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jawritter · 4 years ago

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Twelve Days Of Christmas

Chapter 10

Summary: Dean never realized that Y/N missed Christmas until he turned off an annoying Christmas song on the radio on the way home from a hunt, now he will make it his personal mission to give her the Christmas he misses so much, and if he plays his cards right, maybe he will give her what he has wanted to give her for so many years, himself.

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Reader

Written For: @spnchristmasbingo

Square Field: Cas

Word Count: 1750

Warnings: Series finale spoilers here!! Mentions of canon character death, Mentions of grief, some fluff, probably language in there too. This is the heaviest chapter of this series honestly. Mentions of past smut. I think that’s it.

A/N: This is to help me catch up on my SPN Christmas Bingo card lol Chapter 11 will post tomorrow! I knew chapter will post every day until Christmas! I know I’m insane lol. This is a real time fic collection and all mistakes will be my own! Please do not copy my work! Hope you all enjoy these!!

**SERIES MASTERLIST** **MASTERLIST** **BECOME A

Dean’s sock-covered feet dragged as he made his way down the stairs, and into the kitchen in search of his morning coffee. You were still wrapped up warmly in bed, sound asleep when he’d forced himself up, and made himself get out of bed.

God knows he didn’t want to get up. He would have rather stayed right there, wrapped up against your warm body, but that would have led to something he wasn’t sure you were ready for yet, and he didn’t want you to feel like just because you were a couple now that you had to sleep with him.

Sex was something that had been somewhat polluted for Dean over the years. It was just a mechanical function he used to blow off steam or to just scratch that itch. It never meant anything, just another nameless face he’d forget in the morning. With Lisa, it was mostly just something to do to stave off the mind-numbing boredom, but still, even though he did care about Lisa to an extent, it meant nothing.

When the time finally did come, and they decided to take that step, he wanted it to be different, to actually mean something for him. He wanted that connection he’d always craved, but never been able to achieve. He didn’t want to just go through the familiar physical motions. He wanted more this time.

He was standing at the kitchen window, looking out over the snow-covered lawn with a cup of coffee in his hand, and his mind swirling in the stress-induced storm that had become his norm over the years when you slipped up behind him, and wrapped your arms around his waist, resting your head against his broad back. He seemed to relax a little as soon as your arms were around him, and you would have given your left arm to know what was going on inside that head of his, but you knew Dean, and it was best to let him work himself through it, and if he wanted to talk he would.

“What’s got you up so early?” Dean asked, sitting the coffee cup down on the counter in front of him and turning to wrap his arms around you, pulling you tighter to him. “You were sound asleep when I got up.”

You shrugged against him, you didn’t want to admit you weren’t asleep when he got up, but rather was just laying there enjoying the warmth his body was providing until he decided to randomly sneak away.

“Just woke up I guess. What’s got you out of bed so early?” you asked him.

Dean sighed deeply, resting his chin on the top of your head. “Couldn’t sleep, didn’t want to wake you up. You looked so peaceful laying there.”

The two of you stood there in comfortable silence for a long time, even though neither of you said anything you could almost feel the wheels turning inside Dean’s head. Dean was a strange, complicated person on a lot of levels. You knew he wasn’t going to completely open up to you overnight, but on days like this, when he seemed stuck in his own head, you wished more than anything he’d let you in.

Suddenly, Dean stood up straighter, letting go of you and stalking towards the little tree in the living room. The stance of his body had yours suddenly on high alert. It was a predatory prowl that Dean only reserved for hunts or immediate danger, and it had your own hunter scenes on edge.

Reaching behind you to the knife draw you pull out a butcher knife, never taking your eyes off of Dean as he stalks his way into the living room, seemingly headed for the Christmas tree, but looking around him as if something were going to jump out of the corner of the room and attack at any moment.

Finally, he reached his goal and stooped down to retrieve what looked to be a deep blue something, warped with a red bow, and a card you hadn’t noticed until he retrieved it.

Slowly you made your way towards the center of the room where Dean was standing with the little package in hand, your curiosity getting the best of you.

“What is it Dean?” you ask him quietly, and you were surprised when he jumped a little. Dean didn’t startle easily.

Dean turned, showing you the little bundle of what looked like silk material, and the folded card, confusion etched deep in his perfect face.

“You didn’t put this there?” he asked, nodding in the direction of the tree.

“No, I’ve been with you all night,” you reply, looking closely at the little bundle in Dean’s hand, an uneasy feeling still deep in your bones.

Dean turned the card over in his hand, reaching it in silence. You watched his features change from something hard and calculating, to soft and almost vulnerable. In fact, you could have sworn he was about to cry.

He swallowed thickly, handing the card over to you for you to read. It was written in an unkept, child-like scrawl you never thought you’d see again, it was obviously Jack’s handwriting.

Dean,

Merry Christmas. Here’s a little something from some of those you have waiting on you in Heaven. Even though we can’t be with you in person this year, we’re here in spirit. So here's a little something to remember them by.

With love,

Cas, Mary, and Jack.

Dean’s hands shook as his thick fingers pulled the little silk ribbon, undoing the little bow on the bundle and opening it slowly, revealing Cas’s blue tie, wrapped around Mary’s charm bracelet he’d only ever seen once in his life when he’d traveled back in time to try and stop his mom from making that fatal deal; as well as the mixed tape he’d made Cas so long ago.

Dean sat down slowly, the little trinkets in his hands that shocked ever so slightly, one single tear sliding down his face as he held the reminders of those he loved and lost.

You sat down quietly next to him, your hand resting comfortably on his thigh. You wanted to give him his space, but you wanted to also let him know you were there for him.

“I thought this was lost in the fire,” Dean said finally, shifting the little charm bracelet in his hand. “I looked for it once I returned back to my time period. Looked all through Dad’s stuff, but I never could find it. I just wanted something to hold onto that was hers.”

His eyes shifted to the mixed tape he’d made Cas as he laid the other items down on the coffee table in front of him. “I didn’t even know Cas had kept this.”

From what little bit you all knew, once Cas had been taken to the empty Jack had rescued him, and they were rebuilding Heaven. You knew that the loss of Cas had affected Dean greatly, you were there sitting outside his door on the nights he thought everyone else was finally asleep, listening to him pray to his friend, begging him to come back just one more time while he thought no one was listening.

Dean closed his eyes and leaned into you. You didn’t hesitate in wrapping your arms around him, grounding him, letting him quietly work through his emotions.

“Tell you what,” you say, running your fingers through his sleep tossed hair. “We’ve done enough for me. What do you say we have a Dean day. Sit around here, bake a pie, watch slasher movies or some old westerns, and not even get out of our PJ’s.”

Dean sat up slowly, placing a sweet kiss on your lips. “Let’s save that for tomorrow, today I thought we might head downtown so that you can have a look at those shops that sell that old stuff you love so much, and they’re also having a Whiskey tasting on the main street today. One of the local breweries is throwing it for Christmas.”

Dean sat up, looking at you with a hint of excitement that was hiding behind those shining green orbs of his, the ghost of those memories from the past still lingered there, but he seemed to be handling it well. If you knew Dean, he didn’t want to pass up a whiskey tasting, and you did want to go through those old shops. You loved antique things, and those places were usually littered with them.

“Okay fine, only if we can go get some more of those waffles from that waffle house first, I’m starving,” you tell him, and watch as his face lights up like you had told him he’d won the lottery.

“That’s my girl,” he said, pecking you on the lips before gathering up his gifts, carrying them off upstairs to hide them away until he can take them home and add them to that little wooden box he keeps for his most precious possession.

“Get dressed woman! I’m starving,” he yells down over his shoulder as he disappears from sight, and you smile as you stand from your place on the couch.

“Thanks, Jack, thanks for giving him something to hold onto,” you whisper to the wind.

Dean never really got any closure from Cas’s death, and Mary was taken so suddenly away from him again, you could think of no better gift from them this holiday season. This was his first Christmas without Cas, nowhere near the first without his mom, but it was a nice little reminder that even though they weren’t physically here with him, they still were watching out for him.

Dean wrapped up his gifts back in Cas’s Tie, and placed them safely in his duffle, a soft smile on his face in spite of himself. Sure, it had caught him completely off guard, and at first, the reminder hurt, but the peace he now had in knowing that his mom and Cas were in Heaven waiting on him was an unsuspected gift he wanted, but never thought he’d be able to get.

It also gave him hope that maybe, for the first time in a long time, he was moving in the right direction and not just in circles of more pain and torment. Hopefully, this was a sign that what he had started with you was the beginning of the peace he’d always wanted, but was never allowed to obtain.

Forever Tags:

@deandreamernp

@forgetthisbull

@miraclesoflove

@deanwanddamons

@rvgrsbrns

@chevyharvelle

@onethirstyunicorn

@i-love-superhero

@lyss-dw79

@magssteenkamp

@lemondropirwin

@squirrelnotsam

@hobby27

@spnbaby-67

@mrsjenniferwinchester

@defenderrosetyler

@screechingartisancashbailiff

@thecreatiivecorner

@vicmc624

@busy-bee-angel-misska

@justanotherwinchester

@brilovesdeanwinchester

@idksupernatural

@lyarr24

@amandamdiehl

@miraclesoflove

@emoryhemsworth

@dean-winchesters-gardian-angel

@softsebastian

@tatted-trina6

@anaelsbrunette

@hayleeharling

@flamencodiva

@coldmuffinbanditshoe

@dirty-pan-goblin

@itmejado

@supernatural3002

@teresa-67

@thoughts-and-funnies

@hearteyes-j2

@miss-nerd95

@writers-whirlwind

@peaches007

@bobbie3939

@lunarmoon8

Jensen and Dean’s Babes

@akshi8278

@love-jackles-37-blog

@supernatural-bellawinchester

@bobbie3939

Series Tags:

@440mxs-wife

#dean winchester #spnchristmasbingo #dean winchester x reader #dean winchester x you #dean winchester fanfiction #dean winchester fanfic #dean winchester series #spn fanfiction #spn fanfic #spn series #x reader inserts #jensen ackles #jawritter #twelve days of christmas

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alastorsradio · 5 years ago

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headcanons for alastor with a s/o who has seasonal depression

nobody requested this but i’ve been feeling depressed lately so i thought i’d write this based on my own experience aha. tried to make s/o as gender neutral as possible! also merry christmas and happy holidays to everyone!!

it was getting closer towards the holiday season and you should have been happy

but you weren’t

i mean you ARE in hell but even then, you had friends at the hotel who cared about you

and honestly the family you had here in hell? more supportive and caring than yours on earth

and best of all, alastor

who would LITERALLY die (again) or kill for you (and he has)

so when holiday season began rolling around and you weren’t excited or even remotely interested, he took notice

it was your first christmas together and your first christmas at all in hell really so he wasn’t sure exactly how you responded to holidays but this didn’t seem right

so when charlie mentioned christmas coming soon and she seemed super excited, you dawned a smile to please her because honestly you hated seeing her upset and you didn’t want her asking about you either

but alastor noticed the way your smile fell almost immediately after charlie turned away and how your demeanor did as well

he wanted you to tell him when you felt up to it but also he was worried about you, he couldn’t have his favorite person upset

so he casually brought it up, only a little while later when you two were alone cuddling in your bedroom

“dear, aren’t you just so excited for the holidays? it’s our first christmas together, i’m sure it will be quite magical!”

it wasn’t that you didn’t like christmas or didn’t want to celebrate it

you just didn’t feel it

it felt like any other time of year and you just wanted to lay in bed

a tired “yeah” was all that came out of your mouth

it was harder to fake it with him

he gave you the chance so now he had to pry

“my darling, i do hate when you lie to me, especially about how you’re feeling. what’s gotten you down?”

you knew you’d have to tell him because he wasn’t going to leave it alone

“al, i’m just depressed i guess, no real reason why. christmas is fine, it just doesn’t feel like it. i’m sorry.” you pushed yourself closer against his chest and he immediately brought a hand up to tangle in your hair

