#will I do this Typ of post ever again? probably

[riomsworld]

Okay I am currently planning out a fanfic that I recently started writing, that’s why I started rewatch and write down every information that I would find useful. But while I did that I found out something interesting or rather something that I found interesting.

You see, through the whole series we learn more and more about the Jupiter Jim franchise, and it’s a lot, considering it is not mentioned that often in the series. The show really manages to paint a picture of this small little franchise within it self , it’s really insane if you think about it.

Like I started to write down some information, thinking to myself that It would be a fun side detail to add in my fanfic but then the list got longer, and longer…

So I decided to post everything I got, to maybe help other fanfic authors that might need this information and to maybe entertain some others.

But quick disclaimer: this is not everything, I am sure that I missed some details from the show but I do believe this is a majority of information we got.

Sorry for my bad english, and please enjoy! :3

All the Jupiter Jim movie

We know that there are 80 movies total, we only know the Titels of 69- 71 (don’t worry I’ll explain later why this number is a rough estimate)

The names of the movie titles we know are :

~ Jupiter Jim saves a cat

~ Jupiter Jim and the robo-blood suckers

~ Jupiter Jim and the shark people from planet shark

~ Jupiter Jim on planet Reptelia

~ Jupiter Jim and the invisible blaster from seta alpha 9

~ Jupiter Jim Time warp

~ Jupiter Jim sails the seven galaxies

~ Jupiter Jim - Pluto vacation IV

~ Jupiter Jim Last trip to the moon

~ Jupiter Jim Last trip to the moon 2

~Jupiter Jim Last trip to the moon 60

~ Jupiter Jim Second to last trip to the moon

-Jupiter Jim's third last trip to the Moon

( quick side note: I love the detail that the solutes of the aliens on the movie poster of Jupiter Jim on planet Raptelia , look like Raph and Leo )

Okay, now that you see the movie posters maybe you now understand why I can only give the the rough estimate of movie titels we know and why the number is so high

We know that there are 60 „last trip to the moon „ Movies , but we don’t know if they are all titelt that same way. Yes, the three Titel cards we are shown all have the same naming scheme „Jupiter Jim and the last trip to the moon“ with a number at the end announcing its placement in the mountain of sequels, however in the same episode we get to see them (which is repo mantis by the way ) Mikey mentioned another movie Titel in the „trip to the moon“ saga, „Jupiter Jimmy’s second to last trip to the moon“.

Now we now it’s not the second movie in the franchise, because we see it’s Titel card meaning it must be somewhere in between, but that indicates that there a movies in the saga that are named differently, meaning that we might not know all the „last rip to the moon „ movie Titels, but maybe it is just that one movie that is named differently, who knows?

The second reason I am not sure with the numbers of movie titles we know , is Pluto vacation IV. Is Pluto VC IV only named that way because it’s the fourth movie in the franchise? Or are there at least 3 other Pluto VC movies?

My guess is that it’s the later, considering that naming a movie Pluto VC IV would be an odd name to give a stand alone movie, but it’s Jupiter Jim we are talking about, everything is possible here.

Now we have that out of the way…

Characters in the Jupiter Jim universe

~ Jupiter Jim (obviously)

~ Red Fox

~ Atomic Lass

~ Atomic Lad

Red fox is Jupiter Jim’s trusted sidekick. She is a red Panda Yokai. Jupiter Jim never thanked her making her leave

Atomic Lass worked together with JJ in a movie or two, making her part of the Jupiter Jim extended universe. She is fighting crime, protecting Uraniumville from evil together with her partner Atomic Lad, who she is in a romantic relationship in. She and Jupiter Jim had a fall out, which made them never speak again. What the fallout caused is unknown to us, the fallout is known under “ the incident “ which will never be mentioned ever again.

Catchphrases and extra nifty stuff

~ the most common used phrase is the shout „Jupiter Jim Ahoy!“ which almost sounds like a war cry (It reminds me of the Leroy Jenkins shout )

~ the general use of the phrase „Ahoy!“ the Ahoy can be detached from the „Jupiter Jim‘ bit and still mean the same

~ „ by the rings of Jupiter!“ a expression used to express their surprise, the character that uses it the most (I think) is Red fox

~ “leaping lightyears! ” a expression to convey shock

~ Jupiter Jim’s space ship is called “The SS Starbold”

~ Jupiter Jim’s prime directive is to maintain Interplanetary peace

Weapon’s

Jupiter Jim uses a verity of weapons including ( but not limited to) the following:

~ The Harpoon ray

~ Solar-sabers

~ Stygian thumb cuffs

~Dolteray torture sticks

~ The invisible blaster of seta alpha 9

Honourable mentions (thinks that can be classified as weapons but are not quite weapons)

~ Crashosaurus Mech

~ Moon buggy

((~ the deadly nerve pinch)) (not a weapon but where else am I supposed to put it?)

Jupiter Jim and the gang

~ Leo owns Jupiter Jim action figures and has a poster from one of the Jupiter Jim movies hung up next to his bed (seen in smart Lair )

~ Mickey owns a Jupiter Jim plushy (seen in a chair next to Donnie in the episode‘Breaking Purple’ )

~ the Jupiter Jim movies are often considered cheap sci-if movie series, but it can be seen that their are many JJ fans out their, not just the Hamato gang

~ Donnie’s favourite character from the extended Jupiter Jim universe is Atomic Lass. He always dreamed about fighting crime with her in Uraniumville. He might even had (has) a crush on her flirting with mascot dressed as her (did he think it was really her? I don’t know I mean the thought for a second that she was dead after her head fell off, but he still talked to the person in costume as if they where the character.) ((imagine hyper fixating on fictional characters, ha!…. Wait, I do that….))

(((~ this is not a fact but rather a theory of mine, so please take this one with a grain of salt. Donnie used to have at least a small crush on Atomic Lass at least he had a small hyper fixation on her. We also know that he has a “Typ” as stated in ‘War and Pizza’ “you are so cute, but so mean! Why do I always go for your type?!” Could that mean that Atomic Lasses character is like that? A cute character that can act mean ? )))

~ The original Jupiter Jim actor is called Marcus Moncrief

^ him, being referred to as the original actor opens up the possibility that there may have been another actor portraying that character.

~ he is the Turtles favourite original JJ actor

~Splinter does not like Moncrief

~ Moncrief does not think highly of the Lu Jitsu Films

~ Aprils and Donnie’s favourite Jupiter Jim movie is “Pluto vacation IV”

~ Donnie always performs all the musical numbers when watching

~Raph always falls asleep while watching Pluto vacation IV, always crashing something with his head

~ Raph’s, Leo’s, and Mickey’s Favorit Jupiter Jim movie is “Jupiter Jim sails the seven galaxies”

~ Raph gets always stuck in a pirate accent after watching Seven galaxies

~ Leo an Mikey always argue during the movie, who gets to wear the captains helmet

~ In Jupiter Jim Ahoy, Leo mentioned that Jupiter Jim is like a father figure to him, I am not sure if he really means it though because splinter is standing right in front of him, it could be interpreted as a funny joke

~ the boys have been Jupiter Jim fans since they where little, they also had a a Jupiter Jim action figure which they used to repair the tea pot after it being destroyed in a game of sports ball

(Okay Tumblr is not allowing me to put more pictures, just imagine there are more okay? )

~ the Bros used to own a mind condition collectors edition comic book of the 1000 Issue

~ it can be argued that Donnie modelled his hammer extension after the one Atomic Lass has, maybe he had the idea of an rocket reinforced hammer extension from her in the first place .

~ Raph’s undercover cosplay looks like a space suite with the same symbol JJ and Red Fox had/ have on their uniforms/costumes . This leads me to believe that the SS Starbold crew must wear this kind of symbol on their uniform as well meaning Raph is cosplaying as a crew member of the SS Starbold

~ And lastly, even though all of them (April included) are huge Jupiter Jim fans, Leo is said to be the Jupiter Jim super fan

I think after collecting all this information I can at least be considering the second biggest super fan, even though I am properly missing some things in my list.

Thanks for reading :3

(((And just in case you are wondering, my fic is called 'let's be friends' on Ao3)))

[facelessxchurch]

What we’re your thoughts about the book?

Some asks were answered already in this post already so I just smacked those asks in here at the part where I talk about the topic in question, which is why the answer may not 100% fit the question.

Massive “Seasons of War” spoilers below the cut:

First off, of all, this book read like GoT/any zombie movie ever. With the necromancers being like the white walkers, Vile is the night king and daugar are the wights. even with the necromancers crumbling away after Vile got killed Tell me I’m not the only one seeing that.

I think there was a lot of fanservice and some confirmed headcanons in the book, which I really liked. Saracen magic got revealed, there was a return to the Leibniz dimension, the Vile vs Vile fight so many wanted finally happened (tho that was kinda underwhelming) and the Dead Men returned which I’m sure made a lot of people happy. 

Ravel poisoning Saracen during the war and Vile being so powerful bc of being dead were two popular headcanons that got confirmed. And I am personally so happy that this book killed the ‘there is no sarcasm in the Leibniz dimension’ headcanon bc I bloody hated that.

Finally, Landy tries to please the old fans instead instead of what feels like purposefully pissing them off. I guess the phase 2 book sales weren’t that great so far (nice try blaming it on the pandemic, but no). 

I’m also glad that the romance in this book was kept to a minimum bc The Val/Militsa kiss in the beginning, yikes, fanfiction has better written kisses than that. And the the dialog for the lesbian love triangle (bc for some reason Ms.Wicked aka Laura’s self insert is Militsa’s ex??) was cringy and stiff as hell, it felt more like first graders trying to do a dramatic play and not natural at all.

Surprisingly enough Mevolent’s and Serafina’s relationship seems to be the most healthy and romantic in the entire series and I have no idea if that was on purpose or if Landy just has twisted views on relationships.

I however am actually kinda happy with how Mev was written. He was sympathetic and charismatic, tho some of the stuff he did doesn’t fit to they way he’s characterised when he’s on screen (I know he is probably lying 90% of the time he speaks, but still). Like, banning all languages apart from English doesn’t seem like something a man who cares about culture, literature and art would do. It also seems kinda stupid bc those languages will be forgotten eventually and if they need an old text translated no one will be able to do it. Also, why English? Isn’t Mev old enough that his first/original language should be Gaelic? So weird. I have the feeling this was mainly done so Valkyrie (and with that the audience) can understand what the people on the continent are saying bc I very much doubt she understands/speaks any languages apart from English. 

But I loved that Mev was also shown as insanely smart. He managed to outsmart Val multiple times. And I love how he doesn’t need his magic to fight, how quick and agil and skilled he is. So I take it that his fighting style is more based on agility and not getting hit, and he uses brute force only when forced into it (by Darquesse/the Unnamed). I was wondering about that bc his armor is made of leather and chainmail instead of metal plates which is considered light armor and not something a tank type of fighter would wear.

What really rubbed me the wrong way tho was when he was talking Tanith and Skul and more or less stated the war wasn’t a challenge anymore ever since Skul died. Or when he was talking to Val being like ‘you’re more powerful than I could ever hope to be’.It bothers me even more knowing that Val is based on girlfriend!Laura. Does really everyone and everything in-vers, even a big bad like Mev, rub Skul’s/Landy’s and Val’s/Laura’s ego? Big yikes.

Crespular Vies is surprisingly fun. At first I thought the two men going after the Obsidian Blade were hired by the Unnamed, but since that wasn’t the case, I think Crespular Vines hired them that so he could show up in time to save Omen and his friends. I think him opening up to Omen about being Skul’s former partner came too unprompted, too quickly and that he is trying to gain Omen’s trust so he can get close to Skul through him. I think another giveaway that that’s the case is bc one of the men Omen had to meet to get his brother back wore a Cleaver outfit and Vies gave that man probably the same reasoning Omen gave him.

That said Omen’s chapters were surprisingly enjoyable. By what I had heard of others I expected a sad sack that can’t fight worth a damn. 

I’m not found of the Temper/Kierre stuff, it came out of nowhere.

