#last time there was no votes for mike so i better see some now or else i'll get violent | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

nervousgardenerkid · 2 years

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Would you mind if I tried to make a pass at it?

a/n: omg it's here slay! i wasn't sure how to end this but i think it's cute hehe i rly hope y'all enjoy it :D also you can read part one here ig you don't have to read part one first pero if u enjoy angst i recommend it! let me know what y'all think and don't hesitate to send me prompts! my little brain can only think of so many ideas <3

credit to whoever made the gif! tw: just a mention of eddie smoking and some bad words cause i have the mouth of a sailor

It's been weeks since Steve last saw you, and to say he was dying would be an understatement. Robin let out a scoff as she watched him sulk in the corner of the store watching some lame movie.

“Hey,” she said, nudging him. “What are you watching?”

“Doctor Zhivago,” he said dully.

“Thought you didn't do double VHS?” she mumbled.

“But it's about doomed love.”

Robin glared at him and flicked him on the forehead.

“Ow! The hell was that for?”

“When I mentioned doomed love you rolled your eyes at me!”

No! I said it was relatable,” he said pushing himself off of the wall and walking towards the counter.

“You know,” she followed. “Your love wouldn't be doomed if you had just confessed.”

“I was working up to it!”

Robin scoffed while grabbing a tape that was in the wrong section. “Well, you sucked at the build-up.”

Steve's eyebrows furrowed and he shook his head a little bit. “No I didn't-”

“Yeah, you did dingus. She probably thought you liked someone else.”

“No, no, why would she think that?”

Robin placed the tape back and crossed her arms. “Cause you sounded all like yeah I'm Steve and I'm soooo in love with someone, but I won't say who cause I try to be mysterious when really I don't ever shut up,” she said in a mocking tone.

Steve scoffed. “First off, I don't sound like that.”

“Yes, you do. I hang out with you all the time and that's exactly how you sound.”

They were both so caught up in their arguing that they didn't hear the bell above the door ring.

“You had one mission Steve, confess to the girl of your dreams and get together! That's all you had to do!”

“You make it sound so easy-”

“Are you talking about y/n?” Dustin said while walking past them muttering an “excuse me”

“No.”

“Yes,” they said at the same time.

Dustin let out a hum and grabbed the nearest stool while going on their computer and grabbing the phone.

“Hey, you can't just come in here and get on our stuff like it's your house,” Steve said while walking over to him.

“My mom grounded me because my latin teacher talked to her about my grade, now i have to get suzie to fix it.”

“Who the hell takes Latin?” Robin asked while standing next to him watching him do his magic on the computer.

Dustin shrugged his shoulders. “Thought it’d be fun but it's just a pain in my ass.” Dustin turned to look at Steve with a smile and pointed at him. “Kinda like you!”

“You're a real mean kid, you know that?” Steve muttered picking at the best he was wearing. “So, have you heard from y/n?”

Dustin hummed and typed on the computer. “She's been seeing Eddie a lot.”

Eddie? Eddie Munson? Eddie “the freak” Munson?!

“Awe,” said Robin. “I like Eddie, he's nice.”

Dustin snorted. “Nice? Please, he almost killed me, and Mike last week.”

“Why is she hanging out with Eddie?” Steve asked in a bitter voice.

Dustin shrugged his shoulders and smirked at his older friend. “Why? Are you, dare I say…jealous?”

Steve laughed a loud boisterous laugh. “Me? Jealous? Of Eddie the freak Munson?”

“He does have nice hair,” Robin mentioned.

“Okay, but did he get voted ‘best hair’ in the yearbook?”

Steve was met with silence and he clapped his hands. “That's what I thought.”

“Dude, only you would brag about that,” Dustin said with a shake of his head.

“It's bragging worthy!”

Robin shook her head. “Bragging worthy? Absolutely not. Sad? That sounds about right.”

“You guys suck.”

Dustin and Robin laughed while Steve rolled his eyes. “You better make a move soon Romeo, y/n is actually seeing Eddie tonight.”

Tonight? Steve thought. “Like, like as soon as the sun sets?”

Dustin made a confused face “no idiot like she's getting ready to see him right now.”

“But it's not even night.”

Robin groaned and threw her head back. “Steve just go drive to her house before Eddie gets her!”

Steve let out a string of curses as he fumbled around looking for his keys.

“Thanks, Robin! I owe-”

“Yeah yeah at this point you owe me a spot standing next to you at your wedding.”

Steve stopped in his tracks and felt heat rise to his cheeks as he looked back at his best friend.

“You think we'll get married?”

“Jesus Christ Steve, GO!” Dustin shouted and threw a stress ball at him.

“I won't let you guys down!” he shouted while pointing at them and then running out of the store.

Dustin and Robin sat in silence for a minute before he asked a question.

“He's gonna let us down isn't he?”

“Oh yeah,” she said, nodding her head. “Definitely.”

Steve must've broken every traffic law to get to your place in five minutes tops. He stumbled out of his car, ran to your front door, and knocked on it like a mad man.

Please be home. Please be home. He silently prayed to the universe.

A breath of relief rushed out of him when he saw you open the door. Gosh, you looked so pretty. Your hair was nicely done, a few flyaways here and there but you still looked beautiful. Your cheeks were slightly pink due to the Hawkins heat, not even air conditioning can beat it. You stared at Steve with wide eyes, mouth slightly open.

“Steve? What are you-”

“Please don't go out with Eddie tonight.” He rushed out.

You tilted your head to the side confused by what he said. Go out with Eddie? “What-”

Steve shook his head and put his hand over your mouth. “No talking. Just, hear me out. Please.”

“murf.”

“What? Ew! Why'd you lick my hand?!”

“I was telling you to move!” You sighed. “Come in.”

Steve sent you a small smile and moved past you into your house. He was so nervous he started pacing the room. “No talking. Remember?”

You nodded your head and sat on the couch watching him pace back and forth. What the hell had him so nervous?

“Okay,” he started. “Remember a couple of weeks ago, when we were talking about how people find that special person, and then you ran out of my car like I had the plague?”

You sat in silence and just stared at him. He stopped pacing and looked at you with stress written on his face. “Say something!”

“You said no talking!”

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He looked defeated as he crossed his arms over his chest. “This is stupid. Maybe I shouldn't have come here.”

“No! I'm sorry, yes. Yes, I remember that conversation,” your hands were getting clammy and your heart was beating out of your chest.

He nodded his head. “Okay, well you know how you asked me if I found that person?”

You nodded signaling for him to go on. The nerves made their way to Steve's body once again and he started nervously swaying back and forth.

“I- the person is, fuck how is this so easy in the movies?” he nervously chuckled out.

“Steve?”

He looked up at you with wide wild eyes.

“Whatever happens,” you started. “we'll still be friends.”

Friends. Steve swears he's never hated a word so much.

“Yeah but, I don't want to be your friend,” he said in a low voice.

Your heart dropped into your stomach as you cleared your throat letting out a soft “oh.”

You stood up from the couch slowly and made your way to the door. “Steve, maybe it's best if you left for today.”

Steve grabbed your hand and let out a frustrated sigh. “No! That's not what I'm trying to say.”

“Steve, you're being confusing what's going on?”

It's never been hard for Steve to talk to a girl and ask her to be his girlfriend. Yet, for some reason, he just couldn't get the words out for you. It's like everything he knew flew out the window the minute he's in your presence.

“Please don't go out with Eddie tonight.”

“Steve-”

“No. No talking,” he nervously bites on his bottom lip trying to think of the right words. Fuck it. He thinks. It's now or never.

“My whole life, I've felt so lost. I was king Steve in high school, then Billy strolls into town and steals my thunder, and I thought hey, that's okay. I still know who I am.” he takes a shaky breath and continues. “Then, I get dumped by Nance, and it wasn't even a proper breakup. No, sorry, this isn't working out. I would've even been okay with her saying she lost feelings for me, but instead she calls me bullshit. Called the whole relationship bullshit.”

You feel your heart break for him. You remember him talking about the breakup and how it shook his whole world.

“Ever since that happened I've been lost. I can't get into any college so I'm stuck in this stupid crazy possessed town, working a stupid nine-to-five job, and taking mean teenagers to the arcade every week!”

A beat of silence passed. “Dustin is kinda mean.” Steve chuckles.

“Yeah, the kid needs an ego check.”

“Steve…what are you trying to say?”

Steve felt frustrated, how is he saying everything yet nothing at all? He understands why you're so lost and confused. Hell, if he was in your shoes he'd probably tune out everything by now.

“My whole life, I feel like I’ve been blindfolded. Everything was dark, I couldn't see, and I would trip and fall and end up hurt.”

You shake your head a little bit still not understanding what he's trying to say.

“Then I met you. Y/n, you took off my blindfold. You picked me up when I fell and would help clean my wounds. Literally. When Billy kicked my ass you tried so hard to clean up my cuts.”

You let out a laugh at the memory. “It was hard to do, Max is a crazy driver.”

Steve chuckled, not listening to what you said. “I can't believe the first person I asked for was Nance when it was you the entire time.”

“To be fair we did have the same top that day.”

“I'm not talking about that day, I'm talking about in general.”

The familiar feeling of heat danced across your cheeks. “What?”

“It's you, and I think it's always been you. It's always going to be you.”

Oh? Oh. Is he saying what you think he's saying?

“Steve?”

“Yeah?” he asked quietly while pulling you towards him.

“If you're saying what I think you're saying-”

“I am.”

For some reason, you feel tears starting to form in your eyes. You shook your head and placed both hands on his chest, looking down at your shoes. “I need you to say it, Steve. Cause if we're both feeling and thinking the same thing, I need you to be sure.”

His arm finds itself wrapped around your waist while he sneaks a hand under your chin making you look at him.

“Don't go out with Eddie tonight. Go out with me. Not just tonight, but for as long as you want.”

“What if I want forever?” You whispered. “Are you still gonna want to go out with me?”

Steve smiled and started to lean in. “Y/n, I've followed you to the upside down how many times now?”

You let out a giggle as both of his hands made their way to your warm cheeks. He was also close to you. If one of you moved just an inch your lips would be on his. “What's that have to do with anything?”

“I'm trying to say that wherever you go, whatever you do, for however long you want, I'll be yours.”

You didn't even try to fight the smile that made its way to your face. “It's about damn time,” you said before you pulled him in to meet your lips.

You've kissed boys before, but this? This was different. This was a boy you loved, and this boy loved you back. He wasn't using you, he didn't want just one thing from you, he wanted you. All of you. It sounds cleché, you know it does, but you swear you feel fireworks going off in your stomach.

Steve is so gentle with you. The way his thumbs are rubbing your cheeks and the way you can feel his smile in the kiss makes your heart melt. He lets out a hum when you pull away his mouth instantly following yours as you pull away.

“Steve,” kiss. “Steve we need,” another kiss. “We need to breathe.”

Steve lets out a grunt and pulls you closer to him. “Don't need oxygen anymore,” he says while kissing all over your face. “I have you now, so much better than oxygen, god you're perfect.”

You let out a squeal when he picks you up and sits you on top of him when he gets comfy on the couch.

“In case the kiss wasn't clear enough I want you to be my girlfriend.”

“Steve, i’m the one who pulled you in for the kiss.”

“Yeah, but I was the one who initiated it. Also no more seeing Munson.”

You let out a gasp and checked the time shouting out curses when you saw how late you were.

“Shit, shit, shit! I'm so late!” you shouted running around and grabbing your things. You look out the window and see Eddie standing outside of his van kicking rocks around and smoking either a joint, or a cigarette.

“Amazing. You tell her she's your girlfriend then she runs off with another guy,” Steve mumbled. “You know what? I'm gonna talk with him.”

Steve walked out the door and stood there with his arms crossed. This all felt a little too familiar.

“Fucking finally Harrington!” Eddie shouted while blowing smoke out of his mouth. “Can I have my tutor back or what?”

Tutor? “What?”

You brushed past Steve but not before kissing him on the cheek and giggling. You turned your back toward Eddie and gave Steve a confusing look. “I’m tutoring Eddie! Hey, how did you even know we were hanging out?”

“I have eyes all over Hawkins babe, I know everything!”

“Dustin?” you and Eddie asked at the same time.

“Yeah, it was Dustin,” Steve said while walking over to you and pulling you into a kiss. Eddie made a gagging sound and laughed when Steve flipped him off.

“Go give the kid an ego check,” you said while giving him a peck. “And pick me up from the library!” you shouted while hopping in the passenger seat of Eddie's van.

Eddie let out a low whistle and gave Steve a firm pat on the back. “Congrats on finally getting the girl big boy,” he said with a wink before jogging to his van and driving off.

Steve looked around your neighborhood before shouting “YOU HEAR THAT HAWKINS? KING STEVE GOT THE GIRL OF HIS DREAMS!”

“CAN KING STEVE SHUT UP? SOME OF US HAVE SLEEPING BABIES!”

“Sorry, Mrs. H!” he shouted. “Now, I need to have a word with Dustin.”

taglist <3 :

@thestarsandtheircoffee @rainbows-dreams @kiki17483 @jazminecatalan27 @fumeifairy

#steve harrington fluff #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington stranger things #stranger things x reader #stranger things imagine #stranger things #steve harrington angst

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eschergirls · 1 year

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Originally published at: https://eschergirls.com/photo/2023/01/03/thank-you-our-december-2022-patrons-update-about-caption-contest

Hi everybody!

It's a new month (and a new year), so it's time for an update and to thank our very merry December Patreon subscribers! To make things more festive, I included the comic our artist, Nicky, drew last year for the holidays! Unfortunately, while we had planned something this year, real life problems prevented it from being completed on time. Hopefully, this comic draws some smiles for those that didn't see it before tho. :)

So for updates, first, I want to wish everybody a happy new year and my sincerest wish that 2023 is a good year for everybody!!!

Second, the January caption contest won't start until next Saturday (Jan. 14) and it'll run 2 weeks (ending on the 28th). I thought that a break between contests would be better because right now the caption contests start immediately after the last one ended and I thought that felt a bit cramped. I held a poll on Patreon to see what people thought and the majority vote by a lot was for shorter contests in the middle/end of the month, so that's what I'll be doing.

And now I want to thank our amazing December 2022 Patreon supporters!

Your support helps us keep the site up and independently hosted, allows us to make technical fixes and improvements, and means Escher Girls will continue to exist regardless of what happens with Tumblr policies, etc.

Also, if you're subscribed on Patreon you get to see ahead of time other projects I'm working on, and get to vote in polls that help me make decisions on what to do with the site.

So a huge THANK YOU to:

Anne Adler Cat Mara CheerfulOptimistic Chris McKenzie Em Bardon First Time Trek Greg Sepelak Joseph Millman Ken Trosaurus Kevin Carson Kim Wincen Kristoffer Illern Holmén Leak Manuel Dalton Mary Kuhner Max Schwarz Michael Mazur Michael Norton Miriam Pody Morgan McEvoy Pippi Groving randomisedmongoose Rebecca Breu Ringoko Ryan Gerber Sam Mikes Sean Sea SpecialRandomCast Thomas Thomas Key

And thank you also to past subscribers and all of our readers! All of you are why the site is still going. <3

I hope everybody had a wonderful holiday season and have a great 2023.

- Ami

PS: As usual, if you have any suggestions to improve the site please feel free to email me at [email protected]!

If you want to help support us you can find our Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ami_angelwings

or donate using Ko-Fi at: https://ko-fi.com/amiangelwings

Your support helps us continue to pay for the site domain, hosting, and upkeep :3

#patreon #note #update

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nothingunrealistic · 8 months

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review roundup: billions 7x04 “hurricane rosie”

well, it was an episode of television! what did reviewers think?