“there’s no need to apologize, my dear. it’s not your fault you feel this way, it just hurts me to see you all upset” he’d say while stroking your hair gently

he wouldn’t say much else, only playing with your hair until you fell asleep cuddled next to him

after that he didn’t mention it again, but he did try his best to cheer you up as best he could

he also secretly began working with charlie to decorate the hotel as extravagantly as possible

like i mean he goes ALL OUT for you

you’re getting the prettiest and fanciest decorations no if ands or buts about it

and the largest tree that would fit in the lobby decorated to the brim

along with the biggest pile of presents (they weren’t all for you but let’s be real most of them were)

only the best for al’s sweetheart

the best part is he didn’t decorate any of the major things until christmas eve when you were asleep

like there were decorations but it wasn’t anything major until that night

so when you woke up and went downstairs still in your pjs you were surprised to say the least

everyone was down there already in their pjs as well and apparently waiting for you???

you were very confused until al saw you and with a huge genuine grin he walked over and asked you how you liked everything

cue realizing they all did this for you, alastor did this for you

okay now you’re crying on christmas morning and al’s getting concerned

“my dear, i’m sorry, i did this to try and cheer you up i didn’t mean to make you cry”

you shake your head and pull him into a hug

“no, it’s happy tears al, you did all of this for me and you didn’t have to. i love it, thank you”

“of course, anything for you, darling”

angel whispered something about alastor being “a big fuckin’ softie” but charlie elbowed him because this was too adorable of a moment to ruin

al gave you some hot chocolate he had made for everyone (though he refused because it was Too Sweet™ deciding on coffee instead)

and then everyone opened presents and alastor got you wayyy too many but you appreciated every single one

and he adored every single one from you as well, his heart soaring at how big you had been smiling this morning

later after it was just you two alone he made you wear one of the presents he got you (it was a fancy red dress/suit that he insisted you’d look divine in) and he made you a special homemade dinner

you two talked & laughed over dinner and he noticed how this was the happiest you’d seemed in weeks

after dinner you two slow danced to old christmas songs & he kissed you and told you how much you meant to him

he knew he couldn’t take away your depression but he was still going to make sure he gave you the best christmas he possibly could

and he definitely succeeded

BEST DEER BF !!

#alastor x reader #hazbin hotel x reader #alastor headcanons #alastor imagine #also like if yall wanna request stuff u should #im off on break and got nothing to do #this kinda long but i had a lot of feelings :’)

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drummergirl231-2 · 4 years ago

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Weirdly detailed DuckTales dream last night:

So I had a dream that new episodes were back, and the opening sequence got changed to one kind of like the one in “Quack Pack!” where each character had like their own title card or whatever that showed the character, their name, and weirdly, their exact age.

I missed Donald’s but when it showed Della’s it said she was 37 and I was like, “Wait, Frank said in between seasons 2 and 3 that their current age is 36... when did they have their birthday?”

And then Beakley was like, 90. And I was like: 0.o I figured if she was young in the late 1960s she’d be in her early 70s in the show.

Anyway when the episode started they were throwing a surprise party for Webby on her birthday. Dewey was majorly struggling to get a giant wall decal to stick to the wall that said how much they love Webby, and it also called her cousin Webby so it was officially declared in the show that’s how they think of her and I could almost hear the band play as the ships went down (no ship war comments or reblogs please). But I also remember thinking, really? Cousin and not sister? Not that I necessarily think it should’ve been sister. I was just surprised at how specific they were being, really.

Also Della was in her jammies and she wore a long button-up shirt kinda like Webby’s jammies only Della’s was like a pale blue-green (almost white) with teal vertical stripes. I remembered the time someone asked me on here what I thought Della’s pjs were like and I imagined women’s pajama shorts with little stars and a graphic tee that doesn’t match. So seeing Della in a button up shirt kinda closer to what Donald and Scrooge wear to bed kinda killed the headcanon but I was like, ya know? I can work with this.

Anyway, then Scrooge gave Webby his present to her and it was paperwork showing that she was in his will as an equal co-heir with the boys, only she started to look kinda sad and he was like, “What’s the matter? I thought you’d be happy,” and she was like, “I just... I didn’t realize you’d be going so soon,” and I was like, that’s weird... just because he’s changing his will to include you doesn’t mean he’s dying now. Am I missing something here?

But I also thought it was weird because Frank once said there’s no way Scrooge actually has a will for real because he doesn’t think he’ll ever die. And so I was like, okay, Frank must have been exaggerating, or maybe this is like when he said Donald and Della hatched from the same egg but then he later changed his mind and said they hatched from different eggs. It’s weird how in the dream I was recalling actual real life Tumblr things.

But I remember watching all this and thinking, this episode is such fan service... Scrooge basically declaring on paper that he views Webby as an equal member of his family as the boys, Della pj reveal, the boys declaring they view Webby as family, specific ages being shown, angsty thoughts of Scrooge not being invincible or immortal... and yet still so much of the dream didn’t make sense.

I also dreamed I figured out how to make a dairy-free mac ‘n’ cheese sauce (I literally got nutritional yeast in the mail yesterday so I’m very excited to try that irl) and I opened the freezer and found a whole row, just boxes and boxes, of Chloe’s dark chocolate pops I’d forgotten I bought (in the dream... sadly I don’t have any in real life).

So like, DuckTales, allergen-free foods... not a bad dream. Just a little trippy in some parts.

#ducktales 2017 #ducktales season 3 #weird dream

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surveys-at-your-service · 4 years ago

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Survey #343

“i slither like a viper and get you by the neck / i know a thousand ways to help you forget about her”

What's your favorite kind of bear? I don't really know. I just like bears. Have you ever sent a FWD because you were afraid? Ha, yup, as a little kid. Would you ever date more than one person at a time? Nooooo sir. Have you ever rebounded... or been someone's rebound? No. What’s the biggest argument you’ve ever had with a family member? Did things ever go back to how they were beforehand? My grandmother cursed me the fuuuuck out one night as a kid because I was in a mood and didn't tell my mother goodnight. I still remember being called an ungrateful bitch with her like an inch from my face, and admittedly, I was being rude because I wanted to go home, but it kinda scarred me for life. For the remainder of her life, I was always sort of on edge around her and was convinced she didn't like me. Have you ever experienced some kind of natural disaster? I've been through lots of hurricanes. None that massively affected my life, though. If you have pets, do you feed them human food or do they just get regular pet food? If they do get human food, what’s their favorite thing to have? Venus is a snake, so she obviously doesn't get food meant for humans. Roman is very well-trained to not beg or make a move for people's food; he tried once as a kitten, and giving him a pop taught him right away. Have you ever been in a physical fight? Who won? No. What’s the mode of transport that you take or use the most? The car. Mom's, specifically. Have you ever had a zoo keeper experience or anything where you’ve been able to go behind the scenes and look after/feed the animals? No, but I wish. :( Would you ever want the responsibility of being a politician or a similar position of power? NOOOOOOO. What’s something your parents do that really annoys you? Mom is *always* right, pretty much indisputably. And she WILL have the last word. Dad, meanwhile, can be pretty rude to people. I don't think he realizes it half the time, but still. It's not an excuse. What is your main source of anxiety? Social interactions. What’s your favorite 90s cartoon? Pokemon. Describe the moment you realized you were falling in love with someone. I'd rather not. What’s your favorite sparkling water brand/flavor? I've never tried sparkling water. What’s your favorite makeup brand/brands? I don't have a favorite, considering I don't wear it nearly enough and have never even bought my own. I just use whatever Mom buys. What are some female names you would name a baby? Alessandra is my favorite for sure. I also love Anneliese, Justine, Evelyn, Chloe, Evangeline, Quinn... There's a lot. What about male? Severin is my favorite, and I also like Damien, Vincent, Victor, and Luther. Do you have any subscription boxes? No. What fictional creature would you like as a pet? I want a dragon, goddammit. Idc if it can breathe fire ok I want a dragon. Ewoks are also the one and only thing I enjoy from Star Wars. What kind of dwelling do you live in? Just a one-story house. Is there anyone you work with that you don't get along with? Why? N/A Do you have an opinion on adopting/purchasing a pet? PLEASE adopt, especially with cats and dogs, given the number of strays. Purebreds tend to have so many underlying issues, and besides, it's just a LOT of money for an animal that probably wouldn't outlive a mutt. Don't feed the machine if you can. What's your favorite chain restaurant? The Cheesecake Factory or Olive Garden. Why were you last pulled over? I’ve never been pulled over before. What was the last thing you've done on the water? Just kinda swam around a bit in the ocean. It was so warm, totally like a bath. I do NOT miss that sun poisoning, though. Are you cool with swimming in a lake? I think I'd do it if someone invited me to, and the lake didn't look filthy, of course. Do you have a drone? No. What's your favorite hole-in-the-wall restaurant? We have this tiny, local Mexican place that's really good. I don't know the name of it, and I wouldn't share it for obvious reasons. What do you order from there? Chips and salsa of course, along with a shrimp and cheese quesadilla, and finally their cheesy rice. What's your favorite ice-cream flavor? Depending on my mood, it bounces between vanilla with chocolate syrup or just plain chocolate. Do you have any t-shirts from any local businesses? No. Do you listen to any talk shows or podcasts? I used to listen to Mark, Bob, and Wade's podcast, but I'm like... ten months behind, haha. What's something someone calls you that you find endearing? I like "love" a lot. What's your favorite children's book? I loved books like The Rainbow Fish, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Stellaluna, 10 Minutes 'til Midnight, What Makes a Rainbow?, Chrysanthemum, etc. Is there a new season for a series you're excited to come out? Meerkat Manor comes back this summer, and I am fucking HYPED. How old are you? I'm 25. What is something unique you enjoy about the one you like/love? I tease her about it all the time, but it's really cute that she keeps all of her snakes' good sheds in her room. Proud reptile mom. Are you more liberal or conservative? I'm close to the middle, but I lean towards being more liberal, and I seem to go more that way with time. Do you watch American Horror Story? I used to. I saw the entire first season and really liked it, and then I almost finished the second, but I lost interest. The story got a bit stupid imo. I'd be willing to watch other seasons, though. Does your hometown have any urban legends/scary stories? None that I’m aware of. The people there are scary enough. What's the scariest nightmare you remember having? Let's not talk about it. Are you medicated? Uh very. Are there any apps you're addicted to? Nah. Did you have a favorite stuffed animal as a child? It was initially a bunny holding a polka-dotted blanket, then it become a moose I got from Cabela's when in Ohio. Do you still collect stuffed animals? Only meerkat ones. Have you ever stolen/borrowed clothes from an ex? Haha I've worn Jason's pj pants before and they just kinda... became mine, lol. What's the last movie you watched at home? The Shining, I believe. What's the last movie you watched in theaters? The CGI remake of The Lion King. I still don't get why it was received so badly. Have you ever had eggs cooked over a campfire? I don't think so, no. If you do drink, what's your favorite alcoholic beverage? Margaritas, generally. However, Sara's dad made me this absofuckinglutely incredible chocolate drink before that tasted like a milkshake. It had like, no alcohol flavor, which worked out well for me considering I very much dislike that taste. Are there any songs you've been listening to repetitively lately? There's a new one every day lately, haha. Today it's Halocene's cover of "Love Bites (So Do I)." Cereal, granola, or oatmeal? Cereal. What TV shows did you grow up watching? You gotta gimme an age group... but I'd say the typical stuff for kids of that time. What does your phone case look like? It's just a boring purple that came with it. What were your favorite toys to play with as a child? I looooved playing with my "family" of a father crocodile, a mother deer, their two "children" (a fawn and smaller croc), and "friends" that were little Pokemon figurines. Then there was an evil t-rex with two stupid sidekicks, haha. I can't remember what dinosaurs they were. What's the most embarrassing thing you can ever remember doing? Hold on, lemme find my book. Do you remember what you dreamt about last night? I only very faintly recall dreaming about my cat Roman. Have you ever done anything embarrassing in a dream? Thank FUCK they're just dreams. Do you vape? Nah. What was a song you loved as a child? So uh. Apparently. I loved "Dookie" by Green Day. It's an undying story from Mom about how it came on once at a putt-putt place and I apparently started yelling "dookie!" and dancing. Do you enjoy the Arctic Monkeys? Yeah, I love some of their songs. Are you going to see Finding Dory? You bet your sweet ass I saw it. I've cried everytime I've watched it. Have you ever been horseback-riding? I have not, but I would love to. When was your last piercing? Whenever I got my tragus done, which I can't remember. What did your first crush look like? I don't remember my puppydog love first crush, but I can talk about my first REAL crush, Sebastian. He's a skinny dude with short, brown hair and a lip piercing... I can't remember which kind. He dressed in an emo style, and Facebook pictures at least suggest he still kind of does, I think. Is your body more curvy or flat? Well, I'm not at all skinny, so... What's your least favorite holiday? Probably Christopher Colombus Day, honestly. You didn't discover shit. Don't pretend to me it's worth celebrating in a clean conscience. if you’re having a boring day what do you usually do? If I'm rock-bottom bored, quite honestly, I normally nap, even though I know I shouldn't. Do you turn to food when you're upset? Ugh, I'm admittedly an emotional eater. I got way better about it, and then I started up again. Is your bf/gf good with your parents? I don't have an s/o. Do you think soda should be served at school? Vending machines are fine I suppose, as I don't believe they should be free seeing as they're nothing but sugar content, and I feel schools shouldn't just hand that out to kids at lunch or something. Do dogs have feelings? They sure do. Are you afraid of snakes? Oh no! I adore them. I respect snakes and am going to give wild ones their space for sure considering I don't recognize every native venomous one, but nevertheless, I'm not afraid of them. They are so vital to the ecosystem and are incredibly fascinating animals that deserve our protection. On that note, PLEASE do not kill any snake you come across in your shed or whatever. Call someone to relocate the terrified thing. Favorite snack? It depends on what I'm in the mood for, really. Ever seen The Notebook? Read the book, seen the movie plenty of times. Do you think cussing is trashy? No. Who is the most famous person you’ve met, if any? Nobody. Do you own any animals that aren’t domestic? No. Have you ever feared that you would lose a body part? No. Do you like gore? Yeah, generally. Do you like to drink water? Ugh, I really don't. I wish I did. Have you ever had a wax? I used to get my eyebrows waxed. Do you have any sets of matching bras and underwear? No. Are you any good at improv? Not at ALL.