Val is overpowered AF, it seems that she can get on Darquesses level with more practise/learning how to keep the doors open. She certainly needs to be nerfed.

Also I skipped the Darquesse chapters bc I’m giving negative fucks about her and the plague doctor.

The last 10% of the book were too rushed and felt like half finished thoughts.

Also I was kinda really bothered by the citizen of the Leibniz dimension. They were cartoonishly racist and it was very pretty black and white for the most part AKA everybody good is in the Resistance and all other sorcerers are evil/corrupt. That is also shown by there being children in the Resistance camp while there was no mention of children in the mage cities. In reality, most people are fairly mellow and it’s just a small percentage that is either really good or really wicked. I would have liked to see more racism towards mortals in form of apathy or ‘the soft bigotry of low expectations’ like I’ve seen it from Serpine in DotL. You know, make it a little less black and white.

Also, I understand the mermaids, but the bats in Europe were random AF. Like, I would understand it if they were just in Romania/Transylvania as a nod to the Dracula-typ vampire legends originating from there. As a plot-device they weren’t really needed to keep the protagonists from flying bc the danger of getting spotted by necromancer by doing so should be enough of a threat to keep them on the ground. This might seem nit-picky of me, but the bats just seemed so bloody random to me like wtf????

And also bc I’m a slut for magical creatures, I would have really liked to see more of them than just daugar and giant bats. Some undead cut together and resurrected necromancer experiments would have been pretty cool tbh. Like whatever the hell this is.

Something like zombie bears would have also been acceptable, I mean, bears are fucking terrifying on their own, let alone when undead and decaying.

I’m kinda pissed at China that she wanted Skul to kill Nef, but it does seem in character. Of course I still don’t like it bc I headcanon as Nef, Eliza and China having been besties during the war (no matter what canon says, I’m keeping that headcanon). I’m surprised Skul didn’t let Wreath have Nef considering that. Then again, he thought Nef might still be useful. And he was right. I loved how Nef actually had an essential part in saving the world by throwing the bomb. So proud of my boi <3 But Skul refused to kill him even after that. Could it be that Skul is finally getting character growth and development? 👀

Aaaand, China’s continuing to be a tyrant. With Tanith’s sense of justices flaring up shown when he killed the city governor, Erato, and Nef being shown to go after people that betray him (Lorien) I think those two are being set up to go after China to kill her (and to probably kill Creed too). Imagine Eliza joining the team bc she want a piece of China too.

I feel sorry for Baron, but at least he got a few speaking lines this time around. Still, I really wanted Nef to save him. :C Like, he suffered so much before he died too considering he spend a year alone starving and thirsty with broken legs in the middle of nowhere wft, why is Baron getting fucked over like this? #BaronDeservedBetter2020 he is the only honorable person of all faceless followers and he’s the one that gets screwed over in every book he shows up in, why tho- 😭

Speaking of Nef, I absolutely loved him in this book, he was a delight and stealing the show whenever he was on the page, despite being used as  punching bag through pretty much the entire book. If people have always treated him that way I can see why he turned evil jfc that poor man. Despite that, he was still being such a clever, funny and relatable bae <3 He’s described as ‘cynical, and nasty but also kinda cheerful’ and as liking to ‘needle’ people (aka trolling and roasting) by Val and that essentially describes every shitposter on the internet ever. And I so loved the way he roasted Saracen lmao

And how he’s so clever, like the Lorien part was my favourite scene closely followed by how Nef essentially talked Remus Crux into getting himself killed, just 👌 smart snek boi, I love him <3 Also I hope he keeps poisoning everybody thoughts against Skul like how he had already been doing it to Tanith, he’s poison in human form and that’s just my jam.

That obedience bracelet was kinda fucked up tho.

Why does this thing even exist? Aren't electro shocks or any other form of pain enough instead of shutting his nervous system down/rendering him completely defenceless? I feel like some messed up mage 100% used it to keep himself (sex) slaves at some point in time :/ Landy might have gotten that idea from some fucked up hentai. Even the implications of the name "obedience bracelet".... I can’t be the only one that got creepy perv vibes from that thing, right?

Btw what the fuck happened to Harmony? You know, Leibniz Serpine’s girlfriend. She hasn’t been mentioned again. Did she die? She didn’t seem too found of him in DotL, was she plotting against him and he found out about it, killed her and fled the Resistance? Or did she die prior to him leaving and it was part of the reason he left bc she was the only thing that had tied him emotionally to the Resistance?? Or Landy just forgot  she existed. I would not be surprised.

Of course my biggest issue with this book was how he retconned Nef’s magic and how he took his trademark, his red hand, away, but more about that in a different post.

TL;DR: Nef was a delight even though he was done dirty. Mev’s scenes were a 50/50 split between good and bad. I actually liked the Crespulare and Omen chapters. The Unnamed was a disappointment. The last 10% of the book were to rushed and the final fights that were supposed to be the biggest were underwhelming. The rest is meh, didn’t really care tbh. Let’s be real here, I only bought this book bc Nef played a bigger role in it, anyways.

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

Anons wanted an explanation for the placements I had on my previous tier list, but upon going back and looking it over, I realized that I wanted to move a few characters around, so I ended up getting a new template and remaking it. 

I wrote little bits about each character [yes, each one] below the cut, but be warned, it’s long. 

SS  

“I love you so much that I would sell my soul to make sure you’re happy”

Lee Everett: Lee is a goddamn legend. He deserves to be at the very top. He’s one of the best protagonists I’ve ever played as in a game, his backstory is incredibly interesting, and his relationship with and dedication to protecting  Clementine never felt forced and is one of the highlights of S1. Even now, having replayed S1 a million times, seeing him get bit and slowly become weaker and weaker as he refuses to give up on Clementine still breaks my salt encased heart. Watching him die in the end never fails to put that lump in my throat. I love him.

AJ: I love this kid. I was so worried that they wouldn’t do him justice when the game was announced and I saw the trailer, but I was floored by just how much I grew to love him. He feels like my kid, my responsibility and I want him to grow up strong and smart, but also human. His voice acting is terrific, and I think he’s one of the best child characters we’ve ever been given in video games. His relationship with Clementine rivals Lee and Clem’s relationship and that’s what I wanted. This kid earned his place at the top. 

S4 Clementine: This Clementine is my absolute favorite. While I love all the Clementine’s across the four seasons, I feel like she truly hit her peak in S4. I fucking love her, I’m proud of who she grew up to be, and seeing her journey to this point only solidifies that she’s my favorite. She’s strong and stern, but she has her softer moments with AJ and Louis/Violet, and what else is there really to say? She’s Clementine.  

Louis: ....Do I really need to explain this? I mean, c’mon. If you’ve been following me for a long time- shit, if you’ve only been following me for a few minutes, then y’all know how much I love Louis. I can say with 100% certainty that Louis is my favorite non-playable character across all four games. I’ve made numerous posts, answered over a hundred asks, written thousands of words about him. Everything about him from his character design, his personality, his traumas, his voice acting, his expressions, his relationship with Clementine and AJ and Violet and Marlon and everyone- He’s the best. I love him. 

Rosie: Rosie is the bestest girl in the world. ‘nuff said. 

S

“I fucking love everything about you.”

S1 Clementine: Alright, before y’all come at me with the whole “Why isn’t little baby Clem SS tier you monster??” let me explain: I adore S1 Clementine. She’s still in S tier, after all. However, after playing through these games several times over again, I realize that this really is just the beginning of Clementine’s character and her growth. She’s lovable, she’s cute, and I want to protect her, but she’s not... a compelling character? She doesn’t fully come into herself and develop a stronger personality until S2. Like I said, I still love her and I can’t deny the impact that she had on the characters and us players, but she’s not my favorite Clementine of the bunch. 

S2 Clementine: I fucking love S2 Clementine. I’d actually say that she’s my 2nd favorite Clementine. I give S2 a lot of well-deserved shit, but she is the high point of it all. Something about her character is compelling to me, like how she’s stuck with a bunch of adults who underestimate her yet want her to do everything for them and she just... is so done with it hahaha. But her growth is what it really does it for me. We went from little baby Clementine who whimpered at a small cut on her finger to a Clementine who fucking sews her own arm up, covers herself in walker guts with barely a flinch, can shoot a gun with great accuracy and take down walkers like they ain’t shit, and can survive and make her own decisions. Also, her instant connection with AJ is great. Love it. Love her. 

Javier Garcia: Yo, I love this beautiful man. This man is honestly the best part of ANF, and without him it would’ve been such a shitty game. I found his backstory as an ex-professional baseball player booted from the league for gambling a cool concept. He’s hilarious and charming, too. Honestly, he deserved a better game with better, y’know? The only reason he’s not SS tier is because of the writing and his nonsense with Kate when you don’t want to romance her. It makes it seem like he led her on and then was like “Wait nevermind lol” which is annoying, but other than that, he’s great. Love his relationships with most of the characters, and the ending he got was pretty good. 

James: I don’t talk about him as much as I should because I find James fucking fascinating. If they ever made a DLC or a mini-game for twdg, I want it to be about James and his journey in finding and joining the whisperers, his relationship with Charlie, and how he escaped them. His views on walkers, his survival and killing skills, his past traumas haunting his every moment for fear that he’ll revert back to what he was, his extreme pacifism that ironically turns violent- just what a cool fucking character. And while he has his wild moments [cave scene, anyone? “Oh ouch!” hahahahahaa] he’s still one of my favorites. 

Violet: Oh, Violet. She’s amazing. I love her so damn much. If there’s ever been a character that I see a lot of myself in, it’s her.... which is why I tend to be a little harsh with her sometimes, but I can’t deny that she’s one of the most well-written characters across the whole series. She’s not perfect [both she and Louis do have their tiny inconsistencies that I blame the writing for] but that’s a good thing. And while I don’t ship her and Clementine, I 100% get why a lot of people do. Their relationship is adorable and way more compelling than her previous relationship with Minerva. 

A

“I love you <3″

Carley: My beautiful girlfriend... you were taken away far too soon. Carley’s one of my favorite characters from S1. I wish we could’ve had more time to explore a relationship between her and Lee, but what we did get is enjoyable. She’s a badass, and I will always love the moment she tells Lilly off for being a little bitch, even though it results in her death. Not a day goes by where I’m not salty about that one. 

Molly: Molly’s a goddamn badass. She scales buildings like it’s nothing, she named her weapon Helga, and her backstory with Crawford and her sister is terrific. Also, she’s funny and I love her. That’s that.

Omid: This dude was literally a light in S1. He brought us some humor when we needed it [ “...You broke that dude’s face.” ] and his relationship with Christa was so sweet. Also, him and Lee bonding over being history nerds? Yes, please. It’s bullshit that he was killed off two seconds into S2 but hey... S2 had a lot of bullshit in it so...  Justice for Omid 2k19. 

Luke: *deeeeeeeep inhale* Big Brother Luke did not deserve that bullshit. Literally one of the best characters in S2 and y’all just.... did him dirty like that. And for what? To make room for Kenny and Jane? Bull. Shit. Luke was so damn good, and the only reason he’s not higher is because of what they did to him after ep3. He starts out so kind and supportive and seriously like a big brother character then SUDDENLY he’s stupid and “makes it” with Jane while walkers are trying to eat us and then he gets himself shot and then fucking dies and akjsjdlkjasdkjaslkjasdklerwedascasads- 

S3 Clementine: ...So, here’s where y’all will probably get pissed. S3 Clementine is my least favorite of the bunch. Don’t get me wrong, I still love her and she is still in A tier, but... how do I explain it? She’s in her 13-year-old, emo/angsty phase and it’s hilarious when it shouldn’t be. There are moments where I do become emotional for her, like when David takes AJ away and Javi hugs her, or when Gabe dies and she’s saying goodbye, or when she gets her first period, y’know moments like that! BUT... then we have moments where Javi goes to talk to her and she’s all “HAVING PEOPLE IS GREAT AT FIRST BUT EVENTUALLY EVERYONE DIES” or when she straight up shoots that guy who gave her faulty bullets OR WHEN SHE’S LIKE “IMMA KILL ME A LINGARD” AND.......... it’s too much for me! I can’t take her seriously when she’s this angsty, even when I understand why she is the way she is. Again, to reiterate, I still love her but in ranking all four Clementines, she comes in last for me.... and I can already hear the shit that’s gonna be thrown my way haha

Conrad: The most underappreciated character in S3 and it’s nonsense. Don’t come for me, but this dude is my favorite npc in S3. I love Conrad, and I wish we got more of him. He does have his own little arch if you keep him alive through the end. His grief over Francine is heartbreaking and his downward spiral that leads him to act out and threaten Javi, Clem, and Gabe so that he can get his revenge is wonderful. And btw, he does apologize for pulling the gun on them and makes up for it in the future. And y’know what moves him up into A tier? The moment you let him kill Badger. One of the best kills of the game. I prefer it over beating the shit out of Badger myself. 

