#also continuing to promo his dad without following him adds to it.

[kukekakuningaskris]

something so funny to me about all the other band members posting about the title and cover reveal meanwhile kris woke up in the morning and posted once about his dad's new music video. he said that's enough promo for today. so true king

[elizabethsharmon]

reblog if you feel disrespected by skam france and demand official apology

below a full list of all the offenses:

Manon going back to Ch*rbage after he emotionally manipulated her to not testify against his brother (who got her drunk, took nudes of her, and kept blackmailing her) because “after all nothing happened = he didn’t r*pe her”

Making Arthur and Alexia a couple in the first place just so he could cheat on her with Noee and lie to her for weeks and then having her break up with him, only for them to suddenly being good friends in s6 and kissing in the last clip (which ngl almost made me throw up)

Bringing up Lucas’ insecurities and abandonment issues but never letting him talk about them with Eliott; posting some damage control posts on instagram instead and pretending like Lucas is fine with Eliott kissing Lola for the film (which he clearly wasn’t, the writers seem to not know him at all)

Wasting time to edit Tiff’s head onto different animals and posting things on that cyberbullying account that no one cared about instead of posting something from the grew + the worst social media ever

Not giving us a proper goodbye to the grew and not really saying anything about their future

Lying to the fans about god knows what we will see in s6 and baiting them to watch even though legit nothing of it happened

Not continuing Arthur’s story in s6 (fine, I don’t really care about that but we were supposed to see it so ???? )

Treating some fans more privileged than the others, giving them spoilers about the new seasons, inviting them on set

FranceTV Slash and SkamLaSerie instas mocking fans in their stories - saying stuff like Lola will cause the break up between Daphne and Basile, “addiction can be useful for flirting” (yikes), creating a ship war between fans in s5 by posting two photos of Alexia/Arthur and Noee/Arthur with a caption “we love them both, we can’t choose”, the host of the live of s6 calling people on tumblr “obsessed” and not apologizing when people said they’re offended by that, blocking people who were asking questions about why the SA was never mentioned again during the live

Liking all the praise but constantly ignoring fans when they were asking questions about writing choices and then blocking them

the rest of 50 offenses under cut cause turns out they really disrespected me more than I thought

feel free to add whatever you want if i forgot about something

None of the girls really apologizing to Imane at the end of season 4 after all they’ve put her through and after they took the side of the racist (who already had a history of drama with Emma) instead of their friend

Taking away Noee’s integrity and making her say “I love you” out loud (which was totally ooc cause an episode earlier she said LSF is her language and she doesn’t like her voice) after Arthur (who was leading her on for weeks) told her they can’t be together

Male gaze in s5 because even though the sign language is a body language, the way camera was lingering on her flat, bare stomach, a few times showing a close up on her boobs during the “song-dance” scene was male gaze

Lack of beautiful, slow-mo, piano music scenes for Alexia with Arthur staring at her awestruck because apparently she’s not worthy enough

Completely sidelining the deaf/hoh storyline in favour of cheating/love triangle plot

Reducing Camille to a translator and randomly making him Mika’s boyfriend because why the hell not

Completely forgetting about Mika and Lisa after s5 (did they ever find that roommate????)

Noee kissing Arthur right after he shared his traumatic story with her and overshadowing domestic abuse with cheating

Absolutely no follow-up about P*trick and domestic abuse after s5 

Having P*trick cheat on Arthur’s mom with Emma’s mom because they’re all one big family

Random crackfic farm episode that didn’t make absolutely ANY sense

Killing Fifi rip [*]

Arthur getting hit by The Car and being perfectly fine the next day

The Boy Squad becoming cheating apologists, Lucas giving Arthur the same advice he gave to Emma in s1 and Yann (who got hurt because of it back then) supporting it

Character regression, especially for Lucas, and the whole boy squad acting out of character

Continuously trying to make Lucas look like a bad guy because they knew we would forgive him everything

Arthur suddenly liking art even though it hasn’t been ever mentioned before and his whole instagram was filled with space related posts

Parallels between Eliott/Lucas and Arthur/Noee

Catherine - or lack of her - aka the queerbait from s3

Completely ignoring character’s birthdays - Basile and Manon (second year in a row)

Not introducing Lola before and making s6 about a complete stranger but still expecting the fans to like her from the get-go and watch the show by baiting the fans with the promise of “unofficial mains” (Daphne and Eliott)

Forcing the Lola/Eliott friendship and selling it in the promo as sister/brother relationship instead of writing it in a way that would make it flow naturally

Making Eliott Otteli Urbex King only to forget the plot after more or less three clips; also having Eliott hide the truth from Lucas for months and then pretending to resolve it in a text to Lola ??? which didn’t make sense in the first place but then it turned out that it was just damage control

Making Lola hook up with much older guys than her over and over again and having one of them s*xually assault just so Eliott could play the hero and save her; never bringing that up again

Making Eliott punch people left and right - anything to protect the ladies, Sofiane punching Ch*rbage in s4 can agree I guess

Making Eliott Otteli Urbex King only to forget the plot after more or less three clips; also having Eliott hide the truth from Lucas for months and then pretending to resolve it in a text to Lola ??? which didn’t make sense in the first place but then it turned out that it was just damage control

Letting Eliott talk about his past and insecurities only so Lola could prey on them later and emotionally manipulate him into drinking

Also Eliott not letting Lola apologize and brushing off her apologies because apparently that was nothing at all and it’s okay to let people walk you over and manipulate you 

