#and now they're in washington dc

[goliadkine]

Louis-Maurice Boutet de Monvel, the Joan of Arc series, I-VI, 1906-1910, (Washington DC National Gallery of Art, usa.)

[wellhalesbells]

15 Questions, 15 (or whatever) Tags

I was tagged by @kikiroo​ - thank you!!  *heart hug!*

1. Were you named after anybody?

Nope.

2. When was the last time you cried?

Um, I cannot stress enough that I cry at the drop of a hat in fictional situations (pretty much never in real life) so it was either Ted Lasso or reading The Celebrants by Steven Rowley, or it could’ve been The Emperor’s Bone Palace by Hailey Turner - I just finished that.  I can’t remember if I did or not, but I was so stressed out, I probably did, things went poorly for a bit there and I was a wreck.

3. Do you have kids?

I do not and have no plans to.  I’ve never wavered on that, I’ve always been very ‘who knows, could change,’ about it but so far: nah.  And I feel like if I had ever wavered, my sister having two pandemic babies and me being her entire village (I am the only relative who lives in the same state.  And the people who are best at babies do not live in the same country.) has nudged me more firmly towards: that’s really not for you, broh.  I love them to death but I am so glad I get breaks where I just get to be a selfish monster for seventy-two hours straight.

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot?

Neever.

5. What sports do you play/have you played?

I played soccer for maybe a few weeks in middle school and then I was like: this is just running, and running is so much worse than sitting, was everyone aware of that?  I’ll be on the bench if you need me. *throws up a peace sign*  Though I did just tell my sister that I would absolutely fucking kill at basketball against K-1st graders and I stand by that.

6. What’s the first thing you notice about someone?

Sense of humor.  Honestly, I don’t know if it’s an ace thing or not, but I can’t even describe people beyond: heightish and hairish until you interest me as a person, which is usually because you make me laugh.  It’s kind of embarrassing sometimes because I really do not notice, and sometimes I’ll be asked to describe someone I’ve been in the vicinity of for, like, two months and I’m like: I genuinely cannot tell you a single thing about this person, I’m so sorry.  I just don’t track details.  That’s why I try really hard with names.  I can’t tell you what they look like in any detail (do they wear glasses? Have freckles? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ), but I can tell you their name.  And sometimes that can feel like a superpower tbqh, because you know who people come to find out the new person’s name: moi.

7. Eye color?

Blue.

8. Scary movies or happy endings?

Oh scary movies, hands down.  They’re my favoritest things.  I regularly have them on as background noise.

9. Any special talents?

If I do have them, they’re a secret even to me.  I like to have that Kathleen Madigan mindset about it: “What if we’re all prodigies, but it’s just at something we’ve never tried yet? ... What if I sat down at a pottery wheel and made a cup and people were like: Holy Christ, lady, that is the most phenomenal cup ever made.”  It could happen!

10. Where were you born?

St. Pete, Florida.

11. What are your hobbies?

Writing, reading, tending to an imaginary beluga whale that lives in my nephew’s bathtub, creating to do lists over and over again that I have no intention of ever completing, and playing Pokemon Go.  There’s a girl at my work and we were the two nerds who were really into it, we would get together, do the fests and the raids and community days and such.  We have now converted half our workplace into either reactivating their accounts or creating them and there are now at least two more people who are just as - if not more - into it than we are.  (Like, they had to make a Pokemon Go policy because of us spreading it like a virus, lololol.)

12. Do you have any pets?

I have a doggo that I accidentally made obsessed with me and super introverted.  You know how they say owners start to resemble their dogs?  Nope.  I broke her and now we like to stay in, are wary of strangers, and essentially try to occupy the same space at all times - I blame COVID, honestly, we were both way more normal before that.  Or she was, anyway.  The good news is I can let her off leash ‘cause she’s going precisely zero places without me.

13. How tall are you?

5’

14. Favorite subject in school?

English in high school, Evolutionary Psychology in college.

15. Dream job?

I hate to say it but: I do not dream of labor.  Anything I’m passionate about doing, I would immediately tarnish by needing it to now be the source of my livelihood.  It would lose all its joy because I would put immense pressure on it.

Though if I could somehow make bank through sleeping? Yeah, that.

I don’t know who to tag because I feel like I’ve seen everyone do this on my dash so: um, whoever hasn’t done it yet and wants to - consider this me tagging you!

[luveline]

i lowkey need to see stripper!reader and spencer again

for you gorgeous ♡ fem

cw adult themes

Hotch and Spencer draw attention at the strip club for the same reason but in varied fonts. They're both reminiscent of your regulars, Hotch the picture of a businessman with a wife to forget and steam to blow, and Spencer the silent sweetheart, pretty but too shy to talk to normal girls. 

He doesn't need a normal girl when he has you. 

You're glad for your cover up clothes as you lean against the dressing room door. One of the bouncers peers at you from the corner of his eye. 

"Trouble?" he asks. 

"Not sure. Probably not." You wave until Agent Hotchner notices you. To your delight, he raises his hand politely. 

You step around the bouncer and bypass the stage to the lighter area of the club where they stand in wait. "Hello. I could've met you outside." 

"Would you?" Agent Hotchner asks. 

You don't need him to explain. It's not the most professional thing, loitering in a club like this. You follow them out of the club and onto the street, cold even in your sweatpants as the wind rails. Spencer lets you squeeze his fingers in greeting, but that's all. 

"It's nice to see you again, Agent Hotchner," you say honestly, giving him a smile. 

He doesn't return the pleasantry, but Spencer swears he's softer than he looks so you choose to run with it as Agent Hotchner says, "We need information on one of your patrons." 

"Tennis Lawley," Spencer adds. 

"Tennis," you repeat. "I thought my pseudonym was bad."

Spencer gives you a quick look. I'd laugh if I weren't at work, it says. "We think he's involved in a string of killings in Washington DC. What do you know about him?" 

It's not an exaggeration to say you've played therapist for Tennis and a ton of guys just like him. Being a stripper, an exotic dancer, whatever anyone wants to call it (though Spencer usually just calls it your work) has pros and cons. You've felt it to be heavier on the con side, but this is a big plus, being able to assist someone you care about with something important. It makes you feel useful for once, like you're more than the froth of the city. "Ask me anything," you say, hiding your cheek from the cold with a deft hand. 

Spencer and Agent Hotchner ask you all sorts of questions, personal to their suspect and less so, and for the most part you're able to answer them. You can tell from the look on Hotchner's face that he's both surprised and extremely satisfied by your knowing, and he emphasises his thankfulness with a touch to your upper arm before he says goodbye. "Your help is invaluable, Y/N, thank you." 

Spencer, your sweetheart, stays for a more thorough farewell. 

"Have you eaten yet today?" he asks, the hand you'd squeezed earlier leaping for yours. "You look tired." 

"It's getting close to midnight, Spence. I'm alright. You and Agent Hotchner should head home and rest yourselves…" You bring your hand to his cheek but think better of yourself, pushing your arm over his shoulder instead for a hug. His own arms contract around you immediately. "I miss you lately, where have you been?" 

"Everywhere. I miss you too," he says. Despite the months of knowing one another, and the many states he's seen you in, you know without looking that Spencer is blushing profusely. 

You kiss his cheek as your heels return to safe ground. "Come and see me again soon, okay? And bring your rich friends. The older one, Rossi, is he really a millionaire? A divorced one?" 

"Yes, he is," Spencer says with a laugh, his voice climbing higher, "but I don't think he's looking for another wife right now, sorry." 

"Maybe Agent Hotchner–" 

"Stop calling him that." 

You look Spencer straight in the eye, nearly caught off guard by how sweet and soft they meld at your touch where your hands linger in his. 

You often think that you and Spencer aren't meant to be. Your life, whether willing or unwilling, by choice or design, is entirely focused around your body, and Spencer's world revolves around his mind. You know that what you do for work isn't anything to be ashamed of, but you have the same doubts as anyone else. You know what people think of you. You wouldn't blame Spencer for thinking the same things. And you wouldn't expect him to want to be with you in any aspect that wasn't physical. 

But when he holds your hands in his like this, as though they're made of something delicate, something he wants to map every detail or by fingertip alone, you wish things were different. 

You clear your throat. "I really do miss you when you're away," you confess. 

"I'm sorry." 

"Don't be." Your hands miss his the millisecond you pull them away. "I guess I shouldn't keep you. Your boss will be wondering where you are." 

"Are you okay?" 

You can't even pretend it's a strange question; you're acting strange. "I'm fine, Dr. Reid. My nice new boss knows I know the feds, and all the girls are jealous of me when you guys come to visit. They think I'm on your payroll." 

Spencer quirks a puzzled frown, brows pulled together tightly. "You're harder to read than most people. Have I ever told you that?" 

"I guess it's 'cos I spend so much time pretending I'm a different person," you say, smiling to prompt him into smiling back. 

"Maybe." He pulls his bag from where it rests against his hip and opens it, rummaging through the contents with a confused murmur until he pulls out the shape he'd been looking for. "Here. Don't go to bed hungry, okay?" 

Spencer puts a protein bar in your hand. 

He steals a quick hug and leaves not long after that, crossing the dark parking lot to the mass of the dark SUV he arrives in. With one hand, you clutch the protein bar until it takes a new shape, and with the other you blow two sweet kisses, a cheesy, gaudy gesture that never fails to make your favourite special Agent blush. 

[alienpossession]

Family Mission: The Backyard

"If you know what's best for you, you'll stay there and listen to me carefully. Again, you did not see me get inside his body so this might look like a silly air gun but I can promise you that you'l regret making any single move,"

Fearing for my life, I obviously followed my stepfather order, or whatever creature that reign over my stepfather's body. After all, the way my big bro just suddenly lose his consciousness mid-way playing game after my stepfather pointed and then shot the invisible air gun to him is enough to convince me that he's not playing around.

"Okay, now, since you've been seated comfortably, let me explain to you. I crash landed on your backyard earlier this morning and your father was making the whole thing difficult for me as he somehow spotted and snapped the pictures of me and my kind and even made some call to Washington DC, so we are compromised as we know it. Luckily, because he photographed us, we became aware of his.....awareness, if that's the word, and I decided to pay him a visit. He's physically here, but everything about him is.....me now. I'm in charge of his body and my fella is also in charge of your older brother. He's processing the whole thing now, hence the lost of consciousness, but he'll be fine....fine as in fine like me. Now, I know and your older brother know about your little alien wet dream sequence you wrote in your diary that you stupidly left in the study room for everyone to see. Your father, stepfather is obviously embarassed. Me on the other hand, well, I love all the fucked up sequences you came out with based on the memory reading I did, so here's what I offered you, collaborate with me to harbor my kind from the incoming investigator and you can live your dream with us, or you can try to run and I will definitely stuff someone from my kind inside of you. Up to you,"

"I....I will help you.....daddy,"

"Okay, stop. Don't be weird. You called me sir usually, so stick with that. And please, a boner? Are you kidding me?"

"Uhh...ohhh...okay sir. Sorry for making you uncomfortable,"

"Okay then, son, let's wake your brother up and clean up the mess in the backyard. Then, what do you think if we workout to the gym nearby?"

"Sounds like a solid plan....sir,"

As the three of them walked to the backyard to start cleaning the scene and take out the remaining aliens from the spaceship, the father said

"By the way, we also held 5 prisoners within our ship. They're criminals, the infected ones from our kind, maybe we can just expose them to the investigator, planting their dead form inside the spaceship? After all, not like our kind just visited Earth for the first time so our data probably already exist in your government's database,"

"Your lead, sir. You know what's best,"

"See, Griffin, be like your brother. More obedient and has more excitement about extraterrestrial life. If only you are like him, you'll not be braindead and taken over by now,"

"Stop making the nerd hard, dad,"

"Hahahahaha, I love the chemical reaction from this whole dynamic. The surge of anger and disgust that I instantly repressed and turned into excitement upon seeing him getting a boner when I talked like his dad but then twisted it into the most unhinged shit no normal human would ever say.....yeah, you should try it sometimes, Grif,"

With his cheek flushed in embarassment, Jerry meekly walk besides his possessed brother all the while looking at his father muscular back and ass that look just so perfect this morning. Maybe the alien inside make him look at his dad with different shades, but well, it's a welcomed change

[northern-passage]

i thought there was a call to boycott the entirety of black friday and cyber monday?

i think there are people on tumblr & twitter that are advocating for a full boycott (which is good), but specifically with BDS & according to their website they're just calling for a targeted boycott against puma, HP, and marvel for black friday and cyber monday (along with the other targeted companies)

personally, i'm also boycotting starbucks (for their treatment of unionized workers) as well as a few of the other companies not listed in the immediate full boycott list.

as of 11/22 on their twitter, this is what they shared:

1. Consumer boycott targets - The BDS movement calls for a complete boycott of these brands carefully selected due to the company's proven record of complicity in Israeli apartheid.

