#and if he has dupes he gives them to a kid

[lvmimis]

when your fave goes to a convenience store what’s their typical order?

[rainydayathogwarts]

Love at first sight - Sirius Black

summary: lily's sister who goes to beauxbatons throws the party of the summer which sparks likely friendships, and an even likelier romance. wc: 2.3k

Lily came into the Great Hall the same way she always did: a determined look on her face, chin lifted up confidently, carrying overflowing papers in her arms, but something was different. Those paper she carried? They weren’t filled with head girl applications or polished assignments, no, they were party invitations.

She sat at her usual seat, and as per usual, the marauders ruffled through her papers. “Party invitations?” Whispered Sirius excitedly, as though it was something secret. Lily puffed her chest out “Y/n’s throwing a party, and encouraged me to extend the invitations to some Hogwarts students.” James cleared his throat to stop himself from choking on his tea. “I’m sorry? Your parents are letting you throw a party? The same two people who didn’t let you come over to Marlene’s tea party?” Lily grinned widely. “Well, y/n only comes home during the summers. I’m there every winter and spring break , so she kind of has a way with our parents. All she had to say was ‘this is our last summer before we graduate’ and she had them.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Marlene cut in, her face lighting up, “If this is y/n’s party, does this mean it’s going to be filled with sexy french kids?” Lily nodded happily, sharing a look with the other marauders. It was going to be the party of the year.

You and Lily were the epitome of opposites. You’d engrossed yourself in getting to know all the kids in the neighborhood and quickly because friends with your french neighbour, while Lily only befriended one — Severus. By force of being around the young boy, you’d learned his language, his language which quickly became your own. Whilst you and Lily had your own friends, no one was closer to you both than each other. You were twins, not only blood brothers but best friends. Due to your linguistic talent, you’d not only received a letter from Hogwarts on your eleventh birthday, but from Beauxbatons too. Petunia, ever so jealous of your relationship and your magic, had duped your parents into sending you away.

Petunia had ran off crying, locked in her room alone until she formed the plan of the century to break your relationship with your twin apart. “Well, they’re always together. Isn’t it better for them to learn how to live apart from each other?” And your parents had fallen for her trick. Now, you only saw each other during the summers, and your relationship was stronger than ever. But things would soon change.

The only thing Lily heard of for the rest of the day was this party. Who was she inviting? How many people would be there? “Sirius, it’s not my party. I don’t know the details. All I’ve been told is that I have these invitations to give out to people.” Sirius stared at the front of the boldly decorated invitation on the top of the pile which read in a glittery font ‘No invite, no entry!’ He ran a rough estimate in his mind and decided there had to be at least seventy invitations in the stack of papers. “Can I help give them out?”

Lily and Sirius had proudly made up a list of who to invite, or not to invite, the rest of the marauders eventually gathering around to put in their own two cents. When the invitations had been given out, Lily returned to her dorm whilst the marauders all sat in front of the black lake, soaking up the limited sun rays whilst staring at their own invitations. “This is some high end decor.” Commented Remus, turning his invitation in his hands. The fonts had been carefully chosen, and a textured disco ball sat in the centre of the page. “Yeah, according to Lily, y/n loooves to party.” Marlene added, laying on her back. “I’m excited to meet her,” started James “She sounds fun, and we barely ever hear about her from Lily.”

Sirius hummed, gears turning in his brain. “Lily said they’re nothing alike.” He recalls. It was true. You and Lily weren’t only opposites in terms of personality, but looks too. Despite being twins, you had taken all of your father’s genes while Lily took after your mother. No one ever believed you when you said you were twins, let alone siblings.

The party was nearly an entire month later. The marauders found themselves outside an ordinary muggle house, glancing at each other nervously. Had they arrived too early? Marlene glanced down at her invitation, ensuring that they were there right on time. A knock on the door and they were waiting. The door slammed open and they were met with you, a bright smile on your face and a tray in the other with an array of pink and blue jell-o shots. You weren’t the only thing that welcomed them, but the loud roar of noise from inside the house blasted them too. Remus cocked an eyebrow, thinking ‘That’s one mean silencing charm.’ “Grab a drink you guys!” You called, holding the door open with your foot as you moved to the side for them to come in. You introduced yourself over the noise, clueless to the mesmerised eyes following you.

Sirius let himself be dragged into the house by Remus, though his eyes followed you as you escaped into the backyard. Lily had been right, you weren’t nothing alike. You wore fishnets under your small denim shorts, your top exposing more than just midriff. He gulped, trying not to be caught staring at your breasts when you turned around, instead moving his gaze to the endless jewellery you wore.

Sirius heard himself gasp — apparently the french like to be early. The party in the backyard was lit, he finally noticed, with groups of people already playing beer pong, dancing to the music, and even exchanging light conversation. Lily ran to join them, trying to properly introduce you to her friends, but you were running back to the door as the bell rung once more.  Apparently everyone arrived at once, because a crowd of people suddenly flooded the living room. A mix of elegant french and fast english chatter filled the air, and Sirius saw Marlene’s jaw drop, already picking the girl she was going to spend the rest of the night flirting with. Just as Lily was about to catch you, you jumped onto the coffee table, pointing your wand to your neck with an amplification charm.

“Okay, listen up everyone!” You called out, and from within the crowd, Sirius caught your eye, his muscular arms thrown over two of his friends' shoulders. You hadn’t properly noticed him when he walked in, but now? You shook the thought out of your head. “We have about 200 wizards in this house. A house that you can tell is in a muggle neighbourhood! Now, my silencing charm may be great, but it doesn’t hide magical activity! So if we can keep the magic down to a minimum and get the party up to a maximum that would be great! Where’s my music!?” And suddenly the music roared to life. Sirius shoved to the front of the crowd, offering you a hand to help you down from the coffee table. You felt your stomach jump at his offer, the light reflecting off his silver jewellery. Instead of taking Sirius’s hand, you wrapped your arms around his neck, swinging your legs off the table. Sirius snaked his arms around your waist without missing a beat, spinning you around so you let out a joyous laugh. “And who might you be?” You asked, running your hands down his chest before letting them hang by your sides.

Sirius curtseyed, miming saluting you with a hat whilst very poshly saying “Sirius Black, at your service.” You giggled, putting both your hands on his bicep. “Hey, you met Sirius!” Lily cut in, bumping you with her hip. You met her eyes, and they glinted with mischief. She most definitely knew how attracted you were to Sirius in that moment. “Come meet the others!” She didn’t give you time to respond, instead tugging you away from the curly haired boy. You waved at him, yelling “I’ll see you later!” and then “Shut up” to Lily when you turned around. You didn’t have to look at her to know she was smiling like the cheshire cat.

James was the first to bring you into a hug, his hands respectfully patting your back. You turned to look at Lily, nodding in approval. Your introductions with Remus and Marlene were quick, witty comments given by each of them before Marlene so boldly asked “Hey, is that cute brunette over there into girls?” You laughed, wrapping an arm around her waist. “Sweetheart, you’re going to have to be more specific, but for you? Anyone would be into girls.” Simple to say, Marlene turned bright red, and not because of the warmth the alcohol had given her.

When Sirius returned to the group, you were already gone, dancing with your friends. He threw his arms around James’s shoulders, resting his head on his best friends’s shoulder. “James, we’re going to be brothers in law!” The boy barked out a laugh, pushing Sirius away to look at him properly. “I’m in love with her James.” Remus laughed, slapping a hand on Sirius’s back. “Well what are you going to do about it buddy?” He asked, sharing an amused glance with James. “I’m going to convince her to come to Hogwarts. Wait! First, I’m going to make her fall in love with me!” Sirius frowned at his two friends’ loud laughs, muttering something like “I’ll show you.” But he didn’t have the chance to come find you in the crowd, because two pairs of hands were placed upon his shoulders, and you appeared, saying “Come dance with me.”

Sirius almost passed out at your offer, blindly following you onto the dance floor and missing the surprised look Remus and James shot each other. Apparently, you wouldn't need much convincing to fall for Sirius. Sirius took your hand, spinning you around, and you looking him up, looking around as though it would hide the bite of your lip. Sirius’s jeans were just tight enough around the crotch, and low waisted enough that every time he raised his arms too high, a sliver of his abdomen would show as his top would ride up. You spun around in Sirius’s arms, pressing your back against his chest. His hands trailed down to your hips, tugging them closer to his own. You giggled, moving your body alongside the music. Sirius groaned, whispering the lyrics in your ear, his hot breath hitting your sweaty skin.

The next time Sirius groaned, it wasn’t out of enjoyment, it was because someone had called out your name. “Viens avec nous? Just une cigarette!” (Come with us? Just one cigarette!) You had laughed at your friend’s words, shaking your head. “Non, il est trop beau, je ne veux pas le quitter!” (No, he’s so gorgeous, I don’t want to leave him!) Sirius hummed as you turned around in his arms, putting both your hands on his chest. “Come outside with me! Somewhere we can talk!” You grinned, sliding both your hands down in his, and letting him drag you outside.

You let Sirius guide you to a less crowded side of your garden, where you could people watch without being disturbed. You pushed Sirius against the wall of your backyard, watching as his eyebrows flew upwards in surprise. “So, Mr. Black, what would you like to discuss?” Sirius felt his heart surge, its pace quickening by the second, and he was sure you could feel it under your fingertips too. “Go out with me.” He heard himself blurt, and his eyes went wide at his own question. You laughed, looking around. “Aren’t we out right now?” The silence he left you with made you giggle, leaning your head forward on his chest. “I’m just joking.” Sirius shoulders slumped down in relief, hands loosely gripping your hips.

“I don’t want this to just be a little party flirt. I want to really get to know you. You… you seem cool.” You pressed yourself onto your tip toes, leaning forward to softly kiss Sirius. He sighed as you pulled away, chasing the kiss softly, but you refused to reconnect your lips. “I’d really like that.” Sirius smiled widely, pulling you flat against his body. “And hey, who knows, maybe you can show me around Hogwarts?” Sirius nodded, replying with “Yeah of- wait, what?” You straightened your back, cocking your head to the side. “Yeah, I’m moving to Hogwarts next year. Mum and dad finally had enough of me being so far away.” You interrupted yourself with your own laugh, pushing yourself off of him and looking around. “That’s what this is! My goodbye slash welcome party. Didn’t Lily tell you?” Sirius shook his head, stepping closer to you. “Well since I’ll be seeing more of you, can I properly kiss you now?”

Nodding at Sirius, you let him tug you closer to him, bringing you into a passionate kiss. You gasped at the force of his kiss, letting Sirius slide his tongue into your mouth. Moaning softly, you brought your hands up to cup Sirius’s face, pushing your body even deeper into his. “Oh my!” You pulled away from Sirius harshly, stumbling away from him. “I mean, I knew you guys had something going on, but I didn’t know it was going on.” You felt your face flush at Lily’s words, and heard Sirius cry out from behind you “Why didn’t you tell us she’s joining next year!?” James, from next to Lily, turned to face her, surprise overtaking his features. “I wanted to see how you guys got along before telling anyone!”

Remus approached the four of you, tipsily mumbling “Marlene has a roster of like three girls right now, and I just overheard some guy saying he wants to jump in the lake. I didn’t know there was a lake.” Remus stood silently, finally taking in the scene in front of him.

“I’m sorry, did I miss something?”

taglist:

@ravisinghs-wife, @amatoanima, @starry-remus, @pain-in-the-ashe

[softspiderling]

illicit affairs - part one | r.c.

summary:

“I’ll be upstairs with Monique, a’ight?” he said, muttering in your ear. “Are you okay getting the drinks to the boys?”

“Yeah yeah,” you huffed with a wave. “Go on. Be safe.”

Rafe smirked at you, ignoring how Monique was staring daggers at you. “Come get me if anything’s wrong, you hear me precious?”

OR; Topper gets duped by a pretty “bartender”, Rafe (almost) has another hook up, and you're trying to tell yourself that this is enough.

pairing: rafe cameron x reader

warnings: mention of drugs and alcohol (weed!), this chapter has no smut, but the later parts will so 18+ MDNI!

word count: 2,5k

author's note: wait... is this finally the first chapter of illicit affairs?🤭 yes it is!!! ik i've been teasing it for so long but it's finally hereee!!! inspired by my own tom holland fic (don't talk to me pls) and it has evolved into a series... i hope you love it so much!!!

