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brave-clarice · 3 years

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“Clarice” Liveblog: Episode 7

disclaimer: there’s going to be discussion of a lot of little details I disliked in this one, but as a whole, I liked it a lot better!

honestly? Clarice’s coworkers have every reason to question if she’s “okay” given what we’ve seen so far on this show.

and yeah, coming back from leave a week after being repeatedly tortured does “seem soon”.

AG Martin is using Clarice just as badly as Crawford ever did.

why does Krendler look so sharp? tailored waistcoat, crisp shirt...his costumes would look more in-character for Hannibal than Paul Krendler. I don’t get it.

not sure I like the “my people mined coal, so we know when we’re okay to work” flex, but...whatever.

she makes some truly uninspired costume and hair choices look great

“who am I, James Bond?” are you an FBI agent or aren’t you, Krendler?

BIG Jack Crawford and his Pepto Bismol vibes, but dammit, Krendler should NOT be like Crawford!

now Ardelia’s back to collaborating with Clarice on a case like it’s no big deal??? way to make her look like a hypocrite. again.

idk, I still think Ardelia could have an FBI subplot AND be part of Clarice’s life without constantly working with Clarice within an FBI context (their careers don’t really intersect in the books). those things aren’t mutually exclusive.

“he died instantly” um, is Clarice a medical examiner now? I know she’s got a forensics background, but she’s just now seeing the body.

“Cody didn’t feel any pain” how does Clarice know that and why is confident enough to say it to the kid’s mother?!

also, are victim’s family members usually allowed right into the crime scene like that? paging @special-agent-pendragon!

“let’s talk when we can” Clarice, honey...you literally live with Ardelia, lmao.

the crooked lawyer’s office reminds me a LOT of Chilton’s office in Silence.

Paul Krendler: Good Guy and Faithful Husband...don’t know him!

and again...this is a waste of time on Clarice’s show.

she’s so dang cute!

hey, a reference to Ardelia’s grandma!

Clarice and Ardelia working on a case together at home, off the clock, is way more on brand!

also Clarice eating junk food...that’s my girl :)

I too sometimes eat Lucky Charms out of the box, haha.

omg, Ardelia’s actual grandma!!!

and: a reference to her frying pan, the one Clarice looks into after reading Hannibal’s letter!

Clarice is finally laughing and drinking and having a good time with her best friend...I’m so happy about it.

literally exactly what I wanted/this show NEEDED

“at least my father‘s still alive” oh...my god...they really made Ardelia Mapp say that to Clarice... I...don’t know what to say except that I hate it. the scene was so great otherwise, too.

to be clear, imo this is not an appropriate thing to say to your best friend, ever.

Clarice might be drunk, but her nonchalant reaction (giggling!) is all wrong too, particularly for this Clarice, who’s always been shown as deeply traumatized/haunted.

maybe I’m 100% off-base on this, but I feel like Ardelia’s backstory in this show is at odds with her career choice: why does she go into law enforcement at all? does she truly believe she can make a substantial difference? hope this is addressed at some point.

“I can’t believe you never told me that before” I know this is expository, but I can’t believe it, either, Clarice.

there’s no indication in the books that Mrs. Starling was “always angry” or that Clarice was intimidated by/scared of her outbursts. she saw her mother as a pillar of strength! I don’t like this change tbh.

“he was the law. he was important” mmm...Clarice’s father was not important, and that’s the core of the tragedy, of her anger. it’s why Hannibal calls him the “night watchman” and the reason the Starlings didn’t receive any money or support after his death. he was expendable.

to be fair, I guess maybe this is supposed to be what Clarice’s idea of him was as a child.

this scene is full of little things I don’t like, and Clarice’s father giving her the add-a-bead necklace is definitely one of them.

in the book, Hannibal guesses that Clarice is afraid her beads now look tacky (having been previously trendy in the early-to-mid-80s...so, well after her father’s death). there’s NO indication they had any sentimental value (in fact, they’re never mentioned again iirc)--and with four kids to support, how can he afford to give his eight- or ten-year-old daughter decent jewelry, anyway???

I like the IDEA and the FEELING of that scene. just not the dialogue. and the entire thing is slightly undercut (imo) by Ardelia’s earlier mean-spirited comment. idk. it was cute, but this show’s writing is its own worst enemy.

Ardelia called her “Starling”! :)

Clarice’s costume is yet again blah, while Ardelia’s is great...anything but 199x, though.

money shot!

whew...didn’t see THAT plot twist coming.

Good Guy Paul Krendler continues to be a thing for some reason.

does the Hoover building only have one hallway?

Krendler gaslighting Clarice because someone is blackmailing him doesn’t hit the same as Krendler undercutting her career because he’s a sexist jackass who wants to fuck her. sorry.

Good: Clarice laughing/smiling/joking/having fun with her friend! A (could-have-been-better) bonding scene with Ardelia. Clarice getting to work a field case and the iconic shots that come with that territory. Ardelia’s grandma! Not a single mention of the Bill case, thank God.

Bad: Some of Clarice’s snap forensic judgments...they just felt too fast and unconvincing to me. Everyone’s costumes and hair continue to underwhelm me. (Why has Paul Krendler stolen Hannibal’s wardrobe? Why can’t Clarice wear something even remotely exciting?) Ardelia’s awful “at least my father’s still alive” comment. The muddled implications about Clarice’s mother (especially in an episode about an abusive mother).

Ugly: Krendler subplot, as usual.

