#I LOVE YOU JINX!!!! we all say in union

[fushitoru]

chapter 2: the aftermath a bridgerton!au

pairing ⸺ duke!satoru gojo x fem!reader

summary ⸺ dearest gentle reader, a new season is upon us as the ton gets ready for a season filled with drama, heartbreak, and passion. after being crowned diamond of the season, heir to a dukedom mr. satoru gojo⸺only looking to marry just to secure his inheritance⸺has his sights set on you, the easiest (and most obvious) option. later, when you catch his saying unsavory things about you on a terrace when he least suspected it, you swear to never marry gojo. as london's fashionable set goes through yet another wedding season, will there be hope for scandalous gossip, hate, and thinly veiled insults, or will we witness blooming love and passion?

warnings ⸺ nsfw, enemies to lovers, bridgerton au, angst, fluff, eventual smut, jealousy, misogyny, regency era au, gojo being infuriating, reader also being infuriating, both of them are clueless honestly

chapter summary ⸺ after an eventful first ball after your debut, you continue the season with thinly veiled vexation towards gojo. but fate is not on your side; you and gojo keep encountering each other, matching fire with fire (7.8k)

a/n some parts of this chapter broke my brain to write but i kind of had fun! as always thank you to @/sinn-claire for beta reading :p i was going to say i'll try to have weekly updates but i don't want to jinx it lol

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Dearest gentle reader, 

It appears that Her Majesty has bestowed the coveted title of this season’s Diamond upon none other than Miss Itadori, who has indeed lived up to her newfound acclaim as the incomparable of the year. At the latest ball, our shining Diamond was quite occupied, with suitors lining up in such numbers that one might have thought them to be queuing for the royal throne itself. Furthermore, blooms were budding between many of the debutantes and gentlemen, including…..

...Yet, one particular couple captivated the attention of all: none other than Mister Satoru Gojo and our season’s Diamond. After having kept his words sparse and his attentions limited to none, Mister Gojo appeared utterly taken with Miss Itadori, conversing with her intimately on the dance floor. It seems your humble Author was indeed correct⸺Mister Gojo has entered the marriage market. However, the exclusivity he has adopted may not deter the determined maidens he seeks to avoid, for the Ambitious Mamas will no doubt perceive his selectiveness as a challenge to be overcome. 

One cannot help but wonder if an announcement of particular interest will be made at the upcoming Gojo country house party. Although your Author has not yet laid eyes upon the guest list for the Duchess Gojo’s anticipated gathering, reliable sources suggest that nearly every eligible young lady of marriageable age will be journeying to Kent next week. The country house party is known to be a perilous affair. Married individuals often find themselves enjoying the company of someone other than their spouse, while the unwed frequently return to town betrothed with surprising haste.

Indeed, the most unexpected engagements often follow closely on the heels of such rustic diversions.

⸻ LADY WHISTLEDOWN’S SOCIETY PAPERS

Satoru had no intention of squandering his time this season⸺or at any time, for that matter.

The notion of love matches held little appeal to him, despite witnessing such a union firsthand in his own parents. Make no mistake, the Duke and Duchess Gojo enjoyed a happy marriage, and Satoru held both his father and mother in the highest regard. Yet, he was perfectly content on his own.

Being one of the strongest bachelors⸺both intellectually and physically⸺has been Satoru’s destiny. Ever since his ancestors had been blessed by the royal family with the dukedom, the Gojo family had made its goal to be the most powerful nobility and the closest to the royal family. (Which is still maintained in the status quo, because the Queen dotes on Satoru, inviting him for tea every fortnight. The Queen lavished him with overly sweet biscuits, and in return, Satoru provided her with the latest gossip from court). 

But this responsibility doesn’t get fulfilled without independence; one had to accept the solitary truth that to be truly great was to remain unswayed by the fleeting pleasures of the world⸺love included.

Satoru had little time or interest for the other vices that tempted men of his station, such as lust. Contrary to the whispers circulating among the ton, Satoru had never indulged in the life of a rake or frequented brothels as many of his acquaintances did. Really, the allegations were, in truth, merely just a byproduct of his appearance and demeanor; with a young man with the stature, face, and eligibility of Satoru, the public would immediately like to slap on the label of “rake” due to his arrogant personality. Moreover, any encounters he had witnessed between men and women⸺whether dropping his friends off at brothels in his carriage after an evening at the gentleman’s club or overhearing flirtations at parties⸺struck him as shallow and an utter waste of time, especially when he was already a week behind on the ledgers and other official matters his father had entrusted to him. (He did have one indulgence, however: a weakness for gluttony, with an array of sweet confections as his loyal companions during long, sleepless nights.)

Marriage was an even greater burden. The thought of being accountable for a wife, and eventually children, seemed like a daunting task to Satoru. With sleepless nights spent on covering just a fraction of the business his father must do as a duke, Satoru was tired. He was exhausted⸺exhausted from the weight of responsibility, from striving to meet his father’s expectations, from seeking the Queen’s approval, from worrying over what Whistledown might print about him, and from the gossip of the businessmen with whom the Gojo family dealt. 

And yet, despite this weariness, Satoru was gripped by an insatiable obsession with perfection, an obsession that only deepened his fatigue. He craved approval, power, and the flawless execution of his duties⸺desires that gnawed at him even as they threatened to consume him.

Which is exactly why he needed a perfect wife. A wife that was capable, could handle bothersome people⸺which he was steadily losing the patience to deal with⸺and a reliable companion. Someone that would reduce his stress, not add to it. 

Satoru had spent all day lurking in the shadows as best as he could; being the most eligible bachelor did mean that brothers and sisters were coming up to him, singing praises of their debutante in an effort to capture his interest. But Satoru knew all too well that the loudest families often had the most to compensate for.

As ladies in white paraded before the crowd, many buckling under the weight of judgment and attention, Satoru prowled like a jungle cat, staying hidden in the throng, biding his time, and waiting for the right moment to strike.

What he noticed first about you was your way of carrying yourself. Even Auntie⸺the Queen⸺who, after seeing countless of girls today, had been incredibly bored, dragged her eyes over you in slightly more interest than she did for others. The moment you stepped through those grand doors into the court, it was evident to everyone that your stride was that of someone who understood her role and position in life⸺a confidence that set you apart from the other debutantes. Satoru’s eyes raked over you, observing you as your chest rose slightly as you took a breath in. 

And then you smiled.

Satoru's eyes widened, just imperceptibly, as he watched your expression as you made your way to the Queen. He made sure to shake his expression off to a more nonchalant one as he watched your form walk. Lesser men than Satoru would die for your smile. Men, out of all traits a woman could possess, cherished a pretty visage the most. Yet, what your smile conveyed went beyond mere beauty; it embodied innocence and the qualities most esteemed in a demure bride (which Satoru knew was just all a show, but it was indeed indicative of your skill to put up appearances, hence deeming you a reliable companion).

The corner of the young man's mouth rose.  When the Queen declared you the diamond of the season, Satoru knew he had found his quarry.

When the ball came, Satoru acted similarly: observing from behind, staying in conversation with his friends and other noble men that did business with the Gojo family as he prowled the ballroom, waiting for the right moment to ask you for your hand. And then Naoya came in when you were finally alone, away from all the incompetent men that dared to think they had a chance to court you, and Satoru almost laughed snarkily at how easy it all was. 

Approaching you, saving you from Naoya⸺it was all a perfect construction of his. Dancing, he noticed your steps were carried out with a practiced perfection and grace, and your responses to his questions displayed a respectable level of intellect. He could tell your responses were practiced and simple, your constitution and demeanor a result of much effort into presenting yourself as best as you could. But what does it matter, when you do it so perfectly?

Maybe it was a bit naive of him, but you seemed to glow when conversing with him. It amused him, as he kept watching your pretty eyes as you kept smiling while he kept throwing difficult questions at you. It was all expected, however. Satoru knew he was blessed with the brilliant blue Gojo eyes and eccentric fair, white hair; he was the most eligible bachelor for not only wealth and power but reproductive capabilities and opportunities as well. Which lady wouldn’t want to be mother to his cute and beautiful blue-eyed babies?

After witnessing such mediocre men who paled in comparison to Satoru, surely you must be smitten. Gojo could see right through you: you, the diamond, have been looking for a man as meritorious as you, and you had found it in Satoru. 

So why were you acting this way?

When you wake up in the morning and get ready for suitors, it is as you expected; there are multiple carriages outside your doorstep, and there is a line from the drawing room, extending all the way down the stairs. When Choso stumbles into the drawing room, where you and your mother are enjoying tea, he is clearly unhappy at the selection of men waiting to be let in to call upon you. 

“This is absurd!” Choso’s hands raked over his hair in an effort to process the scene he had just witnessed. “Why do I see Naoya waiting outside?”

Your nose crinkled in distaste. “Well, dear brother, I certainly cannot control which suitors call upon me. He must’ve enjoyed our conversation yesterday. The enjoyment, however, is one sided.”

Choso’s eyes widened comically. “You had a conversation with him yesterday?” He then turned to your mother accusingly, who was reading a Whistledown while sipping on her tea innocuously. “This would not have happened if I was there, Mother. This is your fault.”

Your mother continued drinking her tea nonchalantly, waiting for a few beats to grace him with a response. “I prefer this, my son, to no visitors out there because our dear Lord Itadori scared all the bachelors away with his pickiness.” Then, her eyes flashed. “And don’t give me that tone.”

You snickered behind your palm as Choso visibly deflated.

 “Kuna! Get back here!”

Pitter patters of small paws started to get closer and closer, as heavy footsteps followed it. Yuji and the family corgi, Sukuna Jr., burst into the room. Eyeing the biscuit in your hand, Kuna made his way directly to you, panting at your feet. A pet given affectionately by your-not-so-affectionate older brother, Sukuna, when he left for his year long trip around Europe, Kuna was the cutest little puppy. You and Yuji loved to spoil him, clearly shown as Yuji patted him while breathing heavily. You cooed as Kuna licked your fingers while inhaling the biscuit you had presented him. 

“Well,” your mother stood up, having finished her tea, and began ushering in the maids to clear the table. “It seems our morning will be quite busy. You’d best be prepared for a long day, my dear.”

Choso was still grumbling as he took a seat across from you, his eyes narrowing at the sight of the long line of suitors outside. “I’m keeping an eye on that Naoya fellow. If he so much as looks at you the wrong way…”

You raised an eyebrow at your brother’s protectiveness, feeling both amused and touched. “Choso, I appreciate your concern, but I can handle myself. Besides, with Kuna here, I doubt any of these gentlemen will get too close without proper approval.”

As if understanding the conversation, Sukuna Jr. barked enthusiastically, his tail wagging as he looked up at you with bright, expectant eyes. You smiled and scratched behind his ears, watching as his tiny body wriggled with joy.

Yuji, still catching his breath from the chase, flopped onto the chair beside you, shooting a grin at Choso. “Come on, big brother, give her a break. It’s not every day our sister gets declared the diamond of the season. Let her enjoy it.”

Choso crossed his arms, still unconvinced. “I’m just saying, if any of these men don’t meet my standards⸺”

“Your standards?” you interrupted with a teasing lilt. “Choso, I’d never find a husband if I had to meet your impossible standards. Besides, you should be more concerned about finding someone yourself.”

Choso’s cheeks tinted with a slight blush, but make no mistake; he was hot with anger, ready to make a snarky retort. Your mother, who had been overseeing the maids, turned her attention back to the conversation with a soft smile.

“Your sister is right, Choso. It’s her time to shine, and as her family, we should support her, not make things more difficult.” She gave him a pointed look before turning to you with a gentler expression, and he backed down as he always does for your mother. “Now, my dear, are you ready to begin receiving your guests?”

You took a deep breath, nodding as you steeled yourself for the hours of polite conversation and careful navigation of the social battlefield ahead. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Good,” your mother said, her voice laced with both pride and encouragement. “Remember, you are the diamond of the season. There isn’t a man out there who wouldn’t be lucky to have you.”

You offered a weak smile. “Let’s get this over with.”

As you walked toward the sofa where you would be talking with suitors, Kuna trotted alongside you, his presence a comforting reminder.With Yuji and Choso trailing behind, and your mother leading the way to open the door, you braced yourself for the onslaught of admirers waiting beyond the door.

But as you straighten your posture, in anticipation to greet the first suitor, you couldn't help but glance down at Kuna, who stared up at you with wide, curious eyes. You chuckled softly.

“Well, Kuna,” you whispered, “let’s see who passes your test today.”

Gojo’s gaze wandered down to Sukuna Jr. in your lap as you stroked his fur, and he gave you a saccharine⸺yet strained⸺smile. “Must this dog bear witness to our conversation? 

As if sensing Gojo’s unfriendliness, Kuna started growling, and you could feel the rumble deep in his stomach. You met Gojo’s sweet smile with one of your own. “Yes.”

Gojo blinked, and the smile on his face faltered. You noticed that this was one of the first time Gojo’s ever expressed an emotion outside of smugness, and you count this as your personal win.

“Well,” he hesitated, and then a smile was on his face as if that stumble didn’t happen. “You look wonderful this morning, Miss Itadori.”

Your eyes flashed at his audacity to talk behind your back and try to fool you with flattery. “On the contrary, I think I look rather simple.”

Gojo, none the wiser as to what you were referring to, waved his hands. “Nonsense.”

Before you could respond, Kuna let out a low, rumbling growl, his sharp eyes fixed on Gojo. The sound was subtle, but in the quiet of the morning, it was unmistakable. Gojo’s gaze flickered down to the small dog, and his smile tightened ever so slightly.

You gently scratched behind Kuna’s ears, calming him, though his gaze never left Gojo. “I apologize on behalf of my dear Kuna,” you said, your voice light but nonetheless pointed. “He tends to be wary of many, particularly those he believes to be with ulterior motives.”

Gojo nodded, unfazed, and looked down at the dog in question. Upon eye contact, all your efforts to calm Kuna went to naught as the dog stood up, tense and teeth almost bared fully, to stare back at Gojo defiantly. Gojo, to his credit, was starting to be a little wary and was giving the pup an impassive stare. 

“You know, I have an affinity for dogs. There are many pups that I have spent my entire childhood with.” He offered a chuckle and moved his hand to pet Kuna. “Dogs do have a way of sensing things, don’t they?” That was clearly the wrong decision because the dog’s growl grew louder, and suddenly, he snapped at Gojo’s hand. Before Kuna could sink his teeth into Gojo’s hand, however, Gojo smoothly withdrew it out of his reach. 

“Protective, isn’t he?” Gojo laughed, but his stare towards Kuna was veering more and more into a glare. He tried to disguise his irritation by suavely adding, “Admirable. I’m glad he has protected my lady so well.” Gojo then grabbed your hand to give you a small kiss on the back of it while keeping eye contact. You had to divert your eyes elsewhere to avoid coloring your cheeks; while you knew this was just another one of Gojo’s pretenses to charm you, you were still fazed by it. 

You cleared your throat and tried to uphold the conversation. After all, it would be outright rude to keep throwing thinly veiled insults his way when there were others in your company; he also had the potential to spread further malicious rumors about you if you showed attitude. You mustered up a fake smile, and offered, “He was a gift to me and Yuji offered by my older brother, Sukuna, when he went traveling,” you offered. 

“Is that the brother you hoped to follow to Europe?”

You blinked and faltered. You didn’t expect him to remember that tidbit from your conversation at the ball last night. While most of the preferences you had asserted were artificial⸺supplemented to you by your tutor, who had drilled what fake preferences of yours would woo men⸺you truly did gain enthusiasm for the languages because you hoped to prove your helpfulness to Sukuna in an effort to run away from your inevitable debut. At the time, you were rebelling against anything your mama said, avoiding anything  associated with being paraded around like an animal, put on display for men. “Yes,” you said slowly, “Yes, it is.” 

Gojo smiled, this time a little more genuine at the fact it was his first time receiving an authentic response from you this morning, rather than something covered with a fake smile. Just as he leaned in slightly, probably preparing to make another smooth remark, Kuna, who had been shifting in your lap, suddenly stilled, his face buried in your lap and tail facing Gojo. For a moment, you thought he might be settling down.

And then it happened.

The largest fart ripped through the room out of Kuna’s arse, which was pointed directly in Gojo’s face. While you were not a scholar studying physics, you were aware that the air dynamics did not do Gojo any favors in preventing the smell from hitting him direct-on. Gojo’s eyes widened in surprise, and his suave expression faltered entirely as the smell quickly followed, filling the air around you both.

You could feel the heat rushing to your face in your effort not to laugh out loud. Trying to keep your composure, you gently patted Kuna’s belly, who was now face up, tongue lolling out in bliss. “Oh, dear,” you muttered, your voice strained with the effort to suppress a laugh.

Gojo, for once, was at a loss for words. His eyes were tearing up, probably at the smell; whenever you and Yuji spoiled Kuna with those biscuits, he dropped nasty-smelling dungs, and you knew Gojo wasn’t spared at all. The arrogant bachelor, who always seemed to have a witty response ready, was now at a loss of words as he weakly gazed upon the weak little poot! poot!s that escaped Kuna as you continued patting his stomach in an effort to relieve your pup’s digestive system.

At Gojo’s expression, you had to take quiet, deep breaths in an effort to rein in the cackles that were threatening to overcome you. You resorted to covering your mouth as you strained, “As you can see, my Kuna is quite expressive, and he seemed quite eager to show you that.”

He offered you a strained smile. “He does indeed generate quite a bit of wind.” At that, you could no longer hold back. Genuine laughter wracked through your figure, hurting your ribs as you tried to quell it with a hand to the mouth, but no avail. Your muffled laughter was still loud, and when the giggles subsided, you wiped your tears and threw an apologetic look at Gojo, preparing to express your regret. 

But you stopped at the sheer wonder he contained in his face as his gaze fixated on your lips, which were drawn back in the ghost of the smile you had while laughing riotously. Without allowing you much time to dwell on it, he stood up and dipped his head in a little bow. “Well, I have been taking quite a bit of your time, Miss Itadori. I better let other suitors have their chance.” He kissed the back of your hand. “I hope to see you at the horse race tomorrow.”

“Likewise.” You couldn’t help but spy some red coloring Gojo’s alabaster cheeks as he made his way to the exit. As you greeted the next suitor, the imprint of a certain man’s lips continued to tingle on your hands. 

“I told you he was a rake,” Nobara muttered as she scrubbed your arm with an intensity that matched her outrage. After hearing what Gojo had said about you, she was livid. Unfortunately, your skin was bearing the brunt of her frustration.

“Well,” you mused, trying to distract her, “what rumors have you heard that make you think that?”

“Momo told me a few months ago⸺” Nobara paused, her hands hovering over the various bottles on the counter. “Which scent would you prefer for your hair?”

“Sandalwood,” you replied.

Nobara nodded and poured some of the rich liquid into her hands before massaging it into your scalp. You closed your eyes, feeling the tension from the day's exhausting and dull conversations slowly melt away under her skillful fingers. “Momo mentioned that he’s often out late at night, which seems suspicious. But now that I think about it, Momo isn’t the most reliable source,” Nobara added, her tone shifting to one of skepticism.

You quirked an eyebrow. “Why do you say that?”

“There’s talk that she attempted to lure another maid’s husband into an affair,” Nobara replied, her hands now working the shampoo through your hair with a practiced ease. “She even tried to gain access to his quarters.”

You gasped. “How scandalous!”

“I know,” Nobara said, her hands now massaging the back of your neck with a gentler touch. “So, who knows how much truth there is to her gossip. But still, Gojo’s behavior is less than honorable, don’t you think?”

You sighed, gazing up at the ceiling with a mix of frustration and resignation. “He was gossiping about me with other men, calling me all sorts of horrible things⸺‘simple,’ of all things. And yet, he has the audacity to want to call upon me?”

“You know,” Nobara mused as she continued her task, “He sounds the exact opposite of what some of your books would imply.”

You hummed in agreement, recalling the radical works you kept hidden beneath your bed. Your mother would be appalled if she ever discovered them, but you often sought solace in political writings that challenged the rigid expectations of society. “I know. And that is precisely why I have no intention of encouraging his attention this season—at least, not before I ensure his complete and utter humiliation.”

“But do take care. His connections to the Queen are quite strong.”

You drew back from Nobara's hands, much to her chagrin. She gave you a glare while you exclaimed, "What?"

“Surely you’re aware that the Gojo dukedom is among the closest to the royal family?”

You fervently hoped your mother hadn’t caught wind of Gojo's status. Yet, the way she had been observing you⸺subtly scrutinizing you in the drawing room while feigning interest in a suitor awaiting his turn⸺suggested otherwise. She had certainly noticed Gojo's growing interest, and the thought of her getting involved, fixating on a match with him, filled you with dread. Drawing your hands over your face, you moaned, the very notion of her scheming to pair you with Gojo weighing heavily on your mind.

“But that should hardly be a concern if you’ve begun to distance yourself from him, correct? You have been creating some distance, haven’t you?”

Your silence spoke volumes, and Nobara, ever quick to discern your hesitation, gasped in exasperation. “You cannot seriously be considering giving this gentleman any encouragement, can you?”

"No, no, it’s not that,” you replied, massaging your temples in frustration. “It’s just that my mother is probably ecstatic at the prospect of securing a match between me and Gojo.”

“But surely, if she knew the things he’s been saying behind your back, she would understand.”

You tried to open your mouth to respond, but it felt as if your throat had closed up. Would she really? A match with Gojo would mean elevated status for the Itadori family⸺a duchess for a daughter. What worth is there in being the diamond of the season if not to secure the most advantageous match? The very thought made your chest tighten with the suffocating realization that your mother might very well advocate for the union, despite Gojo’s duplicity.

“I⸺” you swallowed. “I’m not sure.” Before Nobara could interrupt, you stood up and reached for your robe. 

Nobara's brow furrowed as she watched you stand up. "Where do you think you're going? You’re not done with your bath, and your hair is still full of suds!" She reached out to stop you, her hands hovering as though unsure whether to pull you back into the tub or grab the robe you were now clutching.

You forced a small, tired smile, grateful for the distraction. “I need just a moment. The water's gone cold, anyway.”

“Oh, nonsense! You’ll catch a chill if you get out now. Sit back down,” Nobara insisted, her protest tinged with genuine concern. She placed a firm hand on your shoulder, guiding you back toward the warm water.

With a reluctant sigh, you allowed yourself to be coaxed back into the tub. The momentary reprieve from the conversation was a relief, and you welcomed Nobara’s determined focus on completing your bath. She picked up a sponge, her earlier frustration melting into concentration as she scrubbed your back.

“Well, we can discuss that scheming rake later,” she muttered, more to herself than to you. “For now, let’s get you properly cleaned up before your mother comes looking for you. She’d never forgive me if I let you appear anything less than perfect.”

You nodded with a lump in your throat, grateful for the change in topic, even if only temporary. The soothing rhythm of Nobara's hands working through your hair, the warmth of the bathwater, and the familiar, comforting routine helped ease the tightness in your chest. For now, the troubling thoughts of Gojo and your mother's ambitions could be set aside.

“Now, hold still,” Nobara said, her tone softening as she rinsed the last of the soap from your hair. “We’ll have you looking radiant again in no time.”

The conversation was left unfinished, hanging in the air like a question that neither of you was quite ready to answer. But for now, the silence was a welcome refuge.

"Do you have any notion of how impossible it is to charm a lady when there is a pup expelling such foul air right beneath your nose?" Satoru lamented, leaning back in his chair and raking a hand through his tousled hair. The trio gathered at the table presented a rather unusual sight: Satoru, visibly discomposed; Nanami, calmly sipping his drink as ever; and Suguru, nearly doubled over in laughter at his friend’s misfortune.

“Would you please⸺SMACK���cease your laughing?!” Satoru glared at Suguru, who seemed to be of no hope, now with tears in his eyes as he clutched his stomach and the back of his head, which Satoru had just hit. 

“Truly, your vanity⸺haaah⸺your vanity was in need of humbling,” Suguru managed between breaths, still snickering behind his palms. 

Satoru glowered, crossing his arms and staring daggers into his drink, as if his gaze alone could break the fine glass. “My pride had already suffered enough. She was positively frigid.”

Nanami hummed. “Perhaps she’s merely discerned your true nature.”

“It defies comprehension,” Gojo groaned, ignoring Kento’s statement. “What kind of lady disparages her own beauty as ‘simple’? I cannot fathom what has caused her such vexation. Only the night before, she was utterly taken with me!”

Suguru⸺who had now calmed down⸺was in the midst of wiping his tears when he suddenly stopped. “You don’t suppose it had anything to do with your careless words, do you?”

Kento eyed the pair in front of him with an accusatory side eye. “And what precisely did you say?”

 “Satoru, in his usual fashion, could not contain his tongue. Out on the terrace, with the garden as witness, he spoke rather unkindly, referring to the diamond as ‘simple and dull.’”

“Nonsense,” Satoru waved his hands, dismissing the idea. “The lady would never wander the gardens at such an hour in the night unchaperoned.”

“I suggest you reconsider.” Kento gave him a stern look and continued, “I happened upon her last night, emerging from the gardens, and she appeared rather disheveled.” 

This revelation gave Satoru pause, but if there was one thing certain about Satoru Gojo, it was this: his arrogance was such that he could scarcely fathom anyone, least of all a lady, finding his charm anything but irresistible⸺even if that very lady had overheard him uttering defamatory remarks about her. And this lady was one he could not let go of, unless he wanted to wave good-bye to his future.

“I am confident all will be well,” Gojo exhaled, his lips curving into a Cheshire smile. “Even if she did overhear, surely a few well-chosen sweet words will surely set matters right.”

(He was most grievously mistaken.)

“How many of those biscuits do you suppose we could finish?” Yuji was eyeing the biscuits from his seat next to you in the pavilion where you and your family were sitting. Out promenading with the other families of the ton, it was a scenic and beautiful day for you to mingle with even more suitors. The joy!

“Certainly less than me,” you remarked, sipping on your tea smugly. By the irritated pout on his face, you knew you were successful at getting a rise out of your younger brother. Knowing your mother wasn’t in sight, you quickly darted for the jam-filled biscuits, and your brother quickly followed in tow; soon, you were both stuffing your faces silly with the sugary treats.

