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callmebrycelee · 2 months

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9-1-1 REACTION

After last week’s 100th episode, I am back with a reaction to our latest episode. I do want to acknowledge my last reaction got a bit wordy so it’s my goal to keep things nice and tight. Like Lou Ferrigno Jr.'s body. Okay, focus! Ahem. This reaction is for the season 7, fifth episode “You Don’t Know Me” which originally aired April 11, 2024. The episode was written by Lyndsey Beaulieu and Taylor Wong and directed by Brenna Mallow. Spoilers ahead!

“I’m the boss of me.” – Terry and audience

We begin the episode in a hotel conference room where speaker Terry (played by John Milhiser) is talking to a small audience about the importance of having self-control. He tells his captive audience the secret to self-control is one simple thing; however, before he can reveal that simple thing, his right hand seizes up and starts going all Devon Sawa in Idle Hands on Terry. The audience is aghast as Terry starts beating the shit out of himself. It would be hilarious if it wasn’t so horrifying.

Cue title card.

“Get it off!” – Eddie Diaz, to anyone who will listen

The 118 arrive on the scene and find Terry slapping himself. Hen reminds us that once upon a time she went to med school and suggests Terry is suffering from something called alien hand syndrome. Eddie doesn’t believe such a thing exists but Hen schools him by explaining that it’s a rare neurological condition that causes a person’s limbs to act out, seemingly of their own will. This condition usually indicates urgent brain danger. Bobby tells Buck and Eddie to restrain Terry while Hen and Chimney prepare to administer some lorazepam and lidocaine. Buck and Eddie struggle to restrain the guy which is funny considering they’re both big dudes and this guy doesn’t seem like he would be that strong. Hen asks Terry if he’s recently been treated for epilepsy or blood clots. He tells her no and Chimney asks if he’s been treated for an irregular heartbeat. Terry tells him he had an operation four weeks ago for his AFib. Hen thinks it’s possible his heart has grown a blood clot that went to his brain. Basically, Terry is having a stroke and it’s imperative they get him to the hospital immediately before there’s any brain damage.

Terry’s hand reaches for Buck’s throat and starts choking him. Bobby manages to pry his hand off Buck’s throat, but it immediately grabs Eddie’s (ahem) privates. Yup, you read that correctly. Terry’s hand gropes Eddie’s package. Eddie is basically S.A.-ed in a room full of people. Bobby pries his hand off, again, and Eddie collapses to the floor. The hand goes for Buck’s throat again and Chimney sneaks in to administer the lidocaine which numbs Terry’s arm and hand. At this point, Buck’s face is beet-red, and his eyes are bulging out. Terry goes to apologize to Buck and Eddie, but neither are very receptive to his apology.

“How perfect is this little face?” – Karen Wilson, to Maddie Buckley

We head over to the Buckley-Han residence where Maddie and Chimney are giving some of Jee-Yun’s baby clothes to Hen and Karen who are excited about the arrival of a new foster child. Karen gets a call from the social worker asking to meet with them. When they meet with Dierdra (played by Andi Chapman) she tells them the little girl they were planning on fostering is being taken in by her grandmother. What I like most about this scene, it shows how much Hen and Karen have grown since the whole Nia situation back in season 3. They’re disappointed about not being able to foster the little girl, but Hen says that at least the girl gets to stay with her family.

Dierdra tells them there’s another girl who needs a home but she’s older. Both the girl’s parents are deceased and she’s currently living in a group home which is not an ideal living situation for a 9-year-old. Dierdra tells Hen and Karen that this girl is very special, and she wants her to have a fighting chance at having a good life. She believes her best chance is with Hen and Karen. Hen looks at Karen who gives her a look that indicates her interest in giving this child a home. Hen asks Dierdra when she and Karen will get to meet her.

“I’m an ally. Every Pride Month, I put a rainbow on my Instagram.” – Evan Buckley, to Tommy Kinard

Meanwhile, Buck and Tommy (played by Lou Ferrigno Jr.) go out on their first date. While Tommy pays their bill, Buck asks him what time the movie starts. Tommy tells him the movie theater has 18 screens so they can pick a movie when they get there. Buck glances around the restaurant, nervously, and Tommy assures him that no one is looking at them. I love that Tommy is one of the only characters in the show who calls him Evan. Tommy reminds him that no one cares that they’re having dinner together. Buck, of course, plays coy, and Tommy tells him he’s a little tense. He tells Buck that he gets it. The two of them are in a pretty macho line of work,. He tells Buck that he’d be surprised by how accepting most people are.

Buck asks Tommy if he’s always been out at work. Tommy tells him ‘no’ and says that the 118 was a pretty regressive place back when it was under the leadership of Captain Gerrard. Tommy says that back then he was still figuring himself out. When he transferred to Harbor, he stopped lying about who he was. Buck says he’s not lying about who he is and Tommy says he didn’t say Buck was. He was talking about himself. Buck tells Tommy this is his first date with a guy but assures him he’s not weirded out. I cackled when Buck told Tommy he was an ally and that he posts a rainbow on his Instagram during Pride Month. Tommy says that it must be him that makes Buck nervous.

“Evan, I think you’re adorable.” – Tommy Kinard, to Evan Buckley

Their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of Eddie and his girlfriend, Marisol (played by Edy Ganem). Eddie greets them both, very loudly, and is excited to see his two friends hanging out. Tommy tells them they just had dinner and are on their way to see a movie. Buck says that afterwards they’re going to go pick up hot chicks because women like firefighters. Eddie, of course, is oblivious and makes a comment about Marisol being a hot chick and finding her firefighter. I don’t know who’s cringier in this scene – Buck or Eddie. Eddie tells Buck and Tommy that Marisol agreed to move in with him and they both tell him congratulations. Marisol makes a comment about moving her armoire into Eddie’s house and he says that you can never have too much closet space. Tommy says, ain’t that the truth – right, Evan? I hollered!!!! Buck looks like he wants to disappear. Eddie and Marisol leave, and Tommy asks if Buck’s ready to go. Buck says yes. Outside, Tommy orders a Lyft just for himself. He tells Buck he’s going to skip the movie. When Buck asks why, Tommy tells him that he doesn’t think Buck is ready. Before he gets in the car, he tells Buck he’ll see him around. I felt so bad for Buck in this scene, but I totally understand where Tommy is coming from.

“Can we go back to the pronoun?” – Maddie Buckley, to Evan Buckley

Dierdra introduces Hen, Karen, and Denny to a Mara Driskell (played by Askyler Bell). Mara is non-verbal and seems withdrawn. Hen tells her to make herself at home and Denny gives her his favorite teddy bear. Meanwhile, Buck goes to see Maddie and tells her about his date. He describes his date in vague terms which leads Maddie to believe he’s seeing a married woman. Buck says he’s not seeing a married woman and tells her he feels guilty for lying to Eddie. Maddie asks him why he did it and Buck says he doesn’t know. Buck tells her that his date left him standing outside the restaurant. Maddie picks up on the specific pronoun he used to describe his date and to Buck’s credit, he tells her he was on a date with a guy.

Maddie is so supportive in this scene which I knew she’d been. In fact, I don’t think anyone is going to have a problem with Buck being interested in men. Maddie asks him how long it’s been since he’s been leaning in the other direction. He tells her he hasn’t been leaning in that direction; however, he will, from time to time, check out a hot guy’s ass. Buck considers this normal behavior, and you know what, I agree with him. We should all, regardless of who were are attracted to, take the time to check out a hot guy’s ass. Buck tells his sister about Tommy. I thought it was so cute when Buck lists all the things he finds attractive about Tommy Kinard. He’s confident, interesting, and no one has a swell cleft in his chin like Gaston Tommy. Maddie asks if this is the same Tommy who is Eddie’s friend. Buck gets defensive and reminds her that Tommy is a recent friend that he and Eddie most definitely met at the same time. I love when Buck gets jealous. Maddie tells Buck that she doesn’t think he’s a fraud and she follows that up with some amazing, sisterly advice. She reminds him that he’s still processing these new feelings and when he’s ready to tell Eddie the truth, he will do it in his own time. We end the scene with Maddie asking Buck to tell her more about the hot pilot.

“You’re not gonna spank me with a ruler, are you?” – Eddie Diaz, to Marisol

We next head over to the Diaz residence where we see Eddie and Marisol in bed together presumably after sexytimes. I found this transition jarring because we haven’t seen this side of Eddie since season 2. It’s so funny to me that Ryan Guzman is one of this show’s sex symbols, but we rarely get intimate scenes with his character. In fact, all of the other characters have been shown to have very active and satisfying sex lives within the show. Even Bobby and Athena like to mix it up with some roleplay from time to time. Anywho, Marisol heads into the bathroom to take the world’s fastest shower while Eddie snoops through her things. He finds a crucifix and a photo of her in a nun’s habit. He asks her when she was a nun for Halloween. Marisol exits the bathroom wearing a towel and tells him the photo was taken when she was with the Sisters of the Holy Order. She passes off this information like it’s the most normal explanation in the world before heading back into the bathroom. He asks he if she was really a month and she lets him know she only made it to novice and never took her final vows. Eddie tells her he’s having flash backs to being back in middle school. He asks if he she plans on spanking him with a ruler and she jokes that she’ll only do that if he asks nicely. When Marisol leaves the bathroom this time, Eddie sees her dressed in a habit with a celestial glow around her. Yeah, Buck may be dealing with his sexuality, but our boy Eddie has some good old-fashioned Catholic guilt.

“Is something wrong?” – Karen Wilson, to Mara Driskell

Back over at the Wilsons, Karen helps Mara get ready for bed. As she goes to leave the room, she finds the bear that Denny gave Mara lying on the floor with its head ripped off. Karen is rightfully disturbed by this and quickly exits the room. Later on, Karen wakes up to find Mara standing at the end of her bed. She wakes Hen up and they ask if something is wrong. Mara just stands there and glares at them in the creepiest way. Hen gets up and tells Mara she will go back to her room with her. When she goes to put her hand on Mara’s shoulder, the child starts screaming bloody murder which wakes Denny up. Hen and Karen exchange horrified looks.

“So, she dropped out of nun school?” – Evan Buckley, to Eddie Diaz

The next day, Buck walks into work, looking nervous and trepidatious. He sees Eddie at the bench-press and heads over to talk to him. He starts things off by telling Eddie he’s there early. Eddie says he’s been there since 6:00 even though their shift doesn’t start till 9:00. Eddie tells Buck he left the house early to avoid having sex with Marisol. Eddie asks Buck if his family was very religious when he was growing up which, no offense to the writers, seems like a conversation they would’ve maybe had by now considering how close they are. Buck says they were Episcopalian so basically no. I laughed at this line because I’ve always thought of Episcopalian as diet Catholicism. Many of the same rituals without all the pomp and pageantry. Eddie says he comes from Latin Catholics which apparently is even more hardcore than regular Catholics. Rosary beads. Catholic schools. Confessions. Mass every Sunday. He tells Buck he went until he was old enough to let tell his parents it wasn’t for him. Eddie calls himself as a Manchurian Catholic with a reservoir of Catholic guilt lying dormant just waiting to be activated.

Eddie goes on to say that everything was going great with Marisol moving in until he found out she was a nun. Buck’s follow-up question to hearing all of this is asking if she wears the outfit meaning the nun’s habit. Eddie explains that she’s not a nun currently, but she was once upon a time. Buck asks if she dropped out or was expelled. Eddie says that Marisol left of her own volition. Buck asks him what the problem is. Eddie says the problem is that he can’t look at her without wanting to do the Sign of the Cross instead of … other things. Eddie says he hasn’t been able to get a boner since she told him which explains why he’s so pent up. Buck tells him that Episcopalians don’t have guilt which is something he doesn’t exactly feel great about and suggests that Eddie appeal to a higher power. Eddie asks Buck if he thinks he should go to confession. Buck tells him ‘no’ and says he thinks he should go talk to Bobby since he’s a practicing Catholic. Eddie thinks this is a good idea since Bobby has never made him feel judged. He tells Buck that’s good advice. He goes to leave but pauses. He turns to Buck and says that it looked like he wanted to tell him something when he walked in. Buck lies and says he was just going to see if needed someone to spot him.

“One minute, Denny’s setting the table and the next, he’s bleeding.” – Karen Wilson, to Hen Wilson

Upstairs, Bobby brings Hen coffee. She tells him she need a handful of ibuprofen. He asks her if she has a headache, she tells him she has an everything ache. He asks her how thing are going with Mara, and she tells him that something happened to her. Before she got to Hen and Karen. Hen tells him that Mara had an episode the previous night. A night terror. She tells Bobby that she’s been with a day and a night but so far hasn’t spoken a single word. Bobby tells her that once Mara feels safe, she will eventually open up. Hen gets a text from Karen with a photo of Denny. Denny had a bruise over his right eye and the two of them are at the emergency room. Hen gets up and tells Bobby she needs to call Karen.

She learns that during breakfast, Mara chucked a coffee mug at Denny’s head. Hen asks if Denny is okay, and Karen says that he swears he’s fine. Denny tells Karen and Hen that Mara didn’t mean to hurt him which is awfully mature of him to say. Hen starts freaking out and asking about x-rays and stitches and checking for a concussion. Karen lets her know she is handling things. Hen apologizes and says she wishes she was there. Hen asks how all of this happened and Karen tells her she thinks it’s because Denny moved her blanket. Hen tells Karen that she’ll be home soon and when she gets there they have a lot to talk about. Karen agrees. When Hen gets home, the two of them make a phone call to Dierdra.

“I’m not gonna tell you how you feel about Marisol, Eddie. Only you know that.” – Bobby Nash, to Eddie Diaz

Meanwhile, back at the 118, Eddie shows Bobby a photo of Marisol wearing her nun’s habit. Bobby says that Marisol doesn’t look like any of the nuns he had back when he was in Minnesota. Bobby tells Eddie he understands why he’s unnerved by the knowledge that Marisol used to be a nun. He says that the imagery from their faith is very powerful. Eddie says he’s not sure if he can say that it is their faith. He tells Bobby he doesn’t know what he believes in anymore. Bobby reminds him that a lapsed Catholic is still a Catholic. He wonders if Eddie’s reaction is just him having second thoughts about Marisol moving in with him. He says that Eddie hasn’t talked about Marisol in a way that would make Bobby think he was considering cohabitating with her. Eddie tells Bobby that he really likes Marisol. Bobby tells Eddie he remembers the last time he said something similar. It was about Ana and he tells Eddie that shortly thereafter he started having panic attacks. Eddie asks Bobby if he thinks he’s a commitment-phobe. Bobby says he doesn’t think that’s the case considering Eddie has no problem committing to other things like the military, being a firefighter, his son, and Shannon. Eddie tells Bobby that the Church is a lot of the reason why he and Shannon got married. When she got pregnant, they both felt pressured into getting married. Eddie says that he’s never regretted marrying Shannon. Even when things got really bad, there was a part of him that loved being married to her. Bobby tells Eddie that only he knows how he feels about Marisol. Eddie asks Bobby what he would do if he were in his position. Bobby says as a practicing, confession-going Catholic he would go to confession because he wouldn’t want to piss off Marisol’s ex … the Lord.

“I was supposed to take care of her. She was finally supposed to be safe with me.” – Cynthia, to Hen Wilson

In our next scene, the 118 respond to an emergency involving a structure fire and a firefighter named Brunson who has been bitten by the homeowner’s dog. While Chimney sees to Brunson (played by Anthony Starke), the homeowner Cynthia (played by Sandra Thigpen) explains that the dog is a rescue who was once used for fighting. She is more upset about the dog being trapped inside her home which is currently on fire than she is her home. Brunson says he’s sorry he couldn’t get the dog out of the house and Cynthia apologizes for her dog biting him. Hen, being an avid animal lover, goes to check on the dog after she’s carried out of the house by another fireman. She detects movement and begins administering compressions to the dog. Okay, so maybe I’m late to the party but I didn’t know CPR worked on dogs. The dog regains consciousness and Cynthia is so happy. Brunson says to Hen that she doesn’t give up and Chimney tells him that giving up is not in her vocabulary.

“Everybody’s given up on her. I don’t want to be another name in a long list of people who have failed her.” – Hen Wilson, to Athena Grant

Hen goes to see Athena who has done some digging into Mara’s background. They learn that Mara’s parents were high school sweethearts who have criminal records going all the way back to when they were teenagers. They were both into drugs which ultimately led to their demise. They both died on the same night due to an opioid overdose. They’d been dead several hours by the time paramedics arrived. Hen asks Athena how the paramedics found them. Athena tells her someone called 911.

Hen and Karen head over to the 911 dispatch center to see Maddie. I love how we keep getting more scenes between these Maddie and Hen. I would argue that we’ve seen Hen and Maddie together more in just this season alone than the other seasons combined. Maddie plays the 911 call from the night Mara’s parents overdosed. At first no one responds to the dispatcher but eventually Mara starts talking. Mara tells him that her parents went to sleep and now they will not wake up. It was absolutely heartbreaking listening to Mara tell the dispatcher that she couldn’t feel her parents breathing. She tells him that sometimes her parents take pills that make them sleepy but they always wakeup. She wonders why they aren’t waking up this time. She begs for them to wake up. When the recording ends, Hen realizes aloud that Mara wasn’t just watching her and Karen sleep. She was worried they weren’t going to wake up. Karen says she was trying to protect them. I mean that still doesn’t make what she did to Denny okay but at least we have an explanation as to why she’s acting out and not speaking to anyone.

Eddie heads over to Buck’s to avoid going home to his own place. Buck tells him he’s going to have to go home at some point. Eddie asks if he has to. Buck reminds him that’s where he and his son lives. Eddie says that Christopher is away for the next couple of days. Speaking of Christopher, I was hoping that with him being a main part of the cast now that we’d see him more this season. Maybe he’ll factor in towards the latter half of the season. Anywho, Eddie is worried that if he goes home, Marisol will want to have sex with him. Buck tells him he’ll get through it. Eddie is worried about God watching them knock boots and Buck asks him if God was watching before Eddie learned about Marisol being a nun. Eddie says that he’s going to have to break up with her. Buck asks him if that is what he wants. Eddie says no and reminds Buck that he just asked Marisol to move in with him. He tells Buck that he and Tommy have the right idea staying single and hanging out with the boys. Oh, Eddie. You don’t know the half of it.