2. Divestment targets - The BDS movement is pressuring governments, institutions and investment funds to exclude and divest from as many complicit companies as practical, especially weapons manufacturers, banks, and companies listed in the UN database of business involved in Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise, as well as the WhoProfits and AFSC Investigate databases of companies enabling the occupation. Below we give some of the targets we are campaigning against.

3. Pressure (non-boycott) targets - The BDS movement actively calls for pressure campaigns against these brands and services due to their complicity in Israeli apartheid. We have not, on strategic grounds, called for a boycott of these brands and services, instead we strategically call on supporters and institutions to mount other forms of pressure on them until they end their complicity in Israeli apartheid.

4. Organic boycott targets - The BDS movement did not initiate these grassroots boycott campaigns but is in support of them due to these brands openly supporting Israel’s genocide against Palestinians.

ultimately the companies listed under the first category you absolutely should be boycotting 100%.

and i'm not going to tell you to not also boycott black friday, especially since it coincides with the temporary 4-day "truce." like i said, i know there are groups that have been advocating for a full boycott this weekend along with protests; there were hundreds today, from Washington, DC, to Massachusetts, to California, to Florida... i shared the creator's day because they do that every other month or so on itch.io anyways & i wanted to link the BDS information alongside it. they may update in the future as well and call for more targeted boycotts as the holidays ramp up so i suggest bookmarking the website or following them on twitter, and look for a campaign near you to get involved directly.

BDS has also called for a global day of action on November 29th, which includes intensifying all targeted boycotting campaigns.

[mariacrow]

Hello there!!! I was wondering if perhaps you could do either Cybertronian seeker or human reader that is female and she (you could change it to gender neutral) where she is from the TFP universe and ended up in Bayverse and she TFP’s Optimus’ lover and she spends time with the bots (all of them survived they didn't die) and she has grown close to the humans. She also has been treating Bay Optimus in a very similar way that she treats her Optimus but the thing is she has trouble telling him that they are sparkmates or married in TFP. Therefore, when a conversation arrises amongst the bots in a meeting with Simmons, Galloway and Mearing, asking about her joruney here, it ends up slipping she is in love with Optimus and ends up explaining they're conjuxed... I wonder how the other bots will react and how Optimus would be and the humans? 😭 I love your writing and thank you! Bonus if it's hinted throughout that she was taken when Sideswipe tried flirting with her but it didn't stick.

That’s so creative! I think I know how to make this spicy ;)

BTF x TFP reader who’s Optimus’s lover and ends up in Bayverse

2nd person

female reader

malfunctions, drama, crossovers

romance, flirting, realization, last goodbyes

abbreviations: BTF = Bayverse Transformers; TFP = Transformers Prime

takes place in Transformers Prime AU where everyone lives and is protecting Earth

takes place in Transformers: Dark of the Moon AU where Ironhide and Jazz are alive

added characters: Simmons, Galloway and Mearing

“Stay safe.” Optimus said to you while holding you in his servos. He softly smiled as he brought you closer to his face.

“Don’t worry boss, I will!” you joked as you gave him a hug. You gave his face plate soft kiss, right under his optic, making his spark lit up.

A low hum escaped his chest as he gently stroked your head.

“Are you two done?” Ratchet say enviously, holding the ground bridge ready.

Optimus gently placed you on the ground. You rolled your eyes at Ratchet and chuckled as you walked to the ground bridge

“Someone’s jealous-“ Bulkhead said.

“I AM NOT- would you stop with that?!” Ratchet shouted, making everyone have a good laugh. Optimus didn’t budge though, he was looking at you, your beautiful smile and beautiful figure.

“See ya guys!” you said before you gave Optimus a special little wave before stepping into the portal. Optimus gave a cute little wave back as a tiny smile couldn’t leave his face. So wholesome!

You went farther inside, ready to go home, to Washington DC. Ratchet had everything ready and didn’t think anything could go wrong, no one thought. But oh… they had no idea…

Suddenly the ground bridge started making weird high frequency pulsing noises that were getting louder and faster. A sudden force, like stronger gravity, pushed you down onto your knees. You were groaning, holding your ears shut.

“RATCHET!!!” you exclaimed, trying to get up but the force was getting stronger as well as the noises.

Mass panic took over the base. They could hear you yelling.

“Ratchet, bring her back!” Optimus yelled. It’s odd to hear him yell like that which means he was extremely scared…

“I am trying, Optimus!” the medic panicked while desperately trying to fix whatever happened with the portal.

“Hurry up!!!” Miko yelled. She was scared she was gonna lose her bestie… “Guys! It’s changing colors!!!”

The ground bridge was now blue. Ratchet has never dealt with something like this. They kept hearing you begging for help. Then suddenly…

The portal aggressively closed, almost like an explosion, making the whole base shake. Everything went quiet. Ratchet tried turning it on again but it wouldn’t budge.

“Oh no…” the medic said. He frantically tried tracking you, looking all over the globe but… no signs…

Sorrow and fear were all over Prime’s face. He felt his spark ache.

“Wh-wh-what do you mean “oh no”???” Jake panicked.

“I-I don’t think she’s coming back…” Rafael said.

Bumblebee buzzed in fear, Arcee was asking questions as well as Bulkhead.

“She’s not in this dimension anymore…” Ratchet barely mouthed those words, trying to think of how to bring you back but… that’s gonna be a very difficult and long process…

“There must be a way!” Optimus said.

“There is..” the medic continued, “but Optimus.. this has never happened before… It might take days.. weeks.. months..”

“MONTHS???” Miko shouted.

“I-I just need to concentrate, alright!? I can fix this! I can fix this…” Ratchet tried to settle down and not lose hope.

Optimus was at loss of words… His lover, his sparkling… Gone. No one knows where, no one knows how. Everyone was flabbergasted, trying to think of any possible answer how this could happen…

“One way or another… we shall bring her back…” Optimus said. He lost everything already… he can’t lose you as well…

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

<> Washington DC, Bayverse <>

You found yourself in an alley in the center of DC. Getting up with a headache, you tried your best to scan your surroundings. You went forward to the main street, looking around.

“Looks like DC alright” you thought as you made your way to the right, heading home while thinking what the hell happened to the ground bridge.

Suddenly you heard a rumbling engine approaching, revving as the car slowed down, driving next to you at your speed. You looked to your left to see a metallic Chevrolet Corvette Stingray. Stunning. You chuckled to yourself and rolled your eyes, continuing to walk as you ignored whoever was in the car, thinking it’s just a guy trying to win you with his expensive car. IF there was anyone in the car…

You heard a seductive whistle, “Ey what’s up sweetheart~? Care for a ride~?” as the door opened.

“No, thanks.” you said, not even looking at the car.

“Oh come on cutie, it’s rude to reject a car like me~”

A car… like “me”? You heard that one before, Smokescreen has the same way of picking up girls. That made you look. You saw there’s no one at the driver’s seat. You stopped in your tracks… Putting 2 and 2 together…

“Sideswipe at your service, m’lady~”

All of the autobots should know you and you should know them hence they know Optimus. You realized the ground bridge’s malfunction meant yeeting you to a whole another dimension… In your case, some kind of a parallel universe. You decided to keep yourself together and act cool. You needed to investigate all this. And this certainly isn’t the time to tell a random autobot who are you and what is actually happening.

You took a deep breath and smiled, “Alright though guy~” you said as you got in. He closed the door for you and drove off.

“M-m-m~ Wait till you meet my crew~ They’re gonna be sooo jealous~ What’s your name beautiful~?”

“Hey, I’m not here for you to show off.”

“Well then, I’m here for YOU to show off~” he chuckled, his beauty breaking people’s neck.

He made you hide a giggle, “I’m Y/N. And what about that.. crew you mentioned?” carefully choosing your words, trying to meet your surroundings.

“You haven’t heard about my crew? We saved your planet more than once! And we’re still protecting it.”

“O-oh yeah! Yeah I know, of course, pft! Our heroes. But uhm.. what are the names of your teammates, I was never really able to memorize all.” act cool, act cool.

“Ah well there’s Ironhide, weapon specialist, he’s a stubborn fella. Then there’s Ratchet, the medic,”

“Ratchet…” you thought.

“Jazz, Dino, Bumblebee- you probably heard of Bumblebee, that sucker got real famous.” your heart skipped a beat when you heard “Bumblebee”…

“And, of course, our leader, Optimus Prime~” he said that with pride.

This confirmed your theory that you’re in an alternative universe… You acted cool and chill, excited to meet them all. Deep down you were hella nervous… Some hope bloomed inside of you, considering there’s at least 3 autobots you already know.

…

The moment Sideswipe drove you into the base, you couldn’t stop looking around. So many cars and… people…

“So they managed to take advantage of them here huh… What a disgusting species we are…”

“I brought company!” Sideswipe transformed and said happily.

“Sideswipe, how many times do we need to tell you to stop bringing females into the base!?” Ratchet shouted, in his bot form, working on something with humans.

“Oh come oh man, look at her! How can you say no to such a cute faaace~?” he was gently pinching your cheek.

“Ow- ow ow ow! Sideswipe!” you laughed, trying to push his servo away.

“This is not a party garage, this is a base! Take your urges elsewhere.” Ratchet scolded Sideswipe.

A giant truck with Optimus’s colors caught your eye real good… Suddenly, he transformed, approaching you and Sideswipe as the ground shook a little with each step he took. He was ready to shoo both of you out but then he made eye contact with you…

Your eyes locked in his optics and vice versa… He slowly stopped in his tracks as he frowned and as his optics widened… You looked extremely familiar. Too familiar… As if he was getting flashbacks of something he never even knew he experienced. He felt like he knows you. His spark warmed at the sight of you… He slowly lined up with you, putting his knee on the ground.

“Do I know you, girl?” he asked.

“I.. uh..” you could barely speak, you felt waves of adrenaline strike your body, “Perhaps, sir… M-maybe I just remind you of someone.” you awkwardly chuckled.

He hummed and straightened. Confused and suspicious, he walked to the platform where Galloway and Mearing were working with Ratchet.

“Let her stay. She has valuable information.” he lied. For the first time in his life he lied… There’s something special about you he needs to confirm…

…

It’s been weeks. Months. You got closer with everyone, Sam even. You were an important member of the crew now. Everyone was surprised by your Cybertronian tech knowledge that Ratchet passed onto you back in the base in Jasper…

Optimus and you got extremely close as well. You treated him with kindness. Not just any kindness. You didn’t only have high respect for him as a leader, you were ready to lie down your life for him and vice versa… It seemed as if he became your guardian in this universe too…

He let you climb his shoulder, have relaxing rides with him, stay up late, watch the sky and discuss about endless subjects… He wouldn’t take his optics off of you. Scanning your beautiful face whenever he had a chance, trying to find you in his memory but his recognition system was not responding positively…

…

One day…

“I need a group meeting, ASAP!” Mearing commanded, walking into the base furiously as her assistant, Galloway and Simmons were barely catching up to her.

“A-are you sure, ma’am?” Galloway said.

“Yes, I am sure! And don’t call me “ma’am”. I am not a “ma’am” “ she said while going through all of her purses.

“I knew there’s something odd about her- I just knew it! Optimus told us he feels as if he knows her- and now the big guy is in love!” Simmons said like the alien nerd he is.

“Please, do not say that, it’s disgusting.” Mearing said while going up the platform.

“How would they have intercourse anyway- it’s impossible!” Simmons continued.

“Shut up, agent.” Mearing said before quickly organizing a meeting.

…

And there you were, sitting along with everyone while all the autobots stood there.

“WHO ARE YOU AND HOW DID YOU GET HERE-“ Simmons started.

“Agent. Let’s stay calm.” Galloway said.

Simmons sat down, rubbing his face, biting his nails and bouncing his leg.

You looked at Optimus. “You told them..?”

“Y/N, please understand that I had to. There’s something strangely odd going on. I feel like my system had deleted you from my memory… but I can still feel like I know you.”

“We’ve checked your ID, tried tracking you, your home, family… We couldn’t find anything. You’re not in the system.” Mearing said. “So where do you come from? Are you even human? Who sent you?”

All of this was getting you extremely nervous. You sat there, occupied with questions and so many glares…

“Okay…” you took a deep breath, “okay. I will explain. No one sent me, let’s start with that. It was all an accident… Apparently I come from a parallel universe where the Cybertronian war was also brought. And no I’m not talking about another planet, I’m talking about Earth- like a- a mirror! But with some minor changes. There’s an autobot base in Jasper, Nevada where I’m with my three other human friends and the crew… There’s Bumblebee and Ratchet and Arcee and Bulkhead a-and… You, Optimus…”

The whole base was silent… They couldn’t believe what they were hearing… Optimus walked closed to you, listening carefully.