Overall? Better. Much better. Absolutely a case of “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”. Despite its subject matter, this episode was a lot more pleasant to watch than the previous two. Clarice had a limited amount of character development beyond “doe-eyed and traumatized,” she actually got to laugh, enjoy life, eat junk food (!) and solve a case with a friend before it all went to hell.

I want more, though. The writing leaves a lot to be desired. There were a lot of small details of which I was critical, namely Ardelia’s insensitivity towards her best friend (unfortunately, this seems to be part of a pattern) and several minor but jarring and pointless changes to the books (mostly having to do with the Starlings). Most of the ViCAP team is still pretty one-dimensional, Krendler continues to get way too much screentime, Ardelia is hit-or-miss.

And Rebecca Breeds has to milk every moment and every line for whatever nutritional value it’s worth re: Clarice’s character. Even after seven episodes, I don’t feel as Rebecca’s Clarice has been allowed to fully emerge as the iconic character we know from the books. But I’ll keep on hoping...after all, there are at least three episodes to go!

#clarice #cbs clarice #Clarice Starling #rebecca breeds #only a week late this time heh #*a week and a half now oop #sorry for the lateness and the nitpicking but how hard is it NOT to change the book???

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thespacequail · 6 years

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The importance of trash anime

“That show is trash, don’t waste your time, watch what I like instead.” We’ve all heard some variation on this before. Our friends (or maybe just that one annoying guy on campus) think they know what’s best and that their word is law, if they don’t like a show its automatically trash and they need to ruin it for everyone. But that’s just it, “trash” is kinda a matter of opinion, if you think about it objectively almost all anime can be considered trashy for one reason or another, and yet that fact can become either a “badge of honor” or a “scarlet letter” for just about any reason (sometimes the same reasons that make one show good make another terrible). And why do we call them “trash” anyway? Is it just to discourage people from watching it do to our preconceived notions on the negative connotations associated with human refuse? Probably.

“Spacequail, where are you going with this random rant?”

Good question. So this season wasn’t...great. There weren’t really any shows that I felt I could make consistent commentary on, and I’ll be honest, there weren’t a lot of shows I was interested in. Cells at Work was probably the best thing on my watch list, and when a edu-tainment show is the best thing out of dozens of other shows, there may be something wrong. I did watch other shows, Chio’s School Road just wrapped up and I thought that was pretty good, We Rent Tsukumogami had an interesting premise and beautiful animation, Seven Senses of the Reunion was...disappointing, to say the least. And then, there was Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Spring.

This show is trash through and through.

And I love it.

And this is what I want to talk about. More often than not, a show is considered trash exclusively due to fan service. Sure, a show can be called trash for other reasons (trite/overused scenarios, poor characters, weak concepts), but fan service is almost universally directly associated with being trash. And yeah, excessive fan service can ruin a show by distracting from the main point of what the show is trying to do, or it can take you out of the experience if it becomes inappropriate (half your age plus seven my dudes, c’mon). For example, Chio’s School Road didn’t need a lot of the fan service moments it had, and some of them were just...ugh, not in good taste. BUT (and that is a nice, round butt of a woman who is consenting and of age), it was never so extreme to a point where I felt I couldn’t watch the show, and there was always some attempt at a wink-to-camera joke of some kind that pulled it back. That being said, I’m glad it wasn’t any worse, the frequent panty shots were bad, but they were never rarely untenable (Kabaddi chick was a bit much...).

So what does this have to do with Yuuna? Well, it’s a harem anime, widely considered one of the trashiest genres. Boobs are EVERYWHERE, I’m pretty sure nearly every episode had to use random beams of light across the screen to censor out all the bare tits and pants-less shots. The main character has no flaws, he is a total gentleman and everyone is in love with him. Not to mention he is way too OP, any skill the show dictates he needs to have in order to be the perfect main character is hand waved away by “I was once possessed by the master of *thing I’m doing* so now I’m super good at it too”. Most of the girls have no personality outside of the fetish niche they fill (cat boobs and drunk boobs get practically no screen time and usually only display their one defining trait). With all this, the show should be terrible, boring, stale, and...trash. But it’s not, er, well...it is, but that’s the point?

The show is, by most people’s definition, trash. But it’s well animated, well structured, and most importantly, fun. There’s a running gag at the start of the show where Yuuna wakes up half naked in the MC’s bed, gets embarrassed, and throws him out the window. It was funny but I felt it becoming predictable, I might have had reason to drop the show if they continued to do this every episode, but just as I started to get tired of the joke, they stopped doing it, and then later on in the show when they did it again, it got a good laugh out of me. I saw it coming, but I hadn’t seen it in a while so it felt new again, maybe even refreshing, like seeing an old friend (if that makes any sense). Even the constant nudity is just funny to me, because it’s rarely done half-assed (wordplay), it’s either a light suggestion or completely over the top. And honestly, it’s just fun to see how far they’ll go with it. Let’s randomly have a sea monster show up that likes to steal girls’ swimsuits and make all the characters naked, they didn’t need to make everyone get naked, but they did, and it was kinda funny. Drunk boobs walking in wearing a string bikini, giving a popsicle a blowjob adds nothing to the episode, but it was funny because of everyone else’s reactions. At the end of the day, this show isn’t going to be some grand commentary about living life to the fullest, or being true to your feelings, or anything like that. Even if the final episode tries to pull a gut punch moment the fact of the matter is the manga it’s based on is still ongoing, so there’s almost no chance the show will try to end on some poignant, meaningful note. Nah, in the end the status quo will remain unchanged, and everything will continue on as it always has, fun, sexy, and never choosing one girl for the main character to definitively get with. And that’s ok.

