#anyway here you go emily can have all four of them

[whencartoonsruletheworld]

never have I played any nights at Freddy fazbears

pls explain the whole plot and all lore to me as if I were small and slightly stupid

oh great timing i literally JUST explained this to my asoue discord

this is a VERY simple summary, but things to keep in mind while reading:

very very VERY little of this is directly spelled out for us. the creator, scott cawthon, LOVES to confuse people on purpose and the vast majority of the lore is gleaned from hidden minigames, secret cutscenes, and easter eggs. this makes things very confusing and controversial within the fanbase, so im gonna try to explain where there are differing opinions

really, there's two main stories: the first main story was completed with FNAF6 and Ultimate Custom Night, the story going on rn is the second and it is still ongoing. as such, a lot of the lore is still a mystery to all of us.

For clarity's sake, I will divide this between: THE AFTON STORY, the one the movie's gonna tell a part of, and THE GLITCH STORY, which the games are going through

dont worry i will make it fun to go through so it doesnt feel like school

ok lets go

THE AFTON STORY

First, let's get a visual chart in here. don't worry it's just for show

These are the important families we will be talking about; the Emily family, with father Henry and daughter Charlie, and the Afton Family, with father William, two sons (Michael and a boy who is still unnamed, he might get named on friday? We call him Crying Child "CC") and a daughter, Elizabeth. Don't worry about the mothers they're not important

Okay so here's the thing: of these four children, all but Michael die VERY early on in the timeline

The problem is we do NOT know THE ORDER each of them died. There's a lot of arguments on all sides but I personally think the order is sad boi->charlie->baby so imma present it in that order. But keep in mind that we don't actually know because of the confusing way the lore is dropped.

okay so for starters.

Backstory/FNAF4

purple guy is william afton and he and this guy vcalled henry start opening a restaurant chain starring freddy fazbear

in the original location they've got two animatronic suits, fredbear and spring bonnie. the other location has freddy, bonnie, foxy, chica

the og location suits are ~special~ tho, bc henry and william are crazy inventor dudes. these suits are called "springlock suits". they function as full animatronics but you can wind all the wires and gears and endoskeleton and shit back and step into the costume yourself. only problem is the safety is jackshit and if you like. cry or sweat or breathe wrong the springlocks will fail and the metal will come crashing back and crush u to death. u should have enough time to get to the back room so u dont bleed out in front of the customers tho. springlock suits are important remember those

michael is in his early teens and has just learned how to be a shit to his siblings and is trying out this hot new bullying thing. he's picking a lot on CC because CC is terrified of the freddy animatronics. it is said that he "saw something" that scared him, it could be anything as benign as "saw someone go into the suit and got freaked out" to something as serious as "saw one of those aforementioned springlock failures and person bleeding out." could also be charlie or elizabeth's death if those happen earlier in the timeline. again we dont know bc cawthon likes to confuse us

CC is not scared of the freddy characters tho, he has all the plushies and calls them his friends. he's just scared of the animtronics. unfortunately his dad works there so he has to be there like 90% of the time so he's having a wonderful time. hence the moniker "crying child". bc he cries all the time

anyway at his birthday party, michael decides it would be really funny to shove CC up into the animatronic's mouth for kicks. this goes about as well as you'd expect cause the mouth closes and fuckin. crushes his head

kid goes into a coma for a while but eventually flatlines. while he's in the coma we hear michael tearfully apologizing, and his fredbear plush talks to him (presumed to be william) saying he will "put him back together"

anyway that was fun. so next up charlie emily gets FUCKING MURDERED

Backstory/FNAF1-2

for some reason charlie gets locked outside the pizzeria. william's driving by and decides to stab her bc why not

honestly most of us believe that this occured after CC just bc it gives william motivation to be pissy at his business partner and kill his kid abt it, but also a book that released a month ago implies that william might have been nightmare gassing his kids for shits and giggles so. who knows. dont worry about that btw its not relevant rn

anyway the thing is willie and henry had an animatronic designed to protect the children called the puppet. the puppet sees charlie outside and goes out to help her but it's raining so it fries up the puppet's circuits and it crashes on top of her dead body. cheery!