“I moved to Washington DC recently and we’re using something called a ground bridge to teleport where we need to. When I wanted to go back home, the portal started malfunctioning and… here I am, I guess…”

“WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL US BEFORE-“ Simmons again.

“Agent, let her finish.” Optimus said calmly.

“Because I… I don’t know! Okay!? I was scared! I was hoping they would get it fixed in a few days so I could just leave with a status of Sideswipe’s ex girlfriend or something but…” you exhaled in frustration, “It’s been months… Who knows if they’re gonna get it fixed at all… That’s why I wanted to analyze everything you have here and see if I can ask for ANY help…”

Mearing and Galloway were aggravated while Simmons was like “I TOLD YOU SO!!!”. Ratchet was trying to calculate everything in his head while everyone else was just speechless.

“That’s why I was feeling this way since we met…” Optimus said.

“Yes… and probably because.. we have something special going on where I come from…” you said with a tiny smile.

A deep hum rumbled in his chest, “Special…” he also smiled a little.

“Aw man, there goes my girlfriend!” Sideswipe said. He made Dino and Bumblebee laugh.

“You’ll find a chick.” Ironhide nudged him, “There’s plenty of fish in the sea.”

“How do we get you back?” Ratchet asked.

“The only thing I can think of is that we somehow make contact with them. I have the coordinates but we will definitely need more than just that…”

“Hm… yes.. yes. I think we can-“ Ratchet got interrupted

“Or maybe she can stay.” by Jazz who now got all of the eyes on him in silence, “…Just- just a suggestion-“

“As much as I would love for Y/N to stay with us, we need to think about her safety. We must get her home.” Optimus started, “She is not safe with us. As similar as her life might be here, she belongs in the universe she came from.”

“Agreed! Agreed.” Galloway interrupted, “If we manage to make this portal, it would mean a huge step for humanity!! Do you realize how much we could do with it!? We could-“

“With all due respect,” Optimus interrupted him back, “this is not the time to speak about the advantages humans can take from this.” irritated by him.

Ratchet and some other autobots were already working on the ground bridge.

“Y/N.” Optimus leaned closer to you, “It is very difficult for me to say goodbye…”

“I know… It was nice while it lasted…”

“I hope I treat you the same way in every universe our paths cross… I hope you will keep warming up my spark back home.” Optimus said softly, quietly talking to you.

“I will… I promise…” you got emotional, stepping closer, hugging his face plate… Your heart aching, you were torn apart between two universes… But you knew none of this is right. You need to get back.

You made him smile, his optics spinning and expanding before closing as he sunk into your tender touch…

“I will forever remember you, Y/N… Now it is time for you to go home, my love…”

Well this ended up being longer than I thought lmao and way more emotional

Dividers belong to @patches-1105 ❣️

[the-ace-with-spades]

There's one fic idea from another fandom that I never wrote and would like to adapt to the TGM fandom, which is tattoo artist/florist but more like they're both tattoo artists but one of them doesn't know that (have I mentioned this before? i feel like I did)

tw: mentions of addiction and ODing

I'm thinking this happens in San Fran/Portland/Settle/Washington DC

Bradley had his papers pulled and accidentally started working part-time in a tattoo shop (just cleaning) and absolutely fell in love with tattoo art and switched majors from engineering to art history/etc. in his second semester. Not long after he started an apprenticeship at the same tattoo shop, his thesis was about tattoo art history and he became a well-known academic in the field and a popular tattoo artist.

Carole used to love flowers and had a very varied garden at their house and flower illustrations everywhere - Bradley used to draw flowers on every card for her - so flowers became his specialty

He now runs a tattoo shop (The Bloom) with Natasha, who he met at a tattoo competition TV show (because I'm a sucker for reality shows rn...) and flies as a side gig, but he also has part-time gigs at different colleges.

He is tattooed all over, but only on the parts of his body he can cover in some ways - it's really funny when he lectures because he looks like a stereotypical professor, cardigans, collared shirts, khakis and all, but sometimes when it's hot, he rolls up his sleeves and people can see his full-sleeve tattoos.

Now, Jake had a completely different route to the place he is at now. He got mixed with the wrong crowd and got kicked out of the Naval Academy first year, he got mixed with an even worse crowd when his family didn't take him back when he returned and he was an addict for some time. He had one of those born-again christian turn arounds - not in a super fanatic way, just woke up one day in a hospital after a close call with his (religious) crying mom praying with a rosary over him and realized he needed to change something about his life or he's going to destroy everyone around him. He starts going to church with his ma and gets a little involved in the local Christian charity, etc etc.

One of the therapies he attended was art therapy and at first, he thought it was bullshit but then he actually liked it and even designed some of his own tattoo cover-ups at the sessions (he had shitty tattoos he had done when he was high or drunk that reminded him about worse times). The tattoo artist who did his coverups was actually impressed and offered him training, which he took up.

Most of his shittiest tattoos are covered now, but he still has not very thought-through tattoos on his face, some of which are too big to ever do much about them, and some blackout tattoos, so he looks very 'stereotypically'.

Due to his background, cover-ups, black only, and trad/neo-trad tatttos are his specialty. He is also really good at pigmentation and tattoo restoration/longevity.

Now, Jake moves out of Texas with his mom after his dad (who has been completely unsupportive of him since he got kicked out of USNA) passed away, to be closer to his sister and her kids who lived on the other side of the states. He filters around, taking part-time gigs at other studios and gigs he gets from social media.

Eventually, he opens a tattoo shop with Javy, on the other side of the street as The Bloom is. Due to the amount of flowers and the name of the studio, he assumes it's a flower shop.

He and Bradley run into each other in a local coffee shop (run by Reuben and Mickey) and Jake, seeing Bradley's getup, is still under the impression Bradley is a florist.

Bradley spills Jake's coffee and asks him on a date when he pays back for his coffee a few days later

(Bob, working a street away, is the actual local florist)

[utilitycaster]

look, I know polls are silly and fun and so I want you to understand writing this rant is silly and fun for me but EMON? Emon is the Critical Role Entry for Most Place of All Time? I must call bullshit. And so:

Friends, fellow critters, and people who have me blocked but hate read my blog each morning over breakfast: Emon is not even the Most Place on the Material Plane. It is not even the Most Place in Tal'Dorei. Hell, it's not even the Most Place on the fucking Bladeshimmer Shoreline, which includes a destroyed city now overtaken by bandits, and a cave system that hosts both a rift to the Far Realm and a different rock than residuum that can make a different magical drug than suude. Emon is if you took the aggressively mid vibes of Washington, DC and transplanted them to the inconvenient location and city of refuge for flaky people who avoid gluten for non-medical reasons of Los Angeles. The second Percival Frederickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III invents the motorcar that sumbitch is going to have traffic bad enough to summon Tharizdun. Also there's a literal pit of fire that's been burning for 30 years that both hasn't been adequately addressed but also doesn't really seem that interesting. Like oh a bunch of dragons destroyed your city? Big deal. Draconia got so fucked up it doesn't exist anymore, and at least Westruun has some fucking charm. At least Pike and Grog actually lived there, whereas Vox Machina got a house in Emon and proceeded to spend their time literally anywhere else.

Here is a brief list of places on the planet of Exandria in the Material Plane - not even across Critical Role's main campaigns/EXU, which includes such non-Exandrian places as "living city of people who mind-melded and escaped to the Astral Sea during a century-plus-long war of the gods"; "Ligament Manor"; "Ryn's groovy pied-a-feu, man I wonder what made the scorch marks on that furniture, anyway", and "THE MOON THAT IS ACTUALLY AN PRISON FOR A THING THAT EATS GODS AND IS POSSIBLY HATCHING" - that are more of a place than Emon:

Jrusar: 5 spires no waiting, sweet cable car system, city almost entirely destabilized by goo creatures as part of an overly complicated plot to blow up the aforementioned moon

Bassuras: (literally "garbagetown") Run by Mad Max gangs and everyone is cool with it; regular sandstorms; one of those gangs apparently sits atop a hive mind and NO ONE has examined this (except for them)?)

Whitestone: has a tree planted by one god over a buried temple to another god that was corrupted in the name of a third, shittier god; overrun by zombies but it's fine now; streetlights and two bears that are allowed to do whatever the fuck they want.

Yios: The canal system of Venice meets the colleges per capita of Boston meets the orcs from your fantasies, also there's some kind of kitchen-based organized crime ring so intricate it could be its own campaign (so, also like Boston).

Vasselheim: literally no one understands what the fuck its government system is. Old as balls. Temples everywhere! Temples full of trees. Temples full of blood! Temples full of an old guy who will kick your ass. A sphinx that regulates the monster hunter mini-game. Presumably the giant titan full of the ancient cannibal dwarf city is like, still there, as a new fixture, since I don't see how they're moving that.

The arctic: where teleportation doesn't work, there's a river of lava in the middle of the snow, ancient ruins full of snow globes full of actual people, and the Chaos Bisexual Emerald - and that's just a smattering of what Eiselcross has to offer.

Since this is about space and not time we can toss Aeor and Avalir too, since they once were places, and while we're at it whatever the fuck is going on with the Shattered Teeth and its permanent fog cloud and fish dream cult and capitalist shipwrecked merchants.

And, of course, any arbitrary square millimeter of Wildemount, frankly, has more Mostness than the entirety of Emon could muster under absolutely ideal conditions. But for the sake of one place per region, let's hand it to Rosohna (city of eternal night for practical purposes, built over the Evil God Headquarters); Uthodurn (underground! Giant goats! Elves and dwarves, living together, mass hysteria!); Hupperdook (steampunk gnome party city); Nicodranas (Fjord, Jester, Veth, Marion, and Yussa literally all live there at once; plumbing used to be courtesy of an imprisoned marid...but watch out); and Blightshore (Blightshore).

In conclusion: Emon is boring, nominating it was a mistake, there are literally sealed gods in other parts of the world and also way better taverns, good night, and what the fuck.

[heckcareoxytwit]

The battle rages on as the X-Men fighting the three Nimrods at different places - Sentinel City, New York and Washington DC. Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Cyclops, Colossus, Rogue, Gambit and Monet are fighting the main Nimrod in Sentinel City. Emma Frost and Synch are battling a Nimrod duplicate in New York. Whereas Polaris and Magneto are facing the Nimrod duplicate in Washington DC. Magik and Eden Fesi try to join into the fray but they get shot by Nimrod (I don't know which one though).

While they are fighting Nimrod, Cyclops and Nightcrawler are wandering around the burning Sentinel City. Nightcrawler confirms to Cyclops that he has destroyed the thrusters and Nimrod/Omega Sentinel won't be able to repair them before the orbit decays. Nightcrawler asks how they're going to kill something that exists in multiple places and Cyclops says they'll have to do it all at once. "Under that armor, it's just… electricity." Then, Kwannon telepathically chimes in saying Colossus got punched out into space and he's almost out of sight. Cyclops tells Nightcrawler to go and he teleports away to save Colossus. Cyclops then goes off to challenge Nimrod. In the control room, Omega Sentinel tries to regain control of the station when Rogue busts through the floor asking if Karima has lost every last shred of her humanity. Omega Sentinel says Xavier cut a deal that the X-Men would get to live on their little island but they're too dense and prideful so she'll have to kill them including Xavier who she'll kill last. Kwannon sneaks up behind and nails Omega Sentinel with a psychic knife, leaving the cyborg mumbling and crying in despair. Rogue is about to stomp her head in but Kwannon stops her, telling her that she fried the Sentinel mind and that Karima's human brain was drowning in regret and pain.

Rogue and Kwannon charge at Nimrod but the robot knocks them out with a blast. He punches the just arriving Colossus away and is about to stomp a knocked out Manifold and Magik but Nightcrawler gets to them first and Cyclops blasts Nimrod away from them. Just as Nimrod could kill more X-Men, the killer robot gets zapped by the timely arrival of Storm. With Storm's lightning zapping the main Nimrod, the Nimrod duplicates are affected too, giving the chance for the other mutants at New York and Washington DC to fight back. The main Nimrod is left to face Storm and Cyclops in Sentinel City when Monet and Omega Sentinel fly in. Omega Sentinel (now with regained humanity) begs at Nimrod to stand down but the killer robot refuses to listen. Cyclops and Storm work together to take down the main Nimrod by cracking the armor and frying the circuits. As the other Nimrod duplicates, they are also defeated by Synch, Polaris and Magneto at different places. As Storm watches as the main Nimrod melting away, Monet arrives with Omega Sentinel and Cyclops says Kwannon is showing him what's going on inside her brain. He tells Omega Sentinel to earn this second chance and she, crying, replies weakly, "Call me Karima." Once the battle is over, the X-Men leave the Sentinel City with Eden Fesi before it explodes.

