#But-- who's Ben? I don't think I've heard of them until now

[cosmic0de]

ooohhh Okay actually this is making me think a lot of the different directions this could end up going (this is speculation based on what I know of your characters, obviously I probably got a decent amount of things wrong lmao) Firn, given he does seem to have knowledge of royals-- oh that could be eventful. Bros got a mutant kid and a royal kid finds out. What if the royal kid goes and tells the parents? "There's a cannibalistic mutant and I know where they are," that'll probably scare Firn, at least to a degree, and maybe Coati too.

Then Truthseeker getting into any of it-- "Your friends with a mutant who's dad goes around and kills mutant hunters... like me. Your friend's dad might kill me." Or "You met a CANNIBALISTIC DRAGONET who's dad ALSO KILLS? MUTANT HUNTERS? Dude why do you have to make friends with other dragons with murderous fathers. Why are there murderous fathers." OR "Oh cool you made friends with mutants. Why. You know I am like.. supposed to kill them. I'm supposed to kill your friends Morganite. I have to live up to the expectations of my parents to kill." Which could go to A) "Okay I'm not going to kill your friends" B) "Lmfao okay ig GG to these mutants, thanks for making them easy targets" (Which may result in Morganite saying "WTF" and arguing, which in turn may raise eyebrows at the royal family) C) Royalty gets involved and somehow protection is placed over the mutants, or, Morganite is taken away from them And with Morganite in general.. honestly, regardless of route, the most likely outcome with them, to me, is starting a war. If they make friends with mutants and the royal family accepts them for that/changes their minds about mutants-- the other kingdoms aren't going to be happy. (Especially the Icewings, given Morganite is part Icewing and yada yada it makes them look bad or something) If they make friends with mutants and the royal family doesn't approve and kicks Morganite out, the other kingdoms are likely going to be wary of the Skywings from that point forward, and high tensions can give way to violence. If Morganite doesn't end up liking mutants and getting the royal family involved, that could result in an actual Mutant vs. Non-Mutant war vs. what's going on now OR, if B happens with Truthseeker and Morganite ends up arguing, that might lead to violence within the kingdom-- "The Hybrid doesn't mean anything c'mon dude" vs. "The royal family may like the mutants we need to get rid of them, why else would one argue with a hunter?"

My friend's characters run around my head rent free

[afro-hispwriter]

The Diamond Queen

Soldier Boy/Ben x f!supe!reader

Summary- you loved Soldier Boy, but he almost killed your brother which made you erase him completely from your life… until he pops back up

Warning- A LOT OF DIALOGUE, ooc ben(slighty), mentions of 9/11

wc- 1.5k+

-

"I think I know who can help us find this weapon." Says Annie and everyone turns to her. 

"Who?" Asks MM.

"Diamond Queen." 

"Noir's twin sister?" Butcher asks and takes a step forward while squinting his eyes. "Nobody's heard from her since 9/11 when she redirected the plane that was intended to hit the Pentagon." 

"Yeah, she is a national hero for that b-but im sorry what does she have to do with Soldier Boy? I mean Noir is her brother and all so she had to have met him at some point but I don't see how she could help." Says Hughie. 

"She can help us because she was Soldier Boy's fiancé."  Maeve's voice pierces through the air and they all look at her. 

"What about Crimson Countess?" Asks Frenchie. 

"All an act by Vought, just like when me and Homelander were together," Maeve responds. 

"This is huge why are we just finding out about this?" Hughie asks in complete shock. MM sighs and cracks his knuckles. 

"Because. Don't think the world or really Vought wanted to see the Golden Son with a black woman, even if she is a supe." 

"Vought doesn't mess with her, they give her what she wants and leave her alone, in turn, she won't mind control all of them and tell them to jump off a building." Maeve finishes and Kimiko taps Frenchies shoulder and signs,

Who's Diamond Queen?

"Oh yes. Uh her name is Y/n L/n, her skin turns to Diamonds so it makes makes her impenetrable. But when she isn't diamonds her skin is like Translucents. Her telepathy is dangerous, it's even rumored that she could control every mind in New York and make them do her bidding. As for her telekinesis, it's strong enough to stop a crashing plane coming at full speed." Frenchie whispers to Kimiko and she takes in every word.

They knew they needed the weapon that killed Soldier Boy but they were underpowered and getting desperate. So they all collectively agreed that Diamond Girl was their best chance.

"Now let's go pay the telepath a visit?" 

-

You sensed a large group of people the second they stepped foot on your property. You had a nice house on your own property, a courtesy from Vought

Three were normal, two were supes, and one who you couldn't get a grip of what you were sensing. Their thoughts were loud.

What if she's dead?

What if she doesn't even want to hear us out and makes us slit our throats for even asking? It wouldn't be the first time.

What if she wasn't engaged to Soldier Boy? 

The mention of your old lover made you drop the dish you were washing. There was no way they could know about that. You felt like you couldn't move like you were trapped in your mind. You were brought out of it due to the loud banging on your door. You wiped your hands on your pants and shakily walked to the door. 

You opened the door and the man you instantly knew as William Butcher appeared. 

"William Butcher." You looked at him and them behind him. "Hugh Campbell. Marvin Milk. Starlight. I've seen you all on TV but I don't know your names." You pointed at the man and the Asian girl, with the slightest twitch of your eye. You smiled. "Serge, or Frenchie, and you are Kimiko." 

"Fascinating." Says Frenchie and crosses his arms. 

"What do you want?" You ask and swallow, already knowing the answer. 

"We need your help," Hughie says and you bit your inner cheek. 

"You don't need me." You say and start to close the door but Butcher stops it

"We have a plan to take down Homelander." At the mention of the man's name, your breath hitches. 

"Nobody can kill Homelander." 

"That's the same thing they said about your fiancé's love." You froze and your jaw slacked. 

"H-How did y-you-." 

"I know a lot do things, just like I know that you know your lover didn't just die from a nuclear bomb." You glare at the Australian before opening the door and walking away. They took the invitation to come in and all piled in your house. You sat down and looked at the kitchen and swirled your fingers. Everyone watched a tray lift and cups move out of the cupboard. From there the refrigerator opened and a water filter came out and started filling up the cups.

"Why do you want from me?" 

"We need you to work your magic and get us to Russia." Says Butcher and a small tray with a teakettle a cup and an assortment of teas floated towards him.

"What's in Russia?" There was a deep breath that came from Annie.

"The weapon that killed Soldier Boy."

"I can find minds, not weapons." The tray of cups of water set itself on the coffee table and everyone grabbed one, besides Butcher. 

"We need your mind magic and get us to Russia." MM chimes in.

"How?"

"There is a woman who I have a history with. Bad history. She can get us a plane to Russia but she is proving to be a bit difficult." Frenchie responds.

"What's in it for me?" 

"Justice for your former future hubby." You let out a loud scoff before chuckling, confusing everyone there. 

"You think I want justice for that son of a bitch after what he did?" They all looked at each other not knowing what to think. "I'll do this to help you kill Homelander, me and Noir talk so I know what he does. But not for Soldier Boy."

"Well just as long as it gets done, I don't care who you're doing it for." 

-

You got 'Little Nina' to arrange a plane for 'The Boys' as they have been calling themselves. 

You kept this deal away from your brother, making sure that he wouldn't find out about Butcher or the others being at your house. 

After Noir's 'accident' and he lost his ability to talk. You had built a connection between the two of you so you could communicate wherever you were(as long as both of you were in an acceptable range) and whenever. 

Quite literal Twin Telepathy. 

You watched The Boys begin to board the plane. You had to make sure everything went smoothly with Little Nina's men. But just as you were about to leave, Hughie stopped you.

"Hey Diamond Queen, can I ask you a personal question?"

"Oh, Hughie please don't call me that, that name and life is behind me. And no you may not but I know you are regardless." 

"Oh sorry. Well, I just wanted to know what Soldier Boy did to you that made you hate him so much?" You crossed your arms and swallowed. 

"He did something unforgivable and after he disappeared, sure I was sad but it opened my eyes to see how much of a dick he really was. Good luck to you all." 

-

You haven't heard anything from any of The Boys since they left and it's already been a couple of days. You couldn't deny that getting brought back to anything Ben-related gave you memories. The good and the bad. 

You had almost nothing left from Ben from your time together. Just a small box of pictures and tickets from events you had gone to together. Anything else that was his was given to The Legend, including your engagement ring. 

Queenie, your Sphinx cat jumped onto the couch with you and crawled onto your lap. She purred and stretched, digging her nails into your thigh. You brought your hand behind her ears and started to scratch them, letting her blue eyes slowly close. 

"Ben would've hated you." You said with a smile. 

-

You're not sure how you missed someone walking onto your property. The knocking on your door startled you. You sent Queenie to her hiding spot and walked up to the door and peeked through the peephole. 

It was just Hughie and Butcher. You let out a sigh of relief and opened the door.

"Hey, what's-."

"Hey, beautiful." The voice that interrupted you made you freeze. You slowly turned your head to the man and your jaw tightened. 

“Ben?” Hughie and Butcher stepped back as Ben stepped forward. You looked up at him and your eyes started going glossy. “How are you here?” 

“Those guys.” Ben pointed over to the two men who were off to the side. “I thought about you every day. I was worried you were gone after all this time and holy hell baby you’re still as beautiful as the day I lost you.” Ben’s hands found themselves on your face and his thumbs wiped away your tears. You let out a shuddering breath and your hands found themselves on his chest.

Ben started to lean in but he felt his body get launched back. He went through the porch railings and tumbled through the grass until he hit a tree.

“WHAT THE FUCK.” 

-

A/n- omg everyone I actually WROTE AND FINISHED SOMETHING😭

[dyns33]

Halloween

Here a little rz Michael Myers x reader for Halloween !

Of course Y/N had heard of Michael Myers.

Not because she was a fan of sordid news stories, but because his had appeared in the middle of all the search results associated with that name when she had typed it online, after receiving the name of her soulmate.

Y/N had read the story. She had seen the photos of a young Michael, ten years old, who had killed his stepfather, his sister and her boyfriend.

But there were other Michael Myers in the world. It wasn't a very common name, but there were several.

So she considered it possible that he wasn't her Michael.

Why would fate have linked her to a killer ? According to his psychiatrist, he was evil. He had killed a nurse at the asylum, for no reason. He was very dangerous, he had no soul, no consideration for others, no love to give.

Y/N hadn’t read Doctor Loomis’ book. She had read enough, and she didn't want to think about this story anymore, moving on with her life and waiting to meet her soulmate.

The name of the asylum should have been familiar to her when her friend Daryl told her about it, but she wasn't really listening to that part. A childhood friend had suffered a violent breakdown, attacking his neighbors, and now he was locked up there.

"His family isn't going to see him from what I've heard. No one is going to see him. I thought… I thought it would be nice to visit him ? If you want to come ?"

She wasn't as close to Ben as she was to Daryl, but Y/N agreed, because it was indeed a charitable act, and if something similar happened to her, she hoped someone would do the same for her, not leaving her alone in such a place

. Everything was going pretty normally. Ben was calm, helped by his treatment and visibly happy to see them. Sitting together in a sort of drab canteen, they were chatting, while other patients were outside, tied to pedestals in the middle of a courtyard.

