#FRICK OFF ABBY

[womanpl3aser]

everybody knows that i am a good girl officer | | Po.f!abby x fem!reader

mndi!!, 18+, you'll find the rest while you're reading;) also usage of y/n 2 or 3 times.

wc: 1,4k

Enjoy! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It all started as a normal Tuesday, for you and all the people around the market that were in. Everybody seemed to be shopping, chit chatting, gossiping, laughing at something you couldnt quite catch buuuuut there you were, looking around for the last ingredient you needed for the dinner you'd be making later tonight.

You thought to urself "where the fuck could they put some fucking sauce." you sighed in defeat and went to a nearby woman who worked there and asked her "excuse me ma'am do you know where's that sauce that had a swan outside its can?" "it's at section 2, you should find it mixed with the poultry" she'd answer to you bitting on some donut walking off?? like excuse me miss you're there to help the customers. what a bitch you thought to urself, "thank you!'' you exclaimed with some sarcasm at the end. You were sure she didn't hear it, "okay now who the fuck puts some sauce mixed with these poultry shits" you said under your breathe cause god damn. Your shopping didn't even take 10 minutes and last time you checked your phone it was 11:36 and now it was 11:59.

Fuck you muttered to yourself. After searching for that fricking sauce you finally found it. You immediately grabbed it and threw it into your cart and rushed to pay. you were waiting in line until..

a woman barged in the market yelling while wearing no sandals or whatsoever shoes u guessed and looked.. off. Nobody commented on that neither her appearance just had some judgemental stares. You also brushed it off cause it was literally none of your business nonetheless just as you were about to pay with cash, a worker who curiously walked past her saw her holding a revolver?.. at least that's what you heard with all the panic breaking out in mere seconds.

EVERYBODY GET OUT OF THE STORE! ooh shit. the popo squad must've been called or they just tracked her you thought as you were rushing to get out of the store with your groceries(probably half of them). An officer yelled while charging at the woman aiming at her weapon. Another officer escorted the other officer who had managed to tackle the threat down and kick off the gun of the woman's hands. GET ON YOUR KNEES NOW. the woman said after punching her back for resisting her. STOP FUCKING RESISTING WOMAN after several kicks and hits and punches the woman finally stopped moving around and complied to be cooperative because it would get her nowhere, just charged with more felonies and she didn't want that did she?

You were watching with a mind full of "what just happened or when did all of this happen" while you had your bags in your hands ready to get into your vehicle to go home. But just as you were to step your foot into your car trying to leave the scene and forget about what just happened youd force yourself to forget about what had happened earlier to be fair, an officer calls you out.

HEY, MISS YES YOU COULD YOU PLEASE COME HERE? she yelled because you both had a pretty average distance "oh yes of course" you answered. Great now why would she want to talk to you thoughts started to gather around your mind was it something you possibly did in the market, maybe they found out about your attitude towards the worker in the store?(but to be fair they fucking deserved that) you were thinking of all that as you were walking towards the direction she was with your head down the pavement too scared to look up as if something horrible would happen to you.

Ma'am first of all are you okay? did you get harmed in the process of all this? was the first thing that came out of the officers mouth and you got kind of relieved, you were so glad it wasn't about something you did "y-yeah of course just a little bit shocked about what had just occurred some minutes ago" you painfully laughed with some tremor in your voice. You don't have to be scared, everything is well taken care of and is on our hands.. maybe I ask you some questions? you silently mumbled a "fuck me" that didn't go unnoticed by the officer but decided to brush it off and went on with a "sure!" still while looking down. "Ah.. alright then but you gotta look at me 'kay? now." the officer demanded you do so. You finally got the courage to look the woman in the eyes but instead of fear to overcome you, you were met with some blue ocean eyes, honey blonde strands that had fallen off her tight braid while she was trying to pin the woman on the ground and some tight ass dark green cargos that hugged her thights so so deliciously.. and not to talk about her turtle neck black shirt with her armor and a bunch of stuff thay kissed her biceps exactly how u had imagined..

"Ma'am? ma'am are you still with me? I'm talking to you. Eyes on mine." She spoke to you snapping you out of your imagination "Uh uh yeah I'm here I'm sorry" you apologized pathetically and she smirked.. oh boy. "Its fine angel" your cheeks turned crimson red who also didnt go unnoticed by her well trained eyes and just like that her cocky usual attitude had switched to something you couldn't actually figure out. "Since you were in the store I need you to be one hundred percent honest with me, got it sugar? if not there will be charges pressed against you" she'd say "umm yeah ask me anything, I promise I will not lie to you officer" "glad you're one of these people who listen to my commands, I like that." You'd nod your head not breaking eye contact with her because who were you infront of this tall ass hot as fuck woman? "Since you were in the store, what kind of gun did she hold?" She'd take her notes out and start putting down whatever came out of your mouth.

10 minutes had passed and you were almost done with your interrogation

" 'N lastly why is a pretty woman like you doing here?" She'd ask "j-just some shopping you'd mutter" "Speak up baby cause I cannot hear you" she'd say firmly yet flirty to you. And oh boy you did not answer because of how fucking flustered and wet you were getting and thats when she saw red. Yes, red. she was short tempered if you didn't already notice "fucking ANSWER ME"

she'd raise her voice slightly but not loud enough to draw attention from by passers "i-im sorry officer I'll be good, i didn't mean to offend you in every way i-I promise y-you'' "I-i y-you, shut up and get yourself together baby or should I teach you a lesson?" she'd smirk to herself and slightly giggle. Apparently.. you were a goner. like an actual goner your brain couldn't function properly anymore, it was all filled with wanting some friction from her. "I'll be a good girl officer" You'd nudge her with your hand as a sign of intimidation and just as you both pressed lips and almost got dragged into her police car's backseat to absolutely fucking ruin you a shot was fired. She stroke up from her current position and looked at the sight of her colleagues and that's when she'd realized a mate of hers got shot "OH FUCK, ILL BE BACK REAL SOON OKAY?" She'd reassured you and sprinted towards her hurt inmate just leaving you there with your thoughts coming back "damn I didn't even get her name.." You'd complain to yourself.

30 minutes had passed.

And she finally came back to where she had previously left you "Hey sweetheart, I'm sorry for leaving you here all alone but it was my duty to go check him out" she'd kiss your forehead like it was nothing taking some steps towards you. You'd flush again as a loser and assure her that it was okay and that she needn't have to be apologetic towards you "Oh and by the way my name is Abby but you can call me as abigail or abs as a short cut" "Mines Y/n" "such a pretty name for such pretty girl" she'd slightly push herself on you. You'd smile at her grabbing her waist "oou getting touchy already y/n huh?, you wanna resume whatever we were about to do before?" She'd say a step back from gropping your fucking ass devouring you alive, you were driving her fucking crazy "Yes please, I'd love that abigail" and oh well she went feral after the way she heard her name rolling off your tongue like honey.

Aaaaand lets say that you were limping and couldn't walk straight after her 7 inch strap that got buried into you for fucking hours.

HEY YALL IM SORRY THIS WAS RUSHED. I GOT INSPIRED BY A VIDEO OF A COP THAT HAD ABBYS BUILD. I STARTED WRITING THIS AT 5:30 AM AND I FINISHED AT 7:14 AM SO EXCUSE ME FOR ANY MINOR OR GRAMMAR MISTAKES. THANK YOU!! also it isn't proofread.

[walker-extended-universe]

4x11 Review

Let's Go, Let's Go was an interesting episode with a lot of twists and turns, cryptic messaging, and a lot of social media hype. As much as I love Walker and I support Anna Fricke's foray into directing, I'm not sure this episode quite lived up to what it was trying to do. It was a fine episode that served it's purpose, but I do have some critiques. I'll try not to get too bogged down with those in this review but I will be honest. So, here we go.

I'm going to split this recap/review into two sections- one covering Cordell's dream world and one covering the real world.

Let's talk about Cordell's confusing dream world first.

This episode picks up right where the last one left off, with Emily coming down the stairs into the farmhouse kitchen to see if everyone is ready for August's graduation.

Cordell is floored by seeing her again, unable to speak initially. But we breeze past it easy enough as Cordell gets caught up in preparing for August's big day. Emily takes them back to their bedroom- noticeably different than the room he just came out of- and helps Cordell pick what he wants to wear, something that Emily treats as a big deal while Cordell is just ready to get the ball rolling.

Side note: This is the longest they've been on screen together and I absolutely love them <3 I'm glad we got this before the end.

The story continues with everyone going to the ranch house to meet up with the rest of the family. In this dreamworld, Liam is at the ranch after flying in from New York. Despite this version of Liam not having nearly as much mileage with the kids, Cordell still decides to ask him for help with Stella as he's noticed his daughter isn't really talking to him. This concern is swiftly brushed off and forgotten as the front door blows open, leading Cordell to his next odd introduction.

He steps into the blinding sunlight, mirrored by a flashlight in his face in the real world, and runs into none other than Hoyt, in from OKC with Geri and Sadie. While everyone celebrates their arrival, Cordell finds himself missing details and his attempts to get answers are rebuffed with almost flippant comments from the rest of his family.

Side note: Did anyone else feel like some of the characters were written out of character this episode? I got that feeling with Bonham especially.

The women of the Walker family get together to clean mushrooms and we get some cryptic dialogue while Cordell "catches up" with his long lost best friend. He's surprised Emily is so emotional over the day- and himself too. But Hoyt reminds him that that's what life is all about, reaching for this bog moments whether we're ready for them or not. Which he segues nicely into talking about the new event business venture he's working on with Geri and Abby.

The rest of the time spent at the ranch is filled with more cyrptic dialogue from all the characters. From Emily and Bonham cornering Cordell about retracing his steps and not taking the people around him for granted, to Hoyt telling him a somewhat unrelated story from their childhood, Cordell is confused about where exactly all this is going- and so is the audience.

Then, the moment is here. We arrive at August's graduation- which is being held at Ranger HQ. Emily, Cordell, Stella, and August walk in together and we get some more confusing dialogue as everyone but Cordell seems to be in a somber mood. As we enter the hall where the graduation is being held, we get more hints that something is wrong. Kelly is there but James is not. Abby tells Cordell he doesn't have to go up to the stage just yet. Emily tells Geri and Cordell everything will be okay. All the while, Cordell is just trying to enjoy this day with his family.