Fall of the House of X #5, 2024

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

reading roundup: june 2024

before I get started on June, I have to issue a correction from May: I forgot to include a book!

last year I backed Iron Circus Comics' erotic anthology My Monster Girlfriend, edited by Andrea Purcell and Amanda Lafrenais, and it finally arrived just ahead of pride. My Monster Girlfriend contains 15 stories by all by different artists, and features protagonists who get it on with everything from the classic ghosts, werewolves, and vampires to a reality-warping angel (?) who contains infinite dimensions, a sleep paralysis demon, and an all-consuming flesh monster hivemind.

while I would have liked to see a little more variety in the freakishness of the actual sex, the anthology is a lot of fun and shows off a great diversity of art styles and scenarios in which one might get down to clown with a monster girlfriend. my personal favorites were Feather by Kanesha C. Bryant, in which an intrepid pervert boldly attempts to locate their girlfriend's genitalia; MonsterHER Under the Bed by Bont and Wes Brooke, which puts a cute, sexy little spin on the monster under the bed; Forest Wedding by Otava Heikkilä, which reads like an old timey fable except it ends in a giant forest woman getting crazy fisted by her new trans husband; and Girl Fiend by InnKeeperWorm, which is infinitely jackoffable even though, frankly, the hellhound should have stayed in her more monstrous canine form to fuck.

okay, now onto the June reading! I found myself reaching the end of the month surprised that I had added so few books to my 2024 spreadsheet, and then I realized: it's fucking PRIDE MONTH and I'm a career queer. I spent most of June either busting ass working various events or in a coma recovering from said events; no wonder I didn't read as much as I thought I would. I also gave up on one novel after sinking close to 200 pages in it, which means the list is even shorter, but trust me: the DNF was the right decision.

so, who made the cut for pride?

The Monsters We Defy (Leslye Penelope, 2022) - this book was a romp! it's fun! it's a hoot, dare I say! this is a historical urban fantasy that takes place in the Black society of 1920s Washington, DC. protagonist Clara and her band of ragtag magical misfits have a heist to pull off against one of the most powerful Black women in DC, with their own curses and powers at stake. it's a fun story with a neat magic system and lots of words that are capitalized so you know they're Magical and Important, and it's a read that goes down real easy. strong recommendation if you find yourself in a slump!

Just for the Cameras (Viano Oniomoh, 2023) - my first foray into independently published romance! and it was... fine. the plot's a little patchy, sure, but it's definitely not the worst romance I've ever read, and at least a throuple made for a nice change of pace. AND nobody's seething with jealousy or insecurity about multiple partners? you love to see it. this book was apparently originally intended to be a novelette and it definitely could have stayed that way, but if bisexual Black hotties sucking and fucking is what you seek then you're going to have a great time. TW: 2/3 main characters are British.

Strange Bedfellows: Adventures in the Science, History, and Surprising Secrets of STDs (Ina Park, 2021) - to the surprise of absolutely no one who knows me, this is one of my very favorite nonfiction reads of the year so far. I cannot emphasize this enough: if you like the way that I talk about STIs and sex ed on this blog then I think you'll really like this book, because having read this book I desperately want to be her friend. she brings so much passion and energy to her work that it bursts right off the page and is - pardon this awful pun - absolutely infectious.

Survivor (Octavia E. Butler, 1978) - for those you not in the know, this book is kind of a get. it's the only book of Butler's that was never reprinted, so now you can only read it if you get ahold of a super expensive original edition OR if you, hypothetically, find a PDF online and print off the entire thing on your work printer. and I'm so glad I did the latter, because holy shit this book whips ass. the book was apparently disavowed for its lack of connection to the rest of the Patternist series, which is true but oh my god, the story is SOOOO cool anyway. we've got a human woman named Alanna who grew up feral on Earth only to be adopted by a Christian cult who are GOING INTO SPACE to preserve the human race, but it turns out there are already intelligent people on the new planet and they have Feelings about what the future of these human missionaries is going to be. it's on Alanna to navigate the clashing cultures and tension between the humans and two warring groups of aliens, and it is fucking URGENT. I don't say this lightly but I think this has ascended to be in my top three Butler novels.

No Name in the Street (James Baldwin, 1972) - ooooooh my god you guys!! oh my god!!! I've never read any of Baldwin's long form nonfiction, but within pages I knew that this was going to pretty permanently change my brain. this memoir-ish book delves into, among other things, Baldwin's witnessing of the American civil rights movement, including the deaths of Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Medgar Evers. woven around that is the alienating experience of being a Black man with exactly enough cultural cache and social clout to sometimes isolate him from the people he grew up with but not nearly enough to buy acceptance or safety in a white society, emphasized by Baldwin's unfinished struggle to free a friend from prison after a wrongful murder charge. and somehow that's barely doing the book justice! it's so vast and incisive and weary and impassioned and it did, truly, have me jotting down the names of everything Baldwin ever wrote to make sure I can read it all. as much as I bemoan my habit of impulse reserving books from the library, I really am indebted to the Stacks podcast for getting this on my radar.

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

s5 episode 18 thoughts

post episode thoughts: raaaaaughhhh. foaming at the mouth. raving, even. chasing my tail like a mad dog. barking. howling.

it was so good. this was a FANTASTIC episode. i cannot get over scully seeing through all of mulder's nonsense and refusing to take no for an answer. truly a scully-centric episode, even if they tried to frame it as mulder being an action hero. wow. love is real. and it is stored in the pinky finger of your coworker.

anyway, back to past me, reporting from the ground- as if i can ever truly return to a world before this episode!!!!

reading the episode description... mulder is going undercover today!!! this is a rare and special treat!! i look forward to seeing his improv skills in action!! can he be put to the test??

and this group has a deadly pathogen. which is not good. i wonder if scully will be involved in doctoring. probably not, though. this will probably be a mulder alone episode. very sad. i would be happy to be proved wrong, though.

(I LOVE BEING WRONG SOMETIMES... i am clapping my hands and singing like this is a church... HALLELUJAH!!!)

boy, i haven’t watched an episode in what feels like forever. no reason to delay!

aww, pretty man mulder is running beneath the cherry blossoms. how washington dc of him! wonder where they found the cherry blossoms in canada…

or did they shoot one scene in washington and then dip? lmao

(were they still filming in canada at this point? when is the infamous switch to LA? has it already happened and i had no idea? if i had to guess, i would say the switch starts in s6... feel free to tell me if i'm right or wrong; i don't count knowing the filming location as a spoiler, haha)

who is watching him???

oh, it is not a leisurely jog! scully and skinner are watching him through cameras!!!

scully finds whoever it is they're watching coming off of the bus! average scully noticing moment. she is very perceptive. 

so they’re following this guy (later revealed to be named haley, and who will from now on be referred to as such)… scully notices haley looking at something. he’s watching mulder!!! he gives the dude sitting next to him an envelope. skinner says to wait wait wait. 

mulder is stretching like a real runner…. but the dude the suspect gave the envelope to keels over!!!!

did the envelope have some sort of pathogen in it that haley was immune to somehow??? like a princess bride poison sort of situation??

scully sees haley is on the move!! she’s yelling at mulder to follow him!! RUN, LONG-LIMBED MAN!!! MAKE ALL THE HORSES JEALOUS OF YOUR GALLOPING SKILLS!!

“maintain your position on the downed beta” <- hmm. words that have a very different meaning post the invention of the omegaverse

AUGH the sick guy is getting his FLESH eaten away!! as much as i like seeing scully yelling for answers (“what? what? what? what are you seeing!”), that is NOT what i expected visually!!! GAG!!! nasty!!

it looks like bugs?

so the bad guy is named haley? okay.

but where did mulder go? “mulder was on him, there’s no way he couldn’t catch him” says skinner, aware that the man is a track star 

scully needs to find her mulder NOW. 

ohh she’s PISSED (when she slams things and yells “damn it” because he is in danger and she is watching… this is one of my favorite scully mannerisms)

NOOOO, SHE’S BREAKING FREE (she was in a van for all of that?) and skinner is yelling after her!!! queen, you cannot outrun him!!! 

mulder’s chased him into the woods, but haley got in a car and got away 

she finds mulder and she’s gagged the bad guy escaped him LMAO “what happened?” “i lost him” “what do you mean?” “he got away” <- SHE WAS IN DISBELIEF LMAOOOO noooo, is he aging out of his track star status?! 💔

she looks after him, deeply confused, and we get our intro

(why did my boss just email now… don’t piss me off)

scully is here in the office watching the tape of haley running… she came early and wants to make sure she isn’t crazy. damn. you know it's serious when she comes in early.

she thinks he may have helped the bad guy escape!!! and he’s denying everything.

“i expect you to give me an answer. i expect you to tell me the truth” “we’re late for the hearing” <- what is this man hiding……?!?!?!

oh, she is PISSED off!

so this guy haley is second in command of a militia called the new spartans… and the operation to catch him failed. 

ohhh, mulder isn’t even sitting next to scully during this hearing… what is going on? i will NOT ask again.

the guy who died at the scene was an arms dealer, and haley got away with $50,000 worth of weapons!!!!!

what kind of disease did he die of, you ask? great question. cue scully. it seems to be genetically engineered. she’s gonna tell you about its effects on the dermis. some other guy says that maybe it was stolen from siberia.

scully is explaining the procedures taken when there is an unknown disease floating about and someone asks her how she knows it’s not contagious… mulder chimes in with “we’re not all dead”, which gets some nervous laughter, but WHAT is this man thinking?!?!

OHHHHH is mulder undercover and that is why he helped the guy get away…? but he’s so undercover that he cannot even tell skinner or the CIA…? bro is gonna get in trouble if this is the case!!! biiiig trouble!! you should not hide things from skinner!!!

(while i am only speculating here, i am often wondering how he wasn’t fired before this moment in time)

the head guy of the new spartans is named bremer, and he might be fighting with haley for control. civil war time

“the media gets a sniff, we disavow”, says this dude from the CIA. HMMMMM. DO NOT LIKE THAT.

the absolute SECOND the hearing is over, scully calls for mulder and he walks away... WHAT IS GOING ON?!?!? they’re divorcing 💔

she looks mad as hell… and skinner sees this…. he is going to be drawing conclusions

haley is now in ohio buying a movie ticket. he’s gonna watch die hard with a vengeance. okay. sure.

he’s making this poor girl make fresh new popcorn for him… i can see her die inside. NO, DON’T MAKE HER *ACTUALLY* DIE!!

mulder is rolling up to delaware. is this the same motel where he tripped out on ketamine that one day? SCULLY FOLLOWED HIM!!! ohhh, she is deeply suspicious of his antics….

he gets in another car and drives off. his phone is ringing in the motel room.

OH SHIT!!! IT’S HALEY ON THE PHONE!!!!

“you set me up” “i saved your ass” WHAT… mulder, you are going to get in BIG TROUBLE!!!

“look, i believe in your ideals and your goals, but the only reason i tolerate your methods is because the government’s are worse” <-lmao, get him again for me. he may be pretending to be on his side, but that doesn't mean he has to be nice to the guy.

so this guy contacted him?? and he knows scully is suspicious. cue angry hanging up the phone.

back at the movie theater, these boys are sneaking in….  OH MY GOD THERE’S A MELTED CORPSE IN THERE?? MULTIPLE OF THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHAT!!!

meanwhile, scully is angry. she’s telling the motel worker that he gave her keys to someone else (LMAO)

well, her lying skills seem to have improved!!

“who are you?” “who am i? who is he?” <- LMAO, that made me giggle 

“mr. kaplan” <- OHHHHH, HIS FAKE NAME!!!

“are you the wife?” “not even close” (angry door slam) LMAOOOOOO SHE HAS HAS ENOUGH!!!!

(i was giggling about this all day at work. not even close. yeah, you keep telling yourself that babe. oh, she was PISSED!!!! i'm howling)

mulder comes out from the room and she has to hide from him!!!! some guys are taking him in their car….. 

how did he not notice her, bro…? she is better at stealth than he is!!!!

so she’s gonna go after him. 

still laughing at “not even close” lmaoooo

(angry scully driving) 

oh shit!!! she’s trapped!!! by men in suits in front and behind her!!!! 

they’re taking her hostage and not saying anything!!! 

WHAT IS SKINNER DOING IN HERE????

