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pinkhairedlily · 3 years

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Chapter 4 - Student Council President Sakura

SCPS AO3 | PREVIOUS CHAPTER

“By any chance, are you two available after class?” Sakura asked her seatmates.

“No.” The reply, while simultaneous, delivered contrasting connotations with Sasuke being gruff, adamant, eager to be uninvolved while Naruto’s was dripping with disappointment and missed timing.

“I have practice.” The blonde sank further into his seat. “But whatever is it for, Pres?”

Sakura grimaced at the monicker. “What’s up with that?”

“It’s what everyone calls you now,” Naruto replied. “You’re the youngest president too so that’s like a really big deal, you know. So anyway, if our schedules free up and coincide, maybe you can join us in this cute café.”

Sasuke discreetly flashed him a glare which obviously just flew past across the blonde airhead, but it was caught by Sakura who knew where this opening was headed.

“They served the best sweets but grumpy here ordered a tomato dish. Like what’s up with that? They also gave us free food before we left!” Naruto grinned widely, unperturbed by his next statement. “Moreover, there’s a cute barista who looks just like you.”

And Sakura decided to deliver the curve ball. With her chin on her open palm, she looked at Naruto directly. “So you’re saying I’m cute?”

Sasuke swore that was the reddest he saw Naruto turned. He tried to hide the bubbling laughter with his head down and his hand on his mouth, reveling in the blonde’s embarrassed stuttering, but he slowly registered her amused glance at him, and he wondered briefly why his face was also turning hot.

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He shouldn’t be doing this. He should have come home after classes ended and not be entranced with Naruto’s rare offer of free dinner. Obviously, by free dinner, that meant their coach paying for the entire team’s meal as well as the roster of honorary members, which unsurprisingly included him.

So he was just napping the time away in the classroom, away from their go-to hideout because of the noisy dragonboat power yells, when he heard a scream and an ensuing crash of what seemed to be books and stacks of papers. His feet was already at the door before he could think this through, his body moving on its own accord like an innate response to a familiar voice.

Loose pink strands were splayed on the floor, surrounded with likewise loose pages from the confines of the folders.

“Did you hit your head?” he asked as he crouched beside her. “You seem to enjoy injuring yourself.”

“I didn’t hit my head. I landed on my butt which hurts a lot right now but thank God I’m wearing sweatpants because you would have seen such outrageous grandma panties.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose at the TMI. “Try filtering.” He proceeded to pick up the scattered papers and files on the floor and gestured for her to stand up already.

“I need a hand though.”

“My hands are full with your documents.”

“Then let me get your back.”

He muttered an annoyed protest under his breath, but he squatted low enough for her to reach the back of his uniform and pull herself up with accompanying ow-ow-ow-ow. They walked like that until they reached the student council office, her box of files safely tucked in both of his arms, her one hand on the edge of his shirt and the other on her lower back.

“Thanks, Sasuke! And with this, I pronounce you and Naruto my official runners!”

“He’s not even here.”

“He’ll agree. After all, I look like his cute barista.” Sakura winked, riding on the comedic atmosphere.

“But I didn’t even agree?” Sasuke protested, falling into deaf ears as she quickly took the folders from his arms and exited the office with a wave. He was sure warning signs kept flashing inside his brain.

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He was set on keeping his distance, thus despite her informal announcement, it was mostly Naruto who accompanied her in most errands except in instances when he had to stay behind after class to wait for the blonde.

His latest task was to help write support banners for the preliminary matches of the baseball team. Personally, he found the game season a nuisance, but of course, he wouldn’t admit it to himself that the trainings were eating up most of his time with Naruto. If they weren’t practicing pitches during lunch, the blonde would discuss game strategies, a topic he actually exceled in. Sasuke theorized his brain cells operated most efficiently when used for kinetics. He wouldn’t admit it, but he felt sidelined – with his companion successfully finding something to keep the loneliness at bay – while he remained in the frontlines, waging an internal war between the thundering silence of his apartment, and the raucous chaos of his thoughts.

He stood there awkwardly on the side of the student council office as the rest of the council members hunched on the floor, painting the words haphazardly out of the outline patterns, the worst among them being Sakura.

Frustrated and driven by a compulsion, he grabbed a spare brush and blank canvas and started the lettering. Thank god for his childhood calligraphy classes. This feat earned him interested looks from the members.

“Wow Pres, you really reeled in a talented runner,” one member chided. “He’s still as grumpy as ever though.”

Sakura wasn’t entirely happy as she looked over his shoulder. “Oh come on. Our banners weren’t that bad.”

“If I were on the baseball team, I’d think you would want us to lose.” He finished one cheering banner and gave it to the nervous member beside him. Apparently, his presence intimidated them even though he was but a mere runner. “Can you give me the next one?”

“Why are we bothering though?” asked the vice-president. “Our school team never makes it past the preliminaries.” From the get go, Sasuke felt her slight annoyance of having been bypassed in the selection, and while this was valid, he also thought she shouldn’t project this to Sakura who was caught in the middle of the decision of the advisory board.

He needn’t worry however, as she carried the subtle dig effortlessly, her usual positivity dripping through. “Isn’t it better to put it your all and see everything through than to give up when the clock hasn’t even started running yet? I find regrets more troublesome.”

Flustered with her response, the vice-president shifted her gaze back to the canvas in front of her and started to paint again. Everyone didn’t see it, but he caught Sakura sticking her tongue out to her.

Such a child. He found himself smirking.

Naruto started skipping classes as the day of the preliminaries crept closer. A week of this behavior prompted Sakura to pry his address out of Sasuke. He found out days later that she started coming to his apartment and incessantly ring the doorbell until his neighbors in the complex complained of the early morning noise.

Sasuke’s part in this scheme was the notes he compiled and one-word reminders through texts when there were deadlines or assignments. Somehow, it evolved into a convoluted arrangement among the three of them to keep the baseball rookie MVP afloat in his academics. As compensation for their efforts, Naruto started to buy them convenience store rice balls for morning snacks.

“You idiot. You should save your allowance,” Sasuke said smugly to the blonde.

“And yet you’re swallowing it in full.” Naruto grinned. “You should chew, grumpy! Chew!”

Sakura took a sip of her cranberry juice and smiled fondly at them. “Are you ready for Friday?”

“We’re facing off a top ten school, and Captain Haru said we don’t have that much chance. I don’t believe it though. I think we’ll win,” Naruto replied.

“You have a strategy ready?” Sakura asked.

He shook his head and pointed to himself rather proudly. “No but the team has me.” Sasuke choked on the last bit of his rice ball at the latter’s pronouncement.

“I told you to chew!”

Sakura, in panic, gave her half-drunk juice carton to him, and Sasuke, also internally panicking, grabbed it and downed the rest of it.

“You okay?” Sakura patted his back and snuffled a laughter which Naruto joined with his loud, uncontrollable dry heaves. Sasuke glared at the two, but this only served to amuse them further. “Oh wow, that was the first time I ever saw you uncomposed.” She swiped the tears in her eyes with the back of her hand.

“But really, they have me so we’ll win,” Naruto insisted.

“I’ll wear a cheering uniform for you,” she chirped back.

“Gods, dumb and dumber,” Sasuke sighed, defeated.

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On the afternoon of the game, Sasuke found himself surrounded with a large female following after Sakura got all the members and the runners cheering outfits, and by outfits, that meant olive green jersey tops and maroon sweatpants representative of the school colors. She also took advantage of his obligated presence by giving him the task to distribute the banners and flaglets to the benches. The genius orphan and the couldn’t-care-less Uchiha roaming the rows? That pulled the student crowd needed for the game.

“Go Naruto!” Sakura yelled beside him. A black bandana was tied around her forehead, and her ponytail was replaced with a high bun.

Sasuke inadvertently covered his eardrums. The noise was even louder when the student council started a yell routine in the bleachers. The side of the opponent was half-full, and surprise was transparent in the other team’s faces. Probably the first time that support with this magnitude was given to the baseball team. Also, it was his first time attending a ball game in person, not that he didn’t try asking his brother before.

He felt a light tap on his shoulders. He turned around to see a raven-haired girl behind him, dressed in a lilac midi dress and sporting the black bandana on her wrist. “Is this seat taken?” She motioned to the space beside him. Her face was familiar – he knew he saw her somewhere but also certain he never interacted directly with her.

“Ah Hinata?” Sakura’s voice squeaked in recognition. She gestured to him to exchange seats with her, and she immediately patted her to sit down. “Cheering for Haru?”

Ah, the Hyuuga, the captain’s girlfriend. They’re actually friends.

“I was actually planning to buy the whole team dinner regardless of the results,” she said to Sakura. He was not good at reading people, but this Hinata was soft-spoken and gentle with her mannerisms that he found it fitting for her to be with Haru. He was, after all, so steadfast and assertive with his members, and he could even get Naruto in line with a look. So much so like Sakura that this exact dynamic was playing beside him.

It was a weird thing though when he glanced at the two and saw that her eyes were not trained on Haru but on certain blonde bloke on the field.

“President Sakura.”

Great, another distraction. He knew that voice even when the entire field was already screaming.

Sakura whipped her head too fast he was afraid she was gonna break her neck. Even when she was already glowing, her face lit up brighter when Kakashi handed her two bottles of water. “Nice job rounding an audience. Here, Give one to your runner.”

It was evident she wanted him to stay as she started to look around and tried to find a space near her. Noticing this, Sasuke tried stand up and offer him his seat, but she placed a firm hand on his knee, followed by a slight shake of her head, and a soft disappointed sigh when Kakashi disappeared from the crowd.

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He was walking out of the bathroom when the announcer declared the winner of the two-hour game. Of course, they would win. Naruto never backed down from his pronouncements, no matter how silly or unattainable they may be. He should buy him a stack of his favorite ramen as prize.

“Yo, Uchiha.”

Naruto’s bullies blocked the path leading to the bleachers – there were four of them, the same people who made fun of him in the hallway last time.

“Your people skills shot up after spending time with that orphan MVP and the chirpy pinky huh?”

“Birds of the same feather flock together.”

Normally, Sasuke would let these insults slide, if one could call them that. They were bigger and taller than him with faces that reflected experienced jabs in their scars and band-aids. To take them on alone, considering also the fact that he skipped gym for almost a year now, would be suicide. Nonetheless, he didn’t feel riled up as they expected him to be.

“Or should we say, they shot up in their society ranks because of you? After all, your dad was a member of the board.”

“Oooh my bad, dead dad.”

His hands started to clench into fists – an involuntary action out of their own volition. This slight shift in his body language gave them the go signal to surround him.

“Heard through the grapevine that it was actually your fault they’re dead. Imagine sleeping next to your dying parents and not looking for help?”

“Pathetic being.”

“Now he parades himself like an entitled son of a chairman.”

A kick to his shin. “Can’t really do anything to us, huh? Afraid to tarnish your dead daddy’s reputation?”

A punch to his side, and Sasuke clutched at the contact. Another right at the center of his stomach, and he doubled over, the water he drank threatening to hurl itself on the ground.

“You’re a better target than Orphan No. 1. You don’t really fight back.” The bully placed his foot on his hand, pushing him down further and making him bow. “You need to show you’re a model student. After all, your brother’s one of the shareholders of the school, and he has no need for trouble from his shunned sibling.”

Simultaneous kicks to Sasuke’s side. They were right, to an extent, but it was the whole process of explaining that would tire him out. Conversing with Itachi was a drag all on its own, like talking to the void, and hearing the senseless blame games all over again. This was all right, he assured himself throughout the whole encounter, since he was already numb. The other pain inside his head was stronger and sharper.

“Then again, you probably pulled some strings to get pinky that coveted position, didn’t you? Imagine a second year being president all of a sudden without going through the motions.”

The bile rose to his throat, and there was an entirely different metallic taste in his mouth. His fists were itching to fight back.

“Let’s destroy your pretty face this time, and we’ll come for the pinky next.”

Sasuke gained momentum to land a kick on the person’s crotch, the force and shock sending him reeling to the side. That was reckless, he knew that, because then he was exposed to the punches of the three others. And so he waited for contact but there was a flurry of bodies and that pink bright contrast in his line of sight.

One fist landed on Sakura’s face.

AO3 LINK | NEXT CHAPTER | CHAPTER 5

#SCPS #student council president sakura #sasusaku #uchiha sasuke #haruno sakura #narusaku #kakasaku #uzumaki naruto #hatake kakashi #pseudolily

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spookysmujer · 4 years

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Cherry, O.Diaz

Summary: Oscar and Y/N have been casually hooking up for sometime now and when feelings get too involved, true colors come to show.

warnings: mentions of sex, angst

word count: 2.9k

A/N: sorry for the delay of content! Twin and I have been really cracking on an upcoming project she is working on. Y’all don’t even know the investment we have into it 🤣 This idea came to me, I’m emo for this angst shit + Spooky, strayed from my original plan but oh well. I notice y’all like the cute fluff fic with him, would you like to see more fluff with Oscar? Let me know! I’ll be getting to the Sad Eyes request soon 😘

If someone had told you you would be doing hook-ups with Spooky, you’d laugh at them. The two of you had known each other growing up in Freeridge, not close but also not strangers. He definitely flirted with you a lot. But nothing ever ensued, especially not after he was sent to Corcoran for 4 years.

It wasn’t until a few months after he got out that the two of you bumped into each other at the little corner liquor store. The devilishly handsome look he had on his face began the little thing you two have going on. No strings, just sex. And it’s gotten you two awfully close.

The clock on the nightstand blares 5:32am as you try to rub the sleep from your eyes, not that you got much anyways with recent activities. “Always running away before the sun comes up.” You hear the deep voice of the tattooed man next to you. A smirk creeps on your face as you stand to get dressed. You only get your undergarments on when he pulls you back down and lazily climbs on top of you.

“Com’n I’ve gotta go, I open today.”

You tell him as he kisses your neck, which always makes you weak. He ignores you for a bit but eventually rolls off of you, licking his lips with satisfaction.

He lays back and watches you put on your clothes, bummed that the weekend came and went by so quickly. Oscar likes having this little ruse between the two of you. It allows him to be satisfied and not have to deal with all the relationship shit, hynas be trippin’ and clingy as fuck with him.

“Come back tonight.” He calls out to you as you pull your hair into the bun and walk out of his room. You shake your head and laugh to yourself.

Friday and Saturday nights are usually designated for the tootin’ and bootin’ as Oscar likes to put it. It was good for you too. The stress of trying to keep up with bills and student loans has you working doubles almost 3 times a week. You definitely needed some kind of hobby, turns out sex is a great one.

“Fun night?” Your co-worker tells you as you two go through a 10 hour shift. You roll your eyes which are focused on the screen in front of you. But she doesn’t stop staring at you, waiting for an answer. After only being about to take so much daggers, you twist your chair to her and pull down your top a bit to show the hickies that scatter over your chest. Her cheeks tighten with a large smile. “Oh yeah, fun night.”

It wasn’t a secret that you and Oscar are sleeping together. Like everyone else’s business in Freeridge, people were aware the two of you shacking it up. “Man can’t keep his hands off ya!”

“He definitely likes to mark his territory for sure.” You reply as she has a giddy moment.

The work day goes by quickly thanks to working with your favorite co-worker. It’s open to close day for you and when the familiar red impala pulls into the parking lot, your body had a natural reaction to tingle. “Look what the cat dragged in and you telling me that y’all aren’t a thing? I don’t know what booty call comes to his booty calls work place to pick her up, I know I wouldn’t be doing all that just to get some.”

Oscar showing up definitely makes it look like it’s more than just casual sex, he says it’s because he’s a gentlemen at the very least. The same guy who will spank your ass raw and tell you keep your mouth shut.

After closing and walking your co-worker to her car and waving her by, you get into the car where a tank-top dressed Santo drags on a blunt. He puffs out the smoke before flicking it out of the window. You set your things at your feet, “Wasn’t expecting you to show up.”

“It’s how I know you’d come back tonight.” He puts his arm on the seat behind you. The look he gives you, a look with absolutely no effort, makes you shift in your seat. “What?”

He shakes his head, licking his lips and tilting his head for you to move closer. With a sigh, you scoot over right next to him. His other arm leans across him and settles his hand on your thigh. Oscar tilts his head down and plants an open mouth kiss on your neck, instinctively your head moves to the side. With his hand caressing your thigh, you totally forget you are in a public area. And you’re getting aroused quickly. When his hand starts to creep closer to your heat, you grab it and scoot away slightly. He looks up at you with a bothered face.

“We really gonna do it here?”

Oscar only shrugs and pushes you back to him with his arm draped on the seat. It’s like your body has no control to his touch. His lips press against yours, slow at first then more needy soon after. His free hand pulls your farther thigh to get you pressed more against him. And at this point, you’re horny and well, no one is around.

You release from the kiss to straddle his lap and pull off your top. He bites his lips seeing all the marks he had left on you from the weekend. A low moan sounds from him as he pushes his face into your chest, pressing hot kisses to the bruised skin. His teeth scrapes against your covered breast, while you unhook your bra.

“Hmmm, fine ass hyna. Nothin’ new.”

After the scandalous public car sex Oscar tells you he hopes to hear from you soon. With your flustered state, you drive home in a haze. Once you get home, you lean against your front door, still feeling the numbness on your lips from all the kissing. You didn’t know how you got to this point. The careless sex and the amount of it you’re having. You didn’t think how much further it could go.

“I’m telling you. He has claimed you and soon enough, without even knowing it? You’re his girlfriend and living in the Santo Trap house!”

Your younger sister tells you as the two of eat breakfast the next morning. She is constantly getting at you about how your friends with benefits situation will evolve to something more. More serious and more dangerous.

“For the last time, we agreed on just sex. Nothing more, nothing less.” You explain her to which she only rolls her eyes at you. “He leads the Santos. You think I wanna date someone like that?”

She scoffs, “But you fucking him? Spends the night? Picks you up? What about that time he dropped off your glasses? Hm? He knew you were going back to his place yet he drove and took his personal time to bring them to you. Keep lying to yourself but at this point, one of you is feeling something.”

She stands from the table and leaves you to finish up. You play around with your food and try to shake any ‘whatifs’ from your mind. Oscar didn’t seem like the type to care about the relationship part, just the sex.

As another work week had gone by, and multiple texts from Oscar asking if you were free to stop by but you kindly denied because of how tired you were. It’s Friday night and you’re contemplating whether to go over to his place or take the time to recuperate. You didn’t have much time to thoroughly think when your phone rings and Oscars name pops up.

“Well well well the devil himself.”

He chuckles into the speaker, “Hola Mami, whatchu doing?”

“Hm, trying to think if I have enough stamina to come over.” You roll over on your bed, “I could use some convincing.”

You can practically hear the smile in his voice, “The temptation mamas. How about we get some 40s and drive around for a bit?”

“Sure, I’ll be ready in 10.”

You didn’t think much of it, but some free drinks convinced you enough to go with.