Then, the mood shifts. The graduation podium is replaced with a coffin and the white chairs are all switched out for black. And August starts delivering a eulogy that the rest of the family slowly joins in on. We're not here for August's graduation; we're here for Cordell's funeral.

Emily approaches him again as Cordell realizes what's happening. She encourages him to wake up, to go back to the world he knows, to be there for his family and make up for what he missed before it's too late. But Cordell doesn't want to go. He wants to stay here, with Emily, with Hoyt, with his family whole again. He doesn't want to go back to a world without her. And maybe they would all be better off without him, since he only ever seems to ruin things. As dirt falls on him, Emily begs him to let "us" go and just wake up.

Side note: I loved the line about there not being a universe without Emily in it. Even if she's dead, she was still there. It's perfect.

And then, he's awake, just in time to get to work.

I'm going to be honest here, I'm not a big fan of the storytelling in this section. I understand that confusion was kind of the whole point of this part of the episode, but I feel like there's a point where it's just too confusing to even make a point. I understood the main message: Cordell needs to make up for all the time he's lost with his family while obsessing over things like Emily's death and the Jackal case. His family needs him. I understand that. But in the moment, watching the episode, I was too bogged down in the cryptic dialogue and out-of-character interactions to fully get the emotions at the end. Maybe this episode just wasn't written for me, or maybe it will make more sense on a rewatch, but I really feel as if this story could've been delivered better.

Now, let's talk about the tragedy of reality:

At Ranger HQ, Jams, Trey, Cassie, and Luna discuss Cordell's disappearance. From the beginning, Cassie is convinced something is wrong, that Cordell went off on his own and got kidnapped by the Jackal. James hears her concerns but reminds them all that there could be anything happening at the moment.

Then, Trey finds on his credit card data that he booked a motel room- aka, he never went home when he was ordered to. This seems to confirm Cassie's fear that something bad likely happened to her partner. Armed with this knowledge, they decide to retrace Cordell's steps and see what they can find.

Side note: I just want to take a moment to appreciate that Cassie is angry in this episode- rightly so- and the show lets her be. It's just nice to see her feelings being validated for once.

At the motel, they find Cordell's room empty, but perfectly in tact. This gives them confidence that if Cordell was grabbed, it was outside the room, and they head to the front office to check the security cameras.

While Trey sorts through the footage, Cassie fumes at Cordell's idiocity. This isn't the first time he's run off on his own and caused trouble for everyone else and it doesn't help that she just had a conversation with him about this a few days ago. Luna is a comforting shoulder for her to lean on, assuring her that they'll find him alive.

Shortly after, they spot a mystery laundry truck blocking the camera's view of Cordell's room. Not only that, it's there on a day that they don't usually come to the motel. James orders them to track the license plate and they get moving- hopefully to let the Walker family know what's going on.

The next time we see them, they're suited up and ready to rescue Walker. Once they're armed, they clear the abandoned laundry truck and James orders them to split up and look around for clues.

During the search, Luna finds an empty grave and sends it to Cassie. He calls her to make sure she got it and assure her that they're getting closer. They got here in time to stop it happen. Cassie, excited, says she's on her way. And... she almost says something else.

Just as they hang up, Luna is attacked.

Later, Trey, James, and Cassie all find the shallow grave where Luna was. Trey and James start digging Cordell up and Cassie notices a bloodstain. She leaves them to follow it, growing more concerned as she sees more and more blood.

Then, she finds Luna dying on the ground. She rushes to his side and tries to help but.... It's too late. He's lost too much blood and all she can do is hold him in his final moments.

I've gotta be honest, I take issue with their decision to kill Luna. It just seems unnecessary and needlessly cruel to remove Cassie's Big Plot for the season right before the finale, with no room for her to really expand past this. It just seems unfair that all the other characters are getting concluding arcs in the finale except Cassie. And there was no real reason to kill him off, even if they didn't intend for Cassie/Luna to be endgame. It just seems like a setup for Cassie to have a revenge plot in the next episode, which just seems really unnecessary. Maybe they'll handle this better than I think they will, but I'm not holding my breath.

As usual, I'm left with a lot of questions following this episode. Where was Cordell being held on the gurney? Is it the same place where the Jackal has taken their other victims? How did the Jackal get the drop on Luna? How will the family react to finding out Cordell was almost taken from them? Will Cordell be able to fix the relationships he's missed out on in the next two episodes? How will Cassie handle losing Luna? Will there be time to give her plot the resolution it deserves? Will everything truly be wrapped up in time for August's graduation?

Hopefully, all this and more will get figured out next week. See y'all there!

[rainbowdelicsunshine]

If your TF2 merc OCs were My Little Ponies, what would their cutie marks be?

I'll be talking about my TF2 OCs from my Respawn Children AU (my TF2 Next Gen) and my PolyMercs AU in that order!

Hope you're all set for lift off!

The Respawn Children (TF2 NG) OCs

Natasha Ludwig (My HeavyxMedic/Red Oktoberfest FanKid): A Bone Saw Cutting Open a Sandwich That's Omitting a Green Skull Shaped Smoke (Her Special Talent is basically the Battle Medic Strategy: Good at Nursing/Medical Care but Mostly Loving to Chop People TF Up and Working with Poisons and Toxics AKA Poisoning Peoples' Food for Funsies)

Madeline "Maddie" Mundy (My SniperxSpy/Bloody Suit FanKid): A Butterfly Knife and a Hunting Knife Crossed Over Each Other (Her Special Talent would be Knife Combat (Specifically Knife Throwing, Her Speciality Knives being Both Butterfly Knives, Hunting Knives, and Kukri Knives), Also Well Versed in Sniper Rifles

Abigail "Abby Baxter (My ScoutxPauling/Ride Along FanKid): A Can of Spray Paint That's Drawing Out a Orange Smiley Face (Her Special Talent is Graffiti Art, Stint Performance, and Being in a Two Person Band with her GF June)

June Doe (My SoldierxEngineer/Helmet Party/Rocket Science FanKid): A Red, White and Blue Colored Rosette Ribbon with a Explanation Point in the Center (Her Special Talent is Rock Launching, Rocket/Mechanical Engineering, and Being in a Two Person Band with her GF Abby)

Bruce DeGroot (My DemomanxPyro/Molotov Cocktail FanKid): An Exploding Pinata, the Explosion is Rainbow Colored (His Special Talent is Creating IEDs/Homemade Bombs Out of Ordinary Objects such as Pinatas and Soda Bottle and Cryptozoology/Monster Hunting)

The PolyMercs AU OCs

LuluBelle: A Mosaic Sphere that's Divided into Three Parts; One Red Part, One Blue Part, and One Yellow Part. In the Center of the Red Part is a Paint Brush Spreading Paint, in the Center of the Blue Part is a Sparkling Microphone, and in the Center of the Yellow Part is a Star with a Face; One Half Smiling While the Other Half is Frowning (Her Talent is Art/Animation, Singing, and Voice Impersonation/Voice Mimicry/Voice Acting)

Leon: A Snowboard with Wings and Two Lightning Symbols Hovering Over Each Side (His Special Talent is Snowboarding and Making Rock n Roll and Heavy Metal Music, Specifically Playing Electric and Acoustic Guitar)

Natalie "Nat" (A ScoutxPauling/Ride Along FanKid That Becomes an Addition to the Fam Much Later): A Zig Zagging Tennis Ball with a Yellow Trail Behind It (Her Special Talent is Playing Tennis)

---------------------------------------------------------

HOLY FRICK THIS WAS ACTUALLY A LEGIT BLAST, HONESTLY LOVE GETTING THESE TYPE OF ASKS!!!!!!!!

Thank you oh so very much again for sending in this prompt to me my dear sweet and awesome friend, I really hope the long read will be worth it!

I hope to hear your feedback here or see you here again real soon and have a fantastic night!!

[wench-and-jezebel]

NCIS Reaction: Seadog

Wench (@scripted-downfall) reacts [with (maybe) occasional asides by Jezebel (@typicalopposite)]

Love this song [Same :)]

Rude.  They turned it off [So very! ☹️]

Rude apathetic person suddenly got way less apathetic

Dude, no shit, they probably fell off the boat when they got shot

Actually watching the intro this time… Heya, Tony.  Abby continues to be adorable.  (Yes, I know we've seen that scene but shhh)  [I always liked it]

Weatherly looks so different without the glasses

YES.  AVOID THE SEMINARS

Being rude to Tony againnnn :(

He's so happyyyyyyy

Buddy, just call shotgun earlier.  It's called being quick on the... draw.  HAH.  Hah.  Get it?  Do… Jezebel, do you get it?  [*silence*]

Dude, Tony was doing something alskdjf  Leave him be

Oh, we've got the obligatory scold-the-local-law-enforcement-officer scene. (To be clear... I get the point but also.  So strategically unwise.  They kinda need the locals’ assistance, and that’s a quick way to get booted off the case, I’m about 99% sure.)

laksjdf Not Tony flirting with the reporter to get her number

[Ducky you savage] !!!

All the under-his-breath asides about that cop alkdsjf

I love Ducky's hat

And we've got cash

If they do not stop being jerks to Tony-

Mary Celeste?  Ghost Ship-vibes

That wasn't the point, Kate, don't be obtuse.  [☠️☠️☠️]

I appreciate characters who compulsively fiddle --- so much like me, fr --- so Tony's flipping the pen is great

Poor Ducky

alskdfjalkdsjf Duckyyyyyy [I love himmmmm]

Oh no not the anti-drug programme.  I swear, people running anti-drug-programmes in these shows always get mixed up in actual drugs, and are usually innocent

"You five-0, ain't you?"  Wrong show, actually :)

Man legit just climbed the fence

Leave.  Tony.  Alone.  Plz.

"Untied States" alksdjfalksdfj  Whoops

Gibbs, I recognize that you think you're hot shit, but you don't have to be an ass to everyone [😂😂😂😂]

ABBY SIGNS!!! YOU'RE AWESOME, MY DEAR!  [YESSSS]

Her hair's more lab-accurate this time

Poor Tony :(

I love the name Jethro, it must be said

Reporter chick's not wrong

Poor Tonyyyyyy

HE'S LEARNING SIGNNNNN (...ish)

– – –

Be proud of me: I actually remembered the midpoint reaction!  Woot woot!