Y/N didn’t pay attention to them at first. Then a doctor rushed into the room, going towards the windows until he reached the one next to their table. He then turned towards them, then back towards the window, before settling his gaze on Y/N.

"It's you."

"… What ?"

“It’s you he’s looking at.” the doctor murmured as if fascinated.

Not understanding what he was talking about, Y/N looked at him for a long time, then at the window. No one seemed as agitated as the doctor. Everything seemed normal.

There was only this giant man, with long dirty blonde hair and an orange mask, who was turned in her direction. He actually seemed to be looking at her, but Y/N didn’t see why. She wasn't even sure if he could really see her from where he was.

The doctor had started talking again as she looked at the huge patient, but she wasn't listening. She only came back into the room when he placed a hand on her shoulder, which made her jump. Very slightly, almost imperceptibly, this also seemed to irritate the patient on the other side of the window.

"I know he's very impressive, don't look at him. Look at me. What's your name ?"

“Uh… Y/N, but I…”

"Y/N ? Y/N Y/L/N ?"

"Yes, why ?"

The doctor seemed crazy. As crazy as the patients. He looked at her like she was one of them, while Ben and Daryl were completely lost.

Not Y/N. She didn't need to read the doctor's name to understand his reaction, nor to guess how he knew hers. Even if he had never given it in his interviews or in his book, Doctor Loomis must have known the name of his favorite patient's soulmate.

The patient was still in the courtyard, watching them intently, his fists clenched.

But that didn't make sense, because he had no way of knowing who she was. They had never seen each other before, and she hadn't given her name at the door, just following Daryl. It was unlikely that Ben would have talked about her.

"He knows a lot of things. Would you like to talk to him ?" asked the doctor.

Y/N decided in that moment that he was really crazy. He could have reassured her, apologized, given her explanations, but his first instinct was to want to organize a meeting, to study Michael's reactions. Nothing else mattered.

She wanted to refuse. This didn't seem like a good idea. She could still leave and pretend she didn't understand what was happening and run away from here, never to return. But even without looking at him, she felt the eyes hidden behind the orange mask on her.

She had the feeling that his eyes would follow her everywhere from now on.

It was after she had given her consent that Doctor Loomis seemed to consider that he should promise her that she would not risk anything. Michael hadn't had an accident in years, he would be tied up, and several guards would be in the room, he wouldn't hurt her.

Very reassuring.

Michael Myers was already chained to a chair when she entered. The doctor invited her to sit opposite him.

It was hard to watch him. Not because he was huge, and scary, and weird with his mask. No, it was hard to think that her soulmate was right there, and that this would be the only interaction they would ever have, her tetanized on one side of the table, and him tied up on the other.

“Michael, do you know who this person is ?” the doctor began with a soft voice, too soft, as if he were speaking to a child.

"He knows." Y/N answered for him, still feeling his eyes on her.

She didn't turn to Loomis when he looked at her in surprise, wanting to know why she said that, how she could know. It was hard to escape those eyes.

"Good. So Michael, we often talked about Y/N when you were a kid. You couldn't wait to meet her. How do you feel today ?"

The scene was as sad as it was painful. It was obvious that Michael wouldn't speak. He hadn't spoken in years. But the doctor insisted, again and again, asking him lots of questions, making stupid remarks.

Then he wanted Y/N to speak. She didn't know what to say. She had often imagined this moment, but the meeting never happened like this. What could she say to Michael ?

"I'm sorry." was the only thing that came to her mind.

Michael didn't move, but she thought she saw something in his eyes. Loomis was not pleased, putting a hand on her shoulder to shake her and force her to say more.

As soon as his fingers touched her, Michael was on his feet, his chair falling behind him and his chains making a dangerous noise, indicating that they could break at any moment if he pulled on them a little more. The guards pointed their weapons at him, but the doctor ordered them not to move, immediately withdrawing his hand.

"Sorry, Michael. I didn't mean to make you angry. But it's very good. You reacted, it's very good. We'll do it again another day."

Y/N had no intention of doing it again another day. She didn't tell the doctor even though he asked her to leave the room.

As she passed him, Michael grabbed her hand. The guards were tense again, and the doctor became a bit more panicked, asking his patient to remain calm and not do anything stupid.

He could have hurt her badly. Y/N knew it, and that was why she had the intelligence to b afraid. But he didn't squeeze hard, just holding her hand so she would stay a bit longer, breathing hard and movingas close as possible to her despite his chains.

"… I'm sorry." she repeated, freeing herself and leaving quickly.

She hadn't given Loomis her number or address. Ben had understood that she did not want to be contacted by the doctor, promising not to give any information about her. He didn't like the doctor anyway. He had no way of finding her.

There was only one thing Y/N had forgotten. If the doctor couldn't, Michael could. He knew a lot of things, even though it seemed impossible.

He had known right away who she was, and now that his eyes had landed on her, he wouldn't leave her.

As she could not be contacted, no one called to tell her he had escaped. The media had not yet been alerted, so that the population would not panic for nothing.

Maybe Y/N could have had a doubt, noting that it was Halloween. Michael Myers was killing on Halloween night.

However, she wasn't as surprised as she might have been when she found a man in her living room. Huge, with a white mask and a mechanic's outfit. Staying in a dark corner, breathing hard and staring at her.

It was harder to see his eyes with this mask, but she could feel them. It had been over a month since they met, but she hadn't forgotten that feeling. She had often dreamed of him, waking up with a start, because these dreams often turned into nightmares.

Y/N had no idea if that would be the case now.

"… Good evening Michael." she said slowly, staying near the door.

He didn't answer. She didn't expect him to answer, so she didn't ask questions, even though she wanted to know what he wanted, if he was going to hurt her, kill her, or worse.

He didn't have a knife. It didn't mean anything, his huge hands were like weapons.

A sob escaped her without her realizing it, and Michael tilted his head to the side, watching the tear that ran down her cheek.

Then he approached with a slow step, a deceptive step, because Y/N knew very well that she couldn't escape him and that if she tried to flee, he would catch her without difficulty.

Trembling, she watched him stand in front of her, his hand touching her face to wipe away the tear. The gesture was almost gentle, like when he had stopped her in the asylum.

Maybe Loomis wasn't entirely wrong, maybe he wouldn't hurt her. The only person in the world he didn't want to hurt.

“Sorry…” she said again stupidly, continuing to tremble.

In response, he gently patted her head in a reassuring gesture, indicating that he was not angry. He must have known the effect he had on people.

He then put his hand in the pocket of his suit and took out something which he handed to her. A candy. Michael only seemed satisfied when she accepted it and put it in her mouth.

Then he left through the back door, without a word.

It was Halloween night. He had things to do.

Then maybe he would come back for her.

Y/N didn’t know. She didn't know whether to call the asylum or the police. He was a killer, a dangerous madman, the devil, the boogeyman you couldn't escape, but also her soulmate. The one she had waited for her whole life.

So she remained motionless in the living room, crying until she was exhausted, and heard the sound of the door opening again.

[saturnzskyzz]

This is mainly a ficlet until I write more of the actual fanfic about this show.. I have so many ideas, it's insane.

Family reunion

Lee: Ben

Ler: Bumpy

Summary

Ben reunites with Bumpy. As both were excited to see each other, bumpy couldn't help her excitement. Let's say that Ben gets a tickly warm welcome.

Warning

Tickling

・divider credits・

Gray

Heartbeat

"Ah! Bumpy! I can't believe it, haha!" Ben says, excited to see his Dino friend, running around the open field not far out from Sammy's place.

Ever since their rescue from the stranded island, the gang had been off to do their own thing for a while. But since they all collectively decided to live on the island, where work was made to get the island "dinosaur free" in a safely manner, they've been collectively working on themselves, and what they were wanting to do and pursue for the rest of their lives.

But since the hunt; Ben, Darius, and soon Sammy, will have to get on the road before the "hunters" get to them.

As much as Darius and Ben were in a hurry-still hadn't told Sammy because of her cut-in small talk. They were dragged into seeing Sammy's surprise out back, near her little farm area.

And a surprise it was!

"Ah! Ahaha, Buhuhumpy! H-hohohold on now gihirl!" Ben giggled. He lightly tried to bat away Bumpy's face as she muzzled into Ben, who was currently laying on the floor due to Bumpy pushing him over in excitement.

"Awee! Look at them! I've never seen Bumpy happier until this very moment!" Sammy said, squealing in excitement. She stared at them in awe, filled with happiness that the two were finally reunited. It's been hard trying to get Bumpy all the way out to her home, but luckily she had managed.

"Wow! H-how did you do it, Sammy?! This is amazing!" Darius said, looking at her with a shocked expression.

"Oh, it was nothin'! As long as our dear friend is happy, there ain't no story to tell." Sammy said, smiling her worries away.

Bumpy made a sound of happiness, as she dug more into Ben's neck and chest, still trying to get the excitement wiggles out of herself.

"Ehehehaha! Ihihi'm hahahappy to sehehee you tohoo, buhumper cahar!" Ben gave Bumpy some loving pets to the head, as he tried to signal Bumpy to let up on the nuzzling because of how ticklish it was for him.

"Ohohokay girl! Thahat's ehenough- plehehease!" Ben tried to wiggle out of her grasp, momentarily causing his beanie to slip off his head-but it seemed that she wasn't letting up anytime soon. She knew that Ben was happy in this moment, and if her nuzzling is signaling her any sight of happiness from Ben, then she continued.

When Ben figured out that Bumpy wasn't letting up anytime soon, he settled to just wing it out until Bumpy was satisfied.. Unfortunately he doesn't think that's going to happen anytime soon.

As for Sammy and Darius, taking in the wholesome scene, they were both astonished by how happy the two seemed to be. Almost like they haven't seen them this happy in a long time..

"Ihi don't think I've seen bumpy this happy to see Ben before.. Nor have I heard that laugh from Ben in a looong time!" Darius remarked, showing a bit of empathy. Sure, they've had their fun before, where Ben would let loose and be himself, but it wasn't the type of happiness that he's been known to see as for when Ben is around Bumpy. He's really got a soft spot for the dinosaur..

"Guhuhuys, ahaha lihihittle help,, plehehease?!" Ben asked, overwhelmed of the situation now. He kicked his legs to accidentally show how much the nuzzling has gotten to him, as he still tried to get Bumpy to stop with the affectionate Nuzzling as he seemed that laying limp wasn't actually going to do anything.

"Ohokay! Okay! C'mon Darius, let's help the poor soul out of his ticklish agony." Sammy said, jogging up to Ben and Bumpy.

"Ohon it!" Darius halfly shouted out, now jogging up to them as well.

. . .

If you want to be tagged in any chaos theory fics, let me know! :]

[mercurygray]

Still working on the 'rules' of this end of the universe, but I think we're getting a good start on The Darkening Sky: MOTA.

"Looks like we've got a couple of ladies around," Gale said, lightly curious as a couple of the ground crews zipped by in jeeps, all chapped faces and pigtails.

