#Roman misses his horrible dead dad

[schmweed]

[theghostofloganroy]

Logan was an abusive father but Roman is allowed to be devastated that he's dead. He's allowed to get angry at people for talking shit about him, for all of Logan's flaws and numerous they are, there were people who loved him and still love him, Roman loves his Dad it's written in the fucking subtext how much he fucking loves his dad. No matter how true what's being said about Logan (we all know he was a prick and deep down Roman does too) Roman is allowed to be hurt and upset over it.

Would it be great to see Roman acknowledge that his father wasn't a good person? Yes but he's not there yet and there's no telling when he'll be at that point to admit to himself that yes his Dad was a horrible person. I don't think he can compromise the feeling of loving his dad, missing him and being heartbroken that he's gone and acknowledging that Logan was a bad person as of this moment.

[the-knight-of-the-stars]

Son of Neptune. First reading thoughts:

— Ok, I actually read this two months ago, but forgot to post it, so this is a short review, beacuse my thoughts are a little scrambled now.

—Let me tell you, when I got on the "Heroes Of Olympus" ride, I thought it would be a diferent story, with totally diferent characters and I was on board with it.

I went expecting AT MAX a cameo from Percy. Imagine my excitement when I saw "Percy" written in the firts chapter.

—I really missed Percy guys.

—And I really hate Juno

—“But be warned, you will sacrifice much! You’ll lose the mark of Achilles. You’ll feel pain, misery, and loss beyond anything you’ve ever known. But you might have a chance to save your old friends and family, to reclaim your old life.” BITCH EXCUSE ME?? JUST LET HIM BE HAPPY.

—Ok but, Camp Jupiter sounds so cool???!! I adore roman architecture, it was a delight to read about the temples, the baths, everything, ughhh. I kind of liked it more than Half-Blood Camp

—Ok, more new characters!

— I adored Hazel and Frank, I'm loving how unique and intereresting all the new characters are.

—My poor Hazel, like are we gonna talk about how she DIED?? In a horrible way??. She was dead for YEARS. And the whole thing with her mother losing her mind and the cursed stones, and all that wtf.

And she is super little too, she is like what, thirteen?? She is still a kid, most of the others are borderline teenagers by now (wicj is still horrible, but like??). She even has like, trauma black outs. Poor girl, I dont think we focused enought on how messed up everything she went through was.

— Also her powers are really cool. Like her power controling gems?? Earthbenders who???

—Frank was amazing too, I kind of guessed his father was Mars, and I love the contrast beacause Frank is adorable.

—All the buildup to his special power being turning into animals was AMAZING. That power is so incredible, I was so excited when the reveal happened.

—I love Percy so much. He takes ONE look at the god of war and is like "I may not remember anything, but I remember you're a bitch."

—Reading Mars claime Frank felt like watching that one kid's dad who was way too intense with anything regarding his child, and would passive-agressively fight with the teachers during school making it akward to anyone because nobody could tell if he did all that for his kid or for himself.

—The only thing Percy remembers is Annabeth HOW ADORABLE IS THAT

—Reyna was cool too, I thought she was a very fun and cool character, I hope we see more of her.

—Octavious was annoying af. He tried to be creepy but I know who you are sir, and what you are is cringe.

— You are telling that, while Groover was traumatized in The Lighting Thief because he had seen so many demigod kids at Camp Half-Blood die before they turned into teenagers, the vast majority of the demigods in Camp Jupiter were just... fine? Thriving? Living their lives?

—Not Nico pleading insanity the second he sees Percy and lying to his face. MY BOY WHAT ARE YOU DOING.

—The whole book it was hurting me that Percy didn't remember anyone or any past adventures.

—Loved Ella, such a fun character.

—AMAZON, is from the AMAZONS?? I... sure why not

—I was not expecting the circe island adventure to come back in any way, ever. It was pretty interesting to see that conflict with Percy, Reyna and her sister.

—Mars gave Frank... a zombie. Yeah, alright.

—It was so cool to see Thatanos, I was excited the whole book and it did not disapoint. I loved how he is potrayed, that aura, his beauty .

—AHA! THEY MENTIONED EROS (or cupid, whatever). SO YOU DO KNOW HE EXISTS, RIORDAN.

—"Death has more in common with love that you might imagine" Oh yes, give that methaphoric stoytelling to me.

—It actually caught me by surprise that death was a recurring theme on this book. Hazel and Frank coming to therms with their experience with mortality, the exploration of grieve, the almost philosophical discussions abut it (some even coming from Mars, wich has even more meaning) On top of the whole mission being to free the literal Death.

It was fascinating to explore characters with these themes, and it made a lot of the scenes between Percy, Frank and Hazel very touching.

—All the final battles were amazing, I enjoyed them a lot.

—Oh right, and Tyson was here! I loved to see him again.

—Okay the thing about Leo looking like Sammy is making my head hurt. Is it goint to turn out he is like his grandson or something?

—The way I screamed when the book ended. JUST WHEN THEY ARE ABOUT TO REUNITE.

—Ok, I've restrained myself from reading the next book for long enough, I'll go read it now.

[top40gordy]

From NewsBreak: Israel Confirms That Taylor Swift’s Bodyguard Has Arrived Home to Fight in Hamas War

I found this on NewsBreak: Israel Confirms That Taylor Swift’s Bodyguard Has Arrived Home to Fight in Hamas War

I haven't posted much about the Israel-Hamas conflict yet because of the ignorant arguments by protestors on both sides.

My take is as follows:

After WWII, 70 million people were dead. At least 6 million of those were Jewish. The Nazis also killed Christians who didn't agree with Hitler's plan to make Aryans the "master race." (Including Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer) Also, they killed Roma and Gypsies, disabled people, and LGBTQ+ people. That's just who I can think of off the top of my head. My Dad fought in the European war. He had horrible PTSD afterward. He used to talk about liberating a concentration camp. It was horrible!

After the war, there was a lot of work related to rebuilding nations. As a part of the post-war reconstruction, the winning side — specifically, the U.K., U.S., and others — set about granting Britain's land holdings in the Middle East to Jews and Arabs. On November 29, 1947 the United Nations adopted Resolution 181 (also known as the Partition Resolution) that would divide Great Britain's former Palestinian mandate into Jewish and Arab states in May 1948 when the British mandate was scheduled to end.

Since this was a direct result of the war, it cannot and should not be called into question. Israel and Palestine have every right to exist, especially because of the atrocities of WWII!

Since 1948, Israel has established itself ad a world power. Because they are surrounded by nations that want to destroy them, they have developed a very robust and diverse military. Israel has a frighteningly enthusiastic reputation for defending itself from any perceived threat.

Israel is not a Christian nation and they are not exactly the nation known to the Romans as Judea, nor are they the empire that existed under David and Solomon.

They are a modern, mostly Western democracy. Their current government is very conservative. They take this latest series of attacks very seriously.

The Iranian-backed terrorists hiding in the Gaza Strip are using the mostly Palestinian population as human shields. They only want to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth! They cannot be allowed to succeed.

Western Christian people who think of Israel as God's Chosen People in the Bible are mistaken when they defend the IDF's indiscriminate shelling and bombing of the Palestinians.

Also, other factions who side only with the Palestinians are missing the whole point of why that region was set aside in the first place.

This has never been a simple matter of redrawing borders. This is a challenge for the United Nations to fix what it started, and for countries of good will to prevent World War III, despite the bad actors like Russia, Iran, China, and North Korea!

From NewsBreak: Israel Confirms That Taylor Swift’s Bodyguard Has Arrived Home to Fight in Hamas War

https://share.newsbreak.com/57qfcmlv

[castle-dominion]

castle 6x10 the good the bad & the baby

the baby lotto episode liveblog

heheheh I actually missed this one on my family watch & we had to go back afterwards to watch it.

I'm so stoked.

Loooove a good bit of christianity. The aesthetics, the folk-catholic, the goth/emo, the religious trauma, I love it sm. *dies immediately after handing a baby to the priest*

Very Castle of him. But he's right leftovers are important. Oh yeah, Pi. (Ooh audio commentary... which I've seen) lol mom Oh her dad is joining them! ... Costume? (take it in the context of the times Dom, period typical homophobia tagged on ao3 as 2007, it's ok, well it is not ok but it's fine it's fine you don't need to do anything, just be quiet, it's fine, everyone in 2023 knows that this is racist it's fine just keep watching)

Should I clip this? KB: Uh … you guys – you guys dress up for Thanksgiving? RC: (pause) Doesn’t everybody? KB: (low) No, I think that’s pretty special to you. (to CASTLE) Um … so, is there anything else I need to know about you before we get married? RC: So many, many things.

lol beckett & becket

RC: When we do this, let’s not do the dead body in the middle of the aisle.

6.30 mass? that's early af. "at the buttcrack of dawn" said my lil bro

JE: a little something something. LP *turns around with a smile & a baby* RC: A BABY!!!!? LP: A boy. I’m guessing he’s about three months. (lol no.) And he’s hungry because he keeps going after the girls. RC: Oh, who can blame him? Hi, buddy. What’s your name, little man?

rysposito arguing over lottery lol (yk what? I'll quote.) JE: his name is Cameron Ducane, 30, lived in the Bronx. There’s no baby pictures in his wallet, he’s got a commercial driver’s license, probably drives for a living. He’s got a car wash coupon– (he scoffs) – and like Ryan, spent his hard earned money on a lottery ticket. KR: (sighs) That is the Five State Magic Ball Jackpot. At $247 million you’re crazy not buying a ticket. JE: Yeah, one or two. Not fifty. KR: I’m just increasing my odds of winning. JE: You’re increasing your odds of being broke. KR: Listen, do you have any idea what it costs raising a child in New York City? JE: (shrugs) I don’t know how much it costs. I mean - KR: Of course you don’t, ‘cause you don’t - JE: I’m – RC: Guys! How about we don’t fight in front of the baby? Beckett smiles and rolls her eyes all at once.

He does call himself ruggedly handsome more than once lol. Castle is also such a dad! He sees a baby & immediately he goes from "12-year-old humour" & "15 year old who thinks he can seduce his teacher" to "DAD MODE ENABLED. OBJECTIVES: PROTECT CHILD, CLICK TONGS, MAKE JOKES."

What's his name? Julian? Love how Castle just steals him(*shrugs at beckett*) & gets ice cream. I am so glad that in the bonus features of at least one of the seasons we got to meet the "cast behind the cast" clipping

Yes he does drive for a living THAT IS A HORRIBLE SHIFT IMO. I used to work 11-19 but it was always that not 23-6...

Maybe he was thinking abt having a baby & put locks on the doors for that

I loooove this scene. They just filmed it in a car elevator. soo goood. (no-show or call in sick or smth?) (roman is very... artiulate if you know what I'm thinking about. Which you do. Why would you read my liveblog without having seen the show? unless you're reading my liveblog WHILE watching the ep but who would be doing that? I am not that popular.) Love the whistle

Ok so Roman the car service owner said that since Werid Prison Dude showed up, Cameron had been staying out all not, not coming in for his 3.00 lunch break.

That's an awesome tattoo but also it sounds like literally every tattoo. apparently this individual messed up their lines, it was supposed to be "howling at THE moon" but he said "It was pretty spectacular. It was a wolf, teeth bared, howling at a moon." & they kept it bc it was awesome beckt it is NOT specific. LOVE the outfits for ryckett, but I liked beckett's outdoor outfit better than her indoor one. Oh & esposito has bisexual clothes on (even tho it's supposed to be a classic case of dark haired gay x light haired bisexual)

If speeding tickets are on your criminal record then these detectives should get A Lot more "no record except for speeding tickets" rather than "no record"

KR: A guy takes off for work at 10PM and never arrives. And then at 6:45 the next morning he shows up shot to death at a church, holding someone else’s baby. What the hell happened in those 8 hours? That's the point of the episode babe

BECKETT shakes her head. The elevators dings and they turn to see CASTLE walking in, the baby in this arms. A UNIFORM (Julian?) follows him, his hands FULL of baby stuff. CASTLE waves. KB: Hey. So … that’s a couple of things? (ryan's big smile when castle comes in) RC: Yeah. I just grabbed the essentials. You know, diapers, a carrier, wipes, blankies, bottles, formula. Didn’t want little Cosmo going hungry. (Older brother's horror game player: B'by!! Baby! ... The ba,bey!) uwu castle dressed him up like a turkey! KB: I’m suddenly getting a clear and frightening visual as to what my future will look like. so she is planning on having kids.

KR: Hey, Castle. …um, mind if I hold him? It’ll be good experience for me. RC: Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Ready? KR: Yeah He passes RYAN the baby. As soon as the baby leaves CASTLE’S arms, he starts to fuss. (because the film team had quadruplets & each baby had a different specialty. This baby hated being on their back so they would start crying. Coincidentally, Seamus Dever was holding them so the camera could see them which just so happened to be a position that the baby hated so they started to cry as soon as he held them.) RC: Hold his head, there. KR: I know. RC: Hold him up under his – KR: I know. The baby keeps fussing. KR: Um… he’s crying. What am I doing wrong? RC: Just try to remain calm. They can sense fear. (like bees, dogs, & bread dough) KR: This is not at all like the practice doll. The baby continues to cry and CASTLE makes a face. Finally RYAN breaks and hands him back to CASTLE. KR: I thought I was ready. Clearly I am not. (aside) Oh God, I’m not ready. Poor man XD, but also NOBODY is ready for a baby. (clipping)

I'm the baby whisperer!!!

RC: Want to hold him? Her smile falls. KB: Uh, no. I’d rather figure out where he came from. RC: Well, when a man – (Sex? I’ll explain how that works later.) KB: Stop. Stop. I know where babies come from, Castle. Just not this one. She heads for her desk. RC: I can’t believe you don’t want to hold the baby. Everyone wants to hold the baby. JE: I don’t want to hold that baby. (THAT baby XD) (tbh I could clip that one phrase) RC: shrugs.

Jimmy Wolfinsky, aka Jimmy the Wolf. Good name, good tat. That sketch has a slightly too strong chin

RC: So it’s a tale of betrayal and revenge. Cameron abandons his partner Jimmy he comes down, leaving him to take the fall. Ridden with remorse, Cameron tries to put it all behind him, start life anew. But surprise, surprise. *cameral looking at ryan from the baby's POV* RC: Jimmy made parole after spending seven long years thinking of ways to make his partner pay. I like the "chorus" shakespeare bonvolio moments where people recap what has been going on in hte ep. Makes it make sense for me. But I thought cam told his wife everything & wouldn't keep secrets like extra marital babies & presumably bank robbery

Clip the jacket toss? Maybe they don't know he's gone, just like the lightbulb len episode (not relevant to anything but remember when castle was like "alexis doesn't think loving ashley at college is practical but she needs to love him anyway" & now with pi he's like "don't you dare effing move out") clipping lanie baby talk to for sure

LP: Well, whatever happened happened near that church. She drops her jacket on a chair. KB: Lanie, what are you doing here? LP: I had some information and I thought I’d come by and check on my little patient. (she bypasses them completely and picks the baby up from the pack and play) Hey little doodlebug. How’re you doing? KB: What makes you think Cameron was shot near the church? LP: Well, based on the nature and the severity of the wounds, your victim maybe had only five or ten minutes before he bled out. RC: He couldn’t have driven that far. LP: Twenty blocks at most. I also found something unusual under his fingernails. [In baby voice] Wax residue, charred nitrocellulose, and camphor. Despite her rundown of the facts, she more interested in the baby. KB: Nitrocellulose? LP: Yes. It’s used to make celluloid. You can find it in old filmstock, certain kinds of plastic, but it’s highly flammable. (she goes back to the baby) Isn’t it? RC: Charred celluloid? Where would that come from? LP: Beats me. That’s your job. Right now my job is to play with the little baby. Yes it is. LP continues to bounce the baby. KB smiles.

Ryan no you are embarrassing me & I'm just watching the show. JE: Yeah, this is Detective Esposito. I need to put out a BOLO on a Jimmy Wolfins- (he pauses when he sees a man walking toward him) Never mind. I think I found him. should I clip the oblivious ryan + fight scene esposito? lil bro said yes

INT – TWELFTH PRECINCT OBSERVATION ROOM RC: is in the room, holding the baby. They’re watching JIMMY through the glass. RC: See that man? That is a bad man. He’s gonna confess and we’re going to know just who you are. The baby coos in his arms. KR: walks in. KR: Castle? Mind if I try again? RC: Course. Here you go. He hands the baby over, and just like last time the baby immediately starts to fuss. RC: makes a face and KR: starts to panic. He hands the baby back. KR: I’ll just … wait outside. RC: No problem. KR: sighs as he backs out the door. He can’t even come up with an excuse. RC: (low, to the baby) You did that on purpose, didn’t you? High five. (the baby hits his palm) Good job.

RC: That’s a grownup lying. (low) Get used to that.

I like the wolf. Not ratting on his partner even tho the man abandoned him in the bank job.