New York Times: ‘Billions’ Season 7, Episode 4 Recap: Flight Risk

[…]

that’s right: no mention of taylor! take a shot!

[…] Wendy and Wags. Tied for second place as the people most responsible for the multi-billion-dollar success of Axe Cap — behind only Axe himself — they have been accepted into the brain trust of Axe’s usurper, Mike Prince. He relies on their very particular sets of skills, skills acquired over very long careers.

*farquaad pointing* liam neeson in taken reference!

For Wendy, it involves advising Mike and his right-hand man, Scooter, to go through with their plan to have Scooter conduct a classical orchestra — the fulfillment of a lifelong dream, procured by Mike through a charity auction. Prince even gives him Leonard Bernstein’s baton to do it. Unfortunately, Bradford sees the whole thing as dangerously “effete” (he initially uses a more profane term), likely to alienate voters.

you could easily conclude from this circumlocution of “pussy music” that luke initially used a homophobic slur to describe scooter conducting. which he may as well have!

She’s pushing for Mike to take the opposite course of action because Bradford is right, because she wants Mike’s presidential campaign to tank. But because she is known for encouraging her patients to take risks, her ulterior motive is completely camouflaged.

honestly, i didn’t even realize that was wendy’s goal until i read this recap. i thought she was pushing for prince to go forward with letting scooter conduct simply because “classical music is elitist and gay (derogatory)” is not a sentiment that should be allowed to win the day, especially for a presidential candidate who, presumably, wants some votes from lgbt people and allies. my bad!

If Wags gets caught fudging hurricane stats in Prince’s service, Prince can kiss the presidency goodbye. (Which, as we learn at the episode’s end, was the point!) Wags is forced to issue an embarrassing mea culpa to keep the peace. Eventually, he and Wendy agree to work in concert rather than, as Wags puts it, “lone gunman” style.

the baffling thing about this is that wendy and wags (and taylor, for that matter) Were all on the same page about trying to take down prince, for a minute, and then i guess they just gave up as soon as they left axe’s castle? but then wendy & wags both independently decided to go after him on their own without discussing it with each other or taylor? this is what happens when two people who know nothing but loyalty to their master try to carry out baby’s first assassination attempt from the inside. taylor’s the one person out of the three of them who actually has experience with this, and not only are they out of the loop right now, there wasn’t even a loop at all until the last three minutes of the episode! get your shit together!

Thanks to some ingenious digging around at local Gamblers Anonymous meetings by his Wags equivalent, Karl, Chuck learns of an NFT scammer whose Taiwanese billionaire father has a longstanding business relationship with Prince — so longstanding that his son is able to borrow Prince’s private jet without notice. What better way to flee the country now that his scam has collapsed? It’s only dumb luck that lands Prince in this particular pot of hot water, as he legitimately had no idea his business partner’s son had committed any crimes or was on the plane to begin with.

“dumb luck” is not to blame for the exploitation of a longstanding agreement that your buddies and their families can borrow your private jets, or vice versa, without notice. that’s just bad judgment.

It’s world away from what Scooter calls a good day’s work. Once Prince returns, chastened, from that airport arrest, he realizes Bradford is right. Scooter can’t be allowed to take that stage. The guy takes the news with a sad-eyed grace that Prince finds harder to deal with even than outright anger. “You said you had a good day today?” Scooter asks by way of an explanation. “Then so did I.” Imagine that: allowing your existence to be governed by the whims and needs of someone other than yourself simply because he’s cutting the checks. Good thing this is just a TV show, right? Right?

ahahahaha… ha… 🙃🙃🙃

The writer of this episode, Lio Sigerson, expertly advances the plot with financial and legal cat-and-mouse games that also reveal and develop character. Watching it is like watching someone juggle: I understand the principles involved, but hand me those bean bags or bowling pins and they’d be on the floor in a matter of seconds.

this is pretty much how i feel whenever i contemplate writing billions fic that has an actual financial and/or legal plotline. (except for the analogy to juggling, which i can actually do. take that, sean!)

“I remembered who the heck I am,” Prince tells Chuck as he explains why he has chosen his course of action. I couldn’t help but think of Axe in that moment. He might have said something similar, but he would have chosen a far stronger expletive.

to paraphrase prince himself in 6x03, re: krakow comparing him to axe: it’s possible chuck brings out a similar reaction in wildly disparate individuals.

I’ve enjoyed these last couple of weeks of comparatively low-stakes scheming among the “Billions” bunch, but they raise an important point. What “Billions” needs for its final act is a bit of financial-thriller legerdemain on par with the instant-classic Season 2 episode “Golden Frog Time.” You remember: the bit where it looks as if Chuck is crying because his big plan to take Bobby down got his own father and best friend in big trouble, only for the show to reveal he’s actually laughing because that was his big plan? It remains my favorite moment of the series, not to mention a moment I would point to as a reason I love covering television for a living. It’s not the fault of “Billions” that my expectations for its conclusion are that high, but they are. I hope the show rises to the occasion.

cosigned. that’s exactly the bar the show needs to clear in its ending; the question is whether or not they can. 6.5 years later, golden frog time is still the highest-rated episode of the show on imdb. i don’t think another twist ending or sleight of hand has matched it since.

Vulture: Billions Recap: Bittersweet Symphony

Chuck and Mike Prince are finally back in each other’s orbit, as Chuck tries to indict Prince after he learns the billionaire is intertwined with a Taiwanese mogul whose son is an NFT scammer. (So the whole fake Super PAC investigation from last week is on hold now, or what?)

hey, it was in the recap, at least! and on chuck’s Kill Prince board!

Meanwhile, with no clear plan to destroy Prince from the inside, Wags goes rogue and sabotages a hurricane categorization, making Prince look like an insurance fraudster. The problem with this particular scheme is it has Wags’s fingerprints all over it, putting Wags in a precarious position at MPC.

i would say wags would have gotten away with it if he hadn’t been swanning around the trading floor going “oh, you think it’ll hit category 5? bad news for you… oh, you’re thanking the gods that it stayed at category 4? how interesting…”, which was how he tipped off taylor & philip. but prince didn’t witness any of that and somehow still figured out wags was responsible. (which i still don’t understand. did al roker snitch?)

What “Hurricane Rosie” did give us, though, was an opportunity to think more about what’s going on behind the scenes of these main-stage story lines. Well, that and a lot of Grosse Pointe Blank references. Case in point: I found myself far more affected by the Scooter conductor subplot than Chuck’s attempts to arrest Prince for aiding a global fugitive.

cosigned!

Once again, Scooter’s dreams are snatched away because he must always be a martyr for Mike Prince. But I’m still asking “why?” on this one. What has Prince promised Scooter that he’s agreed to a life sentence of minion-hood? (Example: A shattered Scooter represses so much of his own self that after the conductor offer is rescinded, he feeds Prince this piece of cringe: “You said you had a good day today. Then so did I.”)

we already know the answer to this one, and it’s the same answer this show has given us a thousand times: money and/or power, baby!

We don’t get enough of Scooter’s backstory to understand his mind-set, but I do feel awful for him. Will this latest sacrifice loosen his resolve enough for Wendy and Wags to get him to join their side?

god, i hope so. but i think it’ll take more than this. quoth tv insider: “Will Scooter, seemingly joined at the hip with Wags, be Mike’s spy at the company to ensure no one undermines the boss’ plans?” (and we know prince will be tipped off to mutiny in his ranks in 7x09…)

To be fair, I did think this orchestral-music-is-elitist subplot was a terrific commentary on the “assume all Americans are stupid” attitude that most politicians think they must adopt so they can get elected.

don’t forget it’s also effete! any independent presidential candidate who wants a shot at winning has to turn a big dial taht says “Homophobia” on it and constantly look back at the the voters for approval like a contestant on the price is right!

I’m also growing more skeptical of Dr. Mayer’s true intentions. Wendy’s new psychiatrist unloaded all her Prince Cap clients so she can help Wendy figure out how she’s going to annihilate Mike Prince? That doesn’t make her too good to be true, it makes her extremely suspicious. Especially when she invites Wendy to start naming the people at MPC she knows she’s going to hurt. Like her current in-office adversary, Bradford Luke. Something doesn’t feel kosher about this. Then again, I’ve learned to be skeptical of everything that happens on Billions. Still, I do feel that Dr. Mayer being so amenable is a red flag. She’s got to be reporting back to someone.

i’ve seen this suggestion — that prince is behind dr. mayer — several times in the wake of this episode. my instinct is to say “no, that’s not where they’re going with this,” but the last time i did that, it was with the prediction that prince would run for president, and we’ve all seen where that got me. so i’m reluctantly jotting this down as plausible.

The Chuck-Prince story line this week progresses and ends in conventional fashion: With Chuck and Prince each thinking they’ve “won,” even though they’ve both landed back at square one.

get their asses!

While the MPC crew eagerly watches Hurricane Rosie wreak havoc along the American South, Taylor and Philip arrive to put the kibosh on the hurricane betting (the spelling of “Rosie,” whether it reaches Category 5).

TAYLOR MENTIONED.jpg

Bradford then advises that he close his ranks ASAP, or else shutting down international incidents and suspected insurance fraud will become a daily occurrence. *taps microphone* “Um, excuse me, Mr. Luke? Hi, Sarene Leeds here, devoted Billions recapper. Yeah. International incidents and fraud are the lifeblood of these characters, and they have been for seven seasons. Good luck getting that to change …”

get his ass!

I still love that Wendy is one of the few people Wags will listen to (other than Axe) — and that it doesn’t take much for Wags to agree to her terms: Get your impulses under control and let’s work together. It sounds like a great start, but these two are going to need a lot more confidants if they really think they can topple Mike Prince. Who do you think will join the Rebel Alliance next?

if it’s not taylor i’m going to have some complaints to make. (and given what we’ve seen of 7x05 at time of writing, the monday before it airs, i’m fairly sure it will in fact be them. but you can never be one hundred percent sure of anything on billions.)

Fan Fun with Damian Lewis (Damianista): Billions on Showtime, Season 7 Episode 4: Hurricane Rosie

MPC employees seem to have too much time on their hands that they hang out in front of the TV betting on the potential name and category of a hurricane! And it is simply surreal to see that the bets start at 2-3K and go up to 10K which they send like 10 bucks on Venmo and Zelle!

i have to wonder if venmo and zelle even let you send that much money in a single transaction. cursory googling seems to say no, but maybe they make exceptions for people who prove they have ridiculously full bank accounts? (or the writers just didn’t care.)

Wags had a cracking comeback last week.

😒😒😒😒😒

He now quotes “It’s a miracle. Praise the Lord” from the scene in which Andy Dufresne disappears from his cell in The Shawshank Redemption. But Taylor and Philip saw the movie and they know that Dufresne’s escape was meticulously planned and so could this hurricane category be!

i am, of course, contemplating this as the potential subject of a taylor & philip movie night.

…which makes Prince do something shocking! He calls his Taiwanese business partner and promises him trade privileges and his son a pardon (if he ends up in jail) within 100 days of his presidency. Huh? A president using presidential powers to further his business interests is unacceptable, and when coupled with the confidence Prince has in being the next POTUS, it is mind-blowing! Look at Bradford’s face as he hears Prince’s phone conversation. He may be having second thoughts about a potential Prince presidency.

but i thought luke was a fan of megalomaniacs! (and i doubt he’s going to back out of prince’s campaign over this. he’ll just try to tighten his leash on prince’s actions instead, as we see him do at the episode’s end.)

Oh and as they wait for Prince’s private jet to land, Karl remembering the empty chopper from Season 5 Episode 12 No Direction Home makes me laugh!

that cracked me up as well!

As a big fan of classical music (I am listening to Bach’s Solo and Double Violin Concertos as I am writing this!) and a political scientist, I would like to say a few words about Bradford’s observation: He should be right about voters thinking classical music is for pussies. They probably think it is elitist which is no different than when people thought Obama was elitist when he said his favorite green was arugula! Like one understands political issues better when you prefer lettuce 🙂

no commentary on the “effete” classification?

And if Dr. Mayer had not raised the issue of Wendy blushing when she mentioned a certain man with a bright future who would be hurt in her operation, I would have! As Bradford and Wendy tease each other about how to help Prince in the campaign, I feels some chemistry there.

i don’t!

BUT… If Wags knows about Dr. Mayer, Scooter knows about her, too; and so does Prince. Given that Prince gave rings to MPC employees to follow them closely (remember how they saved Wags from a Peloton heart attack in Season 6!) he may also want to follow their lives through their psychiatrist.

i don’t think this is a given. if wendy went that long without finding out despite wags knowing, i think it’s also possible that scooter and prince didn’t know. (maybe even possible that they still don’t know.)

Entertainment Weekly: Billions recap: Storms and scams

[…]

take a shot!

While the employees of Michael Prince Capital entertain themselves by betting on the name and category of a hurricane that's about to hit Florida — the entertainment lasts only so long before they realize that MPC has holdings in disaster relief and that significant devastation will cost the firm a ton of money —

what (or rather, who) causes them to realize that, kyle?

The news doesn't go over well with Bradford Luke (Babak Tafti), Prince's campaign manager. He believes that classical music is seen as snobby and for the elite, and that it gives off a bad vibe when Prince is trying to court working-class voters.

lots of reviewers sure are shying away from the implications of luke specifically calling classical music “effete,” huh?

So far the season hasn't offered the most drama or the most stirring scenes, but you can't help but admire the way this episode hones in on Prince and plots something very succinctly. In essence, every thread here is about how Michael Prince, in his transition from the "good billionaire" and operator of MPC to presidential candidate, is now under intense scrutiny.

yeah. i will hand it to this episode for the unity of plot and theme. (the line i liked best that did this: sacker claiming prince’s plane is still in the air because the hurricane is screwing with flight paths.)

Fan Fun with Damian Lewis (Gingersnap): The Unbeatable, Unstoppable, Unparalleled MVPs from Billions Season 7 Episode 4 ‘Hurricane Rosie’

Gingersnap Phew. That was one DIC episode. And by DIC I mean domestic crisis (Wags’s hurricane/insurance debacle), international crisis (Kai Huang Liu’s fugitive flight) and cultural crisis (Scooter conducting). Here are my MVPs.

oh, is that what that stands for? i could have sworn it was [checks wikipedia page for “DIC”] differential interference contrast microscopy!

The Grand Saboteur – Wags. I knew Wags was up to no good when he cornered Al Roker at the gym to quiz him on the process of naming and categorizing hurricanes. But I honestly thought he was going to try and name a hurricane after his fiancé Chelz LOL! You know, like some big jumbotron gesture you see at sporting events.

if you pay close attention to the dialogue in that scene, you’ll notice that wags doesn’t ask anything about the naming of hurricanes — only the rating. and you might therefore predict from that scene alone that wags is going to bribe someone to change the rating of a hurricane. which he does! (and if he had asked al roker about how hurricanes get named, the writers would have to either make al roker give a completely incorrect explanation of how that works or have him give a correct explanation that doesn’t square at all with the way the hurricane in the episode was named.)

Total Sketch Award – Dr. Mayer. From an ethical standpoint, it is totally sketch that Dr. Mayer did a complete 180 and referred all her MCP patients to another mental health professional so she could help Wendy with her “vitally important” mission against Mike Prince. Especially when earlier in the day Dr. Mayer ended her session with Wendy after learning of her true intentions, which would entail destroying those patients as collateral damage. What the fork? Someone with a bigger agenda is moving pieces on the chess board that I can’t see yet. But nothing is logical in Billions at first…until it is.

it is sketch! but even as i’m willing to consider that dr. mayer is being manipulated by someone else, i’m still not convinced that it Must be the case. frankly i think her actions are explicable by “this season is effectively The Wendy Rhoades Show, so of course this character introduced to support wendy’s arc is going to make the choice that best supports wendy’s arc rather than the choice that stops it dead.”

