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sidespart · 3 years

Note

For the fic title thing: Make Up Your Mind/Catch Me I’m Falling

Make Up Your Mind (this seriously got away from me and became basically a whole string of conscious fic whoops)

Logince, Bakery/coffeeshop AU Mutual Pining/ Not-Actually-Unrequited love, + loceit friendship

So Janus owns a Bakery (struggling to think of a snake/lie based bread pun for the name but ehh). He is the head only baker and sends most of his time in the basement kitchen blasting the phantom of the opera soundtrack and kneading dough.

Logan is his childhood friend. Janus hired him as cashier after Logan dropped out of collage but then he never left and is now basically manager/ accountant/ hbic of this whole operation.

So one night as Janus is leaving he’s casually like: ‘oh by the way, a couple are coming by tomorrow for a wedding cake consultation’

And Logan blocks the door and is like: ‘Janus. We don’t do wedding cakes. We don’t even do cake. You only make weird artisanal bread. it took me 6 months and 8 powerpoint presentations to convince you to sell banana loaf’

Jan, his eye enormous: ‘but Logan, you should have heard this guy on the phone. They only want to use LGBTQ businesses for their wedding, they want to support the community that’s supported them for so long. He spoke so passionately and eloquently about why it just had to be us I couldn't say no’

Logan, his eyes not enormous: did you tell this man we make wedding cakes just to make the phone conversation end?

Janus: I was going to miss the murder, she wrote marathon, Logan

So Jan manages to escape, and Logan rolls his eyes but like. This is nowhere near the worst ‘cleaning up after Janus lied to get out of a situation and made everything more complicated for no goddamm reason’ incident that he has had to deal with during the course of their friendship so, whatever: he can tell the couple there was a miscommunication when they show up in the morning.

Next day, the guys arrive. Virgil, who barley introduces himself and then stays hunched in his hoodie not speaking for the whole meeting, and Roman.

Roman does not have a problem speaking. Roman has lots of ideas.

Roman has a binder.

Somehow in the course of this conversation Logan goes from ‘we don’t make wedding cakes’ to ‘I’LL SHOW YOU, WE’LL MAKE THE BEST GODDAMM WEDDING CAKE THIS TOWN HAS EVER SEEN’

Maybe it was the passion of Romans argument. Maybe it was the slightly disdainful look on his face when he looked round the shop. Maybe it was the ridiculous amount of money he was prepared to pay (see: Janus insists on only making specific, weird bread as to why the shop’s always on the brink of collapse). Maybe it was the power of the binder (Logan is like 80% sure Roman hit him with the binder at one point). Maybe its just Logan hasn't had a full blown passionate argument like that since high school debate club and the rush of adrenaline made him dumb.

Whatever the reason - they’re now fully committed to making this 6 tier, purple and blue, Disney inspired, multiflavoured wedding cake

(Janus, who skipped out on the meeting because he is Like That: But Logan....we don’t make wedding cakes...this was really irresponsible of you...

Logan: I know where you sleep. I could kill you at any time)

Which would be doable (the weddings a while off, and Logan is ready to RESEARCH) except Roman keeps. Coming. Back.

With new ideas. And tweaks. And suggestions. All of them seemingly designed to make the cake less structurally sound.

Basically every time he comes in they end up having a blazing row, first about Romans inability to make up his mind about the cake and then about...literally everything. One time they spent 25 minuets arguing about whether or not Shakespeare wrote all of his plays, which somehow turns into ‘who was the best host of blues clues?’ which then turned into ‘how would nationalised healthcare best be implemented?’ (the loudest arguments were during the blues clues section).Logan had even fewer customers then normal that day.

(Logan: I hate that guy so much! He shows up at 2pm every day and now my blood pressure has started going up at 1.55pm in anticipation of the fight! He’s causing me actual medical distress because he’s so stupid!

Janus:...you’ve memorised some guys schedule and your heart starts racing whenever you see him?

Logan: yes! because he is my enemy!

Janus:...

Janus: mmKay.)

ANYway, one day Roman turns up and is like: Can’t fight today. Need caffeine. Must Study. and sequesters himself on one of their two rinky dink tables and starts pulling enormous textbooks out of his bag. Turns out Roman is in law school, he’s back home for the whole summer to help with wedding prep and has been neglecting his summer reading. He wants to be an environmental lawyer and, ideally, singly handily prosecute every oil company and give a speech at the UN whilst wearing an immaculately fitted Italian suit.

Logan has a panicked moment of OH NO HE’S SMART (he doesn't need an oh no he’s hot moment because Roman’s been hot the whole time). Very carefully he does not think about how upset hearing Roman mention the wedding again made him feel, and then shares a bit about his own anxiety during college which led to him dropping out.

Roman says degree or no degree its obvious Logan is one of the smartest, most capable people Romans ever met.

Cue: blushing, stammering, Logan standing up to quickly and knocking half a pot of coffee over etc etc all that good fluff.

And after that their conversations are less confrontational (although they still debate like. everything.) and more friendly.

They have one (1) more conversation about the wedding wherein Roman apologises for being so stressed and snappy over all the preparation stuff but he just wants everything to be perfect for Virgil. (Logan, awkwardly: you must love him a lot. Roman, himbo-ly: Yeah!) aaand then Logan changes the subject to the best rhyming structure because Romans big sappy grin is making his heart do awful twisty things-

And eventually, Roman asks Logan to go out with him outside the bakery.

Logan: hahaha this is friendship, we are great friends, we are going out as friends. I am not going on a date with a man with a fiancé because that would be the actions of a crazy person.

So they go on their date. It’s amazing. Roman leans in for a kiss at the end and Logan is delighted!

And then devastated.

He pushes Roman away, yells some creative insult (malodorous centurion?) and flees. Spends the next week basically hiding in the kitchen area, refusing to see any customers and working on the wedding cake.

(which is looking perfect by the way)

So after a week of Logan moping round the kitchen Janus finally blocks the door to stop him leaving and demand he tells him what the hell is wrong. And after a few minuets of filibustering Logan ends up telling him everything.

“In any case, the very fact that he is the kind of man who would cheat on his fiancé means he’s not the kind of man I thought he was. Therefore any alleged feelings I may have developed towards him would now be null and void” says Logan, looking like the worlds sadist accountant

Janus: So...wait. You’re saying wedding cake guy and hot lawyer guy are the same person?

(Logan: you need to come out of the basement more often Janus: YOU need to tell me what’s going on in your life more often. (they have had this conversation many times in the past))

So Janus sincerely tells Logan he’s sorry...and that he’s even more sorry that he needs him to help him deliver the cake to the venue tomorrow.

(this thing is way to big for one person to carry and there’s no way Jan would trust any of their occasional teenage cover staff to do this and ‘we’ll go round the back and you wont have to see anyone anyway comon Lo’ you basically built this monstrosity you should see it home)

So, reluctantly, Logan goes. And they go round the back as promised, and get this enormous cake settled, and then get told to wait there one sec cus one of the grooms is going to come sign for it and before Logan can throw himself out of the widow (get OFF me Janus we’re on the ground floor it’s FINE) from behind them they hear squeeing.

There’s a curly haired dude in a pastel blue linen suit who Logan has never seen before in his life looking at the cake and cooing over ‘all the little details! its perfect! oh Virgil is going to love this! You know he was so embarrassed about asking for a Disney themed cake he had to ask Roman to go with him to -”

“Who ARE you?”

The man blinked at Logan, who realised dimly that he still had one foot up on the windowsill and slowly returned it to the floor.

“I’m Patton” said Patton.

“And I’m Janus” said Janus, removing his arms from where they’d still been clamped around Logan’s waist and stepping smoothly towards Patton, clipboard held aloft “A pleasure to meet you, if you could just sign here...”

“BUT-” Patton paused, hand still raised to accept the clipboard, and looked over again at Logan who found himself mumbling: “but - but the groom is supposed to sign for it?”

And Patton just smiled at him looking a bit bemused and goes ‘I am the groom? And who are you kiddo?”

Logan says he’s Logan. Patton suddenly looks a whole lot less friendly.

“Oh.” says Patton. “You.”

And since Logan’s mind is currently refusing to take in the information in front of him Janus is the one who ends up stepping in between them and going “so just for 100% transparency - you are Patton.

“yes?”

“and today you are marrying the love of your life: Virgil?”

“Yes!”

“And are either of you, at any point today, also planning on marrying one Roman Sanders, caffeine addict and terrible communicator?”

And Paton burst out laughing and says “ROMAN? Virgil’s big brother Roman? He’s my best man but I don’t think we’re planning to take it any further...”. And because Patton is apparently much quicker on the emotional uptake than Logan he gives him a vey soft, if slightly exasperated, look and says:

“Roman - who again, is my future brother-in-law- is helping set up in the main hall.”

And Logan likes to think he said thank you before he took off fucking RUNNING through the building but he can’t be sure.

So he gets to the hall, where a load of people are setting out chairs, putting up flowers etc, and skids to a stop at one end of the aisle. Shouts: “ROMAN.” (Roman and Virgil, who were standing at the other end arguing over a flower arrangements, both look up) “YOU’RE NOT MARRYING YOUR BROTHER.”

“um.” Says Roman “No?”

Explanations are given. Virgil, who is a lot more talkative now that he’s not on 7th wedding appointment of the day burn out, is ready to physically fight Logan for breaking his brothers heart. And then once he understands the full story is ready to kill both of them for being such dumbasses.

Roman: But I s2g I told the guy on the phone that it was the groom and best man coming??? Logan: Yeah he might have lied and said you were a couple for a joke, or he may have just straight up not listened to you. Either way, he is just Like That.

Logan: WHY DID YOU NEVER MENTION VIRGIL WAS YOUR BORTHER?? Roman: I WAS TRYING TO GET TO KNOW YOU AND ALSO SEDUCE YOU WHY WOULD I WASTE TIME TALKING ABOUT MY LITTLE BROTHER??? Virgil: Yeah...he does like talking about himself, sorry he’s just Like That.

Anyway it all ends fluffily, Patton and Virgil get married. Roman cries. Logan and Jan hang around for the wedding. Roman and Logan hold hands throughout the speeches and dance during the reception. Roman has to go back to law school soon but they agree to call each other every day at 2pm to catch up and argue.

Janus gets off with the moustachioed DJ.

And Roman and Logan get another chance at their first kiss.

#sanders sides fic #logince #roman sanders #logan sanders #Loceit #Platonic Loceit #janus sanders #SANDERs sides #YEAH THIS ONE ALSO GO AWAY FROM ME #i might write some of these scenes up properly or draw them out #this was fun #fake fic meme #sidespart writes #Anonymous

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devilbat · 4 years

Text

Quarantine Online

A/N: sorry I have been MIA for months now. A lot has going on in my life and Depression sucks, making it hard to write, so forgive me.

Tom Hiddleston x Reader

Warnings: Just fluff

Summery: dating is hard it's even harder when a Pandemic happens..

The picture you stared at only showed a well-toned lean body in a well-tailored suit. Most of the photographs showed the same, never his face. His name was Tom 39 years old, living in London. Though he dose travels a lot for work. Shakespeare fanatic, runner, enjoys cooking, long walks with his dog when he's not running and lots and lots of dancing. Six foot one, six foot two on a good day. Who was testing the waters out there, but will be the perfect gentleman and very respectful.

His profile stated as you looked through it. He had messaged you right as you thought about giving up once again. Everyone on these dating apps only wanted one of two things. Nudes or sex nothing more. No connection, no relationship, not even a friendship. Sure, you were offered friends with benefits.

That was something you were not looking for. Did it not state in your profile that you weren't going to do any of that. Do men even read?

The few dates you have gone on all ended up a bust. Then the quarantine happened right as you were getting yourself out there. So it was conversations via text. But soon you were ghosted far too many times because you wouldn't send nude.

You were all about to shut down your account when this man named Thomas H. sent you a message. You weren't even sure why you click on the email from this man without a face. Here you were reading what he had to say.

Y/n,

My name is Thomas, but naturally, I go by Tom. I'm sure you might not even respond to this as there is no face to this profile. With my job and for my privacy would be one of many reasons why. But I thought I might give it a shot. And I have to say I'm quite mesmerized by your beauty. You are quite lovely, and I'm sure you get that a lot. But I genuinely mean it. I was a bit fascinated by your profile as I read it, might have had chucked at a few bits of it. I would like to know more about you.

Like what type of nerd are you? Marvel or DC?

Star Wars or Star Trek? And of course, I'll answer any questions you might have for me. As well I would not ask for any pictures of you clothed or nude as I would like to get to know you as I'm hoping you wouldn't mind getting to know me without the nudes as you put it. Ehehe.

I genuinely hope to hear from you. But understand if I don't.

Sincerely, Tom.

Ps, I do hope this quarantine hasn't made you gone completely bonkers.

Usually, you wouldn't have responded, but something about him told you not to pass this up. What was the worst that could happen that already hasn't happened on an online dating app? Well, there was always the fact he could be a serial killer.

Hello Tom,

You may have messaged me in time I was about to give up on this site and return to my habit. Marvel all the way. I would hope you would agree or we can't continue talking. Though, I can't deny that DC needs to just stop with Batman movies. The should have stopped before George Clooney. Though I will give Christian Bale props, he did a better job than Clooney.

As for Star Wars and Star Trek? That is a tough one, so I'm just going to say both are good. But let's face it. Captain Kirk is the better star fleet Captain. Sure Picard is excellent as well. But anyone after them just doesn't do it for me. Ha ha..

And it's all about Baby Yoda. If you are not a baby Yoda fan, you're just wrong. Yes, I'm one of "those" girls.

Coffee or Energy drinks? I would say I dabbled in both. Pancakes or waffles? Yes, there is a difference. I'm a waffle girl myself. Well, that is all I can think of right now.

Y/n.

You hit send before setting your phone down on the table next to you as you yawned. Maybe it was an early bedtime, not like you had anything better to do. You puddled around your usual routine before bed. A loud ding brought you back to your phone.

"That was quick." Recognizing the chim of the app all too well. Grebing your phone, forgetting your face cream as you were curious about what he had to say—settling into bed, getting comfortable before you opened your phone.

Y/n,

I'm delighted to hear from you. If I'm quite bold, and for starters, its tea for me. With two sugars and a splash of cream. As for waffles or pancakes, I'm French toast kind of man, duh. Lol. Though you can't beat a good old fashion English Breakfast and a side of Earl gray. Eheh.

I'm quite a fan of marvel though it is a rather vast universe. What movies/comics praytell do you prefer?

Sorry love to disappoint, but I'm going to say Doctor Who I am British. The tenth and the eleventh doctor. I do hope you've seen the show. I used to watch the reruns of the original with my father when I was a young wide eye lad. I am a fan of both Star Wars and Star Trek. And there is nothing wrong with liking a baby Yoda. He is exceedingly loveable.

It says your new to England, where are you from originally? How long have you've been here? Seen any of the sights England has to offer?

That's all for now.

Sincerely, Tom.

Emails went on for weeks talking back and forth first on the dating app than via text. You were the one to leap by giving him your number. After hitting send your phone vibrated with a text.

Unknown number: Hello love, this is Tom. I'm delighted to receive your text.

More weeks had passed. Still, you had yet to see his face though he did send you photos of random things during the day. You did the same as your toes sticking out from the bubble bath. Then you got a text of his toes sticking out from under the blankets. The two of you would watch a movie together. The quarantine was still in effect. Each of you would pick a film out every other weekend and sit back and watch it—text throughout the movie.

Y/n: Omg did she just run up the stairs like a dumb big boobed bimbo!!! She makes the rest of us look bad.

Tom: Eheh, you said it darling, not me. Though I think she might survive this.

Y/n: Wanna make a beat? I think she will die within the next few minutes.

Tom: Oh, it's on. Now, what do I get if I win?

Y/n: Whatever it is you want cause mister you are going to lose.

You both patiently wanted to see what happens next. The movie ended, and you waited in annoyance for Tom to respond to gloat about being right. And to see what he desired for his spoils of war.

Tom: Well, Love, it looks like I have won this round.

Y/n: It seems you have butthead. What is it that the winner wishes for?

Tom: Did you just call me a butthead? Eheh. Hmm, let's see. How about a Skype date? I figured it was about time to reveal myself.

Y/n: Tom, I just meet you. I'm not sure I'm ready to see your eggplant. Haha.

Tom: I probably should have rephrased that better. My face love, my face. Eheh. Tomorrow at 7 pm?

Nervous was an understatement. You had cleaned your whole flat even if you were going to stay on the couch, laptop resting on a large pillow setting on your coffee table. You sat playing with your hair, unsure if you wanted it up or down. A chim from your computer startled you from straightening out your dress you finally had settled on. Soon a well-tailored suited chest came on screen.

"Hold on, darling, trying to adjust this blood screen." The deep British, very attractive yet somehow familiar voice rang through the computer speakers. You only assumed it belongs to Tom.

You watched the man attempting to fiddle with the view, cursing ever so quietly. Making you giggle relaxing a little bit more. Your laughing came to an abrupt halt when Tom's face came into Focus. Your jaw dropped. And now the unmistakable "ehehe" came in to play as you stared at none other the most eligible bachelor in England none other than loki himself Tom Hiddleston.

"Darling, I think your drooling." Tom teased point to the side of his clean, shaved face. Tom fidgeted with his now raven-colored hair.

"Oh, I-I," You stammered out, trying to compose yourself.

"Didn't see this coming did you?" Tom smiled, wetting his lips with that blasted tongue of his.

"Well, no. I wasn't expecting Tom

Hiddleston."

"Is that a bad thing?" Tom spoke up.

"Oh, no, no. I would be an idiot to say it was. Hey, wait a minute. I've told you that, that, that. Shit." You muttered.

"That I was your hall pass if given a chance. Eheh. Well, it looks like you'll have had wasted your hall pass privileges. You only get one and can't use it on someone if you are already seeing them."

"You know, sir, you are still a butthead." You stuck out your tongue at the man.

"You do like calling me that. Why are you calling me a butthead this time?" Tom grinned.

Your time with Tom was extraordinary, the two of you talked throughout most of the night. He told you things you never knew about the actor every woman pined over. Here you were, the one woman out of a billion he seems to fancy.

"Well, love." Tom cooed as he watched you try not to nod off to sleep. "I should let you sleep."

"I'm sorry." You muttered sleepily.

"Do not apologize, my dear. I should be the one to apologize I've kept you up most of the night.” Tom smiled softly. He watched as you rub your eyes, a shy smile softly graced your lips. Making Tom’s heart flutter.

”Perhaps, my dear, would you like to meet for coffee at the cafe that opened back up?” Tom hummed in high hopes.

”Hmm, I don't know.” You smiled, trying hard to look like you were contemplating though you were going to say yes. To hell with this virus, it was Tom Hiddleston asking you to coffee.

”I mean, I'll wear a mask and stay six feet if needed.” Tom added quickly.

”No, no, there is no need for that. I don't mind unless you feel like it's needed.” You pipped up—Tom grind like a fool shaking his head no.

#tom hiddleston #tom hiddleston x you #tom hiddleston x reader #tom hiddleston fanfiction #tom hiddleston one shot #fluff #quarantine online

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amunvulcan · 3 years

Text

Fortuna (Latin: Fortūna, equivalent to the Greek goddess Tyche) is the goddess of fortune and the personification of luck in Roman religion who, largely thanks to the Late Antique author Boethius, remained popular through the Middle Ages until at least the Renaissance. The blindfolded depiction of her is still an important figure in many aspects of today's Italian culture, where the dichotomy fortuna / sfortuna (luck / unluck) plays a prominent role in everyday social life, also represented by the very common refrain "La [dea] fortuna è cieca" (latin Fortuna caeca est; "Luck [goddess] is blind").

Fortuna is often depicted with a gubernaculum (ship's rudder), a ball or Rota Fortunae (wheel of fortune, first mentioned by Cicero) and a cornucopia (horn of plenty). She might bring good or bad luck: she could be represented as veiled and blind, as in modern depictions of Lady Justice, except that Fortuna does not hold a balance. Fortuna came to represent life's capriciousness. She was also a goddess of fate: as Atrox Fortuna, she claimed the young lives of the princeps Augustus' grandsons Gaius and Lucius, prospective heirs to the Empire.[1] (In antiquity she was also known as Automatia.)[2]

Fortuna's father was said to be Jupiter and like him, she could also be bountiful (Copia). As Annonaria she protected grain supplies. June 11 was consecrated to her: on June 24 she was given cult at the festival of Fors Fortuna.[4][5] Fortuna's name seems to derive from Vortumna (she who revolves the year).[citation needed]

Roman writers disagreed whether her cult was introduced to Rome by Servius Tullius[6] or Ancus Marcius.[7] The two earliest temples mentioned in Roman Calendars were outside the city, on the right bank of the Tiber (in Italian Trastevere). The first temple dedicated to Fortuna was attributed to the Etruscan Servius Tullius, while the second is known to have been built in 293 BC as the fulfilment of a Roman promise made during later Etruscan wars.[8] The date of dedication of her temples was 24 June, or Midsummer's Day, when celebrants from Rome annually floated to the temples downstream from the city. After undisclosed rituals they then rowed back, garlanded and inebriated.[9] Also Fortuna had a temple at the Forum Boarium. Here Fortuna was twinned with the cult of Mater Matuta (the goddesses shared a festival on 11 June), and the paired temples have been revealed in the excavation beside the church of Sant'Omobono: the cults are indeed archaic in date.[10] Fortuna Primigenia of Praeneste was adopted by Romans at the end of 3rd century BC in an important cult of Fortuna Publica Populi Romani (the Official Good Luck of the Roman People) on the Quirinalis outside the Porta Collina.[11] No temple at Rome, however, rivalled the magnificence of the Praenestine sanctuary.

Fortuna's identity as personification of chance events was closely tied to virtus (strength of character). Public officials who lacked virtues invited ill-fortune on themselves and Rome: Sallust uses the infamous Catiline as illustration – "Truly, when in the place of work, idleness, in place of the spirit of measure and equity, caprice and pride invade, fortune is changed just as with morality".[12]

An oracle at the Temple of Fortuna Primigena in Praeneste used a form of divination in which a small boy picked out one of various futures that were written on oak rods. Cults to Fortuna in her many forms are attested throughout the Roman world. Dedications have been found to Fortuna Dubia (doubtful fortune), Fortuna Brevis (fickle or wayward fortune) and Fortuna Mala (bad fortune).

Fortuna is found in a variety of domestic and personal contexts. During the early Empire, an amulet from the House of Menander in Pompeii links her to the Egyptian goddess Isis, as Isis-Fortuna.[13] She is functionally related to the god Bonus Eventus,[14] who is often represented as her counterpart: both appear on amulets and intaglio engraved gems across the Roman world. In the context of the early republican period account of Coriolanus, in around 488 BC the Roman senate dedicated a temple to Fortuna on account of the services of the matrons of Rome in saving the city from destruction.[15] Evidence of Fortuna worship has been found as far north as Castlecary, Scotland[16] and an altar and statue can now be viewed at the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow.[17]

The earliest reference to the Wheel of Fortune, emblematic of the endless changes in life between prosperity and disaster, is from 55 BC.[18] In Seneca's tragedy Agamemnon, a chorus addresses Fortuna in terms that would remain almost proverbial, and in a high heroic ranting mode that Renaissance writers would emulate:

O Fortune, who dost bestow the throne's high boon with mocking hand, in dangerous and doubtful state thou settest the too exalted. Never have sceptres obtained calm peace or certain tenure; care on care weighs them down, and ever do fresh storms vex their souls. ... great kingdoms sink of their own weight, and Fortune gives way ‘neath the burden of herself. Sails swollen with favouring breezes fear blasts too strongly theirs; the tower which rears its head to the very clouds is beaten by rainy Auster. ... Whatever Fortune has raised on high, she lifts but to bring low. Modest estate has longer life; then happy he whoe’er, content with the common lot, with safe breeze hugs the shore, and, fearing to trust his skiff to the wider sea, with unambitious oar keeps close to land.[19]

Ovid's description is typical of Roman representations: in a letter from exile[20] he reflects ruefully on the “goddess who admits by her unsteady wheel her own fickleness; she always has its apex beneath her swaying foot.”