JW: Because … I don’t know, when I was convicted I may have told some folks that Cam would pay. But that was years ago. (they’re silent) Look, the truth is, I was the one who messed up that day. I got hung up inside. Cam waited as long as he could. Longer than he should’ve. I told him that. He knew we were square. Good on them tbh

You're out of the house before 7? I mean I used to have to catch my bus for culinary school at 6.00...

Love seeing Gates be normal Gates not "iron gates".

KB: Castle, we were strangers until this morning. but you were only strangers until this morning! Consistency is important for kids! In the face of that face XD

One of our own sjfhdsjksdjklj

lunch HOUR? He works 7 hours & one of those hours is his lunch?

I had never heard the term blotter in this context before this fandom. KR: Nope, only three men and a mustang.

Wait how do-- right the footage. We saw the footage at 4.12 & mass was at 6.30.

Files, information, bank transfer numbers... they don't need to physically steal stuff b'y. Yeah bro if they got in you need to know how they did & where your security failed.

RC: A heist where nothing was taken. Maybe this is a classic ‘no honor among thieves’ situation. You know, a heist goes wrong, they fight. (reminds me of 2x21) RC: A not-so-classic no honor among thieves situation? KB: Where someone gets shot running away with a baby?

aaaaaaaaah def clipping

KR: I mean, earlier just got me thinking. Our baby’s due in a month and I can’t stop it. What if I’m really not ready? JE: Well, you’re not ready. KR: What?? JE: (shrugs) Nobody is. Look, being a dad is like being a cop. No matter what they teach you in the academy, you learn on the streets. You did okay with that, right? KR: Uh :| …my first day I was so nervous I rear ended the spot man and the guys in vests poured out ready to take me out with extreme prejudice. JE: JE: Well … you care. That already makes you a hundred times better than the dad I had. KR: [watches him for a second] (the man took you to baseball games between the ages of 3 & 5 at least...) also wow a month! The next episode is when the baby is born btw.

Typically I hear Beckett call him Espo the most. love his scarf btw

Castle can tell by the smell it was recent? A DIAPER!!! Poor baby, possibly witnessed someone get shot

I love rysposito just chatting in the background (saying goodnight & leaving in "we"s bc caskett are going home together but girl that also implies rysposito are going home together)

You are correct, he is NOT a bad guy. My man used to be a getaway driver but then he got out of the life bro. He's trying to save this baby from whoever is out there shooting ppl! actually that makes me think. Why didn't cosmo cry when cameron handed him to the priest?

Lol he's the baby whisperer. I mean yeah! Castle raised Alexis! "officially remains custody of the nypd" I used to dislike self-insert fanfiction but uh heheh technically custody of the nypd babes. & he's right! He DOES have all the stuff!

"wanna have a baby with me?" XD It'll be fun! cut to: this is SO not fun!

I love how Baby Whisperer is capitalized Them is so much faster to say but at least the book didn't say "it" (also heck yeah caskett moments) just has an exercise ball cream of mushroom soup babes HAS SHE STILL NOT HELD THE BABY? *holding him at arms length* "I hate that blanket" KB: We’re going on the nasty blanket. Yeah. Like a surgery lol. Castle really is a dad. Love the music *just not showing anything lol, rly good for filming bc they don't need to be in front of the camera* (the music heehee)

RC: All right. Now all we have to do is get him to sleep. Oh no

Martha was ALSO a single parent! The door opens and ALEXIS CASTLE walks in. Her eyes widen when she sees CASTLE and BECKETT rumpled on the couch and MARTHA happily feeding a baby. AC: How long have I been gone?

The elevator dings and CASTLE and BECKETT step off. They both have coffee but they both look bone tired. KB: Coffee’s not even helping. RC: I’d forgotten about this part. They sluggishly head for her desk. KR: Whoa. (really good "woah" from him) You two look like you got hit by the milk truck. CASTLE gestures to his face. RC: You see this face? This is the face of your future. (not clipping) JE: That bad, huh? RC: No, no, no. We slept like babies. KB: Yeah, up every hour. KR: Where is the little guy? KB: Martha and Alexis offered to babysit him. (Is that allowed? they r not the nypd?) KB: They said they were going to make a day out of it. (she tries to focus on work) So .. where are we on … um … JE, who has also basically adopted people: Child services? KB: … child services.

Nooooo did the baby's relative DIE???

KB: Uh, given how much baby garbage we generated in just one night and given how quickly they cleaned and vacated that apartment after the shooting, I’m wondering where all their garbage went. JE: raises his eyebrows. It’s a new angle. EXT – NEW YORK CITY ALLEYWAY (they've filmed in this alley before /neu) RC is digging through a dumpster. KB pops up next to him. (nice jackett btw) RC: You always take me to the most exotic places. KB: If you didn’t want to jump in your could have waited on the side like you usually do. Her teasing is good-natured. RC: What? After the puke storm I put you through last night? It felt wrong not to participate. KB: Yeah. RC: Which, by the way, you were great last night. KB: (smiles) Thank you. You weren’t so bad yourself. RC: Well, I was no baby whisperer. (she laughs) You know, I’ve gotta say, when I volunteered to take Cosmo I – I thought I was doing it for his benefit, but … I realized I was doing it more for mine. I – when Alexis was little Meredith wasn’t really around, so I – I did it all on my own. And … when you said you weren’t a baby person … KB: Ah, okay. Okay, I get it. You were thinking that … RC: (nods) Yeah. KB: Well, tell you what. When the time comes, there’s no way I’m going to let you take care of our baby on your own. She smiles and he smiles back. They lean in for a kiss. (“it’s just weird” -rc in reference to kissing in front of a dead body) KR: Hey guys! They pull back. KR holds up a bag triumphantly. (also if u look in the background esposito is peeing against the wall. Remember s1 with the nanny when castle asked where detectives go to the washroom?) KR: I’ve got something. (lil bro: "it's a couch! for my apartment!" dumpster divin', dumpster kevin...) He jumps out and runs to show them. KR: Diapers. The same kind that Cosmo was wearing when we found him. RC: The cheap, un-biodegradable kind? Now that’s just criminal.

Ryan canonically knows abt wine then? he mentioned if he won the lottery (before he had a baby) thet he'd buy a winery & farm, he's impressed by argon canisters... JE: They were lighting pin opng balls on fire??? RC: *you're right that's a college party trick*

KB: Okay, a wine preservation kit, a missing baby, and a heist where nothing was taken. I mean, each time we find a piece of this puzzle it makes less and less sense.

ryan embarrassing moments:

RC: There’s something we’re missing. Something that – There’s commotion from out in the bullpen. KR pulls a chair over to the TV. KR: It’s time! It’s time! RC: - something that’ll make the pieces fit. They head out to see what’s really going on. JE shakes his head. INT – TWELFTH PRECINCT BULLPEN KR: Quiet everyone. It’s starting! KR hands a few tickets to his coworkers. (BRO???) JE: Wow man, how many of these things did you buy – KR pushes his finger against JE’S lips to get him to stop talking. KR: Shhh. Baby needs an education. Officer Harrison.

RC: Right. The break in where nothing was stolen? Ping pong balls, wax, gas? You guys, it makes perfect sense. They fixed the lottery. The crowd mumbles. RYAN looks at the TV in disbelief before ripping his tickets in half and tossing them in the air. (at the desks now) RYAN groans, his head in his hands, shaking, BECKETT'S hand rests on his shoulder. Except how would they get them in ORDER?

the winning the lottery joke was not good

Oh no the husband is probably the one who got shot!

ok but is that the third briefcase from the end or the third briefcase from the leftmost one? what if you're doing double inclusive counting? double exclusive counting? I'm really bad at this sort of thing Benny was crying? Benny was there? no wait that was yesterday not today Why would gates ask beckett what would happen to Paul Vail? She's the captain here babes

Corner after corner walk & talk

Caskett finishing each other's sentences lol RC: They’re not leveraging him. He’s in on it. Yeah lol acab

Ooh the way the music stopped when she put down the phone? so good

They just have him in the car service location? Ok so sometimes they show up & start yelling from a distance, other times they sneak up on em. What's the difference?

Oh the reunion!

VG: Nicely done. KB: Thanks. But uh … Cam is the real hero here. VG: The getaway driver? RC: Yeah. Turns out it was a case of honor among thieves. JE: Yeah. Paul told us the whole story. KB: When Cam’s boss, Roman, found out about his past, he pressured Cam into the job and threatened to fire him if he didn’t go along. RC: It was going to destroy everything he and his wife were trying to build. (all four of them are doing the finishing sentences thing) JE: Roman promised no one would get hurt, but then after the ball exchange at the TV station, Cam overheard Roman and Walter Dennis talking. They whole leaving the country thing was bull. They never had any intention of letting the Vails live. KR: Yeah. After collecting the winnings, they were going to stage an accident, killing them all. VG: Silencing the only witnesses to their crime. KB: nods. RC: When Cam found out, he couldn’t live with that. PAUL: He tried to save us both, but they caught him. So he grabbed Benny and ran. (to MIRANDA) He gave up his life for us.

Baby! Love his hat btw

KR: Well, the good news is, I mean, besides saving that family, they are rolling over the lottery. So I’ve got another shot at that $247 million. All I’ve got to do is tape my tickets back together. JE: Oh … dude. (KR stops) They uh … they already took out the trash. KR stops for a seconds, then turns and bolts out the door, almost running into someone in the process. After he’s gone, JE starts to laugh. He pulls KR's tickets from his pocket. JE: It’s– I’m just going to let him swim around in a dumpster for like a hour, then I’m going to pull him out. XD what a dick but it's funny

AC: Hey, if you guys have kids in a few years, and I have kids in a few years, they can grow up together. RC: RC: And … it’s ruined. Bestie the turkey should have already been out of the freezer those things take forever to thaw. I missed a day of culinary school. & was screwed. Also, like??? just break it down? Different parts of the carcass have different cooking times. Break it down & then cook them so that you have them all perfectly done instead of some overcooked some still half-raw

Love Martha's outfit (her braids are not nearly tight enough tho) *don't talk about it don't talk about it don't talk about it don't talk about it hhhhhhhhhhhh* where's Jim? I'm glad that thought distracted me. Also yeah I totally believed the castle family would do that. but why did SHE get castle's outfit? if she thought castle was being srs & would have his own?

So yeah I really really loved this episode! Minus the fact that I'm FNMI ofc.

So there IS an audio commentary of this but idk if it would be worth liveblogging.

[ebbarights]

living+ liveblog under cut

had a good day then a bad day then went for a run and now it's a good day again. let's see if this changes things

logan jumpscare omg

okay i didn't fucking miss him lmao. disregard previous posts

he's against powdering his face because that's gay

literally googled lorene scafaria yesterday bc she directed hustlers and her name sounded familiar only to realise i know her as bo burnham's partner kms

barefoot swede tw

matsson with his affected lisp maybe you should hang out with roman instead of shiv who's too good for you

i have skarsgård stockholm syndrome (lol) bc i've seen him in soo many things lately

the first meeting me when i lie

TWEETS AND DRUG RUMOURS glass houses ken

a friend sent me a roman fancam the other say bc i told her he's my favourite character and it kind of annoyed me a tiny bit bc. that's not what this is but also. lbr. it's exactly what this is

roman facial tic comeback!! honestly my favourite thing kieran does

i want someone to do a hug counter per episode/season when this is all over this one is off the charts

shivyyy :'((((

roman you're not ready to fuck. you never are and i love that about you

ANNABETH GISH????????? MY LOVE

why does she give him advice about grief tho. 'it just hasn't hit you yet'? she's right but that's a really weird thing to say to a stranger

sidenote i have german subtitles on this episode because i was eating and they're the only ones available and. everybody is using like. the formal you? and that's so weird. i don't think they should do that. they're all using first names

the segregation comment should be so telling for those guys who think roman is actually right-wing. he knows shit about all ideologies he just doesn't give a shit!! (that would be very bad irl but in the show i think that's an important distinction)

roman you can't just fire people because you brought it up

is ... the presentation that day? and kendall wants to build a house? dude do you know anything about anything

who is tk. shiv lore unlocked

i used to play something like bitey with a friend in school but with. i think it's called indian burn in english? don't think that name's okay but idk what else you would call it

why is greg there

kendall looks exhausted

roman with the you're fired is like a little kid who just learned a new trick

oooh no i know that gerri outfit i know what comes next :(

this conversation hurts but also this is lifeblood to me

oh so it wasn't your dad will wash you away it was the money. that's such clever editing

roman's on such a power trip it's crazy. maybe post-grieve a little that'll make you feel better

the way he immediately regrets it and his mouth when kendall says he shouldn't is actually killing me dead

tomshiv wouldn't survive a day in a trailerpark

kendall sounds so sad when he talks about the clouds

kendall baby you're so manic and the sibs totally know it

roman pulls him out of it straight onto the other side and then leaves him alone with it that's horrible. i get it but it's horrible

is the fingers to the forehead thing a grounding technique

it's still so crazy to me that their dad just died. like JUST died. and now they have to do shit like this because the company's toast otherwise. something capitalism something humanity etc

ROMAN HUGGING THE HUGE PILLOW LMAOOO

maybe i'm an idiot but why would the guy ask him about matsson's tweet that he obviously hasn't seen?

somebody stop this how long will kendall talk about the tweet this is on l to the og level

literally laughed out loud when roman showed hugo that matsson deleted the tweet

roman in the car 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

(though the people who said roman was seriously genuinely for real horny listening to that make me fucking angry. necrophiliac believer bullshit)

the MUSIIIIIIIC

[slimeypuppy]

Summary: On the night of Shiv's wedding, Roman and Kendall went for a drive that ended in a horrible car accident. Kendall survived; Roman did not. His spirit, however, lives on.

WC: 2.7k | AO3

Chapter: String Quartet No. 13 (2/13)

Come morning, Kendall cleans himself up and scrubs the blood off every surface he can manage before putting on clean clothes. The show must go on. He can’t seem to even begin to suppress the knowledge that Roman is dead, but he still tries, hoping to keep the grief off his face and out of his blood until they’re back in the states and he can scream in his apartment until his voice dies in his throat. A single look in the mirror confirms that he looks just as awful as he feels. His eyes appear to have sunken deeper into his skull, underlined with a wash of dreary blue bags, and there’s a noticeable gash along his temple. He vaguely recalls hitting his head, but most of last night’s details remain elusive beyond the obvious. He washes the dried blood off his face from around the cut, but there’s no disguising it, even with a hat. There will be no question that he was there. 

When he realizes how badly his hands are shaking, he indulges himself in a single line to straighten him out before returning to the crowd. He half-expects no one to have noticed his and Roman’s absence; people are typically glad to know that he’s gone, and Roman is rarely missed, even by the family. It’s tempting to stay in this room forever.

“Coward,” Roman’s voice hisses in his ear.

Kendall whips around, fruitlessly searching for him before realizing that there’s no one there. It’s a figment of his imagination. He’s no stranger to hallucinations, particularly of the auditory kind, when it comes to drugs and withdrawals. Either one has a habit of doing that to him. Emotions only provide more life to them. He forces himself to take a deep breath and keep going. It’ll fade. He does another line to try and force his brain straight before he walks out the front door.

When he gets to the dining hall, where the servers have already plated a breakfast buffet, the mood is somber and tense. Police are here, mostly talking to the crowd in their various states of worry. Tabitha is talking to two officers herself, working very hard not to let her mascara run, while Shiv seems unconcerned in that manic way that tells everyone that inside, she’s panicking. Tom has a hand between her shoulder blades, rubbing her back in an effort to calm his new bride. 

As soon as Kendall walks in, both his father and one of the police approach him, both of them staring at his head injury like he doesn’t have a real face. “Son, maybe we should talk in private,” Dad says, and the two of them usher him into a quieter side room where the number of eyes on Kendall’s visage falls from tens to four. 

He tries to appear normal, but can’t quite bring himself to settle down. It feels like Roman is here still, watching him, hating him, blaming him. His heart wants to leap out of his throat. An unconscious hand raises to his temple and runs over the crusted scab that’s so new it’s fragile and bends under the pressure, threatening to crack like the windshield and let out his sinful blood. He remembers the sound of the car rolling down the bank and suppresses the bile rising in his throat. 

“We heard from the valet driver that you left with Roman last night, but neither Roman nor the car came back,” his father says, slowly, as if he’s stupid. “Did he bring you back here?”

“Don’t lie,” Roman says, and he sounds absolutely gleeful. It’s not real, Kendall reminds himself. “Tell them the truth, Ken. Tell them how you left me for dead and didn’t call anyone.”

“My phone was broken,” Kendall tells Roman’s disembodied voice, and both the officer and his father look at him funny.

The officer clears his throat. “Mr. Roy, we located your brother’s body and the car early this morning. It was in a pond a few miles down the road. We saw skid marks, and that the passenger door was open. You can tell the truth- were you in that car when it crashed?”

“There was a- a deer. On the road. He was trying not to hit it.”

“We found him in the driver’s seat,” the officer confirms. “He was pinned in there pretty good. It took the jaws of life to free his legs. What was left of ‘em, anyways.”

