#and Donna’s whole wife and son?

[stephaniejuhnay]

I’m rewatching OMITB season 1 again and I feel like there are a bunch of clues abt season 4. Im adding screenshots of convos I’ve been having bc I don’t feel like typing again. But my theory is that there are multiple folks involved in Sazz’s death. Someone from production, someone in the building. Spoilers under the cut.

[ravennaortiz]

The guys reactions to accidently hurting you- SONS Version

Chibs- "You broke my toes" you stated as the nurse wheeled you out of x-ray. "All of them. Our wedding is tomorrow Filip you continued in a monotone voice. Chibs cringed as he took in what you were saying. "I'm sorry kitten. I only meant to surprise you with my dance moves....I should have taken my boots off" he apologized as he knelt next to you and kissed your hand.

Halfsack- He has apologized a half dozen times as he presses the bag of frozen peas to your left cheek. He had only wanted to show you some self defense techniques like you had asked. He had not expected you to step forward when he swung at you while he was explaining how to duck. The sound of his fist hitting your soft skin almost made him vomit as the scene replayed for him. "I took that hit well I think" you murmured as you wiped away the last remaining tears making him snort. "You did cry less than most of people I hit" he joked as he kissed your forehead.

Happy- "So sorry baby girl" murmured Happy as he fed you ice cream in bed. "Its okay. Was an accident" you replied as you offered him a sincere smile. Your tough biker had taken your injury harder than you. The ribbing from the rets of the club had not helped either. "Should have explained the kickback better. Hell should not have let you try that gun. No need. Just thought you looked hot with it in your hands" ranted Happy before you cut him off with a kiss.

Jax- The silence as you made your way slowly through the clubhouse is honestly loud. Rolling your eyes you see Jax sitting at the head of the table alone. "I am going to start therapy and anger management classes" he stated when he saw you leaning against the door frame. "Yeah, good call. I know you were going for Happy. Weak as tables fault for collapsing under all our weight" you tried to joke. "Good news nothing broken on me at least. Bad news you fucked my crow tattoo up"

Juice-What was suppose to be tipsy, sexy time turned into tipsy where is our medical supplies quickly. He is beside himself as he holds gauze to your ass cheek. Your attempts at humor were not helping the guilt train he had himself on. "Baby, I'm good its not even bleeding" you laugh as you try and turn over on his lap but he keeps you firmly face down. Sighing you stop trying to move. "Juice it was a belt buckle. Not like you stabbed me or meant to do it. Can we please get back to what we were doing?" you pleaded as he mumbled sorry again.

Kozik- Sitting by your bedside he is somber. He cant help but replay the crash over and over again. Trying to decide what he could have done different. What if he hadn't grabbed your arm? Would you have been fine or would you have sailed over the side of the cliff? Was he going to fast? Should he have expected the drunk driver to be coming at you guys around the blind curve? "I'm sorry" he murmurs again as he kisses your hand. The doctors said you will be fine but he's not sure if he will.

Opie- He is beside himself, after the loss of Donna he cant believe he has love. He cant even bring himself to get on the ambulance and his phone call to Jax has the whole club screeching to a stop in front your house. "I killed her" he sobs as Jax kneels next to him. "She asked me to buy a step stool and I was like I'm a step stool. Lifted her up and lost my grip and she hit her head. Before Jax can say anything a paramedic is hovering. "Sir, your wife is demanding you get in the ambulance. She said and I quote stop acting like a blubbering mess or she will give you a reason to act like this."

Ratboy-He cant believe how dumb he was. Has suggested you break up with him a couple times as he carries you down the mountain the two of you had been hiking. You can walk and are fine. Its bruised and scraped knees not broken bones you had told him. "I'm sorry for proposing to you" he blurts out once you guys are at the car. "I mean I love you and want you forever but like for how I did it" he adds as you glare up at him.

Tig- "Well we all learned something today. There is a reason you use certain candles for wax play. Don't go cheap or you end up in the ER" stated Tig with a chuckle as he helped you onto your bed. Careful not to brush the burns on your back and hips. A low growl and the middle finger is all you offered your old man. Tig swallowed hard and sighed. "One day we will look back on tonight and laugh" he tried again as he squeezed one of your butt cheeks playfully. "Go away" you demanded.

Return to Headcanon Masterlist

[daffy-not-a-duck]

Yes, I'm Solangelo's kid. No, you can't meet them. No, you can't call me Daffy Duck. No, I'm not friends with a bunny! Shut up!

NAME: Daphne Naria Solace-di Angelo (think that's long? hah. yeah, test papers are a pain.)

ALIAS: Daphne, Daph, Nari, Solace-di Angelo, Scary Blonde Girl, Daffy, Daffy Duck (sigh)

AGE: 17 years old (December kid here 🤘)

WEAPONS: A 36 inch sword made of Stygian Iron, as well as a bow and assortment of arrows (Stygian Iron, Silver, Celestial Bronze, Imperial Gold, Lethe Water tipped, etc.)

RELATIONS: Will Solace (father - dad), Nico Di Angelo (father - papa), Hades (grandfather), Apollo (grandpa), Persephone (step-grandmother), Maria di Angelo (grandmother - mama), Naomi Solace (grandma) (you know the rest. i am NOT listing the whole olympian family tree)

PERSONALITY: Acts like a little angel in front of adults, a little mean towards her friends (it's her love langauge). Unpredictable, sometimes she's all smiley and then she's kinda bitchy. Rebellious, stubborn, acts like she doesn't care but actually does too much.

FATAL FLAWS: Trust Issues, Loves too hard

FEARS: athazagoraphobia, claustrophobia, cleithrophobia

HOBBIES: reading, practicing first aid, studying psychology, arguing with Charlie

SEXUALITY: Straight (no really. why are you laughing? stop it. i am!)

APPEARANCE: long, slightly curly blonde hair; soft features; 5'5; cold, dark, almost black eyes.

"you love too much, and trust too little. why, child, why such a toxic cycle? it will only cause pain to you and those you've chosen. you will never know when to stop, when it's too much, and when you open your eyes all you will see is the dust of your carefully built up walls, empty within and without."

PEOPLE I TOLERATE:

@ghost-king-and-thebones papa!

@doctor-sunshine-andcarebears dad!

@olivernothere little brother. (LET ME PLAY WITH YOUR CAT SMH)

@percy-jackson-xxx uncle perce. (sir your wife is a milf- ouch pa!)

@chasing-that-jackson charlie. percabeth kid. (again, your mom is a- OKAY OKAY ILL STOP.)

@sincerely-anniejackson aunt annie. (umm. please look away)

@ineedtoescapefromreality echo and rosalyn. shelper kids.

@leo-repairguy-valdez uncle leo.

@iggy-mini-miny-moe iggy. valgrace kid.

@notwillingtobefound will. also valgrace kid.

@violent-cinnamonroll aria. ruegard kid.

@daredevil-larue lucine. also ruegard kid.

@hey-guys-its-sam sam. frazel kid.

@yourfavoriteadoptedkid eloise. also frazel kid.

@not-a-panda pandora. tratie kid. (we share the same pain sigh)

@drea-and-nico andrea and nico. my... aunt...? and my uncle who's.. name is like my dad... (shit's confusing ik)

@praetor-ambrose-asher ambrose. new rome praetor. (dude ur ripped af)

@regulus-a-star regulus. son of ares.

@overwhelmingly-his-son lukas.

@evan-is-here evan. son of nike, legacy of ares.

@the-poison-and-the-sky donna. percabeth kid from another universe. (still wrapping my head around that)

@morningstar-of-the-night kallisto. adopted by the hunters. (we, also, share the same pain)

@estxiell-e aunt estelle. (even though she's like 5 years older than me)

TAGS:

daffy's sunrise - ic posts

daffy's nightfall - ooc posts

daffy actually replies - asks

overprotective mode - ft. solangelo (will , nico)

SONGS:

ooc: i have basically no music taste so if u have suggestions, pls lmk!

[nortism]

doctor who liveblog pt 21 (fucking hell)

s4 ep7 the unicorn and the wasp

- donna ily but ur outfits are atrocious

- oh fuck yeah cluedo episode

- giant wasp??

- i take it back i love ur 20s dress donna

- AGATHA CHRISTIE!!

- i love u murder mysteries

- no donna watch out for the giant cgi wasp!!

- the whole charades scene had me dying

- donna watching agatha’s deductions is so funny

- HES THE SON?!?!?

- that ruled

s4 ep8 silence in the library

- another atrocious fit from my girl donna

- id love to go to the library i won’t lie

- these freaks can never just run away

- i take it back i don’t want to go to the library

- RIVER SONG?? i know her, i didn’t think she showed up until eleven’s seasons

- tf he’s got against archaeologists ??

- clearly u are pretty boy

- river’s got a sonic screwdriver???

- uh oh donna

- OMG THEY STOLE HER FACE

- that was creepy af

s4 ep6 forest of the dead

- the fuck is going on

- omg is she his wife??!

- what did she say?!?!?!??!

- MISS EVANGELISTA?!?

- oh no the children disappeared

- this is fucked up

- SHE KNOWS HIS NAME?!?!

- OH FUCK RIVER

- no donna’s perfect man

- dont leave the screwdriver!!

- oh he’s going back

- oh she’s gonna live in the computer

- wowow click

- oh she got computer babies

- that was weird as hell i won’t lie, idk if i enjoyed that

[joestvr]

༺✮ atashi no kimyona jinsei // あたしの奇妙な人生 ✮༻

༺✮ summary: five years after the fall of diavolo, you, y/n romano, who was sent away to japan at 11 to further your studies—find the courage to come back to naples after living out your schoolgirl & gaijin university student facade in morio-chou to see how your clan’s worsened—as well as become the “donna” of your father’s gang, il terrore, while your older brother is the real leader behind the scenes, just using you as a front. with plans to murder your clan, you seek the particularly handsome young don of passione for friendship. with your tyrant father’s intervention, your friendship with the don turns to something you never saw coming.

★ 1 // il terrore

★ 2 // bella

★ 3 // viva romano

You and Alima woke up at 3 am to prepare.

You decided to wear a red V-cut shirt lined with lace and a black miniskirt with a small slit on the thigh. As for shoes, you wore your favorite black Prada pumps.

You walked downstairs quietly, rubbing your forehead.

"Ohayo..." You yawned as you walked into the kitchen, Alima handing you a cup of coffee.

"Ohayo. How'd you sleep?" She asked, going to sit at the dinner table across from you.

"Fine, but I could hear talking from you and Alexander's room almost all night. The hell was that about?" You raised an eyebrow.

She laughed. "He was talking to Jotaro. You know they're best friends."

"What about?"

"The usual... How's the wife, how's Jolene, how's the old man... etcetera. Don't worry." She said reassuringly.

You sighed again and walked over to the library section of the mansion with her, running your fingers over some books until you found the right one, taking it out, getting a key from the empty space, walking to the next room, the tea room.

Your hands hovered over the side of the walls until you found the correct place, then put the key inside and turned it, the vault room behind being revealed.

The vault was filled with Stand Arrows, Requiem Arrows, guns, gold, silver, jewels, family portraits, pictures from your childhood.

"Get whatever you want," you said to Alima, "couldn't give any less of a shit on what goes."

You picked up a pistol, cocked it, then put it under your skirt, tucking it in your shorts, turning away.

★★★★★★★

It was already 5 am. You and Alima had at least 6 cups of coffee, and felt ready for the day.

