#Local Science Mom fights Everyone for the chance for people to be happy

[thelittlesushithatcould]

Fallout Meme!

I saw this on @courierspikeee and I noticed one of the tags was anyone who thought ED-E was the goodest boy, and i am 100% in that camp, so I hope nobody minds if I do this ;) Rules:

1. Choose an OC.

2. Answer them as that OC.

3. Tag 5 people to do the same.

1. What is your name?

"Doctor Wanda Thompson, of the Institute!” She laughs “oh, don’t give me that look”

2. How old are you?

"well that’s what we call a ‘complication’ . In reality I’m somewhere around 245? Give or take a few years. Being flash frozen really does a number on your sense of time”

3. What do you look like?

"Me? Oh, you know...curly brown hair, tan complexion, I’ve gotten a little softer as I’ve gotten older, more curves than in my youth.” She rubs her hand “I’ve also gotten some radiation burns during the course of my research. My hands, particularly, and a bit over my lip” She laughs “I like to think I look like a proper scientist, as well as a mother”

4. Where are you from? Where do you live now?

Wanda thinks for a moment, a small smile on her lips that catches on her scar, turning it a little lopsided “I was born on the cape. Over by Hyannis.” She pauses “I moved to Boston after that, to attend the Institute.” She shakes her head “i still live in Boston. just...under it, I suppose”

5. What was your childhood like?

“Wonderful” She laughs, and claps her hands together with a jovial grin “Simply wonderful! I spent more days than I could count out there on the sandy beaches, collecting samples of sea critters and studying them in their natural habitats” She leans on her hand , smiling “I can still smell the salt in the air, when I really think about it”

6. What groups are you friendly with? Are you allied with any factions?

“The Institute” She says without missing a beat “I’m their Director after all.” She waves her gloved fingers dismissively "I took the liberty of changing our standards and practices away from Playing God and into actually helping someone for a change.” “As for allies...well. I met this nice man who claims to have been a courier once. Rules Vegas now, he says. We hit it off fairly well.. and heavens... I suppose there’s the woman who took over Pittsburgh from those slavers...”

7. Tell me about your best friend.

“Nick? He’s fantastic” She points “I’ve never met a finer detective in my life. Even if he refuses to let me help mend his synthskin. Stubborn old bastard”

8. Do you have a family? Tell me about them!

“My husband. He died when we were all frozen, but...there were some strange circumstances involving Institute tech that helped us find one another through the barrier of life and death” She pauses, and frowns slightly “ah. And we had a son. but he turned out to be...well. We don’t like to talk about him”

9. What about a partner or partners?

“Curie! My beloved!” She hugs herself with an ear to ear smile “the cutest robot I’ve ever met in my entire life. I helped her get a body, you know. And for the longest time it was just me and her in the wasteland! Now Thomas, Curie and I all intermingle in a lovely little poly amorous triangle”

10. Who are your enemies, and why?

“oh hoho...” She covers her mouth “Bandits. The Gunners. the Enclave. The Brotherhood of Steel. Covenant. Rogue Institute Personnel..Honestly I’m probably forgetting a few”

11. Have you ever heard of The Brotherhood of Steel? What do you think about them?

“They call me the Bane of Steel for a reason” She smiles,  though there’s something almost vicious in it “When they tried to ‘help’ the Commonwealth by killing anything they wished and hoarding tech...” She mimes shooting into the sky “My one regret is that I didn’t keep their airship. Oh well”

12. What about The Enclave?

“HAH!” she laughs out loud, clapping her hands together again “Terrible! The worst idea I’ve ever heard! America fell, you old loons, rebuild it as something new instead of rehashing the same mistakes all over again”

13. How do you feel about Super Mutants?

“Fascinating creatures. I only wish I could meet the ones from the early West Coast. They’re a real testament to the FEV. If only they’d stop trying to fill me with holes long enough for a proper interview..”

14. What’s the craziest fight you’ve ever been in?

“oh...” she sighed “the time my friends and I destroyed the BoS?” She shrugs slightly “I went up into their blimp, and walked right up to that pompous ass who called himself their leader, before vaporizing him. I did manage to preserve his coat” She smiles slightly “Then we had to fight our way out of a sea of trained soldiers to get back to the ground and organize the destruction of their funny little blimp”

15. Have you ever fought a Deathclaw?

“Heavens yes, and I wish I hadn’t. They’re too gorgeous to kill!”

16. Do you like fighting?

“not really” She folds her fingers together with a sad look in her eyes “It’s always sad to have to harm someone or something. And to take a life is always a weight on the soul” She closes her eyes “but to fix the world, you have to survive...”

17. What’s your weapon of choice?

“Energy Weapons” She says with a bright smile “nothing like holding a buzzing laser rifle in your hands and feeling the raw INNOVATION that went into it” She shook her head “i also have a serrated revolutionary war sword I hooked a battery onto that i’m fond of”

18. How do you survive? Your wits, your charm, your skills, brute force, some combination? (a.k.a. what’s your S.P.E.C.I.A.L?)

“Intelligence” She said , holding up her hand “with a side helping of Charisma. You need to have a keen mind in the field of science. To analyze, theorize and know how to convince others to put those theories into practice...” She tapped her head “that’s the key to changing the world”

19. Have you ever been in a vault? What do you think about them?

“I’ve always hated Vault Tec. They invited me to join their little experiment, but I declined in favor of continuing my research into radiation and mutation. And then the damned bastards froze me!”

20. How do you beat all the radiation around here? Has it affected you?

“I wrote several studies on the effects of radiation exposure on the human body! hah, so I have some ideas on how to prevent it. Some lead lining in the clothes, lots of Rad-x and Radaway transfusions....building decontamination arches over all my doors. The usual stuff”

21. What’s your favorite wasteland critter?

“I love those funny little geckos” She smiled “They’re just so precious!”

22. What’s your least favorite wasteland critter?

“Cazadors” She frowned “i knew the idiot who made them back in the day. Hated him then. Damned fool made a flying plague”

23. How do you feel about robots?

“I ADORE robots” She says with almost girlish glee “I’ve always found them so interesting! While I’m a biologist by trade, I’ve always appreciated the sheer science of a robot. That glowing chrome...that hydraulic power...” She looks like she’s going to go on about this for a distressingly long time.

24. How many caps do you have on you right now?

“More than enough to fix the Commonwealth”

25. Nuka Cola or Sunset Sarsaparilla?

"Nuka Cola is absolute swill” She sniffs “ I’m a Sunset Sarsaparilla girl, myself. and just a little side note from one of my studies: Nuka Cola can melt a crab. A whole crab. Just saying!

26. Do you do chems?

“Mentats, Sometimes. I hate the damned things, but damn were they useful during particularly long and stressful studies”

27. Do you ever think about the Pre-War world?

“All the time. I remember it in all it’s glory...in all it’s faults. It was a flawed society built upon fear...but it was also peaceful, and comfortable... a place full of friends I’ll never see again...” She bites her lip gently “...I’ll help the Wasteland become something better... the Old World without it’s flaws..”

28. What’s your deepest regret? What would you do differently?

“Everything. I would have spoken up about the ethical issues I saw in the Institute before the war even began. I would have found another way to survive that wasn’t Vault Tec and it’s Trap. The ...the synth project maybe. I don’t know. I can’t dwell on this question too long without regretting almost everything I’ve done prior to my choice to change the Institute and fix the wasteland”

29. What’s your biggest achievement? Or what do you hope to achieve?

“Which leads us into this.. hah. When my son passed away, he left the Institute to me. in my hands. He trusted I’d keep us on the course he chose...but he was wrong. The Synths were an exercise in needless cruelty. A species created, given sentience and then called slaves and tools. I ...reorganized...the head committee, and demanded a stop to the hunting and production of synths. No more bodysnatching. no more ‘property retrieval’ . No more. There were those who fought me...and there were those who tried to remove me. But I’m stronger than I seem.” She smiled grimly “I got them to see things my way eventually. And with that, the Institute’s copious resources could be turned outward...and used to help the Commonwealth at large”

30. What do you want for the future? For yourself? Your friends? The world? ”I want...” She looks into the middle distance for a moment in thought “A world where we can all live in peaceful co-existence. Ghouls. Synths. Super Mutants, humans, true robots, and anyone else in that great wide world...I want a world where we can all work towards a mutual understanding and betterment of this wonderful Second Chance we’ve all been given”  And now for the tagging <3 @queenofblackcrows @spookdoggy @corpsewyrm @ all those who think Curie is a sweetheart @ all fallout fans who may see this? idk <3

[shirtlesssammy]

1x11: Scarecrow

Welcome to our harvest themed hiatus episode. Hope everyone enjoyed their freakin’ pie this week!

Burkitsville, Indiana

Sixteen Years One Year Ago

A young couple leave a friendly town after the townsfolk load them up with pie and gas for the car. “Everyone in this town is so nice,” remarks the wraith young woman. The man adds, “Yeah, what’s the catch?” The townsfolk’s daughter niece notes that the dude has a cool arm tattoo. 

Once on the road, the couple’s car dies. I love how the woman asks what happened and the dude is just ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ . They head into an orchard looking for help. They come across a scarecrow. 

The woman is a bit freaked out, and I would be too if I saw the damn thing move! They hear strange noises and start running. The camera work gets grainy so you know we’re in scarytime land. The couple gets separated. The woman runs alone until she finds the man again -faceless and dead on the ground. She screams and then the now loose and animate scarecrow is upon her! 

*John Winchester is a Horrible Father Alert*

Sam wakes to a ringing cell phone. He answers it and it’s John. He’s all evasive and apologetic about disappearing. He’s on the trail of the thing that killed their mom. It’s a demon! They have to stop chasing him. It’s not safe. Sam refuses. He wants answers. John jumps into drill sergeant father mode and Sam continues to balk. 

Dean grabs his phone, AND MY GOD, watching Jensen transform silently while Dean listens to John talk is magnificent. He just falls right into order, writes down the names of three missing couples, and the brothers hit the road. 

*Sam is driving Alert*

Ok, hold the phone, Dean’s giving backstory to the missing couples. They’ve gone missing every year in the second week of April. I --what? I should probably watch the whole episode before recapping, and I haven’t seen this episode in years and don’t really remember the secret. There were apples all over the orchard implying it’s the fall...hmm. Dean’s amazed at the level of research John did to figure out something was happening. He calls him “a master” and I just die a little knowing how very little John knows. 

Sam stops the car and tells Dean that they’re not going to Indiana; they’re going to California. 

