#no I don’t need your cable tv package thanks | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

collagedormparty · 10 months

Text

Free Hd Movies And Tv Shows On Flixhq In 2023

If you want to watch movies and TV shows online without spending much money, flixhq is worth checking out. They provide high-quality content from their archive at no cost to users. One of the advantages of this service is that you may view both new releases and classics at the same affordable price.

What's Flixhq?

Flixhq is a website where users can view movies and TV shows without paying anything. On our website, you may get new and classic episodes of your favorite TV shows and movies. Viewers don't need a subscription or login to view their favorite episodes and movies. Finding the content you desire on Flixhq is simple, thanks to the search function. Flixhq is a user-friendly, no-cost service that provides access to thousands of movies and TV shows. You may watch your favorite series' latest and previous seasons and brand-new releases on Flixhq. Movies and television series are available on any computer or streaming device.

How Does Flixhq Function?

Please login or register before you can begin streaming. Once you've signed in, you can search for specific titles or browse the catalog by genre (movies, TV series, new releases). Before downloading a movie or episode, you can watch previews and read reviews. You can either download it for offline viewing or stream it live if you desire to do so. Flixhq is a fantastic alternative to expensive cable or satellite packages for watching your favorite episodes and movies. It's also great if you're short on time yet still want to watch TV. It allows users to legally stream movies and TV shows online without paying a dime. A streaming device and an active subscription are all that's required. Once you've signed up, you can choose what you wish to watch from the extensive library.

Learn How To Make The Most Of Flixhq!

It's a fantastic service for watching movies and TV shows without spending a dime. Browse shows by category or search. Clicking on a display or movie's link will launch it in a new tab or window. The film/show can be downloaded for offline viewing as well. You may access Flix HQ from your computer or your mobile device. You have to sign up for an account before you can use it. After signing up, you'll get access to all the newest movies and TV episodes. Titles and genres can be specifically sought out. To view a film or TV show, click on its title or thumbnail. You will be directed to the appropriate streaming website when you click on a label. You may find details about the film or TV show on this page, such as its length and IMDb rating.

There Is No Cost Involved

Fans of both television and film will find a lot to like. You may find many of the shows and movies you love on our site without ever having to spend a dime. Whether searching for a one-time discount or a long-term subscription, we've got you covered. Start by looking through your media library for shows and movies that catch your eye. Click the "Watch Now" option once you've decided on a program or film to watch. If you click this, you'll be taken to its website, where you can start watching the show or movie. This website also provides tools that make it easy to keep track of the shows and movies you've seen. When looking for something to watch, you can put your favorite episodes or movies at the top of your Watchlist. Or, if you find that a film is taking too long to watch, you can skip ahead using the controls in the bottom toolbar. No matter how you access it, you can watch all your favorite episodes and movies without paying a dime.

Where Can I Watch Flixhq Movies And Shows For Free?

There's no better place to find free online streaming of your favorite series and movies than it. New and historic TV shows, as well as Oscar-winning movies, are just some of the offerings. Look through their massive video library and pick out something to watch. Selecting a title will bring up episode details and ratings for that show. It's the best place to find media to stream without spending a dime. Our site has something for everyone, with dozens of titles continuously being added. Related article: How to Watch HD Movies on MovieKids It allows users to view TV series and movies without having to join up for a membership or try it out first. Users need access to the internet and a web browser to utilize its features. After signing in, visitors can sort the site's massive content archive in various ways, including by category, user rating, and popularity. You can watch shows like "Game of Thrones," "Breaking Bad," "The Walking Dead," and "The Office," among many more. There is also original programming that can't be found on other services like Amazon Prime Video or Netflix.

Is There Any Content That You Can't Get Elsewhere On The Internet?

Flixhq Flixhq is a movie and TV show streaming service that offers content that can't be found anywhere else on the web. They have everything from cult favorites in Hollywood to lesser-known overseas films. Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, and The Walking Dead are just a few well-known shows that can be found there. It also provides a wide selection of films across multiple genres. TV series and movies may be found quickly and easily with streaming services like Netflix and Hulu. However, only some TV shows or movies are streamable. You can use it to find TV shows and movies that aren't currently accessible on any streaming service. It's a website that provides access to numerous legitimate streaming options. As a result, you can now enjoy your favorite television programs. High-Quality Content This site has various media that can be streamed on multiple gadgets. FlixHQ is accessible from any device with an internet browser or the iOS or Android app. Current and well-liked TV shows and movies are among the many offerings. In addition to streaming on computers and mobile devices, users may download episodes and movies whenever they choose. The content is unique and cannot be found anywhere else. Exclusive attacks of hit TV shows like "Game of Thrones" and "Westworld" have been released on this platform. In addition, it has several movies and documentaries that can't be found elsewhere online.

Conclusion

Cautiously approaching websites offering free HD movies and TV shows is essential. While Flixhq might provide access to such content, it is crucial to consider the legality and security aspects. Unauthorized streaming sites often violate copyright laws and expose users to malware or other risks. To ensure a safe and legal streaming experience, it is recommended to explore legitimate platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, or Hulu, which offer a wide range of high-quality movies and TV shows. Read the full article

#Flixhq

0 notes

9layerdevilfoodcake · 3 years

Text

HelloGoodbye/Part 1:It’s The End Of The World As We Know It

Summary: it’s the last day of life as you know it at Camp Redwood when the apocalypse comes calling, but what does that mean for the souls shackled to this particular hellmouth?

Word count: 3.3k

Warnings: mentions of death, implied-ish smut, the end of the world?

The day the world ended started out the same as any other.

You woke up to the sunrise, wrapped in a jumble of blankets, limbs and bleached hair.

Sleep wasn’t really necessary for the undead, but it just came naturally, like muscle memory. Plus it was a nice way to pass the time.

But it was what came after a good night’s sleep that was your favorite part of the day, more specifically it was waking up next to him.

There are few things better in life (past or present) than waking up in his arms.

Your lover? Boyfriend? Mutual sufferer in eternal purgatory?

You’re not really sure what you would call him. You and Xavier both agreed the afterlife was no place for labels.

But if you asked any of the other souls shackled to this hellmouth with you, they would all call you two the same thing; inseparable.

It had been that way for decades, you spent almost every reawoken moment together. He was the one thing that made your afterlife feel as though it’s axis tipped more towards heaven than hell.

He was the light at the end of the tunnel. And looking at him now, eyes closed, lips parted, and sleeping soundly without a care in the world. You might go as far as to say you are thankful you didn’t listen to your gut, and made the (what at the time you thought regrettable) decision to take your friend's extra ticket and step foot on the haunted site for a music festival, one that never even happened mind you.

You got stabbed in the face and she didn’t get to blow Billy Idol, you guess you would call the weekend a bust for the both of you.

You’re comfortably laying back and reminiscing, when you feel Xavier stir.

The long hum that leaves his lips, followed by their soft touch on your shoulder lets you know he’s awake and it’s followed by a mumbled “Good morning”.

“Good morning” you answer back. Leaning down to plant a chaste kiss on his lips. A little too chaste for his liking, so before you can pull away he grabs hold of the back of your neck and pulls you back down for more.

One perk of being dead, no morning breath. There’s no need to break the mood with a trip to the bathroom to brush your teeth. Not that that would stop him anyways, through your time with Xavier you have come to realize that there are very few things he won’t try, and even less he would determine “too gross” to kill his mood.

So much like countless mornings before this, it’s a good couple of hours before you two make it out of bed and decide to properly “get up”.

“What should we do today?” He asks as he’s rummaging through the luggage some ghost adventurer left behind in their haste to “get the fuck out of this place”. It had been years since anyone around here had partaken in any blood sport. But that didn’t mean there was still no fun in scaring the tourists. (And maybe occasional bets were taken to see who could get a camper to wet themselves first).

He pauses and holds up a pair of dark blue wranglers, waiting for your opinion.

You just shake your head in dismissal.

“We haven’t been in the lake in a while. We could take a dip...then maybe you could take a dip…” you say wiggling your eyebrows to insinuate your innuendo, while you make your way over to the stash, taking over the search for yourself.

“No”

“Why not?” You know the reason for his rejection, but can’t help giving him a little pout anyways.

“After what happened last time? Not happening.” His voice is stern but with the underlying playfulness that’s always present between the two of you.

“Oh come on...I won’t let that happen again.”

“Believe it or not, drowning is not fun, dead or alive. And you know what’s worse than drowning once? Coming back to and drowning again because the person with their legs wrapped around your head hasn’t even noticed!” He emphasizes his “anger” by snatching the green umbro shorts you’d found from your hands and proceeding to dramatically stomp his legs through the holes before pulling them up around his hips.

“You only have yourself to blame for that, if you weren’t always such a tease I would have known something was wrong. I just thought you were trying to work me up and build my anticipation, not give me some signal your foot was stuck in the mud” You argue back tossing him a cut off Duran Duran t-shirt, that despite its tag saying 2018 has been given holes and bleached to give it a “vintage” look. The irony of donning such items always makes you laugh.

As he finishes getting dressed you simply look at him with that same pout back on your face, although it slowly morphs into a smile as you see his resolve slipping away.

Who is he kidding, he could never say no to you. He would do anything you ever asked. He would drown every hour, on the hour, if it kept you looking at him the way you are now.

“Fine, but if I start slapping your thighs it is not to keep you in line, it’s me begging for oxygen.”

“Ok” you agree with a chuckle as you grab his hand and head to the door, but he holds his place, making you turn and raise a brow at him.

“And the next time those birdwatchers are in camp, you have to blow me in front of that Condor’s nest they all jizz their jeans for.”

“Sure” you answer, shrugging your shoulders, not a bad trade...

“While they’re taking pictures of it.”

You pause for barely a moment to think that over, who were you kidding, you’re just as whipped as he is.

“Deal”

You weren’t in the water very long before you heard it, a siren sounding in the distance.

Xavier had only just removed your bottoms before you were pulling him up by his hair.

“What?” He asks, as he emerges, shaking droplets out his face with a look of confusion mixed with some underlying self doubt. “What’s wrong?”

“Do you hear that?”

As you both listen the sirens start to get louder and new ones join in the cacophony of sounding alarms.

“Yea, they’re probably just testing the storm sirens?”

“All of them?”

Before Xavier can talk you out of worrying and let him “get back to work” you’re interrupted by Chet yelling at you from the dock.

“Hey! You guys should see this”

Once you both redress you make your way to the cabin which once upon a time was assigned to the male counselors, but now it serves as more of a clubhouse for the lingering spirits. Upon entry you see almost every soul in the camp crowded around the TV.

There have only been two occasions when you have all collectively been in the same place at the same time; when you got revenge on Margaret, and when you made plans for what to do about the “Ramirez problem”.

Something big must be happening.

“What’s going on?” Xavier inquires as you join the group.

“The end of the world” Answers Montana, in a voice so calm she almost sounds bored, it’s like that happens every week.

“Oh no did Belinda Carlyle die?!”

“No...not yet anyway”

Your attention is brought back to the flat screen television Jingle’s son Bobby had gifted you. After his visit, he had been kind enough to set up wifi around the camp, as well as pay for a cable package, with the help of Brooke and Rita (or whatever her real name was). After hours of trying to explain how a touch screen works, as well as the grappling concept of Bluetooth; he deemed the pursuit pretty much a wash. But you did all know how to work a television, so most days were spent watching reruns of Knight Rider or Press Your Luck, and checking in with the nightly news.

So now you found yourself surrounded by your fellow ghosts, watching the man on the tv announce the incoming missiles and saying a teary goodbye to his family.

“What does this mean? I mean for us?” The question came from one of the victims of the first massacre in the 70s, whose name you were now feeling a little guilty for never bothering to learn.

It was a good question nonetheless, your souls kept coming back after just about any obstacle thrown at you, staying attached to the camp, but would they stay attached to a camp that wasn’t even there?

Unfortunately this was also a question nobody knew the answer to.

“Should we go to a basement or something?” Chet chimed in

“I doubt a basement will win the fight against a nuclear bomb, at least this close to the blast radius.” Trevor now spoke up, making his way over to the television to check another news channel, before addressing the group. “Besides does that even matter for us?”

“I guess we’ll find out soon enough”

As everyone is switching back and forth between intently checking the news and murmuring confusion between each other, you pull Xavier aside.

“Xavier, just in case we don’t make it. I just want you to know” you start, averting your gaze as you feel the tears begin to pool in your eyes. “...I just...I’m really...you’ve been…” you’re trying to find a way to tell him how much he’s meant to you, and the amount of gratitude you have for his patience and understanding, how he’s made every day a memorable one for you, how he’s the best person you’ve ever known, dead or alive. How you don’t believe you’ve actually been stuck wandering the earth together all these years, because when you’re with him you think you must have done something right in your life, because there is no doubt in your mind this is what heaven feels like. But you can’t, you can’t get a single word out if you want to keep any semblance of calm and keep the flood gates from opening.

Thankfully Xavier stops you before your nonsensical blubbering can go any further.

“I know, you have too.” He says this as he clasps your hands in his, before moving one hand up to wipe a stray tear from your cheek and bringing your attention back to him. As you look at him you see glassy blue orbs filled with tears that match your own, holding behind them eons of love and unsaid devotion. But he is much better at holding himself together so he marches on.

“If something happens and we don’t make it through this. Or we end up in some new shittier purgatory, I promise you I’ll come find you there! There is nothing in this life or any other that can keep me from you, okay? We’re gonna be alright though, I promise”

All you can do is nod your head, and muster up enough strength to get out a quiet “I love you”

“I love you too”

You and Xavier sit on the bunk that was once designated as his, all those years ago when he came here with the hope of a fun summer away from his troubles. Back then he was always running; running to something, running from something. There was never any certainty in his life, not even in his after life, not until you.

Now he’s starting to feel like that scared boy he once was. The one once found on the edge of death in MacArthur Park, trying so desperately to feel anything, and trying even more in vain to make that feeling last. He had nothing to loose back then in his desperate pursuit for euphoria. But he learned real fast that when things sounded too good to be true they most certainly were.

And that’s why he holds you closer now. Because you were the greatest good he has ever known, and there is certainly no way someone as wretched and cursed as him could ever keep someone as exceptional and pure as you.

He’d tasted bliss for too long now, and it must be time for the collector to come calling. But that didn’t mean he would let you go without a fight, because here in your arms is the only place that has ever felt like home, and he would protect his fortress come hell or high water (or the literal end of the world).

But that fight may or may not come and right now was about settling your nerves and keeping you calm. So he puts his resolve on the back burner and moves to pull you into his lap to whisper words of love and encouragement while you wait for the missiles to strike.

You feel them before you hear them, the impact on the earth, who knows how many miles away, before it broke the sound barrier. You didn’t even have enough time to process the incoming force before you were knocked out and everything and everyone you had known for decades was wiped away.

There is no way to tell how much time has passed when you wake in a pile of rubble and ash, with no discernable clue as to where you were in relation to the miles of identical rubble and ash that surrounded you. You weren’t sure where in the camp you were. The only thing keeping you believing this was even still Redwood were the semblance of remaining trees around you. Other than that there was nothing else insight but dirt and debri, and no sign of any other soul.

After you got your bearings you go in search of Xavier, or anyone else for that matter.

After a few minutes you come across a spot of land that seems vaguely familiar. Although there are no more cabins and no more dock, you’re pretty sure the crater that sits before you used to be the lake.

The lake where you died.

The lake you had no escape from for the past 30 years.

The lake you were swimming in only a few minutes ago.

The lake where you and Xavier spoke your first words to each other.

The lake where you sat on the dock dipping your toes in the water as you told one another that you loved each other for the first time.

The lake that you used to think if you never saw again, would be too soon.