Here’s the main point: Trash anime is like junk food. A well balanced diet is good, and you can enjoy a bag of potato chips once in a while, but if you eat nothing but junk food you will get fat. Watching a wide variety of shows that spark critical discussions is important, but it’s ok to indulge in a trashy show that makes you laugh or is your fetish from time to time. However, only watching trashy shows isn’t healthy, they might reinforce certain unacceptable behaviors that you start to think are normal, you start to settle for lower and lower quality products, and eventually you can’t see the quality in what really makes a show good. And then you die.

So go ahead, watch a trashy rom-com or generic action show, anime is supposed to be fun after all, and these kinds of shows likely are the ones that got us watching in the first place. Just remember to be aware of what you’re watching and don’t be afraid to think critically about it.

Enjoy some trash anime everyone.

#anime #trash #yuragi-sou no yuuna-san #chio's school road

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triplet-vo · 7 years

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the best laid plans (pt 1)

DigiOTPWeek Day 11: Disney AU

Word Count: 1820

Pairing: Izumi Koushiro/Tachikawa Mimi

Palmon looked, then looked again. She scratched her head. “He’s… not your usual type, is he?”

Mimi’s head whipped around, “What do you mean? I don’t have a type.”

“You sort of do.” Palmon ticked off her vines. “Tall, kind of brawny, with good hair and good style. Remember?”

Sniffing, Mimi took her puppy back from Palmon. “Well, maybe. But I’m allowed to appreciate different types of people, aren’t I? And – anyway – I wasn’t staring!”

The Digimon’s grin was knowing. “Whatever you say, Mimi.”

“Ugh, you’re impossible. Katsu, I hope you never learn to be difficult to Mommy like Palmon is,” Mimi cooed to the puppy, who woofed and licked happily at Mimi’s face. She giggled.

Palmon glanced back at the man on the bench. He really wasn’t Mimi’s usual type at all. But maybe that was a good thing. Her friend had had a string of terrible luck with men lately, and Palmon had started to feel helpless over the fact that Mimi couldn’t find someone who appreciated how special she was. Bench-Man might not have the looks (or, to be honest, the height) of the men of Mimi’s past, but he had kind eyes.

Eyes that were worth getting to know, in her opinion.

“You should talk to him,” suggested Palmon, reaching over pack up their uneaten picnic food.

“I could never! What would I even say?”

“Saying ‘hi’ sounds like a good start to me.”

Mimi shook her head and pointed out, “He’s busy working on something on his laptop. He’d hate it if a stranger just bothered him. I know I would.”

Hmph. Palmon was of the opinion that if someone wanted to work undisturbed, they would have either stayed at home or gone to someplace quiet, like the library. Out in the open in the park was the very opposite of quiet. “I bet you’re just scared,” she said slyly, trying another tact.

Wagging her finger, Mimi stuck out her tongue. “I know what you’re trying to do. But I’m not being a coward. I’m being polite. You should try it some time.”

What else could Palmon do but stick out her tongue at that?

Katsu began to scramble for the ground, and Mimi obligingly got to her feet. “Looks like this little one wants to play. Shall we all play fetch?”

“After I drink water,” Palmon promised. They parted ways: Mimi and Katsu for the field, where there was space to run, and Palmon for the water fountain. While she was there, she ruminated on what she could say to help Mimi change her mind. That, of course, was impossible. Mimi was very stubborn and she seemed dead set against even going over to say hi.

Of course… if Palmon figured out a way to bring Bench-Man over to Mimi instead…

“Are you done with your work yet?”

“Almost, Tentomon. I have to run one last test on this program before I send it to Willis for final checks. How was your walk?”

“It was very good.” The Digimon buzzed up to his shoulder level so that he could look, hooking Kondo’s leash onto the bench. The dog lay panting in the shade behind Koushiro’s feet. Tentomon said, “Do you think this one will be successful?”

“The test or the whole project?” asked Koushiro, distracted as he set the last test parameters.

“Both.”

“It’s highly probable that the test will succeed. The whole project, on the other hand, is only a possible success for now.” He set the test to start, and they both watched anxiously as the progress bar began to tick: one percent… five percent… eight…

Neither of them noticed when Kondo lifted his head, having seen a chicken drumstick hanging from a strange vine nearby, drifting back and forth tantalizingly just out of the dog’s reach.

“Hmm. Where did Palmon go? She said she was just going to get water.” Mimi looked worriedly over the field, shading her eyes from the sun. There were so many people and Digimon out today, and to make matters worse, Palmon did tend to blend in the greenery a little too well.

Katsu licked at Mimi’s calves and she looked down grinning. “Shall we play some more? Or do you want to look for Auntie Palmon so we can go home?” She rubbed at Katsu’s ears, and the puppy barked once. “Okay, we’ll play a little bit longer. Fetch!”

“Sweet success!” Grinning, Koushiro backed up the data to his cloud before powering his laptop down. He slipped it into his messenger bag. Then he stood up to stretch. “This calls for a celebration. What do you feel like doing tonight, Tentomon? We can do anything you want.”

“To celebrate?” The Digimon looked like he was a loss for words. “Can we go out to eat?”

Koushiro nodded. He put on the bag and took Kondo’s leash in hand. “Of course we can. Anywhere you want to go. Is there a particular cuisine you feel most hungry for?”