“This doesn’t change a thing between us. Okay?” – Eddie Diaz, to Evan Buckley

Buck finally comes clean and tells Eddie he was on a date with Tommy. Eddie is shocked that Tommy’s gay which is funny to me because one would think his first thought would be, wow, Buck, you’re bisexual? Buck figured that Tommy’s sexuality would’ve come up at some point while they were hanging out. Eddie says Tommy hasn’t said anything to him, not that it would matter. Buck says that Tommy doesn’t volunteer his sexuality, but he doesn’t hide it. Buck asks Eddie if it’s weird that he and Tommy were on a date and Eddie says absolutely not. Eddie tells Buck that nothing will change between the two of them and Buck is visibly relieved by hearing this. Buck tells him that Tommy dumped him but then remembers that he can’t be dumped if they were never together. Buck tells him that Tommy doesn’t think he’s ready to be in a relationship with a guy. Eddie asks him what he thinks. Buck says he can’t stop thinking about Tommy. Eddie tells Buck he needs to call Tommy. Eddie reminds him that Tommy doesn’t know he’s an idiot but once he does get to know him, he’ll love Buck – like they all do. But what if he says no, Buck asks. Then he’s an idiot, Eddie says. Eddie tells him not to walk away from something before he even knows what it is. Buck echoes what Eddie said earlier in the episode and tells him that’s good advice. Eddie agrees and tells Buck he needs to talk to Marisol. He gets up and heads to the door. Before he leaves, he tells Buck to come here, and the two besties hug it out. This scene was so precious. I love the chemistry between these two. I’m still not 100% sold on them being anything other than friends but I can see why others would see a scene like this and ship these two romantically. Before Eddie leaves, he reminds Buck to call Tommy. If only you could be as good of a boyfriend as you are a friend, Eddie. You would be as close to perfect as a person could get.

“Because no man has ever looked at me the same after they found out.” – Marisol, to Eddie Diaz

Eddie finally makes it back to his house right about the same time Marisol gets there. He apologizes for not coming home sooner. He asks her if she’s had anything to eat and she tells him she ate with her brother. This made me laugh because I’ve seen people on Reddit and Tumblr joke about how Marisol has more chemistry with her brother than she does with Eddie. Anywho, Marisol tells Eddie they should talk and he agrees. She tells him she have told him sooner about being a nun. He asks her why she didn’t, and she tells him that whenever she tells a guy about her past, one of two things happen. Either they get freaked out or turned on. Eddie suggests there may be a third option – the kind of guy who just needs a minute. Marisol tells him if he’s not ready for them to cohabitate, she understands. Eddie tells her he doesn’t think he’s ready for them to leave together … yet. He tells her something about him. He confesses that he has the tendency to move too fast in his relationships. He goes with his gut and lets his head catch up later. Marisol asks if that usually works out for him and he tells her no. However, this time he would really like it if it did. Eddie asks Marisol if they can start over, and she says yes. This time he wants them to take time getting to know each other. They kiss and Marisol says she can’t wait to move out. Eddie says he can’t wait either.

“Night, night.” – Mara, to Karen Wilson

At the Wilson residence, Karen goes into Mara’s room to talk to her. She says she can’t imagine how hard it is for her being in a new house with strangers. Karen says she would be scared all the time which is how she knows Mara is a very brave girl. Karen tells Mara she doesn’t have to be brave all the time. She tells her she is safe there with her, Hen, and Denny – even if she doesn’t feel like she is. She gives Mara a monitor so she can see that Karen and Hen are there and know that she is safe. She tells Mara goodnight and tells her goodnight. Hen and Karen are delighted to hear this.

“I don’t know what I’m ready for, but I am ready for something. And I think maybe that something could be with you.” – Evan Buckley, to Tommy Kinard

The next day, Buck meet up with Tommy. They exchange hellos and Buck thanks Tommy for agreeing to meet him. He tells Tommy he got him a coffee. He didn’t know how he took his coffee, so he just guessed. Tommy takes a sip and says, not like that. I love how honest Tommy is. It’s what I find so endearing about him. They both laugh and Buck says there’s a lot of things they don’t know about each other. Tommy says practically everything. Buck wants to change that but first he apologizes for how he behaved on their date. Tommy assures him he has nothing to apologize for, but Buck says he does. Tommy tells him no again and explains that he didn’t cut their date short because Buck behaved badly. He cut it short because he didn’t want to pressure Buck. Buck admits that how he acted is not one of his proudest moments. Buck brings up how Tommy said he wasn’t ready. He tells Tommy that he doesn’t know what he’s ready for but he is ready for something. He believes that maybe that something could be with Tommy. Tommy says that Buck already knows he’s interested. Buck invites him to come to Maddie’s wedding. Tommy laughs but quickly realizes that Buck is serious. Buck tells him that he wants him to be his date. When Tommy said Evan, I swooned. Buck tells him that he already knows half the people that will be at the wedding and says that Maddie is eager to meet him. I love how Tommy is always checking to make sure Buck is okay with everything they are doing. He asks Buck if he’s sure and Buck says he is. He tells Tommy he’ll need someone to dance with. Tommy says okay. They hold hands and Buck looks so happy I could just scream. “What was it, pastel and puke?” – Maddie Buckley, to Evan Buckley and Eddie Diaz

In our final scene, we flash-forward to Maddie and Chimney’s wedding. We see Athena looking absolutely radiant seated next to Bobby. We see Maddie in her wedding dress freaking out over Chimney, Buck, and Eddie being a half an hour late. Maddie’s dad (played by Gregory Harrison) is trying to call Buck but keeps getting his voicemail. Hen arrives in looking absolutely stunning in a black tux. She tells Maddie that Buck’s car just pulled up. Maddie is relieved and asks if Chimney is with them. Hen tells her she isn’t sure. She didn’t see. Buck and Eddie arrive looking like something the proverbial cat drug in. I love their pastel blazer. Eddie’s in a pink suit with no shirt on for some reason. Not that I’m complaining. Buck has on all white with a green blazer. Maddie asks them why they’re dressed like that. Buck says they were at a themed party. Eddie says the puke on his jacket isn’t his. Maddie tells them to get changed and asks them about Chimney. Buck tells her it’s complicated.

Wow, what another incredible episode. I like how the theme of not knowing someone carried out throughout the episode. This season continues to deliver on the character development front. Some have complained that there’s not enough emergencies this season, but I don’t care. I’ve always preferred the drama of the characters over the actual emergencies. I think the show does a good job of balancing those two things. Hell, it’s only been five episodes and we’ve dealt with a drunk driver, an airplane crashing into a house, a cruise ship capsizing and a guy going ape shit on himself. That’s plenty of emergency for me.

Speaking of balance, I think the show is doing a good job of balancing our main characters’ storyline. The first three episodes dealt with Athena and Buck. The last two episodes have been about Buck, Hen, and Eddie. I feel like the next episodes will deal with Maddie and Chimney. Speaking of Buck, I am very pleased with the direction his character is going. I was watching an episode from season one and it’s remarkable how far he’s come since then. The same goes with Hen. In season one, I wasn’t sure if her relationship with Karen was going to go the distance but here we are seven years later and they’re still together, better than ever, and fostering kids in addition to raising Denny. Then we have Eddie. I am so happy Bobby called him out on his bullshit. I’ve watched people online make excuses for Eddie’s behavior while pointing the finger at Shannon. I’ve never understood how people could be so angry at Shannon for leaving Christopher but turn a blind eye to the fact that Eddie has openly admitted to signing up for another tour of duty because he wasn’t ready to deal with being a husband and a father. Having Marisol move out is a good decision although I wish he never asked her to move in to begin with. It creates more baggage for her. Hopefully, Eddie will take additional steps to figure out why he sucks at relationships. It's so funny to me because I see so many folks online who swear up and down that Eddie and Buck are going to be together by the end of this season. Yet, none of them have ever taken the time to consider that if Eddie is bad with Shannon, Ana, and now with Marisol, why would things be any different with Buck? Also, I do not want Eddie to interfere with Buck’s bisexual awakening. In fact, outside of them being just two friends supporting each other, I would like to see them embark on their separate journeys alone and maybe rely on others for advice.

Well, unfortunately it looks like we will not be getting a new episode until May 2nd. I checked my calendar and May 2nd isn’t as far away as I thought. Having 9-1-1 on a brief hiatus will allow me some time to revisit some older episodes and rewatch the five episodes from this season. The thing about 9-1-1, much like Golden Girls and Schitt’s Creek, it will never get old to me. So, maybe I’ll start at the very beginning (again) so I can better appreciate how far our beloved characters have come. Until next time …

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kaiju-z · 3 years

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“Moonlight Tryst Under The Eclipse”

Right! So! A little clarification is in order! Um. So like. There’s this D&D show called “Role With Me”/”The Ties That Bind”. And the party have recently reached a high-tech Elven city and are learning all kinds of things about the society there. Including that they found fucking God fan fiction. Fan fiction written about Arkanos, God of Magic, who is also the elves’ God. And of Solomon, the God of Undeath. Who is basically enemy to all elven kind, after he convinced a group of them to worship him, in exchange for “immortality”, which is the secret origin of the drow in that world.

So like. It’s them. As like. A ship. They found shipfics and were reading them.

So this is basically inspired by that. And it’s a fic, “as written” by a writer in that world, that city. That internet. So yeah. It’s a fic, within a fic. ó ____ ó;;; That’s it. That’s the joke.

Also yes, you should watch Role WIth Me. Very Dark Souls/Witcher-ish. With a flavor of Bloodborne. Also lots of funnies between the rough stuff that our heroes go through.

An Arkanos/Solomon fanfic by RainbowRunner899

It was meant to be a distraction. A simple. Basic. Get your mind off the ear-splitting screams and wails distraction. A honest to yourself one. And yet here you were. Hours after the fact, still locked in an embrace with the long eared boy scout!

Arms around your body, you can easily feel his fingers trace every smooth pattern and ridge of your back as the stars shimmer and shake under his dexterous touch. Unlike your dark dealings in your domain beyond mortal comprehension, here you are incapable of hiding your intents and secrets. Or at least, the ones you can gesticulate.

Damn him! Damn this know-it-all paragon that bewitched you with his soft voice and alluring eyes! His words, his face, his everything! It drives you to madness! Like that’d mean anything to you, anyways. You were already unhinged. By some slight you yourself perceive as such. You blame your makers for it and have stated it as such to him, many a nights.

Many, upon many, for centuries, long since after he took his foolish followers and ran off into parts unknown, leaving you with your defiled flock of sycophants! You hate them, for they fell so easily and thus, you send them to do all sorts of cruelties. Just to test how far they’ll go for you. When they’d snap. Break. You figure that is why he had come out of hiding the first time, since your conflict. And confronted you.

The two of you had fought for dominance, throwing stars and supernovas at one another, frightening the populace around you. And, had it not been for his quick thinking and raised defenses, you two surely would have exterminated all life in the vicinity.

‘Damn him.’ you think, your face flushing as his hands move to your front, caressing the 8 pack. Damn him for seeing through your ruse that night. Through to the very core of who you were and why you did what you did! All that cruelty and anger! All of it, creating a Seeming of unseen proportions, hiding the broken man in need of help underneath.

Only he saw it! Neither Vanderen, nor Fleetfoot. Nor the old man and the revelry wench got even the slightest idea you had this secret pain! They were too stupid, too blind to see. But not Arkanos. He knew and he punished your body so with the palms of his hands. Your breathing growing heavy to his actions and you contemplate evasive maneuvers.

He reaches for your pa-aaand you grab his wrist. “No.” you go, hissing at him with a glare of pure death. Or undead. As is your aspect.

He looks at you with those gentle eyes. Those honest and wise eyes. “No?” he repeats, questioning you with his pretty little face. You’d bite your lip, if you had one. Then shake your head.

“No.” And you’d get up and try to make way out of the room, specifically by him, to protect you both from prying eyes. “I’m leaving. Going back, I-I have work to do. Monsters to raise. Many dark biddings to be made, Arkanos.” You growled, pitifully to show aggression. But he’s unmoving, unperturbed by your behavior as you struggle to put your robe back on. Damn thing! Did you start putting it with the wrong sleeve forward?! You’d struggle and huff and puff as you forced your head through a familiar opening and then flinch backwards, bumping into the wall.

“You’re having those thoughts again, aren’t you, Sol?” he asks you directly, his voice peaceful, like a river during summer. Disgusting. And beautiful, damn it! So beautiful! You think that as he had been standing right to face you once you put your head through the clothing. “Don’t lie to me. My eyes cannot be tricked, my ears cannot be lied to… and my heart- And he’d reach for his chest, tapping the left peck, before reaching over to tap your own.

You had no pulse. Not that it mattered. You were a god and who honestly cared about pulses, when you would live forever! Or unlive. Or-aaah, fuck it! You’d look away, scowling a boney scowl. “This game ends here, Arkanos. You’ve seduced me many a times before, but this ends now. You know you could never beat me in a fair fight and I know that you can’t backstab me like some mortal rogue under the pale moon light.” you scoffed, grabbing the door handle.

Twisting it, turning it. Opening the entrance and, in your case, the exit from his awkward situation. But right before you’d leave, the door would shut, without you even taking a full step ahead. You flinch, step backwards and bump into his frame. Then you have to straighten yourself as you attempt to prevent flushing of the cheeks. Straightening yourself and your clothing, you scoff. “Of course, right. Your wards.”

“Yes, Sol.” He’d smile a little smile your way and you feel your spine shiver. That cute smile that drove you crazy. After everything you did. All the people you killed and brought back as your meat and soul puppets! And he has the gall to smile at you like that.

“Well, undo it!” you try to regain footing. To find your equilibrium and tower over him, make yourself bigger, like one of those bear things that roam Fleetfoot’s forests. But intimidation does not work on him and you know it. He’s too brave. TOO STUPID, you try to think, but you know he’s too smart for you. Of all of them, even you, with all your dark and vile magicks, he was always the superior intellect.

He’d sigh a light sigh and glance over to the nearby window. It had been darkened off with the Darkness spell, which you made sure to cast, in case one of your flunkies or one of his randomly popped their head through. And he’d walk over to it, tapping it gently with a finger, dispelling. The sky appeared an odd mix of colors. It was familiar. Reminded you of your many birthdays. Yes, even the one good one you had all those millennia ago.

He’d wave a hand to you to step on over and join him at the glass separating you two from the outside. No words were needed. He had prepared the right set of movements, didn’t he?! A pregnant pause. And you go over, though you dare not look upwards at what the sky would be like. You just look down, no head in the clouds. Only down towards the muck.

“There is no shame in what you feel, Sol. You know that, right?” he’d say, side-glancing you every now and then as he faced the sky, while you watched the passerby folk, well, pass by. Wordlessly, you listen to him. And then have to find yourself blinking as the silence became deafening. Like he wanted a direct answer from you.

You’d grimace and cant your head some in a direction of your choosing. “I’ve killed and converted and had them kill… so many people. And you’re trying to psychoanalyze me, Arkanos. Don’t you find the flaw in that?!” he’d sneer. “The daddy of the elves meeting with the step dad of your little traitors. In secret and for centuries now. Isn’t that a little-Don’t you think that’s kind of fucked up?!” he’d not even raise a brow over your foul mouth. He was used to it.

He was used to keeping it occupied, too. Hmph!

“Is it really so crazy, Sol? Is it, though?” he’d smile again, resting a hand on your shoulder. “You. And I. Have such a history, spanning many a lifetimes of many a people. From the short-lived to the ancient. Friends. To rivals. To enemies. To friends…” he’d giggle and your face would change shades. It was a whole galactic party on your features. “To so much more.”

“Fuckbuddies.” he scoffed at your phrasing. He was used to the cussing, but that sort of direct crassness gave you a bit of an advantage… every now and then.

“Call it as you want, Sol. But I know the truth. I peered through your actions and your thoughts and I saw the real you… And I saw the broken pieces. They were there, inside you. Calling, screaming to be reshaped.” He spoke to you with such determination and passion. You’d mistake him for one of those new-fangled “bards”. “Is it honestly that big of a surprise that once you reached out as you did, I would reach back in turn?”

You look away. “After everything I put you and your kids through, how is that a surprise, Ark-“he has a hand on your cheekbone, slowly turning your face in his direction, as you sought to glance away in your shame and woe. “I-I mean-“

No time to finish the sentence. He pecks your face with his lips. Quick and focused. Your spine shivers at his advance. But you don’t really fight it, though you hate him pulling away.

“You are a lonely man, shrouded in a darkness of your own making. Unwilling to show the pain to those around you, fearing their response.” He’d say softly. “But I saw and I felt and I knew that day…”

“You knew…?” you asked.

He’d nod to you with a, well, knowing smile, his cheeks turning pink. It really didn’t take you that much to figure out what he meant.

“O-oh. Oh!”

“Yes.”

“Ohhhhh…” it was all you could say, while he glanced back out the window and you followed his gaze to the sky above. Where the moon had gone before the sun, creating a rare masterpiece that the mortals found fascinating as all hell. But to you? To you this was your birthday. Again, damn it, you’d bite your lip if you had that.

You feel his hand on your person. Fingers entangling with your own. You look to them. And you look to him. His eyes took that “look” again. A familiar one that the two of you would act upon whenever the opportunity struck.

He walked back. And headed to the bed that faced the door, light step after light step, pulling you along. One knee on the bed. A creeking sound. His other knee on the mattress. A repeat. Shifting of weight as he pulled you on over.

You’d open your mouth to speak. “I-“

And he’d answer. “I know.”

Wordlessly, the two of you would lock faces and commiserate as he helped you take off the robe again. This time much slower and to the point than in a simple moment of passion. There was more feeling there.

As he’d undress you and you him, a thought would crawl into your mind.

Perhaps it was possible. Perhaps it was, yes, that the shattered insides of your soul could be put together again. Perhaps he could do it.

To Be Continued.

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Author’s notes: WONDERCRAK! Thank you, dear readers, for all the well wishes and kind words about the last story! Even you, KnuckleTucker3000. I appreciate the criticism on my grammar and took it to heart o w o! Wow, like, wow! So like, I was really excited to get to this part of the story, ‘cause, obviously I finally got to reveal what kinda day Solomon was born on u w u Next week’s continuation’s gonna get extra spicy, tho, so I have to bring back the reminder >8( This one’s for the grown-ups and it’s gonna be tagged NSFW! Don’t read if a Lemon Fic isn’t your thing! I’ll drop the hidden lore bits I’ll be putting in that one!

Stay tuned u w u, RainbowRunner899 out!

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moviegroovies · 3 years

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confession time: for someone who (semi) actively runs a movie blog, i really haven’t seen a lot of classic movies.