“You two are incorrigible,” Choso scrunched his nose from where he sat across from you, arms crossed. “There’s no need to inhale those biscuits. What if someone sees?”

Yuji stuck out his tongue⸺now adorned with biscuit crumbs⸺and continued gorging, while you snickered at your younger brother’s pettiness.

“Miss Itadori.”

You began coughing wildly, caught off guard, and hastily straightened your posture to greet your guest. You turned to see Lord Ino, who offered you a slight nod before acknowledging your brothers. “Lord Itadori. Mister Itadori.”

“Lord Ino, nice to meet you on such a fine day.” You try to put a smile on your face as best as you can, even though you were caught off guard. “How do you find today’s weather?” 

Takuma grabs the back of your hand to kiss it. “I find it wonderful for the prospect of promenading. Do you care to do so with me?”

“Of course,” You stand up and link your elbows with Takuma’s.

“We’ll be thirty paces behind you, sister.” You both turned to look at Choso, who was giving Lord Ino his inevitable protective glare. Given Ino’s acceptable station, Choso hadn’t immediately protested, unlike the many suitors he had chased out of your manor the day before. He grabbed Yuji by the elbow, who, with cheeks comically inflated like a chipmunk hoarding acorns, was promptly dragged away. “Yuji, get up.” The last you saw of your brothers was Yuji’s futile protests, his mouth too full to be coherent⸺inevitably sending some crumbs flying onto Choso⸺and Choso swatting him for it.

As you began your walk with Lord Ino, the conversation naturally turned to the upcoming horse race. “Are you looking forward to the race this afternoon?” you asked, trying to keep the conversation light.

“I am,” the lord replied. “And you?”

“Very much so,” you said, a hint of excitement in your voice. “I have a feeling that the less popular horse⸺Blaze, was it?⸺might surprise everyone. The conditions seem just right for an underdog victory; the track is soft and warm, which would favor Blaze’s build.”

Lord Ino glanced at you with a polite but unconvinced smile. “But Thunder has higher odds and more bets. It’s as simple as that.”

You couldn’t help but bristle at the word “simple,” a word that had recently come to grate on your nerves. You pressed on, though, determined to keep the conversation pleasant. “I suppose there’s some truth to that, but sometimes there’s more to a race than just the odds and popularity.”

Ino chuckled softly. “Well, a good mentor and friend of mine⸺Duke Nanami⸺agrees with the odds, and His Grace is someone I deeply respect. I tend to follow his lead⸺the duke has a way of teaching lessons without hindering one’s growth.”

Before you could respond, the sound of a trumpet blared in the distance, signaling the start of the race. You looked at him, giving him a courteous nod, gesturing in the general direction Choso and Yuji were supposed to be in. “It seems the race is about to begin. I must rejoin my family.”

You curtsied as he bowed, and you watched as he walked away, leaving you momentarily alone. You took a deep breath, trying to dispel the lingering irritation from the conversation. Just as you began looking for your family, you felt a presence approaching.

You turned to find Lady Mei Mei and her entourage closing in. Their expressions were a study in artful contempt, laced with curiosity and barely concealed amusement. The atmosphere between you was thick with unspoken competition, each woman silently gauging the other’s position on the social ladder. 

“Miss Itadori, what a nice surprise!” Lady Mei Mei remarked, her tone dripping with false sweetness. “It appears you are alone and unchaperoned in a garden yet again! At least, according to what the rumors say. Was it part of yet another one of your charming ploys to get what you want?"

You met her gaze with cool composure, not giving her the satisfaction of a visible reaction. "I have no clue what you're talking about."

Lady Mei Mei tilted her head slightly, her eyes narrowing as if appraising a particularly interesting specimen. "Really?" she mused, drawing out the word as though savoring it. "It’s just that Lord Gojo hasn’t spoken with you all day. Even if Whistledown commended you in the last issue, I wouldn’t expect his interest to linger." The two ladies flanking her⸺unremarkable save for their sycophantic attachment to Mei Mei⸺giggled behind their fans, as though she had delivered a crushing blow.

You allowed yourself a small, almost imperceptible smile, one that didn’t reach your eyes. "So I’m assuming he called upon you?" you questioned sweetly, your voice laced with feigned politeness.

For a fleeting moment, Lady Mei Mei’s carefully curated composure slipped, the faintest flicker of irritation crossing her face before she regained control. She leaned in slightly, her voice lowering to a conspiratorial whisper meant for you alone. “None of the suitors will be interested in you any longer. The Queen may have mistakenly proclaimed you the diamond, but a pretty face, empty smiles, and hollow words can only last so long.”

“Whatever would be most convenient for you to believe.” Her words were empty and her threats dull, but you couldn’t help but let it compound on the irritation you had experienced today. But you knew better than to let your tongue loose; you were quite impulsive when you had started, and you didn’t want to start any scandal anytime soon. Instead, you held your ground, trying to maintain your composure (outwardly, at least) as Lady Mei Mei and her entourage turned to leave, their laughter echoing in your ears. 

You tried to implement a few things your tutor had ingrained in you: taking deep breaths and setting your posture correctly. However, as you stood there, collecting yourself, the last thing you needed seemed to manifest before you: Satoru Gojo.

His tall figure approached you with that familiar, self-assured stride, his eyes glinting with mischief. "Ah, Miss Itadori," he greeted, a sly smile playing on his lips. You were already irritated, and it took all your will-power to stifle a groan. 

"I couldn’t help but notice you were conversing with Lord Ino," he remarked casually.

Give him a smile. "Indeed, we were enjoying a promenade. It is, after all, what young ladies and their suitors are expected to do."

“Quite the choice in company!”

KEEP up the smile.  "He is a nobleman, and I am of noble descent. I fail to see your point, Mr. Gojo." 

Gojo’s smile was quick and cutting. “Oh, I’ve no particular quarrel with Lord Ino. It’s simply that he’s hardly the sort I’d expect to see on your arm. After all, he’s practically Nanami’s lapdog.”

You felt the familiar irritation rising within you⸺and you were fighting for your life trying to keep a smile on your face⸺but you kept your tone measured. "And what, pray tell, are you implying by that, Mr. Gojo?"

"It’s quite simple, really⸺" 

But your patience, already worn thin, snapped at that word.

"My good sir, do you not think it rather dishonorable to speak ill of others behind their backs?" Gojo began to respond, but you cut him off. "It’s curious how quickly opinions can change, is it not? Just the other evening, you seemed to hold me in rather low regard. Tell me, do you often dismiss people as ‘simple’ when they fail to meet any of the lofty expectations you have set? Or do you perhaps truly believe yourself to be at a station higher than others?"

Gojo stiffened, the smile slipping from his face as your words hit their mark. Before he could respond, Choso appeared at your side, his protective presence a welcome relief.

“Is there any problem, sister?” Choso asked, his tone polite yet firm as he glanced at Satoru, his eyes narrowing slightly.

Gojo’s gaze flicked to Choso, his irritation clear as he opened his mouth to make a cutting remark, and you couldn’t thank the gods enough for Choso’s mother hen tendencies. But the words faltered when he recognized who had interrupted. For a brief moment, surprise flashed in his eyes before he masked it with a tight-lipped smile.

You seized the moment, turning to Satoru with a sweet smile. “I think our time is up, Mister Gojo,” you said, your voice laced with venom.

Satoru hesitated for just a fraction of a second before nodding curtly, his expression unreadable. “Of course. Until next time, Miss Itadori.”

With that, he stepped back, allowing you and Choso to walk away toward where people were gathering for the race. As you moved through the crowd, you could feel Satoru’s gaze lingering on you, but you didn’t look back.

“That horse appears rather stout, does it not?” Yuji squinted against the blazing sun as he observed the horses from his seat beside you in the grandstand. “Why has it garnered so many bets?”

Choso, seated protectively on your other side, kept a steady arm linked with yours. His presence was reassuring, though your irritation was directed at the figure seated just below you. Satoru Gojo, to your endless chagrin, was sitting with Lady Mei Mei, who had all but forced her way into the seat beside him. Though he tried to appear indifferent, his signature flirty remarks flowing with ease, you noticed the subtle signs of irritation crossing his face. Whether it stemmed from Lady Mei Mei's advances or from your earlier exchange, you couldn't be sure. You refused to meet his gaze, though you could feel his eyes on you intermittently as the crowd waited for the race to begin.

“Men can be quite foolish at times,” you remarked hotly, your voice carrying just enough to be overheard. “Some people value the superficial and materialistic over true substance, much like they do with horses. Blaze, for instance, has the qualities that truly matter.”

You could almost feel Gojo’s gaze intensify, and despite yourself, you glanced in his direction. Lady Mei Mei, ever the actress, feigned a stumble, exclaiming with a coy smile, “These crowds are rather rough on a lady!”

You scoffed inwardly at her transparent attempt to press her bosom against Gojo’s arm.

“Oh my,” Gojo drawled, his voice oozing concern. “We can’t have that, can we?” Ever the gallant gentleman, he interlaced his arm with hers. “Here, for extra protection. I wouldn’t want a pretty lady shedding tears beside me.”

Mei Mei’s smirk was as satisfied as a serpent after a meal, and she batted her eyelashes coquettishly. “If I were to cry, would you console me?”

“Of course,” Gojo replied smoothly. “Though I might find myself crying should my horse lose. The bets I’ve placed are rather substantial.”

A flirtatious giggle escaped Mei Mei’s lips. “Then I shall cheer with all my might, so you needn’t suffer any losses, my lord.”

You were perilously close to tearing your hair out.

“I appreciate your enthusiasm, my lady,” Gojo said, taking her hand and kissing the back of it with exaggerated flourish. “But rest assured, I am quite confident of a victory today. Thunder is swift and cunning, far superior to that... other horse. It’s simple, really—Thunder will win.”

Your composure cracked. “Yuji,” you called, your voice sharp. Your brother, who had been lost in thought, snapped to attention. “Despite the other horse’s popularity, Blaze possesses the one quality universal to all champions: speed and diligence. The track conditions are in its favor.”

Yuji, caught off guard, blinked in confusion. “Yes, of course, sister,” he mumbled, clearly unsure of why you were addressing him.

“And anyone who thinks otherwise,” you continued, raising your voice slightly, “is bound to lose their money. Sorely and simply.”

Gojo matched your tone, his voice ringing out. “But of course, it’s all in good fun. There’s no need for hostility over a sport, is there? Both horses are fine contenders, though I remain convinced Thunder shall emerge victorious.”

Mei Mei tittered, parroting his sentiments, but you could hardly see straight for the anger coursing through you. Unable to hold back, you retorted, “However, it is, after all, still a race. And Blaze will win.”

By now, your exchange had drawn the attention of those around you, including your brothers. Choso and Yuji exchanged puzzled glances before Yuji asked weakly, “Are you still talking to us, sister?” Meanwhile, Choso’s protective instincts flared, his gaze darting suspiciously between you and Gojo.

Before you could reply, the horses lined up at the starting gate, and the crowd collectively rose to their feet, including Gojo. “Steady now, Thunder!” he called out, his voice brimming with confidence.

Not to be outdone, you shouted, “Come on, Blaze!”

The bell rang, and the horses surged forward, the crowd erupting in cheers. Blaze and Thunder quickly pulled ahead, the two horses locked in a fierce battle for the lead. Thunder was currently ahead, its sleek form cutting through the track with precision.

“Steady, Thunder! Keep the lead!” Gojo’s voice was full of excitement, urging his horse onward.

Your heart raced with frustration as Blaze lagged slightly behind. “You can do this, Blaze!” you urged, your voice rising above the din. Without thinking, you began whistling sharply, drawing alarmed looks from your brothers. The stares from the crowd meant nothing to you as you focused solely on the race.

Blaze, as if responding to your encouragement, began to accelerate, its powerful strides eating up the ground between it and Thunder. You noticed Thunder’s pace faltering, fatigue setting in, while Blaze surged ahead, pulling into the lead with a quarter of the race remaining.

Now it was Gojo’s turn to whistle, his voice tinged with desperation. “Straight to the finish line, Thunder! Don’t let up!”

But Blaze only widened the gap, its momentum carrying it farther ahead. You couldn’t contain your laughter, a joyous sound that bubbled up from within as Blaze crossed the finish line first, with Thunder trailing behind.

“Goddamn it,” Gojo cursed under his breath, his frustration palpable. You clapped your hands in delight, your laughter ringing out.

With deliberate grace, you placed your hands on your hips and turned to Gojo, flashing him a triumphant smile. “I’m so glad the ‘simple’ horse won,” you said, your voice dripping with satisfaction. “It seems I’ve finally bested a duke.”

Gojo’s blue eyes bore into you, their intensity searing, but you met his glare with a boisterous laugh, savoring the victory as the crowd’s cheers and claps echoed around you. Until it was only the two of you, staring each other down.

Gojo ⸺ 0, you ⸺ 1.

Now, Duchess Gojo had always had a penchant for gossip, no one escaping her eye and observation. Of course, it was now the Whistledown era, for the unknown author could observe far more than the high-profile duchess, who was the receiver of much praise and attention due to her son’s eligibility. But this eligibility had only been achieved because of her ability to direct the tide based on her reconnaissance, and in all her years, no could match her sass and direction. Except one. 

"You know, Lady Itadori," the Duchess remarked, her tone laced with feigned pensiveness, "the Gojo manor in the countryside has been dreadfully quiet, and, if I may say, it has been quite some time since we last enjoyed a proper tête-à-tête.”

The two ladies stood together near the stands, choosing a more secluded spot from which to observe the horse race. Lady Itadori, her closest confidante, met the Duchess’s gaze with a gleam in her eye. "Indeed, I must agree."

For a moment, the two women stood in silence, their eyes surveying the scene before them. From the ladies flirting shamelessly to the gentlemen scrambling for the favor of the season’s debutantes, they were like spectators at a grand circus. Yet, their attention was drawn to a particular act.

Raising her fan to her lips, Lady Itadori whispered conspiratorially to the Duchess, "I might add, my diamond has been spending a considerable amount of time in your son’s company."

The Duchess met her friend’s eyes and laughed lightly. "How many days do you wager it will take in the manor?"

Lady Itadori, now fully smirking, gave a delicate shrug. "It took you and the Duke but four days."

prev. the debutante | next. the manor

general masterlist | series masterlist

a/n: reader is hearing boss music rn

forced proximity whatttt

gojo when kuna ripped one in his face

comment, reblog, and send in an ask to let me know ur thots :3 memes are also appreciated <3

TAGLIST:

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@soobssedwithyourex @manyno @samkysnks @stefnarda @bbqsauceonmytitties2

[wanderingwomanwondering]

Buddie & Ode to Joy

Tagging @raiphend​. I think you read my other post on this (thanks!) and might be interested in this one.

Beethoven’s Ode to Joy was used in two episodes of 911: Jinx 406 and Dumb Luck 514. The piece is so epic and also not in line with the show’s usual soundtrack selections. Though to be fair the song was only hummed in Dumb Luck. I don’t think we can ignore it either case. I shared my initial unformed thoughts about Ode to Joy in a Buddie context here. I finally think I have something more coherent to say lol.

Ode to Joy is an epic symphony about the joy and ecstasy of coming together. It’s about humanity joining with the divine/universe, humanity joining with one another, and individuals coming together in love/romantic union. I think it’s intentional that the song was chosen for episodes about the universe attempting to guide us and about finding meaning in the apparent chaos of existence.

In Jinx, the firefam is running all over LA dealing with a range of emergencies because Ravi used the word “quiet”. In that episode, the firefam themselves experience two emergencies. The powerline falls on the firetruck and they have to be rescued and Brian steals the firetruck, preventing them from helping people in need. The firefam conversation during the powerline collapse was the one that brought us “the universe is screaming at you and you refuse to listen” comment. This was Buck’s line to Eddie. The second firefam emergency situation brought us Eddie asking Brian to be brave and do the right thing and get unstuck from his pattern. Both situations underscore the fact that Eddie couldn’t hear the universe so universe had to raise her voice to be heard. Isn’t that what a 911 call is? Raising your voice so that you can be heard, found, and rescued. The universe was signaling that Eddie was in a state of emergency way back in s4, just nobody quite noticed, least of all him! 

The emergencies (among other things) were the sign for Eddie to seek help and make important changes in his life. Unfortunately he misread the signs. Remember, he reconnected with and started dating Ana in Jinx! He misheard what the universe was screaming for him to do. I think that misread of the situation is marked by the fireworks scene in Jinx where a man mishandles the fireworks which are usually signs of joyful celebration and actually accidentally ends up burning his house/home down. This dangerous scene unfolds while Ode to Joy is playing! Eddie’s growing interest in Ana was distracting him from the deeper more relevant issues in his life in addition to her just not being the person he really wanted in his life. Eddie needed a joyful union or two in his life but not with Ana. Ode to Joy felt so mismatched with what was going on in the episode and I think that was on purpose.

In Dumb Luck, the firefam saves a woman impaled by a stop sign. She had a big red flag on the back of her bicycle and a sign asking people to share the road. The woman had been humming Ode to Joy just before the accident. She was basically calling for people to come together and share the road with her. To slow down and be patient and enjoy the ride. Remember, the truck went too fast over a speed bump which sent the stolen stop sign flying at her. Buck was on that call. I think Buck’s reservations about Taylor were the speed bump that he ignored and it’s causing both him and Taylor (who I don’t care about and also don’t full on hate) a lot of grief. On top of that, Buck was on that call with Lucy. They worked together to pull out the stop sign. I think Lucy is another speed bump on Buck’s road to Eddie. Eddie being the one he should be sharing the road with but he’s dealing with the Taylor of it all and Lucy acted as a catalyst for all the drama that’s needed to break Taylor and Lucy up. I really don’t think he’s going to date her or anything. She’s just there as an additional sign that his relationship with Taylor is not good for him at all.

Again we get Ode to Joy mismatched with the situation. A lonely person on a mostly quiet road being bypassed and ignored by passersby. She’s angry when they swerve around her because they’re not sharing the road but still she’s humming Ode to Joy. I think it symbolizes the way that Buck wants a deep and meaningful romantic connection with someone but he’s on the Taylor road right now and he’s somewhat isolated. He doesn’t have her interact much with the 118/Eddie (and with the exception of the dinner in 511) it’s usually for work when she does interaction marginally with them. 

The person that Buck does seem to be sharing the road with is Eddie but he hasn’t realized that yet. The person Eddie is being brave with and getting unstuck with is Buck but he doesn’t seem to fully realize that yet either, or he hasn’t admitted it to himself.

Ode to Joy is about honoring the universe’s call to come together and to be together, to share our lives and joys. Both Eddie and Buck want that and need that but they are taking detours left and right. Eddie has slowed down and stopped to check his GPS and reroute but Buck is still cycling down that lonely back road humming the tune but not actually building the kind of life that with manifest the spirit of Ode to Joy. Well, he’s totally building that life with Eddie but that won’t click with him until he realizes that he’s doing it!

[audrawrites]

daylight - part four

the other three parts can be found in my masterlist! 

warnings: none 

WC : 2k ish 

Summary: after the moment you shared with Alex over the weekend, things are a bit tense on Monday. To make things worse, you’re reminded of a (not so old) love affair. 

The time between your night at the bar and now was mostly a blur, uneventful and mundane. Metnally you were preparing for a busy week of cases ahead, packing your go bag, and doing paperwork until your eyes were no longer able to focus on the words in front of you. 

Now it was monday, and you were stuck in morning traffic. This was absolutely the worst time of day for overthinking, there was nowhere to go and nothing to do but sit and let your mind wander while you waited in the slow crawl to work. Before you even formed a full thought your pulse was already racing in anticipation at what you knew would end up invading your mind. It was what you had been avoiding since the moment it happened. 

Of course you knew you’d have to face Alex again in the cold and sober daylight, but you hadn’t taken any time to prepare yourself. It was probably best to just wing it and not expect anything. 

Finally you arrive at the BAU headquarters with just a few minutes to spare before you’d be officially late. Everyone else was already there as you knew they would be, so you still felt like the kid walking into class late with everyone's eyes following you to your desk. 

“Morning,” Alex said before taking a sip out of a thermos plastered in union jack’s. 

“Morning…” you replied distractedly, at a sudden commotion across the bullpen and Penelope calling your name, waving you over excitedly. 

She was standing next to a giant wicker gift basket filled with British paraphernalia. 

“It's from Emily!!” you got close and ran your hands over the wicker, crinkling an edge of cellophane between your fingers while you peered into the contents of the basket. “There's a little something for everyone,” she continued, fishing out neatly packaged tea, a tin of cookies, and a card with Buckingham Palace on the front, handing them to you. 

“Thanks. She never mentioned sending anything,” you commented while studying the packaging and missing Emily greatly. 

“I think she wanted us to have a nice surprise waiting for us,” she took a step closer to whisper, “I know you miss her. We all do.” it sounded like there was more she wanted to say, but she refrained. 

You were about to reply when JJ and Derek came over to join in on the morning conversation, commenting on Emily’s kind gesture. Spencer would usually be hanging around with you guys but this morning he was absent… your eyes roved over the empty desks until they landed on yours and Alex's where Spencer was now perched, and he was timing her on the NYT crossword puzzle. 

“Looks like someone finally found a crossword buddy,” you commented, and everyone turned to watch them in unison. 

“Someone who can actually challenge him for once,” Derek remarked. 

“I’d like to see them play a game of chess together,” JJ added. 

Rossi came out of his office, passing Alex and Spence, dropping a “happy Monday, my nerds,” not even stopping to gauge a reaction. You were expecting him to announce a case, but he just wandered over to the kitchen to refill his coffee mug. 

“Seems like we’ll have a quiet morning,” you said. 

“Shhhh don’t jinx it!” Penelope whispered frantically. 

You all dispersed shortly after that to actually get a start on the work day. No cases just meant you had to face the mountain of paperwork on your desk, but at least you had some new tea to try while you did it. 

Firstly, though, you had to read the card Emily sent you. You didn't anticipate it being anything interesting or too revealing since there was potential for other eyes to see it. The card, which when you opened it, was the length of a letter, was dated from before you even chatted with her on the phone. You were burning with curiosity at what she said in here with her anxious, scrawling handwriting, that she couldn't say directly to you. 

Your heart was already racing, but you knew you had to keep yourself in check in a room full of profilers. 

Emily wasted no time. She didn't skirt around the edges of your clandestine encounter, and it hit you like a shot through the heart. 

You sighed deeply. 

From the moment you started at the BAU, Emily Prentiss was the apple of your eye, and the woman you loved with a burning passion. For years you didn't say anything, and for years she felt the same way. Both of you worked, practically lived , side by side every day, secretly drowning in the depths of a passion you didn't yet understand. 

When you were forced to face the mortality of the life of secret pining you’d created for yourself, things only got more intense between the two of you. Everything came together a few nights before she left, and you both knew it had to be a one and done. The passion was there for sure, but you couldn't be in a sustainable long term relationship with her. Trying to do so would only damage the friendship you forged over those years. The two of you just weren't good for each other in that way. 

That was okay for both of you. There was no real need to talk about it. What you two shared felt fragile like the wings of a butterfly, and was best kept locked away to preserve its beauty. The last thing you’d want is to look back on your fond memories with her and feel ill. It was beautiful, though. She was the first woman you felt such passion for, the first woman who showed you how truly vibrant life could be if you just accepted those certain parts of yourself. You figured you would always feel something for her. 

The talent you possess for what some would call suppressing, and what you called compartmentalizing, was unmatched. It was truly a bonus for this line of work, though you tried not to abuse your skills too much. Locking away any semblance of romantic feelings towards Emily in the deepest vaults of your mind had been your top priority. It was working, too, and there were plenty of distractions in your day to day life that kept your mind from sitting idle for too long. The biggest threat you faced was speaking with her on the phone, but your thoughts remained tame in the shadows at the edges of your mind. 

Now, sitting at your desk in front of everyone, you were forced to acknowledge what transpired that night. You took in her words with a sort of calmness that came with the numbness of shock. She wrote this letter to you with the pretext of airing all of her feelings, so that she may know some peace of mind. She wasn’t expecting anything from you, but figured she would not refrain from sharing her true feelings with you out of courtesy, in case there was any chance you changed your mind. 

“You ok?” the low, gravely tone of JJ snapped you back into reality. She was leaning on the edge of the desk, running a hand through her cascade of wavy blonde hair. 

“What? Yeah,” you chuckled, trying to play it cool and control your microexpressions. JJ’s eves flicked down to the letter you were holding, but she didn’t press any further. 

“Okay, well, I’ll let you get back to work. Don’t forget, I'm here if you need anything.” she stood up, placed an affectionate hand on your arm, before heading back over to her desk. 

It took a moment to re adjust to reality and acclimate to your surroundings. You tucked the postcard away in your desk drawer to be re-examined later. For now, you resumed your previous mode of compartmentalization, locking away these new findings. 

The box of tea on your desk was staring you down, so you opened it, inhaling the herbal scents, and fishing out the one with the highest caffeine content. While you waited for water to boil your eyes scanned the room, observing your fellow bau members in their lax, case free state. This was a rare sight. Derek appeared to be teasing Spence about something, probably a date. Alex was animatedly talking to JJ with a glowing smile and rosy cheeks… 

“What are you so happy about?” Penelope came up beside you and you could hear the smile in her voice when she spoke. 

“Nothing,” you chuckled, focusing your attention. You could tell she didn’t buy it, but she wasn’t gonna push you here. She’d wait until your next girls night when you were all tequila’d up. 

The day continued on with ease, spent between paperwork and easy conversation with everyone. Well, almost everyone. Alex was hard pressed to look in your direction, let alone speak to you. When she finally joined you back at your desks, you tried to get her to talk to you like she did with the others. She didn’t give you anything more than short and exasperated sounding responses, which hurt even more considering her passion for words. 

Getting frozen out by a woman you barely know affected you much more than you ever expected it would. For the rest of the day reading reports took twice as long as it should’ve, having to re-read passages because your mind kept wandering to what you did wrong. You tried your hardest to file your worries away until later, but you couldn’t, not with her sitting right there. 

You shifted uncomfortably in your seat when you felt a familiar sick feeling in your stomach start to develop. Snapshots of your weekend were playing in your mind like a film reel, over and over and over again. You could feel the ghost of her hands on your waist, the magnetic anticipation that was tangible in the air between you two in the restroom, worlds away from where you were with her now. 