Oscar picks you up soon after you change. You weren’t paying enough attention to notice the warmth of his cheeks along with his signature side smile as you get in. A brown paper bag sitting between you that carry the 40s and you’re off out of Freeridge. You have no idea where you’re headed but the scenery is nice as the dark night passes by.

Soon enough, you pull into a parking lot that sits in front of a beach. The moon shines against the water that looks like its out of a movie, he pulls out the drinks and hands one to you.

“How was work this week?”

“Long as hell.”

He wipes his chin, trying to loosen the restrain of his smile, “Had to be, dodged me all week long.” You look over to him, your smile forming as your shake your head at his comment.

“Well, I did say I could be convinced to go over you your place tonight but you wanted to come out here like we’re 18 or something.” Taking a long gulp from the bottle, you lick your lips.

He doesn’t say anything for a minute before striking up another conversation. To which leads you two talking for a while not even noticing the time go by. When you finally become aware at how much you’ve been talking, you look at the time on his stereo, 3AM blinks. You sigh as you set the empty bottle by your feet.

Oscar leads against the car door, watching you as you stretch and look out at the water.

You finally look over at him,“What?”

He looks away and smiles to himself, “I’m just trying to figure it out, that’s all.” You look at him confused considering there was no prior conversation.

“How you got me to take you here. I don’t take anyone here, I only brought mi hermano out here once. Y’know, deep convos and shit. Special place and all. So I’m tryna figure it out.”

As you pay attention to how he tells you this, your mind instantly goes back to the conversation you had with your sister that morning. How you told her that this thing is nothing but an itch to scratch. But now? You hear your sister saying, one of you is feeling something.

You clear your throat, sitting up straighter in your seat. “Um, maybe it’s on your bucketlist to get a hyna to have sex on the beach?” A chuckle escaping you but Oscar doesn’t react much to the joke.

He didn’t know where he was going with this. Hell, he never had a problem with the ladies, ever. Not in high school before he became the leader of the Santos and certainly not after. But most of the hynas he been with truly were a ‘toot it and boot it’ situation. And for the last few weeks, that’s all it had been with you. But as the week had passed by and you weren’t there, he started to think. To think about the what if’s: you not needing to sneak out for work or having real conversations about things like hopes and shit. Oscar realized that maybe he wanted more than just sex with you.

“Nah, sand gets everywhere. Y/N... this thing we got. I’ve been here before, sorry to say but a lot times and usually, they come and go but nena.. you really got me thinking about shit other than just sex.”

Usually, the confession of love for you would give you butterflies. But because of the life he led, it terrified you, “Oscar.. the thing we have, it’s good. It works for us both, I mean granted we lead two different lives... it fits in well. You were the one who dominantly established this was going to be no strings. Sounds like you are saying that’s what you want... strings?”

“What could be so wrong with that? Is it hard to believe a man like me could want that?”

You let of a breath, turning your body to him, “You lead a gang. A group of people who try to rid the streets of violence... with violence. Do you see how that’s fighting fire with fire?”

Oscar kisses his teeth and his body language changes in a snap. He is constantly being looked at like a big bad guy, when really he truly did care for his community. His way of life is a tricky one, sure. But people always looked at how he handled things rather than the fact that he handled them. And now with you using that as a reason for how a guy like him could want something like a real relationship, Spooky is peaking.

“Anyone ever tell you not to judge a book by its cover?” His voice snappy and dripping with venom. Your eyebrows furrow, head tilting like he just dissed you at prom or something.

“I usually don’t, but when the cover got bullet holes? I know it’s not the Bible I’m reading.” You snap back, not liking how he suddenly changed his demeanor. How he went from sappy to snappy in an moment. Typical Spooky, you thought.

Oscar only wipes his face, straightening in his seat and turning the key in the ignition. The impala roars to life and he switches the gear to reverse. Much like the ride to the beach, it’s quiet going back to the familiar hood. The atmosphere is cold and chilling. You have your arms crossed over your chest. This definitely not how you foresaw this night going.

As he pulls in front of your house, he still doesn’t say anything. You sit there for a moment and watch him, he grows impatient, waiting for you to get out, “Need me to open the door for you or something?”

The snap in his voice makes you scoff, “A gentlemen at the least would do it. You really gonna be like this? Because I don’t feel comfortable to make it more than what it is.”

Again no answer. With that NOT being said, you fly the door open and close it. You weren’t even given another second before he speeds off and away from your residence. With an audible groan, you march back into your house, cursing to yourself for getting involved with him.

The next couple of days went by as normal. You worked your shifts, went to the gym, spent a night out with your sister to whom you didn’t mention anything about the blow up between you and Oscar, dinner and repeat. But in the back of your mind, it gnawed. When you lay in bed getting ready to sleep and the little doors begin to open. What will I eat for lunch tomorrow? When is the electric bill due again? What is Oscar doing? That one comes up more than your usual wonders. There were a few times where you stare at your phone, finger hovering over his contact name but nothing.

As another weekend approached you thought about it again, you even made the effort to see him but when you drove by his place, seeing that his car wasn’t, you kept on driving.

“The fuck are you doing, Y/N?” You tell yourself as you sit in the parking lot of the beach you were at with him nearly a week ago. It’s a sad attempt to go crawling back, really. But when those thoughts crept up to you, you replayed the words you said to him. You spoke to him with such judgement, something you hate about others doing to yourself. Because you weren’t some random hyna. You do know him and truthfully he isn’t a bad person even labeled the elicit Spooky, gang leader of the Santos.

A sigh escapes you, the ring in your ear as you wait for him to pick up. Maybe after your failed attempts to make contact, he’d answer. But to avail.

“Hey, it’s Y/N. It’s been a week and we haven’t really talked or seen each other. I, uh, drove pass your place and you weren’t home and I wanted to call but figured you might have been busy,” You roll your eyes at yourself. “Anyways, I’m sorry for how I said things. Though I stand by what I said I could have been kinder with my words. I don’t like when people use my image to assume who I am. You aren’t the big bad wolf who blows the houses down, matter of fact you’re probably the one who picks up the houses after... um, so I’m sorry. With how I look at you, I thought being with him would be a mistake waiting to happen but if you think there could be something worth trying... maybe you can convince me. Call me back.”

Oscar listens to the voicemail as soon as he gets notified of it. He sits at the edge of the bed, elbows resting on his knees. The cold air hitting his bare back, he sighs.

He feels hands rub over his shoulders and onto his chest, a hot breath on his neck. “What’s the point of being in Sin City, if we aren’t constantly sinning?” Leti’s voice in his ear as she reaches to take his phone, tossing it aside. She scoots off the bed and pushes him back, climbing to straddle him.

Oscar begins to regret making this trip to Vegas as a means to get over you.

#on my block #on my block imagine #spooky #spooky x reader #oscar diaz #oscar diaz imagine #oscar diaz x y/n #oscar diaz x reader

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kihaku-gato · 3 years

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Random Webcomic Reccomendations

This post is dedicated to bringing to the spotlight several webcomics

(some would be considered webmanga but I’m counting them too since they are primarily presented on webcomic websites) which I’ve been enjoying that I hope can get more traction/fandom with this post. Due to my personal tastes I can say many/most have a sci fi or fantasy theming as well as some (definitely not all) have wlw as well.

Since this post will be quite extensive, I’ll first start with a “table of contents” for those who don’t want synopsises or ramblings, but instead just want titles and want to just check them out themselves.

Bybloemen

My Dragon Girlfriend

Sanguine

Straylight Tiger

Cariciphona

Amongst Us

Kiss It Goodbye

Mokepon

Seven Miles Down

UnDivine

Bybloemen

Hosted on its own website under hiveworkscomics

This is a historical semi-fantasy set during the infamous Tulip Mania period of Dutch/European history when people would pay an arm and a leg for even a single potentially valuable tulip bulb.

In this setting we follow two devils Basil and Ludwig and their avian familiars strut into the action, pretending to be foreign investors getting in on the tulip hype, probably to ensnare some desperate souls, all the while keeping man and beast alike from catching sus that they are not as human as they claim to be.

As of writing this the story is just starting up but is already making quite the unique statement. The distinct black and white artstyle is clearly holding homage to the historical “Woodcut” printmaking style in how it’s drawn, lined, and textured, which is a refreshing way to artistically state that the comic is “set in the past” w/o doing just grayscale or sepia tone that one is used to seeing for media set in historical times.

The interactions between the devils as well as the animals they can communicate with so far have been quite amusing.

If you don’t directly use hiveworkscomics for your usual webcomic browsing (so don’t get notified by it) they do have both a tumblr and twitter which frequently announce/link its updates. Bonus following their twitter/tumblr being you get to see occasionally “sketches” (I say that term very loosely) of the characters outside of the webcomic series if you’re into that.

My Dragon Girlfriend

Available on Webtoons and Twitter

Fantasy alongside modern era setting. It is primarily a wlw webcomic series about a human girl named Christy who is swept off her feet by a dragon girl named Dani, semi-magical/mythical wlw hijinks ensue. It’s hard for me to pin its identity entirely, cause while I wanna say it’s a “Slice of Life” the webcomic is at the point where Dani is fighting a werewolf tooth and nail so it’s hard to pin. It’s clearly romance genre, as even if Dani and Chirsty end up together lickity split (a blink of the eye compared to the slow-burn of most romance stories) there are other wlw subplots going on with secondary primary characters which you’ll be routing for.

It has its steamy moments and implies sex but not so far as to show full-on nudity of the main characters characters. Though there is some nudity of some of the monstergirls such as the fawn girls on the other hand it does not beat around the bush with, but luckily takes the nudity in a natural non-sexual way Correction as of writing this; only the Twitter version shows nudity, they had to censor with bras on Webtoons cause it got flagged.

If you want it hotter/steamier, sign up to the artist’s patreon. It’s definitely a nice softish wlw webomic if you’re craving a lil monstergirl flavour.

Sanguine

Available on Tapas and Webtoons

Full-on adventure fantasy setting set in a world where magic and mages have been persecuted to the point of going into secrecy.

It stars a cute red-riding-hood-like implied secret-royal (that was too much a mouthful) lady named Red, and a tall gorgeous beefy secretly mage lady named Morgan which Red has dragged into her shenanigans with.

It’s early to call this a wlw gem as of the current updates, but it is tagged as lgbt+ so take that with potential further wisdom.

This webcomic uses colour a fair bit to set its tone/mood, but otherwise has a very comfy/warm feeling about it somehow, like some of those old comics/webcomics/novels you would welcome to read while snuggled under blankets. Also the outfits are REALLY nicely designed, and I could definitely see some peeps having fun cosplaying many of these characters.

As the story slowly progresses I am holding with baited breath to how Red and Morgan’s interactions/relationship may or may not evolve, as I am totally an absolute sucker for “friendly/bubbly naïveish character dragging along the cool/grumpy don’t-get-involved character that has a hidden soft heart” trope.

Straylight Tiger

Available on Webtoons and Tapas

WARNING- while infrequent this one has some blood/gore that will shake you up, though it puts it where it would be most sensible to. Lucky for you most blood in this series is not the usual human-red blood which tones the edge down.

It may have lots of fantasy elements but this one definitely holds its identity as Sci Fi. Set in a futuristic cyberesque city full of both good and bad superhumans (one group being animal shapeshifters and the other being elemental casters), there is an extremist cult out to wreck havoc in the city, so a company responds by recruiting a handful of individuals from all 3 races to make a secret task force to eliminate the threat.

The main character in this story is a secretly-a-tiger shapeshifter named Angeline.

This is probably the most visually colourful of the webcomics in my list and is really using it to charge up its stylistic sci fi setting. Best way I could compare it to; you know those glow-in-the-dark cyber avatars you occasionally see in VRchat? Straylight Tiger matches that visual energy. Of listed so far this is also the most action-packed webcomic on the list. I could almost call it a Trigger-like comic but luckily unlike Studio Trigger it’s not into going nuts on fanservice.

If you’re craving your superhuman sci fi action, this one should at least be checked out. I want to say there’ll be wlw at some point, but it’s too early to call, and if it does I would not expect it to be a major arc when it has larger fish for plot points to deal with.

If you’re craving wlw of at least mc and her weapons-savvy human friend, I highly recommend you checking out the artist Flying Frappe’s twitter to get some sating for you wlw cravings for the two.

Caricophona

Available on webtoons as well as its own webcomic site

Tragic fantasy setting starring a supermagical woman named Veloice as she is hunted by an Assassin. I tag it as there is an undertone of death in some of the arcs, which give this colourfully magical world a more sombre tone. Among the webcomics on the list this one may be steepest when it comes to catching to speed of the world’s setting/rules/hierarchies but once you do you’ll hunger for this more.

I can’t entirely make a perfect comparison for it (Full Metal Alchemist is as close as I could compare and they are still as different to each other as apples and oranges) but it really has that rich nostalgic old manga style/world/tone to it, and its most welcome to as well.

The world building is rich, and Veloice is a mental/magical powerhouse even if at times she has a fragility about her. The fact she’s a Caricophona; magical beings which tend to either get persecuted or expire early at age from their own condition, definitely helps with giving her a almost “glass canon” energy about her.

While those points have definitely helped hook me in, the thing that tends to excite me the most in this webcomic is Veloice’s interactions with the assassin who’s been send to kill her, named Blackbird. The tension between them, the fact Blackbird both wants to toy with her, Blackbird’s somewhat flirtatious nature towards Veloice OMFG I EAT IT UP!!!! They have such a enemies to lovers feeling to them (though no, they are not lovers- we can dream though) which just gets you so excited.

I should also mention there are two other “primary characters” in the group. Two rich naïve kids ready to help Veloice however they can. You grow to like them (even if they hit tropes that may strike a nerve if you’re tired to their character type), but the mvp of this webcomic for character and interaction has to be Veloice and Blackbird.

Amongst Us

Available on webtoons and its own website

Say you like Veloice and Blackbird from the previous webcomic, but find the hefty fantasy setting a bit too much, and you’re more for the romance? What if I told you the artist was galaxy brained enough to make a chiller AU? That is what Amongst Us is; a music college-set slice of life with a slow burn romance between Veloice and Blackbird. They’re dorky, their cute, and seeing some of the characters you’re familiar with in Caricophona in a different setting is nice to see.

In some ways Veloice is less proactive in Amongst Us but still feels very in-character of her. The webcomic would end pretty quick if Veloice were to get-to-the-point with Blackbird after all (granted with how we see them in the future together at the start of the webcomic it’s not like they have to be in a hurry anyways).

Seeing a wlw / slice of life set in a college setting rather than a high school setting is extremely welcome. Please, more of this.

Kiss it Goodbye

Available on Webtoons

Slice of Life high-school beginnings of wlw romance. The artstyle is good, the characters are lovely. We know canonically that they end up together (as the webcomic starts with them in the future where they are a couple, as they begin to weave the story to their curious friends wanting to know how their romance came to be).

It’s not an unwelcome Slice of Life.

BONUS / HONORABLE MENTIONS

Mokepon

Available on h0lyhandgrenade’s website

I have honestly not read this one in a while and dropped it like, several years ago, but it was interesting and is still ongoing, so I had to mention it. Set in the Pokemon universe, it stars the main character who has been thrown into the pokemon trainer career while absolutely wanting nothing to do with it. Ends up becoming a rocket grunt which is an interesting change of perspective from many pokemon fancomics. It has old-nuzelocke energy though it is not a Nuzelocke. Be prepared for the brutality as you cry for the pokemon (especially his pikachu). The undying loyalty of his Charmander as he himself struggles with his position as a trainer/grunt is interesting. He is definitely not the usual pokemon trainer protag you’re used to.

Seven Miles Down

Available on Webtoons

A completed oneshot psychological horror where a girl takes her submarine to the deepest unventured oceanic trench in the world. Tragic end, but horrors can be like that. The psychological nature of the horror is an interesting angle. The rounded cute style may throw you off but it works.

UnDivine

Availabe on its own website via hiveworkscomics

This comic has since been cancelled from continuation, but is the webcomic to set me off in making this list, so it will still be mentioned in memory/tribute, and is the grand example of why you should interact with the webcomics you read as well as share them; there is a good chance they will not hold on their own without fan interaction and traction. Excuse me as I just use two full-on pages cause I’m wearing out on this list and browsing through tons and tons of pages for highlights wears a peep out.

Modern-set religious fantasy on an island where local their religion may be more than it seems. Stars a boy named Daniel, and Esther the Demon girl. From what can be gleaned the Demongirl knew the “god” of the island’s religion and was double crossed, so has a bone to pick with them and their “angelic” entourage now that she’s free when she got accidentally summoned by Daniel.

This webcomic loves its use of blood, but your grow used to it after a point. The setting is interesting, and its also cool to see how the “angels” are far from the usual “pretty human-like” in their true form and are instead more monstrous than you could say even the Demon Esther is.

A lot of what makes this comic interesting, outside of the “revenge against a god” main plot going on, is how messy the characters can be.

Daniel, Esther, and the one angel named Manual are all pretty interesting in how they interact with their roles that they’ve been put in and how they react to others, and are all very morally grey complex characters.

Daniel is an angst machine who tends to really wear himself out (though how he’s positioned/pressured by the world doesn’t help) and shoot himself in the foot a lot, and that’s even before Esther “turns” him into her lil monstrous pawn, not something you commonly see in main characters from the get-go.

Esther (the tall blondie) while being a Demon ready to get her vengeance on is in many ways naïve/childlike despite her powerful nature, and despite using Daniel as her pawn is shown to grow to have feelings/care for Daniel which is very interesting for “The Contracted Devil” position.

Manual…. We haven’t gotten to see a lot but it’s clear he’s meant to be the angelic hero position but its clear he does not like the position, and he also has a thing for a human woman named Rosamaria but we have not gotten to see why that’s the case.

This webcomic didn’t get the traction it needed to keep going, so was recently cancelled by the artist.

