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gaawachan · 3 years

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Critical Role 126 Discord Convo

Here, my sibling and I talked a bit about Veth, Caleb, the Cerberus Assembly, and Astrid/Wulf in particular (it starts out a bit goofy at first but gets serious): Sibling: Did you see that animatic I sent you, speaking of that scene?

Me: Yes

Sibling: Like, it'd be great to update it with Astrid and Wulf in a mound just behind the 9

Me: Lol, they would have seen the polymorphed worm, too... And the yeti friends... "They... built snowmen in balenpost?"

Sibling: And had to camp out while they disappeared into the wizard tower... the Beau-shaped hole in Balenpost lol

Me: There was a jester one too

Sibling: LOL. Like, a snowman... a snowman with 2 heads

Me: and sad faces

Sibling: One kicked over snowman and two human-shaped holes in the snowbanks. But seriously, there's no way someone isn't aware that Vess is dead. Her window was open, letting the snow come in

Me: Oh, the assembly knows. At the very least, Ludinus, Trent, and the scourgers definitely know. Astrid "thanked" Caleb because she's assuming he killed her, or she wants that to be the case, at least.

Sibling: Veth is totally missing the point. The writing is on the wall, Astrid is using the shit out of Caleb and I think, at the very least it might be an interesting DQ6 moment where when they come back from saving the world, Astrid's already taken Trent's place and they have to deal with it that way.

Me: Yeah, it's very obvious, especially when you consider how Astrid and Caleb have similarities. Like... Astrid's panic attack in the alley reminded me of Caleb's breakdown in Shady Creek Run. Right after the manipulation is over and they're out of sight, they have a breakdown. Tbh... If Caleb were to replace anyone on the assembly, it shouldn't be Trent. It should be Ludinus. Ludinus is the root of the problems in the empire, pretty much everyone is certain at this point that that is the case. The king is evil but seems incompetent/useless.

Sibling: I wonder, honestly, if that'll be the conclusion to the M9? If Caleb's arc will conclude it?

Me: But at the same time I don't want him to be in the assembly; I don't think he WANTS to be.

Sibling: Rewatching the table scene *Veth: (to Wulf) "When the war was a bit more hot... Were you much more busy?" Wulf: "Not any more than yourselves." Veth: "No I mean, were you out on the lines like a soldier?" Wulf: "I'm not much of a frontliner... More of a scout, if you would."* Wulf is totally tailing them. Wulf is absolutely the person they sent after them, I'm certain of it.

Me: Yeah, I figured. There's going to be a confrontation in Eiselcross when they're traveling with Essek, I'm sure of it. That's gonna be rough.

Sibling: No, I know that, but it stuck out to me. I feel like Matt's dropping major hint bombs... ex vs current bf?

Me: I wonder if Essek has MET Wulf before.Sibling: I like Wulf more than Astrid.

Me: Me, too.

Sibling: I think I'll be sad if he gets gravity crushed, but he better not lay a finger... on my butterfinger.

Me: I mean, I feel bad for them both, but the problem is that they can't be trusted with power, and if the Assembly falls, they may try to seize power. Tbh I just don't see them surviving to the end and that's pretty sad.

Sibling: I could see Wulf being turned if the party spent more time on things, seeing as he seems to be more of a piece to be manipulated than a major player himself... but their focus is entirely on Trent and Astrid, which makes me think that he'll be canned.

Me: Actually, I'm not so sure about that Wulf thing. I think he may be harder to reach in some ways. See the thing is... Astrid wants power. That's understandable. But it's not clear if she wants power for necessarily nefarious purposes or if it's just that the life of poverty she led before coupled with how much she's lost drives her to reach for it, and it's not clear what would satisfy her or whether or not she'd be interested in taking her life in a different direction, so that's complicated.

Me: But with Wulf... Wulf's issues are simpler, which I think arguably makes him harder to reach. Wulf and Astrid have both basically shrugged off their parents' deaths at this point, they've both indicated as much in different ways, but Wulf's a servant of the Raven Queen. He can rationalize the death of anything and anyone under her banner. Unlike Astrid, who is motivated by power/ambition, Wulf is the holy soldier... of the death god. That's uh... zealotry.

Me: Worse still, he has religious motivations for going against those who use Dunamancy, which is likely an anathema to the Raven Queen. He was already following her when he was a teenager, because Caleb was looking to see if he had any symbols of her on him when they first reunited. Honestly I really don't think either of them can truly be reached unless Caleb DOES take over the assembly and even then they might do scummy stuff behind his back out of perceived necessity.

Sibling: If his motivations have been so tied up in his religion, it would make it very difficult to reach him, true. But Astrid seems to have invested so much into her ambitions that I wonder if she might try to quiet those talking her out of it. She seems very aware of her actions' consequences, unlike someone like Essek who had ambitions without understanding where his studies would take him. If they're left alive, which I don't think they will be, Caleb's best scenario would be to avoid the assembly as much as possible.

Me: Honestly at this point I feel like the entire government of the Empire needs to be cleared out and replaced, ideally by the Cobalt Soul. Though that would be very controversial, I don't think any other organization can be trusted with filling that vacuum. The Soul is ultimately an international religious organization, but considering they have shown willingness to weed out corruption within their own ranks, it would be interesting if they pooled their resources and had the Empire taken over by a circle of vetted monks instead of corrupt mages, and then have them transition to a democracy eventually.

Sibling: Considering that Matt has reinforced that the Cobalt Soul is attempting to weed out its own corruption, but can't seem to do so for other organizations... I wonder how long it would last. At least they wouldn't have to operate in secret anymore. Maybe that would lift their final restriction?

Me: Well, the thing that really chafes at me with respect to Caleb potentially joining the assembly is that he just DOESN'T FIT THERE. I've thought this before but Caleb would be more at home working for the Cobalt Soul than the Assembly. He's been talking about burning out the rot in the Empire for ages now, and that's basically the goals of the expositors. I wouldn't object to him being involved in the Empire's government... as long as that government did not consist of anything resembling the assembly. A complete restructuring.

Sibling: I mean, you can't really rework the gov unless you're already in a position like Ludinus, but even then, Caleb I still feel like is not the person for that.

Me: But let's be real, ideally he would be the head of the Soltryce Academy... and that's the thing... One of the problems with Wulf and Astrid is that you get the feel that they could rationalize doing anything. And you have to wonder under all that rationalization and manipulation if there is any malice/sadism... there probably is, which sucks because Astrid is actually far better positioned to be an effective politician than Caleb; she's had experience around it for over a decade, she probably knows politics very well. Caleb is earnest and an excellent negotiator but he is not a politician. He would be best off as an ambassador, if I had to pick a political position for him to take.

Sibling: The government does still need to be overthrown for Essek to come hang out with Caleb though, so it must be done.

Me: It must be done. Looping back to Veth/Astrid... Here are some of the posts on Veth's behavior that I've seen. *posts a bunch of links* It's interesting... the Astrid thing. I haven't seen anyone else point this out, but... Veth probably sees Astrid as being Caleb's Yeza. And if Caleb can go back to Astrid and be happy, it's like a test run for her going back to Yeza. Which is pretty messed up. He keeps telling her "Yes, I care for her, but we've both changed" and that's not something Veth wants to think about because it applies to her as well, except that... well, Yeza really hasn't changed. Just her.

Sibling: 1) Ah, skirting her trauma by attempting to address what she sees as Caleb's? Addressing her issues by proxy? Overbearing mom living vicariously through her son...? ... That kind of makes my stomach churn, but I get it. 2) Another revenge perspective. Considering her knee-jerk reaction to kill people who've wronged her family or the party, I think revenge is totally an aspect that has gone unexplored for her. 3) Eugh, the romance still squicks me out, but I understand. Nott was a different person to Veth, she probably had a hope out for returning to her form and going back to Yeza... But I wonder if she thought he wouldn't accept her, and she had Caleb as like... (ew) a backup?

Me: I mean, it's pretty well-established that she has a thing for Caleb. And yeah, her feelings for him are pretty fucked up because of their dynamic up to the point where they went to Felderwin. The CA did wrong her family, and so did Essek, and Veth is very much a vengeance-minded person in a far more straightforward way than Caleb. Most of the others have told Caleb that if he goes after the Assembly, it should be for the right reasons. Interestingly, Veth, Fjord, and Jester don't seem to agree exactly. Jester sees it as a sort of "why not both?" thing. Fjord seems to have no qualms with vengeance at all (unsurprising considering which parts of his past have not yet been resolved, and yet Fjord has never gotten shit for that like Caleb has, and Sabian has done far less harm/damage than Trent). But Veth? Veth sees vengeance as clearcut, something that ought to be pursued and then when it's done, it's done and she's satisfied. It's interesting that the person who Caleb was most attached to at the start of the campaign is also by far the most unhealthy influence on him in the group at this point.

Sibling: I think it's because Fjord hasn't been molded by Sabian. Sabian wronged him, but the more Fjord found out about himself, the less important that seemed. And the more they found out, the more you begin to call into question whether what he did was to get rid of Vandran, an unsavory figure or... something else? Not to mention, Sabian is insignificant, whereas Caleb's abuser is still abusing people to this day. I can see there are major differences between the consequences of either of their revenge quests.

Me: Yes, but that's precisely my point. Sabian is not hugely harmful in comparison to Trent, so it's interesting that people give Caleb shit for being motivated partially by revenge, while Fjord doesn't get any when that's basically his ONLY motivation for tracking down Sabian.

Sibling: Probably because Fjord might get a reason without killing Sabian. Caleb might be walking into a trap, laid out by his peers. I still am of the opinion that killing Trent is a net positive. Just the act of getting rid of him is necessary to stop the cycle. But what comes next is the most important part. Because if Trent is dead when they come back, and Astrid sits in his place... The perpetuation of this cycle won't come to a close.

Me: Yes. I mean, personally? His entire section of the Empire's government should be outright dissolved. It's absolutely revolting. The thing is that it's not just Trent that needs to go; it's his POSITION. That needs to not exist, and I don't see that ever happening so long as Ludinus exists as well. Edit: Well, you basically said what I meant in a different way, lol.

#critical role #critrole #critrole spoilers #critical role spoilers #episode 126 #caleb widogast #astrid beck #eadwulf #veth brenatto #nott the brave #trent ikithon #ludinus da'leth #essek thelyss #cerberus assembly #meta #fjord stone #thisconversationwasallovertheplacehowdoitagthis

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is0gild · 4 years

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Ice Cream and Fire Oven Pizza - Chapter 18

Pairing: Elsa x Lea/Axel || Side Pairing: Riku x OC

Summary: Modern AU. She's an introvert ball of nerves who works at Ice Palace, a mall food court ice cream shop. He's the outgoing, sassy goofball who works at the Pizza Planet across the way. Hilarity, snark, and fluffy romcom hijinks ensue.

Word Count: 7,733

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER

Credit for super friggin’ cute and super friggin’ amazing cover art goes to the super friggin’ talented ky-jane here on tumblr!

"Oh dear god, the rumors are actually true."

I blinked over at Frozone. "What rumors?" I asked as I bent forward over the countertop towards the little girl with short black hair tied up in adorable pigtails, handing her an ice cream cone that was almost as big as she was.

He facepalmed, dragging his hands down his face to give me a deadpan look between his fingers. "Are you seriously dating the pizza guy?"

My shoulders tensed momentarily before I gave a nervous chuckle, holding my hand out to my tiny customer so I could receive her tip since she was too short to reach the jar. "Why do you ask?" I avoided his gaze, instead electing to sift through the small treasure pile now in my palm. Besides the assorted change, there was a smooth pebble, a shiny paperclip, and a crumpled up business card I assumed belonged to the kid's dad who she was scurrying back over to now. He was a big hairy guy standing off to one side in a garish blue suit with purple polka dots. The name on the card read James P Sully and he hailed from a company called Doors-R-Us, which I believed was a hardware store located somewhere else in the mall.

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Frozone wordlessly point across the way. As I dropped the munny into the jar and tossed the rest, I looked to the Pizza Planet and I had to quash the urge to facepalm myself. Lea was bouncing around behind the counter there, not so subtly alternating back and forth between blowing me kisses and holding his hands up over his head in the shape of a heart.

"Yup," I sighed, closing my eyes and pressing my fingertips between my eyebrows, "that idiot over there would be my boyfriend alright."

It'd been a few days now since the group date. There hadn't been any further outings, not of that magnitude at least, but Lea and I had been taking our lunches together if they lined up as well as making other small public appearances together wherever else we could to keep the act up. I was finally getting to the point where I was more used to all the hand holding and hugs so they no longer fazed me, not outwardly at least. The little flutters my heart would give were another matter, but at least those were easy enough to conceal and keep to myself. His kisses, on the other hand, continued to be a work in progress, often still causing my brain to experience a temporary hiccup in functionality. But I liked to think I was getting better about that too, just more slowly. I still hadn't made any progress in the initiating-PDA-myself department, but I just needed more time. I was working up to it, I swear! I'd get there. Maybe today even. Perhaps… Possibly… Hopefully? ...unlikely. Ugh.

Lea himself had been enthusiastically taking on the task of leaving no doubt in anyone's minds that we were now a couple. In fact, this was not the first time he'd been brazenly sending me air kisses and hearts across the food court. Just the first time Frozone had caught him doing it.

"But why?" Frozone shook his head, looking genuinely confused. "I thought you two weren't even getting along. I mean, after the incident on your first day of work and all that weirdness in the weeks after…"

"Actually, we were dating before all that. Even before I started working here," I said quickly. Not that that helped clear things up for my coworker. Like… at all. But hey, I had a story to maintain. As his brow only wrinkled further at me, I winced. "It's… complicated."

He held his hands up, "You know what? I've decided I don't even care. As long as you don't let it interfere with your work, you do you, girl."

"Oh it won't! I promise! You can count on me," I reassured him, plastering on a smile. From my peripheral, I could see Lea was still at it with no sign of slowing down. If anything, he only seemed to be getting more spirited about it. To Frozone, I said with every ounce of dignity I could summon, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a very important and totally work-related text to make on my phone right now that in no way, shape, or form has anything to do with…" I gestured a hand gingerly towards the Pizza Planet, "that over there."

"...uh-huh," he said flatly, turning away to assist another customer.

Hastily fishing my phone out of my skirt pocket, I brought up my texts, tapping on a certain name before my thumbs were blurring across the screen.

Quit it, you're making a fool of yourself.

I narrowed my eyes up at him as I hit send and he froze mid gesticulation, looking down at one pocket of his pants. Then I watched as he dug his own phone out, read my message and smirked before his fingers were on the move. There was a buzz in my hands and I looked down at the screen.

1st of all, when hz that ever stopped me b4?

Well he had me there.

2nd of all, u thought all that was 4 u? Plz, all that luv was directed mr studmuffin ovr there

I squinted one eye at the words before looking back up at him. He was now waggling his eyebrows as he pointed to my left and I realized he meant Frozone. The man in question was looking between us as he rang up an order, his eyelids drooping. "Do I even want to know?"

I snorted, biting back a grin. "No, I really don't think you do," I told him, tapping away at my keyboard again.

Dork.

Lea was now typing something back one handed, using the other to wave off Xion as she tried to get his attention.

U know it. What time u off?

I checked the clock on my phone before replying.

10 more minutes.

Xion was beginning to look frustrated over there as she more urgently tugged on his sleeve. Lea just smothered her face with his free hand, lightly shoving her away while he remained focused on his phone.

Perfect me 2. Dont go NEwhere without me, we got plans ;)

My head tipped to one side.

We do?

Xion huffed, stomping away to grab a giant slab of pizza dough and balling it up in her hands as she gave Lea the evil eye. He continued to remain blissfully unaware.

Most defini9kf.u1kd4

Apparently his fingers had slipped followed by accidentally hitting send as that ball of dough smacked him square in the jaw, courtesy of Xion's pitching arm. And strong arm at that, for it was enough to knock him straight off his feet and send him disappearing below the counter. She razzed her tongue at him, dragging her left lower eyelid down with a finger. Then she paled and squeaked, bolting into the back room when a scowling Lea pulled himself back up, half his face dusted with flour now and one eye twitching as he stalked after her. I just laughed softly, turning my attention to a new customer that had just approached my register.

A few minutes later found me clocked out and standing in the food court, scrolling on my phone while I waited. I was still in my work attire, including of course a pair of glorious, blessed stockings (of the snowman-print variety) because never ever again would be the day I'd go without. My hair was still pulled back into a ponytail, but I'd tucked away the Ice Palace cap into my bag.

"Ah, there ya are!" I felt Lea's arm slip around my shoulders and his hand cup the side of my head, bending it towards him so he could press a kiss into my hair. He grinned down at me, "How is my lil lekker stroopwafel this fine day?"

I blinked up at him. He was still in his work clothes too, sans apron and visor. Pocketing my phone, I echoed, "...lekker stroopwafel?"

"It's Dutch. It means you're my lil delicious waffle," he cooed and planted a swift peck to my cheek, which I squeezed one eye shut against.

Face warming, I gave him a blank look. "Do I even have to say it?"

He pouted, "Aw man, really? Overruled? Crap, I'd thought you'd like that one too. Guess it's back to the ol' drawing board." He started walking, the arm still hugging my shoulders pulling me along with him.

Shaking my head at him with a tiny smile, I asked, "So what are these plans we have?"

Holding an index finger up to his lips, Lea winked at me. "It's a surprise."

I quirked an eyebrow and frowned thoughtfully. "...is it the clocktower again?"

"Pft, like I'd do the same thing twice. What a lame-ass surprise that'd be. What kinda uninspired oaf do you take me for? Gotta keep things new! Fresh!" he chuckled as he moved us along, keeping our pace brisk. "And bonus, it's good for the masses to see the two of us out and about like this. Keeps us in the public eye and people talking about what a freaking adorable couple we make. Stop here."

"Wha-?" I was cut off as he suddenly swept me around, pointing me at the Bippity Boppity Boo formalwear shop. However, I got the feeling that he wasn't so much facing me towards it specifically as he was more so facing me away from something else.

Standing in front of me now, he brushed a hand down over my sight. "Close your eyes please. No peeking now."

As soon as he removed his palm, my eyes snapped open again, "But what are you-"

"I said no peeking," he laughed, his hand gently sliding my eyes shut again. "You'll see soon enough, 'kay?"

"Fine," I puffed out a breath, crossing my arms and doing as I was told this time.

A shadow flickered over my eyelids - I think he was waving his hand in front of my face. Then I heard his footsteps walking past me, followed by him asking, "You got it?"

"Right here!" a friendly female voice I didn't recognize responded.

"Perfect! Thanks, you're an angel, this world isn't worthy of your pure divinity," he said back, to which she just gave a warm chuckle. Then I heard the tip-tap of Lea's shoes again, could feel him hovering just behind me now. When he spoke, his voice was right next to my ear, "Alright, you can open 'em now."

I did, discovering he'd looped his arm around to hold something up in front of my nose. A flower. Two of them actually, blooming from one stem, both white and delicate and with fuzzy sprigs of yellow sprouting out the centers.

"...winter honeysuckle?" I said quietly, carefully taking it from him.

His head still beside mine, I felt him nod, "Mm-hm! It's your favorite, right?"

I turned to look at him as he straightened up now. "How did you know?"

"Asked Raindrop," he grinned, shoving his hands into his pockets with a shrug and not yet taking a step back, remaining real close.

"Thank you," I murmured, bringing it up to my nose with a soft inhale. "I'm surprised it's blooming this time of year."

"That's Aerith for you. The Greenthumb Goddess," he tossed his head back towards the flower kiosk behind him and in particular at the woman running it. I recognized her from last time I'd walked past here, her big pink bow hard to forget. She just smiled at me, green eyes dancing as she waggled her fingers in a tiny wave.

I returned the smile and wave before setting my gaze on Lea once more. "Is this the surprise?"

"Are you kidding? Please, this is just the opening act. C'mon," he slipped his hand into mine and gently tugged me into a walk once more.

"But what's it for? Is there some sort of special occasion?" I frowned down at the plant, twirling it between my fingertips as I racked my brain, trying to come up with the answer myself but drawing a blank.

"Whaddya mean, what's it for?" he snorted as we passed an Olympus Gym with floor-to-ceiling windows, through which could be spotted a squat, bald, grumpy looking fellow that appeared to be training a chiseled, golden-haired Adonis who could be a strong contender for the Mr Universe title. Pulling me onto an escalator, Lea continued, "I just wanted to give ya something you'd like."

We slowly rose up to the second level, a Blitzball Sports shop and a Glass Slipper shoe store gliding by before disappearing beneath us on the floor below. A crease formed between my eyebrows. "But why?"

He blinked at me, then chuckled and ruffled his fingers through his hair. "Just cuz! What, does a boyfriend hafta have a reason to give his girlfriend lil gifts every now and again? Jeez, ya act like you never-" he froze, eyes widening. The back of his foot hit the top of the escalator, catching him off guard and he stumbled, but managed to remain upright before looking back at me horrified. "Wait. Please, please don't tell me your royal dumbass of an ex never gave you any flowers."

I stepped off the moving stairs after him, looking away with a tiny huff. "Yes, of course he would. Big bouquets, in fact, full of a whole variety of blooms. They were actually quite lovely… but…" I raised the flowers up to my nose once more, hiding my small grimace behind them. "...well, there was just always a reason… an event or something. Just because etiquette would demand it. And they were never winter honeysuckles. I don't think he even knew they were my favorite. He never… asked…"

Lea pinched the bridge of his nose with a grumbling sigh. "This guy sounds more n' more like a total tool with each new thing I hear about him. Ugh, forget him," he brightened, linking our hands together once more, leading us onward.

We passed a magic shop bearing a glittery sign that read Sorcerer's Apprentice, inside which were two old dudes, each with beards more ridiculously long and grey than the last, plus a younger blonde gentleman with a goatee and several piercings, his hands shuffling what was most likely a trick deck of playing cards. Neighboring that establishment was the Blue Sitar, a musical instrument store with some guy snoozing behind the counter, his hair at war with itself, not quite sure whether it was a mohawk or a mullet.

My attention was drawn back to Lea as he chimed in once more, "Besides, we have way more important concerns to be thinking about." He turned his head to the right and his eyes lit up. "Like puppies!"

"Pup-?" the word was swallowed in a gasp as he dragged me into a run towards a store dubbed 101 Spots. A pet store, to be exact, as I quickly learned when we passed through its doors and my ears were greeted with a chaotic chorus of woofs, meows, and chirps. Both eyebrows shot up my forehead as I glanced around, "...is this the surprise?"

"Nah, this is just a detour," he chuckled, releasing my hand to squat down and reach forward, fingers beckoning towards a dalmation near the cashier counter. The dog's ears perked up curiously for a second, then it gave an excited bark and barreled into his arms, nearly toppling Lea to the ground. It seemed the two were already old pals, if the way the canine's tail thumped against the carpet was any indication.

I tilted my head. "For puppies?"

"Well yeah! Always detour for puppies! Isn't that right, Mr Slobber-Drool-Face? Yes it is!" he squished the dalmation's face between his hands, using his baby-talk voice as it responded by enthusiastically giving him doggie-kisses.

Oh dear. Lea liked dogs.

"Is that the spot right there, buddy?" he asked as his four-legged friend flopped onto its back expectantly and Lea obliged, both hands giving vigorous belly scritches. "Oh yeah, that's definitely the spot! Woojy-woojy-woo!"

Like… really, really liked dogs.

My crush was soaring to dangerous new heights.

Clearing my throat, I tucked my flower into my bag, leaving the petals poking out the top so they didn't get smashed. Then I kneeled down beside him so I could reach down and scratch behind the dog's ear. It lapped at my palm and I grinned. "You looking to take this one home?"

"That's Pongo," a new voice spoke up. I looked up to see the woman with blonde hair done up into a bun smiling at me from behind the counter. Anita, or so her nametag boasted. "And he's not for sale. He and Perdita," she looked fondly down at a second dalmatian sleeping nearby, "belong to my husband and me. Perdita will be having puppies soon though, so you may want to check back in a few weeks."

"I like to stop in and give Pongo and all the other puppers here some wub whenever I can," Lea cooed, playfully wrastling the dog into a hug.

My eyes crinkled as I watched him play with the pooch for another minute, then I stood up once more, deciding to take a look around. I meandered slowly, reaching into the low pens as I passed by to give quick pats to dogs, cats, and bunnies, running my fingers lightly along the bars of bird cages as their occupants quizzically cocked their feathered heads at me before I moved on.

Finally I came to a stop in front of the puppy pen. And I didn't mean that in the same way Lea did, who seemed to call everything that barked and ran on all fours a puppy, regardless of the animal's true age. These were actual puppies. There were a bunch of children on the other side of the pen that had gathered most of the puppies into a joyful frenzy over there. However, there was one that was staying back, ears at attention as it sat on its haunches and stoically watched the others frolic. Put quite simply, it was a pure ball of fluff, white and poofy. It had to be more fur than dog.

"Hey there little guy," I murmured, getting its attention as I bent down over the enclosure. It backed up a step, lowering into a crouch and giving the hand I offered it a tiny growl, which was more cute than threatening. "It's alright," I soothed patiently, still holding out my hand. The snarling subsided and after a hushed pause, it tentatively crept forward to snuffle at my hand before giving it a timid lick. "Ah, I see," I laughed, sticking both hands in now to pick the puppy up and hold it in front of my face, "not such a tough guy after all, huh? No, you're just a big ol' softie deep down."

Its stubby tail began to wag and it replied with a small yip.

"You don't say?" I smiled back, cradling it in my arms now and taking one of its paws in my hand. "Look at those feet. You're going to be a big fellah, aren't you? Do you have a name?" Another yip. I scanned the puppy corral, but didn't see any signs listing names. Ruffling the cushy fur of its tummy, I told it, "Well you look like a Marshmallow to me."

"Quick," Lea suddenly appeared at my shoulder, whispering into my ear, "you distract everyone with your feminine wiles and I'll stuff the pup down my shirt to smuggle him out of here."

I snerked, not taking my eyes off the poof as I tapped a finger to its wet nose. "Ah, so this is the one you're going to get. Good choice."

"Me? Nah," he shook his head as his hand went to pet it and it repaid him by treating his fingers like a chew toy. He didn't seem to mind. "Saïx would murder me execution style if I ever brought a dog home."

I turned to look up at him now, arching an eyebrow. "But I thought you said Saïx loved dogs."

"Nope. Other way around, they love him. He just suffers their presence. Does lead to some pretty funny interactions though whenever he crosses paths with one. But no, I meant you. How 'bout it, wanna give this lil tyke a home?"

"Oh no," I sighed sadly, shifting the puppy in my arms and it took the opportunity to flick my nose with its pink tongue as I did so. "Unfortunately, pets aren't allowed in my apartment complex. But maybe when I get my own place."

His head rocked back slightly, "Huh? Already have plans to move out? But you just got there."

"Situation's temporary. My room's a future baby nursery, so I need to find a place before junior arrives in a few months." I nuzzled the critter's snoot. "Hopefully I'll find somewhere nice that allows dogs and I can get a little cutie like this guy to just snuggle with in bed all day."

"Mmm," he hummed. I could feel his hand trailing down the length of my ponytail, running it through his fingers and letting it slowly slip free strand by strand as he mumbled, "Sounds like that would be nice to come home to." Then he tensed beside me, snatching his hand back to instead scratch a spot behind his ear, "Er… that is… I mean you make… coming home to a dog sound nice. Heh."

I made a noncommittal noise in my throat, stroking a curled finger under the puppy's chin.

"...I'm going to have to take the lil mutt away from you, aren't I?" I heard Lea ask.

"Chances are good, yes."

"Alright, fuzzball, time to go back to your pen before the pretty lady commits grand theft doggo," he scooped the pooch from my arms. It growled at him and he just snorted as he plopped it down into the enclosure, "Oh yeah, so scary. Got me shaking in my stylish-yet-sensible Chuck Taylors."

Would-Be-Marshmallow ran up to the plastic fence, whimpering at me and giving me the full force of its sad puppy-dog stare. I tucked in my bottom lip, my hands already reaching for it again, "Maybe I should just-"

"Nope, let's go," he snagged my hand and started leading me towards the exit. "Don't make eye contact, that's how they get ya. One look and bam! You're powerless to resist their evil, doggie mind games."

I let him guide me back out of the store, offering little resistance beyond a tiny pout. It wasn't until he led us onto another escalator that I snapped out of my sulking. I furrowed my brow, looking down, "Wait, we're descending."

One step below me, he turned to face me with a smirk. This was one of the rare occasions he was at my eye level without having to stoop. "Yes, that more or less tends to happen on down escalators."

"But why?" I frowned.

His head tipped slightly to the left. "...I'm guessing you're looking for an answer more sophisticated than, 'to get to the first floor.'"