#survey #surveys #questions #lyrics: ''love bites (so do i)'' by halestorm

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the-homicidediaries · 4 years ago

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Teka Adams

TW: cutting, baby abduction

•

I feel like this is such a crucial story to tell.

Fair warning, it’s very, very graphic and gory. The worst of the worst.

(Also very long, oops.)

This is the story of Teka Adams.

(The episode of I Survived is from Season 5, Episode 16.)

This story takes place in Upper Marlboro, MD in 2010, but I do want to give a small back story.

When Teka was younger, she defined herself as a rebel. She made some not very good choices and ended up living on the street due to her choices. Once she hit rock bottom, she knew she had to change her lifestyle, so she began staying at a homeless shelter to help get herself back on her feet. There, she met a young man named PJ. They fall in love and get married.

Fast forward to 2010, Teka and PJ are still living in the shelter.

When Teka is 7 months pregnant, she begins receiving phone calls from an unknown number. Even after she ignored the calls, they still continued. Reluctantly, she answered.

The woman on the other end said her name was Stephanie and she worked with a program that helped get homeless pregnant women clothes, car seats, clothes, anything a new mother needs. She tells Teka she has a warehouse full of new baby items and she would love to bring Teka by to let her pick what she would like for her baby.

Teka was so excited. This would be a huge help to someone like Teka who was at the lowest point of her life.

Immediately, PJ thinks something fishy is going on. He warns Teka to not rush into anything she doesn’t know about.

But Teka is so excited and tells him to have a little faith.

A couple of days later, Stephanie meets Teka at the homeless shelter. In the episode of I Survived, Teka said Stephanie was very, very nice and very soft spoken. They get into Stephanie’s car and begin driving towards the warehouse.

Teka begins confiding in Stephanie on the way to the warehouse, telling her how she’s so happy now that she’s married and she’s going to have a baby and she’s so grateful Stephanie was willing to help her.

But because Teka is talking to much, she realizes she hasn’t paid attention to where they were going and she has no clue where they are.

They end up at Stephanie’s apartment. Stephanie brings her up the steps and puts Teka in an unfurnished bedroom (😐), sits Teka down, and begins playing a movie.

Teka gets a call from PJ and he asks, “Where you at?”

Teka assures him she is fine because the truth was.. she didn’t know where she was. She didn’t want to worry her husband, though.

She soon realizes what a huge mistake she has made and begins to frantically worry.

Once the movie is over, Stephanie then puts on another movie.

As Teka is watching this movie, Stephanie comes up from behind her, throws a heavy blanket on her, and begins beating her over the head.

Teka suddenly jumps up, throws her hands up, and she said all she can see is blood.

She then starts running towards the front door. It’s locked three separate ways, so Teka was not able to escape before Stephanie grabbed her and dragged her back. They fall to the ground and begin fighting when Stephanie wraps her arm around Teka’s neck and begins to choke her. That wasn’t knocking Teka out, so Stephanie then grabs a fire poker and begins.. (😭) hitting Teka in the head about 40 times.

Teka passes out.

Teka comes to a couple of minutes later and she can feel Stephanie dragging her by her ankles to the kitchen.

Teka hears Stephanie rattling around in the kitchens drawers.

Next thing Teka knows, she feels a sharp pain in her side. She looks down and sees Stephanie holding a box cutter, stabbing Teka.

Even more blood starts pouring out of Teka.

As Teka is bleeding out, after being stabbed with a box cutter, Stephanie goes to the kitchen to pray.

“Lord forgive me, I’m a sinner. I’m so sorry.”

Teka has lost so much blood she is unable to move, but Stephanie begins to scrub the floor, cleaning the blood.

She asks Teka if she can get up, and when Teka says she can’t, Stephanie picks her up and carries her to the back bedroom, laying her on the mattress.

Stephanie then takes away Teka’s cell phone and turns it off.

Thankfully, Teka stops bleeding.

She starts thinking she can talk her way out of this situation and begins to try to talk Stephanie down. She tells Stephanie she wouldn’t tell anyone because she doesn’t believe in breaking families apart; Stephanie has children of her own.

Stephanie begins pacing in circles and murmuring to herself. Teka thinks she’s beginning to talk her down at this point.

(Plot twist, she definitely hasn’t.)

At this point, Teka has been nearly bleeding to death in this woman’s apartment for three nights.

On the third night, Stephanie comes into the bedroom with a metal bowl full of ice, rags over her shoulders, two box cutters, and a knife.

(This is where it gets so, so, so grim. I’m extremely sorry. If you’re squeamish, stop reading now.)

Stephanie proceeds to wrap Teka’s head in duct tape until Teka can barely breathe.

The way Teka describes the next part of this story in I Survived is:

“She just starts cuttin’.”

Stephanie starts at the top of Teka’s pelvic area and just starts cutting upwards.

Doing all of this with box cutters and a knife.

Teka states in the show that she can feel everything being done to her.

At one point, Stephanie was having a hard time cutting through Teka’s skin, so she started picking at it and then began cutting through Teka’s muscle.

Also, while all of this is going on, Stephanie was playing Michael Jackson’s This Is It documentary in the background. Stephanie kept rewinding to the songs as she’s cutting Teka up.

Teka, again, passes out.

When she comes to, she notices Stephanie is laying in the fetal position on the floor asleep in front of the door.

Teka realizes this might be her only chance to get away.

As she is trying to roll off the bed, the metal bowl is still on the bed with her and her wedding ring hits against the bowl, making a ringing sound.

Teka freezes, waiting to see if Stephanie will wake up or not.

Stephanie doesn’t.

Teka pushes herself up and begins quietly walking across the room, stepping over Stephanie, blood dripping over Stephanie. She froze again, for sure Stephanie would wake up this time.

Stephanie doesn’t wake up, so she begins tiptoeing down the hall to the front door.

Ask Teka is walking up the hallway, leaning to one side, all of the organs in her upper torso fall out of her body.

Teka picks up her organs and keeps going towards the front door.

She unlocks the three locks and finally gets out of the apartment!

She starts yelling for help and knocking on the other apartment doors, but unfortunately no one is coming to help.

She makes it to the bottom of the stairs and passes out again.

And who should show up and see Teka passed out at the bottom of the stairs?

Yup.

Stephanie.

Stephanie makes her way down the stairs, places her arms under Teka’s, and begins trying to drag her back up the stairs. Teka says she began fighting and biting Stephanie as she’s screaming for help.

Finally, a man comes out from his apartment and Stephanie proceeds to tell him that Teka is very sick, delusional, and she’s only trying to help her, that they’re sorry they were bothering him and to go back inside, everything was fine.

Teka looks up at him and says, “Help me, she’s trying to kill me.”

And although Teka had lost so much blood, and literally her organs, she man was staring at her in confusion because she was wearing a Navy blue shirt, so the blood wasn’t showing through the shirt.

So what does Teka do?

She raises up her shirt and shows him how her organs are falling out of her.

He quickly runs in and calls the police.

Stephanie looks at Teka with a death stare and runs away.

The EMTs showed up and nearly passed out when they saw the damage to Teka’s body.

She’s rushed into surgery.

When she wakes up, PJ is there.

She frantically asks the nurse if her baby is okay.

The nurse answers her, saying she gave birth to an eight pound, two ounce healthy baby girl.

(The baby was balled up all the way to the top of Teka’s womb as she was being cut and Stephanie was not able to reach her.)

Teka named her baby Miracle because they both survived.

What happened to Stephanie?

Wellllll

Her real name is Veronica Deramous and she called the cops on herself. She plead guilty to assault and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

(They couldn’t prove attempted murder because Stephanie spun a story about offering to buy Teka’s baby for $5,000 and there was “no evidence that Deramous was trying to kill her.” So idiotic.)

Teka and Miracle face Veronica at the preliminary trial, mean mugging Veronica the entire time. She was not asked to testify against Veronica.

The most amazing part of this is that Teka made a full recovery.

At the end of the episode, Teka said she survived because she was coming to a point in her life where she loved and respected herself and cherish life. She said she loves God and her support system loves her.

“God looks after babies and fools. I had a baby, and I was a fool.”

Teka, PJ, and Miracle now live in an apartment in Washington, DC.

#true crime #abduction #pregnant

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itsclydebitches · 5 years ago

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RWBY Recaps: “Spark”

What’s the current mood? I would sell all future RWBY seasons for one episode of The Mandalorian.

Okay, I exaggerate. Overall this episode had some really great moments, just (per usual) tied up in a lot of awful implications. Which frankly is a step up from last week’s more overt nonsense, so I’ll take it. I’ve just got Space Dad Fever like the rest of the internet so whenever RWBY does something stupid my brain goes, “Why can’t you be more like Baby Yoda? With non-forced cuteness and consistent writing?”

Okay, okay I’m focused on the correct fandom. I swear.

This episode opens with Penny waking the group up extra early. Yang wants to know what time it is. “Time to be huntresses, of course!” Really, the contrast between, ‘I love my job’ and ‘But my job makes me get up at an ungodly hour’ is easily the most relatable thing RWBY has done this season. I was also just greatly amused by the animation choices with in-world implications. Like that Weiss sleeps with her giant braid in. Or that the group owns nothing except for the new clothes on their backs. I wondered after the Volume Six’s train scene if most of their luggage had been up front with JNR, or if they’d lost it all during the crash itself. We only see three bags as they make their way to the farm.

Did Oscar re-pack everything before they had to hightail it out of that burning, grimm-infested place? I don’t remember and I’m way too lazy to go check. Yang then loses her motorcycle. Who knows, if they did have stuff, whether it got onto the stolen airship. Doubtful. I mean, Weiss showed up with a massive amount of luggage, but that’s for hiding grandmas. Basically, what I’m saying is that I think the group showed up in Atlas, exhausted, and had to tell Penny they don’t have PJs anymore. Cue standard issue t-shirts and strange thermal-ish pants.