#webcomics #reccomendations #long post #wall of text #comics #manga #Bybloemen #Undivine #Straylight tiger #Cacicophona #Amongst Us #Mokepon #My Dragon girlfriend #Kiss It Goodbye #Sanguine #I probably missed a webcomic on the list to tag but I am very very tired atm

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recentanimenews · 4 years

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Bookshelf Briefs 9/30/20

Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter, Vol. 6 | By Reai and Suki Umemiya | Seven Seas – Another series down to “once a year” release—I had to jog my memory at the start to recall what had been happening. Many things are going wrong for our heroine, who is trying to be strong and tough but is also starting to break down, and I felt that the scenes with her and Dean struck just the right balance of comforting and letting the heroine cry without making her seem weaker. This sets the stage for her comeback, which is extraordinary. (And also has a corrupt Church, a constant in Japanese light novels, though at least here there are also honest and good religious people in it.) That said, eventually Dean’s identity will come out, and I do wonder how this very good “villainess” isekai will handle it. – Sean Gaffney

The Ancient Magus’ Bride: Jack Flash and the Faerie Case Files, Vol. 1 | By Yu Godai, Mako Oikawa, and Kore Yamazaki | Seven Seas – A faerie switched at birth for a human child, Jack never fit in in either world. Only in the mortal realm could she earn money for anime collectibles, however, so she decided to make herself into a tough, capable woman like her literary heroes and set up shop as a detective. Together with her fellow changeling, Larry the werewolf, Jack takes on supernatural cases in New York City. In this volume, Lindel tasks them with tracking down a missing dragon egg. I liked the resources Jack uses to obtain information, which include a dapper theatre ghost and a spell with components of rat whiskers and taxi tires because “Nobody out there knows this city better than them.” I still found this a bit hard to get into, though, especially the parts involving a perpetually tearful off-off-off-off-Broadway actress and her pickpocket boyfriend. Still, I will check out volume two! – Michelle Smith

Black Clover, Vol. 22 | By Yuki Tabata | Viz Media – At long last, this interminable arc comes to an end. I enjoyed a lot of it, but I cannot deny it should have been about two volumes shorter. Most of the book is taken up by shonen battles, with the villain being nigh unkillable, the heroes almost breaking themselves to stop him, etc. Fortunately, the day is saved, and even the Wizard King turns out to be… sort of alive again? Shota fans should be happy. Asta fans perhaps less so—the sheer amount of damage done to the kingdom in this arc means someone has to be blamed, and give Asta has the “dark evil magic” it’s gonna be him, especially when he takes the incredibly obvious bait they use to get him to fight. Oh well, if Asta were smart, this wouldn’t be Black Clover. – Sean Gaffney

Don’t Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro, Vol. 3 | By Nanashi | Vertical Comics – Part of the problem with titles like this and the other teasing works (Takagi-san less so as Nishikata doesn’t fall into the category) is that they are, at heart, the classic “extroverted girl acts overtly extroverted to bring introverted guy out of their shell,” and that’s not really a plot that feels comfortable in the Gen Z days, where you’re more likely to say “why doesn’t she just let him be in his quiet, safe space?” And by she I mean they, as Nagatoro’s two friends appear far more often here, which offers some good two-way teasing action, as they clearly see her crush on him, if not why. It’s still sort of hard to read, but if you pretend he’s more OK with it than he actually is, this is cute. – Sean Gaffney

Failed Princesses, Vol. 1 | By Ajiichi | Seven Seas – The concept of “popular girl meets unpopular girl” is a common one in yuri manga, and we do indeed hit several of its tropes in this first volume. The amusing thing is that Kanade, the shy outcast girl, is perfectly aware of how things are supposed to go, and keeps pulling back a bit to try to save Nanaki from, well, making herself an outcast by associating with the wrong people. The best part of the volume is that Nanaki really doesn’t give two shits about any of that, and seems set on making Kanade her best friend… and also making her over, which backfires a bit as Kanade cleans up nicely. I hear this gets a bit dramatic later, but for the moment it’s a cute and fluffy proto-yuri story. – Sean Gaffney

In/Spectre, Vol. 12 | By Kyo Shirodaira and Chashiba Katase | Kodansha Comics – The first story in this volume is another “Rikka tries to make people understand Kotoko is an evil Machiavellian schemer,” this time with one of her ex-classmates, but again the response seems to be “we know she’s a manipulative bitch, but she’s a good person anyway.” The larger story, which will continue into the next book, seems to be a chance to write Kuro and Kotoko as an actual romance, as the man we meet here and his relationship with a yuki-onna… as well as his penchant for attracting misfortune… very much parallel them. That said, they’re very cute together, which is why I hope he avoids the murder charge he’s now being investigated for. Still a favorite. – Sean Gaffney

Interviews with Monster Girls, Vol. 8 | By Petos | Kodansha Comics – The author knows what people want to see, but also knows that the best way to get readers is to drive them crazy by not showing it. We finally get what we’ve been begging for here, as Tetsuo asks Sakie out on a date. (This is after rejecting Kyouko’s love confession, both because she’s his student and also, as he is forced to admit, as he likes Sakie.) The stage is set for the date… and the rest of the book is thus spent with the three main student girls going to Kyouko’s for a fireworks viewing and meeting her family. They’re good chapters, and I really liked showing how difficult Kyouko has it as a dullahan in terms of everyday life, but GOD, please get back to the teachers, I beg you! – Sean Gaffney

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Vol. 16 | By Aka Akasaka | Viz Media – The series has gotten to the point where the more rewarding chapters are the ones as part of a larger arc. Not that the one-shot chapters are bad—though Maki’s journey to India may be the most pointless thing in this entire series to date, we do get Chika’s iconic “shut up or I’ll kill you” here. But the larger arcs, featuring Miyuki and Kaguya attempting to date without interruptions, and setting up Ishigami and Iino for a romance—though given the number of limbs broken in this book, and Iino’s own horrible lack of self-awareness, it may be a ways out—are better. This series is still hilarious, but we’ve come to read it more for the heartwarming moments. Heck, there’s even some serious drama here. Very good. – Sean Gaffney

Nineteen | By Ancco | Drawn & Quarterly – Although it was translated and released second in English, Nineteen is a precursor to Ancco’s internationally award-winning manhwa Bad Friends. The volume collects thirteen short comics originally published in Korea over a decade ago which absolutely remain relevant to today’s world. While understandably not as polished as some of Ancco’s later work—one can observe her style evolving and growing over the course of the collection (which is fascinating)—the comics still carry significant emotional weight and impact. Nineteen includes diary comics, which tend to be more lighthearted, as well as harder-hitting fictional stories, many of which also have autobiographical inspiration. As a whole, the collection explores themes of young adulthood, growing up, and complicated family relationships. In particular, there is a compelling focus on the relationships among daughters, mothers, and grandmothers. Some of the narratives can be rather bleak, but a resigned sense of humor threads through Nineteen, too. – Ash Brown

Ran the Peerless Beauty, Vol. 8 | By Ammitsu | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Shoujo manga that has couples getting together BEFORE the end of the series is inevitably going to have an arc dealing with how far the lead couple should go now that they’re dating, and this is Ran’s turn, as she and Akira and their friends go to a beach house Ran’s family owns and have some beach fun. Unfortunately, the cast gets winnowed down one by one until it’s just the two of them… and her overprotective father, who arrives in time to provide the cliffhanger and no doubt ensure that nookie does not ensue. Not that I think it should—these two kids are even purer than the couple from Kimi ni Todoke, and I think they should mature a bit more before going further. Plus, watching them blush and kiss is wonderful. – Sean Gaffney

Spy x Family, Vol. 2 | By Tatsuya Endo | Viz Media – Having spent our first volume establishing that our found family can really come to love each other deep down, this volume shows off how they are also, at heart, fundamentally awkward and unable to socialize normally. This is unsurprising—hints of Loid’s life we’ve seen show him as a war orphan, Yor is a contract killer, and Anya basically grew up being experimented on by bad guys. As the school soon finds, this leads to issues. The second half of the book introduces Yor’s sister-obsessed little brother Yuri, who turns out to be a torture expert for Loid’s enemies. As always, half the fun is that everyone except Anya has no idea who their real selves are, and the cliffhanger tells us we’re in for some hilarious family fun. I love this. – Sean Gaffney

Spy x Family, Vol. 2 | By Tatsuya Endo | VIZ Media – After a brief spell atop the waiting list, Anya officially makes it into Eden Academy. Loid is anxious to progress to the next stage of his mission and, believing there’s not much chance in turning Anya into an elite scholar like his agency wants, focuses instead on having her befriend the younger son of his target. It does not go to plan, of course. Anya is very cute in this volume, and I also really appreciated how Loid genuinely listens to Yor and values her input. The arrival of Yor’s brother, a member of the secret police, is going to be a fun complication, and another cast member with a secret, but my favorite part of this series is probably always going to be how much love these three are already feeling for each other. So unique and good! – Michelle Smith

Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization, Vol. 6 | By Tomo Hirokawa, based on the story by Reki Kawahara | Yen Press – The weakness of this manga is the same as always—it’s written to tie into the games, and features several characters I just don’t recognize, which can be a problem given this is the big final let’s-save-the-world ending. That said, this is still a decent SAO title. Kirito gets to be cool and badass, but because this isn’t written just by Kawahara others do as well, and it’s a nice balanced effort that focuses on heroine Premiere. I also really liked the point where all the NPCs are worried when everyone has to log out for several days for maintenance. While I’ll still remember this as the “SAO only everyone is alive” manga, I enjoyed reading it, when I wasn’t confused. – Sean Gaffney

By: Ash Brown

#Anime #News #Manga Bookshelf

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picassho-18 · 5 years

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And They Were Roommates

Summary: (Eddie Brock x Ace!Fem!Reader) When an ace girl moves in with Eddie Brock, who knows what will ensue.

Warnings: asexuality discussions, hurtful comments towards LGBT community, fight scenes, cheating references, angst, but honestly its just a really soft fic so fluff

Word Count: 8727

A/N: I have come back from the writing hiatus! I am here so please please pleeeease enjoy this fic that has taken weeks for me to write. It is my little baby that I have poured my heart and soul into. Please please leave feedback!!!

You were desperate. Not desperate for love, or dick. But actually pretty desperate for a place to live in. It had been weeks of you searching for a cheaper place, due to you flatmate having give you an ultimatum, which was pay more than half or leave. You said fuck that and that caused you to be at the front door of an apartment, knocking on it to ask the tenant about the extra room they were advertising.

When a young man opened the door, you were slightly shocked by the messy sight. He had a plain t shirt on but could see patches of sweat, and his hair was ruffled along with his eyes almost swollen shut from lack of sleep.

Of balanced by the sight, you stuttered, “Was this huh, the place offering the extra room to be rented out?”

He cleared his throat, trying to tame his hair, and giving his eyes a little rub. “Huh, oh yeah, this is it. You want to rent it out?”

“Yeah… uh. Is there like any requirements or like rules or anything?”

“No.” he said simply, his eyes staring into yours.

“Well, um…” slightly confused by the situation, “Would you maybe give me the tour so I could decide?”

As if realizing how weird he was acting, he stuck his hand out, “Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. Name’s Eddie Brock and I can most definitely give you a tour.”

Shaking his hand, you smiled, “Thank you, I’m Y/N Y/L/N.”

He led you into his flat, and while you peered around, he tried to clean up some trash scattered around.

“I uh, yeah sorry about the mess. I’ve had a rough couple of weeks. Me and my, huh, fiance just broke up.” he said, clearing his throat while rushedly throwing some dirty dishes in the sink.

“Oof.” you said, grimincing slightly, before giving him a reassuring smile. “Everyone has some shitty weeks right? Which bedroom would be mine?”

“Oh yeah, yeah. I’ll show you.” He wiped his hands on his shirt, before walking down the short hallway.

Gesturing the the first door, “This is my room and,” pointing to the door across from it, “this is the only bathroom.”

“Only one?” you asked, “Well, if I end up moving in, let's not sneak peeks of each other ‘kay?” you joked about.

Eddie let out a loud laugh, and if you were being honest with yourself, it was a really cute laugh, like an actual giggle. He continued, “Sounds good to me” before leading you to the third and final door. “This would be your room” opening it and letting you walk in.

It was plain, and of decent size. A window let sunlight in, and a bed along with a small table was the only furniture, but when you saw the closet size it wasn’t too worrisome. Looking around the room, you nodded to yourself, imaging what it would look with you things in it.

Looking out the window, you asked again, “You had no requirements?”

“Nope, just that you would pay rent on time.”

Turning towards him, with a big smile, excitedly “ Then I think I’ll take it”

*****

A couple days later, you had spent the afternoon moving into the apartment completely, and settled in. Eddie had to help you move the mattress into the room. And that was quite the hassle.

With you on one end and Eddie on the other, you two held it upright, and tried to maneuver it through the skinny hallways. Around a tight corner, you shouted at Eddie to stop, but he couldn’t hear you due to the mattress falling against your face, muffling the sound, and pushed you further back hitting the side table that had a glass vase on it, the very reason you told him to stop. In the corner of your eye you saw the vase wobble slightly, you letting out a muffled ‘no!’ before it tilted to the side, falling and shattering on the floor.

At the sudden sound Eddie stopped pushing, and let out a little ‘oh shit’. He peeked his head around his side of the mattress and saw the position you were in, mattress in your face, your hair a mess, and legs all crooked trying to keep the mattress up and balanced.

With a loss of focus, the mattress slipped from your tired hands falling down, causing you to tumble forward. You splayed out on the floor, falling on top of the mattress that now laid flat on the floor due to Eddie dropping it as well. After resting with you face on the floor for a second, you sheepishly looked up to see Eddie, hands on his knees from laughing so hard he had to gasp for breathes. You grumbled at his laughter, but slowly started to giggle along with him. The two of you quickly evolved into cackling laughter, both lost in the moment, forgetting the mattress and the broken vase on the floor.

After the two of you were out of breath, he held out his hand, and you took it, helping yourself up from the floor. Wiping a tear from his eye, he giggled, “Fuck, I haven’t laughed like this in what seems like forever.” His face fell slightly at his own words, memories obviously going through his head.

You lost your smile when you realized it must have been because of the break up he recently went through, so trying to lighten the mood you joked, “Well with me in the apartment, expect more laughs because I’m a totally klutz!”

He nodded, a smile on his face again, “Yeah I can see that!” gesturing to the glass shards on the floor.

Looking at them, you felt your cheeks heat up, “Yeah, about that, I’m really sorry…”

“It’s okay. They only held my Grandmother’s ashes.”

“WHAT?” you let out, shocked, whipping your face towards his, “Oh my god, I am so sorry!” covering your mouth in horror at what you did.

Eddie started to laugh at your expression before getting out, “No no, I’m only screwing with you, it was only a lousy gift I got”

“Oh you fucking asshole!” you laughed, punching in playfully in the arm.

He shook his head , grinning smugly, “You are gonna be a great flatmate. Not only are you a klutz, you’re gullible. Perfect for pranks” he winked, already thinking up some plans

“Oh goodness, this isn’t gonna be good, is it?” you asked, though your heart sped up excitedly slightly at the idea of a prank war.

He giggled, man you loved his giggle, “I’m just joking, don’t worry.” winking, but continued “Or am I?”

That resulted in you pushing him lightly, shaking your head at his antics, “Let’s just get this mattress in my room, so I can calm down from the heart attack you gave me about your possible grandmother’s fucking ashes.” but a smile graced your face,

*****

After the mattress was in place and you had settled completely into the room, Eddie offered the idea of having dinner together to learn more about each other.

With two big plates of spaghetti in front of you both, he had explained the disaster of his last month, how he lost the love of his life, and how he lost all credibility along with his job.

Hearing it all, you had patted his shoulder reassuringly, “Yeah, that sucks dude. Everybody's gotta have their tragic love story.”

“If everyone’s got one, what’s yours?” he pondered, cocking his head.

“Well, um…” you thought about what you’d say then continued, “I was in a relationship for a long time. I’m a big romantic, and I honestly thought he was the love of my life, but um… Well we were getting more serious but I wouldn’t put out. The thing is I’m asexual, I don’t enjoy or even like the idea of sex.” you paused looking up to see if he was disgusted or at least confused, when he just nodded, signaling for you to continue, showing his understanding, you calmed down, and continued.

“After explaining to him how I felt, he tried to hid his disgust and move on. It didn’t really work, and he kept trying to convince me asexuality wasn’t real. We fought a lot after that, and he even cheated on me at one point. Well thinking back on it, it was probably more then once, couldn’t keep his dick in his pants apparently. But yeah, it ended badly. But uh, I’m fine!” you tried to smiled, showing you had moved on, but it was difficult.

“That’s awful.” Eddie grumbled, shaking his head in anger. “I’m sorry that asshole put you through that.”

“Well like I said, everyone has their stories.” shrugging your shoulders.

After having such a light hearted mood with moving the mattress to this depressing sideshow of a dinner, you cleared your throat, “Welp, let’s both move on and not give them a second though, eh? This is getting fucking depressing.”

“Ha, well you know what would help?” you cocked a head at his question, but when he had gotten up and pulled two pints of ice cream from the freezer, a huge grin spread on your face.

“Ice cream!” you let out excitedly, when he handed you a spoon and a container.

He lifted his pint up, “To not being ‘fucking depressing’ anymore”

You lifted yours, clinking your pint to his, “To not being ‘fucking depressing’ anymore”

For the rest of the night, only ice cream and laughs were shared.

*****

A couple of days later, walking out of your room, early in the morning, you saw Eddie for only a second, as be was dashing out the door, muffin in his mouth as he mumbled around his food that he was going job searching. You waved at him wishing him good luck before the door slammed and you could hear he stumbling down the hallway.

After making breakfast for yourself, you situated on designing the mural you had been hired to do. The city of San Francisco had hired you for multiple projects, mostly adding murals to parks and such, but currently you were designing a new city logo that would be plastered over a big empty wall on the side of City Hall.

Hours into the sketching and research, Eddie blasted through the door, startling you and almost causing you to spill the mug cradled between your hands.

At your shocked expression he muttered an apology before storming past you and walked into his room slamming the door shut.

Well that was odd, job searching must not have gone well

After some internal debate, you got up and knocked softly on the door.

“Eddie, you okay in there?”

Through the door you heard a huff, before footsteps approached. Eddie opened the door, eyes casted downward, his shoulders slumped. With a sigh, he mumbled, “It's been a really long day.”

You smiled up to him sympathetically, “Well my dude, you're in luck because I was just about to make my second batch of hot cocoa and I might just make you a mug if I see a smile from you”

He smiled weakly, trying his best to give you a sarcastic grin, and you nodded, approving his effort.

“Well Eddie, that was one shitty smile but as you said it was an extremely bad day, I'll make you a mug.”

Leading him into the kitchen he slouched down in a chair at the counter watching as you gathered the ingredients. When you started to pull out real chocolate among other things, he looked at you, prompting an explanation.

“I have a very special hot cocoa recipe. I don't deal with that package fuckery. I make the homemade real shit.”

He giggled a little at that, but cocked an eyebrow when he saw you pouring coffee creamer into your mug.

“What?” You shrugged, “I like a lot of sugar! Do you want some?” Handing him his mug and offering the creamer.

“No, no thanks” waving it off. “Hot chocolate is sweet enough on its own for me.”

As you sat down next to him, you both took a couple sips from your mugs.

Side eyeing him, you saw how he was slumped forward, chin resting on his hands. Man he looked awfully sad, yet somehow extremely handsome. His eyes held a certain look that was quite noticeable.

Shaking off the thoughts, you asked, “So, wanna talk about today?”

“Not really” but you gave him a second, waiting to see if he would continue. And he did, “Actually today wasn't just bad. Today was fucking awful.”

You nodded, encouraging him along. You were always a strong believer in talking with others. Liked to think of yourself as a good listener to those in need.

“I saw her today.” He sipped his mug, his eyes deep in thought. “I was networking. Trying to find someone who would hire me despite my history. I saw her walking down the street. And like the idiot I am, I tried talking to her. She wanted nothing to do with me.” He rested his head against the counter in defeat.

You rubbed his back, showing your support. After a while of you humming as you slowly moved your fingers across his broad back, he sat up again, smiling at you with his tired eyes.