I continue to enjoy the show…  Not a fixation-worthy enjoyment yet, but I like it.  Abby and Tony are still head-and-shoulders above the rest; then Ducky.  Kate kinda annoys me, and, tbh, so does Gibbs.  Writing has been decent --- yards better than CSI, which I regret knowing --- and acting's been decent (as far as I noticed)... Plotlines haven't been bad.  Again, there's some iffy writing in terms of the actual cases --- I'm looking at you, parachute-death-last-episode --- but I haven't noticed any quite yet this episode.

Tony continues to be picked on more than is deserved.  (You know, I might be fine with this if it were more evenly shared, but --- like with Alec in Dark Angel --- it's mainly just reserved for Tony.  Maybe even more so, since there was at least Sketchy to share the picking-on in DA, but there's no one else here.  [Once McGee is on it’s kind of a someone picks on Tony Tony picks on McGee situation]  See, now that’s not bad!  At least it's-  I legit almost wrote consensual, but I *meant* mutual.  Although, technically, ig, it’s both.  [And it’s hilarious because once Ziva comes on McGee tries to do the same to her but she’s just like no]  Oh nooooo.  Guess I’ll see that when it happens.  Love triangle, perhaps?  I kid, I kid.  Unless…?

Also, Kate and Gibbs both come across as very... I'll say self-confident, but that's putting it nicely.  More like arrogant.  They've got the same "I know what I'm doing" mentality that annoys the crap out of me in Max (DA), Sam (SPN), et al.  And Gibbs has that whole I-don't-have-to-explain-myself-ever-because-I'm-hot-shit enigmatic thing working, and that always pisses me off too; like, just fricking talk, okay???? You've got a team; just freaking use it!

Aight… grabbing water and then continuing.  (See, look, I don’t just drink coffee!)

– – – 

Ya girl’s being healthy and fetched an actual dinner too, which is truly shocking��� but now I’m ready, so!  Onward we go!

Rolly tray

Y'all didn't have to do the reverse-Miranda-rights like that but, also, kudos to Tony for the sarcasm in the process

Once again; talk to your fricking teammmm

Tony, Tony, Tony... Your sarcasm is gonna get you in trouble soon

^x2

GIBBS IS SITTING ON THE AUTOPSY TABLE AGAIN.  (That cannot be sterile)

I can't tell if those two are helping each other or tearing their business down; it might well be both

Puppy!!!

Okay, I swear, now they're comparing Alec-character to dogs again; whyyyy

They made the same joke in Dark Angel.  Twice [☠️😂]

[☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️  The whine.  THE WHINE ☠️☠️☠️ Poor dog]

[Pew pew pew]

STOP WITH THE DOG COMPARISON, HOLY HELL  [He (Tony) looked up]  I’m sorry, but what does it say about how you treat your coworkers/subordinates that they’ll answer to dog whistles.  This is worse than DW!Mickey and K-9  :(

Poor Tony lkajsdf

Poor Tony (again) not getting to interview the girls :(  aksjdflkasjdf :)

Not the “low on testosterone or gay” plz

TONY GETS TO INTERVIEW THE GIRLS

Oh, the feeb’s being an asshole too

WHY IS THIS THE SECOND OF THREE EPISODES CONCERNED WITH TERRORISM!  WHAT IS THIS, 24?!?!  [A lot are I think.. it’s a military show ☠️]  Yeah, well, it’s not a counter-terrorism show!!!

That was President Logan!!!  His actor always plays sketchy people, but I love him anyway, ngl

“Chutzpah” is such a good word

IS THAT BELLE?!!?  OH MY GOD, IS THAT BELLE?!?!?  IT IS!!!  OH MY FRIGGING GOD, EMILIE MY BELOVED!!! 

[I love the accent]  ikr.  My sister hates Australian accents, but idk why

idk if that guy was hugging or injured, ngl

Tony's flirting actually worked!  I had no doubt; serves them right for giving him shit about it!

Ngl, this whole conversation is just Tony’s version of Alec-vs-Max: “I’m thinking.”  “You’re talking.”  “I can do both!”  “I doubt that.”

Go on, Tony, show 'em up for their doubts

Abbyyyyyy

Kate's annoying  [Fun fact she’s blonde. She had to dye her hair EVERY DAY]  Dedication from the actress changes nothing about my (current) dislike for the character alskdjf

"You're holding out on us!  That is not nice!"  Abby, my beloved

(scandalized): TONY

(scandalized): ABBY

Match made in... well, maybe not Heaven, but-

Y��all, can we stop the annoying teasing-about-relationships-and-flirting stuff?  This is going on too long to be not-serious, and it’s annoying.

I. I think we might have found a show that has more terrorist activity than 24.  And that’s centered around the Counter-Terrorism Unit.  What the bloody hell.  [😂😂😂😂]

Kate’s still being annoying

"He could just be doing his job"  Yeah, the gun really sells that.  Definitely just your ordinary power guy.

"Phone's got detonators"  I'm shocked.  It's almost like the plan was to detonate stuff.

The lights are on!!!  Hell yeah!!!

Okay, but that background noise *cannot* be good for that recording

Y'all are a bit.  Close.  Wanna... take a step back there?

Whoa, first names.  Is that allowed???

Isn't this the second time he's been picked up by this chick?

Thus is it finished!

– – –

Aside from the probably-excessive number of terrorist attacks — literally, I’ve seen three episodes, and this is the second one with a terrorist connection — I’m still enjoying it!  Tbh, my opinion hasn’t much changed from the midpoint, so I don’t know what to add… I would say that the episode kinda… spiraled?  Like, we were still on drug-running as of after halfway through the episode, and it suddenly became a 24 episode?  Then somehow got resolved really quickly?  But, pacing issues aside, it wasn’t bad!  And that’s basically the only opinion shift from halfway through, so.  There ya go!

‘Til next time!

[filmclingon]

“Close to Vermeer” (2023)

Marvelous documentary shown at the Quad, with a talk afterward with Frick (”Cocktails with a”) curator Xavier Solomon.  The two characters I most loved (likely because the documentarian obviously loves them as well) were the two "old white guys," Gregor Weber, the soon-to-retire of the Rijksmuseum's Fine Arts Department, and the artist Jonathan Janson.  These men were so obviously emotionally invested in Vermeer from a very young age both personally and professionally.  I went home and ordered Weber's book "Faith, Light, and Reflection," because I was fascinated by his discussion of Vermeer's connection with the Catholic Church and esp. the Jesuits, also the clarification of Vermeer's use of the camera obscura more as a way to look at the world than as a crutch in creating art images.  I am a bit sorry after reading the bio of art collector Thomas Kaplan that I found him to be so affected here; and I think it a pity that Kaplan is so thrilled to own an inferior Vermeer, given that the man owns a truly impressive collection of Rembrandt and Gerrit Dou.  (I came to know Dou thanks to the marvelous 1979 BBC adaptation of Le Fanu’s horror story “Schalcken the Painter.”)  I confess I laughed but was also a bit bothered by the disdainful POV directed at the women curators at both the Braunschweig museum in Germany and at our own National Gallery -- maybe merited but borderline "cheap shot,"  though the film seemed to try to compensate with its inclusion of Mauritshuis conservator Abbie Vandivere.   My issue with the contested Vermeers is that to me they don’t seem from Vermeer's time period:  Kaplan's painting looks like something from the German Romantic or French Napoleonic era; "Girl with a Flute" has brushstrokes reminiscent of Whistler or one of the Impressionists (why Janson insists it is a Vermeer but unfinished).  A highlight for me is the scene toward the end where Weber welcomes the artist Janson into his home (which almost uncannily resembles the setting of a Vermeer painting) and shows him an actual painting partially depicted in Vermeer's "The Music Lesson."   Both men are taken with the fact that this is an object actually owned by Vermeer.  But I was more impressed with Weber's detective work: Only a fraction of this painting appears in Vermeer's depiction.  And again, the subject matter is so weird:  "Roman Charity," an image of a woman suckling an old man -- also used in Christian art to depict a corporal work/act of mercy, also appears in a more overtly eroticized form in art.  What was Vermeer's possible purpose in including it here, but only in a cut-off detail?  I would have loved to hear Weber's opinion on that, can only hope he might give it a mention in his book.

[canonicallysoulmates]

Jared made his third appearance on Michael Rosenbaum’s podcast. 

The interview was done through Zoom and filmed on March 17th. More of a general conversation if you’re looking for something like info about what’s coming up in what’s left of this season of Walker you won’t find it but it did have some interesting and important tidbits so I do suggest checking it out. As always a link is provided at the end of this post. 

Also as always, Rosenbaum going forward will be referred to as MR. 

They jump right into conversation with MR asking Jared about how far away from home he films. Jared says they go all over the place but usually he’s only around 20mins to an hour away. Asked if it’s easier to have his whole life there or if there’s more distractions, Jared says it’s so much harder because when he would wrap up SPN and get home tired he could just get a beer and head to bed but now when he gets home he has the kids all wanting his attention. x

He once again shares the story about how Walker came to be, and how the idea came to him when he read an anonymous op ed about a law enforcement official who handed in his badge. And he went to Anna Fricke, who he knew as a friend through her marriage to Jeremy Carver, and asked if she’d be available. x

He says that when he was originally thinking about Walker- when it was in the early stages of development his pitch, unbeknownst to Jensen, was that Jensen would be Walker. Because he (Jared) was on his way out of acting; he thought he would be on as an EP but didn’t really want to be on camera. And that actually, he doesn’t want to be on camera, that he sort of wants to retire, he doesn’t want to do fittings or have pictures taken of him. *thinking about G’s instagram* Jared, hon, if you wanna stop feeling like a showpony you should think more about divorce than retirement. 

