#I love kane and I need to get back into this story so hoping posting it here wil reawaken then inspo cuz i’ve been sitting on like

[spaceacemusic]

Sorry book goblin word vomit ahead

I’ve been reading the Kate Kane: Paranormal Investigator series because I really love the Dresden Files but hate the way the women are written. Now I’m on the most recent book and I have a deep need to either talk about the series or see other people talking about the series. There’s not really any blogs or hashtags talking about the series on any social media that I can find so uh I’m going to put this (and anything else that comes to mind about the series) into the void and hope it satisfies my goblin brain. And if for some silly reason a random person is reading this all the way through and is interested in reading about a lesbian paranormal investigator who’s sort of a faerie princess, the series is free to listen to on audible (or at least if you already have a subscription to audible the books don’t cost any credits).

When I read the first book I thought the writing wasn’t great mostly because a couple of phrases were used far too frequently for my liking. Namely “I’m a mother fucking vampire prince” and “here lies Kate Kane, (insert dangerous kooky situation she’s currently in), sorely missed”. As the series has gone on the usage of phrases like those have decreased, but are still used occasionally. At this point I even like when they’re brought back up.

I also thought upon first reading the series that this was the first time I had ever seen the trope of “every character is super hot and wants to have sex with the main character” be used for a lesbian instead of a straight man. I honestly can hardly think of a single character in the series that’s a woman that hasn’t tried to bang Kate or already banged Kate. The whole first book she’s got a super hot vampire prince (a lady vampire, even the women vampire rulers are called princes) and a famous lingerie model (who’s also the alpha of the local werewolf pack) trying to get with her in addition to the several other exes of Kate’s who are a big part of the story or random women throughout the story hitting on her. That particular aspect of the story hasn’t stopped as the books have come out but I’ve just accepted that she pulls that much. It helps that it’s much less creepy when a woman is written that way than a man 🤷🏻‍♀️

I also enjoy how much the series pokes fun at twilight. Patrick being Edward but exaggerated to the max (and the whole Knight family having the same vibes as the Cullen family) is really funny to me.

That’s kind of my overall thoughts on the series and I’m probably going to make separate posts for things that I’m thinking about the series that are more current to where I’m at in the story.

[demigodsanswer]

desperately desperately need a fifth position one shot now wow… I love how this AU keeps having spinoff AUs!!

truly the spin offs that live in my brain ... it's getting out of hand. Anyway fic rated M. this one is for the beyhive

Silena and Charlie were in agreement: Percy and Annabeth would be perfect together if she would just leave that man. They talked about it all the time.

The good news was, Annabeth had left that man. The bad news? Everything else.

But Annabeth was finally out of her cast, out of her engagement, and soon heading out of New York for a little while. There was just one last thing.

"I love that you're putting off mental health treatment for the Renaissance World Tour," Silena joked.

"The Renaissance World Tour is mental health treatment," Annabeth said back. She was slipping into a sparkly silver dress and a pair of boots with a low heel and solid ankle support. "Thanks for finding someone to give Luke's ticket to," she added.

"Percy was happy to take it." Silena had no idea if Percy knew any Beyonce music besides Single Ladies, but he liked live music and Annabeth enough to know not to turn the offer down.

"I haven't talked to him since 'Diamonds,'" Annabeth said. "I hope it's not awkward."

They were all sharing a house near the stadium in New Jersey. Percy and the guys were already downstairs pregaming, while the girls finished getting ready. Distantly, Silena could hear them cheering and playing Renaissance over the speakers.

"There's so many of us here, you might not even talk to him that much," Silena said.

Silena had spent five years trying to contrive ways to get Percy and Annabeth close to each other. But Luke always kept a possessive grip on her -- sometimes literally. Now would have been ideal. Except Annabeth had four more days in New York before she left for six months, and Percy ... well, if he got a taste of her, he'd let his heart get broken over and over again just to keep having her some of the time. Percy had never been casual, and Annabeth was volatile right now.

Silena and Charlie were hoping they didn't look twice at each other.

~

Of course they looked twice at each other. By Virgo's Groove, they were basically on top of one another. When they all got home, they shamelessly disappeared upstairs while everyone else kept partying.

Silena tried not to be too nervous about it.

"It'll be fine. They're adults," Charlie reminded her.

"I know, I know I just ... hope it works out and that they don't end up hurting each other," she said.

"Maybe one day you'll tell this story at their wedding?" Carter Kane suggested.

Silena smiled. Wouldn't that be a laugh?

~

Annabeth had kept the lights off, and asked to keep her dress on. Percy didn't mind though. She just kept pulling him in closer, and that dress fit her oh so well.

He was feeling pretty smug. She'd warned him that it was hard for her to cum. Some medication she was on or something.

"I haven't cum in eight months," she said, when Percy promised to get her off.

"Christ. At all?"

"Nope."

That didn't stop Percy from accepting the challenge.

And oh man, had she finished. Several times. The look of shock on her face alone would have been enough to confirm it for him, if there hadn't been other signs.

"Oh my god," she said, as she rolled off of him. She'd ridden him with reckless abandon, and he finished a little sooner than he would have liked. But Annabeth didn't seem to mind. She just laid on her back, breathing hard for a few moments. Percy rolled closer to her, inviting her in for a cuddle, but instead she just rolled out of bed. She grabbed a pair of pajamas from her suitcase and headed out the door to the bathroom.

When she came back, Percy was on his phone, texting Grover some videos of the show just to give himself something to do. When Annabeth spotted him on his phone, still in her bed, she just tossed a towel onto the post-sex wet spot, and marched over to him. She took the phone from his hand.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

Percy stammered. "What? Texting my friend, why?"

Annabeth looked at the screen, then flushed and handed the phone back to him. "Sorry, sorry, that was ... an insane thing to do, I'm so sorry."

"Is everything okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, yeah, everything is fine. You were great. Listen, I'm gonna go to bed, and I won't be upset if you decide to go back down stairs and party," she said, climbing into the other side of the bed.

"Um," Percy said. He rolled over and pulled her in as little spoon. She seemed to relax. "I'll leave if you want, but only if you want."

"Maybe not yet," she said.

Percy kissed the back of her neck. "Okay," he said. "When we get back to the city, would you want to go out? Get dinner or something?"

She stayed on her side, facing away from him. "I'm leaving New York in four days," she said.

"Leaving? Forever?" He asked.

"No, no, not forever, just ... six months." she said.

"Where are you going?" Percy asked.

"Home to Virginia. I need a break. I'm, um, doing a long mental health program. So I stop doing insane shit like taking people's phones away from them," she said.

"Okay," he said. "You can always text me while you're gone."

"I don't sext or send nudes or anything like that," she said quickly.

"That wasn't what I was talking about," Percy said back. "We can just talk. As friends."

"That ... makes more sense. Yes, I would like that a lot."

They were quiet for a while. Percy thought she'd maybe fallen asleep. But --

"Percy?" She whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Can you leave? I can't fall asleep with you in here," she said.

Percy's heart sank. "Sure, sure," he said, finally getting out of bed and searching for his clothes.

His friends were still partying downstairs even though it was well past two in the morning. He cleaned himself up and decided to join them. He wasn't much for taking shots, but tonight seemed to call for it.

[alltimecharlo]

Dear England review !!🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿♥️

(spoiler warning!!)

This show was AMAZING as you can probably tell by the standing ovation given to the cast and especially Joseph Fiennes for his job as Gareth.

It had it all; the overall tone was light but became serious when needed and addressed the big problems (Euros 2020 aftermath etc.) and there were so many quick witted jokes that the audience was always laughing!! Kane and Pickford’s characters provided most of the laughs, their actors did such a good job portraying them and there was just the right amount of banter between all the lads to make it feel like the team hehe.

The overall message of the play is that England is about stories, and that stories have 3 acts. For England, Russia 2018 was act 1 - the beginning, the Euros 2020 was act 2 - the struggle, and Qatar 2022 was supposed to be act 3 - this amazing finale to a long journey, but by the end we come to realise that Qatar was never act 3. Act 3 is the Euros 2024, and the play ends on a hopeful note.

The play begins with Southgate’s penalty miss and ends with Kane’s in Qatar. It draws parallels between the two of them and through comforting Kane, Gareth is able to finally forgive his past self and move forward. He instils in his England the values he wishes he had back then to fall back on and it was such a lovely message to see portrayed.

Sweet Caroline played after the actors took their bow and the entire crowd was singing it back to them :,) then to top it all off Three Lions plays as you exit the theatre dwelling all too much on the tragic legacy of England and attempt not to get too emotional…

It was an amazing evening out!! If anyone’s thinking of going last minute I’d definitely urge you to - every seat in the theatre seemed a good one, the stage was very open and my view was perfect even from the cheapest and highest circle!

(I made notes halfway through and on the way home about my favourite parts lol but I think that’ll have to be another post now!!)

[astralartefact]

Featuring the return of Nophica with a gun I did this thing on twitter, but I want to talk about it

(warning, I'm really mad about 6.3's Myths of the Realm segment in this so if you liked it maybe just skip Nophica lol)

Gaia (Krile would be in favorite Character, but Gaia would be higher than the next Scion so I did it this way around)

I just think Gaia is heavily underused... She's like the most interesting character we have in the entire game and she's stuck in Side Quest Purgatory where she will never leave - despite being the only person we know that actually shares this connection to the ancient world with us. And I know they're trying to "But she doesn't even care" her out of being relevant, but even just giving us a dialogue option askng her about Elpis and all of the stuff we learned about the ancients in EW (similar to the void stuff with Unukalhai) is extremely overdue in my opinion.

Krile Best Character. I have no notes, not even positive ones, I just vibe with her character the most. As pessimistic as I am about Myths of the Realm not ending in a trash fire, I do hope they at least give us some Krile action as some sort of pre-heating for her likely heavy involvement with Dawntrail.

Nophy (The off-brand Nophica we could have had before 6.3 ruined her) (hyperbolic) (unless) I just think "Mother Nature but she has a grudge" is such a fun concept and they decided to throw it all out by being like "But maybe everything you ever heard is wrong - but maybe it isn't we would never tell :)))" for some unfathomable reason, killing any amount of nuance the gods had to begin with to instead present us with bland paper cut-outs that say "We love you :)" when you touch them.

Like the only reason I can think of why they chose to not only not tell us anything about the individual gods but also actively push back against the stuff we did know from lore is that they were so scared that people would be mad about any controversial character intepretation and would then complain that you need to buy Fantasia to change your god - but like?? That's such a stupid reason?

Like "I love every living being equally... except for that stupid cow over there and I will get revenge for what she has done to me that one time a millenia ago" is just such a gold mine of character interactions that they just decided to abandon and ugh even just thinking about it makes me mad about 6.3 all over again.

Nanamo & Kan-E-Senna I couldn't decide lol Nanamo was one of the first characters I really cared for in this game, so I had to draw her. (I didn't really follow the story that much until like... Stormblood. Just did not interest me that much for some reason despite liking the rest of the game) I have really fond memories of doing the salt quests with her for some reason.

But I also love every time we run into Kane as part of the msq - and I also liked her EW role quest (I know people hate that one for some reason, but it makes perfect sense to be there? I think the only problem with it is that the model for that specific tree that it's centered around isn't particularly noteworthy and doesn't really get across just how important that tree is to the city - which is why it is in so many quests - especially since it's right in between gigantic world tree sized trees all around it and this one is just... a squart tree)

Also they should have left her hair ginger, I don't get why they changed it even if they have some lore reason for it

Raya-O-Senna Honestly, I think it's mostly that I like where she's placed in the overworld. It's just fun to jump over to her and that makes me like her more I guess (also helps that her brother is annoying, so she's immediately 5 times more likeable)

Also, after posting this on twt I immediately saw that someone had posted theirs with Fufucha from the botanist guild and felt so dumb for forgetting the gathering jobs, I would have chosen her too lol

Crym and Punishment Will not explain.

[dolphs-world]

August 10th, An actual Redux

Decided to return to my deleted post early. Talked about 3 things I liked about 'Citizen Kane'. 1. The Cockatoo. I like slow movies, a movie can be slow and paced well, especially given how fast a lot of newer videos on the internet are. But, by 90 minutes in, I was a little tired. The Cockatoo woke me right up. 2. 'The Simpsons'. It was cool seeing just how much of the film 'The Simpsons' referenced, especially with Mr. Burns. The Vaudeville number? Wow. But it was also interesting seeing what had escaped general pop culture. Last year I watched 'The Planet of the Apes', LOVED IT, and found it really interesting that the first quarter, the human sci-fi exploration part, was never referenced. Less so with 'Citizen Kane' given how it is the most overanalysed film, but I thought it was going to be focused a lot more on politics. Didn't know it was going to be non-linear and a focus on the ethics of journalism, which as we all know was what gamergate was really about (sarcasm). So yeah! 3. Plot Hole. In 'Toy Story', Buzz is a toy who doesn't think he is one. How does he know to act dead when a human appears? This is a plot hole I hear mentioned a lot. I have 2 things to say about it. a) It's very easy to rationalise. If you were on a strange planet, would you act like the friendly locals in a situation you perceive as dangerous to mitigate said danger? b) I'm a very particular person, I can focus on minor details like this that can take me out of the movie a bit. But if you can rationalise it with one line like I have, does it really ruin your enjoyment of the film? Does this ONE detail ruin it? I don't think so. The first scene of 'Citizen Kane' features the titular character dying. He says "Rosebud", drops a snow globe, and the nurse comes in later, covers him up, and takes him away. Who heard him say "Rosebud"? The Butler did. He said so right before telling his story. Granted, this happened right before the Cockatoo so it's easy to forget. But to have this kind of criticism you'd have to engage with the film pretty deeply and for the most overanalysed film, it's kind of embarrassing that this is a common criticism. Again, it's one detail. You're going to let THAT ruin your enjoyment? That was the first half. I think it was 3 times longer but c'est la vie. Anyways, the next section needs the start otherwise it doesn't make sense. I can't remember how I led into it so it's going to be a bit jarring.

We might have to move house at the end of the year. I really don't want to. My mum says that it won't change anything but I severely disagree. It will change everything, travel, interaction etc. It makes all the effort she's put "renovating" the house the past year or so pointless. But without a second full-time income we just don't have the resources to pay. I've offered to give half of my income but she doesn't want me to spend do that because I'll be worse of the future. I understand that but I'd still like to help out. I don't think having to move is fair. I really hope if we do have to move, it's still within this district. Recently, I started a new job. It involves working with children and I love it. I think I get along with people outside of my age range. And besides for a few people at my employment level, everyone is outside of said range. It's a much better alternative than lounging about at school, hoping that a friend has some time off from their "busy" schedule. My friends at Tertiary school I made back in Secondary school. They are all STEM students and all they do is complain (I get the irony). But they put themselves in this situation. No one forced them. The ones who have been pressured by their parents are the ones who don't complain. And it's so hard to have a conversation with any of them. Either they complain about school work, or they can only talk about one specific interest. It's like being forced to attend a lecture on a topic is uninteresting and told in a way that is unengaging. I don't mean to sound like a dick. I don't need to talk about the themes of 'Catcher in the Rye' or Hegelian Dialectics, but fucking rocks?! There's a friend of mine who for a month straight, whenever there was a moment of silence he would just talk about the different types of rocks. And that was it. It would be like if I just described how much screen time each Simpsons character had. And that's it. There's no meaning. And I know this guy can be a really engaging speaker. He did a 20 minute talk on how science can be hard to initially engage students. Beforehand, I did not care about the plight of the scienceman but by god if it wasn't one of the best things a peer did. But just talking about rock types or the different costumes of a Genshin character does not cut it for an engaging conversation. And I think part of it has to do with their hatred of English and the Humanities. I am often the butt of jokes because of my choice of studying, how easy it is, how childish it is. They often envy my life (I guess? don't know how else to phrase it) because of my "lucky" timetable. It wasn't lucky, I carefully planned it out so I had enough time to work and also have fun outside of both avenues of work. And I love my job! My friends envy me on a surface level. They see me walking about without any stress and they say "oh, wow I wish I could be as care-free and innocent as you". And then I describe the work I have to do for school, analysis of media sometimes, and my job and they say "oh, I could never do that". I know you can't! You're you and I'm me. I made my choices and I am happy with them. Why can't you be? Anyways, that's it. I will have more to say on their hatred of English another. Also forgot to reinclude my random thought about if video games are high art, another thing I will discuss at a later time. This isn't the end though, my previous entry is the "conclusion" to this. Now I got to run along and write a gratitude letter for someone. Lame!

[whump-queen]

Kane & Raiza Ep 1 Part 1: Grateful

Read Next 》 || Masterlist ||

This is part of a long series written with @whumpsday’s Kane and my Raiza (picrew/info here). I have probably over 100 pages of these two so lmk if you like it and I’ll post more!

Bonus Comic for this chapter!!

Content: vampire whumpee, blood, starvation, broken/conditioned whumpee, sadistic/cruel whumper, creepy/intimate whumper, beatdown, drgradation & self degradation, pet whump, humiliation, all that good shit.  Words: 1.2k

✧─ ༻✦༺ ─✧

Raiza descended the basement stairs that day holding a length of chain, a smile and a dark glint in his eyes. He'd not yet reached the bottom of the stairs before his voice rang out low and stern, leaving not an inch for hesitation.

“Pet. Come."

Kane bolted upright and scrambled toward Raiza, kneeling at the bottom of the stairs.

"Yes, sir." 

He eyed the chain nervously, wondering if he'd be beaten with it or strapped down for something worse. Surely his master knew he was obedient enough to not need to be restrained for anything lighter than being whipped with a chain, so he hoped it was the former.

“Did I displease you in some way, sir? I'm sorry."

“Oh, quite the contrary, sweet thing."

Raiza smiled down at how perfect his pet looked, how obedient, how desperate to obey—the little thing he kept locked up in his basement, scrambling to drop his knees to the cold concrete, begging to know if he'd been displeasing, apologizing before he'd even done anything—

"Today's your lucky day." 

Raiza had his pet desperate to cave to his every whim, and Kane was beautiful. 

"Today, I'm going to feed you.

Kane's face lit up, beaming up at Raiza. Some of the tension bled out of him as everything clicked into place. He wasn't going to be hurt at all, the chain was just to make sure he didn't hurt Raiza again.

"Thank you so much, Master! I'm honored that I've earned such a thing. Please let me know what to do to make sure it's... safe for you."

“Good. About that. Head down. Hands behind your back." 

Kane snapped to obey and Raiza wound the chains around Kane's thin wrists, wrapping them tightly up to his elbows to squeeze his shoulders joints together just painfully, before snapping a heavy metal padlock around either end, binding Kane tightly there with links of unforgiving metal that dug into his flesh.

“And you should be grateful. You know you don't deserve this, but I got sick and tired of watching you faint and break my things every time you performed the most basic chores."

Kane whined softly in pain as his shoulders pulled taut behind him, but his eyes betrayed nothing but joy.

Food. I'm getting food.

If he were truly the dog his master wanted him to be, his tail would surely be wagging right now. 

"Thank you, Master! I'm so, so grateful. I know it's far more than I deserve. Thank you for feeding me anyway."

He looked up at Raiza with adoration.

Raiza couldn't help but smirk a bit at the way his pet mirrored his language, how fucking grateful he was, how quick he was to agree with anything Raiza said.

Perfect. He's just so fucking broken. 

Raiza pulled Kane's collar around his neck so that the ring hung from the back rather than the front, and snapped another length of chain to the ring of the collar. He yanked back on the chain, dragging Kane backwards until he reached a wall, and pulled the chain taught before locking it to a hook high up on the wall.

Raiza retrieved a metal bowl, one that might be used for a dog, and set it on the ground, just out of Kane's reach. He flicked a blade out of his pocket and presesd it to his own forearm, just enough for a few beads of blood to press out from beneath the blade.

“You want to be fed pet? Then beg for it properly like the fucking dog you are."

Kane lunged forward at the smell of fresh blood, retching as he choked himself on the collar. It took a few moments for Kane to wrestle himself back enough to breathe, but once he'd caught his breath, he started pleading.

"Please, Master, please— I need it, I'm so hungry, please—I'll do anything, please feed me!" 

He thought about what Raiza had said.

Beg for it properly like the fucking dog you are.

He opened his mouth and extended his tongue out between words like a begging dog, hoping to god this would please his master.

"Please, sir. I'm so hungry."

His eyes shone with tears.

Raiza’s eyes widened at Kane’s open mouth, the way he displayed his tongue— “Aready panting like a little puppy, are you? Pretty, begging, whining little thing.”

Raiza continued musing as he dug the knife down into his own arm, fresh red blood begun to coagulate around the blade and pour out from that chosen spot on his skin. He would let some drip down into the bowl, he was sure he would—at some point—but for now, the way his pet looked, all desperate and begging so sweetly, it made him want to toy with the vampire just a bit more. 

He raised his bleeding arm above Kane’s head, sure that Kane wouldn't be able to lunge far enough to bite him with his neck chained back as it was.

“Cmon then, little pup, stick out your pretty pink tongue for me.”

Kane saw Raiza approaching and knew he had to be good, but thankfully, he was restrained enough that he didn't need to worry about controlling himself. 

He strained upward until he could barely breathe, obediently sticking his tongue out with a pathetic whine of need. His eyes were locked on the delicious blood his body craved so badly. 

God that sound — it went straight to Raiza’s head—

“Beautiful. Pathetic. That’s exactly how I want you to sound for me.”

And Raiza was holding his bleeding arm over Kane’s head now, thick, wet drops were spilling down onto the floor in front of where his pet knelt-- Onto his face, running down Kane’s neck. Raiza let a few drops fall into his pet’s open mouth, onto his tongue that stretched out, desperate with need. Raiza could've teased him like this forever and he'd be happy.

Raiza smirked again, beside himself, “What a nice little show you’re putting on for me.”

Kane swallowed the drops of blood gratefully. "Thank you, Master!"

He moved his tongue, trying to wipe the rest off his face and neck, but he couldn't reach—a desperate, strangled sound escaped him as the blood that lay just out of reach drove him mad. He pulled uselessly at the chains that bound his arms tight. 

He could reach the blood on the floor, he realized.

He lowered himself down, licking the blood from the floor hungrily before bobbing back up and sticking his tongue back out. He whined again, even more desperate now that he'd had a taste.

Raiza’s eyes narrowed instantly. He snaps—

Oh, That won’t do. 

He kicked Kane in the chest hard, sending his back and his head cracking back against the wall behind him.

“Did I fucking say you could move, leech?”

Another kick, harder this time.

“Did I? Huh???”

Another kick.

“You didn’t even ask. Fucking unbelievable.” 

