#BUT BUT I MAY COOK UP SOME THEORIES AND ANALYZATIONS

[thatcheeseycandle]

//OKAY TO THOSE WHO ARE IN THE TTTE/TIDMOUTH SERVER, OR ANYONE WHO SEES THIS, YOU KNOW ITS TIME FOR A YIAU REACTION

TW SPOILERS FOR THE ENTIRETY OF CHP. 37 AND SOME BITS OF A GOLDEN SOUL

(Notes on my last post will be at the end)

OHFMSJAHAJAKSHDHSJAJSHD ITS HERE YEAHAHAHAHHDHD ITS HERE FRESH OUT OF THE OVEN

Oh OH THEYRE THERE ALREADY THEYRE AT THE HOUSE, MANSION, WHATEVER IT WAS

Ah gosh RIGHT THE HYBRID THING. Thank God I did a refresh read before this chapter came out

GADWALL BEHAHAJDB HOLY GOSH

"She has to be okay. I can't just abandon her!" Oh you loyal man, considering she's not.. Yknow in there anymore, I'll be bracing myself for whatever emotions are to come to both Oscar and the readers BEGAJAKDJCB

"You're going to be a part of this family very soon, need I remind you" YEAAASSS THAT TOO! Still feels like a feverdream to now see that these two are engaged considering long ago they were a bit messy with their relationship (aka, A Golden Soul and perhaps many other series-es)

Wait a click GADWALL IS A SILVER SOUL????

Okay now that adds onto my theory of (most likely) all the revived constructs (aka people like Quicksilver) being silver souls, cause to think about it I think Gold dust would've been too limited (most likely) around the time they were actually revived

So then, silver souls were one of the few ways to get ehm back during said times, as to not risk wasting Gold dust

But then- It wouldnt make sense considering HENDRICK HAS VILES OF GOLD DUST but I suppose it could've been gained around recent years and not like by the minute he was revived

ANYWAYS CONTINUING THE CHAPTER! I'll be saving those theories for seperate posts I suppose

Sorry Oscar you just YOU GO WITH HIM TO TELL HER THAT, SHE REALLY REALLY NEEDS TO HEAR IT.

"I know. You always come back running to me, one way or another." Considering a lot, same goes to you Truro to Scot LMAOAIDH

Woag WOAH GADWALL

WHAT ON EARTH?? IS THIS IMPLYING THAT SILVER SOULS HAVE ABILITIES SIMILAR TO THAT OF A GOLDEN WARDEN OR IS GADWALL ONE?????

GOOD LORD-

Oop OOOOOOO WE'RE BACK TO MAYFLOWER AND (Actually) BLUE PETER

Lack of stamina, waif WAIF WAIT

I might post the note I saved this theory on onto my tumblr after this, but is this- IS THIS BLACK SMOKE

Okay now thats sortve an exaggeration considering lack of stamina can be a sympton of a lot of things, BUT ANYWHO CONTINUING ON

Oh yikes YIKES OKAY, INSISTENT, NOTING THAT DOWN

I love how 9F was used in that sentence, fits well!

Friends FIRUABAB OKAY WE GETTING INTO THE LITTLE PEEKS LETS GO

"He'd push everyone that might have given him a place to rest his wheels." Sorry I just I nearly exploded at that sentence, ITS SO AIHFJDUFH Its relatable in a way

CLASS 37 MENTION LETS GOOOO

Her name has a ring to it, lovely!

"We so rarely get larger engines visiting our small piece of paradise."

"Excuse me, I'm a larger engine!" mAYFLOWER BEHAHAJDBXNZ

CRACKED ME UP RIGHT THERE LMAO

(Insert words that describe me just going suddenly quiet reading Blue Peter's thoughts and basically whats happening between the three)

Now wasnt that lovely! Yknow yhe title card got me all tense when I read out Blue Peter's name when I started reading this bit LMAO CAUSE I THOUGHT SOMETHING WAS GONNA YKNOW YEAH HAPPEN

HOLYGO I NEARLY LOST MY OXYGEN, BITTERN MY GUY HAHAHAJAHDHXN

"You act like this is a common thing, Grey"

"That's because it is!" I am not getting over these two australians BEHSJDHDB THIS IS ONE OF THE MOMENTS THAT GET MY CURIOSITY ALL UP FOR FLASHBACK BITS TO PENDENNIS' PAST

shy SHYAHAHAJFB

I love how this bit of the convo is just:

"Well you didnt tell me!"

"How could we? We didnt even know shite about how it works for you!"

FIAYR DUDT

New nickname for Gold dust, Fairy dust

Grey that is one of the most poetic interesting things you've said HOLY GOD

Honestly I cant blame them, even if they knew, that sentence wouldve been magnificent either way

"I mean, who better to run a railway museum than an engine, right?" The way Olivia is technically half an engine (or is she?) and now theres this lad BEHAHAJAKDH

Wait GREY. LORE BIT LORE BIT- Okay I mean why am I surprised, SILVERFOX AND WHO I SUSPECT TO BE BLINK BONNY WORK ON THE BLUEBELL RAILWAY OF COURSE THERES CONSTRUCTS LIKE THAT

(For context, in aGS Godred says he met this person named "Bonny" alongside Silverfox when he was on the Bluebell, but thats from what I remember)

Aait WAIT HORATIO HE

IS THIS IMPLYING HE ALSO TAKES A SIMILAR ROLE????

Waut WUAJAJA OHMYGOD GOLDEN CIRCLE MENTION, GOLDEN CIRCLE MENTION FOLKS

WELL SAID HORATIO WELL SAID (I am speechless)

Oh God OH GOD

OKAY FINALLY THEY REALIZE THAT

WELL SAID EVERYONE.. WELL SAID (I am still speechless)

Oh so THATS WHY THEYRE CALLED WARDENS ITS OHMYGO IT MAKES SOME MORE SENSE NOW

Wait WAIT. HOLY SHIT

THE FUCK YOU MEAN THEY WERE THE ONES TO RUN IT????? THIS

IT MAKES SENSE NOW, WHY THOSE PRICKS HAD ACCESS TO BLACK-SMOKE RELATED THINGS LIKE YKNOW THE LITTLE CANISTER THAT CAUSED SCOT HIS NIGHTMARES AND THE VILE OF BLACK SMOKE

ITS A FUCKIN CORRUPT SYSTEM

Well damn I never expected that a corrupt government would pop up in YIAU, but then again YIAU is basically collecting every type of trauma so LMAOHDGHD

Oh wait he isnt blue in this timeline LMAO NEARLY FORGOT ITS STILL 2023 IN THIS

YoYOYOYOYOO A GNR SADDLE-TANK LETS GO

Yeah YEAAHH FIGHT OFF THOSE OLD HABITS LETS GO BLUE PETER

"It was what enamoured him to that King Class, his dearest Eurion" dare I say the term- BLUE PETER YOU BEHAJDHXB I SEE YOU

"He had always been good at hiding what ailed him. So why was he failing now?" WELL THAT SHOT DIRECTLY INTO MY HEART DIDNT IT

Ohmygo💥💥💥 This is why I love Mayflower, LOOK AT HER SHES JUST YEAH

SHES GOSSIPING WITH HER FRIENDS BEHAJDHDND

Cold and the pain. THE COL-

OHMYGOD OKAY YEAH THIS EXPLAINS THE TITLECARD, WELL I MEANT MAY EXPLAIN BUT YKNOW YEAH

Well I be damned, thats actually kind of true in a way. BUT I MEAN SHE IS TECHNICALLY DIRECTLY RELATED TO THEM AS A NIECE (referencing another chapter I unfortunately forgot the number to but I'll put it in the tags if I do remember it)

AH CRAP I GOTTA EAT DINNER FOR CRYING OUT LOUD- ILL COME BACK TO THIS DRAFT SOON

I AM BACK YEAH LETS GO

"After accepting Tornado he realised just how alone he was." Well THATS. THATS SOMETHING TO BE SHOT BY ON A FRIDAY EVENING

(Insert just a cacophony of "WHAT"s, "NO"s, "STOP NO"s, "LORD"s, and then silence just reading this bit)

"Don't ever feel sorry for being sick, this isn't the 50s or 60s anymore, you won't get scrapped just because you've got a rivet wrong." wHAT IS WITH THIS CHAPTER AND IT'S DEEP QUOTES

But still, wise words from Mayflower right there

Ohmygod. OHMYGOD. I JSUT

I PREDICTED IT AGAINMYGOSOAOOAOAO

THE BLACKSMOKE THE OHVYAJAOAOAOAIDB I THEORISED IT AND I WAS CORREFT

WELL SOMEWGAT CORRECT BUT I WAA CORRECT ABOUT HIM HAVING BLACKSMOKE OHMGYODOAOAKJZBXNX

OH NO ONONNOOBOOO NONO BLUE PETER HOLD ON TO YOURSELF

BE STRONG BE STRONG

NOOOOOOO BLUE PETER NO

(Future me here, I screamed my lungs out irl and my gosh I was not okay since I waa processing a lot of emotions LMAO)

Oh shet its Lode Star OKAY YEAH ITS MUSEUM TIME GUYS

OH ITS THIS BIT BEHAHAHAJXHX

Ay AY WATCH YOUR THOUGHTS ON DOTTI THERE

"He refused to admit it, but he had missed her too." YIEEEEE MALLARD ADMIT IT ALREADY

Woah WOAH KING GEORGE

OOOOOOOO DRAMA LETS GOOO

Wait. King Edward II WAIT. WAI TNOU

NONONONONOO WHAT NO THIS NO NONONONONO

MALLARD FOR FUCKS SAKE YOU JUST GOT BACK NOOOOOOOOO

(Future me here yet again reading over this review before I post it, I was in silence for a while processing this LMAO SO YEAH YKNOW THE EMOTIONS WERE DOING THEIR THING IN THIS CHAPTER)

ANYWHO. GOD THAT- THAT WAS HARD TO SWALLOW

Yet again another well delivered chapter by RedWryvernWrites aka Baku! The emotions were REALLY tugged on in this chapter, anxiety was the main emotion in this LMAO but I did also appreciate those little spills of lore in the mix!

Anywho, I'll see you lot in my next post then!

[2amtechnicolor]

We Need To Talk About Mahiru

Mahiru's second Trial is out and oh my god she just jumped up on my faves list. I love analyzing the MVs from different perspectives so I thought I'd give my 2 cents on Mahiru's character.

My vote: INNOCENT

The first thing I really feel the need to bring up is that people tend to ignore that Mahiru is actually very intelligent. There's multiple kinds of intelligence, and while she might not be "traditionally" smart in the linguistic sense, she's incredibly emotionally intelligent. She's a master of empathy and mood making and is an incredibly charming talker to the point you don't realize she's completely controlling the conversation. That being said, I genuinely don't think she uses her intelligence for malicious gains.

One of the theories going around with her first MV was that she was overbearing to the point of being abusive, while being oblivious to her own toxicity. Now after rereading and rewatching, I'm inclined to disagree. Her love may be seen as overbearing to some but we have not seen any explicit bad behavior towards her boyfriend. (Contrast with someone like Muu, who was revealed to have bullied as much as she was bullied herself). In my unpopular opinion, I genuinely think Mahiru was in a "healthy" relationship, at least on the surface.

[TW for discussions of death, murder, and fictional depictions of suicide]

[Side Note: One of the sticking points people have while saying "Mahiru was toxic" is that "Mahiru's relationship only lasted 16 days" which is blatantly not true when you check the translations for MV1. Day 1 takes place during college finals (mid-March-ish in JPN), Day 7 explicitly takes place in the summer, and Day 15 is New Year's Day (January). Mahiru's affection towards her boyfriend lasted almost a year, and they dated for around 6 months-ish during that. The "16 Day Memorial" isn't about a period of 16 days, it's about 16 days over the course of their relationship where she was explicitly making moves towards her boyfriend.]

I need you to take a real hard look at how Mahiru talks about "love" and "being in love." More specifically, when she talks about the concept of "love," she often brings up the action of "loving/showing love" in her explanation. Never once have I heard her say "My boyfriend loved me." or "This is what my boyfriend did for me." The focus is all on her actions towards the boyfriend. And I genuinely think she was a sweet girlfriend! She loved trying his hobbies and cooking his favorite foods and going to his favorite spots. She was sweet, and kind, and playful, and maybe just a bit clingy. But she was never jealous or possessive.

Es: I see. So, you became a murderer as a result of some relationship conflicts? Jealousy… Grudges… Having your partner stolen from you… Those stories aren’t all that uncommon now are they?

Mahiru: You’re wrong. It wasn’t that. I…never even wanted to kill anyone in the first place!

She explicitly states that her crime was not based off of negative feelings towards her boyfriend, but she still takes responsibility for what happened. Compare that to Fuuta, who, despite his own feelings of guilt, continually verbally denied that he had anything to do with his victim's death. Mahiru not only takes explicit responsibility, but also pins her "love" as his cause of death, to the point where if she was voted guilty, she would never try to love anyone again. Without "loving" anyone, she has no reason to live.

"To not forgive me means to take the act of loving away from me. That’s the same as not being alive. It’s the same as not being able to drink water or breathe."

It's interesting the way she compares basic needs to "the act of loving". Not the concept of "love" itself, but the act of showing someone love. If she is not allowed to show someone love, to her it's like suffocating, like dying of thirst, or maybe...dying of starvation?

Mahiru in her second MV may be dirty and barefoot with torn clothes, but the one thing she is not is starving. You could argue that "perhaps it doesn't show," but when compared to her boyfriend...

She's incredibly healthy.

And of course she's healthy! Her lovely boyfriend's been feeding her those bites of cake! So is the cake "love" then? But if the cake is love, why is her boyfriend, the one whose being "smothered," the one starving?

Feeding the cake doesn't represent "love." Feeding the cake also doesn't represent "the act of loving." Feeding the cake represents the boyfriend letting Mahiru "love" him. Does that make sense?

The boyfriend lets himself be vulnerable, he feeds pieces of himself to Mahiru for her to "love." But yet, he himself is starving.

...Have you even noticed Mahiru hates talking about herself?

It's evident from her first interrogation. Es can barely get two words in before Mahiru interrupts them to ask them questions about themselves or to offer her own advice to problems she thinks Es may be having.

Es: Oh… yeah. Uh… I apologise for that.

Mahiru: Did you zone out just then? This job must be pretty difficult, so you might be mentally burned out from work. Herbal tea’s good for that, you know? Oh! Like ginkgo tea—they say it helps improve brain function.

Es: Oh, is that so? I’ll try a bit then… I mean, no! Enough about me.

Compared to one of the few times Es gets a question in:

Es: I don’t completely understand what you’re saying, but… Being in love and loving someone—are they really that important?

Mahiru: They are.

Es: Hm.

Mahiru: They are… More so than anything else.

When reflected back to her, her answered become short and vague. Her voice grows soft and shy. She avoids questions, especially questions about difficult topics, not because she doesn't understand the gravity of them (like Haruka) but because she does. Like I said at the top, she's incredibly emotionally intelligent. She was beaten nearly to death because Kotoko decided to be Es's "fang", and yet she still empathizes with them. She still makes a strong attempt to see their point of view, and even to encourage Es to keep working hard. Compared to the other attacked prisoner we've seen, Fuuta, who blames and grovels for forgiveness, these responses are like night and day.

But what do we know about Mahiru, really?

She's 22

She's a university student

She likes romantic novels, comic, and dramas

She loves love. [But she's not obsessed with being loved. Haruka is obsessed with being loved, Haruka wants to be loved and taken care of, Haruka killed out of jealousy and for attention because he didn't feel loved enough. We never get that from Mahiru.]

Everything else we know about Mahiru? Is for other people.

Her favorite hobbies? Whatever her partner is doing.

Her fashion sense? Whatever will catch her partner's eye.

Her favorite food? Well, as long her partner cooks it, anything's her favorite!

The only time we ever get a sense of her and her boyfriend possibly disagreeing on something is Day 14 in MV1. Mahiru wants to see a French film and begs her boyfriend to take her. This is odd, because just a few scenes ago, she was bragging about how their tastes in films perfectly line up. If their tastes are the same, why would she have to beg him to take her to see this one?

Mahiru, like Yuno, is hiding behind a facade. But unlike Yuno, Mahiru doesn't have a strong core underneath her mirroring. Yuno can drop her "nice girl" act and she still has strong opinions and feelings and acts accordingly. Mahiru, when you try to go behind her mask, clams up, redirects, searches for a way out.

So. Back to cake.

The boyfriend feeds pieces of himself to Mahiru. He makes himself vulnerable, he lets her in, lets her care for him, lets her "love" him.

But Mahiru? She never feeds him until the very end, and even then, her "cake" isn't anything edible.

She's not stupid. She knows she can't give him what he really wants: any sort of vulnerability.

Their relationship is one-sided, but not because Mahiru is toxic or the boyfriend is apathetic. Their relationship is one sided because that's how Mahiru wants it to be. She wants to be the perfect girlfriend, because, if we're being honest, Mahiru doesn't like herself very much.

Why else would she hate talking about herself? She clearly loves to chat.

She puts her all into everything...as long as it's for someone besides her.

She will outright ignore her own pain and suffering, her own emotions, because she doesn't want to make anyone else upset.

Mahiru: Sorry�� for making you worry. I’m fine! It doesn’t hurt at all.

Es: It’s a horrible injury. There’s no way it doesn’t hurt.

Mahiru: It doesn’t!

So why did her boyfriend die?

Mahiru's very good at hiding her emotions. If she slipped up and her boyfriend realized and noticed how she refused to love herself, it could cause friction in their otherwise perfect relationship.

Maybe Mahiru was the one who wanted to die in the woods, and her boyfriend, starved for any sort of real connection to her, found her at the last moment? Maybe her mental health dragged his down with her.

Mahiru's incredibly complex and tragic and endlessly relatable. She only loves too much because she can't love herself. If she's truly unforgivable, and she keeps her promise to stay alone...what's stopping her from killing the only thing she hates most?

[peachyoomi]

aikaveh headcanons ꕤ*.ﾟ

sorry for the absence i wanted to kms <3 anyway, i am perfectly normal and sane about them.

the olive theory, but with strawberries

Kaveh loves strawberries. Whether it's perfume, the actual fruit, smoothie, or scented body lotion, he adores them. He could eat a ton of strawberry-flavored food without ever getting sick of it. When on the other hand, Alhaitham despite them. Not to mention the fact that he's allergic to them. So, when his roommate sprinkles himself in strawberry perfume with strawberry chapstick, he always blames him for trying to commit homicide. Which could be true.

Bonus; Kaveh has a special corner for his strawberry scented stuff: a little drawer in his room, in which is stored his little treasure. Perfume, body mist, moisturiser, chapstick, lipstick, shampoo, and even special Hello Kitty strawberry scented tissues (n/a: i do have those tissues and they're amazing).

alhaitham gives the best to kaveh

Kaveh may always complain about how Alhaitham is a horrible being with him, that he doesn't love him, but it's not true. In fact, Alhaitham is just bad at expressing what he truly feels, and prefers to show him his attention and love in the little acts he does daily. And for that, he always gives Kaveh the best of anything.

When he cooks for both of them, Alhaitham tries to give Kaveh the best pieces of meat, and the better-looking vegetables. He gives him the most comfortable seat when they're at a tavern, or the place with the best view when they go to the movie or concert. He always makes little sacrifices like those for his senior, without noticing. But it doesn't bother Alhaitham: honestly, he likes it better this way.

story telling for a better night

It happens many times that Kaveh can't find sleep, or just have awful nights. And Alhaitham, as an analyzer, knows when it happens. The blonde seems to exhibit more agitation, frequently sighs, and changes positions frequently. When those things last for too long, Alhaitham just offers a hug to Kaveh, which he usually happily accepts. As his roommate is comfortably snuggled up in his arms, he starts to read out loud the book he holds. Whether it's a history book, philosophy, or a well-known classic, Kaveh can't either complain or despise those precious moments. On the contrary, it brings him nothing but pure comfort and some peace of mind. As his mind gets some rest, he can find sleep. Still in Alhaitham's arms, he slowly falls asleep as he listens to his calm and quiet voice. <3

kaveh's skin

To be honest, Alhaitham is always blown away by Kaveh's skin. It's always smooth, flawless, soft, and so milky. The only remaining things on his skin are beauty marks and perfectly placed moles. Alhaitham knows how many moles he has, and where they are exactly placed on his roommate's body. For example, he knows Kaveh's got one in the middle of his spine. Alhaitham can see it through his shirt, as it's opened right where the mole is (and on other occasions as well).