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part one: "don't call me kid"

Women and men can’t be “just friends”.

You had always hated that saying. Like, why the hell couldn’t men and women be friends? All three of your best friends were guys, and you didn’t even remotely want to be anything more than friends with any of them.

Okay, maybe you wouldn’t mind being more than friends with one of them.

Bane of your existence.

Pain in the ass.

Annoying as hell.

Your best friend, Rafe Cameron.

You tried so hard to not be in love with him, to only be his friend. Mostly because it would make your life so much less complicated, but also because you hated proving that saying right by being in love with your guy best friend.

“Hey, you still with us?”

“What?”

Rafe stared at you with a frown, before he plucked the joint from your lips.

“You nearly smoked the entire thing by yourself. What’s got you thinking so hard?”

He raised an eyebrow at you while taking a hit from the joint, barely pulling it from his lips before Kelce snagged it from him.

“Greedy bitch,” Rafe huffed before he turned his attention back to you. “You tired, precious? Want to leave?”

You rolled your eyes at the nickname - despite the long tradition of it - and shook your head. “Nah. It’s not even one. And Topper hasn’t made a fool of himself yet.”

“Fuck you,” Topper shot back immediately, moving his cup out of the way when you reached for it. “No, no drinks for mean girls.”

“Come on, don’t be such an asshole,” you whined, smacking your mouth a little to get rid of the dryness the joint has left. Making grabby hands at the cup, you annoyed Topper until he finally gave in, handing you his cup. You took a big gulp, before you pulled a face, pushing the cup back into his hands, barely able to swallow whatever the hell he was drinking.

“Ew, what is that?”

“Some girl in the kitchen made it for him,” Rafe told you, snickering. “I don’t think he was even watching what she was pouring into his cup. Too entranced by her pretty eyes.”

“She said she’s a bartender,” Topper said defensively and you only snorted. He made it far too easy for girls to mess with him.

“Top, I love you,” you said, getting to your feet and straightening your clothes in the process. “But please, you can’t keep falling in love with every pretty girl who pays attention to you.”

“But I’ve been in love with you for six years precious,” Topper proclaimed as he clutched his chest melodramatically, “When will you give me a chance?”

You only scoffed at his antics, twisting your hair up before putting a hair clip in it. “You wish,” you said, slapping his hands away. “I’ll get us some new drinks.”

“I’ll come with,” Rafe offered.

“Can you get me one too?” Kelce piped up and you pinched his cheek, making him wince.

“Vodka soda?”

Kelce gave you a dirty look, rubbing his cheek before he nodded petulantly. You gave him a thumbs up, grabbing Rafe by the wrist to drag him inside.

It was incredibly packed as soon as you entered the house from the backyard, the body heat from about 50 drunk people raising the temperature indoors and it smelled like the inside of a beer keg. Rafe kept his hand on your lower back, to not lose track of you as you carefully weaved between the people on your way to the kitchen. You tried not to get distracted by how his hand occasionally brushed over your exposed skin whenever your top rode up. He had always been this way. Running a hand through Topper’s hair to annoy him, clasping Kelce’s shoulder whenever he drank too much and was hanging over the toilet, squeezing Wheezie’s arm in a quick hug, and keeping his hand on your lower back whenever the two of you were walking somewhere crowded. He liked to show affection the way his father failed to do. So you refused to overthink it when his hands splayed over your skin, despite your heart racing whenever it happened.

Losing yourself to your thoughts for a second, you didn’t pay any attention when some guy walked into you, too busy talking with his friend to watch where he was going. You nearly went flying face down on the ground, but Rafe’s hand quickly found your waist, steadying you.

“Hey, watch it!” Rafe snapped at the guy, who only raised his hands in defense.

“I’m fine,” you insisted, gently pushing his hands off of you. “We’re nearly there, don’t start a fight.”

Out of the corner of your eyes, you could see Rafe giving the guy a stink eye before you reached the kitchen, where it luckily wasn’t as cramped, with only a handful of people mingling and talking. Grabbing four cups off of the stack on the kitchen island, you pursed your lips as you let your eyes roam over the options, rows, and rows of alcohol.

“Do you want a beer or something harder?”

“Beer, I think I might have to drive us home,” Rafe replied, grabbing the vodka bottle that was on his left, and handing it to you.

You unstacked the cups on the counter and poured vodka into three of them. Rafe reappeared by your side - not that you had noticed him leaving, you were too focused on making sure there was an equal amount of vodka in all the cups - sipping on a beer, a jug of cranberry juice in his other hand. You grabbed the jug out of his hand, wordlessly, filling your cup to the brim.

“Where’s the club soda?” you asked, glancing at him over your shoulder. Rafe only shrugged.

“Couldn’t find it.”

“Here’s club soda, Rafe,” a flirty voice suddenly said, and Monique Colver batted her long, fake eyelashes at Rafe.

“Thanks Monique,” Rafe replied with a smirk, taking the bottle to give it to you, which you accepted wordlessly.

Here we go.

“Call me Moni.”

“Moany?” you muttered under your breath while you filled the other two cups, barely wincing when Rafe gave you a side eye, acting like he was listening to every word that left Monique’s lips.

“- but I told my dad I really wanted to travel a bit so he got a me a trip to Europe.”

“Oh yeah? What countries you tryna see?”

Ugh.

You downed your entire cup in one go, already refilling it when you heard “show you” and “upstairs” and you rolled your eyes. You lifted your cup to your lips, basically putting your entire face in it, really, anything to remove yourself from this conversation, only pausing with drowning yourself when you felt Rafe’s hand on your lower back. Again.

“I’ll be upstairs with Monique, a’ight?” he said, muttering in your ear. “Are you okay getting the drinks to the boys?”

“Yeah yeah,” you huffed with a wave. “Go on. Be safe.”

Rafe smirked at you, ignoring how Monique was staring daggers at you. “Come get me if anything’s wrong, you hear me precious?”

You flipped him off and he took that as a sign to leave, following Monique as she dragged him upstairs.

“Bitch,” you muttered to yourself, grabbing the three cups on the counter and heading back outside to the boys.

It was a miracle that not a single drop was spilled on the way, probably because you were too busy trying not to imagine what was going on upstairs.

“There she is!” Kelce greeted you. “Almost died of thirst. What took you so long?”

“Don’t ask,” you muttered, handing them the drinks and Topper eyed you suspiciously. Acting like you didn’t notice it, you plopped yourself into the empty seat next to them, taking a big gulp from your drink.

“Where’s Rafe?”

“Where do you think?” you said with a sigh, giving him a look.

You weren’t jealous.

Okay, you were.

But it wasn’t the main reason why you were so annoyed.

You just hated it when the girls Rafe hooked up with always treated you like you were their competition, like you would take him away from them.

Which, fair, you could if you wanted. If you faked an injury or being sick, Rafe would immediately drop them to get you home.

But he’d never want you the way he wanted them. Yes, you knew he loved you, and yes he was your best friend, but you couldn’t help but want more. Maybe that was selfish. You let out a small sigh, leaning your head on Kelce’s shoulder, missing the way he glanced at Topper. Lucky for you, they decided against pushing it. Taking a sip from your drink, you tried not to think about Monique and Rafe. It didn’t help that the vodka and the joint were starting to work, spreading into your system, making you feel all warm and woozy, your head cloudy.

Your eyebrows shot up when Rafe suddenly appeared, squeezing himself between you and the armrest, his hair disheveled. You were still stewing, looking at him with a crease on your forehead.

“That was quick,” you noted. “Where did you leave Moany?” You couldn’t help but ask, putting emphasis on her nickname.

Rafe only shook his head, plucking your cup out of your hand to take a big gulp.

“That man is traumatized,” Kelce pointed out, nodding in understanding like he didn’t need any further explanation.

“Wait, Monique Colver?” Topper asked. “She’s pretty, isn’t she?”

Rafe held up his hand, stopping him. “Yes, but that wasn’t the problem.”

You rolled your eyes, already knowing what was coming. He was such a drama queen sometimes.

“What did she do?”

Rafe didn’t answer, taking another sip of the drink, before he winced. “She told me to call her precious.”

“What?!”

“HUH??”

“Ew!”

“You know what’s the worst?” Rafe groaned, rubbing a hand over his face. “I didn’t even get off.”

“That’s your biggest problem??”

He rolled his eyes at you, shifting on the sofa. “Pretty big, yeah.”

“Ugh.”

“Can we get back to Monique wanting you to call her precious?” Kelce interjected. “Did Rafe call you precious in front of her?”

“Yes, very clearly. There’s no way she didn’t hear,” you replied.

“Maybe she hates your guts and she wanted to roleplay being you while Rafe abuses her in a sex-way.”

“Kelce, literally never open your mouth again,” you groaned, covering your ears with your hands, while Topper cracked up, Rafe only pulled a face.

“It makes sense,” Topper insisted. “Like, precious is the only girl who’s been around us, or well, Rafe, constantly. You know, apart from Sarah and Wheezie. Maybe that was Monique’s way of telling you she wants to be your girlfriend.”

“What?” Rafe asked, his forehead creased.

You snorted, shaking your head. “You’re giving her way too much credit, I think she’s just weird.”

“You’re biased,” Topper pointed out, reaching behind Kelce’s to boop you on the head. “I don’t think you’ve ever liked any of the girls Rafe hooked up with.”

“Ugh, what’s there to like? They either act like I’m invisible or are passive aggressive bitches,” you huffed, smacking his hand away. Rafe snickered, throwing an arm around your shoulder to pull you close, pressing a kiss on your head.

“They’re jus’ jealous, cuz you’re the only girl I keep around.”

“Get off me,” you grumbled, your cheeks warming regardless. Rafe knew how to make you feel special.

Kelce yawned, stretching his arms, laying one of them on top of Rafe’s arm around your shoulder. “This party sucks. And I’m starving.”

“I’m so down for tacos right now, do you think Mateo’s still open?” Topper asked, sitting up straight because if there was one thing he took seriously, it was tacos.

“It’s two am on a Saturday,” you pointed out, and his shoulders sagged. You exchanged looks with Rafe, a grin growing on your face. “His truck is definitely still open.”

“Alright!” Topper cheered, jumping up. “Let’s go then!”

He dragged the rest of you off of the couch, herding you through the backyard and to the car, all the while laughing and joking around. You ignored the dirty looks you received from others as you got into the passenger seat, Rafe getting into the driver’s seat of his truck.

It didn’t take long until Rafe pulled up into the parking lot where Mateo’s food truck was parked, the four of you tumbling out of the car, Topper nearly falling flat on his face as he sprinted to the food truck. The light was still on, with faint Spanish music playing in the background.

“If it isn’t my four favorite Kooks,” Mate said, wiping the counter with a towel, before throwing it over his shoulder, eyeing you expectantly as you stood in a row in front of him. “Can I help you?”

“Do you have any carne asada tacos?” Kelce asked, peering over the display.

“Even four would be enough,” Topper added, wringing his hands nervously.

Mateo sighed and you’d already come to terms with having to go to bed with a taco craving, before he grinned at you, shaking his head fondly.

“Grab some drinks and have some patience, I’ll feed you in a second.”

Ten minutes later, the four of you were chowing down on some tacos, washing it down with ice-cold cans of coke.

“Fuck, I so needed this,” Topper moaned, biting into his third taco and you rolled your eyes at him, dabbing at your mouth with a napkin.

“Get it together Top.”

Rafe nudged you with his knee, giving you a look. “Give him a break, I know you’ve been craving some tacos as well,” he said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, which made you pull a face.

“Eurgh, please use a napkin you slob.”

You pushed the stack of napkins in his direction and he only grinned at you, picking up some off the stack to wipe his mouth.

“What would I do without you?” he teased, but you only rolled your eyes fondly, picking up some nachos.

“Whatever, eat your damn taco.”

Rafe squeezed your wrist with his clean hand, and you only leaned your head on his shoulder, starting to zone out when they started talking about some new boat, just enjoying their company. Honestly, you were glad you had them. Even if they were boys, incredibly dumb, and lacked a little tact sometimes, you wouldn’t trade it for the world. You glanced down, where your legs were pressed against Rafe’s as you sat next to each other on the picnic bench, just like always.

