#Pieces of Her S01E07

[fanby-fckry]

How to Support Your Asexual Friend (Who May or May Not Know He’s Ace)

Day 5 of Ace Alastor Week: Friendship Friday

Please ignore that I didn’t post on tumblr, yesterday, I promise I didn’t forget/give up, I’m just indecisive and late. I’ve got one up on AO3, but can’t post it here until I figure out what I’m doing.

Word Count: 2,942

Chapters: 1/1

Fandom: Hazbin Hotel (Cartoon)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Additional Warnings: Implied/Referenced Canon-Typical Violence

Relationships: Alastor & Charlie Magne | Morningstar & Vaggie, Alastor & Charlie Magne | Morningstar, Alastor & Vaggie (Hazbin Hotel), Charlie Magne | Morningstar/Vaggie

Characters: Charlie Magne | Morningstar, Vaggie (Hazbin Hotel), Alastor (Hazbin Hotel), Mentioned Rosie (Hazbin Hotel)

Additional Tags: Canon Compliant, (mostly), Episode: s01e07 Hello Rosie! (Hazbin Hotel), then timeskip to, Post-Season/Series 01, Fluff and Humor, Fluff, Humor, Attempt at Humor, Light Angst, Friendship, Developing Friendships, Asexual Alastor (Hazbin Hotel), Aromantic Asexual Alastor (Hazbin Hotel), Alastor is Bad at Feelings (Hazbin Hotel), Alastor Has a Heart (Hazbin Hotel), Alastor Being an Idiot (Hazbin Hotel), Alastor Being Alastor (Hazbin Hotel), Good Friend Charlie Magne | Morningstar, Supportive Charlie Magne, Supportive Charlie Magne | Morningstar, Charlie Magne | Morningstar is Bad at Feelings, yeah I said it. she’s not good at them either she just has more of them, Fallen Angel Vaggie (Hazbin Hotel), Good Significant Other Vaggie (Hazbin Hotel), Soft Vaggie (Hazbin Hotel), Protective Vaggie (Hazbin Hotel), Asexuality, Ace Community Inside Jokes, Unreliable Narrator, Misunderstandings, Baking, Stress Baking, Talking, Conversations, Crying, Implied/Referenced Canon-Typical Violence

Series: Part 5 of Fanby’s Ace Alastor Week 2024 ( <- Prev || Next -> ) || Part 2 of Piece of Cake! ( <- Prev || )

Summary:

“Remember how you said we could work on supporting Alastor and his ace identity after we survived Extermination Day?” Charlie asked.

Vaggie nodded. “Mhmm.”

“Well, we survived!” Charlie gave an awkward, celebratory thumbs up. “So, now I wanna show my support! Be the good, allo-bisexual ally I know I can be!”

“By baking another cake,” Vaggie deadpanned.

“Yup!”

*

Charlie wants to show some support for Alastor and his asexuality, and decides that the best way to do so is by baking him a cake several cakes! Vaggie does her best to support Charlie in supporting Alastor.

There are only two problems:

Alastor doesn’t like cake.

Alastor doesn’t realize he’s ace.

Better on AO3

Charlie flopped down on her and Vaggie’s shared bed. “You should’ve seen them, Vaggie!” she said. “They were dancing, and singing, and really, really – honestly kind of creepily interested in the idea of getting to eat the invading Exorcists. Especially their wings.”

Charlie grimaced and Vaggie made a mental note not to expose her newly regrown wings while in Cannibal town.

“But I mean, that’s good, right?” Charlie said, sounding like she was trying to convince herself as well as her girlfriend. “Because they’re on our side!”

Vaggie nodded, intently. “Bloodthirsty troops are the most effective kind, sweetie,” she assured her.

Charlie sighed. “Thanks,” she said, smiling softly. “Rosie’s really nice, though.”

“She is?”

“Mhmm,” Charlie hummed. “I didn’t know what to think of her at first because she made a joke about Alastor and I dating and how I’m too young for him, which: First, no. Not dating. I have an amazing girlfriend and I don’t think about Alastor like that, anyway. And second, even if we were dating, I’m pretty sure I’m older than him? Chronologically, at least.”

Vaggie tried her best to follow along with Charlie’s mile a minute rant, but she felt like she was missing some very important context.

“But then she told us she was just kidding, which was a huge relief, and she called Alastor an ace in the hole-”

“Wait,” Vaggie interrupted. “Alastor’s asexual?”

“Huh?” Charlie tilted her head.

“His best friend, who’s known him for decades, called him ace.”

“Ohh.” Charlie shook her head. “No, no, she called him ‘an ace in the hole.’ You know, like a secret weapon.”

“What did she say, exactly?” Vaggie asked.

Charlie thought for a moment. “She made a comment about how I’m ‘too young’ for him, as if we were dating, and then she said, ‘I’m just kidding. I know you’re an ace in the hole.’”

“So, in the context of explaining why it’s obvious that you two aren’t dating,” Vaggie said, slowly. “She called Alastor ace.”

“Yup!” Charlie said, then paused.

Vaggie could see the exact moment the penny dropped.

“Oh,” Charlie said. “Oh shit. Alastor’s ace.”

“Probably aro, too,” Vaggie pointed out. “I bet Rosie said ‘ace’ instead of ‘aroace’ because it fit the pun better.”

Charlie put a hand under her chin. “You know, that actually makes a lot of things make sense,” she said. “I didn’t wanna assume anything, but Al’s kinda…”

Vaggie finished Charlie’s sentence. “Flamboyant in a way that makes gaydar go haywire?”

“Mhmm.”

“Yeah, Angel’s brought that up a few times.” Vaggie sighed. “And by ‘brought up’ I mean complained about. He thinks Alastor is either straight or an incredibly repressed gay man and can’t figure out which.”

“The answer is neither, apparently,” Vaggie added. “Not that it’s any of his business. Or ours for that matter.”

Charlie gasped. “Should we do another lesson on boundaries?” she asked.

Charlie’s words ran together as question after question came tumbling out of her mouth. “What about amatonormativity and asexual/aromantic erasure in the LGBTQIA+ community? Is there a way I can support Alastor without outing him? What if-”

Vaggie kissed her, and Charlie’s questions melted into a pleased hum against her girlfriend’s lips.

“I think we can figure that out later,” Vaggie said once the kiss broke. “Let’s just focus on protecting the hotel, and if we’re alive afterwards, then we can work on supporting Alastor, ok?”

Charlie nodded. “Ok.” She bit her lip. “I guess it’s just that…”

Vaggie waited patiently while Charlie wrung her hands together.

Charlie took a breath. “It’s easier to think about making new workshops and being a good ally to other parts of the community than it is to think about this!” She gestured vaguely to, well, everything.

“I wish I could go back in time before that meeting with Adam.” Charlie sniffled, and Vaggie grabbed a box of tissues from their bedside table. “Before I fucked everything up.”

Vaggie placed a hand on Charlie’s shoulder and handed her a tissue.

“You did not fuck up,” Vaggie said. “Adam is an asshole. He’s always been an asshole. And Heaven is…”

Vaggie hesitated. She couldn’t think of the right words to describe her feelings about Heaven, even now that Charlie knew what she was.

“We’re going to get through this,” she said instead, and kissed Charlie’s tear-stained cheeks. “Together.”

“Together,” Charlie repeated.

In Charlie’s defense, the first cake was incidental.

They’d just finished rebuilding the hotel – which meant a brand new kitchen! – when Alastor made his triumphant return. And what better way to celebrate the hotel’s completion and her friend’s return than with a cake?

Charlie never actually saw Alastor eat the cake, but he did accept it. And Charlie didn’t find it in the trash, later, so she was going to consider that a success!

The second cake… Well, that was intentional.

“Do we have any purple food coloring?” Charlie asked, rummaging around through the – somehow, already disorganized – kitchen cabinets.

“I’m not sure,” Vaggie said. “But I could run to the store and buy you some if you want, hon.”

“Thanks!” Charlie kept looking. “What about gray? Do they sell gray food coloring or should I just use a smaller portion of black?”

“Uh, Charlie?”

Charlie turned around. “Hm?”

Vaggie was sitting at the island, surrounded by various bakeware and ingredients Charlie had set out. “What are you making that uses all of this” – Vaggie gestured to the somewhat-organized chaos in front of her – “And purple and gray food coloring?”

“I’m baking a cake,” Charlie said cheerfully. “For Alastor.”

“Another one?” Vaggie asked.

“No,” Charlie said, before correcting herself. “Well, ok, yes, but… Let me explain!”

Charlie took a break from her hunt for purple and gray food coloring to join Vaggie at the island.

“I’m listening.”

“Remember how you said we could work on supporting Alastor and his ace identity after we survived Extermination Day?” Charlie asked.

Vaggie nodded. “Mhmm.”

“Well, we survived!” Charlie gave an awkward, celebratory thumbs up. “So, now I wanna show my support! Be the good, allo-bisexual ally I know I can be!”

“By baking another cake,” Vaggie deadpanned.

“Yup!”

“Why?”

Charlie took a deep breath. “Ok, I started by voogling ‘how to support my asexual friend’ and I found a website called HAVEN – Hell’s Asexual Visibility and Education Network, which is actually Hell’s version of a website from the Living World called AVEN that asexual Sinners created for Hell’s ace community – and I kind of wound up going down a rabbit hole about ace culture.”

“Apparently cake is a pretty big thing in the ace community. It’s a…” Charlie hesitated. “Mee-mee?” she guessed. “May-may? I’ve never actually heard anyone say that word out loud…”

“Meme,” Vaggie supplied. “Long E sound.”

“Thank you!” Charlie leaned across the island to give her a quick kiss.

“But yeah, it’s a meme,” Charlie said, pronouncing it correctly that time. “Because a lot of asexual people would rather have cake than have sex. So the saying, ‘I’d rather have cake,’ and cake in general became a whole thing.”

“And the food coloring?”

Charlie grinned so hard her cheeks started to hurt. “I’m gonna bake four layers in the colors of the asexual pride flag!”

Vaggie looked at her fondly. “I love you,” she said.

Charlie’s smile somehow got even brighter. “I love you too!”

Charlie squeaked. “This is gonna be amazing!” she said, bouncing in her seat. “I’m going to get a good grade in allyship! Something that is both normal to want and possible to achieve!”

Vaggie shook her head and sighed, a soft smile gracing her adorable face. “Alright,” she said. “Let’s bake a cake.”

Why the hell was Charlie baking Alastor so many cakes?

The first one, that made sense. Alastor had just returned after being mortally wounded in the battle to defend the hotel, and dare he say it, a celebration was in order.

Of course, he would’ve preferred a strong drink or some freshly killed venison, but he graciously accepted the gift he was given. He didn’t eat it of course, but it would’ve been rude to reject Charlie’s misguided attempt at a welcome home gift.

But then came a second. And a third. And a fourth, fifth, sixth cake. What the fuck was going on?

Was there a joke he wasn’t in on? Had Charlie developed some sort of dessert-related madness? Was this her latest hairbrained scheme to send Damned Souls skyward?

It would all come to an end if he would just turn the damned things down. He knew that, but…

Charlie stood in front of Alastor, holding the sixth – the sixth – cake, smiling like the sun he hadn’t seen since 1933. He took the cake, thanked her, and left.

Something had to be done about this. He needed to go see Rosie.

Vaggie walked warily into the hotel’s kitchen. It looked like some kind of culinary warzone. Mixing bowls and baking sheets were piled precariously on top of egg cartons and sacks of flour.

“Hey, hon? Charlie? Sweetie?”

Charlie popped her head up from behind one of the towers of bakeware. There was purple cake batter on her cheek. “Yes?”

“Don’t you think this is getting to be a little…”

Somewhere, something crashed to the ground. Vaggie hoped it wasn’t something breakable. Niffty had a habit of collecting shards of broken glass or ceramic and turning them into makeshift weaponry.

