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bronx-bomber87 · 2 years ago

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Happy Saturday everyone. I always forget Eric’s wife had a spot on the show. Every time I get to this episode its a reminder. Also fair warning he’s gonna make me extra feral in this one. He is in a suit and yummy street clothes in this episode. Gimme gimme all day. I blame Eric for all my reactions in this ep for how he looks haha This is also a shorter review like last time but good stuff in it none the less. Off we go.

2x16 The Overnight

We start off with our lovely ship at American Idol auditions. A guy is getting arrested giving out meth smoothies. Lucy has to go back for his backpack. As she does she gets roped into an audition because it has his audition sticker. I��m surprised there wasn’t a gif set of her singing. It's such a good scene. I did my quick made one above with my phone. But a really good set should be produced. We get to hear Melissa’s wonderful voice again. It's in a much better context this time. Not a soul crushing and depressing way. She chooses a song from Aretha Franklin. 'I never loved a man'. She CRUSHES it.

I hope she gets another opportunity to showcase her voice in the future. The ending of this cold open cracks me up so much. The judges are impressed by her audition. Ready to give her that coveted golden ticket. Lucy hears Tim’s voice and bolts LOL Him bringing her back to reality. Their 'No no no' is so damn funny as she runs towards Tim. I love it so much. Tim having no idea what just happened. Thinking she's just running behind for no reason. Such a great cold open.

I love this scene for quite a few reasons. First and most importantly we get Tim Bradford in a suit. Sweet baby James. What a visual to start off the episode with. I need more this is my life. He should go to court more often. Honestly should be illegal to be that damn fine. *fans self* Second I find it very sexy he donates blood so often. I mean of course he does. To quote Lucy. Most Tim Bradford thing I've ever heard heh Tim as a person is just so friggin attractive.

Lastly I adore Nyla giving him a hard time. Doesn't waste a second before calling him a machine LOL Tim's face in that third gif is too cute. He's commending her shot and only shakes his head. How far Tim and Nyla have come. Reached a playful joking stage I love it. You know Lucy is enjoying someone else giving Tim crap. The proud wifey smirk of hers when he gets tossed his ball. I love them.

Lucy is running the front desk since Tim is off at court. She meets a reporter Valerie Castillo from the Herald asking for public arrest reports. She is looking for a scoop on recent robberies at 5 star hotels. Asking if Lucy has heard about them? Lucy says no. Valerie goes on to say she is trying to get away from Hollywood stories. Do something more impactful. So she can be taken seriously as a journalist. Lucy being her empathetic self wants to help her out. Lets her know the reports she’s looking at don’t have enough info. Tells her she wants CAD reports instead. Valerie asks what those are?

Tim comes striding in with the answer. Looking like sex on a stick in that suit. Good lord he can wear the hell out of that thing. Look at that fit on him. Thank you to his tailor. *chef's kiss* But I digress…Tim is clearly not a fan of this woman and what she is asking of Lucy. His cop gut going off and not liking this interaction at all. Tim instantly distrusts her and doesn't hide it.

Does crack me up they wrote Ros in as a character he can’t stand LOL I’m sure they had fun with this. Tim clearly doesn’t like the media especially her paper. Says her paper has a bias against cops. She bites back ‘Like the bias you have against me?’ She’s not wrong ha Tim says that's cute but isn't buying what she's selling.

Tim tells Lucy to get those reports back from her ASAP. That they’re gonna hit the streets as soon as he’s changed. Ooh lord the way he unbuttons his jacket and barks out his instructions on the move. Mercy. It shouldn't be that hot and yet here I am always a puddle. Ever the model just as much walking away as he came in. My god he's attractive haha It's truly not fair. Valerie says Tim shouldn't talk to her like that. Lucy is bemused by this statement.

Says he's her T.O. and its just his style with a smile on her face. (We all know she loves his style heh) I do love how this scene finishes out. Valerie saying ‘If ass is a style...but he sure can wear a suit’. Indeed madam indeed. Then proceeds to watch him leave LOL Checking out her own husband as he exits the scene haha Cracks me up. He does look damn fine in that suit. I can not blame her.

Tim instantly tries to steer Lucy away from Valerie. Telling her she’s bad news. Saying reporters always have an agenda. Lucy tries to be snarky and replies 'To get truth? Sounds Horrible.' Tim continues on despite her snark and says they aren’t to be trusted. Lucy being her sunshine self wants to see the good in Valerie. That she’s doing this to help the victims of these robberies. Tim thinks she’s being naive with this woman. Lucy battles back he just doesn’t trust anyone. Well that’s not true. He most definitely trusts you Lucy. With his life. But she has earned it ten fold out of him which is why she has it.

I’m with Tim on this one.(No surprise there I know ) That trust is something to be earned. I am the same way. It’s not something I just hand out like candy either. You have to prove to me you are worthy of that trust. Once you're in you're gold but you have to earn it first. He knows how trusting Lucy is and he doesn't want her to get burned by this person. This is his way of watching her back and trying to protect her from a potential disaster. Lucy doesn't heed his warning and it shows in her sassy face she gives him above. Lucy is so sure she is the right one in this situation. Like she is humoring him by listening.

They get a report of this idiot trying to use his snake to get out of paying for his car repairs. He pulls it out as a threat and It backfires pretty badly. As he waves the snake it bites him... (Like I said an idiot) I adore Lucy taking command of this situation. Also her heart for any living creature. I’m not a snake girl myself but I do love her taking the snake's side over this guy’s haha

This is our marriage scene of the episode. Tim says EMTs won’t step foot in here till the snake is neutralized. Tim says he’ll flush it out and kill it. Lucy is against this plan and tells Tim he can’t kill it. Their banter in this scene is primo. He is sassy right back asking what are they gonna do? Snuggle it? LOL Lucy ignores his sassy jab as she hops down and decides to do something herself. Tim isn't a fan of this plan since the snake is venomous.

Tim looks very concerned as he watches her. The way he raises his gun ready to destroy this thing if it goes after her. I love his face as she talks to the snake. Calling it by it's name, telling it she isn't going to hurt it haha He is wondering what she’s going to do with this thing. Then is impressed af when she traps the snake in a tire. What a bad ass moment for her. Snake whisperer can now go on her list of skills on the job ha Lucy proudly walks back to him with the best reply ‘Not his fault his owner is an idiot.' LOL I love this.

Valerie catches Lucy on the way out for the night. Claims she got her story about a Murphy scam. Rich men hiring sex workers then the sex worker has a partner. They rob and steal from them. The victim can’t report the crime without copping to their own. Says she came by to thank Lucy with a drink. (Mmhmm....)

Lucy is hesitant and says she shouldn’t…. You know that cop gut of hers is telling her it's wrong. Valerie asks 'Is it cause Tim wouldn't approve?' Lucy looks behind her like she can sense Tim’s disapproval from afar. Valarie sweetens the pot telling her she can be her inside person. Lucy concedes and decides to go. This can only end badly Lucy….

They make it to the hotel and Lucy quickly realizes they’re not there for a just a drink. Valerie has tracked one of the women who’s been scamming these men. Lucy is upset and feels betrayed. Says she can’t arrest people on her own. She’s a rookie. Valerie notices the man being scammed is a big time movie producer. Says this will get her a killer story and her a high profile arrest. You can see the regret written all over Lucy’s face.

Lucy tells Valerie she is texting Tim. I love this. She knows she’s in over her head at this point. So she is going to reach for her lifeline. Tells Valerie as such letting her know she could get fired as a rookie. That she needs a senior officer on scene. Also she really needs him to rein this in TBH. This has gotten way out of hand and needs Tim to come help her.

Tim arrives and Lucy thanks him for coming. (Like he wasn’t going to come and bail his girl out.) Doesn’t even have to say I told you so. This entire moment is doing it for him really. Lucy doesn’t fight or deny the hot water she is in. Not even a little. Just says ‘I’m in trouble aren’t I?’ His sexy Mm-hmm will do just fine for her. You know she’s just so relieved he's there to get her out of this. To save her from herself in this moment. The way she looks at him like he is her saving grace. Makes my heart happy. Doesn't even care she is in trouble just relieved he is there. So much said in such a small scene.

He looks sinfully handsome in that denim jacket *oh my lord.* Valerie says she’ll write a story about Tim if he punishes Lucy for this. Lucy panics and tells her not to do that. Tim isn’t phased at all by her intimidation of a story. The cocky way he walks into the room. Takes control of the situation. Says the cup against the wall trick doesn’t work. You know Lucy is rooting him on while he does this. Tim makes a joke about there being an app for that. Valerie believes him cause he walks in so confident and says that so damn smoothly. She can't help but reply 'Really?'

The way he says ‘No’ to her LMAO I'm dying. He is having a little fun in this moment messing with her. I love this man so much. Why is he so damn attractive in this moment? I actually know why ha. He's protecting Lucy and trying to do damage control at the same time. Also by taking control back from Valerie, by putting this situation back in his court. Tim calls in backup to help them if the accomplice even shows up. Tells Valerie she’ll be far away from the action if it comes to that. Not gonna let her get her story after potentially endangering Lucy for it.

The accomplice ends up arriving and Valerie has a ‘See’ look on her face. Thinking she is validated in all she's done to this point. Getting to watch Tim in action and in street clothes? Don’t mind if I do. They’re about to go after the guy when they notice Valerie is missing. She’s gone out on the balcony to get a photo. Clearly back tracking on her 'Killer Story' that'll get her taken seriously for a paparazzi shot instead.

She ends up getting her shot on the balcony but slips and Tim has to rescue her. She is refusing to let go of her phone as she hangs on to the railing. Lucy tells her to let the damn thing go. The guy sees them rescue her and takes off. Tim gets her up and takes off after the guy. Leaving Lucy with Valerie while he does so. This is the last we see of our handsome hero him in this ep sadly. The accomplice ends up getting arrested by a grumpy and tired Lopez in the lobby of the hotel LOL

Lucy’s SL wraps up with Valerie signing her statement. I love Lucy telling her like it is. Letting her know how wrong it was to take advantage like she did. Lucy is inclined to trust people and it bit her in the ass this time. (What he was trying to protect her from.) Unfortunately for her Tim was right on this one. She did have an agenda. Tim didn’t rub it in her face but also didn’t say she wasn’t in trouble for it haha Lucy has a mic drop moment with her. Telling her instead of going for the serious story she sold her on she went for the cheap shot. Gets up and walks away from her. Boom. Once again not a ton to content but still enough goodies ❤️

That wraps up 2x16 for our ship. Thanks as always to you all for your likes/comments and reblogs. Forever appreciate them. Can't believe we're almost done with S2. 6 left to review in this one.

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Side notes- Non Chenford

Always enjoy Nyla’s SL’s. When I first watched this ep wanted her to her back with Donovan. But glad she didn't much better fit with James but we’ll meet him later down the road.

Wopez engagement ❤️ They so cute. I love them. Happy for Angela and Wes.

See you all in 2x17 :)

#Caitlin Rewatches The Rookie #chenford #chenford hiatus #summer rewatch #s2 #2x16 The Overnight #The Rookie 2x16 #waiting for s6 #tim x lucy #lucy x tim #tim bradford #lucy chen #the rookie #otp: doing my job #otp: you know me so well. too well #otp: some things matter more #eric winter #melissa o'neil #tim bradford x lucy chen

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zoequeenz · 5 years ago

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Extreme Aggressor (Part 3)

MASTERLIST

PREVIOUS CHAPTER

Persephone Chase’s POV

Derek is trying to get into the laptop. He’s been trying for a while, nothing is working so he brought in another laptop to try to get into Richard’s. I hear footsteps and I turn around, Gideon, Elle, Hotch, and Spencer enter the room.

“Okay, here we go.” Derek says.

The laptop hums and the login screen pops back up.

“What’s the number six at the bottom of the screen?” Elle asked Derek.

“Number of password attempts before the program wipes the hard drive.” Derek answers.

“There could be an email or a journal in the computer, something that tells us where Heather is. Do you think you can break in?” Elle asks.

“In six tries?” Derek says in disbelief scoffing and shaking his head.

“Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” Gideon says.

Derek doesn’t know what that means and looks at Spencer.

“Samuel Beckett.” Spencer answers with a nod.

Then Derek answers back with.

“Try not. Do. Or do not.”

Before Spencer could answer I say…

“Yoda.”

Spencer looked at me in shock. I smirked at him. If he can’t recall every Saturday night we have movie marathon sleepovers. We watch movie series and he answers all of my questions. Gideon turns and looks at a small shelf on the wall. He reaches out and grabs a book. He looks at it for a second, it is called “Journal of Applied Criminal Psychology”. He flips through the pages and finds a newspaper clipping. The headline reads “-BLAST KILLS SIX”. The photo under it pictures Gideon and another man. It was back six months ago, when six agents died. Spencer finally looks over at it, Gideon and Spencer look at each other and Gideon says…

“I wanna talk to him.”

He closes the book and walks out of the room. After he leaves Derek and Elle look up from the laptop.

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Jason Gideon’s POV

I walk into the kitchen and throw the book down on the table. I taken the seat across from him.

“You read my paper. Learn anything?” I ask Richard.

“Heirens said a man living inside of his head was the one who committed the murders. You said he was lying, that there’d never been an actual case of multiple personalities.” Richard answers.

“You have an academic interest in dissociative identity disorder, or you just planning your defense?” I ask.

He chuckles in response. I pull out the newspaper clipping and show Richard.

“You a fan of Adrien Baal’s work?” I ask him

“No. I’m a fan of yours,” He says leaning forward.

“You know...they never give you the real facts about CPR...that outside of a hospital, it’s only effective 7% of the time. Your friend had a 93% certainty of dying, but you kept trying...even after you’d broken his ribs, even after his blood was all over your hands.”

“Why don’t you tell us where Heather Woodland is?” I ask him ignoring what he just said and keeping eye contact.

“Woodland...isn’t she the girl who went missing a couple days ago?” Slessman asks sitting back in his chair not showing any emotion on his face.

I just nod in response. I look around the room, I see a sign that says “Good little boys are like sunshine.” then a cookie jar that reads “Cookies for Good Boys Only.”

“Get him out of here.” I demand in a whisper like voice.

I walk out of the kitchen and past Hotch giving him a look that says follow me. He walks out and meets me at the side of the house. I am trying to calm myself but it is not working.

“Hey.” Hotch says to grab my attention and I turn to him.

“He said “isn’t she the girl…”. If he’d already killed her, he would have said--.” before I can finish Hotch cuts me off.

“Wasn’t she the girl…”

“She’s alive. We don’t know for how long.” I tell him.

“Is it true what he said about CPR? I mean, I didn’t know.” Hotch tells me.

“You want statistics on CPR, ask Reid.” I snap.

“I wanna know if you’re okay.” he fires back.

“I’m fine.” I say.

“Are you?” he questions.

“Think I can’t do the job?” I ask.