I rolled my eyes, "Yes, I mean why-" I stopped, realization dawning on me and my eyelids drooped. "...did we seriously only go to the second floor so you could pet the dogs?"

"Puppies," he corrected then shrugged, "and yes. It was on the way."

"No, no… if it requires taking an up escalator to get there, then a down escalator to get back on track, that is by definition out of the way."

He lifted his chin with a sniff, "Puppies are never out of the way."

I shook my head at him, "You have a problem."

"Says the puppy snatcher."

"I did not-"

"Oh-ho, but you wanted to. Could see it in your eyes, El," he leaned forward, pointing to his own gaze. "Lucky I was there to save you from going down a dark path from which there's no turning back."

I gave a huff through my nose and deadpanned, "My hero."

"That's right, babycakes. And don't heroes always get a kiss from their lady fairs in honor of their heroic deeds?" His hands shifted to cover mine on the rubber handrails and he leaned in further still, his nose brushing mine, his eyes hooded.

Cue the conga drum beat that was the hammering of my heart.

Gosh, he really did just so love using this pretend boyfriend act to mess with my head, didn't he?

Well, nope. Nu uh. Not today, you stupid blush! Turn around and march yourself back to wherever you came from because this face ain't buying what you're selling.

I rocked back on my heels a bit, regaining a little space between us as I turned my head away. "Well, if you head back to 101 Spots, I'm sure Perdita would love to slobber you with those kisses."

Snerking, he stepped off the escalator as we reached the bottom, muttering, "Was worth a shot." As I followed him onto the ground floor, he grabbed hold of my shoulders and guided me a few steps further before bringing us to a stop. "Here we are!" he proclaimed, flourishing his hands out before us, "Ta-da!"

My nose scrunched up slightly. "...The Toy Box?" I read the colorful sign hanging over the archway before me that opened up into (you guessed it) a children's toy store. It seemed business was currently slow, for inside all I could see was one employee by himself, wearing a kiddie cowboy hat too small for his head and galloping around on a stick horse to amuse himself.

"Huh?" Lea followed my gaze then tsked under his breath. "No, not that. That." He pivoted me slightly so I was instead looking at the next business over. Above its entrance flashed big, neon letters spelling out Hot Wheels. They were punctuated by a blinking image of a pair of old fashioned four-wheeled skates leaving a trail of cartoon fire in their wake.

"A roller rink?" I asked slowly and uncertainly.

"Yup! C'mon!" And with that, he weaved our fingers together once more and pulled me through the doors.

The place was huge inside, with eighties synth-pop blasting out from the overhead speakers. The ambient lighting was dim, but you'd hardly notice what with all the glowing neon rainbow tubes twisting and stretching along the walls, the iridescent laser light show dancing to and fro, and the spotlights darting about all over the large arena that was taking up a majority of the space. It was jam-packed with roller skaters laughing and having a good time.

Lea led me over to a long counter immediately to the right of where we'd entered. The cashier across from us was a chick with short, choppy black hair that had a few streaks of violet in it. She said nothing, just crossed her arms and stared at us, chewing her bubblegum and looking unimpressed.

"Hey Go Go!" Lea chirped at her, holding up a pair of fingers. "Two sets of skates please!"

Bored stare not letting up, she merely blew a bubble and remained silent. For a second, I almost thought she hadn't heard him over the blare of the music. But then the gum burst and she gave a flat, "This her?" Her eyes gave me a quick once over before narrowing on Lea. "She's too good for you, Red."

"Don't I know it!" he laughed before shifting over to mime cupping his hands over my ears, "But don't let her hear you say that, otherwise she might finally come to her senses and dump my sorry ass!"

Her eyelids drooped and she blew another bubble. Tough crowd, it seemed. With another pop, she turned her back to us, grabbing a few things off the shelf behind her before dropping them down on the countertop in front of us. "You know where the lockers are," was all she said as I looked down at the padlock and two pairs of roller skates - the smaller set powder blue while the others a blinding red.

"Sure do! Thanks, Go Go," Lea beamed, gathering everything up and tucking it under one arm.

I cocked my head at her, "But I didn't even tell you my shoe size, how-"

Once again, I was being dragged away by Lea's hand on mine. I tripped but caught myself, glancing over at him as we walked towards some benches. He grinned, "Don't worry, they'll fit. Like me, she's got a gift," he tapped an index finger to his temple. "Except instead of ice cream, it's skate size."

Okay… strange talent.

But couldn't argue with results. They fit like a glove. As I tightened and tied my rentals, I glanced over at Lea out of the corner of my eye while he did the same with his. Roller-skating, huh? Not what I'd expected. Then again, I'd had no idea what to expect. But this could be fun. Plus, maybe I could look at this as another opportunity to initiate PDA. Couples roller-skating was an optimal time to do that, right? Right! I just needed to look for my opening and, I don't know… just grab his hand, something like that.

Alright. Mission Make A Move was in motion.

Maybe.

We'll see.

It wasn't long before both Lea and I had finished lacing up and stowed our shoes away into a locker along with the rest of our belongings we wouldn't need. I followed him to one of the few openings in the barriers surrounding the rink. "Ever roller-skated before?" he asked, stepping out into the oval arena just as the song You Spin Me Round started playing over the sound system.

"No," I shook my head, padding across the carpet and stopping at the edge of the ring. I watched as his wheels glided him into a half-spin with ease, coming to a stop when he faced me. Clearly, this wasn't his first rodeo. I shrugged, "But I used to ice skate, so shouldn't be a problem."

"Shouldn't be," he hummed a chuckle, eyes crinkling. Then he rolled back a few steps, making room for me and gesturing for me to proceed, "Have at it then."

I took a step onto the glossy surface, stumbled and nearly faceplanted.

I say nearly because Lea was there in the blink of an eye to catch my arms and steady me, giving a loud snort through his nose. "Dunno how much your ice skating background is gonna help ya here. Blades and wheels? Not the same thing. Ice and hardwood? Not-"

"-the same thing. Got it," I grumbled, my legs wobbling as I struggled to keep my balance, my fingers squeezing his forearms hard.

He smiled down at me before cautiously releasing one of my arms so he could about-face, shifting to my side. There, he took my other hand and tucked it into the crook of his elbow before his feet pushed off, coasting at the speed of molasses. Me, being on teeny-tiny tires, had little choice but to be towed along with him as he said, "Ice and roller-skating are two sides of the same coin, but still totally different animals. Your muscle memory is probably gonna work against ya for a bit. Your body will expect things to work one way and react accordingly only to be surprised when the physics of it all is totally outta whack."

"Thanks for the lecture, professor. I think I'll figure it out." I tested moving one foot forward, slipped and desperately tightened my grip on him to stay upright. "...eventually," I amended, both my arms hugging his bicep close now.

Did this count as making a move?

I don't think it did. It was more like advancing a move already in progress and not even one that I'd started myself in the first place.

Maybe I should concentrate less on making a move and more on just not falling flat on my rear.

Consider the mission scrapped.

"So… you were an ice skater?" he asked conversationally.

I nodded, trying out another step while still using him for support. This one went marginally better. "I took lessons for a few years as a kid. My parents' idea. Supposedly, it improves posture, balance, flexibility and coordination, all in the pursuit of excellence," I recited dryly. "But even though it was just another tool they used to mold me into being their perfect little girl, I still found it fun despite all that. I actually enjoyed it quite a lot. I was sad when they ended my lessons once they'd decided I'd outgrown it."

"Ah," he continued creeping us along at a lazy pace while I grew more bold and determined in my attempts to figure out how to make the cursed roller-skates bend to my will and obey me. "That explains why all your movements are so graceful."

"Graceful?" my head snapped up to look at him before I gave a derisive snort. "No, not at all, I'm a total klutz."

"Sometimes," he agreed, pulling to a stop and curving around to stand in front of me now as he hunched forward to look me in the eye, one corner of his lips twitching up. "But that's cute too."

Bam.

Shot through the heart.

Which, coincidentally, were the lyrics that'd just sung out over the speakers as the music switched to You Give Love A Bad Name.

As my brain scrambled to come up with a response, any response to that, a huge smirk suddenly flashed across his face and he declared, "And spin!"

"Wha-?"

Taking both my hands in his, he leaned back and started swinging us both around into a twirl together. Or perhaps death spiral would be the more appropriate term for it. I squeaked as we gained speed, our surroundings blurring more and more together, my feet scrambling to keep the wheels from slipping out from underneath me.

"Don't worry, I won't let you fall," Lea called, still grinning like a madman.

And oddly enough, I took comfort in those simple words. I shyly smiled back and my muscles began to relax. Once I stopped fighting the spin, it went a lot more smoothly. I laughed as my ponytail whipped about from the centripetal force.

He abruptly slowed us to a stop and I staggered at the sudden change, but he caught me around the waist with one arm, pulling me up against him. "I got you," he reassured, panting a bit from energy expended on the twirl. I just breathed a small chuckle and his gaze softened as it flicked from my eyes over to my ponytail, which had swung itself forward over my shoulder when we'd stopped spinning. He brought his free hand up to twist a platinum tendril around one finger. "...why don't you ever wear your hair down?"

"My…?" I blinked at the random question that'd seemingly popped up out of the blue. My gaze averted and shifted about. "Well, I… I guess I never really thought about it. Just to keep it out of my face, I suppose."

Lea watched his fingers as they continued to play with the strands. "Your hair is just really pretty. It looks… I mean, I can... imagine how nice it must look down."

That blush came a-knocking again. And this time my face, being the utter fool that it was, let it in.

I suddenly shot out one arm to the side, pointing a finger and blurting out, "Go over there."

He spluttered and snerked. "Seriously? Just cuz I'm a fan of your hair, you're banishing me?"

"Th-that's not- no, I just-" I stammered, looking down with a frown. "I want to try and see if I can skate on my own for a bit."

"Oh." He tipped his head. "You sure you're ready for that?"

"Won't know until I try. Now," I flicked my hand dismissively at him, "shoo."

Releasing me, he started skating backwards. "Fine. I'll be right here though if ya need me," he said, stopping just a few feet in front of me.

Now shakily standing under my own power, I moved one foot forward to attempt a glide. I teetered and I saw him tense, ready to spring into action and rescue me. However I steadied myself, shooting him a tiny warning glare. He backed off, raising his hands in surrender. I sighed then told him, "Turn around."

His head reeled back, "What?!"

"Turn around," I insisted, rolling slowly forward now, feet lurching and arms darting stiffly about to maintain my balance. He began drifting backwards, maintaining the same space between us. "I can't do this with you looking at me. I feel self conscious."

He beamed. "But I like looking at you! It gives me the warm fuzzies inside," he announced loudly into the sudden hush as the last song ended so all the other skaters around us could no doubt hear.

How I didn't pancake onto the hardwood right then and there will forever remain a mystery to me.

This guy, I swear. The lengths he was willing to go to to sell the whole boyfriend act would never cease to amaze me. Feeling that familiar warmth creep back up into my cheeks as Take On Me started to play, I snapped, "Just turn around!"

"Alright already, jeez," he sniggered, rotating away from me to face forward now while still maintaining the same snail speed.

"No peeking," I told him sternly.

Lea gave an exasperated laugh, "I'm not! I'm not peeking!"

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously on his back as I wobbled my way into another step. Then I had a thought. Perhaps now would be the opportune moment to give the whole PDA thing another shot. I was already starting to get the hang of roller-skating. If I could catch up to him, I could go for the hand or… or hug the arm or something! Just for the sake of maintaining appearances, of course. You know, just... keeping up my half of this whole pretend girlfriend-boyfriend deal. My motives were strictly professional and had nothing to do with a certain little, teensy-weensy crush that would never, ever even see the light of day.

Yeah, okay, let's do this.

Mission Make A Move was back on.

Alright, step one: reaching him.

...that might take some doing.

In the meantime, we'll instead work on step zero: small talk.

"Do you come here a lot?" I asked, unsteadily picking up speed and trying to close the gap. "You seem pretty good at it."

"The kiddos and I goof around here from time to time," he scissored his skates, leisurely weaving his feet in and out and in again. "Been doing it for a while now, so I've picked up a few things. Not gonna be going pro anytime soon, but I get by."

I attempted to mimic his actions with my own skates and failed miserably, floundering a bit before stabilizing. At least the fumble had brought me a few inches closer. "I'm sure you've brought a girl or two here before too."

He shook his head with a chuckle, "Nah. Never really made any stops along the way between the bar and my apartment when taking a lady friend home. But… I always did think this might be a fun place to take a gal on a date."

Realization struck.

"Wait!" my foot slipped, I staggered and flailed before catching myself. "Is this a date?!"

"Heh, sorta?" his hand went to the nape at the neck, tugging at the hairs there. "More of a mini-date? Or just… chilling together cuz we enjoy the pleasure of each other's dazzling company so much!"

"This is a date!" I repeated, stomping after him furiously now. Which, let me tell you, was not effective in skates at all. But through sheer force of will alone, I managed to get a bit closer. "I was supposed to pay for the next date!"

"And you have!"

I swear I could hear the smirk in his voice.

"I most certainly have not!"

Almost there now.

"Have too! It was free. Me and Go Go are tight, like this," he held up one hand, crossing his index with his middle finger, "so I gots the hookups!"

A growling huff escaped me. "Cheater. This doesn't count, I'm paying for the next one."

"This so counts! Next one's on me, you can cover the one after that."

I scoffed. "And give you time to figure out how to con the system again? I don't think so, you-"

I suddenly tripped over the toe stop of my left skate and toppled forward, crashing hard into Lea's back, my arms instinctively latching around his waist. He grunted in surprise and swayed, but managed to keep us both upright and standing. As I hung onto him as if my life depended on it, fingers clutching at the front of his shirt, face buried in his back and inhaling his cinnamon scent mixed with the hint of pizza that still clung to his clothes from having gotten off work not too long ago, it slowly sunk in…

Mission accomplished.

Move made.

...albeit accidentally.

But still!

One small step for Elsa, one giant leap for introvert-kind everywhere.

Maybe the next one I'd actually do on purpose.

Cheeks burning now, I awkwardly cleared my throat as I relaxed my grip on the fabric of his Pizza Planet polo and started to withdraw my arms, mumbling, "Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"Don't," Lea said quickly, covering my hands with his and squeezing, forcing them to stay put right where they were. I could feel him pushing us off into a slow glide once more. "Don't… worry about it. It's fine, I don't mind. Take all the time you need to regain your footing."

"...thank you," I muffled into his shoulder blade. Then I hesitated, gnawing on my bottom lip. "...you know… for a guy who's never been an actual boyfriend before, you're actually really good at this."

I could feel his laugh rumble through his whole chest. "Thanks," he said, gently pulling on my arm to bring me around to his side so he could look down at me as he slung an arm over my shoulders, all while making sure my arms remained firmly secured around his midsection. There was a faint redness to his face, probably from the exertion of all this roller-skating. I could only hope he'd assume that was my excuse too. "I guess I was just waiting for the right person to come waltzing into my life." Then he winked and grinned, "That person being your uncle of course."

Eyes widening, I stumbled again, grasping Lea more tightly. "My… you mean the Duke?"

"Hell yeah, the Duke! Talk about silver fox! I mean, hot damn, mamma may I!" he fanned himself with his free hand.

Snorting, I shook my head. "I guess the heart wants what the heart wants."

He chuckled, rubbing his hand up and down my arm. "Seriously though, if it weren't for his Royal High-And-Snootiness marching into the food court and unleashing all holy hell, you and I wouldn't be here doing this right now. I wouldn't be unlocking and realizing my full boyfriend potential and you," he poked the tip of my nose, "wouldn't be experiencing all the joys that come with being the lucky recipient of such attention. He's the one that started it all."

"I suppose that's true," I nodded as I tried to mirror the way his feet moved. How did he make it look so easy?

"And I like to think we have fun with it too," he smiled down at me.

I returned it. "We do."

"Good. On that note," he reached down, unfastening my arms from his waist as he announced, "let's make like a pair of professional roller rinkers and dance!" Taking my hand in his, he whipped me into a couple tight spins.

"Roller rinkers?" I laughed softly when I came to a shaky stop, one hand going to his chest to steady myself. "Don't think that's a real term."

"Hey now, who's the one who actually knows how to skate here?" he smirked, twirling me out wide now. "Trust me, I know the lingo."

I rolled my eyes as he pulled me back in. "My mistake. Forgive me for questioning you, oh supreme fountain of roller-skating knowledge."

"Damn skippy! Now for the flashy finish," his hand went to the small of my back and he bent me backwards into a low dip, waggling his eyebrows at me as he did so.

And that's when it all went wrong.

For you see, I don't think nature ever intended for one human being to dip another while both had tiny wheels attached to their feet.

"Motherfu-" that's all Lea got out before our skates shot out from beneath us and we both went crashing painfully to the floor, him on top of me.

I heard him groan, then, "Shit! El, you okay?!" He hastily braced himself up onto his hands, hovering over me and eyes full of concern.

"Fine," I winced, my fingers going to rub the sore spot at the back of my head. "Let's just… leave the dancing to the professional roller rinkers from now on, okay?"

Relieved, he gave a low breathy laugh and pushed himself back to sit on his knees. "That sounds like quitter talk and I won't stand for it."

I sat up, propping my palms against the cold hardwood behind me. "Good, better not to stand period. Less chance of falling that way."

"C'mon, you. Back on the horse," he grinned, drawing a knee up to his chest to get one skate under him followed by the other before standing and reaching his hands down towards me.

With a sigh, I took them and let him pull me back up to my feet. "Alright, but no more dipping."

One arm encircling my shoulders once more, his eyes crinkled. "I make no such promises."

That earned him an elbow to the ribcage.

Author's Note: Here, have the latest batch of lil references I've baked up fresh out of the oven xP I actually don't have any fun facts for this chapter, I just simply delighted in getting to expand on the mall a bit and injecting more gooey, mushy fluff xD Personally, this is up there for one of my fave chapters of the whole story, haha!

Next chapter, will our couple continue to perfect their fake dating skillz? How will their actual relationship keep developing and evolving? Will Elsa ever successfully "make a move" on purpose? Will the two of them ever realize their as yet unspoken dream of being professional roller rinkers and take the skating world by storm? Stay tuned!

Thanks for reading, I super duper appreciate it! And an extra BIG thank you to those of you who’ve liked, reblogged, and followed so far, seeing those lil notifications always brings the biggest, goofiest smile to my face!

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jgroffdaily · 4 years

Photo

Jonathan Groff sticks close to Lancaster roots while branching out in film, stage and TV

Conestoga Valley grad will move from off-Broadway musical to new 'Matrix' sequel on film.

When he is on stage at the 270-seat Westside Theatre in New York, Jonathan Groff says he often thinks about the Ephrata Performing Arts Center.

He is playing Seymour in an off-Broadway production of “Little Shop of Horrors,” which is being directed by Michael Mayer, of “Spring Awakening” fame, with Broadway veterans Christian Borle and Tammy Blanchard at Westside.

“Everyone is doing this for the fun of it,” Groff says. “It reminds me of EPAC. Nobody is trying to gain anything from it. There are no ulterior motives.”

The show is largely sold out, and reviews have been strong. Ben Brantley, of the New York Times, wrote that Groff “is generating major nerd charisma.”

For Groff, 34, being onstage is his “ultimate existence.” “That’s when I’m happiest,” he says. “ ‘Honk’ and ‘Bat Boy’ (shows he performed in at EPAC), it doesn’t get much better than that. And that’s how I feel with ‘Little Shop.’ ”

Hometown plans

Home is never far from Groff’s mind. He returns to Lancaster frequently, though sometimes just for a day.

“He was here for less than 24 hours on Thanksgiving,” says his mother, Julie Groff.

And he recently purchased a house and property next to his father’s farm in Christiana. It’s a place to live when he’s home, but also, Groff has plans for it.

“I want to turn the barns into creative spaces — a recording studio, an editing suite, a place to write, or a place to have small workshops,” Groff says. “I want it to be inspiring, quiet and peaceful.”

It’s in the future — Groff says it is a 10-year plan — but he is excited about the possibilities. He got the idea while he was playing Melchior Gabor in the cast of “Spring Awakening,” which he did off and then on Broadway from 2006 to 2008.

“Gideon Glick (who played Ernst and will be replacing Groff next month in ‘Little Shop’) was the first to leave the show, and my mother got a school bus and brought everyone in the cast to Lancaster,” he recalls.

“We hung out in the barn and had a bonfire outside. Gideon said how rejuvenating and inspiring it felt, and that got me thinking. It’s close to New York. Someone could come and spend a couple days here. My dad (Jim Groff) loves the idea, and I love the farm,” Groff says. “So as the years go by, we’ll make it a creative place.”

“When I bought the horse farm in 1987, the Realtor bought the frontage (of the property) and built eight houses. Jonathan bought one of those houses,” says Jim Groff, who is a horse trainer and a jockey. “The view out back is, well, you can’t beat it.”

Both Groffs note that their son won’t be tearing any of the barns down and won’t be changing the house much. As a creative spot, it will not have concerts or performances, but will be a quiet place.

“He wants to keep it all natural,” Julie Groff says. “It’s going to look sharp.”

Big movies

Groff’s career is going at hyperspeed these days.

He had to take time away from the “Little Shop” run for an intense press junket for “Frozen II,” the animated musical film that was released last month and is turning into another massive hit for Disney.

And it was announced recently that Groff will be appearing in “Matrix 4,” a film sequel scheduled for theatrical release in May 2021.

“He’s working with a personal trainer. The ‘Matrix’ people are getting him in shape,” says Jim Groff. “He’s working out every day, and he’s on a really strict diet. What gets me is he had to take a picture of everything he ate for a while.”

“He basically barely has enough time to eat,” says Julie Groff. “He is loving this, but I am sure it will catch up with him.”

There is no rest for the weary. Groff is set to leave “Little Shop” on Jan. 19.

The next day, he starts working on “Matrix 4,” which is being filmed partially in Chicago.

“He’s always wanted to appear in a big action movie,” Julie Groff says. “But he’s really a Disney fan. He always wanted to be in a Disney movie, and that turned out well.”

Indeed. “Frozen,” in which Groff voices mountain man Kristoff, was a global phenomenon and the largest-grossing animated film in history. The sequel is breaking records, too.

“I find it so easy to talk about ‘Frozen II,’” Groff says. “It’s so good, and the relationships with the directors and the the cast have been so positive.

“A lot of my interviews have been with Josh Gad (who voices Olaf the snowman),” he says. “We had such good time. It’s almost like a vacation.”

Groff says that when the first “Frozen” film came out in 2013, nobody expected it to be as huge as it was.

“We had all scattered after the film and didn’t really have a chance to do a lot of publicity,” he says. “So this was like a celebration for us.”

Anybody with children of a certain age will tell you how powerful “Frozen” was for their kids, particularly their daughters. Groff thinks part of the success of the movie was how it empowered the female characters.

“Kristoff is an evolved mountain man,” he says. “I love that he is there to serve the women — a man letting women take the spotlight. That flips convention.”

For a few weeks, Groff was all over TV, appearing on just about every talk show out there, from Jimmy Fallon’s “Tonight Show” to Stephen Colbert’s “The Late Show.”

During his most recent appearance with Colbert, Julie Andrews was another guest.

“Can you believe I met Julie Andrews!” Groff says.

On the show, Groff showed footage of his 3-year-old self dressed as Mary Poppins for Halloween, and noted that his older brother, David, was dressed as The Entertainer, complete with top hat and cane. In the family video, David Groff says of his brother, “He has lipstick on — oooooh!”

“He was trying to upstage me,” Groff says, laughing.

“You’ve got a great mom (to let you do that),” Colbert said.

“I do have a great mom,” Groff replied.

“ ‘Mary Poppins’ was Jonathan’s first real movie. He watched it every single day,” says Julie Groff. “It was my two-and-a-half hours to get things done. He became obsessed with the movie and acted out all the parts.”

His father says that he has always studied movies and other actors onstage.

“When he did stuff at the Fulton or at EPAC, smaller stuff, he would sneak around the corner and watch them every night — watch the changes the actors made,” Jim Groff says.

“Even today he does that,” Julie Groff says. “He never stops learning.”

“I like to call him up and give him my notes after I see a show,” Jim Groff says. “We get a laugh out of that.”

Not easily recognized

You’d think Groff would get stopped by people all the time, especially because of appearances on Fox’s “Glee,” HBO’s “Looking” and the Netflix series “Mindhunter,” in which he plays FBI agent Holden Ford. (Groff says the show is on hiatus at the moment.) But he says he rarely gets recognized.

“I look like a generic white person,” he says. “And I’m mainly on my bike because that’s how I get around New York. I sign autographs if people ask.”

“He said he walked down the street in his King (George) outfit from ‘Hamilton’ once and nobody paid any attention to him,” says Jim Groff with a hearty laugh. “In New York, people don’t bother you much.”

“Things may change with ‘Matrix 4,’ though I hope not,” Julie Groff says.

But Groff hasn’t changed. He still visits with friends from home backstage during a show. He is still accessible and friendly to everyone he meets.

“With Jonathan, what you see is how he has always been,” Julie Groff says.

Right now, Groff says, life is very full. His career is going great, he’s in a relationship with New Zealand-born choreographer Corey Baker, who lives in London, and he’s closer than ever with his family.

“This is a sweet moment in time,” he says.

#jonathan groff #jim groff #julie groff #interview

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nyanbinary-chatnoir · 4 years

Text

MLB Holiday Month 2k19

Read on AO3

“COLD. AND IT GOT IN MY EYE!” Plagg cried. He furiously shook his head to rid of the cold water and flying into Adrien's jacket. He nestled himself closing his eyes in contentedness. Between the jacket and the warmth, Adrien radiated Plagg warmed himself back up in no time.

Adrien chuckled. “You know you're supposed to catch the snowflakes with your tongue, not your eyes.” He tilted his head back and catching one with his tongue. He and Plagg had been outside on the balcony for ten minutes making attempts to catch snowflakes.

Plagg insisting he could catch the most.

“Haha, very funny. For your information I was. It's not my fault the snow decided to attack my eye.” He sniffed. Thwacking Adrien on the side with his tiny paw. Adrien didn't feel it.

“Snow can't attack you, Plagg.”

“Glaciator if you remember.”

Adrien looked down at Plagg. Raising an eyebrow. “He was made of ice cream,” he commented.

“Frozer then.”

“Power of ice, not snow powers.”

“Ice, snow, ice cream, they're all the same to me! Cold!”

Adrien rolled his eyes as he leaned back against his chair. A smile on his face.

An eye cracked open from Plagg. “Why do you like this stuff anyways? All it does is make you cold and wet, and you can't eat cheese when you catch a cold.” He peered up at Adrien waiting for an answer.

“Snow isn't always so bad, Plagg. You can build things with it like snowmen, snow angels, forts, even sculptures!” Listing off the snow activities with his fingers Adrien continued, “Oh! And snowball fights and sledding with friends!” Adrien gleefully said. Recalling the events earlier of playing in the snow with his friends.

Kim and Alix had a battle of stuffing snow in each other's jackets. Unfortunately, Marinette got caught in the crossfire and got snow shoved down her jacket. The poor girl squealed and shivered.

Immediately the battle deceased and the two apologized to Marinette. Who shivered and waved it off as nothing. But the group had decided to end the day to allow everyone to go home and warm up.

“Your poor friend the baker's daughter got caught in the battle,” Plagg commented. He snuggled closer to Adrien, soaking up as much warmth as he could to allow himself outside a little longer.

“Marinette? Yeah, both Kim and Alix apologized to her. It was an accident.” Adrien frowned. “I should text her later and check on how she's doing. Make sure she isn't getting a cold. It was nice to see her and everyone today. I had a lot of fun.”

He and Marinette made a snowman together. She had run back to the bakery to pick up supplies. They managed to get a selfie together with the snowman. He made the photo his phone screen. Rosy cheeks and noses, with huge smiles. Arms in a side hug.

Plagg smirked. He had no intention of commenting on the closeness of him and Marinette as of late. He would let his kitten stew. In the meantime, however; “Heat of the battle. Reminds me of a certain kitten too.” Letting out a cackle when Adrien cried out “Hey!”

“Rude.” Adrien pouted. Crossing his arms careful not to squish Plagg and lifting his nose away.

“Eh,” Plagg lazily waved a paw, “you know I love you, kid.”

Eyes softening Adrien smiled as he cupped Plagg in one hand. “I love you too, Plagg. Thank you for always being there for me. I wouldn't change a thing and I'm so happy to have met you and be able to be Chat Noir alongside Ladybug.” Nuzzling Plagg as the tiny black kwami released a purr.

The kwami continued to stay by his side. Plagg did his best for Adrien, cheering him up as he thought best for his chosen.