Fortuna did not disappear from the popular imagination with the ascendancy of Christianity.[21] Saint Augustine took a stand against her continuing presence, in the City of God: "How, therefore, is she good, who without discernment comes to both the good and to the bad?...It profits one nothing to worship her if she is truly fortune... let the bad worship her...this supposed deity".[22] In the 6th century, the Consolation of Philosophy, by statesman and philosopher Boethius, written while he faced execution, reflected the Christian theology of casus, that the apparently random and often ruinous turns of Fortune's Wheel are in fact both inevitable and providential, that even the most coincidental events are part of God's hidden plan which one should not resist or try to change. Fortuna, then, was a servant of God,[23] and events, individual decisions, the influence of the stars were all merely vehicles of Divine Will. In succeeding generations Boethius' Consolation was required reading for scholars and students. Fortune crept back into popular acceptance, with a new iconographic trait, "two-faced Fortune", Fortuna bifrons; such depictions continue into the 15th century.[24]

The ubiquitous image of the Wheel of Fortune found throughout the Middle Ages and beyond was a direct legacy of the second book of Boethius's Consolation. The Wheel appears in many renditions from tiny miniatures in manuscripts to huge stained glass windows in cathedrals, such as at Amiens. Lady Fortune is usually represented as larger than life to underscore her importance. The wheel characteristically has four shelves, or stages of life, with four human figures, usually labeled on the left regnabo (I shall reign), on the top regno (I reign) and is usually crowned, descending on the right regnavi (I have reigned) and the lowly figure on the bottom is marked sum sine regno (I have no kingdom). Medieval representations of Fortune emphasize her duality and instability, such as two faces side by side like Janus; one face smiling the other frowning; half the face white the other black; she may be blindfolded but without scales, blind to justice. She was associated with the cornucopia, ship's rudder, the ball and the wheel. The cornucopia is where plenty flows from, the Helmsman's rudder steers fate, the globe symbolizes chance (who gets good or bad luck), and the wheel symbolizes that luck, good or bad, never lasts.

Fortuna lightly balances the

orb

of sovereignty between thumb and finger in a Dutch painting of

1530 (

Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg

)

Fortune would have many influences in cultural works throughout the Middle Ages. In Le Roman de la Rose, Fortune frustrates the hopes of a lover who has been helped by a personified character "Reason". In Dante's Inferno (vii.67-96), Virgil explains the nature of Fortune, both a devil and a ministering angel, subservient to God. Boccaccio's De Casibus Virorum Illustrium ("The Fortunes of Famous Men"), used by John Lydgate to compose his Fall of Princes, tells of many where the turn of Fortune's wheel brought those most high to disaster, and Boccaccio essay De remedii dell'una e dell'altra Fortuna, depends upon Boethius for the double nature of Fortuna. Fortune makes her appearance in Carmina Burana (see image). The Christianized Lady Fortune is not autonomous: illustrations for Boccaccio's Remedii show Fortuna enthroned in a triumphal car with reins that lead to heaven.[25]

Fortuna also appears in chapter 25 of Machiavelli's The Prince, in which he says Fortune only rules one half of men's fate, the other half being of their own will. Machiavelli reminds the reader that Fortune is a woman, that she favours a strong, ambitious hand, and that she favours the more aggressive and bold young man than a timid elder. Monteverdi's opera L'incoronazione di Poppea features Fortuna, contrasted with the goddess Virtue. Even Shakespeare was no stranger to Lady Fortune:

When in disgrace with Fortune and men's eyes I all alone beweep my outcast state...

Ignatius J Reilly, the protagonist in the famous John Kennedy Toole novel A Confederacy of Dunces, identifies Fortuna as the agent of change in his life. A verbose, preposterous medievalist, Ignatius is of the mindset that he does not belong in the world and that his numerous failings are the work of some higher power. He continually refers to Fortuna as having spun him downwards on her wheel of luck, as in “Oh, Fortuna, you degenerate wanton!”

In astrology the term Pars Fortuna represents a mathematical point in the zodiac derived by the longitudinal positions of the Sun, Moon and Ascendant (Rising sign) in the birth chart of an individual. It represents an especially beneficial point in the horoscopic chart. In Arabic astrology, this and similar points are called Arabian Parts.

Al-Biruni (973 – 1048), an 11th-century mathematician, astronomer, and scholar, who was the greatest proponent of this system of prediction, listed a total of 97 Arabic Parts, which were widely used for astrological consultations.

Aspects[edit]

Lady Fortune in a

Boccaccio

manuscript

Sculpture of Fortuna,

Vienna

La Fortune

Charles Samuel

(1894), Collection

King Baudouin Foundation

Fortuna Annonaria brought the luck of the harvest

Fortuna Belli the fortune of war

Fortuna Primigenia directed the fortune of a firstborn child at the moment of birth

Fortuna Virilis ("Luck in men"), a woman's luck in marriage[26]

Fortuna Redux brought one safely home

Fortuna Respiciens the fortune of the provider

Fortuna Muliebris the luck of a woman.

Fortuna Victrix brought victory in battle

Fortuna Augusta the fortune of the emperor[27]

Fortuna Balnearis the fortune of the baths.[27]

Fortuna Conservatrix the fortune of the Preserver[28]

Fortuna Equestris fortune of the Knights.[28]

Fortuna Huiusce Diei fortune of the present day.[28]

Fortuna Obsequens fortune of indulgence.[28]

Fortuna Privata fortune of the private individual.[28]

Fortuna Publica fortune of the people.[28]

Fortuna Romana fortune of Rome.[28]

Fortuna Virgo fortune of the virgin.[28]

Fortuna Faitrix the fortune of life

Pars Fortuna

Fortuna Barbata the fortune of adolescents becoming adults[29]

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piracytheorist · 3 years

Text

A Kiss for Good Luck (8/15)

Summary: So this is the story of one born lucky, and one born unlucky. Fate will keep making them cross paths, but is it to bring them together, or to test them? Captain Swan AU.

A/N: This will hurt. I am sorry.

Rating: T (make sure you’re okay with the warnings on AO3) Warnings: This chapter contains character death, some depictions of violence, depictions of poor and unhealthy coping mechanisms, as well as a toxic relationship. Any intercourse and physical touch in general is fully consensual, but emotionally the relationship may appear upsetting to some. Also there are some elements that may resemble emotional self-harm.

Word count for this chapter: 4k (48k in total) AO3

Read from the beginning: Tumblr | AO3

Chapter 8: Killian Jones, October 19th 2011 – October 24th 2015

The kiss is deeper than he expected. Killian pushes the woman back, but gently. He was the one who gave her permission to kiss him, after all.

"I thought it would be a quick kiss. I have a girlfriend."

Her brows are going wild. "Shit. Sorry."

He's so stupid. What would Milah think? "'Salright. Go pee."

"Yes. That,” she slurs. “Thank you again."

Just as the woman closes the bathroom door behind her, Milah appears above him.

“You okay?” she says.

He looks at her confused, before he realizes it's not that normal to sit on the floor while at a club. “Yeah,” he says. “Just very, very drunk.”

She gives him her hand, he takes it, then she starts pulling at him. “Let's go outside for some air. There's too much smoke in here.”

“I wanna pee!”

She drags him up. “You can pee outside! Let's go!”

It feels better outside. The cool, clean air wakes him up a bit.

Milah throws her arms around Killian's neck and pulls him to lean his forehead on hers. He smells the martini in her breath, landing hot against his lips.

He closes his eyes. He could stay like this forever, and how he wishes this moment lasted that long...

“How sweet,” a sharp voice says from the side.

They turn together to see Gold staring at them, his hands crossed on the handle of his cane. There's two big guys flanking him, and Killian pulls Milah aside, stepping in front of her.

“What do you want?” Killian says.

“I did wait,” Gold says. “I held back, let you take my wife away from me.”

“Shut up,” Milah says, moving to Killian's side. “Our marriage was over long before I met Killian.”

Gold looks at her, hand grabbing the cane hard.

“You... you followed us here?” Milah says, suddenly realizing. “What the hell? Where's Jack?”

“You have no right to ask about him,” Gold says and takes a brisk step forward. “You went against my conditions for meeting him. You brought that bastard with you!”

Milah flinches, and Killian's left hand grabs onto hers.

“And you?” Gold looks at him. “Going behind my back to take my son on your side? Trying to buy his love?” His face seems to barely contain his rage as he reaches into his jacket and pulls out a handgun.

Killian's hand squeezes Milah's as his other one raises up in defense. “Whoa, Gold, wait-”

Gold shoots.

Though Killian’s ears are ringing from the exploding sound, he hears Milah's trembling sigh. It feels like it's hours later that he turns to look at her, eyes going straight for the growing red spot on her chest.

And then she's falling.

“No,” he whispers and holds her, gently breaking her fall.

Her eyes are moving wildly, then she coughs and a thin trail of blood runs from the corner of her lips.

“No, no. Milah...”

She focuses on him. “I love you,” she whispers. She gasps one last time, then she's limp in his arms.

It's like even more hours pass. He feels her hot blood staining his hands.

Her eyes are closed. She's not breathing. Only her blood moves, dripping out of her body even though her heart has stopped beating.

“No,” he says.

He hears the tapping sound of a cane, and he looks up to see Gold standing above him, gun aimed at him. His henchmen also aim their handguns at him.

“What are you waiting for?” Killian says. “Finish it.”

What else can he say? It's not as if he'd leave him to tell the tale.

“Oh, no. You won't be so lucky,” Gold says, but he doesn't move.

Killian manages to hold himself back only long enough to set Milah down gently, then he lunges at Gold, grabbing the gun.

It all happens in half a second.

Gold shoots, Killian's ears are ringing again, and he sees two fingers fly off in a sudden fountain of blood.

He drops down to his knees. His left hand hangs limp in a way no hand should. The thumb and index finger are missing, and there's a gaping crescent hole, starting under his middle finger and reaching to the middle of his wrist.

The pain hits him suddenly and a scream erupts from his throat.

His vision comes and goes; one moment Gold is standing above him, the next Killian is leaning over Milah, the blood spilling from his hand onto her unmoving body.

There's more people screaming; people shouting; sirens, blue and red lights...

Then white. So much white.

Killian is just three days younger of twenty-eight when he once again thinks how he's cursed.

Milah is dead, there is no doubt about that. His hand was amputated, and he has to spend a whole week in the hospital before the doctors clear him for a transatlantic flight.

In the meantime he learns that Milah's body was sent back to England, per Gold's request.

At first, he finds it impossible; but the cops who'd questioned him about the assault soon inform him that Gold has solid alibi in London at the time of the murder.

Killian almost shuts down in the week he has to spend in there; Gold must have stolen Killian's phone before fleeing the scene of the crime, and Killian has no way of contacting Nemo, and he didn't let him know the specifics of his trip in the first place, like when exactly his return trip would’ve been.

If Nemo had known, he would have worried after not getting any news from Killian the day he was supposed to return. He would have contacted hospitals, would have found out about the assault. Probably would even honor Killian's request to attend Milah's funeral in his place, if Killian had the guts to actually ask him for that.

And to top it all, Nemo's phone at home is out of order. Why didn't he ever bother memorizing his cell phone? Now all Killian can do is lie in his hospital bed and do his damnedest to avoid looking at where his left hand is no more.

The blasted week goes by; Killian spends the rest of his savings into a new return trip, the only one he can afford has two stops in between.

He's dead tired, hungry, with fresh dog crap under his sole, and somehow he's not surprised to see his apartment has flooded.

It's three in the morning and he contemplates walking through the ankle-deep water anyway and collapsing in his bed.

He stands so long in front of the open door of his apartment that eventually the downstairs neighbor comes to complain about water dripping into his place.

One call to the fire department later, Killian picks up his two bags – he didn't have the heart to throw Milah's stuff away – and takes a taxi to Nemo's place.

Nemo obviously got out of bed to let Killian in, and of course, he asks Killian what happened.

It's like he's seventeen again, unable to react to one of the most life-changing news he ever received, only the opposite, in the most grim way that he never dared imagine.

He's hiding his handless arm inside his jacket pocket and silently walks the stairs up to his old bedroom. He doesn't answer Nemo's questions next morning, he doesn't even sit down to get breakfast. He goes straight to the lawyer Milah had during her divorce.

Gold is paying people to give false testimony, and Killian is gonna take him down.

Too consumed in his own hatred for the man, the whole week he spent planning his comeback he didn't think of the problems the lawyer is listing now; Killian was drunk – as evidenced by hospital records – enough for his testimony to be considered debatable; he also has motive to want to get back at Gold, stronger than Gold's motive to kill his unfaithful wife three whole years post their divorce which concluded in his favour; and of course, one has to prove first that Gold's witnesses are lying before questioning Gold's alibi of more than five thousand kilometers away from the scene of the crime.

Killian doesn't return to Nemo's place. His own apartment stinks, damp and moldy, half of his furniture and appliances were ruined, but at least his bed is functioning, and he can't deal with Nemo's sympathy right now.

He needs to take Gold down. He can't have any more distractions.

It takes him a month to remember his therapist. He checks his emails for the first time since the assault, and he feels he loses another part of him at the news of his therapist moving towns to study for a doctorate; she's suggested other therapists at him, followed by two more emails of asking if everything is okay, then nothing.

Killian looks at the names and phones of the suggested therapists as if they're threats to his consciousness. He actually laughs. Dr. Eriksen had him since before he was even an adult and she knew everything about his fucked-up adolescence. Where would he even begin with someone new?

He deletes the email.

For two years, his whole life centers around finding weak spots in Gold's armour. He quits from Shakespeare's boat rental and works at stock in the harbor. It's a tough, time-consuming job, but it keeps him in view of the sea and gets his mind off his pain. Alcohol takes over that job in his time off.

He stops drawing; Milah used to draw with him and it nearly breaks him to pick up a pencil to sketch. The last thing he sketches is the design for the tattoo with her name on it that is soon permanently inked on his arm.

Two years of trying, as much as his exhausted psyche and a mind always leaning towards booze can handle, and the best he manages is to break into Gold's house, hack through his computer and locate some suspicious activity between Gold's bank account and the one of one of his witnesses.

Thirteen years of no spots in his criminal record mean nothing to the law when there are spots in it in the first place, and he's arrested for breaking and entering.

Nemo responds to Killian's call to bail him out, even though Killian has barely spoken to him in two years. However, the disappointment is, for the first time since Killian met him, visible on his face.

“It's your decision,” Nemo tells him after Killian is out. “Your path to choose, and your life to ruin.”

If it were anyone else, Killian would be flipping him off. But Nemo is the one who took Killian in as an assortment of broken pieces and put him back together, loving and patient all throughout. The one who has always been too good to be called a mere father.

“It's not just wanting to get back at that bastard,” Killian says, nearly shouting. At Nemo's small flinch, Killian breathes in and out. Among all his losses, it's the first one that has filled him with such rage. “That monster killed her in cold blood. And he's out there now, not paying for his crime-”

His voice is too unsteady now to accommodate shouting.

“It's not just personal. He killed her-” A soft sob breaks his sentence in half. “-and he's walking free.”

“The world is not fair,” Nemo says in a very soft voice, hand resting on Killian's shoulder. “Come home, son. This isn't what you need right now.”

“No. I need to see him behind bars.”

“You need to grieve.”

Killian scoffs, laughing mirthlessly. “It's been two years.”

“Exactly.”

He drops his gaze. If he looks at Nemo's face right now, he may crumble, and his efforts of two years – albeit not very successful – will be rendered pointless. The time he lost, the damage he's done to himself, to his relationships with everyone, Nemo, Shakespeare, Will and Tink, it will all be for nothing.

And worst of all, he'll be yet another one who will do Milah wrong. If he gives up, he'll be doing to her nothing better than what Gold did, and the very thought sickens him.

There's only one thing he changes. His drinking has reached new levels, and he needs, if nothing else, to survive in order to bring Gold down. So for now, AA meetings are something.

At first, he only talks about how he manages to stay clean, how he slips and how he tries to not beat himself up over it. His fifth meeting is on a particularly bad day; the story of watching the love of his life die slips from him, and across the circle he gets looks of pity that he hates.

If only he told everyone about the furious thoughts for revenge on Milah's murderer that have been plaguing his every waking thought for the past two years.

He slumps in his seat and stays silent for the rest of the meeting. He shouldn't have come today, he should have known he would be too emotional to think rationally before speaking.

The meeting ends and he's already made up his mind to look into other AA groups before he even exits the building.

“Excuse me,” a voice calls at him.

He turns. It's Eloise Gardener, one of the attendees.

“On the last meeting you mentioned that mental activities keep your thoughts away,” she says.

“Yeah?”

“I'm hosting gardening classes, two evenings a week at the Bare Feet Greenhouse. I thought I could invite you to join, they're already quite cheap and I'll give you a discount.”

“Your name is Gardener, innit?”

She smiles. “And I am a gardener. Shocking, I know. But I've found it's a good distraction, especially knowing you're taking care of a life. You get the satisfaction without committing to... raising a child, let's say.”

Killian decides it's worth a try; unlike the AA meetings, raising a plant actually has visible proof of progress.

He stops coming to the meetings, but Eloise doesn't ask him why. She teaches him and guides him through providing a good environment for his plants.

One night after class, she helps him move the pots with his grown plants to his apartment. He doesn't truly invite her in, and when she initiates a kiss with him, he takes a few seconds of thinking before he realizes he doesn't mind that much.

It's just fuck, and Eloise doesn't seem to be thinking it's anything deeper than he does.

If he thinks it's any deeper, he'll just be haunted again by that miserable thought, that the last person he kissed before Milah died was not Milah herself, but a random stranger whose face he wasn't even sober enough to remember.

Eloise leaves and within minutes, he's left as well to search for any open store that sells booze. Rain is pouring down, cars splash him until he's soaking wet, but he finally gives up when he trips and falls, his leg hurting too much to take him too much further.

Even the couple of hours he stays in the hospital while they put a walking cast on him feel unbearable. Two years have gone by and the memories of hospital misery are still too raw.

Eloise doesn't comment on the cast nor his continued absence from the AA meetings. She invites him to her place and after they have sex he asks if he can stay the night. That way it's much easier to avoid looking for a drink to deal with how disgusted he feels.

Even the other people attending the gardening lessons wouldn't imagine Eloise and Killian are sleeping together – and Killian is attending two different classes side by side. Not that there's anything to show for it. They just fuck, sleep in the same bed, and that's all. She keeps him from running out for a drink in the middle of the night, better than any AA meeting managed, he gives her a person to have control over the way she wants, and they scratch each other's itches.

Nemo keeps trying to stay in touch with him, and Killian nearly blocks his number out of pure shame. Perhaps if Nemo realizes he's been blocked he'll stop bothering.

Killian has practically moved in with Eloise now, or she with him; in any case, they'll sleep in the same bed every night, whether it's the one in Killian's apartment or the one in Eloise's house.

He cannot connect who he was before with who he is with Eloise now. Before Nemo even adopted him officially, Killian had allowed him to pick up his pieces and make him a functional human. With Milah, it was Killian who was the whole, the rock she could lean on.

With Eloise, he can once again be broken, but without any expectation to get fixed back up – and he's too tired for unrealistic expectations. He can stay the mess that he is, sharing his body and his space with her so that he can feel something, even when the feeling isn't the best. Eloise is controlling and demanding, and Killian's feelings for her range from fear to disgust, but he prefers those over pain, grief, rage, and a continuously burning thirst.

It's easier to hate his... “partner” than to hate everything else in his life, including himself.

He's actually shocked to realize two years have passed since his first time with Eloise, and nothing at all has changed. Their feelings didn't change towards one way or another; they just kept fucking, sleeping next to each other, and going by their day without thinking about each other.

He almost hates it when she asks him to ride with her to a concert in Maidstone. Not only because she's making ensuring no-one assaults her sound like a chore, but also because he's still not ready to enjoy music he used to love. Especially not in her presence. Being in her company is not a circumstance that fits happy thoughts.

There's a lot of things he's been denying himself since Milah died. Everything that used to make him happy, even the company of his family, feels sullied now.

He doesn't expect to enjoy the concert. But Eloise buys his ticket and drives the car, so he decides that he can tolerate one night of being a boy toy to discourage sleazebags.

It doesn't even feel that special that his birthday is tomorrow; he lost Liam a few days after his fifteenth birthday, and Milah a few days before his twenty-eighth. Maybe it's just not in the cards for him to celebrate it again.

For three whole hours, he forgets everything. There's just the music, and the lights, and his throat getting sore from singing without a care.

There is, of course, the occasional groping, people stepping on his feet, even getting an elbow to the ribs, but for him it's all par of the course now. Including checking his pockets afterwards and realizing that twenty pounds are missing. And Eloise being... well, Eloise.

“You were supposed to stand by my side,” she starts complaining after the concert is over and people start dispersing.

“I can assure you I was touched against my consent far more than you were.”

“Is that supposed to be an excuse?”

Ugh, her arrogant, calm face she makes when she tells him off. He hates it.

“If you wanted an actual bodyguard, you should have hired one. I only have one hand,” he bites back at her.

“Really? I get you a birthday gift and you consider this an appropriate response.” There’s no question mark in her tone.

“Oh, piss off. As if you've given a fuck about my birthday all these years.”

Her lips purse together, but her voice keeps that cool tenor that irritates him to no end. “I wanted to make it a good one for you. Just because you don't care about it doesn't mean no-one else does.”

He sighs. He actually had a good time and he doesn't want it ruined by her gaslighting. He's experienced people actually caring for his birthday, and he knows Eloise's words are just words. Next, she'll say that she contacted Scorpions themselves and asked them to have a concert the day before his birthday.

She shakes her head and goes for the portable toilets. At last, he can have some time on his own. He turns his head away and back to the scene, now completely empty.

No One Like You wasn't exactly the song he liked the most tonight, but it's the one he can't stop humming. He's humming!

Maybe he does owe Eloise a bit. Just a bit.

"Catchy tune, huh?" he hears from the side.

He turns, seeing a woman with a wide smile on her face.

"Oh, which one isn't?" he says, smiling back. "What a night."

The woman nods. "Did you have fun?"

The words pour out of him like vomit. "A lot of people stepped on me, I got groped, pick-pocketed, and I got in a fight with my...” – How should he call her? – “friend, but you know what?" He shrugs. "Bloody worth it."

"Oh.” Her face softens. “Sorry that you were mugged."

"Ah, it was like, twenty quid. I've known better than to carry credit cards where hands can easily reach." A very dedicated hand, maybe. There's only so many hiding spots he has.

"Do you have a ride back home?" the woman says.

He stares at her, and he feels his jaw drop when he realizes. "Bollocks. I overshared, didn't I?"

She just smiles. "I mean, I have a car, and space for two... how many of you are there?"

He scratches behind his ear. "Don't worry. We've got a car. And we going right back to Brighton, anyway."

"Oh.” She seems to think for a moment. “I don't even know where that is."

He holds back a laugh. "Figured so. From your accent."

Her smile widens. "I'm Emma," she says, extending her hand.

"Killian," he gives his hand back, careful to keep his left arm inside his jacket pocket. She's still looking at his face when he drops his hand to his side. "So... you know that they're actually having a few concerts in the States for this tour, right? How come you decided to fly all over to here?"

"Well, today... or more like, yesterday," she pauses as she checks her watch, "was my birthday. This was more like a birthday gift to me, and of course I'm going to see them in-” She pauses suddenly. “What?"

She's obviously cut off by the expression on his face. "You're not kidding? Tomorrow- or, today, is my birthday."

"Wow. Happy birthday, then."

"Happy birthday to you too. Seems it was a great one."

Emma seems happy as she looks back at the now empty stage. "I'd say one of the best ones. Does your birthday seem promising?"

His chest feels twice its normal size when she turns to look at him. Somehow, with their birthdays being so close, it feels as if her having had a great birthday is feeding his own satisfaction for that day, for the first time in four- no, five years.

Some of her slightly messy hair is sticking to her face – she probably went all out dancing tonight – and her eyes seem to droop in drowsiness, but she's absolutely glowing.

