#THE FIRST EPISODE ALONE IS 100 MINUTES LONG

[malachitezmeyka]

You know... I tried to hold back, I really did. I tried to convince myself that I already have so much going on and genuinely do not have the mental capacity for something like this

I've managed to hold out for almost two whole weeks and my resolve was strong, but unfortunately the Ye Olde Hyperfixation was stronger

[iyoonjh]

Beyond Plus Ultra! – The anatomy of falling in love

Chapter 8: Is This a Shōjo Moment or Am I Just Delusional?

wc: 4930 words

Y/N had spent the entire weekend avoiding eye contact with her friends.

It wasn’t easy, considering they had spent approximately 48 hours analyzing her life choices like a panel of international scholars.

Jungwon’s betrayal had been swift and merciless—dropping the whole “Y/N has a crush on Soobin” bomb in the group chat like he was announcing breaking news. After that, it was over for her.

She had been interrogated. Mocked. Harassed. 

No, it wasn’t the fact that she had a crush on someone outside their usual social circle—her friends couldn’t care less about that. What truly entertained them was how utterly hopeless she was about the whole thing. The disastrous flirting, the way her face cycled through five different shades of pink at the mere mention of Soobin, and, of course, the fact that she literally stole a book because she was too busy staring at him. Y/N couldn’t even be mad at them for teasing her—she rarely got crushes, let alone one this intense, so naturally, her friends had made it their mission to mercilessly roast her for it. 

The relentless teasing was unbearable. They were calling her the smitten swindler. The daydreaming delinquent. Sunoo even changed her contact name to "flirty thief”.

It had gotten so bad that Y/N actually considered changing her name, transferring universities, and moving to a remote mountain village where no one would ever ask about her feelings for Soobin.

Worst of all?

She couldn’t even deny it.

Because yes, she had been spending a suspicious amount of time at the manga shop lately. And yes, maybe she had started looking forward to seeing Soobin, in the way someone might look forward to a season finale of their favorite show. And maybe she liked the way he got all flustered when she talked to him, how he had that adorably awkward charm that made him so easy to tease. Maybe she wanted to keep talking to him, to see how much pinker his ears could get, to hear him stammer over his words just because she looked at him for too long.

Maybe.

But that wasn’t the point.

The point was that she was going back to the shop today. She hoped the stolen manga volume episode was settled and long forgotten. She was glad she fixed it immediately  and wouldn't be at risk of being known as The Girl Who Scammed Soobin Out of Five Bucks.

Y/N was just about to turn the corner when she almost collided with two suspiciously frantic figures.

Beomgyu and Heeseung.

They skidded to a halt in front of her, wide-eyed, looking like they had just robbed a bank and were making a dramatic getaway. Beomgyu’s hair was slightly disheveled, his shirt wrinkled like he had been manhandled by fate itself, while Heeseung clutched a half-eaten bag of chips like it was evidence.

All three of them stood there for a long, tense moment.

Y/N narrowed her eyes. “What… are you two doing?”

Beomgyu recovered first, throwing an arm in front of Heeseung like they were shielding themselves from interrogation.

“Nothing,” he said too quickly. Way too quickly.

Heeseung, not as quick on his feet, pointed a single, accusatory finger back toward the manga shop. “We weren’t messing with Soobin.”

Y/N raised an eyebrow. “I never said you were.”

Beomgyu elbowed Heeseung so hard that his friend stumbled.

“What he meant to say,” Beomgyu said, plastering on his best innocent smile, “is that we were just leaving. Completely normal exit. Totally not escaping after tormenting Soobin for the past fifteen minutes. 100% not before our shift ended.”

Heeseung coughed. “Allegedly.”

Y/N crossed her arms, unimpressed. “You guys realize you’re making this sound way worse than it probably is, right?”

Beomgyu gasped, hand to chest. “Are you saying I look guilty?”

“Yes.”

Heeseung nodded. “Yeah, man. You look guilty as hell.”

Beomgyu shot him a betrayed look. “Bro.” He quickly brushed it and continued to Y/N “How about you? You returned!”

Heeseung crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow. “At this point, we should be charging you rent.”

Y/N rolled her eyes. “Hilarious.”

Beomgyu smirked. “It’s what I do.” He narrowed his eyes. “Wait… why are you here again? Don’t tell me…” His expression turned mockingly serious. “Have you become one of us?”

Heeseung gasped, playing along. “Oh god, she’s joined the dark side.”

Y/N snorted, tilting her head. “I don’t know. Do I get health insurance?”

Beomgyu scoffed. “Of course not, we're not a corporate empire.”

“Then I’m afraid I can’t commit,” she sighed, placing a hand over her chest in exaggerated disappointment. “My loyalty can only be bought with dental coverage.”

“I respect that,” Heeseung said solemnly.

Beomgyu nodded. “Fair. The best we can offer is unlimited terrible opinions on anime and occasional emotional damage.”

“Tempting.” Y/N replied.

Beomgyu grinned, nudging Heeseung. “Damn. She’s really holding out.”

“Unbelievable.” Heeseung sighed.

Y/N rolled her eyes, pushing past them. “Anyway, I'm heading inside, bye.”

“Tell our dear Boobie we said hi,” Beomgyu called out.

“Or don’t. Either way, he’ll be thinking about it for the next five hours,” Heeseung added.

Y/N laughed and stepped deeper into the shop. 

The familiar chime of the door made Soobin freeze.

Oh no.

Oh no no no.

It was her.

Soobin had barely survived the last time Y/N had been in the shop. He was still recovering from the emotional whiplash of hearing her laugh at his dumb jokes and have a great time with him and his friends. He had spent 48 hours straight reliving their last conversation, analyzing every word, every glance, every microexpression like it was a final exam.

And now?

Now she was back.

Soobin panicked. His hands twitched uselessly at his sides. Should he greet her? Should he pretend to be busy? Should he disappear behind the counter and pray for divine intervention? WHY WAS SHE LOOKING AT HIM?

“Hey,” she said, all casual and cool, like she wasn’t the architect of his current mental breakdown.

Soobin, a certified disaster of a human being, cleared his throat and said, "Hey."

Nailed it.

Y/N wandered toward the shelves, pretending to browse, but Soobin could feel her presence like a rogue asteroid hurtling toward his entire existence.

"I just ran into Heeseung and Beomgyu," Y/N said, crossing her arms with an amused smirk. "They looked like they were fleeing the scene of a crime. I’m guessing they ran off to avoid closing the shop?"

Soobin let out a soft chuckle, shaking his head. "Yeah… they do that sometimes. Their favorite trick is disappearing the second it’s time to do actual work."

Y/N laughed. "Classic. And let me guess—you just let it happen?"

Soobin shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck. "I mean… I don’t really mind closing up." He offered her a small, shy smile. "I like the quiet."

Y/N tilted her head, studying him. "That’s kind of nice, actually."

Soobin blinked. "What is?"

She gestured around the shop. "That you don’t see it as just a chore. You actually enjoy the time alone here."

He hesitated, then nodded. "Yeah. It’s… peaceful. It’s like my own little world when I’m here by myself."

Y/N hummed, eyes flickering toward the shelves, the dim glow of the overhead lights making the space feel cozier than usual. "I get that," she said softly, before turning back to him with a teasing smile. "Still, you should make them suffer a little. Next time, fake a power outage or something."

Soobin laughed, the sound light and so unfairly cute that Y/N almost forgot what air was.

"I’ll keep that in mind," he said, his gaze lingering on her just a second longer than usual.

She kept looking at him, her expression thoughtful. "You’re closing soon then, right?"

"Uh, yeah," Soobin said. He glanced at the clock. Ten minutes until closing. Ten minutes until he could collapse in private and overthink this entire interaction for the rest of his life.

Then she said the most unexpected words Soobin had ever heard:

"Do you have plans after this?"

The words barely registered. Was he hallucinating? Had he fallen into an alternate dimension? Had he died and ascended to a better reality where Y/N casually asked him questions that required coherent responses?

He blinked. ��Uh. No?”

Y/N smiled like that was exactly the answer she had been hoping for.

Oh God.

"It’s insanely hot outside," she said. "I was thinking of getting ice cream. Want to come?"

He could feel his soul exiting his body.

She was asking him to get ice cream? Him? Choi Soobin? A certified weeb who still hadn’t figured out what to do with his hands in social situations?

His brain short-circuited. He hadn’t been prepared for this. What was he supposed to say? Play it cool? Was there even a way to respond coolly when your crush, who was miles out of your league, just casually asked you out—because that’s what this was, right? An outing. A one-on-one, post-manga-shop, middle-of-summer outing.

Soobin had officially stopped responding.

Meanwhile, Y/N was going through her own mental catastrophe.

Why did she ask? Why did she say that? What if he said no?

The weight of her impulsiveness crashed down on her like a tidal wave. This wasn’t part of the plan. The plan was to build a friendship, to gradually get closer to him, to not accidentally reveal how much she had been thinking about him for the past few days. But no—her mouth had worked faster than her brain, and now she was standing there, waiting for an answer, exposed.

If he said no, she would die. Right here. Right now. Instant cardiac arrest.

She tilted her head, feigning casual confidence, but on the inside, she was screaming.

Soobin, on the other hand, was experiencing a full-fledged existential crisis.

She had no idea. No idea that he had spent the past two days thinking about every second they had talked, replaying her laugh in his head like some kind of deranged romantic protagonist. No idea that he had debated texting Yeonjun to ask if it was normal to feel this level of panic over a girl saying your name. No idea that she was the reason he had stared at his ceiling last night, questioning everything he knew about his own emotions.

And now she was looking at him, expectant.

Waiting.

Soobin swallowed.

“Uh—”

Say yes. Say yes, you idiot.

He cleared his throat. “Yeah. I’m free.”

Oh, thank god. Y/N barely stopped herself from sagging in relief.

“Cool,” she said, trying to sound normal, casual, like her heart hadn’t just tried to escape her ribcage. “It’s way too hot outside, so, you know… ice cream seemed like a good idea.”

“Yeah,” Soobin agreed, still in shock. “Good idea.”

Neither of them moved.

The silence stretched, awkward and ridiculous, as if neither of them actually knew what the next step was. Y/N was still gripping the strap of her bag like it was a lifeline. Soobin’s hands hovered near the counter, still unsure where they were supposed to go.

"Cool. Let’s go." Y/N finally broke the awkwardness. 

Soobin sprang into action like he had just been given a mission of national importance.

He turned so fast he nearly took out an entire display stand, then scrambled to grab the shop keys. Fumbled them. Dropped them. Picked them up like it was all part of the plan. Y/N bit her lip to keep from laughing as he hurried to lock up, jamming the key into the lock with the grace of someone defusing a bomb. She had never seen someone so genuinely flustered by the concept of ice cream.

He took a step back, stared at the door for a moment. Then checked the handle. Checked it again. Paused.

Y/N tilted her head. "Worried it’s gonna unlock itself and run away?"

Soobin cleared his throat, stuffing the keys into his pocket like he totally wasn’t just overthinking how doors worked. "Nope. Just being thorough."

"Right," Y/N smirked, crossing her arms. "Because closing up the shop is such an intense, high-stakes operation."

"You never know," he shrugged, playing it cool. "One wrong move and suddenly, the shop is haunted."

Y/N snorted. "Tragic. A ghost manga shop. Forever doomed to misplace volume twos."

"Exactly," Soobin nodded sagely, as if that was exactly what he had been worried about all along.

Finally, they started walking, the warm summer air settling around them like a lazy embrace. The city buzzed softly in the distance, but here, in this quiet stretch of sidewalk, it felt like they had slipped into their own little world.

A comfortable silence stretched between them, neither in a rush to fill it. Soobin walked on auto-pilot, his brain desperately trying to process the fact that this was actually happening.

That she was actually here.

Next to him.

Wearing that dress.

Soobin swallowed hard, forcing himself to look straight ahead instead of glancing at her every two seconds like some kind of love-struck idiot. But god—how was he supposed to function when she looked like that? The streetlights cast a soft glow over her, catching the curve of her smile, the way her hands absentmindedly played with the tie of her bag. She had pulled her hair up into a loose ponytail, a few strands falling around her face like some kind of dream, and Soobin was losing his mind.

Like—was she aware of what she was doing to him?

Was she trying to make him suffer?

Because it was working.

His hands were shoved in his pockets, shoulders stiff with effort as he tried to act like a normal human being. Like his heartbeat wasn’t currently attempting to break the sound barrier. Like this was just a regular walk with a regular friend to get regular ice cream.

Not some insanely perfect, slightly surreal moment where the girl he’d been secretly obsessed with for ages had just casually asked him to hang out like it was no big deal.

Was it a big deal?

For her? Probably not.

For him?

Catastrophic.

Soobin risked a quick glance at her—just a peek, just to see if she looked as relaxed as she seemed—and oh, bad idea.

She was smiling softly, eyes flicking up toward the sky like she was just content to be here. Completely unaware of the fact that Soobin was fighting for his life.

As for Y/N, for the first time all day, it felt like she could breathe.

She shouldn’t feel nervous. This was fine. It was just ice cream.

And yet—her heart had other plans.

Because Soobin was right there, walking beside her, hands stuffed into his pockets like he was trying to look cool and casual –and failing, but in an endearingly awkward way. The soft glow of the streetlights highlighted the sharp lines of his jaw, the way his dark hair fell a little too perfectly over his eyes, and it was honestly a little unfair.

Since when was he this cute?

Since when did his voice make her stomach flip whenever he spoke? And why did she suddenly care so much about how she looked right now?

She had thrown on this summer dress without thinking, tied her hair up in a quick ponytail, and hadn’t even looked in the mirror before leaving—but now she was hyper-aware of every detail. Was the dress too much? Did she look too eager? Too much like she had been thinking about this all day?

Which, to be clear, she absolutely had been.

But it wasn’t like she could admit that.

No. She had to play it cool. She had to pretend that this wasn’t a big deal, that she wasn’t freaking out over every single thing he did—the way he kept sneaking glances at her when he thought she wouldn’t notice, the way he had triple-checked the shop’s lock like he needed to stall for time, the way his lips kept parting like he wanted to say something but kept overthinking it.

He was nervous.

And somehow, that made her feel better.

Because if Soobin was nervous, that meant she wasn’t the only one feeling this way.

Y/N exhaled slowly, eyes flicking up toward the sky, pretending to be lost in thought while, in reality, she was panicking.

Did this mean something to him? Or was she just reading way too much into this?