We then begin a montage of their different work. It starts out not with the missions they signed up for last episode but anything and everything connected to Amity Arena. Keep clearing out the mines. Protect resource transports. Fill in for the missing soldiers in Mantle, etc. On the whole I legitimately loved these moments showing the various relationships and life as a huntress in Atlas, with the exception of two scenes. The first is during the section where we see Blake and Yang working with Marrow, who makes the mistake of saying a) that they should consider partnering with other people sometime and b) pointing out that he’s not sure their styles are complimentary.

Look, I get it. A few hours after the episode dropped and tumblr is already exploding with GIF-sets of this scene, celebrating how Blake and Yang are so in love they can’t even stand Marrow suggesting that they might spend some time apart. From a shipping perspective it looks like gold and as someone who also ships them I’d normally be inclined to celebrate too. Except that this is a really unhealthy pattern of behavior. Marrow is right. The group should practice partnering with other people for the simple reason that this is a job and they may not always get to decide who they’re going to work with. It’s a job with endless risks and they may not always be able to control who they end up fighting beside, because when was the last time a plan actually worked right? The advice of ‘Hey. Don’t stagnant by only fighting with the same person 24/7’ is sound, especially in an episode already focused on training and progress. As is the innocent observation that their styles don’t seem to compliment each other. Marrow isn’t being cruel here. He’s not trying to insist he knows better and separate them based on that. He’s just making casual conversation---and gets this in response.

This scene would read completely differently if Blake and Yang were playfully smug after that attack combo. Then it becomes a moment of bonding where they’re correcting Marrow through a bit of teasing. Instead they’re legitimately mad. Mad enough that Yang’s semblance briefly activates. I’ve mentioned before that Yang has a tendency to think the worst of people and act violently towards them on instinct (Ozpin, bot in the street) and that Blake has a tendency to go wherever she leads, even when that makes no sense for her own characterization (siding with Yang’s anger over her own experiences as an abuse survivor). This is another example of that. Marrow gives them good advice and makes a casual comment? Immediate fury from Yang. Yang’s pissed off? Well I’m gonna be pissed off too. I try not to bring shipping too much into these recaps, but I do think it’s worth mentioning here. Big Blake/Yang fans have a tendency to paint everything they do as the most Romantic Thing Ever ™; anti-Blake/Yang fans have a tendency to make blanket statements about how their relationship is inherently unhealthy. But as usual the truth lies somewhere in between. They’re fantastic together, I think Rooster Teeth is setting up a relationship, and there are also aspects that are unhealthy. Not because it’s queer (which is the basis for most antis’ anger), but because the writing has them enabling their flaws in the name of “support.” Sorry, but if you can’t deal with someone making a comment as innocent as Marrow’s without beating up a grimm in fury about it... then you either need to work out that relationship insecurity or work on general anger management. Because Marrow didn’t deserve those cold looks and these two weren’t justified in receiving his panicked backpedaling. It’s one of those little things that presumably means nothing on its own, but combined with Blake and Yang’s entire development speaks volumes. Let them talk through Adam. Let someone call Yang out on her judgments. It’s ‘fine’ in situations like this; not fine in situations like Volumes 5-6.

The other part of the montage that didn’t sit well was another ‘joke.’ Just like I’m not inclined to view Yang and Blake’s anger as cutesy romance stuff here, I’m not comfortable brushing off Jaune’s interaction with the kids’ moms as a bit of humor. Yeah, maybe I’m “sensitive,” but was no one else creeped out by that? Jaune might technically be an adult, but he’s, what? Nineteen? So a junior in college. Maybe a sophomore. A young adult is what I’m saying. Is it possible all these women are also eighteen to early twenties (it’s so hard to tell ages with RWBY) and they just had their kids early? Sure. It is possible that these women all decided to become single moms, or divorced their partners, or are open to polyamory? Also sure. But let’s be real here, that’s not the joke. The joke is that a group of older, presumably married women are thirsting over the young, hot huntsmen. People would be more willing to admit that it’s not a great humor choice if RWBY had done that to one of the girls, but when a guy is the target it’s seen as a funny victory. Look at Jaune getting all that older, adulterous attention! As Nora herself says, “It’s totally the haircut.” (Even though that haircut remains atrocious, sorry.) The message is basically that if a guy is hot enough it doesn’t matter that he’s just trying to do his job, that he’s probably far younger than you, that you’re probably married... go gawk at him and give him gifts that clearly make him uncomfortable.

Again, I realize I’m being “sensitive.” It’s just a web series, just a stupid scene meant to generate a laugh, etc. But I’ve reached a point in my life where I simply don’t find that sort of stuff humorous. As a woman who has had much older men hit on me while I’m trying to do my job, I look at the same thing happening to Jaune and ask, “Why was this supposed to be funny again?”

But anyway, enough about all that. Other moments in the montage include Ruby and Yang fighting grimm together (presumably in their downtime. Nerds), Winter pretending to be unimpressed with Weiss’ summoning, and Ironwood telling Oscar that maybe they can “jog [Ozpin] loose” with a bit of training.

Yeah, remember how excited we all were that, based on the Volume’s opening, we would at least see Oscar training with Ironwood? Remember how we all thought that this would provide him with some much needed character development? That maybe this would be the moment when he struggled with and potentially decided to come clean about their lies? Or he tries to talk to Ozpin while sparing with an incredibly difficult opponent? You know, since Ironwood himself brought up jogging Ozpin loose, we might actually get some interaction with Ozpin?

Boy were we optimistic! What we actually get is them charging each other for one hit before we cut back to others training. Namely Jaune. And this right here is the problem with this entire episode: for however cute and wonderful these moments might seem, they’re all flat out ignoring the primary conflicts of the show. The ones the writing keeps refusing to grapple with. Who knows how much time this montage is supposed to cover, but it’s substantial. We get multiple flashes of different days, see the group working on different missions, a couple different moments taking place in the early morning, so I’d wager at least another week has passed. Combine that with however long it took Pietro to make their weapons and you’ve got the group fully entrenched in their lies. No one is questioning Ruby. Ruby isn’t making headway towards trusting Ironwood. Everyone is just kicking their heels, happy with the status quo until something forces them to finally make a decision. They now, officially, have no right to judge Ozpin for the time he took to trust people. We see them doing the exact same thing here and they’re all happy about it. With the exception of those two quick flashbacks in “Ace Operatives,” we’ve seen no evidence that the rest of the group is struggling with their own hypocrisy. I---like many---had hoped that Oscar’s training session would finally acknowledge and expand on the rest of the team’s initial hesitation. But no.

(In which Jaune’s expression is me.)

Jumping ahead just a bit, we see this same issue when Ruby, Penny, Qrow, and Ironwood are out driving the supplies. Ruby and Penny finally have some time to themselves! Will they discuss her murder and resurrection? Nope. Ruby vaguely references it with, “You know...” but there’s no actual depth to their conversation (and if you can’t even say ‘When you died’ that implies that maybe there are some lingering feelings about all this). Instead Ruby is interested in whether Penny has made new friends and she says that Ironwood claims she has no time for friends. Slot that in next to the Ace Ops’ ridiculous, “We’re not friends.”

Second, we have this moment between Qrow and Clover where they reiterate the huge gap between age and experience here. Clover is hoping that “another generation” will do right by Remnant after we’re gone. Namely Ruby and the others. Continuing with that age theme, he reassures Qrow that “those kids wouldn’t be where they are without you” which is all well and good, but is anyone going to tell THEM that? The adults don’t need to know that they’re doing good work---even if it is nice for Qrow to get some validation for once---rather, the whole “we don’t need adults” fiasco came about because the teens refused to acknowledge that work. We don’t need someone telling Qrow that he’s helped keep them safe. Overlooking some insecurities (which RWBY isn’t tackling anyway), he knows that. We as the audience don’t need to hear it because we saw it all happen on screen. Rather, Clover should be put into a position where he reminds Ruby of all that her uncle has done for her. Just like Qrow talking to Ruby about her motivations for moving forward against Salem doesn’t accomplish anything, Clover telling Qrow, as one adult to another, that they’re worth something doesn’t accomplish anything either. These parties know all this already.

As a side note, this is why you should mix things up. Not just so that Blake and Yang can practice fighting beside other people, but so that people who don’t already agree can be challenged for once. Put Yang with Qrow and have him comment on her anger, continuing Tai’s work. Put Ruby with Clover and let him talk to her about what adults have done to get her here. All these moments of potential development are lost by maintaining the expectation that the original partners have to be the priority. Rooster Teeth had an easy way of throwing new people together by assigning them various missions and they didn’t take it. Yang is still with Blake. Ren is still with Nora. Of course Qrow is with the one other guy his age who we have to pair him with. Reinforcing these relationships is great, but so is pausing them too.

And then there’s the drinking.

Hold up one second. I need to grab a bit of writing from my Volume 6 finale recap. Think back to Qrow and Ruby’s interaction in the airship:

And then Qrow lowers his bottle which… what? Alcoholism doesn’t work like that. Much more importantly, no one has tackled his drinking this season. Or the reasons he was drinking in the first place. Literally, Qrow’s semblance, his place in the war, Ozpin’s secret, none of it has been addressed. He has no reason to suddenly put aside his flask like he’s actually learned something. Does RT think we’re going to just imagine scenes that never actually happened?

After I posted this a couple of people pointed out that it doesn’t necessarily mean anything. We’ve seen other times where Qrow goes to take a drink and then thinks better of it, so it’s a reach to assume he’s magically given up drinking now. Which, fair. Now though it looks like that’s precisely what we got. Sometime between being found passed out on the front steps of the Argus house and reaching Atlas, Qrow just decided he was done with drinking and thus far we’ve seen no evidence that he’s struggling with that. Meaning, it’s not a conflict he’s working through. That doesn’t seem to be his arc this volume.

Yet he’s an alcoholic. Qrow’s drinking may have functioned as a joke for most of Volumes 1-3, but Volume 6 made it abundantly clear that this problem is incapacitating for him, especially after learning about Ozpin and Salem. So what happened? What changed? Even if I choose to overlook Qrow just deciding not to engage with his addiction anymore without help or backslides that we know of (doesn’t work like that...), I can’t ignore the fact that there was no catalyst for this. If the show wanted us to work under the assumption that Qrow stopped drinking because it endangered his family then they should have had him stop after the farm. You know, when he was almost killed by Apathy and had to be dragged out by his nieces. As it is, his drinking continues on throughout their whole time at Argus. He’s not picking up his scroll. He’s passed out on the steps. He’s brushing past Ruby to go get a drink instead of helping them figure out a way past Cordovin. Then a day later they make it to Atlas. So what precisely in that 24 hour period happened to change one of Qrow’s defining characteristics? Or, if this is supposed to be an arc wherein Qrow attempts to get sober and struggles with it, why haven’t we seen that? Again, they’ve been in Atlas for weeks now. This isn’t a one day sober Qrow with a naively optimistic outlook. He’s apparently been managing this for a while now with no downsides, no difficulties, no regrets.

Blake and Yang getting mad at Marrow instead of acknowledging their trauma. Oscar taking one hit at Ironwood instead of grappling with their secrets. Ruby talking about new friends instead of the relationship she already has with Penny. Clover telling Qrow adults are important instead of anyone telling the teens that. Qrow revealing that he’s just not drinking anymore. For reasons. It’s amazing just how much space this episode provides for the characters to start working through their conflicts and we bypass every opportunity. This is RWBY’s primary problem. Beyond the pro-protagonist perspective is the issue that, especially since Volume 5, the show has made a habit of introducing intriguing problems and then either twisting them so they have simplistic ‘solutions’ (we don’t need to tackle Ruby’s hypocrisy. She’s just “different” from Ozpin) or ignores them completely. We don’t need a new friendship vs. professional relationship conflict. We don’t need a new luck vs. bad luck semblance conflict. Not yet anyway. Not until we work through the conflicts that have already been introduced. Let Ruby talk to Penny about their own relationship. Let Clover help Qrow get sober. RWBY is like me when I’m writing fic. Why would I finish the thing I started when there’s this shiny new idea over here? Except I’m engaging in a low-key hobby whereas they’re writing for their livelihood. For the love of everything, please solve the problems we already have before chucking in new ones. You can give us all the same moments and relationships, just tailor them so they acknowledge the things the viewers have been waiting for you to tackle. I don’t need to know why Ruby and her team are Super Special because they’re BFFs when everyone else in Atlas apparently rejects friendship like the plague. I do need to know why a guy who was introduced downing a glass of whiskey apparently got over his alcoholism off screen.