Glowing and looking at him.

When she takes a step towards him, it feels like it's gravity that's pulling his own body to her.

"It seems that way, aye," he replies.

Her eyes close when she's a few inches away from him, but he waits for the moment his lips touch hers to close his eyes.

(A/N: I want to remind the readers that this chapter is told from Killian's point of view, distorted as it is from grief, rage and isolation from the people he loves. Emotional progress is almost never visible in the short term, especially regarding addictions. Killian might have thought the AA meetings didn't help him, but it doesn't mean that giving up and depending on a controlling person to keep him clean was the healthy thing to do.

I know it's a work of fiction but some lines are easily confused, so the message I want to pass is that if you or a loved one is trying to let go of an addiction, keeping up the effort when progress isn't directly visible may be hard, but it's worth it and will eventually help.)

#Killian Jones #Captain Swan #captain swan ff #cs ff #ouat ff #akfgl #captain swan movie marathon #I swear I hadn't planned on posting this on Colin's birthday 😅#it's just how it came up #piracytheorist writes

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carryonsimoncarryonbaz · 4 years

Text

SKIN DEEP—a fic

So Rainbow had a pretty funny exchange on Twitter yesterday about the Watford crew and teenage acne, and in particular if Baz would have acne. Which she said he most certainly would. So, being me, I had to go write a fic about it. Because I have no chill and even less self control. So here is a slightly crack-y fic, set at pre-canon era Watford, as hormones start to surge and Simon becomes pimple obsessed.

Screen shots of Rainbow’s tweets at the end of this post, to prove this lunacy had a real life prompt.

Simon and Baz fourth year, as the ravages of adolescence commence. Pimples, blemishes and spots. Questionable concoctions. The roots of Baz’s immaculate skin care regimen. Some things even a vampire can’t avoid.

Skin Deep

Year Four

Simon

I’m just about to splash water on my face when I notice them in the mirror. I mean, I’ve been expecting this to happen. I saw the older boys go all spotty at the homes. There’s no way I’d be lucky enough to be spared.

But fuck it all. I’ve got one on the side of my nose, two on my chin and one right between my eyebrows. How did I get all these pimples in one night?

I’m half tempted to think Baz spelled me. But that’s not his style, he doesn’t sneak about doing something like this, even though he’s a prick and a plotter. No, he did things like this when we were first years, but now when Baz spells me he wants everyone to know what he’s done.

Makes a production of it, the wanker.

Like when he knocks my boater off. Spells my shoes untied during class, so I trip when I stand up. Or seals the lid on the butter dish at breakfast.

If Baz was going to spell me spotty he’d do it in on a Monday, right before class, when everyone would notice. Not in our room, on a Saturday morning, when we’ve got nothing to do and nowhere to go.

He’s still asleep so if he did do it, it must have been in the night and really what would be the bloody point of that?

I have to reluctantly admit it’s probably not him this time. It’s me. I was just hoping this particular stage of puberty would just pass me by.

The other milestones have been coming one right after another though, so I guess I’m not that lucky.

I’ve got hair in more places now.

And I grew three inches this summer (Baz grew four, the tosser, so he’s still taller than me).

He’s taller but it’s like he fits in his body. Glides when he walks. Smooth as silk on the pitch. Bloody infuriating, is what it is.

I feel like a marionette on a string, my arms and legs all out of sync, knocking into furniture and tripping over my own feet, even when my shoes are tied.

And my voice has been doing that stupid thing where it gets all deep mid-sentence, and then it goes up so high I sound like Madame Bellamy. It’s bloody awful. Baz always gives me shit about it --“going to break into song for us, Snow?”

He’s such a prick.

I lean in closer to the mirror. The ones on my chin are small. It’s the nose one that’s a disaster.

No help for it. I’ll ask Penny if there’s a spell at breakfast. Though I doubt there is, seeing as Agatha’s been spotty for weeks and I know she’d use a spell, if there was one. Penny says Agatha spells her hair to be that straight and shine like it does. I wasn’t sure I believed her but some days it’s got a bit of an uneven wave to it so I wonder if Penny may be right.

*******

“No, Simon, there isn’t a spell.” Penny is using her patient voice with me, which means she thinks my question is unbearably stupid. She leans across the table to peer at me over her glasses. “You’ve hardly got any.”

“I might only have four now. But just you wait. They’re bound to get worse. With my luck I’ll be covered in them.”

“You don’t know that. And even if they do get worse it’s human nature! The universal teen experience!”

I groan.

“It won’t be that bad, Simon. Besides everyone’s spotty.”

“Baz isn’t spotty.”

She rolls her eyes. “Not Baz again, please.”

“Have you seen him, Penny?”

“I see him every day, Simon.”

“Yes, but have you really looked?”

“Obviously not as intently as you.”

“I live with him!”

I get another eye roll.

“He’s not got one spot! I tell you, it’s proof he’s a vampire. You can’t go through normal adolescence and be as pristine as all that.”

“Everyone goes through puberty at different times. He’s probably not at that stage yet.”

“He’s taller than me!”

“He’s always been taller than you.”

“Don’t I know it.”

“It’s not like he has any control over that, Simon. It’s genetics.”

I know that. I know height isn’t something that you can magick. But it just doesn’t seem fair that each time I grow enough to catch up to him, he grows too.

He did it last summer. Did it again this summer. Even grew over the Christmas holiday this year, the jammy bastard.

And now I’m sprouting pimples right and left and he’s across the dining hall with his flawless, pearly grey skin. Not a spot to be seen.

Typical.

****

I can tell I’ve got more when I wake up. Bloody hell. The old ones dry up and get crusty and new ones take their place.

My face feels heavier this morning. I grimace and I know there’s one on the side of my nose again. It pinches when my cheeks move so it must be massive. And the one on my chin itches— it’s probably grown overnight, red and welted around that nasty white center. I can’t even imagine what my forehead looks like.

I’ve tried everything.

Washing my face twice a day.

Alcohol to try to dry them out (didn’t do a thing, except make my skin all flaky so I looked like I had dandruff and the pox).

I borrowed some ointment off of Gareth. (He’s worse off than me, the poor sod, just a face full of them.) (Which should have tipped me off that whatever he was using wasn’t working.) (Got an earful from Penny about that.)

I had some sort of allergic reaction when I used his, so my face was itching, red even in the areas between the spots, and felt like it was on fucking fire.

Practically scrubbed my face off trying to wash it away.

Of course, Baz walked in right as I came out of the en suite. Did a double take at the sight of me, the wanker, then raised that eyebrow of his and curled his lip up in a sneer. Leaned forward and studied me for a moment. My face got even hotter. I don’t like it when he stares at me like that, all intense and focused. Like he’s plotting the best way to end me without triggering the Anathema. Makes my stomach twist, it does.

Made me wish my wand wasn’t half way across the room.

But I know Baz won’t risk the Anathema. He’s never done anything remotely threatening in our room. (It’s another story out of our room.)

He’d crossed his arms over his chest after he was done inspecting me and smirked, the tosser. “You know, Snow, between the excessive quantity of moles, infinite number of freckles, and extraordinary collection of pimples you have on your face, I don’t think I can actually see anything resembling skin anymore.”

He’s going to make me trigger the Anathema one of these days.

I ended up having to see the nurse for it, when I couldn’t stop scratching at my face. She rolls her eyes almost as much as Penny. It’s not like I can help being there so often. I’ve got missions. Important work for the Mage. It’s what I do.

She’d shaken her head at me and cast some spell that made the itching go away but didn’t do a thing for the bloody spots. Looked bored and put upon even doing that, she did.

This teen experience is a bloody nuisance.

I’m more and more convinced Baz is a vampire. The entire class looks poxed except for him. Like we’re in the middle of a plague while he’s all alabaster skin, unblemished and smooth, immaculate and bloody flawless.

Perfect, just like he always is.

Wanker.

Baz

Snow is an absolute spotted mess. It was entertaining at first, to watch him peer at himself in the mirror, hear the muttered curses as he would catch sight of each new blemish.

But I’m actually finding myself almost feeling sorry for him now.

Almost.

He’s standing at his mirror, turning his face this way and that, grumbling to himself as he inspects his reflection.

It’s something he does on a daily basis since his skin condition deteriorated so precipitously. I should probably stop needling him about it.

But I won’t because he actually seems quite bothered by it. Can’t let him think I’m going soft.

I wasn’t joking the other night, when I mocked him. I don’t think he has a span of skin left that doesn’t have some manner of spot or blotch or freckle on it. At least he’s stopped with the alcohol washes. He was shedding more than a snake when he was doing that, leaving errant flakes of skin all over the bathroom sink.

Disgusting.

Whatever he’s doing certainly isn’t making anything better. Making it a far sight worse by my estimation.

He’s literally a textbook illustration of acne vulgaris. The full range: from red and bumpy spots, to glaring pustules, to crusted over, scabby craters.

More like a walking dermatologic visual in actuality. You could slap a label on him: progressive stages of teenage acne and the entire range of pigmented facial anomalies.

Although they weren’t really anomalies before the acne got to Snow. His moles and freckles just seem to fit with his tawny skin—vast arrays of constellations scattered across his face, mapping out patterns against the smoothness of his complexion.

I don’t know what I’m thinking. What absolute nonsense. Snow’s freckles are a travesty.

And he’s anything but smooth complexioned. He’s more of a lunar landscape than Shakespeare’s damask’d roses.

I can’t be arsed to mess with him now though. I’m too comfortable under my blankets.

It’s far too early for anyone to be up, but Snow’s probably readying himself to head off on one of the Mage’s blasted missions again. Despite the fact that it’s a Sunday morning and by all accounts he should be doing what the rest of us are—having a lazy lie-in.

I watch him from under half-lidded eyes, the blankets pulled up to cover the bottom half of my face. He growls one last time, savages his curls in an attempt to tame them, and then charges out the door. It slams shut behind him, further proof that Snow has no regard for the niceties of sharing a room.

Thanks to all his thumping about, I’m now wide awake. I try to go back to sleep, try to will myself into a drowsy oblivion, but that ship has sailed. No Sunday lie-in for me and I lay the blame directly on Snow.

I stay under the covers for a bit longer, dreading the chilly walk to the en suite, but eventually my need to piss outweighs the comfort of the bed.

It’s not until I’m washing my hands and happen to glance up at the mirror that I notice.

There’s a pimple on my nose. Not just on my nose—at the very tip of it. Right in the fucking center of my face. If it were anywhere else—my forehead or my cheeks, for example—I’d have some chance of hiding it. But this. I can’t hide this.

And I can’t hide the one on my chin either. Bloody hell.

I shouldn’t even have pimples. I should by all rights be immune to this. I don’t get sick, I’m not prey to infections—how the bloody hell have I ended up with acne, for Crowley’s sake? It should be one of the perks of being undead—imperviousness to the ravages of teenage skin eruptions.

For half a minute I wonder if Snow has spelled me, in retribution for my insensitive commentary on his facial imperfections. But there is no possible way Snow could have managed a spell this precise, this nuanced. I’d be covered in boils, like Job himself, if Snow had attempted to pox me.

That’s not to say that this is acceptable. It most assuredly is not. And there’s no bloody spell for it. Dev’s been spotty since last year and he and Niall have yet to find anything that does more than slightly diminish the redness.

It’s fine. This is fine.

It’s not fine.

I need to call home and talk to Daphne. Surely she’ll have some advice for me.

Simon

The sunlight filtering through the window wakes me up. I’m still knackered from yesterday. Didn’t get back until well after midnight and I’ve got class in just a bit. I stretch and groan as my shoulder pops. I wrenched it trying to free my sword from that basilisk’s skull last night. I roll my neck and pull myself to a seated position.

Baz is already up. The door to the en suite’s closed but I don’t hear the water running.

My stomach growls. I’ll have time for seconds if I get to breakfast early enough. I’m just about ready to head down there when Baz comes out of the bathroom, steam drifting behind him and bringing the scent of his shampoo with it. It’s some posh brand, in sleek, artistically shaped bottles.

Penny says it smells like cedar and bergamot. I’m not sure what cedar and bergamot smell like. All I know is that the scent is unfairly pleasant.

Unlike Baz, who isn’t pleasant at all.

He looks murderous at the moment, eyebrows lowered, eyes narrowed. He’s an arse in general but more so in the mornings. He’d sleep late if he had the chance—he’s rarely out of bed before nine on weekends, the tosser, not unless he’s got exams to study for or an away match.

I’m trying to stay out of his way as I leave but I make for the door right as he crosses the room to his wardrobe and we do this awkward half step to avoid each other.

And that’s when I see it.

He’s got a pimple on his nose. Right at the tip of it, where it comes to a bit of a point. It’s nothing compared to any of mine. I’d hardly notice it on anyone else but this is Baz.

It’s stark against his pale skin, raised and just slightly reddened.

Fuck. He’s got one on his chin as well. Two, actually.

Baz has spots.

Trivial and hardly noticeable ones, but still.

I open my mouth to say something then think better of it and hightail it down to breakfast.

I still can’t quite believe it.

Baz has spots.

Penny is disappointingly unimpressed by this unexpected and highly irregular development.

“Simon, we all have spots. This is not some earth-shattering revelation. It’s puberty. A normal part of human development. We’ve been over this.”

“No, but this is Baz. Baz, Penny. He’s not human.”

Penny rolls her eyes again. She rolls her eyes rather a lot, I’m thinking. “He is if he has spots, Simon. I’d say this disproves your vampire hypothesis for good.”

“Maybe vampires aren’t immune to acne.”

“Simon.”

“Maybe it’s some plot. He probably magicked them up himself, the scheming prick.”

“You’re relentless! First you’re outraged that he doesn’t have spots, now you’re complaining that he does! For Merlin’s sake, Baz has finally shown himself to be as imperfect as the rest of us, so let it go, Simon.”

“He’s not imperfect. Far from it. Even his pimples are impeccable—small, unobtrusive, uh . . . restrained.”

Penny stands up, takes her plate and glares at me over the top of her glasses. “That’s enough, Simon. You’re being absurd. No one has perfect pimples.” She stomps across the hall to deposit her dishes, turning back to give me a disapproving look.

I scowl at her. Baz walks in as Penny goes out.

She’s wrong this time. Penny’s not wrong about much, but she’s wrong about this.

Baz’s pimples are fucking perfect.

It’s so fucking unfair.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23383057

#carry on #baz pitch #simon snow #snowbaz #my fics #my writing #pimples #rainbow’s twitter #watford #rainbow said Baz has acne how could I resist writing this?

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Jupiter’s Legacy: Ian Quinlan is the Mysterious Hutch

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Generationally speaking, the character of “Hutch” Hutchence is in an interesting position on Jupiter’s Legacy. He’s another bridge between the generations of heroes.

The man who plays Hutch is Ian Quinlan, who has appeared in the films City Hall and Music of the Heart. On television his credits include episodes of Lifestories: Families in Crisis, The Carrie Diaries, The Family, Gotham, Sneaky Pete, and Orange is the New Black.

WHO IS HUTCH?

NAME: “Hutch” Hutchence

ALTER EGO: None

POWERS AND ABILITIES: Possesses the Power Rod which allows Hutch to teleport himself and others anywhere simply by naming the location. It also emits energy blasts.

NEED TO KNOW: Son of George Hutchence. A complex, charismatic wild card who prefers the company of young villains. Hutch didn’t inherit his dad’s superpowers, but relies on his Power Rod, which enables him to navigate life as a con man with a conscience.

What was shooting this show like?

It was a freaking blast to film. Like shooting three movies at once. We go back in time, then in the present we have the superhero side of things that feels like Christian Bible Camp, and on the other side is Hutch and the Hutch Gang, which is like The Sex Pistols meets Guardians of the Galaxy.

It sounds like you’re having a great time with it.

Yeah, it’s really awesome. With all the action sequences and the subject matter and the character and the crew that I get to play and play with it’s just a blast. And I get to basically be like a version of Sid Vicious meets Tyler Durden.

What attracted you to it?

When I read the script and realized it was Mark Millar, it blew my mind. I read all of his stuff growing up — The Ultimates, Civil War, The Authority. Once I knew it was him, I was, like, “Oh, I know what this guy wants.”

Which is what?

When he did Civil War for Marvel, it asked, “What are our values? Where are we going? Do we want to adopt a new set of codes of conduct?” I found that very similar to The Union, when their children are getting ready to take over and don’t necessarily subscribe to their code. And what happens when they want to make changes and there’s nobody really to hold them accountable?

How does Hutch fit into that?

Well, he doesn’t really subscribe to heroes and villains or capes and spandex. That’s what felt like Mark Millar: he’s always talking about this theme of superheroes and how they would fit into the real world and what society would actually have to say to them. I found that very cool and very exciting.

How do you view Hutch as a person? What is your take on him?

I think Hutch is definitely an iconoclast. I think he’s a guy who had to grow up fending for himself and fighting for everything he could ever get. I think he simply got a chip on his shoulder. He’s the black sheep of this super family.

He’s the son of the world’s greatest supervillain, but he’s never met the man. Not only is he the black sheep, but he’s also got this stigma attached to him. I think he’s feeling like an outcast and he sort of adopts and lives in that world of the outlaw. He’s looking for his own authenticity…and he has made his own family and they sort of live outside of the law. He protects those he loves and he doesn’t really let a lot of people in.

What I really like about Hutch is that, and what I like about stories like this in general, I like antiheroes. I like people who do bad things for good reasons and have to live with those choices.

His weapon of choice is very cool.

The Power Rod is so freaking cool. It looks really great. I can’t wait for you to see it.

What is Hutch’s journey like as the show goes on? How do you think he changes from where we meet him to where we finish with him this season?

He’s trying to figure out who he is to some degree and that’s because he doesn’t know his father. I think part of that is the search for identity. He finds a kindred spirit…Mark sees them as Romeo and Juliet, but I see them as Sid and Nancy a little bit. They find this interesting romance of challenging one another to figure out who they are and to break away from these traditional roles. So I think this guy’s going to find that he’s maybe not as alone as he used to be.

Is it annoying or is it a relief that you don’t have to wear an intricate superhero costume?

Let me tell you something, Lizz Wolf, our costume designer, is brilliant. Whenever I work on a show, I always want to talk to the designers because they’ve been doing this way longer than I have and have so many better ideas than I do. Lizz Wolf showed me her vision board for Hutch, and it was these very kind of transient, rich clothes, found items, very thrift store-y, found items. Things to reimagine to fit new purposes. And she’s like, ‘I think in this world where people have these symbols and these uniforms that the counterculture movement wears ridiculously mix and matched stuff as a sort of F-U to authority and to that sell-out culture.’

She had me in these really awesome pants and she had me in all this found jewelry, sort of like Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean. Here comes the Utopian in his big cape and his chest logo and spandex, and you got me in a Hawaiian t-shirt and a shark tooth necklace and a power rod. This is my uniform… I’ve thoroughly loved my outfits.

There’s so many different superhero universes out there right now. How do you feel Jupiter’s Legacy stands apart?

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Mark said it best. I think superhero movies and shows are like Shakespeare and he does too. It’s really cool to see different versions of these things and different styles of these ideas in different ways. We’re dealing with superhero family and the trials and tribulations they face both as superheroes, but also the toll it takes on their family while they’re trying to navigate this world. I think superhero shows are always about the belief in something greater than the individual and a collective belief. That’s really cool, so I think they’re always going to be around. There’s always something new to imagine and discover.

The post Jupiter’s Legacy: Ian Quinlan is the Mysterious Hutch appeared first on Den of Geek.

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grigori77 · 4 years

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Movies of 2020 - My Pre-Summer Favourites (Part 2)

The Top Ten:

10. TRUE HISTORY OF THE KELLY GANG – Justin Kurzel has been on my directors-to-watch list for a while now, each of his offerings impressing me more than the last (his home-grown Aussie debut, Snowtown, was a low key wallow in Outback nastiness, while his follow up, Macbeth, quickly became one of my favourite Shakespeare flicks, and I seem to be one of the frustrated few who actually genuinely loved his adaptation of Assassin’s Creed, considering it to be one the very best video game movies out there), and his latest is no exception – returning to his native Australia, he’s brought his trademark punky grit and fever-dream edginess to bear in his quest to bring his country’s most famous outlaw to the big screen in a biopic truly worthy of his name. Two actors bring infamous 19th Century bushranger Ned Kelly to life here, and they’re both exceptional – the earlier half of the film sees newcomer Orlando Schwerdt explode onto the screen as the child Ned, all righteous indignation and fiery stubbornness as he rails against the positions his family’s poverty continues to put him in, then George MacKay (Sunshine On Leith, Captain Fantastic) delivers the best performance of his career in the second half, a barely restrained beast as Ned grown, his mercurial turn bringing the man’s inherent unpredictability to the fore. The Babadook’s Essie Davis, meanwhile, frequently steals the film from under both of them as Ellen, the fearsome matriarch of the Kelly clan, and Nicholas Hoult is similarly impressive as Constable Fitzpatrick, Ned’s slimily duplicitous friend/nemesis, while there are quality supporting turns from Charlie Hunnam and Russell Crowe as two of the most important men of Ned’s formative years. In Kurzel’s hands, this account of Australia’s greatest true-life crime saga becomes one of the ultimate marmite movies – its glacial pace, grubby intensity and frequent brutality will turn some viewers off, but fans of more “alternative” cinema will find much to enjoy here. There’s a blasted beauty to its imagery (this is BY FAR the bleakest the Outback’s ever looked on film), while the screenplay from relative unknown Shaun Grant (adapting Peter Carey’s bestselling novel) is STRONG, delivering rich character development and sublime dialogue, and Kurzel delivers some brilliantly offbeat and inventive action beats in the latter half that are well worth the wait. Evocative, intense and undeniable, this has just the kind of irreverent punk aesthetic that I’m sure the real life Ned Kelly would have approved of …

9. JUST MERCY – more true-life cinema, this time presenting an altogether classier account of two idealists’ struggle to overturn horrific racial injustices in Alabama. Writer-director Destin Daniel Cretton (Short Term 12, The Glass Castle) brings heart, passion and honest nobility to the story of fresh-faced young lawyer Bryan Stevenson (Michael B. Jordan) and his personal crusade to free Walter “Johnny D” McMillan (Jamie Foxx), an African-American man wrongfully sentenced to death for the murder of a white woman. His only ally is altruistic young paralegal Eva Ansley (Cretton’s regular screen muse Brie Larson), while the opposition arrayed against them is MAMMOTH – not only do they face the cruelly racist might of the Alabama legal system circa 1989, but a corrupt local police force determined to circumvent his efforts at every turn and a thoroughly disinterested prosecutor, Tommy Chapman (Rafe Spall), who’s far too concerned with his own personal political ambitions to be any help. The cast are uniformly excellent, Jordan and Foxx particularly impressing with career best performances that sear themselves deep into the memory, while there’s a truly harrowing supporting turn from Rob Morgan as Johnny D’s fellow Death Row inmate Herbert, whose own execution date is fast approaching. This is courtroom drama at its most gripping, Cretton keeping the inherent tension cranked up tight while tugging hard on our heartstrings for maximum effect, and the result is a timely, racially-charged throat-lumper of considerable power and emotional heft that guarantees there won’t be a single dry eye in the house by the time the credits roll. Further proof, then, that Destin Daniel Cretton is one of those rare talents of his generation – next up is his tour of duty in the MCU with Shang-Chi & the Legend of the Ten Rings, and if this seems like a strange leftfield turn given his previous track record, I nevertheless have the utmost confidence in him after seeing this …