“Much?” Vaggie finished.

Charlie tilted her head to the side. “What do you mean?”

Vaggie pursed her lips. “It’s just that…”

A bag of sugar fell from its perch. The only thing that stopped it from hitting Charlie in the face was Vaggie’s quick reflexes.

Vaggie opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted yet again. Not by another object falling from the crumbling towers, but by a different kind of chaos all together.

Alastor returned to the hotel at a completely reasonable rate.

Which is to say, as fast as demonically possible. That was a very reasonable rate considering he was facing the possibility of a seventh cake he could neither eat nor refuse.

When he arrived at the hotel, the first thing he heard was something made of glass being shattered on the kitchen floor. He could only hope that it was Husker drinking while cooking or Niffty breaking glassware to have a mess to clean and sharp objects to play with.

Much to Alastor’s chagrin, it was neither.

The kitchen was a disaster. How Charlie had managed to get it in such a state was beyond him. Alastor had cooked dinner for the other hotel residents just a few nights ago, and while the organizational system was somewhat of a mess – as is often the case when you have seven cooks in the kitchen – it wasn’t anywhere near the catastrophic levels of the kitchen’s current state.

Vaggie was balancing on her toes, wings outstretched, with one arm in the air, holding a bag of sugar over Charlie’s head.

“Hello there, ladies!” Alastor made his presence known before Vaggie could do something ridiculously sappy like pour sugar on Charlie’s head and call her ‘sweet.’

“Am I interrupting something?” he asked, knowing damned well that he was.

“No!” Charlie said at the same time that Vaggie groaned, “Yes!”

“Ah, good to see we’re all on the same page!”

Charlie smiled nervously while Vaggie grumbled something under her breath in Spanish. Alastor didn’t speak Spanish, but he was fairly certain that whatever she was saying was both directed at him and incredibly rude. He magnanimously decided to ignore it.

“Charlie,” Alastor said, allowing his voice to drop slightly. “If I might have a word.”

“Uh, yeah, sure, of course!” Charlie made her way through the absolute nightmare that was the hotel’s kitchen, occasionally cursing when something crashed to the ground in her wake.

Vaggie glared daggers at Alastor from over Charlie’s shoulder. And yet, there was something beneath it. Some sense of desperateness. Interesting… He should follow up on that.

“What did you wanna talk about, Al?” Charlie asked once she was finally standing face to face with Alastor.

“I’d like to discuss the cakes.”

Charlie’s face lit up, and from across the room, that look of desperation and wrath on Vaggie’s face intensified. Very interesting indeed.

Almost interesting to make him pause his attempts to stop this nonsense long enough to figure out how he could use it to his advantage. But not quite.

“While I appreciate the gesture, I must admit, I don’t have much of a sweet tooth.” Alastor adjusted his monocle, trying to ignore the way Charlie’s cheery demeanor had started to droop.

He could only hope that Rosie was right about this.

“In fact, I’d rather have garlic bread,” Alastor said, repeating the exact words Rosie had used.

Instantly, Charlie’s expression changed. To what was debatable. Alastor thought he saw about ten different emotions run across her face, most of which he had never had the displeasure of feeling, himself.

When she finally did speak, the words came rushing out all at once. “Oh my goodness, I didn’t mean to assume!”

Charlie reached out as if to touch him, then pulled back, balling her hands into fists and holding them rigid against her sides. Smart girl.

“I’m so, so sorry, Alastor!” she said, barely pausing for breath. “Of course, I know aces aren’t a monolith, I just thought that…”

Charlie continued speaking, but Alastor wasn’t paying very close attention. Whatever she was saying was of little importance and made even less sense.

However, there was one word that kept catching his ear, persistently clamoring across his consciousness like a single note out of tune in an otherwise unremarkable song. And like an off-key note, it didn’t seem to fit within the context provided for it.

Which begged the question…

Why did everyone keep calling him ‘ace?’

Oh, Charlie was starting to look teary eyed. He’d better tune back in.

“…and I just wanna be a good friend.” Charlie’s voice wavered. Her knuckles were somehow even whiter than usual as she fought to keep her hands at her sides, and tears were already starting to spill down her cheeks.

Alastor made an executive decision to cut the waterworks off before they could truly begin. Of course, this would mean he’d be liable for Charlie’s famous ‘happy tears,’ but well… anything was better than this.

Alastor reached out and hugged Charlie, who promptly collapsed onto his shoulder and began to cry what he hoped were the aforementioned ‘happy tears.’

“You are a good friend, my dear,” he said, which triggered another – happy? – sob.

Alastor looked to Vaggie for help. He was out of his depth, here. Somehow Rosie’s advice had both made things better and worse.

Vaggie – whether for the sake of her sweetheart or to put Alastor out of his misery – met them in the doorway.

Alastor was just about to pass Charlie off to Vaggie when she lifted her head off of his shoulder.

Charlie looked up at Alastor with tears in her eyes and a smile on her face. “Thank you, Alastor,” she said. “That means a lot.”

Alastor’s own smile softened. “I do consider you a friend, Charlie,” he said, his voice almost entirely unfiltered.

Charlie made a truly pathetic – and somewhat endearing – whimpering sound, and between that and her expression, Alastor suspected that the ‘happy tears’ which had finally begun to stem were threatening to return in full force.

“That’s quite enough of that!” Alastor spun Charlie out of his arms and into Vaggie’s.

“I think I’ve had enough cake to last a lifetime, and enough sentimentality to last two!” Alastor made a show of dusting himself off. Well, it was mostly for show. His shoulder was wet, and a bit of magic goes a long way when combined with such a gesture.

“If you do decide to transfer your obsessive baking fixation into garlic bread, please limit yourself to once a month or less,” Alastor said casually. And then, with just a hint of darkness, “Lest I lose my appetite for that as well.”

Charlie sniffled and wiped her tears away with her palms. Vaggie held her protectively, wings still visible. Her feathers were fluffed the way Husker’s sometimes got when he was feeling rebellious, and she looked like she was poised to kill should Charlie give the word.

Instead, Charlie gave quite the opposite! She giggled, a much more appealing sound than all the sobbing – happy or otherwise. “I can do that,” she said.

Both Alastor and Vaggie let out a sigh of relief.

Oh, so that’s what the look was about. Vaggie was as disturbed by Charlie’s baking mania as Alastor was.

Alastor probably could’ve used that to his advantage – and potentially gotten another Deal out of it – but he was honestly just grateful that the whole thing was finished.

Alastor and Vaggie shared a brief and odd moment of comradery, silently celebrating the end of a hell within Hell.

“Well, it was nice chatting with you both,” Alastor said, more than ready to leave both the conversation and the kitchen. “I’m happy we could put this whole cake confusion behind us!”

“Agreed,” Vaggie said. Her tone and expression spoke volumes. Clearly she’d witnessed horrors beyond Alastor’s comprehension. Which is saying a lot considering the Eldritch nature of his abilities.

Charlie laughed and hummed an, “Mhmm,” in agreement.

Alastor was going to consider that a success!

Alastor hummed along to a song he’d strung together from the airwaves as he made his exit – read, ‘escape’ – from the kitchen.

That had gone smoother than expected, all things considered.

“Ha!” he laughed to himself. Piece of cake.

[adultswim2021]

Xavier: Renegade Angel #20: “Braingea’s Final Cranny” | April 17, 2009 - 12:15AM | S02E10

The final episode of Xavier is here and boy, what a show. I don’t think I ever watched this one, either, so I can’t pad this out with barely-relevant tangents about how I was working on a commercial fishing boat at the time of it’s airing or whatever it was I was doing. I miss the sea. 

Xavier yearns for his mother so hard that he cries for 9 months, creating a fertile beach with it’s own ocean (ah, there she is! How I’ve missed her so!). Xavier inadvertently harms a young man with his first job, dressing like a dolphin and handing out free samples or some shit. Xavier mistakes him for the real thing and tosses him into the ocean. He gets out alive, but then Xavier mistakes his scuffed up Dolphin dress as a carcass, and forces him to eat it in front of him, an ethical thing to do if you kill a living creature. Later, when he finds the guy trying to commit suicide he orders him to eat himself. 

That guy winds up getting taken to an asylum, and Xavier sneaks in with him, believing his mother is there. He then has to “pretend” to be insane. He is psychoanalyzed using a Rorschach test, which anthropomorphizes into a guy that talks to Xavier and explains that he can take any form Xavier wants. The inkblot can’t take Xavier and eventually materializes on the psychiatrist’s couch, and is committed. 

Later, Xavier finally finds his mother in the lobotomy room. He digs through a pile of brain and finds the missing chunk from her head and crams it back into her head. When she comes back to full sentience, she tells Xavier that she faked her death to get away from him, and that she doesn’t want to see him ever again. She ensures this happens by gouging her own eyes out.

Xavier meets Nurse Escher and you KNOW they gonna bone. They bone, then the psychiatrist reveals that the nurse is Xavier’s real mother, and he was trying to prove a scientific theory that lobotomies remove oedipal taboo from the brain.

The inkblot comes back and runs off with Xavier’s mother, taking them back to the beach. Xavier travels to the beach by jamming together all the lobotomy pieces into one big brain, which sorta functions like a hot air balloon. He gets the blot to turn into an ice cream cone and consumes it. 9 months later, he, his mom, and his fake mom all give a tandem birth to Xavier’s incest baby, which becomes that weird symbol that’s in every episode. We pull out of the symbol on a Rorschach test being administered to Xavier back in the psychiatrist’s office. There, Xavier finds out that he’s beautiful by looking into a hand mirror and seeing a conventionally handsome man looking back at him. The psychiatrist now looks like Xavier. THE END? 

This one is ultimately sort of a middling episode, but it has some great laughs. The run where Xavier is trying different brain chunks on his supposed lobotomized mother had three great gags in a row. I assume I laughed at them, because I wrote them down, and that’s usually the reason I write specific jokes down. When he shoves in a piece, his mother begins talking in the voice of whatever brain it actually is. He tries a young man’s voice who is confessing to his father that he forgot all of his pizza knowledge. “Dumb (DISGUSTING AND OFFENSIVE anti-Italian slur) coulda used a Goombotomy.” Then he tries one where the voice is a sports announcer calling the winner of some game. “Damn it, I had money on that game.” The next one causes chicken noises to come out of his mother. “Oh, chicken, Yum!” Xavier says before chomping the brain bit. That said, I think I prefer Damnesia Me, meaning You, as my head-canon finale. 

Okay, I usually like to do a top ten (in chronological order) of each show when they end. This one was tough for me, but I tried. I bet if I went through the show again I’d come up with a slightly different list. HERE IT IS: 

S01E01: “What Life D-D-Doth”

S01E03: “Weapons Grade Life”

S01E05: “Pet Siouxicide”

S01E07: “Bloodcorn”

S01E09: “Signs from Godrilla”

S01E10: “Shakashuri Blowdown”

S02E05: “Vibracaust”

S02E05: “Free Range Manibalism”

S02E06: “Damnesia Vu”

S02E09: “Damnesia You”

[ichabodjane]

Combining Fanfic Tag Games!

Another combined tag game! I was tagged to post the last lines from a WIP by @helenvader and @somebirdortheother as well as an Author Fic Rec challenge by @wyrd-syster. The fic rec asks for 5 fics but I don't have many published at the moment, so I'll give you three posted works and two hints from WIPs.