“I think you can’t be two different people at once.” he tells me.

I look away and smile realizing something. “What is it?” Hotch asks me.

“Conflicts in the profile.” I answer.

In my mind I remember the interview; the victim board with Heather on it; other victims crime scene photos; the second dump site; the unsub near the body, turning then running away; the messages; the message that matched the “Lipstick Killer”; the funeral; the child who looked at me; people walking on the sidewalk; the first victim with the belt around her neck; odd photos; a close up of an eye; a map that was labeled and stickered; Slessman walking down the stairs; and lastly sitting across from me.

“Two different behaviors.” Hotch says for me.

“Two different people. There’s a second killer.” I say.

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Elle Greenaway’s POV

Hotch, Gideon, and I are at a government building.I walk behind them as we walk down stairs, god why do they have to be so freakin fast.

“A second Unsub?” I ask surprised.

“It’s not unusual. Remember Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris?” Gideon answers.

“1979. They outfitted a van to rape and murder girls in California.” I say.

“We’re looking for someone who fits a similar relationship.” Hotch says.

“They’re not equals. Slessman’s smart, but he is a submissive personality.” Gideon tells us. “So number two is the dominant.” I clarify.

“Authoritative, arrogant.” Gideon adds in.

“Probably not as smart as Slessman.’ Hotch brings to the table.

“He’s like the schoolyard bully recruiting a good underling--he’ll be protective of Richard. He’ll make him feel like he owes him.” Gideon says.

“If Richard’s been up in the attic fantasizing about being an extreme aggressor, this guy showed him how to do it.” Hotch informs.

“He helped him take the first step.” Gideon pushes.

“I think we should interview him, us this as pressure.” I suggest.

Gideon stops and looks at me.

“No, no. We need leverage. A name.” Gideon says.

“ From the suspect list?” I ask.

“That’ll take too long. There’s gotta be a faster way.” Gideon wonders.

“There is.” Hotch says.

He leads us into the lobby. Richard’s grandma is waiting there, I can’t help but feel a bit bad for her. She just found out that her grandson is a suspect in murders and she can barely breathe on her own. She looks for fragile, so tiny.

Hotch comes in with a cup of coffee.

“Here. This might be a little hot.” He warns her.

“Mrs. Slessman, I don’t think we’ve got the right guy. I think the person we’re looking for might be a friend of Richard’s.” Hotch tells her.

“Richard never had many friends.” she tells him.

“You sure? There’s gotta be someone.” Hotch responds.

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Persephone Chase’s POV

We still can’t get into the laptop, we’ve been here for hours and even boy genius can’t get it. Spencer walked out of the room a long time ago and I haven’t seen him since. I miss him, it’s weird not having him around.On cases we go everywhere together, we maybe in the same house but I have absolutely no idea which room he is currently located. I look over at Derek and see him pull out his phone. I already know he is calling Penny a.k.a Penelope Garcia. She is the Technical Analyst for our team.

“You’ve reached Penelope Garcia in the FBI’s ‘Office of Supreme Genius’. Penny greets.

“Hey, it’s Morgan. Need you to work some magic here. I got a program called Deadblot Defense and a girl with only a couple of hours to live, so what do you know?” Derek asks Penny.

“Then you’ve got a problem. Deadbolot’s the number one password crack-resistant software out there. You’re gonna have to get inside this guy’s head to get the password.” Penny tells him.

“I thought I was calling the ‘Office of Supreme Genius’” Derek says in a disappointed tone.

“Well, gorgeous, you’ve been rerouted to the office of ‘Too Friggin’ Bad’” Penny told him.

“Thanks anyway.” Derek says about to hang up but then he does the unthinkable.

“Babygirl it seems as if boy genius and little one are fighting.” Derek tells her.

I look at him with a glare that would put him six feet under. He looks my way and laughs. This is some big game to him. Plus Spencer and I are not fighting, he held my hand when I got nervous. But then again he did that back when we got in a fight a while back he still held my hand because I’m always in need of comfort from my best friend. He puts her on speaker phone.

“Wait, what?!?! Fighting but they are meant to be.” Penny cries.

“I know right, they are in separate rooms at the moment. They can’t stare at each other anymore then look away when the other looks at them.” Derek says dramatically.

“Alright, alright I get it we are “perfect” together. But there is no romantic feelings between us.” I tell them.

Of course I’m lying. I have always had feelings for Spencer. He has always been there for me, even when we are fighting he still is there. Everyone thinks we would be cute together but I think he only thinks of me as sister. I love the boy but he doesn’t love me.

“Haha very funny little one but there is totally some romance between you two, you just can’t see it.” Derek laughs.

“Yeah Sweetheart it doesn’t take a profiler to see that you two are meant to be.” Penny says in a serious tone.

“Whatever, I don’t care how much you believe there is nothing between us.” I say.

“Okay, believe what you want little one, bye babygirl.” Derek says hanging up the phone.

“REALLY?!?!” I scream at Derek.

“Little One, come on everyone knows there is some feelings there. Why are you getting so mad.” Derek asks.

I just roll my eyes and walk out of the room. I love Derek like a brother but sometimes he can get on my nerves. Kinda wish that I went with Elle, Gideon, and Hotch. Where is Spencer? This house isn’t even that big, where could he be? I walk outside, I need to think…

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Jason Gideon’s POV

Hotch was interviewing Mrs. Slessman. We needed some information about Richard that he didn’t plan on telling us.

“Well, there was...there was this one young man. I think his name was Charlie.” Mrs. Slessman told Hotch.

“Cross-reference Charlie for the second Unsub.” I told Elle and she begins typing.

“Charlie is probably Charles Linder. He was Slessman’s cellmate and received a dishonorable discharge from the military.” Elle says pointing to the screen.

“He’s bigger, tougher. He could have protected Richard in prison. Where were they incarcerated?” I ask her after explaining that he is the dominant one in the relationship.

“Cascadia. Less than a mile from here.” Elle says with a smile on her face.

“Let’s go.” I say walking out of the office.

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Persephone Chase’s POV

I follow Derek into the bathroom after my failed attempt of looking for Spencer. When I look back at Derek I see him open the mirror. He pulls out a bottle and shows it to me.

“My name is Richard Slessman, and I have trouble sleeping.” Derek says out loud to no one.

We then walk into Richard’s room. I think I know what’s going on here. Derek is putting himself in Richard’s shoes. Derek lays flat on Richard’s bed and sighs.

“Okay. What do I do when I’m trying to sleep.” Derek asks again to no one.

He reaches up into a cubbyhole above Richard’s bed. He pulls out a lot of CDs; he then finds a portable CD player and headphones. He looks for a CD in the player but there is none. He then looks my way and notices I’m standing next to a CD rack. Oh joy we get to go through that now. Yippe. He then walks over to me.

“Persephone, guys, a little help. We’re going through everyone of these Cds--scratches, wear and tear. I wanna know which CD he plays the most. Let’s go.”He commands.

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Spencer Reid’s POV

Hotch has me looking for an address for Linder. I hear footsteps and I already know it’s Hotch.

“We get an address on Linder?” Hotch asks.

“It’s coming right now.” I answer.

I look at the fax printout while Hotch hands something to the agent sitting at the desk.

“Does senior management want a field assessment on Gideon?” I ask.

“Don’t worry about it.” Hotch tells me quietly.

“Are they nervous about him being in charge?” I ask Hotch.

“Aren’t you on your way back to Slessman’s house to help Morgan and Chase?” He asks me.

He then turns to walk away but before he can get far I ask…

“Do you know why he always introduces me as Dr. Reid?”

He then comes towards me.

“Because he knows that people see you as a kid, and he wants to make sure that they respect you. What’s the address?” Hotch asks with a sympathetic look on his face.

“Don’t think it matters anymore.” I say showing him the paper which causes him to sigh.

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Elle Greenaway’s POV

Gideon and I went to the prison. We are on the lookout for someone who may know Slessman or Linder.

“Winston Churchill said, “The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you will see.”

Gideon and I walk up to the warden to see if he can give us any information. Just as I get a phone call from Hotch.

“Anyone who can tell us more about Slessman?” Gideon asks.

“Tim Vogel was the security guard covering Slessman’s block. That’s him over there. I’ll get him for you.”the wardens says walking in Vogel’s direction.

“That was Hotch. Linder’s name came up on a police report.” I tell Gideon.

“And?”He asks waiting for me to finish.

“He’s dead--car accident, two months ago.” I finish.

“Linder is dead.” I say to clarify.

We then head down to talk to Vogel.

“Too bad you guys came here for nothing. I mean, talk about scum. I can’t remember how many times I put Linder in solitary for causing trouble with us.” Vogel says while taking out his keys and opening the door.

“You’d think the inmates would try to stay on our good side, right? Especially since half our job is protecting them from each other.” he says in a kind of annoyed tone.

“You protect them?” Gideon asks in a curious tone.

“If you’re a little white guy? Especially in a prison like this.” Vogel says making a point.

“Linder’s 6’4”. You talking about Slessman?” Gideon asks.

“Oh, yeah.” Vogel says nodding.

Gideon and I share a look.

“Thanks for your help.” Gideon says ending the conversation.

“We look at Vogel and notice when he uses his key to unlock and open doors. It took us awhile but we eventually got out of the prison.

“He befriended Richard, protected him, made him feel like he owed him.” Gideon speaks.

“He fits the profile. And did you see them?” I ask.

“The keys.” Gideon answers.

(Time Skip)

We are in the car waiting for Vogel when all of a sudden a red Datsun Z comes out of the parking lot. I take after the car and Gideon gets on the phone to call Hotch. “Hotch, I just found your leverage. His name is Timothy Vogel.”

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Aaron Hotchner’s POV

I enter the observation room or the room on the other side of the one way glass and lower the room’s temperature.

“What’s he doing?” asked the male agent.

“Lowering the temp. The cold puts them on edge.” the female agent responded.

“Okay, so I want SPD, and I want a Seattle agent in the room. I want him to see that we’ve got every department working on this. And I need some file boxes. Fill them. I don’t care if the paper’s blank. And I want you to write the name on the sides.” I command leaving the room but not before I hear the male agent ask…

“Whose name?”

I enter the interview room carrying the fake file box. Other agents follow me inside also carrying file boxes.

“Four months of investigative work, one file, and guess what, Richard. It’s not your file. See, we don’t care about you.” I say pushing the box towards Richard.

He looks at it and reads Vogel’s name. He looks shocked and scared, we got him.

“It’s Vogel we want.”

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Persephone Chase’s POV

Spencer was finally back from wherever he went and he came to help Derek and I. Spencer and I are currently in Richard’s room looking through the CDs. Spencer is sitting crossed legged and my head is on his left leg. We have been looking through CD cases for hours and I am so bored but it’s my job I don’t have a choice. Spencer picks up a CD fiddles with it as he thinks. Then he gets that cute little look on his face telling me he figured something out. He pats my arm to tell me to move. I pull my head off his leg and he stands up. He begins to head out the door but not before he gives me the “you coming” look, I get up and follow him to wherever he is going. I follow him to the attic where Morgan is pacing and muttering to himself.

“Aw, c’mon. I need a password. I need a password.” he pauses then looks around.

“What could I possibly be looking for?” he asks himself.

Spencer then enters the attic with me following behind. Carrying an open paper clip. Derek sits down then sighs.

“I’ve been thinking about the CDs.” Spencer tells him.

“Oh, Reid,come on. We tried the CDs. We searched,sifted, and sorted through everyone of this guy’s head-banging heavy metal collection. We gotta find something, of this girl is dead.” Derek says in an aggravated tone.

“Derek why don’t you let him explain then judge what ever happens.” I say trying to show that Spencer may have a good idea.

All the while Spencer was getting to work with the paper clip and fiddling with the laptop.

“Think we may have missed the obvious.” Spencer tells us.

“What are you doing?” Derek asks.

Spencer pulls out the CD holder and finds a Metallica CD inside.

“Reid, what made you think of this?” Derek asks in an impressed tone.

“It was the only empty case.” he says showing Derek the case. “All right. I’m an insomniac who listens to Metallica to go to sleep at night. What song could possibly speak to me?” Derek asks us.

“Enter Sandman.” Spencer says getting up and walking over to me.

“I’m proud to call you my best friend Spency.” I say while throwing my arm over his shoulder.

“Me too, Percy.” he smiles.

“Okay, I think you too are cute but come on Spency and Percy?” Derek laughs. I roll my eyes and sit down somewhere away from Derek; Spencer came over.

“How did you come up with Spency?” he asks me. “I’m not really sure. When you were frying your brain figuring out what to do before we came up here I thought of nicknames and liked Spency the best.” I say.

He just smiles at me. But when he smiled I got butterflies in my stomach. I guess my feelings were stronger than I thought because I’ve never felt this way towards any guy I’ve ever dated of course they were all douches but not Spencer.

NEXT CHAPTER

#criminal minds #criminal minds series rewrite #spencer reid #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid x OC #criminal minds imagine #spencer reid series #best friends with a genius profiler

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johannesviii · 5 years ago

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Top 10 Personal Favorite Hit Songs from 1991

Weirdly enough, even if I was only 3 years old, there is one (1) song on this list which is there purely because of nostalgia, so.... yep, this is where the nostalgia bias actually starts, believe it or not.

Disclaimers:

Keep in mind I’m using both the year-end top 100 lists from the US and from France while making these top 10 things. There’s songs in English that charted in my country way higher than they did in their home countries, or even earlier or later, so that might get surprising at times.

Of course there will be stuff in French. We suck. I know. It’s my list. Deal with it.

My musical tastes have always been terrible and I’m not a critic, just a listener and an idiot.

I have sound to color synesthesia which justifies nothing but might explain why I have trouble describing some songs in other terms than visual ones.

This list was wayyyy easier to make than the previous ones and I’ve actively listened to everything on it at some point or another in my life.

Also, after 1989 my sources for the French year-end lists are way more reliable, so that’s always something.

10 - Fading Like a Flower (Roxette)

US: #44 / FR: Not on the list

I swear this was already on this list in my drafts before reading the recent news. It was a bit of a shock.

Rest in peace.

9 - Shiny Happy People (REM)

US: #100 / FR: #86

Long ago, I saw someone calling this song REM’s worst song because it was, and I quote, “too happy to feel genuine, to the point of being disturbing”.

Implying that’s a flaw and not a feature.

8 - Je t’Aime Mélancolie (Mylène Farmer)

US: Not on the list / FR: #39

I don’t know who told Mylène Farmer she could mumble rap but that person needs to be found and... uh, and nothing, because the verses kinda suck but they’re just mildly annoying at worst and kinda funny at best. The music and the chorus are great though, to the point where I’m willing to put up with the rest.

That’s the point where someone who knows about her discography would go “but Johannes if you wanted to put an average MF hit song from 1991 on this list, Regrets was right there” and to that I’d answer “does this list look like a funeral?”