And he tried to almost negotiate himself out of a deal; when he pitched the idea, Pedowitz told him that if he wanted to come back in the fold let him know and Jared said it would have to be in Austin, and he would need creative involvement, and a day or two off every episode and Pedowitz ended up being okay with all of it.  But he says, he’s now so proud of his show and he’s all in. x

MR mentions he saw Katherine McNamara is gonna be involved in the prequel, and says she's gonna be on the podcast.  In case anyone doesn’t know she’s gonna be playing Abby Walker, and is gonna be one of the leads of the show. Jared mentions he doesn’t know her well yet but that they did their research and background checks to see if the people they were considering were decent and Katherine has a great reputation so he looks forward to getting to know her better. x

What made him decide Walker was the thing for him after SPN? Did he have offers to lead on other shows? Jared says, no that he’s sure he had auditions available but what he loved about SPN is that they were the little engine that could. It was more a word of mouth fandom rather than billboards everywhere, and with Walker it became sort of like ‘let’s give it a shot’. And his initial motivation for filming was that he wanted his fellow Texans to be able to pay their mortgage because they started filming amidst the pandemic at a time where a lot of the world wasn’t shooting yet because of it; they didn’t know where the world was going, he compares it to when in the Titanic the band keeps playing even though the ship is sinking. So they were working not knowing if they were gonna get phone calls shutting them down, which they did get, but they wanted to provide entertainment and tell stories and provide joy and they created a season that he couldn’t be more proud of; says he’s his biggest critic but he’s so proud of Walker. 

A small thing but he and MR think his first appearance on the podcast was being the one he did in 2020 when he was in quarantine before wrapping up SPN but that’s incorrect; his first appearance was actually in 2019. It’s not on Youtube because at the time this podcast was not on video but it is on Spotify. x

MR knows how overwhelming a first season can be so, did Jared cater to his needs so he wouldn’t feel overworked on set? Is that a conversation that was had? It was. Jared says they take great care of him, that his line producer and set producer fight to make sure his days are condensed so he won’t be first up and last up and having to spend his whole day in a trailer. That he’s being treated like a king (as he should be 🥰) and he’s so grateful. And I’m grateful too because this is the kind of respect and support that he deserves, and it makes me so happy that he has a crew that appreciates him❤️

The number of script pages he has to learn vary by day. He goes on a sort of ramble about how he bristles when people assume he’s a great liar because he’s an actor, and I swear for a second I thought he was gonna talk about himself as in his personal life because he starts to say “I’m not lying, I’m going through some-” and then redirects and says his job as an actor is to tell his characters truth so he does a lot of work outside of the set. That he wants to read his scripts over and over again until he gets to the point that when he gets on set he’s telling the truth. I don’t know if what he meant to say before he cut himself off is that he’s not lying when he’s acting because the brain can’t tell the difference between real and fake when you’re let’s say acting like you’re in pain, or if he was actually going to go in another direction and then his brain caught up and swerved. x

MR mentions he saw an article on twitter about the time that Jared almost missed a day of work on Gilmore Girls. For those that don’t know the story, what happened is that he was not scheduled to film for several days but Lauren Graham got sick and they had to do a last minute schedule change that Jared was not aware of; so he and his friends had stayed up late playing video games and filling up on beer and pizza, and Sadie who was a puppy at the time, he with the help of his dad had made her a little pee place on his balcony cause he lived on the third floor so he just left his balcony door open and crashed. He was woken up at like 8am by his friend telling him that his (Jared’s) manager had called him because Jared was needed on the set and he couldn’t reach him, and that’s when Jared looks at his phone and sees that he has a ton of missed calls and messages.

He says that it was more than uncomfortable, he found it scarring and it stays with him to this day. Because even though everyone on set was very nice and gracious he felt like an asshole, like he let everyone down for wasting their valuable time. And it formed who he is now, it’s part of why he goes over scripts again and again and again; the way he sees it is that if he doesn’t do a good job or he messes up a scene it’s not because he hasn’t done the work it’s because he doesn’t have the talent.

MR asks if he’s not the kind of actor that can just walk on set and learn lines in the trailer and Jared replies he’s never tried. When he walks on a set, he knows everybody else’s lines. And he shares about how when he was in highschool he used to take pride in just reading the cliffnotes and still getting a good grade but then at one point realized he was only hurting himself in the long run by trying to shortcut his way to an A, that he was just taking away from his experience and that’s the same way he thinks about learning his scenes; he’s sure he could go on set, read his scene for the first time and do a decent job but he’d just be stealing from himself. And he likes to go on set and have a good time, so he puts in the work so when he gets to set he’s ready to play and have a good time. 

Sidenote: When Jared mentioned Sadie he also mentioned that Koda had surgery. Don’t know what for but I hope the doggy is okay. x

He doesn’t run lines with anyone. Says he’s a loner, that he always says that if he weren’t an actor he’d wanna be like a wildlife photographer or something in Africa (is that something you always say?🤨). That he doesn’t go out (I guess UFC fights don’t count), he doesn’t like people but he loves good people, doesn’t like being in crowds that he’s wired to be alone and beat himself up a little bit- Jared baby are you okay? 

Says he’s competitive with himself - he compares himself to other versions of himself, and if he feels he hasn’t done his best, he dwells on it. x

MR: Can you/do you watch yourself and can you appreciate it or are you too critical? He answers that he didn't watch the new SPN eps when they were airing live unless he was on set with Jensen and they’d go to his trailer and live tweet or something but with Walker he does because of his capacity as EP. He has to give notes so when he watches it it's very mathematical. And he mentions he watches it with his kids which is great because he couldn’t show SPN to his kids. x

MR mentions how Jensen is the type to just go on set and learns his lines in the trailer, and Jared goes to say they have opposite methods but he pauses as he tries to remember the word method so MR says work ethics and I love Jared’s instant reaction of “no,no,no, he works hard af”; a little peak of protective Jared not allowing the implication that Jensen doesn’t work hard. 

MR has to clarify that he's not saying Jensen doesn’t work hard but that Jared just talked about how he dissects everything and the work he puts in at home. Jared replies that what he and Jensen have is polar opposite methods but Jensen’s work ethic is legendary, he works as hard as somebody can on something, he just does it in a different way. Jensen would say he likes to get there and be fresh and Jared guesses that something he figured out through his own hundreds of episodes of tv is that he feels he’s giving his best when he keeps it fresh. That frankly he wishes he had more Jensen in him (*snort* I’m sure you do) because he’s setting his alarm at 4:30am getting out of bed to get on his treadmill and read, and he wishes he could find a better way to go about it. x

When Jared was talking about how him and Jensen have different methods he brought up the saying ‘don’t yuck my yum’ which means what it sounds like basically if somebody has something they like or that they’re good at don’t ruin it aka don’t yuck their yum and the reason I’m mentioning it is because MR makes the joke “I’m sure a lot of fans would like to yuck your yum” which makes Jared laugh and reach for his kombucha. He says he started drinking it because he heard about the health benefits and how it's supposed to be good for you. That the first time he tasted it, he found it disgusting but powered through it and now he kinda likes it. 

Birthdays come up, MR says he’s turning 50 this year not gonna lie that caught me by surprise. x

MR asks him about a comment Jared had made where he said SPN almost didn’t cast him because he felt they thought he was too stupid. This is a storyJared told in the spn podcast for anyone who’s curious where it comes from; in the early 2000’s what casting directors were looking for were brooding, James Dean types so the name of the game was that if you went to auditions and acted like that you were likely to get the role so that’s what he did but that’s not what Kripke was looking for and the feedback they gave to Jared’s manager is that they were looking for an intellectual; so his manager proceeded to tell them about his academic achievement and they decided to give him a second chance. So the second time he goes in and proceeds to talk about literature. 

He also mentions how he was in a holding deal with WB. What a holding deal is that when they liked somebody they’d get them for one show but they’d want the right to have them at their disposal for their next series of Pilots and he’d have a pre negotiated episodic pay for the next year on that show. And both him and Jensen had holding deals.  

One of the academic achievements his manager mentioned is that Jared only missed one math question on his SAT’s. His SAT score was around 1490 which leaves MR very impressed but Jared’s really humble about it and says he just does well on tests but that the smartest, most interesting people he knows don’t do well in tests because their brains work on a different angle. 

His SAT scores are something to be proud of and I love how humble he is about it but what I love even more is his acknowledgement that the smartest people sometimes don’t do well in tests. Because it’s true. A test is not an accurate representation of how smart someone is there are people who can cram an entire textbook into their head for an exam but the moment they put their pencil down they’ve forgotten all of it just like there are people who freeze and go blank at exam time but at any other moment could give a dissertation on a subject. x

Asked how he’s dealing with his mental health, he says he’s in maintenance right now; shares that he went to see a psychiatrist in Costa Mesa in November who did some brain scans and found his brain only has around 60% of the oxygen that it should. That his brain looked like swiss cheese and it scared him, and he broke down into tears but the doctor calmed him down told him he’s not dying, and this is something fixable, he can get better and that if he’s doing everything he’s doing now with only 60% then when he gets better the sky’s the limit. 

So he’s been doing treatments in a hyperbaric chamber. For those that don’t know a hyperbaric chamber is a medical device, a more commonly known use of them is as a treatment for compression sickness which is what you get when you rise too fast when scuba diving or deep diving. And it’s a pressurized environment where you breathe in pure oxygen. 

MR asks him if it actually works and Jared is honest and says he has no idea. MR asks how often he has done it, Jared replies that he had done it everyday that week, confesses he has one in his house, and it’s not cheap. He looks so cute when MR asks him about the hyperbaric chamber, he’s so reluctant to admit he has one and how expensive it is. 

He’s the only one that uses the chamber because G has a thing that makes it less than ideal. For some reason, he also randomly throws in there that G’s brain is beautiful with blood going everywhere and perfect. Sure. 

I can’t imagine how scary finding that out was for him, our brains are arguably the most important organ we have and I’m just glad this is something he can heal from 💛

For anyone who wants more details about hyperbaric oxygen therapy you can find more info about what it can help with and how it works here and here.

This took place on the birthday of Jared’s old stand in Matt who passed away a couple years ago due to suicide. MR asks if there’s anything he wants to say or insight he wants to share; Jared says you gotta be open. That Matt was the best dude, the smiliest guy who was going through a lot of stuff; that if you got something going on just be open. He’s goine through tough times where he’s thought if he just pushes it down further it’ll go away but it didn’t, and that he’s had a few friends who are no longer around due to suicide. That it’s tough cause it’s never the person who’s telling you how bummed they are, it’s the person who's acting normal and asking how you are, and then the next day you get the call or text that they’re no longer here. 

MR: So usually the signs are tough because there are no signs a lot of times. 