8. UNDERWATER – at first glance, this probably seems like a strange choice for the year’s current Top Ten – a much-maligned, commercially underperforming glorified B-movie creature-feature headlined by the former star of the Twilight franchise, there’s no way that could be any good, surely? Well hold your horses, folks, because not only is this very much worth your time and a comprehensive suspension of your low expectations, but I can’t even consider this a guilty pleasure – as far as I’m concerned this is a GENUINELY GREAT FILM, without reservation. The man behind the camera is William Eubank, a director whose career I’ve been following with great interest since his feature debut Love (a decidedly oddball but strangely beautiful little space movie) and its more high profile but still unapologetically INDIE follow-up The Signal, and this is the one where he finally delivers wholeheartedly on all that wonderful sci-fi potential. The plot is deceptively simple – an industrial conglomerate has established an instillation drilling right down to the very bottom of the Marianas Trench, the deepest point in our Earth’s oceans, only for an unknown disaster to leave six survivors from the operation’s permanent crew stranded miles below the surface with very few escape options left – but Eubank and writers Brian Duffield (Jane Got a Gun, Insurgent) and Adam Cozad (The Legend of Tarzan) wring all the possible suspense and fraught, claustrophobic terror out of the premise to deliver a piano wire-tense horror thriller that grips from its sudden start to a wonderfully cathartic climax. The small but potent cast are all on top form, Vincent Cassel, Jessica Henwick (Netflix’ Iron Fist) and John Gallagher Jr. (Hush, 10 Cloverfield Lane) particularly impressing, and even the decidedly hit-and-miss T.J. Miller delivers a surprisingly likeable turn here, but it’s that Twilight alumnus who REALLY sticks in your memory here – Kristen Stewart’s been doing a pretty good job lately distancing herself from the role that, unfortunately, both made her name and turned her into an object of (rather unfair) derision for many years, but in my opinion THIS is the performance that REALLY separates her from Bella effing-Swan. Mechanical engineer Norah Price is tough, ingenious and fiercely determined, but with the right amount of vulnerability that we really root for her, and Stewart acts her little heart out in a turn sure to win over her strongest detractors. The creature effects are impressive too, the ultimate threat proving some of the nastiest, most repulsively icky creations I’ve seen committed to film, and the inspired design work and strong visual effects easily belie the film’s B-movie leanings. Those made uneasy by deep, dark open water or tight, enclosed spaces should take heed that this can be a tough watch, but anyone who likes being scared should find plenty to enjoy here. Altogether a MUCH better film than its mediocre Rotten Tomatoes rating makes it out to be …

7. ONWARD – Disney and Pixar’s latest digitally animated family feature clearly has a love of tabletop fantasy roleplay games like Dungeons & Dragons, its quirky modern-day AU take populated by fantastical races and creatures seemingly tailor-made for the geek crowd … needless to say, me and many of my friends absolutely loved it. That doesn’t mean that the classic Disney ideals of love, family and believing in yourself have been sidelined in favour of fan-service – this is as heartfelt, affecting and tearful as their previous standouts, albeit with plenty of literal magic added to the metaphorical kind. The central premise is a clever one – once upon a time, magic was commonplace, but over the years technology came along to make life easier, so that in the present day the various races (elves, centaurs, fauns, pixies, goblins and trolls among others) get along fine without it. Then timid elf Ian Lightfoot (Tom Holland) receives a wizard’s staff for his sixteenth birthday, a bequeathed gift from his father, who died before he was born, with instructions for a spell that could bring him back to life for one whole day. Encouraged by his brash, over-confident wannabe adventurer elder brother Barley (Chris Pratt), Ian tries it out, only for the spell to backfire, leaving them with the animated bottom half of their father and just 24 hours to find a means to restore the rest of him before time runs out. Cue an “epic quest” … needless to say, this is another top-notch offering from the original masters of the craft, a fun, affecting and thoroughly infectious family-friendly romp with a winning sense of humour and inspired, flawless world-building. Holland and Pratt are both fantastic, their odd-couple chemistry effortlessly driving the story through its ingenious paces, and the ensuing emotional fireworks are hilarious and heartbreaking in equal measure, while there’s typically excellent support from Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Elaine from Seinfeld) as Ian and Barley’s put-upon but supportive mum, Laurel, Octavia Spencer as once-mighty adventurer-turned-restaurateur “Corey” the Manticore and Mel Rodriguez (Getting On, The Last Man On Earth) as overbearing centaur cop (and Laurel’s new boyfriend) Colt Bronco. The film marks the sophomore feature gig for Dan Scanlon, who debuted with 2013’s sequel Monsters University, and while that was enjoyable enough I ultimately found it non-essential – no such verdict can be levelled against THIS film, the writer-director delivering magnificently in all categories, while the animation team have outdone themselves in every scene, from the exquisite world-building and character/creature designs to some fantastic (and frequently delightfully bonkers) set-pieces, while there’s a veritable riot of brilliant RPG in-jokes to delight geekier viewers (gelatinous cube! XD). Massive, unadulterated fun, frequently hilarious and absolutely BURSTING with Disney’s trademark heart, this is currently (and deservedly) my animated feature of the year. It’s certainly gonna be a tough one to beat …

6. THE GENTLEMEN – Guy Ritchie’s been having a rough time with his last few movies (The Man From UNCLE didn’t do too bad but it wasn’t exactly a hit and was largely overlooked or simply ignored critically, while intended franchise-starter King Arthur: Legend of the Sword was largely derided and suffered badly on release, dying a quick death financially – it’s a shame on both counts, because I really liked them), so it’s nice to see him having some proper success with his latest, even if he has basically reverted to type to do it. Still, when his newest London gangster flick is THIS GOOD it seems churlish to quibble – this really is what he does best, bringing together a collection of colourful geezers and shaking up their status quo, then standing back and letting us enjoy the bloody, expletive-riddled results. This particularly motley crew is another winning selection, led by Matthew McConaughey as ruthlessly successful cannabis baron Mickey Pearson, who’s looking to retire from the game by selling off his massive and highly lucrative enterprise for a most tidy sum (some $400,000,000 to be precise) to up-and-coming fellow American ex-pat Matthew Berger (Succession’s Jeremy Strong, oozing sleazy charm), only for local Chinese triad Dry Eye (Crazy Rich Asians’ Henry Golding, chewing the scenery with enthusiasm) to start throwing spanners into the works with the intention of nabbing the deal for himself for a significant discount. Needless to say Mickey’s not about to let that happen … McConaughey is ON FIRE here, the best he’s been since Dallas Buyers Club in my opinion, clearly having great fun sinking his teeth into this rich character and Ritchie’s typically sparkling, razor-witted dialogue, and he’s ably supported by a uniformly excellent ensemble cast, particularly co-star Charlie Hunnam as Mickey’s ice-cold, steel-nerved right-hand-man Raymond Smith, Downton Abbey’s Michelle Dockery as his classy, strong-willed wife Rosalind, Colin Farrell as a wise-cracking, quietly exasperated MMA trainer and small-time hood simply known as the Coach (who gets many of the film’s best lines), and, most notably, Hugh Grant as the film’s nominal narrator, thoroughly morally bankrupt private investigator Fletcher, who consistently steals the film. This is Guy Ritchie at his very best – a twisty rug-puller of a plot that constantly leaves you guessing, brilliantly observed and richly drawn characters you can’t help loving in spite of the fact there’s not a single hero among them, a deliciously unapologetic, politically incorrect sense of humour and a killer soundtrack. It got the cinematic year off to a cracking start, and looks set to stay high in the running for the remainder – it’s EASILY Ritchie’s best film since Sherlock Holmes, and a strong call-back to the heady days of Snatch (STILL my favourite) and Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels. Here’s hoping he’s on a roll again, eh?

5. THE INVISIBLE MAN – looks like third time’s a charm for Leigh Whannell, writer-director of my current horror movie of the year – while he’s had immense success as a horror writer over the years (co-creator of both the Saw and Insidious franchises), as a director his first two features haven’t exactly set the world alight, with debut Insidious: Chapter III garnering similar takes to the rest of the series but ultimately turning out to be a bit of a damp squib quality-wise, while his second feature Upgrade was a stone-cold masterpiece that was (rightly) EXTREMELY well received critically, but ultimately snuck in under the radar and has remained a stubbornly hidden gem since. No such problems with his third feature, though – his latest collaboration with producer Jason Blum and his insanely lucrative Blumhouse Pictures has proven a massive hit both financially AND with reviewers, and deservedly so. Having given up on trying to create a shared cinematic universe inhabited by their classic monsters, Universal have resolved to concentrate on standalones to showcase their elite properties, and their first try is a rousing success, Whannell bringing HG Wells’ dark and devious human monster smack into the 21st Century as only he can. The result is a surprisingly subtle piece of work, much more a lethally precise exercise in cinematic sleight of hand and extraordinary acting than flashy visual effects, very much adhering to the Blumhouse credo of maximum returns for minimum bucks as the story is stripped right back to its bare essentials and allowed to play out without any unnecessary weight. The Handmaid’s Tale’s Elizabeth Moss once again confirms what a masterful actress she is as she brings all her performing weapons to bear in the role of Cecelia “Cee” Kass, the cloistered wife of affluent but monstrously abusive optics pioneer Aidan Griffin (Netflix’ The Haunting of Hill House’s Oliver Jackson-Cohen), who escapes his clutches in the furiously tense opening sequence and goes to ground with the help of her closest childhood friend, San Francisco cop James Lanier (Leverage’s Aldis Hodge) and his teenage daughter Sydney (A Wrinkle in Time’s Storm Reid). Two weeks later, Aidan commits suicide, leaving Cee with a fortune to start her life over (with the proviso that she’s never ruled mentally incompetent), but as she tries to find her way in the world again little things start going wrong for her, and she begins to question if there might be something insidious going on. As her nerves start to unravel, she begins to suspect that Aidan is still alive, still very much in her life, fiendishly toying with her and her friends, but no-one can see him. Whannell plays her paranoia up for all it’s worth, skilfully teasing out the scares so that, just like her friends, we begin to wonder if it might all in her head after all, before a spectacular mid-movie reveal throws the switch into high gear and the true threat becomes clear. The lion’s share of the film’s immense success must of course go to Moss – her performance is BEYOND a revelation, a truly blistering career best turn that totally powers the whole enterprise, and it almost goes without saying that she’s the best thing in this. Even so, she has sterling support from Hodge and Reid, as well as Love Child’s Harriet Dyer as Cee’s estranged big sister Emily and Wonderland’s Michael Dorman as Adrian’s slimy, spineless lawyer brother Tom, and, while he doesn’t have much actual (ahem) “screen time”, Jackson-Cohen delivers a fantastically icy, subtly malevolent turn which casts a large “shadow” over the film. This is one of my very favourite Blumhouse films, a pitch-perfect psychological chiller that keeps the tension cranked up unbearably tight and never lets go, Whannell once again displaying uncanny skill with expert jump-scares, knuckle-whitening chills and a truly astounding standout set-piece that looks set to go down as one of the year’s top action sequences. Undoubtedly the best version of Wells’ story to date, this goes a long way in repairing the damage of Universal’s abortive “Dark Universe” efforts, as well as showcasing a filmmaking master at the very height of his talents.

4. EXTRACTION – the Coronavirus certainly has thrown a massive spanner in the works of this year’s cinematic calendar – the new A Quiet Place sequel should have been setting the big screen alight for almost two months now, while the latest (and most long-awaited) MCU movie, Black Widow, should have just opened to further record-breaking box office success, but instead the theatres are all closed and virtually all the big blockbusters have been pushed back or shelved indefinitely. Thank God, then, for the streaming services, particularly Hulu, Amazon and Netflix, the latter of which provided a perfect movie for us to see through the key transition from spring to the summer blockbuster season, an explosively flashy big budget action thriller ushered in by MCU alumni the Russo Brothers (who produced and co-wrote this adaptation of Ciudad, a graphic novel that Joe Russo co-created with Ande Parks and Fernando Leon Gonzalez) and barely able to contain the sheer star-power wattage of its lead, Thor himself. Chris Hemsworth plays Tyler Rake, a former Australian SAS operative who hires out his services to an extraction operation, under the command of mercenary Nik Khan (The Patience Stone’s Golshifteh Farahani), brought in to liberate Ovi Mahajan (Rudhraksh Jaiswal in his first major role), the pre-teen son of incarcerated Indian crime lord Ovi Sr. (Pankaj Tripathi), who has been abducted by Bangladeshi rival Amir Asif (Priyanshu Painyuli). The rescue itself goes perfectly, but when the time comes for the hand-off the team is double-crossed and Tyler is left stranded in the middle of Dhaka with no choice but to keep Ovi alive as every corrupt cop and street gang in the city closes in around them. This is the feature debut of Sam Hargrave, the latest stuntman to try his hand at directing, so he certainly knows his way around an action sequence, and the result is a thoroughly breathless adrenaline rush of a film, bursting at the seams with spectacular fights, gun battles and car chases, dominated by a stunning sustained action sequence that plays out in one long shot, guaranteed to leave jaws lying on the floor. Not that there should be any surprise – Hargrave cut his teeth as a stunt coordinator for the Russos on Captain America: Civil War and their Avengers films. That said, he displays strong talent for the quieter disciplines of filmmaking too, delivering quality character development and drawing out consistently noteworthy performances from his cast. Of course, Hemsworth can do the action stuff in his sleep, but there’s a lot more to Tyler than just his muscle, the MCU veteran investing him with real wounded vulnerability and a tragic fatalism which colours his every scene, while Jaiswal is exceptional throughout, showing plenty of promise for the future, and there’s strong support from Farahani and Painyuli, as well as Stranger Things’s David Harbour as world-weary retired merc Gaspard, and a particularly impressive, muscular turn from Randeep Hooda (Once Upon a Time in Mumbai) as Saju, a former Para and Ovi’s bodyguard, who’s determined to take possession of the boy himself, even if he has to go through Tyler to get him. This is action cinema that really deserves to be seen on the big screen – I watched it twice in a week and would happily have paid for two trips to the cinema for it if I could have. As we look down the barrel of a summer season largely devoid of big blockbuster fare, I can’t recommend this film enough. Thank the gods for Netflix …

3. PARASITE – I’ve been a fan of master Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho ever since I stumbled across his deeply weird but also thoroughly brilliant breakthrough feature The Host, and it’s a love that’s deepened since thanks to the truly magnificent sci-fi actioner Snowpiercer, so I was looking forward to his latest feature as much as any movie geek, but even I wasn’t prepared for just what a runaway juggernaut of a hit this one turned out to be, from the insane box office to all that award-season glory (especially that undeniable clean-sweep at the Oscars). I’ll just come out and say it, this film deserves it all. It’s EASILY Bong’s best film to date (which is really saying something), a masterful social satire and jet black comedy that raises some genuinely intriguing questions before delivering some deeply troubling answers. Straddling the ever-widening gulf between a disaffected idle rich upper class and impoverished, struggling lower class in modern-day Seoul, it tells the story of the Kim family – father Ki-taek (Bong’s veritable good luck charm Song Kang-ho), mother Chung-sook (Jang Hye-jin), son Ki-woo (Train to Busan’s Choi Woo-shik) and daughter Ki-jung (The Silenced’s Park So-dam) – a poor family living in a run-down basement apartment who live hand-to-mouth in minimum wage jobs and can barely rub two cents together, until they’re presented with an intriguing opportunity. Through happy chance, Ki-woon is hired as an English tutor for Park Da-hye (Jung Ji-so), the daughter of a wealthy family, which offers him the chance to recommend Ki-jung as an art tutor to the Parks’ troubled young son, Da-song (Jung Hyeon-jun). Soon the rest of the Kims are getting in on the act, the young Kims contriving opportunities for their father to replace Mr Park’s chauffeur and their mother to oust the family’s long-serving housekeeper, Gook Moon-gwang (Lee Jung-eun), and before long their situation has improved dramatically. But as they two families become more deeply entwined, cracks begin to show in their supposed blissful harmony as the natural prejudices of their respective classes start to take hold, and as events spiral out of control a terrible confrontation looms on the horizon. This is social commentary at its most scathing, Bong drawing on personal experiences from his youth to inform the razor-sharp script (co-written by his production assistant Han Jin-won), while he weaves a palpable atmosphere of knife-edged tension throughout to add spice to the perfectly observed dark humour of the situation, all the while throwing intriguing twists and turns at us before suddenly dropping such a massive jaw-dropper of a gear-change that the film completely turns on its head, to stunning effect. The cast are all thoroughly astounding, Song once again dominating the film with a turn which is at once sloppy and dishevelled but also poignant and heartfelt, while there are particularly noteworthy turns from Lee Sun-kyun as the Parks’ self-absorbed patriarch Dong-ik and Choi Yeo-jeong (The Concubine) as his flighty, easily-led wife Choi Yeon-gyo, as well as a fantastically weird appearance in the latter half from Park Myung-hoon. This is heady stuff, dangerously seductive even as it becomes increasingly uncomfortable viewing, so that even as the screws tighten and everything goes to hell it’s simply impossible to look away. Bong Joon-ho really has surpassed himself this time, delivering an existential mind-scrambler that lingers long after the credits have rolled and might even have you questioning your place in society once you’ve thought about it some. It deserves every single award and every ounce of praise it’s been lavished with so far, and looks set to go down as one of the true cinematic greats of this new decade. Trust me, if this was a purely critical best-of list it’d be RIGHT AT THE TOP …

2. 1917 – it’s a rare thing for a film to leave me truly shell-shocked by its sheer awesomeness, for me to walk out of a cinema in a genuine daze, unable to talk or even really think about much of anything for a few hours because I’m simply marvelling at what I’ve just witnessed. Needless to say, when I do find a film like that (Fight Club, Inception, Mad Max: Fury Road) it usually earns a place very close to my heart indeed. The latest tour-de-force from Sam Mendes is one of those films – an epic World War I thriller that plays out ENTIRELY in one shot, which doesn’t simply feel like a glorified gimmick or stunt but instead is a genuine MASTERPIECE of a film, a mesmerising journey of emotion and imagination in a shockingly real environment that it’s impossible to tear your eyes away from. Sure, Mendes has impressed us before – his first film, American Beauty, is a GREAT movie, one of the most impressive feature debuts of the 2000s, while Skyfall is, in my opinion, quite simply THE BEST BOND FILM EVER MADE – but this is in a whole other league. It’s an astounding achievement, made all the more impressive when you realise that there’s very little trickery at play here, no clever digital magic (just some augmentation here and there), it’s all real locations and sets, filmed in long, elaborately choreographed takes blended together with clever edits to make it as seamless as possible – it’s not the first film to try to do this (remember Birdman? Bushwick?), but I’ve never seen it done better, or with greater skill. But it’s not just a clever cinematic exercise, there’s a genuine story here, told with guts and urgency, and populated by real flesh and blood characters – the heart of the film is George MacKay and Dean Chapman (probably best known as Tommen Baratheon in Game of Thrones) as Lance Corporals Will Schofield and Tom Blake, the two young tommies sent out across enemy territory on a desperate mission to stop a British regiment from rushing headlong into a German trap (Tom himself has a personal stake in this because his brother is an officer in the attack). They’re a likeable pair, very human and relatable throughout, brave and true but never so overly heroic that they stretch credibility, so when tragedy strikes along the way it’s particularly devastating; both deliver exceptional performances that effortlessly carry us through the film, and they’re given sterling support from a selection of top-drawer British talent, from Sherlock stars Andrew Scott and Benedict Cumberbatch to Mark Strong and Colin Firth, each delivering magnificently in small but potent cameos. That said, the cinematography and art department are the BIGGEST stars here, masterful veteran DoP Roger Deakins (The Shawshank Redemption, Blade Runner 2049 and pretty much the Coen Brothers’ entire back catalogue among MANY others) making every frame sing with beauty, horror, tension or tragedy as the need arises, and the environments are SO REAL it feels less like production design than that someone simply sent the cast and crew back in time to film in the real Northern France circa 1917 – from a nightmarish trek across No Man’s Land to a desperate chase through a ruined French village lit only by dancing flare-light in the darkness before dawn, every scene is totally immersive and simply STUNNING. I don’t think it’s possible for Mendes to make a film better than this, but I sure hope he gives it a go all the same. Either way, this is the most incredible, exhausting, truly AWESOME experience I’ve had at the cinema this year (so far) – it’s a film that DESERVES to be seen on the big screen, and I feel truly sorry for those who missed the chance …

1. BIRDS OF PREY & THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN – the only reason 1917 isn’t at number one right now is because Warner Bros.’ cinematic DC Extended Universe project FINALLY got round to bringing my favourite DC Comics title to the big screen. It’s been the biggest pleasure of my cinematic year so far getting to see my top DC superheroines brought to life on the big screen, and it’s been done in high style, in my opinion THE BEST of the DCEU films to date (yup, I loved it EVEN MORE than Wonder Woman). It was also great seeing Harley Quinn return after her show-stealing turn in David Ayer’s clunky but ultimately still hugely enjoyable Suicide Squad, better still that this time round they got her SPOT ON this time – this is the Harley I’ve always loved in the comics, unpredictable, irreverent and entirely without regard for what anyone else thinks of her, as well as one hell of a talented psychiatrist. Margot Robbie once more excels in the role she was basically BORN to play, clearly relishing the chance to finally do Harley justice, and she’s a total riot from start to finish, infectiously lovable no matter what crazy, sometimes downright REPRIHENSIBLE antics she gets up to. Needless to say she’s the nominal star here, her latest ill-advised adventure driving the story – finally done with the Joker and itching to make her emancipation official, Harley publicly announces their breakup by blowing up Ace Chemicals (their love spot, basically), inadvertently painting a target on her back in the process since she’s no longer under the supposed protection of Gotham’s feared Clown Prince of Crime – but that doesn’t mean she eclipses the other main players the movie’s REALLY supposed to be about. Each member of the Birds of Prey is beautifully written and brought to vivid, arse-kicking life by what has to be the year’s most exciting cast – Helena Bertinelli, aka the Huntress, is the perfect character for Mary Elizabeth Winstead to finally pay off on that action heroine potential she showed in Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World, but this is a MUCH more enjoyable role outside of the fight choreography because while Helena may be a world-class dark avenger, socially she’s a total dork, which just makes her thoroughly adorable; Rosie Perez is similarly perfect casting as Renee Montoya, the uncompromising pint-sized Gotham PD detective who kicks against the corrupt system no matter what kind of trouble it gets her into, and just gets angrier all the time, paradoxically making us like her even more; and then there’s the film’s major controversy, at least as far as the fans are concerned, namely one Cassandra Cain. Sure, this take is VERY different from the comics’ version (a nearly mute master assassin who went on to become the second woman to wear the mask of Batgirl before assuming her own crime-fighting mantle as Black Bat and now Orphan), but personally I like to think this is simply Cass at THE VERY START of her origin story, leaving plenty of time for her to discovery her warrior origins when the DCEU gets around to introducing Lady Shiva (personally I want Michelle Yeoh to play her, but that’s just me) – anyways, here she’s a skilled child pickpocket whose latest theft inadvertently sets off the larger central plot, and newcomer Ella Jay Basco brings a fantastic pre-teen irreverence and spiky charm to the role, beautifully playing against Robbie’s mercurial energy. My favourite here BY FAR, however, is Dinah Lance, aka the Black Canary (not only my favourite Bird of Prey but my very favourite DC superheroine PERIOD), the choice of up-and-comer Jurnee Smollet-Bell (Friday Night Lights, Underground) proving to be the film’s most truly inspired casting – a club singer with the metahuman ability to emit piercing supersonic screams, she’s also a truly ferocious martial artist (in the comics she’s one of the very best fighters IN THE WORLD), as well as a wonderfully pure soul you just can’t help loving, and it made me SO UNBELIEVABLY HAPPY that they got my Canary EXACTLY RIGHT. Altogether they’re a fantastic bunch, basically my perfect superhero team, and the way they’re all brought together (along with Harley, of course) is beautifully thought out and perfectly executed … they’ve also got one hell of a threat to overcome, namely Gotham crime boss Roman Sionis, aka the Black Mask, one of the Joker’s chief rivals – Ewan McGregor brings his A-game in a frustratingly rare villainous turn (currently my number one bad guy for the movie year), a monstrously narcissistic, woman-hating control freak with a penchant for peeling off the faces of those who displease him, sharing some exquisitely creepy chemistry with Chris Messina (The Mindy Project) as Sionis’ nihilistic lieutenant Victor Zsasz. This is about as good as superhero cinema gets, a perfect example of the sheer brilliance you get when you switch up the formula to create something new, an ultra-violent, unapologetically R-rated middle finger to the classic tropes, a fantastic black comedy thrill ride that’s got to be the most full-on feminist blockbuster yet – it’s helmed by a woman (Dead Pigs director Cathy Yan), written by a woman (Bumblebee’s Christina Hodson), produced by more women and ABOUT a bunch of badass women magnificently triumphing over toxic masculinity in all its forms. It’s also simply BRILLIANT – the cast are all clearly having a blast, the action sequences are first rate (the spectacular GCPD evidence room fight in which Harley gets to REALLY cut loose is the undisputable highlight), it has a gleefully anarchic sense of humour and is simply BURSTING with phenomenal homages, references and in-jokes for the fans (Bruce the hyena! Stuffed beaver! Roller derby!). It’s also got a killer soundtrack, populated almost exclusively by numbers from female artists. Altogether, then, this is the VERY BEST the DCEU has to offer to date (Wonder Woman 1984 has got a MAJOR job ahead of it beating this one), and my absolute FAVOURITE film of 2020 (so far). Give it all the love you can, it sure as hell deserves it.