(i know this comes as a shock for those of y’all who have been subjected to nothing but my half-baked thoughtpieces on bad 80′s horror for the past couple of years, but bear with me.)

to be honest, even this review doesn’t REALLY represent me making an active choice to remedy that so much as it does me pulling a long con where i endear myself to marilyn monroe by watching her movies to get myself excited to watch the miniseries blonde (2001), for abnormally pretty, young jensen ackles purposes*, but let’s not dwell on all that. the practical result is the same; i watched some like it hot (1959). now, i hope y’all are ready for a few some like it Thoughts™:

first, idk how much attention y’all have been paying to the loose bits of personal lore i occasionally scatter within my reviews, but one thing about myself that i feel i’ve been pretty open about is the fact that i’m trans. this being so, and knowing not a whole lot about the movie beyond the very basic premise “1959 extended man in a dress gag,” i can’t say i went in with the highest of expectations. imagine my surprise, then, when the gender aspect of this movie was... actually pretty good? i mean, full disclosure, it’s not exactly gender studies, but it’s passable! it’s tolerable! there were even a few moments where i felt inclined to say the words “oh, GENDER?” out loud!

perhaps most impressively, i’d say the Cis Creator Cringe Factor of some like it hot was actually impressively LOWER than a lot of modern moves with genderswapping premises tend to be. like, i know that one definite explanation for that would be the fact that trans experiences are more widespread today, so modern filmmakers don’t feel comfortable playing with ideas like this without at least giving lipservice to them, while the era that bore some like it hot didn’t face the same “pressure,” but, okay. listen. compared to another movie i watched recently--freaky (2020), in which a teenage girl swaps bodies with serial killer vince vaugn, featuring one incredibly anvilicious scene where, upon being informed by a gay boy that she’s in the men’s bathroom, the girl’s best friend retorts, “she [vince vaugn]’s got a dick in her hand, and you’re wearing chanel no. 5. i think we’re past labels.”--some like it hot, a movie older than my father, was wayyyy easier to watch**. actually, you know what? yeah. listen to me. cis content creators? movie producers? i’m talking to you. DON’T EVEN BRING GENDER (or gender “identities”... which is an incredibly gross term, anyway) UP IF YOU’RE NOT PLANNING TO DO SOMETHING WITH IT. sincerely, this particular bad taste corner of the trans community :).

...anyway.

some like it hot, by contrast, did it right. YES, the premise of the movie was two presumably cis men in disguise as women. i’ll put that in the open. however, there was a certain... i don’t know if “respect” is the right word, but there was an avoidance, at least, of the usual predatory tropes. in fact, the worst behavior by far from either main character comes when joe manages to take off his female disguise, donning another, male persona and using things that sugar (marilyn’s character) confided in “josephine” to create a nonthreatening, desirable “millionaire” in order to trick her into sex. okay, like i said, it’s not gender studies, but, the humor in some like it hot comes from generally the right place. joe and jerry don their female disguises in a matter that in quite literally life and death for them (and it’s more than the creators ever thought of, i’m sure, but there IS an interesting analysis to be had of them needing to pass to live), which to a degree removes the usual pitfalls of male to female crossdressing as a gag; they’re neither doing it for lecherous reasons, nor to parody the female experience. this being a comedy, there is a degree of humor found in the situation, but it’s directed at jerry and joe, the characters, more than their disguises. the general assumption is that they both pass without question, as long as they’re wearing their ladies’ clothes; jerry once comments that he’s “not even pretty,” but it’s never an issue to contend with.

wrt the crossdressing, the worst moment for me, personally, was a scene on the train when jerry prepared to take off the disguise in order to sleep with sugar, and even this ends up comedically averted at jerry’s expense.

and speaking of jerry.

jerry is actually the most compelling part of the movie for me, especially viewing it through the lens of gender. while joe, who gets the girl and manages to spend large chunks of the latter part of the film in his second, male disguise, never thinks too much about what they’re doing beyond the survival aspect of it, jerry is the one who, erm, “gets into character.” joe’s female name is simply josephine; before they get on the train with the woman musicians, it’s assumed that jerry will be going by “geraldine.” however, when they give their introductions, the duo becomes josephine... and daphne.

as the movie progresses, this distinction grows more pronounced; when joe has to remind a smitten jerry on the train that he’s a girl, referring to their disguises, jerry miserably repeats the affirmation: “i’m a girl. i’m a girl. i want to die. i’m a girl.” later on, however, as joe’s relationship with sugar develops, “daphne” becomes acquainted with local horndog millionaire osgood, who he at first dislikes, but comes around to after being forced on a date as part of joe’s plan to trick sugar. after seeing jerry excited by the prospect of marrying osgood, a bewildered joe has to remind jerry why it’s an impossibility, and in the same miserable tone as before, jerry/daphne muddles through a new affirmation, one that definitely didn’t ring false to my trans ears: “i’m a boy. i’m a boy. i want to die. i’m a boy.”

hm. actually, now i’m thinking about a trans male reading of joe. he was the one at first resistant to taking the job (with the all-female band), when they only needed money, and not a place to hide from an upset mob boss, but also the one who seems to know more about the role when it comes time to get into character. while jerrydaphne gets increasingly comfortable with femininity as time passes, joe never performs it in anything but a perfunctory, necessary way, and sloughs the costume EVEN WHEN the danger of being found out has not yet passed, because pretending for such a long period of time is just untenable. something about passing for female being a safe haven and a burden for both closeted (re-closeted, in this case) trans men and out trans women?

anyway. by the end, though both osgood and sugar do find out the truth about the disguises, sugar seems to instantly forgive joe for his treacherousness (again, referring more to his actions as the shell millionaire than his escapade in drag), while osgood appears unbothered by daphne’s truth, leading to an ambiguous ending for the futures of the characters, and any realizations that might come later.

no, it’s not the “real transgender experience.” it (thankfully) never claims to be. BUT, being trans myself, there were some moments that made me feel linked to our protagonists, and relatively few, if any, that made me feel alienated. all in all, that’s a lot more than i hoped for going in, so that’s what i’m happy with.

watch some like it hot, y’all. it’s a good movie in a timeless way, and, as modern movies appealing to short-lived trends that will feel outdated next week (if not by the very time of their release) will show you, that’s more than it needed to be.

*since my original draft of this post, i DID watch blonde, and i don’t know if that’s technically fair game for this blog (not exactly a movie) or what, but 6/10. fairly well done piece of art but just BEATINGLY tragic, so proceed with caution. jensen ackles literally is THAT PRETTY though, so the jackles cut i give a strong 11/10. i am a homosexual. **i would like to clarify that this isn’t me telling you not to watch freaky. yes, some of the dialogue is tragically riverdaleian, but there’s also a scene where vince vaugn makes out with a teenage boy. so,

#some like it hot #text post #freaky (2020)#link #jerry/daphne #joe #transgender

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spacehologramcollection · 4 years

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The Kombat Kast and Music.

A nice fluffy post. As it appears all I’ve been writing recently is smut and Fujin smut at that. One fine man there. A finely aged wine if ever there was one. I’m not even sure what to call this. I guess it’s like The Kombat Kast and your song. Do people still have songs? (Like this is such a 00’s thing: ‘OH MY GOD THIS IS OUR SONG SHUT UP LET ME RECORD IT ON MY PHONE!’)

I don’t own any of the songs. Didn’t link anything in because I’m sure Tumblr wouldn’t be happy with that. Under the cut for slight NSFW and because it’s a looooong post. I’m going to do a part 2. This was so long.

Enjoy!

Warnings: Slight NSFW below the cut so 18+, little bit of angst, lots of fluff. Mentions of Kano, slight shitpost, it’s at the bottom, because the tea has been spilled.

Songs don’t belong to me.

· Kabal. Song: Morocco

Artist: Moon Taxi. Lyric: Running in circles I was losing my mind, when you found me and you led me to the water just in time, Reasoning: Okay. So, this may just be a self-insert fantasy of mine. But I can imagine this song playing in the background after you get caught in a thunderstorm, you’re drying his hair off and you’re cuddled up in your dimly light apartment. I also think the lyrics speak to your relationship. The verse is talking about been lost and someone finding someone. Post-burn Kabal is very lost, unsure, confused. So, I feel the lyrics really speak to your relationship. Because he literally was running in circles, he had lost his mind little, and you kind of helped. When you tell him ‘This is our song’ he fucking loves it instantly. He doesn’t give a shit if it’s not his style of music. If you say it’s your song, then it’s your fucking song. Will. Put. It. On. In. the. Car. Stryker is done listening to it. When he hearts it, he thinks of you, which always bring about a goofy smile on his face. Pre-burn: I also feel this applies to pre-burn, he was running around with the Black Dragon, slightly lost in life, and like (AU where his shit storm story in 11 doesn’t happen) you pulled him out of that shit just in time.

· Raiden. Electric Love. Song: Electric Love. Artist: Børns Lyric: And every night my mind is running around her. Then it's getting louder and louder and louder… Baby you're like lightning in a bottle, I can't let you go now that I got I, All I need is to be struck by your electric love, Baby, your electric love Reasoning: Raiden gets two. Lucky bastard. This song has two lyrics that speak to your relationship with the God of Lightening. He’s literally like lightening in a bottle, well in a man, and you got hit by his electric love. It’s an obvious choice. The whole song could be attributed to his feelings towards you, or your feelings towards him. You’re in love with the thunder and lightening itself. It’s a very sweet song. One that you’ve caught him humming along to. Once you tell him, ‘This is our song’ he loves it. Such a cute fucking song for the both of you.

· Dark!Raiden. Song: Electric Feel. Artist: MGMT. Lyric: Baby girl, Turn me on with your electric feel… You can feel it in your mind Oh you can do it all the time, plug it in, change the world Reasoning: Need I say more? Probably another obvious choice for yours and Raiden’s song. This one has less of a romantic feel, the beat really gives me power/sex vibes when associated with him. So, it suits Dark!Raiden more. He’s more dominant and more in control. He’s also my likely to use his powers to get you going, if you’re into that sort of thing. You’ve probably fucked to this song too. When you tell him it’s your song, he becomes obsessed with it. And whenever he comes on, he’s reminded of that first sinful time he heard it. Your body is electric to him and he loves it.

· Fujin. Song: Rather Be,

Artist: Clean Bandit. Lyric: We're a thousand miles from comfort, we have travelled land and sea But as long as you are with me, there's no place I'd rather be I would wait forever, exalted in the scene As long as I am with you, my heart continues to beat Reasoning: Okay guilty pleasure song, but it fucking bops. This sums up your relationship because your relationship was not only a shot in the dark, because you’re falling in love with a God. You’re unsure if it’s going to work. It’s more than just a long-distance relationship, you’re falling in love with someone who could be in a different realm to you. Literally a thousand miles from you. When he returns, he finds great comfort with just hanging out with you, taking walks, and enjoying your company. There really is no place he’d rather be or anyone he’d rather be with. You wait for him, completely taken back when he arrives. As long as you’re with each other, you’re content and at ease. He misses you a lot but knowing he’s returning to you makes it easier. When you tell him about the mortal custom of having a song with the one you love, he wants to know what yours is with him. You two love this song. He really vibes with it. You have gotten a little drunk and sung/butchered the song together. Good times.

· Smoke. Song: Ophelia. Artist: The Lumineers. Lyric: Oh, Ophelia, you've been on my mind girl like a drug…Oh, Ophelia, you've been on my mind girl since the flood, Oh, Ophelia, heaven help a fool who falls in love. Reasoning: I totally changed my mind with this one, I originally thought it suited Kabal. But it fits way better with Smoke and your relationship. Smoke is a giant Hipster, and no one can argue with me on this one. So, he loves the band. He’s the one that comes up with the idea for this been your song. He’s unsure of himself. He’s not fully human anymore, love isn’t his forte either. So, it literally is heaven help a fool who falls in love. When you first listen to it, you’re unsure. But when he explains that your constantly on his mind, and he constantly thinks about you. You kind of get the meaning more. That, and it’s a very catchy song. He’ll also, on occasion, sing it to you whilst he twirls you around your apartment.

· Cassie Cage: Song: Jenny. Artist: The Studio Killers. Lyric: I wanna ruin our friendship, we should be lovers instead, I don't know how to say this 'Cause you're really my dearest friend. Reasoning: The reasoning for this song been your song with Cassie, is mainly due to the fact that you’d always listen to it in her car. No matter the trip. She and you would sing it and vibe to it. You always did wonder with the lyrics if it had another meaning, you hoped it did. So, it comes to no surprise when you share your first kiss to this song. You’re both driving home from the movies, and she’s about to drop you off, the songs just ended and you’re both giggling and the adrenaline is high. Queue a soft kiss between the two of you. Cassie does admit she hopes the song kinda gave it away, she was being very forward, but wanted to like you give you time to see if you felt the same. Que it becoming your song, whenever it comes on in the club, you’re ready to get up and dance. Jacqui is requesting it so she can watch you two groove!

· Jacqui Briggs. Song: What We Live For. Artist: American Authors. Lyric: We look up at the stars, a perfect night to dream with you Got nineties retro on the radio, our favourite tune I put the pedal to the metal just to laugh with you It's interstellar when it's just us two Reasoning:

This is such a cute song. The two of you live and love 90’s songs and retro music. You both love cute dates involving star gazing, going for drives and your dates are always filled with laughter. It’s your jam. You also love road trips, planning them, talking about them and obviously going on them. Jacqui literally also has the best music taste. It came on your first road trip as a couple. You both kind of looked at each other, your mouths sort of mouthing the lyrics, not wanting to admit it your guilty pleasure song. When you both catch each other singing it, you both smile, and then you turn your solo mumbling act; into the best operatic duet the car has ever seen! Your relationship is also interstellar. You both live life to the maximum and you’re living life to the full. When you ask what your song should be, you both agree on this one instantly. You trust each other both so much, as long as you’re together, you’re prepared for anything including the great unknown.

· Sub Zero (Kuai Liang):

Song: Almost (Sweet Music) Artist: Hozier. Lyric: I wouldn't know where to start, "Sweet Music" playing "In the Dark", Be still "My Foolish Heart," Don't ruin this on me. Reasoning: A pretty cute reasoning. Why this is considered your song. You chose it because of how he often referred to love as foolish prior to your relationship. That, and when you had your first romantic moment, he did utter the phrase ‘Be still my foolish heart’ and it did make you giggle in the moment. It’s such a Kuai way of saying ‘What the fuck is going on?’ he’s basically a window error noise when it comes to romance. When you tell him this is your song, he’s confused and wants to know what you mean. Once you tell him, he’s kind of into it. It’s a happy sounding song, with a nice beat, and he kind of looks at you when listening to it. If it was to come on shuffle and you were in private, he would remark on it. Smoke once played it and he ended up blushing a little too much. Don’t let Bi-Han know, he’ll never hear the end of it.

· Scorpion (Hanzo Hasashi.)

Song: Would that I

Artist: Hozier.

Lyric: The whole song. Just the whole song. But specific lyrics: With the roar of the fire my heart rose to its feet… I fell in love with the fire long ago … So in awe there I stood As you licked off the grain Though I've handled the wood I still worship the flame As long as amber of ember glows All the wood that I'd loved is long ago… Oh, let it blaze alright (ooh) Oh, but you're good to me

Reasoning: This whole song screams what a relationship with Hanzo would be like. And it’s just not because of the fire theme either. His heart has been dormant for a while, but when he sees you, it literally rose up and got life back to it. It speaks to your relationship in terms of you too, you’d fallen in love with him a long time ago and had fallen in love with the fire a long time ago too. He’s always in awe of you and you’re always good with him. Your patience is never ending, and he burns bright in your life. You’re falling in love with fire, the warmth, the crackle and familiarity when you love him. When you tell him, this is your song and you’re both listening to it. You swear you see the smallest smile. He pretends like it’s not a big deal. Music is not his jam, not modern music anywhere, but he finds the lyrics soothing and accurate with your relationship. Cuddling with this in the background too.

· Erron Black.

Song: Home. Artist: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. Lyric: Girl, I've never loved one like you

Ah, home, let me come home Home is wherever I'm with you Ah, home, let me come home Home is wherever I'm with you Reasoning: So, it’s not a proper country song. But the lyrics have meaning, and it’s kind of got a folk/country vibe to it. This song fits your relationship, just because the lyrics suit his kind of way speaking. It reminds you of him when you listen to it. Erron hasn’t had a fixed home so to speak of in a while. He’s a drifter, has been for a long time. Until he came to Outworld, he hasn’t really had fixed location. Nothing to come back to. It’s a lifestyle he’s grown accustomed to and used to. If you’re going to be with him, it’s kind of a life you’ll have to either grow used to too or be prepared to wait for him. Either option you choose, this song fits that relationship. Either his feelings towards coming home to you, or you travelling with him and home being wherever you are as long as you’re with him. When you admit this is the song you’ve got in mind for the two of you. He kind of furrows his brow. He listens to it and he can vibe with it. It’s got a certain country style jam to it; he loves the whistling and he definitely can do the whistle part perfectly. He’s also started affectionately referring to you as ‘the apple of his eye’. You two also have a bit too much whisky and end up singing this. Confusing the fuck out of Kotal and Jade, who are trying to figure out which realm this song has come from.

· Bi-Han.

Song: I think We’re Alone Now. Artist: Tiffany. Lyric:

Look at the way we gotta hide what we're doin' 'Cause what would they say If they ever knew Reasoning:

Ever since watching the Umbrella Academy, I can imagine Bi-Han, Smoke and Kuai just dancing TERRIBLY to this song. But I digress. This song started as your song as joke. He caught you singing it, he thought it was a jam. Queue you both getting a little tipsy at the Lin Kuei temple and fucking belting the fuck out of the song. You’re both hammered, Smoke isn’t sure how to react, Kuai is dying on the inside. You’re having a great time. You drunkenly both agree this is your song. Purely because, you constantly have to hide what you’re doing, because what would Kuai and the Clan say? Frost couldn’t give a fuck. She just wants to be left out of this. You have had to run hand in hand outside, because he really wanted to fuck you, but they had a full temple. So that wasn’t happening. And in his absolute adrenaline fuelled state, he may have started singing it. He’s not sure if it was out of nerves or if he wanted to make light of the situation .

· Sareena. Song: Trust. Artist: Martha Bean. Lyric: Don't let history haunt you, just let the mystery guide you I'm telling you now, there's a way (Close your eyes and let me guide you Take you to a place where love can find you) You gotta liberate Find your freedom… Reasoning: So this song is more geared towards personifying Sareena. It’s a song that makes you think about her. She has a pretty shitty backstory and she’s also a fair bit of mystery around her. She’s haunted slightly by her past, has regrets, and in the end found her freedom. She just needs some love guys. That’s all she needs. Love literally helped her find her way and freedom. It’s such a powerful emotion. When you tell her, this song reminds you of her, she doesn’t know how to react. She’s not exactly clued up on pop culture, so you play it to her. She loves it. She suggests it represents both of you. You both heal and guide each other, when you’re together it’s a place of love, and a place you both found together. Who would have thought it?

· Kano.

