#shout out bff for providing me with her

[teethflavoured]

hey you, yes you. the creepypasta enjoyer reading this. you’ve been a good boy this year, so i owe you some drawings i did of some silly goobers for Halloween

#teethdraws #creepypasta #creepypasta fandom #creepypasta fanart #jeff the killer #jeff woods #slenderman #eyeless jack #creepypasta art #shout out bff for providing me with her #FIVE HOUR CREEPYPASTA KID MUSIC PLAYLIST #good lord

[8turning]

hi ji!

i was thinking a lot about comfort with yungyu the other day; and i know you don't write for him so i was like hm.. you know who would probably have the best comfort as well ever? minho!

so could i request minho comforting a burnt out / stressed reader after he finds her by herself?

no worries if this isn't something you want to write i just wanted to put it out there:) needed to clear my 8turn thoughts HAHA

hi hi omi!! i read this ask before i went into work and literally could not stop thinking about it :(( this fits minho so perfectly!! he's such a safe and comfortable person i cri 💔 thank you for this request!! :D

☆⠀⠀YANG.MINHO — a shoulder to lean on !

bff ! minho x gn ! reader ★ minimal angst. comfort ★ wc 1.9k

warnings: not eating due to stress. eating mentions & food consumption. reader doesn't reply at times. let me know if i missed anything!

n. i wasn't sure if you wanted this to be platonic or romantic BUT!! my first minho fic!! we cheered!! gonna be real i forgot if i proofread this or not. oops

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀〈 REBLOGS ARE APPRECIATED ! 〉

despair stung your chest from the inside as you watched your ceiling fan spin - perhaps it could hypnotize you for just a moment, allow you to be unaware of your surroundings and feelings long enough to convince yourself everything will get better.

the breeze it created hit your face, drying out your eyes and causing you to inevitably blink away the few tears that formed as a result.

with the simple action, you're brought back to your reality. you exhale slowly, feeling as though the comforter beneath you could consume you whole - maybe that's what you wanted.

your legs bent at the knee on the edge of your bed, hands intertwined against your stomach as your chest shallowly rises and falls. your eyes follow one fan blade subconsciously, the repetitive movement causing your temples to ache.

your brows furrow, and only then do you pull yourself up from your bed, leaning forward on your palms as you look around your dark room. different items of clothing scattered your floor and desk chair, trash overflown with crumpled papers and drink bottles, and your desk illuminated by your laptop, assignment long forgotten in favor of. . . nothing.

you didn't want to distract yourself from your worries - you simply wanted to do nothing. you wanted nothing.

the fan wasn't to blame for the tears that lined your eyes this time; it was your own emotions. the constant pressure to perform well and provide caused you to neglect how you felt - it all boils over eventually. everyone had a limit, perhaps yours was seeing just how awful you were treating your wellbeing; maybe yours was how you saw it all but had no desire to fix it.

you heard a knock sound through your apartment, but you couldn't move; your body wanted to stay still. your breathing remained steady as another knock struck against your door. your phone chimes, it chimes again, then it rings.

you heard it all. you couldn't answer any of them.

another knock. then another chime.

"y/n!"

then a shout from a familiar voice - then a pause.

"i'm gonna break down the door! then i'll have to pay for property damage! so please, just- just let me in!"

the fear of a noise complaint caused your breath to quicken, aching muscles push you up from your spot, heavy footsteps sound through your hallway as if you forgot how it felt to walk any distance further than your desk to your bed.

you swallow thickly before slowly bringing shaky hands to your door lock, the click sounding much louder in your otherwise silent apartment. opening the door, you see minho's worried face, two plastic bags in his hands as a smile grows on his lips.

"hey," he says, glasses perched atop his nose and sounding out of breath from all of his shouting. all you can bring yourself to do is break eye contact with him, looking down just past his shins to the carpeted apartment corridor. "is it okay if i come in?"

his voice is gentle, picking up on the signs of you feeling emotionally unwell. minho's head tilts at his inquiry - you can see such from your peripheral vision. you pause for a moment, and minho waits patiently despite the ache his arms feel from the bags he carried. he watches as you take a step back, allowing him inside.

minho steps in, removing his shoes before walking over to your kitchen and setting the bags down. your counter is lined with dishes and take-out containers - the disarray of your home is obvious, but minho never comments on it.

"have you eaten yet?" he questions, setting down the bags in the only vacant place he could on your counter - the sound of dishes clinking accompanying his voice.

you don't answer, slowly making your way to sit at your dining table.

"i brought some stuff," he continues. part of you felt relief he wasn't probing you to reply to him - you let out a soft sigh. "is ramen okay with you?" minho questions, two containers in his hands as he looks in your direction.

he saw how your eyes were clouded over as you stared down at the floor. through he was worried, he knew you'd open up once you were ready. and so, minho decides to take the quicker route, filling both containers with water before putting them into the microwave.

the dull hum filled the air, and a pang of guilt washed over you as your eyes flick over to minho's form, his hands carrying your dishes into the sink and tossing trash into the bin.

this wasn't for him to clean, but he did so with no complaints.

your eyes felt heavy, shoulders slumped over as you took little care in keeping your posture straight. the sound of your faucet running could be heard, a paper towel being torn and the sound of disinfectant being sprayed followed it. the artificial smell of lemon did not pair well with the ramen broth that was being cooked, but you didn't say a word.

minho was quick to switch out the cooked ramen for the other, allowing the completed one to sit on the counter for a few minutes too cool off.

he continued to clean up your space, sink filling with bubbles as he soaks your used dishes, tossing the used towel into the bin before straightening out what was on your countertop, turning off your faucet in the process.

the microwave beeps for the second time; your eyes close and nose scrunch at the piercing noise. he removes the second container, copying the same routine he had before.

you can see how he approaches you, placing the first container in front of you along with utensils before grabbing his own, sitting across from you.

you stare blankly at the lid, the translucent plastic now fogged over from steam as minho pulls out his phone, scrolling as he waits for his own meal to decrease in temperature.

your hands fidget under the table, disconnecting from one another to carefully remove the lid of the ramen. your met with a wonderful aroma, and although you didn't show such in your expression, you were pleased with this choice of a meal.

minho's eyes raise from his phone as he watches you cautiously grab for your utensils - his heart aches seeing how shaky you were, your energy alarmingly low.

he watches you for a moment - watches as you bring some ramen to your lips and take a small bite. you chew slowly then swallow, and minho feels a weight being lifted from his shoulders when you go in for another bite.

shutting off his phone, he slides it back into his pocket slowly, not wanting to startle you from any sudden movements. you hear as he begins to eat himself, a pleased sigh leaving his nose at the first bite.

"i'm a good cook, aren't i?" he jokes with his mouth half full, watching as the smallest of smiles appears on your face, falling soon after. but to minho, that was a win.

you both continue in silence, minho trying to match your pace in eating as best he could so he could keep watch of you longer. although his efforts, he finished before you, tossing his ramen container into the trash before standing at your sink.

your faucet turns on once more, minho rolling up his sleeves to his elbows before reaching into the water bath he created prior. he was careful in washing your dishes, and with newfound energy, your eyes flicked over to where he stood.

your gaze remained on the back of his head, the purple in his hair a bit more faded than the last time you saw him. he groans as water slashes on his shirt, a soft laugh escaping your nose, and it was then when you understood that you didn't need hypnosis to realize things will get better.

you were worthy of being cared for, both by others and by yourself. you shouldn't have to live dreadfully just because that's what you think you deserve. you felt guilty for assuming minho cared so little for you when he's only ever shown you love and gratitude.

your chest ached, no longer from muscle pain but from grief - eyes watering, breathing becoming increasingly unsteady as you plant your palm against the table, pushing yourself up from your seat and approaching your friend.

your arms cautiously wrap around his torso loosely - the sound of water running making your footsteps unintelligible to him. your temple rests between his shoulder blades, and you can feel as his head turns to try and see you from his position.

minho turns around in your grasp, hands soaked in water and lingering bubbles as he raises them away from you. his heartbeat is heavy against your ears, quick and uneven as he processes your shift in emotion. tears soaked his shirt and minho tuned out the sound of water running behind him.

"y/n- are you-" he was at a loss of words, eyes wandering around your apartment before reaching the top of your head once more. "can i hug you?"

he was unsure if that's what you wanted, especially when his hands were covered in water, but when he hears you mumble a simple, "yes, please," - the first time you had spoken to him tonight - it was more than enough.

you feel the cold water against your back as he wraps his arms around you, but you didn't care. your fingers bunch minho's shirt into your fists, holding onto him tightly - he could feel how uneven your breathing was.

"i got you," he says, leaning his back against the countertop, allowing you to rest against him. "i got you. . ."

your eyes close, tears drying against your cheeks as you take a deep breath. minho's fingers draw circles against your back - you hear as he begins to hum, the vibration buzzing against your temple.

you had half-the-brain to decipher the melody, instead choosing to let it calm your thoughts - this remedy proved to work well.

after a few beats of silence, you find the strength to speak again. "th-thank you for be-ing here," you whisper, voice broken as it was the first time you had spoken in days.

"of course i'd be here," minho replies, his volume matching yours as he reaches an arm around him to turn off the faucet. "go rest, okay? i'll take care of everything here," he continues, pushing himself off of the counter but keeping you closely pressed to his chest.

the walk to your room was almost impossible, walking backwards and not being able to see definitely made the commute much more interesting. minho made no comments about the state of your room, sitting you on your bed and making sure you tucked yourself away under the covers before he left to continue his work in the kitchen.

there was a small feeling of shame in having someone else clean your space for you - its a very vulnerable position, but minho allowed you to show your vulnerabilities without judgement. although you never wished to get to a point where he needed to take care of you, you knew he would do it again all in a heartbeat.

minho would take care of you as many times as you needed to be, because no matter what you're dealing with, you deserve to feel loved.

© 8turning 2023.

#8turn fluff #8turn fanfic #8turn writing #8turn x reader #minho fluff #minho fanfic #minho writing #minho x reader #yang minho fanfic #yang minho fluff #yang minho x reader #kpop fluff #kpop fanfic #.mine #.minho

[vermin-disciple]

So I was texting my irl bff about bookbinding the other day, and while giving an excessively long-winded answer to a question she asked, I sent her a link to the 4th chapter of Fanbinding: "This Be The Verse" Verse, which provides a number of bookbinding resources. This led to the following exchange:

And then I did.

“Is that Jake I hear?” asked Julian, tipping his head to peer around Garak’s shoulder, towards the open door of the workroom in the back of the shop. His lips curved up into a cheeky grin. “Is he still set on getting an interview with you about the Obsidian Order? Trying to bribe you into it by sorting out your inventory?” “If I were to allow young Mr. Sisko to interview me, it would be on the trials and travails of designing fashion to satisfy the colorful range of tastes present on a station frequented by such a diversity of clientèle. More colorful than they should be, in some cases,” he added, eying Julian’s gaudy orange and purple turtleneck pointedly. Julian, who had selected this civilian outfit with the aim of provoking his friend, suppressed an even cheekier grin. “Now, now, that’s no way to talk about Jake’s clothing.” “Hey!” came a shout from the workroom. “I can hear you!” “But no, as it happens,” continued Garak, ignoring both of them. “Jake and Ziyal have taken up a new hobby and I’m allowing them the use of some materials.” Continue on AO3

#my fanfic #star trek #ds9 #fanfic #garashir #jake sisko #ziyal #bookbinding #vermin rites

[nellie-elizabeth]

Outlander: A Practical Guide for Time-Travelers (7x07)

Dun dun dunnnn!

Cons:

I will say, I thought giving William a cheery, jokey bff in the army was a little transparent. The second this dude opened his mouth I was like "ah, he's about to die so William can learn the true horrors of war." I didn't dislike everything with William in this plot thread, but it's probably the least I've cared about adult William since we met him; he's more interesting to me as he relates to the interpersonal connections of Jamie, Claire, and Lord John. Big surprise there.

I feel like they made Rob Cameron just a little too pushy and sinister? In the books I think there was just a little more time to get to know him as a purely innocuous figure, so here it's like we barely know him and now he's pushing in for dinner invitations and asking questions about Roger's papers, like... it's pretty obvious pretty quickly that something's up. I don't know how I would have solved for this, but just thought I'd mention it. The pacing also kinda made the Buck thing a little less impactful, just because we go from "what the hell are you doing here" to "I forgive him, he's Cousin Buck" so immediately. It also made me miss Roger having a huge scar on his neck and difficulty speaking clearly. That's such an important character trait for him in the books, that he never fully recovers from his near death by hanging. I get why for practical reasons they cut it out, but I think it makes his relationship with his ancestor more compelling if the evidence of his close call is still there in every word he speaks.

Pros:

So, despite thinking William's friend was a bit of an obvious ploy, I do think it was really smart to have this whole interaction happening from William's perspective. We've been told that Jamie doesn't ever want to face his son on the battlefield, but then here we see Jamie go off to fight, and yet we see none of the actual fighting from his perspective. William doesn't know his secret father is on the other side of this conflict. I thought it was a cool way to change it up, to have everything be from the British perspective in the conflict itself, just to pan to the shot of Jamie lying, evidently injured, on the battlefield right there at the end. 

Jamie and Claire didn't have a ton to do in this episode, honestly, but I love that we're continuing the voice over bits being connected to the letters home to Bree and Roger. That works so well. And the scene where Jamie realizes Claire needs glasses because her eyesight isn't what it used to be? Adorable! One of those precious scenes from the book that I'm so glad they decided to keep in.

As has been my refrain this season so far, I'm finding the 20th century plot thread really compelling! I saw some people saying they didn't like the Bree and Roger sex scene, but I thought it was pretty good and steamy. And it worked as a sort of distraction, where you have Rob and Buck both in this story as potentially complicating factors. Do either of them mean Roger and Brianna harm? In what way? And then as Buck warns Roger that Rob seems interested in Brianna, and she brushes off that concern, we get this affirming moment of love and connection for them as a couple.

And then... bam, plot twist, Rob flirting with Brianna wasn't really the issue at hand. So even with me wishing the Rob thing had been less obviously telegraphed, I did think that was a clever way to obfuscate the exact nature of the conflict he was going to provide. Unless you've read the books, you genuinely wouldn't have any alarm bells going off when Rob talks about taking Jem to see the movies with him and his nephew. Pretty clever! Also, shout out to the little girl playing Mandy, she's doing a wonderful job, I really felt her fear and distress when she woke up after her nightmare about Jem.

So yeah, in all, I'm excited about where things are going! I remember a lot about the craziness of the rest of this book/season and I think the second half of season seven might be the most excited I've been about Outlander since the early days. A lot of scenes that I remember and adore from the books are likely to be coming up soon!

8/10

#review #outlander #outlander review

[dbphantom]

Shout out to one of my bffs who lets me ramble incessantly about my fic and not only replies with in-depth responses but actually actively encourages the rambling:

I love you and would/will die for you

Here's a summary of the stuff we were taking about (Rex almost dying to Annie, prom night, a small frog evo, Rex joining the school's robotics club, and some background holix because these two are just too cute together)

So chapter 7 right

The first time Rex meets Annie it's because he sits in her seat during first period and immediately gets tripped and faceplants into the desk, giving him a bloody nose and destroying the desk

Their teacher notices (all teachers who arent directly mentioned in-universe are going to be references to characters from M. Rex the comic series and have the same sort of disposition to Rex, so this one will be the famous lady he saves in the first comic) and is like "right time to save the new kid from being taken out of here on a stretcher" and goes all "hiiii so you're the one the principal told us about right?? You should go check in at the office to get your schedule for today :)))"

And rex is trying to explain while pinching his nose like "yeah actually we got a voice mail from the secretary detailing which class-" and she's like "save yourself- I mean you should still go meet him in person to double check everything and get some paperwork like your locker number and code :))"

Cue a little montage of Rex walking around the school unsupervised trying to remember where the principals office is because while Noah showed him, he was distracted by literally everything (look at all these students- oh my god trophy case for TABLE TENNIS?? Wait Noah is that YOU in there??- are those murals above those lockers? Wait do I get my own locker?- is that a real skeleton?? What's with the old TV on wheels??) and he's absent-mindedly avoiding the hall monitors because it's just second nature at this point avoiding Providence soldiers stationed around when he's breaking out and honestly he's more occupied with trying to locate the office

[walks into an old biology teacher's classroom] "office?"

The teacher, who's tired and just wants to get through her lecture: can I... Help you???

Rex: "nope" [dips]

Enters the cafeteria and has a very long internal struggle about if it's okay for him to take some food because he's HUNGRY and technically a student right but no its probably best he doesn't actively try to get in trouble*

*he's not really sure which actions will get him in trouble tho

[enters the empty teachers lounge and fixes a coffee machine that had been broken for months and leaves without saying anything and starts a rumor abt a benevolent, potentially magic maintenance man]

walks into the empty theater and yells I'M KING OF THE WOOOORLD just to hear It echo back

Some random security guard working in the light box: GO BACK TO CLASS KID

Also him showing up again at 2nd period after getting his head bashed in by Annie (accidental) (after enduring the nightmare scenario with the principal that Bobo set up for him by getting free reign of Rex's supposed past at another school) starts a rumor that the new kid is the only person who can survive Annie, which leads to a bunch of people trying to get them together just so they can watch the chaos that will unfold

Which brought us to the prom episode (of which I have a ton of already written out that he's read hence why we were talking about it- basically this part takes place immediately after Rex comes to the realization he's definitely bi and definitely crushing on Noah) where it plays out pretty much the same as in the show, but they're trying to both follow Noah's plan and avoid the ppl wanting to watch Rex get destroyed by Annie's bad luck, so they end up at the cliff to take pictures like in the show, and Rex is sent over in the limo by Annie as in the show

So immediately all four of them are like 'holy shit' and Noah freaks out, remembers Rex has been through some shit and this is nothing to him and calms down, then realizes Rex still hasn't shown back up and freaks out again because this boy has capital-a Anxiety (panik. Calm. PANIK)

Meanwhile Rex is hanging out at the bottom of the cliff where it meets the water like "so do I just... Walk down the road and act like nothing happened? Nah, that's probably even more suspicious. Yeah no I probably should be dead this is just going to be suspicious no matter what... Fuck it" and flies up and lands, so the girls now know he's the generator and are just like "sure okay that's cool! No we won't tell we're just glad you're not dead at the bottom of the ocean. Continue to prom?" overall they definitely take it way better than Noah did but then again he was also about to die by giant evo so. Fair.

And Noah, who was freaking out internally just hugs Rex like "holy shit I thought you actually died this time" and almost knocks him back off the cliff and he's like "dude pls no don't be as bad as Annie" n he's blushing intensely and ofc Claire is super smart so she notices this and is just like "hmmm I see I see"

And they continue on to the restaurant and beyond white Knight not knowing that Rex is outside Providence (Rex trying to pass off Annie breaking shit in the background as training with Six in the Petting Zoo definitely for sure) the episode goes on fairly normally

And THEN we planned out a new episode to go on later where club fair happens and rex is READY to join a club despite Six's strictness in taking him back to Providence when classes are over. The whole episode is basically just Phantom of the Soap Opera but at Benjamin Franklin High School because it's one of our favorite episodes

So they end up in the gymnasium and Noah is giving Rex his daily lecture on a talk about being normal and not joining any sports clubs and rex is only half paying attention when he sees a tiny little robot being displayed on one of the tables and it is just. Struggling. So he walks over in the middle of one of Noah's sentences (poor dude) and just starts playing with it to fix it, he ends up doing so with his powers and the BFHS robotics club is like "yep you're one of us now bc all our robots keep breaking mysteriously and we need someone to fix them" and drag him off to the club room

While they're on their way there (it's a biology room during the normal school day) Rex sees a frog evo and it's On Sight for both of them. Straight up wild west showdown eye squint from both of them until the robots club drags Rex into the classroom and he has to break eye contact

Cue a week at school where Rex is trying to both go to class and cure this EVO without drawing attention to him or it while the frogge is just like "yep I'm going to make your life and this club's life miserable" because similar to Phantom of the Soap Opera the frogge was living in the biology room as the class pet and when the robotics club moved in after classes, they invaded his resting time after school hours and he's breaking all their stuff for revenge

There will definitely be a scene where the stealth evo froggie is sitting in his tank just. Glaring at Rex the entire class and rex is just. Glaring back. and Noah is like "what the fuck is going on here". Rex tries to approach it after class all stealthy like to cure it and is interrupted by the teacher, half paying attention like "please don't tap on Mr. Frog's enclosure he doesn't like that"

Meanwhile during all of the periods the biology class isn't in session, this frog is HELL-BENT on finding Rex and hurting him no matter where he is or what he's doing. Sitting in the cafeteria? Boom. Ceiling tile falls on his head. Sleeping in math class? Boom. One of the legs of his chair gets dissolved and he falls on the floor getting a rude awakening and also detention for sleeping in class. At robotics club fixing stuff? Boom. Your hand is now being eaten by acid. And most of the time Rex sees it watching him, ominously, out of the corner of his eye and immediately goes to throw down with this frog which leads to wacky fight scenes and also Noah both being immensely confused and also trying to cover for why Rex suddenly went into a dead sprint down the hallway in the middle of a conversation with someone

So Rex is like frantically calling in to Holiday and Six like HOW WOULD ONE SUBDUE AN ANGRY FROG EVO (tiny) and holidays like "oh just make it cold it will go to sleep :) wait. Rex. Aren't you in class?? Why do you need to know????" "[huge crashing noise in the background] noreasonokaythankyoubye"

Six: I'm going over there

Holiday: Six no its probably fine you know Rex, he can handle this on his own

Six: too late I'm already on a jump jet our son is going to get himself either killed or exposed and I'm not happy with either option

Holiday: wait. you can be happy? Wait. Did you say our 'SON'????

Six: six out

Holiday: NO YOU GET BACK HERE WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT THAT

Anyway Rex ends up curing the frog after a huge fight around the school So the biology room is trashed, and as he and Noah are putting the frog back in its enclosure the robotics club walks in to see all their stuff broken, desks smashed, posters ripped off the wall, etc

And the supervising teacher just "oh my god what the hell did you two do in here. DETENTION" and the two of them are just like "NO WAIT- oh. okay yeah we can't explain this one. Fine. That's fair." And the "episode" ends with the two of them cleaning up the room together while the frogge watches

#OK not to be dramatic or anything but holix my beloved #Generator Rex #Secret Identity au

[essaysbyciara]

It’s Been A Long Time | Nebraska Williams x Black!PlusSize Reader [Part 1/?]

Warnings: language, smut thoughts (my ministry!)

So this has been in my drafts for a *HOT MINUTE* but that photo of Trevante in high school triggered a release. If people dig where it could be going, I will add it to my list of stuff to finish and open up a taglist. I’ll try my best to do so, I promise! lol

“God, I played this album out…” Lil’ Wayne’s seminal album, The Carter, didn’t age at all. Back in 2004, Wayne was a secret about to bubble over to superstardom, just years shy of lollipops and Static Major (rest in peace). Wayne represented the teenage angst of your time, even though you toiled in the suburbs while he wrestled with the streets. But as “On My Own” damn near explodes your factory speakers, a high pitch ping from your phone pauses your trip down memory lane. 

Message from Sheena: Let’s catch up before the babies wake up. 

You hit the call button on your dash once you stop at a red light. 

“Girl, hey. You on your way to work?”

“Ain’t I always, Shi Shi? Damn near almost overslept. Thought I missed my flight.” 

Sheena, or Shi Shi, is the epitome of a best-friend-forever. You two met in Ms. Grayson’s civics class, 11th grade. On the first day of school, you rolled into third period wearing a Scream Tour II t-shirt and if you were to describe Sheena in that moment, jealous wasn’t even the word.  She stanned hard for Lil’ Bow Wow but her mom wouldn’t let her go to the concert because she got caught with a boy in her room. That boy is now the husband half-way responsible for the twin girls she’s hoping will give her some grace by sleeping a little bit longer. 

“Damn. You wanna gift some of that sleep to these twins, God mommy?”

“Only if you gift me some of those post-pregnancy boobs, Mommy Dearest,”

“Can’t do that. Jarell been having too much fun with those!” 

“Girl, eww. I don’t need to know all that.”