#movies 2020 #true history of the kelly gang #just mercy #underwater #onward #the gentlemen #the invisible man #extraction #parasite #1917 #Birds of Prey #birds of prey and the fantabulous emancipation of one harley quinn #awesome sauce

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autumnpleaves · 4 years

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can you tell me about your friends? -C (you dont have to)

Ooh! Sure, C! No problem! Hmm, since it doesn’t really specify which ‘friends’ you’re talking about, I’m going to talk about IRL and online ones! XD

This is gonna be a long one, but only because I love, appreciate, and care for my friends :)

So let’s start with my...

IRL friends ^-^

I won’t be using their ‘real names’ so... meh.

First up we have Eggen! :)

She’s such a joy to be around (no this is not sarcastic). She has this weird fluctuating emotions sometimes and it’s scary to deal with (but not as scary as Jessie-). Funny story about how we actually met was that we had this conjoining class in Ext. Maths and she was from another class. I was still a new student then, so I wasn’t really familiar with anyone and my friends from *my* class were in Ext. Maths too, and were friends with Eggen, hence we all had this weird group thingy at one portion of the classroom and we hung out together.

Now see, here, we weren’t really *friends* then. More like acquaintances XD

BUT-

I texted her because I saw in her profile, that she was a *HUFFLEPUFF* (which is different now, because it didn’t fit anymore- She’s a slytherin now :)) and I texted her saying “OH MY GOSH! YOU’RE A HUFFLEPUFF TOO?!!” I was a dork. It was stupid. And she replied “Haha, yeah...” and lemme tell you, I’m surprised why she’s still my friend to this day XD

She’s improved a lot since then, and I am honestly quite frankly really *really* proud of her. She’s grown a lot (literally, coz she’s short and metaphorically, coz she’s so talented and skilled and smart now! [Not that she wasn’t smart before, just saying, definitely you can see progress]) She’s talented in drawing, ballet, has great ideas, really hard working, productive, one of the most inspirational person I know :) I’m glad to call her my friend :D

(Only I get to call her Eggen though 0-0 ANyONe else who dares, will get a smack from me-) ALSO did I mention she likes to torture people by throwing her erasers at them? It’s funnnn memories :’)

Next up we haveeeee Lizze!!

Lizze now this one, I didn’t meet until like... at least a year after Eggen. Honestly. Don’t judge me, our school is biiggggggg. She had long hair then. At first I see her here and there, and it was pretty chill. Nothing too... ya know- friendsy just like oh yeah I recognize you. We were in the same scholarship program! So that was fun! :)

We didn’t officially properly meet until like a year after though, and well let’s just say it was fun. She’s one of the only friends I was able to rope into watching Sanders Sides with me and is also a huge geek nerd XD She’s ALSO REALLY REALLY HECKING TALENTED IN WRITING?! LIke WHAT?! WHo even?!

Yeah, such a great friend. She’s one of the people I go to when in need of any writing advice, or just advice in general! She really gives that second opinion and really takes things into account and I’m really just plain glad to call her my friend. I love her so much and like we would discuss and hang out sometimes on VC late into the night and it’d be funny watching her trying to navigate around her messy room :’) Ahh! Fun times XD

Then we have... NICO!! :)

Nico... was my first ever friend. Literally. In the new school. I’m gonna lay down the scenario XD

I walked into class on orientation day, not aa lot of students were there yet, I was early (for once). Nico was sitting on the left side of a table (we had two student tables) two rows from the back, near the windows. I walked in and was like Hm. Where should I sit? So I Decided that I wasn’t gonna be a wimp and decided to walk and sit next to Nico. He was also surprisingly a new student, so we kinda like related for a bit XD

Flashforward and Nico is one of my close friends? I mean he’s there and he’s fun to hang out with XD (I don’t do labels, sorry XD) We would joke around, play around, and he’s just a great fella all around! It’s just sometimes people might make fun of him and he’d get insecure sometimes, which makes me sad and yeah! Favorite memories with him would always be in Ext. Math. We’ve landed in the same class (coz we switch around every year) like twice and everytime it’d be the same! And well every time in Math I would ‘show off’ my amazing math skills and he’d try to compete with me. It was fun every time. *dreamy sigh*

I miss the competitions really. We’d compete to see who would finish first, who would do what part, and when either of us are confused we would annoy the other to get the answer XD I miss him :’)

Then we get... JILL! :D

Jill was another friend I met in my first year at the school. At first, she used to hang out with this other friend because they were stuck to each other since like primary, but slowly they drifted (which in my opinion might be for the best 😬)

She’s an otaku. A pure bred otaku. I had to deal with her anime fanatic years for like... 3 years and counting now. Why. But she’s wonderful and drawing and would always have this bad habit of drawing on anything and literally whatever surface she finds. The desk, her notebooks, her test papers, her *SKIN*, *MY* skin, her WATER BOTTLE (like what THE HECK- JILL?!) but like, it’s endearing XD

She’s great at complaining and hates hugs. She also hates mangoes- (If you remember what my catchphrase was? Yeah the, “GUESS WHAT? JILL HATES MANGOES” yeah it’s this Jill XD) I’m not joking. She’s great at complaining XD

Funny story is that once we had to do this video project thing and we just had Jill complain about the amount of homework we had to like compare stuff and what not, and she did it. IN ONE BREATH. NO HESITATIONS. NO SCRIPT. ONE TAKE. WE were all DYING after that XDDD Coz she’s literally known as a complainer and she has great logic skills. She also really LOVES money... so... i mean... yeah. She’s really like... conservative with her money but isn’t afraid to use it to spoil others, but not herself XD

Finally but not the last (I got more friends, but I don’t really... connect with them enough?) is BEEP! (no this is not her actual name, I just don’t really call her by her real name much)

The OG friend from first day of school! Nico? YEah Step ASIDE BRO! XDD This gal is my go-to cuddle buddy. LIterally. Our moms are kinda like... besties? (*shrugs* it’s complicated) so we kinda do a lot of things together XD We go to gym together, go to places together, road trip together. She’s a joy to be around. She is like the cuddliest and well usually she does get teased about for being fluffy but like that’s the best part about her 🥺. Her mom is also really picky about her appearance which as her friends, we were pretty annoyed by it, but I love her the way she is :)

First day of school and she walked by and asked to sit next to me. I said yes, without looking at her, coz I was *shy* (shush). Then we had an ice-breaker thing and LMAO guess what we bonded on-

FRICKING HARRY STYLES AND WATTPAD- (look, if you’ve been on wattpad, you’d know that Harry Styles stories on there is never really... safe. in a sense.) SO, we’d immediately bonded over that and literally the rest of the day was history. We’d go through class everyday together and it would be a blast, OF COURSE she had other friends and I had mine, we weren’t really in the same ‘stereotypical’ group (like she has the more... *mean girls* kinda group [I’M NOT SAYING SHE’S MEAN! But, I’m saying that they have the popular group- yeah there that XD])

I had my own group but we hang anyways because it’s fun. She has the most beautiful laugh, like... literally the loudest and beautiful-est laugh ever XD We have so many inside jokes. She’d hold on to them and start laughing randomly XD She cries a lot when she laughs so that always spurs us to continue laughing, gosh damn it, I miss her. I’m smiling so hard writing this.

XDD

Aight! That’s from my IRL friends!

Next we have my online friends! :DDD

First up, we have YAWN! :D

Yawn is quite frankly, the first person I ever actually connected to on Tumblr here XD

I’ve been through tens and hundreds of discord servers, jumped in tumblr group chats, and no where have I ever met anyone as wonderful as Yawn. Literally.

I would say we pretty much clicked and when *she* (look I asked okay. they said yes to all pronouns so- >:3 I’m going to have fun with it XD) expressed xeir love for PUNS of all things, literally, I was shooketh. SO I LITERALLY SPAMMED HIM WITH ALL THE PUNS I COULD THINK OF- ANd then HE LITErally PropOSEd- XDDD I don’t know man. It’s amazing :’) I don’t know how I got this lucky.

Yawn is like that refreshing giddiness you have as a child when you see a new toy or something. Yeah that’s Yawn. Literally every time we text it’s just so damn wholesome and so fun and it’s great! We’d talk about the most random things ever and it’d be amazing :))

Hhhhhhhhhhh, I’m just so damn proud of zem. LIke. Literally. Xir has come so far, and like... we haven’t really met for long yet but I just care about xir sooooooooooooooo much. It has always been there for me and I’m just so appreciative of it. We have so many- *WHEEZE* inside jokes- XDDD

One I can think of is literally “I run you, Shakespeare” and it’s HILARIou- XDDDDDDDDDDDD

I can’t- It’s beautiful XD

I just can’t believe that our friendship literally started with me just sucking up my anxiety and just texting people stuff and I honestly don’t know how it continued from there- XD

They are the most accepting person I know. Genuinely. I don’t know where I’d be without them :’)

Next we have... VOMMY! :DDD Or C-Gal... We gotta bring that nickname back XD

First of all, we met in a Fander Pride Meet Up server. VOmmy CAN SPEAK DUTCH and is SOO CREATIve and SO FRIckING Hard WOrking and such an inspiration. Always greets us and is always down for hugs and cuddles XD

Such a great tea friend, and has like the best aesthetic ever- literally. So old and vintage like a vintage mom and always down to talk about stuff! Ze is soooooo smart as well! And would infodump sometimes when ze’s not busy about stuff that I absolutely adore and love to hear about! Honestly the best vommy ever and ze has PLANTS like- *Woooooooooo!*

We met vommy and literally we can always geek out with zem. Sometimes life gets hard and we need to scream it out every now and then, and vommy would be there :)))

I am so proud of zem and just so damn happy to call zem my friend uwu

ALSO HAVE I MENTIONED THAT ZE CAN SING AND PLAY THE UKE AND WRITE SONGS LIKE WHAT THE HECK THAT’S EPIC AH

Then we haveeeeee... STARBURST! OR BOB THE BUILDER!

ANOTHER friendo we met in the Fander Pride Meet Up Server (seriously a lot of cool friendos there). One of the best advice givers and the most caring older sibling ever. Literally. Like I can’t stress this enough. He’s such a great cousin duck and just a great listener friendo ever.

Such a fricking talented writer and MUSICIAN AND FRICKING ARTIST LITERALLY THE WHOLE SHEBANG IT’s RIDICulOUS

I’m literally so proud of him. It’s crazy. He’s always been there for us, all of us. And is there to provide hugs and arms to cry on. ALSO HAVE I EVER MENTIONED HOW BEAUTIFUL HE IS??! LIKE WHAT THE HECK- AHhhhhHHHHHH

SO BEAUTIFUl- and PRETTY and GORGEOUS

Next we haveeeeeee- POPPY the POPTART! :D

First time we met in the Fander Pride Meetup, I may of may not have offended them. 0-0

woops.

I still feel really bad about that honestly. Uhhh, anyways, I won’t go too in depth on that. BUT ANYWAYS-

THEy Have been such a WONDERFUL presence in my life. LIterally. LIke They have such an cheerful vibe ever and would never fail to make me laugh or like coo or like anything coz they are soooo ADORABLE! They are also like really great cuddler and hugger and sooooo sooooo sooooo handsome :DD

Sure there are rough patches in their lives, but I adore them and am sooo sooo soo proud of them for being able to go through it and still come out with their heads high and just so damn happy that they will not give up that easily. I really admire their strength, and we are always there to support if they need help :)

Also, go check out @/poptartsaysurloved pinned post. See if anyone is willing or can help! :)

Next we have... ATLAS! Or LAssie as I like to call him XD

He’s one of the screaming cereal that I most definitely did not meet in the Fander Pride Meet Up and instead in another server and I’m glad to have met him XD

I don’t know the *exact* thing I texted him, but I definitely remember asking him about something in his status and I most definitely was satisfied with my answer and we just started talking in DMs for a bit, before I invited him in to the screaming cereal bowl server! :D

IT IS A BLAST

LITERALLY

ARSon kid can’t go a day without wanting to blow something up and frankly I’m concerned but such a great friendo

Provider of memes, jokes, laughs, hugs, cuddles, and fun time XD

I can’t even, it’s crack head moments every time with that lassie XD

AHHHHHHHHHHHH FINALLY but obviously not the LAST W E HAVE HEDGIE the ShellY HOGGLES

HONESTLY I LOVE THIS GURLY SOHECKING MUCH

She deals with my bull crap every day kind of and deals with a bunch of my mushy feelingsy moments! I can’t stress enough. Literally Shelly McScotty over here is like the most relatable person ever. Mood all the way and we have like SOO MANY SIMILAR INTERESTS

IT’s CRAZY! When I first found out that she watches like Unus Annus, Winx Club (SHOOSH IT’S A GOOD SHOW SHUSH) Literally, I’m like this is the best person ever. She’s also knowledgeable in a lot of stuff and is literally like the best person to go to when you need to get like informational stuff

Literally. I would info dump on her and she’d be such a great listener. Fricking Disney and Potterhead GEEK of the decade. HOly heck this lady is the literal embodiment of a disney princess. FIRST OF ALL, PERSONALITY IS THERE. SECOND OF ALL, HER LOOKS! HAVE YOU SEEN? LITERALLY SO DROP DEAD GORGEOUS ON FLEEK MAKEUP! AHHHHHh

I can’t get enough of this dude. Gives great advice and insight on soooo many things and I’m just so glad to have met this gurl. I don’t know how exactly we met, but I’m glad we did.

MIND YOU most of my friends are either from Tumblr or Discord so XD

AHHHHHHHHh

Welp! This was a fun! I definitely spent wayyyyyyyyy too long on this thing, but it’s worth it! XD

Hope you have fun learning about my friends from like a freaking geeking out stand point Canon! :D

I have a feeling you wouldn’t read through this entire thing, so well... AH! Hope you have a nice day and don’t sleep too late! Tell me about your friends as well! :))

#caps tw #caps #tw caps #anon stuff #anon #c-anon #canon #friends stuff #long post #I definitely did tag them in my Recs and Friends. And you'll see the occasional reblog or ask #answered stuff

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thatmiddle · 3 years

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Top 10 Albums that Shaped my Existence

How do I put this lightly, I believe listening to music matters as much as breathing. I know that is hyperbolic, but I don’t care. It can fuel your soul in a similar way that air fuels your body to move. It brings to life moments, places, and people. That’s probably why if you listen closely music is everywhere. It’s in the steel drums at Union subway station or the clarinet player at Yonge and Dundas Square. It’s is found from a broken guitar with unclipped strings in Kensington Market to a radio blasting out of an open window. It’s heard from the lake on a cool breezy summer night. It’s made by the leaves in the trees and the creatures roaming its branches. Music is inescapable.

Music is also a lot cheaper than therapy and for most, it is incredibly accessible. In saying that I do not mean to conflate therapy to music, but I do think there is a healing power to songs. This form of artistic expression has been with me during my brightest minutes and my darkest hours. I have relied on it like Aladdin did his magic carpet; it lift me up and took me to places I never thought I’d ever go. All I have to do was turn it on, tune in and drop out, as some would say.

During this pandemic I have leaned heavily into music, it is the perfect socially distanced escape. During this time that I have also gone back to old albums and reflected on how they influenced me and shape who I am today.

In Rainbows - Radiohead

If I had owned this album in an analogue form I would have destroyed it by overplaying it in my Discman. Radiohead is a wonderful band that have made wonderful albums but for some reason, this is the particular one I return to. To me, In Rainbows is the music I heard when I realized that I wanted to take my life in a different more creative direction than that of my peers. In Rainbows is the album I heard on carpool rides to Shakespeare Camp as a young girl. In Rainbows is what played in my head the first time I walked into Kensington Market as a young naive suburban girl. The music is so diverse with its sound but creates a distinctly modern tone. I find the music runs like a stream and cascades into fountains of sound I never expected. All the songs are beautiful but my favourite from the album has always been House of Cards.

Brothers - The Black Keys

If In Rainbows was an early marker of my youth, Brothers by The Black Keys established my teenage self and heavily moulded how I carried myself into my early twenties. With the raunchy guitar, hard drums and vocals somewhere between garage rock and blues, this album stimulated every part of my life. It is one of those albums that upon listening to the first fifteen seconds of the opening track Everlasting Light, I am immediately taken back to driving around in Toronto suburbs and getting into trouble. This album started my ongoing obsession with The Black Keys. Fun fact I named my first Tumblr blog off of a misreading a song lyric in the track The Only One, which also happens to be one of my favourite tracks on the album. I’ve tried to see The Black Keys live twice and both times I was unable to attend the concert. One day I will see them.

Revolver - The Beatles

There are a lot of Beatles albums I love and I wouldn’t say this is my favourite of theirs, but it is I would argue its one of their more underrated albums. From what I have gathered about Beatles fans (having been one since I was six years old), this choice isn’t mutually exclusive. It does however seem that established fans love either Rubber Soul or Revolver. For me, I choose the latter. This album is very experimental for the band as they were still coming out of their admired boy band era. I came to this album as a young girl whenever I played with my toys in the living room of my childhood home. I always heard a Beatles album playing in the background and when Revolver came on I was elated. My toys went on new adventures, met new people and told new stories. The Beatles have always brought out the creativity in me and I’m very grateful for that. Check out the song I’m Only Sleeping, it’s so meditative and my most replayed track.

Man on the Moon: The End of Day - Kid Cudi

I wasn’t in a good place when I was fortunate enough to be introduced to this album as being a teenager can be an incredibly difficult experience. Yet upon hearing this album I was pleasantly surprised, I never expected to find that catharsis in a young American rapper named Kid Cudi. I always liked some rap and hip-hip songs (don’t ever get me started on the importance of Sean Paul), but foolishly enough I never gave a full album or artist the chance. Man on the Moon found me at the right moment. This album’s production is so complex and crosses genres in ways I never expected; it leaves me wanting more every time. Kid Cudi hip-hop is different, Kid Cudi hip-hop goes deep and feels it. While Day ‘N’ Nite is one of the most recognizable songs on the album don’t sleep on Heart of a Lion, it’s beautiful.

For Emma, Forever Ago - Bon Iver

Like many teens in the mid-2000s, I made a Tumblr account. It was a great place filled with hormone-induced rage posts, images of skinny girls ripped from the website We Heart It, and boundless creativity. As a previous webpage creator hailing from the Geocities days, site creation was not new to me. I took up a URL and got to work. During this time I leaned deeper into the ‘indie girl’ aesthetic, which is where I found Bon Iver. Bon Iver’s music is soft and melodic and his guitar strums could whisk you away on a cloud. For Emma, Forever Ago was the soundtrack to the version of me who longed for combat boots, a-line skirts from American Apparel, and a cute hipster boyfriend to take me away from all my problems. I never got everything I wanted, but I was always able to sit in deep thought and listen to this album and for that, I’m incredibly grateful. The Wolves (Act I and II) is one of my favourite tracks off the album, I love the crescendo towards the end of the song it makes me want to release any bad feelings I have through some strong movement.

Is this it - The Strokes

I don’t remember when I first heard this album, I just know it was an unofficial anthem to my early twenties. Was it playing at that frat party? Or maybe it was at the live show in that bar one time. Is This It is the perfect album for starting out in a new place with dreams and about $20 to your name. This album is made for people entering young adulthood making mistakes and living for the moment. Garage rock is such an underrated genre, but perhaps that’s the suburban girl in me speaking. I want to dance every time I hear a track of this perfectly crafted experience. I hear those guitar riffs and I am taken back to running through Toronto at midnight with friends. Is This It is unapologetic and an outstanding debut album for The Strokes and cemented their status as indie rock legends, I don’t care what anyone says. There are a lot of amazing songs to recommend but I will try and spice things up. Last Nite and the title track Is This It are obvious choices but the bop you need to listen to is Someday.

Wish you were here - Pink Floyd

Everyone has to listen to Pink Floyd in university otherwise they never went…right? Pink Floyd always felt like a right of passage that I would eventually reach although I did cheat and wear a Dark Side of The Moon cropped t-shirt I got from HMV in high school just to seem cool. It wasn’t until first-year university I fell in love with the song Wish You Were Here. I’m sure I was just feeling nostalgic after moving out of my suburban bubble and into the big city for the first time. Nevertheless, after annoying my new roommates by listening to that song on repeat in my bedroom I decided to give the rest of the album a shot and immediately fell in l love. It is a short ride but an emotional journey. I thought I had felt everything I needed to feel at 21, then I heard Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Pts 1-5). If you were living under a rock and haven’t heard this album I recommend it. And do check out that track.

good kid m.A.A.d city - Kendrick Lamar

Swimming Pools was everywhere in 2012, it was synonymous with the nightlife which was surprising given its lyrics. Good kid MAAD city takes the ideas explored in Swimming Pools and expands them into a full universe. As soon as I turned on the first song I felt like I had been lifted from my cold Canadian home and into the chaotic Compton of Kendrick Lamar’s universe. This concept album has such depth I feel I learnt more than I would have ever expected. I love the way the album weaves recorded scenes with various characters and the music, it creates such a vivid picture as you listen through the whole piece. I felt deep sympathy towards the struggles told on the record in ways I never thought I would. Good kid m.A.A.d city is a great ride from start to finish without ever skipping a single track, but if you had to speed up to a gem I highly recommend the track Money Trees.

channel Orange - Frank Ocean

I was originally introduced to Frank Ocean through his work with Odd Future or as I proudly scribbled everywhere, OFWGKTA. Frank Ocean was always the quiet R&B guy from the group that I never thought I would have known much about but early 2013 rolled around all that changed. An old friend of mine had pointed me in the direction of new work by the musician and I ran towards the sound immediately. Frank’s voice is mesmerizing and he mixes sounds in ways I would never expect. His lyrics are dark and deep. This album got me through a lot of mixed emotions I started to experience as I worked my way through my undergrad. Frank understood what it meant to feel and I connected deeply with that. Pink Matter was the soundtrack to my life, I listened to it on repeat doing just about every task I could imagine.

House of Balloons - The Weeknd

I remember Toronto the year that The Weeknd released his first mixtapes. He was just an enigma floating through the city, no one could pin him down. I am one hundred percent one of the people who got their hands on the YouTube videos early and saved them immediately to my accounts. I wanted more and I didn’t know why. He captured a sound that still exists here today, it was dark and full of mystery. As soon as I got my hands on the first mixtape I popped that baby into my iPod and played it so much practically the full album made it to my ‘Top 25 Playlist’ on the device. I am obsessed with The Weeknd’s voice and as someone from Etobicoke, I am even more obsessed with the fact that he’s from Scarborough. He sounds like home to me and I will never be able to let that go. When I play this album (which is at least once every year I’ll have you know), I feel sure about who I am and where I come from. It’s not an explicit attitude to being from Toronto, but rather a feeling that you can carry throughout everything you do. The Weeknd carries that on a world stage and I am proud to say he is a Toronto native. Every song on the album is amazing and I say listen to them all, but do make sure you pay special attention to Loft Music. Nothing spells nightlife in Toronto more than at least one party in a condo or loft by Lake Ontario. I was actually asked to go to a late-night loft party by a random man at a Chinese restaurant one time so I can vouch for this happening in the city. Clearly, Abel knew what he was talking about.