Aasim: This boy is my son, and I’m sorry, but he’s really fucking cool. You’ve got this kid who was sent to Ericson for being a pyromaniac [according to Kent, it’s not actually mentioned in game] and grew into this guy who documents everything so that they’ll have a form of history to look back on and help not repeat mistakes. His banter with Louis is funny, and even though he gets fed up with Louis for not taking anything seriously, he still cares deeply about him given how he reacts when Louis loses his tongue. His crush on Ruby is adorable, too. I just love him, he’s great. 

Marlon: Now, originally I put Marlon in a lower tier [the “I like your role in the story” type of tier] but upon reflection I actually find Marlon to be a compelling character. He’s high on the list because of how well he’s portrayed. Marlon has some of the best voice acting across all the games. There isn’t a single moment where I don’t believe what he’s saying, which says something. There are moments where Clementine will say something and I go, “Really? That’s the take they went with? Okay...” but not with Marlon. For only being in ep1, he played his part really fucking well. I won’t defend any of the shit he pulled because it’s awful, but I understand everything he did. He is a coward, a sheep hiding in a wolf’s coat, pretending that he’s got everything under control and putting all the pressure of a leader onto himself and it eventually breaks him. I know they killed him off to further the plot and show how ruthless AJ can be as a child growing up in the world, but I wish he survived past ep1 so that we could really get into the meat of his character. I’ll say it: I love him as fake-friend-to-full-on-antagonistic-character and his role within the story. 

Mitch: I fucking love Mitch and the only reason he isn’t in SS tier is because of how goddamn dirty the writers did him. You give me this boy- this butterknife wielding, foul-mouthed, angry, hilarious, bomb-making boy and make me fall in love with him and THEN YOU KILL HIM OFF IN THE STUPIDEST WAY POSSIBLE. “Oh, lemme just run at the crazy lady with a knife and- OOF! It appears I’ve been throat stabbed bleh-”  I’ve complained about this since ep2, but lemme say it again: Mitch had so much potential to be an amazing character but never got the chance to because we had to add to the death count and make us more afraid of Lilly even though it didn’t do shit because it was a reaction kill rather than one made out of malice. 

Tenn: Tenn is such a tragic character for me. In my personal canon ending, he dies because he was “messing up again” and AJ shot him. This poor kid was so full of hope that the walkers would go away one day, he’s so genuine and never wants to hurt anyone, even if they’re trying to hurt him, and he’s so fucked up from seeing Minerva that he stops thinking and tries to go to her even as she’s being devoured right in front of him. Tenn is like this game’s Sarah, but done right. He deserved better, but he was a well-written character and I love him. His friendship with AJ was so sweet which makes it even more heartbreaking when he dies. Yet another terrific child character. 

B

“I like you and/or your role within the story”

S1 Kenny: This dude is such a chaotic topic. I feel like 90% of the fandom has an incredibly strong opinion on him, and of that 90%, 45% of people absolutely love him and if you say anything negative you’ll get a boat to the head while the other 45% loathe him. Then you’ve got the 10% who don’t have such strong opinions, and that’s where I fall. I like Kenny, and I like S1 Kenny more than his S2 counterpart. He has a great arch throughout the season regardless if you’re his best pal or not. He has some funny lines, some emotional scenes. I’ll never forget the first time I played the scene where Kenny’s crying over Katjaa’s dead body while Duck is laying against the tree on the brink of death. And I definitely will never forget the part where he finds the boy in the attic. Overall, I like him and what he brought to S1. 

Katjaa: She was really sweet and her death broke my heart. I don’t have too much to say about her, but I liked her a lot. She loved her family and met a tragic end. 

Ben: Fucking Ben, man. This poor kid. Another character with wasted potential. I’ve mentioned this plenty of times before, but I wish we could get an alternative ending where Ben was the only one who survived and became Clementine’s new caretaker. There was so much room for growth. He just wanted to help out but kept screwing up and it’s just.... sad. 

Christa: I’ll be honest, the first time I ever played S1, I didn’t like Christa. Something about her rubbed me the wrong way and I didn’t care about her as much as I did Omid. However, the more times I replayed it, the more I grew to love her. She’s strong but sweet, and you can’t deny how much she loves Omid. And while I wish we did get to know what happened to her in S2, I can live with it remaining unknown.  

Chuck: As much as I like our guitar playing hobo friend who deserved so much more, I would probably put him a tier lower if it weren’t for the advice that he gives Lee on the train. Because of him, Lee stopped treating Clementine entirely like a little girl in need of protection and cut her hair, taught her to use a gun, and furthered their communication by building a plan together. Without Chuck and his wise hobo words, Lee might’ve fucked both of them over. Also, Chuck’s pretty badass with that shovel, he got a lot of chuckles out of me, but his death was off screen and disappointing. 

Andy St John: Okay. Okay okay okay. Andy. He is so high here [and so much higher than his mom and brother] because to me, he’s the scariest of the St John’s. Why? Because he’s the most normal-appearing of the three. He acts and talks like any normal guy would. He’s someone that I could see myself running into in real life. He’s so good at hiding how fucked up he is from everyone, unlike his brother who you can just look at and go “hahahahaha no thanks” and his mother who’s character design is just awful. I find him to be the strongest of the three, the smartest and the most dangerous. And the final fight between him and Lee is amazing. I love how you can be so furious with him that you keep punching him even after the prompt goes away and then his face goes all purple and swollen. Easily the greatest antagonist in S1.

Eddie: This dude is the best character to come out of the 400 Days dlc. End of story. 

 Alvin: He gave me a juice box and that automatically puts him here. Real great guy but we didn’t get too into his character. Wish we could’ve, though.  

Rebecca: She grew on me tbh. Didn’t like her in ep1 when she was being all pissy and all, but for the most part, she’s pretty good. 

Mike: I will forever wish the writers went through with the concept of Mike being one of the guys who attacked Christa because then he could’ve had a better character backstory. Regardless, I still like him. He’s pretty funny. 

Nick: Nick? Oh, you mean PURE WASTED POTENTIAL. I mean, they really did give us this super flawed but sympathetic and interesting character and kill him off-screen. They really did that. Honestly, S2 really pisses me off sometimes for the way they treated these characters. It all goes downhill once everyone escapes. Yeah, yeah, blah blah not everyone gets a meaningful death blah blah but y’know what? You can do better than that. I loved Nick and I was so excited to see what they’d do with him in the end but NOPE! Justice 4 Nick 2k19

Pete: What a good dude. He stuck by Clementine’s side even when everyone thought she was bit. Love him. Wish we saw more of him. 

Sarah: Ha. Ha. PURE WASTED POTENTIAL 2.0. What else needs to be said? This girl had the foundation for a great character but again, NOPE! I really liked Sarah! I wanted to teach her to use a gun to protect herself! The loss of her father fucking broke her and it was hard to watch but I wanted more and just ahaklsdjlaskjdlkakjaskjsaadkljas ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh-

Ava: Yo. Ava’s a fucking gorgeous badass. Really liked her and how she was sweet on Clementine. Also, it’s interesting that she stuck by David’s side like that. 

David: I have a lot of mixed feelings about David. On one hand, the complicated relationship between him and Javier is good, even if it’s a little bullshit at times. On the other hand, David’s an asshole.  But he’s a great antagonistic character. I do love that about him. The shit with him and Kate was a little annoying, but only because they didn’t ever elaborate on anything. On what level was the marriage fucked? Was it straight-up abusive? What happened to David’s first wife? Why did Kate and David get married in the first place? I got questions! But, like Javier, I think David deserved a better game with better writing. 

Jesus: This dude parkour kills walkers. Pretty fucking badass. 

Tripp: I feel like I don’t like Tripp as much as some people. I like him fine, but I know a lot of folks gush about him. I think he’s a good dude, a little pushy with Eleanor, but he’s loyal and strong. 

S2 Lilly: I fucking hate Lilly. I hate her so goddamn much. She pushes every wrong button with her bullshit “Where's our new recruits?? Lee would be so disappointed knowing he taught you all the wrong things! You’re one of my people now, Clementine” AND THE GODDAMN “Yes, Ma’am” SHIT. Nothing irks me more than every time someone from the delta acts like Lilly’s the baddest bitch and call her “Ma’am” I HATE IT AND I HATE HER. SHE KILLED MITCH. SHE KIDNAPPED MY CHILDREN. SHE DARES TO TRY AND HURT LOUIS LIKE HE’S NOTHING. AND I HATE EVERYTHING ABOUT HER....... That being said, y’all are probably thinking “wtf if you hate her so much why isn’t she in F tier???” and that’s because no other antagonist in these games has ever gotten this strong of a reaction out of me. Lilly is a damn good antagonist. She’s not perfect, and there are definitely things I would change or add, but she does her job and makes me absolutely livid [yeah yeah I know ha ha ha ha] every time she’s on screen doing her bullshit. I hate her and that counts for something. She’s easily the best “villain” in the entire series. 

Ruby: I love my funny little hot-headed medic. Ruby’s amazing and I love her. 

Willy: This kid really grew on me. I thought he was weird and creepy at the beginning but I adore him now. His brotherly relationship with Mitch should’ve been explored more, and at times his voice acting is kind of jarring, but I still love him. 

C

“You’re fine, I guess...”

Duck: He’s fine. I like Duck. I like the “what if” scenarios we’ve come up with surrounding his character, and his death always puts a lump in my throat, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to say I love him, y’know?

Doug: Again, he’s fine. He has some funny moments when you save him, and he’s got a cool little panda bear on his sweater but... yeah. He’s okay. 

Mark: Oh hai Mark. He’s cool, and the reason he’s not lower is because the iconic moment of finding him in the hidden room with his legs chopped off choking out the words “Don’t... eat... dinner” forever haunts my nightmares. 

Russell: I’m not a big fan of most of the playable 400 Days characters, but I think if I had to pick a favorite, it’s Russell. His backstory of being with the group that believed in the power of 7′s [I think it was 7 I dunno going off of memory here] was cool and his weird thing with Nate was fun and disturbing. He’s a pretty cool character. 

Carlos: I’ve made posts about Carlos before and how I think he had a lot of potential, but looking strictly at his role in the game and I’m left underwhelmed. I did get a lot of shit for where I placed him in my previous tier because he was [and still is] above S2 Kenny but I’m not going to lie and say I like Kenny more than him because... I don’t. I just think Carlos should’ve been given more development.  

Carver: A cool antagonist who was defeated waaaaaay too early in the game. They were doing a fantastic job at making me hate him with his treatment of Clementine, beating the shit out of Kenny, murdering Alvin and pulling all that shit with Rebecca, but killing him off so quickly didn’t make it feel as satisfying. Again, underwhelming. 

Sam: This pup betrayed me and he ain’t no Rosie, but we played frisbee so he gets a C I guess

Gabe: Y’know, Gabe could’ve been so good. But every time I play through ANF, he ends up annoying me more than Ben. What does that tell you? He’s fine, but he could’ve been a lot better. 