She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, watching as he pretended to be completely fine when he was very much not.

And god—he was adorable.

"Relax, Soobin," she teased. "It’s just ice cream."

Just ice cream.

Yeah. Sure.

Just ice cream with the girl who was rapidly becoming his entire world.

Soobin forced himself to nod, ignoring the way his palms were sweating. "Right. Just ice cream. Totally chill. Super normal."

Y/N raised an eyebrow. "You keep saying that, but you look like you’re preparing for a boss fight."

Soobin laughed nervously. "No boss fight. Just… casual dessert consumption."

"Okay, now you’re making it weird."

"I know," he groaned, running a hand through his hair. "I don’t know how to be normal right now."

Y/N laughed, nudging his arm lightly. "Don’t worry. I think it’s cute."

Oh. Oh.

Soobin froze mid-step, his entire body locking up like a glitching video game character. Heat flooded his face instantly, spreading from the tips of his ears down to his neck, the kind of overwhelming warmth that no amount of cool summer air could fix.

His heart slammed against his ribs, beating so fast it felt physically impossible to appear normal. He could feel it in his throat, in his fingertips, in the way his breathing completely betrayed him—shallow, uneven, a total giveaway.

His brain? Useless. Completely wiped.

Every coherent thought? Gone. Vanished. Evaporated into the night air.

Because she called him cute.

And now, Soobin was approximately five seconds away from having a full meltdown before he could even enter the ice cream shop. 

⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂ ⠂⠄⠄⠂

The ice cream shop was small but full of charm, the kind of place that felt like it had been plucked straight from another decade and preserved in a bubble of nostalgia. The floors were checkered in black and white, slightly worn from years of foot traffic, while the pastel-colored walls were decorated with vintage posters of old-school sundaes and milkshakes, their edges curling slightly from age. A massive neon sign in bubblegum pink script hung above the counter, glowing softly against the pale yellow paint:

"LIFE IS SHORT, EAT DESSERT FIRST."

The air smelled like sugar and vanilla, mixed with the cool, almost frosty scent of fresh-made waffle cones. The hum of the old freezer in the back blended with the occasional cheerful chatter of customers, their voices muffled under the soft tunes of a jukebox in the corner, currently playing a faint, crackly rendition of some forgotten ‘60s love song.

A row of bright red barstools lined the counter, their vinyl cushions shiny and slightly creased from years of customers swiveling around excitedly while waiting for their orders. Behind the counter, an old-fashioned glass display case showcased rows of toppings—sprinkles, chocolate chips, crushed Oreos, chopped nuts—all arranged in little stainless steel trays. The ice cream tubs were lined up behind it, colorful and inviting, from classic vanilla to an electric blue cotton candy that practically glowed under the lights.

Soobin tried not to read too much into that.

"This place is cute," Y/N mused, stepping up to the counter, her eyes flickering across the pastel menu overhead. She traced a finger along the glass display, inspecting the toppings. "I feel like I just walked onto the set of a ‘60s diner movie."

"Yeah," Soobin nodded, a little too stiffly. Still recovering from being called cute. "I come here a lot. They know me."

Y/N raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Oh? Got a secret ice cream addiction?"

Soobin blinked. Oh no. Did he just make it sound like he came here alone all the time? That was embarrassing. That was so embarrassing. He scrambled for a recovery.

"Uh—no, I mean, like, with my friends. Sometimes. Not… like, alone. Not that it’s weird to eat ice cream alone! People do that! I just—"

Y/N snorted, cutting him off. "Soobin, relax. I wasn’t about to judge your solo ice cream adventures."

He groaned, covering his face. "I—can we just pretend I never said anything?"

"Nope," she said cheerfully, turning to the menu. "This is getting filed under ‘Things To Tease Soobin About Forever.’"

Soobin sighed in defeat as the employee behind the counter—an older lady with bright purple glasses—gave him a knowing smirk. "Your usual, sweetie?"

Y/N turned to him, eyebrows raised. "Oh, so you do come here often."

Soobin felt exposed.

"Just, uh… sometimes."

Y/N grinned, clearly enjoying this too much. "What’s your usual?"

Soobin hesitated. "…Cotton candy."

Silence.

Y/N slowly turned her head to look at him, like she wasn’t sure she heard correctly.

"Cotton candy?"

Soobin shifted uncomfortably. "Yes."

Y/N pressed her lips together. "Like… bright blue cotton candy?"

He nodded stiffly.

A long pause. Then—

She burst out laughing.

"Hey!" Soobin protested, ears turning pink. "What’s wrong with cotton candy?"

"Nothing! Nothing at all!" Y/N waved a hand, still giggling. "It’s just… I thought you’d be more of a ‘chocolate fudge’ or ‘cookies and cream’ kind of guy, but no—here you are, ordering the most childlike flavor possible."

Soobin crossed his arms. "And what’s wrong with that?"

"Nothing," she said again, biting her lip to hold back a fresh wave of laughter. "It’s just unexpectedly… adorable."

Soobin groaned. "I literally can’t win with you."

"Never," she agreed.

The employee chuckled. "And what’ll you have, sweetheart?"

Y/N took a moment, scanning the options. "Hmm… I’ll take a double scoop. Coffee and caramel."

Soobin eyed her. "You make fun of my cotton candy, but you’re out here getting the most ‘retired old man’ flavor combo?"

"Listen," she said, as if she were about to impart wisdom, "coffee ice cream is elite. You’ll understand when you grow up."

Soobin scoffed. 

They took their ice creams to a booth by the window, the shop buzzing with low conversation and the occasional clatter of spoons against glass. Outside, the summer night stretched lazily, warm air still lingering despite the late hour.

"So, let’s talk serious business," Y/N said, leaning forward. "If you had to pick one anime character to fight, who would it be?"

Soobin frowned, licking his ice cream. "Why would I want to fight anyone?"

"Because," she said, as if this was common knowledge, "sometimes a character just deserves to get drop-kicked."

Soobin considered this. "Okay… maybe Mineta from MHA?"

"Strong choice," Y/N nodded approvingly. "Now, are we talking one punch, or are you committing to a full-blown brawl?"

"Depends. Do I get powers?"

"Nope. Just raw Soobin strength."

He scoffed. "Okay, so I die."

Y/N grinned. "Probably. But hey, it’s the thought that counts."

Soobin shook his head, smiling. "What about you?"

He asked the question casually, like this was just a normal conversation between two normal people getting ice cream. Like he wasn’t currently having a minor crisis over how pretty she looked.

Because God, she was so pretty.

The soft glow of the neon lights reflected in her eyes, making them shine a little brighter, and her lips curled into the kind of easy, confident smirk that made his stomach feel light. Her hair, still pulled up in that loose ponytail, framed her face perfectly—like she had stepped right out of a coming-of-age movie where the effortlessly cool girl always steals the scene.

And that’s what got him the most.

More than just how pretty she was, it was how cool she was. Not in a forced, try-hard kind of way, but in that effortless, annoyingly natural way that made everything she did seem interesting. She wasn’t just some untouchable campus princess, like he once thought. No—she was funny, quick-witted, and so ridiculously at ease in a way that he would never be.

She could poke fun at him without making him feel stupid. She could carry a conversation without making it awkward. And somehow, she had completely flipped the dynamic—because Soobin had always assumed he’d be the one intimidated by her, but now?

Now he was realizing that she wasn’t trying to be intimidating at all. She was just… her. And maybe that was the coolest part of all.

Soobin swallowed, suddenly very aware that he had been staring.

"Oh, easy," she said, not even hesitating. "Makoto Itou from School Days."

Soobin nearly choked on his ice cream. "Y/N—that’s not a fight. That’s a crime scene."

"Exactly."

He stared at her. "…Remind me to never get on your bad side."

"Too late," she teased, stealing a small bite of his cotton candy ice cream.

Soobin froze.

Because suddenly, his brain wasn’t thinking about anime fights anymore. Suddenly, it was too busy processing the fact that Y/N had just eaten off his spoon like it was no big deal while he was sitting here actively dying.

He needed to distract himself, fast.

Soobin reached for his drink—his beloved Coke Zero.

And in a tragic twist of fate, his brain-to-hand coordination failed spectacularly.

The cup slipped. His fingers fumbled.

And in the span of one horrifying second—

Coke Zero. All over Y/N’s bag.

Soobin’s soul left his body.

"Oh my god—Y/N, I—"

Y/N looked down at the mess, blinking. Then, to his absolute shock, she just shrugged, not fazed at all.

"It’s fine."

"Fine?!" Soobin gawked. "I just—your bag—I—"

"It’s just a bag, Soobin," she laughed, dabbing at it with a napkin. "Relax."

Relax. Relax?!

Did she not realize that he was on the verge of collapsing from sheer mortification?

"I—let me take it home and wash it," he blurted, already reaching for the bag. What the fuck am I saying? Wash it? 

Y/N pulled it back. "It’s really not a big deal."

"It is a big deal," he insisted. "I ruined it. Please. Let me fix it."

Y/N studied him for a moment, lips twitching.

Then, in a move that should have been Soobin’s first clue that she was up to something, Y/N let out a long, exaggerated sigh.

"Alright," she relented, dramatically sliding the bag toward him like she was making a high-stakes business deal. "But only if you promise to take very good care of it."

Soobin nodded furiously, sitting up a little straighter, dead serious. "Of course. I’ll have it back to you in perfect condition."

And he meant it. He was going to treat this bag like a priceless artifact. He’d hand-wash it, air-dry it, maybe even apologize to it for what he had done. There was no room for error.

Y/N tilted her head, clearly amused by how intense he was about this. A slow, knowing smirk crept onto her face.

"Great," she said, way too casually. "In that case…"

She extended her hand to him as if expecting him to give her something. 

Before Soobin could even process, she asked him “You’ll need my number."

Soobin’s brain flatlined.

He stared at the phone in his hand like she had just asked him for the nuclear launch codes. Like this was a trick, a test, a hidden camera prank where, any second now, someone would jump out and yell, "GOTCHA! YOU REALLY THOUGHT?"

His ears burned. His palms definitely weren’t dry anymore.

Meanwhile, Y/N just waited, looking perfectly at ease, like this was no big deal—like she hadn’t just turned his entire world on its axis with one simple sentence.

Soobin swallowed, struggling to function. 

Because, okay—sure, maybe she was just being practical. Maybe she was thinking, I need this idiot to return my bag, so obviously, I should give him my number.

But also…

Was this an excuse?

Was she doing this on purpose?

Because if she was, she was evil.

Soobin gave her the phone with shaky fingers, hesitating only for a fraction of a second before she started typing in her number. Y/N could feel his eyes on her, like he was watching closely, studying her as if trying to uncover her true motive. 

Y/N grinned as she saved the contact, tapping at his screen before showing it to him.

“Y/N 🫡”

He blinked. "…What’s with the salute?"

She shrugged, giving him his phone back. "Just making sure you know your bag-washing duties are of the highest importance."

He put his phone back in his pocket quickly, carefully, like he might accidentally ruin this moment if he held onto it too long.

Soobin huffed out a laugh, shaking his head. "Right. Of course. National emergency level."

"Exactly." She leaned back, twirling her spoon between her fingers. "Oh, and don’t think this means you get to ignore me after you return the bag."

Soobin’s heart did something weird.

He blinked at her, trying to decode the sentence in real-time. "Wait. What?"

Y/N smirked, teasing, playful. "You have my number now. Use it."

Soobin’s brain short-circuited for the second time that night.

And Y/N?

She just sat there, eating her ice cream like she hadn’t just sent him into emotional cardiac arrest.

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author's note: this is the cutest chapter so far ig, i'm down bad for shy nervous soobin!! cotton candy THE BLUE ONE is my fav ice cream flavor btw hehe he has her number now, imagine him trying to text her i'm dying already! please let me know what you guys think in the comments hehe tysm for your support!! <3

taglist: @heejamas @mingyustar @wintereals @mimimiloomeelomi @wonderstrucktae @delirioastral @gomdoleemyson @i03jae @irishspringing @bunniwords @kirbrary @sirenla @saladgirl @beomieeeeeeeeeeees @uvyuri @imlonelydontsendhelp @haechology @sanriwoozzz @stormy1408 @soobinieswife @ijustwannareadstuff20 @soobskz @jkeydiary @imnotsureokay @nyanzzn@lostgirlysstuff @lilbrorufr @beomgyusluver @lveegsoi

[kireilien]

how do you think Maki's member is like? Honestly, I think he stands out quite a bit since it’s usually noticeable at first glance, I mean, have you seen the water sports episode?🫠

nghhhh maki cock

i finished this in less than 20 minutes i am cooked.

tw/cw. nsfw content, cursing; maki cock thoughts. + his cum

literally no shade to anyone, but people saying that maki is the biggest out of the teamies bc he’s half german is lwk weird…….. why are we encouraging borderline eugenics (and i use that lightly bc yes true definition isn’t this situation there’s nuance but anyways) 

he’s THICK. like STUPID THICK. and the water sports ep has me so insane his dick print,,, IS JS OUT THERE LIKE FUCK WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO 

im basing his cock off of his hands and his body bc that’s the best way you could really dissect it but if you look at his hands, they’re huge. did we literally forget that jojo has the largest hands and maki is around the same size. maki is also naturally hella fucking wide. like his neck and shoulders were wide even before he started to work out. also the members have constantly said that maki is huge even now. 

maki is definitely thick but i wouldn’t say too long, he’s not slanging an insane monster cock, it’s a respectable 5.7 in / 14.4 cms or smaller when soft, nothing more, i’d say likeeee 5.9 in / 14.9 cms in girth. and this is when he’s soft like he is HUGE guys. his hardness gets him to around 6.4 / 16.4 cms when all of the blood rushes to his cock. definitely a shower than a grower due to the fact he was born huge. his girth is around the same ratio too at 6.6 / 16.6 cms maybe even egging on to 6.7 in / a perfect 17 cms— heavy cock!

THIS SEEMS LIKE PURE FANTASY BUT GUYS IVE BEEN STARING AT HIS DICK PRINT FOR LIKE TWO HOURS AND CROSS REFERENCING TO DICK PICS TO SEE ACCURATE RESULTS YES IM ANALYZING HIS COCK BETTER THAN MY HWS LEAVE ME ALONE

huge balls btw. big breeder balls. mmmh. also pretty clean shaven most times, but doesn’t mind a trim if he’s busy, nothing too messy. CUT CUT CUT HES SO CUT i could not imagine him uncut even as someone who likes uncut guys </3 pretty veiny, not too veiny they only really show up when he’s really hard. his cock is also a little darker from his skin tone, it turns darker as you get to the base of his cock. im also a believer that it’ll go flesh to his stomach when he’s hard. 

k now i’m thinking of size training w him FUCK!