It was just a drunken mistake. Manufactured affection brought on by one too many drinks. This is what you repeated to yourself for the rest of the day while you waited dutifully for the clock to strike six. 

The time finally came for everyone to head home and hopefully get some good quality time with their loved ones before the next case. Everyone left one by one, muttering their goodbyes to each other, leaving the bullpen empty except for Alex sitting across from you and Hotch in his office. It seemed that she was also trying to finish one last little bit of paperwork before calling it a night. 

The awkwardness between you two was almost painful. Trying to trudge through any more work days like this, especially on a case, would not be an easy feat. So, you made a split second decision before it was too late. 

“Alex,” you called after her, before she could press the button for the elevator. She turned to face you with her eyebrows raised in silent questioning. “We need to talk.” she looked defeated almost, but met you where you were standing in the middle of the elevator bay. 

“What would you like to talk about,” she sounded irritated, and her dismissal of you was making your blood boil. 

“ Alex,” you scoffed before continuing, “did I do something to upset you?” 

Something in her depression changed, but you didn’t know her well enough to know what she was feeling. “You… you didn’t do anything wrong.” 

“Because I thought you maybe liked me or something-”

“Whatever you think happened between us at the bar didn’t. It can’t happen.” you took a deep breath. So you weren't the only one who sensed something there that night. 

“Okay, so is that why you’ve been an ice queen today?” 

She smiled a little at that and nodded her head. “I’m sorry. I just needed to take a step back and clear my head.” 

“So.. we’re good?” 

“Yeah,” she extended her hand to you. “We’re good.” 

The two of you chatted mindlessly on the short elevator ride down to the parking garage. It was nice having the air cleared between the two of you, so you could move past this little speed bump and enjoy a strong friendship. 

[florrickandassociates]

TGF Thoughts: 5x10-- And the violence spread.

So, that’s it for season five. I’m still trying to sort out how I feel about the season as a whole and Wackner’s arc. I’m hopeful that writing this will help me decide.

This episode has a Previously, and it’s rather conventional. I’m guessing it’s here to bookend the season, with conveying information being only a secondary objective.  

Did we see Rivi scream, “You’re done, Wacko, you’re done! Canceled! Canceled!” in the last episode or is that new to this previously? I feel like I absolutely would’ve had things to say about a) Wackner being called “Wacko,” which has been RIGHT THERE this whole time, and b) the use of “Canceled,” which is a thing Rivi would never say but is VERY thematic (you know, cancel culture and also Wackner having a TV show and also this being a TV show that’s wrapping up* Wackner’s arc).

* The way things end this episode, I’d say we’re done with Wackner. The Kings have said they aren’t sure about the plan for season six, so never say never, but I think that if we see Wackner again, it will be as part of a different arc.  

I went back to 5x09 and while we do see the same shots of Rivi screaming, whatever he’s saying in 5x09 is in Spanish. So either he was saying this in Spanish or the dialogue here is totally new.  

I’m a little sad that I knew in advance Robert King had directed this episode, because I want to know how long it would’ve taken me to guess. I’d like to think this first shot, of Diane flopping down on her bed in a very pretty floral print dress, then Kurt flopping down in the opposite direction, would’ve given it away. We usually don’t get shots that are both striking and kinda balanced unless RK’s directing.  

This also has some big season three opener vibes—the scene where Diane turns to Kurt and says, “I’m happy,” thus jinxing the entire season.  

Diane and Kurt are about to go on vacation, which means, of course, that Diane and Kurt are definitely not about to go on vacation. I’ve watched 12 seasons of this show; I know all the tricks!  

If I didn’t get it from the initial staging of the opening shot, the camera panning to Diane and Kurt’s suitcases and then back would’ve been another clue that RK directed. He ALWAYS has the camera in motion.  

I love that Diane’s travel outfit is a dress you could wear to a fancy party and a statement necklace. Of course it is.

And if I needed evidence that RK and MK wrote this episode (which I didn’t; it is a finale so I knew they wrote it), Diane quoting Waiting for Godot is a clue there.  

I really should read Waiting for Godot, shouldn’t I?  

“Wow. Educated and a good lay,” Kurt responds. I know that the political stuff between Diane and Kurt can get more than a little murky, but banter like this reminds me why they stay together and why politics never drive them apart. Also, it’s really nice to see Diane and Kurt have some fun banter that isn’t about politics.  

And Diane making kissing noises and asking Kurt to meet her halfway! This just feels like I’m spying on someone’s private life and I love it. Not in a voyeuristic way, since this is actually a little uncomfortably private, but in a, “ah, yes, these do feel like real people” way. This is the kind of “a little goes a long way” character moment I always want more of, and Kings episodes ALWAYS include stuff like this.

And there it is. The phone rings as Diane and Kurt are about to start out for the airport. Diane thinks the call must be for Kurt, but it’s for her. It’s a very flustered Liz, informing her that STR Laurie’s execs are on their way to the office for a surprise visit.

If the Diane/Kurt scene didn’t tell me that Robert King directed, I almost certainly would’ve gotten it from the sudden cut to Liz, walking through the hallways and doing a million things at once with a ton of background noise. No one loves chaos the way Robert King loves chaos.  

This episode STRONGLY reminds me of the Wife season five finale. It is equally chaotic and also spins a ton of plates. But, mostly, the similarity I see between the two episodes is that they are both extremely fun and captivating to watch because of how much momentum they have, but everything just feels slightly hollow and not exactly focused on the thing you want to see.  

(Shout out to my friend Ryan, who messaged me the 5x22 comparison before I could message it to him!)  

I decided I should rewatch the first few minutes of 5x22. I am now 15 minutes into 5x22 of Wife and 2 minutes into 5x10 of Fight. Oops.  

Apparently, STR Laurie planned a surprise visit because they heard RL was dysfunctional. You don’t say!  

I felt like 5x09 concluded with STR Laurie being won over by Allegra and the RL team, so this is a bit of a surprising place to start the episode. But, since Diane seems surprised too, I’ll allow it.  

Now Liz and Diane have 90 minutes to agree on a financial plan! Kurt’s on the phone with the airline before Diane even hangs up with Liz.  

Diane is determined not to lose out on her vacation and asks Kurt to change the flight to 8:00. “Kurt, we are going on this vacation if it kills me!” is a line I would worry was foreshadowing on basically any other show.

The RL/STRL PowerPoint template is pretty ugly. They want to call 2021 their best year yet, thanks to the deal between Rivi and Plum Meadow Farms we saw last week. Even though we saw champagne and signatures, the deal isn’t done yet because Plum Meadow can back out if Rivi goes to jail.

RK also loves close-ups more than any other director on the show; I do not love close-ups.  

The Plum Meadow deal is such a big deal that for the quarter, they go from $45 million to $5 million without it. They should just not say numbers. I can believe it’s big enough to take them from a modest profit to being behind projections or whatever, but I can’t believe that they have $5 million in other business and $40 million on this one deal.  

It seems that Rivi was arrested. I don’t think it is ever said in this episode why. I assume the arrest relates to his behavior in Wackner’s court, since there were police officers there, and I suppose that Rivi is a big enough deal the police would actually take him to real court, but are we not going to address the weirdness of Rivi being arrested in a fake court where his employees are being tried, then taken to a real court by the same people who just an episode ago were disillusioned with real court? This seems like a plot point.

Carmen on a frantic phone call in the backseat of a car feels very 7x22.  

Who is James that Carmen has in her contacts!? And why does everyone always put Liz in their contacts as “Elizabeth Reddick” when everyone calls her Liz?  

Carmen calls Marissa to go argue in Vinetta’s court since she’s on Rivi duty. Carmen doesn’t take Marissa’s job in Wackner’s court seriously and then notes that this instruction is coming straight from Liz, so Marissa falls in line.  

Wackner’s case of the week is about rural Illinois wanting to form its own state separate from Chicago. There’s a farmer who feels like his tax money is only going to the big city and he wants it to stay in his community.  

They’ve just now added stage lighting to the set of Wackner Rules, dunno why they wouldn’t have done that earlier!

I don’t know what standing you’d have to have to bring a case about wanting to divide the state in two to court, or if this is even something a court would or should decide, but, sure, Wackner and Cord, go for it. There are no rules!  

This map splitting Illinois into two new states that Cord is holding is a dumb prop because Galena, where this farmer is from, is in the same section as Chicago. Do I pause every reference to Chicago on this show and then google information to see if the writers bothered to look it up or pretend they’ve ever set foot in Chicago? You know I do.

“Secession!” the audience screams. Does the audience of Wackner Rules really want to see this?

A Good Fight Short! And it really is short: “Stop this obsession with secession and breaking up the Union. It’s boring and it’s dumb, end of song.” I feel like that’s the thesis statement for this episode, or one of them (that this episode seems to have about ten thesis statements is kind of my problem with this episode, tbh). This episode is very much about danger of things becoming too fractured—the COTW, the copycat courts, the firm drama—and I feel like the writers come around to just saying no, this is enough, we need structure and consistency.

But more on that later. MUCH more on that later.

Marissa is swearing more because “the world has required it.” She notes this to Wackner as she calls him out on the secession case. Cord barges in.

Take a look at the employee of the month poster on the back of the door at 5:39. Then at 5:40, look at what’s in the box just to the right of the center of the screen: it’s an employee of the month poster with Wackner on it! Cute easter egg. (Would Marissa definitely notice this and have questions? Yes. Is this here as a cute easter egg for eagle-eyed fans? Almost certainly.)  

“Insane is just one step away from reality if you get people to believe, and you know what makes people believe? TV.” Cord explains when Marissa asks how they can possibly be litigating this case. That’s thesis statements two and three, folks. The first is that if you get people to believe, then anything is possible, which sounds like a tagline for a Disney movie but is actually super dangerous; the second is that reality TV is a way to persuade people and change opinions.  

So we’ve got: (1) Factions are bad. (2) People are persuadable and the rules don’t actually matter. (3) Reality TV changes minds. Let’s see if there are more.

(Yes, these theses do kind of add up to a whole—The rules don’t matter, so if you persuade people, through reality tv, you get factions of people believing their own sets of rules and facts—but what I'm interested in tracking throughout this episode is how well the writers actually bring these theses together.)

(And this is setting aside that key themes in previous episodes, that I think many of us were looking for resolution on, included outlining the flaws with the extant “real” justice system and exploring the role of prison in the justice system. From this episode, I don’t think the writers ever intended to really tackle either of those issues. That’s fine—I'm not sure that TGF has something to say about prison abolition and I don’t want a thought experiment where the writers actually try to fix the legal system—but feels a bit disjointed. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, but 5x08 and 5x09 needed to do a better, clearer job of setting up this finale. The key themes of Wackner’s arc were always present, but they needed to slowly narrow the scope so the resolution felt inevitable and clear. Instead, we spent time on things like parking spaces (when we could’ve had a real plot about how Wackner’s court gains legitimacy through violence, incarceration, and playing on people’s frustration with the real systems) and Del’s focus groups (when we could’ve instead done a plot about Wackner gaining fans who wanted to use his methods to do ill). Everything I just mentioned in the parentheticals is in the show! It’s not subtext! We see it all! We see Cord use violence and prisons to enforce Wackner’s rulings; we see the cops turn to Wackner out of frustration; we see that the people drawn to Wackner Rules and to Wackner’s court are increasingly sounding more and more like right-wing populists! I can’t be too hard on this arc because, again, all these ideas are there. I’m not coming up with them on my own!)

I’m just saying: this ending would’ve been a lot clearer and a lot more interesting had the writers focused on what I mentioned above instead of the distractions of the last two episodes.  

Whew, that was a ramble. Hope you’re ready for more rambles.

On a similar note, I’d like to reiterate my problems with how the writers used Marissa after the private prison reveal. I don’t have much more to say than what I wrote last week, but it’s another example of the same problem. Marissa objecting to Wackner’s court because she notices what it’s becoming and how Cord plans to use it for political gain (two Illinoises (??) changes the Senate and the Electoral College...) always was going to be part of the endgame. Marissa only seriously objecting after the fourth or fifth line Wackner crosses feels bizarre.  

Cord does NOT like that there is another court, and wants to protect Wackner’s IP. Wackner, as we saw last episode, does not feel threatened by the other court. In fact, he seems to be excited by it.  

I love Liz questioning Diane’s outfit like it’s unprofessional. It’s a little low-cut and showy, but I don’t think unprofessional is the word I’d use for it.  

Now they have 45 minutes to decide The Future Of The Firm and Diane wants to be considered a name partner. Oh, that debate is still raging?! Every time I think it’s done it comes back, which should probably be a sign to Diane that her options are to leave and start something new, jettison Madeline and the others, or step down. Staying on as name partner and calling it a black firm is just not an option.  

“Diane, there is a split in the firm that...” Liz starts, before asking some associates to leave the room. Ha! The reveal Liz and Diane aren’t alone is a pretty fun touch.

“The Black equity partners don’t want to be in your work group,” Liz informs Diane. “Because they think they’ll be punished by this firm?” Diane asks. “No, that’s paranoia. We don’t punish here,” Liz responds. “Of course you do. My fracking client. My union client. The Black lawyers who work on those cases—they're considered traitors” Diane says. “Because those CEOs are racists,” Liz counters.

Lots going on here, and I’m not sure I understand it all. Why would the equity partners—who are partners—feel like they’re being punished by being in Diane’s work group? (And also what does a “work group” mean and why haven’t they talked about it in the past?) When Diane starts talking about the lawyers who staff her clients, she’s not talking about equity partners; she is talking about associates.

And people are giving associates shit for working on Diane’s clients whom they happen to be staffed on!? That’s sad, though believable.

“So what do we do? Only bring in clients who can pass the racial smell test?” Diane asks. I mean, actually, yes. IF the goal is to be a black firm and to have that designation mean something in moral terms rather than marketing terms, then yes.  

“It’s okay if you’re a drug kingpin like Rivi, but it’s not okay if you want me as lead attorney?” Diane says. Also, yes. Diane makes good points here.  

“Diane, this is not about you,” Liz counters. Um, sure, but it has to be about something, Liz. Unless you’re trying to build a firm you don’t control that makes 88% of its revenue from a drug dealer (40 million out of 45 million this quarter = 88%; I told you they shouldn’t give me numbers) but happens to have black people in charge, you have to grapple with this question. I don’t think anyone who’s fighting for the firm to be a black-led (not owned, bc STRL) business is the type of person who thinks that having a black-led firm that does all the same shit as any other firm is in itself a good thing, so you NEED to address your client list. Madeline is anti-Rivi, anti-Cord, anti-Wolfe-Coleman (the rapist guy), pro-social justice, and pro having a black led firm.  

“I mean, why... why do white people personalize this?” Liz asks. “Oh, now I’m just a white person?” Diane responds. I... don’t know what to do with this! Liz is right that Diane is taking this personally; Diane is right that Liz needs to deal with the rest of the client list. But no one is saying the things that REALLY need to be said: That all their decisions are meaningless in the shadow of STRL, and that deciding to be a black led firm isn’t the end of the discussion if they haven’t decided what types of clients they want to have.  

“What happened, Liz? Last year we were intent on an all-female-run law firm,” Diane starts. Oh, THIS AGAIN! Diane never learns, does she? She never seems to realize that no one she’s approached with this idea is NEARLY as in love with it as she is. She probably still wonders to herself why Alicia—who partnered with her at the end of season seven basically just because it was the easiest, most frictionless thing to do—didn't seem more committed to their firm.  

“Diane, there is history here that we are trying to...” Liz says, but Diane cuts in to note that women (women like Diane Lockhart!) have history too! In fact, she’s spent “35 years fighting gender discrimination to get to this position.” “And we have spent 400 years fighting racial discrimination to try and, you know...” Liz starts, before cutting herself off to get back to the ticking clock.

Sigh. Just talk about the actual thing instead of talking around the thing, guys. Diane is obviously deserving of A name partnership, in the abstract. This is an undeniable fact. And while Diane is definitely making this about herself rather than the big picture, I don’t think Liz trying to trump Diane’s 35 year career with the history of black people is going to win her any arguments? Like, just say what you mean and say it clearly. What Liz, I think, wants to express is that Diane’s individual accomplishments aren’t the issue here and everyone thinks she’s deserving (though Liz suggested Diane was not deserving a few episodes ago, which I didn’t understand then and don’t understand now). The problem is that Diane is trying to fight a battle that’s about something much larger than herself with, “but I'm a good lawyer!”  

And that’s KIND OF what Liz is saying here, if I add all her sentences up and read between the lines, but, again, why not just say it?  

“Alright, now we have 43 minutes to fix race relations, gender relations. STR Laurie’s gonna fire our asses, and you know it,” Liz says. I am curious what that would look like. Wouldn’t that just mean that STRL wouldn’t control them anymore? I’m sure being fired would be bad and all, but wouldn’t it free them from the contract they wanted out of last year?  

“Let’s split the firm down the middle. I hire half the lawyers, you hire the other half,” Diane suggests. What does this mean? Why are you hiring your employees? Huh?

“You hire the white associates, and I hire the black associates?” Liz confirms. This seems like a very bad idea that would make things a lot worse and open them up to lawsuits! I also still do not know what they’re even talking about. And I don’t know why Allegra isn’t a part of this conversation.

“I’m not saying it’s good. I’m just saying it’s what we’re left with. It's what we can agree on,” Diane says. I really wish I understood what “hire” meant in this context because I don’t understand why they have to split anything or why this has to be done now and I don’t understand why this would possibly be a good solution. Can you imagine the backlash when people realize all the white people report to Diane and all the black people to Liz and that people were taken off of the accounts they’ve worked on for years to accomplish this? And this must be something that the employees would know about eventually; otherwise they could just randomly assign half to Liz and half to Diane.  

I’m sad Madeline isn’t in this episode because I feel like we needed to see more of her POV as well as the associate POV. I don’t really understand the divides at play within the firm or what the staff and other partners are asking for, but I suspect it isn’t this.

Hallucination Jesus is back, and at least there’s actually a point to him this time (he shows up when Jay is in Vinetta’s court and reminds Jay that Vinetta will rule based on her religious beliefs). I still dislike the hallucinations.

Jay advises Marissa, who is Jewish, to talk a lot about Jesus in her defense.  

Charmaine Bingwa is really great as Carmen, and obviously she is not fluent in Spanish, but it’s so funny to me that the only time you can hear that she’s Australian is when she’s trying to say Oscar like she’s speaking Spanish.  

"I know you’re hiding something when you speak English,” Rivi says to Carmen. Heh.  

“Community court” is such a nice, unthreatening term for referring to Wackner and his copy cats. Thanks for that, Carmen!

It’s a smart plan to mention Jesus a lot, I guess, but Jay and Marissa both should’ve realized that Vinetta is too smart to tolerate obvious pandering. I’m a little surprised Jay doesn’t get up and argue since Marissa is, obviously, not familiar with the New Testament.  

Marissa wins this round with facts and logic.

Why is the judge who was handling Rivi’s previous charge now in bond court? Make it make sense.

I like that Carmen calls out the ASA for swearing hahaha  

Why... would this Matteo kid just casually mention he was holding a gun, omg.  

In Vinetta’s court, you can be charged with murder and tried because... you had a gun and also there were murders at other times. Coolcoolcool no problems here.

Community courts for civil cases? Sure. That’s basically arbitration. Community courts for criminal cases? Bad, bad, bad idea.  

Vinetta’s reasoning: “Those murders happened on our street, and the police haven’t convicted anyone because they don’t care. We care. This is self-defense. And how is it different from your court?” Aside from the whole imprisoning people in her basement thing, Vinetta’s not wrong. I almost brought this up last week but hesitated because I couldn’t remember the details enough to decide if I wanted to recommend it, but there’s a book I read a few years ago that seems relevant here: Ghettoside by Jill Leovy. Again, been a while so don’t take this as a wholehearted endorsement or anything, but from what I remember, the central issue at the heart of the book (it’s non-fiction) is that a poor black community (I think in LA?) doesn’t trust the police (in part) because the police don’t solve murders, and then with no way of getting justice through the court system, there’s more violence as a stand-in for justice. https://www.vox.com/2016/8/26/12631962/ghettoside-jill-leovy-black-crime

I’m not sure if that’s QUITE what Vinetta is saying but it seems similar, and it’s a decent point (though not a justification for her court). Why should she trust the system to improve her community when it’s ignored her community for years?

I like that the writers chose two very different, very understandable characters for their community courts. It’s easy to see why Wackner and Vinetta feel the need for alternative courts; it’s easy to see why others would trust them. This arc doesn’t really work unless there’s a legitimate frustration with existing systems...  

Marissa calls Wackner’s court a “joke,” which she should understand by now isn’t the case. (Marissa’s smart; she knew it wasn’t a joke the second she saw David Cord get involved.)  

Vinetta accuses Wackner of copying her court, which alarms Marissa. This isn’t addressed again, and I don’t know if it’s true! I could really go either way on this. On the one hand, I absolutely believe that Wackner saw/heard about it, liked it, and did it himself without thinking much of it—and if this is the case, then the ending where Vinetta gets in trouble for violating Wackner’s IP is a lot more of a gut punch. On the other hand, I don’t really feel like the seeds for this were planted. We see Wackner innovate a lot and try new things and he has an explanation for why he does everything—how much of that is Vinetta? And Vinetta clearly watches the show and likes it or she wouldn’t have recognized Marissa, so it’s a little hard for me to just believe her claim when literally all I know about her is she has a court that looks like Wackner’s and she is aware of and feels positively towards Wackner rules. Also, Wackner knows about Vinetta’s court (from Marissa) and sounded excited about it last episode. Sure, he didn’t necessarily know which one it was, exactly, but I assume if he’d copied the idea and then heard about a case involving people from the exact same community where he found the idea... his reaction would be different. So IDK. My reasons for doubting Vinetta’s claim are probably based a little too much in things I’m not meant to spend that much time paying attention to.  

“I fucked up. It’s in the same court, but now it’s a murder case,” Marissa tells Diane. I do like hearing characters admit when they fucked up!  

Diane hears that STRL is delayed, so she heads out to help Matteo. When she goes to change into her pantsuit, she finds that she’s grabbed Kurt’s bag by mistake. “Of course. That makes sense,” she reacts.  

Diane pushes her flight to the next day, also telling Kurt, “And yes, for some reason, I took your suit instead of mine, so fuck it.” I love it when the characters feel like real people.  

I am not sure why Kurt is getting to the office when Diane is leaving or why Kurt is there—to pick Diane up on the way to the airport, maybe?

Carter Schmidt walks into RL at the worst possible time, threating to blow up the Plum Meadow deal. Another 5x10 to Wife 5x22 similarity: he’s in both episodes.  

Liz heads out to help Carmen with Rivi, and then STRL arrives. Oops.  

Credits!

One thing about Wackner’s court that should definitely be a warning sign even though it seems noble: he ignores just about every warning sign, like this rowdy crowd screaming WE LOVE YOU WACKNER or the potential interests at play in a case about secession, because he thinks his fair judgement can overcome these obstacles. If the world worked that way, there’d be no need for his court in the first place.

Is anyone representing the State of Illinois in this trial? If not, then... how is it happening?  

Dr. Goat, some dude who claims to have some hidden historical document about how Illinois is actually two states, is clearly making stuff up and yet Wackner indulges him and Cord. I feel about this the same way as I feel about the Devil’s Advocate: That Wackner would not allow this to go on for more than five seconds before calling bullshit and therefore there is no reason I should have to sit through it.

Why is some guy screaming, “No taxation without representation” like dude you absolutely have representation. But of course, I’m expecting him to be logical, and the point is that he is not.

Dr. Goat’s Latin phrases—shock!-- don’t actually translate into anything like what he said. Even though this information is verifiable by a quick google search, the crowd starts screaming “Liar!!!!” at Marissa. If only I could say this felt unrealistic.

Wackner asks Dr. Goat to bring in the document.  

“You look like you’re heading to the beach,” Vinetta says to Diane, who looks like she’s heading somewhere but definitely not to the beach. Vinetta asks where Diane was headed on vacation. Diane says she’s headed to Lake Como, and unnecessarily clarifies that “It’s in Italy.” She assumes Vinetta doesn’t know that... but Vinetta does.

“So you’ve been there before?” Vinetta probes when Diane says it’s beautiful there. “Just once. We don’t get away often. We thought we’d splurge,” Diane says. Vinetta stares at her and smiles, and Diane hits her head on a basket that’s hanging in Vinetta’s kitchen. If I just write out the dialogue here, it sounds like a perfectly average conversation, but everything about this conversation is so charged: Diane is afraid to look like a wealthy white woman; Vinetta’s pleasantness is pretty clearly also a way of sizing up Diane.  

Vinetta shows Diane pictures of neighborhood children and young adults killed as a consequence of gang violence. You can see she’s not trying to do anything other than help her community, even if her methods are highly questionable.

Diane argues that Matteo should be given over to the police; Vinetta disagrees: “The police haven’t arrested anyone for those murders, any of these. Since the BLM movement, they’ve pulled back from our streets. No one’s coming to help. That’s why I started this court. It’s not a joke to us.” Wait I’m sorry did Vinetta just blame lack of good detective work in black communities on... the BLM movement?!?!?! Is there any foundation to this!? Why can’t it just be that the police weren’t actually doing a good job of policing/finding justice and were being antagonistic towards the community instead of being helpful and no one trusted them?? That explanation is literally right there.

Jay suggests the Jesus strategy, again.  

“It’s women! We could just move on, install men,” STRL guy says. I don’t know if he’s joking, but ugh. Also, what is RL if it has neither Diane nor Liz? A bunch of lawyers who will all promptly quit when they see their bosses get fired and a few opportunists?  

Kurt is watching golf in Diane’s office, and the STRL people love it. Of course Kurt accidentally makes friends with them.  

Court stuff happens. It’s not good for Rivi, and then Liz and Carmen come up with a theory: Plum Meadow is stalling the deal so they can find Rivi’s more stable second and make a deal with them instead.  

Wackner giving Dr. Goat a single point on his stupid little board, for any reason related to his obviously fake totally unverified document, is dangerous. Why would you signal to a crowd that’s clearly not interested in fact that they have a point? That’s basically egging them on.

