t know! I don’t know. Maybe I just overreacted. It just-- something she said set me off, and I don’t know when or why it did. I'm sorry.”

“If it set you off, then something is...very wrong. You don't have to be sorry.” Narla rubs her thumbs along Madena’s knuckles. “Maybe we should sleep on it and talk to Hughes about it, tomorrow?”

They sigh, “I feel like that's a bad idea, but yeah. Okay.”

Narla nods solemnly, pulling them out of the room, “I really fucking hope that you're wrong about it being a shit idea, but you rarely ever are.”

“Watch your fucking language, kid.”

As they travel down the long hallways of the castle, they somehow fail to notice the bright red eyes following them in the dark of the night sky.

[askmadampresident]

((This is a mild PSA about some recent drama, If you’re honestly sick of it, trying to avoid it or don’t want to hear it go ahead and skim right by this, otherwise I personally don’t want to just ignore this, but after this post, this ask blog shall move on resume as usual, continuing with the latest M!A with Prez getting slapped for every stupid idea :3))

((for those wanting to read on it’s all under the cut, and all of it is ooc))

I’m going to be honest. I’ve thought about this for awhile and I legitimately do not know how to phrase this no matter how much I think about it so, I’m just going to ramble and share my thoughts and hopefully not offend anyone.

Alright, heeere we go, moment of truth, moment I’ve been dreading for two days

alright for those of you going what the hell lemme give you a breif rundown of the situation: As brief as I can put it, this recent thread sparked quite a bit of controversy in the discord under the accusations (none of which I deny, let me make this clear) of unnecessary angst and lack of proper tagging.

I don’t know why but my brain is going into speech and debate mode so I guess i’m formatting this like an LD round argument now, but essentially I’m going to go over my defense, the counterarguments against my defense, and finally a summary to conclude

welp defense time. In my defense, I’ll address unnecessary angst first and foremost, while I do admit that thread was going overboard the way I RP is I am given a situation, or some sort of stimulus essentially, be that an ask, a thread, an M!A, an IM, etc, and what I do is I react as the character to said stimulus. The argument can also be made that I did not need to reply to said thread, that at the sight of it going overboard I could have stopped, BUT you see, the thing is I honestly can’t not reply. I have 4 prominent mental disorders, one of which being OCD, which I was very recently diagnosed with. Whenever there is a thread or a message or something and it doesn’t feel complete and it’s my turn to respond, I HAVE to respond, otherwise it can sometimes bother me for weeks on end. I don’t mean to use my mental disorder as an excuse, since that is just honestly a dick move and because either way I am still at fault, I still made the choice, even if my mental disorder caused my decision to lean toward one side more so than another. The argument could also be made that I did not have to write out that scenario and that I could have had Prez do something else, but you see, doing that would actually bother me more than not replying. Because it really, really rEALLY bothers me when I don’t play a character as accurately as I can, and it just feels so ooc and I just cannot stand that feeling at all, so I suppose yeah I made my decisions, and yeah, in retrospect they were wrong, but I honestly wouldn’t have done anything different now because it would really bother me, call me selfish, but that is how I feel.

Okay I’m just re reading this and whoops looks like I’m doing the counterarguments on the way oh well, it works

As for lack of tagging… I have no excuse, I completely forgot and that’s all there is to it. I mean I have the classic defense of “You could’ve just not read it” But that’s just dickish and shifting the blame on others which I will NOT do after a lot of people have thrown blame around ann it just… it disgusts me, all are at fault in an argument, it’s not just ever one person and if you disagree with me on that then please do not talk to me. We will never see things eye to eye if that is the case, and I would rather not have all that conflict in my life. Anyway, that defense is really just rude and I do not have any excuse to defend myself with so yeah I just outright forgot and I apologize. In the coming days I’ll be getting to work trying to tag what I can but please if you want me to tag you triggers please tell me what they are so I can tag them, otherwise I honestly won’t know.

On that topic please allow me to at least explain why I space about triggers since I believe everyone at least deserves the chance to see a story from both sides, but if you don’t want to hear it just skip over the next paragraph.