But Raize didn't let up. He just kept kicking Kane again and again.

“I give you blood. I feed you, and you already think you can just do whatever you want? Have I really fucking spoiled you already?” 

Kane sobbed and fell to the floor under the force of the kicks, not struggling at all as Raiza delivered blow after blow to his brittle body. 

"I'm s-sorry, Master, I'm so sorry! I was just s-so hungry, I wasn't thinking, I'm sorry." His voice broke. "I'll be good, please, sir! I'm n-not spoiled, I'll be good, I promise! I'm so sorry."

Raiza laughed, a sharp, cold laugh that echoes around the concrete walls of the basement.

“Of course you weren't thinking! What should I expect from a stupid pet.”

He stomps down on Kane's head, pressing it against the floor. 

 "You've really got nothing going on in that empty head of yours, huh. You wanna act like a rabid fucking animal? Fine.”

“Then I’ll treat you like one.”

✧─ ༻✦༺ ─✧

I made a comic for this scene!!

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General whump taglist: @whumpshaped @whumpsday  @emmettnet @a-whump-sideblog @whump-it-like-its-hot @wolfeyedwitch @whumper-soot @unorganisedalienrubbish @kira-the-whump-enthusiast @hidden-dreamland @whumpedydump @lonesome--hunter @ashh-ed @whump-in-the-closet @shannon-foraker @oriantthegiant @banditosong @anonymustyou @feralwhump @jieunie-23

Lmk if you’d like to be added or removed from any taglist

bonus tagging @lumpsbumpsandwhumps cuz you wanted some creepy/sadistic whumper shit hope this scratches the itch babe <3

[maybemoonout]

Hello!! I did a better research about the "My Alex" and Miles words were supposedly "The next song is called ”My Fantasy”… I’d like to dedicate it to my Alex Turner!", unfortunately i couldn't find the video either and i would definitely kill for this footage. I just love the way they express their love for each other by dedicating songs it's so genuine, music is one of the most precious things in their lifes so when they dedicate a song to each other they really want to show there's a true feeling between them, regardless of whether it's friendship or anything else.

About Caroline Miles said that he just making up a girl's name to facilitate the creative process (sure, Miles), but the song is actually about a friend who was going through a hard time. Maybe he made the song about a girl so it wouldn't be so obvious, because it really looks like he just replaces the person's real name with Caroline (??).

I was rewatching that chaotic Martin interview and Alex said something interesting when Martin asked about the EYCTE lyrics "I just can't get the thought of you and him out of my head", Alex answered that a song sometimes isn't about the lyrics or a melody idea for example, but sometimes underneath some of those lines there's a memory or a message that you're disguising with the rest of it, or as you said it can be way more metaphorical than literal most of the time. I remember that they was asked about the girl in the EYCTE album and they also haven't confirmed that it is in fact about a girl they are talking about. So i mean, they have a very similar creative processes in that aspect, maybe Alex isn't talking about politics at all in Golden Trunks even with all the references, i believe it's just a metaphorical scenario to disguise the real thing he's talking about just like he said. Btw this all reminds me of Alex saying "Some of what happens in those situations is disclosed through the veil of song in the record, there's some references", it lives rent free in my head.

About the covers, i love the SOS cover probably the gayest for sure, and they definitely don't seem to care about it even with all the pressure from the industry as well. And you're totally right, people actually need to stop labeling other people like that it's fucked up

Thank you once again for the answers, i still don't know if i'm making any sense in all of this tho. I can't wait for the Golden Trunks analysis, i'm pretty sure you'll do an excellent job and i would love to help you with that, friend! \o

PS: Do you think they've been in touch these days, i just saw some people freaking out about Miles story. Dear God i hope so, my fingers are already crossed 🤞

Hi anon! I missed you T_T So glad to see you're back!

I do remember seeing that post, however I was met with a dead end with finding the clip. It seems we faced the same unfortunate predicament. If anyone will EVER get a clip of this iconic moment, I would love to see it! I totally agree with what you said about dedicating songs to someone. They're musicians. Music is their way of expressing emotions, their experiences, and their lives in general. So if a musician, especially world renowned ones like Alex Turner or Miles Kane, dedicate a song to you? You must be incredibly and utterly important.

Yes I remember the Caroline interview, well at least I remember reading a snippet of it. Anyway, it is incredibly sweet of Miles to make a song for a friend. I think the name "Caroline" was probably chosen because the vibes were giving oldies and Caroline was a common name to sing about in a lot of old songs which we know Miles loves. I'm definitely sure he replaced the name of whoever he was singing about, mostly because, most people would prefer some privacy to their problems. I think lots of people replace names if a song is dedicated to someone for privacy and I think that's very important. Still, it's incredibly sweet, Miles is such a nice turtle to make a whole song dedicated to someone going through a rough patch, it kinda feels like a gift now, knowing the back story. Like I said, musicians obvious form of expression is music, so this song feels like Miles' gift truly from the heart to whoever this person is.

I'm glad you took note of what I said about metaphors! I kinda wanted to mention it because Alex' lyrics have always been very out there. Most of the time they mean something else entirely and the words or objects he used are just symbols of things, ESPECIALLY in more recent albums like TBH+C and The Car. Also definitely in ETYCTE, there's lyrics there that are definitely deeper or possibly, shallower, than we think. We will never really know for sure.

Miles is, I think, more upfront in his lyrics, less symbolism and more emotion, while I like to think Alex hides his emotion in the symbolism. Don't get me wrong, Miles still has a lot of references and hidden things in his music, but I also think he's a lot more straightforward with his feelings. That's why I think his relationship with Alex is very good, creative wise. They can make music together that balances out, this beautiful mix of symbolism and pure emotion and everything in between. I can understand however, how it can possibly be difficult to have a relationship with someone who, like Alex, is more recluse. Alex is so good at hiding feelings in symbolism, I have this inkling it might be the same in real life, you can kind of tell too, in his lyrics, how he tends to be the type of person to hide, then proceed to regret doing so.

The references quote, that really hit me because that was one of the first quotes I saw when I joined the fandom (which was pretty recent). I think you can tell that that quote hit me very much because of how I mention the word "veil" or "behind the curtain" in previous answers that I've done.

Hehe SOS Cover also my favorite, and thank you for agreeing with me on the labels point <3

You're making total sense! Really I feel I AM the one who doesn't make sense, please do let me know if I stray to far from the topic. About the Golden Trunks Analysis, I'd love your help <3 Your ideas are quite wonderful and I'd love to see what you have to say as well. Please do give me a message in my chats if you want to have a shared analysis with me :DD. Thank you friend! I'll miss you until your return <3

P.S. I do think they've been in touch! I definitely think they've been in touch maybe around 2021? I heard they've had dinner on multiple occasions, and maybe some other things, but other than that, I think they have yeah! And we all know about Miles, the big tease he is, if he was interacting with Alex again, he'd probably only reveal little snippets and break our hearts HAHAHAHAH

[atlafan]

a/n: Hello! My lovely patrons said it was alright to post the first part of my new miniseries here. I hope you enjoy this because it’s a fun story. If you’d like to see what happens next, subscribe to my patreon! 

Warnings: angst and fluff, misunderstandings, some smoking of weed (THIS IS A SLOW BURN)

Words: 9.9K

Summary: Harry is 25, and decides to go to graduate school. He's in a film studies program, and becomes a GA for Dr. Casey Robertson, who he assumes is a man. When he goes to Casey's office for their first meeting, he realizes that Dr. Robertson is a woman. The two get along great as the semester progresses, and Harry starts to form a little crush on Casey. There's just one problem...she's engaged.

Harry thought he’d have his life together by now. His whole life he was told if he went to college, he’d be guaranteed a good job and a lasting career. He soon learned, however, that things wouldn’t be that simple. All he wanted to do was watch movies, and review them. He tried making a YouTube channel where he’d review the films he watched, but the videos didn’t get many views, and the few comments he’d get were pretty lewd.

He was sick of working at a grocery store during the day, and a bar at night. He barely had the time to do the things he liked, and he just wasn’t happy. So, he did what any other depressed twenty-five-year-old would do: he applied to graduate school. It made his parents happy since it would give him a break from having to pay off his student loans, and help him find some direction. Harry was able to secure a decent enough GA position that would pay him enough that he wouldn’t need to worry about a job, and he was able to find an apartment with some other graduate students.

So, there he was, enrolled into a Film Studies program, and he’d be a GA for the Writing, Literature, and Publishing undergraduate program. He wouldn’t be teaching or anything, but he would be helping out with a lot of grading and course design. He’d need to have office hours available, and be willing to work with students that have questions.

His roommates were nice enough. Two of them were in biology programs, and another was in art and animation program. Everyone had their own room, and they all had to share a bathroom, but it was okay. They were all adults, and all agreed on chores and how to keep things clean. The four all went out for drinks the first weekend they all moved in to get to know each other better. Harry could really see himself being friends with these people.

He was a little nervous about being a GA. He had to do a good job this semester in order to keep his grant money. It had been a while since he had been in a classroom, so he wasn’t sure how he’d do juggling his own classes and schoolwork along with helping a professor grade for their various courses. Luckily, a good chunk of Harry’s classes would be online, and he only needed to go to one in-person lecture. He got an email from the admin of the Writing and Literature department about meeting with a Dr. Robertson a week before classes start. This was the professor he’d be working with.

He wasn’t given a ton of information on what he needed, so he put his laptop in his backpack, threw on a pair of jeans and a nice button up, and headed out the door. He rolled up his sleeves and the ends of his jeans since it was a little hot out. His glasses were on, and his hair was still a little wet from his shower, but other than that he was feeling pretty confident in his look. He wanted to make a good first impression since he’d be working with this professor all year and not just the fall semester. Harry wondered what type of office he’d be given. He was hoping it would at least have a window, but he’d be grateful for whatever private area he’d be given. He was essentially being given a place to write and he wasn’t going to take it for granted.

As he enters the building, he realizes he has no idea where he’s going. He finds the directory, and sees that Dr. Robertson’s office is up on the second floor. He makes his way up, and takes a deep breath before heading down the hall to their office. As he approaches, he sees a woman with wild, wavy hair up in a high ponytail wearing black, high waist leggings, a slightly cropped tank top and sports bra combo, and was mumbling to herself as she rummaged through her bookshelves.

“Um, excuse me…” Harry speaks up.

“Oh!” The woman jumps. She sets her book down and pushes her glasses back up her nose. “You must be Harry, please, come in.” She waves him in.

“Are you Dr. Robertson?”

“I am.” She nods and extends her hand out for him to shake. “Have a seat.” Harry sits down in one of the chairs across from her desk. “You look a little confused.”

“It just doesn’t look like you were, um, expecting anyone…”

“I know, my office is a total disaster. I’m normally okay with organized chaos, but right now it’s just straight up chaos.” She chuckles. She notices Harry’s eyes drift to her cleavage for a moment. “I didn’t dress up for this since I knew I’d be cleaning things up around here, I apologize.”

“No! Uh, no need. I…I’m sorry, I thought you were a man…”

“Casey is a woman’s name.” She blinks.

“It’s also a man’s.” Harry runs a hand through his hair.

“Is it going to be a problem that I’m a woman?” She raises an eyebrow at him.

“No, of course not. I guess I was just picturing some older guy with a dark office and a bottle of whiskey in the corner that he sips on out of crystal.” He chuckles nervously.

“Ah, well, you know what they say about people who assume.” She smirks.

“I’m not making a very good first impression, am I.” It wasn’t a question.

“That depends.” She leans back in her chair.

“On?”

“What your favorite movie is.” She grins. “As long as it’s not The Wolf of Wallstreet you’ll be fine.”

“I mean, it’s not, but I don’t mind that movie. I thought Leo’s performance was good.” Harry shrugs.

“It definitely was, but I don’t think it needed to be three hours long, nor did I need full frontal of Margot Robbie’s vagina, but that’s besides the point. What’s your favorite movie?”

“This is going to sound cliché, but…it’s Citizen Kane.”

“Is that your favorite because it truly is, or is it your favorite because someone told you it should be?”

“No, it’s genuinely my favorite. I’m a big fan of Orson Welles, I think the film was extremely innovative at the time, it still is by today’s standards. And I love how it was blatant commentary on the harms of yellow journalism. It’s cool to think back on how much trouble Welles had with the distribution for it too.” Harry realizes how excited he’s getting, and clears his throat. “Sorry.”

“Never apologize for the things you’re passionate about.”

“What, uh, what’s your favorite movie?”

“The Wedding Singer.” She smiles.

“Isn’t that an Adam Sandler movie?”

“It sure is.” She says proudly. “Look, I can admit that some of his movies aren’t great. However, I’ve written a ton of academic pieces on The Wedding Singer.”

“Really?”

“Mhm, during a time of uncertainty with AIDS there was LGBTQ representation. The actor that played George ended up coming out as transgender, and lived out her days proudly as a woman. Not to mention that Adam Sandler doesn’t use being gay as a punchline, like, ever. There’re always people of color represented in his films as well. And on a personal note, as a Jewish woman, it was always nice seeing that his characters were Jewish. That type of representation was really important to me as a kid.”

“Wow, I guess I never really thought about that.”

“Well, that’s why I have a PhD and you’re going for your master’s.” She smirks. “Teasing.” She pulls some papers out of her desk. “Okay, so this fall I’m teaching Advanced Screenwriting, Analyzing Screen Media, and two sections of freshman Composition. I’ll need you physically there during the composition classes since those will be the ones I’m going to be having you grading the work for. I’m all for helping first year students learn the basics, but I just don’t have the strength to grade their papers this year. Plus, it’ll be good for you to learn how to properly grade an array of work.”

“All that sounds good…you won’t need help with your other classes?”

“Maybe next semester. I teach a scriptwriting class in the spring, along with some other writing courses. You’re going to be taking some pretty high-level stuff this semester, I don’t want you getting overwhelmed.”

“You know what classes I’m taking?”

“Of course I do. I’d be stupid not to look into the person I’m going to be working with. Even though I’m not your graduate advisor, I hope you know I’d be happy to help you with whatever you need. Are you coming right from undergrad, or did you take some time off?”

“It’s been a few years since I’ve been in school. I’m twenty-five.”

“Sometimes it’s good to take some time off, figure out what you want to focus on. What exactly are you hoping to get out of a graduate film program?”

“I want to write high-level film reviews. I was hoping to make a video series, but it’s really tough to build a base on YouTube. I got discouraged.”

“If you ever want me to watch what you have out there already, I’d be more than happy to.”

“Sure, that’d be great. So, uh, where will my office be?”

“Oh, honey, did you think you were getting your own office?” She can’t help but giggle. “We’re not in the science building, GA’s don’t get their own offices over here.”

“How will students meet with me if they have questions?”

“They won’t need to meet with you, you’re not teaching.”

“But I’ll be grading, what if a student wants to question me on a grade?”

“Then they can come to me.” She shrugs.

“Dr. Robertson, where am I supposed to get my own work done?”

“Mi oficina es tu oficina.” She smiles. “You can work in here any time you like. I actually have a key for you.” She opens a drawer and pulls out a key. “Here you go, don’t lose that.”

“What if you’re meeting with a student?”

“As you can see, we have a lovely lounge at the end of the hall, you can go there and set up shop if you need to. You’re a GA, Mr. Styles, pay your dues. Now, here are my syllabi, and you should have gotten an email stating that you’ve been given access to all my courses. There are rubrics for all of the assignments as well, as long as you follow those you should have no problem grading.”

“Alright.” Harry takes the different sheets of paper from her, catching sight of the ring on her finger. “Are you married?” He wasn’t quite sure why he asked, but he couldn’t stop himself.

“Hm? Oh, no.” She laughs. “Just engaged.” She extends her hand to look down at her ring. “Been engaged for over a year, we can’t seem to decide on a date. My fiancé is a lawyer, and a highly sought after one at that.”

“Why not just pick a random day to go to a courthouse?”

“Well, we both have big families, and we don’t want to disappoint any of them.” She sighs. “It’s fine, we’ll figure it out at some point. Neither of us are really in a rush. We’ve been together five years, it’ll happen when it happens.” She studies Harry for a moment. “What about you?”

“What about me?”

“Have anyone special?”

“Oh!” Harry’s cheeks redden. “Um, no…nothing serious, anyways.”

“Maybe you’ll meet someone here. You should go to the GA meetings, meet others doing what you’re doing.”

“I’m living with three other GA’s, we’re getting along pretty well so far. But I’ll definitely check out when those meetings are.”

“Good.” She smiles.

“May I ask how old you are? You seem so accomplished, I mean…look at all of the degrees and certificates you have.” Harry motions to the various frames on the walls.

“Some of those are just recognition certificates. I’m twenty-eight. I did a 4+1 program to get my master’s so I could zip right along into a PhD program. I was lucky enough that I was hired on full-time after getting it. The department really values me.”

“That’s awesome.” Harry smiles. “Anything else you’d like me to know about your classes?”

“Not at the moment. Would you be comfortable giving me your cell number? Anything I can do to have less emails, you know?”

“I don’t mind.” Harry smiles again and takes out his phone, handing it to her.

“Thanks, it’ll be much easier to tell you if something changes last minute this way.” She texts herself before handing him back his phone.

“Your fiancé won’t mind you texting me?” Harry asks playfully, warming up to her a bit more.

“No, why would he? We’re not one of those couples who reads each other’s texts. My phone is my property just as his phone is his property. We trust each other.” She rests her elbows on her desk, putting even more of her cleavage on display for him without realizing it. “Besides that, I’m not trying to start an affair with my GA who should be very careful about flirting with me so that he doesn’t end up on some very thin ice.”

“I…I…I wasn’t-“

“You were being cheeky with me.” She crosses her arms over her chest as a smug smile sets on her lips. “I like to tease, Mr. Styles, you can relax your shoulders now.”

“I think it’s going to take me some time to get used to your sense of humor.” Harry says with a relaxed sigh.

“Well, you’re stuck with me for an entire year, so you’ve got plenty of time to figure me out. Now, if you don’t have any other questions, you can go on and enjoy the rest of your day.” She stands back up. “I need to continue organizing my books, and the rest of this mess.” Harry nods and stands up.

“It was nice to meet you. You know you can just call me Harry, right?”

“Sure.” She smiles. “I prefer to be called Dr. Robertson in the classroom, when we’re not in there you can just call me Casey.”

“Okay.” Harry smiles.

“Oh, wait! Are you free the day before classes start? I was hoping to take you to lunch as a sort of good luck thing.”

“I can definitely do lunch the day before classes start.”

As Harry walks back to his apartment, he can’t help but think about how cool Casey is. She’s a bit frazzled, yes, but she seems like someone Harry will be able to easily work with. At least he wouldn’t have to kiss the ass of some stuffy old professor. Casey’s ass is one Harry wouldn’t mind kissing, but she had a fiancé to take care of that for her. He had to admit, Casey was insanely attractive, but he’d politely just admire her from afar and respect that she was very much a taken woman. Besides that, it would be incredibly inappropriate to even try to start something up with the professor he was GA’ing for. No, he’d keep things professional. He wasn’t even looking for someone to be with right now anyways. If he felt the need to hook up with someone, he could either head down to the bars or download Tinder.

//

“Alright, if we could settle down and get started!” Casey shouts over the buzz of students talking in her first section of composition. “My name is Dr. Robertson, and that is what I’d prefer to be called. My pronouns are she/her. I encourage you all to be vocal about how you’d like to be addressed just the same. This is Mr. Styles, you may call him Harry. He’s going to be grading all of your work this semester, so you can send any and all excuses his way.” Casey grins and sits down on top of the desk at the front of the room. “Now, I’d like us all to go around the room and say your name, where you’re from, and what TV show you binged over the summer. I know for me, I rewatched Boy Meets World for the millionth time, and it was still just as good.”

Harry was impressed. Most of the time students hated ice breakers, but this was a pretty engaging one. Once the class of twenty-five is through, Casey goes over their course page in Canvas and the syllabus.

“Now, this specific course of composition has a topic, so we’re going to be writing about television this semester. If you don’t think you can write about that, then you may want to find another section of composition to take. I will say, we’re going to have a lot of fun in this class. We’re going to watch some interesting shows, and you may find that you’re ‘to watch’ list will have grown exponentially by the end of the semester.”

Casey asks if anyone has any questions, and a few do which causes some lively class discussion for the remainder of the period. She lets them go about fifteen minutes early. Harry walks over to her as she unplugs her laptop from the monitor on the lectern.

“Seems like the majority of them are going to enjoy the content for this class.” Harry tells her, but all she does is hum her response as she looks down at her phone. She sighs heavily before putting her phone in her pocket. “Everything okay?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah. Just figuring out what Daniel and I are going to have for dinner, nothing serious.” She waves him off as she slings her bag over her shoulder. “How are your classes going so far?” She asks as they walk out of the room and head towards her office.

“Pretty good, I don’t think anything is going to be too difficult for me. I have to watch a lot of movies, but I was expecting that.” Harry shrugs.

Once they’re in her office, Casey sits down at her desk, and Harry makes himself comfortable on her couch. This is the routine they had started since she took him for lunch a few days ago. They worked in a comfortable silence together, occasionally taking breaks to chat. Casey was happy she got assigned a GA that knew the difference between work and play. Her cell phone ends up ringing about five different times. By the fifth time Harry heard the buzzing, he couldn’t help but speak up.

“If you need to take that I can step out.” Harry says.

“No, it’s fine.” Casey sighs. “It’s just Daniel being Daniel.”

“What do you mean?”

“His time is more valuable than mine.” She rolls her eyes. “He knows I’m working.”

“What if it’s an emergency?”

“It’s not.”

“Casey, he’s called you five times-“

“It’s not an emergency, now mind your business.” She snaps and stands up with her phone in her hand. “I’ll be back shortly.”

Casey didn’t share too much personal stuff with Harry about her fiancé. When they had lunch together, she told Harry his name is Daniel, and she explained the type of law he practiced, but not much more than that. She didn’t get into how they met, or how he proposed. She didn’t even seem to be excited while talking about him like she did when she and Harry first met. Casey returns about ten minutes later, and sits back down in her chair.

“I’m sorry if I overstepped.” Harry says softly.

“You didn’t.” She sighs. “I snapped at you for no good reason, I apologize.”

“Is everything alright?”

“Mhm.” She says without looking at him, and going into her email on her computer.

Harry furrows his brows as he looks at her, but gets back to what he was doing. If she didn’t want to talk about it then he wasn’t going to push her. Harry notices her resting her chin on her fist as she looks at the picture of her and Daniel that she had on her desk. She sighs heavily and shakes her head, returning to her emails.

“I have my lecture in a bit, so I’m gonna head out.” Harry says, putting his backpack on.