Those wishes were quickly ripped away because – and get this – Bradford thinks Americans are too daft to appreciate classical music and therefore, this moment would make Prince unrelatable to the American voters.

everyone really wants to ignore the homophobia component of luke’s objections to scooter conducting, huh?

Kate Sacker’s snide remarks to Chuck are the perfect read: “Chuck. You used to run a tight enough office that your murder boards were covered when visitors were anywhere in the building.” LOL! I don’t know if the Writers meant to reference Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building series – as Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez’s characters always have a murder board of suspected culprits to work out their theories each season – but either way I loved it!

i’m pretty sure she was actually referencing the several occasions in the series when we’ve seen white boards covered in information on other cases at the sdny. only murders in the building did not invent the phrase “murder board.”

Food for Thought: This is the third episode that has mentioned or referenced vampires. I can’t help but think of Damian’s upcoming vamp comedy The Radleys.

from a quick search of my episode transcripts for the word “vampire,” i can’t find any references outside of this episode. i’m not even sure if gingersnap means it’s the third episode this season to reference them, or the third in the entire series. citations, please!

Damianista The “Et Tu Brutus?” Award – Ben Kim Ben Kim asks his colleagues if they were betting on whether or not people are going to lose their homes. “That’s what we’ve come to?” he asks. I expect him not to join the hurricane bets for fun. I remember that he was one of the few who did not join the celebrations when Heidecker died and Axe Cap made a lot of money in Season 3 Episode 4 Hell of A Ride. But now that Dollar Bill sarcastically responds that they are already there and Ben would better embrace it… Ben just DOES! Et Tu, Ben Kim? Ben seems to have a clear conscience betting on a disaster because he will donate a portion of his wins to charity – attesting to the fact that philanthropy is a way to make rich people feel good about themselves. SIGH.

that’s the power of immense wealth to warp and degrade one’s morals, baby! another point of comparison: 3x02, when axe cap was scrambling to make money / avoid losses in the wake of a tsunami in brazil, and ben was the only person genuinely concerned about the people in brazil who were affected.

Most Voldemort-like Move(s) – Mike Prince

Lady Trader […] The Degenerate Gambler Award: The whole lot of the Prince Cappers get this award! They will bet on anything it seems, but then again isn’t that what they are paid to do? However, betting to see if the weatherman gets a head injury was funny!

interesting sentiment, lady trader!

The Zero Chemistry Award: Wendy has more chemistry with Wags than Bradford Luke. I wish they would stop trying to get Wendy in relationships – the girl can do fine on her own!

not sure if “wendy has more chemistry with wags than with luke” is meant to be a sincere statement or an exaggeration (i.e., “wendy has SO little chemistry with luke that it’s less than her No Chemistry with wags.”) i agree with the first option. (and i do wish they’d stop putting wendy in relationships with these obnoxious men, or else have her more thoroughly examine why she keeps jumping at them, beyond just “i feel like an errand girl sometimes.”)

TheTailThatWagsTheDog Least Believable Scandal Award – Conducting an orchestra? This is supposed to be a scandal? Please. I’m not sure why it’s in there other than as a plot point, but it is totally not believable. Voters are not going to think Prince is all high and mighty for doing this – if Prince could spin keeping a fugitive on his plane, he could spin this easily. I totally did not buy this.

it’s in there to show that 1) prince has to do things he doesn’t want to do and hurt people he likes / loves in order to achieve his goals 2) scooter has subsumed his entire life to prince’s goals at the cost of his own dreams and it makes him unhappy. though i agree that doesn’t mean it makes sense. and now that i think about it, “you can’t let your right-hand man conduct an orchestra or it’ll look gay and elitist and you’ll never get elected” is in a similar vein to “you can’t let anyone find out that you and your wife have an open marriage or it’ll be a scandal and you’ll never get elected.” luke’s advice may not be all that great, or indicative of how elections actually play out in real life, but at least it’s consistent!

Name the Bands! – When Carl says at the Gambler’s Anonymous meeting that his ears aren’t just for listening to “Old British New Wave” music, my first thought was – what bands are we talking about?? Knowing that Koppleman has similar taste in bands as I do, I was hoping he would drop a few names in there – Squeeze, The Police, Depeche Mode? This is where I could’ve used a cultural reference!

allerd literally did drop a name! he specifically mentioned elvis costello at the beginning of that conversation, and the “old british new wave” comment was in reference to that! how are you going to complain about the cultural references when you’re this bad at noticing them half the time?

Best Cultural Reference That Makes Sense and Seemed to Fit – Richard III – Wendy and Dr Mayer’s discussion around this Shakespearean classic makes total sense for the two of them – and it makes me want to go back and watch a production of it (Has Damian Lewis ever performed that role??). This worked – although it is funny that this is the type of reference Bradford means when he disses orchestral music. It is the kind that makes you feel dumber – did they intend to do that?

richard iii is a fairly well-known play about a fairly well-known guy! skill issue!

Fan Fun with Damian Lewis (Lady Trader): “From the Trader’s Desk”: A Whole Lotta Rosie! Billions S7E4 “Hurricane Rosie”

I wish I could tell you a lot about NFTs, but I can’t. It is not something I trade in, and to be honest, I think is a scam. If someone tells me a digital picture of a banana is worth $5M, I think that’s a scam. (I just made that example up, but you get what I mean.)

go off!

The Prince Cappers placing bets on the various outcomes related to the storm (name, velocity, will the weather guy take a header) might seem crass, but remember that is what they do for a living.

oh, well, i guess it’s fine then. can’t be bad if it’s their job!

Also, there was no reason to bet on the name of the hurricane. The US National Hurricane Center names the whole season’s storms before the season starts. This year, the list of names was out in May. Even if you believe it may have been too early in the season for anyone to know this, if a storm name had gotten to R, then it’s very late into the season (Superstorm Sandy was late October 2012) or it was an extremely busy season. I think Victor may have been cheating!

THANK YOU! i’ve been feeling like i’m taking crazy pills waiting for a reviewer to point this out and failing to see it mentioned. hurricane names are announced in advance and are applied as soon as a storm achieves tropical storm status! and if we’d seen some proof that victor was cheating, such as him checking a site with the list of names, i’d have found this plot point much easier to swallow, even if i’d still have found it hard to believe that other characters wouldn’t know that the names are announced in advance.

Finally, someone acknowledges they don’t get the cultural references that are bandied about! Ira not getting the football reference from Chuck, and Dr. Mayer having to do movie research because all of the references the Prince Cappers make during their sessions makes me feel seen! I am hoping this is a nod from the writers on some of the criticism they have gotten for the over abundance of something that was once a gem, but now is almost like a lump of coal.

they’ve been doing self-awareness about the references (and certain characters not getting them) for years now. and i’m pretty sure they’re not conceding anything to people who complain that the references are too abundant.

And lastly, I will leave you with my thoughts on Mike Prince (like you didn’t already know). I noticed in this episode (and I’ll have to go back and see if this is a pattern) Prince uses terms like, heck, damn and G-D (instead of God damn). Now we know from the first scene of the first episode, the man can curse (he used “fucking” twice in one sentence!). I think this is just another subtle way of showing what a fraud he is.

i think this is just another way of showing why people who didn’t watch season 6 have no business reviewing season 7.

#billions #7x04 #review roundup

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lilicohirukoma · 1 year

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Dead Meat Horror Awards liveblog cuz why not

- fuck yeah production budget, love the ghostface intro

- masters of scare-monies lmaooo

- fr the movies this year were sooo good and agreed horror needs more recognition

- i am fucking this cheeseburger UP Chef Slowik would be proud

- yay for the montage, i got lots of movie recs with it last year

- which also means nay for not naming the movies in the montage like they did last year

- but yeah hoping for at least one award for Black Phone, The Menu and Orphan (Nope and X too)

- MICK FOLEY FUCK YEAAAHHH

- damn he lost an ear????

- I don't understand a lot abt stunts so no strong opinions, shout out to all nominees

- admitting to a horror sin: I don't like Scream

- YESSSSS I GOT ONE RIGHTTT

- we are only on the second category and I finished my food 😔 shouldve listened to the guide and gotten some popcorn

- WHAT HAPPENS IN MEN? 😟

- again idk a lot abt digital effects so shout out to all the nominess

- shout out to all the nominees in general it's just that I have stronger opinions on other categories

- I want to watch Werewolf by Night now

- Yup Nope deserved it, didn't consider Gordy as a digital effect so makes sense in hindsight

- JASON AND TOM 💕

- Girl I hauled ass downstairs and back to put away my empty plate. My roommates probably thought I was getting chased by a demon

- I almost voted for X bc Dutch people were involved lol

- Understandable win, congrats Mad God

- YEESSSSSSS DEVON!!!!! CHUCKY NATION REPRESENT!!!!!!

- Are these awards only for movies? If no why no Chucky noms?

- Art the Clown-Bolton

- Is that Pete Davidson?

- Love The Menu but their kills were a bit meh

- But yeah Jeremy vs Star Lasso for me

- DAVE GROHL??? I need to watch Studio 666 now

- Deserved win

- THEY GOT MATTHEW LILLARD????

- Love me a crazy cult leader, wouldn't mind seeing Slowik win

- ESTHER PLS I WANT ESTHER TO WIN

- I voted for Pearl bc she is more likely to win (and would deserve the win) but god please Esther

- Grabber was slay too but not the best of the year imo

- Mia Goth's voice takes me out every time it's so unexpected

- Girl what........ what..... seriously?

- No shade to everyone involved w Art but... what the fuck really?

- Put me in the In Memoriam I'm pissed

- Didn't know some of these people died, for all: Rest in Peace/May their memory be a blessing

- LESLIE JORDAN I MISS YOU SO MUCH

- LANCE REDDING WAS PAPA LEGBA?? I'M SORRY I DIDNT KNOW

- when are we getting a podcast episode on AHS

- oh damn this category is getting tough already

- yeah I'm okay with anyone winning good job y'all

- oh damn we are already 45 minutes in

- congrats Rory

- Ok y'all can make it right give it to Mia

- Barbara Krampton ❤️

- Hearing the word Creepypasta in 2023 snatched my soul out of my body I need a moment

- Oooo I'm gonna have to watch Sissy

- I love Regina Hall so might have to watch Master too

- GET THIS CLOWN OFF MY SCREEN IM STILL MAD AT HIM

- Mia or Amber OR ELSE /j

- I love Keke tho!!

- YESSSS MIA YOURE A STAR

- I am SO curious to see what Jordan Peele is going to do next

- Hope it goes to Ti West tho

- Okay yeah Jordan deserves it too

- We already got this horror needs to be appreciated speech

- Idk of I like this long list of nominees, I find myself losing interest a lot and that is a disservice to the nominees

- Istg if it's Halloween Ends-

- Aren't all of these movies American? Why are they now suddenly mentioning nationalities?

- But yeah Orphan isn't going to win but I want it to

- Pearl's dad deserved better

- Chad's Revenge looks really fun I'm gonna have to watch this one too

- Not Scream Not Scream Not Scream

- ALL THESE MOVIES ARE AMERICAN STOP SAYING AMERICAN FILM

- Oh he did actually stop. My power 💅

- Pearl is just that girl!!

- Love Mike Flanagan 💜

- I hope the Black Phone wins, this movie had me in awe in the cinema

- THE DIRECTOR FOR BODIES IS DUTCH??? NEVERMIND BODIES BODIES BODIES SWEEP

- Yeah idk Fresh just doesn't interest me

- THE MENU FUCK YEAHHH

- Considering Nope won fan I hope it won't win

- DUTCH?? Alright I'll watch Speak No Evil

- Are you.... for real?? Way to end the ceremony on a low note

#deadmeathorrorawards

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transmissionsfromthebattlefield · 2 years

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DEVOtion, Day Two

And then the nerds re-congregated, and DEVOtional Saturday happened.

And what a de-evolved time it was.

The Jimmy Psycho Experiment, who have been DEVOtional openers for a few years now, set a relaxed mood well with their tiki-loungey versions of everyone’s favorite DEVO hits. Attention soon shifted towards the many special guests, whose Q&A sessions took up a good chunk of the night. Good old Mark was back for round 2, though he was slightly more subdued when compared to his misdemeanor on Friday. DEVOtional old timer Jerry Casale, who almost always comes out to support the fans, brought with him the music video premier of his next single, “The Invisible Man.” Without spoiling too much for everyone who wasn’t there, it was hands-down one of the most amusing things I’ve ever witnessed, and it only makes me more fascinated about what exactly goes on within Jerry’s mind that could make him conjure up something so perfectly, undeniably wack. But you’ll all see it in a few months.

Steve Bartek, the guitarist on Jerry’s recent music who is best known for his work with Oingo Boingo, joined Jerry in looking very smart and answering questions. I didn’t get to talk with him at all, but he seemed like a really genuine guy. The dark horse of the program, however, was one Michael Schwartz, better known as Rod Rooter, DEVO’s evil manager from way back. Throughout the night, Mike seamlessly incorporated his character into his talk-talk to the point where I initially genuinely wasn’t sure if he was joking or not when he discussed being the first white guy on King Records with a song produced by James Brown. (Spoiler alert: he WASN’T).

Sometime before DEVOtional started, Max had the brilliant idea of making Rod an entire election campaign which proceeded to snowball from a joke to people on Facebook actually buying made-to-order polo shirts emblazoned with the phrase “America’s Begging For The Barrel Room.” The virus had spread so far that Max didn’t even have to give Mark one of the campaign buttons he was handing out; he had already been given one by someone else. With Mike’s charisma and wit, I wouldn’t hesitate to vote in his favor, and I can’t help but hope he becomes a mainstay. (“The Man” did approve of Max’s effort, by the way.)

Max signed one of his posters for him while I stood by, causing him to ask Max in character, “Is THIS your GIRLFRIEND?” Max would go on to be very fixated on the fact that Mike was a few hours early to the punch on that.

Jerry, Mark, and the rest were signing items for hours. I heard someone say their autograph session clocked in at over three hours, which blows my mind and makes me want to pray atheist style for their dominant wrists. Max used the opportunity to gift Mark and Jerry bags containing some of his original music and hand decorated lab coats, with airbrush art for Marky and colorful tampons for Jer-Jer, while I stood by as photojournalist and emotional support.

(Jerry sadly didn’t try it on for us in person, but the photo he uploaded later more than makes up for that.)

I wasn’t immune to the photo opportunities, either.

All the while, Al Mothersbaugh’s band, Massive Hotdog Recall, brought the party as usual, proving that “Shout” can be a good song if you add some non-synthetic, whip-spankin’ horns to it. New Devolution, an energetic tribute band who came all the way from Chile to perform, followed by plowing through high-power early 80s DEVO tracks. The fun factor was through the roof as the spontaneously generated giant helium balls the crowd was serving around threatened to make a dent in it.

After the raffle, which I did not win anything at, the highly anticipated Fight Milk, who were not balls, took the stage. They exemplified the fun factor just like last year, but having more than one guy on the stage again (while retaining last year’s cardboard cutouts) totally elevated their energy. Alongside Jackson, the band’s creative mastermind and sole constant, it was great having Tavi from Finland back onstage, whether he was flashing a creepy smile at the audience with down pitched vocals or scurrying around the stage wrecking his guitar strings. Those boys be DEVO.

