#also the whole 'eating' thing is a ruse...kinda.

[hey-august]

Buggys dickhead being just as red as his nose is something I unironically approve of because:

A: It’s always fun to give him something that makes him feel like a freak (derogatory), but his partner loves about him because he’s such a cute little freak (affectionate, worshipping, head over heels „I don’t have to fear to be different around you because you are different too and I love you“ in love with him). Meaning both comedy and fluff options are real high with this

B: The fucking potential you could have with the sexual teasing are you kidding me? It’s silly as fuck but also kinda…He at first doesn’t know how to feel about it because he always feels like his partner is gonna jump up and go“ YOU FOOL! TWAS AN ELABORATE RUSE ALL ALONG!“ when they do it but…. Goddamn if the way they suddenly make eating red cough drops of all things doesn’t make him harder than he thinks it could. Just putting the candy between their middle and index finger and giving it a long, overly salacious lick while making eye contact before just popping it into their mouth. They put a bag of cherry lollipops on the grocery list for the next town they dock at and he already has a Pavlovian response just reading that. „I got you those candy apples you wanted.“ „Thank you Cabaji! I was having some real… cravings …you know?“ „We know.“ „Seriously I love that hot red , sweet, sensual glaze soooo much. It’s the best. I would put it in my mouth in its entirety but it’s just soooo big-„ „HiCabajiByeCabajiIneedASecondAloneWithThemBye!“ Everyone’s so done with those two. Give that unicyclist a raise honestly.

Oh. My. GoodNESS. YUP. I am here for this. I absolutely get wanting to bestow this extra oddness onto Buggy…he’s just so fun to mess with and to love on. And I adore the whole “we’re two weirdos in love” thing. It’s both fucked up and pure. 🖤

Plus the way this would just add to the relationship?? UGH. Buggy would have tried his damnedest to keep you from seeing that extra bit of shame. No lights on during sex. In fact, let’s fuck under the blankets.

Oh, a blow job? He’s not one to turn that down, but how can he get it in your mouth without you seeing it? A blindfold? It would only work if you agreed and this is not the moment to bring that up. Things are moving too fast and you’re practically salivating. You actually are. You’re drooling and fuck- “My dick is red.”

He didn’t even get to say it before you exposed the extra hue. And the poor clown, not only is his nose and the tip of his dick a bright red, but so are his cheeks and that blush is spreading fast. But faster than that, is your mouth on him. Did he know red is your favorite color?

And sure, it definitely takes a lot of time for Buggy to accept that you do like it. Love it. Adore it. That you aren’t planning to fuck with him, but you want to worship him. To worship his entire body.

And to tease him. Definitely tease him. The poor crew, but it’s just so fun to mess with Buggy. He gets flustered far too easily.

We all know about strawberries and whipped cream, but what about strawberries and sweetened condensed milk? The creamy liquid dripping on a bright red strawberry. The way you lick the sticky substance soooo slowly while staring at Buggy. The little string that trails from the fruit to your mouth. The explosion in his pants looks exactly like that damn strawberry.

Maybe when you’re done with that little snack, you’ll be in the mood for something with a bit more body.

[self-loathing-angel-of-thursday2]

Beautiful Spouse’s Rewatch Thoughts SPN 12x18 The Memory Remains

“This is why I can’t have subtitles. Who is Bongzilla?” “It’s the actual 4th amendment” “Ok. No more subtitles” “Cheers, bud? What are they? Fkn Canadians? I know the answer is yes, but that’s the most Canadian shit I’ve ever heard.” “Except I say cheers, bud a lot, but I’m not Canadian. I talk to a lot of Canadians, though” “Freshly cracked glow stick” “Get fkn wrecked” “Should have stuck around and watched everyone make out all creepy like” “well now you’re fucked” “We know how these episodes go” “Make your voice a mail. M A L E” “I wonder what that mailbag is full of’ “He’s got to clean his table gun” “What about the shower gun? Does he have a gun in the shower?” “It’s a webmail” “Why are you hitting the gun with a screw driver? It doesn’t make sense” “like I know he’s reassembling it, but he just whacks it with a screw driver” “oh get baited” “often lot of hair gel for being on the road” “to be fair with the kid, I’d probably be way more open with the cops if they gave me back my joint too” “a bipedal billy goat or something?” laughter

“Oh yeah let’s get locked into the freezer. Never back yourself into a freezer, especially the locking kind” “Sam’s going to start doing that on purpose to get Dean to eat right” “the hell is this accent? It’s not Wisconsin” “They’re trying to get us to believe that it’s the sheriff, but it’s probably the waitress” “yeah you’re fucked now’ “you’re fucked now” “Also the fans aren’t running” “that was funny. Way too much ketchup though” “a chicken sandwich? Really?” “oh shitty they’re going to trash the place probably” “Is this the lion the witch and the wardrobe or some shit? Are they going to find a mirror under a sheet and walk through the closet?” “somebody’s gun got locked in another room?” laughter “way to be quiet about it” “Can’t they just shut you in down there?” “got me. Fuckers” “cocky. Jesus. Gonna get in trouble” “Don’t even have the hammer back yet. Come on now’ “fkn shoot him. What are you waiting for?” “it was all a ruse. Noooo” “They just attached the deadbolts to the fkn trim; not like it’s that hard to break down” “isn’t it a magic scope? Or do we never learn about that telescope?” “a penis” “I mean, wouldn’t enough people dying on the job like that be bad for business?” “That would never stay very long. There are so many better places to put that. In the lamp. In the chain above the lamp. In the ceiling” “they moved the god into here?” “that was super effective” “Isn’t the guy going to try to kill him?” “that was less than ideal” “easy button” “no time for jokes man” “yeah ii’d take a nap too” “oh yeah, put some meat on it hahaha” “now nothing good is going to happen to them; isn’t that the point of the whole thing?” “no, because you’re always fkn hiding and shit” “they kinda do own the place, so you’re defacing your own shit at this point” “you can’t make fun of a man’s motorcycle without him getting mad” “dude’s going to haunt you now especially since he’s British”

[spxcemuses]

Hikari was all alone in the world, rejected by society. She was seen and treated like a monster. She received plenty of bruises and scrapes on her body from fights and people throwing rocks at her. But today, something snapped. She was tired of being ridiculed and seen as weak and a freak. She would do anything to be stronger and control her powers after she lost her temper and set fire to an entire town in her true form. Now she has no home and no one to go to.

Suddenly, during a rainy day, she saw a strange house shaped like a hat and snuck inside to warm up. Her energy gets low when uses her powers. “Hewwo? Is anyone hewe?” She looked around and found a fireplace. She sat next to it to warm up. She then gasped when heard footsteps approaching. She hid under a chair and tried to see who was there.

(For black hat. Thanks btw. 😊)

(( don’t mention it! ^^ Also don’t be intimated by the length, I went a bit far on this ngl haha- It was pouring down in the city of Atreno and the nefariously famous “Hat Island”- the island that contained a singular mansion and one that was owned by an eldritch entity - was oddly quiet. No schemes, no villainous plans...yet. Just the sound of rain and the occasional creaking from the building’s architecture. Black Hat had always kept an eye on what his pathetic henchmen were doing from his office, having set up numerous hidden cameras around the house. After ranting to Demencia about foiling Flug’s potions for the third time this week, he saw something flicker in the corner of his eye. Looking over to the living room camera, he saw the fireplace with flickering green flames, some vintage furniture, and a little girl... Wait, a little girl? Black Hat growled in irritation, seeing that another stranger has wandered into his home. He ought to have Flug invent him a special security system that won’t fail. He teleported to the top of the staircase, footsteps echoing downstairs to the living room in question. He had heard the voice pipe out to the unknown, and it was about time he caught the little intruder. A low chuckle rumbled in the air, some black tar-like liquid running on the floor. Soon enough, the liquid had caught her leg, turning into a tendril and dragging the poor girl with it.  “ Well, well, well... What have we here? A little intruder. I eat children like you for breakfast- ” “ Hmph. You’re sopping wet.... Disgusting. ” “ Sit down by the fire, and tell me why you’re here before I eat you in two bites. ”

[theres-an-impulstor-among-us]

Friday Night Stabby best quotes part 7 (30/12/20)

this one is quite long, cuz this is the 5 hour stream PLUS there was just so many incredible quotes from this one so apologies for the length lol

...

*speed has been cranked up in the lobby to the highest setting* Skizz: So… did we enable cocaine, or…?

...

*fifteen seconds before meeting ends* Etho: So I saw Joker vent, by the way. I just wanted him to sweat a little bit. Joker: WHAT?!

...

*Brody has been caught venting by Etho* Mrs Tango: Etho is safe. I saw him dump trash because apparently, visuals are on. Etho: Ohh Mrs Tango saving the day, thank you :D Brody: Yeah, every time you watch Etho play, it’s trash >:( Mrs Tango: You shut your filthy mouth!

...

Brody, at the end of the round: Etho, I was partially joking. You’re not trash. Etho: Oh. Thank you.

...

Tango: Brown body in O2. Evil: Eh, it’s just Bdubs. Tango: Move along. Next round. Nothing to see here. Skizz: Everybody skip right away! Brody: That’s sad. Etho: Poor, poor potato. Brody: Yeah, he’s just a little potato man.

...

*Tango has reported a body*

Mrs Tango: Wait, wait, wait. You saw a body?! Tango: *deep sigh* Endless: Oh daaaaang! Etho: This is very suspicious. That’s a good point, Mrs Tango. Mrs Tango: That’s suspect right there. Tango: How often do I self-report? Mrs Tango: How often do you see a body?

...

Skizz: Sorry, Mrs Tango! Mrs Tango: No you’re not. Don’t lie to me. Impulse: Thanks for playing the third imposter, buddy :) Skizz: Shut up. Tango: TOTAL third imposter there. Skizz: Hey, I SAID it was a guess!

...

*Skizz’s body is reported* Tango: I think it’s Skizz. I think it’s Skizz. Brody: You think it’s Skizz? Tango: Yes. Let’s all vote Skizz. Etho: Interesting detective work…

...

Etho: Joker, what’ve you been up to? You’ve been kinda quiet. Joker: Oh, my wife just gave me food. I have jambalaya. *everyone skips except Evil, who votes for Joker* Brody: EvilNotion thinks you should be voted off for jambalaya, evidently. Endless: Wait, who voted for who? Evil: I voted for Joker just cuz he’s got jambalaya and I’m jealous.

...

Bdubs: To be fair, he’s eating jambalaya, which is a hot food, and he’s trying to play imposter at the same time. Brody: Wait, IS he eating jambalaya or was that a ruse? Joker: No, I’ve got- Bdubs: Was the jambalaya a ruse?!

...

Bdubs: I heard Etho say, like, five words and he was smiling when he said them. Sounds guilty to me. Etho, audibly smiling: Oh you got me with the- Bdubs: See! He’s guilty! He’s smiling again!

...

*a body is reported* Etho: Brody killed him, Brody killed him! No, I mean, he’s safe. Brody’s safe. Brody: You’re killing me right now, Etho.

...

Tango: That was the most unsatisfying win ever, by the way. Brody: It just made me sad.

...

Endless: For the record, only one person can medbay scan at a time, so Joker got away with that fake. Joker: I totally did. Etho: I thought he was just doing Joker things. Joker: Yeah, I was just doing Joker things!

...

Skizz: I accidentally collapsed my tasks and I didn’t know that was a thing! I do NOW, but- Bdubs: I’m gonna call my uncle and see if he can fill a spot in this group. Skizz: Hey, I didn’t have to tell you guys ANYTHING! Brody: Being dead, you were still somehow third imposter. I don’t understand how it’s possible. Tango: That’s a talent, right there.

...

Etho: *calls emergency meeting* Joker, immediately: YEAH, I wanna talk to YOU, Etho! Skizz and Bdubs at the same time: UH OH! Tango: These are the best kinds of meetings! Etho: What is it, Joker? Joker: I wanna know why you’re going to that gas can so many times without emptying it! Etho: I’m trying to avoid you, cuz you’re freaking me out, man. Bdubs: I just saw him there at the gas can. Joker: Yeah, I saw you- He- He walked away- Etho: How about instead of watching me, you go do your tasks, Joker? Bdubs: Wow, he’s pulling a dad move. Brody: You ARE freaking out, man. Joker: A dad move again. I’m in trouble. Alright, fine. I was just trying to make friends, man.

...

Etho: I stumbled across a body and as I entered the room, Skizzle ran out instead of doing lights or reporting the body. Skizz: Always throwing me under the bus! Brody: Is that throwing you under the bus or is it- Tango: -is it you crawling out of the bus saying “vote me”? *pause* Skizz, miserably: Just do it.

...

Mrs Tango: I have both tasks in medbay. Brody: Really? Both? Is that even a thing? Mrs Tango: It is. If you’d like, you can come watch me scan my sexy body. Brody: I-I don’t wanna watch that, I’m okay.

...

Tango: It’s clearly Joker again, can we just vote him off? Joker: W-Wait, what? I-I’m just sitting here! I didn’t even do anything! Skizz: Jeez, he’s just messing with ya, homie. Joker: Oh, okay. Good. I wasn’t really listening anyway.

...

Etho: Joker, sorry for voting you out. Joker: Uh huh. Bdubs: Classic Canadian.

...

Etho: *calls emergency meeting* Etho: Oh, they killed Tango! Nooo! Etho: Uh, I saw Brody vent.

...

Impulse: Okay, I’ll buy it for a dollar. *votes for Brody* Endless: Yeah, what’s the worst that can happen? Brody: What’s the worst-? Thanks, Endless. I appreciate that, buddy.

...

Endless: Were you paying attention this time, Joker, or…? Joker: Well, my wife gave me some truffles with, like, strawberries in the centre and chocolate so it’s super tasty. So I was half-paying attention. *long pause* Endless: I’m voting Joker just so he has time to finish his truffles. Joker: No no no no no no, listen, I’d just finished the weapons thing and I WAS with Impulse but I watched him go somewhere else and then I went down to communications to finish my thing. And if I was the killer, I wouldn’t say that cuz that sounds horrible, now that I say it out loud… *Joker is voted out* Joker: Someday, you guys’ll see that it’s really just not me.

...

Endless: For the record, I also want some jambalaya and some chocolate truffles. Brody: Endless, you get NOTHING.

...

Tango: So Etho, did you really just cut task mid-task and run away? Etho: Oh yeah, if I think the killer’s just walked in with me, I’m outta there. There’s no way I’m hanging around. Joker: Then everybody should know that if Etho is hanging around with me, we’re both the killers. Endless: Noted.

...

Impulse: I literally saw Brody vent. Brody: You did. You did see me vent. I killed Etho. I’m gonna say it out loud. I killed him because every time I’m near him, he sees me in a vent. Every time. He deserved to die every single time. I’m calling it right now. You should vote for me. Etho- Bdubs: This is dark…

...

Evil: I found Bdubs’s dead body at lights. Mrs Tango: I think it’s Joker. Joker: Of COURSE you do.

...

*Mrs Tango is ejected* Mrs Tango: Y’all are WRONG and I’m not doing my tasks. Etho, dead: Hell hath no fury like a Mrs Tango scorned.

...

Endless: Best of luck to you later tonight, Tango. Tango: I am locking my doors, just so you guys know.

...

Tango: That was an unproductive round for me. I was in admin, now I’m in reactor and my task got interrupted. Brody: I don’t think it’s unproductive; Skizz is dead.

...

Bdubs: I saw Brody go right early on with the whole reactor meltdown, he went the opposite direction. Then the second emergency meeting, he deflected and didn’t really truly answer, and then he voted against Mrs Tango with me and Etho without really saying much. And I- I’m kinda- I’m really feeling… *sounding like he’s crying* I think he did it! I think he’s a killer! Brody: You’re using the fake tears right now? That’s where you wanna be? Bdubs: Yes that’s where I wanna be.

...

Tango: No, okay, wait a sec! Listen. Just imagine for a second that I’m innocent right now. *long pause* Impulse: You… You just wanted us to imagine? Etho: Okay, so you’re innocent and…? Tango: No, I’m guilty.

...

*after the Tangos lose an imposter round together* Mrs Tango: I have the best husband ever. Tango: So close! Mrs Tango: Just so you know, I have the best husband ever. Tango: We were on a murdering rampage! Mrs Tango: My husband is better than all of your husbands,. Joker: I don’t… have a husband? Endless: Yeah me neither. Tango: Her husband is better than your husband, Endless. Mrs Tango: My husband is better than all of your husbands. Endless: Your husband called you a liar earlier.

...

Endless: *calls emergency meeting* Endless: I don’t have any information, I just saw Tango was dead on vitals. Etho: But now we don’t know where he died. Endless: It literally just happened, so has anybody seen him recently? *long pause* Skizz: ...so essentially this meeting is “the vitals machine works”?

...

Joker: Am I really always suspect? Impulse: Yes. Tango: Yes. Brody: Yes. Joker: All the time? Endless: Yes. Brody: Yes. Evil: Yes. Brody: If you’re voted off, it’s either good or good. It’s just like- It’s fine.

...

*everyone skips except Endless who votes for Skizz* Endless: Payback >:) Skizz: ENDLESS-!

...

Impulse: Joker, don’t kill me right away. Joker: *kills Impulse* (wouldn’t be one of these streams without Impulse inadvertently predicting his own death a second before it happens)

...

*Brody calls an emergency meeting after Joker has been chasing Tango around the map* Tango: OH THANK GOD, OH GOD! PLEASE VOTE JOKER OFF! Joker: Look! MAN! I’m-! Tango: He’s been chasing me for twenty minutes! Bdubs: Hold on, hold on. Brody- Brody, what? Brody: Uh, I just called this cuz I wanted to see where everybody’s at with tasks cuz I’m done, and, uh… Tango: Guys, I nailed Joker already, now just vote him off! Joker: Look, dude, I’m just trying- Tango: He just chased me for twenty minutes! Endless, Endless-! Bdubs: Is this Tango’s guilty voice? Skizz: I wanna hear Tango only. Tango: Everyone, SHUT UP. Endless. Endless. Endless? Endless. Are you there? Endless: Yeah, I- Tango: Did you not see me sticking to you like glue for that entire round cuz Joker was chasing me for the last thirty seconds? Endless: I saw Joker come into communications, go to leave, then come back in and hang around you, so… Skizz: Tango, are we voting for Joker? Tango: Yes! If it’s not Joker, he’s a jerk and needs to be voted off anyways. Joker: I’m always a jerk!

...

Joker: Sorry, Bdubs, I blew that last round. Bdubs: Oh don’t worry, I blew it too. Brody: Yeah, you both equally blew it. Joker: I wasn’t talking to you, Brody.

...

Brody: Endless? Etho? Etho: I was on my way over to lights. Endless: I’m just waiting to die.

...

Impulse: I said my BONES are good, not my eyeballs.

...

Skizz: You are a NINJA, Endless. I totally forgot you were playing for a second there.

...

Skizz: Impulse, your body had fully decomposed and had been consumed and turned into fossil fuel. Impulse: I love how your ghost was hovering over my body for half the match, just waiting for somebody to find me. That was cute. Tango: Just like “aww my buddy is dead :’(“ yeah. Skizz: It was killing me! D:

...

Tango: Skizz, how did you get into the lab? Skizz: ...I don’t understand the question. How’d I get into lab? Through the door…? What is happening? Joker: I see where you’re going with this, Tango, and I support this. Skizz: I don’t-! *votes are revealed, everyone has voted for Skizz* *pause* Skizz: ONE time. I wanna be imposter ONE time where my partner is not voted off in the first six seconds!

...

Impulse: I’m about to be killed, anywa- Etho: *kills Impulse*

...

Bdubs: Mrs Tango! What are you doin’? You just walked out of communications and Impulse is dead in there! *pause* Mrs Tango, audibly grinning: I don’t think so! He was alive when I was in there. Bdubs: Busted! Tango: Hang on, guys! I will decipher this with my extensive wife knowledge! I think she’s guilty! Mrs Tango: He was alive while I was in there! Bdubs: He was? He just dropped dead of starvation, maybe? Mrs Tango: Maybe an icicle got him, I don’t know. Tango: Right, right! Stalactite fell from the heavens and impaled him. Bdubs: A flesh-eating disease, maybe. Tango: Maybe Endless starved to death. Did you think of that? Joker: A wire was loose and he got electrocuted.

...

Joker: Brody, you just love killing me. Brody: I mean, I do, but that’s not why I’m voting for you.

...

Joker: Tango, I’m getting people coming into my chat and telling me you’re saying I’m useless now. Tango: *cackles* Tango: I dunno what you’re talking about.

[ethernetchord]

i was posed some interesting prompts/questions by @waywardrebelhairdodeputy-blog about iwwv so here are my responses!

1. Why do you think James punched Oliver? (During the sword play practice and also in the beginning of the book Gwendolyn asked James to think of something that would make him wanna punch Oliver and after a minute his eyes became hard, what do you think he thought of then at the moment?

oh, this is a cool question. there are a couple of angles I'd like to take with this so please, bear with me. Firstly I thought about this from the Rio/Oliver narration perspective. So let me pull out some Oliver quotes (concerning James)

"James and I put each other through the kind of reckless passions Gwendolyn once talked about, joy and anger and desire and despair."

"but in the red glare of the fire, he no longer looked so angelic. Instead, he was handsome the way you think of the devil as handsome—forbiddingly so."

"You’re—I don’t know, this fragile, elusive thing, and I feel like if I could just catch you, I could crush you... I should hate you right now. And I want to—God, I want to —but that’s not enough"

“Oliver, I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I want to hurt the whole world.” (James to Oliver)

Now, with all of this in mind, you'll come to realize that one of the most enticing and riveting things about these two is that their love and passion for each other is far from gentle or soft- contrasting greatly how many queer male relationships are represented. It's harsh, bright, sharp- it's ruthless but not uncaring. Oliver, highly repressed in himself becomes inwardly aggressive and violent- "I could crush you." "I should hate you... I want to" "Forbiddingly" - His affections towards James aren't entirely consensual on his own behalf, this makes him assaultive and frustrated. But only internally- he never acts on these feelings, he can't hurt James. James is the opposite of this- and you'd think with his gentle angelic, princely demeanor that he'd be equally repressive of his feelings and impulses but if the book has proven anything- it's that James is perfectly capable of causing physical harm. Rio presents them equally in their aggression but their approaches are foils of each other.

The next thing I'd propose- ultimately- is Meredith, and additionally, internalized homophobia. Now let's clarify: I don't think James had any doubts about his queer identity I just don't think he was entirely accepting of even himself. Because if we look at the one, explicit, instance in which James is murderously aggressive- Richard's murder- what two things does that event and his aggressions towards Oliver have in common? Meredith and homosexuality. Let me explain. Richard and Meredith, Meredick if you will, "She and Richard had been “together” in every typical sense of the word", it's nearly impossible to think of Richard without Meredith- and this might have been less significant if Meredith and Oliver didn't have the relationship they had and if Meredith had never propositioned James also. Her ties with all three of them is important. Now; homosexuality. Richard was acting explicitly homophobic- now whether this is true or not because I know that's been an argument itself- it has to stem from some reality for James. And with Oliver- well it's obvious there. So my point: James might have thought of Meredith and Oliver, of them together, of if she had propositioned Oliver in the same way. He might have thought of Oliver, of wanting to love him but not allowing himself, of Oliver slipping through his fingers, of Oliver hitting him for these very desires.

2. Also also also the part where James was drunk and blabbering like a fool out of guilt, he asked Wren to sleep with her so was he bisexual too? Or that was just a ruse to get away from Oliver at that moment, but there are parts where he was affectionate towards Wren (could be friendship, but he was twirling strands of hair at the nape of her neck and she was smiling so....)

I think different queer people might interpret this differently but this is my reading of it. I do think they were friendly- I think they were very close really. The situation with the photos in which James is playing with her hair while posing + plus the kiss (part of their performance) and finally him asking her to sleep with him- I don't think that it's impossible for him to be bisexual.