“what the hell is going on?” “i apologize for our methods. they may well have saved agent mulder’s life” “what about my life? i don’t appreciate being run off the road” <- LMAOOO GOD I LOVE HER because i too would be absolutely and utterly FURIOUS 

but when they accuse her of being suspicious of mulder, she immediately says “i don’t know what you’re talking about” AND THAT IS BECAUSE SHE IS THE REALEST MOTHERFUCKER ON THIS PLANET. god, scully is a ride or die, huh? she wants to know wtf is going on with him, but don’t YOU dare bring it up that he is being weird as hell. i love it.

so! the whole council was a front to make the new spartans unaware of his complicity!!!

(reading my notes back, i think it is so funny that i immediately assumed he was doing this whole undercover thing without skinner's knowledge. i just kind of imagined it was the outcome where mulder broke the most rules. because, let's face it: it usually is)

OH........ AND SHE IMMEDIATELY WANTS TO KNOW WHY THEY PICKED HIM FOR THIS MISSION!!

the new spartans found him from that UFO panel in boston, where he was talking about the evils of the government!!! damn. i knew that was a terrible idea.

“you’ve put agent mulder’s life in danger by not telling me”, she says, her tone biting. and skinner says “agent mulder came to me. i advised him not to tell you” <- OHHHHHHH, THIS IS SO JUICY!!!

god, the skinner/scully/mulder dynamic is JUST. MWAH. it's always shifting. i want to study it under a microscope. they spit and they claw and they fight and they die and kill for each other and there's an aura of unspoken devotion and just when you think it's settled, they come to blows again. and they always come back. and do it again. incredible.

she asks, what about the bioweapon!!! they might eat mulder's flesh!!!! which is a very valid concern!!!

and in comes some other guy saying they used “it” in a movie theater in ohio.

man, you better not melt my boy’s skin off.

honestly, it is so funny that he was so easy to read. baby boy, you’re lowkey trash at being undercover. your partner is too in sync for you to do anything funny.

these strange men who took him in their car have his face covered and his hands cuffed. “ooh, is this the pepsi challenge?” oh, his dumbass quips.... <3

he’s so cute. even as they grab his pinky fingers and are about to break them

“you might wanna put that hood back on me, unless you want to see a grown man cry” <- well maybe i do. some of us like hurt/comfort. weep.

AUGH they do something to his pinkies. and again. he says he did not set them up and despite this being the truth, this guy seems to enjoy hurting others.

“augh, i’m gonna kill you! i’m gonna kill you!” <- yeah tell them!!! tell them!!!

(good to know that he reacts to torture with fury. storing that information for future reference)

OHHH he headbutts the guy he calls “a nazi piece of shit” OHHH AND THEN HE COMES BACK AND SAYS “YOU TOUCH ME AGAIN, YOU BETTER KILL ME” AUGHHHHH

AUGHHHHH THE DUDE WHO GOT HEADBUTTED SNAPPED HIS PINKIE AND THEN HALEY SAYS HE BELIEVES HIM??!??

so what was that all about!!!!! to scare him??? well hell! it sure did work on me! i'm spooked!!!

(still need a moment to contemplate mulder being tortured and screaming in equal parts agony and fury and terror. wow. please take a moment to hold space. imagine that i am gesturing frantically but vaguely as i try to articulate a point and i cannot do it. and that there are tears in my eyes)

and now that space has been held, we may move on

at the movie theater, there are 14 victims!!!! it's like the skin melted right off of them!!

scully looks absolutely horrified, like she might start crying, as her and skinner look at the bodies wrapped in bags. just coworker bonding activities. those two boys who snuck in managed to survive, and that fact is going to help them figure out what happened.

she says the contagion has to be something everyone touched… it must be the tickets!!

poor mulder is back in his apartment, holding his broken finger :(

and scully is here in the dark!!! “don’t be alarmed”, she says, alarming him <- lmaooo god i just love her 

HE YELLS AT HER TO GET OUT OF THERE??? and when she says skinner told her everything, he denies knowing what she’s talking about 

GOD the low and breathy “oh, mulder, what did they do to you?” as she examines his hand… and he’s wincing… absolutely 100% going in my favorite moments for s5 list. 

(still thinking about this. and my stomach and heart are doing flips)

“it needs to be set. you’re in pain” oh my god. oh my goddddd. AND his whiny “yeah, if you keep pulling it around like that” ...... woah

this feels illegal for a hurt/comfort freak like me. this feels like something i would read in a fic and go "YEAHHH" and then leave a bunch of comments on about how it should have happened in canon. but it DID happen in canon. and it was perfect.

who wrote this episode? i didn't pay attention. whoever it is, we elope at dawn.

let her hold an ice pack on your hand.

she breaks the news that the new spartans killed 14 people in a movie theater, probably as a test, and they’re testing him too. but it seems they’re listening to him!! NOO!! HE DOESN'T KNOW THIS!!! AND THEY KEEP TALKING!!!

THEY HAVE A RIFLE ON HIM??? it’s the other guy, bremer!!!!

poor baby is coming into the FBI at 3 am with his fucked up hand :(

time to talk with the CIA guy and skinner. the new spartans want a bunch of money.

ohhh, skinner is scared. he’s trying to buy time and he wants a tail on mulder!! but this other guy from the CIA says no tail!!! 

(still thinking about this, too. gnawing on it like a bone)

this other dude from the CIA does not give a single fuck if mulder lives or dies. i guess they don't have time for love in their hearts over at that agency.

CIA man was prepared with fake files for them. weird...

“if you don’t hear from me by midnight… feed my fish”, mulder says to skinner before leaving. amazing last words to tell your boss.

skinner watches, filled with feelings, indescribable like usual

scully is here to look at the virus! “it’s bacterium”, she points out. yeah it is baby <3 

but it wasn’t on the ticket!! so how did it get in the theater??

“it looks like a streptococcus” she says. and i have heart eyes. hey. hiiiiiii.

“but strep wouldn’t be able to survive any kind of exposure to the environment” <- absolutely giggling over here as she does her science talk. also nodding along like i knew that for sure (i did not, which is what makes this so enjoyable)

somehow it was covered with a protective covering??? and the other scientist says it’s NOT from russia. who did this….

mulder is rolling up in his sunglasses. but the lights in his room are cut!!! it’s the muscle guy who messed up his pinkies earlier!!! and haley!! he tells haley to get that man who beat me up out of here. and then he gives him the files.

but haley is suspicious of the files… he says to put the hood on. where are they taking him???? mulder says he won’t do it!!!!

scully’s calling skinner… but he’s on speaker and she won’t talk unless she’s off speaker!!!

weird for him to answer on speaker, but okay. “my research indicates that it was almost certainly developed domestically”, she says about the pathogen. and i'm blushing. and kicking my feet.

OHHHH she says she found that virus being developed in the 1960’s as a bioweapon!!! you cannot out research her!!! but the CIA guy is here too… is he hiding that??

she thinks the bioweapon program was continued in secret and mulder is on a suicide mission!!!!

“right. thank you” says skinner. and he tells the CIA guy she is merely concerned for her partner.

where is this dude taking mulder…? the answer: to a barn filled with endless amounts of guns while tense music plays!!

mulder is meeting with bremer, the head fellow in charge of the new spartans, now. 

“you a believer?” “i have my beliefs” “you willing to die for them?” “i prefer it didn’t come to that” <- a measured response

they make him wear a dracula mask… this is so humiliating!!!

scully is sleeping in her car at 6 am… wake up, sleepy scully!

“the money… oh my god, the money” SHE IS REALIZING THINGS!! and she speeds off!!

they’re making HIM break into the bank?? as dracula?? this is so unfairrrrr!!!

so they cart him off to the bank in that sad rubber mask.

NO, they burst out and grab the poor money guy… and then everyone in the busy bank is forced to put their hands up!!! and mulder is planning something… but someone shoots!!!!

and mulder has to finish the guy off!!! can he aim well enough???? to hit right NEXT to his head???

they’re taking the money in bags…… and mulder still has to kill the guy… 

someone else is spraying the pathogens on all the money that they are leaving behind!!! if this gets out... a terrible outbreak!!

at the last minute, someone else comes in and kills the guy for mulder, because his weapon was traceable!!! oh my god!!!!!!

he looks back at the poor guy :(

now he’s burning his mask and looking very pensive :( 

bremer is burning some of the money, saying the bills can be traced… 

OH NO! the bank heist was a decoy so they could contaminate the OTHER money!!!! the money that they didn’t take!!! 

NOOOO, how can scully save the day?!

bremer pulls out a gun and OH! haley gets in the way! saying he already knows bremer’s secret!!

haley says that mulder gave him a report, explaining that bremer has been leaking information! but bremer says mulder knew a false report would feed haley’s ambition to take over!! SO WHAT IS THE TRUTH? will they fight it out??

NOOOOO!!! bremer finds the audio from when mulder was chatting with scully about him being undercover!!!! he is furious!!! 

scully finds skinner, saying the new spartans put the biotoxins on the money, and that they need to find mulder NOW. 

bremer has haley and mulder sat execution style. oh, he lets bremer go, tossing him the keys to an escape car. very interesting.

and they take mulder to kill him…. he’s plotting… man is always plotting…. handsome and plotting…..

bremer says to get down and mulder waits a very long time before doing so… what is going on…….?

they’re gonna kill my boy….

NO!! bremer instead shot the pinky torturing guy!!! and saved a car for mulder and said to run!!!!

a great question is posed: who is this dude??

he’s running back to the bank!!! and scully is here too!!!!! the cash supply is being isolated!! 

OHHHH...... SHE RECOGNIZED HIM ON THE SECURITY TAPE FROM THE BANK ROBBERY, EVEN WITH THE MASK ON, BECAUSE OF HIS FINGER.... OH MY GODDDDD

he makes a little motion over his face to indicate the mask, and oh my god. the intimacy of recognizing someone without seeing their face because you tended to their wounds…. someone hold me.

bremer is working for the government. and before mulder goes any further… scully wants him to know it might have been a set up

enter CIA guy. 

“agent mulder, our government is not in the business of killing innocent civilians” “the hell they aren’t” <- GET EM FOR ME 🔥🔥

OH SHIT, SCULLY IS ON HIM TOO!!!!

“you knew about this all along!!!” FIVE ISH FEET OF CONCENTRATED FURY IS BEING SET UPON YE

she is SCREAMING in his face, and mulder straight up accuses CIA guy of killing civilians as a test operation

skinner is just watching both of his unruly agents scream at this dude’s face. probably thinking that they are right, but hoping they could make 20% less of a scene.

damn. the CIA guy says that if they do whistleblow, they’ll just turn the people against the government, exactly like the new spartans want. 

what the fuck? all of that happened so the government could kill innocent people in a movie theater? so they can kill other people later when needed? just melt em down to the bone?

this is beyond evil.

scully and mulder need some time to start at the wall and unpack that for a bit. 

the episode ends with haley driving off into a ditch, his flesh melted from contact with the keys bremer gave him!!

holy fuck. so this episode was awesome, but that twist was absolutely crazy. 

damn. maybe *i* need time to sit and stare at the wall.

the government testing bioweapons on its own civilians… it isn’t unheard of. but to make the agents do it themselves is fucking twisted. they’re both going to be eaten up by that for the rest of their lives. 

if we can manage to put that aside, i feel like this was really a scully episode. highlighting her attention to detail, her intense loyalty, her brilliance, and every other amazing aspect of her character. she has a hell of a temper when she needs to, but it is matched in ferocity by her compassion.

still giggling at "who am i? who is he?!" because she really sold that scene LMAOOOO

oh mulder, needing to be all noble and mysterious and shut scully out because he thinks it will keep her safe. but he is entirely incapable of doing this because she clocks him instantly. he really did give it a go.

i also think it's very interesting that he gets down on his knees and doesn't run when bremer is going to kill him. it's as if he is surrendering. that is really significant to me, even if i cannot quite articulate why that is at the moment.

god, i'm going to need sedation after her 1) tending to his wounded hand and then 2) recognizing him faceless by the wound. hey? can anyone hear me? is this a dream? did i imagine this whole episode?

can we get more episodes like this? please? please please? a great mix of MSR angst with overtones of skinner/scully/mulder angst and comedic angry scully and whiny broken pinky baby mulder? of knowing someone so entirely they cannot keep anything from you? if another episode like this one also wants to grapple with the inhumane acts of the government perpetuated by those sworn to protect and serve, hey, i'll take that too. it only made a good thing better, even if it would be satisfying to get a real bad guy in jail for once in this show.

man. i am deeply pleased. i feel that there is little else i could ask for in an episode. allow me to now drift into sleep thinking of the romanticism of tending to your beloved's wounds. and the romanticism of letting your beloved touch the most injured parts of you. yeah.