Not letting Lucas speak for himself

The whole Lux & Obscurus plot, having Eliott write the film about his and Lucas’ relationship and what his love means to Eliott only to have Lola play in it, not adjusting the script so that it would fit the change and still keeping the Eliott/Lola kiss as a big fuck you to the fandom instead of having it end with a forehead touch and fade to black especially that they haven’t even showed it to us again during the screening of Eliott’s film (but it made all the other couples turned on enough to kiss in that exact moment so maybe it had a purpose) (it didn’t what the fuck was that)

Also acting like Lucas can’t spare a few hours to film it with Eliott cause he has to sTuDy FoR tHe BaC when they were filming it in the middle of a night on Friday, how is that realistic

Not giving Eliott any friends of his own and pretending like he’s a lone wolf even though he’s the biggest sunshine ever and he’s naturally drawn to people; acting like there are no other studens at his film school who could help him film his project so instead he let Lola find random people who knew nothing about filming to help him; having a bunch of random people at the screening of his film and if they were supposed to be his “friends” from the film school then I’m gonna throw hands

Acting like we will see what “minute by minute” really means and “see Eliott like we’ve never seen him before” which never happened

Switching POV for two clips only and they all revolved around Lola because they decided to go with su*cide attempt in episode 9

Also ending that episode with a su*cide note even though the next clip was before midnight on Friday

Giving Lola the worst therapist ever and a really poor attempt at cheering her up from the nurse

Enforcing that “having a loved one” is “the real reason to change” instead of sending the message that you should change for yourself first and foremost and showing that reaching out for professional help is a good thing and can really help you

Acting like ED can be cured by italian cuisine and not mentioning it again for weeks; having Daphne ask Lola not to go to rehab because they have each other and a few clips after that she’s suddenly after her first therapy (love that for her but there’s something huge missing here)

Making Lola’s life a living hell and a misery porn for 10 weeks straight

Making P*trick, Thierry and Lola’s biological dads The Worst (men are trash but it would be nice to see some good parenting on the show)

Giving all the members of La Mif two or three personality traits and not fleshing out their characters

Giving Maya a girlfriend because a season without a love triangle is a waste

Not really developing Mayla well and having their first kiss right after Eliott/Lola cursed kiss as a preemptive damage control to shut us up

Never mentioning why Lola was doing

Wasting a good chunk of the season on Tiff and that insta account and ending it with “she’s addicted to social media”

Giving Yann like one line each season after s3

Reducing Sofiane to the background dancer in s5 and s6

Hating female characters

F/M friendships are only possible if the guy is gay, otherwise cheating always had to be involved

and you know. in general. pretty much everything they did after s3.

[neonweeknds]

Second Chances (Dad!Cal One Shot)

*this is pure fluff, I got this idea just randomly one day so I wrote it down, I just wanted to have some fun with it, I know I haven’t posted in a while but I should hopefully have more time to start writing now, I’m also not sure if I want to keep this as a one shot or make a series out of it, so if you guys have any ideas for me for this dad!cal, don’t be afraid to tell me, anyways enjoy (2.3k)

***

He was tired.

Calum had been running around all day doing promo for their latest album. It wasn’t easy, especially if you have a six-year-old attached to your hip 24/7. Kaia was filled with more than enough energy to go around. The whole band had been up since six in the morning, but Kaia has yet to feel even slightly sleepy.

The twenty-five-year-old dad had made a promise to his daughter that morning, that if she were good all day, he would take her to go get her nails done professionally. Ever since she saw uncle Lukes red nails, she’s wanted hers done too. He’s starting to regret that already because truth be told he just wants to go to bed.

But he kept his promise which is what led him and his little girl walking into a quaint little nail salon at around seven o’clock at night. Probably later than she should be staying up for but its obvious she wasn’t going to be tired any time soon.

The salon was empty of customers, the only person visible he could see, was someone tidying up. Was this place closed? He thought to himself, but there was no closed sign on the door.

The bell rung signaling that someone had entered the store. Gwen turned around to find a rather attractive tall, tanned skinned man with dark curly hair, holding onto, who she could only assume to be the man’s daughters, small hand. She paused what she was doing and set down her cloth as she walked towards them.

‘Hi, is there anything I could do for you’ she smiled politely.

Calum cleared his throat as he looked at the absolute beauty in front of him. Her voice was so soft and delicate. She had long and thick curly hair, freckles adorning her makeup free face and the prettiest green eyes he’s ever seen. She was almost a foot shorter than him as he looked down at her and caught a glimpse of her name tag.

‘Gwen’ he thought to himself. It suited her.

His daughters excited voice pulled him out of his trance as she spoke up. ‘My daddy’s letting me get my nails done. He promised me that if I was good all day, he would let me’ she said rapidly.

Calum looked up at the girl in front of him ‘You aren’t closed right?’ he asked, hoping he wouldn’t let down his daughter.

Gwen was surprised at his deep voice, she could sense a slight accent in there. Technically she was about to close, but she wasn’t going to turn them away. She smiled at the two and shook her head ‘I think I can make an acception for you two, follow me over here’ she said as she lead them towards the back.

Kaia’s eyes lit up when she spotted a pink manicure chair, covered in butterflies and hearts. ‘Have a seat’ Gwen said to the little girl. Kaia eagerly climbed onto the chair, the look of pure excitement never leaving her face.

Gwen turned to the energetic girl’s father ‘You can have a seat right there if you’d like’ she told him while pointing to a chair a beside hers. He nodded quietly, not saying anything as he took a seat beside her. She pulled out a bin under the table with an array of different nail colors for the little girl to choose from. Her eyes got even bigger in size once she sees all the polish.

‘Now, you can pick any color from this box, and maybe later we can add some sparkles to finish it off’ Gwen told her as her smile widened at the sight of the little girl.

Calum was watching them both intently, interacting with one another. Kaia, of course reached for the bright red color to match her uncle’s nails.