I’ve got two things here to address, my lack of triggers and my accidental habit of spacing about tagging things. As for my unfortunate habit, remember how I said I had 4 prominent mental disorders? One of which is bipolarity. I’m currently having a passive manic episode, and for those who aren’t familiar, having bipolar means having episodes of mania or depression that can last months on end, it’s not just a thing that happens and is gone in a day or two. As for why it’s important that I’m in a manic episode, for me this manifests on inability to focus on one thing at once, I have to be doing 10 things at a time or I can’t focus and get extremely bored extremely quickly and make extremely stupid and impulsive decisions, essentially I cope by doing too much at once, and unfortunately, that translates to me missing small details and sometimes large ones, and in this case that translates to forgetting to tag things, then remembering I forgot later, only to get completely distracted before I can, repeat. Then my lack of triggers… yeah this is ‘fun’, and well my manic episodes also come with minor suppression of empathy, so I at the moment cannot understand people who get triggered easily (in my depressive episodes I understand all too well and it affects me greatly then, but during a manic episode all that empathy boils down into sympathy which is something else and not completely synonymous with empathy, especially when talking in psychological terms) as well as a second factor here which is that a third mental disorder I have is severe anxiety. What does that have to do with it? Well you see I’m extremely strong willed by nature and well over the years I got reprimanded so often that I wound up sealing myself off, I made it so that nothing got to me that way I wouldn’t be anxious anymore, and as such the lack of triggers, or at least that’s the theory my therapist has. Nonetheless there are a few things that still make me breakdown in terrible panic attacks, where I can’t think, I can’t breathe, I can’t anything and I get violent if anyone tries to touch me. Such an attack nearly occurred when this discourse initially started, due to one of those few things being reprimanded by not one but many people I respect. I spent the next two days off of social media and trying to not fall apart, and only just succeeding.

AGAIN the fact that I have mental disorders in NOT to me a valid excuse for my actions! I still chose to do it and I accept full responsibility for any pain I’ve unintentionally inflicted, and I hope to do all I can to prevent it next time. If there is a next time, I do hope not.

All in all, I’ve spent two of my evening writing this, part of me being angry and upset about how this went down and because of the respect that I have now lost for some of the people whom were involved, part of me wishing preventative measures had been taken such as alerting us that we were going wrong beforehand or getting on our case about taggs early on, and part of me, the logical part, is jut ready for this to be over, but also knows that if I don’t publicly address it I’m pretty much digging my own grave, and seeming like I do not care or am a coward for not getting to this, of which I am NOT.

I thank those of you whom have read this far and listened to my little unorthodox part apology part summary part rant, because honestly it means a lot that you’re putting the time in to look at something as long as this since I believe that everyone should be allowed to know the full story before continuing on.

Well that and the fact that this is literally the blog of the biggest politician in gloomverse I’m surprised people actually care so much about it.

So thank you once again, get ready for more content momentarily~!

[buildbathroom--com]