[allthingsfangirl101]

Accidental Run-Ins – Timothy McGee

I walked into the coffee shop I hadn't been to in years. Everything looked the same. Same old booths. Same rickety stools. Same stale coffee smell. And as it would seem, the same customers.

"Y/N?"

I turned to see my childhood best friend sitting at the counter with a notebook in front of him. I smiled when I instantly realized what he was doing. Timothy McGee always wanted to be a writer.

"Well well well," I teased as I walked over to him. "Is that Timothy McGee or Thom E. Gemcity?"

I sat next to him as he looked away, struggling to hide his blush. "How'd you know?" He asked, his voice soft.

"I've known you since we were little, Tim. You always talked about what kind of books you'd want to write." I playfully nudged his shoulder as I added, "Besides, your picture is on the back of your book."

"Right," he laughed. He looked up at me and smiled. "It's really good to see you, Y/N," he said softly. "How long has it been?"

"I think the last time we saw each other was high school graduation," I smiled. "You went off to MIT to do great techy things. And clearly, you have. I hear you're a part of NCIS. The Navy cops?"

"I am," he said, going back to being slightly uncomfortable. Tim never did like talking about himself.

"I bet you have lots of stories," I said, trying to get him to open up. I paused before adding, "Probably enough stories we would have lots to catch up on?"

He looked up at me and I watched as he figured it out. I couldn't help but laugh when it finally clicked.

"I umm. . . I think I can. . ."

"You working a case right now?" I asked, ignoring the gnawing feeling that I should be working on my case.

"Actually, no," he said with a small chuckle. "For once, we aren't. Normally, whenever something comes up in my personal life, I'm always in the middle of a case."

"Your personal life?" I asked genuinely curious but covered it with a teasing question.

"What little personal life I have," he scoffed.

"Can I get you a refill?" The barista asked Tim. I smiled when he turned toward me.

"Y/N, do you want anything?" He asked.

"Just a latte for me. Thanks," I said.

Tim and I spent the entire morning at our old coffee shop. We talked about almost everything that's happened in our lives since we last saw each other. After about two hours and three refills, Tim's phone rang. I instantly recognized the sigh and the look of defeat.

"Take it," I said before he could tell me it was work. He sent me an apologetic look before answering his phone.

"McGee."

I hid my smirk behind my cup as I finished my coffee. As he talked to someone he called, "DiNozzo", I got a text.

Wilson Got another body. Might be our 2nd in command.

"Son of a bitch," I mumbled under my breath.

"Everything okay?"

I looked over to see Tim no longer on the phone. "Just work," I said instantly. "I've got this big project and my boss is hounding me the closer we get to the deadline."

"You never did tell me what you do for work," he said, clearly forgetting the call he just got.

"Nothing too crazy," I laughed off the lie. "I work for an advertising company. They're branching out so they moved me and some of the other employees here."

"I'm glad they did."

"Me too," I said honestly. When I got transferred to Washington DC, I never thought I'd run into Tim McGee.

Tim opened his mouth to say something but his phone started ringing again. "I'm on my way," he snapped as soon as he answered. He instantly hung up the phone and turned toward me. "I really want to keep talking, Y/N, but I gotta go."

I reached over and gently put my hand on his arm. "It's okay," I tried to assure him. "I should be going too."

I grabbed a napkin and quickly wrote my number on it. When he realized what I was doing, Tim grabbed his NCIS business card and wrote his cell on the back. With awkward chuckles, we exchanged them. I leaned over and kissed his cheek before leaving the coffee shop.

For the first time in four years, I hated working for the FBI.

* * * * *

I walked out of the briefing room and answered my phone. "What can I do for you, Agent Gemcity?"

"Ha ha," he sarcastically laughed. "Are you busy?"

I looked over my shoulder to see my team focused on the evidence board. "Not at all," I smiled. "What did you have in mind?"

"Well, I was just thinking about yesterday at the coffee shop," he stuttered. "To be honest, I haven't stopped thinking about it."

"I haven't stopped thinking about it either," I said honestly.

"Really?" Tim cleared his throat before asking, "Any chance you want to get dinner?"

"You sure you can get away from NCIS?" I asked, wondering if I would be able to get away from the FBI.

"We're not working on anything too big. We're still following a few leads," he said, sounding like he was shrugging. "You free?"

"I think I can sneak away a little early," I smiled. "Text me the address and the time and I'll be there."

"Great," Tim chuckled. "I'll find a place and let you know."

"Sounds good."

I got a text from Tim a few hours later. That night, we went to dinner. We continued talking about our lives after high school and soon transitioned to reminiscing about our lives together before and during high school. After dinner, Tim and I walked back to his car. We didn't get in though. Instead, we turned toward each other.

"It was really nice catching up with you," I said softly when I realized how close we were.

"It was," he whispered. "This is going to sound horrible, but I didn't realize how much I missed you until the moment you walked into our old coffee shop."

I let out a small chuckle as we got closer. I held my breath as our lips finally touched. The second they did, we deepened the kiss. We broke the kiss when we ran out of air.

"You know," Tim said slowly, "the night doesn't have to end here. We could. . . continue it."

I smirked as I wrapped my arms around his neck. "I like the sound of that."

Without a word, we got in the car and Tim drove us to his apartment. I couldn't fight the smile that formed as I walked in. The first thing I noticed was his bookcase. I walked over and started scanning the titles. I felt him step up behind me. To tease him, I grabbed the copy of his book off the shelf and turned toward him.

"Mr. Gemcity, I am such a big fan. Would you mind signing this for me?"

Tim just smirked at me as he grabbed the book out of my hand and, without breaking eye contact, tossed it onto his table.

"I'm not Gemcity to you," he whispered as he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me into his chest. "I'm just Tim."

"Well, just Tim," I teased, "where were we?"

"Right here," he mumbled as he pressed his lips to mine. I let out a small moan as I threw my arms around his neck and deepened the kiss. Without breaking away, Tim picked me up and carried me into his bedroom.

We finally broke the kiss when Tim laid us down with him hovering over me.

"I've waited years for this," he whispered, sending chills down my spine.

Without breaking eye contact, I grabbed the bottom of his shirt, pulled it over his head, and tossed it across his room. He sent me a small smile before doing the same to my shirt.

"So have I, Tim," I whispered. "So have I."

* * * * *

After our first date and our night together, Tim and I fell back into our usual sync. We've been dating for a month and I still haven't told Tim that I actually work for the FBI. It wasn't normal for FBI agents to keep their job a secret but mine usually leads to undercover work. My director prefers my job to be kept a secret so I can continue safely going undercover.

Having kept this secret for so long, you wouldn't think it bothered me. And it didn't. Until I started dating Tim.

He's been completely honest with me. He's always honest when he has to rush off for work. He's always honest when he has to stay late for a case instead of meeting me for dinner. He's always honest when a case has been rough and he needs a distraction. And here I was, keeping a huge part of myself hidden from him.

"Are you listening, Agent Y/L/N?"

"Yes, sir," I said.

"Great," he said, slightly rolling his eyes. "So, we've set up a buy for you. We want you to go undercover."

"Of course you do," I scoffed as I stood up. "Heaven forbid you send anyone else."

"But you're the best, Y/N," my coworker Agent Wilson said sarcastically.

"Yes, she is," Agent Fornell snapped. "Look, Y/N, I know we send you undercover a lot and I'm sorry, but you really are the best."

"Yeah yeah," I brushed off. "Stop buttering me up and just tell me my cover."

Fornell handed me a file as he started to recite from it. "Your name is Lily Walters. You are the newest recruit."

"How the hell did you get me in?" I couldn't help but laugh.

"We have our ways," Fornell shrugged. "The meet is in two hours. You good?"

I grabbed my phone when it started to ring. "Yeah," I sighed as I stood up and started walking out of the room. "I'm always good."

I walked down the hall into my office and answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey," came Tim's soft voice. "Did I catch you at a bad time?"

"No," I sighed. "I'm sorry, baby. It's just one of those days, ya know?"

"Unfortunately, I do know."

"Sounds like you're having one of those days too," I said gently. "Another case?"

"A bad one," he said, "which means I'm going to have to cancel dinner. I'm really sorry, Y/N."

"It's okay," I said gently. "I understand. I'll probably be working late too. Just stay safe, okay?"

"I will," Tim said with a small chuckle. "I'll call you later?"

"I'll be waiting."

I hung up the phone and turned around to see Fornell standing in my doorway. "What?" I sighed, crossing my arms over his chest.

"How's Agent McGee?"

"He has no idea I'm Agent Y/L/N," I scoffed.

"That's not why I asked," Fornell said, putting his hands up in defense. "I know it's not easy."

"Not easy?" I snapped. "Of course, it's not easy lying to the man I love."

"The man you love?" He asked. "I thought you were just dating McGee."

"I've known him since we were little," I sighed, defensively crossing my arms over my chest.

"How long have you been in love with him?" Fornell asked, the tone of his voice turning slightly fatherly.

"Since high school," I shrugged, trying to ignore the guilt rising. The look on Fornell's face dropped.

"He doesn't know, does he?"

"No," I said under my breath as I looked at my feet. "He doesn't know how I feel or that I work for you."

"Damn," Fornell sighed. "I'm sorry, Y/L/N."

"You wimping out on us?" Agent Wilson laughed.

"Never," I said between my clenched teeth.

"Good," he said, his smirk falling. "Cause we need to get a few things before the meet."

* * * * *

I resisted the urge to fix my earpiece. In all my years in the FBI, I've never enjoyed going undercover. Despite what Fornell wants me to believe, I know that the only reason I'm the one to go undercover is because I was young and female.

"You must be Lily."

I smelled the marijuana the second he walked up to me. I slowly turned around and crossed my arms over my chest.

"And you must be Andy," I sighed. "So much for not getting high off your own supply."

"It's not. . ."

"Don't," I cut him off. "You got the stuff or not?"

"You got the cash?" He snapped back. I grabbed the wad of cash out of my back pocket and dramatically showed it to him. He reached for it, but I pulled it back.

"Not until you show me the stuff."

He angrily grunted before digging through his backpack. I hid my smirk when he pulled out a ziplock bag full of coke. Before I could reach for it and arrest him, someone interrupted.

"Get on the ground!"

"NCIS!"

"Both of you, hands on the ground."

"Shit," I mumbled. The second I was surrounded by agents that weren't mine, my agents swarmed the building.

"FBI!"

"Federal agents!"

"Lower your weapons!"

"You lower your weapons!"

I was soon in the middle of an FBI and NCIS standoff. "Son of a. . ." I mumbled under my breath. I pushed down my anger as I turned and was face-to-face with a special NCIS agent.

"Y/N?"

I saw the color drain out of McGee's face when he saw me standing between the two groups of agents.

Andy tried to use the confusion as a distraction but I was faster. When he started to run, I quickly swiped his legs out from under him and got him under control. Once I had him handcuffed, I picked him up and tossed him to one of my agents. I turned around and saw I still had several guns pointed at me.

"Agents," I sighed, turning to my team, "meet NCIS. Special Agents Gibbs, Bishop, Torres and. . . McGee."

"What are you doing here?" Tim asked through his teeth. I let out a deep breath as I moved my jacket aside, showing him and his coworkers my waistband. I watched as McGee's eyes changed when he saw the gun and the badge on my hip.

"What the. . ."

"Is there something you want to tell us, McGee?" Agent Gibbs asked.

"I don't know myself," he mumbled.

I turned around and faced my team. "Can you give us a second? Something tells me NCIS didn't know we were working this case just like how we didn't know they were working this case."

The agents nodded, sending glances toward the NCIS agents. Once they were all gone, I turned toward McGee and his team.

"First, let me apologize, Agent Gibbs," I started. "I was not aware that the Navy was looking into our case."

"We weren't aware that our case was part of an FBI case," Gibbs sighed as he finally put his gun back in the holster. "We were investigating a lieutenant's death."

"A lieutenant?" I asked.

"Lieutenant Chance Taylor."

"Damn," I mumbled. "No one told me he was a Navy Lieutenant."

"Technically, he's not one anymore," Agent Torres said.

"That's interesting, but considering what we knew. . ." I said slowly as I tried to connect this to my case. I looked over to see Tim staring at me with anger in his eyes. "Tim, maybe we should. . ."

"Maybe the two of you can sort this out later," Gibbs suggested but it didn't sound much like a suggestion. "What does the FBI want with Lieutenant Chance Taylor?"

"Before I explain that," I said, feeling Tim's glare on me, "I just want to make it clear that we did not know Taylor was a Navy Lieutenant. If we had, I would've gone to your director right away."

"Really?" Tim scoffed. I ignored the feeling of my heart diving into my stomach.