Jared says a lot of people who are going through really difficult times have been to places in their head that they don’t want others to go to so they just hide it. x

Does he still have Baby? Yes, she’s in his garage. He drives it but it has a leak right now. Says he has one and so does Jensen. Baby 1 went to Jensen which is the one with the big block engine that makes a lot of noise but he got Baby number 2 which is the one they used more because it’s quiet and they wouldn’t get noise complaints. x

MR asks about Jensen directing Walker. Man probably just expected a simple answer instead he got Jared talking for 5mins about how much he loves him. 

Jared says that since he wasn’t in every scene he had two days off of principal production and he purposely scheduled them so they would be the first two days. Because he wanted his cast and crew to know that Jensen wasn’t there because he’s Jared’s friend, he was there because he’s a savvy and talented director. That he’s their director, not for them to think of him as Jared’s buddy tagging along to direct an episode. And because I can feel it in my soul that somebody is gonna try to twist this, this was done to ensure that the crew and cast gave Jensen the respect he deserved as the director. 

So Jensen did the first two days without him on set and then he showed up on the 3rd day which was Jensen’s birthday and he was able to tell the crew that this wouldn't have existed without the work that he and Jensen put forth on Supernatural. I know I’ve talked about how much I love that he gave a whole speech but the fact that he purposely scheduled things out to be this way- that’s love people, that’s love. 

Then Jared says that he doesn’t think there’s anybody on the planet that believes in Jensen to the degree he believes in Jensen 😭❤️

Which is beautiful but also may I point out how funny MR’s reaction to this is because he literally just goes ‘wow’. 

But Jared doesn’t stop there, he continues saying that he has no doubt that there’s people in Jensen’s life who know he walks on water the difference is he’s seen him walk on water. Day in and day out for 15 and a half years he’s seen him with a cold, getting bad news and going back to set, a pipe bursting at their house and going back to set (and yes he said their house [“our house”] don’t believe me listen to it yourself). That he loves him dearly, always will and it’s one thing to know somebody you like is a hero, it’s another to see them and know why they’re a hero.

At which point MR says again, wow; I don’t think he expected Jared to speak with such devotion. 

He continues saying that on Walker a lot of their crew say friends of theirs from other show will call and ask how's Disneyland; they have a great set but as EP and lead he has a heavy hand in setting that tone and he had the chance to tell everybody, with Jensen there, that that wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for the blood, sweet and tears of Jensen for 15 and a half years as well; and for his crew to kinda honor him as well because they hadn’t had the chance to meet him yet. 

And then it sounds like he says that if it wasn’t for covid Jensen would have gone by the set many times but it’s not too clear because MR interrupts him. Goddangit, Rosenbaum I get you gotta keep it moving and you gotta be feeling like you’re a third wheel in a two person conversation but just let the man gush about his husband for 20 mins. 

MR says it’s amazing cause usually the last person you wanna see is the one you saw every day for 15yrs. Jared says Jensen’s a phenomenal director, actor, everything, he can do whatever he wants and do it with ease. x

For an extra punch in the feels let me go ahead and remind y’all about Jensen’s birthday message to Jared last year where he said Jared can walk on water ❤️

There’s a weird transition with MR asking about any new fights. Guess he had to come up with something to change the tone after Jared just gushed about Jensen.

Rapid fire questions from Patreon: 

How was it with Jensen directing, any tricks or pranks played? It was awesome. Being able to show off his buddy, his partner in crime, his brother of many years; they had a bunch of pranks planned, some had to get kinda shelved because of covid restrictions, but they had different chair back names for each of his days. x

Fav thing about doing conventions? His favorite thing is catching up with people he’s known for a long time and some brand new people about something he’s really passionate about; it’s like walking into a restaurant and finding out someone is a fan of your fav football team or band- it’s a connection and it’s like catching up with old friends.That as he’s getting older it’s those small connections between people that really excite him. What excites him the most about cons is a. seeing a lot of the fandom, some new, some long standing and b. seeing people he’s worked with and talking about a scene they filmed back in 2008. x

Would he go back and do another Gilmore Girls show like Netflix did a few years ago? He says yes. And also shows off his gray beard hairs 😍

MR mentions he’s thinking of lightening his hair, and Jared shares the story about how one day it was just him and O in the hottub, and she was giving him a hug and she likes to scratch at his beard and he was thinking this is the most amazing thing until she pointed out the white hair patch on his beard and mentally he just went ‘ah fuck’ 😂

Advice he would give his younger self? Live life as if life is long. Meaning enjoy it, let relationships grow, let yourself grow. x

Both j2 keep talking about how the book isn’t closed on spn, how unclosed is it? 

The book is not closed on SPN, obviously there’s a prequel coming up but beyond that as far as Jared playing Sam and Jensen playing Dean, if a new book is released he thinks he would be excited to help tell that story. x

There is talk about the prequel. MR asks if the dust has settled about it. Did they talk and have a laugh about it?

Jared says they had a laugh and a cry. They linked up and talked on the phone. That he loves Jensen and he has no doubt Jensen loves him back. They both rather things had gone down a different way but they didn’t and it’s not productive to say whose to blame and what happened that when you’re in a relationship with somebody it’s once you go through a hardship and your instinct goes I want to make this right or I wanna say goodbye to this and they both figured the former, they wanted to make it right. x

This is pretty much the same thing Jared said at a con a couple years ago, and it’s advice he gives to couples, that when your relationship is tested that’s when you find out if it’s worth it or not.

Jared also wants to be really abundantly clear, because he sees the twitter trolls, that nobody believes in Jensen more than he does. x

I know some people aren’t going to listen but Jared is sending a very clear message there. 

To wrap it up MR asks what’s next? Jared replies: a nap. Those were his plans after this call finished to take a nap. Small conversation ensues about preferred napping clothing he says he naps in like the under armour sweats, the ones that are alleged to help with circulation. He likes being cozy so he doesn’t sleep or nap naked, he wants his shell. x

And that is the conclusion of Jared’s third appearance on Rosenbaum’s podcast! I love all the j2 content it provided 🥰

This post is really long. If you made it this far, go get yourself something to eat, drink some water, stretch, I’m gonna do all three. And if you wanna check out the podcast yourself, which I recommend, you can do so through the link below; it’s also available on Spotify and Apple podcasts if you prefer an audio only version. 

Jared on Inside of You May 24th, 2022.

[eloquence-of-felicities]

Walker: Independence - ATX TV Festival

A Round-Up of 'Walker: Independence' ATX TV Festival Coverage

ATX TV Festival 2022: Walker: Independence - Austin Chronicle

Now's the time to meet the original Walker, and it's not the New England lawman headed to Texas with his genteel Bostonian bride, Abigail (Katherine McNamara, Arrow). He's gunned down by outlaws, and she's left for dead before she sets out on a path of revenge that takes her to the new, rough city of Independence.

‘Walker Independence’: Matt Barr & Justin Johnson Cortez On Telling Authentic Stories; Possible Love Triangle—ATX - Deadline

Matt Barr and Justin Johnson Cortez have a lot to tease following the premiere of the CW’s Walker Independence at the ATX Festival in Austin. The pair star as Hoyt Rawlings and Calian, respectively, in the CW Walker prequel spinoff which was recently picked up to series.

‘Walker Independence’: Katherine McNamara On Creating A Different Type Of Western For Today—ATX - Deadline

The Walker prequel, written by Seamus Fahey based on a story by him and Anna Fricke, and directed by Larry Teng, is set in the late 1800s. It follows an affluent Bostonian named Abby Walker (McNamara), whose husband is murdered in front of her while on their trek out West. Consumed by a need for vengeance, Abby crosses paths with Hoyt Rawlins (Matt Barr).

ATX TV Festival Season 11 (2022): Day 3 Highlights - Fangirlish

Actor and executive producer of the series, Jared Padalecki, moderated a fun and captivating panel with the upcoming cast Kat McNamara, Matt Barr, and Justin Johnson-Cortez about what is called to be the new phenomenon of the network.

‘Walker: Independence’: Series Cast and EP Jared Padalecki Talk Reinventing the Western at ATX TV Fest - Nerds & Beyond

Fresh off The CW’s 2022 upfronts, ATX TV Fest presented audiences with a first look at the pilot episode for the upcoming series Walker: Independence, a spin-off of the highly successful show Walker.

Photo: Katherine McNamara Instagram (06/04/2022)

[xxsku11yxx]

Turning Red as shit me n my friends have said pt 3

Mei: "I loooovveee drawing men"

Robaire: "Why can't I just get cracked like a glowstick rn"

Aaron Z: "Y'all my bf is so fine"

Aaron T: "I deepthroated a cheesestick once"

Priya: "he's got that humpty dumpty"

Abby {About going to a concert}: "My mouth is foaming just thinking about it"

Mei: "Aaron Z would be really cute if he wasn't always doing that bbl face"

Jesse: "I was busy playing cats and soup"

Aaron Z: "ROBAIRE GET THE FUCK OFF THE SCREEN"

Aaron T: "He's so hot I wanna lick his abs"

Taeyoung "...What..?"

Devon: "Idk about y'all but, I'm about to quit my job and just live on the streets"

Miriam: "My crush is so baller"

Aaron T: "Be delusional, trust me, its fun"

Robaire: "I am saying this only one more time....I would like you human people to stop sending me those chain things. I am not going to send to keep the chain, you know this now stop sending me this nonsense. Just stop it, it’s getting annoying as frick seeing people sending me chats, Unless you see me outside of work don’t talk to me"

[narrative-driven-off-a-cliff]

I just had the most miserable Don't Starve experience IN MY LIFE.

Okay so I'm a Wendy main in my first official multiplayer game ever with a Willow and Wolfgang, and the Willow has just shown me to a Pipspook. I complete that, no problem, no questions asked, and the Wolfgang says that we're setting up official base near King Pig. Ok, alright, we leave the forest, but then I spot another Pipspook and think "Hey, let's have another go. It'll probably be quick and I can use Abigail as a light source if it turns out to be hard."

The first mistake.

This Pipspook ended up being the worst in the HISTORY of Spooks - and keep in mind I've had Pips lead me to Angry Pig Tribes and the Killer Tentacle Sand biome. This buckarino Kept giving me the WORST directions, leading me left and right and left again when I really had to go down, and led me into so many spiders that Abigail was on halfway heart. I ended spending TWO DAYS on this five minute venture.