Max was also making his live performance debut, and he absolutely killed it. Not many other DEVOtional performances would both perform a song that hadn’t been performed since 1974 and make the live debut of Jerry’s latest single. (TAKE THAT, OLD MAN! Just kiddin’.) Max took lead on both, and it was so great seeing him in his element. It truly wouldn’t have been the same without him up there in that goddamn tampon coat hurling his Rod Rooter buttons at the crowd. I even caught a photo of one in mid air! I love blinding everyone with the flash from my camera.

Detention finished off the night, though I sadly didn’t get to see most of their set because, deja vu, I was too busy having a conversation in the Ballroom’s bar the room over. (I got to hear their Steve-tribute cover of Oingo Boingo’s “Little Girls” in muffled format, though!) At least I did get to chat with their singer Elliott, who I’ve bumped into a few times on the Kent campus, beforehand. Us Kent chicks gotta stick together.

And then, just like that, the night had winded down. Everyone packed up, stumbled out of the ballroom, and hit up Ubers back to their hotels. And then it was over.

Did it beat last year’s for me? No. That year was too special! But I’ll gladly let it be the first loser.

And hey, I got a boyfriend out of this one, so I guess that’s a plus.

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genevalentino · 3 months

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survey--s · 7 months

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636.

Think back to yesterday, what were you doing around this time? I was at work - walking Bailey, Bobby & Red.

What was the last thing you watched on the TV? I'm currently watching The Hobbit but if you're talking about TV shows, then it was Keeping Up Appearances last night.

Do you think pets can get annoying easily? Hmm, I wouldn't say annoying but sometimes it's just like...MOVE lol.

Did you know that pickles have no calories? According to Google, pickles have 11 calories per 100 grams.

Do you enjoy family get togethers? My family doesn't really do get togethers. My biological family all live abroad (except my parents) and my in-laws aren't particularly close as a group.

In a group of three, do you often feel like the third wheel? It depends on the group.

What color are your pants? Black.

Is there snow on the ground where you are? No, but it definitely feels like autumn now. It was 11 degrees when I went out a couple of hours ago.

What is keeping you warm right now? A blanket, fuzzy socks and a cat, lol. You know it's cold when Toby voluntarily comes and cuddles with you.

Has anyone bought you a piece of jewelry? Yes, several times.

How far away is your next birthday? Two months, ten days.

Do you have plans for that birthday yet? No, though I do actually have the day off for once. I'll probably go for lunch with Mike or something, that's what we normally do.

When did you last take a shower? About two and a half hours ago.

Have you ever been to the Grand Canyon? No.

Have you ever flown somewhere alone? Yeah, quite a few times. It felt weird at first but it was quite fun really.

Are you more serious or funny? It depends on the situation? I guess on here I come across as quite serious though.

Is there someone that annoys you but you haven’t told them? Hahah yes.

When is garbage day in your area? Alternate Mondays, and then alternate Thursdays for recycling.

Who/What was the last thing to really irritate you? I don't remember the last time I was genuinely really irritated.

Do you think people either love or hate spongebob? Haha yeah, I guess so. I go through phases. It's good for a kids show but sometimes it does annoy me - I think because it's quite repetitive.

Have you seen that new “Lie To Me” show? No.

What is something you’d rather be doing right now? I'm happy just having a chill day at home - it's been a crazy week.

Do you find that people are too hard on you? No.

Do you take surveys often? I rarely take any during the week unless I'm off work. I normally do all my surveys between Friday and Sunday.

Do you tend to slam things around when you’re mad? I used to, but not so much anymore.

Do you know anyone who hates/dislikes chocolate? Yeah, a few people. I'm not a huge fan - I mean, I like but it but all seems to have palm oil in it now so it's just greasy and bleurgh.

Could you vote in this last election? Yes.

Have you taken a shower today? Yes.

How much sleep did you get last night? About eight hours.

Do you have more girl friends or guy friends? Girl.

What is your current mood? Relaxed.

Is there anything on your mind at the moment? I can't believe it's October tomorrow and I'm already wearing fuzzy socks and winter jumpers.

Are there any movies out that you’d like to see? I still need to see the Barbie movie.

Have you ever been on a website called Stickam? No. I know what it is though.

Have you ever hated yourself? Yeah, I was a very dramatic teenager lol.

Are you hungry? Not really, I had breakfast just over an hour ago.

Did your parents ever ground you? No.

Where was the last place you went out to eat? The local ice-cream/coffee place.

Have you ever felt like you needed a better life than the one you have? I have felt like that in the past, yeah.

Do you own an MP3 player of some kind? No, I just use Spotify on my phone.

Do you have a moment in your life you wish you could replay over again? No.

Have you ever been in a play? If so, did you like it? Yeah, all the time in school. I loved it. I still enjoy theatre and musicals even as an adult.

What is one musical artist you wish wasn’t making music? I don't really care. I just don't listen to artists I dislike.

When was the last time you cleaned something? This morning - I cleared out the litter trays, washed the dishes and vacuumed the living room. And rinsed out the shower and did a load of laundry.

Have you ever been so sick you had to be taken to the hospital? Not sick, but injured.

Do you like your smile? Not really.

Do you have someone that you think truly understands you? Sure.

When was the last time you doubted yourself? Walking two particular dogs together but it turned out absolutely fine once they had treats lol.

Is there anything currently bothering you? Not really. I had a bit of a headache but it's finally fading.

Would you say that you’ve got something ‘special’ about you? I don't really think anyone is particularly special, to be honest. We're all just people.

Who was the last person to cheer you up when you were down? I can't remember.

Are you scared of what you do not know? No.

Is there anything in the next six months that you’re looking forward to? Yes! Going to the theatre next weekend, my birthday in December and then Christmas break a week later.

Were you/are you popular in high school? I was not.

Do you really care what people think about you? I mean, I don't want people to think badly of me, but equally I'm not bothered if they like me or not.

Do you find yourself treating others like you’d want to be treated? I try to, but it doesn't always work out that way.

Are you constantly envious of others? Not really.

Are you more of a whiner with things or a do’er of things? I do them - I mean, I might complain but nobody else is going to do my shit for me lol.

List three of your favorite TV shows: Friends, Black Books, Keeping Up Appearances.

Would your friends say you’re a relaxed person or stressed? Relaxed, I guess?

What do you find yourself worrying most about these days? I don't really worry about much, to be quite honest. I guess Simba as he's proven to have a really sensitive stomach unlike the others who can just eat anything lol.

Would you say it’s hard to earn your trust? It’s easy for me to trust people and just as easy for me to take it away. <--- yeah, that sums it up really.

Who was the last person to compliment you? Suzanne.

Anything interesting happen this past week? Not particularly, it was just a normal working week.

When was the last time you felt scared? Last week when I had to reverse up a horrible single-track road and around a blind bend. EURGH. My legs were shaking so badly but I did it and I actually did it quite well even though there were like three other cars watching me. I surprised myself hahah.

What’s on your mind this very second? I need a wee.

Do you know the difference between ‘your’ and ‘you’re’? Yes.

Do you correct other people’s grammar/spelling when talking to them online? Never.

Is bacon one of your favorite foods? No. I do like it though.

Are you one of those people who like to sleep in on the weekends? I like to sleep in a bit later but I wouldn't want to waste half my day in bed - I'm normally up by 9am on the weekends if I'm not working.

Do you like things vampire related? No.

Have you ever cussed at a parent or teacher? Yes.

When was the last time you saw snow? Last winter sometime. I think we had snow in March?

Have you ever felt stupid after saying something? Yes.

Do you find yourself cold at the moment? Not anymore, but I was earlier. I refuse to put the heating on yet though.

Are your nails currently long? No, I cut them yesterday.

Are you the kind of person who does not like talking about their past? It depends who I'm talking to.

Do you have long slender fingers or short chunky ones? Longer and slender ones.

Do you think your foot size fits your body type? Yeah, I guess so?

Are you the competitive type? I can be - especially when playing Monopoly for some reason lol.

Are you more of a mommy’s person or a daddy’s person? I was a daddy's girl growing up, but now I'm definitely closer to my mum and we have much more in common.

#survey #surveys

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sciencespies · 1 year

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Ronnametres and quettagrams have joined the ranks of SI units

https://sciencespies.com/physics/ronnametres-and-quettagrams-have-joined-the-ranks-of-si-units/

Ronnametres and quettagrams have joined the ranks of SI units

New prefixes in the International System of Units have been confirmed, ushering in ronto and quecto for tiny numbers and ronna and quetta for very large numbers, like the amount of data on internet servers

Physics 17 November 2022 , updated 18 November 2022

By Alex Wilkins

So much data is produced on the internet that we are running out of words to describe the magnitude

Erik Isakson Photographics/Digital Vision/Getty Images

New prefixes for the world’s largest and smallest numbers have been confirmed by a vote at the General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) in Versailles, France, on Friday. The suggested prefixes are ronna and quetta for very large numbers and ronto and quecto for very small ones.

The International System of Units (SI) is a standard, agreed on by most scientists, that underpins every measurement. As well as defining things like the kilogram and the metre, it sets how very large and small numbers should be named.

The last expansion to this naming scheme was in 1991, when numbers with 21 or 24 zeros were given the prefixes zetta (1021) and yotta (1024) for the very large and zepto (10-21) and yocto (10-24) for the very small. There were few reasons to use them at the time, but the growing amount of data generated by the internet makes them more useful now – the amount of information is projected to hit 175 zettabytes by 2025.

“There’s already been quite a bit of speculation in the popular media about what could come above a yottabyte,” says Richard Brown at the National Physical Laboratory, the UK’s measurement standards centre.

For instance, brontobyte has been informally used by some to describe 1027 bytes, while Google’s unit converter has long changed 1027 bytes into a hellabyte. But these don’t fit with the SI naming scheme, because the letters “b” and “h” are already used for prefixes or are in common use for other units, says Brown, so adopting a standard now will ensure that alternative prefixes don’t get too deeply embedded in the scientific literature.

Brown helped draft the proposal that the CGPM member states voted for on Friday. As there were no objections, the two new prefixes for numbers with 27 and 30 zeros became, respectively, ronna and quetta for large numbers, and ronto and quecto for small numbers.

Although they will become SI prefixes with immediate effect, it might take a while for scientists to adopt them in their work.

Some scientists are sceptical of whether they will be helpful at all. “We tend to define our own units, which are just useful in terms of the things we are actually looking at,” says astronomer Mike Merrifield at the University of Nottingham, UK.

Brown suggests that ronto and quecto could have uses in radio astronomy, such as for measuring the very weak strength of the cosmic microwave background, radiation left over from the big bang, but astronomers already frequently use the non-SI jansky for this, says Merrifield.

However, the benefits for science communication are clear, says Brown. “You’re going to be able to communicate what you mean a lot better if you use these standardised approaches.”

While the names may seem random, they adhere to tight guidelines, says Brown. “R” and “q” were the only letters left in the English alphabet that hadn’t been used by other prefixes, the middle of the words were loosely translated from the Greek or Latin term for how many times you need to multiply 1000 by to get to the numbers, he says, and the endings were because large prefixes always end in “a”, while small prefixes finish in “o”.

As for when we might see even larger or smaller prefixes, Brown thinks we will be waiting at least 25 years. “It’s very difficult to predict the future, but I suspect that this will certainly see me out, I imagine, for my retirement and longer.”

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#Physics

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troquantary · 3 years

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Edward Cullen: That Boy Ain’t Right

So I was doing a reread of @therealvinelle 's collection of Twilight metas, as one does, and in "Edward, Denial, and a Human Girlfriend" she mentions that she doesn't believe Edward is sane. I thought, "ha, yeah, he's definitely not," and also, "but wait, what does that mean exactly, please say more about that." But since she's already inundated with asks, I've decided to use my own head-muscle and explore this idea. (TL;DR: I start out more or less organized, synthesize some points Vinelle has made across several posts (and have hopefully linked to them all where relevant but please tell me if not), touch a little on narcissism, then take a hard left into the negative effects of being a telepath.)

Just a couple things to note at the outset, though. Theses have been written already (probably) about Edward as an abuser. Edward being insane doesn't negate that at all; he's definitely an asshole and just...a disaster of a human being. (I find it more funny than anything, but YMMV.) I'm also going to try to avoid talking specifically about mental illness and how it relates (or doesn't relate) to abusive behavior -- that's territory I'm not really equipped to discuss, like at all. My starting point is "Edward has a deeply warped perception of reality," not "Edward has X disorder."

So: deeply warped perception of reality. The evidence? Goes behind a cut, because my one character trait is Verbose.

Vinelle provides a great example of it in the post linked above, which I'll just quote because she does words good: "[Edward] keeps acting like his romance with Bella is a romantic tragedy, and all the cast of Twilight are actors on a stage making it as sublime as possible." Edward's the one to pursue Bella, but he does so with the full belief, from the very beginning, that it will never last; Bella will "outgrow" him, go on her human way, and he can spend the rest of eternity brooding magnificently over his too-short romantic bliss. [Insert premature ejaculation joke.] Turning her is never an option, even though Alice, Noted Psychic, says that romancing Bella will either end with her dead (exsanguinated) or dead (vampire).

This framing, where he's a dark anti-hero in love with -- but never tainting! -- the pure maiden and eventually leaving her in a grand, tragic sacrifice to preserve her soul? It's fucking bonkers. Bella isn't a person to him in this scenario. As Vinelle points out, Bella's never really a person to him at all; he falls in love with his own mental construct, cherry-picking from what he observes of her behavior and her responses to his 20 (thousand) Questions to convince himself that she is the ideal woman.

Bella's not the only one who gets the projection/cardboard-cutout treatment. Edward sees everything and everyone through a highly particular, personalized lens. He filters his entire reality, which we all do to an extent, but the thing with Edward is that he starts with his conclusions and then only pays attention to the evidence that supports those conclusions. Often that evidence consists of what he admits in New Moon are only "surface" thoughts -- but recognizing that limitation doesn't keep him from taking those thoughts as representative of what people are. Edward then becomes absolutely convinced by his own "reasoning" and won't be swayed from what he has decided is Objectively True. It's obvious with Bella; it's also painfully obvious with Rosalie. (Vinelle explains this and brings up Edward's raging Madonna/Whore complex in the same post, so refer to that again -- she's right.)

He also catastrophizes. Everything. Bella's just vibing in her room, rereading Wuthering Heights for the 87th time? She's gonna be hit by a meteor, better sneak into her room while she sleeps. Bella's going to the beach with the filthy mundanes their human classmates? She's gonna fall in the ocean. Jasper's cannibal pals are stopping by for a visit, but know not to hunt in the area? DISASTER, DEFCON 1, ALSO FUCK YOU JASPER FOR EVEN EXISTING IN MY AND BELLA'S SPHERE YOU UNSPEAKABLE BURDEN. Edward must believe that Bella is vulnerable and in near-constant peril, to support the reality he has created in which he is the villain turned protector and maybe?? hero??? (!!!) for his beloved. So when the actual, James-shaped danger arrives, he goes berserk, snarling and flipping his shit and generally not helping the situation. His fantasy demands that Bella remain human, so instead of doing the very thing Alice, Noted Psychic, assures him will neutralize the threat (and not just a threat to Bella, either, but to Bella's family and any other human James might decide to include in the "game"), he vetoes it immediately, no discussion. Bella Must Not Turn, and he sticks to those guns despite James nearly reducing her to ground beef, despite leaving Bella catatonic with depression (but human! success!) in New Moon, despite Aro's order and his family's vote and, let's not forget, Bella's clearly and repeatedly stated desire to be a vampire. It's going to happen. But he doesn't accept it until Renesmee busts out of Bella like the Kool-Aid man and the poor girl's heart finally, unequivocally stops.