"Lousy with 'em," Egan reported, sounding none too pleased about it. "Air crew, ground crew, weatherwomen. I wish that Warren woman had fucking stayed home."

"You know she's from Wyoming?" Gale said, mostly to DeMarco. "Her grandfather was the state governor."

"I don't care if he was the goddamn president of the United States," Egan interjected angrily. "Having women over here ain't helping us do shit."

"What's this - John Egan has a bad opinion of the fairer sex?" Gale could only smile. "John, has someone hurt you since I've seen you last?"

"No," Egan said, though he still sounded mighty sore about it. "We've got a lady looey running the control tower who's a goddamn pain in my ass."

Gale exchanged a look with DeMarco and raised his eyebrows, and DeMarco grinned back. Oh, so that's how it is.

Egan began to drive them back, giving them the tour as they went - runway, taxiway, hard stands - and finally the control tower, checkerboarded against the sky. Egan parked the jeep and took the stairs two at a time up to the observation level. There were four women, stationed inside the glasshouse, each of them wearing headsets and watching the runway from their stations. The single woman standing turned around and glimpsed the three of them through the glass, her neutral face deepening into a frown before she excused herself and stepped outside to the tower's observation deck. (She looked like she was ready to run interference, the way she was standing between Egan and the door.)

But Egan, it seemed, was ready, his hands already up, "Don't shoot, I'm just giving the new fellows a tour. Buck, Ben, this Lieutenant Callaway, our Control Officer. Lieutenant Callaway, this is Major Gale Cleven, and Captain Benny DeMarco."

The lieutenant nodded, keeping her arms firmly crossed over her chest. She was around their age, with dark hair pulled back into a tight roll and was wearing trousers - practical, probably, for the wind they got up here. She had a way of standing that told Buck that she was not in the business of being easily moved - and staring down John with an expression that could only mean that the pain in the ass feeling was mutual. "Sir."

"Does Lieutenant Callaway have a first name, or do you just not feel like being neighborly with it?" Gale asked, trying to be pleasant, looking between the two of them with faint but growing interest.

"It's Cordelia, but I think Lieutenant will be just fine, for now, Major."

Gale nodded, filing that away with John's earlier remarks. "Heard and acknowledged, Lieutenant. Nice to put a face with a voice after the landing. Looking forward to working with you."

Callaway nodded, and returned to her post, though she continued glancing over her shoulder until she was convinced they were all really leaving.

"She seems nice," DeMarco ventured, glancing again at Cleven as they headed down the stairs and back to Egan's jeep.

Egan scoffed. "Nice, ha. She's a goddamn iceberg. Had me written up for handing out a few compliments to her crew one night - said I was unprofessional, and a threat to group morale."

"The way you go through girls, Bucky, you would be," DeMarco said with a grin. "They take stuff like that personally, you know."

Egan rolled his eyes. "Remind me why the hell I'm friends with you jokers?" He looked at the two of them and scowled at two very knowledgeable smiles. "Oh, get out of my jeep. You're walking back." He picked up Gale's flight bag and pitched it out of the front seat, giving DeMarco just enough time to grab his before he'd shifted the jeep into gear and roared off on his own.

"He'll be fine in an hour," Gale predicted, hefting his flight bag back over his shoulder so that he and Benny could continue their long walk back down the airfield towards the dispersal huts and crew quarters.

DeMarco watched the jeep disappear down the runway and scoffed. "So how long do you think he's wanted to fuck her?"

Gale grinned, entertained that it was that obvious to someone else, too. "Since the minute they met, I think." And I get the sense she's not the kind to fall for easy charm.

--

If you liked meeting Cord, you'll love reading more about 'that Warren woman' who is currently in my Band of Brothers fanfic The Darkening Sky. You can read the whole thing on AO3.

[fandoomrants]

FINAL THOUGHTS ON TUA S4/TUA IN GENERAL

First of all, I can't believe I make this account because of this show and waited excitedly for 2 years only to feel so numb right now...

Unlike some people I didn't hate season 3. Season 2 is still my favourite but 3 wasn't that bad, just a bit odd. And there were many directions where things could have went.

Mostly spoiler-free, for season 4 I can say:

-It did answer some long awaited answers but I feel like it didn't answer everything, some things were just vague mentions, and it also created more questions.

-I feel like either some actors were busy, or didn't want to return, because there were characters I expected to see but they were either not mentioned, or vaguely addressed, which was disappointing.

-The ending somewhat wasn't terrible, I have always assumed something like that might have to happen, yet I hated how by the time it did, all the characters were so ruined that I couldn't feel even a bit bad for most.

Now, I'll get into some more details about the things I liked, and the ones I didn't.

Spoilers ahead:

Things I DIDN'T LIKE:

-I already ranted a lot about this in my comments while watching but - Five and Lila! I like(d?) both characters and I thought the journey they had from constantly fighting enemies to reluctant allies to friends who relied on each other, was great. Loved their scenes in the beginning of episode 5.... And then wanted to jump out of somewhere. The thing is, I don't exactly hate the way it happened. I hate the fact that it 1) happened when Lila was already with Diego, and had THREE kids with him, that was basically cheating, and 2) the fact that in the end, it didn't bring anything to the plot. Diego and Five fought almost until the end, and it was uncalled for. It didn't bring the characters' development anything. It turned Lila into a cheater and Five.... Well, I've said before that I didn't see him as aro/ace like some other people, but I didn't see anything that this brought for him. I just think they worked better platonically altogether, because they went a long way and nothing suggested anything between them.

And this also leads to...

-Diego and Lila. For me, they were sorta relationship goals. They were constantly bickering and fighting but it was their thing. They were on the border of toxic sometimes but somehow managed to stick together. So how did this happen?! It could have went a whole another way. Diego realised he really loved her and wanted to be with her. I think that I would have accepted it if she and Five had kissed or something, and she had realised she loves Diego too, and returned to him, but no. In the end, it's unclear what she even feels for him.

-Lack of interactions between Klaus and Ben. Okay, I know this isn't the OG Ben Klaus spent years with, but in s3, Klaus was the one who constantly tried to reach out to him and convince the others to give him a chance. Now, nothing. Luther was the one who interacted with him and looked after him, and then later Viktor. I get it that Klaus had other stuff on his head but it was a weird development, and it felt even a bit OOC.

-The lack of closure to some characters relationships altogether. Ben... Just turned into a monster with Jennifer, didn't get the chance to interact with the rest again. Ray was mentioned to have "walked away", Allison never mentioned him. She spent the whole season 3 ranting like mad, now only Klaus said a word. We didn't even get to learn what happened exactly. And in this universe, was Claire his daughter or no?! Also. Luther literally mentioned Sloane once. Never heard about her again. Like, maybe he had searched for her but it wasn't mentioned at all. Dave also wasn't mentioned even once. Sissy wasn't mentioned. Now, I know all if these characters were from other timelines but they were loved by the Umbrellas, and in previous seasons, they mentioned them, and wanted to find them. Now, not one mention... Even the Sparrows were barely mentioned. Nobody mentioned Pogo. Or OG Grace (well, the robot one they called "mum". Not the real one from the 60ies). I just feel like these were left as some plot holes. I get that the last two weren't exactly needed here, but there could have been at least a mention. They were from the original timeline, the siblings had spend their whole lives with them.

-Gene and Jean. I get it. Every season has some "villain" character(s), but I just really disliked these two for some reason. Won't even elaborate.

-Not even one dance, except for Gene and Jean. All seasons had at least one iconic dance.

-The music, now, I won't complain too much about it, but all seasons had some great songs. Here we had them too, but we mostly listened to Baby Shark, which was hilarious but also a bit weird.

-No epic battle scenes. Well, Luther and Diego had something of the sort, but the end battle was pretty lame, imo.

-They got back their powers, and some of them had new powers too, but it was all unexplained. What happened with Lila, what were these laser eyes?! Also, Allison got new powers, never used the old ones again (I kinda get it, tho). Klaus.... Presumably got the floating? Which was supposed to be a thing in general? But in any case, none of this was explained! I thought at first that they got the powers some of the other children like them had but we didn't learn that. Also, Diego, Luther, Viktor, Five, Ben didn't get any new powers. Diego did something weird at one point but his whole thing was controlling flying objects and I don't count it. And Five's arriving at the station isn't exactly a new power. Ben's was a result of touching Jennifer. Nothing new for them, otherwise.

-Speaking of getting back their powers, no epic battle and all, here's another thing. In s2, in the beginning, and then the end, it was epic! They were all fighting with all they had, unlocking new ways to fight and all. I believe they were at their peak. Five also managed to get a few seconds back in time, Klaus was able to control armies of ghosts. Here, none of that. They were pretty weak. And maybe it was a side effect of just getting their powers back, but it was disappointing. Klaus didn't go back to alcohol and drugs, yet he only saw one ghost of a random guy, then a dog. They could have made the ending at least a bit more epic.

-In the end, the Umbrellas ceased to exist but.... What about the rest of the special children?! This Ben wasn't even from the Umbrella Academy. And ok, in the end, only these got their powers back in this timeline but surely, the thing with the branching timelines must apply to all 40-something. So how only 7 gave up their powers in one universe, and things got back to normal?

-All in all, the weird pacing and vibe. It wasn't as serious as season one, or chaotic as season 2 and 3. There were barely moments that made me truly laugh, and some characters were OOC. And some didn't really get to achieve anything. Viktor, with his whole plan on helping Ben, achieved nothing. Five kinda ruined his brother's family. Klaus... He also didn't achieve anything, in the end Allison saved him yet again. And while it was cute, it also was, I feel, a step back from his characterisation because he was shown as quite adaptive and able to get away from a bad situation. Allison pretty much only saved Klaus. Diego had a family drama, but nothing much. Luther.... He was just there. Ben's arc was ok but I hated how little time he had with the rest, in the end, he never got to feel as part of the team, and Lila just... Ruined her family for someone who is both around 20 years older and 20 years younger than her at the same time.

-This one is pretty much for humour purposes but - Luther without pants way too much!

-I feel like I must be forgetting something but I'll just move on to...

Things I LIKED:

-Claire having much more screen time and actually being a developed character, rather than just someone staying there for the sake of Allison!

-Claire and Allison, and especially Claire and Klaus's relationship! I feel like Klaus would be good with kids, and even change his ways because of them. (He sorta did, despite walking away at one point. I like to think that spending time with Allison and Claire helped him get clean.)

-Allison and Klaus! I mentioned in another post that I've noticed that they were closer even in season 1, where they interact much less hostile and with more fondness that with the rest of their family, in flashbacks he comforts her when they get their tattoos, etc. And then, of course, their reunion in s2. In s3, we didn't get much of them but I loved them in s4.

-Allison and Viktor taking care of each other! These two had some really rocky relationship throughout all of the seasons but they still cared for each other in a way that was different than the rest. They had the true sibling bond but I think by the end, they also learned to be friends.

-Viktor in general. The only character that didn't once irritate me with a decision he made. I feel sorta sorry for him because he seemed to care for everyone. Allison, after all she did, Ben, although this isn't the one he knew. He got to clear things with this version of Reginald, too. Generally loved him here.