Music is one of the most important things in my life. It is like a fuel I use to keep my motor moving. I find it anywhere and everywhere. I rely on it so much it has been the godsend I didn’t realize I needed during a pandemic. I think I am starting to understand why movies from the 1930s were so much about escapism; drifting off into another world during a difficult time can feel like magic.

What are 10 albums that shaped who you are? Let me know in the comments.

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lonelypond · 5 years

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fools

NicoMaki, Love Live, 8K, 1/1

Summary: Nico Yazawa, soon to be the toast of Chicago for her performance as Oberon in FoOLs! loses her favorite spot at her favorite coffeeshop to a stubborn redhead.

fools

Lily White was Nico Yazawa’s favorite coffeeshop. Run by three friendly, kind, cute women, all of whom had equally cute girlfriends so Nico could flirt freely, no ties, no worries, no misunderstandings. Although, Umi Sonoda did raise an eyebrow if she considered a compliment provocative. But it was a sly, smart eyebrow and HER girlfriend was the up and coming designer and stylist Kotori Minami, who was going to dress Nico for so many awards and opening nights. So Nico stopped by Lily White nearly every day on her way to or sometimes from the complex where FoOLs! was rehearsing.

Crunch time was coming. Nico had to be rock solid on her lines. Opening night was in two weeks, they had just moved to the actual theatre. The budget was so low, rehearsal time had been crunched and nearly all their time had been spent getting the singing and dancing. Nico was exhausted, between actual time spent at the theatre and the time spent on her social media accounts looking so much less exhausted than she felt.

Nozomi at the counter today, so full flirt mode on, a good way to distract Nico from the pain in her feet. She needed new insoles for her tap shoes.

Nico stepped in with a flourish, flipping her scarf over her shoulder, her hair bouncing with more energy than she’d had in three days, “Hey, stacked and sexy, got something warm for Nico?”

Nozomi rolled her eyes, “The usual?”

“You know it. Nico needs what you’ve got.” Nico, self critical as ever, realized that sounded a bit flat and approached the counter, leaning into her elbows, “Sorry, Nozomi, Nico’s tired today. How’s Eli?”

“She got a callback for Cinderella.”

“Good for her.”

Nozomi made Nico’s signature slushy, sugary, 3X caffeinated drink in no time flat and Nico spun to grab a back table, freezing when she saw someone already there, glaring at her. A redhead, with slightly slanted, half closed lavender eyes that would have been lovely with a kinder expression, a Red Stars cap covering vibrant red hair, and a femme tomboy sports aesthetic. Nico smiled and saluted with her cup, “That’s Nico’s favorite seat, but I’ll forgive you this time.”

“There’s no sign.” Sullen.

Nico sighed, a completely internal reaction, no matter how lovely this young woman was getting the more Nico looked at her, the scowl was hard to riff anything off. But Nico would try.

“Impressive pile of books. You a student?”

Expecting a yes, or none of your business, Nico was surprised by a “Just curious.”

“About?”

“Martha Graham.” The arm resting on top of two books seemed protective.

“Martha Graham?” Nico took another look. Maybe this was a dancer friend of Nozomi’s girlfriend, Eli. Would explain the sportif. “The choreographer?”

Eyeroll. Nico could hear the unsaid “duh” and shook herself free from any potential in this conversation and slid into the booth nearest to her usual seat,

“And her collaborators.” Ballcap went back to her reading. Nico sipped her drink, closing her eyes to run through her longest speech. She really needed to nail it tonight, for her own confidence.

Did that mean the dancers? Or the musicians? Nico considered asking but that would require energy she needed to save for rehearsal. It’s not like Ballcap would be delivering a performance critique.

###

Kotori was meeting Nico at Lily White after rehearsal; Nico wanted a new look for the pre opening social media blast. She was feeling particularly pretty in a very vintage-y feel swing dress, pink, scattered with pinker cherry blossoms. Kotori always appreciated her efforts. And while Nico’s costumes for Oberon were to die for, they def skewed butch and boi and Nico just wanted to be flirty femme-y pretty, just for an evening. She’d been wearing button down shirts, tweed trousers, and cardigans during rehearsals to get into the Co Ruler of The Fairy World, CEO of FoOLs Unlimited -- and wasn’t that a name. One of the lines that had carried through from the adaptation of William Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ kept popping into Nico’s head at odd moments, usually when one of her friends was complaining about their girlfriend: “Cupid is a knavish lad, thus to make poor females mad.” Sumi, the actress playing Puck in this initial production of FoOLs! had such a manic gleam in her eye when she rolled into the audience, laughing as the projected screens revealed texts of the mess she’d precipitated the four young lovers into. Her friend’s girlfriend complaints were gentle rain allowing Nico to thrive without thinking about finding someone to date. She had a career to launch with no time for pining or misunderstandings or thinking about what the other party might be interested in. And Tansy Clark, a fellow NU alum, and the TItania to her Oberon, was an excellent theatre wife, always sympathetic, always on time, professional and generous. And their voices blended so well. And Tansy’s girlfriend was a chef so Nico got occasional leftovers.

Nico bounced through the door at Lily White. Umi was at the counter. Nico skipped forward, leaned on the counter and bent forward to air kiss in Umi’s direction, just to watch the dark haired martial artist dodge as seriously as if Nico had been wielding a blade instead of just perfectly pinked lips. Honestly, if Umi hadn’t already had a girlfriend, Nico might have landed a kiss or two, just to see how quickly Umi’s ice melted. The flustering of someone so frosty would have been a rare treat.

“Nico.” Umi’s voice was stern, “We have had conversations about this. Keep your hands off this side of the counter.”

Nico laughed, “So can Nico put them on you instead? Is that more hygenic?”

“No, Nico cannot.” There was actual threat in Umi’s response.

“What if Kotori says I can?” Nico leaned on her elbow, giggling. Umi was so much fun to tease..

“Kotori doesn’t work here.” Umi shook her head, deliberately spraying and wiping where Nico’s hands had been braced. “And she’s running late.”

Nico sighed dramatically, “Is this anyway to treat one of your best customers, Umi Sonoda?”

“With the offset of the 20% standing discount you hoodwinked Nozomi into granting you and what I spend on spills and cleaning supplies, you cost us money.” Umi straightened up, her amber eyes confronting Nico’s, “The math has not been kind.” Then there was a wink Nico almost missed.

“Just wait ‘til FoOLs! opens, people will be lining up to catch a glimpse of Nico.” Nico half turned, flashing her signature smile and gesture to the imaginary throng, “Nico Nico Ni.”

Umi froze, “We could trade you to Dark Depths for one of their quieter, more polite customers.”

“You love Nico. You know it. Everyone loves Nico.” Nico spun, her hands thrown out in a dramatic gesture to get agreement from her hordes of fans. But Lily White was nearly empty, except for...Nico squinted, no ballcap this time, bright red hair, cute nerd glasses, frown again, pale lilac silk shirt unbuttoned one button further than someone who wanted Nico to be polite and ignore their cleavage might have done. But the tousled hair and the half untucked shirt, as well as the open books and sketch pads scattered across the table, all spoke of a haphazard mindset, not a devious one. One hand was drawing a pencil along a ruler while sharp, white teeth bit into the corner of plump, plum lower lip. And all of this was happening in Nico’s favorite seat.

“Who’s the invader?” Nico asked over her shoulder.

“Friend of Rin’s. No one you should bother.” Umi spoke quickly.

“Thanks for that advice, Umi. Can I get a caramel macchiato, please. Nico wants something different today. And Nico’s here to bother YOUR girlfriend, not some random stranger.”

Nico heard Umi pull the espresso shots as she found herself watching the redhead, who seemed to be creating some kind of room layout. Was she an architect? Or considering the neighborhood, a set designer? Had Nico seen a show she’d worked on? Would Umi give up the name if Nico asked. Rin was generally pretty easy going, but her shifts rarely coincided with Nico’s visits. As Nico considered all this, leaning against the counter, half listening for Umi’s return, the redhead glanced up, and once again, frowned, not a reaction Nico was used to people having on first sight of Nico.

“You can’t have this seat. I need the space.” It sounded more plaintive than demanding, the lavender eyes were...wary?

Nico held up both hands, “The glasses are a good look. Nico might need an accountant.”

Eye roll, plus head shake, “Google one.”

Nico took a step forward, “Nico prefers personal recommendations.”

“Pay for your coffee.” The pencil pointed to where Umi had placed Nico’s drink, then the redhead returned to working with the ruler, ignoring her audience.

Nico turned, “I’ll buy one of whatever she’s drinking.”

“No.” Umi sighed.

“Is that anyway to run a business?”

“Coffee, black. Thermos.” Umi didn’t look thrilled.

“Add it to my bill.” Nico tapped the counter.

“I’m not giving you the discount.” Umi reached under the counter.

“I don’t care. Just give me her drink.” Nico was still watching the redhead ignore her.

“It’ll never work, whatever it is you’re planning, Nico.” Umi poured coffee into a growler sized mug.

Nico put a $20 down, “Keep the change. It’s your charm. Nico is enchanted.”

“Leave.” Umi pointed at the door, but there was a flash of a smile.

Nico took that as a good sign as she took the barrel of coffee to her favorite table and carefully placed it on the small, still clear area just to the left of the redhead’s left elbow, “If you’re going to steal MY seat, at least tell Nico YOUR name.”

It definitely looked like a set, and mostly copied from one of the open books, Maybe Red was a student and just embarrassed to admit it? Nico leaned in a little so she could read the caption, “Isamu Noguchi’s design for Martha Graham’s ‘Appalachian Spring.’” Noguchi?

“Maki Nishikino.” A soft voice, almost silk, almost whispered.

Nico, not actually expecting a response, startled, nearly knocked over the growler. “So not Noguchi.”

“No. He’s a sculptor.” Volume was back and annoyance.

“Nico knows.” Nico snapped.

Maki snorted, “Really. Name a piece.”

Nico cheated a glance at the page, “Ummm…”

Maki, that was a nice name, Nico would remember it, closed the book. “There’s a fountain he designed for the Bicentennial outside the Art Institute, people barely know it was commissioned and completed.”

“Nico will check it out next time she goes, unless you’d like to give me a tour…” Nico had a hand on a chair. Maki reopened the book, finding the page again, picking up another pencil to keep the place.

“Nico!” Kotori’s trill floated in as the Lily White front door opened, “I’m so sorry I’m late. Hi, Umi!”

“You look lovely today, Kotori.” Umi’s happiness boomed. Nico couldn’t help smile at her friends’ mutual enthusiasm for each other.

“Thanks, Umi-chan!” Kotori stepped behind the counter to give Umi a quick kiss.

Nico caught Maki’s eye and shrugged; Maki glanced away, but picked up the growler, “Thank you.”

“Anytime. Maybe next time you’ll leave Nico her favorite seat.”

Maki’s eyes were more multi faceted polished quartz geode than petal, with luster brilliant in the depths. “Nope. Too comfy.” Maki leaned back, stretching her arms and then locking her hands behind her head, smirking.

“Cute.” Nico tapped Maki’s floor plot, “Nico is curious, but busy. So next time, explain.”

“If you remember…” Maki muttered.

“You won’t be Nico’s Noguchi fountain,,,” Yeah, Nico was going to have to work on talking to cute girls again because this was as lame as she’d ever sounded.

But there was a flush. And a fidget as Maki leaned forward again, doodling a small cluster of spirals.

And then Kotori was right there, “Oh hi, Maki. You don’t mind if I steal Nico, do you?”

“Not at all.” A grand gesture with the pencil, “I’m behind schedule.”

Nico felt dismissed, no one ever dismissed Nico like that, or closed a book on her, but she really did need to talk to Kotori, who was eager for a chat, unlike this Maki Nishikino.

So Nico let Kotori lead her to another table, where Nico got so involved in sketches and fabric samples, she didn’t notice when Maki left. ###

6 hour day turned into 10 plus hour day plus more to come. The composer had flown into town to add a new song, to replace a song which Nico had already spent at least three straight days perfecting. But no, now there was a “Fly and Fall” Oberon and Puck duet and Nico was stressed. And hungry. And the food they’d brought in was calories, but it wasn’t comfort. A break was coming up, Nico was backstage waiting for her entrance and she’d snuck out her phone for a whispered call, far away from lurking stage managers.

“Hi there! Lily White. What can I do you for?”

Rin. Ah, this would work. Rin was super friendly super helpful and wouldn’t make Nico beg until she was miserable.

“Rin! It’s Nico! I need caffeine.”

“OOOhhh, Nico emergency.” Rin said that a little loud and Nico almost heard another voice, but then RIn giggled, “What’s up?”

“Five extra hours of rehearsal, at least three more left, no decent coffee, and Nico needs a sugar rush like you wouldn’t believe. Can you please bring me my usual, super duper Nico sized, with a cookie or something, Rin? Nico’s a desperate woman. My break starts in 10 minutes. Meet me in the alley?”

“I’m on it. Something sweet is coming your way. At superspeed.” Rin’s cheerfulness defined contagious.

Nico exhaled, “Thanks, Rin. I knew you wouldn’t let Nico down. I’ll see you soon.” Nico shoved her phone in her pocket before Ari caught her.

Twelve minutes, not the ten Nico had told Rin. Nico ran for the stage door. The thought of warm and sweet and buzzy had gotten her through the last set of notes, which had not been Nico’s most complimentary. Her head was starting to throb. Waiting with a bag and Lily White’s LARGEST cup was not Rin, but Maki, dressed in black shorts too short for the early Autumn weather and an off the shoulder gray cropped sweatshirt, Red Stars cap at a jaunty angle to the right.

“That isn’t healthy.” Maki stated as Nico grabbed the cup out of her hand and swigged. Rin had managed to deliver it at a drinkable temperature. Bless the tiny ginger haired furry. . “Nico has exactly 13 more minutes and then I have to be note perfect on a song I just went so far off key on, Winnetka winced. Nico needs fast.”

“The bran muffin has some substance. And raisins.” Maki looked so serious, her eyes searching Nico’s face, but then Maki pulled the brim of her cap down.

Grumpy. Nico was now grumpy. And sugar deprived. She took another sip as she grumbled. “Nico wanted something cookie cute and sugary. What was RIn thinking?”

Maki shrugged, handing over the bag. Nico decided that as much as she wanted to just find a small closet, scream quietly, and then spend 5 minutes in a fantasy where she sipped coffee while Mindy Kaling pitched a joint project, she could spend a minute, just a minute enjoying the view, since Maki seemed at a loss for what to do next, one arm crossed in front, the other hand playing with a curl. One foot was braced back against the wall and both legs were very toned. Nico still suspected dancer. Nico put the cup down, took out the bran muffin, bit in, and then washed it down with mostly liquified SUGAR COFFEE STRAWBERRY BUZZINESS. Maki raised an eyebrow. Nico’s hand was trembling slightly as the warmth and calories made her realize just how hungry she was.

Nico inhaled, feeling like she go back and face the rest of rehearsal. “This is a big help. Thanks. I didn’t realize Rin was so busy or I wouldn’t have asked.”

Maki shrugged again. Well, Nico thought to herself, this was almost as good as alone, although...her eyes followed the progress of the neckline of Maki’s sweatshirt, which seemed to be slipping even further down her arm, leaving the left shoulder nearly entirely bare. Nico had no idea how that happened. Maki tilted her hat back, humming.

“How’s Martha Graham?” Halfway through her muffin, Nico couldn’t take the silence.

The shorts had pockets and Maki’s hands went there so Nico was forced to appreciate the curvature of the redhead’s hips. Thus she missed the update on Martha Graham.

“And Hanayo’s never done anything on this scale…” The unfamiliar name brought Nico back into the conversation.

“Hanayo?”

“Rin’s girlfriend.”

Oh, Nico thought, the cute mouse with glasses.

“Anyway,” Maki shook herself, refocusing, “She’s never done anything on this scale, but I think the origami’s a good fit for setting up models.”

Origami? Nico was really lost. She’d either have to ask a question or find out from RIn later...as she considered, her phone buzzed. Damn, break over in three minutes. Muffin was gone, Maki was looking at her with confusion, amethyst eyes a little clouded, Nico swigged the rest of the Nico Super Strawbuzzy Special and smiled, “Time to get back to work. Thanks for keeping Nico company. Now you can get back to stealing Nico’s favorite seat.”

Maki chuckled, “Makes my day.”

“Well, one day Nico will get there first.”

“Bet you won’t.” A wink.

Nico tossed a barb over her shoulder as she hopped up the stairs. “Nico believes in fair play. No bets with thieves. ”

Maki cleared her throat, smoothing her hair back behind her ear, her voice hitting the nervous range of high pitch, “Actually, since I’m an investor in Lily White, the chair’s technically mine.”

Nico was about to open the door, but she stopped, raising an eyebrow as Maki mouthed nothing syllables after the dull bragging clang of her sudden announcement.

Nico blinked and decided she didn’t have time for Maki to recover enough composure to speak, “Thanks again. Maki. Tell Rin she saved me.”

Nico saw the embarrassment as Maki flushed, but really had no time left so back into the theatre she went, redhead forgotten, new song the only thought in her head. ###

Nico’s mother refused to acknowledge the “text don’t call” pleas Nico occasionally texting her. She’d turned off her read receipts so there wasn’t even an acknowledgement of delivery. So here Nico was, let out of rehearsal early, actually answering the phone, to get the seasonal ‘where’s my future daughter-in-law’ nudge from her mother.

Nico opened the door to Lily White and waved at Nozomi as she refuted her mother’s arguments, “I”m busy, Mama. I’m a modern woman. We want success. And independence. Nico will get you Obie and Oscar awards you can show off to your friends.”

Nico mother tsked in her ear, “You’ll be happier if you have someone to share your successes with, Nico.”

“There’s you and the kids.” Nico lowered her phone, rolling her eyes to answer Nozomi’s quizzical look, “My mom. My usual, please.”

Nozomi grabbed Nico’s phone, “Hi Mama Yazawa! How are my nearly nieces and nephew?”

Nico glared.

“Bring them by sometime. I miss them too. But we’re almost as busy as Nico here. Although I have a lovely girlfriend.” Nozomi stuck her tongue out and Nico seized her phone back.

“Mama, you’re embarrassing me. I’ll call you tomorrow morning, okay.”

“I want you to be happy, Nico.”

“I know, Mama.” Nico couldn’t keep the exasperation out of her voice.

Call ended. Nozomi slid the cup Nico’s way, raising her hands innocently when Nico growled, raising a daunting palm. “You say nothing.”

Maki, in a white v neck sweater that looked a size too tight, was still occupying Nico’s preferred seat, playing with what looked like paper versions of Cotaro’s building blocks, so, grumpy, Nico slid into the cornerest booth, and slumped. This was a mood. She should be happy. Free evening because the sound board blew up, but instead disgruntlement prickled at her. Time to share the pain and get some sympathy and attention from her 11K+ loyal TWIG followers.

That’s what live streaming was far. The reality behind the life of a celebrity. The good moments, the low moments, the moments where your mom nagged you for the 520th time since you graduated college three years ago. Holding up her phone, Nico went live, taking a quick sip of her drink as she hit record.

“So how’s your afternoon? Does your mom ever call you to nag about when you’re going to meet the ‘right girl,’ settle down, and have a child? Or two? Just happened to Nico. For the 748th time. Of course, Nico could date. And have the cutest family in the universe. Because Nico’s wife would be even prettier than Nico. So imagine our children.That doesn’t mean you, Mama. You stop imagining them.” Nico shook herself, shaking annoyance off her tense shoulders like wet dog flings off water, “But one, Nico is a career woman, two, the planet’s practically on fire, and three, does anyone have time to date anymore? How do you meet people?” Nico took another sip, then remembered her morning notifications. “Although, remember how Nico set up a profile last month to get in character for Oberon the Love Arrow CEO and FoOLs? Got too busy and forgot to deactivate it, but this morning, Nico found out three cuties swiped right on Nico. Hi cuties!” Nico winked at her phone, “But Nico’s not in dating mode, although if anyone wants to meet my mother and claim they want to be the mother of her grandchildren, Nico might consider it.” A sigh, another sip, “So Nico deactivated that profile...oh my god, is that why Mama called?” Nico almost slammed her phone, of course her mother was stalking her dating profiles, “Mama, if you’re listening…” Nico shook her head, “Anyway, @ Nico with your dating horror stories so we can convince Mama an Obie is the only relationship for Nico. And get your tickets for FoOLs!” Another sip. “Next time, Nico’s giving you a sneak peek of the new song, ‘Fools Swipe In.’” Nico blew a kiss at her screen, her hand going to her temple in the gesture her father taught her “Nico Ni loves you.” Nico put down her phone, slowly and deliberately so she didn’t smash it and looked up. Maki was staring, mouth dropped open, and when she realized Nico was looking in her direction, she twitched, tearing the chair like object in her hand.

Nico winced. Maki frowned, put the pieces down, rubbing above her eyebrow. Nico decided to pry and moved, sliding next to Maki and picking up the torn piece, which was a very intricate piece of origami. Nico was impressed by the craftsmanship.

“Glue probably won’t fix that.” Nico pushed the edges together but the tear was too rough for any kind of repair.

Maki nodded, “At least I haven’t started shooting.”

“Just ripping.”

Nico realized Maki’s sulky pout was a triumph of genetics and personality.

“Joke.” Nico explained, “What is this?”

“Hanayo...” Maki paused.

“Rin’s girlfriend.”

“Right. Hanayo is an art teacher and I’m helping her with a project on famous collaborations by artists across mediums. It’s a short piece based on Graham and Noguchi’s…” Maki hesitated again.

“Fountain guy.”

“Appalachian Spring ballet.” Maki held the torn object in her palm and crumpled it, “This was the chair.”

“What are you going to do with it?”

“Hanayo’s recreating the set and a dancer. I’m recording the music and animating a minute of stop motion”

“Wow. Nico understands the ruler and the need for precision now. That’s intense. This is just for fun?”

“Well, I’ll probably put the in progress pictures and a video installation in my next show.”

Nico had her phone out and was typing.

“What are you doing? I was talking. That’s rude.” Maki snapped.

“Nico obviously should have Googled you.”

Maki’s hand dropped over Nico’s screen, “No.”

“Why not?” Maki’s fingers were resting on Nico’s hand. It was a nice warmth. Maki glanced away.

“Embarrassing. I’m sitting right here.”

“So you want Nico to stalk you AFTER you leave?”

“No.” Amethyst eyes blinked, “Just ask me.”

“What do you do?”

Maki inhaled, as if she’d prepared this, “I dropped out of med school and spent six months in Japan. Now I work as a musician. And do camera stuff.”

“Do camera stuff?” Nico knew she sounded as incredulous as Maki had sounded ridiculous.

“It’s complicated. You wouldn’t….”

Now Nico was losing her temper. “Nico is a professional actress. People take Nico’s picture all the time, Nico has been in movies, Nico has five up and coming, Sundance approved cinematographers in her frequent contacts. Try me.”

Maki shook her head, but not as a negative, just to get the hair that seemed to be going wilder with every gesture out of her eyes. Then she spoke so quickly Nico had trouble catching every word. “I need to go. I should tell Hanayo I wrecked this. She’ll have to make a replacement. Sorry.” Maki accidentally elbowed Nico as she started to pack up her set in a fishing tackle box.

Nico was surprised by the shakiness of Maki’s hands as she cleared her work area. “Nico is sorry if my live streaming disturbed you.”

“You disturb everyone, Nico-chi.” Nozomi boomed as the line of customers thinned.

Nico flipped her off, then turned to smile at Maki and continue, “Anyway, please apologize to your friend for Nico. I don’t want Rin to get mad at me. She’s the ONLY ONE WHO MAKES MY DRINK RIGHT.”

Nozomi threw a cup in Nico’s direction, which caused another part of Maki’s set to crash.

Nico picked it up, sorrow in her tone. “Tough day to be made of paper.”

Maki laughed. Nico suddenly craved that sound.

###

Nico swept into Lily White, bouncy. Yes, it was late, but opening night was in a week and the writer had finally signed off on all the changes. Now, Nico could focus on getting into the zone. And making sure the seats were packed with an appreciative audience.