I've seen a lot of people say that he must be gay since he rejected Meredith but that's a very surface-level conclusion in my opinion. I think that his inability to be attracted to Mer had more to do with his genuine disliking towards her and that he just really didn't want to be another one of the boys she could play. I don't think it has to be concrete evidence of his complete homosexuality. I don't by any means think he was in love with Wren, however. The nature of James and Wren's relationship is nothing like Oliver and Meredith's. This is important. I think they were close, James loved her platonically enough and like you said, probably used her as a diversion for himself.

But- kinda in a different direction here, that it's not impossible that James and Wren was some form of straight-baiting for readers (and Oliver.) I don't know about other readers but I know that for most of the book I was convinced that the feelings between James and Oliver were unrequited on Oliver's behalf. I never suspected that James might harbor feelings back which leads me to this: Oliver might have over assumed the nature of their relationship due to his feelings of unrequitedness and incompatibility. As we're having to listen to Oliver's particular retelling of all this- it's easy to get lost in the lens he creates for us. After all, there are multiple versions of the truth.

But like I said- It's likely Wren was a similar distraction for James as Mer was for Oliver and It's also likely they genuinely had some form of relationship. Nothing's impossible.

The only just criticism for Iwwv I accept is that we never received a why for the way Richard was behaving (you could say he was always a dick and losing his main part made him more so) but all those violent tendencies toward everyone? Not justified, I would have liked more depth in his character and then there's the eating disorder of Caroline (Older sister) and how fickle and reckless Oliver was about it, he just didn't care (kinda sad to think about)

I TOTALLY agree with this. Some people might disagree with me when I say iwwv was actually a pretty short book- but between the amount that was Shakespeare extracts and due to the formatting, 400 pages really isn't a lot. I think Richard could have had more development- Hell most of the characters could have had more development but him specifically. His spiral into violence did feel really sudden and a little confusing. I mean as readers we were beginning to look for an antagonist, for someone to dislike because all the characters had pretty enjoyable personalities so when Richard begins to seem antagonistic we kind of follow it comfortably because it seems natural. However, thinking about it afterward you realize how little we truly know about Richard and his borderline insanity ykno? Even re-reading- Richard begins to become an uncomfortable character to readers very very early on. I was trying to find some foreshadowing or possible explanations and all I might be able to grasp at is the line:

"I didn't mean there are exactly fourteen," Richard said thinly. "I mean it would be impossible to isolate one that leads him to skewering himself." (page 57, when discussing Brutus.)

I know Richard doesn't play Brutus but I think this is still notable- It's kind of impossible to find the one thing that drew Richard into this downfall and it would have been a combination of many things, like with any human character. But I do agree Rio could have given us some more space to learn about all those factors for him. Reading from the perspective of Oliver makes this hard because well- He is an unreliable narrator and it's impossible to know how everything played out and why because of this. Especially since Oliver and Richard were never the most friendly. Additionally, I think the closest thing Rio really gives us is Oliver's delivery of the iconic "Actors are by nature volatile" line.

The same goes for the situation with Oliver's sister. I think we didn't hear much about her because Oliver didn't care enough. He was far too overwhelmed with anger and disappointment from being put second to his sister to really muster up the energy to care enough to expose more to readers. Unfortunately, she was simply a side character even in his life, too unnotable to him or his plot (as he's retelling the story). Much of the flaws of this book with the lack of development of other characters- particularly their motives and side plots boil down, essentially to the unreliable narration. This is why so many people do not like this book- and others like it. We are, to some degree, always kept in the dark about something. Because so is Oliver- as much as he (and in turn, we) could spectate about why things happened the way they did, he (we) could never really know. There is beauty and frustration in this simultaneously.

I could say so much more about all my thoughts on Richard but I'll save you that (for now) because I don't think I could explain him but I definitely have my theories.

[cattles-bians]

damie vibecca exes au part 21

post directory

em: viola and becs love their lil hikes

em: oh actually did we already designate hiking as a damie thing

em: hmm.

em: yknow what damie and vibecca can both enjoy their weekend hikes

em: they bring isabel and she’s RUNNING up the path and tires herself out in 10 minutes and rebecca and viola swap out piggybacking her

obsetress: yeah it tracks because they both like fitness and viola likes her walks

obsetress: plus viola's like "it's good for isabel"

em: vibecca power lesbians love the challenging trails and damie just enjoy the sights

obsetress: dani venting to jamie one night: they don't even LIKE hiking, but they still had to do the blackjack loop, and WE won't even do the blackjack loop,

em: dani and her fanny packs... every time she sees isabel on a trail she like

em: stuffs her pockets w granola akdhdkfhdj

em: drives viola NUTS she’s like we packed our Own snacks

obsetress: dani gets SO excited

---

obsetress: man i love these lil gay bitches

obsetress: no but um

obsetress: jamie gets in some fight w rebecca early on after they've reconnected

obsetress: prob about her dating vi tbh

obsetress: and jamie's so put off by the whole thing and is ranting to dani about it and dani's all like "you just need to have better boundaries, jamie, they're her choices, aren't they? not yours"

obsetress: and jamie just stares at her like.........................................

obsetress: "dani, you literally continued hooking up with viola for weeks after you broke up"

"oh, c'mon jamie, it wasn't weeks"

"no?"

"it was months"

em: dani shooting herself in the foot to like. correct jamie is so funny

em: not even ‘no that’s different’ or ‘no i’ve changed’ like ‘actually it was months’

obsetress: she says it w such a lil pleased smile on her face too

---

obsetress:

obsetress: like who the FUCk gave her the right???

obsetress: a whole babe

obsetress: she didn't need to smirk like this

em: god she’s so Hot

obsetress: just think about all the times she and viola get into the banter

obsetress: and this exact face

em: i know we veered dramatically into soft territory w exes au but vi extremely stubborn lloyd and rebecca lawyer do no harm take no shit jessel truly. have some spectacular arguments

obsetress: they have absolute blowouts

obsetress: and then blowouts after the blowouts iywkim

obsetress: like dani's do no harm take no shit but she and vi also enable the SHIT out of each other

em: like dani tried but dani wasnt like. fully baked yet

obsetress: yeah! and then when she finally does and breaks up with her, she's back in her bed a few weeks later

obsetress: rebecca is the first person to not take viola's shit and to tell her no and viola can't fucking stand it

em: jamies convinced it’s a ruse for more make up sex

obsetress: dani's like "no, babe, trust me, i know what that looks like and this––"

"wot"

"what?"

em: dani (hushed) no she’s regular mad this isn’t fun mad

em: jamie (hushed but incredulous) FUN MAD?!

obsetress: please tell me how dani explains fun mad

em: a lil eyebrow waggle and a wink but then i like

em: thought abt her going to lift jamie up on a bench ‘well she kinda’

---

obsetress: the way rebecca looks at peter when he is (seemingly) (unfortunately) good w the kids has me thinking about like

obsetress: rebecca seeing vi w isabel for the first time and just

em: turns out the evil landlord shes banging is also…… soft

obsetress: rebecca and jamie on the phone and rebecca's like "i know she's... a landlord and all, but you should've seen her with isabel"

"you've gotta be fucking kidding me, becs––"

"no, maybe you're too quick to write her off. maybe people can be more than one thing"

and jamie just groans

em: poor jamie and her class traitor ex gf

em: blows kiss to rebecca

---

em: dani: i gotta go to the bathroom i’ll be right back

em: jamie: ok love

em: dani; (elbows jamie) ive Gotta Go To The B

obsetress: screamed

obsetress: dani trips over her own feet as she gets up to go

obsetress: then i just start thinking about dani absolutely pouncing on jamie the second they get into the bathroom and then i just start thinking about. how often that happens

obsetress: bathrooms or closets or wherever else

em: dani has this 6th sense for places to sneak off to

obsetress: god she DOES

obsetress: she's so good at it

em: she enters a new building and is taking lil notes just in case

obsetress: meanwhile rebecca and viola exchanging a look while they wait, knowing EXACTLY where they're going

em: viola leaning in like how much time do we have and becs is like vi. where’s your decorum

em: then she looks down at her watch and lists it down to the second

obsetress: she pauses

obsetress: then

obsetress: "and another six minutes if––" and vi's like "she'll want to go again"

em: viola buffing her nails on her blazer: she’ll want to go again

obsetress: rebecca rolls her eyes but she's grinning

obsetress: "you're all too smug" "me? smug?" becs just shakes her head and tugs her in by the lapels of her blazer

em: damie coming back to a fairly chaste vibecca kiss: BLEH can you guys GET A ROOM

obsetress: rebecca's just verly placidly like

obsetress: "dani, your zipper is still down, by the way"

em: dani; thanks :)

---

em: dani clayton voice i’m braver and severely Weirder than ppl think

obsetress: she's a bit of a weirdo

em: see now i’m thinking about dani glancing away going dang i thought i was keeping it under wraps

obsetress: ngl i think about that a lot like

obsetress: she IS a weirdo but what does jamie know

obsetress: that she's like yeah she's a fucking weirdo

obsetress: like she's anxious and jumpy but jamie wouldn't call that weird

obsetress: what did she know and when did she know it

em: i’m thinking about jamie catching dani doing something like. idk eating a burger layer by layer or w a knife and fork and going

em: what a freak. i’m gonna marry her

em: dani tells jamie no this is a normal american thing and then when they go to vermont jamie realises no this absolutely is not

obsetress: she says something about it and dani doesn't even remember saying it in the first place

obsetress: "i didn't say that"

"you literally did say that"

"why would i say that"

(jamie taylor eyebrow raise) "you tell me"

(dani clayton flush and stutter) "i–– i..."

em: dani mumbles something like i didn’t think it’d pan out like this i just wanted the cool gardener to think i was. semi normal

em: jamie waggles her eyebrows like cool gardener???

obsetress: dani bumps her shoulder into jamie's "shut up"

"don't think i will, actually"

em: jamie starts to v seriously eat her burger layer by layer. danis like ‘ur taking the mick!’ and jamies like (sheepish) naw i just. wanted to see what it’s like

---

em: every so often they’ll run into someone who went to school w jamie or knew her as a youth and they’re like ‘wow you’ve mellowed out heaps’

em: therapy queen

em: theyre in a pub and someone’s like ‘as i live and breathe! jamie taylor! i heard you died! someone told me you were arrested for (crime that becomes bigger and more outlandish w every new person)’ and jamies like ‘aye’ and they’re like

em: all sharing a beer at a quaint little pub n this old acquaintance from before has these v chaotic stories and danis like

em: jamie? my jamie? u must be confused. jamie goes to bed at 9:30pm watching antiques roadshow

obsetress: jamie just grins a lil

em: danis like haha jamie wow ur so mysterious and (she is already casing the joint for places to sneak off too)

---

em: damvibecca sittin in a circle passing a joint around

em: a nice thought

obsetress: Wholesome

obsetress: dani falls asleep first, with her head in jamie's lap and they're all just kinda vibin and rebecca gets up to get her a blanket or smth and vi's just kinda like

obsetress: "you're really good for her, you know"

obsetress: all quiet and pensive

em: jamie takes a loooooonng pause and she’s like. i was sceptical but. you’re good for becs too

em: and then even quieter she’s like

em: thanks

em: the softest thank u from one jamie taylor

obsetress: rebecca gets back and looks back n forth between the two of them

"why are you two being weird"

"we're not–- what?"

"we're just sitting here, baby"

obsetress: rebecca narrows her eyes

---

obsetress: jamie likes vi for becs because vi reminds her to live a little

obsetress: and can also keep up with her temperament because holy shit did jamie hate all of becca's bougie shit

em: jamie absolutely has um

em: like a repairs pile that shes gonna get around to Some Day re fixin clothes etc and

em: as much as i love 'rebecca and jamie worlds most calm and collected no drama couple' im defs toying with like

em: their ONE Big fight is beccs throws out the repairs pile

obsetress: "i was gonna––"

"no you WEREN'T, jamie!"

em: jamies like i The Tool I Needed is outta stock i had to- and becs is like? what, like you couldnt make do?

em: and even then when the heat dies down its still v calm and civil but like

em: FINALLY a lil dramatic angle to jamie rebecca

em: dani loves the repairs pile bc she loves a project

obsetress: she's also very content to let jamie have her silly little thing

obsetress: because it doesn't bother her and jamie is very good at keeping it in her space

obsetress: rebecca asks her about it one day and dani's like "oh i'm just glad she has a hobby :)"

em: couple times jamie's like. shes been tryna repair this one chair for months and eventually shes like

em: (swings axe) winters coming

obsetress: dani just watches with the dopiest grin

obsetress: jamie's all wot

obsetress: and dani's like

obsetress: :) you're hot :)

em: danis like hey i know its a brisk autumn but um

em: if u wanna

em: mimes taking shirt off

obsetress: jamie does it

obsetress: jamie rolling her eyes as she unbuttons the top couple buttons then tugs her shirt over her head

obsetress: but she's grinning

obsetress: dani sneaking up behind her as she's sorting the wood and just leaning into her bare back

obsetress: jamie jumps "oi!" and dani grins and nuzzles between her shoulders

---

obsetress: been having so many becca feelings in our rewatch

em: oh gosh

em: i love her she truly is a tragic character

obsetress: same

obsetress: i just want her to live happily ever after in her lil power lesbian outfits with her lil power lesbian wife

obsetress: like she needs someone who can MATCH her

obsetress: her energy and her intensity and her passion

obsetress: and like she and jamie can push each other to be better but jamie’s just kinda like “lemme chill n do my gay little tasks” yknow

em: ya and like they Worked but they worked Much better as friends than anything romantic

em: jamies the lesbian best friend that’s like girl. stop settling for mediocre men with accents

obsetress: yeah!

em: jamie ‘how soon is too soon to ask out my good friend rebecca jessel after her v messy break up w peter quint’ taylor

em: and then rebecca ends up being the one like ‘have you ever thought about us?’ while jamies agonising over it like four months later

em: rebeccas a little go getter and jamie needs a little bit of a shove sometimes

obsetress: jamie, surrounded by three shovers,

obsetress: rebecca says it so casually over dinner like she’s talking about the weather and jamie’s like !?

obsetress: i can also see like

obsetress: rebecca says that bit about "have you ever thought about us" at dinner and jamie blanches and second guesses everything they do "is....... is this a date" becca just shrugs "do you want it to be?"

em: jamies motormouthing like ok but i cannot stress enough that i was comforting you about ur break up in a friend way no ulterior motives way i am ur friend first and foremost and rebecca just like

em: lets her get it out of her system

em: ‘well what about my ulterior motives’

obsetress: she WOULD

obsetress: "did you ever consider that maybe i had ulterior motives"

em: jamie: (pursing her lips, furrowing her brow that way she does) you had a messy break up with peter quint….. to seduce me.

em: rebecca: mmhmm

obsetress: jamie: me?

obsetress: rebecca: well, maybe a couple of reasons, but... yeah. you were up there

---

em: after i asked out [ex] i spent ages agonising over when it would be appropriate to kiss her (i know...) and then one night at a party she’s like ‘so why haven’t u kissed me yet?’ and i’m like are u fucken. mate it takes two to tango

obsetress: oh my god?

em: drawing from that

em: jamie thinks they’re taking it slow (but not that slow) and rebecca is like girl what

em: ‘i never took you for old fashioned’

‘wot, me?’

'mmhm’

‘old fashioned?!’

‘well, you haven’t kissed me yet-‘

‘you haven't kissed me! i figured you wanted to take it slow after p-‘ and then rebecca like full on dips jamie and kisses her

em: rebeccas like always wanted to do that at least once lol

em: jamie is speechless for a couple minutes

obsetress: rEBECCA

---

obsetress: thinking thoughts rebecca jamie same height but rebecca heels

obsetress: jamie looking up @ her all

obsetress: rebecca in her heels and is chilly and jamie getting up onto her tip toes to wrap her big coat around rebecca's shoulders

em: softtt

[concealeddarkness13]

A New Dawn Part 16

In which Kai plays video games, gets manipulated, and finds a family. Tagging: @ratracechronicler and @merigreenleaf!

Here is the post with the previous parts’ links!

I couldn’t sleep that night. Not really. I had been too tired the night before to actually think about it, but Rat had said we could be family. I had agreed, but I hadn’t really thought about what that meant. I had never really understood the concept of having a family who wasn’t related to you. It was like a foreign concept to me.

On my planet, everyone valued flesh and blood family, living in the same house with their extended family. If you weren’t doing that, you were seen as an anomaly. Taeo had had to overcome the stigma of living by himself to become popular. There were plenty of people who still whispered about it.

I knew that it was a long shot for me to find my actual family. If the jellyfish had me before I lost my memory, they might have killed my family when they took me. Or I could just never find them. Maybe it would be better, less heartache, if I just…

I took a deep breath. I just couldn’t give up. But it wasn’t a bad concept, a family that didn’t share blood.

I glanced over at Rat and Eli. I didn’t want to lose them too, not to the jellyfish, and, honestly, not because I got back to my planet.

*

Rat and Eli left for their date (yes, I was still going to call it that), and Rex and I went back upstairs. I had been thinking of strategies for Galoshlimb all morning, but Rex actually put in another game, explaining that it would be more fun for just two players. It was a fighting game with weirdly designed characters that looked like aliens.

As we competed against each other, he glanced over at me. “So…how’s life on Mars?”

I frowned over at him as my character died again. “Um…Mars?”

“Y’know. Back home an’ all.”

Oh. “It isn’t called Mars. I haven’t heard of that planet, actually. It’s called Versteria. And I guess it’s going good.” I shrugged. “I haven’t been there for at least a month, so I’m not sure.”

“Oh, okay. Cool, cool.” He looked a little surprised. “Any invasions as o’ late, or you kinda keep to yourselves on this Versteria?”

My character died again as I thought. “There really aren’t any invasions. There are already so many different kinds of aliens on my planet that we’re pretty welcoming.”

Rex opened his mouth to say something else, but I tensed as something moved out of the corner of my eye. I jumped up and ran to the window, and the shadow of one of the jellyfish aliens zipped across rooftops. I stared at them for a little bit before I shook myself. I had to go after them. Why were they even here? I had thought I had scared them off in Fre Jac-Mac.

I turned back to Rex. “Speaking of aliens, I just saw one of the aliens that followed me here. Would you want to help me pursue them to figure out more about what they want?”

He leapt up. “I’m gone, mate. Lemme grab my hat! Should I bring the blackthorn along?” he asked excitedly. He stumbled into his room and grabbed a battered old sports cap. The cap had the words: “Cryptid Seekers Squad”. He gestured at a dangerous-looking stick, which I assumed was the blackthorn.

I shrugged. “If you want to.”

He grinned, grabbed the stick, and ran after me as I left through the window. The alien hadn’t left my line of sight yet, which was a little weird. But I pushed that out of my mind as I followed them. What really mattered was that the aliens were still here. And I had to figure out more.

The alien led me to the street, past buildings covered in graffiti. I wanted to stop and stare, but the alien didn’t stop, so I couldn’t either. I would have to ask about all the graffiti later.

Rex broke the silence. “So whadda these chaps look like anyhow?”

I frowned. It almost seemed to easy that I was following this alien. As if they were slowing down on purpose to make sure I would follow. Great. “Weird looking faces. Hair that looks like jellyfish tentacles instead of actual hair. Steadily more see-through skin the farther down the arms you go.”

Rex whispered under his breath. “Wicked cool.” I couldn’t agree with that.

We seemed to be going toward a place in the distance where smoke was coming up. Was something burning? But then we made it to a dead end, and the alien turned around and grinned at me. “It’s so good to see you again, Kaira.”

I glared at them and pulled out my knife. “My name is Kai, and why are you still following me? I would think you would be scared of me now.”

“Scared of you? I’ll only be scared of you if you can turn on that light show again.” I grimaced. It could only be activated when I was hurt badly during a fight. Rex tried to say something in the background, but I didn’t listen. They laughed. “Then I’m not scared of you.” They paused and held out a transparent hand. “And if you’re smart, you’ll come with me. Don’t you want information on your real home, your real family? We are the only ones who can give you the answers.”

I sucked in a breath and shook my head. I wanted to learn more, but I couldn’t trust them. It wasn’t worth it to turn myself over to them. They probably wouldn’t tell me anything anyway.

Rex spoke up, louder this time. “OI! How see-through’re we talkin’ here, mate? I can’t see nothin’. Just a wall there.” He moved toward the alien, crouched down, and he prodded the stick he brought at them.

And the stick went right through them. They clicked their tongue and shook their head. “Unfortunately, our ruse was found out too quickly. See you soon, Kaira.” They laughed and disappeared.

I clenched my fists. I had let myself get tricked again. Shit. I looked over at Rex. “I was wrong. They were messing with my head. They can make me see them when they’re not there. Let’s go back.”

He turned to me, looking a little disappointed. “They ain’t…You’re sure? They can do that?”

I frowned. I should have known better. Stupid. “I mean, they could be here. But they could be anywhere. It would be pointless to try to find them. And they can do that, from what I know.”

“Like, to anyone?” He held the sides of his head and looked around suspiciously.

I shrugged. I honestly didn’t know. “I think only to people who were stung by their jellyfish tentacle hair things. But I didn’t even know I was stung when it happened.” I sighed and started walking back. “Sorry for wasting your time.”

“Oh…yeah. Whatever,” he muttered, stuffing his hands in his pockets, with the stick having been clipped to a keychain. Cool. “’Pologies for all the questions an’ sticks.”

…Huh? Why was he apologizing? He hadn’t done anything wrong. I had led him on the chase that ultimately led to nothing. I frowned back at him. “I didn’t mind. Actually, I think your stick is cool.”

He sounded confused. “Thanks?”

That didn’t sound entirely encouraged, but hopefully it was enough. I looked back to the front. “Anyway, thanks for coming with me. If you hadn’t pointed out that there was no one there, I would have kept letting them mess with me.”

He jogged to catch up to me. “Hey, yeah, no problem.”

We headed back, with the smoke still in the distance. I eyed it, but didn’t ask Rex. He probably wouldn’t know why something was on fire.

It was nearing sunset when we got back. I hadn’t realized how far we had gone, chasing after the phantom alien. And when Rex opened the front door and we walked inside, Rat and Eli ran up to us. Eli looked worried, while Rat looked furious. I shrunk down instinctively. “Are you two okay?” I asked, trying to relieve the tension.

“We’re fine—where in Perdition did you two go?” Rat demanded.

Shit. She wouldn’t be happy about this. “Uh…I thought I saw one of the aliens. And I followed them…”

“An’ I followed her,” Rex said, then yelled over Rat’s shoulder at one of his parents. “So, no, I did not spend the whole day up in my ‘cave’ playin’ games! We got exercise an’ sunshine an’ all that goodness!”

Rat smiled, but her eyes were still angry. “You seem incredibly well-equipped to handle those aliens.”

Shit. Before I could say anything, Rex spoke up again. “Nah, but we didn’t need to, see, cuz they ended up not bein’ there for real, just in eye tricks.”

I couldn’t look Rat in the eyes. “I had thought that the aliens wouldn’t bother us again, so when they showed up, I had to figure out why. But I did ask Rex to come along so I wasn’t alone.” Hopefully, that would make them feel better.

“That’s good!” Eli smiled encouragingly. “That was a really good thought, Kai. Rex is strong, and he knows this city better than any of us. Asking him for help was great.”

“Oh. Yeah.” Rat seemed to calm down a little, not so much anger in her eyes. “Uh. Smart.” She stood for a second before punching me lightly on the shoulder. “Gave me a scare, though.” She flicked Rex’s hat. “You couldn’t have messaged us?”

“I had way bigger fish to catch,” he scoffed.

They seemed to be feeling better, so time to distract them. Also, I really wanted to know how it was. “So, how was your date?” Rex’s jaw dropped at what I said.

Rat’s expression remained neutral. “We didn’t eat any dates, or raisins or prunes or other dried fruit. We stopped for sushi on the way back from our trip to the forest, though.”

What? “So…it was good?”

“Yes,” Eli said pleasantly. I could not figure out if there was something else behind his words or not. Too aromantic and asexual for that. “It was. Thanks for asking. How was the rest of your day?”

Should I pry more? Should I just leave them be? I wasn’t the right person for the job. So, I just blurted out, “Video games,” and left it at that.

Rex’s eyes widened. “I think I left it on paused,” he whispered and sprinted up the stairs.