-Now I'm a bit bitter-sweet about that, seeing how things developed but, Lila and Diego's daughter named Grace!

-Even more bitter-sweet, and tiny bit hippocratic but Lila and Five, before that one development in ep 5. They could have truly had a good and normal PLATONIC bond.

-Allison, somewhat. She's one of my least favourite characters, especially after season 3, tho she wasn't my fave before that either but here I liked her.

-Luther somehow didn't irritate me either, although I didn't like him much too, before.

-Klaus has always been my favourite and even though I didn't quite like all that happened, I liked his development, his desire to be sober, and his unwillingness to get his powers back. I think he had lots of potential, and obviously most of his problems came from his powers.

-Despite everything, the last scene, with all the characters we've seen before, being happy and all that. Agnes and Hazel! For some reason, loved that even in this timeline, without all else, they found each other! And the fact that the kids of the Umbrellas were still there. This is a tiny bit of a plot hole on it's own but it was a nice scene.

-And finally, somewhat learning how Five founded the Comission, and finally learning what the "Jennifer Incident" was!

[canirove]

Broken Hearts Football Club | Chapter 23

Previous chapter | Next chapter

Masterlist

"But are you sure?"

"100%."

"Ok, that's… that's… I don't know what to say. Thank you, I guess" June said with a nervous laugh.

"You've earned it. This is your hard work paying off" her manager replied.

"Thank you."

"Now go tell the girls. I'm sure you are looking forward to it."

"I am, yes. And again, thank you very much" June smiled before leaving the office, jumping through the corridor and trying not to scream.

"Ouch, careful!" someone said after bumping into her.

"Mason! Hi, sorry."

"Are you ok? Why are you grinning like that?"

"I got the best news ever, Mase. The best!"

"Can you share them?"

"Of course! Next Sunday I'm gonna be on the bench. I've been called up again!"

"Oh my God, June. That's amazing!" he said, hugging her and lifting her in the air. "I'm so happy for you."

"Thank you, Mason. It means a lot coming from you keeping in mind that you hate me and all that" she said once her feet were on the floor again. 

"I don't hate you, June."

"But you said…"

"That I hated you, yes. Past tense. I don't anymore."

"Oh, that's… umm… thank you?"

"You're welcome" Mason laughed. "Have you told anyone? About being back, I mean."

"I haven't had time, they just literally told me. You are the first person who knows."

"Then you probably are dying to tell the girls. And Ben too."

"Lauren and Vittoria will want to throw a party" she laughed. "And they actually might. We are going out tonight with Reece and some of the boys, do you want to come too?"

"I…" Mason said, scratching the back of his head.

"Urgh, I'm sorry. It's too soon, isn't it? You just said you don't hate me anymore, but that doesn't mean that you like me or that we can be friends or…"

"No, no, it's fine, June. I mean, maybe it is too soon to be friends, but we can definitely be friendly."

"Oh, ok. Good."

"And I would love to join you tonight and celebrate that you are back, but I can't. I have date."

"Wait, with a girl?" 

"Yes, with a girl" Mason chuckled.

"That's great!"

"Yeah" he said. "We've already gone out a few times and it's been nice."

"I'm really happy for you, Mason. Hope this works out."

"Me too. I think I like her" he said with a shy smile. "Anyway, did they tell you if you will be playing this weekend?"

"No, the gaffer didn't say anything. But I guess that if things go well I will get to play a few minutes."

"Then if I'm not busy I will be there watching you. And then we can have a drink at the party that I'm sure the girls will throw you."

"Perfect" June smiled. "I should probably go and tell them."

"Yes, you should" he smiled back. "And promise that you will be careful when you tell Chilly. Don't scare him."

"That was you, not me."

"But you are the one that makes his heart beat faster than it ever has" he smirked. 

"I…" 

"Aww, look at the colour of your cheeks" he teased her.

"Shut up, Mount!" she said, hitting his arm.

"I deserved that" Mason laughed. "And you deserve this call up, June. Congratulations" he said before giving her a quick hug.

"Thank you" she replied.

"Now go tell the girls."

"Yes, of course. See you around?"

"We'll probably cross paths on the corridors again, yes" he smiled. "Bye, June."

"Bye" she smiled back before running towards the changing room, the screams after she shared the news with her teammates probably being heard from outside the building.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

"Chilly, relax."

"I am relaxed, Mase."

"No, you are not" he laughed. "Look at the way your leg is shaking."

"I'm sorry, ok? If we don't make it…"

"We will. Besides, she probably won't play until the second half."

"I know. But I want her to see me… Us in the stands before she goes in."

"Let's hope you being there doesn't make her more nervous. Us. Us being there" Mason smirked.

"Urgh, shut up and drive. Looks like they are finally moving" Ben said. 

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

"There are so many people…"

"It's a Chelsea-Arsenal" June said.

"And you are playing again. I'm sure many have come just to see you" Lauren smiled. "Are you nervous?"

"I'm shitting myself."

"You'll forget about everything the moment you are out there, you'll see. Shall we?"

"Yes" she said, taking a deep breath and following her teammates that would not be starting the game that day, Lauren among them since she had been sick.

"So good to see you back, June." "We've missed you" some of the Arsenal girls said.

"Maxwell!" someone called from the end of the tunnel.

"Williamson!" she laughed.

"Come here" Leah said, giving her a hug. "I can't wait to kick your ass in the second half."

"We'll see" she replied, all the cameras pointing at them. 

"Can we exchange shirts at the end of the game or are you keeping this one?"

"Of course we can. I don't have yours from this season."

"Then it's done. See you later, Maxwell."

"Bye, Williamson" June said, giving her one last hug before stepping out into the pitch, the crowd going crazy when they saw her.

"I think they've missed you a bit" Lauren laughed.

"Yeah" she smiled.

"Maxwell!" a familiar voice called from the stands. Reece.

"He's never worn my shirt before!" Lauren said when he turned around and showed them the number on his back. Though June wasn't paying too much attention to what he was doing. Her eyes were focused on the people walking down the stairs. On Mason and Ben. Or mostly Ben, who was wearing the beanie she had made for him. The moment he looked up and their eyes met, June felt her heart skip a beat. And when he smiled at her, she heard herself giggling and smiling. But her smile wasn't as perfect and charming as his. Hers definitely was the stupidest smile ever. 

"Finally!" Reece said when he saw Ben and Mason. "Where were you?"

"Traffic" Mason sighed. "But we made it on time for June to see us. Or to see Chilly" he laughed.

"Bro, you can't keep telling us you are just friends."

"What?" Ben said as he sat down, June doing the same on the bench.

"You and Maxwell. I don't smile at my friends like that."

"Why are you wearing her shirt?"

"Jealous?" Reece said, raising his eyebrows up and down.

"Whatever" Ben replied, focusing on the pitch. Though he had to admit that he was a little jealous. He wished he could also wear June's shirt and support her as she deserved.

[cherriesfromeden]

kiss her you fool

...

[requested : no]

[pairing : eddie kasbrak x fem!reader]

[summary : you and eddie have been avoiding confessions with each other but richie's finally gotten tired of that game and at a sleepover at bill's, everything comes crashing down.]

[warnings : none but i used some of this song lyrics in this and they do not belong to me! they will be italicized. also this is kind of long. beware.]

...

it was a lazy day down at the quarry and the losers were all by the shore or in the water, messing around. richie, mike, ben, and stan were in the middle of a water fight while beverly, and bill were watching with amusement. the last two losers, you and eddie, were strolling along the shoreline, making small talk.

"wait, really?" eddie looked up, confused. "you didn't bring a towel?"

"yeah...no i forgot one. i'll just lay down on bev's until you guys get out of the water." you said as you took her towel from the fallen log and unfolded it.

"but it's almost a million degrees! you should at least sit near the water so you don't die of heatstroke." his hands fluttered over his inhaler nervously.

"hey! HEY!" richie, who had already been in the water with the others now was wading back towards the shore. "eds you should leave y/n alone she doesn't wannna bone so c'mon!"

eddie's face flushed and he glanced at you quickly before following richie back in the water.

what he didn't notice is that you seemed just as embarrassed as him, if not more.

"eds, please. for the love of god. fucking tell her!" richie hissed at him when they got back to the others.

"what? no! she probably doesn't even feel the same! why would i tell her now? i mean, it would probably ruin everything that-" eddie was interrupted by a splash of water hitting him in the face, courtesy of richie.

beverly mumbled a few curses next to bill as she watched the two friends start to argue. she knew that you thought the same thing about eddie and she had very similar conversations with you.

bill, who had talked to both of you, was even more frustrated. it seemed like neither one of you would ever blurt out your feelings for fear of rejection when that was the last thing that would ever happen.

"i hate this." bill muttered, sinking down in the water so his mouth was barely above it. bev looked over at him and chuckled slightly. he knew she felt the same but she found it more interesting to see what would ever happen, if anything did.

"TELL HER!" she heard richie scream.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" eddie yelled back and beverly heard a splash, which she knew came from eddie.

after a minute of silence, bill and beverly glanced worriedly at each other, then to the shore where you were curled up in the sun, to eddie and richie. the two boys were having what seemed to be a very quiet argument, which was unlike them.

bill swam over and, after a slight hesitation, bev followed him.

"tell. her. goddamn this eds! come on i promise that you won't regret it!"

"there is nothing more i would regret if she said no!"

"okay this is so stupid. i'll tell y/n myself then."

eddie glared at his best friend. "you wouldn't." at this, richie smirked and raised an eyebrow.

"would i?"

eddie stood there, not knowing what to do. he gaped at richie and waited for him to splash him again or say it was a joke but he was still there with a grin on his face while all his other friends watched from a few feet away.

"what- no you woul- would you? oh shit. oh god. richie please no." eddie spluttered.

"don't be a fool, tell her you think she's cool." richie replied, moving next to ben since he was the least likely to smack him.

"guys? hey, guys!" your voice called from the shore, making everyone turn to you. "it's getting later and i've got to be home for dinner! see you later!" and with a wave, you grabbed your things and left.

"bye y/n!" beverly called and mike waved.

"see you tomorrow!" ben yelled. richie hollered something about seeing you later tonight before he leaped onto eddie before he could say anything close to goodbye. stan and bill were busy pulling the two apart to do much other than give you a quick glance but you got the message.

humming in content, you made your way back home.

...

the next day came rather quickly for you. the plan was that you, richie, beverly, and eddie were going to get ice cream and catch a movie before you met up with the others at bill's house for a sleepover.

beverly was supposed to pick you up any minute now and you were rushing around, looking for socks.

there was a knock at the door and you grabbed the first pair you saw and ran to answer.

beverly looked down at you, her eyes twinkling merrily.

"hello there." she said, squatting down so she was at eye level while you tied your shoelaces. "are you gonna do it? i can drag richie away for a little while but you better not waste that time n/n. today's the day!"

"no way." you scoffed and stood up. you snatched your keys and locked the door while beverly groaned and rolled her eyes. "today is not the day. you said that last time we went to the movies too so it doesn't count."

"yeah well you didn't tell him! so it does count cause nothing happened except that richie got banned from the popcorn." beverly twirled around to face you as the two of you started walking down the sidewalk. "pleeeeeease y/n? i promise it'll be worth it."