Song: Lonely Together. Artist: Rita Ora featuring Avicii. Lyric:

Oh Lord, here we go

I might hate myself tomorrow but I'm on my way tonight At the bottom of the bottle, you're the poison in the wine And I know I can't change you and I, I won't change Let's be lonely together

A little less lonely together Reasoning: Okay. This was going to be a major shitpost. But I thought I’d use this to let people know why I don’t think Kano is like ‘marriage material’ on a serious note. At the bottom so you can skip. The lyrics sum up the relationship pretty well. Kano isn’t the type of guy to actually give us a fuck. You can’t change him, and you never will change him. But at the time you can both feel like you have someone, I guess. I was going to just put ‘fucked with an anchor’ because he can actually fuck himself with an anchor.

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masked-buffoon · 3 years

Text

Chapter 11: Behind the scenes (Part 7)

Warnings: underage drinking

Author notes: that’s the last part for this chapter! I originally planned to finish the case with chapter 11, but it seems there is too much to tell and too much investigation to be done for me to be able to complete it... You’ll have the conclusion in the next chapter! As always, do tell me what you think, and how you feel about the story! ;)

The atmosphere around the table was awkward. Uemura-san and his wife were staring intensely at me while I was trying to eat the delicious curry she had prepared, as quietly as possible. I felt so bad that I could barely swallow the food, but my hunger easily won against my pride, and I was forced to accept a second bowl of rice.

"Thank you… I'm sorry for the disturbance…" I said, almost inaudibly.

"Speak louder, express your gratefulness." The woman laughed.

We were not supposed to get along, but behind her false mockery, I could perceive she genuinely was worried about my well-being. Despite being a former enemy… She was able to care about a despicable person like me… It felt warm.

"You're right… Thank you for your hospitality." I stood up to bow to them.

"Honey, is she really the monster you described to me…?" She asked her husband.

"She looks like it, but she doesn't behave as such…"

They both looked surprised when I started laughing with them.

"I did tell you I left the Port Mafia with Dazai…" I told them once I calmed down "I… All of that is new to me and I still have a lot of troubles behaving… Like a normal person."

"If you are a normal person, why would you come for information? And why to me?" He sighed.

"I want to join the Armed Detective Agency." I stated "And I was put on a difficult case. However, due to my… Past, let's say past, my coworker… He did not fire me but that's close to it…"

"So… You're basically saying you're not a monster, but a clumsy girl who has troubles adapting…?" Hitomi-san summed up.

"That's about it…" I looked down "But I don't want to give up… A boy was kidnapped and I… I want to help him."

"But since the Agency is on the case…"

"I'm afraid they will be too late…! If they can't save him… I'm sure he won't die, but I don't want him to suffer… That's why I need information. From you, Uemura-san. You're the best I can think of…"

"Flattery won't get you my help. Besides, why should I lend you a hand? Can I even trust you? I offered you a meal, but that doesn't make us even."

"No, indeed… Pay it no mind, then. I'm glad I saw you were fine."

Bitterly, I bowed to them again, then left their home. I had hoped that, perhaps… Perhaps I could grasp that chance and convince them… But I had been delusional. No one would help me save Sakunosuke-kun. I had to investigate by myself, and I knew the perfect place for that. Hitomi-san accompanied me to the door, an apologetic look on her face.

"I'm sorry, but that's my husband's choice… I don't have access to the intelligence agency's resources anymore…"

"I'm touched that you even thought about it." I cracked a smile "Don't worry, Uemura-san isn't my last call. I just hoped that I could use… Less illegal means… Be well."

My next destination was an underground casino, formerly owned by none other than Uemura-san. It did not belong to the Port Mafia anymore, and the counter of its bar was a rich source of information. There was a man, well-known in the underworld, who was aware of anything that happened in the shadows of Yokohama. His services would be a bit pricey, but if it allowed me to save the boy… Moreover, he had never seen my face. When I used to meet informers for the Port Mafia, I would often use a mask to hide my true identity. It had been Dazai's idea… He thought my eyes were too recognisable.

The usually joyous chatters of the place brutally disappeared when I entered the casino. A woman, alone, in such a place, was never a good omen. I was not a prostitute nor a slave, and I knew what I was doing. Thus, I did know how to defend myself and no one would even dare approach me with salacious intents.

"Hey bartender." I took a stool "Give me a whisky."

"Sure thing, miss." He mocked me "Will it be all or would you like some appetisers with it?"

The entire bar laughed at me.

"I changed my mind. Give me a shot of vodka."

They laughed even more. Then quickly went quiet when I emptied the glass in one go.

"Now." I exhaled "Is the Fox here?"

"Calling for me?"

A young man appeared next to me. His malicious eyes shone with curiosity as he sat next to me.

"Look, if it's about the other night —"

"I'm not a girl you slept with." I interrupted him "Sorry to disappoint…~"

"Well, I would have remembered. Your eyes are as pretty as jewels~ So, how can the Fox help you?" He became more serious.

His order for a beer arrived and he took a sip of it.

"I need information. I'm willing to pay the price. Moreover, it has to stay a secret."

"That'll need a tip~" He hummed.

"As I said… I'm willing to pay the price."

"Sure thing, then. Tell me what you wish to know and my network will take care of it for you. May I know your name?" He smiled.

"Fuyuno Kasumi."

"That's obviously a fake one… Anyway… I'll contact you when I'm done, so —"

"I need them now."

"Hey, you… You know there is some delay…" He groaned.

"I. Need. Them. Now." I repeated, slower "I cannot wait for you to find your neighbour's cat…!"

"... How did you know…?" His cheeks reddened in shame.

"I also have my ways. However, I cannot obtain myself the things I'm looking for. Care to help me?"

"You remind me of someone, but since I didn't sleep with you… Come with me, and I'll get you what you came for."

I followed him towards his hideout, in an abandoned building of Yokohama. There, a dozen computers were working, connected to the diverse cameras of the town. The Fox made sure the windows were closed and no one could hear us before turning toward me.

"I'm listening to you."

"Two days ago, the young Taikin Sakunosuke was taken by a group of kidnappers. I want to know where he is."

His eyes widened, and he whistled.

"That's not going to be easy…! I heard about that. It's ridiculous… Besides, I'm not supposed to work for the police…"

"You're not working for the police, you're working for me." I shrugged the matter off "Can you help me or can you not? I'd prefer not losing my time."

"I can help you. There is nothing easier and, in fact, I can even tell you who and why he was taken away. Interested?" He grinned.

"Obviously. What's the price?"

"Well, I was going to ask you to remove that shirt of yours, but —"

"Do you want me to?" I raised an eyebrow "Because, honestly, you're losing our deal if I do that…"

"Rejected by low self-esteem…?! That's my first time, forgive me…" He acted dramatically before laughing "What about a million?"

"Sure. Now, my answers." I sat down.

"Coming, coming…"

He pulled out a map from a drawer and put it on the table in front of us.

"The boy is right there, in the offices of the Taikin company." He revealed "He was taken by his father. That's as simple."

"His father is away on a business trip…"

"That's true. Two days ago, a man with a passport bearing the name 'Taikin' took a plane towards China. However, the real one never left Yokohama."

"Why would he do that…?" I frowned.

"That's the tricky part of it. The thing is, Taikin is unhappy with his life. His wife is brainwashed and traumatised, and he had two sons who will end up fighting for his inheritance. And the men he paid for his family's sake betrayed him." He sighed.

"You mean, the mentalists…?"

"Yeah. His son isn't his son. He had two, right? Well, the youngest one is the mentalist Nazo Eita's."

My eyes widened. So they weren't twins…? Now that I thought about it, their eyes were of different colours… And on top of that… The illusionist had lied to me and I had not even been able to perceive it, despite my ability. I sighed. I had relied too much on The Sweet Appeals and had not paid attention to him as a being… That was my mistake. Or... Perhaps... Had he not been aware of it...?

"Is that just… A revenge…?"

"Indeed. His wife cheated on him with the mentalist and had a son. Taikin is angry and asks the other to put the woman under hypnosis to kill her lover, which she doesn't even remember to be her lover, since she was made to forget. I know, that's complicated. She doesn't even remember her second son."

"That, I could see with my own eyes… What's going to happen now…? Taikin Yumiko will go to jail, Nazo Eita is dead… And the son? He'll be abandoned…?"

The Fox did not answer me immediately, too busy typing on his computer.

"Ah! No, he's going to die, too…!" He exclaimed.

"... What…?"

"According to the recent transactions in our underworld, a bomber has just been paid to blow the Taikin mansion off." He told me "That'll be one million, please…!"

"It can't be…! Then, why was the Agency hired to protect the family…?!"

"Well, they would have found the kidnappers and the bomber, at some point, for they must have been paid to serve as decoys… And they would have lied about the culprit. That'll be an additional one hundred thousand~"

"They would have accused the last mentalist…" I mumbled "I'll pay you by the end of the day, I'm a bit in a hurry…!"

"Make sure you do, or I'll reveal the world that you are the Ogawa family's murderer." He menaced.

I stopped in my tracks.

"Wait… What…?"

"Ogawa Yōko… Did you think I would not recognise you? You used to wear a mask when you worked for the Port Mafia, but your voice is unchanged. Your personality, too. If you pay me, none will ever know about that." He simply said.

"It is knowing me very poorly to think that I won't keep my words. If I don't want to pay while preserving my secret, I could always kill you." I threatened.

"... Yeah, forget what I said…"

"I thought so. You'll be paid tonight."

#bsd #bsd fanfic #bsd oc #bsd dazai #bungou stray dogs #bungo stray dogs #bungou stray dogs oc #Dazai Osamu

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snarkwrites · 3 years

Text

03 pt 1 | m i n e | tim speedle, csi miami

Notes:

Okay, so I was stuck and struggling with what I wanted to do with this chapter for a while now, but today I sat down to try making it work again and... Well, this happened. Originally, chapter three was supposed to be one part, over and done.. But given everything at play here, I’ve decided to make it two parts instead.. So you guys don’t have a million different things coming at you all at once. I promise plenty of hot fluff in the next chapter. So.. do what you will with that information.

For now? Suspense. Crime show drama.

Summary:

They’re thrown together again when Sylvie comes to Miami to escape everything going on in her life. Tim never got over her. She never got over Tim. Will they reconnect? And what’ll happen when Sylvie finds herself in a bit of a situation?

Again.. why do my summaries suck?

Pairing:

Tim Speedle x OFC, Sylvie.

Warnings:

Stalker warning. Huuuge stalker warning. Crime show plot elements not limited to attempted kidnappings, stalking, creepy phone calls and notes, etc. I warn you all here that I am not affiliated with law enforcement, nor have I ever lived through any of this. So.. do with that what you will.

Eventual smut, lots of angst, slow burn sexual tension and fluff.

Other Parts:

[ one - two pt 1 - two pt 2 - soundtrack ]

Other Stuff:

[ faq - tag list doc ]

Tagging:

@chasingeverybreakingwave

@twistnet

THREE.

I was nervous.

Probably three times as nervous as I’d been back in high school when Tim picked me up for our first date. I took a few deep breaths and stepped back, giving myself a critical once over in the bathroom mirror before finally shrugging.

True, we were meeting to spend the evening at the beach. Hanging out on some boat his co-worker Eric had recently gotten with Eric and his wife as the sun set. But it wasn’t a date and it didn’t mean that Tim and I were magically going to find our way back together, either.

I had absolutely zero reason to be nervous and yet, here I was.

My cell phone rang.

My hands shook slightly upon seeing UNKNOWN CALLER on the call ID. I almost didn’t answer, but before I could stop myself, the annoyance of a ringing phone took over and I answered.

“Hello?”

Nothing but static. Some unintelligible background noises but nothing to really pinpoint who the caller might be. I honestly assumed that it was a wrong number and I was fully prepared to hang up the call, but just as I was about to, the odd voice broke through the static and quiet background noises.

“I’m watching you, sweetheart. I’m closer now than I was in Paris… That red bikini you’re wearing looks really tempting.”

My blood ran cold as I glanced down at the red bikini I’d chosen to wear with my favorite cut offs and a cropped white Levis shirt with bold red lettering. Almost instantly, I was looking everywhere in a panicked frenzy. How had the caller seen me? Was there a hidden camera in my hotel room?

Was he in the room in the building across from mine?

I found myself walking out onto the balcony that overlooked the pool cabanas and poolside below. Scanning the midday crowd. Nobody stood out to me. The room across from mine was either not in use or the person occupying it was out of the room because when I gazed across, I saw no sign of movement inside.

That left the hidden camera theory. I rushed back inside, locking the door to my balcony behind me as I went. I searched every single inch of that hotel room until I was absolutely sure that there were no hidden cameras or mics and that my mirror was a normal one and not a two way mirror.

My search turned up empty and I kicked at the bedframe, hopping around and swearing when it hurt my foot to do so. I flopped across my bed and took a few deep breaths, trying to pull myself together.

Trying to keep a calm and clear head so that I didn’t leave anything out when I made my call to the front desk and then Miami Dade PD.

As soon as I’d spoken to front desk and arranged to check out of my room, I gathered my things. After calling my realtor, I arranged to rush the final paperwork on the furnished beach house and she told me to come by and pick up my keys this afternoon around 5. I told her I’d be there and then I paced my hotel room.

I needed to let Rex know what was going on, if for nothing more than to remind him that he’d yet to actually handle anything as far as my stalker was concerned. But something told me to cut Rex out of the whole process and just place my call to Miami Dade PD instead. Like I’d taken to doing more recently. Because this time around, I seemed to be getting somewhere. Taking a deep breath, I dialed the number to the station and settled in, waiting on the call to be answered.

“Yes, I’d like to speak to Lieutenant Caine, please? Sure, I’ll wait.” as I waited on the call to be transferred, I took a few deep breaths and went back over every single detail of the call I’d just gotten from the unknown number.

No matter how small or insignificant it seemed. If anything could help law enforcement finally catch this creep so I could put this all behind me and prepare to start moving onward with a normal life out of the spotlight, I made note of it.

My call was finally transferred and as soon as I finished detailing everything for Lieutenant Caine, he told me that he’d send someone from Forensics over to sweep the room and make sure I hadn’t missed any hidden recording devices.

I agreed to it and given that I still had an entire five hours until Tim was off work and we were meeting up, I turned on the television in my hotel room, settling in with some mindless soap operas until there was a knock at the hotel room door.

I threw it open, blinking in surprise to find not only Tim on the other side, but Natalia Boa Vista and Lieutenant Caine himself.

I took a deep breath and Tim eyed me in concern. The tension between Tim and Lieutenant Caine was definitely palpable, enough so that I could almost reach out and touch it. I got the distinct feeling that he’d pretty much demanded Tim stay at the lab, but Tim being Tim, read stubborn as all hell, he’d come along.

“What’d this guy say?” Tim asked quietly. Calmly. Almost too calm. I could tell that the whole thing had him angry and just like back when we were dating, going into overprotective mode.

“Tim, you need to set up your camera. I think over by the balcony door.” Lieutenant Caine spoke in a calm and crisp tone. Tim eyed me, waiting on an answer. I muttered softly, “I’ll explain it all tonight, okay?”

“I’m holdin you to that, blondie.” Tim mumbled back, his voice firm and commanding. His eyes full of concern as they locked on mine. After Tim set up his camera, they began doing a full sweep of my hotel room.

I interrupted at one point, asking if they’d like to search my luggage too, because I’d been so upset it honestly never occurred to me to search there in my own earlier search immediately after getting the call I’d gotten.

When Natalia suggested that it wouldn’t be a bad idea, I dragged out my two overstuffed suitcases and sat down on the floor, unzipping them. Dumping the contents of my rolling makeup case on the floor neatly. I even dragged out my toiletry bag and the garment bags with my two favorite designer dresses stored neatly inside.

I think my alternate reasoning behind this was because I realized I was in Miami and essentially, Miami was right up there with California. I had no doubt in my mind that the cops probably had their fill of egotistical celebrity types who were basically pulling the strings behind their own misfortunes just to garner publicity and any personal gain they could from the whole thing and I wanted them to know that Rex was full of shit. I wasn’t one of those types.

Because I had my suspicions that the reason I hadn’t been taken seriously in my previous attempts to report all of this as it was happening when I became aware of it was Rex going over my head and telling them that I was blowing things out of proportion or worse, making it all up for attention and fame.

“Have you spoken to hotel management about changing suites?”

“I told them I wanted to end my stay, yes. I’ve been in the process of buying a beach house here, sir.. I got hold of my realtor and asked if there was any way I could speed the purchase. I’m getting my key this afternoon, actually.” I assured Horatio. He nodded.

“Does your stepfather know about recent developments?” was his next question. Again, I assured him that my stepfather had been the first call. And that my stepfather mentioned calling him later in the afternoon to touch base.

The search of my hotel room turned up nothing, but I could feel my entire body heat up when Natalia pulled out the framed photos of Tim and I but said nothing. I knew Tim had seen it. I tensed a little, letting out a quiet and ragged breath when the rest of the search went by without Tim saying anything about the pictures. I think I was grateful for that. I know I was praying to hell he’d been busy and hadn’t seen them. Because if he had… That opened an entirely new can of worms.

And possibly, it added a layer of awkwardness to our plans for later that evening. And the absolute last thing I wanted was to make anything awkward.

XXX

It stuck with him for the rest of his shift… The fact that she still had photos of them together and carried them with her had to mean something, right? Currently, Tim Speedle found himself pacing his lab back at the station, waiting on the last of the photos he’d taken of her hotel room to finish developing in the next room as he tried to puzzle it out.

Natalia stepped into the lab.

“So you weren’t going to mention at any point you dated one of my favorite minor characters in a soap opera?” she teased him gently.

From across the room, Alexx’s mouth turned upward in a smile as she sat nearby, eating a late lunch. Listening as Tim vented about the whole thing and blew off steam from an earlier head butting session with Lieutenant Caine over him going or not going with Natalia and the others to search Sylvie’s hotel room.

Of everyone he worked with, Alexx probably knew the most about the situation. And through the years, she’d tried more than a few times to get Tim to reach out and reconnect, pointing out that they never got closure. And that the feelings he had weren’t going away. That living life with a what if hanging over him wasn’t really living life at all.

Tim chuckled, shrugging. “ It’s just weird. To me she’s just Sylvie.”

“Or Blondie. That’s what you called her earlier.” Natalia was teasing again, flashing him a smile.

Alexx spoke up as she rose from her chair to go and throw away the remnants of her lunch in the waste bin. “I’m still saying that if she’s here… Now is the time, Tim. Don’t let it pass by, honey.”

“He’d better say something. Or I’m shoving them into a room together. She still had pictures of them together, Alexx. We both know what that means.” Natalia remarked as the two women shared a knowing look.

The revelation had Alexx turning slowly, gazing up at Tim. Placing a hand gently on his upper arm. “ It needs to happen. From everything you’ve just spent the past twenty five minutes venting about… To the way you’re getting so worked up about everything that’s happening to that poor girl right now… If there was ever a sign from the universe, Speed, this is it, sweetie. Wake up.”