“Alright, have a good class.” She gives him a soft smile. “See you tomorrow.”

“Yeah.” He smiles back. “See you tomorrow.”

//

Harry’s lecture was long and boring. It was a class all about black and white films, and the beginning of cinema up through the 1950’s. It would be a class full of dense reading materials and learning about theorists that Harry had only briefly learned about previously in undergrad. Normally this would be a class Harry would be really interested in, but the professor had to be at least 70, and he was quite monotone.

When he gets home to his apartment, he grabs a Bud Light out of the fridge, twists the cap off the top, then settles onto the couch. His roommates were all still in class and would be meeting up for pizza in a bit, so Harry had about an hour to himself before he was to go downtown to meet up for dinner. He takes his phone out and scrolls through his various notifications. Halfway through his beer he decides to text Casey.

Harry: any thoughts on Dr. Jensen?

Casey: oh god don’t tell me he’s teaching your lecture course…

Harry: yeah…so is he going to stay boring all semester?

Casey: that dinosaur should have retired years ago, I’m so sorry you have to have a class with him. Is it the early cinema through the 1950’s class?

Harry: that’s the one! The content is interesting enough, but I was on the verge of falling asleep the whole time, idk how I’m gonna survive an entire semester with the guy. Any tips on how to survive his course?

Casey: def make sure you keep up with the homework. He’s one of those jerks that’s been using the same syllabus for the last 20 yrs, so he doesn’t update his exams. I’d also recommend getting a recorder for his lectures, keeping up with notes is basically impossible during class, but if you can go back and listen he actually makes a lot of good points

Harry: you’re a lifesaver, thank you!! 😊

Casey: any time! I actually like a lot of the movies he has on his syllabus, so if you ever want a movie buddy just let me know!

Casey: I’ve got that couch in my office literally so I can comfortably watch movies

A sigh leaves Harry’s mouth when he sees that she rushed to make it known watching movies would only be an on-campus thing. Would it be so weird if she came to his apartment for a movie night?

Harry: that sounds great, I actually have to watch The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari by the end of the week. I’m sure you’ve seen it a million times though…

Casey: I have, but it’s one of my favorites so I won’t mind watching it again

Harry: really??

Casey: yeah! I love German Gothic films, I took a class solely on them in grad school, I can’t get enough. The makeup, the sharp edges, the harsh shadows, it was all just so interesting

He sees the time on his phone and realizes he needs to head downtown to meet up with his roommates. Harry wasn’t one for using his phone while eating with friends, so much to his dismay he has to end the conversation.

Harry: learn something new about you every day! I have to get going, meeting up for pizza with friends. Did you figure out what you and Daniel are having for dinner?

Casey: pasta…have fun with your friends!

Harry: a classic choice, I love pasta

He almost wished he hadn’t sent that last text. She didn’t respond to it. Harry groans at himself, and picks himself up to head outside. He couldn’t wait to stuff his face with some greasy pizza, drink some more beer, and just unwind with his new friends. It was nice being back in school and feeling like your responsibilities could be put on the back burner for a bit. Schoolwork was a less anxiety inducing thing to focus on, as opposed to what the fuck Harry was going to do with his life. Casey would be a great mentor for him. She was essentially doing what he thinks he’d like to be doing. He had an entire year to pick her brain, and he wasn’t going to waste the opportunity. With any luck he’d be her GA again next year, but he didn’t want to get too far ahead of himself.

//

Casey and Harry were getting along famously. It was nearly October, and they were already in perfect sync. She was beyond grateful for him and his speedy grading. He was a fast reader, and she was not, so having him grade all of those papers and forum posts for her composition courses freed her up to focus on the work in her other classes. Harry tried his best not to bring up Daniel. Any time he did, Casey seemed to shut down. He’d only ask because he wanted to make sure Daniel wasn’t doing anything abusive to Casey. She never came in with a scratch on her, but Daniel could easily be doing something mental. Daniel never showed up to Casey’s office. If Harry were engaged to Casey, he’d want to visit her all he could, but maybe Casey didn’t like being visited since she always had something to do.

“Hey, Casey, what’s this faculty Halloween party about?” Harry asks her one Thursday afternoon. “I got an e-vite for it.”

“Oh! I forgot they put you on the faculty email list. You should go, it’s a lot of fun. It’s a great way for all of us to get together outside of the monthly faculty meetings. Everyone dresses up, it’s at one of the bars downtown. We get two drink tickets, and the rest you buy yourself.”

“Do other GA’s go?”

“Sometimes.” Casey nods. “It would be a good way for you to meet some of the other GA’s, and other faculty members. You can never have too many of us in your corner.”

“That’s true. What do you think I should dress up as? Like, how all out do people go?”

“Definitely keep it classy, appropriate, but don’t be afraid to have fun. Daniel and I usually do a couple’s costume. We have so much fun going to the store every year and figuring out what we want to do. It works out great cause his law firm has a costume party every year too.” She smiles. “We’re headed to the fabric store this weekend actually to start thinking of ideas.”

“Oh, that’s good. Um, what have you gone as in the past?”

“I’ll show you!” Casey grabs her phone, and wheels herself closer to Harry so he can see. “Last year we went as Bob and Linda from Bob’s Burgers, the year before that we went as vampires, and the year before that we went as Cosmo and Wanda from The Fairly Oddparents.”

“Aw, you guys looks so happy.”

“Yeah.” Casey swallows and locks her phone, wheeling back over to her desk. “Can’t wait to see what we come up with this year.” She mutters as she gets back to her work.

“I’ll have to really think about it. I haven’t dressed up for Halloween in forever.”

“Your friends didn’t have parties?”

“They did, but I was usually working. The bar I worked at had costume contests and stuff, so we were always busy. I’d get too hot from running around to dress up as anything.”

“Oh, that makes sense. Hmm…” She taps her chin as she thinks. “You could go as, like, a baseball player or something.”

“You’re just saying that because you want to see me in a pair of those tight pants.” Harry smirks.

“I see you in tight pants every day, it wouldn’t be anything new.” She says smugly before turning away from him.

“I do not wear tight pants every day.” Harry scoffs. “They may be tight in certain places, but it’s not like I’m walking around in skinny jeans.”

“True.” She side eyes him. “Maybe you could go as a Jonas Brother, all of them wear tight pants, or they used to.”

“I don’t think anyone at that party would get the reference.” Harry rolls his eyes.

“Well, don’t say I didn’t help you think of anything.” She shrugs.

Harry chuckles softly as he gets back to grading papers. He loved when Casey would tease him. He had grown a lot more comfortable with her sense of humor, and they would often end up in hysterics from their banter.

“Casey.” A tall man with salt and pepper hair wearing an expensive looking suit stands in the doorway. He was holding a small bouquet of flowers, and his eyes looked tired. “Baby, can I take you to lunch?”

“Daniel, I’m working.” Casey stands up. “Harry, this is my fiancé, Daniel. Daniel, this is my GA, Harry.”

“Hi, I’ve heard a lot about you.” Daniel says to Harry, then turns his attention back to Casey. “Please, you didn’t pack a lunch this morning. Let me take you out.”

Casey sighs, and ushers Daniel out into the hallway.

“You can’t just show up like this.” She says quietly.

“I’m really trying here, Honey.”

“I only have an hour, so we need to go somewhere quick.”

“That’s fine, uh, I got these for you. Know how much you like tulips.”

“These aren’t even season.” She smiles as she takes the flowers from him. “Thank you, Sweetheart, let me just go grab my jacket.” Casey goes back into her office and grabs her things. “Harry, I’ll be back in a little while.”

“Okay, I’ll probably be in class by the time you get back.”

“Alright.” She nods, and zips up her jacket.

“Do you want me to put those in some water for you?” He asks, nodding towards the flowers.

“Huh? Oh, no, that’s alright. They won’t last more than a few days as it is. It’s not worth it.”

//

Harry had ended up putting together a Clark Kent costume by wearing a light-wash pair of jeans, some converse, a Superman tee shirt with a jacket over it half zipped, and his glasses. He styled his hair to give the front an extra curl. The faculty would definitely be able to see the effort, but it also didn’t look like Harry was trying too hard. He heads downtown to the bar with his roommates, as they were all invited too. They all decided to be super heroes in disguise, so they made sure to take a ton of pictures before going to the party. Harry’s jaw nearly hits the floor when he spots Casey wearing a Morticia Addams costume. Even though Casey wasn’t showing much skin, her off the shoulder dress was leaving little to the imagination.

“Excuse me.” Harry says to his friends before making his way over to Casey. “Hi.”

“Harry!” She beams. “I’m so glad you could make it.”

“Me too, uh, what do you think of my costume?”

“I love it! Very cute and creative.” She smiles. “No one ever really thinks about dressing as the secret identity.”

“Casey, don’t you look lovely!” Dr. Lind says to her. “Where’s your Gomez?”

“Oh, uh, Daniel’s busy working a case. He couldn’t get away and I told him not to worry about it.” Casey explains.

“Aw, that’s too bad. It’s been ages since we’ve seen him. Have you two picked a date yet?”

“No, not yet. We both have had a lot going on, and we can’t seem to agree on the best time to do it. I’m sure we’ll figure it out soon.”

“You two should just elope, get it done at a courthouse and then have a big party for your families. I mean, the point of being engaged is not to stay engaged.”

“It’s only been a little over a year.” Casey mutters.

“I know, Dear, but you-“

“You know what’s great about being in a monogamous relationship? What happens between Daniel and I is between Daniel and I, none of this really concerns you, Nancy. I appreciate your input, but it’s not needed, excuse me.” Casey has to bite back tears as she walks away.

“My goodness, I didn’t mean to upset her.” Dr. Lind says to Harry.

“I’ll go see if she’s alright.” Harry finds Casey getting a new drink from the bar. He pulls her to the side to have a private word. “Dr. Lind always oversteps, she had no right to speak about what you should be doing.”

“I know that.” Casey says, looking away.

“Did Daniel really have to work late tonight?”

“No.”

“What happened?”

“Harry, I don’t want to talk about it.” She says before sipping on her drink. “I just want to have a good time tonight and not think about it, alright?”

“I can respect that, but I don’t think drinking your problems away is a great idea.”

“Harry, no offense, but I don’t need your opinion on this.” She brushes by him and goes to speak with some of her other friends.

A few hours pass, and it was starting to get a little stuffy in the bar, so Harry heads out for some fresh air. He sees Casey outside with a cigarette between her fingers. As he gets closer, he realizes it’s not a cigarette.

“Casey, are you smoking weed?” Harry asks her.

“It’s medicinal.” She mutters, blowing smoke in the opposite direction as to not hit him in the face with it. “It’s for my anxiety.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier to take an edible?”

“Not when I need it to work right away.”

“Did you drive yourself here tonight?”

“I did, but I can just take an uber home.” She shrugs. “I came out for some air.”

“So did I.” Harry rubs the back of his neck. “I’m not trying to pry into your life, but things won’t get better if you keep shit bottled up.”

“I just prefer to keep my private life private.”

“Believe me, I get that, but…god, I wish you’d just talk to me, I’m your friend.”

“Daniel and I had an argument earlier and I told him not to come with me because I didn’t want to pretend like everything was fine. I couldn’t stand in that bar around my friends and colleagues pretending like everything’s fine with him when it’s not. We’re far from fine, and we have been for a while.”

“Did something happen?”

“The morning before the day I first took you out to lunch he told me he was up for a promotion at the firm…partner.”

“That’s good, isn’t it?”

“It would have been if it didn’t involve us having to move to New York. He took the bar exam out there without telling me, and he passed. They want him out there to work on larger cases, as a defense attorney. I wouldn’t have been opposed to moving, but he just assumed that I would. He said I could teach anywhere with no regard with how I’d feel about leaving this institution, our friends, and family behind. And then he told me it wouldn’t even matter because he’d be making enough money for me to never have to work another day in my life and that I could just stay home taking care of our future children.”

“That’s a bit old fashioned.”

“It is, which was shocking to me because he’s never acted that way towards me. He’s always been so modern, so progressive. I think he was given advice from the wrong people. Anyways, he took the job in New York because he basically had to, he would have been stupid not to take it, so we’ve only been seeing each other on weekends. And when we do see each other, we just end up fighting…we don’t even sleep in the same room.” She shakes her head. “I don’t know what we’re doing anymore.” Her voice cracks, but she swallows her tears down. She spent too long on her makeup to ruin it from crying. “We’ve grown apart, it’s as simple as that, but neither of us have the courage to end it. I love him so much, but lately…lately I’ve been feeling like love just isn’t enough.” She looks up at Harry who had been nice enough to stand out in the cold with her to listen to all of her woes.

“I’m so sorry.” It’s all he can think to say. “You should be home with him…trying to work it out.”

“I couldn’t get out of the house fast enough today. I told him to just go back to New York. He’s got a whole new life out there. I’ve been to his apartment a few times, and I didn’t feel like I fit in at all. I don’t even know why he still wants me, he could easily find someone new out there.”

“How could he not want you?” Harry steps a little closer to her. “You’re smart, funny, and…you’re a knockout. If I were him and I saw you about to leave the house looking like this, well…I wouldn’t have let you leave the house.”

“Why, so you could tell me to change into something less form fitting?” She scoffs as she crosses her arms over her chest. Her blunt all but forgotten.

“I would have asked you to take the dress off, that’s for certain. As far getting something back on…” Harry takes another step closer to Casey, making her cheeks feel warm.

“Well, it’s a good thing you’re not Daniel.”

“I didn’t have much to drink tonight. Let me drive you home, and I’ll take the uber back to my apartment. That way you don’t have to worry about coming back for your car tomorrow.”

“I couldn’t ask you to do that.”

“You’re not, I’m making a suggestion.”

“Okay, yeah, if you don’t mind. I only live, like, fifteen minutes from here. We, uh, rent a townhome.”

Casey hands Harry her keys, and they make their way around the building to the parking lot. The drive is quiet. Casey could feel her eyes starting to droop. Harry had the heat cranked since it had gotten chilly. He watches the map on the navigation screen to make sure he makes the right turns to her house. He pulls into her driveway, and orders his uber.

“Thank you for driving.” Casey says.

“Any time.” Harry smiles and gets out of the car. He jogs around to the other side to open her door, and walks her up her front steps. “You gonna be okay?” He rubs his hands up and down her arms to keep her warm.

“Yeah.” She smiles softly up at him. “Harry, I-“ The front door opens with Daniel standing there.

“Casey, thank god, Baby, I’m so sorry.” He wraps his arms around her, kissing her without acknowledging Harry. “No argument is worth you leaving angry like that for.” He kisses her again.

“Daniel.” She pushes him off of her. “Harry’s here, he drove me home.”

“Oh! Sorry about that.” Daniel says. “Thanks for driving her, man.”

“No problem.” Harry’s uber pulls up in front of the house. “That’s my ride, uh, have a nice night.”

Harry’s gaze lingers on Casey for a moment before making his way to the car. Daniel leads Casey inside the house.

“Did you have a good time?” Daniel asks her as they both walk into the kitchen.

“I guess.” She shrugs. “Would have been more fun if my Gomez had been there with me.” She pouts at him.

“You told me you didn’t want me there.”

“I also told you to go back to New York, so clearly your listening skills are selective.”

“I was so mad at you that I actually almost left, but I couldn’t make it out of the driveway.” He comes over to her, caressing her cheek. “Casey, I want to figure all of this out with you. I don’t want to fight anymore, and I’m sick of sleeping alone.”

“I feel the same way. Let me take all of this off and put on some pj’s, and then we can talk.”

“Okay.” He smiles. “Want me to make you some tea?”

“That’d be great, thank you.”

//

Casey: I’m not able to come in today, I’m not feeling great…do you think you could handle my classes today? You can have comp peer edit their papers, and my other classes can just watch a movie

Harry: sure! Is there anything else you need?

Casey: just some rest, thanks for understanding

Harry had wondered for the rest of the weekend how things went between Casey and Daniel. Maybe he hung around and they were going to spend Monday together. All in all, he hoped Casey was okay. Her Monday classes were sad not to see their beloved Dr. Robertson, but many of the girls in class had no problem with Harry taking over for the day.

As a lark, Harry picked up some pepto bismol and other things that might make someone sick feel better. He pulls up to Casey’s house, and sighs with relief when he doesn’t see Daniel’s car. He rings the doorbell, and waits for Casey to open door.

“H-Harry?” She says as she opens the door. She had on an oversized, quarter-zip fleece and a pair of joggers. Her hair was in a loose, low ponytail with some strands left out in front. Her eyes were red and puffy, as was her nose.

“Hey, I…I brought you some pepto and some other stuff that might make you feel better. I didn’t know if you caught a cold or…are you okay?”

“Oh, Harry!” She wails, and throws her body into his, crying into his chest. Harry wraps his arms around her and moves them both further into the house, closing the door. “I’m not sick.” She sniffles as she looks up at him. “I’m…heartbroken.”

“What happened?”

“Daniel and I broke up.” Her voice cracks, and she shoves her face back into his chest. He holds her close and rubs her back. “We stayed up all night on Saturday talking.” She hiccups, stepping back from him and leading him into her living room. “We watched the sun come up in tears.” They both sit down on her sofa. There was a somewhat tattered blanket that she snatches, hugging it to her chest. “We just couldn’t come to a compromise that worked well enough for the both of us.” She pauses for a moment, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. “We didn’t yell or argue, we just talked everything out. He agreed that we grew apart and that we still loved each other very much. He was feeling defeated because he felt like he was the only one trying. I knew I stopped trying because I just didn’t have the strength anymore. He’s coming back next weekend to pack up the rest of his things. After we got some sleep on Sunday we went out to get him some boxes, and he packed as much as he could into his car. Five years over and done with just like that.”

“Casey, I’m so sorry.”

“I just needed today to, like, rest and regroup, but I just spent it crying…mourning the loss of my relationship.”

“That sounds like a pretty healthy way to deal with it.”

“Every time I tried to sleep, I just cried. I haven’t eaten all day, I’ve just been in here…wallowing.” She laughs coldly at herself.

“Let me make you something to eat. Do you have food in the kitchen?”

“Harry, you don’t have to. I know you have homework to do.” She frowns.

“My bag’s in the car. I can make you some dinner, and I can work on my assignments. I can even put on one of the movies I need to watch.”

“You really don’t have to babysit me. I’m a grown woman, I can take care of myself.”

“Casey, I want to help. Why don’t you go take a shower or something? I’m sure I’ll be able to find my way around your kitchen. I can just whip up some pasta.”

“You’re very kind, thank you.” She sniffles. “A shower sounds nice, I’ll go do that.”

By the time Casey gets downstairs, all cozy in a fresh fleece and pair of sweatpants, Harry had finished making some ziti mixed with some peas. He seasoned it with some parmesan cheese, pepper, and adobo.

“Hey.” He smiles when he sees her.

“Smells good in here.” She smiles back, hopping up onto one of the stools at her kitchen island. Harry puts a bowl of food in front of her before sitting down next to her. “Thank you.”

“Stop thanking me, would you?”

“I can’t help it.” Her bottom lip quivers as she takes a bite of food. “This is just so nice of you.” She sniffles.

“Casey, come on.” Harry chuckles and cradles her cheeks to thumb her tears away. “Can’t have you crying into your dinner.” He pouts cutely at her making her giggle before letting her go.

Harry eats while getting some work done, typing away at his computer. Casey eats her dinner slowly, not wanting to overwhelm her empty stomach. She also got her period earlier in the day, so she knew her tears had to have been in overdrive because of that. She finishes her food with a sigh and sets her fork down.

“All done?” Harry asks softly.

“Mhm, I can clean up.”

“No, let me-“

“Harry, I’m not helpless, please.” She hops off her stool and takes both of their bowls and put them in the dishwasher. “Did you figure out which movie you need to watch for class?”

“I have a choice between Some Like it Hot and The Apartment.”

“God, I can’t stand The Apartment.” Casey groans. “Let’s watch Some Like it Hot, it’s way more entertaining. I actually have it on DVD.”

“Oh, perfect.” Harry follows Casey into her living room, and he sits down as she sets the movie up. “I’ve never seen this one before.”

“Really? You’ll love it, it’s a classic. Marilyn Monroe is in it, and she’s just wonderful.” Casey sits down and hits play on the remote. “Can I get you anything? Water?”

“I’m all set, thank you.” Harry smiles, sitting back into the couch, making himself more comfortable. “You feeling a little better now that you’ve eaten?”

“Yeah, I-“ Casey’s phone starts ringing, and she sees that it’s Daniel. “I’m sorry, I need to take this.” Casey gets up quickly, and makes her way upstairs. “Hi…”

“Hi.”

“You don’t sound great.” Casey says softly.

“Been crying all day.”

“Me too.” She sighs.

“Are we sure we’re doing the right thing? If it hurts this much, shouldn’t we try to find a way to make this work?”

“Daniel, we went round in circles all weekend. You’re staying in New York, and I’m staying here. I don’t want you sacrificing your career for me. We’re not the same people we were five years ago…we’re both different now. I…I don’t want to wait for things to get started anymore.”

“So, you’d rather start over with someone new than just wait a little longer to get married to someone you know and love?”

“I want to marry someone who doesn’t lie to me about a promotion! You didn’t even talk to me before you accepted. It was like I didn’t even matter in your life, Daniel, don’t you understand that?”

“I know it was wrong of me to do that, I just thought you’d be on board…”

“Well, you thought wrong.”

“Apparently so.” There’s a beat of silence between them. “I’ll be coming back late on Friday. I should be able to pack everything else up during the weekend.”

“Okay, do you want me to stay with Lola? Like, do you not want me here?”

“I’m not going to kick you out of your own home, Casey. Besides, I’ll need you there so we can properly divide things up.”

“Right, yeah…”

“And we didn’t exactly get to have a, uh, proper goodbye.”

“Daniel.” Casey giggles. “I don’t think doing it one last time would be a good idea.”

“I’m not saying we need to plan it out, but if it happens…”

“We’ll see. I really am sorry we couldn’t compromise on things.”

“Me too. Well, I’ll let you go now. Sleep well.”

“You too.” Casey sighs as she hangs up, and makes her way downstairs. “Hey, Harry, if it’s all the same, I think I’m gonna just go to bed, but you can borrow the DVD if you want.”

“Oh! Okay.” Harry pauses the movie and stands up. “Everything alright?”

“Yeah, I’m just hormonal and tired. I’m ready to just crawl into bed and get cozy. I want to have a fresh start tomorrow.”

“Right, makes sense.” Harry gathers his things, and Casey walks him to the door.

“I can’t thank you enough for coming by.”

“All I did was make a little dinner.” Harry shrugs.