7 - Wind of Change (Scorpions)

US: #39 / FR: #3

Oooooh I listened to this a lot when I was 16. I even bought a battered vinyl version I found in a garage sale, just for collector purposes. You all know it, and I don’t have anything particularly interesting to say about it, but yeah, still great song to this day.

6 - Poupée Psychédélique (Thierry Hazard)

US: Not on the list / FR: #8

It’s a song mocking fashion and some of the ridiculous standards expected from women - the singer basically makes a long list of qualities and clothes for his completely artificial “psychedelic doll” who has “infinite legs” but who’s also made of “100% synthetic matter” and “needs batteries”.

This song is the one which landed on the list purely because of nostalgia, though. According to my father, little Johannes would start dancing every time it was on the radio, and yeah, I remember not getting most of the words of the song, nor, of course, the subtext. To tiny me, this was clearly a song about a guy who had an incredibly cool doll and wanted to tell the whole world about it.

I still like the song a lot today, mind you.

5 - The One and Only (Chesney Hawkes)

US: #93 / FR: Not on the list

This is on my “Fitz Kreiner” playlist and it’s one of my chosen theme songs for Fitz. I only discovered it a few years ago but I enjoy it a lot.

4 - Né en 17 à Leidenstadt (Fredericks, Goldman & Jones)

US: Not on the list / FR: #64

Nothing I could say would make that one justice if you don’t know about it yet (which I kind of expect since I’m pretty sure most of my followers don’t speak French to begin with), so here’s the song itself, and here’s a translation.

I love it but I respect it even more, to be honest.

3 - Losing My Religion (REM)

US: #33 / FR: #16

I have a strange history with this one, because it used to be very high on my lists of favorite songs. VERY.

And then... I don’t know. I got fed up with it in absolute record time. And it disappeared from my lists, my tapes, my head, everything. I genuinely don’t know. I still like it, I guess? It’s fine?

What happened? It’s like someone used one of these memory-wipe things from Men In Black to make me forget why I ever liked this song. ♫ That’s me in the corner, that’s me in the spotlight, losing my favorite songs ♫

I’ve got no clue. It’s still #3 for this 1991 list, though.

2 - Crazy (Seal)

US: #75 / FR: #31

I. Adore. This song.

I mean. Of course I do, it’s almost at the top of this list. But hear me out. For literal years, I only had one (1) partial recording of it on a tape, beginning in the middle of the last sentence of the first verse, I didn’t know who was singing it or what it was called, I labelled it “? a little crazy?” on the sticker, and that was it. And yet I would listen to that song a lot. A looooooot. It is that good, and it’s a shame I never really connected with this guy’s songs again afterwards, but that one right there? Amazing.

I finally found what it was around 2004, and it instantly claimed a spot on my top 30, right next to friggin Moonlight Shadow.

If it was any other year, it would claim the top spot very easily.

Alas, this is 1991. There was always going to be one obvious winner and no one else.

1 - Désenchantée (Mylène Farmer)

US: Not on the list / FR: #2

I will forever be salty about this monster of a hit being denied its year-end #1 on the FR chart by a terrible novelty song. F o r e v e r.

About 17 years after I first made contact with Mylène Farmer, I’m no longer a real fan, I’m aware all of her stuff is deeply flawed and always was, and she’s mostly made some pretty subpar music since then.

None of this matters one bit because this song about a “disenchanted generation” is a f█cking amazing accidental Millenial anthem and it's still relevant to this day (”everything is chaos around me / all my ideals are just damaged words / I’m looking for a soul who’d be able to help me / I’m from a disenchanted generation / disenchanted”).

Did I like it back when I was making my lists on paper, though?

Um.

Yeah.

A fair bit.

And it’s accompanied by a ten-minutes-long music video depicting a rebellion against some generic unnamed fascist regime in some sort of prison or camp, and ending with the victorious rebels facing an endless plain and wondering where to go next and where to start again. The music video itself is, again, very flawed but still impressive and I really like the general idea of “rebellion is difficult, and messy, and scary, and sometimes it has to happen regardless of all of that”.

If you’ve never seen this music video before (the actual song starts around 1:30), well, it’s Mylène Farmer right in the middle of her Ultimate Goth Phase(tm) (for crying out loud there’s a crow on the album cover) so, uh, here’s various trigger warnings for fire, people getting hit in various ways, firearms, stones and glass bottles being thrown, blood, rats, and also, someone eating a bug. Enjoy, or not.

Also, this is what convinced me to cut my hair super short as soon as I was able to do so (2003 - my mother was not pleased) AND to wear a black cap on my head. I still have that cap. I still wear it. That’s just a footnote but yeah. Thanks, Désenchantée. I owe you one.

Next up: the list where I definitely lose the respect of everyone reading these lists hoping for actual quality.

#Johannes’ bad not good pretty terrible music lists #music #long post #flashing lights #eye contact tw

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cheye1 · 2 years ago

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Trip to Davis, WV

This weekend was the first (semi) large trip of the year! Inspired by the 52 hike challenge I found on Instagram, I felt that Mac and I needed to go do something new! So on Saturday, we packed some snacks, put the dog in the car and headed to West Virginia to visit the Black Water Falls State Park.

Davis, WV is roughly 2 hours from where I live in Harrisonburg, Va with my son and dog. The trip was easy and there was literally no traffic. (We were the only ones on the highway for several minute stretches of time.) The scenery of the mountains and mountain homes kept us alert for the majority of the ride. Our devices didn’t work so it was easy to suck up the WV radio media, which was a lot more diverse and fun than we thought it would be.

Arrival at the state park was cake! The walk down to the Falls was quick and beautiful. The boardwalk was so nice and while there were a lot of people, it didn’t seem crowded. (The bathrooms were also really nice and well kept, which is important after driving 2 hours). After walking to the Falls, we got back in the car and headed to the lodge, which is where the trailhead for our larger hike was located. This trail simple to follow for a novice like myself. Even so, there were some large rocks, fallen branches and roots that made the trek just a little spicy. The hike was said to be over 4 miles long, and we didn’t make it fully around the loop. (The lack of people and service on the trail made Mac more anxious than I would have hoped.) It was easy to find a short cut to get us back to the car.

As a new solo(ish) hiker, I need to do a lot better in preparing to do new things. I was prepared for the 30 degree weather, but I was not prepared for snow or mud. We DID NOT have the right footwear. I didn’t look at the place prior to hopping in the car, so I was unaware of how close everyone would be while walking on the boardwalk, which was not the best choice for my 2 year old, vocal dog, Stewie. I hope to make the trip again once its warmer outside and maybe I will be lucky enough to talk Mac into an overnight stay at the lodge.

After the hike, we got pizza to go from Sirianni’s. Their pizza was delicious, their service was amazing and I give them bonus points for the Black Lives Matter sticker in their window. We also visited the Wandering Caravan, which was too friggin lovely and I had to stop myself from buying one of everything. Before leaving, I ordered a matcha from Trailhead coffee. The space was small and intimate and the baristas were really nice. While I only bought the matcha and some benets(which were fudgin’ amazing) they sell different flavored hot chocolate bombs-- They even have boozy bombs for the adults. I will DEFINITELY go back catch a show, eat and spend more money. I think I might’ve even met a friend. :D

https://www.facebook.com/TheSiriannisPizzaCafe/

http://www.thewanderingcaravan.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Trailheadcoffeeshop/

(photos will be added at a later date.)

#unlikelyhikers #blackgirlstrekkin #Daviswv #blackwaterfalls #west virginia

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elizabethrobertajones · 8 years ago

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Your post about season six, and Dean forgiving Bobby and Sam for lying to him, you only mentioned Cas in passing. Cas brought Sam back and then never bothered to tell Dean anything either, and Dean still forgives him until TMWWBK when he gives Cas an ultimatum. Can you elaborate on what you meant there?

pfft, I couldn’t even remember what I said there :P

(this post)

I mean… I was kind of skirting around it because I don’t think Dean forgives Cas? I said 6x04 was where they reconciled and you might have noticed Cas not being in it and I was helpfully keeping that post about Sam and Bobby >.> Because we don’t talk about season 6 because it’s a friggin minefield especially when you’re planted in the Destiel camp, because of how the show used Cas that season as, essentially, the main antagonist, all the way through the season.

(Also we don’t talk about it because it really hurts, I assume :P I mean I accidentally started a season 7 fanclub but that season’s relatively easy once you have hindsight that it’s all distilled Pining For A Dead Loved One with a safety net that the loved one comes back, but hindsight doesn’t do anything to having to sit through a dozen episodes of them at each other’s throats and everyone angry and everything is awful all the time >.> The closest we get to cracking any jokes around Cas is the pizza man exchange.)

Their whole tension in season 6 is that Cas isn’t coming when Dean calls and not helping them (and ugh that line is one of those ones that’s terrible in context but romantic in a gifset and thank goodness Cas says it in nicer context at least once because it was manipulative and not true in context), and they ONLY see him when they demand he comes to them, unlike previous seasons where he was always the one bringing stuff to them, or it was more obviously an equal exchange of help, like 5x10 and all the stuff where they were working together to find the Colt. I don’t think there’s a single time they see Cas that year where they didn’t wrangle him down from Heaven with threats or bribes or weary resignation that asking him to come see about the one thing he’s actually interested in is the only way to get him to come home (Dean being the unappreciated wife with the trouble child, in this case, an entire side of the season away from Crowley accusing Cas of being the philandering husband >.>)

So in the first couple of episodes they mention Cas hasn’t been answering and that’s his implicit guilt in the same thing that @thejabberwock was saying Dean could have easily never forgiven Bobby and Sam over doing… And I think because they were on the same side and working together through the season and so on, at the very least they get over some of it just because close proximity and fighting side by side, and by the time all the cards are on the table re: Sam’s soul, by 6x07 or so, I think Dean can pretty much say it’s not really their fault if Sam was the moral compass on that decision. I mean he’s angry and miserable so I don’t think he has a sit down with himself and comes to that healthy decision, but over time I think it would easily slip away.

But in 6x20 the worst part of it is the Cas watches Dean rake leaves moment, which not only uses the fact this *still hurts* that he didn’t come to Dean for help and bring Dean back into hunting when if anyone could have started it again it would have been Cas in that moment, but then in the actual confrontation we get another brief flashback to Cas turning away from Dean and going with Crowley when Dean asks where he was, so Cas making this mistake was the hugest part of the betrayal - that at the very least he could have let Dean know what he was doing, or they could have fought against impossible odds TOGETHER again to whatever end. I mean, like, there’s the genuine implication in that confrontation if you want to see it this way, that Dean would rather the world end but Cas hadn’t betrayed them and at least they could all go out on a moral high ground.

Through the season it’s like what me and @mittensmorgul talk about sometimes about the whole unfinished conversation through the seasons, only when it starts here as a sort of one season microcosm version, it’s that Cas can’t and won’t tell Dean what he’s doing and why, and so Dean’s telling him stuff like, that’s ALL you’ve told us, when Cas repeats the couple of easy facts to explain what he’s doing. Dean gets to the end of the conversation in any meaningful way in 6x04 with Bobby and by the end of 6x07 he knows pretty much everything soulless!Sam didn’t tell him, including all his motivations, so he’s quite happy to work with him and try and get his soul back once all the cards are on the table. (I mean Bobby explained his motivations for keeping Dean out of the game back in 6x01 and we have no reason to suspect Bobby ever had any ulterior motives, but they had family teething problems for a bit - the first 4 episodes of the season deal with 1 member of TFW each and since Bobby had the lowest stakes of any of them, he gets resolved first to just go back to being dependable old Bobby with no particular emotional drama except being concerned about them/saving the world.)

But they hold off on using Cas until the 3rd episode and when he shows up he answers none of their questions in a satisfying way, shrugs off concern about not answering with the line about having a more profound bond with Dean (another one of those lines that looks great on a bumper sticker and has a lot of truth to it when you go deeper, but in context is actually a really shitty thing to say), and then he spends the episode not really answering anything, except for blatantly being in the middle of an escalating angel war so he has to admit some things like why angels are attacking him or why there’s even a problem they called him down for in the first place. We get his conversation alone with Balthazar to keep plot chatter away from the Winchesters and then he grants him his freedom because he needs Balthazar’s help more than he needs the good opinion of the Winchesters, especially because he’s already firmly decided with the raking leaves scene that they’re not going to be a part of it.

And that just makes the pattern from there that for the rest of the season Cas only comes when it suits him (aka when stakes are too high in the other direction - his war or Sam and Dean getting hurt, or occasionally when he can tell their friendship is really on the line if he doesn’t go, to the point he can’t make amends after he wins - that he has to drop by and try and reassure them or to get involved because they’re accidentally involved in the angel war or what have you) even when Dean’s really worried about Sam - something we don’t know for sure until 6x20 that Cas is wracked with guilt about and also is fairly helpless to reveal his part in raising Sam about because it opens up too many other questions, namely the one about why he never got back in contact with Dean after 5x22. So it keeps on coming back to the massive void being that Cas saved Sam but then wouldn’t go to Dean for help, and it’s the empty space in his reasoning for why he doesn’t go to them casually for the entire season.

12x19 offered us his actual motivations when it comes to them about how he feels and that he wants to protect them and I think when he justifies it he’s actually telling the truth about it because I think part of it was there was a lot of startling emotional honesty… Cas actually naming his motivations as Sam and Dean is a bit of a running joke in the show, in a very dark way, that he’ll always say it’s for Heaven like in season 9, and when Metatron called him out on it, he mostly just looked sad and affronted. Sadffronted. :P Anyway he just straight up tells Kelvin, no it’s not about Heaven and my reputation there, and honestly stuff you guys but I need some extra man power and resources, to do this for Sam and Dean. And he’s honest about the same thing when Sam and Dean catch up to him later. In season 6, which was a season-long version of the dynamic 12x19 explored as part of the Cas Retrospective of season 12, he mostly just bristled with impotent rage when things got this close to the surface, snapped something cryptic, and disappeared :P I mean I can’t even remember an exact moment that happened but he was exploiting the fact he could disappear at will to end a conversation like nobody’s business back then.

But because Cas won’t tell them anything meaningful about the plot, is massively unhelpful about Crowley until he just strategically kills him to stop the Winchesters asking too many questions, and avoids Dean over the issue of Sam’s soul, the entire first half of the season is filled with non-stop snapping, and actually Dean’s feelings towards Cas escalating into frustration and anger that only gets worse as the season goes on, and Cas can only give very small respites with unhelpful little promises he doesn’t have to follow up on if he keeps avoiding them. He gets himself a bit of a break when Crowley is dead because there’s less chance of the Winchesters stumbling onto the plan if they don’t think there’s a plan to stumble onto, and Eve works great as a distraction right up until she just goes and tells them that Crowley is still alive… But there’s a very uneasy feeling between Cas and Dean the entire time because the angel war distracting Cas is a huge hovering issue even when they’re talking about other stuff, and they never get a chance to foster better feelings or celebrate a win together or anything like that. 6x18 is possibly the only time they have a sort of aaaalmost uncomplicated good feeling and that’s because they won the episode, Cas has mostly managed to avoid suspicion about why he got stabbed.