DIY Small Bathroom Remodel

What's up guys, I'm Brad Rodriguez from Fix This Build That and today I'm going to show you how to remodel this small contractor basic bathroom and gave it a whole new look with a custom tiled shower surround in all new fixtures. Stay tuned I'll show you just how I did it. This is the small bathroom I'll be working on it's 6 foot by 5 foot, excluding the bathtub and has two doors in it to boot It was also the contractor basic package with bland flooring a sheet mirror generic lights in a basic shower So when my friends at the Home Depot challenged me to remodel a bathroom, I just jumped on the opportunity. I started pulling all the old fixtures out of the bathroom the toilet and vanity go relatively fast is they're just unfastened But the mirror took a little bit of a finesse because it's glued to the wall We donated or sold all the old fixtures we could since they still work great Now, unfortunately, there's really no way to get a one-piece shower surround out of a bathroom without hacking it to bits I started removing the hardware and here's a little tip for the tub spouts Take a picture of the underside of the spout if you see a set screw. It's likely a friction fit You just loosen that set screw and then pull the spout off if there's no set screw there It's a threaded fit and you just unscrew the spout After disconnecting the plumbing I used a nine inch wide strip of plywood to score a line around the walls above this round I used a smaller strip to outline the sides of this round as well Keeping clean lines here is going to help you down the road when it's time for new drywall With a hammer and a pry bar I remove the drywall around the surround to reveal the flange that's used to secure the shower to the wall studs beneath. I checked behind the surround to make sure there is no wires or pipes and then I started cutting And you definitely want to wear a dust mask here while you're doing this The fiberglass is pretty nasty, but a sharp blade and a reciprocating saw makes quick work of the walls I couldn't quite get through the base of the tub though But I got it down to a small enough size where we could pull it out The last piece left was the floor I used a pry bar and pulled the flooring up which apparently wasn't attached very well because it came up really easily and we replaced the Flooring with a modern white large format tile and it really helps make a small bathroom feel bigger I made a whole video on replacing the floor so I won't cover that today, but you can go check out the full video There's a link below and at the end of the video with a clean slate It was time to start building the bathroom back up and we wanted to go with a bright Look to make this small space seem bigger and we also wanted custom touches to give the bathroom a high-end feel and The most involved upgrade was the Delta up style wall system and bathtub And the plumbing connections needed to be moved to fit the new tub, and I'd highly recommend using a licensed plumber for that. I pre-drilled holes in the flanges for the install then I hooked up the drain and overflow connections on the tub And once these were set I secured the tub to the studs with panhead screws I used shims any place where the tub was a little off the studs to avoid cracking the flange Next up I did my first dry fit of the up style wall system we're using I put the back and left wall in a place to check for fitment and the right wall needs cutouts for the plumbing So I took measurements and I made cutouts for the spouts in the mixer valve The up style system is supported by furring strips on the wall Now one thing I'd have done differently if I did it again, though Is that add more vertical studs in there as well and make these 12 inches on center instead of 24 inches on center Which is what my bathroom has. I think it's 16 inch studs though. You'd probably be okay the 24 inch on center Just gave a little more flex than I'd prefer after install And then I did one more dry fit of all the walls to make sure the furring strips are in the right place. I pre-drilled the flanges at the stud locations to make the install quick once the adhesive is put on as well The wall kit comes with double stick tape to help hold the wall to the furring strips while the adhesive sealant sets. I used DAP 3.0 for the sealant which is one of the three recommended products specifically for this acrylic material Now a generous amount of adhesive is put onto each furring strip and then we brought the back wall in We held it in place making sure it was level to the marks that we made during the dry fit Then I secured it to the studs along the top flange and in this little screw recess in the accent tile channel. I pressed the rest of the wall firmly to the double sided tape and spread even pressure along the furring strips for good contact Before installing the wall with applying pipes in it I put on the fire retardant pad provided in the kid and cutout for the mixing valve. I applied the sealant to the furring strips just like before and then I wedged the wall piece Then I secured the wall panel with screws and then I repeated the process for the left side the biggest thing to watch out for here is just to make sure that the sidewall Our tights in the back before you secure them so there aren't any gaps in the corners and everything should have been leveled during your dry fit and Hey if you're new here and like what you're seeing be sure to subscribe. I hope to see you around in the comments As a final step to help the wall set up firmly I use some two by fours wedged against the tub to hold the bottom tight and left it all to set up for 24 hours The wall system has a nice subway tile look but