Tentomon rubbed his face. “To be honest, Koushiro, I will be happy eating anything besides junk food and oolong tea. It’s all we’ve been eating lately. I don’t know how much more I can handle.”

“Ahh… ” Koushiro winced. “You’re right. I’ve been pretty neglectful these past few days, haven’t I?”

“It’s nothing I’m not used to. It’s a good thing I was here to take care of Kondo.”

“I would be useless without you, my friend,” said Koushiro, quite sincerely. “And – whoa! Kondo! Kondo, stop! Where are you going!”

I’m a genius, Palmon thought gleefully. Bench-Man’s dog – and if his also being a dog owner wasn’t a sign that this was fate, then Palmon would forgo food and eat fertilizer for a month – had done exactly what Palmon had intended. As soon as that drumstick had left her vines, it had gone racing off after it, dragging along its owner by the leash. Bench-Man’s partner Tentomon buzzed quickly after them.

“It’s a good thing he’s short after all,” Palmon said to herself, watching dog and Bench-Man heading for a direct collision course with Mimi and Katsu, “because that would have never worked if he was Mimi’s usual type.”

Then Palmon saw her throw had overshot. Rather than landing on the ground just in front of Mimi, the drumstick had splashed in the pond just behind Mimi.

I’m an idiot.

There were so many dogs and so many people at the park that Mimi had completely tuned out all the sounds around her to the exclusion of Katsu. Therefore, she had no warning whatsoever when dog and human plowed right into her with so much force that all three of them were propelled into the water.

Mimi’s first thought, when she surfaced, spluttering, from the water: I just bought this dress yesterday!

Then, wiping her face and only belatedly remembering that she hadn’t been wearing waterproof mascara: I am going to kill someone.

She brought herself to her complete height, fully intending to unleash her wrath on the poor soul who had the gall to shove her into the slime-infested pond – only to come face-to-face with the cute nerd she had been sneaking peeks at all afternoon, now looking completely hapless and anxiously concerned across from her. Before Mimi could even finish processing what was happening, he was already halfway through his rapid apology and helping her step out of the pond with him.

“Stop!” Mimi cried out. He did so immediately, his mouth snapping close. “I didn’t understand a word of what you just said.”

He bowed deeply to her. “I take full responsibility for what happened. You see my dog – Kondo,” he gestured at the soaking wet but happy dog, who was currently eating some disgusting thing it had fished out of the pond, “for some reason decided to chase across the field. I was holding onto his leash but he was really determined and – ”

“He ran right into me and knocked us all in the pond,” Mimi finished. She sighed, all of her anger deflating out of her. If it had been someone playing games to knock her into the pond, she would have given them a piece of her mind. How could she get mad at a dog, though?

“I really am very sorry to have gotten you mixed up in all this.”

She sighed again. “Things happen. It’s not your fault. I mean, we both got knocked into the pond together.” Then Mimi’s actually registered what she had said. “Oh no! Did you get your laptop wet too?”

“What? Oh – oh.” He groaned unhappily. “Well, it’s not the end of the world. I did back up all my work. But still… it’ll be a lot of work to set up a new laptop now.” He looked down at his dog, whose leash was now being held quite firmly by a Tentomon. “Thanks a lot, Kondo.”

The dog barked at hearing his name, and Mimi couldn’t help but giggle. “Beautiful dog. And you know what? It’s such a coincidence. I have a Dalmatian, too.” She whistled, and her puppy came trotting over. “This is Katsu.”

“Hello, Katsu.” He bent to scratch the puppy behind her ears. She closed her eyes in pure bliss. “She seems very sweet. Did you name her after the, ah, the musician? I mean, the singer. From the band?”

Amused, Mimi shook her head. “Actually, Katsu is her nickname. I named her after Katsushika Oi.”

“Ah, the artist? A fan of the ukiyo-e style?”

“I’m an artist by trade,” Mimi explained, impressed by his knowledge. It wasn’t the kind of reference that she expected people to know. “What about Kondo? Who did you name him for?”

“I named him after Koji Kondo. A music composer, though I don’t think - ”

Mimi began to smile. “You mean the composer for Mario and Zelda?” She laughed when he blinked at her in amazement. “A few of my friends really enjoy playing video games. It’s hard not to pick up things after listening to them go on and on about it.”

“Koushiro is a video game developer,” the Tentomon offered up when the man – Koushiro – seemed to have been stunned into silence.

“Ahh, I see.”

Palmon returned then, her eyes wide as she took in the scene. “What happened here?”

Mimi waved her hand. “We had a small accident. But look Palmon! We’ve made some friends.” She grinned widely, hoping to convey wordlessly to Palmon that she was not to say a word about their earlier conversation regarding Koushiro.

“I didn’t catch your name,” Koushiro said, having recovered from his momentary loss for words. He stood up. “We’ll need that, I think, to be friends.”

“Tachikawa Mimi,” she said, sticking out her hand.

He shook it. “Izumi Koushiro.”

Strangely, she didn’t want to let go. From the peculiar look on Koushiro’s face, he seemed reluctant to let go, too.

<< Day 10: College AU | Day 11 | Day 12: Disney AU (pt 2) >>

#digiOTPweek #digimon #digimon adventure #digimon tri #koumi #writing prompt #disney au #izumi koushiro #tachikawa mimi #changing things up again with another couple #I wish tri hadn't gone so overboard with koumi #because they really can be sweet in their own way

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costcohotdogslut · 5 years

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Updated

November 2013

It was just another day at the Palm Woods, and Kendall was, once again, bored out of his mind.