except this is where it gets wild bc charlie proceeds to like. possess the puppet

possession is really complicated in this universe but basically there's no real way to communicate openly with people and the possesser might not even be aware of who or where they are or anything really but. yeah the lil girl def possesses the puppet

its after this that william starts killing kids for funsies. a lot of us presume that he saw the puppet getting possessed and was like "holy shit a way to bring crying kid back" but again he might've just decided this was fun

anyway he lures five kids into the Secret Freddy's Backroom That Is Not On The Maps by wearing the spring bonnie costume. after killing them he shoves them into the other animatronic suits (freddy, bonnie, chica, foxy, fredbear "golden freddy") and yeah they start gettin possessed

the fifth missing kid was stuffed in fredbear and here's where it gets veeery theoretical cause we dont have straight confirmation of this but just some theories. it's VERY likely that crying child was also haunting fredbear at this point, and shoving another kid in there got two kids haunting the same bitch and it causes fredbear (golden freddy) to be really fucking weird and glitchy and eldritch or w/e. anyway you dont have to worry about that rn cause golden freddy doesnt show up much they're too busy ascending or smth

now this is where the lore gets confusing-- the first game claims that after the last two were lured, someone was caught on camera, arrested and charged. however we know for a fact willie-boi wasnt caught so either 1) this got retconned when cawthon decided to actually make lore, 2) he wasnt convicted and somehow still kept a hold on the fazbear empire during this, or 3) a lot of us theorize that henry was framed for the crimes and thats why he disappears from the timeline until the sixth game. cause yeah he disappears from the timeline until the sixth game. personally i believe the third it makes a lot of sense but yeah willie-boi stops killing at about five kids

anyway will is going full scientist with all these animatronics and he's like. ripping parts off them and putting them on other animatronics to see what happens. we THINK. again this is really vague but this is just kinda the most logical explanation here.

anyway this is what happens in fnaf2 and what it does is like. split the souls and shit. and he's like "oh this is sick" except this makes all the suits act erratic as hell and very angry towards adults (theyre cool with kids tho) and eventually one of them causes the infamous Bite of 87. we're not entirely sure what it was but one of the animatronics bit off the frontal lobe of someone in 1987. this caused this location to get shut down and willie boi just puts the pieces back on the og animatronics and is like "well shit what do we do now boys"

FNAF5: Sister Location

anyway so this is where we think elizabeth dies in the timeline. william makes these things called the "funtime animatronics"-- we know they are made after a fnaf location shuts down, though it's not specified which. these animatronics are built SPECIFICALLY to kidnap children. ballora is built as a distraction for parents, the other two are built to only move when not seen, and then Circus Baby™ has an arm that can grab kids and drag thtem into her until willie lets em out. she is programmed to only do this when a child is alone in the room so william tells elizabeth "do not go see baby when you are alone in the room"

so elizabeth is like 6 and she goes to see baby when she is alone in the room and baby grabs her but the arm is fucked up and the kid dies p badly

funtime's location is then immediately closed due to "gas leaks" and william rents out the funtimes for parties. at the same time he starts shoving some haunted parts into the funtime animatronics to see what happens. we THINK.

important location here btw is the "scooping room." it's actually very good horror but basically it's a bitch that is supposed to rip the endoskeletons out of the suit whenever theyre malfunctioning. super smart idea that will cause no nightmares going forwards.

anyway the animatronics all kinda know that william killed them so after a while (a few years??? who knows) they start trying to kill him and he's like "hmm. i cannot go into this bunker anymore. let me send michael, my last surviving kid who i hate." this is where michael, now an adult, re-enters the timeline.

mikey boy is told by his dad that he can bring his baby sis back to life if he goes down into this bunker and does some shit. michael is like "oh sweet" bc honestly he probably still feels guilty about literally killing his bro and so he goes down to the bunker.

the animatronics eventually tell him "go into the scooping room it'll be totes mcgotes" and when he gets there he finds out that the animatronics have killed all the other employees, scooped themselves, and fused their endoskeletons into one conglomerate called ennard

ennard is like "yeah we cant escape here cause they just bring us back so we're gonna use you as a skinsuit k thnx" and they scoop him and use him as a skinsuit

it's really good horror i promise

BUT this turned out to be a bad plan because Humans Decay so after like a week ennard gets puked up by the MikeSuit and escapes into the sewers.

here, meanwhile, is where mike pulls a reverse uno card and possesses his own decaying corpse