You blowed out your hair, did your makeup, and tried to look like you weren't about to have a mental breakdown.

Vince and Alexander came downstairs together, laughing. Leo and Elena sleepily followed behind them.

Alexander went over to Alima and hugged her tight. "I can't come today. Have some work to do in the next town over..."

He looked at Leo. "Stay here and babysit your sister. You guys can go out, but BE CAREFUL." He raised his finger in his son's face.

Leo nodded and rolled his eyes. "Sure, old man."

Alexander scoffed then kissed Alima. "Bye, amore. Bye Sis, stay safe."

He waved then left, putting on his hat. You turned to Leo and Elena.

"Leo."

"What's up?"

"Your mother, Vince, and I have some work to do today. Go upstairs until we leave, okay?" You reached up to his head and ruffled his hair.

"Okay. I'll take Elena out later." He said, picking up Elena and going upstairs.

10 minutes passed, and there was violent knocking on the door. You rushed over and opened it to see Giorno and the others.

"Ohayogozai—" you stopped yourself then cleared your throat, "Sorry. Buongiorno."

"This girl is fucking Japanese. Why is she even running a whole gang?" said Abbachio angrily as they walked inside.

Bucciarati shot him a piercing glare and hit his shoulder.

"Fuck off, Abbachio!" said Narancia, then turned to you, "Sorry about him. He's just angry because you're an unconventionally pretty girl running a gang. He's not very popular with women..." He laughed.

Fugo smacked Narancia and he yelped.

"So.. Uh.. Why don't we head out?" you said abruptly, then looked at Alima as she walked upstairs quickly and came back down with her burgundy Chanel bag and your black one.

You slung your bag over your shoulder and grabbed your keys. The men watched in awe.

"You two are taking God damn purses to a mission? Bucciarati, tell me this is a fucking joke—"

"Abbachio, that's about enough." Giorno said, his voice stern.

"Can we get going?" Trish said from the back.

"What she said. Abbachio, it's 5 in the fucking morning, get inside the car." Mista said.

Abbachio scowled loudly and went outside into the car.  Everyone followed.

(seating plan cs idk how to explain it in words☠️ bucciarati is driving btw)

"How long is the car ride going to be?" Trish asked.

"One hour," said Bucciarati, who turned the car on, "then it will likely take half an hour to infiltrate the place."

"Seriously?" Mista groaned.

The car went silent for the next 45 minutes, until your flip-phone started ringing. You struggled to find it as you dug through your bag.

You found it and opened it, seeing the contact name Hirose Koichi, then answered.

"Moshi Moooosh?"

"Yo, Y/n-chan. Did you arrive back in Naples safe?" He asked, speaking in Japanese.

"Yahou, Koichi-kun. Yeah. I'm in the car right now with some friends.."

Giorno's head shot towards you upon hearing the name "Koichi"

"Cool! Where to?"

"Etto... I'm on a mission, not sure where we're going," you cleared your throat, wanting to change the subject, "How's Yukako-chan?"

"Yukako is good. She's so busy with the wedding preparations, I'm afraid she's forgotten about me." He chuckled.

You laughed. "If only I could have a relationship like yours, Koichi-kun. Anyway, I've gotta get going."

"Alright. Good talking to you, Y/n-chan."

"Say hello to Jotaro-san and Josuke-kun for me. Ja ne."

"Ja mata."

You closed your phone and put it back in your bag. Vince was staring you down.

"What the fuck is your problem?"

"How many guys are you talking to? Jesus, Y/n." He furrowed his eyebrows.

"How many bitches are you playing with?" You retorted.

"Shut the hell up!" He pushed you by your face.

"Hey! This foundation cost me 15,000 yen from the Dior store in Kyoto! Don't touch me." You gasped and took your pocket mirror out, making sure your foundation base didn't get ruined.

Alima leaned over and slapped the back of his head. He groaned. "Ugh, you bitch!"

You turned around to say something to Trish, but saw that Narancia had fallen asleep in her arms, her eyes were closed.

You smiled with pride, and noticed Giorno doing the same.

Your eyes met and you both blushed then looked away.

"Uh... GioGio, you don't mind if I smoke while we're in here, do you?" You questioned, reddening.

"O-Oh, go ahead." He grinned slightly.

You reached over Vince and rolled down the window. Vince looked at you and smirked at your suggestive position.

You cracked up a little and sat back again, taking out a cigarette, sticking it in your mouth, lighter no where to be found.

Vince lit one of his own, then pulled you towards him to transfer the flame.

Giorno was stunned.

I can't fall in love with her, he thought, look at what she has.

"Bucciarati, pull over! I need to piss!" said Mista.

"Yeah, me too!" shouted Fugo from the back.

"What the hell?..." Alima whispered. You giggled, smoke coming out of your mouth. The car pulled over by a gas station and the doors opened. Vince got out.

"I'm going to buy cigarettes." He said, looking at you.

"Can you get me a coffee?" You asked hopefully.

"No."

You frowned and the rest of the people who needed to go got out. It was only you and Giorno, Narancia and Trish, who were fast asleep.

You continued smoking silently, and Giorno sat there taking in your beauty. "So, Bella. Can I ask you something a bit personal?"

You turned to him. "Sure. What is it?"

"Are... You, uh... and Vince...together?"

You gasped and shook your head. "Ew, no! I would never!"

Giorno let out a sigh of relief and smiled amusingly. "Oh."

You sighed and leaned in closer to whisper, "He's not what you think he is, GioGio. Whatever he may seem to you, don't believe it."

Giorno grew flustered and could only stare at your eyes, then your lips. He snapped out of it and nodded his head.

"I see..." He managed to muster out.

★★★★★★★★

Later, you and the group finally arrived at the warehouse docks you were supposed to bust.

Vince got out and was standing there waiting impatiently, "Y/n, get out!"

"I caaan't moooove... Pick me uuuup..." You pouted, holding your hands out.

"No! Bye." He walked off into the distance.

Giorno had already gotten out of the car and was outside the open car door, "Bella." He held his hand out, smiling.

Your face lit up slightly and you took his hand, going into his arms as he picked you up and helped you out of the seat.

As he put you down, you thanked him and looked at Trish, who was holding onto Narancia's arm.

"Word has it that some big dealer within Il Terrore would be distributing 15 kilos of coke at this warehouse, Romano." Abbachio said to you in a bitrer, condescending tone.

You only showed a reaction on your face when he called you by your last name, flinching slightly. You struggled to keep your composure at that.

Trish and Alima grew wary, knowing how you hated being called by your last name. You took a deep breath.

"P-Please, call me... Y/n." You said shakily, turning to him.

Abbachio was about to say something back, but Bucciarati sensed your discomfort and burst out, "Abbachio, enough of this! You need to respect the Donna or I'm calling a taxi and sending you home."

Abbachio scoffed and didn't respond.

"Y/n, look there." Trish suddenly said, pointing to the warehouse in the distance. You saw people going inside.

"Everyone, Let's split up." Bucciarati said, "Abbachio will come with me. Y/n and Giorno, you two go together. Mista, go with Trish. Narancia, go with Fugo."

"Vince, go with Alima." You said sternly.

"Why do I have to get stuck with this old lady, Tesora?" He whined.

"Vince, I'm going to punch you so hard you'll go flying back to Kabul to see your father. Have some respect."

"Fuuuck you!" He raised his middle finger at you while Alima crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

Trish looked at you, a bit worried, this was your first mission in a while. "Be careful." was all she said before Mista pulled her away.

Everyone split up and went different directions, Giorno was cautiously walking beside you.

"Do we know if they're stand users?" Giorno asked quietly as he held your hand going down the steep stairs.

"Probably not. I don't think there's been any new stand users within Italy since the fatass Polpo committed suicide..." You responded in a low tone.

Giorno swallowed dryly, remembering how he caused Polpo's death. "Ah, I see."

"Though I don't know what my father's been up to—" Your speech was interrupted as a bullet came flying toward your back, but Cheri Lady's arm appeared and caught it right as it nicked your shoulder.

Giorno gasped.

"Ita..." You hissed softly, putting your hand over the wound, blood gushing at a slow pace.

The bullet was dropped inside your palm, and you recognized the engraving inside. A heart and a star, with that same phrase you were so familiar with right next to it.

♡☆Viva Romano

Your anger grew within, blood boiling.

"Fuck..." you muttered.

"Fuck!"

"What is it?" Giorno asked.

"These bullets are only manufactured and given to established members of Il Terrore." You took your gun out from under your skirt, unloading the chamber, taking out a bullet and showing Giorno it, then the bullet that was shot at you.

Giorno's eyes widened at the comparison, they were identical.

"Viva Romano..." He said, then looked down at you again, "The phrase associated with Il Terrore..."

You grew nervous and started to scratch at your skin anxiously.

Ever since you were a kid, whenever you were at your wits end or you were apprehensive, you would scratch and pick at your skin until you bled.

Giorno noticed this, and you weren't stopping until blood started to gush out of your forearm and upper arm.

"Y/n—" He grabbed your wrist, stopping you. Your hand was trembling.

You furrowed your eyebrows, sweat trickling down your forehead. "Uragirimono... Traitors."

"Who do you think it is?" He let go of your wrist, but continued to hold your hand.

"I don't know. I don't know... I�� I'm— How could this have happened?" Your eyes widened.

"Don't worry, Bella. Please." He squeezed your hand as you continued to walk again.

"Fuck this... I can't believe he allowed this to happen." You whined.

"Who?" He asked.

"Vince, that fucking bastard!" You hissed angrily.

Suddenly, Giorno yanked you under him and into a corner, his right hand reflexively going around your waist. You blushed.

"Gio—" He pulled his left hand away from yours and pressed it over your mouth, leaning in close to your face.

"Shh. We're right next to the entrance to the warehouse." He whispered, his golden hair falling off his shoulders attractively.

You were desperately trying not to moan. How could you have gotten turned on in a situation like this?

There were loud shots being fired, and Giorno flinched, going closer to you, his knee going slightly in between your legs.

Don't moan, don't moan, don't moan, don't moan... DON'T MOAN... was all that was going through your head.

"Mmph—" You moaned, gripping his shirt. He looked at you and removed his hand from your mouth, not noticing your lipstick transferred onto his palm.

"Sorry." He muttered, helping you up.

When the two of you finally managed to get inside of the warehouse, you made Giorno conceal himself behind some shelves, while you walked to the middle where there was a large crate sitting there.

Your heels clacked as you approached, Cheri Lady appearing and breaking the crate open. Packages with a white powder inside of them fell out. Each had to be at least 1 kilo, you thought.

You took a pocket knife out from your pocket and sliced one open, the powder pouring out.

You took a handful in your palm and sniffed it.

It smelled... sweet?

You dropped the handful and licked the tip of your finger. Of course.

You started to laugh quietly.

"You thought you could fool them with this shit..." You chuckled.

Giorno was horrified.

Bucciarati and Abbachio burst inside, then the others, seeing you so humored.

"Y/n, what the fuck is this?!" Vince shouted.

Your laugh grew quieter as your aura flared up, glowing a deep red.

Cheri Lady appeared from behind some other shelves, a man in her grasp.

The man, who you knew, was Vince's friend, Francesco Minardi.

"Y—Y/n?! You fucking bitch!" He yelled.

"Francesco?!" Vince gasped.