Maybe, you thought to yourself, maybe this was enough.

“You good?” Rafe asked, raising a brow at you, taco halfway into his mouth.

“Yep, ‘m perfect.”

It had to be.

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author's note: tell me what you think pls!!!

🏷️list: @maybankslover

[fruitsofhell]

My other fun addition to the Hbomberguy video stuff is not just that you need to start checking everyone's sources just to make sure you aren't being duped, but to not use them as a stand in for media consumption/experiences either. Like I'm not gonna lecture you on reading sources cause I am the first one to not and that's my laziness, but like sometimes more important than checking the original analysis of something is just to... see tge thing being analyzed yourself. That's not even about misinformation or lying, sometimes people's opinions just SUCK ASS.

Like there are youtube video essayists I overall kinda respect but they have dogshit opinions on things. I used to love Jack Saint's bad faith overly critical analyses of throwaway kids films, until I realized he also saw films that in my opinion had a lot of merit, and it turned me off from him. Big Joel is cool as hell, but anytime he gives his opinion on animation save like a few points, I completely glaze over and find him annoying. The other day I watched a video essay about the "Magical Negro" trope, and the first movie sourced interested me, so I watched it and I hardly understand why they put that in, it framed the movie as something it wasn't.

Just in general, it's good practice to make sure your opinions on media are your own and experience it yourself. MY biggest takeaway from the Hbomn video wasn't to throw rocks at Somerton or start obsessively fact-checking every essayist I watch, but to make sure I have a baseline of what they talking about myself and not letting anyone throw around media examples without reckless abandon. The Celluloid Closet and Tinkerbelles and Evil Queens is on my watxh/read list now, but the first thing I did from the words he stole from Celluoid Closet was watch Rebels Without A Cause out of curiosity of this gay subtext in a 50s blockbuster. And it was a super interesting experience that has given me my own unrelated opinions. Not to discount whatever important queer reading and historical importance the film has, but I'm happy I also have more than just that cause I Watched It Myself, not someone's specific and unavoidably biased reading of it.

The video isn't about cultivating suspicion but cultivating appreciation for the skills of analytical/informative/opinion writing. So even when people aren't being lying grifters, it's just good to be your own critic and media analyst. Maybe you'll even contribute to that world yourself, or maybe you'll keep all your cool opinions in your heart and die, who cares. The point is that unlike some people, your opinions and words are your own. It's a beautiful thing to have your own creative voice.

[cy-cyborg]

The Untrustworthy Fake: Disability Tropes

[ID: A screenshot of Willy Wonka from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as he limps towards a crowd using a cane. In the picture, he has a brown top hat in his hand, and he's wearing a suit with a purple jacket, multicoloured bow tie and cream coloured pants. Beside him is text that reads: "Disability Tropes, The untrustworthy Fake" /End ID]

Tell me if this sounds familiar: A new character is introduced into a story with some kind of disability - usually visible but not always. Maybe they're a seemingly harmless person in a wheelchair, maybe they're a one-legged beggar on the street, or maybe they're an elderly person with a cane and a slow, heavy limp. But at some point, it's revealed it's all a ruse! The old man with a cane "falls" forward and does a flawless summersault before energetically springing back up to his feet, the wheelchair user gets to their feet as soon as they think the other character's backs are turned, the one legged beggar's crutch is knocked out of his hand, only to have his other leg pop out of his loose-fitting tunic to catch him.

All of these are real examples. Maya and The Three introduces one of it's main protagonists, Ricco, by having him pretend to be missing a leg in order to con people (something that works on the protagonist, at least at first), Buffy The Vampire Slayer had the character Spike, pretend to be in a wheelchair, until the other characters leave and he gets up, revealing it's all a ruse and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory introduces Wonka by having him slowly limp out into the courtyard of the factory, only for his cane to get stuck, causing him to "fall" and jump back up, revealing that he's actually perfectly fine. Virtually every single major crime show in the past few decades has used this trope too, from CSI to The Mentalist, Castle, Law and Order and Monk all having at least one episode featuring it in some way. Even the kids media I grew up with isn't free from it; The Suite Life of Zack & Cody sees Zach faking being dyslexic after meeting someone who actually has the condition in the episode Smarter and Smarter and the SpongeBob SquarePants episode Krabs vs Plankton has Plankton fake needing a wheelchair (among other injuries) after falling in the Krusty Krab as a ploy to sue Mr Krabs and trick the court into giving him the Kraby Patty Formula.

No matter the genre or target audience though, one thing is consistent: this trope is used as a way to show someone is dishonest and not to be trusted. When the trope is used later in the story, it's often meant to be a big reveal, to shock the audience and make them mad that they've been duped, to show the characters and us what this person (usually a villain) is willing to stoop to. Revealing the ruse early on though is very often used to establish how sleazy or even how dangerous a character is and to tell the audience that they shouldn't trust them from the get go. Gene Wilde (The actor who first played Willy Wonka) even said in several interviews that this was his intent for Wonka's character. He even went so far as to tell the director of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory that he wouldn't do the film without that scene because of how strongly he felt this trope was needed to lay the foundations for Wonka's questionable intentions and motivations. His exact words are: "...but I wouldn't have done the film if they didn't let me come out walking as a cripple and then getting my cane stuck into a cobble stone, doing a forward somersault and then bouncing up... the director said, well what do you want to do that for? and I said because from that point on, no one will know whether I'm telling the truth or lying."

There's... a lot of problems with this trope, but that quote encapsulates one of the biggest ones. whether intentionally or not, this trope ends up framing a lot of actual disabled people as deceitful, dishonest liars. Now I can already hear you all typing, What?! Cy that's ridiculous! No one is saying real disabled people are untrustworthy or lying about their disabilities, just people who are faking!

but the thing is, the things often used in this trope as "evidence" of someone faking a disability are things real disabled people do. A person standing up from their wheelchair or having scuff-marks on their shoes, like in the episode Miss Red  from The Mentalist isn't a sign they're faking, a lot of wheelchair users can stand and even walk! They're called ambulatory wheelchair users, and they might use a wheelchair because they can't walk far, they might not feel safe walking on all terrains, they might have unstable joints that makes standing for too long risky, they might have a heart condition like POTS that has a bigger impact when they stand up or any number of other reasons. Also even non-ambulatory wheelchair users will still have scuff marks from things like transferring and bumping into things (rather hilariously, even TV Tropes calls this episode out as being "BS" in it's listing for this trope, which it refers to as Obfuscating Disability). A blind beggar flinching or getting scared when you pull a gun on them isn't a sign they're faking their blindness like it is in Red Dead Redemption 2. Plenty of blind people can still see a little bit, it might only be a general sense of light and darkness, it might be exceptionally blurry or just the fuzzy outlines of shapes, or they might only be able to see something directly in front of them, all of which might still be enough to cue the person into what's happening in a situation like that. Even if it's not, the sound of you pulling your gun out or other people nearby freaking out and making noise probably would tip them off. A person needing a cane or similar mobility aid sometimes, but being able to go without briefly or do even "big movements" like Wonka's rolling somersault, doesn't mean they don't need it at all. Just like with wheelchairs, there's a lot of disabilities that require canes and similar aids some days, and not others. Some disabilities even allow people those big, often straining movements on occasion, or allow them to move without the aid for short periods of time, but not for long. Some people's disability's might even require a mobility aid like a cane as a backup, just in case something goes wrong, but that still means you need to carry it around with you, and unless it can fold down, it's easier to just use it.

Disability is a spectrum, and a lot of disabilities vary in severity and what is required of the people who have them day to day. This trope, however, helps to perpetuate the idea that someone who does any of these things (and many others) is faking, which can actively make the lives of disabled people harder and can even put them in very real danger, physically, mentally and even financially.

Just ask any ambulatory wheelchair user about how many times they've been yelled at for using accommodations they need, like disabled toilets or parking spaces. How many times they've been accused of faking and even filmed without their consent because they stood up in public, even if it was to do something like get their wheelchair unstuck or as simple as them standing to briefly reach something on a high shelf. I've caught multiple people filming me before, so have my friends and family, and it's honestly scary not knowing where those images have ended up. This doesn't just impact the person either, a friend of mine was filmed while standing up to get his daughter (who was about 4 at the time) out of the car. He was lucky to have stumbled across the video a few days later on facebook and contacted the group admins where it was posted to get it taken down, but had he not stumbled across it by chance, pictures with his home address and his car's number plate, his child's face and his face all visible would have just been floating around, all because a woman saw him stand briefly to pick up his daughter.

Many people don't stop at just saying a nasty comment or taking a photo though, a lot of people, when they suspect people are faking, will get violent. I have many friends who have been pushed, slapped in the face, spat on or had their mobility devices kicked out from under them. I've even been in a few situations myself where, had I not had people with me, I think the situation would have turned violent.

There's even been cases where those photos and videos I've mentioned before have been used against real disabled people and they've been reported to their country's welfare system as committing disability fraud. While cases like this are usually resolved *relatively* quickly, in many parts of the world, their payment will be halted while the investigation is in process, meaning they may be without any income at all because of someone else's ignorance. If you're already struggling to make ends meet (which, if you're only living off one of those payments, you probably will be), a few weeks without pay can mean the difference between having a home and being on the streets.

Not to mention that when there's so many stories about people faking a disability in the media, especially when the character is doing it to get some kind of "advantage", such as getting accommodations or some kind of disability benefit, it perpetuates the idea that people are rorting the systems put in place to help disabled people. If this idea becomes prevalent enough, the people in charge start making it harder for the people who need them to access those systems, which more often than not results in disabled people not even being able to access the very systems that are supposed to be helping them. A very, very common example of this is in education where accommodations for things like learning disabilities require you to jump through a ridiculous number of hoops, especially at higher levels, only to have some teachers and professors refuse to adhere to the adaptations anyway because they're convinced the student (and usually disabled students as a whole) is faking.

Yes, the "untrustworthy faker" is a fictional trope, and yes, it does occasionally happen in real life, but not as often as media (including things like news outlets) would have you believe. However, when the media we consume is priming people to look for signs that a disabled person is faking, it has a real impact on real disabled people's lives. "Fake-claiming" is a massive problem for people in pretty much all parts of the disabled community, and it ranges from being just annoying (e.g. such as people spamming and fake-claiming blind people online with "if you were really blind, how do you see the screen" comments) to the more serious cases I mentioned above. It's for this reason a lot of folks in the disabled community ask that people leave this trope out of their works.

[crowleysgirl56]

The vast majority of people who work on a show are paid upfront for their labour

They don't get paid dependent on how successful a show is

They also don't do work that doesn't get paid- if they are working on a show that gets cancelled, they get paid for the work they did

All this 'stream GO for the hard workers behind the scenes' is bullshit

They work for companies are will be put on different projects

Just be honest that you want more GO (despite the message that it sends to studios- that audiences are ok with abusers! Just turn a blind eye to them! Yes that gives them more power but who cares because people will watch and make them money!)

Don't pretend your doing this for moral reasons

(And acting like you're doing this for Terry- for all we know he might want his work with an abuser completely destroyed- it's stupid to assume he'd want the series to be continued)

Like say this shit with your chest, you know?

Oh boy, ok. Gonna take a minute to answer this.

Firstly, I and a lot of the fandom, are heartbroken over what NG has done. Because we were duped into thinking he was a decent person. From the things that he wrote to the things that he said we thought that he was good person. And it is horrible that there are people out there suffering because yet another rich powerful white man decided he had the right to take advantage of them.

You seem rather angry and if that anger stems because you have experienced something similar yourself then I hope you have love and support around you so that you can heel.

If you want to talk about money, let me remind you that NG has already been paid for season 3. He will continue to get royalties, and thanks to the writers strike last year, he will now get more money for those royalties than before. If S3 doesn’t go ahead then hundreds of people will lose their jobs. Will they get other jobs? Sure, maybe. But any loss of job in this current economic climate is terrible and stressful (and I’m not talking about DT or MS here. They’ll get more work).