The lake that you would now give anything to see full again.

After a couple minutes lost in your reverie, you hear a voice in the distance. One you’d recognize anywhere.

Without a moments hesitation you take off towards its source.

After tripping over countless branches and what you can only assume used to be one of the cabins you make it to a clearing and see Xavier bounding your way with Chet in tow.

“Oh my god! Thank god you're okay!” He breathes out as he pulls you into his embrace. You feel him exhale in relief as he holds you, before he lets you go in order to inspect you, searching for any signs of distress.

“Are you alright? Are you hurt?”

“No I’m fine, are you ok?”

After looking him over in return to make sure everything’s alright and he gives you a nod, you look over to Chet, who you had quite honestly forgotten was there.

“You too?”

“Yea we’re fine, it’ll take more than one measly nuclear bomb to take down all this” he accentuates by raising his shirt and slapping his abs.

“I’m glad to see your modesty survived the blast as well” you answer giving him a wink and a nudge before you continue.

“we should find the others.”

It took a couple hours to track down the rest of your group. At least what felt like it, with the clocks gone there was no telling what time it was.

And the haze the bombs left kept it constantly looking like dusk.

After regrouping you all agreed you should look for any pieces of camp left behind, any signs of life, or just any signs of anything at all.

And that’s how it went for the next couple of days. You would walk around looking for signs of life, and finding very few momentos left behind by the camp. Then every once in a while you would all regroup in the middle of the crater that was once the lake, and switch between theories of what was happening out in the rest of the world and reminiscing about times when this place was still standing.

Almost everyone in your group of confidants, aside from Ray, was sitting at your usual meeting spot when he came barreling towards you all.

“You guys come here I have to show you something.” His voice was full of excitement.

“What?” Montana asked back, thoroughly unimpressed with his optimism. You had never met two people more different. To Montana, Ray was like a pesky mosquito, who she would often shoo away, that is when she wasn’t bossing him around and telling him to “make himself useful”.

“Just trust me it’s important.”

After a few minutes of grumbling and feet dragging. You and Xavier, Montana, Trevor, and Chet made your way to the empty piece of land Ray was pointing at. Picking up Bertie and the real nurse Rita along the way.

“What? What are we supposed to be looking at?” Bertie questioned, taking it upon herself to ask what you were all wondering.

“Right here.” He points to a spot on the ground, that aside from the line he had made with his shoe, looked the exact same as the rest of your surroundings.

“This is the entrance to Camp Redwood.”

“How do you know? There’s nothing here.” Xavier pointed out motioning around to the surrounding emptiness.

“I have measured the number of steps to the entrance, from just about every place in this camp.”

“God somebody needs to get laid. You have way too much time on your hands.” Xavier regards. And you can’t help but let a laugh slip out.

Narrowing his eyes at that comment, Ray attempts to defend himself. “We’ve been here for decades. Chet wouldn’t even talk to me for years, and before you met y/n, you and Montana only acknowledged me when I was cleaning up your messes, and I….you know what I don’t have to explain myself. What I’m about to show you will have you praising me for the way I chose to pass the time. You should all be kissing my loafers for this.”

Ray was really getting sick of still being the butt of the other counselors jokes and jabs. Even now at the end of the world, when he has made such a monumental discovery.

Deciding not to waste more time getting upset he proceeds.

“So as you know most of the camp has been destroyed and there aren’t really any notable places left behind? Well there is one. The tree we all signed our names on, well most of it anyways. But lucky for us I could still make out both Trevor and Xavier’s names. And exactly 644 steps straight ahead of those signatures is the entrance to the camp.

“You’re point being?” Montana snips, tired of waiting for him to get to the climax of his story.

“My point being. Right now I am in Camp Redwood.”

He says, before he slowly and dramatically takes one long stride over the line he had drawn.

“...now I’m not...”

“and I feel fine”

Notes: i wasn’t really planning on uploading any of my writing here, but I feel like there is more of an interest in Xavier content than on ao3 so why not? Basically the jist of this comes from speculating what would happen to the spirits stuck at the hellmouth’s after the apocalypse (which I know many people have wondered and we’ve never been given a definitive answer). So I wondered what would happen if the whole world became one large hellmouth and the spirits could roam free. This series follows you an Xavier as you eventually make your way to rumored Sanctuary. It will involve Michael Langdon, and as of right now might get kind of dark, so fair warning. Anyways, thank you for reading!

Tagging this supporting queen: @guiltyfiend

#Xavier Plympton #Xavier Plympton x reader #ahs 1984 #michael Langdon

136 notes · View notes

louezem · 4 years

Text

Saying Yes - Brothers

Summary: Katniss and Peeta had a bitter break up years ago and went their separate ways. Katniss knows nothing of Peeta's life now, until a stunning blonde walks into the exclusive bridal salon were she works, to buy her a dress for her wedding - to Peeta Mellark.

Written for @promptsinpanem

Part 5 - Brothers

Eight Weeks Later...

Part 5 - Brothers

Eight weeks later:

“Good evening, Mr Mellark, it’s nice to see you,” the doorman welcomed him with a tip of his head.

“Good evening,” Peeta returned the welcome. “I’m here to meet my brother for dinner but I need to go upstairs first. When he arrives can you send him to The Arena? I’ll meet him at the bar.”

“Of course, Mr Mellark, I’ll let him know.”

Peeta strode through the hotel lobby, acknowledging staff members and guests alike with a nod or a smile before using his keycard to access a small private elevator that rose directly to the penthouse he’d shared with Glimmer.

It felt a little weird being back in this space. He’d moved out of the hotel and into a very nice apartment a short distance away a couple of weeks earlier. The views weren’t as spectacular and there was no room service or overnight dry cleaning at his new place, but he was enjoying having a space that was just his more than he’d expected. He liked displaying his own art on the walls of his home and cooking in his own kitchen again.

He opened the sliding doors to the patio and stepped outside, glad that none of the Glimmer’s personal staff were around to observe him as he said a last goodbye to the place that he’d called home for quite a while. He walked to the infinity balcony and leaned over admiring the view over the city and listening to the faint sounds of the crowds and the traffic far below. He could feel the autumn chill in the air, the days getting noticeably shorter. It was almost sunset, so he decided to stay and watch from this vantage point one last time.

The media attention had been pretty brutal in the weeks immediately following his and Glimmer’s break up, usually casting him in the role of a gold-digging gigolo who’d used Glimmer to further his career in her Grandfather’s chain of hotels and then broke her heart. They didn’t let up until a couple of photos of Glimmer and her entourage of girlfriends started showing up on online as they partied their way across Europe. When a photo of Glimmer dancing closely with the sovereign prince of some small European principality showed up on twitter the interest in Peeta finally began to fade. He smiled to himself, knowing Glimmer most likely leaked the photo herself to draw the attention off him, if the winking emoji she’d text him around the same time was anything to go by. But she’d never admit it to anyone else.

In the bedroom he gathered the last few personal documents and books he’d forgotten into a box and dropped his keycard in the drawer of the bedside table, switching off the lights on his way out.

He felt sad that this chapter of his life was over but not heart-broken like he thought he was supposed to be. He should be on his honeymoon in Europe right now, for god’s sake, but instead he was single again. He kept waiting for some stronger emotion to hit him but the simple truth was, he was okay. If anything, he was a little excited about the future and the new opportunities that were already presenting themselves. It wasn’t like back when…

An image of a pretty dark-haired girl with tears running down her face came into his mind, immediately morphing into a more recent memory of a gorgeous woman with flashing silver eyes climbing into a taxi and driving away…

He shut down that train of thought quickly. Dr Aurelius had said no good would come from letting his mind wander down those paths. In the weeks since he’d bumped into her again, Katniss had made a reappearance in his dreams, costing him more than one night of sleep lost to restless tossing and turning. So much so that he’d started painting in the small hours of the morning again.

He dropped his box of things off in his office downstairs and headed to the bar where he immediately spotted a head of blond wavy hair almost identical to his own.

“Hey Rye,” he greeted his brother and slipped onto the barstool beside him, letting his eye run over the room. Like everything in the hotel the restaurant exuded sheer luxury - from the long polished mahogany bar to the more private dining areas with deep seats upholstered in sumptuous dark blue velvet and tables set with the finest sterling silver cutlery and cut crystal glassware. The only thing he didn’t personally care for were the large displays of snow white roses, but they were something of a trademark for the owner, Coriolanus Snow who insisted on them in all his hotels.

“Peeta.” Rye welcomed him with a pat to his shoulder and raised his finger to catch the attention of the bartender. “What are you drinking?”

“My usual please, Finch,” Peeta smiled at the bartender who came to serve him, a slender natural red-head with fox like features and pale eyes, “and whatever my brother wants.”

“A double on the rocks, and put it on his tab.” Rye winked and raised his glass.

Peeta chuckled and Finch gave them a closed lipped smile before scurrying off to get their drinks.

“This is some place,” Rye commented. “It’s a far cry from the spit and sawdust of Abernathy’s bar, back home.”

“It is,” Peeta chuckled. “Is the old man even still alive?”

“Sure is, and as surly as ever. But enough of small town news, tell me how’ve you been,” Rye looked him up and down. “We haven’t talked much in the last few weeks. You don’t look too bad, all things considered.”

“Thanks, I’m doing okay,” Peeta lifted his drink and clinked it off his brother’s glass. “I’ve been busy with events here in the hotel and moving to my own place. Next time you’re in town we should meet up my new apartment instead of the hotel. I’ll cook you a steak.”

“It’s a deal,” Rye agreed. “I’ll bring the beer. None of your fancy wines, thank you very much. You got a big TV?”

“I’ve got a regular TV and sports on cable,” Peeta laughed. “I prefer to use my walls for my paintings, not a huge flatscreen.”

“You can spare at least one wall for a decent 60 inch. The one in the suite we stayed in upstairs before the wedding was awesome. We did you move out anyway, I thought you could live at the hotel for free as a perk of your job?”

“There is a private suite that comes with the package but with Glimmer due back in town soon I thought it was best to find my own place. Better to keep a little healthy distance between us until things settle.”

“Probably wise.” Rye agreed. “Have you talked to her at all?”

“Sure, a couple of times. Honestly, we’re fine with each other. I mean, yeah, it feels strange being a single guy again. I miss her company and I miss sleeping beside someone at night.” He let out a small chuckle. “I even miss Caesar, but all things considered we’re good.”

“I’m glad you feel that way. Glimmer is a great girl,” Rye sipped his whiskey, a thoughtful look on his face. “Stupid dog, though. Give me a mutt over a pampered pooch any day of the week.”

“Hey Caesar is great. He might be small and fluffy but he has the heart of a great dane,” Peeta chuckled. “The little dogs always do. Besides—” Peeta stopped.

“Besides what?”

“I think Glimmer may have done the right thing by calling the wedding off.” Peeta confessed. He cleared his throat. It was the first time he’d admitted as much out loud to anyone. “Moving out will make everything less awkward in the long run, when she starts to see someone new. I don’t think she’ll be single for long.”

“Does it bother you? The thought of Glimmer with another guy?” Rye was watching him.

Peeta knew if he tried to lie, his brother would see right through it. No one knew him the way Rye did. He considered his response carefully, as he’d asked himself the same question a million times.

“No.” He answered truthfully. It was the first time he’d fully admitted it, even to himself, and with it came a sense of relief. “It really doesn’t bother me and that’s that thing. It should, shouldn’t it? I mean, I should be turning green with jealousy at thought of Glimmer with someone else, but I’m not. All I want is for her to be happy.”

“Hmm. What about you? Have you had any thoughts about moving on yourself?” Rye raised an eyebrow.

Peeta shook his head. “No. Relationships are the last thing I’m thinking about right now, and maybe not for a long time.”

“Who said anything about relationships? You have needs. You’re a young reasonably good looking guy—”

“Gee, thanks!” Peeta laughed at the back handed compliment.

“—all I’m saying is the ladies love a guy like you, and there is nothing wrong with a little healthy no strings attached fun. Or a lot of healthy no strings fun if you prefer. How about Finch over there? She a bit of a fox and she keeps looking at you like she sees something delicious she’d like to eat.”

“Delicious but toxic,” Peeta snorted, shaking his head. “I don’t do casual hook-ups but if I did I’d never choose someone at work. It would be unprofessional.”

“But dating the granddaughter of your employer wasn’t?” Rye laughed out loud.

“That was different, I was working someplace else when I met Glimmer.”

“Okay fair point,” Rye conceded, tipping his head. “But tell me why you just described yourself as toxic? Don’t tell me you bought into all that bullshit the media accused you of.”

“No, but look how my last two relationships ended. The love of my life cheated on me and broke my heart, then my next serious girlfriend dumped me on our wedding day. Even if—"

“Wait.” Slowly Rye rested his drink on the bar and turned to face his brother, all former joviality had left his face. “Peeta, do you still believe Katniss Everdeen is the love of your life?”

“That’s an odd question to ask,” Peeta frowned.

“Humour me.”

“Fine then, the answer is yes,” he gave a slight nod of his head. “Yes, I believe Katniss is the great love of my life. Hopefully not the last love. But the great one. I loved Glimmer but it wasn’t the same. I don’t think I could ever love anyone again the way I loved Katniss.”

Rye let out a deep sigh and ran a shaking hand though his hair. “I was afraid you were going to say that.”

Peeta’s frown deepened. “Rye, what’s wrong? You’re acting weird.”

“Peeta, there is something I need to talk to you about. It’s been playing on my mind for some time, since long before the wedding was cancelled, if I’m honest.”

“Okay. This sounds ominous. It’s nothing to do with your health is it? Or Graham, or Mom? The business back home is doing okay? Because you know I can help with that if you need—”

“No, no – calm down, the business if fine, Mom and Graham are fine, or at least they were, last time I spoke to them. By the way, Mom said to tell you how foolish you were for letting a prize like Glimmer slip through your fingers.”

Peeta rolled his eyes. He could care less what his mother thought of him or his life, not when she couldn't even bothered to come to his wedding.

“Stop deflecting Rye. This isn’t the first time you’ve hinted you had something on your mind and you’re not usually the type to hold back, so whatever it is, spit it out.”

“I worried if I do you’ll punch me in the face.”

“Rye, so help me—”

“Look, let’s move over to a table.” Rye threw back what was left in his glass and nodded to the bartender for another. “We might need a little more privacy for this conversation.”

Once the brothers were resettled in a quiet corner with fresh drinks in front of them Peeta sat back and waited.

“It’s about Katniss.” Rye began nervously.

“What about her?” Peeta frowned.

“It’s about what happened between her and Gale Hawthorne the night of Madge’s party.”

Peeta looked at him, his frown deepening. That was not what he’d been expecting to come out of Rye’s mouth.

“I already know what happened Rye. I don’t need to hear the sordid tale of how you caught my girlfriend making out with another guy again.” His tone was dismissive.

“Peeta, did you ever wonder why Katniss gave up trying to contact you after you broke up with her?” Rye’s voice shook a little as he spoke. He was nervous.

Peeta met his brother’s worried gaze with a now stony one of his own. “I reckoned she figured out it was pointless to keep trying. You caught her red handed and she knew that I’d never forgive her. Cheating is a deal breaker for me. She knew that.”

“Okay, that’s reasonable. But did you ever stop and ask yourself why you didn’t see her around at school later on, when she had a full ride to go to Panem U?”

“Yeah, she had, for tuition.” Peeta nodded. “We’d planned to live in the dorms for freshman year, and if we could find roommates we liked to share expenses with us, we’d rent a place and live together off campus after that. For the first month or so after school started I did look out for her. Fuck, every time I saw a girl with olive skin and dark hair I hoped it was Katniss.” Peeta grabbed the whiskey bottle Finch had left on the table, and tossed back a shot. “But after a while I figured out she must have gone somewhere else. I guess she decided she didn’t want to see me either.”