I think it’s actually a testament to how much Cas means to Dean that when 6x20 rolls around, Dean is still staunchly defending Cas to begin with, that he can think Cas might have had his reasons all through this and that he thinks Cas is one of the good guys and can be reasoned with and if they treat him on the level it will all be fine. And in a way that is because they made it all through the season without ever addressing WHY Cas didn’t talk to him for a year so it’s sort of more like forgotten with all the new drama that’s happened since, rather than forgiven, because of course that WHY finally comes to the surface, and it turns into the entire reason they can’t reconcile this and why it’s so far gone that they missed the chance to reconcile it right back when Cas made the decision not to get Dean involved.

So I think… in a meta way… that THEY were not talking about season 6 until it was too late and that’s why Dean ever let things pass with Cas until it turned out they’d been betrayed and they should have been talking about season 6 with Cas :P I think that ultimatum didn’t really come out of the blue because Dean had been pissed off with Cas all season, but there was a sort of deep heart of hearts feeling that Cas had to utterly forsake before Dean would see Cas as betraying them, because he trusted and cared about him so much he couldn’t see it coming no matter how shady Cas acted, which meant that he was letting everything sketchy Cas did pass, including the hanging question of why HE didn’t tell Dean that Sam was back from the dead. I mean it gets to teenage girl writing in a diary, maybe he didn’t notice me because he was busy, sort of justifications but I said somewhere or other recently I think 6x20 confirmed their feelings on both sides (and I think it’s weird I’ve ever seen people say that it only confirmed one or the other, especially when I’ve seen that said both ways :P). And Dean giving Cas all those chances and benefit of the doubt to the point you could see the “oh hon” on Bobby’s face… Yeah.

Also his determination that they could fix everything if Cas just backed off and let them help >.> Like, yeah, you’d have had to have a COMPLETELY different season to make that work - the entire point was it was unwinnable and the best Cas could do was utterly give up everything he ever had - allies, family, morality - to sacrifice for that fight, and he forsakes them all through the season in various small ways, culminating in a total loss of self but his goals completed. Dean’s version of the season where he gets to keep Cas would have been a loss but an emotional victory, and that is not what Cas could bear at that point. And 12x19 also makes the point of emotional victories and moral victories, and again I think that it’s like Dean’s pleas in 6x20 echo all the way up to current canon to remind Cas why he COULDN’T give in to Dean’s request.

The speed run of season 6 is 5x22 > 6x20 without taking a breath, because after all the nonsense and running around and red herrings, Cas ties the entire story back into what had just happened in Swan Song and how he made his decisions, and his conversation with Dean in the car at the end of Swan Song about “peace or freedom” is the key question there which defines Cas’s arc of the season and his decision for leaving Dean out. Dean chose freedom but regretted not going for peace because it was this promise of peace in 5x16, the talk of a paradise and a perfect bliss in Heaven, that swung him the most to nearly saying yes. Cas knows he picked freedom for everyone else but wanted peace in his heart of hearts and it’s the same thing Amara picked on in season 11, that Dean wanted quiet, and it’s the same thing Jack promised Cas and Cas repeated to Kelly. And was Michael and Raphael’s apocalypse sales pitch.

So all these things are thematically linked together. I guess I’m still typing because it all ends up back at season 12 and presumably 13 based on how these apocalypse-era themes and now characters are back. In the raking leaves scene Cas picked peace for Dean, to stay with Lisa in oblivion in the suburbs, which denied Dean the choice (aka freedom) to help him, and in the start of season 6 we can use Bobby and Sam’s similar decision to leave Dean out to show it’s people deciding for him and not giving him a choice about how to live his life. I’m pretty sure the line “so Dean doesn’t have to” would fit perfectly in 6x20 as much as 12x19. And at the end of the day, Dean knows Cas is annoyingly right, that they’re Team Free Will (hence also… 12x19 hello again :P) and Dean embodies free will and will always end up fighting for it - but of course that doesn’t mean he can’t have a personal struggle with it, which makes it all the more interesting. They just made the decision for him to give into the bad side of the struggle - to let peace win when for Dean it should always be freedom because that’s what he’s the epitome of.

And in 6x20 that’s what they fight about at the very very end, when Dean accuses Cas that he shouldn’t do whatever he wants and that he’s a child for trying, because he sees Cas as just not grasping these concepts properly, not understanding without the key information (that Cas’s motivations are HIM, the unfinished part of the conversation, the missing puzzle piece to all their interactions, etc) and knowing just how much Cas has grappled with this off screen and Cas’s understanding and motivations. I mean, the VO of the episode is from AFTER this argument, so I think Cas’s opinion on himself and his hubris and arrogance all comes AFTER and maybe BECAUSE OF the bollocking Dean gives him, because he has all the puzzle pieces (or nearly all) and genuine self-reflection and he’s in the position to wryly look back on everything he’s caused from this simple set of choices. He identifies all his own shortcomings but still sees there’s no other way and he’s going to have to make the leap to truly give up his morality and sense of self to accomplish what he needs.

And that’s also, to jump back to season 12, and weirdly I was having a dream about chilling with her last night, Lily Sunder, a literal mirror opposite to Cas in some ways, the human who got in too deep with angels instead of the angels who got in too deep with humans. She’s giving up parts of herself to get revenge, which is the opposite mission to Cas’s in season 6, to protect his loved ones. In a great metaphor for literally every revenge mission ever in this show and other media, Lily is losing her soul the longer she sustains herself on the mission. But it’s also a good metaphor to the idea of giving yourself up for any mission, to the point of only thinking you can accomplish it at a total loss of yourself. Cas gives her a way out to not complete it because she got absolution with Ishim, the one who truly hurt her, and peace with Cas as seeing him as truly repentant and changed and being able to say the right words to set her mind at rest. But Cas didn’t get that chance to not carry on his mission because it was one of protecting them before the bad stuff happened so the stakes were too high to be talked down from. He also tries to talk Dean back from a total loss of self in 10x22 for what good that does. And I think that’s all from experience - of knowing how it is to go over that line and thinking things are justified until they consume you. Cas had to shed his morality and his emotional attachment to Sam and Dean in order to work against them completely as the antagonist once his role was revealed to them and they boxed him into it by not understanding or giving him a chance - because they were more concerned for HIM than the bigger stakes - and so he could break Sam’s wall in order to get the job done.

And to me that becomes the REAL hurt he caused them in season 6, far far over the earlier choices he has, and he needs to fix Sam immediately when he returns in season 7 and then spend the rest of the season in an arc about understanding and forgiveness and apologies with Dean. And that all springs from the earlier lies and betrayals and stuff but trying to tackle what Cas should have done in the start of season 6 is impossible because in many ways he was basically already the wrong word away from a 6x20 style confrontation every time they met him from 6x03 onwards (which is probably why he looks like he has a migraine the entire season :P) and so I don’t think there’s ANY WAY they could have plausibly sold any sort of real reconciliation or forgiveness in the start of the season if they’d wanted to, which they didn’t because they wanted Dean to be pissed at Cas all season for reasons which were just as frustrating and opaque to US, and I don’t know what they knew for sure about the end of the season but they were definitely planning all along for Cas to have a baaaad bad part in it because he was shifty and showing tells of lying and so on from the get go. I think if they’d made a twee moment for Dean to be given a chance to forgive Cas for not talking to him for a year, it would have basically just escalated Dean’s suspicion through the roof because Cas would never have been able to sell it when the bigger picture of why he did it was what all eventually poured out in TMWWBK.

(here's a link to my rewatch of 6x20 where I ramble a LOT more about the philosophy behind it all)

#Asks #Caaas #Cas analysis #we don't talk about season 6 #6x03 #6x20 #etc #.... should probably add #season 13 speculation #season 13 spoilers #for people who really want to avoid it all

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kerushi-fanart · 8 years ago

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Very late Fannibal Appreciation post below~

I know I missed appreciation day, and ack! I can’t believe I did! First off, I just want to say a huge THANK YOU to those that tagged me, either here or on my main account ( @sinsational ). I can’t believe I was tagged at all, and thank you so much to those that did.

This is literally in no particular order. I’m very scatterbrained. xD

@miasmatik : Your art is FUCKING AMAZING, first off. I love seeing everything you’ve put together, and seeing your art on my feed is always a huge treat. Your colors absolutely amaze me, and I still adore my cutie Beverly sketch (currently set as my phone wallpaper. ;D). I appreciate you not minding my random annoying messages. I know I can be a bit much with some of my hyperness. You are also UNBELIEVABLY supportive. You have no idea how much that means to me both as someone who follows me, and as an artist I respect and admire. (I’m totally making that stupid HanniSnail into a button/sticker thing because of that conversation, btw. Something I wouldn’t have done otherwise.)

@felidfannibal : Again, HOLY SHIT DAT ART. I’m really happy that I found your stream, as I plan on watching as often as I can. Your art is a goddamn treasure. The Greek Marble Master of the fandom. It’s absolutely inspiration and I cannot wait to get your art tattooed on me. <3 (You will probably get flooded with pictures. xD) You’re also totally sweet and kind and I adore annoying you.

@le-wendigogo : Soft colors of adorableness~ First off, omg I can’t wait for the cover to my fanfic (that I really need to get back to writing). You are another poor soul that I have inflicted my hyperness upon, and I’m glad I randomly reached out to you. Thank you for being so supportive and allowing me to gush about your art~

@jadegreenworks : I want to say, I absolutely LOVE Overcoming. I’m looking forward to seeing how everything is going to unfold and it’s like a friggin roller coaster. *w* I love it~ You are also incredibly supportive of other artists/writers, and thank you for helping me by reblogging my stuff. I am overwhelmed by your support and I’m so happy you’ve enjoyed the silly fanarts I’ve done for you. I also greatly appreciate the patience you’ve had with me on your winning piece. Once work and the move are complete, I can put a lot more time into it and get it to you ASAP. I’m really happy you’re enjoying it so far, though!

@fragile-teacup : Another incredibly supportive Fannibal and writer~ I read the first part of your The Spaces Between series, and I need to read the rest. (Definitely enjoying it so far. ;D) I really wanted to give you a shoutout for reminding me of cool events going on in tumblr, sending me screenshots (please keep doing so), and generally just being really kind and friendly. You’re another person who reblogs me frequently, and I consider both you and Jade as these big players in the fandom. Every time you two reblog a piece of mine I wind up with more followers, so huge, huge, huge thank you to you both.

@vulcanplomeeksoup, @h4nnibalism, @matildaparacosm, @amutantandproud, @azuresky2011, @hannigram-hell, @the-winnowing-wind, @electrarhodes : This group happens to be amazingly, wonderfully supportive. Matilda and Mutant have both given me amazing screenshot projects that I absolutely loved doing. (Please send me more D: ) and dealt with my very spazzy weirdness. xD I appreciate your sacrifice and time. I’m incredibly shy and awkward and you both were so very sweet to me. These guys are like -- my always rebloggin’ team. I constantly have reblogs from all of you, and I can’t tell you how much that means to me. As an artist, while I love <3s on my stuff, reblogs helps get my stupid little doodles out there. I see all of those reblogs you guys have been doing and it just -- warms my heart endlessly. You have no idea how much your support means to me. Literally.

@radiance-anthology : Thank you for putting together such an amazing book. I cannot wait to hold so many artists and writers in my hand. That kickstarter was an amazing, wonderful project and I am so excited to read through everything. While I missed the deadline by returning to the fandom so late, your reblogs have really helped spread my art through the fandom when I was still brand new here. I’m so happy to support your project, and I’m so very thankful for the support in turn.

This is such an amazing fandom to be apart of. I’ve written before about how supportive this fandom is, but literally I would not be drawing at the rate I do without you guys. It’s even inspired me to actually do more artwork again that isn’t just a half hour doodle, and I never thought I’d do that again. I would not be here, I would not be drawing, without you all.

Thank you so much for all of your support. It really does mean the world to me. <3 <3 <3

I am sure I missed a lot of people, especially those followers who are newer as I haven’t been able to check my notifications as much these past couple of weeks. The move is FINALLY JUST ABOUT DONE. My unpacking should be done as well by the end of the week. I’ll be producing more artwork soon that I hope you all enjoy, and hopefully some pretty stellar pieces for the winners of my giveaway. I’m also looking at opening up a Redbubble here around Halloween. So stay tuned, everyone. <3

Love, Kerushi

#shut up keru

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againstthegrainphoto · 8 years ago

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ok. I’m going to write this novel. it’s going to be so long that I’m actually using the website....not my phone. because keyboard. Here we go:

Ghost. Oakland, CA. 7/5/17.

So my friend Sarah and I went to see ghost and iron maiden in Oakland. If you don’t give two shits about my san francisco adventures and just want to read about ghost....skip down. It was a bit of a hot mess of a trip. I had to work monday, So I worked my 8 hours and then left to pick her up. Because both of us are night people and night driving is WAY better than day driving. traffic in seattle was a complete nightmare starting out. there was a huge accident at the west seattle bridge exit. So I finally get to tacoma and pick her up.

(nice unintentional product placement for the best nameless ghoul tote bags ever)...we stop at fred meyer and get car supplies and gas. Then we are on our way. We make a stop in portland for dinner and an awesome visit with @lucifersbrightstar....we had such a good time!! (seriously, it was really great to hang out!!! <3 )eventually we head for cali. We made such great time. Sarah ptfo around medford. And as I’m flying down I5 the sun is beginning to come up and as I make it to the cali border and the ipod (on shuffle) is playing ghost’s cover of “here comes the sun”......I almost started crying it was such a beautiful moment.....like you can’t make this shit up.....

We made such good time we made it to the hotel hours before check in....we even went and scoped out the venue and everything....but by that time I was like “I need sleep now” So we check with the hotel and they were like Sure! check in now! your room is ready! and thank satan for that....because I went and ptfo. We rested and slept a couple hours before heading into San Francisco. We took the BART.

...which I’ve never been on a subway....we don’t have these things in seattle....That shit is scary as fuck. I mean it starts out above ground..much like the monorail here....SUPER easy and fun..... and then all of the sudden the thing is SHRIEKING like a fucking demon going 80million miles an hour and going down to the pits of hell so fast that your ears are popping. and then you end up in san francisco. we then went to chinatown..

its such a fun area...by this time though it’s been over 13 hours since I’d eaten and I fell into Eskimo Hungry™ mode. Like....if you don’t know what that is...you don’t WANT to know what that is....but if you don’t keep your Eskimo fed....it’s not pretty. So Sarah leads me into the snow garden restaurant and we order so much food. And she’s like “....are you mad at me?!?!?”.....and I then had to explain what Eskimo Hungry™ is. I then consumed some chicken chow mein and half a dozen pot stickers AND TWO!!! shrimps. I hate shrimp. They taste good....but I just can’t do the texture. But I got TWO down. I was so proud. I’ve never eaten more than one in a sitting. Then the world was right again and we went and looked at all the things!! She bought herself a black pearl (she’s a pirate....btw....like “this is not a hobby” type of pirate)(...actually her hobby is burlesque dancing....).....(....did I mention she’s one of my coolest friends?)...so she bought herself a black pearl necklace and comes up and also buys me this blue pearl necklace that matches my hair color...IT WAS THE SWEETEST THING EVER.

