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spnirwin · 4 years

Note

#14 with Buck or Eddie please!!!

Prompt request: #14 - “They’re so cute when they’re asleep.”

Pairing: Buck x reader

Word Count: 1,949

Warnings: Mild language

A/N: Most of you will probably read the prompt and think kids, but that is NOT the direction I took this in. Enjoy! Requests are open!

—

You had a terrible habit of rubbing your face as soon as you woke up. Clearly Buck knew that very well, for you currently found yourself with your face and both hands covered in whipped cream. You had unknowingly rubbed whipped cream all over your face and boy, were you mad.

“Evan Buckley!” you shouted.

“Yes darling?” Buck’s head appeared in the doorway of your shared bedroom. “Oh dear. You seem to have something on your face.”

He faked confusion as you glared daggers at him. “You are so going to pay for this.”

He couldn’t hold a straight face any longer and dissolved into laughter. “Oh, I look forward to it.”

He tossed a towel at you, still laughing. As you wiped your face you let him laugh, knowing he was completely unaware that there was a surprise waiting for him in the kitchen. You had swapped all the sugar in the jar for salt. His coffee would have a very different taste that morning.

You and Buck were currently locked in an intense prank war, one that didn’t look like it would be ending anytime soon. It had all begun a few days prior when Buck had decided to try one of those Tik Tok pranks on you. You had been sitting on the couch watching TV when he sat down beside you, post workout, drinking a bottle of water. He began asking you the sounds that a bunch of different animals make while he took sips from the bottle. Puzzled, you answered all of his questions until he asked you the sound that a whale makes. Before you even had a chance to respond he had spit water in your face, effectively soaking you. From that moment on you were battling each other, the pranks getting worse each time.

“What the hell?!” You heard the exclamation from the kitchen and smiled to yourself. Salt in his coffee was the least of Buck’s worries with all the pranks you had planned for him.

—

The next few days passed in a blur of pranks, fake anger, and laughter. You and Buck were having way too much fun with your prank war and it seemed there was no end in sight.

After the coffee incident, Buck had twisted a hair tie around the sprayer in the kitchen sink so that when you turned on the faucet you got a face full of water. You had retaliated by replacing the filling in a bunch of Oreos with toothpaste. Seeing the look on Buck’s face when he bit into his favorite snack and found that it had been tampered with had practically left you on the floor in a fit of laughter.

When you walked out of your bedroom one morning you found Buck slipping out of your office. You were fortunate enough to work from home, but Buck rarely ever went into your office without you there and you were immediately suspicious. After sending him off to work you spent 20 minutes searching but didn’t find anything that indicated a prank. Relaxing, you decided to begin your workday. As soon as you sat down in your chair you realized what Buck had been doing in there. You shot up immediately at the sound of the air horn blasting underneath you. To say it scared you was an understatement, and you knew you had entered a whole new league of pranks.

Unbeknownst to you, over at the 118 Buck was howling with laughter. He had rigged up a camera in your office that was live-streaming to his phone so he saw the exact moment you sat down in your chair.

“Eddie, you have to watch this!” He ran across the apparatus floor to where Eddie was hitting the punching bag.

Buck replayed the video and Eddie started laughing at your reaction to the air horn. “I’m so glad it worked. That was next level, man.” They high fived, both still laughing.

“Does Y/N know who the true mastermind behind these pranks is?” Hen asked, passing by.

“Nope,” Buck replied. “And there’s no reason she needs to find out.”

He and Eddie exchanged a secretive look and Hen sighed, shaking her head as she walked away.

—

Buck’s scream echoed throughout the apartment, and you were almost positive it could be heard at the café across the street. You leaned against the bathroom door for support as you hysterically laughed at the bewildered look on Buck’s face. He was clutching his chest and staring at the toilet seat, mouth hanging open.

“What just happened?” he asked, breathless.

Trying to catch your own breath, you walked over and lifted the toilet seat. Hidden underneath were six little poppers that had gone off like fireworks when he sat down on the toilet.

He shook his head at you, clearly impressed. “Okay, I’ll admit, that was a good one. You really got me.”

“You should’ve seen your face! You looked like you had just died and come back to life.” You giggled at him and he smiled.

“You should feel how fast my heart is beating, I think I just had a heart attack.”

You rolled your eyes at his dramatics but reached out and placed your hand on his chest anyway, his heart beating a mile a minute underneath your fingers. He pulled you closer and wrapped his arms around you.

“When are we going to call this quits?” he whispered.

“Dunno,” you replied. “Depends on when you give up.” You looked up at him to find him already smiling down at you.

He shook his head at you again. “Sometimes you’re too stubborn for your own good.”

You raised your eyebrows as you pulled away from him. “Yeah, and you cheat.”

“What are you talking about?” He was trying desperately to keep his voice innocent and it wasn’t working.

“You aren’t a very quiet whisperer, nor are you good at making sneaky phone calls,” you laughed. “Tell Eddie I’m coming for him next.” You turned and walked out of the bathroom, leaving Buck alone again.

He stared at the empty doorway for a minute before sending a hasty text to Eddie.

—

You snuck into the 118 through a side door, almost tripping over an unseen object in the darkness. It was 1:30 AM and you were about to pull off your grandest prank yet.

“Hen?” you whispered.

“You know, you didn’t have to sneak in here like a thief.” The light above you flicked on and you saw Hen standing in front of you. “They’re both asleep. Come on.”

She opened the door behind her and you stepped onto the apparatus floor. You quickly followed her up the stairs where you found Chimney and Bobby sitting on the couch waiting for you. Setting your bag down, you greeted both of them quickly.

“Thanks for helping me out with this, guys.”

“No problem,” Bobby replied. “Just tell us where you want us.”

“Yeah, they’ve done you dirty the past week, girl,” Hen said. “It’s the least we can do.”

Chimney stood and rubbed his hands together. “I’m just excited to actually see them scared for once.”

You laughed and began pulling objects out of your duffle bag. “Do you have the PVC pipes?” you asked Chimney.

“Sure do!” He motioned towards the closet off of the kitchen.

“Perfect.” You began directing the three of them on how to construct the idea you had planned for Buck and Eddie. When you finished everyone began moving, fitting pieces of pipe together in an intricate shape.

“Are you sure they won’t wake up?” Bobby paused his work, a concerned look on his face.

“Oh no, Buck sleeps like he’s dead. The only thing that wakes him up is the sound of the station getting a call or me whacking him. And I happen to have insider information that Eddie is pretty much the same way.”

Bobby nodded his head before continuing his work. Before long the four of you were carrying pieces of PVC pipe down the stairs and into the bunk room. Quietly, you began erecting the pipes into a maze above and throughout Buck and Eddie’s cube. The gaps between the pieces of PVC were just large enough for them to be able to squeeze through if they were determined enough.

When you were finished the four of you stood back and admired your handiwork. Hen patted you on the back and Chimney once again rubbed his hands together with glee.

“They’re so cute when they’re asleep,” you sighed quietly. “I almost feel bad.”

“Don’t,” Chimney whispered in response.

Bobby raised his eyebrows at you and you nodded back at him in response. He turned slightly away and, like magic, the station alarm went off signaling a should be call.

Both Buck and Eddie shot up in bed, slipped their feet in their shoes, and stood up in one swift motion. The act of standing put pressure on the poppers you had taped to the bottom of their shoes and you were greeted with the loud sound of them exploding for the second time that day. Eddie stumbled backwards and Buck fell directly back onto his bed in response.

You watched as both men shook their sleepiness off and quickly realized what was happening. They looked around in bewilderment at the giant PVC pipe maze you had constructed around them. Buck turned and met your eyes, a look of disbelief on his face. Eddie was already analyzing the maze, trying to figure out an escape plan.

“Good luck boys!” You waved at them before turning and walking out of the bunk room.

Ten minutes later Hen, Chimney, and Bobby joined you on the couch upstairs. All three of them were laughing and Hen held out her phone for you to take.

“You have to watch the video I took of those two idiots. Your boyfriend almost got himself stuck on his head. Eddie had to pull him backwards by his legs.”

You took her phone and watched the video, dissolving into a laughing fit at the way they were attempting to escape from the maze.

“So, bets on how long it takes them?” Chimney asked. Everyone threw out their guesses of time, the answers varying wildly from one another.

42 minutes later Buck and Eddie trudged up the last steps into the kitchen, clearly exhausted. They collapsed into the closest chairs.

Eddie pointed an accusing finger at you and narrowed his eyes. “You’re an evil mastermind.”

“How did you even pull that off?” Buck asked.

“I had some assistance.” You gestured around you to the other three people in the room. “I figured you had help, why shouldn’t I employ some too?”

“Well, you all suck.” Buck said, half heartedly.

You stood and walked over to him, wrapping your arms around him from behind. “Aw, don’t pout. Just admit that I won.” You shot him a small smile and he nodded his head.

“Oh, I’ll definitely admit defeat after that one.”

“Me too,” Eddie piped up from beside you.

“So, no more pranks?” You raised your eyebrows at them in slight disbelief.

“No more pranks,” Buck agreed.

“Good, I can’t wait for life to go back to normal. This is exhausting.”

“You’re telling me.” Buck huffed out a laugh.

You smiled at him again and pressed a light kiss to his lips. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright, I started it after all.” He lifted your arm up in the air in a gesture of victory. “All hail the prank queen!” he shouted. Everyone echoed him with shouts of their own and you beamed, prouder of yourself than you had been in a long time.

—

#evan buckley #evan ‘buck’ buckley #evan buckley x reader #buck x reader #evan buckley fanfic #evan buckley fanfiction #evan buckley oneshot #evan buckley drabble #9-1-1 #9-1-1 fanfic #9-1-1 fanfiction #9-1-1 oneshot #9-1-1 drabble #shannon writes

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alostsock · 4 years

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Baby!Buck AU 9/12

Evan turns out to be as vocal about what he likes to do for fun as he was about breakfast, and Chimney spends thirty seconds panicking that they’re going to spend the entire day staring at each other in the Buckleys’ living room.

But no, he’s a grown man, he’s a paramedic, and Maddie trusted him with this. He can do better than that. He can problem solve. If he can wrangle the story of how an arm got broken out of a reluctant 22-year-old covered in canned beans and lube, he can get an eight-year-old to tell him what he wants to do today.

“Well, what do you like... in general?”

Evan shrugs.

“You like books, right? I always see you reading.”

Evan shrugs again, but Chimney thinks maybe that was a “yes” shrug and not just a shrug-shrug. He’s going to have to learn to interpret these shrugs.

“Well, what have you been reading about? Let’s go look.” He lets Evan lead him over to his backpack, and crouches down beside him as Evan pulls out his latest collection of library books. There’s one on firefighters, and four on different types of whales.

They’re new ones that he hasn’t seen before, Chimney is pretty sure. How many books on whales are there out there? Regardless, it gives him an idea. He nods decisively, tells Evan to grab what he needs for the day (and then grabs the kid a sweater and some other necessities, because he’s doubtful Evan will pack anything actually useful), makes sure the kid’s shoelaces are done up tight, and they’re on their way.

---

They’ve been on the bus for about ten minutes when Evan finally speaks.

“Where are we going?”

Chimney wants to say it’s a surprise, but a good look at Evan tells him that the kid might be a little nervous. Surprises should be fun, so Chimney spills.

“You like whales, right?” Evan shrugs, but but Chimney’s pretty confident that he does, in fact, like whales, so he plows on. “Well, I thought we could go look at some!”

Evan’s silent for a moment.

“Real whales?” He doesn’t sound excited, and Chimney is suddenly nervous.

“Uhhh... yes? Well I dunno.. I thought it might be fun?”

The kid starts wringing his hands anxiously.

“Maddie said whale-watching was expensive.”

Chimney was just planning on the aquarium (because actually yes, he’d briefly looked up whale-watching on his phone and it did look a little pricey for a last-minute day out) but his anxiety turns to confusion. Is Evan worried about the money? He’d thought he’d misread the situation and Evan was weirdly afraid of whales or water or something but it doesn’t sound like that’s the issue here.

“No, no, kiddo, we’re just going to the aquarium. It’s even free for you because you’re not ten yet.” He’s absolutely taking this kid whale-watching on his birthday though.

“And they have whales?”

“Uh, I dunno? They’ve got ocean stuff?”

“Do they have blue whales?”

“Umm...” Chimney didn’t think this far. He quickly pulls out his phone and looks up the aquarium website. It turns out that they don’t, actually, have any whales available for public viewing. There are, apparently, a few smaller species being treated behind the scenes, but definitely no blue whales, and definitely no whales that a casual visitor can go look at on a whim. Shoot. Chimney looks down at Evan apologetically. “Sorry buddy... there aren’t actually any whales we can go and look at. I really didn’t look into this enough. Do you still want to go?”

For whatever reason, Evan looks relieved as he shrugs. Chimney wonders to himself if he’s really that clueless about kids, or if maybe he just doesn’t understand this one yet. Since Evan doesn’t actively appear to be objecting, they continue on their way to the aquarium.

As they tour the aquarium (sea otters, sea lions, more fish than Chimney thinks he has ever seen in his life) he can’t help but notice that Evan keeps looking longingly at signs for the “All About Whales” exhibit. There definitely won’t be any real whales, but the website had mentioned videos, interactive stations, and recordings of whale noises. He had been avoiding it because of the kid’s apparent reluctance to see whales on the bus. They’ve looked at pretty much everything else, but it seems they might have one more stop to make. Chimney crouches down in front of Evan and looks him seriously in the eyes.

“Do you want to go see the whale exhibit, kiddo?” Evan can’t help the grin that stretches across his face as he shrugs shyly. That’s clearly a “yes” shrug, so Chimney takes his hand and leads him to the exhibit.

---

When they get there, the kid lights up. After having been mostly quiet all day, it seems Evan can’t contain his excitement and blurts out a few whale facts as they look around. When he seems to realize that Chimney is actually listening, and with a little encouragement in the form of a few leading questions, he really gets going, and by the time they’re halfway through the exhibit he’s talking a mile a minute, drawing from a seemingly endless supply of whale facts and stories.

They pass the gift shop on their way out, and Chimney is pretty sure he isn’t imagining Evan sneaking glances at a wall stuffed animals, in particular a series of stuffed blue, humpback, beluga, and killer whales. When he leans down to ask if Evan would like one, however, the kid emphatically shakes his head no. This, like many things, confuses Chimney, so he trusts his gut and insists they go look in the gift shop anyway. When Evan is distracted by the books, Chimney grabs a blue whale stuffed toy and discreetly buys it, shoving it into his backpack, making sure that Evan isn’t looking.

As they’re leaving the aquarium he hears Evan’s stomach grumble and realizes guiltily that it’s well past lunch time. He’s surprised that the kid didn’t complain. They sit down on a bench and eat the sandwiches that Chimney packed for them that morning, and then Chimney insists that they get ice cream. After some cajoling, Evan picks chocolate, which Chimney can respect because he, too, appreciates the classics.

When they’re done (and when Chimney has helped Evan wash a decent amount of melted ice cream off of his face and hands) it’s well past 3pm and Evan is clearly tired. Chimney wordlessly picks him up and settles him on his hip, and Evan drops his head down to Chimney’s shoulder without complaint. As he walks them to the bus stop, Chimney gives Evan a little poke, and the kid lifts his head up drowsily.