“It was more than that and you know it.” She pokes his chest playfully. “You’re a great friend.” She opens her arms up for him, and he gladly accepts her hug. He holds her close to him, maybe for a beat too long, but he likes the way she feels pressed up against him. Harry was also known for not being the first person to end a hug. Casey’s arms start to loosen around him, and he looks down at her. Her eyes widen when she sees Harry start to lean in. “Woah, what are you doing?” She steps back from him.

“N-nothing.” His face flushes.

“Were you just going to try to kiss me?”

“What, no! Of course not.” He swallows.

“Yes you were!” She pinches the bridge of her nose and takes a deep breath before looking at him. “Hi, I just broke up with my fiancé, who I’ve been with for over five years, what part of that made you think it was a good time to pull a move on me? Was all of this because you just wanted to try and get a piece?”

“Casey, that’s not what’s happening. I genuinely came to check on you. I…I just misread a signal, that’s all.”

“What signal? I literally just said you were a good friend and hugged you!” She puts her hands on her hips and frowns at him. “I’m really disappointed in you, Harry. You never struck me as the kind of guy to be nice to a girl just to try to-“

“I’m not one of those guys.” He shakes his head. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable or disrespect you, I just thought…”

“Harry, you’re my GA.”

“I know.”

“It would be highly inappropriate for us to get involved. I mean, I know I’m only three years older than you, but at the end of the day I have a position of power over you. You’re a bright man, Harry, don’t be stupid and risk messing up your future because you have a crush.”

Harry looks down at his shoes, shoving his hands into his pockets.

“I understand what you’re saying.” He looks up at her. “But you haven’t said that you don’t like me back.” He smirks, making her mouth fall open. She was speechless. “Sleep tight, Casey.” Harry turns and opens the door, letting himself out. Casey stands in her doorway.

“You’re on thin ice, Styles!” She calls after him.

“I’ll make sure to step with caution, Dr. Robertson!” He shouts back before getting into his car.

Casey shuts her door, and sighs, leaning against it for a moment before bringing herself up to bed. She goes through her nightly routine, and gets herself settled into her sheets. She knew there was an underlying reason as to why she didn’t want to try harder with Daniel. The more she got to know Harry, the more she’d dread coming home to her now ex-fiancé. She used to love coming home to Daniel and recounting their days, but she realized she just didn’t care about his cases anymore. She wanted to have high level talks about film and media. Daniel would always listen, but he never really understood why Casey was so passionate about her work. To him, it all just seemed like a hobby rather than a career. Harry, on the other hand, had the same passions as her. He understood how stimulating talk about film and media could be. She wasn’t having sexual feelings towards Harry, but she couldn’t wrap her head around the emotional attachment that begun. She figured maybe she couldn’t love Daniel that much if she’d rather spend extra hours in her office with Harry instead of trying to get home to Daniel before heading back to New York. It pained her, but that was the truth. Tonight confirmed that Harry was definitely into Casey. Now all Casey had to do was figure out how she felt about Harry, but she needed to get over Daniel first.

//

“You’re here early.” Casey says to Harry the next morning.

“I wanted to talk to you about last night. I feel really bad about how I acted. I thought that maybe we were having a moment. I apologize for misreading things. Kept me up all night.”

“Have a seat.” She motions to her couch and he sits down. She turns in her seat to face him. “Don’t worry about last night. I was in a vulnerable state, and I was more affectionate than I should have been. Nothing really happened between us, so it’s all good. It’s going to take me some time to get over Daniel. Five years is a long time to be committed to one person. I’m seeing him again this weekend, and who knows what could happen?”

“What do you mean?”

“We could easily get back together, and then what? The last thing I want to do is hurt you. Besides that, you’re my GA, it would be wrong. You understand that, don’t you?”

“Of course I do. It’s not like…I mean…it’s nothing, okay? Think I’m just into you cause we have so much in common. And I really look up to you. You’re so accomplished, you know?”

“A smart woman doesn’t intimidate you?”

“Not at all.” He shakes his head. “I think smart women are incredibly”, Harry gets up from his seat and sits on the edge of Casey’s desk, “incredibly sexy.”

“You’re not really sorry for trying to kiss me last night, are you?” She smirks up at him.

“I’m sorry for upsetting you and for overstepping a boundary.” A grins starts to pull on his lips. “But I’m not sorry that it’s lead to you admitting that you like me.”

“I never said I liked you.”

“You never said you didn’t.”

“Harry.” Casey sighs.

“Listen”, Harry gets off her desk and sits back down on the couch, taking out his laptop. “take as much time as you need to get over Daniel. I’ll be right here when you’re ready for me.” He peers up at her from his laptop, smiling from ear to ear.

“You’re insufferable.” She shakes her head, getting back to her own work.

“And yet, here we are.”

“Harry, it’s 8:30 in the morning, we don’t have class until 10. Do me a favor and stay quiet until then, yeah?”

He makes a motion as to zip his lips, making Casey chuckle and roll her eyes. Later that day, when Harry had to leave for his own lecture, Casey snuck off to go see her friend, Lola, who works in the financial aid office.

“You busy?” Casey asks her friend as she sits down.

“I’m always free for you, Honey.” Lola smiles warmly. “What’s up?”

“Um…Daniel and I decided to officially end things over the weekend.” Casey says quietly. Lola had a cubicle to herself, but there were always wandering ears.

“Oh my god! I knew you guys were on the rocks, but holy shit.”

“He didn’t want to give up New York, and I didn’t want to give up here. It sucks, I’m totally heartbroken.” Casey frowns, trying not to cry again.

“Why didn’t you call me? I would have come over or something.”

“Well, I sort of just wanted to be alone…um, but someone came by to take care of me.”

“Oh, who?”

“H-Harry.”

“Your GA?!” Lola whisper-screams, and Casey nods. “Holy fuck, did anything happen?”

“No.” Casey shakes her head. “He just made me dinner…but he tried to kiss me before he left. I called him out on it, but…I don’t know, like, I…fuck.” Casey pinches the bridge of her nose and sighs. “I don’t really know how to articulate this.”

“You find your GA, who happens to only be three years younger than you, attractive.” Lola says for Casey.

“Yeah, that’s pretty much it. But I don’t want to get involved with anyone else right now. I still love Daniel, like, my heart is still with him.”

“But you also think you like Harry.”

“Well, what’s not to like about him? He makes me laugh, I like talking to him, he’s very sweet…and…fuck, I can’t even think like this. This is so unethical of me. If this were a male professor with a female GA, I’d be totally against it.”

“Yes, but that’s not the situation. You’re twenty-eight, he’s twenty-five, it’d be weird if you didn’t fall for each other.”

“I feel like it’s like when you fall for your therapist, you know? Like, what if he just likes me because he looks up to me? I shouldn’t even be entertaining the thought of this, right? It’s got to be against the rules.”

“Are you his professor?”

“Of course not, you know I don’t teach graduate level courses.”

“So, he in no way is going to be graded by you?”

“No.”

“And he could have easily been assigned to any other professor in the department. There was no special request on your part. And again, he’s twenty-five-years-old, it’s not like he’s some naïve twenty-one-year-old kid who just finished undergrad, you know?”

“That’s true.” Casey chews on her bottom lip. “I don’t know, think I need to get over my break up before I do anything.”

“I think that’s a good idea. You were together for over five years, that’s not something you’ll get over in a day, Babe. What do you say you and I grab drinks this weekend?”

“I can’t, Daniel’s coming back to pack up the rest of his things and he wants me there.”

“Alright, how about on Thursday? We can go for happy hour downtown after I get out.”

“Yeah, okay.” Casey nods. “Think I could definitely use some girl time, thanks.”

“Don’t mention it. Don’t overthink this Harry thing either. It’s not a problem yet, so don’t turn it into one.”

“You’re right, it’s just been a little flirting, it’s not like anything’s actually happened between us. If he really likes me, he’ll be patient.”

“And don’t forget, you’re worth the wait.”

[batarangsoundsdumb]

hae interrogationes multae respondeant quia demens .

if you read this entire ask post you deserve a gold star and financial recompensation

Um, Obviously because when you’re adopted by a white guy you automatically become white duhhh

this is about this post lmao and yeah youre absolutely right, you have to hand your poc card in when you get adopted by a white guy.

Do you think Cass would listen to Yanni, the YouTube channel epic symphonic rock, or some other stuff? There's some cool mashups but idk if that's up your alley, I kinda feel like I'm pushing it with my weird taste of music by recommending an orchestra cover of metal, but i just love that sort of thing and mashups :P @harvestyourcherries 

i haven’t heard of that? but in my personal (correct) opinion steph listens to classical music, and then both modern and older, and then also stuff like black sabbath, iron maiden, but also hardrock and hardcore. i like the idea of cass just liking the most extreme screaming songs full of noise and then also listen to pachelbel’s 370th sonata yanno? THANK YOU for the rec tho

speaking of ur cass playlist hc...reminds of the time (yesterday) i found 2 playlists randomly on spotify from the same user. one was abt 3 hours of instrumental/classical "dark" & "nostalgic" music. the other almost 11 hours of nothing but hardcore bass/synth/electronic music. just an incredible tightrope act to put on in public. the synth one was also called like "psalms for synth sluts" which is Also incredible

tbh i LOVE synth SO MUCH like for no reason at all but then also cannot handle a poppy electronic beat lmao. but this seems like the kinda thing i’d do but just in one (1) playlist bc i just sort songs by vibe instead of genre? that’s how i end up with britney spears and billy ray cyrus in the same playlist. 

Oh, I want Kate Kane playlist next! It would be amazing if you could do one when you have time and will 🙏

how rude would it be of me to just say no? like sorry kate but idk you and also you seem way too keen on the us military for an institution that homophobically targeted you? (and also commits war crimes) but let’s unpack the fact that the institution that caused the death of your mom and sister and also got you blacklisted for being gay is still one you align with???

'yes i am' 'no you're not' 'yes i am' 'no you're not' 'yes i am' 'no you're not' 'yes i am' 'no you're not' 'yes i am' 'no you're not' 'yes i am' 'no you're not' --- when i tell you i fucking screamed LOL!!!!!!! i can imagine the cameraman not knowing if he should cut to commercial or keep it on these two weirdos fighting on stage (bruce definitely ruffled dick's hair/noogied him right?? 

about this post but yeah lmao. this cameraman just turns to like the audience to get a reaction and it’s just multiple moments of CLEAR shock.

you are the only funny person on this hellsite

how egotistical is it for me to say that i get this ask multiple times a month? bc it literally happens so often it’s hilarious to me.

Wish there was more john/Bruce content 😔😔😔 was so hungry I actually looked at canon media 😔😔😔 (Justice League Dark babeeeyyyyyy)

check out batman: damned for some mediocre content but at least it’s john/bruce (also very interesting story and stuff, just got very >:( over this weird part where harley quinn tried to r*pe bruce or something? it’s not for everyone)

dick grayson but he's nicki minaj

his anaconda don’t want none,,, unless...... 

Dick Grayson was never a cop, he played Marshall on Paw Patrol

you are SO right. also paw patrol is a fucking good show idc. that shit could’ve been the new steven universe on this hellsite.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CS1lI0bLI7-/?utm_medium=copy_link

...

why do people keep reposting my CONTENT. if you are not funny yourself don’t just grab shit off of tumblr and post it on insta,,, get a life. sidenote: should i start an insta and get all these ppl to take my content down that would be funny as hell.

Might I suggest for a Gotham City Meme: something about the true crime fandom thirsting for the rogues gallery

ok can i just say something slightly controversial?? no? i don’t find true crime ppl who are into criminals funny, that shits disturbing irl im not gonna bring that into my very chill universe.

i may have never seen a 'jason cleaning guns in sink' fic but i do know he WOULD

THANK YOU

bestie im sorry to say this to you but while you can, and people do wash their guns in the sink, that is a lot of lead in a very vital part of the kitchen.

people tend to do it in the bathtub.

WHY???? like damn why do you even have guns

i dont think i read many gun sink fics exactly but i have read lots of fics where jason cleanes his guns in the living room. usualy dissembles them and cleans them with a rag i think

lmao fair enough, like i think that’s a large part of what i remember as well.

if you say you've seen/read gun sink fics I believe you. I think those of us who didn't see them are lucky or maybe didn't search for fics by tags or something idk

i mean ive never sought them out but i HAVE seen them,, like definitely i know almost for certain.

saw your tags and I'm interested in Steph/Kara now. They would be the most chaotic couple <3

literally thoooo, i have a wip where they get together in a zombie apocalypse and like UGGGHhhh i am so in love with them.

I am the Breece anon. Thanks for the recommendation; am reading now. I’ve always been a hardcore Superman fan because I love my pure himbo farm boy. My logic is, if one Bruce is a Broose, then multiple Broose are a herd of Breece. And this is a hill upon which I will perish.

fair enough,,,, like moose, meese, goose, geese, bruce, breece. i get your logic and i stand by it as well. (glad you enjoyed the comic recs!!!!)

It's a beautiful day in Gotham, and you are a group of horrible Breece

OH my god dude lmao

there only being 42 fics on ao3 for tim and bernard is honestly so sad i need more

it’s like twice that now!!! we did it lads. (tho very sad that my fic isnt number one but like number 4 :((((  )

i'm too late you already did the poll lol but may i suggest bethy (bernard + timothy)

shit dude that wouldve been so fucking funnyyyyy. think ppl have just stuck to timber tho, tim/bernard kinda died down recently and i think it’s too bad, they’re a great couple and i love them.

Wait, hear me out

Bernothy @redlightofdawn

great recommendation (lmao this ask is from like a month ago) but very sorry to announce that NARDTH is the superior shipname

Wait, we know that bernard likes milfs (Tim's step-mom) but what about dilfs? gilfs?

Wait no, I regret sending that ask

these were two seperate asks and they’re HILARIOUS. in my personal opinion tho,,, milfs, gilfs, dilfs are just about vibes and bernard is just attracted to sexy ppl who may sometimes be milfs, dilfs, or EVEN gilfs.

crime in bludhaven would drop to half if nightwing had a boob window. in this essay i will-

WHERE’S THE ESSAY ANON, WHERE’S THE FUCKING ESSAY

Wait if Barbra and Tim r at opposite ends at all times what happened to Barbra once everyone’s Tim’s ever love before started dying lol

she won a lottery ticket and spent 2 weeks on a resort in the bahamas before returning home and finding out that the joker was arrested for tax evasion and then spent a month staying at her big tiddie goth girlfriend’s house before conner came back to life and she broke her pinkie playing table hockey.

Why is the opposite end thing so funny and compelling to me. Tim comes back from his depression quest for Bruce and Babs is now a literal god

lmao when tim loses his spleen barbara reaches nirvana.

Are you still taking music recs because I have three songs that remind me of Jason that I think you'd like

send to me or lose a toe

🌸 ⭐ put this star into the inbox of your favorite blogs. it’s time to spread positivity! ⭐🌸😋

thanks, i wont tho on account of i wont.

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMduBy3Sr/

⬆️

This is the whole of Blüdhaven and everyone anywhere.

Nightwings ass alone saves more people in a calendar year and does more for so society than most heroes do their whole career.Also u are one of the funniest tumblr pages out there. The vibes are unmatched and the memes and tags ✨send me✨.Thank u and goodnight @julia-flow 

fanksss also lmao.

That's going to be a little bit difficult to explain, but

There's some music that you listen to and you think, "oh my gosh, I can perfectly imagine Dick Grayson singing this song, with the same voice as the singer because that voice matches with Dick Grayson"?

oh yeah totally lmao. i have a lot of songs that i think are just entirely dick grayson yanno? kind of all of my playlists have that vibe, but i really find bleachers to fit with dick? idk.

"Lois lane/Superman" fics this, "Lois lane/Clark Kent" fics that, (/lh) let's get into the real good stuff. Some people ship Lois, Clark, and Superman as a throuple. Most popular fic tag for sure

yes totally, i think they’d be absolutely killer on ao3 and clark gets so fucking embarassed about it.

I miss your post, hope you’re doing okay!!

haha this was like 2 months ago, but i was doing fine then too! just didn’t have a lot of inspiration in terms of content.

Doot doot!

noot noot

I’m confused. What did DC do now? Like with nightwing? And another sibling? Please spoil everything for me

lmao they gave him a secret sister plotline where they had his dad cheat on his mom with tony zucco’s wife, bc dick’s life wasn’t traumatic enough yet.

sorry but it's so funny that batman is called "the dark knight" when the gotham city baseball team is called the gotham knights. it'd be like if a vigilante was running around new york called like "the scary yankee"

lmaooo no. but like yankee comes from dutch names or something so wouldnt it be HILARIOUS if gotham knights came from like german names and bruce would be running around called the dark KLAUS UND NIEK @graysonnightwing 

(not a batcest shipper) it’s so funny to me that the responses are “i’m a batcest shipper because i can differentiate fiction from reality and and it doesn’t bother me personally, but i understand why you oils think it’s weird” to “i wish all batcest shippers a very fucking die”

yeah lmaoo. i personally basically flipped my entire stance around to ‘i dont care please leave me and everybody else alone’ bc i think there’s really no point in starting a moral dillema over some fucking fandom bullshit. Please just,,, go home,,, log off, find a nice forest to have a little walk in and remember that somewhere in history, somebody probably died in the place you’re standing. and you will also die someday, and somebody will have to look at your internet usage and see you fighting multiple people anonymously while being named ‘nightwingsbuttchin200186′ like... calm down, we’re all gonna die this is not the thing to worry about.

so since like "wards" don't really exist in modern society almost all the batkids are foster kids, right? i used to work in the system and imagine: monthly visits from social workers and guardian ad litems, bruce having to get permission to take the boys anywhere out of state, calling their social worker at like 8 a.m. like "yeah dick broke his arm again... a gymnastics accident this time...." their poor social worker. bruce send her a huge bouquet and box of chocolates every month to stay on her good side

i imagine the social worker just getting into the case like ‘yeah let’s get this kid a good guardian’ and then ending up having to work with 22 y/o bruce wayne and his 50 y/o dad. and so this social worker is like ‘okay we can work with this, this is the best home i can find’ and then like it ends up landing on its feet and then the kid gets adopted and then they get a call a year later like ‘uhm so hi, this kid tried to steal my tyres can i adopt him?’ and like 3 years later. ‘okay so basically, my neighbours’ kid imprinted on me and now they’re dead, can i keep him?’ two years later it’s like ‘okay so this assassin child-’

ever since I saw that one post of yours, the meme that's something like "I know that abba's backup dancer got me" with a picture of discowing, I've been haunted. Every once in a while I'll be minding my own business then the image of abba's backup dancer dick grayson aka nightwing aka discowing will flash in my mind and I'll be frozen in place. Today at work I was in the middle of folding clothes and suddenly once again discowing entered my mind and I suddenly lost the ability to see anything except He. Thank you.

wow. the IMPACT.

Braver than any US marine man props to you🤝

this shit is about the time i wrote an article on batcest, like man,,, the fact that i didn’t get cancelled is MIRACULOUS. also like,,, uh if anybody on here did gossip on me,, send screenshots i’d love to see it.

Hello, just wanted to say your article was great. Thank you for taking the time to provide an unbaised answer. It should provide people with nuances they couldn't possibly conjure on their own.

May I ask where your username originates from?

yes you may (also thanks!!!) i thought it up when i was trying to find an original username bc i didnt want to be called like ‘timdrakes something something’ or ‘jason todd something smoething’ or ‘dick grayson something something’ yanno? so i thought batarangs, they sound so dumb and that’s my username story... now it’s my whole entire brand lmao.

yno that bit in kick ass where red mist asks kick ass if he wants a hit of his blunt, was that the inspo for stoner tim

no? it’s bc i think stoners are hilarious and drugs are great. (dont do drugs tho) 

How would u feel if someone actually wore one of those bruce or ollie pride shirts u edited

fenomenal next question.

Dick as lil huddy and Jason as James gave me radiation poisoning and now I’m screaming crying throwing up so thx for that

(Rico suave as Tim is perfect tho literally no changes needed)

i was so funny for that shit wasn’t i??? lmao i loved those weird ass fancasts

You're doing the Lord's work by providing us with all these Gotham/Metropolis citizens memes, thank you for being so relentlessly funny @nellethiel-aranel

you’re welcome!! i really enjoy making memes, but getting validation for my content and my memes is REALLY nice.

Bruce is such a slut in your memes and honestly i love that for him @rhodey-rhudert-rhodes-main 

he’s that much of a slut irl too dw.

Bruce and Alfred have an emergency pride flag for the batkids. Oliver Queen printed an emergency "I love my gay son" t-shirt and as soon as Roy told him he was dating Jason, Oliver started wearing that shirt everyday and Roy always cringes when he sees it. Oliver also has an emergency "I love my lesbian daughter" shirt just in case for Cissie.

lmao YES i had a post like this bc like all of their kids/family members are so gayy

stop bringing back batfam fancasts it is not real it is not real it is not- 😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀

oh yes it is my darling.

did discowing burn down the notredam because he hates the bees? @allulily

no he did it bc fuck the french.

im gonna beg for 1 thing and 1 thing only. please please please put physical by olivia newton john on dick's playlist

okay then beg. bc i wont. physical reminds me too much of glee and that hurts me mentally.

your playlist is sorely missing some Madonna. Specifically Into the Groove, Like a Prayer, and Vogue

i’m scared of madonna that’s why she’s not on there. she haunts me in my dreams.

suggestion: son of batman by aaron dews for dick’s playlist🤩

sorry, i listened to it and the vibe didn’t agree with me.

Hear me out, metropolis citizens sending rare pair fics of Clark Kent x Superman fics to Lois to edit

yes, absolutely hilarious. even more funny if they send like physical copies, no address attached and lois sends it back marked with red ink, SOMEHOW

Imagine all the smut Clark must of read editing the fics

clark reads smut confirmeeed

NOT LOIS READING SUPERBAT PORN AND EDITING IT A 2AM 

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

hc that alfred is a meta that boosts healing factor of the people around him. if the bats are injured as much as they seem to be they would be doing bat stuff MAYBE half the year. no one including alfred knows about this. whenever the kids move out they inexplicably dont recover from injuries as fast and feel better whenever they visit the manor they just chalk it up to homesickness. bruce just thinks he heals really fast. alfred thinks everyone doesnt take care of themselves properly @finchcollector

that’s actually such a great idea, but i think that alfred would find out and learn how to concentrate it better so he can help more people, bc he’s great and i love him.