When the memory flashes through Kendall’s mind, it makes him want to drop dead on the floor in sympathy. Blood. Bone. Metal crumpled and wrapped. He had tried so hard to help, but it wasn’t enough. Some sick part of him feels satisfied at the knowledge that it took equipment like that to free Roman- it means that there was nothing he could’ve done, and he’s not entirely to blame. He still feels responsible, but at the very least, it assures him that he tried his best. Maybe it would’ve been better had he been sober or less of an idiot, but no amount of clarity would make him as strong as a machine. 

“Did- did he die quickly?” Kendall asks.

Roman laughs right next to his ear, that stupid high-pitched giggle that everyone has always hated. Now, it simply makes Kendall’s chest ache because outside of hallucinations, he will never hear it again. “No. I suffered. Your fault, for making me fucking drive you.”

“You don’t want the details,” his father says.

“I- I think I might, um, need them.”

There’s hesitation, but not enough for them to hide it from him. The officer flips through his little notepad,  looking for the details where he must have jotted them down at some point or another. Kendall doesn’t want to know. He just has to.

“Upon the coroner’s original examination, Roman had multiple severe compound fractures to the legs, above and below the knee on the right, just below on the left. He also bruises on his torso that suggested internal injuries, a skull fracture, and a broken neck. He was paralyzed from the neck down when you hit the water. The coroner did-” the officer pauses then, considering if he should say whatever comes next. “When we got him out of that car, Mr. Roy, his mouth was full of water. When pressed, he expelled more. The current theory is that he drowned.”

Kendall knows what that means. He was alive when they hit the water. He wasn’t dead yet, just hurt. He must’ve been in pain, even if he was too injured to be conscious of reality, and that’s why he wasn’t moving. It’s hard to imagine whether Roman would’ve wanted to be saved, if he was paralyzed, but Kendall doesn’t think it matters. He should’ve lived anyways.

“It’s a miracle you not only survived, but got up and walked away,” the officer tells him. 

“It should’ve been you,” Roman adds.

Kendall grabs hold of the counter to steady himself before he falls over. He feels rather light headed all of a sudden, and no amount of deep breathing seems to bring him back to reality. Roman wasn’t dead. Roman was still alive, and if Kendall had gotten him out, or if help had arrived, maybe he’d be in a hospital right now as opposed to a morgue. He knows there’s nothing he could have done, and yet, it feels there should have been. That, or he should’ve died down in that watery grave as well.

“Now, Mr. Roy, you’re not in any trouble,” are the next words to reach his ears. “You weren’t driving, he was. We’re just trying to figure out the facts. You said he swerved to avoid a deer?”

He nods and remembers the thing. “It was huge. I- I remember the light reflecting off its eyes. It was still in the road when- when I uh, when I got back up there.”

Both his father and the officer are giving him that strange look again. “Are you sure that was real? From what I understand, you were pretty intoxicated when you left, and add in shock and a head trauma, sir, I don’t know how that story lines up. By the time your car went down and you got out of it and back up, that deer would’ve been long gone.”

“It was real.”

“Did you see its teeth, Ken?” Roman asks.

“I did see its teeth,” Kendall responds. They’re still watching him with reproach. “I thought I imagined it. I did imagine it. I’m imagining you.”

“Who the fuck are you talking to?”

He looks back to his father and bites the inside of his cheek. Be quiet. Be normal. He clears his throat and rubs at the injury on his head again, as if the dull pain of it will return him to sanity. This high is getting worse by the second. He wants to go back to that pond and sink deep into its freezing depths once more.

“I’m sorry, Dad. I’m- I’m a little- a little, um, confused, right now. I can’t think straight.”

“That’s understandable, son. You’ve been through something horrible.”

The officer reinserts himself into the conversation, seeing nothing strange about the empathy Kendall is so rarely provided. “Just a couple more questions. Was it your idea to leave the wedding, or Roman’s?”

“It- it was his, I think, he asked if I wanted to go for a drive. It’s hazy. I’d- I’d been drinking. He wanted to get out and thought we needed some- some air, I think he said, and uh, I- he drove, he always drives. He’s a better driver than me. And he wasn’t- he was sober, or mostly sober. Maybe he’d had a couple drinks, I thought, but he wasn’t uh, he wasn’t drunk, or anything like that.”

The officer writes this down.

“Mr. Roy, did Roman mention anything to you about his rocket launch in Japan?”

The sudden change in subject sends him reeling. He thought that wasn’t supposed to be for a while, but his own memory has been less than reliable in the weeks since he started using again. Everything blurs together and his thoughts come out of order. Trying to grasp them like butterflies in a hole-filled net is difficult at the best of times, but he left some part of his brain down there in the water.

“No. I don’t think so.”

His father is staring at him so closely.

“Did Roman seem upset to you at all?”

“Yeah. He wouldn’t talk to me about it though.”

“And I know this is a hard question, but do you know if he had a history of depression, self harm, or suicide attempts?”

Never in his life has Kendall been jolted back to coherency so quickly. Roman saw the deer too. He swerved to avoid it. That’s why they crashed. The deer was real, if strange, and Roman wouldn’t have killed himself. It’s unthinkable. Roman is a lot of things, but actively suicidal has never been one of them. As a matter of fact, that’s more of Kendall’s schtick than anyone else’s. At least half of his overdoses have been intentional, not that he’d ever admit it. 

“I- I don’t- Roman-”

“Look at me,” his father says, and Kendall feels compelled to obey. “Was this an accident, or did my number one boy break?"

“There- there was- was a deer, in the road, I…”

The officer puts a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. “Why don’t we talk more later? In the meanwhile, you can go to a doctor just to make sure you’re alright, and-”

“I’m- I’m fine. I don’t need a doctor.”

Kendall pretends not to see the officer’s eyes flick to his head injury, but he has no authority to force medical attention and they both know it. When he leaves, Kendall is left pinned in this room by the weight of his father’s gaze. There must be a million things that his father wants to say to him. Mostly a demand for an explanation of how he could’ve allowed this to happen to Roman, the baby of the family in a way Shiv never was, despite being a couple years his junior. 

“We’re having his funeral before we go back to New York,” his father says, surprisingly calm and almost reassuring. “He’ll be buried in Dundee, in the family plot. Gerri’s handling the details.”

The words that go unsaid weigh the heaviest. It’s too painful for anyone in the family to do it, but he wouldn’t trust something so important to just anyone. This will be a whirlwind, he’s sure; they can’t leave Waystar for long, but there’s no world in which they don’t all pay their respects and leave a final goodbye to the remnants of what had once been a force of nature such as Roman.

“I know what the line will be on this, whether I like it or not. It’s cleaner to say Roman wanted out because of his mistakes, because then we can pin all of it on someone who can’t argue. But just between us, son, I need you to tell me the truth about what happened.”

Kendall knows what he saw, and he repeats as much now. “We both saw the deer. He was trying to avoid it.”

His father nods and sends him on his way with little more than a dismissive gesture. Kendall knows better than to argue in a moment like this, and abandons his father to his grieving solitude to rejoin the people in the dining hall. The police have more or less finished with their interviews. All the faces blur together, pale little indefinable things that don’t represent anything more than life which was stolen from Roman. Most of these people didn’t even like him. They found him irritating or immature or idiotic, but here they stand, pretending to drown in grief that isn’t theirs to claim. 

“It’s not yours either,” Roman hisses. 

Connor and Shiv are huddled together in one of the corners. Their mother is nowhere to be seen, likely filling the void her own grief leaves in alcohol and xanax. Tom is talking to Gerri, probably seeking details on the funeral on Shiv’s behalf. Kendall’s siblings look young again, and he feels the same when he approaches them.

Their conversation halts in its tracks, but a new one picks up the second Connor pulls Kendall into a hug like he hasn’t in so many years. Somewhere along the line, they stopped hugging each other as often. This is a welcome comfort, however, and Kendall buries his face against Connor’s shoulder and sinks into the embrace. He still wears the same weird cologne he has been for the last twenty years, its scent familiar and comforting. Until his tears soak Connor’s shirt, Kendall doesn’t realize he’s finally started to cry about this. 

When their hug ends, Shiv starts to reach for him as well, but seems to think the better of it. Kendall understands nonetheless; she wants comfort and reassurance just as Kendall and Connor do, and this morning, there is no game to be played or leverage to be won. It’s him who reaches out to her properly and hugs his sister close. It’s been an eternity since he did this as well. 

“I heard you were with him,” Shiv says when they part, hastily wiping at her own eyes to prevent tears from spilling down her cheeks. 

“I tried to- I tried- I- I-”

“We know,” Connor assures. “We know you did everything you could.”

At that moment, Tom joins them, leaving an inch of space between himself and Shiv that she voluntarily closes. To see her admit a desire for comfort, even in such a miniscule way, is rare enough to make Kendall’s chest ache. That’s twice this morning, now. 

“Gerri says the funeral will be next Sunday. It’s the fastest they can get his uh, his coffin made.”

Shiv covers her mouth with her hand and Connor clears his throat. Kendall just nods and walks away, looking for anything else to do before his emotions tear him to shreds like Roman’s legs.  

[calwrites]

The Illusion (part 1)

Summary: Reader has tried her hardest to keep the rest of the BAU from learning about her past. When her father dies and she has to go home, her secrets might come out.

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Umbrella Academy!Reader

Warnings: none

Word Count: 4.8k

This is kind of a crazy, stupid idea, but I’ve read a couple fics where the reader is like an Avenger or a vampire and the team finds out and I think they’re really fun, so I decided to give it a try. Part 2 will come out in a few days probably. I’m trying to decide how far into the show to go.

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

“Well I don’t know about you guys, but I am so ready to go home,” Derek groaned. The rest of the team echoed his sentiment as you all followed him into the small town police station that you had been in way too much this past week. You were more than ready to get back to your apartment and not talk to anyone until Monday.

In the back of your mind, you knew that Allison’s new movie had just come out. She had probably been getting ready for the premiere as you were tackling the unsub. Still, you should probably see the movie this weekend, while you had some free time without a case. Even though the premise didn’t exactly entice you, you should at least see it so you could text her about how good she was in it. It had been too long since you had talked to your sister. A few texts after the news of her divorce broke and some empty promises to hang out soon, but you hadn’t had a real conversation with her in over a year. It had been a lot longer since you had talked to the rest of your siblings, with the exception of Diego, who would appear occasionally to ask for your help in whatever “case” he was working. You had learned that it was easier to help him find whatever information he was looking for and then send him on his way. He was less likely to break into your apartment or try to hack your work computer that way.

Still, it would be nice to see Allison again, even if it was just on a screen. Your eyes flicked to Spencer before you could stop them. He invited you to so many niche events that maybe he wouldn’t question why you wanted to see the new Allison Hargreeves movie so badly or why you invited him. 

You weren’t really sure if you two had been on any actual dates or if you were just two friends hanging out. He always had some reason why he was inviting you specifically. You knew Russian, so he wouldn’t have to translate the movie for you. You knew Roman comedy, so the two of you could discuss whether the performance was historically accurate. You knew Japanese art history, so you could carry out a conversation about the new exhibit. None of those reasons stopped the crush that you had on Spencer Reid.

But you couldn’t say anything. Besides the fact that he was your coworker, you couldn’t risk him getting dragged into any family drama. None of your coworkers knew about your family. As far as anyone was aware, you didn’t have a good relationship with your family, and you certainly didn’t like to talk about them. They probably had their own theories about why. What had your family done that made you not flinch when cases took a turn like this last one did? Why weren’t you surprised that a father could kill his child and then pretend to be the picture of grief? Because as far as you were concerned, your father had killed two of his children and had killed everything good about the other six.

These thoughts ran silently through your head as you helped the team pack everything up. Soon, you would be on the jet, heading back to DC. And tomorrow, you would see your sister’s new movie. Hopefully, with Spencer.

A noise from the TV in the corner of the station shook you out of your thoughts. Breaking news, apparently. You turned back to the papers you were organizing, prepared to ignore whatever celebrity cheating scandal they were about to break.

“...the death of the world’s most eccentric and reclusive billionaire…”

The words made your breath catch. There was only one person they could be talking about. You made yourself look at the TV. Staring back at you was your father’s face. Or a picture of it, at least. Though really, you saw pictures of your father more than you had ever actually seen your father in person.

“Wow.” JJ’s voice beside you startled you a bit. “Reginald Hargreeves. I haven’t thought about him in forever.”

“I can’t believe he died. I kind of assumed he would live forever,” Emily said from your other side. It seemed the TV had caught everyone’s attention. “I mean, he was a crazy billionaire. Aren’t they supposed to find the secret to eternal life?”

“Y/N, are you okay?” You met Spencer’s kind eyes, but couldn’t find any words for a few seconds. Finally, you managed a smile.

“Of course. It’s just kind of shocking, I guess. Why?”

“You’re rubbing your arm. You do that when you’re upset.” You hadn’t even realized that you were doing it again. Had you always done it? You must have, if Spencer had noticed.

You could still remember the first time. It was a few days after you had gotten the stupid tattoo. Your skin was still sore, but you had scrubbed and scrubbed, trying to get the tattoo to wash off, until your skin was red and raw. You knew it wouldn’t wash off. You knew, yet you tried constantly. Even now, apparently. Now your father was dead and you would still have that stupid tattoo that marked you as one of his. As one of the Umbrella Academy kids. A freak. A soldier. A pawn.

Shaking your head a bit to clear your thoughts, you looked at Spencer. “I think I’m just ready to be home. It’s been a long case, and this is weird news to get at the end of it. I’m just tired.”

You weren’t sure if Spencer believed you, but he nodded and didn’t question it. The team continued packing up in silence. It wasn’t until you were back on the jet that anyone brought it up again.

“So who was your favorite Umbrella Academy kid?” Derek asked, breaking the silence of the jet.

“Let me guess, yours was Spaceboy. You wanted to be super strong like him,” Emily teased lightly.

“For your information, my favorite was The Kraken. If he was that good with knives, imagine how good he would be throwing a football,” Derek corrected her, an easy smile on his face. How strange that everyone else could talk so casually about them. Of course, as far your team was concerned, they were just names and faces from TV or trading cards. They weren’t real people.

“Well I wanted to be The Rumor. Imagine how much easier sneaking out would be if you could just tell your parents to let you go.” Emily laughed as she said it. She didn’t understand how easy it was to get caught up in that power. You had seen it happen, though.

“I always liked The Illusion. I mean, making people see whatever you wanted them to would be so cool. Plus, reading minds would be helpful. It would make interrogations go a lot quicker.” It was only because of years of practice that you didn’t react to JJ’s words. The rest of the team began discussing how helpful it would be to be able to read an unsub’s mind. Not that you would know. You refused to do it.

“Project your consciousness into their brain. Know their thoughts. See what they see.”

Those words were some of your earliest memories. You would stand across from one of your siblings, reading their thoughts, seeing through their eyes, hearing through their ears, feeling what they felt, while your father kept repeating those words. That was before you had realized the true extent of your powers.

“Y/N, who was your favorite?” You blinked in surprise at Derek’s question. Everyone’s eyes were on you.

“It changed, I guess.” It was a lame answer, but they accepted it and continued to argue amongst themselves about who was the best. It was the truth, though. You had always been close with Allison. That had never changed. The girls had to stick together. You guessed that you were probably close to Vanya when you were younger, but you saw her less and less as you got older and training began to occupy more of your time. You certainly weren’t close to her now. Not after what she had written about you.

You and Five had been close for a time. Both of you were desperate to prove to your father that you were more powerful than he thought. That you weren’t worthless just because you were on the lower half of the rankings. But then Five had disappeared, and you discovered a new aspect of your powers. 

It was because of Luther. A few weeks had passed since Five’s disappearance, and Luther, in a horrible attempt to “be a leader” and “boost morale” had said that Five brought the disappearance on himself because he hadn’t listened when Dad told him not to try time travelling. Something in you had snapped. You wanted Luther to experience what you had imagined Five did. Lost in darkness, unsure of where or when you were. Just an expanse of nothingness. 

You didn’t even know you were doing it at first, but Luther started to scream. It was over as quick as it began, thanks to the shock of Luther’s yell. He shivered as he explained that suddenly he couldn’t see, hear, or feel anything. It was like nothingness. Luther never quite forgave you for that, but you would never forget the joyful look in your father’s eyes as he realized that it was your doing. That not only could you tap into another person’s brain. You could manipulate it.

But it was harder to control. And after you accidentally left one criminal permanently blind, you were scared of your powers. Klaus and Ben understood how you felt, and the three of you became inseparable. Even after Ben died, that didn’t change. None of your siblings knew that Ben was still around, but you did. Klaus would let you use his eyes and ears so that you could talk to Ben. You missed them. Klaus would show up at your apartment sometimes, looking for money. You would get him to stay for a few days and take some time off work so you could watch him. The three of you would hang out like old times. But eventually you would have to go back to work, and you would come back to find an empty apartment and missing cash.

Despite the fact that Diego was the one you talked to most often now, you two hadn’t gotten along as children. There were rare times when you would click, but for the most part it was constant bickering. You two were too much alike. Quick to anger and slow to forgive.