"absolutely not."

beverly sighed and gave up on pestering you. this was going to be a long day.

"oh look, there they are." you said and waved richie and eddie over.

"joy." beverly grumbled.

...

"well i'm thoroughly confused." you said, stepping out into the setting sunlight. your lips pursed together in thought and eddie watched quietly from next to richie. "that movie was weird."

he could stay like this forever. you were perfect and right there. why couldn't he just say it? just three simple words.

"i-"

"hey look at that weird bird." richie said, pointing towards a bird that was pecking at something on the ground. but, at richie's words, it gave a caw and flew away as if it were offended.

eddie shrank behind richie and reached for his inhaler as if to use it but stopped when you started laughing.

"richie! that's so mean, look you made him cry!" you choked out through your giggles. richie looked over at you and elbowed your side.

"hey if that made him cry wait till i'm really mean to him."

"leave the bird alone!"

"make me sweetheart!"

beverly, who had been noticing eddie's behavior, decided to get them all to bill's house so she could have a word with richie.

"let's go guys, everyone else is probably already there." she said and herded the other three up the street.

she fell back next to eddie and nudged him. he turned, as if startled to see her.

"hey eddie, you know you have to tell her at some point right?"

"what are you talking ab-"

"eddie." she stared at him until he looked away, a light pink dusting his cheeks. "you've only got one chance."

"yeah yeah. i know." he murmured as they reached bill's front door.

you knocked on the door as richie was still poking fun of the bird and you.

"hello!" a small boy with a huge grin answered the door.

"georgie!" you smiled as he ran to give you a hug which you gladly returned. "hey buddy, where's everyone else?"

"they're all upstairs in billy's room. oh, and my mom is going out to get pizza in a few minutes." he said, dragging you in the house. "i'll be down here if you need me!" georgie chirped and ran away to join his father in the living room again.

"he's so cute." beverly said, leading the four of you up to bill's room.

you nodded and the door in front of you suddenly burst open. stan came stumbling out into the hall and saw all of you.

"oh thank god, i was going insane. bill's got a game of war going on with mike and keeps cheating."

"i am n-not!" a voice came from inside the room.

"yes you are!"

"war? deal me in." richie said and rushed past stan to join mike and bill while ben rubbed his temples from the incoming headache.

you, beverly, stan, and eddie all hurried inside the room and no one bothered to close the door again.

...

a few hours and pizzas later, you were still playing war but in teams and there were many threats, fights, and insults in between rounds.

the current game was probably going to be the last since everyone was calming down. bill and stan against mike and richie. the rest of you were huddled in a circle around them, watching intently.

on your left was beverly who was almost falling asleep on ben's shoulder and on your right was, of course, eddie. though both of you were focused on the game, it felt as if there was something else pressing down on you to worry about.

you felt something press against your hand and looked down. in the heat of the games, eddie had slipped his hand into yours. when he looked back at you, he realized what happened and quickly snatched his hand away.

"sorry." he whispered.

"i didn't really mind." you half-teased, trying to hide your embarrassment. he met your eyes and neither of you seemed to be able to look away.

"HA!" mike yelled in triumph, snapping you both out of the daze, as he and richie took the win while stan and bill both started shouting protests. mike and richie high-fived and richie stood up.

"TOLD YOU BILLY!" he danced around the crowd of losers and made his way towards the hallway. "now i'm getting some ice cream. anyone else want some?"

both you and eddie got up at the same time and followed richie downstairs.

"where'd he go?" eddie asked. the kitchen was empty of richie who was never one to turn down ice cream.

"i-uh good question." you said, tripping over your words. oh no. was this something beverly had planned?

"um. anyways. so, bill's got vanilla, chocolate, mint chocolate, woah he has the whole store. look."

you walked over to where eddie was peering in the freezer. it was a small freezer so there wasn't much room for two people to look in it.

the brush of eddie's shoulder sent a jolt down your spine and you straightened up.

"i'll go with that one." you said and pointed at your favorite flavor. he looked concerned.

"are you okay y/n?"

he knows my name, part of you thought. he's been our friend for years of course he does dumbass, the other part snapped back.

"yes, i'm fine." you croaked. why was this happening now?

"she's thinking the same thing as you." richie muttered under his breath as he watched his friends talk from the doorway with beverly behind him.

the both of you faced each other and froze. it was like the moment earlier, upstairs where the only thing you'd wanted to do was stare at him and have this cloak all of your other problems.

beverly wanted to scream. you were so close and she was silently praying that you didn't let this go to waste.

the tension was so thick in the air it could've suffocated the two of you in the kitchen except both of you were oblivious to the fact that the other was feeling the same.

"OH MY FUCKING GOD." richie shouted impatiently.

you and eddie both jumped and spun around to face him and bev.

"KISS HER YOU FOOL!" he screamed and stormed over to eddie, shaking him by the shoulders.

a shocked silence spread after richie realized what he had done and said. he let go of eddie quickly and stepped away from them. you looked from him to beverly to eddie and back at richie.

"i mean, it had to be said." beverly said, breaking the silence. "y/n i'm sure you wouldn't mind that."

now it was your turn to be stunned into silence.

"bev, we should go. actually, this time." richie said, taking her wrist and leading her away from the two of you.

eddie gulped and covered his mouth with shaking fingers. you felt like you were on the verge of fainting.

but wait. "so, do you-"

"yes! okay? i like you! there i said it. i know you probably don't feel the same but i can't just leave anything unsaid after that and it's not a joke or anything. i promise." eddie said, throwing his hands away from his face.

"eddie. i know it isn't a joke. i feel the same. and if it wasn't for richie, fuck him by the way, i probably never would've told you." you shrugged, too nervous to look him in the eyes.

"and bev." eddie let out a strained laugh. you gave him a small smile and a feeling of pride bloomed in his chest.

"yeah, and fuck bev too." you said with a slightly less strained laugh.

"hey, do you maybe wanna go to that new movie that's coming out friday?" eddie asked.

a smile crept onto your face. "i'd love that."

...

[dear-mrs-otome]

Headcanon time!

Let me preface this by saying smoking is bad. We all know this. It's not an appealing habit, it smells fairly terrible and has lasting impacts on your health - and I can say this with great authority, having been a smoker myself who was fortunate enough to manage quitting many many years ago.

But! Since Cybird insists on giving us suitors that light up, I'm jumping through some mental hoops to make things more palatable, for myself and maybe others. Which is a long-winded way of saying, Jude smokes clove cigarettes. (And probably smells of clove quite strongly too)

Now hear me out, there are good reasons I propose this! It's not just because it makes things a bit less repugnant, although that's certainly one factor. I'll put behind a cut the entirely neurotic, long-winded explanation behind my thought process.

Time frame: Obviously we know we're in the Victorian era here, which stretches a long long time. 63 years in fact is how long the queen reigned. Maybe there's been other details giving us a more exact time frame but so far I feel safe saying we're not in the early part of her reign - Big Ben clearly exists in this London, which wasn't built until 1859. Referring to postal workers as 'robins' wasn't a thing until the 1860s at least. The first commercial typewriters were available circa 1874 but the QWERTY keyboard layout we see on Kate's typewriter wasn't popularized until the Remington No. 2 was sold in 1878 where it then became the de facto arrangement. THUS, we can safely assume the game takes place squarely in the 1880s, by my reckoning. And when were clove cigarettes invented? 1880.

Clove cigarettes: Clove cigarettes are made of a mixture of tobacco, dried cloves, and sometimes other spices. They have a unique flavor and spicy smell to them that isn't actually unpleasant, but it can be very strong given how the clove overpowers the tobacco scent. (Here in the USA most clove cigarettes have been banned along with other 'flavored' cigarettes for more than a decade now, but I've had my share as a Youth) Per my exhaustive research (AKA googling) the leading theory of the origin of the clove cigarette was that they were invented in 1880 by a man in Indonesia who was - wait for it - seeking something to relieve the symptoms of respiratory ailment. They were first marketed as a medicinal product for chest pain, asthma, sore throats etc, and the eugenol contained in clove oil does function as an anesthetic. After Jude's 'Secrets' story we know for certain that he suffers from some mysterious and serious disease of the lungs, and implies that he smokes for therapeutic reasons.

Availability: Even if clove cigarettes hadn't become enormously popular in the West yet by the game's point and time, I think we can safely make a case that Jude would have access to them given his very position as head of a far-flung trading company. I don't think it's a stretch to imagine that if he'd heard of some medicinal product that alleviates lung issues he wouldn't try to get his hands on it ASAP.

And there we have it, my case for the clove-scented Jude. Go forth and do what ye will with this, fic writers etc...I know I will be until proven otherwise!

...ok who am I kidding, I'll probably stick with it even IF proven otherwise, because the alternative is just blegh.

[podcast-official]

Old Partner In Crime, Chapter 3: It Might Take A While Until I Trust You Won't Attack

Author's note: Chapter 1 and Chapter 2

Peter awoke to the sound of someone in the kitchen. He smelled coffee and heard the distinctive noises of someone making breakfast. He walked out into the living room and saw Juno in the kitchen, and he could almost imagine that last night and the months before it had all been one very bad dream.

Except his arms stung and his eyes ached from crying and his chest still felt hollow. Juno looked up and gave him a soft smile. "Hey, babe," Juno said.

Peter blinked. "You're back."

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm back. I thought I could make us some breakfast and we could have a talk."

"Fine," Peter said, with a strained little smile. He felt a rising sense of panic at the words have a talk. Soon enough, they were seated across from each other, Peter with a bowl of fruit Juno had cut up and Juno with some eggs. They both had coffee.

"Okay, so," Juno started.

"Are you going to ask for a divorce?" Peter burst out.

Juno stared at him. Then burst out laughing. "Oh my God, Nureyev, sweetheart, absolutely not. Hell, I would sooner cut myself in half than divorce you, no matter how rocky things get, okay? I love you so much and that's not what I was going to say."

"I love you too," Peter murmured.

"Last night, when I was at Rita's, I called Alessandra."

"Detective Strong? Why?"

"Um. Honestly? Because she's married and I didn't want to talk to Buddy, who's the only other sensible married person I know."

"Ah."

"Anyways, I'm sure you've noticed that things have been off with us lately. And then... last night happened. Which I am so sorry for, by the way, it wasn't your fault, I just... I had a hard day and I took it out on you and that was unfair."

"I forgive you," Peter said quietly.

"Do you?" Juno gave a wry smile. "Or are you just saying what you think I want to hear?"

Peter hesitated. "I want to forgive you."

"That's better. Anyways, my conversation with Alessandra." Juno explained what Alessandra had told him. "So," he finished. "She thinks we should try marriage counseling. She said it really helped her and her wife and they make it a point to do something fun together after, like get dinner or whatever."

Juno reached across the table and rested his hand on Peter's.

"Peter Nureyev, I love you. Hell, I married you, I wouldn't do that if I wasn't in it for the long haul. We've had a rough few months and that's okay. We'll get through it, alright, baby?"

Peter nodded. He felt... relieved. "I love you too."