The Best Laid Plans for Rings of Power. My first piece of creative writing in yeeeears because this show rejuvenated some old tired parts of my soul. [Human!Halbrand/Galadriel | T | Canon Divergence Post S01E05 | 2462 words | One Shot] - He had plans. The universe had other ideas. Now they were in too deep to ever go back. "But he left and she fretted and her fretting did not go unnoticed, which just made her angry at him and at the world. It took all of her not-insignificant self-control to keep from saddling up and going out to find him herself. When he came into her rooms that night, cold and road weary, she found she couldn’t look him in the eye. Because he’d see it there, of course he would, he always saw. So she let out her anger instead, expecting him to rise to it. But he didn’t. He gave one half-hearted excuse and then just…stared at her until she couldn’t keep from touching him. And then they finally couldn’t keep from touching each other."

Blizzard for The 100. From forever ago. [Bellamy/Clarke | G | Comedy Canon Divergence Post S2 | 6738 words | One Shot] - Camp Jaha hunkers down to ride out a blizzard. Driven crazy by her friends' drunken antics, Clarke decides to hang out with Bellamy instead. "With nowhere to go and nothing to do, they had started working their way through the moonshine by mid-morning. Clarke didn't have all that much. But the rest of them ended up rip-roaring drunk. Monty was explaining the process of hydro-farming to them for the sixteenth time, though by now Clarke wasn't even sure if he was speaking English. Jasper had chased Lord Cluckington around for a good half an hour, trying to make her cuddle, before losing interest and instead trying to make a tower out of every available item in the room. Lord Cluckington was wandering around, making loud shrieking noises every time Jasper tried to give her a throne at the top of the tower, which was once every five minutes. Wick and Raven were laying tangled in a blanket by the fire. Clarke was fairly certain she had heard them making out at some point in the night but now Raven was loudly telling jokes and then laughing at herself."

Pictures of Artwork [Bellamy/Clarke one shot, posted on my Tumblr] "And that she had had a dream last week in which she was making out with him because her stupid brain couldn’t just make up hot people to make out with but had to pick strangers that she didn’t even know. Because her brain, like the pigeon, was an asshole."

WIP #1 Rings of Power [Canon Divergence post-S01E07.] Galadriel and Elrond make a visit to the Southlander settlement at Pelargir. The Southlanders decide to celebrate surviving their first winter in their new home. It's gonna be fluffy like a pillow. Ships are Arondir/Bronwyn and Galadriel/Human!Halbrand. "Winter in Pelargir was kinder than in Tir-Harad. In Tir-Harad, the blizzards always came biting at the heels of harvest time. The snow would pile high by midwinter and leave each village a small island to itself, the folk huddled around their small hearths, carefully measuring their stores so that they would last till spring. For months, the only travelers abroad would be the elves, passing as easily across the top of the snow as if it were packed earth."

WIP #2 Rings of Power [Modern College/Magic/Soulmates AU.] Ships are Galadriel/Human!Halbrand, Bronwyn/Arondir, featuring a million side characters. The elves are very-long-lived descendants of Tolkien elves but Galadriel doesn't quite know that yet. “'Who are you and why are you following me?'” Her voice seemed to surprise him and it took him a couple tries to summon a coherent sentence. 'You- I- Look,' he sighed. 'You’re the one out here in the middle of nowhere in a nightgown with a giant knife and no shoes. That’s…uh…kind of weird and I thought maybe you needed some help.' She frowned. What did he mean, no shoes? Suddenly her feet and ankles were screaming from a hundred different cuts and scrapes, an abrupt agony that she managed to limit to a quiet gasp of pain. Quiet but audible; she saw the worry in his face and blade or not, he moved towards her. It was all she could do to stay upright but she forced herself to step back and keep the distance and the dagger between them. She risked a glance. Everything from her calves down was caked in a mixture of dirt, blood, and gods knew what else. She could just see a trail of bloody footprints behind him leading back into the forest. What in the hell had happened to her? 'I do not require assistance,' she shot back, looking around again for something to tell her where the hell they were. She couldn’t have gone too far from home in this state but she didn’t know this land well enough yet to be certain. 'Yeah, no, whatever you say,' his voice dripped with sarcasm, prompting a scowl from her. 'I do not recall asking for your opinion on the matter. Just…simply tell me where we are, direct me to the nearest path, and I will be on my way and trouble you no further.' He opened his mouth, closed it, looked around as if seeing the landscape for the first time. Finally he shrugged, 'Honestly, I have no idea.' She blinked several times before coming up with a response. 'You followed a stranger into unknown territory for some unknown amount of time and you really kept no account of where you were going?' He had the gall to smirk. 'At least I wore shoes.'"

I am tagging whoever would like to play. Seriously, I'd love to see what you got!

[auxiliarydetective]

Kassandra Hargreeves' Scenes, S01E07: The Day That Was

Today, you're getting a flashback of how Kassandra got her handicap as well as another scene rewrite about Five and Kassandra's relationship. Yes, this is about the bullet scene, so watch out for that if you're sensitive to that sort of stuff.

26 Years Ago

Kassandra looked at Five from the backseat. Her stomach was twisting and turning violently. Five had been shot. She knew it but she couldn’t tell anyone. He needed medical attention, he needed it badly, but how was she supposed to get him any? Kassandra cursed herself. For a moment, she found herself cursing Allison. After all, it was her fault that she couldn’t tell secrets, it had been her rumour- No. This wasn’t Allison’s fault. It was Kassandra’s fault. She had been far too young and stupid.

Kassandra looked at the clock. It was time for her training. With a sigh, she closed her picture book. It was a really pretty picture book, showing lots of old houses with beautiful gardens. A gift from Grace. Gathering her mind, Kassandra made her way down to the salon. Her father was already standing there.

“Twenty seconds late, Number Eight”, he commented, only looking at his pocket watch, not her.

“I’m sorry”, Kassandra said. She would have to walk faster next time. “What are we training today?”

“Today, you receive a special task. You know that sweets are reserved for Sundays and rationed for you and your siblings.”

“Yes.”

“Someone has stolen candy from the kitchen. It is your task to find out who did it. Use all of your abilities. You have until lunchtime. If you fail to find the culprit, you will lose your privileges for the week.”

All of this trouble for a few pieces of candy. If only her father had known the consequences of this task ahead of time, maybe he would not have given it to her. Kassandra did not remember much of the day, but she did remember how she had tricked her siblings, all of them, and all for nothing. She had dug into their mind, searching for answers, but found nothing. She hadn’t been able to help it. Back then, her mind had been a chaotic mess of emotions and distractions. Throughout her search, she had found nothing.

Lunchtime came closer and closer with no result in sight. Kassandra’s nervousness only grew. This would make reading minds even harder. Tense, she headed back to her and her siblings’ rooms. If push came to shove, she’d have to search them. That was when the door to Allison’s room opened and her sister came out.

“Hi, Kass.”

Kassandra forced a smile. “Hi, Allison.”

“You look sad. What’s going on?”

“I, uh, I… I tried to steal some candy from the kitchen”, Kassandra lied, “but Mom caught me.”

Allison grinned. She grabbed Kassandra by the arm and pulled her into her room. “Can you keep a secret?”

Kassandra nodded quickly. From beneath her bed, Allison pulled out a little box. It was a cardboard box littered with stickers - and filled with candy. So it had been Allison! Kassandra couldn’t contain the smile that spread across her face.

“Great, right?” Allison grinned.

As the memories travelled through Kassandra’s brain, the guilt came back too. Without stopping, this story moved to its inevitable end.

“Now, Number Eight”, Reginald Hargreeves said, looking at Kassandra down the long dinner table. “Who stole the candy?”

Kassandra pressed her lips together. She could already feel Allison’s eyes digging into her.

“You have ten seconds to tell me who the culprit is. Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six.”

“It was Allison”, Kassandra blurted out.

Three words that would have lasting consequences. Throughout the whole lunch, Allison had stared at her like she had wanted to kill her. After, the situation had gotten out of control.

“How could you?!” Allison shouted.

Kassandra backed up into a corner. “I’m sorry, Allison”, she stammered. “If I hadn’t told Dad-”

“I don’t care! You ratted me out!”

“I won’t do it again, I swear.”

“I don’t trust you.”

Allison grabbed Kassandra by the arms. Kassandra could sense what was coming through her thoughts. She tried to wriggle away but couldn’t. Allison was stronger than her.

“I heard a rumour you couldn’t tell anyone’s secrets.”

Those were the words Kassandra still remembered very clearly, just as clearly as the first time she had experienced the consequences. It had been like choking, her lips pressing themselves shut, everything in her mouth and throat turning to stone. She had been so terrified. And her father… The disappointment and anger in his face still haunted her. Not because she had felt it, no, she hadn’t been able to read him for as long as she could think, but because she couldn’t. She had had no idea what he would do with her, now that her already weak gift had become next to useless.

Before Kassandra could dive deeper into the pits of her mind, the car stopped next to Leonard Peabody’s house.

▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄✼▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄

Bullet

“Shit”, Five murmured.

Immediately, Kassandra’s brain flared up. He was fainting! Quickly, she put her arms around him, just as he started swaying. He didn’t resist.

“Guys!” Kassandra cut in, snapping Diego and Allison out of their gaze.

Just after she had finished speaking, Five collapsed into her arms. She slowly placed him down on the floor.

“Five!” Allison gasped.

Now, all of them were sitting on the ground of the attic of a murderer with one of them close to dying. Quickly, yet carefully, Kassandra pulled away the layers of clothing over the right side of Five’s stomach. She knew what she would find but the view still made her nauseous. A bullet wound, bloody and deep.

“Jesus, Five”, Diego murmured. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“You have to keep going”, Five whispered. “So… close.”

“No, we’re getting you medical attention!” Kassandra said firmly. “We can keep going later, for now it’s more important that you stay alive.”

“But the apocalypse…”

With that, he fainted. Kassandra gulped. They had only very little time.

“Help me get him to the car.”

This started an adventure leaving Kassandra at the tip of her toes at all times. Getting Five down the ladder to the attic was the most difficult part, but far from the worst. The worst came in the car. Kassandra was in the backseat with Five in her lap, hand constantly on his head, constantly linked to his mind. She had to feel he was alive, she simply had to. The pain from his wound shot into her but she didn’t care. Feeling him fade in and out of consciousness was all that mattered to her, knowing that he was alive was the only important thing. Finally, they reached the Academy. As carefully and quickly as they could, Kassandra and Diego carried Five inside. Right now, he was barely conscious.

“We should have taken him to the hospital”, Allison commented shakily.

“A kid with a shrapnel wound might raise some questions”, Five murmured.

If only he would stay silent, save his energy.

“Yeah, well, so does the murder shrine in Harold Jenkins’ attic.”

Carefully, they placed Five down on one of the couches in the salon.

“What do we do?” Kassandra asked, trying her hardest to keep her voice from failing her.

“We gotta get the shrapnel out”, Diego declared.

Then, he froze. He had spotted something. Kassandra’s fear was keeping her from figuring out what it was. The stress was making her go insane. Then, Diego left. Allison called after him. Panicked, Kassandra pulled out a tissue and put in on Five’s wound to stop the bleeding. She should have done this ages ago. Why had she not done this sooner? What if Five would die? She couldn’t lose him. Not now, not after getting him back after so many years - not ever! He had to live, he simply had to live. But how? What could she do? A familiar voice pulled Kassandra out of the chaos in her mind.

“We need to get him to the operating room.”

Kassandra looked up to see her mother’s eyes. Her heart stopped for a moment. She could feel tears building up but she swallowed them down. Swiftly and carefully, she and Diego picked Five up again and started carrying him off. She was only half present. Her brain was spinning. They reached the operating room and Grace got ready for the operation. Kassandra was immobile, staring at Five. When she had to leave the room, Diego had to drag her out. There, she started pacing.

“Kass, it’s going to be okay”, Diego told her as he watched her wander. “Mom will make sure he’s okay.”

Kassandra said nothing. She clenched her hands to fists, breathing becoming shaky.

“Do you wanna get that blood off of your hands?” Allison asked.

Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed Kassandra by the arm and dragged her away. Still, Kassandra’s mind lingered in the operating room.