++ extra!!!! his cum is really milky like really liquid, it’s on the clearer side because he’s an idol, he has to stay healthy, but he cums more than average, he def has a few more spurts than a typical guy

visual one | visual two | (nsfw links/on twt)

links aren’t 100% accurate i’m not a twt demon anymore lol

back 2 my maki catalog

[housemdork]

a "chaste romance" - happiness & partnership politics in 8x09, "better half"

house and wilson made another intricate ritual, spurred by another subtextual comphet moment. i'll expound:

*important to note that this episode seeks to invalidate asexuality, which i vehemently disagree with. i'm suspending my disbelief here, but ofc asexuality is real and valid! love ya'll <3

summary: wilson encounters an asexual patient in the clinic, and he's immediately keen on understanding her identity. house completely refutes it and makes a $100 bet that he kind find a medical reason for her not having sex. he does, of course, and determines that her husband has a tumor that's wrecking his libido. when wilson explains this to husband and wife, she admits that she's had sex before, but was willing to go without because she loved her husband. wilson therefore loses the bet.

as per usual, house and wilson immediately game-ify this medical question. they're making yet another ritual that revolves around interpersonal relationships & sexual politics. but when wilson starts getting uncomfortable with house's insistence that there's an underlying medical reason at play, house makes a very good point:

"you wanted me to meddle! because no matter how much you wanted to believe in this chaste romance, you didn't buy it either."

bemused and probably a little disappointed in himself, wilson wordlessly acquiesces:

after confirming the tumor, the ritual almost comes to a close. wilson reluctantly hands house his prize, and makes his final declaration - "i think they were happy, even if it was based on lies."

this idea is very in-character for the entire show so far. relationships frequently operate on unspoken secrets, questions unasked, etc., and when any notes of truth come to the surface, it usually spells total ruin for whoever is involved. characters from wilson himself all the way to taub speak to this. but house, of all people, refutes this motif in the episode's last few minutes.

he agrees, at first, stating that "most happiness" is based on lies, but then he undoes the initial premise of their ritual by burning the $100 bill.

the ritual was predicated on dissolving the couple's happiness by forcing the facade out into the open. relinquishing the money confirms this premise until house burns it, thus burning the bet, the facade, and the claim that happiness is a farce. wilson calls attention to this:

"we can't smoke in here."

to which house replies,

"we also can't summon people into the clinic based on a lie motivated by a petty bet. and yet it happens! it's an imperfect world."

translation: you just said we can't undo the farce, but now you're insisting that a core part of your pessimistic belief system is breaking down. and now you're symbolically demonstrating this right before my eyes. we're engaging in sincere happiness right now.

then comes the most intricate ritual: the masculine, homoerotic nature of puffing on a cigar with your bro.

together, they deconstruct what's always been sacred to house and wilson: the games. it's no longer just a ritual between them but an admittance that happiness can actually exist organically. when asked about the cigar, what symbolizes this thematic shift, wilson replies with "disgustingly satisfying."

and this episode asks another question of house and wilson. can partnership exist without sex?

throughout, wilson is pretty insistent on YES, it can. he spends time reading scientific articles on how asexuality is a very real sexual identity. and even when he's forced to admit the opposite, he imagines that there can be some contentment in the lie. he believes that a heterosexual partnership can exist just fine without sex, which is especially pertinent this season, since wilson has been alone post-sam for a long time now. with house finally back from prison, we can assume that their resumed friendship is his first return to any sort of partnership in a while.

to complement that idea with a very phallic scene is certainly a script-writing choice :)

the combined revelations that wilson can conceptualize a heterosexual marriage without sex and that happiness can exist organically create a new realm of partnership for wilson and, by extension, house. by dissolving their ritual, house creates real happiness with wilson in a dynamic beyond the heteronormative/sexual. their relationship supersedes the initial premise of the episode entirely.

what confirms outright that house md's philosophy on happines & lies has changed is what happens next - foreman agrees to take off house's ankle monitor. he's been given freedom - freedom to move about openly, to enjoy partnership unencumbered, freedom to smoke in wilson's office because the parole officer doesn't care about the cigar smoke.

it's been a hot minute since we've got an intricate ritual of this magnitude, and it's all the better because it falls apart. house md is moving toward genuine happiness, and i'll pretend that i don't know the story reason behind that decision...

[calthinez]

Pie kinda guy

Pairing: Dean Winchester x reader

Summary: Dean loves all pies. He loves apple pie on festive holidays like thanksgiving, and cherry pie in the summer. But Deans all time favorite pie... is cream pie ;)

A/N: Have you guys watched 'The boys'? I think it's so weird watching Jensen play Soldier boy after watching him play Dean for so long. Also, I have no idea if somebody came up with this idea before me. If there has been a post like this before, let me know. I hope you guys enjoy this <3 This could also be summarized as "a collection of times Dean has nutted in you" but I think my wordplay is much more fun.

Warnings: smut (obvi) creampie, fingering, quickeys, unprotected sex,

The first of many times is when you and Dean are at the bunker alone. Neither of you felt like going out into town to shop for groceries, so you both volunteered Sam to go out.

After seeing Sam out, you and Dean ventured into the 'dean cave' to watch some stupid hospital drama show about sexy doctors. "What's your deal, huh? What did Dr. Sexy ever do to you?" Dean asked you, accusatively. You rolled your eyes at his childish behavior, the both of you walking to the two-seater lazy boy couches. This show was Deans ride-or-die, and Chuck forbid anybody had anything negative to say about it.

You sat down in the seat next to him with your blanket and curled your legs into your body while Dean pulled the lever to recline his seat back. "Nothing, I shouldn't have said anything." You knew Dean would die defending the honor of this show, and you really didn't want to go back and forth with him. "Mhm yeah." He's being smug now. Smug because he knows you'll stay and watch his doctor show, even though you think its stupid.

Not even ten minutes into the show you're bored out of your mind. If you were to make a list of 100 things you could do with Dean to occupy your time, this show would be at the bottom of the list. After a while of daydreaming of all your could-be activities, you come up with a devious plan.

"I'm cold." You whine to Dean, scootching and snuggling up close to him. He coos at you as he slings his arm around your back, his hand resting just above your ass. "Well, I'll warm you right up, sweetheart."

He was completely oblivious to your plans.

A few minutes later and you start resting your hand on his upper-thigh, dangerously close to his crotch. He doesn't say anything about it though, thinking maybe that's just where you hand coincidentally landed. Towards the halfway mark of the episode, you move your hand from his thigh to directly on his groin. He looks at you with a devious glint in his eyes. "Watcha doing there, Y/N." You smirk and don't respond, instead, you gently squeeze his cock through his jeans.

Dean is now completely ignoring the show playing on the TV. He's got you on his lap. your legs straddling his thighs. Both of your pants long discarded. He's kissing you so fast and forcefully you think your lips might bruise.

You slide your hand up and down his bare chest a few times before you finally reach down to his ignored cock. You wrap your hand around the head of his cock. Softly dragging your thumb to collect the precum you start to pump his shaft.

Dean has always been vocal when it comes to having sex with you. Anytime you fuck or you suck his sock he's always moaning like a whore. Hell, even when he eats you out its like its just as enjoyable for him as it is for you.

This time is no exception, he's moaning into your mouth through kisses. "I want- I want to be inside of you." He says in-between kisses.

You smile against his lips and nod your head. Dean pushes your panties to the side as you hoist yourself up with the help of his shoulders. After positioning his cock into the enterance of your pussy you sink down, letting out a high-pitched mewl into his open mouth.

"Thats it.. that's it, pretty" Dean encourages you as you're getting adjusted to the stretch of his large cock. You take him balls deep, the burn from the stretch is familiar and welcomed.

One of Deans hands rests on your hip, the other makes its way to your clit to rub fast tight circles. You moan into his mouth as the heat creeps its way into your belly. "You're drenching my cock, sweetheart." He mumbles into your ear, his gruff voice sending shivers down your spine.

You can feel your orgasm quickly approaching. "You close, Y/N? I'm close." Dean moans. You known neither of you are going to last much longer. You lay your head onto his shoulder, no longer holding in your moans. "I'm gonna cum- can I cum in you, sweetheart, please?" He begs as he erratically kisses your jaw and neck.

You nod your head and squeak out a few 'yes's. Deans movements quicken as he hums sweet praises into your ear. The tight coil in your belly abruptly snaps, you cum hard around Deans cock. He isn't long after you. He releases into you, the both of you now panting from your orgasm.

*

The next time is at one of the dingy motels during a hunt. It was definitely more risky than before. You Sam and Dean all decided to share one motel room. The three of you drawing straws to see who would have to sleep on the crusty couch.

In the middle of the night, while Sam is fast asleep, Dean comes to your bed. "Bathroom quicky?" He asks you in a hushed tone. Dean smirks when you nod your head and follow him to the bathroom.

He shuts the door and you hop up on the sink. Dean stands in-between your legs. "We cant be loud, Dean," you tell him. "What? I'm never loud." He lies to you. You shake your head and lightly laugh at him, "Mhm, yeah." You say to him just before he kisses you.

You've been hunting with the boys for maybe two and a half years, sleeping with Dean for a year. Never once have you guys had sex in the same "room" as Sam, you always thought it was too risky. Dean was definitely getting more needy for you. He even lets you sit up front in Baby with him.

You dont have the chance to think too much more about the nature of your relationship with him because soon enough Deans hands roughly grab at your boobs over your shirt. The kiss is messy, also. Tongues meeting together in a slobbery mess. The hand not occupied by groping you is wrapped around your waist, pulling you into his body. You can feel his hard-on through his pajama pants, staining against the fabric.

Dean abruptly stops kissing you for only a moment to pull both your pants and panties from your body, letting them fall to the floor. "You're so wet already." Dean praises to you as he feels you with his middle finger. "Do I make you like this?" He teases, his middle finger slowly circling over your clit. You eagerly nod your head.

"Just fuck me already, Dean." You're sick of his teasing and want to feel him already. He smirks and drops his pants. He sets one of his hands on your thigh and the other grips the base of his cock to pump it a few times. He lines himself up with the entrance of your pussy and teasingly slowly bottoms out. Dean grabs your jaw and brings your face to his to kiss you again.

Its an awkward position to be fucking in but you don't really care, with his cock inside of you and his thumb circling your clit you don't focus on the face that your ass is going slightly numb from sitting on the resin top. Trying to be as quiet and as quick as possible Dean starts pounding into you.

The only sound coming from the small bathroom was both of your held-in moans and exasperated breathing along with the wet sloppy sounds of skin meeting skin. You were sure that is Sam woke up he would her you, you hoped he was still passed out on the bed. Because that would be very awkward for all three of you.

Soon enough you feel the familiar tightness in your belly. You're sure Dean feels it too, with his stuttering hips and his jumpy breathing. "You wanna cum with me?" He asks in your ear. You nod and pull him back into a kiss. He rubs circles on your clit faster, bringing you closer to cumming.

It all suddenly snaps, the coil in your belly shatters and your legs shake around Deans waist. Dean cums not even a second after you, the squeeze from your orgasm brought him to his. He cums inside of you and he stays inside for a few moments. Collecting himself.

He kisses you on the mouth as he pulls out of you and pulls his pants back up. "I think I'm gonna shower." You say softly, breaking the silence. Dean smirks. "Without me?"

* Yet another time is in the back seat of Baby. You were honestly shocked when he brought it up to you. You never thought he'd ask you to get back seat freaky in Baby, that's his- well- baby.

He was on top of you, your legs were wrapped around his waist as he pumped into you in a slow speed. His mouth is on your tits, his tongue flicking over your nipples. The sensation was fueling the fire in your belly. The car windows actually started to fog from the released breaths of you too.

This time was much more drawn out. You guessed he was making up for the quicky that took place just a few days prior. He moves his head to your other breast to lick that one and massage the one he just had his mouth using his free hand.

Your moans are much louder than before, there isn't anything around where Dean parked the car. He kisses his way up to your lips from your chest, paying special attention to your collarbone to suck a light hickey onto your skin. Your nails scrape against the skin of his back.

Once he gets to your lips he speeds his pace up. Both of your mouths melting together. You whine into his mouth.

"There you go, sweetheart." he says as you grind your hips up to meet him mid thrust.

His hand reaches down in-between your bodies to rub circles on your clit. You feel the fire in your belly once again. Dean kisses you like he's a dying man, licking and nipping at your bottom lip.

The both of your bodies are slowly moving in sync. Your hand traces up his bicep to hold onto him. You squeeze his right bicep and he flexes his muscle against your hand. His scruffy cheeks tickle your face. All of these sensations are like a drug to you, you cannot get enough of Dean Winchester.

You cum first this time. It takes Dean a little while longer, desperate to make you finish first. He moans into your mouth when he finishes. Singing you quiet praises. He pulls out of you and he takes a moment to look as his cum seeps out of your pussy.

Dean pinches your cheek after he helps you clean up the mess between your legs. "You ready to head back?"

[bronx-bomber87]

Hello and happy Wednesday Fandom and wonderful readers :) This was another solid episode. The hitman SL could be interpreted in a few ways I think. Which is kind of fun. I'll be real honest I'm not 100 percent sure what the endgame is and such. This doesn't feel done. But that is the fun part of these 'First' impressions. Those first initials thoughts. Would I like to be spot on and right all the time? Sure who wouldn't be? haha

But I'm also ok being off or wrong about this as well. I'm sure my outlook will be wildly different when this ep gets added to my master list this summer. I was entertained though I will say that. We got to have Tim/Angela on a case too. What's not to love there? Bestie time is always appreciated.

Second LOVED The Lucy/Celina SL. I'm very close to my sister so it struck an emotional chord with me. Just like her sister SL did the first time. As a all around episode I really enjoyed it. Not gonna say it was 7x08, 7x09, 7x11 or 7x12 caliber but I liked it all around like last ep. That is the theme of this season. Plus I'll never say no to another hug. Ever. Hard to believe we're in the home stretch. The final 5 are left including this one. This has gone way too fast. Only 4 left after this one. Better to not dwell on that too long. Let us begin.

7x14 Mad About Murder

We start off in what has become my happy place this season. Tim's house. Just makes me giddy to be there. No matter the occupants with him. Obviously the most enjoyable is when Lucy is there ha. But I'm getting such joy out of the use of it. I'm sure Eric was thrilled considering he fought so hard to get it back. Love that man. Oh Captain, my Captain.