You kinda did. Sheena’s stories were always live, wild and uncut. And the only fireworks you’ve been adjacent to in months since you broke up with that lame stockbroker, Keith. You curve around the airport parking lot as Sheena starts digging deep into her latest soft-core episode with her husband since the six weeks ain’t up yet. In between interjections of how nasty Jarrell could be and watching planes taxi in the distance, you cruise through Instagram to take inventory of what your day might be like. 

Managing social media for the biggest sports publication in the country was not the fulfillment of a dream after high school because, shit,  social media didn’t exist when you were in high school. But it’s what has you just hours away from a flight to the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, sitting in a parking lot, listening to your BFF’s slow burn sexcapades. You break up the audio immersion experience once your timeline displays something else to ruminate over.

“Sheena! Shi -- shut up! I can’t believe - you remember Lisa from high school? She got married ...and it ain’t to Brasco.” 

“Whaaaa… you can finally stop making u-turns in the hallway and snag your man!”

You didn’t appreciate the lowly dig from your friend about Nebraska “Brasco” Williams, star running back, track champion and boy so fine he made both Omarion and J-Boog look like ogres. Your high school crush had you shook to your pubescent core; pretty teeth, deep skin tone and two tattoos before the age of eighteen. You’d see him in the student parking lot with the rest of the football team and you’d rush to your car as if it would go home without you. He was too hot to handle. You were beyond envious that Lisa could. 

“Lisa ain’t do too bad. Her man is crazy fine. I mean, not Brasco fine but still…” 

“Man,  he had high school going crazy. I wonder what happened to him after that fight? I should stalk him on Facebook while I pump.” You laugh so hard, the couple walking past your car stops their argument to stare at you. 

Your laughs break once you realize you might actually miss that flight. You relegate Shi Shi to kiss the twins for you and to send his Facebook profile if she can actually find it. You tried years ago and failed. 

“Aight, fave. I will.  Love you. Text me when you touch down in Indy.” 

As you weave through the terminal, your mind thinks back to the days at New Birth High School. While it brought you joy in a forever friend and the launching point for your forever career in sports journalism, it did bring you one of the most hurtful days of your life that took years to shake. 

It was the summer going into your senior year. Lisa’s sweet sixteen pool party. No way in Hell you thought you’d be there but your Mom and Lisa’s stepmom sat on the same deacon board at church and somehow thought you two were friends; Lisa paid you dust in those hallways. You fretted over every part of your outfit, especially the swim shoes you didn’t want but your Dad picked up at Sports Authority. But you were fretting the most over your swimsuit, a red one-piece with a deep open back. It was sexy for a 16-year-old, to be honest, but you secretly tried it on at the mall and fell in love with it -- especially how it made you feel. 

You fell in deep love with your body that day. The way the swimsuit clenched your waist, giving your almost-pear shape some definition you’d never seen before. Your hips sat wide, your breast placed taunt, just peeking through the sides, showing off a crescent shaped birthmark right below your collarbone. It was Jet Beauty of the Week-esque and it made you feel on top of the world. Something that society kept telling you a plus-size teenage girl was not to feel. You used the last of your paper route money to buy it and hid your secret weapon in the back of your closet until the day arrived. You were hoping to get some boy’s attention -- especially Brasco. But you’d take anybody’s glare if you could get it. 

You were in the clear once your Mom dropped you and Sheena both off at Lisa’s back gate. As you walked into the party, the sounds of the local hip-hop and R&B radio station blasted throughout her huge backyard. So much fun was had -- so much splash and dash -- that the faint sounds of “Knuck If You Buck” failed to erupt a party full of teenagers it was made for. The pool seemed tempting in 90-plus heat but most of the temptation came from the jacuzzi next to it. There inside sat Brasco, his lanky on-field wide receiver sidekick Kenny and Jarell, Sheena’s partner-in-bedroom-bust crime looking delicious in their highlighter-color swim trunks. You were still figuring out your body and the reactions conjured up from the sight of water droplets chasing down their backs confused you even more. But the heat of the sun -- and the heat from your body -- got too much to bear. That pool called your name. 

You stripped off your t-shirt and denim shorts, leaving your swim shoes back by the picnic table. They clashed. Your nerves splashed together like the water you couldn’t wait to feel, battering against your heart. Were you ready for all this attention? Amongst the rest of the classmates, you disappeared. You weren’t popular. People knew of you but didn’t know you, only associating you with Sheena by proxy of Jarell. “My Goodies” came on the radio, providing you a soundtrack and a sign from God. Before you could answer the call, Sheena jumped into the pool. You tossed your glasses on top of your clothes and did the same. 

The water felt golden. Sheena smacked your face with sheets of chlorinated goodness. Too much fun was had by all, even Lisa joined in the fun. Suddenly the entire football team did too except Brasco and Jarell, languishing on the edge of the jacuzzi because like most boys from their side of town, they didn’t know how to swim. Lisa saw her boo in isolation and tapped Sheena on the shoulder. 

“Hey, Shi Shi. Let’s get in the jacuzzi.” Sheena grabbed your hand to guide you out of the pool. You weren’t expecting to see your Mom at the other end. Sheena didn’t grab you to join her in the warm bubbles, she got you out at the angry-faced-behest of your mother. You both were going home. The party silenced and stares followed as everyone watched your walk-of-shame to grab your clothes. You got what you wanted in the worst way possible. 

Your unholy exodus commenced when Lisa’s mom called yours to report what she saw: this red bathing suit too revealing for a little girl to wear. It wasn’t the green ruffled mess-of-a-bathing-suit from last year. She claimed to witness stares and whispers and “boobs hanging out, butt all out.” Your mom got over there quicker than a church shout. She waited to scold you after she dropped off Sheena. 

It was a Sunday School scolding like no other. Tears pooled deep like the one you were just having fun in. You tossed the bathing suit into the trash bin. You were never going to see it again. 

The announcement of your flight breaks you out of your day nightmare. Grabbing the handle on your suitcase, you see a text with an attachment from Sheena. 

Girllllllllllll. I found Brasco and babyyyyyyyyyyy… 

You gasp. Time did a wonder on him in all the right ways. He packed on even more muscle, chiseling out the navy thermal dressing his upper body. Teeth still bright, Moonlight-bright. His Omarion-Pandemonium-era braids were gone, now donning a clean fade with perfect waves. His stance meant business, a lot of it risky. You bite your lower lip to mask the “damn!” urging a release from you, staring at his picture so intensely that you damn near walk into the stewardess checking your boarding pass. 

You couldn’t wait to get to your first-class seat. You needed a safe space to drown in your own splash waterfalls. You beg Sheena to send you his profile, looking to make some more of that mess and she obliges. Scrolling through his Facebook, you see nothing. You needed him to match your uncleanliness. Another text from Sheena breaks you out of your spell. 

Ain’t shit on here though. I can’t find an Instagram or anything. That’s where the dirt is at lol 

You put your social media skills to work. Ain’t an Instagram profile that you can’t find. Nebraska Williams brings up nothing. Such a unique name and nothing to show for it. 

Maybe Jarell can follow him, Shi. 

Jarell ain’t on this thing. He hates all this stuff. You want me to follow him? 

Girl, yes! I need more pictures! I’m trying to find his ‘gram and no diceeeeeee. Ughhhh. 

Damn the “no cell phone until after lift off” announcement. You then try “Brasco”, too many names -- rappers, really--  and a dog company to boot. “Brasco Williams” yields no results. You couldn’t wait what could be hours, days,  weeks, maybe never, for a response from Brasco to Sheena’s friend request. 

You pull up Google as a last ditch effort. The results bring up what only seems to be archives from your now-defunct city newspaper covering one of Nebraska’s record-setting games from 2005. You know to quit while you’re ahead until you see a Youtube video: “Nebraska Williams (RB) New Birth High School (MD). uploaded by Donyell Williams. You remember Donyell as this boy who played too damn much in Geometry class but right now, he’s Brasco’s cousin who's Instagram profile came up on the first search. Thank God his profile wasn’t private. You scroll back far enough to hit the jackpot. 

I found it! @donniebrascowill is his Instagram. 

Sheena was right about the dirt. His posts were bare but his stories carried enough. Enough shirtless, weightlifting, fresh-out-the-barbershop-got-to-show-you-the-fade dirt. You hit the follow button before the stewardess asked for your drink selection. 

End of Part I

#trevante rhodes x reader #trevante rhodes x fanfiction #nebraska williams

[klaineownsmysoul]

So I got a chance to watch the IG and slowed it down. Safety issues and shouting ‘suck my dick’ aside with a young child in the car, the most telling moments were when Lu/lu had to put on her homemade B/LM’s specially,for the post, before M filmed and M making sure she got that baby in her shot as part of the end of her recording. Ally/activist - kiss my ass. Those women only care about themselves and riding a cause for attention. There is no need to exploit a kid to get it. If I was the mom I’d be furious.

There is nothing real or authentic about M and her gaggle of girls except for how authentically fake and awful they are.  They’re all about the likes and the clicks and the effusive comments about how great an ally they are - as they all exploit their connection to D for visibility.  He’s a commodity to them and nothing more.  No one would know or care about them - M especially - if they couldn’t tag him in pics and go places with him where they can get their pic taken and posted with him so it bumps up their presence.   The best example of that was provided by his ball and chain herself - wearing her own branded merchandise to a BLM protest.  For real.  Who the eff does that?  The ONE time she decides to promote her business is the absolute last place it should be.  She is an attention whore of the highest order and she used that very real and very important moment in this country as a way to cement her place in D’s life as she’s seen marching with him and reminding everyone of the strip bar they “own” together.  Poor taste is too nice a term to use.  Basically - like everything else in her life - she wants to LOOK like an ally but not actually do any of the work that goes into it.  Like how she’s constantly portrayed by her inane stans as some sort of feminist force of nature when in actuality her entire existence is courtesy of someone else’s paycheck and work.  She wants the title of business owner and the kudos that go with it but does zero work to make any of it happen.  Pretty sure Piper did more work at P3 in the episode of “Charmed” I just watched than she’s ever done at the strip bar.  Hard to be involved in the nitty gritty day to day basics of a business when you’re 6 time zones away drinking and partying on someone else’s dime for weeks at a time at something you have no role in.  Last minute international trips and endless girls’ weekends don’t exactly scream dedicated boss.  D’s job on promo trips is to keep his name in the spotlight and make connections that can further his career.  You have no career to further.  You have no name recognition.  None.  So what pray tell is the reason for you accompanying him every where he goes when you supposedly have your dream business to run?  Attention as his bride. Free designer duds.  Pics you will happily pose for with your patented vice grip on his neck and your flashy fake engagement ring on display because it needs as much promo as you do.  Its as simple as that.  

Regarding this specific video?  UGH.  Beyond ugh frankly.  The fact that they were celebrating the verdict is not the issue.  Everyone should be celebrating that, because it was the right verdict.  Its the way it was delivered that was in appallingly bad taste.  Screaming obscenities at the top of your lungs with a very small child in the car is bad enough.  Distracting the driver so you can take a god damed selfie while the car is moving, however, is unconscionable.  Its behavior that would be bad if she was 16.  Teenagers do stupid shit like that.  But a mid-30s woman who thinks nothing of grabbing the attention of the driver so she can snap a quick pic and post it to her very private Instagram where no doubt it will be “leaked” to whoever her designed bff of the week is so they can post it in her stead all so you can look edgy and cool is so horrifyingly stupid there are almost no words for it.  And to top it all off - that kid doesn’t belong to any of them.  Its one thing to be dumb with your own kid.  Its something entirely different to be careless with someone else’s.  If I was that kid’s mother and saw that clip, I would have ripped them all a new one.  Loudly and emphatically.  But it captures exactly who they are.  Going on trips during a pandemic didn’t faze them.  Going out to brunch during a pandemic wasn’t a big deal.  Its all superficial and empty and if she wasn’t dragging down D’s image with her every move, I would not care at all.  But as long as she’s attached to him, her bullshit stunts reflect on him too and that is what pisses me off.  He is the polar opposite of her in every way and yet she gets a free pass no matter what while he shoulders all the blame for every little thing.  There are some things in life I will just never understand: people who do the speed limit in the left lane on the highway and refuse to move over, geometry, and what she has done to garner such devoted and dedicated fans who fawn over her like she’s the second coming when she never does anything at all.

#so over it #so over the way she uses him and his career #she does way worse shit than he does and yet people can't wait to crucify him on sm for every little thing #anonymous

[felicia-cat-hardy]

My 'Pretty Little Liars' Obsession Led Me To My Best Friend

“Got a secret, can you keep it?” Well, I’ve got one: Though Pretty Little Liars ended in 2017, the seven-season mystery thriller schemed its way into being an integral part of my life for the long haul, so much so that the opening credits live in my head rent-free. To this day, each time I hear the sinister theme song — “Secret” by The Pierces — I’m brought right back to my childhood comfort show (ahem, obsession). The visuals begin with a swipe of mascara, the smear of red lipstick, and a clasp of a heel onto a porcelain doll, which makes me feel like I’m watching someone get pampered for prom. Until, of course, it cuts to four girls standing in front of a casket. It's a chilling moment, one that, until Season 6B, ended with Aria Montgomery (Lucy Hale) delivering her iconic “shh.” I got cast under the show’s spell the first time I saw it, and I wasn’t the only one: Pretty Little Liars led me to my best friend.

Ironically, plotlines about deceit and betrayal actually helped ignite a long-lasting friendship. In 2011, the only other person I knew to be watching PLL was my now-BFF, Taylor, who’s been by my side for over a decade. We were only about 11 and 12 when it premiered, so shout out to our parents for letting us watch a show that dealt with very adult themes like substance use disorder, assault, and grief. Unlike our classmates, who watched tween-appropriate hits like iCarly and Victorious, we became PLL stans.

As fans know, the show is loosely based on the Sara Shepard YA series of the same name, and the first book was my entry point into the PLL universe. I loved reading about blackmailers and murderers navigating high school, but I thought I was the only one who was into it. (Was this my ~I’m different~ complex showing, or were my peers just naturally more inclined to recap Dance Moms? I’ll never know.) So, Taylor first struck up a conversation with me at school because she spotted the first PLL book on my desk — you know, the one painted with porcelain wax dolls warning to “never trust a pretty girl with an ugly secret” in a Gothic script. She asked if I’d watched the TV adaptation yet and we immediately exchanged phone numbers to text about upcoming episodes. We then fell into the fandom. Fast.

I’d never talked to Taylor before this interaction — we had only been in a few classes together — but I always saw her as approachable and friendly. Universally, the beginning of middle school is a big and terrifying year when kids from different elementary schools unite. Eager to meet new people, I reached for friendship at any chance I could get. Taylor made it easy. Aside from being a genuinely kind person (a rare trait for a middle schooler!), she was fangirling over the same thing as me.

Fast forward over a decade later, and the show still feels timeless, especially in its accurate depictions of how dramatic high school can get. It’s no surprise there’s a PLL HBO Max reboot on the way along with the remakes of other buzzy shows from that era (hello, 2010s nostalgia). Ah. It was a simpler time. Back then, Freeform was still ABC Family and for me, Tuesdays meant one thing: PLL is on. What first started as a solo viewing experience soon became a designated hangout time, a time slot reserved for me and Taylor to gush over how much we loved Ashley Benson. (We still do!)

The series had a vibe similar to Gossip Girl or Bridgerton in that a mysterious, unidentifiable pot-stirrer keeps fans guessing each episode, but it was arguably so much better since “A,” the anonymous villain, is out for, you know, murder. Ultimately, it was the type of whodunit that made me and Taylor (and millions of viewers) go down a couple of Reddit rabbit holes — remember the “Aria is A” suspicion? — and this is where my and Taylor’s experience with fan theories began.

Oh, and let’s not forget the location. PLL takes place in the fictional suburb of Rosewood, Pennsylvania, and for two girls from Bucks Country — aka the Philadelphia ‘burbs — we ate it up. The beloved “Welcome to the Dollhouse” episode was exceptionally creepy not only because the Liars get locked into a life-size replica of their bedrooms, but also because our real neighborhood looks extremely similar to their hometown. It operates like Rosewood, too, in that small-town gossip travels at lightning speed.

The Pennsylvania-based plotline also made it easier for us to identify with the characters, who felt like extensions of ourselves. In many ways, we got to know each other through their personalities. Taylor is studious and high-achieving, obviously a Spencer. And I owned feather earrings because I saw Lucy Hale sport them in Season 1, so obviously an Aria. Asking “Are you more of a Hanna or an Emily?” held as much weight in 2012 as asking someone their rising sign in 2021. While it might not say much, it also tells you everything you need to know about a person.

PLL got its start right before live-tweeting shows became popularized, so when we weren’t together, I used to text Taylor on my slide-out keyboard phone (only Zillennials will remember) to compare notes without stumbling upon many spoilers. They read something like this: “Caleb and Hanna are soul mates, TBH.” Like every other fan, we theorized about why A had to be Ian… and Melissa… and Jenna… and Mona… and, you get the point. When our elaborate speculations ran cold, we’d pause DVR’d episodes to gather more clues, like glimpses of Red Coat’s face in her second season introduction, or inspections of those eerie-gloved hands assembling dolls and sharpening knives at the end of each episode.

This game of Clue made room for conversations about all the things. We were in high school during the show’s peak, so it felt like the Liars had laid the groundwork for how to operate our school’s halls. Rosewood High was not traditional — uh, multiple students came back from the dead (*cough* Mona and Alison) — but it did prepare us for the stressors of college applications and first romantic relationships. In fact, Benson’s Hanna Marin would be proud of my matchmaking skills because back then, I introduced Taylor to the boyfriend she’s still with today.

As we both grew up with the show, our friendship got even deeper. The Liars weren’t the only ones to share secrets, and I found it incredibly easy to confide in Taylor. She’s trustworthy, level-headed, compassionate, and an excellent listener. She’s someone I know will always pick up on the second ring and is the type of friend to be there with advice, reassurance, and a quick-witted one-liner. She once joked about never needing a diary because we’ve transcribed the past 10 years of our lives via text.

Our bond has remained strong, especially because the most outrageous PLL-esque plotlines of our lives are ones we’ve experienced together. I love Taylor because I don’t have to provide background for my stories. I’m even so familiar with the cast of characters in her life that when someone re-enters after a long period, I like to say they Alison DiLaurentis’ed her.

And on the off-chance she’s not there to witness something meaningful happen to me IRL, she’s always ready to decipher what went down over texts or dinner and drinks — just like we did when we were teens trying to figure out who A was (minus the wine, of course).

The way she can reconstruct my way of thinking and offer up a perspective I hadn’t seen before is almost paranormal. Whether these are Taylor’s naturally given talents or traits learned from peeling back all the layers of the series, I’m not sure. But she’s always there to decode situations with me — whether they relate to a TV show or during moments when I feel lost.

I couldn’t be more thankful that Taylor entered my life and that PLL played a role in our friendship. I feel so incredibly lucky to know someone like her. Plus, now I have someone who is obligated to watch the reboot with me. Ali was right: Friends do share secrets. And she’s ~quite literally~ the reason Taylor’s got all of mine. Spencer and Aria, you’ve got some competition.

Get Relationship Advice Here

[boreum-dal]

cardcaptor sakura: boy band au #1

so, a while back, in the midst of a DEEP dive into BTS, @swingsdown​ and i brainstormed a stupidly indulgent CCS boy band AU which i’ve written in bits and pieces over the last few months for fun. i don’t plan to do much with it, but i thought it’d be fun to post little bits of it here as it gets written.

below is the rundown: 

touya, yukito, eriol, syaoran, and yamazaki make up japan’s hottest boy group, CLOW, a group that has smashed regional and global records, amassed a cult-like legion of fans, and reached new peaks of success with every comeback they stage. beyond good looks, catchy music, and charming personalities, the group captures the hearts of fans with what appears to be genuine brotherhood and love for each other both on- and off-camera. but just when it looks like they can’t fly any higher, yukito, the glue of the group, abruptly leaves, and everything is at risk of falling apart. 

these are non-chronological vignettes of the band’s time together, both while yukito is with them and after he leaves as they try to stage a return to the music world. 

[see below for descriptions of the boys’ roles in the band, etc. + first vignette]

navigation:

[intro & post-yukito #1] [post-yukito #2] [post-yukito #3]| [during yukito #1]

-touya: rapper/singer, 26, group leader, trainee for longest (6 years--15 to 21) because he didn’t have any proper musical training when he auditioned; wanted to become a musician to help make ends meet for his family. best rapper, ok singer, worst dancer. Is friendly enough for an idol but a little stoic but has lots of fans because he’s very good looking

-yamazaki: rapper/singer, 24, exceptionally good dancer and ok rapper, relatively terrible singer but had to take vocal lessons to improve after yukito left to help fill the gap; never fights with anyone, chaotic energy at almost all times, known for his smiley eyes; known for weirdly high iq

-eriol: singer, 22, classically trained/very good vocalist, TERRIBLE rapper, pretty good dancer, calmest/most polite out of the group, best “face of the group,” known for classic good looks, comes from rich family, bff/roomies with syaoran

-syaoran: singer, 22, second best vocalist behind eriol, not good rapper, pretty good dancer, sometimes gets called “mini touya” because they’re both a little surly and look alike (and is popular despite stoicism/attitude bc he’s cute), hardest on himself and known to be a perfectionist, bff/roomies with eriol, auditioned through global casting in hong kong, had to learn japanese, english, and korean in training

-their fans unironically call themselves “CLOWn.” 

-this is modeled much more after kpop boy groups/the kpop system in general, which i know is quite different from the jpop scene. 

====

[post-yukito #1]

Syaoran watched, holding his breath, as the cameraman counted down with his fingers from three for their cue. At zero, he bowed in perfect unison with his bandmates, rising back up with a practiced smile. Yukito had taught him that the eyes mattered the most--if they don’t crinkle a little, people won’t think it’s genuine, he’d said. Syaoran squeezed the muscles around his cheeks just a little bit tighter and swallowed back bile. He felt Yamazaki squeeze his elbow to his left, and realizing how tense his shoulders were, he took in a breath and tried to force himself to relax.

“Hello, we’re CLOW,” he chorused with the group, and he threw up a v-sign with his fingers, maintaining the fake-genuine smile. Yukito would have been to his right if he’d been here, and he tried not to think about how painfully naked his right shoulder felt. They’d been preparing for this for months, and even so, everything about this situation suddenly felt horribly wrong.

“Hi, CLOW!” the host, a chipper young woman with bright blue hair and purple contact lenses who’d recently made her solo debut a few months ago, exclaimed, turning briefly to them before facing the camera again. 

Syaoran briefly recalled the first time they’d been on this particular concert pre-show; it had been three weeks into their debut, and he’d been so nervous that he could hardly see straight. The interviewer then had been a young man, a fellow idol singer doing a three-month stint as the host for the show, and when the host had held the mic up to Syaoran’s face, he’d been totally speechless, his voice shot from nerves. His whole group--Eriol in particular--had given him hell about it for weeks afterward. Even Yukito, in all his sweet earnestness, had given him some good-natured ribbing about it. Only Touya had refrained, for one reason or another. 

“Today is a very exciting day--your first comeback in over six months with your new single, LOVETORN!” the host said, turning towards Touya. “Tell us, how are you feeling?”

Touya leaned into the mic, facing the camera and wearing a convincingly charming grin. “It feels amazing. We are so happy to be able to provide new music for our fans, who have been so loving and wonderful while we’ve been on our break. We only hope that our fans love the single with as much love as we poured into making it.”

“Well, within twenty-four hours of the music video’s release on YouTube, it already hit 70 million views, so I think we can say with certainty that your fans love the single!” the host chirped. “Can you tell us what the meaning behind this song is?”

Syaoran was relieved the mic did not go to him for this question; he’d have had a difficult time not rolling his eyes. The meaning was pretty clear, he thought. It was a song about wanting someone back. Touya and the producers had decided to capitalize off of the most painful moment in the band’s four-year history by writing a fucking song about the departure of the one member that had truly held the team together. 

Eriol, predictably, was a little more diplomatic in his response, for better or for worse. “Yes, it’s about the pain of being apart from your loved one for a prolonged period of time and life not being the same without them,” he said into the mic. He pushed up his glasses. “In our case, it’s about us being separated from our beloved CLOWNs for so long and wanting desperately to be reunited. And here we are today.”

The host smiled. “Such a sad song, but you’re all so happy to be here! How are you going to emote something so painful onstage?”