Mariana: I’m not so much “meh” on Mari because I think she’s sweet and likable! The problem is I don’t want to put her any higher because really? What did she do? She died horribly because Badger’s a piece of shit. 

Abel: Meh this guy’s garbage. I only put him up a little higher because the scene with him in the basement is really good. 

Brody: Brody is like the Mariana of S4 for me, just a bit better. I do like her. She had some development but her whole purpose was to die by Marlon’s hand and get the plot going. Would’ve loved to learn more about her, but I couldn’t give her anything higher than a C. 

Minerva: Controversial opinion but........ I don’t like Minerva as much as a lot of people do. If I could be brutally honest, if I were ranking these characters solely on how I feel about them without looking at their roles in the games and character development, Minerva would be in E tier at the highest. However, I can’t deny how tragic and complex her character and backstory is. It’s similar to how I feel about Lilly, but different. I think she’s just so fucked up from the delta that she’s become a husk of who she was and it results in her constantly pissing me off with all her shit. Also, the bridge scene alone bumps her up. That shit was crazy in a good yet tragic way. 

Omar: At one point, I forgot Omar existed until he got shot in the leg...... but he’s also God so y’know. I like him but I also had to make up my own little backstory for him so...

D

“Meh”

S1 Lilly: I don’t care about S1 Lilly in the slightest, she’s awful. They made her way more compelling in S4. And she killed my girlfriend which is bullshit on it’s own.

Jolene: If I could rewrite S1, I would’ve thrown out the Stranger and had Jolene be the kidnapper. As Danny said, “What a waste.”

Bonnie: She’s pretty disappointing, tbh. I didn’t like how the game help pushing her onto Clem and overall she’s pretty forgettable. 

Vince: He’s okay, I guess. He killed a dude one time. And shot a guy’s foot off.

Wyatt: “Meh” hahaha Eddie was a cooler character than he was

Jane: I wish Jane had been the Molly of S2 and stayed gone after she left the first time. I like that she taught Clementine some useful survival tactics and that’s what puts her on this tier, but I think we all know how I feel about the whole Jane vs. Kenny thing by now so... 

S2 Kenny: This Kenny actually moved up a tier because I fully took in everything he’s been through thus far and.... “Meh.” I don’t think he’s good for Clementine, I think she and AJ need a group like Wellington. I recognize that he’s a lot of people’s favorite, but like I said above in his S1 counterpart, I’m the 10% that doesn’t have that strong of an opinion on him. I’d much rather discuss other characters over him. 

Sarita: Forgettable, really. Except for when you get the chance to cut her hand off. That fucking scream of hers is anything but forgettable, yeesh. 

Walter: Again, mostly forgettable. His death was sad, and I do think he’s a good example of what happens when you’re too trusting in this world, but overall he doesn’t stand out to me. 

Kate: I probably would’ve liked Kate more if her romance wasn’t so damn forced. She has some funny lines, but she’s also pretty selfish and fickle when it comes to a lot of things. And I will forever be annoyed at her inability to keep her mouth shut about her and Javi’s relationship [or lack of] in front of David. 

E

“I don’t like you but you’re not the absolute worst, I guess...”

Danny St John and Brenda St John: I put these two together because they have the same issue: They’re fucking creepy. Where Andy was normal and deceiving, these two look like they want to cut my legs off and eat them. I think they’re much weaker in character than Andy was, even with Danny’s weird sexual fixation of his gun and Brenda talking about her husband. 

Vernon: He’s not the absolute worst because I do feel a little sympathy for him losing his daughter, but everything else just makes me not like him. 

Shel and Becca: Easily my two least favorite characters in 400 Days. I had no real interest in either of them. 

Arvo: This guy. I didn’t put him in as the absolute worst because of all the unnecessary shit Kenny put him through. No wonder he wanted to get the hell outta there. 

Clint: I literally couldn’t give a single shit about this dude or what happens to him. 

Eleanor: I don’t like Eleanor. I found her annoying. Her one good quality is her want to help people, but that want didn’t do much to help Tripp now did it, Eleanor.

F

“The absolute worst”

Larry: Did you expect anything else? Fuck this guy. 

Stranger: Worst final antagonist ever. You’re telling me I have to fight this Mister Roger’s tootsie pop? I’ll bet you $1 I can do it with one hand. Fuck this guy. 

Troy: Fuck Troy. All he does is smack Clementine around and then get shot in the dick. 

Joan: This lady is a laughably bad antagonist. The worst fucking “villian” jfc...

---

There ya have it. Do you agree, disagree? Maybe a character I found boring you really liked! Maybe you want to tell me why Kenny is the best/worst again!  We can discuss it. 

I’m always open to talking about these characters!

[echoes-of-realities]

but I can hear my heart pound (and it's reaching out to you)

*  *  *

Summary: “Writing your number on a piece of paper?” Santana teases softly, “A little old school don’t you think?”

Brittany’s lips curl into that mischievous, enticing smile. “I think it’s romantic,” she says easily, the blue of her eyes only slivers of colour through her eyelashes as she glances up at Santana, and Santana’s breath catches against her teeth. “Don’t you?”

It’s not until Brittany’s left the cafe that she realizes that the paper in her hand isn’t paper at all. It’s a polaroid, new and shiny and glossy; the photo just smudges of freckled skin and bright, bright blue eyes, crinkled and sparkling in amusement. Santana’s heart thuds as she flips the polaroid over and finds, instead of the digits of the desired phone number, loopy script in purple pen that reads Find me.

Notes: The kinda-sorta-Amélie — A New Musical AU No One asked for but that kicked my writer’s block in the butt so I’m posting it anyways (basically I just took the premise of “Thin Air” from the musical because I’ve had this tiny idea for it for months).

Also I know Almost Nothing about NYC and Tisch and I didn’t feel like researching That much into either just for the sake of a fic that cured my writer’s block so ignore that.

Title from “Thin Air” from Amélie — A New Musical.

[Read on ao3]

[Read on Fanfiction]

//

Santana shows up to the coffee shop fifteen minutes early. Not— Not because she’s nervous or anything, but because it’s Sugar who set her up on this date and Sugar is often in her own little world and forgets the little things like the time (the fact that Santana’s stomach churns just a little as the minutes change on her phone and creep closer to ten o’clock means nothing). Santana loves the girl, she’s pretty sure she wouldn’t have made it through orientation at the record company without her, but it’s because of that she knows Sugar and she knows to show up early.

The only problem with showing up fifteen minutes early is that she ends up awkwardly hovering in the doorway until an impatient man in a too nice suit coughs rudely behind her and brushes past. Santana tries not to get irritated because she was blocking the door, but men in suits have always irritated her starting all the way back in elementary school when her father would hole himself up in his office all throughout dinner, his suit just as pressed and clean as it was when he left that morning.

Santana takes a deep breath and follows the impatient man into the cafe, surveying the shop until her eyes land on a small table tucked in the corner with two bar height stools on it. She heads immediately for the spot and hopes the stools are more comfortable than they look. She fiddles with her backpack once she gets there, trying to look busier than she is so no one questions her for not getting a coffee yet (and to do something with her hands because they’re jittery and trembling even though she’s so not nervous). She hangs her bag over the back of the stool and watches the impatient man from earlier reach the front of the line; the barista at the cash register subtly rolls her eyes at the man and Santana has to assume he’s one of the belligerent regular types.

She doesn’t actually know anything about the girl she’s supposed to be on a date with beyond Sugar being certain they’ll fall in love and telling Santana that this girl is beautiful and one-hundred percent her type; Santana wasn’t even aware she had a type, but sometimes Sugar can be surprisingly intuitive about these things. She doesn’t even know what the girl looks like though, despite her nagging Sugar about it for a week; Sugar liked the mystery and the romance of it all, Santana would much rather like to at least know who to look for but Sugar was insistent.

She studies the cafe from her corner, it’s Sugar’s favourite cafe and Santana’s been here often with her; despite it being midterm season at the universities, it’s not even ten yet so the cafe is pretty sparse. There’s a couple businessmen at the end of the counter waiting for their coffees, a group of moms sits at the longer table bouncing infants and wrangling toddlers and expressing their loud gratitude at their older children being back in school, there’s some university students scattered around the cafe (Santana can tell from the dullness to their eyes) either standing zombielike in line with rumpled clothes and tangled hair from the night before or huddled with their laptops pressed together to make room for the notebooks and textbooks on their table.

The scent of coffee fills the air and Santana can feel her nerve-endings come alive just from the smell; she isn’t sure if it’s rude to get a coffee before her date gets here, but she waits and scrolls aimlessly around on her phone just in case. She’s been on dates before, but she’s never been set up on one before, and despite the fact that she trusts Sugar (more or less) she feels just a little bit unbalanced. It’s not really her style to wait around for her friends to set her up on dates when they think she’s been single too long (it’s not like she goes on a lot of dates, because, as she’s known about herself for a very long time, she’s actually kind of hopeless when it comes to girls, but she’s been on her fair share of them, and it’s really lame when her friends think she needs to be set up, and also just the tiniest bit sweet).

She’s just opening and immediately closing her solitaire app for the third time when a voice interrupts her. Santana starts, banging her knees against the bottom of the table and hissing out a quiet curse as pain throbs along her legs.

“Santana?” the voice asks and Santana looks up into the brightest pair of blue eyes she’s ever seen, crinkled a little at the corners with a hint of amusement but mostly widened with concern. Soft blonde bangs fall across her forehead, the longer strands swept carelessly behind her ears. Her sweater looks warm and soft, the dark teal sleeves falling down past her wrists. She’s smiling politely at Santana, her lips twitch and start to waver down into a slight frown the longer Santana remains silent. “You are Santana, right?”

Santana’s pretty sure her heart stops beating. (Goddamnit Sugar is right, Santana definitely has a type.)

“Brittany?” she manages when she’s sure she’s not going to swallow her tongue.

The girl — Brittany — brightens and relaxes and her smile eases and Santana’s heart starts beating again, but at about twice the speed as before. Her lips are pulled thin and up by a genuine smile as she looks at Santana. Her gaze is warm and it makes Santana’s stomach swoop and her skin prickle. Brittany holds out her hand and Santana quickly shakes it, feeling the subtle strength in Brittany’s clever fingers as muscle shifts bone.

“I’m really glad I guessed you on my first try,” Brittany says, fiddling with her book-bag, “Sugar didn’t tell me anything about you besides your name and that you were my typ—” Brittany cuts herself off and her eyes go wide, pink blooming in splotches like crawling ivy across her cheeks. “Sugar didn’t tell me anything about you,” she repeats.

Santana’s smile softens and she elects to ignore Brittany’s slip up in the hopes that it will ease her embarrassment. “You wanna go order?” she says instead.

Brittany nods quickly and continues to to avoid Santana’s eyes as she plops her book-bag down on the seat angled beside Santana’s, quickly digging through it until she produces her wallet, slipping it into her back pocket. She shoves the sleeves of her sweater up to her elbows and gives Santana a small smile as she leads the way to the counter. Brittany wears slightly faded jeans with splotches of dark ink speckled across them and rips that look more from wear than fashion, her sneakers are well worn and scuffed along the white edge lining the bottom, bright flowers patterned across the fabric. Santana inwardly smiles as she follows Brittany to the line up; Brittany is put together and attractive and graceful and has a smile that could make flowers grow and is, supposedly, completely her type.

They make small chat while they wait in the short line; how much it sucks that it’s getting so cold these days, how awful midterms are, how that one homeless guy who’s always outside of the Wendy’s across the street from this cafe deserves a new winter hat, how much they’re going to miss that tiny Japanese noodle restaurant on fourth avenue when it shuts down, and before they know it they’re at the front of the line.

Brittany orders and when the barista asks is that all? Santana steps up beside Brittany and places her order, quickly handing a ten dollar bill over despite Brittany’s protests. Santana just grins up at Brittany and shoos her to the pickup section of the cafe, collecting her change from the barista before joining Brittany at the other counter.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Brittany scolds once Santana gets there, but there’s a brightness in her eyes that negates the tone to her voice.