Juno gave him a little smile. "Now, I think we should get everything out in the open. At least, I know I've been self destructing a bit and I didn't tell you. So... I've been drinking. Like, problematically. Not just a normal amount. And I've been taking cases that I know I'll obsess over and get upset about on purpose. Alessandra's right. I feel anxious when things are quiet. My whole life has been one long adrenaline rush. I mean, living with Mom and trying to keep Ben safe and then the whole HCPD thing and then Ben dying and- well, you know the whole story. I feel like I've been running for a really long time and now I can't stop, even though I'm exhausted and I want nothing more than to just collapse into your arms and let myself rest."

Peter took a deep breath. "Last night, when you didn't come home, I... I panicked. I know I'm not good enough for you and it's not that I don't trust you to stay, it's just that I wouldn't blame you if you didn't because you deserve so much better than me, Juno, and then I started to worry that something happened to you-"

Juno cut him off gently. "Baby, listen to me. I don't want better than you. I want you. And I'm so sorry I made you worry. I'm okay. I'm here. And I'm not going anywhere." Juno gave a soft little smile. "Pinky promise." He held out his little finger. Peter linked them together.

"You're an idiot, Juno Steel," he said fondly.

"I'm your idiot."

"That you are."

"Anything else you need to get off your chest?"

Peter hesitated. "After we fought, I... I hurt myself."

"Oh, Nureyev," Juno said, voice and face full of soft heartbreak. "Sweetheart, I'm so sorry. You were all alone and I wasn't there for you. I was so selfish, I-"

"You needed space. I understand."

"Can you forgive me for that?"

"There's nothing to forgive, dear."

"Are you saying that because you actually feel that way, or are you saying that because you think you don't have the right to be hurt and angry? Because you do. Have the right, I mean."

Peter was silent for a moment. He let the hurt and anger and misery from the night before fill him. He sat with it for a second. "I was angry. I was hurt. And I was sad, and scared, and vulnerable. But I forgive you, Juno. I don't know if I'm ready to forgive what you said when we were fighting just yet, but I- I  do forgive you for leaving." The way Peter said it made it clear that he didn't just mean last night.

"Thank you. Now... are you okay? Physically, I mean. Nothing I need to take you to the ER for?"

Peter shook his head. "I'm fine, love. I promise."

"So... What now? Do you want to be alone, or-?"

"No," Peter said, almost desperately.

"Well then, do you want to hang out today? I know we're both exhausted. We could nap, watch something, go for a walk. Whatever."

"A nap sounds lovely, if you're amenable to the idea."

"I'm always ready to take a nap with you."

A little while later, the two of them were curled up under a weighted blanket, warm and cozy. "Can I touch you?" Juno asked.

"Yes. Please."

Juno wrapped his arms around Peter, tucking him up under his chin. Peter knew it gave Juno a sense of satisfaction to hold him like that, since he was shorter than Peter and couldn't rest his chin on Peter's head under normal circumstances. Juno kissed Peter's forehead, then his temple, right where Peter's dark hair was shot through with silver. Peter hated the streaks of silver. Juno told him it was beautiful.

"There we go," Juno said softly, as Peter settled into his arms, relaxing a bit. "Comfy?"

"Mm. Extremely so."

"Good. We'll have plenty of time for hard conversations later."

"Agreed."

Juno let himself relax then, wrapped up in the knowledge that the love of his life was in his arms, safe and warm.

"Do you think you can fall in love with me again?" Peter asked nervously. He knew Juno didn't feel the way he had before, knew that Juno didn't see him the same-

"Should be pretty easy, Nureyev, since I do it every time I look at you."

Peter's heart skipped a beat. "Oh," was all he said.

"Now, stop overthinking and go to sleep. I love you, okay? Come hell or high water, nothing's changing that. Dammit, babe, I chased you across the galaxy for months even after you framed me for theft and did everything you could to get me to buzz off."

"Well, my dear detective, you are nothing if not stubborn."

"Damn right."

"I love you too, by the way."

"Mmm. I'm glad."

The two of them nestled into the cocoon of warmth and coziness the weighted blankets provided. All either of them wanted to do was burrow into their nest of blankets and hide from the world. So that's what they did.

And for the first time in months, things really were better after some rest.

[kharmii]

So I got the idea to actually calculate the global human population myself, city by city, and guess what.

It’s not even 3 billion.

Not even CLOSE.

There are NOT 7 billion people on the planet. You can count yourself. The overpopulation hoax is the foundation of the globalist terror regime.

Whether it's three or seven billion, the global population doesn't matter. Overpopulation is a regional problem. There are starving children with distended bellies running around in Africa and India, and yet I suspect those places aren't handing out free birth control and running article after article about how "Cats are Better Than Babies".

The globalist terror regime is focusing that on first world nations while flooding every good place to live with problem people. Here in the US, every country south of us is clearing out their prisons and mental hospitals then sending them right up to us in large caravans of tens and hundreds of thousands of people. It's white privilege to have a job with a living wage, medical benefits, etc. We need to let everybody in so large corporations don't have to send their companies to China. The whole planet should be one huge sweat shop.

Speaking of white privilege, I have an OT beef. A few days ago, a fourteen-year-old student at Apalachee High School named Colt Gray brought a semi-automatic weapon to school and shot a bunch of people before being detained by police. According to the wiki, the school is in a town that's 58% white where half the students are economically disadvantaged. Colt Gray was one of these students. His mom was a low life drug addict who was arrested for "domestic violence, drug possession, property damage and various traffic violations, including driving under the influence charges. She also faced civil fraud charges over the purchase of a used vehicle and was locked up in Ben Hill County as recently as April."

Colt Gray ended up a Kamala Harris supporting trannie who was probably bullied at school on top of having a dysfunctional family. They tried to wipe his online presence, but it's being passed around.

It looks like he lived with his dad who was also abusive, and now the dad is being arrested for giving the shooter the weapon he used as a Christmas present last year. This is the second time I've heard of this happening. The first time is when the parents of school shooter Ethan Crumbley were charged with manslaughter in April 2024 because they supposedly also supplied the weapon used.

Now I can see why people would think this was appropriate. Terrible parents who raise a kid wrong should be held accountable for setting a monster loose in the community, and yet this only seems to be a white issue. I've yet to see a black parent be held responsible for her child's actions. Black people have an 80% out-of-wedlock birth rate and fatherless household rate. They make up 13% of the population but commit 90% of gun crimes, 90% of adolescent gun crimes and most of the mass shootings. The news only focuses on the rare white person committing a mass shooting and acts like it's an epidemic, even though black people are shooting up every major city every day of the year.

You aren't even supposed to question this. Black people problems are the result of white privilege and 'them evil colonialists who brought crop rotation and modern medicine to the third world' blahblahblah. Black people who aren't qualified to run a hotdog stand at a little league game are supposed to be able to lecture white people endlessly, and yet we aren't allowed to say, *lifts finger* uh um.....maybe if you waited until you were married to pop out babies, then maybe your atrocious crime rate would go down. Srsly, we're dealing with the problems of people in generational poverty who have like a 10% literacy rate, and the media keeps beating it into our heads that all the problems of the world are caused by white people, and it's only white people who need to have fckn dogs-cats-rats-smelly horses instead of babies.

Another meme they're always pushing in the media is that 'right wing extremism is the biggest domestic terror threat' and that all mass shooters are right wing (laughably ridiculous). Then when a radicalized Marxist trannie like Audrey Hale shoots up a white Christian school, it takes literal years for the authorities to release the manifesto. It's supposedly a danger to the public. When we finally get to read it, it's nothing but the ramblings of a mentally ill radicalized Marxist who complains over and over that nobody loves them, and that's why they have to kill a bunch of white Christian kids because the media beat it into their deranged mind that white Christians are the cause of all their problems.

[tuxedo-lef]

I'm having fabio brain rot and like all I can think about is him and Nelli being in bed and like yeah they have loads of pillows and space but Fabio insists on being latched to Nelli and resting his heat on his bare chest because its more comfy- 💙🤍

Did someone say fabio brain rot?? I've been stuck in it for a good month so I get it!

Here's a fabinelli one shot for you (slightly based on your idea). I ended up posting it on ao3 as well since it's 2k words long.

Clingy

Martinelli was used to it. Having Fábio's arm around his shoulder or having Fábio's thigh pressed against his at the restaurant. Just like he was used to watching Fábio get back hugs and kisses on his cheeks or on the top of his head from his teammates. Fábio was a cuddle bug and Martinelli liked Fábio exactly like that.

Or so Fábio thought until he heard an unsuspecting Martinelli talking to Saka in the locker room. Fábio was deep in his own conversation with Jorginho and Reiss about Crocs and whether they should be deemed a fashion faux pas when he heard Martinelli mention his name across the room. Fábio pretended that he didn't hear it, but in reality, he was zoning out of whatever Jorginho was babbling about and was fixating his ears on Saka and Martinelli's exchange.

"She's too clingy in bed. Every night it's like I'm suffocating but I don't know how to tell her that I need my space to get some proper sleep." Saka spoke quickly and Fábio was proud of himself for being able to follow a sentence in English that would've sent him spiralling during his first week in London.

Martinelli wheezed before he replied, "I get it. Fábio is the exact same. We have a king-sized bed with four top quality pillows, yet he insists on laying his head on my chest instead of sleeping like a normal person on his side of the bed."

That's all Fábio got from their conversation because Jorgi's face appeared in front of his, clear green eyes reflecting Fábio miserable look.

" Fábi, you alright?"

"Look like you've just seen a ghost," Reiss frowned.

Fábio's heart had sunk deep in his chest, like a landmine waiting to be unearthed by a trained rat.

Martinelli was the fucking rat, Fábio thought to himself bitterly. Stupid boyfriend and his stupid big mouth.

Fábio waved Jorginho and Reiss' concern away, telling them he just realized he forgot to put the load of laundry in the dryer before he left the house this morning.

Fábio had planned on blowing it all up in Martinelli's face the second they were sitting in the car together on their way back home. He kept things professional while they wrapped up their day at London Colney, not liking the idea of making a scene in front of their team.

However, when the afternoon rolled around and everyone was picking up after themselves, leaving the locker room with their toiletry bag in hand, Fábio learned that he had to postpone his outburst.

Martinelli snuck past Ben and Martin who were occupying the middle of the room to find Fábio and kiss him on the cheek.

"Jesus will give you a lift back home," he said in a hushed tone. "Gabriel's daughter isn't feeling well and he needs a lift to the hospital."

Magalhães and his lack of driver's license was a real fucking joke now, wasn’t it? Fábio wanted to argue for a moment but decided against it, not wanting to sound heartless. It was Gabriel's child after all, and her wellbeing mattered more than Fábio's petty emotions.

He nodded and told Gabi that it was okay.

Back at his and Martinelli’s apartment, Fábio was slouched on the couch, feet freezing cold and tongue craving a sweet dessert after the boring chicken wrap that he had just finished. Martinelli's words festered inside his heart like worms and critters under a humid rock. Fábio couldn’t even appreciate the show he was watching.

Gabi had texted him that he would wait until Gabriel's daughter was cleared by a doctor before returning home. In other words, Fábio would be spending the rest of his evening alone and fall asleep in an empty bed.