‘Red huh, this is a beautiful color’ she said. Kaia nodded and grinned as she spoke excitedly ‘My uncle Luke has red nails, I wanted to match with him’, Gwen nearly melted at what she’d just said.

‘Daddy’ a small voice called. Calum blinked rapidly before looking at his little girl. ‘You should get your nails done too, uncle Luke said you guys used to go all the time’ she beamed and continued to look at her nails being painted.

Gwen turned to look at him, wondering what his response would be. She wouldn’t mind doing his nails, especially if she got to be closer to him. The father was quiet, before a small smile made its way onto his face. ‘Sure, why not’ he shrugged ‘You good with that’ he asked Gwen wanting to make sure she was ok with it, especially since she was probably supposed to be closed already.

She smiled happily and nodded ‘I’m good with that’.

It seemed odd to Calum that he knew her name, but she didn’t know his, so his next move was quite bold on his part. ‘My name is Calum’ he blurted out. Gwen giggled, not trying to b rude but he was being really cute without even trying.

He’s not sure if her laughing is a good thing but it still made a blush arise on his cheeks. Give him a break, he hasn’t been on a date since he was nineteen. Ever since Kaia was born, she’s been his only priority. Her mom wasn’t around anymore, and he had no time for dating with his busy schedule. He can bet that the boys would all be laughing at him right now for his lack of flirting skills.

‘Its nice to meet you Calum, I’m Gwen’ she said. She realized he’s most likely seen her name tag already, but he looked a little nervous. Who knew someone as attractive as him could get all shy and flustered.

‘And I’m Kaia’ the little girl giggled. That seemed to ease the nerves in the room.

He had no idea why he was so nervous. He’d just met the girl less than half an hour ago. Maybe it was just her kind presence or her gorgeous smile. It also helped that she didn’t seem to know who he was in terms of the band and if she did, she wasn’t showing it.

 ***

 Kaia was sitting still, afraid to mess up her red nails. Her and Gwen were having a conversation about Disney princesses. Kaia arguing that Belle was the best and Gwen saying it was Ariel.

‘But Belle saved the beast she-‘

‘Yes but Ariel traded her legs for love I-‘

‘You guys are both wrong, Jasmine is the best’ Calum stated while shrugging. Kaia’s mouth hung agape while Gwen just shook her head ‘And why do you think that huh’ she teased.

‘Well first of all, she’s so full of spirit and determination, she’s so focused on fighting for her dad really she just-‘ Calum stopped as he realized he was rambling on about his favorite Disney princess to a cute stranger. Both girls are silent before they both burst out in a fit of giggles.

The older girl found it adorable and, in some way, oddly settling that he wasn’t afraid to admit to watching Disney princess movies and even having a favorite.

‘Sorry but you are wrong, Ariel is the best and you can’t change my mind’ Gwen said as a small smile made its way on her lips.

The three of them continued to talk about anything and everything. Kaia told Gwen some stories about her dad and her band while they’re on tour, she told her how excited she was to go back to school. She talked about how much she missed her dog Duke and how her aunt Mali is looking after him.

And Gwen loved it. So did Calum, he loved seeing his little girl converse so easily with another person. Especially a girl, since she hasn’t really had a close bond with another woman other than Mali.

Before he knew it, Kaia’s nails were all done with the perfect sparkly red manicure. She hopped out of her chair before she ran around the table to show her dad.

‘Daddy look, they’re just like uncle Luke’s, they’re so pretty’ her eyes were full of excitement showing off her new nails. Kaia whipped her head around, her brown curly locks flying with her, she ran into Gwen’s legs and hugged her tightly.

‘Thank you, thank you, thank you, I love them’ her muffled voice said. She pulled away and looked at her dad who had a smile on his face from watching the interaction. ‘Daddy, it’s your turn now’ her small voice spoke as she continued to admire her nails.

Calum looked up at Gwen and raised and eyebrow ‘Alright let’s do this’ his gruff voice spoke as he took a seat in front of her instead of beside her. Kaia had taken Calum’s spot and was currently on his phone that he gave her to distract her for bit.

Gwen started on the basics, cleaning his nails, filing them, making sure they’re even as he chose a simple black color for his nails ‘So, you’re in a band huh’ she asked him. She was surprised when Kaia had mentioned this, she wasn’t very in tune with the generation’s music, so she wasn’t necessarily surprised she didn’t recognize him.

Calum didn’t mind that she had no clue whatsoever as to who he was, it was kind of refreshing. ‘Yeah, me and my three best friends, been together since 2011’ he told her. Her eyes grew wide at this. ‘Eight years wow that’s a long time’ she stated. He nodded ‘I don’t know how I’ve managed to stay sane this long’ he chuckled ‘But no I enjoy it, I travel the world with my best friends, play for thousands of people, create music’ he told her with a look of pure joy on his face

‘Sounds like a dream come true’ she smiled, and he nodded in agreement ‘It really is’ he paused ‘Tell me about you though’

She shrugged starting to coat his nails in black polish ‘There’s not much to tell, I own the salon, I opened around two years ago, I guess I’ve always been interested in cosmetology so after I graduated from the cosmetology program in college, I took out a loan and opened up this place’

‘Looks like we both found something we loved and made a lives out of it’ he paused, unsure if he really wanted to ask this next question, but it slipped out of his mouth before he knew it ‘I don’t suppose you have a partner who helps you, a boyfriend maybe?’ he mentally cringed, he doesn’t remember the last time he tried to asked a girl out.

Key word is tried.

Gwen thought it was adorable ‘That’s a lame way to find out if I have a boyfriend or not’ she laughed. Calum lets his head fall and he groaned ‘Was it that obvious’ he chuckled. 