So then we just wander around all these random shops.....and we go in this knife shop....because she’s in the market for a pirate sword....and I saw this knife. I don’t like knives. or weapons. or guns. or anything like that. But I was like......I.must.have.that....i don’t know why I must have that. but I must. And then I’m like...noooo. I don’t need it. But then I was like...well if it’s under $20. I”ll do it. So I ask how much and the lady is like $17. And I was like naaaahh. this isn’t my jam. I don’t need it. and so I walk over to sarah and she’s like are you going to get it? I’m like....it’s $17.....and she said I should get it. So I did. So now how I have beautiful oil slick looking knife which I’m not sure is legal or not. but I love it? So then we travel down to the shopping area....and walk through this crazy tunnel:

and end up in the shopping area. I found a huge chewbacca. he was like 6′5.

I found a pineapple shirt (and knew @yourinfernalmajesty1 would approve) in no other place than fucking H&M.....because of course:

Then I saw the awesomest fountain thing....I saw it and IMMEDIATELY was like murder castle......MURDER CASTLE!!!!!!! H.H.HOLMES. YOU GUYS.

of course Sarah was just like “ok heather...?!?!.”.....and I”m just like “what? am I the only fucked up one here? it’s cool.....I get it....murder isn’t everyone’s cup of tea”....I then found palm trees......I had never touched a palm tree. Or really even seen one up close in real life. Those fuckers are HUGE. Day=Made. So excite.

Then we went to sephora because it was like 4x the size of ANY sephora we have up here. I got the new Urban Decay Veletizer. (10/10 would recommend.) We then were going to take the trolly, but it wasn’t running because it was the 4th of july. But they had a free shuttle down to the place for fireworks. We were waiting by the stop and this scandinavian couple started chatting with us.....it took EVERYTHING in me to not say “kommer ni från Sverige?”....because they were so swedish it was painful. The shuttle was fun:

but terrifying......the bus driver was INSANE. I was shocked we didn’t crash and die.

our houses here look so different. Like it feels more like a different country down there than it does in Vancouver....which is actually a different country.

We went by Lombard St....which was really cool and kinda unreal to actually see in person. It has such a different vibe than seattle.

So alien. So then we are down by the water. And friggin Alcatraz. I saw friggin Alcatraz!!!! What the fuck. SO AWESOME. I had to take a selfie with Alcatraz.

then I had to take a photo of Sarah with Alcatraz. I was so stoked to see it.

We then went and got Ghirardelli sundaes and coffee at Ghirardelli Square.....I was double fisting like a fuckin champ.

We we watched the not so impressive fireworks show that was hidden in the clouds for the most part....being from seattle.....it wasn’t that disappointing. just more normal. hahaha. We then walked 80 miles back to the BART.

We stopped and got some adult beverages on the way....And FINALLY at like midnight made it back to the hotel......where I looked in my bag:

....carries everything. full bottle of wine, blue pearls, BART card. shank. UD makeup. ice cream sundae....you know....the essentials. We then started are daily ritual of in and out burger......I ate more burgers this week than I have in the past year.

At this point I finally sleep for more than a few hours. We woke up the next day and I’m like a HUGE ball of energy....because ghost. We eat breakfast at the diner across the street from the hotel and discuss game plan. We then went to walgreens because Sarah was having bad sinus allergies and also had wore new boots all around the day before and needed a blister cover.

Now...for the GHOST part of the trip:

We then go back to the hotel and get ready to go. I finally put on the beautiful dress I made.

We called a cab and went down to stand in line for pit entry....because if I’m going to see ghost....I WILL be at the front. We looked fucking awesome btw....if I do say so myself:

That venue’s ticketing system is a fucking nightmare. I had purchased my two pit tickets back on presale in January. They allowed you NO (0,none,ziltch) tickets. but put the tickets attached to the number of the credit/debit card you purchased them with. Also you HAD to enter ALL at once AT the EXACT same time. And literally no one at the venue knew what to do with me and Sarah, because I was VIP/meet&greet and she was not. So I had paid (dearly) for early entry, but if I went in she would not be allowed in. Because VIP was plaza entrance and pit was south tunnel entrance. So I asked the lady running the iron maiden vip (ghost vip wasn’t even there yet)...and she was just like you have to ask nik. So by then the ghost vip crowd had gotten about as big as it was going to get (SUPER SMALL. like 20) and I was chatting with a couple people....some of which already follow me!! it was so cool! lol. So finally nik comes out and I tell him my situation with the tickets and he’s like well I”ll just check you in for vip right now and you can go stand with her in the pit line, because honestly ghost vip only get in 5 minutes before everyone else.....and ALL of the vip iron maiden fans are already in there. So he checks me in...and I find out I get to carry around a ouija board ALL night. for the entire show......like.....did they think this through? And I didn’t drive there.....soooo I had no where to put it and was forced to just carry it. And the little itty bitty sack they give you doesn’t even fit it:

So what I ended up doing....is threading my purse strap through each side string and then putting each loop around each arm and it fashioned a sort of backpack(which were 120% illegal, not allowed at this show, leave now, type of venue)....SO STUPID. But really a different and imaginative VIP incentive really. So much better than the shirt from last year. So I was ok with it. So then we go in and go to the front of the currently empty venue. And Sarah holds a spot (and my ouija board) for me up front while I go to the place to meet for the photos. I went and saw the people who I chatted with outside and akwardly joined them. It was actually really cool to hang out with other Ghost fans, not alot of them up here in seattle, I feel like. So we got talking and we decided that we wanted a tumblr photo with papa....so me, @jennwearsblack , @burnthewitchiii , and her friend (katie?) all figured we would ask if we could do one big group photo. So watch out for that!! :D I feel like it’s going to be fucking awesome!! So then nik came and herded us all down to this small room with this weird curtained off section with black fabric.....total step up from last year. but a little odd imo. you couldn’t watch the other people photos like you could last year....like it was private. so we wait in line and nervously chat. Finally it’s our turn and we all go in and take the group photo.....then we all exit back through the entrance to take individuals. I feel like we didn’t really ask if that was ok, or give them an option about it, or a chance to tell us “no, that’s not ok.” hahaha. So finally it’s my turn.....and I go in and hand him the envelope with the doll from @lucifersbrightstar and a couple of my own photos I had printed out for him.....but I put them in such a way he couldn’t see them?....because I don’t think I could handle papa looking at my photo in front of me again. When he did that last year I basically was like “OH THANKS” and turned and ran away from him while he’s holding a small pile of photos. hahah. oh dear. So he went over and gave the packet to.....the manager dude who I totally recognize, but who’s name I don’t know. The one whom I shoved ALL my shit (purse, merch, vip bag, laminent, etc) in his arms last year while I did my photo. (bless him)....And so then papa comes back and I go “I want to do an akward prom pose! and then one with our nails!” and him and nik both kinda tried to hold in laughs. Because that’s gotta be one of the best requests ever....if I do say so myself. And then I start thinking how this is going to work out and where and how to stand and while mid thought papa goes “OKEJ. lik dis?” in his papa voice....and in one swift movement grabs me by the waist, flips me around, so all of the sudden I”m in front of him, facing the camera, and then pulls me back so my back completely pressed up against his front, and his hands are on my stomach holding me there.....I froze and didn’t know what to do. because that’s NOT at ALL what I meant or expected....I wanted like 4 feet apart hand on shoulder akward.....but his super confident un-gentle movements and his hands on my stomach freaked me out to the point where it took me a moment to realize that I am standing there holding both of my own hands in the air while papas are around me and nik is standing there with the camera staring at me waiting for me to put my hands down....so finally my brain kicks in and is like “PUT YOUR ARMS DOWN BITCH. JESUSFUCKINGCHRIST. GET IT TOGETHER”....so I lowered my hands to papas with an akward unintentional pat pat and nik took the photo. then I was like....”nails”...and I made a stupid face and papa made a stupid face and we held our hands up...and he took the second shot and I gtfo. asap. run away. i was SHOOK fam....my groove was thrown off. I am sure I look like jabba the hut in the photo from the way papa was holding my top half back at an angle and how nik was looking up at us. I probably have like 80 chins despite my on point contouring. I booked it back to Sarah and was like “WWWWHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. *SOB* IT DID NOT GO AS PLANNED. *UGLY TEARLESS SOBBING*=‘(” (..............what?.....I wasn’t about to fuckup my close to flawless make up.....or cry out the contact....)....I was shaking.....that’s not something I ever do....I generally own up to everything that happens....and I rarely get nervous around people.....I’ve photoed and met so many idiot bands....like it’s just not nerve wracking at all to deal with idiot band people......but I was like....*holds shakey hand up* “WHAT IS THIS. WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME. AM I DYING. I THINK I’M DYING. *TEARLESS SOB*”......she then left me to go find beverages($9 for a fucking bottle of water if you were wondering)(she was going to get adult beverage....but at $17 a shot....she wisely passed on that)(ps--fuuck you arena shows)....that’s when I panic posted that little blurb that’s got over 60 notes(why tho)....*cries*....of course then I over analyzed and remembered what I had said about my meet and greet last year:

....then I was like...”...uuhhh.....I sure as fuck hope he didn’t read that”.....because the demeanor and vibe from him this time was like so exact opposite....and we all know he’s a fuckin lurker......*has minor breakdown* ....because honestly this is more what I was going for this year....was the akward prom pose:

...i liked that...ugh. this years photo is going to be horrible and I’m going to cry....

.....then I’m going to get my shit together...open up photoshop.....and make it work......

So then the show started and it was SO AWESOME. Fire really made it for me....totally sold me on the new ghouls. That dude is a fucking treasure.

I had so many special moments with that little ghoul......Everyone’s like “PAPA POSES FOR YOU ALL THE TIME”.....and I’m just like.....nah. he’s just doin things that papas do. goin about his papa business. per usual. it’s not my fault papa business is photogenic........fire, however. That dude would hold a pose for hours for me if I asked, I think. hahahaha. He’s so fantastic and fun and he gives so much energy.....and also takes so much energy. more so than anyone I’ve ever photoed. it was really fun to photo and watch. one time I somehow felt like he was giving me shit for photoing another ghoul...my camera was pointed somewhere else, satan forbid. and I saw him gesturing out of the corner of my eye. So I looked straight at him and made a face and stuck out my tongue while still photoing someone else and he just shook his head and then shook his finger at me. I adore him. hahahaha. There was one time where papa did his “stare into your soul” thing.....so I just stopped photoing and stared back....like “two can play that game, bitch”......I could not see new new new earth at all. what so ever. was kinda sad about that. he seemed? to do well? I mean sounded good. I still hate chAir. Still petitioning for a new Air ghoul. dude is a terrible nameless ghoul. like.....no. gå hem. vi vill inte dig. du får inte sitta med oss......no matter how good at sitting you are......ha. only new ghoul I’m not sold on. New new new water is absolutely precious. New new aether is quite a character. His poppunk/glam jumps off boxes are life. It was over way too soon. Fire tried to toss me a pick but didn’t quite get it to me. we both just shrugged at each other. lol. Then during set changes the entire crowd shifted....in a bad way. the dude next to us got fucking head butted hard and went down. security came in and removed the headbutter. but people were still being horrible....WITH NO BAND EVEN PLAYING.....Sarah got hit hard too.....and she’s recovering from a shoulder injury and so we only lasted one song up front before we gtfo. and retreated to a safer spot:

It was a sold out show. 4000 people were behind us for ghost:

....Iron Maiden fans....as far as the eye could see.....

We went and got merch during iron maiden. I asked the merch girl for the “ghost tesla shirt” and she was like “I don’t know which one that is”.......I was just like....you’re fucking kidding me right?....then once she figured out which she’s like we only have it in large and up.....so someday I’ll make a dress out of it. lol. until then I”ll just swim in it.....it already goes like half way down my thigh. lol. So then we watched the rest of iron maiden from further back.....it was a really awesome show. Their stage set up is phenomenal. So then it ends and we contemplate trying to meet ghost....and find a lost older man with a dead phone(hi richard!) who was desperately trying to find his people...lol...I ended up calling his friend...and leaving a message..”HI....I’m here with your friend richard at the north entrance....please come get him”....haha...eventually they came found him and scolded him and thanked us for keeping him safe?? hahahahah. good times.....then it was good we didn’t try to meet the ghouls....cause I guess they left before it was even over. So I was fairly heartbroken about it....because I don’t know when/if I’ll ever get to meet the new ghouls. I really do like them(aside from chAir)....I really hope papa keeps them around.(aside from chAir).....So then we call a cab to get us back to our hotel......and they’re like....we just sent our last two cabs for the night. sorry....and people were saying uber was a 2 hour wait......so we ended up WALKING back to our hotel....... Luckily it wasn’t too far....but it was far enough....and I was in huge strappy platforms and a floor length dress. good times.....maybe not so much. But we made it. And then we went and got our ritualistic in and out burgers. That shit is so fucking good. and I don’t know why. Then I posted all the photos and mourned the fact that it was over....I was still buzzing with crazy energy and Sarah fell asleep...lol. Eventually I crashed too. we woke up the next morning, packed and headed home. It was THE WORST DRIVE EVER.....what took us like 11ish hours to get there.....it took us SEVENTEEN to get back. we stopped for coffee. and we stopped for in and out one last time.......the rest was spent stuck in traffic and road work for miles and miles. it took us HOURS and HOURS and HOURS just to get out of the god forsaken hell that is northern california.

we flew through southern oregon.....until just north of salem....where we sat....like chAir.....in traffic. and roadwork. for fucking hours and hours. not. happy.

...we figured I would get home around midnight....including a stop in oregon for a smidge of tax free shopping....not only did we not make it in time for oregon stores to be open......I GOT HOME AT 4:30AM......and that concludes the epic, crazy, wouldn’t trade it for anything, hot, fucking mess, of a trip that me and a friend took to see ghost. Because I’m pretty sure that will be the last time I ever see papa III.....and I would have regretted it my entire life if I hadn’t seen him one last time.