Fábio almost wanted to cry when he found himself in their large bed, head resting on a pillow that was too soft for his liking. It was taking forever for the bedsheet and the mattress to get warm. Fábio’s body was shaking. From the shivers running through him or the pitiful sobs he was trying to swallow. A mix of both perhaps.

He was still awake when Martinelli arrived two hours later.

The pang in Fábio’s heart had migrated to his stomach which he was clutching tightly as he lay on his side in a foetal position. As far on his own side of the bed as he could be.

At least, Martinelli was sensible enough to navigate their apartment quietly, knowing there was a good chance Fábio was sleeping at this hour. But Fábio was staring into the void pitch black of their bedroom, back turned to the door that Martinelli slipped through. He listened to his boyfriend use the bathroom for a few minutes, brushing his teeth and spitting into the sink before rummaging through his drawers for his pyjamas.

Fábio felt the bedsheets getting pulled and a waft of cold air flowed under them as the mattress sank on the other side from Martinelli’s added weight. Fábio resisted the urge to turn around and pound Martinelli’s chest with his fist, wanting to make his boyfriend beg for mercy.

But his guts remained rigidly stubborn, and he stayed put. Fábio told himself this wasn’t a good moment for them to discuss this level-headedly. Really, Fábio wanted to see if Martinelli would seek him out: grab his waist, roll him into his arms, and tuck him under his chin.

Martinelli did no such thing. Another layer of earth was shovelled on top of Fábio’s heart, waiting to be stepped on before it could explode freely.

The following morning, Fábio woke up clinging onto one of his pillows instead of clinging onto Gabi. His heart felt heavy and empty all at once. He wasn’t sure if there was enough gunpowder for it to go off. The anger he had fueled last night was muted and twisted into lame resentment.

Martinelli was still dozing off. No sign of a difficult night on his well-rested face.

Fábio had to clean his face and reach for the concealer he only wore when he had media duty to cover up the purple bags under his eyes. He ate his eggs and toast in silence. Fifteen minutes later, a clumsy Martinelli stumbled out of their bedroom as he was putting his socks on.

“You didn’t wake me up!?”

“I thought you would appreciate the extra minutes since you came back so late,” Fábio took a sip of his coffee and pretended that the weather app opened on his phone was more interesting than his boyfriend walking around without a shirt on.

“Yeah, but not if I only have ten minutes to get ready. We have the meeting on set pieces this morning, remember?”

“Oops. I forgot,” Fábio finally locked eyes with Gabi. Fábio knew then that Martinelli noticed something was wrong.

“Is everything okay-”

“How is she?” Fábio interrupted Gabi.

“Who?”

“Maya, of course. Is she alright?”

“Yes. It’s just a virus. Her fever was really high though, so they monitored her for a bit. I didn’t want to leave. Gabriel looked super stressed.”

“I’m happy to hear that she’ll be okay. You did the right thing.”

Fábio saw Martinelli approach him from the corner of his eye and got up before Gabi could latch onto him and envelop him in arms.

“I need to use the bathroom before we go, but you should hurry up. Mikel will kill us if we’re late.”

The London traffic was not on their side and the two ended up having to run from their parking spot all the way to the meeting room. There weren’t many seats left; Fábio took the first spot available, not caring where Martinelli would land.

During training, Fábio followed Ben around to avoid Martinelli’s puzzled looks. Ben gave him a weird look at first, but Fábio only had to say he and Martinelli had a fight, and the defender didn’t push it any further.

“As long as you guys fix it by tomorrow,” Ben said and ruffled the Portuguese’s hair gently.

Fábio nodded.

“You wanna talk about it?”

Fábio shook his head.

“Okay. I’ll make sure to block all his shots today. Just for you.”

Fábio smiled. “Thanks.”

After practice, it was Fábio’s turn to leave Martinelli hanging.

FC Porto had a game away from home against Tottenham for the Europa League and Fábio had planned on attending it in order to support some old friends of his.

Fábio could perceive Martinelli’s growing frustration when he left the Arsenal training premises in a taxi with only a quick wave of his hand.

The match was exciting with the tantalizing result of Porto beating Tottenham 3-1. Fábio was allowed to visit the visitors’ locker room after the game and spent some time rekindling with the boys. Everything about this night should announce pure joy, but Fábio was haunted by the sleeping landmine deteriorating his heart.

When he returned home, half an hour before the clock hit midnight, Martinelli was tucked in bed, limbs spread like a starfish. Fábio wanted nothing more than to throw himself onto him and sniff Martinelli’s shower gel fragrance on his skin.

Instead, he weaved himself under the covers and grabbed the pillow he had woken up with to circle his arms around it and bury his face in it. Fábio was careful to stick to his side, avoiding Martinelli’s fingertips which were crossing the imaginary half-line separating their bed.

Fábio only took two shallow breaths before Martinelli sprung to action, crossing onto Fábio’s half of the bed and rolling him into his arms. Fábio’s surprised yelp was muffled by the rustling bed sheets until they were pressed nose to nose.

“Okay. Speak. Who are you and what have you done with my Fábio?” Martinelli tried to sound funny, but Fábio only caught the raw anger in his tone.

“Martinelli, I’m tired,” Fábio sighed and faked a yawn to sell the act.

“I’m not buying it, Fábi. You’ve been avoiding me all day and now… You didn’t even climb into my arms when I made it so easy for you to do so.”

“We can talk about it tomorrow,” Fábio didn’t want to admit how immature he had been. Avoiding confrontation.

“Ben told me we had a fight! Do you know how stupid I looked when he shared this news with me?”

Fábio chuckled at that, “Very stupid I hope!”

“Fábio, this isn’t funny.” Gabi’s hand hooked itself behind Fábio, preventing him from moving away.

“You’re right. I just tried to fix my behaviour based on some criticism I heard yesterday.”

“What! What criticism?”

“Oh! I don’t know. I heard someone say that I insist on laying my head on your chest instead of sleeping like a normal person on my side of the bed,” Fábio echoed what Martinelli had told Saka almost word for word.

Saying it out loud reminded Fábio of how hurt he was by this affirmation. He wiggled his arms up to push Martinelli away, but the latter was stronger and perhaps more determined to keep Fábio in his embrace.

“Wait. That crap I said to Saka?”

Fábio tried to push Martinelli’s chest again.

“Oi! I don’t know which parts you heard but I specifically told him that I love that about you!”

“Liar,” Fábio gritted, blinking away the tears that were tickling his eyes.

“I’ll get Saka to testify if you don’t believe me… But you should. Believe me.”

Fábio hated the shakiness in his voice that he couldn’t get rid of when he replied, “I was awake when you came back last night… you didn’t even hug me, and you slept like a baby.”

“C’mon Fábio. I didn’t want to wake you up,” Martinelli tried to reason with him, the rough pad of his thumb stroking his cheek and wiping the tear streak away. “The truth is that I love having you in my arms. All the time. But especially when I sleep.”

“Then why were you so quick to sympathize with Saka?”

“He’s been complaining about his girl all week. I didn’t know what to answer anymore. And by the way, I’m not Saka.” Martinelli squeezed Fábio and kissed his forehead. “I so happen to like having a clingy boyfriend who sleeps and drools on my chest.”

The fight inside Fábio dissipated and disappeared into the soil. Martinelli had smelled the landmine and managed to disarm it before a fatal explosion could occur.

Fábio turned soft and pliant in Martinelli’s arms, allowing himself to be rolled and tangled.

“Can you just talk to me next time?”

“Yes,” Fábio did feel a little guilty.

“And can you tell Ben to stop targeting me during practice?”

Fábio giggled and hummed yes.

[firthbetterorfirthworse]

Before the Fall (2016)

oh my word. I loved this one for many many reasons.

It really set up the class distinction between an attorney and a welder, but in a fascinating turnabout, Ben Bennet and his group are the wealthy ones and Lee Darcy is a college dropout going through a really hard time in his life. Lee has been drinking too much, got in an argument with his girlfriend Cathy, and pushed her. The cops were called and he ended up with a felony on his record. Ben dismisses him as "a drunk who beat up his girlfriend" and Lee overhears.

A couple months later, Lee is a month into sober recovery and is friends with Chuck Bingley, who kind of drags him to a party Ben is throwing. Ben's best friend Jane has an instant zing with Chuck; Lee feels out of place and leaves. Afterward, Ben realizes: "I just figured out where I've seen him before. I saw him get charged with a felony a few months ago. He thinks I'm the biggest asshole on the planet"

By the way, the Lydia/Kitty characters? Meet Kit and Lyle and I love them

Ben is starting to get to know George Wickham, a criminal defense attorney who - spoiler alert - is the epitome of why the profession is starting to drop the idea of defending their clients with "utmost zeal".

Cathy is uh. Not a great person. "Do you have a girlfriend, Ben?" "Nah I'm gay, but I don't have a boyfriend." "You don't act like you're gay," "...How do gays act?" "Oh c'mon you know. I don't have a problem with gays. I had one where I worked I treated him like he was normal." ಠ_ಠ

I'm so torn between telling y'all everything that happened and telling y'all to just go watch it. I had never heard of it before now, but the music is gorgeous and there are a few fascinating conversations about gay vs straight relationships and how they're perceived by the public, thanks to Cathy (who seems to be Caroline and Lady Catherine all rolled into one).

Ben is adorable, and Lee is afraid, and it's so fascinating how they blended the character arcs. Ben is Elizabeth Bennet in so many ways - Jane's best friend, briefly falls for Wickham - but he's also Darcy - affluent, insulting, advises Jane away from an imprudent relationship, makes the big dramatic overture to secretly help the other since he's fallen in love. (they also put him in the rain at one point and even though he's not the character named Darcy, I'm counting it since he follows Darcy's plot points quite a bit, fight me)

This movie was beautiful and had me wondering if we'd get a happily ever after right up until the end. Give it a chance <3

[604to647]

Hi! i want to ask how you got the idea to write SWY and TRP story and chose them (among Pedro’s character) as your main characters? 🫶🏻

Hi love! Thanks for the ask 😘 The short answer for why Din or Tim is that I'm personally very weak for gruff, competent men who are secret softies and caretakers. 🤭😍 Longer ramblings under the cut 🫡

Safest with You was the first story I ever wrote (down) and it probably always had to be Din because I'm the most familiar with him? I've watched (and thought about) The Mandalorian more than I have any of Pedro's other shows/films (the second is Narcos).

The concept of a (retired) mob enforcer who loves his girl enough to leave her came to me when I was driving in the car and listening to "People" by Libianca, and I just couldn't get the image of two people in love who are apart and miserable, out of my head; she's safe, but at what cost? Yup, you heard it here first: even though we are just now getting to the angst in Ch. 19/20/21, this angst spawned the whole series 😂 My brain is weird! To this day, when I listen to that song, I think of Din and Pretty Bird and I probably always will.

As for The Rockford Portfolio, this one started (and continues) very differently! None of us know Tim that well because there's only been 48 seconds of him in canon 🤭 and this makes it super fun to write him because we can make a lot of things up - hopefully I've been able to paint an attractive and consistent picture of this man!