Tim invited Miles over to strong arm him into the touch football game. Which is beyond precious by the way. I love seeing Tim so passionate about it. We know how much he loves football. What it means to him. Also how competitive he is. Was giving 1x05 vibes. Their convo is interrupted by a knock. The minute Tim opened the door and that man said his rank and name I was anxious.

Now I will say the way he cocked his gun and reopened the door. Have mercy. I was here for it. Tim in streets plus that? Thank you writers for this morsel. The dude's face when Tim reappears with the gun is priceless. Not what he signed up for. But what did he expect showing up to a cop's house with a message like that? Tim doesn't have time for this and has Miles cuff the guy.

This is where all my questions and anxiety stem from for this SL. Questions like. Who is this person? Why are they wanting to take down this site? But mostly WHY Tim? Why deliver it to him? This is where my nerves kick in. This unknown voice saying they will destroy him if he tries to find out. They could mean 'You.' as the collective LAPD 'You.' But they could also not.

Now would I be reacting this way if this was delivered to Nolan? No. Not even a little bit. Sorry John. lol But I am over protective over him and Lucy. More so than anyone else on this show. Something I'm sure is obvious af to you all. The fact that this landed on Tim's doorstep put me on edge from the moment it happened.

Just didn't sit right with me. Them finding Tim at his house and presenting it the way they did. I could be overreacting but my initial gut reaction to this was anxiety and questions. That is the fun of going through these the first time though and seeing how it unfolds. Was quite the start to the ep.

Poor Celina I can't even imagine what she was feeling. To take the darkest moment of your life and hear people talk and comment on it? What a violation. I feel dirty just writing about it. Let alone living it. I do love that Lucy love's true crime. That has always made me chuckle. She lives and breathes it and craves more in her off time.

Lucy's face when she hears Celina's name. Ugh. I would've reacted the same way. Taken off like a bat out of hell. Ready to destroy this podcaster. Lucy is barely able to keep up with Celina as she all but bolts towards this woman's place. Trying to be supportive of how she feels but wanting to keep her anger contained. Since she is a a public servant and all.

We can see the concern written all over her face as she chases Celina. She's such a good friend. I love her. We all need a Lucy in our lives friend wise. Luckily she is able to contain it best she can with Celina pulling her mom out. They run into another woman in the hall. One desperately looking for her pregnant sister who has been missing for weeks. Celina's mom volunteering them to help her. Their SL begins.

What I loved about this SL was we got to have Tim and Angela on a case together. Bestie's unite on this one. This may be random af but made me think of a thing on New Girl. 'A Classic Winston and Cece mess around.' LOL A classic Tim and Angela case. This scene above being why. The looks shared between them while they investigate these clueless people haha Didn't have the space to get third guy in but their shared looks are top notch.

That first lady is clearly checking Tim out. No shame in her game. Saying as long as his arm as she checked out his arm lmao I mean, I was checking out his arms too, but I always do that when they’re in plain view like that. The way he turns around to Angela had me cackling. Man never knows how to take being hit on. Never has. Never will.

Eric is so effortlessly funny it’s subtle, but it lands so well. And Alyssa? Her reaction in kind is absolute perfection. They're so good together. The second one hitting on Angela is too funny. I was laughing so hard. "Not this shorty.' Ha I really do love when they're paired together. Only other person Tim has this good of chemistry with on a case, besides Lucy, is Angela. Their banter and teamwork is *chef's kiss* So you'll never see me complain about them tackling a case together.

They find out hitman and clients alike are being wiped out due to website being hacked. Which is horrifying with how quickly they found that out tbh. I mean clearly the person who let Tim know and the person wiping out these people are not the same.

Makes me wonder who the hell it is.... I'm assuming that's the idea. That we aren't supposed to know. What they do know is they have a list of people to stop from being killed.

Nolan tries to make a dad joke and fails HARD. The look between them had me cracking up. I did love their in-sync turn to face John. Only other person I would be comfortable Tim having this much case chemistry with is her. Bestie magic at it's finest. They're so over Nolan's BS and I'm laughing so very hard. Thinking he has something important to say and it's that....Swing and a miss good sir. I love them.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the authority Lucy exudes in this scene. Takes control of the situation immediately. Telling Heather she needs to leave. Not in a minute. Not after they talk. NOW. Of course she tries to contest it and that doesn't fly with Lucy. Not one bit. 'She's not in charge. I am.' *mic drop* Like hot damn girl. You're every bit the badass you don’t give yourself credit for. Look at you. I'm so proud.

Forever in awe of the confident BAMF of a woman she has become. It floors me just like Tim's growth. Makes me so happy to see. I adore Lucy taking on this leader/protector role for Celina in this episode. Knowing these waters are going to be choppy emotionally for her with this one. Celina has come a long way but this is a trigger for her. One she wouldn't be able to handle on her own.

Now I totally understand why Taylor did this. I'm very close to my sister. She's basically one of my best friends. I cannot imagine having a fallout like that and then have her go missing. I would be sick with worry and guilt. Needing to do SOMETHING to fix it. To alleviate the anxiety and worry eating me alive. I would be insane with stress and reaching out to anyone to help me. As I said earlier this SL struck a personal chord with me. They wrote this very well.

We get to the scene (other than the hug) I was most excited to get to. Some bestie time at Tim's house. Which I am more than happy they are at once again. They take a break from work and Tim asks if she wants a drink? They shift from work to personal life pretty quickly. Thank you Angela. You are a Queen and we all adore you for it. Doesn’t hold back on giving him shit in the slightest. No matter the subject. We are not worthy madam. But forever grateful.

She starts out slow. Asking about the game. If he convinced Miles to join yet or not? I love her easing him into it. She knows this man well. Tim jokes he threatened a blue page. Angela poking and prodding in a way only she can. Tim saying this game is important to him. Angela knows exactly what that is code for. All his issues with his father and what football represented for him. Doesn't waste a second calling him out for it. Tim asking if she always has to poke at his feelings? Uh duh.

Of course she wants to talk feelings. What else do you expect Timothy? Sure it's a convo she's been wanting to have for awhile with him. Especially with Tim and Lucy in a seemingly better place, a confusing, messy place, but still better. One where no one, including them, fully knows what that means. Clearly that is coming across to everyone in the station Angela included. Also love her saying he's one of the girls and girls gossip LOL Fantastic but true. What happens you have a girl-bestie my love. They wanna talk feelings.

Angela doesn't beat around the bush. Telling him to just spill it. He's not going to win this battle and he knows it. Asking Tim what's going on with him and Lucy? I will say this scene gave me 6x06 vibes. That scene in the car at the dock while they're tailing Ray. Angela giving him her advise whether he wants it or not. He isn't nearly as obstinate now as he was then. He is just a smidge this time around haha. It feels mostly banter based though. Tim replying honestly he doesn't know. It's a fair assessment.

They're in a better space but they're not fully healed. She just used his body like a jungle gym not long ago. One he was more than happy to be, but it did make things messier.... So this is a fair reply from him. Following it up with her taking the Sergeants exam. Which is his way of saying he hopes that gives him another crack at winning her back. Angela picks up on this of course. Implying as such in her reply.

Being our on screen shipper saying 'So you two can get back together?' I love her so much. Tim denies it at first. Saying it's good for her career. I mean it is but it is also good for you two and this bloody chain of command issue. Tim letting her know it has come up though.....Angela ask if she can offer a little advice? I was so excited about this for couple reasons. One another square down for my bingo card haha Two. I just really wanted a scene like this. Angela telling him like it is about Lucy. He is far more receptive than he's ever been. Even if he is sassy in his reply above.

The giving season continues on with Angela's spot on advice. Crushing it on all fronts in her guidance. Putting everything on the table since they're talking about it. Starting off with Lucy was (and still is) the best thing that's ever happened to him. FACTS. Just straight FACTS to begin with. The advice is to come. But I love her saying this to start with. We've known this for a very long time. But it is nice to hear it on screen. Just like everything else this season. It's so very satisfying to watch that become cannon. Angela watched over the years the positive impact Lucy has had on her friend. The amazing woman she's become. How happy she made him when they were together. Watched the change in Tim due to her. It had to be said.

She kicked this speech off strong and I was cheering her on. Angela soldiers forward letting him know if he is lucky enough to win her back after ALL he put her though. And as we all know far too painfully well, what he put her through was nothing short of hell. God it was hell on earth for us as well. Idk even with my previous ship I adored I felt as much agony as 6x06 made me feel. I love Angela recognizing that. I really do .She may have no idea the details but she knows the turmoil he thrust upon her with their breakup. The magnitude of it wasn't lost on her. I adore Tim nodding along with all of this. The Tim he is now, the more healed, more grounded one, knows exactly what Angela’s throwing down right now. I love that this is something that is brought up a lot. The severity of what he did doesn't fade. It's ever present.

He isn't shying away from it though. Post-therapy, there’s no one more aware of the damage he inflicted on her than Tim. I love Angela calling him on it and he is in absolute agreeance. No fight whatsoever. Her follow up to that is utter perfection. That he should be on his knees every night, praying in gratitude if he’s lucky enough to get her back. Yes he should be. GOD I LOVE THIS WOMAN. Ain't no one gonna tell him straight like his bestie will. Tim understands the assignment. You can see it when he says 'Understood.' All that’s left is the convo and Lucy's forgiveness at this point. Feel like everything else is in place IMO. We are so close I can feel it.

I admire Lucy apologizing here. I would do the same thing. The guilt would be eating me up. I would want to address the elephant in the room as well. I can't sit on things. I have to talk about them or they'll suffocate me. Lucy doing this is for Celina is just the best.

It's like this episode was trying to remind me why I love Lucy Chen so much. I already knew but I don't hate the reminders. I just adore her having the foresight to know it probably upset Celina. To nip that in the bud before they really dig into this investigation. Adore this woman. Safe to say I might be a little in love with Lucy Chen too haha

I was kinda hoping they’d have a case like this living together I will say. So having them team up like this was exciting to watch. Celina thanking her is everything. She knows what balls it took for Lucy to own up to listening to that podcast. To be vulnerable and confront it like she did. I love their bond it's so sweet. I'm sure it's something Celina NEEDED to hear but would've never asked of Lucy. That's what makes the moment so impactful and special IMO. I love their friendship so very much.

This entire sequence put me on edge in the best way. It was so good. The way they teamed up and saved this girl and child. Also Lucy Chen you are an absolute BAMF. That almost doesn't seem like enough of a word for her. Holy Hell. Do you see how she flew through that window and was immediately ready to negotiate?

Gun drawn ready to talk this unstable person down? I am in awe of her Fandom. Doesn't hesitate to pull that trigger when its warranted. To save that little babies life. To think you doubted you were a bad ass in 7x11 Lucy. SMH. Bailey should be the one metaphorically holding the beer now LOL If only she could see herself the way we all saw her. Goodness she is impressive.

Look at Lucy comforting Celina. Knowing right away this must be upsetting for her. How could it not be? They got to have the ending she was robbed of. I’m sure this is striking a deep chord within her. Lucy is making sure she is ok. Letting her know it's ok if she isn't ok.

I love that so much. When you don’t get any validation growing up, it’s such a blessing to find people who do that for you. Validate your feelings. Not only that but letting you know sometimes it's ok not to be ok. I can't explain how this hit just right.

I loved Lucy being that friend in this moment for her. Something very healing about receiving it. You can see Celina wants to cry after she say this. She've given her the space to not be ok with this. It's lovely. This scene got me square in the heart I will say. What a good episode for them both. Holy cow. Lucy spots her person waiting for her and feels the siren call of him. Letting Celina know she is going to be right back. That when she is she'll take her home.

Have to get some Feral Caitlin out before we start on this hug. Mmmm god Tim showing up looking like a god damn snack. Just look at him above when he arrives. Badge showing, tight red shirt, and jeans. Lord have mercy. This man will be the death of me in the best way.... I love him coming to check on her right away. Clearly hearing she had to shoot that crazy woman. His first priority is her. She’s the first thing on his mind and the first place he runs to.

I cannot with how much I love this. Adore that Tim is the one to initiate this hug. Transparent Tim continues to make me happy beyond belief. Doesn't ask if she needs a hug. Just engulfs her in his arms, the moment she is close enough for him to scoop her up. Lucy easily folds into him. Like the perfect puzzle piece she always is in their hugs. Just locking into place like it's where she should always be. Look at her above It's the first time she's been allowed to fall apart a little.

The little happy grunt she does once she's in his arms. *screams* The look of absolute relief that he is there is getting me emotional af. Like she can breathe a little knowing he’s there. Tim happy to be the one to hold her up if only for a brief moment. Also can we talk about where her hands are and where she slowly withdraws them? So intimately placed…my goodness. Tim trying to make a joke to get her to smile. It doesn't land like he wants with her defeated reply. So he just nods being whatever she needs in this moment.

I adore Lucy being open with him about how she’s feeling. That logically she can understand how someone could be that broken. But emotionally? She is wrecked and upset. Hell I am too. That whole scene was disturbing to watch unfold. I love that she leans into him emotionally when something is upsetting and hurts. Just like old times. We all know It’s how she makes sense of things by talking them out. Lucy knows he’s steady enough of a pillar to work it out with her.

That she feels safe enough to do that with him constantly now. Look at how we started this season. She wouldn't talk to him about Seth and her initials issues. Now look at her. It’s been a slow, steady kind of healing and there’s something so beautiful in that. How naturally it's come without being rushed. I commend the writers so much this year for it's pace. The maturity of it all has blown me away.

Now Tim just screaming his feelings once again in his reply. Concern pouring out of him. The relief in his eyes knowing she’s ok is glorious. To him at the end of the day Lucy being ok is more important to him than anything else. He conveys as much to her. This man isn’t going to waste a single moment with her without making sure she knows how much she matters to him. Keep showing up for her Tim. I know I have said that a lot but it's working. His consistency in moments like this are paramount to building toward their reconciliation and that talk.

It's sweet she is leaning on him a second time here. Asking if it was ok if she didn't come to the game later? Needing his reassurance to take care of herself. He gladly gives her it. The way he builds her up before saying he’s got her back I cannot. That is his speciality this year. Building his girl up when she needs him the most. Love me some s7 Tim fandom. I loved this man before; but God almighty, he has leveled up this year and I love him even more, if that’s possible.