Ugh. You know what we need? Penguins. Everyone look at the penguins for at least five seconds and allow them to cleanse your soul.

Heading backwards, before the transport scene we get a training fight between JNR + Oscar and Neon’s group. I honestly wonder how a team like theirs feels about them getting their licenses. After all, they fought at the Battle of Beacon too. The only reason why RWBYJNR got into extra, life-threatening situations is because they stupidly went off on their own. I realize that duh, as a story we can’t just have our protagonists twiddling their thumbs, but from an in-world perspective Ruby snuck out of the house to hunt down a woman who would absolutely have killed her and 100% would have been kidnapped if Qrow hadn’t followed to keep her safe. Everything else stems out of that. So not exactly a classically heroic basis for special treatment. All of which Neon and Flynt presumably don’t even know about because it touches on all those secrets. I suppose they just heard something along the lines of, “I, Ironwood, am giving two Beacon teams early licenses because they survived a horrendous battle. You, my actual students, don’t get them even though you did the same work.” It could have been really interesting to have some tension over this and for the group to see another complication of their secret keeping. Here they have to keep Cinder, the Maidens, the Relic, etc. quiet... but because of that it leads to some pretty awful miscommunication between friends. There are repercussions to your secrets and not all of them are things you can plan for or fix.

We don’t have anything like that though. Obviously. Instead we just get a generic fight with a side of weird Nora/Ren stuff. Meaning, Neon calls him Nora’s boyfriend and asks, “Where’s that energy when he’s around you?” Later Nora asks if they’ll still get sandwiches before work and Ren heaves out an annoyed sigh.

That moment struck me simply because it doesn’t come across like one of his normal, happily indulgent sighs. Ren seemed legitimately annoyed. Which is even stranger when we consider that Nora isn’t being over the top here. Sure, she pops up behind him in a sort of silly manner, but really all she’s doing is expressing that she’s hungry after an intense battle. Can we please make sure we grab something before heading off to work? That’s a more than reasonable request.

Ren shutting her down over his hair. Seeming to ignore her when she fiddles with it while on patrol. Neon’s comment about his lack of energy around her. Nora getting mad enough about it to give her a black eye (RWBY so rarely shows injuries). Ren seemingly put out by her theatrics. They’re all little things that only seem to paint a picture when put together, but of what exactly? It’s like I said last time, if the show wants to introduce some sort of arc for Nora and Ren this volume it had better do it soon. Really soon. Details that may or may not be setup can only take you so far.

During this battle Ironwood smiles down at all their progress, which could be endearing or creepy, depending on whether you think he’s hiding something (more on that in a bit). Neon actually acknowledges Oscar’s existence and draws a blush out of him, so thank you for that, Neon.

I thought for just a moment that Jaune might compliment Oscar too, but he just compliments the other team instead. At least they’re letting him train with him. After last week’s episode I��ll take this small step forward.

Back past the talk between Qrow and Clover, we finally get to meet the infamous Robyn Hill. She blocks the road to Amity Arena with one of her Happy Huntresses, the same faunus who was spying on the project last episode. And who I forgot to mention in my recap. Whoops. I love Hill already though precisely because she’s able to do what our protagonists couldn’t last Volume: stand down when a plan fails.

Hill takes her shot by putting up the roadblock and asking Clover to be straight with her, but when that doesn’t work and it looks like they’re about to come to blows, she admits defeat and lets them through. That’s how you handle a tenuous ally. Keep the peace and regroup with a different idea. Show them basic respect so that they might help you in the future. Clover’s “good luck” regarding the election speaks volumes about how everyone does want to help each other, they just need to figure out a way to do it. Hill could have attacked the group and stood her ground purely because she believes she’s right---just as Ruby did with Cordovin---but she demonstrates her maturity instead. She didn’t risk lives for the sake of getting what she wanted right here, right now. Despite the fact that what she wants likewise involves the safety of the people. Take note, Ruby.

Speaking of, everyone catch that guilty look when Ruby learns that Ironwood’s project is taking resources directly from the city that most needs it? Yeah, what did you think was going to happen? At the very least the group saw that they were taking manpower away. Ironwood needs them to help protect Mantle because most of his men are off in the middle of nowhere, so the group is well aware that their actions are causing a negative impact. I highly doubt that the eight of them (including Qrow) can make up for however many people Ironwood is pulling out, to say nothing of the fact that many of them (like Ruby here) are also on Amity duty. They’re allowing Ironwood to put people, money, supplies, and time towards an endeavor that they know is bound to fail. Sure, it would be nice to have communication across Remnant without fear of losing that to the grimm again, but we all know Ironwood is primarily doing this because of the Salem situation. If he knew about her immortality he’d probably go, “Hmm. Well, the first part of the idea is still nice, but I probably shouldn’t pour this much into just a regular communications tower. Defeating Salem potentially justifies me hurting the people to get this done. But not anything else.” I’ll say it again: Ozpin’s secrets didn’t endanger anyone. Everyone from Pyrrha to Yang agreed to put their lives on the line for reasons entirely separate from Salem. Their lives were in danger from the start and, given their choices, always would be in danger. Ruby is the one whose secret is not just threatening all of Remnant in the future, but actively hurting people now too. She has the ability to stop this and she chooses not to.

Or rather, she chooses to keep putting off the decision. We’ll tell Ironwood when we’re ready. Yeah right. I still want someone to challenge Ruby on what this magical ‘He’s trustworthy!’ moment looks like. They’ve spent weeks with this man, fighting for him, training with him, accepting gifts in the form of weaponry, armor, facilities... so what exactly is it going to take, Ruby? I’m not saying Ironwood is trustworthy, I’m saying you can never know until the day they betray you. If that day comes. So when is Ruby going to acknowledge that? That she will never get that magical moment and that she’s just like Ozpin, putting off telling someone because the information weighs so heavily and there’s just too much to risk?

Hill thematically acknowledges the last two Volumes with, “It doesn’t have to be difficult. Just tell me,” while we all know it’s not that simple. Even if people would like it to be. Clover refuses, Penny spots two invisible huntresses closing in (nice), and as said, Robyn backs down.

We then end this episode with a long bonding session between Winter and Weiss. We see them fighting with their summonings and Winter comments about how, “You’ve grown up a bit, haven’t you?” We get it. You’re not subtle. Weiss has grown up. “Make no mistake. School is over.” They’re adults now! If only we saw that more than we heard it. Weiss at least is a character who has had legitimate, excellent development over the last couple of volumes. I’m admittedly a bit confused though regarding how that development aligns with the old Weiss. Meaning, we learned early on that she wanted to become a huntress to redeem the Schnee name. Now Winter is talking about how separating herself from the Schnees was the best thing to happen to her and Weiss seems to agree. So is that it now? Is Weiss just concerned with being her own person, or is she still invested in being a Schnee? Just a Schnee who embodies what her family used to stand for? It’s unclear based on the conversation.

Then. Ugh. They discuss Ironwood’s choices and Weiss snidely comments that, “Everyone thinks what they’re doing is right, but really they’re just looking out for themselves... and their secrets.” Yeah, Weiss. INCLUDING YOU. Are they really so dense that they don’t see how lying about how Ozpin disappeared was looking out for themselves, namely by making sure that Ironwood continued to embrace them with open arms instead of getting pissed? After all, it’s less likely that the group would have gotten a nice place to live, awesome weaponry, high-tech places to train, and early licenses if they’d admitted to their sins last volume. They’re also protecting their own secrets by spending these weeks nice and quiet, just ignoring the Ironwood problem completely. Weiss is protecting their secrets right now by encouraging Winter to question Ironwood’s intentions---subtly casting him and Ozpin in a bad light---while she herself is keeping secrets from Winter. I mentioned before that Ironwood’s smile could potentially be a bad omen if we follow the writing rule of, “If a character insists someone isn’t keeping anything from them... they’re definitely keeping something from them.” Winter’s belief that Ironwood doesn’t keep secrets from her sets up the expectation for the audience that he probably is. But we don’t actually know that yet. Weiss thinks Ironwood might be keeping secrets. Weiss knows for sure she and the rest of her friends are keeping secrets. Only one party is definitively guilty here, so I’m not sure why she feels entitled to act like she still has the high ground.

With Ironwood’s honor in question, Winter takes Weiss to see the Winter Maiden. We really don’t get to learn much about her except that she still looks young-ish (again: RWBY ages are hard) and seems to like to paint.

No one else can visit her---and thus we don’t hear the conversation---because Ironwood wants Winter to inherit the power. Okay. So that leaves us with a couple options now:

Older woman can inherit and Ozpin made a very iffy call in trying to foster that responsibility off on a First Year. Which is probably down to more writing concerns than Ozpin’s characterization. Meaning, you want to keep the conflict among the main cast, not bring in a random new character to do the volume’s Important Thing. So you set up Pyrrha as the Fall Maiden, even though in-world that looks like a sketchy decision. To say nothing of the fact that Rooster Teeth isn’t very good at setting down hard rules. What functioned as a limitation during Volume 3 can easily be wiped away in Volume 7. In the same way that we went from Qrow’s semblance being totally passive and range-based to “sometimes I can’t control it.”

Ironwood and Winter are assuming that Winter can inherit, but she’s actually too old now. They’ll be blindsided by this when the power unexpectedly goes to someone else.

Ironwood has convinced Winter that she can inherit but actually has some sort of other plan up his sleeve.

Really, my biggest takeaway is Winter’s speech about how she is choosing this. Regardless of whether fate forced her into a situation with only bad options. Regardless of whether others also want her to make this decision. It’s still her choice. 95% of the fandom needs to listen to that speech and then chuck Pyrrha into Winter’s place. Having only tough choices isn’t the same thing as having no choice. The fact that your choice coincides with what others want doesn’t lessen it. They both chose to take on this power and it’s wrong for others to trivialize that by claiming that the men in their life---Ozpin and Ironwood---manipulated them. It’s implying that they can’t make their own decisions. That making this terribly difficult choice doesn’t come down to their own strength. They know it’s dangerous, regardless of whether they understand every detail of that danger, and actively choose to take on that responsibility anyway. Because they want to do some good in the world. The fandom has worked its butt off to take that away from Pyrrha and I really hope they don’t do the same to Winter.

Although... the death flags. Yeesh but Winter looks like a particularly enticing target for the end of this Volume. What with talk of destiny and all... I really hope the series doesn’t go the route of giving every Team RWBY member one of the Maiden powers, what with Winter in a position to think about Weiss if she dies with the power, Raven in a position to think about Yang, and Cinder obsessed with Ruby literally all the time... yeah. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m personally more invested in ‘normal’ people managing the impossible through hard work, belief in themselves and each other, all that jazz. Not already overpowered people (at least in Ruby’s case) getting literal magic to solve their problems with. There’s so much more you can do with that.

Finally, Jacques comes online to spew a bunch of BS about how everything ever is Ironwood’s fault and he’s totally suffering just like everyone in Mantle.

Right.

As Winter says though, the lies are just enough of a “spark” to ignite an already pissed off populace. We close on an angry mob beginning to tear the streets apart. Guess we’ll find out next week how the group tackles that nasty problem.

Until then! 💜

Minor Things of Note

What was that sandwich gag? RWBY is really pushing the humor in iffy directions this volume.

I enjoyed Qrow and Clover playing cards though. What a mess with their semblances.