I don’t know if you understand how hyper fixation in neurodiversity works, but this is extremely painful for some people and takes a lot of time and energy and therapy to get over when a hyper fixation is threatened or taken away. Some people, like myself, need closure for things otherwise we can find it extremely difficult to move on emotionally. This obviously does not compare to someone trying to survive after SA, but emotional diversity can be extremely debilitating as well. They are apples and oranges to compare, but you can’t invalidate one person’s pain because you think another person’s pain is worth more.

As for the show itself, there is so little queer representation in media. There is a lot more nowadays compared to a decade ago, or even 5 years ago, but the little representation we have is so extremely important. Do you know how many people have found a truth to themselves thanks to GO? How many people discovered something about themselves that finally gives them answer to how they feel? How at the age of 40 I finally realised that I’m asexual and NOT BROKEN. That’s fucking important.

And this. ALL of this is why everyone, including me, are so fucking angry with NG. Because he has left us emotionally devastated. He has not just physically hurt these women. He has emotionally hurt hundreds of thousands of people. He is a stain.

I have spoken before when this all first happened about how I was angry that my one teeny tiny corner of the internet that made me happy was on fire. I left for a bit. I came back. I want to continue to interact with like minded people who love this fandom. I won’t stop that.

And frankly, and here’s the last I’ll say on this, the world is on fire. It is filled with a lot of fucking awful shit right now. I have suffered a very deep depression of late where some nights after I put the kids to bed I just stare and cry. You don’t know that about me because I don’t say those kinds of things on the internet, because our internet personas are facades. They’re not real. They’re not true life. I’m a real person and I’m aching inside about so many things. And these kinds of messages are just breaking me further. Seriously, when you send stuff like this do you even consider that?! So when I decide to hold onto one of the last bastions of entertainment that brings me joy, I’m not going to be guilted into dropping it because someone involved happens to be a monster. Because let me tell you if we did that every time someone turned out to be horrible, then we would never watch or enjoy anything ever again. EVERYTHING you watch or listen to or enjoy or like or cared about is connected to someone who is horrible or produced by a gigantic evil corporation (Nestle, Disney, Microsoft, Facebook, Google just to name a few). Every. Single. Thing. It’s the clothing you wear, the electronics you buy, the food you eat, the furniture in your house, and ALL the entertainment you consume. So if you gave up everything for some moral stance, then you would literally have nothing left.

Dropping Good Omens does nothing. It sends no message to anyone because the next really fucking awful person is about to produce the next big thing you might happen to love and care about. So what’s the point?

Let me have Good Omens. You don’t like that, then you can block me. That’s what the button is there for. You don’t need to send anonymous hateful messages. And if you want me to “say this shit with my chest” maybe you can send me an ask with the Anonymous off. So I can see your chest too.

I’m turning off anonymous asks now. Considering the only asks I’ve ever received is abusive shit telling me to kill myself or saying David Tennant is a paedophile or just telling me I’m a horrible person for supporting NG (when I’ve already stated before that I don’t anymore).

Sorry for those who’ve managed to get to the end here. Thanks for reading if you have, sorry it was so long. I hope you aren’t receiving the same type of messages. If Anonymous has read this far, I don’t know, maybe think twice before being horrible to random people on the internet?

[miifu666]

What Suklha thinks about Zha Wujing, Zhu Bajie and The Monk? Has she ever thought about joining on the journey because of Sun Wukong?

Hii anonn!!♡♡

I was planning to make a doodle of this but currently Assignments are hitting my creativity 🥲 im sorry this took so long.

To answer ur 2nd question, She has! A couple of time. At the start of JTTW she met Wukong again and he insisted she comes along with them (he's insufferable) yet Suklha didn't want to seem like a decoration, Wukong kind of invited her when she's not mentally well. Got betrayed by an ex and almost executed yk.

She decided to not join, mostly because she has some self-healing journey to do + she misses her best friend. Needed to go and visit him once or twice ☝️‼️

.𖥔 ݁ ˖๋ ࣭ ⭑ Tripitaka—

A monk who was respected by the gods and have the heavenly body to make you immortal should you eat it. Suklha has. A differing opinion on him. On one hand she has a soft spot, his acts and naivety reminds her of her student. A wise and kind little kid, rose to be the first Physician in history. But on the other, his obliviousness is a pet peeve of her. Once he has tried to help her reach enlightenment by giving her a vegan diet, it was the first and last time he'll get an earful out of Suklha, while also finding out that centipedes are carnivours.

.𖥔 ݁ ˖๋ ࣭ ⭑Zhu Bajie—

Oooh they're close! Mostly because she loves to bully him a lot, esp since she met him before he was cursed into a pig. They had some rivalry going on, Bajie degrading Suklha, an after effect of being influenced by his circle of gods. Now that she's standing infront of him, tall and better than before, while he's a pig and have no army to command. She is having fun bullying the shit out of him.

Sometimes she would say such mean words and jokes, you would think Bajie is going to throw her to the sky. But nope, he enjoys it. Heck, even quipped an even nastier one. Did it make Wukong jealous? Yep definitely. Made the pig become the target of his bully even more.

Suklha would try to do things to inconvenience Bajie, just for her amusement. Hiding his rake, turning his hat into a snake, heck even telling him an obviously fake rumor just to see him fueling it. His face and reactions are the epitome of Suklha's entertainment, and when he's mad??? Oh Suklha LOVES it.

.𖥔 ݁ ˖๋ ࣭ ⭑Zha Wujing—

Suklha isn't that close to him, she tries to. Sometimes would give him tips on taking care of the horses or just plain out asking him stuff out of the blue. In her eyes, shes more of a guy who knows his place but choose to be as little of importance and blend in the background.

She understands that clearly, definitely what she did too. Theres a few times both of them meet at the food market, striking up conversation that lead to their own opinions and beliefs. They're both protectors of their own perspective.

Unfortunately, Suklha doesn't know much of him before becoming Tripitaka's disciple.

.𖥔 ݁ ˖๋ ࣭ ⭑Bai Long Ma—

He was already a horse when he met Suklha, the monkey pulling her hand towards the crew, wanting her to see him off one last time. He's heard of tales on a certain centipede lady who managed to dupe an entire clans of dragons, eating the dragonets if they doublecrossed her. She was the target of revenge and destruction.

And now, in a form of a helpless horse. He's standing infront of someone thats equivalent to the boogeyman for dragons 😭 hes afraid of her. AFRAID she sees through his form and do something to him. Of course, she noticed from the start he isnt a horse but she doesn't really have any reason to create chaos.

Unexpectedly, Suklha is much more comfortable talking to Bai Long Ma than the rest. An annoying Pig, pacifist and hopeless monk and a stalker monkey, the horse is probably the main source of her rants about the monkey. Suklha sees him as a friend, despite Bai Long Ma thinking she sees him as a pet. Both of then has a certain respect to one another... kind of.

[somepinkthing]

CQL/MDZS AU where the events of Fatal Journey (including the nhs realizes he's been duped scene but prior to nmj dying) happen pretty much right after wwx breaks ties with yunmeng jiang. Meaning his reputation isn't completely in the tanks yet but things are building up.

Wanting revenge for his friends and to help his brother but realizing that actually involving said still-unstable-brother would probably get him killed, nie huaisang turns up at the burial mounds with a proposition. He can squirrel away the remaining wens to safety, hidden away within different pockets of qinghe that border qishan, if wwx agrees to marry him under the guise that they eloped during the sunshot campaign and come to qinghe to help his brother.

Wei wuxian initially opposes, but nhs is smart enough that he posed the offer to wen qing, citing that wwx has no right to refuse an offer not made to him. Wen qing asks what about wen ning and nhs admits that he can't integrate himself in with anyone normal, but the unclean realm is a fortress built to keep enemies out. There are places to hide even a fierce corpse. WWX eventually accepts after wen qing talks him around to it, knowing that nhs is right about their surrent situation being a literal dead end solution.

And because huaisang is trans in all my headcanons, wei wuxian also raises the question of others viewing nhs as his wife. Huaisang shrugs it off. He's accepted in qinghe and, more importantly, by everyone close to him. Everyone that he actually cares about. He's not so proud that he won't use an advantage when he sees it just because of some people he'll never meet will think him a wife instead of a husband.

Ofc they do eventually bring lwj into the fold. Whether they involve him in the plan or just in their relationship... who knows.

AND ofc a-yuan stays with wwx. Probably they'd give him to him to give him a chance of a better life. One not on the run. He gets three dads out of this so not a bad deal for the kid.

Anyways here's a bit of what I've got

"And what will you say to Chifeng-zun? Your brother won't object to you marrying the Yiling Patriarch, a monster and a known Wen-sympathizer?"

Nie Huaisang waved him off, as blase as ever.

"I think you're underestimating my brother Wei-xiong. He's a little self righteous and very bullheaded, he's not stupid. He's never believed a word out of Jin Guangshan's mouth and certainly isn't about to start believing him over me. If I say you aren't evil, he'll trust me. As for whether he'll oppose us? Well that's why we've already eloped and deflowered each other, remember? Harder to oppose something that's already happened."

Huaisang paused to consider before continuing in a much more somber tone.

"And besides, given recent events, I think... Well, let's just say he's currently very inclined to do anything he can to make me happy. I'd usually hate taking advantage of my brother in this state, believe it or not, but I'm willing to if it means he sticks around."

It was odd to see Nie Huaisang talk like this. Wei Wuxian couldn't really remember ever seeing him take anything seriously. Then again, he'd never before considered Nie Huaisang someone he'd had to consider seriously either.

"And you?" Wei Wuxian asked, "You won't oppose marrying me? Helping them? I saw you wince when you saw Wen Qing you know. I know what the Wens did to your family, how can I trust you won't try to hurt them?"

Nie Huaisang scoffed.

"Not all of us are so inclined to heroics, I would know. I can't say I don't resent them, but in their place? I wouldn't have opposed Wen Ruohan either. My brother would have. You would have too. That's the difference between us, I suppose."

"But you do resent them?" Wei Wuxian clarified.

"Yes," the other man answered simply, "Immensely. At least, in Wen-guniang's case I do. But you know? On the way here, I measured my hatred for the Wen sect—for the murder of my parents, for the war, for all they took from me—against my love for my brother..."

"And?"

"And they weighed nothing at all."

Nie Huaisang took a sharp breath in and a long breath out, as if he were actually letting his resentment flow out of him with the air in his lungs.

"Wei-xiong understand this, if I had to bring back Wen Ruohan himself just to give my brother an extra week of life, I'd do it. In a heartbeat. Damned be the consequences."

[its-all-papaya]

trick or treat🎃🎃

come trick or treating!!

I've been trying to change these up in terms of content type, so I was considering on the walk home what ideas I could throw at a wall that aren't just dad lando or other wip snippets, and i think... ballet dancer lando au??

This started as an anybody, nowhere AU dupe and became a hallmark christmas movie in my head REAL QUICK but hear me out:

lando as the principal at a ballet company. he is the best. he has achieved The Goal he's had since childhood. he is being paid to dance. ballet is crazy bc it's so comforting in its familiarity, the lines are all so cleanly drawn, there are rules and correct ways to do things, but it is also soooooooo mean to ur brain (ask me how i know). lando's self-critical ass would suffer similarly to how he has suffered in F1. it's such a balance between repetition and perfection... i could make something of that. i could crawl inside his brain i think. anyway, point is he's kind of burned out and questioning his life's direction and just going through the motions of his job.

oscar's sisters younger than they are irl (like 6, 8, and 14) and in the training school at lando's company. they are mice and/or cookies and/or party children and/or snowflakes in THE NUTCRACKER (hallmark movie, see?)

lando is the nutcracker prince, obviously. and all of the kids worship him when he starts coming to rehearsals with them in december, even when he's just kind of stretching existing blocking. like... he's so good and graceful and they all have crushes on him.

i think landoscar would meet OUTSIDE of ballet context (bar, coffee shop, whatever i invent as oscar's job) and start out flirty cute landoscar-y. lando finding joy in the novelty of him and the dry way he approaches things and tells things how they are, but not in the mean way his choreographers do. it's actually kind of funny. lando is charmed.

meanwhile, oscar's kid sisters chatting at oscar nONSTOP about how beautiful and perfect the nutcracker prince in their production is. he's so kind and SUCH a good dancer and they're absolutely in love with him.

but somehow on one side or the other, someone doesn't know lando's name. so oscar never makes the connection. until CHANCE ENCOUNTER where they put the pieces together. oscar picking up his sisters late bc his mum couldn't and finding lando waiting for them in the lobby, perhaps. giving cute little corrections the youngest one or feeding them extra snacks out of his bag bc it's past dinner. and oscar is like.... OH!!??

i think subplot where oscar's oldest sister is Going Through It as a snowflake and is like "i'm not good enough, i should quit" and lando helping her emotionally or through private lessons or both idk, i've only been thinking about this for like 25 minutes ever.

miracle of christmas ending where through oscar's younger sisters, lando rediscovers the beauty and fun and magic of dancing. and obviously landoscar kissing under some mistletoe or backstage or both or everywhere.

is this anything?? i might be able to bang it out by christmas if i go nose to grindstone and keep myself strictly under like 20k with it.