Kaveh does skincare routines a lot. Every day, actually. For his products and advice, he asks Tighnari. His friend prepares him special oils and cream for his skin and his hair (strawberry scented, ofc).

Anyway, Alhaitham physically and mentally can not get over Kaveh's perfect body and skin. He looks so edible and so delicious to him. He just wants to bite Kaveh everywhere he can and to chew on his more meaty body parts.

hugs, cuddles and sleep

It's no surprise to Kaveh that his roommate hates physical interactions. Usually, when Kaveh's feeling a little touchy, Alhaitham would just walk away. But eventually, he accepted this, tolerating this part of his personality. But it seemed that with time, the Scribe was a little more... needy for Kaveh's affection.

As for sleeping, it doesn't bother Alhaitham if his lover comes cuddling him. He wasn't used to the feeling at first since physical affection was not something he knew throughout his life, but the feeling was warm, pleasant, making him feel fuzzy inside.

꒱࿐♡ ˚.*ೃ

hi!! this has been in my drafts for over a year now and I finally decided to post it even though I'm self conscious lol. anyway, you can find me on twitter or ao3 for more :3 !!

[okay-j-hannah]

Episode 5: The Unknown Subject

Doctor Who : Multishot

Eleventh Doctor x Reader

Word Count: 3413

Warnings: some gunshots. some blood. some violence. some virus warfare. some of the oncoming storm. River taking matters into her own hands... inspiration and some lines came from Criminal Minds Season 4 Episode 24 “Amplification.” 

Request: This just came from my own head 😊

A/N: A skilled team of FBI tactical profilers analyze the country’s most prevalent oncoming disasters, anticipating the criminal mind’s next moves before they can inflict doomsday.

Episode 4: The New Heir

Episode 5: The Unknown Subject {You Are Here}

Episode 6: Dr. Smith

The DAU was overrun with representatives of all international governments. The army was instructing team members under the FBI and CIA to form search parties abroad in each country. Agents were conversing with contacts across seas as they tried to get everyone on the same page about the suspect.

SSA Smith was in the conference room having a heated discussion with other leaders and officials. They could all see him fuming behind the glass walls.

Jack was leaning into Donna, muttering some theories about where they were going to be stationed next. “I heard the professor was last seen in France.”

“She crossed the border after the stunt in London,” Donna agreed, readjusting her blazer as new agents caught her eye. “I think John’s talking to the Prime Minister and the president of France.”

Rory was sitting at his desk, glasses pushed up his nose, “He’s been tense.”

(Y/N) agreed, folding her arms and standing next to the rest of her team. The Doctor had been avoiding her as of late. He had become this hardened, cold-shouldered character since the last reality.

It was hard to associate him with her Doctor. He was so dark and strict and to-the-point. But she could see the split second of recognition in his green eyes when he looked at her.

He still looked at her with fondness.

“You think the professor will cook up some new disease?” Donna asked rather morbidly, “After we traced the last one?”

“Well, with the CDC already synthesizing a cure after the last attack,” Rory said, “I wouldn’t be surprised if she tried to create a 2.0 version to throw us through a loop.”

Jack nodded towards the conference room, “Look. He’s calling us in. Time for another debriefing.”

The team walked determinedly through the crowds of agents and military personnel, climbing the ramp to get to their seats.

The Doctor had his arms folded, already introducing their guest before they all sat down.

“Hello everyone, this is Dr. Martha Jones, chief of special pathogens with the CDC.”

(Y/N) nodded to the woman she recognized as a past companion of the Doctor. But the Martha here didn’t know her – she just looked worried with a light sheen of sweat on her forehead.

“Hello, I’m sorry to meet under these circumstances,” Martha said. “The target, Professor River Song, has been developing an unknowable strain of virus capable to compete with our most deadly naturally occurring viruses.”

“She’s already tried that,” Jack said, “We’re creating a cure, aren’t we?”

The Doctor frowned, “She’s struck again with an entirely new strain – in Lyon, France.”

“Oh my god,” Donna whispered.

“Last night, 47 people checked into hospitals with similar symptoms,” Martha began, “And by this morning 22 of those people have died.”

Jack took a seat, “Damn.” He set his jaw, “Were you able to detect the virus?”

“Yes,” Martha said, “Disease control centers across the world have taken samples and are working around the clock to create a new cure.”

“In the meantime,” the Doctor said, “We have to apprehend the professor before she strikes again. We have reason to believe she’s entered the United States. She may have been spotted at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Georgia.”

Rory piped up, “But she didn’t attack the airport?”

“No,” said Martha.

“Then what are we doing about other potential mass targets?” Rory continued, “Malls, trains, subways?”

The Doctor sighed, “There’s a media blackout. We can’t tell the public.”

“There’d be a mass exodus,” Jack nodded in agreement, “The panic would end up killing more people.”

“We’re heading to Georgia,” the Doctor said, “Wheels up in five. Thank you Dr. Jones.”

Martha nodded to him, “I’ll be your direct contact for the cure. I’ll let you know of any developments.”

The team all stood and made for the elevators to pack for their coming trip. Martha followed to converse with the military scientists outside. (Y/N) remained behind with the Doctor, anxiously waiting for him to look at her.

“Doctor,” she said cautiously, “Are you okay?”

It looked like he was hardly breathing, “Perfectly fine.”

“You don’t sound like yourself,” she continued, “I can tell you’re upset.”

“Why would I be upset?” he said lowly, “I only learned that a close friend of mine wants to kill you.”

He went to exit the conference room, but (Y/N) stepped in front of the door.

“I wasn’t going to die.”

“Yes,” he said darkly, his voice deep and angered, “You would’ve.”

“But not in reality. Not in our true reality,” she pressed, “This is a dream, Doctor – you know that.”

“How can you be so sure dying in here doesn’t mean you’ll die in real life?” he asked, brow furrowed.

Gone was his dancing fingers and giddy steps. Gone was his childlike smile and eccentric movements. He was tall and cold and angry.

“I trust River,” she said quietly, “Her logic is sound.”

“But unproven,” he said, “We don’t know what’s keeping us here. It could be dangerous to wake up. There has to be another way.”

There was the strange tingle of anticipation growing. The dream was about to zap them to the next scene. They had been off script for too long.

“This isn’t up for debate, (Y/N),” he said.

She hated the way he looked at her like he couldn’t fully see her. He was clouded by the storm that had developed and resided within him. The Oncoming Storm.

Something sparked in her stomach. The reason he became like this was because she almost died. Because he cared about her so much he was willing to do anything to keep her safe.

~~~

(Y/N) was suddenly sitting in a booth in a local Georgia café. Across from her was Jack, sipping a massive chocolate milkshake.

It seemed like a more Jack thing to do rather than this FBI agent character. It almost made her smile.

“You sure you don’t want some?” he asked, biting off the candied cherry.

She slumped into the booth, “I’m okay, thanks.” She looked around to see if any of the other team members were there. “I wouldn’t want to spill on my suit.”

Jack looked amused, “And you think I will? Am I a messy eater?”

“The worst,” she snickered. But her mind was still clouded with the interaction with the Doctor. He had looked so angry.

“You’re thinking about him, aren’t you?” Jack said, swirling his straw around. “Don’t be coy, I know that look.”

She gave a nervous smile, “John?” The scripted lines came out of her easily while her mind dwelled on the dilemma at hand. “We had an argument.”

“Obviously,” Jack said with rolling eyes, “We all saw you in the conference room. He’s just worried about you is all.”

“I know, and it’s infuriating.”

Jack sighed, “You had a close call last case – you almost died.” He contemplated his next sentence for a second, “I think Smith realized that it was possible to lose you.”

“That was always a possibility.”

“But he got a taste of it,” Jack leaned in, putting emphasis on his words, “He had a taste of those feelings – of that loss – and it terrified him.”

(Y/N) could feel her heart snap into motion. It might’ve been a script, but what Jack was saying made total sense to the Doctor as well.

There had been a pattern to all of these dreams. And she was starting to see it.

“You’re making it sound like…”

Jack clicked his tongue, “Like he’s in love with you?” He grinned, “That’s because he is.”

Every dream had a theme of getting the Doctor and (Y/N) together. In the New York apartment there was the tender moment they shared in the coffeehouse. In the fantasy realm he rescued her from an arranged marriage – had said I love you to each other. In the old English estate they were prompted to be friendly with one another in hopes of an eventual marriage.

There had never been a spoken word between them about being anything more than friends, than companions. Sure there had been initial attraction but it was quickly set aside when it was evident the Doctor wasn’t interested.

Or was he.

Perhaps (Y/N) had been blinded by her own efforts to avoid greater feelings. It made traveling with him easier. If she had developed true love with him then the entire companionship would be at risk of falling apart.

But as Jack started rambling on about the evidence he had gathered on why John was in love with her, she continued to connect dots.

These dreams were tailored to the Doctor.

When he wanted to catch River Song for what she did, the dream state changed into a reality where that was plausible. It was set in a crime drama where they caught bad guys.

Somehow the Doctor was in charge. He might not even realize it.

“I’ve completely stumped you, haven’t I?” Jack asked, setting his milkshake aside, “Hard to believe Smith is capable of love, huh.”

“Not entirely.”

Jack looked up quick, “Really?”

(Y/N) shrugged, eyes glazed as she tried to pull herself out of her deep thought. “I don’t know.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen the guy crack a smile, let alone express an ounce of affection.”

She became reminiscent of the Doctor that was the opposite. The one that was all smiles and all doting affection. Was her safety really the reason for him acting so different?

“But I do know that I’ve never seen him more relaxed than when he’s with you,” Jack said with a growing smirk. “You bring out the best in him.”

“And the worst,” she said quietly, “Evidently.”

Jack threw a few dollars on the table, “It’s gotta be nice to be loved that much though.”

She wrung her hands, “We have to go meet Smith and Pond.”

“I’m telling you…” Jack said, leading the way outside and brandishing a pair of sunglasses, “You gotta say something to him. The poor guy is hopeless when it comes to first moves. Trust me, I’ve worked with the guy for years.”

(Y/N) walked alongside him, making sure her firearm and badge were secured at her belt. “I don’t think he’s in the mood for any love confessions.”

“He’s never in the mood,” Jack said with a laugh. He slung his arm around her shoulders, always the light heart. “But if you’re so concerned with why he’s upset, maybe you need to talk about it.”

“I tried this morning,” she grumbled, his bouncing steps infectious.

Jack squeezed her shoulder, “Then you try again. He might not be an easy man. But he’s a good man.”

She wholeheartedly agreed with that statement. The Doctor was a complicated, eccentric genius who made things more difficult than they had to be. But he was also the loveliest, most generous man who gave the best hugs.

And they deserved to get out of there. And (Y/N) had to get through to him somehow – even with him being stuck in this arrogant, gruff character.

She spotted the Doctor and Amy through the windows of the local police station. They seemed to be discussing something as they looked over a city map. Jack led them across the street and towards the entrance.

He gave her a playful wink as they walked into their work room.

“(Y/N),” said Amy, always looking her best in her professional attire. She was usually underestimated by the agents, but always made the looks on their faces all the more amusing when she proved them wrong.

“Have you found anything?” she asked, avoiding a glance in the Doctor’s direction.

Amy shook her head, “We’re waiting on some intel in central Atlanta. Our profile has led us to believe that the professor will plan an attack at the Atlanta History Center.”

The Doctor muttered, “It’s a historical museum. A place she might enjoy.” He flashed his eyes toward (Y/N) and they both dwelled on their archeologist of a friend. River would love old museums.

“What intel are we waiting for?” Jack asked, eyeing their position on the city map.

Amy scrolled through her phone, “They’re verifying that the professor was spotted in the vicinity. Noble and Williams are giving out the profile and monitoring the surveillance.”

“Let’s not start a panic at the museum unless we have to,” the Doctor said, rubbing hard at his face.

“Understood,” Jack said.

But (Y/N) had fixated on the scruff of the Doctor’s jaw. It was so strange to see him like that. He looked older. He looked more tired. He looked… like an adult.

She wanted his little toyshop salesman self to come out and make some childish remark about the taste of custard cream or the boredom of taxes.

“Can I have a moment alone with (Y/N).” The Doctor was still looking away as his colleagues shared looks.

Jack and Amy cleared their throats, sidling out of the room with quick steps.

(Y/N) wrung her hands again, feeling the uneasiness of an unscripted moment.

“Doctor…”

“You’re going to stay here when we go apprehend River Song.”

“Excuse me?” the words became lodged in her throat, “You can’t do that.”

He gave her a heated stare, “I’m not risking you getting hurt.”

“Doctor, how many times do I need to tell you not to worry. This isn’t real. I won’t really get hurt.”

“Did that Spanish flu hurt?” he asked, emotion flaring in his eyes, “Did laying in your sickbed hurt you?”

It did. But she knew there wasn’t any permanent damage. It was just a dream.

“I’ll wake up,” she said quietly, “It would force me awake.”

He gritted his teeth, “And what if it doesn’t?”

“God, I’d risk it, Doctor! We can’t stay stuck in here for the rest of our lives.”

He looked conflicted, “But it hasn’t been so bad, has it? The roles we’ve played.”

“That’s all it is, Doctor. It’s all play. It’s not real. I want to get back to our real lives.”

“You’re real,” he deadpanned, uncharacteristically still as he stood his ground. “You’re enough for me.”

She blanked. Her mind sifted out of her ears as she scrambled to form words. “Doctor… there are more realistic ways to have a life with me. You don’t have to dream one up.”

His shoulders stiffened, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I have a feeling you might.” She took a step forward, “You can’t create some fictional life with me where we play these characters that live normal married human lives.”

“We’ve never been married,” he said quickly.

“I had a feeling the next one might have us be,” she said just as fast. “It shifts to your wants, Doctor. But what you want here… right now – it’s not what I want. I can’t play a character and pretend that I’m happy with all this.”

His fingers started to fidget like they use to on their adventures, “You’re not happy.”

She lightly shook her head. “I want to go home.”

“You’re not happy here with me.” He said it more to himself then to her.

But she quickly cut in, “I’m happy with you on the tardis. I’m happy with you back in our own lives.” Her hands rose to clutch at her chest, “Please, Doctor – this isn’t right. We have to wake up.”

“There has to be another way than dying!” he said, furious again.

There was a whoosh of air and the pair of them were standing outside of a historical building, groups of people running around in a panic.

Their talk of the real world had them flying to the next scene.

They were clad in bullet proof vests, guns poised in their hands. Wires crept up their backs and into their ears. They could hear the rest of their team asking for orders and the whereabouts of Professor River Song.

“No,” the Doctor growled, addressing (Y/N). “You are staying here while I find River.”

“Like hell I am,” she cried back, taking off for the museum.

“(Y/N)!” the Doctor yelled, “It isn’t safe.”

The screams of the bystanders became muted as she searched for their friend. Seeing her here would mean River was sucked into the dream world too. She could no longer manipulate the rules of the dream.

Her feet pounding into the cement, she frantically searched the faces of the crowd. The Doctor was getting lost behind her, being swarmed by the public.

She cried out, “River! River I’m here!” She kept her finger off the trigger, but her gun was still brandished. “River Song!”

Then in the distance she heard a voice cry back, “(Y/N)?”

She flew around, there at the edge of the building was a pile of crazed, curly hair. She had her own gun at her hip.

“How did you get here?” (Y/N) asked, “Did you get pulled in?”

“Unfortunately,” River said, meeting her friend with a hug. “But I can still try to pull us out.”

(Y/N) eyed her gun, “You trying to get back in prison for murdering someone?”

River shrugged, “This is just a nightmare. None of it is real.”

“Feels real,” (Y/N) whispered, staring at the gun, “I suppose that’s what scares you awake.”

The gun was raised and aimed for (Y/N), “That’s the theory.”

“The Doctor’s not so sure.”

“He gets skeptical when it comes to the safety of those he loves.”

“People keep telling me that,” (Y/N) said, holstering her gun.

River took a deep breath, taking aim, “That he worries for your safety?”

“No,” (Y/N) said, “That he loves me.”

“Maybe you should take the hint,” the professor laughed, “This should only sting a little.” Her eyes flickered to behind (Y/N), “Incoming.”

“Hands in the air!” came the voice of Amy, “I said hands up!”

Jack was right behind her, “(Y/N), where is your gun?”

“It’s alright,” she responded over her shoulder, “I’ll see you guys when we wake up.” She gave a nod towards River Song.

She nodded back, firing three gunshots.

Red hot pain ran through (Y/N)’s lower abdomen. Two shots barely clipped the vest, but the third lodged itself near her hipbone, but definitely into her major organs. It was true, the shock and adrenaline that coursed her system made the bullets only slightly hurt.

She was falling to her knees when more shots were fired. In the distance she could see River Song fall to the ground.

The pain was sharp but was growing into something dull and achingly present. A hand pressed to her stomach came back coated in bright blood. The life was beginning to slip between her fingers.

“(Y/N)!” came a cry from above. Rough hands grasped at her body, pulling her in a way that made her wounds flare up.

She cried out, “Stop!” Her fingers were weak where she grabbed at the arms around her. It was hard to see – her vision was blurry. Her ears were full of a buzz.

But it was the Doctor that cradled her now, “What did you do?” he whispered. “What did you do?”

There was a crack in his voice and her heart began to hurt just as much as the rest of her body.

~~~

There was an insistent beeping somewhere next to her. The air smelled sterile and stuffy with disinfectant.

Her fingers picked at the cotton sheets around her. There was something taped to the back of her hand.

Opening her eyes, she spotted the IV drip. After adjusting she noticed the white walls and old machines measuring her heartrate.

She quickly lifted the blankets to look at her abdomen. After a quick inspection she realized that there weren’t any bandages. There was no evidence at all that she was shot just minutes before. Her skin was clear.

“Dammit,” she whispered, her head falling back into the pillows. They had jumped to another reality.

A crash against her windows had her looking for the source.

There, clad in scrubs and white lab coats, was Amy and Rory. The pair of them kissing like they were hungry for their last meal. Pressed against the window they were unabashed as they consumed each other.

(Y/N) rolled her eyes. Great… they were stuck in a medical drama now.

And something else had become evident. The Doctor might have more control over the dream than she realized.