Rye locked eyes with him. “Before I tell you this, I need you to know that I’m really sorry. I want you to keep that in your head and remember it when I’m finished.”

“Sorry for what?” Peeta eyed him warily. “You’re starting to freak me out now, Rye.”

“I fucked up and got it all wrong, Peeta. Katniss didn’t cheat on you with Gale the night of Madge’s party. Or any other night.”

Peeta sat deathly still, his face impassive, as he stared at his older brother. The only reaction he showed to the grenade his brother had just launched at him was the darkening of his eyes from blue to black.

“What the fuck are you saying to me, Rye? You’d better explain what you just said. Fast,” he growled.

“Okay hear me out. I need to start at the beginning.” Rye put up a placating hand. “You remember that I had a massive thing for Madge Undersee, right? I even thought I might be in love with her, but she only had eyes for Gale Hawthorne.”

“Sure, I remember. You always had a thing for blondes.”

“Still do.” Rye laughed dryly, but with no humour. “I ended up crashing Madge’s party that night with a couple of the guys I used to wrestle with back in High School. Cato and Marvel. It was already late when we got there and Katniss was there hanging out with Madge and Gale. They’d all had a few drinks and looked pretty comfortable with each other. Katniss and Madge were dancing and Gale was watching them both. I didn’t think anything of it.”

“Katniss and Gale were friends since they were kids,” Peeta interrupted. “Madge was her best friend in High School. Off course they were friendly. The only reason I wasn’t at the party too was because I was due at the bakery the next morning at 4am to finish a wedding cake, so Katniss tagged along with Gale instead.”

“Anyway,” Rye continued. “As the night went on I drank more and I managed to corner Madge on her own in the kitchen away from her friends. I asked her to go out on a date with me, begged her to give me a shot, but she turned me down flat. I kept trying to charm her until she got pissed off told me to leave her alone, that she liked someone else.”

“Let me guess, that someone was Gale?” Peeta asked.

“Yeah.” Rye confirmed with a nod. “So I backed off with my tail between my legs, grumbling all the while to the guys about what was so special about Gale that made him so popular with the ladies, and what had he got that I hadn’t got. They laughed, saying he had quite a reputation with the ladies and he was well known for frequenting the slag heap with different girls, but lately he’d been there a lot with a certain Seam girl. They were looking at Katniss when they said it.”

Peeta raised an eyebrow at this.

“Anyway, by then I was drunk and feeling pretty sorry for myself. A little while later I decided to call it a night and left to walk home when I heard some rustling and caught sight of Gale back in the trees. At first I thought he was taking a leak, but then I realised he was leaning up against a tree because he had a girl backed up against it. This kinda made me see red because Madge was back at the house waiting for him to make his move and he was here, wasting time with another girl.”

“Katniss.” Peeta growled, downing another shot. It might be ten years ago, but it still hurt.

“Yes.” Rye nodded. “It was Katniss. I saw him bend down and kiss her, but she must have seen me because she shoved him away and came running after me and we argued. She tried to say what I’d seen was nothing, that she’d only gone outside to check on Gale because he was drunk and he came onto her. She swore she never invited it.”

He took a deep breath.

“I was so angry I couldn’t think straight. I yelled at Katniss to get the hell away from me and to stay the hell away from you and told her she wasn’t good enough for you. Gale came over and tried to throw a punch at me for yelling at Katniss, but he was a drunk as I was and he missed and we both ended up on the ground. Then his friend Thom and Madge came out of the house and broke it up. Katniss was crying and Madge took her inside.”

“I know this part Rye.” Peeta’s icy voice cut across him abruptly. “But you never said anything about her shoving him away before. You made it sound like she was a willing participant, that she was all over him.”

“I know. I know I did.” Rye threw his hands up in the air. “I thought she shoved him away because she saw me, but I only found out years later that I was wrong about all of it. After what Cato and Marvel had told me about Gale and a Seam girl at the slag heap, I put two and two together and made five.”

“When did you find out you were wrong?” Peeta spat out, his head spinning. The repercussions of what Rye had done were huge. The whole path of his – and Katniss – life had changed because of what Rye said he saw that night.

“Not until a few years later. Believe it or not, it was Gale who confronted me. He and Madge were engaged, and I had long moved on. They came by the bakery to order a wedding cake. While Madge was distracted talking flavours and buttercream with Dad, Gale asked could he have a word with me outside.”

“At first I thought he was going to bring up my old crush on Madge, but instead he started talking about that night. He basically said he wanted to clear the air and Katniss’ name, and he confirmed everything Katniss tried to tell me years before was all true.”

A heavy silence fell between the brothers and Peeta sat stiffly as his brain tried to process this new information.

“But if he had feelings for Madge, why was he trying to kiss Katniss that night? That makes no sense!” Peeta burst out.

“I asked him the very same thing. He said his feelings for Madge were new and he never expected a girl like her would look at a Seam guy like him, let alone date one. He was confused by what the true nature of his feelings for Katniss were. They’d been friends for so long and everyone including his family told him they’d end up together eventually but then she started dating you and he was worried he’d missed his chance. So when one presented itself, he took it. He said he had to do it. Just once.”

“And the seam girl he’d been sneaking around with at the slag heap?”

“Leevy Collins.”

“I can’t believe I’m only hearing about this now,” Peeta muttered dropping his head into his hands. “You should have come to me with this when Gale first told you, Rye.”

“I know.” Rye shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Gale told me Katniss gave him hell afterwards. He felt bad when he found out that you broke up with her. They didn’t speak for a long time, but Madge invited Katniss to the wedding hoping they could patch things up. Gale told me I should try and encourage you to go as well. He hinted that Katniss wasn’t seeing anyone.”

“Wait, so Katniss and Gale didn’t speak again until Madge’s wedding?” Peeta exclaimed. “That was years later!”

“I guess so. I don’t know all the details. Katniss and Prim moved away when Prim finished High School. I guess they moved to the city then. I didn’t keep tabs on her. After you left she wasn’t on my radar. I heard her Mom had died—”

“Wait, what - Mrs Everdeen died?!?” Peeta's head shot up in shock and he suddenly realised just how far he’d distanced himself from his home town if this news never reached him.

“Yeah, I think it was the winter after you left to go to school that I heard a rumour about Katniss’ Mom. Talk around town was she was really sick. By then Katniss was working double shifts in Sae’s diner but she got another job working evenings in Abernathy’s. Mrs Everdeen died about a year later. Cancer, I heard.”

So Katniss finished raising Prim alone. Peeta thought. She had no one.

Why didn’t you tell me any of this back then?” Peeta clenched his fists tightly. He’d had arguments with his brothers before but he couldn’t remember a time when he’d ever felt so angry with Rye and it hurt. Rye was his big brother, the one he could depend on who always stood up for him and been there for him. Deflected their mother’s rage onto himself when she would beat up on Peeta too hard. “You never said a word.”

“I didn’t think it would make any difference. You never mentioned Katniss again, I thought you had put it all behind you. You were living this amazing life in the city, you’d a great job, travelling all over the world in private jets, you had a gorgeous, sexy girlfriend. I thought it best to let sleeping dogs lie.”

“You could have told me some things, Rye. I would have liked to know. I would have sent flowers to Mrs Everdeen’s funeral. I liked Mrs Everdeen, she was troubled but she was kind to me.”

“I didn’t want to make things worse for you, Peeta.” Rye’s tone had taken on a slight edge of annoyance. “Don’t you remember what you were like back then? After you left home any time anyone tried to talk to you about Katniss, you snapped their heads off. You made it very clear you didn’t want any information from back home, Everdeen related or otherwise. So in the end it was best not to say anything.”

“I was hurting, Rye. I was devastated and angry, thinking my girlfriend had cheated on me and lied to me.”

“I know Peeta, and I get that now. I’m sorry. I take full responsibility.” Rye looked away, his guilt and shame written all over his face.

An uncomfortable silence settled between the brothers, neither knowing where to go from there. Even through the haze of his own anger Peeta could see how deeply upset Rye was.

“No.” Peeta eventually broke the silence. “It’s not completely your fault Rye. It’s mine too. I should have trusted my girlfriend when she told me she loved me instead of believing the worst of her. I should have listened to her version of events. Maybe if I didn’t always feel like I wasn’t good enough for someone like her to love, we could have resolved it. I was always waiting for the other shoe to drop, testing her feelings, hoping if I showed her how much I loved her she would be more demonstrative when it wasn’t in her nature.”

“Back at the hotel, the day before the wedding, she said…” Rye trailed of, shaking his head.

“Back at the hotel she said what, Rye?” Peeta prompted. “Don't stop now!.”

“She asked me if you were happy. She made me promise to take care of you, for her.”

Peeta swallowed deeply, tears stinging behind his eyes. Even this tiny sign that she still cared for him was too much.

“Is there anything else, I should know? Any more surprises?” he cleared his throat, almost unable to speak.

Rye nodded hesitantly. “There is one more thing,” he said, obviously troubled. “I promise this is the last of it.”

“Go on.”

“Somehow Mom found out about what happened, I don’t know how. Maybe she overheard me talking to Dad. She threatened Mrs Everdeen with Child Protective Services if Katniss went to the same school as you.”

“Jesus Christ.” The tears behind Peeta’s eyes finally began to fall. He knew the threat of CPS would have terrified Katniss. She’d confided her fears about her mother’s mental health to him many times, and was worried about leaving Prim to go to school. He knew, with absolute certainty, that his mother making such a threat would have been enough to stop Katniss leaving for school, even if they hadn’t broken up. She would never risk her sister ending up in foster care.

“Peeta, are you okay?” Rye put his hand on his shoulder but Peeta shook it off and stood up.

“After everything else, it’s too much. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with all this new information Rye. I think I need to talk to Dr Aurelius.” Peeta wiped at his eyes and tried to compose himself, suddenly remembering where he was.

“Everything you’ve told me tonight has turned everything I believed about Katniss upside down. I spent years believing the worst of her and it burned a hole in my soul. It changed me as a person. Now I find out all this. Our family destroyed her, Rye. You, me, Mom. We took away her chances. I shouldn’t have let that happen, I was supposed to protect her, we protected each other. I’m the one who let her down and needs her forgiveness, not the other way around.”

“For what it’s worth, even when you still believed the worst of her, you had already forgiven her.” Rye offered. “You were ready to let go of the anger. All it took was seeing her that day, on the steps of the hotel.”

“Maybe so. But now I have more questions than I have answers.” Peeta was so confused. “This changes everything.”

“I think you should go find her and talk to her. Get some closure.”

“Do you think she would she want to talk to me?” Peeta shook his head. “I didn’t just break up with her that day, I tore her apart, Rye.” Peeta brought his hands up, rubbing his temples which were beginning to throb. “I called her unforgivable names and told her to crawl back to the slag heap where she belonged.”

“Peeta, you have to know how truly sorry I am.” Rye’s voice shook with emotion. “I never meant to cause—"

Peeta put his hand up to stop him. “I know. But what’s done is done.” He pulled out his wallet, throwing a handful of notes on the table. “I’m going to leave now. I have a lot of thinking to do.”

He left the table and made his way across bar being careful to avoid catching the eye of any of the other diners. On seeing him approach, Finch came straight over.

“Please see my brother’s room and tab are charged to my account,” he instructed smoothly.

“Of course, Mr Mellark. Have a good evening, sir.” With a smile she retreated to serve another customer.

“Peeta, wait.” As he turned he found Rye was standing closely behind him. “I’m worried. We’re brothers. All I ever wanted was what was best for you. Are we going to be okay?”

“I need some time, Rye. I need to process how I feel about all this. This… this was huge. What happened that night changed the course of my life.”

“Fair enough.” His older brother watched with saddened eyes. “I understand. Please call me when you’re ready to talk. I’ll be waiting.”

#Without looking back again, Peeta walked away. He didn’t remember bidding goodnight to the doorman, or climbing into the cab that took him home. He let himself into his apartment, chucking off his suit jacket and loosening his tie before heading straight to the kitchen where he grabbed a bottle of whiskey and a glass.

Peeta flung himself onto his sofa, exhausted, his arm flung across his eyes as he tried to reconcile everything Rye had told him. He felt like a steamroller had run over him.

Katniss didn’t cheat on him. Katniss didn’t lie to him. It wasn’t real.

Again and again it went around and around in his head. How it must have hurt her when he’d taken Rye’s word over hers. How betrayed and alone she must have felt. A sob caught in his throat.

“Katniss, I’m sorry, I should have believed you,” he spoke into the shadows of the empty room, feeling hot tears finally burning a path down his cheeks, whether from sorrow or shame he didn’t know. “I’m sorry, I love you, I’m sorry,” he sobbed until he finally passed out.

READ on AO3

#promptsinpanem #15Days #Day 2 #for Kika #kristin rouse #everlark

94 notes · View notes

queerjunhui · 4 years

Text

Help a CARAT! Please read!

So uh, I don’t know if anyone will read this (probably not) but I guess I’ll give it a try since i know it could help. Well as I said in a post over a month ago, I lost my internet service provider. I live in a neighborhood outside of my city, Cartagena in Colombia. It’s a government project so all houses here were subsidized by them because these families situation.

Right now I use mobile data packages. $1.50 usd and I have free use of twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp for six days + 340 MB’s for navigation (those are which I’m using to post this).

Our ISP was subsidized by the government too and it was the only one with network here. It was called ‘Total Play’. Other ISP’s in the city like Claro, Movistar or Tigo don’t have network around here. My brother is starting his college semester soon and classes will be online so we’re very worried about that too. The thing is, we found an alternative: satellite internet connection.

A very few people here have it already. But, it’s very expensive. Too expensive to afford right now because my job temporary suspended me (I work at the airport) and my mom does enough with the bills and food. We have to pay for the installment of the equipment and then pay for the service of the first month in advance. We only want to achieve at least the payment for the installment and the first month. We will worry for the next months when it’s time. Right now we need $100.000 Colombian pesos for the installment of the equipment and $100.000 Colombian pesos for the first month service that have to be payed in advance. It’s around 65 USD for all. (Dollar value changes here every day but right now 1 dollar is around 3.500 Colombian pesos).

For some of you it might not look like a lot because dollar works different here. gathering that kind of money right now is very very difficult for us. I want to ask if you have any money to spare to please considerate donate it for this. My brother and I would be forever grateful. Even one dollar can make a huge difference for us.

This is my PayPal account. https://www.paypal.me/shawolmint

If you have any questions just inbox them!

This might seem frivolous. Wanting money to get internet. I know a lot of people is struggling to get food and health care and here I am asking help for something like this. If you think it’s wrong please just skip this. I know it seems like it’s not something we need to live (and we don’t) But at this point my brother and I are getting desperate. His father doesn’t help him and we can’t ask my mom for more than she does already. He is starting classes soon and if we don’t fix this he might not be able to do it. Also, we don’t have cable tv (again) because we can’t afford it but we were okay with it before because we had internet and we’d just search online if we want to watch something. But now we have to stick to the regular tv which actually sucks so that + being quarantined is getting to our mental health. At least with internet we’d find stuff to do.

I miss tumblr. And now that I have a lot of free time I feel awful that I can’t help Seventeen in streaming and voting just because I don’t have WiFi. I can’t afford albums right now for obvious reasons but I thought I could help with the online stuff. Right now I can’t even do that and it feels not good. especially since in twitter everyone is trying to tell you how much your value as a fan lays in the hours you spend streaming. I hope I can go back to work soon but the pandemic situation in my country isn’t looking much better than the rest of the world and well, airports might not open anytime soon.