I adore him listing all the ways she's earned her break. The reverence in his tone as he explains all the reasons she deserves to go rest. The man doesn’t need extra reasons to be so gone for her, but she just keeps stacking them up with badass moments like this. Also we got to see a little protective Tim coming out in his reply. He wouldn’t hesitate to destroy anyone who tried to give him crap about her missing it. Little bit of feral Tim comes out and he stops himself. And just says he’ll fill them in.

You watch him take a beat before he says it. Then finishes with 'I'll fill them in.' When really he’s wants to rip them a new asshole if they say anything. But refrains from saying as such ha Like to note the way Lucy looks at him adoringly as he answers the phone. The heart eyes are real. She didn’t decompress until her person arrived. Just being strong for Celina then he showed up and she could fall apart a little. *happy sigh* His sweet touch before he has to go has my shipper heart all happy. Gah I love them.

There is literally no purpose to this gif other than the sinfully delicious man above. Just flexing those sexy forearms as they prep. Tim Bradford is a full-blown thirst trap, and I’ve never been so dehydrated. The thirst is very real. Something about Field Tim and street clothes has me extra feral. haha *fans self*

I will say I loved Angela being the one to take Malvado down. Just like Lucy doesn't hesitate to do what must be done. After he kicked Tim and Nolan's ass....

Before she leaves she mentions the thing that's been bugging me this entire SL. Who is the person that contacted Tim? Is there any significance in him being chosen? Or was it just random? My gut just isn't sitting well with Tim being the chosen one to receive the news. So who this is? I guess that’s still TBD.... For now. I might be overreacting like I stated earlier. Simply because it's Tim who was the target to start the case. Like I said if it was Nolan I wouldn't bat an eye.

Could be mean nothing but we're headed toward the end of season.... So I'm a little on edge bout finale implications. I could be completely wrong and this has zero to do with Tim. Could have no connection to him at all. This could be another Monica fueled plan to get more players off the board.

And while that might not be him directly. If true doesn't mean he wouldn't be collateral damage in it all. Especially if this person wants revenge for being revealed and told him as much. My anxiety was cranked for this and I can't explain why. All I do know is we are not done with this whatever it is. And that's what makes me nervous. I don't have answers lol and that's ok shall see how this ends up playing out.

Tis Entire game was adorable and I loved it. As Giants fan And Eli Manning being the brother I love more I adored Cooper Manning being in this ep. That was amazing haha Also Angela trying to bribe Wes was everything LOL Nolan's face was funny in reply. Also it was pot shot at the refs from last season in the NFL I'm dying. IFYYK. Won't say no to Sports Tim in my fav color rocking a black eye. Idk why that does it for me. But honestly anything about this man does it for me let's be honest. haha Was a light and fun way to end the ep.

Next week looks GOOOOOD. I know the documentary eps aren't always well received. But I always have a soft spot for them. They're usually hilarious and more importantly produce excellent Chenford content. They're being interviewed together for it too. So I am ready for whatever goodies we get in this episode. May even get a more open Tim than we've ever seen with these. Especially if the topic of Lucy is brought up and or their relationship. It's a bummer about Abagail. I do love all the s2 tie backs this season. Rachel and Now her.