It was Syaoran’s turn to speak. All eyes were on him now, and taking an imperceptible half-second to compose himself, he turned on his megawatt smile once more. “It’s quite simple, really. We’ll just think about the times that inspired us to write this song in the first place. All the hardships, all the heartache--we’ll bring it all back onstage. And to that end,” he said, looking directly into the camera, “we’ve missed you very much.”

He hoped Yukito was watching, even though he knew he wasn’t. 

“That is lovely, and we can’t wait to see you perform. Yamazaki, would you like to kick off the performance?”

Yamazaki stuck his face into the camera with a wide grin. “Absolutely. You’re watching Music Centre, and get ready for CLOW’s comeback with our new single, LOVETORN, in three, two, one!”

“Cut!” The director shouted, and the cameras stopped rolling. “Great job, everyone. I love when we get everything we need in one take--after all that time away, you really are true professionals.”

The group bowed, murmuring thanks, and shuffled backstage toward the dressing rooms. 

“Good job, everyone,” Yoshiyuki Terada, the group’s manager, called, looking up from an iPad. “Take ten and then we’ll meet back here--you’re due onstage after this next performance.”

Syaoran made it into the dressing room first, and immediately, he grabbed his headphones out of the pocket of his hoodie hanging from the door and shoved them into his ears. The last thing he wanted to do right now was reflect with the band on that painful interview--not right before they had to go outside and bear their souls to the world for a four-minute performance. Just as he sat down on one of the sofas, though, he felt one of the earbuds being plucked out of his ear. 

He looked up indignantly to see Touya holding the earbud, who was staring down at him with his lips drawn into a disapproving frown. “Quick team meeting.”

Syaoran scowled, but he turned around and leaned the front of his torso against the back of the sofa to face the rest of the group. 

“Okay, guys,” Touya said, leaning against the vanity and crossing his arms. “First live performance of our comeback. How are we feeling?”

“Pretty good, now that the interview’s over,” Eriol said with a sigh. He reached down toward the floor to stretch his legs. “That was the hardest part for me.”

Yamazaki nodded. “Now that we don’t have to talk, I feel fine. It’s just a matter of doing what we’ve been practicing for the last two months now. It’s all muscle memory from here!”

Touya glanced at Syaoran next. Syaoran glared at him for a moment, but then he met Eriol’s softer gaze, and he deflated a little. “I’m--I’ll be fine. I’m not nervous.”

Touya pursed his lips. “You know that’s not what I’m asking.”

“I know.” Syaoran swallowed. “But I don’t know what else I can say.”

Touya regarded him in silence for a moment, and Syaoran knew without looking that Eriol and Yamazaki were watching the exchange with bated breath. Much to Syaoran’s relief, Touya let out a sigh and shrugged his shoulders. “Okay. Let’s do a good job out there tonight. No mistakes. The choreography on this is a little different from what we’re used to, so everyone needs to be in the exact right place at the exact right time.”

Of course it’s different. We’re missing a fifth body.

“How about you, Touya? How are you feeling?” Yamazaki asked, fiddling with the zipper on one of his many pant pockets. 

Touya exhaled softly, and for the first time all night, he raised the corners of his lips in a small smile. “I’m okay. This feels right.”

It didn’t, though, Syaoran thought. Nothing felt right. But his bandmates were clearly so excited to be performing again, Yukito or no, and he wasn’t going to ruin that for them just because he didn’t feel ready. 

“All right, guys, bring it in,” Touya said, holding out his hand. Eriol, Yamazaki, and Syaoran joined. “On three, CLOW. One, two, three--”

“CLOW!” the four of them chimed, and Syaoran followed Touya out of the dressing room and back toward the stage.

#ccs #boy band au #ccs fanfic

[baskervilleshound]

Her Cookies Were to Die For (PART 8)

((Hello everyone. I am finally back from the dead with a new chapter! I’m so sorry for the delay- with this quarantine going on, I’ve been a little depressed and haven’t had a lot of artistic motivation. However, hopefully I’m gonna get back on my bullshit and start providing some decent content again hbwrgjkbkj Imma do my best. ))

---

Snatcher’s yellow eyes stared contentedly at a member of the mafia, who had just happened to wander right into his forest. A fresh soul was his for the taking. Thank goodness; he was so very hungry.

Without any hesitation, Snatcher stalked up on the man before laughing as loud as he could, and then giving the mafia guy his usual threats before eating his soul in a single bite. After the mafia was nothing but a shell of what he used to be, Snatcher called for his minions to take the body away. He had suggested that they toss it on Vanessa’s front lawn. She would like that, wouldn’t she?

Feeling a bit more content and full than he had in days, Snatcher floated into his home before taking a seat in his chair. He was hoping that if he held still, maybe the soul would stay down. He needed its power- badly. It was getting more and more difficult to maintain his large, spooky form as the days ticked by.

As he sat with his favorite book in his lap, Snatcher began to feel slightly unnerved. Something…something didn’t feel right. The brat hadn’t come to check on him yet, even though she had been checking on him every day since the whole illness thing had begun. But today, something was different. The forest was still, and Hat Kid had been nowhere to be found.

Snatcher snapped his book shut and let out a groan. Why did he care so much? He didn’t know…but he did, nonetheless. The sound of Hat’s crying echoed around in his mind, along with her bright red, tear-streaked cheeks. That entire thing had bothered him greatly.

“Ugh…I should probably check on that brat,” he growled before making his way onto the girl’s ship in a flash of his supernatural powers.

Once he appeared in her room in his usual place above the pool of pillows, he realized that her lights were off. That was strange. Hat never left the lights off…

Cautiously, Snatcher sauntered around the room, and then into all of the other rooms in the ship. They were all empty. There were no signs of the kid anywhere! What was going on?

Snatcher was beginning to get upset, as much as he despised admitting it. However, his senses immediately picked up a sound coming from the one room that he hadn’t checked yet: the kitchen. In an instant, Snatcher slammed the door open and peered inside.

“Kiddo, what the heck have you--?! Oh, wait. It’s you.” Snatcher’s face fell when he realized that it was only the Cooking Cat, who was sitting on the counter, licking her paws.

“Aren’t you a cook? Licking your hands? That’s, uh…disgusting,” said the Snatcher. “Where’s the brat?”

CC sniffed at Snatcher’s intrusion and shrugged.

“Don’t know. She didn’t tell me,” the cat said, her hands gesturing how much she didn’t know rather grandly. “But she told me to give this to you in case you showed up.”

Reaching into the pocket of her chef’s jacket, the cat pulled out an envelope before tossing it on the floor in front of Snatcher. The disgruntled ghost snarled before he picked it up and tore up open in a snap with his claws.

Dear BFF,

I knew that you would get mad at me if I told you were I was going before I did it, so I didn’t tell you at all. But I’m gonna tell you now. I’m gonna go smack Queen Vanessa until she tells me what she did to you, and how to fix it. I KNOW she did it, Snatcher. I can’t let her hurt you anymore. I won’t. Don’t bother looking for me. I’m already in the mansion. I’ll see you when I have a cure to make you better.

Bye, BFF. Sorry if you are mad at me, but oh well. I want to help you. 

Love, Hat Kid

“NO, YOU FOOOOOL!!”

Cooking Cat immediately puffed up from fear. Snatcher had shouted loud enough to shake the entire ship.

“What?! What’s wrong?!” the cat gasped, pressing a paw to her heart.

“She’s going to get herself killed! That idiot! That FOOL!!” Snatcher continued to yell, tearing the letter to pieces in a fit.

“ Queen Vanessa will kill her, you cat! Did you know she was going there?! I swear I will eat you right where you sit if you did! And don’t even try to lie to me,” Snatcher snarled.

“I would never willingly let her in harm’s way, Snatcher. Unlike YOU!” the cat hissed. “Besides, I thought you wanted her dead, anyway. You tried to kill her multiple times, remember?”

Snatcher was shaking from how angry he was. His face twisted up into a snarl before he left the ship in a fit of anger. Once he appeared back in his forest, he screamed at the top of his lungs until every single one of his minions had surrounded him.

“Have any of you seen that kid?!” he demanded, his chest heaving with upset.

“Well yeah, boss, while you were eating and making fun of that mafia guy, she wandered into Vanessa’s manor again,” said the minion closest to him.

“She WHAT?!”

“Is…is that a problem, boss? You literally sent her in there one time and didn’t let her use her hats so…what’s the deal?”

“You…all of you, get out of my sight. I need to attend to something.”

Letting out a groan, Snatcher quickly shot through the crowd and deep into the forest. He was so angry…so upset. That kid was in Vanessa’s manor, probably getting herself killed- all because Snatcher was weak. It was awful, and he couldn’t stand it. Not one bit.

After flying as quickly as he could, Snatcher had to stop to expel more souls. It seemed that getting that upset had upset the rest of his body. For awhile, he stayed still in the darkness of the forest and let it pass. By the time it was finished, he realized that he was no longer floating.

No…his feet were firmly on the ground now, and in boots at that. Wearily, the ghost wiped some of the vomit from his fangs before looking at his claws. His talons were gone entirely. In their place were a set hands.

“Nonono….this can’t be,” the ghost wheezed.

Swallowing hard, he ran as quickly as he could to the nearest puddle. The illumination of the moon showed him his reflection in the water, and he nearly screamed when he saw it. Staring back at him…was the Prince of the Subcon Kingdom.

His power, it was…gone.

He was no longer a fanged, lengthy monster. No…he simply looked like a man now. A dark ,lavender man, with a cracked crown atop his head.

#snatcher #the snatcher #ahit snatcher #a hat in time snatcher #hat kid #ahit #ahit hat kid #ahit queen vanessa #ahit cooking cat #cooking cat #a hat in time #a hat in time prince #my writing #her cookies were to die for

[lovewriting-5]

Roads:

*gif credit goes to @miyku*

2. Into The Woods

3. Bear Station

1. 1452 Lame Avenue, Seattle:

I stepped off the school bus and met up with Sean Diaz and Lyla Park. Lyla shouts “See you tonight! Don’t be late, losers!” I intertwine my fingers with Sean’s as we walk to his house. Lyla on his right side, says “Are you both going or am I going to have to hang out with just one of you?” I shrug while Sean replies “I don’t even know if I wanna go tonight?” Lyla says “Oh please. It’s gonna be fun! You guys hate every party.” I chime in “They’re all the same. Too many people, too fucking loud, everbody’s wasted.” Lyla a little frustrated with our indecisive responses “You just described...a party!”

All of a sudden there was a ping coming from Sean’s sweatshirt pocket. He checks the text and it was from his dad, Esteban. A little annoyed with his dad constantly checking on him, he says “It’s dad. Wants to know if I’m coming home after school. Jeez, I’m not a ten year old...” I tell him “He just cares about you.” Lyla adds “You should be happy your dad’s looking out for you.” We continue on our way to Sean’s house and he must have decided that he was going because he asks “So what should I wear tonight?” Lyla responds sarcastically “A condom.” I chuckle “Alright I’m in. Paying plenty of attention in Sex Ed class, I see...”

We walked past Brett’s house who shouted “Hey, lovebirds! Back from the loony bin?” I roll my eyes. Lyla shouts back “Shut the fuck up, dickhead!” Brett just gave us the middle finger. Once out of sight, I gave her a high five and say “Damn, your neighbor’s an asshole.” Sean says “Yup. Always true to himself.”

We sat on the front porch of his house. Sean sat in the middle between Lyla and me. Lyla being observant, says “Man...We need to find a couch for your yard one day.” She pulled out a pack of cigarettes when Sean says “Oooh careful...Last time my dad almost busted me out here...” Lyla explains “Because you were alone. Your dad wouldn’t bust us. He loves us. So...you both want a hit or not?” I’m not a smoker so I declined. Sean who technically didn’t decline one, says “Nah. Maybe at the party. Track stars aren’t supposed to smoke, ya know...” Lyla coming back with “Yeah, sure. I’ll remember this when you’re begging for a spliff tonight...”

Lyla, the all knowing of this party tonight, says “Speaking of weed...I got that covered tonight. What else do we need? Eric said his parents don’t leave shit at the cabin so...we better make an official party list...” She takes out a sharpie from her backpack, grabs Sean’s left hand and begins scribbling. Sean a little confused, asks “Hey whoa, what the hell are you doing?” Lyla always quick with a response tells him “Don’t move! You’re my human post-it note. First we need money for supplies...munchies...chips n’ dip...soda...et cetera...” He says “This better wash off!” I place a hand on his stretched arm and lean closer to get a better look at her handiwork. Then she adds “And of course, we must not forget...ZE BOOZE!!!”

While looking at the list on his hand, he says “I can probably snag a six-pack from dad if he’s got enough. Hey, did you ever think of maybe...just...sending a text instead?” Remembering one more thing, she grabs his hand back “Hmmm...Oh right! Blankets. It’s gonna get chilly tonight! You and (Y/N) are gonna need something to snuggle under...Oh, one last thing! C...O...N...D...O...” He looks over and gives me a small embarrassed smile when Lyla was saying that. Pulling his hand away he says “Aargh stop! You’re out of room, punk!” Noticing the small drawing at the bottom of the list, he says while teasing her “Is this how you see a penis? Damn, you should try and actually see one for real.” She says “You don’t wanna go down that road, dude. My chances of scoring tonight are probably...ten times yours.” Her and I have talked about it numerous times when he wasn’t around. Lyla looks over at me and gives a wink. Luckily, Sean didn’t see because I could feel my cheeks getting red.

The three of us look up at the sky and noticed the airplane flying over. Lyla says “These fucking planes, man...I wanna hate them, but...I’ll miss them so much if I move somewhere else. Shit changes so fast...I get so emo sometimes, wondering what’ll happen to us once we graduate. Will you both still be my BFFs? Will shit ever get better than 1452, Lame Avenue?” Sean confirming “Yeah, man. Friends forever.” Lyla sounding a little worried “Yeah but...What happens if we go to different colleges? Or you two get sick of me? Whatever...” I assure her “You heard of the Internet? No way distance can tear us apart. We’re freakin’ fighters!” Lyla sounding better, says “Yeah, you’re right...Best freakin’ fighters forever...”

“OK, it’s getting way late and I gotta pick out my outfit for tonight. Skype later when you’re ready. Hugs!” Both of us give her a hug, “Talk to you guys soon.” Sean says “Hello, Friday night...”

Sean and I walked inside his house and heard laughing coming from the kitchen. We set our backpacks down by the front door. His dad, Esteban says “Hey! Perfect timing! Just the two I wanted to see.” I smile but Sean groans “Sure. But we’re a little busy.” Daniel interrupts “Did you see Lyla? She said we could go to the movies next week. She said...”

“Dude. Bug her, not me! You’re not exactly her type.” Sean says. “You’re lucky they put up with you...” Esteban says. He says “Jeez, thanks pop. I feel really supported right now.” While gently nudging my arm with his elbow.

Esteban begins “You’re welcome. And now we need an objective judge. That would be you!” “Really?” Sean asks. “Hey! No fair!” Daniel objects. “Shhhhh...Court is in session. Judge Diaz presiding over the case of the last Chock-O-Crisp.” Sean interrupts “We...we have to go...Uh...Get ready for a party and stuff.” Esteban says “Well if you want to attend a party and stuff...you have to earn it...your Honor.”

“Aww shit.” Sean says. Daniel says as Sean mocks him “Hey, he swore!” Esteban who is used to hearing this from his sons, says “Yes, I heard, tattletale. Please Judge Diaz. Be an example to the court and society. Then you can go hook up or...chill or...whatever! Now...Who deserves to eat this final...Chock-O-Crisp? Your adorable little brother who eats about ten bags a week...” Daniel trying to persuade the decision smiled at me and points to himself. Esteban continues “Or your poor suffering father...who slaves over a hot engine to provide his family with a home and a garage?”

Daniel raises his hand and shouts “Me! Me! Me!” As Sean pulls his hand down. “Come on Judge...” Daniel says. Esteban says “Shh. Let him decide...Judge? The verdict, please.” Sean places his right hand on his chin and looks at me to help decide. I smile at him, place a hand on his shoulder and say “I’m staying out of this, Judge Diaz.” He thought about it for a few minutes.

He gave the last Chock-O-Crisp to Esteban, “Daniel is guilty of being a brat! So the Chock-O-Crisp goes to...Señor Diaz!” Daniel trying to debate “What? No way! You’re a cheat!” Sean proudly says “Nope. I’m the law.” Esteban being a good father says “Your Honor, I can’t let you punish an innocent man...So...” Daniel who is very happy, says “Ooohhh yessss...” Sean says to Esteban “Yeah, I always knew you’d confess.”

Esteban heads back to the garage “Okay. Back to work. I hear an engine calling my name...And you better play nice together...Like you always do...” Daniel says “I have to go work in my room too.” As he walks away, he lightly hits Sean in the stomach. He tried to grab him but Daniel was too quick. Sean shouts “Yeah, don’t hurry back.”

I was in the kitchen helping Sean gather supplies for the party, when I hear him knock on Daniel’s bedroom door. I lean against the side of the fridge facing the hall, cross my arms and watch. Sean says “Dude, come on, open up!” From the other side of the door, Daniel shouts “Why?” Sean says “Because!” I slightly shake my head. Daniel says “Okay, okay...” as he opens the door ajar. Sean asks “What are you doing in there, Dr. Frankenstein?” Daniel still not happy with earlier “You gave my Chock-O-Crisp to dad.” Sean tells him “So what? He gave it back. Dude, you are so spoiled...” I roll my eyes at the typical banter between these two.

Sean asks “What’s with the scissors?” I noticed them in his hand. Daniel tells him “You’ll see...but not now...so don’t come in!” Sean sarcastically says “Oh man! Damn, sounds pretty serious! Should I call an ambulance now, before it’s too late?” I giggle. Daniel says while laughing “Maybe...All I can say is...watch out for my costume in three days! This Halloween is gonna be awesome! Are you going to the party tonight? At Eric’s house? Will Lyla be there?” Sean says “Yes, yes, yes and NO. You can’t go. Teenagers only.” I join them and tell Daniel “Sorry dude. You know Lyla and I would love it if you joined us but you wouldn’t have fun at this party.” Daniel says to Sean “They’re way nicer to me than you...Did she ask about me?” Messing with him, Sean says “Yes, she wants to marry you.” Daniel says “Shut up! And I don’t care if I can’t go...because...because...I have secret stuff to do...Alone!” He closes the door. Sean yells back “Of course you do.” Daniel peaked out the door then shut it again. We walked into the living room. I tell him “I’ll put the supplies in our backpacks and then I’ll be in your room. Would it be okay if I leave my school stuff here?” He says as he wraps his arms around my waist and I wrap my arms around the back of his neck, “Yeah, it’s no problem at all. I gotta go find that loooove blanket.” He heads down to the garage to see his dad.

I removed the school stuff and set them on the dining table. I placed the party supplies in the two backpacks. I walked into Sean’s room, it has only been a few times when I have been in here. The times when I have visited, we hung out in the main house with his dad and younger brother. I walked around and looked at the pictures on the walls and things laying around on the floor. I noticed the two trophies next to a picture of Daniel, Sean and Esteban on the shelf. I remembered that day, it was a track-and-field meet. Lyla and I went crazy cheering him on. His skateboard was on a shelf above his bed. He tried to teach me and there were successful moments but I enjoyed watching him show off. I also looked at some of his drawings lying around. He was really good. There were some that I remember watching him do. I saw some sketches that he kept from when he taught me how to draw. I always enjoyed seeing how enthralled he gets when he draws.

I sat on the edge of his bed glancing at the Gamer magazine that was lying on the mattress. He walked in, mentioned that he talked to his dad and he gave him $40. I say “Wow, that is so cool!” He walks to the bed and sat down. We began to kiss. I placed my hand on the back of his neck and pulled him closer. He leans forward and we begin inching toward his pillow. It seemed like we kissed for awhile when his phone pinged from his back pocket. He pulls away and breathlessly says “Must be Lyla.” He pulls out his phone and we both look at the screen. It was her telling him to get on Skype.

He gets up and sits at the desk to call Lyla on his laptop. I sit on the edge of the bed in the middle. He turns his laptop a little so I am able to be in frame. Lyla appears on screen with a smirk, she says “Hola, lovebirds...Just give me a minute! Gee, where did I put the...Hold on! Okay, hi! Did you get everything on your hand-list?” Sean tells her “It’s all in our backpacks, yeah. Daddy hooked me up with some cash, so...we’re set for the night. In case we need anything else...” She says “Or if you and (Y/N) need anything else...Ooh la la!” Sean sighs and I flip her off with a wink.

Daniel comes bursting in the room wearing a skull mask and carrying a bottle of some kind of red liquid. He says “Sean, Sean! I’m done, look! I made zombie blood! It’s...um...corn syrup and food coloring...Hey! Hi Lyla!” He waves to her. I stay out of these moments.

Sean begins escorting him out “Get out of my room, Daniel.” Daniel apologetically “I was just...” Sean says irritated “Come on, man!” Daniel still apologizing “Just...” More irritated, he says “Just bugging the shit out of me again after I told you to knock? Yeah, I know.” After Daniel left, Sean goes back to his laptop “Anyway...” Lyla scolds “Sean, you’re an asshole! What’s your problem?” Trying to come up with an excuse, he says “But...” She says “I want to see his zombie blood if you don’t...” I add “I agree with her. The zombie blood sounded really cool.” He looks at both Lyla and me, says “Sorry, sorry...I’ll make it up to him...He knows I can be a dick...I’m just stressed out about tonight...” Lyla says “Oh please...we are gonna have so much fun! Maybe tonight’s the night...I already see the two of you got started with delaying on calling me.” As she winks.

Sean asks “Okay...So when are you coming over?” Lyla says “I just have to hit up the Momster for the car keys and...hope she doesn’t make me lie too much about the party...I’m already in trouble from last time...” I get up, stand behind the chair and tell her “This time, don’t get caught!” We then hear Daniel outside “I didn’t mean to! Stop! Don’t touch it! It’s for Halloween! Leave me alone! I’ll call my dad!” Sean looks out the window and says “Hold on, okay? Something’s going on outside...” Lyla yells “What do you mean? Hey!” I quickly move out of the way as Sean runs out of the room. I shrug to her and then run out the door.

We get outside and see Brett with a hold on Daniel’s arm. Brett angrily says “Look at my shirt, asshole!” Daniel sticking up for himself, says “What’s the big deal? It’s Halloween!” Sean went into big brother mode “Hey! Don’t ever touch my brother!” He says while shoving Brett “You hear me, Brett?” Brett says “Fuck you, Diaz! He got his fake blood shit all over my shirt...Look!” Daniel frightened says “I told you it was an accident! You better leave us alone!” Brett reaches and tries to grab him but Sean and I get in the way. Brett says “Oh yeah, go hide in your dad’s garage! Pussies! You think you own the block!”

I keep my arm in front of Daniel to block him from Brett. Sean steps in between. He shouts “Dude, step back! He didn’t mean it, he’s a fucking kid!” Brett shouts “He’s a fucking retard!” Sean having enough “What...What did you just say?” Brett says “You heard me, bitch...” He shouts “Don’t ever touch him again!” Brett trying to get under his skin, says “Or what? You gonna get your daddy?” Sean tells him “Hey asshole! I don’t need him, to protect me from you!” Brett shoves him and says “Oh? You wanna go?!” Sean shoves him back, both Daniel and I shout “Sean!” Sean shouts “Oh yeah, motherfucker?!” Brett crossing a line “Then go back to your own country.”

Sean punches him. Daniel now scared says “Woah...Sean! You hit him!” He tells me “Get him inside! NOW!” I try to get Daniel to go but he won’t budge. He shouts “Sean!” Brett tackles Sean by the legs, shouting “You’re dead meat, bitch!” He begins punching Brett’s back and hits with his left fist. Brett shouts “You and your whole fucking family are going to jail! Losers!” Sean shoves him and he falls on a rock in the ground. We start hearing sirens. Daniel frightened, asks “What...what’s going on?”

Sean goes to check on Brett, he says “Oh fuck me...(Y/N), get over here!” I tell Daniel “Stay right here.” He asks “Sean...is he hurt?” We never notice the cop car pull up until we hear the officer command “Okay...okay, step away! Now!” Brett is laying on the ground gasping for air. Sean says “Calm down, officer.” The officer yells “Shut up! And step back!” The three of us back away from Brett. The officer pulls out his gun and points it at us. He commands “On the ground, Now!” Sean says “Hey, wait...This guy was...beating up my little brother!” Daniel frighteningly adds “He started it!” The officer commands “On the ground! NOW! Hands behind your head!”