John is on the trail of what killed Mary and Jess, and Sam wants to be there for it. Dean insists that John gave them an order (I’m having serious John/Chuck and Soldier Dean/Free Will feelings right now, give me a moment). Whew, Sam pulls the ‘My girlfriend just died six months ago’ card and insists that Dean can’t know how important this is to him. Dean continues to be a good little soldier though. Sam gets out of the car and tells Dean that he’s going to California. See ya! Dean tries pulling what I can only imagine the same move John pulled many times over the years, and tells Sam that he’ll leave him on the side of the road. That’s what Sam wants! Dean leaves. 

Oof, there’s a lot to unpack with that fight. I’ll just throw up @mittensmorgul​ post. I’m just so very happy to see how far Dean’s come. 

Dean pulls into the town in Indiana. He meets Scotty, owner of the local cafe. He introduces himself as John Bonham. “Isn’t that the drummer for Led Zeppelin?” How this hasn’t happened more over the years is beyond me. 

Dean asks about the missing people and Scotty dismisses him quickly. They don’t get a lot of strangers around the town. Dean tries flirting with the guy but the man is a stone wall. 

*Meg Alert*

Sam, meanwhile, continues to walk down the road hoping to see a passing car. He finds a young woman just sitting and listening to music instead. Like, wtf is Meg doing? Sam, how is this not suspicious activity to you? Anyway, a truck pulls up and offers to take only the lady. 

Dean asks at the general store about his “friends”. Emily, the young woman there, remembers them. Dean heads off to where the couple was last seen driving. Dean’s driving along and his EMF starts to go nuts. He’s right by the orchard and walks in to investigate. How is this April? Anyway, Dean finds the scarecrow and we’re gifted with the now iconic line: “Dude, you fugly.” 

He takes a closer look at the scarecrow and sees the tattoo on the arm. SMART, OBSERVANT BOY. 

Dean heads back to town. He stops to get gas and talk to Emily. (Sidenote: Can all guest stars wear a necklace with their names on it so I’m not scrambling to figure out names every week? Thx.) Emily tells Dean how she came to the town when she was 13. It’s the middle of nowhere, but she loves it. This town seems blessed compared to the surrounding towns. Dean’s not suspicious at all. Dean asks about the scarecrow. Emily admits that it’s always just been there. Detective Dean also finds out a couple is in town waiting on their car to get repaired. 

Sam is dealing with the nightmare that is the American Car Culture and lack of decent mass transit across our expansive 50 states. He runs into Meg again. This time she introduces herself. 

Dean heads to Scotty’s to find the couple (and eat pie.) Boy does he need to work on his casual chit chat. Scotty is suspicious AF at Dean and tells him to leave them alone. Dean doesn’t and even offers to fix their car for them so they can hit the road sooner. They decline his offer, and like, I get it, but HOW DARE they accuse Dean of not being a mechanic. 

Dean tries to warn them again but just comes off as creepy and they brush him off. Dean laments the lack of Sam’s puppy dog face, and then Scotty calls the local law enforcement on him. They literally chase him out of town. Lol. 

Meg and Sam bond over a romantic bag of Cheetos and some beer. She’s on the run from family expectations too! Looks like they’re made for each other, friends. (This is the nicest damn bus station I’ve ever seen. It has NAPKIN holders! And tables! And beer!)

While Sam’s enjoying a meet-cute, the couple from the restaurant clutch each other in the apple orchard, the scarecrow in hot pursuit, when Dean appears. He shouts at them to run back to their car and shoots fruitless holes in the scarecrow. The moment they all arrive back on the road, the scarecrow disappears. 

On his phone, Sam gets the hunt recap from Dean while he watches his new friend sleep at the station. Dean figures that he’s dealing with a god because the killing happens once a year, it’s always couples, and “you should see the locals. The way they treated this couple. Fattenin’ ‘em up like a Christmas turkey.” It’s ritual sacrifice, baby. While Dean’s talking, he’s driving out to a local community college to meet with a professor there and get some information about what kind of god he might be fighting. He tells Sam that he’s proud of him for defying their father and going his own way in life. Dean wishes he could do the same. To quote Boris, excuse me while I fling myself into a volcano. 

Dean chats with the Cigarette Smoking Man a professor in the nicest damn community college I have ever seen. He asks about pagan lore and the origin of the residents of Burkitsville. They were Scandinavian which leads to Dean’s next pointed question: he’s looking for a Scandinavian god who might live in an apple orchard. They pull down an ancient book of lore - the kind that is standard issue in every community college classroom - and start paging through looking for a “woods” god. 

Dean spots a creepy scarecrow drawing. The description lists the scarecrow as a Vanir, a norse god of protection and prosperity which keeps villages from harm. Worshippers built effigies of the Vanir in their fields, and some practiced human sacrifice. They’re tied to a sacred tree. Dean, my best and direct friend, asks, “So what would happen if the sacred tree was torched? You think it’d kill the god?” LOL, there’s no such thing as gods, young man! Dean bids farewell to the professor and immediately gets conked out by the Burkitsville sheriff. SIGNIFICANT LOOKS™ are exchanged between the professor and sheriff.

Later, rain falls heavily on a group of older folks standing outside under umbrellas. Three of them plead with Harley, the gas station owner. His wife tells him that the trees are beginning to die. It’s the “seventh night of the cycle” and they have one more chance to appease “it.” Dun dun DUN.

For Pretty Shot Science

Cut to a cellar door opening. The cadre of elderly conspirators hauls a tearful Emily down to be trapped alongside Dean. Her aunt comfortingly tells her that it’s for “the common good.” (This REALLY makes me want to rewatch Hot Fuzz again!)

At the bus station, Sam and Meg’s bus finally arrives. But Sam’s got a problem. His brother hasn’t answered his phone for the last three hours. He’s got to go to Burkitsville! “You’re running back to your brother? The guy you ran away from?” Meg implores Sam to go to California with her, but Sam tells her he can’t. His family needs him. 

In the cellar, Emily freaks out about her newfound knowledge of a murderous scarecrow god and her accomplice relatives. Dean describes human sacrifice as “classier” than plain murder and…Dean Bean. More helpfully, he tries to put together a game plan with Emily. He asks her about an old tree - one the locals might treat with respect. Emily does know about a tree that the locals call “the First Tree.” Subtle naming, dear locals!

They’re seized from the cellar and tied in the orchard as evening approaches. Emily pleads for her life, but her aunt tells her that family bonds aren’t enough to save her. “That’s what sacrifice means. Giving up something you love for the greater good.” (I’ll just...look directly into the camera.)

Much later, night’s fallen and Dean is still working on a plan to free them both. Something insidious approaches and….wait, it’s Sam! Dean’s practically giddy to see his brother, who stole a car to get to town in time. What a good, thieving bean! Dean tells Sam to keep an eye on the scarecrow because it “could come alive any minute.”

In classic horror movie fashion, Sam asks, “What scarecrow?”

The scarecrow’s on the loose, but our trio is finally free in the orchard. They’re prevented from escaping by the four town elders penning them in with shotguns, however. Harley tries to convince Emily to give up (and die) when the scarecrow’s sickle slices through him, killing him. It drags Stacy and Harley away, having claimed its yearly couple at last. 

The next morning Sam, Dean, and Emily walk through the orchard with a can of fuel. They find the “First Tree” which has runes carved into its bark. Sam douses it with gasoline and Emily lights the tree on fire. Look at this wholesome tale of youth dismantling a toxic system!

Back at the station I finally get a good look at the bus company. It’s called “American Freedom Coach Lines.” LOL, if you need me I’ll be picking myself up from the floor after being hit by this symbolic brick. 

Emily boards a bus headed towards Boston. Dean gleefully anticipates the murder-town’s slow, god-less demise before asking Sam about his plans. “I still wanna find Dad. And you’re still a pain in the ass. But, Jess and Mom…they’re both gone. Dad is god knows where. You and me. We’re all that’s left. So, if we’re gonna see this through, we’re gonna do it together.” Can I get a yee-haw?!

Meanwhile, Meg’s hitched a ride with Creepy Driver Number 2 and suggests “pulling over” when he asks her where she wants to go. He pulls a little way off the road and she takes out a silver bowl. “I’ve gotta make a call,” she tells him before slicing his throat open and filling the bowl with blood. She stirs it, mutters an incantation, and then asks the bowl why she wasn’t allowed to just kill Sam and Dean. Someone clearly gives her orders and she says, rather ominously, “Yes, Father.”

Natasha: This is one of my favorite episodes! What’s not to love about creepy scarecrows and murderous fertility/prosperity rituals?

____________________________

I Hope These Quotes Were Frickin’ Worth It:

I’ve given you an order

I don’t understand the blind faith you have in the man

Dude, you fugly

Nice tat

My brother could give you this puppy dog look and you’d buy right into it

Indiana isn’t really known for its Pagan worship

I hope your apple pie is freakin’ worth it!

Hold me, Sam. That was beautiful.

____________________________

Want to read more? Check out our Recap Archive! 

[this-is-rina]

Just “Networking”|| Noah Centineo Imagine

Hi everyone!  It’s been a very long time since I wrote on Tumblr and my first time writing on this blog. The last time I wrote on a personal blog was for One Direction when I was in high school (Ack!).  I did not like posting my writing to my personal and made many blogs for my writing (I wonder how many of you will recognize my style :O)  I vowed I would never write on a personal blog again...then I saw a few interviews with Noah Centineo. He has such an interesting personality for an actor and I was inspired to write a story about him. 

It’s gonna be a long one, so I’ll put it under a read more for all my fellow silent scrollers.  However, I’ll leave the synopsis up top so you know if you’re interested!

~Rina xoxo

Plot:  You are an aspiring screenwriter who currently manages a computer repair store in Hollywood with your stepbrother, Xavier, an aspiring composer.  By chance, you meet Noah Centineo in a coffee shop.  Not recognizing him at first, you think nothing about your acquaintance, until Xavier realizes that Noah could be both of your tickets to fame. Suddenly, your writing has a real chance, and that appeals to you, just a much as getting an adorable and kind boyfriend in Noah. However, you highly doubts Noah would agree.  But, what if he doesn’t know? 

You were running late...which was kind of the usual lately.  Ever since you moved out of your brother’s apartment, you had yet to come to work on time.  Xavier, who was technically your stepbrother, but you only made the distinction when you did not want to be associated with him, used it as proof that you couldn’t take care of yourself. However, you both knew that you were one of the most responsible people either of you knew, as long as you followed the schedule you programmed in your phone.