You sighed then took a deep breath, grabbing the man by his collar and making him stand up, then shoving him back to the ground again.

You took the gun out from under your skirt and started fidgeting with it in your hand. "Back in Morio-chou, none of the dangerous Yakuza families dared to step foot there because they were too afraid— Why?"

"I had struck a deal with the son of an influential clan within the Yakuza to stop the drug flow to the part of Japan I was living in. But..." You inhaled, "I found out soon after that he was plotting to murder me in cold blood and start up drug production again—"

Cheri Lady appeared and grabbed him by his collar, you leaned in. "I took a day off from school and delivered his head on his father's doorstep. And that was it.."

"You cold, unfeeling whore... Why are you here?! I thought you ran off!" He shouted, then groaned when you kicked him in the chest.

"Uragirimono," you said softly, "Traitor. That's what you are."

"I wanted out! I'm sick of your stupid family!"

"It's been 5 years, Francesco, and you still didn't grow the balls to call me and tell me you wanted out... I could've made arrangements for you... You betrayed me... Uragirimono..." You kept fidgeting with the gun. The urge to kill was making you delirious with longing for bloodshed.

"Your father is nothing but a tyrant who abuses his loyal subjects! Who wouldn't want to betray him?!" He shouted back, spitting blood out of his mouth.

You were shaking with anger. It was taking the strength of a million soldiers to not rip him apart.

"Oh really? What about me? The gem of the Romano family, the most beautiful?" You teased, making Alima sigh at your arrogant tendencies despite the situation. Giorno nearly smiled.

"Kill yourself, Y/n! I'm sure it won't be too hard, since everyone knows about your suicidal tendencies! Ha!" He screamed, laughing condescendingly.

You smiled and Cheri Lady disappeared, while he dropped to his knees.

You took a few steps away from him, cocking the gun, holding it to your head. "Let's see then, hm?"

Giorno gasped and tried to go after you, but Bucciarati yanked him back. "Control yourself. She knows what she's doing."

You pulled the trigger, a shot was fired, but you still stood.

In between your head and the gun, there was a ghostly red hand holding the bullet, then dropped it.

"Keep pulling stunts like this, Romano. You and your entire family will die brutally. Start off with your father..." He muttered, then laughed.

"Morte al Romano..." You whispered before firing once, blood splattering on your face, then throwing the gun aside as his body dropped.

You signaled for everyone to exit the warehouse.

Sticking a cigarette in your mouth as you approached the dim rising sun, you took out your lighter and lit your cigarette.

You took one last look at the engraving on your lighter then threw it onto the crates behind you.

"Morte al Romano." You murmured again as the warehouse was engulfed in flames.

[ilovechubbieguys]

Pretty Please

Chapter- 2 (chapter I)

F!reader, slight angst, swearing, spoiled!reader arrangedhusband!nick Enjoy!

------------------------🎀------------------------

I couldnt believe what i had heard. I mean this has to be some kinda sick joke right? Daddy would never do this to me...

And right as i thought it was over he opened his dirty mouth to start talking again. "I arranged for the 2 of you to meet at 4:30" he said not looking me in the eyes "i suggest you go get dressed" mom chimed in.

She hasnt said a word this whole time and now she decideds to speak up? Worst of all shes ok with this?!

"You guys are sick.." i say before storming up the stairs to my room slamming the door with all my force

What if hes a creep, or a 50 year old man? I dont even know his name?! Theres no way im marrying this man, ya no not in a million years am i marrying some stranger especially not just so my parents can get rich?!

Im over with emotions and begin to sob on my bed. My face in my hands and knees to my chest. I hear a familiar knock. Immediately knowing who it was.

"Come in" i say threw my hands. The door opens and i look up to see my cook steven. "Hey honey i heard what happened" he said slowly coming in sitting next to me on the bed.

The shift in weight was comforting. Knowing that atleast someone was there for me made me feel a little better about this shitty situation.

"They...they cant do that, right?" It stays silent while steven looks for the right words "unfortunately they can..i would come in and save you if i could you know that..i wont let anything bad happen i promise"

I continue crying in my hands and lean my weight onto steven who hugs me "thank you.."

------------------2 hours later-------------------

I put on a nice outfit per my daddys request (imagine like old money like that kinda⬇️)

And headed out my room for the first time since daddy told me the worse news ive ever heard. Well along side when i found out they discontinued my favorite dior lip gloss duh

I saw daddy waiting at the bottom of the spiraling stairs. He was wearing his best suit and mom was no where to be seen. Shocker.

I followed daddy to the limbo not saying a word to him. The whole ride was silent. I mean what more was there to say? He sold me off and didnt even seem to care.

It took us 35ish minutes to get to there mansion, and ill admit it was bigger then ours. But sure as hell not big enough to sell me off to!

Our driven opened my door and i stepped out, and there they where all standing in a line miss donna mister donna and him. Ya i said him CAUSE I STILL DONT KNOW HIS NAME!

Me and daddy walk up to them and take turns shaking hands and then it happened miss donna introduced me to him

"And this is my son nick"

NICK?! his name is nick? Not a very fancy name but who am i to judge

"Hello, Nick," i say with a sour face. Daddy nudged me with his elbow, and i put on a fake smile. "My name is y/n," i say passive aggressively with a clearly fake smile. "Nice to meet you y/n" he said.

"I guess your my wife now..." the air was thick with tension. I gritted my teeth trying to reply nicely "ya i guess so."

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

CHAT I PROMISD THEY WILL GET INTERESTING SOON OK THINGS WILL SPICE UP I SWEAR JUST GOTTA KEEP ON UR TOES.

[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

Doctor Who, but Chronologically: 40

Okay, here we go boys: jumping ahead six years from Partition to 1953, the coronation of Queen Elizabeth Two, and wow, this episode hits extremely very differently when the last thing you watched was the Tale of the British Empire (Derogatory).

It's the Idiot's Lantern. At one point a character declares that even though they're losing the Empire, at least the coronation can still give us pride. Yikes.

Anyway, happily, we get Tennant and Rose, who have a lot of chemistry, but unfortunately this is a Mark Gatiss episode. Fortunately, it's edited by RTD, so it is much more interesting than it might have been. Unfortunately, it's still Gatiss trying to write a Spunky Woman, so inevitably, Rose has a shining moment of brilliance where she immediately spots that Evil TVs are stealing people's faces and wanders off to interview the guy responsible, only to be immediately imperilled and then absent for the rest of the episode, trapped inside a telly. Ah well. Could be worse, this could be Amy or River with Smith. Rose can at least pass the sexy lamp test. And doesn't get subjected to sentences like "Of course you're a psychopath, you're a woman."

So yeah, there's an alien that was executed, but rather than dying it made it into an electrical form and thence to 1950s televisions (this is not really explained.) It feeds on the electrical signals of human brains, which is pretty stupid, since it's inside TV sets which have a far higher voltage, but okay. It's planning to feed on the 20 million people who will watch the coronation, and thus have a body again. The Doctor thwarts it by... idk it's really unclear, just electrocuting it somehow in an extended scene that was way too thin on explanations to justify the number of "plot twists" it attempted. "Plot twist! Your wiring hasn't worked!" Okay but we are not electricians and this is fantasy electrical wiring, so this means nothing to us, Gatiss. Honestly though, as sci-fi plots go, it's... fine. Not amazing, but there are much worse.

The side plot revolves around one family - mum, dad, son and grandmother, except the grandmother is fed on and so doesn't have a face. In a series of very poorly acted and directed scenes, it is made painfully clear that the father is a violent domestic abuser, at one point promising to beat the gay out of his son. Nonetheless, in an absolutely baffling and utterly gross scene at the end, as his wife throws him out and he leaves in shame, Rose and the Doctor both tell the son that he nonetheless must forgive his abuser and make amends because "He's your dad." Rose even straight up says that not forgiving his abuser would make the son stupid. It is utterly, utterly unnecessary, and I am entirely baffled by what moral I was supposed to take away from it. I can only assume Gatiss was watching too much American telly when he wrote it? It's the sort of thing you see super commonly in American telly over here - "He's your dad! You have to forgive him, because he's your dad! Let's reconcile the strained father-son bond!" It's almost as common as a boxing episode, which American telly always has. Even Babylon 5 had a boxing episode. Even Leverage. They all do.

Anyway it's wank, and it takes what was otherwise a blandly inoffensive showing to Fuck Me What An Awful Episode.

Still no proper sign of why Rose is particularly special! I mean they have GREAT chemistry, but it's all in the acting, really, though it's increasingly clear that she's maybe the most people-focused of all of them (except Donna). Sigh. Maybe we'll get a non-Moffat/Gatiss Rose episode soon, and then we can finally know.

Meanwhile, shout out to the best actor of the whole episode: Cardiff, doing amazingly in it's starring role as Totally London, Honest. Funny story! I remember this episode being filmed, because my mate Emyr accidentally wandered into the street they used to film the street party, and had the surreal experience of going "Hang on... why are there flags? Why... is it the 50s? Am I in the 1950s? How has this happened? What's that box - oh it's the TARDIS I see what's happened."

(This has happened to me TWICE in St Ffagans and once in the Brangwyn Hall. Common South Walian experience.)

Ummm... no plot threads! I don't think. None resolved, none added. Well, that's about right for Gatiss.

“She” (an unknown person) is returning (perhaps River returned as Missy. Maybe Me? Maybe Clara???!)

There is something on Donna’s back

An entire planet, Pyrovilia, just… disappeared, somehow. (Maybe because the TARDIS is exploding??? Saturnine was also lost, and that WAS because of the TARDIS exploding. The lion man’s planet was also lost but he was a bit of a knob about it if I’m honest. The Thijarian planet was destroyed by some sort of impact)

Amy is maybe dead (she’s not)

The Doctor has been cubed (he’s out, but how?)

River is possibly blown up  (unless she’s Missy. Nope: she is definitely not blown up)

The TARDIS has blown up  (It’s fine now. Except it’s sort of melting now because it’s corrupted, but it’s fine again)

The universe appears to have ended  (the universe is back again)

The Doctor has employed(?) Nardole

(And Nardole was “reassembled???” Nardole had glass nipples and invisible hair?? WHAT THE FUCK IS HE)

There’s a vault in the TARDIS and it contains Missy but we don’t know why (sometimes she knocks for the bants)

There’s an immortal Viking girl now. Her name is Me and she’s now looking after the people the Doctor abandons

Why was Rory entirely unconcerned by the entire world suddenly going silent when that is Not Normal and should have been, at the very least, extremely disconcerting?

What did the Doctor do to Queen Lizzie One?

Why is Amy seeing a one-eyed woman in a vanishing window? (She’s with the Silents, but we don’t know why Amy saw her)

Why is Amy’s pregnancy inconclusive? (Maybe because the baby had Time Lord DNA?)

Who is Sarah-Jane Smith?

How is the Doctor Bill’s teacher and why/where does he have an office?

What is going on with the Cyber War and the Cyberium???

What happened with the Other Cyber War?

What happened with the Third War that deleted the void?

Why does Rose seem particularly important?

What order do these Doctors go in? (Eccleston, Tennant, uncertain, Smith, Capaldi, Whittaker)

Which companion just… forgot the Doctor, and how?

Yaz and Vinder are about to die as Mori/Mwri/Muuri

There is a Lupari shield around Earth.

What’s a Time War?

What’s the Rift?

What’s Bad Wolf?

In which war did the Doctor become a war criminal, and how?