“So, kiddo, I am unfortunately a truly terrible cook. This means we could go home now, and then just watch a movie or read or something, and I could make us some more sandwiches for dinner... or we could go somewhere where I know it’s spaghetti night.” The subtle raise of his eyebrows and the widening of bright blue eyes that accompany the one shoulder shrug from where Evan is slumped on Chimney’s shoulder tell him that the kid is definitely interested. So, instead of getting on the bus that they would need to take to go home, Chimney reroutes them toward the 118.

#babybuckau #buck #chimney #whales #9-1-1 #au

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orangeoctopi7 · 4 years

Text

Champions

I know I already posted something for the last week of @stanuary but that was sort of a place-holder for this. I’ve been sick on-and-off for the last month or so, so I wasn’t sure if I’d finish this in time. I did get time to work on it the other day while I was at work.

This is a crossover with Atop the Fourth Wall’s Contest of Champions, but you don’t need any prior knowledge of AT4W to understand what’s happening. I’m just borrowing a concept, really. (Although I do want to do a second chapter where Stan interacts with those characters)

***

Stan was awoken in the middle of the night by one of Ford’s alarms going off. He groggily sat up as his brother jumped out of his own hammock and dashed to the controls, muttering curses under his breath the whole way.

“Wazzat?” Stan groaned.

“An extradimensional portal just opened up aboard the Stan'o'war! But my sensors aren’t picking up any foreign lifeforms. Whatever it was must also have access to time travel. It must have paused time, entered our dimension, done whatever it was trying to do, and then left before restoring the flow of time.”

“Y'sure your nerd gadgets aren’t just broken?” Stan asked, reaching sleepily for his glasses on the bedside cabinet. He felt around, but instead of the thin plastic frames, he felt a heavy sheet of parchment.

“Yes, I’m sure! Now keep a close eye out for anything out of place! Just because I don’t detect any lifeforms doesn’t mean they couldn’t have left a robot or a bug.”

“Uh, Ford? I think I found what they left.”

Stan finally put his glasses on and looked down at the parchment he’d found. It was the same size as a normal 8.5" by 11" printer paper, but the parchment felt much fancier, like something the Northwests would use for an invitation. Which was exactly what it was.

STANLEY PINES

YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO THE 1049th INTERDIMENSIONAL

CONTEST OF CHAMPIONS

SPEAK ALOUD YOUR ACCEPTANCE AND DETAILS WILL FOLLOW

CONGRATULATIONS, CHAMPION.

“What the…?” Stan muttered, turning the page over to look for more info, but it was blank. “Ford, are you tryin’ to pull some sorta prank? If so, I don’t get your humor at all.”

Ford silently read the invitation over his brother’s shoulder, before snatching it away. “This has to be counterfeit. I know you destroyed Bill, but that’s not… that doesn’t make you… does it?”

“Seriously, Ford, what is this?” Stan asked impatiently.

Ford took a deep breath, collecting his thoughts, before answering. “To put it in your terms, Stan, the Contest of Champions is like an interdimensional boxing tournament, only instead of just boxing, the Champions can choose any kind of contest they want.”

“Champions?”

Ford pinched the bridge of his nose. “You know, I bet this thing will do a much better job of explaining.” He held up the invitation like it was a phone and he was having a video-chat. “We’d like the Terms and Conditions, please.”

Nothing happened.

“Of course, I wasn’t invited.” Ford rolled his eyes and handed the paper back to Stan. “You have to ask it.”

Stan held the paper out like he’d seen Ford doing. “Uh… can you explain this whole thing to me?” He awkwardly addressed the invitation.

With nothing more than a bright flash of light, a figure in dark robes appeared. They looked like they might be human, but every part of them was covered, from their closed hood to their gloved hands.

“Sweet Moses!” Stan shouted in surprise, winding up to punch the intruder.

“Relax, it’s just a hologram recording.” Ford reassured him with a gentle hand on the shoulder.

“The interdimensional Contest of Champions is a tournament.” The hologram began, “Within every parallel reality, there are figures best suited to defend those realities. These individuals are referred to as Champions. The hosts for this contest, the Temlins, have elected to hold a tournament to judge their respective skills against one another. Participants are randomly selected across all realities and invitations are sent. You are under no obligation to join this great tournament, but should you enter, you will be granted the opportunity to test your abilities against other powerful individuals and make an attempt at a great prize. All battles are non-lethal and participation is voluntary. Should you remain victorious through all of your battles, you will be awarded this great prize. Defeat brings only as much dishonor as you allow yourself. If you have any further questions, you may ask now.”

“Wow, that’s quite the schpiel you got there.” Stan grunted. He turned to his brother. “So, let me get this straight. I can’t die, and I get to fight a buncha space dorks for some fancy prize? Sounds like a good time to me!”

“It’s a lot more complex than that.”

“What, you been in one of these things?”

“No, but I watched the coverage of one during my interdimensional travels. I should warn you, they take forever. Since it covers multiple dimensions and timelines, it can be really stretched out. I saw the beginning of the 1018th tournament while I was in the Bubble Dimension, by the time it finally finished, I was in the Flying Whale Dimension, six years later.”

“Well, do I haffta wait on their planet, or somethin’ or can I just go about life as normal?”

Ford shrugged.

“Between rounds, Champions are allowed to prepare as they see fit.” The hologram answered. “The Temlins are aware of the great temporal differences between participating dimensions. Champions are encouraged to continue their normal lives if at all possible while waiting for the next round.”

“Ok. And how do these battles work?”

“From what I remember, one of the contestants gets to choose the contest.”

“For each round, one of the two Champions is selected at random. They must set a battle that is fair to both parties, with a reasonable chance that either could win. The conditions of the battle must be agreed upon by both parties, and approved by the Temlins.”

“So, I just gotta bribe the right people, and make sure I get to pick the challenge. Dirty boxing, or, I dunno, a The Dutchess Approves trivia quiz.”

“Stanley, I’d advise against mentioning bribery in front of the recording device.” Ford scolded him. “And besides, the Temlins are all-powerful beings. I very much doubt you have anything that would interest them.”

“Well, what’ve I got to lose, right? I’ll give it a shot.”

“Stanley, wait, let’s think about this first! I don’t trust the Temlins. That much power, and they use it to host a tournament!? Why couldn’t they have done something about Bill, why couldn’t they use that power to stop injustice across the multiverse?”

Stan gasped in mock surprise. “What!? You don’t trust somebody? That’s never happened before! Whatever will I do with this new, vital information?”

“Stanley, I’m serious!”

“C'mon Ford, the man says it’s voluntary. If things get sketchy, I’ll quit! ‘Snot like I expect to win this thing. Think of it this way, I get to fight crazy space guys. You get to study whatever crazy space guys they send our way, and maybe if I get really lucky, I win some fancy sci-fi prize.”

Ford sighed. “I’ll admit, that does sound tempting.”

“Great, cuz I’m doin’ it!” Stan turned back to the hologram. “I, uh, speak aloud my acceptance, or however this works.”

“Welcome, Stanley Pines, to the Contest of Champions.”

“Great. So now what?”

“Preliminary round begins now.”

“Wait, what?”

“Your opponent is Ace Corgi, Attorney at Paw. Battlefield has been selected as Stanley Pines’”

“Ford, you said these things take forever!”

“Well I never saw anything about a preliminary round on the broadcast!”

Another brilliant flash filled the cabin. The hologram had disappeared, and in its place was a stout dog with pointy ears and a steel-gray coat. It looked just as surprised as they were. Ford’s alarms started again.

“Oh, are we starting now?” It asked in a deep voice that belied its small size.

“Aw, lookit the cute talking dog!” Stan cooed.

“That must be the Champion from the Corgi Dimension!”

“There’s a Corgi Dimension!?”

“Yes, but last I heard, the Champion of the Corgi Dimension was Atticus.”

“Oh, He retired just last year.” The small dog explained. “Now, which one of you humans is my opponent?”

Stan raised his hand.

“Thank you. Now have at thee!”

The dog lunged without warning, going straight for Stan’s knees.

“What the H!?” Stan shouted as he nearly toppled to the ground. His first instinct was to dropkick the animal, but he knew Mabel would never forgive him for doing such a thing to a cute dog, even if it was in self defense. Luckily, he knew a thing or two about dealing with rowdy dogs from his time pug trafficking. He grabbed it by the scruff of the neck, doing his best to avoid the snapping jaws, and forced the dog onto its back.

“A little help here?” He yelled to Ford as he struggled to keep the wiggling dog still.

The old scientist held his hands up. “I’m not allowed to interfere.”

The dog took advantage of Stan’s split attention and squirmed out of his grasp.

“You’re a jerk, you know that?” Stan shouted as the corgi chased him up onto the deck.

“I’m not being a jerk, it’s the rules!” Ford called after him.

Stan at least had the presence of mind to grab his boots and his coat as he dashed for the stairs. Luckily, the steps slowed his stubby-legged pursuer down, and he was able to actually put them on.

“You cur! Your giant ledges won’t be enough to stop me!"

"What the heck, I thought we had to both agree on the battle first!?”

“That’s what I thought too, but it seems the Temlins get to decide the battle for the preliminary round. I suppose it saves time.” The dog replied as it hopped up the last step.

What the heck am I supposed to do!? Stan wondered to himself. I’m not gonna punch a little dog!

He ran around the deck a couple of times, trying to tire the little guy out, but the dog had boundless energy, and it’s fur coat was obviously better at keeping the cold out than Stan’s cotton one. Finally, his eyes caught sight of the net he and Ford used to catch specimens for his brother’s research. Perfect!

Out-maneuvering a herding dog was a challenge, but in the end he managed. After all, corgis were bred to herd large groups of sheep, not one cunning old man. Once Stan grabbed the net, he tossed it over his opponent, tangling up its little legs almost instantly. The dog continued to squirm, attempting to wiggle its way out once again. When this proved futile, it started to gnaw on the cables of the net.

“Yeah, good luck, Bucko.” Stan chuckled. “That net’s meant for things way bigger and more magical than you.”

“Preliminary round has ended. The victor is Stanley Pines.” The hologram appeared again in a flash of light. “You are both Champions worthy of being in this great tournament. Now you must await your summoning for the first true round. Information and dossiers about the other participants will be made available to you soon, relative to your own universe’s timescale. Welcome, once again, to the Contest of Champions.”

With that, the hologram disappeared again.

“Good show, human!” The dog barked happily. “Will you please let me out now?”

“Oh, right.” Stan pulled the net away. “Not that it’s any of my business, but if I can beat you, ya might not last many rounds in this tournament.”

“Oh, this dog still has a few tricks. I don’t want to show all my best moves before we’ve even begun!”

“Good point. Hey, before ya go, would it be too much to ask for a picture? My niece would really love you.”

“But of course!”

“Hey Ford, get up here!” Stan called down the stairs to the cabin.

“I told you, I can’t help during the match!”

“It’s already over, genius! We’re takin’ a commemorative photo! Bring up the camera!”

#Gravity Falls #Fanfiction #atop the fourth wall #Stanley Pines #Stanuary 2020 #Fight #my writing

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autumnslance · 4 years

Note

Lmao I got three I'm particularly curious about for you on the character meme. Thancred, Lahabrea, Igeyorhm. XD Feel free to do as many or as few as you'd like of course!

You asked for it. We’ll start with That Damned Rogue. The Ascians will be below.

This of course got long, so behind a cut it goes:

Thancred

First impression: I started in Gridania and took like 2 years to finish ARR 2.0, was already spoiled on the possession angle (I spoiled myself, no big), and had just @erickgage‘s affectionate joking summary of Thancred being the guy who shows up 5 minutes late with Starbucks to all the early battles. So I didn’t really get to meet the guy ‘til the Waking Sands.

And honestly, he was stereotypical generic bland anime prettyboy competent guy. His 1.0/ARR model is…just sorta there. He was a flirt, also generic as heck. Really didn’t register too much, until I finished 2.0 finally and then went hard on the MSQ through the patches and into HW and StB 4.0, when I finally caught up to content.

Impression now: Godsdammit.

My first replay through the game was on PunchyCat, starting in Ul’dah, which meant I got to meet Thancred much earlier. I was immediately amused by his nickname for Nanamo, and Papashan’s assessment of the witty Archon. I was more into the lore, getting the first lorebook and reading the short stories on the main site, and playing through all at once instead of piecemeal over months/years made things make more sense. Thancred hits a lot of tropes I commonly like in a lot of characters, so he jumped up to being a favorite.

Gunbreaker suits him as a tank job (thank goodness he can stop trying to tank warmachina as a rogue, ffs Thancred), and tanking in general suits him when it comes to fighting for those he cares about.

I’m interested in the ShB story mentioning why he wears white in all his gear iterations; I’d previously made a post about his color choices and that aspect of character design, but having a lore explanation for his affinity for that color was interesting. I didn’t think his HW model suited him, honestly; way too rough mountain man hobo. His model in ShB is closer to his ARR model, but different enough, and imbued now with actual character, that he’s a bit more visually interesting and while still pretty typical handsome anime protagonist in appearance; his true personality just comes through a lot more.

I’m still forever mad about the unintentional character ‘ship with Aeryn, tho. It took a 3rd playthrough for it to happen.

For myself, mind, when I got into playing and learned his canonical age, it was at the time the same difference between myself and my younger brother. My assessment of the Scion “family” with Thancred being the middle child (esp his behavior pre-HW) maybe helps that. I’m getting to a point, really, where I look at the characters under 35 and think “OMG disaster children, all of you.”

Favorite moment: Oh goodness. There’s some good ones.

‘How was I supposed to know all my girlfriends would track me down and show up at HQ all at the same time: a master class in how to not to deal with multiple paramours by Archon T. Waters.’

His dramatic reappearance and duel with Ardbert in HW 3.1.

Taking out his frustrations by soloing the Coerthas cyclops boss so we can get on with the Tournament and fight Raubahn. (Side Bonus: pre-tournament when he jokes about fighting for the other team to even up the odds, and then: “It looks to be a veritable who’s who of the Eorzean Alliance. The only question is: who came to watch and who came to fight? Hmm…Nanamo. Definitely Nanamo.”)

Making sure Urianger knew he was still part of the team post-Soul Surrender climax.

“All right, which one of you triggered the obvious trap?” Also learning he can hold his breath for 10 freaking minutes–but still gets to be jealous of the WoL, Lyse, and Alisaie for their kojin blessing.

That dramatic teamwork with Urianger to knock Ran’jit down the pit in Rak’tika.

That frickin’ Trolley duty and it’s aftermath with the completed checklist of anime death markers and then just sitting there battered and bleeding and smiling and then giving Ryne a name and a headpat and “You’re family.” Bastard.

Idea for a story: Have you seen my Ao3 account? *grumbles*

Unpopular opinion: While he likely used drinking as a bad coping mechanism at times in ARR’s patches, I doubt he ever really went to blackout, as losing control to that extent, after having been controlled and probably losing a lot of time while possessed, would be awful. We see him drink a few times, but I don’t think he is/was an alcoholic.