[darkmodepls]

Does anyone remember those old AUs where Gil and Tarvek escape Castle Wulfenbach as kids?

well here's my take on it.

In the brief span of time between getting caught and being interrogated by the Baron, Gil and Tarvek manage to slip away and decide running away is better than being Punished (or in Vek's case,being sent home(which was worse))

They just so happen to crash land close to where Barry and Agatha are making camp and also just so happen to interrupt Barry's freak out over Agatha's Breakthrough. Barry doesn't have time to immediately make the locket, as he and Agatha need to get the heck out of dodge before Wulfenbach troops descend on their camp and he takes the boys with him because he can't in good conscience leave two young children alone in the Wastelands.

It's over a week before Barry completes the locket and, not only has Agatha's Breakthrough set the boys off resulting in a friendly blue lobster, but at least one of the boys has sussed out Barry's identity and informed the other children.

Barry quickly whips up two more lockets and has a long conversation with the kids about who the Other is and why Agatha needs to remain in hiding. It takes some convincing, but eventually, all three agree to keep the secrets. Tarvek goes so far as to agree to dye his hair and vows to hide what's happening from his family.

The children are past the point where lockets would fully suppress their Sparks, but the devices still keep it tampered down enough that they mostly remember not to enter the Maddness Place in public. (Mostly. Whichever of the trio who's not sparking typically knocks sense into the one(s) that are)

They travel together for a time as Tarvek tries to remember everything he can about the Knights of Jove and the Other's plans, but eventually Barry still decides that it's too dangerous for him to bring the kids along and leaves them with Adam and Lilith.

By the time Agatha is 15, the trio has transitioned to a romantic relationship. By the time she the boys are 18, they manage to convince Lilith to let them try studying in Paris under different aliases.

Several things happen in Paris.

1. Miriam (Agatha) befriends a lost warrior from Skifander who is so great full that Agatha remembers Barry's stories that she chooses to impart her warriors' wisdom. Their lesson schedule is often interrupted by her frequent (but friendly) clashes with...

2. The Bloodthirsty Bangladesh Dupree, who has inexplicably taken a liking to Gilbert. She just can't help but feel like she's seen him somewhere. (Maybe that portrait of a kid on the Baron's desk? Nah) One of the benefits of hanging around with Gil was definitely getting a rise out of...

3. Victorianya Stormsby, the country bumpkin, bastard of a bastard who is ever so grateful for the aid of her noble cousins. At least, that's what Tarvek wants them to think. Tarvek has stopped dying his hair and has tailor-made this persona to weasel their way back into the intelligence network of the Storm King Conspiracy. They've managed to convince his kin that she's nothing more than a harmless dupe, which has caused them to give him far too much leeway in his actions. He's even managed to inoculate her favorite cousin against slaver wasps! Finding out about his sister's death was devastating, though. She never thought that...

4. Aaronev Wilhelm Sturmvoraus has gone too far in Martellus's opinion. The desperate man had gone almost rabid when learning how their bastard cousin and her friend were both Sparks. But no one was willing to transport the two halfway across Europa after what happened to Anevka. Besides, Anya was pretty enough, and a blood test had proved she was noble enough that he wouldn't mind bedding her if Zola failed to get her act together. If Tarvek had any idea what Tweedle was thinking, it would make their skin crawl, but he wasn't the only person feeling disturbed...

5. The Maste of Paris couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something disturbed him about Colette's new friends. Gilbert appears to have dived headfirst into Paris's neighborhoods of ill-repute and has befriended not only Wulfenbach's trusted liutenant but an up and coming member of Albia's intelligence network. And while Victorianya might have the rest of her family fooled, Simon recognizes the keen gaze of her many times great grandfather in the girl's eyes. Miriam is probably the worst offender though, if that locket of hers wasn't enough to bring back troubled memories he could have sworn he heard her humming as she completed her assignments. He couldn't wait to see them go especially when their last hurrah was...

6. Getting married as a triad was both easier and harder than you may think. On one hand, the church did allow for marriages between two women and a single man, but it didn't allow for arrangements between two men and a single woman. Not to mention that they were all there under aliases, and some of them were lost heirs (all of them but shh not yet). It took some bribery, slight-of-hand, shenanigans, and several vows of secrecy, but the trio did manage to return home with a valid marriage license in addition to their diplomas. They even managed to get it in writing that the first child would be Agatha's heir and no one else.

It's probably for the best the trio only spent 2 years of study before returning to Beetlesburg. They had relished the opportunity for more 'social' experimentation, but they could only keep the acts up for so long. They did try to keep in touch with their new allies even as they were forced to ditch their aliases.

(Tarvek also came to the realization that they quite liked being a girl, but didn't want to be one all the time. Gil and Agatha swiftly got into the habit of asking her for his pronouns every morning)

They've only been back in Beetlesburg for 7 months when the Baron drops in for a surprise inspection. Agatha chose to return at home after her mugging, so Vek (currently fem presenting) takes her place as lab assistant.

This time the Search Engine interrupts the Baron as he interrogates Beetle, indirectly ending the professor's life and giving Vek the chance to flee.

They return home to find that Agatha has started sleep-sparking and Gil is having an extremely heated argument with Moloch Von Zinzer that is about to come to blows.

The Baron uses knockout gas on all four of them and decides to sort things out on Castle Wulfenbach.

Midway through the journey, he recognizes Gil and takes him back to his quarters instead of leaving him in the school. Once Gil wakes up, Klaus dumps that revelation onto him before immediately trying to speed run 14 years of emotionally repressed father-son bonding.

Meanwhile, Agatha and Vek are in a panic once they realize Gil isn't with them when they wake up. Tarvek isn't really feeling femine anymore, but doesn't want to be recognized by his old classmates so he keeps the skirt on and lets Agatha do most of the talking. Agatha, once again, convinces the students to help her before making their way out of Von Pinn's domain. The duo ran into the Jaeger Generals during this mess, as well as Dupree, who does know that Gil is the lost heir now, but is down for the chaos of helping them escape.

(Adam and Lilith still try to intervene and still get shredded, but this time Klaus will be the one to stitch them back together.)

The trio make it off the airship and manage to make contact with Zeetha who was in the area traveling with a circus before setting off to Mechanicsburg so that Agatha can claim her throne.

Meanwhile, Klaus has finally recognized Tarvek and fears that the dastardly Sturmvoraus Prince has duped his son and the Heterodyne that travels with them. Or worse,

Maybe said Heterodyne has too much of her mother in her

[tu-es-gegg]

im so confluicted tdaoy;;;;

codeflippa seems to enjoy herself, she seems to genuinely have a connection with slime, giving him a hug at juana's grave, she likes to hanging out with everyone, she's jumping around and looking happy, she's open to everyone now and not afraid to spend time with them, she clearly doesnt want to hide from anyone anymore, jumping around the adults like a kid, a real kid

with everyone playing along with her antics and her chaotic nature, she doesnt want to harm anyone seemingly, she's just a little bti of a rascal.

but i look at slime's infected shoulder, his glitchy coughs, hes infected and hes not going to do anythign about it because he never takes care of himself, hsi entire self worth i prided on him as a father to flippa

she doesnt know the real flippa and her memories, she doesnt have any feeelings towards mariana, HER MUM, who spent so much time with her and celebrated her birthday on easter, the home they built together, but she had no hesitation to blow it up, she speaks weird and she doesnt respond to anything code related, im unsure if she has an agenda or not. she's avoiding questions, she says she didnt lead bad and others down the maze, somethign is clearly wrong.

and ofc shes a code, thats not teh real juanaflippa, it couldnt be. from everyone else's perspective, they are mortified and scared for charlie, looking on into the situation with true horror that their friend is being duped by this imposter but not willing to break the illusion, theyve seen this thing before so they have to ease him out slowly, not to disturb the precious protective bubble of the deceit but opening a helping hand out to slime in case it gets worse for him, saying that he shoudl trust them to help him out

but he's not going ot notice anything's wrong easily because combined with that denial of grief and the desperation to never lose this important thing ever, he's going to either take forever to figure it out or itll all come crashing on him and he's going to be broken

but codeflippa looks so happy, slime looks happy (he's the happieset he's ever been), but codeflippa is only happy because she's lying to everyone, slime is only happy because he's deep in the lie, they both are only happy because of this ruse that the code is juanaflippa, the promise that not all is lost, that teh family is still altogether........

its all red flags and rose tinted glasses with charlie and codeflippa and im stuck wondering if/when the act is dropped, will they still be happy as a family, that all the happy times with tasks are still real to both of them or that it was the last straw

[lullabyalikpoptarot]

Stray Kids Thoughts on Being an Idol

I decided to just go ahead and do this one this weekend. I was planning to do their Boyfriend reading, but I will leave that for next week. I was interested in what they wanted to share for this series of readings.

Bang Chan

What he likes? (9 of Swords) Dude what is this? Seriously why do some of them give me these cards for likes? Okay, I think I get it, he likes helping others through their pain and struggle. He may like discussing these topics of struggle, idk through music or some other outlet to fans. It is like he wants to help those who are struggling mentally. That is kind of cute honestly.

What he does not like? (Ace of Wands) This darn card keeps popping up. A lack of creative freedom, an inability to allow his creativity to grow. I kind of felt he had that though, more so than other people in the industry. There may be some creative projects or pursuits he wants to do that gets shut down.

What has he experienced/learned from the past? (6 of Pentacles rv) Unfair treatment, unfair deals, not getting paid his worth. Greedy people. Yup, that's it. I guess he understand the unfairness of it all. I am getting there is work he has done that he hasn't gotten paid for. Does he ghost write?, or got duped into doing that?, anyway, heard ghost writing, so whatever that means. This card is giving me he did work and didn't get paid for it, keeping it real with the messages I am getting. That is kinda crazy if this did happen.

Thoughts on fans? (The Hermit) I had to laugh when I saw this. Umm, he may see them as loners, but I am also getting he may think they need to work on themselves and get to know themselves more, to spend more times with themselves. I don't see this as a diss, but like he generally wants them to work on themselves in kind of a loving way.

Lee Know

What he likes? (Queen of Swords) I am getting rational, smart individuals. People who use their head, rather than their heart. This message is so random wtf Bright minds, no nonsense people. People who are willing to communicate. How this makes no sense. He is just saying characteristics. I swear his energy is messing with me lol, like this makes no sense. He's just throwing out words, but why is this a like for him. This is what you like most!?, maybe he is tired of dramatic people in the industry, whining, crying, maybe that is what he is trying to say. People who are logical and keep their cool is what he likes. Okay, weird like to mention.

What he does not like? (Ace of Swords) This is weird, people who don't formulate a plan. People who have ideas, but don't fall through on it fully. So, maybe higher ups in the company bring up an idea, but eventually don't fall through on this, and this may piss him off. I just get a lot of fall throughs.

What he has learned from the past/experienced? (10 of Swords) Well, this makes sense, devastation, turmoil. Back stabbing. Betrayal. A dark looming cloud. I feel something devastating happened in the past for him, not sure what that is though.

Thoughts on fans? (Knight of Wands) He thinks the fans are creative, passionate, desirable (yeah heard that), highly driven. They can be a bit overzealous. Forgot what that word meant, but yeah. He sees them on a mission. A very determined bunch. They can be all over the place as well. Also, very energetic as well.