Thank you forever and always to my readers. Your likes, comments ( love chatting bout the season come chat) and reblogs fuel me. These are a fun thing I get to do for my happy place and you all make that possible so thank you. Shall see you all 7x15 :)

~~~~

Side notes-Non Chenford

Idk why hearing Eric’s voice say “previously on the rookie.” Brings me so much joy but it does LOL

Poor Nyla…I hope their meetings gain more traction in the future. Nice to see her and James in a better place it seems.

Omg these videos….I can't believe thats what they watched lol

Same day delivery for the win. Gah I miss same day delivery. Where I am now does not have it LOL I was very spoiled where I was before. Lived near a hub No where near one now...

God John’s view is stunning always blows me away when we're at his house. Legit distracts me in his house haha

Didn’t mind the FBI insert this ep. Maybe it’s the others I can’t stand LOL she’s pretty solid addition if we’re gonna have them.

So proud of Miles and his video. Love this kid. I love him using the game to get Tim to do the videos. I love him hahah well done sir. Also we better see dem videos.

[drunknillawafer]

right down the line: zuko x firebender!reader

You grew up close to the Royal Family due to your father's position as a General, but you ran away from home after the agni kai against your best friend. Now, you're just trying to do your part in ending the 100-year war.

hellooo so this is my first official published fic that i will keep up! hopefully you guys like it, let me know! this is set in book 1 ep 10 in the Jet episode! i do not own Avatar or these characters! okayy enjoyyy >.<

Part 2

⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙

All I can see for miles is shades of crimson and orange. We’re so close to home, it almost feels like I’ve returned.

I’m standing in the trees near Jet and The Duke, peering down at twenty Fire Nation soldiers and their camp, waiting for the right moment to attack. The plan was to keep an eye out and alert Jet if anything could be of use to us. I hold onto my swords in anticipation.

“We’ve been here all morning, what if we don’t get a shot?” The Duke asked.

“Relax, we will.” Jet replied in his infamous cool manner. He was so sure we would score big this time and have one of the greatest victories thus far. I didn’t see the point, it seemed like your average solider platoon. But maybe he was right. He hasn’t let me down yet.

I met Jet when I was 13 and freshly ran away from home. I had left everything that could resemble Fire Nation in my room and took only my closest valuables. With one bag over my shoulder and a week of struggling to find food, the cool leader crossed my path in a forest not too far from where we’re standing now.

“Are you lost?” Jet questioned me.

“No, I’m hungry.” It was true. I hadn’t eaten for so long because I didn’t know how to find food. My family’s position in society meant I usually had servants dressing me, brushing my hair, and finding my food for me. It’s not something that crossed my mind when I left in a rageful fury.

“What’s your name?” He replied.

“Y/N.”

“You’re a kid. Don’t you have parents to feed you?”

“Don’t you?”

And that was that. I had passed Jet’s mysterious test and he invited me into his little world of lost children who were strong, brave, and alone. I was lucky to have found them when I did.

Three years later, the same cool leader has me standing in the trees like a predator waiting to catch its prey. That’s when I hear it. The voice of a teenage boy.

I crouch down to focus on the noise and see the rustling in the bushes near the Fire Nation camp we’re getting ready to bust. A boy in blue appears, looking backwards to his friends in an annoyed tone. Just as I spot him, he spots the soldiers in black and red.

“This is it.” I tell Jet. He nods and whistles his command to the Freedom Fighters, sending us off to our mission.

I come down from the trees and land on my feet, quickly inspecting my environment. Taking out two of my swords, I spot the boy in blue preparing an attack for a Fire Nation soldier who will surely beat him. His stance is all wrong, I can’t believe he’s actually attempting this.

I use both of my swords and dig them into the ground, launching my feet forward and off the dirt floor, kicking the soldier in the abdomen and out of balance. He falls over with the wind knocked out of him.

“Hey! He was mine!” The boy in blue exasperated.

“No, he wasn’t.” I snarked at him. This is the fun part of being with the Freedom Fighters, winning.

After a few minutes, the soldiers scurry off like rats when the lights turn on. They go in every direction, disappearing into the autumn-colored forest.

“We did it!” I celebrate. For a moment, I catch my breath and put my swords back into their sheaths.

The trio of strangers gather together and start walking toward us.

“Who are you guys?” The youngest with a blue arrow on his head spoke first.

“I’m Jet, and these are my Freedom Fighters.” The leader introduces the members one by one, leaving me for last. “And this is Y/N. She’s my right-hand.” He graces.

I wave at the trio, taking them in as they process the new information they’ve just been handed. It’s a Water Tribe pair with another boy in orange. His clothes were strange, when was the last time someone wore Air Nomad clothes like his? I wondered. I had briefly seen the girl bend water, but it was impossible for the boy to be an air bender. The Fire Nation made sure of that.

“Let’s loot!” Jet interrupts my thoughts, and the rebels cheer in agreement. Looting time.

I focus on a tent to begin raiding the soldiers' bags and belongings. If we’re lucky, the group can score something to help us in our efforts—a map, a plan, a supply shipment—anything to take the empire down.

As I go through my first bag, the boy in blue enters the tent. I look up at his glare and stare him right in the eye.

He crosses his arms and gloats, “Just so you know, I could have handled that. But thanks for your help.”

“Didn’t look like that from where I was standing.” I shrugged and shifted my focus back onto the bag. I flip it upside down so the contents come spilling out.

“And where were you standing by the way? You guys came out of nowhere!” Clearly, he wasn’t going to let my swoop-in go.

“We were in the trees, been staking out all morning.” Nothing of importance in the first bag so I move onto the next one, opening the top and letting the soldier’s belongings fall on the floor for me to inspect. “Until you,” I point at his chest, “came along and made the perfect distraction. It should be me thanking you.”

A balled-up messenger hawk message comes out of the bag. I can tell from its design that it comes from the Admiral, lucky me. Ignoring the boy in front of me, I open the letter and read the writing.

The Avatar has returned. From now on, any information must be reported to Admiral Zhao. The Banished Prince is to be ignored.

The Banished Prince. My finger grazes the ink.

“One day she’s going to try and overthrow me, I swear.” Zuko confesses as he lunges forward with his sword. I dodge his attempt at an offense and strike back.

“Even if she does, you and I can take her.” I reply. My mind is focused on the sparring round, but Zuko seems to be somewhere else. He’s not taking any of my bait to back him into a corner.

“You’d help me fight?” His demeaner softens and I know this is the moment I can use to win. I use the gymnastics I was forced to learn to my advantage and gain the higher ground on a bench near the turtle duck pond. His sword falls out of his hand as I send my blade toward him, making sure to not seriously hurt him. Zuko holds his hands up in defeat. I win this round.

“Duh, it’s kind of my throne now too. I’ve grown fond of it.” I hold one hand to my heart, feigning admiration for the title.

The Prince and I grew up together. Learning fire-bending at the same academy, attending snobby important society gatherings, and now practicing sword-fighting at the Royal Palace’s turtle duck pond. We became halves of one whole. If the cosmic forces upon us gave me the mind, it gave Zuko the heart. And together, we felt complete.

“One day I’ll have to be Fire Lord.” He solemnly said.

“One day. But for now, just focus on beating me! Round 4?”

I take a deep breath in and push the memory away. Time makes it easy. The boy in blue waiting for my response to the messenger hawk letter makes it even easier.

“It’s nothing, just old information.” I crumble the paper into a ball once again and throw it with the rest of the useless items I’ve gone through so far. “Do you want to come to the hideout?” I change the subject.

“You guys have a hideout?” His eyes widen in amusement.

“Yes, but maybe I should know your name before I let you go up there.”

“It’s Sokka.” He answers. “And you?”

“Y/N.” I hold my hand out so he can shake it, and he does. When his hand touches mine, a pit forms in my gut. I got the feeling I’d be knowing him for a long time. “Well, Sokka, follow me.”

[rist-ix]

I was very curious to know what would have happened if Bloom had managed to escape from Valtor in Chapter 16? How long would he have looked for her or maybe she would have come to him after some time?

Ooooh, that’s a fun one!

One of the few assumptions Valtor makes that is absolutely, 100% accurate is that if Bloom ever gets out, she is OUT. Gone. Off into the sunset. The way he managed to capture her on Linpheo was by luring her into a fight she thought she had the upper hand in, and that was a lesson Bloom is not going to forget any time soon. (It’s also one of the reasons Bloom didn’t attack when she managed to chain him to the wall — she's picked fight over flight before and ended up deeply regretting it)

Unless Bloom is 100% certain she can take Valtor down, she will NOT voluntarily seek him out again. Even if she could admit to herself that she's developed some kind of affection for him, her loyalty and sense of duty to her friends would always supersede that.

That being said, her chances of staying hidden for long are not looking all that rosy. For one, she is now on her own. She has no way of finding Stella unless she wants to risk contacting Favo again, who not only lives on Linphea — one of the first places Valtor will look for her — but also probably skipped town the second she heard that Valtor intercepted them at Red Oaks. So now Bloom is alone, with no resources or friends, in a dimension where everybody knows her face and would happily sell her out, AND she's back to not using magic again, because that would alert Valtor. Add to that that the only organized resistance against Valtor has nearly killed her in the past. Suffice to say, things would be tough for her.

Valtor actually called her out on that in one of the earlier chapters. He asked her very directly, very somberly “Where would you even go?”, and Bloom immediately panicked and went on the offense so she doesn’t have to engage with that question too deeply.

BUT! What exactly Bloom would do after escaping Domino is pretty much irrelevant, because of what VALTOR would do immediately afterwards! Get ready for the crash out to end all crash outs. Valtor has, in less than four (4) minutes, gone from making out with Bloom against a bookshelf to her disappearing into thin air. Right in front of him. That man is going through the most stone-cold withdrawal you can imagine. Not only is he having a panic attack to rival one of Bloom's episodes, he is VIOLENTLY reliving the three years of her absence, and ho ho ho, he is NOT doing that again, no thank you. If you thought he was being overly dramatic missing her, after experiencing like 2 semi-sincere kisses and a very shady promise of assistance in Lake Roccalucce, you're not ready for what he does after having her to himself for like, four entire months.

How long would he have looked for her? In theory, forever; in practice, about as long as it would take him to raze one or two cities to the ground. Bloom's fireproof, she'll be fine. She's so much easier to spot without all the buildings in the way!

[maarigolds]

Since we all know how much of a shitshow umbrella academy s4 was, let's revisit the good old days. Here's my reaction to ep1 s1, which I haven't seen in like 5 years:

We're starting off strong with the sudden pregnancy scene: this is how you get the viewer's attention

Cunty shot of Reggie walking with the seven nannies and the seven baby carriers

Viktor playing the violin while all the other characters are introduced 10/10 stunning no notes

Rehab worker saying "We'll see you soon Klaus" and him immediatly overdosing and being reanimated in the ambulance. Now we know he probably just came back to life by himself!

"You got big, Luther! What's your secret, protein shakes?"

Pogo!!! I missed you, you ape butler!

Baby Viktor leaving sandwitches for Five 🥺🥺🥺

Klaus-Allison alliance going strong since the beginning I see

"Did you see Diego?" "Yeah, with that stupid outfit" "Do you think he wears that thing in the shower?" I love siblings being siblings

Ok I had forgotten about the Allison and Luther thing. Maybe it wasn't ALL great.

"Dad, could you just stop playing tennis with Hitler for a moment and take a quick call?"

"Ok, sorry, I'm just gonna go murder mom, I'll be right back"

Klaus is seriously the best

Bank robbery flashback!!!

"Guns are for sissies! Real men throw knives!"

"That's one badass StApLeR" god I miss five's voice cracks so much

*Ben covered in blood* "Can we go home now?"

Back to the present with Klaus spilling Reggie's ashes lmao

I THINK WE'RE ALONE NOW AKA BEST DANCE SCENE IN TV SHOW HISTORY

No seriously Diego absolutely killing it, Luther doing the hand-krabs, Klaus dancing with the urne

And then boom! Five is back! Honestly iconic entrance

Also Klaus trying to stop a temporal anomaly with a fire extinguisher whyyyy lmao

Five interrupting his speech about the future to look Klaus up and down and 100% seriously say "nice dress"

Klaus responding with "ah, danke"

"That makes no sense" "well, it would if you were smarter"

Also unrelated but Viktor being such a shy wallflower in s1... he's come such a long way!!!

Luther throwing reggie's ashes on the ground "probably would have been better with some wind"

Luther and Diego beating the crap out each other. Viktor: "stop it!" Klaus: "hit him!"

Also Klaus trying to protect Five and him having none of it, too cute

"An entire square block, 42 bedrooms, 19 bathrooms, and not one single drop of coffee" "dad hated caffeine" "well he hated children too, and he had plenty of us!"

"Alright, guess I'll see you guys in another ten years, when Pogo dies" Diego please 💀💀

"You know, every time I close my eyes I see a diarrheatic hyppo about to shit on my face" this was robert sheehan improvising and honestly what the fuck how does someone even come up with that

The Istanbul was constantinople fight was honestly art. This was really the moment I knew I would love this show with all of my heart. Also masterful way to show exactly who Five is in just a couple of minutes

BEN!!! I MISS OG BEN SO MUCH!!! He was baby

Five going to Viktor when he needed help. Honestly we should have gotten more of them being besties it was so good

"The world ends in eight days, and I have no idea how to stop it" and that's how you end a first episode! I'm hooked! Except I'm not cause I know how it ends 🫠

Well this is it. This show was honestly so good in the beginning. I have no clue what happened. At least we'll always have season 1.

[thedepressedjuggalette]

Arcane theory: Skye IS the Inspiration Rune.

Okay, I know it's kinda worthless to have a theory when the rest of the show is going to be coming out soon, but I need to get this brainrot out of my head while I can. But he warned fuck ton of spoilers ahead especially if I am right. Also there is so much brainrot you are probably going to call the cops on me.

And the title itself outright shows what my theory is.

However, let me elaborate.

I play League of Legends and like every single summoner on the rift knows there are more than just four runes trees.

It has been pointed out countless times that Viktor's Hexcore is incomplete.

Looking here we have Precision, Domination, Sorcery, and Resolve but one is missing which is the very obvious Inspiration Rune.

To give you a basic understanding of how these Runes work in game:

The Precision tree grants you improved attacks and sustainable damage.

The Domination tree grants you burst damage and target access.

The Sorcery tree grants you empowered abilities and resources control.

The Resolve tree grants you durability and crowd control.

But the Inspiration tree grants you creative tools and rule bending.

This all should sound familiar now that we have the first three episodes of season two.

Jayce, Ekko, and Heimerdinger had found that the arcane is upset from all the demands that Hextech had made and even started affecting the weaponry that Jayce had made.

Jayce and Victor's research and inventions are incomplete and thus are fairly unstable and volatile depending on what runes they had used for their inventions.

To give you an example as to what the Inspiration Rune does in comparison to the others let's look at the raw trees themselves.

The Inspiration tree is the most versatile of all the runes in League of Legends. When picking your runes you get the first "Keystone" rune tree and are able to pick from a variety of benefits before picking a supplementary rune set that doesn't offer as much of a drastic benefit as the first one but does offer a fair amount of goodies.

Here are the benefits you can pick from in the Inspiration tree.

From two simple images in this you can spot Hextech clearly -- one of them being outright called Hextech Flashtraption.

But to look at the analysis, the rule breaking in this tree is fucking insane with the keystone runes alone.

Glacial Augment:

Passive: Immobilizing an enemy champion will cause 3 glacial rays to emanate from them towards you and other nearby enemy champions, creating icy zones with a 700 unit radius that last for 3 (+ 100% of the immobilizing effect's duration) seconds.

Enemies within the icy zones, which have a width of 80 units, are slowed by 20% (+ 7% per 100 bonus AD) (+ 6% per 100 AP) (+ 9% per 10% heal and shield power) and have their damage reduced by 15% against your allies, excluding yourself.

Unsealed Spellbook:

Passive: While not channeling Teleport and being out-of-combat for 5 seconds, you can swap one of your equipped summoner spells to a new, single use summoner spell. You cannot select a summoner spell you have already equipped.

Your first swap becomes available after 6 minutes, with an initial 300 second cooldown. Selecting a unique summoner spell reduces the swap cooldown by 25 seconds. You must swap to 3 different summoner spells before returning to one you've already used.

Selecting a summoner spell puts it on a 5 second cooldown.

Using a selected summoner spell puts the summoner spell in the same slot on a 10 second cooldown.

(a summoner spell is a spell that you the player has that works outside of the champions themselves' skillset, from Flash -- a small blink that is used to bypass walls and dodge enemy attacks but is put on a rather long cool down, Ignite -- a spell used to set the enemy on fire for a short duration of time, and more.)

And finally First Strike:

Passive: Dealing damage or applying a crowd control effect to an enemy champion within the first 0.25 seconds of champion combat, grants 10 Gold 10 and First Strike for 3 seconds, causing all of your post-mitigation damage dealt against champions to deal 7% bonus true damage. Afterwards, you are granted gold equal to ( Melee role 50% / Ranged role 35%) of all bonus damage dealt within the duration.

First Strike will be placed on full cooldown after being struck by an enemy champion before you strike them.

These are completely different and outright insane in comparison to the other runes, which I will give one example from each tree.

From the Precision tree let's look at the most famous of them, Press the Attack:

Passive: Basic attacks on-hit against enemy champions apply a stack for 4 seconds, refreshing on subsequent applications, expiring upon attacking a new champion, and stacking up to 3 times. The third stack consumes all stacks to deal 40 − 160 (based on level) bonus Attack damage Magic damage adaptive damage and grant you 8% increased damage (except Hybrid penetration true damage) against champions until you are no longer in combat with them.

Adaptive Damage: This effect deals either physical or magic damage depending on the damage contribution from your attack damage and ability power to the effect's damage formula. Greater bonus damage from the AD (Attack Damage) ratio → Physical damage. Greater bonus damage from the AP (Ability Power) ratio → Magic damage.

If the damage contribution of AD and AP are zero or otherwise equal, the damage type depends on the effect's particular default.

From the Domination tree we have Dark Harvest:

Passive: Damaging basic attacks and ability damage against enemy champions below 50% of their maximum health deal 20 (+ 9 per Soul) (+ 10% bonus AD) (+ 5% AP) bonus Attack damage Magic damage adaptive damage and, after a 1.75-second delay, reap 1 Soul. This cannot occur again for 35 seconds, resetting to 1 second upon scoring a Damage rating takedown against an enemy champion.

While not on cooldown, also reap 1 Soul from receiving the kill credit of a champion killed by a minion, monster, or turret.

Adaptive Damage: This effect deals either physical or magic damage depending on the damage contribution from your attack damage and ability power to the effect's damage formula.

Greater bonus damage from the AD ratio → Physical damage. Greater bonus damage from the AP ratio → Magic damage. If the damage contribution of AD and AP are zero or otherwise equal, the damage type depends on the effect's particular default.

In Sorcery we have Arcane Comet:

Passive: Dealing ability damage to an enemy champion hurls an Arcane Comet at their current location that lands after 0.825 seconds, dealing 30 − 130 (based on level) (+ 10% bonus AD) (+ 5% AP) physical or magic damage to enemies within a 140 radius upon impact. Dealing forms of ability damage reduces the remaining cooldown. Spell damage: 20% Area damage: 10% per enemy hit Persistent damage: 5% If「 10% bonus AD ≥ 5% AP, 」「 bonus AD ≥ 50% AP, 」deals physical damage. If otherwise, deals magic damage.

And finally in Resolve we have Grasp of the Undying:

Passive: Entering combat generates 1 stack every second for the next 3 seconds, refreshing the duration with each instance of combat and stacking the effect up to 4 times. At maximum stacks, your next basic attack on-hit within 5 seconds against an enemy champion consumes all stacks to deal bonus magic damage equal to ( Melee role 3.5% / Ranged role 2.1%) of your maximum health, heal you for ( Melee role 1.3% / Ranged role 0.78%) of your maximum health), and permanently grant ( Melee role 5 / Ranged role 3) bonus health.

These are basic as hell where Inspiration's tree grants you so much versatility.

Now that we have this all established let's look at the entire point of Hextech as established by Viktor and Jayce.

They invented Hextech to IMPROVE LIVES.

For instance Jayce outright states that he made the Atlas Gauntlets to help the people mining in the Fissures to work faster and without fatigue. Hence improving efficiency.

If I were to assign runes to the gauntlets it would be the Resolve Tree.

However we have to look at something specific when it comes to Arcane and Hextech in general.

In Arcane and League of Legends Lore, you have to be BORN WITH MAGIC in order to use magic. Even in the second episode one of the Council members outright said you have to be "Born with Arcane talents, you can't just make them".

This outright shows that Jayce and Viktor are rule breaking.

To stabilize this that means a new Rune has to be made or found. So here is where my theory comes full circle.

Skye actively wanted to help Viktor because he inspired her. She was in love with him, and it was very clear to anyone with half a braincell that she loved him with all her heart.

I imagine that finding out his prognosis made her want to save him no matter what. And she unknowingly sacrificed her life for him when the Hexcore was going out of control. And it took her. After all to quote Fullmetal Alchemist "Human kind can not gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first law of equivalent exchange."

So upon being taken by the Hexcore her sentience has possessed the Hexcore and is now trapped inside it. She is now leading Viktor to his dream of helping those in need in Zaun after saving him from the brink of death. Once something goes wrong however, she will stabilize Magic itself and become the rune of Inspiration, to ensure the safety of not only Viktor but all of Piltover, Zaun and even Runeterra as a whole.

I am probably super far off, but fuck you my brain is rotting and melting out of my ears to such a point I'm probably gonna go insane. Someone send help. I need an ambulance.

[cal-daisies-and-briars]

Hi Cal! Can’t think of a better way to cope with 8x15 than running to your inbox and getting more of your fics. I am 100% a bobbyalive believer and will remain one for a potentially ridiculously long time. 8x16 will be airing on my birthday and I’m choosing to believe that the show’s present to me will be a bobby resurrection

But in that vein, my first theme this time is “I don’t care what 8x15 says I care what Cal says!” I trust you to handle this premise way more than i trust the show writers

☣️☣️☣️☣️☣️☣️☣️☣️☣️☣️☣️☣️☣️☣️☣️☣️☣️☣️☣️☣️☣️☣️☣️☣️☣️☣️☣️☣️☣️☣️☣️☣️ (i think on my last ask for this one i said something about liking the last episode and i feel compelled to make it really clear that I wrote that before 8x15!! I feel like that’s obvious but i still had to say it :p very much loving this fic though! The buddie conflict is sure to be delicious and I can’t wait for buck to develop his super powers (super curious what they’ll be!) and of course find out that everyone who “died” in the lab actually developed their own super powers and got locked away for it. Very excited to see what happens next!)

🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸 (long death part two electric boogaloo!! I’m assuming this isn’t actually connected to long death but either way I’m super pumped to see you tackle the vampire trope again! I’m sure i will be continuously turning to these snippets to fuel my 8x15 denial)

- PCA <3

BOBBY ALIVE! YEAH! Right? RIGHT?

96 or 500 for ☣️ (THANKS! So happy this one is intriguing you.)

---

“I appreciate that,” Athena says. “I do. But I wouldn’t feel good sending you in there alone. The rest of us can’t teleport.”

Ravi frowns. “You could give me your gun?”

“You can’t teleport people? Just yourself?” Eddie asks.

“Just me,” Ravi confirms.

Buck furrows his brows. “That’s not true.”

“What?” Ravi asks him.

“You’re an expert on teleportation powers you learned about today?” Eddie asks. 

Could he actually go the fuck home?

Buck ignores him.

“Ravi, you didn’t teleport naked,” Buck says. “You just asked for Athena’s gun. You can take small things with you.”

Ravi blinks. “I guess… Yeah. I guess I can.”

“So, you might be able to teleport with someone,” Buck says. “Reasonably.”

Ravi’s expression pinches. 

“M-maybe…” He allows.

“Okay,” Athena says. “If you could, now there’s a plan.”

“Teleport to one of them, grab them, bring them to Buck,” Eddie says.

Buck nods. “Yeah, except… Sending him in there alone still…”

“If I could do it,” Ravi says. “I could take one of you in with me, and teleport back to the other.”

“To the other?” Athena asks. “I thought you could only reach Buck?”

“Oh,” Ravi blinks. “Sorry. Should have mentioned. And Eddie.”

“What?” Eddie’s brows raise. “Since when?”

“Maybe a minute or two before you got to the house?” Ravi says. 

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Buck says. “Eddie wasn’t there that day.”

“No, but…” Athena frowns. “You could heal Eddie. You couldn’t heal Maddie, but you healed Eddie.”

Buck is confused. “I don’t understand.”

“That makes two of us,” Eddie replies. “I wasn’t… I didn’t… I had nothing to do with that day.”

“I wonder if Ravi could sense Roz,” Athena says. 

“The doctor?” Ravi asks.

Athena nods. “She was affected like Buck. We’re still not sure how.”

“She was sick,” Buck remembers. He looks at Ravi. “Did this ever make you sick? Chim got sick.”

Ravi thinks, face scrunching. “Chim got really sick. Bobby… Bobby got sick. Hen didn’t, but she was hurt. I didn’t.”

“Neither did I,” Buck says. “But I also didn’t have any… Ability, I guess? Not until this week.”

“We need Karen,” Athena says.

Buck sighs and nods. “We do. We need Karen.”

---

96 or 500 for 🩸(yessss! More traditional horror vampire this time.):

---

May Grant doesn’t know what to think when her mother officially resigns from the LAPD. 

It happens not even a full week after the incident at Bobby’s grave. Mom is still on extended leave. There is no pressure for her to return. She doesn’t have to make this decision so quickly. To leave the work she has loved more than most things for so much of her life. She doesn’t have to choose, no one is forcing her hand. But she does it so casually.

She tells May and Harry over lunch one day. Lunch. Like it’s nothing at all and not another flow to their foundations. 

“I quit today,” she says into her salad.

“What?” Harry asks.

He and May have been staying with her since Bobby died. They’re afraid to leave, honestly. She keeps saying she’s okay, but… Well, May know it’s a lie. Harry knows it’s a lie. It’s a painfully obvious lie and this revelation is only making that clearer. 

“I sent my formal resignation,” Mom says. “Or, well… Retirement. I put in for retirement.”

Harry looks at May. He looks scared. Like he’s watching their mother deteriorate into dust before his eyes, and maybe May can stop it. She’s the big sister, right? But she can’t. She has no idea what to do.

“Retirement?” May asks. She sounds as incredulous as she feels.

“Very normal for someone my age on the force,” Mom says. She’s not making eye contact with them. 

“Yeah, but…” May doesn’t know how to handle this well. 

“But what, May?” There’s an edge to her voice. A challenge. May hates that it’s come to this. 

“But you’re obsessed with your job!” Harry bursts. “You’re not thinking clearly. This isn’t what you’ll want when-”

“When what?” Mom cuts him off. 

Harry falls silent.

“When I feel better?” She presses anyway.

“That’s not what I meant,” Harry whispers.

“He means, maybe this is too hasty,” May says. “Maybe you should give it more time.”

Mom stares at them for a moment. Really looks at them. Like she’s cracking into their souls.

“One day, may you both have the privilege of loving someone enough to know there will never be enough time or distance,” she says. “Never. Not even an eternity.”

Then she stands up, leaving her lunch half finished, and walks away, towards the office she keeps locked and private from them.

“What do we do?” Harry whispers when the tell-tale sound of the office door slamming shut reaches them. 

May grabs her brother’s hand and squeezes. 

“I don’t know,” she admits. “Be here for her? It’s all we can do.”

[blue-rose-soul]

For hazbin hotel au: what would happen she found out at first meeting with alastor and kept it a secret because she didn't know how to process it?

By 'she' I'm guessing you mean Charlie?

I don't think she'd end up keeping the secret for all that long, to be honest. We know how she feels about keeping secrets from loved ones, although she's not nearly as close with Alastor so it's somewhat excusable. I feel like Charlie would still believe she had an obligation to tell the truth though.

I'm also not sure what scenario would allow Charlie to know but not Alastor OR Lucifer. The reason I decided Lucifer was wasted when he hooked up with Nicaise is because Vivienne described Lucifer and Lilith as being deeply in love. Even if some things have changed, I don't think Lucifer would ever intentionally cheat on Lilith. Even if their relationship was an open one, I doubt Lucifer would have knowingly abandoned any kid of his.

So if Lucifer didn't know, I don't see how Charlie would.

Buuuuuuuuuuuut...

Let's say she does figure it out. Not right off the bat, but over time she pieces together some clues from things she's heard Alastor mention offhand and stories Lucifer told her when she was a bit younger, before they stopped talking regularly. She doesn't know what to say to Alastor, so she goes to Vaggie, who doesn't really know how to handle the situation either. But there's one guy who has to have answers, right?

Charlie ends up calling Lucifer earlier than in canon, inviting him to the hotel to talk about 'something important.' Sometime after episode 4 but before the months-long time skip between then and episode 5. Lucifer comes running over, eager to see Charlie for the first time in ages.

He meets Alastor... aaaaaand does NOT make a good first impression. You've seen Dad Beat Dad.

There's no Mimzy to break up the argument this time (she won't show up for another 4-5 months) so Charlie has to stop things before they escalate. Fortunately, reminding Lucifer that she had something important to talk to him about is enough to get him to drop his sniping match with Alastor.

Unfortunately, trying to extract the truth from Lucifer is like pulling a tooth. Charlie keeps trying to subtly poke and prod but Lucifer's only half-listening, distracted, or he gets wrapped up cooing over his 'little girl.' Vaggie's not around to provide backup, since Charlie wanted to speak with Lucifer alone.

Eventually Charlie gets fed up with Lucifer's rambling and snaps, "DAD! Did you cheat on Mom?"

It takes Lucifer a hot minute to process the question.

When he does he's shocked and hurt... and a little afraid.

"Why would you ask that?" he wonders, and Charlie walks him through her mental math. Once in a moment of drunken vulnerability, Alastor let slip that he was conceived at Mardi Gras in New Orleans, in the same year that Lucifer snuck to Earth. And that his father was never in the picture. Lucifer is embarrassed as he admits he doesn't remember the entirety of that night. But surely it's just a coincidence, right? Lots of kids were conceived that night, at that parade.

Charlie tells him that Alastor's mom apparently referred to his father as an 'angel' and suddenly Lucifer's not so sure.

They don't bring it up to Alastor yet. It's still not 100% certain, and Charlie doesn't want to drop that on Alastor's lap in case she turns out to be wrong. But she keeps wondering, picking out the little things she and Alastor and her father have in common. It's MADDENING. On top of which, now Charlie's daddy issues are exacerbated by the revelation that, whether or not Alastor actually is her brother, Lucifer might have strayed when he went up to Earth. She asks him to leave and Alastor's all too happy to sneer at Lucifer on the way out.

The next few months pass as they would have in canon, with Charlie mainly focusing on trying to redeem Angel Dust and Sir Pentious, BUT with one difference. She also spends her time trying to talk to Alastor more about his family and life on Earth. He's not entirely receptive to her questioning. Ultimately he'd rather just forget who he was as a human and embrace being the Radio Demon. But, from time to time, he feeds her tidbits of information that can't really be used against him. After all, if she feels like they're 'close' then he can use that to his advantage. Over time, though, Alastor starts doing his own math, and picks up some hints as to what Charlie's weird behavior is really about.

Lucifer, meanwhile, spends the time doing some digging and trying to figure out whatever became of Nicaise after Mardi Gras, 190x. His research pretty much confirms what he and Charlie had begun to suspect. One solace; it seems like Nicaise went up to Heaven. But Lucifer is devastated to learn that she left behind a 10-12 year old child when she did.

[bumblee27]

HI I AM ALREADY LOSING MY MIND OVER THE SIGN OF FOUR AND IT'S ONLY PART 1. I'VE. I'VE MADE AN A3 MINDMAP WOULD YOU CARE TO HEAR MY RAMBLINGS

Will contain spoilers!

Tagging @blujellyfish21 because I'm blaming you for my mindmap, you've rubbed off on me, and @justabit-silly because uh I just want to share my stupid observations and far fetched theories with you 👉👈

RIGHT OKAY HERE WE GO

Right, first off, a 40 minute episode hello??? Is every part going to be this long?? That'll make the whole case just under 7 HOURS.

The music box at the start is undoubtedly the one John and Sherlock have found.

I HEAR YOU, SHALLOWED BREATHING BETWEEN THE CHILDHOOD RECORDING AND THE VOICE NOTES

So the diamond had been 'stolen' from the Morstans even when Mary was a child.

(Small note that those clips before the theme tune messed me up. I was so scared, but so excited, I was shaking. Because, okay, I read the warning 'minor in distress', and then little Mary popped up, all big-eyed and giggly and I went SHIT NO LEAVE HER ALONE)

The magpie thing is 100% an analogy for the thieves. Oh, sorry, there weren't any thieves? Oh, they're not in it yet.

Note John's "4 for a boy" around the magpie superstition, and note his tone of voice. That is guaranteed going to be relevant. Perhaps it means Tonga (I'm very sorry, I can't remember his name and if I did I couldn't spell it).

John's having more leads! Massive ones too! Yippee!! But Sherlock's not happy. Is he jealous? Or...

OKAY LISTEN TO ME PLEASE. The dynamic between the main 3 has been thriving recently, they've taken their time to develop into a wonderful healthy relationship. Sherlock's sudden spite today was a surprise to me. His insult towards John and Mariana was uncalled for and deliberate. Why? Having a bad day? Or maybe he's doing it on purpose. Distancing himself. Maybe he knows something. Maybe he thinks losing him will hurt less if their memories of him are bitter. Must keep an eye on him.

How interesting that in the book, Mary goes directly to Sherlock for help, but in the podcast, she doesn't even know she's connected yet.

I was wondering when and where the birdsong after the voice notes and before the theme music was set. Yes, it could be irrelevant, but the creators would have had to put thought into it, wouldn't they? Then I went oh my god what if the birds are magpies? I'm not familiar with bird calls, but that would be an AMAZING detail.

I'll end this by pointing out how obviously upset John was in the intro. The whole show is literally about murder, but he always manages to find something to laugh about. So if he actually shows that he's upset, how bad must things be?

[emeryhiro]

My thoughts on TBOC 206 script & Caryl canon.

Before I get into my thought I want to clarify a few things, and this may come across as blunt, however, I feel that bluntness is nessary in this instance.

Firstly, I wasn't planning on adressing the leaked script pages, however, after reading some of the positive and negative posts about it, I feel like I should also share my thoughts and clarify some things that may be misunderstood about me as well.

Secondly, (and this may not sound relevant right now but bear with me for a second) I'm an engineer who works in the construction industry, I'm also a post grad architecture student, both of which are roles that require at the very least a competent level of critical thinking as a baseline skill. Why I'm sharing this information is becasue those skills are what I use to develop the thoughts and opinions that I share. I also want to say that I'm in no way familiar with the way things are run in the entertainment industry, whether that's production companies, directors, producers, or actors, I'm just a fan of the arts who loves delving deep into lore-rich stories and sharing my thoughts with others who also love the same things.

So now that you have my cridentials😅 you can come to your own decisions on how you approach and what you take away from the thoughts I share.

Where I stand on Carol and Daryl's relationship.

Over the past few months, I've had several messages saying that my opinion may be biased or that I'm just being overly optimistic because I'm a Caryl fan. So the first thing that i want to say is that this fandom is very dear to me. And even though I have only in the past year begun to be more vocal on these tags, I have been on this platform and a part of the fandom for a very long time.

As someone who had the opportunity to see episode one early, I feel that I have a responsibility to be honest with everyone who's relying on my opinion. I would never want to give false hope to those who (similar to me) love Caryl and are excited about canon, only for them to be even more disappointed in the end.

I respect and understand that everyone has their own reasons for watching/not watching and loving/hating a show. However, I myself will 100% still be watching season 2 and all the seasons to come, even if we never get canon. I love Carol and Daryl as individual characters, and I watched twd because I loved the show and it's premise. Daryl and Carol are a massive part of why I loved the show, they also happen to be my favourite characters in fiction, and Caryl canon is what I've always wanted for them, BUT I'm not, never have, and never will be watching for Caryl canon alone. Will I be disappointed if it never happens? Yes, definitely! But I'll still be watching because of everything else that I love about the show and the characters.

Even if the show was just about Daryl, or just about Carol I'd still be watching every single episode and loving it. So to summarise what I'm trying to say, the thoughts and opinions that I share publicly are not biased (at least not consciously) by my love for the idea of Caryl unless I specifically say that I'm "fangirling" which you may have notice me clarifiying in some of my posts.

SPOILER WARNING - Thoughts on the leaked ep 206 script below the line.

TBOC 206 Script

Implications on Caryl canon:

I don't see anything in these pages that implies whether or not canon has or hasn't happened, the whole scene that it describes can't be more than 5-10 minutes long, which is why there is no point assuming either way.

If canon has happened, I don't expect them to be mentioning it in a scene where they're seperated for the most of it, with one of them getting almost beat/shot to death, the other fighting several walkers and collapsing, and both of them most probably inhaling poisonous gas. Not exactly the type of scene where you can create the perfect romantic Caryl moments. And not so different from the TOWL finale scene between Rick and Michonne as they escape the walkers/gas.