what really sets it apart is the custom accent channel to add your own style We went with the hexagonal mosaic tile for this feature. I set up my tile saw and I used an extra floor tile clamped to the table as a zero clearance cutting surface Cutting a shallow line in the tile lets you see exactly where the cut will be And it also gives you support to cut small tiles which have a tendency to blow out and chip. I Cut down the tiles to the right height of the accident opening and then I cut the pieces to size for the beginning and ends of the channel And the tile install is quite a bit different than normal tile install Regular mastic won't stick to the acrylic. So again here I had to use the special sealant So first I caulk the corners to make sure that they were Watertight and then I filled in that screw channel to seal the screws and also give a flat surface for the tiles After that, the sealant is applied just like the mastic and trialed with a v-notch trowel I pressed the mosaic strips into the adhesive and I use small spacers to keep it from sliding down And the adhesive holds it firmly to the wall so you don't need to worry about it falling off. Just sliding down Now my biggest piece of advice here is to watch your edges on the top and bottom I first started out applying too much of the caulk and it was globbing up on the edges and then I wasn't putting enough on there And it wasn't quite sticking the small tiles in place There's a fine line between getting just the right amount of adhesion without getting a lot of squeeze out There was definitely a little finagling to do with the gaps right between where the strips meet up, but I smooth it all out best I could and let it sit for another 24 hours to cure Now the grounding stage is similar to other grouting the only thing you need to do here is mask off the surrounding areas I use some painters tape and some clear plastic to keep the grout from scratching the acrylic Then I mixed up some unsanded grout and I worked it into the mosaic tiles I did both of the sidewalls first and I came back and wiped off the excess grout With a sponge before it could dry too much and become difficult to remove Then I moved onto the back wall and I did the same process there After that I decided to remove the tape and work the grout joints a little bit around the edges I'm glad I did this because I definitely had some bleed over and working the joints now before they fully hardened Let me still shape them and correct any issues I dinished up for the day by buffing off as much of the grout haze as I could then I came back and got the rest Of it the next day The last piece to button up the shower surround was to caulk all the seams I taped off the seams with painters tape and I used a grout caulk to match the grout that I used for the accent strips It was a little messy on that right side. So on the left side, I went ahead and taped that seam as well For the acrylic seams I went back to the DAP 3.0 and caulked all the seams using my finger to smooth everything out and then removing the tape Honestly, though I'd look into the other two recommended cocks for this task because after a couple of weeks the DAP is already a dingy White and we haven't even used the shower yet And with the shower all buttoned up I moved on to repairing the drywall I covered up the back wall in the lower portions of the side wall with some straight drywall strips For the corners I cut l-shaped pieces out using my multi-tool The multi-tool is great for cutting odd shaped pieces and drywall and it really makes short work of it Using an l-shaped piece instead of two connecting straight pieces also makes mudding and blend in the corners much easier. I taped and applied my initial coat of drywall mud to the seams and the screw holes I'm not particularly good at drywall, but I make up for it by enjoying it even less In total, I did four coats of mud sanding between each one And one thing I've learned along the way is it's much better to do more light coats than to try to do fewer thicker coats Thick coats just take way too long to dry and is prone to shrinkage. Nobody likes shrinkage Before installing the shower hardware, I turned over the painting to Susan and she knocked it out we put up a nice light gray that goes well with a simple modern look that we're going for I hung up the new light fixture to give us some better light and then I moved on back to the shower When I tried to install the mixing valve cover though, I realized the hole that I'd cut wasn't quite large enough I should have cut it much law to allow servicing the mixer valve But at this point I just wanted to open it up enough for the cover to fit So I used my rotary tool to widen the opening The fixtures I'm using are the Everly line from Delta We really liked their look and feel in the curves of the handles in The tub spout has this fun little twist to it That just gives it some great character and they both just screw on in our set in place I also added sealant on both pieces to avoid water leakage into the wall The showerhead was the last piece to be installed. It definitely gives the shower a more custom feel also I finished off the renovation by installing a new Delta toilet a vanity with the everly style faucet and a mirror These are all easy to install in the upgraded versions We went with really transformed the look in the feel of this small bathroom now I'll have links in the description to all the items. I used in this remodel Hey, I got another video queued up for you just click right there It'll take you right over if you're not subscribed to the channel already I'd love to have you as part of the team and until next time guys get out there and build something awesome