You dashed through the double doors of the computer repair shop, panting.  Xavier shook his head with a “Tsk, tsk, tsk,” as he watched you stash your stuff in the back and run behind the counter.

“You know you’re late, right?” Xavier emphasized. “So, you know what that means...”

“Oh come on!” You complained, smoothing your hair to make it more into your usual style.  “You totally came in early because you know I’m still getting used to the commute.”

“And?” Xavier questioned, “A deal is a deal, kiddo. The last person in buys everyone coffee.”

“Ugh, you only came up with that rule to spite me for moving out.” You complained.  “We should not even be wasting money on coffee when we could just make it at home.”

“Don’t forget my whip,” Xavier said as he tended to a fried PC.  That was your signal that the conversation was over.

“That’s not healthy...” You muttered as you went into the back room to fish out your wallet.  “What would your mother say?”

“That you should be on time to work!” He retorted and you rolled your eyes as you walked to the coffee shop across the street.

You and Xavier were pretty close, when you weren’t fighting over lateness.  Your dad married his mom when you were both around 13 years of age.  Both of you lost a parent young, and were only children until meeting each other. Your Brady Bunch family came together well, and you two grew closely together.  

Xavier was the first to decide he wanted to do showbiz.  He would practice piano and guitar daily, writing new tunes for his performance at the local bookstore talent show ever week.  You were more quiet about your aspirations as a writer, but he broke you out of your shell after college.  While you both studied computer science, you both also also concentrated in your passions, English Language and Music respectively.  You both moved to LA and through a series of lucky breaks and connections were able to manage a computer repair shop.  You hoped that by being in Hollywood you could hone your craft and make your dreams come true.

For now, you settled for fixing broken computers and fetching your brother’s coffee. At least you could buy a chai for yourself to relax too.

When you got to the coffee shop, it was clear that you missed the early morning rush.  You walked straight to the menu next to a guy who was several heads taller than you.  He had long, unruly brown hair, a scruffy beard and wore the baggiest t-shirt with the tightest jeans.  He glanced at you, feeling your presence and he gave you a gorgeous smile.  You gave him a coy smile back, trying not to fall for his chocolate-y brown orbs.  You cleared your throat and looked at the menu.

There was someone ahead of him who was taking awhile to order, and you could see him stealing glances at you from the corner of your eye.  You were definitely flattered.  This guy was pretty cute.  With his tan skin and athletic frame, he looked like that lovable sweetheart who would skate to your house just because he was in the neighborhood.  Whenever you would look in his direction, he always pretended to look away.  However, he would do it in an obvious manner.  He would look you directly in your eyes and then look at the ceiling, and then back to your eyes and then down at the floor. Back and forth his eyes and neck would move in this circular motion until he got a laugh out of you.

“Finally!” He cheered as you laughed, causing you to laugh more.  “I really wanted to make you laugh.  Have a great day, beautiful.” He flashed you a bright smile and then stepped up to make his order.

You couldn’t help, but blush.  It was always nice to be acknowledged by a cute guy.  You wished he stayed longer to make a move.  He finished his order and didn’t look back as he picked up his coffee from the counter.  You were bummed he did not have to wait for his drink, as you hoped you could chat some more, but settled for your bit of luck that he even noticed you.

“Hi,” You said with a smile to the cashier.  “Can I get a small chai and a medium iced mocha latte with extra whip and caramel drizzle?”

The cashier smiled.  “Is this for Xavier?” It was embarrassing how much your brother frequented this place.

You laughed, “Yup. I was late again!”  You snapped your fingers and wagged your fist, pretending to be upset.  You handed the cashier your card and he shook his head.

“That guy ahead of you paid for your order.  He had me write down his name and telephone number for you to reach out.” The cashier pulled out a slip of paper and your jaw dropped.

Noah

213-xxx-xxxx

“Wow, okay.” You weren’t sure what to say. This only happened in movies.  You made a mental note to add this to your list of romantic gestures for your next romcom screenplay.  You slipped the note into your wallet and closed it to put it back in your bag. You took the drinks and sauntered happily back to the repair shop.

Xavier was running a scan on another computer when you walked in.  You handed him his drink as you sipped yours happily.  He narrowed his eyes at you,

“Why are you humming?” He rolled his eyes. “You didn’t spit in this, right?’

“Gosh!” You huffed.  “Can’t a girl be happy and not be judged?”

“Any other girl, of course. You, no way!” Xavier laughed, “You’re always in a crappy mood when you lose bets.  Why is today any different?”

“A really cute guy bought our drinks!” You cooed.  “And he left his phone number.”

“Oh my god!” Xavier imitated your high pitch voice. Then his voice dropped back to a disinterested tone as he added, “Well that’s great, I hope he can pay for both of our rent too.”

“Why can’t you just be happy for me?” You sighed.  “I’m going to text him.”

Xavier shrugged as he focused on removing the hard drive of the computer. “Do what you want...”

You pondered what to text him and then smiled to yourself as you wrote your message.

Y/N: Hey, this is Y/N from the coffee shop.  Thanks for the free drinks! I hope to repay the favor some time soon.

It wasn’t much longer before you received a reply.

Noah: Hey, Y/N! Gorgeous name, by the way ;) Absolutely! How about tomorrow afternoon, let’s get a coffee after work?

Y/N: Works for me! 

You continued to text lightly throughout the day.  It was clear that you both had busy schedules, but you would try to continue the conversation as much as you could during breaks.  You were pleased to see how friendly and genuine he seemed.  You were impressed by his passion for acting, and relayed your love of writing.  He was supportive and encouraged you to try to get published.  You were too shy to admit that was the goal, and instead insisted that he was being too kind.

“Have you been texting that guy all day?” Xavier asked as he closed up shop.

“Yeah,” You said absentmindedly as you read the article Noah just sent you. 

“Well, make sure he’s not a serial killer.” He warned.  “Have you googled the guy?”

“I will when I go home, just chill, okay?” You shrugged it off, but you were moderately concerned.  This guy was kind, charming and a great listener. He was either perfect for you or an ax murderer...hopefully not both.

The next day, you met Noah for coffee dressed in your favorite outfit.  You waved at him as he walked in and he gave you the widest grin.  You had been texting all night and up until this morning, so when he pulled you into an embrace, it felt natural.

“Get whatever you like!” You offered.

“I’ll probably just get my usual coffee and maybe some sweets to share?” Noah smiled, “Since I only paid for drinks, I’ll contribute to the sweets as well.”

“No!” You insisted.  “My brother’s drink was also covered, so I think it is only fair.”

You argued about it for awhile until it was decided that he would buy one sweet and you would buy another and the two drinks. You tried to ignore the fact that the one sweet he bought was the same price as the two drinks combined.

“So, this is going to be really dumb...” You warned, “But I never did get your last name...”

“Oh,” Noah chuckled.  “It’s Centineo. Yours?”

“Y/L/N...” You responded as you sent the text to your brother.  Just in case he was going to kill you, you wanted Xavier to trace it back.  You were pretty sure you spelled his name wrong, but you hoped it would be enough.  You put your phone in your bag and then gave him a smile.

“Now that we have been formally introduced, let’s eat!” You said, picking up a fork and digging into the mini-cheesecake first.

You two exchanged ideas on your favorite books, popular films, and making it in Hollywood.  You were surprised at how much Noah knew about showbiz.  He said he was on a few tv shows and in a couple movies, but you did not expect him to be so wise.  It made you a bit self conscious.  You had just been working on scripts in your downtime.  Maybe you should get training by going to workshops...

“Oh man, you seem sad.” Noah pouted.  “What did I say?”

“Ah, no.” You shook your head.  “It’s not you! I just feel a little overwhelmed, maybe? You just seem so together. I’m just starting out.”

“I mean, I’m only 22.” Noah laughed.  “I’m still learning too.”

You grunted as you sipped your chai.  He was a bit younger than you. It was less than a year, but still, you felt envious.

“However...” Noah bit his lip.  “...you’re quite a distraction for me.  I realize that if I don’t get my daily dose of Y/N, I may lose track of my goals permanently.”

You coughed to hide your snort of laughter.  “Is this your way of saying you want to hang out more?”

“Absolutely.” Noah grinned at you and you returned it.  “I’m going to this pool party on Saturday.  Would you like to come? You can bring your brother and a few friends...”

“Sure,” You nodded.  “There’s a few dudes and dudettes that work part-time at the shop.  If it’s after hours, I can bring them too.”

“Yeah, it starts at like 8pm and goes to like 5 in the morning.  It’s supposed to be a dance party slash pool party slash cocktail extravaganza.” Noah laughed.  “Plus, I heard a few really cool people might be there like the cast of my last film.  It would be great to introduce you.”

“Are you sure you want a girl like me on your arm?” You teased.  

“I wouldn’t want anyone else...” Noah leaned over, lifted your hand and kissed it.

You could feel yourself swooning and knew in an instant that he were falling for him.

When you returned to the store, you were greeted by a very excited Xavier. He was almost ready to jump up and down when you entered the store.  You made a weird face as you waited for him to explain.

“That Noah guy recently got mega famous.  He was cast in two Netflix films and is basically the white hottie of Instagram.”

“Oh wow,” You nodded to yourself. “No wonder he’s so knowledgeable.”

“Y/N, don’t you know what this means?” Xavier looked like he wanted to scream.  “If you get with this guy, we’ll be in the in-crowd! This will be our big break.”

“Woah, woah, woah.” You said quickly.  “That sounds like I’m using him.  Xav, he’s a great guy. I really like him.”

“Do you not want to be published? Recognized? Rewarded? Think about the looks on our parents faces when they see that sending us to Hollywood was not for naught.” Xavier used hand gestures to show the grandiosity of his ideas.

You made a deep sigh.  “Of course, I do! I just...I really like him.”

“Even better,” Xavier said with a smile as he put his arm around you.  “Then you’re just networking...that’s all.”

“Networking...not using...is that what you’re saying?” You repeated it to yourself. “I guess...”

“That’s my girl!” Xavier snapped his fingers happily.  “Now, when do we meet him...”

You hesitated to tell him about the party on Saturday.  However, the more you thought about it, the less worried you felt.  You did have feelings for Noah, it did not hurt to take advantage of his connections.

Noah met you, Xavier and one of your other co-workers, Andrea, outside. He was in baggy swim trunks that were low enough to show his chiseled hips and impressive core.  You tried not to drool, suddenly feeling a little embarrassed by your monokini under your see-through cover up.  Noah greeted you warmly, putting an arm around you.