Santana just lets her grin widen and Brittany’s eyes drop to her cheeks and Santana knows that her damn dimples are probably peaking out; she’s always had a vague dislike for them because it completely ruins her whole tough persona, but with something bright and warm in Brittany’s gaze she doesn’t immediately try to bite down on her smile and hide them. The barista calls her name and she quickly steps up to take the two coffees, turning and passing one to Brittany. She takes her coffee from Santana with a murmured thanks, her fingers stained with dark ink right at the tips, and a smile warm enough to send heat flaring under the skin of her cheeks.

//

It takes a little bit to get comfortable with each other, but before Santana realizes it she’s laughing and talking with Brittany as if they’ve been friends forever.

They both know Sugar from the weird electives they’ve had to take over the years with Sugar switching schools and everything, and they both laugh at how they arrived fifteen minutes early to the different times Sugar told them. Santana finds out that Brittany came here on a math scholarship but dropped out of the program in her second year to pursue photography so she��s technically in her first year despite being a third year student; she find out Brittany is funny and witty and silly and smart. She tells Brittany about being a music major and how there’s only really been two people in her life who believed she could make it; and she’s never felt as funny or witty or silly or smart as when she manages to coax a smile out of Brittany.

Brittany tells her about the math program that barely let her eat or sleep and laughs when Santana tells her she’s glad that Brittany’s not a math monkey anymore, and Santana tells her about the band she was in for a first year class with people she thought were her friends but who really weren’t. She finds out that Brittany isn’t a morning person, and Santana tells her about the first time she got up on stage and how she just knew what she was supposed to spend the rest of her life doing. Brittany tells her about how her step-dad raised her as if the step part wasn’t even there in the first place and how she’s always preferred kimchi and rice over green beans and potatoes, and Santana tells her about the dumb group project she has coming up. Brittany tells her about her best friend since she was five and how they sometimes find buskers in the park and start dancing along to the music to draw a crowd, and Santana tells her about her best friend from first year and how she probably would have dropped out long ago if it wasn’t for her. Brittany tells her about her little sister, and Santana tells her about being raised by a single mom. Santana finds out that Brittany scrubs at the ink staining her fingers when she doesn’t know what to say next in the same way Santana fiddles with her hands when she’s nervous, and every time Santana’s eyes are drawn to those clever fingers as they start rubbing at the dark blotches.

“Do you have some of your photographs?” Santana asks the next time Brittany starts scrubbing her fingertips. Brittany hesitates and Santana offers her a small smile, feeling her lips tug up higher on one side than the other. “C’mon,” she coaxes, “You gotta have at least one album on you at a time. You said you take polaroids mostly, right?” Brittany’s eyes dart to hers and search Santana’s face for something before her expression eases into something awed and sweet and Santana can feel her heartbeat in her fingertips when Brittany nods slowly. “Well you gotta have an album on you then, right? Where else would you put them so they don’t get wrecked in your bag?”

Brittany giggles and shakes her head a little. “You’re right, you’re right,” she concedes, twisting slightly in her chair to swing her book-bag up onto her lap. Brittany rummages through her bag and Santana catches a glimpse of a polaroid camera; not one of those new ones, but one of those old black and white ones with the overlarge flash unit at the top and the picture slot at the bottom. Brittany pulls out a decent sized album and scoots her chair over; Santana moves closer too until her elbow brushes Brittany’s where it rests on the table. Their eyes shoot to each other and meet before they smile and quickly glance down at the album, Santana can feel her cheeks burn and when she glances at Brittany out of the corner of her eye she can see that pretty pink colouring the peaks of her cheeks.

Santana forces herself to focus on the photography album but she can’t help sneaking glances at Brittany every time she goes quiet with thought or launches into a story or explains some of the techniques she’s used or just, you know, breathes. Santana finds it fascinating to study Brittany’s profile, the slope of her nose and the curve of her lip, the way her cheeks scrunch up her eyes and the way her mouth curls around her words; more than all that, Santana is captivated by the brightness on Brittany’s face and the passion in her voice as she talks about her work and Santana can’t help but admire how much more beautiful Brittany becomes when she’s lit up with her love for what she does.

Santana spends as much time studying Brittany’s face as she does the polaroids (okay, probably more time staring at Brittany, if she’s being truthful), but the polaroids are just as interesting as Brittany’s face, and show just as much of her personality too. Most of them are in shades of blue or orange, and all of them are carefully careless in their composition. There’s ones of emotionless skyscrapers stretching for a sky that’s always just out of reach and ones of houses falling apart that remind Santana of her childhood home; there’s ones of people sprawled out and laughing on a boat and ones of stoic businessmen with the crinkle of amusement in the laugh-lines creasing their eyes; there’s ones of a fat cat that Brittany laughingly says is Lord Tubbington and there’s ones of a songbird caught mid-hop; there’s ones underwater of a young girl with a dark halo of hair around her that Brittany explains is her little sister and there’s ones taken of an man in the reflection of a magazine that Brittany explains is her best friend Mike; there’s ones of tiny toys made to look like a real scene and there’s ones of Brittany in a dark room hanging pictures up and silhouetted in red light.

“Which one is your favourite?” Santana asks quietly, studying the way Brittany’s face is open and just a little bit longing as they flip through the album.

Brittany doesn’t even hesitate like Santana expects her, she flips to a picture in the first half of the album and points to it. She glances up at Santana and her face is a little guarded for the first time as she searches Santana’s eyes; she must see whatever she’s looking for because her eyes soften and she looks so young for a moment. “It’s this one,” she says and Santana holds Brittany’s gaze for a moment that’s just a little too long for her to play it off before she follows Brittany’s finger.

It’s a picture of the city painted in the gold and pink of sunset, the buildings cold and dark against the life of the purple sky and the orange of the setting sun, the hint of a spruce tree in the top corner and the river in flashes of pink and violet and blue. Thin clouds converge on the city in white and yellow, the faintest dusking of indigo where the skyline meets the farthest edges of the city. There’s also a smudge of beige in the bottom left corner that must be the edge of Brittany’s finger and a long, thin strand of blonde hair cutting through the picture across the top half. Compared to some of Brittany’s other pictures, it’s amateur and careless, but there’s something beautifully truthful about the flaws in the picture.

“Why’s it your favourite?” Santana murmurs.

Brittany shrugs and ducks her head a little. “When I was going through all that stuff with my math scholarship and whatever, I used to walk around the city a lot and— And think. It was easier to pretend I wasn’t just a— A math monkey,” she says and gives Santana a quick smile, and Santana’s lips curl up in return before she even realizes it. “Anyways. Um, long story short, but my grandpa had given me his polaroid camera when I was in high school and I always took it everywhere even though I didn’t really use it.” Brittany’s gaze drops from Santana’s and she looks at the photograph, studying it with critical eyes, a faint hint of pink blooming across her cheeks and obscuring her freckles. “There’s this bench in this park on East End Avenue overlooking the city and I just— Something about that sunset over the city I was growing to hate made me just stop, I guess, and for some reason I remembered the polaroid I had and I just. I took my first picture and everything settled in me. I backed out on my scholarship, much to my parent’s horror, and applied to Tisch the next day and I haven’t looked back.”

Brittany suddenly bites down on her lip and her eyes widen. She resolutely avoids Santana’s gaze even when Santana ducks her head to try and catch it. “I— It was— It was kind of where I found myself, I guess,” she finally admits sheepishly, her eyes averted to where she digs the edge of her thumb nail under the laminate edging of the table.

“It’s beautiful,” Santana whispers, her eyes on Brittany’s face.

Brittany’s eyes dart up to Santana’s and she seems surprised to find Santana’s dark eyes already on hers. “Yeah?” she breathes.

Santana smiles and nods softly. “Definitely.”

//

Neither of them notice that over three hours have passed until Santana’s stomach starts growling and she feels her cheeks heat up. They finished their coffees ages ago, and after looking through Brittany’s photography album neither of them had moved from their spots, their elbows still mostly pressed together and their shoulders sometimes brushing with laughter. Brittany stops scrubbing at the ink on her fingertips and Santana doesn’t feel the urge to fiddle with her hands anymore.

They’re both reluctant to leave, but Santana still has a paper to work on and a midterm to study for, and Brittany has some film she needs to develop and they stand to part ways. Santana feels her stomach churn and she asks Brittany to watch her stuff so she can run to the bathroom before she leaves for the subway, and Brittany easily agrees.

Santana crosses the cafe and slips into the single stall bathroom and moves in front of the mirror to stare at herself. She doesn’t actually need to use the bathroom, and besides her apartment is maybe ten minutes away, but she needs a few moments to herself to work up her courage. It shouldn’t be so hard to ask a girl for her phone number, especially when that girl is Brittany with her bright blue eyes and her adorable smile and her ink stained fingers on Santana’s arm when she laughs, but somehow the thought paralyzes Santana’s insides.

She breathes deeply for a couple moments and critically studies her reflection in the mirror before she washes her hands and exits the bathroom, heading back to the table in the corner. Brittany stands with her book-bag slung over her shoulder, scrubbing at her fingertips and Santana takes a deep breath before she greets her.

Brittany smiles and Santana can feel her heartbeat in the tips of her fingers again as she swings her backpack up onto her shoulder. She fiddles with the strap for a moment before gathering her courage in a deep breath and looking up; she finds Brittany’s gaze already on her and when she meets those blue eyes something sharp and aching shoots through her chest. “I had a really good time,” Santana says and her voice feels shyer than she’s ever known it to be.

Brittany’s smile spreads slowly across her face, starting at her eyes and spreading to her lips. “So did I,” she murmurs, “Sugar has good taste in blind dates.”

Santana lets out a surprised laugh and watches as Brittany lights up even more. “So, uh, maybe,” Santana stutters and she curses herself for tripping over her words so much, even as Brittany’s face softens and looks more wonderstruck than before, “Maybe we could do this again?”

Santana watches as Brittany swallows thickly before she takes a tiny step forward. “I’d really like that,” Brittany whispers and something blooms under Santana’s sternum until she worries she might float away.

“Yeah?”

Brittany catches her bottom lip between her teeth but it does nothing to contain her smile. “Yeah.”

Santana finally lets the smile she feels aching in her cheeks spread across her face and nods quickly, not caring how foolish or overeager she looks. “Cool,” Santana says, and with the way Brittany’s eyes slip catlike and teasing she knows it’s more than cool, “Do you— Can I have your number then?”

Brittany’s smile widens and she twists slightly and goes digging through her bag, producing a small piece of paper and a pen, turning to the table and quickly writing on it.

“A piece of paper?” Santana teases softly, “A little old school don’t you think?”

Brittany’s lips curl into that mischievous, enticing smile. “I think it’s romantic,” she says easily, the blue of her eyes only slivers of colour through her eyelashes as she glances up at Santana, and Santana’s breath catches against her teeth. “Don’t you?” Brittany teases, and her tongue pokes out just a little bit as she bites down a smile and Santana feels off kilter and dizzy in the best way possible.

“I mean, I guess,” she manages, and Brittany’s smile escapes her attempts to hide it until Santana can see amusement in her eyes and in the tiny dimples at the very corners of her lips.

Brittany straightens and hands Santana the paper with her adoring smile still lighting up her face, and Santana just knows her own dimples are showing and she doesn’t feel the least bit embarrassed about it. “Thank you, for the coffee,” Brittany murmurs, “And for a perfect first date.”

Santana wants to say something charming like the first of many but instead all she manages to do is gasp a little when Brittany leans close and brushes soft, soft lips over Santana’s cheek right where a dimple creases the skin, pulling back with an even softer bye before she crosses the cafe and leaves, Santana stuck staring dumbly after her, the scent of honeysuckle and jasmine still lingering in the charged air around her.

Santana only then realizes that the paper feels thicker and glossier than a scrap of paper should. She runs her thumb over the centre of the paper before bringing it up to her face and belatedly realizing it’s not a piece of paper at all. It’s a polaroid, new and shiny and glossy; the photo just smudges of freckled skin and bright, bright blue eyes, crinkled and sparkling in amusement.