“Thank you for this. I haven't really had anyone to talk about these things with.”

You pat his shoulder, before taking your last sip of cocoa “Gotta be sad every once in a while. Plus, what are roommates for?”

*****

After getting home from a long day of painting you saw Eddie slumped over at the kitchen table, looking at a newspaper gloomily.

With a big smile on your face, you yelled out “Hey Eddie!”

He looked up at you, grimacing when he saw how excited you were. “What's got you so chiper?”

“Oh I don't know…” Twirling your hair, “maybe it's the fact that I just got myself a date tonight!”

“Ahh, well at least one of us is gonna get some tonight. Oh wait, nevermind, none of us are getting anything still” he giggled a little at his joke, causing your smile to grow a bit better. “Well dove, have fun, and stay safe”

“Thanks Eddie! And maybe I could try to set you up with someone, yeah? Help you move on?”

“Yeah, yeah…” he waved you off, “Go and get ready”

Rushing into the bathroom, looked at your face, flinching when you realized how much paint you had managed to get on your face and in your hair. And realizing Eddie just saw the mess you were. Quickly you got in the shower, getting all the paint off. In your towel you walked across the hall to your room, looking to see if Eddie was still at the table. He was, and now he didn't even have his eyes open. He'd fallen asleep.

So much for job hunting through the newspaper

Somehow, you pulled together an outfit fit enough for the date, and ran back to the bathroom to throw on some makeup. You squealed a little but when you saw the wet mess that was your hair, and felt your hair skip a beat when you saw that you were running out of time.

“Eddie!” You called out, hoping it would wake him up. “Can you do hair?!”

Groggily, he rubbed his eyes, appearing in the doorframe. “I can try”

His eyes lit up slightly when he saw your outfit, “Nice choice” he said, nodding in approval at the black high heels you had on.

His hands when to your hair, his fingers sliding through to your scalp to ruffle up the wet strands. And if you were being honest with yourself, his hands felt amazing. You tried not to hum in happiness at the feeling as he looked in the mirror trying to decide what to do.

“How much time do you have left?” He asked, contemplation written all over his face.

Sheepishly, you muttered “10 minutes…”

“10 minutes?! Well fuck… okay then let's do the impossible.”

You smiled up to him as he pulled out a blow dryer and a brush and getting started on your hair.

Every now and then, you would glance up and try to peek at what he was doing. He'd reprimand you, saying it wasn't done, but once you caught sight of him with bobby pins in between his lips, his eyes deep in concentration, staring at your hair. It drew your attention to his plump lips and you couldn't help but admire how soft that might just feel.

Jolting you from your thoughts, he put his hands up in victory, “Finished! You can look now”

Looking up, you saw he out it in an elegant bun, braided woven into it.

Turning around, you quickly hugged Eddie, “Thank you! You're such a life saver!” He hugged you back, his strong arms wrapping around your back, before you dashed away to grab your purse.

“Bye Eddie! Thanks again, see ya tonight!”

He smiled at you one last time as you ran out the door, before you closed it he called out “Use protection!”

You let out a laugh, peeking your head behind the door, “My aceness is my protection” sending him a wink before shutting the door.

*****

Hours later, you unlocked the door to the apartment. Quietly, you tried to open it without making any noise. As stealthily as you could, you managed to get to the kitchen. Letting out a sigh you

Let your purse drop on the counter, pouring yourself a glass of wine and collapsing on the couch.

Groaning, you thought about the past few hours, dropping your head to rest on the back of the couch, staring at the ceiling.

From the hallway, Eddie cleared his throat, leaning against the frame, with his arms crossed.

“Didn’t go well?”

You glanced at him before looking back up at the ceiling. “Yeah, not so good.”

He shuffled to the recliner, before prompting you to continue, “What happened? You were so excited”

“It just… I wouldn’t… we didn’t click.” you muttered.

Eddie just nodded, but wouldn’t let himself think about his relief at your statement. He hummed, thinking of what he could do, then an idea popped in his head.

“Oh, I know what we’re gonna do!”

At his excited tone, you looked at him, watching as he got up and fiddled with the TV, grabbing the remote and turning on Netflix.

Cocking your head, you asked, “What are we watching?”

“I don’t know.” Eddie said, smirking slightly.

“Then why did yo-” you were interrupted when Eddie dropped a pair of dice in your hand. “Huh? What are these for?”

He plopped down on the couch next to you, throwing an arm behind you, resting on the couch, “Roll the dice.”

“Why?”

“Just do it” He chuckled as you rolled them on the coffee table, rolling a 2 and a 6.

You looked at him, confusion still written on your face, “Well weirdo, I rolled a 2 and 6.”

He hummed, before grabbing the remote and getting on the main Netflix. “Just watch” he said simple, as he clicked down twice, then clicked to the left six times, landing on T.V show, “Now we have a show to watch.”

“Ha” you giggled, “All that to pick a show?”

“Well, I have found that people can’t make decisions to save their lives. Hence the dice roll.”

Nodding, you grinned, “I think I like it.”

“Good” he grinned back, settling further into the couch, sliding slightly closer to you. You could feel his warmth radiating from his body, and subconsciously scooted closer to him, tugging up your legs.

“Well let’s get this shit started” you said, as he clicked the play button.

*****

The weekend hit, both you and Eddie heading out for a long day at work. You had a new commission through a nearby city, and Eddie was starting his first day at his new job. Before work you always made yourself a big travel mug of hot chocolate, but seeing how frantic Eddie was, running around getting ready, you decided to pour him one as well.

With a grin, you wrote down on a sticky note a small corny joke saying “Why did the elephant step on the marshmallow? Because he didn’t want to fall in the hot cocoa!” along with a little doodle of an happy elephant, and stuck it on the top, before leaving the apartment, yelling goodbye to Eddie.

It left a smile on your face for the next hour, wondering if he liked it. And boy, did he have the biggest grin plastered on his face when he saw the note. He folded it carefully, slipping it into his wallet before chugging a few mouthfuls of cocoa, smiling wide at the taste, and dashing out the door to start his day as well.

Both of your days flew by, thoughts of being able to go home and relax giving you energy to finish the day. With a huff, you unlocked the door to the apartment, stumbling in, covered in splatters of paint, your hair a mess. Eddie looked up from the kitchen, and snorted when he saw you.

“Good God woman! You are an absolute mess” he snickered, pouring a second mug of coffee for you. Dropping your bags at the door, you walked over to him. “Ha ha.” you laughed sarcastically, “but at least I’m a sexy mess” you joked, before grabbing the mug from him a take a long sip.

At your words, he shuffled slightly, clearing his throat, as hints of pink warmed his cheeks. Shaking it off, you ignored his odd behavior, thanking him for the mug.

He smiled, “Of course. Plus I loved the little note this morning.”

Looking down at your hands, you grinned, “Well, I like to doodle. And I like to make people happy. Sometimes I try to do it at the same time, so expect more from me.” you winked at him.

He grinned back to you, his eyes twinkling, “I’m looking forward to it.”

You looked a little too long into his eyes, held by the brightness of them, and probably having a dopey looking smile on your face, before clearing your throat and looking away.

“Oh!” he said, remembering something, “I had this idea, what if we did a Sunday breakfast tradition? I don’t work Sundays, and I know you usually take them off so I was thinking what if we did made breakfast together every Sunday morning.”

You looked at him in surprise before answering, “That sounds lovely. Yet another reason why you’re such a better roommate.”

“I said for you to stop calling me that!”

“Oh come on, I’m just teasing!” you defending, giggling at his grumpy face.

“Well…” he drawled out, “I would prefer you to start calling me a friend instead.”

You froze, your giggling stopped immediately, looking to see if he was just screwing with you, but when you saw sincerity in his eyes, a grin widened on your face, until it seemed like it couldn’t get any bigger.

“You wanna be bestiesssss?” you squealed out, winking at him.

“Oh forget it.” he grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. You eyes flickered down, seeing the muscles flexing slightly. Forcing them back up to his face, you giggled at his look of annoyance.

“Well sorry Eddie, but you just got yourself a best friend!” You jumped up from the chair, and launched yourself into his arms, forcing him to hug you. After some hesitation, he eased into hugging you back, even pulling you closer by tightening his arms around you back and nestling his chin into the side of your neck. You stayed there for a second, your head leaning against his chest, listening to his heartbeat, your arms around his neck.

He hummed, pulling away from you, “If I get hugs like that all the time, I officially declare you the best friend in the world.”

“I might not have sex, but I sure give the best fucking hugs possible.” you smirked, pulling apart.

You blew him a kiss, sending a wink his way before yawning a little, covering your mouth, “Welp, I’m caput. Gonna turn in, but I’m excited to do breakfast tomorrow!”

“Sleep tight dove.” Eddie sighed slightly, as you closed your door, his heart muddled and confused.

*****

With a start, you woke up, the light blinding washed over your face. You groaned, pulling yourself up. A shiver racked your body as you realized the temperature of the room. It was way too low for your taste, so you went into the hallway to investigate. Sleep still in your eyes, hair a crunchy mess, and a blanket wrapped tight around your arm, trailing behind you like a coat. You wandered into the main room, to see Eddie in some work clothes, and a tool belt hung low on his waist.

He hadn’t seen you yet, giving you a chance to ogle him. His dirty fingers were messing with some wires, and you realized he was trying to fix the heater in the cabinet. Bending over, his butt stuck out, and his shirt rolled up his back slightly. A tattoo slightly revealing itself. Eddie was making an awful amount of noises, grunts and curses spewing from his mouth as he remained unaware of his audience.

A smile sprung to your face, and you had to resist from giggling, as he let out a loud “fuck!”, before whispering to himself, “hey, she’s sleeping be quiet dude”

He rolled his sleeves up further before sticking his hands in the cabinet again. As his arms were trying to shift a pipe, his arms had tensed, veins popping slightly, the tattoos lining his arms moving fluidly with his movements. You admired the muscles, and while nothing could get you to have sex with him, you wanted to cuddle and kiss the living hell out of him right now.

Shaking off the trail of thought, you cleared your throat, and knocking on the wall lightly, alerting Eddie to your presence.

“Oh hey!” he said, wiping his hands on his jeans as he got up. “I didn’t wake you, did I?”

You shook your head, “Oh no, you didn’t, but the cold did”

“Yeah…” Eddie scratched his head sheepishly, “I was trying to fix that, but I’ve almost got it, so we should expect warmth within the hour.”

Nodding, “okay, well you know, for our first Sunday breakfast, I can make it while you fix it?”

“That sounds good to me!” Eddie smiled, already excited at the idea of breakfast, now especially because you were making it.

Ditching the blanket, you grabbed on of Eddie’s hoodies from the couch, before walking into the kitchen. Grabbing some ingredients, you called out to Eddie, “Does waffles sound good?”

“Yeah, he said, but when he looked up, his mouth hung open.

You froze at his face, but gesturing to his hoodie, “Oh I’m sorry, I thought it would be okay…”

He cleared his throat, before smiling, slightly embarrassed, “No no, I was just surprised how cute you looked in it. Keep on wearing it.”

“Oh okay.” you said simply, but couldn’t keep the smile from growing on your face. You turned to the stove, your back to Eddie, not able to see the growing smile on his face as well.

During breakfast, with the heater fixed and working again, the two of you goofed around at one point, you threw a grape at him, but he playfully caught it in his mouth. It was a huge giggling mess, the two of you, but you wouldn’t have it any other way. Both of your waffles were stacked with whipped creme. Yours was, admittedly, a little highers then Eddies. You were a fan of sugar after all.

Popping a grape in your mouth, you looking sideways to see a look of contentment on Eddie’s face, “So Eddie…”

“Yes Y/N?”

“You seem to be doing really good. Like a lot better then when I first opened that door.”

He laughed, “Yeah! I remember that! I wasn’t expecting any prospective renters, and I was a mess, all sad and shit.”

You shrugged, taking another bite of your waffles, “Love does that to ya.”

“Yup. Well, we’ve come through the other side haven’t we!”

You raised a mug, “As I’ve said before to no longer being ‘fucking depressing’” he clinked the mug to yours, before sighing contently.

“Dove, much of this should be attributed to you. Having you as a roommate and now friend has been probably the best thing in my life. You dragged me out of a dark time.”

Warmth crept to your cheeks at his words, a smile gracing your face, “Happy to help”

He continued to hold eye contact with you, his eyes staring into the depths of your being before he chuckled slightly, and grabbed another grape and threw it at you this time. It hit your nose, and he bellowed out a laugh at your shocked face. “Hey! Mister, don’t start a food fight you can’t win!”

“Yeah?” he whispered leaning in, his face close to yours, “Watch me”

With his face so close to yours distracting you, he sneakily grabbed the whipped cream bottle, and squirted some on the top of your head.

You yelped at the sound, grabbed the top of your head, and when you pulled your hand away, it covered with the white creme. Looking up to Eddie you shocked face morphed into a evil smile.

Quickly, you slid your hand across his face wiping it across his cheek.

A look crossed his face, before it settled into a smirk, “Oh dove, you don’t know what you just started.” before he lunged at you with the can again.

Getting out of the chair, and running from him, you yipped in surprise. The rest of the morning consisted of lots of whipped cream. And in the most innocent way possible.

*****

Beaming, you practically skipped into the apartment. You had another date, and while you weren’t too excited due to your confused heart at the moment, you found him on a dating app and thought he had some promise.

You called out for Eddie, but with no response, you assumed he wasn’t home. Walking to the bathroom, you opened the door to reveal a completely buck naked and wet Eddie. Your phone fell from your hand as you stood shocked, mouth wide open it could catch flies. The scream that came from Eddie was so high pitched it shook you from your daze, and started to giggle as he made a mad dash for a towel, wrapping it around his waist. Your giggled turned into heavy laughter, cradling your stomach as Eddie stood there, miffed.

Between gasping for air, you got out, “You- your scream… Was so funny!”

“Yeah yeah” he grumbled, but not before a smile cracked on his face, and he soon joined in your giggles.

“Have you ever hear of locking the bathroom door when you shower?”

“Well I thought I was home alone…” he shook his head, water droplets falling from his hair, laughing as he adjusted the towel, making sure it was tied good enough, “Did you like what you saw?” he teased, already over the whole thing.

“Ha ha.” you laughed sarcastically, “Everyone talks about how size matters, but my ace ass never understood.”

He giggled that adorable giggle of his, “Damn it” he teased in disappointment.

“Well…” you pretended to think, rubbing your chin, “I did see a pretty good ass though. And those I can appreciate!”

A blush crept over his cheeks before he smiled, “Alright, alright, now get out.” he pushed you lightly out of the bathroom.

When he went to close the door again, you asked, “Wait!” cocking your head to the side, and glancing down at his crotch, twirling your hair with your finger playfully, “Can I have one more peek?”

“Agh, women!” he groaned out, “No more shows for you. You aceness doesn’t let you appreciate this beauty!” he guestered to his crotch, before sending you a wink, and shutting the door in your face.

A huge smile rested on your face, before yelling, “Hurry up in there, I have a date to get to!” walking away.

You didn’t see the smile on Eddie’s face fall at your words.

*****

“How was it?!” Eddie asked. You could hear slow music being played but it barely registered in your mind, when you walked back into the apartment from your date. You looked at him, plastering on the best fake smile you could give but when he saw your red puffy eyes and tear streaked face, his smile fell immediately “What happened?” he demanded, standing from the couch.

You tried to wave him off, “I’m fine I’m fine. See?” you tried your best to smile, but tears slid down your face, and you had to choke back a sob.

“Oh dove, come here come here” He guided you to the couch, wrapping an arm around your shoulder pulling you closer, “What happened? Do I need to kick someone’s ass?”

“No no…” you whimper, shaking, but trying to wipe away your tears. “He wanted to- He… I told him I was asexual and he called me a fr- freak.” you sobbed out, tears streaming down your face again with vengeance.

“Oh god, no, dove. You’re not a freak. You are a kind and beautiful soul. You just happen to be ace, and that is okay.”

You nodded into his chest, trying to make yourself agree with him. You accepted yourself, it’s been a long time since an asshole has gotten to you like this, but this time just seemed like too much.

His warmth enveloping you as he pulled you off the couch and into his arms. Silently, he tightening his arms around you, slowly rocking you side to side. Soft music played in the background as the tears flowed unrelenting down your face. Eddie ran a hand into your hair, holding your head closer, as you buried your face into his chest. He hummed the tune, the vibration rattling through your bodies, calming your crying heart. You clung onto him, desperate for his touch, your arms held onto his waist tightly, tears soaking his shirt. His scent swamped your nose, a wave of calm washing over you.

Slowly, the rocking and the steadiness of him slowed your crying. You took in a shaking breath, starting to rock along with Eddie’s movements, until you started to fully slow dance. Taking small steps, you let the rhythm of his humming guide you, soaking in the serenity that he was creating. You loosened your arms from his waist, and wrapped your hands around his neck, as he shifted his arms to fully wrap around your lower back.

With your tears finally dried, you whispered quietly, “Thank you.”

At your voice, it broke Eddie’s heart even more, but he put a smile on his face, kissing the top of your head, “Anytime dove. Anytime.”

You snuggled your head back into his chest, humming softly, as you and Eddie continued to sway.

*****

Days past, but then disaster struck. The heater broke, and this time Eddie couldn’t fix it. You were standing behind him, shivering, wrapping your arms around yourself. “What do you mean he won’t be here until tomorrow?”

“The landlord said he wouldn’t be able to get a guy here until noon tomorrow”

“Fuuuuck” you let out slowly, “This is gonna suck, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.” he nodded, already reaching for his hoodie, slipping it on. By putting his arms up, you saw a glimpse of his belly above his lowly slung jeans.

Your breathe had hitched, before you turned abruptly, “Then I’m gonna make a huge ass pot of cocoa right now.”

“Please do! Thank you!” he yelled after you.

So there you sat, bundled to the top of your head with blankets, in one of Eddie’s hoodies, sipping from the hug mug. The apartment had cooled dramatically throughout the hours. And the cold weather outside felt like it was leaking in from the poorly insulated windows.

Holding it between your hands you tried to keep your body heat to yourself, cradling into yourself. Eddie sat next to you, his knees tucked under him with a fuzzy blanket draped over his lap. You were watching Netflix, trying to past the time. It was late into the night, but both of you knew that you wouldn’t be able to sleep with it being this cold.

When your eyes started to droop, you turned to Eddie, “I’m gonna turn in. But I’m gonna take one more blanket and hope I don’t freeze to death sometime during the night.”

“Okay” he said, a yawn interrupting him, “I think I’m gonna as well.”

Walking to bed, you somehow had woken up more, and when you collapsed in bed, all you felt was the cold. The sheets were warming up from your body, all you felt was the cold being soaked up by you. And the number of the blankets over you were helping as much as you wanted. It seemed like hours had past, of you in fetal position trying to warm up slightly, but sleep seemed just as far away as it had when you fell in bed.

Looking at the clock, you let out a groan when you saw the time. Hours had past.