If you read this till now thank you so much. Please reblog this so more people can see it. Thank you so much and have a great day!

- Vane

#personal #donations #vane speaks #i didn’t know what else to do #please reblog #so sorry if this is uncomfortable #thank you for reading #seventeen #carats #carat #kpop

118 notes · View notes

recentanimenews · 3 years

Text

FEATURE: How I Got Into Sakuga

Kaiba, Directed by Masaaki Yuasa

If you’re an anime fan, you’re likely an animation fan in general. But how do you know when an animation is “good”? How do you learn to identify an animator by only what you see, or tell when their drawings are better than usual?

English-speaking anime fans have adopted sakuga as a general catch-all term for exceptional animation. While the word sakuga itself means “animation,” in this context, sakuga has come to mean something very specific: Not just animation that looks cool, but the deliberate handiwork of specific animators with specific artistic aspirations. For example, a single-animator project might have a lot of “sakuga shots” because it has a personal, highly-refined style. Meanwhile, a television series might have an entire team of varying specialists for a larger narrative. Some of this might be attributed to specific key animators, while some might be credited to an entire studio — transformation sequences, explosive missiles, robots — that’s all fair game to be called sakuga. But how do you really know if what you’re looking at really is this so-called “sakuga?”

Like most art, it’s almost entirely subjective. Here’s my story.

Project A-ko, a high-energy 1986 OVA series best remembered for its exceptional animation staff

(Image via Retrocrush)

All’s Fair in Love and War Games

When I was a kid, I got my hands on the English-dubbed Digimon: The Movie on VHS. This notorious release was a three-part recut of Mamoru Hosoda’s Digimon OVAs released from 1999 to 2000, heavily featuring his second film Digimon Adventure: Our War Game. Of course, I didn’t experience this package as a “Hosoda anime” at the time. Besides the inspired inclusion of Barenaked Ladies’ "One Week" to the soundtrack, I strongly associate these films with Hosoda’s signature interpretation of Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru’s original Digimon Adventure character designs. Compared to the Toei-produced television series, these renditions of the Digi-Destined are charmingly off-model and move with awkward intention, like actual kids up against terrifying monsters.

In a sense, that’s what most people mean by sakuga — animation that makes us lean in and notice traits about the world and characters that can’t be communicated otherwise. Sakuga, in particular, places special emphasis on an individual animator’s keyframes, or the drawings used as a basis for in-between frames during movement. That’s what I mean by the phrase “Hosoda anime.” If you watch Summer Wars or The Girl Who Leapt Through Time enough times, anyone will notice a stylistic palette of idiosyncrasies.

Digimon Adventure “Home Away From Home” directed by Mamoru Hosoda

(Image via Hulu)

An Emerging Style

When I got older and realized there was more anime than what was on cable, I kept returning to “flat” style animation with films like Tatsuo Satō’s 2001 Cat Soup and Shōji Kawamori’s 1996 Spring and Chaos. Around this time, contemporary artist Takashi Murakami also began developing his own “superflat” style (coined in his 2000 book Superflat and later in Little Boy: The Arts of Japan's Exploding Subculture) we’ll return to. Once I got a taste for the experimental, I never turned back.

But back to Hosoda. Less focused on the details of models and more fixated on a “flat” or fluid style of movement, the key animation in Hosoda’s films makes body language a priority. This is perhaps the best thing about good sakuga — its potential to express deep emotion even under production constraints. My favorite example comes from the first Digimon short film Hosoda directed, the simply titled Digimon Adventure from 1999.

Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!, Directed by Masaaki Yuasa

Originally conceived as a standalone for Bandai’s then-new Digital Monsters virtual pet toys, this version of Digimon is less loud, more atmospheric — and sincerely preoccupied with the question: “How would little kids actually handle a giant monster of their own?” The result is an unforgettable shot of Kairi, Tai’s little sister desperately blowing her whistle, stopping to catch her breath, then spitting and coughing in an attempt to calm down their newly evolved kaiju Greymon friend.

For the television series, Hosoda directed the episode “Home Away From,” depicting the two siblings clinging to each other as the other slowly drifts back to the Digital World. In both scenes, characters don’t constantly move, but only act when necessary via careful manipulation of the frames. This technique not only makes everything seem more “realistic,” but also acts as a visual cue for the anxiety Tai and Kairi feel. In other words, painstakingly controlled animation serves both form and function, especially when you’re selling an emotional climax of another kid-meets-monster plot.

Tomorrow’s Joe, 1980 film adaptation of the 1970 TV anime series directed by Osamu Dezaki

(Image via Retrocrush)

A Little History Lesson

After Digimon, Hosoda and Nakatsuru collaborated on films like Summer Wars and the Takashi Murakami-inspired pop art short Superflat Monogram. Hosoda is no doubt inescapable to sakuga fans today thanks to the ubiquity of his feature films. Still, Hosoda obviously wasn’t the first sakuga animator. Animators like Yasuo Ōtsuka, known for his cinematic work in a pre-Ghibli era of anime film with Toei, documented the growth ‘60s and ‘70s of Japan’s animation industry in his 2013 book Sakuga Asemamire. When the demand for films lowered in favor of anime television during that era, animators took risks. Classics of the era like Tiger Mask and Tomorrow's Joe literally held no punches, and Osamu Tezuka’s own Mushi Productions dove headfirst into experimental adult films. Animators, and especially keyframe animators, had creative control. In this perfect storm, the advent of sakuga was inevitable.

Everyman Ken Kubo is taught the ways of eighties anime in Otaku no Video

(Image via Retrocrush)

Why Bother With Sakuga?

In 2013, animation aficionado Sean Bires and company hosted an informational panel titled “Sakuga: The Animation of Anime” at Anime Central Chicago. Uploaded to YouTube that same year, this panel informed my younger self’s understanding of not just the “how” of sakuga, but the “why” it even needed to exist in anyone’s vocabulary. Accessible, meticulously researched, and full of visual references, Sean’s two-hour panel-lecture does the heavy lifting of contextualizing anime not just through a historical lens, but within the broader project of expanding cinematic techniques. This primer might sound heady, but considering the popularity of Masaaki Yuasa’s series like Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!, and references to animator Ichirō Itano’s “Itano circus” missiles in American cartoons like DuckTales, it’s hard to say sakuga isn't relevant. Nowadays, it's practically a trope to parody one of Dezaki's most iconic shots. Supplemented by a rich community of blogs and forums, it couldn’t be easier to learn about animators like Yasuo Ōtsuka or the early days of Toei if you want a bigger picture. Blogs like Ben Ettinger’s Anipages and the aptly named Sakuga Blog are a good place to start, not to mention dozens of dedicated galleries of anime production and art books published by studios themselves. Now couldn’t be a better time to vicariously live your art school dreams through anime masterworks.

Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland, a 1989 film featuring animation by Yasuo Ōtsuka best known for his work on the Lupin III franchise

Sakuga Is For Everyone

Fans have always been obsessed with the technicalities of animation, even if they weren't artists. As early as 2007, uncut dubbed collector box sets for Naruto came with annotated booklets of episode storyboards. More recently, critically-acclaimed series like Shirobako further explicated this love for animation as a team effort — people love attaching other people to art. In contrast, psychological horror series like Satoshi Kon’s Paranoia Agent features an episode about an anime studio’s production going terribly wrong. Not to mention the endlessly self-referential Otaku no Video Gainax OVA and its depiction of zealous sakuga otaku. Anime fans adore watching anime be born over and over. It’s that simple.

Digimon Adventure “Home Away From Home” directed by Mamoru Hosoda

(Image via Hulu)

Today, I’d comfortably call some shots from Hosoda Digimon films great sakuga. But Koromon is still weird. Sorry. The love for sakuga isn’t a contest to one-up fans on production trivia or terminology. It’s about taking the time to appreciate the fact that anime is ultimately a collaborative artistic endeavor. From tracing back the lineage of animators like Yoshinori Kanada to Kill la Kill, to appreciating the visual sugar rush of Project A-Ko alongside slow-paced Ghibli films, “getting into sakuga” isn't a passive effort, nor a waste of time. Besides, wouldn't it be fun understanding how your favorite animator achieved your favorite scene? The phrase "labor of love" is cliché, but maybe that’s a good synonym for what role sakuga inevitably plays for artists and fans alike — work that brings you joy, no matter how you cut it. Who is your favorite animator? When did you get into sakuga? Let us know in the comments below!

Blake P. is a weekly columnist for Crunchyroll Features. His twitter is @_dispossessed. His bylines include Fanbyte, VRV, Unwinnable, and more. He actually doesn't hate Koromon.

Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: Blake Planty

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

10 notes · View notes

jaehyun-eclipsed · 3 years

Text

Before I Met You | Twenty-One

Next Update: ~January 10, 2021

Pairing: NCT (Jaehyun, Lucas, Mark, Jaemin, Johnny) X Reader/OC

Genre: Romance, Angst, Coming of Age

Summary: Four. There were four people before I fell in love with you… Here are their stories.

Before I Met You Masterlist

Prev | Next

The following day, I woke up and began packing to go home for winter break. Jia had left early this morning to catch a flight back to Beijing, so I was left to my own thoughts about the upcoming lunch outing with Johnny.

I threw on some black jeans, a brown off-the-shoulder sweater, and black knee-high boots. I was finally able to go back to my norm of taking the morning to do my hair and makeup after showing up with minimal effort during finals week.

Yes, I wanted to look cute for this “date,” but I was also just happy to not look like I had just rolled out of bed before going out every day.

I meet Johnny in his room and walk out of the house together with Hendery who was on his way to the airport.

“What are you doing here, Y/N?” Hendery asks.

I’m taken by surprise because I thought Hendery knew Johnny and I were hanging out today, but quickly realizing that Johnny didn’t mention it, I’m not sure how much to tell him.

“Oh, um, Johnny and I are just hanging out today. I think he needs to drop off a book and then we’re gonna grab some food.”

“Oh.”

We wish Hendery goodbye, parting ways as he gets onto a bus heading to the airport. I follow Johnny to drop off his book and afterwards, we opt to grab lunch at my favorite Korean place near campus. The restaurant is basically empty midafternoon with the exception of a few students celebrating the end of finals.

“So, you’re not seeing anyone?” Johnny asks.

I shake my head. “No.”

“Why not?”

Because I’m me. I get involved with people that seem to have weird issues and the person I’m currently interested in has a girlfriend, and yet, I’m still hanging out with him.

Shrugging, I press my lips together before finally saying, “Haven’t found anyone I’m interested in, I guess.”

“What are you looking for then?”

“Someone respectable and smart. Someone I can talk to about anything,” I say. “Someone who isn’t going to have a problem with me having guy friends.”

“Having guy friends?” He quirks an eyebrow. “That sounds so specific.”

“Believe me, when you have guy friends whose girlfriends hate you, you learn quickly that you’ll need to find someone that doesn’t have severe jealousy issues.”

“Your guy friends’ girlfriends hate you?”

“Something like that.”

Johnny scrunches his face in confusion. “Why?”

I shrug. “I suppose they see me as a threat. Not really sure why. It’s not like I want to date their boyfriends.”

At least, that’s been true until now. Though, it’s not like I’m going to do anything to actively steal him. None of this, “you should leave you girlfriend and be with me.”

“My girlfriend doesn’t want me to have girl friends,” Johnny says.

“Oh.”

I wonder why. If I knew he acted like this around other girls, I guess I might understand.

“Does she not trust you around other girls or something?” I ask.

Ah ha. That was a loaded question.

“I guess so. She talked to all her friends and they said the same thing: boyfriends shouldn’t have any other girl friends besides their girlfriend.”

“That’s kinda…” —I grimace— “I don’t know how I feel about that. I feel about that. As long as you aren’t flirting with other girls, then I don’t see why you shouldn’t be able to have other girl friends.”

“That’s what I said!” he exclaims.

Except, I’d argue that you are flirting with other girls, but that’s none of my business.

“Does she have other guy friends?”

“I don’t know. She says she doesn’t.”

I turn away briefly, hoping he doesn’t notice my look of skepticism. That sounds like a lie.

“Does she go here?”

“No, she’s going to a community college in Santa Clara. She’s trying to transfer to a CSU in SoCal.”

So that’s why we never see her around.

“How long have you been dating?”

“Almost two years.”

“So you met in high school?”

“Yeah, she went to a different high school, but my friend introduced me to her and we used to meet up to study a lot during the school year.”

“Oh that’s nice. Do you see her often?”

“Like every few weeks when I go home or during breaks,” he says. “Do you want to see a picture of her?”

“Sure.”

Johnny pulls out his phone and shows me a picture of the two of them at a park. She’s decently pretty—a six and a half at best—but nothing particularly special.

My eyes narrow at him as puts his phone away and begins looking through his menu. Maybe he’s not trying to hit on me if he’s being so open about his girlfriend? But that doesn’t explain everything else that’s happened unless he’s just naturally flirty. I highly doubt that.

“I think I’m going to order bibimbap,” he says to me, putting the menu on the table.

I nod in acknowledgement. “I’m going to order the sundubu-jjigae. It’s cold out.”

“Do you want to do anything afterwards?”

His question catches me off guard. After learning more about his girlfriend and seeing how comfortable he is talking about her when prompted, I’m surprised he wants to continue hanging out. But perhaps this really just is a friendship.

“Was there something you wanted to do?” I reply.

He shakes his head. “What’s your favorite place around here?”

“Um, there’s a bookstore I like that’s a few blocks from campus…”

“Great! Let’s go there afterwards!”

After finishing lunch, we make our way to the south side of campus, surprised to come across a small street fair on the same street as the bookstore. The booths are decorated with fairy lights, creating a very cozy and romantic atmosphere at twilight. We browse the novelty soaps, keychains, and various trinkets briefly before squeezing through two booths to get to the bookstore.

“What kind of books do you like to read?” Johnny asks, trailing behind me as I browse a recent release table.

“Mm, mostly young adult fiction leaning towards the adventure side. I like dystopian novels. You?”

“I like reading nonfiction. I don’t really like fiction.”

“That’s a shame.”

I grab a recent release and begin flipping through it.

“Oh what’s this?” Johnny asks from behind me.

As soon as I turn around, a brown dog puppet is two inches from my face. Johnny is smiling down at me and moving his hand inside the puppet to make the dog look like it’s talking.

“Hi Y/N, my name is Coffee Bean! Will you read me a story?”

My mouth is agape in amusement, part of me unsure how to respond. I chuckle nervously and put down the book in my hand, and quickly scan the table next to me for the closest children’s book.

“Um, do you like If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, Coffee Bean?”

Coffee Bean nods his head enthusiastically. “Yes! Woof!”

I force a nervous smile, still uncertain as to how to respond to this other than to play along. I read a few pages of the book and look up at Johnny. “Do you really want me to keep reading?”

He laughs. “No, it’s okay.” He turns to Coffee Bean. “Did you like that Coffee Bean?”

“Yes!” Coffee Bean turns his head back towards me and presses his mouth against my cheek. “Thank you!”

I smile at him and begin walking towards another section of the store. That was weird. Cute, but weird. Sighing heavily, my mind flashes back to our discussion earlier about Johnny’s girlfriend. He clearly was very comfortable talking about her in front of me. Realistically, it probably would’ve been better for me to completely drop the idea of the two of us ever dating and stay away from Johnny because I didn’t want to get in the way. I’d certainly never want my boyfriend to do something like this.

Y/N, you are going to get hurt if you continue to hang out with this guy. This never ends well when you get involved with a guy who’s already in a relationship. He’s obviously not going to leave his girlfriend. And even if he did because he wanted to date you, wouldn’t it be a bad idea? He could do the same thing to you.

Johnny suddenly appears next to me. “So, it’s six o’clock. What do you want to do? You want to watch a movie?”