I also agree with @ahlis-xiv that his flirtatious persona was mostly adopted. While he probably does have a healthy libido and enjoys time with paramours (that Urianger keeps a handy list of), there’s a lot that’s likely exaggerated, allowed to be assumed, and otherwise used as a cover, given his specializations. It’s also noteworthy how he’s mostly acting the same even after being lost in the wilderness, right up until our foray into the Antitower. The wit/humor gets toned down a lot, but the flirting is cut out entirely after that. He still charms some ladies in the First, based on incidental dialogue, but that seems a general reaction to him being a handsome hero type rather than any intentional flirtatious act on his part.

Favorite relationship: Thancred and little sister types. I do wish we’d seen more of his relationship with Minfilia outside of informed moments and the short stories. I feel like he has a semi-older-brother relationship with Lyse, too, given their antics in the 2.0 patches (particularly the “Hoary’s fighting the WoL, come watch!” and Thancred not even considering how one of his girlfriends would see him sending Lyse to retrieve an item until after and going “oh yeah, whoops”). And now there’s Ryne, and she is totally running things if you watch their background conversations/body language. But that’s kind of where Thancred likes it; find a girl who needs a protective older brother and do what she asks and whatever she needs.

I do have a special place in my heart for the expanded broship with Urianger that Shadowbringers gave us, though. I’ve already spoken on that one.

Favorite headcanon: Everything people assume about how he spoils the nutkin. And really, focusing on taking care of and doting on a pet would be good therapy. Goodness knows he needs it.

Also I assume he and Hilda hooked up at least once during the HW patches. Part of that expectation and cover, sure, to immediately flirt with the pretty, tough, half-elezen guard captain. But also, he spent however long mostly alone, and then only with the Vath and a nutkin for company; the guy was probably touch-starved and lonely and just needing a connection to another person he could relate to (that wasn’t a bug).

Otherwise, again, have you seen my Ao3? Ugh. Damned snarky smart rogues…

————

Lahabrea

First impression: Laughing Organization XIII-wannabe is obvious villain. Wonder what their deal is.

Impression now: So much lost/wasted potential thanks to being stuck as the ARR villain when it was so hastily rewritten and acted, and so little was decided on the Ascians and their motivations yet. A lot of what we learn now retroactively makes him more interesting. The fact he was a workaholic who looked at the workaholic Scion and went “ah yes; that one will do, perfect” makes me laugh.

Favorite moment: I like his interactions with Elidibus. And I am actually fairly fond of his theatrical reveal in Praetorium about the Ultima Weapon, the Heart of Sabik, and casting Ultima.

Idea for a story: Maybe stuff while he’s possessing Thancred. Maybe stuff between then and the Reactor. I dunno; I’ve been enjoying a lot of others’ stories about our first Ascian antagonist.

Unpopular opinion: Dunno if this is unpopular, but some of the retroactive information is to excuse why he seemed so much less powerful than other, later Ascians, but I do think the Speaker could be quite devious and powerful, if he had better writing around him. He suffers for being from ARR.

Favorite relationship: I am not ashamed to admit I am a Lahabrea/Igeyorhm shipper and Hades Ex seems to agree with me so there.

Favorite headcanon: The Speaker likely also had a good singing voice. Another thing good about possessing a man whose primary cover was a bard–excuses to indulge that.

————

Igeyorhm

First impression: Wannabe-Organization XIII also hires women, cool. Wonder if she’ll get to do anything?

Impression now: I’m sad so much got cut from HW; as great as it was, a lot got left on the editing room floor and it shows in spots–particularly where the Ascians connect with the plot. We learn much about her retroactively as well, including how she worked for/with Lahabrea thanks to being the one to wreck the Thirteenth, and change Ascian policy on how to bring about Rejoinings. I still wanna know more about her.

Favorite moment: You beat the whale, good job–thanks, that’s my key now. It’s such a perfect dick move. Excellent timing and taunting.

Idea for a story: Maybe some of her inner thoughts working for/with Lahabrea. She was a raised up shard, so does that mean they found the scattered pieces of her original soul and force-merged them? I doubt it, since Emet-Selch mentions raising up those who are a piece of the previous office holder, but I wonder if it came with imbuing the new title-holder with some of those memories and knowledge. Perhaps she wonders if some of her interactions/feelings/whatever with Lahabrea are her own, or her tapping into her previous life’s memories. Something to think about, anyway.

Unpopular opinion: I dunno, she shoulda gotten to stick around longer? Or been allowed to do a lot more? Should have been much more of a presence in HW, but I don’t think that’s unpopular so much as unconsidered.

Favorite relationship: Lahabrea is really the only one she gets significant interactions with. Though I wonder about her interactions with the other few women in the Ascians.

Favorite headcanon: See above with the story ideas, really; she didn’t get a lot of time onscreen so there’s a lot of room to make things up, and retroactive info from ShB to make her more interesting, or at least her situation as an upraised Ascian.

#Final Fantasy XIV #Prompts #Thancred Waters #Lahabrea #Igeyorhm #Ascians #illegiblewords

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not-another-paradox-art · 5 years

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D-Day fic (title undecided)

Storyboard for context (btw I’m calling the guy next to Murdoc on the 4th panel Terry)

“You’re really gonna lug that bloke everywhere, eh?”

“Yes. Required by law.”

“Since when did you start obeying the law?”

“Since I got caught’s when,” Murdoc snapped as he shoved the comatose Stuart into the car. Terry had tagged along, one of his many hooligan friends that seemed to come and go at moment’s notice. Murdoc stared at the one-eyed, blue-haired heap slumped in the back seat. A second passed. Murdoc sat the boy up and daintily placed the limp forearm on the kid’s lap, pleased. Terry scowled. “Get in already, bender,” he muttered. “Bender!?” Murdoc yelped as he slammed the door shut. Once he hopped in the driver’s seat, he pouted and flitted his eyes around, trying to think of a comeback. Suddenly, a smirk crept across his lips. “Say, would a bender be looking to participate in...oh, I dunno, that parking lot with all those loons mucking about, eh? Care to go for a hell of a spin, Terry? Or are you some kind of bender?” Terry’s eyes widened as the greasy animal revved his late father’s jalopy.

“You’re bluffing, now.”

“Nuh-uh!” Murdoc cracked a snaggle-toothed grin, “we’re in Nottingham, mate, we may as well.” He cackled as the beat-up Vauxhall Astra, patched up from the fairly recent crash that bestowed him the unresponsive teen, sputtered its way to the parking lot derby.

By the time they got there it was raining lightly, but that wasn’t stopping anyone. Terry wasn’t too keen on potentially snapping his neck, much to Murdoc’s amusement. He opted to stand and watch while the mop-topped madman tore up the parking lot. Despite Murdoc’s mockery, Terry gave him a big smile and a double thumbs up for luck before stepping out. Murdoc smirked, and a chuckle rolled out of his throat as he fiddled with his cigarette. He tossed it out the window and slammed his foot on the gas. The deafening roar rumbled out of the car, almost drowning out the cheers. He picked up more speed and performed a few donuts, tossing the blue-haired ragdoll, still in the backseat, to-and-fro. Murdoc, however, was having a whale of a time, laughing maniacally and beeping the horn. Eventually, when he’d had his fun, he screeched to a halt next to the crowd, surveying his captive audience, panting and feeling — kind of — alive. They were going wild, waving, whistling, hollering; it’s what he longed for, what he dreamed would meet him onstage one day…

Murdoc was quickly snapped out of his musings with something else that allured him so.

Tits!!! On a lady!!!

A girl had taken her top off to, well, encourage him. And boy, did it ever. Murdoc’s freakishly long tongue lolled out of his maw as he tried to plan his last trick on the spot, the grand finale. He revved the engine once more, to another wave of applause. The speedometer gradually climbed up to around ninety as he spun the car around the lot. With his rearview mirror ravaged with cracks and rendered useless, he turned his head out the window to see if that lady was still offering her “encouragement.”

B-DUM!!!

It hadn’t been so much as two seconds before Murdoc’s car barrelled head-on into a bollard at top speed. There was a deafening crunch of metal twisting, shattered glass, and the smell of rising smoke. The car alarm rang like a cry of agony. Murdoc shrunk in his seat. The impact had left him pretty scraped up, but mostly alright; a bruise or some cuts here and there, but it was nothing he wasn’t used to. The very kid he was supposed to look after would beg to differ. Having not been buckled, Stu careened through the windshield and hit the pavement, skidding on his face for what felt like half a mile before his head made a final impact on the curb. Oops.

Almost on cue, the rain seemed to pick up slightly, and the surroundings grew dreary to match the sky. Stuart lay limp on the road, surrounded by bits of broken glass. Murdoc, hands still latched onto the wheel, craned his neck to get a look at him. Moments passed. Despite the blaring alarm and the rain, it felt just as heavy as silence.

Stuart’s fingers twitched.

He lifted his head off the ground.

Painstakingly slow, the boy who was a crumpled, immobile heap mere seconds ago pushed himself off the road. Disoriented, the spindly teen hoisted himself to a shaky standing position. And there he stood, swaying, but there he stood. Murdoc stared, gobsmacked. Then he finally got a good look at the boy’s face. He was missing teeth, he was all bloodied up, but that was barely noticeable compared to what took center stage.

Stuart had no eyes. In their place were two empty, reddish-black voids. Murdoc had bashed one in before, but what were the chances it would happen again?

Now, this was quite a unique look, Murdoc thought as a smile began to stretch across his face. That kid worked in the Keyboard Emporium, didn’t he? He was fervently plotting now, gleefully hunched over the wheel. This was an opportunity he couldn’t miss.

Murdoc stepped out of the wreckage and trotted over to the bizarre-looking fellow.

“Hey!” He waved as he approached the lost-looking lad.

“...Huh?” The further disfigured Stu turned to squint at the small, grayish, greenish, blackish blob.

“...Erm…” Murdoc scratched the back of his head. Perhaps he didn’t plot as well as he thought. “R’you...ok?” He asked, surveying the damage. The younger bloke didn’t respond, staring blankly in a now quite literal sense until he could figure out it was a person he was looking at. He looked at Murdoc, then back at the wreckage, then back at Murdoc, then the car again. Suddenly, his pitch-black eyes widened and his bleeding jaw dropped. “Oh my god!” He warbled, turning back to Murdoc, “did you crash that car?” Murdoc wasn’t entirely sure how he was supposed to answer that.

“...Yeah.”

“I coulda been killed!”

“Oh, shut up, you-“

“You saved my life, mister!” Enthused, Stuart leaned closer and began twiddling his fingers.

“...Beg your pardon?”

“Not sure why I was on the ground, but if you hadn’t crashed your car, you woulda run me over n’ killed me for certain!”

Murdoc was at a complete loss. At least this idiocy and/or delirium was in his favor.

“Yeah, let’s go with that.”

“What was that, sir?”

“Nuthin’.”

There was a bit of a pause. Stuart observed his now fuzzy surroundings. Murdoc looked at the ground and whistled for a second or two before clearing his throat. “You play keyboard, right?”

“Yeah!” A big, dopey smile spread across Stu’s scraped up face, “I work at Uncle Norman’s Keyboard Emporium. Ever been?”

“Oh yeah. I don’t think they like me very much over there, though.” They chuckled, but only Murdoc knew why it was funny.

“...Why not?” The boy tilted his head. “Not important,” Murdoc made a dismissive gesture, “anyway, erm, I’m forming a band, actually, and I think you’d be a welcome addition.” Stuart’s new eyes tried their hardest to light up. “You really mean it?”

“Sure, sure. I’m certain those… interesting looks of yours would make good frontman material. Definitely draws attention.” Stuart beamed another jacked grin, overjoyed from the pseudo-complement. “Why, thank you, mister! Sign me up! I owe ya for saving me whole life ‘n such.” Bingo. With some disinfectant and patching up, Murdoc would have the perfect face for the band. Other than his own mug, of course. “I sing too,” Stuart added. With a voice like that? “Doubt it,” Murdoc replied curtly. “Well,” he tutted, “no use standing around in this rain. I’ll nick a car and you can clean yourself up at my place.”

“Ok!”

The new recruit was rather complacent watching Murdoc smash a random car’s window and start it up, and soon enough the budding band was on the road. It felt strange for them to both be conscious. Once they were properly introduced and caught up, small talk was made, but it was dull. As frustratingly dull as the former coma patient himself.

“Er… Murdoc… whose car is this again?”

“I told you, it doesn’t matter!”

Similar conversation plagued the car throughout the ride. All the while, Murdoc found it ridiculous that this moron could look so strange and have a name like Stuart. Not if he had anything to say about it.

“We can’t keep calling you Stuart, man.”

“Then call me Stu!”

“No! It’s boring! You need a stage name, looking like that.”

“...StuPot? That’s what they called me in school.”

Murdoc groaned. “Let me do all the thinking, and you can tell me what you like best. C’mon, man, it’ll be cool.”

Murdoc ran through a list of nicknames he thought of on the spot. As Stu dismissed one after another, Murdoc grew exasperated.

“Well, if you don’t like Denthead, Dentrimental, or Dent, Daft, and Beyond, then what?! Come on, those were good!!!”

The boy shook his head, “Too long for me. I like Stuart. It’s easy to remember and quicker to write.”

“I can’t work with that criteria!”

Stu almost rose his shrill voice. “Just keep it simple, please.”

“Ugh, simple’s what we’re trying to avoid!” Murdoc scowled. “Just Dents, then?”

“Does it have to be about the dents in my skull?” Stu whined. “Well, I mean, yeah,” Murdoc retorted. “You have dents in your skull,” he continued, “that’s fuckin’ metal.” Stu nodded slowly. “It’s just a bit on the nose, innit?”

“Then…” Murdoc was damn near out of ideas. “How about… 2-Dents, then? ‘Cos you’ve got two now, don’t you? It’s not just ‘Dents’ and it could be ‘2-D’ for short, yeah? It doesn’t sound bad, even without the implication of brain damage, so there you go.” Stuart mulled it over, nodding slowly, then picking up speed as his bloody face beamed once more. “I actually really like that! That- That’s quite good, innit?” He went so far as to declare, “from now on, I want everyone to call me 2-D!” Murdoc was pleased. “That’s the spirit!” He hollered. “Right then, 2D, this is it. The big one. We’re on the road to stardom, I can feel it. This is gonna be revolutionary, just you wait.”

“Well, no… we’re on the road to your place, remember? If we’re going to stardom we must’ve taken a wrong turn…”

“Well, you see, my place happens to be where stardom is.”

“Wow! No kiddin’!”

The new duo was jovially cruising to Murdoc’s shitty bedsit in high spirits now that everyone had an appropriate title. Still, likely due to 2-D’s lack of brain functionality, it wasn’t long before conversation dissolved to nothingness.

Suddenly Murdoc cussed and banged his fist on the wheel, wide-eyed.

“What happened, Murdoc?” 2-D chirped, craning his neck at the fellow.

Murdoc had one hand on the wheel, one hand rubbing his temples. “We forgot Terry.”

“Who’s Terry?”

Murdoc hesitated, then he sat up, looking straight ahead. “Eh, you’re right, no one important.”