Santana’s heart thuds as she flips the polaroid over and finds, instead of the digits of the desired phone number, loopy script in purple pen that reads Find me.

Santana blinks blankly and stares at the letters, flipping the picture back over to find those blue eyes again, still as bright and amused as they were the first time she caught them.

She stands there dumbly until a college student hustles her over and Santana realizes that she’s just standing at an empty table. She shuffles over with a sarcastic sorry as the college student punks his stuff down on Santana’s table. She weaves through the crowd, the picture clutched protectively in her hand, as she stumbles out the door. She huddles by the front window and restudies the picture thoughtfully, shivering in the autumn air.

There’s darker violet rimming the outside of Brittany’s irises, and the tiniest flecks of gold like splattered wet paint surrounding her pupils, cobalt blue streaking through the cerulean like forks of lightning. The corner of a blonde eyebrow is caught in the middle of the top edge of the photo, right where her forehead smooths into her nose. Her cheeks scrunch her eyes up, catlike and amused, a small collection of freckles gathered at the inside corner of her right eye and spreading out like constellations, mapping faintly across her nose to gather again at the opposite corner of her other eye.

The picture gives Santana no real hints other than to prove what Santana already knew from the first moment she met Brittany’s eyes, which is that Brittany is really, really, really pretty. She flips the picture back over and rereads the words that should have been a phone number and feels even more stumped than she did in her calc midterm last week (the fact that a liberal arts degree requires math is absurd and ridiculous and Santana hates it).

Santana probably shouldn’t be laughing, but her face breaks out into a wide smile anyways. She’s always liked puzzles, ever since her mom used to get her those dungeon crawler games when she was really young, and the polaroid in her hand sparks the same flare of curiosity and determination. She should probably just write Brittany off for this. She should assume this is Brittany’s creative way of turning her down. She should be pissed that Brittany’s probably just leading her on or something. She should be irritated because she’s busy and doesn’t really have time to go on a wild goose chase around the entire goddamn city with nothing more than a polaroid picture and knowledge she’s learned in the past couple hours.

There’s all these things Santana should be, but instead, Santana’s pretty sure she just found the most interesting girl in the entire city.

//

She picks a direction and starts walking. The city is huge, but Santana’s pretty sure Brittany wouldn’t be in a different borough simply because she can’t have gotten that far yet (or, Santana hopes Brittany’s not in a different borough). She hopes she’s walking the right way, but she’s always had a pretty shoddy sense of direction, and she doesn’t have a clue what direction Brittany lives in or what direction she might have started walking in or even if Brittany wants her to find her.

She opens Facebook as she walks and has Brittany typed in before she realizes she has no clue what Brittany’s last name is. She narrows the search results down the city and the school, but there’s still hundreds of Brittanys of various spellings, none of them with that soft blonde hair or electric blue eyes or beautiful smile, and Santana doesn’t even know if Brittany has her school or city on her Facebook, or even if she has a Facebook. Santana grumbles and shoves her phone back in her pocket, shivering a little in the autumn air. The sunlight is weak but still glints off the front windows of shops and Santana gets whiffs of coffee and soap shops and Korean food as she dodges people on the sidewalk. She thinks back on what she’s learned about Brittany in the past couple hours, but nothing comes to mind about where she would go after a coffee date, and then Santana is rounding a corner and seeing the purple flag of Tisch flapping in the wind. Santana grins and feels the slight bounce to her step as she heads for the building but does nothing to try and contain the sudden wave of hope that fills her.

There’s students hurrying back and forth across the side walk and Santana searches the crowd before setting her sights on someone. “Hey,” Santana calls to the woman approaching her from the front doors, “Excuse me. I was wondering if you can tell me where the photo—”

“No I’m not coming to your little punk rock, hip hop, pop concert or whatever it is you kids are into these days,” the woman snaps and Santana blinks quickly.

“What?” Santana says blankly, “No. What? No. I’m not asking you to come watch my band play. I’m not even in a band. What the hell gives you that idea?”

The woman’s eyes trail down Santana’s body, taking in the leather jacket and ripped jeans and leather boots and, okay, maybe Santana sometimes dresses like she’s about to catch a concert but still. That doesn’t mean she’s in a lame-ass band or something.

The woman turns away walks down the street, her gaze answer enough, and Santana curses under her breath. “You make the mistake of joining a shitty college band once and suddenly you’re pegged for life,” she mutters.

She eventually manages to manoeuvre her way inside the school and then manages to find someone to point her in the direction of the photography department. Santana wanders the halls of the school, eyeing grey lockers and exposed brick walls as she finds her way to where the photography department is located, somehow managing to get lost a couple times and cursing as she sees a couple people dressed more or less exactly like her, toting bass guitars and drum sets around and she tugs self-consciously on her leather jacket, thankful for the beanie she threw on this morning both for the cold and for the fact that it means she’s not dressed exactly like other music majors.

Santana can tell when she reaches the photography department because there’s framed photographs lining the hallways now and Santana wanders around, studying abstract pictures and lifelike stills equally, searching for something without really knowing what.

She’s not quite sure what tips her off, whether it’s the use of blue and orange or if it’s the life embed into the photo despite its still subject or how it feels like if Santana studies the photo long enough it will come to life, but she slows to a halt in front of one of the photos near the middle of the hallway. There, in the corner of the blown up photo, is a scribble of a loopy signature that looks like the beginning of Brittany.

“She’s good isn’t she?” a voice says over her shoulder. Santana glances to the side and finds a shorter Asian woman standing behind her, arms full of art supplies and a wide smile on her face.

“Brittany?” Santana asks, and her suspicion is confirmed when the woman nods her head. “How do you know her?”

The woman laughs. “I took a couple years off before university and she switched programs halfway through her first so we were both a little older than the first years. We had, like, all of our first year preqers together and we got a long really well. Plus, I’m sorta dating her best friend so there’s that too. I’m Tina, by the way.”

“Santana,” Santana answers absently. “Does she have classes today?”

Tina shakes her head and shifts the art supplies in her arms. “Nah, she made her schedule so she had one day off, the lucky jerk.”

“Do you know where I could find her then?” Santana asks eagerly, and Tina seems to waver a bit and Santana tries to clamp down on her enthusiasm. “I’m not— I’m not like some crazy person,” Santana promises.

“That’s exactly what a crazy person would say,” Tina quips.

Santana shakes her head quickly even though Tina’s right. “It’s not— I went on a date with her but I didn’t get her number and now I don’t know how to get a hold of her.”

Tina’s eyes brighten and start to glow with amusement. “You must be Sugar’s mystery friend,” Tina says around a smile, “She refused to tell us anything about you except that you were apparently Britt’s type.”

Santana ignores the heat that flares in her cheeks. “So you have Brittany’s number then?”

Tina looks at her calculatingly for a long moment and Santana can’t help it when she starts to play with her fingers. “Why didn’t Brittany give you her number?”

Santana shakes her head and reaches into her pocket, pulling out the polaroid she placed along the back of her phone; she glances at those blue eyes again and can’t help the smile that threatens to spread. “She gave me this instead,” she says and offers it to Tina.

Tina is studying Santana’s goofy smile with a curious, unreadable expression and Santana fights to bite down on that floating feeling inside that’s making her a little giddy. Tina’s eyes only drop from Santana’s as she juggles her art supplies around a little to free one hand and take the photo. She glances over the blue eyes before flipping it over and reading the words with a fond shake of her head. “She’s always had a little bit of a flair for the dramatic,” Tina says, handing the photo back. Santana takes one last look at it before she carefully places it against the back of her phone and slides the phone back into her pocket. “I don’t know where she would be though,” Tina says, “And unfortunately I left my phone at my apartment this morning and I don’t have her number memorized.”

Santana sighs and tries to ignore the ebb of disappointment in her stomach. “Thanks anyways,” she says.

Tina continues to study Santana with that curious, unreadable look before something in her eyes clear. “Maybe try the Alumni Sandwich Shop,” she suggests kindly, “It’s Brittany’s favourite place for lunch. It’s like a ten minute subway ride south and then a fifteen minute walk.”

Santana lets her smile spread unabashedly as she thanks Tina and turns back down the way she came. She gets lost another couple times on the way out of the university but takes the time to search up the sandwich shop on her maps app, eventually managing to make it back out onto the street. She weaves through tired university students and manages to stumble her way to the nearest subway station, filing down the stairs to the train station. It doesn’t take long before she’s squished between a screaming baby and a homeless man’s backpack on the train, and she braces herself with an arm around one of the poles as the train lurches forward. The sound of the train travelling the tracks booms through Santana until it echoes in her ears and she carefully slips her phone out to study the polaroid until her stop comes up; the booming doesn’t stop even when Santana exits the train and emerges back into the chilly autumn air and that’s when Santana realizes it’s her heartbeat echoing throughout her body. She slips her phone out of her pocket and studies the picture one more time before she slips that back into her pocket and follows the blue line on her maps app.

//

It’s past four by the time Santana’s stomach grumbles even louder than it did two hours ago when she was still with Brittany as she scans the storefronts and searches for the sandwich shop she’s looking for. With a start she realizes she’s been wandering around the city for over three hours, looking for a single pair of elusive blue eyes, and she doesn’t even feel frustrated by it. She’s eager to find Brittany again, and she’s a little nervous about what will happen when she does, and she’s more than a little hungry as she finally finds the sandwich shop Tina suggested.

The warm air blasts her face when she opens the door and she takes a moment just inside the entryway to stomp some feeling back into her toes and huffs hot breath into her palms, wiggling her fingers until it feels less like her joints are aching with cold. There’s hope leaping under her sternum that she can’t squash even when she doesn’t catch sight of any heads of golden hair. She heads to the counter and places her order, and spices and fresh bread fills her nose and makes her even hungrier. Belatedly she realizes that, aside from a hastily eaten granola bar from this morning and her coffee, she hasn’t actually ate anything all day, and her stomach grumbles loudly at the thought. Thankfully it’s loud enough in the shop that she’s sure there’s no way anyone heard, but her cheeks heat up anyways. She waits at the other counter, watching three people get up to retrieve their late lunch or early supper, impatiently listening to the numbers count up towards hers.

She calls Sugar a couple times while she eats but only gets her voicemail, and her text messages stay on read, and she wants to be frustrated but it’s just so like Sugar to be sitting somewhere laughing at Santana, so, she can’t really stay mad for too long. She tries Facebook again but realizes she forgot to figure out Brittany’s name from her signature because Tina interrupted her, and she mutters a curse under her breath but keeps scrolling through the hundreds of Brittanys on Facebook. After half an hour of finally filling her grumbling stomach and downing a bottle of water, she detours to the bathroom and then exits the shop, feeling refreshed again. She picks a direction and starts wandering, because it worked out well last time.

The sun is starting its descent and it feels almost like winter in the shade of the buildings around her. She shivers and cuddles closer into her jacket, fingering the picture pressed against her phone as she wanders the streets and desperately tries to figure out where to find Brittany.

She comes across a small park and she smiles briefly, crossing the street to enter it. Almost all of Brittany’s photographs were taken outside, and based on what Brittany told her of her habit of walking to clear her mind Santana figures the park is as good a bet as any. The paths are paved and winding, sprinkled with the gold and orange leaves of autumn. Fake cobwebs hang from some trees and sport sloppily carved pumpkins under them; children shriek as they chase each other through the leaves while parents watch on and call out exasperated warnings that are never fully followed. Dogs bark and stretch their leashes to the limit to sniff at strangers and the hint of an acoustic guitar fills the air from the other side of the park.

Santana wanders through the park slowly, chewing on her lip before pulling out her phone, carefully tucking the polaroid back into her pocket.

“This is a fucking long shot,” Santana mutters darkly as she scrolls through her contacts.

Mercedes picks up after the second ring and there’s a bright laugh in her voice. “Santana, who knew the blind date you were dreading would go on for hours and—”

“It’s not— I’m not with her right now,” Santana interrupts.