‘Daddy, even I knew that was bad’ Kaia’s voice called out before giggling. Calum looked at his daughter and then back at Gwen who has a grin plastered on her face. ‘Are you just gonna sit there and laugh at me now’ he said as he tried not to move his hand, so he didn’t mess up his nails.

Gwen shook her head and smiled ‘For the record, it’s just me, no boyfriend’ she stated, she sees him take a deep breath at her confession. ‘Good’ he said.

She raised an eyebrow ‘Why?’ she questioned. It was quite obvious as to why, but she just liked bugging him, he was even cuter when he got nervous. ‘You’re getting a kick out of this aren’t you’ he asked. Gwen finished the last coat of nail polish on his nail before looking up at him ‘Maybe just a little bit’ she giggled.

The chair screeched from beside Calum as he saw Kaia move closer to him. She sighed ‘Daddy, do you need me to ask her for you’

Gwen laughed even harder at this, finding the father and daughter duo absolutely endearing. Calum shook his head, dark hair moving with his actions, ‘No sweetie, I think I’m good’ he told her, rubbing his eyes.

‘Can you please hurry because I’m hungry and I need to show uncle Luke my nails’ she breathed out. Calum nodded ‘I’ll try’. Gwen was watching this interaction with grin stuck on her face as he turned to look at her.

‘Well, Gwen, I’ve had a surprisingly good time with you here, so would you maybe wanna go out with me sometime?’ he asked, his eyes filled with hope.

‘How could I say no to that’ she smirked.

Maybe he’s getting a second chance at love after all.

***

tags : @softforcal @irwinkitten @gothcal @glitterprincelu @gigglyirwin @crownedbyluke @keeponfallling @abitloudforanaccousticset

[kbaldwin0609]

‘The Bachelorette’ Episode 7 Recap: Swiss Dismiss

Rachel Lindsay (Photo: ABC)

Warning: This recap for episode 6 of The Bachelorette contains spoilers. 

Long time no see, rose lovers! In an amazing show of restraint, Team Bachelorette did not make us watch a new episode over the July 4th holiday, so it’s been two whole weeks since we last saw Rachel and her man-harem. And all of a sudden, we’re just ONE WEEK AWAY from hometown dates! Man, time flies when you’re watching people make out on TV.

This week, the “journey” moves to Geneva. Rachel, dressed head-to-toe in white, floats into the guys’ hotel room “like an angel,” gushes Adam. The guy who brought the doll really hopes he’ll get a one-on-one this week, and he’s actually got a semi-decent chance: Rachel announces there will be three one-on-one dates this week, a group date (presumably with some poor suckers going home), and no rose ceremony. Sounds perfectly awkward. Let’s get to it!

All of that said, Bryan gets yet another one-on-one date, because Rachel has clear favorites and she doesn’t care who knows it. “Curveball, dude!” grunts Adam, who obviously hasn’t been paying attention.

Not only is Bryan getting another date, he’s getting the reverse Pretty Woman date! “When I’m in a relationship, from time to time I like to treat my man,” notes Rachel, like a g-d boss. “But never have I treated a man like the way I’m going to treat a man today.” So get in the rented Alfa Romeo, Bryan, cuz mama’s gonna take you on a shopping spree!

Naturally, the first thing on Rachel’s list is an expensive Swiss watch, so she and Bryan head to (promotional consideration provided by) Breitling. The watches here are SO fancy, the sales dude has to wear black ninja gloves while placing the timepiece on Bryan’s wrist.

The Bachelorette picks out a black-and-silver watch for her man, and is delighted to hear that it suits his style. “I like black,” says Bryan, prompting a giddy “Do you?” from Rachel. (You walked right into that one, bro.) And rather than being intimidated when Rachel announces that she’s buying them both expensive matching watches, Bryan is so happy he tackles her.

“This is a forever gift,” he gushes. “I’m so happy right now, I can’t even describe it.” Matching watches are a pretty big commitment — looks like Bryan’s gonna make it to hometowns. Get ready for your free spinal adjustment, Papa Lindsay!

Knock knock knock! The Accent Table of Doom is at the door! Who will get the next one-on-one date?

Sorry Adam, but you and Adam Junior will have to spend another night crying into your chardonnay, because the second one-on-one date goes to Pretty Boy Dean! “Don’t punch me in the face,” he pleads sheepishly.

That long face, by the way, is because Dean’s a little nervous about the prospect of having Rachel meet his family. “The relationship that I have with my family is not the best,” he explains. Unfortunate for him, good for us (should he make it to hometowns, of course).

Hey, did I mention that Rachel and Bryan’s date is still going on? Now they’re at dinner, and the Bachelorette is grilling her date about his childhood. Fun fact: Bryan’s mom sent him to an all boys’ school because he wanted to get his ear pierced. Gross fact: When Bryan finds out Rachel wore a uniform at her private school, he asks her to describe it in a creepy, What are you wearing? kind of way. Save it for the Fantasy Suite, cowboy.

The conversation eventually veers into more serious territory, as Bryan relates the sad tale of his last relationship, a “passionate,” “hot-and-heavy” romance that burned bright — until the woman decided she didn’t like Bryan’s mom and dumped him because of it. I don’t know about you, but I can barely see the screen right now through all the red flags waving in my face. The woman told Bryan she dumped him because of his mom? Either his ex is a real jerk or his mom is… a handful. We have got to meet this mom. Come on, Rachel — give Bryan the date rose already!

Thank you. I could have done without the uncomfortably long scene of Bryan and Rachel making out while a string quartet averted their eyes and played from adjacent balconies, but I know Team Bachelorette has two hours to fill.