Adrien held Plagg closed softly stroking his ear, the two sitting in comfortable silence watching the snowfall upon Paris. Between the lights and the snow, the image it painted was beautiful and Adrien never grew tired of seeing it each year.

“Hey, Adrien?”

A hum. “Yeah, Plagg?”

“You think tomorrow you and I could build a snowman together?” The kwami answered.

“Tomorrow we can build however many snowmen you want, buddy,” Adrien said. Setting Plagg on his shoulder. “We'll have to find you a hat or some type of fabric to keep you warm. Maybe I can commission Marinette, say it was for a pet hamster.” He leaned against his hand.

Plagg sat up, rubbing his paws together. “Good, because I want to make a snow Gabriel and cataclysm him.”

“Plagg!” A groan heard from Adrien. “I'm happy you care and all but-”

“You said I couldn't cataclysm the real one. Take it or leave it,” Plagg said, crossing his arms. Staring at Adrien intently. Eyebrow raised daring him to defy the kwami of destruction. Though said kwami of destruction obeyed the rule no cataclysms aimed towards Gabriel Agreste. The man deserved it.

Sensing a losing battle Adrien sighed. “Fine, but only one. And I mean one, Plagg.” Eyeing Plagg who giddily bounced. Oh, Plagg couldn't wait for this.

A glance at his phone told Adrien it was nearing eight at night. He should head inside and start warming up. Standing from his chair Adrien stretched his arms up. Plagg floating beside him waiting.

“How about we head inside and I can get us some cheese and hot cocoa to warm us up? Sound good.”

Releasing a giant 'whoop!'. Plagg twirled cheerfully, floating back down near Adrien's face. Tiny paws placed themselves on Adrien's face.

“That's the best idea I've heard all day, let's go!! My precious cheese!” He cried happily, phasing through the sliding door.

Adrien blinked chuckling and shaking his head following his kwami inside. Opening the sliding door and stepping into warmth.

“Hey, Plagg? Maybe we can make so cheese shaped snowflakes!”

#jaydens writing.txt #my fic: just hear those bells #miraculous ladybug #adrien agreste #plagg

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bigsister11 · 4 years

Text

Merry Christmas to @emotrafalgar I am your Secret Santa this year for the @opsecretsanta2019 event! :)

I hope you enjoy these little drabbles I wrote (I couldn't decide on whether I want to write Lawlu or Zolu for you, so I did both).

<3<3<3<3

Snow can also be a good thing

It's snowing, Law realized as he opened up the door of the Polar Tang and almost turned back immediately. The sky was too grey and lifeless, the air was too cold, and the snowflakes were already landing on his face, his coat, his everything, uninvitedly.

He had to get on the Sunny to have a talk with the Strawhats about the plan, the route, the navigation, the logistics, the food, and the— his to-do list was knocked out of his head the moment he stepped on the Sunny, as he got tackled by Luffy before his second feet could even touch the deck.

"Morning Toraooo!" Luffy laughed with an open mouth as he settled on Law's chest, and petted his face with a cheerful expression. "Long time no see, where were you last night? You missed the party!"

"Get off me Strawhat-ya," Law hissed, while he tried to push the younger captain off of him, and simultaneously tried to put his hat back on his head. He failed at both.

"Make a snow angel first, everyone already did one, even your bear!" Luffy chuckled, his eyes were shining, his cheeks were flushed in the cold. "My name is Bepo!" Law faintly heard his crewmate's protest from the far end of the ship.

"Angels don't exist, now let me get up," he said impatiently. Luffy was too close, his smile was too wide, the tip of his nose was pinkish due to the cold, and he'd made Law's heart beat way too fast. A reaction to Luffy's proximity he'd been trying to ignore for weeks now.

"Ha ha, no way," Luffy laughed, and leaned a bit closer to grab his arms, and move them up and down next to his body to make the wings.

"We'll arrive at a new island in a minute, you have to do it no-," Law was suddenly saved by a huge snowball, which hit the middle of Luffy's back with such a momentum that it sent him flying.

“That is for ruining my great ‘Snow-Warrior of the Sea Usopp-sama’ statue Luffy!” Usopp shouted, preparing his catapult for the next shot.

Law got up and out of the way, and looked around. The Sunny was full of snow forms that the Strawhats and, to his surprise, his crew made.

There were snow reindeers, snow robots, some weird snow things Law couldn't recognize but supposed they were meant to look like fancy food, snow berries and treasure, snow swords held by a snowman, and some other unrecognizable figures as well.

Bepo and Penguin were still working on a miniature Polar Tang with such a deep focus they made Law smile.

His attention went back to Luffy pretty quickly though as he couldn't look away for long. Luffy was jumping around to dodge the snowball attacks, his hands grabbing everything in his way for support, his smile was never fading and his laughs were making him get butterflies in his stomach.

Suddenly two long arms grew out of the deck in front of him, one holding his hat, the other brushing the snow off of it.

"Here you go Torao-kun." Robin appeared next to him. She looked at him knowingly, the corner of her mouth turned up a little. Law felt himself blushing and quickly put his hat back to cover his face.

Somehow her expression made him remember why he came on board in the first place.

"Hey, Strawhat-ya" he tried again but as Luffy turned to him to answer, his eyes caught a glimpse of something behind him.

"We arrived!" Luffy yelled enthusiastically. Law turned and saw the island responsible for the winter weather. It had a mountain shaped like a Christmas tree in the middle, and all types of colorful lights were illuminating from it. Wonderful. He was so not in the mood for any of this.

Suddenly, Luffy was next to him, put an arm around his shoulder and looked up to him with the biggest eyes Law had ever seen. "Let's go together, and explore!" he said, and Law completely forgot how to say no.

As they docked, a flock of birds arrived to greet the ship and started to circle above them. They looked like big, green seagulls, with red beaks and golden eyes.

"Ahh, they look delicious!" Luffy eyed them hungrily, still holding onto Law who felt his side warming up where their bodies touched. "Sanji, I have found our lunch, let's catch them all!"

"Forget it, Luffy!"

"I would advise against that Captain." Sanji and Robin spoke up at the same time, but Sanji fell silent immediately and let her continue.

"First of all, the Mistletern bird is an inedible species and while I am certain this would not stop you, but they are also the sacred birds of the island of Snowflakia," she told them.

"The mistle- what?" Luffy asked back, but couldn't finish, because suddenly some of the birds struck down as if they were attacking them and after they dodged Zoro's and Brook's blades, Nami's Clima-Tact, and Bepo's claws, they landed on Luffy's hat, and Law's shoulder at the same time.

"What is your problem stupid bird!" Luffy tried to brush off his bird who looked incredibly smug with himself and stubbornly dodged his attempts.

Law wasn't successful in getting rid of his attacker either. He even used his power to shamble the bird away from him, but it flew back looking at him like he was an idiot, and settled back on his shoulder.

When he gave up, he saw Robin looking at them as she chuckled quietly. Next to him, Sanji looked as red as a lobster.

"What?" he asked nervously.

"They are also said to be a companion to people who want to kiss their love," she added with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “They are named after the mistletoe and the tern after all. I’m positive they won’t leave till it happens.”

Law felt like his whole body was setting itself on fire. He couldn’t even dare to look at Luffy when he said: “It must be just a superstition.”

“No, it is true,” Luffy said as he stepped closer to him, took Law’s hand and put his palm to the middle of his chest. “Because I do wanna kiss you Torao. D-do you want to kiss me?” he stuttered.

Law couldn’t do anything but look back at him. Luffy was smiling and looking at him bravely, but his cheeks were dark red, his whole body was shaking. He must be extremely nervous as well, he thought and felt a little bit better.

“Yes, I do,” he managed to answer and before he could change his mind he kissed Luffy right in front of everyone. His lips were soft and sweet, and Law felt him smiling into the kiss. He put his arms around Luffy and pulled him even closer.

Whatever cold he felt before, it completely disappeared. When they parted, Luffy looked into his eyes and sighed. “I’m so glad, because I love you, but I was sure you didn’t love me back,” he whispered so that Law would be the only one who heard him.

“I’m glad too,” Law replied quietly, still holding him in his arms. Luffy closed his eyes and put his head on Law’s chest.

“Snowflakia is my favorite island,” he sheepishly added. The birds suddenly flew away still wearing the same smug expression as if they were saying we told you so.

“Let’s look around then,” Law answered, now completely in the mood for the snow and ready for a new adventure. Anything was great, now that he had Luffy on his side.

(As they went, they faintly heard Usopp’s panicked voice from the ship: “My lady is very far from here, how am I supposed to kiss her like this? Be reasonable birdy!”).

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Luffy’s present

When they meet up again after exploring the island separately, Zoro has a deep cut across his chest and the widest smile on his face.

“What happened to you Zoro?” Luffy asks angrily. “Who hurt you like this?” He is already ready to go back to hunt down whoever harmed his lover.

“Calm down Luffy,” he replies and even though he is still bleeding he grabs Luffy and spins him around enthusiastically. “I got you something I know you will love!” He puts him down and gently kisses him on the lips, that is so happy and heartwarming Luffy almost forgets he’s gotten hurt.

However, before he can give it to Luffy, Chopper attacks him and drags him to the infirmary. He goes back outside to meet him right after Chopper lets him go. He can’t wait to show him what he’s got.

Luffy is sitting on the Sunny’s head, looking at the sea and he smiles up to him when he sits down next to him. The sun is already going down, painting them in the warmest colors. Zoro looks into Luffy’s eyes and sees the light reflecting in them.

Zoro takes his hand, gently kissing the inside of his palm, making him blush. After all this time, he is still so in love with him. Then, he places a small, soft thing in Luffy’s hand: it looks like a blue sea urchin. Luffy looks back at him questioningly.

“Eat it,” Zoro says, smiling, so he does. It tastes terrible. Zoro laughs at Luffy’s sour expression.

“Come on,” he stands up, embraces Luffy, and jumps into the sea with him.

Luffy has no time to panic, as Zoro pulls him up and their heads are out of the water in a second. Luffy takes an enormous breath he doesn’t really need and Zoro laughs at him, holding him so close Luffy can see his wet eyelashes.

“Oi Zoro, what was that for?” Luffy complains, his heart is beating very fast, his body reminding that he could sink any second. “I’m a hammer in the wa- “ he doesn’t finish as he realizes his legs are moving, pushing the water below him, his arms are also working, holding onto Zoro.

“This is called the Kyanseru no Mi,” Zoro says. “I got it from the local marine base, I heard the rumors from my bounty hunter days that they were keeping it here. It can neutralize the ‘devil fruit curse’ for a whole day. You can swim and play in the water as much as you want for 24 hours.

Luffy has no idea what to say. He is so happy, he wants to jump out of this skin. He puts his hand on Zoro’s face and kisses him. Zoro’s lips are salty and wet and he kisses him back fiercely as if he never wanted to let him go.

“I love you,” Luffy says, and hugs him.

“I love you too,” Zoro whispers in his ears.

“Oi, are you guys okay?” they hear Sanji shouting, next to him Chopper is staring at them, alarmed. “What the hell happened?”

Luffy lets go off Zoro and waves at them, making Chopper nearly faint. “I’m okay!” he shouts back. “Zoro got me a fruit that allows me to swim for a whole day!”

The rest of the crew comes out for the noise and Usopp instantly jumps into the sea, dragging the swearing Sanji with him.

Robin smiles down them and senses that this is a beginning of a party Chopper would be very sad to be left out off, so she brings a lifebelt out for him, and gently puts him into the water as well.

Nami also joins them for a little, partly to look out for Chopper, and partly because the water is warm and nice. She leaves right before they start a huge water battle, which is followed by a jumping and diving competition as well.

Luffy wins the jumping one and Zoro wins the diving but it might be because it scares Luffy a little to dive down that much. He hunts down a huge fish though and Sanji gets out to cook it for them.

By the time the moon comes up and paints the water in beautiful silver light, only Zoro and Luffy stays behind.

“Lean back,” he tells Luffy and holds his head in his palms while he is floating.

Luffy closes his eyes, and he hears his own heart beating. He has never been this happy. He feels Zoro’s hand, holding him up, and he is doing the only thing in the world that should be impossible: he is in the water and he can enjoy it fully without being afraid, or immobilized.

He reaches up and pulls Zoro down for a kiss.

“Today, I have already done the impossible with your help,” he whispers after they part. “Tomorrow, I will become the King of Pirates.

“Of course you will,” Zoro whispers back, his voice trembling a little. “My King.”

#lawlu #zolu #my art #opsecretsanta2019 #christmas drabbles #thank you so much Red for organizing this #i had so much fun!#one piece #op #writing

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lonelypond · 5 years

Text

Can’t Get Started

Love Live, NicoMaki, 3.5K, 1/2

Nishikino Maki is trying to make in the piranha fishbowl of movies, music, and Hollywood. Yazawa Nico already has. And they keep crashing into each other.

Can’t Get Started

No matter how many luxury, fancy, five star, $$$$$ hotels Nishikino Maki would spend time in, she would never get used to the powder room lounges, with interior design as fancy and challenging as the living areas of the ‘finest’ homes. This one had a wood and platinum motif, with large low sofas scattered over a space the size of her moderately luxurious apartment. There were pitchers with cucumber water and a thick book full of very unclothed photography, which actually interested Maki, as a photographer herself, but here, where women came in and out every few minutes, she felt too exposed to pick it up, have a look, and see who had made that particular editor’s cut. So no lingering after the deed is done. In a room seemingly designed for lingering. And one fidgety blur of movement in a corner Maki made certain to only catch out of the corner of her eye. No staring. Time to move on, no matter how tempting the couches seemed compared to the roomful of noisy chatter and chummy elbows.

Maki was back to continue her decor appreciation jam session after only ten minutes because of a small accident with the soup. Award shows should be like the Oscars, someone else in your seat when you needed air, not occasions where you not only had to juggle nerves but also food. Maki shook her head at herself, looked at the curry down the front of her dress and wondered if water would make it better or worse.

She stopped. There was the blur, now in the center of the ‘lounge,’ a tiny dark haired woman, pacing and muttering, hands flying back and forth, making shapes in the air, leaning into a couch, patting an imaginary cheek, turning to one side, smiling and waving, unusually...red eyes wide and friendly. And then they spotted Maki, and narrowed.

“Sorry…” Maki coughed and ducked her head, pointing to her dress, “spilled soup. Just…” Maki smiled shyly, “thought I saw you in here ten minutes ago. Are you okay? I get nervous too.” A flip of her finger across the still damp soup stain to demonstrate empathy.

Now there was staring. The eyes were red, almost rubies, with that same illusion of faceted depth that the best jewelers carve into their efforts, bringing out magical warmth from mineral cold. Then an incandescent smile happened that knocked Maki back, “Nico is fine. Nico is just rehearsing her acceptance speech so fans like you,” a broad, broad wink, “aren’t disappointed.”

Nico. Yazawa Nico. Maki took a better look, this woman was so tiny, but yes, the eyes should have been a giveaway, set deep over a nose that was much sharper than Maki had even seen in any of the movies where Yazawa had bled out all of her emotions for an audience eager for stories of romance, tragedy, and triumph with an actress unafraid to be as unapologetically gay on screen as off. From superhero to Empress, Nico had swept the international cinema scene, scoring box office hits in both small indie films and action blockbusters. Maki had been impressed by the actress’s range, cried and laughed over her performances, and maybe had a slightly illicit dream or two. Like every other gay and bi woman on the planet.

“Hello?” Yazawa’s hand was waving in front of Maki’s nose, “Nico can help you with the spill. I have a stain stick in my purse, It’ll keep it from setting.”

Maki nodded. That sounded sensible. Like a plan. And Nico’s dress was silver slashed with black fringe, that went with the silver slashes across sharp cheekbones above lips that could really only be described as a sensuous dark plum.

The actress was waiting for some kind of verbal reply, but Maki had half turned and was just staring at a pattern on the couch and running a hand through her hair, as adjectives and screenshots kept flashing on her internal movie screen. Then Yazawa’s hands were on her shoulders and she was being shoved into a chair, “But first you listen to Nico’s speech…” Yazawa paused.

“Um…” Maki realized her elevation had changed and she glanced up, Nico watching her critically.

“Name?” Nico urged.

“Maki.” Easy question.

Nico nodded and the tension eased. “Okay, Maki, hi I’m Nico, I have a big presentation in…” Yazawa glanced at a delicate twist of a silver watch, “20 minutes, so it’s kinda urgent, can I run something by you? So I don’t sound like an idiot.”

“Yeah, I always sound like an idiot too.” Maki blurted.

“Well,” Nico stepped back, “thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“Sorry, Ms. Yazawa...” Maki bit her lip, “you’re always so polished on screen….”

“It’s Nico. And I never write my own dialogue. On set improv is lame.” Nico stepped back, her eyes focusing somewhere else, hands seeming to measure out where the stage and microphone were, “Writers work as hard as Nico does so they deserve respect.”

Maki thought Umi would be pleased and surprised to hear that from a celebrity she had occasionally doubted the work ethic of. Maki, as a composer, was usually immune from actors altering her artistic choices but it was a near daily struggle for Umi. Maki wondered if Nico would be interested in reading their latest, an intimate musical…

Nico’s hand again, fingers snapping this time under Maki’s nose this time. She jumped as Nico began to sound testy again, “If Nico can keep your interest, she can keep anyone’s…”

“Not, that’s not...I just...my friend Umi is a writer and always complains about actors who want to improv.”

“Posers.”

Maki grinned, “Exactly what she says.”

Nico patted Maki encouragingly on the shoulder, amused, “Introduce Nico later. Now you listen. We only have 15 minutes before...” Nico flung her arms wide, nodding to each side, gathering in imaginary shouts and whistles.

“Okay.” Maki stood, stretched her arms out in front of her, sat, leaned forward, slammed her hands into her knees, the picture of alert attention, and winked at Nico, “Go.”

Nico laughed, stepped behind her imaginary podium, whispered, “clap” so Maki did while Nico’s hand gestures called for more. Then the flip of the hand for quiet.

“Thank you. Tonight is very important to Nico…”

###

Sundance...party...one pissed off caterer...Maki had no idea what she did to annoy the woman...oh wait, yeah that...but Umi was going to be SEVERELY disappointed when their party, intended to impress award winning designer Minami Kotori turned out to be Maki smiling awkwardly and handing around a bag of stale chips and a growler. It was a weeknight, the Thursday before the second weekend, and Maki had had hopes of catching the ska documentary she’d connected a musician friend with. But no, here she was frantically searching for...a pizza place, maybe? Fewer crowds than last year, when they’d come the first weekend, but still enough people bustling that Maki felt like she was elbowing people awkwardly in the halls of high school again. And then her heel hit a patch of black ice and she sssssssslllllliiiiiiiiiiiiiid down the sidewalk until some obstacle forced her back on her butt. That was going to be sore, Maki thought as she reached a hand behind her, levering herself up was going to be at least a three limb job, both legs and one arm.

“Here let me help you. Are you okay?”

Maki recognized the voice and winced. Yazawa Nico once again catching her in an imperfect moment. “Hi. No, I’m fine.”

Nico snorted. She was in a black snowsuit with cute pink flair, fake fur, and patches scattered all over her arms and legs. She took Maki’s hand and when the redhead nodded, pulled. Maki rose and stumbled forward, suddenly finding herself with A list celebrity arms supporting most of her weight while dreamably delicious, not even mildly chapped lips pinched back what was probably a belly roar of laughter.

“Sorry.” Maki stepped back, hands brushing the snow off her leggings. Why hadn’t she dressed for the weather? Leggings based on samurai armor, an oversized Northwestern hoodie and a Reign ballcap would not have been any stylist’s choice.

“No soup stains?” Nico teased, clapping together pink mittens that looked like Muppet fur. Maki thought there might be eyes on the palms. She wasn’t sure if that was cute or creepy.

“No food at all.” Maki sniffled, feeling the cold soak into what was going to be a sitting bruise, and having no real options as her mind raced through possibilities. Umi and Kotori would be headed back with a small crowd after the premiere of Umi’s latest film and Maki had nothing, “I have to go. Nico to see...I mean nice to see you, Nico.” Maki tried to smile but she knew her face was giving away how many non options she was discarding per second.

“What’s the matter?” Nico asked so casually, so quickly, Maki almost forgot where she was.

“I pissed off the caterer. And Umi…”

“Your writing friend….”

“You remembered…”

Nico tapped her temple, “Nico keeps future industry connections who know cute redheads in the most secure part of her memory.” Nico frowned, “Sorry, Nico meant intelligent and attentive test audiences. Nico’s not a creep.”

“Then why are there eyes on your mittens?” Maki couldn’t help asking.

“Huh...” Nico laughed, raising one of her hands, turning her mitten into a sock puppet, the pitch of her voice dropping, “Hey, friend, let’s make a snowman…”

Maki glanced around, a little frantic, not sure how to react, especially as this new conversation track was her stumble entirely, “Sorry no...there’s not really anywhere...I really...Umi’s going to be so upset…”

“They make my little brother laugh. He’s 13 and I’m trying to keep him silly.” Nico rolled her eyes, “They grow up too fast.”

“Oh.” Maki hated being this confused. And feeling this incapable. But Nico was grinning at her and cute and surely Umi and Honoka could charm Kotori without catering. There was ice cream in the freezer. Probably.

“So what did you do to the caterer…?”

Maki shoved her hands in her kangaroo pocket so she wouldn’t just throw her hat somewhere as she remembered the scene. “Ummmm...ran over the main dish because I was running late and backing out of the condo driveway when they were unloading…”

“Sounds like a movie meet cute.” Nico’s eyes were twinkling while Maki was getting shorter and probably tilting toward the left as her hip contracted from pain and cold. “So is it a private party...why did Nico miss getting her invite?”

“Oh, it’s for anyone who goes to Umi’s premiere.” Maki glanced at her watch. “Which is going to be over soon.”

Nico pulled out her phone. “What’s your address?”

“Why?” There wouldn’t be much of a party, and Honoka would surely just hit Nico with every project her clients might need an actress for.

“Nico knows someone. Is this Umi or who she’s trying to impress allergic to anything?”

“Minami? I’m not sure.”

Nico whistled, “Kotori, the Divine Kotori of Floating Feather Atelier….Nico really needs to come to one of your parties. Nico hears she’s big on cutesy food…” Nico frowned, considering. “I might know a place...”

“Where?” Maki got ready to run.

“You are not touching anything breakable, droppable, or poisonable. Nico will send her assistant.” Nico handed Maki her phone, “Just give me your contact info and Cocoro will take care of it.”

“Okay.” Maki took off a glove and tried typing but nothing registered. She kept punching until Nico took the phone back, shaking her head in disbelief.

“Just talk.”

“Okay.”

Nico typed in the digits as Maki recited them. “All right, Nico will send a rescue party to your wreck. Don’t back over them.”

“I’m walking everywhere from now on. Rogue Salmon spaghetti carbonaras are obviously stalking my car.” “Probably safest. Are you hanging out this weekend? Nico’s chairing a diversity panel. People are going to be talking about it for months.” Nico kept typing, biting her lip as she muttered things Maki couldn’t make out.

“Flying to Tokyo in the morning.” Nico looked disappointed so Maki explained. “Family business. My parents...”

“Oh. Nico will text you a snap of her agenda and her dress so you can see what you missed.”

“Okay.” Maki nodded at Nico, who had finally glanced up from her phone.“Thanks, Nico. I’d better get back.”

As Maki turned, Nico giggled. “Send Nico back a pajama selfie.”

Maki whirled, “What?”

Nico, with a too innocent expression on her face, was watching her mittens out dance each other, “We should go to a party TOGETHER sometime.”

“Stop by tonight. You have the address.”

Nico’s mittens dropped to her sides, her voice apologetic before it dipped back into a teasing edge. “Guest of honor three places. Already late for the first. And Nico has to hurry her assistant because there’s a cute redhead with no food to stain her clothes…”

Maki blushed and bolted. Nico had a very distinctive, short, snorting laugh and Maki feared that further conversation would draw a crowd. Plus, the liquor delivery was probably waiting.

###

Maki’s phone vibrated with a text from an unknown number, “We’re here.”

“Who?”

“Food.”

Maki had changed into jeans and a turtleneck, and was about to put her last layer on. Shoving her arm quickly into the formal jacket, she hopped down to the door.

One young woman, leading three young men with huge insulated bags, stood, impatiently tapping her fingers against the doorframe, “Maki?”

The grim tone made Maki wonder if she should pull out her ID. “Yes.”

The woman turned, “Take everything inside, find the kitchen, set it all up, my sister said not to let her touch anything.”

The staff nodded and shuffled past Maki once she stepped out of the door and onto the porch so they could get through.

The young woman glared at her. “Nico already tipped them.”

“Okay.” Maki was staring. This young woman was almost identical to Nico in coloring, but no amusement had ever lurked in her blood red eyes and her entire expression screamed “Not on my watch, you don’t.”

“You should probably go back inside.” The not Nico pointed.

“Okay.” Could this be over soon, Maki wondered.

“I have to text Nico a picture.” Nope.

“I’ll take you to the kitchen.” Maki had said something right, but it was too late to score any points. The “thank you” in response was perfunctory.

“I’m Maki Nishikino.”

“I know.”

Maki knew Nico had mentioned a name but its memory was as slippery as the Park City pavement.“You are?”

“Ms. Yazawa, Nico’s assistant.” Stated slowly.

“Right. Thank you.”

No reply. Ms. Yazawa racewalked into the living area, and Maki could hear her ordering the three young men around.

Maybe everything would be self serve. And Nico’s...sister? Evil clone? would make a quick exit. Maki wasn’t looking forward to the party and extra scrutiny would make it so much worse.

“Maki!” Honoka Kosaka cheerful trill echoed as the front door banged open, ‘Everyone loved Umi’s script. And they can’t wait to meet you.’ Maki waved at her old friend and agent as the ginger in a kilt and shawl bounced into the living area. The food had arrived just in time. But a smile was more than Maki could muster as the memory of the younger Yazawa’s frigid attitude kept scalding her.

###

The condo was finally quiet. Umi, Honoka, and Kotori had gone off somewhere to continue what Umi called ‘negotiations’ while Honoka had whispered date. Which Maki wasn’t thinking about. Because the condo was finally quiet. And then her ringtone went off. Maki groaned and grabbed her phone, wondering what the new crisis was.

A text from an unknown number: ( ˘▽˘)っ♨ how was the party? My sister said you didn’t spill anything while she was there.

Maki smiled. Nico.

M: （－－；exhausting

N: In bed already? Pajama selfie?

M: Collapsed in chair fully clothed so not terribly exciting.

N: Depends on the chair ପ(⑅ ॣ•͈૦•͈ ॣ)ଓ

Maki shot a quick pic of the fabric pattern.

N: 10/10 would slouch right there with you

M: I’d be terrible company. During party: |_-｡), after party (o_ _)o

N: And yet, here we are...(｡•̀ᴗ-)✧

Maki ran a hand through her hair and sighed. What she really wanted to do was soak in a bath for hours, candles lit, music low, but past experience had taught her that as soon as Honoka came back she’d barge into wherever Maki was with an update.

N: Is the rest of Team 'Slide In Through My Window' there?

M: You know the script title?

N: Nico talks to people. Your friend Umi made quite a splash at the writing panel. Bet actresses are swooning to get a look at the script ヽ/❀o ل͜ o\ﾉ

Maki frowned.

M: Are you?

A pause...Maki could see Nico typing, then the bubble disappeared. Then more typing,

N: (,Ծ_ლ) Honestly? There’s no good way for Nico to answer that.

Maki leaned forward, her fingers flying.

M: Why not?

N: *groans* Because of course, duh...hot new thing and turns out I love the score for the 'Déshabillé and Disaster' short and YOU composed that, but mostly, Nico is swooning over an excuse to keep talking to you.

Nico knew her work. The first thing people mentioned was usually the hit steamy summer bop she’d written with Carly Rae Jepsen last year, not the Le Cristal d'Annecy winning animated short so Nico had either done her homework or was a genuine enthusiast. Either way…Maki found herself typing too quickly to reconsider anything she said.

M: You don’t need an excuse.

N: Are you going to be in LA for awards season?

M: Yes.

N: Nico will see you then. Cocoro hasn’t overscheduled me yet…So let’s crash a party together.

M: Can it be a small, quiet party? *yawns pathetically*

N: Get some sleep. And don’t forget to send Nico a pajama selfie when you get to Tokyo. Or at least a chair pic. Nico needs to know your furniture preferences.

And Nico had attached a selfie where she had the most serious of faces, one eyebrow quirked to its sharpest, most questioning extreme.

Maki couldn’t help it. The guffaw just rolled out; there was no other word for it. This was flirting. This was nice. No one staring and making her feel uncomfortable. A minute to think. Maki relaxed into the chair, legs pulled up, remembering Nico’s grin. This was flirting. A nudge. A wink. A dare. Maki took a risk.