LIKE A FUCKING BADASS

he then calls up his dad and is like "hey dad :) elizabeth's fine now :) BUT :) they fucking killed me :) because they thought i was you :) you sure sent me down here to die huh :) anyway :) im gonna come find you :) you have a ten minute head start start running :)"

actor really fucking sold that monologue too ngl

so he's like. PISSSSSSED and rightfully so he is walking around in his own corpse. so he goes to find his dad

Backstory/FNAF3

this is about when peepaw willie goes back to the original fnaf location (we THINK) and is like "ok im just gonna take apart all the animatronics and do something with these"

only when he destroys the suits the missing kids' ghosts show up and spook him. so this guy who's been studying ghosts is like "oh fuckshit there's ghosts here" and tries to hide in the spring bonnie suit. only he laughs and this causes the springlocks to malfunction and FUCKING VIOLENTLY KILL HIM. get springlocked idiot

except then HE possesses the spring bonnie suit and this is springtrap. but also he's in a super secret back room while this happens so he is trapped there for a while

FNAF6

so ennard, michael and william are fuckin around for a couple years. at some point ennard decides that elizabeth is kinda a freak actually and kicks her out of the hivemind so she just rebuilds herself a circus baby suit and keeps wanderin around so now we got four bitches doing who knows what

eventually it's been 30 years since the last freddy's closed and someone opens up a haunted house parody of it. mike goes to work there as a security guard* and guess what they found springtrap and bring him to the attraction thinking he's just an animatronic. after five nights of fucking with him mike sets the place on fire to try and finally kill his dad fr. it does not work

*note that this isnt confirmed to be michael but we kinda. all know it's probably him. it really seems to be him

anyway then michael finds out that an actual fazbear's is opening and needs an owner so he goes and becomes owner of the restaraunt. while some guy on a cassette tape is giving him tutorial instructions he sets up the place and also collects several animatronics. these are:

scraptrap (peepaw post-fire and really pissed)

scrapbaby (elizabeth now thinking that maybe if she kills things her dad will pay attention to her)

molten freddy (remains of ennard still not entirely sure what's going on)

lefty (a bear solely built to capture the puppet, who was still fuckin around the fnaf2 location i guess. anyway now the puppet is here thats important)

so after our five nights scrapbaby comes on the speaker system and is like "omg dad if we kill people will you love me. we're gonna kill soooo many people it's my passion actually" and that's when the cassette tutorial guy interrupts her

and he just goes "yeah. you're not doing that"

anyway he's like "hi guys. you remember me??? henry??? from 30 years ago?? i owned half this business? you killed my daughter and stuffed her soul in a puppet? lmao yeah i literally lured you all here and you came like the fucking idiots you are. im setting the place on fire, we're all gonna die and go to heaven. except for YOU, WILL. you are not going there. lmao bye" and he sets the place on fire and they all burn. it's more epic when he says it tbh

now henry mentions that he had an escape route ready for the building owner but he figured out the owner was michael and was like "i feel like you wanna stay and burn with us" and michael's like "fuck yeah"

you might think that wraps up the story nicely but OH NO THERE'S MORE

Ultimate Custom Night

see, the next game is ultimate custom night where you can choose which animatronics hunt you and their level of difficulty. it is through hidden messages and shit that we find out that ucn is, canonically, william being tortured in hell. which is sick af

anyway the tormentor is a spirit labelled "the vengeful spirit" in the files, and "the one you should not have killed" by the animatronics. we sometimes hear either a light voice behind the other animatronic lines (could be either a woman with a light voice, a little girl, or a little boy), and the pic that sometimes shows up as a hallucination is a distorted photo of scott cawthon's son. we know for a FACT this spirit is someone from the fnaf6 fire cause they reference the fire more than once while poking willie with a stick. it's probably not elizabeth cause she was just tryin to get her dad's attention. it's not charlie/puppet bc one of her lines is like "ffs just stay out of my way for ONCE." we also know for a fact it's not henry cause they were like "henry sure tried to release us huh. not happening im not letting you go that easily bitch haha" so that narrows it down to michael and the missing kids

now here's the thing.