“Nico has arrived. Start the party.”

Umi, behind the counter, polishing a copper pitcher, dinged a spoon off the rim. Nico bowed.

“Nico has five tickets for Opening Night. Who wants them?” Nico fanned out the tickets.

“Kotori wants to go but I’m working.” Umi grimaced apologetically.

“Nico will get you seats for the second weekend.”

“Thanks, Nico. Your usual?”

“Nico size it.”

Maki, of course, was in Nico’s seat, and there were almost familiar faces scattered in seats around the room. Some of them glanced up, whispering to their seatmate. Maki was staring intently at a laptop, seemingly not noticing Nico’s announcement or arrival. So Nico grabbed a seat and scooted next to Maki, jarring her.

Maki jumped, then glared at Nico.

“FoOLs! Opening night tickets. How many do you want?”

“None.” Firm.

“Don’t you want to see Nico at work?”

Maki flushed and mumbled something.

“What was that?” Nico leaned in.

“Saturday afternoon. I got a ticket for then.” Maki spoke more clearly, still not looking away from her screen.

Nico raspberried and threw herself back in her seat, “What are you, a grandmother? Nobody under 80 or over 8 goes to matinees.”

“I have Friday plans.” Quick typing.

“OOOhhh, a date?” Nico was a little curious.

“Monthly dinner with my parents.”

“So bring ‘em.” Nico nudged Maki with her shoulder.

Maki stopped typing. “Are you that desperate for an audience? And stop.”

“It’s sold out. These are the hottest tickets in Chicago.” Nico ruffled through them under Maki’s nose, “Nico is just trying to get someone to appreciate them.”

Maki bit her lip, then shook her head, “Mama and Papa don’t like last minute changes.”

“Are they old and crotchety like you?” Why was this such a hard sell?

Maki scrunched her forehead, trying to finish a thought as Nico tapped the tickets next to her keyboard. “Will you leave me alone if I say yes.”

“To the tickets?” This was more like it, Nico leaned forward, ready to claim her victory.

“No. I told you I’m going Saturday.”

“Fine. Be Nico’s grandmother.” Nico didn’t like the screech in her own voice.

Maki glared, eyes narrowed. “Your skirt’s too short, young lady.”

“Nico’s grandmother wears thongs.”

“Why would you make that up?” Maki's hands covered her face.

Nico smirked, “Who said I made it up.”

Maki scowled at Nico, then spoke slowly, “too much information is an actual thing.”

Nico shrugged.

“Don’t you have any friends?” Maki asked, sounding tired.

Nico slapped a hand to her heart, “Cruel...Nico has friends…” her voice squeaked into a higher register, “Nico has friends in every city, every country, Nico is Ms. Popularity…”

Maki raised an eyebrow.

Nico spoke very very rapidly, “My sister has a field hockey game, Eli has a show, Nozomi is working her other job.”

After a moment, her amethyst eyes unable to hide the kindness surging, Maki reached for the tickets, “Hanayo and Rin would probably appreciate these. Hanayo’s a big theatre fan. I’ll take them with me.”

“Genius. Nico approves. “Take them all.”

“I told you, I’m busy.” Maki actually sounded regretful.

Umi cleared her throat, “Nico!”

Nico pushed the chair back, “Opening night is magic. Your loss.”

Maki barely shook her head as her attention went back to the screen. ###

Nico was excited. She had the afternoon free. Her understudy, who was nowhere near performance ready, not that with Nico she would need to be, was onstage and Nico was meeting a reporter at Lily White in an hour. Now, she just had to perfect her thoughtful, yet flirty, yet aloof, yet sexy coffee sipping pose. Which meant not her usual neon strawberry drink. A mug...Nico picked up the pace. Her outfit was perfect, tailored trousers and a short jacket to give that Oberon flair, the kickiest of kicks, and a pink shirt with a ruffled collar that fell exactly right to boost the impact of her neckline. Hints of what might be there, but to draw attention in a classy, understated way. To pull off understated, Nico was going to have to burn off a volcano’s worth of energy beforehand. She started speedwalking to Lily White. Nozomi was at the counter, Maki, of course, Maki was in NICO’s seat, was she just trying to tick Nico off, fidgeting with her phone.

“Nozomi, get Nico coffee in the most serious mug you have; Maki, get out of Nico’s power seat.”

Both Maki and Nozomi looked suspiciously at Nico.

“No.” Maki stated, stubborn etched into her posture.

“Really? No strawbuzzy?” Nozomi asked, pulling out the strawberry muddle, with a mournful look.

“Really.” And Nico slid into the bench seat next to Maki and shoved the redhead over with her hip.

“Hey!” Maki shouted, her phone dropping out of her hand.

“Look, Nico has exactly,” Nico grabbed Maki’s phone to look at the time, the screensaver was some kind of cartoon, “53 minutes to perfect her sipping coffee pose and this seat has the best backdrop.” Nico pointed up at the raw texture of the wallpaper behind her, a lovely watercolor of sakura blossoms to the left of Maki’s seat. “So please, just this once…”

“I’m comfortable.” Maki slid down the bench, turning away.

Nico stared, but the redhead wouldn’t make eye contact, twirling a curl.

“Fine.” Nico shoved Maki’s phone across the table at her, “Nico will take a window seat. But if the Reader article isn’t aglow with Nico’s the greatest, you will be depriving Chicago of the truth, Maki Nishikino.”

Maki turned at her name, as Nico stood. Nozomi had a mug ready, Nico grabbed it, sniffed, gagged, and pushed the mug back at Nozomi, “Dump half of that. Nico’s too sweet for so much bitter.” Nico glowered at Maki in a way that was meant to indicate WHO the bitter was actually in reference too.

Maki made a huffing noise, Nozomi did as ordered, saving rebellion for the snark in her tone, “Should I kick out ALL my customers for you Nico-chi?”

“As I say to you every day I see you, don’t be a bitch. You know Nico takes her image seriously. Some people,” Nico spared a glance and a dubious eyebrow in Maki’s direction, but the spike in her well thought out plan was totally absorbed in her phone. Nico sighed, pouring cream into the mug when Nozomi returned it. Nico opted for the window seat with the good lighting, smiling at everyone in the coffeeshop who wasn’t Maki before she sat down. Then pull out her phone, to try various poses with the mug, leaning back, leaning forward, poetically thoughtful out the window, musing with the melancholy air weighting a bemused smile. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Maki typing like a fiend. Today, the redhead was wearing a criminally cute t-shirt with a graffiti cat scrawling RAAAWWWRRR across the torso. Nico’s brain briefly and suprisingly went somewhere involving ‘RAW’ and Maki but then Nico reminded herself that she was TOTALLY focused on her career and Maki was purposely ANNOYING so probably not into Nico. Not that Nico cared. At all. Nico kicked herself. This was too important to get distracted. She was here to think about Nico not...just think about Nico. Shouldn’t be hard. Nearly everyone did it. Nico shifted, so she couldn’t catch a glimpse of anyone out of the corner of her eye and thought aloof thoughts.

###

14 minutes and Nico still hadn’t struck a mood. Maybe she should just get a Nico Deluxe and go for cutesy. But that wasn’t Oberon....Nico knew for the interview to be effective she had to shade her native Nico exuberance with some of Oberon’s dark draw. Her phone pinged. She took it out of her pocket. Text from an unknown number, a picture of someone sipping coffee from a cup, in an open window, pensive, leaning forward, then another pic, of a classic Hollywood actress slouching back, obviously lost in a mental loop and staring blankly, over the coffee cup held in both her hands, then another, of an actress with shortish, dark hair, coffee cup raised, eyes challenging, lips tensed, a dare smashed into a sneer...then a text, “For inspiration: Cate Blanchett, Barbara Stanwyck, Natalie Wood...but I think you’re doing all right.”

And then it was a picture of Nico, taken outside the window, just a few minutes ago, Nico with one hand tracing the rim of the cup, the other tapping her phone, the angle just right to catch the sharpness of Nico’s profile. The through the window perspective added a veneer of solitude and Nico’s mouth was quirked up at the corner, a wry ambiguity lurking, without losing the sense of sharpness. Nico had never seen herself look that...smart, like she didn’t need to aspire to mysterious deeps, she was already flooded with them.

Another text. “Rin just gave me your number so I could send the picture. I’ll delete it if you want. Don’t worry about the interview. You’ll be fine.”

One more text.

“Oh, this is Maki.”

Nico giggled. Then she realized if Maki had taken the picture from outside...Nico bounced to her feet, “Nicosize the Strawberry Special and deliver it to Nico’s usual seat.” Nico slid into her space, a light hint of rose, vanilla, pepper, and musk perfume lingering. Nico sneezed.

“Bless you.” Nozomi put down the oversized cup, “I knew you’d cave. Get some good news?”

Nico glanced at her phone, “Yes.”

Nozomi was about to ask, but the door opened and a cluster of customers came in.

Nico took that moment to type a quick reply.

N: Thanks for the advice (｡◝‿◜｡) Keep Nico’s number. I might need to consult you again.

M: ∑(ﾟﾛﾟ〃)

N: ღゝ◡╹)ノ♡

M: I’m too busy to consult.

N: Are you too busy for dinner some Monday?

M: Monday? Why Monday?

N: Day off. Theatre.

M: Oh. You’re welcome.

N: ?

M: For the snap.

N: Oh.

M: See you around.

Nico frowned at her phone. “See you around.” That wasn’t “yes, let’s go out to dinner” or even “I’d love to, but I’m busy” What was Maki? Dizzy? Disinterested? Dating? Nico typed in her passcode to get to the ‘snap’ Maki had taken. For once, Nico was staring at herself, but looking for someone else. That picture, the one of the photographer, hadn’t come into focus yet. Nico had no idea what insight she’d lost by not looking up.

###

OPENING NIGHT. EVERY NOTE, EVERY STEP, EVERY SONG PERFECT; EVERY AUDIENCE MEMBER on their feet at the end. Nico thought standing ovations were overdramatic, but not when she’d sensed the emotion building all night, the tension, and as the curtain fell on her final kiss with Tansy, an exasperated Puck rolling their eyes as they clapped their way off the stage, the audience exploded. And Nico, sweating, heart racing, bounced to her feet, hugging Tansy, “We did it! We did it! We did it!”

Tansy laughed, and broke the hug, pulling Nico off stage, “Come on, curtain call. More applause.”

“Oh right.” Nico felt taller than she ever had, veins buzzing with earned confidence, heart racing, unable to keep a huge grin off her face as the other couples stepped forward to receive their applause and then she and Tansy stepped out, holding hands, raising their arms to a roar. It was a small theatre and the theatre was packed with Queer Chicago and their allies, friends, and families and Nico had never felt so much love from a crowd. It was amazing, to be here, in a love story, a simple, silly love story, with no real villain, just mischief and magic and hope and happy endings. Angst could stay home. Or be spilled across the stage in other, darker theatres. Tonight, Nico was thrilled to be a moment of bright for so many girls like her, who wanted silly and cute and perfect swoony snappy patter pairings.

Nico would remember this forever, staring into a theatre, amazed, exhausted, exhilirated, audience on their feet, whistling, roaring, and cheering as the curtain fell. Tansy grabbed her in a quick hug, her voice lacking Titania’s teasing barbs, “You were amazing, Nico. I’m so glad we’re doing this together.”

Nico wasn’t quite ready to let Oberon go for the night yet, and swept into a bow as she took Tansy’s hand to kiss, “I couldn’t do this alone.”

Tansy giggled, “Actually, you probably could.”

Nico wasn’t sure how to reply and then Demtrius and Lysander sandwiched her in another hug, Sumi reached over Nico’s shoulders to half choke, half embrace the soon to be toast of Chicago.

“It’s a Nico Nico Night.” Luz choked Nico for another half second and then let go. “Where’s the party?”

“Back room at The Lady Of The Lake.” Tansy was taking off her wig, “Blaine’s buying the first round.”

“As a good producer should.” Either Lysander or Demetrius spoke. Though they were on the opposite sides of the complexion color spectrum, Nico had always thought they’d been cast because their voices sounded so similar, which made the phone confusion and the shouting chase scene in the bar so much more convincing.

“Let Nico get out of this tux.” She took off her jacket, undid the bowtie, with its ruby flecks scattered across the midnight silk and undid almost all of the studs on her shirt, so it fell open, revealing her sports bra. Thankfully, no one had insisted a binder. Nico preferred being able to breathe while singing.

Humming “fools,” Nico stepped into the hallway leading to the green room. As soon as she turned right, she heard her name in a familiar voice.

“C’mon, you have to say hi to Nico. She was amazing. You’re supposed to tell actors that Maki. Or bring them roses or something. C’mon.”

Rin’s voice. Did she say Maki? Maki was supposed to be at a monthly dinner with her parents. But no, there was the ginger furry pulling her reluctant friend down the hall by the arm, what was Maki wearing? A little black dress, off the shoulder, very very short, red hair swept up into a tight French twist, lacy shawl lying across her pale shoulders, one hand twisted up in a fist that looked about to connect with Rin, legs splayed out as Maki stubbornly fought Rin’s forward momentum. Nico laughed, deciding to intervene before a brawl started.

“Rin! Maki! You came. Wasn’t Nico glorious?”

Maki froze and let go of Rin, Rin shot forward into Nico’s chest, knocking them both off balance, Hanayo who had been half hiding behind Maki, squeaked and hurried forward, “Rin, are you okay?”

Maki was still frozen, staring at Nico’s chest, then her eyes, Maki's own wide with panic, Maki made her discomfort even more obvious by twisting rapidly to the side, guilt splashed across her face, shawl sliding off her shoulder, hand trying to find a twist of hair to curl, but hovering uncertainly, not wanting to undo the updo. Hanayo was busy with Rin, and Maki kept glancing at Nico out of the corner of her eye. Nico, taking bold strides past the rising Rin, grinned and with her most daredevil spark, spoke to the shrinking redhead, “So no roses for Nico, how about a kiss?”

Rin started to say something, but Nico heard Hanayo shush her. Maki went bright red as Nico put a hand on her arm, spinning her, sliding fingers up to the shoulder, “Such a pretty dress. For Nico?”

“Mama and Papa say...always dress for the theatre….shows respect.” Maki was speaking, chunking partial sentences into an avalanche of nerves, but her eyes never left Nico’s,

“Nico feels respected.” Nico stepped closer, feeling Maki tense, take a deep breath, which drew Nico’s attention to the teardrop diamond sitting in the break of Maki’s cleavage, the dress accenting the very noticeable curves. Nico had to stop her fingers from tracing a line down from Maki’s shoulders, “How about Nico feeling loved?”

Complete panic and a step back. Nico would have laughed, but Maki was moving away, and Nico’s sole focus was not letting there be a gap between them. She managed to catch Maki’s elbow and the taller woman didn’t shake her off.

“That kiss? Didn’t you like Nico’s performance?” Nico pulled Maki in, reading the sparking, sliding quartz of her eyes for a mood. Nico was phenomenal at reading audiences and this one didn’t want Nico to step off stage yet.

Maki nodded, eyes going more wild with every breath, voice a breathy whisper, “Every note...I just wanted you…” flushed cheeks, so cute Nico found herself thinking, “to keep going.”

That sounded like a cue to Nico. Nico touched Maki’s cheek with the gentlest of caresses, grinning when gorgeous and ____________ leaned into her hand, “Can I? Keep going?”

Maki’s eyelashes fluttered in almost slo mo as Nico’s heart raced into fast forward. Such a delicate mood, neither party daring even a breath to shatter its purity.

Then before Nico knew she’d pushed forward, Maki’s lips were tickling hers, a taunting tingle , and the urge to bite, to brush harder, to melt that dare into consent, Nico had never been so caught before, so tempted to...Maki pulled back, with a whimper, Nico realized her hand was on Maki’s hip, and the hard angles of her amethyst eyes had softened, insecurity and worry shadowing the temptations in their depths.

“My parents are waiting...you said...no dating...I have to go...sorry...you were amazing...I’m…”

As Maki frantically backpedaled, Nico had the impression of something beautiful and delicate, fluttering, letting a doubting breeze sweep it into the harshness of the open air, instead of here, every twitch, every gesture, a stroke against Nico, the magnetism almost burning.

“Maki.” Nico snapped the name, serious.

Maki bent her head, breaking eye contact, then straightened to her full height, “No one in the audience could take their eyes off you, Nico.”

That didn’t thrill Nico as much as she knew it should. “What about you?”

Maki’s jaw clenched, then she looked away, flushed, her next words only a whisper but the wonder in them was a crystal note. “I’ve never been able to look away.”

Nico took Maki’s chin and turned her back to face Nico, “Good.”

At some point Hanayo had dragged Rin away, Nico had no idea how long they’d been there, talking, almost unaware of how often they were touching, except for the urge to get closer. Maki was still, waiting, and Nico knew this was the moment, and double down with an honesty and an earnestness she’d never allowed herself to admit to. “Not dating doesn’t include you.”

Suddenly Maki giggled, “If you buttoned up your shirt, it’d be easier to take you seriously.”

Nico ripped off her shirt, remaining studs flying off who knew where. The costumer was going to kill her, “Buttoned up Nico isn’t what you really want.”

Maki, laugh lines crinkling, reached down and picked up Nico’s shirt, “Put it back on before my parent’s come looking for me.”

“Not until…” Nico pounced, hands sliding up Maki’s warm, smooth shoulders, fingers tangling in the twist starting to untwine, this kiss a fire melting away anything not touching Nico.

Sometime in a new, brighter future, Nico’s forehead was pressed against Maki’s, “Come to my cast party.”

Maki, all of her shyness suddenly transformed into a teasing confidence that was sexier than anything Nico had ever known existed, let her arms rest on Nico’s shoulder, “I would but I have plans to see a matinee tomorrow. There’s this actress….and she’s so…” Maki let her voice drag out in a breathy, sexy drawl, “e x t r a.”

“Nico will get you home early.” Another kiss, another twist of tenderness and territorialness, another moment where Maki pushed Nico like she couldn’t get close enough, eyes closed, but then when they opened suddenly, Nico had the only view she wanted. “But you shouldn’t look this windblown, undone, Nico can’t keep her hands off you sexy when you meet my mother.”

“And you should wear a shirt.” Maki snorted, before seizing a kiss of her own.

“Just for the cast party and the El and then we’ll talk.”

Maki shrugged, her hands trying to redo the Twist, “Optimist.”

“That’s not fixable. You’ll just have to tell your parents you can’t keep your hands off Nico.”

“I sent them home.” Maki glanced at her smart watch, “40 minutes ago.”

“Optimist.”

“Yep.”

“Nico likes that.” Nico slid her arm through Maki’s.

“Maki likes Nico.”

“And Nico likes Nico. So we agree.” Nico loved letting the teasing lilt edge her voice and seeing Maki’s eyebrow quirk in a challenge.

“Going to be Narcissus in your next play?” Maki bit back.

“Not now that I’ve seen you.” Nico pulled Maki closer.

Maki’s blush was adorable and sexy and Nico wanted to see how much of Maki she could get to redden, but right now, arm through Maki’s, pushing open the door of the Green Room, grinning at a Tansy on the way out and feeling Maki bump against her hip, right now, Nico was going to have the prettiest date at the cast party, to go with the perfectest performance of the year. Maybe Mama was right. Success shared certainly seemed sweet enough for Nico. And Maki's lips held Nico’s newest favorite taste.

A/N: Happy Birthday, Nico! Present wrapped, now I can get back to the chapters I owe myself.

A Midsummer Night's Dream has opened, I'm exhausted, and the actors are amazing. 5 more shows.Thanks for reading and leave a comment, please and thank you. Nico would want you to ; )

Also, some day there will be written a play, with a title 5 letters long, starting with an F, ending with an s, and you will recognize the characters, although the names may be changed. Right now, I have two possibilities: Fangs! and FoOLs! Any suggestions for a third?

#NicoMaki #Happy Birthday Nico #Number One Idol In the Multiverse #theatre meets coffeehouse AU #Yazawa Nico #Nishikino Maki #A Midsummer Night's Dream #etc #enjoy!

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octavejohn2-blog · 3 years

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As with slowcoach, slowpoke's rhyming quality enhanced fostering right into typical speech and also proceeding use. People like to claim points that trip off the tongue conveniently and, in a manner, musically or poetically. loose - careless, messy - messy originally meant putting on sandals or loosened footwear, from the earlier expression 'slip-shoe'. The careless/untidy significance of messy is stemmed from 'down-at-heel' or worn shoes, which was the first use of the expression in the feeling or poor quality. The very early reckless definition of loose referred to worn-out appearance. More just recently the expression's meaning has actually prolonged also to reckless activities or initiatives.

The uploading do with the pointer that an old Italian expression 'a tredici' meaning 'at thirteen' could be connected with the beginnings. offer the pip/get the pip - make weak or uneasy or upset - Pip is an illness influencing birds characterised by mucous in the mouth and also throat. The expression seems initially to have shown up in the 1800s, however offered its much older beginnings might quickly have actually been in usage prior to after that. Remarkably while the pip expression refers to the bird condition, the origins of the definition actually take us full-circle back to human health and wellness.

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weak breath/baited breath - anxious, expectant - the previous punctuation was the initial variation of the expression, yet the term is currently typically incorrectly damaged to the last 'baited' in modern-day usage, which mistakenly recommends a different origin. Many individuals appear currently to presume a definition of the breath being metaphorically 'baited' instead of the original non-metaphorical initial meaning, which just defined the breath being shortened, or stopped. The expression appears in Shakespeare's The Vendor Of Venice, which dates its beginning as 16th century or earlier. Words bate is a shortened type of abate, both bring the very same definition, and also initially appeared in the 1300s, before which the previous tense forms were baten and abaten. transform it up - stop it, stopped talking, no chance, quit doing that, I do not believe you, etc - Cassells Vernacular Dictionary recommends the 'transform it up' expression corresponds to 'stop doing that' and that the very first usage was as early as the 1600s.

According to Bartlett's, the expression 'Too try to find as needle in a container of hay' shows up partially III, phase 10. ' Container' is an old word for a bundle of hay, taken from the French word botte, implying bundle. Maker (thesaurus as well as alterations) lists the complete expression - 'seeking a needle in a container of hay' which informs us that the term was first utilized in this type, and also was later on adapted during the 1900s into the modern-day kind. Mum has absolutely nothing to do with mom - it's just a phonetic spelling and metaphorical word to signify shutting one's mouth, so as not to utter a noise. The same logical onomatopoeic derivation almost certainly produced words mumble, murmur and also mumps. Just as in modern-day times, war-time governments after that wasted no opportunity to overemphasize dangers and also dangers, so as to instill respect amongst, and to maintain authority over, the masses. So there you have it - mum's the word - possibly an item of federal government spin.

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The 'rock pip' would certainly appear to be a distortion/confusion of simply providing or obtaining the pip, probably as a result of misinterpreting the significance of pip in this context. Words pip in this expression has absolutely nothing to perform with stones or fruit. The pituitary gland is located in the mind as well as is accountable for specific physical functions, yet in the late midlifes, around 1500s, it was thought to manage the circulation of mucus or phlegm to the nose. Phlegm had actually long been believed to be just one of the crucial four 'humours' determining life equilibrium as well as character. So while the existing expression was based at first on a bird illness, the origins paradoxically associate with influential ideas of human health. Variants still discovered in NZ and also Australia from the very early 1900s consist of 'half-pie', as well as 'pie' indicating great or expert at something.

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Sadly this really attractive alternative/additional derivation of 'take the mick/micky' appears not to be supported by any type of main resources or referrals. If anyone can refer me to a reputable referral please let me recognize, until such time the Micky Happiness cockney poetry theory continues to be the most popularly sustained beginning. The loon bird's name came into English from a different root, Scandinavia, in the 1800s, and also arguably had a larger impact in the United States on the expressions insane as a loon, as well as also intoxicated as a crazy. The highly derogatory slang maniacal bin, referring to a mental home, initially showed up around 1910.