Tim nodded. “Noted. Trust me, it’s not something I haven’t been thinking of myself lately.” he reassured Alexx, thanking her for listening as she made her way out of the lab. As soon as she was out of the room, Natalia spoke up.

“I can’t believe we didn’t find anything.”

“I can. I have the feeling that her manager’s in on this. Somewhere. Something about the guy just doesn’t feel right, ya know?” Tim mused as he paced in front of the photos he’d already developed, studying them all critically.

“ Yeah, I kind of think so myself, because her manager just came down here because apparently, he found out via paparazzi camped out at the hotel lobby that we were there and on her floor earlier. He was in full damage control mode.”

“That fuckin sleaze.” Tim muttered as he shook his head.

XXX

“What the fuck is your problem, huh? I tell you to keep a low profile that means you keep a low profile until I specifically tell you otherwise. Are we clear?” Rex fumed in anger, glaring at the phone in his hand.

Silence on the other end of the line. Rex swore and repeated in an angrier tone, “I asked you a question..Do you know how much damage control I’m having to do now?”

He slammed his phone down on his desktop when he heard the dial tone on the other end of the line. He stood and began to pace, taking a swing at one of the walls in his office.

The fact that she’d gone over his head and called in local law enforcement. Involved her stepfather after he’d specifically told her not to. He was losing control of the entire situation and losing control of a situation was not something Rex enjoyed or took kindly too.

Sitting down in his desk chair, he grabbed for his cell phone, calling Sylvie.

The call went to voicemail for a third time that day. Blue eyes settled on the notice some lawyer she’d hired sent over earlier in the morning and he chuckled bitterly, shaking his head.

“Ungrateful little bitch. Really wants to leave all this behind and live a normal life. We’ll just see about that...”

#tim speedle fanfiction #tim speedle fanfic #tim speedle fic #tim speedle imagine #tim speedle imagines #my writing ; tim speedle #my fanfiction ; tim speedle #my fics ; tim speedle #// don't kill me for the cliffhanger.#// trust me... it's gonna get hot and fluffy in the next part and I wanted us all to focus on that and not be torn #// stalker tw #// if you're okay with the things that are typically portrayed on crime shows then you should be okay to read this #// if anything that's actually truly triggering crops up i will address it in the warnings

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mahalkitajohnnysuh · 4 years

Text

JH (Part II)

Let’s mix it up a bit with some Jeong Jaehyun goodness here at MKJS! Yes, I’m making that abbreviation a thing.

Since I like to tease what you’re going to be reading, here’s an adorable GIF of a younger Yoon Oh as a clue!

Mahal ko kayong lahat! :)

––

Summary: A continuation of this post, but this is also connected to this one. I manage to write stories that follow a timeline, but could never write them chronologically. It’s just the way it is, I guess?

POV: Both are 2nd person pieces.

Word count: 1,440 words

Warning: More so a reminder – italics are also for song lyrics.

Recommended listening: The first piece has a song mention; hence it will be embedded below.

–––

Prompt #2: “Can I sleep here tonight? With you?”

You were having nightmares recently.

There was a tall, pale woman with long hair that has been chasing you in your dreams. Sometimes, you dreamt about your dead mother berating you, and then all the holes in her face will be replaced by crawling bugs.

When you had episodes like this, Johnny was the only one who could help you. He had a routine to calm you down – he prepared a glass of warm milk mixed with cinnamon and honey, then tucked you to bed, combed your hair with his hands, and most importantly, he slept beside you while tapping your thigh.

However, you weren’t in his apartment right now, and he wasn’t in the country too. He was back in his hometown for a much-needed vacation, and you didn’t want to bother him too much since you wanted him to reconnect with his family.

You were in Jaehyun and Taeil’s apartment for now as yours was being renovated. You didn’t know who to approach regarding your problem since you weren’t that close with them like the way you are with Johnny.

As you stepped out of your room to look for milk in the fridge, you saw that Jaehyun’s door was ajar. You tiptoed towards it, peeking to see what he was doing.

He was just on his bed, checking his phone with Jamie Foxx playing in the background. You noticed that his turntable was on, and the music was playing softly.

His room looked inviting for you to sleep in – at least good music is playing, and maybe you can fall asleep listening to Jaehyun talk about anything.

Other people might find your idea to be daring, considering male and female friends don’t just sleep in each other’s rooms. But since you got used to skinship because of Johnny, you noticed how different your friends (of both genders) treated you when you became a bit touchier with them.

They were more affectionate, and they understood you better even if you didn’t say anything.

You returned to the kitchen to prepare your drink, which you were glad that you have. There was also honey and cinnamon available, and you squealed at how things were looking great for you.

As soon as you were done preparing and drinking your milk drink, you gathered your courage to ask Jaehyun for a favor that you hoped he would agree to.

“Jay?”

“Yes, Essie?”

“Can I ask for a favor?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“Can I sleep here tonight? With you?”

Your conversation happened while you were standing at his doorway, your voice as soft as possible so as not to wake up Taeil.

Jaehyun’s eyes widened at your question, and he had to stand in front of you to check if he wasn’t hearing things.

“Come again? Did you just say sleep here?”

You nodded vigorously as you felt your tears were about to fall at any time. You clutched the pillow that you held tightly and looked away from his face for a bit.

“Why, what’s wrong?” You felt his clammy hand pull you into his room, and you let yourself be led inside.

Both of you sat on his bed, and you covered your face with your pillow as soon as he tilted you to look at him.

“I’m having nightmares,” you mumbled into your pillow.

“About what, dear? Is it alright if you tell me?” Jaehyun gently removed the pillow on your face and led you to lie down with him on the bed.

You sniffed first before you shared your story, tears falling from your face as you recalled in detail the nightmares you were having.

Since you were so intent on telling your tale, you didn’t notice how intent Jaehyun was on listening to your story.

When you were done, that was the time you realized that you cried. You wiped the tears that wet his sheet, and he swatted your hand away from the marks you left. “It’s fine, Essie. I understand. Is there anything else I could do to make you forget about your nightmares?” He asked, taking one of your hands and squeezing it gently.

“My housemate has a routine for me,” you started, “and I’ve already done some of them though…” You looked at him shyly and saw an aloof expression on his face.

Was there something wrong with Johnny doing things for you if you were having nightmares?

“So, what else does your housemate do for you, then?” Jaehyun’s voice sounded stern, and you were slightly taken aback. That didn’t stop you from voicing out your request, though.

“Uh, he pats my thigh,” you tapped your upper outer thigh, “until I fall asleep. So basically, he sleeps beside me.” Your cheeks felt on fire as you said all of this, embarrassed at the things some people will do for you.

“Okay, got it,” His voice became soft again, and he shifted his body toward you. “Should I sing you a lullaby?”

You nodded, and he closed the small gap between you by pulling you to his chest. He surprised you when he sang an obscure Beatles song which he tweaked a bit.

Half of what I say is meaningless

But I say it just to reach you, Essie

Although the original song was played with the guitar, he decided to sing it a capella while patting your thigh.

You felt sleep creep into your system as he hummed some parts to make the song longer.

“Thank you, Jay,” you mumbled as coherently as you could.

You weren’t able to hear his reply as slumber completely enveloped you.

If only you fought it for a few more seconds, you could’ve heard him say, “Anything for my dear.”

///

Prompt #26: “Do you have more pillows?”

There should be at least four pillows on your bed, but right now, you only had three. One of them was missing, and you didn’t know where it went.

You were about to sleep, but the absence of your fourth pillow bothered you. “Where could that be?” You grumbled to yourself, slipping on your bedroom slippers to search for it all over the apartment.

You were currently staying in Jaehyun and Taeil’s apartment as yours was under renovation. Taeil was already knocked out from his schedule and spared his room for your search. You checked the sofa if it was there and frowned when it wasn’t.

You thought of bothering Jaehyun but felt a bit shy since it was already late in the evening. You know that he’s a night owl, but you didn’t like bothering other people at this time. However, you also know that you couldn’t sleep without that extra pillow, so you gathered all your courage to knock on his door.

When he opened it slightly, you saw that he wore his silly headband again. “Yes, Essie? What can I do for you?”

“Do you have more pillows?” You asked, peeking at the small space behind him. Too bad his bed wasn’t in plain sight – you could’ve checked easily if he has a spare that you can borrow.

“Uh, yeah,” he responded, now opening the door fully. You stepped in and looked to your right immediately. Jackpot – his bed was on that side. Your eyes widened at what you saw.

It was the fourth pillow you were looking for.

“What…is this doing here?” You grabbed your pillow from his bed and squeezed it.

“Essie, you slept in here last night. Don’t you remember?”

You closed your eyes to jog the memory in your mind, and he was correct – you did sleep in his room last night since you were having nightmares for the past few days. Now you weren’t sure if you were cured of that though.

“Oh, right. Sorry, my bad. Thank you for that,” you turned on your heel and faced the door, “I guess I’ll get going then.”

“Are you sure you’re okay? You can sleep here again if you want,” Jaehyun’s response made you bury your face in your pillow.

“No, it’s fine. I appreciate your gesture, but I think I can manage now.” You faced him again and gave him a thumbs-up.

“Okay, if you say so. Night Essie,” he said, kissing your cheek before you exited his room.

As he closed the door gently, you stood dumbfounded outside.

“Night night Jay,” you whispered, hoping that it was loud for him to hear.

When you didn’t receive any response, you took it as your cue to return to your bedroom with your pillow.

–––

FIN

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fangirlauthor · 4 years

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A Rip in Time Chapter Three

Here’s chapter three! I got tired of writing (future) Matt every time he did something so pre-kerberos Matt is not included in this chapter. Link to post with link to the work on ao3 is in my pinned post/master post.

Matt Holt knew they didn’t believe him. Not all of them, not on everything. Honestly, he couldn’t blame them - it’s all a little crazy, even to him. He wouldn’t have believed himself if he had been himself before he’d been kidnapped and eventually traveled back in time. All of which brings him to the other problem - his head is killing him. He’s not sure if there’s some sort of time-sickness occurring, or if it’s all this thinking about himself in several different time periods, or what, but he’s in dire need of an ibuprofen, and it doesn’t seem like anyone has one to spare.

Preparations began properly… yesterday? He’s pretty sure it was yesterday. Like he said, his head is having trouble, what with the...time difference and all. Anyway, preparations began recently, but things are going slowly. The people who don’t believe him, even though they’re keeping quiet, are causing trouble - if people aren’t willing to help, they’re not going to, and they’ll certainly try to get others to not help either.

“So far, we’ve put everyone on high alert, armed them with knives and the knowledge that guns won’t save them, set up patrols, and had the pilots be ready to fly, also with the knowledge that the onboard weapons won’t save them, sir.”

“All right,” said Iverson, turning away from the lower-ranking officer reporting to him to look at Matt. “What else can we do?”

Matt shook his head. “Not much. We don’t have the time - or the resources - to build weapons capable of breaching Galra defenses. Basically, just get everyone ready to fight.”

Iverson’s eyes narrowed, his face scrunching as he scrutinized Matt. “We’ve already done that. What can we do that we haven’t already done?”

“Nothing I can think of.” Matt turned around, body facing the fence they were standing by, and looked up at the clear sky. “Actually,” he said as Iverson was preparing to walk away angrily. “We can hope and pray that Voltron shows up in time. Otherwise, we won’t last long.”

Iverson sighed. Two days ago was supposed to have been the launch marking the pinnacle of human achievement - having a future version of one of the crew members show up and inform them that they weren’t as ahead as they thought they were was disarming, to say the least.

Matt turned back to the sky and said, “Commander?”

“Yes, Holt?”

Matt grinned like an imp. “Shiro found it dis-arming as well.”

“Wait, you said that like it was a pun. Why did you say that like it was a pun?” Matt turned around to see Shiro, with a full head of dark hair and no scar walking up, Adam walking next to him. This didn’t quite fit the events Matt remembered - he was certain Adam had broken up with Shiro. Huh. Maybe the extra time given to them after he appeared was helping them heal their relationship - helping them understand each other and each other’s reasons for doing certain things better.

Matt glanced at the three people staring at him expectantly and nearly peed a little. This was not going to be fun to explain.

Fortunately for him, he didn’t have to. Unfortunately for him and literally everyone else, it was because the Galra had arrived.

----

“Sir, your orders?” Shiro and Adam had headed off to who knows where the minute the ships appeared in the sky and had been replaced by a random lady in a gray uniform.

Iverson was too busy gaping at the fleet of Galra - he assumed they were Galra, anyway; he’d never seen any before - cruisers that had just appeared out of nowhere to respond, so Matt said, “Tell the pilots to get ready, and make sure everyone can see what’s going on.”

The lady blinked. “You want me to livestream an alien invasion?”

Matt nodded excessively. “Yes, that. And make sure not to fire on them, that won’t do anything besides make them angry.”

The lady glanced at Commander Iverson, nodded, turned on her heel, and headed inside the building - presumably to set up a live stream.

Iverson was still staring at the cruisers when he waved to unseen people. Matt started to walk up next to him when two pairs of hands grabbed him from behind. “What-” Matt paused, then started again, “I’m sorry, watt is going on?

“Look, kid.” Iverson finally turned around. “It’s nothing personal, but you’re under arrest for hindering government activities and interfering illegally on private property. You’ve convinced the entire Galaxy Garrison that there’s some mechanical hope for them to survive this, and you haven’t given them any way to defend themselves.”

“But- there isn’t one! There was only the time and the resources to do what we already have, and like I said, if you fire on them, you’re going to provoke them.”

Iverson shook his head. “We’ve got this from here.” He jerked his head at one of the people holding him back. “Take him to a cell. And make sure to put a screen displaying the livestream in his line of sight. Wouldn’t want anyone to be clued out.”

Matt let the guards drag him several feet towards the building before he decided to remind everyone that he’s not as weak as he was when he left for Kerberos. He jabbed his elbow into one guard’s solar plexus and kneed the other in the crotch, instinctively wincing in sympathy.

“Wha-” The next guard didn’t even have time to get a single word out before Matt knocked him down too.

“Oh, man,” Matt panted. “This is a lot harder in Earth gravity.” Unfolding from his crouched position, Matt sprinted over to the main building of the Garrison Complex where a crowd of people had gathered; his original plan had been to talk to Iverson and get him to see reason, but he was nowhere to be found - besides, something about the last time Matt had seen Iverson was bugging him, but he wasn’t sure what. Not yet, anyway.

“Everyone, get down!” he yelled, still heading for the crowd as a small Galra fighter plane opened fire. Not many people listened to him, but there were approximately two good reasons for that.

1. People were too busy running from the Galra fighter plane (wings not included, apparently) that was heading straight for the crowd.

2. Apparently a crashing jet makes a lot of noise on the way down.

It didn’t matter anyway; most people didn’t need to be told to get out of the way. Unfortunately, some did - Commander Iverson included. For whatever reason, he was standing directly in the falling ship’s path as dozens of other people ran away.

On the other hand, Matt Holt wasn’t exactly running away either. Iverson - annoying as he was - wasn’t about to die if there was something he could do about it. So he gave a final burst of concentrated effort, tripped, fell onto Iverson, knocked him down, and proceeded to roll away - dragging Iverson with him - like a five year-old on a grass hill in the summer.

They didn’t get very far. Rolling on flat concrete when one person is dead weight - for whatever reason - isn’t easy. And the plane is still coming, falling faster as gravity continues to pull.

It’s close enough to read the identification number on the side, now, and Iverson still isn’t moving. There’s nowhere for Matt to go - he wouldn’t be able to outrun the ship at this point - and Matt isn’t leaving Iverson behind.

He closes his eyes, unable to watch the ship continue to fall - not much farther now - and he lies there, on cold cement with an unmoving but still breathing Iverson next to him.

He’s still lying there when the sound of scraping metal and a small explosion sound.

And he’s still lying there two minutes later, when people have started to gather nearby to gawk.

And he’s still there three minutes after that, when he realized he isn’t dead.

And when he opened his eyes, he smiled; he knows what all the people are gawking at.

Landed on a large open space on Garrison property, the remains of a Galra fighter in its paws, was a giant green lion.

And inside was his sister.

#voltron #vld #Voltron legendary defender #matt holt #matt #iverson #commander iverson #pre-kerberos shiro #pre-kerberos adam #pre-kerberos #voltron time travel au #sorry to people following me for lok stuff I promise I'm writing for lok still #green lion #katie holt #pidge holt #pidge #katie

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mystarmyangel · 4 years

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[TRANS] YoonA – L’Officiel Spring/Summer 2020 YK Edition Interview

You tried both feminine and masculine styles for today’s photoshoot. Which style do you like more? Especially when you wore a wig, I felt that it fits the YoonA I know. Is it? While discussing the pictorial concept, I was also asked if I will be okay to wear a wig. I thought it is a great idea, so I accepted the suggestion readily. Its feel fun trying something for the first time. And when I really tried it, I saw ‘a face that I don’t even know myself’ so I felt that the decision to go ahead is right. I also tried two different styles of outfits, as I have always been wearing more feminine outfits, I felt that masculine concept is more charming. But when I wore feminine outfits, I will have thoughts like ‘ah, as expected I look better in lovely outfits.’ Thus, I feel that both concepts are good, I have always been doing similar concepts so I would like to try different concepts in the future.

It has been 13 years since you debut. Is there any split moment where you feel like you have grown up as compared to before? Like how I do not find it tiring filming like this the whole day? As time passes, more ‘free time’ came out (laughs) and I naturally become more relaxed. Looking back to my debut days where I have many things that I don’t know about, everything feels dim and tough. But right now, I have accumulated a lot of experiences so I know what fits me more and I can do even better. Just like shooting for a photoshoot like now, I also actively voice out many opinions, seeing how I am showing more initiatives, it seems that I have mature a lot too.

How is YoonA like as a child? Did you already show ‘a born celebrity’ personality back then where you were not afraid to be in front of many people? I remembered that I like talent shows, I will not hesitate to participate whenever I get the chance. I do not feel shy standing in front of many people. But I have always been the careful type so thinking back I am not sure how I managed to do that, I am amazed too. Right now, because of the nature of my job I met a lot of people, so my personality has changed, and I am able to chat comfortably with people who I meet for the first time. To me, it is a huge change.

So, you went for the audition like this? The audition video of you singing with your kiddy face has been a hot topic for a long time. My situation is like the famous scenario of ‘accompanying friend to go for audition but I end up being the only one getting in’. (Laughs) My friend said to go audition together and I agreed thinking that ‘even I didn’t get in, it will still be a good experience’. In the end my friend did not get in, but I got in. And from then I became a trainee for 5 years and all the way until my debut, I have not missed a single day of practice. Looking back like this I guess this is indeed something I really enjoyed doing.