It was apparent that if the Doctor didn’t want to wake up, then (Y/N) wasn’t going to wake up either.

~~~

Tag List:

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Remember to check out my tag list so you’re updated when a fic you like is posted on my blog! Tag List

[lastingphase]

Okay, sorry in advance, this may turn into a rather long ramble because I have literally been thinking about it for months.

So firstly, I was not actually aware of the whole headcanon/theory about Thanos torturing and/or mind-controlling Loki until I read a fanfic (I think it was Porcelain). And initially I thought "that's a cool interpretation, but it's definitely not canon compliant".

Then I read a few meta posts and realised it's actually a widespread thing in the fandom - or at least in parts of it.

Then I rewatched Thor 1 and Avengers 1.

And my conclusion is: Loki has always been a messy character. Most other Marvel character fit pretty neatly into a category: hero, anti-hero, villain, etc. Loki doesn't. Even in Thor 1, he's a weird mix of villain and victim. Because even when he does something that is definitely evil (trying to destroy a planet) you can still kind of understand why he does it. So narratively he's the villain, but in terms of... I don't know, emotions? he doesn't feel like a villain.

Avengers 1 only complicates things more. Because there he is definitely the villain. The speeches and posturing are like a flashing neon sign that says 'Bad guy'. At the same time there is the Thanos story going on in the background though. I think the main problem with it is that it takes place in the background. Yes, there are clear signs that Loki is being coerced into invading earth. But those signs are only clear if you're watching the movie with some degree of analysis.

My dad and I have had multiple debates that stem from the fact that we watch movies very differently. I watch to pick apart; I'm here to dissect and analyze. My dad mostly just watches movies for entertainment. He prefers plots he doesn't need to think too hard about. Most people who watch superhero movies are like my dad. They're watching to be entertained and for that purpose it's better if the characters they see clearly fit into 'good guys' and 'bad guys'.

Some people are like me though. They pick apart and examine. They speculate and write lengthy meta posts about character motivations. These are usually the people who pick up on subtext. On things like the fact that yes, Loki stabs Thor while the two of them are fighting, but he stabs him in the most non-lethal way possible.

Avengers 1 does a really great job of setting things up for the MCU. It establishes the Avengers as a team; it ties together a lot of previously disconnected stories into a whole. And it begins to hint, though very vaguely, to Thanos and the conflict of future movies. It also does a really good job of setting Loki up as the link to Thanos.

But then Thor: The Dark World happens. And none of that set up pays off. In fact, all the hints in Avengers 1 get completely ignored. Why? Because Loki is the character equivalent of a Leatherman (I'm using this reference and hoping everyone knows what that is; if you don't - it's a multi-purpose tool that combines pliers, screwdriver, knife, etc.) His role in each story changes according to what the story needs. In Thor 1, he's an antagonist - a brother turned traitor. In Avengers 1, he's a villain. In TDW, he's a redeemed villain. In Ragnarok, he's comedic relief (technically everyone in that movie is comedic relief). And in the Loki series, he's a goofy, bumbling idiot.

You know the saying 'too many cooks spoil the broth'? The same thing applies to stories. Every person who tells a story tells it differently. Because the MCU is written by a bunch of different people, it's full of a lot of different interpretations. While that's great for creating unique and diverse stories, it's not so great for creating consistent characters.

The problem for me with canon Loki isn't so much that he changed. It's that all of the most interesting things about his character never really get dealt with because at the end of the day, even if he is popular, he's not the main character. There are a bunch of loose threads that canon just never addresses. Like the fact that Loki is a Frost Giant. Or the fact that he tried to murder his entire species. Or that he attempted suicide. Or Thanos. Or even - and this is a big one for me - whether or not he faked his death in TDW.

So to conclude a long ramble into something more concise: I don't think any of us are insane. It is possible to have wildly different interpretations of a character - canon itself proves that.

I'm really starting to worry if my corner of the Loki fandom (og 2011-2013) are actually just insane. Are we like Destiel from SPN, insisting something is there that was never written into the text only hinted at, but we wanted it there anyway so we put it there? Like even if we don't like Loki from the series, that's how Loki's character is going to be now. We adapt or we die. We don't get to be mad about something we made up, right?

Like I genuinely just. I don't know. As I've released my anti Loki series video essay to YT more and more people have told me I've made up his og character and Im mad about something that never existed in the first place. Did I just... Make something up and then other fans liked that and we all huddled together in a dark corner of the internet as everyone else laughed at us? Like. God I feel absolutely insane right now.

Like I love the version of Loki that my corner of the fandom talks about. But did he actually exist in canon to begin with?

[warriorcatsamino]

October may now be over but that doesn’t mean that the spookiness of the season has to be over yet! Throughout the entire month of October, The Warriors Amino shared in the festivities of Halloween with trick-or-treating events, contests and raffles. The creative clans of this amino also took part by assigning more spooky fall-based prompts for weeklies, biweeklies and monthlies. For those unfamiliar, the creative clans on amino are a community of individuals who share a common interest, whether it be artwork, writing, arts & crafts or even cooking! These individuals every few weeks or months are required to make a post with their original work based on a prompt given by the people in charge of the clan. The piece depicted above, illustrated by @pilvikaupunki, was created for one of these clans, Alterclan! Alterclan, according to their official wiki on amino, is a clan “all about asking the question "What if?"”. The members & leadership team take scenarios and major choices from the books, and create art, stories, or theories about what would happen if the characters had chosen the other option, or if the story had gotten a different outcome. The clan basically uses the butterfly effect to analyze Warriors. The butterfly effect being the idea that a simple event leads to more events that creates a story or plot line. 

The prompt for the month was October was “What if medicine cats were given the power to see how cats in their own clan would die?” @pilvikaupunki mentions in their post that they were listening to the song ‘Let you Down’ by Cyberpunk Edgerunners while working on this piece. Lyrics like “Sorry I let you down” served as inspiration for them when creating. The idea of medicine cats bring death prophets is nothing new in Warrior cats. Almost all medicine cats have seen visions of future events, and some have even seen visions predicting deaths. For instance, in the New Prophecy, Leafpool receives the “Blood will spill blood” prophecy which foretold Hawkfrost’s death at the paws of Brambleclaw. Likewise in the Power of Three & Omen of the Stars, Jayfeather experienced Fallen Leaves’ death first hand. He also had a vision of the cats closest to him dying when he wanted to remain in the past with Half Moon. Probably the two most notable examples of these death visions in seen in the Broken Code arc and newest arc, A Starless Clan. ⚠️ Be mindful that ahead is spoilers for both arcs, if you do not want to be spoiled then please stop reading. ⚠️

Just for some background, Frostpaw is the medicine cat apprentice under Mothwing who serves as a POV in A Starless Clan. In the first book of a Starless Clan, It is revealed that Frostpaw earned her rank of medicine cat apprentice due to a vision she received. This vision was of her father Jayclaw leaving her in camp by herself. This is significant because shortly after it was revealed that Jayclaw had passed away. The book never explains how he died but this scene gives evidence to a theory many fans have started to consider about Frostpaw. This theory is yet again supported later in River, when Frostpaw has a vision determining Curlfeather as the next leader of Riverclan. During the journey to take her mother to the moonpool to receive her name and lives, they are attacked by dogs who end up killing Curlfeather. Many fans interprets Frostpaw’s leader vision as foreshadowing Curlfeather’s death. If this assumption is correct, that would mean Frostpaw saw visions about two deaths that occurred. However, this connection could be seen as reaching as Frostpaw didn’t see (in her vision) or expect that her parents were going to die. Hopefully with the next book of A Starless Clan, Sky, some of mystery behind her visions will be revealed and fans can finally confirm or refute this theory. 

On the other hand, there is a cat whose visions are more obviously about death. Coming from the Broken Code arc, this character is actually depicted in the piece above. I’m talking about the one and only Shadowsight! Again for context, Shadowsight is a current medicine cat of Shadowclan, Puddleshine’s apprentice. His parents are Tiger(heart)star & Dovewing, making him the product of a half-clan relationship. Shadowsight’s siblings include Lightleap & Pouncestep along with Birchkit & Rowankit. Shadowsight, at a very young age, experienced violent seizures that would cause visions, usually of what was to happen in the future. His most notable vision as a kit told him to run out into a flood so the clans had to work together to save him. Later as a medicine cat apprentice he hears a voice that he interprets as Starclan. The voice (Ashfur) tells him how to heal the ill Thunderclan leader Bramblestar and Shadowpaw follows orders. This leads to Bramblestar’s death and Ashfur’s possession of his body. At the end of the arc, it’s revealed that Shadowsight’s visions never did come from Starclan. All the visions he has received in his life came from Ashfur which means seeing the future was all Ashfur’s doing. So, in a technical sense, Shadowsight isn’t really a death prophet but he did somewhat predict the death of Bramblestar without meaning too. 

Honestly I think that Shadowsight would probably suffer a lot if he had this power, I feel like all medicine cats would. But I want to know what YOU think. Do you think this would be a beneficial power for medicine cats? Or do you think this ability would make it difficult for them to do their job? What other power do you think would be interesting to see in Warriors? Do you think Warriors should have powers at all? Leave all your thoughts, opinions and feedback in the comments below. Me and the rest of the team always loves to hear what the community has to say. Wait! Before you scroll past, Did you like this artwork? Did the style speak to you? If you answered yes to any of these questions then I highly recommend checking on the original piece on amino and leaving a like. Directly supporting the artist with likes and follows greatly benefits this account. It encourages more creators to allow the team to post their work. Are you interested in seeing more Warriors based content? Join the Warriors Amino where we have an active community who posts daily about these battle cats.

Original Post linked here.

Original Artist linked here.

~ 🍵🥔

[thed4rkhand]

So today we’re doing Yoongi’s chart and my analysis of it. Let me make it clear right off the bat, that since I’m not a professional astrologer, some things may not match up, further since we’re not super sure of his birth time, it’ll definitely affect the reading. What I can be sure of is that I’ll do my best and I’m completely open to constructive criticism from you all!

Now lets get on with some basic stuff, for those who have not yet read the post with Namjoon’s moon analysis, I’ll again reiterate some principles of Vedic astrology! In the scenario that you’re still confused with all this jargon, feel free to reach out and I’ll be more than happy to help you out.

Starting out, we have to note that while western astrology is usually more advisory in nature, Vedic astrology’s main purpose is to predict. Also, we usually go a sign back from western astrology (24’ back to be more precise) in Vedic astrology, so according to that for example, if you’re a libra rising, you become a virgo rising in Vedic astrology and so on and so forth. All planets will also shift back a sign, so a Capricorn Mercury will become a Sagittarius Mercury.

Now let’s be aware that the chart may be a bit different, but given the main d1 (Lagna) chart remains the same for about 2 hours, let’s focus on that and the moon chart (rashi chart) for this reading. We can also just look at d9 for strength but not house placements as that can be time sensitive. So, we can take a two hour margin of time discrepancy and still predict accurately.

For this reading, we have taken 9th March 1993 as the day and 7:30am as the time of birth, with the location set to Daegu.

OTHER THAN THIS, LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT ME TO DO A BIRTH TIME RECTIFICATION FOR YOONGI LATER ON SO WE CAN GET MORE ACCURATE PREDICTIONS.

Since this is a general chart analysis, we shall be covering topics briefly and discussing the moon, ascendant and sun. For an in depth reading, do pick a smaller and focussed topic as we can honestly keep going on and on about a chart.

THIS READING WILL BE DONE IN SEVERAL 4 PARTS, FOLLOWING THE ASCENDANT, MOON, SUN AND MISCELLANEOUS.

Lets get started then-

Right off the bat, we can see that Yoongi is born into Pisces, with his ascendant at 10’35’, within the Nakshatra of Uttarabhadprada, within the 3rd quadrant or pada. He has venus situated in the lagna itself, in Pisces, thus exalted. His lagna lord, Jupiter, is in the 7th house, conjuct with the Moon, in the sign of virgo, where jupiter gains the upper hand despite mercury (lord of virgo) being enemies. The lord is directly aspected by mars in the fourth house. The lord of the birth Nakshatra is Saturn here, which sits in the 12th house, conjunct sun and mercury (dispositer of the ascendant lord). Lastly, moon, jupiter and rahu aspect the lagna of this chart. Of course there is so so much more here, but we’ve got a whole chart to cover!

(p.s I can already see this is such a fun chart to read)

Getting on with the reading, we firstly see that he’s born under Pisces lagna, this makes the native calm and collected, as well as fond of philosophy and psychology. What we often forget is, people born under Pisces are said to have been born under all the other signs in their past life, and cumulatively they use their skills and knowledge from those lives in their current one. Remember how on Bon Voyage trips and just about every RunBts, saga seems like the ‘dad’ of the bunch? cooking, cleaning, fixing stuff Joon broke, producing music and the stuff? And all those times that he is so very understanding of other? He doesn’t scold Jungkook, let alone anyone else? These are typical Pisces traits. They’re very domestic and understanding by nature, because they’ve been there before in a past life, and enjoy taking care of people.

The downside to this? They can be extremely manipulative if they want to be, they know exactly what to say, when to say, to whom to say and so on. They have an alarming grip on people’s emotions, and have a magnetic quality to them. Further, this is mostly an observation, you’ll often notice that most pisces natives are fond of alcohol (could be because they exist in a water sign? Could be because its the natural 12th house ruler of addictions too?)

Coming to the Nakshatra here, we have UttaraBhadrapada, the second last Nakshatra of the series. This Nakshatra is ruled by Saturn, and the presiding deity being Ananta or Ahir Budhyana, the deep ocean serpent in hindu mythology. The deity Ananta represents boundless expansion, be it of fortune, goodwill or knowledge. Ahir Budhyana, is a sattvic (sacred or untainted) form of lord Shiv, and resides at he bottom of the ocean. He represents the liberation from illusions and attainment of spiritual enlightenment and knowledge. The natives of this Nakshatra here embody these qualities of their deities. We see them as philanthropic and reserved beings, who enjoy learning about a variety of subjects and spirituality. Such people are extremely progressive in their thinking patterns, and often a magnetic pull like the deep ocean serpent has.

They’re extremely controlled and calculating in their approach, and think more than speak. This by no means is to say that they don’t speak, because such people are great orators by nature. They stand up for the underdogs and have a unique approach to topics. They are extremely interested in occult and metaphysical practices and theories. They however commonly don’t obtain higher education or do well in fields of fine arts, even their primary education is not something they excel at. (i once read that yoongi really likes reading about a variety of subjects, and also Paulo Coelho, definitely his UttaraBhadrapada here)

The bad side to this Nakshatra? They’re very critical and over-analyze everything and everyone. Sometimes, even unconsciously, they manipulate people to suit their needs and whims. They get side tracked too often and have difficulty focussing on one task at hand, often amounting to laziness in other people’s eyes, even if the native is extremely hardworking in reality. However when in comes to personal care, they tend to do things in a very half-hearted manner. These people are also prone to isolating themselves from others, especially when things get hard. Due to the sign falling in pisces here, people also tend to have many different mental burdens and disorders, which arise from their constant scatter-brained self and inability to make out between the spiritual and real realms.

They can also be heavy drinkers and abuse substances in such a Nakshatra, or enjoy partaking in occult practices while under influences. They might’ve also faced a very rough childhood with such a Nakshatra, neglected and misunderstood by people around him. The natives could also have moved away from their parents during their early adulthood for education or job purposes. Such people can have health issues like hemorrhoids, stomach ailments and hernias. Usually they lead a stable period full of health and success in the latter part of life, say about after 48 years(since the south node Ketu matures as 48).

Since Suga’s Nakshatra falls into the third pada or quadrant, its ruled by libra here. Libra here focusses on balance and cooperation. Such people may make a living working with other people, or in industries related to entertainment. They may make great debaters, and think excessively about what other think of them as. They’re very conscious of other’s opinion, even if they don’t show it, so we often find such people wearing extremely covered up and baggy clothes for example, or keeping a low profile. They may have a very practical and unbiased approach to most things in life. Such people are intensely into spiritual practices and often times fully devote themselves at hours at a time to worship of gods, angel or other beings. They may be the type to attract people very easily, or even be the kind to fall in love extremely easily.

The second placement we come to, is Venus in the first house, in Pisces. Venus here is naturally exalted (most powerful). Sure ill give you the generic explanation in a bit but, do you know which type of people usually have this placement? Actual saints and famed occultists. Sure many people within the entertainment industry too, but this placement can hands down be one of the most spiritual and divine placements of Venus in the chart. First ill go ahead and give the normal meaning and effect, and then lets dive into the crazy stuff (istg his chart is so goooood). Such people usually have really magnetic personalities, and given Venus is in Uttarabhadrapa, these are the people who you don’t notice at first, but then its like a whirlpool of being invested in them, as opposed to being in Revati Nakshatra (another Piscean nakshatra) which would be a more dramatic pull, based off an extroverted personality. These people can be very good looking, more feminine looking, could definitely look like their mothers with this position. Brilliant luck in fields of arts and entertainment and also genius level of creativity and talent. Here, people can have brilliant luck too, like god’s hand on their head kind. Accumulation of wealth and property can also be seen here.

Now onto the really fun stuff. These people are actually rarely concerned with someone’s exterior, because often times such people have such good intuition and spiritual powers (some are literally called mystics because of this), they can literally see through someone. For this reason, they actually don’t like associating with too many people, despite having a very charming personality. These are the kind of people that keep searching for ‘the one’. These people often give up everything and go ahead and become priests. The calling to god with such a placement is very strong. They also don’t like collecting too many material possessions, as they feel its redundancy in this very changing world. These people hold the few people they’re close to, very very tightly to themselves. These people also may have a very low sexual drive actually, (i know, I know, how can a strong Venus do this?) because an exalted Venus is about devotion to god, to one person, and leaving sensory pleasures behind in life. A debilitated Venus on the other hand (eg. Jungkook has one) might make someone very invested in worldly matters. These people are happy with being alone and single for a long time, they’re very satisfied with their own company. Such placements can make someone practice magick or astral projection too. (Venus in 12th sign of liberation, liberation from physical body)

Given that in this chart, Venus is his 3rd and 8th lord, we can make further deductions. Firstly, since 3rd lord is going 11 houses away, its an extremely auspicious placement here. Self made person, making wealth through communication, can also have very witty and intelligent responses to things. Since the third house also represents courage and valor, this can make someone very fearless and say whats on their mind bluntly. Since the 3rd house is part of the Kama Trikon houses (houses of desire), this going into the 1st house, which is a part of the Dharma Trikon houses (houses of morality), gives interesting results here. Firstly, such people are fiercely independent, and hate to be disrupted when there pursuing their goals and working towards them. They hate to take help from anyone, and as a result are extremely competent. secondly, such people have a moral high ground, to which they religiously abide. They’re extremely righteous and stand up for those who wouldn’t be able to for themselves. Since from here, it aspects the 7th house of agreements, such people are great at understanding and signing contracts for work.

Now with the 8th house, we have a bit of a conundrum here honestly. It belongs to 2 types of houses, the moksha trikona houses (houses of salvation) as well as the Dushtana houses (evil houses). While this placement isn’t all that bad, it isn’t he best either. firstly though, this is a placement where the native always wins over their enemies (8th lord 6 houses away from itself), be it enemies as in people, or simply obstacles in their life. This also confers a long lifespan to people, given that his 8th lord is also exalted here. However such people are prone to accidents, given that the 1st house is the body, 8th house is sudden events and the natural 8th ruler mars is a karka or signifactor of vehicles. Such people are also against organized forms of religions, since the Dushtana lord is sitting in a dharma house. The native is also extremely private and secretive given the 1st house of self has the 8th lord of secrets sitting in it. Since it also aspects the 7th house of other people, this person has that aura of mystery about them because of this. Such people are deeply critical in nature but can have extreme wisdom in cases of hidden objects or matters of the occult.