M: Not too well padded.

N: (╯‵□′)╯︵┴─┴ Rude. Nico’s furniture is padded perfectly. ಠ‿↼

Guffaw followed by giggle. Maki was feeling better. Maybe she could actually sleep before leaving for her flight. IF she taped a huge DO NOT DISTURB ME, HONOKA to her door.

M: Thanks for your help, Nico. You saved me. Although I don’t think your sister likes me.

N: She’s not the deciding vote in the Yazawa family. Chat up Cotaro, he likes donuts, you might be able to swing a majority. Nico will put in a good word for you.

M: You’re probably exhausting in person.

N: All the to die for parties are ♥(ˆ⌣ˆԅ)

M: *collapses further into chair, CRUSHED under weight of brush with celebrity*

N: Nico is not fatal, Ms.OVERdramatic, just friendly.

M: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

N: Sleep it off, recluse ❤⃛ヾ(๑❛ ▿ ◠๑ )

M: (b~_^)b

N: Cute. See you in LA.

See Nico in LA. It was now a plan. And Nico would be in one of those dresses designed to show off every perfectly padded curve. Maki felt herself redden and then panic jumped to her memories of red carpets and last year. The crowds. The cameras. And how everyone sweeping by, svelte and confident, had brought out every clumsy twitch in her body. But Nice was certainly not the watch the red carpet on a laptop with takeout and TWIG commentary type. Maki sat up, maybe if she started with a dress. Could Umi and Honoka talk Minami Kotori into coming back to the condo for some fashion talk? Maki could use a little divine design intervention.

A/N: Enjoy this first half. I started this while finishing up Jingle Bell Jazz when I heard Nancy Wilson's version of "I Can't Get Started." Juggling a few storylines so I'm not sure what'll be next after this as summer and Shakespeare and crimes against humanity by the government of my country continue.Thanks for reading. Take care!

#NicoMaki #Nishikino Maki #Yazawa Nico #Red carpets #Hollywood #Yazawa Family #etc

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tarithenurse · 5 years

Text

Wrong Number

Prompt: “You have found a ritual for summoning the Devil himself…but when you try it out it’s your neighbour that appears. Assuming the ritual has gone wrong, you let them go.” Contents: tiny bit of gore, but mostly just confusion, (British) cussing, and attempts at humour. A/N: I couldn’t help but think of Crowley from Supernatural when I saw this prompt, so please accept the change to King of Hell rather than the Devil.

Checking the list of components one more time to make sure everything is ready you can’t help but feel a shiver of fearful anticipation rummaging around in your guts. The King of Hell. Of all the demons (and other less savoury creatures) you’ve summoned, this is going to be your piece de resistance. It’s not even like you need something from the fucker, not really. You just want to know if the ritual’s for real. Aunt Agatha had a lot of weird stuff, most of which was bogus…or downright dangerous, you recall, scratching at the still angrily-red scar on your arm – it had turned out the pen was mightiest.

Back on track! The herbs are good to go, virgin’s blood too which had been much easier to procure than the creator of the spell might have imagined. Lighting the candles, you begin reciting the words, letting them roll off and create a meaning beyond the syntactic property to power each action. As the blood drips from your arm into the bowl, the candles flare up –

Everything is dark. No candles, no electricity, just the yellow glow from the streetlights beyond the small living room. Then the power returns, blinding you once more although you do your best to fight it, blinking at the person standing in the middle of the room. A pair of fluffy red loafers are warming sock-clad feet. The flowery apron throws off the severity of the black shirt and suit pants…a shirt that happens to have its sleeves rolled up to avoid the bubbles of what looks like dish soap drenching the hands of the stocky man.

”What…” the English accent of your neighbour cuts through your baffled mind, ”on earth….is going on?”

Hastily tossing the nearest pillow over the bowl and wrapping a towel around your arm, you hurry over the middle-aged man who’s slowly turning in his spot to take in the sudden change in surroundings. Crap! Crapcrapcrap!

”Mister Crowley!” Your mind’s racing to come up with something – anything. ”Please, sit down again! I’ll get the water for you and then we’ll call someone to help you.”

”Help me?” He certainly looks perplexed.

Guiding him by the arm, you manage to get him onto the couch. ”Yes, don’t you remember? You came to my door, completely outta’t. I thought you were about to croak on me!”

You can hear him settling in a bit as you scurry to the kitchen, find a glass and filling it, and grabbing both an extra towel and your phone. If that’s the lie you’re going with, then you have to do it right. But why? Nothing makes sense. Sure, a spell can backfire or a ritual can be for something else than planned…but for something to fail as monumentally like this, dumping an innocent, old civilian in a witch’s lap? Unheard of! Still, that’s exactly what seems to have happened, and as stunning as the conundrum is you still have to deal with damage control first.

”Alriiight, here you go.”

Passing him the towel for the wet hands first, you can’t help but notice the sharp intelligence in his eyes. You don’t know much about Mr. Crowley, as he tends to keep to himself, except that he lives alone in the only manor in a neighbourhood of terraced houses. Everything about the place seems to be in perfect order, oozing a sense of old money which has the local gang of kids in a twist trying to figure out more.

”Ye’re sayin’ I showed up at ye door?” The disbelief’s palpable.

”Yeah,” you nod, ”all pale and shaking. Scared me shitless too.”

Crowley scowls at the phone on the coffee table. ”I feel fine, no need to ring anyone.”

Thank you. ”Are you sure? Wouldn’t wanna’ve you getting another fit when you’re alone…you know…in case it’s something…”

”I’m sure…” The moment of silence’s enough to establish an awkwardness that seems entirely one-sided and only bothering you. ”It’s prob’ly for the better if I get back.”

At least he lets you walk him the few hundred meters to his place, even goes as far as to open the door with you still by his side, allowing you a glimpse of a richly decorated hallway beyond. Wood panelling, fine tapestry, small crystal chandeliers, and decor that never has been near an IKEA…in fact warehouses were probably a new concept when the items were made.

…

Closing the door behind him, Crowley can’t help but smile to himself at the way the young witch handled the situation. Whomever she had tried to summon, she clearly didn’t expect him, and sure, he’d been pissed of at first, ready to kill her then and there, but…why? This could be fun.

…

It's been days where you’ve made sure not to try any summonings, focusing instead on cleansing your home until the place reeks of sage. You’ve had charged crystals placed strategically along vectors, drawn and redrawn a variety of sigils and runes…and of course cleansed yourself. Almost ready. Magic’s powerful and you’ve had to make sure nothing has somehow influenced what you were (and will be) doing.

But how did it happen? Nothing indicated that the spell was a forgery. Sure, aunt Agatha did get slightly loopy (which explains how she ended up splicing herself when attempting to pass through a wall), which is why you’ve taken the scroll to an expert after it landed Mr. Crowley in your living room. But the conclusion at the occultist was the same as your own.

Glancing at the alarm clock, the red ciphers glow like lava in the shape of 3:42.

“Cain’s cock!” Pushing the duvet aside, you swing your legs out of bed, bending down to rummage for your slippers.

Soon, you’re at your desk, bend over the yellowed parchment to study the beautiful script and tiny illustrations for the millionth time.

…

You manage to wait a few more days before finally giving in and using the first spell since the incident. It’s just a simple incantation to help take care of an injured squirrel, not a full-blown summon…but Crowley still appears. This time there’s no apron, but a gorgeous, grey tie and a glass of whiskey in his hand.

How can you even begin to explain this? It’s pure luck that he apparently is too drunk to even remember your name, let alone that he’s supposed to be somewhere else.

The third time he appears (this time in his pajamas and bathrobe), you’d been conjuring a bit of snow for the neighbourhood kids who were mourning the droopy snowman.

The fourth time, you’re ready for him. A Devil’s Trap is decorating the ceiling, fortified with crystals charged in lay lines. This time he’s dressed up for a proper meeting, but so are you because you want to make a strong impression when confronting him. Oh yes, you’ve done your homework. Delved deep and cashed in favours to learn more about this neighbour of yours. Crowley’s a demon alright, a crossroads’ demon to be exact…but it’s been a while apparently since he’s made a deal with anyone and rumour has it he’s moved up in the hierarchy of Hell. How far? You’re not sure, but it doesn’t matter because he should know enough of his trade to stay away unless called for. So why does he keep showing the fuck up?!

Checking yourself in the mirror, you make sure the dress is falling correctly to hide the weapon strapped to your thigh. It’s just a knife, but the seller (the occult specialist who examined the spell) has guaranteed that the runes are identical to those on the Winchester’s demon-killing knife.

Then you begin. Lighting candles and chanting the words you know by heart now after having stared at them so often. Herbs, sulphur, scales, and blood mixes in the bowl and the result’s the same as your first attempt of using the summoning spell. The shadows obscure most of the short man, but the yellow light from the street lamps proves that it’s not just your eyes deceiving you. So does the smell of whiskey.

Moving to the couch and little coffee table, you keep an eye on the figure. “Cup of tea, Mr. Crowley? I’m afraid it’s just Earl Grey, didn’t know what else to get you.”

“Ye always do tea parties in the dark?” he drawls.

“Nope. Lights just went out.”

With a snap he restores it, taking in the room before looking towards where you’re pouring the steaming tea into your aunt’s old cups. A tray of scones is set temptingly in the middle of the cozy arrangement, butter and jam nearby, and it clearly catches his interest just like you’d hoped. Scooting further into your seat in a deep chair, you hope to portray a certain nonchalance as you test the scalding hot tea. Please, step into the trap.

Crowley gets all of five steps before stopping abruptly. “Bloody hell!” Glancing around, it takes a moment before he spots the trap painted above him. “Bravo, ye found out I’m a demon, gonna let me out?”

“I think we oughtta talk first.”

He’s fuming. Stubby fingers clench the glass so tight you half expect it to splinter, but just as quick as he was at getting worked up, he calms himself. The side of him that, according to rumour, made him a successful crossroads’ demon shows as he braces himself for negotiation.

“Fine!” Okay…still a bit pissed. “Ye got me, little witch, what ye want?”

You shouldn’t be surprised that he knows what you are, but it does make you uncomfortable to hear him say it. You feel exposed somehow. Demons rarely harm witches unless provoked…the question remains, of course, what Crowley would consider a provocation considering he’s been going out of his way to turn up randomly. Why not start with that?

“Let’s start with something easy…why’d you keep popping in?”

The first answer is an eyeroll. “Ye summoned me.”

“I’w’s making it snow last time.” The cup clinks loudly as you set it down.

“Alright, so I might’ve had fun, making ye think ye were messing things up. Doesn’t mean ye still didn’t summon me the first time…like now.”

So, there’s something wrong with the spell or the diabolic hierarchy is fucked up. Tossing him a scone, you walk over to the small dining table to pick up the scroll. Rex Inferi shouldn’t be that hard to understand, but obviously something has been lost in translation. Unless…

“Show me your eyes.”

“Not int’rested in oggling.”

Hoisting the dress up to reach the knife doesn’t go as smoothly as you’d hoped. And when you finally do brandish it, Crowley scoffs at it before returning his focus to the drink he’s nursing. He still hasn’t taken a bit of the scone. In an attempt to regain a sense of control, you flash the knife before him and explain of its properties.

“HA!” His laughter continues and sounds anything but fake. “Ye think that’s gonna scare me? Sweetheart, I know the real deal and that there?” He gestures to the weapon with the almost empty glass. “Not even close. Need Enochian for that, not…whatever that’s supposed to be.”

“In that case you want mind a test-run, do ya?”

“Ye don’t wanna go cuttin’ me.” Crowley keeps a wary eye on the knife regardless of his proclaimed safety.

Would be nice to avoid blood on the rug. “Oh no?”

“Nope.”

“Give me one good reason…” You let the metal reflect the light just enough to serve as a reminder of its presence.

A finger flicks, perhaps out of habit, but the Devil’s Trap works as intended. “Bollocks! Fine! ‘Cause I am the bloody King of Hell, alright?!”

The silence lays heavily in the little room after the outburst. Red eyes glow with frustration, until Crowley blinks. Well, shit. Old aunt Agatha might have gotten at least a few things right, but how are you going to deal with the King of Hell trapped in your living room?

#SPN #supernatural #supernatural fanfiction #spn fanfic #crowley spn #King of Hell spn #supernatural crowley #Supernatural King of Hell #SPN Family #King of Hell Crowley #witchey stuff spn #summon crowley #wrong number summon

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rexscelestus · 5 years

Text

Confrontation with the Common Man

Mobster Kingpin Last Friday at 12:20 AM

> PI may be sticking to desk jobs for some time, but that doesn't matter. Jumping him out on the street during duty would have been too crude anyway. Too tasteless and without style. But even if he holes himself up all day, he will need to leave sooner or later. To get to and from work, get groceries, whatever PI does in a span of a week. On one of these days, a car is waiting right before the door. When PI exists the door, a young man gets out. Small frame, a hard face and a very sharp voice when he adresses PI. "The Kingpin sends his regards and would like to invite you over." Of course, PI could decline. The Diligent Assistant had neither the means nor the intention to force him. However, PI should be aware that it wouldn't exactly improve his situation. The next invitation may not be quite as polite. Crude still remains an option.

PI Last Friday at 1:16 AM

The option to decline is considered, if only because one rarely wants to attend their own funeral. The inspector spends a few seconds weighing his options, suddenly feeling more like a chess piece than ever. To refuse would ultimately not change the inevitable...and frankly would just give the impression he was a coward.

To be considered a brazen idiot or a spineless coward...not exactly the options he liked. But hell, he put himself into this corner so time to damage control. And he'd rather step into things headlong than be dragged. "Very well then." Was this a trap or a setup? Perhaps. Though PI didn't really see Kingpin as the type to offer an invite just to lead PI into Snow's fists. She certainly would be capable of that herself and the idea of her needing assistence would be insulting to the both of them.

In any event, may as well get this over with. No sense delaying an inevitable. With that, PI climbs into the car being offered. If no one is inside, he'll take the time to send off a couple messages before turning his phone off.

Mobster Kingpin Last Friday at 10:48 AM

The messages are expected, but not an issue. May he contacted who he wants, it won't change the plans at all. No need to hide. The car ride is quiet. DA isn't very talkative and even if PI tries to make casual conversation, he won't respond much. (It's... not that's he's nervous, he just doesn't want to embarrass the Kingpin.) PI is brought to the Regalia Hotel and lead inside, past a few very obvious white suited guards and into the elevator. Once unlocked with a key, the top floor is available for access. When the doors open again, a very lavishly decorated but absolutely empty and quiet hallway greets PI. DA leads PI to one of the doors towards the middle - of course the hotel's spacious King Suite, now turned into office and living quarters. There, you sit at the other end of the room in front of the giant window, behind a heavy desk on a chair that very much resembles a throne (I mean. It practically is https://sta.sh/0j8fetfa9ag). The decoration is just pompous enough to be worthy for a King, including, of course, a statue of himself, but it almost pales beside the paintings on the walls. A few of them portray the natural carpacian beauty of the Black Queen, but one shows Snowman in her current human glamour - a quite beautiful and tasteful nude. Should PI look around enough, he would find a matching painting of MK himself on the opposing wall. You take notice of your guest, but you hardly bother looking up from the paperwork you're handling at the moment. "Welcome, Inspector."

PI Last Friday at 11:29 AM

No one else in the car, and the driver is focused on task and uncaring of if he's using his phone. There's a certain level of confidence to it, if not a slight twinge of insult to how little regard is given. Or perhaps that is the real burn of it all, forcing you to spend the time stuck in your own head as you try to go over all the tangental what-ifs. It's times like this that you really regret having a healthy imagination...there are a lot of what-ifs to go down. The Regalia Hotel feels almost too painfully obvious a name that you practically want to kick yourself. Any moreso and it likely would have been called Kings Inn. The suited guards and entranceway are acknowledged in passing glance as you quietly follow along in your best attempt to step confidently without stepping too confident and walking past DA. Long legs, the curse of confident walkers everywhere. You follow, and take note of the ostentatious decor...how perfectly fitting. Once a king, always a king you suppose. And royalty always love their baubles. As you enter the suite, your eyes scan the area...and immediately ricochet off the glossy paint of the tasteful nudes to find the lighting fixtures on the ceiling fascinating. Of course. Kudos for the healthy self esteem. Well then. "Welcome to you as well." you say out of a reflexive habit then die inwardly. That made no sense, you aren't welcoming him. Get your focus back. "I mean, thank you for the invitation....Rex? Mister Kingsley? Kingpin? You're racking up quite the tally of names...any preferences?" Your voice is a bit more upbeat and less biting than you would have preferred, but you just chalk that up to stupid distracting portrait jitters.

Mobster Kingpin Last Saturday at 1:59 AM

Oh god. He's so.. deliciously awkward. That even manages to blow away your annoyance for just a moment. The grin on your face doesn't last long though. "Whichever. It doesn't matter. Though, if you ask me for my preference, just 'King' would be perfect." You very well aware that he never will. But hey, he asked. You finally put down your work and get up. There's a very notable sigh as you get up and walk around your desk to lean against the front. This may also be the moment PI notices you're a good bit taller than during your last meeting. Your full size, a much more comfortable shape to be in - and most importantly almost two heads taller than PI. You sign your assistant to leave, then direct your attention back at PI. "I'd love to offer you some tea or.. any other drink, but that would feel somewhat inappropriate. This isn't a fun little get together for a game or.. a date. More like a business transaction - unpleasant but unavoidable."

PI Last Saturday at 2:41 AM

"I shall keep that in mind..." you say as your arms fold. He's right, you have no plans to ever call him that. Careful name avoidance in conversations it is then. As he rises up to his full height, there is that momentary double-take as your mental cards shuffle. Right, his figure in the alley was much more notably large albeit carapacian. Not the worst look admittedly, but probably not the most subtle for someone trying to not openly scream Guess what model I am on the streets of Derse.

"The height suits you." is all you say on that, if only because it's rare for you to have to tilt your head up to look at anyone in this city. As he speaks, a resigned sigh does manage to escape your throat. The unavoidableness wasn't that much a surprise, but the sudden feeling that this is actually some sort of charity case for your benefit wasn't sitting with you well. Nor the concept that whatever comes would be considered a mercy in comparison. Fingers flexed, you tilt your head from side to side. "Of course. A pound of flesh as they say. Well then, let us get to business. Is this the part I try to beg or barter? Or shall we just not pretend and cut to the chase?" Your posture shifts. While you are expecting anything in this place is horribly one-sided against you, you are also not going to just lay down and let yourself be flogged. Your attendance was requested and given, cooperation less so.

Mobster Kingpin Last Monday at 7:18 PM

His demeanor surprises you. Positively,, that is. Bold little worm. Does to be able to fight back? Admirable, although idiotic. You give him a long, hard stare, then sigh. "This... is not satisfying. You're not only mocking me, no. You deeply insulted my beloved wife. For that alone she could tear you apart. And then the.." You choke some in oure disgust at the memory. ".. appalling aftermath you brought on. I mean, you're basically not leaving me any choice. I can't just ignore this." You growl and grumble some more as you start rolling up your sleeves.

PI Last Monday at 9:24 PM

The words said take you a bit out of your defense as you frown, suddenly feeling like a chore to be done. You watch him roll up his sleeves and sigh yourself. "For what non-existant worth there is to it, I will say this. Had I known my words would be a catalyst to well...that aftermath, I would have held my tongue. It was certainly not my intention to give the forces that be ammunition in which to publicly humiliate the two of you. And for that...I do apologize. And have no plans to repeat that line of insults in the future." You give a shrug. "That said, it all still happened and doesn't negate the experiences. So...mm." This is so awkward, this may in fact be worse than had he just started by breaking your bones one by one in silence. As much as your pride is hating the idea of apologizing for anything, it also apparently is too proud to be dishonest on the matter.

Mobster Kingpin Last Tuesday at 12:18 AM

"Right, right." Well, you give him that, his apology sounds honest. It just comes a few frog jokes too late. He's aware that he can't possibly hope for any mercy here, least of all from you. The mere attempt is irritating. And frankly, that are way too many words than you are up for at the moment. PI hardly finished the last sentence when you lunch forward and bring your fist down on his face. At least you did him the favor of not wearing any (but one) of your rings today. Just the purest form of pain your knuckles can bring.

PI Last Tuesday at 12:40 AM

If you had any idea he considered your apology a request for mercy, you'd likely be insulted. You have an entire speech about the nature of apologies that you could go into after all. Still, you don't have much time to really consider this hypothetical since in your hubris you made the biggest rookie mistake of lowering your guard as the punch comes in. Seconds later you find yourself a few feet back scrambling to get back on your feet because lets face it, you aren't exactly made of lead. You're seeing stars, tasting copper, and you're pretty sure your glasses are now somewhere across the room.

"...right then." is all you spit out as you rise to your feet. Considering bullets did nothing against him, you highly doubt your fists will feel anything short of butterflies. Then again, he is glamoured...so there's always the chance of breaking skin and causing a sting.

With that in mind, you use your ankle to hook one of the chairs close to you before using the momentum to swing it towards him. If you were Ace, this likely would be far more impressive and actually do something like lift up and smash into him...but you're not Ace so the most it can do is cause someone to slow their movement and put their hands forward to stop it's skidding. Which is really what you want, to occupy his hands as you lunge forward and spring off the seat to attempt to knee him right in his pompous face.

Mobster Kingpin Yesterday at 8:55 AM

You're gladly giving him the time to get up. Kicking a man on the ground would be too low, even for you. A noise makes you startle up. It sounded like someone else was in the room, as impossible as that should be. That definitely gives PI more time than you wanted to give him. Only after the chair comes sliding your way, you react. You manage to keep him from hitting your face, but he manages to bump into your arm before you shove him and the chair away. You let out a frustrated grumble. Resourceful he is. Was the noise his doing too? It still feels like there's something else in the room.

PI Yesterday at 9:41 AM

You're fast, but he's fast enough and that in and of itself is annoying. There's really only so much dodging and dipping around that you can do before it wears out what patience he has. As the chair is knocked back, you jump off back onto your feet. This is so...abyssmally one-sided. You've seen the aftermath of him facing off against both Sleuth and Slick...and you are quite certain they weren't just swinging fists at him. Alright, perhaps the thing to do is change the parameter of what constitutes a win. You aren't going to beat him physically, that goes without saying. So, time to change tactics. "Then hate me when thou wilt, if ever...now. Now, while the world is bent my deeds to cross, join with the spite of fortune, make me bow, And do not drop in for an after-loss." You circle around him, keeping out of arms reach as you quote the bard himself. If you can't bring yourself to him, maybe you can goad him into a lunge and bring him down to your level.

Mobster Kingpin Yesterday at 2:10 PM

It takes you a moment to register what is happening, but when you do, you notably roll your eyes. At any other encounter you might have found it amusing. Right now, "Save that for the book club, Ingleton," you growl. "If you don't want me to prolong your suffering, you should keep still and get over with it." There's still this weird uncomfortable sensation you can't shake off and all of this is starting to really get on your nerves. And there he is, tiptoeing around you. His strategy is obvious. He has no chance of hurting you, so he wants to keep his distance, mock you and wear you down. But just like in your chess games, you're not one for playing it safe. You take the offensive, swinging another punch at him, though you know better than to let down your guard around him.

PI Yesterday at 8:53 PM

You aren't sure if it's the poem or something else, but something seems to be twigging him. Granted he's right...but your pride would never let you live it down if you just accepted the inevitable. Your life has been a montage of you doing things you shouldn't have, defying the expected roles. And like hell you plan to change now, and especially for someone like him. The punch comes in, much like in your chess games he's definitely an offensive player. And normally you'd try to sidestep back and keep trying to keep out of harms way, play up that defensive approach. But in this case? A delay of inevitable suffering. So may as well get this over with...on your terms. "Ah! Do not, when my heart hath 'scaped this sorrow, come in the rearward fo a conquered woe. Give not a windy night a rainy morrow, to linger out a purposed overthrow." You say as you dodge the swing but move in closer, grabbing the front of his shirt to pull yourself up so that you're face to face with him. "As the old addage goes Mister Kingsley, make me." you quip...and then kiss him. Or at least attempt...he may flinch back. Regardless your next move is planned...like in chess always two moves ahead. Be it him recoiling back or you pulling back seconds later, you continue to hold the cuff of his shirt with one hand as your other arm reels back to strike directly towards his face.

February 7, 2019

Mobster Kingpin Today at 1:35 AM

You don't flinch back, if only because this move honestly catches you by surprise. You're still stunned when the punch comes for you, and boy does it hit you. The worst part about the human glamour is probably that soft protruding spot in the face. Way too vulnerable without any shell to support it underneath and well FUCK that hurts. What a shit awful and inefficient design. You flinch back now - only to jolt back forward and bring your forehead down on his. You step back, finally free of his face near yours, growling as you run a thumb over lip. "You. Got some nerve." God. Damn. Fuck him. FUCK him for repeatedly managing to catch you off-guard in the worst ways. Fuck him for being so damn reckless regardless of consequences. Fuck him for being THIS DAMN BOLD. You honestly can't say when the last time was that someone dared to come on this strongly at you. At you. If anyone, you're the one making such moves. This wasn't even supposed to be a meeting like that HOW FUCKING DARE HE- A sting in your side reminds you that you should not let your emotions get the better of you. But you want nothing more than to pay him back for the audacity. "Any last words, Ingleton?" you growl, hopefully louder than the pained wheeze you try to suppress. The thing about not kicking a man on the ground... you may just change your mind.(edited)

PI Today at 2:27 AM

You'd like to say you'd cherish the look on his face and the moment, but right now you're currently reeling from the forehead smash. Well, nice to confirm that water is wet and his skull is indeed thicker than yours could ever be. Ow. It was a poor move tactically, but a bold one you didn't regret. This fight was his physically the moment you arrived, but damned if you weren't going to get under his skin in another way. It's not hard to tell that your balance has taken a slight hit and you doubt you'd be able to dodge further swings.. Especially now that you're still too close to easily move out of range. Still, the risk was not regretted...you'd almost say worth it. He was right after all, any further moves would just prolong. But now, now at least you feel empowered enough to stand your ground.

Which in hindsight you'll likely be kicking yourself over, curse this bastard for raising your proud hackles the way he does. But for now, only one word comes to mind. A final snub perhaps, and would likely only make this hurt more than less. But...well...he did say you have some nerve. You look at him as you stance off, knowing full well you'll not get another hit on him when he comes but damned if you aren't going to try anyways. With that, you look him in the eyes and smirk.

"Check."

Mobster Kingpin Today at 10:29 AM

Under your skin he mamages to get. You're not going to admit it, but he knows and you know and you hate it and hate him. Maybe you should have just left him to your Queen and her wrath. That last quip throws you off. Again. Of all the things he could have said, you didn't expect that. Actually, why didn't you? You notably roll your eyes, and annoyed grin forming on your face. "Check, my ass." He feels like winnig, yes? Urgh. Insufferable little worm. Sure, you could beat him into a bloody pulp and as tempting as that sounds, it would only make you feel like a sore loser and prove to him how much he got to you. You stare down at him in disdain. "Get out." You didn't nearly hurt him as much as he deserves yet. You're letting him off easy and he'll know it and he'll probably be smug about it. But you don't have the patience to deal with this. Any longer and you might really forget yourself. You're not forfeiting, you're having mercy on him.

PI Today at 10:43 AM

You're bracing, readying for what comes next...but of all the things to happen, his words was the last thing you had expected and your expression betrays the surprise. Even a momentary flicker of confusion. Was this a trap? Wait...why would he need a trap in the first place? With all the build up leading to this you....this feels far too simple and easy. He wouldn't just let you go after that. Or maybe that's his plan, to let you go and wipe his hands of the whole thing while Snowman crushes your head with her heels? Or maybe not but make you stress?? Oh no you're going to overthink this... You look to the left, right, back at him. Another second of awkwardness...oh no this is starting to get awkward. How do you even walk out from here without looking like a fool. You can almost feel the bravado leeching out of your body at a critical rate. "Ah...all. Alright then." you muster, stepping back a few steps, turning to walk out, turning back around to walk backwards a bit to see if he's following, bump the door with your back...you guess, you're leaving now? Later on you'll remember your glasses were left here, somewhere. Probably lodged into the wall from that first punch knowing your luck.(edited)

Mobster Kingpin Today at 11:05 AM

"Have a nice day," you reply drily. You return to your desk and ignore him till you leave. You allowed him to leave and you're not going back on that unless he further tests your patience. (But you take notice of his discomfort. At least a tiny joy in this whole annoying ordeal.) Outside, your assistant stands ready to guide PI to the elevator without another word. Once he's gone, you're tending to your nose with a tissue. It's definitely at least bleeding, maybe worse. Your medic will need to check that out later. And you'll surely have to endure his snark for not only starting another fight, but getting such a solid hit in the face too. Urgh. You're keeping the glasses. At least you got a little trophy out of this.