the vaaaaast majority of the fandom is convinced that the vengeful spirit is cassidy, the missing child that was stuffed inside golden freddy with cc. this is because golden freddy is in a looot of ultimate custom night and if you beat the hardest mode you just get a quick cutscene of him glitching and then everything fades to black

however. i have seen legiterally no convincing evidence that this is the case. all we know about cassidy is she is the golden freddy missing kid and was talking to cc through the logbook. and we BARELY know this. in the alternate universe book she first showed up in (the silver eyes) she wasn't even the golden freddy kid. people point out a similar situation to her and cc in fazbear frights where one of the kids was tormenting william (stitchwraith) but that's literally a whole separate universe and completely separate characters with separate backstories and personalities

there's a sprite in security breach who fights glitchtrap (explained below) who was named in the files as "cassidy" so ppl point to that but 1) they changed that name after people made a deal out of it, 2) that could mean literally anything, 3) the protag of the next game was named "cassie" and her story kinda paralleled the sprite's first game so uuhhhh anyway

honestly i think it's WAY more likely the vengeful spirit is mr michael "i'm going to come find you and set you on fire twice" afton, using his childhood likeness to fuck with his dad. this is strengthened by one of the easter egg cutscenes in ucn, where the vengeful spirit talks to a benevolent spirit who tells them to "leave the demon to his demons. there is nothing for you here." the audio in the background is someone distortedly screaming "HENRY" and "MICHAEL"

one of the animatronic lines also says "is this a prison for you or for me? perhaps both" implying that the vengeful spirit feels like they belong in hell, which would fit with mike's "i killed my brother" self-loathing. the golden freddy glitch could very easily be his mental anguish as well as william's, with the optional cutscene telling us that while michael is self-harming by torturing his dad in hell, he has the ability to move on and find peace if he can forgive himself. honestly i really like that open ending there

another point towards "vengeful mike" theory is that we play as him for most of the games (definitely 5 and 6, most likely 1 and 3, some theorize 4) and so him being the vengeful spirit is way more emotionally impactful than "random kid #5"

however every time i bring this up to the fnaf fandom they get really really pissy at me because y'all love ur angry lil girl cassidy headcanons and honestly that is completely fair i also love angry lil girls. im just saying this bc we're going over whats canon rn and i firmly believe in vengeful mike (thank @birdsareblooming for that) but yknow. cassidy is also fun as hell

i wrote a whole essay on this btw these are just the cliffnotes. do you guys wanna see the essay

anyway that's where the afton story ends but OHHH NO MR CAWTHON CANNOT STOP

if you just want a quick catchup before the movie you can stop here but anyway. let's talk mimicry

THE GLITCH STORY

the games coming out recently are kinda a sequel-story and bc theyre still coming out we are still very confused about what the fuck is canon and what is not so this one will be a lot more guessing. i digress let's talk about

Help Wanted

so back on earth, it's the 2020s-2030s. turns out the fazbear company is still functional and they're like "well shit guys what the FUCK do we do about all of That"

so they decide they need a brand cleansing and what they do is they secretly hire an "indie game developer" to make the fnaf games in-universe, to make light of the tragedies and make people take them less seriously. they pretend to have beef with this indie dev but eventually put all of his games into a VR game as a show of "good faith." somehow this actually does work in revitalizing the brand image

also sidenote but the books imply that the indie dev was kidnapped and gaslit into making the games but thats not important

now see there's a glitch in the game and the beta-tester jeremy mentions it and then gets increasingly withdrawn and obsessive. because it turns out there is a Bitch in here

now. the identity of the Bitch is uh. controversial in the fandom rn. i will say for clarity that i am in Party Two and will probably be biased towards that but here's the thing. the Bitch is either:

a digital upload of william afton's soul (somehow escaping hell)

THE MIMIC

Help Wanted Interlude: The Mimic

see, the other books (silver eyes, fazbear frights) are set in a parallel universe-ish to the books, similar rules and worldbuilding but cawthon can fuck around all he wants with no consequences. there were charliebots and springtrap mpreg at one point it was nuts. but the thing is right now they're kinda trying to tell us that the current series, tales from the pizzaplex, is game-canon. god only knows if they'll stick to that so some people think the books are in the game's universe, others think they're parallels to the games and not 1-1 exact much like the others

but anyway they give us crucial lore on The Mimic so here we go

some guy named edwin (some think he's a parallel to henry or william, but rn we're just gonna assume he's canon) is a single dad to a toddler. however he's working for fazbear making all these animatronics and he's sooo busy and needs something to distract the toddler so he creates a fucked up nightmare animatronic called The Mimic, whose programming is extremely basic: "copy whatever you see being done"