Now coming to his aspects. His Venus is aspected by moon, Jupiter and Rahu. The first two are benefic in nature and the latter is malefic. Moon-Venus and Jupiter-Venus are also mutually aspecting each other in pairs here. Moon here gives Venus the property of being constantly cynical of themselves regards to what others may perceive them as, given moon is emotion and the 7th house here is other people. Their thoughts here are deeply influenced by other people, they may always keep serving other people too, through acts of service. This also makes someone who falls in love very easily, but it is important to engage this person’s mind in a relationship, they just cant do without an emotional bond here. Since Moon also represents fame in a chart, this makes a person very famous, as they receive attention from many people, and people want to analyze them, and enjoy their work and presence.

Jupiter here, makes the person level headed and practical. The person wouldn’t be all touchy feely with people they like, because they would like to remain more in control of the situation here. They’d rather engage in a full blown debate with someone, than hold hands. This also makes them very worldly and teacher like, while also being attracted to very worldly people themselves.

Rahu’s aspect on the other hand, makes someone stand out in a crowd (Rahu signifies an outcast), they may have a rough and cold exterior due to this. They may also have had issues with body image (1st house is self), or mental health here. These people are enamored by all things foreign, and love exploring the other cultures. They may have issues identifying with their own community at large, and may identify with the downtrodden of the society.

Now going to Jupiter and moon conjunction in the 7th house. I wont go very deep into this, as its a super interesting concept, and it’ll be better covered in the second part of the reading regarding the moon itself, so ill keep it short and related to the ascendant. Also the mutual aspect part will be explained in more detail in the miscellaneous section later. Plus this is getting far too long for even me now.

Getting on with the reading for now, moon and Jupiter here are in virgo, in a loose conjunction (one is at approximately 2’ and the other at 18’). This is actually one of the not very yogas (combinations)in a chart, about 15% of people have these. Its called the Gaj-Kesari yoga (the elephant and lion combination), because people with this are so extremely lucky, its like the kings of the jungle are together to support it. They have the wisdom of the elephant and the courage of a lion. This is a raj yoga (royal combination). a native born with Gaj-Kesari Yoga is intelligent, strong, and prosperous. Gaj or Elephant possesses immense strength and is devoid of pride and the Lion is known for his foresight and skillful intelligence as well as his strength, quickness, skillful leadership, ability and courage. Thus, when Gaj-Kesari Yoga is formed then that person is extremely successful. They will be a kind and philanthropic person, who will always have sympathy for others. They will be quite humble regarding work, would like to talk nicely to people and aim to attain spiritual progress in life. Many people will recognize them as their mentor or guide and will act according to their instructions or advice. They may have a tendency attracting people and people being magnetized by them. They will be blessed with abundant wealth and become the owner of movable and immovable property(cars as well as homes). They will establish relationships with rich and reputed people of the society and enjoy all kinds of material pleasures in life.

Since this occurs in virgo, it makes a person intelligent, sharp and gifts them with amazing memory power. Such a person is knowledgeable and can become the head of a large educational institution. He may own incomparable wealth and can earn a good name and money from business as well. Often such people earn a high reputation in the Stock Market and make progress in life by working in any financial institution or insurance sectors.

Here jupiter in particular makes someone extremely cynical in nature, and their mind is always, and I mean always, thinking about romantic relationships or platonic ones. However given that jupiter is also the 10th lord here, they could be extremely focused on work too. Their life is surrounded by contracts, and may work with others for a living(7th house is house of courts and partnership). They could be very interested in the financial sector here, they could be extremely money minded and money means stability to them. Moon here on the other hand makes the person very moody, and extremely dependent on their spouse or colleagues. Since it rules the fifth house here, it signifies that such people are extremely creative in their work, may work for children or young adults, have a lot of past life karma related to work, and also that they’re extremely devoted lovers. They tend to criticize their close friends and loved ones, just because they’re so cynical and blunt, and want the absolute best for people. They may hurt people’s feeling without realizing it sometimes. (this was very brief but refer to point 12)

Now coming to Saturn in 12th, as the lord of the birth nakshatra. Saturn over here signifies working in the fields of music, but given saturn represents electronics, it could mean a producer too. Since its in Aquarius here, a sign of dual lordship, this resents a constant up and down of mood and life spirit. The person with such a placement is confused with what truly makes them happy in life, the spiritual realm or the materialistic realm. They keep going up and down the path of being spiritual, till 36 years (saturn matters at 36). They may face a lot of mental disorders here. They may have trouble sleeping at night. Given saturn is also work, they may earn through foreign sources in life. Such a person invests money into properties (saturn is houses) and lacks liquid cash. The person may have a weak left eye (12th house is left eye). They may earn from multiple sources in life, and have multiple talents. Such people have low sex drives as saturn is a dry eunuch planet, and in the 12th house of bed pleasures, it may not allow native to enjoy it. They may not be interested in worldly pleasures with such placements.

Lastly (finally?), we have to discuss the looks! Pisces ascendents usually have the short to medium height, and tend to appear a little fuller even when they’re very scrawny. (its because jupiter is the largest planet). Uttarabhadrapada natives tend to have a very innocent look to them, a very calming nature and vibe. however, like the deep sea serpant, they have very deep and magnetic eyes, and a very expressive face (yoongi memes). They usually have a very beautiful smile, and can literally attract people with it (again the snake like quality). They tend to have a very blank look usually, and if you ever notice, they’ll have the most stunning eyelashes actually, given the yoni is the female cow. They might also have the habit of moving their mouth around when their thinking, quite like ruminating.

Given venus sits here, is gives the person very attractive, effeminate features. Think extremely renaissance type of soft features. It can give them very delicate hands and feet with such a placement. The moon aspect here, gives them a rounded face and pale skin. They might have sparkly eyes and a roundish appearance here, also the tendency to gain weight around their face, with short necks. They make also look much younger than their actual age.The jupiter aspect again makes the native very other worldly looking, almost like you can imagine them in a dark robe literally performing rituals. It gives people a calm and teacher type of vibe to them. The rahu aspect usually just blows qualities out of proportion. Have you seen how small and angelic suga looks compared to the other? (not saying they’re not angelic but still), thats the rahu aspect. Again, rahu aspects only get better with time.

So this was my analysis! If anyone has any questions or doubts, hit me up! Let me know if you enjoyed it!

[dinopopduck]

Ezekiel Only Being Unaffected By Certain Kinds of Magic

Let’s just start with me saying this isn’t exactly a new theory. It’s the demigod thing, and it’s a fairly popular one. If you haven’t heard of this headcannon, I put as much as I can find here. If you have, I found a bunch of new stuff that I haven’t seen anyone else mention, so reading this isn’t a complete waste of your time, I hope.

I tried to keep this from becoming wordy, but it got really long anyway, because there was a lot to talk about here.

Ezekiel being unaffected by magic is sort of an ongoing thing in the show. He is influenced by it much of the time, such as by Santa’s Hat, Pan’s Flute, Prospero’s spell, lycanthropy, etc. When it comes to the stuff he was seemingly completely immune to, there is one link that connects them all.

Apple of Discord: Everybody knows this one. The Apple is a Greek artifact, meant to turn you into the worst version of yourself, and Ezekiel was only one completely unaffected. It’s blamed on “he’s already the worst version of himself” or whatever.

Zeus Lightning Bolt: the episode where Ezekiel ends up decked out in Greek armor, and is sent to pick up Zeus’ Lightning Bolt, which was freaking out and zapping everywhere. He picks it up just fine, and he’s then able to hand it off to Flynn. It may have been purely because of the Greek armor he was wearing, but Flynn did not seem so sure about that working.

Cindy’s Love Potion: Ezekiel is able to be near the potion without becoming obsessed with Cindy. At first, it’s blamed on him being obsessed with himself, then later Jacob tells Ezekiel that he was already in love with Cindy. It was an obsession, not a love, potion you literally spent the episode proving that blah blah, he didn’t even recognize her at first blah blah, anyway, I have a better reason.

There are two Greek mentions in this episode. First, the potion project itself is called Project Aphrodite, a Greek goddess. Second, the sunflowers; when asked, Jenkins mentions how sunflowers are a Greek symbol of unrequited love. In addition, “love” potions may have originated in Greece, or at the very least, were common enough to have multiple sites claim that, lol. At the end of the season, where each librarian uses their gifts to turn Apep mortal, this greek potion is what Ezekiel ends up using.

See a pattern here? Everything that he was completely unaffected by was Greek in some way. So, he has an immunity to these kinds of artifacts, but why? I vote demigod.

Anyway, moving on.

Here’s some magic he could have been immune to, or could not have been. Its pretty debatable.

Fortuna: Technically a Roman Goddess, but the show does acknowledge how similar they are to Greek Gods. He may have been affected by the spell, but broke out of it pretty quick. Some think he may not been affected at all; slot machines aren’t exactly fair, especially in a casino that exists to cheat completely. As for Ezekiel getting so upset over losing, what he says, “Not the guy that loses, I’m the guy that wins” sounds very similar to what he was saying in Point of Salvation, but that’s a whole nother topic.

Alternately, he was affected and this point shouldn’t be here. I don’t know, I’m not the writers.

Libris Fabula: He was a little bit affected, just far less than the others, as he acted pretty much the same. He did get a barely noticeable clothing change, became luckier than normal, and was just able to cast a spell for some reason? Speaking out that spell, it froze the guy, and a certain Greek God does have the ability to put people to sleep. Not really the same thing, but worth thinking about. Maybe. More on that later.

Most people think he was immune, but he could have just been similar enough to the character he was portraying that he didn’t need to change a whole lot.

These ones are barely worth mentioning, because have other reasonable (though I guess your definition of reasonable may be different from mine) explanations, but you could see them as magic immunity as well:

Silver Screen: Ezekiel gets into character the least, while Cassandra and Jacob are out singing and calling people by their character names. Maybe less affected, maybe just a spoilsport. Probably the last one.

Point of Salvation: Was the only one able to remember previous loops. Since they were in a video game, it’s explained that since he was the first through the door, he became the player while everyone else became NPCs. I mean, sure.

Christmas Thief: Saint of Thieves only used his truth telly power on Ezekiel’s mother, not him. Ezekiel did not feel obligated to say anything. Could just be that the guy wasn’t talking to Ezekiel. Or, earlier in that episode Ezekiel tells his mother he doesn’t steal anymore (at least for anything other than the Library, I assume, cause he still kinda does) and therefor that made him immune to the spell, since it only works on thieves.

Image of an Image: Both Cassandra and Ezekiel got their pictures taken, and Cassandra was the only one affected by the transfer spell. However, Ezekiel wasn’t one of the “chosen ones” because he snuck in, and jumped in front of the camera while Eve (one of the “chosen ones”, who was later able to be affected) turned away. Either that, or he just didn’t have time to feel the effect, since his picture was taken after Cassandra’s, and Eve’s was placed in manually.

That’s all the possible instances of magic immunity I could think of.

Next, we have some other stuff that is relevant to this point, but wasn’t necessarily artifact/magic immunity.

Prophecy Cube: Created by the Oracle of Delphi, who is from Greek mythology. This isn’t about whether Ezekiel was affected by something, as he was still able to use the prophecy glass/get stuck in the cube. Rather, it’s about the Zeus Challenge in the cube. They probably would have died in there, but luckily, Ezekiel had just happened to steal, and keep on him, the exact thing they needed to get through– a bunch of golden coins, and a prophecy that ensures at least one coin can’t be destroyed. Luck? Prophecy? Divine Intervention? Plot convenience? Okay its probably the last one but STILL

Also, Ezekiel getting pissed at Zeus.

Zeus’s Bolt (again?): There is a promo image I think for season 4? that has each of the Librarians holding their tools. Jacob had his axe, Cassandra had a notebook, Flynn had Excalibur, all normal, except for Eve and Ezekiel. Eve had this big staff thing I didn’t recognize, and Ezekiel had Zeus’ Bolt for some reason?

Lightning, just, in general: If there is wild electricity in an episode, Ezekiel is probably around.

Examples:

City of Light: Gets shocked and knocked backwards into Jacob by a very electrified fence, gets up right afterwards and is fine.

Broken Staff: The Zeus Bolt thing, you get it.

Image of an Image: Ezekiel electrocutes Jacob. Jacob was not really fine. He lived, though.

Point of Salvation: Ezekiel electrocutes Jacob part 2 Electric Boogaloo, but this time on purpose. He was not fine. He died. But don’t worry, he lived.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Mentioned a little bit above, Ezekiel, Jacob, and a student get stuck in the Zeus Challenge, and Ezekiel uses some coins he just so happened to steal recently. Throwing them on tiles shows whether or not lightning will strike if it was stepped on. Seriously, why is it ALWAYS Jacob?

The Dark Secret: Ezekiel is the one sent to wrap a cord around a lightning rod constantly being struck by lighting. “Why am I bloody doing this”, he asks? I mean, Zeus probably isn’t going to kill his descendent(?), right?

Werewolves: Have you heard of the Lycaon of Arcadia? It’s a Greek myth. Basically, this dude named Lycaon wants to test how smart and all-knowing Zeus is. To do so, he kills his own son, cooks him, and serves him to Zeus to see if he notices, ya know, no biggie. Zeus was like “wtf man” and brings the son back to life, and turns Lycaon into, you guessed it, a wolf. So, Zeus creates a werewolf of sorts, maybe one of the firsts. In Fangs of Death, Ezekiel just so happens to be the one (main) character to be turned into werewolf. So, if he was a descendant of Zeus, imagine how big of a “fuck you” that was to the god. That all being said, Ezekiel was turned by an Egyptian god, so that might not have been intentional. Also, they may have just been avoiding turning Jacob, because there is already a werewolf named Jacob and they didn't want another Twilight reference in that episode.

Family/Name: Ezekiel is adopted, and his adoptive mother mentions how she took him in off the streets. Because of that, we don’t know who his birth parents are, and whether or not he, or anyone else, knows is unknown. Soooo, we can take some creative liberties as to who his parents might have been.

As for his name, it carries some religious connotations. It should be remembered though, the meanings I’m talking about here are Biblical, not Greek, so again, might mean nothing for this argument. “Ezekiel” is “God’s Strength” or “God will Strengthen”. Jones might also be something like “God is gracious” or “God has favored”, thought different sites say different things. However, I’m pretty sure the name Jones came from his adoptive mother, and apparently Jones is a common last name in Australia. His first name is more relevant, because all of his siblings have themed names; Mercy, Charity, and Honor. So, either his mom named him differently because she knew something we don’t, or he already had the name before she adopted him. Either way, this probably means absolutely nothing. But what are we here for? To analyze a dead show like an English teacher analyzes the color of curtains in an 100 year old text. If it wasn’t for all the other stuff, I probably wouldn’t think about this too much.

Okay. So Greek stuff, lightning, and Zeus himself come up a LOT when it comes to this guy. So is Ezekiel the son of Zeus? Possibly, but a more popular theory is that he’s Zeus’ grandson. Because Zeus’ son just so happens to be Hermes; god of things such as luck, travel, money, trade, and most importantly, thieves. Oh, and animal husbandry/shepherds and sleep, I don’t know how much those apply but I will try.

Time for some comparisons, honestly most of these don’t even need to be explained so I’ll keep it short-ish, cause this shit has gotten way too long already.

Luck: Ezekiel, especially in the first season, likes to rely on luck, and tends to be very lucky in general. Examples where this is mentioned include Fables of Doom and Apple of Discord. “Smarter to be lucky then lucky to be smart!”

Travel: We can assume that he ended up traveling in his previous job (that being heists all over the world) fairly often, even before the Library. Becoming a Librarian with a teleporting door increased that of course.

Money: Steals very high-value items to sell. Also apparently likes to take money from his coworker’s wallets. And probably everyone else’s.

Trade: The aforementioned high-value pieces he steals are traded/sold for money. In Christmas Thief, we find out he kept none of the money or items, giving it away to others who needed it. That kinda fits this category, I think.

Thieves: I really don’t need to explain this. Unless you haven’t seen the show.

Animal Husbandry/Shepherds?: Basically the care of animals. Um, well he doesn’t keep cows or anything, but he has a tendency to “adopt” magical creatures that need help. Stumpy, Nessie Jr., maybe Frankenstein’s Monster as well?

Sleep: I mentioned earlier how Ezekiel froze a guy (not really in an icy way, just couldn’t move) by hitting him with his coin. Hermes is able to send people to sleep with his Caduceus (the snake wand thing). Yeah, it’s not really the same thing, though you could consider being frozen a kind of sleep. He could have just been lucky enough to find a magical coin, and lucky enough to figure out how to use it at the exact right time without even knowing what it did. It’s a stretch either way, really, and was never explained in the episode at all. Yeah, I can't find anything else that fits.

Hermes is considered to be a thief and trickster, and a lot of the things he is god of are Ezekiel’s main occupations. With all those similarities to Hermes, frequent events related to lightning and Zeus related things, and immunity to Greek artifacts, we can conclude that he is perhaps the son of Hermes, taking after his father in abilities and getting visits from grandpa.

Alternatively, his somehow IS Hermes, but I doubt that. He’d probably be way more powerful. He was also able to see the future with Prophecy Glass, which Jenkins claims is impossible for immortals to do (although in that case he was talking about a Prophecy Cube, but close enough). It’s more likely that he is a demigod.

Okay, that is all I can think of that is relevant. I binged the series about two months ago, and have been thinking about this theory. I went ahead and re-watched the episodes that I mentioned in more detail, as well as parts of others that I remebered. The reason I bring this up is because I may have missed things. I did not rewatch a majority of the episodes, more that I looked at a list of episodes on wikipedia and tried to remember what happened in them, watching clips and episodes if I needed to.

The show was cancelled, so we’ll probably never get a confirmation as to who Ezekiels’ birth parents were, and as such, you can’t prove me wrong! That being said, if I got any facts incorrect in this, please tell me so I can fix it. I’m not well versed on Greek Mythology, in fact I know basically nothing, and did the research as I went along. So again, there could be more. This is just what I found in like, less than a day of searching.

Join me next time on “How is Cassandra magical, where’d she get it from? Also, were we ever gonna meet her parents?” And “In the first episode of season 3, Jacob is just able to hit a heavy punching bag of its chain, across the room, at bullet speed, just because of a shift of his wrist, and later in that episode do the same thing to Apep, and it’s just…never addressed or spoken about again? Like wtf man?”

I'm probably not doing that

If you managed to get through all of this, thank you, and I hope this wasn’t too painful to read.

[mylittlegemlins]

Hello tumblr, during my childhood I was really obsessed with smurfs and since I found out that they released a reboot, which unfortunately I haven´t yet been able to see, I think I had some inspiration and ended up writing this.

I don't usually post this kind of blog about series unless I'm too immersed in it because I feel like it's too childish but to hell, blogging about-analyzing series for kids is my entertainment method and if I can't post about my likes on Tumblr I don't know why have an account.

So I present:

How to catch the Smurfs

This is the definitive tutorial on everything Gargamel ever did to catch the little blue critters.

It is based mainly on the animated series from the 80s and the 3 films that were produced between 2011-2017, I watched several episodes again to write this, but I still hope I don't forget some important information.

Following these steps:

1. Why catch the Smurfs?

During the comics, the series and the recent movies there were many reasons why Gargamel and other humans wanted to capture the Smurfs that change over time, among its main uses we have:

- They are ingredients for exotic dishes.

-Turn them into gold

- Ingredient for the Philosopher's Stone

- Use its essence to obtain magic

- Their tears serve as an ingredient for spells

-Their skin serves as a treatment to cure diseases

2. Points to consider:

This is a set of rules that fall between the lines when using a Smurf for any of the recipes mentioned above.

2.1 How many are needed:

In some episodes Gargamel was about to cook a single Smurf, so 1 is enough to eat them.

To turn them into gold you need at least half a kilo, about 6 smurfs.

2.2. They don't need to be alive

I didn't remenber any place where it said that Smurfs must be alive to use them in recipes.

2.3. Smurfette doesn't always count