I blink several times, surprised yet again by Johnny’s continuing desire to hang out today. Most of everyone at the house has left, so I suppose it only makes sense. If we went back to the house and parted ways, there wouldn’t be anything for us to do on our own. I’d probably just sit in my room and watch a movie by myself.

“Sure… I guess. What do you want to watch?”

“Didn’t you mention that you recently watched some movie… Sally something?”

My forehead creases. “You mean, When Harry Met Sally?”

“Yeah! Let’s watch that!”

What? He wants to watch a rom-com?

Okay, movie and that’s it. You shouldn’t hang around him anymore and after today, you won’t even need to see him.

“Okay then. We can watch in the piano room,” I say. “I don’t have an HDMI cable to hook up to the TV, but the couches are comfy.”

He hums in thought. “Can we just watch in your room? It’ll be more comfortable.”

Um, there must be something about a guy wanting to hang out alone with you in your room to watch a movie, right?

“Like, we sit on the bed?” I ask.

“Yeah.”

I bite the inside of my lip. “Okay.”

“Okay! I’ll bring snacks!”

“This is my blanket now!” Johnny grabs my fleece blanket and stuffed dog off my bed and begins hugging it. “This is mine now too.”

He jumps up onto my bed and crawls into the corner, wrapping himself in the blanket and hiding the plush underneath. He cracks into a wide grin and I can’t help but begin to pout a bit, feeling rather protective over my stuffed toys.

“So what do I get?”

“I brought pistachios and cookies,” he says, gesturing over to the snacks he placed on my desk. “You can have those.”

I glance at the packages and then turn back to face Johnny, dissatisfied with the consolation prize. I pout again. “But I’m not hungry. I’m cold.”

“Hmm,” he hums, pretending to ponder as he holds a playful smile on his face. “Okay, I guess I can share with you.”

I scoff in amusement. “Share? That’s mine!”

A cheeky grin makes its way onto his face. “You said you were cold. It’s easier to stay warm if the blanket is already warmed up!”

I roll my eyes and bite back a smile as I go to set up the movie on my laptop. Slowly, I make my way onto my bed and Johnny trades me my laptop for my blanket. I make no comment as I wasn’t keen on sharing my blanket in the first place anyway.

Before leaning against the back wall, I turn to look at him. “Do I get my dog back too?”

He smiles and shakes his head. “No, I think he likes me better.”

“Okay, fine,” I say, letting out a huff and crossing my arms as I move to sit up against the wall.

Our arms are touching, which is to be expected since we’re attempting to share a twin-sized bed. I’m a bit distracted, not really focusing on the movie, but rather on the predicament I see myself in. Clearly, Johnny has no problem with taking my personal belongings or sharing a bed with me. Originally, I thought we would sit up against the wall length-wise, giving both of us plenty of space not to make any physical contact with each other. But instead, Johnny had other plans and also wanted to use my pillows. So here I am, watching a rom-com with a guy that I happen to like and find very charming, is very kind and playful, but I am very uncertain as to where I stand.

After a while, Johnny hands my dog back to me and I pretend to be unfazed by the famous fake orgasm scene in the movie. What an awkward thing to watch with a guy I barely know.

When the movie ends, I shut my laptop and hop off my bed to put it back on my desk. Johnny crawls over to the other end of the bed, lies on his side and hangs his legs off the foot of my bed. I seat myself back against the wall and pull out my phone.

“So now what?” I ask.

“Um, you said that you’re good at giving advice, right?” Johnny responds.

I lift my head up from my phone and turn to look at him. “Uh, I mean, my friends ask me for advice a lot. So maybe?”

It’s quiet for a moment as Johnny contemplates whether to ask me for advice and how to formulate his question. My thumb scrolls through Instagram, though my mind is somewhere else as I wonder about what Johnny could want advice on. Life? Career? School?

“I’m not really sure what to do about my girlfriend,” he finally says.

That’s not… that’s not what I want to talk to you about.

“What do you mean?” I ask, keeping my gaze on my phone.

“I’m… not really happy with her.”

I swallow nervously. “Why not?”

“You know how I told you earlier that she doesn’t like me having girl friends?”

Can’t imagine why.

“Yeah?”

“It’s stuff like that. She gets upset with me and it’s hard to talk to her. She doesn’t really apply herself in school and doesn’t have a lot of ambition.”

I keep my facial expression neutral, but I’m already not impressed with this girl.

“Just out of curiosity, what do you parents think of her?”

He shrugs. “My dad doesn’t care and my mom keeps asking me when I’m going to get a doctor or lawyer girlfriend.”

“Sounds like your mom doesn’t really like her.”

“Well, my mom likes her, but…”

“She wants you to find someone she thinks is better,” I say, finishing his sentence.

“Yeah,” he admits sheepishly.

Yeah, so basically she doesn’t like your girlfriend.

“What’s her name?”

“Minji,” he responds. “We’ve already broken up twice.”

God, he sounds like Siwoo.

“Why?”

“Because she didn’t like my friend Hyoyeon.”

“Who’s she?”

“She’s my friend from high school,” he says. “She’s two years younger and we were friends in band.”

“Did you like her or something?”

“What? No!” he says emphatically. “She’s like my little sister, but we hung out a lot together.”

I take in the information to create a coherent story. “So… Minji was jealous because you spent a lot of time with Hyoyeon and Minji got angry or something… and you guys broke up because of that, right?”

“Yep.”

“Why did you get back together?”

“The first time was a year ago and I missed her so I thought we could make it work. Then a couple months later, we got into a fight and I broke up with her again, but then I thought I made a mistake so we got back together,” he says. “So what do you think I should do?”

I sit there, staring at my bed spread, trying to figure out how to respond. There is a conflict of interest. I am obviously interested in Johnny and would definitely like for him to be single so that I can date him, but I also do not want to tell him that he should break up with his girlfriend because I’m afraid that I can’t be totally objective in this situation. Personally, if this had been Siwoo, I would’ve told him to break up with her. Perhaps Siwoo is not the best example, but that’s what we have to work with. Johnny’s not happy with Minji and he’s obviously flirting with another girl he likes more. What’s the point of prolonging it?

What’s with me in having guys with girlfriends being attracted to me?

Either they’re unhappy or unsatisfied or I just have a lot more power than I thought. The other explanation is that they’re just assholes.

Wow, Y/N, now you just attract assholes? That must say something about your personality.

Attempting to be as objective as possible, I decide to say the most neutral, yet important, thing I can.

“People don’t change, Johnny.”

He tilts his head. “What do you mean?”

“If you’re upset with the jealousy and the lack of ambition or whatever, that’s not going to change,” I say. “People only change if something drastic happens that causes them to be different.”

“So… are you saying I should break up with her?”

My eyes widen. “No, no,” I say quickly. “I did not say that. I’m just telling you that people don’t change. So it’s up to you whether or not you think it’s something you can handle.”

He’s quiet for a bit and then turns to look at me. “Do you really believe that?”

“Believe what?”

“That people don’t change.”

I nod slowly. “Yeah.”

“But I’m different now from a few years ago. I know a lot of people I grew up with who are different now.”

“Fundamentally, people don’t change. Yeah, you might pick up some new habits here and there, but generally, it’s hard to change unless you know there’s something you need to change,” I say. “And acknowledgement is only the beginning. You have to want to change too. If you don’t, then it doesn’t make a difference.”

“So, you don’t think Minji is going to change at all?”

I’m hesitant to make any comments specifically concerning Minji. So I give another open-ended answer. “If she thinks something needs to be changed and wants to, then maybe.”

In thinking about it, Siwoo is the perfect example here. No matter how many failed relationships he gets into, he never changes his behavior. Get together with one girl, cheat on her or treat her horribly, break up, feel bad for about two seconds, rinse, repeat. Somehow, it never fazes him.

I often wonder if there’s one girl out there that would break his heart enough that it would cause him to change. Even a little bit.

“I’m going to break up with her,” Johnny says after some time.

I look at him and say nothing.

“Yeah, I think it’s time to break up with her,” he says again.

“It’s your decision.”

He sighs. “Yeah, I know. I’m supposed to see her on Monday, so I’ll do it then.”

I remain silent and keep my facial expression neutral. If Johnny actually follows through with it, I’d be happy. But I don’t want to be the reason he breaks up with her. That’s not my place.

“Thanks,” he says and smiles. “You are pretty good at giving advice.”

“Oh, yeah,” I remark. “Sure.”

I put my phone down and lie back onto my pillow at the head of the bed. Crossing my arms across my chest, I close my eyes as a sudden drowsiness overcomes me. I hear some shifting at the end of the bed.

“Are you tired?” Johnny asks.

“Mm, a little,” I mumble.

A blanket is gently draped over me and I hum a quiet “thank you.” Everything is still and peaceful, but I can tell that Johnny is watching me.

And then he asks me a question.

“What if I told you I like you?”

My eyes shoot open in shock and Johnny is smiling down at me, a hopeful look etched into his features. I stare at him for a moment and knit my eyebrows together, having been rendered speechless by his confession.

My lack of response causes a bit of a panic in his eyes and he asks another question.

“Is that good or bad?”

Trying to remain calm, I close my eyes as if his question hadn’t just shocked me.

“It’s okay…” I respond.

Though my eyes are closed, a small part of me is laughing inside, half-aware that my unenthusiastic and non-idealistic response is not how he anticipated this to play out.

“So…” The unsteadiness in his voice is detectable. “What about you?”

“I do,” I answer simply.

“You do what?”

“I do like you.”

I open my eyes again and there’s a shy smile on his face.

“I think you’re really cute and I enjoy spending time with you and I want to keep spending time with you,” he continues.

He climbs up towards the front of the bed and lies with his back against the wall. I feel an arm reach around my waist.

“You—you can’t do that,” I say.

Johnny slowly removes his hand. “Why not?”

“You’re still with someone else.”

My voice is unsteady and I don’t trust it. But quite frankly, I’m not sure I trust my own judgment either.

I shut my eyes again, unable to fight the fatigue. A few moments pass before Johnny speaks again.

“Can I stay here?”

Y/N, you know that he shouldn’t.

“Yes.”

He pushes himself up off the bed and climbs over me. His feet land on the floor with a thump and he flips off the light switch. He quickly climbs back onto my bed and places himself where he was before. I’m on the edge of the bed and there’s about a foot of space in between the two of us. I hear him shuffling around and suddenly there’s a hand lightly resting on the exposed skin of my waist.

“No, you can’t do that,” I say more forcefully. “You’re still with someone.”

He quickly removes his hand this time and then says, “I think I’ll leave you alone then.”

He climbs off the bed again and I remain still until I hear the door open and close. Then I’m alone.

I slowly sit up. There’s a thin stream of moonlight peering in through the missing blind. Looking around the room, there’s enough light to see that Johnny had left his bag of pistachio nuts and the package of cookies on my desk. Biting my lip, I decide to go brush my teeth and wash my face, but when I look at my reflection in the mirror, I feel scared.

What are you doing?

What are you supposed to do with this confession?

Hell, you confessed yourself.

There’s a part of me that feels excited that a boy of interest has returned my affections, but suddenly I’m finding that I don’t know how to process it. I’ve had plenty of confessions before, but this is different and I don’t know why.

Prev | Next

Before I Met You Masterlist

Masterlist

#nct #nct 127 #jung jaehyun #na jaemin #mark lee #johnny suh #lucas wong #wong yukhei #nct lucas #nct jaemin #nct jaehyun #nct mark #nct dream #wayv #superm #before I met you

12 notes · View notes

oztrekk · 3 years

Text

Quarantine in Australia: Staying in the hotel

Hi again, everyone! My name is Radka and I’m in my second year at the University of Melbourne Dental School. I was fortunate enough to receive a travel exemption to travel back to Australia in order to complete my degree (you can read more about my experience flying back to Australia during COVID here!).

Once I found out that I had to complete a 14-day mandatory quarantine, I began scouring the internet for anything to help me prepare for my upcoming mission. Unfortunately, the material I found on the web was scarce and often depicted a rather negative experience.

Now, if it is of any consolation to you, I would like to let you know that quarantine is in fact not as bad as you may read about it being and I actually had a very pleasant experience. If you are going to be quarantining or if you are just a little curious then please keep reading!

My Hotel Room After arriving in Sydney, I was taken to the Sydney Harbour Marriott Hotel. My room was just your regular clean hotel room, complete with a queen bed, a desk, a sofa, a clean bathroom, and a fantastic view (I got really lucky with the view!). There was also a kettle to use for your coffee, tea, or soups, and a mini fridge to store extra food or water. There was also a hotel laundry service; however, that came with a fee of $35.

Tip: Pack lots of extra comfy clothes so you don’t have to worry about doing laundry. Or, if you would like to hand wash your clothes, consider packing a small amount of laundry detergent.

The hotel staff also brought by fresh towels and extra toiletries halfway through quarantine, so don’t fret because you in fact do not need to ration your toilet paper or clean towels! Of course, regular guest hotel services were available 24/7 with just a quick phone call to reception, so don’t be afraid to request whatever you may need. I ran out of toothpaste on day 3 of my stay and when I requested some from the guest services, they delivered a few tubes to my door.

The Food Before you check into your hotel room, the hotel staff will give you a form as ask you to identify any dietary restrictions, preferences, or allergies.

Breakfast was scheduled to arrive between 7 and 9 a.m., but it consistently arrived around 7:30 a.m. at my room.

Tip: Set an alarm to get out of bed to collect your breakfast around 7 a.m. so you don’t miss it!

Breakfast usually consisted of a bag of cereal (cornflakes, Kellogg’s All-Bran, Sultana Bran), a carton of milk, yogurt, and a cold fruit juice. Sometimes we would also have bagels with cream cheese and smoked salmon or some banana bread. All very delicious and very filling versions of breakfast!

Lunch would arrive around noon. This was by far my favourite meal of the day during quarantine. Lunch usually consisted of a colourful salad with some sort of protein (smoked salmon, chicken, beef), bread with butter, and a fruit. Since the breakfasts were very filling, I was never hungry for lunch… but I ate anyway. The odd time we had warm lunches, such as pad Thai, rice and chicken, or a delicious meat pie with mashed green peas.

Dinners were delicious as well, but not quite as good as the lunches, in my opinion. I had lamb with potatoes and baked carrots, steak with veggies and mashed potatoes, chicken parmigiana, and lots of different meals with fish and pasta! Dinner was served anywhere from 7 to 9 p.m., but most of my dinners arrived consistently around 7 p.m. Our dinners always included bread and butter, some sort of fruit, dessert, and a big, cold bottle of water.

Unfortunately, I did not enjoy most of the desserts. Sometimes we were given lemon tarts and apple tarts and those were my absolute favourite! Other times we were given small cakes and I did not enjoy those as much.

Tip: Bring lots of pre-packaged snacks because you might get bored or you might not like the snacks delivered with meals.

On my very last day of quarantine, the staff delivered a generous slice of red velvet cake to congratulate me on completing my 14-day quarantine. I thought that this was a very kind gesture and was a great way to end off my quarantine! (Unfortunately, my friends quarantining over at the Four Seasons did not get a farewell cake.)

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with how healthy and nutritious the meals were; however, I recommend packing some vitamin D supplements because the one thing your body will be deficient in during quarantine is sunlight access!

When I was craving something different, there were plenty of food delivery services available. My go-to is always Uber Eats, and thankfully my favourite treat (“Poke Bowls” from Poked) was near the hotel, so I ordered them a few times. I also gave the in-room dining menu a try and ordered a pizza. The hotel’s in-room dining prices have been reduced 30% for the quarantining guests to enjoy, so hopefully your hotel will offer you some sweet discounts as well!