"Yes," I said firmly. "I know you guys have had some issues in the past with the FBI, but I know the work you all do and I think it's valuable. I would never knowingly step on your toes, Agent Gibbs."

"I believe you, Agent. . ."

"Y/L/N," I finished for Gibbs. I resisted the urge to look at Tim. I didn't think my heart could take the anger in his eyes.

"Agent Y/L/N," Gibbs corrected himself. "Why don't you come back to our offices and we can figure out how our two cases connect?"

I finally looked at Tim to see him looking away, his glare now on something else in the room. I cleared my throat and turned my attention back to Agent Gibbs.

"I think that's a great idea."

* * * * *

As it turns out, NCIS's Lieutenant Taylor was the second in command of the drug cartel I've been chasing. He's been helping build the cartel's range by selling to Navy Petty Officers whenever their ship ported.

Through all the confusion and connection, I haven't had a chance to talk to Tim and explain everything. Once we connected and then proceeded to disconnect our cases, I left NCIS. As soon as I sat down at my desk, the look on Tim's face when he realized who I was popped back into my head.

I leaned back in my chair and ran my fingers through my hair. I already knew what he was probably thinking. I jumped up and quickly went to his apartment. When I got there, Tim wasn't home so I waited out front.

About an hour later, I was sitting on the ground in front of his door when I finally heard footsteps coming down the hallway.

"Y/N," he stuttered when he saw me. "What are you. . ."

"We haven't really had a chance to talk," I started slowly.

"Since FBI Agent Y/L/N interrupted an NCIS case?" He asked passively-aggressively as he forcefully unlocked his apartment and threw the door open.

"Tim," I sighed as I jumped up and followed him inside. I gasped when he angrily spun toward me.

"The FBI," McGee scoffed. "The FBI! You work for the FBI! How long have you worked for the FBI, Y/N?!"

"Almost four years." My answer made him angry.

"You told me that you were in advertising," he shot at me.

"I know," I cringed. "But I didn't have a choice."

"FBI agents don't keep their jobs a secret from the people in their lives," he accused. "You're not the CIA. Unless you are lying to Fornell, too."

"Come on," I sighed. "That's not fair, Tim."

"It's not?!"

"Fornell sends me in undercover," I tried to explain. "Whenever we need eyes on the inside, I'm the one that's sent."

"Why?" He demanded.

"Because I'm a girl," I scoffed. "And young. When I go in, I get ignored. I can walk into a bar and be completely invisible. The FBI loves that, so they always send me. That's why I couldn't tell you. They didn't want to risk my covers being blown."

"That's ridiculous," Tim scoffed. He thought about things for a second before saying, "You never once talked about wanting to join the FBI."

"That's because I didn't think about it," I shrugged. He started to say something but I cut him off, "Look, not all of us knew exactly what we wanted to do once we left high school."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"After we graduated," I sighed, "I didn't know what to do with my life. I never told you this, but I didn't apply to colleges our senior year."

"What do you mean?" He asked, finally calming down.

"You knew from the age of 8 that you were going to go to MIT and do something amazing," I said, walking over and sitting on his couch. "I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I wasn't even sure what college I should go to or what degree I should get. I had no idea what I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing, Tim."

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" Tim asked as he joined me on the couch.

"I was embarrassed," I whispered, not looking up from my hands.

"Too embarrassed to tell me?" Tim sighed as he reached over, gently grabbed my chin, and made me look at him. "I could've helped you, Y/N."

"I didn't want to hold you back," I said, my voice breaking. Tim leaned in and gently pressed his lips to mine. When he broke the kiss, he leaned his forehead against mine.

"I could've helped you figure it out," he whispered. My heart sank when he pulled away and I saw the look on his face.

"I swear, Tim, I didn't know that NCIS was working my case," I whispered. "If I had known you guys were focusing on Lieutenant Chance Taylor, I would've reached out and given you everything I had."

"You really didn't know?" He whispered. "You had no idea that we were working on the same case when we. . . The night we. . ."

"I didn't know until you and your team showed up at the drop," I tried to reassure him. "I swear, Tim. I didn't know when I ran into you at the coffee shop. I didn't know as we stayed until you got a call from work. I didn't know when you called me the next day. I didn't know when we went on our date. I didn't know as we went back to your apartment. And I promise, Tim, I didn't know as we spent the night together."

I was about to say more, but Tim grabbed my face and pressed his lips to mine. The second my lips touched his, I threw my arms around him and kissed him back. Without breaking the kiss, Tim laid me down and slightly hovered over me.

I wanted to shut out the world and focus on me and Tim, but something kept bothering me. It wouldn't leave my mind so I broke the kiss.

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" I asked, slightly out of breath from the kiss.

"You mean your job at the FBI?" Tim asked.

"Our jobs might overlap," I shrugged. "And I've heard about Gibbs and his rules."

Tim laughed as he sat up, pulling me with him. I sighed as he pulled me into his side and relaxed on the couch. "Gibbs has a rule about coworkers dating, but I'm NCIS and you're FBI. It shouldn't be an issue."

"Are you sure?" I asked, my voice soft. Tim sighed as he tightened his hold on me.

"I'm sure," he said as he leaned down and kissed the top of my head. "As long as we don't have any more accidental run-ins, I think we'll be fine. I mean, we almost shot you today, Y/N. And if we had. . ."

"No more accidental run-ins," I said quickly when his sentence got stuck in his throat. "I promise."

Part 2

[mcrcki]

back at it again with a massive combination plotting / starter call !!! very excited to throw characters into this fantasy medieval nightmare time we created. i just love this vibe so much and i can't wait to see how everyone interprets things and makes their own spin on things -- anyways before i keep rambling , quick housekeeping for my call + threads ; please like for plotting, and reply for starters. each character will be capped at FOUR THREADS, and THREE PER WRITER. i may adjust this depending on out of fandom requests and plotted starters. if you do not plot with me and just request, i'll dm you just for quick ideas. you gotta specify who you want starters from or i'm deadass ignoring you xoxo. ** please know that i am taking this opportunity to clear out a ton of threads throughout the week. so i'll be dropping things as time goes on and then when the event starts, i'll be dropping anything left over and starting fresh for post event! (lowkey going on my honeymoon right when this ends so i wont be around for post event stuff until after anyways, hence the big cleanout) but because i ramble, we're gonna stfu now and finally get to character plots !!

alani desilijic tiure | star wars - 1 / 4

she/they pronouns - alani believes dc has always been in this time period since she arrived here, and they work for their father still as a mercenary and helping to slowly infiltrate into higher society. higher risk, higher reward! ➳ potential plots ; clients, nobles she tricks, people she can employ

starters ; jester lavorre ( cassie )

charlie morningstar | hazbin hotel - 3 / 4

she/her pronouns - charlie also believes dc has always been like this since she got into the city from hell, and has fallen in line as whatever role the city deemed her to fill, which was a visiting princess from a neighboring kingdom. she's brought her court with her, as she's traveled here with her father. ➳ potential plots ; members of her court, friends within the castle, people she can help, someone to take her out into the world

starters : angel dust ( sunny ) , sir pentious ( britt ) , vaggie ( risa )

daniela dimitrescu | resident evil : village - 2 / 4

they/she pronouns - a harlot, deadass. she knows dc hasn't always been like this, and they think it's weird as hell, but they aren't going to question it too much. they're kinda having fun being a harlot and luring manthings to their death because ya know, a girl's gotta eat. ➳ potential plots ; people she can lure to eat, people they can menace, if you wanna be a harlot they can help ig

starters : evelyn serpeni ( anna ) , heidi volturi ( swan )

danika fendyr | crescent city - 3 / 4

she/they pronouns - knows dc is different, girl had a fucking gun like three hours ago and was on the phone texting bryce stupid ass memes, and now?? what?? the plague is an actual real problem and not just a joke they can say when they're too hung over? has found some work taking up bounties/monster hunting to keep supernaturals in line while they sort this out ➳ potential plots ; other people who know this isn't right, supernaturals she can track down, people with bounties, a drinking buddy

starters : jennifer check ( anna ) , zhao yunlan ( ollie ), baxian argos ( kasey )

elain archeron-vanserra | a court of thorns and roses - 2 / 4

she/her pronouns - elain is aware that something changed washington, but honestly, she's not really complaining. this is at least slightly closer to her normal life than modern dc was and she's alright with that. she's the sister of a noble lady, so she has just fallen into that world alongside her family. happy to still be doing her gardening and baking her spare time, but is definitely trying to help in some political capacity where she can. ➳ potential plots ; other nobles, friends within the court, anyone who knows anything about being a seer (pls girl is struggling with that)

starters ; satine kryze ( alex ), didyme volturi ( mario )

juliette monrose benoit | the vampire diaries - 0 / 4

she/her pronouns - juliette has no idea washington has ever been different, when she arrived here nearly a year ago, it's always been this time period.. hasn't it? she's an innkeeper, and is just happy to offer a helping hand if anyone needs it. ➳ potential plots ; patrons of the inn, maybe a tax collector she owes money to, someone to help her with her son during the day

kaya dura | star wars - 2 / 4

they/she pronouns - a knight. did we expect any fucking less? girl got dropped here from space and immediately traded lightsabers for swords. they have no idea that dc has been modern before, and is just assuming this is how it's always been. they're happy though, they have no problem just falling in line with the castle guards and protecting people ➳ potential plots ; other members of the guard, a noble they're assigned to protect, some protestor/criminal they can arrest, people they have arrested

starters : kaul hilo ( ollie ) , astrid hofferson ( cassie )

leia organa | star wars - 3 / 4

she/her pronouns - queen organa at your service. keeping life simple and having the presidency just shift to the royal family. leia does not things are different, she very much remembers modern dc, and would like to know how the magic there was able to accomplish this. but she grew up as royalty, this isn't a hard position for her to fill. if anything, it feels more natural than president. ➳ potential plots ; members of the court, other advisors, anyone else who knows something is wrong, citizens she can help, a failed assassination attempt (i don't want her dying i just like drama)

starters ; sheev/ahsoka ( kasey ) , xenia solo ( dee ) , han solo ( mario )

marley bishop | the vampire diaries - 4 / 4

she/they pronouns - local bog witch coming at you. marley is very much aware that things are not right, and thinks it's total bullshit. she just got used to modern dc and cellphones and now you're throwing her into fucking medieval times? she is taunting people to try and burn her at the stake because it's funny and this has to be some fucked up trip, right? ➳ potential plots ; others who think this is a fucked up trip or something, someone they actually convince they're some evil witch, someone who tries to get them to help them with magic, general menaces to society

starters ; dani bishop ( risa ) , mason bishop ( moon ) , quigley quagmire ( cap ) , flora bishop ( mario )

morrigan | a court of thorns and roses - 0 / 4

she/her pronouns - mor is completely unaware, both of her life back home in prythian, and of modern dc. she believes she's always lived here, a visiting lady of another nobles court, living within the castles court for years, rising in status with her ability to determine who is telling the truth and who is lying about their rumors and other gossip surrounding the court. ➳ potential plots ; people she's exposed, friends within the court, friends outside of royalty, someone to help her get her memories of home back, someone who hires her to spy for information

omega | star wars : the bad batch - 3 / 4

she/they pronouns - omega is also completely unaware of their life before dc, and they believe they've always been in this version of washington. they were an orphan here, until they were taken in by feyre, and has lived as a noble since. though, they still cling to some of those past tendencies, sneaking out and committing petty thievery, while occasionally taking on bounties under a different name ➳ potential plots ; their personal guard they escape from, someone who catches them stealing, bounties they've collected, friends within noble society that know about their other "hobbies"

starters : toph beifong ( sunny ), jorah mormont ( alex ) , mouse honrada ( moon )

rosemary winters | resident evil : village - 1 / 4

she/they pronouns - another one !! completely unaware !! rose still doesn't have their actual real life memories, and they also believe dc has always been like this. they're currently studying as an apprentice to an alchemist. has debated becoming a plague doctor but they don't think the outfits look comfortable enough ➳ potential plots ; the alchemist they're the apprentice of, someone to help them get their memories back, maybe other apprentices, friends

starters ; francis barton ( maria )

sella palpatine | star wars - 1 / 4

she/her pronouns - sella has no idea dc was ever different, and has lived in this world since waking up here. it was a strange adjustment at first, but honestly, she likes it enough to not complain. her father is a grand duke, and she follows whatever life he's lined up for her. while also still spending all the time she can be with a certain princess. ➳ potential plots ; friends in the court, her guard, artist friends they can paint with

starters ; serena van der woodsen ( dee )