Sane people don't behave this way. I don't want to slap labels on Edward, but I can't help but note that he comes across as highly narcissistic. He's the only real person in his universe, the lone player among us NPCs. That probably has a lot to do with him being frozen in the mindset and maturity of a seventeen-year-old boy, but I think it's also just...him, on some fundamental level. His failure to connect with others and recognize them as full, independent beings with their own wants and priorities isn't like Bella's failure -- she's badly depressed. Edward is...something else, and I get the sense that his sanity has been steadily deteriorating over time. And a cursory google of narcissistic traits turns up some familiar-looking stuff. He's self-loathing, yes, but also grandiose; he hates himself for the monster he is (and hates most vampires besides Esme and Carlisle for their monstrosity, too) but still feels superior to humans, to the extent that he felt entitled to human blood and resented Carlisle for depriving him of his "proper" diet. He eventually returns to Carlisle, but he's far from content -- the beginning of Midnight Sun finds him in a state of ennui, bored and dismissive of (if not outright disgusted by) everyone around him, that has apparently persisted for years and years. He doesn't play the piano, he doesn't compose, he doesn't enjoy anything...at least until Bella comes along and then he becomes obsessed to a disturbing degree with her and his new, romantic tragedy spin on reality.

[Next-day edit: I’m not sure where else to fit this in, but the way Edward casually contemplates violence against people who have, at best, mildly annoyed him is...chilling. I have a hard time writing off his strategizing how to murder the entire Biology class as a result of bloodlust -- it’s so calculated, nothing like the blackout state of thirst Emmett describes when he encountered his own “singer,” and that is probably the default for when a vampire is extremely thirsty. But even ignoring the Biology class incident, Edward still does things like consider, with disturbing frequency, how he might grievously injure or kill Mike Newton, all because...Edward considers him his romantic rival (despite Bella barely giving the kid the time of day). He thinks about slapping Mike through a wall, which might be an amusing slapstick image, except as a vampire Edward’s actually capable of turning this boy’s skeleton to a fine powder. So it’s, y’know, kind of sick when you think about it.

But even worse than that, when Bella tells Edward about how she flirted with Jacob to get at that sweet, sweet vampire lore, Edward chuckles and then, after dropping Bella home, flippantly observes that now that the treaty’s broken, why not genocide? I’m not even kidding, it’s right there in Midnight Sun; he seriously thinks about the fact that he’d be technically justified now in wiping out the entire tribe because a teenager tried to impress a girl with a spooky story. That is fucked. Remember, Edward was there with Carlisle when the treaty was first established. He knows how remarkable it is that they even came to a truce in the first place, that it was only ever possible because Carlisle is...well, Carlisle, and that it marks a pretty significant moment in supernatural history. He doesn’t care; he doesn’t respect it, or he’d never think something like “Ha ha, if I went and killed them all, I wouldn’t even be wrong. I mean, I won’t do it, but I’m just saying, I wouldn’t be wrong.”

Again: not the thought process or behavior of a sane person. (Or a person that respects life in general -- sorry Carlisle, big L.)]

Finally, whether he's a narcissist or not, I think the fact that Edward has constant, unavoidable access to everyone's thoughts is a powerful contributing factor to his instability. He can tune out the mental noise to an extent, but he can't stop it -- so he comes to rely on it like another sense. This causes issues with disconnect and lack of empathy, of course, but there's another facet to this shit diamond: he's basically experiencing a ceaseless flow of intrusive thoughts. His narration in Midnight Sun suggests that he "hears" the words people think, can "see" what they visualize in their mind's eye, and can sense the emotional "tone" and intensity of their thoughts. Therefore, perceiving Jasper's thirst through his thoughts makes Edward more aware of his own, "doubling" the discomfort. This would be a lot to deal with even from just his immediate coven members, but Edward gets all of this pouring into his head like a firehose on a day-to-day basis because the Cullens live right alongside humans. I know Meyerpires have galaxy brains or whatever, but that's a ton to process.

Besides the compounding effect on his own thirst when he "feels" the thirst of others, Meyer never suggests that Edward has difficulty separating his own thoughts from other people's; even when he was newly turned, he recognized Carlisle's "voice" in his head as Carlisle's. That would create a whole different host of issues around identity, but it looks like Edward's escaped that particular torment. However, I can easily imagine that what he does experience is just shy of unbearable nonetheless, with an eroding effect on his sanity over decades. He can't sleep to escape it; he's on a dishwater diet and probably (like the rest of his family) experiencing a perpetual, low-grade physical discomfort due to his thirst never being fully satisfied; and he's around far more people than is the norm for vampires -- even discounting all the humans, his own coven is unusually large -- meaning more noise.

Honestly, it would be weirder if he were all there, considering.

And even though I feel like I lost a sense of structure around where I started ranting about telepathy, I've written like 1.5k words about Edward fucking Cullen and I think that's enough for one post.

#twilight #twilight renaissance #twilight meta #edward cullen #i stared too long and the twilight abyss gazed back #long post #major credit due to therealvinelle for having basically all the ideas already #theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin too since they agree and build off each other's metas a lot #idk how people who write meta can just crank these posts out i've been here for two hours #edited to add stuff i forgot to mention about edward's disproportionately violent fantasies

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popculturebuffet · 2 years

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Danny Phantom Reviews Valentine’s Day Special: Flirting with Disaster

Happy almost valentine’s day all you happy people! And Black history month too, it’s a packed month so to honor both at once for this Month’s Danny Phantom review we’re taking a look at Valarie’s penultimate episode and her last one written by someone who actually cared if she existed, it’s Flirting with Disaster!

So yeah it’s time for the ValDanny episode you’ve all been dreading/waiting for. So let’s talk about this pairing shall we. I really like it. As i’ve mentioned in other reviews the two have good chemstiry, an intresting dynamic given how they clash in their other lives and there was a lot of potetial for this. And we get all of one episode REALLY digging into the possiblities.

Yeah while Reign Storm began showing where Marmel left plot points open to explore later Butch didn’t remotely bother with, this may be one of the most gutting examples: Val is a compelling character, a teen struggling to get by after loosing everything but also clinging to wanting vengance on the person who seemingly took it from her despite him making EVERY attempt to make ammends.. and ending up dating the guy in his civilian identity. Her episodes have mostly been a high water mark so far, and as my good friend @jess-the-vampire who I rewatch these with also took note of how brilliant it was that they took a seemingly one dimensonal background character and gave her an entire arc. Val deserved better and while she didn’t get screwed over AS bad as some characters I love... she didn’t get cheated on thank god, she still didn’t get the ending she desreved.

But we still have one last ride. Before we get to it under the cut though a quick announcement: As you might know my last DP review, Kindred Spirits was voted on by you , the fans. Well for March’s review i’m doing it again! It’s time for another Danny Phantom Poll! Me and My three patreons each hand selected an episode, and you get to decide which one I cover next! And this time it’s exclusively season 1 episodes from the “Magnificent 9″ more like 8 giving splitting images in there but hey. Point is YOU DECIDE. And if you join my patreon for a buck a month or higher you can choose an option in the next polls. Next month’s will be a sonic the comic story from jolly old england and may’s (voted on and selected in april) will be teen superhero month, where my patreons will choose a teen superhero or action show to go up against others. So if you want to make sure Danny throws his hat in the ring or want to go fast

And if you want to vote in the poll

VOTE IN THE POLL HERE NOW, VOTING CLOSES NEXT SUNDAY A.D..

And now under the cut and onto the review!

We open at Amity Park Mall and it’s time for Sam to hang with one of her friends in the place where she belongs.... and Tucker is borring her with tech talk the same way I baffle my friends by talking about the time Matt Murdock pretended to be his own twin brother Mike... who at the time didn’t exist. And yes he exists now. It’s a long story involving reading and asgardian stones that I don’t have time for now.

Point is Sam is frustrated and Val is hanging with Star again since Val needed a friend this episode, and when Star calls Danny a looser both Val AND Sam jump to his defense. As for where Danny is he’s busy... and we soon see why as Danny Phantom gets thrown through a table, BY GOD... er by Technus.

This is my first episode covering Technus and I think he’s a fine villian, with this being his best outing. Previous ones are fine including him in a computer game and using tech to create a giant monster, both decent.. but their also pretty stock uses of a technopath or rogue ai. Here while he fights same as usual in this opening Technus’ plan is far more clever, involved and unique. We’ll get more into that as we go but he steps up from villian of the week to a Vlad level threat and it’s kinda sad he never got to reach these levels again... though at least unlike Val or saying he can cure autisim, this is one of Butch’s fuckups I can actually understand: Butch, for better or worse, spent most of season 3 trying out new foes. Sure some old faviroites still showed up, but most of those hadn’t been seen in the present since season 1 (Kitty and Walker) or hadn’t gotten an actual episode, mostly serving as a joke (Box Ghost). For all Butch’s faults with what i’ve seen with season 3 most of them (I.e. Undergrowth, Ampropho and Nocturne) worked. I haven’t seen vortex nor heard great things about him but the point is Butch CAN make good ghosts.. he just can’t run a series or act lik ea decent human being. So while I would’ve loved to see more of a leveled up (literally as he still has his upgrade from last time), Technus, this is one of the few times Butch’s decisions make coherent sense.

Anyways they fight and after hurting val in the crossfire and REALLY pissing Danny off.. Technus notices Danny’s sweet on her and makes plans to use this to his advantage. And it’s intresting why too: Technus sees emotions as a weakness... but unlike other robotic or digital characters who have this philsophy he dosen’t AVOID them, he’s still hammy as ever and enjoys his work and his manipulations. He just dosen’t let them control him and can read them well enough to turn them to his own advantage. He may not like them but instead of stupidly trying to shut them out or anything, he simply dosen’t let them cloud his judgement and let’s it do the same for others.

So the next day , our heroes tour Axiom labs and Tucker gives out some convenient Chris Farley style exposition on a new satellite they have that can connect with systems all over the world, as well as on their space ready jetpack. Honestly Axiom feels like DP’s version of star labs from DC Comics: a high tech super science facility that despite the fact it should be locked down better than god gets robbed every five minutes. Not as often here as Danny’s Family’s own tech is more relevant and is more heavily guarded for anyone who isn’t family, but still, it’s noticable but not a bad thing to curb and tying Val’s dad to it, getting fired then rehired in full later thanks to Vlad buying the place is smart. The show really understands comic booky superhero tropes and how to use them just right while doing it’s own thing.

Anyways Technus continues being clever and uses the fact Val is snooping around to his advantage.. as well as the reason why she’s snooping: the show actually explains Val having been absent for most of the season as her dad took her ghost hunting gear and locked it in Axiom... so Technus locks her away, steals the suit and stages an attack, knowing Danny will hold back and allowing him to worm his way into the systems in the havoc, with Val getting the blame but being rightfully pissed at her dad for accusing her, especailly since it makes no sense. Why would she just randomly attack him? Danny yes, she hates him in his other id and it’s highly irrational hatred at that. But he didn’t show up till AFTER the rampage and more to the point if Val DID steal the equipment.. why would she use it where her dad could see her?

So Val goes off to clear her name while Technus begins his diabolical plan to.. ship his arch enemy with the girl he’s into. Yes this episode amounts to Technus trying to ship two characters together for his own ends. I can relate to that. He also does so in the simpliest way possible... he im’s val , she messages Danny back and Danny ignores the weirdness of not remembering having sent it to talk to her. And look as someone whose gotten into relationships over messengers, I can also relate, as I can to, platonic or otherwise, having an internet conversation go on nearly all night. I’ts honestly adorable. I also give props to Technus.. while there’s the possiblity, as posed by the shows wiki he COULD’VE manipulated the text... he likely didn’t. The whole point of this is to stall for time as the main computer naturally has an ungodly complex password for something so important. So it really woudln’t make any sense for him to waste time hand holding them. He likely just watched to make sure they got going and stayed focused on it and left to go work on the code while laughing manically.

So the next day turns out the two bonded: we find out Val’s a 9th degree blackbelt, eff yes, and Danny wants to be an astronaut. Good for him. Val also asks Danny out to Lunch while Sam decides to.. stalk them to make sure Danny’s safe.

I just... i’m tired of SamDanny at this point. They really haven’t done anything but Say “Well Sam likes danny and their good as friends”. YOu can’t just.... tell us a relationship is meant to be and have it work. It worked for me when the show was airing.. but I was 13-14 and shipped whatever the show told me was the OTP without question. I was dumb. But going through SO MANY cases of that and far worse cases of will they or won’t they hardned me, phrasing, and got me to realize you have to think for yourself. The endgame ship for a show CAN be good and healthy and to prove it we have an example from around the same time: Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable. Instead of CONSTANTLY saying they should be together or hinting one of them had a massive crush and the other was unaware, and oh we’ll get to that trope too just you wait, there were subtle hints they had feelings for each other spread out, the moodniator ep being the biggest one, and they were subtle because.. they were friends. They hadn’t really seriously considered it so while chemistry was there, they weren’ta ware of it. And once ron was with the movie, and might always have been it’s vauge... he’s MATURE about it. He dosen’t constantly shake his fist at Eric like Sam does metaphorically, he dosen’t fucking stalk them on dates. He just feels left out and ignored and alone, and admits he didn’t tell kim because he’d rather not make things weird if she said no. He dosen’t try to sabotage the relationship, is supportive and only interupts their date when he you know , just found out their arch enemy’s plan for world domination. And he dosen’t tell her till it’s a now or never moment, both possibly not making it out of things this time and she’s at her lowest over Eric being a synthodrone. It’s a long story. And their getting together feels natural as a result. And there are other examples I could throw out good and bad but you can see the problem: Sam... just gets vengeful and bitchy whenever Danny takes an intrest in someone else. It’s one thing with Paulina, who is generally awful and you get the sense Danny is only into her because he finds her attractive, something he gets over with time, but here while I get worrying about Val finding out Danny’s other identity... Val is not a bad person nor has she been for a while. At worst she’s a bit standofish which dosen’t make her evil it’s just how she is. While her rageful vendetta against Danny isn’t remotely healthy, it’s also understandable via a bunch of misunderstandings, and danny is geninely trying to get through to her and if she found out while there’s a risk she could expose him there’s also a chance knowing the full story could get her to come around. A slim chance but still a chance. It just feels like the show’s only siding with Sam because she’s the endgame and not because she’s actually right and does that a LOT with her and danny’/s moral quandrys and the fact she’s STALKING danny on entirely normal dates in this episode and never gets called out on it even when she tells danny she’s been doing it is appauling. There’s also another trope at play I hate here, one Jess pointed out: the “EVERYONE CAN SEE THIS CHARACTER HAS A CRUSH ON SOMEONE ELSE EXCEPT THE PERSON THEIR CRUSHING ON” Now me hating this trope isn’t on Danny Phantom, but another Nick show of the time Zoey 101. I may talk about this show someday, but I don’t wanna. The show was built around this with chase having a crush on the tiular zoey, everyone else being aware except Zoey who comes off braindead. And you CAN use this trope well: gravity falls played it straight for season one with Dipper and Wendy... but only people around Dipper knew and the one person in Wendy’s circle who figured it out was a dipshit of a person who only didn’t tell her because he agreed to a cease fire. And more importantly Wendy KNEW the whole time and simply didn’t want to break the poor kid’s heart and was finding a way to let him down gently. Owl House likewise had it with Luz not noticing Amity was attracted to her despite all the obvious signs at first.. only for it to become clear by the end of mid-season 2 a LOT of it was just deep insecurity, having had every attempt at a relationship blow up at the launch pad back home and not feeling she was good enough. Here it’s just... teen nerves, which I had plenty of, hence why I only asked a girl I had feelings for out once in four years of high school, but Sam isn’t me: sam is confident, self assured and has no one to blame but herself for not asking Danny out. Yes it could make things weird if it didn’t work out.. but he’s clearly intrested, so there’s not a huge margin for error and their friendship has survivied the entire thing being erased by a vengeful genie. It can surivive a failed relationship. I swear this might be the most grating part of the show going forward and the worst part is this isn’t even one of the WORST episodes for it.