Who is the Master?

Why has Amy forgotten Rory? How did she forget a Dalek invasion?

Is Rory plastic or not?

Why is the Doctor sulking on a cloud?

How exactly does the Doctor have a cloud?

What exactly happened with Strax to, uh, tame him?

Which friend killed Strax?

Which friend brought Strax back?

Where did this lesbian lizard and human couple come from?

What happened with Clara as Souffle Girl and the Daleks?

How does Clara actually join?

Why so many Claras?

Why is Missy apparently in robo-heaven?

Why is probably!Missy pushing Clara and the Doctor together?

What is Trensilor and what happened there?

Who is Handles?

The Doctor is about to be dissolved by a beautiful geode man

The universe is being crushed by the Flux

Will the Doctor open the fobwatch?

Sontarans are invading Earth again

Who is Kate?

Who is Osgood? Another name of Clara’s again?

The fuck is the deal with the Grand Serpent

Does Martha get to go to an ice cream planet with 12-fingered massage aliens?

How did the Doctor forget Clara?

Who is Bill’s puddle girlfriend Heather?

How did Nardole die?

When does Bill get Cyberman-ed and die?

When does the Doctor shrink and enter a Dalek called Rusty?

Whittaker is falling to her death rn

Was that ring relevant?

Does anyone know the Doctor’s name?

When did Yaz talk to Dan about fancying the Doctor?

When did Dan talk to the Doctor about fancying Yaz?

What���s happening with the bees?

What happened with Donna’s ex and a giant spider?

What war wiped out the Daleks, and is it one of the ones already mentioned?

What did the Doctor mean when he said “The (Daleks) always live, while I lose everything?”

If Dalek Caan is the last Dalek left why are there more now?

How did the rest of the Time Lords die?

How and why did Amy melt?

What’s the question that will make silence fall?

Why do the Silents… want silence to fall?

How and why are Silents at war with the Doctor when he… hasn’t even heard of them?

How does Hitler get out of the cupboard?

What’s the significance of fish fingers and custard?

Why does the Doctor feel guilt about Rose, Martha and Donna?

What happened with the space whale?

When does Rory defend Amy for 2000 years?

How does the Doctor survive River

How does he erase himself from history

Did Captain Jack lose his memories to the same people as the Doctor? What did he lose?

When did the Doctor send the Daleks into a void to save the universe?

What’s with the weird crack in the wall and is it affecting memories?

Why do Amy and Rory think the Doctor is dead?

Is Matt Smith’s Doctor a tree racist?

[reikunrei]

"...the most scared out of all of us."

Several months ago, when I first started playing around with Doctor Who analysis as it pertained to Stranger Things, I decided to watch one of my favorite episodes for fun:

Season 4, Episode 11: Midnight

I posted some screenshots of it because some of the lines/ideas presented in it are very.... y'know. And while I didn't go into the episode with any memory of similarities to st, I found myself surprised by the number of shared details between the two shows. So, I figured... why not make a little postie about it?

So, the episode stars the Doctor and his companion, Donna, visiting a crystalline planet named Midnight. Donna stays behind for a spa day at the so-called "Leisure Palace" that's been erected as a tourist spot while the Doctor goes on a many-hours-long shuttle tour to a sapphire waterfall. The planet itself is extremely dangerous with an entirely uninhabitable atmosphere - there is absolutely no life on the planet, aside from visitors who are in highly equipped buildings and vehicles that stave off the literally vaporizing planet exterior.

Thus, with Donna staying behind, the Doctor is now alone with a bus full of strangers, who tuck in for their long trek to the crystal falls.

Just to get the other characters out of the way for clarity's sake, we have the hostess, a lone passenger named Sky, husband and wife Biff and Val Kane and their son Jethro, and Professor Hobbes and his assistant Dee Dee. There's also a driver and a mechanic on board who are in the cockpit.

The driver explains to them all that they're taking a slight detour, as part of the usual path has been obstructed by debris, and they begin their venture into totally uncharted territory.

While normally the bus has myriad entertainment for the long trip, the Doctor, using his Sonic Screwdriver, shuts down the overwhelming number of devices, which results in all of the passengers talking and getting to know each other better. We get several short scenes of everyone talking and laughing, sharing stories and such. Most notably, the Doctor sits with Sky over lunch and they chat about why they're there. The Doctor explains he didn't come here alone, he's with Donna, but she didn't want to come along the tour. Sky explains that she's recently become single because "she (her partner) needed her own space" and is still getting used to traveling alone.

Prof. Hobbes even gives a brief presentation on the planet Midnight. It's his specialty, and he's been on this exact tour to the falls 14 times now.

This is emphasized a lot through the episode: there's no life on the planet, no one has ever set foot on it or touched it in any actual way, and they really don't know what's out there, aside from the general agreement that there shouldn't be any life that can exist on its surface. As I said earlier, they've even taken a path different from the normal route, so they wind up in places that literally no one has ever been before.

While it's confirmed that both the UD and Dimension X contain forms of life in the shape of the democreatures and the Shadow, the sentiment reminded me a lot of Vecna's whole "unspoiled by mankind" thing; and Henry's exclamation in the VR game that "there's life" in the UD, as if it's a surprise.

Then, suddenly, the bus stops. It shudders, the lights flicker briefly, and they come to a halt for seemingly no reason. Everyone is immediately concerned, especially Sky, who snaps that there's "no point in denying it" when Prof. Hobbes explains that the buses never stop on these tours.

The Doctor weasels his way into the cockpit to talk to the driver and mechanic to see what's up, and they all confirm that nothing is actually wrong, they've simply stopped. As they're stopped, the Doctor goads the driver into lifting the screens on the windows (as seen in the last screenshots) just to get a glimpse of the planet in the few minutes of safety they have behind the glass. However, the mechanic spots something strange.

No further comment necessary.

When the Doctor returns to the other passengers, Sky is still agitated. Dee Dee probes him on his explanation that the engines are "just stabilizing" because they're "micropetrol" engines that don't stabilize. When Prof. Hobbes further asks what's wrong, the Doctor gives a non-answer. Someone throws out the question of how much air they have; Val and Biff overhear and ask, frantic, what they just said. Even the hostess gives a non-answer when asked if they're running out of air, what's going on, etc. etc., until everyone, frightened, begins yelling over one another. The Doctor quiets everyone down and Dee Dee explains that these buses are designed to filter air so they won't run out, shutting down that fear. However, they still don't know why they've stopped.

Then, something bangs on the outside of the bus - two knocks. Prof. Hobbes and Dee Dee try to explain it away with the metal of the bus cooling/settling or rocks falling on the sides. However, the banging happens again and again, moving down the length of the bus. Again, it's (allegedly) impossible for anyone to be outside. The knocking even moves to the back emergency exit, where it begins trying to rattle with the door handle.

"It" is what "Henry" calls the Shadow in TFS rather than "he."

The banging moves to the roof of the bus before trying the main entrance. Biff knocks on the door three times, and the mystery knocking returns the three knocks. The Doctor knocks four times, and it returns four times. Now it's confirmed that it's something sentient. Sky is especially freaked out by this.

When the bus finally settles again, Jethro notices that Sky is sitting, crouched, on the floor at the front of the bus with her hands on her head. The seats around her have been ripped off the floor, as if by some unnatural strength. The Doctor approaches her to comfort her, telling her they're alright and the wall of the bus is still intact, though horribly dented inward.

The hostess can't get ahold of the driver, and thus tries the door to the cockpit, only to find that it's been entirely ripped off of the front of the bus. They slam the door shut before anyone can get sucked out. Thankfully, a distress signal and their location had already been sent out, but the driver and mechanic are dead, "reduced to dust." Like they were...... dematerialized......

The Doctor re-approaches Sky in an attempt to get her to come out of hiding. Jethro comments that the knocking has stopped, but what if that means it's now inside? "It was heading for her," he says as he nods toward Sky, who the Doctor is finally pulling out of hiding. However, when she turns to look at them all, she's unnatural. Her gaze flicks rapidly between everyone as she stares, wide-eyed and blank, like she's studying them. The Doctor cocks his head at her, and she cocks hers back. He asks her name, and she repeats it back to him.

He begins asking if she's hurt, etc., and she repeats the same questions and phrases right back to him. When the others start speaking, she whips her head toward them and echoes their words as well.

Again, no further comment necessary, aside from a quick link to Em's post about doppelgangers and making a special highlight of "when One kills, he consumes."

This continues to frighten everyone, who begin talking over each other and yelling at Sky to stop copying them when she, obviously, continues. Jethro gleefully begins shouting silly things to get her to repeat, specifically yelling "666." Ah, Victor Creel, emo kid Colin Morgan would've believed you when you said it was a demon.

Only when the backup power system kicks on does everyone get startled out of their panic, but as the hostess is telling everyone to calm down, they find that Sky's condition has progressed...

Here I also want to point out the growing change in Sky's physical demeanor. At first, as seen in the previous set of screenshots, her expression is fairly blank. However, as seen above, she starts to appear almost smug. And this continues through the episode; even the cadence of her voice is almost sing-song-y and smarmy. This isn't actually pointed out in the show, nor is there any clear explanation offered, but in my opinion it's likely due to the entity feeding off of/finding glee in the fear its behavior instills in the passengers, and likely beginning to pull from the actual personalities of the people on board to form something other than a blank slab repeating words.

The Doctor speaks with to her directly again, asking if it's really Sky, asking how she's doing this, and pondering what the "next stage" is. When someone asks if it's not Sky anymore, the Doctor says he doesn't think so and ushers everyone to the back of the bus, as far away from Sky as possible (though this doesn't stop her from echoing them).

The Doctor urges them to not even look at Sky, and Dee Dee quotes Christina Rossetti's "Goblin Market," specifically the lines, "We must not look at goblin men, we must not buy their fruits: Who knows upon what soil they fed Their hungry thirsty roots." I don't quite have the bandwidth to delve deeper into this whole poem, as it's quite long, but shout out to the word "roots."

Another shout out to the word "sick" here, especially when we were told earlier in the episode that Sky is queer. Thank you Stav for your words in the words show analysis.

Much like how the Shadow was confirmed in TFS to feed off of fear/is triggered by fear, this entity clearly sought out the fear in Sky and found her a suitable target. It's never outright confirmed or explained, but this is a fairly easy assumption to reach based off of how frantic Sky was, more so than anyone else on board. As for "monster" getting struck down in favor of her just being a woman... well, no further comment necessary, once again.

The Doctor speaks to everyone about how while there's a consciousness inside of Sky, she might still be in there and they have to help her. However, everyone is too afraid to get near her, to the point that the hostess suggests they throw her out instead. Val cries about how she can't even look at Sky's eyes (a sentiment that's been stated already and comes up again; they're frightened by how she's looking at them, which reminds me of the weirdness with eyes and eye-color changing in ST that James and Em have spoken about).

There's a lot of back and forth, with most people hesitantly then enthusiastically agreeing that they should throw her out, because maybe if they kill the physical body, it'll remove the threat, but the Doctor pleads with them not to kill anyone. He asks if they really want to meet this new life form and show they're just a bunch of murderers, or will they decide they're better than that?

Ultimately, all fearful, they, one by one, agree that they could, in fact, throw her out with no remorse.

So much good st2 language, mwah tasty.