And now, we were alone. Rex’s family hadn’t come to talk to us. I fidgeted with my hands. “I’m sorry for running off after the aliens. I should have thought more.”

“Well…” Rat said. “You thought a little. That’s some progress at least, right? And nobody got hurt, right?”

I…I didn’t want to lose them. I had to think a little more before I did something stupid. I fidgeted some more and sucked in a breath. “And—and you weren’t lying when you talked about family, right? You’d be willing to let me be a part of it?”

“I wasn’t lying,” Rat said at the same time that Eli spoke.

“Of course, you can be a part—” They both spluttered to a halt and fell silent before Rat spoke up.

“Yeah. Absolutely. It’s a weird family, but you’re invited.”

I…I was part of a family. I wasn’t alone. I breathed out, long and slow. “Thank you. I don’t know if I’ll be able to return to my own world, and I’m glad I’m not alone in this world. I care deeply for you two.” I hesitated. Would this be too much? But I really wanted to hug them. So, I moved closer and hugged both of them at the same time.

Eli hugged back, wrapping his arms around both me and Rat. “I’m glad I’m—I mean, you, you’re—I’m glad you’re not alone too, or either, or y’know,” Rat said. She snort-laughed and ruffled my hair. “You’re okay.”

I sniffled as tears threatened to overtake me, but a few tears slipped down my cheeks. I sighed and relaxed, leaning into the hug. “Thank you both so much.”

They didn’t say anything, but they were both also sniffling.

[an-american-whovian]

- An American Whovian Reviews: 'Revolution of the Daleks' by Chris Shitnall.

• The Story Thus Far.

When we last left the Doctor she was partaking in one of the WORST Doctor Who episodes of all time. Turns out she's had, like, a billion regenerations -- and started off as a cute lil' black girl who got experimented on by some crazy TimeLord lady. Makes about as much sense as an asshole on my elbow.

I digress, after that whole REVEAL -- the Doctor is arrested by everyone's favorite space rhinos and sent to space jail much like Rick Sanchez at the end of 'Rick & Morty' season 2.

(Just not as good.)

• Recap.

The story starts off with a reminder of an even shittier story 'Resolution' in which the Doctor and "Fam'" defeat a Dalek with spare parts from a microwave. (Fuck you, Chibnall.)

Anyways, back to now: some people have the leftovers of that one Dalek in some facility. This one dude is tasked with transporting it and stops fer a hot cup of coffee -- which he chugs. (That's a thing.) Shortly thereafter, turns out he got drugged by the barista and she's, like, "Bitch, this is my truck now."

• I Loved that Show.

Curtis from 'Misfits' and Mr. Big from 'Sex & the City' meet up with some lady in which he hired some folks to "roleplay" as rioters. (I can't make this up.) He's, like, "Check this out -- I made these robots that can subdue rioters." (Where was he during the attack on the Capitol!?) Actually, Curtis from 'Misfits' supposedly made them from scratch.

Somewhere Davros is rolling in his chair.

• Political Disintrigue.

Mr. Big and the lady are in cahoots. I don't care.

• Elsewhere.

The Doctor is in jail serving her sentence and eating space brownies. She's got a Weeping Angel, Sycorax, Ood l and the Pting as neighbors. (Everyone loves call backs.) Laying on her cot she does her best quirky Matt Smith impersonation when she here's a-knocking.

WHO COULD IT BE!?

• Elsewhere, again.

We cut to the Fam' back on Earth. Yaz is living in a house that's a TARDIS in disguise; whilst Graham and Ryan could care less about what happened to the Doctor. They're, like, "Yaz, you gotta move on. However, someone leaked that footage of the roleplaying rioters versus a Dalek on DailyMotion -- so we should do something about that."

The lady and Mr. Big meet up, again, this time in some forest -- fer more expository conversation. I still can't be bothered.

Later, the Fam' just tracks down Mr. Big, like, it's nothing. Fortunately fer him, he has has guards -- and they shoo off the Fam'.

Ugh.

• Slammer Buddies.

The Doctor sees a Silence and then, say wha'!? Captain Jack is there to break he Doctor out with some doohickey he snuck up his ass. Turns out it's a giant hamster bubble that let's them break out of a MAXIMUM SECURITY SPACE JAIL! I hate this shit . . .

It's great to see Captain Jack, again, but this isn't worth it.

Only 18 minutes has passed. Fuck me.

• Exposition Earl.

Curtis from 'Misfits' is talking to Mr. Big and he's, like, "Dude, did you know there's, like, DNA samples inside that old casing you gave me!? Well, I took the time to clone it! I call it Squiggly."

Curtis from 'Misfits' cloned a Dalek. Fuuuuuuck.

Mr. Big is, like, "Yo, get that abomination out of my face and burn it!" -- which Curtis from 'Misfits' hesitantly obliges. Psyche! Squiggly takes mind control over Curtis from 'Misfits'. Who didn't see that coming!?

• Elsewhere: Part 3.

The Doctor and Captain Jack SOMEHOW just get back to the TARDIS like it's nothing. Fer some reason the Doctor is a bit of a jerk to Jack eventhough he just got her ungrateful ass out of Space Prison.

She's, like, "I gotta find my REAL friends." and meets back up with the Fam'. Yaz gets wet and Jack flirts with Graham. Turns out the Doctor has been gone fer a little less than a year. Cool. They get straight to the point and are, like, "Daleks are back. You know, the same aliens that tried to conquer Earth in series 2 and 4. Oh, no one remembers that?"

Fuck you, Chibnall.

• Hilarity ensues.

Squiggly somehow has a giant facility with other Dalek clones in Japan. Where the fuck did they come from!? Who knows -- and who cares.

The Doctor confronts Mr. Big and he's, like, "I'm 3D printing Dalek casings. It's cool, tho'. There's nothing inside of them. It's not, like, there's a facility in Osaka, Japan with a bunch of Dalek clones waiting to fill these up.

Speaking of which, Yaz and Jack are in Japan and they have a cringey convo about life with the Doctor. Rose and Sarah Jane's talk in 'School Reunion' this is not.

There's still 40 minutes to go.

After their heart to heart -- Yaz still has the audacity to insult Jack. She's fierce!

Anyways, guess what they find!? GUESS WHAT THEY FUCKING FIND!? The Dalek clone farm. Like, we weren't already shown this before. They even do a "Dun-Dun-Dun!" reveal fer this shit.

FUCK YOU, CHIBNALL.

• Facepalm.

Fer reasons unbeknownst to me the Doctor takes Mr. Big along to Japan -- you know, fer reasons. All the while, we cut to scenes of that one lady introducing Daleks to the public. No one still remembers series 2 and 4 -- or any other time Daleks have been on Earth.

At the same time, Jack and Yaz get attacked by a bunch of other Squigglies and I'm getting mad hentai vibes.

The Doctor, still back on the TARDIS, has a half hearted conversation with Ryan and tells hims it's, "Four minutes to Osaka" -- eventhough there's 50+ years of the TARDIS landing places INSTANTENOUSLY!

FUCK.

YOU.

CHIBNALL.

Ryan is, like, "Yea, I kinda prefer being back home than traveling in the TARDIS and seeing all of time and space. By the way, how'd 'The Timeless Children' go fer you?"

The Doctor is basically, like, "The less said about that -- the better." I tend to fucking agree.

Four minutes are up and Jack has and orgasm when he sees the TARDIS materialize eventhough he was just on it not too long ago.

• Git 'er Done.

Everyone's reunited along with Mr. Big as they confront mind controlled Curtis from 'Misfits'. We get more exposition as to how these Squigglies were cloned and what they eat. The big revelation is that they eat humans -- and I still can't be bothered to care.

Somehow the cloned Squigglies can teleport to those empty Dalek casings and proceed to wreck havoc to the masses. I will NEVER grow tired of Daleks massacaring people. "EXTERMINATE!"

(I finally have a non ironic smile on my face.)

Squiggly kills Curtis from 'Misfits' and the only one to give a shit is Mr. Big. The Doctor tries her best at a, "I am the Doctor and I save people!" speech which falls flat. She's got a plan, tho'!

She beeps up real Daleks -- and she's, like, "These REAL Daleks are gonna kill those fake Daleks! It's okay if they come -- fer REASONS they wont kill any humans. Just these fake Daleks. The story demands it."

• Invasion of the Dalek Snatchers.

We finally get the revolution in "Revolution of the Daleks". The real Daleks are, like, "Y'all, mother fuckers, are impure!" All the while, Mr. Big is, like, "I like these real Daleks. I wanna be friends with them -- you know, 'cause I'm a bad guy. Take me to yer leader." (That last bit was a direct quote.)

The boys leave the girls behind to go destroy the Dalek ship. We get some more poorly written dialogue.

Mr. Big tells the real Daleks about the Doctor -- which they should've been already privy to. Luckily, Jack informs the Doctor about Mr. big's treacherous ways and she's got another trick up her sleeve! All the while, Jack and the boys blow up the Dalek ship and the Doctor reveals her ruse. She sucked the Daleks into the spare TARDIS that Yaz was living in and has it collapse on itself.

Aren't TARDIS kind of, like, living creatures? They've been known to have a consciousness. Whatever.

• The Home Stretch.

Fer REASONS Mr. Big is considered a hero. Captain Jack is, like, "I'm out and I'm gonna go find my Torchwood friends. Fuck you guys."

Ryan is, like, "Yea, no more trips fer me either. I wanna stay home and play football with me mates and eat fish and chips." Graham agrees, too. So it's just Yaz and the Doctor now. I'm excited fer that potential porn parody.

Then we get a call back to 'The Girl Who Fell to Earth' and Ryan trying to ride a bike. I forgot that was a thing. They babble about facing off alien threats on Earth and fer other REASONS Grace shows up a, like, a fucking Jedi Force Ghost. 😂😭🤤

• The Good, the Bad and the Fugly.

The best I can say about this story is that Doctor Who, aesthetically, has never looked better. The Daleks inside and out were REALLY well done; and I fucking love the look of the TARDIS traveling through the time vortex. Unfortunately, that's it about it.

This was god awful. Maybe in time I can rewatch this in a it's so bad it's good capacity; but I won't be doing that any time soon. Chibnall has lost his goddamn mind.

Why is everyone so mean to Captain Jack!? I don't fucking get it. Graham and Ryan wanting to leave the TARDIS just 'cause they're, like, "Meh. It's been done.? Why is Mr. Big in this, at all!? Also, somebody fire that composer! I'm tired of his ambient noises.

Seriously, this was bad.

Zero stars.

[theultimatefanficwriter]

True Friends-Monodam x Reader

Completely platonic relationship Requested by Paigeloime on Wattpad

Trigger warning: Suicidal reader, angst

You were still in shock.

You still couldn't believe you were stuck in a...a 'killing game'. How could you accept such a fact? It was such a far fetched idea!

But regardless, here you were. And every day you were scared it would be your last. You stayed away from everyone, even the seemingly friendly Kaede, Kaito and Gonta. You couldn't be sure it wasn't just a cover to get close to you so they could kill you.

You couldn't trust anyone here, no matter how badly you wanted to.

Not to mention there were those annoying 'Monocubs' around that popped up randomly. They just made the situation even worse.

Well, the green one, Monodam, you think his name was, wasn't too bad. He was quieter than the others, and seemed to want peace, unlike his siblings who only wanted the killing game to continue.

Again, though, you couldn't be sure it wasn't a ruse. He was one of Monokuma's children, after all, and Monokuma wanted anything but peace.

Eventually you started to believe you were just being paranoid thanks to Kaede's constant optimistic attitude and her bringing everyone together under the shared goal of escaping.

Then she was found guilty for Rantaro's murder.

It seemed so unlikely. Kaede? Murder? You would think that the only way you could use those two words in the same sentence is if the words 'would never' between them. But here you were. Sure, she was trying to kill the mastermind to end the killing game, but still. That just strengthened your belief not to trust anyone.

From then on after that trial, you only left your room for food, and nothing else. You also tried to make sure only to go to the cafeteria when no one else was there, but you weren't always successful.

Kaito would attempt to talk to you, try to cheer you up and make you his 'sidekick', but you'd just cower away. Tenko would offer to protect you from the 'degenerate males', but you'd decline her offer and leave as quickly as possible. Kirumi would offer to make you something to eat, but you'd just grab something yourself and head back to your room.

Shuichi and Kaito still tried to include you in things. They'd knock on your door almost daily to ask you to join them in activities. Most of the time you'd stay quiet until they left. Eventually, even they stopped.

It's been a few days since then, and you were currently laying on your bed, staring at posters on the wall opposite side of your bed. They were of some movie you, as the Ultimate Actress, were in. You looked at yourself in those posters and thought back on the memories. You were happy then. You had no worries.

You let out a sigh as you picked at your skin anxiously. You hated being all alone. You preferred being around others. But you just couldn't risk it. You were too afraid that somebody would kill you.

"Rise and shine, Ursine!"

You jumped in surprise at the sound of the Monocubs' introduction words. Your head shot to the middle of the room, and there stood Monodam. You blinked, staring at him for a moment. "Um...h-hello?" You greeted him quietly.

"Why hello, bear." Monodam said to you. "I have noticed that you have not been interacting with your friends. Is there a problem?"

You continued to look at the small robotic bear as you slowly threw your feet over the side of the bed. "I...I don't have any friends here." You muttered.

"That is not true!" Monodam argued. "Everybody here is your friend!"

You shook your head. "I can't risk that belief." You told the Monocub quietly. "A potential friend is also a potential killer." You shook your head vigorously. "I'm way too scared to risk that."

Monodam let out a robotic hum, which you assumed was supposed to be equivalent to a 'hmm' sound. "What if I were to be your friend?" The green bear asked.

Your eyes widened. "I-I'm sorry?" You stammered. "You? My friend?"

The bear nodded. "Correct. That way you would not be frightened. I will make sure you are not harmed as we 'hang out'."

You stared at the bear for a long time, unsure how to process this information. Sure, the green Monocub was the one you would say you "trusted" the most, but that was a very loose "trust". You weren't sure if you trusted anyone. Although, Monodam did always seem to want everyone to get along, so...maybe this could be a good way to get out of your room for once?

You sighed and shrugged, standing on your feet. "Alright, fine." You agreed. "Are you sure you won't get in trouble with your dad or siblings for protecting me, though?"

Monodam shook his head. "If it is only for one day, everything should be fine." He hobbled towards the door, which you found kinda cute, causing you to cover your mouth to stifle a giggle. You walked over and opened the door for the small robot. He walked out, and you followed, closing the door behind you.

"So, where are we going?" You asked, looking down at your new 'friend'.

"That is up to you." Monodam answered. "We could head to the recreational room. Or the swimming pool opened up, as well as your research lab."

You stopped walking for a moment. "Wait, my research lab opened up?" You asked.

The robotic bear nodded. "Correct."

You nodded. "Then we're headed there." You told him. "Lead the way."

Monodam led you to a bright red door with a drawing of two stage lights crossing over one another. You placed your hand on the doorknob and turned it. As you opened it, your eyes widened as you took in your surroundings. At the back of the room was a stage, one that reminded you so much of your happiest memories. There were props and backdrops and cameras. It made you feel so...safe.

You walked slowly up to the stage, the soft metallic thumps behind you letting you know that Monodam was following you. You went to the side and walked up on the stage, turning and taking in your surroundings. You felt a smile start to form on your lips, for the first time in days.

"You seem much happier." Monodam pointed out in his usual robotic tone. You turned to look at him. The robotic bear was standing in front of a row of chairs that were placed in front of the stage.  

You gave the small robot a genuine smile and nodded. "I am." You confirmed. "This is the first time I've felt this happy since getting here." As you continued to look around, a thought hit you, and you gasped, turning to look Monodam in the eyes. "Oh! Let me re-enact a scene from my favorite movie I've been in!" You offered. "It'll be a bit difficult without anyone reacting to my line but-"

"Oh, we have a solution for that!" Monodam interrupted. He hopped onto the stage and went into the wings. He soon pulled out a rack of grey mannequins. With a bit of struggling, the small robo-bear managed to pull one off, getting it to stand on it's feet. "You just need to enter it's settings, and it will be your acting partner!"

You felt your smile grow even wider. "This...this is amazing." You told the green bear. "Thank you so much." You flashed him a grin. "So with this I can re-enact the scene perfectly! Go wait in the seats! I'll be ready soon!" You rushed off behind stage, grabbing the rack and pulling them with you.

About half an hour later you were ready, and preformed your favorite scene from your favorite movie you had been in. The acting bots were almost exactly like your costars in the actual movie. You had such a fun time re-doing the scene that when you were finished with it, you were smiling like an idiot. You heard a slow, rhythmic clang, and you saw that Monodam was clapping. You giggled and bowed, the acting bots following suit before walking back to their rack and deactivating.

"So, how was it?" You asked the green Monocub. "And be honest."

"It was spectacular!" Monodam praised in his monotone voice. Despite that, you could still detect the excitement in it, which made you smile. "I would expect nothing less from the Ultimate Actress!"

You felt yourself blush from the praise. "That's really sweet, Monodam." You said, smiling. "And...thank you. For taking me here. I really needed this." You hopped down from the stage and walked over to him, leaning down and giving the small robo-bear and hug. Monodam didn't react for a moment, seemingly confused. Eventually he placed his arms around you. You pulled apart from him, still smiling. "I think I might try hanging around the others again." You informed him.

The green bear's head shot up. "You mean you are going to make friends?!" He exclaimed.

You covered your mouth and giggled. "We'll see, Monodam." You said, making your way to the exit. "I had a lot of fun. Maybe we can hang out again if your dad and siblings will let you." You smiled and waved goodbye to him as you made your way to the cafeteria.

It was around dinner time, so your appearance in the cafeteria surprised everyone. They all stared at you, which made you feel a bit uncomfortable, but you simple swallowed back the feeling and sat down at the table. You were nestled between Kaito and Shuichi, and were in front of Keebo and Kokichi. Eventually everyone looked away from you, and Kirumi made you a plate to eat. The four around you, however, began to bombard you with questions.

"Where have you been all this time, Y/N?" Keebo asked. "Have you been feeling ill?"

"Have you been plotting a muuuurder?!" Kokichi accused in a playful tone. At least you think it was playful. You never knew with him.

"How come you never answered Shuichi and me?" Kaito questioned, placing a hand on your shoulder. "We've been tryin' to ask you to be apart of our nightly training sessions! It's a great bonding exercise!"

"It...actually is." Shuichi agreed quietly.

You looked between the four of, giggling. "Well, in order." You began. "In my room being scared for my life, so no, not ill." You answered, pointing at Keebo. You turned to Kokichi and pointed to him. "No." You turned and pointed at Kaito "I was scared to trust anybody after the whole thing with Kaede. I needed space." Lastly you pointed to Shuichi. "I'd love to give it a shot now." You looked between the astronaut trainee and the detective. "If you'll still have me?"

Kaito beamed at threw his arm around your shoulders, pulling you into your side. You let out a startled yelp as you fell out of your seat. You laughed along with the others, and for the first time in a while, you felt happy. You felt like you had real friends.

For a while, you were really happy. You became pretty close friends with Kaito and Shuichi, and you and Monodam actually hung out quite often. The two of you of you visited your research lab many times, and you performed scenes and sometimes entire television episodes you were apart of. You actually considered the Monocub a good friend. Sure, he was one of the ones who brought you here, but you felt like he was different.

The green robo-bear seemed to actually care about you. You've been able to read between the lines whenever he spoke, so now you could mostly make out which emotions the bear was expressing. Because of this, you could tell that whenever he spoke to you, he seemed to actually care about you, and actually consider you a friend.

At the moment, you had just finished re-enacting an episode of a soap opera you had been in. You smiled and bowed as the acting bots returned to the rack as normal. Monodam clapped as normal. You hopped off the stage and sat beside him. "You know, I never thought I'd become friends with a Monocub." You admitted. "But you're really nice, Monodam."

"All I want is for everyone to be friends." The robot responded, looking up at you. "You are the first one to take me seriously."

"Well, I can understand why." You sighed. "You are one of the ones who brought us here, so trusting you might be a bit hard." You smiled softly at him and pat his head. "But I'm really grateful you came to me the other day. I'm not scared anymore. I mean, I'm still a bit paranoid that someone will kill again, but I've spent so much time with everyone, I'm starting to think that won't happen."

"That makes me happy to hear." Monodam gave you what you had come to understand to be a smile. "I hope that is the case. I just want everyone can be friends."

"That would be nice." You agreed, leaning back in the chair. "I really hope it can happen."

Of course, that was just wishful thinking.

The next day, Ryoma was found dead during Himiko's magic act, which you had only now heard about. You stared at the bones that were once the Ultimate Tennis Pro as the blood stained water pooled around everyone's feet.

And you passed out.

The rest of the students noticed as you fell to the ground. Kaito and Shuichi got to you first, Kaito frantically checking for a pulse. When he found one, he let out a relieved sigh. "She's alright. Just shocked, probably." He informed everyone. He turned his gaze to Gonta. "Hey, Gonta. Mind taking her to her room?"

The bug lover nodded, gently picking you up bridal style. "Of course! Gonta gentleman! Gonta make sure Y/N gets to her room safe!" He headed out of the gym and made his way to the dorms, where he entered your room, placed you on your bed, and quickly left, like a true gentleman.

You blinked open your eyes, finally coming too. As you opened them fully, you noticed a certain green robo-bear sitting at the foot of your bed. "M-Monodam?" You asked, rubbing your eyes.

The Monocub turned his head to look at you. "Rise and shine, Ursine." He greeted you, though his usual tone was more solemn than usual, even through his robotic voice. "I am happy to see you are alright. When you fainted I got concerned."

You frowned as you finally recalled what you had witnessed.

Ryoma Hoshi was dead.

You grabbed your arms and shivered. "Yeah, I...I'm fine." You muttered. "Just...I was starting to trust everyone, and suddenly someone gets killed again." You felt tears threaten to spill from your eyes. You sat up in your bed and hugged your knees. "Monodam...why did you bring us here?" You asked the Monocub quietly.

You didn't get an answer for a long time. "I...cannot tell you that, Y/N." Was his eventual reply.

You sighed in annoyance. "I figured you'd say that." You mumbled. "But...I thought since we'd gotten close..."

"We have become very close friends, indeed." Monodam let out a robotic sigh. "But I am forbidden from revealing that information. I am truly sorry."

You gripped your knees tighter as the tears began to fall slowly but surely. "I...I'd like to be alone, Monodam." You said quietly.

"Are you sure, Y/N?" The Monocub asked you, walking over to you and tilting his robotic head. "You seem to still be in shock. Perhaps having a friend would-"

"I said leave me alone!" You screamed, pushing Monodam away from you before burying your face in your knees.

Monodam stumbled back. When he caught his footing, he watched you for a few minutes as you sobbed softly. Eventually he let out a robotic sigh. "So long, bear well." He said sadly before disappearing.

When you heard the telltale sound of the Monocub's leaving, you glanced over to where Monodam had been. Seeing that he was gone, you grabbed your pillow and clutched it to your chest, sobbing louder, tears flowing freely now.

You had no one left. Sure, Monodam still seemed to be on your side...for the most part. But even he is putting this killing game before you. So maybe your friendship with you isn't as important as he had made it out to be.

And now another one of your 'friends' had killed someone. You really couldn't trust anyone. Could you?

You stayed in your room the whole time everyone else was investigating. The others occasionally came to check up on you, but you waved them off quickly, until you eventually told them all to just leave you alone.

You didn't want to go to another trial. You didn't want to watch another execution. You couldn't take it.

You slowly stood from your bed and made your way to your door. Slowly opening and peeking out it, you didn't see anybody, so you quickly left your room and began to make your way to you research lab. You managed to get there without being spotted. You closed the door behind you and quickly made your way to the backstage. Grabbing some rope you found in the prop section, you tied the rope into a noose and made your way to the catwalk and tied the end of the rope around the railing. You made your way back down and grabbed a step ladder, placing it under the noose.

You swallowed as you climbed up the ladder and placed the rope slowly around your neck. With shaking legs, you kicked the step ladder out from under you, and gasped as you felt the rope begin to suffocate you.