Dean’s date is up next, and he should feel honored because Rachel’s taking him somewhere she once took Nick on The Bachelor: Church! Unlike last time, though, it’s all in French and Dean is not the only white person there.

After the service, Rachel and Dean take a stroll through the quiet streets of Old Town, and though it’s peaceful and beautiful, Dean is struggling with a lot of “internal conflict.” Will Rachel still want to invite him on a hometown date once she learns of his “awkward family dynamic”? Peter doesn’t think so. And I’m only saying that in order to have an excuse to show you this picture of Peter looking FINE in his salt-and-pepper sweater.

Anyhow, back to Dean’s date. The Bachelorette wants to get down to business and learn more about her handsome young escort, but Dean keeps deflecting with giggles and goofiness. “Do you believe in the tooth fairy?” he asks Rachel, and then follows it up with “What’s your favorite dinosaur?” And she does NOT love it.

“I need Dean to not be so jokey and deepen our relationship,” says our exasperated Bachelorette, who’s beginning to worry that she’s going to have to “say a really, really hard goodbye tonight.” Come on, Dean — get it together! Do you really want to be sent home before this guy?

(Seriously, who is that guy and why is he still here?)

At dinner, Rachel wastes no time telling Dean that “something was off” about their date. “I need to see the other side of you,” she continues, and finally Dean starts to Open Up™ about his feelings. “My family is not gonna be the family that you want to see,” he says. After his mother died, Dean says his dad “wasn’t able to flip the switch and become that person that I needed him to be.” And then comes the true heartbreaker: “What I wish you could see is the family that I had in my most developmental years… and not the family that abandoned me at, like, the most vulnerable time in my life.”

Ooof. But good for Dean for finally spitting it out. Rachel assures him that she’s not going to judge him based on his less-than-conventional family situation. “You’re not here by accident,” she adds. “I feel like I have a much better understanding of you.” Dean gets the rose, and now I want fondue.

Two roses — and four men — left, folks! Peter gets the final one-on-one date of the week, which thankfully involves a helicopter. (Everybody drink!) They chopper over Lake Geneva to the Swiss Alps, and land atop Glacier 3000, which sounds more like a nightclub than a natural phenomenon, but that’s not important right now. As Rachel and Peter climb aboard the waiting dog sled, I couldn’t help but wonder: Where the hell is Copper?

Once the puppies get a break, Rachel and Peter sit in the snow and talk about their feelings. Peter admits to being “in his head” for a while, especially since his last one-on-one date was so long ago. “There’s definitely been some dark days throughout all this,” he admits. “And in those bad days it’s like, ‘I’m not sure if I want to stay.’ But I always figured that connection that we built on the very first date was enough to get me through.” Awww, that’s sweet. Also, how cute does Rachel look in this hat?

As night falls, Team Bachelorette gives us the same “Rachel still has questions about Peter” song-and-dance, because otherwise this date would have no suspense. Naturally, they chat about past relationships; though he’s never dated a black woman before, Peter has total confidence that his family won’t have an issue with meeting and welcoming Rachel into their home. The most interesting part of Rachel and Peter’s dinner conversation is his story about the last time he saw his ex-girlfriend — because that’s where the “she’s got tears streaming down her face, and I blame myself for that” quote used repeatedly by Team Bachelorette in the promos came from. So good news: Peter didn’t make Rachel cry. Bad news: Duped again!

More to the point: Peter is consistently honest about how he’s feeling, telling Rachel that he thinks he’s ready to love again, and promising her that if he makes it to the end but still has “reservations,” he’s not gonna propose just because that’s what producers want him to do. (I’m paraphrasing, but you get the idea.)

Weirdly, Rachel finds this honesty “scary,” because I guess she’d rather have a guy hell-bent on proposing after 8 weeks than one who wants to take a more reasonable approach? Sigh — as much as we love our Bachelorette, we must remember that anyone who agrees to be the Bachelorette has fundamentally flawed judgment.

Just give him the rose, girl.

Group date time! The date card warned Eric, Adam, and Matt that the outing “will be difficult,” so the guys are understandably a little anxious about the day. “I’m gonna bring my best self,” says Eric, “but it’s just not a very comfortable feeling going into a group date.” Especially a three-on-one group date that will end with two guys getting the boot.

But everyone on this date is a grown-up, and so they all go into it determined to make the best of it. Everyone climbs aboard a boat headed to France, where they alight on the grounds of the Château De Coudrée for champagne and a series of one-on-one talks. Eric’s up first: “You do something to my energy when I just get happy,” he tells Rachel. I feel like a sucker saying this, but Eric does seem like a happier guy now, and I teared up a little bit when he said, “Something inside of her is making me open up and just be. I’m changing.”

It’s Matt’s turn next, and though Rachel says she has a “soft spot” for the construction manager, I think we all know this guy — who does seem like a genuinely sweet dude — is not making it to hometowns. Rachel knows it, too, which is why she’s now crying.

“It’s meant so much for me for you to be here,” she tells him through her tears. “I hate to say goodbye to you like this.” They share a weirdly long goodbye kiss, and then it’s Reject Van time for Mr. Matt, who is gracious to the end. (“I still really want the best for her.”) Poor Rachel is grieved, but she knows her heartache is not over yet. She still has to get through Dinner For Three.

The Bachelorette insists she doesn’t know whether she’ll give today’s final rose to Adam or Eric, but… really? Does anyone actually doubt that producers kept Adam around this long because they didn’t want to stop playing Where’s Waldo with Adam Jr.? Bless his heart, Adam sure thinks he’s still got a shot. “I feel like there’s something there,” he tells Rachel. “It’s really special.” It’s clear Rachel is moved by Adam’s optimism and his genuine enthusiasm for her, but… she’s still kind of freaked out by the doll. When Adam recalls their visit to a park after the mud-wrestling date, when he and Rachel lay down on the grass and looked at the sky, the Bachelorette whispers under her breath, “And AJ was watching in the trees.”