The three of us get on the ground with our arms up. Daniel scaredly, says “Sean!” Sean frightened, says “This is fucking bullshit!” The officer goes to take Brett’s pulse when I see Esteban. He runs toward to five of us. The officer moves his gun on to Esteban. He asks “Sean, what’s happening?” The officer shouts at him “Get on the ground, sir!” Sean tells him, frighteningly “Dad! We didn’t do anything, I swear...” Esteban says looking between us and the officer “Sean, be quiet...Officer, listen...” The officer yells at Sean “Shut up!” He says “I’m sorry, dad!” Daniel really scared, says “Daddy, I want to go home.” Esteban trying to keep everything calm, says “Be quiet! They’re good kids, officer.” The officer shouts “Don’t move!” He says “I’m sure they didn’t do anything.” Officer repeating himself “I said don’t move!” Daniel says “Stop this.” I say “We didn’t do anything...!” Esteban says to him “Daniel, it’s gonna be alright.” The officer swings his gun between the four of us. He shouts “On the ground!” That’s when the most unthinkable thing happened. The officer unintentionally fires his gun at Esteban who collapses to the ground. The officer says quietly “Shit.” All of a sudden, Daniel yells “AHHHHHHHHHH!” There was a giant force that came out of nowhere.

Both Sean and I wake up to the sound of a leaking fire hydrant and everything is a mess. Utility poles are tipped over, rocks and debris litter the road and yards. In the road, we see a vehicle on fire. We both whimper a “No.” The police car was upside down and the officer was dead. Sean goes to his dad and says “Oh fuck!” Esteban has blood all over his chest. He tries to wake him up but it isn’t working, “No way! No...” I go over to Daniel and trying to wake him “Daniel! Hey! Come on!” Sean shouts “Come on! We gotta go! Now!” Sean comes over by Daniel, picks him up and carries him to the front porch. We grab our backpacks as we hear more sirens getting closer. Just before they arrive, we run.

#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

[chaneajoyyy]

Hey, anon here. Asking if you could gladly provide me with a list of good MBJ x reader ... reads? Thanks luv.

Hey anon!!!! I got you!!!

MBJ X READER FICS

- michael does a red carpet interview and his gf is in law school and not super into the hollywood life, michael and reader break up after years together but still miss each other and want to fix things, michael gets into fight with gf and she goes out and later he takes care of her, michael and reader are dating and did a  movie together and do a interview and photoshoot together, you and mbj take your son to the black panther premiere and michael doesn’t know you are pregnant again so you announce it on the red carpet, reader is a famous singer and he goes to one of her concerts (she doesn’t know) and he surprises her backstage and they go out afterwards- @fangirlfanwritings (search michael b. jordan imagines)

- maggie and the ferocious beast series, friday (mbj x black!ocs), sweet inspiration, lady- @ghostfacekill-monger

- honeymoon; pain, pleasure, with a side of gentleness(with winston duke and chadwick boseman- @tgigoldie

- hello mrs. jordan, flirt, loving lover, need you by my side, busted, planning the future, false accusations. messy. reconnect, can’t help myself, +2, instagram bae, dance for you- @plussizeappreciationfics

-sunday brunch (included), michael debating taking a year long role, michael doing an ellen interview for black panther press, michael and reader breaking up and seeing each other at the met gala, michael and reader moving in together-  @justimagaine (search or scroll for michael b jordan)

-imagine you and michael b. jordan are a couple- @celebrity-meme

- michael b jordan doing an ellen interview4 where he talks about taking you ona week long vaction , you revelaed a little something about michael while he was on ellen she had to tell him what it was;  73 questions with michael b. jordan. after 2 years of dating you both went public but still kept ot ow profile. because it was kept low key people wanted to know some details, so the interviewer got a little information from michael- @celebrityyimaginees (scroll for michael b jordan x reader)

- nsfw, just take both, split series (includes erik)- @erikismybitch

- he was erik, test, oooh…we got a house house?!, reader birthday fic- @writerbee-ffs (scroll for michael b jordan x reader)

- life unexpecte series, midnight fm series, honey love series (included), you again series, hot girl summer (includes chadwick), at the oscars (includes chadwick), the reader wanting a bbl (includes chadwick) @lady-love-and-glitter-roses (some of the stories are discontinued so search for updated masterpost for 1/16/2020-i will be reblogging it so you can see it too)

- patch jordan, the red door, rooftop (with trevante rhodes), my name is erik series (mbj included), erik killmonger & mbj getting their hair done, bts: essence magazine photoshoot- @bakarilennox (check her masterlist)

- unexpected surprise, sick times, comics are for nerds, it’l be okay, love-  @running-on-fanfiction

- blame it on the henny (mbj x black!oc)- @ororowrites 

- double trouble, movement, photo op, romcom tragedy- @basickassandra (search michael b jordan imagines)

-red carpet tings- @mbjslilthang

- mornings, nike air max 97- @teachallas (scroll for michael b jordan x reader)

- headcanons series- @atechnologicalmarvel (search michael b jordan)

- late night shenanigans, fourth times a charm?- @marvelouss-marvel

- imagine: joke, imagine: interview, having a puppy family, being besties with chadwick and michael- @fandomnom

- a is for arrest, soft kiss- @calif0rnia-lovers (check masterlist)

- tattoo one shot, acting out- @kumkaniudaku (check masterlist)

- private party, partition please- @wakandanblogger (search michael b jordan x reader)

- call out my name series- @lionheartsthings

- michael b jordan tries to indirectly tell her (reader) that he’s in love with her but the reader being so oblivious that he literally has to like shout it out through text that he likes her, ship, makeup, bff, goodnight bae (some of these include muliple races) - @mcusocialimagines

- meet and greet- @hearteyes-for-killmonger

- can’t wait, just like her daddy- @littlemessyjessi

- wicked games series- @wickedgamesfanfic (mbj x oc)

- pet peeve series- @aspacefork

- a little tension series- @madd-angels

#the plug #librarian at your service #let's chat #sip tea #talk fanfiction #michael b jordan x black reader #michael b jordan #michael b. jordan fanfiction

[punkscowardschampions]