Your vision was starting to go black when your lab doors were suddenly kicked open. You heard running footsteps and shouting footsteps, but you couldn't make any of them out from the ringing in your ears. You noticed shapes run up to you, but they were only shadows. Then suddenly, you fell to the ground with a thud, and you sucked in a large gulp of air.

"...hell....here?!"

"Did someone...her?!"

"She's...alive, so if it was...murder they must still be here."

The voices were slowly becoming audible, and the shapes were coming together. You saw Kaito crouching above you, worried eyes looking at you as he kept turning to Kirumi to ask what to do. You coughed, which earned everybody's attention. Suddenly you saw not only Kaito and Kirumi in front of you, but also Shuichi, Maki, and Kokichi.

"Y/N!" Kaito said, relief in his voice. "What the hell happened to ya? Are you alright?!"

"Y/N, who did this to you?" Shuichi asked, the detective on the verge of panic.

"Did anyone do this to you?" Kokichi questioned, placing a finger to his chin. "Or was this your doing?"

"Why would she have tried to kill herself?" Maki snapped at Kokichi. "She has no reason."

The Ultimate Supreme Leader shrugged and continued to look at you. "It's just a thought."

You propped yourself up on your elbows and looked between them all, anger building up in you. "Why..." You muttered.

"'Why'?" Shuichi repeated. "'Why' what, Y/N?"

You clenched your fists. "Why...Why did you cut me down!?" You screamed, taking them all aback. "I want out of this place! I want out! Why do you keep me here?!"

Everyone looked surprised, except for Kokichi, who looked at the others smugly. "I told you."

Maki shot him a warning glare. "Do you wanna die?" She snapped. "This isn't the time for that."

"Why do you want to kill yourself, Y/N?" Shuichi asked softly, reaching a hand out to place on your shoulder.

You jerked away from him, and jumped to your feet as fast as you could. You backed away from the circle of people. "Don't touch me!" You hissed. "None of you actually care about me! One of you killed Ryoma, so why would I think you wouldn't kill me?!" You backed up as Kaito stood up from his crouching position, his face contorted in confusion. Shuichi continued to approach you slowly, his arm still outstretched to you.

"Y/N, calm down." He tried to soothe you. "No one here is going to hurt you."

You shook your head vigorously and continued to back up, making your way to your lab doors. "I can't believe that. I just...can't trust anyone." You muttered. You looked between Kaito, Kirumi, Maki, Kokichi and Shuichi before turning around and sprinting out of your research lab. You heard them shout your name, but you ignored them in favor of running back to your room.

When you got back in there you slammed the door and quickly locked it. You pressed your back against the door as you felt tears began to fall down your face, a familiar feeling to you by now. You slowly slid down to the floor, your knees pressed closely to your chest as you buried your face. You stayed that way for a long time, sobbing into your knees.

After a while, you felt something touching your leg. You slowly looked over, and saw Monodam. You glared at him and drew your leg in away from him. "Leave me alone." You muttered. "I don't want to talk."

"Why did you try to do that?" The Monocub asked you.

You sighed in annoyance. "I want to be free." You said quietly. "And that's the only way to do it."

Monodam tilted his head. "This is not the way to be free." He insisted.

You turned your head away from him. "Whatever. Like you'd understand anyway. " You murmured. "How did they even know what I was doing? I was so careful. It should have worked."

There was a long silence.

"I informed them of your situation."

Your head shot over to the green robo-bear. You stared at him before your eyes narrowed. You pulled yourself to your feet and walked closer to him. You glared down at him, your fists balled up tight. "...why?" You growled. "How could you?"

Monodam looked up at you. It was hard to make out emotion on his robotic features, but you swore you could see...sadness? But at the moment you were too angry to care. "You are my friend." The bear answered you, his monotone voice quiet. "Even though father and my siblings were angry at me for interfering, I could not let you die like this."

"You should have." You snapped. "I don't want to be here. And I'm not your friend." You walked around Monodam and sat on your bed, still glaring at the Monocub. "You bring me here against my will, then when I try to escape this hell you force me to stay? How could we be friends?"

The robot looked confused. "But I thought we had become good friends?" He said to you, his head tilted. "Is saving your life not what a good friend would do?"

You sighed in annoyance. He had a point, that is what a friend would do. But it isn't what you wanted him to do. "I just can't go through another class trial, Monodam." You muttered. "That's too much stress."

"You are strong, Y/N." The Monocub assured you. "You just need to believe in yourself and your friends." Monodam hopped up onto your bed beside you and placed his small robotic paw onto your leg. "And despite what you say, I am your friend."

You felt a smile form on your face despite yourself. You looked down to the green robo-bear and pet his head. "Yeah, fine." You relented. "...Thanks for saving me, Monodam."

The green bear nodded and turned to look up at you, the widest smile you've seen him produce yet on his face. "Anything for my best friend."

[twdmusicboxmystery]

TWB 1x06 - Shadow Puppets

Alright, so let's talk about TWB. There were actually a lot of small potatoes symbols in this episode, but a couple of big things really jumped out at me.

The storyline here was that they meet a guy named Percy who tells them he was robbed all asked them to help him get stuff back, which they do. But it turns out Percy and his companion, Tony, had set the whole thing up and were lying. They do this to take people's stuff for themselves.

One thing that didn't even occur to me until @wdway​ figured out was the name Percy. Remember the last time we saw someone name Percy? He was at Grady. An old man O’Donnell pushed down and he got hurt. Beth was upset about it. There was even a deleted scene where Beth wanted to see Percy and asked if he was all right.

He was also involved in her distracting the guard so that she could get medicine for Carol. He's the guy she gave the strawberries to in exchange for him pretending to have a medical emergency, so that she could get into the drug walker.

Now, I would probably put this out anyway just because of the parallel between names. But in both cases, there was a ruse involved. Percy pretended to be sick so that Beth could get medicine. In the world beyond, Percy pretends to have been robbed so that he can take their supplies.

Kinda don't think that's a coincidence.

I actually laughed out loud when I saw this next one because it was such an obvious benefit proxy. First, our group came across a guy who'd been shot in the forehead — left side just like Beth��and was lying across the front seat of a truck. Obviously that caught my attention and I made a note of it.

Then, sometime later, when the group had split up and got into the building, we see that some guy in the background get to his feet. It didn't click for me at first. I just assumed, as most people probably did, that he was turning. I thought something along the lines of, "oh, that guy is turning. Watch out Silas." But then the guy jumped up and started taking all of their bags and things. So the whole thing had been a trick.

The crazy thing, if you think about it, is that we have someone who was shot in the left side of the forehead, who was not actually dead. He was playing dead, or playing possum.

And to throw another level of symbolism on it, keep in mind that because he had been shot in the head, no one thought to stop them in the head to keep him from turning. Had they done that, he would've died for real. All those things are super huge parallels to Beth. So, when I saw the guy jump up and start taking their bags, I literally burst out laughing because it was just so obvious.

I noticed a lot of red objects in this episode. At one point, when they got to town, there was a tattered red flag or tarp. It actually looked a bit like the Tibetan prayer flags we’ve seem quite often in TWD.

Later on, after everyone escapes, Tony does a magic trick with a red ball. It's fairly run-of-the-mill sleight-of-hand in which he puts it under one cup and then it's not there anymore. But that was interesting that we had this red object, that even looked a bit like an egg, and it was not where it appeared to be. There was some misdirection going on and even some deception. Hmmm. Maybe the writers are having some fun with this.

In the store, we also see a mannequin with a dark red shirt, and lots of other red clothing on hangars.

And finally, in the coda after the credits, we saw that same woman who is doing experiments on people. In this case, she was wearing a red sweater the exact same shade as the one hanging in Beth’s cell in 4x01. I thought that might've been some kind of parallel or hint as well.

Other things we learned in the coda are that Iris and Hope's father is still alive, but she said he had a security detail. Whether that's for his protection or because he's being held captive is hard to say.

We saw a play both at the beginning and ending of the show. The play included a dog, a baby, cars and even a bus and a bridge.

When Percy told them his fake story about Mike and Tony, he mentioned about a biker vibe (Daryl) and fish (water/Oceanside/Beth). He also mentions traveling through snow and a storm on an overpass.

He mentions going to Wyoming. This caught our attention because we see mention of Wyoming in the show several times now. It's probably a foreshadow something, but we don't know what. He also mentions seeing a Ferris wheel in Florida.

We learned that Elton was named after Elton John. So that's a singing/music mention.

At one point, Hope mentions Elton taking pictures of worms. Remember that we had a worm theme in regular TWD, both with Daryl eating one in 5x10 and then again with Lydia and Henry. (Check out my worm theory here.)

There are quite a few instances of keys in this episode as well (Key Theory).

Near the end, Iris falls into a garbage can. We could possibly link that to Glenn and his death fake out. One of the walkers that tries to eat her is also wearing a bright yellow shirt.

As I said, we see the play again at the end of the episode and it's actually a super depressing play. Percy and Tony act as though it should be happy and they’re entertaining people to get their minds off the apocalypse, but the play is super dark and sad.

Also, pay attention to the song at the end. It's called here comes the river. I will post all the lyrics down below, but these ones especially caught my attention.

"Here comes the river over the flames

Sometimes you gotta burn to keep the storm away.”

Really, this whole song could be one great big TWD theme, but I’m sure you can see all the TD symbols in it as well.

Here Comes the River by Patrick Watson

The windows turned to fishbowls The city to seas The cars were drowning underneath your feet The children were swimming from the top of the trees Crowds of umbrellas were staring in mis-belief Well Mary kept sewing Holding on to her TV Even if the water was rising past her knees

Now here comes the river Coming on strong And you can't keep your head above these troubled waters

Here comes the river Over the flames Sometimes you got to burn to keep the storm away

Sometimes Sometimes you got to just

Nobody told you it was going to be this hard Something's been building behind your eyes You lost what you hold onto You're losing control There ain't any words in this world That's gonna cure this pain Sometimes it's going to fall down on your shoulders But you're going to stand through it all

Here comes the river Coming on strong But you can't keep your head above these troubled waters

Here comes the river Over the flames Sometimes you got to burn to keep the storm away

Sometimes You got to just

[flannelpunkcalum]

Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat - Chapter 3

last chapter

cw: death but also there’s like a lil hot stuff in the middle to even it out? I realized when writing this chapter and the next one this is gonna be p dark but i guess Aspen got kidnapped and tortured last time so you guys will be fine. i saw a moose today. 

tdwk masterlist

ttlb masterlist

* * *

“I gotta come over for dinner more often.” Aspen said, spooning more spinach on her plate. Spinach. What the fuck was Alfred’s cooking doing to her? She never ate her vegetables. “Actually, I should have you guys over for dinner one of these days so you can truly appreciate what Mr. Pennyworth does for you. A terrible little palate cleanser.” 

“You flatter me, Ms. McMichael.” 

If Aspen didn’t know better, she’d say Alfred was blushing. They were all eating around the kitchen table, feasting on homemade turkey meatballs, spinach, brown rice, and sweet potato, all topped with some kind of sauce that she just wanted to bathe in. It was healthy, sure, but it was good. “I’m telling the truth. I feel like I’ve been trapped in a culinary version of Plato’s allegory of the cave, and I’ve finally left the shadows on the wall behind.” 

“High praise indeed.” 

“Indeed.” She grinned. 

“I think it’s good, too.” Dick piped up. If Aspen looked down, she could see his legs swinging under his chair. When she had come into the manor, he had immediately pulled her over to the kitchen, competing with her to scoop meatballs out of the pan while Alfred wasn’t looking. He’d used any time when he didn’t have his mouth full to tell her about his day at school. Calum hadn’t tried to pull her away; they both knew they could talk about the meeting in depth after dinner and before patrol. The looks he kept giving her out of the corner of his eye made her think he had noticed something was wrong, but for now, especially in front of Dick, they were leaving it be. Aspen was starting to really get attached to her new dysfunctional nuclear family. 

“Thank you, Master Grayson.” Alfred nodded. 

It was moments like this that Aspen regretted letting Calum into her heart. What if things went sour between them and she lost this? The good food, the company, Alfred’s buttoned-up love, Dick’s easy devotion. It was supposed to be better to have love and lost, she knew, but this was the first time she had felt like this in years. If Calum tried to ice her out, she’d lose a family on top of everything. She wanted to believe they were both too mature to let that happen, but sometimes she had trouble having faith in that. 

“Aspen?”

“Hmm?” She looked up to find all three of the boys staring at her. “Sorry, I zoned out.” 

“Dick was asking about how the meeting with the DA went today.” Calum said helpfully. Aspen could see mischief in his eyes - evidently, that bastard was proud of how long he had managed to weasel into her meeting. 

Aspen took a deep breath, collecting herself. “Well,” she said, “after a diplomatic compromise had been reached where your guardian would accompany me to the meeting to say hi, but not - not - insert himself into it, he of course went and did that anyways.”

Calum’s eyebrows furrowed like he was hurt. He wasn’t. She wasn’t going to fall for it - butter wouldn’t melt in his perfect mouth. “Finch invited me in. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

“I dunno how you’ve kept your identity a secret so long, you’re a terrible liar.” Aspen turned to Dick and Alfred, gesturing with her fork as she spoke. “He deliberately used language that would make Finch, who is already eager to please him based on status, feel socially required to invite him in. And then he was smug about it.” 

Cal ducked his head, smiling sheepishly. He liked being caught by her. “I wasn’t that smug.” He said to the rest of the table. 

The implicit confirmation of Aspen’s accusation didn’t go unnoticed by anyone, as far as she could tell. Good. 

“You were smug enough.” Aspen said to him before turning back to Dick. “But the rest of it went fine. We talked about the two trials. They’re probably gonna offer Liam a plea bargain to testify against Falcone, which I’m fine with. It’s whatever. I mean -” she said, realizing that that flippant language showed how much she was bothered, “- I don’t think he’d, like, try to kidnap me again, so it’s something I’m comfortable with.” 

“You look nervous.” Dick said. 

Fuck kids and their openness. Aspen was starting to think that Dick knew he was a cute young man, and was using his innocent look against her. “...I am a little nervous.” She said after a minute. Under the table, Calum’s hand found her knee and squeezed in support. She took a deep breath before continuing. “It’s still kinda fresh, and I found out that some stuff happened while I was knocked out today that I didn’t know about, which is fun to deal with. But from a logical point of view, I know that Liam’s unlikely to do anything criminal with Falcone out of the way, and our best chance to get Falcone out of the way is to use his testimony. So.” She sliced a meatball in half and stuck it in her mouth so she didn’t have to talk about it anymore. 

Calum’s hand left her knee as he leaned in towards her. Aspen mourned the loss of its warmth, but she knew with Dick around the gesture was really risky anyways. “What was it you found out? You didn’t mention anything.” 

Aspen took her time chewing and swallowing. “Um. It’s just - you know what, I’d rather not talk about it at the table. It’s not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, it’s just new, you know?” 

To her surprise, Dick nodded sagely. “I know.” 

“...I guess you all would, huh.” Aspen commented, surveying the table for a moment. There was probably no other group that would understand better than the one she found herself in. She was lucky. Group therapy with catering. “Thanks.” She said, and she meant it. 

“We’re all here for you, Ms. McMichael.” Alfred said, and affection in his voice made Aspen feel close to tears. 

“Alright, alright, don’t make me cry at the table.” Aspen finished the spinach on her plate and laid her cutlery on her plate with the handles together. “Gangin’ up on me, the whole Batfamily, not a merciful bone in your bodies. I don’t know why I bother to come by.” 

Alfred started to gather the plates, but as Aspen stood up to help Calum laid a hand on her arm, stopping her from reaching her water glass. “Come up to my office? I want to know what happened at the meeting after I left.” 

Aspen tried not to get evasive. She knew what that meant. “Sure.” She chirped, drawing her hand back. “Call me for dessert, alright?” She said to Dick as she followed Calum out of the kitchen. He saluted, which she paused in the doorway to return. 

“Aspen?”

“I’m coming.” She said, hurrying to catch up to Calum. Every so often he’d do his fast busy-CEO-with-places-to-be walk again, and she’d have to rush after him like it was her first day all over again. It was rarely a good sign. 

She didn’t try to talk to him on the way to his office. She just followed in his slipstream until the heavy oak door was closed behind them. Before she could sit down in one of the cushy leather armchairs, he grabbed her hand, spinning her around so she was facing him. He held one hand at her jaw and the other at her waist, so she couldn’t move, couldn’t even turn her face away from him. He was going to press her for details, now. Interrogate her. 

“You should have said something sooner.”

Wait, what?

Aspen met Calum’s eyes, startled out of her apprehension. He brushed his thumb over her cheekbone, looking at her...  tenderly. Was this a ruse? Good cop sans bad cop? “I didn’t realize you were that shaken back there.” He continued.

She flexed her shoulder in the tinitest shrug possible. “It didn’t need to get in the way.”

Calum tilted her face in his grip, and she let him. She didn’t struggle as he looked her over, like he was trying to see through her. She wanted to, but she didn’t. “It’s important to me that you feel safe. I could have ended the meeting, I could have gotten you out of there. That’s why I went in the first place, right? Not to bother you. To look after you.” 

Aspen blinked. She hadn’t really thought about it that way. “I didn’t need to end the meeting. I did fine. I mean, sure, I had my moments, but - that’s not important.” She smiled a little. “But thank you.” 

She tried to crane up for a kiss, but Calum’s grip was unyielding. What? “No. Don’t try to distract me. This is important.” He said sternly. 

She sighed, and with his tight grip on her she knew he could feel it. “No, come on, I’m vulnerable. Give me some creature comforts here.” 

“Soon.” Calum said, sliding his arm around her shoulders and tucking her into his side. 

He lead her towards the couch, and once she sat down he adjusted her so her head was resting on his shoulder. “Bossy.” Aspen squirmed, but he only kissed her forehead in response. 

“Tell me about it.” 

Aspen took a deep breath. Exactly what was she gonna say? She could stall by willfully misinterpreting him, that was a start. “Well, I’m gonna be very generous and not wax poetic on you being a control freak, and a-”

“Quit stalling.”

“Fine.” She sighed. Might as well rip off the band-aid. “I didn’t know that Liam had put me in his trunk. I didn’t really think about the logistics of him driving me at all, but I just - learning that he just shoved me in the trunk kind of shook me for a second. So that wasn’t great.” Wait. Maybe she should have resisted his interrogation further. He was the one who had brought that up, not Finch, and realizing that - he’d probably feel like shit. “Like I said, it wasn’t a big deal.” 

This time, it was Aspen who could feel Calum sigh. “I forget you never watched the footage.” He said, by way of apology. 

“It’s fine. I’m especially glad I didn’t, now, but…” Aspen tried to laugh, but Calum didn’t budge. “I got through it fine, I really did. It was just hard to think about for a minute.” 

Calum turned his head to kiss her forehead again. She politely did not take this opportunity to jump his bones and distract him. “I have something else you’ll probably want to know, but you’re not gonna like it.” He didn’t even shift nervously under her, but she could feel tension in him grow. “It’s not that bad.” She said to soothe him. 

Calum laughed at that. “Whenever you say that, I get really nervous.” 

“Fuck off.” She said,but she was smiling bravely. At least they weren’t so distressed now. “You can’t, like, go on the warpath about this, okay?”

“Tell me.” 

Aspen braced herself. “After you left, Finch asked me to go to Blackgate and try to convince Liam to take the plea.” 

Calum didn’t move. 

That was worse than him sighing. Aspen twisted in his grip until he let go of her enough to let her turn sideways and pull herself into his lap, like a heroine on the cover of a romance novel. “I said no, of course, and I told him I wouldn’t tattle so you can’t go ballistic on him the next time you see him, alright?” 

He shook his head. He wasn’t looking at her, now, eyes focused sharp like he was going to set a lampshade on fire with his glare. “I should have stayed.” 

“No, you shouldn’t have. It’s his job to ask, Cal, and this way we know something about him we wouldn’t have otherwise.”

Calum was shifting now, like he was gonna get up and head after Finch right this second. “That he’s a rat bastard who doesn’t deserve to -”

“No, that he’ll do anything to get Falcone charged.” Aspen said. It was her turn to grab his face and make him look at her. His jaw felt like it was throbbing in her hands. “He goes after the big dogs. Maybe he’s a bit, um, obtuse about it, but we can use that.” 

She was right. Calum had to admit that. But now he was avoiding her gaze. She hadn’t seen him mad like that since… one of her stupid escapades, maybe. Somehow it was worse, seeing him all worked up over someone else. 

“I know it’s frustrating to not be able to do anything about it.” She said after a long moment of his silence. “But hey, on the plus side, I’m not lying to you about it.”

Calum snorted despite himself. “I would have found it out.” 

Aspen smiled, and pressed a kiss to his still lips. “No, you wouldn’t have.” 

He didn’t smile back against her lips, but he did bring a hand up to cradle her face. “I wanted to be there so you’d feel comfortable, so this would’t -” He cut himself off, looking at her as softly as he could manage. “Now would be a good time for you to try that distracting thing you do.” 

She could work with that. 

Aspen pushed on his shoulders, and for once Calum fell back easily, twisting so he was lying flat on the couch. She straddled his lap, taking a moment to look at him. On a whim, she tried reaching out and smoothing the wrinkle in his forehead. “You worry about me too much.” She said. 

“I worry about you just enough. Now come on,” he almost whined, reaching up for the back of her head, “get down here.” 

Her lips were on his before his hand could tangle in her hair, and for the third time that day, Aspen kissed him like she wasn’t his secret and they had all the time in the world. He brought his other hand down to her waist, dangerously low, and for a second she wondered if they had time. If they could fall apart together on this leather couch before dessert. They didn’t have the time, she knew that, but with the feeling of his lips on hers and the soft glide of their tongues she almost didn’t care. 

Calum sighed and shifted underneath her, and she lifted one hand from where it was supporting her to cup his face and direct the kiss a little more. Yeah, he was gonna break it off eventually, but she was going to make it as hard for him as possible. In fact… Aspen rocked gently on her knees, drawing herself over Calum’s groin, whimpering into his mouth just a little so he’d know how much she wanted him. Calum moved fast, grabbing her hips with both hands tight enough that she couldn’t do it again. “Don’t,” he warned. “We don’t have time.” 

Aspen made another little sound and rested her forehead against his, relaxing in his grip. Calum didn’t budge. Damn, he saw right through her ruse. “Jus’ wanna feel you,” she whined. 

“So feel me here.” He craned up to kiss her. 

“It’s not enough.” 

Calum sighed so big she could feel his chest rise against hers, then moved his hands to pull her in. One travelled back to the back of her neck, pushing her to nestle her face in the crook of his neck. “We’ll figure something out eventually,” He said. He was so close he only needed to flex his lips to kiss her neck. “But just this for now, okay?” 

“You know you’re only building the anticipation.” Aspen grumbled, squirming a little in his grip until she slipped down on one side of him. Her leg was thrown over his, and if she had been desperate she could have bucked her hips to taste a little friction that way. She wasn’t desperate, though. Not so much, not yet. “It’d be better to let it out in a controlled setting.” She grazed her fingers along his chest, feeling the warmth of his skin under his shirt. “I know you like to be in control.”

Calum caught her hand in one of his, holding it tight enough Aspen barely tried to tug it free before she gave up. “Why don’t you ever behave, then?” 

Aspen kissed his cheek. “You gotta earn it.” 

With that, she rolled away and stood up, leaving Calum on the couch. It was getting dark out now, and she used her reflection in the window to brush her hair back into place. In the slight warping of the glass, she could see Calum stand up behind her and make his way over, wrapping his arms around her waist to hug him into her. 

“Oh, you really are distracted.” 

Calum laughed a little, meeting her eyes in their reflection. “Can you blame me?” He cuddled her closer, and for once Aspen didn’t try to rub herself up against him. She could feel him pressing into her ass, hard enough to feel through their clothes. “You have no idea how much I want to bend you over my desk right now.” He continued, voice dropping low. “You’d be quiet for me, wouldn’t you, baby?” 

Aspen pulled herself out of his grip, face warm, and wheeled around to face him. He was smug, again, smirking back at her as she tried to regain her composure. This wasn’t fair. “Who’s teasing now?”