She has to be a real smurf or else it won't work, during her first appearance before the papa smurf spell and the episode "smurfette unmade" where she reverts to her original form she is not a real smurf, so it wouldn't work unless that is in its blonde form.

2.4. Fake Smurfs:

The reason Gargamel can't just create another Smurf and use it in his recipes is because his creations are blue clay with a conscience, to turn them into real Smurfs you need the “true blue”spell

2.5. Artificial Smurfs:

Smurfette, Sassete, Kactus, Vicky and any other Smurf they come up with in the future, count as real Smurfs only after their transformation.

To clarify the points, these are the steps:

3.Locate them

The Smurfs are in a village protected by a magical force that makes it invisible or unreachable, it is only possible to find the village if a Smurf guides you to it, even after finding the exact location it will have disappeared if you try to return, so the best It is marks the surroundings of the village and look for them in the places that the Smurfs frequent.

It is possible to capture them when they leave the village, force them to guide you, enter the village using teleportation spells or hoaxes.

4.Traps

Catching smurfs is relatively easy, you can chase them with butterfly nets, catch them with your bare hands, using a cat or any other hunting animal, now that I think about it a hound would be very useful to track their scent.

Using some classic traps to hunt animals also works with Smurfs, traps with cages or hidden holes in the ground, or camouflage in a bush until a Smurf is close enough to catch it, you can't use traps like an obvious cage with food in it, they are too smart to fall for that.

It is more effective if they are placed in strategic places such as a field of smurfberries which is outside the village.

Small female creatures are also used as decoys, such as female smurfs, little mermaids and lymph to make a smurf fall in love and thus leave the village to a point where they can be captured.

5.Which Smurfs to capture

Personally I think there are Smurfs that are easier to catch, although Gargamel could not have a list of all with so many times that they have passed by his house, he should already recognize one or another Smurf and I remember that there is a episode where he knows some of his names.

The main cast, Smurfette, Hefty, Brainy, Clumsy, Greedy, Grouchy, Jokey and Handy as far as i can remember, they´re the ones that have been captured the most times and also the ones that have escaped the most, since they're easy to capture, it would be convenient to take advantage of this, but since they know how to get out, they should change the cages with them, put the cages in another place, move the objects that previously used to get out, and above all not to fall the same tricks again.

Papa smurf has been captured many times, he is the one who most leaves the village and if in one of his trips they capture him, maybe the others would not notice his absence, it is something difficult because he already knows how to escape and he can use spells against you, but if you manage to kill him the others would be lost without their leader, and with the disaster they would be easier to capture.

Lazy smurf takes naps during his work outside the village so it's a good chance to catch him, hopefully he might still be asleep while preparing the recipe and he won't try to escape.

According to his debut episode sickly smurf was never able to escape from Gargamel and Azrael; it is so easy that he catches him with his bare hands in 20 seconds.

Baby Smurf is more vulnerable for obvious reasons, the negative side is that there is always a Smurf looking after him, but if they manage to separate the baby it would be easy to cook , considering the life expectancy of the Smurfs is more than 500 years, it may remain a baby for the next 10 years so there is time to execute your plan.

Nat, Snapy, Sassete and Slouchy, the 4 children Smurfs that appear in season 5 are in almost the same circumstances as Baby Smurf.

In Wild Smurf's first appearance he kicked Gargamel in the face and easily made Azrael afraid of him so it might not be a good idea to mess with him.

I guess Smurfs like scaredy would never leave the village unless they forced it so the only times he gets caught is when they capture all 100 together.

6.Don't let them escape

In many occasions the Smurfs escape when they have already been captured by Gargamel, either from his hands, cages and in their closest attempts they escape from the pot.

These are the points to keep in mind:

6.1 Capture only one

If you capture a single Smurf than two or more as it will take a while for them to realize that one is missing and they will not come to their rescue, the more they are, the more likely they will find a plan to escape, so keep them in mind. separate cages.

6.2 The others will come

Once Gargamel has one or more Smurfs, it is 100% certain that the others will come to rescue him at his house, so it would be convenient to go to another place away from the forest where he can cook the Smurfs without others being able to find them. Gargamel has a basement with a secret door, he was able to hide there and pretend he didn't have them until the rescuers leave.

6.3 catch rescuers

Knowing that more Smurfs could come, you could use it to your advantage by placing traps on the doors and windows, or on the contrary, closing everything so that it is impossible to enter without having a key.

6.4 They will leave him for dead

In the episode "the tear of a Smurf ", it seems that if they don't find a missing Smurf it only takes a week for them to surrender and prepare for his funeral. You can hide the smurfs with their mouths tied up in a drawer and pretend you don't know what they are talking about until they give up, then it will be time to execute the recipes. If Gargamel had enough brain cells to keep the secret, he could eat the Smurfs and the rest would think they were eaten by birds or something and would not take revenge.

6.5. Do not look any further

If you already have 99 it is enough, even if you have only one, it is not worth risking it to find one more, it is a trap.

6.6. Don't open jokey surprises.

The characters always forget that gift.

6.7. Don't listen to them

On several occasions they try to make conversation to buy time, they trick him into thinking that he will bring more Smurfs or that he cannot eat him, everything is a trap.

6.8. Just kill them

He never did that but it's a very obvious choice, I don't remember somewhere saying that smurfs have to be alive for recipes, Gargamel has repeatedly expressed his desire to destroy them. Wouldn't it be easier to kill them before throwing them into the pot? if you can't, they don't even have to be dead, just unconscious or asleep. Gargamel has drops of lava in his lab for some reason, how come he doesn't have substances to knock them unconscious? In case he have many captured you could use classic techniques such as placing the cage in a tub of water until they drown, even stepping on them would be enough since they are very small.

6.9. Papa Smurf's books

If Gargamel tries to kill them with an epidemic, papa will have the cure, if he casts a spell, papa has the antidote, since he has been in the village on several occasions, he should take the opportunity to steal or destroy their books, he could look for the true blue spell and perhaps find another useful spell.

7.Enjoy your smurf soup

If that's all i came up with, you can already eat or become a millionaire at the cost of a smurf's life, hopefully you'll have to face a horrible revenge from papa smurf, but i'm not responsible for that.

8.Other methods to get smurfs:

This is a set of theories for alternative ways to get smurfs without capturing one from the village.

8.1. create smurfs:

In the second live action movie gargamel gets the formula for the true blue spell, so from here technically he could create smurfs, then transform them into real smurfs and do whatever he wants with them, during the series he had to look for the formula instead to look for smurfs.

8.2. Clone Smurfs:

In the episode "the hundredth smurf" Vanity creates a clone of himself that eventually integrates into the village, it is a genetically exact clone so there is no doubt that it is a real smurf. He just needs to place a mirror in front of a smurf and get it struck by lightning, Gargamel could capture a smurf and make clones that will work, he wouldn't even have to keep the original and he would have an infinite smurf machine.

8.3. Kidnap Baby Smurfs:

During the blue moon it is possible that a zork came to the village bringing a baby smurf, it can take up to 200 years without bringing one but if you are alive when that happens, you can try to hunt the zork and capture the defenseless baby.

8.4. Repeat the fake smurf technique:

If it is possible to create fake Smurfs like Smurfette, it might work on a second try, Smurfs are not very cautious around strangers, once Smurfette arrives in the village no one wonders where she came from or why she was in the forest, but rather Immediately they offer him a house, Gargamel could create a smurf and this time instruct him to lead all the smurfs in the village into a trap and make sure he does not turn good, he can also turn himself into a life-size smurf costume, Nobody will notice that there is an extra Smurf and he can repeat the same trap,third time’s a charm

9.Conclusion:

Surely there are many other methods to catch Smurfs but I can't see the whole series again even if I wanted to, because it is a series for children Gargamel never learns from his mistakes I think that catching Smurfs is not that exaggeratedly difficult, especially for someone who has access to magic may be as difficult as capturing a talking rabbit, Gargamel is just stupid.

The end.

[jamestrmtx]

Fairytale Complex - [Undertale | Sans x Reader]

[Gender Neutral, Frisk's Parent Reader | Slow Burn]

Summary:

The dichotomy between black and white is your constant when it's time for you to meet the whole new civilization Frisk brought along with them to the Surface. As a parent, it's not easy to trust others when they've hurt your child. So when that new civilization decides they owe Frisk both for saving their kind and for still hurting them during that process, you've got plenty to say to them.

Forgive the monsters as easily as you once did with others during a stage of naivety?

Oh, hell no.

They better have a good reason for hurting your child and an even better one for wanting to be a part of their family.

Prologue | Once Upon a Time

[Next]

Finished with a hectic work day, you throw yourself on the couch and beg for it not to give in when you hear it creak. Just as the rest of your home, it's old, worn, and needs replacing. You let out a sigh and bask under what little calm you can find between the worries of a dead-end job and your child recently going missing. 

Many accused the disappearance on your lack of care and overall irresponsibility as their parent, while others blamed it on the myth of monsters existing near the place you suspected they last went to. The first of these assumptions you accepted and blamed yourself constantly for, yet the second of the two was near impossible to even be an option to begin with. Monsters were far away from your village; they were told to be sealed inside the Underground close to Mt. Ebott, and nobody had heard of them in centuries. It was highly unlikely for them to exist there and much less on the Surface, yet there were still some who believed in that myth nonetheless.

Alone in your home, you can only stare at the blank wall before you and think back on the last day you saw Frisk. 

...

"I'm home!" you hear them call, followed by their footsteps thumping against the floorboards.

They make it to the kitchen and throw themselves at you; their arms wrap around your neck and pull you into a hug. Smiling, you return the embrace, pull back to look down, and meet with their eyes. "Did you say goodbye to Auntie Brenda before leaving?" you ask, tucking a stray lock of hair behind their ear. Their bob and bangs had grown longer and many neighbours said it made them look like a girl, but Frisk never minded over those comments and always insisted on keeping their hair that way.

"Yup!" they reply, taking a seat next to yours. "We're… We're gonna spend the whole weekend together, right?" 

"Of course we are, honey." You chuckle upon seeing the worry in their eyes, these holding hope over a positive response on your part. "But first, we've got to study up on History," you add, "Remember you've got a test the day after tomorrow." You pinch their cheek and kiss it better, making them grin and burst into giggles. 

Then, you stand up and head to the living room, where you stop by the bookshelf already covered in a thin layer of dust despite its frequent use. Your eyes scan for the book you'd been recently reading with them, only to find it hidden at a corner, most likely an idea on their part in hopes of delaying their studies for a while. "We'll go over the last chapter. And after that, we can plan what we'll do for the weekend." You turn to them and smile, bumping the book against the top of their head. "But only if you don't try to hide your books away anymore. I know you like school and pay attention all the time, but that still doesn't excuse you from studying up at home."

You walk to the couch, sit down, and see their smile fade away when you open the book to one of its later chapters. It was far away from the one you were currently on, yet based on the look on their face, they seem to know what it's about, an assumption that grows stronger when you remember how one-sided the book in your hands is. Frisk was never fond of the stories it told, yet they never had the courage to go against its written words, either. Now, however, you have a hunch over them about to confront that when you see them frown and later open their mouth to speak up.

"Why do you believe what this book says? It… It says mean things about monsters! Haven't you ever been curious to know what they're all really like?"

You look down at the open book and give some thought to their words. Its borders are worn out and the pages are turning a soft shade of yellow, most likely due to the centuries that'd gone by since it was first published. 'The War Between Us' was its title, yet even though it said 'us', the author was biased at times; in more ways than one. It seemed that the more you analyzed it, the more you regretted having believed these stories when you were younger and having thrashed the possibility of beings like them ever existing. The question you've been given adds to your regret, so you pause and take a quick moment to reconsider.

Deciding it's best to think of a proper response, you flip the pages back to the first chapter and gesture for Frisk to join you. You push your glasses up to the brim of your nose and begin to read the first page.

>> Long ago, two races ruled over the Earth: HUMANS and MONSTERS. One day, war broke out between the two races. After a long battle, the humans were victorious. They sealed the monsters underground with a magic spell...

You flip past the introduction page, having already memorized it ever since you were seven.

>> Those undergrounds, located near Mt. Ebott, are said to be a dangerous place. It is said that those who climb the mountain never return. Many have taken this warning as a joke, yet none have actually dared to step foot on those grounds. Due to this fear of the unknown, many began to form theories as to what happens to those who travel to those lands. These have varied from such a simple thing as being unable or unwilling to leave, to something as dark and fearsome as death.

>> It is said the monsters residing in this place were not only strange in appearance, but in their actions and customs, as well. Likewise, it is said their way of reproduction is also odd, as it is through their SOULS that they may create another life, and that the way of ending their lives is through the same means. Besides showing their vulnerability through their SOULS, they show it through their words. They advise others to show 'MERCY', as well as to 'SPARE' their enemies whenever possible. 

>> However, many experts on the topic have agreed these are only myths; bedtime stories meant to dull and straighten up a child's behaviour, to frighten them over what is black and what is white, and to keep them strictly in the latter. It is impossible to believe such narrow-minded and saint-like creatures ever existed, unless it is to dumb down our mindsets and persuade us to be kind to a fault, without ever even questioning why it is said that those who fell into their world never came back. After all, it is without a doubt unrealistic and near impossible for people to cohabit in one same world without causing some form of hurt between each other. It is the same reason why these creatures were said to lose a war with our kind, and why we must avoid being weak and preachy like them; to prevent the same from ever happening to us.

You close the book with one swift move, deciding you already have the answer to your child's question.

"Y'know, I… I guess you're right, honey." You sigh, face your lap, and close your eyes, already having a taboo thought at the tip of your tongue. "I've only ever read this book regarding their history. If only I knew more about them, or maybe had another book from a new, different perspective... Then, maybe... Maybe I could know if both sides had their reasons for war, and why we still study them through this book only."

Just as they're about to reply, an unintelligible shout erupts from one of the nearby houses. The sound of porcelain hitting the ground and of people arguing with one another can be heard, and soon after, an eerie, yet recognizable silence takes over. Already expecting the worst, you let out a shaky sigh, stand up, and finally gather up courage to inspect what's going on outside the safety of your home.

"Stay here, Frisk. I'll be back soon."

…

You never saw them again after that day, and that was almost a full month ago. Your eyes have turned irredeemably red and puffy from how much you've cried and mourned over their loss, though you've tried to keep it to yourself as much as possible. Even so, a few things had been leaked regarding your situation. Nosy and loud neighbours meant trouble, and you already had enough with Social Services and Frisk's school constantly breathing down your neck.

The more days passed since their disappearance, the more rumours began to revolve around you. A silent argument over the hints left behind of Frisk going missing had begun to form, and it shows itself through the tense state of those around you, these split into two groups. Tension's risen between those who blame you and those who blame Mt. Ebott, yet you don't want to favour either side. Simply solving the situation and having Frisk in your arms again was enough for you, even if they were taken away from you by Social Services the day or even the hour after.

Hearing your stomach growl, you shake your head, finally realizing you're becoming too immersed in your own thoughts.

Dinner wouldn't make itself, and though you hated cooking only for yourself almost as much as you loathed the absence of your child and the silence of your home, you have to stand up, dust off, and keep on going.

Fairy tales weren't real; monsters weren't, either. In other words, Frisk's all alone in the world now and nobody's gonna help besides you. Whatever happened to your child, they were most likely suffering or in great danger, and for once, you can't help but wish over the Underground to be real in spite of the myths told about it. Perhaps then, you could have some sense of direction and an idea over just where Frisk could be; and perhaps then, they wouldn't be alone at the knowledge of monsters providing them with shelter and company until your arrival.

Perhaps then, you could rest a bit easy without crying yourself to sleep every weekend with the reminder and the remnants of a broken promise, one you feared would never be fulfilled.

[Next]

[neakco]

The Lost Temple Ch.3

Ao3 First Prev Next Masterlist

Tim and Marinette are captured by the enemy. At least they don't have to search for them anymore.

Ch.3 That's One Way...

Tim didn’t say much for the rest of the night. What is someone supposed to say when your told the entire universe will end?

 

After quietly making their way back to camp he watched her start on breakfast so he decided to make an attempt at coffee. He let himself get lost in thought as the water boiled, this was no longer a reconnaissance mission. Even without reporting back he knew that it was his duty to help save the world. There was no way he was going to make it home before the paperwork piled up again, he really wished Bruce would pay attention to his civilian work every once and a while.

 

He was distracted from his thoughts by an amazing smell. Looking up he could see that Marinette was cooking pastries. He looked around to make sure they were still in the jungle. How, just how? She was making more from scratch while others cooked over the fire.

 

Tim shook his head and focused on pouring his now boiled water into a French press while he let his thoughts wander back to the mission.

 

He knew he had to tell his friends something but Bart was loud. As long as there was a chance the enemy didn’t know what they were searching for. It wasn’t a large chance, especially since he was never that lucky.

 

It was still enough of a chance though that he didn’t want to risk informing Bart.

 

In the end he just asked Kin to casually sweep the ground to see if he was able to spot anything unusual. When asked why he casually answered that if they could find what the target was looking for first then they could go home that much sooner.

 

Marinette and Adrien both looked a bit surprised that he hadn’t told his friends everything. He did wonder how Adrien even knew she had told him but filed it under his ‘children of gods' theory. Less of a headache that way.

 

The rest of breakfast was filled with Bart's apologies for ever hating croissants and the revelation that Kon had never tried any French pastries before.

 

Adrien had tried to stop him from admitting this but he was too late. Marinette had already adopted Kon into her abused children club and sworn that she would bake him at least one of every pastry in existence after the mission was over.

 

She was still describing different mouth watering treats when Adrien finally shook her and reminded her that the mission came first.

 

Tim laughed while helping clean up as Marinette kept pouting cutely and muttering about noting being more important than good pastries.

 

Finally they split up to start their search. He made good time with Marinette despite her odd stops to check plants. Maybe it was a weird tracking habit.

 

They had been at this for awhile and he had just looked up to check for dropping snakes when Marinette tackled him to the ground. Before he did more then break the fall she had shoved sunglasses on his face, removed and hidden his Cape and had somehow pulled a long sleeved shirt over his head. He was actually impressed albeit a tad confused.

 

“Sorry" She whispered directly into his ear. “Don’t want our targets to know you’re a hero.”

 

“What..” He stopped as he picked up the sounds of several approaching voices. They were coming towards them in a semicircle and it was too early in the day for him to merge with the shadows.

 

Knowing it was probably pointless  he still swung Marinette onto his back and carried them as high into the trees as he could. Once high enough they flattened themselves as close to the branch as possible. Their only chance was to hope this group was stupid, but he doubted they would be that lucky. Their targets probably would have learned by now to keep an eye for jungle predators dropping on them from above, and they were easier to spot then a tiger.

 

It didn’t take long for the group of men to have guns pointed at them as the apparent leader gestured at them to climb down. They climbed down carefully and Tim just barely caught the small smirk and wink she gave him moments before hitting the ground.

In a blink she was a completely different person. Not only was she scared and rambling but she physically appeared smaller. His French was a little rusty but he was fairly positive she was rambling about getting lost and assuming they were a predator.

 

“Enough!” the leader yelled. Tim tried to act as startled and scared as Marinette. Pretty sure he failed, but it seemed to fool the men pointing guns at them.

 