Nowadays, regardless of still being practically appropriate according to English dictionaries, resolving a combined group of individuals as 'promiscuous' would certainly not be a really suitable use of the word. pernickety/persnickety/pernickerty/ persnickerty - fussy, particular, fastidious - pernickety seems currently to be one of the most typical contemporary kind of this odd word. hifu Luton happen possibly because no clear derivation exists, providing no obvious reference indicate secure a punctuation or pronunciation.

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Dollar derives from thaler, which is an old German word for a coin, from earlier Reduced German 'dahler', whose vital root word 'dahl' implies valley. Dahler, later ending up being thaler, is a 500-year-old abbreviation of Joachimsthaler, a very early Bohemian/German silver coin. Words Joachimsthaler essentially referred to something from 'Joachim's Thal'. This was Joachim's Valley, which currently corresponds to Jáchymov, a spa community in NW Bohemia in the Czech Republic, near the border to Germany.

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The word appears initially to have been recorded in between in Jamieson's Dictionary of the Scottish Language, in the type of pernickitie, as an extension of a Scottish word pernicky, which is probably a better clue to its beginnings. This is all conjecture in the lack of trustworthy recorded beginnings.

On which aim a combination of words particular as well as picky may have been an element, specifically when you consider the earlier pernicky type. Odds implying the various chances of challengers, as used in betting, was very first recorded in English in 1574 according to Chambers, so making use of the 'can't probabilities it' expression might conceivably be very old certainly. Cassells and also other credible jargon sources say that 'take the mick' is cockney rhyming vernacular, c. 1950s, from 'Micky Happiness', rhyming with 'take the piss'. No-one appears to know who Micky Happiness was, which maybe shows a little weak point in the derivation. Conversely, and also maybe in addition in the direction of the fostering of the expression, a much less well-known possibility is that 'mick' in this sense is a reducing of the word 'micturation', which is a clinical term for urination.

Partridge states initially recorded regarding 1830, but implies the expression might have been in use from perhaps the 1600s. This is absolutely possible because board meant table in older times, which is the association with card games used a table. It was formerly bord, traceable to Old Saxon, also implying guard, regular with comparable international words dating back to the earliest beginnings of European language.

This table sense of board also gave us the board as related to a board of directors and the boardroom. slowpoke - slow individual or employee - slowpoke is USA jargon initially tape-recorded in print according to Chambers. Probably from cowpoke - words initially used to describe the males that pushed cattle onto slaughterhouse trains. Poke represented the photo of work, being based on an usual work activity of the times, as did punch.

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This to a particular level explains why a lot of English words with French beginnings occur in way of living and social language. Incidentally the word French, to define people or points of France and the language itself, has actually existed in English in its modern-day form since concerning 1200, before which it was 'Frensch', and also earlier in Old English 'frencisc'. This stemmed from Old High German frenkisc and also frenqisc, from as well as directly related to the Franks, the very early Germanic individuals that overcame the Romans in Gaul around the 5th century. The name of the Frank people is also the origin of the word France and the Franc currency. The most enticing concept for the ultimate beginning of words Frank is that it comes from a comparable word for a spear or lance, which was the favoured weapon of the Frankish people. whatever drifts your boat - if it makes you happy/it's your decision/it's your choice (although I don't always agree and I uncommitted anyway) - a fairly contemporary expression from the late 20th century with oddly unknown origins.

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In the late 1400s, silver ounce coins were minted from silver extracted at Joachim's Valley, Bohemia, by a regionally powerful household, the Matters of Schlick. These early local European coins, called 'Joachimsthaler', shortened to 'thaler', were basic silver in that area, which would nowadays expand into Germany. The high quality and also online reputation of the 'Joachimsthaler' coins consequently triggered the 'thaler' term to spread and also be made use of for more main generic variations of the coins in Germany, as well as elsewhere also. Later on, from the 1580s, the term was likewise utilized in its adapted 'buck' type as a name for the Spanish peso (also called 'piece of 8'). Clergy and clerics as well as clerks were as a result among one of the most able as well as extremely valued and valued of all 'workers'.

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For such a well-used and also well-known expression the information of origins are oddly thin, as well as an usually not referenced in any way by the common expressions as well as etymology resources. Other recommendations describe feasible links with card video games, in which showing up a card would expose something hidden, or mark completion of a flow of play. It's specifically challenging to hypothesize concerning the origins due to the fact that the word 'turn' has a lot of different significances, specifically when combined with other very versatile words. If you can include anything to assist identfy when and also where as well as exactly how the 'turn it up' expression developed please contact us. The original wording was 'trend nor time tarrieth no male' (' tarrieth' suggesting 'waits on'). taxi/taxicab - fare-charging automobile, although taxi can be a fare-charging boat - taxi and also taxicab are words which we have a tendency to take for granted without thinking what the derivation could be.

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Actually the origin of taxi is the French 'taximetre' and also German comparable 'taxameter', integrating taxi/taxa and also metre/meter. Taximeter appeared in English around 1898, at which time its usage was moving from horse-drawn carriages to automobile. Taxi is an abbreviation of an additional French word cabriolet, which came into English in the 1700s, and also it appears in the complete French taxicab equivalent 'taximetre cabriolet'. Cab appeared in English meaning a steed drawn carriage in 1826, a steam locomotive in 1859, and an electric motor automobile in 1899. Chambers suggests that the French taximetre is really originated from the German taxameter, which surprisingly triggered an earlier similar but short-lived English term taxameter videotaped in 1894, applied to horsedrawn taxicabs. move the board - win everything - based on the metaphor of winning all the cards or money risk in a game of cards.

Mojo probably derives from African-American language, describing an amulet or witchcraft beauty, and also is close to the word 'moco', meaning withccraft, made use of by the Gullah of the United States South Carolina shore and islands. Words as well as the significance were popularised by the 1956 blues track Got My Mojo Working, first made famous by Muddy Seas' 1957 recording, as well as subsequently covered by just about all blues musicians ever since. The term provided the beginning for words mobster, suggesting gangster, which showed up in American English in the early 1900s. Hitch utilized in the feeling is American from the 1880s although the general hitch significance of action by pulling or jerking is Old English from the 1400s hytchen, as well as prior, icchen meaning action from 1200.

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jade-bellatricus84 · 6 years

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About me!

Okay! Let's do is thing! I was tagged by the wonderful and amazing and hilarious @atarostarling for this beautiful questionaire! So, let's get started, shall we?

Name/Nickname: my given name is Kara and there two nicknames that have stuck Karabear (I was obsessed with the Care Bears as a kid) and Riceball (due to my obsession with Fruits Basket and my apparently stellar Tohru rp abilities)

Gender: Female

Star sign: Virgo

Height: 5 foot nothin' I am quite smol.

Hogwarts house: Slytherin and proud of it~ ;3

Favorite animal: Um...the one that is cute and cuddly? Lol this is tough because I love animals. Though I REEEEEEEAAAAAAALLY like foxes! So I guess we can go with Foxes as my final answer, Alex. (Don't cross the streams, loser.)

Hours of sleep: In my fantasies or in reality? In my fantasies its like...ALWAYS sleeping...iiiiiin reality I get like 2-5 hours per night until the lack of sleep catches up with me and then I crash for like 14 hours. Lol

Dogs or cats: YES! Lol, again, I love animals. I currently have a dog. My beautiful baby Loqi. (For those of you who read my mini fic. Zeus was modeled after my furbaby Loqi.)

Number of blankets: Depends...like where am I sleeping? When I lived in Indiana it was 2 or 3 now that I'm here in South Carolina it's usually 1...and barely that, as in just covering my arms and shoulders.

Dream trip: Oh wow. I would love to just...travel the world! Though the top of my list are the places where Shakespeare grew up, got married, etc. And Japan.

Dream job: Author/Novelist. I LOVE to write. I love books. I love to read. I was the kid who got in trouble in her English/Literature class for reading in class.

Time: 10:56 pm (I think that's EST?)

Birthday: September 17th~

Favorite bands: Panic! At The Disco, Paramore, Black Veil Brides, Evanescense, Baby Metal, Super Junior, SHINee, Boyz II Men, Journey (and a few more but we could be here all night if I listed them all, lol)

Favorite solo artist: Halsey, Adele, Matsushita Yuya, Taeyang, Jay Park, Luke Bryan, Shakira, Selena (Quintanilla), Diego Bonita

Song stuck in my head: Ummmm...I couldn't tell you the name cause it's slipping my mind but it's the opening theme from Black Butler II by GAZETTe

Last movie I watched: Um...I think it was The Dark Tower? With my hubby?

Last show I watched: Black Butler: Book of Circus (it's the third season which I've owned for well over a year and yet has still not seen anything past the 1st disk. Lol)

When did I create my blog: Um...August or September 2017...? I don't remember exactly. Just a few months ago. A good friend of mine sent me a post through fb messenger and I really liked all the content I saw on @inconsistencys page so I made an account to follow and continue reading their posts!

What do I post/reblog: Lol, anything that catches my eye. A lot to do with the FFXV universe...mainly the chocobros. All the ships. A lot of cats. Cute critters. Written a few posts nobody needs. XD

Last thing I googled: Ummm..."song that goes when we touch i can feel we've got a chemistry and when we rock feels just like the devil is riding me" lol I had a song stuck in my head and couldn't remember the artist's name in order to YouTube it so it would evacuate my brain. (It was Under My Skin by Sarah Connor, just in case anyone was wondering. Lol)

Other blogs: Yeah, I apparently have another Tumblr from a few years back but I don't remember the tagg or anything sooooo...xD does that still count? Other than that I have none. ****EDIT**** http://roserozahathaway.tumblr.com IS MY OTHER TUMBLR

Do I get Asks: I have gotten 2. XD I wasn't aware that they were disabled until recently when @atarostarling mentioned it, so now that they are open, please, send me some! Get me involved, please! Lol

Why did I choose my URL: Lol, Jade Bellatricus is actually the name of an original character of mine for an rp I have going with the loverly @silverdriftdragon in Discord. She's a reeeeeeeaaaaal piece of work. Lol, but I love my smol brainchild.

Following: 392 as of now. Lol I'm sure that number with grow to astronomical numbers.

Followers: 22 a significanlt smaller number and, honestly, I was SHOCKED to see it was that large! Thank you to ALLLLL of my followers! You all are amazing, wonderful, LOVELY people and you rock my socks right off!

Lucky number: 4...or 8...or 16...yeah...that one...

Favorite instrument: Wow, um, I really love piano and violin...god help me if they're being played together cause...I'd probably die of blissful peace...I also happen to like flutes, I used to play flute back in the day (lol, you're not old enough to say that, weirdo, stop it! Back in the day is like...10 or 11 years ago) I also love ocarinas, which are technically just ceramic flutes. I'm a total nerd and have a replica of the Ocarina of Time (from The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time in case anyone is unfamiliar.) that I do know how to play, albeit not very well. XD

What am I wearing: lol, that could get extra risqué extra quick. However, I'm wearing an oversized t-shirt (a.k.a. my husband's t-shirt) as my jammies.

Favorite food: xD I'm a foodie, dude, all the food is my favorite. No, seriously though, um, probably my little taco meat and rice concoction. It's literally just taco seasoned meat mixed with rice...sometimes I'll mix in some bacon bits, crushed doritos, and of course shredded cheesies. (It's like the only thing I can cook. Lol)

Nationality: Mutt? No, like, American? But the family has Native American (Cherokee I believe), French, German and Irish in our blood sooo...Yeah, I'm a mutt~ x3 *woof*

Favorite song: Oh, geez, I always hate this question...mainly because I don't have an absolute favorite song? Like, my favorite song changes so many times, based off of how bad or good I'm handling my depression and anxiety...for instance, on my really good days I'd probably say I'm Alive! By BECCA but on not so good days (like today) I'd probably say My Immortal by Evanescense or Broken by Seether feat. Amy Lee.

Last book I read: Oh! It was this lovely autobiography called Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick! I absolutely love it! It's so down to earth and real and my god is it funny! She has a rather dry and somewhat twisted sense of humour, much like my husband and I, so I find it to be pretty funny! It's a great read, seriously, you guys should check it out!

Top three fictional universes I'd like to join: Hmmmm...Definitely FFXV, I would LOVE to chill with the bros. Probably Black Butler, Sebastian Michaelis is a beautiful specimen and I would love to be of use to him in some way, shape, or form *wink, wink* and finally...um...Pretty Little Liars! The Liars are such a close knit group of girls and I really missed out on having close friends like that, so I'd love to hang out with them and just be a normal high school girl for once (lol they don't live normal h.s. lives, goobernuts)

Wow! That was so much fun! Thanks for the tag, @atarostarling, its been a blast! So, now, onto my tags!

@silverdriftdragon @moonraccoon-exe @ardyns-jabberwocky @asuuna @chocoblondie @chocobard @ebony-and-chocobos @flourish-of-steel @icallshotgunn @kaciart and anyone else who wants to join in feel free to tag me as though I tagged you!

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cutegirlmayra · 7 years

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I almost feel bad for this but how about a a story where Sonic gets hurt badly and Amy tries to help him get better ^^;

Sonic crashes into a building, and holds his ankle, lowering his head and letting out a raspy whisper of pain.

“Sonic!” Amy rushes in, followed by Tails and Knuckles.

“You should really head back!”

“Sonic? The hedgehog? Head… back?” he squinted through the pain, having homing attacked a more sturdier robot than he usually encountered.

“If it weren’t for that random armor he pulled out…” Sonic staggered to his feet, before falling back, having Amy catch him.

“Sonic! At this rate, you’re more a hindrance than a help!” she struggled keeping him up, seeing as he wasn’t helping hold his weight at all.

“Amy’s right. Sit this one out a while, Sonic. We’ll handle things from here.” Knuckles lightly bumped his two fists together, and then nodded to Amy. “You take care of him from here. Let’s go, Tails!”

“You’re right. Amy, don’t let him out of your sights. We entrust him to you!” he nodded her way, and then smiled back to Knuckles, and took off down the hall with him.

“Heh. Did you hear that? Entrusted! What is this? Shakespeare!”

“Sonic, y-you’re shaking!”

Sonic’s leg trembled, as he slouched back even more, having himself slip down her arms to where she literally had to bend down to hold him up.

“Sonic! Y-you’re worrying me!” Amy sounded frantic, seeing him get queasy.

“Woah… y-you know… you’re kinda spinning a bit…” Sonic’s vision was going out, and Amy recognized that he had endured enough from over-doing it with his ankle, and the pain must have spread up the leg, weakening the body.

“Ooookay, you’re coming with me..!” She bent her knees, as his head went limp, and threw his arm over her shoulders, and started to walk out.

As she did so, the laser shooting robots popped out from large mounds of dirt on the ground, as she sighed. “Oh come on.”

She set Sonic down, as he tried to instruct her, holding her flimsy hand up as she went to knock out the robots. “Left-urp, right! My right! Okay, better plan. Swing! Behind you! Woah… are those stars?”

“Shut up, shut up, shut up!” Sonic was distracting her, though he did help a little bit.

Sonic saw her take a hit and suddenly looked more awake and conscious, his eyes now fixed on her instead of the sky, and tried to get up.

From his ankle suddenly came a crack, and a spike of pain ripped through his being as if it tore his innards with a massive quake.

“AH!” he sat back down, gripping his leg, as it shook out of control.

Through squinted eyes, he looked up, and noticed Amy kept her ground and shook off the blow.

He loosened his gritted teeth, which was momentarily baring the pain, and looked at her in a different way.

She… was actually doing an amazing job.

She was awesome!

He blinked his eyes and forgot himself a second. Watching as the robots exploded and her hair whipped back from it’s blast. She swung and her figure and position was one of force but beauty.

Grace… in destruction.

That was kinda cool to see.

“Are you okay?!” Amy saw Sonic lean to the right.

“Amy…” he suddenly blacked out.

“Sooniicc!!!” Amy held out her blurry hand, as Sonic’s vision faded with the smoke of the destroyed robots.

Waking up, he blinked a few times before noticing he was in a bed, and some hospital equipment was around him.

He made a face, thinking that was kinda much, and didn’t feel that bad…oh…

He felt his body give and he suddenly leaned his head back, feeling it come over him like a wave.

A wave of exhaustion.

gnarly, but annoying.

He was getting bored and real tried of this fast…. haha, get it?

“Ugh…” He put a hand up to his face, before hearing Tails’s voice, and turning to the door.

“Hello..? Hey! Looks whose up!” Tails came bounding in, and looked at some charts being rapidly transcribed by a machine that never shut up.

Sonic pouted, “You say that as if I’ve been out a while.”

“Do you even notice the difference?” he kept his head down, but there was a joke somewhere in that tone…

Sonic narrowed his eyes, turning his head from Tails, but keeping his gaze on him, before looking at his foot.

“AH!” he gripped what looked like a pretty bad cast, and whined out in horror as he flung his hands up to his head, leaning back and daring to not look back at it. “How long!?”

“I’d say- you’re in confinement for a good week.”

Week.

WEEK.

WEEEEK!?!?!?

“OH NO-HO-HO-OOO…” Sonic whined out, leaning over and trying to grip, almost pawing, at the table next to him, wanting to try and get up. “I can’t stay in here that long!”

“If I said a day, you’d still be complaining.” Tails shook his head. “You really beat up your ankle there, then you had to go and make the fissure worse…”

“A FISSURE?! Ohhh no…” Sonic kept turning, seeing his leg held up in a swing, and realizing he was stuck.

His worse fear.

“Well.” Tail bundled up some of the scrolling hordes of continuous papers being spouted out, and tucked it under his arm, turning to Sonic. “At least you’re not in solitary confinement.” he grinned wickedly.

“Tails? Is he awake?”

Sonic looked with horror to the door, then shook his head to Tails.

Tails let out a cruel chuckle. “Thanks for agreeing to take care of Sonic while I reconstruct the X-Tornado, Amy. Sonic says it means A LOT.”

He opened his mouth, before closing it and glaring at his ‘so-called’ best friend, looking so offended and betrayed, but more over just annoyed with what was about to happen.

Amy came in, peeking at first, before walking in and adjusting her nurse outfit. “All ready and accounted for doctor!” she cutely saluted, and then threw her hip out and lifted a foot back, acting cute.

“Oh Chaos.” Sonic turned away, “She’s playing pretend!”

“Heh. Take it easy on him, Amy.” Tails patted her back. “She means well.” he mostly mouthed behind her back to Sonic, and then turned to wave them off. “Have fun you two.”

Amy did a giddy shuffle and then jumped over to Sonic, hugging him. “I’m so glad you’re going to be okay!”

“It’s a real miracle.” Sonic sarcastically stated.

“Tails says I can take care of you for a week! So I’m gonna make sure you’re comfortable! I’ll even bring in a t.v or something and we can watch a movie or show together!” She moved back, then shifted a piece of her hair back, and looked at him to find some form of approval.

He lowered his frown even further, showing his teeth as he looked away.

She frowned now too, her spirits dampened. “Oh,… come on. I’m really going to try and make this worthwhile for you..”

“Worthwhile?” Sonic looked back at her, raising an eyebrow. “You are aware this is my worst nightmare, right?”

She took a moment to look up at the ceiling, then took another cute poise, “But was it as cute as this?~” she faced her back to him, and winked over her shoulder.

“…..” his deadpan stare made her sweat-drop.

“Well, you could at least play along.” she puffed out, and went to help shift his bedding back into place, tucking him a little as he just looked away, annoyed.

“…hrrph!” She slammed her hands down on the bed, and then looked away in response of his ignoring her TLC. “You know! You could act like those wounded army men and flirt a little with me to pass the time!” she hurriedly straightened out the bed, as he burst out laughing.

“Hahah! Are you asking me to woo you?” he continued to laugh.

“W-well… I could act like I don’t like you.” she struck a look, and wiggled her head. “Shouldn’t be that hard.”

He suddenly stopped laughing, and looked back at her, a disbelieving scoff as a smile on his face. “Pfft.” he shook his head.

But his eyes… never left her sight.

“You know something…”

“I know everything.” she retorted.

He snorted a mock.

“YOU KNOW WHAT?!” he leaned his head back, making sure his voice traveled as she smiled to him, and then moved to the front of the bed.

“What?” she finally answered.

“….I never took you for the roleplaying type…”

He raised a rascal’s eye, and turned his head as if accusing her of being less innocent than she played on…

“AH!” her mouth gaped open, and she smacked his leg.

“OOOOWWW!!!” he gripped it, leaning up in pain.

“I’m a woman of virtue, sir!”

“There we go! Back to shakespeare! I promise you, MAID. I don’t tend to fond over your delusions of play!”

“..Well.. at least you admitted they were play.” she then started to walk off, as Sonic rose his head and looked out after her, surprised by her words.

She closed the door and he turned his head, eyeing the door, and wondering what she was implying.

“Odd.” he laid his head back, sighing.

Then, a tight line formed on his lips, as he tried to think through that.

He then raised his head again, turning his body and slamming his hand against the side of the bed, “What does that mean!?”

When he didn’t hear an answer, he seemed to give up, defeated, and sit back in the bed, folding his arms, still looking away in frustrated thought and not knowing what she meant by that.

“At least I knew it was play..? As in…” he suddenly grew wide-eyed, and a huge dumb-smile came over his face. “Nurse!” he called out, and hit the side of the bed again, getting wild. “Nurse! Nurse! I require your assistance!”

She opened the door, looking annoyed. “There are other men serving in the war, sir! Wait your turn!”

He grinned all the more, a stupid look of realizing this might be fun, and leaned back.

“I’m a hero, woman! I’ve done more fleets of heroism than his whole hospital combined!”

“Ah! How arrogant, Mr. The Hedgehog.” she moved more into the room, and smirked, seeing he was enjoying himself now.

“No bother, I just have a itch I can’t reach.” he looked away, turning himself over, and putting an arm up on his hip, looking back with a cheeky grin.

“…You are SO the roleplayer, not me!” she muttered as she slouched her shoulders, seeing the hypocrite in him. “I told you it would pass the time.” she put her hands on her shoulders, moving closer to the side of the bed.

Suddenly shifting his gaze to knowing how close he was, he threw himself over and grabbed her, tossing her onto the bed. “Got’cha!”

“H-hey!”

“Haha! I’ll watch that movie now, Amy! haha!”

“Y-you! You tricked me!”

“All in the good name of sport.” he winked, showing he was only kidding, and probably had already fretted enough about his situation, and just rolling with it.

“Ah, accepted your ‘doomed’ fate, then?” Amy did the bunny ears and folded her arms, trying to remain uncharmed by him.

“Come, come, you wasp! You are too angry!”

Her eyes shot open.

“..Was that..” she was flabbergausted. “Shakespeare!?”

“Hey, I’ve suffered through enough chick-flicks with you. I pick up on a line or two, you shrew!” he teased her, but it actually impressed her.

She laughed, “You.. you paid attention?”

“When I saw him throw some chick into a hay pile, I started questioning what we were watching… and yeah, I kinda did. Out of concern but… I did, at random, odd and in times.” he joked, shrugging, and still holding her across him.

“Heh… alright, fine.” Amy sat up on the bed, huffing at how messed up she looked now and adjusted her attire and hair. “I’ll get an action movie this time.”

“Yes!” Sonic pulled back his arm in the motion. “That’s my best gal!”

“Your girl. You can call me that…” she pouted when he didn’t.

“Eh, sounds too intimate. I’ve already spat out poetry.” Sonic teased, referring to shakespeare.

Amy shook her head, walking out before jolting in spot, and spinning around. “That dialogue… YOU WOULD PAY ATTENTION TO THAT!”

“Huh?”

“That was the most vulgar part of the play!” she leaned forward, hands on her hips.

He held in his laughter, and raised both hands up in a shrug. “Opps?”

(Way out of canon, but I thought it was funny, lol! It’s also 12 at night. See yall! P.S- I have shakespeare class this year XD Kinda want to do a shakespeare with the sonic characters… or something, we’ll see lol I’ve also put it as dialogue in Timeless Game on fanfiction for old-Sonamy, haha! The same line! if you can believe it.)

#sonic ask #ask sonic #sonic the hedgehog #sonic #amy rose #sonamy #sonicxamy #sonamy prompt #sonic prompt

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