Additionally. I had only prepared for a one day expedition, so I had only enough grass for ONE NIGHT OF FIRES. Since I was in a forest biome with spider dens serving as a giant wall, guess who had to use her dead sister as a light source TWO DAYS IN A ROW??? And the whole time i was so hungry I lived off of seeds and MONSTER MEAT. I was desperate.

And then came the fateful night that I finished. Finally, i had my six fricking mourning glories and my days of shoving haphazard seeds into my mouth were over. I just neede to survive one more night under Abigail's gaze.

Now normally, Abby's light covers a good four by four radius or so, not the best but enough to make do. But tonight, likely from the spider bites harming her, she covered a two by two and I resided in her dim lights. But it was still livabke as long as nothing else happened.

And what do you know.

Something did.

Y'know the namesake of the game, the whole important thing that you are really not supposed to do?

Starve?

Yeah I started to do that.

And it was AWFUL. Suddenly my health was draining like a water bottle made out of fishnets. The fields that were previously rampant with monster meat were all black and tinged with the red pain of malnutrition. And my hotbar had nothing save for five petals and three spider sacs. All I could do was throw them down my throat, speed around so Abigail was lighting me even through her idle animations, and stare in dazed horror.

Then morning came like a long piece in Tetris.

I bounded around the forest, scanning for any trace berry, seed, or monster remain that could satisfy my humane needs. I burst through the forest doors, panting with the trace breaths I had, and what came towards me was a pack of frogs. In desperation, I riled up Abigail and shoved the dead legs of her prey into my throat. My sanity was depleting, my hunger was barely quenched, my health was worse than a typical Wes main's, reality was shattering before my very eyes, and in the end, what got me was a shadow demon headbutting my soul out of its miserable shell. That was the first hit i've ever taken from one of those nightmare fuel monsters, and it was my very last

No telltale hearts, no meat effigys, and the only touch stone was near base. No,not the temporary base. The new base that I was going to check out before I GOT MYSELF IN THIS WHOLE ORDEAL!!! So with no other options and a heavy heart, I logged off the game and logged onto Tumblr, where I share this tragedy with you tonight

This is the worst experience I have ever had on Don't Starve in the entire Four Days I have had this game and in all the twelve hours I have logged on it because I am HOOKED. Moral of the story?

1. Wendy Mains, know when to abandon a Pipspook.

2. Don't abandon your regular Don't Starve teammate until July 15th for a camping trip and a vacation to Alaska. Screw you, Andre.

[quanticowrites]

Focaccia Making (Tony Dinozzo x Reader)

•• Hello! This is for Anon, and I just want to disclose this is sort of what you asked for but I kinda put my spin on it. 😅 I hope you enjoy! ••

“Alright pupils, pay attention. Making my focaccia is considered an art form in and of itself.” You rolled your eyes at Tony. He'd offered to teach you, Tim, Ziva, Abby, and Jimmy how to make his family's focaccia recipe after you all gawked at it that one time he brought it in for the annual Christmas party. He pulled a bowl from one side of the counter and pulled the clingfilm off. “I did a majority of the work last night. You just add yeast, warm water, and flour before letting it rise for about...twelve hours or so.”

“Twelve hours?” Tim questioned. “That's a long time to rest the dough isn't it?”

“Not when you're going for perfection, Timothy my boy.” He held the bowl out. “That and it needs to double in size.” He set the bowl down and brought over a stand mixer. “Now, we mix this baby for about ten minutes.” He poured the dough into the mixer and let it do its work.

“I didn't realize you baked so often to own a mixer, Tony.” Ziva chided and he scoffed.

“I'm a Dinozzo. We cook like Kings.” Abby took in a deep breath.

“Oh, it smells so good already.” Tony bent down under the counter and pulled out a different bowl, pouring some olive oil into it.

“I'm surprised you all decided to come. Thought it might have just been (y/n) and I.” The way he smiled at his remark sent your heart aflutter. There was just something about how Tony’s lips spread apart that made your knees weak. It was almost as if that crazy crush you had on him when you first started- You shook your head of those thoughts. Tony was continuing with the lesson. Abby nudged you in the side.

“Just you and Tony would have been fun too though, right (y/n)?” You gave Abby a sidekick to the back of the leg. Tony sent a smirk your way and you laughed.

“Yeah, I would've hit him with the dough hook.” He chuckled before moving the dough to the new bowl. He pulled up apart and let it fall back down.

“You want to make sure the dough is smooth. It's not as sturdy as other bread dough, so don't be scared. It's meant to be like this.” Jimmy wrote down notes in the notepad he'd brought.

“Smooth dough…”

“I'm starting to think you're just pranking us.” Tim quipped. “There's no way you can put this much effort into anything.” Ziva let out a hearty laugh and she nodded.

“He's right, Tony, but Tim I know what he's saying is true. My friend Ishmael has made it for me many times.”

“Wait-” You started. “So you already know how to make Focaccia?” She shrugged.

“I was just curious as to how Tony's family's recipe differs from Ishmael’s.” Tony shook his head, setting cling film over the top of the bowl.

“I'm sad that after all these years you still doubt me, Ziva.”

The dough had to rise at least another two hours and you didn't know how much more of Tony and Ziva’s bickering you could take. Abby, Jimmy, and Tim had to leave early due to personal reasons, but you were pretty sure it was because Abby wanted to try and get you and Tony alone. Well, her plan sort of worked, but Ziva was still here. You couldn't even remember what they were arguing about anymore. You just started zoning out to the Frank Sinatra music Tony had set up in the background. For the “ambiance” he said. Ziva stood with a sigh.

“While it is always fun arguing with you, Tony, I have other plans this afternoon as well.” She winked at you. “Make sure he saves me a piece?” You laughed.

“Will do, Ziva.” As soon as she left Tony went silent, something you never thought you'd say about Anthony fricking Dinozzo. The occasional tap of his foot to a song. The timer he set on his phone buzzed and he stood.

“Alright,” He scratched the back of his head. “(Y/n), you don't have to stay to be polite. Everyone else left, and now it's just the two of us.” You laughed at his statement of the obvious.

“I'm not staying out of pity, Tony. I genuinely want to be here.” You stood up next to him and dared to reach out and grab his arm, dragging him towards the kitchen. “Come on, show me what to do next.” You stood in front of the bowl and Tony stood behind you. He grabbed a pan and sprayed in some cooking spray. He set it down in front of you.

“You put the dough in here.” You tore the cling off and dumped the dough inside. Tony put his hands on top of yours and guided your fingers across the dough. “The dough has to spread out to all the edges.” He said into your ear. You were thankful he was behind you. You could feel how hard you were blushing as you watched his hand guide yours. His grip was firm, but you could tell with how softly he was cupping your hand that he had to have been just as embarrassed as you were.

“Tony-”

“(Y/n)-” You both started to talk at the same time. His hands stopped guiding yours, but he never let go. “You go first.”

“I... appreciate you taking the time to teach me. I know I'm not the perfect student.”

“You're perfect, (y/n).” He said, turning you around. “Don't let anyone tell you differently.” He took one of his hands from yours and cupped your cheek. “Especially not yourself.” Your heart was racing. Tony was so close you could feel the warmth from his body. His hand still cupped your face.

“You think that?” You asked. He nodded with a smile.

“I always have.” He shifted the weight on his feet. “(Y/n), I'm just gonna cut through the bullshit. I like you, a lot.” You couldn't think of a reply, so, without thinking you pushed yourself up on your toes and kissed Tony on the lips. You went back on your heels and blushed.

“I hope that wasn't too forward-” Tony grabbed onto your shoulders and pushed you up against the counter, slamming his lips back into yours. You fell into the kiss with a newfound passion. You hadn't been too forward. He pulled back and you couldn't help the smile that spread across your face. Words didn't need to be spoken now. You and Tony knew how you felt about each other. He grabbed the pan from behind you and threw it in the oven. He laughed.

“If I knew my Focaccia would help me admit my feelings for you I wish I'd offered this class sooner.” He looked at the clock. “Are you sure you want to stay until it's done? It’s getting pretty late and I don't want you to have to drive across town…” You shrugged.

“Would it be the worst thing in the world if I stayed the night?”

“No, it definitely wouldn't be.”

Tag list: @stanathanxoox , @nikkiwierden , @malindacath , @havlindzk , @countrygal17a , @memyselfandmaddox , @octobersmog , @mizzezm , @diaryofafan17 , @emmitheacefangirl , @smolpersonbigworld , @a-sad-excuse-of-everything , @dressed-up-just-like-z1ggy

[mothdruid]

Abby I had thoughts about Rhett and Tillerson!Reader and started writing a fic, enjoy the blurb babes <3

—

The clinking of glass against glass filled the air as the truck pulled into the pasture and settled on the grass. The truck doors flew open as giggles followed, “you grab the bottles?” Rhett’s voice called to her as he grabbed a few blankets and threw them into the back of the truck bed before doing the same with some pillows.

The clinking of the glass continued till the pair was snuggled up against each other in the truck bed, leaning against the pillows, the warmth radiating from the blankets and each other only intensifying as they passed the bottle of Hennessy back and forth. The sipps they took were evermore fueling the giggles that erupted from the two as they kissed, cuddled, and repeated.

As the laughter died down, she settled into his arms, feeling his head rest against her shoulder “...When can we do this for real…” She whispered and felt Rhett as he stiffened slightly.

“Sweetheart..” he started only to be cut off

“No Rhett” she turned in his grasp “I love you, why should I be ashamed of that?” her brows furrowed “I’m tired of hiding this…” taking his hands into her she stared at the back of his hands, her thumbs rubbing circled. “I wanna go watch you ride and cheer you on, I wanna go to the store with you and fight over why we need three different cereals” he chuckled, moving to hold her once more “I wanna be with you outside of the pastures…” she whispered feeling him press a kiss into her hair.