One of your dickfast posts reminded me of that tweet that goes: 'so you've had sex how many times? Yeah technically that's not a bromance' lol that's dickwally or dickroy

literally tho. like that’s all of dick’s friendships. once it gets past a certain time dick is like ‘wow i wonder what it would be like to make out with wally, wally come make out with me’ and wally’s like ‘we’ve done this like 40 times, dick, you know what it’s like’ and dick is like ‘sorry are you complaining?’ and they just make out.

superfam and batfam associations??

-batman and superman

-dick/barabara and supergirl?

-conner and tim

-jon and damian

pls enlighten me I am confused

nope,,, uhm batman and superman, but dick and superman as well, and then conner and tim, jon and damian and steph + babs with supergirl

I came across a fic in which Wonder Woman calls Batman "Stella" (like Stellaluna, the children's book) and I can imagine the batkids hop on the trend and maybe copies of the book appear at random places (aka, everywhere Bruce frequents)

sorry can’t reciprocate that was the name of my high school chemistry teacher and it gives me nightmares to think about.

good human what are your pronouns?

wouldn’t you like to know?

I need me some gothamites preferring harley over joker memes

everyone prefers harley over joker youre just very fucked up if you dont

don't understand why people try to add like veteran policy to the batfamily

dick pulling out his veteran batfam member card so he can eat first: step aside, peasants

Do you know the song Simmer by Haley Williams? It (the first verse anyways) reminds me of Jason? It's about rage.

damn yeah i LOVE HAYLEY!!!! youre right thoo

Okay so I like listen to your stoner Tim Drake playlist 24/7 but would he listen to skegss? Also I keep adding songs mentally it’s killing me 😩✋🏼 Anyways,, I literally love and worship your playlist 😃🤞🏼 And uh yeah have a good day ✨

stoner tim drake playlist is lyfeeee. also dont know who skeggs is? i’m stupid? have a good day!!

All the Robins (and Batgirl) decide to trade costumes for one night just to fuck with Batman and all the villains in Gotham. @subspacecadet 

batman knows it’s them youknow but like,,, what does he call them? he’s like ‘red hood?’ and 3 people answer and he’s not about to compromise some identities so he’s just Pissed.

I aspire to treat cops the way my dad treats them. This man is a 45 year old Asian immigrant to the US and the treats them like his pets. He talks about them like unruly children. Sometimes he pays off local cops to shut up and stop acting racist. And usually it works. I don’t know why but I can see Oliver Queen doing this

vibes... and also yes? oliver queen handing a local cop a donut to shut the fuck up lmao. but yanno i commit enough crimes to not really want to ever see a cop ever, so they kinda scare the everloving fuck out of me.

seeing as tim hasn't aged in years, that means he was 17 at peak emo tumblr era. im back on my emo tim bullshit and im not letting it go

emo tim had a wattpad account send tweet

People seem to think that batman is so dark and serious when the rainbow batsuit is right there. He wore it with no shame.

dude the 60s were a DIFFERENT TIME

dick grew up in a circus, jason grew up on the streets, and tim was probably raised by the internet

all of them cuss every other word and you cannot tell me otherwise

bitch i KNOW but dc has to change to an 18+ rating if they want to sell comix with swear words in them so we gotta deal with imagining the swear words in ourselves

thoughts on teen titans and young justice

haven’t seen teen titans on account of havent seen it and young justice was LITERALLY my favourite thing ever, tho i do gotta admit it’s not at all similar to the young justice comics unfortunately. i really wouldve liked to see timmy bart kon cassie and cissie animated on tv!!

ew ew ew how to delete batcest shippers I genuinely digust them

log off tumblr?

Okay as poc who was called racist for calling an Italian pastabrain: in the batfam are Italians bit Damian just yells various insults about the others being Italian. Just him yelling “What are you doing you moronic spaghettihead!” At steph etc

huh? i meant real italians. homeboy is telling steph he hopes she chokes on her fucking garlic.

I think it's dumb as hell to pull the batman is the best fighter in the batfam argument because like it's just irresponsible of Bruce to let his kids fight when they couldn't possibly be on his league or something

fair enough, but also like who cares they could all kill you just sit down and take a beating.

lady shiva, thalia al ghul and Selina Kyle are all milfs @notanothertimburtonenthusiastugh 

unfortunately, i have to admit,,, you’re right

why tf didn't someone give joker a death sentence already? like he's a mass murderer...give him the electric chair treatment wtf

idk i think plenty of people would have tried to murder him already (boring answer is: he is a popular character so they can’t kill him off bc he brings in lots of money)

There’s no such thing as “ copaganda”.

all american media is propaganda. happy to clear this up for you

is it bad that I find lady shiva owa owa

no. find her as owa owa as you want.

aight I'm guessing the order of your favs in batfam:

1. tim

2. Steph

3. dick

4. Duke

5. the rest

you’re wrong but it’s cute that you tried, i generally don’t have favourites, but i have a special place in my heart for steph, tim, dick and cass. bc they were like my introduction to batfam. but damian, jason, duke, bruce, babs and alfred are NOT FORGOTTEN OR UNLOVED

oh my god i was literally just readily willing to believe that italians werent white ty for clarifying it was a joke im so dumb sdkvjskdfs

i mean some italians aren’t white? italian is a nationality as well as an ethnicity, so like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

since I saw so many people doing headcanons about the nationalities of batboys, I see Dick as an Italian.

dont know if youre serious or not, but sure.

super random but

jason 🤝 damian

old english

lmao fair enough.

tim absolutely has 1 gay uncle and his parents shit talk said uncle all the time so after bruce adopts him he specifically reaches out to this uncle to be like "heyyyy just so you know you majorly influenced my life yes i know i havent seen you since i was 5 and at the family reunion yes i know you dont remember my name idc thank you im gay too" and then they never talk again.

yuppp lmao that’s definitely something that could happen. i can also consider tim having no family members, like none. until he does like a dna test and he realises he has like an aunt living barely 2 miles away from him who’s like some illegitimate child of his grandpa.

I dare you one of them sends clark superman/clark fic and clark corrects the shit out of it and then goes like ps his dick is not that big, just telling as someone who has seen it. internet either explodes or goes who tf did he not fuck at this point.

i think everybody would call clark a buzzkill and try to cancel him over that.

so you're telling me Tim Drake wouldn't buy Starbucks?

no. dunkin donuts all the way

One of my favorite things is imagining people finding out jason came back from the dead and being like "oh no does he have magic powers now?!?!?" and he just pulls out a gun and tries to shoot joker

now he doesn’t even have the gun :) lmao

my favorite batfamily fanfictions are the ones where they use their shitty codenames, unironically, in any context

bruce gets codename ‘ugh’ everytime. he hates it.

crazy that tim being a 17 y/o ceo and a stoner who does brand deals are all actual canon things written in detective comics comics and not made up for shits and giggles by you, tumblr user batarangsoundsdumb @rowdeyclown

SO CRAZY HUH?

batman au where everything is the same but his utility belt is bright pink

absolutely, but i raise you, his boots light up like sketchers when he kicks people.

unbeknownst to the superhero fandom writers in the dcuniverse, clark and BRUCE are one of the most prolific fanfic writers in the superhero rpf tag on ao3. clark writes the best lois x superman angst, full of unhappy endings and scenes that are a so detailed you'd think you were in the middle of a superhero beatdown. bruce made an ao3 account to fuel "the do the butts match" thing, and makes batman/bruce fics from time to time. he wrote a superbat fic as a joke but ended up making it REAL porny. @concrastinator

dude they’re WAY too busy for that. Oliver Queen and Hal Jordan on the other hand are the most prolific fanfic writers in the superhero rpf tag writing what is Mostly porn.

When the dining table topic gets to politics, Steph says "eat the rich" as the solution

bruce just silently takes away her fork and knife while she’s talking.

[delu-jean]

𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭 (𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭)

Hello! As this event takes place, requests will be closed since juggling both will be a little tiring! 

-> Thanks: Thank you guys for 100 follows! I’m glad my writing is something others can enjoy, and I’ll keep on doing my best to both improve, and deliver. 

Event: 

-> Song-Fic/ Song Lyric Event: There are forty five prompts with different song lyrics! Some angst, and others fluff, but all revolve around romance~

->Each fic will revolve around the lyric specifically, or the entire song!

->Eg of fic with just the lyric (specifcially): I may use the lyric as a line you, or another character would say, it might pop up when needed, and etc. A fic example would be: “Before You Go” (Nanami Kento x fem!/reader). 

->Eg of fic with entire song: Basically a song-fic

->Eg of fic wihtout lyrics in it: I present the lyrical prompt at the beginning of the fic, and write w/o needing to use it as an actual line, or anything else. 

->Whichever is found fitting, will be used!! ^^

->Either way, the fic will be written about that lyrical prompt!! :))

Rules: (A must)

This event is one for (fem!xreader) x (<inserted male reader>) 

He needs to be a character from one of the five fandoms I write for! 

Jjk, Mha, Haikyuu, Aot, and Demon Slayer

If your guy isn’t on the list, by all means, request and I’ll tell you if I feel like I can write for him!! ^^

-> Link to the M.list <-

This is a non-nsfw event, and topics over 18+ aren’t allowed!! 

You can only request one character per prompt, unless, the prompt calls for two! (Even then, you can choose to only ask for one) 

My rules still apply for this event, if you would like specifics, please do ask, or look through the rules post! 

-> Rules <-

Key: 

Angst

Fluff 

You can request more than one character (max would be two) = ☆

Prompts: 

"What if I said I'm sorry, what if I made a scene? Wouldn't that make you mine again, you're all I'll ever need," -What If I Said I'm Sorry (Caliber)

"You won and she chose you, and she loved you, and she's gone…" -Its Over Isn't It? (DeeDee Magno Hall) ☆

"She's a she's a lady, and I am just a boy without a line," -Line without a hook (Ricky Montgomery) 

"Knew I was falling when I looked inside your eyes, and you said…'I know you are but what am I?" -What Am I? (Why don't we)

"I need a man who loves me like my Father loves my mom," -Like My father (Jax)

"You make my heart beat faster than adrenaline, you kiss away the pain of all the hell I’m in," -Medicine (James Arthur) 

"It's always one step forward, and three steps back. I'm the love of your life until I make you mad," -One step forward, and three steps back (Olivia Rodrigo) 

"Let's write our story, and let's sing our song. Let's hang our pictures on the wall," -Memories (Shawn Mendes) 

"Maybe you and I have history, but I don't think you know me. Have we met before?" -Have we met before (Eric Nam, Sarah Barrios) 

"Hey baby won't you look my way, I can be your new addiction~" -Everybody Talks (Neon Trees)

"She gets the flowers...right? The post made about her. A love that is perfect, a love I deserved, yeah. A love that I gave,” - She Gets the flowers (Betch MCcarthy) 

“I just heard you found the one you’ve been looking, that you’ve been looking for. I wish I would’ve known it wasn’t me,” -We Don’t Talk Anymore (Charlie Puth) 

“Even when we go through changes, even when we’re old. Remember that I told you I’d find my way back home,” -Way Back Home (SHUAN) 

“You say that it’s all just a blur, but I see you kissing her. No no, you gotta go, go, and I’ll be just fine without you,” -Goodbye Boy (Peg Parnivek)   

“You say that I'm too insecure, you want me to be someone else, but if I'm not the one you want...Just go ahead and walk right out the door,” -Who I am (NIve) 

“She’s In The Rain, you want to hurt yourself I’ll stay with you. You want to make yourself go through the pain. It’s better to be held than holding on,” -She’s In The Rain (The Rose) 

“If all it is is eight letters, why is it so hard to say? If all it is is eight letters then why am I in my own way?” -Eight Letters (Why Don’t We) 

“Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful angel. Love your imperfections every angle. Tomorrow comes and goes before you know...so i just had to let you know~” -Beautiful (Bazzi) 

“Congratulations, I heard you’re doing great...congratulations, how are you okay? I hate that you’re happy, I hope that you can’t sleep,” -Congratulations (Day 6) 

“I know I can treat you better than he can. And anyone like you deserves a gentleman,” -You Better (Shawn Mendes) ☆

“Congratulations, you’re finally leaving. Let’s throw a party here tonight, and toast to the end of you and I,” -Congratulations (Eric Nam) 

“Wise men say...only fools rush in. But I can’t help, falling in love...with...you,” -Fools Rush In (Elvis) 

“Don’t say you miss me, when you don’t call. Don’t say you’re hurting, without the scars. Don’t say you’re here tonight without tomorrow too. Don’t say you love me, unless you do,” -Don’t Say you Love Me (Fifth Harmony) 

“A lifetime of laughter at the expense, of the death of a bachelor,” -Death Of A Bachelor (Panic At The Disco)

“She told me that she loved me by the water fountain. She told me that she loved me and she didn’t love him. And that was really lovely cause it was innocent, but now she has a cup with something else in it…” -Water Fountain (Alec Benjamin) -> Oikawa x Reader ☆

“And I don’t need a reason to keep on dreaming. That we can with this stupid thing...called love,” -Lose (Nikki)

“Don’t take this personal, but personally, I think you should get with somebody like me. But worst of all...you don’t even see,” -Personal (The Vamps) 

“But you got a lot of great songs 'bout a lot of shit guys, you did more with 3 minutes than they'll do with their lives. And we'll buy ourselves houses with our heartbreak songs, screw everybody else who ever treated us wrong,” - Three Minutes (JP Saxe) ☆

“I’ve got all my money on you, got all my dollars on you. And I feel like a million bucks, a million bucks, and I give no f**ks when I’m with you,” -Million Bucks (Smallpools) 

“She put my name in yellow hearts. Her favourite colour like the stars. I didn’t listen very hard, when she told me she was crazy from the start,” -Yellow Hearts (Ant Saunders) 

“And I want you to cry, cry for me. Like I cried for you baby, cry for me,” -Cry For Me (Twice) 

“Please don’t let this love die young, please don’t let this love die young. If I’m going to lose someone, don’t let it be you,” -Love Die Young (Eric Nam) 

“Ain't never felt this way, can't get enough so stay with me. It's not like we got big plans. Let's drive around town holding hands,” -ILYSB (Lany)

“Maybe I don’t want to be just friends, see you only on the weekends. Sorry hope you understand, I like you a little too much for that,” -Just Friends (JORDY) 

“Golden eyes, if it ain’t you girl I don’t want to try. Baby, baby, baby you’re my diamond shine,” -Golden Eyes (Layto) 

“I like me better when I’m with you. I like me better when I’m with you. I knew from the first time, I stayed for a long time cause~ I like me better when I’m with you,” -I Like Me Better (Lauv) 

“Hey pretty Stranger, I think you look cute, I don’t think I’ve ever met someone like you,” -Your Text (Sundial) 

“And They say, Chivalry is dead. So let a real man pick up the slack, and treat you with respect,” -Chivalry Is Dead (Trevor Wesely) 

“And I Know there’s no making this right, and I know there’s no changing your mind. But we both have each other tonight. So if love is nothing more than just a waste of your time, waste it on me,” -Waste On Me (BTS) 

“I hope he treats you better than I ever could. Cause you deserve the world times two and the perfect afternoons. For you to find who fills your heart even if I’m not the one you choose,” -Chicken Tendies (Clinton kane) ☆

“It’s bittersweet to think about the damage we do, cause I was going down but I was doing it with you. And I say that I hate you with a smile on my face,” -Favourite Crime (Olivia Rodrigo) 

“Find me, in another place in time. If only, if only you were mine. But I’m already someone else’s baby,” -Baby (Clean Bandit) 

“And I might never stop your sorrow, fix you up good as new. But that don’t mean that I can’t hold your hand in mine,” -Someone You Like (Girl And The Dream Catcher) 

“Cause when you said jump I said ‘how high?’ But when I jumped you said ‘goodbye,’ “ -Walked Through Hell (Anson Seabra) 

“I want to love me, the way that you love me. Oh, from all of my pretty, and all of my ugly too, I love it when I see me from your point of view,” POV (Ariana Grande) -> Giyuu x Reader

Have fun :)

[jerakeenc]

many kidfics i’ve read and loved

look who’s reccing a million year old fics now. kidfics, very many. posted to dw for snowflake, thought I’d copy here as well. will be reading most, if not all. if you don’t hear from me again, this list is the culprit.

101 Ways To Get Lucky (In Love) by lenore

18,200 words | SGA, McKay/Sheppard

Rodney McKay is rich, gorgeous and at the top of his game—except someone just moved the goalposts! Now Rodney realizes he is sorely lacking the one status symbol that everybody seems to have…the perfect family. Rodney needs help, so he hires a relationship coach. Single-dad John Sheppard may be an expert, but not when it comes to his own relationships! And every day he spends with Rodney makes him wish that he could be the one to fill the vacancy in Rodney's life…

A Beautiful Lifetime Event by astolat

29,000 words | SGA, McKay/Sheppard

Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans.

An Earlier Heaven by regann

67,400 words | X-Men, Erik/Charles

In the wake of Cuba, Charles and his students are ready to pick up the pieces and work toward achieving Charles's dream of a safe haven for young mutants. Those plans, however, take a surprising turn thanks to a very unexpected complication. As he slowly builds a future for his students and for his child, Charles struggles with the loss of Erik and the secrets he's willing to keep to protect his family, but those strides are shattered when Erik makes a startling reappearance into his life. [mpreg, kidfic, ensemble]

And everything nice by noelia_g

30,200 words | Social Network, Mark/Eduardo

The one where Mark somehow ends up with a child and of course needs a nanny for the amount of time he spends at the office. Only problem is a string of nannys keep trying to get into his pants for what he assumes is his money. Cue Mark's assistant hiring a male nanny, enter Eduardo.

asking to be born by longtime_lurker

26,500 words | Bandom, Pete/Patrick

"Don't worry, it's probably just his big gay freakout," Andy yells cheerfully and unhelpfully into Patrick's ear as they're hustling Pete over to the nearest private clinic.

Better with You by harriet_vane

38,100 words | 1D, Liam/Louis

Based on this prompt at the kinkmeme:

Single parent and solo artist Liam Payne hires Louis Tomlinson to be a full time nanny to his four year old son Sammy. Although the two men don't quite click from the start it's love at first sight between Sammy and Louis. Eventually Louis and Liam warm up to each other and get on like a house on fire, in fact the two become a little too fond of each other.

I refuse to apologize for how sweet this ended up, okay? It's kidfic, I am forever writing kidfic, and this one is even kid-fic-ier than usual.

Can't Get Enough of You (Baby) by eternalbreath

22,100 words | Inception, Arthur/Eames

Eames vanishes from dreamshare and Arthur goes a little crazy looking for him until he stumbles across him -- with a baby.

Chelsea, Chelsea, I Believe by empathapathique

300,800 words | Hockey, Kane/Toews

Patrick meets a girl his rookie year.

Don't You Shake Alone by dsudis

62,180 words | Generation Kill, Brad/Nate

Nate looked exactly like Brad always pictured him: exhausted in the full life-in-a-combat-zone sense of the word.

Dude, what's a bulwark? by kellifer_fic

12,150 words | Teen Wolf, Derek/Stiles

Beacon Hills is the kind of small town where everybody knows everybody, and what everybody knows is that surly diner owner Derek Hale and free spirited single dad Stiles Stilinski have been in love with each other for years. If only they knew it too.

Every Other Beautiful World by rhiannonhero

43,280 words | SGA, McKay/Sheppard

Some things are unexpected but still inevitable in every beautiful world.

Forever, Now by harriet_vane

227,100 words | Bandom, Frank/Gerard, Jon/Spencer, Brendon/Ryan, Brian/Greta

Brian rescues kid!Gerard and Mikey from life on the streets, and eventually everyone finds a family.

here comes the sun by oflights

56,600 words | Social Network, Mark/Eduardo

This is a story about growing up, sad 70's rock songs, too much hair gel, "Maxwell's Silver Hammer", a baby with curly hair, a Geiger counter, a dog that isn't named Max, the Chicken Dance, Cheerios, pepper-spray, drugs, sex, and a stuffed chicken named Cluckerberg, nicknamed Cluck. or: Mark raises Sean's accidental baby, and I write the fluffiest thing ever.

I Got a Love (That Keeps Me Waiting) by svmadelyn

163,700 words | Hockey, Kane/Toews

There's a lot of different ways this summary could go, like:

Patrick Kane gets more than a gold medal in Sochi.

Or, the classic: It's too late to pull out now.

Or: Patrick Kane continues to thrive in high pressure situations.

Or: Patrick Kane gets knocked up, goes to White Castle, and finds love, not necessarily in that order.

But, ultimately, all that really matters is this: Patrick Kane is keeping his baby.

I Would Be by cathalin

20,290 words | American Idol, Kris/Adam

AU. Adam and Kris meet a few years down the road, when down-on-his-luck Kris and his young daughter Katherine show up to rent a room from Adam, who never made it to an Idol audition.

Ice Ice Baby by uraneia

51,340 words | Hockey, Claude/Danny

A gold medal isn't the only souvenir Claude brings home from Prague.

OR: The one where Claude gets drunk, gets pregnant, and gets convinced to move in with Danny, whom he's been secretly in love with for years. What could possibly go wrong?

my heart is bigger than the distance in between us by estrella30

15,000 words | 1D, Nick/Harry

Nick chuckles quietly but grabs the remote and follows Emma, Aimee coming up close behind him. It’s indeed Harry on the telly, singing along to his latest radio hit and smiling slowly into the camera far too seductively for half eight on a Friday morning, if you ask Nick. He presses the volume just in time to catch the crowd’s roaring applause and see the pink flush Harry’s cheeks. Nick watches him duck his head as he gives a small wave to the audience, and it hits Nick that Harry is still the most humble and appreciative billionaire Nick’s ever met.

Good job, popstar, Nick thinks to himself.

or, Nick is a single dad and Harry is his bff and it's a bunch of years into the future and they fall in love

Once Upon a Furry Octopus by skoosiepants

11,270 words | SGA, McKay/Sheppard

He was an intelligent, intuitive pet, but he wasn’t going to start sniffing out ZPMs or hidden Ancient weaponry or detailed instructions on how to kill a Wraith with a common household item. A pen, for instance.

Reconcilable Differences by astolat

40,000 words | Smallville, Clark/Lex

Luthor Family Values.

Shelter by harriet_vane

63,500 words | Social Network, Jesse/Andrew

From the kinkmeme prompt: Some sort of AU vaguely based on Shelter! For whatever reason, Jesse has to take care of Hallie and give up his dream of being an actor. He ends up working in a dead end job when former, now successful friend (Andrew) returns home. They fall in love, etc, only Jesse can't go away with him because he has a responsibility to his family. CUE ANGST.