“Hello kiss?” He asked sweetly, making you smile.

You extended your cheek in response and he gave you a light peck.  Then he turned to your group as you introduced them.  You walked into the party, and started to see the familiar faces of the cast of To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before. After Xavier told you Noah was famous, you decided to look him up, and the guest list of the party was like all of the related actors on Noah’s Google Search.

He introduced you to Lana and her boyfriend first and you were in awe of her beauty.  She was so down-to-earth, but she also had this respectable air about her.  You pointed out your brother and Andrea for her to meet as Noah pulled you to meet the rest of his friends and co-workers.

At one point, Noah pulls you to the bar and offers to get you a drink.  You pick something light, deciding not to get sloppy drunk in front of the guy you liked. He got a beer and you both turned to watch the party.  You were a bit away from the speakers which allowed you to talk a bit more. 

Suddenly, Noah pulls out his phone and reads a text message that makes his brows furrow.  He excuses himself and runs over to Lana.  She clearly looked upset and was gesturing towards you and also towards Xavier and Andrea.

Oh no... You thought as you pulled out your phone and texted Xavier.

Y/N: Tell me you didn’t do something stupid!!!!!

Xavier:  Nope! I was just talking to Lana about my music....

Y/N: She looks pissed.  You didn’t ask her for anything, right?

Xavier: Oh man...I had a few shots and I think I might have mentioned how glad I was that you’re dating up by dating Noah...

Y/N: WHAT?!

Before you could chastise Xavier further, Noah and Lana walked up to you.  

Lana spoke first.

“Can I just say I’m really disappointed?  You seem like such a nice girl, but clearly if you and your brother and his friend are here to use Noah, you are not as nice as you seem...” Lana’s lips were tight with anger.

“Stepbrother...” You said sheepishly.  “Look, I’m not proud of what Xavier said, but he means well.”

“Does he?” Lana asked. “Does he know what it’s like to grind and hope and work and pray for an opportunity only to have people try to attain the same success on your coat tails? It’s one thing to come to a function like this for that, but to toy with Noah’s heart...that is unforgivable.”

“Lana, you have every right to be upset. I’m sorry.” You looked at Noah who was looking at you sadly this whole time. “Noah, can we talk, please?”

He nodded and you apologized to Lana again before he pulled you inside of the house that was hosting the party.  He pulled you into a small bedroom after a few failed attempts at finding your own space. Clearly, the house was meant for hooking up not break-up-before-you-even-started-chats. At this point, you were crying and once you were inside the room, you struggled to compose yourself

“Noah...” You exhaled a shaky breath.  “I swear, when I contacted you I had no idea who you were.  When we talked all this week, through text and on the phone and on our dates, I was not trying to use you.  Even after I knew you were famous, I was convinced that if I really liked you, then it wouldn’t be a problem if Xavier and I tried to network.  Although it was Xavier who planted the idea in my head I need to own up to it and--”

Noah lurched forward and hugged you tightly.  You were so shocked and overwhelmed that you began to weep. He rubbed your back as you let it out before he stepped back.

“I know.” Noah nodded.  “Lana means well.  She knows how much I like you and really doesn’t want me to get hurt.  At the same time, she knows that I’m not an idiot.  If I tell her that I trust you, then she will trust you too.”

“You believe me?” You asked with a sniffle.

“Of course, Y/N.  Look, I can tell that you’re into me.  I’m into you too and I want us to continue to date.” Noah smiled, “And for the record, I am happy to support your and your brother’s dreams.  Just be honest with me! I’ll read your scripts, and if I think they are good, which I am sure they are, I’ll connect you with some people who maybe interested. Hell, I might even audition for a role or two if you’ll have me...”

“I’d love that!” You said excitedly.  “But even if you don’t do that...I want to work hard in my own right to earn being by your side.”

“You are already too good to stand by my side.” Noah grinned.  “Let’s grow together, okay?”

“Okay...” You leaned in and looked at him with sultry eyes.  “So, uh, since we’re in this private room...”

“Yeah?” Noah asked, wrapping his arms around your waist and pulling you close.

“Well, I guess that was technically our first fight so we need to make up, right?” You suggested.

“I like where this is going.” Noah smirked.

“Then kiss me.” You said as your lips were almost at his lips.  

And he did.  He lifted you in his arms and kissed you like his life depended on it. You would reprimand Xavier and make it up to Lana later...right now, all you could think about was Noah and his soft kisses.

Fin

[spywriter27]

The Interview Emilia ll Luke

He’s laughing brightly, the laughter almost makes it seem like the room is brighter as we continue. “You find it funny. The whole world was waiting in anticipation of this big, grandiose wedding and then we find out. You’re actually married, not to the woman we’ve been calling your fiancée for the past year but to a complete unknown, middle class girl who works for a competitor.”

“I wouldn’t really call Christian a competitor, we get along just fine. It’s actually by chance that she works for him. I had a pretty rough day and my neighbor was concerned, something a lot of people in my life had been. None of them voiced this concern though, because that would have been, proper.” I can see the annoyance on his face, its something that has come up before in an interview when he was younger. People expecting him to read their minds. “People assume because you have wifi in your head you know what they’re thinking. I’m a genetic hybrid, not a psychic and it bothers me a lot that people get the two mixed up.” Was what he told me last time, I checked on his insistence.

“So you just met at a random party. How normal of you. Was it love at first sight or did you actively try to flirt?” I can’t help it, one of the original four hybrids, the only one known to have human emotion, it’s for science. I’ve known him for years and the thought of him flirting is more funny than adorable. This is the man who can tell a dictator where to stuff it but crumbles when his mom tells him it’s rude.

“Tease all you want Michelle, I did end up with her number at the end of the night. We met up for coffee, talked, normal things. You should be proud, it’s all annoyingly human and mundane. Went to the movies a few times, walked through the park. It’s a bit insane how no one knew until Rachel threw a fit. I mean, it wasn’t a secret, we were out there actively being us for the world to see and no one cared until the princess of slander got mad.”  The princess of slander, an interesting way of calling his ex out on all the effort she’s put in to dragging them through the mud. Most hybrids hide their thoughts well and Luke is no exception until it becomes a topic that get’s him frustrated, like math or in this case, Rachel. She seems to be a frustrating person, everyone wants to be in her friend group but those that have left have nothing nice to say about it. If you can even get them to talk about it.

“But you were still seeing Rachel. A lot of people feel like you did her dirty, cheated on her. I know a few of them have confronted you in person. Does it bother you or your wife? That you essentially cheated on Rachel with her.” I get the devil’s advocate glance but I know you all want the answer too. For the last three years every form of social media has been flooded with images for the two of them. For the last year it was near impossible to log onto anything and not know about their future wedding. Then overnight it all changed, the tone of their relationship changed and he came out looking pretty bad.

Luke Montgomery smirked, he actually smirked at me. A rare event his mother once described as the first sign of the apocalypse for revenge. “I didn’t cheat on her. I’d have actually had to have been dating her to cheat on her. Before you ask, I never proposed to her either. There’s a fifty page print out of us fighting over that and her telling me to just ‘go with it. Its what’s best for our companies’. Rachel was, is, she’s always been a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It’s no secret that my father became very sick a few years back. He assumed he wouldn’t make it and told me things about where I came from and I nosedived into a place that I hope I never go back to. I didn’t know who I could trust, I barely slept. It was a dark place and then, she was there. She told a few corny jokes, we had some drinks. One day I woke up in her room and couldn’t recall what happened the night before. The last thing I could remember was leaving the office.” He’s taking deep breathes, what he’s saying is hard for him. It’s almost as if his anxiety is telling him to keep quiet.

He’s messing with his wedding band, he doesn’t know it’s silver, not that he cares but you can see the wear it’s taken already in just these few short months from him messing with it. “She cornered me on a street, in an alley actually, right around the corner from my place. Told me she was pregnant. I did what a lot of guys do in that situation. I panicked, said I’d be there for her and I was. Then she said she lost it a few weeks later. It broke me a little, I had just started thinking about it, toying with the idea. What kind of dad would I be and stuff you know? Turns out she was lying the whole time. I tried to cut her off a year later, after I found out. Just ghost her you know. I couldn’t handle it, it’s almost like I could see what she was doing and tried to stop it but failed. I’d stopped sleeping, didn’t really eat much, stopped doing things that made me happy. I was only doing what she wanted me to do, only eating what she let me eat. She hates dogs, I sent mine to live with my parents, she hates traveling, I didn’t see my family for three years. She kept showing up everywhere I went though, it was freaky and she just kept inserting herself into my life no matter how I tried to run. I gave up. I know, it’s weird to admit that out loud but it’s what actually happened. I gave up trying to run away from her but I never reinstated the relationship, we never did anything more than sleep under the same roof, our rooms were down the hall from each other.”

If you’ve ever imagined what it looks like when his runs his fingers through his hair I can tell you it’s everything you’ve thought it to be and yes, he does the exasperated sigh along with it as he’s trying to focus himself from telling me more than he wants. “Emilia it was like, it was like a switch flipped. She’s a hobby photographer.”

“You did that too, you already had so much in common.” He’s wearing a look that both says ‘shut up’ and ‘please don’t’ at the same time. It’s an interesting thing to see and even more interesting to try and read.

“I used to. Rachel, doesn’t do pictures or people with ‘camera’s for fun, honestly why?’” His Rachel voice is the highlight of this interview along with his casual dress. I’ve been interviewing him for years and I’ve never seen him this relaxed. “It was weird, like, when I stopped posting on Instagram everyone just went with it. When I started posting again people were just like ‘where have you been? We missed you’ and my personal favorite ‘can you post more pictures of your doggo’” He laughed, “It was like everything I had to give up to appease Rachel I could have back. Why wouldn’t you want to have things that made you happy? I could meet up with my friends, visit my family, travel, go to the island.”

“I have to ask, has Emilia been to the island yet? I semistalk her Instagram and it hasn’t shown up there yet. I feel like there’s a lot more to that place than your boat and the beach. If she hasn’t been will you guys be going soon?” It’s a reasonable question, she seems to take pictures of everything. The video’s of his dog seeing him after three years can make you cry. If you haven’t watched them yet, bring tissues. If you’re reading this online the link is below.