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hydepark1-6 · 6 years ago

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Flood of the spyre

History’s a bitch ain’t it? It’s been so long now, we, those from before, don’t really see them as we once did. A muted rainbow of smoke and other tiny particles, ropey and living it twists reminding one of a fuzzy eel. In its mouth a spiral of teeth (the only part that feels solid) in a circle reaching inward, a reverse accordion to better grind, swallow and burrow. Some are lucky to have it attached to a fleshy forward facing bit. The stomach is a good spot, the chest even better, but most people were not as lucky when the wave of symbiotic leaches were released. A pyroclastic cloud like swarm of them, they came at us, everyone, from every direction. In a feeding frenzy whipping and spinning with keenest instinct they bit into the first warm thing they sensed. Legs, heads, asses, my best friend has one coming out either ear. My mother lost an eye, well it’s still there, not too far from where it was eaten. If we could ever find the waste hole on one of these things we might get some of our parts and bits back. Mangled and chewed and smelling of shit, but still flesh. Still some bit of a person. Luckily i didn’t lose but a patch of hair on the back of my head during the flood. There were those who resisted, marched, protested, but when the governments announced “there are just too many…these symbiotic spyrants will live either way…this is our chance to save the human race from certain extinction.” It was over. The flood was not to be stopped once unleashed.

Mosquitos don’t go after warm metal. They go after two things to find their dinner. The sweet smell of our sweat, mixed with our carbon dioxide laden breath and the heat of the living. To have both is to be a target. The spyrants were looking for the same things, only attacking and claiming that which possessed both. Just one? Nope, not a viable host.

At the onset, some spent the rest of their entire existence trying to remove the unwanted guests. Scaring themselves in the process and the thing only dug in further. If a person kept trying to extricate the spyrant, it gets in too far and spreads to all points delicious and vulnerable until there is no person left. These are the dead espers, mindless harvest and assembly workers. They do what they are shown and much like a machine, work until broken or shut off. Others don’t mind so much the relationship, though it is not voluntary, they work with it. The benefits seem to outweigh the nuisance. Besides, for many, it’s all they have ever known. Some gain the trust and friendship of their personal overlord. The spyrants tend to like small sweet bits and music it finds soothing. It’s funny, no ears or echolocation can be seen or determined, but an irritant or pain experienced by the host can be satisfied or quelled by playing something orchestral and stringy. The spyrant then releases a generous dosage of serotonin and something a kin to an opiate excreted directly into the host’s bloodstream. Mine likes grapes, small coppery things, and some springy Mozart or Philip glass can make my day a little dreamy if not taken too far. Everyone has their story. Mine doesn’t have much of a before. When the flood came, I was only 5, just a little boy, hiding under my bed, my hands hugging my pillow buddy and my face buried and away trying to escape somehow through the fabric. The spyrant who found me was attracted to the heat generated from what had been a rather aggressive virus and an accompanying fever that was making my head feel bloated and my skin sizzle. Its teeth ate and swirled until positioned rather like a rat tail braid at the base of my skull. So like I said, “lucky”. My spyre is considered almost stylish. Spyrants or “spyres” are a part of everything we do now. They are fashion. They are prestige. They are pleasure appendages. They are pets. They are us. We are them. There are laws and religions set to protect and exalt them and us with them. They do not control us, but limit our ability to react or process. They do this not consciously (as far as we can tell) but rather as a result of occupying space where that bit used to be…and the drugs. It’s just making a more comfortable and compliant home for itself. It can’t force you to do anything like kill someone or yourself and it can’t kill you. It doesn’t increase your intelligence and it doesn’t seem to have any desire to hinder your personal progress, so long as it’s safe and sated. The symbiont wishes no harm on the host, but when it comes right down to it, they will choose survival every time. They always have.

The water is a window, the sphere is a door An inter-dimensional rip appears as a sphere of empty space in the Arctic Ocean. It’s an anomaly scientists and theorists rush to examine. The first team to reach and measure it determined two things initially. It’s growing, the sphere itself is expanding, and it isn’t empty, there is something swirling inside. Not one thing but many. If you could merge dark clouds and a school of fish in constant movement, you would be close. They observed the sphere engulfing all it ran into or disturbed, except for the water and the ice. It was suggested to plant testing equipment in its path and remotely test what the sphere is from inside it, and maybe determine where it came from. What was the swirl was made of? What were those smokey wisps that seemed to be alive and hungry?

The scientists constructed a crawler base, which well, crawled under the sphere. Not right under, but just at a half a mile under, crawling on the ocean floor. Like an underwater space station on treads, the whole observation team and support staff lived and worked pacing the sphere seated a half a mile up.

After initial testing was successful, they were able to plot a growth rate of the sphere, but not where it came from, and also that the cloud inside was indeed alive and made up of now hundreds of thousands of eel like wisps. They swirled and swarmed, occasionally attacking each other. It seems they were territorial even when spinning in a circle. Due to this trait, having two or more spyres on any one person is very rare. The only way for this to happen is if the spyres have no knowledge of each other’s occupancy. Further tests to the sphere also revealed the inside was pretty dry but the sphere itself, the walls were wet. The equipment sensed moisture from other objects residing in the sphere, but no pools or puddles. The walls of the sphere seem to be made up of three layers of membranous stretchy water, making it both solid and porous. During examination, it appeared to make choices on which to be and when. Each layer rubs against one another (creating a hypnotic hum) but also shifts into place like tumblers in a lock. When the right elements, minerals, proteins and molecules are lined up, it can let objects pass while continuing to repel the water all around it.

As its diameter grew, it just pushed through the water choosing not to let any pass through. Everything sent into the sphere seemed to do ok and nothing seemed to disturb the swarm, So naturally humanity wanted to send an animal into it. After much debate, they decided to send a dog. Kraken was trained to find holes and cracks in ships and subs. Sure, he had other abilities, but this skill in particular was the one that got him the job, in the sphere. Kraken was anesthetized and sent up a rope in a bell. They slowed and stopped his ascent when he was in range of the sphere’s path. The rope became ridged and moved him closer. The dog kraken passed slowly through the wall of the sphere. Having no water to support him or the bell on the other side, they both fell through the wispy eels (which seemed to take no notice of him) and down onto a pile of debris and dead fish at the bottom of the sphere.

Kraken woke and the science team in the crawler cheered. When they announced their success, the press had a field day over the dog essentially being sent on a suicide mission. I mean they had a point. He was sent with no food to an isolated place with no food. There was a public outcry to “Save the Kraken!” Posters, t-shirts, bumper stickers, graffiti, and kraken flags were seen pretty much everywhere. Something had to be done. So a scientist from the team below by the name of Doctor Simon Jerry volunteered to be the first person to enter the sphere, face the swarm, save the dog and hopefully not die in the process. Suited up, DrJerry used the very same rope delivery system as the kraken in his bell. When he reached the sphere he just unhooked from the rope and swam to it. He passed through easily. Traveling from very cold low salinity water and now on the inside, he was surprised to find the sphere holding no significant amount of water (he and his colleagues had collectively assumed this reading was off). He also wasn’t prepared for the gut punchy smells of wet dog and fishy dogshit. He removed his ear plugs; there was a rushing sound the doctor attributed to the wisps above still circling and fighting. His wet suit squeaked slightly as he got to his feet and approached the dog. They were happy to see one another. DrJerry opened a zipper pouch on his front and offered the dog a mild treat and some water. The Doctor then gave kraken the command to search for a way out. “Search for a crack, find us a hole we can use to get home.” Kraken did search but found nothing. After checking and testing, DrJerry could find no flaw. There was no evidence he or the dog or anything else had passed through the walls and into the sphere, but here they were…trapped.

The sphere continued to grow and the swirling wisps never stopped. DrJerry was succumbing to the stress of his predicament. So maybe it was just frustration because after 27hrs of testing and theorizing and reporting, he still came up with nothing, no possible let alone probable means of escape and now they wanted him to sit calmly for a friggin network tv interview? …or possibly because he just wanted the damn thing off his skin, DrJerry began taking off his wetsuit. His legs and feet were still very cold. His chest and arms were a little better, but only just. Then he took off his head piece. The swarm around him shuddered. And all at once the wispy eels took notice of the man and his steamy head. They shifted and went for him. The first to connect fought off all the rest and claimed its prize. DrJerry tried to fight the wisp but it wasn’t solid enough for him to grab onto. The thing had latched onto the top of his head right there where the hairline meets his forehead, dead center and while on a live feed with the crawler half a mile down. So yeah…The first guy to get a spyrant attached to him has it positioned like a whipping unicorn horn on live tv. What are the odds really? After many hours where he desperately tries to cut the spyre from his head and takes to throwing himself against the sphere itself, he succumbs to his self-inflicted injuries. Three days later the dog eats him. As kraken gets closer to the spyrant part of his meal, the spyrant itself wriggles free and joins the swarm once again. They do not die when the host dies. There is no known way to kill one. They vacate the host when it is no longer viable, and move on to the next host. No one has ever killed a spyrant, neither has anyone ever seen one die or reported a death.

We gotta do what we gotta do After the well documented tortured death of DrJerry, and with the sphere still growing, fear really set in and all efforts were considered in stopping this menace from reaching civilization. It was the aim of the decision makers that this “not blight humanity.” We were told, “If we cannot kill them, they must want to kill us” They didn’t want to send another person in. They studied the tapes of DrJerry’s fate and monitored kraken’s decline. They told the press the dog died in the attack that led to Jerry’s decent. Vigils were held and little girls cried for the German Sheppard/Labrador mix as he wasted to nothing while the powers of this world decided what position you and I would be forced to take.

Everything they sent into the sphere had no effect on the sphere itself or the growing swarm within. They tried explosions, acid, metal tools and drills. Nothing worked, until someone gave it air and sunshine. Just your typical oxygen nitrogen trace gas mix and our concentrated solar spectral distribution. Once applied, the sphere melted a little, but immediately reacted to the water around it and sealed up. It was like watching a hole evaporate into a solid wall. But now we knew the two things it needed to complete its task, and what most likely would happen next. It was all so clear now. It would continue to expand and the wisps would continue to multiply. When the sphere reached the surface, the air and sunlight would rip and melt the sphere away like a goddamned gelcap, releasing the wispy eel-things into the world, our world, now theirs. We were done for real. It was a common concern that well if we can’t destroy the sphere because we don’t want to release the whatever those things were onto the world, then we need to stop it from growing or reaching through the water to the sky. Someone noticed the sphere didn’t like passing through ice. It actually can’t. It will do whatever it can to avoid it. A plan was hatched to freeze the water around it, and it seemed to work…at first. The sphere’s progress appeared to stop. The powerful corporations and governments patted themselves on the back and called the job done. They’re good at that…congratulating themselves and telling the world everything is ok, better than ok. It was not. The wisps continued to multiply and the force of the swarm pushed and stretched the sphere cracking the ice around it. Slowly at first, but like any flaw that is exploited, the crack became a gash and the ice broke away. The sphere now had only one direction to go and the path of least resistance was up. There was no more time. Humanity was going to face these things and we couldn’t stop them. They sent in another volunteer. Since the wisps didn’t seem to want anything that wasn’t human, we needed someone to determine what they wanted with us, and to do that you just had to well, see what would happen. We needed a sacrifice, a well-paid volunteer. They found just what they were looking for in Filton Kenzy. Mr Kenzy’s family would receive a great deal of money for his sacrifice, and if he survived he would be not only a national, but a world treasure. “Citizen human” willing to sacrifice all for the good of humanity and lifetimes of security for his family….if we survived.

filton kenzy, citizen human Filton was rushed through equipment training for the task and briefed on what little we knew of what a spyre would do. The rest was for him to report back. Fully outfitted he was delivered to the sphere in style. No rope for Mr Kenzy. He got to enjoy the luxury of a two seater submarine with a bubble “encounter dome” its not usually recommended, but you can squish yourself into that bubble space, seal the compartment and unlock the dome to exit the sub in an emergency. And that’s how Filton did it. Out of the bubble, he swam for the sphere which was only 8 or 9 strokes away. He met the outer wall with his back first in a spinning motion like a ball player trying to keep just out of grip of the other players. As he spinned, he breached the sphere, face forward and down. All at once the grotesque stinging cloud of smells emanating from the pile of dead and rotting kraken hit him hard. Choking back a wave of vomitus retching, he tucked, and rolled forward. He was slowed significantly by the squishy debris he found himself rolling over. He stopped, got up and found his footing. Filton removed the packs, excess gear and testing equipment he brought with him. He established communication with the crawler. He winced as he breathed deep and deliberate. One, two. Ok he had his orders, he was ready. The running theory at play here is heat. Filton had been told he has a choice to make. The wispy smoke-eel will go for the warmest bit available. Depending on which part you expose, it can be lured to many different individual spots on the body, so what’s it going to be? Unfortunately for Filton, despite his calm exterior, he was scared and a bit overwhelmed by the sheer number of spyrants in the swarm. They moved so fast and they never stopped. He found himself swaying with the rhythm of the swirl. His attention was fixed. He didn’t want to move from this spot. To sit as still as possible was somehow everything. He might’ve stayed there and wasted like the abandoned kraken, but a pain shot through his chest. It was his lungs. It was becoming increasingly more difficult to breathe through the stale, thick stench of decay. As if particles were coating his insides making it harder to take in whatever amount of oxygen he was able to inhale. He shook his head. “This is it”. When he got up to face the spyrants, he wanted them to come at him and get it over with. He took off his heated neoprene wet vest top. The swarm shuddered as it had when it felt the temperature slightly change around DrJerry. The reaction wasn’t fast enough for Filton. In his agitated state he began yelling, screaming at the swarm. They descended and the winner of Filton Kenzy dove directly into his open mouth and devoured his vocal chords. It thankfully sensed Filton’s distress immediately and began doping him almost on contact. Filton only managed a partial muted scream before the drugs kicked in and the chewing spyre silenced him. Filton staggered and sneezed. The whipping forked tail of the spyre shot out his nose like a smokey mustache of tentacles, one from each nostril. He could no longer speak, but he was high as fuck and could type. Dreamy from the drugs, he thought of sign language, he was going to have to learn a new way to communicate face to face. What did he already know of signing? Not much. He wondered if anyone on the science team knew sign language. And these were the first words in communication from Filton Kensy to the world as citizen human, the first successful living host to a spyre from the swarm. He smiled as he typed, “Does anyone down there know ASL?”

After two weeks of reports and on site testing he performed on the sphere, the swarm and on himself, it was determined that citizen human was apparently ok. Having made no attempts to fight the spyrant, he actually felt pretty good. Filton was rescued in a daring attempt where the team from the crawler sent a ropod into the sphere, but this ropod wasn’t the usual yellow bubble with arms remotely navigated to pick up marine samples, oh no. This ropod was modified and extended so as it passed into the sphere, Filton could open the forward hatch and quickly crawl in, press one button and he jettisons out the rear of the craft before it passes through and into the sphere completely. Once back on the crawler, Filton was quarantined. However, they soon found out his spyre wasn’t a ravenous beast set on eating its way through humanity. It liked Filton and it wasn’t going anywhere. And HostFilton seemed happier and healthier than when he volunteered a month ago despite having his vocal chords eaten by an alien who now lived in his mouth and nasal cavity, not to mention basically sitting in his own filth with a rotting dog carcass for the past two weeks. Yes, Filton Kenzy survived, but his family, most of them did not. When the flood came, they resisted the parasites. They spent their time and money destroying their bodies with the help of one extraction quack after another. Citizen human and his spyre are in fact still alive. We had no way of knowing at the time, but it seems if properly cared for, your spyre can cure most ailments and less ravenous cancers. People aren’t dying. The new average life expectancy is 130, that’s when our bodies just give up, and the spyrant moves on to the next host.