Show Me The Way Back Home Baby by stilinskisparkles

15,000 words | Teen Wolf, Derek/Stiles

In which Lydia and Jackson produce the world's cutest baby, and the pack goes crazy-- the good kind of crazy. Except for Derek, who is afraid of tiny cute babies and Stiles who plans to be the best Uncle ever. Even if Danny called dibs on Godfather.

Skybird by windsweptfic

33,785 words | Inception/White Collar, Arthur/Eames

Arthur and Eames adopt a kid and raise that kid into Neal Caffrey.

Small Cells and Fibers by sevenfists

7,830 words | Bandom, Frank/Gerard

Tuesdays were finger-painting days. Frank made sure to wear his oldest pair of jeans, because even with his full-length apron and his constant reminders that paint belongs on paper and not on clothing, he always ended up with tiny, multi-colored handprints all over his clothes. There wasn't a thing he could do about it, so he just wore pants from 1995.

Small Primes and Square Roots by liviapenn

12,500 words | SGA, McKay/Sheppard

"I hope you picked someone really intelligent, otherwise it seems like it would be kind of a waste. Of incubation time, if nothing else."

So Wise We Grow by deastar

81,250 words | Star Trek Reboot, Kirk/Spock

"Commander Spock, we have located your son," the Vulcan lady on the screen says, which would be great, except Jim can tell by the look on Spock's face that he's never heard of this kid before in his life. "If it is expedient, the child will be sent to join you on the Enterprise within the week."

Something Better by lovelypoet

18,350 words | Bandom, Frank/Gerard

"We all have to take jobs we don't like sometimes, you know?"

The Next Time You Say Forever by Thistlerose

27,300 words | Star Trek Reboot, Kirk/McCoy

After his ex-wife's death, McCoy is forced to leave the Enterprise to look after his teenage daughter. Under normal circumstances, this would be the end of…whatever it is he has with Kirk that's more than friendship, but less than what he wants. But the universe has other intentions.

The Reeducation of Misters Kane and Toews by jezziejay

15,900 words | Hockey, Kane/Toews

In which Kaner sort of has a kid, and Mr. Toews doesn't know which of them is the bigger brat.

AU featuring teacher!Jon and hockey-player!Kaner. With bonus 'Hawks characters, love notes, pasta jewelry, Be Better Pizzas, pirouettes, a sprinke of angst and guest appearance by Derek Jeter.

The Road Delivered Us Home by keelywolfe

117,430 words | Hobbit, Thorin/Bilbo

In the years since Bilbo left Erebor, he has lost his respectability, gained a nephew, and gotten on with life at Bag End.

He'd left aside adventure for the comforts and peace of his little Hobbit hole, and for the love of a child who needed him. Though perhaps, adventures can yet find him.

This Story Was Brought to You by Our Sponsors by scaramouche

29,500 words | Supernatural, Dean/Castiel

Dean's post-apocalyptic life is a friggin' soap opera. Romance! Angst! Separations! Reunions! Pizza Dinners! A Child Dean Never Knew He Had! It's all very dramatic.

throw a little sparkle all over it by etben

26,000 words | Bandom, Frank/Gerard

"Hey, Ma," Mikey says. "No, everything's fine—well, I mean, Gerard accidentally adopted a baby—no, he's changing her now, he can't talk."

Tiny Houses by ohmyjetsabel

77,130 words | Teen Wolf, Derek/Stiles

"So this is what Stiles does. He lies in Scott’s bed and waits for Melissa to say she’s found someone to get it out of him, to cure him of the wrongness and the bad, and he dreams.

God, he dreams.

He dreams of fire and swollen bellies and that scene in Alien, of giving birth to jackals through his urethra, the whole horrific nine yards. His head is a terrible place to be, he can’t imagine his stomach is much better, why anyone would want to put a thing inside of it."

Tip, Slide, Tumble by j_s_cavalcante

42,900 words | due South, Fraser/Kowalski

Ray knew when he found the body in the alley it was going to change someone's life. He just didn't expect that life would be his.

Turn by saras_girl

306,000 words | Harry Potter, Harry/Draco

One good turn always deserves another. Apparently.

Unless it's lies or it's love by sprat

25,300 words | American Idol, Kris/Adam

In which Adam (a rock star) meets Kris (a single dad) at an Emergency Room in Arkansas at the end of a particularly shitty night. Also features: San Francisco, fresh starts, baked goods, OCs, cameo appearances by Matt and Megan, pirates, monsters with garbage heads and a recording studio.

What Child Is This by lamardeuse

30,150 words | Merlin, Arthur/Merlin

A modern AU with Merlin, Arthur, mayhem, a baby and a jingly elf hat.

What to Expect by arsenic

29,200 words | Bandom, Bob/Mikey

Mikey has his band, and his little girl, and that's enough. Really, it is.

Winter's Children by neery

66,890 words | Marvel, Bucky/Steve

When their attempts to recreate the super soldier serum failed, Hydra started trying to breed Captain America clones from his genetic samples. Unfortunately, the serum's effects aren't passed down genetically, so instead of an army of tiny Captain Americas, they get a bunch of tow-headed, asthmatic, allergic, immuno-compromised little Steves.

And then the Winter Soldier stumbles across Hydra's failed experiment...

With Six You Get Eggroll by speranza

31,000 words | due South, Fraser/Kowalski

"Kick 'em In The Head: A Guide To Parenting."

ETA: Bonus! Because I apparently lost my bookmark for this one but have the memory of an elephant for kidfic, so it came to me eventually. :D

A Farm in Iowa 'Verse by sheafrotherdon

166,000 words | SGA, McKay/Sheppard

John inherits a farm, Rodney ends up entirely out of his element, and there is much ado about baseball.

[ssaalexblake]

You know, I remember before s12 aired I was talking about how I liked how they’d managed to say something with the casting of Jodie as the doctor Without forgetting the doctor’s socialisation. As in, 13’s anger has been Very feminine in that it deals with repression and hiding it behind 8 layers of denial and not letting people See she’s not a perfect happy go lucky joy machine who just helps people all the time. It made sense plot wise because of what 12’s last wishes were, he didn’t want the bad. He hoped for a future of laughter and kindness, not the kind of things the doctor has ended up with.

The doctors dedication to their own last wishes has unknowingly pushed 13 into somewhat typical feminine reactions in s11, she is being passive aggressive (this doesn’t actually stop, to be fair, she’s definitely being this in her calmer moments in s12), she’s only letting those around her see her positive attributes, hiding her questionable past by avoiding questions. She cornering bad guys alone so only They see her darker side. She’s using them as a pressure valve to vent her anger and disdain openly, because she knows she can’t do so to the fam without violating her own vow to herself.

So while 13’s ways of displaying anger aren’t stemming from being present in a society that socialises women that way, she has effectively ended up in the same place without her behaviour stemming from said same socialisation. Because this regeneration just Suddenly appearing like they’ve been perceived as a woman and socialised as such when they’ve been taken and treated as a man for thousands of years would not have worked.

And I personally quite enjoy this, might as well Say something with the casting, right? And I said this waaaay back when, and I got push back (rudely, but W/e) because why would I enjoy something that’s not a power fantasy of her acting in an entirely socialised male way, and that this whole thing was remarkably lacking in self awareness but like... I actually am thinking as time goes on that it is Very self aware and is serving as a bit of a lesson on toxic femininity.

I... have no idea if this is an arc that was self aware from the get go, but 12′s last wishes could have vastly different connotations depending on whom you say them to. From seeing two seasons of 13′s behaviour in an effort to fulfil them, i think it’s pretty evident that hearing them sent her down a pathway of very unhealthy emotional expressions that i clocked when watching Very early in the eleventh series as a very feminine type of anger repression. 

And in s11, she’s sailing on that. She Kind of slips up in the first new year’s special with the dalek, but other than that life is Good for her. She’s managing to find effective therapeutic venting villains to release the pressure of having to be perfect all the time and it’s not even having too much of a negative mental effect on her. 

Of course, this only holds for as long as life is going well for her, literally the first thing that happens in s12 is the Worst thing that ever could for her. The Master shows up, drudging up trauma related to Bill, relating to hoping against all hope they could be friends again but ending up dying in the dirt alone. He destroys Gallifrey, commits genocide, which would have been traumatizing enough but it would have drudged up all the trauma from when they thought They’d destroyed it and ruined the win they got when they’d actually saved it. The fam whom she loves are now Also in mortal danger and want answers. This all just goes to prove that 13 Only pulled that off in s11 because it was to a level that she could handle it. Once her stress and trauma and anger and hurt reaches a certain level, she can no longer function in the way she wished to and the true toxicity of that behaviour becomes apparent. 

And through all of this, while the 13 hasn’t arrived at these behaviour patterns through female socialisation, she is Presenting in the same way so it functions as a criticism of toxic femininity. 

In Orphan 55 she latches onto Kane Before she knows she’s done anything bad and treats her like dirt to vent the anger, the fam had Already noted she’s in a foul mood and it’s kind of evident she did Not want to take it out on them and used Kane to do it. Then the Skithra happens and she is Brutal and she is so in front of the fam. Fugitive of the Judoon happens and her instinct to hide all of her trauma and not talk and just be Happy is shown from the opening scenes to be causing division amongst the fam and her, she is moody and short and angry At them because she can no longer contain it. By the end of the episode she actually even verbally slams Ryan. That is how far gone she is with all of this. 

fotj is also when the fam Kind of manage to get through to her and show support, she actually is shown to be in a slightly better place in the next two episodes, so we also see that when she functions honestly and Doesn’t lean into toxic femininity her life Improves. 

Of course, then villa diodati happens and it all once again goes to utter Hell and she totally Blows. He screaming at the fam was a total and utter breakdown and it was a Snap. It was a Snap like the other doctors have had, it was like ten at his worst except instead of it being a boatload of ugly toxic masculinity she is portraying this through a lens of toxic Femininity. And people are still on my posts on a weekly basis wondering when 13 will Finally Snap. 

13′s anger Isn’t like the other doctors’ in presentation because her unhealthy coping mechanisms are displaying a totally different side of toxicity in society. 13′s repression and her absolute Need to only display positive traits led her down a road in s12 where she was unable to find help, unable to say there was anything wrong, unable to display negativity in a healthy way, unable to keep the sheer supernova of emotions she was feeling down anymore and it exploded, and it was ugly. She blamed the fam for not knowing things she was deliberately hiding from them. She did Nasty things. Her inability to think straight and her disinclination to Deal with her own trauma and just repress it ultimately led her to give up the cyberium to the lone cyberman which led to Countless trillions, probably, of humans to die in the worst way possible (that’s the doctors Own opinion on that btw, she Knowingly did something that caused this) because her crutches are ignoring the bad and using the fam and earth itself as a second home in place of the old one, for her, the possibility of losing them or the earth is so traumatic and disturbing that she knowingly causes a horror. 

13′s poor mental health, the poor mental health stemming from toxicly feminine ways of dealing with anger and trauma and depression led, directly, to the terrors in the last 3 episodes in s12. It is not healthy! 13 may not have been led to acting in these ways by female socialization, But giving us a justified and logical reason to be acting in the same way women are Expected to act in society to ours (and, everybody’s) detriment Is a commentary on how toxic that type of feminine anger actually Is. 

So no, i don’t think they went ‘power fantasy’ as a route with jodie’s casting as the doctor, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t self aware, instead they chose to say something that wouldn’t have been as poignant a story had they cast a man to play 13, because chronologically and visually... A man told her to do this. It is more complicated, yes, but this Definitely says something.  

13 is a cautionary tale against the toxicity in the anger women are socialised into... A wild one, but since when was the doctor ever subtle. 

[plotbunbun]

Okay for the ask game vergil devilmaycry

YOU ALREADY KNOW LMAOO (rubs hands together like a fly) BRAINROT COMING IN CLUTCH

Favourite thing about Vergil: I love his resilience! No matter how much suffering he undergoes, he always rises again in hopes of realising his potential.

Least favourite thing about Vergil: Narrow-mindedness - he is quick to cut down opportunities at self-reflection or opposing views because they would require him to re-evaluate his own path.

Favourite line of Vergil's: I'M PRETTY SURE I'VE ACCIDENTALLY MEMORISED THEM ALL BY THIS POINT, but it's gotta be a tie between "(...) you cannot protect anything. Let alone yourself", "All things end, Dante. Even us...", and "We're still here [alive], aren't we?"

brOTP for Vergil: His literal brother, LMAO, or perhaps I should just say the Sparda family,,, though I will say, Credo and he could be such good friends if he still lived!

OTP for Vergil: I honest to God don't really have one, except for Nero's mother - if we ever get content for her, and she's not an evil witch, y'all already know who'll be heading the ship LOL (as it is, I already got fics and ideas 💀)

nOTP for Vergil: There aren't really many options for Vergil, so I guess this doesn't apply. I'm not into shipping him with Trish, Lady, Patty, or adult Alice, but if a peep writes a compelling enough story I'll give it a go O.o (wait, wait, actually - Nicoletta. I have no idea how the hell any of you would make Nico x Vergil work, I cannot see it happening LMAOO)

Random headcanon for Vergil: (flits through five bajillion) Let us pick... my headcanon that Vergil is no stranger to starvation or cold, living in remote areas like woods or caverns or abandoned buildings before he inevitably had to run again. He only interacted with people to steal necessities, perform a task to earn some meager money, or collude with evil shenanigans.

Unpopular opinion about Vergil: He absolutely deserves punishment for his sins, despite his own staggering personal suffering. I just think that his circumstances are unique, and don't allow for a traditional route of asking his victims' families whether to offer him mercy or kill him. Especially in the case of Nero, who technically got even with Vergil. So, instead of punishment, he must atone through future actions. Whether he was punished or not, though, he would need to be redeemed either way :>

Song I associate with Vergil: I already posted about how I associate Vergil with Maula Mere Maula, so I'll choose a different song, LOL - Once by Bradley Caleb Kane, the anthem of misguided villains. The "child" line in particular...

Favourite picture of Vergil: My gallery is mysterious and ever-eluding in number,,, how could I ever choose? XD But here's a smol edit I did way back when on a shot (I believe it was from Dru uvu!):

bonus smol Sparda twins with their mama because this pic shreds me to pieces whenever I look at it

[slytherinbarnes]

Sub Rosa [55]

x. die all, die merrily

Pairing: Bellamy Blake x reader

Word Count: 4.6k

Warnings: I mean, the title says it all, people die, there is fighting and violence. also some light smut, a lil touch of kidnapping, and some language to finish it all up.

Summary: the final conclave begins, and 13 clans fight for the ultimate prize: surviving the apocalypse. 

a/n: I AM NERVOUS TO POST THIS BC APPARENTLY THIS IS A LOT OF YALLS FAVORITE EPISODE EVER SO I HOPE I DID IT JUSTICE! the taglist for this series is open! I hope you enjoy, please let me know what you think!!!

previous chapter // season masterlist // series masterlist

March 27th, 2150; Polis

You wake to the sounds of yelling outside. 

Your eyes pull open slowly, blinking against the bright light of the sun that streams into the room from the balcony. You roll over, coming face to face with Bellamy, who is looking down at you and smiling. You give him a sleepy smile in return. “How long have you been up?”

He glances towards the balcony, before his eyes fall on you again. “An hour or so. Sounds like they’re prepping for the conclave.”

You hum in agreement. “Didn't Clarke say it starts tomorrow? I’m sure there’s a lot to be done and not much time to do it in.”

“Does that mean we have to help too?”

You laugh at the grimace on his face, clearly not excited about this prospect. “Probably.”

He sighs and starts to stand from the bed, but you grab his hand and pull him back down towards you. He looks at you in surprise as you give him a mischievous look, pulling him down even closer, until his face is inches from yours. “We can have some fun first though, don’t you think?”

He catches onto your line of thinking easily, and he gives you a look full of fire and passion. He answers your question with a searing kiss, your previous separation making you savor the kiss more than you usually do. His hands come to land on either side of your face, holding you in place as he kisses you like his life depends on it. Like he’s a drowning man and you’re a tank of oxygen sent to save him. His hands slide from your face, down to your body, sliding all over you, the feeling of his skin on yours electric. 

He pulls you closer to his body, tugging until you move to straddle him, the fur blanket sliding off of you as you do. You run your hands down his already naked chest, his shirt on you, your favorite thing to sleep in, and he smiles up at you. You tug the shirt off and toss it to the side, and his eyes roam your body with appreciation, taking you in. You have to resist the urge to cover up, knowing how much he likes to look at you, but still, you whisper, “You’re staring.”

“I’m admiring. I’m drawing a detailed image of you in my brain for later, and I want to make sure I don’t miss anything.”

His fingers trace over a few of your scars, the one on your shoulder from the arrow, the one on your leg from Roan, and the one on your side from the assassin, and you can see his eyes mapping their location on your body. You copy the motion with him, carefully tracing the scar on his side, the one you stitched up. He glances down at it, the small, jagged little scar, shaped like an uneven lightning bolt. “It is crooked. Sorry about that.”

“Don't be, I like it. It reminds me of you.”

“It looks like lightning. The perfect scar for my stormy boyfriend.”

He gives you a peculiar look. “You think I'm stormy?”

You lean down and kiss him, chasing away the insecurity that seems to creep up. “Not in a bad way. Storms are powerful, forces to be reckoned with. Sometimes they rage and crackle, but they cleanse too, and help the Earth grow.”

He smiles up at you, his face softening and his earlier insecurity now gone. “And you are radiant. Breathtaking. Beautiful.”

He kisses you in between each compliment, lingering on the last one, making it long and slow. You open your mouth, granting his tongue access, and they dance and move together in a perfect symphony. As he kisses you, you both slide out of any remaining undergarments, both of you naked and warm against each other. The usual vulnerability, and fear, that comes with being naked around another person is lost on you, because Bellamy is careful to radiate nothing but love and adoration, wanting you to feel safe and secure. 

He breaks the kiss to watch you as you sink onto him, both of you moaning with pleasure. He rolls you both, situating your body beneath his, his arms supporting his weight next to your head, caging you between them. Your eyes lock as you move together, finding your rhythm, and his other hand slips between your bodies to bring you closer to the edge. You fall first, eyes squeezed shut and head thrown back in pleasure, and the sight of you sends Bellamy over right after.

He kisses you again as you come down from your high, the kiss lazy and sloppy, both of you feeling like jelly as your pleasure rolls through you. Bellamy eventually rolls off you, laying down at your side, turning to watch you. You turn to face him, smiling up at his freckled face and messy curls, “Tell me about the gods.”

He smiles, always ready to oblige, before launching into his story. “Persephone, better known as the goddess of the dead and Underworld, wasn’t always known that way…”

-

March 28th, 2150; Polis

Bellamy’s hand is held tight in your own, slick with sweat from nerves as he leads you down the hall, towards Octavia’s room. The tradition of the Final Conclave has now begun, and in mere minutes, Octavia will walk onto the stage in front of everyone, and accept the sigil of her clan, your clan, and fight until the death for Skaikru. 

When Bellamy reaches the door, he turns and looks at you, nervous, and you nod your head, reassuring him. He lifts his hand and knocks, and Octavia looks his way, quickly looking away again when she realizes who it is. “You here to give me a pep talk?”

He drops your hand and steps into the room, settling onto the couch beside her. You linger in the doorway, here for emotional support more than anything, watching Bellamy make his last attempt to save his sister. “You don't have to do this. We can find someone else to fight. “

“If I die, I die. At least I go down fighting.”

“O-”

She cuts him off immediately, shutting down his argument. “Don't. This is my decision, Bell. I know what the odds are, I don't need you pointing them out.”

You hear footsteps from down the hall, and you peek behind you, watching as your twin approaches you. Her face is set in a grim expression, not optimistic at all, and as soon as she looks up and meets your eyes, she calls out, “It's time.”

You nod, turning to pass the message along to Octavia, but she must have heard because she is already standing and walking your way. You get a good look at her make up as she approaches, the dark war paint painted over each of her eyes in the shape of an upside down “L”. You realize immediately what her inspiration is, and as she stops in front of you, you whisper, “Lincoln’s tattoo.”

She nods once, confirming your suspicion, and you see a quick pass of nerves cross her features. You reach out and squeeze her shoulder, offering her comfort. “He’s always with you, especially now, and I know he's proud of you.”

She gives you a small smile before walking past you and out the door, walking down the long hallway to the stage. You and Bellamy follow her path until you meet up with Clarke, who leads you out a side door and into the crowd, just in time to watch Gaia, Indra’s daughter, announce, “Octavia kom Skaikru, step forward.”

Octavia steps up onto the stage and ducks her head, allowing Gaia to attach a necklace around her neck. “Accept the sigil of your clan and fight with honor as their champion.”

She walks across the stage and comes to a stop beside Roan, and you and Bellamy exchange a look as Gaia begins her final speech. “Soon will begin the Final Conclave, a battle to the death within the walls of Polis. These warriors will fight until only one remains. When that warrior collects all of the sigils from the fallen and delivers them to me, they will be declared the victor. This final champion alone will tell us which clan is meant to survive in the crypt of Bekka Pramheda, and which clans are meant to perish in Praimfaya. Osir koma op daun bilaik slip daun kom bleirona, ba mafta op Won bilaik hef em op mou beda.”

Kane translates for you and Bellamy, able to understand the words faster than both of you can. “We honor those who fall by the sword, but follow the One who wields it best.”

Somewhere behind you in the crowd, someone yells, “Daun bilaik ai!”

That would be me. You all turn and watch in shock as Luna stalks through the crowd, shoving people out of her way to get to the front, and you can sense trouble brewing as soon as you see her face. “Shit.”

Bellamy looks at you, not understanding what you mean, not aware of just how bad things got for Luna on Becca’s Island. She stalks onto the stage and comes to a stop in front of Gaia. “I'm Luna kom Floukru, and I'm the last of my clan.”

“We know who you are...The Natblida who ran from her conclave.”

“I'm not running from this one.”

Gaia turns and grabs the last necklace from the bowl, turning to face the angry Nightblood. “Accept this sigil, Luna kom Floukru. But with your clan gone, who will you fight for?”

“I fight for no one. I fight for death.” She snatches the necklace from Gaia’s hands and turns and holds it up for the crowd. “When I win, no one will be saved.”

Her words immediately send a wave of murmurs through the crowd, and Gaia quickly solves the problem by dispersing the crowd and sending the warriors down into the weapons room to arm up and prepare for the battle. You, Kane, Bellamy, Clarke, and Jaha all cluster in a circle, quietly discussing Luna's arrival when Gaia comes over to your group, voice full of authority. “Skaikru! Three advisors to the worgeda. The rest of you, report to your designated safe zone. Now.”

Kane gestures to you and Bellamy, “Come on. We have to get her ready.”