When people still don't back down, the Doctor says they'll have to go through him first if they want to throw out Sky, and everyone sorta just goes "...okay." The Doctor asks, again, if any of them could really grab hold of someone and chuck them out the door. His insistence begins making them suspicious, and they all start to turn on him. The Doctor insists he's frightened and confused just like them; he isn't in on this, he's not "working with" Sky, but he, trying to hide his identity and being naturally fascinated by this never-before-seen lifeform, only makes them more wary of him. Val even says that "his eyes are the same as hers... It's a symptom!" and he's accused of lying from the very start of their trip. They all begin to believe that he's somehow involved with what's going on with Sky and threaten to throw him out with her.

Then, Jethro, again, notices a change.

She's latched onto the Doctor alone, likely because of his heightened fear due to having his life threatened. Val once again uses this as evidence that they're working together, but the Doctor ignores her and crouches in front of Sky. He asks her why she's "captured" his speech. He wonders if the entity has picked up that he's the smartest one there as a Time Lord rather than a human, and maybe it's chosen him because he's the only one who can help, whether it be giving the entity "life or form or consciousness or voice," and insists she doesn't have to "steal" it. However, he also sees the look in her eyes, and gets the feelings it's not help the entity wants.

He promises to help her, asking "Do we have a deal?" But the words come out of Sky's mouth first.

When the others ask the Doctor what's happening, Sky answers first, saying, "I think it's moved. I think it's letting me go." As they speak to Sky, they all come to the conclusion that this entity has moved from her and into the Doctor instead. Dee Dee, however, seems unconvinced. She's ignored, though, in favor of listening to Sky as she expresses that she's "coming back to life."

When they get Sky back onto her feet, this conversation ensues:

It's a lot of similar language to stuff about the UD and the flayings, especially irt Will in st2 and Henry listed as being "possessed" in the Weekly Watcher and possibly having an exorcism. I continue to be shocked by how so many episodes in Doctor Who revolve around concepts that are so akin to the Shadow.

Sigh. Once again, no additional comment necessary, aside from another Stav post about blood.

I want to emphasize the change in pronoun use. Throughout ST, most often the Mind Flayer/Shadow and Vecna have had "he" used for both of them, as they've become conflated. However, in TFS, "it" is solely used to refer to the Shadow. Throughout this dw episode, "it" and "she" were used quite interchangeably when speaking about Sky, and same here, we get this use of "it" and "he" for the Doctor, starting out separate with "it went into him" until he just becomes one whole entity under "he." It's conflating things, narrowing it down to be "easier to understand."

Dee Dee shouts that it's not the Doctor who's doing it, he's "just repeating." However, that's what it did the first time, so it's the same this time, right? Dee Dee disagrees, saying that this seems like the progression the Doctor talked about earlier; this is the next stage, not the entity having moved to a new host.

Val, frustrated, insists that she saw it move from her to him, despite none of them having seen such a thing, simply assuming it instead. Even Jethro is hesitant to agree with his mom, but ultimately does so when she pushes him. Everyone begins arguing as Dee Dee continues to say that it's not inside the Doctor, and Sky smugly says that, "That's how he does it. He makes you fight. Creeps into your head... and whispers... inside." It's all very “Henry” being goaded into killing animals by the Shadow in TFS, and the Shadow and Shadow Brenner talking to and taunting Henry in the VR game.

Being egged on and having their assumptions confirmed by Sky, Biff grabs the Doctor and begins dragging him toward the door to throw him out. The Doctor, now frozen due to being controlled/taken over by the entity, cannot fight back and simply continues repeating what Sky says.

However, Sky begins saying things that, through the episode, were established as being things the Doctor specifically says (the phrases "molto bene" and "allons-y" being common catchphrases in this episode and through David Tennant's three seasons). The hostess takes immediate notice of this, since she was present for the times he used these phrases, and she finally really realizes that Sky has taken his voice. Under the clamor, Sky is saying that, "The starlight waits! The emptiness. The Midnight sky."

Acting fast, the hostess rushes Sky and grabs her, hits the button to the emergency exit door, and throws out herself and Sky. The door automatically shuts behind them before anyone else can be affected by the atmosphere, instantly cutting off the Doctor from the entity, and he falls to the floor, muttering that, "It's gone, it's gone..."

Golly, did I say this post would be little? Sorry, I am incapable of making these posts without listing out the entire plot of the episodes so you guys have full context! Anyway.

What I really wanted to talk about irt this episode was the immense focus on fear, and specifically fear of the unknown and how that makes people behave in illogical, dangerous ways. It's a lot of knee-jerk reactions and wanting to swiftly remove the threat before fully understanding what the threat actually is. We don't even know if Sky could have actually been saved! She very well may have still been alive underneath the entity, but in the mess of everything, they couldn't take the time to figure it out and actually try to save her.

Obviously, all of that made me think of things with the Shadow, and especially of Will in st2 when he fully changes as a person/seems to be entirely taken over with everyone else being hard-pressed to break through to him.

However, more specifically, everything else about it just screams the situation around Henward, and specifically what we see in TFS.

"Henry" is dealing with something unknown having taken over his mind and body, feeling urges that do not belong to him that he's being pushed into anyway. But what drives the mess deeper and deeper is the fact that people (Virginia, Patty, etc.) are frightened of him. They think it's him and not something else making him do these awful things. They refuse to actually help him, or even listen to him to figure out what would actually best help him, thus condemning him... essentially to death, just like Sky, all because they simply don't understand and are scared of that.

They listen to their own fear instead of understanding that Henry is scared too. This is also an issue with the fandom at large, but we won’t get into that rn.

Similarly, the Party and the rest of our main cast are, understandably, scared of Vecna. However, it’s clouded their judgement. We all know I’m a huge proponent of the “there’s more than one guy” theory, and thus this issue of conflating people and things leads to poor decisions when it comes to trying to fix the issue, ultimately resulting in a worse outcome.

In Midnight, the rest of the passengers, terrified and frazzled, believe the first and simplest solution presented to them: the entity has left Sky and instead entered the Doctor. Therefore, if they throw the Doctor out of the bus, the problem will be solved; they'll be safe. However, obviously, this isn't the case, and due to their misunderstanding, they would turn a completely innocent man to dust and still have the entity residing among them.

Similarly, in st4, we're presented with a "new" villain: Vecna. Our team has discovered that the source behind everything that's happened to them is this one guy locked in another dimension, hidden in (more or less) plain sight. He is wreaking havoc and boasting about it, but it feels like a very big, flashy way to cover up another, more long-existing villain that's been present since the start of the show: HNL and, specifically, Brenner.

Take a victim -> Push him into unsavory acts -> Mold him into a villain, whether in real life or in retellings (lies) of his existence -> Hide in his shadow and fall out of focus.

It all feels a little too planned, y'know? Because the beginning of everything can always be traced back to the lab, but suddenly it's like everyone has forgotten the roots of the tree and decided to chop off one of the branches and call it good.

Which leads me into a brief thought I had about NINA when I was watching this dw episode, which was spurred by the characters claiming their voices were "stolen" or "captured" by Sky. Especially once Sky fully captured the Doctor's voice and was speaking "on her own." She uses his voice to goad the others into killing him, which, presumably, would have given the entity full control/absorption of his voice.

I've said it already, but the goading feels very akin to TFS Brenner saying things to Henry like "you liked it" irt killing animals, putting words in his mouth and conflating Henry's personal feelings with the desires of the Shadow. Or even of the Shadow and Shadow Brenner taunting Henry in the VR game, telling him that he always loved snapping bones and killing things, but we never actually hear Henry confirm this. The Shadow and Brenner are often "stealing" Henry's voice by way of putting words in his mouth and thoughts in his head that he wouldn't have on his own.

But circling back to NINA specifically, it makes me think of Henward being used as a puppet for Brenner's meddling. Brenner has stolen Henward's voice, his looks, his mannerisms, in order to say and do things that Henward may never have said or done on his own in order to paint a specific picture for El.

And, again, because El is scared, because she doesn't understand what's going on or have the resources to even try, she simply lashes out. Remove the threat and she'll be safe. No matter if this is the real threat; he's an immediate threat in her eyes, therefore he's her target. Killing him is the closest answer she has to "solving" everything.

It's high-stakes situations, fear of the unknown, and mob mentality that results in the passengers on Midnight and our Hawkins gang having their knees knocked out from under them. Without taking the time to think, to stay calm, to mull over their options, they will always come to the wrong conclusions and not fix things like they hoped.

In st4, they're scared and on a time crunch, and with only some of the necessary information at their disposal, they're going to work with what they've got, even if they'd find contradictions if they looked just a little bit harder. They have their immediate threat, someone they can point at and see harm happening because of them, so why see if there's someone else hiding in his shadow? Why waste their, quite literally, precious time when they can, theoretically, still do good with what they have?

[those70scomics]

Fictober Day 22: "why are we doing this again?"

That '70s Show Fanfiction

Kitty was happy Eric and Donna decided to spend the weekend at home -- her home, as Donna might call it. But this house would always be home to her son, his wife, and to all the adults who were practically her kids in the '70s. Kitty and Donna were in the living room, cutting out Halloween decorations. Home-made was best, even if they used a stencil.

"So Eric and Steven really went to that Miller boy's house yesterday," Kitty said. Art supplies covered the coffee table, and dhe cut the shape of a bat wing from black construction paper. "You kids have looked after each other your whole lives."

Donna created the brown paper stem of a pumpkin with a pair of nail scissors. "We're hardly kids anymore. I'm having a kid. And Mitch might be short, but he's grown from an obnoxious teenager into an obnoxious adult. Eric and I need him gone. Thank God Hyde had a plan to set up a new life for him."

A new life ... like the one growing inside Donna. Kitty shook her head at herself. Moving to a new city and having a baby were both changes but not the same. The secrets she was keeping from the people she loved most had jumbled her thoughts.

"Jackie probably knows I'm pregnant," Donna said, and Kitty sliced her bat in half. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" Kitty winced. "I didn't accidentally say your name when telling Jackie and Steven about Laurie's pregnancy!"

Donna placed her hand gently on Kitty's knee. "It's okay. She must've figured it out when I puked at her fashion studio last Monday."

"Has she told you she knows?"

"No, but she doesn't have to."

Kitty crumpled her ruined bat and tossed it into the nearby waste basket. "Why are we doing this again? Treating your pregnancy like a classified document ... "

"Because you want the attention from announcing it in nine days."

"I do not!" She drew a new bat onto a fresh piece of construction paper. The stencil dug into her palm, and she pressed the pencil so hard that the tip broke. "I admit I Iove throwing a party to remember, but I would have kept your pregnancy a secret without the bribe."

"But you would've been passive-aggressive to me the whole month instead of being nice."

Donna used a glue stick to attach three paper pumpkin stems to three paper pumpkins, as if what she'd said hadn't been deeply offensive. If Donna held such a negative view of her, Kitty's first grandchild would grow up to hate her.

"When have I ever been passive-aggressive toward you?" Kitty's voice was close to breaking, but she refused to cry. She needed an honest answer, not one softened by guilt.

"You're kidding me, right?"

Kitty snatched a throw pillow from behind her back and clutched it on her lap. "I'm sitting up straight."

Donna closed her glue stick and dropped it onto the coffee table. "Fine. Before Eric and I got engaged -- the second time -- you acted like I stole him from you."

"If you'd just gone to college and skipped all your teenage engagement nonsense, that neither of you followed through on, Eric wouldn't have needed to go to Africa to pay for tuition."