You muttered, “Screw it” before you grabbed a couple blankets and shuffled out of your room. Walking slowly to Eddie’s door, you opened it with a low creak. Popping your head in there, you whispered into the dark room, “Eddie? You awake?”

You heard a rustle in the sheets before Eddie responded, “Yeah, you okay?”

“Not really. I can’t fall asleep.” you walked into the room, the moonlight casting a soft light on your features. “I was wondering, if I could sleep with you? For um, warmth”

Eddie cleared his throat, before throwing back the sheets, “Of course, come on in.”

You plopped into the bed, throwing your blankets over the two of you. Sliding under the sheets, Eddie immediately pulled you closer, his arm over your shoulders. You slid your hands around his midsection, and he let out a little yelp.

“Good god dove! Your hands are freezing!” he grabbed your hands with his before cupping them and blowing warm air over them.

“Sorry!” you whispered, sighing slightly at the warmth spreading over your hands, but now trying to avoid him due to causing him even more coldness.

“Oh come here” he groaned. He put more of his hands around your hips, pulling you right to him with a huff. Like it was instinct, you clung to his side like a koala, lifting a leg so it would go between his, and wrapping your arms around his, fingers resting against his chest. Warmth was radiating from his body.

“Mhf, that’s better” he mumbled as he started to dance his fingertips along your arm, tucking his head closer to yours, so his face was in your hair, and took a big whiff. “You know, I love your shampoo.”

You snorted, “Oh my god, you’re so weird” chuckling lightly into his chest.

“Yeah” he hummed, the vibration sending chills into your body, “But I’m your weirdo”

Yawning, you smiled, “That you are.”

With the newfound warmth, you became drowsy immediately, his fingers lulling you further into unconsciousness. Eddie created a calm and utterly content environment that had sent you to sleep within minutes.

When you started to breath deeper, soft snores being admitted from your lovely mouth, Eddie started. He stared at the peacefulness that washed over your face when sleep took you. A smile graced his face when you moved closer to him, shifting so that your arms were now hugging him completely.

With your body next to his, the warmth radiating, heating up his own body and heart, he fell asleep with a smile on his face.

*****

He never missed Sunday breakfasts, but there it was. A small, messy note, saying that there was a work emergency and that he had to miss breakfast. You felt your heart sink, but put a fake smile on your face, and made yourself breakfast, and even made a side plate and wrapped it up for Eddie.

You went through the day, thoughts of why Eddie wasn’t there for breakfast filling your mind. You had texted him at one point on when he’d be home. That was hours ago, and he still hadn't’t responded, and now, you were starting to worry a little. He was always responsive with texts, his phone was always on him. Messing with you, he even had put a crazy song that played every time you called or texted, so it left you dumbfounded as to why he wouldn’t be responding to your now mounting numbers of calls, and you were starting to think the worse.

You sat on the couch, phone cradled in your hands, as you debated on calling Anne. He had gotten on better terms with her, as she had gotten a new boyfriend, and had met her once.

When you decided against it, you slumped back into the couch, and tried to take your mind off your missing man.

That night, a loud crash abrupted in the kitchen, jolting you awake on the couch. Quickly getting up, you saw a sweaty Eddie, rummaging through the fridge.

“Eddie! Where the hell have you been?” you yelled out, but he only grunted, not even turning to you, and started to pull tater tots out of the freezer. He ripped it open, pouring the frozen pieces into his mouth, spilling all over the floor.

“What they hell is going on?” you exclaimed, extremely confused by his behavior. You walked over to him, putting a hand on his arm, trying to get his attention.

“Eddie? Eddie!” you repeated, pulling his arm towards you, trying to make him look at you.

Suddenly, he turned, getting his face in yours, his eyes wide and crazy, “Stop!” he yelled his voice booming in your face. That’s when the first bolt of fear dashed through you.

Letting go of his arm, you backed away slightly. He turned back into the fridge looking for more food.

Quietly, you tried to soothe him down, “Eddie… There’s the Sunday breakfast leftovers on the top shelf…”

He grunted again, pulling it out. He took the wrapping off the top, and shoveled the biscuits and gravy in his mouth with his fingers, before dropping the dish on the floor. The shattering startling you, a scream erupted from your mouth.

At the noise, Eddie finally looked at you. Really looked at you. The crazy look drained from his eyes, and all that was left was fear and remorse.

“Y/N…” he said softly, walking towards you, but you stepped back again. He stood, sadness washing over him at your actions, “I- I’m so sorry.” he said, realization and shame flooding his sense.

“What the hell is happening?” you asked, tears starting to overflow.

“I, I don’t know…” he said, his eyes begging for help. Suddenly, his demeanor changed, his eyebrows creasing in anger, and he yelled, “Stop talking!”

“What?!” you asked incredulously, confusion coursing through you.

He whipped around, facing the apartment door, “I said, STOP TALKING TO ME!” he yelled.

“What the fuck?” you whispered, backing away further from him.

He started to twitch slightly, and you heard him mumbled in confusion, “What are you talking about. Who’s they?”

A crash sounded and the front door busted open, revealing armed soldiers, who walked in, all their guns point at Eddie. They hadn't even noticed you, and they didn’t look like police and immediately gave you the wrong feeling, so you snuck away, hiding behind a wall.

You heard Eddie still talking to himself, and snuck a peek, and saw how he kept flapping his arms up and down as if he was fighting with his own body, and saying he would surrender, then asking odd questions.

He yelled out a sudden no, then black gooey stuff sprouted from his arms and started attacking the soldiers. You had to cover your mouth to stop you from screaming. Looking away you covered your ears as the fighting continued, bullets ringing out loudly, crouching behind the wall.

The noise continued, and tears started to fall from your face. You looked to see Eddie, and whatever black stuff that clung to his body, fall out of the window, the trendils wrapping around the attackers taking them with him.

Silence suddenly flooded the room. Once a small chandelier was swaying slightly, an eerie creek admitted from the metal. Slowly, you got up, body shaking in fear. You looked at the mess that used to be the living room and kitchen, tears streaming down your face. Carefully walking over broken glass, you looked out the shattered window, seeing nothing but darkness. And in that moment, you knew you were alone.

*****

After the initial shock had worn off, you got off the floor you had collapsed on, and dialed 911. This had resulted in a police reporting being made, and taking you to the station for questioning. It was there that they told you no officers were in the area, that the men who had taken Eddie weren’t police. While this had frightened you further, it did give some peace of mind in the fact he hadn’t done something illegal.

After intense questioning, and the police promising they would try their hardest to find your roommate, they let you go home. While you didn’t want to go back to the apartment, to the floor that was littered with pieces of jagged and bloody glass, to the broken window where you had last seen your Eddie, you had nowhere else to go. So you found your feet dragging yourself back to the front door of the apartment.

With a long creak, you slowly opened the door. The sight of the flickering light causing moving shadows in the corner, and the wind from the broken window sending a freezing breeze through the room gave you a shiver.

Thoughts flooded your mind, the memories of Eddie’s face as he crashed through the window playing over and over. With nothing else to do, you numbly got the dustpan and broom and started to sweep up the broken glass.

As you started to clean, tears slowly started to fall down your face, and gradually you started to gasp for breathes. You stopped sweeping trying to slow numb the pain by not thinking. Not able to stop your racing mind as flashes of Eddie’s scared eyes blinded your mind, a sob sprung from your lips and you collapsed on the floor, still clutching the broom against your chest. Your body trembled, and nothing felt right. Nothing was okay.

And that's where you stayed, feeling as if the world had caved in on you.

That night, you had cradled decided to sleep in his bed. When you had opened the door to his room, tears started to prickle at your eyes, eyes that had become puffy and dark red. You mind had settled to a blank hum, numbness washing over your body at you picked a shirt of his bed, clutching it tightly to your chest. Sitting on his bed, you slowly lowered yourself under his sheets, wrapping them around your shoulders. Keeping the shirt tight to your body, you cradled the pillow to your face, Eddie’s scent drifting to your noise. It was the only thing that allowed you to fall asleep that night.

*****

The next two days had consisted of many trips between the apartment and police station, with lots of coffee. You were sleeping horribly, Eddie had wormed his way into every waking thought you had, worry eating at your soul, leaving you a anxious mess.

You were currently at the kitchen table, emailing the police chief, when you heard shuffling outside the front door. Nerves lit up, whether it was excitement or fear, you didn’t know, but something told you that someone was on the other side of that door.

Keys jangled, and your breath caught in your throat, standing up to get a better view of the slowly opening door.

When a bloodied Eddie stumbled into the room, the mug dropped from your hand, shattering on the floor.

“Eddie!” you let out a scream, before racing over to him. Flinging your arms around him, you collided, him letting out a little “oof” stumbling back slightly. Standing on firmer ground, he tightened his arms around you, almost squeezing the air out of your body.

Into your hair, he mumbled out, “Y/N, my dove.” You clung onto him, letting a joyous laugh fall from your lips as the world fell back into place. His hand held the back of your head as you buried you head into his chest.

Suddenly, you pulled away, letting out a startled, “WHAT THE FUCK EDDIE?!”

His shocked and embarrassed face would have made you laugh any other day, but at this point, knowing he was now alive and safe, you were pissed.

Sheepishly, he chuckled, rubbing the back of his head, “Well it’s a long story.”

“A long story? You fucking fell out a window!” you sobbed out, emotions spiraling out of control as you remembered what that last few days felt like.

“I’m so so sorry dove. I can’t imagine what that was like.” he said, remorse filling his eyes.

“Yeah you can’t imagine, because you have no fucking clue, do you? I’ve fallen in love with you, and you fucking disappeared!” his eyes shot open, mouth opening in surprise at your words. “You disappeared for 3 whole fucking days!”

With each word you lost track, slipping back into the nervous mess you were.

“You left me!” you shouted, hitting his chest with an open palm, but before it could make contact a black tendril came from his shoulder and grabbed your wrist in a tight lock.

You stood moving frozen, as the coldness from the black goo spread around your hand, and a black head with two white eyes, and long teeth sprouted from his shoulder.

“I wouldn’t do that morsel.”

Staring at the bright eyes, you whispered, “What the fuck…”

Eddie jerked away from you, pulling the tendril off your wrist. “Um, yeah that was the long story I was talking about.” The black goo went back into his shoulder disappearing.

“Um. Eddie? Care to explain?”

“Well yeah, um so I came into contact with this alien infected lady from Drake as one does, and contracted this alien that lives inside me and will come out, and make this big black alien body around me, and I had to fight this other alien that was a part of his group, and they had plans to come down and analate Earth and whatever and…” he continued his long explanation, but you had only been paying half attention when the thing had come out of Eddie’s shoulder and was staring at you again.

When Eddie said, “So I had to figure my shit out before I came back to you, and I’ve realized they’re not really that bad.”

The black head moved so it rubbed his head against Eddie’s cheek, “And I don’t think you’re that bad either Eddie. Not great though.”

Eddie chuckled at them, while, though the situation was absolutely absurd, you cracked a smile as well.

“Okay so you now have a alien in your body, that needs you to live, and that betrayed his whole race for you? Am I getting that right?”

“Yup”

“Well that sounds straight out of some gay fanfiction. Wait, and didn’t you say he was up your ass?”

“Yeah... And Y/N” he moved forward, his hands grabbing yours, his fingers enveloping your hands in his warmth, “I love you too”

“Huh.” you said simply, before cracking a smile, “Okay then, just know that my ass in not gonna participate in any gay sex, but I don’t mind another roommate so what the hell.”

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the-kipsabian · 5 years

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A concept--it's on thier first birthday at Asagao they get thier gintendo 4ds and a copy of nokemon moone. They're like, mega excited and dive right into it, they find the fire cat starter and naturally adore it and name it after thier slightly explosive translator friend Caddy. They like, totally fall off the deep end and complete it in 4 days, keeping Mads about 50% up to date with how thier progress goes. They end up having to ask "this one's pink and sparkles what does this mean" because it

took them like 90 attempts to actually catch the cutiebee (and they were determined to get one!) so they call it Jimbo. They get a pikachomp and that's naturally Luke, the namkey is very grumpy and obviously called Ian. They find out maggikraps are a bit of a meme and call one Wallid, and when they can't find a good hamster pokemon they go fuck it and call thier lillypuppy Joof because the dex entries keep insisting how loyal it is. Fuck balancing a team yet properly amiright. They don't knowabout the champion fight against doctor kukuy and lose the first time, get very angry and Mads has to insist they can punt him in the morning kit, you need to sleep its 3am and we have class tomorrow. They eventually find out how to hatch the eeree egg and obVIOUSLY call it Mads and evolve a vaporee. You can tell when Kits struggling with a fight because they'll constantly be yelling stuff like "GO TO HELL LANI!" and when they reach the ending they're just sobbing incoherently because LILLY NO-But also idk how the guys find out Kit's named the team after them, or if they do, because Kit's doubtless playing in English so that likely falls on Mads tbh. I just had a ton of thoughts based on my own experiences and wanted to share~

jimmy would be the kind of friend who would just stare over their shoulder while kit plays and while he doesnt understand the language of english, he does speak the language of nokemon, so he would continue to give kit hints about what they should catch and what moves to use and it probably goes way over kit’s head at first cause dang it jimmy they just want these cute mons for now

tbh the boys would probably overhear mads asking kit stuff like ‘hey how is caddy/luke/ian/whoever doing did they learn anything new/evolve’ etc. and they are like. what the heck. so further investigation ensues and after they finally learn that kit named their nokemons after the boys they are all over the moon (even caddy tho hes like ‘im NOT like that wtf’ and then a word war with ian ensues cause he says caddy is but caddy says that then ian is grumpy to which he kinda admits but kinda not and the circle is ready lol)

it all culminates to kit’s next birthday when the boys collectively get them a present, which is a set of plushies of her nokemon party ~

#asagao!kit #asagao!mads #love me some good old nokemon headcanons heck yeah #coughedfeathers #thank you for asking! <3

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usfwspacific · 6 years

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A Reel Awesome Partnership: AmeriCorps Service Member Finds Her Conservation Calling in Lake Sammamish Partnership

By Sarah Crestol

Blogger’s note: Sarah is presently a Washington Service Corps AmeriCorps member serving with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in Issaquah, Washington, in support of the Lake Sammamish Urban Wildlife Refuge Partnership. Our hardworking service members have some pretty cool experiences during their time with the Fish and Wildlife Service and are often inspired to write about them. Be sure to catch up on the rest of the series by reading the other adventure stories!

Photo: Kokanee breeding pair, Credit: Roger Tabor, USFWS.

Before I moved to Washington four months ago, I couldn’t have told you the difference between a kokanee and a rock.

But once I learned about the kokanee (“COKE-uh-nee”) of Lake Sammamish, it wasn’t long before I counted myself among their devotees. Not just because they’re charismatic, downright cute little fish, but because their story is both awe-inspiring and tragic.

Kokanee are sockeye salmon that, unlike most salmon, spend their entire lives in freshwater. They’ve evolved from their sea-going counterparts over a period spanning hundreds to thousands of years. For instance, a kokanee population we see today might trace its origins to an Ice Age glacier that blocked fish migration over 11,000 years ago.

In spring Lake Sammamish kokanee emerge from eggs in a handful of streams that feed into the lake. There, they’ll spend three or four years gulping down plankton, the source of the pigments that give salmon fillets their characteristic color. But, when a male or female is finally ready to breed, those pigments move from muscle to skin and transform the fish from subdued silver to striking scarlet. With its extraordinary sense of smell, an adult will navigate back to the stream where it hatched, fighting an upstream battle and evading predators until finding a partner and the right breeding conditions.

Historically, these special salmon were the most plentiful fish in the Lake Sammamish watershed. Now they’re on the brink of extinction. The reasons behind this shocking decline echo the challenges that have befallen wild salmon all over Puget Sound. Our cities are relentlessly contaminating lakes and waterways with soap, pet waste, prescription drugs, car fluids, and pesticides – or worse. Even when diluted, toxins can render a fish smaller, weaker, and diseased and devastate its sense of smell.

Photo: A culvert inaccessible to fish, Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Stormwater runoff, a major contributor to this pollution, ensues from covering natural areas with pavement and buildings. Interrupting the natural process of groundwater storage, we promote flooding during rainy periods and meager stream flows in other seasons. We’ve also cleared stream-side vegetation that fish rely on for shade (to cool the water and increase its dissolved oxygen), for sticks and logs (to slow the current and provide shelter), and for roots (to reduce erosion and filter water).

As yet another construction-related impact, manmade structures like dams, floodgates, and culverts (pipes to channel streams under roads) often cut fish off from prime habitat. And as if the stresses of habitat loss and degradation weren’t enough for salmon, they’re intensified by overfishing, competition or predation from non-native species, and extreme weather events like droughts and floods that have become more frequent as our planet has warmed. Clearly, it’s not easy being an urban fish!

Seeing wild salmon suffer, scientists, governments, and ordinary citizens are stepping up to the plate. In the case of the Lake Sammamish kokanee, their nosediving numbers, starting in the 1970s, drove efforts to list them as an endangered species. After two petitions for federal protection, in 2000 and 2007, didn’t succeed, the people behind the petitions didn’t abandon their cause.

In 2007 the Kokanee Work Group (KWG) – a collection of landowners, non-profit organizations, and local, state, federal, and tribal jurisdictions – assembled. Their mission: determine the causes of the vanishing kokanee population and take action to reverse the damage. And take action, they did. By 2013 the work of the KWG merited national attention. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service chose the Lake Sammamish basin as the site of one of the first-ever Urban Wildlife Refuge Partnerships (UWRP’s). This designation recognizes excellence under the Service’s Urban Wildlife Refuge Initiative, which aims to connect city dwellers to nature.

Photo: Me during a kokanee survey.

That’s where I come in: As an AmeriCorps member, I’m assisting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in carrying out the vision of the Lake Sammamish UWRP. My activities in habitat restoration, education, and fieldwork have let me support a medley of environmental groups. Each brings a distinctive toolkit to the table, with biological research, volunteer-driven restoration, salmon dissection lessons, or something else entirely. Knowing that very few imperiled species successfully attain Endangered Species Act protection, I love how Urban Wildlife Refuge Partnerships serve as an alternative approach to conservation.

The Lake Sammamish UWRP may be rooted in its beloved kokanee, but its scope extends further. The partner organizations work to improve the ecological health of the entire watershed and to inform and inspire the public to become more engaged environmental stewards. With 21 UWRP’s currently across the country, maybe there’s one near you, too? Find them here: https://www.fws.gov/urban/partnerships.php.

Until next time, best fishes!

Photo: Fall 2017 restoration event organized by LSUWRP partners.

#womens history month #career in conservation #americorps #stories of service #US Fish and Wildlife #salmon #kokanee #cool jobs #internship #fish #wildlife #conservation

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phoenix-before-the-flame · 6 years

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Roped In

Now this, this is a very long overdue present for a friend and man am I sorry for the wait you had to go through for this.

But! @stardragon17 I really hope that this was worth the wait and that you enjoy reading your gift! Have fun!