#gorillaz #gorillaz fanfiction #gorillaz d-day #gorillaz dday #gorillaz murdoc #murdoc niccals #murdoc #gorillaz 2d #stuart pot #ROTO #rise of the ogre #not 2d*c #do not tag as such #i will forcibly remove your kidneys #phase 0 #pre-gorillaz #pre gorillaz

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shadocast · 5 years

Text

They'd been home a few weeks now. Tobi was a little wary living with these kids and Maeve and Christian, particularly with Kyler and Chris having both been ill. They felt piled atop one another but it wasn't really any worse than living at the main house. They just had to shuffle around the bathroom. Besides, they were making room. Despite his concerns that their presence here would drive Anders and Lucky away from Maeve and Christian, they had proceeded with the plans to build them their own little space once Maeve's workshop was complete.

So since they had come home, they went out every day to help with the animals then switched gears to building with Christian and Aedan, sometimes Maeve, Ryan, and Fiona. Having tasks he repeated every day was good for him. Chris showed him what to do and why, then he carried on with it. He supposed he and Kyler had the easier work, but Aedan obviously took the brunt of it trying to keep Christian from overexerting himself which Tobi noticed both he and Kyler could do so easily. He had to watch her like a hawk.

Building was different though. Less routine as each day wasn't the same and new steps had to be added. He did as instructed, watched and observed how the others worked. They finished the workshop and started on their little house. Christian wasn't quite as good about the instructions as he'd been the last time which frustrated him.

"What's next?" The younger man asked, dusting off gloved hands and looking to him.

Tobi stared blankly. He thought it was some sort of rhetorical question. A roundabout way of saying 'on to the next task', but he realized that was wrong when Chris looked at him and turned his hand over expectantly. He was supposed to know. He shrugged. "Dunno."

"Yeah, you do." It was a harmless prod, almost encouraging.

Except that it didn't. It felt like a reminder that he was fucked up and irritated him. "Don't do that. Just give me instructions. That's how I work, I do what I'm told." He'd been trying so hard since their return to keep his head down, to not create a scene. Any trips up to the main house were conducted as quietly as possible. Nobody wanted broken Tobi, least of all Tobi.

Christian sighed softly. He had hoped to be past this now. He had noticed Tobi's habit of doing exactly as instructed to as near perfection as he could and then wait for more instructions even if it would be the same as yesterday. It was as if he didn't remember, but he did know how to do what he'd been taught. He simply hedged from proactivity. Having discussed this observation with Maeve, they had agreed it wasn't laziness. Tobi, like Kyler, worked extremely hard. Rather it seemed an unwillingness to assume, to potentially make a mistake. "I'm not gonna treat you like a machine, you know what t'do, and if you fuck up it ain' nothin' we can' fix." He shoved his hands in his pockets and tried to appear unimposing while also just being bluntly honest.

That Kyler was inside with Maeve learning how to witch was a relief. He had pulled back some so she could focus on her learning, and that enabled him to hide the punch of anxiety. He knew what to do next. He remembered. Logically, he was fine. But doubt drowned him. He looked down to hide how his gaze traveled, searching the dirt for the answer that he knew he knew but just couldn't spit out. "No." He shook his head, a step backwards taken. "No. I can't."

Chris didn't yet know how much he could push this. He had only just found this boundary, but decided he would give it a try. "Yeah, you can. Just gotta learn--"

"Stop!" Tobi snapped, wolf seeping into his eyes and his posture shifted from confused to predatory in that same instant. "Just fucking tell me what to do. That's fine with me, it should be fine with you."

Both hands came out of pockets and to the air in a somewhat submissive gesture. Evidently this was not a boundary to push yet. It was sad because they both knew he knew, but he was too afraid to trust himself. Too afraid to screw up. "Okay," he agreed softly, not letting his wolf rise to the challenge. He knew it was unlikely Tobi would hurt him but in terms of capability? Well, he stood no chance at all against him. "Alright then. We can do that."

The anger dropped out of him and he knew he'd made a mistake letting himself snap. He should have just told him the answer. He knew the answer. Another mistake. His instincts were wrong. He backed up and sagged. There stood this man who had done nothing but welcome and help him and in the face of the threat of him was unmoved. No anger, maybe a flinch of fear. But not much else. Just the same concerned but hopeful look he'd started this conversation with. "How do you do that? Not react. I could have killed you." And the others would have thought that was exactly what he was doing.

This took a turn Christian had not expected and his surprise was obvious. He wasn't sure what to say. The truth was not something he was comfortable parting with. To top it off, Aedan had returned with the supplies they needed just as Tobi asked that question. But there was no other answer but the truth. "I think my daddy beat that outta me by the time I was 5 or 6. The more I fought back, the worse his temper got, an' the more he whaled on me. I learned just t'take it when he was in a pissed mood. Sometimes I'd get a wild hair an' fight back t'keep him from goin' after my mama, but sometimes that made things worse for all of us," he explained as he slowly got back to work, preferring not to say all that face to face. But it was what it was. The man was dead now and he was at least one step above him having never struck his children. He was working to be better than that low standard though.

Shit. That wasn't what he expected and Tobi felt guilty. His reaction to a threat was to do nothing, to simply endure which made any time he snapped at him worse. Christian may not defend himself. He was quite the opposite. He bucked every attempt to threaten him with threats of his own. He fought back even to his own detriment and sometimes that of others. Maybe that was the answer though. He moved to take supplies from Aedan, to help with what he knew to do. "I'm sorry."

Christian offered a crooked smile. He took the rest from his son after giving him a quick sideways hug to let him know everything was okay. "S'fine. Everyone's afraid of fuckin' up. It's normal," he told him and moved back to work.

Pride demanded he protest instantly but he stopped short after a breath. Tobi wanted to say he wasn't afraid but that was the furthest thing from the truth, so he fell quiet and moved in to help the father and son.

#ficlet #tobi #christian #aedan #au #probably

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gray-autumn-sky · 7 years

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You Can Always Go Home

A season 7 AU in which Henry returns home to Storybrooke with his daughter, Lucy, after the untimely death of his wife, Elena.

For @suckmyrockyroad1, who ages ago requested a Regal Believer fic set in the future with flashbacks to Henry’s childhood.

Regina stands at the center of Henry’s empty bedroom, her arms crossed over her chest and tears in her eyes. When Henry moved away, it was never supposed to be permanent--he way only a few hours away at Boston University, he’d come home for holidays and breaks and, of course, the summer and the four years of college would fly by. When he’d gone away, he always said he’d be back--he said that Storybrooke was his home and he could never imagine being away from his family, especially after fighting so hard to bring them all together.

But then, like with any plan, life chose a different path.

In the first few months of college, he met a girl called Elena. He’d brought her home that Thanksgiving and it’d been more than apparent to everyone, Elena was the girl for Henry. She and Robin had exchanged knowing glances as Henry pulled out her chair at dinner and Hannah giggled as she watched their fingers entwine as Henry gave Elena a tour of the house. By Christmas things between them were serious, and one night when he was home for break, as Regina poured two cups of hot cocoa, Henry confessed to her that he was in love with Elena, and though they were young and hadn’t know each other for that long, he wanted to marry her. Again, that was no surprise--and that summer, there’d been a wedding.

The morning of Henry’s wedding, Regina had stood here--in this same spot in Henry’s room--suddenly very aware that her son had spent his last night in his childhood bedroom. Regardless of whether or not he returned to Storybrooke, he wouldn’t be returning to this his house or this room. He was all grown up, building a family and a life of his own, and she’d been so, so proud of the man her little boy had grown up to be--and that made it easy to push aside any sadness she felt.

But today, Henry was returning home.

And, for his sake, she wished that he wasn’t.

Closing her eyes, she takes a breath, remembering the years he spent in this room. People always told her that Henry’s childhood would be over before she blinked her eyes--and in the day-to-day thick of it, she hadn’t really believed it. After all, for most of Henry’s childhood, she was a single, working mother and she’d done it all on her own. She weathered through colic and tantrums, she changed every diaper and she tempered every fever. She’d stayed up with him when he was sick, abandoning any notion of sleep for herself, and she’d stayed up with him, finishing school projects that he’d neglected to tell her about until the last minute. In the earliest years, she’d gone to bed and awoken the next morning exhausted--and then, almost suddenly, Henry was no longer a baby, and he was no longer a little boy. And she found herself looking back with great nostalgia, wishing that she could do it all again and she could revisit the days when a hug from her could solve all of his problems...

“But, why, mama?” Henry asks, his eyes wide as he looks into his room. “Why?”

Taking a breath, she kneels down in front of him, taking his little hands in hers. “Because, you’ve gotten too big for a crib.”

“But why?”

Her brow furrows a bit as a grin pulls onto her lips, not entirely sure how to answer his question. “Well, you’re a big boy now,” she tells him, watching as he looks skeptically into his room at the twin sized bed with protective rails on the sides. “And you should have a big boy bed.”

Henry took a breath, still very unsure as he eyed the bed and though he seemed so scared of it, she couldn’t help but smile. He was wearing her favorite pair of pajamas--a blue footed pair with orange and white little whales all over them. His hair was probably too long and curled up a bit at his ears, but she loved to stroke her fingers through it--and Henry liked it too. Whenever she did it, he nuzzle closer and look up at her with hooded eyes, looking so sweet and secure--and loved that make him feel that way.

She hoped she always would.

“Come on,” she says, giving his hand a soft tug. “Let’s try it out.”

“I dunno,” he murmurs uneasily as he follows her into the room.

Grinning, she lifts him up onto the bed and crouches down in front of him. Her hand smooths over the blue, patch-work quilt that’d been in his crib--and after watching her for a moment, he starts to do the same, rubbing his little hand over the blanket. “See,” she says. “It’s the same blanket you had before.” A hesitant grin starts to pull at the corner of his mouth as she rises to her feet and rounds the bed, sitting down on the edge opposite Henry. “And look at this,” she says, reaching for a little night light that sits on the new bedside table. “Watch what happens when I turn it on.”

Turning his head, curiously, Henry watches as she flicks a switch at the base of the lamp, and then a sharp gasp escapes him as his grow wide as they move from the little lamp to his walls, watching as glowing stars dance along the wall. “Wow…”

“You like it?” Henry just nods as eyes move with one of the stars, watching as it circles the room. “If you sleep in here tonight, in your new bed, we can leave it on.”

“Oh,” Henry murmurs as his eyes shift to her.

“You’ll have Teddy,” she says, nodding to his favorite stuffed bear--a bear she’d bought at the airport in Boston, only days after adopting him, a bear that had been his best friend ever since. “He’s still here, just like before.”

“Yeah…” He says in a small voice as he tooks to Teddy.

“And…”

“You sleep, too?”

“You want me to sleep here, too?” She asks, watching as his head bobs back and forth. “In your new bed?”

“It’s big,” Henry says, his eyes widening and practically pleading. “Please, mama?” Letting out a breath, she nods--and as soon as she does, a smile stretches across his lips and he scrambles to get underneath the covers. He scoots to the edge, then pats the space beside himself--and she grins, thinking of the countless early mornings, he climbed out of his crib to join her bed, and she peel back the covers, patting the bed as he toddled toward it. “Come, mama.”

With a sigh, she stands up, and for a moment, he looks hurt, watching as she walks to the lightswitch on the wall. Pushing it down, she grins at Henry, quickly making her way back to the bed and slipping in beside him. Before she can even pull the covers up over them, Henry cuddles close to her and sighs contently. “I like my new bed, mama,” he tells her as he tilts his head to look at the stars dancing across his walls.

A tear starying down her cheek brings her back into the present moment. Though she couldn’t be sure, he’d likely have crossed the state border by now and there were things to do--but for the life her, she couldn’t seem to move out of Henry’s room. Downstairs, she could hear Robin talking to Hannah and Roland, asking about Lucy’s new room and if everything’s ready for her, asking about the boxes and whether or not they should unpack for her, to make her room feel more like home. Hannah makes a comment that she doesn’t quite make out, and then she hears footsteps on the stairs.

The boxes had started to arrive the week before--and each time one arrive, it was like a new cut, slicing into her heart. Roland usually was the one the sign for it--not saying anything, only carrying them up stairs and tucking them away into one of the spare bedrooms.

The saddest boxes, though, were the ones that were marked Lucia--Henry and Elena’s seven-year-old daughter. She’d didn’t remember their tiny Boston apartment, and to her, Storybrooke was a place she visited for holidays. Lucy, as she liked to be called, was in the second grade. She liked her teacher and she had a close group of friends; she played soccer and took ballet. Her boxes were filled with her artwork and her stuffed animals, dolls and framed pictures of her and her friends--remnants of a life she was being forced to leave behind.

After graduation, Elena had gotten a job in Seattle, and she, Henry and Lucy had moved across the country. She can still remember the way the tears had stung in her eyes on the day they moved. She, Robin, Roland and Hannah, all drove down to say their goodbyes--and there was something so difficult in accepting that Henry wouldn’t be an hours-long car ride away anymore, that he’d be clear across the country and out of arm’s reach. But she’d put on a smile and held back her tears, kissing his cheek and holding him close as she wished them safe travels.

For awhile, life seemed to be going well, and she was grateful that he allowed her to be a part of it. He called regularly and Lucy liked to write letters, and in those letters, she always included a few snapshots. Sometimes they were just selfies--her just before a dance recital, all done by up make-up and a costume--and other times, they were posed pictures of her and Henry. She included pictures of her school work and scenic shots she took from the bus window on the way to school, and each and every one, Regina treasured because it allowed her to feel like she was a regular part of her granddaughter’s life, and by extension, a regular part of her son’s life.

Then, one night a couple of months before, Henry called. It was later than usual--well after midnight in Storybrooke--and from the moment she picked up, she knew that something was wrong. She never heard Henry’s voice as it was that night--so soft and broken, so lost--and he told her that Elena had died. It’d been a particularly rainy day and the car in front of her had stopped abruptly; she rear-ended it, and the car behind her rear-ended hers. He told her the police said she didn’t suffer, she died instantly. Her neck had snapped from the impact and they’d assured him it had been relatively painless. He’d scoffed as he repeated it, asking her if how that was supposed to be comforting. She hadn’t quite known what to tell him, and the next morning, she’d been on plane headed to Seattle. When she got there, Henry was still at the hospital, sitting alone in a waiting room, his shoulders slumped forward his head hanging down. She’d called his name a handful of times before he finally looked up at her, shaking his head as he asked her a series of impossible to answer questions--and heart broke as his teary, hazel eyes met hers and he asked her how he was supposed to explain any of this to Lucy when he didn’t understand himself.

Regina stands in the hall, watching as Henry pulls books from his shelf--pulling away old favorites like Good Night Moon and Where the Wild Things Are, and stacking them at his side with a pile of once-loved Dr. Seuss books. She feels a knot form in her stomach, tightening as he adds The Very Hungry Caterpillar to the pile, remembering his kindergarten days when Henry deemed it required nightly reading.

She can easily remember him climbing into her lap with the book in one hand and a folded piece of construction paper in the other. He’d gingerly handed her the book and then looked up at her with a telling grin--looking at her the way he always when she excited to share something...

“Did you have a good day at school?” She asked, pretending not to notice.

“I did.”

“What did you do?”

“We had art class,” he told her, very matter-of-factly, as his finger rub on construction paper. “We got to paint!”

“That sounds fun.”

“Uh huh,” he agreed, nodding. “I painted a picture.”

She couldn’t help but grin as her eyes fall to the paper in his hand. “Did you?”

“Wanna see it?”