the toddler actually loves the fucked up nightmare animatronic and teaches him to play patty-cake and carry around stuffed animals or w/e. anyway then the toddler runs out into the street and gets hit by a car

edwin is still grieving and the mimic comes up carrying the toddler's stuffed animal and still copying him and when the mimic that edwin programmed to copy things is still copying things edwin snaps and just beats the fuck out of it bc he needs a grief outlet. he then abandons the thing but however the mimic has just learned Violence

some employees come by to see where edwin's animatronics are and the mimic just starts killing all of them bc. well. it's supposed to copy things. it will copy things

there's a BIG GAP here in what happens to it next but it disappears for the next 30 years. however it is heavily, HEAVILY implied that it witnessed at least one of the missing children incidents

fazbear actually has a Lot of mimic endoskeletons but bc they start copying violent shit they shut them all down. however they all run on the same program, "mimic1" and fazbear keeps that tech around cause you know it could be helpful

Back to Help Wanted

now here is where the "we only THINK this is canon we dont knkow yet" comes in

back to the vr game, they are just shoving random old pieces of code in there to speefd up the process of making the game cause capitalism doesnt like long development times. this puts the mimic1 program into the program and it immediately sees All Of Afton's Crimes In 4K. it decides "oh yeah i can mimic this but i should probably get a physical body in order to do that"

so beta tester jeremy sees the mimic program, which takes the form of Spring Bonnie Suit. this is Glitchtrap

now keep in mind that some people do still believe that all this aint happenin and the spring bonnie glitch is just william. again i personally believe the mimic cause it makes more sense than "william escaped hell somehow" but w/e

anyway, glitchtrap is fuckin around. it tries to possess beta tester jeremy and in order to stop it, jeremy does the sensible thing and cuts his own face off

so glitchtrap is like "hmm. that didn't work out" and decides to go for the more subtle approach. the next beta tester, currently unnamed, starts recording tapes inside the game to send to the next beta tester so they dont fuck with glitchtrap. glitchtrap however seals itself inside the tapes so that when the beta testers try to delete it, it'll instead be inside the tapes and cant be removed lmao. it then "mimics" tape girl's voice and adds a last tape saying "let him possess you its ok i promise"

it also mimics her intro of "hello can you hear me" in the one time it speaks so. mimic

anyway the next beta tester is this gal named vanessa and she gets possessed like suuuper quickly and glitchtrap is like "oh fucking FINALLY"

Security Breach Therapy Tapes

vanessa's acting weird at work so company requires her to go to therapy, however she has the same therapist as Another Patient. this patient will be named later however right now we're calling them Patient 46. they do not talk but have the same therapist as Vanessa and is creepy about it. anyway whenever a therapist prods too much into either Vanessa or P46's life, or discovers them fucking with fazbear tech, the therapist mysteriously goes missing and shows up later dead and mangled by machinery

they go through like five of these bitches at least, but it's clear P46 is another bitch possessed by glitchtrap but they're like more possessed than vanessa is so glitchtrap likes them better

BUT THAT'S ALL BORING, WE'VE GOT A PIZZAPLEX NOW!!!

Security Breach

fazbear opens a giant 80s-style mall with a ton of attractions like disneyland or w/e and call it the Mega Pizzaplex. There's state-of-the-art animatronics in here that are basically sentient ai. they might be possessed but we're not actually sure rn they might just be advanced robots

they start with "glamrock" freddy, bonnie and chica, along with roxy wolf instead of foxy. we're not sure why rn. anyway at some point something suspicious happens and bonnie is found mangled and he's replaced with montgomery gator, a c-list animatronic they had to run the golf course. he doesnt seem to take the spotlight well and has started breaking things but its probably fine

anyway they eventually realize they can automate the staff and stop paying human beings and they jump on that cause they love cutting costs. they've got staffbots everywhere except for ONE person- vanessa, who is hired as the security guard. we find a note saying that her interviewer found her too inexperienced for the position, but someone "very" high up in the company pushed her into the role. this is implied to be glitchtrap taking over the systems