Changbin

What he likes? (10 of Cups) The close connections. All the love he gets. The tight community. A sense of home and belonging he feels. It is like he is happy to be part of a tight community. Okay, I am getting the word commodity again, which is the exchange of goods, so there is something with family/happy endings and the exchange of goods that I don't fully understand, Yunho had this too for his reading, but I don't understand the full scope of this meaning. I just channel messages. I can't really understand all the messages that come through. Hopefully when I do a part 2 to this, it comes up in a clearer way.

What he doesn't like? (8 of Wands) A lot of things that come at him all at once. Having too many activities. Things being messy and all over the place. It seems he doesn't like having to do too much. He may likes to do things one at a time. He may also not like having to travel everywhere so much as well. Going from one place to another.

What he has learned/experienced in the past? (7 of Cups) That all his dreams and fantasies may not always come true. I kind of don't like this message, but to learn to escape, and to utilize his imagination. I feel this is some sort of coping strategy here.

Thoughts of Fans? (Page of Pentacles/Page of Swords) We got both pages here, so he may see them as immature, maybe a need for growth here. They can be shy, timid, and cautious, what?, I don't see their fans like this, what is this coming from? It is like they haven't gotten to their full potential. There is a fear to speak, defensiveness, how this makes no sense to me. Overly observant, they gather lots of information. Use the information against him, as an attack, what is this!? This is giving me they observe all he does, all the details to see if he slips up then uses that against him. I don't know what this is, or if any of this is right, but I always go with what I get. Sorry, this made me laugh, because of how wild that is. No wonder he gave me two cards here, it paints a picture.

Hyunjin

What he likes? (10 of Swords) Once again, wtf! I think he likes the ability to overcome the pain and hurt of defeat, like rising up, pretty similar to Seonghwa, but I don't know, his energy doesn't feel as Masochist as Seonghwa's. He just likes to rise up from the painful times. He hates the struggle and depressive times, but when he is able to overcome, he feels great about himself. That is a sense of achievement for him. I also get he just likes to rest and lie down after a stressful day, weird side message day. Like, when he is able to lay down and rest after a hard day is one of the best feelings for him. Kind of weird and specific there.

What he doesn't like? (King of Swords) Well, this energy is back again as a not like. He hates cold and callus individuals, stubborn, know it all's. People who hide the light from others, steal the shine, way too logical, lack feelings. Someone who believes it is their way, or no way.

What has he learned/experienced in the past? (7 of Cups) This card again for this same question. He learned the value of imagination, now why that is important, ya'll tell me? There could be some escapism here, living in his imagination. I don't know, could be wrong here, tried to get another message, but all I got here. I don't like this message, so moving on.

Thoughts on fans? (The Hanged Man) Idk he is neutral, nonchalant when it comes to them at the moment, are they on a break right now? I am also getting his hands are tied, not much he can do, whatever that means. Maybe they help him see things in a different way or different perspective. Also, do they put him in awkward situations? Getting that too lol

Han

What he likes? (5 of Pentacles) He likes the struggle, coming from the ground up. He likes to be the outcaste in some sense. Maybe he likes making something from scraps wth this is weird too

What he does not like? (King of Pentacles) I heard an overindulgent man lol That is so random. Is this his CEO? lol Someone who has people cater to them, someone who wants others at their beck and call. Just overall selfish person. Okay, this one made me laugh. It just seemed so random to me. I feel this is about a particular person.

What he has learned from the past? (3 of Pentacles) To work with others, to work as a team. To collaborate with others. I am also getting, do what he is told, and listen to higher ups, so yeah, this kind of makes sense though, not really surprising.

Thoughts on fans? (Knight of Swords) He sees them as quick on their feet, very communicative, and chatty, talkative. No nonsense people. They are at their defense very quickly. They will cut you if you cross them, okay lol Funny message there. They also have lots of ideas as well. Hmm, getting gossip as well. He mays see they do that as well. Okay, he didn't say much.

Felix

What he likes? (The Hermit) The ability to discover himself and time to himself, to learn about who he is. This is what you like most though? Okay. I am also getting, lighting the way for others. There is a sense of wisdom he gains from this.

What he doesn't like? (Death) Another one with this card, I just hear endings, having to say goodbye to things. Mourning things. I am not sure what this means though. There is like an ending that really impacted him in not a great way.

What has he experienced/learned from the past? (5 of Pentacles) Abandonment, hardships, lack of money, all makes sense. Lack of resources, not having much at their disposal.

Thoughts on fans? (Justice) They seek redemption and justice. They are fair, can be logical. I say he is pretty fair minded and objective when it comes to them. A need to balance the scales of justice. Is there some fairness fans are seeking? I am confused. He isn't saying much on this topic, not much out of him here.

Seungmin

1.What he likes? (Justice) Fair treatment, equality, getting justice for what he deserves. Equilibrium. People who are rational and logical. He likes things being fair, now is this a wish or what?, or that is what it is like for him, hopefully that is how it is.

What he doesn't like? (2 of Swords) Opposing thoughts, close-minded people, people who don't see things clearly. Stubborn people. People who don't make decisions, indecisive. Interesting messages, seems specific lol Wishy washy people, people who can't decide things or don't really have an opinion. Also, people who stay neutral and don't pick sides.

What he has learned from the past/experienced? (Page of Pentacles) To cultivate his skills. To do his due diligence. To be patient and take his time. Practice makes perfect mindset. To work with what he has got. To focus on the task at hand, one step at a time. To hone or harvest his skills.

Thoughts on fans? (6 of Swords) He may have some difficult thoughts about them, may have some mental baggage when it comes to them, or he sees them as having a hard time and hard for them to move forward, but it seems things are moving in a positive direction on both their parts. It is like they are heading in a positive direction. The stormy waters will clear soon.

I.N

What he likes? (Ace of Wands) He likes the excitement and thrill. He enjoys new creative endeavors or projects. He may enjoy the new comebacks they do, that may be the most exciting thing for him, or the creative process of things. There is like a thrill and excitement to being an idol he likes. New starts I am getting as well. being an idol just fires him up and energizes him.

What he does not like? (The Empress) There could be a strong Mother energy, maybe overbearing energy around him. A bit of coddling energy. People who plant things, maybe feed him lies. It is like this person believes they created him, so they have a lot of say. Moving on, don't like this energy or vibe of this.

What has he learned from the past/experienced? (Knight of Cups) To offer his love to others, to show a softer side. To not use force, be gentle. Be kind to others. To give to others and show more compassion. To follow his heart and intuition more. Maybe he has learned to do this more from past experiences. I mean did he struggle to show more emotions? And now he is trying to be more open?

Thoughts on fans? (The World) They complete him in a sense. He enjoys traveling to meet them. He feels successful because of them. They basically complete a cycle for them. He is also pretty happy to be known or have fans across the globe.

Okay, some interesting messages that came through, but overall, not as wild as the others, but did get some tea though, which is cool. I am not sure if things are a bit more chill with them, or they don't share as much as the other groups.

Just letting you know the energy is always changing, so their thoughts on fans are not set, just the energy at the moment. So, if the energy seems a bit cold, don't mean they don't love ya'll. I am only pulling one card here, so that doesn't say much about all their thoughts on fans. I felt I should have mentioned this in the other ones too, but saying it for these.

[justcallmesakira]

Bsd men with a childish s/o pt. 3!

Sypnosis: How the people who are somewhat sane deal with you and your goofy goobers

Warnings: eyebrow less, wereballs, mentions of gaslight ING, mentions of turning into a gacha life demon form 2019,stealing glittery not pads, omori building reference, etc.

Genre: lowkey fluff, crack

A/N: bro this series is blowing up for real- Anyways heres part 2 andddd part 1!

Atsushi-

No guys hes not like you-😭

Sometimes he wonders if you were better suited with dazai then him (it's giving a certain emo Victorian kid kinnie)

But hey hey! Don't worry he will try to calm you down because he DOES NOT WANT YOU to follow dazai's steps! 😋😋

Dw atsushi! Reader is perfectly sane!!

He once came back to the agency from a mission only to see you see you eyebrow less

"Y/N! I am ba-AAAAAAAAAH-" "What, jinko, finally grew some wereballs"

HGYHFYG WERE BALLS-

Turns out you were cosplaying akutagawa and the eyebrowless thing was just a prank <3

Jizz man, give my pookie tiger

He's more scared of you then akutagawa 😨😨😨

You sometimes feel silly so you gave him cat food for lunch beacuse dazai convinced you with some skittles (he probably stole them from ranpo)

"umm, y/N.. WHY are you giving me cat food?" "because I felt silly lol"

I BET HE WOULD EAT IT BECAUSE HE DOES NOT WANT TO WASTE FOOD-

Kyouka had to stop him-

I am pretty sure you two speak in kaomojis like--

But he enjoys your presence, it's nice to know that at least your happy,Perhaps he can protect you and your happiness if he tries....

Sometimes he wonders how you have so much energy to break into his home with hello kitty pins just to wake him up

And go to an amusement park..

There goes atsuhis wallet! 😄💸

I think atsushi genuinely likes your antics.. Sometimes

But he would definitely keeps you away from dazai so you two don't pour Elmer's glue into kunikidas hair :3

Gin-

Uh oh... Gin can you really handle reader-

OF COURSE YOU Can!! You can do anything hahaha... (please help I am being hold at gunshot by rea-)

Since she's really shy and all you speak for her though you jumble the words sometimes

"she asked for no pickles ya dumb yard😡🤬😈👿" *turns into a gacha life 2019 demon*

Although she can't keep up with your energy you always understand what she says in a notepad

You even stole bought her a glittered kuromi notepad for you twos personal talking!

Sometimes she sees silly doodles on the corners of the pages

Gin thinks its honestly cute

However if akutagawa founds out about your silly antics around his sister he's gonna give you a death stare

Gin haded to reasure him countless times that you won't eat her whole

I would😋😋😋

After she calmed her brother you always greeted him with "yo bro wassup >:3"

Bad idea😨

It's true your the person talking for her and all but she's gonna go full assassin mode if someone even tries to hurt you

THAT'S MY Girl!!!!! 😍🤩🥰😝 *verlaine bcs he canonically trained gin I think

Anyways you and her share a cute Lil dynamic

Sigma-

T-that gif if him before finding out you were trying to eat the casino coins

"Y/N YOU CAN NOT EAT CASINO COINS" "why :(" "It's NOT FOR EATING" "why :(" "Well you ca-" ":c" "Why the sad face...wait did I shout too loud oh my god y/N I am so sorry.. You know what fine I will take you to the casinos play ground today" ":3"

Sigma.. That face is the face of someone who always gets what they want-😦

Also he sometimes questions how and why you speak in emojis like ":3" or ":("

Teach me your ways bestay😏

But please he's so insecure don't do that to my pookie😭🙏

He sometimes question if he has met your type before.. *flashbacks of Nikolai and dazai*

He's gonna go OUT of his way to keep you away from Nikolai bro

Sigma does not want to have a Nikolai dupe as his s/o

But still he might get a bit protective like "y/N be safe" "y/N don't go there" "y/N make sure to wear kneecaps before skating in the hallways of the casi- WAIT"

"don't worry I will be fine!" famous last words

*inserts omori reference here*

He's so tired bro but anything to keep you happy...

You somehow sometimes save him from Nikolai prank

But even so he tries protecting you...afterall no one wants to lose their only home.......

A/N: hope you enjoyed it! Sigmas one was my favorite :33 anyways I think I will do hunting dogs ver. If you guys want!

Divider creds: @junkyukim on pinterest

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

s7 episode 11 “closure” thoughts

we are BACK, and it’s closure time. do i actually believe that any closure will be gained here? no. not at all. but! that is the title of the episode, and so i will refer to it as such.

a lot of stuff happened last episode, and i have a lot of questions. i assume that very few of them will be answered. it was a rather heavy episode, and i am expecting that to continue. 

you know i don’t like the ones where the kids get hurt. bums me out big time. 