You were stuck in these memories for the rest of the flight. No one said anything about your silence, but you did feel Spencer’s gaze on you often. You continued to rub your arm, like you would be able to rub off the tattoo that was always covered by your sleeve.

Most of the team left the office pretty quickly once you arrived back in DC. They dropped off whatever needed to be dropped off, then headed home. You lingered, wanting to catch Hotch alone. It would be easier if there was no one around to question what you needed to talk to him about.

“Do you want me to wait up, Y/N? We can take the metro back together.” You smiled genuinely at Spencer’s question. The two of you lived close to each other, so you often left together, either carpooling or taking the metro together.

“No, it’s fine. I need to talk to Hotch before I leave. I’ll see you soon.” Spencer gave you a small wave as he left. You watched him go, feeling strangely sad. How you wished you could walk out with him and ask if he wanted to go see a movie tomorrow night. It seemed so long ago when that had been your plan.

“Hotch.” You knocked on his door, waiting for his answer before opening the door. He was looking over paperwork, as usual, and barely looked up when you came in. “I was wondering if I could have a few days off.”

That made him look up, his eyes drilling into yours. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes.” No. “I just need a few days. I don’t want to be gone long. It’s my brother.” It was the same thing you said whenever Klaus or Diego showed up. You waited for Hotch’s answer, a carefully blank look on your face. There were always a few seconds where you would worry that he had somehow figured out who you were. That the fake last name and fake childhood records weren’t enough. But they always were.

“Of course, Y/L/N. Take as much time as you need. And we’re here if you need anything.”

“Thank you, sir.” You smiled at him as you walked out of his office, though smiling was the last thing you wanted to do. Now you had no reason not to go back home. You would have to try to mourn your father. You would have to see your siblings.

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

The house looked exactly like you remembered. Big and empty. The sound of the door echoed as it closed behind you. You wondered if anyone else was here yet. You heard the steps of someone walking towards the entryway. Allison, if you had to guess, based on the footsteps.

“Y/N!” You were right. The smile that lit up your face was mirrored on Allison’s as you two rushed to hug each other. “I’ve missed you.”

“You too. I hope you don’t mind if I don’t make it to your movie this weekend.” The two of you laughed for a few seconds before remembering why you were there. “How are you doing?”

Allison shrugged and shook her head slightly. “I already lost my husband and I’m not allowed to talk to my daughter. Now my father is dead. It’s been a rough year. How are you? How’s the genius you’re almost dating?”

“I’m good. We just finished a rough case yesterday, so I’m a little bummed that I don’t get to relax this weekend. Spencer is also good. The other week we went to a shadow puppet theater festival. He said that he was glad he had a friend who was willing to go to stuff like that with him, so I don’t think he’s interested in me.”

Allison linked her arm through yours. You walked slowly through the halls, not talking. It was comforting enough just being with someone who understood what you were going through. With Allison, actions spoke louder than words.

“Is anyone else here yet?”

“Diego and Luther. I haven’t seen Klaus or Vanya. Who knows if they’ll show up.”

“Klaus will show up if he knows about it and isn’t in rehab. I wouldn’t be surprised if Vanya doesn’t show. She’s already said a lot about Dad. I don’t know if she has anything more to add.”

“You’re still mad.” It wasn’t a question, but you nodded anyway. “You know how excluded Vanya was growing up. Can you blame her?”

“That wasn’t our fault. If she wanted to tell her story, that’s fine. If she wanted to drag Dad’s name through the mud, that’s fine. He more than deserved it. She didn’t need to write about the rest of us though. I mean, my coworkers read that book. One detail that’s too specific and they could have figured out who I am. ‘So desperate to prove that she’s worthy of being called a hero that even now she devotes her life to fighting crime.’ She might as well have told everyone that I’m an FBI agent. I’ve tried so hard to build a normal life, and she could have ruined it all.”

A car pulled up outside the house as we passed by a window. You paused, watching as Vanya got out of the back. “Speak of the devil.”

Allison gave you a disapproving look. “I’m going to go see her. Coming?”

“Definitely not. I’ll see you later.” You could hear the door open and Vanya’s voice come floating up. You continued walking until you found myself outside of your father’s room. You could hear the floor creaking inside. Too heavy to be Diego. Must be Luther.

“What are you doing?” You asked as you walked into the room. Luther was standing by your dad’s bed, inspecting it. He was a lot bigger than the last time you had seen him. And his mind seemed to be screaming about why. You tried not to read his thoughts, but Luther’s head had always been a bit of an open book.

“This is where he died. Where Pogo found him.” Didn’t really explain what he was doing, but you could guess.

“No sign of a struggle.” You walked over to a window. It was locked. All of the windows were locked. “No sign of forced entry. No way someone could sneak in without Pogo or Mom knowing.”

“She’s right.” Diego entered. His eyes widened when he saw Luther. ��Oh, you got big, Luther. What’s the secret, huh? Protein shakes? Low carbs?”

“What do you want?”

Diego pulled some paper from his pocket, holding it out to Luther. “The autopsy report.” Of course, being Diego, he pulled it back when Luther reached for it. Anything to rile up Luther.

“And you have this why?”

“Well, that’s because I broke into the coroner’s office. And surprise, surprise, Dad’s death was normal.”

“Y/N, he’s not allowed to do that,” Luther said, pointing an accusing finger at Diego as he looked at you. “You’re an FBI agent. Arrest him.”

“I’m not arresting my brother at Dad’s funeral. And I’m not on the clock. Grow up, Luther.” You took the report from Luther, glancing over it quickly. Heart failure. Normal. No reason to question it. But Luther would, and you didn’t want to be there when he and Diego started to fight. “I’ll leave you boys to it. I’m going to see if I can find Klaus.”

You left quickly. Where would Klaus go if he was here? You rolled your eyes when you realized the obvious answer. Dad’s office. Not only would there be valuables there, it would also be like giving the old man a giant middle finger. Typical Klaus.

Sure enough, you could hear him rummaging around the desk before you could see him. “Looking for something?” His head popped up, a grin splitting his face when he saw you. You wouldn’t stop him from taking anything, and he knew it. You didn’t need to enter his mind to know that he was high. You could see it in his eyes just as clearly as you could see the fresh rehab bracelet on his wrist. “Fresh out of rehab and already high? I don’t know how you manage it.”

“I guess I’m just incredible.” You rolled your eyes at him, but still accepted his hug with a smile.

“I know that this is hard for you, but Ben should be here. Even if the others can’t see him. He should get a chance to say goodbye.”

Klaus’s eyes were glued to the floor as he spoke. “I know.”

You didn’t get a chance to say anything else before Allison came in. It was nice, just the three of you. You three never fought. Mostly, you and Allison used to just laugh at whatever bit Klaus was doing.

“Number Three,” he was saying in a bad impression of your father’s voice when he was interrupted by Luther.

“Get out of his chair.” Of course. Perfect Number One was still so worried about following your father’s orders. Even now, he made Klaus empty his pockets as the two of you tried to leave so Luther and Allison could talk in private. But once you two were out of the room, you grinned and handed Klaus some things that you had snuck in your pockets before Luther came in. Nothing important or too valuable. It was really just a gesture to tell Klaus that you were on his side.

“And whatever is in your pants, make sure it’s nothing important before you sell it.” Being Klaus, he pretended to have no idea what you were talking about, but he shot you a wink before he wandered away.

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

You stood at the bar next to Klaus, wondering who was going to speak first. Your money was on Luther. You accepted the drink that Klaus handed you without bothering to ask what it was. Any alcohol would help you get through this.

“I guess we should get this started.” You were right. You took a seat as Luther stood up. You mostly tuned Luther out, as you always had. He was talking about scattering your father’s ashes.

“Dad had a favorite spot?” Allison asked.

“You know under the oak tree.” Everyone looked blankly at Luther. You remembered watching your father and Luther talking there when you were younger. It used to make you jealous. Now, it just made you mad. “We used to sit out there all the time. None of you ever did that?”

“No, Luther. We didn’t. He didn’t like any of us.” You gestured to the rest of your siblings as you spoke. You shouldn’t be doing this. You shouldn’t be lashing out. You were an FBI agent. Surely you were better than that. But there was something about being in this house with your siblings with the focus on your father that turned you into a child again.

And it didn’t matter whether you added fuel to the fire or not. Someone was bound to set everything off. 

“Listen up. There’s still some important things we need to discuss.”

“Like what?” Diego asked. You knew what Luther was going to say before he said anything.

“Like the way he died.”

“And here we go,” Diego muttered.

“I don’t understand. I thought they said it was a heart attack,” Vanya said, confusion evident in her voice.

“Yeah according to the coroner.”

“Well wouldn’t they know?” You hated to agree with Vanya, but you had to.

“Luther thinks that there was foul play,” you explained. “However, there was no sign of forced entry and no sign of a struggle.”

“Well, Y/N is an FBI agent. Why don’t you trust her?” Allison asked Luther.

“Look, I’m just saying something happened. The last time I talked to Dad, he sounded strange.”

“Oh, quelle surprise,” Klaus interjected as he gurgled his drink. That wouldn’t help Luther’s anger.

“Strange how?” Allison asked.

“He sounded on edge,” Luther explained. “Told me I should be careful who to trust.”

“Luther, he was a paranoid, bitter old man, who was starting to lose what was left of his marbles.” Of course, Luther defended your father before turning to Klaus.

“Look, I know you don’t like to do it, but I need you to talk to Dad.”

Klaus laughed. “No I can’t. I’m not in the right frame of mind.”

“You’re high?” You didn’t know how Allison was surprised. It was obvious.

“Then there’s the issue of the missing monocle.”

“Who cares about a stupid monocle, Luther?” you groaned. You noticed the way Diego’s face shifted for a second. So he had the monocle. Or he at least knew what happened to it. “No one is going to break in without alerting Mom or Pogo, kill Dad and make it look an accident, then take the stupid monocle. No one that smart would be that dumb.”

“Exactly! It’s worthless. Whoever took it, I think it was personal. Someone with a grudge.”

“Where are you going with this?”

You shook your head as Diego said what you were thinking. “Isn’t it obvious, Klaus? He thinks one of us killed Dad.” The stunned faces of your siblings looked at Luther. You shook your head in disgust.

“Way to lead, Luther,” you said sarcastically. Allison and Vanya both got up and left the room.

“Can you blame me? I mean, you’ve never tried to hide how much you hate Dad. And Diego’s some sort of vigilante now. Both of you could easily sneak in and kill him.”

“You’re crazy, man. You’re crazy.” Klaus shook his head as he got up and headed back to the bar.

“I can’t believe you, Luther.”

“Do us all a favor and go back to the moon, monkey boy.” Luther’s eyes widened at my words before his face turned red with anger.

“Get out of my head,” he growled.

“I don’t need to be in your head to figure it out. Besides, your brain is so empty that your thoughts come floating out begging to be heard.”

“Neither of you are denying it,” Luther said finally. You threw your hands up and Diego stood up suddenly.

“Why would either of us decide to kill Dad now. What’s the trigger? It doesn't make sense. Unlike you, Luther, we moved on with our lives,” you explained slowly, like he was a child.

“Don’t talk down to me just because you’re an FBI agent.”

“You think there’s a murder. I catch serial killers. You should be begging for my help.”

“Unless he thinks the two of us teamed up to kill Dad,” Diego said. The two of you turned to look at Luther. He at least had the decency to look a little ashamed that he was thinking that exact thing. At that point, everyone’s voices had risen so much that you barely noticed the knock at the door.

“I’m out of here,” Diego said softly when Luther didn’t respond.

“No you’re not. Not until we figure out what happened.” Luther grabbed Diego’s arm, so Diego, of course, punched Luther in the face. Within a few seconds, they were fighting in earnest. Diego had his knives out and everything.

“Oh, you guys, don’t do this now,” Klaus whined from the bar. “Y/N, will you do something? Take away their sight or something. I’m too sober for this.”

You hadn’t used your powers in years. Ideally, Allison would come in and rumor them to stop, but you didn’t know where she had gone. Taking a deep breath, you focused your consciousness like your father had taught you. You were careful to only enter Diego’s and Luther’s minds, leaving Klaus out of it.

Darkness.

You focused on darkness, blocking out everything that your brothers were seeing. You could do this. You could control it, at least until Allison was back. Of course, being unable to see didn’t stop your brothers from blundering around.

“Y/N, stop!” Luther’s words were accompanied by a sharp blow to the back of your head. “Oh no, Y/N, I didn’t know you were right there. I can’t see anything. Just stop this, Y/N.”

“I’m just trying to stop you two from destroying the house. Besides, isn’t this a great way to honor Dad’s memory? Fighting with each other is what he always made us do.” You tried to stand back up, but your head was spinning from the blow and from the strain. There was once a time when you could hold ten people in the darkness with ease, but you weren’t used to using your powers anymore. You no longer had to spend hours each day inside other people’s minds. You could feel your control slipping, but you couldn’t stop. Your head hurt.

“Y/N!” Klaus yelled in terror. “I can’t see, Y/N.”

You had to stop. You had to stop. You couldn’t. Your head hurt and you couldn’t seem to find a way out of their minds. You were aware of other minds in the house. More than there should be. But why? And why did your head hurt so bad?

“Y/N, what are you doing? Ahhh my head!” Diego yelled. He sounded like he was in pain. You were making him feel your pain. Since when could you do that? Your Dad would have been so happy.

“I heard a rumor that you stopped.” Allison’s voice rang out. Suddenly, you were back in your own head and the splitting headache was just yours. Diego and Luther both collapsed on the floor with you. Klaus was by your side almost instantly, a new glass in hand for you, which you gulped down quickly before handing it back to him for a refill.

“Remind me not to mess with Y/N again,” Diego sighed. You met his eyes with an apologetic smile. It felt so much like you were kids who got a little carried away during training.

“I guess I got a little carried away.” The two of you laughed, and even Luther joined in eventually. The laughter stopped abruptly when a new voice spoke.

“Y/N?”

[notalwaysthevillian]

Shattering Stereotypes

Warnings: Kissing, making out, hickies/marks

Pairings: Romantic Moxiety, Remile, and Logince

Word Count: ~1.7k

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Read from the beginning

Chapter 19

“I’m home!” Logan called out as he walked in. His lips were still tingling from when Roman had kissed him goodbye.

Thomas appeared in the doorway, dressed up as Captain America. “What time are we due at the Prince’s again?”

“Four o’clock, sweetheart.”

Preston came down the stairs, flicking the hair out of his face. His arm was painted silver, making it abundantly clear what his costume was - the Winter Soldier.

“Oh my god, you guys did a couple’s costume? You never do that!”

“I figured we’d have some fun this year.” Preston teased, before grabbing Thomas’s plastic shield off the couch. “Take a picture for us?”

Logan took the picture, fake-gagging when Thomas held up the shield and made a big show of kissing Preston.

“You know, you and Roman act the same way.”

Flushing bright red, Logan handed the camera back over. “We do not!”

“At least they’re together now, Tommy.” The grin on Preston’s face had Logan mentally shielding himself for whatever was coming next. “Watching them pine for each other? That was horrible to experience.”

Thomas rolled his eyes, poking Preston in the chest. “I seem to remember that you had a crush on me for our entire high school career before you said anything.”

Laughing at Preston’s protests, Logan headed up to his room to get ready.

He immediately remembered his problem.

An extremely visible mark on his neck that he had no makeup to hide.

Locking his bedroom door, he immediately called Roman.

“Hey, honeybee, what’s up?”

Feeling his cheeks burn, Logan held up the camera so that Roman could see his neck. “I may have forgotten that I needed to take care of this.”

“Oh shit.” Roman put his phone down, giving Logan a view of his ceiling. There was some background noise as he rummaged through his dresser.

The camera shifted to show a triumphant Roman holding up some makeup. “I’ve got you covered. Or, I will, when you get here.”

“Thank goodness.”

“Shouldn’t you be heading out soon anyway? It’s almost four.” Roman tilted his head, giving heart eyes to the camera. “I miss you already.”

“Logan, you ready to go?!”

Blowing a kiss to his camera, Logan said his goodbyes and hung up. He ensured that his goggles were covering his issue before heading downstairs and getting in the car.

True to form, Roman darted out of his house as soon as they pulled up, opening the door for Logan.

“Chivalry isn’t dead.” Thomas joked, giving Roman a smile. “Nice to see you at your own house, Roman.”

“I’m happy to have you guys here!” Roman said as he threaded his fingers through Logan’s. “My parents have been dying to meet you guys.”

Logan heard the door open once more before Connor and Margo stepped out onto the porch. Thomas and Preston headed over, the boys trailing behind them.

“Oh, you must be Logan’s dads!” Margo opened her arms for a hug, smiling as each of them took her up on the offer. “I’m Margo, and this is my husband, Connor.”

“And I’m Dahlia!” Dahlia twirled out of the door, holding a plastic fairy wand. “Ro-Ro, I need you to help me put on my costume!”

“Only the best for you, Princess.” Roman scooped up his sister, making her squeal, before looking back at Logan. “You can help the fair lady get dolled up, or stand out here and listen to our parents talk.”