The Drinks I was worried about how much water I would be provided, but thankfully I received plenty of water. I was given one bottle of cold water with every dinner. However, I recommend keeping the water bottles and refilling them with water and storing them in your fridge (this way you will always have cold, refreshing water available).

The hotel room was equipped with a kettle, a mini fridge, and the drawers were stalked up with lots of instant coffee and tea. The instant coffee did get a little boring after a few days, but thankfully a flat white was just one phone call away to Guest Services. It was $5 for a small coffee from the hotel but as soon as you order it they bring it up to your room with the receipt 🙂

If alcohol is something you would fancy, (Quarantininis, anyone?) the in-room dining menu served alcohol until 9 p.m. There were also alcohol delivery options available through third-party restaurants.

Staying busy This is very important because I am sure we can all agree that 14 days is a looong time! Thankfully, time flew by because I made sure to bring all my favourite hobbies with me. I love knitting so I made sure to pack lots of yarn for my quarantine. I also really enjoy sketching and so I would sketch on my iPad. I am a sucker for Australian reality TV too, so I binged watched the latest Married At First Sight (PS: lots of drama) and other fun shows on the 9now website.

Tip: Pack an HDMI cable to watch your favourite things on the hotel TV. You can only watch so many shows on Netflix sideways in bed!

I also spent half my day talking to loved ones back home on FaceTime and having daily workout sessions with my friend group back in Canada! Speaking of exercising, try to move around as much as possible. It’s so easy to spend the whole day sitting down, but I set alarms on my phone to remind me to get moving in any way possible.

Tip: When you are on the phone with your family and friends or listening to podcasts, try pacing up and down the room rather than sitting in a chair.

And don’t worry if you don’t have any hobbies or you cannot physically bring your hobbies with you during quarantine. You can use this time to learn something new!

COVID-19 Testing The hotel nurses will knock on your door on Day 3 and Day 10 to conduct mandatory COVID tests. At the end of my stay a doctor and an officer knocked on my door to provide me with a certificate that stated that I had tested negative for COVID-19. You will need to keep these documents with you because the hotel staff will ask to see them on the day of your check-out. The doctor also provided me with a bracelet that said “COVID19 NSW SATURDAY.” I assumed this was so hotel and airport staff would know that I had completed my quarantine.

The nurses will also call you daily to check up on your physical health and your mental health status. The nurses are very friendly and want to help you, so don’t hesitate to talk to them and tell them how you’re feeling. If you become sick or require medical help at any point during your quarantine stay, there are doctors and nurses available 24/7 to provide you with medical assistance.

Final Thoughts Overall, my quarantine experience was pleasant (believe it or not). I love to relax and I really value my “me time,” so I approached quarantine as an opportunity to enjoy lots of relaxation.

With all that being said, I encourage you to sit back, relax, and try your best to enjoy your two weeks with a cleared schedule, no alarms, no appointments, and no daily obligations. Embrace your time off my friends and really, really try to make the most of it! Your quarantine experience may be a story you will be telling for the rest of your life, so why not make it a pleasant one to tell your great grandchildren!

Take care everyone and thanks for your time! 🙂

Sincerely, Radka

#covid quarantine #australia quarantine #study in australia #university of melbourne students #hotel quarantine

2 notes · View notes

farelian · 4 years

Text

Galactic Quarrels: Unexpected Visitor

And here I am, back again with another edition to this series. Thank you all for your support, this one I flashed through and had so much fun writing it! Be prepared for the next one because things are about to get... teddy bit crowded

~~~~~~~

In the early morning, as the sun rises over the horizon, Michael is out on the balcony doing stretches, bending his body and legs in ways a Zarqonan would most definitely find disgusting and painful.

Taking a deep breath, he opened his eyes returning back into reality, looking left and right looking at all the high-rise buildings and the large blue lake over in the distance.

He needs to maintain his physique and strength, but as of now, he hasn’t built up the courage to go outside in sleeveless shirts and running pants with shoes. So to substitute for it, he starts doing body exercises and stretching in his residence.

Walking back inside he walked to the coffee table picking up his holo-watch and taps it a few times. Screens show up showing his fitness routine and exercise record, not enough by him letting out a disappointed sigh.

He is still a citizen of the UTF as per the migration deal, he’s basically just out on vacation instead of moving away from his parent’s house and finally moving into his own.

And being a citizen of the UTF, he is still a Lieutenant in Frontier Command, UTF’s equivalent of a space army and fleet.

He wonders if he should go home again.

Turning the watch off and placing it back on the table, he walked to the kitchen counter taking his glass of orange juice. It’s a surprise when he got a package of Earth’s fruits, he also got a blender so better use it rather than leaving them in the fridge.

He feels watched though, the last few days he has this unease in his heart and the feeling of being watched 24/7, even when he’s going to go to sleep. He looked up and around the apartment again, there have to be cameras in here there has to be.

He returned his focus back to his orange juice and went behind the counter to blend some dragonfruit. The sounds of the motor and turning blades blast the room while the noise of the fruit being chopped and blended echoes outside into the hallway.

“I hope they don’t think I’m making a bomb in here” *He muttered to himself as he waited and waited. Turning it off and pouring it into another glass, he raised it up to his mouth, ready to drink the dragonfruit only to be interrupted by the quiet knocking of the front door.

“What?” He said quietly, he knows Yaku, or any Zarqonan never knocks on the door and just burst in unannounced, this is new. “Coming” He yelled putting down the glass of dragonfruit and cleans his lips with some tissues before walking to the door.

He looked around again as that feeling of being watched still lingers, then he faced the door. No peephole or see-through tech, he wished he was back on Earth now. Taking a deep breath, he reached for the knob. This feels different, it feels like it’s not a Zarqonan over on the other side. Could it be a Murumur? Could it even be a government agent that came to pick him up without telling him in advance?

He doesn’t know.

He doesn’t know if he opens the door he will wake up inside a shipping crate on his way to the edge of the galaxy to be sold in the galactic black market.

A muffled feminine voice can be heard. “Come on what’s taking so long?” Human, a human voice.

He’s taken aback, he turned the knob and slide the door open and looked down at the figure. A human woman, wearing a black and dark red coat with a full military-style uniform. Taking a quick glance at the woman’s face, yellowish eyes with hair that’s tied back into a long ponytail that stretched down to her hips.

Around 5’7” tall, he couldn’t believe it. “Um, hello how may I help you?” Michael let out an uncomfortable chuckle. “Haven’t seen a human face for a while”

“Of course you haven’t” The woman replied with a relatively sour but somehow comforting attitude. “Jill Porter, nice to meet you, Michael”

“You know me?”

The woman laughed while nodding. “Everyone knows you, Lieutenant! The mad man that wants to migrate to the Zarqon homeworld” Mad man? Is that his title now? The mad lieutenant?

“Oh, that’s uh… interesting I guess” “Yeah, interesting indeed” Jill claps her hands together and peeked into his apartment. “Can I come in?” Michael stepped aside. “Sure, let yourself in.”

As the woman walked into Michael’s apartment, he walked into the kitchen finally drinking his glass of dragonfruit while the door automatically closes itself. Glancing back towards the girl, he prepped a cup. “Tea or coffee? They’ve come from those weekly packages.” He said taking the coffee jar.

Jill took a seat on the armchair in the living room, looking back at him. “Cofee would be good” Then she looked up and around his apartment. “Nice place”

“I thought every room is designed like this?” He responded while brewing a cup of coffee.

“I mean yeah mine is basically a carbon copy but it’s nice to be polite” Jill replied with a chuckle as she fixed her attention to the tv, turning it on.

He walked over placing the coffee onto the coffee table and sat on the couch, leaning forward resting his elbow on his thighs folding his hands together. “Alright, cut the chit chat. Who are you and what do you want?”

Jill laughed as she looked back at Michael with a smile. “Are you deaf? I just said who I am. Jill Porter.” She shrugged and tilted her head. “For what I want, I want you to help me here.” She said pointing at Michael.

Silence, a few seconds pass by without a word being spoken before Michael replied to her request. “I like to know who my employer is.”

Jill laughed once again, shaking her head then nods. “You’re smart Michael, no wonder you go through the ranks at a young age.” Jill reached into her coat and pulled out an id card. “Jill Porter, lead xenobiologist for the Putter Institute.”

He took the id card and looked at it. A rotating model of Jill, name, age, occupation. He returned it and sighed. “Alright, what do you need help with?”

“I need a willing specimen, a Zarqonan”

“And what will you do with them?”

Jill pulled out a holoprojector. “Exactly one week ago a Zarqonan arrived at our local Topirus branch, the outermost colony in UTF space” An image of the Zarqonan in question appeared. “She is missing a back-left tentacle after a horrible accident in one of their orbital research stations.

To create the prosthetic requested by the Zarqonan, we need to examine the back-left tentacle.”

“Let me guess, they don’t let any humans onto the station?” Michael concluded first before she continued.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Alright, I understand why you’re here now,” He said nodding while Jill put away the projector.

Jill leaned back into the armchair. “So, lieutenant? Can you help”

A few seconds of silence as Michael stared at the ground. He looked back up and answered. “I know a girl”

~~~~

Michael’s residence has been turned into a makeshift examination lab and Yaku was brought in for the examination. The xenobiologist, Jill, worked examining Yaku’s left-back tentacle taking scans and examining its structure.

Yaku herself did not mind but is thinking if there’s another way to make this more efficient and not resulting in a mess.

Power cables scattered across the floor connecting the power to the lights and scanning equipment Jill brought with her. The doctor looked eager examining the subject, asking Yaku all sorts of questions.

“So what are the purposes of your tentacles?” The doctor asked while Michael is leaning back against the wall on the opposite side of the room.

Moving up one of her two front tentacles, she speaks. “The two front tentacles are used to maneuver, turning left and right and to slow down.” She then lowered the tentacle lifting up one of the back ones. “The back is for moving around.”

Michael grunted as he pushed himself off the wall and walked over, crossing his arms on his chest. “I still don’t know why you just don’t render a model immediately and make it.”

While continuing the examination, Jill answered. “At Putter we do not waste resources. We take the exact measurements, the exact height and preferred weight, joints and muscle contraction points” Writing the last bit of info into her datapad she stood back up.

“Also, this is a great learning experience for us, in the case aliens demands for prosthetic rises,” She said turning away to the table and portable little computer transferring the data.

“So there’s a consumer satisfaction stance, and a marketing stance,” Michael concluded once again.

“A hundred percent correct Michael, I thought you would be hard to work with” She turned back around. “But it looks like everything worked out fine.”

Michael turned to Yaku and nods. “Thank you Yaku”

“No problem Sir Michael, I’m glad to help.” Yaku said turning to Jill and make an attempt at smiling.

The two humans not noticing the subtle small attempt of smiling, both of them shook hands. “Well looks like everything’s done now, thank you, Michael, I’ll get an update soon enough”

“My pleasure” Letting go of the firm handshake. “Well since everyone is bored and doesn’t have shit to do, want to stay and watch some movies?”

Jill chuckled and shrugged with a smile. “Well sure! Just don’t put on a romantic one, we’re not there yet.”

Michael laughed and waved her away. “Oh, how bold of you to think that we are already in a relationship? We’re just acquaintances” That gained laughter from the opposition. Michael turned to Yaku and gestured to the couch and armchair. “You want to join Yaku?”

Yaku looked over at the couch and tv before nodding slightly. “I would love to.”

“Great!” Michael was about to go to the kitchen only to realize all the equipment in his room. “Oh uh, clean this mess first would you?”

Things are starting to get a tad bit crowded.

#humannature #humans are awesome #HUMANS ARE WEIRD #humans are crazy #humans are strange #humans are insane #humans are space australians #humans are space oddities #sci-fi #sciencefiction #science-fantasy #Alien #humans #space orcs #Space Orks #humans are space orcs #galactic quarrels #galactic quarrels series

62 notes · View notes

lovewriting-5 · 4 years

Text

Roads:

*gif credit goes to @angelshizuka*

6. Sand Castle

8. Long Road Ahead

7. Room With A View:

We walk pass the front office as the manager turns the lights off. Daniel is carrying Mushroom. He asks “Do you think it will have Netflix? Or a jacuzzi?” Sean tells him “Dude, this is a motel, not an Airbnb. If we’re lucky, it’ll have cable and a hot shower.” We trudge up the stairs and Daniel reached room 10 first. He says “Look! Room 10! I found it!” Sean says “No shit, Sherlock Diaz.”

I unlocked the door and Daniel was the first one through. He noticed the bathtub and says “Check it out! It even has a bathtub!” Sean tells him “Good! We’re gonna throw you in, cave boy!” Next thing, Daniel noticed was the TV, then he takes in the rest of the room. He places Mushroom on the left side bed. He says “We can even watch TV, too! And there’s a balcony! Whoa, this is nice! And warm!”

Sean plugs his phone into the charger. Daniel takes off his shoes and climbs on the other bed. I sit down on the left side bed and begin petting Mushroom. It feels really good to sit down on an actual bed and inside a warm room.

Danie sits down on the bed closest to the TV, “Oooh...This bed is soft...What about this one?” He gets up and moves to the bed where I was sitting with Mushroom. He says “Uuuh, not bad...But too far from the TV!” He asks Sean “Can I take...the one in front of the TV? Huh? Wanna play it over rock, paper, scissors?” Sean getting ready, says “Oh, there’s no way you can beat me, but...Ready?” Daniel says “I am sooo ready to beat you!”

Sean won, Daniel says “Aww...shoot.” Sean tells him “I told you, man.” He asks “Can we play another round? Come on!” Sean says “Sure, I mean...you’re gonna lose again, but...suit yourself!” Pretty confident, he says “Not this time!” Sean won the second game. Daniel not happy, says “Aww...Come on...Not fair...” He says “You lost, man! What’s not fair?” Daniel says “I wanted that bed.” He decided to give up “Eh...take it.” Daniel asks “For real?” He says “I don’t really care.” Daniel hugs him and says “Awesome!” Sean trying to convince him, “They’re the same, y’know?” He says “Yeah, but I like this one better!”

Daniel picks up Mushroom, moves to the bed and sets her in front of him. Then he turns on the TV. Sean says to him “All right. I’m gonna run a bath. We totally reek.” He says “Especially you! “Pig-pen!” Sean says “I wouldn’t be so sure, cave boy. I’ll call you when it’s ready.” He says “I’ll be right here!” Sean says “Course you will...” Daniel turns on Hawt Dawg Man, “Oh cool! HAWT DAWG MAN IS ON! Ooooo, I remember this episode! Weird it’s on so late...”

Daniel begins going through his new backpack. He pulls a little blue square package out. He says “Yuk, Sean! There’s a condom in my bag...Gross!” Sean yells “Hey!” I get up and walk to the bathroom door. I say “So...Sean...I see what your party plans were for tonight.” He looks at me and gives an embarrassed smile. I give him a smirk and walk back to the bed.

As Daniel and I watch Hawt Dawg Man, I noticed a little hula girl sitting on the bedside table. I point to it and ask, “What’s that?” Daniel says “It was in Brody’s car.” I ask “He gave it to you?” He says, sheepishly “Uhhh...Well...Yeah!” I ask “You stole it from him?” He says “I dunno...it looked cool and...Sean stole before, so I thought...” I tell him “Stealing is bad. We only do it if...we really need it. Okay? Plus...Brody was super nice with us...” He asks “If it’s bad, then...why did Sean do it?” Sean comes back out of the bathroom for a second, “Hey! We had to. It was different! I don’t want you stealing around, understand?” Daniel nods as the hula girl sits on the bedside table, “Yeah. Okay...”