Once the operation was done, Kassandra was at Five’s side again. Though he was unconscious, she held his hand. She would stay here all night, make sure he was alright, make sure he slept, make sure his dreams were kind to him.

“Your brother will be alright”, Grace said, putting a hand on Kassandra’s shoulder.

Kassandra just nodded.

[tv-moments]

Pieces of Her

Season 1, “Episode 7“

Director: Minkie Spiro

DoP: Ole Birkeland

[dekalko-mania]

The Ghosts in Danny Phantom Were 100% Intended To Be Dead AF and Here’s Why

Or a super mega compilation of all my ghostly evidence 

I'm sure the Phandom remembers the famous cursed BH quote from 2017, but to recap, he claimed on his YouTube channel that ghosts were simply monsters from another dimension, later elaborating in 2018 that:

"We had a rule when we were writing the show that none of the ghosts would be dead people. We never wanted the ghost of a dead person. We wanted it to be creatures from another dimension that could take the shape of a human...but they would never be the spirit of a deceased person.” 

Don’t think everyone got the memo cause...that doesn't make sense. 

Off the top of our heads, most of us can name the most blatant pieces of evidence contradicting that. He’s tried to go around these instances using very convoluted explanations, BUT in the spirit (ha!) of pettiness, I've gathered every single quote and scene that disproves BH's wack ass claim. Pretty hard to dispute everything when there’s so much.

Click the read more if you're down to follow me on my own Wes Weston journey. Do with this what you will. Read for entertainment, store it, refer to it for content creation, whatever you please. 

Some of these are actually pretty dark or hilarious, so brace yourselves.

S01E02: Parental Bonding

The whole Cursed Amulet of Aragon backstory (w/images of Princess Dorathea alive)

Danny: “That’s it! Medieval ghostly legend held that the Cursed Amulet of Aragon could transform any wearer into dragon form under states of extreme emotional duress or anger.”

 S01E05: Splitting Images

The cursed locker 724 legend was around even before the portal, though it working was the catalyst to it functioning. Poindexter states, “finally, the doorway’s been opened.”

Danny tries to convince his worried parents not to stake out the locker and in response, Jack screams out, “Why? Is it haunted?!”

The whole legend of Sydney Poindexter, Casper High student from 1954-1958 as told by Tucker: “Locker 724 was originally owned by a Poindexter back in the 50′s. Poindexter was the victim of more pranks than anyone in the history of Casper High School. Apparently, picking on him was a graduation requirement. He got stuffed into his locker so many times, it’s believed his spirit still inhabits it to this very day.”

Danny to his friends: “Poindexter took over my body and sent me to this bizzare-o spirit world.” 

How Sydney describes Danny: “You’re a halfa! Half a human, half a ghost. You have all our powers on the human plane...”

Also just this whole overshadowing scene. Looks pretty ghostly to me.

S01E06: What You Want

Tucker coming in clutch again with the backstory. Again showing Desiree once lived: “That was my mistake, reminding Danny where the ghost came from. Apparently, Desiree was a harem girl who had been promised her heart’s desire, her own kingdom, only to be banished by the sultan’s jealous wife. She died of a broken heart, and old age. After that, her spirit roamed, granting people’s deepest desires, but at a great personal cost.”

Something else to note, as Tucker stated, Danny investigated her story via local ghost lore, right from the source where she came.

S01E07: Bitter Reunions

Vlad about his mansion: “In my castle, previously home to the legendary Dairy King...”

There’s a portrait of the DK when he was alive, and Vlad even convinces Jack to sleep over by saying, “You know Jack, the Dairy King’s ghost could haunt these very halls.” (which is true)

Fun fact to note: DK is the first very friendly ghost Danny encounters, stating, “Not all ghosts are evil, right? Some of us just want to be left alone, don’t ya know?”

S01E08: Prisoners of Love

Jack about the Specter Speeder: “This little baby has state of the art spirit plane exploration technology.” Again, he literally refers to the Ghost Zone as the “spirit plane.” 

Fun Fact to Note: This is the first time ghost lairs are mentioned, with Danny saying, “oh my god, every one of these doors opens to a ghost’s lair.” Also the first time he goes in.

Literal graves line the bottom of the Ghost Zone

Walker to Danny: “Just because you’re a ghost, it doesn’t mean I can’t crush you within an inch of your afterlife.” In the wise words of @lexosaurus​, man’s is basically saying, “Danny’s fucking dead.” Line starts at 19:03 of the episode, highlighting it cause I love it that much.

Walker’s quote is important because it clarifies that to be a ghost, is to be considered living in some form of afterlife. Refer to Birchman’s quote and tell me that’s not a contradiction to his claim.

SE01E09: My Brother’s Keeper 

Fun Fact to Note: This is the first time Jazz actually sees a ghost, as well as the first time someone outside the trio acknowledges what happened to Danny and how it’s affected him. “Ever since the accident...”

The famous scene where Danny’s mortality is put to question: 

“Look at you, what are you? A ghost trying to fit in with humans? Or some creepy little boy with creepy little powers?” “Both! Uh, neither-I don’t know!” “You’re a freak! Not a ghost, not a boy! Who cares for a thing like you?”

S01E10: Shades of Gray

Fun Fact to Note: Human weapons can’t hurt a ghost? Danny when Valerie hits him and he realizes it’s a ghost weapon: “Ow, that hurt! Wait a minute...that hurt?”

Extremely sad, but it’s heavily implied that Cujo is the ghost of one of the guard dogs that was put down by Axion Labs to make room for newer security tech, and is now on a search for his chew toy. 

Cujo has an Axion logo on his dog tag (they made it a point to zoom in on it)

How Danny reacts after trying to train Cujo: “That’s weird. This dog’s already trained.” 

A quote from the Axion Lab’s boss: “I knew we shouldn’t have gotten rid of those guard dogs.” 

The whole episode opened with Valerie’s dad ‘upgrading the security’  

They literally show the abandoned dog kennel. Danny connected the dots and pieced together the backstory right away: “A kennel? This must be where they kept all the guard dogs.” 

Fun Fact to Note: That Danny face makes an appearance lmao

S01E11: Fanning the Flames

Literally Ember’s entire song. Check out the full version here with lyrics here, and tell me Remember doesn’t sound like her whole story of life and death. Not definitive evidence, but song worth checking out. Issa bop. 

S01E13: Fright Knight

The Fright Knight description as reads in Sam’s book: “The Fright Knight, riding upon his ghoulish steed, the Nightmare, is notorious as the Spirit of Halloween. With his ghostly broadsword, he appears...”

Danny: “So he’s a ghost and he’s the Spirit of Halloween?” 

His lair is located in the Ghost Zone, which to reiterate, was referred to as the spirit plane by Jack

S01E14: “13″

Just an interesting observation on how ghosts can use ghostly objects to possess another person. Classic horror story trope.

S01E15: Public Enemies

Another bit of dialogue I absolutely love, and it happens right in the opening scene. As a prisoner tries to escape Walker’s prison, he yells back, “you’ll never take me alive, coppers!” To which, completely deadpan (ha!), Walker’s goon responds with, “You’re a ghost.” My dude sticks to his guns and snaps, “Well, you’ll still never take me!” 

^This is literally classic phandom death humor. Hinting, not subtly at all, that these people are dead. Deceased. Expired.

Principal Ishiyama talking about ghost safety protocol: “One, students are to have no contact with these spirits...”

Fun Fact to Note: Paulina has her first real interaction with Phantom here and acknowledges that he’s saved them. While the rest of Amity falls for Walker’s plan to frame him, the Casper High students recognize him as a hero.

Maddie at Danny: “Get your hands off our mayor, you odd manifestation of ectoplasmic energy and post-human consciousness!” 

S01E17: Maternal Instincts

It was confirmed that the animals chasing after Danny and his mom are ghosts animals that Vlad had experimented on while they were alive. 

Vlad introduces them to him with: “These are my latest experiments, what do you think?...I’ll give you five minutes before I send my minions to destroy you.” 

Danny stops the animals from attacking the second time by saying, “Finish me? But why are you mad at me? I’m not the one that made your pelts into wall art.” And then proceeds to point at said taxidermy. 

Vlad at the animals: “Don’t even think about it, you spectral freaks-I’m still more powerful than you!”

S01E19: Million Dollar Ghost

Tucker at the ghost hunters while giving a tour of Amity: “And if you look to your right, you’ll see Casper High, whose halls have been haunted.”

One of Vlad’s ghostly vultures: “We’re 2,008 years old. Be grateful we can move.” 

S02E01: Memory Blank

This is a conversation between Sam and Danny after she tells him about his ghost powers and he wants to get them back: Sam says, “Are you sure about this?” and Danny responds, “No, but you saw those things. Those monsters--ghosts! Ghosts were attacking our school.” 

^ A little observation, but Danny corrected himself to ghosts when he first said monsters. Like they’re not the same thing. 

When explaining everything initially too, this is the interaction: After hearing the explanation, Danny says, “I got super powers?” And Sam corrects him with, “Actually, ghost powers.” 

^ Like again, there’s something fundamentally different between just regular powers and ghost powers. The way you get them, the way they work, and how they’re tied to someone. It’s not the same. 

S02E02: Doctor’s Disorders

Tucker at the guards after spraying them with his cologne and they begin to cough: “Oh please, you’re ghosts. Do you have any idea what you smell like?” 

^ Which, uh, is he saying that they smell like death itself? Corpses? Like what’s my bro Tuck implying here? 

S02E04/05: Reign Storm

Pariah Dark’s army looks to be designed after the ghosts of fallen soldiers from past wars. It’s clearly very intentional. A Roman soldier, one possibly from WWI or WWII, and a viking are here below. Also just a whole skeleton army. 

Fun Fact to Note: It’s the first time that Danny publicly announces and is finally referred to by Amity as Danny Phantom. It’s been months since the accident at this point and they’ve been calling him Invisobill this entire time. This is also the first time his positive ratings actually surpass the negative ones. (at a 64/36 ratio) He’s been protecting them for this long while still being hated. That alone says a lot about his character. 

Skulker at Danny about PD: “Now go! Defeat him! So I can be free to haunt you another day!” 

S02E08/09: The Ultimate Enemy

Same concept here as with Pariah Dark’s army: The ghosts Clockwork plans to send to attack Danny are literally designed after deceased soldiers or warriors of the past

S02E14: Beauty Marked

To further elaborate on Princess Dorathea’s backstory, we know she’s from around the dark ages, but she confirms it herself as well. Dora at her brother: “1600 years of doing your bidding! 1600 years of suffering your insults! 

They’ve been stuck in the GZ since their death, trapped in time because of Aragon. They aren’t just imitations of humans, they were human. (Well, when they weren’t using their amulet to turn into dragons lol)

S02E15: King Tuck

The Legend of the Pharaoh Dul-Aman and his servant Hotep-Ra: Lancer says, “Behold King Dul Man. (Waves to another artifact) The King’s scarab scepter. The secrets to its dark magic are lost to the ages. (Points near coffin) The mummified remain’s of the Pharaoh’s minion, Hotep Ra. Ancient legend holds that he will return when the king’s image reflects anew in his sacred mirror.” 

^ He appears when Tucker looks in the mirror. After her solidifies, he states “I am risen.” His spirit literally made a return.

S02E17: Kindred Spirits

Yet another usage of the word “haunt”

^Tucker when the ghost Vlad sent after Danny appears: “What kind of ghost haunts a miniature golf course?” and Sam’s response, “Well there is a box ghost. Obviously all the good haunts have been taken.” 

S02E18: Double Cross My Heart

GIW agents after Danny asks them to leave him alone: “An unauthorized entity of scale 7 ectoplasmic power?” “A pre-pubescent specter operating freely? Unacceptable.”