.“See something you wanna wrangle Lu?” Cana propped herself up on her knuckle, leaning further into the old yet sturdy wooden fence.

While it wasn’t unusual to see the ghost of a smirk tugging at the corner of her lip, this one evolved to a full grown grin, wickedly mischievous like the cackle she let loose at Lucy whose only response was a light ‘mhmm’ with her eyes focused elsewhere inside the paddock.

Cana could laugh all she wanted but Lucy’s had a long day, which is bound to turn into a long and tiring week. Sure she didn’t normally ogle cute guys, maybe spare them a glance then continue on her way, but this was a different case.

When there is a guy running around with horses inside a paddock, kicking up as much dust as his equine companions without any sign of slowing down and a tired grin pulling at his lips, simply sparing a glance doesn’t cut it.

It was like that scene straight out of George of the Jungle minus the billowing shirt and sunset when he leapt on the back of a particularly rowdy stallion. It reared up on its hind legs trying to buck him off but only succeeded in whipping it’s mane in his face, to which he let out a laugh lost to her on the wind. But she knew it was hearty from the way his eyes squinted and how he threw his head back.

Cheesy romance movies were right. Men and horses make a great combination to distract from real life. Especially since she’s on her father’s ranch for the first time since he brought it into fruition.

Leave it to the man, a retired stock broker, to have not only one of the wealthiest ranches in the country but also somehow managed to breed the best racehorses since Seabiscuit. Not to mention the other horses Heartfilia ranch put out were either rodeo stars or making big screen appearances in most tween movies.

Yup, the old man was making the Heartfilia name even bigger than it used to be, attracting the media’s ever watchful eye. Which is where she unfortunately dropped in.

It took her years to land a decent journalism gig. Why? Well when you’re the daughter of a well known business mogul trying to make her own for the first time in her life, no-one’s gonna take her seriously.

Everyone figured she was some airhead heiress looking for attention so she was promptly turned down without even a shot at an interview. She was damn near about to give up and go get that job at Subway when she got a call from one of the places she’d sent her résumé.

While it wasn’t the job she always dreamed of, what with her boss being like Jonah Jameson only eviller and with dumber facial hair, she hadn’t had any major difficulties until now.

Her boss put two and two together and decided, ‘hey sending Heartfilia to talk to Heartfilia’s gotta mean big bucks.’ so he went ahead, arranged an interview and shipped her to her off to the ranch with only her wits and her camerawoman in tow.

And she’s been dreading it since she got off the plane. The car ride over was basically her trying to decide whether or not jumping out a moving vehicle’s truly worth it, all the while staring out the window and noting the fact that really tight blue jeans were the pants of choice for everyone out here.

Clearly they weren’t meant for everyone.

She got here on time but Lucy’s been bouncing around the place, interviewing farmhands and wranglers, and pestering Cana to take pictures of any and everything that might be of use for the paper. Her father no doubt was doggedly pursuing her, expecting her for the interview and to hassle her about whatever else he’s been holding onto since she last saw him some years ago.

But truth be told, she wasn’t quite ready to see him yet and bless Cana for understanding. Despite the heat she’d yet to complain about Lucy’s ‘round the world journey.

“Hey, earth to drooling journalist. Are you gonna interview this one too or just keep gawking?” Cana sharply snapped her fingers in front of Lucy’s face, managing to get a few blinks out of her and a breathy sigh that sounded almost dreamy.

And maybe a little bit thirsty. But who was Cana to judge?

“Lu. Earth to Lu. Hello?” She tried again, this time reaching for her weapon of choice- the camera- snapping pictures in rapid succession. The results were even better than she expected with Lucy jumping back in shock, a garbled cry leaving her and disbelief in her eyes. “I’m sorry but if I let that continue any longer you’d jump the fence to jump him.” Cana’s eye zeroed in on the tiny LED screen of the camera, eyebrows raised.

Yeah those pictures are definitely gonna make rounds in their friendship circle.

“You make it sound like a bad thing.” Lucy grumbled, rubbing at her eyes. “Jumping a hot guy is never a bad idea but you got a job to do, remember?” Cana chastised. She pushed herself off the fence with a weak grunt and wrapped an arm round Lucy’s shoulder. “Playing when you still have stuff to get done isn’t nearly as fun as it should be. Trust me.”

Lucy sighed, her shoulders dropping as though a sudden weight came upon them, nearly throwing off Cana’s arm. “I know.” She groaned. “ I just, don’t wanna have to deal with him yet. I know he’s gonna do it,force me in a corner and twist my words to hear what he wants. And when he does that, he does the pity thing like everything’s my fault. And I just-�� Her voice quavered. Fingers tightened round her upper arms, squeezing a bit too tight but Lucy almost didn’t realize until Cana pried her fingers away, replacing them with soothing strokes up and down her arms.

Lucy’s eyes stung as Cana pulled her closer, tucking her into her side with a tight squeeze. “It’s alright. You don’t have to say it. You can ogle as long as you want, and when this is all over we can go get waffles at that diner we passed. Whaddaya say?”

Lucy tried for a watery smile. It wasn’t the best but Cana accepted it nonetheless. She didn’t know the full story, none of Lucy’s friends knew apart from a few slivers of details that obviously couldn’t paint the whole grim picture.

Lucy grimaced, curling in on herself despite Cana’s calming embrace.

“Want me to snap a few pics of sexiness over there for the road?” Cana suggested, wiggling her eyebrows. “You never know when you might need ‘em.” She nodded in the direction of sexiness, prompting Lucy to look up. Just in time to see him thrown to the ground. A strangled sound left his throat as his back slammed against the red dirt.

He rolled quickly to the side, narrowly missing his head getting pummeled in by the stallion’s powerful hooves before jumping to his feet when the horse tried again, letting out an angered whinny when its harsh stomps gained it no satisfying results.

Lucy winced, watching him dance around the aggravated beast, trying his hardest to calm it down to no avail. The carefree grin that was plastered on his face vanished into hard set lines, a seriousness overcoming his features. His stance went rigid, lowering into a slight crouch as a silent standoff ensued between him and the horse- inching ever so slightly and its tail flicking this way and that dangerously.

“Maybe we should get him some help before that though…” Cana muttered, worry creasing her brow as they both watched the horse stop to ponder, pawing the ground and snorting, bucking its head as it tried to decide whether or not maiming this guy was really worth it.

Lucy nodded stiffly in agreement, vaguely wondering how he could stay so calm in the enclosure with danger a mere few feet in front of him. Cana’s arm slid from around her. “ I’ll stay here in case things escalate, you go over to the next paddock and grab a few of those other wranglers we saw earlier. With the way that horse’s acting you’d better make it quick before It flips out again.”

“Got it.” Lucy warily eyed the man inside the paddock again before starting to turn away. Cana steeled her hand on the fence, ready to jump into action if needs be.

And that’s when everything went to hell.

The horse reared up with a roar that no animal, let alone a horse, should ever produce. The guy leapt back as it came crashing down, staring it down with an unreadable expression. Then something crossed it, a split second glimpse of realization before a cry forced its way up from his throat when the horse bolted. “LOOK OUT!!”

He tried to give chase but it lashed out with a hind leg, catching him squarely in the stomach and sent him flying. His pained scream when he slammed against the ground did nothing to halt the beast charging towards them at break neck speed, head lowered ready to rip through the fence to freedom.

The sickening crack of wood sounded like a gunshot. Splinters and huge chunks of the fence became airborne, debris that promised injury apart from the horse, giving a triumphant whinny at last, finally on the other side.

It galloped away to freedom. If it didn’t give a damn about its wrangler that it probably murdered, then it sure as hell didn’t notice how it threw Cana forward.

Not a scream passed her lips, things going too fast for her to process and crashing into Lucy. Pain flared in her head before the full force of her friend’s weight pushed her to the dirt, both of them letting out twin groans.

One of them groaned again, and she wasn’t quite sure who with it sounding tinny and far away to her though she figured Cana, rolling off her moments later with another -more alert- groan, sounding vaguely irritated at the turn of events but that might’ve just been her brain muddling things up.

“Shit, Lu? Lucy? Are you awake?” She was slightly aware, being pulled up and made to rest against her friend’s side. “She hit her ‘ead?” A voice weakly piped up.

Maybe it came from the limping figure slowly coming into view? Her eyes were kinda blurry now.

“Yeah, just looks like a bump. I hope.”

“Got some supplies for that. Can ya walk an’ help me carry her?” The figure swoops into view, leaning over her slightly, their brow knitting with obvious concern.

Was that an accent? It sounded odd.

“Yeah i’m good. Is it far?”

“Just up ahead past the barn.” Her head felt funny, she tried to focus but the words kept flowing in and out like an old tv just static fuzzing over words the harder she tried to focus. She felt herself being hoisted by two pairs of strong hands. Maybe if she just closed her eyes for a bit….her head might clear…….

When next her eyes open she almost wishes they hadn’t. A dull ache blankets her head and forces her eyes back to weak slits.

Wait. What happened?

Horse, Cana, running around the ranch, sexy wrangler…

Lucy presses a hand to her forehead to recall more and immediately pulls it back. A hiss passes through her teeth as fresh pain blazes to life from where she touched it, dying down to a weak pulse letting her know not to forget it.

Tentatively Lucy tries again, light fingers gently prodding her tender forehead and wincing slightly at the large swell she feels there. She tries to sit up but fails, sinking into the ridiculous softness of what she can only suspect to be a couch. And a fairly old one at that given how she felt brittle sponge crumbling against her palm from a tear in its seam. A frustrated sound escapes her as she struggles to rise.

“Sounds like ya finally come to.” Someone rumbled nearby. Clinking and weak shufflings came from behind the couch, out of her sight. Which frustrated her even more.

She made another sound, a low whine from her throat and grabbed the back of the couch, hoisting herself up in one go. Lucy’s half-concussed brain didn’t particularly agree with that. Her eyes blurred slightly, the dimly lit room disappearing for a moment.

With a hard blink it returned and Lucy peered behind for whoever just spoke to her. Her eyes widened slightly, taking another hard blink and then another just to make sure that her eyes weren’t tricking her with some sort of delusion. Not that she’d be complaining either way.

Holy.Shit.

Earlier when she ogled she might’ve had a shirtless daydream about him (not that Cana should ever know) but was Lucy actually expecting to see him with his shirt off, slung casually over his shoulder with a small smile directed at her?

No, and damn was Lucy wrong about those romance novel covers. Apparently guys really did come as chiseled and perfect as a statue carved by the gods themselves. His pink hair was delightfully tousled, falling into dark- almost black- green eyes. Every inch of rich brown skin toned and stretched over hard muscles. Though there were a few patches, warped and silvery, that dotted his body from face to just above the waistband of his dirtied jeans.

What stood out the most however, was the vague horseshoe shaped swell on his left side. The skin wasn’t broken but it still looked painfully inflamed. Despite the layer of salve coating it, she could still see the bruised purple skin just beneath, shining through.

At least she had the decency not to drool, her mouth instead falling into a soft ‘o’ and continuing to stare unabashedly.

Lucy was pretty sure she was obvious about it but he didn’t notice, or if he did he didn’t seem to care, only quirking his brow at her silence with amusement in his green eyes.

“How’s ya head feelin’?” He asked, making a vague gesture to her forehead. “There’s a ice pack ‘n a glass a water on the table next to ya, if ya need ‘em.”

She nodded slowly, eyes darting to the low coffee table in front of her. The glass had a ring of water around it, racing across the tabletop and the little ice cubes in it were almost gone. How long was she out for?

She gratefully took it, chugging back its contents just realizing how dry her throat is and welcoming the distraction from the man who’s this close to frying her brain.

It’s cool helped clear her head. Satisfied, she returned it to its place with a soft clink and took in her surroundings. Though the curtains were drawn to a near close she she could still easily make out the junk hoarded in the very well lived living room, knick knacks of all sorts overflowed from shelves and piled high in the corners. She was pretty sure the pile of teddy bears to her left was hiding a chair but she could be wrong.

At least the bookshelves actually had books, messily stuffed back in their places and extra papers about god knows what sticking out from between them. Though they housed memorabilia too, a tiny red dragon statue bared its teeth at her in a grin from underneath yellowed paper.

“You have, a lot of stuff.” Lucy mused, eyeing him curiously as he stepped around the couch, pushing aside the empty glass (and…a blue lucky cat statue?) to settle on the coffee table, ignoring how it shook dangerously under his weight.

He held out the ice pack to her with a shrug. “I like stuff.” He said simply. “Stuff fills space.” Well he wasn’t wrong.

“Yer friend’s outside by the way. Seemed fine since she raided the fridge ‘n stole my last beer.” He chuckled, “Almost broke my hand for it.”

That accent was weird, she wasn’t imagining it earlier. What was it, scottish? irish? Not something she’d really expect to hear this far south. But it wasn’t perfect either, there was some underlying hitch, a drag at some of his words that reminded her of Gajeel’s heavy jamaican accent.

“Yeah, sorry about that. Beer is her go to when things go wrong.” She grumbled, clutching the ice pack tightly to her head. "She’s not so violent once you get to know her.”

“Take ya’ word for it then.” A grin pulled at his lips before he reached back in a stretch,shirt flopping off behind him and cracking his shoulders with a satisfied grunt. He caught her gaze and his grin pulled wider, holding her stare with ease, his hands coming to rest atop his head.

Did, did he know? Did he know?

Of course he knew, she was obvious, Cana must’ve said something suggestive and there was no other reason for him to pull of a pose like he was a vogue model apart from that.

She takes her thirst back, he’s an ass for teasing. Stupid, sexy wrangler.

He doubles over suddenly, breaking their stare when his eyes squeezed shut in pain, hands flying to his side.

“Are you alright?” Lucy exclaims, hands hovering out to help.

He quickly waves off her concern, other hand still gripping his injured side. He gingerly rose, shuffling off to the side and coming back seconds later, plopping on the table once again despite its angered shakes and nursing a small jar in his hand.

“Gotta redress this stupid thing.” He mumbled to himself, pulling off the lid with a soft ‘pop’. “You don’t mind if I…?”

“Oh not at all. It’s no problem.” Already her nose started to wrinkle from the pungent odour wafting from the little container. It grew stronger as he scooped out a handful and spread it over the bruise. The black ointment was thick like paste yet he seemed unperturbed by its gross smell, no doubt used to it given the multitude of scars that criss-crossed his upper body.

“Did a real number on me, damn horse.” He cursed when his hand roamed over a particularly tender spot, wiping off the rest of the ointment on his pants. The black streaks running up its side didn’t really look out of place.

“Ain’t the first somethin’ like this happened an’ probably won’t be the last. We didn’t need ‘nother horse, ‘specially that one but the boss never listens. An’ now the demon’s runnin’ wild. He’ll want me to fix that too.”

Hmm.. inability to listen and won’t take responsibility for his mistakes? Lucy suspected right, her father hadn’t changed one bit.

“Sounds like you and your boss have disagreements a lot.” She said, clearly amused.

“He’s an ass.” He growled out, tapping his finger irritably on the table. “ Half my scars are ‘cause of stuff he tried an’ didn’t work out.” He pointed to the jagged scar marring his cheek.

“Foal got stuck in a barb wire fence he installed.” He explained. “Jumped in before it got worse. An’ this one?” He pointed to another, an X shaped scar on his right hip. “He tried raising reindeer thinkin’ they were like horses. Almost mauled me to death.”

“And that one?” Lucy gestured to the broad slice that nearly wrapped around his neck, slightly faded with age. His look of annoyance faltered, something like guilt flashing past in his eyes.

His hand lowered slightly. “That one’s on me. Did somethin’ stupid as a kid.”

“Oh…” An uncomfortable silence stretched on between them. Suddenly he jumped up from his perch on the table and flopped back on the couch next to her, sinking deep into the cushions with a heavy sigh, arms stretched back behind the couch.

“Main point is he’s an ass an’ i’m sorry ya gotta interview him.”

“What?” “Yer a reporter right? That’s why yer here right?”

“Oh, right. That.” Between almost getting murdered by a horse and this encounter she had practically forgotten about why she was really here. Lucy deflated slightly, unaware of the concern on her new friend’s face as he watched her curiously.

“Oi.” He began softly, nudging her shoulder slightly. “I make him sound bad, but he isn’t all that. He can be kinda decent sometimes.” She could hear the doubt lacing his words but was grateful for how he tried even when they both knew better.

“Thanks but, he’s horrible and I gotta face him sooner or later-”

The door banged open bouncing off the wall at the force, shocking both of them but he took it a step further, jumping to his feet and his face was quickly changed, concern fading behind a serious mask. Seems like someone was always on edge.

Cana stepped into the room and past the wrangler to stand before Lucy, her expression grim and forehead bearing only a light red bruise. “Dad’s coming. You gotta bounce. Now.”

“What.” “What?!” When she said sooner she didn’t mean this soon.

As if on cue, the heavy crunch of gravel sounded outside. With two steps he was by the window, peering out the curtains. “That’s the boss’s truck aaaaann’, that’s the boss.” He finished when they heard a car door slam.

His head whipped around to fix them with a confused stare, eyebrows scrunched up together as though something just dawned on him. “Wait, did ya say dad?! I thought ya was just a reporter!”

“Well i’m both!” Lucy blurted out, tossing the ice pack gone warm long ago to the side and flying to her feet, eyes instantly scouring the room for escape routes. She caught sight of her reflection in the glass case behind her. The knot on her forehead was comically red, the skin beneath it a sickly grey.“ And neither wants to see him right now! Do you have somewhere I can hide?!”

The confusion was still strong on his face, still processing the situation. Cana snapped her fingers, bringing him back. “Well?” She asked, almost harsh. “Do you?!”

“Y-yeah, the stables not too far from ‘ere. He never sets foot in there.”

“Good. You two start running. I’ll keep the other one busy to buy some time.” And she ducked out the way she came, prepared to sacrifice herself for the greater good.

“Sure she can handle him?” He leapt over the couch in a single go, landing beside Lucy who’d already thrown open the back door. “She’s tough.” Lucy replied jokingly, gesturing to her swollen forehead. “I should know.”

He barked out a laugh, pushing her ahead of him. “Don’t let me start feelin’ sorry for the boss now.” “Would you really?” “No.”

Lucy heard Cana’s faint sound of feigned surprise behind them and her father’s clipped tone, obviously angry that Lucy gave him the slip again. The door clicked shut behind them and they started to sprint, neither going fast due to injuries but fast enough.

“So i’m Natsu, should I at least know your name? Or are ya gonna stay just ‘both reporter and daughter of the boss’?” He beamed, eyes squinted slightly.

“It’s Lucy.” “Lucy huh? An’ how long are ya gonna run around the place?”

“Why the interest?” Lucy panted, grateful to see the rise of a building nearing them. His grin seemed almost savage, as did his eyes, slowing his gait to almost a stop. Confused, Lucy slowed as well.

“Why? Giving the boss hell sounds like fun. That’s why.” And he barked out another laugh, hearty and strong that had him clutching his side.