These days, it seemed like Kendall was struggling to find ANYTHING to entertain him, and he could only go around his village talking to his villagers so many times (especially since him and Flurry weren’t on speaking terms at the moment), and he sure didn’t have it in him to do something like clean.

With a sigh, he launched himself up from the couch to see what the others were up to. He knew Logan had a study group over and that they were cramming for their upcoming final, but maybe they’d all be down to go and get some pizza for lunch? Kendall always liked making new friends, and if they were anything like Logan, then they were sure they’d be okay people.

With a rap of his knuckles, Kendall stood at their shared bedroom door waiting for Logan to answer. When the door finally cracked open, just enough for Logan to poke his head out and give Kendall a look of annoyance, Kendall spoke up.

“Sorry to bother you guys, just wanted to see what you were up to!” Kendall said.

“Studying… What do you want?” Logan responded, his question seeming more bothered than quizzical.

“Oh, well I was wondering if you guys wanted to get something to eat? It’s almost lunch time, and I’m sure you’d like to get some brain food to help with all that reading.” Kendall said.

“No. Like I said, we’re busy.” Logan barked back at him.

“Aw.. Too bad, well maybe next time?” Kendall responded, craning his head a bit to see three others guys sitting cross-legged with textbooks in their laps, who for some reason had nothing on their lower halves on apart from their underwear. Glancing down, he saw that Logan was sporting the same look. “Uh, is there a reason why none of you guys are wearing pants?”

“Goodbye, Kendall!”

As the door slammed with a loud bang, nearly hitting Kendall in the nose, Kendall stood at the door for a bit, wondering who he could ask to hang out next, and also trying to process what exactly he just saw.

As he was about to knock on Carlos’s door to see if he was home, he remembered him telling he had a few acting auditions he had today. They were pretty big ones too, apparently, and he had seemed to be pretty stoked about them.

It had been a few months since Big Time Rush was suddenly killed off (yes, yet another part of my fic describing what everybody’s up to dhsjfjsj), and things had definitely changed for all of them.

Carlos decided that he wanted to pursue acting, mostly because he had only had about two solos throughout BTR’s 3 studio albums and one Christmas EP, but also because he liked the idea of putting on a costume and getting to be a new person. Surprisingly enough, Carlos was actually good at it, and while he had gotten a pretty big break doing a TV musical, nowadays he was just doing low-budget holiday movies on basic cable, but he was happy with it, so Kendall couldn’t say anything.

Logan, who had never really been all that into the whole boyband thing, jumped right back into school, once again pursuing his dream of becoming a world-renowned neurosurgeon. This was expected, of course, since he had always said he’d go back to school if the whole being famous thing fell through, and he was easily able to adapt to the whole studying and homework and labs thing again. And when he had free time, he still liked tinkering with his different inventions, all of which never seemed to work as planned.

James… well Kendall hadn’t talked to James in a while. As soon as news broke out that Big Time Rush was on indefinite hiatus, the following morning new news broke out that James Diamond had signed onto an exclusive solo deal with Hawke Records. Within the first month, James had released his first single which was met with universal backlash. It was called amateur, horribly produced, and it sure didn’t help that he no longer had his three beautiful, much more talented band members to back him up and make him sound better by association. He also moved out of 2J immediately after signing his contract, and since then, nobody had had any contact with him.

And with Kendall… he still had no idea what to do with his life now. Going solo was never really an option to him/something he was interested in, and he had always told himself he’d try and go pro with hockey, but all that time he spent on the road, touring, performing, recording new songs, he felt like he was really rusty now and no longer at the top of his game. He was also never a fan of school, so he didn’t know what else to do. He usually just sat at home, playing video games and watching old reruns (he had just discovered The Hills and he and his mom were loving it!). Admittedly, he also did just binge on junk food and his mom’s home cooking all day (who was cooking a LOT more now that her baby boy was always home to appreciate it), and he had put on a tiiiny bit of weight (he was pretty skinny already, so that extra 20 lbs didn’t make too much of a difference he thought).

He always thought that being able to sit at home all day doing whatever you wanted sounded like a dream, but he was starting to realize just how boring and monotonous it can really be.

When all else failed, he usually just went downstairs, got a PINK smoothie, and lounged by the pool for a few hours, usually accompanied by the other residents of the Palm Woods, both old and new, and it seemed like this would be the case once again today.

Grabbing his phone and keys, he locked up behind him and walked down the hallway, hands in his pockets, so bored that he even decided to take the longer, more “scenic” route through the hotel which was only just a few more turns and doors.

As he was nearing the pool, he heard a little bit of clamor and what appeared to be a guy grunting. Poking his head around the corner, he saw the back of a man struggling to get his luggage through the door of what he recognized as Lucy’s apartment.

Getting closer to the stranger, he wanted to make sure that it wasn’t someone robbing her apartment while she was away on tour.

“Hey! You there!” Kendall semi-shouted across the hall, the unfamiliar figure turning around and greeting him with a smile and a glasses-clad face.

“Howdy Neighbor!” The stranger waved back, and upon inspection, Kendall deemed the guy safe. He wanted to figure out what he was doing moving his stuff into Lucy’s apartment, so he walked over to him.

“Hello! I haven’t seen you around here before, you must be new, so let me give you a warm welcome to The Palm Woods.” Kendall said, putting his hand out to shake, which the stranger met as soon as he put his bags down. “I’m Kendall.”