“I guess you’re rubbing off on me.” Calum grinned. 

“You - fuck off.” She tried to tuck her shirt in, although it hadn’t been before - she needed something to do with her hands. “I would be rubbing off on you right now if you weren’t such a fucking spoilsport.” She grumbled. 

Calum grabbed her hand and squeezed it once before letting it fall back to her side. “Let’s go downstairs, Penny. Dessert’s probably waiting.” 

“Coulda had dessert up here, but no, Calum wants his fuckin’ souffle.” 

He was still pleased with himself behind her, she could hear it in his voice when he said “Call it payback.” 

“For what?” 

As she opened the door, he pulled the knob from her hand so he could hold it for her, and maybe fix himself behind it. “Everything.” 

Aspen laughed, and she was still laughing when she caught sight of Dick coming down the hall. Fuck. She didn’t try to rein her laughter in, that would have just looked suspicious, so she just asked “Is dessert ready?” to signal to Calum that they had an audience. 

“Just about.” Dick said. He waited for them to reach him before they all started down the hall together. Even though she was a little miffed that she couldn’t keep flirting brazenly with Calum, it was nice to have all three of them walking down the hallway, almost like they were in slow motion. Almost like they were a family. Not that she was ready to be a mom to Dick, or anything - fuck, he’d been through enough, she didn’t need to inflict herself on him. 

But she’d stay as long as they asked her to. 

* * *

“I can’t believe you’re allowed to be up this late on a school night.” Aspen grumbled from her place at the control panel. 

“I’ve got all As.” Dick said evenly into his hot chocolate. 

“Yeah, well, when I was your age I had A bedtime.” Dick didn’t reply to that, and it took Aspen all of fifteen seconds of him giving her that serene yet challenging look he did for her to cave. He had almost definitely learned it from Calum. “I’m just fussing because I would have loved to do this when I was your age. I’m, like, retroactively jealous.” 

“Sure.”

Aspen pretended to glare at Dick, which finally got him to crack a smile and break his own facade. “You have whipped cream on your nose.” She lied, just to make him check. 

“Are you two playing nice in there?” 

Calum’s voice came through the comms they both wore, making them both sit up a little more in their chairs. When he was out on patrols, he had the option to tune into their channel or not, as he saw fit. They had the same option back at the cave, but they never really turned his feed down unless he was, like, eating a granola bar on a safe rooftop somewhere. Aspen knew she was powerless if things went sideways, of course, but it made her feel a little bit better. 

“Always.” Aspen said, at the same time that Dick said “No.”

Calum huffed a little under his breath. That was as close as he got to a laugh on these nights. “Alright.” They heard wind brushing past the mouthpiece, a tiny grunt as he settled on some surface. “‘S quiet tonight.”

“Too quiet?” Aspen asked, looking at the little red dot showing where he was in the city. 

“No. Like the last few nights.”

“Do you think it’s because Falcone’s in jail?” Dick pipped up. 

Calum took his sweet time answering. “That, or something’s coming.” 

Aspen rolled her chair over to the police scanner and turned it up a little. She didn’t want to think about that. She was sure she’d be able to handle whatever came her way, and Calum was too, or else she wouldn’t be allowed down here. She poked her tongue into the inside of her cheek, a nervous tick she’d developed when she was getting used to her scar healing on that side. 

She could handle a lot. She just had to remember that. 

“You could go break up a brawl at Amsterdarn.” She suggested after a moment of listening through the static. 

Calum snorted. 

Aspen didn’t blame him. Amsterdarn was one of those flashy mixology bars, which she could only assume was full of designer party drugs and weird things to smoke. Right now, Venom was more of a cheap, dangerous fix for those with nowhere else to turn, so there was nothing there to interest him. Just trust fund kids getting scrappy and giving each other bloody noses. 

As opposed to her trust fund kid, who did almost the same thing but in body armour. 

Whatever. If the GCPD couldn’t handle some rowdy financial analysts, they didn’t deserve to have the Batman risking his neck against the supercriminals out there. 

“I’m going to use this time to monitor a few active targets I’ve had my eye on.” Calum said finally. 

“Man, I’m sorry I’m stuck back here.” Aspen deadpanned. 

Dick laughed, but tried not to. “I’m glad to be here. I’m learning.” 

“Yeah, yeah, boy wonder.” She rolled her eyes. 

“It’s late.” Calum interrupted. “You should go home.”

Aspen had been thinking about it, but now that he had said that she was staying. “I’ll be fine. I only really need to be awake for an hour or two tomorrow, anyways, the only important thing I have planned is that meeting with the hospital.” 

“Oh, no big deal, then.”

“It’s a school night, you can’t talk to me.” Aspen fired back to Dick, and pretended to listen to the police scanner again. Maybe she should make gels tonight. Keep herself busy. She hadn’t had much need to run any DNA analysis gels, other than doing a few test runs and cute science experiments with Dick, but it would be good to be prepared. Shouldn’t make Gotham’s Caped Crusader wait on agar to harden. 

That was pretty much how the night went. Aspen made agar gels to keep herself awake, and Dick drank hot chocolate and monitored the console just in case. After an hour or two of listening to Calum breathe in her ear she looked up and realized the kid had fallen asleep, so she took a moment to go off coms and shepherd him into bed. She wasn’t sure if Alfred was awake or not, but she did feel confident that he’d appear if anything did go sideways so she didn’t mind looking after the cave herself. Just her and the bats, and she liked the bats. 

It was late - one? Two? When the call came through. Well, not call. Calum just said, very suddenly, after an hour of comfortable silence - “Did you hear that?” 

“Hear what?” Aspen’s stomach twisted. 

“Police scanner,” was all Calum said, and Aspen set her erlenmeyer down to hurry over to the little radio box. 

“...car 62-4, could we get a 10-9? Over.”

“10-100 near pier 72 at Port Adams, over.”

“Car 57-2, we’re about eight minutes away, over.”

“10-4 57-2, forensics is on its way. Over and out.” 

Aspen hadn’t memorized the police codes yet. She had a cheat sheet nearby - somewhere - fuck, she couldn’t find it. “What does that mean?” It wasn’t a shooting, it wasn’t a psych patient, a riot was a 10-34… 

“It’s a dead body.” 

Aspen bit her bottom lip. “Oh.” 

“I’m going to check it out. Might be able to get some good information before the CSI team tramples all over it.” 

Now was not the time for Aspen to argue with Calum over his disrespect of her (unknowing) colleagues, so she just nodded, even though he couldn’t see her. She knew a lot of trade went in and out of Port Adams every day, and a lot of it was underground. Cal was probably hoping this body would help him crack into a smuggling ring somehow, and she knew he loved racing the cops on almost every occasion. Aspen was still just getting used to responding to that kind of thing. 

Calum got there first, she could tell from the blip on the screen and his little pant of triumph as it got closer to the docks. “I see it. I’m setting the cowl to photography mode.” He said. 

“Sounds good.” Aspen said, like she was excited to look at pictures of a corpse.

“I’ll upload them to you as I - oh, no. Is he there?” 

Aspen’s stomach twisted. They didn’t use names on the comm, but she knew who he meant. If he didn’t want Dick to see the body, it must have been bad. “No, he went to bed.”

She heard Calum let out a long slow breath. “Good.” Another pause. “Shit.”

Aspen could hear sirens now through Calum’s mic. He had to get out of there before the Bat became a suspect, but before she could remind him the first of the photos uploaded to the console in the Batcave. It was dark, but her eyes didn’t even need a minute to adjust before it hit her like ice cold water - “Oh my god.”

She was a child. 

[phoneboxfairy]

Working Up a Sweat (The Gym Fic!) (smut alert)

Ao3 link - https://archiveofourown.org/works/22405093 (Includes all proper formatting/italics/etc)  Commission for @a-god-of-calamity :)   Magnolia, Fiore, a fair sized city boasting sixty thousand residents, and home to a few notable families. Perhaps the most notable is the Dragneel clan. Unlike other families the Dragneels are not old money. Rather, Igneel, the family patriarch often referred to as The Dragon King, earned their wealth and notability slowly but surely, starting with the purchase of a single hotel a few years before the birth of his son. By the time the son, Natsu, was in middle school that single hotel had transformed into an empire. A second hotel was dedicated in providing luxury accommodations for travelers who otherwise might not have been able to afford it. Eventually the empire grew to include include shelters for families in need and the Dragneel Fund, which provides support to those who need it. But even Igneel the Dragon King cannot live forever, so making sure his heir would be ready to take over became a priority starting right around the same time Natsu entered high school. He made sure the boy had extra lessons on proper business management as well as plenty of first hand experience helping in various positions within the organization. By the time Natsu was twenty five he knew that company like the back of his own hand.  Even the old man was frequently heard praising his son’s skills. But lately...lately it all seemed like it was a bit too much. As much as he loved his family and the company, he desperately sought some sort of an outlet. Natsu tried to work out at his private gym, knowing full well how working out can relieve so much pent-up stress. But his efforts here were fruitless. When he was at home he couldn’t help thinking about work, about the company that led to his family’s wealth. Good thing Magnolia has some pretty awesome gyms. The newest one in town was called Fairy Tail, and already had a reputation for its facilities, classes, and top-of-the-line equipment. One afternoon after a stressful meeting, Natsu made a detour from his usual path home, instead ending up in the gym. He paid for a membership and made his way to the locker room. That’s where he first saw her. Out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of what he immediately described as a smoking hot blonde.  She’s curvy but clearly works out, he thought, judging by the way her sweatpants and tank top hugged her form. Her hair was tied up in a sloppy ponytail, and she had this fierce determined look on her face. What a babe. Wow. He shook his head to clear his mind, turned around… ...and walked right into a locked door. Thwack It didn’t go unnoticed. A few people snickered. But otherwise nobody really seemed to care about Natsu’s silly blunder. He dusted himself off then headed in the direction of the weight room...this time paying attention to where he was walking. As soon as he got to his destination he got right to work pumping iron. For a while that’s all he could think about. Then a voice caught his attention. "Are you alright?" "Hnh?" He looked up and saw her, the babe from earlier. Oh shit, better play it cool. "I...saw you run into that door. I would have stopped but I was running late for my class. I didn’t want my students to miss any yoga time." She was blushing. The rosy tint to her cheek made her look even prettier. "Ohh. That's nothin'. I'm fine. Thanks for asking!" He flashed a smile. Her blush deepened. "You're welcome." Pause. She bit her lip. "I'm Lucy, by the way. Lucy Heartfilia." "Nice to meet ya, Lucy." He recognized the name. She was the heir to the Heartfilia travel company, a group that sent quite a few customers to Dragneel hotels.  Rumor had it she had spent part of her inheritance buying a small bookshop and turning it into what locals referred to as paradise for bookworms. She was also every bit as beautiful as he had heard. "Likewise. You're Natsu Dragneel, right?" "Yeah, that's me. How'd you know?" "I saw your family crest on your hoodie. And I, um, recognized you from the paper." Those publicity pictures don't do him justice at ALL, she thought. To say nothing of how utterly hypnotic it was watching him do dumbbell curls. "Wow, you're beautiful and smart. I like that." “Thanks.” Her smile lit up her face. “So, what brings you to Fairy Tail? Don’t you have a private gym in your mansion?” “Yeah but sometimes you just need to get away, ya know? Escape from everyday life.” “I definitely get that. I should go, though. It’s been a long day and I’m supposed to meet my friends for dinner.” She handed him a folded up scrap of paper, blush setting her cheeks ablaze. “Call me if you want. Or, you know, if you have time.” “A cutie like you? I’ll make time.” A smile that exposed a fang and made Lucy’s heart flutter. “Al...alright! See you later, Natsu.” With that she left, leaving Natsu feeling pretty good about the whole situation. It wasn’t every day you had a meet cute with an absolute babe like Lucy, after all. With her on his mind, he couldn’t help smiling. That first night they shared a few texts. He wasn’t really surprised she didn’t talk much. After all, she did say she was meeting with friends. No way was he going to monopolize her free time like that. He also wasn’t surprised when they met up again a few days later after their respective workouts and immediately began flirting. Natsu was, however, quite surprised when Lucy asked him out. “Do you, um, want to go out sometime?” “Like a date?” Flustered nod. “Sounds good to me. I know! I can take you to dinner Saturday night.” Lucy paused and seemed to contemplate this for a minute. Then she smiled. “I like that idea. If you want I can show you around my bookstore first...” The light in her eyes suggested she wanted to, so why was she acting so shy about it? Well, Natsu wasn’t about to make a beautiful woman feel bad about something she was so clearly passionate about… “Sure!” Another one of his bright smiles. “Text me your address and let me know when you wanna meet up. Don’t keep me waitin’, alright?” Mock sternness. She saw right through his ruse, giggled,  melted his heart. “Wouldn’t dream of it, Mr. Dragneel.” Lucy leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. Natsu’s eyes widened. He sure as hell hadn’t expected that, not so soon anyway. “Is that a hint of things to come?” “Only if you’re good.” Her response left him speechless, eyes wide as he stared at her in admiration of her boldness. She treated him to another cheek kiss, giggled. “See you Saturday night.” With that the pair went their separate ways, both contemplating their upcoming date. Truth be told it was quite an exciting prospect. Neither one were exactly unlucky in love, but all previous relationships seemed to be lacking...something.  Natsu was fed up with women trying to hook up with him in an attempt to score some of the family fortune, and Lucy had had more than enough of men seeing her as nothing more than a smoking hot body and a prolific bank account. Their meeting had been quite fortuitous. Lucy didn’t care how wealthy Natsu was, as she had money of her own. And sure, Natsu thought Lucy was a total babe, but he was also quite enamored with her personality, her sense of humor, and the way her smile made her entire being light up. Sexual attraction was there, sure, but with it was also the possibility of something more, something sweet, something lasting… Natsu sure hoped so, anyway. With these thoughts in his mind, the heir to the Dragneel Fund spent his Saturday morning preparing for this date. Lucy spent hers minding her shop for a bit, although she did close early to make sure she was adequately dolled up for her suitor. “Adequately” was an understatement. She thought she looked beautiful, a perfect mix of relaxed and classy in a black uneven tank top, matching skirt, a white overshirt, cut out leggings, and black boots. Her long hair was tied into two side ponytails, and a light dusting of makeup accented her face. By the awe-struck smile on Natsu’s face when she opened the door, he was pretty impressed too. “Hey, Lucy! Looking good. I feel kinda underdressed.” A gesture at his black dress shirt and jeans. “Don’t feel that way. You look great, Natsu.” Cute blush, beautiful smile. “Come on in. I’ll show you around.” The Celestial Gate was a shop like none he had ever experienced. It had that old book smell that reminded him of his father’s study growing up. Lots of shelves were lined with an endless quantity of books. There was even a cozy little reading area with couches, beanbag chairs, and tables to set snacks on. Now, Natsu didn’t exactly visit a lot of bookstores, preferring to order any needed reading materials online, but somehow he found Lucy’s shop every bit as appealing as its owner.   “I have an idea.” “Hm?” Lucy would never admit it but she had been glancing at him, trying to figure out what he was thinking.“Why don’t we stay here? We can order something to eat and get to know each other.” That look on her face seemed to be a mix of surprise and relief. He suspected, given their similar backgrounds, that she too had had more than her fair share of glitzy, ritzy dates. Here’s the thing about glitzy, ritzy dates: You can’t properly get to know someone on them. Not really. “I’d love that.” “Awesome. Hungry for anything special?” “This is gonna sound weird but...pizza!” She giggled. Natsu grinned. He didn’t think that was weird at all. That’s how Natsu Dragneel and Lucy Heartfilia came to spend their first date sitting together in an oversized beanbag chair she called a fuf, eating pizza and talking about their life experiences. Once the food had been put away he laid back, stretching his arms behind his head. She quirked her head, bit her lip. “Can we cuddle? Is that okay?” “Duh. Go ahead.” A gesture and a smile beckoned her closer. She paused for a moment, smiled, then snuggled next to him. As if on instinct he curled his arms around her. Why not? It felt right to hold her close like this, although he couldn’t explain why. His fingers dared to stroke over the bare skin of her midriff. She didn’t object. In fact, she snuggled closer and let out a content sigh. “So warm...I like this...” “Me too.” He chuckled. He lifted his other hand to her cheek, let his thumb brush over her chin. She gazed up at him, eyes full of curiosity and wonder...with maybe a little anticipation thrown in. She nibbled her bottom lip. His heart melted. So cute, so absolutely beautiful. She looked like she needed a little tenderness, and honestly he was glad to give that to her. That decided, he leaned in, took her by surprise, kissed her. No resistance. That kiss was sweet...but entirely too fast. “Natsu?” “Yeah, Luce?”Luce...I like that... “Kiss me again?”“Alright...” Another softer chuckle. Another kiss, then another. She seemed to melt into his arms, and almost all her inhibitions floated away.Almost.As good as it felt to make out with her, to feel her body against his, Natsu couldn’t help noticing a little hesitation. And undeniable chemistry or not, he wasn’t the type to force someone into something they weren’t comfortable with yet. Especially not Lucy. So he pulled away from the kiss, rested his forehead on hers. Smiled.“That was nice...” “Yeah… we should do it again sometime.” “Definitely.” Here she kissed his cheek. “Thanks for an amazing first date.” “First, huh? That means there’ll be more, right?” “Duh.” She giggled. Natsu waited for Lucy to lock the shop up, then walked with her to her apartment door. They shared a tender kiss with a promise for more, and he watched to make sure she made it inside safely. Then he went home, unable to keep himself from smiling. Maybe an hour passed since Natsu had kissed Lucy goodnight and headed home. He had enough time to hop in the shower, change into comfy pajama pants, and flop on his bed and turn the TV on when his phone buzzed. A message...from Lucy? And a photo at that? It wasn’t exactly a surprise. After all, they had sent each other silly selfies before. So he opened the message, opened the photo file… ...and was treated to an absolutely stunning vision.  There was Lucy in a rather racy lingerie set. Black silk and lace. A pushup bra and a low-rise thong, accompanied by a cheeky message. “New set...you like?” Oh yeah, he liked, alright.He sent back a single word.“Wow.” She didn’t reply right away. That’s when he realized something was, well, amiss. His suspicion was confirmed when her response came through.“Oh my GOD wrong convo. I meant to send that to my bffs. Sorry sorry sorry!” She was mortified. Aw, poor girl... Natsu got an idea.“It’s fine. I like seeing that side of you. Let’s make it even, though.” “...you like it? And what do you mean, make it even?”He leaned back on his bed, grinned, snapped a pic, and sent it to her. “Fair’s fair ;)” At first he wondered if he scared her off, since she didn’t respond. When she did..she was clearly impressed. “Well...that explains why you always wear baggy pants ;)” One message made him blush. How could she be so adorable and sexy all at once? “Duh. ;) Just know you can always be yourself with me, sexy-as-hell selfies and all.” “Thanks, Natsu. I should go to sleep, tho. I can barely keep my eyes open. Talk tomorrow, k?”“Of course. Night, Luce. Sweet dreams.”A kiss emoji was her last message of the night. From that point on, things seemed to change between the two. To be clear it wasn’t a bad change. In fact, Natsu thought it was an improvement. Lucy was becoming more open and flirty with him, whether they were on a date, in the gym, or texting at the end of a long day. They had known each other for a little over a month, and had gotten into a routine. Chat and flirt at the gym on the days Lucy taught her class, go on dates every Saturday. Then Lucy caught Natsu by surprise by sending him spicy little snapshots every night accompanied by the same three word message: “Just for you… * kiss*”   The first night she was wearing an outfit that reminded him of a librarian...well, except for the way her top was unbuttoned to reveal a flash of black lace bra and the curve of her breasts. On another night she was laying down in a silky nightgown that accented her form perfectly.One night he was treated to the sight of his gorgeous girlfriend’s body barely wrapped in a towel, offering him a teasing glimpse of generous underboob and soft freshly washed skin, skin he wanted to kiss and touch more with each passing day. Late Thursday night, she surprised him yet again with a text. “Rough day?” “Yeah. Ugh. Board meetings suck.” “I feel that. Here. Maybe this’ll make you feel better...” Accompanied by a rather large download file. Curious, he clicked it...then realized it wasn’t one pic, but several. The folder was titled “Yoga Fun.” Yeah, he liked the sound of that. There was Lucy in a tight tank top and shorts that hugged that beautiful ass of hers, doing a variety of sexy yoga poses that succeeded in taking his breath away and sending blood straight to his cock. He couldn’t, wouldn’t stop looking at the utterly erotic vision before him. Then his phone buzzed again. “What do you think?” He responded with a pic of his own, showing one hand stroking over the growing bulge in his sweats. Buzz buzz. Another photo file showing her in the bath, her completely bare body covered in nothing but warm water and bubbles. “Mm, yummy. Now to enjoy a nice bath. More tomorrow...” Followed by a wink and a heart. That night Natsu gave in to temptation. He let his imagination wander as he flipped through Lucy’s photos, his fantasies focusing on what he would very much enjoy doing with the voluptuous blonde. At this point the sexual tension between the two was as thick as fog. They were clearly both head over heels for one another, both pretty damn sure they were going to hook up at some point… but the question was, when? The answer turned out to be sooner than either expected. The next night, after some pretty intense flirtation and a goodbye kiss that included him grabbing her sweet little ass in the middle of Fairy Tail’s evening rush, Natsu got a message. “Want to play with me tonight?” The accompanying image made his mouth water. She lay on her back in a rather skimpy ensemble consisting of a cupless bra and low-cut lacy panties. Her free hand, the one not holding the camera, stroked over her bare skin. Her hair was down, flowing freely around her, and there was a sinfully inviting look on her face. There was only one acceptable answer here. “YES.” “Good. What’cha wearing?” For once words failed him and he went for the direct approach, took a hopefully appealing selfie showing off chest and low-hanging sweatpants, and sent it to her. Her response sent his heart racing. “Yummy, but a bit overdressed, yes?” “If you say so...” He paused, flung his sweatpants off, took another pic. “Is that better, babe?” “Getting there. I’ll give you a special treat if you lose the boxers, Dragon Prince.” One single text sent his pulse racing. Was she serious?! Gods, he hoped so… He also didn’t want to keep Lucy waiting, not with such an intriguing promise hanging in the air. So off went the boxers. He grasped his cock and snapped another photo, hoping she would like what he had to offer. By the looks of it, she was quite impressed. “Dragon is right. I’d love to ride that...” Accompanied by a wink. He blushed. For several moments there was silence. Natsu wondered if Lucy had forgotten about this special treat… then his phone buzzed, indicating a received video file… That video file… holy shit, it was hotter than anything he had ever had the privilege of witnessing. Lucy was on her knees on her bed. Her legs were parted, and she ran her hands through her hair. The whole time she was flashing a sexy little smile at the camera. Her hands roamed. They cupped and squeezed her generous tits, and fingers brushed over perky, berry pink nipples. Holy shit she’s fucking perfect… He couldn’t, wouldn’t, take his eyes off of her, slowly pumping his cock as the video continued. Her hands wandered downward, stroking over her tummy and lower. She did a little shimmy dance as she hooked both thumbs into the waistband of those tiny panties, tugged down, exposing silky skin and a bare hint of blonde hair… “Natsu...” Her seductive whisper made his cock twitch. He grasped harder, eagerly anticipating what was next, wanting to see her most intimate regions… ...but the video stopped there. Knowing Lucy, this was deliberate. She did like teasing, after all. He sent her a video of his own, showing her exactly what he thought of her special treat. “More please?” “Of course…*kiss emoji* You know… I think of you when I touch myself…and I feel like playing tonight...” “Oh? I’d like to see that.” “You can if you want...vid chat, maybe?” “Yes please.” The text went through and perhaps a minute later Natsu’s laptop beeped. Incoming video request. He did a flying leap over to his computer desk, perched himself in the chair so he was comfortable and visible to the camera, and accepted the request. There was Lucy, beaming up at him in all her beautiful glory. He could see her a lot clearer now, thanks to the larger screen. Her skin looked so soft, supple, glistening with a fine mist of sweat. “Ready, Natsu?” “You bet,  Lucy. Let’s play.” His voice was dark and low, practically a growl. The sound gave her a sweet chill. Playing with him was going to be fun… “Alright...” Soft giggle. She bit her lip, gazing up at him with those big brown eyes as she tugged her panties off and let them fall to the ground. One hand shifted between her legs, parting her lips so he could see easier. “You like this, Natsu?” A purr as she traced fingers over her clit and those delicate pink folds. “I love it, Lucy...” Definitely a growl as he grasped and pumped. His breath caught in his throat as he watched her pull out a vibrator from under her pillow and gently trace it over her skin, taking the same path her fingers had taken moments before. “Shit...I wish that was me...” “And I wish you were...right... here...” She slipped the toy into her pussy, then let it buzz away as she fucked herself. Her voice got a little higher. She sounded a bit like a video girl when she moaned, except those girls had absolutely nothing on his goddess. “Babe, if I were there you wouldn’t have to play with that damn toy...” “Ohh...really… what, mnn, what would you do to me if you were here?” “Anything you wanted.” Fuck, the thought of really being with her was making his already impressive erection even bigger. “I think I’d lay you on that soft bed of yours, warm your entire body up with my mouth, then take my time pleasuring and fucking you until we were both completely satisfied.” “That sounds like heaven. Mnnn...” The toy was drenched, and he could see her horny juices leaking from her folds as she humped her hips, one hand pinching and tweaking her nipples. “Na...Natsu...” “Go on, Lucy-baby.” He caught a glimpse of her nodding in response. Then she moved the toy up to rub little circles against her clit...and immediately cried out. “Ohh….Natsuuuuuu!” Her entire body trembled in utter ecstasy, all for him. Natsu kept pumping, fueling his own passion with the thought of being buried deep inside her, imagining her milking his cock as she came… “Lu...Lucy….!!!” One last mighty pump brought forth a spattering mess of his seed. Given the circumstances, he couldn’t say he cared. It’d get cleaned up eventually. “That...that was fucking amazing...” “M-hm. It was...” Big happy sigh. “Hey Natsu?” “Yeah?” “I’m gonna hop in the shower. I’ll call you when I get out, alright?” “Alright. Take your time, baby.” A giggle as she blew a kiss, then the screen went blank. She did indeed take her time. He had time to get cleaned up and was loafing on his bed, this goofy happy smile on his face. He had also had time to send a message to the company’s merchandiser requesting that a Dragneel Fund hoodie be sent to a certain bookshop that next morning along with a large bouquet of flowers, which explained part of that goofy smile. Ring Ring They exchanged some sweet talk followed by the comfortable pause of two people very much in love. Then Lucy sighed. “What’s up? Everything’s good with us, right?���“Everything’s wonderful. I was just thinking, that’s all.” “Thinkin’?” “Yeah...” Was it his imagination or did her voice falter here? “I...I think I love you, Natsu. Isn’t that crazy? I mean, we haven’t exactly known each other very long...”“That’s not crazy, Lucy.” His voice was low, soft. He was imagining holding her close as they talked, maybe even running a hand through her hair. “You’re not the type of girl who’d be so open and sexy with someone unless you really cared for ‘em.” “...how do you get me so well?” “Because I love you, duh.” Too late to take the words back now, not like he wanted to. “It’s weird. This whole thing started out as a big physical attraction but the more we’re together, the more I’m around you, the more I realize it’s gotta be love.” Sniffle, sniffle.“Lucy? Are...you crying?” “Y..yeah, a little. Because I’m happy. You...you make me happy...” Siiiigh. Then,  “I... think I have an idea for our next date.” “Alright. What’s that?” “We could meet at your place and have some, um, private gym time. I could show you some yoga moves in person...” Yoga moves...the implication was clear with the tone of her voice. Oh, they were going to get flexible, all right. “I like the sound of that. Same time, right?” “Yeah.” Yawn. “Sorry. I’m about to fall asleep.” “It’s okay. I’ll see ya tomorrow. Sweet dreams, princess.” “Night, Natsu. Love ya.” Click.That was that. Both fell asleep easily, smiling even in slumber. In the blink of an eye it was Saturday afternoon. Natsu got an early start, heading down to his gym to make sure everything was in order an hour before Lucy was due. Then he started lifting weights, pumping iron until the doorbell rang. There she stood, smiling at him in a slightly oversized hoodie and those same shorts she had teased him with the other night. “Hey, beautiful.” “Hi.” Blush. “Where should I put my bag?” “Anywhere’s fine. I’ll get staff to take it up to my room.” “Okay.” She set the overnight bag down, then made a show of unzipping her hoodie. She peeled it off slowly, flashing him a saucy smile as she revealed a skimpy crop top that accented every curve.Damn…“So, ah, how do we start?”“Watch me and follow my lead.” A quick kiss that would have been chaste were it not for Lucy nibbling his lip. Watching her was no problem, not when the sight of her enthralled his senses. He wasn’t great at yoga, but she was more than willing to help. She brushed her hands against him, giving him subtle hints at how to correct his posture. Eventually she started showed him some more complex poses, more for the sake of showing off for him than anything else. Splits, bending over, even a rather suggestive headstand. Then she felt a warm hand stroke up her thigh. Siiiigh. “That feels good...” “Want some more?” “Yes please.” “Whatever you say. Keep posin’.” And pose she did. She did another headstand, starting with her legs straight up but moving into splits. His hands found her ass, squeezed, then adventurous fingers stroked over the front of her shorts. She blushed, exhaled, didn’t protest. She also didn’t tremble at all, no small feat when she was being intimately fondled. Damn him and his amazing hands. Slowly, carefully, she moved her legs straight upward. “Hold still.” “Okay.” Inhale, exhale. She didn’t have to wait long to find out what he was up to. His hands roamed again, this time tugging her shorts upwards and off her legs. “Oh...Naughty boy.” “Don’t pretend you don’t like it.” Dark chuckle, flash of fang. “I like it...and I think you’d like it if I got rid of some of these clothes.” “You know I would. Show me. Please.” “Anything you want, love.” In one smooth motion Lucy got back on her feet. Then she made a show of peeling her top and sports bra off...a show Natsu watched intently. She didn’t break eye contact, not even as her hands roamed and cupped her now bare breasts. He caught a glimpse of her tongue flicking over lips. Holy shit. “Now what?” “Don’t tell me you’re playing innocent, Natsu...” “No, no way.” Here he reached over, cupped her cheek, smiled at her. “I want you, but I want you to have a say in what we do tonight.” “Oh...okay. In that case...” Her eyes brightened and her smile turned mischievous. “Tie me up.” Not a question, none of her usual shyness. He nodded then wrapped some athletic tape around her wrists. Then he took a good long look at her. There she lay, naked except for those little panties. Those would come off soon enough. First he focused on her bare form, leaving kisses and love bites all over her body. He grabbed and kneaded her ass. She squirmed. Good sign. "Hold still.""Okay..." He tugged her panties off, baring the sweet pink treasure between her thighs.And what a treasure. He gazed at her in reverence. One hand stroked over her tiny tuft of soft blonde hair."Damn, Lucy. You're perfect.""Thanks. Don't be shy, though." Eyes heavy, voice low and sensual. He nodded then turned his full attention to lavishing pleasure on her. Fingers traced over her clit with feather soft touches while his other hand parted her lips oh so gently.She smells incredible... Growl. He leaned in and flicked his tongue against her delicate pink folds. She trembled, quietly begging for more."More" was exactly what he wanted to give her. His free hand stroked her thigh then squeezed her ass. Then he treated her to a spank. She moaned and arched her back. So he did it again, his hand leaving a red mark on her peach skin. Her scent changed, and she was definitely getting wetter. “The cute rich girl has a spanking kink, huh?""Mm-hm.""What if I spank you while I'm eating you? That sound good, Lucy?""Why don't you see for yourself?" She winked and giggled...but then his hand met her ass again and the giggle became a moan.He nibbled her clit. His fingers kept her lips parted as he moved again, letting his tongue trace over her slit. She was a hot, delicious mess: squirming, tits heaving, biting her lip as she begged for more. Another spank. She made an absolutely feral sound, which he took as encouragement to go on.Not that he needed encouragement...His tongue slid into her slick folds, lapping up her delicious wetness. He had wanted to taste her ever since they had played together on camera, and reality exceeded his expectations. She was a goddess, and her pussy tasted like heaven. He wanted nothing more than to savor her, to satisfy her over and over...He also wanted to carry her up to his bedroom, pin her down to his bed, and bury himself so deliciously deep inside her...Well, that would happen soon enough. She shifted, draping her long legs over his shoulders, spreading to give him better access. He slipped two fingers into her, fucking her with his hand as he licked and nibbled. He hit a certain spot. She shuddered.“Ahhhh!” Aha!He hit it again, rubbing what had to be her g-spot with increased pressure. "Holy shit Natsu just like that....mnnnnh...yes..." Another nibble, another thrust. Lucy didn’t just moan Natsu’s name. She screamed it as her body was rocked by a glorious orgasm complete with a spray of her juices. Never had he ever made a girl squirt before, but no other girl was quite like his Lucy… he smiled at the thought as he untied her, feeling her soft hands fluff through his hair as he licked her clean. “Thanks for the snack, babe.” “Mmm, and thank you for the orgasm. I’ve never cum so hard in my life, love.” It amazed him how she could go from delicious temptress to sweet girl next door so quickly, but he could honestly say he loved both sides of her. With that decided he pulled her into a kiss, one he hoped conveyed every bit of feeling he had for her, one she was happy to return. “Let’s go to bed.” The softest of whispers yet so sensual. He nodded, picked her up and carried her to his room. He lay her on his bed with another oh so tender kiss. In all his fantasies he had imagined playing as rough with her as possible, taking her with animalistic fervor. Now that she was in his bed...it didn’t seem right. His Lucy deserved to be pleasured, savored, worshiped. And Natsu was very keen on worshiping her. She helped him shuck his sweatpants off and he got right to work. He kissed and nibbled her body, caressed her soft skin, taking in every reaction. She had to be exhausted from their ordeals down in the gym, but you’d never know it. She writhed with each touch, moaning with each caress and kiss. He nibbled her collarbone while his hands explored her breasts. Soft, smooth, full. He squeezed and kneaded, all while suckling the tiny berry of her nipple. Every so often he switched, mostly to devote equal attention to both sides. Then she let out a sound kinda like a whimper. “Want it, baby?” “I...need it. Please, Natsu...” “Alright. Gimme your hand...” Nod. He clasped her hand and braced himself over her. She wrapped both legs around his waist, her way of encouraging him to make the next move. When he pushed his hard cock into her sweet, damp, depths, the euphoria both felt was audible in their moans and sighs. “Nnnnnh, feels so good, Natsu...” Words couldn’t describe the feeling of finally being one with her, of making love to this woman who meant so damn much to him… They moved together, each motion accented with kisses that raised in intensity as passion heightened. Her hands wandered. He wondered absently if there was a rhyme or reason, or if she just wanted to explore his skin with her fingers. Either way it felt incredible. She felt incredible. He paused mid-thrust, towering breathless over his goddess, gazing at her and seeing her gazing back at him, her eyes amber with love light. “Love ya, Lucy.” “And I love you. Now shh.” Delicate fingers traced over his mouth. Her hand slipped to his cheek and pulled him into a kiss. He got the hint right away and resumed pleasuring her.  So warm, so inviting. So perfect. Minutes...hours...how long did they spend together that night, entwined in passion? Neither cared about time. Being together was all that mattered. Once passion reached its peak and the waves of bliss subsided they lay together kissing and cuddling. They only paused, reluctantly, when Natsu got up claiming a need to pee...which ended up taking longer than Lucy expected. He came back, scooped her up and carried her to the bathroom, settling her into the warm waters of a bath. Then he got in with her and treated her to a kiss. Later on, dried off and cuddling in bed, Lucy grabbed her phone and took a selfie. Natsu quirked his head at her.“For memories.” “Ohh. We’ll have plenty of those.” He kissed her and she knew he meant it. This beautiful night was just the beginning... (Epilogue coming as soon as I can get it written :) )