As for Eric? Well, his one-on-one chat with Rachel is notable for a few reasons. First, it’s intense, as Eric does not sugar-coat his upbringing in Baltimore: Drugs and crime were “the norm”; his uncle went to prison for 50 years; he’s watched “family members get high”; some of his friends have been “killed in the streets.”

But even more powerful than Eric’s honesty is the fact that this notoriously homogenous network reality show is now spotlighting a young African-American man from a disadvantaged background who grew up to be a responsible, likable member of society. So, baby steps?

Back to the date. Having concluded her talk with both men, Rachel returns to the table to issue her verdict. “I have such strong connections and feelings for both of you,” she says. “The only thing that I can do is go with my gut.” And her gut says…

Sorry, Adam, but it looks like you and AJ are destined for a plane back to the states. The saddest part about this whole goodbye is that Adam Junior was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps he’ll turn up in Paradise?

Welp, rose lovers, we’re down to four. Do you think Rachel sent the right guys home? Who do you think is the guy to beat? And why did any of us doubt Dean when he referred to his dad as “eccentric”?

Yeah, that “this season on” promo was jam-packed with crazy moments. But we’ll have plenty of time to discuss those in the coming weeks. Let me know what you thought about this week’s episode, and be sure to check out Chris Harrison’s behind-the-scenes blog right here.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go thank my husband for never, ever pooping with the door open.

The Bachelorette airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on ABC.

Read more from Yahoo TV:‘Twin Peaks’ Episode 9 Recap: Getting in the Zone‘Game of Thrones’ Season 7 Preview: What’s Next For the Greyjoys?Review: TNT’s ‘Will’ Is So Cool It’s Uncool

[frostilyfiction]

So here is another random snippet from my Concord Mysteries! It’s kinda a follow up to this post. The prompt is from this list of Florence + The Machine prompts from @professornasus (again I loved them bro; also thanks for that promo)! At first it wasn’t so...angsty but I guess I shouldn’t be listening to sad songs when writing.

Prompt: “You don’t have to tell me why.”

When Chip first wakes up it feels like his eyelids are cement blocks. He can barely open them enough to get a glimpse of his surroundings. A nurse stands at his feet, writing on a clipboard. An IV is set up to his right and his eyes follows the cord to see it attached to his arm. To his left, he faintly hears voices whispering.

“He’ll be in and out for a bit while the anesthesia wears off.”

“But he’s…he’ll be okay?”

“We believe so. We’ll probably keep him for a few days of observation just to make sure. Honestly, if we hadn’t gotten that compound fracture of his arm cleaned up there was a good chance for bone infection. You’re lucky they got him here when they did.”

Chip rolls his head over, trying his see who’s there, but in the same second his eyelids grow too heavy to keep open and he drifts back into sleep.

*** *** *** *** ***

The next time Chip wakes up, he’s hurting. Everywhere. And it hits him so hard like someone just set him on fire. He groans in pain as he tries to twist into a comfortable position, tossing and turning as much as he can without disturbing his casted arm. Suddenly, he feels a hand on his shoulder. He rolls back over and sees Sophie standing there, a soft smile on her face.

“Take it easy, Chip.” She whispers it as she gently pushes him back onto his back. He just stares up at her as she does, trying to keep his focus on the fact that she’s there and not on his pain.

“How…when…you been here long?” he manages to croak out. His throat’s so dry it hurts to speak.

Sophie must notice because she reaches down by her chair and grabs a half-drunk bottle of water. “Open,” she begins as she holds it in front of his face.

Chip quickly ducks his head down and he can feel the tips of his ears growing hot. “I ain’t helpless you know.”

Sophie just puts her hand on her hip and lets out a frustrated sigh. “Chip, you were in a horrendous car crash and then you fought a killer in the woods. I’m a thousand percent positive that you’re hurting all over and you’ve only got one good arm that itself is bruised and attached to your IV. Now man up, lay there, and let me give you the damn water.”

Chip sighs as he looks back up at her. There’s no point in arguing with someone as stubborn as Sophie. Besides everything she said is true. He’s sore everywhere and honestly he doesn’t know if he even has the strength to raise his arm to grab the bottle. So, he opens his mouth and lets her pour some water in it.

Clearly, the bottle has been out for a while as it isn’t cool anymore but it feels good against his dry throat. There isn’t much left in it so he chugs it down until it’s empty, like a man in the desert who’d just found an oasis.

Chip licks his swollen lips before asking Sophie again, “Have you been here long?”

Sophie shrugs. “Eh, I guess. I haven’t really been paying too much attention to the clock. To be honest it’s felt like a day but it’s probably just been a few hours for all I know. I got here when they were taking you back. Chief and I waited together for you to get out but he had to leave to handle an urgent press matter. I stayed; more waiting. Then the doctor came out wanting to speak to your family.”

She trails off for a second and Chip watches as she nervously scratches at the seam on the chair. “I…I got a little…a little scared at that point,” she continues. “I told him your family lived a few hours away so they wouldn’t be here soon but I was your partner. I think he thought I meant like we lived together or something.” She rolls her eyes but there’s no real agitation behind it.

She lets out a sigh. “Anyway, he told me about your condition; let me come see you. I’ve just been waiting here since.” She quickly adds. “You-You know in case you woke up before your family got here.” She lets out a nervous laugh on the end.