Hot and wanted to screw with her dad? Oh yeah, lucy was right to take a liking to him.

I might’ve snuck in an old headcanon of mine where natsu’s irish-jamaican and if anyone thinks those two can’t work then you can fight me.

#natsu dragneel #lucy heartfilia #nalu #nalu fanfiction #fairy tail #fairy tail fanfiction #fairy tail au #nalu nerds #what a phoenix can do #this ended up being way longer than i intended it to be #but i'm not complaining #i kinda like stupid sexy wrangler natsu

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silver-stargazing · 7 years

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MST3K Fanfic Rec List

In honor of Fanfiction Writer Appreciation Day, here are some of my favorite MST3K fics! Some of these fics are dating back to the 90′s so prepare for some nostalgia there. The ones I’m recommending are all Gen fics, but I know there are some fantastic ship fics out there as well.

Mystery Scribble Theater Mondays by @mysteryscribbletheater3000 (aka @smittygirl): A fun ongoing fan comic that details what happened during those two months between Jonah’s capture and Reptilicus. Jonah is an absolute dork, the bots are all wonderfully in character and the nods to the earlier seasons are great. If you’ve gotten into the series through the most recent season, I would highly recommend this one.

Invasion and Practical Solutions by FeelingCreature (aka @peteyplane) and NoShayminTrying (Practical Solutions only): An insightful look into Mike and Crow’s friendship during and after one of the darkest days on the SOL: the viewing of Invasion of the Neptune Men. These two fics explore how hurtling through space and time while also being subjected to awful movies can wreck havok on the mind. (tw: suicidal thoughts and possible insanity)

Also highly recommend Manifest Content by FeelingCreature as it’s referenced in PS and it’s really darn adorable too.

Schematics by NoShayminTrying: A KTMA-era fic with Joel and Crow, this one may be the fluffiest fic on this whole list. Features plenty of good bonding moments between a bot and his shaggy-haired inventor and a decent explanation for how the bots came to have such unique personalities.

Research Grant Proposal by dark_roast: Had to include at least one fic about the Mads. This one gets points for its unique format: it is literally the grant proposal Dr. Forrester submitted to Gizmonics Institute for the Mystery Science Theater experiment and it’s every bit as insane as you’d think.

A Good Egg but a Little Scrambled by Unleashed111 (aka @unleashedart): An interesting what-if? scenario wherein Mike develops epilepsy due to the conk to the noggin he received before being sent up to the Satellite. A bit scary at times due to the bots having very little experience dealing with medical issues but when mixed with some very cute moments and a good comic PSA, this fic works really well. (tw: little bit of blood and vomit)

Monster Movie by Paula O’Keefe: Reaching back into the archives for this one, this fic serves as a sequel to Fire Maidens from Outer Space and the Timmy/Dark Crow storyline from that episode. This one had me actively crying, it prompted so many emotions for everyone. Everyone is so well written and I just really love this one so much.

...And Other Science Facts by Lisa Jenkins: Reaching even further back into the archives (1996!), this unfinished fic presents Joel’s first few days up on the Satellite of Love. We don’t get to see the creation of Tom and Crow but the author’s interpretation of the creation of Cambot and Gypsy are so spot-on, I 100% headcanon it as what happened.

If You’re Wondering How He Eats... by Paycheckgurl (aka @horselover107): A work that spans all three eras, this funny fic addresses that old pressing question: what does the crew eat up when they’re up in space? or down on Earth for that matter?

Musings on a Satellite by Kataoi: Great introspective piece on Mike Nelson and also features the unusual friendship of Mike and Cambot. One of my favorite Mike-era fics honestly.

Evolving Tradition by SLWalker: A sweet little Christmas piece, Joel tries to start a family tradition of reading “The Night Before Christmas” to the Bots every Christmas. Riffing (and heartwarming moments) ensue.

And I am sure I’m missing a lot of fantastic works because this show is almost 30 years old and that is a lot of fanfic to catch up on! So if you know a recent work that was uploaded on Wattpad or remember a fic you saw published back when Mike first came onto the show, go back and re-read those fics! Let those writers, both new and old, know they are so appreciated in this little fandom of robots and riffing.

#mst3k #mystery science theater 3000 #fanfic #fanfic rec #i'm really kind of awful with explaining why i love certain fics #but i do honestly love every fic on this list so much #and I wish I had a time machine to go back and scream and yell and cry with Paula O'Keefe because Monster Movie #oh man that fic emotionally compromised me and I love all of these old fics and new fics so much #because we really are a rather small fandom #and i'm just so grateful that so many awesome writers have contributed

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ramblingsrantsreviews · 4 years

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Merry, Happy, Whatever Review (Netflix, 2019)

When I first saw the trailer for Netflix’s new sitcom Merry, Happy, Whatever I was so excited. It combined all my favorite things Christmas, sitcoms, and Ashley Tisdale together. What could be better?

The show, which was created by Tucker Cawley, follows the Quinn family as they get ready to spend the next 10 days celebrating a perfect holiday season in true Quinn family fashion. Of course, perfection and the holidays don’t exist and the Quinn’s quickly learn that family traditions can be hard to keep up when families are constantly evolving.

Don Quinn (played by Dennis Quaid) is the widowed, no-nonsense patriarch of the family. The most shocking thing about him is that he forms a crush on an emergency room nurse who happens to be black. It’s 2019 and interracial relationships shouldn’t be shocking but if you’ve watched the show you’d agree that it was a pretty surprising relationship to explore given Don’s conservative beliefs.

Don has four kids — 3 daughters and a son. Patsy (Siobham Murphy) is the eldest daughter who feels it is her responsibility to be the “mom” of the family since their own mother has passed away. That’s literally her whole purpose of being in the show and it gets old, fast. Kayla (Ashley Tisdale) is the middle daughter who learns her husband wants a divorce the moment they enter her childhood home. Sean (Hayes MacArthur) is Don’s only son who just so happens to be hiding a secret from his father — well, a secret or two. And then there is Emmy (Bridgit Mendler), Don’s youngest daughter and quite possibly his favorite child. Emmy has come back from LA to celebrate the holidays with her family and she’s brought along her struggling musician boyfriend Matt (Brent Morin) who Don is not too thrilled about.

In addition to the family, there are the two in-laws or “outlaws” as they call themselves, Todd (Adam Rose) who is married to Patsy and Joy (Elizabeth Ho) who is married to Sean. There are also a few grandkids in the mix rounding out the Quinn family.

With so many people together during a stressful time, chaos is bound to ensue and it sure does. Just like the Quinn’s rocky holiday celebration, Merry, Happy, Whatever faces a rollercoaster of good and bad episodes.

Without further ado, here’s Dani’s Desk review of Merry, Happy, Whatever.

Spoilers ahead.

Favorite Episode: Episode 4 – “Happy Mall-idays”

“Happy Mall-idays” is the episode that finally intrigued me enough to sit down and binge-watch the rest of the show. I was ready to give up after the first two episodes, the third was a little bit better but the fourth episode is where I finally started to connect with the characters.

The fourth episode follows the Quinns as they brace the holiday crowds at the mall to complete a multitude of tasks. Don is looking for the perfect gift for Nancy and enlists Sean to help him out. Emmy and Matt are faced with their first argument of the holiday season as they disagree on how to spend money. Meanwhile, Joy ends up crashing her car while trying to find parking space which means Patsy and Todd must wait in the Santa line until Joy can get the car situation under control. Oh, and then there’s Kayla who spends the entire time trying to hit on the cute barista she’s been secretly crushing on.

Pretty standard for a sitcom and yet, this is where the characters start to shine. I felt myself cringing along with Kayla as she tried to win over the barista who just thought she was interested in a job and not her. Matt and Emmy’s debate over how they spend money was relatable — especially when the conversation centered around how much was appropriate to spend on a Christmas gift. And I was really loving Joy’s heart-to-heart with the elderly woman whose car she hit until the woman said that. You’ll know what I mean when you watch it.

From episode 4 on it finally feels like we are apart of the Quinn family and not just some uninvited visitor.

Least Favorite Episode: Episode 1 – “Welcome Matt”

It’s a well-known fact in the television world that pilots usually aren’t that great. Merry, Happy, Whatever’s pilot episode is no exception to that fact. The episode is terrible and that’s putting it lightly. It’s a miracle I kept watching the show after that episode but I try to give every show at least 3 chances before calling it quits.

The plot of the episode goes like this: Don picks up his beloved daughter and her struggling musician boyfriend at the airport in his police cruiser. Matt hopes to make a good impression with the Quinn’s but his presence is quickly outshined when Kayla’s husband announces that he wants a divorce in front of the entire family. The writing staff was smart to include the standard “how could you do this in front of my entire family/everything we do is in front of your family” joke. From there chaos ensues as more secrets are revealed to certain characters setting up the promise of chaos to come.

The issue with “Welcome, Matt” is that it relies on sitcom gimmicks as a crutch. The plot isn’t fresh and neither are the characters who rely on sitcom troupes way too much. It’s a shame considering the premise of the show has so much potential and could really elevate Netflix’s original sitcom repertoire.

Favorite Character: Kayla Quinn

Kayla Quinn saved Merry, Happy, Whatever for me.

In the beginning, I was disappointed in Kayla’s character. Ashely Tisdale is such an amazing actress and it felt like she was playing a character I had already seen her portray (you can’t deny the Sharpey vibes). Thankfully, the third episode gives Kayla some depth when she confides in Matt about her feelings towards women.

Netflix isn’t a stranger to exploring LGBT character’s but Kayla’s revelation is really one of the first times I’ve seen a grown adult question their sexuality on television. We talk a lot about how important it is for younger generations to see themselves represented in media but it’s also important for older generations to see themselves represented as well. Kayla does that from them.

Here is a character who has been in a marriage that isn’t bringing either partner happiness but it’s what they’re “supposed” to do. When Kayla finds out her husband wants a divorce she’s sad at first but then she feels free. Free because she doesn’t have to hide behind a lie anymore — except, for the fact that her father is ultra-conservative and she’s not sure if he’ll accept her. Which, spoiler alert, he eventually does thank goodness.

So yeah, Kayla redeemed the show for me and she also has the plot that I was most invested in, making her my favorite character.

Least Favorite Character: Patsy Quinn

I physically groaned in annoyance every time Patsy was on the screen. Now that’s not to say Siobham Murphy’s performance was horrible because it was not (remember actors are not their characters), her character just had the worst plot and traits of the ensemble.

Patsy is a character reminiscent of the traditional “sitcom wife,” which, okay would have been fine except she wasn’t Don’s wife! It seems silly for the writers to decide to not have the wife/mom be alive and yet have this character do exactly what is expected of a wife/mom.

Listen, I get what the show was getting at. There is this perception that if a mother passes away the daughter should step into that role and help the family out. I’m not totally opposed to the show exploring that dynamic, however, it didn’t feel like a daughter stepping into her mother’s shoes. It felt like she was the damn mother and it was weird!

Patsy’s character is stereotypical and annoying when she could have been so much more. Underneath all that “sitcom wife” nonsense is a character who desperately wants to be a mother to her own children but is struggling to get pregnant. I would have loved to see the idea that Patsy mothered her siblings and father because she can’t mother her own children explored more. Instead, her role is there to provide laughs and be the kitchy sister.

If this show gets a second season I hope Patsy gets the justice she deserves.

Complaints:

One thing that struck me as interesting was the fact that the show never ventured into the world of politics despite its ability to do so. Yes, this is a holiday event sitcom that released on Thanksgiving in the hopes of bringing families together for co-viewing but then again, it’s family and holiday-themed and politics usually always find a way to be discussed. Instead, the show focuses its debates on sexist viewpoints (“are you the lady CEO of your job yet”) and religious differences (Catholic traditions vs Jewish traditions). It works for the contents of the show but it would have been interesting to see politics come into play somewhere. Let’s face it Don is a total Republican and Matt is not.

Speaking of Matt, though I did like his character, I couldn’t help but feel like he was a knock off version of Nick Miller from New Girl. I mean come on, Matt and Nick have a lot in common. They’re both dating women with successful careers, they both have no idea what they’re doing with their lives, and they’re both a little nerdy and awkward. Not to mention the actors kinda look similar. I would have liked to see Matt stand out more since he is the show’s main antagonist.

Another complaint of mine was how the show centered around this premise that Quinn’s follow tradition and that Don never breaks those traditions only to have him break these traditions three episodes in! And he doesn’t even feel guilty about it at first! It all just felt very out of place for me.

My biggest complaint comes from the pilot episode when Sean and Joy’s eldest son announces to his parents that he is an atheist. Now it’s not the announcement that bugged me, it’s the fact that they made it seem like the son was going to have his “coming out” talk with his parents and instead chose to divert from that to which the parents’ response was a sigh of relief. It seems odd and out of place for the show to laugh at or feel relief that this wasn’t a coming-out moment since the show eventually explores a true coming-out moment. I don’t know, I just hate when scary and heartfelt situations are played for laughs.

My one final complaint about Merry, Happy, Whatever is that it played it safe for a Netflix sitcom. Yes, multi-cams are more lighthearted than other forms of television but even Netflix’s One Day At A Time found a way to tackle heavy topics in a comedic way. Merry, Happy, Whatever felt very safe and very conservative. In fact, it could have aired on CBS and fit right in with their line up of multi-cam sitcoms.

Praise:

As I’ve said above, I love sitcoms and I love Christmas so the fact that Merry, Happy, Whatever is a combination of both is amazing. Do I wish it was better? Yes. Ultimately though, I did love the premise. I thought it was fun and had a lot of potential to be great and different. Netflix was wise in creating an event-based sitcom because it’s something that traditional broadcast sitcoms simply cannot do.

I did enjoy that we got to see Todd rival Don in a Jewish vs. Catholic tradition debate. Could it have gone deeper? Of course! But I think the way it was done was perfect for the tone of this show. I find that we often overlook other culture’s holiday’s because they aren’t popular with the masses and that’s not okay. I’m glad Todd got his point across to the Quinn’s. Hopefully, if we see the Quinn’s again during the winter holidays we get to see them explore Todd’s Hanukkah traditions.

By far my favorite thing about Merry, Happy, Whatever, was the bond between the “Outlaws.” It’s funny since I didn’t name any of them my favorite character but truthfully their scenes together were my favorite ones to watch. The idea of in-laws feeling unwelcomed and out-of-place isn’t something that’s talked about much and I liked that Merry, Happy, Whatever chose to go there. What I really loved though was that the outlaws bonded over their crazy extended family instead of choosing not to interact with one another. Watching Joy and Todd take Matt under their wing was heartfelt and hilarious. It’s definitely the highlight of the show for me and will be the reason this show stands out in my mind years from now.

Overall, Merry, Happy, Whatever ended up being cute and entertaining. It was a bumpy ride but it was certainly worth it if you love the holidays and quirky multi-cam sitcoms. Is it for everyone? Definitely not. But is a nice escape from your own holiday family drama.

It’ll be interesting to see if Netflix decides to pick the show up for another season and if it does, what the season will revolve around. The creator hopes the show can serve as a “potential anthology series with future seasons exploring other holidays,” hence the name Merry, Happy, Whatever. Only time will tell.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Merry, Happy, Whatever is streaming now on Netflix.

#reviews #merry happy whatever #kayla quinn #ashley tisdale #bridget mendler #emmy quinn #netflix #review #tv show #tv

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ahiddenpath · 7 years

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Hidden’s Unnecessarily Long and Image Heavy Reaction to Digimon Tri: Soushitsu

HERE BE SPOILERS, FRIENDS. Also a boatload of images.

(Seriously I’m hitting a lot of highlights, don’t spoil yourself!!!!)

Short version: I liked the silly character moments, I wasn’t into the plot/Yggdrasil stuff.

Long Version:

LET US BEGIN.

Okay so I was like, “Aww, cute, Mochimon likes oolong tea. This will please Kou.”

Yaaaay, Kou is pleased!

BUT THEN-

Haha, silly Kou, you so silly and precious. We’re having fun.

*TEN MINUTES LATER*

OMG SON STOP WTH??? Ohhhh man. Ohhhh man??? I don’t even know how to react to this any more... We’re veering back into that territory where Tri really wants to make Kou into really awkward comic relief, lol? Ah well, no harm done, I guess... I like how even Mochimon knew his lesson was too much. Why does your newly rebooted partner have a better sense of this than you, Kou? XD XD XD

Okay, we’re 15 minutes in and Yama is already rage-quitting over nothing. Bless him XD

Anyway then Kou is all focused and working really hard.

Taichi notices and is like,

YOU’RE LATE TO THE PARTY, BOY. THAT WAS THE LAST FLICK OMG WHERE EVEN WERE YOU?!?! Sigh.

Anyway, then campfire shenanigans ensued, and I nearly choked when Takeru said:

AND THEN THIS LITTLE SHIT- HE GOT ME, THIS PRINCE OF TROLLS-

Curse my Takari heart for leading me astray! XD XD XD I totally fell for it.

Then it was bed time, and I KNEW IT I KNEW IT OMG I KNEW IT KNEW IT KNEWITKNEWITKNEWIT.

HE SLEEPS WITH HIS LAPTOP oh my god. All he needs now is a bottle of oolong in his other hand, amirite? XD XD XD

Okay, so Sora was struggling a lot in this film, poor gal. I’m so glad she got her own independent arc, but it felt really... contrived to me?

I’m really unclear on why no one understood Sora’s pain. Everyone else had their partners nearby; Piyomon was conspicuously absent. It wasn’t hard to see the problem. I think the point is supposed to be that everyone is so used to Sora watching out for them that they don’t pay her much mind, which is so sad. I know everyone was absorbed in their pain over the Reboot, but they had a whole pep rally over helping Meiko when an old comrade was literally suffering right in front of them. I kept expecting Mimi, Jyou, or Hikari to notice, but Sora was on her own.

Sora has a precedence for suffering alone and saying nothing. It’s totally in character for her. But I’m confused as to why no one could solve such a simple puzzle. I mean, the baka patrol pictured above generally isn’t very helpful in these situations (I say this with affection and amusement), but we have other, more cognizant members in this club.

And yeesh, why was Piyomon so intense? I assume her distrust of Sora’s motives was supposed to echo Sora’s distrust towards her mother’s motives in Adventure. But Piyomon has always been the sweetest, warmest digimon. It was jarring to see her behave with such antagonism.

In my opinion, they wrote Sora perfectly, but they placed her in a situation that felt artificial and forced and tried to justify it by echoing Sora’s Adventure struggles. It was so close to being awesome, but... Well, really I should just be happy that she received so much attention, screen time, and effort, and that the love triangle angle didn’t come up.

You know what? I’ll take it. Sora did an amazing job of hanging in there and expressing her love, even though it wasn’t returned, even though everything seemed lost. That takes incredible inner strength.

Okay, moving on!

I’m sorry, guys. He’s the best digi now. The end.