I know Wackner’s judgment is obviously not 100% sound—need I remind you of the PRIVATE PRISONS?-- but I thought it was more sound than this.  

Wackner shows off his knowledge of paper and proves that Dr. Goat’s document is a fake. Why... did he just give Dr. Goat a point???  

Or is he moving the point from Dr. Goat to Marissa?  

Dr. Goat sounds like a fake name I would call a character in my recaps long past the point of anyone other than myself remembering the joke. (See: Mr. Elk)

“The truth is ugly. The only thing uglier is not pursuing it,” Wackner tells Marissa. How is taking on a case about very obvious falsehoods, funded by someone with a vested interest in the case, that gets people riled up, some noble pursuit of truth?  

STRL and Kurt are now drinking and discussing hunting, while Diane’s arguing for Matteo in Vinetta’s living room. Vinetta is—as was always obvious, sorry Jay—far too smart to fall for this patronizing bullshit. She screams at Diane and plays back a recording (on a baby monitor) of Diane coaching Matteo to lie about his faith.

Soooooo yeah no you can’t do that, that is bad, recording conversations between lawyers and their clients is not good even if it leads to you exposing their schemes...

Then Vinetta places Diane under arrest, which obviously isn’t going to end well for Vinetta.  

Liz and Carmen suggest a post-nup to Rivi to see if Isabel is planning on turning on him.

“I’m going to have to kill her,” Rivi says sadly. I don’t think Rivi will ever kill Isabel because we already did that with Bishop.  

I’m going to assume that Diane chooses to stay in basement prison instead of calling one of the many, MANY, MANY people she could call to get her out/take down Vinetta because she doesn’t want the situation to be publicized or further deteriorate. That said, it’s really not clear why Diane just accepts being sentenced to basement prison with a cell phone.  

Love the STRL man looking at that picture of Diane and HRC. They’ve gotten so much mileage out of that photo.  

Wackner’s court has no rules, but at least since it has no rules, I can’t complain about how its rules make no sense!  

What is this, debate practice?! Ugggghhhhh I can’t deal with this case for much longer.  

Marissa takes a breath, then decides to pursue a strategy she knows could blow everything up.

“Then why care what Judge Wackner decides? Why should you defer to him? Why defer to anyone?” Cord says that’s the point—the people have decided to trust Wackner. “So if you don’t like this court’s decision, you’ll just start a new one?” Marissa asks. “I guess,” Cord concedes.  

“So then why does this matter? This court?” “It matters only insofar as we continue to agree that it matters,” Cord says. “So if you don’t like Judge Wackner’s rulings, you can just ignore them and create a new court?”

Good point, Marissa. Good point. (Does this count as a thesis?)

“I’m guessing that I will like the way the judge decides,” Cord says. Well, that’s basically a threat.

Wackner takes a break and heads to chambers—without Marissa.  

Kurt goes to visit Diane in basement jail. He’s granted a conjugal visit, which means Matteo gets moved up to the bedroom so Diane and Kurt can have some alone time.

Diane is staring at an image of Lake Como in her cell. I thought it was odd she brought a printout of her vacation destination with her, so I LOVED the line where she explains that Vinetta printed it out for her. COLD. (You know who also would’ve done this if they’d for some reason had a basement prison? Bree Van de Kamp. You know what show DID do a basement prison arc I’d rather forget? Desperate Housewives!)  

I love how Diane responds to basement prison by making jokes non-stop.

“I thought the craziness would end with 2020,” Diane says. Nope.

Kurt brought alcohol; Diane brought pot gummies.  

I love that Kurt has never had pot before. I was going to say that I bet Diane’s had a few experiences with recreational drugs when I remembered we had a whole damn season of Diane microdosing.  

Christine and Gary’s acting and their chemistry really bring these basement prison scenes to life. The writing and directing are really sharp, but it’s the actors who make these scenes something special. You can tell Diane and Kurt love each other a lot. You can tell they’re disappointed about their vacation and exhausted by the chaos of the day. You can tell they’re in disbelief over this situation but also find it funny.  

Didn’t Rivi and Isabel have an adult daughter who died of COVID a few episodes ago? Weird she isn’t mentioned in this scene. Maybe from a different marriage/relationship?

Isabel called the SA’s office because she thinks Rivi’s a threat? I think this is a power play.

Heh, Carmen saying, “Shut a black woman up!?” in disbelief in court. Love it.  

Isabel instead flips her story and supports her husband and fights for his release. With no intervention from Plum Meadow, this gets the judge to free Rivi. I don’t really understand what’s happened here or why. I get the resolution, but I don’t get why Isabel called the SA or why this went away so quickly. I still don’t even get why Rivi’s been arrested.

Diane and Kurt put up Christmas lights for ambiance and talk about how they never go on vacation.

“I wanna see the pyramids on this coast!” drunk & high Kurt insists, hilariously. “I mean hemisphere. I like the Aztecs. They, they care about people.” I’m not going to transcribe the rest of the dialogue because it loses its magic when you’re not watching the scene.  

After some fun banter about travel and movies, Diane changes the topic. “I should quit, shouldn’t I? That judge upstairs? She looked at me like I was the most entitled white bitch on the planet. And that’s the way they look at me at work.”

Kurt tries to say that’s not true, but Diane knows it is: “Yes they do. I’m the top Karen. And why do I care? I mean, I... I could find another firm. I could quit. I can’t impose my will on people who don’t want me.”

YES. I see a lot of debate over what the “right” thing to do is here. But I think we are long past “right” and “wrong.” At a certain point, this stops being about absolute moral truths. If Diane doesn’t have the respect of her partners and employees, that is a very real problem for the firm and for Diane. How can she continue to impose her will on a firm that doesn’t want her, all the while claiming to be an ally? (The back half of that sentence is the most important part.) Forget whether or not Diane “should” have to step down. Forget what’s “fair.” If the non-Diane leadership of RL thinks the firm should be a black firm, and the employees of RL think so too, and Diane just doubles down on her white feminism, she’s creating an even bigger problem for herself and ruining her reputation in the process.  

Kurt stands up on the prison cot and warns Diane she might make a decision she’ll regret. This scene is so cute. Why can’t other shows do drug trips where the characters just act silly and have great chemistry? Why does it always have to be some profound meditation on death whenever characters get high?

“I think I like starting over. I like the chutes and ladders of life. I mean, I want the corner office, but then I wanna slip back to the beginning and fight for the corner office. I mean, I think maybe it’s better that I don’t get the top spot,” Diane says. LOVE to hear her admit this. I’m not sure I would’ve come to this conclusion on my own, and it sounds like it’s a bit more about how the writers like to write (you know, the “we love our characters to always be underdogs”) than Diane, but... you know what? I believe it. I fully believe it. Diane LOVES to fight, LOVES to feel like she’s in the right, LOVES power plays and to be making progress. She LOVES winning. The fact that she isn’t just choosing to retire right now, even though she’s past retirement age and has a great reputation, is in itself enough for me to believe that she would find it fun to repeatedly start over.

Plus, it’s a fun new direction for the show to take in season six, because they’ll get the same sense of conflict without the actual conflict. This season’s arc was firm drama and resulted in a firm name change... but it didn’t feel like a knock-off of Hitting the Fan. Diane trying to work her way back into power (I assume by becoming a better actual ally, otherwise doesn’t she just end up in the same exact situation?) should also provide conflict without being repetitive.

Hahahahahaha Kurt immediately reacting to this serious statement by being incredibly silly and horny and then Diane singing “I Touch Myself” to him, man, I love these two. I want to know the story behind this song choice.

Wackner emerges from his chambers. The score is tied. Wackner calls Cord corrupt and notes that they can’t just decide to call Downstate Illinois a new state based on his ruling. Now it’s thesis time!

“I was taken by Mr. Cord’s arguments of individualism. So much of our country has been built on people finding their own way, not being held back by bureaucracy. Yet, if we only follow individualism, that way lies chaos. And that was not the point of this court. Or at least not my point. Judgment for the defense. There will be no Downstate Illinois.”

“If we only follow individualism, that way lies chaos.” is probably the clearest of the many theses of this episode. To recap, we have:

(1) Factions are bad. (2) People are persuadable and the rules don’t actually matter. (3) Reality TV changes minds. (4) Institutions only exist when we collectively agree they exist (5) Individualism = chaos.  

But let’s put a pin in this for now and let the chaos of individualism play out.  

The crowd does not like Wackner’s decision, and decides that an appropriate way to express their displeasure is to make anti-Semitic remarks towards Marissa and then start throwing chairs. What nice people.  

As the crowd goes totally 1/6 on Wackner’s court (thanks for pointing this out to me, Ryan—I cannot believe I didn’t make the connection myself!), the door slamming into the desk finally pays off since Marissa and Wackner are able to use it to keep the crowd from reaching them.  

They immediately turn to the police, or they would, if they could get service. I’m sure it’s not a coincidence that as soon as things get bad, they want to involve the existing system.  

Wackner Rules is, somehow, still taping in the midst of all the chaos. I don’t know if I think they’d air this, but someone certainly would. (I wonder if any of the cameras we see in these scenes are actually the cameras filming the other angles of the riot.)  

Cord shakes his head and walks out, unharmed.  

“You think they’ll kill us?” “I think they might,” Marissa and Wackner fret.  

“My dad said the whole world would be a better place if everybody realized they were in the minority. ‘No matter where you are,’ he said, ‘Make sure you keep an eye on the exits, and make sure you’re closer to the exit than the Cossacks are to the entrance.’” Marissa says. Love Eli Gold coming through with thesis number 6 (and maybe thesis number 7).  

“Your dad sounds a little paranoid,” Wackner says, correctly. Remember how I mentioned I accidentally wound up watching 5x22? Eli calls Alicia and responds to her hello with, “DISASTER!!!!” I miss him.

“He was, but he wasn’t wrong. He said, ‘Stay away from parades. They’re cute until they’re not. And don’t trust any pope who was Hitler Youth.” “What’s that law called?” “Godwin’s Law. My dad said anybody who argued for Godwin’s Law has never been near an actual crowd. Crowds love you, they hug you. Then they grab a gun and try to kill you.”

“Why? Why do they do that?” “I don’t know. Hate is fun. It’s clear-cut.”  

I really like all of this. It is a little preachy, but it isn’t wrong and it’s self-aware. And, more importantly, it’s in character. I absolutely believe that Marissa would tell lots of stories about Eli in a moment of extreme stress. It’s nostalgic, probably comforting, and it also helps her feel like she’s on the right side with the right arguments. So, even backed into a corner, she’s still a winner: she has theory on her side.  

Wackner speaks a foreign language (I do not know what language but I wish I did) and says, “A guy could get killed doing this,” which makes him and Marissa laugh as things crash around them.

Idk about you all, but I couldn’t really get myself to actually worry about their safety during this scene. Maybe Wackner’s, just a little, but I got the sense we were supposed to focus more on the chaos and destruction and monologuing than on the actual danger. That’s not to say the stakes didn’t feel high, but rather to say that this didn’t feel like an action sequence where you don’t know what’s going to happen next. The point was to watch the court fall and think about why it fell, not to worry about if Marissa would live.  

Diane and Kurt are woken up by sirens and loud noises. The cops arrive and are shocked to find professionally dressed white people in a basement cell. They let Diane and Kurt out with compassion, but scream, “don’t you fucking move” to the people on the floor.

“It’s okay, they didn’t do anything,” Diane says. This is, as I theorized earlier, probably why Diane just sits there until her punishment blows over instead of escalating things.  

If the cops weren’t there to free Diane, why were they there? Why, because they like David Cord and David Cord has gotten Chicago PD officers to protect Wackner’s IP.  

If I had to say one thing in favor of Vinetta being the originator of the community court idea, it would be that it’s SUCH a gut punch to watch Diane and Kurt walk away from their bizarre little adventure as Vinetta gets arrested in the background, and it hits ten times as hard if Vinetta’s only being charged because some white guy is claiming IP that’s actually hers.

(I think Vinetta is probably, at this point, actually being arrested for imprisoning people illegally, but, still.)

“Pfft. Some judge,” one of the cops who adores Wackner says of Vinetta. Racist much?  

Marissa and Wackner emerge from the backroom. “I think I better get back to work,” she says, meaning her RL job. "Me too,” Wackner says, grabbing a Copy Coop apron. He’s an employee of ten years.  

I don’t think this lands as well as it’s meant to. I think the point is supposed to be that Wackner’s just some guy—not a billionaire, not an academic, not a judge, not a lawyer—with an idea. But it’s a little too neat. And it doesn’t explain how Wackner financed his court initially, nor does it explain why he has basically unlimited access to Copy Coop space and resources. I’d buy it if he were the OWNER of Copy Coop, but I have so many questions about him being an employee.  

Diane tells Liz she’s actually going on vacation this time, and they laugh about how Kurt bonded with STRL.

“I want you and Allegra to be name partners. I’ll be an equity partner,” Diane says. “Why?” Liz asks. “Five years ago, when I hit rock bottom, this firm took me in. So I don’t like the idea of splitting this firm in two. And I can’t lead if no one will follow.” “And your clients?” “We’ll manage them together.” YES! I love this. I don’t love it because I necessarily think it had to go this way, but because it’s so refreshing to see Diane say that she actually is willing to take a step back because she cares about the firm and the people there more than she cares about being a name partner. This isn’t something we usually see. When we hear “this firm took x in” it’s usually being said incredulously against someone who’s decided to leave and steal clients (cough, Hitting the Fan, cough).  

It’s been pretty clear for most of this arc that Diane and Liz like working together and they like their firm, but that no one (other than Diane, I guess) is willing to let RL lose its status as a black firm, and that the employees and equity partners weren’t going to be satisfied until Diane stepped down. Diane really had three options: Stay and piss everyone off and claim the whole firm for herself, quit and go somewhere else and totally abandon the good working dynamic she had, or step down and put her money where her mouth is.  

Also yeah the clients were never actually going to be an issue! They were only an issue because Diane intentionally went about informing them she was stepping down in a way she knew would make them worry!  

“I think I need to prove myself,” Diane says. I’m not sure that’s the key issue or that she can ever prove herself fully, but we’ll worry about that next year.

“I missed you,” Liz says. “I’m here,” Diane replies. “I know. Thank you,” Liz says.  

Diane decides she’s going to move downstairs so Allegra can have her office. I think there’s another office on this floor, since she, Adrian and Liz all had offices. This feels a little bit like Diane’s in love with the idea of making things difficult for herself and maybe hasn’t fully grasped the point, but, you know, I’ll take it.  

Diane tells Kurt her decision and he asks if it was the right thing to do. She says she doesn’t know—but she says it with a smile. Kurt notes he’s going hunting next month with the STRL folks and will put in a good word for her. Ah, yes, because STRL still controls all of this and all of this is moot! Thanks for the reminder Kurt! Diane says she wants in on the hunting trip. Of course.  

And the elevator doors close. Remember how closing elevator doors was a motif earlier this season??? It’s back!

Then we get a little coda with Wackner Rules airing a new episode that’s just violence and destruction. This sequence seems to straddle the line between being there for thematic reasons for the viewers and there to show what happened in the show’s universe, but I think it’s main purpose is theme, so I will not go on a full rant questioning why Del would want to air this.

A white blonde lady in an apron watches the destruction of Wackner Rules. She looks concerned. “That was violet,” she says with dismay. And then we see she’s holding a guy in a jail cell in her kitchen.  

And then we see other courts, as America the Beautiful plays. One’s in a garage debating kicking someone out of the neighborhood; another is across the street about the same case. There’s one in Oregon about secession. There’s one among Tiki Torch Nazis deciding only white people can own property. There’s (inexplicably) one about pronouns. There’s one with arm wrestling, one that happens while sky diving, and a bunch of others. It’s pretty ridiculous, and not necessarily in a good way. It feels at once like the natural extension of the Wackner Rules show and like an over the top parody you’d see on another show. Tiki Torch Nazis screaming “only white people can own property!” is the opposite of subtle writing. Tonally, this sequence feels more like the zany humor of Desperate Housewives or the insanity of BrainDead than anything TGF has done before (and TGF’s been plenty surreal), and it doesn’t quite work for me. It feels like it is trying to prove a point in the corniest, most on the nose way possible. It almost feels like it’s parodying its own plotlines.  

On my first watch, this ending for Wackner left me stumped. I knew the writers were making an argument against individualism (Wackner’s speech + the repeated references to The Apprentice) and cults of personality. But I couldn’t figure out a real life analogue to Wackner’s court, and since this ending was so obviously trying to be About Something, that bugged me. Sure, that last sequence could be an argument against people making community courts, but WERE people making community courts? I didn’t see the urgency.

And then I talked to @mimeparadox. And as soon as he said that it was about factions and people playing by their own sets of rules beyond the justice system, it clicked. I’d been looking for Wackner’s plot to be a commentary on the legal system. It is much broader than that. It’s a commentary on the weakening of democratic systems (the Big Lie, etc.), more broadly, and Wackner and his common-sense approach are just a way to get liberal viewers to go along for the ride.  

Now that I understand the point, or what I think is the point, I like this conclusion. Circumventing the system leads to chaos; that’s why we have institutions and bureaucracy, and I think the show is arguing that these institutions should still be respected despite their flaws. The many theses of this episode all come together to make this point (though the reality TV stuff is a little more tenuous and I'm a little shocked we got through all of this without any commentary on social media?): If we stop having a shared belief in institutions and instead follow individual leaders (whom we may learn about through reality TV), the rules will stop mattering and we’ll end up with a fractured country and widespread violence.  

But, and maybe this is just about me being upset I missed both the obvious 1/6 parallels AND the point of the arc the first time through this episode (my defensive side feels the need to also note I first watched this episode at like 5 am when I was barely awake), I don’t know that I actually think this episode does a great job of driving its point home. There are SO many moving pieces to the Wackner plot and SO many references. There are so many threads we never return to from earlier in the season, and there’s so much that strains credulity (like Wackner taking Dr. Goat seriously for more than a split second). It’s pretty clear what the themes are—even though I’m saying I missed the point my first time through, I've hit on all these themes separately in past recaps and posts—but, I dunno, something about this episode just feels scattered. Maybe it’s all the moving pieces, maybe it’s all the moments where it sounds like the characters are voicing related ideas that don’t quite snap together to form one coherent picture, or maybe it’s that Wackner’s plot gets two endings (the actual ending + the coda) and it’s up to the viewer to put together how they relate.

I really don’t know. At the end of the day, I think there was a little too much going on with Wackner and that the writers needed to use the episodes between the private prison reveal and the finale to narrow—not broaden—the scope of what they were trying to do with Wackner. But I also think that what they were doing with Wackner was really, really smart and original. I don’t think I can overstate how impressed I am that the writers took an idea that sounded, frankly, awful when I first heard about it and turned it into something captivating and insightful that I was happy to spend nine weeks watching.  

Overall, a few bad episodes aside, I thought season five was the strongest season of TGF yet. I haven’t seen this show be so focused in... well, maybe ever. Having two overarching plots that received consistent development and felt like they were happening in the same universe at the same time REALLY helps make season five feel like a coherent whole, and I can’t wait to rewatch it.  

[sparklingichigo]

Drama Intensifies

Part 9

Okay, back to Solomon and Ichigo. So far so good nothing is happening between them just sleeping soundly until the bolster falls. Oh wow, Solomon and Michael did jinx this. But before that let's get back to where they got back.

Ichigo: Oh boi that's a ride!

Solomon: Yeah!

Barbatos: I'm glad you two return safely^^ Did you get any help?

Ichigo: Well grandpa did say he'll come here to search for me since he can read the future and everything.... so yea...

Barbatos: There are two possibilites. Him appearing in time or appearing too late. Let's all hope he appears in time.

Suddenly all three of them see a suspicious figure behind them. There's also the holy sword coming from the sky. Both Solomon and Ichigo are shocked by this until they see Michael coming into the halls of the castle.

Ichigo: Michael?!

Michael: Hello to you too, Ichigo.

Barbatos: It's very nice to meet you again, Michael. What brings you to the castle?

Michael: I've seen something really horrifying from the dark realm. It seems to be the person I just stabbed was a decoy. They're disguising as Reika in order to kill you two.

Solomon: Kill us? Why would they kill us?

Michael: I've been informed by the grim reaper himself that she has this desire to kill Ichigo but turns out the shadow king wants you dead as well, Solomon. Based on what I heard, they seem to be trying to get rid of you, Solomon, and Haruka since all three of you are the keys to their loss.

Ichigo: I see...

Solomon: Then what do you suggest we do?

Michael: Stay in Celestial Realm. Until everything is cleared or at least until Simeon and Haruka return.

Solomon: Didn't I get banned for 3 months?

Michael: And it's already four months, Solomon.

Solomon: oh...

Barbatos: I also saw the future and the reality in which you stayed in devildom will cause your death so I suggest you go to the celestial realm with Michael. I let the house of lamentation know that you two are gone and they must not tell a soul.

The two nod and off they go to the celestial realm. Now here they are sharing a room and bed that night. Unconsciously dropping the bolster and end up cuddling together.

Solomon: [blinks awake] o-o

Ichigo: [sleeping soundly]

Solomon: [chuckles slightly] I never notice you actually look adorable asleep like this. It's nice to finally see you looking peaceful like this [fix her bangs that's falling to her face]

Solomon suddenly feels his heart beating quite fast due to such a view. Sure he's not loyal in the first place but he's in an open relationship with Asmo so he's sure Asmo would let him court Ichigo but will Beel let him? Just as he's thinking he hears Ichigo muttering some words of magic in her sleep.

Ichigo: O drakon, e male so ftengometta tesd'hup'anankes! (Dragon summoning magic)

Solomon: Heh, as if the dragon will appear. Now I know why Beel likes you a lot, Ichigo [pats her]. Never thought I of all being would fall for your charms. Oh well, sweet dreams^^

The next morning, Ichigo feels something wet is hitting her and when she did wake up, she finds Solomon drenched in holy water and there's Luke and Michael praying for him.

Ichigo: What's happening....?

Luke: He tried to touch you this morning!

Ichigo: Ew! WTF!!

Solomon: No I didn't!

Michael: Lying to an angel, how bold of you [shows footage he gets from Solomon's memory of him trying to kiss Ichigo at 3 am]

Ichigo: Damn, Solomon! I get it you're horny but don't use me like that!

Ichigo: [accidentally gets shot and feels burning in her skin] Ouch-

Luke: ...

Michael: Luke! She has demon blood! Spraying her with holy water would just kill her!

Luke: ;-; aaa I'm sorry! I don't mean to! I meant to shot it at Solomon's wandering hands!

Michael: [sigh] I guess you'll be sleeping on Luke's room for the next night.

Luke: [nods] It'll be safer with me! Not with this suspicious human! >:(

Solomon: Hey! [offended noises]

Ichigo: Stay away from me you perverted sorcerer! [moves away and goes behind the angels]

Yes, Solomon, she's a loyal person. She prefers Beel anyway, so no. Please don't court her. Anyways back to Haruka's world, here she is eating breakfast with her family and Simeon.

King: Hmm...Cyrstalia, I think we should find you a partner soon. I'm getting old and not anyone can inherit the throne. Perhaps a prince or someone from a noble family.

Haruka: [laughs nervously] I'm not interested in dating anyone though... I can rule the kingdom on my own and even if I want to marry someone must this person be from a noble family?

King: Of course! You're a royal, aren't you?

Queen: My dear, stop that! She can choose who she loves to be with her. Besides she's the one ruling the kingdom not the other way around!

Queen: Crystalia, my dear, just find someone that you truly love, okay? I don't want you to suffer and be with someone that you don't love.

Haruka: Of course, mother.

Well I know what you're thinking. Simeon is her boyfriend why doesn't he have a say in this? I mean they're royals and her father is really protective so exposing your identity would be really dangerous.

King: Hmm, how about Cloud? You used to be close to him, aren't you?

Haruka: I don't feel any romantic feelings for him though... besides, I already have one person in mind.

King: Really? Is he around?

Haruka: I'll tell you when I'm ready, father...

King: Alright.

Now back to these two, this chaotic duo. The two of them end up eating breakfast with Michael and Luke in such an awkward situation. Ichigo ends up sitting beside Luke out of awkwardness and that means Solomon needs to sit beside Michael. Poor guy....

Solomon, internally: Okay that night was a mistake. A horrible one plus I ain't dying because of the twins and Asmo coming after me that's just insane.

Just as he mentioned twins, he heard the door knock and speak of the devil, it's Beel!

Solomon: Beel?!

Michael: ?? Beelzebub, what brings you here?

Beel: Oh well... Angel Uriel gave me access and Barbatos told me that she's-

Before he can even finish his words, Ichigo went straight in and hugs the heck out of him.

Beel: It's nice to see you too, Sugar^^

Ichigo: Honeybear!! ;-; I miss you a lot!

Beel: As I was saying, Barbatos told me that she's here so I came along...

Solomon: .... that'd just expose her locations-

Beel: Ah, don't worry^^ Barbatos just tell them that I'm somewhere in the human world for a mission. They also told me that Reika is coming to kill you guys...

Solomon: One of the reasons why we're here.

Michael: Correct, Celestial Realm can only be accessed with demons if he has an invitation considering Uriel gave you one that means you can stay for a while. Either than that, you'll be considered an intruder and be thrown back to Devildom, or probably Hell who knows, it depends on Angel Rhamiel since he's the one in charge of that. But do come in Beel, we have plenty of food for you^^

Beel: What a coincidence! I'm actually a little hungry! Come on, sugar^^

Ichigo: Eum, okay!

The breakfast proceeds with Beel this time sitting beside Ichigo and Luke moving so Beel and Ichigo can sit next to each other. Their lovey-dovey-ness makes Solomon more guilty because he technically almost ruined such a beautiful and healthy relationship.

Michael: Feeling guilty now, I see...

Solomon: What...?

Beel: Oh? Did he do something?

Michael: It's nothing^^ It'd be such a disgrace if I expose him in front of a guest. Anyways, have you heard the news about Shadow King trying to take over all 3 realms?

Beel: I did, Levi is preparing the navies from the ocean to help us. It might turn into a big tsunami and all. I'll be also helping since I have lots of underlings and all. Well all seven of us do have each of our underlings for this since we're technically the 7 lords of hell.