Sean sits on the other bed next to me. He asks “So...What’s up?” I tell him “The Buns want to catch Hawt Dawg Man...and turn him into sausage meat!” He says “Oh yeah! The Giant Meatball attacks in the next episode, right?” Daniel says “Yes! And they get to meet the city Mayo!” Sean says “Man, it’s been ages...” He asks “Why don’t you watch Hawt Dawg Man with me anymore?” Sean gets up and moves next to him, “I’m too old, dude...And I’ve seen it so many times.” He says “Okay, grandpa Sean! Feels so good to sit down and watch TV!”

Sean says “True” then begins to tickle him, “Watch out for grandpa Sean!” Daniel while laughing, “Stop! Sean! No! Come on!” I begin laughing along with them. Sean says “Next time you’ll respect the old man!” After a few minutes of everyone catching their breaths, Sean says “Okay. I’m done here.” Daniel says “You’re missing the best part!” He tells him “I know. But I gotta take care of the bath. Don’t forget, you’re up soon!” Daniel says “I know!”

Sean decides to step out on the balcony for a few minutes. I pick up the towels from the bed and hang them in the bathroom. I remind Daniel “There are fresh towels in the bathroom.” He says “Yeah, yeah...”

That’s when Sean came back in from the balcony. I told him “I put the towels in the bathroom.” Sean says “Thank you, I’ll go ahead and check the tub for Prince Daniel.” Daniel was too focused on Hawt Dawg Man to hear. He walks in to the bathroom and I hear the faucet being turned off. Daniel says to me “This episode is awesome. You should sit down and watch it with me!” I sit down on the bed to watch.

After five minutes, Sean yells “HEY, DANIEL, BATH’S READY!” Daniel disappointed, yells “What?! Already? Can I finish this episode first?” He tells him “No man. You smell so bad, there’s no time to lose.” Daniel picked up Mushroom and walked to the bathroom, he says to him “Hey, you smell too!”

There were small bubbles starting to come from the bathroom. Daniel excitedly, says “Oh my God...Whoa! So many bubbles!” Sean says “Try and keep them in the bathtub.” He is now looking forward to it, says “I will! Promise! Thanks!” Sean reminds him “And no, the dog is not taking a bath with you!” A little disappointed, he says “Okay, okay! Don’t worry.”

Sean checks on Daniel quickly, then walks to pick his phone up from the charger. I walk with him out to the balcony. I say “It’s nice and peaceful out here.” He says while looking down at his phone “Yeah.” He turns it on and notices a lot of texts coming in, “Shit! Lyla’s freaking out. Should I leave her out of this? I think she’ll get in trouble.” I peered over his shoulder at the phone screen and noticed all the texts from her. I tell him “She might or she might worry ever more.” He decides to not call her.

I throw my phone, when I noticed he sat down in one of the white plastic chairs out here. I sit on his left side when he pulls up a video of him, Daniel and Esteban from Christmas. I lay my head on his left shoulder as he presses play.

The video begins with Sean making sure the camera is working, “Okay! Wait...Okay, okay...And...ACTION!” The camera is on Esteban who yells to Daniel “Daniel! Get your butt in here right now!” Daniel thinking he’s in trouble “What? What did I do?” Esteban holding up a small box wrapped in colorful paper, says “You forgot to open this present!” He opens the box and is disappointed “What is this? Socks...Underwear...That’s it?” Esteban playing it cool, says “Yeah, pretty cool, huh? That’s what I got when I was a kid...” He’s not buying it, says “Not funny...” Sean can be heard laughing from behind the camera, “Yeah it is! Dude! Check out your face!”

Out of the corner of my eyes, I see him begin to tear up. He wipes the tears away on his sleeve. I place an arm around his shoulders and place my chin on his left shoulder as the video continues. Daniel notices a medium size box left under the tree. He says excitedly “What, what...Look! There’s another one here! What is it...?” Esteban moves to help him with it, “Daniel...let me help...Looks bigger than underwear...”

They both continue to tear the paper. Daniel’s face lights up “Ooooh, what? No way! Can’t believe it! The new...PlayBox! Thank you Santa!” As he looks to his dad. Denying it, he says “Hey, don’t look at me...You were a good boy this year...” Sean jokingly annoyed, says “Yeah. Lucky boy.” Esteban reminds him “Daniel. This is for the whole family too, right? So you gotta share...With me! I want to play that game where you steal cars and go on high speed pursuit...”

Sean jokingly tells him “Dad, you totally suck at games...” Esteban looking to get him back, says “Oh yeah, track star? I was the dodge-ball champ of my high school...So duck!” The ball comes toward the camera and hits Sean in the arm, “Ow! No fair!” Daniel blocking the PlayBox, “You guys, don’t crush the PlayBox! Hey! Let’s set it up! Dad, come on!” He got hit with the ball and kept it, “Ow! Okay! My ball now! Watch out!” Esteban says “Merry Christmas, kids...” The video ends with Esteban wearing a Christmas sweater. Daniel is holding the PlayBox with decorations in the background.

Sean then gets up and throws the phone toward the beach. He takes a few minutes before heading back. I heard music coming from the room. I turn around and see Daniel rocking out on top of the bed. We walk into ‘Banquet’ by Bloc Party blaring from the TV.

Sean asks “Are you kidding me?” Daniel says while dancing “Remember that song?! Come on! Dance!” We join him on the bed, Sean says “Oh man! We haven’t played Guitar Fighter for years!” He says “You never beat my score!” Sean tells him “You played on Easy Mode. I was on Hardcore, dude!” Daniel says “You’re so jealous! I’m the best guitar player!” Mushroom is barking happily while the three of us are dancing. After the songs ends, Sean steps down and turns off the TV.

I step down while Daniel jumps to sit down. Sean says “Daniel...Come here. We need to talk.” Daniel asks “Can we get a drink first? I’m thirsty...” He asks “Right now?” Daniel says “You said I could have a coke...or something...” He says “Okay. I’ll get you a soda. But when I come back...we’re going to talk. Serious.” Daniel says “Fine...What’s the big deal?” Sean leaves the room.

I sit with Daniel and check to see how he’s doing. He seems happier and more relaxed. Next, we start talking about random things. He can come up with anything to talk about. I went to use the bathroom and when I came out, Daniel had the remote in his hand. The local news was on. Everything was going fine until they mentioned Seattle.

Daniel shouts “Dad!” Objects started floating and the lights started flickering. I say “Daniel!” He managed to push the beds aside. The desk and chairs were tipped over. The lights are going haywire.

That’s when Sean runs in and sees what is happening. Daniel’s fists are clenched with tears in his eyes and there is a photo of Esteban on the TV. He says “Oh fuck! Oh my God...Daniel...?! What is happening?! Daniel, calm down!” Daniel is angry and I’m trying to comfort Mushroom who is barking. Daniel yells “YOU LIED! Dad! Our dad is dead!”

The news shows the headline BREAKING NEWS: 2 DEAD IN SEATTLE INCIDENT. Daniel yells “WHY?” Sean frighteningly tells him “It was an accident! A cop fucked up and shot him! That’s it.” He angrily, yells “No! No! IT’S NOT TRUE!” Sean says upset “I’m so sorry...” Daniel gestures to the TV and says “Why? Why did you LIE to me?!” Sean tells him upset and trying to calm him “I just wanted to protect you until I could-“ He says “Protect me from what? You?” There was a loud tearing of fabric as Sean is pushed back. He says “Daniel, I...” Daniel yells “I hate you!”

The closet door bursts open and the contents fly out. Daniel tells him “You’re not my brother!” Sean says more upset with tears in his eyes, “Don’t say that. I know I messed up everything. We’re gonna get through this...”

Sean tries to get closer to him. Daniel yells “Don’t touch me!” Sean finally reached him and pulled him in to a hug. He says “Daniel! Please!” Daniel tries to break from him but Sean hugs him tight. Daniel says “No!” Sean slowly begins to calm him down, “Shh...It’s okay...”

Everything falls to the floor as Mushroom and I step forward as Daniel begins to cry. He says “I want dad...” Sean tells him “Me too.” The lights stop flickering as the three of us look around. Daniel says “You told me, we were gonna see dad...” Sean says “I’m sorry...I just...” He says “Just don’t lie to me ever again. Ever.” Sean tells him “I promise. I won’t lie to you again. I promise.” Daniel looks at me. I nod and tell him “I promise as well.” He says while crying “I’m serious...” Sean says “I know...Me too, Daniel...” Daniel asks “What are we gonna do without him?” He says “Sssshhhh...It’s gonna be okay. It’s gonna be okay.”

#Sean Diaz x reader #Sean Diaz imagines #Life is Strange 2 fanfiction #Sean Diaz #Life is Strange 2 #LiS2 #Life is Strange #LiS #Life is Strange fanfiction #Life is Strange x reader #Life is Strange 2 x reader

23 notes · View notes

nickburn · 4 years

Text

Thoughts on the Oculus Quest and VR after One Week

Last week, I obtained an Oculus Quest, fulfilling a goal I had for this year of buying my first VR headset. I’ve been really interested in VR for years, and now feels like a great time to get into it, if you have the dough. Since I’m still fairly uncomfortable with traveling, I figured a headset would allow me to escape to faraway lands from the comfort of my studio apartment. The Quest in particular was enticing because, unlike most powered headsets, it doesn’t require a tether to an expensive PC or console. Now that I’ve had some time with it to explore the headset and some apps, I’d like to talk through my first impressions here.

The Oculus Quest

I got the 64 GB Oculus Quest through Amazon for $400, and I feel like it’s important to say that upfront. I recognize it’s a privilege just to be able to afford something like this right now, let alone have a decent job that allows for it. VR is not as cheap as it should be yet, but I think it will be within the next five years or so.

64 GB is plenty so far, and I can’t see the size limit becoming a problem for a while. Maybe once more premium apps like Half-Life Alyx hit the Quest I’ll regret it, but for now I’m totally happy with the smaller hard drive. The controllers are super comfortable and responsive, though figuring out left from right takes some getting used to, especially with something blocking your vision. But it’s easy enough once you realize that the second trigger is on the inside of the controller, so the wrong orientation will feel awkward. The device and controllers are very portable, if awkward to transport because of their shape and fragility. I expect I’ll have to purchase a carrying case for them sooner or later, but for now a backpack has sufficed.

The headset itself is truly a wonder. The four cameras on the front can create a live black and white feed of your surroundings so you don’t bump into things if you walk with it on, and they can even track just your hands for additional control options (currently in beta). The straps allow for easy size adjustments, and they’re tough enough that I don’t feel like they’ll wear down any time soon. There’s a slider for the lenses to adjust your viewing angle if things still look blurry, and the lenses themselves blend nicely into your vision, so you truly feel like you’re in another place with the headset on and running. The built-in speakers only heighten this effect, providing a surround sound experience in a small package. There are headphone jacks on the sides of the headset as well, but I haven’t had cause to use them yet.

The hub interface experience is fairly smooth, and you can choose your background environment for it from several thematic choices. Getting around the menus is easy enough, but it can be hard to know what to look for or even where to start. There are a few free demos, but after that you’re on your own to discover what’s best for you. Since VR is still so new to most people, I would like a little more guidance there, but I’m enjoying the process of discovering things for myself too. One nice thing is every game is listed with a comfort rating, so you know which are likely to give you motion sickness and which are basically 3D movies.

Beat Saber

It’s no secret Beat Saber is one of the most successful VR games so far, and it lives up to the hype. It’s a rhythm game where you have to slash at different colored blocks with the corresponding saber, in time with the music and in the right direction. You also dodge obstacles on occasion, either by leaning or ducking. This sounds simple, but it allows for a ton of different patterns and complexity. The best levels have really satisfying sequences to perform, and it does almost feel like conducting or drumming along with the music. The main campaign is surprisingly lengthy and difficult. At one point, it starts to require you to go against your instincts and mess up songs on purpose in order to not let your combo go above a certain number or to hit a required number of misses. I’m sure they were added to give the game some more mechanical depth, but I’m not sure they’re necessary. Fortunately, there’s also a solo mode and leaderboard where you can play any song you have access to on any difficulty you like. I haven’t bought more songs yet, but I suspect I will before long. Overall, this is an easy game to recommend and a must-play for anyone with access to VR.

The Climb

I’m a novice rock climber who hasn’t been able to go to a gym since March, so this game caught my eye. It gives you the experience of free soloing (climbing tall, long routes without a harness or other people) and bouldering (climbing very short but difficult routes, which is the style I prefer in real life). So far, I’ve only tried the tutorial, and I’m still working up the courage to go back. The game gives me a lot of vertigo and kind of freaks me out, as your character screams for their life whenever you fall (which, in the tutorial at least, will happen often as you learn the controls). Falling is a very real part of climbing, but if you’re doing it right, you should never get hurt. Free soloing is only really attempted by the most expert climbers, and even many of them die in their attempts. A better way to experience it though is through the Free Solo 360 VR documentary by National Geographic, which is free on the app store and thrilling to watch, just like the regular doc. I’m sure I’ll go back to this game soon, but I’m not sure how long it’ll take me to get used to falling in VR.

National Geographic VR

This game is very cute and allows you to play the part of a National Geographic photographer in Machu Picchu and Antarctica. So far I’ve only started the Machu Picchu route, but I really like it. Your producers tasks you with getting different shots, and you have several locations to choose from in each area. Not very deep, but the views are great.

Job Simulator

In Job Simulator, you play a boring, everyday employee for sentient, floating robot TV’s in a few different roles, and it’s awesome. There’s tons of physics objects to play with, which is definitely one of my favorite parts of VR. The writing is clever, the world is cartoon-like and inviting, and it’s much better than actual work. This is another game I’d strongly recommend for VR beginners like myself.

Netflix VR

As weird as it sounds, I like Netflix in VR. The TV in the environment seems much larger than the one I own in real life, so it feels bigger even though it’s virtual. I like the cabin setting and atmosphere, and it beats staring at my apartment walls. I was able to watch several episodes of Death Note in a row pretty easily, although the headset does start to feel heavy after a while. I wouldn’t say this is the ideal way to stream TV by any means, but it’s worth a try as a fun distraction.

Other Odds and Ends

I’ve dabbled with various other apps and games so far, as one does when one acquires a new electronic toy. I started the tutorial of Vader Immortal Episode 1, and it has you deflecting lasers and slashing robots just like a Jedi, so I’m excited to start that game properly. I was able to hook up my headset to my PC in order to try Google Earth, and it’s great. I don’t think my PC will be able to handle much else, however, so I’m thinking about upgrading it relatively soon. It is nice to know, though, that all you need to make the connection now is a USB 2.0/3.0 to USB-C cable. Until May, you had to buy a special $80 cable directly from Oculus, so I’m glad they removed that barrier. I still feel weird about Superhot in VR. I’ve tried it once before, and the demo still felt awkward to me this time. You have to be so precise in Superhot that dodging bullets while attacking and moving becomes really strenuous, and I don’t think the game really accommodates that well.

Next Steps

All that said, I’m looking forward to digging into all the games I’ve only touched the surface on as well as exploring new things. I’ll try to continue to document my thoughts here so you can all share in my journey with me. I’m coming to realize that VR time is separate from my regular gaming time, in that the experience is totally different. It’s not a replacement for the games I own already; it’s an expansion on a medium and still very new. But there’s something very freeing and magical about VR that comes with the masking of the senses and trickery that the headset provides. Very soon, within the next three to five years even, I think it’ll be much more commonplace.