"He didn't go to Africa. He pretended to go, hid for a week ... which was his M.O. back then for whatever reason ... then came home. He stayed because he loved me, just like I stayed in Point Place for him after Red's heart attack."

Donna raised her left hand to Kitty's face. Her golden wedding ring glinted in the living room light. "We followed-through eventually," Donna said, and her left hand moved to her belly. "Eric and I went to college together, and you've never thanked me. I'm the reason your son stayed in the country, why he's creating his own toys for a living instead of starting a Jedi School. But you were so hostile the year Red almost died and afterward."

Blood heated Kitty's face. She couldn't deny the allegations; they were true. Horrifyingly so.

"I acted exactly like Red's mother!" She wiped a tear from her hot cheek, remembering every time Bernice called her whore. "I am so sorry, Donna. I behaved like Eric was too good for you -- when the opposite is true. Or was. You're perfect for each other."

She reached toward Donna, and Donna grasped her palm. "Thank you," Kitty said. "I couldn't ask for a better daughter-in-law. I love you. I have ever since you were four-years-old. Even then, I saw how happy Eric was when he played with you."

Donna scooted closer to her on the sofa and embraced her. "Thank you. I love you, too."

"Should I cancel the Halloween party?"

"Hell no! Eric and I are looking forward to it."

Kitty blotted her eyes with her sweater sleeve once she and Donna parted. "You should make the announcement. You and Eric."

"Maybe Hyde should," Donna said with a laugh. "He got rid of Mitch, and he gave Eric his savings to go to college, including his Christmas bonuses from Grooves."

"Oh, honey, that wasn't enough to pay for Eric's college. He asked his father to do it."

Donna jumped to her feet but sat again a second later. She cupped her forehead. "Hyde never told us that."

"Uh-oh." Kitty likely wasn't supposed to tell her either. Steven would've been dead on the streets if not for her and Red. So W.B. gave Eric the college education Steven didn't want for himself -- after Steven asked him to. "Secrets catch up with most people in the end. Especially good people."

"You're right." Donna drew a ghost on white construction paper. It took up essentially the whole sheet. "Did you get the fake cobwebs from the Piggly Wiggly?"

Kitty nodded. The Halloween party was obviously still on, but she wasn't sure about the baby announcement. Either way, she'd find out in nine days.

[thatseventiesbitch]

Hey!, could I ask for “I moved on.” for the prompt ask? For Donna and Jackie talking again after a long time, and we don't know what happened between the gang and why they distanced.

Jackie and Donna at first somewhat resentful they catch up, talk about Jay and Leia and how they unexpectedly ended up dating, have a nice summer :D

Thanks for the ask! This is part 2 of my double-date drabble (part 1 here) 😁 Prompt Ask Game

Across the table from the men, Jackie and Donna were engaged in their own conversation.

"I'm so glad you suggested this, Jackie," Donna smiled. "We really need to catch up. It's been..." she trailed off, thinking about the last time she'd seen her old high school friend.

"At least four years," Jackie supplied. "I think the last time I saw you was at Margie Kelso's wedding."

"Yeah. And god, it's been even longer since we've actually talked," Donna agreed. "We all kinda lost touch after you and Fez..." she trailed off again.

"Yeah. Yeah, we don't ever really talk about it," Jackie nodded, subtly indicating Kelso just across the table from them.

"Right."

A slightly uncomfortable silence fell between them.

"So do you - " / "What happened after - "

They tried to speak at the same time.

"Oh, um. You first," Jackie offered, graciously. Donna eyed her curiously. This wasn't the same girl she'd known in the '70s.

Donna cleared her throat. "I was just gonna ask what happened to you after that new years. I - I feel like I never really saw you again." She shrugged. "I knew you were around, but things were just... different, I guess."

"Yeah," Jackie smiled sadly. "They were different."

Jackie explained what she could - how her pregnancy with Michael complicated every aspect of her life back then. She described her rise to fame on What's Up Wisconsin, and how she threw herself into life as a new wife and later as a single mom when Michael inevitably cheated on her again.

"I just... I moved on," she summarized, a wistful expression on her face as she thought about the last fifteen or so years without her friends.

"Wow, Jackie." Donna fought the urge to set her hand over the smaller woman's perfectly manicured one. They weren't close like that anymore, but the moment felt heavy with emotion. And regret.

"Anyway," Jackie's whole demeanor turned on a dime, and suddenly she was the perky, bitchy cheerleader she'd been in high school again. Donna remembered how she'd never liked pity.

"Now Michael and I are back together and we're the power couple of Point Place." Jackie pinched the fabric of her dress between her fingers. "Do you know how much this dress cost, Donna?" She smirked condescendingly. "Probably more than your whole wardrobe."

Donna chuckled and lifted an eyebrow. "Yeah, probably."

"You're a writer?" Jackie quizzed, returning the inquisition now. Both women picked at their entrees.

"I am," Donna smiled. "I have two collections of short stories published, and my first novel came out a year and a half ago."

"It was a best-seller, right?"

"Yeah. Did you read it?" Donna's eyes were alight with excitement.

"No," Jackie waved her fork dismissively. "But my hairdresser did. Antonia," she nodded and took a bite of her penne pasta. "She said it was good. Kind of sexy."

Donna blushed.

"Which is surprising because apparently you're still with Eric."

Now Donna rolled her eyes. "Jackie..."

"I lost a bet on that one, let me tell you."

"Well, we're really happy."

Donna expected another snarky response, but instead Jackie wiped her mouth with her napkin primly and said, "Good." Then she flagged down their waiter, and requested a bottle of red wine for the table.

"Jackie," Donna hissed. "A bottle?"

Jackie raised her eyebrows. "Well, we have some business to discuss, Donna."

Donna raised her eyebrows.

The maître d' delivered the wine and two glasses, and uncorked it for them before pouring each Donna and Jackie a healthy pour. Jackie picked up her glass and took a long sip.

"Jay and Leia," she said finally. "My son is dating your daughter. What do we think about that?"

Donna reached for her glass, too. "Leia's a good girl," she said evenly, looking at the top of her wine rather than Jackie. "I don't want to see her get hurt."

"Jay's a good boy," Jackie responded coolly. "He wouldn't hurt a fly."

"Well then we shouldn't have any problems," Donna smiled tightly, and took a long sip.

"No," Jackie agreed. Her mouth was stained red from her beverage. "Maybe we'll get to go baby shopping together after all."

Donna grimaced. "Too soon, Jackie."

She nodded. Understood.

[libraryofjoy]

Books I read in March 2023

When I Spoke in Tongues by Jessica Wilbanks. This is a memoir about the author's deconstruction from her Pentecostal childhood faith. It also includes details of her recovery process from an eating disorder and her journey to become a writer. I was really interested in her travel to Nigeria in order to explore Yoruba influence on Pentecostal worship. This was interesting to me because one of my grad school classes involved studying Yoruba religion in Cuba, which also has a large emerging neo-Pentecostal demographic. Although some of my views and experiences with Pentecostalism were very different from Wilbanks's, I appreciated the chance to think carefully about how to approach my experiences through writing and academia intentionally and fruitfully.

Biblical Womanhood by Beth Allison Barr is nonfiction arguing that biblical womanhood as understood by American evangelicals today is not a straightforward reading of the Bible but developed over a long and complicated history, driven by men's desire for power over women. Some of the history was new for me but as a New Testament student I liked her exegesis.

Leftover in China by Roseann Lake is nonfiction about women in China who remain unmarried over age 30-35. There's a lot of detail here about Chinese marriage norms historically and in the present, the impact of the one-child policy meaning that there were fewer girls in China and the girls who were born suddenly had unprecedented attention and access to educational and financial opportunity. I was really interested in the interviews with various women--it offered a personal glimpse into the challenges, privileges, and priorities of these unmarried women.

The Last Queen by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is historical fiction about the life of Maharani Jindan. This book has romance, politics, trauma of war, and ends with a very moving parent-child tragedy of assimilation and colonization. (Spoilers: you can blame a whole lot of problems on the British.)

The Gilded Page by Mary Wellesley. Nonfiction about handwritten manuscripts, mostly centered on medieval England. Wellesley is interested in what the manuscripts reveal about the people who wrote them by hand: marginalia, errata, other traces of everyday life. This book wove in neatly with Biblical Womanhood's discussion of Margery of Kempe. I was also really interested in all the detail it gave about the ascetic lives of anchoresses.

Heart Berries by Terese Marie Mailhot. This memoir follows the author through her struggle as an Indigenous woman to leave an abusive relationship, learn how to live with bipolar disorder, and parent her two sons. Mailhot makes a conscious effort not to write an auto-hagiography, showing her worst moments in full detail that earns the audience's sympathies even more effectively. I love reading authors' memoirs because at some point they turn into books about writing books. It was really cool to see Mailhot's success after how hard she worked to earn it.

The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera. Dystopian middle grade scifi. When Earth becomes unliveable, Petra Peña, along with her parents and younger brother, are supposed to be part of a privileged few cryogenically frozen to be woken up 300 years in the future on a new colony planet. When things go wrong Petra stays conscious through her stasis and wakes in a world where no one else remembers stories of Earth. This book was really intense for middle grade fiction! It's a very thoughtful look at grief, love, stories as a means of continuing culture, environmentalism, critique of censorship, and at its heart an argument that conflict comes not from differences between people but from unwillingness to embrace those differences. I appreciated how this book approached its protagonist's disability in a eugenicist dystopia. I'd recommend this book for fans of Tamsyn Muir's Locked Tomb series (particularly if you liked the John chapters in NtN).

The Preacher's Wife by Kate Bowler. This book was already on my list but then Beth Allison Barr talked about Kate Bowler in Biblical Womanhood, which made me even more interested. Bowler looks at celibrity women within evangelicalism, arguing that even the most conservative church spaces offer these spotlit women subtle but significant power, and even the most egalitarian-seeming liberal church spaces still embrace social norms that uphold patriarchal power over women. Fun fact: this book also cites one of my religion professors from undergrad!

How Far the Light Reaches by Sabrina Impler. This book is a collection of memoir essays in which various marine animals are used to illustrate the author's life. The Chinese sturgeon illuminates immigrant familiy history, an octopus watching her eggs pairs with the author's relationship with their mother in regards to disordered eating, and life in high temp, and high pressure volcanic vents are paired with the persistence of a queer community in Seattle. From a craft perspective I'm so impressed by the structure of this work, and it was a real pleasure to read.

Bitter Orange Tree by Jokha Alharthi. Realistic fiction in which an immigrant university student remembers and traces the life of her Omani pseudo-grandmother, who dies just as the narrator is leaving for Britain. There's a lot of love and grief and memory and love again in this book, and the writing is just beautiful.

Bible and Sword by Barbara W. Tuchman explores the historical relationship between Britain and Palestine, particularly the history of Zionism in Britain. (Spoilers: you can blame a whole lot of problems on the British.)

Please Look After Mom by Kyung-Sook Shin. Realistic fiction about the family of a woman who goes missing after she gets separated from her husband at a subway station in Seul. The book switches between the woman's children and husband as narrators, as they search for her and remember her. This book made me think a lot about my own aging parents as I read how easily the children overlook their mother's health issues and failing memory.