“I know you do Sweetheart” he mumbled before letting out a sigh “...I want that too… But you know what your brothers would do….” resting his head on top of her’s “They’d…” he let out a breath “they’d skin me alive and… and string me up on that fucken taxidermy wall”

Shaking her head she took a sip from the bottle before speaking “No they wouldn’t. I won’t let them” handing the bottle off to Rhett, she waited for him to take a sip before she continued “I don’t care if I get disowned or if it sends my daddy into another stroke-”

“Careful there Sweetheart” Rhett started “Wouldn’t want someone to hear you” he joked

bella!!! you honor me with a blurb of your writing!! this is so fricking cute!!! i love love love the idea of rhett x tillerson!reader. i can't wait to read the whole thing when you finish it.

maybe i'll send you a blurb of my rhett x librarian!reader fic 🙈

[wench-and-jezebel]

NCIS Reaction: Hung Out to Dry

Wench (@scripted-downfall) reacts [with (maybe) occasional asides by Jezebel (@typicalopposite)]

This is starting right after the last episode, so there’s no introductory conversation, alas.  Instead, the space in between reactions was filled with Jezebel ignoring me and then insisting I send her the link to the show despite it being RIGHT THE FRICK NEXT TO THE LAST EPISODE.  Hmph.  Problematic one.

Sir is both an asshole and manipulative

[Welp.  That’s a mood killer.]  Ma’am was in the neighborhood and thought she’d invade my reaction, I see.  [That.  Was not to you.  But actually kinda works.]

Oof.  Sir leaves the door unlocked but has no phone.  Unreachable except when he isn't, I see alkdsj

What are the chances he wasn’t already dead and that’s why his chute didn’t open?

"My dad's gonna kill me"  Welp.  Bit dark given the circumstances, but go off  [☠️☠️☠️☠️]

Logan, please.  Wait, shit: *Tony, please

“It was a death rattle”  “You ever hear a death rattle?”  “I was using it as a trope.”  Dude, you’re a tool.

I mean… dead dude = pinata.  Checks out to me, Ducky

Guess the groan might rule out my already-dead hypothesis, but idk if I trust this kid’s judgement

"Why didn't he pull it" BECAUSE HE WAS DEAD

She's still needing to be told to put on gloves alskdjf

Tony and the frivolous photographs.  Max wouldn't take that kinda shit without bitching and you know it (but I love it, so, and I don’t care abt Max’s judgement anyway, so.)

THOSE BOOTS LOOK AWESOME; I'M JEALOUS

Tony, focus.

Tony is not focusing

"It's his anniversary"  "Which marriage"  Anniversary of a death, maybe?  Dead wife?

Oh dammit.  So much for that^.

Tony continues to not focus and I appreciate this

"We don't stop for casualties in war.  Nor do we in training" that's stupid [☠️☠️☠️☠️ military *sigh*  This is a spin off of Jag btw.]  Ah, I see.  [iirc Gibbs was in an ep of jag and people liked him so much he got his own show…. That’s still running] Damn

"I'm not calling my boss.  I'm calling yours"  Well, damn.

"Thumper" like the bunny rabbit? aslkdfj

IT IS THUMPER LIKE THE BUNNY RABBIT

“Was he dead when you reached him?”  NO HE WAS DEAD IN THE AIR; GUARANTEEEEEE  (I’m gonna cry if this is wrong; I’m so convinced about it at this point)

"Obviously his reaction time was too slow" or maybe he was DEAD

I spy with my little eye a scene from the intro

Dammit.  FINE, okay, guess he wasn’t dead when he fell.  Hmph.  Rude. (*cries*)

Okay, Tony and Abby and their art conversation are, at once, my beloveds

“Double your pleasure”  “Double your fun”  Please.  PLEASE.  These two are hilarious together

Poor Tony, stuck being the audience scapegoat since someone had to ask about opioids and obviously he’s stuck in that role 

Um.  An acid?  That’s.  That’s so specific.

Tony, why are you fiddling with the parachutes?  Someone’s gotta re-rig that now alksdfj

Oof, not the criminal recor- I’M SORRY, SHOPLIFTING AND DRUG POSSESSION??? THOSE ARE NOT REALLY THE MOST GATEWAY CRIMES TO MURDER

Okay, hair still isn’t regulation, and lab coats aren’t supposed to be open, but I appreciate the other PPE.  CSI doesn’t even use goggles most of the time.

I continue to love Abby

NOT TONY STILL HARPING ON THE ELECTRICAL TOOLS

Gibbs is still an ass, and the Alec-coded character continues to suffer the brunt of it.  But Jezebel has said that there’s an even more Max-coded character later, which will be.  Interesting.

Wait, I’m sorry.  Excuse me.  Nine of the sixteen chutes were sabotaged.  They’re randomly handed out.  The entire point of this information is that — unless more is learned — no one specific person was being targeted.  So saying “this person had a grudge against the dude who happened to die” is so illogical because they just spent the last five minutes pointing out repeatedly that it was a random chute assignment!?!??!  AHHHHH

Abby picking on Tony feels more affectionate, ngl.  I don’t hate it

Oh, no, not the epithelial analysis alksdfj

– – –

Did I forget the midpoint reaction again?  Mebbe.  But that’s a good sign because clearly I was just.  So absorbed.

ANYWAY.  Still enjoying it!  I’m kinda annoyed by the whole, you know, pick-on-Tony brigade (not as much with Abby because it feels like banter not picking, and those are different, but it still is a bit.  Hmm.) but otherwise, not bad!  I don’t know enough about the show to say if I like this episode better or worse than the pilot, but I’ll get more of a sense of that as the season progresses.  Abby, my beloved.  Alec Tony, my vaguely-idiot beloved.  (Yes, I am seeing him as an extension of Alec; what of it!?)

On we go.

– – –

“For every legal firewall, there is a way around it”  That’s not concerning at all

Not Tony knowing where Gibbs was going with the horse analogy; how many times you used that one, bud?

Y’all, please, this is twice now (once in the title, once in a quote) that y’all used “hung”.  It’s hangeddddd

“Scuttlebutt”  Tony, I appreciate you

Tony, stop rambling about Gibbs’ wife.  Ex-wife.  Whatever.

Can we please stop making Tony an idiot; this wasn’t in his character in episode 1 and it’s rude [Oooof. You. You may be in for an unpleasant surprise]  *sigh* Look.  As I said.  I’m viewing him as Alec 2.0.  I still like Alec better, but.  Yeah.  So I’m unhappy with this development

Poor kid (not sarcastic)

Being nice to the kid = way to ingratiate yourself with the grieving widow, I see

I, too, would ruin my outfit right before a funeral because I wanted to climb trees.  (I did that once, actually.  Went to a wedding wearing high heels and managed to strip the fabric off the heel because of how much running around playing tag I was doing.  I was a teenager.)

Not a bad salute, to my knowledge

Oh, no.  Tony, please be safe.

"Research for Abby"  Is that what they're calling it these days?

“How did you get into NCIS?”  Rude.

Y'all, I'm begging you.  If you have long hair.  TIE IT BACK.  Speaking as someone who has worked in an actual lab, this is killing me.

... Sergeant Nutt, huh?

THE SCUTTLEBUTT RETURNS

Y’all, please.  Once again.  Stop.  Acting.  Like this was targeted.  To “Thumper.”  The chutes were randomly assigned.

Leave Tony aloneeeeee

Poor Tony.  (They didn’t leave him alone.)  [Alas they typically don’t]

I am once again begging y’all to consider that this was a RANDOM ACT OF SABOTAGE

“With Gibbs you never know”  Yeah, buddy’s a bit enigmatic.

Cocaine = Motive!  Except!  Once again!  Apparently!  It!  Was!  Random!

Not the Significant Looks

Oh, no.  I thought the “Oh, no.  Tony, please be safe.” jump was bad enough.  This is.  Worse.

I'm sure it'll be made clear but how dare y'all stick him with a broken reserveeeee

NO THIS IS ACTUALLY HILARIOUS  “No, 4’s unlucky in China”  “We’re not in China”

I’m vaguely annoyed that the drug possession apparently was the gateway crime to murder.  You couldn’t have given the guy an assault charge or something?  That feels a bit more in line with murder.

Did.  Did Tony just fall out of the plane.

I guess he's having a good time doing it, but.  sir.   This is not what I meant by "please be safe"

This kid is adorable, and I appreciate Gibbs helping with the treehouse.

THAT’S A WRAP!

– – – 

This episode may or may not have aggravated me.  A lot.  It would have been soooo easy to just leave off the whole “the chutes were given out randomly” bit if they wanted it to be targeted.  Or, if it were supposed to be random, then have one of the riggers be pissed for mistreatment from the whole unit, so it didn’t really matter who got sabotaged.  But now, there’s this glaring writing illogic that is.  Bugging me.

I still love Abby in all things.  Tony’s characterization feels iffy compared to last episode, but whatever; I still, currently, am okay with it.  Gibbs continues to be a bit of an ass.  Kate and he continue to be… complicated.  I like Ducky, but he wasn’t in that one much.

Still enjoying, though, so we’ll see what it’s like when the first episodes’ jitters work out!

[crestfallercanyon]

Is Your Story Stale?

Do you feel like your characters are just going through the motions? That the plot is simply happening to the characters? That though there are high risks, there is no tension?

Well, ask your characters these questions:

What do you want?

Why do you want it?

Why don't you already have it?

What's stopping you from getting it?

If your character can't answer these questions -- this is a very good place to start.

Quoting the idea that so many have stated but Story Genius by Lisa Cron and Abbie Emmons are major advocates of: without internal stakes, there is no real story. There's a laundry list of events.

As in, your characters have no internal drive that is being impacted by the external story.

How can you solve this?

Go to the questions above: what does your character want? why do they want it? why don't they already have it? what's stopping them from having it? and then add one more: what lesson do you need to learn in order to achieve what you want? OR, what lesson do you need in order to learn that what you want is not what you need?

If you can't answer that question, you've got a problem here. Your story doesn't actually matter, no matter how many flourishing touches to the plot you add. Because your characters aren't growing, and characters who aren't growing (whether the growth is a positive or negative development) is not interesting.

The story is only a vehicle for your character's lesson. And I don't mean lesson like a class -- it's not meant to be a lecture, it's not meant to be preaching or anything -- it's character arc.

Take Zuko from ATLA, often revered as one of the best character arcs seen in modern media. (spoilers for his character arc).

Zuko is our antagonist in the beginning of ATLA. He is in zealous pursuit of the Avatar to bring back to his father and restore his honor.