Also, I made us a poster:

#rwby #rwby volume 7 #rwby volume 7 spoilers #mymetas #rwby recaps

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charmedtheselfproclaimedking · 4 years ago

Text

Charmed Children

Warnings: I do not own or claim to own any rights to the television show “Charmed” or the characters created within said show, this is purely fanfiction written from a devoted fan of the series. 15+ Mild to strong language, moderate to strong violence, witchcraft, sexual innuendos, and scenes of a sexual nature. F/F, F/M, M/M, Gen, Other +

CHAPTER ONE HERE

Chapter 3 - Legacy

PJ Thorne and her newly found, long lost, half sister Peyton Price were in the main foyer of the Halliwell Manor, each of them sorting through a separate pile of unopened mail address to the likes of Phoebe Halliwell, Piper Halliwell, Leo Wyatt, Wyatt Halliwell, Chris Halliwell, Melinda Halliwell, Paige Mitchell, etc.…both of them snooping in a bid to learn more about their birth mother when suddenly the grand Victorian chandelier placed right above them both, which hang from the ceiling, began to shake viciously before omitting a strange blue light that almost blinded the two women but as soon as they had noticed it, it was gone just like that. “I am going to put that one down to some old school dodgy electrics which makes complete sense given the age of this house.” Peyton guessed, trying not to let on that she was slightly spooked. “I have never seen any kind of messed up wiring cause a chandelier to omit that kind of strange light…then again it is not like I see fancy chandelier’s every day in my line of work.” PJ replied to her sister, as the two began looking towards the stairs, wondering why Percy had been upstairs for so long. “I should check on Mr Ford in case he’s found himself electrocuted or something…” “I’ll check on Percy with you,” Peyton said happily, as the two sisters made their way for the stairs. “Nothing like a creepy old house to make strangers who happen to be siblings get to the bonding.” “Look you seem nice enough and everything, but I am not looking for a sister.” PJ told Peyton, making it clear where she stood with her, as the two of them began walking up the stairs of the Halliwell Manor. “I’m down to get answers about the woman who gave us up, but I am not looking for long lost family…” “Oh, okay!” Peyton responded, attempting to hide her disappointment. “Well lucky for you I already have a family whom I love so yep, just wanting answers too and pending on how haunted this place is I may potentially want to live here…” “This place is too big for one person I say we sell it and share the money three ways, that way you can get yourself a nice little flat, Percy can have walking around money and I can put some money aside for a rainy day.” PJ advised Peyton, as they continued walking upstairs until they walked into the upstairs hallway. “I mean some money is the least we can get out of all this!” “Well actually, I am not big on the idea of selling our family home especially since it has been in our family for generations.” Peyton disagreed with Peyton, as Percy walked down the attic stairs to meet them in the hallway. “I think we should keep it in the family.” “You are talking about strangers who threw us out of this very house who gives a damn about their traditions!” PJ argued with her half-sister, making her fury towards her birth mother abundantly clear. “Oh, calm down detective dastardly if you need the cash so badly, I’ll buy your share of this place.” Percy interrupted, attempting to stop a potential argument, before turning to Peyton. “Then I will give you both of our shares and you can live your perfect family home lifestyle…that is if you still want to live here considering it could be haunted by the ghosts of real life witches!” “Witches? Really? Did you get electrocuted by any chance?” PJ responded to Percy. “We should get you checked out at the hospital maybe a psychiatric one…” “Trust me I am no believer in hocus pocus although I did love the movie,” Percy began to explain to both PJ and Peyton. “However, it seems like our birth mother sure believed in witchcraft considering the grimoire in the attic full of spells and potions.” “Wait, so our mother was a witch?” Peyton asked her half-brother, with a sense of excitement in her voice. “That is so cool!” “Well I guess that explains you and your whole attitude,” PJ told Peyton. “Clearly our mother was somewhat unhinged…in which case she did the right thing by giving us up.” “Or maybe our mum was a witch.” Peyton continued to argue with PJ. “You cannot tell me you do not want to see this spell book?” “It is a pretty cool book to be fair…way more convincing than the kind you buy online that is for sure!” Percy chimed in, tempting to entice PJ’s curiosity at the same time. “And the spells are so well written like poetry for wiccans.” “Are you listening to yourself? You are one of this city’s most eligible bachelors and you are up in a stranger’s attic reading spells!” PJ snapped at Percy, before taking a deep sigh, trying to calm herself. “This day just keeps getting crazier!” “When you read said spell…did you read it with your head’s voice or did you read it out aloud because everyone knows when you read a spell out loud you’re casting said spell whereas when you read it in your mind it is just reading.” Peyton wondered, revealing some knowledge of witchcraft. “No, I do not think everybody knows that Peyton!” PJ told her sister. “I bet you read up all about UFO’s, ghost sightings and truly believe there are actual witches out there.” “Stevie Nicks is a witch!” Percy argued with the cynical detective. “She said so on American Horror Story…” “I love American Horror Story, what is your favorite season?” Peyton asked her brother. “Okay I am getting out of this madhouse right now!” PJ declared, as she began walking back towards the stairs. “Sell it, do not sell it, burn it to the ground for all I care!” Despite PJ’s urge to not admit it, these three newly found siblings’ lives had changed forever that day because not only were they no longer strangers but as they were yet to discover they were fully active witches now, with powers just waiting to be discovered.

A few hours had passed since PJ’s abrupt exit from the Halliwell Manor and yet for some reason neither Peyton or Percy could bring themselves to leave their biological family’s home, as Peyton had migrated upstairs to the attic, eager to examine the book of shadows and all its contents, Percy decided to give the home a second look over, as he stripped the kitchen cupboards to find all kinds of ingredients which he believed was used to make potions, although most of it was just store bought food he did not recognize. Percy’s strip search of the family kitchen was cut short when he heard the doorbell ringing and decided to walk out of the kitchen, through the dining room and towards the front door eager to find out who would be knocking, as he wondered if they could be a friend or neighbor of the mother who gave him up for adoption. “Holy moly this neighborhood just got a whole lot better.” Percy mumbled in shock after opening the front door to find Luke Star stood on the front porch, a tall dark haired man with a Californian tan and a smart buzzcut wearing a suit that looked almost as expensive as Percy’s. “I live next door and I could not help but notice people coming in and out, so I thought I’d introduce myself to the new neighbors…you are my new neighbor, right?” Luke stated to Percy, as the socialite found himself lost in Luke’s mesmerizing smile. “Well me and my…sisters just inherited the place and we’re not quite sure what we are going to do with it yet…” Percy attempted to explain the situation, before holding his hand out. “Hi, I am Percy Ford.” “Of the Ford dynasty?” Luke asked as he shook Percy’s hand. “Your family is very well known in this city…I am Luke Star, I’m a senior partner at Murphy and Star Law.” “A lawyer,” Percy responded as he broke off their handshake. “I am actually looking for some new representation, mostly because my parents’ lawyers are as old as dirt and I am looking to expand the family empire in new directions.” “Well I’d truly be honored to represent you anytime!” Luke confessed, as he pulled out his business card and handed it to Percy. “I’d also be truly honored to have you as a neighbor.” “I guess I’ll have to give this place a seriously contemplation then.” Percy flirted with Luke, before hearing a loud screaming noise coming from within the house, a scream that sounded like Peyton’s. “I should probably go check on my…sister!” “I am more than willing to come with you, it sounded pretty serious.” Luke suggested. “It is probably just a spider or something knowing her,” Percy lied, trying to get rid of the lawyer in case Peyton had found something even more peculiar about their biological family. “I’ll give you a call some time…” “If your sure,” Luke replied. “Feel free to call me anytime.”

Peyton was stood behind the bookstand within the attic of the Halliwell Manor, flicking through the pages of the book of shadows taking it the entirety of what the book had inside its pages: name of ancestors who were also witches, family trees, names of demons with information about them and how to defeat them, spells, potions, information on other magical beings like elves, fairies, nymphs and most importantly the charmed ones. As Peyton continued reading from the pages of the book of shadows she quickly learned that her birth mother Phoebe Halliwell was one of the charmed ones, an all powerful power of three which somehow consisted of four not three sisters and as she continued to read about the charmed legacy she quickly learned just how important they were, believing every word to be true and relieved to finally understand the world in which her birth mother lived, knowing that she was not given up over not being wanted. “That thing has not been touched by a Halliwell’s hands in far too long!” Gareth revealed, after orbing into the attic, leaving Peyton horrified, as she let out a scream of shock. “Do not worry I mean you no harm Peyton…” “Yeah I bet you say that to all your victim’s demon.” Peyton replied as she quickly picked up a nearby antique vase from a cabinet not far from her and threw it in Gareth’s direction, only for him to orb out of dodge, to then reappear in front of Gareth, to which a further shocked Peyton responded to him by punching him across the face, causing Gareth to fall to the floor in pain. “Not today, Satan, not today!” “What the bloody hell are you doing assaulting my butler?” Percy asked, as he walked into the attic, stunned by what he saw. “You have a butler, just how rich are you…wait never mind your butler is a demon!” Peyton replied to Percy, only to be met by a laugh from her half-brother. “I think someone has been reading too much from the family grimoire and not remember the reality in which we live in.” Percy dismissed his sister, as he walked over to Gareth and helped him back to his feet. “The only thing magical about my butler is the fact he manages to put up with me all the time.” “Yeah well your butler who is also my neighbor just appeared here from out of nowhere like some teleportative magic was used.” Peyton explained herself. “Do not be ridiculous.” Percy laughed once again. “How can he be your neighbor when he lives in the Ford Manor?” “Peyton’s not being ridiculous Mr. Ford,” Gareth confessed to Percy, before turning to Peyton. “But I am not a demon…I am a white lighter…specifically yours, your brother’s, and your sister’s.” “Okay now I am completely and utterly confused.” Percy admitted to them both. “A white lighter is a guardian to witches, their bodyguard so to speak as well as being their mediator to the elders.” Peyton revealed to Percy. “I kind of got carried away with the reading a little bit.” “I was all for the possibility of witches, heck even ghosts but this is just too much!” Percy confessed, struggling to take it all in. “I mean I just came here to look at an old house and now I am just supposed to take this all in…” “I know that it is a lot to get your head around but the sooner the do the safer you will be.” Gareth tried to explain to the wealthy socialite. “Everything in the book of shadows is real especially the demons and now that you’ve unbound yours and your sisters’ powers, they are going to start coming for you all.”

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thedogsled · 5 years ago

Note

You seem to be having a not a great day today, so here's a light-hearted ask. I'm having a good day, curled up in pjs with cuddly pets watching Leverage with my sister. Leverage is one of my favorite shows, because it's smart and fun and has great characters that grow over the seasons. Besides Supernatural, what's a show you really enjoy and why?

Thank you so much for the ask! I’m sorry I didn’t reply to it sooner, I’ve come down with a head cold and this is really the first day in several I’ve been able to compose more than a tweet about how much it sucks (swallowing = a knife jammed right into my inner ear, it’s super fun). But I did want to answer your question so I’ve been musing on it since your ask came in.

If it was just “what��s your favorite show right now” it’d be an easy answer: The Boys. The Boys, back to front, front to back, upside down and inside out. The first season was fantastic, and it felt like it woke me up to being excited about TV again after my interest in The Walking Dead waned mid-season. Everything new has seemed very plastic recently, and even The Mandalorian, which is super cool, is kind of like the Cartoon Network dub of Dragonball Z, so Disneyfied in its bloodlessness that although I’m enjoying it it feels even more synthetic as a result. The Boys was the opposite of that, and also just whoever invented Karl Urban, period, just deserves a nobel prize for that masterpiece. He pronounces twat wrong (okay okay it’s a dialect thing) but you can’t have everything =D

So instead (and because it’s cheating that I can pimp The Boys and wax lyrical about loves of old) I interpret your question as sort of like “Which show is your comfort food?” Which show do I go back to when I’m feeling like TV needs to give me a cuddle. I had a good think about it, because there’s a few…

(aside: I shouldn’t have put that gif in before I started writing. ahem.)

There’s been a few over the years, for sure. As a thirteen year old I used to watch and rewatch Buffy episodes, mostly season 2 (baby Spike!). At eighteen, it was old VHS of Deep Space Nine, my favorite ep was “Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night” which I watched repeatedly and think about constantly even today.