You debut as a singer and actress at about the same time. Up til now which of your works are the most memorable ones for you? I thought of the project that allows many people to come to know me and also my first leading role, ‘You Are My Destiny’. Although people in their 10s and 20s might have know me while promoting as a SNSD member but people who are of the higher age groups would not know me then. Through this project, I receive love from all the different age groups. My first movie ‘Confidential Assignment’ and my first leading movie ‘EXIT’ are all precious works too.

Your first leading movie ‘EXIT’ is one of the biggest hits of the year. The movie indeed received more love than what was initially expected. If I had a rich experience of filming movies, I would have known then that more than 9 million moviegoers is an alarming figure, but I didn’t realize it at the initial stage. As I see more and more moviegoers, I gradually became very excited. I began to wonder if I will be able to see a number (of moviegoers) like this again in the future. Because it is a disaster action movie, I have been running throughout and there are many actions scenes that require me to use body acting, but the result turns out well, so I felt it is even more meaningful. While experiencing a disaster indirectly (through acting in a disaster action movie), I learned a lot on how to deal with situations should they happen in reality, because disasters are situations that anyone may and can experience.

From my personal point of view, I feel that the concept and the role in the drama series ‘The K2’ are very memorable. Before that, there were a lot of candy-like roles that ‘do not cry no matter how lonely and sad’, but the gazes of Go Anna played by YoonA are completely different from before. In ‘The K2’, Anna is a very complex role that has been living a secret life of solitude, it was a new challenge for me. The location where we filmed the overseas scenes is Barcelona. When I do not have any shooting schedules, I strolled around the city and created really good memories there.

It is not easy to break an existing image. I realized that wanting to break the image or stereotype that people have of me is not something that is achievable just by with words. I used to be very mindful of what the public thinks. I will foremost consider what the public’s reaction will be if I act in a role like this. ‘The K2’ is the first project that I decided to do without considering factors like that. After that, I opened my mind a lot on showing more different sides of me as an actress.

Is there any roles you would like to challenge in the future? I wanted to try a character that is different from what I have shown so far. People only see a fragment of me, but I have many different sides of myself that only I know about. However, it is really hard to meet the right character at the right time, I guess all actors and actresses out there share the same feeling too.

Can you tell us more of the scheduled work you have for this year? Fortunately, the work I liked has appeared, but I think its better to share more of the details after everything becomes more certain. After all, there are always all sort of changes when It comes to work related matters.

Is there any plans as a musician? The special album ‘A Walk To Remember’ that you released last year was a surprise thankful gift to fans. I do not have any plans right now but the desire to sing is always there. Of course, I will continue doing music to express my gratefulness to fans.

The genres featured in the special album are calm music such as folk and acoustic ballads which are the opposite of SNSD’s usual upbeat and fast dance tracks. Was your personal taste of music originally that way? I listen to all types of music, regardless of its genre. I basically will browse songs that are on music charts, be it dance track or a classical song. My favourite genres change often too. Perhaps it is because I listen to a lot of songs of such genres during the preparation of the special album, so I was influenced (Laughs). My music playlist is mainly based on the weather or mood of that day. It rained yesterday so I was suddenly reminded by a song in the movie ‘About Time’ called ‘II Mondo’ so I looked it up and listen to it. I think it is because it is a background music of the famous wedding scene in the movie where it suddenly rained, and everyone was seeking shelter. Recently I also like to listen to old pop songs. Not long ago while driving, Roy Orbison’s ‘In Dreams’ was played in the radio, and it was so good. Matching the weather, atmosphere of that day, everything seems to fit perfectly together.

Speaking of old pop songs, I recalled that you posted photos taken with a film camera on your Instagram, it seems to have similar vibes with your preference in music. 6 months ago, I went to Paris for vacation with the thought of taking photos with a film camera. Although it is a disposable camera, the exterior design of the camera is really pretty, and the results turn out unexpectedly good too, so I was really satisfied. These days you can check the photos as soon as you took it, but for film cameras you would not know how it turn out until the photos are developed. I really enjoy the time and anticipation I have while waiting for the photos to be developed. It is a fun experience.

When we talk about YoonA, it is hard not to think of SNSD. What does SNSD means to you? To me, they are always the most special and comfortable people. We spent our 10s and 20s together even closer than we do with our own families, so right now even just looking into each another eyes we will know what the other party is thinking. Even now we still keep in touch often with one another.

YoonA started donating since 2010, and you become a member of ‘Honor Society’ in 2015. What are your thoughts with regards to donations? When I was about 20 years old, I started donating through a relay donation program. From then on, I will participate in donations whenever I got the opportunity. Regardless of the amount, I think it is most important to want to share. My consistency with donation is also largely influenced by my parents. They often told me ‘how much you receive, how much you share, this way you will receive a bigger blessing’. It is not easy to continue donation consistently, but I will do my best to continue doing it.

How do you de-stress whenever you feel mentally exhausted? For example, through exercise? Although I do Pilates to unwind myself, but it seems just doing Pilates is not enough to relieve my stress (Laughs). I am also trying hard to find things to do at home so as not to have feeling of tiredness. Sometimes I bake cookies, shift the positions of my furniture or I go for a drive. Today I brought the cookies I made myself and shared them with the staffs. In the past, I relieved my stress by meeting and chatting with people around me, but now I am finding my own way to relieve stress. That’s because no matter how much fun I have when I met with my friends, there is always a sense of emptiness when I went home. I think that I can’t always depend on others, so I am trying hard to look for ways to manage my mood better.

What is the thing that is the most ‘YoonA-like’? Hmm, my personality is always changing bit by bit, so that are times that I don’t even understand myself. Aren’t everyone like this, there are many people that think I have a bright personality, although generally it is so but there are times where I am not. In a sense, I think the realest me is shown most through ‘Hyori’s Homestay 2’. The cameras were rolling for 24 hours, so it is unbelievable to say I didn’t have moments that I was relaxing. Through this reality show, I was surprised to know that there are many people who saw a complete different me.

How do you feel about getting older? I am not afraid of getting older, on the contrary, I am actually looking forward to how I will be like as I gradually get older. Occasionally, there will be interviews where I was asked how I think I will be 5 or 10 years down the road, these are things that I can’t be certain of since they are still far in the future. However, regarding next year when I can think and plan for, I can promise that ‘this time next year, I will be even better’.

It is this positive mindset that made YoonA who she is today. What are the happiest memories you have so far? There are too many. Like when SNSD went on concert tours, when SNSD received daesang, the time when my first leading movie opened in theatres, when I received a rookie award as an actress… now that I say it, it seems like the list can goes on and on. I have so many happy memories in my 20s, but perhaps after going through my 30s I can say I am the happiest in my 30s. My philosophy is that ‘compared to setting big goals, lets achieve the small goals right in front, enjoy today and have fun every moment’. I am thinking, if I spend today happily, won’t the ‘today’ of each day come together and eventually my whole life will become enjoyable.

Cr: Chinese Trans by Limyoonabar (木白) & YOONYA (奶瓶, 麦麦,小土狗) Eng Trans: mystarmyangel

#YoonA #L'Officiel #LOfficiel #Magazine #Interview

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riotkissed-archive · 4 years

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@antolcgias sent : 🎭 hadestown.

goooooooooooooooooooooodddddddd , would you ever die for a musical ? because i would d i e for this one . . . okay , so basically , this is a folk/blues musical about the myth of orpheus and eurydice . it was originally an iconic folk album by the incomparable anais mitchell. that album got me through a serious depressive phase in college , let me tell you.

the setting was originally kind of like . . . a steampunk great depression vibe ? it made its off-broadway debut at new york theater workshop . . . AND LET ME TELL YOU ––– THAT IS THE BETTER VERSION !! but before i rampage about that , let’s tell you what we’re workin’ with here.

ORPHEUS : a songwriter / poet. in the original version , he’s played by damon daunno ( my KING . . . i’m a full ass lesbian and i would fuck that man. he recently starred and was nominated for the recent oklahoma! revival and he is very ugly hot . ) damon’s orpheus is kind of a fuck boy. on broadway , he was replaced by reeve carney. reeve’s a rat. his orpheus is “ more likeable , ” which is apparently a euphemism for awkward and naive.

EURYDICE : a hungry young girl. god , god , G O D –– the way i would die for her !!! she’s been alone , poor and out of luck her whole life until she meets this fuck boy orpheus and it’s literally one of those pinterest quotes that are like ‘ i had nothing to lose but oh –– then i found you . ’ type romances. played by nabiyah be off broadway. played by eva noblezada on broadway. i personally prefer nabiyah because i think her portrayal allowed for more nuance and also i think the parallels between persephone and eurydice are important so she should also be black. but eva is cute and very talented. YOU CAN SEE BOTH NABIYAH AND DAMON HERE.

PERSEPHONE : my drunk queen. middle aged woman in a spoiled marriage , has grown tired of the underworld and forgotten why she loves her husband. played by amber gray , queen of my life.

HADES : so the underworld is kind of like ? ? ? aesthetically , a manufacturing company , and all souls in the underworld work for him just to have shelter , but slave labor. he keeps the underworld very hot and bright because he thinks it will remind persephone of spring. accidentally had a lot of trump parallels back in 2016 no one saw coming , but more redeemable. played by patrick page , abuelito of my heart.

okay this is already too long but basically during the winter orpheus is too damn busy working on his music to help eurydice prepare for the cold and she’s desperate. persephone and hades are fighting , so hades goes to find a side chick to piss her off. he offers eurydice a ticket to the underworld and she’s so desperate for security she takes it. ( yes cue me screaming forever about how in this version eurydice kills herself because she’s so desperate for peace and the implications of class struggle that has don’t TOUCH me. )

MOST ICONIC SONGS: way down hadestown . chant ( i & ii ), wait for me , epic iii ( this one is all about the lyrics. ) and basically the whole rest of the album.

QUICK POINTS ABOUT WHY HADESTOWN OFF BROADWAY WAS BETTER & THEN I’LL SHUT UP UNTIL I HAVE ANOTHER HADESTOWN MELTDOWN.

the way they changed orpheus’ character was bad. first of all , they stripped our hero of his hubris by making him awkward and naive. and as we all know , greek mythology and hubris are besties. also ( they toned it down ) but at the beginning of the run , there was genuine confusing over whether orpheus on bway was supposed to be on the spectrum ( he’s referred to as touched and god touched and couldn’t go more than two seconds without a quirk or stuttering. they cut some of that now. ) and that would be fine , and i know people write fic about the representation they feel in that except . . . his naivety is his downfall, and i don’t know if i like those implications.

they cut down persephone and eurydice’s characters in order to flesh out orpheus. huge mistake because the charm of this portrayal was giving an orpheus story and not allowing eurydice to have a character outside of being in love with him.

they dumbed down the lyrics considerably . this is one songs transformation from off-broadway to broadway. and i get why they felt they had to do that for a wider touristy audience. but it’s laughable.

they made it too political on broadway. it was accidentally political in 2016 when hades sang a song about building a wall write after trump started campaigning for it. the direct parallels on broadway make it hard to root for hades which sucks because he’s such a great character. also –– in broadway they make orpheus , the young white man , try to lead a revolution for liberation of everyone in the underworld who are mostly poc . . . and then he fails but its somehow uplifting ??? but they do do cool thing like reference global warming and add more mythological stuff in the staging.

okay i’m done. if you want to watch the bway boot with me or read the off bway script with me while listen to an audio bootleg of the old version with me . . . i’m always down.

#* ( FILED ) ･ﾟ ANSWERED.#* ( FILED ) ･ﾟ OUT OF CHARACTER #antolcgias #you brought this upon yourself this is my favorite topic.

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kadmeread · 5 years

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Not Over Yet - Chapter 2: Explanations

Chapter 2: Explanations

I was shaken out of my reverie by a knock on the door. After opening it, I saw the girl who had brought me here standing there.

“Hello,” she said, holding out her hand. “I’m Samirah, you can call me Sam, it’s nice to officially meet you.”

Taking her hand I said “Hi, I’m Jason Grace. I take it your my Valkyrie.” She looked surprised at my guess so I presumed I was correct and that she was indeed my Valkyrie, whatever that was.

“How much do you know?” she asked.

“Not much,” I admitted. “Magnus gave me a rundown on my hallmates and told me the basics. I must admit I didn’t expect to end up here.” She glanced down at my tattoo, reminding me of Magnus’ reaction to it earlier. I moved my hand to cover it subconsciously.

“You deserve to be here Jason, I am proud to be your Valkyrie.” She told me as we continued on towards what I guessed was the dining hall. I nodded uncomfortably, wondering how much she knew.

As we walked Sam told me various other facts about Valhalla. I made sure to try and memorise them as I had found it better to always be prepared. I never knew how Percy could stand it, not knowing anything until someone told him about it. I would say it was a Roman thing except Annabeth is the same way, and she’s about as un-Roman as you can get.

Sam was looking impressed by my comments. “You’re taking this well,” she said.

“Yeah, well, with the way my life has been going recently, the fact that the Norse gods exist and I’m in Valhalla isn’t actually all that surprising.”

She looked like she was about to question me on that, when we reached the dining hall and I wouldn’t have heard her anyway.

The dining hall was impressive, it reminded me of Olympus. Except it didn’t have Annabeth’s architectural flare. “Wow,” I murmured.

“Yeah,” she agreed. “It doesn’t ever really get old. There’s our table over there.” She pointed to a table with two other people already sitting there. “Good thing we’re not the only ones.” She muttered as we sat down. I wanted to ask about that but she obviously didn’t intend for me to hear it, so I decided not to pry.

“So…” I started awkwardly, “Magnus mentioned something earlier about me getting the hall to myself soon? Are they all going away somewhere or something?”

Her expression darkened, “Or something,” She repeated. “You see we have to stop my father from launching Naflgar and starting Ragnorak.”

I had a million questions going through my head after that, but I decided to start with a simple one. “Your father?”

She nodded, “My father. Loki.”

Before I could work out what to ask next, the doors opened with a boom and hundreds of warriors streamed in. I was very grateful that we had entered earlier and avoided the rush. I saw Magnus wave at me as he came in with whom I presumed to be the rest of our hallmates.

A girl came around and gave me some meat and what I guessed to be mead from the smell. Sam saw me looking around and got my attention.

“Eat now,” She recommended. “After we get to watch you die gloriously.”

The idea of reliving my death slowed my appetite a bit, I don’t think anyone would be all too keen on that idea. Yet I did still look forward to it, if I was lucky I would find out what happened to my friends, find out if they survived.

As the meal ended my anticipation and anxiety only grew, warring for the place of pride in my stomach. First we watched the other guy die heroically, gun in hand, saving two strangers, and heard he was destined to fight well during Ragnarok. Then it was my turn. It felt odd seeing it happen again. I watched as Apollo stabbed himself and I blew Meg out the side. The others in the hall were silent, they hadn’t been for the other guy, so I distantly felt that was odd, but didn’t pay much attention to it, I was too busy watching what was happening. I saw myself take arrow wounds, I hadn’t even noticed that I got shot. I winced as I turned to Apollo, I knew what was coming, I reminded him of his promise and then I saw Caligula stab me in the back. I heard Piper’s scream of grief, and knew that even if we weren’t together she still loved me. We were a team, her and I. The last thing I saw before the video faded away, was Tempest running across the water, my friends on his back. I smiled, relieved to know that my death hadn’t been in vain, and that they had all gotten out of there safely.

There was silence for a moment before the hall exploded into whispers. If I tried to listen, I could hear them saying things like “Thor”, and “powers”. I figured they probably thought me to be a son of Thor. Suddenly they all stopped talking. On a throne that had been empty before except for two large ravens (which had been watching me throughout, they gave me the creeps) appeared a huge figure of a man. What I first noticed about him was that he only had one eye. Then I noticed that the murmurs had started up again, this time with “Odin” and “Allfather” interspersed with the ones about me.

“It is good to see you again my friends.” He boomed, looking around at us all. “But unfortunately I come to you in dire times. Sitting before you is a warrior, who we will have need of before long. I sent Samirah to get him, before he left to places not under my jurisdiction, for a reason. I hope you will forgive me.” He looked directly at me as he said this. “That reason being, the Pontifex Maximus may save us all. And so I humbly ask, you Jason Grace, if you will help us on this quest, or will you depart to be judged worthy of Elysium, as my counterpart has informed me you would’ve been placed. Without your help, I have foreseen that Ragnarok will come. And so, son of Jupiter, will you help us stop Ragnarok?”

The hall was silent except for the whispers of the warriors, that was becoming a common reaction for anything to do with me. I sighed, considering. I had just died helping out with a save the world quest, I would have liked to have a break. But I knew what my answer would be, what any demigod’s answer would be. “Yes,” I said. “I will help.” As cheers rang around the hall, I had an inkling that I had agreed to something bigger than what I had originally thought.

The next time I looked up I notice Magnus leading who I guessed were to be my new questmates over. As he introduced us, he eyed me oddly when I didn’t appear to be paying attention, I wanted to ask but I knew then wasn’t the time. I asked a different question instead. “So when do we set off?”

“We’re setting sail in the morning, unless something else goes wrong.” The guy who I now knew was T.J replied, looking accusingly at Magnus.

“Hey!” Magnus protested, “I actually got some good advice from Percy today!”

“Yeah,” Alex chimed in smugly. “He didn’t die today.”

While Magnus continued complaining about their lack of belief in him, I suddenly felt dizzy. Percy...Percy and Annabeth had been in Boston this weekend, helping her cousin, I think, prepare for some sort of cruise. I hadn’t gotten the full details because of the communication block and the Apollo situation, but Apollo had told us that, along with the information about Percy’s baby sister. Magnus must be Annabeth’s cousin, that was why he looked vaguely familiar. That would also explain the odd looks he was giving me, he knew. It sounded like Alex probably knew too.

Having realized this, I wasn’t surprised when Magnus and Alex dawdled after everyone had gone back to their rooms.

“Come on in.” I told them, leading them into my rooms. They followed me in awkwardly. I could tell they had no idea how to broach the subject at hand.

“So...do Percy and Annabeth know yet?” I asked. They obviously hadn’t worked out that I had worked out that they knew.

“I don’t think so,” Magnus replied. “They’ve been down here for the weekend, meaning they’ve been even more out of touch with the situation then in New York. They’ll probably find out when they get back. In fact I should probably…”

He trailed off as Alex interrupted him impatiently, “So where are you in this mess?”

“Me? I’m Roman, son of Jupiter. I was on the quest to Greece with Percy and Annabeth.”

Magnus nodded, “Annabeth mentioned you. You were the one swapped with Percy, right?”

“Yup that was me. So...who exactly knows what?”

Magnus thought it over quickly before replying, “So Alex and I are the only ones who have actually met Percy and Annabeth. Although Sam knows of them and the existence of your pantheons. The others had no idea you even existed, and quite possibly still don’t.”