So, to break down using those questions...

Zuko, what do you want? To find and capture the Avatar to bring him back to the Fire Nation, i.e., his father.

Zuko, why do you want it? Because his father has expressed that it is only in this endeavor that he can restore his honor, i.e., gain respect and love from his father.

Zuko, why do you not already have it? (This is where plot devices come in! This is where the story matters!) Because the Avatar has not been seen in a hundred years! He lost his honor due to disrespecting his father's authority, and losing to him in an Agni Kai!

Zuko, what's stopping you from getting it now? Because his father has sent him on this impossible task as essentially a spurning and banishment! Because the Avatar, now that he has been seen, is outmaneuvering him! Because Zuko's instincts are not the killer one's that his father's is no matter how hard he tries!

Zuko, what is the lesson you need to learn? That in the eyes of his father his honor will never be restored, he will never be respected or loved the way he deserves even if he did bring back the Avatar; more importantly, he can get what he deserves through other, more worthy means -- that his father's respect and love is not worth anything if it must be bought. That what transpired during the Agni Kai was a reflection of his father's lack of honor, not Zuko's.

Zuko thought he wanted the Avatar and to gain his father's love and respect, and to be relieved of his banishment so he can go home to his family. He learns that this is not the way to be loved by family, and in fact, family can be defined by other means. That he was always worth what was stripped of him, and it was his father who was wrong.

Also, side note -- ways to help uncover these questions is to paint the scene where the misbelief your character operates on was thought up, and then solidified.

Zuko's misbelief: that he has lost his honor. That he must retrieve the Avatar in order to get it back.

When did he get this idea? The idea of him not having his honor was a seed planted in several instances with Azula outsmarting him, his father sneering at his progress in firebending, and his mother leaving. However, he still bucks against the idea, not wanting to believe the idea that he is not worthy.

When was his misbelief solidified? The Agni Kai between him and his father.

Zuko's external conflict could have been so fricking boring if it was just he wanted to capture the Avatar for shits and giggles. In fact, the missing internal stakes are often what make villains so damn boring. Zuko was fascinating because his desires, his goals, his dreams, were just as relatable and heartbreaking as Aang's. We wanted to root for him, even though we didn't want him to win. We wanted him to find another way to win. He had stakes in the story, thus we had stakes in him.

Now, how to go about fixing this in your own story?

One, make sure your characters can answer the questions.

Can't answer all the questions?

Stop and think about it. Work on it until you can.

Feel like you're able to answer the questions but still feel weird?

Well, here's another tip: do not make what they want super vague. The reader should be able to determine when your character has achieved their goal. Thus, having a super vague goal of "they want to be happy" is not going to cut it. "They will be happy when specified x is achieved" is much more like it.

Don't want to completely rework your story right now? Does that sound horrifically intimidating?

This was part of the reason why I went to fanfiction in the first place. I used to think it was because my pacing was off (which it was), but the root of that problem was my character's complete lack of internal stakes in what was happening, bringing everything to a slow crawl until the story's eventual death and placement in my book graveyard.

One shots can be great for this! They're as quick as you want them to be! The desire doesn't have to be this interlaced thing, it can be almost blatantly stated right off the bat! It's great!

I do this within my one-shots (I was going to post an in-depth thing of it, but that felt really narcissistic) but it really does help!

Still having issues?

Well, another good tip is: are your characters reacting to what's going on? Or are they just moving down the laundry list of things that are happening?

Believe it or not, stories should be predominantly reactionary. It should not be we do x, then we do y, then we get z. It should be Because we did x, we now have to do Y, or else we'll never get to Z. Or something like that.

Scenes should play off each other. Characters should play off of what's happening around them. Just like life, people don't operate in their own bubbles completely unaffected by the world around them. Events should spur events should spur events.

Anyways, I could go on and on and on about this (I had three more examples that I cut out just for time's sake -- if you're really that interested just message me!) but hopefully this helps!

[cringiness-confirmed]

Isn’t That Michael Clifford??

requested: nOpE warnings: ALL DA FLUFF author: Indigo a/n: takes place in Downtown Charleston summary: Abby and Indigo run into 5SOS in the street.

(gif isn’t mine)

I walk down the lopsided streets of Downtown, talking to Indigo absent-mindedly. The December air bites at any exposed skin, and I shiver. Indigo gives me a look.

“It’s only 45 degrees, how are you cold??” she asks, and I throw her a glare. 

“It’s way colder than last week! It was 65 last week,” I complain, and Indigo laughs.

“Welcome to Charleston, where Mother Nature can’t decide what the frick she’s doing,” she jokes, and I laugh. “Oh wait wait wait I gotta text from my sister,” she says, and we stop for a moment. I take the opportunity to glance around, and my eyes land on a familiar face. I smack Indigo’s arm to get her attention, and she glares at me.

“What was that for-”

“Isn’t that Michael Clifford??” I ask, pointing in the vague direction of where I saw him. She squints, then shrugs and goes back to texting her sister. I look harder, then see the rest of 5SOS. I bite my lip to hold back a squeal of excitement. “It is Michael Clifford! And the rest of them are over there too!” I say, jostling Indigo. 

“Stop, you’re making me dizzy,” she says, and I apologize. She looks back over to where I pointed earlier. “Oh, well wouldja look at that, it is 5SOS, cool.” I glare at her.

“‘Oh look it is 5SOS’??? How are you not freaking out right now?? It’s 5SOS!!!” I squeal excitedly. Indigo rolls her eyes.

“Some of us aren’t obsessed with them,” she says, and I groan, exasperated. “What, would you like me to walk you over there to say hi??” she asks sarcastically.

“Actually yes,” I say, giving her my best puppy-eyes. She gives me a look.

“You’re an adult, you can do it, I believe in you,” she says, and I huff.

“But you’re gonna come with me anyway, and I won’t take no for an answer,” I insist, then drag her by the arm over to where they are. I hear her sigh, but she offers no resistance. I know my face must be blood red as I approach them, but whatever, I can just blame it on the cold.

“Hi, sorry for bothering you, but my friend and I here are really big fans and just wanted to say hi,” I say, but trail off because I don’t know how to continue. Indigo snatches her arm away from me.

“Well I wouldn’t say I’m a ‘really big fan’ but okay. Also, it’d be nice to have circulation in my arm,” she says, glaring at me. I smile apologetically while the boys laugh.

“You’re not bothering us, we love meeting our fans!” Luke says brightly.

“Well, in this case fan,” Calum deadpans. I make a pfft sound.

“She’s a fan, she just doesn’t know it yet,” I say matter-of-factly, and Indigo glowers at me. 

“Suuuuuureeee,” she says, rolling her eyes. Ashton looks at her with an incredulous look.

“I think we have a challenge on our hands!” he exclaims, and I clap my gloved hands together. Indigo’s eyes widen.

“No no no no no no, that’s fine, I’m good, thanks but no thanks,” she says, waving her hands wildly, but everyone else, myself included, gives each other a look, and we all break into song. Granted, we all start singing a different song, and we’re all horribly out of tune. Indigo claps her hands over her ears, and we all laugh. She pulls her hands from her ears.

“Y’all done?” she asks, looking slightly dizzy. I nod, still laughing. I look at my phone’s clock.

“Well, we have to get going pretty soon, so can we take a picture?” I ask, and the guys nod. 

“I’ll take it,” Indigo offers, but I shut her down real quick.

“Nu-uh, missy, we’re taking a selfie and you’re gonna be in it,” I insist, pulling her into the group. I end up closest to the camera, right by Luke, who decides it’s a great idea to wrap an arm around my shoulder, which paralyzes me for about two seconds. Indigo stands between Ashton and Calum. She does smile, and just before I take the picture, Ashton kisses Indigo on the cheek. Before she reacts or lets her smile slip, I take the picture with him still kissing her cheek. I put my phone back in my pocket, and unconsciously reach up to touch Luke’s hand, which is still on my shoulder. He laces his fingers with mine, and that’s when I realize what I just did. My cheeks flame, and to distract myself, I look over to where Indigo is death-glaring Ashton for kissing her, but I can see the corners of her mouth flickering upwards. I bite my lip to hold back a squeal.

“Whatcha gonna do about it?” Ashton says teasingly, and Indigo ponders for a moment, then presses up on her toes to whisper something in his ear. His face goes red and his eyes widen. “No thank you I’d really prefer to actually be able to have kids at some point,” he says, and Indigo grins smugly while the rest of us erupt in laughter. 

“It’s been nice meeting y’all, but unfortunately, Indie and I have to go,” I say after laughing. Luke squeezes my hand and lets go. 

“Wait, we never got your names,” Michael says, and I resist the urge to smack myself in the face.

“I’m Abby, she’s Indigo,” I say. Luke smiles down at me.

“It was nice to meet you two,” he says, and leans down to kiss the top of my head. “You got a number to go with that name?” I freeze (no pun intended). 

“Uh- I yeah, hold on,” I stutter, pulling out my phone. I read out my number to Luke, who puts it in his phone immediately. 

“I’ll go ahead and text you just to make sure,” he says, and begins typing on his phone. I wait for a few seconds for his text to come through, but it never does.

“Uhm, lemme make sure I read it right,” I say, face flushing a bright pink. Luke’s phone dings. He reads it and laughs. I raise my eyebrows, then show him my number because I don’t trust myself to be able to read it off right. He repeats the process, and this time I actually do get the text. I read it and blush even harder. 

“You wanna go out with me?” it reads. I look up and Luke, who’s grinning like a complete idiot, and just nod. 

“Great! I’ll text you time and place, okay?” he says, and I just nod again, shocked. 

“Okay, well Indie and I are gonna leave then, we’ll see you around,” I say, and Indigo smirks at me. She glances back at Ashton, and I practically see a fricking lightbulb above her head as she walks up to him and kisses him on the cheek. As she pulls away, she winks at him and walks away, hair swishing behind her as I struggle to catch up. 

“I can’t believe you just did that!” I exclaim, and she laughs, well, more of a cackle.

“And I can’t believe you actually accepted that date invitation,” she teases. I blush.

“You saw that?” 

“Mhm”

“I’m never gonna live this down, am I?” I groan.

“Nope!”

[sixabschp]

Everyone is fricking adorable in this video but I love Abby being caught off guard with all her devices