“She hasn’t yet, we’re actually leaving for it tomorrow. So if you wait a week or two to publish you might get some pictures from her soon. I’m excited about it. I mean, I know it’s been taken care of by the staff when they visit I just. It’s been so long and she’s never been on the ship before. It’s weird, I mean, I grew up in this lifestyle so I’m used to it all but she didn’t. So everything is new, like the flight out to England, she’d never been on a plane before. I like traveling and as a lot of people know I like my rich guy toys. Getting to share them with her is just as fun and amazing. I’m sure it’d still be this way even if she grew up with the stuff but getting to see her enjoy these things for the first time is awesome.”

I made a note to put off publishing this as long as possible for photographs, my boss wasn’t having it so we all loose out. Sorry. She has a blog though as I  have been informed but someone, Luke, wouldn’t tell me what it was so we just have to hope all the pictures end up on insta.

“You know you’re one of the few rich people who can brag about their wealth and people don’t get upset. Is there a reason why or do you think people are afraid to piss off one of the richest people in the world?” A question I’ve been dying to ask for far too long so you can all just give me this one and we’ll get back to the cute couples in a minute.

“There’s a reason. As much as I brag about my toys and vacations. I don’t actually vacation, I might be on a beach but I have an office a hundred yards away, same with the boat, office is there. I work hard for my money but I think the big reason people pay it no mind is because I’m pretty philanthropic. Shelters for both people and animals. Schools in war torn countries. Helping people whose governments are letting them down. Coconut trees are something I’m dealing a lot with right now. Did you know if you plant them close enough together that you can slow and in some cases stop beach erosion? How awesome is that? Governments though, they don’t care. So what’s a few thousand coconut trees to help save beaches and inject a little money into the local economy? It’s nothing off my back or my bank account. The way I see it, we were charged with making the world better than how we found it. So far we’re doing a pretty shitty job. If you send a copy of this to my mum you better change that word or I’ll never hear the end of it.” He sighed, he was serious too, I changed it in her copy. “If I can help make it better, why wouldn’t I? I have the money and resources to do it so I owe it, not just to myself but to everyone else to try and make it better. To slow climate change if I can’t stop it. You can recycle your soda cans all you want but if big business doesn’t turn their companies green it’s not going to make a difference.”

“Are you sure I can’t have her blog name?” One last try to get all of us more cute pictures. He didn’t cave but he did tell me the exact site but I have a domain and that’s a start. People may think it weird, granted my openness about cyberstalking them is a little weird but I’m a reporter whose job is to write about them every day. If you think I’m weird for it than you are reading the wrong interview, it’s my job.

“There’s really nothing amazing on there though. I mean, to us it’s a bunch of awesome stuff but I doubt you want to see it. All the cool stuff is on Instagram. Our more homey things are on her blog.” He keeps trying to get me away from it but honestly, seeing more humany, homey things of them is what everyone wants “I mean, do you really want to look at a dozen pictures of this?” He’s honestly adorable when he brags, he doesn’t even realize he is doing it. If every man was this oblivious with these things life would be sweeter.

It’s a picture of them at home on the terrace, it’s dark but you can see the telescope. Candid’s of them both looking through it and watching the stars. It’s so sweet my teeth hurt. I want to see hundreds of those. I leave empty handed regarding her blog but now I know what I’m missing and I might double my efforts to find it if for no reason than to see my friend having a good life. After three years of Rachel essentially abusing him he’s found someone who showed him what he was missing and I couldn’t be happier for it. While the everyday public might think they’re a fraud, simply because we didn’t see what was before our eyes. Those of us who know Luke Montgomery couldn’t be happier for him. No matter what sludge Rachel throws on the papers about them you can see it in their eyes. Neither of them could be happier with anyone else.

@adauntlessangel

[weerd1]

Star Trek DS9 Rewatch Log, Stardate 1909.02: Missions Reviewed, “Ferengi Love Songs,” “Soldiers of the Empire,” and “Children of Time.”

Quark’s bar is overrun with voles as “Ferengi Love Songs” opens, and Rom tries to cheer him up by announcing his engagement to Leeta.  That of course fails miserably, so Rom suggests Quark go visit Moogie on Ferengenar.  Quark goes there to find the Grand Nagus hiding in his closet, where the head of the Ferengi financial empire is having a secret love affair with Quark’s mom Ihska! 

Quark immediately begins to propose that Zek reinstate his Ferengi Business License, but Zek refuses. He sees another opportunity though when Brunt, FCA, beams into his closet to offer the license back in exchange for Quark breaking up Zek and Moogie so the Nagus doesn’t get caught in a scandal.  Meanwhile, Rom, thinking he’s not being Ferengi enough creates a prenup for Leeta that prevents her from ever owning property or making profit. This of course ends the engagement. When he laments to O’Brien, O’Brien ask him what Leeta’s worth. Rom donates all of his latinum to Bajoran war orphans, so when Leeta marries him he will know it is for love. On Ferenginar, Zek, grateful to Quark for letting him know about “rumors” that Ishka was making profit, appoints him as first clerk. Quark realizes that Zek is having memory problems, and Ishka has actually been the brains behind the great Ferenginar expansions of the last couple of fiscal years. When the Ferengi market tanks, the FCA wants to bring Zek in for questioning, and Quark realizes Brunt set all of this up so he could seize the position of Nagus. When the inquiry comes, Zek aces it, and the FCA has to back off. Zek thanks Quark, who tells him all the advice actually came from Ishka, and that they should really be together. 

With the couple reunited, Brunt decides to let Quark keep his business license, just so Brunt can watch him like a hawk. Ishka gives Quark back his favorite toys as a kid, “Marauder Mo” action figures, that would have been worth more left in the original packaging.

Quark’s ever cascading financial difficulties come to a head in this episode, but he manages to pull it all together.  The romance is pretty funny, as is the internal workings of Ferengi society. We see Cecily Adams step into the role of Ishka here since Andrea Martin who played her earlier couldn’t continue to wear the extensive prosthetics. Wallace Shawn is always great as Zek, and Jeffrey Combs really needs his own Star Trek series where he just plays every role. Also- bonus picture of Quark with his Marauder Mo figures, sporting the energy whips the Ferengi had on TNG when they were really meant to be the villains.

“Soldiers of the Empire” has Martok take command of the Rotarran, a Bird of Prey with a bad history and broken crew who need to find a missing Klingon cruiser along the Cardassian border. He asks Worf to be his First Officer, and Jadzia signs on as science officer. Morale on the ship is bad, and as they conduct their mission, Worf begins to suspect that Martok may be a little gunshy after his time in Jem’Hadar custody.

 The crew is volatile, some defeatist, some ready to try to overthrow Martok the old fashioned way, some simply apathetic, their fire gone.  When Martok orders them NOT to fire on a lone Jem’Hadar over whom they could have an easy victory, things get worse; when they find the other Klingon ship, but Martok won’t cross the border to rescue survivors, it comes to a head. Worf orders the Rotarran ahead anyway and challenges Martok to combat. As they fight, Worf gets the advantage, but suddenly the tide shifts, and Martok sinks a knife into his gut. 

The crew now behind him, his warrior spirit ignited, Martok leads them to rescue the other Klingons and fight some Jem’Hadar. Back on DS9 Martok confronts Worf, telling him he realizes exactly what he did; unified the crew and re-energized Martok by losing. “But how did you know I wouldn’t kill you?” Martok asks.  Worf replies that he didn’t.  Martok in gratitude adopts Worf into the House of Martok.

All Klingons, all the time! This episode really does play out as if the show were just about the Rotarran, and it gives us a good chance to see the Klingons up close, and not just as the monolith warrior culture, but as having personalities, and differences, and there being diversity among them; there are red-head and blonde Klingons in this episode! I definitely see a few things they do here that will later inform how the Klingons are portrayed on “Discovery.” They finally show us some uniform variants here, and we get to see some of what passes for nautical custom in the Klingon fleet when Worf requests the ship’s “battle log.” Worf becoming part of Martok’s house is going to have ramifications later.  I have heard people complain that Jadzia is too good at being Klingon sometimes, but when you take into account that Terry Farrell is six feet tall, I can buy her handling herself here.

“Children of Time” has the Defiant returning from a mission in the Gamma Quadrant when Dax surveys a planet with a strange energy barrier around it. Though everyone is tired, she convinces them to go investigate. When they enter the barrier, they get some damage, it will take a couple days to fix, and Kira gets a zap from her console. They find a mostly human settlement of 8000 people on the surface, which hails them, and seems to know who they are. Beaming down, they find a Yedrin Dax and a Miranda O’Brien. Scanning, Jadzia finds that Yedrin is carrying the Dax symbiont…and it is 200 years older. 

The colonists tell them that in two days the Defiant will try to leave the planet, and instead crash after being thrown back in time by the energy barrier. These are their descendants.  Further complicating the issue is that the zap Kira received has created a condition which will kill her if she doesn’t receive treatment in a full hospital. But if the Defiant does go back, 8000 people, and their preceding generations cease to exist.  Still alive is Odo, who comes to visit Kira, and tells her that he loves her, and has always loved her. Yedrin meanwhile has a plan to allow the same effect that “doubled” all of Kira’s quantum particles to allow one version of the Defiant to escape, and another to complete its destiny a go back in time to preserve the colony. Jadzia soon realizes it is a sham. The crew debates whether they can leave, saving Kira but allowing the rest to poof out of existence, or stay. As the day arrives they decide to help the people plant their crops, despite the fact it will all be gone when Defiant leaves. Worf works with the local “Klingons” who are his descendants both physically and philosophically- anyone can decide to take on the warrior life and hunt as the Klingons out on the plains.

 Older Odo spends more time with Kira (“modern” Odo can’t hold form under the energy field, but old Odo has had centuries to practice), and she realizes she cannot allow her life to supersede 8000 others. O’Brien, who initially just wanted to back to his family, now sees that they can’t let these people die- worse, never to have existed at all. The Defiant crew decides to go ahead with the course that will make them crash. Yedrin gives them a preprogrammed course, and they follow it. The anomaly that will throw them back looms ahead, and then the Defiant swerves around it. As they leave the energy field, a scan back to the planet shows there has never been a colony there. Initially, they believe Yedrin Dax gave them a false course, choosing not to sacrifice their futures for the colony, but Odo, now back, reveals that the colony’s Odo linked with him, and he was the one who changed the course because he refused to let Kira die, and hoped there might be some chance that Odo could find happiness with her.