Again, going back to Mirriam-Webster’s definition from before, a specter is: a visible disembodied spirit

S02E19/20: Reality Trip

LITERALLY THE MOST BLATANT PIECE OF CONFIRMATION: Lance Thunder is reporting the news about Danny getting the shit knocked out of him and he says the following: “It’s ghost-based chaos at the Casper High school’s out concert, where notorious ghost kid Danny Phantom is fighting for his afterlife!”

^ AFTER LIFE AS IN AFTER LIFE, AS IN POST MORTEM

Could be a stretch here but I found it funny lol: Sam says, “Can you hurry it up, Tucker? We’re on a deadline, emphasis on dead.”

Fun Fact to Note: We have another instance of someone not exactly sure what entity Danny is anymore: Maddie states, “we love you, sweetie, you” and Jack adds, “whether you’re ghost, boy, or something in between.” 

Miscellaneous Additions: 

Honestly, I don’t really believe Birch’s reasoning behind the choice in language of DP. There’s very specific words and parallels that indicate the word “ghost” refers to the traditional meaning. But according to him, the only reason they use this vocabulary is because, “we call them ghosts because it’s easier to say, and it’s more appealing than saying ‘monsters from another dimension.” Like yes it would be wordy to say that whole thing, but why would you settle on “ghosts” when the word refers to something completely different than what you supposedly intended and there’s thousands of other word choices you could have used that would fit much better. It’s just a really big stretch. Even the icons referencing them are shown as classic ghost silhouettes. 

There’s so many references to traditional ghosts. The school is called Casper High (Casper the friendly ghost), the town is called Amity Park (Amityville Horror), the Fenton invention names (like the Specter Speeder, Boo-merang, Specter Deflector, Wraith Wrangler ((wraith, according to google, meaning “a ghost or ghostlike image of someone, especially one seen shortly before or after their death”)), etc

David Kaufman himself (The VA of Danny) views the ghosts as expired lmao 

BH made this tweet as well like I don’t even know where’s he’s going with this claim anymore

BH literally has concept art with his official signature seal showing Danny leaning on his own tombstone!!! (The case should just rest there, how much more blatant can this be lmao. Also this photo is just super cool, I really have to give him props for this cause how bad ass. Don’t get how someone can back out of an idea as cool and unique as this years after it’s already been set in stone.) Like this pic was literally drawn on a storyboard template. 

This is all the proof I’ve gleaned from the first two seasons. I may have missed other things, or someone may call to my attention more evidence, so this post is open to future editing if need be. Season 3, which is mostly in BH’s hands w/o Marmel, then makes a very valiant effort at disproving everything already established up to that point, but I would honestly take that with a grain of salt. 

More than 2/3 of the show already establishes that the ghosts are in fact actually spirits of the deceased. That’s 40 episodes against 13 from S03. 

Also S03 doesn’t even do a good job at negating the ghosts are dead. Sure, the new ones are much less human-looking, but that just expands on the variety of afterlife that actually inhabits the ghost zone. Not just people, but concepts and ideas of a culture long gone or ideas held by humanity. 

Perhaps this change in heart was made on Nick’s part too, but since BH has been the most vocal about it...well, his statement is the one I’m making this in response to.

All I’m saying is that they’re very clearly traditional ghosts. And if BH’s values no longer align with the initial route of the show, then he should perhaps step back and let someone else take the reigns if there was to be a future for it. A head that would allow DP to reach its full potential without constantly backtracking and being inconsistent.

(Again, this is open to editing later.)

[jellyfitzjelly]

E. NIGMA: PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR

A TV show in eight episodes about Batman's most cunning villain of his rogue gallery: the Riddler! Eddie Nigma has finally decided to go straight and serve the public good with his impressive intellect — for a price. Mysteries and challenges abound in Gotham City, but will they keep Nigma away from his old life of crime?

S01E01: THE WONDERS OF CATHAY

Eddie Nigma is tasked by the Gotham Museum of finding the culprits behind the robbery of the newest exhibition of recently acquired ancient Chinese artefacts. Things get complicated when he finds the thieves dead – and their heart missing. The only clue seems to be the shattered pieces of a Shang dynasty vessel. Soon however, Nigma has a more pressing matter: a string of attacks involving a fox-like creature who devours the hearts of its male victims. Could it be that a broken vase has unleashed something wicked in Gotham City?

S01E02: THIRTEEN ANGRY MEN

D. A. Saratoga quietly hires Nigma when her trial against murderous starlet Mindy “Baby Doll” Logan is disrupted by the death of a juror in a closed room with eleven other people. Is this a machination from the angelic-looking Logan or is this much more personal?

S01E03: THE BLACK CAT

A wealthy businessman hires Eddie to protect a famous artwork by Théophile-Alexandre Steinlein during its exposition in an art gallery. What should have been easy money becomes a headache when Nigma finds himself face-to-face with an old friend with nine lives…

S01E04: AMOR VINCIT OMNIA

Mabel’s childhood friend hires Nigma to investigate the disappearance of her fellow successful showgirl Narjisse Lamar. The detective soon finds himself entangled in a deadly love triangle with rising mob boss Gianny Pisanello…and Jonathan Crane, aka the Scarecrow.

S01E05: L'APPEL DU VIDE

When a newly commercialized antidepressant turns out to have devastating side effects, it is up to Eddie Nigma to make sure Helms Pharma’s parent company doesn’t get to sweep the scandal under the rug until they can sell their stocks. But when said parent company is none other than Wayne Enterprises, can the detective truly match with the prince of Gotham?

S01E06: I AM VENGEANCE

When Nigma receives a single lock of hair and an ominous riddle, strange events and nightmares start befalling him. It soon appears the hair is from teenage oil heiress Ethel Declan, who got killed twenty years ago during a botched heist by the Riddler. Things go from worrying to creepy when Eddie becomes plagued by visions of the dead girl. Is her vengeful spirit back from the dead or is someone else seeking revenge?

S01E07: SARATOGA'S DEVIL

Commissioner Gordon reluctantly asks for Nigma’s help when D.A. Saratoga goes missing, leaving behind only a trail of coded messages. The modus operandi appears to be the one of the Astrologer, who was none other than Saratoga’s first client as a lawyer fresh out of law school. The man has always maintained his innocence…until his death ten years ago. Eddie must dig out the past if he wants to save Saratoga in time and uncovers who truly is the Astrologer.

S01E08: STAR-CROSSED LOVERS

Donna Troy hires Eddie Nigma to investigate what is happening in Joliemont clinic, where her childhood friend Dick Grayson is being treated after a suicide attempt. Troy believes Wayne is covering her friend’s death up to steal the money left by the Hayley Circus. The truth seems much darker when Nigma discovers famed mercenary Deathstroke has seemingly kidnapped the young man. Yet the detective cannot help but feel that not is all what it seems, especially when he finally understands that Dick Grayson is none other than Nightwing… Deathstroke’s longtime nemesis.

Dedicated to @talesfromthenorsesmouth @enigmainvestigations and all the PI!Riddler blogs out there: thank you, you give me so much joy! Also dedicated to my good pal @noah-kuttler from the good old days.

[cursed-empath]

Why Hannibal instantly fell for Will Graham

Occasionally, I come across posts in social media on why "would a rich, sophisticated man like Hannibal instantly fell for a shabby looking loner like Will". Bear with me here;

In the books, Hannibal's real name is 'Count Hannibal Lecter VIII'. He was born within an ancient castle in Lithuania into a wealthy aristocratic family. The author Thomas Harris gave a vampire like image to Hannibal to create an eerie atmosphere and to reflect his loneliness.

Castle Lecter was the childhood home of Hannibal Lecter

Remember in S01E01 Hannibal asks "if he could come in" twice before entering Will's room and then the curtains remained closed? A vampire needs an invitation to enter a place and has to avoid sunlight. That was Bryan Fuller playing with that vampire image from the books.

Just like the author, imagine Hannibal in the series as a vampire or the Devil or a mythical outcast. He has been walking this earth for many years and all he wants is to understand the concept of beauty however to understand beauty, one must be exalted in 'feelings' which he utterly lacks in the beginning. Hannibal loves soothing music, he loves food, he loves beautiful paintings, he loves quality furniture but he cannot create them from scratch. He copies. He replicates famous paintings and anatomy from his memory but he can't create his art. The Theremin instrument is symbolic as well, an instrument which allows him to create a disorderly sound without touching. It lacks intimacy. It manipulates sound just like he manipulates people. He is a gourmet but he doesn't create his recipes, he follows instructions he came across during his travels or he buys books (Auguste Escoffier in S01E05). Even his memory place is manmade, Norman Chapel in Palermo. He constantly uses his money to obtain beauty but he cannot end his hunger for the soul it shelters. Sometimes he grabs a small piece of a human soul just like he did in S01E07 (Sorbet), as he had tears in his eyes during the Aria.

One day he meets a man named Will Graham. Will lives in a tiny cabin in nowhere. He doesn't have quality furniture or cashmere jackets. The only artistic pieces in his house are several plain nature paintings, books and an old wall piano which is clearly not used in years. All he has is 'emotions', not only his but the emotions of the rest of the world. His ability to feel that deep makes him understand all the art and criminology, hence the beauty and ugliness in the world. The one ability Hannibal can't buy with money and has been longing and studying forever: Empathy. Will has his own memory place, not manmade but an organic and serene one: A river in the wild. Only after meeting Will, Hannibal creates his own art; his 'valentine' sculpture for Will, made from Antony Dimmond's body in Norman Chapel and the harpsichord composition he finally finishes in S02E06 (Note: Composition belongs to Antoine Forqueray in real life).

Remember those fantasy stories from other TV shows or books where a witch tries to find every spell book ever written and spend 60 years studying and memorizing them word by word just to gain a bit power but one day she meets a 'natural witch' and learns that this new witch could do every spell with her instincts and she never had to study at all? That's why Hannibal instantly fell for Will Graham.

In sum, we have a lonely man who desperately aches for the meaning behind the 'beauty' within the world and there is another man who not only knows all the 'beauty' in the world but he is physically beautiful as well. He is the embodiment of beauty, especially for the devil in human veil.

Hannibal in S03E01 Antipasto

[terisrog]

Jorah’s Blue Scarf

I'm re-reading fusionesque's research on Jorah's costumes from S1 to S6 and I’m swooning all over again.

"However, in this scene in particular, Jorah's facial expressions start to show that he is regretting this decision. The blue fabric he wears around his neck, a symbol of support for the Khalasar, is beginning to reveal itself more prominently." fusionesque on Jorah - Costume Journey (regarding S01E04)

"The blue fabric regresses when Jorah is informed that the messages he has been sending to King's Landing have granted him a royal pardon. Shortly after this, however, Jorah saves Daenerys from the wine merchant's poisoned wares. He has made his choice on where his loyalties lie. Episode 7 is the last time we see Jorah in his Northern clothes. He no longer desires to go home, instead he is now loyal to Daenerys Targaryen." fusionesque on Jorah - Costume Journey (regarding S01E07)

"A couple extra notes. The skirt he wears is actually just the bottom part of his surcoat that he seems to have had tailored to fit the climate. The woven leather arm guard he wears near the end of season 2 is the same design that drogo wears. Jorah also wears a Dothraki style leather strap around his shoulder. Dany wears a similar one but has a pauldron attached that her dragons could perch on. Jorah wraps the grip of his sword with a piece of fabric his wife gave to him after (or maybe before) he won the tourney in Westeros. He wears more of this fabric sometimes around his neck and eventually on his hand." wailonskydog in the comments

What an amazing work from Michele Clapton and her team. 🤩 Talk about Jorah wearing his heart on his sleeve...

[toooldforfandom-liveblogs]

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power S01E07 - In the Shadows of Mystacor

I'm trying to remember if Mystacor has ever been mentioned but I'm drawing a blank. The title sounds portentous enough that it makes me doubt the episode is going to be about the Ice Princess but she's the only one left so I'm guessing that's what it’s going to be about! Let's do this!