Nowhere to hide Bathed in yellowy artificial light, they held off until the last possible second. They did it in secret. For months now in the deepest bunkers and sitting around “the big table” they have been secretly debating the fate of the world. When the time came, when the sphere was a quarter mile in diameter and about to breach the surface and reach the sun, just as the cracks appeared and the sphere began to melt, they, the world powers and leaders of governments with their nuclear arms aimed at the Arctic Ocean, entered codes and pressed buttons. And in the greatest explosion this planet has ever seen, the flood began. By then the number of wispy spyrants had grown from millions to billions. Unharmed by the blast they flew at a velocity no one at the time was prepared to measure. In seconds they were at the equator and seemed to get their bearings, the heat from the sun waking them, reminding them why they were here. To live, to find a home and they spread like a cloud of dust engulfing every horizon at once. Seeking, finding, and burrowing in.

The rich and powerful were certain they were somehow immune. That the poor or “everyone else” would take the brunt if not the entire burden of host duties while the ruling class would naturally rise above and let the little people do the work, die in the struggle, and do what they’re told. They were expendable, that’s why they exist. They are seen as nothing more than flesh shields protecting the soft underbelly of privilege. The rich land owners, corporate slugs and lawyers who stink of old money have no idea how truly useless they are, but they are about to become of use. The resistance was prepared. They took the obvious queues from DrJerry’s fate and opted to wear wet suits and other items invented to mask scent and body heat. They congregated and holed up in freezers and built houses of ice. They labeled their movement the Froggers. At first it seemed they had something going with their plan, but it didn’t last. Even lavish and well protected underground or underwater communities of the ultra-rich Froggers were infiltrated by the swarm eventually. You see, the spyrants can not only fly, they can somehow cheat what we know of physics and molecular density. They can pass through our walls. And the Froggers failed to understand a basic truth. It was the sphere that could not pass through the ice. The spyrants had no actual contact with the ice itself, just the sphere. The wisps could pass through ice quite easily. One by one the resistance were picked off and assimilated. Once someone in the community was infected, the community freaked out, locked down and outcast the victim. And so the resistance dwindled to nothing. It is believed there is no living person who is not host to our shared burden. The flood did kind of level the field in a way, while other things stayed very much the same. There is no “bigger, better” symbiont to buy. Rich folk, and poor folk alike experience the same random placement and same health benefits. Although coma has become the preferred method of long term recovery and the rich are the only ones who can afford the maintenance.

Those born after the flood were saddled with the random placement just as those from before, but somehow more devastating and cruel. If you were infected, and procreated, the baby would be just as healthy as the genetic mixed bag of human traits and shortcomings would allow, but there was something new. A predetermined feeding and entry spot. A great circular scar which the first doctor to deliver the first infected baby thought would be a mark of resistance, a birthmark of superiority, proof we were better and that we would win. But no, all it really meant was we were the perfect host for this parasite. After exposure, our offspring are born fully outfitted to be a better host. Our very DNA liked the parasite so much it actually conformed to and supported it. Baby x and her adorable little spyrant port were soon met with a pupal spyre and both parasite and host grew healthily and happily for they knew no other way. This is what life brings us and these are the things we do now.

The espers and their handlers quietly, but globally cornered the assembly industries. If pieces of something fit together to create something else, an esper is the fastest and cheapest labor out there. Their representation on the world stage is almost comically corrupt and they being a mindless but obedient mass of people, are a force when banded and therefore the “esperorg” is a feared organization. It is rumored they kidnap people, tie them up and aggravate the victim’s spyre until it burrows in far enough to create an esper. The org and its dealings are whispered to children and scary accounts of “this guy I knew” are shared around campfires under the stars and over beers in dive bars. Superstitions and cautionary tales weave in and out of what is and could be. so we lock our doors, and we walk a little bit faster.

There are spyre junkies. Their spyrant sways with the orchestral vibration blaring from headphones, releasing tiny doses which are just a topper for the junkie/hosts who are constantly hurting themselves for the reward. But the spyre can sense when the pain is not distressing and releases less, which in turn forces the junkie to do things more dire and more painful to get the goods.

The spinning and circling of the spyrants in the sphere is a mating dance. (like a knot of snakes) That’s why they procreated so quickly. The hum from the sphere put them in a trance like mating state. Swimming and sewing the air, they were a great fluid knot of wispy in constant motion. Outside of the mating sphere, the spyrants breed only in the warmest climates on their warmest days and they do not need the knot of thousands it only takes six or so to get a good rhythm going and make a little spyre which is there immediately after the mating. Curled and immobile as if it were in an invisible egg it just sits there suspended in the center until the dance is over. The pupal spyre lazily wakes up, stretches it’s long forked tail and it’s off to find a newborn host. The pupal spyres can smell the new host offspring from quite a distance. The children never cry. No one has heard a child cry in over half a century. In the mating sphere, millions upon millions of pupal spyres were made. Hanging in the center space within the knot of the fully grown. A protective niche for the collection of pups. When they wake and stretch, the first and only motivation is food. And food is right there. They enter the swarm and latch onto the first adult they touch. One adult can support one pupil at a time. Every day the number grew, the sphere expanded and the knot continued to swirl and eat itself.

The maple syrup kid Now that we have been relying on and held by these things for 66years, the maple syrup kid shows up and everything changes. There have been studies for decades, experiments where every wacky idea was thrown at the spyrants and their hosts. And in the 66th year of occupation a 13 year old girl is the first to remove her spyre. There is a way. It can be done, but now many don’t want to. Filton lobbys against it. Governments call the exhosts noncitizens of the global collective. A movement is started to release the espers from their captivity, which is a phenomenally bad idea. The only thing keeping any one of them from rampaging mindlessly is the constant monitoring by its spyre and the unending medication excreted from the same.

The idea of extraction was a simple one really. A symbiant will only vacate a host when it wants to. You have to get it to want to leave, if only briefly. The people who performed experiments based on this knowledge paid too much attention to the meal/home the parasite already had. The scientists tried influencing the spyre through manipulating its host. The spyrant merely compensated and adjusted and held tight. If you threatened or aggravated it, you would create an esper. Though it was considered to tempt it with another meal, the testers never really got what the spyre wanted or why. Like a child given this or that, it would get bored. The trick was to find something it could never get enough of. An irresistible treat, and the kid gave it a treat alright; one laced with something the spyre could not process. She made a mixture of maple syrup which most if not all spyres seem to favor, and cayenne pepper. The spyrant will go after the syrup and collect the pepper in a sputum sac. When it has enough pepper stored it needs to spit it out. This is revolutionary for two reasons. One, it was the first time extraction was successful without the host dying first. And two, the kid was born into host-hood. She had never known a life without her spyre. Which goes for the wisp as well. this was a 13year home and relationship the spyrant willingly detached from. This scenario in particular was one never imagined by present society. Yet the kid did it, and now humanity has a choice to make. each choice has consequences both known and unforeseen.

#work in progress #legoule

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allbeendonebefore · 8 years ago

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tagged by the lovely and talented @randomoranges

How old are you? 24, 25 this year

What’s your current job? Grad student (M.A. in Ancient Societies and Cultures)

What’s your aesthetic? Space, Canadiana, delicious food, Classical junk, 1910s, i have so many.

Do you collect anything? Flags, I guess? I try to get flags from places I visit or ones people bring for me. I’d really like to get my hands on more city flags, but they’re tougher to find. I also hoard stickers.

What’s a topic you always talk about? Classics, Canadian history/politics, personification-related junk, how much I love Don Iveson, Star Wars

What’s one pet peeve of yours? People who say they’ll do something and then don’t do it, or in general when I end up doing everyone else’s share of work... it has plagued me from a young age but I’m too accommodating and a perfectionist. :’)

Good advice to give? Appreciate small things. Write them down. Remember them. Try to create those small good things for the people around you too. Say thank you, lend a book, give someone a thoughtful reply. It adds up.

Three songs you would recommend? (here i will try to do more recent stuff instead of badgering you with the same songs all the time haha) Loveless - Said the Whale; Like A Cloud Would Float - The Provincial Archive; All Lit Up - Repartee

Nickname? Hapopo, idk man

Last thing you googled? the weather (It’S GONNA BE ABOVE ZERO THIS WHOLE FRIGGIN WEEK.)

Fave music artist? Right now it’s a tossup between The Provincial Archive and Said the Whale as usual but it depends on the mood.

Song stuck in your head? Big Wave Goodbye - Said the Whale

Last movie you watched? Rogue 1

Last tv show you watched? Voltron

What are you wearing right now? bandaids on both my heels, lion leggings, t-shirt and sweater dress, mummy necklance

When did you create your blog? oh idk August 2011 or so?

What kind of stuff do you post? Here: hetalia, ancient history, canadian history, any memes I get tagged in, occasional art

Do you get asks regularly? i don’t even know

Why did you choose your url? Because it’s both a Barenaked Ladies song and an Avril Lavigne song- i gotta be obnoxiously Canadian and appreciate history

Gender? Female

Hogwarts house? Ravenclaw? So I have been told

Pokemon team? If I did play I guess I’d be Mystic

Fave color? Blue, purple, green

Average hours of sleep? 7-9, so I guess 8

Lucky number? 42

Fave characters? Mine B) I have too many, I don’t even know

How many blankets do you sleep with? Anywhere between 1-5 depending on weather and where I am and what counts as a blanket

Dream job? Something where I can sit in a dark room looking at cool stuff and only talking to people when I know what I am talking about >>;

Following? 813 apparently

[tags no one because i just broke my office arrangement and i need to get all these books off the floor so i can do my homework]

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humanoid-lovers · 7 years ago

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Perfect on 3 Kindle Devices! - NOT KINDLE TOUCH What an absolute joy to read my favorite comic strip and view Berke Breathed's comic strips again after some years! And better yet, from my trusty --and always with me-- Kindle! I could not be happier. I will soon be purchasing each and every collection. I'm quite certain when I reach the end of them all, I'll be starting again. Love them. Go to Amazon

It's like reuniting with a long lost best friend. I had no idea that my old Bloom County books were only part of the glorious, full picture. SOOO many new-to-me strips! I read Bloom County in the paper back in the day, but I was a kid, so that wasn't even close to a daily occurrence. Go to Amazon

Late 20th Century History, Page by Hilarious Page. Plus almost naked Penguins. Such a great trip back in time. Saint Ron the Invincible was CiC, his minions ran wild, college kids wore ties to go with their newly shaved heads, and here's a friggin', butt-nekkid penguin to save us normal folks from the deepest depression. Ah yes, I remember it well. And since Bloom County, I have known that true literature, usable stuff, comes our way in speech bubbles. Go to Amazon

BAD format job. The formatting on this book is BAD. I can't view it in landscape (the way the book is designed) so all of the panels are terribly small. On my Kindle Fire . . . just not readable. The only way I can read it is in the cloud reader on the PC. Go to Amazon

Most Disappointed with Condition I just received my copy of the signed edition of Bloom County Vol. 1 from Amazon. The cover was scuffed as if it had been stored on a wood pallet. On the back cover there is a huge paper sticker the size of a credit card that was slapped over the artwork and old bar code. When you open the book you find a sheet that has been glued onto the inside cover, which Berkeley has boldly signed and numbered. I don't think any of this is Amazon's doing, but rather the publisher's. It appears they took 1000 overstock copies, talked Mr. Breathed into signing 1000 autographs, then glued them into the books and marked up the price. As a collector I want a clean and unscuffed copy of the book no matter how the signature is presented. At this point I prize my first copy of the book, which is mint but with no signature. Go to Amazon

and getting these was a wonderful gift idea Bought this for my husband. We have Opi all over this house...we have children now so it isn't as creepy as it was when we hadn't had a baby yet lol This was a hilarious series, and getting these was a wonderful gift idea. My husband loved them! Go to Amazon

Incredibly good selection of OPUS! What I liked the most is EVERYTHING. If you like Opus, buy this book now. If you are unfamiliar with Opus give it a try. Wonderful characters and great satire. And just simple silliness. Go to Amazon

For Bloom County Fans Only I was in my early 20s when Bloom County appeared for the first time and was hooked from the beginning. This is a great book for serious fans of the strip. Casual and new readers who are interested might want to start with Volume Two. In this edition, you can see how characters develop, how their looks and personalities change, and get a foreshadowing of where some of the characters will go in the future. I have always loved this strip. I gave it 4 stars because it will not be for everyone. But if you know about Bloom County already and like it, this volume really deserves 5 stars. Go to Amazon

I loved reading Bloom County as a kid growing up in ... One of my favorite comic strips. Great strip, horrendously awful formatting Love It Twenty words required? Fantastic! Four Stars As described. Got this for my husband & he ... Quality Wheeeee!

#Vol. 1: 1980-1982: Berkeley Breathed: 9781600105319: Amazon.com: Books

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popofventi · 8 years ago

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The Daily Grind :: A 2nd Day of Dad's Secret Formula Kind of Day

This past weekend, my family and I overdosed on "quality time" driving around in search of our next pair of outdated transportational pods on wheels. (Seriously, we were promised flying cars long before now!) I'm torn between cherishing the "quality time" locked in the car with the family traveling from place to place and the convenience of teleportation and just friggin' being there already. Imagine how much valuable time we could save if Hyperloop One or Mr. Scott's tractor beam were a reality. Why, my wife and I could decide against buying hundreds of cars in a single day as opposed to ruling out ten to twenty. As we drove, I thought about a lot of profound, life-altering things. Like:

When in the hell did everyone buy a Subaru?

Why do nose pickers believe they are invisible inside their car?

That family looks like a genetic mutation study gone horribly wrong.

Have I ever loved a bumper sticker enough to actually buy it and stick it on my car?

Why are semis called Lorries in Europe?

I wish I could jam all of my family's electronic devices with my mind.

How much would you hate your job if you were the guy who had to scrape up road kill?

I bet that guy has a body in his trunk.

That lady looks like therapy isn't working.

What kind of animal did that used to be?