“I did learn how to do some fancy hair for my younger cousins.”

Dahlia cheered in glee as the three of them entered the house and headed up to her room.

When Roman pushed open the door, Logan had expected to be blinded by a sudden barrage of pink. Instead, Dahlia’s room was tastefully decorated, with hints of pinks and purples strewn throughout. Her bedspread was purple, but that was the biggest splash of color in the otherwise white room.

“I expected more toys on the floor.”

“Mr. Snuffles and his friends are sleeping in the closet.” Dahlia said, as though that explained everything.

Roman laughed at the look on Logan’s face. “The make-up is in my room if you want to put some on while I play the role of handmaiden.”

Hiding his blushing face from Dahlia, Logan gave a nod. He moved into Roman’s room, seeing the foundation sitting on his desk, a clean brush sitting next to it. Removing his goggles, he quickly covered up the bruise.

“Dahlia’s all dressed up with places to be.”

“Mom! Look at me!”

Logan smiled at Roman in the mirror, holding up the foundation. “Thanks for this.”

“What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn’t help cover up my mistake?”

As Roman spoke, he slid behind Logan, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend’s waist. The tension melted from Logan’s shoulders as Roman pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“If we’re not careful there might be another ‘mistake’.”

Grinning, Roman reached over and grabbed a black spray bottle. “Here, let’s get some setting spray on this. It’ll keep the foundation from rubbing off as much.”

Logan tilted his neck, allowing the spray to settle and dry. He felt Roman’s breath afterwards, spinning around and gently pushing him back. “Ro.”

“Lo.”

“C’mon, didn’t we say we’d take Dahlia trick or treating?”

“You know, the whole ‘super responsible’ thing,” Roman pulled Logan closer by the hips, smirking as he heard Logan’s breath hitch. “It’s super hot.”

“ROMAN WE’RE GONNA MISS TRICK OR TREATING!”

Laughing at Dahlia’s screech, Roman settled for kissing Logan’s forehead before the two of them headed downstairs. Dahlia was all dressed up in her pink princess gown, a tiara falling off her head.

Before Roman could say anything, Logan walked over and quickly braided some of Dahlia’s hair and fixed her tiara so that it would stay put.

“Get together so I can take your picture!”

The three of them took a few pictures before Dahlia started squirming. Just as she opened the door, a group of kids turned to walk up the driveway.

“LET’S GO!”

Trying to keep in his laughter at how excited Dahlia was, Logan trailed behind her and Roman as they headed to the street.

“Alright, squirt, you know the drill.” Roman was saying as Logan walked a little quicker to catch up. “We’re leaving Mrs. Dalloway’s house until last, since all she has are those yucky mints. We have to stop by the Torres’s so I can say hello to Principal Torres.”

“And we go to Lexa’s house to get the big chocolate bars!”

“Exactly.”

As Dahlia ran up to the first house, Logan moved to Roman’s side. “Seems like you have all this planned out.”

“We’ve lived here our whole life, of course we know the houses to go to.” Roman glanced over at Logan. “You have been trick or treating before, right?”

“I went until I was eight.”

Shaking his head, Roman reached out to take Logan’s hand.

Logan pulled away, glancing around. “Sorry, I just...I know how some of these moms can be and I -”

“No need to explain, I’ve run into a few Karens in my day. It’s all good.”

“Thanks for understanding.”

Dahlia darted back up to them. “Next house please!”

The three of them headed through the Prince’s normal route, with Dahlia filling them in on her candy inventory as they went.

“I already told Ro I’d give him all my Heath bars, but is there a candy you like Logan?” She asked as they headed back to the house. “Sharing is caring.”

“Oh, well, thank you Dahlia. I happen to love Snickers bars.”

Dahlia made a face. “You can have them.”

They entered the house laughing, immediately smelling meatloaf. The voices of their parents drifted in from the kitchen.

“Oh good! You guys are just in time.”

The oven timer started beeping, and Connor ran over to take the meatloaf out. Dahlia skipped over to help put out the silverware.

Dinner went by quickly, with the adults mostly talking to each other and leaving Logan and Roman to talk quietly by themselves. Dahlia hopped back and forth between conversations, pushing the Almond Joys across the table to Logan at one point. He gave her a big smile and thanked her, sliding them into his lab coat pocket.

Once dinner was over and cleaned up, everyone moved into the living room. Before they left the kitchen, Roman tugged Logan back.

“Come with me.”

Logan saw Preston glance over at them before they snuck out the other door to the kitchen. His dad simply gave him a discreet thumbs up, making Logan blush to the roots of his hair.

Roman led him down into the theater, ducking down into one of the seats. Logan followed suit, sitting next to him.

“Remember when we were alone here last time?” Roman asked, tilting his head at his boyfriend. “I think - I think I wanted to kiss you then. But my thick skull got in the way.”

Glancing toward the door, Logan was glad to see it was still closed. He slipped into Roman’s lap, looping his arms around Roman’s neck. “And what’s stopping you from doing it now?”

“Absolutely nothing.”

Logan could feel the grin on Roman’s face as their lips met, rolling his eyes. Roman pulled him as close as possible, his hands resting on Logan’s hips. When they broke apart for air, Roman immediately started pressing kisses down Logan’s jaw.

“Careful.” Was all Logan could gasp out.

Another smirk from Roman. “No marks, I swear.”

“Good.”

Ten minutes later, Logan heard the door open at the top of the stairs. He practically flung himself off Roman’s lap, landing in the adjacent chair.

“Logan? We’re going to head home now.” There was a knowing tone in Preston’s voice. “If you want to keep making out with your boyfriend, you can, but you’ll have to walk home.”

“Be right up!” Logan squeaked, hearing his dad laugh before the door shut.

Roman waggled his eyebrows. “I mean, he did give us permission.”

Logan rolled his eyes again. “I’m going home, but...thank you for tonight. It was great, and our parents got along really well.”

Grabbing his phone, Logan got to his feet. Before he took off back up the stairs, he leaned over, giving Roman one last kiss. It was his turn to smirk when he heard Roman whine as they broke apart.

“There’s plenty more where that came from.”

Before Roman could answer, Logan darted up the stairs, heading home with his dads.

[justmefangirlingoverbuddie]

TV Quiz Questions:

Choose 4 6 of your favourite TV Shows: You should try this out too...

1. Sherlock

2. Teen Wolf

3. Nancy Drew

4. Supernatural

5. Wizards of Waverley Place

6. The Originals

The first character I fell in love with:

Sherlock Holmes

Stiles Stilinski

Nancy Drew

Dean Winchester

Alex Russo

Klaus Mikaelsson

The character I never expected to love as much as I do now:

Mycroft Holmes

Derek Hale (I was really suspicious in the beginning but now he is one of my fave characters)

Ace

Castiel (I LOVE HIM SOO MUCH)

Justin Russo

Freya Mikaelson (I was worried she would be evil at first)

The character everyone else loves that I hate:

Mary Morsten (John deserved better from the beginning)

Cora was kind of annoying

I don't have one .. yet

I think some people agree with me - Mary Winchester

I don’t have one

I don’t hate him but Vincent could be so frustrating

The character everyone else hates that I love:

I don’t have one

Deucalion turned out to be pretty good character - even as a villain

I actually really like Amanda Bobbsey - she’s so sweet. (I just don’t want her as Ace’s girlfriend)

Lucifer - He’s just misunderstood (lots of people agree to with me to)

I don’t have one

I actually wanted Finn Mikaelson to come back

The character I would have sex with:

Sherlock is hot

All the guys on teen wolf- Stiles, Derek, Scott, Isaac, Theo, Liam …..

Ace - I know he would be so sweet

Dean Winchester and Castiel are at the top of my list but if I was being real … all of them

None but only cause I think of them as eternally young

All the Mikaelson men and Marcel and Jackson but first things first Klaus

Who are your five favourite characters (In order):

Sherlock, John, Mycroft, Mrs Hudson, Lestrade

Stiles, Scott, Derek, Coach, Lydia

The Drew Crew- Nancy , Ace, George, Bess, Nick (In order)

Dean, Castiel, Sam, Crowley, Bobby

Alex, Harper, Justin, Max, Jerry

Klaus, Rebekah, Elijah, Freya, Hayley, Kol

Favourite minor character:

Mycroft (does he count?)

Coach - THE FUNNIEST GUY EVER and all of the parents

Ryan Hudson- I want to see his relationship with Nancy grow

Charlie- I miss her so much

Mr Laritate

Hope Mikaelson

A pairing that you love (Romantic and Non- Romantic):

I love Sherlock and John but I really want more Sherlock and Mycroft (the brothers are so cute)

Stiles and Derek- They are hilarious!!!

Ace and Nancy - Nace supremacy

Sam and Dean are the centre of everything but I love Dean and Cas too

Alex and Harper- the besties

Klaus and Hope - he loves her unconditionally

Favourite season:

Sherlock- Season 3

Teen Wolf- Season 3

Nancy Drew- Season 2

Supernatural- Season 4 and 5

Wizards of Waverly Place- Season 4

The Originals - Season 1

Favourite episode:

Season 3 episode 1 - The Empty House

Season 3 episode 18 - Riddled

Season 1 episode 17 - The Girl in the Locket

Season 4 episode 18 - The Monster at the End of This Book

Season 4 episode 21 - Wizards of Apartment 13B

Season 1 episode 21 - From a Cradle to a Grave

Character you would kill off:

Molly - its not that I don’t love her but she’s not essential to the story

Baeden - Sterek needs to happen

Carson Drew - It would be interesting to see how Nancy would handle losing both of her parents

Sam and Dean should have been together in death and life

Professor Krumbs - It would parallel the Harry Potter series with Dumbledore

Marcel should have died for a short time and then resurrected - Klaus would realise how much he loved him

The character that I think the show ruined:

John Watson - He wasn’t ruined AT ALL but he was less impressed by Sherlock as the seasons went on

Kira Yukimura- She deserved better

Nick (Ned Nickerson) - only because he’s really different to his book counterpart but I don’t hate him

Crowley - He didn’t deserve to die at all

Mason - I don’t think it was in character for him to ‘cheat’ on Alex - he loved her

Hope Mikaelson - she contributed to the death of her mother

The most attractive male and female character:

Male: Shelock Female: None (I don’t remember)

Male: Derek Hale Female: Lydia Martin

Male: Ace Female: Bess Marvin

Male: Dean Winchester Female: Bella

Male: Mason Female: Alex Russo

Male: Klaus Mikaelson Female: Hayley Marshall

The character death that was the worst for me:

Sherlock’s fake death - John crying was heartbreaking

Allison Argent - she died in the arms of the man she loved and her dad was devastated

Lucy Sable - she killed herself because of extreme bullying and never got to meet her daughter

The first death of Sam - Dean’s speech made me cry soo much

No one died - that I remember

Klaus and Elijah- They died together

The character that is the most like me:

Molly - I am an awkward fangirl of Sherlock too

I don’t think I am similar to any but Id love to be as charming as Stiles and as brave as Scott and smart as Lydia

I’m not like any of the characters but I think I relate most to George- I too have many younger siblings.

Castiel and I are both awkward AF and I don’t understand enough pop culture references

Alex and I are both lazy AF

I have a temper that could rival that of Klaus

The characters that deserved better:

All of them deserve the world but I think Mycroft deserves better

Stiles and Derek deserve to be happy together

Nancy deserves better. She should be happy with Ace and not have to deal with her dad lying and the Hudsons

All of the characters deserve to be happy on Supernatural - They deserve the world, Dean , Sam and Castiel

Max should have got to keep his magic and be happy with his siblings

All of the Mikaelsons deserved to live happily - Klaus should have gotten to raise his daughter

My four least favorite characters, past or present:

Moriarty (I loved to hate him), Sargent Sally Donavan, Mary

Erica, Mr Lahey , Kali , Meredith Walker

Gil Bobbsey (he’s so manipulative), Everrett Hudosn, Ceila Hudson, Diana Marvin

Metatron, God, Samuel Campbell, Mary Winchester

Gigi, Stevie, Hugh Normous, Gorog

Esther, Mikael, Dhalia, Aurora de Martel

A character I’m indifferent about:

Anderson - he felt remorseful after thinking that Sherlock was dead

Kira - Her character was good but I dint love her

Bess - she can be a little shallow at times

Meg- her voice annoyed me sometimes but she loved Cas

Professor Krumbs could be little mean

Sometimes I loved her and other I hated her but in the end I think she is a strong female character

A ship I’ve never been able to get into/ shouldn’t have happened:

John and Mary - She wasn’t a great wife

Derek and Baeden- I didn’t see any chemistry at all

Nick and Nancy - Even they are endgame in the books, they didn’t have any chemistry on screen

Sam and Ruby - Mostly cause she was really sus from the beginning

Justin and Rosie - He was better with Juliet

Hope and Roman - He used her and that’s horrible on such a young girl

A ship I’ve never been able to get over:

Sherlock and John whether it be friends are lovers - they are supreme

Stiles and Derek- Even though its not canon its the best ship on the show

Nancy and Ace- They haven’t gotten together yet but I love the angst

Cas and Dean whether it be friends are lovers - they are supreme

Alex and Mason - those 2 were cute

Rebekah and Marcel- It took so long for them to be together but they finally got there

A cute, low-key ship:

Sherlock and Mycroft (not romantically- ew) as the best of brothers

Scott and Alison were so soft

Nick and George are cute- they are healthy and communicate really well

Sam and Elieen

Justin and Juliet - those nerdy cuties

Davina and Kol

My favourite storyline/moment:

Sherlock tells John he is alive - that was shocking

Dark Stiles - Nigutsune

Nancy finding about her true heritage and talking to Ryan and Nace

Cas saves Dean and becomes a part of the rest of the show

Alex erases herself and her brothers in the movie

All Klaus and Hope scenes

A storyline that never should have been written:

Sherlock’s long lost sister

The whole of season 6b

The death of Owen Marvin - he didn’t deserve to die.

Dean’s final death and Sam having to live without him

Alex and Justin accidentally turn Max int a girl

The death of Klaus, Elijah and Hayley in the final season just because of legacies

[theonlyblackcanary]

The Storm: Monsters

We’re almost to the end

@wrasslin-kpop-and-bullshit @swifteforeverandalways @dabislilmouse93 @wintersoilder @ozzypawsbone-princeofbarkness @agathamaximoff @moxleyunstable @the-iridescent-phoenix

"You're FBI!!! I thought you solve problems, not create more!" Dr. Britt Baker shouted. "When Liv finds out, she's going to lose it" Sonya sighed. "Doctor. Please calm down" Britt looked furious. "Don't say that. Not after everything. He ruined my baby sister. He stabbed her!!! He swore he was sorry but I saw it in his eyes. He regretted going too far."

Roman wasn't even trying to listen. The kid had been alive the entire time. The entire time. He should have known that Bray hadn't planned for him to survive, or maybe that was the plan all along.

"We got a hit on TJ's phone" Violet ran up. "Some abandoned factory near the river" "Perfect place to dump a body"

Violet nodded in agreement. "This is too easy. They've been careful....it has to be a trap" Sonya mused. Roman's phone buzzed, he ignored it. "So our tech guy gets kidnapped and our victim is still alive?" Finn's familiar Irish accent rang out. "Finn" Violet's face lit up. "Hey Vi" Vi? The two hugged a little longer than expected and pulled away with a look that Roman had seen with Finn's brother and his girlfriend.

He raised an eyebrow but Finn shook his head as a way to say “Not now”

Roman’s phone buzzed again. He growled at it and pulled it out. “Text from TJ’s phone” he said. Everyone gathered around him. “Can you not? You’re making me me claustrophobic” All but Finn moved away.

“One is buried but alive. The other is above ground but dead inside” He read out loud. “So now Wyatt is a poet?”

Roman shrugged and walked out. He needed to find Bray as soon as possible. If he really had buried someone alive....depending on how long it'd been he had two hours at the most. "Where are you going?" Finn ran out. "I have to get Seth and TJ out" "But yourself? Are you insane?!" "This has always been about me and him. I have to do this"

"Ro-" "Promise me you'll protect him when I get him out" "I promise" ----- "So where am I heading?" Roman asked into his phone. "It's a big grey building, can't miss it" "I got another call coming in" Roman hung up without saying goodbye. He was tired of goodbyes. "Hello?" "Roman?" "TJ? Where are you?" "I don't know, they dumped me in a box and put dirt on top of me" he sounded terrified. "Ok. Listen to me. I'm gonna get you out"

"Get Seth first" "....how long have you been there?" "Maybe an hour? Hour and a half?" Roman swore, he had maybe thirty minutes left, maybe even less. "I need you to call my aunt. Her name is Syndel. Tell her I always wanted to make peace. I missed her. My cousins and uncles too. I never wanted this. She was right. I wasn't ready for FBI work"

"You can tell them yourself" "Okay" Roman could tell he didn't believe that

"Don't take deep breaths ok? You need that air" Roman tried to keep him calm. TJ had been annoying, but he never deserved this horrible fate. "Just get Seth" TJ's voice was almost like a whisper. "Please don't die on me TJ. Liv needs you" "Y'know she called me Teddy? I had it tattooed as a tribute to my dad. He died too. I'm gonna see him soon"

The line cut.