...why does Bow have hearts in the soles of his shoes?

"Because I can" he'd probably say

Also, what's up with them sleeping in the wilderness? Was the technology for tents and/or shelter lost in whatever catastrophe the First Ones went through?

I had this without subtitles and for a second I thought "Hey, she's having nightmares about Light Hope, maybe because of the infection?" but then I recognized the voice. Of course, the subtitles don't leave a lot of room to wonder who's talking.

Sure, leave your friends and tell no one you're leaving. Great idea!

That's some cute bed hair. I'm still weirdly bothered about the fact that they straight up slept on the grass. Like, it gets wet! And there are bugs!

How long has she been standing there watching? It was still dark when she stood up.

* gasp * Continuity~

Wait, did Glimmer just tell them "let's go sleep in the woods" without telling them their destination?

Oh, so there's magic beyond what the Princesses can do.

...I think Castaspella takes the prize for being the most literal name in She-Ra yet.

oooh, is Adora going to have problems seeing it? Drama~

As an aside, after last episode I wonder if all magic in Etheria is actually just very advanced technology from the First Ones and the entire setting of the show is post apocalyptic. That'd explain why they the princesses need to recharge in very specific circumstances instead of just sleeping it off like most wizards in most other settings.

The biggest mood. I _am_ writing this during another bout of insomnia after all.

ooh, plot

What's Shadow Weaver's problem with Catra? Is it just "Adora's the good one daughter, you're the bad one"? Whatever it is, Catra's self value and resentment problems are 1:1 linked to that, especially considering how Shadow Weaver keeps poking at Catra's insecurities.

The red rock can probably still work under the "all magic is tech" theory since Entrapta's problems were all because of a gem but I'm not so sure about the stone basin and the liquid inside.

(that's a fantastic Glimmer face)

Oh. So she didn't have friends when she was growing up? She didn't seem to know the other princesses, and the castle seems to have mostly soldiers and her mom so I guess it makes sense? But still, that's sad.

oh no she's a grandma

So, magic definitely isn't something only Princesses can wield. Unless it's different from their powers? They do seem to have very specific powers versus what looks like these generic sparkles.

It looks like Glimmer's inability to be taken seriously goes beyond her mother. That she didn't have a lot of friends feels like an important piece of that puzzle, since it could mean she was overprotected when she was a child (maybe because of the war?) and only recently she's been "acting out"

I was thinking that maybe Castaspell was the other princess's mom but now I really hope she isn't. That passive aggresive personality would be incredibly toxic.

I can't figure out Shadow Weaver's plan. Does she want to freak her out for some reason? Is she leading Adora somewhere (how does she know Mystacor enough to know where she wants to lead Adora?)? Hm.

Also I'm really bad at recognizing voices but Castaspella's voice reminds a bit of Shadow Weaver.

oh my god I was going to write the same thing

OH MY GOD I WAS KIDDING

I can't believe they are exploring Glimmer's weirdly normal family issues.

Welp, that'd explain how Shadow Weaver's shadowy thing knows how to move around Mysticor. How long ago was she exiled? It'd need to be at least 20~ years ago to match with her adopting Adora.

Sure, _now_ they have blankets.

Huh. Interesting design choice to keep Bow's chest covered. Now I'm wondering if he's trans and that's a binder.

It wouldn't be my first guess considering it's so direct and trans characters are mostly limited to background characters if at all but that quote from the showrunner about her characters being gay unless otherwise stated makes me think it could be a possibility.

GLIMMER HAS WINGS

Aw, the cuteness couldn't last.

The design of those wings remind me a lot of the ones in Card Captor Sakura, I wonder if it's an intentional reference.

Aw. Adora really has a ton of stuff to work through, huh? I'm glad they are taking the time to do it, it'd have been so easy for the writers to just let Adora cast aside everything Horde related but nope, she has a past, conflicted feelings about her "mom" and definitely some trauma.

oh my god this is so wholesome. I mean, he's wrong, but still wholesome.

He's such a good boy. He's even willing to accept Adora's different way to dealing with her emotions.

Uuuugh, that has to be Shadow Weaver, right? A lifetime of experience manipulating Adora, she knows exactly what to say, how to gaslight her.

This level of emotional manipulation is killing me. Shadow Weaver knows exactly what buttons to push, exactly what Adora fears hearing the most. And she's probably has been doing the same for years to both Adora and Catra.

Welp, I hope all those crystals were not important.

My heart. Glimmer did not jump to conclusions or blamed her even though she just lost a ton of credibility with her aunt. What a wholesome marshmallow.

I guess someone could go and say "they are wrong because they don't believe her" but this really feels like it's completely out of their life experience so I can't blame them at all. And they are probably going to apologize once it's all clear, right? I'm not sure you can ask more from them, they have been extremely supportive.

nooooo, don't do this to my heart (or Adora's) this has to be Shadow Weaver but that almost feels wrong because if she's so powerful why hasn't she done this before?

uuuuuuuugh

Rainbow energy~ Is She-Ra going to have to recharge the shields?

yup

I can't believe I'm going to say this but this almost feels out of character. Why would Shadow Weaver reveal the shadow if she's been so good about manipulating Adora so far?

Aaand she's back.

I'm glad they didn't leave that as a mystery. Wait, Light Spinner? Is Spinnerella a relative?

I _love_ this. I mentioned how it felt like it seemed like some people (like Angela or Perfuma) cared more about She-Ra than Adora, to the point that even Adora herself seemed to prefer being She-Ra for a while and it was all on purpose!

Shadow Weaver is manipulating Adora but this is probably something that has been festering in Adora's mind for weeks and I love that it's something that's been present enough on the show to be noticeable instead of something we have to extrapolate.

AAAAAAAA

I didn't expect Adora to confront all her dark mom issues and trauma so soon but this is gooood.

whoa wait what, that's cheating

Aren't you like one more subordinate of Lord Hordak?

This is some heavy stuff that I didn't expect this show to handle.

I'm going to be slightly dissapointed if that's the end of Adora's issues.

she's in

This is so wholesome and cute.

Is it a coincidence that her gem works the same way as the distress beacon in Entrapta's castle?

Nooooooo.

I feel so conflicted about Catra, she obviously has a lot of problems but after this episode I'm finding it very hard to blame her. Shadow Weaver _liked_ Adora and was horribly manipulative to her, imagine what she has been doing to Catra every day her entire life.

---

What a surprise! It's been pretty episodic so far with the introduction of the princesses so a return to the Horde and Shadow Weaver was a completely unexpected. It even included some consequences from last episode's infection!

There are a couple of things I want to talk about but before anything else, let me gush about how Bow and Glimmer are amazing friends to Adora.

When the episode starts with Adora not being in the right mood, it only takes one look from Glimmer to notice there’s something wrong with her friend after she doesn’t react to her jokes. She doesn’t get angry at Adora’s moody response, instead she tries to understand what’s going on and offers her a vacation.

While I was watching, I thought this was after returning to Bright Moon but it makes a lot more sense if they are on the trip back from Entrapta. Had Glimmer already decided to go to Mystacor or was it in response to Adora’s bad mood? In any case they really emphasize Mystacor’s healing properties because they see how much Adora needs that.

And then during their stay they never get frustrated at Adora’s increasing paranoia, instead they keep trying to help her by suggesting ways to relax.

How easy it would have been for Glimmer to give up on Adora after the third time of being rebuffed? No one would have blamed her or Bow if they got annoyed but they just keep trying. Bow even shows he listened to Adora about what she did to relax in the past and suggests it back to her after the “normal” stuff fails. And then they give her space the second Adora asks for it!

Even after Adora’s breaks the crystals in the Lunarium and seemingly kills any bit of “grown-up” credibility Glimmer may have had with her aunt, she doesn’t get angry.

I understand that there’s a reading here that could say that Glimmer and Bow are in the wrong because they didn’t trust Adora about her weird visions from the get go but I feel this was a lot more realistic. How long has been Adora with them? How much of their past do they even know? Before this episode they hadn’t heard about Shadow Weaver and that’s Adora’s _mom_. In fact, I’m sure they don’t even know who Catra is, and that’s Adora’s strongest “positive” link to the Horde.

Would _you_ believe a new friend if they started seeing shadows after a traumatic experience that affected their cognition? Or would you try to help them in the way that makes most sense to you?

I think a plot where they believe her right away could have worked as a mystery but I’m not sure I’d have liked it as much as this one.

That last scene where Adora wakes up from a nightmare and shows her new trust in Glimmer by falling sleep right away was * chef kiss *

With all my unbridled gushing out of the way, let’s talk about Shadow Weaver. It’s interesting that they took a mystery that could have worked for a multiple episode arc and then revealed it in the same episode.

If the episode had _only_ Bow’s line “Mystacor is protected by a spell so evil can’t find it” plus Shadow Weaver’s shadow hanging around it would have been enough to set up a mystery about how she wasn’t affected. A couple of episodes later they could have shown Light Spinner’s statue. And afterwards they could have confirmed it. That they took the possibility of stretching something like that for episodes and episodes makes me optimistic about the future since I assume they have much better ideas in their pocket.

What I am _not_ optimistic about is how this episode felt like it was “the one where Adora overcomes the trauma from being raised by Shadow Weaver.” She’s still dealing with nightmares by the end but it still felt very rushed in that regard. I’m hoping I’m wrong and this is just her first step.

Glimmer’s struggles in making adults take her seriously have been interesting so far. It makes me wonder what will be the event that’ll change everyone’s minds. I doubt this show will go _too_ dark but a battle their side loses because they didn’t listen to her or a battle they win only because they listened to her could work. Technically, the Princesses Alliance is that but I’m pretty sure Angella won’t care much about it until they prove themselves.

Bow is still a mystery. An extremely good boy, but a mystery. I’m hoping that Catra’s sudden focus on him will develop him more. I’m still curious if he’s intended to be read as trans but it’s a nice head canon to have if not.

Oh, and Catra. This good has been very, very good about not being black and white but Shadow Weaver’s behavior tilted the scales towards Catra being a very sympathetic but tragic figure. She may be the black sheep of Shadow Weaver’s wards but it looks like she learned the lessons SW was teaching the best, probably because she was subjected to them the most during their life.

I think that's all for now. There's still a princess left and whatever's Catra is planning so I can't wait! Until next time!

[ohmyprodigalson]

Can I get a fic where the reader is able to see straight through Martin's big plan as soon as Jin gets stabbed, and it turns out they're also a world class surgeon, so when Jin gets hurt they help him instead of Martin.

This one was so much fun! I did make one change though. I actually used to work in an ER and saw doctors place chest tubes all the time without need of a surgeon. And because I thought it might be weird for Malcolm to date a surgeon because of his dad, I made the reader an ER physician instead. Minor tweak, same idea though!

There aren't really any trigger warnings I can think of for this one.

Spoiler Warning: This story directly references the events and some of the lines in Prodigal Son s01e07.

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

It was (Y/N)'s first day off in weeks. She woke from her nap and opened her blackout curtains to let the afternoon sun shine through her bedroom windows. She stretched as she wiped the sleep from her eyes and considered what she would like to do for the day.

(Y/N)'s phone rang, breaking the silence of her post-nap peace. The caller ID said it was Malcolm, and she answered it right away. She answered with a simple, "Hey."

"(Y/N)? I hope I didn't wake you up." His voice was a little shaky, like it sounds when Malcolm is excited about a lead concerning his memories.

"No, I'm awake. What's up?"

"I just found this evidence, a knife in the station wagon I was looking for, and I want to ask my dad about it..."

"Do you want me to go with you?" Lately, Malcolm had been taking (Y/N) with him when he saw his father. She kept him calmer and provided much needed support. She didn't mind either, because it let her see first-hand what mind games Dr. Whitley played with Malcolm so that she could help him reason through them.