But the show I keep coming back to is due South.

This post is a long post, it also deals with discourse (because my relationship to entertainment is so often mired in it, so please don’t proceed if you’re rather avoid it) and this is where it begins:

Okay, so fun fact: I watched due South the first time it aired with my parents (I was about 9) and then when it was on TV again as a repeat, I recorded it on VHS by RUSHING home every single day from school with nothing else on my mind but sitting on the floor two feet from the telly to watch it. Quantum Leap was on right after, and I had an entire different set of VHS tapes to record that on, so had to quickly switch between them. I’d stop recording at every break so that I could get more episodes on a tape. It’s not unsurprising to me now that both shows vibed with me as a young person who hadn’t yet really accepted that she was queer; due South’s main character is coded as Other both to the Americans whom he lives with, and his fellow Canadians, while Quantum Leap explores a straight white man jumping into the lives of Others, and living through them some of the hardest moments in their lives. Even though both keep it exceedingly, textually hetero, one has two men riding off into the snowy sunset together (leaving behind a straight lover to do so) and the other features a love between two men that in the original framing of the finale would have seen God/fate reconnecting the two of them even though one was lost in time, and the partner’s wife begging him to go.)

Of course young me didn’t give a shit about that, or didn’t realize that’s what she cared about. Young me loved the buddy-cop partnership of both shows. Young me liked the half-wolf, and the episodes where they ride horses, and honestly just waiting with bated breath to find out where Sam would jump to this time. “Oh boy!” Retrospectively, these shows (especially QL) are a lot more oh boy in a yikes context now than they used to be, but it’s good that shows age into yikes territory because it means that society is steadily advancing. Particularly, pointing out that these shows both feature white straight guys like…welcome to the nineties.

I was introduced to queer coding in part by watching due South. The show is laden with it. With writers, actors, and ultimately an executive producer who was all three, it makes you wonder if they would have gone there if they could; certainly the ending reads that way. They couldn’t, of course, because it was the nineties (and it was CBS that revived it after enormous international fan demand). Still, there was just nothing else analogous to what we have now that was going there on TV at the time. If you were queer (or discovering your queerness) then watching the show meant everything, as it did to me. So I snuggle up on the couch often these days and go back to that, because it gave me such joy, and because I was left with the opportunity to decide for myself how deep the relationship was. There was no promise of anything, because the context at the time was of course you can’t go there, nobody can go there. Queerbaiting was a word that simply hadn’t been breathed. There was no intent, no companies behind the curtain pulling strings going “Yes, make it more gay, we want those queer dollars”, just invested people slipping what they could past the studio censors.

Like this:

Sigh. A less enlightened time. =P (Incidentally fun meta here but this was after a conversation where Ray suggested that communication in a relationship should be intuitive, like breathing.)

So I guess in part I escape back there because none of that representation was ever as loaded as it is today. It doesn’t require me to judge it, or weigh it against the harm it does - because the politics of the time meant I thought it was doing good (retrospectively, and only through the lens of someone who had nothing to lose). It seemed to scream out into an unyielding universe to force it to move. It did a fraction of that, because of course it did. It was the nineties. It stole indigenous narratives and romanticized colonialism just as much as it beat the drum of environmentalism and kicked at the doors of corporate greed and racism. Old shows are inherently problematic. Today’s shows are too. Being able to examine them doesn’t mean not loving them, but it lets you say “Okay, so what do I expect from the things I watch today? What do I expect from the things I watch in five years time?”

All that aside, the show is just damn good. It’s watchable and rewatchable. It struggles to age because it was already so out of pace with the age it was made in–despite its flaws in representation, it was better than other shows at the time that demonized, tokenized, or outright killed minorities to push white narratives on their own shows (Kendra being murdered on Buffy, for example). It’s standalone enough that you can go back and watch any episode you like because overarching story arcs were way less of a staple as they are today. It’s witty, fast paced, full of action and moral dilemma, do gooding and the consequences of it. Although still severely unbalanced, and very, very white, it did still have indigenous actors playing indigenous characters, and minorities portrayed in stories about them. There’s a dog. There’s classic cars. And it’s all put to the soundtrack of Canadian bands and singers.

tl;dr ahead for rambling about subtext and being a disaster queer, but please scroll past for more gifs.

Queer me needed this show, in a world where I’d been taught to look and see myself in straight white male protagonists, it felt like A Lot to see all this on screen. It wasn’t, but it was all I got when I was growing up. I envy the good fortune of kids who can see themselves on screen these days while they try and figure themselves out (and hopefully more so in the future) with far less of having to negotiate through the confusion of looking at it through confusing fractals of different lenses and instead just see someone who looks like them showing them that their POV is normal, heroic and wonderful. Those lenses fucked me up big time. Like I’m not even sure right now what flavor of queer I am. I cling to bi like a lifeline of sense in my life, but it is complicated because I overwhelmingly desire the company of women way way more. But also I was was taught to look through the lens of a white dude in order to see myself universally, taught to be both desirous of the female body and humiliated by it, ashamed by sex, taught men were awful, and taught that I was supposed to marry one anyway. I look at my sexuality/romanticism like it’s a meta puzzle that I haven’t figured out yet, wondering how to put it on paper, how to break apart the different influences I experienced as a youngling and as an adult to try and negotiate if I’m misreading my own impulses. How I was brought up, who I’ve known, the relationships I’ve experienced and seen in real life and on TV. I’m 34 and I’m still no more certain. Subtext is both my friend and my enemy. I hate it, and I owe everything to it.

So when I need a rest from giving a shit about any of that noise, I go back to my comfort food. I go right back to subtext, which gave me the tools I needed to desire romance that wasn’t heterosexual, that somehow was more intimate because it relied on longing stares and never stepping foot out of the closet, that was just someone liking another person without any expectation of sex just because they have opposing genitals, and their colleagues hassle them a lot. There’s nothing wrong with the sex, I write a lot of consommation of the feelings that I see bubbling under the surface. I have even grown to appreciate het romance when it’s done in a way that doesn’t reduce the woman to a love interest–I was thrilled when Simon Baker’s Patrick Jane got together with Teresa Lisbon in The Mentalist. Their relationship was filled with subtext too. Subtext isn’t a queer thing, it has a role in all well written romance. Hell, it has a role in terriblebad tropey misogynistic romance, too. And just you know basically all storytelling (and more).

Queer romance existing only in the subtext, though? It’s heartbreaking explicitly because it feels like a story that isn’t finished, and that’s where subtext reliant shows can hand off the story to be finished by fandom itself. In due South, as I mentioned before, Ray and Fraser jump into a dogsled and ride off over the snowy horizon to “Find the hand of Franklin, reaching for the Beaufort sea”. It’s where I chose my meta name, as I’ve mentioned before, because that ending - that ending - handed us all the subtext so far and said “Here, take it, it’s yours now. Do with it what you like”–and we did. But that was twenty years ago. I loved that ending (I still think it was a very elegant solution) and it was expected and appropriate for a show that in itself is a “Faves Are Problematic” show, but that’s also why I get so passionate about discussing the subtext in Supernatural.

It’s younger than due South. While it may have begun back when Willow from Buffy had her first girlfriend, it is ending now, not at the turn of the century where a dogsled was still good enough to get the point across and none of us had Twitter. My own experiences, my lifelong queer confusion make it so I feel pretty damn bad for people trying to use Supernatural as a medium for their own self-exploration, using characters from SPN as their lenses. A show these days that makes bank on those tropes and doesn’t inform its audience (positively or negatively) is doing so irresponsibly because of the modern context in which the show presently (not historically) sits, and the increasing awareness of the issues surrounding it. Networks, then, are ultimately responsible for that, but they are in a way which is entirely different and far more directly culpable than they were 20 years ago, because people are out there making money out of those intentional subtextual devices. They chose to do it; took a deep breath and backed right up away from Gamble’s problematic queerbashing tropes, chewed it over, then hired gay writers and dived right back in with more grown up, progressive, and less shitty subtext–but still subtext.

This show that ended 20 years ago was able to cross way more lines with subtext in one episode than Supernatural has done sometimes in an entire season. It did so despite and because of it’s international audience, on a conservative network that would late purchase Paramount, and Star Trek, and ended with a powerfully subtextual ending. Supernatural, of course, is under a far more powerful microscope from the bigots than those oblivious to subtext back in the 90s could have ever produced. due South, like SPN was just “wholesome family entertainment” to a conservative audience that was completely oblivious by all accounts, yet was laden heavily with queer innuendo. It was also blissfully short, and existed in a social media world which consisted of Yahoo groups and not much else.

In modern context, Supernatural gets a fox in the henhouse treatment from that same audience, and acts accordingly (when it’s not using that same subtext to deliver earnest Fuck You’s to that audience). While I expect Supernatural to bravely - even considering this scrutiny - deliver a dogsled subtextual ending on a good day, there are bad days, too, because the queer subtext has been underlined so loudly that everyone can see it, because it’s “practically text”, because the bottom line is increasingly more concerned with satisfying those bigots (even while they mock them), and because queer fans are “too loud” about what they want. How dare they. /s The pushback caused by being loud about things you care about, the bigots actually seeing subtext in front of their noses, isn’t bad because now they know what we’ve been doing all along, and we won’t be able to get away with it any more; it means they’re becoming more aware of narratives other than their own. Yes, some people will push back, but “when you’re accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression”, and they can shove it right up their asses.

All I ever ask of myself when I interrogate my present day viewing experience, is this: when I sat as a youngster watching due South thinking “This subtextual ending is enough for me”, did I truly believe it was okay to be watching a show about two white guys with a subtextual ending 20 years later? Was that the future I dreamed of and aspired to? Would I be disappointed? The answer is yes, I am disappointed. No matter the whys, the fundamental and societal reasons–I am disappointed. I still love the show probably more than I should, but I am disappointed in the society it sits in - which is increasingly capitulating to far more powerful global financial powers than a couple of red state homophobes - and I’m disappointed in the way we’re treating each other for even caring, and I’m disappointed in myself, too, for being naive and imagining we would be much further down this road now than we are. But we are a capitalistic society, and being both the commodity and the customer should be a surprise to literally nobody at this point. It doesn’t mean you have to like it.

And if you don’t feel that way, that’s okay. We all come from different places. We have different perspectives. We need and want different things, for different reasons, and find joy in different things for different reasons. Variety of opinion is as much a wonderful thing as it is completely terrifying.

I’ve wandered somewhat off topic, so I’m going to go back to the show I love, my chocolate pudding and custard comfort food TV show, and the long stares and the beautiful uncomplicated subtext.

And sign off with half a dozen gifs.

Eye fucking:

Conversations in closets and bathrooms:

Going down with the ship

Intuitively understanding each other without a word spoken

His hobbies humiliate me in public

“Do you find me attractive?”

Sulking in the corridor while you reunite with your ex

This whole ep with original Ray:

And his wolf approving of both

Not pictured “I love you” “And I you”, “Get out of the closet”, actual hand holding when it’s unnecessary, formally handcuffing your buddy, getting stuck in an ice crevasse and a mini submarine together–and so so much more. I invite you to watch the show if you can find it (I have it on a really nice set of DVDs, but there’s some dodgy ones out there that look like they recorded the DVD straight off a VHS, so do check reviews) or else try and find it online. There was a Canada promoting YouTube channel which published both due South and shows like Slings and Arrows, which I recommend as well (It’s not actually bury your gays if the ghost of your gay best friend haunts you, right?) so you should be able to poke around and find a legit copy somewhere. I’ve bigged it up and talked it down, and wandered a long way off topic (that describes my relationship with every show, but especially when I recommend them) but I hope somewhere along the line I also answered the question. The way I hear it Leverage is a similar sort of comfort food, though I haven’t seen it. Sounds like I should put it on my To Watch list.