[nostalgic-pancakes]

Room 73- Chapter 4/8

Summary: D&D is planned, two characters get their very own breakdowns, Thomas reminisces, and Virgil has one good day

Pairings: (eventual) QPP’s Remus and Patton, Pre-Relationship prinxiety, sibling-y Virgil and Original Character, Creativitwins

Read on AO3

Word count: 3326

Warnings: Questionable parenting, period-typical homophobia, the foster system, semi-graphic (?) depictions of violent death, rage breakdown, nervous breakdown, minor arson.

Other notes: None!

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Logan quite frankly had no idea what Janus meant by ‘friendly hissing’. All hissing was a warning sign to potential prey, and wasn’t friendly in any incarnation! How could certain kinds of hissing be friendly? They all sound the same!

This was a level of insanity nearly topping Neil DeGrasse Tyson playing Merlin in the fucking Sharknado movies. But not really. That would top everything. Either way, Janus, someone who also hissed rather often (information citation being Patton) was likely the superior authority in tonal hissing. Logan’s a bit too sleep-deprived looking up resources for ghosts and surviving midterms to care too much.

Either way, the Dungeons and Dragons planning session was starting today. Everyone would be there at lunch this time and that meant that one, he would get to see his brother for the first time since homeroom (no common classes on Wednesdays was not ideal), and meeting with the rest of their newfound friends.

(Logan had never had anyone other than Virgil, and the rest seem to be alright. Janus knows, anyways, and he didn’t hate Logan for it, so it’s probably alright. He hopes it’s alright.)

“Lo-Lo!! Over here!” comes a friendly voice from his northeast. It’s Patton, who’s waving at him, glasses crooked, big smile. Logan fixes his glasses, and tries to smile back. It works, and even feels real.

Patton from up close certainly looks a bit tired, but he’s still happy enough, so Logan refrains from pointing it out.

When they reach the lunch table tentatively labeled as ‘theirs’, Virgil scoots over to let Logan slot between him and Roman, while Patton curls up next to Janus, relishing being with their siblings again, as much as friends are ‘neat’.

(Maybe he’s been getting back into Welcome to Night Vale. Maybe Amma cried and hugged him, calling it progress and Mom sat next to him and listened to her own show, the Magnus Archives and held him close. Maybe Virgil squeezed him tight and brought out the ‘What the Fuck is Happening in Night Vale’ board they’d made when they were twelve. He’d never tell)

Remus starts to hand out sheets of paper, asking everyone to draw their characters while he and Virgil work on plot, and it’s quiet in that little space of three pairs of siblings sketching out D&D characters, later talking about little things, big things and everything in between in the courtyard because the senior kids had exams and therefore none of them had last period. It was pleasant, and they’d all be paying their third ever group visit to Thomas later in the afternoon, too.

This was nice.

…

“Hey, Vi?” Hildi asked from behind him. They were sitting back-to-back, on her bed listening to a new album from All Time Low. The name didn’t matter too much yet.

“Yeah, Di?”

“Wanna do low level arson?” she asked, turning to face him and reclaiming her earbud. This was probably a terrible idea, but Hildi was the one person he wasn’t scared of acting out horrific ideas with. He smiles, and it’s reflected in Hildi’s eyes, dark green like the forest she lives in.

“Sure, why not?” he gets up, and Hildi turns around again for him to take his binder off and put on a sports bra, before putting his jumper (that Patton had given him for his birthday last week) back on, and patting his jean pockets for his phone. Once he knew everything was there, Hildi turned back to him, took his hand and led him outside. - “Okay, so how did you possibly, in any fucking timeline convince me to set fire to your old ‘Secret Diaries’ in the middle of the very flammable woods as if it was, at all, anything REMOTELY RESEMBLING a good idea?!”

“The power of friendship, Virge. Don’t fret, the damages are going to be well hidden in a week.”

“Oh my god but this is how forest fires start, were we crazy?!”

“Virgil calm down, nothing is more than slightly scorched, nothing is dead, and we caught every last ember! You’d know!”

“How would I know? Isn’t that more your department?”

“Spend enough time with a witch, and this is what happens. I regret nothing.”

“I regret so many things.”

“Sadness.” - “Hey, scaredy-bro, Love you.” Hildi whispers into the night, and Virgil remembers nights like this in middle school, when he started to realise that not everyone was as scared as him all the time, and he’d become more scared because everyone was watching, and laughing, and--

And Hildi had been there, a casual acquaintance from primary school becoming his best friend becoming his kind of sister because what other word is there (?), offering him trash earbuds that made the grunge music sound that much grungier, and holding him close on the nights Logan came home, unable to speak, covered in bruises, never letting Virgil tell their parents even though Logan was their twin and Virgil was so scared-- She caught him as he fell, and he hopes that she knows that he’ll forever be grateful for it.

“Love you too, you fucking danger noodle.”

Hildi chucks a throw pillow at him. It misses by at least three feet, falling off the shared bed. They both giggle, loud enough that Hildi’s mum ‘ssh’’s them from her own room, audible even with the closed door.

Three hours later, knowing full well that Virgil’s been on tumblr this whole time, Hildi whispers again.

“Hey, let’s look for Kelpies in the creek tomorrow”

This is an awful idea. But it has fewer environmental ramifications.

“Sure, why not. After December break?”

“Fuck yeah.”

They don’t last a lot longer after that.

…

Virgil wasn’t sure what he was expecting to find when he went to check on Roman, after it was ten minutes past final bell and he still hadn’t shown in the chemistry room after going back to pick up his papers.

Having a minor breakdown was not on that list, even though murder was. Virgil’s brain needed new priorities.

“Ro-Ro, Roman, what’s happening?”

“I-I can’t Virgil, I can't do it, please, I’m sorry” Virgil’s hands clenched tighter onto Roman’s shirt collar, knuckles white from the worry.

“You can't do what, Roman?” he asks, as gently as he can

“I-I’m so scared, Virgil. Mom’s not doing well, Dad’s doing the opposite of helping, and Remus and I don’t know what to do, Virgil. They keep f-fighting. The last time we tried to tell, it was by accident, and Mom had gotten so mad, and she’d said “If you keep talking about how Mom and Dad fight, then there won’t be a mom and dad’ and I can’t-- I can’t live without her, I can’t, Virgil!” Roman blubbers into his shirt, staining his hoodie and and pressing against his (currently unbound, but no big deal) chest, but Virgil literally could not give a shit about his hoodie right then, pulling him closer and cradling Roman’s head in the crook of his neck, one hand in his (fluffy, holy shit is this cotton?) hair, the other cradling his back. Roman smells like wood and some kind of flower.

“Have you told her any of this, Ro?” Virgil asks, and Romab lets out a bigger sob, burying himself into Virgil’s torso. Virgil knew that Roman’s parents weren’t on the best of terms right now, even though they kept trying to be good parents, but this? This was new.

“I c-can’t because-hic- She’ll get more upset, and she’s alsways so close to snapping and i can’t tell dad because he’ll get angry and I can’t tell Remus because he knows but he doesn’t, he doesn’t---fuck”

“Doesn’t?” prompts Virgil, softly into Roman’s hair, muffled by the soft chestnut curls.

“know, not same as I do, he doesn’t get sad, he gets mad, and he doesn’t want to become like dad but he stops talking and locks himself in rooms to not yell at people and I don- I don’t wanna make it worse.” he says softly, and Virgil starts stroking his hair, as a way to try and calm Roman down, trying not to cry a bit himself. He wishes, in a horrible way, that this was a panic attack. He doesn’t know what to do here.

“Could you find a way to maybe more quietly tell her to stay, perhaps?” asks Virgil again, even quieter this time. Roman more feels the words than he hears them, a soothing sort of humming.

“But it’s so selfish, isn’t it? That I think that? She deserves to be happy, and if being without us is happy, then she should, right? But I can’t do this with just my dad- he’s trying, but I can’t, help, please.”

And Virgil doesn’t know what to do, or what to say anymore. So he just holds Roman tighter in that very small corner in the 9-D classroom, and Roman clutches back until he’s cried it out entirely, and is ready to face everyone else. It’s been a few minutes, but they can clean up real quick.

Virgil takes out his spare hoodie and changes into it, Roman with his back turned in the boy’s bathroom, while Roman fixes his hair and washes the drying tear tracks off of his face, which were starting to feel like a mask on his face. He tries for a smile, and it’s small, but at least it’s real.

Virgil passes him a granola bar, and Roman hesitates for a second, before smiling again, taking it in hand and pocketing it. Roman offers his hand for Virgil to take, and he does, feeling the softness of Roman’s hands in comparison to his own, long and calloused with fidget rings on both hands. He squeezes.

Virgil looks up at Roman again, and they share a small smile, before walking out of the bathroom, hand in hand.

Wait- why are his hands glowing?

“Fuck you, Hildi.” he muttered under his breath.

“Huh, what?” Roman looked back at him, questioningly.

“Uh, nothing. Just thinking. ‘Cmon.” he smiles again, and he means it. With Roman, it feels like all his fears can be kept aside for another day.

…

“Oh my god, Remus, no you cannot make yourself a dwarven stripper this is a PG-13 D&D game oh my god--”

Remus looks up from the (probably very gory) conversation he’s having with Patton to reply to Virgil. “And why not? Minnie could be a stripper in the way back!”

“Just… no, thanks.”

“UUUUUGH, you’re no FUN, Virgey.”

“C’mon Bro, you could be… I dunno, a taxidermist?” Remus gets the manic glint back in his eye, snatching his sheet back from Virgil to add in the new information, scribbling frantically. His handwriting is already nigh impossible to read on a good day, so he’d better be able to read his own character sheet.

“Hey Thomas, what do you want to be?” asks Janus, undoing his loops to start a new string game, having finished his character profile- a Tiefling Wizard, about ten minutes ago while Logan became his work partner and roommate (Oh my god they were roommates), a human wizard. Virgil was the DM, therefore without a character other than an ominous voice with anxiety and a god complex at the same time, and Patton and Roman were both Elves, though Patton was an Artificer and Roman was a Bard.

Logan quickly jotted down Thomas’s responding morse code, chuckled, and read it aloud. “He says, and I quote: Can I be the thing that goes bump in the night? But also offer tea and biscuits to wayward travellers.”

Virgil smiles in Thomas’s vague direction, trying to make eye contact with the static. He fails, but Thomas thinks it’s quite nice of him to try.

“You’re too nice, T. I’ll write it down for you.”

You’re too nice

He was too nice to not let them get away with it, to stop them from killing him, to stop them from--

”Oi! You fruitcake, too nice to go running to your boyfriend, huh? Get a taste of this and see whether you’re nice enough to take it.”

He was. He didn’t object to the stuff in the bottle going down his throat, burning up his organs and destroying his body from the inside.

He didn’t have enough vocal chords left to scream, even as the other boy, final year, shook him as if trying to see whether he’s wake up, even as a hole formed in his throat, bleeding and burning and burning and burning--

It’s the last thing Thomas remembers.

“Thomas? Thomas? You’re making static-y noises again. You okay?” it’s Virgil, and it’s been nearly a hundred years and they’re dead and he’s dead and there’s nothing left of anyone he remembers but memories and he pushes aside his last memory, the worst one, to try and think of Valerie, his amazing sister who got to go to his school, sit in the same chemistry room once it was converted into a public school. Terrence, his family friend who came to his gravestone specially when segregation ended, and he could finally come and visit.

Everett, his boyfriend, who kept visiting, every day at four P.M on the dot until he was twenty and left town for college. It feels better to remember them as they were, in loose clothes playing in the woods, hide and seek and dolls and Valerie-the-Nurse and Everett-The-Soldier and Thomas-The-Film-Star and finding ways to get Terrence away to play with them too, as Terrence-The-Mechanic who could fix anything, even emotional problems as their Mom’s tittered and their fathers scowled but they didn’t matter because they were having fun.

He snaps out of it proper when Virgil manages to locate his hand, semi-visible ...

Patton’s pulling at his hair, not enough to fall out but enough to hurt, Sarcastrophe by Slipknot raging through his headphones and he knows that this is bad for his hearing, but at this point if it can drown out the absolute rage pounding in his mind, then going deaf is worth it.

He doesn’t even know why he’s mad. It’s just there and he’s screaming into his sleeves, tears caking on his face for moments before the anger arrives again and there’s a new layer of saltwater on top of it, endlessly endlessly going and he can’t stop it and why can’t it just stop--

There’s someone calling. It’s Remus. And Patton has to be happy and he thinks he might just implode with the… everything building up in him, but he has to do this so he picks up the phone.

“Hi Patty-Cakes!” The nickname makes him want to puke, even though he doesn like it, but he swallows the imaginary bile in his throat and replies.

“H-Hey, Remus.”

“Patton? You alright?” No, not at all he wants to scream and kick and cry but also freeze and never move again and his head hurts and there’s a pit in his stomach that won’t go away!

“YEAH! Uh, yeah. I’m good.” he sniffles, and he hopes Remus didn’t pick up on it. Judging by the silence on the other end, he probably did.

“Pat, please, tell me what’s wrong. I won’t say anything. Just let it out. It usually works for Roman and I, but just- see for yourself, okay?” Remus sounds a little concerned, a little desperate, and Patton thinks Remus can hear him trying to stifle his crying. He tries a little harder and all that comes out is one long moan with hitches for cries and the tears are drying, and Remus starts again, concerned, but Patton can’t hear, because the tears are catching up again and he’s screaming again and his fingernails have cut little red crescent moons into his cheek and it drips a little and Remus is still talking, soothingly and Patton latches onto that voice like it’s the only thing that could possibly carry him through this because it damn well feels like it.

He hears footsteps but not really, too focused on trying to regain control of his breathing, following Remus’s count.

When it's been a few minutes of following the count, and Patton’s breathing has evened out, he wipes off his face in his old faithful broom skirt, always ready for days like these, and he buries himself a little further into his hoodie, covering with it the phone on his ear.

“Patty--”

“No, not that, please.”

“Patton, Do you want to talk about it?”

Yes, actually, but he doesn’t really see the point, since nothing lasts for him. He’s a fucked up foster kid ™ style. Good things don’t happen to him. (Maybe to Janus. Janus deserves good things, good people, better than him--)

“Why wouldn’t this last? And you’re a foster kid?” fuck, he said that aloud? Well, rest in fucking pieces, brain to mouth filter.

“Yeah, f-foster kid here.”

“Janus too?”

“Yeah.” he whispers, throat too tired for anything else. He’s not ready for the universal ‘how’ question, but he’s not been prepared for any of this so far, so maybe he should just not bother.

“Okay. Do your foster parents show any signs of wanting to let you go?” no, not really. In fact, he’d seen Remy and Emile trying to quickly hide a sheaf of papers any time Patton or Janus entered a room, and Patton’s been pushing down the hope as much as possible, even as he sees Janus start to believe it eventually. Patton has to be ready for something to go wrong, he can’t afford to let down his guard, lest he can’t protect Janus anymore. He has to make sure nothing can faze him.

But he wants. He wants so, so badly that sometimes he lies in bed for hours, pushing down the want and trying his best not to cry, until it’s morning and he’s waking Janus up even though he could barely push himself out of bed. He says this to Remus, because he still wants. He wants to stay near Remus forever, recite oddly dark facts and binge-watch the Sharknado movies again while Logan and Janus screech in betrayal and huddle up close and he wants to have this. He wants this so badly.

“Pat, I didn’t know how to say it, but I want to be with you forever too. You like my weird facts, and you stay by me when I’m mad and I want to be there when you’re sad, Patton. I want this too.”

“R-really?”

“Of course, Patton. I don’t lie. Especially not to you.” Patton laughs, somewhat wetly, and Remus’s tone brightens when he hears it, and Patton can feel the smile on the other side of the line, manic-looking but inherently full of kindness, and everything feels a little more okay.

The hurt isn’t gone, but at least he isn’t forcing it down into his large intestine anymore.

“Thanks, Re. I-I’ll talk to Emile and Remy when they come home, okay? I’ll tell you what happened. See you in school tomorrow?”

“Course, Patton. Now I’m gonna go get something for Roman to eat before his stomach acids digest his entire body, eyes and all.”

Patton laughs. “Okay! Just don’t miss your therapy appointment, okay?”

“Never do. Bye.”

“Bye.”

The call finally cuts off, and the timer reads 37:19:73, and he probably spent a good chunk of that time having a breakdown, but strangely enough, Patton doesn’t feel super bad about it. The want is there, and he’s still not super sure about what to do with it, but he knows that he wants it to be real, and even if something does go wrong, he’ll still have Remus’s number.

The door swings open as Janus enters the house, and creaks closed downstairs, and Patton flops onto his bed, eyes still a little red, putting his phone on charge to take a nap. He’ll have emotionally charged conversation, but after this nap, thanks.