Jimmy & Janis

Jimmy: Your nan in? Janis: what? Jimmy: not a hard question, does she work weekends or what? Janis: stop trying to get with my nan, freak Jimmy: I'm trying to do nowt, our kid is Jimmy: [a picture of Bobby with a lewk on and some kind of gift for Libi because he's asking her out lowkey] Jimmy: so go on, she there or not? Janis: Aw Janis: where's he off to? Janis: I'm looking after Libi, dunno if it's classed as punishment or they just wanted to piss off out for the day that bad Jimmy: Asia's sister's having a 🥳🎂🎁 and he don't wanna go on his own Jimmy: last night were the first I heard Jimmy: so I said I'd ask if he can invite Libi out Janis: relatable Janis: wouldn't wanna face all those 🦷🦷 alone either Janis: I'll show her the 📸 sure she'll be pure buzzing Jimmy: it's alright for you I've gotta piss about and translate 'cause none of them can be bothered to learn how to talk to him Jimmy: not til 🕑 loads of time to put her 👗👠👑 on but he's been ready for ages Janis: I mean, glad they haven't just assumed they can shout really, really loud at him Janis: only cute when she does it, obvs Janis: but that's shit, Asia's gonna think you're hanging about to 👀 her, you know Janis: 👗👠👑 and everything Jimmy: I were 🤞 she wouldn't wanna be there surrounded by kids and that, but they probably are her mental age Jimmy: be a right laugh then, this 😒 Jimmy: 🤞 now I can convince the pair of them to go do something else Janis: they're weird about it Janis: great for the 'gram pretending you're bezzies with your little sisters Jimmy: the rest of the #squad gonna be there then? Janis: not 💀👑 or #2 I doubt Janis: maybe the others though Jimmy: I get it, they'd scare the kids Jimmy: float away if they grab a 🎈 Janis: with their combined BMI, no point pretending they wanna be future mummy bloggers Janis: 🩸🩸 pact it ain't Jimmy: sure Azerbaijan or whatever her name is, is gutted they ain't coming Jimmy: 💔💔💔 Janis: Auntie Mimi Janis: 😏 Jimmy: you got a 👗👠👑  there you can chuck on an' all? Janis: so nice of you to reckon I'm ready to step in to sign backup Jimmy: you know loads of insults, that's all the birthday girl ever has to say to him Janis: she must be unbearable Janis: Asia with less filter, some fucking how Janis: I can come with Jimmy: tah Jimmy: it were doing his head in 💭 what it might be like Janis: understandable Janis: kids are dicks Janis: but if everyone else is going, you don't wanna be the one who don't Jimmy: yeah, he weren't having that Janis: they'll have a good time Janis: providing he ain't 😳 to be seen with her Janis: she's putting on some kind of costume rn Janis: might need to 👍👎 Jimmy: he'll be chuffed Jimmy: if this party had been the other year with his mates from home he'd have put his own 👗👠👑 on Janis: Asia's probably dressed bday girl up in a matching 'fit with her Janis: lovely visual, not weird as fuck Janis: they'll be the most 😎 ones there, deffo Jimmy: I'm wrapping a weird doll with massive 👀 that looks like her on a night out rn Jimmy: [a picture] Janis: ✝️✝️✝️ Janis: gonna tell the hot priest to book that in after me Jimmy: sent a 🎁 list, her mini me, you ever heard of such a pisstake? Jimmy: mate, you're turning 7 Janis: bad enough when adults do it just 'cos they've decided to do the paperwork Janis: that's some bullshit Jimmy: she's such a little twat 🤞 Libi gives her the shit 🎅 treatment Janis: letting her bring her whatever tat she's picking up about the gaff Janis: go ahead, like Jimmy: 😏 Jimmy: brb gonna go dress in all black like those dickheads who work puppets Janis: when are you not all in black though Jimmy: loads Janis: 🏫 don't count Janis: no choice Janis: or whatever the CG uniform is Jimmy: 1. I weren't on about school 2. you know what the uniform is, you've been in Janis: not committed it to memory like Janis: soz Janis: have to 💭 about Pete more, you're right Jimmy: you did 👀 at it enough, dickhead Jimmy: but I get it, my 👀 are up a bit from the apron Jimmy: very PG, you Janis: PC and PG Janis: 💔 Jimmy: good thing I've got you to rein me in at this bollocks party Janis: not a wet blanket Janis: but this party will probably be traumatizing enough so you're welcome anyway Jimmy: 👍 Jimmy: she can stay at ours after if she wants, let you piss off and do something that ain't Janis: oh, yeah, cheers Jimmy: no bother Janis: if you ever need, he can come here Jimmy: take you up on that when this Sharon's gone and Ian's hanging about 💔🎻😭 Janis: a new one? Janis: or is xmas Sharon back Jimmy: doing the rounds her Jimmy: be a record Janis: 😱 Janis: buy a hat Jimmy: get another exorcism booked, more like Jimmy: been trying to 🙏 her away Janis: he's a little preoccupied rn Janis: oops, soz, He's Jimmy: bloody typical Janis: shit nan got in early and they're like 🤝 Janis: do anything for her Janis: priorities Jimmy: 💔 she won't do owt for me Jimmy: reckoned I'd made a top first impression Janis: @ her Jimmy: what is it? Janis: @godandmejudgingeverybody Jimmy: 🥇 Janis: she reckons so too Jimmy: I worked that out when we 🤝 Janis: BFFs in the making Jimmy: obvs Janis: 🤢 Jimmy: if she's chucking about incense an' all, I might do Janis: Poor boy Janis: baptism of 🔥 ain't far off Jimmy: still 😱😱 you didn't do that to Lucas' car Jimmy: what did I even bother giving you a lighter for, girl? Janis: 😒 piss off Janis: you didn't see how fucked it was Janis: talk 😱😱 like Freddie got hold of it Jimmy: where's the 📷s? Janis: love keeping evidence on my phone, me Janis: think on Janis: getting us out of detention, not back in Jimmy: weren't gonna tweet 'em, calm yourself down Janis: see for yourself Monday Janis: not like he can afford a replacement or paint job Jimmy: he'll have had it done piss poor Janis: just some emulsion Janis: not for his baby Jimmy: gotta do what you've gotta do Jimmy: we've all nicked out the 🎨 cupboard Janis: 🤓 Jimmy: oh so you don't want today's? alright Jimmy: ❌ Janis: didn't say that Jimmy: in the 🗑 now, Janet Janis: shut up Janis: give it me Jimmy: when I see you Jimmy: can't have you feeling left out about all these 🎁s Jimmy: our kid's been trying to pick half the garden like it ain't winter Janis: so smooth, that one Jimmy: SO 😍💕🤝 the pair of them Janis: it's pretty cute Janis: for now Jimmy: can't wait to see how many Josephs the star of the nativity's got Jimmy: bet her sister and me can't count that high Janis: you calling a 7 year old a slag? 😏 Jimmy: don't sound like me, that Janis: 💭 about someone else then, my bad Jimmy: that sounds like you, we're back on track Janis: now I'm a slag Janis: have been chatting to my nan Jimmy: ain't my fault 💀👑 reckons 💭 is cheating if anyone else does it Janis: the dissonance between that and 1. what she do and more importantly 2. what daddy do Janis: 🤯 Jimmy: dunno what your 🤓🗨 means but she's a hypocrite, yeah Janis: come on Janis: left out cognitive for you Jimmy: 🏆 Jimmy: Bill wanted you to have that Janis: that's why he's my fave Jimmy: alright, I'll leave you to @ him Janis: OR Janis: you could be nice to me and I'll reconsider my ratings Jimmy: invited you to a 🥇 party a bit ago Jimmy: don't get nicer than that, dickhead Janis: **a shit party, possibly the shittest if Asia's had fuck all to do with organizing Janis: but you are bringing me a pity present so 🥉 Jimmy: Oi, it's a masterpiece Jimmy: and I'm having Libi for you when she's 🎂🧁🍭🍬😁 Janis: you aren't offering spoilers Janis: but you did offer that Jimmy: you can have one that I reckoned wouldn't be #goals enough Jimmy: [funny doodles shading the gals and this party etc, we know what I'm saying] Janis: 😂😂😂 Janis: it's 🤓 goals Jimmy: you can frame it, just don't stick in on your story Janis: still know what I'm doing Janis: not been that long Jimmy: THANK GOD Jimmy: teaching you signing is one thing Janis: oi Janis: you don't need to teach me nothing about #goals Jimmy: you do alright Janis: better than any other bitch could Jimmy: that'll be why I picked you Jimmy: not some other lass Janis: don't act like you're regretting it then Jimmy: if I were performing that scene it'd be loads more dramatic Janis: wait for your cue Jimmy: how about you stop reading ahead Janis: 🤪 Jimmy: I said you were doing alright not that I were regretting owt Janis: I don't like the sound of alright Janis: sounds a bit participation 🏆 Jimmy: *🥈 Janis: that means 🥈 as a team Janis: joint effort Jimmy: it means you're 🥈 to my 🥇 Janis: bollocks Jimmy: how is it? Janis: you're no better Janis: we do the same amount Jimmy: UGH fine Janis: you can't be 🥇 on your own Janis: ✊🍆 Jimmy: couldn't be #goals on my own Janis: same thing Jimmy: is it? Janis: with what we're talking about Jimmy: I were giving you my review, not the fans Janis: I know how big your head is Janis: no need to 💬 Jimmy: you can have a 🥇 for how massive yours is an' all Janis: I don't want that one Jimmy: what do you want? Janis: 🥇 review Jimmy: that's what you had before you picked holes in my wording Janis: fine Janis: say it again and I'll 🤐 Jimmy: I'll 🤐 Janis: UGH fine Jimmy: 🙄 ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Janis: if I wanted to chat to my sister Janis: I'd ask if she was coming Jimmy: and if I wanted my lines corrected I'd @ Bill's 👻 Janis: maybe if I 🔊 'em I'd feel different Jimmy: I'll follow Libi's lead Janis: as long as it's before the shindig Janis: doesn't sound #goalz Jimmy: we'll have to whisper then Jimmy: wouldn't want the birthday girl to hear me calling her a twat Janis: 😏 Janis: not 🥇 guest behaviour Janis: heaven forbid Jimmy: have to have our own party and have it be up to us what's 🥇 guest behaviour Janis: we should Janis: but where Jimmy: we can have it here 🤞 they'll trash the place and Ian'll be so 💔🎻😭 he packs what's left up Janis: alright Janis: but where are you putting the kid Janis: your sister can hang maybe but call me crazy, six is a bit too young Jimmy: with his 👰? Janis: 💡 Janis: we could set that up Janis: my nan works with kids, the non-shit one Libi lives with Janis: he'd be good Jimmy: there you go then Jimmy: ✔👍 Janis: BUT WHAT WILL WE WEAR Jimmy: OMG! Jimmy: 🛍🛍🛍!! Janis: 😍😍😍 Janis: YAAAAAAAASSSSSS Jimmy: what are you actually wearing for this bollocks in a bit though? Jimmy: 🚫💡 me Jimmy: do I go #goals or do her head in? Janis: you don't wanna look like you've made a special effort for her Janis: but I will be there so 🤔 Janis: go hot but more what they 💭 I'm into Jimmy: so dress like a lass? alright Janis: 😒❌ Janis: peak 'you' Janis: twat Jimmy: 😎 I get it Janis: 👏 Janis: there you go Jimmy: tah 😘 Jimmy: would HATE to upstage the birthday girl Janis: I've checked their socials to make sure I do Janis: as you asked Jimmy: should be in the group chat Jimmy: [shows her pisstakey qs he's been sending Asia] Janis: I turned the notifs off Jimmy: they do go on and on Jimmy: I won't 🗨 that'll be why you're 🥈 Janis: they wanna 🗨 to you Janis: not me Jimmy: but I want to talk to you Jimmy: and read what you have to say to them, obvs Janis: okay, fair point Jimmy: you're funny, said that before Janis: I won't  🗨 if it's list worthy Jimmy: alright, I won't tell you Janis: 😔 Jimmy: what? Janis: now I wanna know, obviously Janis: but Jimmy: but? Janis: won't ask won't tell Jimmy: so ask Janis: well you'll probably just say nah now Jimmy: make me sound like more of a dickhead Janis: you're not Janis: you just take the piss Jimmy: I know when to leave it out Janis: okay Janis: so does it? Jimmy: why wouldn't it? Janis: I know I'm great and have a MASSIVE head and everything Janis: but don't crack myself up Janis: 🤣🤣🤣😬 Jimmy: it's my list Jimmy: dunno why that's hard to get your head round Jimmy: you don't get a say what's on it and it don't matter if you agree or not Janis: alright Janis: were just saying why it might not be Jimmy: alright Janis: but is it Jimmy: you heard Jimmy: not gonna have a list of things and just not put something I give you loads of compliments about on it Janis: okay Janis: 😎 Jimmy: 🚭 for a bit 💔🎻 Janis: might have cigars Janis: is a birthday Jimmy: one Asia might've organised Janis: those candy ones Jimmy: 🤞😁🤞 Janis: Bobby will be in his impression element Jimmy: he'd have to take Libi's fav 🖍 out from behind his 👂 Jimmy: not very #goals Janis: goals when she realises Janis: so 😍 Janis: she's done him a picture Janis: tell him to pretend it's good Jimmy: well harsh critic, you Jimmy: dunno if I wanna give you this 🎨 now Jimmy: or tell him owt 'cause he's been trying to get us to go knock on your nan's door for ages Janis: she's 4, and not picasso Janis: that's not mean Janis: we are ready, if he wants to come play first, or go to the park Janis: whatever Jimmy: you've near had my 👂 off, don't make me van Gogh Jimmy: be nice to me Janis: awh Janis: don't be 💙 Janis: come over Jimmy: okay Janis: you don't have to Janis: but she's rabid too Jimmy: I've left, not gonna turn him back round Jimmy: hang on Janis: 👍 Jimmy: [show up so Bobby can adorably ask Libi to come to this party with him like it's a date on the doorstep and Jimothy can give his bae a single 🌹 for the shakespearean romance of it along with this 🎨 which I like to think isn't just a doodle like the rest but a full moment because she really inspired him by getting them out of detention] Janis: [she will be thrilled, love to imagine how iconic the party fit we've assembled is, a whole mishmash of things we love you know the vibe, probably gonna smooch him like what a lovely surprise and this is her romcom now lmao, thank god these kids be distracted 'cos we are likewise overwhelmed af by both these gestures in a way we don't even want babbies to see thank you] Jimmy: [I know that you'd never be able to find a lewk iconic enough for this mvp so I shall imagine it, likewise glad that these children are having their rom com moment because adorable but also because Jimothy would be feeling so awks because we don't normally try with our art and don't think we're good at it, go show Bobby your room gal, kids love doing that and JJ can have a cuppa or something and calm down] Janis: [yeah idk what pinterest rabbit hole I'd have to go down but doubt we'd get the desired effect, I'm thinking some kind of superhero moment on top w a cape, then a tutu, then some snazzy boots, then a crown, you know exactly the moment we're wilding and Asia's sisters are gonna be like oh lmao, probably put Killer in the garden so she doesn't bowl Bobby over immediately but you can go play with her too, just keep looking at this art shamelessly 'cos he's stepped his game up and we are impressed, also finding a way to braid this rose into our hair which again doubt I'll get a photo but it'd be a lewk as well, go sit with your cuppas like the parents you are lol] Jimmy: [yeah they are usually v basic with their children's lewks you'd need instagram or like a celeb who lets their kid dress themselves and even then, might not be the vibe, Asia's sisters can honestly fuck off because we know the older one who's like younger than Cass so in my head probably like 9/10 is an even bigger bitch so, what's important is how buzzing these kids are because haven't seen each other for ages and how 😳 Jimmy is by her reaction to the art and her hair lewk and how shamelessly he'd be checking her out when she was making the tea because we know she's also wearing one] Janis: [like she's 4 hens idk what to tell ya, she does not care for your shade, we're having a time, we all know the gals, whoever be there, will be going for an overly girly look so you'd win by default but we've clearly tried 'cos want to and we know why] Jimmy: [not soz that she's not 7 going on 17 like the bday gal, idk about you but I feel like if Hollie has any siblings they are probably brothers so she has no reason to be there, so realistically none of them might be unless Grace is babysitting instead of working in the clothes shop in which case she might be but it wasn't really about any of you or for your benefit hens, plus that feels like a vibe because Asia probably was thinking she'd flirt with him] Janis: [tea, like she's a hoe so she don't care but she could've gone in if none of them were about so a mood, not soz to stop that awkwardness at all 'what continent is in his class then?'] Jimmy: [lbr Mia would be encouraging her to like she'd been trying to get Grace to when he first arrived so yeah, as for replying to the bae we just 😏 and shrugging as we make up loads of more and more ridiculous names] Janis: [we all know it, like okay ladies it's clearly not going anywhere but pop off embarrassing yourselves trying, just having a moment of doing that back and forth for the lols] Jimmy: [let it go Mia! we all know he'll have choked on his tea at least once because she is funny we weren't wrong] Janis: [we've missed this] Jimmy: [live your best lives kids even if he would keep getting distracted by the hair 🌹] Janis: ['any particular plan of attack or?'] Jimmy: ['you not leaving me on my own 'cause she'll have one for me' we're joking but lowkey where is the lie] Janis: [just a look that is like ew but obviously 'or with her ma' 'cos just imagining her as an older Asia like there's just all the generations here] Jimmy: [the look on his face would be everything because we've not even considered that] Janis: [just like mhmm, doubt you've ever met her mum in a real capacity girl but also doubt you're wrong lol 'dad did one for a reason...I'll protect you'] Jimmy: [snuggling into her like we're trying to hide which is obvs purely for the pisstake and not because we want to] Janis: [snuggling him back but in a really extra way to prove we're also in on the #bants of it all] Jimmy: ['you got a plan?' like is there anything you wanna do to fuck with the gals while we're there, blatantly still in the snugg as we say this] Janis: [thinking, not just to drag this whole experience out but you know, 'are we inviting them to the party?'] Jimmy: [drawing little ?s on her skin while she's thinking without thinking ourselves about how distracting that'd be or why we probably shouldn't rn 'depends'] Janis: [! when he's doing it but then doing it back to the depends] Jimmy: ['are we still their fake mates?' because lbr the temptation always to just tell them all to go fuck themselves and genuinely thinking about how she was gonna behave at this party if Janis wasn't there] Janis: [shrugs 'they're shit mates, we don't have to invite them and we could still use it later to fuck with them' like they'll get over the diss of not being invited so fuck it if we don't wanna] Jimmy: ['alright' boy you make me laugh does that mean you wanna invite them or you don't] Janis: [tickle him a bit like alright what, dickhead] Jimmy: [so fake offended like excuse you I'm not off my tits on Helena's pain meds today but we know he's actually okay because he's obvs ticking her back more than she did to him] Janis: [getting out 'I will kick you' but as a warning not a threat 'cos don't wanna actually injure you here boy] Jimmy: ['no you won't' lowkey sounds like a challenge there boy but we know you're saying she loves you too much 'not shit mates, us'] Janis: [a LOOK 'we're alright' 'cos didn't mean to drag you so much over a word, the feels are confusing and high] Jimmy: [return the LOOK 'and you are' because you're alright too still even though you did drag him 😏] Janis: [between 🤭 and 😳 like okay, I know, shh but we're not mad 'you' like you too bitch] Jimmy: [touch her hair like you've wanted to this entire time 'but this...' like this needs a word you won't drag me for because you've made such good choices gal 'not alright' because at the same time WE ARE AFFECTED AF] Janis: ['do something about it then' which IS a challenge but you know full well these kids are in and out/you have no time but do we care] Jimmy: [is going to pull her hair in that way that's meant to be playful and pisstakey but is saucy as all hell because of course he is] Janis: [trying so hard NOT to react and make a sound that the lip bite you have to do would be indecent Jimmy: [so indecent that he'd have to do his own while we run our thumb over her bottom lip like always] Janis: [kissing that thumb honey] Jimmy: [I hope the kids are busy because we're making a SOUND like it or not] Janis: [be in the bedroom playing happily tah] Jimmy: [you gotta because we're pulling her into our lap to kiss her] Janis: [we will let you have this 'cos you need to] Jimmy: [likewise gotta let him also pull whatever clothes he needs aside so he can do an epic lovebite somewhere where these kids nor the kids at this party can't see the massive bruise because they'd all have faded and that upsets me] Janis: [boo says not on my watch, I also sincerely hope mcvickers have gone somewhere for the day and don't just waltz in now because we are so into it] Jimmy: [soz but we've started something now without him stopping himself so we literally cannot stop, it has been forever since they last did any of this] Janis: [concerned he would never wanna again so we're doing the most rn] Jimmy: [I don't even need to say how into it he is] Janis: [bit rude of us to do this and send you to a kid's party but that's life] Jimmy: [I am that rude bitch] Janis: [if it wasn't rude to Bobby we'd just dump you on 'em but you know, this has dealt with some tension and increased the rest lmao] Jimmy: [you're welcome but also I'm soz (I'm not though) hens] Janis: [gotta stunt on Asia so she can report back] Jimmy: [we shall and it'll be glorious] Jimmy: [I was thinking there should be a person there doing the kids' make up and nails because she's 7 going on 17 and so Bobby should get his painted Libi's fave colour and vice versa] Janis: [that's cute as hell, Libi acting like this makeup lady is a facepaint one like make me this tah] Jimmy: [don't worry gal, jimothy will paint your face for you when we leave this party and it will be bomb because I feel like the makeup woman is like that hairdresser woman in the duchess who wouldn't let her daughter sit in the car] Janis: [Luckily you to lil to be made to feel embarrassed just like hmm you're not very good are you like can't make me a tiger? bit shit hen lmao] Jimmy: [sass everyone gal JJ are here for it and you know they'd also ask her to facepaint them, just coming at her with ideas until she's like please stop] Janis: [this woman trying to paint pink nails and do some sparkly gloss and we're like challenge yourself babes, also gonna scran this party food it better be good fam] Jimmy: [I hope it tastes alright at least even if it looks tacky as hell lol] Janis: [at least you can't not go the sugar route at a kids bday, can't make 'em eat salads n water lol] Jimmy: [imagine everyone dancing please, JJ be dancing, Libi and Bobby, Libi and Jimothy and Janis and Bobby] Janis: [a whole mood, imagine everyone's faces at all times it's so amusing] Jimmy: [I can't wait for when Asia reports all of this back to Mia and she sees all the content everyone is posting] Janis: [when has a boy ever, the idea of even bringing one home horrifies y'all] Jimmy: [not at all soz that he's actually the softest boy ever and loves both of these bubs instead of whatever weird barista stereotype y'all thought] Janis: [they obvs thought he was 😎 stereotype for real like ok gals] Jimmy: [omg just saw on Pinterest these cards like who knows the bday girl best that you fill in and we have to have JJ fill in some for their own lols that they obvs aren't gonna give to this child but] Janis: [that's a must omg] Jimmy: [also there should be like a cupcake decorating station or something like that because the bubs would actually have fun doing that and JJ can be competitive doing theirs] Jimmy: [photobooth goes without saying but one where the photos come out and you can keep them because then we can have so many great mems thank you] Janis: [when we're just ignoring every guest lowkey love it] Jimmy: [obvs if there are kids in your class you fuck with Bobby you can proudly introduce Libi to them, cos let's assume they aren't all dicks] Jimmy: [and lowkey Libi can introduce Bobby because he's been too shy to talk to any of y'all] Janis: [statistically, some of you must be okay lol, also some kids lowkey like the shine of a 'different' kid and like to like help, which is cute even if it's a bit like oh you special, they don't mean it like that] Jimmy: [yeah at that age they are basically just trying to be nice and helpful so it's fine] Janis: [make some friends, Libi is v sociable so this should be fun and not as terrible as you worried, we got you babe] Jimmy: [at least if Libi has got this JJ can have a sec to themselves] Janis: [got to be couple #goals too, I mean we have been but like, keep Asia away] Jimmy: [because that's the ONLY reason honey not that we just wanna] Janis: [mhmm, obvs, not like we got interrupted from going there] Jimmy: [and we obvs think she's gonna just leave after this and go do whatever so we're trying to make the most of this time as if we won't shamelessly invite her in to have her face painted] Janis: [like where does she wanna be, she didn't even wanna beforehand but especially not now lol god bless] Jimmy: [like he probably thinks she wants to go 🐕🏃 for that 💰 but you could literally take these children with you sir] Janis: [like that is what we would do but we also want a life 'cos we've not for these last 3 going on 4 years and it's getting old] Jimmy: [the tea because likewise all he does is work and look after Bobby and Cass so we just wanna live our own life] Janis: [it's both what we want and good news guys you're gonna make it] Jimmy: [gonna be such good parents because you're already doing it now when you're literally 15 and not in a good headspace/situation] Janis: [letting you have fun first, we still gotta look after these kiddos but we're gonna get rid of Ian and Cass will be old enough to help and it'll all be better] Jimmy: [sounds like they are gonna kill Ian which makes me lol] Janis: [lmao, plottwist but no, lowkey what do happen to you Ian lordt] Jimmy: [please feel free to fuck off somewhere else like back up north sir] Janis: [that's a mood, like okay, bye then] Jimmy: [but anyway before we get derailed is there anything else you wanna do at this party or shall we skip?] Janis: [we probably know the vibes, we all had a good time despite the odds and the gals are gonna get the lowdown from Asia] Jimmy: [enjoy the walk back because the kids will be running ahead buzzing off all this sugar and their good time] Janis: [you should take both dogs out as y'all are buzzing, run off their energy too] Jimmy: [good idea because Twix do need to socialise too she's just a baby] Janis: [yeah Killer is a bit older now but she's still v excitable] Jimmy: [just two 🐕 gal pals] Janis: [love stories for all lollollol] Jimmy: [imagine all the artsy pics Jimothy would be getting like a little art hoe] Janis: [we're about it, such a family unit honestly it's wild] Jimmy: [I love it but not the awkward moment when they get back to mcvickers house to take Killer home and he has to be like are you coming to have your face painted or what because fully expecting her to be like nahhh] Janis: [DO YOU WANT YOUR FACE PAINTED BITCH, just seeming like we're like HELL YEAH 'cos we do wanna come] Jimmy: [also we should say mcvickers are back for the lols] Janis: [absolutely, we would've messaged them so they weren't like HELLO but now when we're going back to his it's like SeriousParentTime™] Jimmy: [maybe they won't let Libi sleep over so she's just coming for a bit because then once Bobby crashes they can actually live] Janis: [that makes sense for now, she's probably never had a sleepover outside of the fam because she's that small so go with that] Jimmy: [and lowkey we could potentially palm Bobby off on Cass to put to bed if they wanted to go to the pub or wherever because they are both serving lewks] Janis: [have walked the dog and had 'em all day, c'mon gal lol] Jimmy: [exactly but for now go and do your facepainting sesh because I vote that Bobby is a 🐺 seeing as it's like a dog upgrade and he's feeling himself today and that Jimothy gets the bae to do him as a 💀 for that flatwhite shade] Janis: [ooh, what do you wanna be gals] Janis: [hmm, Libi should ask for a galaxy moment 'cos Star, no pressure, get abstract lmao, maybe a vampire moment for you Janis] Jimmy: [let's not think about how up close and personal facepainting is lads] Janis: [but let's lmao] Jimmy: [please go return the favour of showing Libi your room and then like go on the trampoline or something children] Janis: [live your best lives so we can be here with our face paint on lol] Jimmy: [obvs offering her more tea] Janis: [just gesturing to our face like make it blood but obvs nodding 'cos duh] Jimmy: [he is a big enough nerd to like bring you a glass of water with red food colouring in it while the kettle boils] Janis: [🙄😏 'cos he's funny too hun] Jimmy: [pretends like he's gonna snatch that 🌹 out of her hair and put it in the water but obvs doesn't actually] Janis: [fake #shooketh 'no takebacks'] Jimmy: ['you wanna kill it an' all?' just flirting and sassing nbd] Janis: ['sure, blame me when you picked it' fake tut] Jimmy: [Oi, you inspired me, it is your fault' looks up dramatically to where Bill's ghost would be floating around 'and a bit his'] Janis: [flirty smiles at where Bill is like I don't mind hehe] Jimmy: [throw something at her like we're so fake jealous and fuming] Janis: [throw something back 'he can't help being a romantic'] Jimmy: [going to make that tea like uggggggggh] Janis: don't be jealous Janis: he 💕 you too Jimmy: he's just using me to get to you Jimmy: not as thick as I look Janis: how long were you chatting to asia Janis: sounds just like her Jimmy: if she's the unappreciated genius 🖋🎭 instead of me and my 🎨 FUMING Jimmy: plot twist too far, that Janis: 😂 Janis: think you're safe Janis: much to her 💔 Jimmy: I were a bit ago an' all, tah for that Jimmy: very 💪🏆🥇 you Janis: reckon you could take her in a fight but Janis: yeah Jimmy: not THAT northern, steady on Janis: you'd be doing her a favour Janis: 🦷🦷 Janis: so fuck that Jimmy: exactly Jimmy: if I were bothered about doing other lasses favours I'd open my DMs Janis: you've mentioned Jimmy: you want owt else while I'm here? Janis: all good Janis: tah Jimmy: 👍 Janis: I'm glad he ended up having a good time Janis: and not every kid in his class is a little twat Jimmy: only be 💔🎻😭 when she goes off home Jimmy: how it should be Janis: 😏 such a purist, you Jimmy: a what? Jimmy: sounds well like you're insulting us Janis: maybe Jimmy: bit rude Jimmy: LITERALLY just complimented you Janis: when? Janis: must be AGES ago Jimmy: I get it, you don't know how to tell time either Jimmy: it's alright, we'll work it out together Jimmy: [bring that tea in] Janis: [buzzing like we really need this tea, nothing to do with you] Jimmy: [we're totally also buzzing about this tea and not because she is, yep] Janis: [no one is this excited for a cuppa not even yous or us lol] Jimmy: [I like to think that he goes to kiss her and once again stops himself but this time it's only because of the face paint and we're looking in the direction of upstairs where the children are 'don't fancy having that Q&A' meaning Libi asking what happened if she appears and they have ruined it] Janis: ['she's a right cockblock' and what's meant to be a fake 😒 but we're not not lbr] Jimmy: [we're remembering when we played that game where you had to kiss without touching and reminding her about it like we could change the rules if you're up for that challenge] Janis: [nods 'cos don't trust ourselves to say ANYTHING about this idea] Jimmy: [picture this, he starts out by touching her hair OBVS because he's obsessed but then just gently pulling on her earlobe cos he would've put it in his mouth if he could've then going down her jawline and neck writing kiss or doing an ✔ depending on the surface area we have to play with using our fingertip and varying the amount of pressure depending if it would've been a hard or soft kiss and just doing that for all the skin that's available everywhere] Janis: [shan't because we can't cope and at least we can be obvious about that, these kids are busy and gotta do what we gotta do Jimmy: [gotta do what we've gotta do and we are doing the MOST on this sofa rn even though his entire family + Libi could appear any moment] Janis: [getting on top of you on this sofa even though it's a bad idea for all the above reasons, not to mention the eye contact it demands 'you're rude'] Jimmy: [but it's a good idea for the sound he would make when she did so we're unrepentant over here 'you' well done for getting the word out boy] Janis: [shaking her head and getting the most movement out of that 'you started it'] Jimmy: [pulling her even closer like yeah I did and I'm not soz] Janis: [running our finger across his neck like you should be 'Jimmy...' at least this would be quiet because we're that close but that's the only at least] Jimmy: [touching the lovebite he gave her earlier so deliberately with such intense eye contact like I am simply not though] Janis: ['takes the piss' and pouting 'cos literally vampire facepaint and she hasn't given him one yet] Jimmy: [running his thumb over that lip whilst doing his own pout because we wanna do the pouty lip bite thing SO BAD rn but we can't] Janis: [biting our lip where his thumb just was] Jimmy: [such a frustrated noise as if this wasn't his idea lol] Janis: [finally feeling like we've had a win there so we're smug] Jimmy: [tickling her like how dare you not also be dying here excuse you] Janis: [trying to pin his hands above his head like no no] Jimmy: [he's totally gonna end up pinning you to this sofa gal, just the sauciest playfight of all time happening] Janis: [we know we're breaking and we do not care, fight us Libi] Jimmy: [proud of you for lasting as long as you did tbh] Janis: [truly, have your lovebite and then some boy] Jimmy: [have to let you hook up here without anyone interrupting you or else you will both die] Janis: [have a quickie guys] Jimmy: [can't be dealing with your bad moods if you don't] Janis: [it has been days, which in your timeline is like nearly half of lmao so] Jimmy: [we all know you're extra] Janis: [gonna have to take Libi back soon gal] Jimmy: [everyone's gonna be gutted to be separated but the lads will walk you back because gentlemanly like that] Jimmy: [but for now have your tea that you're gonna have to put in the microwave because you never touched it] Janis: [my boo says HELLO] Jimmy: [also probably take your face paint off because I dread to think the state of it now] Janis: [the black face energy getting real lmao] Jimmy: [if you don't go do this together and mess about while you do by like having a water fight and only removing bits at a time so you look silly etc then I don't wanna know either of you] Janis: [obviously we must, also I think the bubbys paint should be a little smudged 'cos Libi keeps smooching him like my shameless boo] Jimmy: [so cute and I can imagine JJ just giving each other a look like 😏 because relatable] Janis: [gonna age Tess so hard gal] Jimmy: [be looking like her sim] Janis: [poor tess haha] Jimmy: [I really hope you don't actually put her through it as you're growing up hun, we've been through enough] Janis: [we do need to think about that now you exist in gen 4 kinda but like yeah, arguably we could also do bobby in the first part of the gen, ANYWAY THOUGH] Jimmy: [we could totally do some of them next if you want because we know they are gonna stay friends so] Janis: [cuteness and potential] Jimmy: [anyway is there anything else you wanna have happen before Libi goes home or no?] Janis: [we don't have to do it if you don't wanna but important to note you're obvs sleeping over right] Jimmy: [totally because I still think they should go out even if it's just to his local pub but it could also be in town out depending on the mood though I don't know how you're gonna be like DO YOU WANNA when you're yet again on this doorstep or wherever lol] Janis: [for sure, do something purely 'cos you wanna and there's no excuse or distraction] Jimmy: [exactly, because you obviously haven't yet since she got back] Janis: [or lowkey ever? you might've actually, xmas eve yeah nvm] Jimmy: [could be argued that the pub crawl was for content though whereas they literally don't need to do any more today so] Janis: [mhmm, we've slayed today, you could've gone home hun] Jimmy: [exactly and that's why this is so important but for real I don't know how he's gonna be like do you wanna not go in and come back with me yet again so there's that] Janis: [don't worry, you can probably just hook up and then be like may as well stay] Jimmy: [just throw Bobby at Cass when you get back and then you can leave] Janis: [though it might be a conversation™ 'cos she would go to leave if not immediately 'cos bit rude but early in the AM] Jimmy: [mhmm just gotta make himself too vulnerable by being like no no, hope you're at least a bit drunk guys] Janis: [sure you will be honeys, where do we wanna skip to then] Jimmy: [question is do we wanna do any of this night out and see what happens or just skip to the end? hm Janis: [always fun to do a night out, even if we skip around 'cos a lot of we know the vibe I'm sure but we can see peeps, things can happen, without it being drama central] Jimmy: [no drama please, we're trying to have a nice chill time] Janis: [exactly dr phil, and we can, there's been enough heightened emotions for a while and we've really brushed them under the rug tbh] Jimmy: [hence I'm like we should probably do this night out because when you're drunk stuff might come out] Janis: [pop off and let's ride lads] Jimmy: [the question is lads do you wanna go out out so we can really serve these lewks or stay local so you're less likely to see the world and his wife] Janis: [hmmmmm, I say go to town 'cos xmas eve you stayed local to her so go off] Jimmy: [that is true, lets go with that] Janis: [you can try and get in some of the more iconic dublin pubs and show him the sights so] Jimmy: [yeah because he wouldn't have been because he's only been here for like 2 months now and we know he's antisocial] Janis: [and you are but children, plus going out to drink on your own is depressing soz you can do lots of things alone but not that lbr] Jimmy: [literally he has done nothing since he moved here like we said before so I'm glad you have each other now] Janis: [unlikely we've done it before either 'cos age, like but we'll know where to go] Jimmy: [I vote you have to only order drinks that cliché tourists would] Janis: [really annoying cocktails they hate making etc] Jimmy: [and Guinness like you think you're doing something] Janis: [you'll be so full lol] Jimmy: 👍? Janis: 🤰 Jimmy: 👶'll be 🍀💚🎩🌈 as fuck Janis: if it makes it Janis: 🥴 Jimmy: 💪🏆🥇 as you, obvs Janis: n'awh Janis: you 👍? Jimmy: I am now you've broke that news Jimmy: 😁 Janis: we're all buzzing Janis: reason to celebrate never needed when you're 🍀💚🎩🌈 but Jimmy: @iantaylor8 🏆 for most chuffed of all about the 🍀💚🎩🌈 bit Jimmy: 🍾🍻 Janis: not yours, basically white Janis: his round then? 😁 Jimmy: we'd need more luck than that to get him to 💰 owt now that 🎄 is done with Jimmy: have to kill and rob him Jimmy: but as far as celebrations go, wouldn't be 👎 Janis: let's come up  with plan #2 Janis: we can handle it Jimmy: how does the 👶 wanna do it? all about them now Janis: car bomb, obviously Jimmy: nod to its real dad Janis: pretty sure we did a big 💣 in manchester so ian will be #triggered Jimmy: just keep giving me more and more top news today, you Janis: kind of mate I am Janis: anything to see you 😁 Jimmy: [doing it IRL of course] Janis: [when he still looks good fuming tbh, squishing his face like ugh] Jimmy: [making it into a kissy face like you love me really] Janis: [pushing him away by his face but not as aggressive as that sounds and standing up to get more drinks in as Ian isn't gonna show] Jimmy: [pulls her back not as aggressive as that sounds either lol even though we know she's only leaving to get more drinks] Janis: ['oi!' and a look like whaaaaaa but it's a LOOK] Jimmy: [all the eye contact as he stands up and sit her down in his seat like no no not in your condition I will go] Jimmy: [*** unrelated to what we're doing now but I had an idea that earlier like when Bobby and Libi were doing their goodbyes cos don't need him to translate that Jimothy signed pub? at the bae in irish sign language because he doesn't know much yet and isn't trying hard to learn because he thinks they're gonna leave but he'd have learnt that as a pisstake anyway just wanted to put this here so I didn't forget that lil nugget of info my brain thought up at like 3am***] Janis: [love that for you boy, noted] Janis: [🙄 but loling like alright, if you wanna pay fine by me boy] Jimmy: [signing 'stay' from the bar because I feel like the bubs would've been doing that at Twix and Killer today so we can pretend that's purely pisstakey and no deeper] Janis: [🤨 but in a sassy manner] Janis: coming for my gig now? Jimmy: can't be taking 💰 off you that's 🍼 out the 👶's mouth Janis: you ain't gonna pay for it? Janis: rude Jimmy: OBVS, but I don't reckon 💀👑'll hear and crack on FINALLY 💰 me tips Janis: 💡 Janis: sleep with her dad, tell him it's his Janis: live off that hush 💰 Jimmy: more 🥇💡 DON'T but 🗨 you did after you've put something in his drink/ let him be a massive pisshead on it 'cause you understand him unlike his missus Jimmy: all we've faked up to now, DNA test'd be piss easy Janis: just have to snatch a bit of 💀👑's hair Janis: not hard Janis: saliva and we'd be fucked, dunno if she produces that any more Jimmy: have to hurry while she's still got hair Janis: bet #2 has some Jimmy: go round hers in a bit, can't wait, me Jimmy: 💭 if we found out 💀👑 weren't his Jimmy: they'd both be SO 💔🎻😭 to have to dump each other Janis: I wish Janis: only my family giving that level of drama Jimmy: 💔 you can't use 😭 to do a test, I'd have got Ian to crack on ages ago Janis: whoever's your dad is also Bobby's, that's for sure Jimmy: probably is him then, he ain't the sort to let his missus have bloke mates hanging round that long Janis: soz, mate Jimmy: 🎻🎻🎻 Jimmy: be a 🥇 looking 👶 at least Jimmy: all our shit parents got that bit right Janis: guess so Janis: tah for the genetics, I'll take it from here Jimmy: [bring those drinks boy and obvs get her up so you can sit back down in your seat and she can sit on you] Janis: [forever and always even though the eye contact it demands is cray, just smiling and drinking our drink] Jimmy: [likewise but also just doodling on her skin absentmindedly because we're in love and probably a bit drunk by now assumedly] Janis: ['you could do that for a job' we mean tattooist but that isn't very clear gal so we must be a lil tipsy] Jimmy: [shoutout to your future child, love that but obvs he's like ? and draws it on her] Janis: [just like ugh at ourselves 'tattoos and shit, you know' shrugs 'you got a plan?'] Jimmy: [just shrugging because we haven't let ourselves think about the future for so many reasons 'do you?'] Janis: ['nah' shakes head 'but I'll get by, don't need more, like'] Jimmy: [nodding because we get it and doing a cheers with this drink] Janis: [drink to that lads 'if anything, easier to walk dogs when I've got a car'] Jimmy: ['any time you wanna borrow Ian's, crack on' we're just thinking that he's too happy and settled rn and we need to annoy him more lol] Janis: [😏 and cheersing again like tah] Jimmy: number of 🐕s, should probably nick a 🚍 instead though Janis: can do that too Jimmy: can 😴 there an' all if you need to Jimmy: stretch out Janis: living in one seems like something my ma'd do though Janis: ❌ Jimmy: bet your shit nan's church group'd have their 👀 on it Janis: [visibly 😒] Janis: goes without saying Jimmy: [a lil feelsy lean like soz because we know she sucks even if we don't know what happened] Janis: [using it to push him off in a jokey get off kinda way, like you ain't sat on him rn] Jimmy: [messing about like you're both gonna dramatically fall off this chair but then lowkey hurting himself a lil bit though we're obvs playing that off as fake too but it's real because yet again we've had a very busy day and done so much as if we're perfectly fine] Janis: [picking him back up and steadying him like you okay boy? and nudging his drink towards his lips like that'll help] Jimmy: [down that drink boy] Janis: [just lowkey having a feel of his stomach/ribs etc like you gotta check] Jimmy: [😏 cos we're pretending she's doing it to flirt with us obvs like she just can't keep her hands to herself ever which is true but also shh sir] Janis: [going with it 'cos not not true and we know it makes him awks but we still wanna] Jimmy: [kissing her because we always just want to] Janis: [have this makeout sesh whilst giving him a massage casually] Jimmy: [excuse us people in this pub] Janis: [looks dodgier than it is frankly] Jimmy: [love how shameless you both are and how often you just behave like you're the only two people around] Janis: [we're so unbothered by other people unless they're really in our faces about it] Jimmy: [mhmm hence we're just saying we missed her and how much in between kisses because we have and we're obvs so into everything she's doing rn] Janis: ['did you?' 'cos 'course we don't believe him/it] Jimmy: [stop kissing her for long enough you can hold that eye contact so she knows you mean it but then kiss her more intensely obvs] Janis: [going in even harder 'cos definition of !!! about it] Jimmy: [have a moment because it's deserved and needed and it'll shut him up from saying any more for a sec] Janis: [saying nothing in this pub but people should do something/be staring or say something so we can move huuuuuuuun] Jimmy: [that's realistic so yes] Janis: [we going about this town] Jimmy: [twirl her like you would've done when you were at this kid's party earlier please boy] Janis: [dance down these streets but don't fall tah] Jimmy: [and don't knock into anyone either because we don't need that drama] Janis: [no fighting shakira shakira] Jimmy: [not tonight thank you] Janis: [we gotta get drunk and spill secrets] Jimmy: [confess as many feelings as we dare] Janis: [heheheh, getting shots in that vein] Jimmy: [good idea boo] Janis: 🥃🥃🥃 Jimmy: 🥳🥳🥳 Janis: partying for 2 Jimmy: remind me to @ Asia 7 years from now to let her know how to throw a 🎁🎂🎈 that ain't all 💅💄 Janis: you ain't bad at face painting Janis: can have that Jimmy: tah very much Jimmy: be alright as long as Libi don't have me doing it whenever I see her Jimmy: be a bit weird if I have to carry a full face painting kit about Janis: you don't need to be that whipped Janis: won't hurt her to hear a nah every once and a while Jimmy: no need to be jealous, Jules Jimmy: you're still my muse Janis: piss off Jimmy: I'll 🥺🥺 for 2 if you make me Janis: go ahead Jimmy: [does] Janis: [regret 'cos we feeling all the things now] Jimmy: [carve that JJ love heart into the pub table like see you're my muse and ILY] Janis: [just tracing our finger round and round this heart] Jimmy: [literally is about to draw a heart on her and I'm like boy stop] Janis: ['your ex really cheat on you?' like why would he lie, but can't believe it] Jimmy: ['what kind of question is that?' because genuinely not something he expected her to ask rn] Janis: [a shrug like soz 'just what I was thinking about'] Jimmy: [a nudge but a gentle one 'what you thinking about her for?' sir she's thinking about you] Janis: [tuts like ugh, making me explain myself, how rude lol 'are you a shit real boyfriend or what?' like why would she if you were how you're faking now] Jimmy: [a shrug like 1. probably because the messy time after his mum disappeared 2. they were young af and neither of them had good role models clearly but we don't wanna really get into either of those things 'depends on the scale' like compared to who hun because lbr not an Ian or Mia's dad but we weren't #goals] Janis: [nods like we get it 'cos we do even though not personally like that might suggest, the shakes her head like let's move on 'cos accidentally brought the vibe down and we didn't mean to 'whatever, none of my business'] Jimmy: [leaves the ex's @ in this chat whatever it is like @ her for her POV if you like but irl we're shrugging again because we're so over her just not the mum mems of that era] Janis: 🤐 Janis: [dranking this drank faster] Jimmy: [nudges her like hey it's alright] Jimmy: *🔊 Janis: [😏 'not there yet' like let's go back to bants] Jimmy: where are you then? Janis: 🥺 of course Janis: you're quite inspiring too Jimmy: show me Janis: [😳 and can't do it back 'cos now we've got the giggles like stop it] Janis: can't just 👏 like Jimmy: [we're just 😍 af because she's adorable bye] Jimmy: alright, if there's no 👏 have to take back that 🌹 and your 🏆s Jimmy: go together them Janis: well now I'm 😠 Janis: [does that instead] Jimmy: [does a 📷 mime and then wordlessly goes to get her some kind of forfeit drink for not being oscar worthy af] Janis: [doing it now he's further away 'cos easier] Jimmy: you're rude, said it earlier Janis: you Jimmy: you Janis: [points] Jimmy: [signs it which I lowkey do think is just a point but anyway] Janis: 👆 Janis: the point emojis are crap Jimmy: 💔 Janis: looks more come here Janis: which don't not work rn but Jimmy: but do come here Janis: [making our way over, of course] Jimmy: [checking her out as she does obvs and when she does get there gesturing like get this barman's attention please because it's busy but she's a hot girl so she'll have more luck] Janis: [do the least to do the most such is your privilege babe] Jimmy: [kiss her like thank you because we weren't trying to stand there all night] Janis: [the barman like aw lmao] Jimmy: #👻problems Janis: #🍆problems Jimmy: fuming if it's a not a lass serving next Janis: fuming if it is, obvs Jimmy: if you're 😠 again, I'll be back at chuffed to bits Jimmy: so cute Janis: [fake punches him] Jimmy: [writes hate across her knuckles because I am not letting you write love boy stop it] Janis: [takes off the e by pretending to cut off the pinky] Jimmy: [😏 and draws the 🎩 on the back of her hand for that irish af vibe] Janis: [writes 'pot' on the other hand like there you go, pot of gold too] Jimmy: [draw a 🌈 on that one and 💰] Janis: [lols like lovely 'told you you had a future in it'] Jimmy: [just shaking his head because we can't take a compliment] Jimmy: you gonna name this 👶 something I can't pronounce or what? Janis: [raising our brows sassily like not hard] Janis: you can name it Janis: guilt trip move Jimmy: 🤔🤔💭 Jimmy: What's Mia's daddy's name? Jimmy: got a lie to sell here Janis: 🤔 Janis: maybe Michael or something, idk Janis: Miles Jimmy: Miley he'll love that Janis: meet your new sister Mia Jimmy: sister and step mum Janis: not even weird for me Jimmy: Libi must've missed that bit when she were doing the family tree Janis: thank fuck Janis: only so much you need to hear Jimmy: what were it you said about my ages old 💔? Jimmy: nowt to do with me, that Janis: nor me Jimmy: I told you before, up to you what you wanna 🗨 Janis: you pick Jimmy: your full list's all I want Janis: [a LOOK] Jimmy: [one back always] Jimmy: you owe me the one Janis: true Janis: remind me what I've said Jimmy: 1. 🚬👃 2. 🎤🗨 3. 💋 4. 🖕✌️🤟 is a might be, you never said it were or weren't for definite 5. 🤝 6. 💫 dunno what else to do for freckles so Janis: [impressed he remembered 'cos obviously did not just look through like my boo just had to lol] Janis: don't wanna repeat, wouldn't be fair Jimmy: [when it's really important to you because you literally told her in that convo that nobody has ever been this nice to you and it's obvs true] Jimmy: so go on Janis: it's unfair you took 👀s Janis: when yours are like ☀️ Janis: but I like your brows too Jimmy: you're ☀ Jimmy: and you know I'm fuming you took 💋 an' all Jimmy: but we've both got smell on there so I'm not gonna stop you rating what you rate Janis: take it as a whole Janis: you have pretty lashes too Janis: it's Jimmy: that'll get out of hand when I just say your entire face Jimmy: or your whole body Janis: everything about you Jimmy: that an' all Janis: [and I oop, just like our drink looks so interesting rn because dying] Jimmy: [a soft 'hey' because of course like 👀 at me] Janis: [you gotta look up gal 'yeah?' also soft] Jimmy: [gestures at her to come here like you literally didn't just get kicked out of a pub for this] Janis: [do though who are we] Jimmy: [we're softly but insistently kissing the bae's throat like we can coax words out cos so much we wanna say and so much we wanna hear] Janis: [the noise we are making, running our hands through his hair goes to gripping it 'you're not-' 'I'm supposed-' can we finish a sentence? no] Jimmy: [just doing it again like do you wanna finish a sentence gal and not at all because of her other reaction of course not] Janis: ['stop it' but in the most don't stop tone imaginable 'cos at least that's a sentence] Jimmy: [we're not but we are smooching the side of her neck instead] Janis: ['coming for my gig again' and moving to the side so you've gotta smooch for reals] Jimmy: [have a lil make out lads] Janis: [again lollol] Jimmy: [can't and won't be tamed, we're doing what we want tonight] Janis: [speaking of, you should get some good scran, idk what but I'm sure there's some bomb takeout vibes] Jimmy: [definitely, I doubt there was much savoury food at that party] Janis: [you can walk n eat n mayhaps talk hmm] Jimmy: [and snuggle because it's probably cold] Janis: [even if it's stopped snowing, deffo] Jimmy: [obvs just nudging her as you go along like you alright? because this boy loves checking in] Janis: [nudges him back like aren't you?] Jimmy: [smiling because we're having a lovely time] Janis: [😍 'good'] Jimmy: [😍 and doing the handhold swingy thing as we walk] Janis: ['you're alright, you know, not boring' just sounds like you thought he was but we mean in comparison to other peeps] Jimmy: ['when did you reckon I were boring? but we're amused 'bit rude'] Janis: [a face like oi but also amused 'no, I just didn't know you weren't before'] Jimmy: ['I knew you weren't' which makes you sound like a stalker or something lol but we're too drunk to think that through clearly] Janis: ['no you didn't' not just to be contrary we're just like lies lmao] Jimmy: [his own oi face 'wouldn't have picked you if I didn't' because true] Janis: [just narrowing our eyes like suspish but okay 'well I knew you didn't chat shit constantly, or try hard like most lads do' shrugs like bitch I noticed you too] Jimmy: [🤐 mime like well yeah I don't say anything and shrugging back 'no need' because he doesn't feel like he has anything to brag about genuinely and obvs we don't have any reason to try hard for the people we don't care about] Janis: [just gesturing like yes, my point exactly 'don't stop 'em, does it'] Jimmy: [gets out the phone we've literally not looked at all night, frowns at it and puts it back without actually bothering to do anything except make a point 'the lasses either, but that's not the kind of dickheads we are'] Janis: [shakes her head like no we are not and puts her hand out for him to shake] Jimmy: [does and then does pull her in for a hug because always 'chuffed it were you' from within this hug] Janis: ['we've done a good job' also from within the hug] Jimmy: [shaking his head because we don't wanna call it a job when literally you always do sir and also that now looks like you don't think this is going well] Janis: [looking at him when you pull back like ? because how it looks] Jimmy: ['not just a shift I'm putting in, you'] Janis: ['I dunno why I had a go about that' just like how cringe of me to show I gave a shit ugh] Jimmy: ['don't you?' and a shrug 'alright then' like oh are we just pretending we don't give a shit tonight okay cos we're sassy] Janis: [little lol 'don't take the piss' 'you know what I mean. meant. whatever'] Jimmy: ['don't sound like me that' 😏 because she literally said he's not a dickhead but he takes the piss] Janis: [getting SO close and making him stop walking so you can whisper in his ear 'it sounds exactly like you' and nipping his earlobe when you say 'sounds'] Jimmy: [saying 'fuck' with SO much feeling how they do] Janis: [nods like that's what I want to and looks around like we picked the wrong location lol] Jimmy: [looks in the direction they'd have to go to retrace their steps like if you wanna go we can go because Ian's stash forever] Janis: [follows his gaze like we could but eventually shakes her head 'we've got time, more places you need to see first if you wanna be a proper tourist'] Jimmy: [nods because 🥇 or nowt is the mantra but we're kissing her really hard first so she knows we're not just chill and we feel the tension and want the same things] Janis: [have your moment and take one before the next location] Jimmy: [for once I doubt you're the only peeps being extra at least such are the joys of town] Janis: [people always cracking on you're fine, even if you cared, which we are far beyond] Jimmy: [mhmm] Janis: [full drunk by now, never mind all our feels] Jimmy: [they should go somewhere they can do some grooving because not something they've done a lot of because of her ankle happening] Janis: [good thinking boo, hit the clerb, whole different vibe] Jimmy: [how cinematic when juxtaposed against the dancing at the kids party earlier lol] Janis: [day and night honey] Jimmy: [another good excuse for more shots because you can't dance and hold a big drink] Janis: [ooh, maybe Harry could be there Janis: we can just see and ignore him but intro that 'cos haven't yey] Jimmy: [I just nearly gasped because yes we do need to do that before all the sports stuff starts and she runs into him in a way she can't swerve] Janis: [it seems legit you could be out with your mates boy, you could be a bit older/look it too, it's believable you ain't the gals, maybe if she's getting drinks or Jimmy is he can come up but it'll look like just another random tryna hit her up] Jimmy: [that seems legit to me too] Janis: [but obviously it'd put her in some type of mood] Jimmy: [might also open a line of dialogue though so] Janis: [mhmm] Jimmy: [what way round do you wanna do it because obvs if he goes to get drinks and comes back to find them talking or whatever he'll be like bitch excuse me but if she was getting drinks and runs into him that way he won't even see Harry/know about that interaction] Janis: [maybe he goes to get them, it makes it easier, even if Harry literally walks away as he comes back 'cos that kind of snekk, he'd still see but they always getting hit on so he wouldn't assume that was responsible and be like oh I get it, yknow] Jimmy: [he'll just be like 🤨 looking him over as Harry walks away  but yeah not concerned and more jokey because it does happen always and he knows she can handle it] Janis: [just 😒 watching him go] Jimmy: [handing her these shots because we just think like we said he's a stranger and she'll be over it in a sec] Janis: [down it with vigour hun] Jimmy: [likewise because that's just how shots are, you gotta go in] Janis: [ick] Jimmy: [have never enjoyed a single one I've ever had but they are not J potato] Janis: [who is babe, go get your groove on aggressively] Jimmy: [hope it's not a slow jam and I especially hope Harry is not also hitting the dancefloor with some gal] Janis: [oh lawd, we're not doing that cliche of catching eyes dancing with other people boy, I think not] Jimmy: [you think you're that important Harold but you're honestly not] Janis: [accidentally making him think you're that into him, nah] Jimmy: [but anyway I shall start a convo when we've been dancing for an age and you're clearly still 😒 hun] Jimmy: What? Janis: what do you mean what? Jimmy: what's wrong? Janis: what do you reckon makes clubs smell so bad Janis: apart from all the sweat, that's obvious Jimmy: answer me, dickhead Janis: I'm alright, seriously Jimmy: bollocks Janis: ugh Janis: it's nothing though Jimmy: *something Jimmy: you wanna go outside? Janis: [mimes 🚬] Janis: sure Jimmy: [taking her hand like let's go] Janis: [smoking area moment, not like you'll be alone they're always packed] Jimmy: [lighting you both up and giving her a sec] Janis: ['just know that lad' shrugging like that explains that] Jimmy: ['and what?' because we're not letting it just drop] Janis: [after a while thinking and stopping and starting 'and- everyone else is a dickhead, yeah'] Jimmy: how much of a dickhead is he? Janis: no more than average, I suppose Janis: 💪🍆🔥👑 Janis: you know the sort Jimmy: yeah, what I dunno is why you're so bothered Janis: just didn't fancy seeing anyone I knew out Jimmy: you barely did do Janis: then let's go somewhere else after this Janis: forget about it Janis: [smiling at him like it's not fake but we're forcing this vibe rn] Jimmy: can you? Janis: yeah Jimmy: alright Janis: sorry Janis: he's just some twat Jimmy: you heard Jimmy: it's alright Janis: its not Janis: we're having a nice time Janis: meant to be Jimmy: I meant, he's doing your head in, you're not doing in mine Jimmy: we're alright Jimmy: nice is a bit rude though, as descriptions go Janis: [a LOOK up like 😏] Janis: how'd you describe it then Jimmy: not like we're sat in having a ☕🍪 with our kid and his missus Jimmy: but if you need a review then Jimmy: 🥇 Jimmy: that'd be it Janis: are you saying that's the definition of nice or a better time Janis: either way I have some questions Jimmy: what kind of question is that? Jimmy: it's obvs the definition of nice ��👴💕 Janis: [shakes head as we get up like oh you 'leave you to it then'] Jimmy: [not letting you go gal putting his arms around her like no no 'Oi, I just gave you a top review, what more do you want?'] Janis: ['can always do better' and taking his hand like let's go, stay outta our way Hazza we got places to be] Jimmy: ['than you rating me boring and nice, yeah' but we're amused of course and doing another twirl as we go] Janis: ['I did not!' and a pouty face like how dare YOU suggest I did] Jimmy: [thank god we can do the pouty lip thing this time and nothing can stop us] Janis: [freedom] Jimmy: [You're welcome lads] Janis: [y'all can do what you want like going to the toilets and living that cliche moment] Jimmy: [not the first time, we all remember pub crawl, but it would be busier so pluses and minuses to that] Janis: [we gotta for a myriad of reasons still not about you though Harry but you've put us in a mood to prove some things so tah] Jimmy: [mhmm] Janis: [get out of this clerb and into a different one, better or worse, idk what's more fun tbh] Jimmy: [again it's not about you Harold] Janis: [soz we have such a dramatic reaction to seeing you lmao like hell to the no] Jimmy: [it's deserved you're not a good egg] Janis: [we'd be more chill if we weren't drunk, like he's just gonna come over and ruin everything, he might try tbf, run lads and continue grooving] Jimmy: [we're on a touristy tour here sir gotta move along] Janis: [you are not invited good day, back on the shots shots shots] Jimmy: [don't at all look forward to seeing you soon hun] Janis: [at least we're not doing the grace of it all now, although, continuously triggering everyone 'cos that's what they think Liam did with Edie to be around Rio, which yeah at first but shh] Jimmy: [the temptation to do that again now you've said that lol] Janis: [yeah, it came to me as I typed it lol] Jimmy: [fuck it let's do it, we can totally make him her baby daddy for that hot sec to really trigger everyone haha] Janis: [no offence to your barrenness but THANK GOD don't actually need babies from lies] Jimmy: [I can't do that to you gal even if we could] Janis: [would not be cute, he'd be tryna pay for your abortion like] Jimmy: [it's so far from #goals as is nobody needs that] Janis: [it's even worse than drew and caleb soz my love but no, hence ali had to be like no no in that convo we did when we did it before] Jimmy: [but what if that's when she gets her nose ring because it's like a Cameron trying to get Nicki to wear Chloe's lipstick situation!] Janis: [🤢 OMG, you can use all the really tryhard stuff of late, like, we know you would babe] Jimmy: [Sammi's moment of trying to be black will actually be useful to me, who knew] Janis: [just thinking about the wurls wig and dying 'cos it looked so bad oh gal] Jimmy: [HARD SAME] Janis: [and I oop, we're gonna lose our mind with you] Jimmy: [the drama] Janis: [oh lord] Jimmy: [anyways back to this, do you wanna do a skip or have you got things you wanna have happen rn off the back of this Harry situation?] Janis: [we can probably skip to going home even? we know how the nights gonna go and it'll be fun and feelsy but that's the STAY of it all] Jimmy: [true I just didn't wanna rush you gal if you had stuff you wanted to say or do before that so] Janis: [nah we good I just wanted to establish him so when he crops back up later we've got this vague memory like oh] Jimmy: [it was a good way to do it boo, good thinking] Janis: [big brain booty] Janis: [where would you like to hook up/where are you then gonna try to leave from] Jimmy: [do you wanna be at his gaff or are you thinking before they get there?] Janis: [his makes sense for going to mcvickers after] Jimmy: [be having a nightcap and all the sauciness that entails but then try and leave gal] Janis: [like gotta go before anyone wakes, sure you're being well loud tbh lads but okay] Jimmy: [as excuses go a very legit one and also the bubs do wake up well early like what time even is it] Janis: [but also who cares you've been on a minibreak together] Jimmy: [literally] Janis: [baby its cold outside Jimmy: [what's your vibe like is she gonna say anything or is she just casually getting ready to leave?] Janis: [I think just getting ready when she thinks he's passed out but we're drunk so we're clearly not making a good go of doing it stealth here lol] Jimmy: [obvs gonna chuck something at her then like excuse you] Janis: [#shooketh and thus doing angry whispers 'what was that for dickhead?!'] Jimmy: ['where you going?' as if that's not obvious because we're drunk so it's not] Janis: [dramatically shushing him which in itself is louder than you're being already probs 'trying not to wake anybody up here'] Jimmy: [a sarcastic but amused 👍 because that's going well and then repeating our question] Janis: [throwing whatever he threw at us back like don't be fucking rude 'home' which you gotta stop saying when you mean mcvickers 'cos sounds like you planning to trek] Jimmy: [catching it and being really proud of ourselves with our expression but then frowning because we do think she means she's going home 'you're not, there's no buses for ages' because again what weird am is this lol] Janis: [😏 and a sassy fake clap for him 'Oh, I mean my nans' like my bad 'before he's getting up for work or...whatever'] Jimmy: [dramatically shushing her for the clap like she did to him a sec ago 'it's the weekend' because it is 'only dickheads like us do Sundays'] Janis: ['oh' when you genuinely forgot but now it seems like you lyin' lmao] Jimmy: [when you get up v dramatically to be up in her grill like 👀 cos are you lying gal but when we're standing there we just get distracted by like moving her hair out of her face and fixing her clothes and generally being soft and close and helpful] Janis: ['you-' and then getting distracted by his lack of clothing for a sec like oh '-you don't have to be nice, you know'] Jimmy: ['stop calling me nice, dickhead' but softer than the words suggest and not just because we are this close and whispering] Janis: ['stop being nice then' in a challenge type of way] Jimmy: [push her back onto this bed boy but in a hot way not a dangerous one] Janis: [definition of that 😈 tbh] Jimmy: [whatever she's managed to put on he's taking off, RIP to this dress or whatever if you don't survive] Janis: [running our fingers through his hair again for the throwback to earlier 'you're SO nice, baby'] Jimmy: [giving her a massive lovebite near to wherever he did that first one way earlier and going as hard for that throwback as well because we're 😈 ] Janis: [when you're egging him on telling him how nice he is over and over but then you do the biggest gasp] Jimmy: [going over the OG one as well because it's right there tempting us 'I'll do whatever you want for as long as you're here, nice, not nice, owt else' like don't go gal] Janis: [just about getting out 'but what do you want?'] Jimmy: ['you' because true and we're drunk so we can answer a question 'I keep saying I don't want you to go anywhere' because he literally said it on the school trip in those words when they were doing an activity and having a little domestic and god knows how many times we've either said it or tried to make it clear since] Janis: ['me...' which we ALMOST phrase as a question, such is our disbelief/how much we've been caught off guard by that despite how obvious it is to us all but it's okay catch up gal 'and I keep saying you can have me' because we have and we mean it] Jimmy: ['you say it but then you- look and gesture towards the door like you were literally trying to leave and you know we're thinking about when she properly left] Janis: ['I never wanna stay if you want me to leave' a pause like I know that doesn't sound like it makes sense now you've said that but 'because I wanna be with you a lot...like all the fucking time and-'] Jimmy: ['I don't want either of us to leave' the tea and also how sad and soft his voice would be about that because we think it's looming over us 'if I had any fucking choice, I'd pick this, just give me the same back'] Janis: [kissing him hard, but not JUST kissing him like we usually would when we can't say what we want/don't know what to say 'okay' just as sad but serious like this ain't no game 'I'm scared but okay'] Jimmy: [holding her but not JUST how he would when he doesn't want her to go 'it's alright, when you're about, I'm not' like you can be scared gal cos I feel safe with you and it's the only time I ever do so I've got this] Janis: ['that's why I am' from deep inside this hug like we barely saying it but we are] Jimmy: ['bit of pressure, I get it' because we know we're saying there that everything else is shit and you're the only good thing keeping us going and that's a lot] Janis: [shaking our head 'I mean-' big sigh 'cos even if we're drunk it's a lot to say '-the more amazing it is now, the more there's going to be to miss'] Jimmy: ['there were loads to miss ages ago' because lbr the moment you started this you were in too deep and deeper than you've been with anyone else 'it weren't like owt else I've felt kissing any other lass soon as we had that first go at it' drunkenly spilling that tea] Janis: ['Ive never felt anything before' 'cos likewise] Jimmy: ['alright, no need to one up me that hard' cos you don't believe that's even possible lowkey when she clearly feels so much with you] Janis: [soft nudge 'I can't help the truth'] Jimmy: [one back obvs 'as competitions go, not fuming to lose this one'] Janis: ['I have kissed other people' like don't think he thought you were saying that but okay] Jimmy: [a sound like yeah obvs/no shit because we weren't thinking that 'but they were shitter at it than whatever review of me you're gonna @ my ex for, I get it' because not letting go that she brought that up but we're not mad about it still just amused] Janis: ['must be' shrugs 'knock to the ego can't hurt' not gonna go drunk text him the shade though tah 'was not, I was just asking a question' like stop it but we're not mad really] Jimmy: ['I don't care about how them dickheads feel, her included, just you'] Janis: [smile 'I can get behind that'] Jimmy: [smile back 😍] Janis: ['you're the cutest person I've ever seen' and putting our fingers in his dimples like oop] Jimmy: [a lil lol which we can't help even as we shake our head because no gal you are 'need to look in the mirror more, you'] Jimmy: [lowkey trying to drag her to where the nearest mirror is like is that even this room or are you trying to go to the bathroom? boy shh] Janis: [don't actually wake this bub you're lowkey too drunk to deal with him boy, 'cos we're so amused and playfighting him as silently as we can like noooo 'you you you'] Jimmy: [thank god we made him deaf because Libi would 1000% be awake by now lol, just drunkenly taking so many pictures of her face and so many weird close ups as we playfight and showing her them all like no look it's you] Janis: [just a fight to delete them as if 1. you look bad in any really 2. he's just gonna post them all rn] Jimmy: [we know you just wanna fight so he can pin you again for that saucy throwback] Janis: [obvs, we do not need to deny] Jimmy: [we'll let you have that moment and ensuing hook up during which you can call her baby in a way that is not at all a pisstake for the first time because we're drunk and feelsy enough for this] Janis: [just die bye, safe to say you won't be trying to go anywhere after that] Jimmy: [you gotta snuggle and snooze and be happy]