Moving on so on Sam’s stalking , she notices how romantic everything is.. and that Tucker’s PDA goes staticky.. something he pointed out means Technus is around. Sam puts two and two together. Tucker agrees.. but also points out Danny will just laugh them off, which he does. He stops laughing once the suit attacks though and he realizes Technus really is behind this and they might have a point.

We then get.. an agrvatingly dumb portion something me and Jess both agreed on: Danny fights the suit.. and not only does he DIRECTLY SAVE VAL, WHILE IN DANNY PHANTOM MODE, but he blasts apart the suit. Keep in mind they’ve fought multiple times at this point, Danny has NEVER tried to kill her before this, and it’s VERY clear what he’s blasting isn’t human, with technus having added some wires and stuff inside. So Val’s conclusion: DANNY TRIED TO KILL HER DESPITE IT BEING OBVIOUS HE KNEW SHE WASN’T INSIDE AND EVEN SAYING BYE TO HER AND HAVING SAVED HER FROM THE SUIT

Just my god.... there’s setting up conflict and then there’s making your characters braindead to make the plot work! This.. is probably the weakest val episode.. so far, I don’t remember D-Stabalized well enough to judge how well she’s written in that. The first half is fine but then this second half just relies on a lot of stupid leaps in logic and contrivances. I get Val expects the worst in Danny Phantom, I do but still.

So Danny gets a ring from his dad in a funny scene i’m glossing over, but is conflicted as he’s not sure he can ever tell val. But Tucker and Sam remind him “Priorites” and he goes to the lab to stop Technus. And Val and her dad happen to be there, with Val having shown Damon the footage and Damon finally realizing she had to fight ghosts and wasn’t just doing this as a hobby. Again he buys the same dumb logic she did that danny thought that was her but still i’ts nice character development.

Sadly this leads to both drawing arms on Danny as he tries to stop Technus and needing a distraction, he gives Val an upgraded suit. So let’s give it a quick once over

For the most part i like it. It’s a slick upgrade, having more tech here and there, a cool symbol in the middle (that neatly gives her her own to match Danny having gained one at the start of the season), and more detail. I really like it all except for one detail. The mask. Instead of giving her a red visor or something her visor is tranlucent. Which on one hand I get, it’s to show off her expression.. but just dosen’t work with the design. It’d work better with red or some sort of digital face or mask. it dosen’t HAVE to be all one big visor you could give it eyes like spider-man or deadpool’s mask so it’s expressive, but the see through mask look has just never really worked for me and really dosen’t owrk on a suit that dosen’t comliment it.

Still the final fight is engaging as danny fights time and an upgraded val and only wins by using his space knowledge to knock her out of the running and manages to stop Technus just in time.

THe ending is also geninely tragic: Val dosen’t want to be with Danny becaause it puts him at risk in her eyes.. and she has to keep doing this. Sure she has a vendetta against Danny Phantom, and by the by thinks he was responsible despite EVIDENCE HE WASN’T LYING ABOUT A GHOST IN THE COMPUTER, but she does take this job seriously as he does.. and thus has to let him go, not realizing she’s trying to protect him from himself.

This.. goes nowhere. It’s not followed up on, and I ranted about that enough by my god is this dispaointing especially since they went to the trouble of giving her an all new outfit that only gets used twice more. What... what a waste of a romance and a plot.

Final Thoughts: This episode is okay. As always the actoin is great and some story beats work fine.. but Sam’s stalking, the HUGE leaps in logic needed for the final act, tamper down on the great chemistry Val and Danny have and Technus finest our as a villian. IT COULD’VE been one of the best eps but it just has too much stupid bogging it down to make it anymore than pretty neat. Val deserved a better season 2 sendoff... see you in season 3 sometime val. I’ll truly miss you. Thank you all for reading. As I said the poll iis live so click on the link at the top of the artcile and i’ll see you real soon.

#danny phantom #danny fenton #valerie gray #technus #valentine's day #flirting with disaster #black history month #sam manson #Tucker Foely

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rosalielesbianhale · 4 years

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The human Jacob AU that no one asked for but I can’t stop thinking about

° The books are the same up to the movie theatre with Mike and Jake (except there are no mentions of Sam’s “gang” because it isn’t a thing, Embry is still hanging out with Jacob and Quil, Jake isn’t afraid he’s next)

° Jacob and Bella have a little laugh at Mike’s expense but make sure he gets home safe.

° Jacob doesn’t get “mono” and drop off the face of the earth, he and Bella just keep getting closer.

° and so, Jacob is with her when she find the meadow and Laurent finds her

° in my version of events Laurent did not decide to suddenly side with Victoria because that makes absolutely no sense. He had no trouble ditching her and James in the first book and has supposedly found a partner in Irina who is friends with the Cullens so why would he be doing Victoria a favour and scouting the area?? make it make sense.

° no, instead, Victoria located him and started asking questions about the Cullens and he, trying to dissuade her from going against them, tells her what he’s learned about them since coming to stay with the Denalis. Alice’s visions, Edward’s mind reading, he lets it all slip in the ernest belief she’ll decide it isn’t worth going after Bella, after all evasion is her heightened power; she should cut her losses and run.

° after talking to Victoria, Laurent decides to warn the Cullens, he has a bad feeling after their talk and suspects she won’t give up so easily.

° he finds the house empty which is peculiar, they seemed so invested in this little human and who do you think he runs across in the meadow but that very human accompanied by a friend.

° he tells her about his talk with Victoria but there is a menacing undertone to everything he says. He is trying not to kill humans for Irena’s sake but as his eyes can attest to, he’s had some slip ups, and, really, she does smell delicious. If she is no longer under the Cullen’s protection then there would really be very little harm in draining her and there’s only one witness to take care off. It might even be a mercy because if Victoria gets her hands on her she would not make it quick, he’d do it as painlessly as possible.

° all of this is said aloud because the reader has no insight into Laurent’s mind otherwise and he seems like a person who’s inclined to give the occasional monologue

° he tells her to run, before he changes his mind

° meanwhile, Jacob is freaking the fuck out. As soon as they reach the road Bella guns it for her truck while Jacob just keeps up a continuous stream of “what the fuck. what the fuck. what the actual fuck. they’re actually fucking vampires? what the fuck. oh, god, dad was right. What The Fuck.”

° after that the whole story comes out, how Jacob was actually the person who helped her figure it out, how she had envisioned spending eternity with Edward and how, now that he’s gone, she hasn’t just been robbed of the person she loves but of what she had come to accept as her future. She has never been able to confide in anyone about the whole story so she tells him everything, right down to what actually happened when she got injured in Phoenix. It’s not like they’re coming back, it doesn’t matter if she tells Jacob.

° Jacob is understandably on overload, Bella drives him home and he says he needs some time.

° this is when Bella starts trying to reach Jacob but he’s unreachable. He’s processing a tremendous amount of information and needs some time away from the madness of Bella’s life.

° Bella starts to get restless. Jacob isn’t talking to her, she feels isolated and she needs to see Edward. She jumps off the cliff.

° I kind of want Sam to be the one who sees her jump and who fishes her out of the water tbh. He doesn’t have Charlie’s number so he calls Jacob’s house.

° Jacob promptly freaks out.

° he brings Bella home, Harry Clearwater has had a heart attack.

° Jacob is frightened for Bella after her jump but he also needs to be there for his dad right now and Seth is so young, Leah seems different after she lost her dad too. He needs to be there for them.

° There’s also the fact that the girl he’s in love with is in love with a vampire but staying away from Bella did not give him the clarity he’d hoped for. It’s still a mess.

° Alice arrives, she doesn’t need blind spots in her visions to go and knock some sense into Bella. Yes, she’s alive this time but she saw her voluntarily jump off a cliff into a raging ocean. Before she left she was a mess talking about how Bella tried to commit suicide and she had to go ensure she wouldn’t attempt it a second time.

° When Jacob rolls up to the house and sees Alice there it feels as though his insides have turned to ice. Are they all back? Is he losing Bella before he ever really got to tell her how he feels?

° Alice leaves to let Bella explain the situation. She tells him only Alice is back and why she came to visit.

° Jacob is a mess, this whole thing is a mess, but he’s left with the feeling that he had when he saw Alice was there. He needs to tell Bella how he feels.

° They have the almost kiss in the kitchen. Jacob is still dumb enough to answer the phone in someone else’s house, he still tells Edward that Charlie’s at the funeral.

° Alice returns, frantic. They have to leave for Volterra. However, Jacob doesn’t basically beg Bella to let Edward kill himself and stay with him. Once he understands that Bella is serious and Edward literally is going to try to get himself killed because he thinks Bella is dead he understands that the only way she can live with herself is if she tries everything she can to stop him from succeeding.

° Instead he is the voice of reason: “Bella, listen to me, Charlie is about to come home to an empty house after burying one of his best friends. He will be beside himself with worry and this note is bullshit, you’re a horrible liar. Tell him you’re staying with Alice tonight because you’re going to Seattle together in the morning, there’s a sale or some shit that she wants to drag you to. Tomorrow night you call him and tell him your car broke down, you have to stay in Seattle while they order the parts for you. It might be a few days. That’ll buy you some time.”

° “And call me when you land or, I don’t know, I might worry too.”

° It feels like tearing his own heart out but he lets her go. He doesn’t beg her to stay.

° The events at Volterra play out the same way they did but Charlie isn’t left to deal with the same amount of shit he was in the original.

° When they return Jacob comes to visit her, she fills him in and, let me tell you, he has a few things to say.

° “I can’t believe you’re just going to get back together with him. Bella he lied to you, manipulated you and left you. His sister can see the god damn future, if you think he didn’t know how this would affect you then you’re wrong. And he still did it. Maybe he’s telling you the truth and he did it because he thought it would be better for you in the long run but he made that decision without you. If you just take him back then you are essentially telling him that was an okay thing for him to do and it just wasn’t.”

° Jacob is so angry at the Cullens and really, what he’s saying isn’t wrong. The angrier he gets the more Bella can feel her own anger flaring to life, it had been buried under the sheer relief of finding Edward alive, the euphoria of being told that he still loves her. Now she feels indignant; how dare he just make this decision for her, how dare he not take into account her own feelings on the matter, how dare he prioritise his own concerns over hers, and how dare the entire family just go along with it. They all left her.

° She drives herself over to the Cullen’s house to have a talk with them. The vote stays the same, the “if you don't want me, then I'm not going to force myself on you, whether Alice is willing or not” part definitely stays in. However, Bella, after having taken the vote has a few choice words for all of them. “You all left me. I have spent months trying to learn to survive without you and it didn’t go all that well. I want to join you, I really do. But I don’t trust you anymore. You all made an enormous decision for me, without my say so. You’ve now made another decision that I was a part of and even though we don’t all agree, we all got a say. It’s going to take time for me to learn to trust you again, in the meantime all I have to say is this: you will never make a decision regarding me without my input again. Never.”

° She also talks to Alice separately, discounting Edward she feels the most hurt by the fact that she would have left her.

° Since Jacob is now the only person outside of the Cullens who she can actually talk to about her life, she tells him about her talk with them, including the vote.

° Jacob has an understandable freakout regarding the fact that Bella has definitively chosen to become a vampire. This is definitely not what he’d thought would happen after he and Bella had their last talk. And because he’s an impulsive teenager he brings Charlie the motorcycle, hoping that Bella will be grounded and get some distance from Edward and maybe even change her mind.

I have a lot of thoughts regarding the continuation of the series but it’s already a mammoth post so idk, i might do a separate post about Eclipse at some point.

#my shit #new moon #jake #jacob black #pbm #twilight #twilight renaissance #nm #long post

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freddiekluger · 3 years

Note

I am all ears for your season 3 cap's big gay awakening ideas 👀👀

alright, you asked so sit down and strap in

before we get started- a few details are recycled/repurposed from earlier headcanons/ask answers (characterisation is like that), and i came up with all this a couple weeks back, so any overlap with other peoples suggestions is totally unintentional! i’ve just been finding the energy to properly write them up as originally i riffed them with a friend late at night lmao

the captain: homo evolution

introduction (scroll down if you’re not bothered for the hardcore analysis/logic)

this isn’t necessarily what i think WILL happen as much as how i would do it. over the past two seasons of Ghosts, we’ve seen the captain’s main character arc being centred around him loosening up, from learning to value mike, alison, and the other ghosts more as equals than soldiers/means to an end to the season 2 finale, where cap is not only expressing an interest in flowers and fashion (distinctly un-soldierly pursuits) but joining the party and other men (the direct opposite of About Last Night, in which cap bah humbugs partying/’gay abandon’ and is left speechless by the mere presence of a mostly naked man). that being said, the captain is still the captain: his character is still centred around this need for rules and structure and he still finds his identity in the archetypal WW2 military man- all of his incremental moves towards a more ‘modern’ perspective have ultimately been made possible because, like Ben said on twitter, the captain isn’t CONSCIOUSLY aware that he’s gay. he has the underlying feeling that he’s different, he knows of his tendency to attach himself to specific men and form incredibly close bonds (and, as demonstrated by his attempts to hide them, is at least somewhat aware that that’s not the norm), but in his mind he’s written that off as merely “not being a ladies man”.

the captain is from the 1940s- it’s one thing for him to see and be supportive of a same-gender wedding in present day England where gay=legal unions, marketed doritos, and homophobia being still present but generally frowned upon, and another thing entirely for him to have to apply it to himself. we’ve already seen that the captain appears to be stuck in the past more than any of the other ghosts (”the war is over!” “is it, alison? is it?”- he also references the past more frequently than most of the others), and in his past sodomite gay=punishable by imprisonment and chemical castration, back alley hookups, and the constant threat of blackmail and violence. obviously, despite all this, there was a vibrant underground queer history taking place in England during this time & not all of the above is accurate, but it’s what cap would have seen, and the England of the early 20th century is denoted as being a particularly brutal period for lgbtq+ folks (the destruction of the first world war exacerbated rage and frustration, and lgbtq+ people weren’t the only gorup to end up on the receiving end of that, but i digress). this is basiclly just a really long way of me saying that the captain compartmentalising to that degree was, and to some extent is, a survival mechanism. confronting his homoseuxality means confronting what it means for a 1940s man to be a dreaded homosexual, and all of that directly conflicts with the image of ‘the Captain’ he’s built in his mind.

we’ve seen this in Redding Weddy, where the captain is aware that Havers means/meant more to him than was normal for a captain/2ic relationship (he does attempts to hide his affection- “i shall miss you, Havers. by which of course i mean we shall miss you “he left me, i mean he left for the front”), but is never able to fully verbalise WHY, and it only takes a series of increasingly dramatic prompts before he will even mention the idea of Havers, let alone begin to articulate their relationship.

all this just goes to prove that for the captain to properly ‘come out’, there needs to be an external inciting incident- he could easily have gone on shadowing attractive men whenever they visit and avoiding interrogating those feelings for another seventy years if Button house remained without alison and mike.