“Sounds like you’ve been here a while then,” Chip begins. He too doesn’t have a real sense of the time. The last thing he remembers, faintly, is being loaded into the ambulance and that feels like it was a day ago.

“Yeah…” she says, slowly. “But…” She reaches over to the table beside his bed then holds up the funnies section of an outdated paper. “Caught up on some reading. I…I love the Peanuts one. Lucy’s the best; My dad used to tell me I was just like her as a kid.” She lets out a laugh, the kind that you let out when you’re trying not to cry. She then starts babbling about some of the other comics that she’s read.

Chip just watches her as she talks. Notices how her eyes are a little puffy as if she’d been crying. Notices the two tiny bandages on her fingers where he’s sure she’s picked at a hangnail until it bled. Notices the way her eyes keep darting to his monitors as if she needs reassurance he’s still breathing.

If he hadn’t gotten to know her so well over his past year and a half then he’d never realize that she was anxious and worried. Sophie rarely put her feelings out on display like he did; it was the little things she did, like pick at something around her or the way her voice shook just enough to pick it up, that gave her away.

He thinks back to a few weeks ago when she’d called him in the middle of the night. Worried over a nightmare she’d had about him. For a moment, he wonders if this was worse than what her mind conjured up.

“Are you okay?”

“No. But I’ll survive.”

If she was that worried then, he wonders what this has put her through. And knowing her he knows she went through it alone.

Immediately, he feels guilty. Guilty for chasing after a killer by himself. Guilty for getting hurt. Guilty for making her worry. Guilty for not being there for her, now and all the times before. Most importantly, he feels guilty for thinking that just because she’s strong, she’s steel.

Because she’s not cold and unbreakable. Sophie’s a human; just like him. And just like how she lets him breakdown then helps pick up the pieces, he needs to do the same for her.

She’s still talking the comics when he suddenly blurts out, “I’m sorry!”

Sophie stops, eyes going wide, before she cocks her head to the side and asks “Why? What’s there to be sorry for?”

For thinking you don’t get scared and hurt. For making you be my rock when I never returned that to you. For going off and doing stuff without you when all it ever does it cause you to worry and blame yourself for my selfish mistakes. For not looking out for you…for not being there for you like a partner should.

He wants to say all these things but for some reason when he opens his mouth the words just won’t come out and as he looks at Sophie’s confused face he starts to tear up. Because he finally realizes he’s a bad partner; a selfish one. He and Sophie have been through so much yet he’s never looked out for her like she has for him. He always expects her to catch him when he falls but never thinks to do the same for her. She’s been the source of strength for him, for all of them actually, and he guesses that maybe they’re all greedy and take too much from her sometimes. But even when they do and she has nothing left she pushes through with that calm, cool, collected attitude of hers.

He remembers telling her at the end of their call “I’m here” but he knows now that that was a lie and she knew that then. Because he hasn’t really been there for her, not in any way that counted. He’s just taken and taken from her without ever giving her anything back. Not even an open ear or a gentle “It’ll be alright”.

The tears that have been welling up in his eyes finally fall and as he squeezes his eyes shut to fight them, Sophie gets out of her seat and gently places her hand over his. “You don’t have to tell me why you’re sorry, Chip. I forgive you for whatever it is.”

There she goes again! “Don’t do that Sophie!” he manages to shout and she’s taken aback.

“Wha…what?”

He wipes his eyes with his fists as he continues. “Sophie…you…you don’t have to be so strong all the time. I know you think you have to be for us…that if you aren’t then we’ll see you as weak but…but…you don’t. Because we need to be strong for you sometimes.”

He looks up, straight into her hazel eyes. “I’m sorry for being so selfish and reckless, Sophie. I’m sorry for thinking that you can’t get hurt and that I can’t be the one to hurt you. I’m sorry for making you catch me but for never even being there so you can fall.”

“Chip…” she whispers.

He gently curls his fingers into hers.

“Sophie, you’re the strongest person I’ve ever known. But you can’t carry the world on your shoulders. I’m sorry…I’m sorry it took me so long to see that. You’re human and it’s okay to let it all out sometimes. I want you to know that from now on I’ll be there for you. I don’t want to cause you pain. I want to be strong for you. We’re partners after all.”

He notices the tears starting to well up in Sophie’s eyes, the way her lip is quivering, the way she squeezes his hand a little too tightly.

“Chip…” Before she can get anything else she starts laughing and crying at the same time. It’s an odd sight to see and Chip doesn’t really know what to do until she gives him a soft smile.

“Thank you.”

[cwdcshows]

Batwoman - S1 E2 - The Rabbit Hole

I gotta admit, the title of this episode feels prescient - I swore I wasn't going to watch this show and here I am doing episode 2, even if albeit like 5 or 6 weeks later. So here we go down the rabbit hole....