PI Today at 11:17 AM

There's nothing to say as you follow the assistant into the elevator. Sure you look roughed up, later on you'll have time to notice the bloodied nose and slight split in your lip as well as what will not doubt be an impressive black eye. But in the scheme of it all this was...what was this even? The elevator ride is in silence, well externally. Internally you mull over what all happened and try to replay the events to figure out where things went wrong. Or did they go right? This feels too easy, too light a thing...dammit maybe you were supposed to stay after all? This feels so unfinished. Did...did he just leave you hanging? This is awful, and suddenly you feel self-concious to a degree as you realize you have to walk out of this building past the guards and...god dammit you hate him. You look more like you've had a light tussle than a fight with someone who likely bends steel girders for sport. Ugh...you hate this. You should have stayed and hoped he would have just knocked you unconcious so you didn't have to walk out of here. By the time you leave the elevator you realize your glasses are gone. God! Dammit! You were so close to having one up over on him and he pulled his overpriced carpet out from under you. You should have tried to punch him again. Bastard.

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abadpoetwithdreams · 6 years

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Nirvana in Fire Episode 9 Reaction

In just one week I will be taking to the skies yet again, this time to go visit my dear friend ewokshootsfirst for two weeks! So as of this typing I hope to finish this reaction post before I depart, since I do not expect to get any writing done while I am away, but if I don't manage that feat then, um, sorry, and I guess you are reading this in early February instead of mid-January. (Note: GUESS WHAT it's February I literally resumed watching this ep as SOON as I was back in the US and dramafever stopped blocking my videos (I found out even saved-for-offline-viewing videos are unwatchable overseas the hard way, lol). I did write about half of this before my trip, but the rest is post. While very jetlagged.)

Episode nine begins with a focus on a sign that apparently reads Su Residence hanging over a doorway, so this is our cue that Mei Chang Su has, indeed, moved out of the Snow Cottage. Ironically, his new manor is covered with literal snow, as the fall from Jing Rui's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Night has evidently not slowed, but never mind that. I hate that now whenever I see snow falling at night my first thought will be good time for a murder, btw. Thanks, Nirvana in Fire.

There are lots of workers bustling around carrying furniture and sweeping and mending things and doing other busy moving-house work, and in the midst of them in the middle of a snowy courtyard Fei Liu is building a snowman. Or at least he is piling snow up in a shape that might turn into a snowman. Maybe he is building a SnowMeng to destroy. Su is watching him fondly from beneath a sheltering jut of roof. When a man (might be Li Gang, hard to tell from this distance) tells Su he should go inside, because it is too cold for him out of doors (he looks very bundled up in this scene), he says okay and then immediately is like FEI LIU THROW ME A SNOWBALL which is the exact opposite thing to what he just agreed to, sighhhh. So he starts playing catch with Fei Liu in the snow, and it would be adorable because he looks so giddy and happy, but I'm with his household on this one, GET INSIDE AND GET WARM, MCS. Why do even the cute things on this hell show just make me sad??? A woman also scolds him and tells him to go inside (and again he says okay and doesn't budge, behold Actual Child Lin Shu, ladies and gentlemen), but then a fellow named Doctor Yan shows up, and he looks Serious. All it takes is a harrumph from the imposing-looking doctor, and Su guiltily, reluctantly, retreats indoors. This is an oddly charming scene, but of course in typical NiF fashion it's also terribly sad, because it isn't fair, our hero should be able to play in the snow and enjoy the chill air, and it's yet another reminder of how he is caged: in his invalid body, in his false face and persona, in his self-imposed quest for justice. Strangely enough, this scene reminds me of how Jing Rui described how carefree his friend Su was before they returned to the capitol together. For the first time, I can sort of imagine what that would have been like, and it is heartbreaking.

Young Master Lin Chen is so smart to have sent Doctor Yan over, Li Gang says with a smile, as he watches Su re-enter the house. Ahh, Lin Chen, the sword dancer! Nice to hear his name mentioned again, as I have not seen him since episode one and I quite liked him in that ep. Also a reminder that he was the one looking after Su's health, and it would seem that has not changed.

Meanwhile Minister Gao is happily pouring himself a relaxing cup of tea, cheerfully expounding upon how good he feels now that he has handed the murder well case off to the other ministry as Ban Ruo suggested. If he had kept working on that case any longer, he jokes, I'm afraid that this case might still be around but I wouldn't be. His audience, one of his subordinates, laughs politely and then says slightly apologetically that The magistrate of Lantai County seeks an audience. Gao reacts as poorly as might be expected, all happy relaxation feelings gone, but his officer hastens to reassure him that this is nothing like the murder well case. It is simply that people have spotted a beast on Xiaogu Mountain. Wait, what? That has to be relevant to the plot somehow but as of now it just seems really random. Gao says the other man should take care of it on his own, and expresses his fervent wish that no more cases implicating imperial officials pop up. I don't think he will get his wish; not as long as Mei Chang Su lives, anyway.

Now it is time to check in on what Yu is doing! A new character has arrived to meet with him: this is Minister Qi, and I thiiiink he is Yu's ally in the Ministry of Justice, because he reports that Minister Gao took Ban Ruo's hint and sent all case materials to the Ministry of Justice, and Yu responds by saying that now he knows that the case is in Qi's hands he no longer worries about anything. Minister Qi smiles way too much, it's creepy. Well, smile while you can, mister; I am certain MCS will come for you eventually! Qi reminds Yu that if they manage to take down Lou Zhi Jing then Yu will be able to hopefully install one of his supporters in the highly influential Minster of Revenue position, further growing his political power. Yu definitely knows this already, so this is just early-episode exposition to remind the viewer of where the stakes are in this situation.

Cut to: Mei Chang Su again, and AHH I LOVE THIS SCENE. Mainly because it introduces what is one of my favourite bits of MCS Extraness™ so far, namely, the game pieces. Yeah, that's what I want to call them: these wooden tiles carved with a lot of writing I obviously can't read. Are they supposed to be a visual nod to mahjong, with its eliminating pairs of pieces from the gameboard? (Since as is revealed in this scene, Su is balancing how he is crippling CP and Yu by taking out their allies in even matches?) Anyway, he is holding two of them meditatively, as he sits in his new manor, and when Meng shows up to ask what he is plotting (hi, Meng!), Su begins to lay out the rules of this deadly game he is playing with the powerful officials in government.

Yu and the Crown Prince are vying for the throne, says Su. We know this. He then goes on to elaborate, however: each prince has equal power over the six ministries of government. We already know CP has Revenue and Yu has Justice, but now we have confirmation that this equal balance exists. Meng, listening, suddenly frowns and stoops closer: there on the table are six wooden tiles, each painted with the name of a ministry. THE GAME IS AFOOT, WATSON. I LOVE THIS. It's both really cool, a very clever and dramatic visual way of helping the viewer keep track of what is surely about to become a very very complicated game of politics, but also just a little chilling to see Su literally reduce people in the capitol to pieces in his game. Is there a tile with Jing Rui's name on it because I wouldn't be surprised. Just disappointed.

Meng lays each piece out and says what each is, which I appreciate because dramafever wasn't subtitling the tiles themselves and for an instant I was worried I'd have to track down online translations for them (I have tried to avoid any and all googling related to this show because I'm terrified of spoilers). The Ministries are:

Justice, Personnel, and Public Works (Yu's team) Revenue, Justice, and Rites (CP's team)

Not sure why Justice is listed on both sides, unless they are different branches of it or something. Or just a subtitle thing again. Guess I'll find out as I go along.

Meng pauses, considering the tiles, and then looks up at Su, who has been watching him in silence. You are thinking about cutting off their supporters one by one? he asks, looking, I think, a bit concerned. Su smiles like this is a private joke, then replies that he isn’t just getting rid of the six ministries (JUST the six ministries, oh yeah, because obviously that would be underachieving), he is getting rid of our old friend the Duke of Qing (who has been haunting the doings on this show ever since the beginning of episode one!) and the Marquis of Ning as well. Military? Meng asks, and Su confirms. He is looking not just to destabilize the powers that be in government: he means to utterly tear them down. Lin Shu has come home to ruin the lives of everyone who wronged him and to raise up the righteous and guys I'm getting emotional about this I have to move on.

As we already know, the Marquis supports CP and the Duke of Qing supports Yu, keeping that balance of power equal. And now Su starts illustrating to Meng how he has started to tear his foes apart, all the while carefully keeping that balance so that they do not suspect: the Minister of Revenue, Lou Zhi Jing, is done for after the whole Orchid Garden scandal, taking out one person from team CP. And how does Su illustrate this? By picking up Revenue's tile, considering it for a moment, and then casually tossing it into the brazier so it can burn there and keep him warm. Lin Shu is my favourite drama queen, this is so unnecessary and yet so satisfying. BuRN THEM BURN THEM ALL

Furthermore, he reminds both Meng and us the viewers, the Duke of Qing has also been taken down, so that's one less ally for Yu. Su allows himself a tiny smile at this one, and then yep, into the brazier the tile goes. Prince Yu might still want to fight for his ally, though, says Su, and even more ironically he might come to Su for help in that fight. And then, with perfect comedic timing cutting the tension of this scene: in comes a servant announcing that Yu has just arrived for a visit. Meng is impressed by Su's predictive skills, but you can just see the animation leave Su's face, and indeed his entire body; he visibly sags, steeling himself. He may have anticipated the visit, but he is not happy about having to deal with Yu again. He was enjoying showing off to Meng, I think; enjoying being able to share his plans with a friend he can trust.

Meng says ah, I will go into hiding before Yu comes in, and I was honestly a bit disappointed he didn't just do the ol' lampshade over the head and stand in a corner bit or whatever the equivalent of that is in ancient fantasy China, but he exits to hide much more sensibly and now we cut to see Yu stepping down from his carriage at Su's door, and he is wearing this giant collar of almost blue fur, his outfit is exquisite. Oh, and we also see Su return his wooden tiles to where he stores them in a plain wooden box at his side, while meanwhile the Duke of Qing and Minister of Revenue are burning merrily away in the brazier. Still totally legible, by the way, but this doesn’t seem to worry Su so I won’t let it worry me either (but can you imagine how amazing it would be if Yu noticed, ahahaha).

They talk about the Duke of Qing case a little and Yu tries to act like, oh, that's all water under the bridge, no hard feelings. But then he makes a formal bow (!) and asks Su for help on the case! Father has already formally summoned Prince Jing today to appoint him in charge of trying the case, says Yu. Su does a very good fake surprise reaction at hearing this.

(We are also treated to a glorious little scene that basically just consists of the Minister of Justice scurrying to welcome Prince Jing to his office and praising Jing for his military service and commenting on what an honor it is to have him visit (lies) and not-so-subtly asking why are you here instead of resting on your time off from the battlefields? and then Jing turns around with icy deliberation and just fixes him and his sycophancy with the most deadpan, scathing Look, and WELCOME BACK JINGYAN I HAVE MISSED YOU SO)

Back at Su's house he asks Yu: didn't you or the Crown Prince protest Jing taking control of this case? Yu looks unhappy as he admits that the Emperor has forbidden them from getting involved, and further that whatever Jing decides will probably go in the Crown Prince's favor (since, remember, Yu's ally is in the wrong here, and Jing will always be fair). But Yu cannot do anything to interfere, or his dad would be very upset. He also admits that he is worried because he cannot bribe/influence that stubborn Prince Jing anyway LOL. That's my boy!

Su looks a little proud of that stubborn Prince Jing but he does remind Yu that Jing owes him a favor (for shielding him from punishment in the Ni Huang case). Yu just huffs a small, disparaging laugh at that:

You might not know what my seventh brother is like. I have never sen anyone in Imperial Court who is as thickheaded and behaves more like an old fogey. Not even father can handle him at times. I'm afraid that small favor isn't enough to make him obey me.

Priceless. Mei Chang Su, listening to Yu's analysis of Jing, looks increasingly amused, but manages to hold himself in check. He also fidgets a bit with his right hand (all these closeups of Hu Ge's hands are killing me btw I always love watching how people use their hands in film and his are so nice. Yes, I guess I have two fixations on this show: Su's hands and Jing's eyebrows.) which I guess is significant since the camera focuses on it but I don't know why. Maybe that's his tell when he's thinking hard, I'll have to pay more attention in future.

Su says So essentially you want me to somehow control Jing to make sure the Duke is spared punishment? Yu leans forward eagerly: that is exactly what he wants, and if Su can do it, Prince Yu will be extremely grateful. Su keeps fidgeting with that hand. Maybe it's more just a tell of when he wants to kill someone lol

Meanwhile, Jing is making the Minister of Justice's life miserable by reciting the protocol for the trial at him, demanding proper preparations be made, and announcing his Imperial-ordained authority over the trial. Qi tries to bluster and delay by saying he hasn't received any orders from the Emperor yet, so he cannot start doing what Jing says until he gets said orders! Jing blinks, taken aback a bit: I AM the Imperial order, I just told them to you right now, he says. That's not the same as actually seeing official paperwork, Qi simpers, and it's easy to see why he likes Yu, they are both super slimy. Look, Prince Jing, he says, in a very insincere show of apology, I wish I could start helping right away and it isn't like I WANT to make you look bad, it's just that official protocol says I cannot do what you say until I get the paperwork. Aw what a shame. Oh, and also I am already busy with many important cases and am understaffed etc. etc. so you might have to wait a while to get this case started anyway! Poor Jing looks very put out, but he cannot exactly argue. How long does Qi need to prep the case? he asks. Oh, not too many days, Qi replies. It should only take maybe two weeks? How does two weeks sound? I hate Qi. Jing considers, then steps forward. The official paperwork will arrive tomorrow, and I will return here then, he says. By then, think carefully before you answer me. And then he just WALKS like a BOSS out of there, knocking Qi deliberately aside with his shoulder as he goes and totally ignoring the Minister of Justice's attempts at speaking to him further. He's so sick of having to deal with this horrid little man already and he hasn't even properly started the job yet, poor Jing.

Back with Su and Yu: Su tells the prince that what he is asking for is a dead end path. When Yu is confused, Su explains: Yu is very powerful and has everything going for him but he has forgotten the most important rule: that there is one person against whom you must never set yourself, namely, the Emperor. Yu leaps to his feet, alarmed. What? Su is mistaken; he would NEVER go against his father's will! This is a big deal not just because obviously one must not cross one's emperor, but also the emperor is Yu's father so doing anything against him is a huge crime against his filial responsibility as well as his political allegiance. No wonder Yu has such a violent reaction to Su accusing him of such an act.

Our Mei Chang Su, however, is unfazed. Who do you think demanded that Qing be tried to begin with? he asks Yu. Do you think it was the Crown Prince or Jing? No; it was the Emperor, and thus if you try to interfere with the outcome of the trial in anyway you are setting yourself against not one of your brothers but against the Emperor himself. DO look at the big picture, Yu.

Yu sinks back down, shaken. Is there really no solution? Yu asks. Su shakes his head: The Duke of Qing is a lost cause, he says, and I think Your Highness knows it. (This is intercut with the Duke of Qing and his family being dragged out of their house in chains, to emphasize just how Doomed he is.) Yu takes a bracing gulp of tea and says he does not think Su understands just how important Qing is to him. Oh, I do, says Su, with a slight chuckle (you have NO idea, Yu). Yu starts to question why Su left the Marquis' manor so quickly: surely there must be a reason? Su dodges the question, and Yu backs off a little disappointed, but then vows that as long as you are willing to favor me, the gates of my manor will always be open for you. Su doesn't exactly look thrilled by this promise, but that's just what he gets for his deceptions working so well. I'm pretty sure in the novel I remember him literally throwing up after spending time talking with Yu because Yu nauseates him literally that much, so I like imagining that that expression is just his fighting not to hurl face. All of Mei Chang Su and Yu's conversations are made even better by just keeping in mind that Su is spending them fighting not to literally vomit.

We meet yet another new character: Lie Zhan Ying, Jing's adjudant general! He works with Jing so I automatically like him. He also has something of Jing's straightforward, no-nonsense mannerisms, which is a nice way to remind us of the divide between the political and the pugilist lifestyles, I love all the attention to detail in this show. Ying has arrived at whichever political building is holding the plaintiffs in the Duke of Qing case, to collect them and bring them to Jing's manor. The official who meets him at the door is wholly obliging, in stark contrast to Minister Qi's attitude towards Jing earlier. This official also mentions that the Crown Prince sent a message saying Prince Jing is going to all this trouble, so we mustn't hinder him. He also mentions how We are all working for the Emperor here, so basically Mei Chang Su was 100% correct in his advice to Yu and Yu has dodged a bullet by taking his advice and not trying to mess with the case. His meddling would have been VERY obvious and would have made him look VERY bad.

We return to Su and Yu, the former of whom is apparently walking the latter out. Yu takes a moment to ask if there is any further advice that Mei Chang Su wishes to impart? In my opinion, replies the very innocent and unbiased Divine Talent, it's best for Your Highness to abandon Duke of Qing State now and support Prince Jing. YOU SNEAKY CAD I LOVE YOU. (Sidenote: I forget if I mentioned this before, but the lighting work in this drama is delightful. This scene, for example, looks so very cold even without the clouds of breath curling up when the actors speak, it's lit so everything and everyone looks so frozen and sharp and blue. I'm yelling at my screen for Su to go put that gorgeous fur collar back on, even Yu is wearing his furs for goodness' sake, BEHAVE, LIN SHU.)

Yu is taken aback but considers. Jing is a prince, he says, and is acting under Imperial decree. No one, therefore, would think to stand against him; what does he need Yu's support for? Okay, so he has seemingly conveniently forgotten that that is EXACTLY what HE was planning to do just a few minutes ago. After a moment he grudgingly concedes that Minister Qi miiiiiiight stall things a bit, but that is all. Su, who totally eye rolled when Yu played innocent, shakes his head with a smile. Certainly Jing might need the support of the Ministry of Justice for the case, he says, but he isn't just talking about this mess with Qing. He is talking of all the days to come. And I start cackling at the look on Yu's serious duped face because I swear, if Mei Chang Su successfully tricks Prince Yu into supporting Prince Jing and aiding in his ascension to power, I will laugh myself SICK. THIS IS SO GOOD.

Su calmly explains that there will be more cases to be tried after Qing, and many of them will undoubtedly involve powerful families and wealthy landowners like the Duke. How could Prince Jing handle that alone? If Prince Yu were to throw his political weight behind Jing, then not only would Jing truly owe him on a scale that he could not ignore, but the Emperor would also be pleased because this would help him in implementing his agricultural policy. It is a win-win, Yu! Listen to the Divine Talent!

Sooo . . . you are having me draw Prince Jing over to my side? Yu asks slowly. My cackling intensifies.

Yep, that is correct, Su says, and with a touch of smugness: I have been planning this since the Ni Huang incident.

Yu is most impressed. He presses Su to tell him what the point of this strategy is. Su answers easily: What is the fuss about losing the Duke of Qing State? In terms of military power would two Dukes of Qing State even make up for one Prince Jing? OH, BRILLIANT. When presented like that, it make SO much sense! If you can get Jing on your side everyone is always on about his stubbornness and his lack of subtlety, so he would be the ideal ally. Plus, everyone (Yu and CP included) keep overlooking him because he has zero political power. But he has spent his entire adult life building military power. So of COURSE he would be more valuable a military ally than Qing! LIN SHU I LOVE YOU. AGAIN.

Prince Yu spends a full ten seconds silently having his mind blown (yes, I timed them, because his myriad of baffled/astonished/delighted expressions was HILARIOUS to watch, all hail this actor) but he emerges out the other side with a giddy smile. If I could win Prince Jing over, that would be great! He exclaims excitedly, before sobering a little to add that but judging by his temperment he wouldn't obey my orders to summon the army when I need him. LOLOL I WANT TO SEE THAT AU PLEASE.

Again, Su looks pretty amused by this read on Jing's character. He reminds Yu, however: why on earth would Yu ever need an army? Is he planning on taking the throne by force? WHAT? NO THAT IS CRAZY TALK, says a very worried Yu. That's right, Su. Play him like a fiddle.

We interrupt this scene to enjoy a temper tantrum being thrown by good ol' CP, who is raging about how Yu has essentially done in Lou Zhi Jing. Fine, then, he shouts, I will make certain he loses the Duke of Qing, too! And thus he is following neatly the path Su has laid out for him, effectively disguising the hand of Mei Chang Su in all this. The Marquis, much calmer (he always worries me, he is too clever), says CP doesn't have to worry about the Duke; even if Yu dared try to meddle in the trial, Prince Jing wouldn't back down. The Duke is doomed. Similarly, though, the Marquis points out, Lou Zhi Jing is also definitely going to be convicted of his various disgusting crimes. This means that the position of Minister of Revenue will soon be vacant! If CP acts fast, he can recommend one of his allies to the position before Yu can and thus can take control of that political seat and tip the scales in his favor. CP is mollified by this, but then goes on to scoff at the Marquis' urging that he not be anxious:

As long as Mei Chang Su exists how can I possibly remain calm? No matter where he moves to, you have to get rid of him!

Uh, oh. The Crown Prince storms off and the Marquis does not look unduly bothered by the order. Ugh, Jing Rui, you deserve so much better but your father is a toad.

Back with Yu and MCS, Su is continuing to remind Yu of his place. In the capital His Majesty is in charge of the Palace Guards. Commander General Meng watches over the palace. Should anything go wrong, who would have the chance to launch an attack once the Imperial decree was made? Yu looks so intensely uncomfortable. You're right, he admits to Su. Su reminds him the goal now should be to gain the Emperor's favor.

As to who gets military support, it's just a matter of perspective. What's the point of having [Jing] obey your every word? Even if we were to say at the least that should Crown Prince one day seek to hatch an evil plot and put His Majesty in danger, or to go against his decree, judging from Prince Jing's personality would he wait to be summoned by you to defend His Majesty?

Yu thinks this over, sighs, and agrees. Prince Jing prides himself on being righteous, he says disapprovingly. Oh, Yu. Su reminds him that helping Jing doesn't mean doing anything grandoise, just--be friendlier. It seems I will have to pay a visit to Prince Jing's manor tomorrow for your sake, Su says. He explains basically that Jing is super dumb when it comes to politics and so he must himself intercede to Jing on Yu's behalf to let him know what's up, otherwise Jing probably wouldn't even recognize any favors Yu does for him. Su is so mean when talking about Jing, he must love him very much. Also, this is hilarious that he has justified his comings and goings to Jing's manor to his enemy like this, so now when Yu sees Su with Jing he will just be happy and think they are working for him, while they are all the while working together to burn him down. Yu even bows to Su in gratitude, thanking him for his hard work, and if Yu wasn't such a hateful snake of a man I would feel very sorry for him right now. But he is, so I don't. Plus Su's blank, dead-eyed expression as he accepts this wholly misplaced gratitude has me laughing. He looks like he is 0.0005 seconds away from just turning to the camera and breaking the fourth wall like he's on The Office. Yu also pledges to be personally responsible for Su's safety, no matter what CP and the Marquis try. How many birds has Su killed with this one stone of a conversation? Lots of birds.

Yu magnanimously says Su does not have to walk him out, as he is an invalid and it is still very cold and wet; melting snow or rain or both has been dripping from the rafters of these scenes for quite some time now. Su watches him depart, and then Li Gang rushes up with The Fur and it's like the sight of the thick cloak reminds Su that he is cold; where moments before he had been holding himself with perfect ease around Yu, he now shivers and clutches the cloak close. I am very grateful to Li Gang for taking care of my boy. I wonder if Su deliberately ordered his men not to give him any warm wraps until after Yu left, for appearance's/pride's sake. The two men return inside, and Su explains to a wondering Li Gang that he had to spend a very long time talking with Yu because Yu is difficult to deal with: he is very meticulous. Interesting.Whenever Su admits anyone is a challenge to manipulate I feel like I'm marking off this character checklist in my head: knowing that Su feels he has to tread carefully when speaking with Yu, for example, will add a nice layer of tension in their future meetings.

What is heartbreaking about this conversation is it is one of the few times we have so far where Su really does seem to be at his limit. He just seems so very tired--mentally from the intricate net he had to weave to catch Yu in, emotionally from having to pretend to be so cordial and mild-mannered around Yu when probably all he wants to do is stab Yu in the eye repeatedly (or, like, shoot him in the eye with an arrow, I suppose, wasn't it mentioned that Lin Shu's weapon of choice was the bow? A super awesome choice, by the way, as it is yet another shade of character depth: our hero's specialty was ranged weaponry and now here he is in the thick of the action in the capitol having to deal with all his enemies up close and personal. Just a fun little note), and physically because of the whole, you know, not-so-slowly-dying thing. Let the man rest! Where did that grumpy doctor go??

And, alas, Mei Chang Su cannot take the time to rest. Already he is moving onto the next stage of his plan: he tells Li Gang as they walk along (with Li Gang carefully supporting his boss, I am so grateful for this man) that he needs to visit Prince Jing tomorrow. Oh, and that he will also be bringing some golden chainmail. Whaaaat? Is it going to be dangerous? a very alarmed Li Gang exclaims. Su indulges first in a solid couple seconds of flat, disappointed staring, and then with a most massive eyeroll and silent sigh before he begins explaining, poor exhausted man. This is why he needs someone like Ni Huang on his side, someone similarly brilliant to himself and capable of making the same intellectual leaps he does, so that he does not have to constantly be explaining himself all the time. He just looks and sounds so Done.

The chainmail is to be a gift for little Ting Sheng, he says. That's super cute. But Li Gang disapproves, saying such a gift will be too suspicious coming from the East Yangtze Alliance leader. True, true. But it is odd that Su had not considered that; another sign seemingly of how worn thin he is right now. He asks Li Gang what he should do then (again, odd that he is asking someone else's advice, I cannot recall him doing that before??) but before Li Gang can come up with an alternative (he looks pretty stumped) Su calls Fei Liu (who was chilling on the rooftop, as one does) and tells him he will be giving a gift to Ting Sheng tomorrow. When Li Gang starts trying to comment on this plan, stating and restating the obvious about how Fei Liu is so eccentric no one will think such a valuable gift weird, Su juSt LIFTS his hand without even looking to coVER LI GANG'S MOUTH MID-SENTENCE, silencing him, and then he has the gall to look grumpily at his hand and SHAKE it like "EEW" BEFORE WALKING OFF he is so DONE LIN SHU IS DONE WITH TODAY HIS PEOPLE WOULDN'T LET HIM PLAY IN THE SNOW AND THEN HE HAD TO SPeND HOUrs PRETENDING TO LIKE PRINCE YU AND HE JUST HATES EVERYTHING I LOVE HIM SO MUCHHHH. WHAT AN ICON.

Then we get a hilarious scene where Minister Qi happily reports to Yu that he stalled Jing and sent him away earlier and it was so easy because Jing is a political idiot hohohoho and then Yu steps forward menacingly and is all Who told you to make him leave? and Qi suddenly realizes with a look of absolute horror that he did the Wrong Thing and it's beautiful. This show is so sad and so intense and so emotionally complex and then it every so often just turns into this terrific comedy of errors (that scene with the two princes madly competing for Su's attention at the combat trials always comes to mind as a brilliant example of this) and its so? Funny? This show is a GIFT.

Cut to the Marquis of Ning's manor at night, presumably that night! He has a headache. His son in law--Jing Rui's brother-in-law but also maybe Actual Brother because this family is so messed up, the pugilist dad son whose name I forget--shows up to report that he has sent out some men. Are you confident this time? asks the Marquis. Based on earlier goings on I'm guessing this is yet another attempt on the Divine Talent's life. Over at Su's manor, he is trying to convince a very disapproving Fei Liu that golden chainmail is a good present for Ting Sheng. Once he explains that Ting Sheng is not as good a fighter as Fei Liu and thus chainmail is something he will both like and actually find useful, Fei Liu is sold, and as always I really enjoy this scene between just the two of them, but then they hear a commotion. Go ahead, Su tells a suddenly alert Fei Liu, who darts off. Su then deliberately starts reading a book and ignoring the various sounds of fierce combat coming from outside, lol. Or at least trying to ignore; he's probably just trying to distract himself since he can't go join in. Li Gang eventually reports that all intruders were killed, so so much for the Marquis' second assassination attempt!

Next day we see Su stepping down from a carriage at the gates of Jing's manor. The Sad Music is back and he's got that awful heartbreaking Look on his face again--the one he had when Ni Huang led him to his old house, the one he had when royal grandma ripped my heart out. So I immediately am like OH NO and I try to brace myself for something soul-crushing. But you know what I have learned? You cannot brace yourself for any of the pain this show inflicts. If Nirvana in Fire wants you to hurt, then by golly you are going to HURT, and there is nothing you can do to prevent that.