while at least julian, pat, and robin have noticed that the cap is not the most heteroseual of men (they’re the only ghosts who have visibly reacted when cap says gay shit), they all appear to have decided to just not mention it, which makes alison and mike our wildcards. not only has alison’s ability to see and communicate with the ghosts already connected them more to the modern world than they ever have been, alison, and mike by extension, has a personal stake in the wellbeing/general growth of the ghosts. happy ghosts=happy house, and like it or not some of them are even beginning to become friends. [i probably didn’t need to write all this like explaining my decisions, but i think figuring out the motivations behind everyon just develops the flavour and lets us have a sexy and accurate headcanon]

so,

the episode

while the captain might not consciously know he’s a fruit (derogatory), he is well and truly terrible at concealing the thirst (it’s not his fault things just keep slipping out!)- i love the idea of just having a supercut near the beginning of the episode that just shows that the captain has gotten even GAYER since last season, with slip ups becoming almost a daily occurence, but it’s getting to the point where it’s actually becoming a serious hazard. last week, he was supposed to be looking out for alison while attempted to put up blinds, but one of mike’s friends (who was over ‘helping out’, which mostly meant eating chips and covering himself in paint) walked through the room with his shirt off and paint handprints on the seat of his shorts, distracting the captain from realising that alison’s stepladder was about to give way.

with the increased presence of non elderly men in the house (the previous owner wasn’t exactly the life of the party) the captain is getting gayer and gayer, but he’s also becoming more and more defensive, while his brisk demeanour and need for control regresses to much more of a season 1 state (a subconscious attempt to regain control as things get close to spilling over). it’s not the first time his repression has almost slipped, he spent much of his life surrounded by soldiers after all, but with no war and no corporeal body he’s got almost nothing to distract himself from it. needless to say, between the safety hazards and the almost agressive defensiveness which derails any interaction, something needs to be done about the captain.

throughout the week, alison tries to find the opportune time to talk to the captain about what’s going on with him for everyone’s sake, but cap keeps masterfully evading any ‘deep’ talk with willful misunderstanding or just straight up dismissal (which at times gets a bit rude), and alison really doesn’t have the time- her and mike are caught up with managing the first official room redecoration and butting heads with a passive agressive delivery driver. insert general shenangigans, but at some point the captain’s whole “accidentally sabotage something by being distracted and then attack anyone who dares even look at him the wrong way afterwards” act causes alison to exasperatedly blurt out “we all know you’re gay! we get it! you like men! you can drop the act!”. there’s no malice or anything but, as we know, when alison gets run ragged things don’t tend to come out quite right.

everything falls silent (and mike is vaguely confused), and the captain just looks like a deer in headlights. as alison catches her breath, pat pipes up with a “it’s alright, cap, we don’t mind- now we can focus on the task at hand”. the captain sort of regains his composure and once again attempts to brush them all off with a scoff and a “i haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about. if any of us is distracted, i-it’s... kitty!” but it’s easy to tell he looks rattled. most of his words don’t come out right, and after trying to blame kitty for their failures (she just had the unfortunate luck of being in his line of sight), he ends up doing an awkward little walk away which quickly turns into a full on sprint. mike, having finished processing alison yelling about gay shit to the air and kind of pieced together what must have happened awkwardly chimes in with “it’s okay to be gay!”- alison just pats him on the back (”yeah no he’s gone, mike.” “gone?” “sprinted away.” “huh”)

the episode continues with the captain flat out avoiding alison and the other ghosts to an almost funny extent as the other plots continue. it takes a bit for alison to realise why the captain reacted so badly (in fact, it’s actually mike who remembers that he’s 1940s ghost- “he’s probably just scared and taking it out on everyone else”). while thomas and julian vote for leaving the captain be so they can have some peace and quiet, fanny/pat/alison/robin decide someone needs to talk to him (fanny surprised everyone but after all, she got murdered because her husband had to live in secrecy- if talking to the captain will avert any further crises, she’s happy to make sure someone else does it for her). kitty’s still upset about being singled out, but she knows better than anyone that sometimes all you need is a friend- cue realisation no. 2.

with the captain avoiding everyone, sending in a regular emissary isn’t going to work. they need to find the least threatening person possible, with no agenda or history other than being there to help (a friend, if you will)- cue everyone looking at mike.

a quick offscreen briefing later, we see mike wandering out to the field where the captain has exiled himself- remember that up until this point, the captain was still in conscious denial about his sexuality, so being forced to confront it head on (and finding out that apparently everyone ‘knew’, which for cap would feel like an intimate invasion of privacy/forced vulnerability) would rattle him to the point of self-exile- he might not be able to run from his sexuality, but he can run from people. the thing is, mike can’t see or hear the ghosts, which means the captain can’t be frightened off by any expectations (mike actually talks to/at cap while facing completely the wrong direction, but consdiering the above point, this works rather well).

the captain was alternating between pacing, fiddling with his swagger stick, and sitting, but he unconsciously stands to attention as mike wanders over. he’s used to mike not being able to see them, so mike asking to sit down takes him by surprise, disrupting his instinct to flee again.

mike begins a little awkwardly (”mind if i sit?” *silence* “...i’m just gonna assume that’s a no. or is it a yes? yeah anyways i’m just gonna sit. so... heard you’ve been going through a rough patch”), and the captain almost scoffs and wanders off, but something about the clumsy earnestness in mike’s voice, the captain’s vulnerable state, and the fact that it’s been so long since cap has had anyone actually check in on him, that he stays put. he keeps standing and staring away from button house, and mike keeps speaking to the empty air to his left, and alison and the ghosts stay hidden behind their bush a few metres away, but at least the captain is listening. for the first time in weeks, he’s not on the offensive.

“i can’t actually see or hear you, so i’m just gonna talk and assume you’re listening. alison mentioned you have a habit of running away but, um, maybe don’t do that please?”

“my mate daniel's gay. uh, homosexual, you’d probably say- did you have gay when you were alive? did it just mean happy? anyway, he didn’t come out- that means tell people- until he left high school. we all kind of guessed it, the other kids at school gave him a real tough time for it, but he just squashed it down. couldn’t imagine that all the things people were shouting at him were true, so he ignored it. he’s doing good now though. got married to his husband last year, currently runs a bookshop. so that’s nice.”

it goes quiet for a bit. the captain hasn’t moved, and we’re still only seeing shots of him from the back, but there’s a little less tension in his stance than there was before. mike clears his throat before continuing.

“i’m guessing you’re probably pretty scared right now. i would be- i mean not that you should be, you shouldn’t, but coming from your... situation, i’m guessing it’d be hard. no one’s saying you have to be anything you’re not ready to be, but lots of things that are scary are actually not bad. airplanes, skydiving, clowns- well, not the clown from that movie, but he gives clowns a bad rep- i’m sure there are plenty of lovely clowns out in the world. still give me the creeps though.” the captain makes a captain-y noise of assent about the clown comment- he never liked them either.

mike glances over to the bush where alison and the ghosts were attempting to listen in (they could only catch every few words- mary got particularly concerned about why mike had referenced clowns), and the captain still hasn’t run away, so alison motions for mike to keep going. he starts telling the captain a story from his uni days. it’s got nothing to do with the captain, or being gay, or self-acceptance, or anything like that- it’s just a standard tale of comedic but inventive problem solving. the captain sits himself down next to mike (to his right, avoiding mike’s gaze, and still staring away from button house), muttering that his legs are getting a bit tired. he sits there for a while, and mike just talks. sometimes he circles back to the gay thing, sometimes he just asks the captain questions, before remembering that he can’t actually hear any answer, but then he keeps asking anyway, thinking that cap might need to talk. he doesn’t at first, but slowly he offers up a word or two. and then a sentence, and then maybe more- mike will accidentally cut the captain off, or leave the silence to long, but the captain doesn’t mind (it’s a nice reminder that nothing he says will actually go on to have consequence). at one point, mike gets out his phone to show the captain photos of his mate daniel and daniel's husband, not just their wedding day but casual photos- couples drinks with him and alison, dinners at each other's places, the bookshop.

alison and the other ghosts have long gone, and the sun is just about to sink below the horizon by the time the captain stands himself back up with the traditional knee crack and grunt. he looks at mike and nods, giving him a simple thank you before turning to walk (not run) back to button house, head held slightly higher and looking more relaxed than he’s been all episode. the captain has still got a lot to figure out, but at least it’s a start.

[i love the dramatic ending but the implication is that alison has to go and fetch mike bc he has no ideas cap has left and is prepared to keep going lol- also by no means is cap suddenly going to ditch his characterisation and become a yas kween gay right away, i didn’t go into the aftermath bc this is alreayd fucking LONG but let me know if you want follow up????}

EDIT: i've rbed this with the follow up/part 2 attached!

EDIT 2, much later: switched out mike's reference to his 'younger brother' to a school friend, since the christmas special confirmed mike only has sisters and we're all about accuracy here

#bbc ghosts #ghosts bbc #the captain #ben willbond #bbc ghosts captain #bbc ghosts headcanon #ghosts headcanon #lgbt #lgbtq #gay #mlm

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starrtennis · 3 years

Text

I’m still haven’t tried the suboxone because of scheduling fuckups and bad timings and things like that from multiple involved parties including my mom who wants to be at home and not at work when I start to watch over me in case I stop breathing or some freak accident which won’t ever happen.

I published my first book of poetry. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B092T5SK4F/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=the+passage+is+still&qid=1618810064&s=digital-text&sr=1-1

Congrats to me. It’s abstract postmodern gibberish mostly but if you like that it’s for you.

Work is going well. I’m learning to use the JMP data analysis software. And I learned to use two medical diagnostic instruments, bulking behemoths, not like CERN sized but only four or five can fit in a lab so yeah.

I’ve been having more depression lately and psychosis. We’ll see if it gets better once I’m off kratom, if the suboxone works. Hitting it next weekend. Wish me luck.

Reading more, investing my paycheck in crypto (partly), and donating to some causes I believe in, including: Audubon Society, Brain Pickings, Oceana, Electronic Frontiers Foundation, and OpenCulture.com. It feels good and it helps keep valuable things alive for others.

I didn’t vote last time because I was enraged with psychosis so much that I just couldn’t. I’d say that’s disenfranchisement if I’ve ever heard of it. I don’t know how to solve the problem though. I’ll be voting next time for sure, I’m way healthier now that I’m on Depakote (or divalproex, rather). It works wonders for my schizoaffective disorder even though it’s a bipolar drug. Anyway the gaba receptor is the problem for me, so that’s why it works. My mom is worried it will give me appendicitis, which I think doesn’t have any tests to detect it? I don’t know. If I survive the first few months I should be in the clear. Getting to be about at that point as of now.

Reading lots of poetry, reading A Spool of Blue Thread (just some random novel), want to read lots more. Find me on goodreads.com: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/119599093-michael-starr

I could go on but I won’t. Hope you’re all doing well.

Mike

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totaldramafan1998 · 2 years

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Zoke Week 2021 Prompts and Rules

Hello there, everyone! My deepest apologizes for making you all wait to see the results to the Zoke Week 2021 Prompt poll. I have been getting distracted lately by many things, plus my ADHD has been causing me to lose focus on a lot of stuff.

Anyway, we're on the final month of this year, meaning that we are nearly close to the start of Zoke Week 2021. Now then, this year has been much better for all of us than last year and I can't be anymore happier about that.

Now, before I show you all the prompts/themes for this year, let me first show you all a reminder of the rules for Zoke Week as always. However, as I said last month, NSFW will not be used for this year so one of the rules will be modified.

Here are the rules for Zoke Week 2021

1) The Zoke Artwork/Fanfics must be rated PG-13 (Previously, I allowed NSFW as a choice but since I decided not to allow it for this year, I will not allow any Mature Artwork for this year, I hope you all can understand this)

2) No Zoke Hate at all! (This week is not to post any type of Anti-Zoke artwork. It is to show how much we care about Mike and Zoey)

3) Anyone who is participating this year can do any of the choosing prompts for this year or can do any past prompts from previous Zoke Weeks. (Or if you like, you can draw/write your own Zoke Week piece)

4) You can post a Zoke Week entry a little early or a little late. Just not too early at all

5) You are not to nor cannot... AT ALL! Bash any Total Drama couple, whether it's canon, fanon, crack, or OC x TD Character at all! This week isn't about showing how much Zoke is better. This week is only to show how much we appreciate Mike x Zoey, that's all

6) You can also add in a TD Couple or more into your artwork or fanfic if you like to (Just remember, it's Zoke Week)

7) No stealing any other artists' artworks at all! (This includes requests, commissions, art trades you asked for) I am serious about this, you must draw your own artwork or write your own fanfic

8) You can draw your artwork in any type of style you want.

9) And... Most Importantly, Have Fun!

There you go, everyone! This is a reminder of the rules for Zoke Week 2021. Now that's out of the way. It's time we reveal the top prompts for this year's Zoke Week. Now, I tallied them all up and gotten some amazing votes. Reminder, if two themes have the same number of votes, then I will use them both as a double prompt day.

Now... HERE IS THE ZOKE WEEK 2021 PROMPTS

December 25th: Birthday

December 26th: Wholesome/Cute Moments

December 27th: Reunion

December 28th: Good vs. Evil

December 29th: Holiday Season and/or Zoom Meeting

December 30th: Gaming and/or Crossover

December 31st: Meeting the Family and/or Wedding

There you have it, everyone! These are the top prompts that you all voted for Zoke Week 2021. I want to thank you all who voted, this couldn't happen without your help and your participation.

Now then, Zoke Week begins on December 25th aka Christmas Day and ends on New Year's Eves aka December 31st. Until then, enjoy your day

#td mike #td zoey #zoke #zoke week #zoke week 2021 #total drama #tdroti #tdas #total drama revenge of the island #total drama all stars #mike x zoey #mike and zoey #total drama zoey #total drama mike

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marmolady · 3 years

Text

The Wreckage of What Was

Main Pairings: Estela x (f)MC

Summary: Rourke Ending. An explosive encounter with the woman who was once her wife has left Taylor shattered.

Word Count: 3528

Chronology: Directly following on from 'There Was This Girl'. Read that one first!

Tagging: @saivilo, @edgydepressedchoicesthot, @sceptilemasterr, @greengroove @mauvecatfic

Curled up under the covers, her head tucked in against her chest, Taylor closed her eyes tighter, ignoring the knocking on her apartment’s door. Or, at least… she tried to. She wasn’t sure of the time. There hadn’t been much point in checking; she wasn’t going anywhere. It mattered little if she fell behind in her classes. Straight A’s wouldn’t free Varyyn and his people from Rourke’s enslavement. Nor would they allow Jake and Mike to stop running, to come home. Nor cure Quinn’s Rotterdam’s. And they sure as hell wouldn’t make Estela know her again. Love her again. Tears prickled Taylor’s eyes. The skin around her eyes and nose was red raw from crying, from being wiped and dabbed by what felt like enough tissues that she could call herself personally responsible for the felling of a small forest. Still, the tears came, because the all-encompassing sadness, the helplessness, just didn’t stop.

“Taylor! You can’t just hide in there forever!”

She didn’t want to see Diego. It made no sense to her that he didn’t loathe her. She’d been the one with the deciding vote, and it was she alone who could’ve fixed everything… if only she’d had the guts. Taylor saw herself as a coward; the one responsible for every wrong Rourke inflicted on this world. Diego had trusted her, and Taylor had chosen the path that tore him from Varyyn’s arms, and torn everything else from Varyyn in the process.

“TAYLOR!”

Then Zahra’s voice cut across him. “For fuck’s sake….” There was a creak as the door swung open, then approaching footsteps.