Jaha reaches out and grabs Kane’s arm, stopping him from leaving. “This conversation isn't over. The death wave will be here within three days, and here we are, risking the fate of our people on a blood sport?”

Clarke corrects him, “The fate of all people, You heard Luna.”

“She's just one of 13.”

You wince, remembering when you walked in a room to save Luna from at least 6 men, only to find that she had already saved herself. And that was after being repeatedly tortured. “You're wrong. She's a Nightblood novitiate, which means she trained in combat exactly like this.”

Bellamy looks at you, misunderstanding you. “You want us to cheat?”

“No.” You look at him, shaking your head. “I only mean that Luna is the walking definition of killer warrior, and that scares me.”

Kane adds, “Besides, you know the rules. If we break them, we lose, and if we lose, we die.”

“The rules are not the problem, Marcus. The game is. Even if we stop Luna, even if Octavia finds a way to win, does anyone truly believe that the Grounders will accept Skaikru as the lone survivors?”

“Yes. The conclave is sacred, they'll honor the winner. Like it or not, we're all Grounders now.” The words tug at a memory, Bellamy standing in the middle of a circle of delinquents, convincing all of you to fight the Grounders coming your way. But Kane pulls you from that memory when he looks at Jaha, and says, “You get our people to the safe zone, we'll have Octavia ready for the fight. The rest is up to her.”

You and Clarke nod at each other, knowing you’ll see each other again soon, after the Conclave. Either as the sole clan to survive Praimfaya, or as one of 13 clans left outside to perish. Bellamy walks close to you as you follow Kane into the weapons area, leading you over to Octavia. As you walk towards her, you eye the competition, taking notes on their weapons, their fighting, anything you can gather that might help her. Kane seems to have the same idea because as soon as he stops in front of her and you and Bellamy stop beside him, he starts, “All right, listen to me. The Blue Cliff Warrior, she has two corvo blades. I just saw her practicing. She's left handed, you go for her weak hand.”

“Okay.”

You add to his point, “Plains Rider and the warrior from Shallow Valley, they're strong, but slow. You can avoid them, not to mention the black rain, which could fall at any moment, so stay close to cover.”

Beside you, Bellamy fidgets in place, turning and looking away, which does not go unnoticed by you or Octavia. She snaps, “What, Bellamy? If you've got something to say, just say it.”

“You don't need any of this. When the starting horn blows, just stay out of sight and let the others thin out the competition.”

“You want me to hide?”

“You don't need to go up against the strongest warrior from every clan.”

“I came here to fight.”

Bellamy bends down a little, matching their heights, his voice almost pleading, “You were the girl under the floor. Use that, just like Mom taught us.” 

Kane nods, “Bellamy's right. You don't have to kill all 12 warriors.”

“I just have to kill the last one.”

All of you exchange a nod, now on the same page in terms of strategy. Behind you, one of the Flamekeeper scouts announces, “Ambassadors and advisors, to the tower. Champions, to your flags.”

Kane and Octavia hug, quick and fierce, before she turns to Bellamy. They hover near each other, unsure whether they should hug, and eventually Octavia settles on, “May we meet again.”

“Damn right we will.”

Bellamy’s voice is sad, and he looks like he wants to hug her, but he’s so worried about upsetting her before the battle that he doesn’t. He just turns and starts to walk away, leaving you and Octavia alone. You don't hesitate to hug her, reaching out and grabbing her, squeezing her tight and passing along as much love and strength as you can through the hug. She hugs you back tight, almost desperate, and when you pull away, both of you have tears in your eyes, aware this might be your last goodbye. You smile through your tears, “You were my first friend on the ground, and the first person to see me as someone other than the Invisible Twin. Now you’re my people, my family, my sister. I am so incredibly proud of you.”

She smiles at you and you see her fighting back her tears, not wanting anyone to see her crying. She squeezes your arm and whispers, “I love you. Bellamy too.”

You nod, already aware, because you knew the siblings couldn't stay upset with each other long. Lincoln's death left a mark on their relationship, but that doesn't mean their relationship was irreparable. You start to answer when one of the Flamekeepers grabs your arms and pulls you away, pushing you towards the door to the tower. You turn and wave one last goodbye to Octavia, eyes watching the small girl melt into the crowd of warriors who have been fighting longer than she’s been alive. You meet Bellamy at the elevator, and his face is fallen, completely upset. You slip your hand in his and he looks over at you in surprise, so lost in his own head that he didn't even hear your approach. “What did she say?”

“She said she loves you.”

Surprise takes over his expression, then regret, and he immediately drops your hands and turns away, “I have to tell her I love her.”

But the Flamekeeper who pushed you out of the room blocks his path, pushing him back towards the elevator, not allowing him to leave. You can tell Bellamy wants to fight it and fight him, but you reach out and grab his hand again, pulling him towards the now waiting elevator. “She’s going to win, Bellamy. You can tell her afterwards.”

He nods and you ride the elevator to the top, meeting up with Kane in the throne room, just as the horn sounds, signaling the beginning of the conclave. You can hear the sounds of fighting immediately, and the tensions inside the room are high as you hear the clang of swords and the thud of fallen bodies. Minutes later, Gaia comes into the room and announces, “The first two champions have fallen.”

Everyone turns towards her, absolutely terrified that she will say the name of the warrior from their clan, and you, Kane, and Bellamy are no exception. 

“Gael kom Ingranronakru, yu gonplei ste odon.”

One of the Flamekeepers walks over to the candle that represents the Plains Riders and puts the flame out, ending their battle for the bunker. You all watch the Flamekeeper turn away from the snuffed candle and walk towards the next one, and your heart drops as every step he takes brings him closer and closer to the Skaikru candle. Bellamy whispers, “Please don't be her.”

Luckily, but still heartbreaking, the Flamekeeper stops just shy, in front of the Trikru candle, as Gaia announces, “Fio kom Trikru, yu gonplei ste odon.”

Relieved, you turn to Bellamy. “Octavia's still out there.”

Bellamy’s eyes turn towards you, full of tears, his expression breaking your heart. “I couldn't tell her I loved her, even with the world ending.”

You squeeze his hand, still held tight in yours. “Trust me, Bellamy, she knows.”

He nods and his eyes drop to the floor, lost in his head again, and you and Kane share a look. With nothing else to do now, except wait, you and Bellamy head out to the balcony with your binoculars, watching the fights alongside Gaia. Kane comes out onto the balcony as you watch the Blue Cliff warrior kill the Sangedakru warrior, and Bellamy lets out a small gasp at the sight of the death. When you turn to look at him in confusion, he nods towards Kane, and you follow him as he leads you over to the Chancellor. Bellamy’s voice is low when he mutters, “We just saw the Blue Cliff warrior kill the Sangedakru warrior with a bow.”

“So?”

Bellamy looks at you, and you remember your pre fight conversation with Octavia. You tell Kane, “So, we saw her before the fight. She didn't have a bow, she had two swords.”

“Yeah, the corvo blades.” He shrugs, not understanding your worry. “Well, she could have picked up a bow off the battlefield.”

You and Bellamy exchange a look, both of you aware that someone you know is exceptionally good with a bow, and exceptionally good at betrayal. You both step back inside the room, scanning for the Azgeda spy, shaking your head when you don't see her. Kane comes up beside you, looking between you in confusion. “What is it?”

“Echo's gone.”

As soon as the words leave your mouth, Bellamy stalks out of the room, looking like a man on a mission, and you and Kane look at each other in panic before running after him. “Bellamy, wait!”

He spins around to face the two of you, annoyed at the interruption. “My sister is down there. Echo is cheating, and I'm gonna stop her.”

Kane shakes his head, “Let one of Gaia's scouts find her, and then Ice Nation will be punished.”

“They'll never catch her. Echo's a spy, this is what she does.”

He tries to walk away again but you grab his arm to stop him. “Listen to me, Bellamy, I’m with you. But running out there in broad daylight is not the way to fix this.”

“So, you think I should just stay here and do nothing?”

You shake your head, and Kane vocalizes a plan you were already starting to form in your head. “No. You wait until dark so you don't get caught. And then the two of you get her out of the fight and get back here without being seen. Clear?”

“Clear.”

-

The wait until nightfall is agonizingly long, and all you can do is hope that Octavia makes it until then, safely away from Echo’s arrows. When darkness finally blankets the city, only five lit candles remain. Floukru, Azgeda, Podakru, Louwoda Kliron, and Skaikru. 

Bellamy leads you through the streets of Polis, heading towards the building Echo is hiding in, careful to keep the both of you hidden from the view of any warriors or Flamekeepers. You’re close to the building when Bellamy abruptly stops and pulls you back behind a wall, disguised in the shadows. You know it’s too dangerous to ask why, but you don't need to, because a second later the Shallow Valley warrior comes into view. He seems to see something in the distance that you can’t see, because you watch him brace himself before a scream breaks free from the unseen force, and Luna comes running into view. She kills him quickly, easily, and just like that, five lit candles becomes four. 

Luna stalks out of view again, and as soon as Bellamy is sure it’s clear, he takes off running again, leading you the last few steps to the building. The two of you creep up the stairs slowly, remembering that Echo is up high, and when you reach the door to her hiding spot, Bellamy gives you two hand signals: push the door open and then immediately get down. You nod your head, letting him you know you understand, and then he counts you down from three. As soon as he puts his last finger down, you swing the door open as quickly and quietly as you can, before you immediately duck, Echo’s arrow landing in the door right above your head.

Bellamy runs forward and tackles her to the ground, and the two of them fight back and forth until he gets the upper hand, wrapping his hands around her neck and choking her. She is seconds away from death when you feel a knife to your throat and you freeze in place, voice frantic when you call out, “Bellamy.”

He turns and his face drops when he sees you, his hands instantly releasing Echo’s throat, allowing her to breathe. He steps away from her and the person at your back shoves you towards Bellamy, who catches you with ease, and when you turn around you really aren't surprised to see Roan standing there, sword pointed at you and Bellamy as he glares at you. “I should've known you three couldn't stay away. I heard you all the way down the street, you're lucky I wasn't a scout.”

Bellamy nods towards the Ice Nation spy. “We came to stop her.”

“Explain yourself.”

“I was only trying to help save our people.”

Roan sneers at her, “I am not my mother. I'm not willing to cast aside honor for power.”

“No one has to know.”

“You misunderstand. I will not allow your dishonor to give Luna an advantage, and you will not shame our clan ever again. You are Azgeda no more.”

Shock takes over Echo’s face, and you have to resist the urge to smirk at her. “Sire, wait.”

“You're banished, Echo, and when I win this conclave, make no mistake, there will be no place for you inside that bunker. Now get out of my sight, and off this battlefield without being seen, or know that you are the cause of the death of our people.”

She swallows hard, fighting back tears, before turning and leaving the room, sneaking out and off the battlefield, despite having nowhere else to go. Once you and Bellamy are alone with Roan, the sword comes back towards the two of you again, everything about the king threatening. “I take it by your presence here that your sister's still alive.”

“That's right.”

“If I call for a scout, she'll be executed right now.” He lowers the sword, leaving enough room for you to eventually pass. “But what fun would that be? You really think she can win, don't you?”

Bellamy smiles, looking proud. “I wouldn't count her out if I were you. She's survived harder things than this.”

“Before she dies, I'll tell her she's lucky to have you as a brother.”

“I got a better idea. After she guts you and before you die, you tell her I was the lucky one.”

Roan smirks at him and you feel Bellamy's hand slip into your own, letting you know it’s time to go. You step away first, pulling Bellamy behind you, both of you keeping your eyes on the Ice Nation King until you’re out of the room and back on the street. You begin the careful retreat back to the tower, taking a different path than before, just in case. It takes longer this way, but this path is darker, and easier to stay hidden in, and after a few minutes, you’re just outside the tower again. You and Bellamy look at each other and smile a little, relieved to have made it back without getting caught, but that relief is short lived. 

Just as the two of you start towards the door of the tower, two people jump out of the shadows, each one of them grabbing each of you, holding a rag over your mouth. The substance smells awful, and you know without a doubt that you shouldn't be smelling it, but you don't have much time to process that. You and Bellamy look at each other, both of your eyes wide in panic when you see the other in danger, and you fight against your captives. But by then, it's too late. The chemical has kicked in and you feel unconsciousness seize you rapidly, pulling you under at an alarmingly fast rate.

-

The first thing you notice when you wake is the heaviness in your head. 

It feels like someone popped open your skull, stuffed it full of rocks, and closed it up again. You try to pry your eyes open, but they feel heavy, weighed down by anchors. You groan and try again, prying them open with all your strength, closing them back again when they are met with a bright light. But then you hear someone next to you groan, and a hand brushes against yours, familiar and warm.

Bellamy.

This time when you get your eyes open, you turn his way, both of you looking at each other in shock before you confirm that each other is real. You reach towards each other, silently checking the other out, making sure you're okay. And as soon as you realize you are, you both turn and look around the room, realizing you must be in the bunker. Your eyes land on Clarke, standing at the desk in the room near Jaha, both of them looking towards you. You look between them, at the clench of Clarke’s jaw, the extra weight on her shoulders, and your stomach sinks. “What the hell did you do?”

Jaha is the one to answer, sounding unashamed of what he has to say. “If only one clan could survive, it might as well be ours.”

Bellamy turns to your twin, not believing what he’s hearing. “Clarke, you agreed to this?”

“It was her idea.”

You and Bellamy share an incredulous look, before you turn it on Clarke, in disbelief of what she’s done. She sets her jaw, trying to convince herself, and the two of you, of what she’s done. “We did what we had to do.”

-

next chapter

[fandomrewrites]

Chasing Butterflies: Pilot

Hello all, I’m finally posting the first chapter of Chasing Butterflies - a rewrite of The 100! I am posting it with my to OC’s so it will not be a reader insert. I will try to update once a week, on either Saturday or Sunday. I hope you all enjoy this story and as always constructive criticism is appreciated. Let me know if you want to get added to the taglist!

Season 1, Episode 1: Pilot Pairings: OC x OC best friends, no love interests yet Warnings: Some swearing and mild violence Word Count: 5,209

Season 1 Masterlist

It's been almost three years since Nova Kane has been labeled a criminal and locked up in what the Ark residents call the Sky Box. She was in solitary confinement only receiving visits from the guards and her father, Marcus Kane. 

Nova was never very welcoming to her father or the guards, after all, they're the reason why she was locked up in the first place. Nova was just a month and a half away from the fateful day that she would either be sentenced to death or she’ll be let to live once again amongst the Ark's residents. 

On the Ark, any crime, no matter how small, is a sentence for death. Except if you are under the age of 18. If you are younger than 18, you will be locked up in the Sky Box where you will wait to get reviewed on your 18th birthday. 

Nova sat on her bed reading a book, The Outsiders. It was her favorite. She always felt connected to the character's, especially Dallas Winston. He was misunderstood just like her. 

As she was getting to her favorite part of the book, the rumble, her door opened. She sighed and looked up, her eyes meeting her fathers. "What are you doing here? It's not a visiting day."

"You're getting sent to the ground." Marcus bluntly states.

Nova takes a second to let the words register before she answers, "What? I thought it wasn't survivable?"

"Listen, Nova. This is your best chance at survival. You and 99 other prisoners are being sent to Earth today. You're strong, you've been training since you learned how to walk. The other prisoners are going to need a leader. A guard will be sent down with you too, but I have a feeling they won't want to listen to him-"

Nova cuts her dad's rant off, "They won't want to listen to me either, Marcus. I may be a prisoner but I'm still considered privileged." 

Marcus sighs, frustrated that his daughter still refuses to call him dad. "Just be careful down there okay?" He takes his hand out of his pocket pulling out a knife. "For you to bring down. You can bring the book too, I know it's your favorite. Just make sure they stay hidden so the guards don't see it."

Nova nods and stands up placing both the book and the knife in the big pockets of her oversized jacket. Not even a minute later, the guards opened the door, "Kane we can't wait any longer. Prisoner 306, hold out your right arm."

Nova rolls her eyes but does as she's told, rolling up her sleeve so they can have access to her wrist. As soon as her sleeve is rolled up one of the guards locks a metal cuff around her wrist. Nova clenches her teeth in pain, but refuses to let out a noise and give the guards the satisfaction in knowing they hurt her. 

"Alright, let's go." The guard grabs her roughly by the arm and pulls her out of her cell. 

Behind her she hears her dad say, "Remember what I said Nova." She briefly looks back and nods, letting her father know that she heard him. 

 *_*_*_*_*_*

 On the other side of the Sky Box is another girl that the Ark residents would consider privileged. Her name is Elara Sinclair. Elara has only been in the Sky Box for six months and her 18th birthday is a week away.

Elara isn't in solitary like Nova though. No, she has a cellmate by the name of Harper McIntyre. The two girls got close and we're nervously awaiting the day when Elara would probably be floated. 

"What's the first thing you're going to do when you get out?" Harper asks.

"If I get out you mean." Elara says, rather morbidly.

"You can't think like that, E. So not if, when."

Elara cracked a small smile, "Probably just spend a lot of time with my parents. I hate only being able to see them once a week."

"And become Abby's personal medical assistant." Harper smiles. 

"I'm pretty sure that place is already taken, but yeah. I would love to continue my medical training." Before Harper could reply, the girl's cell door opened to reveal two guards. 

"Prisoners 397 and 398, turn around and hold out your right arm."

Both girls exchanged a nervous look but did as told, not wanting to anger the guards. "What's happening? I still have a week until I turn 18." Elara asks.

"Ow! What is this?" Harper questions, growing more concerned by the second. 

Neither guard answers as they each grab the girls by the arm, "Let's go."

"Where are we going?" Elara tries once more to get a straight answer from the guards. Her mouth falls open once they step out of the cell. In front of her she sees every prisoner leaving their cells with matching metal cuffs and a guard escorting them. 

"They're killing us all!" Harper exclaims. Tears threaten to spill out of both girls' eyes. 

"I didn't even get to tell my parents goodbye." Elara mumbles out.

Both girls watch with wide eyes as the guards drag them out of the Sky Box and towards a drop ship. "What the hell?" Elara says as it clicks, they aren't being floated, they're being sent to the ground. 

Part of her is excited, she's dreamed of this since she was a girl after all. But then she remembers, it's supposed to take another 100 years for the ground to be survivable, they're sentencing them to death just in a different way then they usually do.

Harper and Elara are placed in seats beside a pretty brunette, they get strapped in and wait patiently as the rest of the prisoners are in their spots. "Hey, I'm Octavia." The pretty girl greets Harper and Elara. 

"I'm Elara and this is Harper." She smiles nervously.

 *_*_*_*_*_*

 A few moments later, Nova is the last one brought into the ship. With one last rough pull by the guard Nova finally has enough. She tears her arm loose and elbows the guard in the face, slams her foot onto his toes then grabs his head to shove her knee into his face. The delinquents surrounding them look on, some with terrified faces and others in amusement. 

The guard stumbles back, nose bleeding from the impact. "You bitch." The guard spits out.

"Oh screw you." She says, glaring angrily. Before the guard can react she takes the last seat available and straps herself in. The guard leaves the ship without another word.

When Nova looks up she realizes that everyone's eyes are on her, "Show's over. You can stop looking at me." Everyone quickly adverts their eyes, clearly afraid of the girl. All except one person that is, "Wells? What the fuck are you doing here?"

Sitting across from her is not one, but two of her best friends. Or at least they were growing up, she's changed a lot since she's been locked up. The boy she addressed, Wells, looks slightly shocked to see her. "Nova?"

Her eyes flicker to the passed out blonde beside him, "You came for her, didn't you? For Clarke?" She questions.

All he does is nod. The drop ship finally launches and chatter can be heard from the people around Nova, Wells, and Clarke. After a few seconds Clarke starts to move. "Welcome back- look." Wells starts.

"Wells, why the hell are you here?" Clarke asks, shocked.

Nova lets out a light laugh, though there isn't much humor to it, she hasn't really laughed in years. "I asked him the same thing. Though I used more colorful language."

"Nova?" The blonde gasps.

"Hey." The brunette simply says.

Wells brings Clarke's attention back to her, "When I found out they were sending prisoners to the ground, I got myself arrested. I came for you."Wells turns to address Nova, “I didn’t know your dad was sending you.”

Clarke looks shocked, no surprise there though. Before she can even think of a response the ship violently shakes. "What was that?" Clarke asks.

"That was the atmosphere." Wells answers.

A video starts playing, showing Chancellor Jaha, Wells' dad. "Prisoners of the Ark, hear me now. You've been given a second chance, and as your Chancellor, it is my hope that you see this as not just a chance for you, but a chance for all of us, indeed for mankind itself. We have no idea what is waiting for you down there. If the odds of survival were better, we would've sent others. Frankly, we're sending you because your crimes have made you expendable."

A male delinquent sitting somewhere to the right of Nova calls out, "Your dad is a dick, Wells."

"Wells is here?" Elara asks, looking to her roommate. Neither girl saw him when they got on the ship.

"Those crimes will be forgiven, your records wiped clean." the Chancellor continues. "The drop site has been chosen carefully. Before the last war, Mount Weather was a military base built within a mountain. It was to be stocked with enough non-perishables to sustain three hundred people for up to two years."

Delinquents start cheering as someone undoes their seatbelt floating up into the air, "Spacewalk bandit strikes again! Go Finn!"

"Check it out. Your dad floated me, after all." Finn says, floating in front of Wells, Clarke and Nova.

Nova can't help the small chuckle from making its way past her lips, despite her knowing that he was probably going to get himself killed for not being buckled.

"You should strap in before the parachutes deploy," Wells says.

"Don't unbuckle! It's dangerous!" Elara exclaims to other delinquents that start to follow Finn out of his seat. Nova whips her head in the direction of the voice, recognizing who it belongs too, though she is unable to see the girl who is like a sister to her. 

Just after Elara finishes speaking, Clarke says, "Hey, you two, stay put if you want to live."

The Chancellor can still be heard on the screen, "Mount Weather is life. You must locate those supplies immediately."

Finn, recognizing Clarke, says, "Hey, you're the traitor who's been in solitary for a year."

"You're the idiot who wasted a month of oxygen on an illegal spacewalk." Clarke snaps at the boy.

"But it was fun. I'm Finn."

Nova shakes her head as the Chancellor continues speaking, "Your one responsibility is stay alive."

The ship shakes again, Elara lets out a small scream as the three that got out of their seats are tossed through the air, "Stay in your seats. Finn, are you okay?" Clarke screams.

"Retrorockets ought to have fired by now." Wells states.

"Okay. Everything on this ship is a hundred years old, right? Just give it a second."

"Clarke, there's something I have to tell you. I'm sorry I got your father arrested."