https://youtu.be/knBsMeDM5Ac

[canaryatlaw]

alright it’s late I need to write. today was pretty good. I woke up at like 12:43, remained it bed for a while before getting up. I had some breakfast and got ready, then grabbed the autograph I was mailing and took the bus down the street south to where I had to walk the rest of the way east. It was international mail so I’ve done it a few times before, but still managed to fuck up the customs form like two times lol, just writing things in the wrong place. oops. but I got it all figured out and good to go in not too long. From there I was gonna see if I could take the bus on that street south to where the Target is, but the next one wasn’t coming for 9 minutes and it wasn’t that far of a walk so I just said fuck it and walked there, I was almost there by the time the bus caught up with me. When I got into the store I got a phone call from the people at the debt collecting firm asking if I could do a phone interview that afternoon, I said sure and we set one up for an hour later. I got starbucks from their in-store site and then picked up the prescription my allergist had sent in on Monday. I was keeping my groceries limited, so I grabbed two bags of shredded cheddar cheese and a box of nonfat dry milk which has been super helpful in making bubble tea without having to have large quantities of milk on hand that I don’t generally use for much else. So after that I checked out and did a normal uber home to give myself a little extra time. I was feeling kinda torn about the whole thing, obviously I want a job but like, this is one of the only fields where I can’t at least spin it to be helping people of some sort, and that’s the entire reason I wanted to be a lawyer. I called my dad and was talking to him about it, he said to at least do the interview and see what happens, if something better comes along I can always quit, so I said okay and went ahead with it. They called shortly after, it was a different guy than the first one, apparently most of their firm is actually located in Minnesota with Chicago as a satellite office, so I was talking to people in Minnesota. It went fine, it’s kinda hard to answer questions like “so why did you want to become a lawyer?” or “why are you interested in this position?” when the answers are a) because I wanted to help people and this job doesn’t do that at all, and b) I’m really desperate for a job and don’t actually care about the work at all. but of course I didn’t say that. so I talked about how people with debt are often in difficult situations and I’ve found that in many hard situations where no progress is being made, a lawyer is able to intervene and set things right, which has some truth to it, though it may not apply specifically to this situation all too much the guy seemed pleased with the answer, and he said they definitely try to work things out for people and make compromises whenever they can, so that was good to hear. A little while after I hung up I got another call from a guy who was supposed to be on the first call but couldn’t make it and just wanted to ask a few questions. he basically said he was looking at my resume and saw that I really wanted to do child welfare based work and that he appreciates the caliber of a person who wants to do that kind of thing and that he used to work in juvenile court himself so he understands what’s involved there, and he gets that this type of position isn’t really where I’d prefer to be but sometimes you have to work from where you can get an opportunity. He basically wanted to know if I was looking to actually make a career with this kind of stuff or if I’d view it as more of a stepping stone, and whether I’d be able to make a commitment to the firm, and I answered honestly that I did view it as a stepping stone and I would likely still be looking for another position that would prevent me from making a a solid commitment to the firm, and if that costs me the position I don’t really care, because I’d much rather be in a position where I was honest about my intentions rather than be somewhere I felt stuck and couldn’t look elsewhere, which is very much what I felt at the other job and I didn’t immediately pursue OPG when they started hiring because I felt like I had made a commitment and didn’t want to break that. The guy was really cool though, we talked about public interest law and what I did want to do and he definitely wished me the best of luck with everything which I very much appreciated. So I guess we’ll see where this goes from here. If it ends up being a no because they want someone more committed that’s fine with me really, I wouldn’t want to get stuck in a job I didn’t really want. Shortly after i finished the call I started prepping food for dinner since I was cooking tonight, making cheesy broccoli and chicken rice which is a good recipe I’ve made many times now. I was also prepping bubble tea stuff, lol. so I spent a while doing that and then moved into making the actual meal. Not long after everything finished Jess came over, and we ate dinner + bubble tea while waiting for Legends to come on. I liked tonight’s episode a lot, it was very fun and I really enjoyed Brandon’s acting while possessed (Jess pointed out the “issue” with evil Ray was that he strongly resembled Brandon’s character from Scott Pilgrim, Todd Ingram haha and she was not wrong). His scenes with Nate were really good but also sad. The Gary stuff was kinda wild, I could’ve seen it coming lol but now I’m mostly just concerned for him and his future on the show knowing the very small amount of spoilers I know for the finale (they’re more inferences than actual spoilers, things we’ve pieced together from small bits of information here and there). I will say I enjoyed the Zari and Nate plot, I’m slowly getting on board with the idea of them as a couple, I will say at first I thought it was totally random for them to get thrown together but once I saw how much hate people were sending directly to Nick and Tala over it it made me want to support them because actors never deserved to be treated like that based on the actions of their fictional characters, especially when they’re not even the ones making those decisions. I’m looking forward to where they’re going with the apparent dragon’s egg, that should be fun. Jess went home after it and I watched Arrow, which was a very interesting episode format wise, I think it had some flaws but overall worked and came together quite nicely at the end. I definitely did not see the twist with Roy at the end coming, it definitely seems kind of counterintuitive to use a lazarus pit to bring someone back to life when the mission you set out to do was to destroy all the lazarus pits so nobody can use them for that purpose....but I guess in the heat of everything you can get carried away with not wanting to lose someone. So that was interesting. Once Arrow was over I once again forgot The Fix was on right afterwards so I ended up being a few minutes behind on that. They’re weaving a very interesting story so far, lots of different threads, and it’ll be very cool to see if they all come together as they should. Once that was over I watched the news into Jimmy Kimmel, and then onto Seth Meyers for a little bit before showering and starting to get ready for bed, and now I’m here. It’s past 2 am, I don’t have anything to do tomorrow till the chiropractor at 2 but I still should probably be getting to bed now, so that is what I will be doing. Goodnight dearies. Hope your Monday didn’t suck.