“Of course I do,” she’d told him, watching as he carefully unfolded the paper and slowly turned it toward her to reveal a caterpillar painted in shades of green with a red face, just like the cover of his favorite book. She grins as she takes it from him, studying it intently as if she’d been given an original Monet. “This is amazing, Henry,” she breathed out, her eyes momentarily shifting from the painting to him just in time to watch a proud little smile tug up at the corners of his mouth. “It’s perfect.”

“I wanted to write The Very Hungry Caterpillar, but…” He sighed. “I didn’t have marker. And I didn’t know how to spell caterpillar. Or hungry.” His brow furrows a bit as he looks up at her. “Or very…”

“Those are all tough words.”

“Mmhmm…”

“Do you… want to write it now?” She asked. “I’m pretty certain I have a black marker in my desk. I could help you spell them.”

Henry’s eyes widened as he nodded. “Will you write it?”

“I can,” she agreed. “But don’t you want to?”

“No,” he grinned. “I want you to do it.”

“Alright,” she said, scooping him up as she stood. “Let’s go find that marker… and maybe tomorrow, we can go and buy a frame for it.” Again, his face brightened at the thought. “We can put in your room, above the bookshelf if…”

“No,” Henry cut in. “Its for you.”

They reached her home office, and she sat him down in her chair as she rummaged through the desk drawer until she finally found the marker. In big letters in the right corner, she wrote The Very Hungry Caterpillar, but instead of giving Eric Carle the by line, she wrote “by Henry Daniel Mills”--a detail that made him beam with pride.

Clearing her throat, she steps into the room, eyeing the pile of books at Henry’s feet. “What are you doing?”

“Oh, nothing,” he murmurs, not looking up as he packs he reaches into the tote bag they’d taken to Storybrooke’s annual tag sale and pulling out a stack of Goosebumps books--books he liked to read on his own, without her. “Just making room for my new books.”

She hadn’t been able to reply to that, she’d only been able to tell him that dinner was almost ready and not to forget to wash his hands, as she reminded herself that this was a natural part of his growing up, and no reason to be upset--and as she made her way back downstairs, the framed picture of The Very Hungry Caterpillar caught her eye and the knot in her stomach tightened and she couldn’t push away the feeling that her little boy was starting to slip away and soon wouldn’t need her.

Regina turns sharply at the sound of a light knock at the frame of the door, and she finds Robin lingering there with soft, sad eyes--looking at her the same way they’d been looking at one another since returning from Elena’s funeral two weeks before.

That day had been such a sad day, and they’d all struggled with what they should say and do, knowing that nothing could make it better for either Henry or Lucy. Lucy had been inconsolable that day, tearing up whenever anyone spoke to her and making sure to keep Henry within her reach. And the whole time, Regina’s eyes stayed fixed on her son, watching as he tried to stay strong for his daughter and watching as he struggled not to break down. After the service, they’d all gone back to Henry’s apartment and once Lucy had finally fallen asleep and it was just him, Regina and Robin, Henry confessed he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to just go back to his daily life--to his job and routines, how he was supposed to be a single parent in city where everywhere he turned, he was reminded of Elena and everything he and his daughter had lost.

Robin had nodded knowingly, confessing he’d felt the same when Marian died--lost and alone, not sure of how he was supposed to muster the courage to get out of bed morning after morning, let alone parent their child. And when Henry asked how he did it--how he found that courage--Robin’s answer had been simple: he relied on his family. Regina held her breath as Robin continued on, suggesting that perhaps, a move back to Storybrooke would be good for him and Lucy. Regina was quick to echo the sentiments, reminding him that he had a family that loved him and would love to help, in any way that he needed.

She’d been surprised, though, when Henry nodded and said that he’d consider it--she hadn’t thought that he would.

A week later, it seemed that fate was intervening when an editing position opened up at the Storybrooke Mirror, and only days after that, Henry’s apartment was sold.

“Roland and Hannah moved Lucy’s boxes into her room,” Robin tells her. “They made her bed up, and Hannah unpacked one of the boxes and put some of her things out, so that it… it looks a bit more like her room when she gets here.”

She sighs and tries to smile. “That was thoughtful…”

“Roland’s downstairs now, making M&M brownies because… they’re Lucy’s favorite.”

“And because he needs something to do.”

“Yeah,” Robin says with a sigh as he pushes into the room. “And I’ve… run out of things to do.” He shifts toward her and takes her hand, giving it a tight squeeze. “How are you holding up?”

At that, she laughs a little--she shouldn’t be the one he’s concerned about now, but when she looks at him, she can’t help but let her emotions get the best of her. The tears that had been brimming spill down her cheeks as she takes a step toward him, letting her head fall to his shoulder. “I wish there was something I could do for him, for Lucy… but…”

“You are doing something, Regina.”

“I wish I could just… undo it. I wish there was some magical fix, that I could somehow make this better for him.” She sighs and shrugs her shoulders. “I wish there was something I could have done to protect him from… this.”

“He’ll get through it,” Robin says gently. “It won’t be easy--you and I both know that better than most--but it will get better, with time.”

At that, she scoffs. “Let’s just hope he handles it better than I did.”

A little grin tugs up at the corner of Robin’s mouth and he shakes her head. “Well, Henry has something that you didn’t have. He has a family to love and support him. I know that moving back here isn’t ideal, but it’s the best place for them right now. He has Emma and Killian just a couple of hours away, and his grandparents practically down the street, and two siblings that would love to help out with Lucy, and…” His voice trails off as reached out and tips he her chin up. “And he has you.”

For a moment, her eyes meet his and tries to smile. “It’s just… so unfair,” she breathes out, letting her eyes close momentarily. “This shouldn’t be happening.”

“I know,” he murmurs in reply. “I know, love.”

Lifting her head, she bats the back of her hand over her eyes and looks back to him. “It funny, you know, I’ve spent years wishing and hoping that he’d come back to Storybrooke, and now…”

“You’ve missed him, Regina. We all have.”

She nods. “The last time I talked to him, before the accident, I told him there might be an opening coming up at the Mirror and tried to convince him to apply, just to see what would happen…”

“Regina, you didn’t do this.”

“I know,” she sighs as she breath catches at the back of her throat and tears once again fill her eyes as she thinks of the lifeless tone in Henry voice when told her he’d gotten the job at the Mirror. “It’s just… I never wanted it to be like this and I feel guilty for having wanted any of it.”

Robin nods and pulls her back to him, holding her against him and letting her cry…

She’d been dreading this day since the acceptance letter from Boston University came in the mail, and for weeks, she’d been in denial that the day was coming.

They’d been gradually moving all summer, buying new things for his dorm room and packing up the things he’d be taking from home, and sending them to Emma’s where they’d be kept until the time came for him move into his dorm room. Somehow, in the middle of all of the planning and shopping and shipping, Henry convinced her to allow him to drive to Boston himself--and as he reached for the keys that morning, Regina found herself cursing David for giving him a motorcycle for as gift for his high school graduation.

“You’re sure you want to do this?” She asks as they step out onto the porch. “Because, I’d be more than happy to drive you to Emma’s.”

“It’s in Boston.”

“I know that. It’s… only a few hours away. I could be back by dinner.”

“You wouldn’t be back by dinner because you wouldn’t leave.”

“So, I could stay a few days… help you and Emma and…”

“Mom,” Henry cuts in. “We’ve talked about this.”

“I know, but… I could take some time off, and I could help you move in… take you to dinner and…”

“That’s not going to make saying goodbye any easier, you know.”

Her jaw tightens. “Well, who said anything about saying goodbye?”

Shaking his head, he sighs. “Mom, as much as I love you, I think my roommate would be weirded out if my mother moved in and slept on our futon.”

“Okay,” she murmurs with a nod. “I suppose that’s… a valid point.”

“Besides, this town doesn’t have a very good track record when it comes to handling things on its own. If you leave for even a few days, you’d probably come back to find that Bigfoot was terrorizing Storybrooke or it’d be under seige of Flying Monkeys or locust or…” He laughs. “Something no one’s ever heard of.”

Her eyes narrow. “Why do we live here?”

“Because it’s home,” he answers simply as the reach the driveway. “It’ll always be home.”

“Yeah,” she agrees with a nod as her breath catches in her chest. “It will always be your home, Henry.” A smile stretches onto her lips and she nods, letting out another breath and pushing her tears away, willing herself not to cry in front of him. “You’ll call me tonight, and let me know how that you got to Emma’s safely?.”

“Of course…”

Swallowing hard, she nods and holds out his helmet. “Promise you won’t take this off.”

A sly grin pulls onto his lips. “Not even when I take a shower,” he teases.

With a sigh, her eyes roll as she steps forward and pulls him into a tight hug. She holds onto him for longer than she should and he lets her. His arms tighten around her and when his hands clutch at the back of her shirt, her tears seep out from the sides of her eyes as she thinks of little boy he used to be, the little boy who always wanted her near. Finally, it’s her who pushes back, brushing her fingers over her cheeks and rubbing away the tear tracks before he can see them as she, again, forces herself to smile.

“So, I guess… this is it,” Henry says as he takes a step back toward the bike. “I guess this is goodbye… for now.”

“For now,” she repeats, taking comfort in the thought that Henry will be back for holidays and breaks, that he intends to build his life here. “I’ll miss you,” she says as he gets into the bike and turns the key in the ignition. “And…”

“I love you, too, Mom,” he tells her, leaning in and pressing a kiss to her cheek. “See you soon,” he tells her as the engine rumbles--and before he’s even down the end of the driveway, the ache in her heart is indescribable.

They’re both still in Henry’s room when Hannah knocks at the door frame, shifting awkwardly on her feet as she looks between them and tells them that Henry and Lucy just pulled into the driveway. Regina lets out a short breath as Hannah turns away from them, leaving them to compose themselves. Regina blinks away her tears and takes a long breath, putting on the mask she’ll have to wear from this point on. Wrapping her hand around Robin’s fingers she leads them both out of the room and down the hall; and when they reach the bottom of the stairs, she can feel warm air coming in from the open front door.

Roland and Hannah are standing on the porch and in the car, she can can see Henry talking to Lucy. Her heart aches as she watches them, and she can only imagine what Henry is saying to the little girl whose life has been completely turned upside down. Lucy get outs of the car first, quickly opening up the back door to grab her a princess-themed duffle bag--something that Regina vaguely remembers was a birthday gift from Snow the year before. She rounds the car as Henry gets out, hoisting a khaki and leather satchel onto his arm as he reaches for her hand. Though, it’s subtle, she notices the way he holds his daughter’s hand--not too tightly to be uncomfortable, but too tightly for her to squirm away, as though he’s trying to hold on to the only thing that remains from the life he’d just left behind.

“Aunt Peanut!” Lucy calls as they approach the porch, and she breaks free from Henry’s hold and runs into the aunt that’s not much older, hugging herself to her legs as she grins and looks up. “Uncle Roland!”

Roland laughs a little as he stoops to pick her up, holding her against his chest as his eyes momentarily shift to his sister. “I know you just got here,” he begins, “But we cannot wait to show you your new room.”

Lucy’s eyes widen a little as she looks between them. “I have my own room?”

“Of course you do,” Hannah says. “We just set up your bed.”

“I hope you like unicorns,” Roland tells her, his eyes meeting Henry’s as he steps up onto the porch, a subtle acknowledgement that the bedset he ordered arrived in time. “Come on, let’s go check it out.”

Hannah and Roland head back into the house, stopping momentarily so that Robin and Regina can offer Lucy a quick, welcoming kiss on the cheek before joining Henry on the porch. Regina watches as he looks up at the house--the house he’d grown up in, the house that had once been his home--and he draws in a long breath, slowly releasing it as he looks back to them.

“How was the drive?” Robin asks as Henry looks to him.

“Oh, you know,” Henry sighs. “There’s nothing that beats seventy-eight hours on the road with a seven-year old.” He tries to joke, but it doesn't come out the way he wanted to--instead slightly sarcastic, he just sounds sad. So, with another sigh, he tries again. “We didn’t hit much traffic or construction, and Lucy got to see some sights along the way. I think it was… a nice distraction for her.”

“That’s good…”

Henry nods. “She’s happy to be here now, though.”

“And how are you?” Regina asks, reaching out and rubbing her hand over his arm. “How are you holding up?”

“Just tired, really,” he tells her. “I haven’t been sleeping much and… well… seventy-eight hours is a long time to be traveling.”

Robin nods. “Are there more bags in the car?”

“Yeah, just a couple,” Henry says. “I can get them when…”

“Nonsense,” Robin cuts in, already stepping down the steps. “I’ll grab them and take them in through the back. You and Lucy can sort through them whenever you’re ready.”

Regina grins a little as Henry nods, looking from Robin to her as he heads toward Henry’s car. “So, how are you, really?”

For a moment, Henry doesn’t respond. Instead, he just stares blankly at her as if he doesn't know how to answer her question--and she realizes that he actually doesn’t. There aren’t words for what he’s feeling now, because aren’t words to describe what you feel when your entire world falls apart, and there aren’t words to describe that seemingly permanent sharp ache at your core, that settles within you. Any attempt to describe it just falls short. “I’m… I’m glad to be home,” he says after a while in a voice that’s barely audible, his eyes brimming with tears as he looks to her, looking so much like the little boy who ran to her when he scraped his knees or fell off his bike.

She feels a rush of emotion--her chest aching with the understanding that she couldn’t fix this with a hug and a couple of fluttering kisses, that this was something completely out of her control. Yet, she feels herself stepping in anyway, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him close to her, and when his head falls to her shoulder, she feels warm tears spill down her cheeks and she wishes more than anything that her love could be enough.

#regal believer #regal believer fic #regal believer au #ouat spoilers #kinda #ouat season 7 au #oq ff #outaw queen #hood mills family #ouat fanfiction #ouat au #ouat canon divergent

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shinygoku · 7 years

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CutCat’s Favourite Disney Animated Canon

I’m pretty sure everyone and their grandma has already written something along the lines of “Disney was a big part of my childhood” before divulging into some bigass essay. This won’t be much different lmao

But still, I’m not making an objective list, it’s coloured by my own experiences watching the films. Some old Classics won’t even make the Top Ten because I personally didn’t get particularly into them. My favourite may or may not be the best across the board.

Also yeah, I’m not touching on all Fiftysomething films, I’m actually just gonna start with the Top Ten and whittle them down to the last one standing. I haven’t seen all of them so ones I may really dig, like Moana, hafta wait until I can judge for myself. I’ll try to cover all the things I’ve listed, even if it’s as they’ve been eliminated.

This may even be fun for other people to do, maybe!

We’ll return to our scheduled programming after the Cut! 😺✂

Ok I lied, I’ll list the Top 10 and then mention things that didn’t get quite that far, but it won’t take long.

TOP 10

(In order of release, not preference)

Pinocchio

Alice in Wonderland

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

The Little Mermaid

Beauty and the Beast

Aladdin

The Lion King

Mulan

Frozen

Zootopia

Honourable Mentions: Spider-Man: Homecoming (isn’t Disney Animated Canon even though it’s Marvel and therefore Disney lol), Epic Mickey as the story and gameplay and atmosphere is really great, but it’s a game instead of an animated film, and Sleeping Beauty. SB misses out because while the Animation is gorgeous and the Fairies and Maleficent are fantastic characters, the human leads drag it down.