Because we suddenly get a freaking FLASHBACK. A FLASHBACK YOU GUYS. We haven't had any flashbacks before except to the battle where Lin Shu fell off that cliff!!! And now out of NOWHERE we see a 17-yr-old Jing SMILINGGGGGGG ANd LIN SHU IS WITH HIM AND LIKE IT'S SO CUtE I CAN'T THEY'RE RuNNING UP tHE STePS TO THE GATe AND NOOOOOOOO

AND WANG KAI'S V.O. SOuNDS SO DIFFERENT FROM HIS USUAL JING VOICE It'S SO HAPPY???? MY BOYS WERE HAPPY THEY WERE FREAKING BEST FRIENDS I KNEW IT I kNEW IT and LIN SHU WWAS SO CUUUUUTE LOOK AT THEMMMMM

(Also like they're wearing the same colors so I love that visually, obviously, but also lol Lin Shu changed his WHOLE physical appearance somehow to disguise himself but his clothing is EXACTLY the same what a loser)

So the gist of the V.O. is that my fave boys were each other's fave boys too and Jing got this mansion when he was just 17 and eagerly assured Lin Shu that as far as he is concerned it is Lin Shu's as well because Shu is is best friend and what is his is theirs as far as he is concerned and omg someone make these tears stop

(ALSO he mentions that Prince Qi was the one who found the place for him! How much older was Qi than these two when he died? My impression is old enough to be the impressive cool role model but young enough that they felt personally close to him too. I'm gonna guess mid-20s????)

The flashback ends with the camera lingering to watch the shades of these two laughing, affectionate, bright-faced boys running side by side through the gate and up to the house, running away from us, as we can do nothing but watch them rush blithely forward, knowing what horrible, unfair futures await them. It's so mean, and so effective. I LOVE it. I'm also left shaken not only by the unexpected glimpse of what Lin Shu and Jing's past lives were like and what they both have lost, but by the certainty that this short flashback must surely mean there are MORE flashbacks coming in future and OH NO but also OH yES GIVE ME ALL THE PAIN.

We return to present-day Lin Shu, who is standing gazing up those stairs, watching his past self disappear. This place hasn't changed at all, he says, quietly. It's just like how it was back then. MY HEART.

And now here comes Jing to greet his guest. He bows coldly but politely, and Mei Chang Su pays his respects too. I am in agony. Ting Sheng is very cute and bows all the way to the ground for Su, his savior, and Su helps him up with a smile and he's so sweet with kids you guys

Ting Sheng really lights up when he sees Fei Liu, who proudly bestows his gift on the kid. When Jing realizes what the gift is, he bristles and tries to give it back to Su, saying it is too valuable a present. And Su, wholly innocently, says the gift isn't from him, for goodness' sake, it is from Fei Liu, so go talk to him about it instead! Poor Jing is so confused by this, clearly unsure of how to deal with Fei Liu. The latter of whom promptly snatches the chain mail back from Jing's hands and plops it firmly back in Ting Sheng's arms. Su watches, not even bothering to hide his amusement, and Jing after a moment's inward struggle gives up and invites Su inside, effectively allowing Ting Sheng to keep the chainmail after all. Point to Mei Chang Su! The boys scamper off to play together or fight together or whatever and their fake dads head inside for their own meeting.

(Jing's outfit is especially beautiful today, btw. I missed you, Wang Kai.)

Jing introduces Su to his guard as his friend Su Zhe, and then the two of them retreat further to Jing's private study. Along the way, Su is plainly eating up the place with his eyes, these halls must be full of ghosts for him. He pauses to look out over a courtyard, and Jing pauses too, to confess that all those men they spoke with had been present when Su's arrival was announced: they had wanted to see the famous Su Zhe for themselves. So we took a detour? Su supplies, with mild good humor. Jing's subtly changing expressions here are a marvel: slight embarrassment at being found out, relief that Su is not affronted, a momentary glance of reevaluation like he is sizing up Su again, and then even a small smile as he relaxes just a little. Is our favourite prince warming up to the Divine Talent a little? Time will tell, I suppose! But this tiny exchange is certainly the closest thing to friendliness that has passed between these two so far, and contrasted with that flashback it's like a punch to the gut. Also, the MUSIC. The Sad Music is playing again, but it's being played by a flute or whistle or something instead of the deep strings that usually play it, so it feels tremulous and hopeful instead of melancholic and that makes it even worse and also sooooo much better. Once again, I take a moment to rage at how this OST isn't available to buy anywhere that I can find.

Anyway, they get to the study and it's very sweet how Jing notices Su looks unwell and inquires after his comfort and calls for one of his men to bring in more braziers to heat the room when Su says he is cold because remember Jing doesn't even LIKE Su. He is just a Good Boy. He also congratulates Su on his recent move, because apparently Mu Qing is a gossip and told Jing all about it, ahaha. Su tells Jing the reason for his visit is to express goodwill on behalf of Prince Yu: Jing will now be able to run the trial of the Duke of Qing without any difficulties. Okay, but that is what I was going to do anyway, says Jing, because of course he does. Su wryly asks whether Minister Qi had been helpful? It doesn't matter if he has, Jing responds, stubbornly unfazed. Whether he cooperates or not the case will still be tried the way it should be. He is so totally out of his depth, bless his heart. Su looks so--not happy, but lighter. Jing's unshakeable, forthright virtue must be so refreshing. The contrast between his demeanor in this conversation and his frayed-thin, irritable behavior the previous day is very obvious.

Meanwhile, Ting Sheng is proudly giving Fei Liu a tour of his new home. They go to the military training ground, where Ting Sheng says he spends most of his time. Sometimes even Prince Jing himself comes to train him, he says, and ugh that is the cutest mental image ever. Fei Liu snorts: Jing is a poor fighter, he tells his erstwhile student, in a tone that implies he thinks Ting Sheng deserves better, and Ting Sheng doesn't even defend Jing, he just grins in agreement because if Fei Liu says it then it MUST be true. I adore these kids' friendship and pray nothing bad happens to them in future. It's weird and cute and sort of sad seeing how simple their lives are, largely oblivious to all the machinations all around them and even involving them.

Li Gang, however, tries to hush Fei Liu and remind him to be respectful, and Fei Liu of course responds by elaborating: even General Meng is better than Prince Jing! (Somewhere, Meng probably feels suddenly cheerful and doesn't know why.) Li Gang tries to do more damage control, so Fei Liu continues on: I'm the best, he says. It isn't even bragging, he just says it like it is the obvious truth. One of Jing's commanders overhears this and looks very annoyed by it, to put it mildly. Uh, oh.

Back in Jing's study, Mei Chang Su is quizzing him about how he views the case. Jing lays out how he has examined the evidence and it's simple in his eyes: the Duke is obviously guilty. Su plays a sort of game with Jing by playing devil's advocate and tossing a variety of excuses and loopholes at him and Jing manages to thwart them all: the Duke is guilty, and justice will be served. Su is impressed and very proud of his (former????) friend. Then Su lays out some BRILLIANT advice to Jing: basically, Jing is going to continue to judge over cases that involve wealthy landowners, right? And a lot of them will be guilty of the same crimes as the Duke. But Su says Jing should be careful not to punish them all the same way, even if their criems are the same. Why? Because if they were all punished the same, they would feel commonly wronged by the Emperor and might form an alliance against him, united by a shared anger. If there is no apparent pattern to the severity of the punishment, however, then the landowners will be jealous of/suspicious of each other, and will be focused more on comparing their lot with that of their neighbors', and they will not be unified. BRILLIANT, I SAY. Jing agrees with the wisdom in this plan. Su recommends he lets off some of Yu's guilty allies lightly as a way of saying thanks to Yu for his support. Jing frowns: Yu should be fighting to save the Duke of Qing right now. Why is he instead helping Jing take down his own ally? You are now very important to him, Su smiles, slightly sarcastically. Jing mulls this over. This is all thanks to you, he tells Su. And he should thank him, but . . . Jing does not want people to think that he is friends with or supporting Prince Yu. He doesn't want to side with either of his terrible brothers. Su tries to assure him that people will understand, but Jing is not appeased.

What others might think is not my concern, he clarifies. However, the spirits of heroes still linger. I don't want them to think that I have finally surrendered to the others.

Su tries to comfort him: Since they were once heroes, they will know who you truly are. Jing does not look convinced in the slightest. HOW has he survived all these years surrounded by enemies and ghosts, never able to forget either?

Su stands up and paces the room a little to try to ease some stiffness and numbness in his legs, and then he approaches a bow that is displayed on its own plinth in the room and this is it, even after the flashback, THIS is the moment of this episode that kills me. Because immediately my whole brain is just OMG THAT MUST BE LIN SHU'S BOW FREAKING JING HAS KEPT IT ALL THIS TIME

Su reaches out to touch it, and Jing, who had been concerned about Su's discomfort because he is a Good Boy, immediately SNAPS at him: Don't touch it! Su freezes. Jing leaps to his feet. Badpoet dies.

Su almost whispers his apology, and Jing approaches him, with a very visible hitch in his breathing as he tries to settle himself after his sudden alarm and impulsive reaction. He looks as though he is fighting down the adrenaline rush of only barely avoiding a tragedy. Perhaps he did. But shaken as he is he also looks a little sorry for yelling harshly at his invalid guest. Jingmum raised him right.

Jing tries to explain, his eyes drawn to the bow almost as if against his will: Please don't take it to heart. This once belonged to my late friend. When he was alive, he never liked to have his belongings touched by strangers. Oh, my gosh, he isn't even so protective of this weapon because it is important or of sentimental value to HIM, it's because Lin Shu hated people touching his stuff, and Jing is a Good Friend, a Best Friend, and Su's face, hidden from Jing, looks like he, like Jing, is remembering for a moment this kid who cared about dumb stuff like that, this kid who was Jing's best friend and who is now dead, who lived a life happy enough that such small things could MATTER to him, and then he swallows hard, and bows to Jing, and apologizes for his rudeness, and this is It I CAN'T I CAN'T WHAT IS THIS SHOW HOW HAS IT MADE ME CARE SO MUCH IN JUST NINE EPISODES HOW CAN IT POSSIBLY DRAG ME DOWn FARTHER IN LIKE FIFTY MORE HOW DID ANy OF YOU WHo HAVE WATCHED THE ENTIRE THING EMERGE BREATHING ON THE OTHER SIDE

(Somewhere there exists a happier timeline where Jing tells Mei Chang Su not to touch the bow because Lin Shu hated strangers touching his stuff and Su says okay and then makes his most trollish eye contact with Jing and deliberately starts touching the bow as much as he dang well pleases and that is how Jing finds out Lin Shu and Mei Chang Su is the same person the end)

Meanwhile, a decent distance away from all this misery and bro-angst, the indignant commander at the training grounds is demanding who Fei Liu is since he thinks he is good enough to insult Jing. I'm Fei Liu, the boy replies, as if that is all the answer necessary, and as it turns out--it is! Another of Jing's men recognizes the name as the fighter who arrived with the Lord of the East Yangtze Alliance. The one who defeated Xia Dong and held his own against Meng! Yep, that's me, Fei Liu affirms. Everyone looks very impressed. We also get a scene with Fei Liu taking out some challengers to show off his skills to Jing's men, best moment being where he grabs two men charging at him by the spers they are wielding and just smashes them onto the ground, aha. He's escalating the situation, basically. I wonder if Su was counting on that to happen.

Also meanwhile, at the palace, Yu and CP are arguing in front of the Emperor about who to make the new Minister of Revenue and oh this levity is SO NEEDED my soul is revived by CP's indignant squeak at Yu and the Emperor's fed up You have been arguing for more than an hour now LOL I swear at least half the Emperor's scenes so far have just been him watching his sons squabble. I would feel bad for the Emperor, except for what he did to Jingmum, so I don't. He deserves this. Also I guess he is also somewhat responsible for whatever ruined Lin Shu's life so he doubly-deserves this. He dismisses the princes, who walk out very quickly after glaring at each other sidelong. I would so not be surprised if the instant they are out of sight they start pulling each other's hair or pinching each other or whatever. They fight like preschoolers.

After they are gone, some random official starts telling the Emperor that the princes had the right to express their opinions like that as the question of who will take the position of Minister of Revenue is a very important and pressing one. The Emperor concedes that point but also angrily indicates the massive stack of names in front of him on his table: he has too many people to choose from! The official says someone named Shen Chui is acting as interim Minister of Revenue so he can hold down the fort for now, don't worry about it. The Emperor suddenly narrows his eyes, interested. Shen Chui? he repeats. Aaaaand--end of episode!

A weird ending, but I remember reading somewhere that these episodes aired two at a time, so with that in mind it makes more sense. I don't know why the Emperor is interested in this name, but I know I will find out next time. In the meantime I'm still reeling from all the Jing and MCS goodness in this episode. I missed Jingyan the last couple episodes but he came back with a vengeance for this one, and I am SO excited for wherever the show is taking him and his weird relationship with Su-who-is-secretly-Shu. Terrified, yes, but also EXCITED. Next episode is episode 10 and I am officially in the double digits! Nine episodes of emotional trauma down, sooooooo many more to go. BRING IT.

#nirvana in fire #badpoet watches nif #nif ep9 #badpoet watches #long post #cdramas

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anonymous-hopeful · 6 years

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The Soul Society (Chapter One: Snow Melts With the Heat of Fire)

Inkwell Isle was once a happy place. Enchanted and eccentric, each resident had a unique quirk, a special feature about them that made them unique, no matter what part of the Isle they came from. In one place, you may see a dancing flower or sentient vegetables, and another you might catch a glimpse of a genie, a dragon, or a Baroness! It truly was a sight, that Inkwell Isle. One thing was certain; no one would ever get bored or feel dull with everyday life. After all, there was much to do, many to see, and plenty of friends to make. Surely nothing could ruin that...could it?

The question above was rhetorical. Of course something happened; evil loves to make itself home in wonderful, magical places. That's how it happens in every fairy tale you've ever heard. This time, instead of making itself home in a castle or a fancy mansion, it had nested in a casino. Indeed, a place of gambling and risk-taking, of drinking and smoking, of lies, money, losses, wealth, addiction...this alone could have let the civilians of Inkwell Isle know that the new casino being built a ways off from the third part of the Isle would be of pure sin. If that didn't, then the name of the casino would have made them realize immediately.

"The Devil's Casino? Oh my...you don't suppose the actual Devil runs it, do you?", Sally Stageplay, a struggling actress inquired.

"Why wouldn't he? After all, it isss in hisss name. No one here would name a casssino sssomething like that.", replied Cala Maria, a gorgon mermaid with hissing snakes for hair.

"Ye ain't supposin' that the Devil be in thar, is ye, Cala?", Captain Brineybeard, a wannabe pirate with no ship or crew had asked in response.

"Perhapsss...though I'd rather ssstay away. I wouldn't want to go belly up assss a resssult of dealing with the Devil.", Cala answered, shuddering at the name of the Devil on her tongue.

"I vonder vy ze Devil himself decided to place his casino here of all places. Zurely, zere is a more zuitable location.", Werner Werman, an army veteran rat with all too vivid memories of the painful World War I, said aloud.

"Most likey because it's inconspicuous. 'm sure the Devil may want a lil' peace an' quiet sometime.", an older man nicknamed T-Bone, one of the operators of the Inkwell Express, infered.

"Still...it kinda makes me...uncomfortable. I think...it's too close...to the...train.", another operator, a younger man lacking his vision voiced.

"Yeah. Brother and I think that Devil's casino may cause bad things to happen to Inkwell Express.", one of the twins working on the train concured.

"Not just the Inkwell Express! Those horrid vibes might just plague the entirety of Inkwell Isle as we know it! You can never tell with no-good hoodlums like the Devil...", Dr. Kahl, an inventor with too many failed projects pitched in.

"Well, pardon me, but I will be going nowhere near that place! Not that I could anyway. The queen is quite demanding.", Rumor Honeybottoms, a worker bee under the rule of a fearsome queen sighed.

"I don't believe I will either. This could lead to nothing but trouble. Almost as much trouble as wandering too far from Snowflake Summit.", Chill E. Freeze, a snow angel, chimed in.

"Mayhapsss we ssshould inform the othersss of thisss. I wouldn't want them entangled in trouble.", Cala suggested.

"Good idea! We can...go tell...them while we...do the...daily run!", the blind operator agreed.

"Well, this train ain't drivin itself...".

Moments later, after helping the blind operator onto the train, the Inkwell Express crew began their journey to the other parts of the Isle. Once they had left, the others had returned to their homes and places of work; Sally to the theatre, Dr. Kahl to the junkyard, Werner to his mousehole, Rumor to the hive, Cala to the sea, Brineybeard to the docs, and Chill E. to her mountain.

The rest of the morning was relatively okay, and so far, nothing had happened to the inhabitants of Inkwell Isle. This, as you may have guessed, would change when midday had set in. Atop of the mountain, which was relatively small, and barely at a high enough altitude to host its own snow, Chill E. and her flurries, miniature snow fairies, had began to notice a rapid increase in heat. Worried, the flurries squealed in dismay, causing the snow angel to repeatedly try and calm them down.

"Shivers! Icy! Flake! Calm yerselves! 'Tis only a bit of snow melting, and nothing more..."

Alas, her case was not helped as the snow kept melting, quicker every second, before up and evaporating after it had melted into water. This would prove to be quite the issue, as Chill E. and her flurries' only life source was melting right before their very eyes. An attempt or two to save the limited snow was taken, however, the lack of cold had weakened the power of the angel and her flurries significantly, preventing such a thing from happening. It seemed impossible, how fast that snow had melted and evaporated, yet it had done so, to their dismay, and now, they were on their way to melting as well. In the slightest bit of luck, it was rather simple in deciding a culprit; Hell was hot, no doubt about it, but the angel and the flurries could have sworn it had gotten extremely hot when the casino had begun its business. As they were melting, it had occured to Chill E.; why doesn't she fly to the casino and ask them to douse some of the flames? Surely, with all of the fur the Devil had, he too would break out into a sweat.

"Come little ones. Where we're going is dangerous, so I advise you to stay close.", Chill E. forewarned the small fairies.

All huddled in a group, the flurries and the angel made haste in getting to the casino, as now wherever they went, they had left a puddle of water. Once inside said casino, Chill E. had inquired with the utmost urgency:

"Who is the manager here?!"

As if he had known she was on her way, a dapper gentleman with a die for his head clad in a spotless purple suit had made his way over to her, a sly grin adorning his face.

"Why, that would be me. Greetings, madam. I am Mr. King Dice. I don't believe I've seen you around these parts. What brings you to the Devil's Casino?".

Scowling at the die, Chill E. had replied, "I want to meet with your employer. I have a dire situation at hand, if you hadn't noticed from before.".

King Dice took a good look at the snowman-shaped angel. Indeed, she and her followers were making quite the mess on the casino floor, one that would take ages to clean with a mop and bucket. Nodding slowly, King Dice answered her inquiry.

"Very well then. Follow me; he's residing in his office at the moment...and please, try to avoid making a bigger mess than you already have.".

Shaking, partially from melting, partially from fear, the snow angel followed the die to the office of the Devil himself. King Dice gradually opened the door and gestured for her to go in. Not wanting to hesitate any longer, Chill E. made her way inside, her eyes falling upon the infamous Devil.

"King Dice...who's this you've brought in? She's making a mess...", Devil snarled.

" I am Chill Evergreen Freeze, Devil, sir. I...um...have an issue...see, I am made of snow, and...well, your casino's heat is very well melting me...and my flurries. Aren't you hot...".

The Devil chuckled darkly, before stating, "When you've lived in Hell all of your life, ya get used to the heat. That being said...wouldn't it be nice if you could exist without depending on the cold to keep you alive?".

"What are you playing at? I apologise, but I do not have much time! "

At the snap of the Devil's fingers, a contract appeared.

"How about this; I give you and your little ones the ability to live without ever needing snow or cold again, along with the ability to create snow and ice whenever you feel the need, and all you have to do is sign your soul over to me. I won't take it right away, just when I feel the need to claim it as mine. Deal?".

There was an obvious choice; if she didn't agree, the Devil would finish her life right there in his office, and may just take her soul anyway. Struggling to speak, she grasped the quill on his desk and signed the contract, sloppily, but signed nonetheless.

"Good choice, snowball. Now, take the contract and get lost.".

With another snap of his fingers, Chill E. found herself outside the Devil's Casino with flurries in tow. She wasn't hot, or melty, or dripping. In fact, she felt fine, great, exemplary, amazing! Excited, she lowered herself onto the ground, her feet finally having the experience of standing on Inkwell Isle. Even the flurries had taken a break to stand on the Earth. At the moment, Chill E. was content, before gazing upon the soul contract in her hand, and finally realizing what she had done...

"I see...interesting tale, Chill E. . This meeting of the Soul Society is in recess. The inductees, please return to my hideaway in roughly an hour. Phantom Express...be prepared to tell your tale...".

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ruffsficstuffplace · 6 years

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And The AWRD Goes To... (Part 22)

Instead of upwards to the heavens like the rest of the R&D building, Freya and her intern’s laboratories went downwards, into the foundations, and indeed, the mountains that Mistral was built on. The view from the clear sides of the elevators was like peering into a vast, complex, and gigantic ant farm, human and Faunus all busy working on various projects, all arranged in a neat grid.

They were all sectioned off or opened up by sliding wall panels, made of modern materials and proofed against pretty much any sort of accident or disaster short of a highly coordinated, intentional attempt at destroying them, or a catastrophe that would likely take the rest of the academy with it. But, true to Mistral’s love for aesthetics and tradition, they still looked like paper fusuma, even if it tended to clash with the increasingly modern and sleek equipment they were importing from all over Remnant or constructing and developing on-site.

Weiss had been down here exactly twice before, both visits years apart, but she could never truly get rid off the feeling of awe, of dread, of nervousness washing over her as she stepped out of the elevator and to the laboratory at the very bottom of the lift.

She supposed Freya’s personal robot secretary/security turret never really helped matters.

“Good morning. Weiss. Sucy. Winter.” Al said in his mechanical and monotone voice, his dozens of optic sensors glimmering slightly. “I hope you had an—enjoyable—trip down here?”

“What, not going to point your guns at me again?” Sucy asked calmly as they made their way out of the elevator.

“Again. Sucy. That was just an—honest—mistake. I sincerely apologize.” Al said, a few of his many robotic arms unfolding, the claws pressing together and his spherical body nudging forward as if he was bowing.

“Should I ask…?” Winter said as they stopped before the blast doors at the end of the hallway.

“Two days ago, one of my potion vials happened to leak before I got here,” Sucy replied as they were scanned. “Al detected the fumes, then threatened to turn me into Mantle cheese with the help of miniguns.”

“Again. I sincerely apologize.” Al said, repeating the gesture from earlier. “It is just that Dr. Freya prefers her security—extremely—thorough and cautious.”

“More like ‘paranoid and trigger-happy,’” Sucy muttered as the doors opened with a groan, a fog of cold, misty air poured out the crack as they slid apart.

“Well forgive me for wanting to ensure the safety of the oftentimes sensitive and valuable research and equipment I have down here!” Freya snapped as she stepped out, waving the clouds out of her face. “Also, you do realize that there’s a live video and audio feed of everything that happens in this hallway, yes?”

“Yes, yes I do.” Sucy replied flatly.

There was a brief moment of silence as Freya and Sucy looked at each other, before the former turned around and beckoned for them to follow. “Come in, time’s a-wasting!”

Like her office above ground, Freya’s laboratory was stuffed floor to ceiling with all manner of projects, equipment, supplies, screens, indicators, and wall partitions keeping it organized, if claustrophobic. The various experiments she had going on varied, but they all had one thing in common:

Dust.

In power cores, flowing through tubes as powder, crystals being fused together in new configurations or broken apart, catalysts for experiments and reactions on materials, or reagents themselves, it was like the whole facility was actually a miniature refinement and processing plant than a single scientist’s personal sanctum, the bright overhead lights and the natural radiance of dust casting almost everything in vivid colours.

Weiss, Sucy, and Winter passed through a green haze, steadily spinning orange bars, and a humming crystal in a tube that seemed to be sucking the light out of the immediate surroundings, before they finally came to one of the most important sections of her lab:

The Operating Room.

It really was just a reclining chair with an Atlesian “Auto-Doc” surgery apparatus above it, but Freya, Nick, or any of the other subjects strapped to it cared much about the name. Weiss gulped as Freya manned the console and the chair started to contract and readjust for a much less massive occupant, Winter squeezed her shoulder and gave her a reassuring look, Sucy grinned as she saw the Auto-Doc booting up, a few of its many arms unfolding and getting its hydraulics flowing again.

“On the chair, please, Weiss,” Freya said. “This won’t take more than a minute, I swear,” she continued, smiling.

Weiss tried to smile back, found she couldn’t, and just sighed as she put her feet onto the metal step, and hauled herself into the seat. She laid one arm on the metal armrest, straps appeared out of hidden crevices, robotic arms pulling them over to the buckles on the other side.

Click. Whirr…

The straps tightened, one of them acting as a tourniquet, the rest holding her in place. Weiss whimpered as she watched a robot arm with a sprayer attachment, and a second with a syringe had a freshly unsealed needle affixed to it. A third arm descended from the main body and reached out to Weiss’ free hand, its claw holding a stress toy in the shape of a smiling snowman.

Squeaky-squeaky!

The snowman’s eyes bugged out of its head with each squeeze. Weiss took it from the claw, closed her eyes, and gritted her teeth.

Fsshht!

She felt hospital-grade disinfectant on her skin, ice-cold, heard the arm with the syringe move into place and wait for a few moments, before it began to move in.

Squeaaaaaakkkk-kkkyyyy…!

The snowman’s eyes slowly shrank back into its head as Weiss released her grip, a cotton swab was placed over the tiny exit wound.

“And now, we play the waiting game...” Freya said as the syringe had its needle removed, the blood sample was handed off into a machine.

Sucy and Freya stood before a nearby screen, their scrolls in their hands as results came in; the two sisters sat on a nearby bench, Weiss resting her head on Winter’s shoulder and getting her hair stroked as they waited.

“Well, that’s really interesting...” Sucy muttered.

“What is?” Weiss asked as she sat up.

“Seems like our semblances work even better than I thought they would,” Sucy replied, still looking at the screens and her own notes. “Maybe a little too well.”

“Gee, ya think?!” Weiss snapped.

Winter gently held Weiss back. “Can you please explain that?” she asked.

“The Infinite Energy is still in Weiss’ bloodstream,” Freya replied. “It seems that even the minute infusion of raw dust in it was enough to be activated by her semblance, thus vastly amplifying its effects and longevity.

“In short, it seems we seriously overdosed.”

“Would you happen to have an antidote for the Infinite Energy drink?” Winter replied. “Surely, someone like you would have something as a fail-safe for that?”

“I don’t,” Sucy replied flatly. “Surprising as it may seem, even my brilliance has its limits, and I haven’t somehow unlocked all of the mysteries of caffeine and how it affects the human brain. Your genes don’t help, either:

“It seems like whatever it is the doctors fixed about your DNA thanks to all your grandparent’s mutated chromosomes, it left behind or possibly even severely amplified the stimulant-sensitivity on your Faunus side...”

“So what am I supposed to do now?” Weiss asked.

“Just ride it out, I guess,” Sucy replied. She looked back, and grinned. “Well… unless you want me to start experimenting with your liver, and how quickly it breaks down certain chemicals...”

Freya’s ears and tails twitched as she glared at Sucy. “Manbavaran, as the top authority of this facility, and the one giving consent in Weiss’ stead for the moment: there is no way in hell you are performing any such procedure on her, and especially not in this facility,” she said flatly.

Winter protectively clutched Weiss to her chest as the two of the nodded in agreement, their expressions saying much the same.

“Oh, and like you haven’t done worse things to your own husband?”

“That’s because I’m of the unshakable belief that absolutely nothing in Remnant can kill Nick,” Freya replied coolly. “He has suffered FAR worse than my rooting around in his internal organs and skeletal system, making modifications and repairs with the help of an autodoc or my own two hands, in the lab or out in the field.

“However, like myself, Weiss is FAR less durable.”

Sucy was about to counter, before one of Al’s many extensions in the walls and the ceilings activated, a glowing blue spherical optic sensor extending out on a metal arm. “Dr. Freya. You have a visitor at the—ground-level entrance—requesting access--” he began.

“And who is it?!” Freya snapped. “They better be important, and have an appointment on my record that I’ve somehow forgotten about!”