so vanessa and P46 are shoving glitchtrap into the systems because, well, guess what? the pizzaplex is built on top of the fnaf6 location. the one where henry set them all on fire, and they're trying to do some sort of shit with the burnt remains of springtrap. if you believe in william!glitchtrap he's trying to get his body back; if you believe in mimic!glitchtrap he's trying to fuse himself to afton's corpse in order to gain a corporeal form. it also helps that there is The OG Mimic Endoskeleton in this area (its explained in the books im not going into it) but it's pretty fuckin damaged so they gotta spend some time fixing it before fusing it with peepaw's corpse

but the night they're supposed to do that, something goes wrong: a child is loose in the pizzaplex

glamrock freddy had a malfunction onstage, and when he wakes up in his room, there is a child hiding in his stomach compartment (used for oversized piñatas and cakes). this child is named gregory and he looks suspiciously like the crying child and we dont have an explanation for that but no, matpat, he's not a robot, it's probably just symbolism

anyway gregory actually has like very little memory of what's going on and barely remembers his own name but he says that vanessa the security guard is trying to fuckin kill him so he needs to get tf out of the pizzaplex. freddy's like "well you're shit out of luck cause the doors close and seal until 6am but that's fine we can make it til then" and gregory's like "fucking JOY"

long story short gregory has to run around the pizzaplex while every animatronic but freddy is trying to kill him. freddy is not trying to kill him bc his malfunction caused him to enter Safe Mode and it turns out that Safe Mode is safe from the glitchtrap virus. everyone else, however, gets glitchtrapped and is trying to kill this kid

you dont find out why until like laaaate in the game and even THEN you're confused until one of the goosebumps-knockoff short stories confirms a thing, and that thing is:

gregory is patient 46

oh shit

turns out gregory was possessed by glitchtrap for FUCK knows how long and was used as its body for like the entire time. and when he eventually wakes up un-possessed (no idea how that happened) he has no memory of whats going on at ALL and is understandably fucking terrified. doesnt remember being possessed or killing ppl or anything he just wakes up and runs. glam freddy likely malfunctioned cause glitchtrap was like "oh my god go GET that stupid kid" and glam freddy was like "but???? protecc????" and entered safe mode

so gregory eventually fuckin DEMOLISHES all the other animatronics and uses their parts to upgrade freddy. freddy is like "hey where'd you get these parts" and gregory's like "uhhhhhhhhh dont worry about it" "hey where are my friends" "DONT WORRY ABOUT IT"

while this is happening, a possessed vanessa is in a bunny suit calling herself vanny and also trying to kill him. this is just as confusing to us as it is to you

anyway there are six endings to security breach. according to the most recent game, there is a chance that two of them are canon. WE DO NOT KNOW which of the two is canon. these are the endings:

Princess Quest Ending: greg and freddy try to confront vanny and she gets freddy ripped apart by staffbots. gregory then finds an arcade game in her room and plays and beats it which sets her soul free (presumably he knew how to do this cause he's remembering bits and pieces of being possessed??? idk). anyway once the game is beat she is unpossessed and takes gregory and freddy's decapitated head out of the pizzaplex

Burntrap Ending: gregory and freddy avoid vanny and go to the fnaf6 basement where freddy starts acting all fucked up and then thtey find the Springtrap corpse, now Burntrap (fused with the mimic? glitchtrap? yknow). it tries to kill them so you have to Boss Fight everything and then set him on fire again. THEN a tangled mess of animatronic wires with a funtime freddy head (remains of ennard???) shows up and drags him off. again, just as confusing for us as it is for you. freddy and gregory escape. no idea where vanessa is

ONE of these is canon. we do not know which. this is making the fanbase super chill and normal /lying

Evidence for Princess Quest: in ruin, we see a headless glamrock freddy in the exact same area he is in pq. we also have no sign of vanny trying to help glitchtrap. you can collect gregory's fanart of his own game and pq is the only one he didn't draw. princess quest arcade game has sword sticking out of it

Evidence against Princess Quest: aforementioned headless freddy is labelled a prototype on his foot and we know for a fact that our freddy does not have that stamp. he also has a gift inside his stomach when freddy gave his stomach gift to gregory already (and it was a diff color). the pq arcade game has sword sticking out of it BUT that could symbolize the princess being skewered, and surrounding the game is art of the escaped glitchbunny

Evidence for Burntrap: labelled as "true ending" in the files, only ending to be FULLY animated instead of switching to comic form and also only one with boss fight, the tangled animatronic mess is definitely canon (we see it, gregory draws it so he saw it too which means he went in the basement where it was), while vanny isn't seen her grafitti is everywhere and appears to be recent