Anyway, time to half that list! Same ordering rules as before:

TOP 5

Pinocchio

Alice in Wonderland

The Little Mermaid

Beauty and the Beast

Aladdin

Yeah, that’s right! The Lion King is already out! I know, I’m a fraud!!

Ok so like, I’m very much a cat person and I do love the film. Top 10 is still respectable! But hoo boy, I love the first act and the Celestial Mufasa scenes, but the middle and in some ways the climax kinda let it down for me. And I’m not fond of Timon and Pumbaa. Timon most of all. tsk tsk

But anyway, before I crossed off TLK, the CGI films were shed and I’m never going to fully get over the death of traditional animation. Frozen and Zootopia are both hella rad but their success also feel like even more nails in Hand-drawn animation’s coffin. Imagine what those films would be like, drawn...! Woaaah

WtP and Mulan are also not to be sneezed at, accomplishing very different narrative but doing both so well. I just feel that Pooh’s 3-shorts format kinda disqualifies it from being my favourite Disney Story and while Mulan is so great, it just lacks something that keeps the others firmly placed. I dunno, it’s more of a gut feeling than a well reasoned argument, lol

Time for 2 more eliminations! Now we’re left with:

TOP 3

Pinocchio

Beauty and the Beast

Aladdin

Alice in Wonderland may not be the most faithful adaptation, but I don’t care. I’ve read both the original books and the main thing Disney does is to discard Through the Looking Glass while taking a couple of small parts of that and putting it into Wonderland. It’s very pretty, very funny and Alice is a likable protagonist, even as Wonderland’s wackiness tries to wear her down.

The Little Mermaid was always something I liked, but never quite as much as, say, Beauty and the Beast. Even with the gorgeous Underwater Aesthetics, which I’m very fond of, didn’t quite make it. Though actually I like it more now than I did before, knowing Eric is voiced by Christopher Daniel Barnes, who did the 90s Spider-Man!! :D

Ok, things are heating the heck up in the list, only two seperate cuts left to make~

The surviving films, for now, are:

TOP 2

Pinocchio

Beauty and the Beast

Yep! Bye-bye, Aladdin, Bye-Bye~

Ok this actually annoys me a bit though lmao

Aladdin would have a really damn good shot as my favourite. It’s colourful, it’s hilarious, it’s compelling! It! It... kinda traumatised me a bit as a young girl and I still feel distinctly uncomfortable about the scene in question even today. It poisons the whole damn film for me as I hafta deal with dread as I watch it. That sucks!!

Objectively, it’s amazing, but as I said, this is my Personal List, so it loses heavy points based on that.

Ok, now the hardest part. Picking between the last two.

I didn’t start this list because I already had a choice picked, I did it because I was curious which I do dig the most.

...

For a long time, if I was asked I’d usually go ‘Uhhhhh Beauty and the Beast, I think!’.

But while B and the B is brilliant and breathtaking and ...uhhh.... bombastic, part of it winning was by default (The two sweetest words in the English Language!)

Y’see, I feel, as a whole, for some curious reason, we forget about Pinocchio.

Ok that’s enough commas for now. But it’s weird! Pinocchio was hot on the heels of Snow White, the big show starter! It’s better than Snow White!! It’s actually rated the highest of all the D.A.C. on Rotten Tomatoes! Critics and normal audience alike love it!

So how come no one talks about it? I can see why it got overlooked in 1940, what with a large and notable war happening, but I literally never come across any Meta or Discussion about it or the themes or the look--

I’m gonna properly talk about it in a sec though, hahaa

So! Beauty and The Beast! An old favourite and nearly top dog in my esteem. It has it all, catchy songs, interesting characters, stunning designs, a whole load of Youtubepoops using footage from it. But it does not have Stockholm Syndrome, you foolish buffoons. Belle only starts to develop feeling for Beast after he becomes less Beastly. THAT’S THE POINT OF THE STORY. BEAST HAS! TO! CHANGE!!

And overall it does a damn good job at this~

Ok, so we already know the winner but it deserves a bit of fanfare for actually doing so well!

NUMBER 1!

TOP DISNEY ANIMATED CANON FILM

(ACCORDING TO CUTCAT) :

PINOCCHIO

I love Pinocchio so, so much!

And not just the film as a whole, the character too! Which is a very important factor here. I’m not saying the rejected films didn’t have strong characters, not at all! But this ties in with the Forgotten sort of vibe I get from the lack of buzz with this film.

Quick! Think of a scene from Pinocchio! Just one, if you can manage it.

Now, I may be way off with my presumption here, but was it the thing about his nose growing when he lies? Or was it maybe his desire to become a Real Boy™?

If you thought of any other moment, my kudos to you. It’s just, I feel that pop culture as a whole likes to harp on those points, which are either one short [but yeah, memorable] scene and the ultimate goal. And not to point fingers, but heck, why not. I blame Shrek a good deal for this, as those are the only memorable traits from their version of him. This may sound unfair, Dreamworks are doing a different take on the same character that Disney didn’t create but instead adapted from a book, but that’s mostly reflected in the vastly different designs (as in Shrek!Pinocchio looks closer to the original book version), but on the other hand Shrek started off by riffing on what Disney did and then kind of mutated into what they were mocking after the second film. Oops.

While mentioning the book, I do not give a rat’s ass that Disney’s version deviates as much as it does, they improved every point adapted. I also really can’t imagine the film doing nearly so well if it had the creepyass vibe for the main character. Marionettes are freaky, dude.

Anyway, that’s another of Pinocchio’s strengths! He looks and sincerely is Adorable! I’m gonna paste in a quote by Milt Kahl about this:

I was quite critical of ... I have a knack for alienating people by being a little bit outspoken, and they were rather obsessed with the idea of this boy being a wooden puppet. My God, they even had this midget who did the voice for "call for Phillip Morris" as the voice for a while, and it was terrible. I was rather outspoken about it. Why didn't they forget that he was a puppet and get a cute little boy, you can always draw the wooden joints and make him a wooden puppet afterwards. And Ham Luske said, "Well, why don't you do something about it, do a scene," and I did one. What I don't remember is whether they had a new voice by then or not. Probably they did have; I don't know. I did a scene of Pinocchio underwater with the jackass ears, knocking on a shell of an oyster, saying, "Pardon me, can you tell me where I can find Monstro the whale?" The shell closed up and caused a swell in the current, which affected Pinocchio. I made kind of a cute little boy out of him, and Walt loved it; this was actually my big chance. It was my move into being one of the top animators.

Pretty cool, huh? Before this, Walt has stopped production as he didn’t like what was being made. They were putting an awful lot into making the lead so loveable! I’m paraphrasing better accounts of this, but if you’re interested I do suggest looking into such!

But maybe I oughta get back on track, lord knows this rambling mess is long enough already ;v;;; I just get interested by some of the behind the scenes workings, y’know~

Like I touched on earlier, I think a problem is that people forget there’s more to Pinoke than his extendo nose and urge to Become Real. He’s very sweet and well meaning, but with the snag of being too trusting and gullible. He’s easy to misread as being Too Dumb To Live, but he’s very curious and does visibly learn and develop as the story goes on.

The other lead, Jiminy Cricket, is really great! He adds charm in the darkest moments and helps prevent the sweet scenes from being too sugary. He’s a great mediator and pretty good Conscience, too, he just happens to be in the wrong place a couple of times, which is the nature of the story’s structure lol

The supporting characters are really good, too! You really feel for Gepetto and damn that dude puts a lotta work into his wares! Figaro and Cleo are really cute and play off each other well.

Special shout out to Figaro for managing to get into shorts as Minnie Mouse’s pet lmao. I’m pretty sure that kitten has influenced the way I draw cats too, pff

And the villains? Holy shit, this film is teeming with bad guys, and the cut we see has none of them getting punishment onscreen.... yikes

Ok, so not to sound like Youtube Clickbait vids made by a talentless hack, but BOY! This film is dark! hahahaa

So like, my favourite Bad Guys from here, Honest John and Gideon are the tamest and most funny, but they sell Pinocchio into slavery twice. Hhhaaaaa...

The way Stromboli alternates from humorous and jovial to screaming and stomping about abruptly is frightening. Dude slams Pinoccino in a bird cage and says how he’s gonna work our boy Pinoke pretty much until our puppet pal perishes

The Coachman....... there’s a theory going around that he’s like an evil counterpart of The Blue Fairy, how he punishes bad boys by having them turn into Donkies he can then sell to mines and circuses. They never come back... AS BOYS!! [shuddering]

And Monstro is the most force-of-nature-y type of Bad Dude in the assortment but still lives up to his name! Sure, I’d be mad if someone lit a fire inside me, but are whales really known for being vengeful to the point of body slamming a cliff? Even before that, do they try to eat literally anything they see?

But yeah, it’s not just how many bad guys there are, nor how karma doesn’t strike them in a satisfying way. The stuff they’re doing and the atmosphere, it’s all legit scary

But wait! You cry!

Jeeze CutCat, why are you talking about how scary Pinocchio is when you docked points off Aladdin for frightening you?

Because, Devil’s Advocate question, the latter film is an abrupt mood whiplash moment that took me by surprise as a young, impressionable thing. I dunno how young I was when watching either film, but not only is Pinocchio consistent with plunging into the depths, but the real horror is easy enough to miss if you’re a young child. It didn’t occur to me that the boys turned into Donkies were gonna be worked to death in back breaking labour!

Anyway, Pinocchio earns the right to be spooky and has enough charm and humour in the right moments.

But ok, yeah, the Donkies. The scene where Lampwick slowly, agonisingly transforms is a damn work of creepy art. We already know the terrible secret of Pleasure Island before it starts, but actually seeing the gradual build up, the way Pinocchio can only watch in horror and then sprout ears himself and Lampwick’s screams turning into braying... it’s sure something.

The Monstro chase scene at the end is also so damn intense I subconsciously hold my breath while watching it. It’s relentless, our heroes are up against a furious gigantic whale and the merciless sea and the fucking end of that always feels like a kick in the guts. The lingering shot and musical sting hits hard.

But still! The movie ain’t all Nightmare Inducing!

I’ve already said I love the characters, and helping that is the impeccable voice work for everyone. The voices and little character tics make them feel so real for such a fantastical setting. I dig how the Blue Fairy is rotoscoped and realistic, which sticks her out from the rest of the cast and enhances the Other Worldliness that fairies deserve.

The animation.... boy, the animation really is something else! It was the late 30′s but they were already creating new and highly expensive techniques to make this beautiful and not only does it work, but I struggle to think of anything that can top it. Multi-plane camera establishing shots than barely last for seconds, the underwater effects with the sways and distortion, each splash and movement done by hand. Honestly this may be the most perfectly drawn movie, I’m not exaggerating. They already came so far since Snow White, it’s almost unbelievable!

Lastly, I’ll mention the music. Fucking Fantastic, is what it is! Is it any surprise that they used the tune for the Disney Vanity Plates, to this day? There’s a few songs with different memorability levels, I know Ultron is fond of the ironic I’ve Got No Strings number. I, for one, love the atmospheric use of Little Wooden Head as a recurring motif.

I really didn’t plan on my Pinocchio talk on being this long, so if you read through it all you have my gratitude. Are you surprised that it’s my favourite? I’m enchanted by it, I certainly have a weakness for sweet hearted protagonists but the film has so many good angles!

I still think it’s dang unfair that the film seems to get overlooked so much, but hopefully my daft musing might remind a couple of people that it’s certainly worth a rewatch!

#Firefly's rambling #CutCat writes essays on Disney films #I feel strongly about some stuff maaan lol #FIXED THE CUT word formatted it out

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3one3 · 7 years

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The Sequel - 848

10 Kisses

André Schürrle, Juan Mata, other Chelsea/BVB players, and random awesome OC’s (okay they’re less random now but they’re still pretty awesome)

original epic tale

all chapters of The Sequel

“Can you stop stuffing the melon in for a second and make a nice face?”

“I guess.”

“Say cheeeeeese.”

“Omnomnomnomcheese.”

“Child.”

“Lemme see the picture.”

“Eh?”

“Boat life suits you, Prinzessin. You look amazing. No joking. Look at your eyes!”

I actually thought he looks better than me, Christina mused about her selfie. She was sitting between André’s legs on a lounger, having a post-dive snack, and she wanted a picture because she thought her hair probably looked pretty great. It was half-dry and fully salty, which made for some amazing texture. She felt like she’d achieved by accident that which stylists and girls the world over spend hours of frustration trying to create with tools, techniques, and product combinations. Her partner stopped eating his fruit long enough to “nom” at her neck for the camera instead of just smiling, which was the expression she was asking for. The resulting shot was much sweeter than one with matching smiles would have been. His hair was fully dry and also fully salty, and fully crazy. He trimmed his beard a little that morning, as promised. He’d been in the sun enough to glow. His non-existent lips looked really sexy on her skin, and also somehow endearing. She didn’t even really look at her own image until he pointed out her eyes, which did look pretty special despite the sun. The rest of her upper body looked pretty amazing in a black halter-top bikini too, the player thought as he continued viewing the photo over her shoulder. It was definitely his favorite bathing suit top of all the many he’d seen her wear in recent days.

“You look very in love with me, yeah?” she smirked.

“Yeah, very.” André smooched her cheek and went back to his fruit salad. “Do you know that Mausi is feeding grapes to the dogs right now?”

“They can have grapes,” the rider shrugged. She looked up from her phone to check on their son, who was sitting on a towel not far from the lounger with his bucket of Animal Planet plastic sea creatures. There was an Orca, Hammerhead and Great White sharks, a dolphin, Baleen, Humpback, and Blue whales, plus pink coral and some rocks. Christina filled the clear plastic container with water for him so he could put the toys in there and make them “swim”. As long as Spencer and Lucky were eating grapes, not whales, then everything was fine.

“Should we bring them ashore with us so they can piss on dry land for a change?”

“I don’t know. I’m sure we can bring them into shops and stuff but what would we do with them when we go to the spa?”

“Send them for a walk with Mausi and Espen.”

The rider shrugged and went back to editing her picture for Instagram. Espen was sound asleep on the next chaise lounge, so there was no asking her how she felt about that idea. The whole family was heading to St. Tropez for some afternoon exploring, and then Mom and Dad had a spa appointment for differing treatments and some manicure and pedicure action ahead of dinner for two at a very old, very French estate a bit away from the water. They’d had nearly all their meals with an ocean view for days- even longer for Christina- so André wanted a different atmosphere to go with his Provencal cuisine. And it had to be cuisine. He wanted to take his girl somewhere truly special, and to make it an occasion. There was no particular reason for that desire, other than habit. When they lived in London, an “occasion” happened about every week. The restaurant he picked was once a favorite of Brigitte Bardot. He didn’t know the significance of the name when he read it on the website, but it rang some bells when he Googled it. His dining companion had definitely talked of her before, he was sure.

“Mommy!”

“What?” she asked absently while selecting the proper heart emoji for her post. Lukas shouted her name exactly half the time he said it, so there was no reason to think anything was wrong with him.

“Up.” He wanted to sit on the lounger. It was just tall enough to put him off. He probably could have managed to climb up there, but sometimes he showed a remarkable sense of self-preservation and avoided iffy endeavors. Christina wished he would embrace that impulse more often when his questionable idea involved becoming filthy. Those chances, he always took. She posted the picture and leaned over to give him a lift. He had a shark to give her. “Here, Mommy. For you.”