The stories for them come from everywhere! The first one was written for a Tumblr writing challenge where I had to brainstorm an ocean themed location/plot first, and once I decided on the aquarium location I picked a Pboi after (it was *almost* an aquarium date with Marcus Moreno, or an aquarium field trip chaperoned by Mr. Ben!🤷🏻‍♀️).

Some inspo comes from fun Tiktok trends and sometimes stories are inspired by posts and fics from talented writers here! Tim and Shutterbug's stories just come when they come; I don't have an overall plot for them (for now anyways) and that actually makes writing TPR and SwY at the same time very beneficial. SwY is fully outlined until the end (including epilogue), so when I write it, there’s pressure to make sure I hit certain plot points or convey certain points of view. I can get stuck sometimes. It's nice to a have a series that doesn't have a lot of structure to it, so there's no pressure but I can continue writing in order to keep the creative juices flowing 😊

OK - that was a lot! Hope it answered your question at least a little 😂 Thank you for reading and always being supportive - I'm so grateful for your interest in these series 🥹🥹😘😘

[katie-the-bug]

My thoughts on Soul Harvest, Part 1

Like night follows day, a bunch of long posts follow me finishing another Left Behind book. You know the drill.

Our Cast:

The Tribulation Force: Rayford Steele, evangelist and pilot of the Antichrist; Amanda Steele, Rayford's wife; Buck Williams, reporter and man of occasional action; Chloe Williams, Rayford's daughter and Buck's wife; Bruce Barnes, posthumous pastor; Tsion Ben-Judah, ex-rabbi, prolific blogger, and Bruce's exact replacement; Mac McCullum, Rayford's copilot; Ken Ritz, Buck's pilot buddy. (Were either of the authors pilots at any point? I feel like there's a lot of pilots here.)

The Antichrist (and friend): Nicolae Carpathia, Antichrist and dictator of the Global Community; Leon Fortunato, assistant to the Antichrist.

The book opens immediately after the global earthquake called the "Wrath of the Lamb," and for once, we are actually shown the consequences of one of the series' many cataclysms. Previously we'd only heard about crime waves and disease and famine, but here we actually see people impaled by debris and crushed by rocks.

Both Amanda and Chloe are missing in the aftermath of the earthquake, and Rayford and Buck start on wild goose chases trying to find them that will take the entire book. Spending a whole book looking for someone is okay if the book is of a reasonable size, but after 400 pages it's just silly.

"I've never seen anything make a full moon look like it's turned to blood." It's called lunar eclipse, Mac.

In Chapter 3, Nicolae learns that Leon has died in the earthquake and is disturbed by this to the point of going pale. Almost immediately he sets out into the ruins and comes back a while later having raised Leon from the dead. I can think of no reason for this sequence of events other than that Nicolae actually likes Leon, and I will be accepting no criticism on this conclusion.

We start to get hints, based on things Mac has heard Nicolae saying, that Amanda may be a traitor to the Tribulation Force. This would be an interesting plotline to explore if Amanda were available to be interrogated and investigated, but with her missing the plot thread just kinda floats in the air.

Rayford wonders, while learning of Nicolae's plan to rebuild the world, "How was it this man was prepared for every eventuality?" Rayford himself knows everything that's going to happen in the next five years because of his studies of Revelation, but somehow he doesn't consider that Nicolae could be reading the same books.

"Rayford prayed desperately....that God would use him in the death of Nicolae Carpathia." Finally, Rayford wants something. Until now it feels like he's just been along for the immensely destructive ride, but now he wants to do something about it.

In Chapter 4, Tsion says "The greatest source of Jews is Israel," as though Jews are a resource. And I mean, as far as this series is concerned, Jewish people are just a means to an end - once they're all in Israel (where the authors think they belong) and 144,000 of them convert to Christianity, the end of the world can get underway, at which point it doesn't matter what happens to them.

In Chapter 5, Nicolae spends a few pages musing, based on his resurrecting Leon, that he might be the Jewish Messiah. You'd think a man as educated as Nicolae would know that a) raising the dead is not one of the requirements to be the Messiah and b) Jewish ancestry via King David and King Solomon, which he very much lacks, is.

The above point also implies that, if Nicolae really thinks he could be the Messiah, then he doesn't know he's the Antichrist, which is a tremendously funny prospect.

In Chapter 6, Rayford recaps his faith life yet again, and we hear a line from his late Raptured wife Irene: "Wouldn't it be great to not die but to meet Jesus in the air?" Here we go again with the idea that people who were Raptured aren't dead. My dudes, they have ceased to exist corporeally. If that's not dead I don't know what is.

Seeing the mass destruction caused by the earthquake, we get this about Rayford: "He still found it hard to accept that this was part of God's ultimate plan. Did this many people have to suffer to make some eternal point? He took comfort in that this was not God's desired result." If the death of approximately one quarter of the Earth's population was not God's desired result, why did he take actions that he knew would cause it? Something's not adding up in the authors' theology.

It's said that the cataclysms are a way for God to get people's attention. If the God of Left Behind were omniscient, or even possessed of humanlike intelligence, he would know that there are many, many non-lethal ways for an omnipotent being to get people's attention. Once again, the idea that God doesn't want anybody dead makes no sense - he's either stupid or malicious, and I don't think the authors meant for God to be stupid.

For the past few books we have heard much about the shelter Bruce built under his church that would hide the Tribulation Force from persecution. It was destroyed in the earthquake, but it turns out that a church member who was killed in the earthquake built an exact replica under his own home, which the main characters have now commandeered. Convenient, convenient.

A new incidental character is called "Sunny Kuntz." I have questions.

Periodically the characters discuss Nicolae's new plan for communication infrastructure: Cellular-Solar, or Cell-Sol for short. Cell-Sol. Sell-soul. Geddit?

In Chapter 9 we get even more hints that Amanda is a traitor, this time from Bruce's own journal. The ambiguity will carry into the next book, and without Amanda in the story this just feels like a cheap way to add tension without anything of consequence happening in the story.

Mac converts to Christianity, and Rayford needs a sign he's genuine. Almost immediately, all True Christians get the "seal of God" on their foreheads, visible only to other believers, and while I'm aware that this is a Christian book and there will be God answering prayers, that won't stop me from complaining about the convenience of it all.

In Chapter 10, we find Ken in the hospital, having been bonked on the head by his own plane during the quake. He says of his injuries, "No brain damage, they tell me, so I still got no excuse for bein' crazy." Ken is my favorite character, in case it wasn't clear.

Buck and Ken's mission to fly to the hospital Chloe was taken to is made more urgent by a Global Community plot to take Chloe hostage in exchange for Tsion (a fugitive) or Hattie (who keeps embarrassing Nicolae). I can't help but feel that Chloe, the only major female character, has become a MacGuffin here.

As of Chapter 12, Tsion and his religious blog posts have taken over the role previously played by Bruce and his sermons - which is to say, announcing coming events chapters or even books before they happen.

In Chapters 12 and 13, the mission to get Chloe out of the hospital is a fiasco, made more complicated by the fact that Chloe is delirious and, it turns out, two months pregnant. Buck and Ken disguise themselves as doctors, but Chloe can't help refer to Ken as "Dr. Airplane." He takes it in stride, bluffing his way past GC troops and making snarky remarks the whole way, and when Buck mockingly refers to him as "Joe Thespian," he replies "That's Dr. Airplane to you." I adore this man.

I know I'll have to split this post in two because there's something so monumentally stupid in the second half of the book that I will have a full-blown rant, so I think I'll end this half right here. See ya soon.

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

I don't have time to write as much as I'd like right now, because annoyingly, I have to go to work all day before I can sit down and properly process last night's Grace Petrie concert (and watch the Taskmaster episode that I missed for the Grace Petrie concert, I have to do that). But I will say, you know how often at a show, even one you enjoy by someone you like, a small part of you is glad when it starts wrapping up? You start to wonder how much longer it'll go, just because there's a limit to how long we want to sit in one spot with strangers? "Often" is the wrong word, I've been to plenty of shows by my favourite people where that didn't happen. But at an average or even above average show, I start to hit my limit near the end.

Not even the tiniest bit in this one. When she said she only had two songs left, I was purely disappointed; absolutely nothing at the back of my mind thought "Oh good, it'll be nice to get back to my own bed." I could very, very happily have stayed there all night. It somehow exceeded my high expectations.

God, her voice. I think I hadn't fully appreciated how very good her singing voice is, just from a pure singing talent perspective. I knew it was good, I didn't realize just how good until I heard it all night, undiluted by the influence of recording file quality or speaker quality.

Also... I went up to the merch table at intermission. I did first buy a CD of an album that I already have off Bandcamp, and got her to sign it, as a ruse to show her that I am a normal person who wouldn't do something incredibly weird like bring someone else's poster to her show and ask her to sign it. The CD purchase was also a bribe - my parents taught me when I was young and going to folk festivals that singers hang around their merch table to make money; if you give them money for a CD then they won't mind you standing there talking to them for a short time, and sometimes it's worth buying a CD you already have as the price to briefly talk to your favourite singers while they sign it.

Then I pulled out this, and she was so nice about it. I said some incoherent thing like "I have such a strange request, I so hope you're not offended that it's someone else's thing, I'm a huge fan of your music not just the comedy, but I love the idea of having something signed by both of you so I'd love to get yours on this, because it's from close to the first year you toured together..."

"No, no, I'm not offended, Josie Long is one of my best friends! Can I take a picture of this to send her?" That was her answer as she signed it, and then she took a picture of that with her own phone. To send to Josie Long. In addition to the pictures my dad took on his phone and sent to me while I did this.

She played every song I wanted her to play (played much of the Connectivity album, which I think is her best one in addition to being her most recent). She closed on The Losing Side, my favourite song of hers, had the audience sing, that's going down as one of my favourite live music moments. Second last she did Black Tie, which I've always thought was very good but not quite her best one, maybe not as good as some others that seem less famous. But hearing it live gave me a new appreciation for it. I think the studio version I heard was more produced. Live with just her and her guitar and one guy accompanying her (Ben Moss, he was great, there were gorgeous harmonies all night), stripped back compared to the studio version, that song is so fucking beautiful. I understand the hype around it more now.

She got to the end and said only one more song, and I thought this night has been perfect so far, she's played all my favourites except my one top favourite, made a new favourite out of Black Tie for me... there's just one more thing I want, will I get it? Then she turned to her musical accompanyist Ben Moss, and mouthed some words that I was sure were "The Losing Side", and then I knew the night was perfect. The fact that she had to say that to him suggests to me she doesn't close with it every night, she had to let him know what to get ready to play. So I got lucky. So lucky. Fucking hell, so lucky. She had the audience sing the chorus and I didn't even mind that I'm normally not a partipator in these things and my dad was next to me (I'd thought we'd have different seats, turns out it was general admission), I happily participated and I'm glad I did. That's another song that really made me realize how amazing her voice is when I heard it in person.

Not a single song dragged or felt boring. Do you know rare it is to go an entire full length concert where not a single song feels a bit like filler? God, incredible night from start to finish. Could not have asked for more.