(post-episode thoughts: i really... didn't like this one. for the simple reason that the lore reveals made no sense. and i'm not sure if i am supposed to go along with that and say "aha! it is closure time! and it just so happens that most of the stuff we learned before was all wrong and THIS time it's real!" or if our characters are also being duped and they don't know it (which the retconning of the lore also hurt my interpretation of, because i was like "omg, mulder, you CANNOT be believing this right now, that goes against everything you previously knew!" but if that is what the writers decide, then... where does that leave us?)

regardless, i just didn't find the answers they came up with compelling. if it's another bait and switch, it's getting old. if it isn't, all of the previous stuff we ever learned was for nothing. either way, i end up displeased.

and the actual discovery of the closure... idk. i feel like it wasn't fleshed out. it just felt like... that's it? after all this time? after everything? now you're content with the answer?

it was a poignant narrative, a big moment, but... not satisfying to me. i waited a few days to edit my notes because i couldn't tell if i was being too much of a hater and i would mellow out with time, but i feel the same still, which is a bummer. actually, it's a lie- i'm ANGRIER than before!)

allow us to delay no longer.

previously on the x files…. give us a recap!

i hope we get more skinner today. i’ve been missing him. and their whole situation right now has to be tense as fuck given that he was yelling at mulder when his mother died. give me that tension. let us writhe in it.

we see kathy lee, telling us about the walk-ins again. i still don’t believe her. and we resume in the grave filled area with our agents where we left off.

they’re pulling out the bodies of those poor kids. mulder is narrating. and punching me in the gut repeatedly with his words. “were they still dreaming of ice cream and monkey bars? of birthday cake and no future but the afternoon?”

fuck. it’s not real, i mumble to myself; shoutout to the props team as we see this child's body. but. gah. ouch.

some of them were there for a very long time…

“i want to believe so badly in a truth beyond our own, hidden and obscured from all but the most sensitive eyes. the the endless procession of souls, in what cannot and will not be destroyed”

and then there is a night scene of the kids climbing out of the graves. are they ghosts? the visions the parents were seeing? there are so many them

“i want to believe that we are unaware of god’s eternal recompense and sadness. that we cannot see his truth. that that which is born still lives and cannot be buried in the cold earth, but only waits to be born again at god’s behest, where in ancient starlight we lay in repose”

interesting that at this point in his desperation he invokes god. and what he wishes he could believe in. maybe in another life where he didn't lose samantha, he would have been a devout man.

one of those little ghostly kids looked like his sister... but i still don’t buy it.

intro time… i can only groove sadly today.

fuck, man. he wants to believe in some higher power. but i don’t think he can bring himself to. isn’t that so sad?

NEW WORDS ON THE SCREEN: “believe to understand”

it’s been a while since we have seen new words!! i know the people watching when this aired were going crazy at this reveal.

scully comes in the room while tons of cops are watching the videos from truelove's santa village. one of the cops smiles at her politely. while mulder has his eye to something on his desk. looks like he’s looking through film negatives.

omg, from the credits i see that bestie CSM is gonna be here…

scully says that truelove started murdering at age 19, and that started the whole santa claus thing. he’s admitted to 24 murders. but he won’t admit to anything with amber lynn. 

and her body was not one of the ones found out there. 

“mulder, i know you wanted to find her out there” “he’s got hours of video of her” “i’m talking about your sister” <- OH…. my heart. this finally gets him to look up.

“yeah. you don’t know how badly i wanted her to be in one of those graves. as hard as it is to admit, i wanted to find her here, riding her bike like all these other kids”

he went through something similar in paper hearts, but he broke down in tears when he learned it wasn’t her that was dead, both out of sorrow and relief- i wonder if all the time and wondering has made him just want an answer, no matter what it is, even though a few years ago he was glad to learn it wasn’t really her and he still could hold onto some hope.

“i guess i just want it to be over”.

FUCK.

a guy named harold piller came to see them at this very moment. so we are not left with much time to linger on that sentiment, even though i wish we could.

scully is basically asking who tf he is, and harold says he hopes he can be part of the investigation. ohhhh, he hands over his business card saying he is a police psychic to scully. 

hey man, if you were a real psychic, i feel you should have known to hand it to the other person standing there who actually believes in your line of work. harold says he’s getting some strong hits- they’re looking for a little girl that isn’t among the dead, that the suspect claims he didn’t kill. yeah, well, you could gather that from TV…

i anticipate a very protective scully. 

she points out his references, all of which are in south asia?? he says that last one he listed was for a train wreck. and he didn’t recover the bodies, but he found out that they were transferred from the site in a spiritual event called “walk-ins” OHHHH. that term again.

“thank you, mr. piller, but we have real work to be doing” <-LMAOOOO, scully is not messing with this guy. good. be mulder's guard dog.

but mulder stays in the hall. he is still listening. harold says he’s studied this all over the world- the bodies are transported in starlight. 

scully isn't trying to be polite at all when she says “please excuse us” and grabs mulder by the elbow to talk elsewhere right in front of this harold guy. and i respect it.

OHHHHH, she says he’s been through so much in a short time. and this guy cannot help them find amber lynn by his own admission. he’s vulnerable! but mulder says it’s not the first time he’s heard of this "walk-in" thing- kathy lee mentioned it.

scully is mad- nobody can disprove that he "discovered" anything if there are no bodies.

but mulder thinks he can help.

“mulder… you told me that all you wanted was for this to be over” “i do” she nods “well, then i’m going back to washington. there’s nothing more to be done here”

god, it’s so sad. what is she supposed to do? stay with him while he hurts himself in his own grief and is manipulated at his very lowest? leave him to do it on his own? fuck. no one wins.

so, mulder and piller go out to the crime scene. piller says he’s been doing this for a few years- since his son disappeared. and then, one day, he started to see him.

why do the walk-ins take the children? it always seems to happen after the parents have a horrible vision of their child dead. and harold thinks good spirits come before they meet that cruel fate. to turn them into starlight. 

harold says that’s not what happened at santa's village, though. because these kids died suffering. he starts to cry as he says he sees them. 

but not amber lynn. she wasn’t here. still, he senses a connection to this place. no, he clarifies; it’s a connection to mulder. he reaches out and touches his arm. saying he lost a young girl close to him long ago. his sister. and he thinks there’s some sort of connection. but he doesn’t know what. he says he is sure they can find them.

i am convinced that this guy was sent by CSM to fuck with mulder's head.

ohhhh, we see a video of mulder back in ‘89 getting hypnotherapy. his longer hair is killing me. but it’s a serious scene, have no doubts. he recounts the tale of abduction we know so well at this point.

scully is watching the tape with someone i have not seen before- an older guy. this man says he seems to be in a legitimate hypnotic state. but then he got suspicious. and thinks it’s a compensatory abduction fantasy. “compensatory for what?” “his guilt, his fear”

wait. now what if THIS guy was also sent by CSM? because he says this fantasy is to prevent mulder from remembering what really happened that night. and what if CSM is trying to get them both to stop believing, but from different directions...?

this guy agrees that mulder's sister went missing in 1973. but he did the regression therapy 16 years later, and between when he started and when samantha was taken, he found the x files, and there was alien imagery in his head…

he thinks she was killed. and then pulls out the file on samantha's disappearance. there was a lot of effort to find her because her dad was high up in the government, but they found nothing. there was even a treasury investigation into her whereabouts. which raises the question: what does the treasury have to do with finding missing kids?

and he asks scully why this gets brought up now. “someone owes it to mulder” 

“word of advice, me to you: let it be. you know, there’s some wounds that are just too painful ever to be reopened” 

who is this guy…. i don’t trust him. nor do i trust piller!!!

“well, this particular wound has never healed. and mulder deserves closure, just like anyone” <- ohhhh, her defending him in his absence… :(

back in the motel, mulder is asleep, watching a movie about apes. when there is a knock at the motel door. many knocks. it’s piller, who says he is picking up something. you know, psychically. 

why are you bothering him at 3 am…? it feels like he’s waiting til he's sleep deprived and even more vulnerable to manipulate him. harold claims there is a visitor here and comes in the room, telling mulder to grab a piece of paper and a pen. he seems skeptical. 

harold claims it’s mrs. mulder. he’s mulling the possibility over. and it seems we see her ghostly image over his shoulder, but... you never know with these things, if they're real or now. whatever she has to say is about his sister. and then she’s gone. 

mulder’s furious, telling harold to get lost, NOW.

BUT HE WROTE SOMETHING DOWN!!! and he had no idea. it says “april base” <- what does THAT mean? 

scully time. she’s at mrs. mulder’s house. a real friend breaks into your dead mom’s house for you. she’s looking for clues. for anything at all. she finds the pictures burned in the trash. including a social security paper, or something?

time to call mulder and report the news. he's on his way somewhere with harold. she asks if he knew about the treasury department investigation into samantha’s disappearance- just like that other guy mentioned. and he says he knows. 

it’s the document that calls off the search for his sister, signed with the initials “CGBS”. it was stopped by CSM!!!! 

but mulder doesn’t think it matters. scully is baffled by this. even though CSM is the man that killed his father, and confounded him at every step, he says he’s never helped before and never will now, and hangs up.

i know he’s grieving, but. yowch. way to blow her off. 

where are they driving to? whatever "april base" is? it’s covered with "no entry" signs. but mulder doesn’t want to go in. “what are you afraid of? that you’ll really find her? that you’ll have to deal with it?” <- harold. i do not like you right now. that is not a nice thing to say to someone.

a car approaches them…. someone gets out, saying they need to move along and turn around. which... does make it seem like there is something to see here.

oh, sweet scully is getting home, and her phone is ringing. met only with dial tone. FUCK, IT’S CSM IN HER APARTMENT. “i like to make myself useful” “you can start by putting out that cigarette” <- OHHHHH, fuck him up for me.

i got jumpscared for REAL.

she tells him he’s sick. and, seeming to not take this as an insult to his character, he tells her he had an operation. which i guess addresses that one time an alien told him he had cancer.

and then asks her to stop looking. he says he signed that order because no one will find samantha. he believes she’s dead. no reason to think otherwise. 

“there was so much to protect before. it’s all gone now” <- right... because. they thwarted colonization, or now it is inevitable, or something? honestly, the plot stuff gets all blurry. there was an alien race that rebelled against the colonization plans, but those consequences weren't really explored. yet.

i'm getting flashbacks to all of the times CSM has claimed he knows where she is, and even brought fake samantha to mulder… bro will really just say and do anything

he claims he has let mulder believe she’s alive out of kindness. it’s what gives him hope. 

nasty evil man...

back to harold and mulder, who go back to the base. it’s halfway through the episode, and the score is once again popping off. harold says samantha was here, in one of these houses. but he says he doesn’t know which one.

ahh! the car from before is approaches them!!! they hide. mulder wants to get tf out of there. but the he finds something. samantha wrote her name in the sidewalk. “you told me she was here. you didn’t say with who”

AND JEFFREY IS WRITTEN IN THERE, TOO?!!

spender lore…. omfg….

we cut to scully talking to mulder, asking him when he came up with this new story. “because yesterday when i spoke to you, you said that the smoking man wasn’t involved”. her voice is shaky. 

he thinks CSM took samantha and raised her alongside jeffrey. 

she tells him he spoke to her- and doesn’t answer when he asks “you went to him?”, probably thinking that admitting he broke into her apartment would send him on a hunt for revenge- and that he claims she’s dead. mulder decides that the new story he has come up with is still correct, and that CSM is a liar. that much is true, but to what end, we do not know. 

they’re fighting. she doesn’t want to hurt him. he’s yelling. he led you, alright, she says.

harold is at a diner, and scully is behind mulder as he storms in. he says hello to her. and she forces a smile. “agent scully has informed me that you failed to mention something to me when we first met”

he is currently under investigation for the murder of his son.

honestly, that isn't super surprising. i was kind of expecting something more interesting than that. his kid "vanished". of course he's a suspect.

harold claims the police need someone to blame. and that’s not all- he was institutionalized for schizophrenia. he says he has it under control.

harold asks what he has to gain from any of this. he just wants his boy back. he sees things for a reason- if not to help, why is it? maybe he can prove it, he proposes. 

scully looks furious. but they run back into the house in the base. the house has been empty for a long time. harold says they will summon a presence. 

“oh, yay. a seance. i haven’t done that since high school” <- OHHHH, SHE DID SEANCES WITH MISSY…….. stop. i’m gonna cry.