“Thank you, Munchkin. What is this?”

“It’s a shark,” André stage-whispered behind her.

“Shark!” his son smiled. It was unclear whether he knew the answer or needed the reminder.

“How do sharks swim?” André asked. Lukas held his hands together like a fin on top of his head. His mom congratulated him on getting it right, and gave him a kiss on the forehead. Spencer hopped up onto the lounger next to him to see if he was missing anything. The little boy gave him a kiss just like the one he’d just received. Spencer licked his face in return. “I should stop eating this. We’re having lunch in town.”

“First we have to get to town. We should tell Captain Theo we’re ready to get going, no?” the bronzed woman in the bikini suggested. “They need to put these chairs away and stuff. It takes a little while to get this stupid boat moving.”

“Aren’t we close enough to the port that we can just use the motor to get there?”

“I dunno. I’ll go ask. Who wants to go steer the boat?” she asked in her Lukas-only voice, which delighted her tiny blonde. He held his hands up, wanting to be carried to the bridge. He’s so smart to know he can’t walk there on his own, she thought. He’s used to going to the fly bridge to steer. He can’t do the stairs yet. I actually meant the inside-bridge, down the hall. He could manage that. It would take 10 minutes, but, still. Anyway. “Up you get.” Lukas got a hug before he was installed on her hip for the short walk inside. Her phone rang while she was gone. It was Natasha. André decided to answer it for her.

“Hello, Chris’ phone.”

“André?”

“Speaking.”

“Heyyyy!”

“Hey,” he smiled. “How are you? Is Eden being a lazy bitch?”

“I’m great! And yes, he is. He’s got the whole family waiting on him. How are you all? How is the boat?” Natasha was genuinely excited to talk to him, and he was kind of happy to talk to her too. He missed the Hazards.

“We’re pretty well. The boat is a blessing. Don’t tell Chris, but I thank her dad every day,” the BVB man sniggered. “This is the best wedding present in the history of wedding presents. We’re having so much fun, and Lukas can do more things now and enjoy it more now that he’s a little older than the first time.”

“She sent me a blog post the other night about how she was staying on the boat during the horse show. Whoever wrote it thought it was the most fab and glam thing to ever happen to horse showing,” Natasha laughed back. “It was almost like a gossip piece, but with admiration. Naturally Chris hated it. She sent it to me with a comment like, “Ugh can I live?” There was a great picture of her sitting on a sun lounger in breeches and boots and a bikini top, and a sun hat over her face. I think it’s from an ad.”

“The promoter for the official after party in Monte Carlo set it up for their Instagram, as like the invite to the party. She didn’t really want to do it but I think Juan talked her into it. We get to go to the party for free now or something. You guys should come!” For real, Chris would love it, André thought after the light bulb went on. “What are you doing next week? Bring the kids to Monte Carlo! We have plenty of room, and the kids would love the jumping. We can get an extra chair for Eden’s foot.”

“That sounds like fun but we have plans. Chris made the same pitch. I tried to figure out how to at least stop there for a night, but we’ll be in Ibiza with Thorgan and Marie. I was actually just calling to tell her that we’ll be there long enough to make it so we can’t come to the show and short enough that I won’t still be there for the concert she wants to go to.” The Belgian woman sounded disappointed and sympathetic, and the guy on the other end of the line felt disappointed to, and sympathetic in a different kind of way. She never gets to have real fun with her friends, he thought, meaning Christina. Other girls go away with their girlfriends all the time. Now Chris doesn’t even get to see her best girlfriend. Forget taking holidays together. This is probably half the reason she’s still so close to Juan. He knew that last thought was probably deliberately naive. Living in paradise made it easy to ignore reality though. “Is she around, or is she teaching Lukas how to snorkel or something?”

“Yeah, she’s right here. Hang on.” André handed the iPhone in the Givenchy star case off to a confused looking rider when she returned from her trip to see the captain. “Nat,” he supplied.

The rider put her tiny-swim-trunk-wearing little passenger down to resume playing with his toys, and then hurried excitedly toward the front of the boat to chat with her friend. It was the first non-work call taken in days, and she was clearly delighted about it. Georgina appeared a half-minute later to collect the dishes and forks from snack time and let everyone know that they’d be getting underway soon, on motor power, as the player suspected. Lilly XO couldn’t travel anywhere fast on her engines, by design, but they didn’t have far to go. Using engine power meant nothing needed to be packed up and secured, including the loungers, or any nannies sleeping on them.

“Daddy, take this one,” Lukas ordered as soon as he got back to his plastic cylinder of floating sea creatures. He plucked the dolphin out and held it out for his father- an invitation to come play with him. The big Schü moved down to the small Schü’s towel and sat Indian-style so he could reach into the container with his dolphin and chase Lukas’ killer whale.

“How many kisses have you given Mommy today?” he asked, harkening back to a conversation that had on Monday on the way to the harbor in Cannes. André instructed his son to kiss Christina 10 times per day, because 10 was the highest he could count. Usually he couldn’t even remember past 7, so it was still a bit of a stretch. I want to see if he remembers that we talked about this. Firstly, Prinzessin needs Mausi kisses the way I need Prinzessin kisses. I’m pretty sure she lights up a little every single time he gives her an unprompted kiss. Secondly, Mama said to give him long term projects or goals just to see if he’s able to remember it day to day, or like, have it in the back of his mind. He looks like he’s thinking it over, the player laughed inside while he studied the little boy, who was squinting into the water with concentration and no longer moving his whale around.

“Four.” Lukas held up three fingers with a great sense of surety. His dad helped him unfold another finger to get the correct amount.

“So you need to give her 6 more. How many fingers is 6?”

“One?” He opened his palm all the way and appeared less certain about that quantity than the first.

“What comes after four? One, two, three, four...”

“Five!”

“So how many fingers is 6?”

“This?” Lukas added the pointer from his right hand to the 5 digits from the left, and André congratulated him and gave him a high-five.

“What do you have to do 6 more times?” I should just verify he still knows what we’re talking about here.

“Kiss Mommy. You kiss Mommy too. How many?”

“I’m trying to kiss Mommy more than 10 times. I’m trying to kiss her a number you don’t even know yet.”

“What kind?”

“A big number!”

“Mommy!” Lukas let go of his black and white whale as soon as Christina reappeared, and ran to her with his arms up so that she might pick him up.

“Whatsammatter?” she questioned, glancing from child to husband with furrowed brows.

“Kiss.” Her son stuck his face out to smooch her cheek as he arrived at the necessary height. She got two kisses in close succession, and then he stopped to hold out his fingers and check with Daddy, who counted and held up the rest of the fingers to get to 6. Christina got all of the affection she was owed.

“What is this about?” she laughed.

“None of your business,” André replied, shaking his head.

“Mkay. Are we moving?” The second furrowing of her brows was accompanied by a glance to her right, toward the water. She heard the terribly inorganic sound of the twin motors.

“No but the engines are running. We’re leaving momentarily.”

“I invited Nat to Monaco and Ibiza but she can’t come.” Her questioning expression turned into a turned-over-lip pout, and though comical, it pulled on her partner’s heartstrings. Her inability to prevent her Marc Jacobs sandals from rubbing holes between her toes no matter what tape and Band-Aid solutions she trialed didn’t garner much sympathy. Things relating to her friendships did. He felt responsible for pulling the girls apart.

“Isn’t she going to be available when the season starts and Eden still can’t play but the rest of his brothers are playing and thus not available for vacations? Maybe you two could do something then,” he suggested.

“I’ll be in Tokyo, hopefully.”

André nodded and then asked Lukas to come back and play with him. He didn’t want to discuss the Olympics unless Christina expressly invited a conversation, and even then, he would follow her lead in terms of parameters. The prospect of saying the wrong thing, or asking the wrong question, and kicking off World War III was real, and terrifying. Things didn’t feel so fragile between them anymore that he needed to worry about every word, but if anything was worthy of caution it was the Olympic games. Even just his nod inspired second-guessing. He worried she would think he forgot about the Olympics because it wasn’t important to him and he didn’t care that it was important to her, or that he assumed she wouldn’t make the team. The star rider didn’t seem bothered. She lay on the lounger and reapplied sunscreen on her face.

I’ve been a professional athlete for more years of my life than not, and I still think it’s kind of weird that that girl- that one over there trying to get sun cream out of her eye- could not only be an Olympian but also a medal winner, he thought. The Olympics are different. It’s not like winning a World Cup. There are actually people who don’t care about football. Almost everyone loves the Olympics, and watches, or follows the story lines. People get overly nationalistic about it, even. There are way more people in the world who get to be Olympians than get to play in a World Cup, and most of them are completely unknown outside of their sports. Everyone hears about the top people in the popular sports though. They become characters in a two-week soap opera. I can’t put Chris in that context. I just don’t see it. I don’t think I could know someone like that. It’s weird. It’s weird to think it’s going to be my wife. Maybe it’s because I don’t really see in her the qualities I think I see in other top people. She doesn’t have an enormous personality like them. I think they only wear athletic clothes and look so out of place and awkward in regular clothes. She’s just...a regular person. Of course she has the qualities of a successful athlete- she is tough, determined, dedicated, does everything to get better, needs to win...but there is just something...I don’t know. It’s going to be so weird to watch this unfold. And I’m so nervous for her, but I can’t say that.

“Babe, can you find a napkin or something to dip in my water? I got sunscreen in my eye and it stings.”

“Yes, Prinzessin.” I rest my case.

Several hours later, after shopping, sightseeing, massaging, leg treatments, nail polish, and a lovely dinner, Christina brought up the only other topic André didn’t want to talk about. They went for a stroll along the 500m long jetty separating the two sections of the port from the gulf. It was a beautiful walk, he thought, until she changed the subject. There was a nice breeze that picked up the little pieces of hair that had come loose from her fishtail braid. There was enough light to see that her eyes had turned a particularly tropical blue, set off by the canary yellow little two-tiered silk shift she had on. Her colorful Hermès bangles made a pleasing jangle sound when their hands, linked together casually, swayed between them. Her cork wedges were tall enough that he could smell the perfume on her neck. Not a single other human marred the view or privacy.

“I just...I want to let you know that...I did have a really great week with him, and everything did seem to come together the right way with riding and stuff, and yeah, I did wonder a little bit if it was because of him, but now I’m sure it’s not,” she explained after she asked if it was okay to talk about the Spaniard for a minute.

“Oh?” Andre’s response was flat and borderline disinterested, but she knew it was just irritation.

“Yeah,” she nodded, squeezing his hand a little. “I still feel...normal,” the rider added with extra emphasis. “I don’t revert to doom and gloom every time I have nothing specific to think about like I used to. I don’t have this constant feeling like something is off, or missing. I think, like...my conscience is relaxed...or something. It’s hard to explain.” Her eyes stayed mostly on her Tiffany blue toe nails as they walked along the concrete with calm water and boats of all shapes and sizes on one side and slightly more active-looking seas on the other. There was a storm approaching, a few hours away yet, and the water foretold it as much as the clouds moving quickly by the moon. That was the primary reason Lilly XO was docked in port instead of moored offshore. Before that conversation, she’d been thinking about how it only took 6 years to “train” André to shorten his walk alongside her, and slow it when she wore heels.

“Okay.” He was still somewhat noncommittal about her testimony, mostly because he was trying to figure out how to take it. Is she telling me this because it’s true, or because she feels guilty and wants me to think Juan and I are equals or something? Why would you bring this up now, after such a wonderful evening?

“I’m trying to tell you you make me happy, idiot,” Christina tutted. “You could at least smile.”

“Is that really what you’re trying to say though?” he asked quickly in response to her lighthearted ribbing. “A few days on the boat together and all of a sudden the Happy Place thing is in effect again? Is that even real? Everything is easy on vacation.”

“No it isn’t! We’ve had vacation together and it has not been easy. And yes, that is really what I’m trying to say, and yes it’s real. Babe,” the expat snorted through her nose, frustration building. “I’m telling you I’m happy. Can’t you...react better?”

“I’m happy you’re happy, Prinzessin.” André let go of her hand to put his arm around her shoulders instead, which felt impersonal to her. He didn’t really do shoulders. He did arm-around-the-neck-to-pull-you-close. “I just don’t understand what’s different except that you were alone in horse show paradise with Juan long enough to get over the things that have troubled you, and we’ve avoided all difficult conversations long enough to maybe get over the things that have troubled us. It doesn’t make me feel good that you needed someone else. I accept that, but it isn’t satisfying.”

“Well I can’t do anything about that, and I don’t see it that way anyway.”

“I know.” A top-of-the-head kiss did little to change how either of them felt. Christina thought she was telling her husband something that would please him, and reassure him. All André heard was that his ex-teammate fixed everything- that he had the magic healing power to repair his girl’s soul or something similar and set everything right for her so that she could be happy in the various avenues of her life.

They got back to the beginning of the quay, where the empty street joined the packed street. The one that snaked around the edge of the old basin was lined with quaint, charming little cafes with patrons spilling outside in front of the pastel building fronts. There was a kind of Old World feeling about the area that the footballer really enjoyed. He was going to suggest they pick a random establishment to check out and grab one less glass of wine, or a cocktail, but by the time he got to the end of the walk he wasn’t sure if that was what he wanted anymore. Lilly XO was back the other way. They’d already walked past her. She was tied up adjacent to the quay because it was the only place she fit. Unlike the other ports they visited, St. Tropez was hosting more sailboats than superyachts. Most of them were much smaller than Christina’s. He stopped them both to avoid a rogue and likely intoxicated scooter driver, and then lingered in indecision about which way to go- onward, toward a nightcap, or back from whence he came, to wind down onboard.

“Do you want to keep walking?” his wife asked when his standing still became weird and awkward.

“I dunno. Do you want a drink or something, or should we head back?”

“I would like a drink, but only if you’re gonna be charming and flirty, and not quiet and pensive.” Christina winked up at him and stepped out from under his arm to right the dainty chain on which her purse hung from her shoulder. Much to her disappointment, she didn’t receive a return wink, or even a smile. Her face fell. “Please, boyfriend. I want to have fun with you. I have been having fun with you. Don’t think too hard. You’ll hurt yourself.”

“You’re so funny.”

“You’re so handsome.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere.”

“That is patently untrue.”

“Give it your best shot.”

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waffletoast215 · 7 years

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Schools Collide - Chapter 13

(Previous Chapter)

Are you sure you have everything?” Dr. Light asked. It was early morning and the sun shone through the window.

Rock looked through his backpack. “Yeah, I think that’s everything.”

“Will you be sure to take photos for me?” Dr. Light said.

“Of course!” Rock looked at the clock. “It’s almost time to go. Where’s Roll? She’s usually up by now.”

“She must be sleeping. Can you wake her up?”

Rock travelled upstairs until he arrived where Roll was sleeping. He shook her lightly. “Hey, Roll! Wake up!”

“Hmm?”

“Wake up, we have to go soon.”

“But isn’t today Saturday?”

“Well, yeah, but we have the field trip to the aquarium today, remember?”

“Oh my god!” Roll jolted up. “Go pour me some cereal, I’ll be down in like 2 minutes.”