Michael: True, I suppose they're against the union of all 3 realms considering they're attacking Celestial realm as well.

Beel: Shadow King has always been enemies with Diavolo so no wonder he's gonna destroy his plan.

And so, Michael and Beel end up discussing what they'll do as Luke, Solomon, and Ichigo just eat confusedly because it's army stuff they have no idea off. Okay, maybe Solomon understands what's going on but he's a human so the angel and demon system is a bit confusing for him.

Beel: Speaking of which, is there a room I can sleep in?

Michael: Hmm perhaps Ichigo's room and I'll move Solomon to Luke's room?

Luke: Why can't she just sleep in my room?

Beel and Solomon: No!

Ichigo: ....??

Michael: [sigh] Perhaps that's a good idea. Ichigo, you'll be moving to Luke's room.

Ichigo: That's great! Right, Luke?

Luke: Yeah! Sucks to be you two! [laughs]

That was it, Ichigo ends up in Luke's room which is also Simeon's room so she's technically using Simeon's bed or vice versa while Beel ends up in Solomon's room. But we'll return to that soon, for now, let them rest peacefully^^

[traphousebois]

Witches Forest

Requested: Yes

Summary: While in Witches Forest you get into an argument with Colby, which ultimately decides how the rest of the night goes.

Masterlist

Your Pov:

It was confirmed. Your boyfriend was insane. Like, he was actually insane. I mean, who goes to a random cabin in the forest? Especially when the forest is called ‘Witches Forest’? And to add to his insanity he wanted to actually camp out in the forest instead of staying in the cabin. It was times like these that I questioned my love for him.

“I can’t believe you convinced me to do this.” I said to Colby from the back seat of his car.

Corey was on the left of me and Jake was on the right.  

He just laughed at me from the driver’s seat.

“I have my ways.”

Jake made a face of disgust.

“Ew, not in front of Shrek guys!”

The car instantly filled with laughter at his joke. Once we calmed down Sam spoke.

“I’m gonna start filming, everybody ready?”

We all nodded. That was all Sam needed as he pulled out the camera from his backpack and pressed record.

“So guys, we just went into town to go grab some supplies and food and as you can tell, it’s obviously dark right now,” He said while spinning the camera around so the viewers could see the sky. “But, here’s just a little snippet of how dark it actually is.”

And with that, the lights were turned off. Once they were turned off it immediately got ten times crazier and scarier.

“Holy shit.” I whispered under my breath in shock.

“It’s pitch black.” Jake.

“You really can’t see anything, not even a silhouette.” Sam.

“Holy fuck guys.” Corey.

“And on that note were gonna just step outside and turn the lights back on.” Colby.

We all started to gather the supplies that we bought once outside. I was in charge of carrying the food.

“On our way to death!” I shouted at the group while leading the way into the forest.

***

Setting everything up went by quicker than I had expected. Most of it was done by Colby, but hey I wasn’t complaining. He looked hot doing it.

“I can’t believe how fucking foggy it is out.” I stated to the group as we sat around the fire that Colby made.

I was snuggled up in Colby’s lap, a grey blanket wrapped tightly around us. Sam sat next to us on our right while Corey was once again on the left. Jake was directly in front of us.

“That just makes this entire experience even more creepy.” Jake responded.

Sam was recording everything. He didn’t want to miss anything important. Once Jake finished his sentence Sam panned over to Colby and I on the chair.

“So brother, ready to start the ritual?”

Colby’s arms tightened around my waist as he nodded.

“I’m ready whenever you are brother.”

I looked between the two of them, confusion was evident on my face. I thought they said that there wasn’t gonna be anymore rituals? Corey seemed to have had the same thoughts as me because he looked confused as well.

“Ritual?” We both said at the same time. The only difference was I was a little louder.

Jake laughed, “Jinx.”

“It’s a good ritual, I promise you guys,” Sam told us. “This ones supposed to cleanse us of any demons or spirits that have attached themselves to us. It’s like trying to start new.”

I was even more confused and also a little angry. Burning? Isn’t that something your not suppose to do with spirits? Doesn’t that just make them more angry and powerful?

“You guys are nuts! I know for a fact that your not supposed to do that. Anything that has to do with fire makes the spirits or whatever they are more angry and powerful!” I whispered shouted at them.

“She’s right ya know,” Corey said. “I feel like fire and spirits just don’t mix well. I mean think about what happened when we tried to burn the Ouiji board.”

Sam just shook his head in disagreement.

“Guys, you're being ridiculous. This is just supposed to cleanse us. All we have to do is burn something that is associated with whatever spirit we think is attached to us.”

My mouth dropped open in shock. Sam was on crack.

“Do you believe that?” I asked turning my head to face Colby, who surprisingly was silent this whole time. “I mean, I think out of all people you should know better after all the scary shit that’s happened to you in the past when you’ve mixed fire with demons.”

Colby just rolled his eyes at me.

“Babe, it’s fine, alright. Besides, what’s the worst that can happen?”

Was this boy on crack to? Did they do it together?

“The worst that can happen?” I scoffed while mocking his voice. “I don’t know Colby, the worst that could happen is we could all get possessed or just make more demons be attached to us or worse we could get killed!” I retorted to him. If only looks could kill.

“Stop shouting,” He mumbled. “Do you have to be so loud all the goddamn time?”

I glared even harder at him. Out of all the people he should know that when I’m scared I start to talk really loud.

“Yes I have to be loud ‘all the goddamn time,’ I shouted while using my fingers as quotation marks when I mocked him. “It seems to be the only way your gonna listen to me.”

He scoffed.

“You can’t tell me what to do babe.”

“And you can’t tell me what to do either.”

Two can play at his game.

Colby was about to say something else that would probably get him in even more trouble but Sam interrupted him. The camera was still in his hands recording the two of us.  

“Guys, just calm down okay?” His eyes were filled with worry. He hated seeing us fight. “Let’s just all take a couple of deep breaths alright?”

Colby and I both nodded at him and took a deep breath in.

“Exhale on the count of three, Ready?”

We nodded.

“One, two-,”

Sam didn’t even get to three because all of a sudden Colby let out a loud gasp and flung himself backwards. Unfortunately he took me with him.

“Dude, you alright?” Sam.

“What’s happening?” Corey.

“What the hell brother? And Y/N you good?” Jake.

“What the fuck babe?” Me.

Colby was panting by the time he stood up from the ground.

“Shadow person. I saw one, right behind Jake.” He was pacing back and forth.

Sam just looked up at him with a questioning look?

“Really dude? Did you actually see one? Cause I feel like you're shitting me.”

Colby immediately stopped his pacing and threw his arms out.

“Why would I do that?” He shouted at him. “I literally have no reason to do that to you.”

It was quiet for a moment. We didn’t know what to do.

“Alright then,” Sam spoke. “Let’s go after it.”

As soon as Sam said that Colby rushed over and grabbed the green XPLR backpack and threw it over is shoulder.

“Someone needs to stay here though. Watch the fire.”

“Corey.” Sam, Colby, Jake and I said in union.

He just groaned.

“Fine, but I’m only giving you guys like five minutes.”

And with that Colby took off into the woods.

“Babe, wait up.” I called out to him not even waiting for Sam and Jake. I didn’t want Colby to get lost.

“Babe! Slow down!” I shouted to him again as we made it to the path.  

“There’s no time to waste Y/N. We gotta hurry cause I don’t wanna lose him!”

I could barely hear him at this point. He was way down the path and his light was slowly getting dimmer and dimmer. And I was slowly running out of breath.

I could only keep up with him for so long before I had to sit down and take a breather. Damn, I needed to exercise more. I wasn’t worried yet because I could just slightly make out his light. I figured if I just sat down for a minute and caught my breath I would be good and I could just get up and still follow his little light down the path.

I must’ve been sitting for too long because once I got up I could no longer see his light. Which wasn’t good because A) Colby’s off on his own, which is never a good thing and B) I was by myself, which also is never a good thing.

“Shit,” I muttered to myself.

I held up my lamp and did a three sixty spin. I couldn’t really see anything except for a bunch of trees. And some fog. Once I stopped I stood still and listened for any sign of the guys. A couple of seconds went by and I heard nothing. Great. I was really alone and lost.

“Don’t panic,” I told myself while taking deep breaths. “Panicking only going to make things worse.”  

I had just started to calm down when my light had gone out.

“Dammit,” I whispered while shaking the lamp. “Come on, please turn back on.” Of course, it didn’t listen.

So, not only was I lost in the woods, I was also lost and in the dark. I decided that my only chance of getting out of this situation was to try and start making my way back to the fire. Hey, maybe on the way there I’ll run into Sam and Jake. I chuckled. If only my luck was that good.

I was just about to start walking forward in the opposite direction that Colby ran when I heard a blood curdling scream. I immediately froze up. Once the sound stopped the woods got dead silent again.

Tears sprung to my eyes. I didn’t want to move, but I knew I had too if I wanted to find my friends and maybe boyfriend.

Shit, this was gonna be a long walk back to the fire. If I even made it back.       

Author’s note: Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed it! I had sooo much fun writing this. I combined two requests that I got based on the guys video so I hope it’s what they wanted. I’m gonna try and get the next part out sometime this week or weekend, It all depends on how busy I am. I love you❤

P.S The next part is in Colby’s Pov👀👀

[inspired-by-the-music]

Chapter 20: Epilogue

Ae-Young’s POV

It was growing increasingly obvious that nothing in my life— not even my wedding— would go as expected. 

“I deserve to be in this wedding!” Heechul shrieked, much to my father’s displeasure, in the back of the church. He boasted, “I’m the reason those two ever admitted their yucky gooey feelings!”

“Hey!” Key glared as he argued, “I helped! Your plan to get them in the same place at the same time to talk about the breakup never would have worked if I didn’t bring Ae-Young to the target! She wanted to sleep all day because it was raining!”

Heechul started to bicker with Key, but he eventually decided, “Fine, you helped, so you should be a bridesmaid too!”

“Would you two please stop referring to my groom as ‘the target?’” Having grown tired of hearing how it had not been a coincidence that Kyuhyun and I ended up at the restaurant at the same time on the same day— that it had been an orchestrated plot by my brother and Key— I rolled my eyes. “It makes you sound like a couple of lame kids playing spies.”

Heechul sneered, “Yeah, I’ll stop calling Kyuhyun ‘the target’ just as soon as you stop calling him your groom.” He mimed gagging, and I cut my eyes at him. 

Dad opened his mouth, I assumed, to silence our childish squabbling. Instead, he fuelled it by claiming, “Nobody is as responsible for this couple as me! I set them up in the first place!”

When Key retorted that he helped me put together the gifts that likely opened the door to Kyuhyun’s heart years ago, I snapped, “None of you are responsible for me and Kyuhyun! We’re getting married because we’re in love, and we’re in love because it’s destiny!” I rounded on my brother to scold, “Heechul, nobody said you can’t be in the wedding. I just don’t think it’s appropriate for you to help Dad walk me down the aisle while wearing drag. Didn’t you get fitted for a tux with Kyuhyun?”

His flushed, slack-jawed expression was one of utter betrayal. “This was your idea, remember?”

“It was a joke, you idiot!”

A few gentle knocks on the door preceded Kyuhyun’s entrance into the room. He greeted, “Hi—”

“No, no, no!” Key interrupted by leaping in front of me. “How many times do I have to say it? You can’t see the bride before the wedding! I did not invest weeks into crafting the perfect gown— forsaking complete meals for the sake of creative genius— to have it become an artifact of a cursed union!”

While I groaned, “What a drama queen,” Kyuhyun apologized and closed his eyes. 

Kyuhyun stood in the corner of the room as he said, “I just came to see if everything is okay. The ceremony was supposed to start five minutes ago, and Leeteuk got concerned when he heard yelling.”

Heechul griped at me, “I still can’t believe you let him officiate instead of me!”

Ignoring Heechul, I walked to Kyuhyun, took his hands in mine, and apologized. “As expected, Heechul showed up late and— strangely, this isn’t too surprising— but he showed up wearing a dress, a wig, and clown make-up.”

Anybody else likely would have screeched ‘WHAT?’ and gawked at Heechul with wide eyes, but I suppose Kyuhyun had grown accustomed to his shenanigans. There wasn’t even the slightest change in his breathing as he nodded slowly as if to say, ‘That sounds about right.’

“I don’t think it’s clown make-up,” Key said after examining Heechul more closely. “I think he just isn’t very good at blending—”

Flipping his wig, Heechul interrupted, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I look fabulous.”

While Dad quietly lowered his head in shame, Kyuhyun sighed deeply. “I suspected something like this might happen when I noticed Heechul left his suit in my car after the tux fitting. Don’t worry—” he squeezed my hands— “I brought the suit and left it in that dressing room across the hall.”

“Come on,” Dad growled as soon as Kyuhyun finished his sentence. Grabbing Heechul by the ear, he dragged him to the room across the hall, unsympathetic to his pained cries as he stumbled in his heels. 

Winking at me, Key decided, “I’ll go make sure Heechul doesn’t get killed or anything.” He warned Kyuhyun with a pat on the arm, “But no peeking at Ae-Young. And beware— I’ll know if you defy me.”

Once Key left the room, only after glaring at me one final time as a warning to obey him, I muttered to Kyuhyun, “You can open your eyes now. I don’t believe all those silly wedding superstitions.”

Kyuhyun shook his head. Any other day, his hair would have flopped with the motion, but today it stood perfectly in place because it had been so precisely styled. Closing his eyes tighter, he said, “No way— you won’t tempt me. I take marital bliss very seriously, so I won’t be jinxing anything. We’ve waited long enough anyway; I can wait a few more minutes to see you.”

Laughing, I took the chance while he stood there, eyes closed and unsuspecting, to capture his smiling pink lips in a tender kiss. I whispered against him, “Whatever you say, Kyuhyun. When we live as the happiest couple in the world, I’ll be sure to remember that it’s all thanks to your patience.”

[gingerstorm101]

Power Out

He groans loudly, his head falls to the window soon followed by his fist. “Stop! I beg of you! Just stop!”

Ziva can hear the man complaining from her desk as she finishes her work on the latest case they closed. They were thankfully able to finish the case just in time for Friday night to start. But the weather outside was quickly worsening, and as much as she agrees with her partner, her complaints were silent.

She glances up at the man for a brief second before she hits print on her report. All she has to do is hand it in.

“Are you almost ready, Tony?” She asks, pulling out a folder to put it in.

“Hm?” He turns to her. “Oh yes, I just have no idea how we’re getting home, the snow trucks haven’t gone out yet.” She hums her response to him, tapping her papers together.

“Thanks again for driving me home.” She says; her eyes soften as they land on him. “You do not have to do it.”

Tony moves around to sit on the edge of her desk, looking up at her. “I could not let my friend walk home in this weather. Besides, I had carpooled with you this morning, and you brought me coffee. I believe that warrants as good reason to drive you home.” He wiggles his eyebrows at her. “Maybe I’ll get a coffee out of it.”

She chuckles at him, leaning in close. “Maybe if you’re good.” Squeezing past him, she leaves to hand in her report. When she returns, Tony has his jacket on and his bag over his shoulder, her items were in her hand. In union, they walk to the elevator.

***

Ziva keeps herself from tapping her foot as Tony does a snail’s speed down the street to her apartment. After an hour they were finally the ten minutes away from Navy Yard, and neither Tony nor Ziva could be more relieved to see the building. Finally they could get out and stretch.

Ziva doesn’t ask out loud if he would like to come in for coffee, she didn’t have to; he parks the car and follows her up the stairs. She opens the door in a swift movement, a wave of heat greeting her as the two of them stepped in from out of the frigid weather.

“Ah,” Tony sighs. “At least the power didn’t go out.”

“Don’t jinx it, Tony.”

Tony gives a short laugh as the two of them shrug off their jackets and toe off their shoes. He hangs up his jacket before reaching around to grab hers from her hands and adds it to beside his. She wants to comment on it, but she decides to leave it alone as she watches him move before her. Instead, she turns her back on him and walks to the kitchen.

After making a pot of coffee, no doubt most of it going to waste by the end of the night as it was already 8:00pm that night, but she never knew, she might pick up one of her newest books and spend half the night reading it. She might need it then. Stirring the two cups and licking the teaspoon, she takes them to her partner who was sitting on the couch with his feet propped up on the table.

She places the cups beside him; she steps over his legs and sinks into the couch beside him. When he throws his arm over the back of the couch, she leans into him and pulls her feet up under her. “What does the weather network say?” She mumbles, resting her head on his shoulder.

“Snow, snow, and more snow.” He drops his hand down to rest on her hip. “It’s not going to stop all night and chances of more snow tomorrow.”

She sighs. “Hopefully by the time you get home, the snow has at least slowed down a bit. Or the traffic is gone.” He nods his agreement, then takes a sip of his coffee. “Do you want dinner?”

“I would love dinner, but I don’t dare to order out, the less I get a bite out of my pizza or half eaten fries.” She grimaced at the thought of sending a delivery boy out in this weather.

“I think I have a lasagna in my freezer from when I made a couple batches last month.” She thinks out loud. Her response is the growl from Tony’s stomach.

Ziva takes a few moments to listen to the lady on the TV to explain that they were going to be getting another three feet of snow over the next few hours. Part of her thought of sending her partner home right then and there, but she knew that he would end up going to bed hungry instead of eating. Knowing that the last thing in his fridge was a bottle of wine and his cupboards only held stale cereal.

She wasn’t going to let him go home hungry. “Keep me updated on the weather as I go start dinner.”

“Do you need any help, Zi-vah?” He asks, his eyes following her, a small smile adorns his lips.

She looks down at him from her vantage point. “No, no, it’s just turning on the oven and setting a timer. No need for the two of us in the kitchen.” He doesn’t say anything as she walks away, and she could feel the burning of his gaze on her body.

As she moves around the kitchen, Tony hollers updates from the living room. The main road has been completely backed up, and people who have been avoiding it have backed up nearby streets. The power in the south side of the city had been cut out from the wind cutting power lines, over by where McGee lives. Along with warning that the temperature was going to be dropping quickly over the next few hours and will continue throughout the night. Plus the comments from Tony on the howling of the wind from outside the patio door.

In the ten minutes it took to preheat the oven, more than half of the incoming traffic from the freeways has been brought to less than 5mph, if at all.

From her spot against the dining room table, Ziva says. “I don’t think you’re going home tonight.” He sighs and agrees with her. “Unless you want to be out in that weather for the next three hours.” The glare he sends to her was enough to make her laugh. With the timer set, she walks over to the couch and snuggles into his chest again.

“This is getting too depressing to watch.” He murmurs, handing the woman her coffee, knowing that she was going to ask for it soon. She nods against him, cradling her cup.

“I know, but we must know what’s going on.”

By the time the meal was cooked, another foot of snow fell to the ground. Ziva had opened the door to look outside to see that Tony’s car was almost completely snowed in and she could no longer see the footprints they had left when they arrived. The wind had picked up its pace, and they could barely hear the TV over the howling.

But they were inside and away from the cold and snow. And better yet, they were not alone.

Placing the empty coffee cups on the counter, Tony pulls the plates down from the cupboard. The way the two move around the kitchen, warms Ziva’s heart. They were partners, but they fit so well together. They moved together. Thought together. Maybe they’ve worked so long together that they knew exactly what each other was thinking. When he had his back to her, pulling out their dinner from the oven, she smiles at him, a full out smile that she couldn’t keep to herself.

Yes, at least they weren’t alone.

But the moment the second slice was out of the tray, the room goes dark and the living room goes silent. She curses under her breath in Hebrew, and Tony in English, somehow managing to say the same thing.

They look at each other, barely making out the other’s outline in the room. She pulls out her cell, using the flashlight to look around the room. Together they walk to the patio door to notice, barely visible between the heavy flakes of snow, all the lights in the apartments across the street were dark and there was no light coming from the street lamps.

The power was out.

She sighs, raising her phone again to scan the room with her light. “Let us at least eat dinner before it gets cold.” He doesn’t say anything as they take their meals to the table, using the phone face-down as light as they eat.

It didn’t take long for them to start to feel the apartment to go cold, and Ziva could feel a chill run up her back.

“Are you okay?” Tony asks, resting his hand on her arm.

She nods, but figures he can barely see her. “I am fine, Tony. I will be better when the power turns back on.” He agrees with her, and goes back to eating.

Ziva doesn’t know what to do without the light from her lamp, the lack of brightness from any kind of candles, and no TV to watch, what were she and Tony going to do? They sit on the couch, but honestly, she was pretty much just sitting on Tony with how little amount of room there was between the two of them. With every shiver that ran up her arms and back, she scoots another inch closer to him. The warmth lulling her to sleep.

Whispering, Tony breathes to her. “Maybe you should go to bed.” Yes, she’d be more comfortable in her bed, but her bed is cold, her room is cold, everywhere would be cold, and he’d offer to sleep on the couch like always.

But instead, she mutters. “No, cold.” And snuggles into his side to emphasize her point.

“You can’t sleep out here with me, neither one of us would get a good night’s sleep.”

What she wants is for him to be her personal heater in her bed, but that whole ‘Rule #12’ thing still hung over their heads. But they won’t be having sex. They’d just be sleeping together. As friends. Nothing else. “I will go to bed if you come with me.” She declares, raising her head to stare him straight in the eye.

He’s caught off guard, stuttering. “Wai- wha- Ziva!” And then he lowers his voice, thinking someone, namely Gibbs, could hear him. “I’m not going to sleep with you.”

“I do not mean it like that Tony.” She says, pointing her finger into his chest. “You will complain about your back hurting if you sleep on my couch, and I will be freezing in my bed with the temperature dropping like this. What is that phrase you say about sharing a sleeping bag?” She asks. “It is only for one night, and it does not have to involve sex.” They were just friends, she reminds herself. Just friends sharing a bed together. Again. “We have done it before.”

She could see him thinking it over, weighing the pros and cons in his head. It was a full minute before he looks at her again to give her his answer. “Fine, but I don’t want to hear any complaining.” She smirks devilishly at him, bops him on the nose, and then gets up, pulling him with her.

The trek to the bedroom seems longer than it ever has been before. Tony has never slept in her bed, every time they have ever slept together, they had always seemed to be at a hotel. So when Tony steps up beside her bed and pulls back the covers, her heart starts to race and she feels her face start to flush. She would have been even more embarrassed if he could see her.

“Ziva.”

“Hm?”

“They tell us that to keep each other warm, we have to be naked.” Ziva gulps. She forgot about that part. “But seeing as neither one of us is wet, we can probably strip down to our underwear.”

“Yes, we do not have to be completely naked.” She turns her back to him, no matter how pointless it is, and takes off her jeans and blouse. She tries to peak over her shoulder at Tony, but she can’t see a thing, she can barely see outside the window, all she can hear is the howling of the wind and the shuffling of fabric. In just her bra and underwear, she turns around. “Are you ready?”

A ‘yes’ came from the darkness on the other side of the bed. Together they climb under the covers, not touching, not daring to get closer. “We need to be closer if this is going to work.” He says. Ziva eyes him and scoots closer, and he turns on his side, pulling her back to flush against his chest. A shiver runs up her spin at the contact, but she is comfortably warm. Even warmer than she was when they were on the couch. “Are you good?”

“Yes.” She whispers, resting her head on his arm. He wraps his arm around her stomach and intertwines their legs together as if they’ve done this a thousand times. “Good night Tony.” Her voice barely audible over the wind outside.

“Good night Ziva.” He whispers back, resting his chin on the top of her head.

***

When Ziva woke up the next morning, she was extremely warm and someone was pretty much laying on top of her. But she doesn’t seem to mind at all. The soft snoring she recognizes as Tony’s almost instantly. The arm she was laying on was stretched out in front of her with her hand wrapped around his fingers, and his other hand was placed over her stomach, holding her where she slept.

Unable to see out the window from her position, and certainly unable to reach for her phone, Ziva closes her eyes and falls back to sleep. Cause hey, it was Saturday, and they were snowed in.

[oneneasgodess-blog]

About to give up?