Mercedes grows quiet and sombre. “Geez, Santana, I’m sorry, I didn’t—”

“The date went perfectly,” Santana interrupts again.

Mercedes hesitates. “So,” she trails off and Santana can hear her confusion over the phone.

“It’s— It’s a long story. She— I’m trying to find her but I don’t have her phone number,” Santana explains, running her thumb over the polaroid in her pocket. “Her name’s Brittany and since you and Sam know, like, everyone I was wondering if you, you know, know her?”

Mercedes hums and Santana knows she’s still confused but she answers with a “Hold on a sec,” anyways. Santana waits impatiently as Mercedes’ voice grows distant and muffled. “Sam knows of a Brittany Pierce,” she says within a couple moments. “Is that her?”

Santana’s heart makes the leap from her chest to her throat and she stumbles over an invisible crack in the sidewalk as she tries to force it down. She shouldn’t get her hopes up, but she does anyway. “Blonde hair, blue eyes? Freckles and dancer’s body? She’s taking photography at Tisch?” she prompts frantically, “She has smile that could make flowers grow?” Santana bites down on her lip hard enough to ache as that the last descriptor makes it through, and she can practically hear Mercedes’ smug smile through her phone. “Please forget I said that,” she begs, “You can make fun of me later but I need a lead on this girl ‘Cedes.”

“Aww, Satan,” Mercedes coos, “you sound like you’re blushing.”

“Oh fuck off, Wheezy.”

Mercedes laughs and her voice gets muffled again for a moment, the rustling of cloth against the speaker filling Santana’s steps as she crosses the park, waiting for Mercedes to come back. She takes the polaroid out of her pocket and her heart leaps again as she looks at those blue eyes; she doesn’t know if it’s Brittany’s photography skill or if it’s just Brittany herself, but somehow Santana thinks if she keeps staring at the picture those eyes will start blinking and moving with life. “Yeah,” says suddenly, “Sam says he thinks Brittany Pierce definitely is your girl.”

“Does Sam know anything else about her? Like were she might be right now?”

There’s another muffled pause as Mercedes talks to Sam and Santana doesn’t even realize how fast she’s walking until she almost trips over the back of someone’s shoes. She forces herself to slow down and presses her phone more firmly to her ear. “Sam says he doesn’t have a clue,” Mercedes continues suddenly. “He knows there’s someplace out of the way that she goes when she needs to think but he has no clue where it is. Or where the heck you’d find her in general.”

Something deep in Santana wakes up at that and she suddenly stops walking, people grumbling as they dodge her frozen body in the middle of the pathway but she can’t find it in herself to care. She glances down at the photograph in her hand and catches on those blue eyes again as her mind races and her heart pounds.

Find me.

“Santana? Girl, are you still there?”

“Yeah,” Santana says absently, “I— I gotta go. I think I know where she is.”

//

The place looks exactly as Santana remembers from the polaroid: a city painted in gold and pink, the buildings dark against the purple sky and the orange of the setting sun, the river flashes in pink and violet and blue, thin clouds converging across the sky. There’s a spruce tree beside the bench overlooking the city and Santana smiles as she crosses the stretch of grass, red and orange leaves crunching under her boots, completely ignoring the breathtaking cityscape in favour of watching the way the wind plays with the golden strands of hair of the lone occupant of the bench.

“You, Brittany Pierce,” Santana greets once she’s close enough, and the figure quickly turns with a gasp, “Are one hard woman to find.”

“Santana!” Brittany says, and the blue eyes Santana has been chasing down all day land on hers and Santana feels warm and bright on the inside. Her lips curl into a smile that makes Santana’s breath catch, but it’s the pure, unfiltered joy in Brittany’s eyes that makes her heart pound throughout her body until her fingertips start tingling again; Brittany’s smiles always start at her eyes, and the knowledge that Brittany’s happiness is currently directed at her makes something tremble deep in Santana’s being.

Santana rounds the bench and sits down beside Brittany, far enough to be respectful but a little too close to be completely friendly. Brittany takes a long moment and searches Santana’s face, her smile never wavering as her eyes dart all over, lingering on Santana’s own dark eyes and Santana’s lips and those damned dimples.

“How’d you end up finding me?” Brittany finally breathes.

Santana smiles wider even as she feels her cheeks flame under Brittany’s warm gaze. “You told me to find you,” she says and she runs her thumb over the picture in her pocket. “So after running around the city all day without a clue I thought back to what you told me.” Santana glances away quickly and gestures at the view in front of them. “You told me to find you,” she repeats, “And so I went to where you found you.”

Brittany’s smile softens and sweetens and the heat continues to creep under Santana’s cheeks. “Why the wild goose chase?” Santana finally asks.

“I wouldn’t call it a goose chase, unless you found some geese today. Then, maybe.”

Santana’s lips curl up without her permission and she leans over and bumps her shoulder against Brittany’s. “You know what I meant, you goofball,” she teases. “Why the set up? Why all this?”

Brittany gestures to the cityscape with her chin. “It’s a romantic view,” she answers without really answering at all. Pink splotches her cheeks as Santana remains silent, studying Brittany steadily and, for the first time, she looks a little nervous. Her teeth bite down into a pink lip and Santana’s eyes are drawn to the worrying movement. “You don’t hate me or something, do you?” she whispers.

Santana can’t help the giggle that escapes her. She shuffles a little closer, shifting her hand along the bench until it bumps against Brittany’s, pinky to pinky. “It was an unconventional day, yes. But no, I definitely don’t hate you for it.”

Brittany relaxes and lets her pinky press more fully against Santana’s; it sets off something fluttering and warm in Santana’s chest. “I saw it in a movie once,” Brittany explains. “Kind of.”

“Why?” Santana prompts softly again when Brittany trails off.

“I thought it was— Like it was fate, or something, I guess. Or a series of coincidences, maybe. But it seemed like the thrill to the chase or something and it,” Brittany trails off again and a small frown line creases the skin of her brow. “I know I’m rambling but I don’t really know why I did it,” she eventually continues, voice quiet and small. “I really, really like you, I think,” she admits and that fluttering thing erupts in Santana’s chest again, she thinks it might be butterflies. “I think I wanted to know if, if it were left up to chance instead of Sugar if you would still— If we would still— If chance would put us together still.”

“I get that,” Santana says softly, and there’s a long charged moment where blue eyes catch on brown.

“Why’d you go looking for me?” Brittany eventually murmurs.

Santana can feel her heartbeat in her fingertips again as she glances away before catching Brittany’s eyes again and something swoops deep in her stomach. “I thought you might be worth the chase.”

Santana can see Brittany’s breath catch in a small gasp and blue eyes dart down to Santana’s lips for a moment before meeting dark eyes again. “And was I? Worth the chase, I mean.”

Santana smiles and nods softly. “Definitely.”

“Okay,” Brittany says, and nods quickly as her smile starts in her eyes and creeps across her lips. “Okay,” she says again, and if Santana didn’t know any better she would think Brittany’s face was getting closer to hers.

It’s not until warm breath tickles her face, alighting her nerves and faintly stinging her cold skin, that she realizes Brittany’s face is getting closer to hers, blue eyes darting down to Santana’s lips before catching back on brown eyes and Santana’s pretty sure her heart stops beating all together.

She should be worried that she doesn’t really know Brittany all that well. She should be pissed that she wasted an entire day scrambling around the city trying to find a single pair of elusive blue eyes. She should be wary that Brittany’s some kind of serial killer and just lured Santana to this bench overlooking the city and the sunset so she had a private spot to murder her. She should be concerned at how fast her heart is pounding and her her hands are sweating like she’s stepping up on stage for the first time all over again.

There’s all of these things that Santana should be, but instead, she tilts her chin up slightly and lets Brittany press soft, pink lips to hers. It’s only a brief press of their mouths, a chaste brush of lips, and still Santana’s soul trembles at the feeling, immediately yearning for more in a way Santana’s never felt before.

Brittany’s eyes flutter open and she searches Santana’s eyes for something, something she seems to find with ease as she slowly pulls away. Santana immediately misses her warmth, and she knows there’s no hiding her dimples as a smile starts to spread across her face, mirroring the one spreading across Brittany’s face too. They settle into the bench again and look out across the river, shoulder to shoulder and pinky to pinky, and Santana soaks in the serenity of the sunset for a moment before she turns her face to Brittany’s, waiting until Brittany’s looking at her. She grins cheekily and haltingly takes Brittany’s hand, sinking into the warmth blooming in her chest when Brittany immediately twists her wrist and tangles their fingers together. “So,” Santana drawls, lolling her head towards Brittany and failing to keep the laughter out of her voice, “do I get your phone number now?”

Brittany’s laugh carries across the cold autumn air and settles warmly in Santana’s chest as she shifts and sinks into Brittany’s shoulder, ink stained fingers squeezing teasingly around hers as she soaks in Brittany’s warmth and the orange sunset.

[awholenewworld-dcp17]

"if you weren't you, then we'd all be a little bit less we"