[yogaposesfortwo]

The Future of Yoga: The Change We Need

We look at diversity, equity, job security, and online teaching during a post-COVID era. This story is a component of a series covering the longer term of yoga during and after the coronavirus pandemic. Here, we take a glance at the challenging issues the yoga industry faces. Read more about the role unionization may play in addressing those challenges in our first story: As COVID-19 Reveals the Cracks within the Yoga Industry, Could a Universal Teachers’ Union Help Reshape Our Community? One month before the announcement of the permanent closures of the YogaWorks ny studios that were announced in April, I spoke with the changemakers on the front lines of unionization efforts on a Zoom call; a couple of YogaWorks NY teachers who formed the collective, Unionize Yoga—a first-ever yoga teachers’ union to become certified by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Accompanied by a politician from the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW), the union that represents them, the teachers discussed the important issues that were plaguing our industry long before the coronavirus pandemic had arrived, including a scarcity of diversity, job security, and benefits like insurance and paid leave . It was the first days of COVID-19. Social distancing measures and sanitization protocols were mounting because the word “quarantine” quickly became the new normal. Industry-wide shutdowns of yoga studios and cancelations of retreats and festivals soon rippled throughout the country and round the world, ny City prepared to shelter-in-place. Here’s what I asked them—and what I learned about what the longer term of yoga could appear as if during a post-pandemic world.