“Tie up the tourists, we will release them once we have what we came for.” He paused and looked at his men, “Do any of you speak their gibberish?”

 

Marinette clung suddenly to Tim's arm and shook as if scared. He may have found it cute if he didn’t know it was all an act. It did give him a chance to act as if he was trying to be brave for her.

 

He swore internally as he realized he had been paying attention to Marinette instead of the threat. Thankfully he had been at least noting that none of them spoke French.

 

The apparent leader gestured to two of his group, “Drag them back to camp and toss ‘em in one of the cages, I will find a better solution tonight.”

 

As they lightly struggled against their captors to keep up the illusion Marinette started her panicked rambling again. “I really hope you can understand me. I vote we go along and escaped after we've learned what we need.”

 

Tim tired to make his voice sound scared as he responded in French, “Quick thinking, you have my vote. I'll contact the others when I can.”

 

She smiled to show she heard before bursting into quiet sobs. Tim was a little intimidated by her acting skills.

 

It was roughly an hour before their captors emerged into a clearing and tossed them into a cage at the far end. They were left bound as one of them men explained something about the boss’s orders and how the stupid tourists couldn’t even speak a proper language.

 

Tim waited until the men were out of earshot before activating the comm with his shoulder. “Marinette and I found the camp. Keep scanning the ground. We will join back when we can.”

 

He looked over to Marinette to see her analyzing the camp layout. There position was weirdly ideal for it. They had gotten lucky that the cages were on a small slope at the back.

 

He made sure to keep to French in case any of the men came to check on them. “So how did you know they were coming? I didn’t hear anything until after you forcefully dressed me.”

 

He thought he saw her cheeks colour but it was gone before she spoke.

 

“It wasn’t what I heard but rather what I didn’t.” a sly smile graced her face, “A quiet forest is a human filled forest.”

 

He blinked and listened. It was easy to hear the noises of camp, but there was no wildlife, not even birds.

“I can’t believe I missed that.” Some detective he was.

 

“Don’t feel bad, you work mostly in a busy city. It took quite a few wilderness adventures before Adrien and I learned that quiet always meant either humans or danger.”

 

There was a lot in that statement for Tim to try and unravel later, for now he had to focus on escape. He tapped the release on his wrist to loosen a knife and started to slice at the rope. He faltered briefly when he saw Marinette’s ropes fall behind her, untied and uncut. How did she?

 

The thought ended as she held out a long wire, “How good are you with locks?”

 

“A lock like this should only take seconds.”

 

 

Marinette smiled to herself, the lock would only distract his clever mind for a fee minutes. At least she could trust him not to bring it up until the were safe.

 

“Done.” She watched him creep forward before signalling to show it was clear.

 

Escape was slow. The whole operation was larger than she could possibly have imagined. So it took them longer than she would like to sneak past everyone in order to make it to the main tent. But make it they did.

 

Red Robin had led them expertly and with easy to follow hand signals . Sure she didn’t work quite as effortlessly with him as she did with her kitty, but Adrien and her had gone through Hell together.

 

Being Red Robin had only known her a day, he seemed to instinctively understand her. Or maybe he thought just similarly enough to her that they worked. They didn’t even exchange words as he stood watch for her to search the tent.

 

As soon as the flap closed behind her Tikki flew out to help with the search.

 

“Marinette, over here.”

 

Tikki had found a torn document written in the language of the guardians. She carefully shoved it into her bag before glancing at the poor translation next to it. After a brief moment she decided to leave that since it didn’t actually contain any useful information and snuck back out.

 

She quickly nodded to let Red know she had what she needed and he started to led them back into the jungle. She was happy to let someone else take the lead as she let her thoughts wander. Honestly with an operation this large they were lucky that the temple hadn’t been found yet.

 

It was three silent hours before they found their way to camp. Marinette was finally starting to feel the results of her sleepless night and wished she could take a nap. She had to share what she had found, Red Robin had been more than patient with her and her secrets.

 

 

Tim watched Marinette call Adrien over to their makeshift table. He was expecting them to discussing things among themselves first, so he was actually taken off guard when she took hold of his hand to pull him over.

 

“I know your mission is only supposed to be reconnaissance, but Adrien and I would really welcome the extra help.”

 

He watched as Adrien flattened the stolen document out. He leaned closer to try and make it out but saw that it was in some unknown and possibly ancient text.

 

Marinette waved Bart and Kon over and waited until everyone was settled before speaking.

 

“According to the translation I saw, our target believes they are looking for an ancient treasure guarded in an old temple.”

 

That isn’t quite the case.” Adrien point out a passage, “This actually translates roughly to ‘That which even gods fear.’ Not treasure.”

 

Tim could see the grim looks on the duo's faces.

 

Bart looked surprised, “You can read this?”

 

“Impulse, don't just ignore that these people are going to unknowingly unleash something bad.” Kon turned towards the duo accusingly, “but you already knew that, didn’t you?”

 

“Actually, no. Even after reading this we have no idea what the temple is guarding. We only know the temple was lost.” Adrien shrugged.

 

Tim looked closely at the two, once again suspicious and looking for any sign of deceit. “How did you know about the temple?”

 

Marinette sighed, “The monks sent us.”

 

“Threatened us.” Adrien corrected. Tim saw her glare before deciding to ignore him.

 

“The monks hail from a sister temple with their own well guarded secrets. They tasked us to go rescue the treasure.”

 

Adrien gestured to the paper, “This is written in their language.”

 

Tim could observe some anger on both their faces before it was gone with Bart's appearance in their space.

 

“You were threatened? But you two are so awesome.”

 

Adrien was laughing too hard to answer, Marinette looked at him briefly with concern and Tim remembered what they had said about laughing. That couldn’t be good.

 

He was about to ask if the blonde was okay when Marinette spoke, “We were unofficially inducted into their order by a rogue monk that believed he was the last. The currant group don’t  really like that they can’t remove us or make us follow their rules.”

 

Adrien's laughter died away suddenly, “We do this for them and the leave our loved ones alone. My girlfriend…” He trailed off as his eyes misted up.

 

“and my grandparents.” Marinette finished looking just as lost.

 

The heroes were all silent, this was a lot bigger than they thought.

 

Tim blinked in surprise as the pair's words fully settled. He would have bet money that the duo were dating. They had affectionate nicknames and absolutely no boundaries.

 

Kon looked to him and the duo which snapped Tim back to the problem at hand, “What's our plan?”

 

Tim spared only a small glance to Marinette before smiling confidently. “We find the temple first.”

Taglist @toodaloo-kangaroo

[simp-for-spencer-reid]

Sugar with a Side of Coffee- Ch. 12

Chapter 12: Bakers Can’t Cook Series Masterlist

Light poured into Spencer’s room through his curtains that were just barely pulled back. It wasn’t storming anymore. He blinked a few times to wake himself up. He felt like a weight had been lifted. He had finally told Cate how he felt. She had kissed him. They kissed. He turned his head to look at the other side of his bed. 

It was empty.

Spencer’s memory made him certain that last night wasn’t just a dream. He had driven Cate back to his place and she had spent the night, in his clothes and in his bed. It was like the stars had aligned. So, if she wasn’t lying next to him, where was she?

Spencer’s smoke detectors started going off and the smell of smoke trickled in through his cracked door. He heard Cate’s voice curse and a loud bang. He leapt out of bed, and ran to his kitchen. 

There, he found Cate. In his housecoat. Her short stature was jumping trying to wave a dish towel at the alarm. A pan with a burnt mass was on the stove. Spencer stepped behind her and reached his long arm up to push the button and silence the alarm. 

“I didn’t know you were awake!” Cate jumped at his presence. Now that the alarm was silenced, Spencer could hear music playing softly from Cate’s phone. “I was making breakfast, but I got a bit distracted and burnt what was supposed to be scrambled eggs.” Cate tucked her unbrushed hair behind her ear. Spencer was taking her presence in.

“That’s my dressing robe?” He wanted to make sure he wasn’t seeing things.

“Oh, yeah I borrowed it this morning. Did you want it back?” Cate started to pull the red plush material of her shoulders.

“No, it’s okay.” Spencer placed his hand on hers and stopped her actions. His thumb ran over her fingers. Cate looked up at him. Spencer felt too nervous to kiss her again. Would it be too soon? He felt like he really unpacked a lot last night. 

“Do you want to go out to breakfast since I burnt ours?” Cate’s eyes flickered to Spencer’s facial features. His morning stubble looked out of place; he was normally clean shaven. Spencer sighed after checking his watch from the inside of his wrist. He was due at work in less than an hour.

“I would really love to, but I have to get to work. Do you want to shower?” He would offer her the first shower because his complex was always running out of hot water. Cate shook her head; she knew that showering at Spencer’s would only make him late for work. Spencer helped put the pan in the sink and clean the kitchen quickly with Cate before entering the bathroom from the door in his bedroom. 

Cate gathered her things and was sitting on the couch, ready to be dropped off at her building. While waiting, she picked up the book on his coffee table to inspect it. A book on quantum theory. Cate flipped through the pages to see if she could make some sense of it, but she’d always been terrible at Science. Luckily, she’d gotten better at Math since working the register at The Empty Mug. 

She thought of last night. She kissed Spencer. She had enjoyed kissing Spencer until the two of them decided it was time to actually sleep. The innocence of the pair sleeping on actual separate sides of the bed only lasted until a few hours into their slumber. Cate inched her way backwards until her back reached Spencer’s body. She was always one to get cold at night. Cate awoke to being spooned by Spencer. His face tucked somewhere between her shoulders and back. His knees bent into her own. His arms were folded into his chest, but Cate wished they had been wrapped around her. 

She remembered trying to stay as still as possible so as to not wake him. He shuffled backward in his sleep not too long after, providing Cate with her escape route. She had gotten out of bed to use the bathroom, but also because she was hungry. On the back of his door, his robe looked too tempting to ignore. She slipped it on to stay warm while she scavenged for breakfast. The only things she could find were some eggs, milk, and cheese. Not even any bread for toast. There was a surprising lack of food in his cupboards. Cate wondered how he even survived. 

Cate was lost in her thoughts of the morning when she heard the shower turn off. A few minutes later, Spencer came out dressed smartly in a suit. His hair was still damp from the shower, which Cate decided looked much better than it did when it had gotten wet from the rain. 

“Ready?” Spencer asked, drawing her focus back to present time. 

Sitting in Spencer’s car after the events of last night was only slightly awkward for the two. The radio was still tuned into the soft rock station, Cate hummed along while watching out the window. The sky was clear and blue. If they hadn’t been stuck in the brunt of it, they may have never guessed how bad the storm was last night. Spencer kept both hands on the wheel, but he wondered if he should hold her hand. 

The drive to Cate’s apartment building felt like it was shorter and shorter every time he drove it. Fortunately, the branches and wires that had blocked the road were cleaned up. Cate saw the large limbs pushed to the side of the road. Spencer had saved enough time to walk Cate up to her apartment. The trek up the stairs to the third floor went by fast as well. When Cate had opened her door, Shrimp was meowing and walked into the hallway to wrap around Cate’s legs. He paused, sniffing the air and getting closer to Spencer’s ankles, giving his brown dress shoes a sniff. After consideration, he headbutted Spencer’s suit pants and left some orange hairs behind.

“Aw, he likes you!” Cate bent down to pick up Shrimp, holding him against her chest. “Thanks for the ride.” Cate looked up at Spencer through her lashes. Spencer was debating in his mind about kissing her or not. 

“Oh, no problem.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Um, so, my coworkers were getting together tonight at Rossi’s if you want to come? They wanted me to invite you.” Spencer rocked, shifting his weight from heel to toe. 

“Is that who you were on the phone with last night?” Cate word vomited, immediately wishing she wasn’t so nosy. 

“Uh, yeah. They sort of were encouraging me to tell you how I felt. Not that I didn’t want to tell you myself, I was just worried-” He rambled before Cate cut him off.

“It’s okay.” Cate placed a hand on his cheek. “I’d love to go. I can thank them.” Cate giggled before balancing Shrimp with one hand, her other on Spencer’s cheek and reached up to peck him on the lips. Pulling away with a smile, Cate turned to enter her apartment. Even after the door shut behind her, Spencer lingered for just a few seconds, wrapping his head around what had just happened. 

He strolled into the BAU with only minutes to spare. He tried to make it to his desk before catching someone’s attention, but Derek was waiting for him at his own desk, which was located across from his. 

“Quite the storm we had last night. The power at my place went out.” Derek mentioned to Spencer. Without thinking, Spencer opened his mouth.

“Yeah some power lines were down on Cate’s street too.” Derek raised an eyebrow. “I mean, I wouldn’t- I didn’t… we stayed at my place, so I wouldn’t know if her power went out.” Derek smirked.

“We?” Derek rolled his desk chair across the walkway to Spencer’s desk. “We as in: you and Cate spent the night at yours? I didn’t think you had it in you, Pretty Boy.” Derek moved to clap Spencer on the shoulder, but Spencer was already standing to hide his blush. He hadn’t gone to The Empty Mug this morning on his way to work, so he made his way to the coffee station. To his dismay, JJ, Penelope and Emily were standing around in the break room. He’d have to walk between them to get to the coffee station. 

“Hey, Spence.” They all greeted, and watched him reach for a disposable cup.

“You didn’t stop at The Empty Mug this morning? You always stop there on your way. Did something happen?” Penelope analyzed his body language. 

“Yes and no.” Spencer replied. He began brewing his coffee and grabbed the sugar. He tried not to make eye contact with the girls.

“Don’t make us pry, Spencer.” JJ begged. “Is she going to join us at Rossi’s tonight?” JJ was still looking at Spencer’s back that was facing them. 

“Yep, she’ll be there.” Spencer put some sugar in his cup. 

“Okay, that’s good.” Emily tried to keep the conversation going. Spencer’s mind thought back to the phone call from last night.

“Come on, Spence.” JJ said from the other side of the phone. She was with the other girls of the team. He was lucky she had called while Cate was still showering. 

“Yeah, what’s the worst that could happen?” Emily chimed in. He didn’t realize they were all together for a girl’s night when he picked up. He had told JJ his plan earlier, but she must’ve spilled to the others. They had called to see how far along he had gotten in his decision to come clean to Cate with his feelings. 

“It’s so obvious that she feels the same, and I’m not saying that because we’re profilers.” JJ tried to make him feel better. He hushed them when he heard the water turn off.

“You got this, Wonder Boy!” Penelope encouraged. “Oh! While we have you on the line, if everything works out in your favor, we’re getting together at Rossi’s tomorrow night for a pasta dinner. Invite Cate! It will be so fun with another girl!” Penelope squealed. Spencer hurried their goodbyes and hung up. That was when he opened his bedroom door and Cate stood outside with her wet towel. He was relieved when she didn’t show any signs of hearing that conversation. 

“Well, I see some orange fur on your clothes and I know for a fact you don’t have any pets.” Emily started, beginning to profile him to get the answers she and JJ and Penelope wanted. JJ followed suit.

“She has a cat?!” Penelope interjected excitedly.

“That would mean that you were with her this morning.” JJ deducted. Lucky for Spencer, his coffee was finished brewing and he poured his cup and headed back to his desk. Unlucky for Spencer, Derek was still sitting by his desk, ready to interrogate him more. Luck must have been on Spencer’s side, because Hotch rolled in, announcing a meeting at the round table, saving Spencer from the confrontation.

All day, Cate scavenged her closet for an outfit to wear to dinner. It seemed like every dress she had was too fancy and every combination of a nice shirt and jeans was not fancy enough. She would’ve facetimed Marta, but Marta was working at the shop. 

As Cate sifted through each hanger again, she finally found something that caught her eye. It was perfect. It was a reddish purple off the shoulder dress. It fell at her knees, so it was classy enough. She had worn it to her sister’s wedding a few years back.

She had heard Spencer mention Rossi before. David Rossi, the author, who had a mansion. She knew it was an occasion to dress fancy. She of course, didn’t want to over do it, either. But, this dress was perfect for the occasion.

Spencer had left Cate a voice message with a well-appreciated detailed itinerary of the night. After he got out of work, he was going home to freshen up, and he would pick her up around seven for the late dinner at Rossi’s. He estimated they’d stay for roughly three hours before leaving and he would drive her home. Cate liked knowing what to loosely expect. 

Seven came around a little sooner than Cate anticipated. She was finishing up her makeup when there was a knock at her door. Upon opening it, Spencer was standing in her hallway with a small bouquet of flowers. 

“I know it’s technically not a date and I don’t know your favorite flower, but I got you these. I just thought you’d like them.” he held out the arrangement of lilies. “Roses say a lot, their meaning is typically romance and passion, but I felt like that was a lot to say, so I got you lilies. They mean devotion and purity to some, but also have other meaning tied to Greek mythology.” Cate gently took the bouquet from Spencer. 

“I really like them, thank you.” Cate smiled, leaving the door open and turning to put them in water. Spencer walked into her entry hall, hands in his pocket. Shrimp had padded out into the main area of the apartment, and found his way to Spencer, rubbing against his legs. 

Cate returned, and had a small clutch with her. Spencer tried hard not to stare at any part of her body too long. He held his arm out to her, and she gladly took it, wrapping her hands around the crook of his elbow. She had worn some short heels, easy to walk in and comfortable for the night. Her short hair was pinned back, but some pieces were too short and fell to frame her face. She had even painted her nails for the occasion, eager to impress Spencer’s coworkers. 

Spencer and Cate were the last to arrive at the party. They walked arm in arm up to the front door. Spencer rang the doorbell. Cate was getting nervous. She pulled her arm from Spencer’s and swiped the back of her hand on the skirt of her dress. Spencer could smell her perfume from their close proximity. She smelled like tropical fruit with a bit of musk.

David Rossi opened the door with a welcoming smile. After greeting them, he shook Spencer’s hand and pulled Cate into a quick hug. They walked into the huge house, entering the kitchen first, where the entirety of Spencer’s team was dispersed, talking amongst themselves. Penelope and JJ and Emily were the first to approach Cate. 

“Nice of you to finally show up!” Emily directed at Spencer. 

“You, my friend, have a lot of catching up to do!” Penelope took Cate by the hand and pulled her to the island, where an array of wine bottles were scattered on the granite countertop. “I hope you like wine!” She pulled a glass out of a cabinet.

“Rossi will insist that the Pinot Grigio is the way to go with our dinner, but you can have whatever you want!” JJ informed Cate. Cate eyed the labels of the different bottles.

“I’ll go with the Riesling.” Cate poured herself a small glass. The girls went to one of the many sitting areas in Rossi’s home to get to know each other more. Cate’s nude lipstick was rubbing off onto her glass with every sip. They dived into some conversation that led to the discovery that both Emily and Cate had cats. The girls laughed and chatted with one another and it was soon time for dinner.

Rossi had set a table outside on his patio. Candles lit up the table and Cate had admired his large yard and his beautiful home. Cate sat next to Spencer. She listened to the variety of conversation around the table and chimed in when appropriate. Spencer’s work family was so funny and welcoming, Cate was beginning to feel like one of their own.

The table was finished eating. Cate was settled next to Spencer. Despite having just announced their feelings last night, things were at ease. There was comfort in the air. 

The team had all broken off into a few separate conversations. Derek had caught Spencer’s attention, grilling him on why he was late.

“So, as it turns out, bakers can’t cook.” He recalled the morning of burnt eggs filling his apartment with an awful smell. The pair laughed together. 

After eating, Cate helped clear the table and bring plates to Rossi's kitchen to place in the sink. She and JJ put away some of the extra food into containers to put in the fridge. JJ refilled Cate’s glass for the third time that night. 

“I’m glad Spencer found someone like you.” JJ admitted. Cate blushed.

“Oh, please. I’m the lucky one.” Cate and JJ walked back out to the patio.

Spencer was further in the yard, entertaining Jack and Henry, Hotch and JJ’s kids. He was showing them magic tricks and chasing them, tickling them when he caught up to them. Cate’s heart swelled.In the few months they had known each other, she was growing very fond of him. A smile grew on her face as she watched him. JJ quietly walked away to Will, her husband. Spencer looked up, catching Cate’s gaze. He excused himself from the boys and made his way to her. 

Her hair was getting a bit disheveled from the long night. More pieces had fallen out of the bobby pins. Her lipstick was now transferred onto the rim of her wine glass. She had surprisingly held her own while Penelope and JJ had been refilling her wine glass throughout the night. The night was cooling off and Cate had goosebumps across her bare shoulders. 

“Hi.” He smiled at her, situating himself against the railing like she was, mirroring her position.

“Hi.” Cate parroted. She pulled her glass to her lips, tipping it back for another sip. 

“Having fun?” Spencer asked. Cate nodded.