Evidence against Burntrap: the "true ending" label, like cassidy, could mean literally fucking anything. also if vanessa is still under his control why the fuck doesnt she help him where is she

so yeah we're having fun figuring THAT out

Ruin (the end so far thank god)

the most recent game we got, then, was the dlc for the above game, this dlc is called ruin. a few months after this, a lil girl named cassie wanders into the ruins of the pizzaplex cause her best friend gregory told her to meet him there. when she gets there she finds a walkie-talkie and he's like "girl im trapped under the pizzaplex you need to shut down the security and come get me" and she's like "sounds great"

she finds vanny's mask and puts it on and enters an AR world where a glitched bunny is trying to kill her (this one isnt glitchtrap actually) and a friendly little AR bear is telling her to keep going she's doing a great job (this one IS glitchtrap probably)

anyway it turns out her backstory is her dad worked for the pizzaplex and she had a birthday party there with her Favorite Character Roxy and literally none of her friends showed up. she was sad about it until gregory showed up and became her friend. then gregory went missing and she was sad

anyway the last security node is favorite character Roxy and roxy recognizes her and is nice to her and its very sad

cassie eventually goes down to the fnaf6 basement and is like "ok gregory i opened the door are you okay" and PSYCH, IT'S NOT GREGORY

IT'S

THE

MIMIC

the mimic immediately tries to kill her bc it likes violence but roxy shows up to save her. the real gregory calls her on the walkie-talkie and is like "bITCH GET OUT OF THERE" and she's like "IM TRYING" and gregory's "friend" (whose pronouns are very specifically blurred out, so it could be either freddy or vanessa) uses the building maps to help her to an elevator. however when she gets in the elevator gregory's like "yeahhhhh sorry we cant let you be followed :(" and drops the elevator, trapping her there

it's like a 99% chance this last bit was not gregory but it was the mimic, seeing as gregory is not even in the pizzaplex and the mimic lost cassie right next to the elevator fuse box that it could easily rip out. so you know

anyway we end with either roxy finding cassie or the mimic using roxy's voice finding her so this kid's fucked lmao

also other questions about if mimic is burntrap is that we see the mimic p naked in this game and not in a fun corpse skinsuit so where did bunny go??? however i will also mention that there is a secret ending that shows us that the FUCKING SCOOPER is here so. personally i think that answers that question. get scooped idiot

oh also if you noticed "hey 'cassie' sounds a lot like 'cassidy,' the golden freddy kid who was sharing a body with the crying child, who has a similar design to gregory," congrats! we've noticed that too! we have no fucking idea what it means! :D

and thaaaaat's five nights at freddy's

that didnt take too long did it

[maxiskindahere]

Hell is forever | Lute x F!Reader

i’ve become obsessed w Hazbin Hotel recently and well where’s better to write than Tumblr!

I also love x readers and Lute so this is a fun time xx

i also haven’t written in a WHILE so this is not my best work but i promise im better xx

————

CW: swearing, sexual comments

Lute was an interesting person, she wasn’t typically the type of person you’d get in with. But since meeting her & Adam, you are sure that your life has improved… to an extent.

——

“Hey, Y/N! Don’t you think Lute would so much better with less on?” Adam teases as you walk into his office “Adam, you are going to be the first man with no dick if you don’t shut up.” Y/N deadpans, plopping down beside Lute on the couch

“You’re no fun, Y/N” Adam complains, throwing his head back with a groan “I just know that if I agree with you, Lute is very much able to fuck me up.”

You know of the exterminations, and you know Lutes body count. Being on her bad side is not something you wanted.

“Please, Lute’s too busy st-“ Adam is cut off with a yelp as Lute throws something at him “Shut up, Adam.” She hisses, glaring daggers at him “Fine fine” He mutters, flipping her off as you look between them in confusion

“So what happened in Hell?” You decide to ask, knowing the extermination had happened just a week prior. “Well we had a talk with Lucifers bitch daughter today.” Adam begins in a rant about how “Charles” decided to talk about how she wants the exterminations gone and some bullshit hotel

“She seriously thinks sinners can be redeemed?” Y/N questions, leaning forward “What does Sera think about this?” Adam scoffs, rolling his eyes

“she doesn’t know, it’s not like it’s going to cause problems anyways.”