[trashmancan47]

TW: Mentions of Death, mentions of scars, Doctors, hospitals, Mention of a coma, use of a dangerous chemical, and horrible father, unloving father. I don’t know of anymore, if there is let me know! Have a wonderful day!

Remus loses his vision due attempt to kill him by his own father.

Father’s name: Lloyd Mother’s name: Irene

Remus dreaded this but he was going home for christmas break, he knew his mother wanted to see him, and he wanted to see his mother as well. He also was coming home because he got a letter from his Father demanding that he come home, because his mother wanted to see him, and he had something to say to him. The letter didn’t sound mean by any means, and that terrified Remus. He was scared of what was to come, but he hoped it’d just be what has always been happening. His father would leave him alone, and not even look at him for the whole two weeks that he’d be home. Roman wasn’t coming though he respected why he stayed, him, and Virgil were doing better, and he wanted to stay with him, which he understood, he went through so much in the last four weeks, and couldn’t hold Virgil, and do really anything that he wanted, so he wasn’t upset or anything. He had tried thinking of everything except what was to come while he was on the train back, mostly thinking of Logan, Remus hadn’t wanted to leave him, but he was scared of what could happen if he didn’t because when he did finally go home what would his father do this time? He was terrified about a lot, and he hated that he’d left Logan there all alone, but he knew that this could also be good, whether or not Logan wanted to, he had to at least talk to Virgil, even if Logan didn’t want to be friends with Virgil anymore he had to tell him that. He couldn’t leave it the way they were. At least he felt he had to, he hoped that by the time he got back that they’d be at least talking, even if it’s not by much.

Now the first week was nice, and calm, and his Father actually spoke to him, had a conversation with him, and even told him to call him ‘Dad’ instead of sir.. It was so weird, his father was treating him like he treated him. He sat in his room most of the time, having Roman’s old christmas sweater with him since he was finally allowed to have it, and wear it, his father letting him. He used it when he’d talk to himself in his room, as if he were talking to Roman- that is if Roman were to know what his father had done. He didn’t trust him, it scared him honestly, he felt that anything was going to happen at any moment, that it would be worse than the last, that he’d be dead this time. He’d done everything his father had asked, always, even did extra, just to make sure he was okay, but his father always saw past that. His head was swimming swirling as he clung to his brothers sweater

“I wish I could be there.. With Logan, I want to *See* you, I want to hear your voice, I want to kiss your head, and say I love you. I want to see Roman, I want to be able to see you guys. This is torture, I’m so scared Roman..”

Remus quietly spoke, and didn’t cry, he never did when he was home, unless everyone else was gone, sleeping, or it was just Roman. His father couldn’t know that he had been crying, it wasn’t allowed apparently men didn’t cry. Remus saw nothing wrong with it, but he never saw what his father did. He just had to wait seven more days until he went back to see them all. Though he knew that Logan would need him, especially that long with no one, unless Virgil, and him somewhat made up, but he doubted that. He laid on his bed with the sweater, hearing his door open, and him scattering to sit up, and look like he wasn’t just fighting off tears, his stomach dropped as he saw it was his father.

“Can I come in?”

Remus still wasn’t used to this at all, and wasn’t going to be fooled by it. He nodded, and spoke.

“Yes Father.”

His father walked in, and gave a smile that looked caring, but Remus didn’t focus on it long enough to see if it was genuine or not. He didn’t care, he knew this was an act. Probably something that had to do with their mother honestly, she always just gave her love to Remus, and Roman, hating how their father treated Remus, but still loved him, and believed that he could change, that he just didn’t see how lucky he was to get two sons like this yet. Lloyd walked over, and sat next to Remus, putting an arm around him.

“Are you okay Son? You seem a little down.”

Remus hated that his father was keeping up this facade so much, if this monster really did care he would have apologized, and had Roman there to see that he was trying to change as well as show Irene that too. He still played into it though, but he couldn’t help the cautiousness, and worry that slipped into his voice.

“Yeah, I’m fine, just missing Roman, and my soulmate.”

Floyd nodded, and gave a smile, standing up, and looking at Remus. He opened his arms, and offered a hug as he spoke.

“How about we go to my office, and spend some time together, just you, and yer old man.”

Remus looked up at him, and his arms, and didn’t want to hug him, but he knew if he didn’t there could be consequences, so he got up, and hugged the other, feeling his father's arms wrap around him. The hug felt so genuine, but he still didn’t fall into it. He wanted to let go, but his father held on, and asked a question that he’d never heard before.

“How about we go to my office, and drink some tea, I’ll get it ready, and everything, Then we can talk. How does that sound?”

Remus pulled back when his father pulled away, and looked down. His father put his hands on Remus shoulder with a smile, and waited for a response. Remus was cautious, and scared, but nodded,

“Sure..”

His father smiled wide, and patted his back, standing up straight, and heading to the door.

“Great! I’ll go get the tea, you just head to my office, and get comfy, I’ll be there in a moment kiddo.”

Lloyd said, and left the room, going to the kitchen to go get some tea for him, and Remus, who was now walking to the office, trying to figure out what the hell his father was up to… Once he was in the office, he sat on the couch, and waited for the others' return, which didn’t take long. Remus had an odd feeling as the tea was handed to him, something telling him not to drink it, but he was sure it was because of him, and his fear of tea at this point. He looked at the small scattered scars on his hand. Some from punching trees, and such, but most, and he knew which ones, were from his own father.. The other sat down, and looked to Remus, grinning a little bit.

“Drink up son.”

Remus had a terrible feeling, but again it was most likely due to that grin his father had on his face, a grin he’d seen o-to-many times. He nodded, and put the up to his lips, taking a sip of his tea, the bitter taste, he hated tea, and his father always drank unsweetened tea… he’d always remember that. He drank a good bit before lowering the cup seeing his fathers grin had grown, Remus looking down at his tea, then to his father.

“I hope your last drink was delicious, you pest.”

Remus raised a brow, and stood up, but as soon as he did he felt dizzy, and held his head,

“W-What did you do?”

This monster in front of him, he knew not to trust it! Why didn’t he go with his gut! Remus felt the world start to spin as his knees got weaker, and he fell down, laying now, looking up at his father, but couldn’t move, or speak. He just watched as his eyes slowly closed, and his thoughts started to drift away.

“Bye-bye Remus~!”

~A day later~

Remus was laying in a hospital bed with an IV and such hooked up to him. His mother was sitting next to him, and his so called ‘father’ was pretending to be worried, and had alerted Hogwarts to inform Roman about his brother. His father had claimed to not know what happened, claimed to not have a clue, that he offered him some tea, and went to get it, when he came back he found his own son on the floor, looking pailer than ever, and barely breathing.

The doctors had said that Remus would either wake up, or he’d eventually die, his mother couldn’t bare the thought. They said that it was unlikely for him to wake up, and if he did he most likely would have something wrong.

Logan got his own letter as well, Remus’ mother was the one who sent it, always hearing Remus talk about his wonderful soulmate that he was sure she’d love when they met. She sent him his own letter so that he would know as well, just incase Roman, and him didn’t talk or something like that.

Remus laid there on the bed, in a coma basically, everyone unknowing if the other would wake or not...

[snowdice]

Road Trips and Missing Persons (Part 16)

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Relationships: Patton & Virgil, Virgil & Deceit, Logan & Patton, Emile & Remy, Roman & Remus & Janus

Characters: Patton, Virgil, Deceit, Remus, Roman, Logan, Emile, Remy

Summary: Patton was just getting groceries. The next thing he knew, there was a knife at his throat and he was an unwilling uber driver. Virgil’s on the run after the murder of his dad, and it’s not just his paranoia that’s telling him he’s being chased down. He has to get somewhere safe, somewhere he can trust, and all he has is a couple of stories from his dad and a name: “Green Bellow Foods and Dispensary.”

Notes: Secret Agents AU, knives, carjacking, kidnapping, murder mentioned, guns mentioned, pepper spray, blood mentioned, drugs mentioned, explosions, car crashes (more to be added)

This is a fic I’ve been writing on study breaks that you have probably all already seen at this point. I’ve affectionately named it the Goblin Brain Fic because it’s helping my brain actually get motivated for studying. I’ve slightly edited it for wording and grammar, but not for content from my previous posts. Feel free to send in asks to direct it because I’m not 100% sure where this is going and you can help decide if you feel so inclined! You can see the process I went through to build this at this link.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 My Master Post

Remy met the beady little eyes outside the car window with a glare. The cow gazed back at him, a challenge in its eyes. “What are you looking at, future minced meat?” Remy asked.

“They’re dairy cows,” Emile said, head on the steering wheel.

“How the hell would you know?” Remy asked.

Emile looked up at him. “The crashed truck says, ‘Robinson’s Family Dairy.’”

Remy pursed his lips. “That doesn’t mean anything.”

Emile gave him a droll look.

“Maybe they’re the rejects!” Remy turned back to the cow. “I bet you’re too stupid to make milk, huh?”

The cow let out a breath that fogged the window between them.

“Bastard,” Remy grumbled at it.

“You are talking to a cow,” Emile reminded him.

“Oh, like you don’t talk to stuffed animals,” Remy shot back.

“At least I don’t make enemies with them and insult them.”

“She deserves it!”

“She’s just standing there. You’re taking out your frustrations on a farm animal.”

Remy looked back at the cow, his eyes narrowed. Its eyes peered back at him and they did not need to share a language to understand each other in that moment. “I’ll show you a coward,” Remy growled, taking off his seatbelt.

“No, Remy,” Emile hissed. “Don’t you dare.”

Remy ignored him and opened the door to climb out of the car.

“We are on the interstate!”

“Now, you listen here,” Remy said, staring the cow down. “You’ve already caused enough problems for me today. The least you can do is not stare me down in my own…or well my brother’s own car. You feel me?”

The cow stared at him blankly and made a mooing sound.

“Are you understanding the words that are coming out of my mouth right now?”

“I promise you, she isn’t,” Emile offered from the car.

Remy continued to stare the cow down. Finally, after a moment of staring, the cow turned away.

“Ha!” Remy said. “I win.”

“Get back in the car before you get trampled by a herd of cows,” Emile said.

“I’m not going to get trampled,” Remy insisted. “If anything, I’m establishing myself as their ruler.”

“Is this a productive use of your time?” Emile asked.

“Oh, what?” Remy said turning back to him. “And sitting in the car doing nothing is such a better use of my time? Thank you for your input, doctor.”

“Remington, please.”

“Oh, stop with the full name, bullshit,” he turned to cow nearest to him, “no offence intended,” he assured it before turning back to Emile. “You’re not our mother!”

There was a pause. “Remy,” Emile said calmly. “I know you’re upset about Virgil, but...”

“In fact,” Remy talked over him. “I’m older than you! Do you remember who put you through college so you could get that fancy degree you keep using on me tonight? Because it certainly wasn’t our mother because she was already fucking dead! Don’t act like you’re my parent because here’s the thing, I raised you by myself for three years. So, if I’m a shitty dad, you’re definitely fucked up somewhere under that shining topcoat of head doctor crap.”

“I never at any point said-” Emile started, but Remy cut him off.

“Oh, but we both know you’re thinking it!”

“Don’t put words in my mouth, Remy.”

“No, no,” Remy said. “I know exactly what’s going through your head. I never should have been a parent, and I proved that with you when you were a teenager, but I still managed to knock up literally the worst person I could. I’m constantly making horrible parenting decisions and even when I try to be responsible, I mess it up. Virgil’s third word was a curse word and I’m lucky he never developed scurvy because I let him eat whatever he wants. He’s currently on a cross-country road trip with god knows who because I fucked up a covert mission I had no business being on and now he’s being tracked down by the woman who shot me with a poisoned bullet. I’m a horrible person and a worse dad. That’s what you’re thinking.”

There was a second where his brother looked at him with his stupid annoying face. “Have you considered that you’re projecting.”

“Ugh!” Remy threw up his hands and turned to walk away.

“Remy where are you going?” Emile called after him.

“I’m walking to base to go get my kid!” Remy called back.

“It’s over 70 miles away!”

He turned around and spread out his arms. “Then I’ll ride a bloody cow! It’ll be faster at this rate!”

“They’ll be cleared up in a few minutes Remy, come back here!” Emile said. Remy flipped him off. “I am not following you on foot!”

“Good!”

Remy turned back around and strutted off down the interstate, skirting cows and police officers the whole way. He grumbled to himself and refused to turn back even when he was pretty sure by the flow of traffic that the accident must have been cleared 15 minutes later.

This was so stupid. Why was he so stupid and useless? Emile was probably glad he ran off like a petulant toddler so he wouldn’t have to deal with him. He’d probably be more effective finding Virgil without Remy messing it all up anyway. He kept walking.

After a couple minutes a car slowed and stopped next to him on the side of the road. Remy looked up to meet Emile’s eyes through the rolled down window.

“Get,” Emile said firmly, “in the damned car.”

Remy blinked in surprise and then hurried to do so.

Emile didn’t speak again until the car was back at a normal speed. “His first word was ‘dad,’” he said, “and he’s happy. I’m not a parent, but from what I’ve observed, parents are allowed to mess up. As long as they do their best and their kid knows they’re loved, they’re a pretty good parent. If you ask me, you’re a good dad.”

“Yeah, well his second word was ‘pizza,’ so I don’t know if it makes me that special,” Remy grumbled.

Emile glanced at him.

“I mean,” Remy continued. “Thank you and sorry.”

“Apology accepted,” Emile said. “You know I love you right?”

“Oh, god don’t get all mushy on me.”

“I’m serious,” Emile said. “I’ve been angry at you this entire trip because if you’d died today, I don’t know how I would have handled it. You were reckless, and it could have easily gotten you killed.”

“Don’t you think I know I’m stupid.”

“Stop that,” Emile snapped. “That’s not what I said.”

“Well then, what are you saying?”

“I’m saying, why, Remy?” Emile said. “Are you bored? Do you want to go back in the field?”

“No,” Remy said quietly.

“Are you sure?” Emile asked. Remy didn’t answer. “If you do, that’s fine.”

“It’s not though.”

“You’re the one who made that decision and it was 15 years ago,” Emile reminded. “If you want to change your mind, that’s fine, but if you’re going to do it, you can’t just go do it. You have to talk to Logan first, to me, to your kid. Your actions affect other people.”

“I know that.”

“I know you know that, but you just…You get so involved in your head sometimes and forget to think about the consequences. Or worse you ignore them because they’re too hard to think about.”

Remy reached forward and turned on the radio.

“Really?!” Emile asked.

“Chill,” Remy said, turning the volume down, “I just don’t want to have another cow disaster.”

Emile nodded and seemed content to wait for him a few minutes so he could gather his thoughts.

“I’m trying, Em,” Remy said. “Bless their souls, but I’m trying to not be our parents. It’s like walking a tightrope. Go too far one way, you’re an asshole, go too far the other your kid’s running from his mother’s hired guns and throwing out the tracking device you put on him because he thinks you’re dead.”

“It should have to feel like that for you.”

“Yeah?” Remy asked. “And how do you propose I stop it?” Emile looked over at him and opened his mouth. “Yeah, yeah, see a therapist. Do you have any suggestions that don’t require me to bare my soul and talk about my daddy issues to some random person?”

“No.”

“Rats.” Emile chuckled at him.

“If it’s any consolation, they would have hated how you turned out. I mean they 100% would have still loved you and would have adored Virgil, but you’d get so many side-eyes over the dinner table. I mean, a child out of wedlock, Remy?”

“They’d have tried to get me to marry her,” Remy said. “Then I would have introduced them to her, and they would’ve said ‘fuck that.’ Do you think I could have gotten dad to say, ‘fuck that’?”

Emile giggled. “That would have been weird.”

Remy hummed in agreement. Then they petered off into silence. “I love you too Em.”

Want to read more? Click below!

Part 17

[pareidoliaonthemove]

A Worthy Sacrifice

Notes:

This is what happens when I’m not careful about what shows I watch on the idiot box in close proximity. In this case, an episode of BBC’s excellent Horrible Histories, closely followed by Thunderbirds Are Go! Episode “Attack of the Reptiles”.

And, yes, the Roman Emperor Caligula was rather keen on people honouring their promises to the Gods, and did make people honour their promises to the Gods to exchange their lives for his after he recovered from a potentially deadly ‘brain fever’. I mean, technically, he wasn’t wrong … but sheesh!

The standard disclaimers, I do not own Thunderbirds, either the Original Series, the Movies (both Supermarionation and Live Action), or the Thunderbirds Are Go Series. (Although I do own copies on DVD.)

I do not do this for money, but for my own (in)sanity and entertainment.

 ____________________________________________________

 Gordon pulled frantically at the starter on the hoverboat’s engine, resolutely ignoring the noises coming from behind him.

“Come on! I’ll give up Celery Crunch Bars for a year if you’ll please just start!”

One final pull, as the Pentergasts cried out, and …

The engine caught.

“Yes!”

 High above Tracy Island, aboard Thunderbird Five, John flicked off the holographic recording and paused, smiling.

“Give up Celery Crunch Bars for a year? You might just need a little help to honour that promise, Gordon. And I know who can help you with that.”