“Thanks! I’m Dustin. I just moved in today, so it’s nice to see a happy face around here.” Dustin responded.

“Need a hand?” Kendall asked, seeing the other male’s luggage laying around him, one suitcase overturned with clothes strewn all over, and Dustin eagerly nodded. “Sorry about earlier, if I came across too strong. It’s just that my friend Lucy actually lives here, and I wasn’t sure what someone was doing moving into her apartment.” Kendall said, helping the other male put everything back into his bags. “Still not sure, either.”

“Oh, right! Sorry, my bad, I really should have specified.” Dustin apologized, putting his hand out for another handshake. “Dustin Stone, I’m Lucy’s brother!”

“Oh! I’ve actually heard about you, Lucy mentioned you a few times before, but she never really mentioned you that often because… um.”

“The whole estrangement thing?” Dustin said matter of factly, but he didn’t seem to be mad at Kendall for bringing it up. “Yeah, I moved out of the house when I was 18, but me and Lucy reconnected recently and we’ve been great! I’m trying to get back on my feet, and since she said this place is for aspiring artists, she invited me to move into her apartment, at least until I can get established enough to get my own.”

“That’s awesome! And judging by that guitar case over there, you’re a musician too I assume?” Kendall said, helping him get the last of his bags into the cramped apartment.

“Totally! Haven’t really made a name for myself yet, but I’m hoping that can change soon.” Setting his bags down, his wiped his hangs and let out a sigh. “Thanks again for everything Kendall. You seemed like you were on your way to do something, so I don’t wanna hold you up. The rest is just a bunch of boring unpacking and clean up, so I think I got it here on my own now.”

“Yeah… well I don’t really mind helping you out! I didn’t really have any plans today, and I’d love to help a new friend out.” Kendall said, looking around him to see where to begin.

“Friend?” Dustin asked with a warm smile. “Well if you’re really sure, then great! Go ahead and start anywhere, there really isn’t any rhyme or reason to all of this.”

An hour had passed, and the two had gotten about half ways through everything.

Kendall had quickly gotten to know more about Dustin, and he was just such a cool person. He found out that he was 23 years old and an aspiring rockstar, and while he hasn’t done much but play small coffeeshops and some minor songwriting, he was eagerly awaiting his big break. He also got to know a lot of other things, too. His ideal weather is cold and rainy, his favorite flavor of sorbet is raspberry mint, he isn’t a big fan of the beach, his favorite show is Buffy The Vampire Slayer, his shoe size is 11 ½, and he’s farsighted. All of which Kendall found absolutely fascinating!

As he was sorting a box labeled “Prized Posessions”, Kendall picked up one of the contents of the box and let out a loud gasp, which made Dustin turn his head to see what happened.

“No way… you have the complete series of As Told By Ginger on DVD?!” Kendall exclaimed, his eyes wide as he held the holy grail in the palm of his hands.

“Yep! Limited edition boxset and all!” Dustin said, walking over to look over it with the blond.

“That’s SO cool! I used to love this show, we need to watch it some time!” Kendall said.

“Well,” Dustin said, putting one of his boxes off to the side. “Why don’t we watch it right now? We already put a pretty big dent in all this unpacking, aaaaand” glancing down at his watch – “It’s already gonna be 4. We can order in a pizza and kick back, my treat after all the help you gave me today. Know any good places?”

“Definitely, I’ll start giving them a call!” Kendall responded.

“Cool!” Walking over to his box of prized possessions, Dustin dug around until he finally found what he was looking for. “Hey Kendall! Not sure if you’ve ever watched it but I also have Braceface on DVD! Maybe we could binge it too?”

Upon hearing this, Kendall nearly dropped his phone.

It was nearing 10 o’clock already, and after devouring an entire large pizza between them, the two were starting the third season of As Told By Ginger. Lucy’s thermostat wasn’t working, so they were wrapped up under a blanket on the couch, since it was November and starting to get cold (by Los Angeles’ standards).

Letting out a sigh, Kendall glanced over at Dustin who lifted his glasses and was rubbing his eyes.

“Getting tired? Me too..” Kendall said, who was starting to yawn too.

“Yeah, I’ve been up since 5 this morning and all that unpacking didn’t help either.” Dustin responded, readjusting himself on the couch and going back to watching the screen, his eyes half-lidded and sleepy.

“I had a lot of fun today, though. It’s been kinda lonely around here and I’m really glad I got to spend the day with someone as awesome as you!” Kendall said, which brought a small smile to Dustin’s face.

“Thanks, I couldn’t agree more.” Turning himself over a bit, Dustin was looking at Kendall now. “And you’ve really been feeling lonely? You have all these awesome people living here though, and I’m sure you must be a hit with all of them!”

“Yeah, don’t get me wrong, a lot of the people here are cool and they’re all my close friends. But they’re all busy and don’t really have the free time I do lately, so it can get kinda boring. But you-“ Kendall said, putting a finger on Dustin’s chest. “You made today one of the most fun ones I had in a while!”

As the pair giggled, they eventually went back to watching TV, but not even 20 minutes later, they were both snuggled together under the blanket sound asleep.

Rubbing his eyes, Kendall stirred on the couch as he looked around the unfamiliar room, taking a second to realize that he was still on Dustin’s couch instead of his bed back at home. Oops, he thought to himself, he hadn’t even realized that he had knocked out last night during their little binge session.

He figured that he ought to get up and get going, but he was WAY too tired for that, so he remained in the same position for the next few minutes, looking over and seeing that Dustin was still asleep.