My kids were bored...especially after their iPads died. (I may or may not have figured out that jamming ability one.) They even slept off and on a couple of times. If we were at home, I could shoot them at full gallop with a tranquilizer dart and they'd turn and laugh at me, "Silly Daddy, we're not tired!". (My son tells me he's not tired even as he falls asleep.) So, as I snatched glimpses of them in the rearview drifting in and out of consciousness, I was in wonder of the power of boredom. Don't get me wrong, we laughed, listened to music, played games only known to our family and we even gave them food for sustenance. But by midday, the lull of the road, the adult number crunching from the front seat and the slow motion manipulation of time to honey finally overtook them and the inevitable, "I'm Bored!" mantras began to echo from the backseat; which were quickly followed by the bobbing and jerking of heads as they fought with all their little might against their greatest rival of all: sleep.

And it was as they began to whine and nod off, I suddenly didn't want to 'just friggin' be there already'. I was happy stealing glimpses of them trapped in the backseat, a snapshot frozen in time for just a moment...of a moment we'll never have again. So, maybe...just maybe all those hacky, stupid "The journey is the destination" mantras I make fun of all the time are actually true. Maybe there's a reason we don't yet have flying cars, family affordable airfare, Hyperloop Ones or Scotty's Tractor Beams. Maybe transportation is our last unconconquered mountain. On the other side of it, yes we'd have the downslope to even more immediate gratification in a world seemingly more and more focused on getting what we want and getting it right now. But at what cost? Lost moments and quality time in exchange for a society full of people with ever increasing attention deficit disorders? Yuck and double yuck.

Eventually, the kids woke up. We played more music, laughed, sang, created more games, answered 4,096 questions and made our way back home. But as we pulled into the garage ten hours later, I found myself a little more than overwhelmed by one more thought. "Today was a very good day.". One of those days so good you relive later inside your mind....even though we never did find a car to buy.

It was a "2nd Day of Dad's Secret Formula Day" sort of day from the movie About Time. (If you don't know what that's a reference to, then shame on you and why are you reading my blog?)

Now, here are the stories I found most interesting while digging though the clutter of the internet this morning:

Entertainment Links

GQ ranks every time Kate McKinnon was SNL's MVP this season.

If you like HGTV, shows like Property Brothers and Fixer Upper, then you must check out Grand Design on Netflix. It's like a home design show on steroids and each episode takes years to film.

I've been waiting for this movie for a long time. I remember being a kid in the backseat of my parents car watching my older brother plow through the pages of the Stephen King classic The Dark Tower. He had the special limited edition with the full color illustrations. And damn, was I jealous.

Sustenance Links

Coke is pulling out all the stops to try and convince people to start buying soda again. And by "pulling out all the stops", I'm talking about Coke with Fiber.

"Yes, I'll have some coffee on toast please." Don't you mean coffee and toast? "No, coffee on toast." Spreadable coffee is here. Hmmm.

I think spreadable coffee sounds like a toddler's idea of an art project in the middle of my kitchen floor. But Coffee Beer sounds even less tasty than Zima.

Get up have some coffee, some coffee toast, some coffee beer and if you have a real problem, end your day with some Coffee Wine. No doubt - yuck.

Holy Shucking Fit! You're opening oysters wrong.

Our world would be a much blander place without THIS...the single most important ingredient.

Now, this is the best idea for coffee I've heard of in a long time - Black Insomnia Coffee has 300% more caffeine than your typical Starbucks. I hear angels singing above college dormitories everywhere.

Heineken has succeeded where Pepsi failed miserably. Check out their new ad campaign taking on social and political matters in a unique way:

Stuff Links

Like inventions, eh? 19 Famous Things Invented in Canada.

Innovative Award Winning Products from CES 2017 include a real universal remote compatible with over 25,000 electronics and a paintbrush which does not require paint or a canvas.

Damn you, Procrastination! Another invention idea I lost out on due to my overwhelming laziness. Now, we can all sleep anywhere thanks to the Inflatable Hoodie.

It's a breathalyzer but it doesn't tell you if you're drunk...it tells you how much fat you're burning.

Chevy Ads with a real person:

...The Last Drop

I've been tying my shoes wrong.

The Daily Grind :: A 2nd Day of Dad's Secret Formula Kind of Day

-xxx-

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listeningpostnola-blog · 8 years ago

Text

A Blue City In A Red State

Louisiana State Senator Bill Cassidy held a town hall meeting at the East Jefferson Parish Library yesterday. We wanted to look at this national conversation on the ‘rural/urban’ divide on a local level. New Orleans is more liberal in comparison to the rest of the state, so we asked y’all:

1. New Orleans is a 'blue' city within a 'red' state - how does this impact you in your daily life?

-What do you mean? This city is dirty, crime infested, corrupt, and not to mention expensive, especially with a family. This place has had 0 development for the longest, just travel to other places and see, how great a quality of life they have, and not as nearly expensive. For example yeah the I 10 highhrise, its a fedeeal issue and a nightmare for us. But Metarie is nice, .sad, .

-My states legislature doesn't reflect the values of myself, my peers, or my neighbors. It feels like we're speaking another language in the city versus the rest of the state.

-Rusty

-Two party system's a catalyst for corruption and conflict. ..discard -Not really sure. I don't do anything outside of Orleans parish. A friend of mine says Louisiana minus New Orleans equals Mississippi.

-I don’t know how it impacts me in daily life but most of my friends are similarly minded. I have had to accept the lack of representation of my interests by our Senators.

-My values and beliefs are not represented at the federal level.

-Makes me feel free. -I feel out of touch with how the state actually feels on the whole

-I moved here from Oakland, and in a lot of ways this aspect of the city makes me feel like I'm still in the Bay Area. I feel a little bit like I'm cheating- like I didn't *really* move to the south. -I love living in a blue city, but find a lot of the extremely conservative political views in the rest of the state to be frustrating.

-Not at all

-Sen. Cassidy is hosting a town hall meeting the afternoon that parades start back up in Uptown New Orleans? Sounds like he doesn't want too many people to show up.

-Thankfully, my daughter goes to a school that doesn't teach any LSEA garbage. The biggest thing I see from red Louisiana is the same 3 assholes 3 days a week protesting in front of a women's clinic near my house. But I live in a blue city because I grew up around red state bible thumping hypocrites. If they ever become a problem, I'll move to a solid blue state. -(4/4) an llll Senator or Governor. Blue State LA. -Who could ask for anything more?? Bible belt Babylon -???? -Gives me more opertu cause i am an american frist red fine work ethi not an entill paric waiting for a hand out

-I love New Orleans - only reason I've stayed in the south. -It is one of the ONLY reasons that I have HOPE for the state of Louisiana. The red mind set is filled with unconscious and conscious racism and hatred that allowed an idiot like trump into the white house. He and all of his followers have committed treason, are denying people of health care, recusing to provide education to the poorer class, mocking the supreme and lower courts, disenfranchising immigrants from their rights, and confusing church with state. Oh yes and the Republican confess is equal responsible for these ethical and moral crimes against humanity. I am proud to be be BLUE in a red state. Red individuals are incapable of distinguishing fact from fiction. I am praying for peace especially since the person in the white house and his Republican cohorts DISRESPECt the environment, did not read any economists' understanding of how the recession occurred, and does not understand nuclear disarmament.

-2 of 8 houses on my block are "red" that has been hard as we all work to continue getting along as well as we did before the election. We frequently share meals with each other and considered ourselves close. We are struggling to understand each other and maintain our normalcy but i think we see each other differently in a way. But we are concertedly trying to be open and have dialogue and be respectful to each other. But it was jarring.

-I stay don't talk politics in public here.

-It has become easier to identify people that are more community minded and inclusive. I feel it's important to realize that the world is better when there is communication and compromise that starts with knowing who to brain storm with.

-I tend to stay where it's blue and avoid the red areas -I stay in New Orleans -It's horrific

-👍

-It is what it is

-I try not to leave the city limits unless I have to; I worry for my partner's safety all the time.

-It doesn't except when the state gets in the way!

-I have been writing letters to Sen Cassidy multiple times/wk because I disagree with his policies

-It makes me more willing to go out of my way to show people kindness, love and fairness. It also makes me want to do more for equality for everyone -Good question

-It imparts a kind of siege mentality

-I am so "blue" esp w current prez and love how NOLA is blue and open minded about lifestyles etc. the impact makes me love NOLA all the more

-It obviously constructs a bubble that I live in. Daily it's fine. But then it gets busted after elections and I'm left gasping for air

-I love seeing anti-abortion church signs daily! It just makes me feel great!

-For being safety -I'm not really sure that it does at the moment, but I would like our state that claims to have an energy economy focus more on renewable energy. I see solar companies, and I'd like to see some push for wind farms. And if they think the birds will be affected, maybe we should remember that we shot them out of the sky all the time. Plus they will learn to avoid the fans.

-New Orleans lit everyone else not

-I pretend that other part doesn't exist

-Intend to go to the Town Hall.

-It's the main thing that makes living in Louisiana tolerable. In fact I used to have that bumper sticker on my car, until I went to work under the Jindal administration. Not fun times!

2. How often do you interact with folks that share different values than you? Any good stories about engaging folks in person with differing opinions?

-None, everybody knows what it is.

-My family tends to have differing values to mine. Over Thanksgiving dinner, I was told bisexuality has an expiration date, which was...interesting. I realized in that moment (and many others) that sometimes it's extremely hard to change the minds of family, especially elders, because they're supposed dispense wisdom to you typically, so when you present a belief system that differs from their own, they can take it as a sign of disrespect to themselves, the family at large, and the family's traditions values.

-Jjj -Every day. Respect their right to their own views and opinions

-All the time. Confirmation bias seeking is for elementary school kids. Good stories? Yeah, this one time I woke up and questioned political answers that didn't make sense or line up with the facts. ..not a popular guy

-I tried for many years but it was just too much for me.

-I don’t really interact with folks with different values. My close friends share the same values. -I'm afraid my neighbors are bigots because my neighborhood voted "red". I try to engage my neighbors in a a neighborly way

-I don't interact outside my bubble unless I'm forced to. I recently looked up a rural Louisiana business I was interested in on Facebook, and the owner had posted some really disparaging things about the immigration ban. I felt conflicted about giving her my business.

-Tons! I dated a guy for 2.5 years who identified as a libertarian and was registered as a republican, while I identify as liberal and am registered as a -Tons! I dated a guy for 2.5 years who identified as a libertarian and was registered as a republican, while I identify as liberal and am registered as a democrat. Our whole relationship was mind and heart opening experience for me.

-Every day. We try to keep politics out of our relationships.

-My family lives in rural areas near Baton Rouge & Lake Charles and skew rather conservative. After a few awkward holidays, we've agreed not to discuss politics when we get together.

-Prior to Trump, I interacted with conservatives quite regularly. Since the election, not at all.

-All the time -I work with white police officers - enough said there re interaction. My favorite story: a gay friend of mine voted for Trump because "Hillary is a LIAR!" Hilarious.

-During the election when ever they were confronted with a fact they declined to continue by stating we will have to agree to disagree.

-I am interacting daily with some who have differing opinions -

Everyday

- I have learned that I work around Trump supporters that really seem to be just Anti Obama which I find sad that can align themselves with such a small minded person and consider themselves educated

-None. It never works out well

-Everyone has opinions

-I don't know any one who isn't, at least, somewhat progressive.

-Often! Family and home town friends in north LA. Avoid politics and ask them not to discuss it with me around. I'm strongly progressive.

-Pretty much only at my job, where we really don't talk politics -I haven't had any issues because people know where I stand and they don't want to take me on.

-Quite often. I like engaging in reasonable discussions with those who have differing viewpoints. Unfortunately I feel like there are forces in society that are seeking to make those experiences increasingly rare

-Not really. Most Trump supporters are on a totally different page than I am. I do have some musicians I play with that are "red" but we don't discuss politics because it would just end badly -I go out of my way to engage on the regular. It's pretty friggin exhausting. I'm always aware of being level headed and fact focused, even when they're not. Usually I can circle back and trap them with their own argument. Then they say something about Bill Clinton's blow job or Hillary's email as though that excuses everything. If they throw Jesus on my face I quote scripture back...and that usually ends it cause they've got nothing.

-Everyday -Sometimes good, sometimes bad. Probably I avoid bringing things up in certain crowds. Immigration is a topic that doesn't end well.

-Everyday -The least amount possible -Coming from Massachusetts it's a unique experience for me. Don't like venturing far outside the metro area here.

-I try really hard to avoid them!

3. What would you like to ask Senator Cassidy?

-Will he lie like all the others, we just had a govenor who bankrupted the state then went off and built a 5 mil dol house. Lovely, this place is disgusting.

-Nothing -I'd have to research him more to ask any intelligent questions -Why he would host a town hall meeting at 3:30 the week before Mardi Gras when NOLA's streets are impassable and at an hour when parents are picking their children up from school and others are at work. I think he's a coward who is avoiding his New Orleans constituency and hopping for a more conservative turnout by having his meeting in Metairie.

-What he has done lately to get outside of HIS bubble.

-Why did he vote yes to confirm Betsy DeVos as Education Secretary knowing she isn't qualified to be a teacher? How much money has Sen. Cassidy received from DeVos &/or her family?

-When will the Senate investigations into Trump's Russian ties will begin?

-Bring jobs back to U.S. for all Americans.

-The ACA - what will be done; NB

-amusing that R's now call it the Affordable Care Act and no longer Obamacare. -How does he sleep at night knowing that 20 million people are going to lose their health care benefits and millions more still do not have any. I am a nurse and have watched familieslose their homes due to the cost of healthcare (chemo, liver transplants in children). How dare he support the repealing of the affordable care act!!!

-Why, in the face of such aggretius presidential staff consorting with a foreign enemy, is our legislative body pretending that this isn't serious as though we the public are stupid? Unless they have a grand master plan of a takedown when they choose, that will achieve a goal that benefits them, leaving power in some of their chosen and already selected hands?

-When homeowners see a return to pre-Katrina insurance and what efforts are being made to help police /community relations

-To hang tough on all attempts to roll back banking and environmental regulation

-I'm not affected by day to day politics in LA

-I would like to ask him how he can support an administration that actively promotes an agenda which will harm our wetlands and coastline

-Will you stand up for your constituents even if it means opposing Trump?

-Why he isn't standing up to Trump and calling him out for his terrible conflicts of interest

-What is he doing to actively make sure every citizen in Louisiana and the rest of the country is treated fairly and given access to good healthcare and education?

-How can you possibly support Trump's cabinet picks? I'd like to hear your reasoning -Are you ever going to stand up for the American way? Or is party over country your new hard line?

-About the volience in the city

-What's his big plan for healthcare, and how does he feel about wind farms? You can create jobs, the source is free and constant, and maybe it's something oil companies could move into.

-Why does he not think about minorities -What are you going to do about healthcare for me who can afford but hate to pay so much And then the poor working people who can barely keep their heads above water. Let's build a wall instead

-Not good at engaging folks as I tend to get emotional about certain subjects like healthcare. -Will he work to ensure that any repeal of the ACA doesn't negatively impact the thousands of Louisianans that now have coverage through Medicaid expansion, and also maintain the mental health benefits that is so important for Medicaid beneficiaries?

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