[thescatterbrainedwriter]

Movie Night

Wanting to spend more time with Emily but having no real reason, he settles on a movie night to explore the different ways they differ between Earths

Word count: 5,400

Pairing: cannon x oc

Warning: fluff everywhere

**Note: at this point in time, no one on team Flash know Estrata’s real name. Estrata = Emily. Also, Emily is my own creation. I just like sticking her in random things ��� Enjoy! 🥔🎨

——

It was a mostly quiet day in Central City, Emily had been wandering around S.T.A.R Labs and gotten bored so she had resorted to tinkering in Cisco’s lab on a device of her own making when her earpiece chimed alerting her to an incoming call. “Hello~” she greeted in a semi-singsongy voice, “you’ve reached the interstellar traveler, how might I help thee?”

“Uh, hi,” the greeting choked out. “It’s Harrison.”

Emily smiled. “Hey Harry, to what do I owe this pleasure?” She giggled to herself when she heard him clear his throat.

“Well, uh, it’s been a few weeks since your— your last visit to, uh, to Earth 2,” he fumbled, “and, well, Jessie. Well, not really Jessie, but yes I suppose her too. Anyway, Jessie and me, I— we, were wondering—“

“Harry,” she interrupted, “Haaarryyyy,”

“What?” He asked abruptly having been pulled from his train of disorganized thoughts. Emily chuckled going back to concentrate on her project. “Breathe, take a second, compile your thoughts and then speak. Take all the time you need, I’m not going anywhere.” She heard him exhale, then inhale, and paused for a few seconds before starting again. “Seeing as it’s been a while since you were last here, I was wondering if you would be interested in a movie night. Here. With me.” She paused still tinkering as she pondered the proposition. “Well, I can’t remember the last time I had a movie night,” she said after thinking it over. “Sounds like fun, sure!” She swore she could hear a smile cross his face upon hearing her answer.

“Uh, great! That’s great, uhmm...” he paused and she heard shuffling on the other end. “H—how about tomorrow. Night. Tomorrow night at say 7?”

“Sure, sounds good to me,” she said. “I’ll make sure to let everyone know I’ll be unavailable for the evening.”

“Ok, good. Good. I’ll see you then, then.”

“Hey wait,” she called before he could hang up. “Should I bring anything? Like a snack or drinks?”

“No no, I have that covered. Just bring yourself.”

“Aaaand the dress code?”

“What do you mean ‘dress code’?” He asked confused. “Should I wear something comfy or is this a fancy affair?” she asked with an amused smile.

“Oh, oh that,” he said in realization.

“Yes, that,” she replied with a giggle.

“Comfortable should be fine.”

“Alright, oversized shirt and maybe pants then. Got it.” She smiled to herself mentally planning out her night. “See you tomorrow night.”

“Yes, yes. Tomorrow night.” Harrison confirmed to himself. “See you tomorrow night.” Harrison hung up leaving Emily smiling to herself and continued tinkering well into the late afternoon.

————

The next day went smooth though was disappointing given no leads in finding a way to stop Cicada leaving everyone rather frustrated. As 7 drew near Emily started getting antsy with anticipation and nervousness.

“Are you ok?” Cisco asked noticing her knee near constantly bouncing as she stared at the clock.

“Hmm? Oh, yeah, I’m fine. Why?” She asked pulled from her concentration.

“Your knee has been bouncing nonstop for the past half hour, that’s why.” Her knee stopped as she stared like a deer in headlights trying to think if an excuse. “Uhhhhh yeah. No, I do that sometimes when I’ve been sitting too long, that’s all. My mom does the same, family trait who knew?”

“I call malarky on that,” Cisco dismissed. “You’re impatient for something.”

“Mmmmnnooooooo.....?”

“Yeeaaahhhhh,” Frost chimes in. “You’re avoiding eye contact and drawing out words. And I can clearly see your veins pulsing in your neck with your raised heart rate and accompanying blood pressure.” Emily stayed silent drawing a blank on what to say next, panic flared for a moment as Barry, Iris and Ralph eyed her waiting for an answer before she decided to give up the ruse. “Alright fine. I have....a movie date. Well, not really a date, least I don’t *think* it’s a date, but I won’t be here tonight.”

“Oooohhhhhh,” Nora teased. “Is it Harry again?” Emily blushed diverting her gaze to the nearby wall. “......Maybe....” she muttered.

“Well this is getting kinda serious,” Cisco joined in. “This is what, second date this month not including calls?”

“Most of those calls were from Jessie,” Emily defended. “Only a few were initiated by me with the sole purpose of checking in on things. Harry kinda just, took over from the background. And she came with us to coffee and karaoke so that doesn’t count as a date. Besides, pretty sure she’ll be there for the movies too.”

“And where are the movies taking place?” Ralph asked skeptically. She drew another blank as she realized they never discussed location. “Uhhhhh actually I....didn’t..... hmmm. Didn’t catch that part, so I have no idea.” Ralph smirked throwing a glance over at Barry. “No location means it’s probably at his place,” he said. Emily swore her heart stopped dead with that realization, why didn’t she realize that was a possibility? “Ah, right,” she choked out. “Makes sense now that I think about it.”

“Don’t worry,” Barry reassured. “Harry’s a responsible guy. You’ll be fine.”

“Make sure you both behave though,” Cisco added cheekily. Emily made a face and Iris smacked his shoulder. “Be nice,” she scolded. “Anyway, what time was this Movie Night supposed to happen?”

“Seven tonight,” Emily said looking back at the clock before realizing how late it was already. “Crap! It’s already 6:30! I gotta go get ready!” She jumped up and hurried to the doorway out of the Cortex. “Get ready how?” Ralph asked teasingly.

“You’re crazy if you think I’m telling you any more about tonight,” she said wrinkling her nose.

“I’ve been called worse,” Ralph replied with a sly grin. Emily rolled her eyes before disappearing around the corner toward her accommodations to change. She had the perfect oversized forest green long-sleeved shirt and a pair of worn out jeans in mind wasting no time to get them on. Once she was sure she had everything she needed she made her way back to the cortex to find Cisco for a breach. On her way she received a message from Harry; coordinates and what looked like the numbers to a house address. Her heart skipped a beat again but she gathered her resolve. “Hey Cisco,” she called. “Think you could breach me to these coords on Earth 2?”

“Yeah sure,” he replied. “Anything for my boy Harry,” he smirked.

“I am turning my relay off when I get there just so you know,” she said hitting his shoulder. “I don’t need you asking thousands of questions and pestering me.” Cisco smiled cheekily raising an eyebrow. “Really, that’s it,” Emily defended. “No other reason. Nothing.”

“Mhmm.” Cisco hummed.

“I’m serious!” Emily said flustered. “I mean it.”

“Just be safe, alright,” he teased. Emily smacked the back of his head having had enough. “Hey hey,” he said swatting her hand away. “Who’s the one you need to get you there?” She sighed. “I’m sorry, alright? Just, please stop.” Cisco smirked. “Ok alright. I guess I’ve tortured you enough.” She breathed a sigh of relief as he opened a breach to the coordinates she was sent. “I’ll tell him you said hi at least,” she said with a smile before stepping through. He smiled back and waved as the breach closed leaving her on Earth 2 for the night.

Taking a breath she looked around to figure out where she was. *Uugh, this reminds me of going over someone’s house for the first time back in high school,* she thought to herself suddenly very nervous. Despite the time she was surprised how much light there was still hanging in the sky. Gaining her bearings she realized this house was very similar to the one Harrison Wells on Earth 1 originally had, though it leaned heavily toward 1920’s aesthetics. Double checking the address number she confirmed she was in the right place and tentatively approached the door. Pausing she stared at the large double metal doors, hand hanging in the air poised to knock but unable to do so. Taking a breath she knocked three times, too late to turn back now and cancel plans. Just enough time passed to let her wonder why in the world she was so nervous when the doors opened. To her surprise is was Jessie. “Oh, hey Es,” she greeted with a smile.

“Hey Jessie.” Emily replied forcing a smile.

“My dad is in the kitchen making popcorn. Come on in,” Jessie said stepping aside. Emily smiled walking into the spacious foyer and looked around as she took her shoes off. “He’s been buzzing around almost all day getting ready. ‘What do you normally eat for movie snacks?’, ‘what should we watch?’, ‘would a sweater vest be too much?’, ‘do you think she wants water or something sugary to drink?’, ‘is wine inappropriate?’. Just, questions all day.” She laughed. “I can’t remember the last time he was so, so...”

“Nervous?” Emily asked.

“Happily excited,” Jessie corrected. “Kinda reminds me of when you ask your crush out and they unexpectedly say yes or something.” Emily pursed her lips at the chosen comparison and glanced over. “Anyway, I hope he doesn’t get too much out of hand tonight,” she said pulling on a jacket and shoes.

“Wait, you’re not staying?” Emily asked nervously.

“Nope, I have plans with friends tonight so you two have the whole house to yourselves,” she smiled. Emily’s heart skipped a beat and she was sure her eyes would pop out of her head. Just as she was to respond Harry came out of the kitchen and smiled seeing her. “Ah, good, you found it ok,” he said happily as he strode over. “You sure you don’t want to stay Jessie?”

“No, no I’m sure. You two have fun though,” she smiled again a little wider. “Later, dad. Bye, Es.” She wiggled her eyebrows at Emily before leaving out the two doors behind her. Emily took a shaky breath staring at the door. *It’s just movies,* she assured herself. *Just movies, just movies...*

“So, I was going to pick out a movie,” Harry said heading toward the living room. “But I realized I have no idea what you like. So I decided to wait until you got here.” He placed the bowl of popcorn on the coffee table as Emily turned around rather stiffly and started toward him. “Harry, I can guarantee I haven’t seen any of your movies before.”

“R-right, different Earths,” he said mid realization.

“Technically, different multiverse altogether, but yeah. Different Earths,” she smiled sitting on the couch and crossing her legs. “Cisco says hi by the way. You really should touch base with him more often.”

“Ah, right. I’ve been meaning to do that. Anyway, pick a genre. I doubt you want to watch documentaries or scientific history.”

“Actually, my Earth had a few really fascinating nature documentaries. I loved the one about the deep dark oceans but I though the one about the animals was amazing. I never realized there were so many bugs in just the amazon.” Harry smiled as she trailed off. “Sooooo, documentary then?”

“Hmmmm, how ‘bout Science Fiction? Got anything about aliens?” she asked moving from the couch to kneel next to him. He shifted so she could better see the list of movies though she could tell the close proximity made him nervous. She smiled to herself as she leaned over the table and propped her head up with a hand. Harry cleared his throat. “Uh, I don’t. I don’t think we have, that kind of, o-of movie. I don’t think we have that one. No.”

“Lemme see,” she said scooting a bit closer. “What’s this one about?” she asked pointing to a video disk.

“Eyuh, that’s, uh. That’s, actually let me see,” he picked it up and looked it over. “I think this is an alien movie. Must be one of Jessies.” Emily took it from him and read the summary. “Looks like, alien sharks fight back against scientists who want to study them. They’re highly intelligent and even more deadly. Huh.” She held the disk in front of her face so only her eyes could be seen. “Aliens and animals, sounds like a winner to me.”

Harry smiled an awkward smile. “Are you sure? We have, uhm,” he rifled through the different disks and pulled out a random one. “A garden that holds dark secrets- no wait, not that one. A documentary on Howard Crane.” Emily raised an eyebrow. “No? Ok then how about— a trio of adventurers trying to find a lost city?”

“You mean like Indiana Jones and Nathan Drake?” she asked reaching for the disk. “Kinda like that one too.”

“I....don’t know who those people are,” he responded rather lost. “But sure, I guess?”

“Oh wait! Is that a dragon??” She reached for yet another resorting to just laying over the coffee table to better access the disks. “Dragons are so cool, they’re my mom’s go to fantasy creature. She’s even tried writing some dragon related stories.” She turned and showed him the disk. “I like this one too.”

He smiled again. “Ok, so three winners. What one should we put in first.” Emily sat back on her knees and thought for a minute. “Alien sharks first. That way if it’s bad, we have two others to watch instead.”

“What if they’re all bad?” Harry asked.

“How can they be all bad, you still have them?”