Rock chuckled as he went back down to the kitchen. “She woke up.” He told Dr. Light.

After a few minutes, Roll came down and ate her breakfast. She then filled her backpack with all of the necessary items.

“All right, we gotta go now. See you later, dad!” Rock said.

“Bye!” Roll waved.

“Have a good time!”

Rock and Roll stood in the front yard of the school, where buses began to line up.

“This is gonna be so exciting! I hope they have seals…” Roll said. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sally and Blaze.

“Oh, hi guys!” She ran up to them. “You excited!”

“You bet!” Sally said.

“Where’s Amy?”

“I think she’s hanging out with Plum.”

“You don’t think Amy’s going to abandon us, do you?” Blaze asked.

“Of course not! I know Amy.” Roll said. “She’s probably just getting to know her and maybe she’ll add her to our group soon?”

“I guess so.”

“It’s as if she had a boyfriend. I mean, if she had a boyfriend she wouldn’t abandon you, would she?”

“No.”

Rock watched Roll talk with the girls. “Hmm, I wonder where Sonic is…” Maybe if I call his phone I’ll hear it ringing? Rock dialed Sonic’s number. He heard ringing come through his phone, but nowhere else. Is he even here?

Eventually, Sonic picked up. “Yo.”

“Where are you?”

“Not coming.”

“What?” Sonic exclaimed in disbelief. “Why not?”

“I don’t feel like it.”

“This isn’t even class, you have no reason to not feel like it.”

Sonic sighed. “All right. The truth is…I’m afraid of water. And whales.”

“Oh.” Rock said with a sympathetic tone of voice. “There’s no need to be afraid. It’s all in tanks.”

“I dunno….”

“And I’ll be there to make sure nothing happens.”

“All right.” Sonic agreed. “I’ll be there in a few minutes.” He hung up the phone.

Soon, Sonic came by, running. He stopped right in front of Rock. He was wearing a backpack on his shoulders. “Guess I’m right on time!”

“Yeah.”

The teachers instructed the students to board the bus. Rock sat down in the middle of the bus, with Sonic next to him. Sally and Blaze sat near the back, with Roll near them.

Soon, Amy entered with Plum. They sat towards the center of the bus. When Amy saw Blaze and Sally, she waved, and they waved back.

“Are they friends of yours?” Plum asked.

“Yeah, they’re the ones I told you about.”

Amy took out her backpack and started searching through it. She pulled out a pair of binoculars.

“You gonna use those to look at the animals?” Plum asked.

“Not really…” She aimed them at Sonic, watching him converse with Rock.

Plum sighed.

Sonic and Rock stood in the aquarium, surrounded by tanks filled with tropical fish.

“Look at those, they’re beautiful!” Rock pointed at a school of fish as they swam by. “Oh! And look over there, those are pretty too!”

“Y’know what else is beautiful?” Sonic said, leaning closer to Rock.

“What?” He was still looking at the fish.

In another tank, a large whale swam by, causing Sonic to jump. He clung tightly to Rock.

“What?” Rock repeated.

Sonic pointed at the whale.

“Oh yeah, that whale is really pretty too!” He put his arm around Sonic. “There’s no reason to be afraid, I’ve got you.”

Sonic stopped trembling and his ears flattened. “So, uh, how ‘bout we go out and look at the arctic area next?”

“Sure!”

After walking up some sets of stairs and going outside, they arrived at the artic area.

“Look, seals!” Rock pointed. “Roll wanted to see those…I wonder where she is?”

Roll stood at the other side of the artic area with Blaze and Sally. “Those seals are so cute!” She said. She looked over and noticed Ice Man admiring the seals alone.

“Hmm…I’ll be right back.” Roll walked over to him.

“Hi, Ice Man!” Her greeting caused Ice Man to jump. “What are you doing?”

“Oh, I’m just…looking at the seals.”

“I’ve been waiting all day to see them. I love seals!” She exclaimed. “Especially that one over there.” She pointed towards one, which was relaxing on a sheet of ice.

“It’s adorable!” Ice Man agreed. “I love artic animals. One day I’d love to be a biologist and just spend all day with them.” He leaned further forward to get a better look.

“You’d be a great biologist, I bet. And you always wear that coat, so you’d never be cold!” She laughed. “Oh, do you wanna borrow these?” She held out her binoculars.

“Yes, please! Thank you so much!” Ice Man put the binoculars to his eyes and gazed out at the animals.

“No problem.” She smiled.

Amy and Plum wandered the bottom floor. Amy held a map in her hands and was staring at it. “Ugh, where could be possibly have gone?”

“I don’t know, I’m not psychic.” Plum shrugged. She bumped something A table? She observed it; it was a tank with small creatures in shallow water. “Oh! Amy, look, this is one of those tanks where you can touch the animals and hold them!” Plum looked at once of the employees. “May I hold this starfish?” The employee nodded. Plum scooped up the neon pink starfish in her hand.

“Hm?” Amy continued scanning her map.

“Amy, look at this!” Plum held up the starfish towards her.

“Oh…” Amy lowered the map. “It’s so cute!” She touched it a little with her hand. “I hope this doesn’t make my hands dirty…”

“We can always wash them later.” Plum gently put the starfish down.

“Ooh! What are all these things?” Amy pointed towards more colorful creatures.

“I think they’re anemones.” Plum said.

“I guess we can take a break from Sonic hunting for a while.” Amy said, relaxing her posture. “That sign says there are more fish that way! C’mon!” Amy grabbed Plum by the wrist and dragged her towards the other fish tanks.

Towards the afternoon, Knuckles and Rouge stood together at the gift shop. He covered her eyes with his large fists.

“Okay, you can open them now!” He said. He removed his hands from her eyes.

Rouge opened her eyes to see a T-shirt with pictures of different pictures of fish on it. “This is so cute!” She held it up to herself.

“And it’s all yours! I spent the last money I have on it.” Knuckles said proudly.

“It’s a little big for me…” Rouge said.

Knuckles’ expression became worried.

“But, I can shrink it!” She said.

“Well, I would’ve bought you jewelry because I know how much you love it, but this was all I could afford.”

Rouge blushed. “Oh, honey, you didn’t have to!” She hugged him.

Ice Man watched as Rouge hugged Knuckles.

He then looked over at a shelf of stuffed animals. He scanned the shelf until he found a seal. He took it over to the counter and bought it.

He ran around nervously until he bumped into Roll, knocking her over. “Sorry!”

“It’s fine.”

He held out one hand to help her up. “Uh, listen I got you something.”

Her eyes widened. “Really? What is it?”

He showed her the seal, blushing.

“A seal?” Roll grabbed it and held it tightly. “Eeee!” She squealed. “Thanks so much, Ice Man!”

“You’re welcome!” He said joyfully.

At that moment, Amy and Plum entered the shop. “Wow, there’s so much stuff here!” Amy exclaimed.

She zipped from shelf to shelf, examining everything with glee. “I want everything! I wish I could buy it all!”

Plum smiled.

“I wonder which one of these would look best in my room?” She said as she looked at the stuffed animals. She turned to look at the T-shirts. “Or maybe one of these would look really good on me?”

“Well, it’s up to you. I think you’d look good in anything.”

“Oh, thanks!” She walked up to Plum. “What are you looking at?”

Plum stood in front of a shelf filled with vibrantly colored, neatly made throw pillows. Her gaze was fixed on one with a pink starfish, just like the starfish she had held earlier. “I’m just looking at the pillows. This starfish one looks kinda cute.” She picked it up. “I didn’t bring any money, though…” She put her palm to her face.

“Oh! Well have no fear, Amy Rose is here!” Amy exclaimed. “I’ll just buy it for you!”

“When do you want the money back?”

“I don’t. It’s called a gift, silly!” Amy took the pillow and walked up towards the counter.

“Oh…well, thanks!” Plum said.

As the sun set, the students gathered back on the school bus. Rock sat where he had on the way there, with Sonic next to him.

“That was really fun, wasn’t it?” He said, smiling.

“Yeah…I guess it was.” Sonic said. He slowly leaned down, inch by inch, until he placed his face on Rock’s lap. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.

“He’s so cute.” Rock muttered, putting one hand on Sonic.

Meanwhile, Plum held her throw pillow. “This is so soft!”

“I’m glad you like it!” Amy exclaimed.

Plum smiled as she looked at Amy. In a moment, her face changed from that of a smile to disappointment. “Wait…weren’t you going to watch Sonic?”

“Who?”

“Sonic.”

“Oh!” Amy looked at her backpack. “Well…I don’t need to. I can do that another time.”

Plum’s face lit up with joy.

(Next Chapter)

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Kujira no Kora wa Sajou ni Utau – Episode 12 [I’m Glad I Was Born Here] [Final Impression]

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Kujira no Kora wa Sajou ni Utau – Episode 12 [I’m Glad I Was Born Here] [Final Impression]

It doesn’t take long for Ouni to squash the twins’ attempt at a rebellion. He taunts them to fight him like they mean it, and this scares them enough that they don’t even attempt to lift a finger towards Ouni when he breaks their feathered flag.

Not long afterwards, Masoo dies. It seems everyone on the Mud Whale shows up for his funeral, and his old friend Kuchiba gives everyone permission to cry publicly for once.

Back in the Empire, Orka and his archivist come under attack by some masked assassins, supposedly sent by Atsali. Luckily for Orka, he doesn’t have to get his hands bloodied – his new jester Liotari takes care of the soldiers for him. Liotari is just as messed up as always, and he’s kissing up to Commander Orka so that Orka will hopefully take him along when he returns to Falaina.

At Atsali’s home, Commander Orka introduces his archivist and says the two of them are going to be getting married. She’s consumed some “sarx” (nous flesh) and this is more resistant to the nous, meaning she has more of her emotions than most people. When Atsali tries to point out that sarx is only for close relatives, Orka mentions that sarx is common in Atsali’s family and so they both have broken the rules. Orka leaves with his archivist, certain that Atsali will meet his request. What makes the the most curious about this scene is why Liotari caved and became one of Orka’s jesters, especially after he displayed such an extreme aversion to doing so in a previous episode. Was he pressured? Threatened? Or does he really just want to return to Falaina THAT bad, and that’s what Orka used to bribe him?

Back on the Mud Whale, Suou pours through the history of their ancestors. Why the Marked live short lives. Why the Unmarked have made an oath to the Marked.

That evening Lykos is alone and feeling sorry for herself as she remembers how Chakuro ran away from her when he accidentally overheard her revealing to Rochalito why the Marked live such short lives. Emma shows up and tries to help make Lykos’ sad emotions go away, but Lykos refuses her offer.

Elsewhere Chakuro is writing still more records, and he relives some memories he had when he was younger. One is of writing with his grandfather, and the other is of writing a description of Sami on a wall somewhere on the Mud Whale so everyone would be able to remember her. Chakuro wakes up in tears, but realizes that the reason he writes everything down is because he wants everyone to always remember those who have died.

The next day Suou calls the inhabitants of the Mud Whale together to reveal to them about why the Marked die so young. The twins show up and again try to sabotage the gathering, going so far as to use their thymia to throw a rock at Suou’s forehead. But again Ouni shows up and puts an end to the ruckus. Throughout everything, Chakuro is writing down the events as they happen.

Suddenly everything starts to shake – Falaina is starting to enter the whirlpools which mark the edge of the “cage” Falaina had spent the last hundred years in. Lykos almost falls over the edge and into the sand ocean, but Chakuro saves her. He explains to her that he’s not mad at her, just sad that he’s lost some friends, but he doesn’t think it’s right to blame Falaina for that.

Oh and Hamu’s back! Yes Chakuro’s original furry friend has a name. I had no idea either. Kokalo leaps up into the air and turns into Falaina’s wings, which causes the shaking to stop. Everyone on the Mud Whale starts singing and dancing together, performing some kind of dance or ritual. Suou tells Ouni that when they land in Amonlogia and meet new people, he’d like Ouni to be the leader of that new community.

In the final moments of the episode, we see Commander Orka gets his new ship complete with a new fleet of soldiers, while inside the Mud Whale Falaina appears to wake up. Also Nelli makes a reappearance, albeit a quick one! Lastly Lykos reaffirms for Chakuro that she wants to stay with him and the others on the Mud Whale. What will happen when they reach Amonlogia??

Final Impression

You’ll have to pardon me if I just gush all over this show because it’s been an incredible season, and I’m really sad this show is over! I mean the notes at the end of the credits say that the story is going to be continued, so I’m hoping there will be a second season at some point, but I’m just so impatient! ^^;;

Story: To me personally, it feels like not a lot happened this season. There was a brief setup and a half before the Mud Whale was attacked, there was the preparation for the second attack and then that whole battle, and then the aftermath. I dunno. I guess it just feels different because three quarters of the material took place in the same location, and without new changes in scenery, the season’s events felt a little stagnant. However I think this is more a criticism of my stupid brain than the show itself, so I’m not about to dock Kujira no Kora any points.

If anything I’m going to throw points at this show for having a really interesting premise. This show captured my interest from the moment I saw the preview, and I feel very fortunate that I got to have this show all to myself. x3

Characters: I think Lykos is my favourite character, with Chakuro as a very close second. I do wish Sami had been alive for longer, as she was really cute and I liked her friendship/crush with Chakuro. Oh man, that episode where he talks to her spirit briefly just had my tears flowing. ;~;

There was a lot of character development, which is always pleasing to see. Not so much with Chakuro but more with characters like Suou and Ouni. Ouni goes from being an intimidating bowel mole to an independent spirit, someone who has experienced loss and a near-death experience to become a stronger individual. As for Suou he becomes a leader of a group of people and must deal with new information and concepts thrown his way, things he’d never even dreamed of because the Council kept most of it a secret. And then he must also put his own feelings aside so he can share this new information with his people and make a wise decision based on what he’s learned. That can’t be easy, and it definitely requires an open mind. The ideas and expectations of the people who live on the Mud Whale change a lot over the course of the season, and a lot of that change is thanks to Suou.

The character I disliked the most? It’s a tie between Orka and Liotari. If I had to pick one then definitely Liotari; his psychopathic nature unnerves me. >>;

Music & Animation: For me, being the animation whore, this category is where Kujira no Kora really shines. The animation – well where do I begin? It’s a wonderful blend of 2D and 3D, with neither outshining the other. Things like thymia, the sand ocean and Falaina’s wings are obviously 3D,but most of Kujira no Kora is done in a “traditional-looking” 2D. It’s just honest-to-god so fucking gorgeous, and is easily the most beautiful show I’ve seen in years. And the blending of 2D and 3D is done perfectly.

And the music? I fucking love both the opening and ending themes (“Sono Saki e” by RIRIKO and Hashitairo” by rionos, respectively), and the themes played throughout the show fit perfectly. If I ever find a copy of the soundtrack I am definitely picking it up.

Overall Thoughts: Beautiful show with incredible animation, and a unique plot to boot, then I definitely recommend watching Kujira no Kora wa Sajou ni Utau! I honestly have no criticisms about this show, and have no reason to give it anything other than a perfect score. I’ll be re-watching it for sure when it premieres on Netflix in 2018. Also, I’m highly considering picking up the manga. (For those who’ve read Kujira no Kora‘s manga, is the manga or the anime better?)

Final Score: 10/10