Okay, so it's been 15 years since the accident when Kate was a kid and the accident occurred - which is good to know, since when watching the first episode I commented about how Kate getting kicked out of the military for being gay would need to have occurred more than at least 8 years ago, maybe 9; and when someone commented about something being 15 years ago, I thought they were maybe saying it was when she was at the military academy, but apparently it was the accident. I suppose it's plausible she tried to go into the military 5 or 6 years later, and I'm not trying to belittle legitimate issues gay people who served legitimately had until way too recently; plus I know that this was Kate's backstory in the comics, but we're getting to the point where the timeline starts to get a little tight. It's also an interesting insight into Bruce's career as Batman in Arrowverse's Earth 1; because he was Batman 15 years ago and still active until, what did they say previously, until 3 years ago?  So he was Batman for at least 12 years, possibly more; meaning he would have been Batman about two years at least before the Queen's gambit went down - if not longer, depending on how long he had been Batman when the accident happened.   Although a confusing thing about how they're going about this at the moment is where this falls in with the rest of the Arrowverse timeline; since Elseworlds showed Kate already active as Batwoman, with the "red" hair, which she doesn't have yet.  I know she gets it fairly soon(ish), but that would, at best, still put the show a year behind when everything else in the Arrowverse is taking place; because whichever upcoming episode marks when she adds the hair to the costume, that would be ostensibly be the earliest that the crossover with Flash and Arrow could have happened...... Does a private security firm get to make the "dead or alive" judgement call with people they're targeting?  For that matter, how do they have the authority target people to even take them alive? (Batwoman gets shot, looks at bulletproof armor) "Cool." I mean..... I kind of get it, but.... you were in a military academy, trying to become an officer.  It's not clear how far you got, and obviously I'm pretty sure they don't actually shoot you to demonstrate the effectiveness of your armor, but you also did a lot of intensive forms of training to try and get into the Crows; would this really be the thing that impresses you? I kind of prefer the look of her costume without the later modifications - the hair or the red emblem. The emblem will probably be fine, but red hair never looks right, in Elseworlds or in any promo photos I've seen. See, the writers want us to think Alice is the Big Bad, but clearly Kate's arch nemesis is vocal inflection. What was the point of Kate trying to suggest her family that Alice is Beth?  The evidence she has is arguably thin.  She even said it herself in the previous scene that her dad wouldn't believe it.  And how much do the other three know about what went down?  Did I miss a scene where any of them figured out she was Batwoman?  She just casually mentions getting Alice's knife and says that Alice was after her, but for anyone who doesn't know that Kate put on a bat-suit, she had nothing to do with whats-her-name's rescue. I don't actually remember how or when Kate got the knife from her, but I thought it was during the final confrontation when Kate was in the bat-suit; maybe I'm wrong, but even if she wasn't, she notes that she has Alice's knife so casually, like it's no big deal. Why is there any qualms about running any possible DNA from the knife?  Whether Alice is Beth or not, surely having something on file has some type of forensic value, wouldn't it?  And if there's even a slim chance she is Beth, all the more reason to find out - not because it should change how they respond to her as a threat or in bringing her to justice, but just for the sake of knowing.  Sure, you would hope your sister/daughter didn't end up a psychotic lunatic, but eliminate all doubt.  If she's not, you're no worse off, can maybe breath a sigh of relief; and if she is, maybe it does change how you go about bringing her to justice, but as long as it doesn't allow others to be needlessly hurt, there's nothing wrong with that. "You have something of Alice's" And conveniently, it's right here in a bag for you, rather than somewhere else entirely, which odds would normally have favored. Also, just any old shady looking van can pull up into the parking garage of the elite private security firm protecting Gotham; because it wouldn't be a CW show if a protagonist's base was well guarded. "I have a clear shot!" He said loudly enough for the target to hear him; before a small fucking army of sharpshooters moved into a shittier position where there was a whole other person in the line of site between them and the intended fucking target.....

Should Kate have really been upset that....whatever her name is, told Kate's dad where to find Kate and Alice; or that they arrested Alice?  What sort of endgame did she envision after getting the DNA test?  For that matter, what was the best case scenario if she'd let Alice go free while running said sample and the inevitable search to track her down again afterwards?  Hope that she wouldn't kill more people in the interim?

And why did she bother telling anyone she was going to meet her, let alone a Crow's agent? So she feared her step-sister was in danger, so first she put on the bat-suit...sure, makes about as much sense as the days when Oliver first had to go to the trouble of applying his mascara before going out..... I'm not surprised Kate jumped in after Alice and is using the re-breather - the whole time Lucas was showing her the gadgets I thought, "so she's going to end up using at least one of these by the end of the episode; because that's the only reason these shows ever bother pointing stuff out." - and sure shit, here we are.  But it also brings me back to another thought I couldn't help wonder, which is, why the hell didn't Batman dive into the water the first time to try and rescue Beth?  I mean, I suppose he could have and just couldn't find her for some reason, but I don't think there's been any suggestion of that; and given Alice's own recount, for whatever it's worth, it seems like there'd at least have been some window of opportunity. But the plot's gotta happen somehow, I guess.... Okay, fuck you guys; Mythbusters proved that bullets lose pretty much all moment when they hit a good size body of water; and even if they didn't, how the fuck would that have caused anything to exploding under-fucking-water??? Oh, there was an explosion and Batman wasn't there - fuck you, annoying announcer.  Ignoring the fact that a "Bat" wasthere and the general public just didn't know; two episodes in and I'm sick of this bullshit that somehow anyone who dons a cowl is somehow responsible for every fucking thing that goes on in the city like they're meant to be some sort of omnipresent deity or something. Whether it's Batman, Batwoman or fucking Santa Clause, no one can be everywhere or do everything and it's some stupid ass bullshit to have them double down on this asinine, ungrateful mentality, pinning their hopes and dream to one person and blaming them when something goes wrong. And wait just a fucking second; the announcer makes a quip referring to Robin; which means that at leas one of the Robins must actually exist in this continuity; so where the fuck is he? Why is the report that Alice is "in the wind" following the explosion that send her police vehicle into the water?  By all rights she should have been dead and would have been if Kate hadn't jumped in to rescue her.  Even in lieu of a body, would the authorities to conclude with such certainty that she's "in the wind," suggesting she definitively escaped and is again on the loose?  At the very least there should be some doubt as to whether Alice is still alive; and that people should be on the look-out to be safe, while acknowledging the possibility that she's dead. And who blew up the van that nearly killed Alice?  Because that doesn't seem like much of an escape plan, when it requires being saved by the new vigilante who's only been around for a day or two.