“Good point. Alien sharks it is,” he said and snatched the disk away from her to put it on. Emily hopped back up to the couch and settled in again. Harry sat next to her and started the movie when he remember the drinks. “Oh, I almost forgot about refreshments!” He went to move but Emily stopped him. “I got it,” she said getting up. “They on the table?”

“Yeah, I wasn’t sure what kind of, uh, soda you liked so I got a few different ones.” Emily came back with a glass bottle for two different kinds, one looked like a cola and the other a kind of orangette. “Which do you prefer?” she asked holding up the two. He paused and she could tell he had to stop himself from saying something else when he pointed to the cola looking one. “Th-that, uh that one. Please.” She raised and eyebrow amused before handing him the drink and plopping down again. He reached for the popcorn but she floated it over to them with a smile. “I told you, I got it.” He smiled nervously taking the bowl and started the movie.

Popcorn orbited her head and would stop every time she hyper focused on the movie. Harry thought it was funny whenever this happened because she would always lean forward a little, sometimes she would reflexively grab his nearby knee and make him jump. He eventually found himself paying more attention to her than the movie, not that alien sharks were in his interests in the first place. When the movie ended she made a face. “What’s that for?” He asked sitting up.

“Kinda.....kinda fell flat at the end,” she lamented.

“How so?” He asked turning to face her.

“Super intelligent alien sharks, super intelligent scientists, intellectual stand off, and they just agree to part ways after most of the scientists are eaten? What?!” Emily complained while gesturing wildly accidentally flinging some of her orbiting popcorn. “It’s so dumb!”

Harry chuckled. “It’s alien sharks, what were you expecting?”

“I dunno!” She slumped in her seat and sighed. “Well anyway, good thing we watched that one first.” She spun to face him crossing her legs and holding up the other two disks. “So, which one next?”

“You seemed pretty excited about the dragon one so how about that?”

Emily smiled wide, Harry thought he could even see a glow, before saying ok and float-rolling herself over to the player to pop out the other disk. Harry grabbed the now mostly empty bowl to make more popcorn and grab more sodas. She was still fidgeting with the player when he returned bringing a smirk to his face and a chuckle from his mouth. “Do you need help?” He asked observing her upside down position.

“No no, I think... Ah ha! I got it!” She declared switching out the movies and flipping herself right side up again. “Whoa, dizzy.” Harry was sat on the couch again with a fresh bowl of popcorn still piping hot and two more bottles of soda. He held one out for her as she floated back over and plopped on the couch again. “Thank you,” she said with a smile before popping the top off.

“Ready?”

“Yesss!”

Harry smiled and pressed play, hand already digging into the popcorn and Emily nestled further into the cushions sipping her soda. They were both pretty fixated on this one, though Emily found herself observing Harry a few times. Many times throughout the movie he would stop chewing his snack, have his hand in limbo mid bite or sip while totally engrossed in the movie. She found it amusing as he didn’t seem like the fantasy type and he had a tendency to leave his mouth hanging open. She even noted a little sparkle in his eyes whenever the dragon came on screen. Smiling she leaned on him a little and went back to enjoying the movie. When the movie ended they both sat quietly for a moment. “Wow, dragons are awesome,” Harry commented.

“Right?!” Emily asked enthusiastically turning her head to face him. “Can you imagine if they were able to exist?”

“I don’t think it’s scientifically or even biologically possible,” Harry responded dampening the mood a bit.

“Well, large reptiles have existed before,” Emily mused. “So, theoretically they could exist. Maybe not on a huge scale but given enough large mammals like cows, sheep, goats, to more exotic things like Elephants and hippos, a small community of large sized dragons could live.”

Harry smiled listening to her rattle on. “And by large size you mean?”

“Maybe nothing much bigger than a bus, possibly a little smaller.”

“Sounds reasonable, but how would you be able to explain their fire breath?”

“Many popular theories have it as a chemical reaction, kind of like some species of insect. And there’s the spitting cobra that can spit quite a few feet away. Scale that up a lot and voila! Dragon breath!”

Harry chucked rather impressed. “Seems you’ve put a lot of thought into this.”

“Not really, not just me anyway,” she replied with a stretch. “That’s mostly stuff I’ve read others come up with or have seen in movies or read in books. Like this one movie, a big bad aggressive male dragon took over a city and toward the end of it you get a really good shot of his mouth open before he breathes fire. Looked like gasoline to be honest.” Her arms hung lazily behind her over the couch back as she looked at him with a smile, eyes becoming a bit heavy with impending sleep. Harry stared for a moment before clearing his throat and standing up. “So, next movie then?” Emily nodded before jumping up. “Oh wait! I have to pee. What door is the bathroom?”

Harry laughed being caught off guard. “Down the hall, second door to your left. Light switch to the right.” Emily nodded before hurrying off down the dark hall sliding to a stop in front of the door. Harry smiled again as he switched the movies and then went to get a glass of water. As he was walking back Emily crashed into his back sending the glass flying out of his hand and threatened to spill everywhere. Reaching her arms around him in a half hug she caught the glass and water mid air with a field having subconsciously pressed herself into his back. “Did I catch it?” She asked peering around him. Harry was frozen, not only from the surprise impact and impending glass shattering sound that never came but the petite frame currently right up against him. “Y-yeah, yeah. You, uh. You got it. Got it all actually.” he assured fighting to speak.

Sliding out from behind him she put the water back in the cup and held it gingerly as she turned around to return it. “Sorry,” she apologized. “I didn’t see you in the dark.” He leaned against the nearby counter and waved dismissively. “No, no, no, it’s...it’s fine.” He reached for the glass keeping his eyes turned away and hurried toward the couch cup in hand. Emily cocked her head to the side pausing for a second before following and taking her seat.

The further into the movie they got the more sleepy Emily became, and the more she found herself leaning on Harry. He didn’t seem to mind, rather shifting position subtly to make his shoulder a bit more comfortable. After probably the 70th yawn, Emily couldn’t keep her eyes open and quickly found herself sound asleep.

——

Early the next morning Harry stirred awake. Groggily he looked around having heard someone in the kitchen. *Probably Estrata,* he thought as he stretched with a deep sigh. As his brain continued to wake he realized there was a weight on his side, and something rather warm. Lifting an arm so he could focus on what it was he realized it was Emily; sleeping soundly with one arm draped around his waist and her head on his chest. Instantly his grogginess left him as soon as it registered what the weight was. Due to his stretching Emily stirred, breathing a deep sigh she snuggled into him a little more causing his heart to skip. He smiled once the mild panic subsided and leaned his head back, closed his eyes and attempted to fall asleep again when he heard footsteps. Lifting his head he was greeted by Jessie, who was looking rather amused at the scene. “Morning, dad,” she smirked.

“Jessie!” he near yelped. “I— we— it’s not—“

“Long night?”

“Yes. But not, like that— we found three movies. Did you buy an alien shark movie?”

“What? No, stop deflecting.”

“I’m not!”

The voices and squirming from Harry caused Emily to stir again. Another deep sigh and a stretch, Emily started to wake up. Rubbing her eyes she squinted one open and saw Jessie standing near by. “Oh, hey Jessie,” she said mid yawn. “You have fun.....last night....?”

“Yeah, yeah I did,” she smirked again. “Looks like you two did as well.”

“Hmmm...?” Emily turned to see what she thought was a pillow was in fact Harry. He smiled with an embarrassed chuckle and Emily instantly shook off her drowsiness shoving herself away in surprise and landed at the other end if the couch. “Oh! Oh, I’m sorry. Woah too fast...”

“Wow, you are really warm,” Harry commented sitting up a little.

“Thank my mom,” Emily replied trying to stop her head spinning. “She does the same thing, we turn into space heaters in the winter. Oof...”

“Now, if you two are done cuddling, I made breakfast.” Jessie teased leaving the room. Emily and Harry just looked at each other heavy with embarrassment and laughed nervously. “Should weee.....?” she asked pointing toward the kitchen.

“Yeah, yup,” Harry agreed quickly standing. He ran his fingers through his hair as he shuffled out leaving Emily on the couch. She groaned rubbing her face before getting up and following him, how would she possibly write this off? She paused nervously in the doorway before taking her seat, Harry and her looking at each other sheepishly.

“Soooo, what did you guys watch last night?” Jessie asked placing a few plates on the table.

“Alien sharks,” Harry replied eating the pancakes Jessie had served.

“Giant dragon,” Emily added.

“Treasure explorers,” Harry continued.

“Stay up late?” Jessie asked attempting to get a conversation going.

“Mhmm, kinda,” Emily said picking up a glass of water. “Somewhere around 2 I think.”

Sighing frustratedly Jessie suddenly had an idea. “Sooooo, you guys kiss yet?” She asked sitting up straight and donning a sly smirk. Emily choked on her drink at the unexpected question spraying water all over the floor next to her coughing loudly. “Jessie!” Harry scolded setting his silverware down with a clank.

“What, I was just asking!” Jessie replied trying to sound innocent. “You guys were cuddling and make eyes at each other all the time so I had to know.”

“Aaaugh, my sinuses. They burn!” Emily whined. “I’ll be right back, excuse me,” she said making her way to the bathroom while Harry continued to glare at Jessie. Disappearing into the bathroom to get the rest of the water out of her sinuses and dry herself off, she took the opportunity to take a deep breath and calm her nerves. *Most definitely wasn’t expecting this rout to play out,* she said to herself. A few more breaths and she was just about to leave the room when her earpiece chimed for an incoming call. Letting out a surprised yelp she paused before answering. “Hello?”

“Heeeeey~” the voice on the other end crooned. “How was movie night?”

Emily sighed in relieved recognition. “Hey Cisco, movie night was alright. Found a total of three movies to watch. You would have liked the treasure hunter one, it was kinda like Indiana Jones. Least I think it was, fell asleep toward the beginning of it.”

“Ah, classic Indiana,” he agreed. “I didn’t realize harry was into that.”

“He really likes dragons too,” Emily informed with a smile. “His eyes would light up every time it came on screen.”

“Staring into his eyes were you?”

“It, was an observation, Cisco,” she defended.

“Riiiiigght,” he replied in disbelief.

“Why did you call me?” Emily asked annoyed.

“Need your help with a meta,” he replied matter-of-factly. “So give Harry a goodbye kiss and come back soon as possible, alright?”

“Ugh, shut up,” Emily responded still annoyed. “I’ll be there in a few.” She hung up and exited the bathroom before abruptly stopping having nearly collided with someone. “Wha— proximity,” she said in surprise before looking up. “Oh, Harry, hey.”

“Are you, alright?” He asked a bit concerned.

“Yeah, why?”

“I heard you yelp and got worried.”

“Oh, yeah, no I’m ok. That was just Cisco,” she responded dismissively. “They, need my help. Back home— back at the lab on Earth 1, for a meta.”

“Ah, I see,” Harry lamented.

“Mhmm,” Emily responded still looking at him and he looked back puzzled. “I uh, I kinda....need you to— to open a breach. Back to, the, lab....”

“Oh, OH! Oh right,” Harry recognized.

“Mhmm, yup,” Emily nodded.

“I’ll go, get a....jacket.....” Harry said before walking briskly away.

“Probably a, good idea...” Emily trailed behind him before placing her face in her palm and muttering ‘ugh God’ under her breath. Harry disappeared around a corner to pause, closing his eyes he huffed tilting his head back. He pursed his lips replaying the last minute and kicked himself before grabbing a jacket and meeting her back in the kitchen. Emily was in the middle of saying goodbye to Jessie, who was trying in vain to get her to stay, when he appeared again. She turned to face him with a smile. “Ready?”

“Yup,” he responded kissing Jessie goodbye. “I’ll be back.”

“Uh, ok,” Jessie responded half waving farewell as the both left. She smiled when she noticed Harry placed his arm around Emily ushering her out.

They both sat in relative silence as they rode to Earth 2’s S.T.A.R. Labs and it continued on their way to the breach room. They stood awkwardly in the elevator as it descended, Emily trying to muster up the nerve to say something, anything, but was unable to. She could tell by how the silence was hanging thick around them that Harry wanted to say something too but was also unable to. I may just be reading things wrong, she thought. Maybe he’s just uncomfortable, he did take his wife’s passing hard. Ugh, what did I do? What do I do? She was so distracted she didn’t notice when the elevator stopped and opened.

“Estrata,” Harry called.

“Hmm? Oh, sorry. Was lost in thought,” she said snapping to attention. “Coming.” She briskly walked by him and toward the breach room avoiding eye contact and keeping her head down. Harry followed her curiously noting her change in behavior and took larger steps to keep up with her. Once he caught up with her, he found her standing on the opposite side of the breach platform and the operating terminal. She seemed tense, distracted and overall set on getting back. He wanted to ask what was wrong but didn’t know what to say and so did the only thing he could think of walking over to the terminal. “It’ll take a minute to open a breach,” he stated starting the process. Emily nodded as her mind began to wander and she stared off into space. Harry kept glancing at her wondering about her behavior and hoping she would at least look at him. She didn’t move much until the breach was created and stabilized opting to stare aimlessly ahead of her.

“Hey,” Harry called as she made her way toward the swirling portal. “Everything alright with you?” Emily turned making eye contact for the first time since they left his house. She forced a smile and nodded. “Yeah, yeah I’m fine.”

“Nooo, no you’re not,” he challenged. “You’re tense, avoiding eye contact, unusually quiet. What’s bothering you?” He slowly walked toward her until he was a few feet away from her holding eye contact the entire time. She looked up, eyes softening and she looked like she wanted to say something but shook her head instead. “Nothing, really. Just....thinking. That’s all.”

He squinted clearly not believing her answer completely but nodded deciding not to press further. “Ok.” He turned and walked back to the platform, Emily fought the desire to explain herself but turned away believing it better to just leave. What would she say anyway? “Hey, Estrata,” Harry called again from the top of the platform stairs causing her to face him once more. “I uh, I really enjoyed your company last night.” He smiled down at her. “We should do that again. Soon.”

Emily returned the smile and nodded. “Next time though, call me Emily.”

Harry’s face dropped in disbelief at the reveal of her name. She smiled a little wider placing her pointer finger to her lips with a wink before leaving through the breach. When it closed, Harry was left standing alone in bewilderment for a while before smiling and sauntering out the room.

As soon as she arrived back on Earth 1, Emily headed up to the cortex. “Hey, I’m back. What’s up?”

“Heeeyyy, welcome back,” Cisco said turning his chair around.

“So how did it go?” Frost asked.

“C’mon Frost, a lady doesn’t kiss and tell,” Ralph cut in. “Wait, did you? Kiss I mean.”

“If I did, I can’t say,” Emily teased. “Isn’t that the rule?”

“You totally did, didn’t you!” Ralph near accused. Emily just smiled innocently making a zipper motion over her mouth and then pretended to throw the key. He smirked with a sigh knowing full well this was a mystery he wouldn’t solve. “So,” Emily turned toward Cisco, “what are we dealing with on this lovely day?”

Barry walked into the room before he could respond. “We have a potential hit on some of Cicadas activities. We could use you for support should things go really off the rails.”

“I have full confidence in your abilities,” Emily replied. “But I am honored that you think I can help.”

“You obviously have strengths that can come in handy, even if we don’t make use of them often you are a valued member of the team.”

“Alright alright, you’re gonna make me emotional,” Emily said brushing off the compliments and making everyone chuckle. “Lets get this lead investigated so we can worry about other things, yeah?” Everyone murmured agreement and she smiled, she finally felt she belonged and cared deeply for everyone. As much as she wanted to find Cicada though, couldn’t wait for the next movie night. Until next time, she thought to herself before returning to the team. Next time.

————————••••••••————————

~Fin~

[wheremytwinwatches]

[Where My Twin Watches]: Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood Episode 12

Episode 12 - “One is All, All is One” We open with whoawhoawhoa it’s Beardy from the intro. Papa Elric? Do we finally get backstory on Absent Dad this episode?

Beardy doesn’t look happy about something. And Ed wakes up in shock. More points towards it being Papa Elric, and also it not being the healthiest of families. But hey, this is anime, good luck finding any Protagonist families without Drama. Al says they’re almost at Dublith, asks if Ed was having a bad dream. Then stays oddly quiet when Ed says it was about ‘him’. Jeez, what’s with this guy? In town, both boys are very unenthusiastic about seeing Teacher again. And now the screens suddenly shaking, the door creaks open ominously gah bloody knife what the Oh dear. A very very big man has just stepped outside. Seriously, this guy looks like he could give Armstrong himself a run for his money. [Ed]: “Um… hello, Sig.” [Al]: “Long time no see.” Ah, a butcher! Got it. He’s rather chill about seeing the Elrics after so long, just patting them on the head and commenting on how they’ve grown (and can I just say how it’s adorable for the Giant Fanged Suit of Armor to be happy about having his head rubbed? Daw.) Sig pokes his head through a window, tells “Izumi” that the “Elric Shrimps” have come for a visit, she puts down an Alchemy book and says that she’s feeling a little better today. You’re right Al, that doesn’t sound good. What’s wrong with Teacher? Oh. Oh dear. Ed just got done kicked in the face across the street. I believe I have a good read on Teach, now.

To menacing music, McKickyFace steps outside, looking down on Ed with shadowed face and glowing red eyes. [McKickyFace]: “Hello, my stupid pupil! I hear you’ve become one of the military’s dogs!” And then the creaky door betrays Al’s hiding spot, she turns… and Al’s cuteness factor is unstoppable, McKickyFace instantly transforms to Izumi, commenting on how Al has grown. Aw, that’s nope never mind just a ruse to easily throw Al to the dirt. Jeez, for someone “not feeling well” you’re tossing these chumps around like ah that’s blood. No Teach, I don’t think you’re “perfectly fine.” Sig tells her not to exert herself and oh they’re married. One, that’s adorable, and two, ok that explains why they went to Sig. But above all else that’s adorable. Also funny how their love is so overpowering that Ed’s just standing there unnerved, getting bumped in the head by floating hearts. Inside, the four are sitting around a table, the conversation as typical being about the Philosopher’s Stone. Teacher doesn’t know much about it though, says it doesn’t hold much interest for her. Why’s that, do you know the secret or just have that much faith in your own abilities? Sig contributes that there was one guy in Central who knew about it. A guy called Hohenheim? Whoa Ed what’s wrong? And Al, do you recognize it too? Ah, image of Beardy! Teacher asks why the reaction to the name, Al confirms that it is indeed Papa Elric. Who “ran out” on them when they were little? Damnit man, why do you have to perpetuate the trope of Absent Anime Father? Flashback! Mama and Papa Elric are standing at the door, Baby!Ed and Baby!Al happened to be up early in the morning. Mama’s of course all over her children, but Papa Elric… just glares down at Ed, that’s the only description I can use for that look. Then he turns without a word, and walks out the door. ...seriously? Dude, dick move. So Mama Elric did say later that Papa left, but not with any finality. Then we get various scenes of Mama Elric and the Babies being cute, until… Mama Elric collapsed on the floor. Back in the present, with Ed still lost in Flashback-Land, Ed asks if Papa Elric had said anything about the Stone. Teacher says it was something about a life-long dream coming true. Even happy when he said it. Then she gets up, punches Ed out his sulk, and says that they’re going to eat.

At the dinner, Sig offers Al some food… uh oh. Have the Brother’s really not explained about Al’s state? Wow, really subtle attempt to change the subject to the last episode there Ed. I can tell Sig’s not buying it, he just looks to Izumi drinking her tea. Another flashback? A big storm in their hometown, the young Elrics are looking down with the other townsfolk as men try to keep a sandbag barrier holding against a flood. The wall’s breaking, everyone’s pulling back- except for Teacher, who’s striding past them as the epic string music picks up. With a clap of her hands (ooh, so Ed picked up on not using TCs from her!), she earthbends a bunch of walls up to hold back the river. And then Sweetie Sig walks over with an umbrella as she turns to the crowd. Who don’t recognize her? Ah right, a passerby, she lives in Dublith after all. And then she vomits blood again. Oh dear. Ah, so the boys were too short to see the blood this first time, all they saw was someone being Awesome and Saving The Town. So of course they run up and ask her to be their teacher. Buuut maybe don’t call her “Old Lady”. She refuses at first, she doesn’t teach and she’s just passing through, but when she’s told that they two boys clinging to her arm are orphans? [Pretty Lady]: “How am I supposed to say no to that?” And now for the first lesson: apparently, getting dropped off on an island and left to fend for themselves. Without any alchemy, even. Lady, I have to question your teaching methods.

Titledrop! “One is all… and all is one.” They have- one month?! Good Leto woman, you’re leaving them on their own for a freaking month? Yeah, the boy’s aren’t doing too well their first night. Trying (and failing) to sleep on some palm leaves, stomach’s rumbling. A lesson in wilderness survivalism, then? Ad-break picture of Sig and Izumi looking ready for a fight, shows last name of ‘Curtis’. So what’s their story? Sig seems to be working away as a butcher, a proper butcher unlike a certain Pudgy we’ve met before. But what about Izumi? Where did she get her training, and learn how to do non-TC Alchemy? Aaand where the first picture was of them looking tough, the second is of Big Tough Sig fanning his blood-spitting wife. Lady, maybe you should get that looked at. Oh, show’s answering my question already, apparently they work the butcher shop together. Sig’s wondering if they’re doing alright, Izumi stands by her lesson as being the best way to learn the essentials of alchemy. The same way she was taught, even. Casual throw of sharpened knife to Sig who does a two-finger catch (making me wonder if he has any training?), Big Butcher says he’s more concerned about their lives being in danger. Izumi scoffs, saying her training began with fighting bears for a whole month in the mountains. In winter, no less! ...couldn’t help but notice that you look a bit older that the Elrics in that picture, Izumi. On the island itself, the Brothers have just caught a rabbit in a snare! However, it leaves them with a live rabbit, so they’ll have to kill it themse- Oh that is just not fair. Rabbit’s going full Cute Anime Mode to avoid being dinner. The Brothers are playing Hot Potato with the knife to avoid using it. Until a passing fox takes advantage of the easy meal, and runs off with the rabbit. But look! The fox took the rabbit to feed its cubs! Aw, that’s sweet. Then the cubs start eating, and the Brother’s quickly decide to try fish instead. Yep, kinda hard to fish without rods. Maybe you can carve a spear? Or just build a lean-to, and go without food for a few more days. Yeesh, Ed’s not doing too well. Had a moment where he hallucinated Al as food and chomped, and now is alternating between nomming on ants and screaming about how gross they are. Oh, turning point! Ed’s talking about how he’s alive because he ate the ants. Um, no? I seriously doubt those few bugs gave you enough calories to make up for a few days foodless. Or rather it’s a metaphorical thing, how Ed’s alive because he consumed life. And then I guess he resolves that if he’s going to eat life to live, and by Leto he’s going to be at the top of the food chain! Cue montage of the Brothers going all Lord of the Flies, fashioning tools, chasing down a rabbit and killing it before a passing fox this time, starting a fire. They even get to the point that they toss some cooked food to the fox cubs in passing. Finally, it’s the night before Teacher’s to come back. Al asks Ed if he’s figured out what she meant by “One is all, and all is one.” Ed confirms that after he ate the ants, he thought his body feeding the ants, going to earth and becoming grass that the rabbits would eat... ...if I wasn’t doing a Professor Moody theme this episode, this would be a perfect spot for a Lion King gif. So yeah, Ed thought about the food chain. But also the island, how long ago it was under water, and thousands of years from now it could be the top of a mountain. It’s an “all things are connected” lesson, how in the span of the cosmos even our Main Characters are smaller than ants are to them. Test time! Teacher arrives and asks for their answer. [Al]: “All is one!” [Ed]: “And one is me!” Teacher… bursts out laughing? But she accepts the answer, and says the real training starts now. Now in Dublith, Teach is casually reading a cookbook while she lectures about TCs as the basis of Alchemy and absently spars with the Brothers. Sick moves lady, her technique seems to be all about deflecting and redirecting their attacks. That’s Judo, I think? Reviewing the lesson, Al calls her out on not using TCs when she casts, they ask how she does it. Teacher says something cryptic about herself being the matrix, that it might be something they learn if they see the truth. Wait… truth, or ‘Truth’? And yup, Ed wakes up with a realization: Teacher has seen the truth too. The next day, the Brothers are meeting with Teacher in the front yard, presumably to ask her. But she suddenly Alchemizes a spear from the wall, strikes out at Ed who has to TC-less change his arm to a blade in defense. That, on top of Al being armor and Ed missing two limbs confirms it for her: Edward’s seen it too. Which begs the question: how did Izumi see the Truth? Did she try Human Transmutation too? Yep, she did. And the rebound struck her… stomach. And in the center… Ah. That’s who she was trying to bring back. Izumi confirms the sad tale, why she committed the taboo. And when she says that it must have been awful for them, the Elrics adopt their customary bravado about it. ‘Not a big deal’, Al’s got his list of stuff to do, ect ect... [Izumi]: “You darling little idiots. It’s ok to hurt.” ... [Ed]: “Forgive us.” [Al]: “We’re so sorry, Teacher.” [Ed]: “Please forgive us.” [Al]: “We’re so sorry.” [Ed]: “Please forgive us.” [Al]: “We’re so sorry.” Flashback to the island, the young brothers expounding on living being the deconstruction and reconstruction of old life to new life [Ed]: “Alchemy is part of that flow. And the flow is life itself.” End-credits. Oof. Started out as a mostly amusing episode, was mostly looking for details on Absent Papa Elric. But nope, Brotherhood continues to be brutal to my emotions.