Is Industry-Wide Diversity and Equity Even Possible?

One of the most important problems perpetuated by the yoga and wellness industry is its homogeneity and reinforcement of said that folks like male teachers, but I’ve said, how does one know that folks don’t like black teachers—or any teacher of color?” It’s already hard enough for white individuals to form a living as yoga teachers—there aren’t enough jobs; we’re only too conversant in the unsettling statistic that for each one yoga teacher there are two more in training. during a market that’s already oversaturated with teachers who can afford the prices of teacher training—ranging anywhere from a fast-track online program for $500 to an in-depth offering with a renowned yogalebrity for $10,000—imagine what it’s like for minority groups vying for teaching positions who are, by the sheer demographics of the industry, outnumbered by the white majority. Demens says she’s looking forward to what a possible teachers’ union could mean for diversity within the industry at large. She’s looked to history for inspiration, and learned about the black sanitation workers in Memphis, TN, who had formed a union back within the 1960s. She says they too faced problems with unfair pay, and a scarcity of job security and safety. At the time, she says, black people weren't allowed to organize—but following two deaths from a dustcart malfunction and therefore the city’s refusal to exchange the defective equipment, the workers went on strike. “They went through such a lot , but they never gave up,” Demens said. “They fought hard and that they eventually won—and not only for themselves; what they did impacted the civil rights movement and therefore the fight for labor rights.” Demens points out how the win in Memphis helped many black people shift into the center class. “I think many of us , myself included, often feel overlooked—and that I even have no voice or say in what goes on during this industry or how I’m viewed within the community,” she said. While Demens doesn’t know whether a yoga union might be as powerful or effective as what had happened in Memphis, she acknowledges how unions can help people feel supported and of significance, and empower them to face up for what they believe . “Diversity is a problem everywhere—and it’s not really seen as something that’s missing. generally , we check a box if we've one person of color on a teaching schedule. It’s not fair to not even be considered. It’s not fair that even when I’m given an opportunity , it’s Monday at 2:30 within the afternoon. Who’s gonna come thereto class? My goal has been to try to to what I can to form yoga available to the folks that I know—people that appear as if me—and understanding the way to meet those people where they're . i feel that a yoga union would help make yoga classes available to more people. I’ve seen efforts toward this—my teachers offer scholarships to women of color. It’s healing to ascertain those shifts which thought and energy . I once taught a restorative class in Crown Heights at 4 p.m., to those women who were total BFFs; these old black women who looked a bit like my grandmother. The way they checked out me it had been like they were pleased with me, and once I checked out them I saw my grandmother. So once I teach now, I act as if I were teaching my grandmother. I’m not getting to shout at at her; I’m getting to set her up within the pose. As an Iyengar teacher all I can do is give commands—so it made me believe how could get more women like my grandmother to return to my class; more women like this. Whats missing is we'd like more stories like that. i would like to assist get these conversations going. one among my students recently reached bent me and asked me to start out teaching online classes. So I began to build a schedule that works on behalf of me . Before I had to require what I could get. Now I can run my classes the way i would like and provides my students what they have . An Asian women came to at least one of my classes to “rest her brain”—she said she was hurt by the toll the pandemic had taken on China, so I offered her restorative and pranayama. I wouldn’t are ready to do this before because i used to be always told I had to urge people moving. Now I can help people and provides them what they really need. With numerous people laid off and knowing that there’s some benefit they will get from class, I aks myself how do I make my clases more available and accessible to them.” –Deidra Demens, 500-hour Certified Yoga Teacher, Level 1 Iyengar Teacher

What Does Job Security Look Like in An Uncertain Future?

Some teachers may say they’re paid a good wage, but there are countless others who would argue they’re not. There are other teachers who would probably say that they've never been purchased their classes in the least . In my personal experience as an educator , I’ve made anywhere from $5 to $150 for one hour session, counting on whether i used to be paid per head ($5 = 1 student came) or a flat rate (corporate yoga or a yoga festival appearance). In most cases, yoga teachers work as independent contractors instead of as part-time employees of a studio, which, because the union points out, can save the studio money on unemployment insurance and workers compensation. YogaWorks has been an anomaly therein regard, since its teachers are employed either part- or full-time, and also are eligible surely benefits. But YogaWorks teachers need to work on least 10 hours per week to be eligible surely benefits—and Unionize Yoga believes that those benefits should be available to all or any . Still, generally speaking, yoga teachers rarely have job security, nor can most of them make an inexpensive living by teaching alone. There are many teachers who make it work by piecing together income from multiple studios, while others may rely solely on one because they’ve signed a non-compete clause. What happens when alittle , independent studio is struggling and has got to suddenly close, then those teachers are out of work? Or what happens when the economy reopens and we’re on the opposite side of the pandemic—how many studios will even survive and, what percentage teachers will still be out of work? very similar to the industry and aspects of the gig economy, the shortage of job security within the yoga world is being illuminated by the present depression . During quarantine and in survival mode, teachers have begun to understand the potential for generating revenue streams online without a brick-and-mortar studio. An unprecedented number of studios and teachers alike have migrated to measure stream classes and joined the Zoom boom, which, counting on time of day, scale of online and social media presence, and whether or not they’re giving content away for free of charge , may or not be understanding . There are teachers who’ve had upwards of 100 students during a single class, while others may even see just a couple in less desirable timeslot (what is that the new “prime time” for quarantine practice, anyway?). Other teachers, meanwhile, have expressed worry about those who’ve been giving their content away for free of charge , explaining that it devalues their expertise. Veronica Perretti, a former YogaWorks teacher and former NY teacher manager for YogaWorks, started her own online platform outside of the corporate mid-March, just following the announcement of the initial temporary studio closures. Though she had voted against the NY teachers’ union last fall, she’s still an advocate for teacher-owned businesses and believes that teachers should charge what they’re worth. “I replaced my monthly YogaWorks income within the matter of 1 week with my new online membership program,” Perretti said. “I think this is often subsequent frontier of teaching yoga.” She says this is often a flash for teachers to require ownership of their business outside of the studio and make a community that knows no bounds. “I don’t need YogaWorks to offer me a platform to show ,” she says. “I’m creating it for myself.” Just before the arrival of the coronavirus within the us , Unionize Yoga founding member Markella Los, gave up her group classes at YogaWorks and her position as an educator trainer, and subsequently, her involvement with the YogaWorks NY union. Her shift to specialise in one-on-one instruction and online community building was a timely one, and now, Los is committed to assist ing other teachers outside of YogaWorks mobilize and make solutions to help make the profession more sustainable. In May, Los launched The Connective, a web “teacher-powered” collective that aims to diversify the yoga industry and lift its standards. How The Connective holds up during a post-coronavirus world remains to be seen, since running your own business equates to even less protection when it involves job security, but Los seems optimistic, despite that the traditional could potentially pose more risk for teachers. “The current crisis is highlighting issues and insecurities of what it means to be an educator that tons folks already knew were there. Who gets to make a decision what the yoga industry seems like and who’s in it? What I could see happening is that inequities are further perpetuated, but in a web forum. I could see a direction during which business continues as was common , but within the ‘wild west.’ But what I also can see is a chance to course-correct; to arrange and have conversations around online teacher-owned businesses. There’s multiple ways for people to organize—it’s only limited by your collective creativity. Teachers are talking for therefore long about the thought or need for a yoga teachers’ union, and it never happened. It felt love it couldn’t be done. the very fact that we’ve shown it are often done shifts the scope of what is possible. Teachers reach bent us to seek out out what we did and the way to start out something on their own. we've a voice, we’re starting conversations, we’re connecting and being honest with what we’re all handling . Our goal has always been to boost industry standards overall—and for the profession to become more sustainable for anyone who wants to be in it. for much longer than I even have been teaching, people have talked about the thought or need for a yoga teachers’ union. They talked about it for therefore long and it never happened; it felt love it couldn’t be done. the very fact that we showed that it might be done shifts the scope of what is possible. It’s been a tremendous facilitator for conversation—teachers reach bent determine what we did and the way to start out something on their own. We’re starting important conversations; we’re connecting and being honest with what we are all handling . That’s been a hugely important profound shift. –Markella Los, 500-hour Certified Yoga Teacher; Yoga Tune Up YogaWorks, Trauma-Conscious Yoga Method, FRC Mobility Specialist

Are Yoga Teachers Entitled to Healthcare, Regardless of Hours Worked?

As London-based teacher Norman Blair wrote in his blog, “How can we stay well when working within the wellness industry?” Whenever an educator gets sick, they'll ‘power through’ and teach anyway (it’s only an hour, right?), putting the health of their students in danger also as their own. the choice , of course, is to seek out a sub. Either way, the teachers who are independent contractors don’t get paid once they don’t teach. Worse, when an educator is injured and out of labor , how can they still make ends meet? The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed how easily anyone can become ill, no matter their physical health. It’s a deadly reminder of the very fact that many Americans still live without insurance . Unionize Yoga believes that, like all trained worker , yoga teachers need and deserve benefits like healthcare. YogaWorks teachers, unlike most teachers at independent studios, are regular employees of the corporate , not independent contractors, which is why they’re eligible for perks like wage and which is additionally why they might legally form a union within the corporate . And though YogaWorks employees who work 10 classes per week (or equivalent) are considered full-time, consistent with Unionize Yoga, no teacher at YogaWorks NY had worked that a lot of hours. the amount of hours worked, of course, doesn't include the countless ‘invisible hours’ (class prep, travel, training, etc.), involved in teaching a category . Unionize Yoga says that healthcare benefits should be made available to all or any teachers, no matter hours worked. The common practice, a minimum of within the U.S., is that insurance usually applies only to those that work full-time, or part-time at a particular number of hours. But Unionize Yoga says that there’s no reason why a part-time teacher can’t be entitled thereto same fundamental right. YogaWorks, however, states otherwise, citing the company’s already existing benefits package as a rare exception within the yoga world—and the sole company within the industry to supply a leave policy. "YogaWorks is that the winner within the industry in providing benefits like health care coverage and 401k plans to full-time teachers, while also ensuring that each one among our teachers is an employee with all applicable benefits, including wage and hour protection, unemployment insurance, leave pay, family leave, and workers compensation,” a spokesperson from YogaWorks told me in an email. “We believe our extraordinary retention among our teachers, many spending decades with the corporate , may be a testament to our commitment to them and to the above market wages we offer altogether of our markets.” David DiMaria, a representative of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers’ (IAMAW) Eastern territory, works with new groups who’ve organized to make a union. He explains that independent contractors aren't covered by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), which allows unions to legally form within companies. However, very similar to Uber drivers did in ny , independent contractors can still organize—just not within an equivalent legal framework of a formally recognized union that gives workers with additional rights. DiMaria understands the political and financial challenges that accompany fighting for healthcare, but believes that if yoga teachers were to arrange in greater numbers across different employers, that it’s doable within the future . very similar to actors’ unions, which believe contributions made by multiple employers, he says that following an identical model could mean that nobody employer would need to bear the high cost of insurance for his or her employees alone, which teachers could qualify for benefits no matter the amount of hours worked. “It’s a very tough issue due to the character of labor . Some teachers teach one class every week and a few teach five. We are watching ways to supply some level of advantages for everybody , but we are so early within the process that it’s timely to inform . We are bargaining over different issues and it’s all contingent agreeing to the entire contract, we won’t have an agreement until each side ratify. But once we last met with the corporate there was movement on their end. consider it sort of a junior high school dance, it begins with people on opposite sides of the space , but eventually everyone starts dancing.” –David DiMaria, Eastern Territory Organizing Lead, IAMAW

Should Studios Prioritize Teachers’ Pay Over Student Numbers?

Yoga studios, regardless of what size, exist due to yoga teachers. and lots of teachers have said that enormous companies like YogaWorks and CorePower, which are owned by private equity firms, could compensate their teachers with better living wages (the teacher-led lawsuit against CorePower in 2019 cited underpaid wages). Unionize Yoga says that a good wage is one that increases over time with experience, and considers other factors like the rising costs of living. (A quick disclosure: As a former YogaWorks NY teacher, my flat rate, when averaged over time, was still superior in comparison with the smaller studios that had paid me per head.) the matter with YogaWorks’ pay scale, however, as some YogaWorks NY teachers have said, had been the shortage of transparency about its pay system. Christine Festa, a yoga teacher and coach in Southeast Florida who completed her 200- and 300-hour teacher trainings at YogaWorks NY and NJ, agrees, and says it’s the massive companies who should be leading the industry by example. “There shouldn’t be of these different teachers at different pay rates,” she told me, flagging nepotism together potential issue. “There should be a group structure that's shared among teachers in order that all teachers understand where they substitute the combination of things; in order that they know where they’ll go as they progress in their career.” Festa is notoriously outspoken on social media about problems within the industry at large, and coaches yoga teachers on the way to become more self-sufficient by generating new revenue streams outside of studios. Tamar Samir, another founding member of Unionize Yoga and a YogaWorks NY teacher since 2010, says she’s an advocate for teachers. She’s argued for transparency around pay, and for various ‘pay bands,’ or layers of pay, that increase supported experience (Samir has completed over 1,500 hours of training). She suggests that there has got to be how for both the studio and teacher to financially flourish together. Yet as an accomplished creative director and professor of design at Parsons School of Design and Pratt in ny , Samir doesn’t necessarily believe teaching yoga to pay her bills. But when YogaWorks announced that it might close its Westside studio in late-2018 with only three weeks' notice, she realized just how fragile the industry are often for the typical teacher. Though the corporate took measures to reassign teachers elsewhere, the relationships between those teachers and therefore the students who’d been coming to their classes were broken—an entire community dissolved almost in a moment . “One of the items i assumed about after being during this industry for 10 plus years was that I even have tons less to lose than people . It became very clear there have been inequities, and that i have seen an equivalent patterns repeat over and once again . There’s a dichotomy between how yoga is presented publicly and what teaching yoga is really like behind-the-scenes. We see Instagram posts where teachers look beautiful, healthy, and peaceful, but all folks know that that's not actually the case in the least . Many teachers live in small apartments and earning under the poverty level . So maybe they’re accomplished on Instagram, but they’re also doing a waitressing or bartending job that they are not telling the planet about. there is a quite hypocrisy that’s built into the profession; you've got to present yourself as a picture of health and prosperity. It makes it harder for people to advocate for themselves. That’s why we’re the reality tellers—we’re telling people what a yoga teacher’s life is basically like. Yoga is about solidarity and connectedness—which should be a no brainer for yogis. –Tamar Samir, Creative Director and Yoga Teacher

Should Seniority and Experience Be Rewarded?

In most other professions, a worker receives a raise in their salary supported their performance, whether by appointment to a higher-level position supported seniority or through adequate compensation supported experience. The yoga industry, at large, has no such pay structure. In most cases, an educator just out of teacher training could also be paid an equivalent interest rate that increases per student as an educator with 10 years or more of experience. this suggests that a lot of teachers are rewarded for his or her personality and following, versus experience, while others may simply get lucky and secure lucrative time slots for his or her classes. When compared with the restaurant industry, for instance , a server with more seniority often gets the higher section, and walks away with 3 times the maximum amount take advantage their pocket on any given night as a less experienced server in another section. But many restaurants now have mandatory tip pooling systems in an effort to be more fair to their employees across the board. While pooled class earnings for yoga teachers might not be the foremost practical solution, Unionize Yoga is lobbying for a transparent pay structure that rewards teachers supported their skills and knowledge , instead of leaving it up to the luck of the draw or a robust personality with an outsized social media presence to urge ahead. German-born Nora Heillman, a performance artist turned yoga teacher, moved to ny from Amsterdam in 2013 where she met her wife, Samir. She recalls the first days as an immigrant in ny when she took whatever work she could get, teaching very early or late in the dark for little or no money. But after five years, exhausted and depleted, she found herself wondering how she’d be ready to continue—or what would happen if she got sick or ever wanted to retire at some point. As a yoga and meditation teacher with 13 years of experience and quite 1,600 hours of coaching , Heillman says she’s cycled through 12 studios in 5 years, many of which have closed, including 3 YogaWorks locations at the time of this interview (Heillman had been an educator at YogaWorks since 2014). She recalls the frustration of going to an area where she finally felt financially secure enough to pay her bills, just in time for an additional studio to shut its doors. Heillman recalls the sense of urgency that followed the closure of the YogaWorks Westside location in 2018; the belief of the shortage of sustainability within the profession— even as sustainability was becoming a buzzword, she says. That’s when she, Samir, and Los began their initial discussions that led to the first formation of the Teachers’ Initiative. “There are teachers at YogaWorks who are teaching for 25 years. We don’t have regular raises or evaluation meetings per annum like other jobs, since that’s not a typical within the yoga world. Teachers need to fight for a raise or salary that they might wish to see themselves at. And sometimes, after a few years of teaching, maybe they’ll have an honest salary, on the other hand a studio starts to limit classes and convey in new teachers at a lower rate who’ve just begin of coaching , because it’s less costly for the studio. There’s no financial security for teachers with more experience. That’s why we’re advocating for teachers with the foremost experience, especially those who’ve been at an equivalent studio for several years. They’re those who should have first access to classes opening up. There must be some career path for growth; knowing that your salary will go up if you persist with the corporate . Some teachers’ salaries haven’t gone up in 15 years at YogaWorks and at other studios, when now we pay $1,000 more dollars in rent per month than we did years ago. It’s a pity when a studio loses a highly qualified teacher because they’re burned-out and throwing in the towel of the profession. I just take what's offered to me, but i do know it’s the louder personalities who get $30 more per class. If you are not a fighter, you would possibly be teaching for low pay your whole life. How would any folks have navigated the present crisis without having had the community we’ve created through the union? we actually do support one another through all of this.” –Nora Heillmann, Yoga Teacher

The Next Step for Yoga

We have found ourselves during a moment where everything is changing and nobody really knows what the post-COVID yoga world are going to be like—with or without a union. Digital platforms could morph into an amplified version of a contest , rewarding only those that are highly skilled at self-promotion and social media marketing. Many studios will close and businesses will inevitably fail. For people who survive and remain open, the longer term of yoga—at least the foreseeable one—is a special place then once we left it. A future that limits in-studio class offerings, ushers students into a building one-by-one to require their temperatures, then caps the space at 6 to eight students. A world where students are inhaling and exhaling into their face masks with their mats strategically placed six feet apart. a wierd new reality where fears of germs are but a continuing , where extreme disinfectant and sanitization measures put anyone who’s willing to steer into a studio jittery . In some ways, it might appear to be going back to the way things were is like trying to force a square peg into a round hole. Maybe there's no going back. Maybe this this is often our moment, as an industry, to change, collaborate, create, and innovate—to transcend beyond studio walls. As we glance toward the longer term , as uncertain because it could seem at the present , perhaps we might all enjoy identifying what we don’t want the industry to seem like by acknowledging what it isn’t. It’s never the past neither is it our attachments thereto . The solutions aren't getting to be found by forcing things to be as they once were. As my teacher and studio owner, Jill Sockman, said during a virtual government building meeting on concentrate May as she announced the closure of her brick-and-mortar space in Raleigh, Blue Lotus, (where I had taught and practiced before the pandemic), “We’re not getting to find ‘the yoga’ by fighting what is; we can’t avoid doing the hard thing because it’s uncomfortable.” Author: Andrea Rice Source: https://www.yogajournal.com/teach/future-of-yoga-post-covid Discover more info about Yoga Poses for Two People here: Yoga Poses for Two Read the full article

[bluboothalassophile]

Hello, Blue! Lol since you’re doing prompts I would like to request something fluffy with Dami and Jon with prompts 23, 83, and 91! Hope you have a good time writing it! Have a great day!

Hello,

We can always call upon Damian and Jon for chaos and disasters! MWAHAHAHA! I do hope you enjoy! And a happy New Years!

Guilty by Association...

Reasons hybrid aliens for bffs were good: superpowers saved lives, flight, free taxi, minion to aid in harassing his numerous siblings, cohort for setting up his idiot brother’s love life, and reliable teammate.

Reasons hybrid aliens for bffs were bad: hybrid siblings, full blooded cousins, and clones who could and would cause mass destruction on a sibling rampage cause people to run in terror; well, not people per say, but best friends for sure.

It had started off simple enough, Damian had gone to visit Smallville in his quest to escape his siblings. They were irksome and seemed to think his legal drivers license made him their personal chauffer, not alright in his mind. There was the added problems of he just wanted a peaceful day, was this too much to ask for? Apparently it was.

He had come to endure being a ‘normal American teen’. Not something he was accomplishing right now.

He had arrived at Smallville High School first, mostly because Jon insisted he come for the Friday night game, it was a supposed big deal. The people who gawked at him and plastered his photo everywhere on their social medias annoyed him but he ignored it. He had long since grown accustomed to it. Jon was technically a sophomore, and played on the Varsity team for the Crows, and it seemed to shock people when he walked through the halls for Jon. It was a well known public fact his father and his family only gave exclusive interviews to a handful of reporters, the Kents were first on that list.