"Yes, please." He paused before he spoke again. "Ains is going to be there trying to record her interview, so I'm hoping she'll let me talk to him for a minute."

"I'm sure she will, she knows how important this is to you," (Y/N) said to ease his worries. "I'll get ready and meet you down there, ok?"

"Alright, I'll see you soon."

(Y/N) stood in front of Claremont Psychiatric Hospital with her hands in her coat pockets, her breath forming small clouds as it exited her nose. She was still a little groggy, and she felt like going back to sleep in the warm comfort of her bed. The first day off was always the hardest. She was an ER physician at one of the local hospitals, and she would work night shift for 2 weeks at a time before taking 2 weeks off. Today was her first day off from her last 2 week stint, and her body could feel it.

"(Y/N)!" Malcolm greeted her from the cab he was exiting. He walked up to her with a smile as she reached out to hug him. Afterwards, their smiles fell as they turned to enter the hospital.

They found themselves standing outside of Dr. Whitley's door. Peering inside, they could see Ainsley interviewing him while Jin recorded it all. Malcolm looked at (Y/N) with a straight face before knocking on the door. All three of them looked in Malcolm's direction as he made eye contact with Ainsley. She stopped the interview and came out into the hall to talk to Malcolm while (Y/N) stood quietly to the side. Malcolm explained that he needed to see Dr. Whitley to ask about another serial killer on the loose and after some back and forth she agreed to let them in while her interview was on pause.

They entered the room and Dr. Whitley's glee was palpable. "Well, as I live and breathe! We got ourselves a family reunion!" He was practically beaming at this point.

Malcolm started to talk about why he and (Y/N) were there as she casually stood behind him, motionless and silent, like she wasn't there until she needed to be for Malcolm. He brought up Dr. Whitley's station wagon and the doctor's smile instantly began to fall. Couldn't Malcolm ever come to just see him anymore? Why were all his visits about trips down memory lane?

The father and son talked about the station wagon, the other serial killer, and ultimately the knife Malcolm found before Dr. Whitley stopped the conversation. "Perhaps we should table this for now. Seems like you're taking up all your sister's time. There's only so much Dad to go around." He finished his last sentence with a smile.

"Malcolm? Can... Can I talk to you for a second?" Ainsley asked, nodding towards the door. Malcolm paused for a minute, upset that his father dismissed him so casually when he wanted answers. But he followed his sister outside the room. While they were outside discussing Ainsley's new plan of attack, (Y/N) and Jin stood together in the corner of the room, exchanging pleasantries. Before long, Malocolm and Ainsley returned and the filming resumed.

Ainsley proceeded to air Malocolm's dirty laundry in front of the camera, and what would seemingly be the whole world if these shots made it into the final cut of the interview. The sheer look of defeat and shame on Malcolm's face made (Y/N) see red. She didn't want to say anything while the cameras were rolling, so all she could do was hold Malcolm's trembling hand. When this was over, Ainsley was going to get a piece of her mind. But not before she got a piece of Dr. Whitley's.

He flew out of his chair and pulled hard against the chain in the wall. "I was a good father, damn it!! You say that again!! Say I was a terrible father!!" Urged to calm down by his guard, Mr. David, Dr. Whitley looked around himself and stopped yelling. After hearing Ainsley and Jin quietly confirm that his outburst was caught on camera, Dr. Whitley started to chuckle. "You had a plan. Yeah, it's good to have a plan."

(Y/N), who had been quietly holding Malcolm's hand the whole time, perked up at those words. She squinted at Dr. Whitley, trying to peer into his mind. He was always full of half-truths and he loved allusions. He would not have said those words if they weren't significant. Just as she was questioning Dr. Whitley's potential plan for escape during the interview, sirens started going off.

Everyone looked around themselves in confusion. (Y/N) noticed that Dr. Whitley didn't look surprised.

Malcolm left the room to call Gil and find out what was going on. Just as he hung up. Tevin, the escaped patient, started banging on the door at the end of the hallway. He was calling after Ainsley because he wanted to be on TV; he wanted to tell his story. Mr. David confirmed that the door was locked and they needn't worry about him.

Malcolm and Ainsley entered the room again, but this time, instead of resuming filming, Ainsley asked Jin to go record the empty halls and get good shots to make her interview seem unsettling. Malcolm protested, but Ainsley sent him anyway. Sensing they wanted to be alone with their father, (Y/N) leaned close to Malcolm and whispered, "Will you be alright? Do you want me to stay?"

He whispered back, "I'll be ok, I promise." He gave her a small smile that she knew was only for show. But she followed Jin and Mr. David out into the hallway. Still, she stayed close to the door.

Jin was actually brave enough to stand at the opposite end of the hall, camera almost flush with the window in the door. (Y/N) couldnt explain it, but she suddenly got a pit in her stomach. The same feeling she would have before multiple critical patients would enter her trauma bays. That's when she saw him - Tevin, key card in hand, standing in front of the red door. (Y/N) screamed as he opened it and charged into Jin, stabbing him in the chest. The guard managed to wrestle him back through to the other side of the door while Malcolm put a pipe through the handle. Ainsley and (Y/N) immediately rushed to Jin's side and carried him to the opposite end of the hallway and into the room.

Jin was wheezing terribly and in agonizing pain. Ainsley was having a small nervous break-down and (Y/N) was assessing the injury. But Dr. Whitley remained seated in his chair. "What an eventful day we're having."

In that moment it all came together for (Y/N). She didn't yet know why, but she knew Dr. Whitley had planned this. Was it to traumatize his daughter? Then it occurred to her that if she weren't there, he would be the only medical professional in the room. Did he want to show off and endear Ainsley to himself? (Y/N) needed to set these thoughts aside because she had a patient that needed her.

"Ambulance and SWAT are on their way, they'll be here in 15 minutes." The guard tried to reassure Ainsley and Malcolm.

Dr. Whitley piped up. "He'll be dead in 10. He's got a hemothorax..."

(Y/N) drowned out Dr. Whitley's voice as she confirmed what he was saying. But she was snapped back to reality by the sound of Malcolm and Ainsley yelling at each other about whether or not to give Dr. Whitley a knife to operate on Jin. Dr. Whitley sent Mr. David to get supplies from the medical station and no one had noticed that (Y/N) had already removed Jin's shirt. When the guard returned, he was holding the scalpel in one hand and the rest of the supplies in the other.

As Malcolm reached out to grab the scalpel, preventing Ainsley from immediately giving it to Dr. Whitley, (Y/N) snatched it. "I'll take that."

Malcolm's eyes grew wide and Ainsley looked at (Y/N) in confusion. How could they have both forgotten that there was an ER physician in the room? Of course Dr. Whitley wouldn't get his hands on the knife. (Y/N) took satisfaction in knowing she had spoiled at least that part of his plan.

She got to work placing the chest tube. She worked methodically and with swift but smooth movements. Even the great Dr. Whitley had no critiques for her work.

Meanwhile, Malcolm had left to take care of Tevin after getting a call from Gil. By the time (Y/N) had finished securing the chest tube, Malcolm had apprehended Tevin and EMS entered the building to take Jin away to the closest hospital.

As Malcolm and (Y/N) stood on the steps of Claremont Psychiatric Hospital, watching Jin get put into the back of an ambulance, they took in the fresh air. (Y/N) was covered in blood, but she almost didn't notice it because it was just like being at work for her. Malcolm looked at her with his brilliant blue eyes and said, "Thank you, for keeping us from having to make that decision. I don't know what would have happened if he got a hold of that knife."

She would have reached out to hold his hand, but hers was covered in blood. All she could do was say with a small smile, "You're welcome."

Dr. Whitley was standing alone in his room, looking out of the window in his door. Everything was ruined. If she hadn't have been here, he could have gotten the knife and saved Jin in front of them, and...

His train of thought fell further and further down the rabbit hole. But he was handcuffed and chained, and he didn't want to make a scene by screaming. So he just furrowed his brows and deepend his frown. Words could not express his anger in that moment.

[adultswim2021]

Tom Goes to the Mayor #25: “Joy's Ex” | September 25, 2006 – 12:30AM | S02E17

Wow, I barely remembered this one at all, if I'm being honest. Todd Barry plays Joy's ex, who is staying at her and Tom's house. Tom is relegated to the pup tent while Todd Barry gets to cover the walls in cow diarrhea (Like the real Todd Barry, he's an artist). Luckily for Tom, the Mayor has invited him to a weekend-long get together at what turns out to be a crappy condo building. Todd Barry gets kicked out of Tom's house as well, and joins them. They play didgeridoos that are actually marijuana bongs. Tom dies. They drive to the desert to spread his ashes (even though he's not actually dead or turned into ashes yet). There's a Chinese guy named St. Patriot. And there's a very Crossfire-style TV commercial for Cock-o-Block, a rock 'em sock 'em robots style fighting game but with mechanical chickens. It's very Awesome Show. And that's basically this one. I really don't have much to say about it. It's fine. It's not bad. I liked it.

That concludes my time with Tom. I’m sorry to go out on something of a lackluster note here. I’m glad that I got to watch this show again, though. It really had been a while. I’m sure I talked about discovering Tim and Eric from their website, and I was coaxed into watching Tom Goes to the Mayor Returns when Bob plugged it on bobanddavid.com. It holds up much better than I remembered, and I would posit that there are handful of GREAT episodes that outshine even some of the above-average Awesome Show stuff. It’s such a unique piece of work and it’s definitely worth a look. I know a stunning amount of Tim & Eric fans who never watched this show at all.

Lucky for those people, this show doesn’t really require a complete viewing, and you can pick and chose the stronger episodes to check out. On that note, it's time now for me to reveal my TOP TEN episodes. I'm doing these in chronological order instead of a ranking. This roughly represents the top third of the series. Here you go:

S01E01: “Bear Trap Brothers”

S01E06: “Porcelain Birds”

S01E07: “Vehicular Manslaughter”

S01E10: “Gibbons”

S01E11: “Pipe Camp”

S02E01: “My Big Cups”

S02E10: “Friendship Alliance”

S02E12: “The Layover”

S02E15: “Undercover”

S02E16: “Puddins”

And in case you’re wondering, “Rats Off To Ya!” JUST MISSED the cut-off. Please watch it this holiday season.

[forgcdasseta]

FROM: @dxmence​  SUBJECT:  “I am with you, Jimmy,from now until the end. We’re a team.” FILE: lucifer s01e07 / accepting

          bucky was tired.  so, so tired.  he’d been running for what felt like a lifetime, which was pretty impressive considering his memories were so jumbled it was hard to tell which way was up.  there were scattered fragments.  none of the timelines made sense.  the worst was, oddly enough, before steve came crashing in his apartment in bucharest and he was actively trying to make sense of the images.

          what he’d pieced together since then was even more confusing.  his younger sister, rebecca, was still alive.  that, more than anything, had made bucky feel like he was losing his mind.  hydra experimentation to recreate the super serum was the only thing that extended his life.  well, that and the cryostasis they placed him in.  time spent in that tube also threw off his memories.  images of his own reflection as his heart started to slow would wake him up in the middle of the night.  sometimes the thrashing would get so bad he’d roll right off the small pad he put together for a bed.

          hearing the word ‘ jimmy ‘ roll off his sister’s tongue was an oddity.  steve always said bucky or buck.  anyone with a government connection branded him as ‘ james.’  to hear his other childhood moniker was somewhat comforting and managed to pull a small smile from the soldier’s lips.

           a movement out of the corner of his eye brings bucky’s attention toward the wide expanse of glass that made up the side of the building.  beyond the wakandan palace was a beautiful mix of both nature and technology.  for some reason he felt at peace here.  he wasn’t sure if it had to do with the atmosphere or the simple decision to go back into cryostasis one last time.  as much as bucky wanted to spend more time with his sister he didn’t want to risk being a danger to her.  zemo illustrated that anyone could reactivate him.