SPEAKING OF THE NEW BEST- JYOU. JYOU! JYOUUUUUUUU!!!! THIS WAS LITERALLY THE BEST THING I’VE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE. SON. *ugly sobbing*

Don’t get me started on Yggdrasil and weird ass creeper Gennai (Wtf was with that lick? Euughhhh?!?!). I hate to say it, but... I’m having trouble caring about this new organization, or whatever they are. Even the movie doesn’t seem to care? “I’m Gennai, but I’m not the Gennai you know... Eh, fuck it, I’m the villain now, deal with it.” I just... We’re halfway through this ride and they plunk someone in front of us and have him introduce himself like that?

I suspect his over-the-top behavior might have been an attempt to compensate for his random appearance. The sudden exposition dump didn’t help. After three movies of telling us nothing, they’re just throwing info at us with very little background. It didn’t feel like, “Oh, I see! That previous stuff makes sense now!” It felt like, “Er... Okay, if you say so, I guess...” Basically, given our previous lack of info on Kind-of-Gennai and Yggdrasil, he had to really amp up the bad guy factor to create interest and investment.

The exception to this is the Himekawa stuff. Her flashback scenes were awesome, and we finally understand her motivations. Unfortunately for her, things blew up in her face... I’m genuinely interested to see what happens with her.

Oh, by the way? The real reason Yama and Sora aren’t dating in Tri? It’s not to allow for a Taiorama triangle. It’s to allow for these two idiots to hook up:

STOP THAT. STOP YOUR SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMING NONSENSE. GET A ROOM?!?! XD XD XD Ohhhhh man, I love you dorks.

Oh, and further proof that Jyou is best:

That was one hell of a catch. Wouldn’t that still result in grievous injury to both parties? XD XD XD

Let’s see... I really loved that we saw Elecmon in this film, and that some of the kids warped to areas significant to their Adventure experiences. I loved that Hikari said, “Let’s love the digimon as they are now” and “Plotmon is happier now.” Such wisdom. Annnnd I also appreciated Kind-of-Gennai directly mentioning that digimon who died in the real world can’t be reborn... Not without the Reboot.

Soooo, Wizarmon? Huh? HUH?!?!?!

I hope Meiko will be alright (although frankly I think being choked was less dangerous than being slammed into an ice wall by Mugendramon). Sadly, this film still didn’t give us much reason to care about her as a person. In fact, the team rallying to help her while Sora’s heart bled in front of them kind of pushed me from my previous stance of, “Hopefully she’ll be given interesting material soon,” to, “ARE YOU SERIOUS? Sigh...” (Of course, it’s great that they want to help her, but c’mon guys. You know who else is on your team? Sora and the 02 gang). Even worse, I sense that she STILL hasn’t told the group everything.

Also, there was a LOT of long, awkward evolving in this flick, but I guess I can’t say that has no precedence in Digimon Adventure, lol!!!!

I have no clue what will happen next. I’m not impressed with the plot, except when Himekawa is involved. But they are mostly handling the characters with love and respect, and I appreciate that.

#tri spoilers #trispoilers #digimon adventure tri soushitsu #digimon tri soushitsu #tri review #tri part 4 review #loss review #tri reactions

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socialattractionuk · 4 years

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Coming out in the coronavirus pandemic

When you think back to the start of the new decade – yes, it was only four months ago – there was a collective expectation that 2020 offered something different from the sheer tomfoolery of 2019.

Then 2020 asked us to hold its beer.

As it stands, some of us have been in some variation of lockdown for two months and each day presents a new challenge, whether that’s learning how to cook from scratch with the rejected leftover ingredients from the Big Hoarding, or simply getting out of bed in the morning.

As lockdown progresses big life events will be put on hold across the board. The reality of this will hit us all at different times, simply because big life events don’t happen every day – and the most formative are even rarer.

Schoolchildren have taken a fast pass to the end of their academic year, others have had their prom postponed indefinitely. Weddings, unless you were happy to consign the guest list to oblivion, are a goner, too.

One big life event intrinsically linked to freedom is coming out. Coming out about your sexuality or gender identity can be a moment of liberation.

Visit our live blog for the latest updates: Coronavirus news live

But right now, with the social-distancing measures in place across the world, many find ourselves in an environment that doesn’t naturally lend itself to freedom or liberation.

I came out as gay in February of this year, as the Covid-19 outbreak was hurtling towards its peak in China. It really felt like a big life event and I intended to make this the gayest year of my life. I planned to throw myself into dating, attend Pride, and generally find ways to own my sexuality.

As a result of the lockdown, I’m mourning a year that can’t be. My social calendar is surprisingly empty. I feel static just when my life was gathering momentum.

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Coming out and heading straight into quarantine is not an isolated (pun unintended) scenario.

Ellis, 18, from Hertfordshire, echoes my own feelings. He tells us: ‘Coronavirus has seriously ruined my first ‘out’ summer.

‘I had plans with my friends to go to pride for the first time this year.

Ellis, who identifies as pansexual, now feels like he has entered a situation where he’s surrounded by people who aren’t aware of his sexuality and a significant part of his identity: ‘I feel like I’m not myself and I don’t want to hide who I am.’

Rae, 21, from Illinois, feels this too. She identifies as a lesbian, and while she describes her mum as ‘open and accepting’, her dad is ‘not so much’.

‘I feel like I’m in the closet again,’ says Rae. ‘I feel stuck at home [and] unable to live the life I was living.’

This highlights a challenge in lockdown for the LGBT+ community: being in close quarters with the looming spectre of an unaccepting family unit.

AKT, a charity that supports young LGBT+ people in the UK facing homelessness or who live in hostile environments, says: ‘Not being able to escape to see friends, take part in community activities or even visit queer spaces can further increase isolation.’

Online communities are hugely valuable (Picture: Ella Byworth for Metro.co.uk)

Sam*, 18, who is bisexual, is struggling with being unable to share a space with someone he’s out to.

‘Yes there’s messages and FaceTime but it isn’t the same as having that physical support I so desperately want,’ Sam explains.

Hannah*, who identifies as lesbian, meanwhile, has found that time with her family has expedited her coming out.

‘I had planned to tell them after I had finished my A-Levels,’ she says. ‘With the exams being cancelled, I was faced with having to stay at home for weeks. I knew this would be bad for my mental health, so I decided to come out to my family.

‘Despite my fears, their reactions have all been lovely and being in lockdown has forced us as a family to talk it over.

‘I feel like I’m getting to a stage where I feel ready to share this with my family.’

I was excited to see a viral post at the beginning of lockdown from a dad on Reddit, throwralovemygayson who sought advice on how to tell his son, who was isolating with him, that he was welcome to stay with his (assumed) boyfriend.

I feel like I’m in the closet again

The post read: ‘How do I let my son and his boyfriend know that I’m okay with them being a couple [in my house]? I want them to be comfortable here and I want them to know I support them both no matter what.’

Did I cry reading this? Maybe.

Like me, Jo, 20 Australia, came out to her family shortly before quarantine, and is finding small victories in her day-to-day.

‘When we’re watching a movie or something I can actually mention when one of the actresses is cute or something,’ she notes.

I have to agree – I’ve found Avengers is much more satisfying when you’re able to verbally declare your lust for Chris Hemsworth.

As hospitals are postponing non-urgent elective surgeries, Noah, who is transgender, gives insight into how Covid-19 is affecting long-awaited medical procedures.

‘I was supposed to be getting top surgery next month, which I’ve been on a waiting list for about three to four years now – it’s not happening and has been postponed,’ Noah explains. ‘Being safe inside and everything being postponed to manage the pandemic is much more important, but it is still a bit crap.’

The pandemic and ensuing lockdown has put a dampener on big plans (Picture: Ella Byworth for Metro.co.uk)

As an online creator, I see the support that LGBT+ teenagers find in the digital space. It was part of the reason I felt so safe coming out online, a decision vindicated by the outpouring of love I received.

It was encouraging, then, to hear Ben, 26, from Australia, is using the internet as a tool to stoke the flames of a blossoming romance: ‘We’re lucky in that we both play online games so there are ways to interact without going out, but it’s really hard.’

Rae echoes a similar frustration having met a potential match at work.

‘I’m a dog trainer, I had met this beautiful and kind woman and we were kind of hitting it off,’ she says. ‘Then corona hit.’

It’s unsurprising that Bumble has seen a 21% increase in its video call function in lockdown. Match Group (the owner of Tinder) has announced that video calling will make its way to the dating app later this year.

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Who plays Suki Panesar in EastEnders and where have you seen her before?

Dating IRL has been cancelled until further notice. Tinder has seen conversation length grow by 25% and hinge has seen 30% increase in messages through the pandemic, as users seek human connection.

Personally, Covid-19 has been great for my dating life; I have found it so much easier to strike up a meaningful conversation, I’ve even progressed to a video date or two (or four).

Forming a connection with someone in the fog of this endless lockdown is a double-edged sword, however. It’s incredibly exciting to punctuate my week with a video call, but it makes the wait for the end of social distancing drag on longer.

Coming out is never one-size-fits-all. Coming out in lockdown means a different set of challenges.

There is a glimmer within these stories that offered resilience, fortitude or adaptability. These LGBT+ individuals are evolving to meet the restrictions of their environment and whilst there’s a universal feeling of having their lives put on pause, there was also the sense of being poised to take on the world again.

After these conversations, I don’t feel as cut loose at sea after all – and I’m reminded that there’s a community to be found online if you open yourself up to it.

*Some names have been changed.

Do you have a story to share?

Get in touch by emailing [email protected].

MORE: How to stay connected to the LGBTI community during lockdown

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mrandyzavala · 7 years

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The Middle Flipper Is...(Part 16)

…a dolphin who helps herself to her lunch. And maybe other people’s lunches.

STOP IT

This has got to be something anyone training animals has experienced with any tangible reinforcer*. I wrote about this a while back, featuring an amazing lady sea lion named Tina. It may not surprise many people that animals who can easily move around the land occasionally pull some lightning-fast ninja moves and wind up with their face in a bucket, cooler, pouch, whatever. Also can we pause a moment to just acknowledge how STRONG Asian small-clawed otters are when they are using their tiny alien hands to grab their food bowls? You’d need some kind of industrial-grade lever system and/or a nuclear bomb to loosen their grip before they are good and finished. ASCOs are undoubtedly the masters of bucket-diving.

But I mean, their hands can be used for good, too.

BUT, perhaps the wild card of the Bucket Diving World Champions are dolphins. Yeah.

If you work with dolphins, you get it. But if you don’t, you are probably sitting there wondering a) how stupid the trainers are for leaving buckets close enough to the edge of the water for a dolphin to nab OR b) you are trying to imagine how it is physically possible for a dolphin to let themselves into a closed container of food but your brain keeps flashing the THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE message. So let me shed light onto both of these points.

People who work with dolphins tend to keep fish in one of two types of containers: stainless steel buckets, or Igloo-type coolers**. Because dolphins are ginormous animals and eat a good amount, these containers usually contain around 3 to 10 pounds of fish, depending on the facility, the animal, and the type of session. Many facilities feed lots of capelin, or smaller fish like mullet or the dreaded silversides (Godspeed to those of you feeding those little MFers).

This is the feeling of gazing into a bucket full of silversides. HOW MANY ARE IN THEREEEEE

What that means is there are like 67,000 fish in a bucket (plus or minus), not to mention lots of ice. That means the buckets are pretty heavy and not easily wielded (although have you seen a dolphin trainer’s arms? STACKED). Unlike animals whose training food requires something cute and simple like a little belt, or clip-on pouch, dolphin trainers do not typically move their buckets around as often as THEY themselves move. You leave it somewhere, do your thing, and come back to it.

And this is where the problems begin.

When I was at Marineland, Roxy was the known bucket-diver (I’m assuming she is still doing this). Now, Roxy was not really a risk-taker when it came to helping herself to snacks. That is to say, if you carelessly left your bucket/cooler on the edge of the habitat, she was going to come up a foot or so out of the water, use her rostrum to knock the bucket into a free spin resulting in it crashing into the water.

Roxy (photo cred to Jess Aditays, an amazing human being with endless talent)

This is usually how dolphins (in my experience) take their buckets. They see a perfect opportunity, and take it. Usually, it spills a good amount of fish into the water (67,000ish) and the other dolphins zoom over and chow down, regardless of what else is going on. This is annoying for a few reasons: 1) You have to figure out how much food each animal got, so you can get everyone’s daily diet back into equilibrium. This is basically impossible unless you have really slow dolphins (ha ha!), or if there is less than three, because otherwise you basically have a maelstrom of marine mammal eating fish and there aren’t enough eyeballs in your head or neurons in your brain to keep track of that much stimuli. 2) Depending on what kind of session it is, or how long you have left in the session, you may have like zero snacks left over. This really sucks in interaction programs, because you can’t get people out quickly. You can barely get them out of the water for an emergency, like HEY THERE IS LIGHTNING AND ALSO THERE IS A SERIAL KILLER STANDING BEHIND YOU WITH A LOADED SHOTGUN SO GET OUT OF THE WATER RIGHT NOW. And the guests are like “BUT I PAID TO SWIM WITH DOLPHINS” 3) It is yet another reminder of how stupid we are and how smart the dolphins are.

I've been looking for that everywhere!

So what do we do? Well, we have our obligatory Staff Meeting where we declare that Never Again Shall Roxy (or whoever) Steal The Bucket, and we come up with training plans and make a blood oath that we will not leave our buckets within one foot of the pools’ edges. And Roxy just waits until we screw up, because SHE knows we will (but we humans are still in denial about this). Sometimes, you get REAL smart, and you close the lid to your Coleman cooler nice and tight after every time you use it, so when Roxy knocks it in, she just gets a floating cube impenetrable to her handless body. And you celebrate how intelligent and cunning you are as a human being.

….until you meet Delilah.

The Grand Empress herself

Delilah, she knows how to open coolers. She removes lids in ways that I still cannot understand. She eats all the snacks. And then she brings you back the empty cooler, and the lid (if she completely removed it). I don't have anything else to add to this, because her methods are a mystery. All I know is that she figured this out and acts calmly, almost bored, because she is that effing smart.

But there is a dolphin who gets buckets no matter where they are. And her name is Spirit.

Remember this photo

Spirit lives at National Aquarium (Nani’s daughter) and is one of the sharpest women I have ever met. She is a keen observer of human behavior, she is always 10 steps ahead of any training plan you can come up with, she figures out your games and exploits you. GOD I LOVE HER.

I was told Spirit was a bucket diver when I started working at the aquarium. I figured at that point, with 10+ years of experience, I had seen lots of bucket divers. I also figured that after watching Delilah dismantle coolers, I couldn’t be surprised anymore. Now, don't read that as me saying that I somehow thought Spirit would never grab a bucket during one of our sessions. I had learned that lesson long ago; it was just a matter of time before I experienced that. But I figured I wouldn’t be surprised by it. It would just be Another Smart Dolphin Taking What She’s Owed.

HA! My hubris was steamrolled yet again by a slippery critter.

This is now my permanent facial expression

The first time Spirit took her bucket (a stainless steel one), it was 100% my fault. It was on the edge, I left to get some toys, and I took my eye off of her for a second. Rookie mistake, and boom, she got it. She got a couple other trainer’s buckets in other sessions over the next couple of days, becoming bolder and bolder at how far she would come up out of the water to get it. But again, this wasn’t surprising to any of us. We just tried to be more vigilant in keeping our buckets away from her.

So this one session, I was standing on a slide out on the side of the main habitat during a presentation. I was about shin-deep in the water, loving on Spirit and another dolphin named Jade. It seemed like we were having a jolly time, with both dolphins soliciting rubs and playing wildly with their toys. I placed their buckets high up on the wall, at the end of a set of stairs leading into the slide out, because Spirit would basically need to re-evolve her legs or defy the laws of gravity in order to reach it. Therefore, I felt perfectly comfortable moving to the front of the habitat, near their underwater viewing windows.

Everything is fine, I got it

I did this because it was part of our plan to bring the dolphins to the windows so our guests in the amphitheater could see the animals better. I brought Jade’s bucket with me, after putting some of Spirit’s food in there, so I didn’t have to schlep two big buckets back and forth to the windows, especially because I wasn’t going to be there longer than a few behaviors. Oh…oh Cat.

We did a few behaviors, having a great time. Spirit and Jade got a good amount of snacks for it, since we didn’t do it super often. I also figured it would be a good idea to give Spirit a heavier ratio of reinforcement at the windows because she was away from her bucket and, even though she couldn’t reach it, she was not over at the slideout trying to get it. THis is something I am sure most of you trainers out there would’ve done, because it is, according to the books, What Works.

Suddenly, Spirit shot away. Towards the slideout. Towards the stairs.

Me. Dolphin (not Spirit). Stairs are behind me, bucket in the place I am describing. You get the picture.

Oh god, I thought. She is going to try in vain to get that bucket. What a mess, I thought as I watched her make her way to the bucket.

Then, with the grace and agility of a freakin’ killer whale, she somehow CLIMBED UP THE STAIRS WITH HER FLIPPERS, grabbed her bucket, then threw her body, which was now well over 1/2 way out of the water, back onto the slideout. And a dolphin party ensued, ruining the presentation segment, leaving me standing mouth-agape at what I just witnessed.

She tried to turn back into this thing

The best part? None of the staff who knew Spirit well was surprised. They calmly informed me that really, the only way to prevent Spirit from getting a bucket was to secure it in a bucket rack on one of the decks of the habitat, or hang it 35 feet from the ground like a freaking camping trip where bears hang out.

In fact, they further informed me of Spirit’s ability and Little Mermaid-esque affinity to Be Where The People Are in ways that do not make sense for a bottlenose dolphin. My favorite story involve a trainer in The Pit, a small (and AMAZINGLY COOL) observation area located below the main pool’s deck. The entrance to the pit is like nine feet away from the water’s edge, and is up on a low grade “hill” of sorts.

The pit is in the middle of this photo; its roof-top door is open. That is how far back it is.

The trainer was watching animals in another pool, when they felt drops of water falling on them. This wasn’t unusual, because if the animals splashed a lot, you might feel a couple of droplets as a result. But for some reason, this trainer looked up. And there, peering down at her, was Spirit.

This dolphin had slid up well over a body length UPHILL, and scooted herself so that she could literally crane her head over the edge of the pit to see what was happening down there. Like NBD.

AHHHH

Despite the momentary anxiety bucket diving can cause, it ultimately is a really cool thing to witness. As animal caregivers, we need to be humbled by the animals in our care. We have to have reminders that no matter what stage in our career we are at, or what kind of day we are having, we ultimately work for the animals. It cannot be any other way. If they want to exploit our momentary lapse of judgment regarding food receptacle placement, so be it. Let them feel free to do so. Let them always remind us that humans are not the be-all, end-all. And let them eat their snacks.

_________

If not, you need to start your own workshop and charge like $500 per person and maybe give me 10% of your earnings for you know, a founder’s fee.

** I know some of you guys wear fanny-pack pouches when you are in the water, but no one is impressed with a dolphin who steals fish from a container UNDER water.

from The Middle Flipper http://ift.tt/2tEgGo0

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