I thought it over, “I’ll tell the rest of our quest group once we’ve set off, is there anyone else other than our hallmates?”

Magnus looked startled, “Oh, right. My friends Blitz and Hearth, along with Sam as you know. Blitz is a dwarf, very fashionable. Hearth is an elf, he does magic, and he’s deaf.”

I nodded and relaxed from where I had been standing stiffly near the door. “Thanks for letting me know.”

They nodded and then left me to it. I decided to try and get some sleep, who knew when I was going to get some.

Unfortunately, even though I was dead, my demigod dreams didn’t appear to have stopped. While not as bad as Percy’s, (from what I heard he had the worst dreams) they were still fully capable of ruining any sleep I tried to have. First I saw flashes of what must’ve been happening in California, I saw Piper grieving. Apollo speaking prophecies in chains, Piper killing Medea, Leo flying in one Festus, and then hugging Piper as she cried. Meg and Apollo boarding a plane, a coffin sitting in the plane, which I knew with a chill of certainty held my dead body.

Then the scenes slowed down and changed again, I was on what I guessed to be a Viking ship, made of what looked to be people’s finger and toenails. The ship was surrounded by ice, I saw mummified human bodies and giants which thankfully looked very different from those I had fought before.

“Oh look,” said a cheerful voice behind me, I jumped, turning to see who was speaking. “It’s Odin’s secret weapon. Not so secret now, are you boy?”

The guy’s face was horrific, burned and scarred. As I studied him, he continued, his face softening. “Here’s a warning for you little demigod. Don’t get in my way, you may have defeated giants. But I can promise you this, I am like nothing you have ever faced before. You will not be able to escape me. Run, little son of Jupiter, and you may just survive the storm to come. This isn’t your Pantheon, little Pontifex Maximus, and if you continue on this path of interference,”

His face darkened, and it struck me that he was quite mad. That didn’t reassure me, I was killed by a madman after all. “I can promise you this, you will never see your friends again.” I could sense someone shaking me, as the dream receded I could hear the guy laughing. “Welcome to the end, little boy, your father may be king, but I was born to destroy kings.” As the dream faded away, he met my horrified gaze, “Enjoy your afterlife.” His laughter followed me as I woke up.

A.N So that was the next chapter! I should probably explain the timeline to you guys. So I have The Hidden Oracle happening at the same time as the Sword of Summer, leading Hammer of Thor to be about the same time as The Dark Prophecy. I have placed Jason’s death in The Burning Maze, at about the same time as Percy and Annabeth leaving Boston in the Ship of the Dead, thus they haven’t heard yet of Jason’s death and that Nico can’t find him in the Underworld. Once they do, Annabeth will obviously try and contact Magnus, but due to him being on a quest, she won’t be able to until after they get back. I hope that makes sense.

Please let me know any ideas, errors etc.

Thanks Kadme.

#magnus chase and the gods of asgard #not over yet #trials of apollo #jason grace #jason lives (sort of)#magnus chase #chapter 2 #explanations

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icharchivist · 5 years

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Hey, how do I get into hypmic? Is it an anime? A song based thing? Like I see some music videos but also there's apparently a plot so that can't be it right? It seems interesting but I'm lost

aaHH HEY!! welcome welcome!

Oh my god i’ll try my best to make it not sound as complicated as it is.

Hypmic is a mixed media series that is mainly told via songs and drama tracks, so it’s a little tought to get into, but we also get side content with a manga. The only struggle is to find all you need online but i have a drive file with all the songs/elements in chronological order, so i can send that in private if you want to (the fandom tends to try not to share stuff publically because the right holders are very serious over not letting things spill too much)

the plot is a little cheesy and it’s mostly just for characters’s moments and excuse for songs but tbh I have so much joy out of it i don’t even want to belittle it for that, it’s the best kind of cheesy i love it so much.

the place to start is here, this video:

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The translation of this song in particular can be found here. As you can see in the video there is also the profile (name/age ect.) of each characters.

You’ll find all the translations available on this website. They only translated the first battle season (the second one just started recently) and so far we only have summaries of the new seasons thanks to this twitter account.

The general structure of the series, as it is narratively intended to be consumed, is that each Album has about 3 songs and 2 drama tracks. So you just need to get into the albums in a chronological order to get about everything. The rest is honestly just bonus, even if we’re starting to get more unique content in the manga adaptation lately.

(there are previews of each albums on youtube, and the full songs of all the ensemble songs and of the latest album’s songs, you can find them in this playlist to give you an idea at least of if you’re interested in the sound.)

The Project: Was started by Ichiro’s VA specifically to bring spotlight to the Rap scene in Japan. Each songs are made in collaboration of multiple rappers who get promoted with it. Meanwhile it is also a passion project for the 12 main seiyuus involved who all get to develop their characters with it. Each divisions generally works with different styles of music and ambiance. Each Divisions also get different plots and different development through them, evolving with very different themes.

The Story (at least what you need to know before getting into it):

After World War 3, the new Government in place in Japan banned all weapons, only allowing them to be remplaced by Hypnosis Microphones, Microphones that can cause multiple physical and mental injuries depending on your flow, your way to use words, the truth of your words, ect... Some more extreme uses in skilled hands can do as much as create violent hallucinations or even healing.

Originally the Government barricaded itself in Chuukukou, the center of the city, and left the rest of Tokyo to fend for themselves in territories battles. As time went by and the territories battles were organized in a way for only 4 major divisions to be in the control of the city, Chuukukou however siezed the opportunity to organize Gladiator Battles with said 4 representants and fight for more territories between themselves while entertaining everyone, as the battles are treated also like they were idols. It’s of course more a way for the Government to keep a control over what’s going on outside and keep a close eye on the powers outsides its walls.

Those Four Divisons are divided as presented in the above video:

Ikebukuro Division is taken care of by the Buster Bros!!, Ichiro Yamada, Jiro Yamada and Saburo Yamada - three brothers working odd jobs together. Yokohama Division is taken care of by Mad Trigger Crew, Samatoki Aohitsugi, Juuto Iruma, and Riou Busujima Mason - a Yakuza, a Corrupted Cop, and an Ancient Marine Shibuya Division is taken care of by Fling Posse, Ramuda Amemura, Gentaro Yumeno, and Dice Arisugawa - A Fashion Designer, A Writter, and A Gambler. Shinjuku Division is taken care of by Matenrou, Jakurai Jinguji, Hifumi Izanami, and Doppo Kannonzaka - A Doctor, An Host, and a White Collar Worker.

I am keeping it as vague as possible so if you get into it you get to discover why those bands even formed and what sort of dynamic they ended up creating with each others. If the fact those combinaisons of characters intruigue you then i’m encouraging you to get into it even more because it is fantastic ahah.

And to make their battles worse: the Four Leaders, Ichiro, Samatoki, Ramuda and Jakurai actually used to be part of a band together, The Dirty Dawg and were very close. Until something happened leading to their breakup and some level of resentment- different for everyone of course. And obviously this gets addressed as the battles go on.

I’ve personally got into the saga by just knowing vaguely about the characters and listening to the music available on youtube and ended up... well. Loving the songs so much I needed to know the story behind them. So i personally i do recommand listening to the songs on youtube, and if you like the vibe, just dive into it ;O

Before moving on, reminder, all of the translations available for all i’m talking about are on that website.

The Structure of the Main Series, is therefore by Albums:

The four first albums (Buster Bros!! Generation / Mad Trigger Crew Bay-Side / Matenrou Clinical Sound / Fling Posse - F.P.S.M) are the Introductions albums: Each about one of the division, has one song by character to present them, and 2 drama tracks setting up their dynamics (the first drama tracks of each album is available on youtube if it serves as a starting point - the second drama tracks explore the relationships more in depth and are not available online.)

Then you need to listen to the Battle Anthem / translation

Then comes the Battle Season:

-War War War, BB VS MTC. It has one group song per band, and a rap battle song where they face off, alongside with two drama tracks that basically moves the main story up while establishing the dynamics between the divisions. (as a word of advice storywise, listen to the group songs before the drama tracks and to the battle song after the drama tracks) -Battle Battle Battle, FP V M. Same formula as Warx3. -Death Respect, The finale of the winners (that I won’t reveal yet). The album itself only has the battle songs and remix of the groups songs. -The Champion, with a song announciating the Champion, AND a Song about the Past of the Four Leaders when they used to be together. Along with two drama tracks, one basically concluding the Battle Seasons and the characters’s arcs, and a Prequel Drama Track about the leaders’s past.

There are yet no translations for the Prequel Drama Track.

Then we have the preparation for the second Season as it starts with Hoodstar.

The last released Album’s name is Enter the Hypnosis Microphone. The album countains: -All the 3 ensemble songs -All the 4 group songs -4 New Group Songs that are all available fully on Youtube. 3 out of the 4 had been translated. (Ohayo Ikebukuro, Stella, Papillion. Dead Pools wasn’t translated yet) -5 Drama Tracks: One per division and one finale one that conclude this arc in particular. Only summaries are available.

That’s the core of the story, that’s where you should focus on. Like I said I can share the full discogaphy in private. We’re being secretive but we just keep it private, so if you are interested my file should be clear about the Order and all.(I also have the translations saved in those files for better accessibilities - if i share this file you will just need to follow the numbers and you should be fine, just ask me about it and i’ll send it gladly, i just don’t post it in public)

ON A SIDENOTE: we get mostly Official art releases via magazines and such so it can be hard to find again. as much as i hate zerochan in term of how it deals with fanarts, its official art sections is pretty solid so you can find a few of the official arts HERE if curious.

Another note: the winners during Battle Seasons are determined by the audience, the fans, us. As a result the plot is always everchanging by our own involvement with it. We get to decide the winners just like Chuukukou is supposed to do and that’s a fun gimmick. for now we’re not in a battle season but soon :3c

If THEN you decide to go into deep, There a few manga, and you can find the translated versions of it there. (only three of them had been translated).

the manga are hard to find and incomplete so i wouldn’t encourage you to seek them yet unless you get into deep. The two first manga that were translated are adaptations of the first drama tracks. it seems the volume version that recently came out also adapted the second drama tracks but we hadn’t got to see them yet. The Third manga (ongoing) is set before the Prequel about the Leaders, before the met each other and it sets up more the politics of the world (warning the politic worldbuilding is slightly cringeworthy). I wouldn’t recommand it before you’ve reached the Champion album. It is also not over yet. Now two new manga are ongoing and i only have chapter 2 of each in Japanese so @.@ but they seem to cover unique new side stories for the characters with some lore dump. We get translation threads over the twitter i linked once in a while.

Other bonus: They started releasing Duets for some characters, which are super hard to find (i have them though so it’s fine, we just have no translation of them except the translation threads). The Duets so far are mostly joke songs + a drama track to give it context. We got a Samatoki&Ichiro, Jiro&Saburo and Hifumi&Doppo duets so far. More seem planned. They came out with the volume versions of the manga.

Others bonus: They have made 2 full lives yet where the Seiyuu came out as In Character as possible to play and sing their songs. It’s mostly bonus content to see how they set up some of the songs ahah. (I have them but it would take me time to share them)

Upcoming: there will be a ryhtmic/visual novel mobile game, but we have no idea how much it will be involving plot or just gaming device ahah. But it’s coming.

I think this is as much as a vague taste i can give about the series. If you’re really curious i can send the file right away, and you can take it at your own rythm.

and since i’m publishing it that’s an invitation for anyone who would want it.

I hope it makes it clearer and i sure hope you are still curious about it :3c

Take care! :3

#god i hope it's at least not confusing and doesn't scare anyone kjdhfdj #it's just sO GOOD #not the most instinctive series to get into #and cheesy af #but i'm SO involved i love it so much #so ;3c #ichafantalks hpm #hpm ref #yoshifics #ichareply

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pinehub · 5 years

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Get On Board with Leadership

By Megan Schrader

The worst employer that I ever had was the manager at a part-time job I held when I was 18. I was a cashier in a sporadically busy restaurant, and the only time that I would see this manager was when they had a job for me. Regardless of the good work that I did and the many early hours I put in, I was constantly reminded that I was in no way unique from my coworkers. I was simply a sales tool, and nothing more.

Simultaneously, I was working as a cashier at a local cafe. The manager here was always nearby for support without crossing over the line into overbearing. They would thank me for working hard, and give praise when I did something well. I felt appreciated, and respected. I never thought I was just “another number”. I was a valued part of the operation, so in turn, I was motivated to work my hardest for this company.

I remained at the first job for a total of nine months. And the second? I worked at that café for three years.

A major factor in a company’s success and happiness is the people it has leading. A good leader is able to unite a company and motivate its employees, regardless of external social or market factors. They are the difference between an office that exceeds expectations and one that barely reaches quotas. They are the reason that employees choose to dedicate themselves to the business. They are the individuals trusted to make major decisions, and determine the course of the business going forward. Being able to lead effectively is of huge concern for company bosses and managers. However, understanding how to lead is far from a simple matter.

Leadership Styles

There is no one system used to categorize leadership styles universally. Since as early as the 1930’s, researchers have attempted to create clear labels for the range of unique leadership styles with varying degrees of success. The most enduring of these systems, established in 1939, breaks down leadership into three basic categories:

Autocratic leadership is a leader making decisions individually. This leader issues orders for others to complete without debate, and is completely responsible for the implications of these orders.

Democratic leadership is a leader discussing decisions with other teammates. This leader works with other members to determine what decision is ideal, but ultimately has the final say in what is chosen.

Delegative leadership is a leader entrusting a decision entirely to other teammates. This leader plays little to no role in the decision process.

Later researchers have continued to take this framework into account when considering leadership. Some have reflected the great variation in leader types by expanding upon this basic system. These researchers have chosen to consider additional factors such as whether leaders issue rewards (Positive Leadership) or punishments (Negative Leadership), and whether they focus more on individuals (Considerate Leadership) or tasks (Structured Leadership). Others have proposed that rather than remaining categorical, this system should be considered on a spectrum, with many leaders falling somewhere in-between these three labels. But while all of these additions provide valuable insight into leadership and are worth your consideration, for the sake of both time and simplicity, our focus in this blog will remain on the three categories as originally proposed.

Looking Back

Before elaborating upon the different leadership styles further, it is worth noting one additional influencing factor to consider: time. The reason that researchers have worked so avidly at defining these leadership styles is the hope of discerning what differentiates a great leader from a mediocre one. Perhaps much of the difficulty in establishing one standard system for defining leadership is the fact that what defines a leader is in constant flux.

Over time, the popularity of the different leadership styles has varied. While past power-holders tended to be autocratic leaders, there has been a relatively recent shift towards more democratic approaches. This has occurred because of the changing state of the world—in particular, drastic changes in technology. In terms of practicality, leaders are now more able to share ideas with those they manage over phone, online, or by travelling to meet face to face, allowing much more input from all teammates when it comes to decision making. An increased reliance on industry specialization on account of business growth has also contributed to the change. One leader is often unable to manage every aspect of a large company by themselves, and a more democratic approach allows additional, perhaps more knowledgeable individuals to provide their own input on decisions.

The emergence of social media has potentially also forced leaders to closely consider their team’s emotional investment in the company; the emergence of online job searching sites and recreational social sites means that many employees can now find work elsewhere should their current management be less than satisfactory. And these employees can publicize unfavorable work conditions, potentially leading to serious consequences for a company’s reputation and its bottom line. Now more than ever, it is vital that a leader listens to employee input, even if only long enough to address the issues that they are experiencing.

Leadership in Action

This shift towards a democratic leading style does not necessarily mean that democratic leadership is preferable to the other two styles. Each of the leadership styles that we have established has its own benefits and shortcomings. To briefly summarize a few:

Autocratic leadership allows for fast action as decisions only have to pass through one person, and relieves the amount of stress placed on employees. However, autocratic leadership can exacerbate employee’s feelings of powerlessness, resulting in frustration and/or an inability for the team to function in the leader’s absence.

Democratic leadership promotes better decisions as many individuals are able to provide their input. Employees feel more recognized for their contributions, and feel more united as a team. However, the decision process is significantly slowed down, and conformity pressures could result in an over-representation of the support for a decision.

Delegative leadership establishes a feeling of personal responsibility in employees, and departments can act quickly without the need to seek supervisor support. However, this leadership style places the greatest stress on employees. Additionally, if overused, delegative leadership practices could serve to diminish a leader’s value within a company.

A great leader is then not one who adheres to a specific leadership style. The best leaders are able to analyze a situation and lead in the style most appropriate for each specific case. Sometimes, the leader should provide clear instructions for teammates to follow to a tee; other times, they may need to step back and let someone more qualified address the issue at hand. A vital aspect of leadership is knowing how and when to step in, and not letting pride stifle one’s ability to adapt.

At this point, it is important to take a moment of self-reflection. After all, these styles are not mere hypotheticals—most, perhaps all, leaders will align with one or more of these categories, and this alignment has dramatic effects on a work environment. How do you think you or your leaders utilize these styles, and are they effective? If you are having difficulty answering that question, look to those you work with for support. Ask coworkers how they view you as a leader, request anonymous feedback, and pay attention to the body language of those around you. It may feel uncomfortable or like a waste of time, but discovering ways to manage a team effectively can absolutely impact the performance of each individual involved. Had my restaurant manager found ways of better leading their team, I am certain that they would have found themselves leading happier, more hardworking, more committed employees. I know that I would have been one of them.

Great leaders inspire those around them. They know how to communicate with their team to bring about success without sacrificing the well-being of those involved. They are able to navigate high stress situations with confidence, and demonstrate to their employees all that their company is capable of achieving. Inadequate leaders alternatively fail to impress. They misjudge their co-workers abilities and feelings, they do not connect with those they lead, and they prove themselves unable to manage the decisions with which they are faced. As a result, the entire business may find itself struggling to establish and maintain profitability.

Looking Forward

After self-reflection and discussion with those around you, perhaps you are worried that your own leadership skills are lacking. Even if those around you seem satisfied with how you manage, when you are the one in charge of company decisions, both major and minor, there is always a need to build upon your current skills. While your current leadership skillset might be adequate at present, the future likely holds challenges that will require more than what you already know. So consider your future as a leader now, and determine how you can work on improving your skills to prepare.

There are some aspects of respected leadership that cannot be taught. People are inherently more likely to trust a leader that is considered physically attractive, connect more readily with a leader who is boisterous and/or extraverted, and relate to a leader with whom they share characteristics (i.e. race, gender, religion, etc.). You cannot control how those you lead will perceive these external qualities, consciously or subconsciously. However, there are a great many aspects of leadership that are well within your control. How you choose to present yourself, how you communicate, and how you interact with your team will all impact how your leadership is viewed.