Might as well watch a little TV, since his phone was halfway across the room. Looking around the immediate area for the remote, he felt something rock hard and VERY large poking his ass. Glad he found it without having to get up, he reached for it and was a little surprised when Dustin let out a moan. Not thinking anything of it, he continued to pull, figuring it must be wedged in the couch.

The other male was starting to stir, and through hazy eyes he smiled over at the blond, greeting him good morning.

“Not that I don’t appreciate the gesture, but I didn’t think you’d be wanting to do this so soon.” Dustin said, biting his lip as he tried his best not to let out another groan.

“Well yeah, silly! I wanted to watch the morning news. Now can you move your leg and pass me the remote?” Kendall replied.

“Uh… the remote’s over there on the coffee table.” Dustin said, pointing over at the gadget that was in pretty clear view.

“Oh! Then what was that under the blanket?” Kendall said, reaching over to pull off the garment before Dustin quickly stopped him, suddenly flushed red.

“Wait! How about you, uh, make us a pot of coffee?” Dustin quickly blurted out.

“Sure!” Kendall responded, as Dustin let out a sigh of relief once he was out of sight. “Actually, I don’t see any over here. I don’t see much of anything, really.”

Seeing as how Lucy had been on tour for the last two months, it made sense that she hadn’t stocked up on groceries before she left.

“I’ll probably have to go to the grocery store then.” Dustin said.

“Want me to come with you?” Kendall asked, smiling when Dustin nodded yes. “Well you know what they say, the early bird catches the worm! Let’s get going now.”

As he reached over to pull Dustin up to his feet, he had to quickly stop him again.

“You can start getting ready if you want, but I’m…. gonna need a minute.” Dustin said, gulping as he glanced down to his lap.

After spending the morning going shopping with Dustin, Kendall finally got back to 2J around noon, seeing Logan, Carlos, and Katie playing Mario Kart 64, the three of them arguing over what appeared to be who’s turn it was to use Princess Peach, while his mom sat in the armchair adjacent to them, staring intently at her tabloid magazine.

“I’m finally home guys!” Kendall yelled out to the four, only to be met with silence. “I said I’m home guys! Who missed me!?” Kendall repeated once again, figuring that they must have been too focused to hear him the first time.

Still no reply. Kendall made his way over to the living room, awkwardly standing there as everyone was oblivious to his appearance.

“Fuck, I guess I’ll bite.” Jennifer thought to herself. Putting down her magazine, she let out a gasp. “Kendall sweetie! I didn’t even hear you walk in, oh my goodness!”

Standing up to give him a hug, she was shocked but happy to see the huge grin plastered on his face. “My my someone’s glowing, and I can sense you have some news to share!”

“I do!” Kendall beamed. “I made a new friend yesterday and he’s literally the COOLEST person ever!”

“That’s great, honey! What’s his name?” Jennifer asked back.

“Dustin. He just moved into the Palmwoods yesterday, and turns out, he’s actually Lucy’s older brother! He’s really down to earth, and I bet you’d all really like him!” Kendall said in the other three’s general direction, who continued to ignore him. “Hey, are you guys playing Mario Kart? PLEASE tell me I get to use Peach! I always get stuck with Luigi and I am SICK of it.”

“NO!” The three of them shouted in unison. As Kendall joined in on their bickering and Jennifer went back to gasping at the Who Wore It Best section, everything in 2J was how it was supposed to be.

Later that night, when dinner was done and everyone was settled in for the night, Jennifer began delivering the fresh piles of laundry to their respective owners. Lightly knocking on her son and Logan’s shared bedroom door, she heard giggling coming from inside. Hearing Kendall call out for her to come in, she walked in on her son laying on his stomach with a landline phone next to him, twirling the cord around with his finger and looking up to the ceiling cheerfully.

“Haha, nooo! You’re thinking of Beethoven’s 2nd! Beethoven’s 3rd is when him and the family go on the road trip in their RV. Duh!”

“Kendall sweetie, do you know where Logan went?” Jennifer asked as she separated the piles of laundry between the two roommates. Luckily, all of Logan’s clothing was hand embroidered with “Hortense” across the tag, so it was easy to distinguish what belonged to who. Plus the fact that Kendall wore a large and Logan wore a 2XL.

“Something about a party? I don’t know, me and Dustin were talking about our favorite Disney Channel original movies so I didn’t pay much attention to him.” Kendall responded, and as Jennifer went back to her folding duties, she heard the blond let out an audible gasp when the other voice on the line mentioned a Zenon girl or something.

“Okay, well try not to stay up too late talking to your new friend, sweetie!”

“Okay mom! Goodnight!” Kendall said, waving goodbye as his mom shut the door behind her. “Ugh! I love her to DEATH, but sometimes she can be SUCH a Nosey Nancy!”

“Aw, I think it’s cute!” Dustin said on the other line, making Kendall smile.

“Yeah, I guess so….” Kendall replied, suddenly letting out a yawn and realizing his eyes felt heavier than usual. “I’m actually getting kinda sleepy over here, but I don’t want to end this conversation!”

“It’s fine.” Dustin said. “We can continue this tomorrow. Besides, I think I’m ready to go to bed too. Goodnight, Kendall!”

“Night!” Kendall said, and as he held the phone to his ear, he heard the other male still on the line. “Okay, I really need to go to bed, so hang up!”

“No way! You hang up first!”

“No, YOU hang up first!!”