“Your coworkers are so cool. I can’t believe I am at a dinner with a bunch of FBI agents AND David Rossi, a renowned author.” Cate’s words slurred slightly. As she looked around the yard at all of Spencer’s coworkers and friends, she shivered slightly, running her hands up and down her arms to create some friction. “You know, normally, the boyfriend would give the girlfriend his jacket at this point.” Cate smirked. Spencer’s eyes widened, he pursed his lips, quickly taking off his suit jacket, placing it around Cate’s shoulders. They stayed leaning against the railing. It finally registered in Cate’s brain what she had said.

“Oh my god, I didn’t mean to assume that we-” Cate started.

“I didn’t know if you really wanted to-” Spencer said at the same time.

“I’d love to. If you want to.” Cate blushed. She was thankful that most of Spencer’s coworkers had migrated inside.

“How much have you had to drink exactly?” Spencer laughed, pulling her into a side hug. 

“I’ve lost count.” Cate shrugged, giggling.

“Let’s get you home.” Spencer said, but he didn’t make a move to let go of her.

[starcountesseevee]

A Rocket Coincidence (Part 30)

Whaaaat? Chapter 30 already! I never imagined getting this far with the story. Thank you to all who are still reading this!

Part 29 / Part 31

     Kali kicked a small stone down the sidewalk as she made her way back home, take-out bag in hand. Neither her nor Mara had felt like cooking and Kali had offered to grab some food while Mara cleaned up after work. She had called ahead since it was a Friday night and had expected a wait but what she had not expected was to run quite literally into Julia, Mara’s ex, as she was leaving the restaurant. They had both made awkward apologies and Julia surprised her by asking how Mara was. The question caught Kali off guard and it took her a moment to answer but when she said Mara was fine she was further surprised to see that, instead of looking happy for her, Julia looked a bit hurt. Kali had spent most of the short walk home analyzing this information and wondering if she should tell Mara or not.

     The rock bounced off the front of the studio and off into the street. From around the corner Kali could hear what sounded like Nero and Rowan playing which meant Mara had probably pulled the small table and chair set outside to eat dinner at. Now that the weather had warmed up on nice evenings, after they closed up the studio, they would sometimes sit and eat outside to enjoy the weather. The view wasn’t much, just the long parking lot that served all the small businesses on their block that was mostly empty this time of evening.

     Rounding the back of the building confirmed her theory and Kali was more than happy to take the glass of wine Mara offered her as she took a seat and got out the food.

     “So how was your day, dear?” Kali joked once they were settled.

     “Quite busy actually, hence the wine.” She gestured to the already half empty wine bottle. “More than half of the last two classes were newbies.”

     “Yikes.”

     “How about you, dear. Get up to anything exciting?”

     “Nothing really…” Kali let the sentence trail off as she questioned again whether she should mention seeing Julia to Mara. Not that it was anything much but in the end she figured it’s better to say something then not. “I did just run into Julia though…”

     “Oh?” Mara’s tone was flat.

     “Yeah, it was nothing really. She just asked how you were.”

     “Please tell me you said I was doing great. Fabulous even.”

     “Something along those lines.” Kali smirked at Mara’s nod of approval. “She did seem...I don’t know. Maybe a little bummed out about that?”

     “Doesn’t surprise me.”

      “No?”

      Mara paused, taking a long sip from her glass before answering. “She may have texted me the other day. Asked how I was. Wanted to meet up for coffee.”

      “What!?” Mara just shrugged in response. “Well, what did you tell her? Are you going to go?”

     “I didn’t answer, haven’t decided yet.”

     “Oh Mar…”

     “Don’t give me that pitiful tone.” Mara rolled her eyes, making them both laugh. “I did my crying already. At this point I’m more curious what her angle is. But anyway, it’s neither here nor there.” Taking another sip from her glass she carried on with a new subject. “So summer is coming up, have you thought about taking time off to travel anywhere this year?”

     Kali knew she was purposefully changing the subject but decided to let it slide and not press the issue. Instead she closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the top of the chair while she pondered her answer. The truth was she had thought about traveling for either a competition or to earn more gym badges but unless she wanted to repeat competitions in Kanto or Johto, where she had earned all the gym badges she could, she would have to travel far. And she wasn’t sure what that would mean for the studio. Business was great and they rarely had empty spots in class, so leaving Mara alone for longer than a few days would be hard.

     “Earth to Kali?”

     “Hmm? Oh.” Kali was pulled from her thoughts and she glanced over at her friend with a frown. “About that.”

     “Uh oh, that sounds ominous.”

     “Well…” Kali began, chewing on her bottom lip for a moment before continuing. “The thing is I’ve done everything I can for Kanto and Johto.”

     “Oh my Mythics, will you just spit it out?”

     “Alright, geeze, hold your Rapidash. What I’m trying to say is that I have thought about it, but if I want to progress as a Trainer it would mean traveling somewhere other than Kanto or Johto. And if I’m going that far I think I would have to take longer than a week. It just wouldn’t be worth the expenses and headache of trying to plan out traveling to say Hoenn for a couple days at a time every other week. If I go I think I’d like to stay and complete everything I can before coming home.” Kali glanced over at Mara to see her reaction, growing more nervous as the seconds ticked on.

     “That’s fair.” Her tone was brighter than Kali had expected, maybe it was the wine. “Does Cliff know about this?”

     “I...no. Not yet. But we’re pretty much in a long distance relationship anyway. We’ll make it work. It’s you and the studio I’m more concerned with. Classes are full, we’re both working our butts off already. I don’t think I’d feel comfortable leaving you to do it alone.”

     “So we hire someone.”

     “What?” Kali blurted out in surprise.

     “We hire someone to help out. And when you’re back it’ll give us a break on our schedules too.”

     “Can we afford that?”

     “Yeah, it’s something I’ve thought about before. We've just been so busy lately I haven’t had time to really put an effort into it. But yes, we can afford it. Business is good, we don’t owe anything on the property so overhead is small, and with the added boost of commission from selling Erica's products…yeah. We can swing it."

     "Wow. Well, okay then. What do you need me to do?"

     "Make up an advertisement?"

     "I can do that." Kali paused to finish what wine was left in her glass. "We could start with flyers around the studio. There are quite a few regulars that have been with us for a while that might be interested."

     "I like that, I knew I kept you around for a reason." Ignoring Kali’s eye roll she stretched in her chair before standing up, unable to stop the yawn that escaped her. "I'm gonna head inside. You staying out here?"

     "For a bit. I'll put the table away when I'm ready to come in."

     Kali gazed out into the parking lot as she absentmindedly scratched Rowan, who had come over to nuzzle her hand after the door shut behind Mara. Now that there was a solution for a prolonged absence, what exactly did she want to do? Hoenn had been the first place that came to mind, the tropical weather being a big plus especially if her trip lasted into the fall, but there were plenty of other places she could go too. Well it would still be a while in the future, she thought as she began pulling the table and chairs in, plenty of time to figure it out. Closing up the back door to the studio she called for Rowan and Nero to follow her and headed back upstairs for the night.

Part 29 / Part 31

[soft-sunflower]

Flower of Evil Thoughts- Episode 9

First of all.. THE PREGNANCY FLASHBACK!!!! UGHHHH!!!! The beginning of the episode was just a HARSH slap in the face with that flashback... I got very emotional when the episode only just STARTED!!! Knowing what we know now, and how our couple currently stands just hurts so much... Their new house all decorated with lights by him, the bit where he feels Eunha kick and is so surprised by what he's feeling, and then holds her tummy and talks to their baby and his awkwardness and unsure of what to do or what to say was so beyond precious... my gosh. But seeing him talk so softly to his unborn baby, about something as simple as just hanging up wallpaper made me just... He's so careful and so gentle, and just... it HURTS. He's learned so much from her. Even though he may not understand it. It's the most precious and yet bittersweet thing. He really IS just doing everything for her. He just wants her to be happy and at peace with her life with him. I truly believe this. Even down to cooking her favorite meals because he knew she'd be craving them. My heart just is just pounding and aching for them.

OKAY the way that Hyunsoo pulled off that he was just helping Kim Moojin with something was pretty smooth, I'll give him that. Especially when he says the "Was this supposed to be a secret meeting?"He's so CAREFUL around his wife in every aspect he can be. Even down to deceiving her. Noona, you're such a sweetie but you just said a bit too much there lol. And I love how Hyunsoo instantly jumps to "Get my wife coffee and put something sweet in it." This man KNOWS his woman, and you can't tell me he doesn't. He probably knows her better than anyone, no matter how much these two deceive each other. They trio is sure being careful as best they can with the detective who's handling this case, aren't they? Carefully deceiving, even Noona is in on the deceptive stuff. Question is, how long can they keep this up?

OMG... the real Heeseong... he's awake. Dear lord, he's a wake. And trying to speak. Saying "Mom" and shedding tears. I feel sorry for him. What exactly did she do to him??? Why is he telling her it's not her fault?? What happened to put him in a coma??? And he REMEMBERS!? He remembers the person (Hyunsoo) he hit!? Do you think he even has a clue about anything or did he get put in a coma the night of the accident???

So is it a good thing or a bad thing that Jiwon can have the sound in the background of the tape analyzed?? Hmmm... And here comes Jiwon's questions that are rather loaded toward Noona. As soon as Jiwon suggests that accomplice could be Hyunsoo, Noona was quick to jump to his defense and stating that he is not the accomplice. She knows her brother. She knows what he would and would not do. Noona knows that Hyunsoo would never be capable of being their father's accomplice to murder.

Jiwon to Haesu: "I feel like the Hyunsoo you know is very different from the one I know."

You know what? He IS, Jiwon. You've taught him love and how to care for others asides from himself. Even though he may not understand his emotions and his feelings, you've taught him love, and you gave him a real family of his own that he protects and wants to keep in tact and safe. He gets so incredibly nervous every time you mention Do Hyunsoo because he so desperately does not want to lose what he has with you. That's why he keeps having anxiety and panic attacks. That's why he keeps clutching at his chest. That's why he struggles to keep his cool when you bring up that name around him. That identity that he does not want. He might have the ability to relate to others as the therapist said, but I've never seen him as the manipulative type of good people, and not for one moment do I believe he's tried to manipulate Jiwon at all.

The therapist that was convinced how he'd behave as an adult is a crock. Trying to make him out to be this truly terrible person before he's even old enough to really make adult decisions for himself? No. Just no. And why is Noona so quick to protect him once more? Saying Hyunsoo did not kill that dog? What does Noona know?  Jiwon questions Noona wanting to know who did. She tells Jiwon it's obvious who did that, and the look on Hyunsoo's face screams that he's innocent, that Noona KNOWS. As soon as Jiwon brings up Do Minseok's name, and once again the look on Hyunsoo's face suggests to me that Do Minseok either MADE his son do these horrible things or he made his son watch and then forced his son to say he did these things during therapy. Did he use his own child in that manner in order to appear innocent hence the surprise from everyone that he's a serial killer? My god this poor man...

I REALLY think I'm not far off with the theory that Do Minseok made Hyunsoo do and say that he did terrible things or forced Hyunsoo to watch him do terrible things. I said it last week and I'm saying it again, because now we have Noona saying this too and seemingly confirming it. When Jiwon questions why would Hyunsoo say he did something that Do Minseok did, and you can just feel the trauma radiating off of Hyunsoo right there... was he punished if he didn't? WHAT the hell HAPPENED to this man when he was just a child!? It would seem Noona has no idea why though and why he'd take the blame for the terrible things their father did... or maybe she DOES know but is choosing not to say it so as not to bring up too much past trauma for Hyunsoo.

Haesu in general has so much trauma of her own, so much guilt and so much pent up pain... She WANTS people to know the truth. She wants them all to know that SHE killed the village foreman and NOT her brother, but Hyunsoo dives into protective brother mode to keep his Noona's secret safe once more by dumping a full cup of coffee all over Moojin's laptop (HA HA HA ASS YOU DESERVED IT AFTER ALL YOUR BS) Lmao Moojin wants to be alone with his laptop. *snorts*

Hyunsoo, I have to ask, why are you so caring and gentle with your family but can't even recognize your own emotions? Even to the point of you put your wife's seatbelt on for her because she's too shaken by everything to remember to do it herself? He really didn't like hearing that Jiwon doesn't tell him everything either. You could see he was unsettled by her saying that, but tries to brush it off. He's feeling something is off and has for a bit, but I feel he's in some kind of denial and trying to believe that everything is just fine when clearly it's not.

Hmmm do you think Noona will try and undergo hypnosis? If she does and she remembers who the accomplice was... and then if Hyunsoo doesn't need her anymore, what does she mean by she'll do what she should've done but didn't? Does she mean turn herself in? Does she mean something worse...?  I'm actually REALLY afraid for her. I don't know why, I've been feeling this way for a couple of episodes now, but I just have this unsettling feeling that something bad is going to happen to her. I'm not sure what to think about her right now. There are so many questions I have raised about this girl. I hope she doesn't try to do anything... I don't know. She's just so SAD and full of emotional turmoil.

Jiwon is bringing up all kinds of old memories for Hyunsoo constantly talking about this case. He almost hits a group of people walking across the street and then notices that Jiwon isn't wearing her ring. She tells him that she got used to having it off and it's the first flicker you see from him where he looks almost hurt. Like why? She's never taken her ring off before. Why would she remove it now? What's going on? He's so confused and isn't understanding why Jiwon is being so strange, maybe even a bit cold toward him. It's hard watching this... I know what she's doing and it's not what he wants. If only she knew more and understood...

OH LOOK, it's the unfather being a shady piece of shit again. He took care of everything? What exactly does he mean by that? He took care of everything? You mean forcing an innocent man into an identity with the threat of if he didn't take it, he'd be thrown in jail because you'd get fired and lose your position in the hospital so you're salty enough to push that identity on him to keep your position safe? What a piece of garbage excuse for a human being. He was busy? That's why did not answer his phone for his only son? Busy doing WHAT? "That life can be yours too" uhhh??? He BETTER NOT try ANYTHING or do ANYTHING to hurt Hyunsoo and take Jiwon and Eunha away from him and try to give them to his real son... OMG I will RAGE.

Hyunsoo really is the ideal husband. He's truly an amazing caretaker. Raising their daughter while Jiwon works hard, works at his own business and makes enough to care of his family and hold his own, is one hell of a cook and is such an amazing father to his baby girl. He set up all kinds of lights, decorations and everything to celebrate 5 years in their home. Even if he does carry a fake name, this is him. This is who he is. He isn't ANYTHING that the world has painted him into. At all. I just wish with all my heart that Jiwon would know and understand this. I want her to know that he struggles and doesn't understand these feelings. He doesn't know what he feels is love for her and for Eunha. She's more focused on "I never once felt that way" rather than "I don't know what kind of feeling that is."

They way he said this and the way she perceives it are two majorily different things. She thinks he's "manipulated" her with fake love, but he hasn't... He doesn't know the feeling of love because he's never been taught or shown that kind of feeling... I noticed how the scene between Hyunsoo and Noona how soft his voice is when he answers he he doesn't love her, he never felt that way because he does not understand the feeling. However, how Jiwon remembers it, it comes across sharper and much more cold. Jiwon likely remembers it sounding this way because of her heartbreak and her own anger and frustration over him. Like I said, she's more focused on the fact that he said he doesn't love her, rather than focused on the fact that he does not understand the feeling of love, he doesn't know what kind of feeling it is. Jiwon... I hope you learn. I hope you understand and know. He does love you, he just doesn't understand it or acknowledge that this is what it is.

Jiwon is so back and forth that it's rather unsettling at times, but I know she's hurt. I know she's brokenhearted and in pain. I just don't really like the inconsistency in which she's being written at times, but Moon Chaewon sells it beautifully so it's acceptable. Which speaking of Jiwon, she receives the voice recording again after the static is removed and there's a 2nd man's voice. "Would you like an ashtray?" And here we go into another flashback of Hyunsoo's. He and his father at a bar and the bartender offering the father an ashtray and we find out the source of the sound! It's the bartender chipping ice! And a man walks by, pretends to knock his father's coat to the floor and this is how Minseok gives the man, the ACCOMPLICE, his car keys! Sooooo, Hyunsoo HAS seen the accomplice very briefly! He may not have been able to get a good look at his face, but OH SHIT he has seen the accomplice and never realized what he was witnessing at the time! And this gets Hyunsoo enough to the point that he doesn't realize he's standing up now because he's figured something out, and that makes Jiwon eye him warily.

The next scenes BROKE MY HEART okay? Absolutely BROKE MY HEART SO MUCH. The couple stands at the sink washing dishes, Jiwon is drying them and she seems incredibly distant, like she's not all there. She's been this way since dinner, because he even questions her if his cooking and little family celebration isn't pleasing her. Hyunsoo knows something is going on with his wife. He tells her she's been forcing laughter these days, and encourages her to talk to him and tell him what's going on. He wants to know what's wrong. He wants to help her. This is the 2nd time now he's trying to get her to talk to him. She tells him, she must not feel the same about him anymore (MY HEART CLENCHED! NOOOOOO!!!), and he stops completely what he's doing, shuts the sink off and you see that he's shaken by her words. She tries to stay cold with him, acting indifferent, saying they've been together for 14 years and that her feelings can't stay the same for him, and he questions why the abrupt change. But why can't her feelings stay the same?? I've been with my husband for 18 years and my feelings only grew, so that notion from Jiwon is ridiculous.

And Jiwon wants to know if he feels the same about her as he did all those years ago. His eyes searches hers, and I truly truly believe he answered honestly. "Yes, I do." I think he knows that he's ALWAYS felt something for this woman, he just doesn't recognize what those feelings are, but she matters SO MUCH to him. It goes so much deeper than what has been shown. He's always trying his best to keep her happy and keep her pleased. In the best way that he knows how. He goes so over the top for her because nobody ever did this for him, he's really never been taught this so he's learned. He takes it upon himself to do these things for her because she matters deeply to him. You can tell he's saddened and shaken by her coldness.

He tries to brush it off by saying she works too much, she's too stressed, she's always in danger and she never gets enough sleep. She tells him that she's been wondering these days how she'd live if they break up and you see pain flicker in his eyes. You can see that this is hurting him. Whether he realizes it or not, it's hurting him. Jiwon snaps at him telling him not to talk to her as if he knows everything about her. Oh but honey, he does... maybe not as of late, but he knows you like the back of his own hand. Stop projecting. You know a lot more about him too than what you think, you just don't even realize it yet. The harshness of her words, the cruelty and coldness behind them of does there have to be a reason to fall in love and then not being a reason for falling out of love with him. *clutches heart* IT HURTS SO BAD.

And she's crying. Bullshit. You've fallen out of love with him? Bullshit. You can't fool me on this one. You can claim you don't like him anymore, that you don't like anything about him, but that's an outright lie. It's so hard watching her and hearing her say these things to him... and leaving him utterly shellshocked and wanting to know why. The way he delivers that soft "Why?" just hurts so much... This man who's bent over backward for her the entire time they have been together, this man who's done everything for her, and all she can say is she hates seeing him try so hard for her? What the HELL Jiwon??? Okay, I get why you're doing this. You said your last gift to him was they would break up and part ways as Baek Heeseong and Cha Jiwon, but this is NOT WHAT HE WANTS. THIS IS NOT A gift to him! You are HURTING him. I get that you are hurt too, I understand your pain, but how is this making ANYTHING right??? How is trying to hurt him making any of it okay? And you tell him you hate him while crying? Jiwon, stop it. You're not doing him or yourself ANY favors.

His voice is trembling, his breathing is uneven, he's starting to feel something. This is his worst fear. Losing his life. Losing her. He doesn't understand why she's doing this to him.  This man can't feel emotions, my ass. Yes, he can and he's sad, hurt and confused, whether he recognizes this or not because he's always done everything for you, Jiwon. Good luck finding someone else to do the things he's done for you and be a husband like him. When he says "I don't understand." It's so painful to watch... because he really doesn't. He's so lost right now, and he needs to understand. Why you're being this way toward him and why you'd suddenly change your feelings. You hate seeing him eat? My god... he's a person. He has to eat. He's stricken by all of this, he is just so desperate to fix it. He'll do anything for you. And you're going to tell me he doesn't love you? Jiwon, focus on his last sentence to Noona. "I don't know what kind of feeling that is." Not the "I never once felt that way." Jiwon, for goodness sake, teach him. Help him. Instead of doing this to him. I'm so tired of watching bad things happen to this man knowing that he's innocent...

"What could be more important than us right now?"