sophie hatter | howl's moving castle - 2 / 4

she/they pronouns - sophie is aware that something is wrong, and dc has not always been like this, but doesn't know enough about portals and everything to figure out how.. still owns their flower/hat stand, and is happy to keep that for herself and their friends, while also bringing home whatever gossip people are spreading about their husbands castle in the woods. ➳ potential plots ; patrons of their stand/people to buy their hats, people who ask about the hidden castle in the woods, those who claim she's a witch, someone to help with morgan during the day, other employees of the stand

starters ; jesper fahey ( june ) , buttercup utonium ( maria )

sulpicia volturi | twilight - 3 / 4

she/her pronouns - add this to the list of things sulpicia does not like about this city. one moment it was modern, and the next? we're back in time to when she was a damn human? she's on edge, doing her best to hide in plain sight as a noble lady within the court here. ➳ potential plots ; someone who knows their vampire secret (good or bad), friends, the nobles she's in the court of, people they can drink from, perhaps an arranged marriage (she won't follow through with it she's already married but it might be funny)

starters ; phoenix volturi ( atlas ) , lucy westenra ( maria ) , chelsea volturi ( cap )

tatum riley | scream '96 - 4 / 4

she/her pronouns - tatum has no idea dc has been any different from this since waking up in the city, and she's doing her best to just make it through each day without making some comment about her home timeline that will label her as a witch. she's a tavern wench and like.. it's fine, she's fine, she just wishes corsets weren't so uncomfortable. ➳ potential plots ; patrons of the tavern, someone who over hears her talking about home and claims she's a witch, open to an arranged marriage situation

starters ; sanji ( alex ), lott jinrhu ( june ) , billy loomis ( britt ) , kol mikaelson ( moon )

vesta starkos | star wars - 1 / 4

she/they pronouns - vesta thinks dc has always been this way since she arrived, and is kinda loving it. it's so much easier to get people to be afraid of her little freak vibes in this time. she's mainly a thief, but also very much trying to convince people she's a witch just cause she thinks it'd be funny to try and get burned at the stake and then be able to escape :)) ➳ potential plots ; alright who's joining their cult? , people who are intrigued or put off from their awful vibes, someone who catches them stealing

starters ; astrid deetz ( cap )

victoria sutherland | twilight - 1 / 4

she/her pronouns - victoria showing up in dc, seeing the time period is exactly the same as when she was turned : i'm back in the fucking building!!! yeah, even though she's unaware, she also has no idea dc has been any different and man does she hate it. right now she's basically hiding in the woods, but if she can't find food from animals, she is debating just.. being a harlot to lure a meal to her ➳ potential plots ; whoever's getting her her memories back, someone she can drink from, a monster hunter who finds her in the woods

starters ; rosamund du prix ( cassie )

violet sorrengail | fourth wing - 1 / 4

she/her pronouns - violet is currently fully unaware, but once she wakes up here in this timeline of dc, her memories are going to smack right back into her. you can't exactly be a dragon rider and see a dragon and not immediately get vibe checked. she'll know dc is different, and is going to be spending her time trying to find her friends, and also attempt to teach people about dragons before they become ash.. will probably fall back into a scribe roll if she ever finds time for a job. ➳ potential plots ; someone she stops from getting fucking eaten by a dragon, other scribes, people who need help learning how to fight, just anyone confused and needing advice on creatures/procedures here in this time.

starters ; xaden riorson ( kasey )

[gothichorrorshow]

Queer youth autonomy protest!

Are you a queer person in the USA under 25 years old who wants to fight for their rights? Join the protest!

The Basics

This protest is a nation wide protest happening at every state capital and in Washington DC. The date will be March 31st, but there's much to do before then.

The website is queeryouthassemble and the tumblr account is @queeryouthautonomy I am not the official spokesperson or anything like that I just joined the State March Committee and am very passionate :D

If you reblog this post please head over to the official blog and give them a follow and reblog their pinned post! I made it easy for you by tagging them

State Marches

To get information on the locations, times, etc of your local state marches be sure to check this map for changes. Alternatively here's a link to the state march masterpost by the official blog.

While DC and state capitals are the priority, other marches will be held in various places. So hopefully you can find one close to you that you can attend!

DC March

The DC march will be the biggest march and the focus. The goal is to get people from all fifty states to attend. The focus is queer youth, but anyone who cares about queer rights can attend.

If funds are available, hopefully queer youths' trips to DC will be covered for those who can't afford it.

The march path will be mobility aid accessible and the speeches will be accessible for HoH and vision impaired folks!

List Of Demands

The list of demands is now complete! Click here to sign, whether as an individual or for an org.

Committees

The committees are entirely led by queer youth. The committees help organize the protests. There's four committees,

General March Committee: Provides input and suggestions for the general march, helps create a list of demands.

Resources and Guides Committee: Creates resources for safe protests and walkouts, advertises the resources on social media.

Washington DC March Committee: Contacts orgs and politicians to contribute to the DC protest (the biggest protest)

State March Committee: Organizes protests in the state capitals, updates website with state marches information, advertising the state marches.

Here's a direct link to the committee info and sign up!

Walkouts

Along with the protests they're also looking to organize peaceful walkouts at schools nation wide for the goal of having schools become supportive of queer youth.

If you want to organize one at your school, I personally recommend working with your school GSA club (if you have one, if not maybe you'd want to work on organizing one!)

Alternatives to walkouts are available too, there's plenty other ways you can organize an event at your school if walkouts would be too difficult.

Here's a link to further information on alternatives to walkouts and walkout safety.

Donations

Donations are needed to fund the protests! If you've got some spare money and want to support queer youth, please consider donating here!

Organizations

While I doubt I have this kind of reach, especially on tumblr (maybe if enough people reblog idk), if any orgs see this and are interested in supporting the protests,

State orgs: If you'd like to help organize/support a march in your state capital (or other important places) there's a form for you to fill out here.

Nationwide orgs: Your platform is needed for advertising. To find some flyers or pamphlets to use, look here. (I used one for this post)

[cemeteryangel725]

My Good Omens fics

Hi, I'm CemeteryAngel725, and I write Good Omens fanfiction, mostly smutty, and mostly human AU, although I do branch out from time to time. I also make weird little collages. You can find me on AO3 here.

My completed works (updated 7/23/2024):

More of a Comment Than a Question (E, 1,381 words, 1/1 chapters): Dr. Aziraphale Fell and Dr. Anthony Crowley are both architectural historians in the same department. You would think they would have a lot in common, but it's the exact opposite - from the day they met, Crowley has done everything in his power to annoy Aziraphale. But now they're being forced to share a hotel room at an academic conference, and Aziraphale is worried. Will they survive the weekend?

Over the Rainbow (E, 10,259 words, 1/1 chapters): Fresh out of college, Aziraphale and Crowley are roommates, marching in NYC Pride with their best friends Eric and Beez. Aziraphale has had feelings for Crowley for a long time, but will he ever work up the courage to tell him?

Special Guest Stars (E, 7,668 words, 1/1 chapters): After the Catskill Mountains Renaissance Faire finishes for the day, Crowley and Aziraphale meet a pair of Doctor Who cosplayers in a local tavern. They soon learn that they all have a lot in common.

Down to the River (E, 30,365 words, 8/8 chapters): Twenty-five years ago, Tony Crowley walked out of Azi’s life and broke both of their hearts. Since then, Azi has been living in suspended animation, working in the army/navy surplus booth he inherited from his dad and writing horror novels. Now Tony is back from the city, flush with success and wanting to catch up with Azi. Should Azi risk his heart and try to reclaim what they’ve lost? Or is it too late to start over?

Control (E, 2,142 words, 1/1 chapters): After a dismal opening weekend at their local Renaissance Faire, Crowley asks Aziraphale for some help with letting it all go. Aziraphale gives it to him in the best way he knows how.

Even Bound as We Are (E, 12,266 words, 2/2 chapters): Left on his own after the death of his mother, Aziraphale of Eastgate Hall is under the thumb of his cruel stepfather, Lord Gabriel. Alone in the forest one day, Aziraphale casts a spell to summon fae, taught to him by his mother. He’s not expecting it to work, but when a sarcastic, red-headed faery steps into the clearing before him, his life is changed forever.

Reviewing the Armies (E, 5,573 words, 1/1 chapters): It is May of 1865 and the war is over, or nearly over. Aziraphale has relocated to Washington, DC, and he is counting down the hours until he can be reunited with Anthony. When they meet again, sparks fly.

Folding the Laundry (E, 6,817 words, 1/1 chapters): Two single moms, one basket of laundry, and a bottle of wine. Azira and Toni have been best friends since middle school, but they’re about to find out that they don’t know every single thing about each other, at least not just yet.

After the Fight (E, 2,776 words, 1/1 chapters): In the wake of battle, Anthony returns to Aziraphale's tent completely distraught. Aziraphale is there to help him pick up the pieces.

Dough (E, 673 words, 1/1 chapters): Crowley and Aziraphale argue about how to knead pizza dough. Aziraphale shows Crowley how to do it properly.

Coming into Focus (E, 6,721 words, 1/1 chapters): It is the summer of 1864, and Aziraphale is an itinerant photographer set up behind Union lines outside Petersburg, Virginia. He’s no stranger to pleasure, but he has always protected his heart. But when the redheaded colonel of the 5th New Jersey walks into his tent, he begins to wonder whether it’s time to rethink his stance on love.

Of Fire and Falcons (E, 54,201 words, 15/15 chapters): Since they met at a Florida Renaissance faire a year and a half ago, fire spinner Crowley and falconer Aziraphale have been a great deal more than friends, but they've never quite admitted what they really feel about each other. Now Crowley has fallen in love, and he has five weeks at the Catskill Mountains Renaissance Faire during the most romantic season of the year to convince Aziraphale to see the light.

Hold the Lift (T, 5,621 words, 1/1 chapters): Crowley just wants to get to work on time, but when he gets stuck in a lift with new guy Aziraphale, he ends up with a lot more than he bargained for. See, Aziraphale has this list of 36 questions…

Beyond the Barricade (E, 29,854 words, 10/10 chapters): Az Eastgate and AJ Crowley are American college students in a production of Les Miserables. Will Az work up the courage to tell AJ how he feels about him?

Catching the Light (E, 3,994 words, 1/1 chapters): Azira Fell and Antoinette Crowley are American sculptors living their best lives in Rome in the 1860s. Toni has a commission to finish before Anathema’s wedding, and Azira offers to model for her.

Christmas is Definitely Not a Humbug (E, 3,071 words, 1/1 chapters): It is 1843, and Crowley brings home a brand-new copy of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol as a gift for Aziraphale. Aziraphale shows his gratitude in the best way he knows how.

[rederiswrites]

It's not exactly a secret that I love love love traditional European, especially Eastern European and Slavic, folk art. Luckily for me, there is a pretty healthy USAmerican survivor of those traditions in PA Dutch country, which is so close to me it's actually apparently growing south into my neighborhood. And PA Dutch art is just a joy. I've loved it ever since I was...maybe less than ten?! On one of our periodic trips into Washington DC for the museums, my mom and I went to the Folger Shakespeare library, which happened to have a beautiful display of Fraktur and PA Dutch art in the lobby. Stayed in my mind forever. Take your kids to museums, etc. etc. Not the point.

Fraktur is a specific form in the broader "art created by culturally German immigrants to central and south Pennsylvania", characterized by a ton of detail and usually specific German-style lettering. Most Fraktur were created between 1740 and 1860.

This chest was attributed to one John Bieber in 1789.

This document was created by Andreas Kolb in 1785.

Personally, I absolutely love PA Dutch hex signs, which are simpler and more graphically bold, but draw on many of the same motifs and meanings. Those you still see to this day on barns and houses. They are not actually associated with Amish and Mennonites particularly; they're just a cultural remnant of the heavily German immigrant population. One wonderful artist is Ivan Hoyt, who is still active today.

I would love to own a Hoyt piece one day.

Another thing you see around here, which is unrelated and entirely modern in origin, is the barn quilt. Here's one I've passed several times and enjoyed a great deal:

The story goes that Ohio quilter Donna Sue Groves came up with the idea inspired in part by the Dutch Hex Signs, and translated that into quilting patterns. They are usually very large, between 4' and 8' square, and generally placed so that you see them from the road, so they're a fascinating bridge between public and private art. When I pass one, I feel I've been told, "Look, we created this thing that gives us joy, and placed it so that we can all feel that together. For this moment, we are connected in appreciation of this beauty."

There are quite a few around here now, as well as a publicized tour trail for them. I have had one designed and intended to make it for over a year now. There's a perfect spot over the door of Jacob's shop.

Here are a couple more:

I feel very fortunate to have access to these beautiful traditions, and hope in time to add my own threads to the tapestry.