Feeling all twinned-out? A Twin Flame stage nobody ever talks about because it’s just not all peace, love & light Let’s take a stole down the dark side of the Twin Flame journey So last week I got a donation from a Soul brother who reads my articles and told me he likes my brutally honest, no bullsh*t approach to the Twin Flame concept rather than sugarcoating all the hard work it really involves with self. If you have read my stuff, you know there are no magic pills and that I believe this journey is much more about becoming who you are meant to be than getting hooked up with your twin. I also believe that when you have become who you are meant to be, that the relationship with the twin and everybody else will be so MUCH better – because you have completely transformed yourself. We are all caterpillars coming into this journey, meant to become the most breathtaking beautiful butterflies…   My blog fan totally challenged me (in a good way) by saying that a lot of twin flame teachings are just romantic spiritual porn, but not mine. Which basically gives me a new level to live up to, because I want to be that person that debunks all those Twin Flame myths, broaches all the Twin Flame taboos and gets as many people as possible unstuck in their journeys. I want to get you from crawling over the ground to soaring through the sky!   Not because I am a rebel at heart, but because this is my soul mission to cut through the crap of all the BS that does not get you where you need to be on your amazing magic filled adventure with your beloved – aka your Twin Flame journey. In the end only ONE thing interests me and that is bringing up the truth, because it is the truth that sets us free. Romantic spiritual porn is awesome to drift off on in illusion, but drifting off in illusions only creates delays, more suffering and extended timelines – i.e. they are a f*cking waste of valuable time that you could otherwise be investing in creating Heaven on Earth because that is our joint mission as Twin Flames. So guys and gals get ready for another truth bomb. Because this week I am venturing on the dark side of the Twin Flame journey which is tricky to do because we are going to discuss all those low vibe energies that aren’t fun at all – but we are going to address them in an ultra high vibed way. So you can release them, instead of stay stuck in them or repressing them because you are afraid that allowing them to be felt is gonna jinx your life and your union. It’s really not just all peace, love & light We live in a world of contrasts, our 3rd dimensional physical experience is one of duality. It’s not the ultimate truth we know that, but it is part of the living here on planet Earth experience. Many people new to spirituality and the Law of Attraction fear lower vibrational energies because they think experiencing them will only attract more sh*t in there lives. It doesn’t work like that. When you suppress negative emotions (pretend they aren’t there by sweeping them under the rug) they don’t actually go anywhere. In fact they become much more dangerous than allowing yourself to experience them, would ever be. This is because they are now subconsciously doing the very thing you feared, attracting more of the same matching vibrational frequency crap into your physical life experience. Anything you resist, persists – that is just how this Universe works.   So if you resist feeling so called negative emotions, than you are in fact locking them into your physical experience in a much deeper way, than if you would have allowed yourself to feel the emotion and let it move out of your vibrational system. If you fear that feeling your negative emotions is going to bring you out of alignment to union with your Twin Flame, repressing your so called negative emotions (pretending they aren’t there) WILL actually derail your energies because repressed emotions get stuck in your energy field which structurally lowers your vibrational frequency. This does not happen when you allow yourself to feel them and allow them to move out of your system. Your frequency might drop temporarily, but it will climb quickly after that. Plus if the negative experience NOW is linked to any past experience (even previous lifetimes is possible) that you still carried repressed emotions around, you would actually be able to raise your frequency higher than before because you just allowed yourself to let go of some old emotional gunk and sludge that was weighing down your vibrational field. In my online program the Align to Your Divine Plan Twin Flame Mastery Program I teach that you should look at emotions like taking a dump. When you have taken a sh*t on the toilet, you don’t turn around and make up all kinds of stories about your bodily waste. You are glad it’s out and you flush it away. Yet when it comes to emotions, we DO want to create all these stories around them, hold on to them, nurture them and so on. When basically all you have to do is just have yourself and emotional crap and flush it out. Most people either vomit their negative emotions on the other, which is a big no-no because the other is not responsible for how you feel – you are responsible for your own feelings. If they don’t vomit their emotions outwards, they either fester in them or keep them fuming inside (yeah I mean all you twin bashers – well actually you fester and puke) or the third option they stuff them way deep down so one day it will all erupt. These are all unhealthy ways to deal with all these tough, hard to handle and uncomfortable emotions. The real spiritual approach to emotions is just to allow them to be felt and breathe through it.   Then instead of wiping your tooshie, you smudge yourself and your surroundings and put your feet in a warm Epsom salt foot bath to help you fully release all the vibrational residue of the experienced emotion…. and you are good to go. It is that easy. You don’t have to hold on to the emotion. You don’t need to rehash it. You especially don’t need to deny it. You don’t need to analyze it or understand it. Just allow yourself to let that sh*t go. So now that you have given yourself permission to have negative emotions, let’s look at how they can be triggered on your Twin Flame journey. Let’s be honest your Divine counterpart is being a total pain in the *ss sometimes Let’s just get real with each other here for a minute, some parts of this journey totally s*ck! This is the kind of crap you have to deal with: Ghosting – not responding Benching – keeping you warm for later Rejection – taking back their love etc Abandonment – pulling you close and then running away No commitment – I love you, I want to be with you but, da-da-da-da…. Wishy-washiness – first they are hot then they’re cold No integrity – actions and words don’t match New or existing girlfriends or wives (guys you can turn this around – gays make it work for you ) Not being able to move on, because you never got closure and the list goes on and on….. All this stuff hurts like hell. Let’s not kid ourselves here. It not only brings up grieve, it also brings up anger because anger is a natural part of any grieving process and feeling as if you have lost your Twin Flame is often more painful than losing a loved one to death. It rips your heart out, pulverizes it and spits out the pieces. It’s brutal, unlike any loss or pain you have ever felt before. Yes, separation is an illusion but the experience sure feels painfully real.   Let’s not pretend it’s not. Sure, in the end we need to suck it up – but it is in the feeling of the intense depth of our pain that we actually push through and get to the other side of the transformation. Adversity is the biggest catalyst of change How much we would like to think that we can learn as much from getting our way and the love & light bit, it actually doesn’t work like that. The biggest catalyst for change is adversity. It’s when things don’t go as we planned and we don’t get what we want that we get forced out of our comfort-zones and THAT is where not only the magic happens, but the inner transformation. Last week I was watching another loop movie with my youngest son. If you don’t know what a loop day is, it’s based on the movie Groundhog day with Bill Murray in which he is forced to relive the same day over and over again until he ‘get’s it right‘. The overall theme in loop movies is that, you can’t get out of the loop until you have transformed whatever the loop was set up to transform, without knowing the plan in advance – you have to figure it out by trial and error. The movie we watched was a modern version of this. A college student wakes up in a dorm room on the day of her birthday over and over again, to figure out who kills her that day. The girl starts out as a spoiled brat that is not very nice to anyone basically. As the story progresses and we have watched her loop in waking up, trying to find her killer and then getting slaughtered every night – we see that she is wearing this b*tchy mask in order not to feel the pain of her mother’s early death a couple of years before. As the movie unfolds and she comes closer and closer to unmasking her killer she in facts heals deeper and deeper inside which makes her want to become a much better person. She makes a 180 degree turnaround in character, when she allows herself to deal with the traumatic effects of losing her mother at a young age and stops trying to avoid the pain it caused her. Watching this movie made me realize we are all ego brats when we start out on this Twin Flame journey, no matter how much spiritual or healing work you have done before you met your twin – you have a WHOLE transformation process ahead of you still. Yet it is the above mentioned crappy behavior of your twin, that will be the catalyst of this inner transformation together with the looping effect of not being able to move on from this person. In the end the suffering is so great that YOU MAKE IT STOP and when walking away is not an option, you are left no choice but to find what DOES work. As Twin Flames we are in exactly such a looping experience, until we figure out how to break the loop. Just like any character in a loop movie, we try the easy way out first. Then we try our old ways. When that doesn’t work we get frustrated and that frustration opens us up to trying new ways or actually our old ways not working leaves us no choice, but to try something new and that is the point of transformation that the loop was setup to create. To move you out of your old ways (3D) into a new way of being (seeing/feeling/doing) – the new 5th dimensional vibrational frequency of creating Heaven on Earth.   You can’t get there without experiencing the frustration of the old ways not working anymore – it’s impossible because these frequencies are mutually exclusive. You are meant to manifest 5D in your 3D physical experience, but you can’t access 5D if you stay stuck in old paradigm 3D thinking which is fear based and views the world from the ego perception of separation from the whole and source. The Twin Flame loop is set up to make this specific transformation from 3D to 5D – as a PHYSICAL EXPERIENCE not just some spiritual notion somewhere up there. 5D is not up there, it is a dimensional frequency that needs to be anchored in your daily life. Spirit has only one way to get you there and that is to not leave you any other option – but to move out of the old and into the new. If you got the guy or girl of your dreams immediately, there would be no incentive to do anything any other way because doing things the way you have always done them, got you what you wanted. It is in NOT immediately getting what you want, that you get stretched from who you were to begin with and who you wanted to become in this lifetime. How to break the loop?! You might think that loving your twin unconditionally is ALWAYS feeling love and saying yes, but unconditional love is also loving someone enough to not put up with their sh*t. It’s being able to see them for who they really are – the good, the bad and the ugly and inspiring them to live up to the highest expression of themselves. Way too many Divine Feminines use unconditional love as an excuse to become their Twin Flames doormat when loving unconditionally should also be directed at the self. You cannot love yourself unconditionally and at the same time be your twin’s doormat, you can’t love yourself and abandon your own truth and desires to meet the needs and wants of someone else. Unconditional love has to go both to yourself and the twin, because otherwise it’s not unconditional it’s codependent love – meaning you bending over backwards to deserve/earn/keep the love of another. Read this blog here about the new love templates Twin Flames are bringing into the world. In the whole analogy of shifting from old to new ways, codependent love is certainly old ways and masking codependent love by thinking you are loving unconditionally only keeps you looping because you aren’t shifting. Not only that, your twin’s obnoxious behavior will continue because he (Divine masculine) can’t shift if you don’t. If you keep accepting bad behavior from your twin because you love them ‘unconditionally‘ you are doing yourself and them a disfavor. Say your twin is married and keeps coming around to you for sex, just because that person is your Twin Flame does not change the fact that you are having an affair with a married person. But above all this is not a way to get this person to commit to you, if this person really wants to be with you sex is not going to be the decisive factor. Yet making them feel what their life will be like without you in it, is sheer manipulation. Standing up for yourself has to be authentic, not a way to get what you want because in a loop scenario you can’t manipulate your way out of the loop effect.   The shift has to be real and genuine to break the loop. In the case of Twin Flames, what binds most twins in the looping effect is the fear that if they let their twin go – they will lose them forever. Fear of loss is at THE ROOT of codependency (read this powerful article on how codependency shows up in the Twin Flame connection) and it is this fear that makes way too many Divine Feminines shy away from speaking their truth, standing in their power and becoming who they are meant to be – because they subconsciously fear that choosing for themselves will cost them their connection with their twin. They don’t realize that this is the transformation the loop was set up to make. You becoming who YOU are meant to be, fully and unapologetically. If this person truly is your Twin Flame, he/she will revel in the sight of you expressing your highest version of yourself. If they split because of it, good riddens – you don’t need anyone in your life holding you down or small. Remember you aren’t meant to be a caterpillar you are meant to soar the skies. Key symptoms of feeling all twinned-out It’s when you realize that you can’t force yourself out of the loop. You can’t manipulate your way out of it and that you have exhausted yourself trying all the old ways that did not work, that you get to a point of desperation and despair and this happens at various times of the journey – when just before a massive shift you in fact feel all twinned-out. You just don’t care as much anymore. You don’t feel your twin as much anymore. Your telepathy disappeared maybe. You don’t think about your twin as much or any other shift in your connection that may make you wonder – Do I still love this person as much? Is this really my Twin Flame? Or everything feels lost and over, is this really the end? Of course if you get entangled and stuck in negative emotions then you have a problem. If this is the case for you now, write yourself an email as if it is directed to the Universe and ask your Divine guidance team to show you the truth of the situation you are angry about and what you need to know. This will open up the way to see what is happening in your physical experience from the highest perspective, which will help you to understand and forgive if necessary. There are many moments on this journey that doubt or negative feelings creep in, yet there also seems to be a taboo on expressing them because well then this person must not be your Twin Flame and sure this can apply to some cases. There are certainly people out there mistaking very toxic and abusive relationships for Twin Flame connections, but to think that this journey is all peace, love & light is an illusion. Anything that forces you out of your comfort zone is going to bring up a variety in emotions and not ALL of these emotions are going to be 100% positive – that is the reality of life.   It is actually a very positive sign if you are starting to feel all twinned-out because it means your are coming more into balance. It also means you are close to an important pivot point of either coming into physical union with your twin or finally being able to move on with your life. A prerequisite for it truly being twinned-out and not just sick and tired of (read impatient with) the journey, is that you have made the inner transformation, which I talk about here in this article on inner union. Many people freak out when they start to feel more neutral or maybe even somewhat negative toward the twin – afraid it means all is lost perhaps. I wrote this article to help you understand that there is nothing to fear if you are experiencing this, because as you can read in the descriptions below ALL of this is helping you come into a deeper alignment with your deepest heart’s desire. Here are some signs that you are starting to feel twinned-out: No. #1 You are done obsessing over your twin You don’t miss your twin, think about them 24/7 anymore or hope they will come back. This is because you have healed the voids in yourself that you were trying to fill externally. You are meeting your own needs now and therefor don’t NEED the other in the way you felt you needed them before. No. #2 You lost interest in the Twin Flame subject You don’t want to read anymore information about Twin Flames, watch YouTube reads or be part of Twin Flame groups. You just lost interest in the subject and are focused on other things in your life. You are no longer waiting for your twin to come back, instead you are creating the life you love and want to live. No. #3 You are ready to drop the Twin Flame label You stop identifying with the Twin Flame label, meaning seeing yourself as a Twin Flame or the other as a twin. Maybe the whole Twin Flame concept is bullsh*t anyway? Letting go of the Twin Flame label helps you open up to the truth of the connection. It’s a sign that you are ready to face the truth, you have overcome your fear of loss on all levels. Because if this person truly is your Twin Flame, the connection can’t ever be lost anyway. No. #4 You see your twin for who they really are – a mere mortal You see your twin for who they really are and for the first time dare to get honest about if this other person even fits into your life at the moment. Do you really want to be together with this person, as they are now? You may even think your twin is a total bleep-bleep and that’s okay. Most Twin Flames start off their journey thinking their Divine counterpart is a demigod, but no one can stay on such a high pedestal and you certainly can’t be together with someone you have placed high above yourself. Because by putting them on a pedestal, you have placed them out of your league. So seeing your twin for the imperfect human being they are is actually a massive step forward to getting into an actual physical relationship with them. It means that you can see the real person instead of the romantic fantasies you were projecting on them. No. #5 You are no longer over-focused on union You are not obsessing or focused on union. You are fine one way or the other. Actually the more neutral you become about being in a relationship with your twin, the more you become a vibrational match to it. Wanting something TOO much actually demagnetizes you. My favorite Florence Scovel Shinn quote is: Your ship come in over a “don’t care” sea. When you can be happy with or without your heart’s desire, it will suddenly appear.   Florence teaches that there is an occult law of indifference. “None of these things move me.” “None of these things disturb me” we might say in modern language. When you can no longer be disturbed, all disturbance will disappear from the external. No. #6 You may even feel disconnected from your twin When you don’t feel the immense pull or feel your twin period, this is not a bad thing. It may feel like you are fully disconnected energetically – the connection feels as dead as a door nail. Though it may feel alarming, the disconnect allows you both to fully focus on what is going on for YOU in this moment, which would not be possible if you still felt super close and connected to your twin. Remember on this journey the souls use both closeness and distance to facilitate the inner transformation it has come to create. No. #7 You have let go of fixed timelines You may have lost faith in all the signs and synchs you have gotten or you still acknowledge them but don’t take them to mean that physical union is going to happen tomorrow or super soon. You realize that the signs and synchs are confirmation from your Divine guidance team that you are on the right path and heading in the right direction and that physical union is not the goal of this journey, it’s a byproduct. Of course before you get to this point you first had to loose faith, which when you do makes you think all these signs and synch are only just f*cking with your head. This leads to feeling misled by the Divine, which of course feels very scary and sh*tty. Faith however doesn’t mean getting what you want, the way you wanted it. It means trusting despite outer experiences that the Universe always has your back and is helping you come into vibrational alignment with your deepest heart’s desire. It asks you to understand that the seemingly irritating delays, are in fact the very thing that are aligning you deeper and deeper to the very thing you have asked for. Provided you don’t give up, because you didn’t get YOUR WAY. No. #8 You stepped into your power and found your self worth You have developed healthy boundaries and self worth which makes you not put up with any of your twin’s crap anymore. When you have truly overcome your codependency and the underlying fear of loss, you have no issues standing up to your twin or anyone else. This again has to be authentic and not just a way to get the other back, your problems in your Twin Flame connection are vibrational in nature therefore you cannot fake it. If your so called healthy boundaries are coming from ego, they aren’t in fact healthy boundaries they are merely masked attempts to force the other person to give you what you want. When you truly step into your power you could care less about what the other person does or doesn’t do because you know they aren’t the source of love in your life, YOU are. As you are no longer seeking fulfillment outside of you or fearing to lose something outside of you that you falsely believe you need – you no longer need to wear masks or please others. Instead you give yourself permission to become the REAL you – not the you you think you need to be to others to get what you want or feel you need. No. #9 You realized you can’t screw up your union anyway  Many Divine Feminines fear screwing up their union one way or another and it’s all just fears in your heads ladies, figments of your imagination. Remember EVERYTHING your twin triggers inside of you is meant to help you purge old emotions and heal on the deepest level. Also the very negative feelings are part of this clean up. Since November 2017 my twin and I have worked through betrayal issues and deep core wounding that I didn’t even know was tucked away in the far depths of my subconscious. In this period I have been pissed as h*ll with him and I have made him well aware of it. He knows how angry I have been and has just endured and supported my rage being unleashed. Of course throughout this process I have remained respectful to him, but I have really spoken my truth. He knows what I am upset about and why. This is what has been going on on a 3D level. So I was just in Ibiza for my very first Gangsta Goddesses retreat and we went up to Es Vedra where I did a meditation to ground my light body on one of the most magnetic spots worldwide next to the North Pole and the Bermuda Triangle. My twin has showed up in my dreams off and on but for the rest our communication has consisted of me speaking my truth and him patiently reading it. On that rock in front of Es Vedra – I am doing this meditation and out of nowhere I feel my twin’s energy coming in full force into my heart and grounding the light body with me on that spot. I have no idea what it means, but what I do know is that our higher selves laugh at our 3D tiffs and troubles. They have their own agenda and are implementing that whether we cooperate or not. I mean I have been angry with him for months and I have either not spoken to him or when I opened my mouth gave him truth bombs that he is still trying to digest and he shows up energetically anyway. I have not been easy on him at all, yet his higher self is not bothered one bit by my 3D behavior. The same can be said for me, I have been pissed with him for some time and have certainly not been his most adoring fan like I have been in the past. There was no reason for me to think of him or to want to feel him grounding my/our light body together. I am perfectly capable of grounding my own, thanks. I certainly didn’t invite him to come and honestly I am not impressed with his current 3D behavior as well, so there was no longing inside of me to have him show up in this way energetically. It happened nonetheless and it made me realize once again, you can’t screw things up with your twin – provided they are really your Twin Flame. Since I have let go of the twin label for myself in my own process, the Universe has been staking up the confirmation in all different ways. I see it and acknowledge it, but stay in a state of indifference as much as possible. I’ll tell you why. Recently I went to Mother Meera where I also met up with the lovely Ana Souto from the Bloom From Within Project. I had been thinking about the guy (twin) while driving to the event. I had thought about everything that had happened in our lives since we met. Sometimes you have these thoughts that just come with ultra awareness and this happened to me as I walked in the door. I remembered how much I had wanted to marry this man and have his baby. A desire we had both strongly felt and I thought of how different things had unfolded for us and that he was even married to someone else now. At that moment I felt such gratitude and acceptance for where I am now and that what I had gotten from this journey has been so much more valuable, then being married to him and having his child would have been if I had gotten it at that time. I love babies and children, but the bliss of having a child with the man you love is nothing compared to the bliss of truly coming home to yourself. Not to mention the fact that cleaning up all the core wounding like I have is going to make any future relationship with him or someone else so much better because I am no longer coming to a relationship with a beggars cup, begging to be loved. I am coming with a cup flowing over with love for myself and the other. If this is where this journey has already brought me now, in a space of being – far beyond what I had envisioned for myself, then I am in awe of where I will be once my higher self has brought me where it wants me to be in this lifetime. This realization alone helped me to surrender even deeper to the Divine Plan my soul scripted for me, because it has proven to me without a shadow of a doubt that it’s plan for me is much more magical and majestic than anything I can come up with in the limited 3D version of myself. I pray this article serves you and helps you further along on your journey. Donations are very thankfully received. If you wish to make a donation of any amount, you can do so here. Wishing you magic and miracles on this amazing adventure with your beloved. If this article resonates with you please share it abundantly. Thank you.         Twin Flame reunion energy is flooding in, are you ready to reunite with your twin? 11 Twin Flame side effects that hardly anyone ever talks about, in this way … Astrology and Twin Souls, here is how the planets are influencing your Twin Flame journey in… 7 reasons to stop dating and become exclusive with your Twin Flame (even when you are not together) 50 shades of silence on the Twin Flame journey, the real reason why the Divine Masculine… Help! My Twin Flame is in a romantic relationship with someone else – does this mean…

[megwritesfanfiction]

The Lies We Told (Beast Boy/Raven , Chapter 10/??)

Author's Note: One more chapter after this… Huzzah!

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans. This is a work of fiction that I am not making a profit off of.

Need to catch up? Can't say I don't love you guys! ;)

Past Chapters:

Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9

Chapter Ten: Marry Me

(I APOLOGIZE FOR THE LARGE BLOCK OF TEXT, THE KEEP READING BAR MAKES THE APOSTROPHES AND QUOTES TURN TO CRAZY CHARACTERS.) 

At first, he thought it was a joke or at the very least some sort of real life example of an oxymoron. Gar stood for a few moments watching her in disbelief.

Rachel, the woman he'd known first as Raven, was kneeling in a pew praying.

Actual praying.

A red rosary clutched between her fingers as she moved along the beads reciting the prayer over and over again.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Rachel finished the last line in the Hail Mary before bothering to answer him. "Praying." She didn’t bother to look up at him as she moved to the next Hail Mary.

Gar rolled his eyes, biting back a comment about how he was surprised she hadn’t burst into flames yet. "You're not Catholic."

“Neither are you.” Rachel quipped. “Doesn’t mean I can’t atone for my sins.” She snapped as she looked down at her beads. “Fuck!”

“Yea pretty sure you’re gonna have to atone for that.” He commented, taking a seat in the pew.

“You made me lose count.”  Rachel groaned, sliding back into the pew to sit. She tossed the rosary into the Bible nook in front of them.

“Did Toni put you up to this?”

“What?! No.” Rachel sighed, leaning back into her seat. She stared blankly at the altar in front of them. “We’re so going to hell.”

“Yep.” Gar nodded, wrapping an arm on the pew behind her.

“You’re okay with this?” Rachel questioned. She glanced around the church making sure no one would see his affection. There was an old woman in praying in the front row, but no one from the wedding party was expected to arrive until three. They had a couple hours.

He shrugged. “It’s really out of my control. If the big guy decides I’m not good enough to enter the pearly gates, then it’s the lake of fire for me.”

“Hell isn’t a vacation home.” Rachel warned him. “I should know. My afterlife destination is determined by birth not actions.”

“You’re not going to hell.” Gar told her softly.

“I am.” She confirmed. “Not just because I’m helping to commit adultery, but because I’m half demon. The adultery just adds a little something extra to my resume.” She opened her purse, pulling out a flask. “Drink?” She offered, exhaling loudly as she held the little container out to him.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you have a problem.” Gar chuckled, taking the flask from her and taking a swig. “Should you even be drinking? You know, with your, you know, delicate possible nature and…”

“I’m not pregnant.” Rachel sighed, taking the flask from him. “I gain five pounds and everyone panics.”

“You look great.”

“You thought I was pregnant, so you, too, are in the doghouse.”

His eyes narrowed. “That was a really bad joke.”

“I’m serious.” She took a swig. “You, sir, are in the doghouse on the last day of our relationship. What a shame.”

“Indeed.” He agreed with a casual nod. “And I was thinking we could take advantage of that empty confessional.” His eyes casually moved toward the confessional near the altar.

Rachel’s eyebrows raised with interest as she brought the flask to her lips. She was going to let him know that she was beginning to entertain the idea. “I am not about to have someone seeking redemption catch us in the act of adultery.”

“It’s not adultery until after the ceremony.”

“You all filed for the marriage license.”

“Yes,” Gar confirmed. “But, it’s not official until after the ceremony. Not to mention the fact that the priest is going to be in his office until it’s time for the ceremony.” He stood, straightening out his shirt. “So, that little booth will be at our disposal.”

“We’re going to hell.” Rachel murmured standing up.

Gar laced their fingers together as they walked toward the confessional. “We already established that.”

“I don’t want to know.” Toni decided walking up to her friend barefoot. Dressed in a silk gray dress, she held a bag in her hands and shook her head. “Hold unto this bag.” She insisted, pushing the bag in her arms.

“I’m not holding your shoes.” Rachel frowned as she looked at the bag in her arms. She just wanted to get to the back of the church, get her bridesmaid dress on, sip champagne, and survive this ceremony.

“Just hold the bloody bag.” Toni hissed angrily.

Rachel blinked staring at her friend. “What are we-“

“Just wait for it.” Toni told her holding up a finger as she closed her eyes. Her finger began to twitch to the sound of clicking heels echoing off the walls of the church.

The violet haired woman stood frozen with confusion as she looked to Toni and at the direction of the sound.

“Oh thank goodness.” Kori rounded the corner, picking up the bottom of her her dress as she jogged over to them. “Do you have the shoes?”

Rachel looked down at the bag in her hands. She cast a quick glance to Toni before looking at Kori. “Here you go.” Rachel spoke, smiling as she handed them over.

“You are the lifesaver.” Kori exhaled relieved.

“Indeed.” Toni agreed, bouncing lightly on her heels.

“I cannot believe Terra left them.” Kori shook her head.

“It’s a big day.” Toni defended. “I’m surprised she was so calm about it.”

“Yea!” Kori nodded. “I gotta get these to her. I’ll see you in a few for make-up, Rachel.” Kori turned, jogging away from them.

Rachel looked to Kori, waiting for the sound of her heels to get away from them. “Oh my goodness, you stole the bride’s shoes.”

“No.” Toni corrected. “No, no, no. I noticed they were sitting on the side, and I really wasn’t sure what they were so I figured I could find the owner.”

“Which you thought was me?”

“You never know.” Toni replied innocently.

“Sweet Jesus, you’re a fucking genius.”

“I know.” The dark haired woman placed a flattered hand against her chest as she looped their arms together. “So,” She started, leading her down the hall. “Where were you?”

“Confession.”

Toni eyed her suspiciously as they walked. “Do I even want to know what confession is code for?”

Rachel chuckled lightly. “Not at all.”

“You’re terrible.”

“I am indeed.” Rachel informed her unrepented.

“What am I going to do with you?” Toni questioned, softly.

Rachel shrugged, her lips twisting. “I don’t even know what do with myself at this point. I am just trying to get through today.”

“It will be okay.” Toni assured as they stepped into the room.

Liar.

The small room was a blur of activity.

Rachel swallowed the lump of emotion in throat and stepped into the room.

Pushing a smile to her face, she stepped into the roll of dutiful bridesmaid.

She sipped champagne.

She pretended to like the horrendous hairstyle Terra picked for her. An, in Rachel’s firm opinion, obnoxious bun with fresh pink flowers tucked into side.

She sat patiently as the make-up artist covered her face. And even smiled for the photographer taking candid shots of them getting ready. Rachel had even participated in wearing the matching floral robes Terra had gotten them.

She joined the other bridesmaids in helping Terra step into her wedding dress.

She “awwed” and “oooed” and expressed the proper sentiments of support.

She at least owed Terra that much.

“You okay?”