Growing up I've always been told "family comes first." "When your friends aren't there for you, your family always will be." "Family is forever." These concepts had been instilled in my mind at such an early age not only through words, but actions and the very nature of my life. There were definitely times when I would look around and acknowledge that "okay, not all families are as close as mine, and that's okay." But it wasn't until I came down here that I realized this universal truth of family-being-the-most-important-thing-in-your-life may not be as universal as I thought. Let me just start off my saying there's nothing wrong with living your life otherwise. I've met so many people who have different priorities and I'll even admit - there have been times when I wish I could be able to be more like them. To focus more on me, on my career, on my friends. To be able to worry less. To care less. But that's just not me. Starting from the very beginning weeks of my adventure, I thought about my ppl back home a lot. It was amazing to be able to share all of these new experiences with new people and bond with my roommates to create unique friendships, but all the while I had sometimes wished I could also share it with the ones I already loved and left behind. It got easier to be able to enjoy this experience for what it is and embrace my independence as time went on, but there were always those days when I would be riding pirates or splash mountain and wishing my dad was there with me, or wishing I had jess to blame when I secretly wanted to ride the astro orbiter. Needless to say, disney is where I grew up with my fam, so it has only been natural for me to be nostalgic of those days in the place where so many of my favorite memories were created. I wouldn't sit here and say I've spent the last 3 months longing to be home and spending every waking moment missing the people there (tbh ain't nobody got time for that even if I wanted to), but this experience has made me appreciate more than ever that home IS such a happy place, and I'm grateful for the people there that make it that way. So as you can probably imagine, the week in Florida when home came HERE for a little bit was one of the absolute best so far. It all started with a visit from Aunt Linda and Uncle Steven. I showed them around my complex and spent about the first 20 breathless minutes answering rapid fire questions about my program, lol. They took me to a lovely and salubrious lunch at bahama breeze and then on a very unique thrift shopping adventure. They offered to buy me ANYTHING I wanted from the thrift store, and though the $25 dishwasher was tempting, I resisted. No but seriously, I really did enjoy my time catching up with them. It's so nice to see family and get the chance to bring them into my own little world here. The mr. softee ice cream was also a plus, but that's besides the point. Before we knew it, it was time to go meet my mom and dad at their new ("week" long rental) (three bedroom) condo! If the nostalgia wasn't already strong enough, being back at caribe cove strengthened it a little bit more. I helped them get settled in and re-explore the old stomping grounds, and soon enough it was time for me to be off to work :/. That was one of the slowest nights I've had here, as all I could think about was my family down here in Orlando having fun without me, but thanks to them - I had some surprise visitors asking for some ice cream! Between mom's narration/recording of snap chats, uncle Stevens high decibel excited voice, and aunt Linda's flash from her digital camera, it was only a matter of seconds before every person in the shop knew my family was here to visit. Lol. I ensured that dad got the best (and largest amount of) ice cream (nonna d's oatmeal lace, yum) and sent them on their way. I heard Mickey was pretty good to them at the register, you'll have to ask them about that doe. The next day I had work again and consequently missed the arrival of my dear cousins. Matthew, Jamee, and Matt were scooped from the airport by mom and dad that morning and directly started their Disney adventure at Hollywood Studios. When I got off, I boated over to meet them (what a beautiful change from the post-work bus transportation I'm used to) and we made our way over to none other than the magical magic kingdom. I could tell they already were running on fumes from such a long day, but you can't Disney half butt, so we pressed on. We got to watch the beautiful Wishes (a night time spectacular, ending May 11, 2017), and explore as much of the park as humanly possible. I convinced them to try the churros, which may have been in the running for the highlight of my night. I beat them all in buzz lightyear, but that I'm used to, so it didn't make the running. Also, dad got to join the club of being on screen for monsters inc, lol - looks like he needs a hug. No worries tho, mom gave him that hug on screen. Supe cute. When in line for splash mountain, we realized time was running out and it was likely to be our last ride of the night, which we came close to accepting (side eye at Matthew and dad who knew there was still a chance for one more). After exiting the world of the b'rers, we HUSTLED over to big thunder, and squeezed in one more ride with 1.5 minutes to spare. No but really, we were the very last train to run that night. Now that's what I call doing disney right. That night, I stayed at the condo. I snapped the metal bar on the pull out couch in half just by sitting on it. It was a funny experience to add to the adventure, but if that isn't a sign to lay off the churros I don't know what is, lolS. So matthew and I got our rest that night with a metal pole in our backs, but TBH we were tired enough that it didn't even matter. The next day called for some animal kingdom exploration. We started off the day right, that is - a ride on the famous expedition Everest, which was actually a lot more fun than I remembered. Still not sure if that particular ride was actually superior or I just was happy to be with my fam, but either way I'll take it. Matt really liked it, too. He's into the g force thing. Jamee giggled the whole time. Dad sat with a stranger. But if I gave you a play by play of every single thing we did we would be here all day. Some other highlights from the DAK of course were the festival of the lion king, and our kick start on drinking around the world with some fancy drinks in Africa. And of course, (thnx Lynne!) we got to see the harp player up close and personal. We traveled back to magic kingdom that night, as per usual. We finished up most of the things that we had missed the night before (still second guessing if we should have waited 130 mins for space mountain or not) and then left the park. Before closing - I know, shocker. We relaxed at the condo pool with some beverages that night and got to bed relatively early. My final day w the cuz' was spent in Epcot. I had work in the afternoon but I got some time with them in the morning. When I said goodbye the first time, I was sad and cried. So then later they came into my work as a detour part of their drinking around the world showcase. I said goodbye again but it was still sad and I had fomo. So then, of course, at the end of my shift they come back to the boardwalk AGAIN and we all got ice cream before they drove me back to my apartment. That was the kind of goodbye closure I needed to last me the final two months, lol. High key miss them lots tho, but we had a blast. After work the following day, I met mom and dad in Japan (Epcot) for dinner, and HAD to try the Andalusian nights. We hopped over to animal kingdom post dinner, to enjoy rivers of light once more. We had really good seats this time, and got some cool pics around night time DAK. The next day of that week I had class and work, but typs mom and dad picked me up at the end of my long day so I didn't have to get the bus. I actually had off again the following day (ty managers) so I was able to spend the night at the condo again. The following morning (and by this point I was exhausted so when I say morning I mean 12pm), we enjoyed some lunch at Cici's and some magic kingdom magic. I had to stop at company D which is right by MK, so why would we choose any other park?? Ya know?? Highlight of that day was getting to ride the up and running railroad train!! Before we knew it (guess that's what happens when you sleep in in Orlando), though, it was time to go get chris and jess and jaime from the airport! I was so super happy to see them but that was to be expected I suppose. I got to do universal with them, which was a fun and different experience. Harry Potter world was a blast, and they even convinced me to go on the dueling dragons for the first time. I scream laughed the whole time, which won me the title of jaime's new favorite person to ride a roller coaster with. Also we had some butter beer on mommom, and got to see the incredible!!!!!! Ollivanders show. We kind of were all over the place, but got A LOT done considering. My roommate rebecca also joined us that day. We got to be one of the first ever to go on the new jimmy Fallon ride, which was really really cool, but slightly underwhelming considering all of the press it had been getting. I rode rip ride rocket next to jess and we chose the same song so we could jam together, which was pretty legit. G-l-a-m-o-r-o-u-s, na mean? Overall we had a pretty fantastic time, but I had to leave them around 5 to go to work :/. They also visited me at work that night, which was a nice little pick me up considering my how tired I was from all day in the park/working. Next day we went to ... you guessed it! MK! And started off in adventureland. We did pirates first (anyone else NOT remember that by drop from when we were little??) and made our way clockwise throughout the park. Since the park had been at such high capacity they were doing the parade twice, so we saw the 3 o'clock parade at 12! We skipped a few things, knowing we would be back again the next day (spoiler alert - that night too) and ended over at buzz light year which unfortunately was shut down!!! We got a fast pass though to come back later, but had guest services switch it over to Epcot since that was our next stop! At Epcot, we went on test track and soarin' and the land and ate at sunshine seasons before making our way over to the showcase to travel the world. We started in Mexico, where we even got to meet Donald Duck. Chris was so excited, but he def was trying to be cool and hide it. A great start to our travels, even though I was slightly mis that my contact was scratched and I couldn't see. Next was Norway, where jaime thought the statue of the gnome from frozen was dobby. Lol. Next was china - we detoured here for a bit to watch the acrobats and enjoy some potstickers and plum wine. Germany was a blast, we got some really cool pictures here with our grapefruit beer and pretzel. Italy is always my favorite food wise, I split a chocolate covered cannoli with mom and it was deeeelish. We also had limoncello here. That was something. Chris was doing this cool thing where he made us say cheers in the language of the natives of the country we were in. Our journeys continued through America, Japan, morocco, etc. We stopped for a little dance party in morocco and of course revisited the Andalusian nights. France was fun, UK was funner (Ello mate we're in London would you like some fish n chips). We made it to Canada just in time and ended our Epcot night there for the fire works. But of course, it was only 9, and MK was open til 12! So we hopped on the monorail and made our way back over. Night time disney really is the best disney. We got to a bunch more rides including Winnie the Pooh and the Snow White mine train. We even got to see the kiss goodnight!! The next day, the sad and final day, we finished up MK. We had a few fastpasses, so we got to ride space mountain and mine train sans wait times, which was really nice. We got to see the infamous country bear jamboree. We also went to ride splash mountain for a second time, and boy was that SOMETHING! I felt bad for being so excited about such a miserable thing to the rest of my party, but the ride broke down and we got EVAC'd!! Mom shared in my glory with me. That was legit on my DCP bucket list, and one of the few that I had absolutely no control over! It really delayed us and put a wrench in our plans for the day, but it was cool to be able to exit the log mid b'rer world and be escorted backstage on one of my favorite rides. Big thunder was shut down, and I felt real bad about that :(, so the mine train actually was the last ride of our day. I think every time I go on it I love it more and more. After squeezing in the last few things of the day, we made time - even though we really didn't have any - for a little TLC sans C (Turkey legs and churros without the churros for all you noobs out there). That was a good time. When all was said and done, we exited the MK as a fam for the last time for a long time, and they took me back to my apartment before making their way to the airport. That was supe said because I really love them. And I miss them. And I had a really really good time with them.

[girlwithaddblog-blog]

What is ADD?

So, you might come across this blog and asked yourself:

                                              What is ADD?

Or you heard about ADD in the news, read an article about it in the newspaper or heard someone talking about it, but you don´t really know what it is.

Well, I thought it would be a good idea to explain ADD in my first post since my whole blog revolves it. I will explain what ADD stands for first so that everyone knows what I am talking about on this blog. Then I´ll explain the 2 different types in which the disorder can occur and how you can distinguish between them and at the end of the post I will name the main symptoms that people with ADD experience. Like I said I will just name them here, I will explain the symptoms more detailed in another post.

                                         1. So what is ADD?

ADD is the short form for Attention deficit disorder. As the name says ADD is a mental disorder of the neurodevelopmental type, which means that it is a disorder of the brain function. ADD affects emotion, learning ability, self-control, and memory.

The main symptoms are problems paying attention, especially over a long time, impulsiveness and attention problems. Depending on the type, Hyperactivity or restlessness can be a symptom, too. But I will explain this later in this post when I talk about the 2 different types of this disorder.

If you ever heard of ADD before, you probably know that some people think that ADD doesn't exist or is just made up which is not true. Studies suggest that ADD is caused by an imbalance of neurotransmitters in the brain which lead to information being transmitted slower as with people without ADD. I will also explain this more detailed in an own post because this post should just be an overview. If I explained everything in detail, this post would be way too long!

Also, the frontal lobe of people works differently in people who have ADD. The frontal lobe is responsible for prioritizing, which people who have ADD often struggle with because the frontal lobe is impaired. So, if someone with ADD workes in an office and gets different tasks from their boss at the beginning of the day, it is difficult for them to decide which one they should work on first because it is the most important one.

If you are still not convinced that ADD is a disorder that should be taken seriously, I want to show you a picture that shows a brain scan of a person without any disorders (left) and a person with ADD (right). 

You can clearly see the difference and this really shows that ADD is real and should be treated as seriously as any other mental illness or disorder!

                           2. The 2 types of this disorder

As I previously mentioned several times, the Attention Deficit Disorder can occur in 2 types:

Typ 1: ADD, which is the Attention Deficit Disorder I previously described

Typ 2: ADHD, which stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

While the 2 types are mostly the same, people who have ADHD show one additional symptom: Hyperactivity, which shows in physical restlessness and the urge to move. This is often the people think of when they hear of ADD or ADHD:

A person that is full of energy, is restless and always fidget around, even though the hyperactivity only shows in people with ADHD.

In contrast, people with ADD are often lost in their thoughts and dreamy.

Except for the hyperactivity, both types are the same and what I say here on this blog will probably almost always apply to people with ADHD as well.

But just to clarify this again: I do have ADD and all I write down here is my perspective. When I say something, then I write this from my perspective and it's my experience which may not apply to people with ADHD or to some people with ADD. I do not speak for the complete AD(H)D community or for everyone with this disorder, as it can be different in everyone!

                    3. Most common symptoms of ADD

1. Problems of paying attention over a long time or paying close attention

This can show in seemingly careless mistakes, even if you understand the task or the topic in school or at work. Examples may be twisting numbers in math homework even though you understand the topic because the child is having trouble to pay close enough attention.

2. Paying attention over longer time is difficult, even on a task that is fun

I will explain this more detailed in another post, but I mentioned earlier that one cause of ADD is caused by an imbalance of neurotransmitters in the brain. That also includes dopamine, which is known as the happy hormone. When you complete a task or work on a task for several hours and complete an interim goal, the brain usually produces a lot of dopamine. This has not only the effect that you feel good, it also gives you the ability to work concentrated for a longer time. The brains of people with ADD, however, produce much less to almost no dopamine. This is not only the reason why it is really hard to work and concentrate on one task for a long time for someone with ADD! It also means that if a person with ADD finishes a task like cleaning their flat or even achieving something bigger, they aren´t nearly as happy and as proud of it as people without ADD and therefore are more likely to get distracted by their hobbies.

3. Do not seem to be listening when someone is speaking to them, whether it is a teacher, friend, parent, or boss. Might look out of the window or glance at a clock.

Sometimes people with ADD are listening while doing this, but they could also be rapt in thought which happens a lot to people with ADD.

4. Following instructions is hard. Completing a task from start to finish is challenging; motivation may be lost; getting-side tracked can happen.

5. Organizing tasks and activities is challenging. Working out a logical step-by-step process can feel overwhelming.

6. Resist, avoid and procrastinate starting tasks that require mental energy.

7. Lose belongings frequently. Glasses, cell phones, and umbrellas need to be replaced regularly.

OK, so this was my first post on this blog, explaining what ADD is. I hope some of you now have a better understanding of ADD and I could explain it a bit understandable.

If you have any questions about ADD, feel free to ask me! Have a great day, afternoon or evening!

M., youre crazy ADD Girl!