“maybe afterwards we can play postman and spin the bottle”, mulder says. oh. trying to keep it light. and they all take hands.

now that harold has mental illness accusations, i believe that he actually can see dead people, because that is usually how things go in this show. but that is the only point in his favor that makes me think he isn’t led by CSM. 

btw, if you feel a pressure in your ears or a chill, that means they’re here. these are harold's seance signs.

scully wants to know how she’ll know if they’re here… he says they’ll know. and they’re surrounded by ghostly figures. a kid leads mulder away. is it baby spender...? 

scully doesn’t see anything when she opens her eyes. but she follows mulder, who is on the move. he says it’s here. a boy led him into this room. and he finds a diary. that harold says is his sister’s.

they read the diary back in the diner- it talks about the tests, and her lying, telling them what they want to hear. he mumbles that she was 14. he’s crying as she remembers having a brother that she hopes can read this someday. and her memories of him being taken away. and then a page about running away. and that’s the end. 

i hate to say it while he sits here and cries, but i don’t believe it. it seems like someone left that there for him as a perfect trap. scully grabs his hand. she says let’s get out of here. he looks up into the sky. 

ponders if souls really are starlight. nothing is ancient in the universe. and he wonders what his mother was going to tell him. scully tells him to get some sleep. and he laughs. 

he wakes up, in his bed. seeing his mother. who whispers something. BUT WHAT?

scully knocks on his motel door. and he is very sleepy as he answers it. she says she has it. “i couldn’t believe it when i saw it”

it’s a blotter that matches the description of his sister. “when did you find this?” “mulder, it’s almost noon” <- ohhhhh, my god. she gets results. that’s love.

and the way she said it like it was so self-evident that if given the morning, she would be able to track down a lead on his missing sister... like it never even occurred to her that would be seen as a deeply impressive thing to do. yeah. that's my scully.

so they pour through files in the hospital. whoever it was that matched her description, they couldn’t get her to give a name. there are reports of scars on her body. he thinks they’re from the tests. and that CSM is only lying now because she must still be alive

“mulder, wait” “i know, i know. you don’t want me to get my hopes up. i understand that” oh, his carefully controlled tone... but he says there’s a signature from a nurse who signed her in. 

they drive off, late at night, with harold. they are going to find that nurse. he stops. he says he has a powerful feeling that this is the end of the road. that he’s been brought here to learn the truth. scully asks if he’s ready. and asks if he wants her to go talk to her by herself. he nods. and she says okay. and goes.

(her going on his behalf... i'm not crying)

she knocks, and an elderly woman answers the door. mulder watches as she does so. scully asks if she remembers that girl all those years ago. she’s saying she was scared. shaking. harold interrupts, saying that she must have had a vision of her dead. and the nurse says yes- no one believed her at the time. and then it was gone. 

men came to pick her up. she assumed the one was her father, but the look of fury he gave her when she asked him to put out his cigarette caused her chills

but the girl was gone. out of a locked room. vanished. scully turns to harold. and turns to mulder. who is gone.

he’s on a walk. there’s music playing in the distance. he sees that little boy from the house earlier. he reaches out to him. leads him up a hill.

where lots of ghostly kids are playing. amber lynn is there. and his sister runs up to him. she’s older- probably 14. hugs him. cups his face. hugs him again. 

he comes back. saying he went to the end of the road. 

OH. the little boy was harold’s son. “he’s dead. they’re all dead, harold. your son, amber lynn, my sister” he grabs harold’s shoulders. saying he has to let him go. he’s in a better place. they’re all in a better place. and harold runs away. 

scully asks what happened. are you sure you’re alright? “i’m fine. i’m free”

the end.

what….

i have no idea what to believe. 

are we supposed to think that is the end?? of the whole journey with samantha?? that after all these years, he is finally set free?

so… what really happened to her??

here’s my best approximation of a timeline: she was taken by the aliens, as someone was someone from each family of those involved with the program, to insure that they wouldn’t rebel. she had the alien DNA infused in her along with all the others, like cassandra spender, who were given up. and then- for some unexplained reason, she was given back to CSM rather than the aliens, the search for her was called off, and she was raised alongside spender. she was tested on for years before running away, and then she died, probably due to the testing.

but… okay. wasn’t spender raised by his mom alone?? and he never met his father?? so does this completely retcon that??

CSM has had the same face for a very long time. how tf would spender forget what he looked like? he didn't seem THAT young based off of the hand prints and writing that were supposed to be his.

he mentioned his mother going crazy when his dad left. so are we supposed to believe that he grew up with his mom and dad, and then for some reason, CSM left? maybe when samantha died? which would have been at age 14? spender would have been old enough to remember his father's face at that point, though, because there wasn't that much of an age gap between them based on them both writing their names in the concrete... if that even really did happen...

or are we just??? never going to know? and regardless of how it happened, mulder has finally come to terms with the fact that she isn’t out there? was he trying to hold onto her to hold onto his family, but now that his mom is gone and there is no family to hold onto, he can let go?

also. what happened to amber lynn? her mom was possessed and wrote the note without knowing and then… she died, somehow? or was she really taken by the star people? it seemed like mulder was disavowing their existence at the end, so i ruled that out. did her parents kill her? but there was no evidence of anything. so. we just. do not know. 

and we have no answers for harold, either, because mulder rejected his claims about the star people despite ending up believing everything else he said. then how tf is he seeing all of those kids...? and claiming psychic connections?

SIGH.

i'm frustrated. i find it hard to believe any of this, and it seems so absurdly impossible that mulder believing it is also crazy to imagine. and that seeing a vision of her would instantly heal all of his pain... idk, man, it just makes a sum total of no sense.

am i alone in thinking this? did this actually wrap everything up with a bow for y'all when you saw it? are we truly never going to deal with this arc again? the foundation of the very show? mulder is just... healed now? he's given up ever finding her, but he is okay with that? or will he realize how absurd this whole thing is and snap out of it and search again?

idk, though, the episode was called closure. that implies that it is the last we'll hear of this. which pisses me off further, because it's so underwhelming.

i thought we were going in the direction of harold being sent by CSM to prey upon mulder at his very weakest, particularly because he had involvement- somehow- with his mother's death. which we know because she was there with him when mulder was taken from the hospital at the start of the season, and because why else would she burn all of those photos and documents? and then i was thinking that other guy who was telling scully that mulder was faking the whole thing out of guilt would also be from CSM, trying to get her to stop poking around for answers, because maybe samantha really was still alive or had broken free from wherever she was being kept or something.

and in raising that question, i realize we got zero answers about what happened with mrs. mulder. so, this whole time, did she know her daughter was with CSM at april base, and that is why she was able to communicate that knowledge with him from the grave? and she just let him suffer looking for her his whole life because she wasn't allowed to say anything? and, if that is true, mr. mulder knew as well? is that why he got shot? but why wait so long to do that if that was the case?

i fear that none of this makes sense in the slightest. are we supposed to believe that CSM really let mulder think samantha was alive out of kindness? and then used that to manipulate him for years because he was a key part of the colonizing plans? and also, he might be their father? if he was their father, how tf could he hurt them both like that? and wouldn't the aliens realize that? and are we to think he sometimes tells the truth and sometimes lies and lies and lies, and we have to somehow sort out which is which? why would he tell scully the truth of all people? some new form of sympathy now that he is acknowledging mulder as his son? but not enough sympathy to. you know. not kill his father or infect him with alien disease or steal his partner or any of that other shit that has happened in this show?

idk, you can level with me. am i being a hater? am i overcritical? am i expecting more out of this tv program than i ought to?

or perhaps this isn't the end, and more will be revealed, and my intense hating is all for nothing. which is honestly best case scenario in my opinion, because my rage will look comical. nothing better than looking back and realizing you fell for the tricks of the narrative.

...but i have a sneaking suspicion that isn't what is going on here.

they should have just left it at paper hearts. paper hearts was SO good. they should have done anything other than half ass it. i'm so sorry, mulder, you deserve better than this writing.

[zarvasace]

Oh, questions about your new au, you say???

How did the chain come to be at this facility place? Did any of them know each other 'before'?

Thanks child XD

Mostly kidnappings, though sometimes they got duped by a fake event of some kind (e.g. Time went to a "job interview" and never came back.) They arrived in game release order—so Hyrule first, and Wild last, though Legend at least had been at a different one previously. Really I'm just going for maximum angst here

I haven't pinned down all the backstories yet, so I don't know if any of them knew each other before! That would be interesting, I can imagine it would get us some good stuff. Hmmm thinking thoughts.

Here's a snippet of a scene just after Time arrives:

Hyrule has become very good at making card castles. This current one is up to three levels. He picks up two more worn cards, specific ones that have small rips in similar spots, and balances them just perfectly against each other. He pulls his hands away and nods.  “I know a little bit of how, and a little bit of why, but not all of it,” Legend says. He picks an old, chipped glass out of a cupboard and takes it to the aluminum sink to fill it up with some water.  “At this point, I'll take anything,” the new guy responds from one of the few plastic chairs that doesn't have a leg cap missing. It doesn't wobble when he leans back.  He's older than Hyrule had expected, middle-aged with a few grays in his stubble, though he doesn't know why he'd expected someone younger. To hear Legend tell it, these people don't care about age. Hyrule doesn’t know how much of Legend’s information is colored by Legend’s resentment, but he thinks it's mostly accurate, anyway.  Legend turns around to lean against the cheap countertop and sips at it, still somewhat flushed from his exercise. He's supposed to get water from the filter, but he enjoys rebelling where he can. If he keeps this up, though, Hyrule suspects they might lose the sink altogether, or cups or something. Whatever. It isn't as if they use it much.  “Did you give blood sometime recently?” Legend asks.  “Last week,” the new guy answers.  “Then that’s how they found you. There's a tell in our blood that means we're able to take these changes. That's why we're all here.”  The new guy scowls. “And I'm going to assume that, due to the less-than-legal way I got here”—that’s a nice way of saying was kidnapped, Hyrule knows—“that we don't exactly have a release date?”  Legend finishes his glass and fills it up a second time. “We're here until they can't use us anymore.” “So until we die.” “Pretty much. And who knows what our life expectancy is now.” Hyrule glances over to see the new guy close his eyes as if he's trying very hard to keep himself from exploding. It wouldn't change anything if he did. Hyrule goes back to his card castle. He's about to finish the third layer, without any aids like books this time.  “So we’re looking for some kind of escape plan?” the new guy says.  Hyrule pulls his hands away gently from a completed third layer. “Our next one had better be very good. I don't like getting caught.” “You've tried before?” “Of course. Several times.” Hyrule remembers each with dwindling clarity as time goes on. He can't bring himself to stop trying, especially because Legend hasn't, but there really aren't a lot of ways out of here.  The new guy leans forward again to rest his forearms on the wobbly table. The wobble is why Hyrule is building his castle on the floor. “How long, exactly have you been here?”  Hyrule looks over at the out-of-date calendar propped up against the wall on the countertop and counts on his fingers. “Almost ten months.” The new guy looks startled. “Ten months?”  Legend and Hyrule exchange a look, and Legend puts down his glass after emptying it a third time. He sighs. “About five years total, myself. Not entirely here here, but definitely not out there.” “You're kidding.” The new guy shades his eyes with a hand.  “Afraid not, old man.”

[panthera-tigris-venenata]

Dead Beauty AU

Jay slips back onto the Isle and breathes out as the familiar weight of the Barrier settles onto his shoulders.

Oh, home, sweet home–

After all, they can take the Villain kids from the Isle, but they cannot take the Isle from them, and he and Mal are too much alike not to understand her.

He and her know each other too much: Enough for her to ask him to bring her a real remote to the Barrier she could give to the Hooks.

(She wants to give it to them and send Jay back to Auradon with Ben and Evie and Carlos; she wants to stay on the Isle without a vendetta against her, unbothered.)

Enough for him to bring her a dupe instead.

(He doesn’t want her to stay on the Isle at all.)

(She doesn’t have to go back to being the future queen, but – But she is not throwing her life away like this. She could be so much more.)

Jay resists the impulse to check he still has the remote <i>and</i> the dupe, he knows better than to show tells like that, and almost jumps out of his skin when someone almost presses into him.

Someone – Li Lonnie, of course.

The girl insisted on accompanying him to get her king, and lately, Jay had found it hard to tell her no, for some reason or another.