A really great episode, that sells the descendants of our crew exceptionally well, particularly all the O’Briens and the Klingon “tribe.” A really fascinating way as well to bring Odo’s love for Kira to the light, and not to avoid the tragic ending.  There may be some inconsistency with Trek time travel here, as the creation of alternate realities is the norm when things are changed, but the tragedy of this group of people simply winking out of existence works effectively here.  The romantic in my can accept the quantum “Parallels” and “Trek 2009” version that says there’s a timeline where the Children of Time still exist, but their disappearance still hits pretty hard. This is the “Trolley Problem” presented to us as only Science Fiction can, and it works with terrific—and sorrowful—effect. 

  NEXT VOYAGE: The final fate of the Maquis is settled in a “Blaze of Glory.”

[vehlika-pelican]

warning for long post! i always get my best ideas at night when im on mobile and cant do a read-more. sorry. blacklist "vehl's headcannons" to stop seeing my stuff. no rvb season 15 spoilers i dont think. me3 is like 5 years old now so im not tagging it as spoilers for any of the games. OKAY, RVB X MASS EFFECT TRILOGY CROSSOVER ( mostly ME 1 because its been two hours since i started writing this post now and oh shit) #TuckerFightsARobotArmy is gonna be the tag for this and the inevitable sequel posts at first i thought, with default Femshep being a badass red-head that would make our local badass red-head Carolina the obvious choice for the role but it occurred to me that she would make a better Miranda Lawson than Commander Shepard. The Director is The Illussive Man (Tim). Aside from the daddy issues, Miranda is a big supporter of Tim's until she finally sees his dark side and resigns during the end of ME 2 just like Carolina was a staunch believer in the Director until she had to face the music. The Freelancers are involved in Project Phoenix and ultimately its every man for himself when the Director starts indoctrinating/reaperfying troops. She gets assigned to the Normandy SR-2 just before the agents make their escape and she's left out of the loop and feeling betrayed. She carries that well into hunting the Collectors and her loyalty mission involves maybe saving York and getting answers. Carolina goes into hiding just like Miranda during ME3, trying to take down her former employer and his organization on her own until she needs help. Thats where our best dudes come in. but then if she's taking the place of Miranda, who could be Shepard? let's start with the Reds. Sarge is too...Sarge. Maybe he could take Admiral Hackett's place as Admiral Colonel Sarge because obviously (everyone knows he's crazy but going from enlisted man to fleet admiral makes him a legend, and he really earned a name for himself during the First Contact War. that name was legally changed to Colonel.) Grif would be Joker, so our esteemed pilot/vehicle operator who's all back-talk and bitching. Simmons is where it gets tricky. Simmons could be an engineer, possibly a quarian, who got prosthetic limbs from when he temporarily served with Sarge on a joint human-quarian deployment and became enamored with the freedom to experiment in the Alliance opposed to the strict policies in the Migrant Fleet and sought to return to his service by trying to kiss ass. but i also like him as EDI because of the proximity to Grif and how they would develop that friendship leading up to Joker's Mission when Grif unshackles Simmons to save the Normandy in ME 2. i also kind of like krogan!Grif, and you know the two of them would have the greatest time messing with the Alliance's engineers during the retrofits. then when Simmons gets a body in ME3 he tries to get a faux-skin to look human but there's a problem and its missing in places on the left side and Grif decides to tell people he's just got some prosthetics from an accident. all shiny and chrome on the fury road. Donut is Kelly Chambers. trained in psychology but rarely clinical, loving all the species, somehow spreading a space-dog STD around the ship, a bit too naive if pretty gung-ho about the mission but give him a belt of lift grenades and hot damn we're in business. Lopez is the AI who robbed the bank? embezelled money? (ME 1) and threatened to detonate a nuclear bomb inside a shopping center but actually managed to buy and download himself into a ship and set sail for sweet robot freedom in the Persius Veil. he was caught by Sarge and officially "destroyed" when he's really locked in a Rampart mech with AI shackles that force him to aid Sarge in his crazy science endeavors. he refuses to speak anything other than spanish out of spite even when he genuinely needs assistance. now the Blues. Washington will have been with Cerberus until about the beginning of ME3 which is when Tim starts indoctrinating troops and members of Project Phoenix take their chances so thats too late to start trying to save the galaxy from the Reaper threat. Caboose takes the place of David (i might be getting the name wrong), an autistic savant who can communicate with a race of alien AI (the quarian-made geth) and is unwillingly mentally linked to the geth for an unknown period of time by his own brother (one of his sisters then? my poor boy imsorry). This would cause the neural trauma/scarring resulting in Caboose being... more Caboose. but he isn't found until sometime in ME2 by Shepard and co. Freckles is the mad AI who goes rogue on Luna (not EDI or part of Simmons in this au) but ends up being befriended by Caboose. he inhabits an Atlas/Titan mech and together they're unstoppable. Tex is an attempt to recreate Allison as an AI inside a cloned body made by the Director during the early stages of his madness. now she's taking Ashley's place as a trigger happy space racist, a double agent inside the Alliance and on Tucker's squad. Church almost dates her but something...feels off...and instead spends his time fighting with her because it feels...familiar? like when he used to argue with his mom when she was alive. huh. Kaikaina and Grif petitioned to serve together so she's on the squad as an infilitrator of all things. she and Wrex commiserate over the story of how she stole a krogan warlord's biotic hammer and she tramatizes Grif by flirting with his 800-pound ass. (not that it goes anywhere. Wrex thinks humans are too squishy.) which leaves...Tucker. because who else. Commander Shepard took the responsibility of proving the existence and defeating the Reapers only because they happened to be at Eden Prime when the prothean beacon was to be recovered. it could have been anyone caught in the beacon- Ashley or Kaidan or any other marine- and that person would have tried to do the same. Tucker in RVB isnt so much chosen to be the savior of an alien race (Doc said he was but that was more Junior) as he gets caught in a bunch of shit that went down in ways he was not expecting when he interacted with an ancient alien artifact thank you very much. so he's on the Normandy SR-1 because he's an N7-in-training or outright failed to get past N1 (which is still impressive because he was considered and thats not easy criteria to meet. let my man be a badass space marine. just a little bit. badass-in-training. HE'LL GET THERE.) but is noticed for his potential and is to be evaluated by turian!/salarian!Felix for Spectre candidacy. the first human Spectre. he's a biotic, i can't decide between adept and vanguard. Tucker and Grif are Totally On To the mission's importance because "spectre's(Felix) dont come along for shake-down runs" in their new experiental human-turian ship and they arrive at Eden Prime mid-attack. Tucker and his squad try to clear a path to the beacon while Felix scouts ahead. but then they find his body and eyewitnesses say it was someone he knew by name that shot him once he let his guard down and his back was turned. "Locus" they say. supposedly leading the assault with an army of heretic-geth and a massive ship emitting a terrible sound. they fight to the beacon, disable bombs along the way, and find it just as Locus's ship departs. as the squad's engineer is scanning it, Tucker notices they're starting to levitate and rushes in to grab them and throw them aside only to get caught himself. he gets the prothean vision-warning about the Reapers and maybe a special prothean omni-blade and its on. he has to prove to the Citadel Council that their Spectre Locus is a traitor and that the Reapers are real but visions? galactic extinction cycles? oh you humans are so full of it. you've been part of the galactic community for 30 years and now you're here with a conspiracy theory at best? i cant believe we thought you could work for us. blah. Tucker marches off but meets Church who's been trying to take Locus down from within the system to no avail. Alpha!Church is the Director's son but Allison got custody after the divorce and now he's a grouchy C-Sec cop getting nowhere real quick. Tucker invites him along and he's a shitty sniper but actually pretty decent with the Mako's cannon considering it handles like a drunk krogan who can do a flip it you drive off the cliff edge fast enough (what are mass effect booster jets for?). they track down a krogan mercenary (Wrex is probably still Wrex. because who could hope to live up to him?) and fight through a strip club and kill Fist and rescue a quarian (Palomo? make that Jensen) with evidence proving Locus is guilty. then they save Dr. Emily Grey and help her keep her small clinic in the wards from being shut down and she gives them sweet discounts and all the free medigel they can shove into their pockets. they rescue asari!Doc from inside a prothean ruin (got lost on a yoga retreat and panicked when geth started attacking...i guess he could be an archeologist but maybe they drag Grey along for the ride instead...) but he's developed a split personality due to how long he's been alone in there and its kinda murderous but coupled with biotics its pretty useful. (and yes, asari are mono-gendered and are all "female" but ME: Andromeda confirmed that some asari use masculine pronouns/identify as "male" and there's no way that wasn't a thing in ME 1 canon so Doc is he/him). on Virmire, he almost shoots Tex AND Wrex on the beach- put down your shotguns you fucking lunatics i will biotically throw you into the ocean! he helped Wrex get his family armor so Tucker manages to talk him down but man Tex could you chill its been months already. he has to leave Tex behind though to protect the bomb while he and Wrex save Kaikaina and Kirahee and fight Locus. they evacuate and the bomb detonates and atleast it was instantaneous. she wouldn't have felt herself be vaporized, it was quick and we stopped Locus from getting an army of krogan. Church is devastated and knowing that Tucker leaving Tex behind was a conscious choice splinters their friendship. but. Tucker has to finish this. its bullshit and why us. why'd it have to be us on this ship in this life shewasmyfriendtoo- but its a race against the clock to the lost relay and Ilos and theres no time to have a real talk. its complete bullshit. they get to Ilos but Locus is ahead of them and they have to fight so many geth and find a 50,000 year old message which only Tucker can understand but fuck this we're being left in Locus' dust openthisstupid templedoor*swish* oh shit this things a fucking key "guess we didnt have to fight all them robots" he said stepping over the mountain of slain robots because fuck my life. Wrex how'd you live so long life fucking sucks. "i've been drunk for a lot of it" great. yup. can the Mako go any faster. and then they meet Vigil but dont record it because they're still idiots who forget/dont mind the details until Simmons shows up in the sequel you morons but hey remember THAT CHASE WE WERE IN LETSGO and they drive the Mako into a relay and if Tucker made sure to crash into a geth colossus no one says anything- and they fly out into the Presidium Commons like if the Mako had wings but itfuckingdoesnt and why are there even jets on this tank. Locus and Sovereign beat them to the Citadel and the arms are closed but Hal-9000 over there is just chillin' on the Citadel Tower like he's shishing the kebab himself. then gravity goes off and they fight sideways all the way up the tower and those turrets sure are being turrets you know and not differentiating between us and the assholes ahead of us. but they finally make it and stop Locus short of the apocalypse. Tucker goes all renegade Locus was just afraid, the Reapers put his life in persepective and we are all so small and insignificant, "is servitude not preferable to extinction?" you're just a puppet, they're using you because you're weak, because you let them, do yourself a favor-! but Locus claims its too late and they fight and kill him. but he rises anyway. the fight the first and only Possessed Marauder- Sovereign controlig Locus' corpse through implants. he was mostly implants. and once its ash ashashashes Tex didnt even get to be ashes its unfa- and Sarge is over the comm, open the Citadel's arms son so the Alliance can save the day and Tucker has a choice. save the Council and sacrifice thousands of soldiers. or kill the Reaper and worry about new leadership later. its Tex again. worse. i need to think, theres no time, you know what this thing can do you saw in the vision i believe you so what do we do. make the call. and Tucker needs the Council's support...but the Reaper needs to be killed...but saving the Council will cost too much...but the Reaper could still call the others from dark space...they'll trust me... will the new ones? will the Alliance? Anyone? no. but someone will definitely be alive. kill Sovereign. the Council dies. the Destiny Ascention is destroyed. the Alliance suffers minimal loses. humanity fills the vacuum of power. humanity is no longer trusted. they blame him. he does too. have any of his choices been good enough? right? much of the crew goes their own way. Church goes back to C-Sec. maybe he'll call. Wrex returns to Tuchanka, faith in his people restored. Doc joins Grey at her small clinic. Jensen returns to the Migrant Fleet with geth data. and Tucker and the rest are... disgraced. no one says but they dont have to. every breath is a reminder of his failures and what he did. so much potential in him once, they say. he could have been great. instead he did this. and they fight geth. chase geth. fight more. they head to Alchera. more geth, they said. it isnt. the ship is blown apart. Kaikaina shoves anyone who cant walk into the escape pods. The XO is killed almost immediately. Grif won't leave. Tucker, please, Dex! Get Dex! she yells as she's dragged into an escape pod by a Yeoman and he storms over because he wont lose anyone else but the hull is gone and you can't run in mag boots. Grif is fighting for Normandy. Tucker can hear him asking for just a little more just enough to- to- but Tucker's having none of it and pulls and heaves and forces his idiot pilot into the pod. of all the times Grif chose to be the opposite of lazy. a streak of yellow catches his eye and its coming this way and he pushes off and hits the launch button but the engines blow and he hits something as he is set adrift. he's losing air. fuck, its- its behind him. he panics and scrambles for the puncture but his arms are geting heavier and he's already wheezing short little breaths shortlittlefailures youfailedyoukilledthem youkilledher. the sun in the distance is bright. he can feel his body tilt toward the planet, sees the sunlight cresting over the horizon. his vision goes dark around the edges. but the sun is bright and he doesnt notice he isnt afraid and he falls *maniacal laughter* someone should have stopped me. i think its super out of character but this is a rambling monster and not meant to go super in-depth or anything. god help me.