#due south #dogsled replies #queerbaiting #subtext #destiel #about me

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lynelovespopculture · 5 years ago

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A CAOS CHARACTER PROFILE: AMBROSE SPELLMAN

The only male Spellman family member is quickly becoming a fan favorite and given Ambrose’s quick wit, charm and love for his family, it’s not hard to see why. Yet in a show where there are so many rich characters and so much going on in 2 short seasons, is it fair to said that Ambrose is the most underdeveloped Spellman of all?

BEGINNING

One cannot think of Ambrose’s early days, his birth, his childhood, without pondering about the question that people had been asking since day one; who are Ambrose’s parents? Now, normally in a show of this big a cast, it wouldn’t be such a big deal except that Ambrose is a Spellman and the Spellmans are the main family of the series. (SIDE NOTE: I know the CAOS tv show is based loosely on the comic book of the same name but I’m not much of a comic person so I haven’t read it but it keeps coming up in my research but I don’t think Ambrose’s parents are in the comics but since I didn’t read it, I could be wrong.) So, yeah, Ambrose being a Spellman is a big pothole made even bigger when you consider that the other 3 Spellmans are quickly explained how they are related to each other. For example, even though Hilda is played by British actress Lucy Davis with a thick accent and Miranda Otto, an Australian actress which what I think is to my Canadian ear is an American accent, portrays Zelda, we are told very clearly that Zelda and Hilda are two grown unmarried sisters who share the maiden name of Spellman. They have a late brother, Edward, who was the father of Sabrina. Ambrose is not so interconnected within the family. Almost, if not every, viewer of the show have noticed this and with 20 episodes made and not 1 word of explanation, viewers have drawn their own conclusions. There are 2 theories about Ambrose’s parents, one of each is that in addition to Zelda, Hilda, and Edward, there was an 4th sibling. While this would make Sabrina’s his 1st cousin and Hilda and Zelda, Ambrose’s aunts, this theory has its own line of questioning. Why is this 4th sibling never mentioned? I feel like a strong family unit like the Spellmans would talk about all its members. Would it be another brother or another sister? Personally, I think it would be a brother because in this world orphans and illegitimate children are given the surname of Night like Prudence had before her father gave her his name. Also, if Ambrose’s mother was a born Spellman but married, Ambrose would have his father’s last name. The 2nd theory is Ambrose is a distant cousin to the Greendale Spellmans. It’s in the Christmas special that Zelda tells the others that she plans to tell people that Leticia is a Spellman from another country, perhaps like Ambrose? We might not know who Ambrose’s parents are, but we do know what happened to them. Both were killed by witch hunters when their son was very young. There are clues in this show that Ambrose is originally from England. Chase Perdomo, his actor, is British, there’s a union jack on the wall of his attic bedroom and he refers to places in London. After his parents’ death, little Ambrose was claimed by his relative, Hilda Spellman. I believe that Hilda, at least for the first few years, was the little boy’s sole guardian. When Ambrose is in the witches’ cell, Hilda demands to see him, claiming to be ‘the only mother he has ever known’, a claim she cannot make with Sabrina. This would also explain Ambrose and Hilda's very close and special bond. I’m not saying that Zelda and Ambrose hate each other, far from it but he always seemed closer to Hilda. Either Hilda made a special trip to England and decided to stay, or Hilda was already living in England, training to be a midwife when Ambrose came to live with her. A few years later, Zelda came into the household and Ambrose got used to life with 2 aunties. Like all Spellmans before him, at 16 Ambrose signed the book of the beast and was enrolled in Greendale’s Academy of Unseen Arts. His aunts also decide to return to their home in Greendale. After completing school at the Academy, Ambrose was free to roam the world. Ambrose published a collection of poetry at 17, went to several different universities, painted with the Surrealists and even taught stage magic to the world-famous Harry Houdini. During his wild adventures, Ambrose might have discovered he was sexually attracted to both men and women. As much as he enjoyed his life and as dearly as he loved his aunts, Ambrose had always longed for a father figure. This might have been why Ambrose became a follower of real-life occultist Aleister Crowley. It is while following this cult that Ambrose got involved in a plot to blow up the Vatican. He was not the only one involved but somehow Ambrose was the other one who got caught. The witches council offered him a plea deal, Ambrose could go free if only he would name his partners in crime. Ambrose refuses, speaking to Ambrose’s loyal and kind heart. I doubt that blowing up the center of the Catholic faith would be a great concern for the council. I think the real crime is the exposure to the coven.

HOUSEBOUND

After Ambrose refuses to name names, the warlocks of the witches council used binding spells to make sure that Ambrose is unable to leave the grounds of the Spellman house. I suppose that house arrest is not the worst punishment in the world but for a social butterfly like Ambrose, it’s bad. Still, Ambrose doesn’t bow to the pressure. Instead, he makes the most of it. Ambrose collects rare books from all over the world as information to the outside world, keeps himself busy working in the family funeral home. Still, being unable to leave the home, I’m pretty sure that Ambrose must have missed out on a lot. The wedding of his Uncle Edward and the mortal Diana. (Which, I’ve noticed Ambrose never mentions them, it probably means nothing but I like to give you guys all my thoughts) Anyway, some time later, Edward and Diana both died in a plane crash and an infant Sabrina comes to live with her aunts and Ambrose. When the show opens, Ambrose’s house arrest has been in effect for 75 years. Ambrose, not surprisingly, has a hell of a case of cabin fever. Ambrose loves his family but the aunts and Sabrina who is now nearly 16, can come and go as they please. Sadly, poor Ambrose cannot. He’s lonely, the only people he can talk to is his family, the people who come over for a funeral and service people, like delivery and mail people. For most of the first season, Ambrose can mostly be seen dressed in PJs and housecoats. When people dress like that for a long time, it’s a classic sign of depression. However, Ambrose masks his depression well by his humor and his desire to help his beloved cousin with her doubts about her upcoming dark baptism. Meanwhile, on the job front, Ambrose is tending to the body of a young man named Connor. His parents are mortal, so Ambrose is confused to discover a witch’s mark on Connor’s body. It is confirmed by both aunts and Father Blackwood. Connor must be a warlock adopted by mortal parents. While Ambrose is pondering this, Sabrina is running for the house. Having fled her baptism, the entire coven is after her. Ambrose loves his cousin like a little sister, so he gets rid of the coven with a rather impressive bluff about protection spell, then he leaves to do the spell. A few days later, Ambrose finds a lizard on top of Connor’s coffin. He knows that this is Connor’s familiar. Zelda says it’s better just to kill it, but Ambrose rather tries to coax it with food and keeps it in his room. At Connor’s funeral, Ambrose meets Connor’s old boyfriend, a guy named Luke and there’s a spark between the two. Later, they hook up and the next morning, Ambrose discovered 2 things, Luke left his number and sometimes during the night, the lizard dropped dead. Apparently, this means…nothing! I’m serious, the whole Connor storyline is dropped never to be spoken of again! Anyway, Ambrose wants to go on a real date with Luke but he’s still housebound so he talks Hilda into watching over him as he astral projects to Dr. C’s. However, he breaks his promise, he knows he should go but he stays. He is brought back by an angry Zelda who reminds her dear felon that his sentence includes his spirit. Next, the Spellmans are haunted by a dream demon, exposing their worst fears. Not surprisingly, Ambrose’s is that he’ll never, ever leave the house. His dream begins well, Ambrose is given a full pardon, tons of cash and a car to take him to the airport. Yet, just as Ambrose goes to leave, the demon murders him and he is forced to work on his own body. This plays on a loop until the demon is defeated. Even with the day saved, our boy is still depressed. The dream has rammed into him that he is still basically in a prison and worse still, Luke has stopped calling him. As fate would have it, Hilda runs into Luke in the bookstore and decides to help the young lovers by spiking Luke’s drink?! (Seriously? Hilda, WTF??) It works, (I guess) because we soon learn that Luke has an in with Father Blackwood and will speak to him about Ambrose. Indeed, Faustus comes to the house and offers him the original deal; his freedom for the other names. Blackwood says to think about it and Blackwood will return tomorrow for Ambrose’s answer. Before he can consider the high priest’s offer, Ambrose catches Sabrina using the Cain pit, leading to Sabrina getting yet another lecture about how she cannot misuse magic. The next day, Ambrose tells Father Blackwood he’s sorry, but he can’t give up the names of the other warlocks, even now. To his complete surprise, Blackwood says he respects Ambrose’s loyalty and offers to lift his sentence if he would go to work at the academy. Ambrose accepted the deal and because it was Faustus was the one to set him free him, Ambrose sees Father Blackwood as his new father figure.

BACK IN ACTION

Ambrose was, of course, is super excited about his new freedom and job. He walks around the house in his new clothes. On his 1st day, Blackwood gives Ambrose a basic warlock right, a new mouse familiar. Ambrose discovered that the Greendale 13 and the red rider of death are coming to destroy the town. He and Luke rushed to warn the coven. The coven decided to stay at the academy. The Spellmans decided to stay in town and help the mortals. As they gathered in Baxter High, Ambrose didn’t stay long, Luke teleports him to safety because he loves him. Season 2 starts at the beginning of a new school term. Luke doesn’t support Sabrina’s bid for top boy and Ambrose avoids the subject even after he and Sabrina have a big fight. Ambrose is questioning Luke where he was, Luke says he was on an errand for Father Blackwood and this is the last we ever see Luke. At the start of the very next episode, Ambrose can be seen making out with Prudence. This is so odd that even Sabrina questions it. Her cousin only says that Luke is away on business and not to worry. But by the very next show, Ambrose himself is so worried about Luke, he’s asking the fortune teller about him. Instead, Ambrose is told how Father Blackwood will order him to kill Sabrina and their aunts and he does it. Upset, he steals a card and runs off to ask Faustus if he’ll hurt the Spellmans. Blackwood seems confused. So far, he’s been good to the Spellmans, he freed Ambrose and he’s engaged to marry Zelda. He does have some sad news; Luke has died on a mission for the church. Ambrose looks down at the card he stole, it marked for death. As the wedding approaches, Ambrose is depressed for Luke and can’t find his mouse. Sabrina has found her father’s manifesto and because Ambrose is on guard duty the night before the wedding, she can present it to the anti-pope. This turns out to be a massive mistake on the cousins’ part because this enrages Blackwood so much and he fears that the anti-pope will prefer Edward’s work to his that he decides to kill him using Ambrose and the other guards. Ambrose is found over the bloody corpse, knife in hand. Blackwood kills the other guards but Ambrose teleports away just in time. Only in the safety of Sabrina’s room, Ambrose begins to panic but Sabrina assures him that he would never do such a thing. Nick hides him at Grey’s, where Ambrose’s vomits up his mouse and puts together how Blackwood used him. It only takes a suggestion from Grey to wrongly convince Ambrose that Blackwood killed Luke. Ambrose decided to kill Blackwood for Luke, not for the anti-pope. Next, Ambrose makes his dumbest move in the series (well, so far.) Instead, of waiting until Blackwood is alone to kill him, Ambrose chose to attack Blackwood at his own wedding, yelling DIE, BLACKWOOD, DIE! Ambrose is caught and thrown into the witch’s cell. Prudence, drunk on the power that her new last name has given her, tries to get a confession by tricking both Ambrose and Hilda. It doesn’t work and Ambrose even gets a chicken bone key. He frees himself and opens the front door to come face to face with witch hunters! (The same witch hunters that killed Luke, but they never get to know this.) Blackwood returns and it seems Ambrose’s fate is sealed but the other Spellmans are ready. It’s the hangman who loses his head and the dark lord himself excuses Ambrose. Now free, he helps Sabrina with her mandrake problems and learns of the dark lord’s plan to make Sabrina his queen. Ambrose is last seen bonding with a redeemed Prudence and together they leave to track down a fleeing Blackwood.

LIKE THIS? DID I MISS OR FORGET ANYTHING? WHAT CHARACTER SHALL I DO NEXT? LIKE, REBLOG AND COMMENT!!!!!!!!

#chilling adventures of sabrina #caos #fan theory #fanfic #character profile #ambrose spellman #chance perdomo #hilda spellman #lucy davis #zelda spellman #miranda otto #sabrina spellman #luke #prudence blackwood #faustus blackwood

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