“According to their—student ID—scan: it is ‘Rose. Ruby.’ Cross-referencing the database reveals that she is—Weiss’--teammate. That is why I did not reject her outright. Should I let her in? Or simply proceed as normal?”

Freya turned to Weiss. “Your call, vnuchka,” she said.

“One moment,” Weiss said, before she turned to Al’s extension. “Did she say why she was here?”

“I did inquire. Her reply was that she wanted to—check up on you and see if you were okay. Should I start compiling a report of your—medical examination—and send it to her?” Al paused. “I am assuming from your—sudden and dramatic—change in facial expression and body language that this would be the—incorrect—course of action.”

“You haven’t told her yet, have you?” Sucy asked.

“Not yet!” Weiss cried. “But I will! In time! When I’m ready!”

“Weiss. Your decision...?” Al asked.

Weiss looked back at Sucy and Freya. “Is there anything in particular I might need to know?”

“Nothing I didn’t already warn you about yesterday,” Sucy replied as she returned to her scroll. “Might want to make doubly sure about having someone to carry you back, just in case, though.”

“Then I’ll meet her at the lobby,” Weiss said as she got up, Winter following her.

“I will inform—Ms. Rose—that you will be coming back up shortly.”

“Thanks, Al,” Weiss said as they made their way out of the laboratory.

“Take it easy for the rest of today, Weiss!” Freya called out.

“I will, grandma!” Weiss replied, before she and Winter stepped out of the blast doors.

The two giant metal slabs slid back into place, its locking mechanisms groaning and whirring as it reactivated.

“Is there anything you want me to do?” Winter asked as they headed back to the elevator.

“Can you… please pretend that it’s not nearly as bad as it is?” Weiss asked. “I don’t want Ruby to freak out. And especially not find out about… you know.”

“I’ll put my theater electives to good use,” Winter said, beaming with pride.

“Thanks, Winter,” Weiss said, a small smile on her face. “I owe you one.”

“Don’t even think about it, little sister,” Winter said, ruffling Weiss’ hair before she called for an elevator.

“Weiss!” Ruby cried, brightening up as she saw her and Winter step out of the elevator and back into the lobby. She frowned. “Oh… wow… you look terrible.”

“Sleep deprivation tends to do that to a person, yeah,” Weiss said jokingly.

“You want to head back to our dorm, and try and see if you can catch some more Z’s?” Ruby asked. “Maybe stop by the dining hall and grab some moon bloom tea to go? Because you look the aftermath of finals week, and it’s only just the start of school, so I’m really worried.”

“She’ll be fine, Ruby, we just need to wait for the Infinite Energy’s effects to wear off completely,” Winter said, smiling. “I’m really, very sorry for ruining your team’s plans, but I believe Weiss is in absolutely no shape to do any sort of studying or tutoring right now. Can we please just get the whole day off together? Sucy and Grandma mentioned that she might just suddenly crash again like last night, so someone needs to be with her all day.”

“I promise, come the weekend, I’ll be back to normal, and will be doing most of the legwork for the assignments we’ll inevitably have,” Weiss added, forcing a smile.

“Oh, sure, that won’t be a problem at all!” Ruby replied. “I’ll go tell Akko and Diana, and I’m sure they won’t have a problem either; you managed to finish most of the homework and reading assignments we had, anyway!”

“I did...?” Weiss asked.

“Yep!” Ruby said. “Your notes got kinda screwy and weird by the end, but you’ve got outlines or complete first drafts for all our papers, and Diana and Akko say they can totally fix the bad parts, AND start figuring out how to help Akko study better now!

“We’ve… basically got pretty much all of today free, all thanks to you!”

Weiss blinked. “… Huh.”

“Well!” Winter said, beaming. “Isn’t that incredibly fortunate?” Her scroll suddenly beeped, she opened it up, and frowned. “… And it seems I just successfully tempted Fate just now.”

Weiss tensed up. “What happened?”

Winter sighed. “It looks like Qrow’s attempt to recruit a ‘grade-A spelunker’ he knew for our next expedition to the Hills went horribly awry…”

“Did he only give an address?” Ruby asked.

“Yes, yes he did, and don’t worry, Ruby, I already know exactly what that means...” Winter said as she dejectedly cleared her entire day planner.

“What does it mean?” Weiss asked nervously.

Winter put her hands on Weiss shoulders, and brought her face level to hers. “It means I’m sorry, Weiss, it looks like I won’t be able to spend the day with you after all; duty calls in the form of a drunk in distress...” she kissed her on the forehead. “Come on, I’ll see you back to your dorm...”

Weiss sighed as Winter got up and put a hand to her back.

Ruby noticed, and frowned. “Actually… you want to spend the rest of the day with me, Weiss? I usually don’t get to my schoolwork till the afternoon because all my errands back home were always in the morning, and I actually have some stuff Diana and Yang wanted me to do down in the city.

“You know, shopping for supplies for Akko, meeting up with some friends of Yang’s, stuff like that.”

“Are you sure you want me coming with you?” Weiss asked. “I might just pass out in the middle of the street.”

“Eh, I’ve got a cart with a bicycle, anyway, and getting out of school for a while might be good for you; worst case scenario, I’ll just throw in an umbrella and a sleeping bag, and get you back home along with the rest of the stuff!” Ruby said.

“And you won’t be overloaded when you’re done?” Weiss asked.

“I’ll just do the supply runs last, and like I said: sniper-scythe muscles!” Ruby replied, pulling her skirt up and showing off the parts of her leg uncovered by the short shorts underneath.

Weiss looked, her eyes widened and her eyebrows rose.

“Sounds like a solid plan to me!” Winter said, unaware of Weiss’ reaction. “Seems like it might be a good time for you and your new teammate to do some bonding yourselves.”

“What’d you say, Weiss? Interested?” Ruby asked. “I’ll understand if you want to just stay back at our dorm and just try to get back to sleep ASAP...”

Weiss shook her head. “No, you know what? A change of scenery might be good, let’s do it; it’d be nice to talk something other than economic concepts and graphs with you, anyway.”

“Yay!” Ruby said, throwing her hands up in the air.

“Then it’s settled: you two have fun out there, and hope I’ll be back here with Qrow in time for dinner,” Winter said as she made for the exit.

Weiss laughed. “We will, Winter!” she called out, before she turned to Ruby. “So, what’s first up on the list?”

“I was planning on hitting the bathhouse first!” Ruby said. “I don’t want to be all stinky and awful to all the crowds there, and well, you can REALLY use a bath and a change of clothes… I’m pretty sure that’s the same uniform you’ve been wearing since yesterday morning and slept in last night...”

Weiss looked down at herself, and blinked. “Oh, dust, you’re right!” she groaned. “I knew I was forgetting something…!”

“Don’t worry, Weiss, it happens to all of us—especially my Uncle Qrow!” Ruby said as they began to leave. “You know, this one time, while he was staying over at our house, he was so hungover and sleepy he missed his pants and put on one of Yang’s skirts instead—and it was one of those black and red plaid skirts, really short with metal studs on the belt.”

“Oh my gosh, how did you find out?” Weiss asked as they passed by the benches at the lobby.

“We were all at the breakfast table when he walked in wearing it. Dad tried to tell him, but we all couldn’t stop laughing—I mean, even our dog Zwei looked like he couldn’t breath.”

Weiss smiled “Then what happened next?”

Ruby stopped by an empty chair. “Then, he figured it out, so he put his leg on our kitchen table like this”--she put one leg up in a seductive manner--”and he went, ‘So, how do I look…?’” she said in a poor imitation of a gravel-voiced man trying to be sexy.

Weiss covered her mouth, her cheeks turning red.

Ruby put her foot off the chair. “He totally did, I swear! It gets even better: turns out, that was the SECOND time he ever wore a skirt without realizing it.”

“What was the first time?” Weiss asked.

“Back when he and dad were studying at Beacon,” Ruby replied. “Turns out, Qrow’d never worn a uniform before, and they told him it was a kilt...”

Weiss shook her head, smiling. “Oh, that’s just mean.”

“He got the last laugh, though!” Ruby said as she opened the door for Weiss. “He said all the girls couldn’t stop talking about how great his legs were,” she said, grinning.

Weiss snorted and shook her head. “… Thanks Ruby, I needed that,” she said as she they began to descend the stairs.

“You’re welcome!” Ruby chirped. “Since you didn’t get much sleep last night, I thought you could use a little pick-me-up.”

As the two of them headed back to their dorm to get a fresh change of clothes for Weiss, she started to think to herself, maybe that terrible, sleepless night was just the prelude to a good, if groggy morning together with Ruby, running errands with her in Mistral.

And with that, Fate was tempted once more.

Note: Assume that Winter talked about Qrow while Weiss was in the hospital, and showed a picture of him, at least. She did not show the several others of him she’s saving for blackmail, and times when she’s sad and needs a laugh at his expense.Believe me, those two skirt incidents mentioned are only the ones Ruby is aware of.

#white rose #dianakko #rwby #little witch academia #and the awrd goes to #fanfic

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cutiecrates · 5 years

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Cutie Reviews: Gacha Gacha Crate April 19

Welcome to last months Gacha Gacha crate review :D

Er... I forgot to get a picture for the opener of this post, but rest assure the review has pics!

Sailor Moon Pouch

Our first item is perfect for magical girl and/or Sailor Moon fans, an adorable pouch that comes in six variations: the crystal star I got, another brooch (I’m sorry but its been ages since I watched Sailor Moon, I can’t remember everything), Luna or Artemis, the Moon Stick/Scepter, a patterned pouch, and a rounded “secret pouch”.

Each pouch is fairly flat but has accurate detailing and feels very smooth with a great working zipper. The inside has cloth-ish fabric.

The back of mine had this design on it, but I assume they all have it or something similar. In terms of what it can fit, I noticed it can fit 1 of any size gacha capsule, or several little trinkets like change, dollar bills, cards, certain beauty products; just not too many at once.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I think it’s pretty cute and well made. I wish it might have been a little bit bigger or spacious, and the material makes me think it wont hold up against staining- but I’m not going to test that theory out. I would have liked it if it had a ball chain or strap to attach it to things as well, but as a long-time magical girl fan I kind of like that feeling of being able to pull out a magical transformation device- even if it’s only to summon money or a card rather than a cute outfit and wand.

Build A Pokemon

I heard these “figures as the capsule“ are popular lately, and that seems to be the case. This is our second one we’ve gotten in the Gacha Gacha crate, which features adorable Pokemon!

There was 4 available: Pikachu, Gengar, the new electric mouse I never remember the name of, and Mew. They’re all cute but I’m very happy I got Gengar, who has always been one of my favorite Pokemon x3

This piece serves no purpose other than to keep the plastic wrap that was on him smooth, due to his “spikes” on his back.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Compared to my Donald Duck (whose beak still isn’t on right) Gengar was much easier to build. He’s very accurate in appearance, and he makes a really cute decoration! It’s also fun putting together figurines, even if this wasn’t as detailed as my Yokai Watch collection (pretty much every version of Jibanyan I found back when I was collecting them. I still have them but I don’t buy them anymore).

Kuma and Tanooki Handkerchief

This is our biggest item yet by far! Kuma and Tanooki are popular characters who have their own twitter in Japan, and this handkerchief is perfect for this season when spring allergens start kicking up, or say, if you needed somewhere to sit a food item or clean up a spill.

There are 5 possible “4-koma“ you can get in this collection, and it is by Takara Tomy Arts.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I think it’s very cute, kind of a random item but you guys know how much I like practicality. One of my concerns is getting items from the gachapon that I can’t actually do anything with- and considering I have “seasonal change weather allergies“ this will probably come in handy in some shape or form.

However... After barely touching it I noticed that it already has a couple of loose strands and I’ve done nothing to it. So I’m kinda worried about getting something on it/using it and then trying to wash/clean it off. It’s a very delicate and thin material.

Shiba Terrarium

This next item combines the adorable, popular shiba brothers and the recent trend of Character Terrarium displays. I really like things like snowglobes, toy house displays, re-ment, so I quickly took a liking to Terrariums too. Lately I’ve been seeing all kinds of popular character ones, like Pokemon, Kirby, Sumikko Gurashi, Rilakkuma.

In this specific set there are 4 to collect, each one is 400 yen and features one of the shiba brothers in one of the seasonal settings. Each terrarium includes the little setting/stage (in 2 pieces) the shiba, and decoration, they also incorporate the capsule, which is the terrarium obviously. The bottom part is flat so that they can be sat out to display.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I really like the white shiba (who has spring) but my favorite season is winter, so I think this was meant to be~

It’s extremely easy to put together, there’s no gluing or even pressing needed; although considering how easy it is for the pieces to move around when jostled or shifted, I kind of wish there was some pegs or something to hold the shiba and items down.

The detail is also spot-on and looks very nice for such tiny pieces, besides the perfect paint jobs on the snowman and shiba (he even has toe beans!), but there are markings in the snow where they sit for added detailing.

If you like terrariums but want a cheaper and less-messy (as in if something would happen less clean-up) this would be the way to go.

Mushroom Bird

This would be an adorable addition to a fall-themed terrarium, a MUSHROOM BIRD. Japan really likes cutesy animal-item/food combinations; and this is one of the few I’ve seen for birds. It’s by EPOCH and each one costs 200 yen.

As you can see by the checklist this is a medium-big collection. Each bird has a “rarity“ marking beneath them, mine being 2 out of 3 stars. At the second I don’t recall what mine is, I want to say shitake but I’m not positive- although I do like eating mushrooms.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

It’s small but the detail on it is really nice and it’s very cute in my opinion. As I said above, you could use it in things like terrariums, or even re-ment or decorative items like planters or something.

Squeeze Sushi

This is our final item- and if you’re wondering why the setting looks different it’s because when I was uploading the images, the one I took was like... glitched or something? It wasn’t uploading right, so I hurried up and grabbed another pic.

Anyway, these types of Squeeze toys/squishy are pretty popular in Japan, and as of late here too! There’s a really adorable series I like collecting called Moj Moj that has some like this, but I know there are several varieties that can be found online too.

There are 6 sushi types available, from my cucumber (maybe avocado? I’m pretty sure it’s cucumber), crab, salmon, something that looks like fish cake, egg or vegetable, and fish eggs.

I usually see the one I have on a lot of videos from Youtubers I watch- and as a squishy fan I REALLY wanted my own but never bothered looking online to get one, so I was extremely happy when I saw this~

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

This was everything i hoped for and more! I love squeezing it and watching the stuff come out, then get sucked back in. The item is in a little oiled sack as I’ve learned watching people cut them open, and they can be a little fragile if handled too roughly (they’re also sticky so they collect dirt); but they’re super cute and fun.

♥ Cutie Ranking ♥

Quality - 5 out of 5. Everything is fine and I love all the detailing put into each item. From the perfect coloring jobs to the rice texture of the squeeze toy and elaborate handkerchief.

Content - 5 out of 5. I really liked everything, maybe not as much as I did the prior months box, but I would put it in the top 5 thus far.

Total Rank: 7 out of 10 cuties. It was a lovely box full of adorableness~ and even though there was 3 non-practical items (unless you consider displaying an item practical) I still really liked them a lot. I didn’t dislike anything in this box, which is probably a first for this series. I’m not sure what kind of price range all of these items were together, but I could say that this box was worth what we pay.

♥ Cutie Scale ♥

1. Sushi Squeeze - I love squeeze toys, squishies, and sushi; and considering how much I wanted one of these, I think my choosing this as my #1 item for the month wasn’t a surprise to anybody.

2. Shiba Terrarium - It was simple, but still detailed enough. I still wish they had included pegs or something to hold the pieces in place, and looking at it again I wish the Shiba interacted with the items a little more, but it makes a very cute decoration regardless.

3. Handkerchief - As a fan of manga and cutesy or funny comics, I really appreciated the design behind this one. It has an adorable charm to it.

4. Mushroom Bird - it’s kawaii and little x3 but at the same time, unless you really looked at it, you probably couldn’t tetl it was a bird due to how small it was. I really wish I got one of the more colorful ones.

5. Sailor Moon Pouch - If I got Luna or Artemis this would have been higher up on the list. But it’s a perfect representation of Sailor Moon’s more known compact/brooch/whatever and just holding it gives me all sorts of feels~

6. Build a Pokemon - As much as I adore Pokemon, there isn’t really anything different than this Gengar. In fact it almost looks exactly like a plush keychain Gengar I got when I was little.

Alright, we’ve reached the end of another box and review. As usual I will be resuming normal order so up next we got the two beauty boxes, NMNL and Kira Kira crate.

Until then, remember to open up a box of cuteness every day!

#gachagacha #gacha gacha #gachagachacrate #Gacha Gacha Crate #sushi squishy #pokemon gacha #sailor moon gacha

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amuerion · 7 years

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Meihem SFW Valentine’s Day Headcanons Incoming!

Hello to everyone out there!

Final uni exams and presentations will be over for me in a few days. So, I thought I take a little break from studying and join in the fun of sharing Valentine’s Day headcanons about Meihem – and friends - to give this tag some love!

For compactness’ sake, you will find them all beneath the “read more” link!

Basis: Overwatch Joined Forces AU

Mei never believed that she would get very excited about Valentine’s Day at some point in her life. That changed as soon as Junkrat’s enthusiasm for it rubbed off on her. He loves the idea of a day dedicated to being especially thankful for how far the two of them have come with their relationship - not to mention that he and Mei come up with countless nice surprises for the other people who enrich their lives, with or without a special someone.

Nowadays, Mei’s Valentine’s Day usually starts with being woken up by Junkrat in the morning over the communicator. He rings her up, in order to just quickly tell her something he adores about her and hangs up again - only to repeat that around every full hour with another fact, until the two finally meet in person.

Flowers have been removed from future Valentine’s Day plans for Mei, at least until further changes of mind. There was tohubohu enough, when Junkrat surprised her with an HQ meeting hall that was neatly decorated with the most vibrantly-coloured flowers - only to find out that he stole these all by himself from the King’s Row Garden Festival Plaza, beaming with pride.

Mei has made it a habit of hers to already prepare Valentine’s Day cards at least a month in advance. Not only for Junkrat, but as a thank you for everybody on the team. She loves drawing things on it that the recipient likes, decorating it and even writing small verses of motivational poetry. She doesn’t consider her skills for making these to be all that fantastic. Junkrat certainly knows that he will keep all of them safe in a fire-proof box, though. He can’t stop himself from dancing whenever he gets a new one. He is amazed by how great Mei handles animals in her drawings and the frilled neck lizard with his frill of fireworks is by far his favourite.

Junkrat however is happy to know that he can gift Mei with something that makes her just as excited. She loves the lucky charms and trinkets he makes for her, because she can use them for absolutely everything. Junkrat made her a little mail penguin that keeps all of her to-do notes in order in his beak and bag, a snowman to hang from her car keys and a little fluffy yeti that hangs from the zipper of her bag. Mei likes to play around with it and how warm it gets in her hands, whenever she is nervous before important job meetings.

Mei on the other hand loves to surprise Junkrat with gifts that ensure a feel-good time. She loves to surprise him with bath bombs and let specialists help her to choose ingredients that would make a nice mix and remind him of places and events they learned to love together - much to his excitement of seeing the “brewing of a witch’s potion” unfold. Mei even got into sewing and made a pillow cover with bomber rats. She filled it herself and left little pockets inside the cover to fill with sweet herb bags that encourage a soothing sleep with their smell.

Another reason why Junkrat settled on these smaller gifts is because he has a rather unusual style of wrapping presents. He doesn’t know how Mei does it with those perfect edges and cute figurines folded out of paper. He certainly cannot make it look any less like an UFO traveller creature of those alien conspirancy movies they sometimes watch together...and on their very first Valentine’s Day, he got Mei’s gift wrapped just in time for her to walk in...and realize that he was so focused on getting it right that one of his hands got stuck in it.

They love to make ice cream and slushies together with the help of Mei’s drone Snowball. A lot of experiments with countless fruits are done and perfected with chocolate sauce and sprinkles in heart shape. Often they even share the delicious results with the team.

Speaking of fruit, Junkrat gets incredibly excited whenever Mei lets him add flambéed fruit to the ice cream as a larger dessert. As usual, through many trials and errors, with Snowball to the rescue in the HQ roof garden, he has become exceptionally good at it.

Sometimes Mei and Junkrat also lend Mercy a hand at baking her legendary guardian angel buns on Valentine’s Day. They come in cupid shape that Mercy takes care of, Mei decorates them with raisins, while Junkrat powers them up with lots of strawberry jam. Then, the doctor is on her way to gift anyone who could use a sweet treat in transparent, ribboned bags. No payment required. A warm smile will do.

No, not even on Valentine’s Day Mei and Junkrat stop it with the puns. What is worse however is the fact that they expand the puntests also with pickup line contests: Who manages to come up withe the most cringe-worthy ones until the day is done wins. As soon as things like “Damn it, seem ta have lost me phone number...Can Oi borrow yours, by any chance?” and “You hear that? The airport lady just told me to not leave my valuables unattended...Guess it is my duty to not take my eyes off you ever again now.” are uttered from their mouths, their friends know it is time to run for self-protection.

Both of them enjoy to come up with dress up prompts for Valentine’s Day. That can range from serious things, like matching outfits, to downright goofy things, like “The most hideous Christmas sweater you did not dare to show off at the party last year” and “Setting trends with my new bin bag hat”, that confuse everyone else.

Mei loves writing old-fashioned love letters to Junkrat on Valentine’s Day. It helps her to cover absolutely everything that she considered to be outstanding in their prior relationship year and to show gratitude and pride in how much both of them grew together as people until now.

Junkrat loves doing standup comedy shows with his steel trap for Mei on Valentine’s Day. It took some getting used to to this unusual hand puppet, but it’s now one of her favourite things to watch - it just baffles her how Junkrat uses his diversity in vocal range and comes up with good punchlines quickly.

Junkrat can’t help but be very affectionate towards Mei when his love for her overflows. He couldn’t care less who sees it and what they think of it, if there is something she says or does that is too adorable for him to handle, he will lift her up, hug and squeeze her and kiss her until her cheeks glow from all the giggling.

Mei gets him back for that with a smooch-a-thon. When her love overflows and both of them are in the middle of a conversation, she will determine the flow of it by kissing Junkrat after every word she utters. Junkrat has never forced himself to make a discussion about where to go for dinner as lengthy as possible and with a respectful consideration of any munching palace in reach - until that happened.

As for Valentine’s dates, one of Junkrat’s favourite things to do is to drive way out into nature with Mei. They go hiking and camping together, while Mei gets to tell him a lot of fascinating things about their surroundings. Junkrat’s highlight however is to enjoy a nice view on the landscape cuddled into Mei, after a delicious and satisfying barbecue for such a long trip.

Sometimes, when they stay the night in nature, Mei and Junkrat team up to make a movie night for themselves. As Mei gets to attach a huge fabric to use as a screen from the HQ attic to the trees with the help of her ice walls, Junkrat gets an old projector he found in the same place to work. There is something magical about seeing Olivia Rai in action, surrounded by the cries of owls and the crackling camp fire together in a large sleeping bag.

If the weather does not want to assist them, though, they take it easy or find a way to make fond memories with their friends indoors. There is nothing like enjoying a hot chocolate together and sinking deep into adventures of the past, turning the night into day at the arcade with D. Va and Lúcio, or visiting the sanctuary and petting café for pigs with Roadhog.

Mei’s favourite place to use for a date experience on Valentine’s Day is the Winter’s End Fair that is hosted every year. The ice rink of the fair is also their training area for Junkrat’s new prosthetic skating leg. Junkrat can’t get enough of the fireworks whenever they stay for dinner on the boats of the lake tour and the most horrifying rollercoasters.

As much as Mei isn’t fond of extreme rides by intuition, Junkrat begged her to give it a shot at least once in her lifetime to find out whether they could still enjoy them together, after all. Half an hour of persistent encouragement talk later, he successfully convinced her to step into a half full “Sombrero”. From the first gentle swinging side to side until the highest circular spins, Mei screamed her lungs out. She was never that happy to have solid ground beneath her feet before, but Junkrat couldn’t stop laughing when he saw how many new customers to the horizon line her reaction had drawn to them, after the ride was over. “If she gets so much out of this, this must be one heck of a rad ride!” they thought, leaving the bucks at the counter. Mei however was certain that this was the first and last time she pirouetted in the sky.

Mei prefers the world’s hugest chair swing and the ferris wheel, but gets an adrenaline rush of her own for becoming extremely competitive at the shooting galleries and prize booths. One cannot deny however that both of them are the most aggressive bumper cars participants far and wide.

They aren’t sure how often they could repeat it, but they once felt dangerous enough to sneak backstage onto the dark boat bridges inside the fair’s Tunnel of Love. The ride itself didn’t thrill them. However, they surprised the couples they heard passing by on their boats in the dark. Mei would sometimes throw little boxes of chocolate onto their laps a the boat stopped before the waterfall. It wasn’t easy to keep their cover, since Junkrat couldn’t help but whistle or throw in a cheeky joke from time to time. They are waiting for the reviews online - once the guests think this is all part of the ride, they’ll have to come back.

Sometimes however, it is even for the better to not split from the team even on this special day. It took a bit of overcoming to suggest it, but Mei and Junkrat really wanted to launch “Appreciation Pigeon Holes” at the HQ. After long thinking, they came to the conclusion that you can indeed also love someone without loving them romantically and they hate how days like these pressure certain people or make them feel left out. They are all in this together, which is why they launched the pigeon holes to be filled with thank you cards and small gifts from one Overwatch member to another for the great teamwork and strong bonds.

This project was a big success, everyone got something out of it and some members even grew fonder of one another. The members who found the most content in their pigeon holes were Winston, Mercy and - by far - Roadhog. The cards literally fell towards him just by looking at the collection. They hid letters, almost entire articles about how the senders were thankful that one could always rely on him, how often his approaches to problems and his calm self had saved them time and time again and how much they wished for him to stay with them for many years to come and feel at home, at least to some extent, in their extraordinary and large crew. There was a lot to say to someone who does mind-blowing things on a weekly basis, but never gives you a chance to talk properly about it - and there is something mind-blowing in so many people wishing you well and making a genuine effort to get to know your person even when you convinced yourself this would not happen again for as long as you live.

Celebratory meals have become quite a nice tradition at the HQ, too. Even when they do not work as heroes on the missionary job, it is always great for Mei, Junkrat and the others to have Emily brought over by Tracer, or experience the halls ten times livelier with Torbjörn’s wife and their kids around. Some stories and feelings fully blossom only in the understanding and experience from couple to couple and so far their shared but rare time has been charming. It is reward enough for preparing the enormous lunch for everyone else together, before everyone is up and away to enjoy their respective bonds.

A small act of kindness and lucky chance that D. Va came up with for Valentine’s Day was to send out “The Swarm”. She worked on little messenger bird postcards with Mei together and with their Oversquad, they were determined to send hundreds of them flying, attached to helium balloons, for as long as their luck would carry them. This way, anyone out there who might needed it could stumble across some uplifting words. Junkrat could only focus and be of help to the noble cause, until he figured out what helium did to his voice by accident. It can be guaranteed that none of the balloons came down faster than the squad passed out from laughing, once Junkrat made use of his self-proclaimed, new found rat voice to still deliver accurate impressions of every single person present.

The biggest Valentine’s Day project Mei and Junkrat were involved in so far was something that Lúcio had set up, though. He and D. Va have been members of the “Heart’s Content Foundation” for quite some time now. Members of said foundations are mainly celebrities, who sometimes are willing to offer their talents and crafts for charity events, in which all earnings go to several groups of disadvantaged people and into donations for groups of people that try to make the world a better place. Lúcio has been a massive help for raising awareness for this by bringing together countless of artists, who wished to work on collaborations with him and even support him on the “Audio Medic Tour”. The massive popularity of the projects allowed for all profit to be split under the collaborators to help their world-improvers of choice little by little. When a Valentine’s Day themed album was considered for the future, Lúcio threw the topic into discussion with Mei and Junkrat. Upon hearing their suggestions on what to spend the earnings on, he immediately supported the idea of working on songs with them. Under pseudonyms both of them were fine with it and this chance of a lifetime was more than intriguing.

The ambient chillout, yet adventurous tracks, which were inspired by how Mei and Junkrat see one another individually, are treasured by them forever and also by many fans. Mei decided to donate her earnings to a team of revolutionary inventors that were in search of funds to give their ocean-cleaning technology a kickstart. Junkrat’s earnings turned out to be a financial boost to an initiative, whose teams were travelling from town to town by bus to serve free meals, clean drinking-water and showering possibilities to homeless people, whose struggles went unseen by the political authorities.

#meihem #junkmei #meirat #headcanons #overwatch

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randochris · 7 years

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Persona 4 Bonds of Reality Prologue

“Dammit, what’s taking so long?!”