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty. Historical fantasy about a notorious pirate coming out of retirement to rescue the daughter of her old crewmate, in part motivated by love for her own daughter. This book is a bit sweary and has PG-13 level sexual content. We've got ruffians and scallywags, sea monsters, rigorous hospitality, legendary treasures, magic and scholars of magic, and some really thoughtful depictions of religious characters whose faiths inform their difficult decisions. Amina wrestles with her nostalgia for her pirate days in light of her post-retirement efforts to be a devout Muslim. I love how Chakraborty writes interactions between characters of different religions.

Nonfiction:8

Fiction:5

Total nonfiction for 2023 so far:18

Total fiction for 2023 so far:10

Total books read for 2023 so far:28

I'd love to chat about any of these books and I'm always happy to provide content warnings on request! What are y'all reading lately? Anything you really love or really hate? Any recommendations?

[piperslovebot]

https://www.tumblr.com/hydesjackiespuddinpop/730736136599846912?source=share

Hiya, Poorni! Could I request an angsty E/D drabble with any prompt number of your choosing from the linked ask game? This could be set in s4 or s6. 😉 Have fun!

This takes place in the s4 finale. Will be a part of my verse. @urfriendlywriter

"I'm so sorry." Donna stated tearfully. She was starting to hate what she become. Who she had become. And this whole Casey thing...she felt like a fucking idiot. Everyone warned her but she didn't listen. Maybe she thought there was something good in him, maybe she wanted a distraction from her shitty life.

She went into Eric's embrace, hugging him tightly. Eric sighed, hugging her back. He wanted to kill Casey with his bare hands. Despite all the shit that happened with him and Donna these past few months, she didn't deserved what happened to her. No one did.

Donna pulled away, kissing him softly. She needed the pain to go away. Needed for things to stop being awful. And being with Eric always made her feel better.

Eric pulled away, staring in shock. "W-What the hell?" Was Donna really trying to use him? Again? In her defense, he did understand where she was coming from. With her mom leaving and then Casey fucking Kelso, 21 year old creep back taking preying on her only to dump her like she's hot garbage. But that was why they couldn't do anything now. Donna deserved to grieve and process this in a healthy way.

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

"Eric, we should be together. Let's just, like, forget all this other stuff happened.." Donna tried to kiss him again but Eric backed away. "But we can't forget. Living in a bubble won't change the fact that did happen. And if you come running back to me now...Donna, I can't be your second choice." This hurt him, but Red always told him to stand up for himself.

"But you're not! I love you!" Donna cried. She didn't understand why Eric was doing this. Eric walked closer, wiping her tears. "You and Casey just split up. And I know you're hurting. I don't want to take advantage of you. You deserve better than that. And if we got together now..." Donna nodded, "I understand. Just know, I'm not giving up on you, ever." She kissed his cheek and sighed. "And I'm sorry about a lot of the things I said and did to you these past few months."

Eric sighed, "I'm sor-" Donna cut him off, "Don't you dare apologize. We both...probably weren't the best, but I should own up to my stuff too." Eric nodded, having a faint smile on his lips. Donna grabbed the backpack on the ground, about to head out. "Where are you headed?" Eric asked. "California. My mom's there so I'm gonna go visit for the summer." Donna smiled and sighed. "Goodbye Eric." Eric smiled back, "Goodbye Donna." He watched as his ex girlfriend walked out the door.

"So you do listen to what I teach you." Eric turned around to see Red and Kitty staring right at him. He was prepared for a lecture about how he should've 'been a man and taken her back', but they seemed...almost proud. Red smiled, "I'm proud of you son. Maybe you'll do okay after all." Eric nodded, "Thanks dad. I just...I feel kind of guilty." Kitty shook her head, "Eric, you did the right thing. Donna is not ready for a relationship right now and you stood up for yourself. My baby boy." She headed over to squeeze him tightly, making Eric gasp. "Mom!" Red pat his wife in the arm, "Okay Kitty, maybe you should let the boy breathe."

[roadtogracelandx45]

Charming Town |8| Jax Teller

part 7

masterlist

@ohnoitsthebat | @prettyinpayne

word count: 1,703

Eight 

Scott Rosen was waiting in the waiting room with the other sons when Ryder came in and scooped up the miniature redhead into her arms and held her close, he had only ever heard stories of the woman and the legacy she was building in not only Tacoma but in New York had been spreading like wildfires. The showdown she and Harvey Specter, who were working together for the first time, had on the final day of the trial where one of their former client’s employees claimed they were robbed and assaulted on the client's property was the biggest story. 

To him it made sense that she was like that, she was the Princess of Samcrow but not everyone in their world knew that.  “Mrs. Teller? I am Scott Rosen.”  He said after a few seconds, causing her to look at him. “Your husband said you wanted to sign the papers?” “Yeah. I do.” she returned, pressing another kiss to her daughter's cheek before setting her down on her feet.  The little girl went right to Tig who pocketed his cell phone and lowered himself to sit on the floor next to her, already taking the doll she held out to him. 

  She watched for a few minutes before turning to look back at Rosen who had the files in his hands ready for her to read and sign.

 “You know you can trust my work right?”  Rosen asked, watching her read over it. “I do but it's a habit to read over everything.”  She returned, she had developed a habit of reading over everything including the paperwork that the other senior partners had gotten done.   The need to be perfect, like Gemma had taught her, was always overwhelming, and 90% of the time she gave into it.

  “You know,” he started as he handed a pen to her to use, “if you ever want to relocate down here. There's always a place open at my office. I am sure your husband would love having you closer.”  He leaned closer, not missing how Chibs straightened up and was ready to move if need be, “And honestly we need someone as smart as you at my firm.” “I will have to keep that in mind. Thank you.” Ryder handed the papers over to the man and took a full step back, “Hey munchkin, do you want to go see Uncle Opie and Auntie D?”  “Yeah!” Harley exclaimed as she stood up quickly. Other than her father, Opie was Harley’s favorite person in the whole world and only seeing him a handful of times since he got out of Chino was enough to cement it.``Get your stuff and tell Uncle Elvis, Chibby and Tigger thank you.” The little girl took her stuffed bear and doll from Tig and said her quiet thank you before her mother picked her up and bounced her once before the waiting room and gave Tara, who was hovering in the doorway, a look. “Dr. Knowles.” “Dr. Knowles.” Harley parrotted with a giggle before exclaiming for her father who had come out of the hallway that led to the NICU rooms. 

“No bloodshed yet, that's a good thing,” Bobby commented as Gemma joined them. “Not yet.” she agreed, “She is trying to be prim and lawyer-like. Give it time. She will be our Ryder again before long.” The Queen was sure about that, there was no outrunning their pasts. Either you faced it head-on or you ran scared. And Ryder had only ever run scared once and that was because of heartbreak and nothing else.

***

Jax settled his free arm around his wife’s shoulders once she pressed the button for the lobby and pulled her into him. Having both her and Harley close brought an overwhelming sense of peace to him. 

“Donna wants to know if it’s okay if Harley spends the night with her and the kids.” She said softly reaching her hand up and fixing the black Harley Davidson tee shirt that he had dressed their daughter in that morning.  Jax nodded his head, “means we can sleep at the clubhouse in my dorm until we can find another house.” Gemma already had some of the crow eaters and Luanne was looking for a house for them. 

“What? You don’t like sleeping on an old twin bed?” She teased knowing that he hated it and had always insisted that they stayed at Gemma’s or at the clubhouse.  The elevator ride down to the ground level was short and the Tellers exited the elevator and went towards where Ryder’s cage was parked. 

“It was fine when you were 16 babe but we are adults and married.” He returned. “And you don’t want Piney threatening to shoot you with the shotgun again.”  After the first time that Jax hurt her and she had forgiven him, he came over to the house and climbed through her window and Piney came busting in after he heard Ryder’s laughter and Jax’s curses from landing on the desk and said desk collapsing under his weight. 

“That was one time, Ry, one time.” Ryder shrugged her shoulders keeping her laughter to herself and pressed the unlock button on the key fob before pulling the backdoor open so she could put Harley in her car seat. Jax stepped around her and put their daughter in with ease. 

“I will see you soon okay?”  

“K.” The little girl returned and knocked her feet together so the lights came on. Jax pressed a kiss to her head and then shut the door. 

“Clubhouse later?” She asked, glancing up at him. “Yeah, I have some club stuff to handle first, and if Abel.” “I will be here if Abel has surgery and I am sure we won’t be able to pull Grandma Gemma away.” 

 “That’s true.” He laughed before holding his hand up in the direction of the boys who were calling him.

 “Go. I will see you later.” She assured him with a small smile. She hated that she was allowing herself to slip right back into the familiarity of their relationship. 

Smirking, Jax dipped his head and pressed a kiss to her lips, he only meant it to be a quick kiss, he had club stuff today and she was going to see her sister-in-law and the kids. But she pulled him back to her and into a heated kiss. 

“Be careful.” She breathed once they broke apart again.  

“Always.”

**

Ryder picked up her daughter once they were standing on Opie and Donna’s front step and let her ring the doorbell to her heart’s content. The door swung open and Donna, Opie’s tiny wife, Ryder's best friend, and Harley's godmother. “It’s about time you two showed up!” She exclaimed, taking the little girl from her mother’s arms. “I see where I rank.” Ryder teased as she stepped into the house and shut the door behind her. Ellie, her niece rushed towards her and hugged her midsection. “Are you staying for a while?” She asked. “Yes, that is the plan sweets.” 

“Is it because Uncle Jax had a baby with another lady?” Kenny asked from where he was sitting playing video games, he wasn’t looking at his aunt or mom, his whole attention was on the small device in his hands. “Where did you hear that?” Ryder asked surprised looking at Donna who shrugged her shoulders, “They may have heard Opie and I talking.”

  “Great.” The taller woman rolled her eyes, “My marriage is subject to gossip everywhere. Bull’s and Donut’s old ladies were talking about it a couple of weeks ago.” 

She didn’t have to look at her sister-in-law to know that's what she was going to ask.  “I am surprised you didn’t shut them down.” “It’s not my place there Donna. And don’t give me the mother charter VP’s old lady bullshit, I have heard it before. And it doesn’t mean shit.’

 Biting her tongue, Donna looked at her niece, “Why don’t we see what kind of trouble we can get into in the kitchen.”  “Yeah!” Harley exclaimed, clapping her hands together causing Ellie to laugh and move away from her Aunt. 

The girl had been excited when she found out that her aunt was having a little girl, she always wanted a little sister but instead got stuck with Kenny.  

They were almost clones of their father and aunt, the only real difference was that Ellie had a head of blonde hair and Ryder was a redhead. 

“Come on Ken.’ Ryder said, holding her hand out to him, 'Come help us in the kitchen and later I will go get the video games from Grandpa’s house.’ She had a bad habit of spoiling not only her daughter but her niece and nephew and she was sure that was going to carry onto Abel. 

It already had. 

The packages being delivered to her dad's house were proof of that. 

**

“Hey baby,’ Gemma greeted once Ryder picked up her phone a while later, “They are going to take Abel into surgery.” “I will be there in a few minutes.” 

 Gemma could hear the laughter of her granddaughter and the Winston children in the background, and she smiled,  knowing that Ryder was going to be the one who was going to bring their family back together fully.  She was the only one who was going to be able to bring Donna and Opie back in, Gemma had tried and failed spectacularly every time. 

  “Is Jax back yet?”  

“Not yet but Luanne is here and is furious that she hasn’t seen you or Harley.” 