“Tay?” Diego called, right at her door this time.

Taylor’s groan of frustration turned into a roar, and she sat up in bed.

“You’re not great at taking hints are you?” She knew she was being unnecessarily mean, and she hated herself for it. But the fact was, she’d done enough to make him miserable without him being sucked into the black hole of despair she seemed to have become.

Diego pushed the door open. If he was hurt, it didn’t show on his face. His eyes were just sympathetic… kind. It was kindness she didn’t deserve.

“I think you know you can’t shake me that easily,” he said airily. “Have you eaten today? It’s after three.”

Avoiding eye contact, knowing how much of a mess she looked, Taylor sighed. “I haven’t been hungry,” she said, her tone flat. It was true. She’d barely touched a thing since everything with Estela had blown up spectacularly in her face. To get up and eat something, she’d have to find the energy to move, and for the most part, that had been eluding her.

Diego disappeared back out the door, and some rummaging-sounds later, returned with a plate of crackers and dip. He approached the bed and sat down on the edge… close enough to make it known he was there for Taylor, but not close enough to be pushy.

“Look, I know you don’t have any appetite right now,” he said, “but something small is better than nothing. Think you could do that… for me?”

Taylor huffed a little, and tidied up her hair as well as she could manage without going so far as rummaging for a brush. She looked her friend in the face, properly, for the first time since he showed up. He looked worried. Really worried.

It had been four days. Four days since Taylor had taken a great leap of faith, and fallen. For a little while there, it had actually been easy; having Estela near had felt natural, even if few words were ever exchanged. But Taylor had misjudged things, badly. There had been some… charged looks between the two of them…. moments where time slowed, and suddenly it was her old Estela seeing her, maybe even wanting her. It had been wonderful. If only it weren’t for that creeping knowledge that she was taking advantage; Taylor knew Estela, Estela didn’t know Taylor. The dishonesty of it all had troubled Taylor to the point of spurring her to action… and spilling all.

Obviously, Taylor had sounded deranged. She’d known that before she so much as opened her mouth to start, but her crazy story was the only truth she had to offer. Going on about Rourke changing history-- what the hell kind of reasonable person wouldn’t think Taylor had lost her mind? And Estela… well, Taylor already knew that Estela had no patience for anyone trying to screw with her. She hadn’t been ready, though, for the anger. She’d seen that anger in Estela’s eyes before, but never dreamed it could ever be directed her way. And, oh, it had hurt.

“You’re too good to me,” Taylor mumbled. Reluctantly, she reached out and took a cracker. For Diego.

“What best friends are for, right?”

Taylor put on a valiant, if ultimately sad, attempt at a smile. However much she might have felt it for the best, she simply didn’t have the heart-- nor the energy-- to push Diego away. “Well, what’s your plan?” she asked. “Sit me in front of Shrek until I believe in true love again?”

And so, they huddled under a duvet and watched Shrek. The dragon set Taylor off crying again, but it was generally a good distraction while they ate. Once the crackers were polished off, Diego nipped out to grab some ice cream-- the fancy kind usually reserved for Very Bad Days. It was a rare and potent breed of sadness that couldn’t at least be tempered by ice cream, but it seemed that Taylor was afflicted with just that. Even if the pain in her heart couldn’t be lessened, though, she was grateful for Diego… far more than she could say.

Her bowl empty and the movie done with, there was little for Taylor to do but to wallow in her own thoughts. The very same that had been so intent on dragging her under. At least now, though… at least she wasn’t alone with them.

“I’m… so lost,” she croaked after a long while, her voice hoarse with emotion.

“Yeah?” Diego rubbed her arm comfortingly. “I… I get that.”

Taylor looked down into her empty bowl, contemplating everything. No matter how many times she turned things over in her head, she always came out confused. The path forward-- if there even was one from this hell she’d unleashed-- was tangled with thorns and riddled with dead-ends and traps. She’d been stumbling through, fearful of causing even more damage while knowing that everything she cared for rested on her success.

“I feel like… maybe I was wrong? Maybe it wasn’t right to just blurt everything out? I mean, you remembered, didn’t you? Maybe if I’d just left it… she might have just… worked it out herself. It’s not like there’s a fucking hope of her remembering me if I’ve scared her off….”

“Hey. Our Estela doesn’t scare easily. And you know what? Maybe the fact that you sounded absolutely batshit crazy will help in the long run. You’ll stick in her mind.”

“And what if… what if what I’m trying to is actually… is actually just going to make me the person who hurts her most?”

Diego’s brow furrowed. “You’re losing me.”

“What if she’s better off? I know she felt so betrayed when I took this path but….” Taylor roughly ran her hands through her hair. This had been damn near driving her crazy. “She’s got her mom back, Diego…. It’s like her mom was never murdered. If I wasn’t so selfish, if I just let her be… she’d never have to feel that pain.”

For a few moments, Diego pondered; a couple of times he opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again, as if not quite sure of what to say. At last, though, he just came out with it. “I think… I think you’re just grasping onto another excuse to beat up on yourself. I’m sorry, Taylor.”

“Wha--”

“You heard,” Diego said firmly, obviously finding his resolve to really help as he looked Taylor right in the face. Even if it was hard for her to hear. “And honestly? I think you’re forgetting who you’re talking about. When we were up on that rooftop, did Rourke even try and win Estela over using her mom as a bribe? No-- because he knew that would only make her fight him harder.”

Taylor exhaled through her hand, now pressed against her face as she wrestled with her thoughts. Diego… had a point. “She’d have broken his freaking nose, then and there.”

“Exactly!”

“So, what does that mean? That I’ve failed and there’s no consolation?”

“I think,” Diego said, calm and steady, “that we’re in for a long haul. But I also think that there’s a part of Estela that really, really misses you, even if she doesn’t know what it is. Like… even before I remembered, I could feel something was missing. And I was drawn to you. Even if Estela thinks you’re crazy, you’re still that person she fell in love with a couple-thousand times over.”

“You’re betting an awful lot on Estela falling for the person who, by all appearances, is nothing but a delusional stalker.”

Shadows of sorrow crossed Diego’s eyes. “Well, I’ve got to. There’s… not really much else.”

Taylor snuggled close, squeezing her friend… the only one she had left, and one she could not be convinced she deserved. But she was all he had, too.

“I know… I know this is all making you crazy. And I know a big part of you hates yourself for making the call you did. But hiding in here and beating yourself up isn’t gonna do anything but make you feel worse. However much you think you deserve to feel that bad, I can’t let you give up. I can’t.”

Her friend’s words made Taylor wince. There really was no option; she simply had to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Keep putting on a smile to should-have-been friends while her heart was quietly breaking.

Diego took a long exhale. “So. You can have today, and you can have tomorrow. But then, you pull yourself together. There are too many people counting on you for you to go to pieces now.”

Taylor nodded, and tears dripped down onto her lap as Diego held her. Being there for him meant letting go of her own self-loathing, however hard it was. If he still believed she had it in her to fix this fucking mess, she’d fight to her dying breath. The floodgates had opened, and she cried and cried, feeling everything she knew would soon have to be quashed back down. His own eyes spilling, Diego kept on rubbing her arm, supporting her always.

Messily wiping her face on her sleeve-- it was already crusty with tears and snot anyway-- Taylor gathered herself. Deep breaths. In… and out.

“I really miss her,” she said after a long while, soft as a whisper. To say it loud just made it bigger, and it was already tearing her apart. But if she was moving forward, that pain had to be expelled… else it swallow her. “And it just… aches. When things got scary-- and to be honest, when were things not scary?-- she’d just… slip her hand into mine, and hold me. It’s been months-- I know it’s been months-- but I can’t keep myself from half-expecting her fingers to wrap around mine, and just like that… make everything better.”

Without a word, Diego took Taylor’s trembling hand in his own, his thumb stroking tenderly.

When he closed his eyes, Taylor knew he was imagining Varyyn holding his hand. And as she closed her own, Taylor let herself, for just a moment, be held by Estela.

On return to reality, Diego’s face was wet with tears. He offered Taylor a watery smile. They were in this together.

“Hey,” Taylor said shakily. “Will you… will you stay?”

“I’ll stay.”

________________________

True to her word, Taylor forced herself out of the apartment come the day after next. Hard as it was, if she didn’t keep up with her studies, she’d risk losing her place at Hartfeld, and any hope she might have of reconnecting with her loved ones. Winter had set in, and for most students, life consisted of hurrying between one heated lecture theatre and the next, or sheltering in the library, cafe, or student union building. It seemed every heater on campus was mobbed by a tight circle of students, and the queue at every coffee outlet busy. Taylor joined the masses, huddled up in the library with a long-awaited coffee and a heavy text book. It would be all too easy to let the gloomy weather negatively impact her already fragile emotional state, so the best thing she could think to do was surround herself with activity.

Her mind strayed to its usual fretting-- about Estela, about Diego and Varyyn, about--

Taylor yelped as hot coffee burned her mouth. She knew the library’s drinks always came out piping, and cursed herself for being so goddamn distracted. Cheeks flushing, she set down her cup.

“Are you okay?” asked a familiar, kind voice, hoarser than it should have been. Quinn had turned around from a bookshelf, concern upon her pale face. “They do go a bit over the top temperature-wise here. I’m guessing you’re used to the coffee shop?”

“You would think so, wouldn’t you?” Taylor replied ruefully. “But no, I should know to be careful by now. Sadly, I just felt something warm between my hands and all rational thought deserted me.”

Quinn laughed, which, to Taylor’s horror, brought on a fit of hacking coughs.

Oh, Quinn.

Around the campus, Quinn was easily the most elusive of the group; quite an achievement when Estela insisted on keeping herself as inconspicuous as possible. It was a constant worry for Taylor and Diego, knowing what they did about their friend’s illness. Logic told them that if circumstances around her had changed little with Rourke’s interference, Quinn might be expected to survive at least until the end of junior year, but all appearances made it clear she was in a very bad way. Weeks could go by without either of them catching a glimpse of Quinn around the place, and it was downright frightening.

“Hey-- sit down,” Taylor urged gently. “Don’t want us both to hurt ourselves over my lack of judgement.”

Quinn sank into the chair beside Taylor and struggled to catch her breath. A fearful Taylor hopped up and started rubbing her back.

“Do you want to grab you a glass of water?”

“I’m okay-- kff-- I just need a-- kff-- a moment….”

Frustration was clear upon Quinn’s face. Not wanting to be over-bearing, Taylor eased back… but those coughs sounded so painful….

Slowly, Quinn got control over her coughing. “Better…,” she said, eyes closed. She opened them slowly, and offered her companion a shaky smile. “It’s Taylor, isn’t?”

“Yup, that’s me. Quinn, yeah? I haven’t seen you around in a while?”

Quinn’s smile became stronger, as though she was genuinely delighted to be remembered by what was a passing friendly face. “The colder weather hasn’t been doing my health much good. The school’s understanding; what can be done from home I don’t have to come in for. But sometimes I just want to brave it and actually be a part of everything.”

“Yeah?” Taylor said, “that’s understandable. All this dreary weather… it has its way of making loneliness hit even harder.” She pursed her lips a moment. “Look, if you ever want a study buddy…? You could even stop by my place-- not to be presumptuous or anything, but it might be more comfortable than having to fight for a spot by the heater here.”

A shadow passed over Quinn’s face, her smile growing sad. “That’s really kind of you to offer, and-- honestly?-- I’d love to take you up on it. I just… well, things are quite difficult for me right now.”

“It’s okay-- no pressure. I just want you to know that you’ve got a friend on campus if you need one.” Sitting back down beside Quinn, Taylor picked up her mug and gingerly took a sip. Much better. “Do you have any more classes today?”

“Oh, just the one,” Quinn said more brightly, clearly relieved at the change of subject. “I’m taking Visual Arts. I do a bit of painting-- not really seriously, more just for me. I was a little worried that study would take some of the fun out of it, but it’s turned out to be the bright spot in my schedule. If I can make it in person for anything, I always aim for Visual Arts.”

“Well, I hope you enjoy it,” said Taylor, and she took another, braver, sip of coffee. It was all useful information-- apparently this would be the most likely time of week to have a surprise Quinn encounter. More importantly, it was reassuring to know that it was not, in fact, all doom and gloom. “I’ve got to head off for my Introductory Chemistry practical in about ten minutes. Painting sounds a lot more fun-- wanna trade?”

Quinn just laughed.

Yeah…. Thought not.

_____________________________

As a general rule, Taylor didn’t actually mind Chemistry that much. It wasn’t exactly her bag; the equations had a habit of drifting in one ear and out the other, but it wasn’t the worst thing in the world. What made it painful now, was Estela.

A few weeks ago, Taylor had been overjoyed to have been placed in a group with the woman who had once been her wife, but a lot had changed since then. Estela had furiously warned Taylor to stay away, and Taylor had done just that, both out of respect for the wishes of someone she loved, and out of plain fear that she might fuck it all up further. There was no crossing the quad to avoid this one, though.

It was as uncomfortable as Taylor had anticipated. Estela looked right past Taylor, directing all communication to their third group member, who seemed oblivious to the tension. Taylor wasn’t sure how-- the air was so fucking thick with it she could barely breathe. Her hands shook as she measured out materials, and it was by virtue of a lucky save that she didn’t drop a test tube of chemicals onto the floor.

Everything in Estela’s body language, in her expression, screamed that she’d rather be anywhere else-- anywhere at all-- than there working alongside Taylor. The feeling was mutual. Taylor watched the minutes pass by agonisingly slowly as they slogged through the experiment. If she had to speak, it was only the bare minimum to get the work done. Never, never had she felt more alone in Estela’s company. She’d experienced indifference before, indifference that had fueled her longing until it hurt like a physical wound. But now Estela regarded Taylor not as a person of little consequence, but as a threat, and that was far, far worse. Trying not to wither under that fierce gaze, Taylor soldiered on, until finally, the experiment was concluded, and she was free to pack up… and head home for a stiff drink.

As she turned the tap to rinse the last of her test tubes and beakers, the water gushed with a sudden force, spraying Taylor down her front.

“Crap!” she cried. It was near freezing outside, and to have a clothes sopping wet would make for a very uncomfortable walk back to the apartment. Well… it was just her luck.

Taylor pulled off her jacket, and bit back a sigh. As her problems went, a bit of cold and wet was pretty much nothing. Hell, if home, and Diego, and a pile of blankets was at the other end, she’d put up with far worse. Grumbling a little as she packed up her things, Taylor braced herself for a great rush to get between this warm shelter and the next. But as she stepped through the doorway--

“Wait!”

That voice made her turn. It always would.

“You’re going to catch your death. Tonta.” Estela rolled her eyes and shrugged off her hoodie. “Your shirt’s still wet. Here.” She thrust the hoodie into Taylor’s hands.

“You don’t have to--” Taylor stammered, utterly taken aback. Remember to breathe, you idiot!

“Taylor. Just put it on, will you? Unless you want to freeze.”

Getting over her surprise, Taylor took the hoodie. Discomfort was plain on Estela’s face, so she didn’t linger to make the exchange any more awkward. Just a smile of thanks… and they parted.

Taylor looked on, stunned and watched as Estela slung her bag over her shoulder and jogged into the shadows. A chill wind hit her, and she hastily pulled the hoodie over her head. It was warm, and the scent of Estela, heart-achingly familiar, lingered. A tear, just another in a long, long line, prickled Taylor’s eye as she breathed it in.

She brought the front of the hoodie to her face and closed her eyes against the scent and feel of home.

It wasn’t over yet.

#endless summer #rourke ending #estela montoya #estela x mc #playchoices #quinn kelly #diego soto

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