[mcspirkholidayfest]

2016 FEST HAS ENDED...

But fear not, McSpirk fans, for your moderators are already making plans to bring you a 2017 Fest. Stay tuned to our blog for news of upcoming rounds, reminders of - and any changes on - how to participate, and a few announcements concerning exciting new features!

In the meantime, please take a moment to give a round of applause (and a kind word!) to all our Creators of 2016, to whom we owe many thanks for gifting us with McSpirk fanfiction, fanart, and fanmixes throughout the year.  In case you missed some of the amazing works from the final round, Christmas and New Year’s, or the handful of back-filled Previous Round prompts, see below the cut to catch up.

Fanmix

Prompt:  There’s a good chance that the Enterprise won’t make it back to any Federation planet, outpost, or starbase for the holidays. Worse yet, subspace communications are down so no one can contact their loved ones off ship. Cue the Captain trying to raise the spirits of his crew with his handy boyfriends at his side to help.

Fill: cheery christmas by @movingplant

Art

Prompt:  Kid!AU. Amanda, Sarek, and a young Spock are on Earth during the Christmas season because Sarek has some Ambassador duties to attend to. Amanda would like to expose Spock to some of her human holiday traditions including being charitable. She brings Spock to the Christmas party thrown by the local hospital for the young children that will be stuck there for the holidays. Amanda used to do volunteer work there and has stayed in touch with some of the staff which included one David McCoy. David McCoy brings his young son Leonard Horatio to the Christmas party because some of his patients are among these kids. David and Amanda introduce the boys to each other and leave them to hang out together. And yes one of the sick kids is a young Jimmy Kirk.

Fill: Fanart by @sofluffygonnadieeee

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Prompt:  Jim is trying to decorate the USS Enterprise “Christmas Vacation” style (i.e. National Lampoon movie). He puts holiday lights and other Christmas decoration articles everywhere. The crew soon begins to join him, except for Spock and Bones. They find his actions illogical (Spock) or “completely bonkers” (Bones), but nonetheless endearing. Although as the situation gets out of hand, Bones and Spock have to find a way to stop the others.

Fills: Fanart by @sleepymccoy with Bonus Art here

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Prompt:  Startfleet’s annual New Year’s party or a New Year’s party of some kind. Kirk encourages Jaylah to try champagne. Spock gets mildly drunk on chocolate. Bones and Spock each kissing one of Kirk’s cheeks when the countdown ends.

Fill: Fanart by @kaztial-does-art

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Prompt:   It’s the attack of the ugly sweaters!  Jim buys one for each boyfriend, and Leonard and Spock can’t say no.  Bonus points if Jim bought them matching sets, including mittens, hats, and scarves.

Fill: Fanart by @boomdeyadah

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Prompt:  (AOS) Spock reminisces about Christmas celebrations with Amanda on Vulcan/Earth. Jim and Bones decide to help him celebrate this year just like with his mom. They contact Sarek to find out if any of Spock’s christmas stuff is still around (like his stocking) and to also invite Sarek to come celebrate with them.

Fill: Fanart by @cocoamocha

Fanfiction

Prompt:   Spock vs. McCoy and/or Kirk, who are armed with mistletoe and/or the idea that you have to kiss someone at midnight on New Years’ Eve.  AOS or TOS.  Put your own spin on it.  Is Spock eager?  Is he unwilling?  Does he want to pretend he’s unwilling, but he’s actually curious?  Can they even tell how he feels about it all?  Is he manipulating McCoy right into his arms while pretending to be uninterested in anybody but Kirk?  Does Kirk know how Spock feels about McCoy?  Does Spock retaliate against them both with Vulcan traditions of his own?  Are the traditions real, or did he invent them just to mess with his friends?   Maybe Jim’s a sneaky puppetmaster pulling both Spock’s and McCoy’s strings… with the goal of getting them both right where he wants them.  Basically just manipulative scheming holiday triumvirate action with some first-time smooches (and possibly more) at stake.  X-D

Fill: Fanfic by @regulationblues

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Prompt:   It’s almost Christmas, but things look less than rosy on the USS Enterprise. Some weird mission, a mysterious plague, victims - not many, but still victims - before the CMO can come up with a cure. Jim doesn’t take it well and takes it out on Bones, much like with Spock’s blindness - hard words are exchanged. Nothing new but this time, something really got under Leonard’s skin - some of his Captain and lover’s accusations really broke something. On the next mission, down to a snowy, quiet uncharted planet Bones goes with the team but something is amiss. Kirk coughs awkwardly, reaching out. Spock a silently disapproving shadow looming over his shoulder. “Bones, you… I didn’t think you would agree to come, after all that mess.” Bones smiles a weak smile, a defeated smile. “Of course I agreed, Jim,” he says softly, “I will still follow you to the end of the universe and back, ten thousand times. But as your doctor - and your doctor only. I don’t think my heart can take being with someone for whom I’ll never be enough again.” Then he steps in the transporter, beams away, Captain and First Officer losing each a beat at his back. Five hours later, McCoy goes missing on the planet…

Fill: Fanfic by @greensarek

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Prompt:  Jim tries to teach his boyfriends how to ice skate. One of them is a natural. The other…really isn’t.

Fill: Fanfic by @waywardconsultingtimelady

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Prompt:  Spock and Bones get stranded in the middle of a snowstorm. Spock has to try to keep Bones from succumbing to hypothermia while Jim slowly loses his mind trying to find them both

Fill: Fanfic by @captainsandraclassof2029

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Prompt:   Coffeeshop AU! Jim is a barista near a popular science academy. All year, he’s watched two professors come in, grade together, and talk quietly. They’re Jim’s favorite customers, always patient enough for a little chat before their coffees and generous with tips. For Christmas, he’s determined to play cupid for the pair. Little does he know they’re already a couple and equally infatuated with him.

Fill: Fanfic by @drmcbones

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Prompt:   After Bones is kidnapped by a figure from Kirk’s past, he and Spock must deal with how exactly they are going to get their boyfriend back in time for dinner. Modern Cop AU

Fill: Fanfic by @goldberryintherushes

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Prompt:  Leonard has a date for the crewmen’s Christmas party. He’s kind of happy about that because he wasn’t looking forward to going by himself again. Strange thing is, though, he’s getting mixed reactions as people find out - especially when they automatically assume his date is either the Captain, the First Officer, or both and he has to correct them. Even worse, Jim and Spock suddenly seem intent on making certain he is too busy with work to go to the party. Why, Leonard wonders, can’t he catch a break? Bonus points if the date is one of Leonard’s staff who is hardly surprised to be accosted by an unhappy captain and Vulcan when the news breaks.

Fill: Fanfic by @starfleetdicks

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Prompt: My mom’s friends celebrate both Christmas and New Years Eve on New Year’s Eve. Anyway everyone brings presents and the presents are put into a bag. Someone wears a Santa hat and holds the bag. Someone else spins a bottle, who the bottle lands on gets to take a present out of the bag. Also they can trade presents with someone else. The trio hosting the above ‘spin the bottle to pick a present’ thing for the crew. The New Years part doesn’t have to be included, if it is that’s nice but I’m more concerned about the present part. Extra points if it’s Kirk’s idea and Bones grumbles about wearing the hat. I’m fine with TOS or AOS or a crossover of the two.

Fill: Fanfic by @tildytwo

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Prompt:  Bones ends up cursed somehow on Christmas day, and is told that he has to receive true love’s kiss by New Year’s or he’ll die. He thinks this is impossible, because he’s already in love, but neither Jim nor Spock will ever love him back. Rather than freaking out and trying to fight his fate or force love where it doesn’t exist, Bones just decides to make the most of the last few days he has with Jim and Spock, without telling them anything. They stay up together to usher in the new year. Spock and Jim are happy, and Bones is happy just being with them one last time. And then Bones collapses…

Fill: Fanfic by @iwillstaywiththemforever

Special: Previous Round Fills

Prompt:   The triumvirate take Joanna trick or treating. Special appearances by Ben, Sulu, and Demora for hella bonus points but not required.