[tellywoodtrash]

khkt 27.08.19 lb

ugh starting itself with rohan/pari???? no. absolutely not. fuckkkkkkkk offffffffffffff.

lol ofc nishi is one of those women who picks hangry arguments with her husband about the chand not coming out.

yk ne rohit ka bhanda phod diya. the only thing he asked of you was to not let anyone know he was at the kewalramanis! (oh and also pretend to be his gay partner from hereon, but there seemed to be no secrecy around that.) 

akash is back to being a goddamn pain in the butt.

also he kinda looks like a menacing lump of upma today. the kind i don't like, with tons of veggies in it.

"propose"???? could you ppl calm your fucking tits, my god. at this rate you’ll be picking out names for the babies by next week.

snort. ofc.

"officially"???? abhi se grahpravesh karvaayenge kya uska?????

oh boy. thodaaaa zyaada hi suhaagan. she looks right out of a karwachauth mahaepisode.

rohit is right in his distress. yeh kyaaaaa hai???

(but also, he slipped in a compliment about how nice she was looking at the kewalramanis!)

literally what the hell, sona? SHAGUN?!?!?!?!?! you didn't even wanna do this whole drama in the first place for more than one night and now you're here with shagun??????????? oyyyy veyyyyy.

"main sonakshi se pyaar karta hoon! parvati se nahi."

lol packup karwa diya shagun waale bechaaro ka.

simple aur classy. we have an idea of dr. sippy's aesthetics now. (and it seems to be the exact opposite of how every woman in his family dresses.)

she can't change all this without sunita. but why fear when dr. sippy is here!!!!

ASLKJDFDLSKJFLKSJFKS ROHIT, GIVE A BITCH SOME WARNING. AND I MEAN ME, NOT SONA, BUT I’M SURE SHE WOULD HAVE APPRECIATED A HEADS-UP TOO, BEFORE YOU PLANTED YOUR LIPS RIGHT UP ON HER NECK.

HNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNG.

"tum jaao, mujhe change karna hai."

"nahi."

sksksksksksk whut, dr. sippy kuch zyaada hi involve ho rahe ho is drame mein?

(but also, i feel like he spoke out of impulse, and then came up with what followed as a cover up?)

all an elaborate ruse to get her to open her hair! *deeeeeep happy sighhhhhhhhhh*

btw, sona is a little tooooooo obliging haan? khud bhagwan bhi neeche aake tell me to wash my hair on a day it's not scheduled, and i'd tell him the most adamant NO. and my hair is muchhhhh shorter than hers.

alsdkjalsdkjlasd he’s gawking at her to ‘ek ladki ko dekha toh aisa laga....’ DR. SIPPY, YOU A GONERRRRRRR.

he can't talk!!!!!!!!!!!! his mouth is moving, but there’s nothing coming out!!!!!!!!!!!!! he's literally speechless!!!!!!!! rohit sippy, who has a wiseass remark for EVERYTHING, cannot muster up the words!

YAS BOY, YOU GIVE MY QUEEN THE RESPECT AND APPRECIATION SHE DESERVES!!!!!!!!!

his voice legit got deeper when he said "sonakshi" and i died 3 times and came back to life. oufffffffffff.

yes, love my girl! love her good!!!!

ouff nishi. why such a regina george?

veena and tanya to the rescue.

waise tanya is perfectly adorable. wtf is rohan’s problem????? fucking loser.

(un)intended parallel that the moon appeared as soon as sonakshi did?

lmao buckle up rohit, it's going to be a long night of these stinkfaces.

ohhhhhh boy, isse pooja bhi karwayenge. it's her first visit you guys, can you stop overwhelming her like this????

lol stinkface #2 and 3 in quick succession.

ugh nishiiiiiiiii.

god i love veena for not buying into that apshagun nonsense and overreacting. *kisses her hands*

stinkface #4. god, fuck you rohit; majaaaal hai jo tum kuch bhi karo, yun commentary pass karne ke alaava.

yk Knows. i honestly love him. i think he’s in the ajit/veena tier for me in fav characters after ronakshi.

ok it was cute at first, but now it's bordering on annoying on how vimmi keeps referring to sona as "parvati". like the worshiping and all can still be funny, but come on, call her by her real name!

ajit is so rudra singh oberoi, unwilling to give up claim to bhaiyya to new bhaabi (even one that he himself chose!)

blah blah blah blah.

yeah this tradition i can get behind. feeding each other, nom nom nom.

lol vimmi made bharwa karela specially for sona.

ok this karela looks more burnt than bharwa though.

"meri baari hai na?" hahahaha mauka pe chauka.

the family's faces!!!!!!!1

lol what a brat.

nosy chachu ko sonakshi ki bhi saari info chahiye.

omg vimmi shush!

god, she's so damn wholesome.

oh great everyone's making weird faces at the 10th grade padhai thing.

rohit's reassuring blink is all she needs though.

naren asking the real questions; “tumhe rohit kaise pasand aa gaya??”; coz queen, you can honestly do so much better.

ajit adding some science waala funda about opposites attract and all. as if he had NOTHING to do with all this. 

passive aggressive papad crumbling/eating as a warning.

ugh rohan tumhe main sau chaantein na lagaoon? chup raho pls. beghairat.

mummy wholeheartedly approves of sona. aur kyaaaaaaa chahiye?

oh right, bua ka bhi approval. sigh, we are desi, afterall. kuladevata se lekar watchman/maali tak ka NOC chahiye hota hai yahaan pe shaadi karne ke liye.

———————————————————————

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh boy. raima is in mumbai. aaaand rohit might have come upon her?

ugh, i'm not ready for this yetttttttttt. let her go be in chandigarh for a while, during which my ronakshi can get a little closer!!!!! i need angst, proper angst whenever this raima track actually does come up!

[thebibliomancer]

Dark Crystal Age of Resistance ep 6 liveblog

"By Gelfling Hand...”

Huh. I fell off the watching wagon in September. Thats a long time. I’ve probably forgotten all the proper nouns.

Just a stream of thoughts.

So last time in Age of Resistance people finally dreamfast and the age of resisting finally starts. I can’t wait for the Gelfling Rey to show up and stop the one-note Kylan.

Rian has been captured, transferred from one Skeksis to another, and escapes after deciding that he’s not going to escape.

The All-Maudra is dead, long live All-Mauldra Seladon. 

Wonder what will happen now, me too.

Deet, Hup, and Brea are under arrest. And now the General wants to drink them.

“These Gelfling have just the vigor we’re looking for. Throw them in. And their little podling too.”

C’mon, Var. Geez. C’mon. Geez. He’s tall for his age.

The only good thing about Skeksis deciding to drink you is that the crystal is all the way back at the castle and they’re not going to want to hurt you or else lessen the vigor.

I’m looking at that jail cell wheel and the gaps are totally big enough for Brea to get out of if she just tries.

Oh hey, Lore senses Brea in need and is leaving his chamber by the magic of bending over to fit through the doorway.

And coincidentally, Rian, Gurjin, Naia, and probably Kylan are all here and saw Brea et al get captured so now they’re going to have an exciting chase scene to try to save them.

-Seladon looking at throne like ‘oh shit oh fuck what have i done-

Pfft she sits on the throne just when Lore decides he wants to leave his horribly hidden chamber and bursts through it like the Kool-Ade Man

OH YEAH

Seladon didn’t even get to enjoy the throne in a conflicted way for more than five seconds. That’s amazing.

Ritual Master: “VAR GEEZ C’MON WHY DID YOU KILL THAT GELFLING GEEZ VAR GEEZ”

General: “The Emperor is forgiving”

Ritual Master: -sass- “Of course! If there’s one quality our Emperor is known for, it’s mercy.”

I never thought that the Ritual Master would be the voice of reason among the Skeksis but hot damn, I’m loving his tone.

Rian standing in the middle of the road like some kind of badass.

But the Rian ruse is a distraction.

Rian: “I heard you were looking for me”

General: ‘this fucking guy’

Rian: ‘Why don’t you come out and say that to my face’

Oh the General is just going to run Rian over with the cart. You can’t accuse him of not being pragmatic.

Ritual Master: ‘I DON’T LIKE ANY OF THIS!’

The rest of the team can’t get the back of the wheel cage open but thankfully Lore out of nowhere.

Lore Out of Nowhere is going to be the name of my band that just turns exposition dumps into songs. Once I learn how to sing, play an instrument, songwrite, or organize groups.

The Skeksis don’t know what Lore is but they’re both appalled and disgusted.

Huh. There are other Gelfling in the wheel cage instead of just protagonists. The paladins that the Skeksis were gathering for the ‘war.’ One can only imagine what they’re making of this.

Lore: -rips the wheel cage door off-

General: -squeaking a little in dismay- “My carriage!”

Oh the paladins are escaping too. I don’t know that they know whats even going on.

Ritual Master: -pokes head at cart to shake his fist and tell the kids to get off his lawn-

Lore: -stomps towards menacingly-

General: “We should escape without delay!”

Ritual Master: -sass- “At long last, you’ve had a good idea!”

And they swerve around Rian instead of running him over because he’s still just standing in the middle of the road like an idiot. Mighty courteous of the Skeksis or the pillbugs to not vehicular gelflingslaughter him.

Brea gives Rian a hug so Deet gives him a longer, lingering hug.

Pls no love triangle. Pls.

Paladins still not know shit start hubbubbing about how Rian is a traitor and a murderer.

Brea: ‘Nuh uh!’

Rian: “Everything the Skeksis ever told us was a lie. But its hard to recognize the light when you’ve spent your whole life in the dark.”

So clearly you should all get- yup Rian is like lets do a huge dreamfast circle.

And hey, good idea! He says afterwards they should spread throughout Thra dreamfasting with all gelfling to share the truth. 

Paladin: “I will dreamfast with you!”

Another Paladin: “I will dreamfast with you!”

A third Paladin: “I’m Spartacus and so’s my wife!”

Oh, cool. Funeral for the Dead-Maudra. There’s a cool sounding tradition for the death of the All-Maudra. “The windsifters will deliver six pieces of her crown to six Maudras that they might come together to reassemble it and place it upon the brow of the new All-Maudra.”

That’s pretty neat. A ritual to restate the unity of the Gelfling clans and publicly endorse the new All-Maudra as legitimate.

I have a feeling that its not going to go to Seladon’s liking though.

Woo gelfling song. 

Oh the windsifters are like. Batbirds.

I had been thinking that they were like a type of gelfling job, like couriers or something.

More gelfling beastmastery is nice too though.

Seladon: “Gelfling need an All-Maudra who won’t be swayed from the path set for us by the Lords of the Crystal. A beacon of light in these dark times. I shall be that All-Maudra.”

The, uh, librarian guy says that they should get around to the burial rites and return the Dead-Maudra to Thra but Seladon is going Creon from Antigone and saying that her mom isn’t going to get burial rites because she was a traitor. She is going to be cremated instead.

This is sure to endear Seladon to the Gelfling people who thought the All-Maudra was neat despite all evidence.

Librarian guy: “FOR SHAME!”

Seladon: “For Thra.”

Oh shit the Chamberlain limps into the Stone-in-Wood village after surviving that carriage crash last time and yells at everyone to bring him water and good and just generally do stuff for him. But the Gelfling all just kind of awkwardly shut their doors and ignore him.

And also throw stuff at him.

-Gelfling closes door-

Chamberlain: “I see you! I SEE YOU!”

Chamberlain: “How could you? I protect you! YOU OWE ME!”

Aw shit again, news of the Skeksis drinking people has spread here already and the Gelflings have no patience for Skeksis anymore.

And since Chamberlain keeps hanging around screaming instead of leaving, they start throwing rocks and fruit and possibly poo until he runs away.

Hey remember how you let Rian get away, Chamberlain? You goofed. You done goofed.

Scroll-Keeper: “The General and the Ritual Master have returned. ...Without the promised volunteers.”

Ornamentalist: -laughing- “The Emperor won’t liiiiike that!”

Scroll-Keeper: -chuckling- “No.”

-both start cackling-

I love how shitty the Skeksis are to each other. 

Some of the promised volunteers that escaped somehow made it back to the castle BEFORE the General and Ritual Master and have been spreading the truth.

Oh, hm. So you can dreamfast with someone. But you can’t then dreamfast the memories you saw in a dreamfast. So the escaped tribute basically has to go ‘yeah but just trust me, I saw what I saw in the psychic vision with the guy who is supposedly has brain sick’

But a lot of things are added up. 

The death of Mira. The weird sudden calling for volunteers. The death of the All-Maudra. 

A guard: “Yes! Spread the word and gather arms. We take this castle this very night!”

I cherish your optimism, guy.

It’d be a huge blow against the Skeksis but it feels doomed to fail. Plus one of the guards wasn’t as enthusiastic about the idea as the others and is probably going to snitch.

Oh dang I was ready to say that none of the new landscapes really match up to the bubblegloop swamp from the movie but the sweeping view of the Crystal Desert was pretty beautiful, if not as lively.

Kylan, I think: “They say the sands never stop shifting. Crossing the desert on foot will be as easy as walking on water.”

That’s that good shit.

Naia: “Must you complain about everything?”

Gurjin: “Its not my fault that everything is terrible.”

I appreciate you, Gurjin.

Uh oh. It seems like everything has finally hit Brea and she’s having a melancholy moment.

Brea: “I keep thinking that if I turn my head fast enough, I’ll see my mother’s face. Or if I listen hard enough, I’ll hear her voice. .. But I won’t.”

Brea: “I should be there to bury her!” Ooooof. Bad news there, Brea.

Deet suggests that they do their own ceremony there and Brea says that would help.

Deet: “Thats what friends do. They help.”

Brea: -sad hug, sobs- “You’re a true friend!”

Aww.

(Support Conversation rank A. After the time skip, they will be married)

Archer Ur Ru carefully rolling up stuff in a leaf for eats.

Aughra: “LONG NECK THERE YOU ARE”

Archer: -spills his entire lunch, sighs-

So Aughra’s problem is that she understands the situation now and all the pieces on the board but not how everything is going to end. There are many possible outcomes and she’s got to try for the best one.

I’ll say that two gelflings left finally healing the crystal cannot have been the Golden Ending. Maybe try harder, Aughra.

Archer: -seeing where she’s going with this- “And where does my path lead?”

Aughra: “Into the sands to face the Hunter”

Archer: … -sighs- “I cannot defeat my dark half”

Aughra: “You will find a way. But not without sacrifice.”

Holy shit Aughra are you telling him to kill himself? That’s kinda dark.

I mean, Skeksis and Ur Ru are quantum linked or whatev. Archer could just. Injure himself to the point that the Hunter can’t leap and gambol about the treetops anymore. Or ask Aughra to.

Aughra: “Get a move on. You Mystics are not known for your swift speed.”

Geez, Aughra. You dump a task like this on a guy and then call him a slowpoke.

Archer: “Will we meet again?”

Aughra: -hesitates for like a minute- “Some things even Aughra cannot see.”

Archer: -sighs harder-

And then she’s off to Stone-in-the-Wood to prevent a terrible mistake apparently. Hope it wasn’t throwing produce at Chamberlain because ship sailed.

Rian: “Life and death are a circle… not a line. There is no end, no beginning. Today, our beloved All-Maudra has returned to Thra. Though we cannot be there to guide her essence home… we will sing her memory across the wind. I will bind your words into a dream-stitch. All those who find this seed will know her as you did. Speak for the dead. Share your best memory that we may all know her goodness.”

I don’t have snark. This is just a beautiful ritual.

Now Rian is having feelings about his dad.

Like I get he’s feeling like his father actually loved him because he died for him but. C’mon. I feel like we’re sweeping the bad parenting under the rug.

“I love you. Get out of bed.” Wow. The All-Maudra was something.

‘When I looked at her eyes as the light faded out of them I realized that ‘I love you’ actually meant ‘I love you’’

Hup is a good singer.

Rian, why are you and Deet staring at each other longingly across a funeral fire?

Seladon: “I loved you with all I had” -sets her mom’s body on fire- “I’m sorry it was not enough.”

Mm. This is some contrast. In rites.

Oh the dream-stitch is just like flying off into the sky. That’s neat. 

OH THE MUTINY IS NOT GOING WELL AT ALL

Gourmand: “I hope you taste better than you fight”

GOD DAMN

Okay the Stonewood Maudra Fara has shown up to Ha’ra. 

oh geeez

Maudra Fara revered the All-Maudra so hearing she was killed going against the Skeksis makes her go ‘cool imma avenge her’

Also, this: Maudra Fara: “Several of your paladins are travelling the land telling a different story.”

Seladon is handling this as a reasonable individual. 

Fara: “You speak madness”

Seladon: “I SPEAK… as the All-Maudra.”

Chamberlain comes home and finds the castle in shambles. And Skeksis freely peeing and farting on everything. 

Seems like they just go full slob when they don’t have to put on a good face for the Gelflings.

Chamberlain is pretty disgusted at how gross things have gotten since he’s been gone but he perks up when he thinks he’ll be able to curry favor with the Emperor.

But nope. The big wild party is still going on and the Skeksis are binging on essence and foods. So the Emperor is feeling pretty good.

Gourmand: “Don’t worry, we kept the podlings.”

Chamberlain has to be a buzzkill.

Chamberlain: “I bring terrible news! Cease all merrymaking!”

Emperor: “I see you standing there but no Rian. What do you have to say before I punish you for your continued FAILURE?”

Shouldn’t’ve interrupted his hedonism, Sil.

Chamberlain: -had fruits thrown at him-

Chamberlain: “I faced grave danger!”

Chamberlain tries to argue that hey the open and rising revolt by gelfling clans is a Bad Thing Actually but the Emperor is feeling too buzzed.

-everybody laughs in Chamberlain’s face-

Emperor: “The General set us free! Never again will the Skeksis have to bear the burden of pretending to care for these useless Gelfling.

But who will make your food or- oh right, they’re going to enslave the podlings.

General: ‘HEY I HAVE AN IDEA LETS DRINK ALL THE STONEWOOD’

Everyone: ‘WOO THE PARTY NEVER STOPS’

And then they make fun of how much the Chamberlain stinks because he had fruit thrown at him.

They’ve been peeing on the furnishing and they tell Chamberlain to go take a bath.

I’d feel bad for him but y’know.

OH SHIT TAVRA, THE COOL SISTER

OH SHIT SHE HASN’T HEARD ABOUT HER MOM

Tavra: “Then she died doing what she had to do. What she always did. Protecting Gelfling”

Ehhhhh, speak well of the dead I guess.

Ok so i guess the rest of the Maudra have shown up. Except Maudra of the Grot who just sent the piece of crown back. Its just too bright up there.

So the Grot, the Vapra, the Spriton, the Sifa, the Dousan all support Seladon’s inauguration but the Stonewood and Drenchen withhold. 

This has apparently never happened.

Fara: “The All-Maudra has not always been a Vapra”

Fara: “A war is coming and Seladon is not the one to lead us”

Yup thought something adjacent to this would happen.

Seladon: “It was my mother’s crown. It belongs to me!”

Fara: “I would have followed her into a nest of spitters, but not you!”

gasp 

Fara: “I challenge Seladon for the Living Crown”

Oh snap

“We cannot challenge the Skeksis!”

Fara: “They are few, we are many.”

The dramatic irony here is palpable. 

Seladon: “Maudra Fara has invoked a challenge. It is her right to choose the nature”

Fara: “Trial by air”

-gasps-

A Maudra: “Tests and trials are the Skeksis ways, not ours!”

Apparently Seleadon is a contender being smart and careful but Fara is pretty confident.

Fara: “I will take no pleasure in besting you…. Childling.”

Wow Fara gonna condescend on top of it all. 

And back to the desert. 

The Dousan! The desert gelfling! Apparently they barely leave the desert and are forbidden from being castle guards for some reason!

He seems fun.

Dousan Guy: “To the great All. May the dead become one with Thra again. May we feel their tears in the rain. And their warmth in the suns. Though they are gone, they remain with us still.”

Brea: “That was beautiful.”

Dousan Guy: “But a trifle compared to your emotion.”

Oh they got the dream-stitch thing. 

Ah. Reky’yr. Sandmaster. 

Rek’yr is a smooth guy. He’s giving Brea a bone protection charm and offering to carry the group across the desert.

He’s the most helpful Gelfling they’ve met so far.

Oh. Until they mention they’re going to a place considered a cursed ruin and then he gets cold feet.

But Brea shames him into it by calling him a coward.

Brea: “You don’t trust Rek’yr?”

Rian: “Well for starters. He’s a Dousan.” Wow. Ok. Racist. “They’re obsessed with death!”

Brea: “They’re not obsessed.”

Rian: “HE GAVE YOU BONES”

I really hope Rian is proven wrong in his kneejerk suspicion. 

And then Naia, Gurjin, and Kylan peace out to join the spreading the news group of the plot. They recognize that they’re secondary cast and there’s no room for them in this subplot.

BOLD GURJIN! THANK YOU RIAN YOU’VE DONE SOMETHING GOOD AND GIVEN HIM HIS ADJECTIVE!

Hunter: -spots the party on the flying thing- “So. The hunt continues.”

Okay so trial by air is like a flying race. And everyone telling Fara not to be afraid of Seladon because she’s just a child makes me think that its not going to be so easy.

And that Fara is going to be for a rude awakening.

Oh god. Seladon is late to the challenge because she’s been dressing Extra Extra. Like a Skeksis.

I really can’t overemphasize how Aesthetic Seladon has suddenly become. 

And then she’s like ‘hey fara take the crown i don’t even want it its nasty’

Fara: ‘u wot m8’

Seladon: ‘Its cool i made a cooler, gother crown. Its much cooler.’

Fara is mighty pissed at this but Seladon just grabs her and throws her across the room and breaks the Living Crown with her.

Seladon: “Gelfling turning on Gelfling. We stand on the brink of anarchy. Bow before me, Maudra Fara. And together we will prove our loyalty to the Skeksis and snuff this fire before it burns us all.”

Fara: “As you burned your own mother.”

Damn Fara is good at burning Seladon.

And Seladon can only go ‘yeah well gtfo my city’

You know I was wondering how the trial by air would be portrayed. Flying gelfling is well within the special effects that they’ve already shown but a race would be different. But Seladon decided ‘screw that actually’

Ah well.

And then Fara and the Drenchan Maudra peace out.

And the other Maudras are like ‘geez Seladon geez’

Seladon: “And what will you three choose. Order or chaos?”

A Maudra: “This is not the gelfling way!”

Seladon: “It. Is. Now.”

Oh you three are going to bow? You cowards.

This is the Age of Resistance, not the Age of Follow Seladon She Has Some Good Ideas.

Well I thought that the clans were in revolt but it seems mostly just the Drenchen and the Stonewood. And standing alone against the Skeksis and the other clans is not going to go well for them. 

In general, the feeling ‘oh we should definitely trust our autocratic overlords they know whats best’ has been panning out really bad.