~~~

The Parallel:

One thing I haven't seen anyone talk about is the parrallel of the scene between Daryl and his hallucination of Isabelle, and the scene between Carol and her hallucination of Alpha from S10 EP14.

Firstly, I don't think Isabelle is meant to represent an angel to Daryl in this moment, just like how Alpha didn't represent a demon to Carol. Neither actually represents the characters themselves, and both are just personification of the conflicts that's going on in each of their minds, and perhaps another similarity is that they're both personifications of people who they believe got them to the situation they're in.

Secondly, In both scenes Daryl and Carol seem completely overwhlmed by guilt and ready to let go and give up. The scene from S10EP14 didn't mean that Carol didn't love Daryl, on the contrary a reminder of him was what snapped her out of the physical and mental trap she was in and gave her the motivation and drive to fight again.

I think the same can be said about Daryl in the TBOC EP06 scene, he's "ready to let go" and this isn't becasue he doesn't love Carol but it's becasue he feels as though he's constantly failing everyone who relies on him, including Merle, Beth, Glenn, Isabelle and in his mind Carol could be next. But what gets him to fight again? Isabelle saying:

"Not like him."

refering to his grandfather. In season 1 we learnt exactly what Daryl didn't want to do and in what way's he didn't want to be like his grandfather. The main one being that his granfather left his family behind, which resulted in generational trauma that he couldn't protect his family from, only becasue he went to fight someone else's war.

What I've taken away from this is that in that moment he believes it's too late, he failed the ones he was supposed to protect from the Nest, and now by losing and dying the fight in that moment it would mean that he also failed his real family and won't be able to protect them. Like everything he did was in vain.

This is exactly what "Isabelle" reminds him of, that yes maybe he did fail to protect her and the people from his past, but unlike his grandfather who died "bloody and bullet riddled" Daryl is still breathing and as long as he's alive there's still the possibility and "hope" of protecting his family. He becomes determined and starts to fight back becasue he's reminded to "Bet on hope".

~~~

The fight scenes:

It appears that Carol and Daryl are in a tunnel with Cordon, and two new characters named Angus and Fiona. I want to point out that it looks like the fight between Codron and Daryl is once again becasue Codron blames Daryl for killing his brother, however, I find it hard to believe that we're in episode 206 and that issue hasn't been resolved yet, which leads me to believe that perhaps there's something paticular about the gas in the tunnel that's causing helusination and all at the same time making:

Codron see his dead brother and run after him like he's hipnotised

Carol seeing, speaking and interacting with Sofia

Daryl seeing and speaking with Isabelle

The pages also show that the fight between Angus, Fiona, and Daryl was about gas masks. It sounds to me like Angus and Fiona perhaps used Daryl to help them get the masks and when finding that there's only two masks, they try to knock him out and have to kill him so that they can take the masks for themselves, gas masks that Carol and him need to get through the tunnel to get home.

I can't wait to see how that fight scene plays on screen! I have a weakness for the way Daryl and Carol become so brutal when fighting to protect each other. Because Angus and Fiona don't sound like antagonists when they're speaking with Daryl, and saying:

"Sorry, friend, ain't enough masks for the lot of us." "Got people waiting back home."

They just sounds like two people who, like Carol and Daryl, are trying to get back to the people waiting for them.

This is more of a personal guess than a proper thought: after the fight as Daryl hands one of the masks to Carol he says "It was us or them." and what I think he really meant was "it was you or them" because he was ready to die moments earlier until he was reminded of her, emphasising my earlier points on how they fight for eachother and live for each other.