If you have the resources, it is worth investing time into researching these factors. Signing up for a course on leadership or working towards a certificate in leadership skills are both powerful avenues to consider. Professionals in these courses are well-informed on leadership practices and inspiring others, and they can help you pinpoint your own skills that could be improved upon. Completion of these courses can provide you with tools and knowledge to integrate into your own leadership practices, and can prove to those around you that you are committed to becoming an even greater leader. Courses on leadership are starting constantly all around the world, so if you are interested in enrolling, there is likely one available to you not far from where you are currently sitting.

Making the Abstract Physical

There is no simple way to measure one’s ability to lead. Unfortunately, you cannot meet a person and know that they are 65% leadership material, or that they are a five on the leadership scale. This can make leadership measurement and improvement seem daunting at best, and entirely impossible at worst. There is no direct tool to determine a concept as abstract as leadership.

However, you can measure the impact that a leader has on their team. You can ask employees how satisfied they feel with company management. You can analyze records of work quality and output. You can watch the way a team interacts with one another, and how they interact with their leader. If a business is successful, if its work is high quality, if its workers display pride and content for their jobs, then you know that the leader is a great one. The value of a leader is determined not by who they are, but by the way the world around them responds.

Sources

Asch, S. E. (1951). Effects of group pressure upon the modification and distortion of judgement. At H. Guetzkow (ed.) Groups, leadership and men.

Ayers, Ryan (2017). How Leadership Has Changed in the 21st Century. Mick’s Leadership Blog at https://www.leader-values.com/wordpress/how-leadership-has-changed-in-the-21st-century-ryan-ayers/

Clark, Donald (2015). Social Leadership. Big Dog & Little Dog’s Performance Juxtaposition at http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/social_lead.html

Geoghegan, Denis (2018). Leadership Styles. EPM: Expert Program Management at https://expertprogrammanagement.com/2017/02/leadership-styles/

Lewin, K., Lippitt, R., & White, R. K. (1939). Patterns of aggressive behavior in experimentally created “social climates.” The Journal of Psychology, 10, 271-299 at https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1939-05843-001

Pine Hub at https://www.pine-hub.com

Scivicque, Chrissy (2019). Are Professional Certifications Worth It? Eat Your Career at https://eatyourcareer.com/2017/06/professional-certifications-worth/

Winch, Guy (2015). Can Leadership Be Learned or Are You Born with It? Psychology Today at https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/the-squeaky-wheel/201502/can-leadership-be-learned-or-are-you-born-it

About the Author

Megan Schrader is a writer and content creator for Pine Hub. She graduated with honours from St. Mary’s College of Maryland, receiving her BSc in Psychology in 2018. Megan has since emigrated to Ireland and settled in Dublin, where she enjoys discovering the local culture. She is passionate about writing, art, coffee and all things psychology.

#leadership #team #sme #startup #pinehub #coworking #productivity #pruune #entrepreneurs

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deadmomjokes · 5 years

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Normal Anon Again 1: Your response was great, don't worry about a thing there. I just really feel stuck because Im still with my emotionally abusive family, and so I had to sneak to even see a doctor. I honestly felt like the doctor barely ever heard me at all, so even though she did prescribe an SSRI (not that she said what brand), I'm kind of scared to continue treatment with her. Because I made the notebook with a lot of care, she said I had OCD and did bring it up again later when I

had refuted it and tried to explain the notebook was just something I wanted to be well done for her. She didn't ever look at it either, so she based it off me buying little tabs and labeling them for ease of access and writing my name on the front I guess? I don't have a lot of money, as I don't have a job, and getting a job is the main reason I want to try medication... I basically have to move out by 2020 from my family, both by their desires and mine, so I'm on acrazy deadline to try to get my life together and I feel like I have no time to find someone new if I'm going to be looking to move away when all the apartments are renting. So it feels like if I want to try medication this is my one chance, but I don't feel like I can trust the doctor handling them. I don't know if I should just try to find a way to make my life work out for a couple months or give the medication a shot even though I don't trust the provider...I've got to worry about getting a job this month or being homeless too, which is why it feels so one or the other for my current situation. Thank you so much for all your feedback, sorry if this was a little messy being explained, I'm a bit frazzled yet, haha.

Oh man, I’m SO very sorry for everything you’re going through! You’re dealing with a ton, and this incident with Dr Garbage certainly didn’t help.

One thing that may be a possibility is going to a normal doctor, like a family medicine doc or general practitioner, and talking to them about your anxiety/depression problems. They can also prescribe psych medication, and it might be easier to pass off around your family and/or to find once you move, since a lot of offices partner or have networks that you can just transfer through. Anyone from a Nurse Practitioner to a PhD in general medicine can prescribe meds like an SSRI or even low-level mood stabilizers. (For my recently upped dosage, I went to a PA-C and they consulted with the folks at my obgyn, so I never even saw a psychiatrist. Tho I’m trying to get in with one anyway, but that’s way beside the point.)

I definitely understand you being unable to trust the current provider; she clearly didn’t hear you or take everything (anything?) into account. Anyone who comes to you from an emotionally abusive situation should warrant a ton of follow-up questions and in-depth probing. Even beyond that, just in general, taking stock of all the symptoms and reviewing any identified triggers is going to go a long way toward real diagnosis. Your notebook should have made her job a breeze, instead of her having to pick through your anecdotes of what happens when, she could just look at your notes! You were doing everything right; a therapist’s dream, honestly. I’ve been in therapy for years and I’m still not that good at keeping tabs on my own symptoms and patterns. I’m enraged on your behalf, because when someone comes to you for help you should reach back out to them, not be prescriptivist even if you’re dealing with prescriptions.

If medication is something you’ve been considering for a while, and feel like it might be a good fit for you, it may be worth trying the current prescription even though the current doctor is garbage, since SSRIs are usually the first try medications anyway. But that always comes with risks, because sometimes the first try doesn’t really work out for you or your specific situation. But SSRIs as a category are pretty safe, and are used for anxiety disorders (including panic disorder and generalized anxiety), ptsd, depression, and ocd as well. So chances are even if you found a psych who did their job well (aka not labeling you ocd for being prepared), they were going to land on an SSRI as a first try, too. That definitely doesn’t make it an easy decision, tho. That nagging fear may always be with you if you try it anyway despite not really trusting her diagnosis, and that could add a layer of complexity to deciding whether the medicine is right for you. Especially if you end up needing to switch medication or dosage, having a doctor you trust from the outset is going to be important.

I obviously cannot tell you what to do, nor do I want to, or even think I should if I could, because personal situations are just that--personal. I would only caution that if you’re already having difficulty getting or doing a job without medical assistance (ie medication), that trying it under serious stress for a few months may do more harm than good as far as worsening your difficulties, or causing new ones. However, sometimes we aren’t in the position to make the “best” decision for our health because living takes precedence; I’ve taken plenty of jobs that wrecked my mind and body and I kept them anyway because I absolutely had to. So I’m not going to get on a high horse because I know exactly how hard it is, and the difficult decisions you have to make in order to survive. I’m just so very sorry you are in that position to make such a decision.

If you do decide to try the medication anyway, some tips on kind of “going it alone” since you won’t be able to/won’t want to go back to the original doctor:

Start at a lower dose than the full final dosage. If she didn’t prescribe a “titration” schedule, starting at half dose for a week is a good place to begin.

Understand that things might get worse before they get better. You might have horrible mood swings, really bad depressive days, or bad anxiety spells before you start seeing the true effects. This isn’t indicative of whether the medicine is going to work eventually, but if it becomes too much for you to deal with, you should stop anyway.

Side effects may come and go. Just worth noting.

If possible, have someone close to you who knows that you’re starting this medicine. Obviously not a family member given your situation, but if you have a friend or anyone you do trust in your immediate vicinity, or even a friend you communicate with long-distance, make sure someone knows. That way you have someone to report in to and who can check up on you as you adjust.

Start by taking them with food, even if it doesn’t have a nausea warning. I’d suggest evening meal or soon thereafter, because SSRIs often cause drowsiness at first (great for helping with insomnia tho!).

You’re probably going to have a full month or two before it reaches its peak effect, since this is your first time trying them. You might see some relief right away, but full efficacy takes time as it builds up in your system. If you can tolerate the side effects (or don’t have any), and you’re able to deal with the mood swings or psychiatric effects, stick with it at least 6 weeks.

Listen to that “don’t drive or operate machinery” warning. First-time-medication drowsiness is a special breed that sneaks up on you and also makes you feel WEIRD.

You can also see about filling the prescription and then researching the name on the label before you decide whether or not to take it. Or, if you have an online account with the pharmacy, as with CVS, you can see the name of the drug there, or even call the pharmacy she sent it to and ask them what the name of it was (”for insurance purposes” or “because I forgot which one it was”) and then research it on sites like Mayo Clinic and rxlist.com (don’t do webmd). These websites include lists of what it’s approved to treat, so if you’re fairly certain you actually have anxiety/depression, look for that on the list. Just know that all websites are essentially required to remind you that an SSRI (really any antidepressant or mood stabilizer) could worsen any suicidal thoughts or behaviors, though this is mostly a risk for the 24 and under crowd with emphasis on teenagers. And it doesn’t happen to everyone.

Should you decide not to do the medicine right now because of the doctor who prescribed it, I applaud you for your bravery and strength in facing both your uncertain future and your mental/emotional difficulties without the assistance you feel you need. That’s a hard, hard thing to do, and I wish it wasn’t a choice you had to make.

I’ll be sending good vibes, thoughts, and prayers your way as you’re dealing with so many transitions and difficulties. I know cyber hugs are kind of a dated internetism, and may not mean much, but I give you all the cyber hugs my cyber arms can muster.

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itsclydebitches · 5 years

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RWBY Recaps: Vol. 5 "Lighting the Fire"

This is a re-posting from Nov. 4th, 2017 in an effort to get all my recaps fully on tumblr. Thanks!

I would like to begin this review by extending a heartfelt apology to Yang Xiao Long. I should have never doubted her.

A few posts ago I mentioned how surprised I was that Yang would choose her Mom over Ruby, especially given her character short on top of an already single-minded personality. If there’s one thing that can be truly said to define Yang, it’s the love and protective streak she has for her sister. So I was thrilled at the reveal that this whole trip was essentially a strategic smokescreen. As Yang puts it bluntly: “I’m not here for you.” She’s always been heading towards Ruby. The only reason Yang is making this emotional pit-stop is because Raven can save her time.

We’ve known since the train that Raven can open portals, but until now it’s been up in the air whether that’s her semblance, something extra (like Qrow’s morphing ability), something that was bestowed on her, etc. Well, it turns out that first time’s the charm. Raven’s semblance allows her to bond to certain people—Yang, Tai, and Qrow—and form portals to their immediate location. Pretty nifty when you think about it, especially since Yang knows Qrow will have found Ruby by now. If she gets to Qrow, she gets to her sis. Except for the fact that Qrow is off looking for more huntsmen. Potential problem?) Still it’s a wonderful twist, especially since RWBY already has enough character arcs about kids trying to reconcile with their abusers. Given Yang’s headstrong nature, it just didn’t feel right for her to try and bond with a long-absent mom. Demand a favor though because “nothing is going to keep me from my sister”? Yeah. That’s Yang.

Not to say she hasn’t changed, of course. Though many are still uncomfortable with the way her PTSD is being written, I’m glad to see that this persistent shaking remains. Obviously not glad in the sense of, “Yay kids suffering!” but glad that we’re given acknowledgment that trauma has lasting effects and Yang will need to continue to work at her new life and against her new fears—things aren’t solved through one good crying session. We get to see her in a real fight for the first time since Beacon and, as many guessed, her new arm is outfitted with a gun to balance out the other half of Ember Celica, doubling as a decent shield in a pinch. It’s also notable that Yang’s style has changed a bit. Her movements are more controlled; graceful even, more like Weiss’ (and isn’t that something given the end of the episode). In short, Yang’s hand-to-hand has become more measured, as opposed to the ‘charge and hit as hard as you can’ technique that we saw pre-Volume 3. It makes sense, given that the last time Yang rushed in without thoroughly evaluating her opponent she lost that arm. Even her conversation is a little cooler. “Good to know, thanks.” This is a Yang that retains her confidence, but with less of the arrogant taunts. She’s growing up and though much of that growth stems from trauma, it’s still lovely to see.

Back in Haven training has begun. Ruby is… really not good at hand-to-hand. But she’s improving! This whole sequence is a study in excellent facial expressions, as two kids—both of whom are uncomfortable with this situation—attempt to beat each other up the old-fashioned way. The animation moves smoothly from comic fear to stubborn determination. Oscar actually manages to land a punch that knocks Ruby down and I laughed aloud at his frantic apology. He shouldn’t have lost focus. Ruby comes back with a swing of her own seconds later.

However, as usual there are significant details paired alongside these humorous scenes. After Oscar takes his hit Ozpin asks, “Mind if I give it a shot?” and immediately takes control. This is interesting, given that just last episode (only a day earlier?) Oscar had to focus and deliberately give up control to Ozpin. It took time. Now we don’t even get to see whether Oscar agrees to the switch—Ozpin is already there.

Now yes, they’re eventually meant to merge into one person, or at least share this body in a way reminiscent of that. That’s presumably the end goal (unless Shannon McCormick’s recent comments hint at something we don’t know yet). However, the fact that we see Ozpin’s power over Oscar in the same episode that Raven drops her cryptic comments brings back the theory that Ozpin isn’t quite as benevolent as we’d like to believe. The only true evidence for that (given his actual kind nature and the fact that Raven herself definitely can’t be trusted) is because that’s just how these stories go. Oh, I have no doubt that he’s doing things for “the right reasons,” but like Dumbledore and Gandalf before him, Ozpin’s quest to do what’s right for the world no doubt involves a great deal of sacrifice, complicating the morality there. If Raven considers Ruby a “lost cause” for so much as associating with Ozpin, that’s a pretty heavy implication--if we choose to believe her--that anyone near him will get chewed up and spit out by this war, regardless of what Ozpin might do to try and stop it. AKA, Pyrrha. Casualties are inevitable. (In fact, there’s a lot of potential similarities here between the corners Ozpin is backed into and Qrow’s semblance. For both, everyone around them suffers, regardless of intent). Ozpin’s screen-time this season has been just a little too lighthearted and his persona just a little too grandfatherly. I’m waiting for when these complications come back up and bite everyone on the ass, reminding them that they’re in the middle of a war.

Anyone who spends five minutes with me in the RWBY fandom knows that Ozpin is my favorite and I’d like nothing more than for him to remain the wise, kindly headmaster figure indefinitely. I want him alongside Team RWBY to the very end. However, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Raven drops some very uncomfortable information about him next episode, the “truth” that she insists Yang and Weiss don’t know about yet. She could be referring to Ozpin’s cursed nature, but Raven has already admitted that she was once in his employ and can clearly never go back to that, so I suspect there’s far more to her discomfort than just a little reincarnation. Whether we believe her—whether that will be enough to turn the audience against Ozpin even more than they already are, especially when it’s coming from someone like Raven—we’ll have to wait and see. And no doubt all of this will tie back to Raven’s work in securing the Spring Maiden.

The implications of all this are still at least a week off though. For now the training session remains as happy as possible when you’re preparing to take down your world’s embodiment of evil. Ren has a lovely moment where he explains various theories on semblances: how they might be a reflection of your personality, or vice versa, or have no true connection to who you are at all. So basically... semblances could be anything. The magic structure keeps getting flimsier as time goes on. Regardless, Ruby confirms a long-held belief that her semblance came out during training one day (with Qrow?) and Nora was… struck by lightning. And survived. Good god this girl’s life is horrifying.

The big question then is: What is Jaune’s semblance? And what is Oscar’s? It honestly never occurred to me that he’d have a semblance of his own to unlock, rather than just inheriting something from Ozpin. In fact, what’s Ozpin’s semblance? Does he still have one? Or was it lost long ago after his first merge? I'd like to think that he has at least two at all times: his original semblance (or magic, perhaps) and whatever his host is capable of. I'd actually be interested in seeing an Ozpin who retains the semblances of every person he's merged with, but given that Cinder managed to kill him, I doubt we'll be seeing that kind of power. I suppose time manipulation is still a possibility given how that fight was animated, but again, I think we’d have already heard about such a powerful ability if that card was on the table. It's certainly not the curse itself… that was forced onto Ozpin by the Gods. So maybe—just maybe—Volume 5 will give us three semblance reveals instead of just one. And Ozpin’s comment that there are heights to achieve beyond just unlocking your semblance opens doors for power-ups within our main cast.

This is actually a lot packed into the shortest episode of the Volume thus far and if you thought we were finished…

Weiss: “Your mom kidnapped me?”

Yang: “YOU KIDNAPPED HER?”

I nominate this as one of RWBY’s greatest moments. I honestly couldn’t have asked for more from their reunion. Harking back to last week’s episode, Weiss demonstrates that she really doesn’t need anyone to save her. Yes, she was still in that cage, but only because she was going for subtly and strategy over a brute-force escape plan. (Remember, that’s Yang’s territory.) When she sees that Yang is somehow here that plan goes straight out the window. One knight at full strength and Weiss has busted out of her prison, running to back up Yang in a very outnumbered fight.

RT knows when to cut things back though and reminding everyone that, ahem, the Grimm are still a formidable enemy was a smart move. Raven might not have any qualms about fighting family, but she won’t let that anger draw a whole horde of Grimm to her camp. She gives Myrtenaster back to Weiss and invites them inside for that talk.

But first we have this.

I love that Weiss hugged first. I love that she freely abandons Myrtenaster in hostile territory to do so. She never would have done that a year ago. They’ve been through so much though and the fact that she can freely say how much she missed Yang says heaps about her character development.

It’s a beautiful shot to end the episode on. And if you listen closely, there’s the sound of Freezerburn shippers sobbing happily in the distance…

Other Details of Note

Raven’s bandit sitting waaaaay far back on Yang’s motorbike. Bet you ten lien he tried to wrap his arms around her waist and got another punch for his trouble.

The click of gears we hear as Yang stretches her arms. Nice touch there.

“I’m her daughter, after all.” There’s some of the taunting Yang we know and love.

Can’t say I was a fan of the music during the RJNR-Ozpin-Oscar chat scene. It felt… sitcom-ish? That’s not quite right, but too upbeat and noticeable for the moment. I shouldn’t be distracted from the conversation by whatever the music is doing.

I found Raven’s first greeting to Yang creepy in the extreme. You’re so strong and patient, doing everything you can to make your dream a reality. Talk about trying to butter someone up when you don’t actually know anything about that person. Raven’s attempts at welcoming Yang ring so false that it just hits home how estranged they are.

We've had a lot of 'crane shots' (for lack of a better word) this Volume: during Salem's conversation with Lionheart, before Sienna's assassination, now as Yang confronts her mother. I'm not sure what exactly to make of this yet, only that it's been a frequent technique the last few episodes and has definitely caught my attention.

#rwby #mymetas #RWBY Recaps

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