Yosuke Hanamura flopped onto his futon, staring daggers into the clock that hung on his bedroom wall. The time read 10:14 a.m. but for Yosuke, every minute that passed was complete agony. He had been awake since six in the morning, counting down each minute that passed.

“Aww, turn your frown upside down, Yosuke! I know Sensei is just dying to get here as soon as he can!”

The would-be picker upper happened to be Teddie, out of his bear suit. Teddie slept longer than Yosuke but his blonde hair was already perfectly styled and he was trying on different winter-friendly outfits to wear to meet “Sensei.” The chill of December could be felt even with the heater going on in Yosuke’s room.

Yosuke himself was still in the sweatpants he wore to bed but had changed into a long-sleeved tee with the emblem of Yasogami High School on the right chest. Yosuke didn’t really dress properly until it was time for him to leave the house for school or hanging out with his friends.

“Do you think Sensei is going to bring anybody along with him? He said he had a surprise for all of us. Ooh! Maybe it’s some of the beauties of the city!” Teddie swooned at the mental images running through his mind of countless girls, each more bustier than the last.

“Dude, I doubt he’s bringing girls along with him. There would be a bloodbath all over Inaba, courtesy of a certain idol,” Yosuke mumbled, feeling his body shiver.

“Aww, but they don’t have to be girls who are into Sensei! Maybe he’s bringing us some hot dates to melt all this snow!”

Would they really? Yosuke rested his head on his arms, memories of failed attempts to pick up girls bombarding him rapidly, ending with the most heartbreaking sound he ever heard in his life. A sound that would never fade…

“My motorcycle…”

Before Yosuke started to openly weep about how, even with the repairs, his scooter was never the same, the muffled chirps of a cell phone came from his pocket. He answered the phone in a low mumble without checking who was calling.

“Hello? Wassup?”

The responding voice was very loud and frenzied, belonging to a certain girl.

“Yosuke, Yu’s train got stopped! There was a snowstorm out where he was and the train can’t go any further!” Chie Satonaka sounded like she was almost out of breath like she had been running.

Yosuke sat up, his body now tense. “What?! Is he okay?”

“He said he’s fine but…but…I can’t stand around doing nothing! I’m meeting everybody at the train station right now to see if-!”

Teddie suddenly elbowed Yosuke’s ribs to butt into the phone call, cutting off Chie.

“Did something happen to Sensei?” Teddie panicked, his voice already breaking.

Chie explained the situation again. Once she was done, Teddie grabbed Yosuke by the arm and hoisted him to his feet.

“Come on, Yosuke! Sensei needs us!” Teddie heroically declared, zipping up the jacket he now put on and ending the call.

“G-Gimme a sec, you dummy, I need to get dressed!”

Damn it! I hope he’s okay! Yosuke’s mind was racing with thoughts on anything he could possibly do to help his friend, the one he calls his “partner.” The snow on the road was way too slippery for his scooter so he and Teddie hurried on foot, trying to keep from sliding and falling. It didn’t take too long before the two reached Yasoinaba Station, where most of the gang were waiting.

Everyone were all together, talking to one another in hurried voices. Rise looked visibly worried with Naoto trying to calm her down. Yukiko was trying to summon her Persona, even as Chie kept insisting that it wasn’t like the events in May. Kanji was distracted, playing with his black hair until he noticed Yosuke and Teddie approaching.

“Hey! What took you guys so long?!” Kanji said.

“Yosuke was reading his dirty magazines before you called, Chie. I was beary disappointed in him,” Teddie scolded.

“What?! I wasn’t doing anything! I’ve been waiting for Yu all morning!” Yosuke snapped.

“I just want to look good for Sensei! You weren’t dressed, Yosuke!”

“N-No, I didn’t mean YOU, I meant…” Yosuke sighed and grimaced, choosing to stay mum for his own sake.

Naoto muttered under her own breath, “I’m surprised it’s not until now that Senpai’s name caused an exchange like that.”

Rise, still flustered, pouted with her cheeks puffed outward. “I can’t believe that now, of all times, before Christmas, Senpai’s stuck out in the middle of nowhere!”

Yosuke folded his arms and looked at the others. “Have any of you heard again from him since you called me, Chie?”

Chie shook her head, digging her hands into her coat pockets. “All that he said is that the train isn’t going to be back for a while.”

Yosuke closed his eyes and sighed to himself. He wondered if Yu had already contacted Ryotaro Dojima or Nanako. Or if he wasn’t able to…

“Naoto, you have Dojima-san’s number, right? Have you contacted him?” Yosuke asked.

The detective nodded. “Dojima-san has already been notified of the situation.”

“Yosuke, I’m sure Yu-kun is fine. Just imagine that he’s right behind you,” Yukiko chirped, almost looking unfazed by their leader’s predicament.

Yosuke raised a brow at Yukiko, confused. She sometimes says odd things but Yu’s “right behind him?”

That’s when Yosuke felt a sudden rush of cold.

THUMP!!

A huge snowball hit Yosuke on the back of his head, the snow falling inside his jacket and shirt, making him shake from the water running down his body.

“Wh-Who the hell-?!” Yosuke began, turning on his foot angrily. But Yosuke’s anger didn’t last long. He was greeted by the warm smile of Yu Narukami, holding another snowball in his hand.

“Hey there, Yosuke. You look surprised to see me so early,” Yu joked.

Yosuke glanced at the rest of his friends, who all burst out in laughter, even Teddie.

“What? Why are you all laughing?” Yosuke said, scratching the back of his head to try and get some of the loose snow out.

“We’ve been trying to get a hold of you all morning, Yosuke-senpai! Did you have your phone turned off?” said Rise.

“Wait, you were calling me? I didn’t get any phone calls! …Wait…”

Yosuke dug into his pocket and pulled out his phone. Immediately, he noticed what was wrong. He wasn’t holding his orange-colored cell phone, rather, a small white one made for children.

“Teddie, did you take my phone to play your mobile games again?!” Yosuke seethed, taking his phone back.

“I can’t manage the crops in Teddieland on my phone, Yosuke! My phone isn’t as fast as yours…”

Ignoring Teddie, Yosuke turned back to Yu. “So, when did you get here?”

Yu joined everybody else, fixing his bowl-shaped hair. “About two hours ago. There really is a snowstorm going on out in the country so I took an earlier train just to be safe. It was the last one that would go before they began the delay.”

Rise wasted no time wrapping herself around Yu’s arm, rubbing her cheek on his bicep. “And not a moment too soon! The wait was un-BEAR-able!”

The pun only drew a laugh from Teddie and Yukiko while the others groaned quietly, though Yu only smiled for his own sake.

“I think it’s about time we let a certain someone know Big Bro’s home for the holidays,” Yosuke said, his usual smile returning to his face.

The group all headed off to Dojima’s house, catching up with Yu on what he had been doing in the city. The sound of snow crunching underneath their footsteps was the perfect ambience. For Yu, it felt good to be back in Inaba again. As he went through the downtown area with his friends, he noticed there was something different about it this time around. There were more decorations stretching across the street sidewalks, everything shining around the town. The local vendors were still selling their handmade goods, the most popular stand selling scarves, gloves, and knitted hats. Kanji had a huge grin on his face as they walked past…

As everyone approached the Dojima household, there were two figures out front, busy building a snowman. Ryotaro Dojima, now sporting a slightly thick beard, was adding black rocks to form the snowman’s smile while Nanako made sure the stick arms would stay up. Upon a closer look, the snowman’s head was styled to resemble Yu, complete with hardened eyes and bowl-cut.

“Wow, I didn’t know another me was staying here,” Yu chuckled. Nanako’s head turned in an instant, eyes widened in complete joy.

“BIG BRO!” Nanako hurried over and jumped to Yu, hugging him tightly. He petted her hair, still as long as it was the last time he was there. She had even grown a little bit taller too.

Dojima gave a hearty laugh. “It’s about time you got here. She’s been non-stop all day, keeping an eye out for you.” Dojima gave Yu a firm pat on the shoulder. “Everything been all right back in the city? School going fine?”

Yu nodded and added, “Top of my class, as always, Dojima-san. Though I’ve had some intense study sessions just before the break.”

Yosuke grimaced. “Ugh, if it wasn’t for the new laptop, I swear…”

Dojima’s brows furrowed. “’New laptop?’”

“Oh, yeah. Junes has been getting a lot more sales in our electronics, thanks to all of the Hashiba laptops that are out now. I managed to save enough to get a decent model. It’s easier to help Yu study,” Yosuke explained.

With what seemed like an understanding nod, Dojima added, “Right, because those…instant message chatroom something or other. I haven’t had much use for a computer outside of work.”

Naoto couldn’t help but suppress a laugh, though no one seemed to notice.

“How about you, Nanako? How’s school?” asked Yu.

“It’s been a bit tough but I’m working hard!” Nanako cheerfully pumped her fists. “Dad’s been helping me study all the time!”

Dojima scratched the back of his head, smirking. “Usually after a few cups of coffee.”

Everyone now laughed together and headed inside. Everything was still the same as Yu remembered from before. Hot chocolate was already prepared, with bags of marshmallows on the kitchen table. Yu and Nanako sat next to one another at the kotatsu, with Yu’s friends scattered about the living room, watching television while Kanji and Teddie were arguing how many marshmallows are acceptable.

Naoto was off to the side, talking with Dojima.

“…Yeah, right now he’s just been reading in his cell. He made some kind of personal challenge to read as much books as possible before his trial date,” muttered Dojima.

“As long as it keeps him occupied.” Naoto’s eyes looked downward for a moment.

The hours quickly passed into the early moments of night before Dojima received a phone call. There was an emergency at a home at the other side of Inaba, where vandals were throwing rocks at someone’s windows and scattered after the police appeared.

“Now, remember what we discussed, Nanako. Stick close to Yu, okay?” Dojima hurried to get his coat on.

“Mmhmm. Stay with Big Bro!” Nanako gave her father an encouraging smile. Dojima nodded and promptly left.

The TV channel was changed to the premiere of a Christmas themed special, a few minutes away from starting.

“I can’t believe it, my first true acting gig!” Rise was gushing with excitement, kicking her legs.

“So, uh, what the heck is this supposed to be about anyway?” Kanji sipped at his hot chocolate, Rise already looking annoyed at him.

“It’s a beautiful romantic story where a young girl, alone on Christmas, gets to spend it with the man of her dreams! It’s not a hard story to understand!”

Kanji frowned. “I can get THAT. You just never told us because it was supposed to be a big secret. Besides, I prefer stuff like Rudolph.”

Chie looked over at Rise from the other side of the couch. “How much creative input did you have with this movie?”

Rise shrugged. “Not that much as far as the story goes. Why?”

“I’m just preparing myself for ‘Rise Kujikawa Presents: Christmas With Senpai.’”

“What’s wrong with that? Wouldn’t you try to model the perfect boyfriend after Yu-Senpai?”

The heavy silence that came over the living room just then was something Yu had never experienced before. It was no secret Rise was into him but Chie usually had a comment afterwards. The girls all looked at each other, back to Yu, and then back to each other.

Naoto was the first to speak up, in her usual calm tone. “I think it’s a bit unfair to use Senpai as the highest standard possible to a significant other, as well as that person having to be ‘perfect.’ While we would like a perfect relationship, especially when it comes to romance, that’s just not possible. And…to be honest, perfection leads to stasis within the relationship.”

Yukiko nodded in agreement. “I know what you mean. Every day when I’m with Chie, it either feels like a new adventure or a learning experience. Even if it’s something mundane. Although…” Yukiko rested her chin on her hand, closing her eyes, lost in thought.

Yosuke, Kanji, and Teddie looked visibly confused, mostly from the fact that this was a conversation actually happening. Yu’s face was actually a little bit red.

Chie leaned over to Yukiko. “So, wait, are you saying everything about me, good and bad, makes every day fun…?” She said in a hushed whisper.

“Big Bro’s really nice so I can understand why you’d want boys to be like him, Rise-chan,” interjected Nanako, still having her big smile.

Rise fiddled with a strand of her hair. “It’s other things too but…you are right.” She turned to Yu. “I’m sorry, Senpai. I didn’t mean to embarrass you like this.”

“It’s no problem at all, Rise, really.” Yu waved his hand dismissively, though his expression told a different story. His eyes quickly glanced at Nanako.

Teddie was the first of the guys to finally speak up. “No need to be so modest, Sensei!”

Kanji folded his arms, with a teasing smirk. “Unless you already found a girlfriend and didn’t tell any of us.”

Yosuke shook his head, quickly cutting off Kanji to prevent the topic from stemming off into something undesirable… “Nah, Yu’s not the kind of guy to hide stuff like that.” Though none of the girls didn’t look put off by the idea.

“I really care about Senpai, but I want him to follow his heart,” said Rise softly.

“Ack!!” Chie suddenly yelled out loud, startling everyone. “THE SPECIAL’S ALREADY STARTED!”

Everyone looked at the TV, which thankfully was only in the opening credits. The special was following Rise’s character around the snowy city streets of Tokyo, admiring the decorations much like Yu did earlier. The golden lights shined in her eyes and everything around her was grand.

But suddenly, the broadcast went to static. No weather warning or anything indicating a technical error appeared on screen. Yu pressed buttons on the TV remote but no other channels appeared. Out of instinct, he checked the time and it was nowhere close to midnight…

Suddenly, a very faint image started to appear, silhouettes walking around. Crackling voices could be barely made out but none of them said anything coherent.

“…stop them…interfering with…shape…the world…” said a cold voice.

“Big Bro, this isn’t the special, is it…?” Nanako asked, though she looked like she already knew the answer.

The lights in the Dojima residence went out, while the glow of the TV screen became brighter. The living room started to shake with a faint wind pushing towards the TV, pushing the kotatsu.

“E-Everyone! Outside!” Yu yelled, helping Nanako up and hurrying towards the front door. However, the front door suddenly flew away from the pair. Looking around for anything to hold onto as the wind started to pick up speed, Yu clasped onto the edge of the kitchen sink, Nanako wrapping her arms around his chest.

“What the hell’s going on?!” Yosuke grabbed the other side of the sink, Chie hanging off his shoulders. Yukiko then jumped onto Chie, while Kanji held onto the fully stocked refrigerator with his long arms. Naoto and Rise hung off both his biceps and Teddie clutched onto Kanji’s hips, almost making him fall over.

“T-TED, THAT TICKLES!!” Kanji tried not to laugh, keeping his grip on the refrigerator.

The wind started to violently knock things over and pick everybody up from off the ground, pulling them towards the television. Something about the wind made it feel like the small TV was going to accommodate everyone if this was heading where Yu believed it was. Everyone still held on with all their might, but the refrigerator door opened, violently jerking Kanji to one side. Desperate, he grabbed Yu’s legs by the ankles.

“S-SORRY, SENPAI!” Kanji bellowed.

“D-DON’T LET GO, KANJI-KUN!” Naoto yelled.

Right besides Yu, Yosuke yelped. His side of the sink deteriorated away and found himself hurling towards the TV. Chie and Yukiko screamed in fear, digging their fingers into his shoulder blades. Just like a knee-jerk response, Yosuke managed to grab Teddie by the back of his jacket, though it was too loose to keep steady.

With a loud yell, Yosuke, Chie, and Yukiko flung towards the television, disappearing into the light. Nanako cried out in fear, while Kanji’s fingers were slipping.

“S-SENPAI, I CAN’T HOLD ON!” Kanji’s fingers brushed against Yu’s feet and now he, Naoto, Teddie, and Rise found themselves pulled into the light.

“Big Bro! I don’t want to die!!” Nanako held on as much as she could. But everything near Yu’s hands had disappeared as well. All he could do now was hold Nanako close to him.

“Whatever happens Nanako…I’ll protect you!!”

Everything around Yu’s eyes was enveloped in light.

He felt weightless. He could feel Nanako’s face still pressed against his chest.

This was not the sensation of death. It was similar as to when Yu and his friends entered the TV world.

But wherever Yu and Nanako were going, along with the rest of their friends, there was no guessing in what awaited them.

Yu was blinded by a very bright light before everything around him turned a vibrant blue. He realized he was once again within the Velvet Room. His heart was at ease as he sat across the inhabitants of the Velvet Room, or at least two of them. The bizarre looking old man with a very long nose known as Igor and his assistant Margaret, whose elegance continued to radiate as strongly as ever, gazed straight at Yu.

“Welcome to the Velvet Room. This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter…as I am sure you remember,” said Igor, in the same tone and rhythm as Yu had heard before.

“It is a pleasure to see you once again.” Margaret bowed her head.

“As an esteemed guest, you are always welcome here. It has been quite some time since your last visit. The strength of your bonds were tested heavily, and you were able to display unwavering determination at preserving them. You are most likely wondering what brings you here once again.” Igor maintained his usual smile, with his hands crossed together.

“Your destiny extends far greater than the boundaries that your world possesses. That also includes the threats that may come upon your world. The wind that whisked you and your comrades away from your world was not of anything you have come to know in your previous quests. A strong power, elsewhere, has become drawn to you. You will soon be entering a new reality that is both closely similar and radically different to what you’re used to. What you do once you arrive is entirely up to you. Your choices from hereon will determine what comes of the multiple planes of existence that you may or may not have thought about.” Margaret finished her explanation with a small chuckle. “It will be interesting, to say the very least. While the new world you will arrive in is not closely tied to the Velvet Room, you will be able to return, if you require assistance.”

Yu, who had not been able to feel any words forming in his throat, could only watch as Igor and Margaret become enveloped in the same light, once again…

So, I’m trying to get back into writing once again. Forewarning, this story will feature my OCs. Not OCs specifically built for Persona so I’m not going to be destroying any ships. But this is just to help motivate me to do something. Please give me feedback and share if you like it!

#Persona 4 #fanfiction #Persona 4 Bonds of Reality

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northpolenotes · 5 years

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How To Babysit Toddlers

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Toddler years are children ages 12 months (1 year) to 36 months (3 years). During this stage of their lives, you’ll start to see some very significant changes and advancements in their physical development. They’ll start to walk, speak, and engage with you a whole different level. They’re now truly little people. In my experience, it’s a very fun age for children.

However, it’s also a lot of work to babysit a toddler. You rarely have time to sit down, you have to be on constant alert, and they often think that doing something bad is funny.

Keeping that in mind, there are certain things that you want to consider before accepting the position.

1. Understand Their Energy Level and Yours

Toddlers are very mischievous, full of energy, and incredible adorable all in one! One minute they’ll do something that’ll make you want to pull your hair out and in the next minute, you’ll be laughing hysterically at one of their antics. There’s usually no in between.

Toddlers require a lot of work on your part to watch them. They need your constant attention, not necessarily to entertain them, but certainly, so you can see what they’re up to. Silence is suspicious!

I remember when my niece, Layla was in her toddler years. If my sister turned her back to her for a minute, Layla would be up to something in no time. For instance, we’d be talking on the phone when she’d suddenly have to hang up. “I’ve gotta go. Layla is trying to eat out of the garbage again.”

If you’re going to agree to babysit a toddler, you’ll want to make sure that you have the energy for it. A lot of your time will be spent chasing after them and redirecting them to a safer situation. They’re much quicker than they look!

2. Prepare Yourself For Everything

Much like Layla munching on eggshells from the garbage pail, toddlers are both unpredictable and predictable at the same time. If they try it once, they’ll try it again. And again. And again.

Always maintain a watchful eye. One minute they’ll be happily playing with their playdoh and the next they’ll try to play tea party with toilet water. They love to go where they’re not supposed to. And after they’ve been correct and redirected, they’ll probably try it again. They’re pushing their boundaries.

3. Ask a lot of questions!

Be proactive about getting to know the toddler before you watch them. Every toddler has at least one thing they love to do but that they should probably never do. It usually falls into the category of dangerous and/or extremely messy.

Ask their parents if they tend to get into anything or if there’s something specific you need to look out for. No child is without one of these things!

Most families have baby-proofed their house to cover sharp edges, lock their cabinets, and block off electrical outlets. However, toddlers like to put things in their mouths and this is a serious safety hazard.

Ask them if there’s anything that the toddler likes to try and put in their mouth that could be a choking hazard. If they have food that should be cut to a certain sizes if you’re feeding them.

Also, if the parents want you to feed their child while they’re away, ask about what foods are off limits. Just like toys, certain foods are potential choking hazards.

Lastly, make sure to ask about any allergies and how severe they are. This includes any food, pet, or seasonal allergies. You may want to bring a treat with you, or you may live with animal and their dander and fur may be on your clothing.

4.) Communicate Freely But Don’t Overwhelm the Parents

If a babysitter is needed, that means that the parents need to be kid free for a period of time. If it’s not something that needs immediate parental attention like a bad injury or crucial instructions that weren’t given like the location of birthday party, don’t bother them.

They’ll likely check in with you to see how things are going and at that time you can give them an update.

Talk with the toddler’s parents prior to watching their child to determine the rules of the house and respect them! Kow what’s expected from you and the child.

See Tips for First Time Babysitters for more information on communication.

5.) Never Leave Them Alone

Toddlers can get into a lot of trouble if ever left alone, even for a minute.

If you have to leave the room to use the bathroom, I would suggest strapping them in their highchair or putting them in their pack-n-play. They might cry, but it’s better that they cry for that reason than from a serious injury. If they’re buckled into their highchair or in a pack-n-play, they should be safe, but don’t leave them alone with food or any potentially harmful items within reach.

If after reading that, you feel that you’re up for the challenge, it’s now time to have fun. So what fun activities can you do with a toddler while you’re babysitting them?

Good babysitters have lots of fun and engaging activities to do with toddlers while they’re babysitting. Parents don’t want to their kids to sit in front of the T.V. or ipad while they’re away. Although that is a good option once they need some downtime, they’ll need more stimulation to use up their energy.

After determining with the parents what’s off-limits while they’re in your care, such as electronics, games, or trips to the playground, planning activities will be easier.

Only play with one thing at a time. Don’t overwhelm them with too many options. If a toy is played with, it should be put away before you move on to the next activity. They have short attention spans so this will most likely occur more than once.

Kids need structure at all ages! Learn the rules of the house and enforce them. Also, set your own rules for things that you don’t feel comfortable with concerning behavior and activities. You’ll likley hear “But Mommy lets me.” But you’re not Mommy so the same rules don’t apply or they’re lying.

Some things to do are…

1. Take Them Outside and Play!

Children need outdoor time to run around and exert their high levels of energy. Check out the 5 Benefits of Kids Playing Outside.

If they have a gated backyard this a great place for them to do it. You’ll know that they’re in a safe space so they can’t just escape at a moment’s notice.

Bring a ball or several with you! Play catch, play soccer, roll it around. You have to be just enthusiastic about playing games so that you grab maintain their attention during the activity.

Blow Bubbles! Toddlers love to blow bubbles (though most aren’t that good it just yet). But even if they aren’t good at blowing them, they’ll have fun chasing and popping the bubbles that you make!

Play a little game of tag! A fun variation is called rag tag. Instead of touching the other person, you have to grab the rag or another clean cloth item from them. Think of it like flag football, but without the ball. Whoever has the rag must run from the others have to avoid getting the rag stolen.

If the weather is warm, a great way to cool down is with a water table or sprinkler play. While watching the toddler in the parent’s home, ask them if they have either of these around.

Should you be watching them at your home, it’s a great toy to have around because it lasts for years. My niece and nephews had one of their deck and it was used EVERY spring and summer. And when the weather got cold and it started to snow, they’d still use the table to hold snowballs or as a base for their snowman. A simple toy like this is hours of fun for kids!

Check it out on Amazon:

Water table

2. Sing Nursery Rhymes

One of the best ways to get toddlers moving is to put on some music and have a dance party or just old fashion nursery rhymes.

Here’s a playlist for nursery rhymes.

3. Play Sorting & Counting Games

Most toddler toys are large and colorful. They’re made this way on purpose to attract the attention of the child and make for safe play.

If they have toys like mega blocks. Dump them out and have them sort by color, shape, or size.

A great thing to do with these blocks is to stack! Toddlers love stacking games! Do you know what else they love? Knocking things down! Toddlers can freely stack blocks or cardboard bricks and safely knock them down. It’s loads of fun for them!

You can also teach them how to count with the toys too. Learning through play is one of the best ways to teach children. Start off by simply counting yourself out loud. The older they are the more likely they’ll count along.

If they’re not talking yet, they’re still absorbing information. It’s important to always be talking to toddlers and younger children. They’re always learning because everything is new to them!

4. Read A Book To Them

Reading never gets old, toddlers and kids of all ages need to hear someone speaking to them. Hearing others talk is how they’ll learn to talk and improve their vocabulary. Reading together is a great way to bond.

They may have some on their bookshelf already, but there are a few of my favorites that my nieces and nephews loved to hear me read to them when they were little. Change your voice for inflection and different characters to make it even more entertaining for them.

Here’s a list of books that have always been a big hit with younger children.

Check them out on Amazon:

Chicka Chicka ABC

Rhyming Dust Bunnies

Here Comes the Big Mean Dust Bunny

Don’t The Pigeon Drive the Bus!

Goodnight Moon

5. Go for a walk

Toddlers are too young to walk independently in the street. However, you can put them in a stroller and allow them to enjoy the scenery.

You can talk about things that you see along the way like birds, flowers, grass, trees, different colored houses, etc. It’s also not a bad idea to sing a song or have some music playing on your phone. It makes the walk that more enjoyable.

Make sure to double check that you’ve properly locked up the house and have your phone and keys before leaving.

6. Art and Creative Play

Creative play is a great activity for toddlers. Encourage them to explore their artistic side with some crayons, washable markers and some and blank white paper.

You can also come prepared with a fun coloring activity. Teach them their ABC’s, different animals, and let them color all at the same time with my free ABC animal coloring book!

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Things to Keep in Mind

1.) Bathroom Breaks and Diaper Checks

With toddlers, you can never be too sure when they’ll have an accident. Or, they’ll most definitely need a diaper change. If they’re potty training, they may forget to tell you they have to go to the bathroom. Regularly ask if they have to go and have them try a few times. If you leave the house, you’ll need to bring a change of clothes with you.

If they’re still in diapers, you’ll need their diaper bag with you. You’ll also need to check they’re diaper pretty regularly. You can smell poop right away, so they’ll be no surprises there. However, pee pee is more covert, so just be mindful of when their last diaper change and how much liquid they’ve consumed.

2. They’ll get hungry!

With all their running around, toddlers need snacks and a drink. Give them parent approved drinks and snacks.

If they’re not talking and can’t tell you that they’re hungry, a good indication is when they get cranky. If they’re craking it’s either time for a nap or they need some food in their bellies.

Common snacks might be something like pretzels, animals crackers, goldfish, or fruits. Drinks might be juice, water, or milk, depending on what the parent wants to give them. Juice should be watered down as it’s often too sugary for kids and is bad for their teeth.

Again, be mindful of choking hazards when it comes to foods and never leave them unattended while they’re eating.

3.) Minor injuries are probable

Even when toddlers are on carpets and playing in kid-friendly areas, they may still have a fall or two. It happens. These little guys aren’t that stable on their feet so they fall more often than old children. Don’t freak out. Kids are resilient and often cry out of fear and not necessarily pain.

Always check for bumps, bruises, and or bleeding. If it’s just a little fall, don’t be alarmed. Should you discover a mark, put ice on it immediately. If there’s blood clean up their wound right way and put a bandaid on it.

Let the parents know how the injury occurred right way. Don’t wait for their parents to find the bump or cut.

4.) Toddlers are parrots

Though I’m sure you’re not planning to curse or use any other foul language in front of kids, just be cautious of your word choice. Things slip out. If you wouldn’t use the words in front of the parents, don’t use them in front of their children. Toddlers are little parrots often repeat what they hear.

5.) Naps are likely and needed!

Toddlers have a lot of energy, but they also need to replenish that energy with a nap. Talk to the parents about when they’re nap time is. Having a schedule will make your time with the child much easier.

If they get upset that their parents are there to put them to bed or for their nap, try to ease their pain. It’s scary for kids to endure change. Let them know that they’re parents are coming back, you’re just with them for a little while. Sing them a song to sooth their sorrows.

6.) They’ll get in trouble.

Ask the parents how to handle bad behavior. Most are okay with time-outs, but spanking is never allowed!

Sometimes toddlers will do things to get your attention. It’s often referred to as acting out. They’ll touch something they know they’re not supposed to touch, hit you, or throw things.

Since you’ve already gone over the rules with their parents, time outs or other takeaways should be enforced. Give a warning for most bad behavior, but hitting of any kind should result in a punishment.

Becoming a babysitter for toddlers is a big commitment, but it’s also very rewarding at the same time. With a little practice and a lot of patience, you may find it the best age to babysit children! I know I loved it!

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