Thank you for reading if you got this far! And let me know what comments or questions you have here or on Twitter. :)

#vr #oculus quest #video games #vacation ideas #beat saber #job simulator

10 notes · View notes

thenewlarislynn · 4 years

Text

Coffee Stained Confusion Ch 12

~~~

When you finally emerged from the basement, the tower was in chaos. The whole building was in lockdown and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were in a frenzy. Tony greeted you both at the stairs.

“Well, glad to see you both well after that little, what would PR call it? ‘Elevator incident.’ I suppose Barnes will need to see a medic, but hotshot we need you upstairs. The rest of the team is meeting to discuss what happened. I know you aren’t sure if you’re joining yet, but they need a briefing on Alicia. Tell them everything you know.” He turned to walk away but paused, “And tell Rogers to dig up any old HYDRA files we have. After what happened here, we’ll need them,”

Bucky turned to you, “The meeting room is three floors up. I can show you the way there, if you want.”

“I think I’ll be able to find my way, besides you need to wait here for the medic.”

“Alright then,” he smirked, “I’ll see later, phoenix.”

Making your way upstairs you started to regret your decision of refusing Bucky’s escort. You were about to meet the Avengers, by yourself nonetheless, and you looked like you’d been through hell. To be fair, you basically had, but they didn’t need to know that.

Heart pounding you stepped into the conference room. You saw Sam and instantly felt a little bit better. At least you weren’t completely alone. The team sat at a table, debating something heatedly. The moment you walked in, however, they all stopped and turned to you.

“Uh, hi.” Just great, your mind decided to skip town at the worst possible moment. “I’m Y/N, Tony told me to come here and brief you guys on Alicia.”

Thor smiled encouragingly, “Yes, her escape has us all baffled.”

“We believe that HYDRA got their hands on a blueprint of the tower before their infiltration was discovered.” Steve chimed in.

“Although Tony is constantly modifying things,” Rhodey countered, “which means we may still have some moles.”

Natasha rolled her eyes. “Or boys, the most likely option of all. They hacked into our servers and turned off the power, giving some of their agents time to sneak in, break Alicia out, and cut a few elevator cables too.”

“Now I may not be an expert on Midgardian technology, but I thought Stark’s computers were fully secured?” Thor questioned.

Steve responded, “They should be, but HYDRA has some tech specialists. One of their scientists had his entire consciousness uploaded onto a computer database.”

“You should have seen it,” chuckled Natahsa, “extremely creepy.”

“So we’re just going to assume that since they can make a guy into a robot that they can get past Stark’s firewall?” Rhodey scoffed.

Soon they began arguing again, which seemed to go on for ages. Your mind reeled trying to keep up with the conversation. Finally Bruce Banner cut in, “Well, Y/N is here, maybe she can inform us on what Alicia is most likely to do.”

Sam nodded at you. You could do this. “Well, with me, she played more of the long game. She pretended to be my best friend all throughout college. So, for almost six years now. Uh, we were majoring in law so it was supposed to be eight years instead of the regular four. But HYDRA wasn’t very secretive about the murder of former double agents. They used very obvious poisons, ones that were just discussed in the biology course Alicia and I take. Well, used to take, I guess.”

“I don’t understand.” Wanda said, “Why would they use something so obvious? Isn’t flying under the radar like their whole thing?” “We aren’t sure yet, but I’ve been thinking about it and it may be a way of them taunting S.H.I.E.LD. If I learned one thing, it’s that Alicia loves a spectacle.”

Bucky walked into the room, his ribs bandaged and some fresh stitches on his forehead, but looking much better than before. “Well if she wants a spectacle,” he said, “why don’t we give it to her.”

“I know you probably just got concussed,” Sam said, “but what the hell are you talking about dude?”

“In the infirmary I spoke with an agent who was knocked out by some HYDRA thugs. He said one of them he had seen around for a week or so. But the other two he had never seen before. They probably had a few moles in here to learn how to hack into the power supply and then sneak in some more when the power was out.” “But how would they know that Alicia would be captured?” Natasha questioned.

“They didn’t.” Bucky replied, “That threw a wrench in their plans.” He stepped next to you, “So did Y/N here, which is why they tried to dispose of us both with the elevator stunt. That didn’t work so well though, considering we’re both still here.”

“So what do you suggest we do?” Steve asked.

“The agent gave me a location, where they might be taking her. S.H.I.E.L.D has apparently been scoping the place out?”

“How do we know that this is legitimate information?” Tony asked, entering the room.

“Well we don’t, not yet. But we can reconfirm with Fury.” “Sure, I’ll give him a ring. He just loves my calls.” Tony said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

“Considering you skipped the meeting Tony,” Steve glared, “you can do this one thing. Unless, of course, you want to be searching for her for another few months, and let more good agents get killed. No? Then I strongly suggest you give Fury a call.” Steve stood up and glanced at you, “Speaking of, Y/N here knows some more about the murders, so you may want to look over her uh, biology notes. They may contain the next poison to be used.” With that, he left the room.

You glanced awkwardly around the room, waiting for someone to speak next. When no one did, you cleared your throat and said, “I have the notes in my bag, if they’d be helpful.”

“They should be in your room, we can go get them now.” Bucky said reassuringly.

The two of you exited the conference room, and you felt a sigh of relief wash over you. It wasn’t that you didn’t feel safe around the Avengers, you did, but you were terrified of saying the wrong thing and making a fool of yourself.

“That went well,” Bucky said, but you weren’t entirely convinced. “No, really, they actually listened to what you had to say. It took them awhile before they truly paid attention to what I told them.”

“Thank you, and thank you for getting me out of there.”

“Well, to be fair, we do need to get those notes, and you looked like you needed a breath of fresh air.”

You nodded. “I did, to be honest. It’s a lot of pressure. But,” you paused, and glanced down, “that won’t stop me from joining. After all of this, I don’t think that a future in law is for me. Going back to college isn’t a possibility. I think my future is here.” Bucky broke into a grin, “I’m glad. We need you here.” Under his breath, he muttered something, but you couldn’t quite make it out.

“What was that last part?”

“Oh nothing, just, uh, thinking. Only one more flight of stairs and we’ll be there.” Was that a slight blush on his cheeks or was it just your imagination?

Finally, you made it to a door with a security scanner next to it. Bucky cursed, “My security card was damaged in the fall. Let’s try getting in a different way. FRIDAY, requesting access?” FRIDAY responded, “Access granted. The package for Miss Y/N has been delivered to her room.” “A package?”

Bucky glanced down, “It’s probably just your books. They had to be collected from the apartment, so they must have arrived late.” The door swung open to reveal a series of rooms, mainly in a monochromatic theme. Little bursts of color appeared throughout in the form of paintings.

Walking up to one, you saw the artist’s signature and gasped. “Bucky you painted this? It’s beautiful.”

He smiled shyly, “After leaving HYDRA, and having done nothing but cause pain, I wanted to be able to do something good. So I took up painting. Growing up, Steve was always the artist, I never really thought I’d be good at it,” he chuckled, “apparently I have a bit of a knack for it. Your room is down that hall there if you want to grab your notes. I’m going to get changed into some fresh clothes, but let me know if you need anything.

You walked down the hall and saw an open door, sitting on the bed in the room were your notebooks in a neat pile. Next to them was a package wrapped neatly in plain wrapping paper. Written on it was a note, “Phoenix, just in case you decide to join the team. ~From, Bucky”. Gently unwrapping the package, you found a suit inside, with orange-red flames in spirals across it. It was beautiful. A knock came at the door. “I hope you like it. I didn’t want to assume anything about you joining, but after what you said about the tattoo I thought, well anyways. I talked with Tony before stopping by the meeting and asked him to have it made for you. If you don’t like it you could get another one-” You cut him off, “No, it’s absolutely perfect, I love it! Thank you.” You walked over to him and wrapped him in a hug. He froze for a moment before returning the gesture.

“I can take the notes down to them, if you want. There’s a TV in the main living room, and the coffee machine is on the counter in the kitchen. You should be able to relax a little.”

You smiled, “That sounds great, thank you.” As soon as he left with the notes you sat down on the couch and turned on the television. Brooklyn-99 was already on and you smiled, the familiar show bringing you some comfort. A few episodes in, it started getting dark out and you began to doze off.

It wasn’t long after that your dreams turned dark and you woke up screaming.

~~~

Taglist:

@sydneyisnotawriter

Like always, likes and reblogs are appreciated! Let me know if you want to be added to the tag list! Love you all <3

19 notes · View notes

the-last-rat-standing · 4 years

Text

The Scents of Things

For the Slibbs Challenge! :) (If you like my stuff and want to buy me a coffee, feel free to donate! https://ko-fi.com/coolbyrne Thanks to all who have supported in the past.)

As a psychologist, she knew the power of the olfactory memory, was well aware how smells played a part in memories. She only had to smell fresh garlic to be reminded of her mother's kitchen where she would roll out homemade meatballs. The smell of the ocean would forever remind her of California just as sure as diesel oil would never be associated with anything other than Afghanistan.

He had his own scent, too, of course. Mostly soap and wood and strong coffee, though it would be sawdust that she'd connect with him, its smell warm and pervascent and the reward for a job well done. Well, sawdust and- she looked at the small but heavy bottle in her hand and smiled. CHAZ for Men. He wasn't inclined to wear cologne except when they went out, when he was Jethro Gibbs, Husband, not Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS. When she had insisted, early on in their relationship, that he dispose of all remnants of at least the last 3 wives, a box of bottles of various emptiness was the first to hit the curb on garbage day. Which was one reason she jokingly gave him the cheapest, 'manliest' cologne she could find. And if the only thing she had gotten out of it was his laugh when he opened it on Christmas Eve, that would have been more than enough. But he did more than that- he wore the goddamn stuff. Even more surprisingly? It smelled damn good on him. Like his skin and his will turned the rankest, nose-wrinkling odour into something that made her want to curl up into his neck. Every damn time.

Tilting up the bottle, she felt a pang of impending loss. When the bottle had gotten below the half line and she realized how attached she had become to the scent, she rushed to the discount perfume store… only to find it was discontinued. ("Ma'am," the lady had told her, "that brand was discontinued ten years ago." The petite salesgirl whispered to her on the way out, "We had an office pool to see how long it would be before we sold it. We were all off by at least 2 years.") The tablespoon of amber reflected in the light and she flopped onto the hotel bed with a sigh. She was Day 5 into a week long conference in Seattle and she could do nothing but pout into the empty room.

At precisely 9pm, her phone rang, as it had done the previous 4 nights, and she muted the TV before answering.

"Hey."

"What's wrong?" was his immediate response.

How could she explain the melancholy that had settled in her heart over something as simple as cheap cologne? "Nothing." Knowing he wouldn't believe her, she clarified, "Just bored. Tired. I was fidgety in the conference today."

"Didn't you bring that fidgety thing I got you?"

"You're my fidgety thing," she all but whined. "It's not the same." Softer, she said, "I miss you."

"I thought that's why you took 3 of my shirts, my red hoodie and my cologne."

"I'm 2 steps away from eating through a container of Ben and Jerry's, and this is the support I get?" His laugh softened her self-pity, until she replayed his words. "Wait. How did you know I took your cologne?"

"Fornell invited me to that new steakhouse in Georgetown. Couldn't find the cologne."

"What'd you need it for?"

"It's a steakhouse. Where else am I gonna wear it?"

She took his teasing in stride, feeling her mood lift. "Shut up. You wear that everywhere with me."

"Because you like it."

"Because you love me."

"Mmm." There was a softness that sanded the edges of an otherwise Gibbsian grunt.

She was having none of his feigned dismissal. "Same reason you call me despite the time difference even though I keep telling you it's not necessary."

He really was sanding, because she heard it get louder, no doubt in an attempt to mask his confession. "Maybe I miss you, Sloane."

The use of her maiden name always sent a warmth through her, like the verbal equivalent of his scent.

"I'm wearing your shirt, your red hoodie and your cologne, if that helps."

"How the hell is that supposed to help?"

Burrowing into the bed and his hoodie and his scent, she mused, "You've got great hands. Put them to use."

Her coy attempt at knocking him off-balance didn't work because all he said was, "Tried last night. Didn't do a damn thing."

His brazen honesty made her laugh even as it sent heat between her legs. "Yeah, I know what you mean."

That attempt worked.

"Shit!" he exclaimed, and she could hear something clatter to the floor. "Godammit, Jack. For that, I'm throwin' out that cologne," he warned. "And the hoodie. And the shirts."

His threats meant nothing, especially when he never completely hid the fact he liked her in any combination of the 3, and his disapproving hum fooled no one.

Still, she felt compelled to say, "You wouldn't. You may have 11 more Marine hoodies and 34 more shirts, but you can't find this cologne anymore. Believe me, I've tried."

"You've counted my shirts."

"And hoodies. How else am I suppose to rank them in order of my favourite?"

"Didn't realize there was list.”

“Oh, there are many lists. Which sweaters are my favourite. Which pants your ass looks best in. Which boxers-” She was sabotaged by her own yawn. “Sorry.”

“You tired yourself out by fidgeting.”

A sleepy smile spread across her face. “I did. See? You should’ve been there.”

The soft scrape-scrape started again. “I’ll be there in 2 days. The airport, anyway.”

She sighed, a touch of melancholy returning. They hadn’t been apart for more than a few days since they’d gotten married and she was finding out how little she liked it. “Promise?” The question was unnecessary but the distance encouraged her small pity party.

“Promise. Whattya want me to wear?”

“Really?” She brought the hoodie’s sleeve up to her nose while she contemplated the offer. “Those blue jeans with the hole in the pocket where your wallet goes. And that grey cable knit sweater with the wool coat?”

“It’s June.” He must’ve heard her little resigned sigh because he said, “Fine. Blue jeans. Hole. Sweater. Coat.”

“I promise you won’t be wearing them long once we get home.” The bounce in her voice brought out his laugh.

“Go to sleep, Sloane.”

“You, too, Cowboy.”

…..

She was right. He didn’t wear the clothes very long. In fact, half of them were gone by the time they’d stumbled to the couch and she had been so focused on getting the rest off (to be fair, he wasn’t taking much time with hers, either) that she had missed the wrapped box on the table. It wasn’t until the air started to cool the sheen of sweat across her back and her heart returned to a less feverish drumbeat that her brain kicked in to the new thing in the familiar room. Lifting her head from his shoulder, she peeked over hers.

“What’s that?”

It was taking his heart a bit longer to slow, and with his head back against the couch, his Adam’s Apple bobbed as he swallowed. “A box?”

“Smart ass,” she accused, nipping his chin with her teeth.

“Why don’t you go look?”

“You just want to watch my ass as I walk away.”

“Yep.”

His honesty got him another light bite, but also got him what he wanted, because she slid off his lap and sauntered to the table in all her naked glory.

“How’s the six, Gunny?”

“Lookin’ pretty good from here, Lieutenant.”

She picked up the box and weighed it in her hand, tilting it back and forth in an attempt to divine its contents.

“Or you could just open it,” he suggested.

“Did I mention the smart ass thing?” It was a rhetorical question as she sauntered back to the couch.

“I like watchin’ you leave, but I love watchin’ you come back.”

“A sweet smart ass,” she amended, returning to his lap with a sigh when his hands automatically went to her hips. She shook the package again until she saw the impatience narrow his eyes. “Okay, okay.” The paper was barely ripped away when her laughter filled the room. “Where did you find this??”

“Somethin’ called ‘ebay’.”

She scowled at his sarcasm, but held up the bottle much in the same way she had in the hotel room; only this time, the bottle was full. He shook his head at her beatific smile.

“I have no idea what you get outta that.”

“I get you. I get a memory.”

She uncapped the bottle and sprayed a short burst under his upturned chin. Their eyes met, blue on brown, full of promises that were punctuated by his kiss.

“Good," he breathed against her lips, ‘cause I got 4 more bottles in the basement.”

She squealed in delight as he twisted her onto the couch, letting the bottle gently hit the floor.

…..

-end

#slibbs #slibbs challenge

27 notes · View notes