Jon had been ‘stoked’ to have him here, which made his discomfort about the teens staring and gaping at him dissipate a little. He was Damian Wayne, he did not get uncomfortable and refused to have such a shameful emotion happen now.

The game had been fun, though the presence of strangers was not, he had stuck close to the Kent family, keeping himself quiet and to the point so teens couldn’t misinterpret what he said; as social media was inclined to do he learned. Kara had brought her longtime girlfriend here as well, Lena Luthor, Karen had showed up, Kon was not here at this moment, neither was Chris or Jon Lane Kent. Damian liked the Kents, no small children here to pester him with endless questions, or to prank wars, or shenanigans to be shanghaied into.

Or so he had thought.

When he had become best friends with Jon he had learned his best friend was the baby of a semi regular family, so Damian saw the appeal of Jon’s loneliness when he himself couldn’t go five minutes in his house without some sort of disaster ensuing or one of his younger siblings or older demanding his attention.

But why he hell he thought this was a break he didn’t know as he ran for his life from one very pissed off older Super.

He shoved Jon out of his path as he leapt up for the rafters of the Kent barn.

“If we get caught I’m blaming you!” Damian hissed as he escaped to the roof.

“She can’t be that pissed. Both boys peeked over the roof just in time to see the very furious Lena Luthor blast out of the Kent house.

“Scratch that, she’s very pissed, and we can’t use powers!” Jon gasped, and Damian saw Lena Luthor storming towards them. He had never in his life feared a Luthor, but the look in those icy blue eyes had him leaping for the tree, he caught Jon’s arm when his friend slipped. It wasn’t an act, Jon when he focused on being human was very uncoordinated.

“Get back here you two!” Lena roared.

“Run!” Jon said as they both fell from the tree and ran.

“I’m gonna kill you Jon!” Kara shouted, and Damian grimaced as he ran a little faster for the corn field. Though Damian hadn’t done anything he was guilty by association and he wanted to get as far away from the women as possible. He skidded by Conner as he ran for the corn field. Damian went low, when Jon tripped over him in the cornfield.

“Help me hide!” Jon pleaded.

“No! Go find your own hiding spot,” he shoved the hybrid out of his way as he continued utilizing all his Assassin training to make his presence minimal.

“You’re just going to leave me here!?” Jon sputtered.

“Jon, I have more siblings than I can count, it’s every man for himself!”

“At least have the decency to finish me off with a stick!” Jon begged.

“I need them killing you so I can make a run for Gotham!” he stated.

Jon balked, jaw dropping balked, and he looked so baffled, if they weren’t going to be killed by his cousin and her girlfriend, it would’ve been amusing. “You are a terrible best friend!”

“My siblings have informed me of this,” he retorted. His siblings were so dramatic! Jon was like them, it was amusingly refreshing, but right now it was every man for himself.

“THERE YOU ARE!” Lena snarled, the ever prim, and ever proper Lena Luthor towered over their crouching forms, there was a leaf hanging in her wild brown hair, and her blue eyes were livid. Damian could see his end coming upon him now, in a far more gruesome end than he anticipated; only because of Guilt by association.

“I can see your boob,” he deadpanned. A trick he had seen Terry employ to escape Kate’s wrath one day, and it was worth a shot for a distraction!

Lena looked down and he and Jon ran.

“I hate your x-ray vision!”

“I hate I saw my sister having sex!” Jon shouted as they ran.

“Get back here you little perverts!” Lena bellowed and he could hear Kara after them too. Allah save them! They were so screwed!

~~~*~*~*~~~

Jon hated x-ray vision, and he was never using it again! Provided Kara’s girlfriend didn’t kill them!

And it wasn’t fair! He didn’t even like girls! He wasn’t peeping on Lena!

#bluboothalassophile #fanfic #one shot #hopes for a bastard universe #hopes for a bastard #jon kent #damian wayne #lena luthor #kara zor-el #kara x lena #supercorp

[itsclydebitches]

RWBY Recaps: Volume 6. Argus Limited

This is a re-posting from Oct. 27th, 2018 in an effort to get all my recaps fully on tumblr. Thanks!

Volume Six is here, folks! I am so very, stupidly excited for this season. Heartfelt thanks go out to my friend who was all, “lol yeah sure” when I begged to use their FIRST account to watch. There are heroes in this world and they’re one of them.

A quick note about recaps from here on out: they will (my productivity willing) be uploaded sometime on Thursday or Friday proceeding the new episode. This is partly so that I’m not scrambling to post immediately afterwards—stress and bad writing all around—and partly so that, you know, we can actually recap stuff before the next episode airs. So yeah, that’s the goal.

Let’s do it!

We open on a gorgeous, snowy scene with ROOSTER TEETH PRESENTS smack dab in the middle. You know that feeling you get when you hear the Harry Potter theme at the beginning of a new film and the whole theater loses their shit? Same with Doctor Who and Star Wars? Whatever your preferred fandom, the point is I get the same chills when RWBY comes back and it’s excellent.

The animation really is gorgeous though and I sigh happily whenever I see it, thinking back to the days when cookies disappeared directly into Ruby’s mouth. There’s nostalgia, sure, but it doesn’t beat this detail.

We hear the distant sound of a train and then we’re thrown into exactly what we’ve wanted for literal years now: Team RWBY back together again, fighting not creepy adults but just some good, old fashioned grimm. They’re chimeras and… griffins? Ngl I’m not entirely sure, but they’re big, flying, fire-breathing nasties, so that’s really all we need to know. Luckily everyone falls back into old habits, easily supporting one another and executing perfect attacks (a contrast to the residual tension we’ll see in just a bit). Ruby is so busy posing after a successful kill that she misses the grimm coming at her from behind. Weiss saves her ass with a cheeky, “Thank me later!” At the end of the fight we get a reversal wherein a hit nearly sends Weiss tumbling off the side of the train, though Ruby grabs her at the last second with her own, “Thank me later!” It’s a fun little exchange made better when we think back to the Vytal Tournament. Weiss still “had her back” then too, but was more resistant to Ruby’s proclamation that they’re BFFs. Now the teasing is on both ends.

Notably, Ruby saves Weiss by taking her into her semblance, creating a cloud of rose petals that are half red, half white. Now combined with the old team-ups and some shots in the new opening, this has led a number of fans (myself included) to wonder if a WhiteRose pairing is in our future. Which also means that the ship wars are in full swing. Needless to say I’m not about that nonsense and I’ll only point out here what I said episodes back: if it’s a queer relationship with one of our main girls, and not a random side character who was previously out to murder a whole family? I’m on board.

Back in the fight though. The rest of team RNJR appears with Nora exclaiming, “Why is it always something?” God that’s a mood. Welcome to adulthood, kid. It’s just one crisis after another—except in your case the crises are objectively more dangerous. Sorry about that. We get to see Jaune’s improved reflexes as he fends off all the fireballs with his shield while Ren and Nora team up to knock some of the monsters out.

Honestly, I love this trope in action stories. Where—as Nora does here—a character just shouts out a friend’s name to get their attention and they immediately know what kind of move they’re about to pull off. It’s made more hilarious to me given that RWBY once had attack names and Jaune at least made the attempt with JNPR...but apparently they're not needed anymore. So unrealistic, yet so very cool when used.

So yeah, things are going pretty smoothly… up until Oscar yells out “Tunnel!” Ruby saves Weiss from falling, they manage to get over or between the cars, and in the sudden darkness we transition to what we only realize later is a flashback. At least, I didn’t realize it until later. Totally thought we’d had a time skip and they were just hopping another train…

My stupidity aside, before we hit the train station we actually see a familiar hallway filled with angry voices discussing the disaster at Haven—one of which is Adam’s. I really enjoyed this technique, wherein we slowly pan across the room as the voices grow more frantic and the sounds of fighting break out, the camera revealing bodies scattered across the floor. By the time we reach the throne—and Adam on it— we realize that the fight occurred prior to this moment, something that Adam is now remembering. He goes all skyward scream on us as he howls menacingly. Okay, dude. Compared to Cinder and Salem you’re really not all that.

Now we’re at the train station where Qrow is narrating a letter to Ironwood. Hell yes, please bring back the badass, protective Ironwood who defended the students at Beacon and stood up for Weiss. I’d be very pleased if he joins the RWBY gang by the Volume’s end. Qrow’s optimistic about the trip—they’ve plans to reach Ironwood before the letter does, which says either good things about Remnant’s transportation or bad things about its mail—though of course we as the audience know it’s not going to be nearly that simple. We learn that only two weeks have passed since the battle, but people are still reeling from all the implications. Lionheart tragically lost his life defending the school and oh, some students coincidentally were there and did some stuff. Excellent choice in showing us the mindless crowds while we hear this, the naive masses who, yes, would absolutely believe a story like this.

It’s easy to criticize no one supposedly noticing Salem, magic, the finger Ozpin has in every pie, etc. but ultimately people believe what they’re told—especially when it’s much easier to swallow than the truth.

Enough of the doom and gloom though. Ruby is having the time of her life.

Qrow: “What’s with the running?”

Ruby: “What’s with the standing?!”

I love this girl so very much and it’s wonderful when we get to see her acting like the kid she is. She uses her semblance with abandon because yeah, if I could turn into rose petals I’d be doing that all the time too. Ruby teases Yang with something from the gift shop and I really hope we get to see what that is. Yes, we end the episode with everyone left stranded in the wilderness, but if Yang’s bike can survive then so can Ruby’s souvenirs.

(Seriously though they presumably lost all their luggage that sucks.)

Everyone else is in top, feel-good form too. Nora daydreams about hitting the beach, complete with a thought bubble of topless Ren and a beachball. Weiss quips about how she spent all last Volume getting out of Atlas, thanks, but Ruby reassures her that at least she’s back with the team now. When two jokers arrive boasting about how they’ll be the ones keeping the train safe from grimm, Ruby and Yang act exactly as nieces should when your cool uncle is telling them off. AKA, making fun of them behind his back.

God they must have been terrors as toddlers. I mean we already know Yang carted Ruby off into the woods one day so yeah, I’m pretty confident in expressing my surprise that Tai doesn’t have a full head of gray hair.

The two Nice Guys go on to specify that they’ll provide extra protection for a “generous tip,” which—while essentially a throwaway line—reminds us how most of the world functions outside of our close-knit cast. Money, and more specifically Schnee money, quite literally dictates who lives and who dies. Not everything about RWBY is fantasy oriented…

We learn that everyone is just waiting on Blake— “as usual”—and we cut to her with Ilia as the two of them say their goodbyes. Ilia will be helping Ghira lead the Faunus in a “new movement” and is supposedly 100% on the straight and narrow now. Cool? I guess? To be honest I’m fine with her taking a back seat for this Volume. There’s a moment where we get a shot of Ilia and Blake’s feet, the former’s angled forward in a classic kiss pose, and I was super glad to see that they were just sharing a hug. I really don’t want the first LGBTQIA kiss on RWBY to be iffy on consent, considering that Ilia knows Blake isn’t interested. Hug though? That was super sweet.

Sun and Neptune show up to say their goodbyes too. They’re heading to Vacuo to meet up with the rest of their team because, in Sun’s words, he’s the “worst leader” ever. You kinda are, dude? I loved Sun up until they had him following Blake without her permission and continuing to do so after she asked for space, all in the name of the guy supposedly knowing what the girl really needs. The reminder that Sun abandoned his team to do this just reinforces how much I dislike that plot-line.

Sun gets the kiss—on the cheek—and after leaving Neptune lectures him on “letting [Blake] go.” Except it’s not about you? Blake is off to quite literally save the world and the fact that these guys view that as a threat to any potential relationship is… icky. Ugh. Oh well. They’re presumably gonna be offscreen for a while.

The train finally arrives and everyone piles in. We’re back to bunk beds! And of course Team RWBY is situated exactly as they were in Beacon’s dorms. Weiss gets annoyed with Ruby’s cloak hanging down over the side. Blake has a book in her lap. Ruby challenges Yang to a video game. Cue nostalgia. I fully expect fluffy AU fics where they ride the train all the way to Atlas and treat the trip as one giant, dramatic sleepover. This is non-negotiable.

Tension seeps back in though when Yang moves to pull her luggage from the rack and Blake immediately hops up to help her. In a super guilty “I know I fucked up and now I’m gonna smother you” way. Really excellent voice acting here. Yang ends up reassuring her. No, things aren’t perfect between them yet… but they’re definitely improving.

While short, for me this scene was perfectly balanced between acknowledging the girls’ complicated relationship without totally undermining the happy mood. Nicely done.

Then Qrow shows up with a drink. A drink with a slice of orange on the side. I have never enjoyed a moment more and I was so surprised I didn't take a screenshot of it. Clearly I was too distracted and am I too lazy to go back for one now? You betcha. The point is everything is fine, dandy, and filled with alcohol.

So of course RT goes and ruins it for me. Something hits the train and in a split second everyone is on high alert. A quick peek out the window reveals grimm and Blake mutters darkly that it’s “just my luck.”

Qrow: “Not yours.”

Are they gonna leave the safety of the train to those bozos from before? Hell no. Especially when one guy is grabbed right when the fight starts. I mean, poor dude, but he also kinda sucked as a Huntsmen. He wouldn’t have even made it past Beacon’s initiation, let alone graduated.

…I guess he’s kind of like early Jaune? Useless, wannabe hero who acts more confident than he actually is? Aw, now I really do feel bad.

He’s grimm food though. Gotta move on with our lives.

The other dude isn’t doing too well either, though RWBY and NJR + Oscar quickly show up, coming full circle to where we began the episode. Oscar insists that he’s got this fight under control which tells me (hopefully) that in the past two weeks they’ve had serious conversations about if and when Ozpin gets to have control. That’s super great, though I do wish we could have seen it. Flashbacks, maybe?

As the fight begins Ruby announces that the plan amounts to “don’t let anyone else die.” Uh...Ruby? Buddy. Pal. This is why people die. Because they didn’t have plans! Pyrrha—god rest her reckless soul—went off after a freaking Maiden by herself. Jaune got Amber killed because he didn’t obey the plan of watching the door. Lionheart frantically calls Salem with no real plan for what he’s going to offer her in exchange for his life! Plans are important, Ruby. You’re the team strategist. It was a badass line, I grant you, but please do not.

Luckily, no one (else) dies. That would have been pretty brutal for a premier. +1 point for world building where we see that trains like this have built in defenses to fight off grimm. -2 points for how useless it ends up being. As Qrow quickly points out, the turrets are drawing all the grimm to the front of the train where the passengers are. So, not good. Oscar is charged with telling the surviving goon to knock it off already while Qrow faces off against the super fierce chimera grimm. Not gonna lie though, when its tail first started up I thought Qrow was getting attacked by a dove…

This time when we hit the tunnel everyone makes it back safely inside with the exception of Goon #2 who gets his arm injured in the scramble. He’s literally crying on the ground when, in a pretty harsh move, Qrow drags him up and demands to know what the hell all that was. Civility and benefit of the doubt? Not Qrow’s strong points. It allows Ruby to take control of the situation though. How do you make sure that your cast of kids is continually calling the shots?  A) isolate them and B) when you can’t do that have the adults act like children instead. We see that a fair bit in RWBY.  

Jaune steps in to heal the guy’s arm, which is an unexpected surprise. I honestly thought we'd get a whole Volume’s worth of him figuring out how to access and control his semblance, though I suppose once it manifests you’ve got the basics down. We’ve seen that semblances can be improved upon—Ruby turning other people she carries into petals; Ren dampening the emotions of a whole train—so presumably Jaune will be able to heal more complex and life-threatening things in the future. We also hear in the ensuing conversation that he can amplify someone else’s aura…to be decided what exactly that means, how it connects to healing, and what the limits of the skill is.

During some theorizing about the attack Ozpin brings up that grimm are attracted to the relic they’re carrying and… oh boy. Here we go. Is it tradition that every recap the fandom goes for Ozpin’s throat while I stand here defending him? Might be. Let’s create a (semi) comprehensive list:

This might have been less of a secret and more of a slip. The guy is thousands of years old and the forces they’re dealing with are stupidly complicated. He can’t info dump every detail of a multi-century war in one sitting. So—

He might have thought this was one of those innocuous things that shouldn’t take precedent right now. Not the sort of thing he needs to worry them with. He claims in the promo that he didn't lie to the group and he quite possibly didn't. There's a big difference between lying and not telling someone every single possible thing that might be pertinent. Especially when—

We know that grimm are already attracted to people/negative emotion and they’re sequestered within a whole train full of presumably stressed travelers. There’s no reason to think the artifact would put them in more danger than they already are and therefore isn't at the top of the list of revelations to dole out. Especially with—

Qrow and his bad luck semblance. He literally just implied that the grimm were there because of him. There’s a reason he didn’t want Ruby near him during the fight with Tyrian and now they’re all stuck together in close quarters. The grimm were coming anyway. Even if we didn't have Qrow's semblance and big crowds we can also assume as much because of—

Those turrets. They weren’t there for a fashion statement. The whole train was crazy armored. They’re clearly very used to getting attacked on this route. It's a normal thing.

All of which is to say that the relic is one of MANY reasons why they might have gotten a buttload of grimm on their tail. Ozpin mentions this as one possibility in a very “Here’s something else to consider” way and everyone (characters and fandom alike) jump on him like he’s solely responsible for this predicament. Besides, what would they have done differently? Not carry the relic? That’s not an option. Be more on guard? They’re already constantly on guard. None of their actions would have changed had they known.

Really though, it’s the keeping of secrets that people are mad about, not necessarily what the secret is. So if we ignore the possibility above that Ozpin legit didn’t think this was worth mentioning/even forgot about it, we have a) he withheld the information because it might have made them wary about traveling with others, but they need to get to Atlas as fast as possible and the train is the best way to do that. So yeah, that’s a possible change, though I agree with Ozpin’s theoretical logic here. It was worth the risk.

b) he didn’t tell them because—again—worry is a negative emotion and that might have just doubled their problem. Awful as it is, knowing you're carrying a thing that might attract more grimm is one of the best ways to make sure that you do, in fact, attract them. Knowing what the relic does is dangerous. 

c) he doesn’t trust them with all the information about these super powerful relics that are going to decide the fate of their world. Which honestly? Kind of fair. Yeah, I know he promised them no more secrets, but this is a centuries old, god-like entity making a promise to a child. It’s not even really a matter of trust anymore. We’ve got a core group of nine here and everyone has someone else they’re close to. Ruby isn’t going to keep secrets from Tai. Blake will probably fill Sun in when she sees him again. Weiss is close to her sister. Etc. In short, as soon as this many people know a secret it isn't a secret anymore. Ozpin is no doubt aware that anything he tells to their now massive group is fair game and he has to carefully consider what he wants to risk going public/landing in Salem's hands. A general doesn't tell every lieutenant the details of every plan. That's a good way to lose the war. Fate of the world vs. a promise made to Yang? C’mon. There are priorities here.

d) finally, we’ve seen evidence—particularly after the iconic food fight—that Ozpin desperately wants his students to be kids as long as they can. He might keep information to himself simply because he doesn’t want to burden them. And given all the reasons listed above for why they'd be dealing with grimm anyway, what's the harm in giving them what little peace he can? It's not perfect reasoning and if this is the case the others have a right to be annoyed, but it's understandable. It certainly doesn't make Ozpin the monster I see countless posts painting him as.

Plus, Yang? I’m not sure you have the right to get indignant about keeping secrets right now. Granted, there’s some ambiguity surrounding whether she’s mentioned Raven as the Spring Maiden, but regardless we haven’t seen any evidence that she’s told the group the details of what happened down in the vault. That’s a pretty big thing to be keeping to yourself.

A lot bigger than, “Oh yeah this relic attracts the thing we’re attracting anyway. My bad.”

Why the relic attracts grimm is another question. Because it’s connected to the original brothers? Just because Salem wants it and she seems to be the grimms’ creator? We’ll have to see.

Ruby interrupts everyone’s fury to point out that they have bigger issues at the moment and Ozpin’s expression kind of kills me? He looks so shocked to have anyone standing up for him, even if it’s a defense of practicality instead of his actions. I wonder if this Volume is going to have the team starting to lose a little faith in Ruby. Given the clear divide here (angry Ren, Nora, Weiss, Yang, and Blake on one side; Ruby, Oscar, Ozpin on the other) this might be a major theme moving forward. It would make a lot of sense too given Ruby's past relationship with Ozpin. To Yang he's just her headmaster; to Ruby he's the headmaster that let her into her dream school early. To Blake he's someone who wanted information from her before she was ready to give it; to Ruby he's the adult who gave her advice at the dance and was emotionally open with her about committing more mistakes "than any man, woman, or child." No matter how far she's come, they'll always be a part of Weiss that sees Ozpin as the teacher who didn't give her the leadership position she thought she deserved; to Ruby he's the man that has put a staggering amount of trust in her: by letting her into his school, giving her a team, sending her to Mountain Glenn, etc.

Now, it might be time for Ruby to put her trust in Ozpin.

Fight temporarily averted, they decide to separate the teams… which felt a little forced to me. I mean I get it. As said, giant group. It’s hard to write and keep track of that many, so let’s knock three offstage for a while. Jaune, Ren, and Nora will see the people to safety while Ruby and the rest of the gang eventually catch up. We get a glimpse of Maria—the old lady with awesome glasses—clearly plotting something and then everyone heads back to the roof to finish the fight with the grimm.

Blake has a quick vision of Adam; the last time she separated a train car. Excellent touch there. Ruby tells Ren to use his semblance through the scroll, but we also get a glimpse of their signals getting weaker. Another nice touch considering how important we know the scrolls are throughout the RWBY universe: how the team keeps in contact during the Volume Four short, the damage that the fall of the CCT tower has caused, etc.

We get a final, epic showdown with a massive grimm where everyone’s teamwork proves to be some top tier stuff. Blake and Yang capture it using Blake’s ribbon. Weiss freezes off its wings. Then—in a fantastic split screen—Ruby and Qrow both use their scythes to cut the creature in two. I’m here for the power family moves.

Only problem is that a final fireball from the grimm hits the train, derailing their section. Weiss keeps them all from dying an awful death, but now they’re kind of stranded.

I mean, they already were stranded before, but I guess the hope was the back of the train would have carried them farther down the tracks before losing momentum?

In the final scene we have an unexpected voice happily proclaiming that they’re still alive but boy, that was a close one! Maria hobbles out, having clearly planned to be with this group when they went their own way.

My personal theory? She knows (and to some extent recognizes) Ozpin. I can’t believe he wasn’t involved in a conflict like the Great War. Hell, he was probably at the center of it and Maria looks very old by RWBY standards. We have no concept of how long people in this world can live so I don’t think it’s a stretch to put her in her 90s or well over 100—old enough to have fought in the War and potentially recognize one of the central figures, even in a new reincarnation depending on her instincts, knowledge, and semblance. Her name lends a bit of credence to her age, if nothing else. As far as I know “Maria” doesn’t mean/isn’t evocative of a color… though I’m far from an expert. Could totally be wrong about that.

Regardless, we’ll see. More info arrives next week!

Other Details of Note

The grimm are at a distance when we first spot them and they actually look a lot like crows. The same motif we’ve seen with Raven and Qrow’s entrances but, you know, bad.

I really liked Qrow’s line to Ironwood about how they’re bringing “more than bad news.” It’s appropriately vague—can’t go admitting that Oz is back with the group—and at the same time quite up-lifting.

I personally take Ozpin’s “I hope they’re not from Beacon” as more of a joke than a true worry. If you’re telling me that this old as balls control freak doesn’t remember every student that’s ever passed through those doors… I don’t believe you.

When Blake is saying goodbye to Ilia and Sun we have lots of animation for her ears, helping to express her emotions. It says a lot about her character development that she hasn’t re-adopted the bow in such a crowded, human packed space.

Neptune is pursuing the “wrong tree” okay lol that was good.

When Neptune and Sun discuss re-uniting the team we briefly hear the soundtrack from their Vytal Festival match. Excellent.

Interestingly, Oscar gives Ozpin control immediately during the conversation about the relic, almost like he already knew what was going to be revealed and understood that it was important… I wonder how much they’re sharing thoughts now, two weeks later.

Here, have a beach Ren and happy birb. Yes, I went back for the screenshots...

#rwby #rwby spoilers #mymetas #RWBY Recaps