Rachel nodded, holding her bouquet tightly.

They were waiting outside of the doors to the church for the queue to walk.

“Yea.” She assured Garth, eyes rolling up to signal at the bun on her head. “Not used to my hair being pulled back so tight.” Rachel joked, half heartedly.

Garth laughed, placing his hands on either side of her. “You look beautiful.”

“I look like a piece of cotton candy.”

“Well,” He chuckled. “You are delicious.”

Why did he have to be so sincere and sweet? “Thank you.” She smiled, wrapping her hand around one of his hands on her shoulder.

“Hey lover boy!” Victor interrupted. “I’m her escort down the aisle.” He chuckled, gently pulling Rachel to him.

“Yes,” Garth laughed taking his place in line. He gave Rachel wink. “And next time you’ll be bringing her to me.”

“You all are the next for the marriage.” Kori squealed, linking arms with her husband. “You must be sure to catch the bouquet.”

Rachel fought the urge to cringe. She didn’t need this day to be any more awkward than it already was. “I would hate to interfere with Jinx-“

“Don’t even say my name, witch.”

Rachel chuckled as the conversation around her faded. The melody of the procession music burned her ears as she felt the sharp pang of nerves in her chest.

“You okay, dark girl?” Victor whispered as they took a step forward.

No. She wasn’t okay.

She was, not only, about to watch the love of her life marry one of her friends, but she was going to stand on the altar as a supportive witness to their union.

“Yea.” Rachel nodded, forcing an assuring smile as they stopped at the top of the altar. They were up next. “A lot of people here.” Seemed like a reasonable excuse for nerves.

“Think of it as practice for your big day.” He chuckled as they walked down the aisle.

Violet eyes drifted to the sea of people crowding the pews. She couldn’t imagine wanting this many people to witness her impending nuptials. It was bad enough Rachel had to be here as the maid of honor, she didn’t want to make a production out of a day she didn’t want.

Rachel unhooked her arm from Victor as the two of them stood, her eyes focused to the back of the church as the bride’s march started. At the very least, she could keep her eyes off the groom. She heard this shuffle of guests stand and the gasps of awe as Terra appeared. Rachel closed her eyes for a moment, as a hand went to her stomach.

She knew this was coming. So, what did it hurt so much?

Relaxing, Rachel gripped her bouquet.

She could do this.

She could marry Garth.

Be happy for Gar and Terra.

Move on.

Rachel inhaled sharply, watching Gar lift Terra’s veil. She could hear the antique baritone of the priest echo off the church walls, but she wasn’t listening. She fixed her eyes to the wall past the wedding ceremony.

She figured she had to pretend to look interested.

Rachel wasn’t sure how long she’d been standing there. The priest’s voice suddenly paused, and Gar began to recite his vows. For a small moment, his automatic and empty tone comforted her.

“I promise to love, honor, and cherish…”

He should have been saying those words to her.

Violet eyes squeezed shut as she felt her eyes water.

She wasn’t the type to cry at weddings or at anything really. Rachel couldn’t let her emotions get the best of her in front of their friends.

She could cry later.

Preferably with a pizza and a bottle of liquor.

It was Terra’s turn to recite her vows. She spoke with tender emotion and optimism, and her eyes sparkled at her groom.

Gar deserved to be loved like that. Rachel could at least take comfort in the fact that Gar would be loved by someone who was determined to make him happy.

“Do you Terra Maria Markov take this man to have and to hold, through sickness and in health, until death do you part?”

Terra looked at Gar. Her red lipsticked smile beamed bright. “I do.”

The priest looked to Gar. “Garfield Mark Logan, do you take this woman to have and to hold, through sickness and in health, until death do you part?”

Rachel closed her eyes waiting for the two words that would seal the end of the their relationship. She could feel his eyes on her.

Terra cleared her throat. “Gar…”

Rachel’s head snapped up. He hadn’t said it.  

“Answer him.” Terra whispered.

SIlently, Gar looked to the ground.

The guest began to murmur.

“Son,” The priest whispered as he shook the groom’s sleeve. “Are you feeling okay? Do you need some water?”

Terra moved closer to him. “What’s going on?” She whispered, feeling panicked.

Gar kept his eyes to the marble altar floor below them.

“All you have to do is say “I do”.” She told him, feeling her eyes water. Her hands went to his chin, forcing him to look into her eyes.

Gar looked at her shaking his head.

“Say it.”

Rachel left lightheaded as she watched the scene in front of her.

“Garfield!” Terra shouted.

Gar sighed. “I can’t.” He whispered, pleading.

[sillesworldofwriting]

Fighting

Title: Fighting

AO3

Sille’s 12 Days of Christmas: Part 7

Words: 2014

Challenge: Kari and Ida’s 12 days of Christmas challenge

Prompt: Wishing Upon A Star

Pairing: Jared x Reader x Gen

Warnings: fluff at the beginning, then fighting, and angst, so much angst, my beta told me that the fight is pretty intens, you have been warned

Author’s Note: My seventh entry for @like-a-bag-of-potatoes  and @thing-you-do-with-that-thing 12 days of Christmas challenge.  Thanks to @tngrayson for beta reading!

All Feedback is welcome! Send me an ask, reply to this post or reblog it!

You were the first to wake this morning. A rare occurrence since you weren’t a morning person. Especially after an active night like the last one. You slipped out of bed as carefully as you could since you didn’t want to wake Jared and Gen.

The first stop you made was to Odette's room. You heard a few noises over the baby monitor. Not loud enough to be concerning, but you still wanted to check on her. Sure enough as you looked into her crib, the little one was wide awake.  

“Hey there Odette,” you cooed as you lifted her into your arms. She smiled at you and made to grab your hair but you caught her hand before she could. “Don’t want you tearing my hair out.”

Giving her a kiss on the cheek you brought her over to the changing table to change her diaper and dress her into day clothes. This took you only a few minutes since you were already used to it after the last time you were in Austin. Odette was an easy child in that regard too. She was happy when you blew some raspberries on her belly and didn’t mind the changing at all. It also had the added bonus of making her laugh, which always made you happy yourself.

With Odette in your arms once again, you made your way to Tom’s room next to see that he was still sleeping. The trip to New York and back in such a short amount of time was exhausting to him. Otherwise he would have been awake already. His brother was the same as you checked on him.

You made your way downstairs and to the kitchen. Since everyone was still asleep you wanted to make breakfast for all of them. It’s been a long time since you made them your special waffles.

Before you got started on the batter, you prepared a bottle for Odette. She needed to be fed after all.

“You’re a hungry little girl, aren’t you,” you said to her as you gave her the bottle. She drank eagerly at it and after a few minutes the bottle was drained, which made you chuckle. “Someone really was hungry. You’re just like your dad.”

You let Odette burp over your shoulder and got her seated in her high chair with a few toys so that you could prepare the waffle batter. The radio began to play Christmas Music as you turned it on which only served to lighten your mood.

As you put the first load of batter on the waffle iron you heard twin footsteps on the stairs and a few seconds later Tom and Shep stood in the doorway to the kitchen.

“Good morning, Y/N!” they said in union and barreled towards you to give you a hug.

“Good morning to you too,” you answered as you returned their hug. “Can you set the table? I’m making waffles.”

“Yay! Waffles!” cheered Tom. Shep did the same and together they set the table with the plates and silverware you already set out on the counter.

The first batch of waffles was soon done and you started to make coffee and hot chocolate for the boys. After they set the table they played with their sister for a bit, waiting patiently for breakfast to be ready.

“Tom?” you asked after the coffee was done. “Can you wake your parents up please?”

“Sure!” he responded and was out of the kitchen in a flash.

You chuckled as you brought the plate with the waffles to the table. They were always so eager to please you, especially just before Christmas.

“Do you want your hot chocolate in your Ninja Turtle mug, Shep?” you asked the boy and he nodded with enthusiasm. Why did you even bother to ask? He always wanted to have that cup.

A few minutes later, Tom returned with his parents in tow just as you sat down the whipped cream on the table. Perfect timing.

“Good morning,” yawned Jared as he came over to you to give a you a kiss.

“Morning,” you returned and smiled against his lips. “I guess you slept well?”

“Never better,” he breathed and kissed you again. This time a bit deeper. You sighed as you broke apart.

“Sit down or the waffles will get cold.”

He didn’t need to be told twice. He was always hungry after all.

“Good morning, Y/N,” Gen greeted as she gave you a kiss too.

“Hey,” you smiled at her.

“You didn’t need to do all this.”

“I wanted to. It’s been awhile since I made you my famous waffles after all.”

“True,” Gen chuckled, sitting down beside her husband.

“Eat up!” you encouraged them as you sat down too. “There is enough for everyone.”

After breakfast, you all decided to have a lazy day at home since everyone was still exhausted from your trip to New York. Even the kids weren’t up to much. So you spent the time until lunch playing board games and after that watching some movies while drinking some hot chocolate and eating a few snacks.

Towards the evening, Tom and Shep decided they wanted to watch Pinocchio, so everyone settled under the fuzzy blankets again; the boys already in their PJ’s and Odette already asleep in her room.

The first song began to play and since it was a Disney Movie, you couldn’t resist but sing along under your breath, and even though you tried to be quiet, Jared still caught it and gave you little grin in response. You just shrugged and smiled back.

“How do you wish upon a star?” Shep asked after the first song was over.

“You need to wait until it gets dark. The legend says that if you wish upon the first star that appears at night your wish will come true. But you’re not allowed to tell anyone your wish or you will jinx it and the wish will not come true,” Gen explained as she pulled her son closer.

Shep said nothing for a moment, deep in thought.

“Could we try that tomorrow?” he finally asked, looking at his mother.

“Sure,” Gen answered, kissing him on his hair.

“What do you want to wish for, buddy?” and just got a stare for his effort.

“You’re not supposed to tell your wish, Daddy. I want my wish to come true!”

Jared chuckled. “Yes, of course. Sorry buddy.”

“It’s okay, Daddy. You can make a wish too!”

Jared pulled you closer to him in response.

“And I know what I will wish for,” he whispered in your ear. His breath hit your skin and made you shiver, but you tried to concentrate on the movie.

No one said anything else and you settled in to enjoy the film, still pressed against Jared.

Later that night, the boys were already in bed and you, Jared and Gen were cuddled together under the blankets. Quiet Christmas music played in the background and you just enjoyed your time together.

“Do you want to know what I would wish for from the star?” Jared asked suddenly while playing with your hair.

“I thought you weren’t supposed to tell?” you responded and looked at him. Gen did the same as she laid her head on your shoulder from your other side.

“Well, since I didn’t make my wish yet it shouldn’t count.”

“So shoot!” You were getting curious now.

He swept a strand of your hair from your face but didn’t look you in the eyes. You frowned a bit, waiting for his answer.

“For you to move in with us,” he finally said.

You froze, not knowing what to do. You had this conversation before and it didn’t end well. There was no chance that this time would be any better. Dread began to build in your stomach.

“Jared….” you started and then stopped. How were you supposed to respond to that?

“I think it’s time. Long overdue even.”

“He is right, Y/N,” Gen agreed. “We miss you when you're not here, the kids miss you. And there’s plenty of room here.”

You stayed silent, overwhelmed by them both.

“We really want you to move in with us,” Jared encouraged.

You sighed. “I just… I just can’t. Not just yet. I need a bit more time? Please?” you asked and looked first at your boyfriend then at Gen.

“You told us that last time and that was months ago,” Jared responded, his voice getting harsh.

“I know, and I’m sorry, but it’s not that easy Jared and you know it. I have my job and all my family up there,” you tried to explain. Those were just excuses and you knew it. Just like Gen and Jared did and he wouldn’t have it.

“We’re your family too! At least that’s what you tell us all the time. And the job shouldn’t be a problem; you can resign and search for something here after you moved in with us. It’s not like we don’t have the money to support you for a few months.”

“That’s just it! I don’t want to live off of your money. Most of your fans already think that I’m a gold digger and a homewrecker. That would just support their claim,” you snapped.

“To hell with what the fans say. This is our life and our relationship. They don’t have any say in it.” Jared stood up, too agitated to stay seated.

“This is also something I need to do for myself. Please, you have to understand that,” you pleaded but didn’t think that he would have it. You stalled, not only because you wanted to find a job first but you were also afraid. Afraid that moving in would make Gen and Jared realise that they didn’t want you in their relationship anymore. Living permanently would be so different from only visiting them for a few weeks or days every other month. Even if Jared was in Vancouver most of the time. They didn’t know that you still had insecurities about this relationship and you didn’t want to burden them with it. You just loved them too much to lose them. A life without them and the kids was unimaginable at this point.

“No, I don’t understand. Gen is staying home too. Why can’t you do the same and help her with the kids?”

“Because Gen is a stay at home mum. That’s different.”

“How so?”

Maybe now was the time to tell them about your plan? You didn’t want to fight after all but your insecurities won the war that raged in your head and you said something very different.

“Because their are her kids, not mine!” you nearly yelled.

Silence. The only thing audible was the Christmas music that still played in the background.

Jared looked at you, hurt evident in his eyes

“I didn’t mean it like that,” you tried but he raised his hand to stop any further explanation from you.

“Yes you did,” he croaked.

“Jared, please,” you reached out to take his hand but he pulled away. Not only that but he actually turned away from your which nearly broke your heart.

“I’m going to bed,” explained Jared quietly and without another glance at you he made his way up the stairs.

You watched him disappear around the corner and turned to your girlfriend.

“Gen,” you started.

“No, I don’t want to hear it,” she interrupted with a cold voice and stood up. “I think you should rethink your priorities in this relationship. Do you even want to be with us?”

“Of course! I love you Gen, you have to believe that.”

“Well, you're not really doing a good job in proving that at the moment.” She left you alone in the living room.

You were only able to stare after her, unable to form any words to stop her. You swore you could actually hear your heart breaking.

Tears began to form in your eyes and you sat down on the couch.

What had you done?

The End

Forever Tags: @emptywithout

12 Days of Christmas Tags: @roxyspearing, @clumsyprincess85 ,@jayankles, @carryonmyswansong @becs-bunker (tagging you because you seem to enjoy the story^^)

If you want me to tag you in future stories, send me an ask!

[tripletigersashay]

The Tale of Two Chiefs - Ch 2

Chapter 2! Yay! 

Word Count: 3128

With the stiff, formal ceremony over and done with, you were itching to get up and move around. You turned to your husband and saw him looking just as worn out as you felt. You put a hand on his arm in what was hopefully a comforting gesture.

“I take it you’re not fond of staying still for too long either?” you asked, amused. He huffed a chuckle, obviously stiff and sore from the way he rolled his shoulders.

“What can I say? I’ve always been a man of action,” he said.

“I think we’re going to get along just fine, Husband,” you said. His expression shifted in a way you couldn’t quite place before returning to the way it was. “I’m looking forward to the bride running,” you said, already looking off into the distance at the Great Hall. With a smirk you asked, “Ready to serve me my mead all night?”

“Not on your life, Wifey,” he said, using what height he had on you to his advantage and leaning over you. He obviously wasn’t expecting you to pull him closer to you and flailed to regain his balance as you grinned.

“Careful, Dagur. You may be a walking mountain of muscle, but your weight is going to slow you down.” He grinned back, obviously enjoying himself more than he did just a second ago.

“Point taken,” he said before turning to the guests waiting for the running to begin. “Attention, all! The bride running is soon to begin!” This was greeted by many cheers, all excited to feast. “My beautiful bride and I,” he was interrupted by several whoops and hollers from the unmarried men in the audience, “will begin first, followed by our families, and finally by the rest of the tribes in attendance!” After the crowd shouted their agreement, he nodded, pleased. Then in a single string of words that took less time to say than they should have, he cried, “Ready, set, go!” and shot off into the distance.

“Cheater!” you screamed and chased off after him. With his head start and speed, he put more distance in between the two of you with each step. You still ran, spurred on by the shouts from your family to show the scoundrel what for.

You did not end up winning, but second place wasn’t so bad, you told yourself. Dagur was looking very pleased with himself, leaning against the wall, as he watched you approach, huffing and puffing and indignant to the point of a near explosion. He then had the gall to greet you with only a roguish grin and a rise and fall of an eyebrow. You sighed as you saw the sword you had given him at the ceremony laying diagonally across the massive doors of the Great Hall. He had well and truly beaten you.

Sliding the sword back into his belt as you walked up to him at a much more becoming pace for a bride and composed yourself. Taking his offered hand, you said, “That, Husband, was not a fair competition.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, not sounding particularly sorry at all, “you can tell me all about it while you pour me my mead.” You stopped and pushed your tongue into your cheek, burying the smile threatening to show itself. This man certainly took no prisoners.

Hand in hand, you waited with your husband for each of the guests to catch up and enter the Great Hall. With the last guest accounted for, you turned to the interior of the Great Hall with Dagur and spoke to the guests. “I thank you all again for attending our wedding ceremony and bearing witness to both mine and my husband’s transition from maiden and bachelor to wife and husband,” you said, smiling. “And now, we would be honored for you all to bear witness to our first threshold crossing as our new selves.”

With that said, you held Dagur’s hand just a bit tighter and let him lead you to the raised lip at the door of the Great Hall to help you across. “How come ‘wife’ came first in that speech?” he muttered in your ear as you walked passed him.

“Because wife was speaking, that’s why,” you said. “Now help me across this threshold before I trip and jinx the whole damn thing.” Though he grumbled under his breath, he did not seem so upset to do as he was asked. He stepped inside after you and the door closed, marking the beginning of the feast to celebrate your union.

“Welcome, all,” Dagur’s voice boomed in the Hall, “with this sword, I plunge into this Great Hall’s main pillar, and prove my worth as husband to my bride. May she bear as many children as this sword sinks deep!”

You watched as your husband threw the sword as if it were a spear and watched on still as it flew past the main pillar and sunk itself to the hilt in one of the ceiling rafters. Stifling your own laugh so as to not add to the already roaring laughter sounding throughout the Hall, you placed a comforting hand on Dagur’s shoulder. “It’s not so bad, Dagur,” you had to stop to let out a few chuckles before you choked on them, “what’s important is how deep the sword goes, not where.”

“Don’t help,” he said, rubbing a hand down his face.

“She’s right, lad!” a man cried from the crowd. “May you be happy with your many, many children!” The rest of the crowd roared in agreement.

“I’ve never seen a sword sink to the hilt before!” one man shouted.

“That’s our chief!” cried another.

Seeing Dagur still looking embarrassed, you laid a soft hand on his arm and said, “See? It’s fine. Come on, I’ll get you some mead.” Despite knowing you weren’t supposed to serve him his first drink as a married man without ceremony, you snuck a cup off a passing barmaid’s tray and passed it to your husband. He downed it in one gulp and just as sneakily put the empty cup on another barmaid’s tray. If there were any witnesses to this affair, they kept mum.

The food was served, steaming hot and mouth wateringly fragrant. A barmaid walked behind you with a platter of roast chicken and your nose couldn’t help but try to follow after her. Dagur caught your arm before you leaned too far and gave you a knowing look as you sat straight again as if nothing had happened. You waited impatiently as each of the tables was set with food and drummed your fingers against your thigh.

His fingers catching yours and holding them still, Dagur gave you a look that said to have patience. Feeling like a scolded child, you wrenched your fingers free and went right on drumming until a barmaid brought a tray and held it out to you. On it was a pitcher of mead and the loving cup with which you would serve Dagur his first official drink as a married man. Pouring the mead carefully and holding the cup by both handles on either side of it, you held it toward Dagur and recited the verse you’d had to rehearse time and time again. After taking the cup from you, Dagur consecrated the mead with the sign of the hammer and made his toast to Odin before drinking of it. With a slight grimace on his face he passed the cup back to you.

“What? Are you upset with me?” you asked, softly enough for only Dagur to hear. He shook his head and motioned for you to continue with the ceremony. Making your toast to Freyja, you snuck another quick look at your new husband before drinking of the loving cup. Oh. There was definitely more blood mixed in with the mead than was the customary one or two drops. You tried your best to unpucker your lips as the barmaid took back the cup and walked away, others serving mead in regular cups making their rounds through the Hall.

“Let the feast begin!” you heard your father say from another part of the room. A roaring cheer followed, and the Hall filled once again with friendly chatter over food, a sound you missed hearing in your busy days as chief. Dagur’s hand on your back helped you school your expression and you made easy conversation with the people of neighboring tribes around you.

Breaking the ice with other tribesman was easy enough, and they were all pleasant conversationalists. Unofficial business deals abounded and, from the bits and pieces you caught of his own conversations, Dagur was having just as much luck building bonds for the Berserkers as you were for the Harvesters. Casting a meaningful glance at him from the side of your eye, you gave him a smile when he caught your gaze, which he returned. Already you were reaping the benefits of this union. His allies were yours and yours were his.

Serving yourself some roast chicken and then doing the same for Dagur, you turned to him as you handed him his plate. “How are you enjoying the married life so far?” you asked.

He shrugged. “I can’t really complain. I won the bride running, I’ve been served all night, and my wife is beautiful. It’s been a good few hours,” he said, leaning back in his seat. Your hand stilled for a moment, not expecting the compliment, and certainly not used to them from anyone that wasn’t another woman or a member of your family. When you collected yourself, you put his plate down in front of him and tried to return the favor.

“I’m rather enjoying myself, too,” you said. “I may have lost the bride running due to unforeseen circumstances--” Dagur choked on a laugh and didn’t bother stopping, even with your pointed look. “But there are worse fates than serving my ruggedly handsome husband,” you said with a meaningful hand placed on his arm. Dagur coughed again, though it didn’t seem like he was laughing that time. You took it upon yourself to laugh for him, the sound ringing clear through the Hall.

As the night went on, it became clear who could hold their mead and who couldn’t. There were men and women napping peacefully under the dining tables and the adults who were still awake were having a progressively harder time keeping the children away from the alcohol. You yourself knew that you weren’t all there, but you kept an eye on your younger relatives, shouting across the room for them to get away from the kegs if they got too close. Each time you did so, there would be laughs and encouragements that “there’s always next time, little one!” You sighed to yourself and took another sip with a mouthful of potatoes. You certainly weren’t like this as a child.

“You can relax, Y/N,” Dagur said, patting your shoulder. “So what if the kids get a little mead in them? It’s our wedding, let them live a little.” You grunted around your mouthful of potatoes and gave him a look.

“‘Letting them live’ means having a village of hungover children the next morning because they don’t know how to limit themselves,” you said once you’d swallowed. “It’s bad enough half the archipelago will be sleeping the day away tomorrow, we don’t need the kids to be as hungover as we are. And neither of us will be in a state to babysit tomorrow, with all we’ve been drinking.”

Dagur scoffed. “Maybe you can’t hold your drink, but I’m perfectly fine!” he said. The smell of mead on his breath had you believing otherwise. Still, you nodded your agreement, not bothering to argue. “Speaking of drinks,” he said, holding up his cup to you. “Please?”

You sighed and grabbed your own half-full cup to pour into his, not bothering with the pitcher a little farther away. Just as you tilted the lip of your cup over his, your uncle Lymrich sprawled himself across the table to interrupt.

“I got an idea, lass!” he slurred. You raised your eyebrows for him to continue, still holding your cup over Dagur’s. “It’s gonna be the newest wedding tradition! First, ye take a bit of mead in yer mouth,” he said, guiding your cup back to you. You did as he asked and watched him frown as you swallowed. “No, no! Ye keep the mead in yer mouth and ye pass it to his mouth in a kiss!” You nearly choked.

“Maybe you’ve had enough to drink, Uncle Lymrich,” you started, moving the pitcher farther away from him, partly to keep him from drinking it and partly to keep him from knocking it over in his drunk stupor. Boos and groans sounded from those still conscious around you and you almost joined them, knowing immediately where this was going to lead.

Other drunk townspeople soon joined you uncle in support for his idea, the drunkest ones sprawling themselves on the table with your uncle in solidarity and knocking over the pitcher of mead. They ended up looking like pikes at the fish market, lined up as they were. Laughing at the sight, you held up your hands in surrender. Gods, you hoped they didn’t break the table. You weren’t sure there were any trees strong enough to build a new one, after using many of them to rebuild parts of the docks.

“Only if my husband approves,” you said, hoping he wouldn’t but knowing he would, as drunk as he was. At this, all eyes went to Dagur, who choked on his fish, not expecting to be put on the spot like this. You took a leisurely sip of mead as the crowd badgered him, glad for the moment of rest. You guessed you had to get ready to kiss him in three, two…

“Alright, we’ll do it.” There it was. Cheers and hoots sounded all around as you took a swig of mead without griping and turned to Dagur, who leaned into you. His lips were rough against yours, but you figured that was common among all men. You kept a hand on the back of his neck to steady yourself and yelped into his mouth when he wrapped both arms around your waist and lifted you off your feet.

You had to stop yourself from laughing as the cheers amplified to thunderous levels, to keep both yourself and Dagur from choking. You felt a soft pull on your lips as Dagur swallowed, and then he let you go, holding one of your hands in his and raising them to the ceiling. You laughed, face heated from both the alcohol and the kiss, as the cheers nearly deafened you and woke up some of the sleeping vikings. Those who had just woken up joined in on the clapping and cheering despite not knowing what was going on.

After the excitement died down, you slowed your mead intake and looked around to see if all six witnesses of the next event of the night were still conscious. They were. Damn it.

The torchlight was almost unnecessary, the sun just beginning to rise over the horizon by the time you were walking back to your home in the center of the village with Dagur and the witnesses to your first bedding together. You took deep, quiet breaths as you walked, led by the torches the witnesses carried. You took a quick look around. There were three witnesses from either side of the wedding. On your side were your parents and sister. You felt more than a little exposed at the thought of bedding with Dagur under their gaze. On Dagur’s side were his sister and two of his friends from another island called Berk, all of whom you’d met for the first time tonight at the feast.

You looked out of the corner of your eye at Dagur, wondering if he was as nervous as you were. You guessed not. His gait was easy and relaxed, and his face held no tension, and he chatted easily with all the witnesses. A wave of envy lapped at you at his relaxation when you could barely breathe properly. You briefly wondered if he’d done this before. Bedding, that is. It wasn’t uncommon for a busy unmarried chief to keep a bed slave. Slavery had been outlawed on your island, but you knew little of Berserker Island’s policies. You thought you should change that soon, given your circumstances.