                                 anyone.

          a string of words wouldn’t stop anyone who really wanted the winter soldier at their command.  no.  he couldn’t risk it.  beyond that, he didn’t want to feel out of control again.  knowing there was a switch inside his brain made him feel sick.

          “ we’re a team, “ he echoes with a smile meant to instill confidence.  both she and steve needed to believe he was okay.  “ i’ll be back before you know it and then we’re going to properly catch up.  just don’t give steve too much of a hard time. “

[pass-the-bechdel]

Dollhouse s01e07 ‘Echoes’

Does it pass the Bechdel Test?

Yes, twice.

How many female characters (with names and lines) are there?

Seven (38.88% of cast).

How many male characters (with names and lines) are there?

Eleven.

Positive Content Rating:

Three.

General Episode Quality:

Fun.

MORE INFO (and potential spoilers) UNDER THE CUT:

Passing the Bechdel:

Adelle and Caroline pass as the episode opens. Professor Janack recognises Caroline.

Female characters:

Adelle DeWitt.

Caroline Farrell.

Echo.

Mellie.

Sierra.

November.

Professor Janack.

Male characters:

Owen Johnson.

Sam Jennings.

Clive Ambrose.

Topher Brink.

Matt Cargill.

Paul Ballard.

Laurence Dominic.

Victor.

James.

Leo Carpenter.

Boyd Langton.

OTHER NOTES:

Mehcad Brooks is here, so. That’s the good news.

“It looks...like...a dragon. Is that stupid?” Yes, yes it is. I hate the ditzy romantic imprints in Echo. She’s so annoying, and so hapless. I think part of it is the writing, and part of it is the way Eliza Dushku plays it. I really don’t love her work.

Victor’s imprint says ‘girls’ and then corrects himself ‘women’, and that just makes me all the more irritated at how often the show has used ‘girl’ so far. This means they’re aware of it.

The characters who are tripping balls and consequently talking nonsense are mostly very embarrassing. 

Caroline is also very embarrassing. Her whole activist schtick is such a cliche. And I hate to say it again, but Dushku? Not selling it.

Laurence “makes my arms tired” Dominic, though. Hilarious. 

Remember what I said last episode about not showing footage of rape? Yeah. We didn’t need to SEE Sierra’s flashback, we already knew what it was from the memory of Hearn instigating ‘the game’ in the first place. We did not need this.

“Soft...like a kitty...” I’m not taking votes for which character provided the most comedy this episode. The answer is immediately obvious.

Remember literally an episode ago when they said they weren’t gonna pull Mellie from assignment with Ballard, and then immediately at the beginning of this episode she breaks up with him, and then at episode’s end she leaves her apartment indefinitely? Sweet continuity, guys.

No one hit Echo in the face this episode! She did have a drug-laden cloth forcefully held over her face, so she didn’t quite escape all kinds of physical violence, but...no one punched her. 

This episode is variously good for laughs, but it has a meandering lack of purpose, and the pieces of plot history it offers up (not actually filling gaps at this point so much as suggesting what manner of gaps might exist) don’t have much impact because they’re largely unattached to functional present-day history. More than anything, this feels like a pure gimmick episode, and after five episodes of Imprint of the Week and only one that engaged with the idea of this show having something more significant to say, pure gimmick is not what we needed. 

[decembredarling]

So i started watching You. On S01E07, Joe finally broke up with Beck after everything he's done for her; being the perfect guy that she actually needed, cooking ber breakfast, doing her chores so she could write, keeping her safe (though, let's be honest he has different definition of safe). He was always there for her but all she wanted was actually for him to give her space so she could heal herself.

What hit me actually was the conversation that Joe had with his therapist.

I don't understand it. That's why i'm here.

What don't you understand?

Love.

You and seven billion other people on this planet. If you understood love, i'd be out of job. I have to say it's unique for everybody, like a fingerprint, or a strain of DNA, or the song you lost your virginity to.

It terrifies me how human's mind is like a puzzle piece and we can't always understand it.

[spotlightsaga]

Kevin Cage of @spotlightsaga reviews… GLOW (S01E07) Live Studio Audience Airdate: June 23, 2017 Ratings: @netflix original/Privatized Ratings Score: 9.5/10 TVTime/FB/Twitter/Tumblr/Path: @SpotlightSaga

**********SPOILERS BELOW**********

The greatest thing about pro-wrestling is that it’s literally a live show, anything can go wrong (or horribly right). Even shows like NXT, Lucha Underground, ROH, PWG specials, shows that are filmed, then edited, then sent out as a television series or a digital copy (since DVD’s & even BluRays are becoming obsolete) can go way off script. When improvisation is introduced into the wrestling show, that’s when the magic begins. Recently a troll on FB attacked one of our articles on A&E’s ‘60 Days In’. After a well pieced together article that covered what we thought were 'producer pushed situations’ vs what was occurring naturally in the series (it’s kinda hard to fake an entire REAL jail, considering they need the space), he simply skipped over everything I had written from the heart and wrote one little line, “You know this is fake, right?” He clearly didn’t read it. After my retort, he brought up pro-wrestling… Ah, he done did it now! Any tried & true fan of professional wrestling will defend their sport or 'Sports Entertainment’ (whatever you want to call it) to the death. Of course everything is planned in advance; the moves, the winners, the storylines… But it’s the pageantry, the training, the real risk of physical injury, the freedom that some wrestlers have in their promos, and an array of other variables, that make pro-wrestling so damn great and have seen it survive for well over a century.

'Live Studio Audience’ captures all of that AND MORE. As a matter of fact, we want to go ahead and nominate this very episode as one of the best of the year for a 30 Minute Comedy or Drama. We get it all… The thrill and excitement of the very first GLOW Live Show ever, the anxiety & stage fright that comes with it as we see Machu Picchu (Britney Young) run for the hills without even getting inside the 20x20, a overworked and panicked Bash (Chris Lowell) abandoning the possible financial future of the show to console Carmen in her 'emotional distress’, two women taking a chance - Cherry Bang (Sydelle Noel) & Tammé the Welfare Queen (Kia Stevens) instinctively changing the direction & storyline of their match without anyone else aware of their scheme besides the newly 'white sheet wearing’, transformed 'Beatdown Biddies’, Stacey (Kimmy Gatewood) & Dawn (Rebekka Johnson) - who’s main concern is if Bill Cosby will be mad at them… Literally changing the match from the uber-cliché, women of color beating up on the elderly to two bad ass, strong Black Queens taking on two racist KKK members, signifying the ongoing battle of racism in the United States! The latter had to be one of the best, most outrageous scenes of GLOW to date. And like Sam said, 'I guess you’re never too young to know about this country’s racial history’.

Sam (Marc Maron) was apprehensive of Cherry & Tammé’s surprise changes at first… But by the end of the match he had gained confidence in the women after hearing the crowd of 30 or so erupt into roars the likes of a full house in the broken down gym would sound like. He even hilariously referred to them as 'The Black Panthers’ in what was ironically riveting commentary. All of it accompanied by the same solemn keyboard tune for the entire show thanks to Sheila the She-Wolf (Gayle Rankin), as it was the only song she knew. Suddenly a show that was hitting every pitfall and taking every wrong turn was lighting up all the faces of the rather 'eclectic’ crowd that had turned up for GLOW’s free show. Suddenly everyone from Sam to all the women in the locker room knew that this crazy idea, one that felt like it would never work, could and WOULD come together. They could actually succeed at what they had set out to do!

By 'Main Event’ time, the crowd was literally eating out of the amateurish palm of GLOW’s outstretched hand. The electricity and excitement running through the building that connected the women with their audience was not only palpable, it can literally be seen worn on the faces and demeanor of everyone in the building. Even all of us at home could feel the tv radiating with the GLOW! Truly!!! It all came down to Liberty Belle, the 100% 'sweet as American Apple Pie’, confident and poised symbol of the 'American Way’, Miss Debbie Eagan (Betty Gilpin) vs 'Zoya The Destroya’, the 'Dirty Russian’, who wants to drain your swimming pools and fill them with Borscht, 'Accidental Homewrecker’, Ruth Wilder (Alison Brie). And yes, if any of you are wondering, I totally said that last line out loud as I wrote it in my best Russian 'Zoya The Destroya’ voice. I can’t help but ponder if Alison Brie was inspired by not only the real GLOW Girl she is portraying, Colonel Ninotchka (Lori Palmer), but also WWE’s own modern version, Lana (CJ Perry)… And that just maybe, Lana is inspired by Palmer herself! It fits, that’s for sure… Even on the heels of Rusev, The Bulgarian Brute.

The match is going well, unexpectedly well. Unbeknownst to the other women, Carmen had taken Ruth & Debbie to visit her brothers… Big Kurt (Carlos Colon Jr aka WWE’s Carlito) & Mighty Tom Jackson (George Murdoch aka WWE’s Brodus Clay, TNA’s Tyrus, and even a part-time, humorous, FOX News anchor). The two headlining women had gone to the brothers for help. They wanted to dazzle the crowd and give them more than just basic moves and the great wrestling tradition of Heel vs Babyface, Good vs Evil… They wanted a match that would elevate both GLOW as a show and themselves as performers. After some hilarious misfires, they were ready… And they ran that ring just like they had intended to, just like they had practiced so hard for. Unfortunately, just as 'the unexpected’ can elevate a wrestling program, it can also add unwanted chaos and ruin. Suddenly, Debbie’s soon to be ex-husband and Ruth’s casual, shameful partner in a secret affair, Mark (Rich Sommer) peaked his head out of the crowd and into Debbie’s field of vision. Debbie freezes and runs off into the back to allow Mark to browbeat her while she misses one of the biggest and best opportunities of her career. Obviously, there’s going to be more for Debbie, but this is going to hurt. Dump the douche already, Debbie!

In an attempt to save the main event, or at least stall until Debbie possibly made her triumphant return (which she never did), Ruth continued on in character yelling out hilarious, typical Russian stereotypes at the audience, who actually ate it up for awhile. As it was bound to happen, the audience started to turn on Ruth. They rightfully wanted a big finish to the show that had unexpectedly turned them from bored passerby’s that were sucked into the building in promise of a free show, to GLOW’s first diverse group of fans. Rhonda (Kate Nash) saw her moment to shine. She had been practicing a 'GLOW Rap’ with Sam’s stolen camera that a jealous, vindictive (yet somehow still relatable and sympathetic), Justine (Britt Baron) had stuffed in her locker in an attempt to set her up and get her fired, all for sleeping with the boss. Rhonda climbed in the ring and started to do GLOW’s now infamous pre-show rap that they were notorious for on their real life tv show. First Ruth followed suit, then the rest of the women stormed the ring and joined in… And GLOW was officially born!

I know I’ve taken a lot of your time and should probably end there, but it’s important for me to give credit where credit is due. Not only did Director Jesse Peretz (thank you so much for HBO’s 'Divorce’, Jesse, and btw 'Our Idiot Brother’ is criminally underrated), but 'new-to-the-game’ writer Rachel Shukert was flawless in her writing, dialogue, and scene transitions… You too, Emma Rathbone! Also, this episode was dedicated to the memory of Chavo Guerrero Sr, the father of Armando Guerrero, the man who trained the wrestlers of the original GLOW as well as the world famous Chavo Guerrero Jr, who trained all the actresses of the series… Except for Kia Stevens, y'all. You think WWE’s Kharma or Independent Scene & TNA Knockout Wrestler 'Awesome Kong’ needed training by the great Chavo Guerrero Jr?! Psssh, that woman is talent personified! Thank you, Liz Flahive & Carly Mensch, on behalf of Spotlight Saga and the French-born, now worldwide, burgeoning community of TVTime.com, we LOVE GLOW!