He loves her. He loves her SO MUCH, and he doesn't even realize it. Jiwon is his life! And all she can do is bring up all of Minseok's victims. Okay, woman, for real. You KNOW your husband WAS NOT the accomplice to those murders, so why the hell are you bringing this up to him now and why is this his fault?? All he can do is tell her she did nothing wrong, but Hyunsoo NEITHER DID YOU!!! You did NOTHING WRONG!!! And you knowing nothing about them, I get that this is some kind of metaphor for not knowing anything about Hyunsoo, I get that, but even if you do feel this way about those victims, it's not his fault. She tells him that he can't help her forget all those terrible cases, not anymore and he looks devastated... I mean my heart is physically aching for him at this point...

And what does he do? The first thing he does is go to the only person he can think of, someone he might have once considered a friend, Moojin. He reaches out to him and Noona about his wife falling out of love with him because he's lost... he's confused, he's frustrated and he doesn't understand why or how this could happen. He needs help, he needs advice. What can he do to make it better? All he wants to do is fix it. He is literally reaching out for help in regards to his marriage. This is his life. Nothing else even matters except for Jiwon. He needs to know what to do and how to make it better. He's so desperate to fix it. Moojin chides him for waking him up over his relationship, and all Hyunsoo can say is that he's serious. He feels way more lost than he did after Nam Soongil stabbed him... oh oh my baby... oh honey... my heart is literally BREAKING for you. T_T He's so lost... he's so sad... He even calls Noona for help likely referring to it as an emergency as she comes in to ask what the emergency is... omg. I can't even with this.

Hyunsoo is realizing that he CAN feel things. He may not fully understand nor recognize his emotions and what he's feeling, but he CAN feel. He feels lost. He's hurting because he loves his wife. He needs her. He's so desperate to fix it and make it right. He'll do whatever it takes if it brings her back to him. He's experiencing a broken heart without even realizing that this is what it is. He loves his wife so much that he'll do anything to make it right. Moojin sure can be a cold jerk, but Noona genuinely wants to help her brother because she can see how lost and sad he is. Moojin is also an idiot too when it comes to women. Is he serious right now? I mean, I admit his attempts made me laugh, but c'mon man... You NEVER tell a woman "you have menopause." I'd straight up bitchslap someone if they said that to me.

But Hyunsoo... catch the accomplice? Oh sweetheart... I know you love, Jiwon. I know you need her. I know you don't want to lose her, but the accomplice??? It's not even about finding out who the accomplice is anymore to protect himself... it's about finding the accomplice because it'll make her really happy. Now he's willing to throw himself into serious danger because he believes if he finds the accomplice it'll bring her back to him? Hyunsoo, listen to Noona. She is right. Jiwon is precious to you. You are doing this because Jiwon is precious to you.

And because of Jiwon's harsh and cruel words, you are hurt because those words came from your precious person. Noona speaks words of wisdom. Something that is precious hurts you as time passes by. She's not wrong. Hyunsoo, Jiwon is so precious to you and you are hurting because of that fact. The issue with Jiwon was even more important than telling them you think you know where the sound on the voice recording came from. Because you're hurting. Because that's your wife.

We see him in his car stop from turning the music on, and instead gets his phone and sends his wife a text. "Did you eat something?" Even after her cruelness, he's still concerned for her wellbeing. He scrolls through a series of playful and sweet texts between the two of them, and all he can do is slouch down his seat and close his eyes painfully. This is really affecting him more than he's letting on. It hurts watching him hurt. 

Speaking of hurt, I'm REALLY worried about Haesu... she has very obvious depression and mental illness problems as well. It seems she harbors A LOT of guilt. She killed a man, even though it was in self defense, she still killed a man. And the fact that her brother is taking the blame, like he's always taken the blame for EVERYTHING it seems, that has torn her apart as well, she cries all night long, she doesn't come out of her home for days, she keeps her lights off, and has insomnia... like she tells Moojin. She's broken. And she is. She is broken, Hyunsoo is damaged. Someone for the love of all things cheese please get these siblings some real help and therapy. God knows they need it.

OKAY WOW. WOW. The memory of Hyunsoo with his father at the bar... he recognizes the tattoos on the man's arm, and the PEN. He's started to figure out how he's getting closer and closer to his father's accomplice... When the father brings up giving it as a gift for giving him nice, raw material... does he mean people??? Does he mean the victims??? Is this how Do Minseok was able to get his victims to perform these killings with his accomplice??? Some raw materials that are too risky to obtain himself??? OMG this man is TWISTED. His son asks like what, and all he can do is say he'll wonder what kind of face he'll make if he shows him??? Did Hyunsoo EVER see his father's victims?? Did he ever realize how genuinely screwed up his father was? "When the look in your eyes and your skills are more ripe." HERE IS MORE PROOF THAT HE WAS TRYING TO MOLD AND GROOM HIS SON INTO BEING JUST AS SICK AND TWISTED AS HE WAS. I'M DISGUSTED...

Hyunsoo, I love the lengths you're going to for Jiwon's happiness, I really do, but I don't love this... this is too much. You're getting yourself into some serious danger here that you might not be able to get out of... Sure you could fight off just the one man, who is what... considered a third party to your father and the accomplice? I know you're desperate to find out who it is, but I am really really worried for you... these people are dangerous, considering one is a serial killer's accomplice...

Jiwon and her team come up with a clever plan of trying to get a lead on the accomplice by having her pose as Jung Misook looking for a "job."  So it's essentially a sting operation. I gotta give her props for being able to pull off like she's just some little girl looking for work. Okay, so they're thinking a third party lured the victims for the accomplice, lured them into a trap and then the accomplice took them to Do Minseok so he could torture and murder them, which they're believing the lurer is this woman? Hmmm... a human trafficking business??? So it's those thugs from last week, is it? I'm worried about In Seo, that little boy from the first episode... That situation is very concerning. If they're running a human trafficking business and are selling people, then that little boy is in serious danger, that is if he hasn't been sold already. Hyunsoo, you are bold, baby... very bold. I know you're desperate to find him, but this is not a good situation nor are these good people to involve yourself with...

Okay, so WHO did the real Heeseong need to meet??? He remembers he was going to meet with some person. Is he involved in any of this mess? And now we have the unfather with that phone and the accomplice's phone number in it once more, why?? How are they connected to this??? I'm still trying to figure it out. I gotta think on these two for a bit.

Hyunsoo, you are in a BAD situation and you have GOT to get out of there these men SHOULD NOT know your real identity! They WILL use it against you!!! Jiwon, you're not in a much better situation AT ALL. I do love the parallel of Hyunsoo and Jiwon both going through open doors into a potentially dangerous situation. Is this older woman insane? Wait don't answer that... Jiwon catches her, cuffs her and the crazy lady is trying to climb out the window while cuffed!? Are you in THAT deep that you're trying to climb and jump balconies while cuffed to get away from the cops? And instead of getting away, she falls... yep. She falls. Jiwon leaves just for a moment to open the door for her team, makes an honest mistake, the crazy lady falls and doctors don't know if she'll make it. And you can tell Jiwon is wrecked by this. She doesn't want anyone to die, naturally. Especially because of her.

Now Hyunsoo is bargaining these men with money!? I KNEW he should not have went in there. He was wreckless and TOO confident. They're threatening him, going to give him to the accomplice rather than give the accomplice to him! And poor Jiwon... she's getting yelled at and berated by her boss. Watching her team defend her though was sweet. I love their dynamic and have since the beginning. And then he starts yelling about the Hwang lady dying? Jiwon is already feeling guilty enough as is, Chief... lay off a bit. She's a human being. Even though she's a cop, she's not perfect. She makes mistakes sometimes too. She steps outside and this is how you KNOW she still loves her husband. Because she remembers all the times when she had a hard day and he was there to cheer her up and make her feel better. She opens her phone to all of his texts she's missed.

"Do you feel better?" "I noticed you didn't eat breakfast." "Is there anything you want?" "Why don't we start exercising together?" "Did  you eat something?"

And his last one "Jiwon. I feel so frustrated. I want to talk to you. I can't wait for time to pass by. I want time to pass by... so we can both have the same memories. And eventually, I want to think and feel just like you."

He wants to think like she does, he wants to be able to FEEL in the same manner that she does. He wants to understand. He wants to know how to recognize those feelings, he wants to know how to think like she does. He WANTS to be normal, he WANTS normalcy and he wants his wife to be the one to continue teaching him these things...

And now we're in the flashback again where Jiwon asks Hyunsoo if there's anything he wants from her because she's always receiving from him. Don't tell me for a moment he does not feel anything for this woman, the way he takes her hands in his and says "Don't ever change. You just need to keep loving me like you do right now. All I need is your trust. If you do that for me, I'll live my entire life just for you." Oh my heart... that's why he doesn't want to lose his life he has now, Jiwon. You realize this right??? It's because of YOU.

All she can do is cry and say she misses him. It's okay, Jiwon. I'm crying right along with you because this HURTS.

And now these thugs are beating Hyunsoo up and getting ready to try and drug him!? Oh Hyunsoo... I know you needed some quick thinking here, but telling them you'll be their client too?? Telling them you're just like your father?  AND DID I CALL THIS OR WHAT. These disgusting human disgraces are HUMAN TRAFFICKERS!!! They SELL people!! And then Jiwon calls... she wanted to hear his voice, she had a bad day and he was the first person she thought of. She loves her husband so much and when he answers her replies by saying he's busy, at first it seems cold, but then Jiwon recognizes with those amazing detective instincts of hers that he's in a dangerous situation which is why his replies are so short.

Trust him, just like your flashback of him asking you to trust him. He's not in a safe place right now, and she knows. She knows he's not in a good situation, hence her questioning if he needs assistance... and then she tells him he has one hour to come back to her... she wants him to come back her. No. She NEEDS him to come back to her!! She says "I miss you" to him. And you can see by the subtle flicker in Hyunsoo's eyes that he's moved by her words and now all he wants to do is get to her.

I don't think it's over yet for this couple. I think there's hope for them, because they NEED each other. More than anything. Especially now. I'm so shaken by this episode and ready for tomorrow. Ready. Bring it on. Bring on MORE pain. It's coming. I know it's coming.

[stevensavage]

Creative Paths And Conspiracy

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve's Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

Last post, I stated that conspiracy theories are creative acts, even if they have malicious or pathological motivation. It's essential to realize this because seeing them as such helps us identify and counter them. In this post, I'd like to digress on a bit of history because this will let us look at a useful diagnostic tool.

I had followed conspiracy theories for decades, first out of an interest in the paranormal, then to understand politics and the human condition. From 2015 onward, it became necessary for sheer survival in chaotic times. Over the years, I began to see Conspiracy theories fit specific patterns, and in 2020 I realized the patterns fit my Five Forms of Creativity.

My Five Forms of creativity were a system I'd made to classify the different ways people create. The Five Forms were a tool derived from my work on Seventh Sanctum and had proven useful professionally. I wrote them up in their own book, The Power of Creative Paths, and they appear again in Chance's Muse.

Seeing conspiracy theories slot into this simple system confirmed to me that there was a vital element of creativity in conspiracy thinking.  It also meant analyzing them as such might provide useful insights. This column is a dignified brain-dump of my attempts to do that.

I realize that this is dangerously close to me having a corkboard with random articles connected by red string. I am staying aware of that, and as I've noted, the Five Forms are just a tool for classifying messy reality. But any skepticism isn't merely acknowledged; it's appreciated.

So let's get to the theory.

THE FIVE FORMS OF CREATIVITY:

The five forms of creativity I identified are:

The Combiner – Combiners shuffle familiar ideas around in familiar patterns. This is "madlibs creativity" and the opposite of the Fuser.

The Fuser - Merges ideas, blurring lines and creating something new. Fuser creativity spawns stories of "Time-Travelling Art Thieves," and the opposite of the pattern-driven Combiner.

The Expander - Expanders pile ideas on top of each other in wild yet surprisingly stable structures. You'll see this in parodies and life sim games, and it's the opposite of The Reducer.

The Reducer - Reducers streamline ideas, strip them down, and even create new ideas by removing parts of others. Minimalist music like Devo or The White Stripes are good examples. The opposite of The Expander.

The Mapper - Mappers create by symbolism and metaphor, strange and profound-seeming connections and relations spun together. They are a unique form of creativity and have no opposite.  Grant Morrison's run on The Doom Patrol is a good example.

Now, with a system for classifying creativity, I'd like to attempt to explore what forms of conspiracy theorization appear in each form. With that, we may spot such thinking better and analyze the source or whom the source is imitating.

On to the Brain-dump.

COMBINER

Combiner creativity is madlibs, shuffling words into common patterns to create meaning. It's both syntax and semantics, putting various "trigger" words in distinct orders that lead people to interpret things in certain ways.

In the conspiracy theory world, this is the world of headlines and pithy quotes. "Obama attacks heterosexuality with help of UN" is a joke headline where you could easily swap around a few words to have "Hillary attacks freedom with help of Dr. Fauci." Any time pursuing a trash conspiracy news site exposes you to these headlines, as will breathless tweets.

Combiner creativity usually only speaks to those likely to respond to the patterns and the words invoked. If you see Combiner Conspiracy talk, it's talking to the faithful - probably to manipulate them or show affinity. Except for clumsy efforts to fit in, when you see this kind of creativity used for conspiracy talk, it's by someone who knows what they're doing.

Where I've seen it: Years ago when I jokingly said I could make a conspiracy headline generator. That has haunted me since, as all it would take would be a simple Combiner generator.

FUSER

Fuser creativity is when you combine two ideas into one. It's the novelist that creates a book about "Legal Dramas And AI Lawyers." It's the cook that finds harmony between Indian and Mexican cuisine.

When it comes to conspiracy theories, Fuser creativity is the world of "everything is one." This is when UFOs are vehicles of the Illuminati, or every Lawyer is also part of the Church of Satan. Fuser creativity is a stock in trade of conspiracy thought, and you've probably seen it many times.

Fuser creativity with a conspiratorial bent is usually a good sign you're seeing conspiracy thought. Multiple unrelated elements are said to be the facets of one dark gem of evil. A sign of an active conspiracist - a grifter - is when The Latest Thing In The News gets incorporated into being a facet of the conspiracy theory.

This is similar to the Expander approach, but it's not a "pile on." Instead it's "this is one facet we haven't seen before." It's more nuanced in an area often lacking said nuance.

Where I've seen it: Propagandist news and bottom-feeding grifters, always working the story of the day into a larger theory - and not letting it go.

EXPANDER

Expander creativity is the big pile-on of ideas. This is where you start with "fantasy adventure" and soon have a road trip with two wizards, one of which has a drinking problem, going cross-country to . . . you get the idea. Expander creativity is about distinct ideas cramming together to make wild connections - but you can identify them still.

In conspiracy-land this is common, and more so in the internet age. It's what I've heard called "yes, and" conspiracy thought - where you hear a new idea and toss it into your pile of beliefs. Those giant flowcharts on the internet connecting everything are Expander creativity in action.

It's also the "starter" conspiracy style of belief - also easily witnessed on the internet where you can watch ideas get joined together on Twitter or message boards.

Expander creativity in use is usually the sign of someone either believing anything or trying to control a narrative and incorporate other ideas - to "win" or gain allies or avoid cognitive dissonance.

Where I've seen it: For decades, but I've seen a lot more in the internet age.

REDUCER

Reducer creativity is a rarer creative form, and it's often paired with other types to "reign them in." Reducer creatives can take ideas and remove parts or strip them down to their essence. Though it can seem dull, consider the joy of a precise film that's focused like "Versus" or minimalist music.

In the world of conspiracy, the Reducer approach simplifies ideas to justify conspiracy thought. Middlemen get cut out, inconvenient facts "forgotten," degrees of separation less separated. The messiness of the world gets refined outward for a simpler - and wrong- viewpoint.

Reducer creativity takes talent, and in the conspiracy world, it's used by people who know what they're doing. They ignore inconvenient facts and streamline beliefs. They can take complex headlines and create half-facts. When you see this, someone's probably good at this - and grifting.

Where I've seen it:  In the time of Covid I'd watch conspiracists claim relations among people and groups that existed only if you ignored multiple steps. Seeing simplified worldviews - that were wrong - became obvious to me.

MAPPER

FInally, we get to Mappers. These are the creatives of metaphor and symbolism, and rethinking. It's "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou" and the Odyssey, or characters who represent the Seven Deadly Sins, or a book loaded with iconography. It's unusual, mystical -and surprising.

In the conspiracy world, this is the symbol-hunters' creativity, always looking for hidden meanings. They'll become concerned about the color of a star's shoes or that the sign on a pizza restaurant looks Satanic. They'll see connections among the unrelated as they're able to bring symbols and metaphors together to explain the nonexistent.

Mapping creativity doesn't stand out one way or another because it is a standard part of conspiracy thought. I usually see it everywhere - it varies more by degree than anything else. Worries about the symbolism of gold fringe on a flag may seem simple, but it's not much different than finding Moloch in toy advertisements.  

Where I've seen it: Well, everywhere.

CONCLUSIONS

That's my attempt to see if my Forms of Creativity provide a useful way to identify conspiracy theories and thoughts. And honestly, I think there's something there. It's easy to map them, the mappings are distinct, and there's some diagnostic advantage.

Because this maps so well, this strengthens my belief that conspiratorial thinking can be seen as a creative act. It's likely I'll explore this more in the future.

But next, I'd like to discuss motivations and creativity - taking the view that conspiracy thinking is a creative act, it what it means for common motivations.

Steven Savage

www.StevenSavage.com

www.InformoTron.com

[cheersmak]

Dystopia in a Lifetime

In 2014, BP analyzed how much oil the world had left in its reserves, and it came up with a number: 53.3 years left. However, that was using numbers of current consumption rates of oil, 5 years ago—and as the human population increases, the number of cars, homes, businesses all increase, so does use of oil, and our time left shrinks.

Assume this has nothing to do with climate change. Let’s keep this as little politically charged as possible. The only question on everyone’s mind should be, what’s it matter? For some people, 53.3 years, or less, means it won’t matter: they will have maxed out their time here, and won’t be around. For others, it means that in a singular lifetime, they will see a shortage of crude oil.

But what does that really mean?

Take a minute to imagine in a present day Earth, what that might look like. Try to list off in your head what would happen if the last drop of oil was pumped from the Earth’s crust, and the next day, there wasn’t anything left.

You may be thinking, ‘this is difficult, I don’t really know what crude oil is used for other than my car. How bad could that be?’ And you wouldn’t be alone! For those of you struggling to imagine what might occur, default back to the old power grid failure theory that circulated a couple years ago—one where the power lines suddenly failed, disconnected from society without internet, electricity, and more.

Now let’s amp it up. Oil is used for almost everything in modern day society. No oil, no electricity. No oil, no heat, no air conditioning, no lights, no modern cooking, no fridge, no chilled food at the store, no tv, no phone, no internet, and more! No oil, no driving, no job, no store, no doctor, no pharmacy, no restaurant, no bank, no credit card, and what’s worse: no food transportation, no bank, no circulation of any goods, including no mail, and no money from the reserves etc: only a matter of time before it’s worthless green fabric anyway, right?

The world would look dark, disconnected, and lonely without our number one dependent as a society. 53.3 years - or really, 48.3 or less years from now, your life seems a little barbaric, right?

But what can we do?

Well, we have 2 options, and only 2 options. The first, we can take our chances, wait until the last minute, last second, and let the world turn back time to some preindustrial era. We can then worry about getting people smart enough places in order to try to make a change, however without any transport, it seems bleak. Option 2, requires us to prepare. It requires us to be problem solvers, and to slowly, in the cradle of oil, while we have it to rely on, find a means of escaping its grasp. It is possible, for us to do so. Humanity has managed to go to the moon, send and study far away planets, picture a black hole, build the entirety of the internet, computers, phones to pagers to flip phones to smart phones, all in what has been less than a hundred year journey. We have the brains, we just need the motivation and thirst to do something, which starts with someone brave enough to spark a movement, and gather just enough support behind making alternate energy a reality, instead of just a dream.

In short, humanity has two options, we can accept these terms, or we can do something about it. Are you going to let the lack of innovation seal your coffin, your children’s coffins, or are you going to do something about it?