~~~

The Tunnel:

Lastly, and probably most importantly, these script pages don't tell us how Daryl and Carol ended up in that situation or which part of the episode this is in, without that context there's no way to know what anything really means.

Some of the questions that I think are important and thoughts that I have:

What events lead up to the fight?

We know that Carol is outside the "camp" as described in the script, and that Carol faught at least 3 walkers and collapsed on the ground, but did Daryl know where she was or if she was okay before he saw her after his fight?

Why would his first thought/guess be of Carol when he saw a "blurry figure approaching."

Would they really end the episode like this, leaving Codrons fate as a huge questions mark? (I don't think they would, seems harsh and like they're throwing away such an interesting character)

As seen in the trailer, the tunnel that they're in is the Channel Tunnel which connects France and England, BUT, we also know as it has been offically announced that season 3 is set in Spain not England, so logcially Carol and Daryl aren't gonna be going all the way through the tunnel only to turn all the way back, which leads me to believe that either they don't end up going through, the season ends as they're walking further into the tunnel, and season 3 will explain how/when they turned around, OR, this isn't actually the final scene 🤷‍♀️

LITTLE (hopefully interesting) HINT ABOUT THE OPENING CREDITS: There's a scene that's described in one of these script pages that's also included in the opening credits.

~~~

Some additional thoughts:

The fireflies that appear as Isabelle walks away. I have a few different ideas on what this could mean but it's impossible to tell without the visual context. Also Dary's "wtf?" reaction to the fireflies had me laughing out loud! That right there reads like some good comedic timing.

We're getting another "You okay?" moment!! Those moments are some of my favourite and most tender/affectionate moments between Carol and Daryl. I can't wait to see how they play this one 😭💖

Sorry but I can sense more tension between Codron and Daryl in their fight scene than all the Isabelle and Daryl scenes combined... 🤣

~~~

To Summarise:

These scripts don't cover enough for any level of resonable doubt or concern. How something reads on a script can turn out sooo different on screen, and what I know from all the other season of twd, is that Norman and Melissa can turn something that may come across as basic, misleading or confusing on script into something incredibly magical on screen which also often turns into some of our favourite scenes between the two of them.

I completely trust Norman and Melissa with the story, and if the story never goes to canon and we end up getting something different I know that it's still gonna be an incredible story.

Although, I do still stand by my thoughts that we're heading towards canon. If Carol and Daryl need season 2 to finally heal and then approach canon on more solid ground in season 3 than so be it, because that would make sense and it would be a fair way to begin a canon relationship between the two. However I can also see the beginnings of a conversation about canon, or even actual canon happening in season 2.

It all seems possible to me and it's now all up to how Norman and Melissa want to tell the story, which I'll be anxiously waiting for and respect no matter what.

~~~

Thank you @celtic-crossbow for giving me the push I needed to share my thoughts on these matters🩵🩵

And thank you to all of you who read through this extensive post. I appreciate all of you who read my thoughts, engage with it, share your thoughts in return, ask me questions. I'm sorry for my bluntness in some areas within this post, I think it was important for me to address and clarify some things in order to avoid further confusion.

I'm so excited that we are now only 8 weeks away from the offical premiere of season 2!!! After a long wait we're finally gonna have our favourite characters sharing a frame on our screen again, and if that in itself isn't a reason to celebrate than I don't know what is.

[leandra-kinard]

Okay SO episode run down minus the bullshit about not being happy because Buck’s not there because that’s?? A thought people have apparently?? (Personally I don’t think Eddie will be happy anywhere until he learns to actually deal with his shit instead of running away from it and do the work…you know like Buck has) Anywayyyyyy

- Eddie reveals he’s already put a down payment on a place in Texas, Buck gets upset but puts on a brave face and says he’ll help Eddie find renters for his place in LA

- Buck subconsciously tells all the potential renters about terrible things that have happened in the area or bits of the house that wouldn’t be suitable etc etc, Eddie gets annoyed and kicks him out

- Buck overhears Eddie telling some potential renters that there’s nothing to tie him to LA and that everything that matters is in Texas, Buck crashes out about it

- Buck rescues a dog from a fire, gets attached and then makes snarky comments to Eddie about how the dog knows how to ‘stay’ and accidentally outs Eddie to the team when he hasn’t told them he’s leaving, they argue about it

- the owners of the dog show up and Buck says goodbye to the dog as if he was saying goodbye to Eddie

- Buck goes to Eddies house to talk, they have it out and Eddie tells him that Buck makes everything about him and his feelings like he always does (BOOOOOO) and in a competition between him and his son he’ll lose every time, Buck says he understands, Eddie has a renter due any minute and opens the door to the fire fam, then Buck tells Eddie that he is the renter and used a fake name, he’s handed in a notice for the loft and he’ll live in Eddies house and he might get a dog, Eddie gets a bit emotional saying “you’d do that for me?” And then they all go out for dinner

- maddie had the serial killer on the line twice, first time they sent the cops to an empty lot, the second time she convinced the serial killer to kill himself

- she crashes out over convincing him to do that, there’s a hot detective that shows her loads of photos of the trophies the killer took and how she stopped him from taking any more kids to make her feel better, she goes home and cuddles Jee and the episode ends with her getting chloroformed? By the hot detective and kidnapped

And that’s what you missed on glee!!

Hi, thank you so much for this detailed rundown! I have seen clips of pretty much all the scenes you mentioned by now, thanks to the Bucktommy Safe Zone community, but still thank you!

I'm not 100% sure how you meant that first part - whether you found it to be on the bullshit side too, or (partially) agree with it, specifically the "that's a thought people have" part, so I just want to say where I stand on that and how I interpret it.

Firstly, that post was purely about buddie, making everything about buddie, which I find ridiculous. With some nuance however, I would agree that Buck (AND the rest of the 118!) play an important part in Eddie's life, and that maybe, yes, giving up on all of them and on his life in LA is not exactly going to contribute to his happiness.

I keep thinking about the trajectory Eddie was on by the end of season 5, where he told his father that he wants to get better not for Christopher's sake alone, but for himself. That seems to have been thrown completely overboard now. And okay, healing isn't linear; people do relapse on behavior and thought patterns that aren't healthy for them, but from what I'm gathering and how it's already been going during the episodes I still watched, the show doesn't really point any of that out. It's like end of season 5 never happened because they want to create this particular drama now (a general flaw with the writing lately).

I'm curious to find out how Eddie is going to come back and how the writers will swing that. I mean, surely, if Ryan was leaving long-term they would have made several posts and interviews and whatnot to acknowledge his contribution and wish him well and so on. Since that has not happened, I guess it's safe to assume Eddie will be back eventually.

In my ideal scenario it would actually be Christopher to tell his dad that they should go back home, meaning LA. Christopher would see that his dad gave up everything else that makes him happy for his sake, and maybe he'd see that he was being a bit unfair and stubborn to hold a grudge this long and not acknowledge how much his dad loves him. So he could tell him 'thank you for doing this for me, but I think we should go home. I kinda miss my friends back in LA too.'

But we'll see. Or rather I'll see through osmosis because I'm still not ready to watch the show again, and I'm not sure I will. From everything I've seen the writing just seems so meh this season.

Anyway, enough of my ramblings, lol. Again, thanks for the summary!

[808airsoftbros]

A Simple Game of Chess (Han So Hee)

Author: This story is 100% AI written but the plot is written by me. Hope you all enjoy it and if you want do check out my Masterlist

It had been a long day at school, filled with lectures, tests, and the mundane routine of adolescence. As I trudged home, my mind appeared to be a million miles away, consumed by thoughts of homework and the latest episode of my favorite TV show.

Little did I know, lurking in the shadows, was someone with a rather unusual interest in me.

Han So Hee, famed for her enigmatic beauty and rumored to have an insatiable hunger for mind games, had been secretly stalking me for weeks. Why she had set her sights on me, I couldn't fathom.

Unbeknownst to me, she followed closely, fascinated by my every move. She watched as I unlocked the front door of my house and stepped inside.

With an empty house welcoming me, the solitude echoing through the hallways, I couldn't shake off the lingering sense of loneliness that infected the air.

It was a feeling I had grown accustomed to since my ex-girlfriend had left me for the school's infamous bad boy, Chad. I sighed and trudged up the stairs, my mind craving something to occupy it. Homework seemed like a good distraction, so I settled at my desk and started to rummage through the pile of assignments.

Lost in the sea of algebraic equations and historical dates, I barely registered the sound of my closet creaking open. But my heart skipped a beat when I turned around and found Han So Hee sauntering into my room, her eyes glinting with mischief.

"Who are you? How did you get in here?" I stammered, bewildered by her sudden appearance.

Han So Hee merely shrugged, her lips parting into a sly smile. "Names aren't important, my dear. What matters is what I want from you."

My eyebrows furrowed with confusion as I regarded her suspiciously. "And what could that possibly be?"

Her gaze darted towards the chessboard I had been engrossed with earlier. "A game of chess. Winner takes all. If you succeed in defeating me, I promise to leave you be. But if I emerge victorious…" She let the sentence hang in the air, a suggestive glint in her eyes.

I tilted my head, skepticism painting my expression. "Belong to you? What does that even mean?"

Han So Hee laughed, her voice a musical composition that sent shivers down my spine. "Nothing that worrisome, my dear. Just a little favor, a favor only you can grant me."

Suddenly, my curiosity sparked. The prospect of outsmarting this mysterious vampiric beauty intrigued me. "Alright, I'll play your little game. But let's clarify the terms first. If I win, you leave me alone. If you win, I'll hear out your favor. Deal?" She nodded, her eyes alight with a mix of excitement and hunger. "Deal."

We sat down opposite each other, the chessboard awaiting our moves. We began to play, each move filled with strategic calculations and subtle maneuvers. It was as if the chess pieces had come to life, dancing across the board in an elegant symphony.

As the game progressed, we exchanged glances filled with a mix of challenge, rivalry, and something else I couldn't quite decipher. Perhaps it was a hint of admiration.

"You're quite skilled," Han So Hee admitted after a particularly cunning move on my part. "But so am I."

I smirked, feeling a surge of confidence. "We'll see about that." The game intensified, our minds battling it out on the wooden battlefield. Move after move, we studied the board, silently plotting our next step.

Twenty minutes turned into an hour, an hour into two. The room was filled with the sound of intense concentration and the occasional gasp of surprise. It was a mental duel of wits, with each move bringing us closer to victory or defeat.

Finally, I found myself staring at the board, my king cornered and inescapable. I tilted my head, realizing that there was no way out. Han So Hee leaned forward, a triumphant smile on her lips. "Checkmate, my dear."

Defeat washed over me, but I couldn't help but feel a certain admiration for her skills. "You win," I admitted reluctantly. "Now, tell me, what is this favor you desire?"

Han So Hee leaned back, regarding me with an intensity that made my heart skip a beat. "I have a proposition, my dear. Join me in my world, become a part of the royal Vampire sisterhood."

My eyes widened in disbelief. "You're... a vampire?"

She nodded, her gaze unflinching. "Indeed. And with your brilliant mind, you would make a formidable ally. I hunger for minds that match my own."

Part of me was terrified at the idea of joining a supernatural world I only thought existed in fairy tales and novels. But another part of me, the part that craved adventure and excitement, was intrigued.

"Let me think about it," I replied cautiously. "This isn't a decision I can make lightly."

Han So Hee smiled, a glimmer of understanding in her eyes. "I understand. Take your time, Y/N. But remember, if you decide to join us, a world full of wonder awaits."

With those enigmatic words, she disappeared into thin air, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I pondered the possibilities, the pros, and cons of entering a world I had never even dreamed of.

Days turned into weeks, and my fascination with the chess game and Han So Hee's offer consumed my every waking thought. I couldn't shake the sensation that my life was missing something, a touch of the extraordinary.

Finally, I made up my mind. I called upon Han So Hee and agreed to her proposition. The thought of unraveling the secrets of the vampire world and embracing the challenges that awaited me filled me with a newfound excitement.

As I stepped into her world, my heart fluttered with a mix of anticipation and nervousness. The vampire castle loomed before me, its grandeur matching the legends that surrounded it.

Han So Hee led me through ornate hallways adorned with ancient tapestries and candelabras. We arrived at the grand chamber, where a gathering of vampires awaited my arrival.

As I entered, all eyes turned towards me. Some welcomed me with open arms, while others regarded me with skepticism. But one person stood out among them all, a tall and regal figure adorned in luxurious velvet.

"Welcome, Y/N," the figure spoke with a voice that exuded authority. "I am the Vampire Queen."

I bowed respectfully, feeling a mix of humility and awe. "Your Majesty."

She smiled, her eyes twinkling with mystery. "You have made the right choice, young one. Together, we shall reshape the world."

And so, my life took an unexpected turn. I embraced the vampiric world, diving headfirst into battles of wit, enchanting encounters, and a forbidden love that bloomed amidst the shadows.

I became known as the cunning strategist, unmatched in my ability to outmaneuver opponents. Together with Han So Hee, we orchestrated victories that reverberated through the vampire realm, earning the respect and admiration of our peers.

But amidst the turmoil and triumphs, my heart yearned for something more. It yearned for a connection deeper than alliances and battles. And it seemed that fate, in all its whimsicality, had something in store for me.

One fateful night, as the moon bathed the castle in its ethereal light, I found myself face to face with a figure from my past. It was none other than my ex-girlfriend, the one who had shattered my heart and sent me down this unexpected path.

As our eyes met, a whirlwind of emotions swirled within me. Love, resentment, and a newfound understanding mingled together. And in that moment, I knew that my journey had only just begun.

And so, the tale of Y/N, the accidental matchmaker - both in chess and matters of the heart - unfolded in the mystical realm of vampires and love.