“Okay how about this, on the count of three we BOTH hang up!” Dustin said, which Kendall eagerly agreed to.

As Dustin slowly counted to three, a few seconds went by as there was silence on each line. “……..hello?” The pair said in unison, which caused them to go into a giggling fit, and it took them a good twenty minutes before the conversation was finally over.

Three Weeks Later

It was a chilly winter afternoon, but luckily Kendall and Victoria found themselves nice and warm inside the mall this fine Saturday.

It was the beginning of December, and the festivities all around them were sure to bring a smile to any face. Holiday décor was strung throughout the many storefront, nearby sat Santa Claus asking every kid what they wanted for Christmas, and spirits just seemed to be high amongst everyone walking around (apart from the retail workers who hated their jobs, especially during this shitty period of time).

“So shooting starts in a few weeks, and I’ll be leaving for NYC pretty soon!” Victoria excitedly said, craning her neck a bit to see how much further the line extended.

“That is SO awesome! You’re finally getting your own TV show! Again!” Kendall replied, truly feeling genuine happiness for his bestest friend in the whole wide world.

“Thanks. I’ve already done a read through for the first script and it sounds AMAZING. It’s like this mystery-thriller type of genre and it’s unlike anything I’ve ever done before. I’m so excited! Plus it’s going to be airing on this new late time block MTV’s doing, so it’s definitely something a little more mature.” Victoria replied.

“As you should be! I’m picturing you wearing that hacker headset on the show and I’m already kinda screaming!” Kendall said, causing Victoria to lightly chuckle. “There’s literally NO way this will get cancelled after its first season!”

“Right?!”

The two were getting a head start on their Christmas shopping, stopping at Justice for Katie, Gamestop for Carlos, and Bath And Body Works for his mom (and also himself!). Of course, ALL that shopping was bound to work up an appetite, so they had also made a stop at Cinnabon to indulge in some HEAVENLY mini buns. They had to high tail out of there though when Victoria stole a second sample from the platter when the underpaid girl at the counter wasn’t looking, so they kinda BOOKED it from the stall, adrenaline rushing through both of their veins.

In their mad dash to get away, they had actually ran into Logan, who was carrying bags upon bags from Hot Topic, which was certainly a little uncharacteristic from his usual Banana Republic finds. They didn’t have a chance to say hi (seeing as how mall security would be looking for them in the crowd), but Kendall could have sworn that Logan had a small pair of black studs in his ears, too.

As the two currently stood in the same line, the conversation continued.

“So, what are you doing on Monday? I was hoping that maybe you’d help me with a line reading? I’ll even throw in a pint of Skinny Cow!” Victoria said.

“I would, but I already made plans with Dustin to visit the La Brea Tar Pits! He thinks dinosaurs are pretty cool, and I’ve never been.” Kendall replied.

“Aw nuts, well how about Wednesday?” Victoria asked again.

“Yikes, busy that day too... Me and Dustin were actually planning to make this lasagna recipe we saw Giada De Laurentiis had on her show.” Kendall said, causing Victoria to groan.

“Ughhh…. Well what about Friday? Or do you and Dustin have something planned that day too?” Victoria said.

“Actually, I was gonna drop my mom off at her bikini wax appointment.” Kendall responded, Victoria nodding understandingly. “Buuut… Dustin asked me to come over later that night to help him finish Donald Duck: Goin’ Quackers.” Kendall said, noticing Victoria giving him a bit of side eye. “What?! The game is really hard!”

“Uh huh. You and Dustin sure have been spending a lot of time together, practically every day, really.” Victoria said, chiding the blond a bit.

“Well yeah, he’s super cool! And I still want you to meet him!” Kendall said defensively.

“I’d love to!” Victoria said, staring straight ahead. “So, have you told him you have a crush on him yet?”

“DBSHFJKDSBFKSB” Kendall blurted out. “Ummmmmmm, ahaha, you say some pretty wild things sometimes, you know that?!” Kendall mumbled, the candles in his bag clinking together as he shuffled awkwardly.

“Well I love to have fun. But you didn’t deny what I said, it’s totally okay if you like him, Kendall.” Victoria responded, comfortingly putting a hand on this shoulder that he shrugged off.

“Well I’m not gay! I had a girlfriend before, hello! Does Jo ring a bell?” Kendall said, gulping as Victoria gave him a knowing glance. “I also don’t have a problem with gay people either! Dustin’s gay, actually, and I’m okay with it. I’m just straight!”

“You never told me he’s gay! Even better, now I can’t wait to meet him! You know how much I love gay people!” Victoria said, pointing to the rainbow badge on her denim jacket that said ALLY. “And if you’re not gay, then I’m sorry for insinuating that you were.” Victoria added, Kendall giving her a weak smile. “But HYPOTHETICALLY,” Kendall giving her a look, “if you WERE gay, you know I would have absolutely no problem with it. You’re my best friend in the whole world and I love you with my entire heart.”

“Well…. Thanks.” Kendall said, reaching out to give the brunette a firm hug.

“Excuse me, could you guys please hurry up? We have a birthday party event coming up in twenty minutes that we need to prep for, and you guys are holding up the line.” The Build-A-Bear employee said, the duo embarrassed as they apologized as they quickly paid for their purchases and walked out of the store.

After a few more stores, the two parted way, and as Kendall drove home, looking at the Build-A-Bear box in the passenger seat next to him, he had a lot to think about regarding himself and his true feelings. He had knots in his stomach about it, but it also could have been the 12 mini cinnabons he had eaten earlier.

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