The walk to your home, now cleared of the rest of your family’s belongings, was easy and cheerful, though you couldn’t partake in the mood. Inside, with the torchlight casting shadows all along the walls and tables where your family’s belongings used to be and making everything look as you’d never seen it before, you felt uneasy. It was like this wasn’t even your home anymore. You’d known that you would have to change some of your life once you were married, but now you felt like you were in over your head and you were in danger of drowning.

Your foot caught on a step and, before you could hurt yourself, Jewel caught your arm and pulled you up. “Are you alright?” she asked. One look into her eyes and you knew she wasn’t just talking about the fall.

“I’m alright,” you said and nodded, hoping she’d ignore the way your hands shook. You almost wished you’d drank more, the alcohol having worn off too quickly. She let it go, but her expression was no less concerned. You snuck a look at Dagur. He didn’t seem to notice the exchange. Good. You’d rather not have him notice your nerves and misunderstand.

As you crossed the threshold into your bedroom, your heart felt like it would beat out of your chest. The witnesses gathered on the other side of the room to give as much privacy as they could, but you still didn’t feel comfortable.

You couldn’t meet Dagur’s eyes as he helped you get seated on the edge of the bed. They were shut tight as you felt him remove your bridal crown, but snapped open at the feeling of his lips on your forehead right after. You bowed your head and kept your eyes on his thigh propped up on the bed. He rested his head upon yours while he took the pins out of your hair. You counted each clack of the pins against wood as he set them down on the table beside your bed one by one.

You took a deep breath. This was the last time anyone outside of your husband or children would see you with your hair loose like this.

[travelonlinetips-blog]

New Post has been published on https://travelonlinetips.com/why-a-planeload-of-easyjet-passengers-were-stranded-for-three-days-in-jersey/

Why a planeload of easyJet passengers were stranded for three days in Jersey

Organised chaos: that seems about the right term for the state of flight operations over Europe, on what may be the busiest weekend in the busiest summer ever.

The captain of my Thomas Cook Airlines flight from Gatwick to Kavala in northern Greece warned it would be slow going. Yet we left only mildly late on Friday morning and threaded through crowded skies over France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and the territorial jigsaw formerly known as Yugoslavia to circle in over the Mediterranean and land more or less on time.

If your flight this month is no more than an hour or two late, I suggest you count it as a success.

We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view.

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Everything in aviation looks stretched to the limit this summer, as 135 easyJet passengers hoping to fly from Jersey to Newcastle discovered this week. They waited over 48 hours to escape the lovely Channel Island after their plane resisted all efforts to be mended. Eventually a replacement Airbus was flown in from Milan to take them to Tyneside.

Their enforced stay was funded by easyJet, which under European air passengers’ rights rules is obliged to provide hotels and meals.

The airline must also pay compensation, set at €250 per person. One silver lining to travellers from the slump in the pound: the amount owed by airlines that delay or cancel flights has increased in sterling terms, and today that payment is worth £230.

Besides the accommodation costs, easyJet stands to hand out over £31,000 to passengers. In this bizarre European legislation, payments bear little relation to the amount of upset and inconvenience endured by passengers. That same figure would apply had the travellers been delayed by a mere three hours.

The regulations known as EU261 incentivise airlines to delay one group of passengers for days rather than arrange a shorter wait for two planeloads.

The jinxed Jersey easyJetters may have been miffed to see, halfway through their enforced stay, an easyJet Airbus depart from the island to Newcastle with no delay at all.

Yes: the passengers booked to fly on Tuesday eventually took off on Thursday, even though there was a plane to their destination on Wednesday. 

As with a problem, a delay shared is a delay halved. And it can also help manage expectations. Had easyJet decided to put the Tuesday passengers on the Wednesday flight, the delayed travellers would at least be able to predict they would be home exactly 24 hours late. Meanwhile the Wednesday people could be warned they were in line for a delay and therefore plan accordingly.

But you can’t fault easyJet’s logic: why pay out another £30,000-plus for a second delayed planeload when the compensation costs for the jinxed jet will not increase whether they stay an extra day or another week?

EU261 is the sort of flawed legislation that gives the European Union a bad name, and is the process of being reviewed in Brussels. Ironically, the UK government has assured travellers that the rules will be replicated wholesale after Brexit (though I speculate the compensation amounts may be stipulated in pounds or even guineas, rather than euros).

Support free-thinking journalism and subscribe to Independent Minds

Perhaps it is because some of the European air passengers’ rights rules are so ridiculous that the airlines have learned they can pick and choose with impunity which to ignore. Many airlines ignore the obligation to re-route stranded travellers “at the earliest opportunity”.

While the breakdown of a Condor ferry has put pressure on flights from Jersey this week, I imagine that the Flybe schedule to airports across the mainland would have helped the easyJet passengers get back more quickly – flying, say, to Southampton or Bristol and flying on from there.

The Civil Aviation Authority ordered airlines to clean up their act by the end of June 2019, but I see absolutely no evidence that they have. The law may be profoundly flawed, but this key aspect of passengers welfare should be enforced. 

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[themadameditor]

‘I Lincoln, take thee Stella-’

My name is Blu.

The collective gasp filled the church. Blu instinctively stepped back her eyes already saying what the fuck!

‘I’m sorry.’

But it was the look in his eyes that told her his subconscious- you know the one that tells you exactly  how you are feeling and the one that rules your gut?- told a different story.

The buzzing from the congregation grew louder and it was all she heard. So much murmuring. The poor reverend father didn’t know what to do or say so he just stood there, hands clasped together probably wondering how the fuck someone could fuck up a name called Blu. Three letters strung together it is not that complicated and it definitely did not rhyme with Stella. Some people might be confused about the non-existent ‘e’ at the end, but that is neither here nor there. What was here, was the fact that her fiancé of six months and boyfriend of five years, give or take their two month breakup three years ago, in front of their family and friends fucked up this moment, this most pivotal moment in their life. Completely and utterly.

‘For what?’ Blu asked letting in that cold air between them, but she already knew what, she saw it in his eyes. Had she been this blind all along? What the fuck was she looking at and why hadn’t she seen this coming. It was that episode of Friends all over again, there was a reason she hated that show and this moment in her life is most likely the reason.

Lincoln took a step towards her and she took a step back, so they were off centre from the altar. In front of the bride’s side.

‘I’m so sorry. I can’t do this. I can’t marry you. I don’t-‘

Blu’s fist connected with Lincoln’s face before he said the words she knew he was going to say because that split second look in his eyes said it all. She didn’t look closely enough because she was so focused on planning the wedding of her dreams. She’d actually paid for a damn cirque du soliel troupe to perform as a surprise for him, because they met each other at one of their shows in London. Someone better tell them not to bother.

She burst outside the church doors and hopped into one of the waiting black Rolls Royce. ‘Drive. Just drive.’

‘Yes ma’am.’

She looked back to see her friends and family starring at the departing car. The look of shock on all their faces. She was shaking, she felt humiliated and angry, and her hand hurt from that punch to Lincoln’s face. It did make her feel good.

…

The Manhattan skyline had given way to greenery as her chauffeur kept driving them along to goodness knows where. The light of the day was beginning to fade before she noticed.

‘We have to stop for gas soon ma’am.’ His voice was kind and gentle, in absolutely no hurry.

‘Sorry. We probably should, I didn’t catch your name.’

‘Anthony. But you can call me Tony.’

‘Thanks. Let’s stop for gas and I think I should have an idea where we ought to go.’ She reached for her phone but realized that everything she owned was in their apartment back in Greenwich. She needed a game plan; she was always the one with a plan.

Tony pulled into the next gas station and Blu got out whilst he filled the car. She went to the bathroom, she hated public bathrooms but now is not the time to think about the absence of life’s conveniences. With water from the tap and thick paper towels she wiped up her makeup, her flawless makeup. She needed her entire body to breathe again, starting from her face. Several paper towels later she felt clean. She removed the lace layer of her wedding down so it was only the silk slip left. The memories of creating this wedding down with the team at Dior, killed her. Hours of work had gone into it. She thought about discarding it but couldn’t bring herself to do so. She’ll send it back to them to put it to better use, hopefully some good will come out of it. Or it would make someone else happy… someday.

‘Get yourself together Blu. What next?’

That was the fundamental question to which she always had an answer. Blu is a visionary she could see a hundred steps ahead of anyone, it is why she is so damn good at her job, creating the most impactful and phenomenal campaigns for some of the world’s top brands. She always knew the next ten steps to take and she moved at warp speed whilst taking them. But now, in this moment in her life when she planned the next ten steps of her life with someone else, she had no idea what to do except sit in a stall of a gas station bathroom and cry. Which is exactly what she did. She let out all the anger and fear and hurt she felt. She was in there a while, several people came and went, some knocked on the door to see if she was okay because they could hear the crazy woman in the first stall crying. She told them what happened through tears and they let her be. Some even slipped money under the door for her. People are inherently good.

One hour later she walked out of the stall her next step clear in her mind. First things first, she needed to call her parents, let them know she was okay. She needed a phone, her chauffeur should have one.

As Blu walked out of the bathroom she saw the blue and red lights of the police car flashing and she knew they’d come for her.

‘Ms. Sinclair.’ One officer asked as she approached the Rolls.

‘I am.’

‘We got a call from the Governor, who I believe was a guest at your wedding.’

‘He was.’ Blu remained calm.

‘Listen, we got the gist of what’s going on and your folks would just like to know that you are okay.’

‘Can I borrow your phone? I need to make a call.’

‘Of course ma’am.’

The nice officers let her use the phone to call her parents.

As expected her mother was hysterical, and in tears. Her dear mom who had done nothing to deserve anything of what had happened. She loved Lincoln, their families had gotten to know each other very well and loved each other. They were to be in-laws and both sides were looking forward to the union to being even more of a family unit.

‘Mom, I’m fine okay. Please don’t worry about me. The police found me I’m with the chauffeur and I’m fine. Let me speak to dad.’ She wanted to move on from hearing her mother’s voice, the worry got to her and she needed to be clear headed. ‘Dad, I’m okay.’ Blu said, pre-empting her father’s question. No she is not okay and the world needs to stop asking her that. ‘Do me a favour, please make sure he is not at the apartment I’ll be there in the next couple of hours… I’m okay I promise… I love you too. Let me speak to Victoria please…’ she waited for her best friend to get on the phone. ‘Hey… I’m not good. Still in shock and pissed but I’ll be good. Do me a favour, can you make sure my stuff is packed in the suitcases, just my stuff. Dad is going to make sure he is not there when I get there. I just need to pick up my suitcases and head out.’ Blu knew the step after next for her. She was going on that honeymoon by herself. Ten days in Senegal and ten days in Namibia. It was a gift from her parents, a trip of a lifetime. She spent two years after graduation travelling through Senegal and she longed to go back. Namibia is a place she’d dreamed of visiting for as long as she can remember, she and Lincoln often talked about it so they were very excited about this honeymoon. They put together a fabulous package complete with chauffeur and a guide for touring. She was about to eat and pray her way across the continent- the love part was already jinxed. ‘I’ll see you.’ She hung up the phone and handed it back to the officers, who’d been waiting patiently as she made her call, they wouldn’t dare go up against a woman who’d just been jilted at the altar. This is how serial killers are made. ‘Thank you very much.’

‘Ma’am are you going to be okay?’ One asked her.

‘I intend to be. Please extend my gratitude to the Governor this was very kind of him. Thank you.’ She hopped in the back of the Rolls Royce and Tony turned and asked,

‘Where to next?’

‘To my apartment in the city.’ It was her apartment, she found it because when she moved Lincoln’s apartment was too small for the both of them. She decorated it and made it a home for them. So it was hers.

‘Yes ma’am.’ He pulled out of the gas station and waved his thanks to the officers who stood and watched them drive off. This wasn’t the weirdest thing they’d seen all day but it was up there and she’d been very calm about it. They did call it in to their colleagues in the city, to be on alert just in case the bride went crazy on sight of the groom. Still, they hoped for the best for her.

‘I’m sorry about how today turned out ma’am.’ Tony said to his passenger in the back.

‘Me too Tony, me too.’

That was six weeks ago…

London. Blu is back in London and this time it’s for good. She’d never really thought she would return to the capital of her youth when she left four years ago, and left behind a legacy, a wildness of youth, questionable decisions but a life well lived with her closest friends. She’d left it physically but they still maintained their bond over time difference and different continents. They were and are friends first over whatever and whomever and that bond helped her in the bleakest moment of her life. The past six weeks.

When she left London, it was for love… first lesson life needs to teach women, do not place your happiness on the back burner for love. But she was smitten and had a whole life ahead of her. Thirty years old and ballsy, her future looked bright and full, graduate of Oxford, Masters from LSE and a career as the head of the digital team at one of London’s premier creative agencies. London was her playground, there is no place in the world like it, her everlasting city, and a love affair to be had at every corner. She’s travelled far and wide and even left it for a bit to settle elsewhere, but London remained her constant.

When Lincoln, told her he’d accepted a job offer from a firm in Manhattan who’d head hunted him, the news came out of left field. She hadn’t entertained the thought of leaving her life behind, and moving with him, even though they’d been together two years and all indications of a future together so it was only a matter of time as to when, not if, they’d break up. He’d been so excited, it was an opportunity too good to pass up and she couldn’t possibly stand in the way of his happiness. She ended the relationship after he asked her to make the move with him, and she flat out refused. Lincoln spent two months begging her for a second chance and just before he left for New York, because she would never not let him live out his dreams, they got back together, but Blu always thought it was a temporary measure. Long distance is not her thing.

On her first visit to see him, something about being in New York changed her mind about their situation, two months after that visit she took a punt and moved across the pond. It was easy for her to find a job out there, her skills were such that it was in demand and she’d made some great strides in the industry that people were starting to know her talents. Things in her life were settled, she and Lincoln had a good thing going, they lived a good life in Manhattan and took regular trips back home to London to visit their families and friends and it worked perfect the other way too. Three years after the move, Lincoln proposed and six weeks ago should have been her moment of happily ever after, after which they should have left for their honeymoon, but what’s that saying old people have; if you want to make God laugh tell him all your plans… well she must’ve given heaven one comedy show special because the joke was on her.

Lincoln’s ex-girlfriend before her was something Blu never bothered herself with because she is not a woman who looks to details of the past to satisfy her present; nothing good comes from looking back except to sprain your neck her grandmother once told her. He didn’t ask about her past lovers and she didn’t ask about his either. But according to her sources- because she simply had to know and went digging after being jilted and one week into her lone honeymoon- the conversations with the ex, started in the early days of his move when they were figuring out the long distance relationship issue. If there was anything else going on between them when she moved and all through their relationship Blue did not notice it and Lincoln had been clever about it. It didn’t make being suckered in such a way an easier pill to swallow.

It was no surprise when Lincoln proposed a year ago and in six months they were getting married. It was all so perfect, they were in love, one of those loves that takes a girl’s breath away, one that strangers stop to marvel at on the street as they pass you by, not because you are making out sloppily but because you exude that kind of feeling. Lincoln had given her that feeling, that jolt. Or maybe it was a temporary pause from reality…whatever it was he gave it to her and common sense must’ve taken leave of her brain because she did not see that curve in the road. Did not have an inkling that anything other than the choreography of the wedding day would happen. But it did.

For four weeks she drop off the face of the earth and left him to deal with the mess he’d caused. Whilst away she arranged for her things to be moved from Manhattan to her apartment in South Kensington. The rest she would figure out later. She emailed her notice at the digital agency where she worked, and two weeks ago, returned to London under the radar. Not even her best friends knew she was in town.

She’d spent four weeks wallowing in self-pity, licking her wound and crying her weight in tears and spent another two weeks hibernating and setting up her apartment. When she turned on her phone, it was to a deluge of messages from her best friends and family and Lincoln. All of which she deleted. She has to move forward, has to get her life back and where better to do it that London. The place that reinvents itself at the speed of light. Home turf. She’d done the whole moving away thing and starting her life somewhere else and it didn’t work out. It may be for the best but it is what it is.

She tapped her Oyster card and the turnstiles parted to let her through, walking outside Aldgate Station the blare of traffic and that particular London city air blasts her in the face, blowing her long curly fro back from her face. Spring, a season for reinvention in a city that inspired much of her life. She walked the back roads with a familiarity, she’d missed. She looked up at there was the Gherkin peeking through, it made her giggle because in the early days she’s thought it looked like some sort of vibrator and today it was an integral part of the London skyline.

Still looks like a vibrator though. She thought to herself with a giggle.

She breezed through the door of the tower building and ascended the lift to the very top floor for Duck and Waffle. Letting the familiar sounds of the city surround her, the beauty of London from above still stuns her. The lift pinged open at the very top floor of 110 Bishopsgate, she made her way to the reception area bar, from the window she spotted Sushi Samba one floor below, another old haunt of hers where the food and atmosphere are a heady mix, there will be some more nights out there for sure. She was shown to the booth where her friends were waiting, the same ones she’d tore through this old town with, partying up a storm and living it up.

As they embraced her Blu thinks to herself, London it’s good to be home.

Mind The Gap- Aldgate: The Old Stomping Ground ‘I Lincoln, take thee Stella-’ My name is Blu. The collective gasp filled the church. Blu instinctively stepped back her eyes already saying what the fuck!

[dayandadream]

Photo by ComplexCon

This is D3 The Concrete, bringing you fashion from the street.The next 1 – 2 articles are going to be pretty special because I will be continuing to share my experience of, what has to be, the best streetwear/sneaker convention going on right now: COMPLEXCON!Again, for those of you, who have been hiding under a rock, atop a mountain, beneath the sea, COMPLEXCON is a  2 – day extravaganza of sensory overload, packed within the Long Beach Convention Center! It is filled with the best, biggest, and boldest of streetwear in not just the United States, but also the WORLD (Japan, France, Denmark (what?), etc). To put it plainly, if you put South By Southwest, Agenda Tradeshow, and Comic Con in a blender for 30 seconds, you would get COMPLEXCON.

For now, let’s discuss Day 2, which was FILLED with dope kicks, celebrity sightings and a love for streetwear that will last for all ages! (Writer’s Note: All photos are by COMPLEXCON, unless otherwise stated).

Photo by Dara Landry

You know for Day 2, I had to stunt even HARDER, so I pulled out the big guns shoes to show that I was not playing games:

Green “U” cap by Ebbets Field Flannels x Undefeated 

Green Ralph Lauren Polo shirt 

Multicolored The North Face jacket 

Blue denim jeans 

Black Supreme Fanny Pack 

Nike SB Dunk Hi’s “420 Skunks”

We got in the UBER and hit the Long Beach Convention Center in less than 2 minutes. Did I mention that we were staying about 2 minutes away from the ComplexCon venue?

Once we arrived to the alternate entrance, we noticed that the line was less organized than the first day. The stanchions that separated the VIP line from the General Admissions lines were too wide apart, which allowed for more skipping and jumping ahead by late arrivals to the convention. Asides from that, the line experience was fine. I got a chance to meet a gentleman and his wife, who drove from El Paso, TX to be at ComplexCon. We discussed married life, shoes, and the idiosyncrasies of people who think that shoes are the end all, be all of life.

Once we entered the venue again, it was game time. I got in one line, which was MUCH shorter and much more organized, while my wife got into another line that was shut down early on the previous day, due to a rowdy crowd that near destroyed the edifice of the pop-up shop. She got a ticket, which guarantee her a pair of shoes. The good news is that we BOTH got shoes in each of those lines. The GREATER news is that we are not going to tell you what they are, until later this week (Follow me on IG & FACEBOOK: @D3THECONCRETE & www.facebook.com/D3THECONCRETE/). For now, I will show you a sneak peek of one of the pairs of shoes:

Photos By D3 The Concrete

Upon getting what I actually came to ComplexCon to get, I decided to take a victory lap around the LBC Convention Center. Here are some photos I took along the way (Writer’s Note: all of these selfies and other pics are by Dara Landry & I, unless otherwise stated):

Me & T. Piper of Day & A Dream / Sole Kalibur

Me & Jinx of Complex Media

This picture is one of my favorite from ComplexCon 2017. It’s a picture of me with Jeff Staple, founder and designer of STAPLE Clothing. He was, really, the only person that saw the subtlety in my outfit and complemented me on it. Not only him, but the people he was with gave the same comment. I proceeded to fanboy out, but then I gained composure and asked to take a picture. He, then, reached into his bag and gave me a pin, which looked like this:

Come to find out, this was one of the top 3 rarest pins from the PINTRILL x ComplexCon 2017 scavenger hunt that was going on during the weekend. Thanks, Jeff. You are the greatest.

  I met this woman at the colette Paris shop. She was behind the counter and helped to check out my merchandise. From her poise at the counter and her kind demeanor, I assumed right off, that she was the owner of the company. Au revoir, colette! We will miss you.

One of the top 3 people who I wanted to meet was Jerry Lorenzo, founder and creative director of Fear Of God. An unashamed Christian, he uses religious imagery to influence his creative flow and product. Very cool and laid-back, he took some time from his schedule to take a picture with me. Awesome dude and IF I had the funds, I would support his clothing line a BUNCH more!

  I had to represent it right, for the ladies: BOTH Melody Ehsani (my wife’s favorite streetwear brand name) and Leah McSweeney, the founder of Married to the Mob (one of the first all-female streetewear brands) were at ComplexCon, filming an episode of “Improper Etiquette”, a show started by McSweeney, co-hosted by Laura Stylez from HOT 97.

Me & APEX, graffiti artist legend out of San Francisco, CA. Had to get a picture with him.

Me & the man behind Rare Panther, Paulo Wallo!

Me and DJ A-Trak of Fool’s Gold Records!

This young man right here had the most incredible hustle spirit of the ENTIRE COMPLEXCON! His name is Paypaboy and you probably have seen him on his IG account, eating cereal out of his shoes! He spent his mornings, out the venue, before entry, giving these away:

Cereal with his name and face on the box! SO SMART!

Me & Willie D! Droppin’ them 5th Ward B’s on ya!

Me & Brad from Pintrill!

Me & Adrienne of Ms. Rprsntd!

This guy right here was a great, serendipitous meeting! Jordan, who used to work with both Alive & Well (Seattle, WA) & Ebbets Field Flannels (also in Seattle, WA). He is an inspiration to us all and I was honored to take a photo with him. He is currently a freelance content creator, so if you need him, don’t hesitate to Google him!

Both of these men are the REAL MVPs of the festival: security for the UNION x NIKE Jordan 1 OG Hi line. They held it down for the crown. If you know their names/IGs/Twitter, please send it to me!

Me and Dascha Polanco. Bruh… My only question is, why do I look like a member of the Creeper Club in this picture?! I do have to say that she is a VERY beautiful woman in person. Straight up. Love her in Orange Is The New Black.

Me & Futura Dos Mil aka Futura 2000 bka Futura. TRIPLE OG Legend in the streetwear/street art game. Last of a dying breed. World class act. Got a chance to link up with him again and he REMEMBERED me from 2012, when we met in Houston, TX at SPEC’s!

Alright y’all, I think that’s enough pictures for now. Thank you for following my journey and I look forward to going again next year!

P.S. – Here’s a photo gallery of Day 2, from the good people at ComplexCon 2017. Enjoy!

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  ComplexCon 2017 Recap (PART 2) Photo by ComplexCon

[astoldbywhits]

Rules of Engagement: Dating Older...

My good guy friend, Kenneth* who is about 22, asked me what I thought of him dating someone my age, 26. I looked at him sideways and giggled. My protective side showed when I asked him for a name, but he wouldn't tell me. He said that he didn't want to jinx it. I teased him about keeping it a secret, but I respected the fact that he treasured what the future could hold for this potential relationship. I wanted to say when you crawl into the den of a lioness know what you are stepping into, but I didn't. Instead, I swallowed the thought and went on to give him my advice. 

1. Intentions

I've said this before, intentions are very important in any relationship. Because the woman that he wants to pursue is older, this is vital in the relationship. I also told him that if he still wants to play, then he needs to let go of wanting to be with her. At our age, no one wants to play games and she doesn't have time to mold you into a man. That is something that your parents should have done. Be honest and up front about what you want out of the relationship. Again, if its just sex, then say that. If you want to grow with her, then say that. Either way let her know what you hope to get out of the union.

2. Understanding

I found that gender roles can get in the way of relationships sometimes. Men, often assume that a woman wants him to pay her bills, or take care of her. I'm here to tell you all out there, this is a rare case for any woman. When you meet her and she is taking care of herself, she will continue to do just that with or without you. I've found that younger men especially are afraid to get into a relationship with older women out of fear that they'll be expected to fully provide in ways that they can't. Trust me when I say, she has clocked your pockets and know what you can and can't do.

Will you be expected to take her out on dates? Yes, that is a part of the courting process, if you don't want to do this then don't date. Simple as that. When a woman on her grind is interested in a man, she is looking for a partner to build and grow with. She wants her efforts returned that she gives you. It's not that hard if you're up to the challenge. 

"Don't tell her you love her if you're not willing to put in work."  -- Alysia Harris & Miles Hodges "Doing It Wrong"

3. Accountability & Communication

These two things are probably a real duh, to some of you. In reality for many, these two things are discussed but never practiced. One thing I've learned from being involved with someone younger was his inability to be held accountable. Whenever there was an issue that I brought to his attention he would deny and place blame back on me. He'd rather text me than talk to me, and this caused a major strain on our relationship that was ultimately irreparable.

I've also been the younger one in a relationship, 10 years to be exact. In that relationship, he held me accountable, and we addressed every issue that was disturbing our peace. It only worked because I was open to elevating the way I communicated and wanted to grow in learning from my mistakes. He and I lasted 5 years and still maintain a friendship. 

The moral of the story is know what you are stepping into. The illusion of being with someone older may be appealing in many ways. The truth is being with someone older is going to force you to grow up or realize how immature you are. Don't tell her you love her and want to grow with her if you're not willing to put in work. Stay lost loves, it's beautiful not knowing. Don't say I didn't tell you. 

  Keep up with me on social media! Click the links below to follow. XoXo!

*Names have been changed for privacy purposes. This name will consistently be mentioned on this blog along with other names, who will also have been altered for privacy.