Nova raises her eyebrows at the exchange, knowing the true story of how Clarke’s father got arrested. "Don't you talk about my father!" The blonde yells, trying to be heard over all the other noise in the drop ship.

"Please, I can't die knowing that you hate me."

"They didn't arrest my father, Wells. They executed him. I do hate you."

More yelling is heard throughout the ship and then a big crash.  "Listen. No machine hum." A guy who sits across from Elara says.

The guy next to him smiles, "Whoa. That's a first."

Everyone starts to unbuckle and stand. Elara quickly rushes to the three boys that unbuckled during the journey, "Are they breathing?" She quickly asks Finn, just as Clarke makes it to them. All he does is shake his head.

Clarke looks at Elara about to say something, but a voice from below stops her, "The outer door is on the lower level. Let's go."

"No. We can't just open the doors." Clarke says, quickly rushing down the ladder.

Elara stays behind looking at Finn, "It's not your fault." She says.

He looks up at her, "It is. They followed me."

"Yeah. But that was their choice. There's 100 people on this ship and only two people followed. It was their choice, even after Clarke and I said not too."

Finn nods but still looks upset, "C'mon. Let's go see Earth." Elara holds out her hand for Finn to take. He gently smiles, grabbing her outstretched hand.

 *_*_*_*_*_*

 Once Nova unbuckled she didn't wait for anyone as she made her way down to the lower level. She shoved her way to the front, wanting to be one of the first people out of the crowded ship. 

A guy in a guards uniform was standing by the door, "Hey, just back it up, guys."

"Stop. The air could be toxic." Clarke calls from the ladder.

"If the air is toxic, we're all dead, anyway."

"Bellamy?" A pretty girl asks, looking at the guard.

"My God, look how big you are."

The girl finally makes it to Bellamy, "What the hell are you wearing, a guard's uniform?"

"I borrowed it to get on the drop ship. Someone has got to keep an eye on you." They both hug.

Looking at his wrist Clarke calls, "Where's your wristband?"

"Do you mind? I haven't seen my brother in a year." The girl snaps.

"No one has a brother." A guy yells out.

"That's Octavia Blake, the girl they found hidden in the floor." A girl says in reply.

Octavia lunges forward to attack and Nova smirks. She likes her, she has spunk. "Octavia, Octavia, no." Her brother says, holding her back. "Let's give them something else to remember you by."

"Yeah? Like what?"

"Like being the first person on the ground in a hundred years."

As Bellamy pulls the lever, opening the door, Nova contemplates pushing past Octavia but decides against it. She likes the girl and can take her under her wing and make her a badass. She can't do that if the girl thinks she's a bitch for not allowing her to step out first.

Once the door is fully open, Octavia slowly steps down the ramp. When she reaches the end she jumps onto the ground, throws her hands in the air and screams, "We're back bitches!"

Nova runs out once the words leave the girls mouth. She takes a deep breath, holds her arms out, and lets her head fall back, closing her eyes. She lets the sun hit her exposed skin and she smiles. The first genuine smile that falls on her lips in three years. 

Elara on the other hand is one of the last people to leave the ship. But when she does she has a huge smile lighting up her face. She spins in slow circles taking in every inch of Earth that she can see. 

After both Nova and Elara get their fix of the ground they make their way over to Clarke, who stands by the drop ship looking at a map. Nova looks at Elara in surprise, "Lara?"

"Hey Nov." Elara smiles at the girl who was once her best friend. "I missed you."

"You too." Nova says quietly. 

Their attention is brought back to Clarke as Wells comes out of the drop ship, "We got problems. The communication system is dead. I went to the roof. A dozen panels are missing. Heat fried the wires."

"Well, all that matters right now is getting to Mount Weather. See? Look. This is us." Clarke points to a place on the map as the other three look on, "This is where we need to get if we want to survive."

"Where'd you learn to do that?" Wells questions, but then he answers himself, "Your father."

A voice from behind the four friends interrupts the conversation, "Ah, cool, a map. They got a bar in this town? I'll buy you a beer."

Wells puts a hand to the boy's chest, "You mind?"

"Hey, hey, hey, hands off of him. He's with us." Another delinquent, Murphy, says, breaking the contact. 

"Relax. We're just trying to figure out where we are." Wells says, trying to diffuse the situation. 

"We're on the ground. That not good enough for you?" Bellamy calls, hearing the conversation.

"We need to find Mount Weather. You heard my father's message. That has to be our first priority."

"Screw your father. What, you think you're in charge here, you and the rest of the privileged?" Octavia spits, causing Nova to roll her eyes.

"Do you think we care who's in charge? We need to get to Mount Weather not because the Chancellor said so, but because the longer we wait, the hungrier we'll get and the harder this'll be." Clarke starts.

"We need Mount Weather to survive." Elara pipes in. 

Clarke nods at her statement, "We're looking at a twenty-mile trek, okay? So if we want to get there before dark, we need to leave now."

"I got a better idea. You four go, find it for us. Let the privileged do the hard work for a change." Bellamy says.

The delinquents start cheering. Nova scoffs, "You're all going to die down here."

Everyone looks at her, "What? It's true. We're not on vacation. We need supplies and Mount Weather is where those supplies are. Four of us can't carry back enough supplies for 98 people."

Wells speaks, "She's right. We all need to go."

"Look at this, everybody. The Chancellor and Vice Chancellor of Earth." Murphy jokes.

Nova once again rolls her eyes, she has a feeling that this will be a common occurrence down on Earth. "You think that's funny?' Wells asks.

Murphy grabs Wells, tripping him. "Wells!" Clarke and Elara call out in concern.

"No, but that was." Murphy smiles. Wells stands up, limping on the foot that got twisted on his way down. He goes to put up his fists but Nova steps in between the two.

"He has one good leg. If you want to fight someone maybe choose someone so it's a fair fight." She states, glaring.

"You mean you? 'Cause I'll gladly fight you any day, Angel."

"That wouldn't be a fair fight." She states, clenching her jaw at the unwelcomed nickname.

"You afraid of me?" He smirks.

Nova smirks back, "I meant for you. Now move along, unless you want to get your ass kicked."

Murphy scoffs, “Like you could actually hurt me.” 

The boy with the goggles mumbles from behind Murphy, “Clearly you didn’t see her take on the guard.” 

At his words, Murphy looks Nova up and down but decides against actually fighting the girl. As Murphy and his crew finally back away, Finn makes his presence known, "So Mount Weather. When do we leave?"

"Right now. We'll be back tomorrow with food." Clarke says.

"I'm staying. Someone with medical experience should be here in case anyone gets hurt." Elara says as she finishes wrapping Wells' ankle.

"How are the three of you gonna carry enough food for 98 people?" Wells asks.

Finn turns and grabs the two closest guys, one of which includes goggles boy, "Five of us. Can we go now?"

"Sounds like a party. Make it six." Octavia says joining the group.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing?" Bellamy asks his sister.

"Going for a walk." She casually answers.

Clarke turns to Finn, grabbing his wrist, "Hey, were you trying to take this off?"

"Yeah, so?" He answers, shrugging.

"So this wristband transmits your vital signs to the Ark. Take it off, and they'll think you're dead."

"Should I care?"

"Well, I don't know. Do you want the people you love to think you're dead? Do you want them to follow you down here in two months? Because they won't if they think we're dying." Finn nods, "Now let's go."

 *_*_*_*_*_*

 As Nova and the group of six make their way through the forest, Clarke seems to be impatient. She walks ahead from the rest, focused on reaching their destination. Finn grabs a flower from the ground and places it in Octavia's hair. 

"Now, that, my friend, is game." Jasper, the boy with the goggles says to his friend, Monty.

"That, my friend, is poison sumac." Monty replies.

Octavia hurriedly wipes the flower out of her hair, "What? It is?"

"The flowers aren't poisonous. They're medicinal, calming, actually." He states.

"His family grows all the pharmaceuticals on the Ark." Jasper says, explaining how his friend knows so much about the plant.

"Hey, guys, would you try to keep up?" Clarke calls, turning around to look at everyone.

"Come on, Clarke. How do you block all this out?" Finn questions the blonde.

"Well, it's simple. I wonder, why haven't we seen any animals? Maybe it's because there are none. Maybe we've already been exposed to enough radiation to kill us. Sure is pretty, though. Come on."

"Someone should slip her some poison sumac." Octavia mumbles to the rest of us. Jasper snorts and Nova allows a smirk to fall on her lips.

"If we've been exposed to enough radiation to kill us then we're already dead. Might as well enjoy our last moments, Clarke." Nova says to her friend.

Finn turns to the other two boys, "I got to know what you two did to get busted."

Monty replies, "Sumac isn't the only herb in the garden, if you know what I mean."

"Someone forgot to replace what we took." Jasper says, casting an accusing eye at Monty.

"Someone has apologized, like, a thousand times."

"What about you Nova? What'd they get you for?"

"Yeah, all we ever heard were rumors." Finn adds.

"Murder." Nova states simply.

Up ahead Clarke stops, "What? My mom said you stole."

Nova shakes her head, "It was a cover. My dad, Jaha, and your mom were the only ones who knew the truth. And of course me and the guy I killed."

"Remind me not to get on her bad side." She hears Jasper whisper to Monty.

Nova turns around smirking, "Don't worry. That guy had it coming. The only person down here I may consider murdering is Murphy. At least it's just him for now."

The group slows to a stop as they spot a deer in front of them. "No animals, huh?" Finn whispers to Clarke. Finn steps forward to get a better look at the animal but steps on a stick. The deer looks up and turns to see what made the noise. 

They all gasp. The deer has two faces.

 *_*_*_*_*_*

 Elara and Wells walked away from the camp looking for water. "Clarke still doesn't know?" Elara asks.

"No, and you're not going to tell her."

"Seriously? You don't need to remind me, Wells." She pauses, "We shouldn't be walking around for long. You need to rest your ankle."

Wells nods and they start to loop around to head back to the camp.

Once they see the drop ship a voice calls out, "Find any water yet?"

Looking up Elara and Wells spot Murphy, "No, not yet, but, we're going back out soon if you want to come."

Murphy turns his attention to the side of the drop ship, carved into the metal is 'First son first to dye'. He chuckles then says to Wells, "You know, my father, he begged for mercy in the airlock chamber when your father floated him."

Wells just looks at him, "You spelled die wrong, genius."

 *_*_*_*_*_*

 Continuing their trek through the woods, Finn asks no one in particular, "Hey, you know what I'd like to know? Why send us down today after ninety seven years? What changed?"

"Who cares?" Octavia speaks up, "I'm just glad they did. I woke up rotting in a cell, and now I'm spinning in a forest."

"Maybe they found something on a satellite, you know, like an old weather satellite or it wasn't a satellite." Monty says. Nova knits her eyebrows together in confusion at his words.

"The Ark is dying. At the current population level, there's roughly three months left of life support, maybe four now that we're gone." Clarke answers.

"So that was the secret they locked you up to keep, why they kept you in solitary, floated your old man?" Finn questions.

"My father was the engineer who discovered the flaw. He thought the people had a right to know. The Council disagreed. My mother disagreed. They were afraid it would cause a panic. We were gonna go public, anyway, when Wells-" She trails off.

"What, turned in your dad?" Monty asks.

Clarke nods, "The guard showed up before we could. That's why today. That's why it was worth the risk. Even if we all die, at least they bought themselves more time."

Nova lets out a humorless laugh, "Wow, never thought my dad would get to send me to my death twice."

An awkward silence settles among the group as Octavia and Nova speed up, the rest staying slightly behind to talk more about the topic. 

Not hearing the conversation happening behind them, Nova and Octavia exchange a smile. They found water, a river to be exact. Both girls immediately reach to peel off their shirts, throwing them to the ground. 

Behind them Jasper's voice can be heard, "Oh, damn, I love Earth." The four delinquents not stripping look on in shock, though the three boys can't help but check out the two girls. 

"Octavia, Nova, what the hell are you doing?" Clarke asks.

The two girls glance back at the group when they hear their names being called, they look at each other once more then step over the edge, landing in the water with a splash.

The other four run over, looking down at the top of the girls head. Only the nose and eyes on both girls are showing above the water. "Nova, Octavia! We can't swim!" Monty nervously says.

The two brunettes move so their heads are now above the water, "We know." Nova states.

Octavia continues, "But we can stand." They both stand up exposing the top half of their bodies.

The group still on land starts stripping to get in the water but before they can Jasper calls out, "Get out of the water! Octavia, Nova, get out!"

Octavia and Nova both look at him confused, but not even a minute later Octavia gets pulled in the water by something large. Nova gasps and quickly rushes to get out of the water, simultaneously trying to find something to help Octavia.

Finn reaches down to help Nova up as the rest of the group push a rock into the water hoping to distract whatever grabbed Octavia. As soon as the creature lets the brunette go Jasper quickly helps her out. "Not to self, next time, save the girl." Monty says looking at Octavia and Jasper, and Nova and Finn.

 *_*_*_*_*_*

 Wells and Elara once again made their way back to camp. They still couldn't find water which wasn't good considering they kinda needed some to survive. It was starting to get dark though so they would have to continue their search the next day.

The two friends looked at each curiously when they heard cheers from the delinquents. Finally reaching the group surrounded, who had a fire started, they see a girl, Fox, getting her wristband taken off. "Who's next?" Bellamy calls out.

"What the hell are you doing?" Wells angrily shouts.

"We're liberating ourselves. What does it look like?"

"You're killing us." Elara gasps out. "The wristbands are the only way the Ark knows we're alive. If you take them off the Ark will think we're dying."

"That's the point, sweetheart. We can take care of ourselves, can't we?" The group cheers at Bellamy's words.

"You think this is a game?" asks Wells, "Those aren't just our friends and parents up there. They're our farmers, our doctors, our engineers. I don't care what he tells you. We won't survive here on our own, and besides, if it is really safe, how could you not want the rest of our people to come down?"

"My people are already down. Those people," Bellamy points to the sky, "locked my people up. Those people killed my mother for the crime of having a second child. Your father did that."

"My father didn't write the laws."

"No. He enforced them, but not anymore. not here. Here, there are no laws."

Once again the group cheers, so Bellamy continues. "Here, we do whatever the hell we want whenever the hell we want. Now, you don't have to like it. You can even try to stop it or change it, kill me. You know why? Whatever the hell we want."

The delinquents chorus, "Whatever the hell we want!" Then, out of seemingly nowhere, it starts to rain. Elara gasps and raises her head to the sky, letting the rain hit her face.

Elara catches someone watching her out of the corner of her eye, she turns her head to make eye contact. Her mouth drops in shock as the boy smiles at her.

He makes his way over and awkwardly scratches the back of his neck, "Hey Elara. What do you say about a kiss in the rain? If I remember correctly it was something you always wanted to do."

Elara snorts, "Yeah, but that was before we broke up, Atlas." 

"What, so you won't let me kiss you one last time?" He asks with a cheeky smile.

"Not happening." Elara replies, though she can’t hide the smile that falls onto her lips.

 *_*_*_*_*_*

 The next day the group of six that went to find food make it their mission to safely cross the river. As soon as they find a vine they can swing from, Finn volunteers to go first. 

He keeps hesitating to cross though, "You wanted to go first. Now quit stalling." Clarke calls out.

"Just hang on till the apogee, and you'll be fine." Jasper says from Finn's side.

"The apogee like the Indians, right?" Finn asks.

"Apogee, not apache."

"He knows. Today, Finn." Clarke says.

"Aye, aye, captain. See you on the other side."

Just as he's about to swing Jasper stops him, "Wait. Let me. I can do it."

Finn looks at him with a smile, "Knew there was a badass in there somewhere." Jasper hesitates, "Hey, it's okay to be afraid, Jasper. The trick is not fighting it." Finn reassures the boy.

"See you on the other side." He swings, whooping and hollering the whole way across. 

The other five delinquents cheer happily when he reaches the other side. "Let's go, Princess. You're up." Finn says to Clarke.

Jasper reaches down, picking up a sign that says Mount Weather. The other five cheer one more time as Clarke goes to grab the vine. Before she gets the chance though, from somewhere behind them a spear flies straight into Jasper's chest.

"Jasper!" The group calls out.

"Get down!" Nova exclaims, pulling Octavia and Monty, the two that were closest to her down. 

"We're not alone." Clarke whispers to the group.

[dreamingofscully]

6x19. “The Unnatural” - X-Files Rewatch

“Mr. Mulder-- maybe you'd better start paying a little less attention to the heart of the mystery and a little more attention to the mystery of the heart.” - Arthur Dales

The gifs in this post are by @trusttnno1​ and are used with permission! (Check out the full The Unnatural baseball post here.)

Here it is y’all. I think Mulder and Scully became romantically involved after this episode. I know it’s not a commonly held theory, but I love this idea and I think there’s sufficient canon to support it. However! I’m not trying to say my ideas are somehow superior, or that I am attempting to convert everyone to my thinking. I don’t want you to abandon your headcanons if you love them, but if you’re curious about mine, then continue reading and let me know what you think! But just as I respect your theories, I’d hope you’d have the same respect for mine.

Read on for analysis!

Poor Scully lugging the giant books. She complains about being inside on a sunny day, but you’ll notice she frames it as a question towards Mulder: “Mulder, it is such a gorgeous day outside. Have you ever entertained the idea of trying to find life on this planet?”

She’s saying, in essence, I’M HERE, HELLO?!

Also I love the connection to the ending. Scully wanting to be outdoors and to enjoy time away from work, then Mulder inviting her outdoors later specifically separate from their work.

Her cute face when eating her dreamsicle. She is in SUCH a different place here than the last scene we saw her in - the ending of “Milagro”. This is one of the main reasons I see the shift in their relationship happening around this time rather than in season 7. Scully is playful, very smiley, joking around. She has a lightness about her that we have so VERY rarely seen. Something’s different - I think she’s ready and that she’s just waiting for him to be ready as well. She is super flirty with him.

Mulder’s “Ugh. Bet the air in my mouth tastes better than that. You sure know how to live it up, Scully.”

Why don’t you test that theory? 

Also, WHO exactly is the one pouring over records in the office, calling her in over a weekend? WHO exactly needs to learn to “live it up”? 

Scully’s throwing all the hints Mulder’s way but he’s still SO FOCUSED on the work. I think he intended to invite Scully to the office to just spend time with her, because he doesn’t know how to spend time with her otherwise. He feels he doesn’t have the right, or that she wouldn’t want to, or that he can’t have her and his quest at the same time. 

The picture of them is now ON THE WALL instead of sitting on the desk. I guess Mulder is done his feathering. I’m wondering at the symbolism of that, though. No longer just placed on a counter, with the lamp pointing at it, but attached to the wall WITH PERMANENCE. 

How apt is it that Mulder leaves on a case, distracted by it, forgetting that he called Scully here for a different purpose (just to have her near)? VERY.

Scully’s face when he tears out the page in the book, contrasted with her very turned on face and saying “Rebel”. She’s generally a rule follower, but… she’s willing to break them under very particular circumstances. And enjoys it when doing so. 

***

I really enjoyed the Exley story. It was a wonderful tale that I seem to forget about because it’s sandwiched between some of the best MSR we’ve ever gotten in the show. But, this analysis is about the MSR so that’s what I’m going to focus on.

“What you fail to understand in your joyless myopia is that baseball is the key to life-- the Rosetta Stone, if you will.” - Arthur Dales

All of Mulder’s questions can be answered by baseball. So what does he do at the end with Scully? He shares baseball with her.

“Agent Mulder, do you believe that love can make a man shape-shift?” - Dales “I guess… women change men all the time.” - Mulder

Dales goes on to say he’s not talking about women, and Mulder is being non-specific about being changed - but it is 100% the case that he’s changed since Scully has come into his life. It doesn't really have to do with the fact that she’s a woman, but that she’s SCULLY. He’s learned to only trust the right people, that she loves him and he might even be worthy of it, but he still has some ways to go.

Dales’ “heart of the mystery/mystery of the heart” comment. Just… !!!!! He encourages Mulder to think about things other than his obsession with the X-Files. That there is more to life than his endless pursuit of the Truth.

Dales calls his baseball figure “Pete Rosebud”. A reference to Citizen Kane? A name spoken on a deathbed that doesn’t get solved, but it’s related to the last happy moments of the character in the movie. The suggestion that trying to solve the mystery on its own is doomed to failure, that there is something else worth pursuing.

Mulder’s love for baseball brings him back to his childhood, when he was happy (see “Home”) and his thoughts about settling down and having a family, remembering his childhood by the smell of the baseball. He wants to give that to Scully.

The love Exley has for baseball - it changes him. Mulder changes, or vows to change, by the end. This is the awakening he needed. He doesn’t HAVE to have a singular, obsessive focus on his quest in order to be successful. In fact, the suggestion that he CANNOT be successful if he pursues his Truth above all else in his life.

Just because something is mundane, like love, doesn’t mean it isn’t the purpose, the reason behind it all. This doesn’t mean he should discount all the complicated stuff, that he should “get out of the car” like Scully seems to want, but that he should INCLUDE it in his life alongside all the rest. His focus has been solely his work. He lives there, considers it his home, and was lost when it was taken away. He needs to round out his life to give it a stronger purpose.

After hearing how baseball changed Exley, whether he believes it or not, the message is there. Mulder thinks more about simple things - love, baseball. Perhaps he can change too?

For a while now Scully has been questioning her priorities and trying to get Mulder to leave the X-Files, to abandon the quest that she sees as never ending and having no hope of a satisfying conclusion. She feels she has no chance for a relationship with him as long as he is so focused on his quest - and she is partially correct. Dales’ words, and Mulder’s reminder of happier times, gets him to take that next step, showing Scully he’s ready to expand his universe to include more than his quest.

So, he invites Scully to play baseball with him.

And not just… tossing balls at her and giving her a few tips. Wrapping himself around her, speaking closely into her ear, making her laugh, his hand lingering on her hip. It’s SO MULDER, and so very intimate and romantic.

“Hips before hands.”  ❤️   

“I’m in the middle.”  ❤️ 

And Scully’s giggle.  ❤️ 

Not to mention baseball metaphors/idioms. They are literally hitting home runs. Hitting it out of the park. Together, they write their future in the stars.

I can’t imagine them waiting minutes, never mind months, to release all the pent-up passion they’re been withholding for years after this moment. Scully’s ready, and Mulder decides to take a chance, to expand his world to include a relationship with her. Not abandoning his quest, but making it stronger by including Scully, by having her closer at his side for it. 

By focusing on the mysteries of the heart as well as the heart of the mystery.

End Note/Future Discussions/Disclaimer I’ll address such things as the Amor Fati confessions/dream, the Millennium kiss, and the conclusion of the Samantha arc when it comes to those episodes.