“Ugh,” Alan moaned pitifully, “I mean, who cares?”

“Who cares about what, Alan?” The voice made Alan jump, how all two-hundred-plus pounds of Virgil managed to sneak up on him in steel-cap boots, he would never understand.

“History,” Alan moaned. The wonky eyebrow raised at him. “Ancient Roman history,” Alan amended, still hoping for sympathy.

“A lot of the basic principles of engineering were set out by the Ancient Romans,” Virgil commented. Alan rolled his eyes. Trust Virgil find a way to relate to a bunch of dress-wearing guys dead for nearly two thousand years. He’d be lucky, if Virgil didn’t start on about their art, to boot.

The holographic projector built into the kitchen bench flared into life, the halo of light resolving into John’s torso floating serenely in mid-air. “Virgil, good, you’re here, too.”

“What’s up, John, is it an emergency? A space emergency!?”

“No, there’s no emergency. This is more a … social call.”

Both brothers paused, “John, is everything … okay?” Virgil asked cautiously.

“Everything is fine, Gordon and the Pendergasts have managed to escape the facility, and Scott is about to make an extraction. How’s your shoulder, Virgil?”

Virgil scowled, one hand automatically going to rub the shoulder that had been strained as he had tried to keep from falling into the sea from the severed evacuation tube the previous mission. He was saved from answering by Alan.

“John, you don’t do social anything,” Alan pointed out with his trademark lack of tact.

“What are you supposed to be studying, Alan?” John asked.

The younger boy deflated. “Ancient Roman politics,” he moaned, once more dejected.

“Have you already done the Emperor Caligula?” John asked.

“The crazy guy who had sex with his sisters, and made his horse a senator? Yeah.”

“Do you remember what happened when he was deathly ill with ‘brain fever’?”

Alan frowned, trying to remember. “Yeah … he was popular then, a lot of people, trying to suck up to him in case he survived offered their lives to the gods in exchange for his … And when he got better …”

Virgil broke in, worried, “John, where are you going with this?”

John smiled innocently, “You know that saying that those who do not remember the past are condemned the repeat it?”

“Yeeesss?”

“Well, this just happened.” John activated the recording of Gordon and the hoverboat.

Virgil and Alan watched in silence. John flicked off the image when it stopped. “Well, what do you think?”

Alan grinned. “I think Gordon’s condemned to repeat history!”

 It had taken a lot of negotiation, but the care and housing of Buddy and Ellie the bearded dragons had finally been resolved.

A lot of negotiation, and not a little blackmail; “They’re a gift for their number one fan, in order to thank him for saving their lives. How upset do you think the Pendergasts would be if they found out you’d sold them?”

And so, as always in the face of a lack of brotherly sympathy, Gordon went to seek out the next best form of comfort: Celery Crunch Bars.

It was a little unusual that there none left in his stash in his rooms – Virgil had only just done the supply run not two weeks ago, but Grandma had been cooking a lot lately.

It was suspicious that there were none to be found in the gigantic industrial pantry – Gordon knew there had been an entire pallet there the other day.

And when his Celery Crunch Bars were not only missing from both Thunderbird Four and her spares warehouse, but replaced by the protein meal replacement bars that the other Thunderbirds stocked, it was a blatant act of sabotage against him. One worthy of the Hood.

So Gordon was distracted as he re-entered the comms-room, trying to figure out if it was feasible for the Hood to have regained access to Tracy Island, and not only sneak about Villa, but enter Thunderbird Four. Not that he was surprised that he would be most interested in the sub, after all, she was the most important vehicle of the International Rescue fleet, even if his brothers wouldn’t agree.

He was so distracted that he almost walked over Scott and Virgil. Not an unimpressive achievement, his oldest brother was ridiculously tall, and Virgil wasn’t exactly built for stealth, with all that muscle and steel-cap boots.

So Scott’s outraged, “Watch it, Gordon!” and hopping around clutching allegedly squashed toes, wasn’t met with the accustomed apologetic grovelling and ‘please-don’t-make-me-scrub-the-hangars-with-my-toothbrush’. Which naturally attracted the interest of the smother twins, along with demands for an explanation.

So Gordon explained, a lengthy and spirited explanation that attracted an ever growing audience. As Gordon started to elaborate his theories, the interruptions started.

“My uncle? Here? Absolutely not!” Kayo snapped.

“A-After the previous i-i-infiltrations, I upd-dated the security s-systems. T-There is n-no way the H-Hood got back on the I-Island,” Brains said with absolute finality.

“It’s not the Hood, Gordon,” Virgil said calmly.

And that derailed Gordon. Kayo and Brains denying his proofs, absolutely. They were both now so personally invested in the security of their home that they had initially not even listened to Scott and John’s increasingly less calm request/instructions to dial back the sensitivity of the sensors ringing their private waters, the two nets around the islands, and the Villa. It had taken Grandma in her full blaze of fury, something that none of them – not even their father – had ever defied, to get the sensitivity reset so that every ruffle of a leaf or wavelet braking on the shore didn’t set off an alarm.

But Virgil – Virgil who had spent a whole week scrubbing every inch of the Villa, and hangars, and had to be physically stopped from trying to sieve the sands to rid the island of the taint the Hood and his henchmen?

“How could you possibly know that, Virgil?” Gordon demanded, squaring up for argument.

Virgil rolled his eyes. It was a good effort, Gordon distractedly gave him a 7 out of 10; but Johnny was the master of eyerolls, closely followed by Scott. “John, Alan. This is on you. Explain, so we can all get back to our lives.”

In answer, a hologram popped up in the centre of the comms room. Gordon stood and watched himself desperately trying to start the recalcitrant hoverboat. Uncool, he looked so uncool – Wait! What?

“You’re kidding me!” he wailed. “You can’t expect me to go without Celery Crunch Bars for a whole year!”

Alan shrugged. “Think yourself lucky that’s all you offered to the Rescue Gods.”

Gordon stared. “The Rescue Gods?!”

John shrugged. “Why not? It’s something Dad used to say.”

Scott nodded, slowly, “Yeah, if we were planning an outing on the weekend, it would be in the hands of the weather gods; an unpowered landing was ultimately in the hands of the aviation gods …”

Virgil nodded. “And finding a good car park was ‘Thank you, parking gods!’”

Grandma smiled into the distance. “Wasn’t just your father, your Grandpa said it a lot, too. Probably where he got it from.” She quickly wiped at her eyes under her glasses.

Gordon frowned. “So what does this have to do with my Celery Crunch Bars?”

Alan raised his eyebrow at him – he had obviously been spending too much time around Virgil. “You made a promise, you would give up Celery Crunch Bars for a year if the hover boat started. And the hover boat started.”

“Therefore, the Rescue Gods heard you, deemed your sacrifice as worthy, and accepted it, causing the boat to start,” John chimed in. “It’s obvious, really.”

Kay and Brains drifted away, Max following, having lost interest once it was established that the Island was still secure.

Gordon’s eyes narrowed. “So what happened to all the Celery Crunch Bars?”

John shrugged. “As you are giving them up, and no one else here eats the disgusting things; they were donated to a charity dedicated to feeding homeless people.”

“Yeah,” Alan chimed in. “No point them going to waste.”

Gordon eyed Virgil, the traitor. “No points guessing how they got there, either.”

“I took them,” Scott said brightly. “Hardly counted as ‘heavy lifting’,” a smug sideways look at Virgil, “and I had a meeting nearby the location this morning, anyway.”

“Don’t even think of trying to order more, Gordon,” John warned. “Our suppliers, and the factory, have been instructed not to accept any orders for Celery Crunch Bars for the next 12 months.”

Gordon stared in horror; ‘pet’ lizards, and now no Celery Crunch bars? He would rather the Hood.

His family drifted off, back to their planned activities, interest lost now that Gordon had been stunned into silence.

A plaintive wail followed them. “What am I going to eat for a year?!”

“There’s always my fresh-baked cookies.” Grandma brandished a tray at him. “Go ahead, take two.”

[stella-monstrum]

“Autopsy of Jane Doe”[ IFC MIDNIGHT, 2016] [Rated R]

(Review & My Parallel Film Theory)

(NSFW CONTENT AND POTENTIAL SPOILERS)

(Written by Stella, edited by Jacob J.)

No matter the genre, the independent film industry holds many hidden gems within it. Studio IFC has been in the game for close to twenty years now, but it wasn’t until 2010 that it unveiled its plans for their “Midnight” collection and genre.

“Many of our most successful VOD titles are those that might fall under the Midnight label – not just films that are straight up horror, erotic arthouse, or genre films, but also ones that shock audiences, push boundaries, and stir up controversy – so officially creating IFC Midnight was the logical next step,” President of IFC Entertainment Jonathan Sehring in a statement. (SOURCE: indiewire.com // HERE)

But the focus in this article will be solely on the horror genre, specifically the 2016 supernatural/horror/thriller standout The Autopsy of Jane Doe. My review, thoughts, and analysis will include some changes I would have made to change the story itself.  Now, full disclaimer, my changes and reimagining will not affect my rating on the film overall, per se.

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[REVIEW]

One thing that was honestly a surprise (albeit a pleasant one) was how small the cast actually was. Whilst there are ten actors and actresses listed on the IMDb page, the film focuses on only five of them, eventually whittling the action down to three. My honest thought? “With such a small amount of people only being focused on, this will get boring quickly.” But boy, I was 100% wrong in that assumption. If ANYTHING, it only intensified every moment on, Add in dramatic references, film scoring, and film aesthetics? It was just icing on the creep cake.

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

Let’s begin with the cast and breakdown of the story:

Brian Cox and Emile Hersch as father-son coroner duo Tommy and Austin Tilden

Ophelia Lovibond as Emma, Austin’s girlfriend

Olwen Kelly as Jane Doe

Michael McElhatton as Sheriff Burke (an albeit brief focus)

Left to right: Austin, Emma and Tommy (Screencap, Autopsy of Jane Doe, 2016)

~~~~~~

From the beginning of the film, you are immediately immersed within a brutal crime scene. It seems fairly straightforward in what appears to be a triple homicide. I was taken by (delighted) surprise that it kicked off at such a fast pace, so much so that I physically felt that I’d lost my footing (while sitting). But as the police and forensic team further search the home for evidence, they wind up finding a pristinely preserved and very nude corpse, one only partially covered in dirt down in the basement. This new revelation doesn’t fit what they’ve pinned down to be a homicide.

Enter a quieter and uneventful small town setting. Here we are introduced to Austin and Tommy Tilden, running a very small coroner business out of the basement of their home (blasting rock and roll from the radio whilst they do their job—a very cool touch.) Austin comes off as a young adult who doesn’t want to be stuck in this small town, let alone in this profession. He feels bad since father Tommy is otherwise alone and widowed. 

The Tilden home/business (Screencap, Autopsy of Jane Doe, 2016)

~~~~

Austin’s girlfriend Emma comes in to pick him up after his shift for a date they had planned. (This part plays into my reimagining later.) Emma sneaks up to scare Austin, then begs and pleads with him to let her see a dead body and what they do for a living. Austin flat out refuses, but then his dad allows Emma to pick one to view. Tommy also explains that they keep bells around the ankles of some corpses (a practice with origins in an old wives’ tale: if the person isn’t dead, the bell will jingle). Austin gets back at Emma by ringing the bell on one of the bodies to scare her, and she threatens that he “won’t be getting laid.” (Emma comes off as a very strong type—and not in a flattering chemistry way)

Just as they’re about to leave for their date, Sheriff Burke comes in with an urgent request: they have 24hrs to perform the autopsy of the Jane Doe found in the opening scene. Austin decides that, with the urgency and his guilt, to stay behind and assist, asking Emma to come back later.

As they perform what they thought would be just another autopsy to find clues as to how or why Jane Doe met her end, things get very eerie and strange. These events elicit goosebumps: from a shift in music to a creepily upbeat version of the McGuire Sisters’ 1954 song “Let the Sunshine In,” to an awful storm coming in seemingly out of nowhere, knocking a tree into the cellar exit, trapping the Tildens inside. The family cat gets killed. The bodies in the morgue awaken. The power goes out. These usually run-of-the-mill supernatural tropes are 100 times more dramatic with the focus only on the two men.

While they examine Jane layer by layer, her fingerprints are nowhere to be found in their system, and her trauma and, injuries in total, do not seem to match up with the crime.

Peat soil from “up northeast” found under her fingernails

No outward visible signs of marking or bruising

Broken wrists and ankles

Ripped out tongue

Mutilated genitalia

Missing tooth (which was force fed to her in a cloth with a ritualistic sigil in it)

Flower with paralyzing properties (and not native to the area) in her stomach

Horribly burned lungs and internal organs covered in scar tissue. 

A very much active brain

Roman numerals and symbols carved into her skin

Markings on the cloth alluding to Leviticus 20:27 (which condemns witches) and the year 1693 (a reference to the Salem Witch Trials)

Austin and Tommy do not come out of this unscathed—or alive, for that matter. While trying to escape in the elevator when being chased by one of the belled-up corpses, Tommy hacks away at it in the dark. But, once the power comes back on, it is revealed to be Emma. Tommy gets attacked by unseen forces (since he is the one primarily performing the exam). They finally reveal that Jane Doe was likely thought to be a witch during the Trials, but the people who performed the ritual were horribly wrong—and ended up turning her into the very thing they sought to destroy. Tommy pleads with the witch to take him as long as she leaves Austin alone, and all of her horrific injuries get transferred to the elder Tilden, leaving Austin to put his father out of misery. Austin, however, gets spooked by a hallucination (provided by Jane) of his dead father on the stairs leading up to the exit. He falls and snaps his neck.

The next day, Jane Doe is in pristine form on the exam table. The Sheriff cannot understand what could have happened since he’d known the Tilden’s for so long, and decides to send Jane off to the next county. The ending features Jane being transferred into the van, a creepily upbeat song playing once again.

All in all, if I were nitpicking, the only real complaint I’d have is that some of the suspenseful moments were drawn out a few seconds too long. On top of that, they shouldn’t have killed off the family cat, Stanley. That said, if you’re into supernatural thrillers or just looking for a film for date night, this would certainly be one to consider. 

(7/10 stabs)  🔪 🔪 🔪 🔪 🔪 🔪 🔪

(Reimagining AHEAD)

▬▬ι══════════════ι▬▬

Now after watching the film, I got to thinking. This is my reimagining of sorts, and a theory that they could have used to cash in on a continuation:

Let us rewind a little bit. Remember Emma? Think back to this scene specifically: 

(I do NOT own the rights to this clip, simply sharing for viewing to set the scene)

༺═──────────────═༻

In this parallel theory there are a few points of change that come to mind initially:

1. Tommy has a more stubborn personality, absolutely and flat out refusing to let Emma see the cadavers

As he (Tommy) shoos Emma out, that is when the Sheriff urgently brings in Jane Doe. Austin convinces his father to let Emma stick around. Tommy then has the attitude of, “If she wants to see a dead body we’ll let her see the entire process.”

Jane’s body gets taken into the Tilden’s business. (Screencap, Autopsy of Jane Doe, 2016)

Whilst the Tilden’s are performing the examination, Emma begins to get bored (before shit gets weird and they essentially awaken Jane’s warnings)

2. When things slowly proceed to get horrific, the further that they get into things, Emma touches the ritual cloth that was used to force-feed Jane her molar, then Austin scolds her for touching evidence.

Progressively after touching the ritual cloth, Emma begins to get very sick. This not only adds an anxiety-inducing level of conflict on top of having to deal with Jane Doe’s unfolding evil, but also provides a deeper layer to the film.

Austin and Tommy examine the ritual cloth. (Screencap, Autopsy of Jane Doe, 2016)

The more that they poke, prod, and try to fight Jane, the worse Emma’s condition gets. Austin has to drag her along whilst also trying to protect his father from the witch’s attacks.

3. You get to the point of looming dread when it becomes clear that Austin cannot save his father, and seemingly Emma as well. (Also fuck it that the cat stays alive and alerts Austin of danger, cause why not?)

After Tommy begs Austin to kill him once all of Jane’s injuries transfer to the elder Tilden (VIEW HERE); Emma’s eyes become clouded like Jane’s.

While Austin tries everything that he can to keep Emma comfortable, he tries to perform a ritual himself to destroy the evil brought in. 

4. For Austin’s final attempt, he burns Jane in the incinerator. 

Jane Doe is far from done causing harm and suffering. When she is burned, Emma takes her place. Seemingly, her magic makes the sheriff believe that Emma was the one that was brought in.

Tommy’s death is made look like a suicide.

Since the Tildens only had 24 hours to solve this case, the Sheriff understands that Austin couldn’t get the job done due to the loss of his father. But rules are rules, and he’s forced to transfer Jane Doe’s (now Emma’s) cadaver to the next county. 

While she’s being taken out and Austin is being asked protocol police questions, the eerie song plays on the radio.

5. Austin knows that he has to hunt Emma’s cursed body into the next county. (And takes the cat with him, because the cat didn’t need to die.)

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Who would LOVE to see a sequel like this?!