Fill: Fanart by @waywardconsultingtimelady

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Prompt:  Vampires/werewolves are real. And OF COURSE Jim Kirk is one.

Fill: Fanfic by @starfleetdicks​

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Prompt:  Okay, basically I need a fic with Spock and Jim taking care of a recovering Bones after the usual mission-gone-downhill-and-selfless-heroism routine - all drenched in Halloween-y feels. The boys being stuck in some gloomy planet full of weird stuff, the trio going on shoreleave in a Autumn-y lodge to make Len rest and finding trouble, ghosts hunting the Enterprise, it’s all good really, as long as there is a lot of overprotective Captain and First Officer, cuddles and loved Bones. Extra point for hurt/comfort details, of course.

Fill: Fanfic by @drmcbones​

[shirtlesssammy]

10x22: The Prisoner

Hey Guys! We’re finally done with recapping all of Andrew Dabb’s episodes this week. For the rest of hiatus we’re doing a mix of favorites and not-so-favorites (*cough* finally addressing some of the Buckleming episodes *cough*) Six weeks until the final season. Agh!

Shreveport, Louisiana

Nerd Boy Styne leaves school only to be harassed by local burnouts. They want to know how much of a virgin he is (um, is there a gradient on that?) (Natasha: Virginity. Is. A. Construct.) Nerd Boy bites back HARD which does not sit well with Alpha burnout.

He’s pushed to the ground but is “saved” by his older brother. I get the feeling that he’d rather take his chances with the burnouts.

Later, Alpha Burnout is enjoying his Slushy and stayin’ alive when he notices a car following him. He takes off but runs into Older Brother Styne. Styne #2 creeps up and puts a plastic bag over his head and bye bye burnout.

*FFFFFUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKK ALERT*

Sam and Dean are building Charlie’s pyre. We get flashbacks as they burn her body. Sam tries to say some words but Dean is full of rage and doesn’t want to hear it.

He even goes so far to tell Sam that he should be on that pyre instead of her. Oh boy. He tells Sam to stop what they’re doing to help him. The Mark isn’t going to kill him. Meanwhile, he WILL find who killed Charlie and end them all.

Nerd Boy Styne is busy playing video games and chatting with a friend. He has plans on moving to LA, but can’t tell his family because they’re scary and will kill him. His older brother lets him know their father wants to see him.

Cut to the elder Styne (listen, I HATE this storyline, I HATE that they killed Charlie, I HATE it all. I am not putting any effort into finding out any of their names. They’re all just Styne #1-4 to me.) He’s berating Styne with no arm about not getting the book and losing his arm. He tells his father about the bunker’s lore.

First, he’s got to get a new arm, so they bring in Nerd Boy (Fine, Nerd Boy can have a name-- it’s Cyrus) and show him Alpha Burnout and tell him to carve him up. He doesn’t want to. Jesus, his dear old dad says he’s going to do this or his dad will do it and then he’ll tie up Cyrus and do the same to him. W o W.

Dean calls another hunter, Rudy, about a lead on the Stynes.

Cas and Rowena continue to work on the Book of the Damned.

For Too Much Beauty in One Shot Science:

Sam comes back and wordlessly tells Cas that Charlie is gone. Sam then says that Dean knows and that he promised Dean that he would shut down their little plan. Rowena, still the delightful antagonist here, wants to know what’s going on. They opt not to fill her in. Cas asks the only important question: “What about Dean?” Sam looks at the GPS on his phone pointing to where the Impala is when he gets an email from Charlie. It’s the codex. Rowena can now read the Book of the Damned.

Sam tasks Cas with finding Dean. Sam’s going to keep with their plan. He’s going to save his brother.

He then demands that Rowena read the Book. She’s not so inclined right now. She wants Crowley dead first.

Back at Casa Styne, the burnout is dead and brother Styne has a new arm. Cyrus is devastated.

Dean’s made it to Louisiana and gets pulled over by the cops. They dare to knock out Baby’s rear lights and Dean goes for one of the cops and gets arrested for his effort. I mean, I’m really surprised at the restraint Dean shows here? He doesn’t fight really. He could have busted up both the cops with little effort.

At Phil’s Diner, Crowley enjoys the best cup of coffee he’s ever had (and I’m enjoying the midcentury set design!).

Seth, the server, tells him that he learned how to make a good cup in Ecuador. Next, he’d like to head to Asia. It’s just a dream though. Crowley is in the business of making dreams come true. He gets a call from Dean before he can seal any dream making deals though. Then he gets a text with where to meet Dean --in Kansas, not Louisiana.

Dean’s at the sheriff’s station having his entire rock alias collection uncovered (not to mention the secret arsenal of weapons in the Impala). The officer wants to know who Dean is. “I’m the guy who’s going to get out of here in about 30 seconds.” He then proceeds to knock a mug of pens over. The guy comes over to Dean and Dean promptly gets him in a headlock, demands the handcuff’s keys and knocks the guy out cold. I’d say that took maybe 15 seconds.

Dean finds the sheriff talking to someone on the phone.

He butts him with a gun once for lying and once again for hurting his car. He then demands the sheriff tell him who he was talking to --one of the Stynes, but they own this town and there’s no way Dean can take on this family. Challenge Accepted! (Also: let’s just temporarily think about Dean saying: “Yeah, well I kill gods” as we head into the final season.)

Crowley makes a fabulous entrance into a nasty warehouse, looking for Dean. <Insert 8,000 booty call jokes here> Sam shoots him with a devil’s trap bullet. Sam reveals that he lured Crowley there with a faked phone call from Dean. He flourishes the demon-killing knife and a hex bag, before stuffing the bag into Crowley’s pocket. Oh, and he has a final message from Rowena: “She should’ve taken the three pigs.” Sam x Rowena: murder couple extraordinaire!

Dean casually kills his way into the Styne compound and it’s half James Bond ease and half YIKES OH NO KILLER DEAN BEAN.

Inside, several people point guns at Dean surprise-party-style, while another Styne sneaks a plastic bag onto his face, smothering him. (Query: why are there no women in this family except the single hot nurse? Lame.)

Sam continues to listen to Crowley monologue as he slowly crumples under Rowena’s curse. Crowley insists that he’s been creating a friendlier Hell. “I thought if I did better, I might actually feel something again. That it might matter.” Sam reminds Crowley - and us - that he’s killed a lot of people we care about. Crowley admits to being monstrous and he looks up at Sam. His eyes glow red as he rises, tosses out the bullet, and thanks Sam for jolting him back into his true King-of-Hell give-’em-hell mindset.

Sam started Crowley on his human journey, so I guess it’s fitting that he’s ended it as well.

Dean wakes up on the Styne operating slab. They tell him they’ll kill him and harvest him. (So, like, just do it and quit the smirky speeches?) Dean points out the Mark - he can’t die but he CAN come back as a demon so...don’t say he didn’t warn you. In very little time, Dean dispatches the entire operating theater, killing Elder Styne riiiight in the middle of his evil villain monologue. (For that, we applaud you, Crazed Killer Dean.)

The other Stynes break into the bunker, which is currently unoccupied. They plan to loot and then burn it which, yep, seems pretty much on par with what we’ve seen of these yahoos.

Sam calls Rowena and tells her about the failed hex bag. Rowena’s entirely unimpressed at Sam’s killing prowess and snaps at him to finish the job he started. Mmmhmmm yesss gurl!

Cas calls Sam from the Styne estate. It’s a bloody mess; Dean took out the whole dumb Styne storyline - I mean, family. Now, Dean’s headed back to the bunker.

In the bunker, Cyrus digs through books while Formerly-One-Arm makes dick commentary like, “So this is what I know about Dean Winchester. He's got crappy taste in music, got a hot mom, and he loves flannel.” Man, what I wouldn’t give for a late-season Mary Winchester to show these Stynes what’s what! They finish piling stuff in the middle of the library and pour fuel over everything. A single match gets dramatically lit when the other Styne Stooge stumbles in, stabbed.

Dean Winchester appears, covered in blood and looking so pissed that he’s practically on the other side of the emotion by now.

Formerly-One-Arm Styne disrespects Charlie and, despite Dean’s dead-eyed stare, we’re really ready for Dean to let go and beat this jerk down. Without further preamble, Dean shoots him in the head. Dean then threatens Cyrus, who begs for mercy. He doesn’t have monstrous stitches and he hates his family! (Though it’s strongly implied that Cyrus is complicit in his bully’s death and de-arming.) “There's bad in you,” Dean tells him in response. “It's in your blood. Now you can deny it and you can run from it all you want, but that bad will always win.” Oh, Dean Bean. The Mark’s got you well and truly hooked now. Dean kills Baby Styne.

Cas walks in, horrified by what Dean’s done.

….And then they hug it out and go for milkshakes!

Right?

Ugh, okay. Fine. Cas confronts Dean about his faulty moral compass.

Dean flares up about Sam and Cas’s secret project to cure Dean. Cas insists that Dean needs help. “Maybe you could fight the Mark for years. Maybe centuries, like Cain did. But you cannot fight it forever. And when you finally turn, and you will turn. Sam, and everyone you know, everyone you love...they could be long dead. Everyone except me. I'm the one who will have to watch you murder the world. So if there's even a small chance that we can save you, I won't let you walk out of this room.”

Dean continues to glare at Cas.

……..And then they hug it out and go for milkshakes!

(Boris and I will take just a moment to picture Cas staying by Dean’s side for centuries. Please do not mind the sound of quiet weeping.)

Instead of milkshakes and hugs, there’s a terrible fight where Cas only defends and doesn’t attack. He begs Dean to stop his march into darkness and in response Dean beats him bloody. He pulls out Cas’s angel blade and raises it to strike. As Dean hovers above his bloodied friend, Cas simply says, “Please…”

Dean stabs a nearby book instead, and stalks out of the bunker leaving nothing but terrible feelings in all of us - and a clear threat of future murderous intent.

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The Mark of Quotes is Changing You!

An angel that rejected Heaven. That's like a fish that wants to fly, or a dog that thinks he's people. I’d be happy to kill her, she just called me a fish.

You got seventeen fake I.D.'s, and a trunk full of guns, knives, freakin' ninja stars... I mean, who are you, man?

Aren’t you a clever kitty?

You can save me the speech on the three hearts, the two spleens, the seven nipples, for the ladies... or the fellas, I don't judge.

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