  “I am not taking my daughter to a porn studio, Gem. Not even for  Luanne.  I just have to get Harley’s stuff from the car and I will be here.”   “See you soon.” She said before snapping the phone shut and looking over at Luanne who had just seen Tara for the first time. “Does Ry know she is here?” “Mhmm.” The queen hummed, “And she is smarter than the two of us combined.” Luanne nodded her head, it hadn’t surprised her at all,  Ryder was always destined for something else. Something better than being an old lady and working at an auto shop. 

[peterlorrefanpage]

If Peter Lorre were in "A Christmas Carol"...

...what role would he play?

(This picture is from The Mask of Dimitrios but I felt his somber expression was apt.)

First, I feel compelled to say that for me, Alastair Sim is "the" Scrooge. He's exceptional. His face is so reflective and nuanced. His voice is resonant and gorgeous. His eyes are like great, luminous soul-windows.

So I'm not replacing Alastair at all, I am just inventing yet another Christmas Carol movie...

But would Peter play Scrooge? I like him as the lead in anything, and this would be no exception; Peter could pervade the atmosphere with remoteness and disdain, a curl of the lip, a sardonic glint in the eye, the unholy amusement at all the poor fools (literally and figuratively) surrounding him. Humanity! Bah! HUMBUG!

And then the gradual dethawing of his icy, padlocked heart, chip by chip, key-twist by key-twist, the torment and loss and longing churned up by the Ghost visits, the final terror-stricken howl, and then - ah, and then! - the utter joy (leavened with care and mindfulness) and rush to make up for all that lost time. It's delicious to contemplate.

But I also find myself quite strongly seeing Peter as Bob Cratchit. The mournful expression as he tries to warm his fingers by the single candle on his desk. The unshakeable good cheer and good personhood that pervades him. The unconditional love for his family and fellow human beings. The heart-wrenching scene over Tiny Tim. The fact that Peter would, indeed, steal every scene he was in. ❤

Let's make a list! Idle musings with creative attention to timelines include:

Scrooge - Peter Lorre or Boris Karloff or ? Marley - Karloff or John Carradine Cratchit - Peter or ? Cratchit's wife - Kathleen Lockhart Tiny Tim - Freddie Bartholomew Nephew - Nephew's Wife - Scrooge's sister, Fan - Gene Tierney Scrooge's lost love, Alice - Donna Reed Fezziwig - Sydney Greenstreet complete with his "sir" this and "sir" that Ghost of Christmas Past - Ghost of Christmas Present - Eugene Pallette (okay maybe not :D) Ghost of Christmas Future - Scrooge's housekeeper - Elsa Lanchester

Feel free to disagree & completely jumble up the list!

Incidentally about Peter & the Cratchit role, another reason is because of this anecdote from the biography:

[Vienna, 1933, under martial law. 8 o'clock curfew. Lorre is with his friends & actors in the Majolica Hall, a subterranean Bohemian wine place where they had to get their food after curfew. To keep their spirits up against hearing all the shooting outside and police cars racing around…]

Composer Robert Stoltz said to Peter that it was funny how they always gave him parts where he plays a monster or a Greek chorus kind of thing. Why couldn't he play an important classic part?

Peter: "You are thinking of Hamlet. I know the whole play from beginning to end, all the parts."

Another person urged Lorre to recite some of the play, yet the others felt funny about that. Screenwriter Walter Reisch said, "After all, he with his shoulders hanging down and the fat face. He was very, very overweight at the time. He looked much older than he really was."

But Peter said: "I want to do it, really. It has been deep in my heart ever since I was twelve. Ever since I ran away from home. Ever since I saw Hamlet with all the great stars of Europe, it has been the great dream of my life. If you will really keep quiet, I will give you a bit.”

Reisch and the others thought it would be nothing but a disaster.

But then:

"He didn’t start with 'To be or not to be,'" said Reisch. "He started reciting the first gravedigger from beginning to end."

After finishing, Peter scolded his audience:

"You sons-of-bitches, you thought I was going to play Hamlet and make a fool of myself. My part is the gravedigger and if I had ever played it on the stage I would have stolen that play. There would have been no Hamlet and no Claudius, no Polonius, no Laertes and no Ophelia. It would have been me."

Reisch said: "It was terrific. After the first lines he got up and took a knife, as if it were the gravedigger’s spade, and he started to dig into the earth. You forgot the shooting outside, you forgot the Majolica Hall, you forgot everything. You forgot Hitler. You forgot Hamlet. You saw Peter Lorre as the gravedigger and that showed to me this guy knew his limitations, and at the same time made the best of his shortcomings, his figure, his funny face, his reputation as a monster."

--

I'd be inclined to say Peter didn't really have limitations, just what others put upon him.

Incidentally, I saw this: "According to an essay by Dave Duggins on the Web site Horror-Wood, 1947 nearly brought us A Universal Horror Christmas Carol, which would have featured such stars of classic Universal Pictures horror movies as Boris Karloff (playing Scrooge), Bela Lugosi (as the Ghost of Christmas Past) and John Carradine (as the Ghost of Christmas Future, aka the Grim Reaper). For script excerpts, go to www.horror-wood.com/carol.htm." Source - of the quote; the website referenced doesn't seem to exist anymore.

--

I leave you with a PSA: There is ample time to subscribe to A Dickens December, created by @warrioreowynofrohan​, which releases a portion of the book each day from December 1st to December 26.

It's really, really lovely to read this as a serial. No offense to Dickens, who went through a small slice of hell to publish it solely as a novella; my enjoyment is possibly because I'm oversaturated with unrestricted binge access to just about everything else. (I am appreciating "The Peripheral," which is awesome, being a weekly release.)

I had completely forgotten so many devilish lines that you don't get in dramatic readings/movies:

"Don't be angry, uncle. Come! Dine with us to-morrow."

Scrooge said that he would see him—yes, indeed he did. He went the whole length of the expression, and said that he would see him in that extremity first.

And the beauty of lines such as:

The brightness of the shops, where holly sprigs and berries crackled in the lamp heat of the windows, made pale faces ruddy as they passed.

[frankieking]

Meet the Parents

Taggings: @august-atwood A/N: Frankie meets their dad and they think it goes well but there are other plans in orbit. 

The talk was going easier than Frankie had initially imagined. In truth, they didn’t really follow any religion and the thematic dinner held by their father’s wife was a little over the top. It came as a relief to learn that Donovan felt the same. Chuckling softly at their father’s joke, Frankie leaned back  into the chair in his study . “She was probably nervous. You know, having me and August here.” 

“Mm hmm.” Donovan pointed to Frankie with their drink in hand . “You’re probably correct but the private chef? Maybe a little too much?” 

“A tad.” Frankie responded and they both laughed before letting some silence fall between them. “But I should be going.” August had been waiting in the living area and Frankie didn’t want to leave their spouse out in the company of Aoife and Kennedy for too long.  “Before I go, there is something I need to bring up. And it’s the reason I came.” 

Donovan cleared his throat, appreciative of the honesty even if it meant his offspring didn’t want to actually be there at first. He was glad they came at all and hopefully today was the start of them coming around more. “I understand. But yes, go on. Is everything alright?” 

“For now. Well, with me? Yes. It’s about Kennedy. I think he may have a drug problem. And I think you should provide some help. I know some great rehabs although you probably can afford nicer ones than the one...” Frankie paused and took a deep breath. “Than the ones I attended.” They looked up at their father. “They say addiction is genetic...I don’t want Kennedy to go through what I went through. And as much as I’d like to get into that now, this has already been incredibly over-stimulating and Auggie and I have work in the morning...so...please talk to your son.” 

How should he respond? Donovan knows about Kenney’s drug problem though, he really wouldn’t call it that. He know this conversation could go south quickly if he didn’t answer right away and hearing that Frankie had a drug problem at some point really surprised him. He chose shock and shook his head. “I--suspected something was going on. Aoife and I will speak with him. I’ll pretend one of the maids found a stash somewhere. Your name won’t be mentioned.” But curiosity remained. “Why bring it up to me?” 

Frankie’s eyes widened, surprised he’d ask such a thing. “he’s my brother. I couldn’t let that go.” 

That was enough to give Donovan even more hope that his family may have won them over. With a nod, he finished off the conversation, assuring his other kid that he’d be taking care of Kennedy. 

Frankie made their way out of the study, smiling when they saw their spouse, whispering to them that they should probably go. While this wasn’t the most terrible meeting, it did leave them feeling exhausted. Once goodbyes were exchanged and the three remaining Gallaghers dispersed, Aoife pulled her cell phone from the pocket of her dress and dialed a familiar number. She looked out the window, watching the newest members of her family strep into their car. “Hello? Hi! Donna, hello. Oh, I’m doing well. Donovan and I would love to donate to the pilgrimage for Easter Sunday. how much does the church need? Mm hmm. great. I’ll send a check. Frankie and her husband just left. She mentioned something about doing a public school tour, talking to kids about being non-binary...” Aoife sighed. “You know what you have to do. The longer she thinks she needs Kennedy’s bodyguards, the closer she’ll become. The easier this whole thing will be. See you in church, Donna. Always a pleasure.” 

[adamwatchesmovies]

Cujo (1983)

Cujo is a fine adaptation of the Stephen King novel of the same name. It’s a good “animals attack” movie thanks to the time spent developing the characters and the effort made to create a realistic - and relateable - scenario. Despite this, I don't see this as the kind of film you'll be drawn to watch over and over. That’s ok. While watching, you’ll enjoy it.

When Vic (Daniel Hugh-Kelly) goes out of town for work reasons, his wife Donna (Dee Wallace) takes their car to be repaired by mechanic Joe Camber (Ed Lauter). Upon arrival, she and her son Tad (Danny Pintauro) realize he isn’t home. The car breaks down, leaving the family stranded, trapped inside their vehicle and with no escape thanks to Cujo, a formerly friendly St. Bernard now infected with rabies.

The film’s most memorable element is the titular dog, who looks increasingly menacing as the plot goes on. Its fur is matted with blood and mud, its face dripping with infection. The canine’s sheer size makes it a threat but it isn’t really the dog that makes this nightmare scenario scary, it’s all the little things compounded. The family’s car has broken down in the middle of nowhere. The heat is unbearable and hope for salvation is just out of reach. If only Donna could make it to the Camber's phone through their broken window, she could call for help. It’s just a matter of time before the opportunity presents itself but meanwhile, her young son is hysterical. They’re both without food and dehydrated. Every passing minute decreases the chance of a happy ending but there’s no room for error so they’ve got to take their time. It’s a great big time clock that cranks up the tension.

Aside from a scene towards the end where director Lewis Teague indulges in a couple of horror-film cliches, this doesn’t really feel like a horror film at all. It’s a drama featuring ordinary, likeable people going on about their regular lives. The fears are real-world fears. Donna worries she will get bored with her marriage. A crisis at work drives a wedge between her and her husband. Not helping is how... close she's gotten to her high school sweetheart Steve (Christopher Stone). There's a story already happening and it gets interrupted by this crisis. The whole time Tad and Donna are in the car, you’re wondering what you would do, which of their mistake you would avoid. You don’t think of them as characters in the film. They're real-life human beings thanks to the excellent performances by the child actor and the boy playing his mother.

Cujo builds slowly but steadily and delivers the terror and intensity you want during its climax. Bolstered by strong performances and good cinematography, it’s a scary film that isn’t so intense that it will cause you to wake up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night… unless you already have a phobia of dogs. (On Blu-ray, March 14, 2019)