——

Adam was wrong. It was definitely going to cause problems, but that wasn’t her issue. So, she continued on with her day while waiting for the time to come when she’d meet Lute for lunch.

“Sorry!” A voice exclaims as Y/N feels someone crash into her “Fuck!” She yelps out, quickly spinning around to be met with two demons and Emily, the seraphim of joy.

The h/c girl quickly straightens up “Seraphim Emily! What… are you doing here?” She splutters out, glancing nervously at the demons “Oh hush, Y/N. You know you can call me Em when Sera isn’t around” Emily informs the girl with a happy smile.

“Right well.. Em, what is.. going on?” She questions the seraphim, still glancing between the demons “Right! This is Charlie and Vaggie! They’re representatives from Hell!” The girl cheerfully explains

Y/N’s eyes widen “Holy crap! You’re the princess aren’t you?” She asks Charlie, whose face flushes “Yep, that’s me..!” She says awkwardly before taking Vaggies hand in hers “This is my girlfriend, Vaggie” She introduces with a soft smile

Y/N grins “I knew gay people went to he-“ She’s cut off by Emily wacking her lightly “I’m kidding! That’s sick, congrats” She says softly, fluttering her wings

“So, you here about this.. hotel thing?” Y/N questions, crossing her arms together “How do you know about that?” Emily quizzes the girl who pauses for a second “Uh, Lute told me!” She quickly states, rubbing her arm

Emily’s eyes widen “please tell me you two are-“ Before Emily can continue, Y/N spots Lute approaching the four “Respectfully, your majesty please stop” Y/N hisses out as Lute reaches them

“Y/N, where have you been?” Lute asks the girl, anger clear in her voice “Sorry, I ran into these lovely girls and you know how I feel about ditching people” Y/N states innocently, smirking at the anger in Lutes eyes “And you know how I feel about waiting, finish up here and meet me in my office.” Is all the taller girl says before departing

“She seems.. nice.” Charlie says after a few moments of silence “Oh she is, I just don’t think she likes demons” Y/N comments, she knew Emily was unaware of the exterminations and she was not about to admit that she knew to anyone.

“I’m not sure why, you two are lovely” Emily pouts, causing Charlie and Vaggie to give her light smiles “But uh, I better go.. Lute will be a pain if I keep her waiting much longer��� She says, excusing herself as she bids farewell to the trio and makes her way to Lute’s office

“Hey..” Y/N says awkwardly, walking into the unlit office before being slammed against the now shut door “I can’t believe you!” Lute exclaims, glaring down at Y/N

“What did I do?” The girl yelps out, feeling the pain rush to her wings “You’re talking with Vaggie! Of all people!” Suddenly everything made sense.

Lute was always fighting for Adam’s favouritism with Vaggie. She was better than Vaggie in every way, but until Vaggies betrayal Adam couldn’t see it.

Since then, the girl had some serious issues with abandonment.

“Oh cmon Lute! You know I don’t care about that failure” Y/N tries to reassure as she feels Lutes heavy breathing hit her face “I only care about you, I promise” Y/N says softly as she notices Lutes eyes soften

“Sorry.” Lute mutters, still holding Y/N against the door “I know a way you can make it up to me” Y/N mumbles, looking down at Lutes lips before glancing back up at her eyes which were wide in surprise before slowly leaning down and capturing the angels lips.

Y/N quickly reciprocates the kiss, wrapping her arms around Lutes neck and pulling her closer, desperate to have the girl closer to her.

But before anymore could be done, Adam suddenly barges in knocking the two away from each other

“The trials starting, come on.”

—

[benevolentbones]

Can I request something where an unsub is going after trans people, and you're very nervous and try to get out of that case since you're a trans man. But no one knows you're trans so you can't get out of it without outing yourself which you don't wanna do so you have to go.

But the unsub captures you anyways and has you tied up naked when spencer kicks in the door and takes down the unsub and you're begging him bot to look but he's just really sweet and understanding and helps you explain to thw others why the unsub went after you?

please don’t tell | spencer reid x ftm!reader

warnings: !!!angst, graphic descriptions of murder, kidnapping, torture, derogatory remarks against transgender people, slurs, trans post top surgery reader. 16+

word count: 2k

a/n: thank you for your request, i hope you’re happy with it :) if you find these types of stories triggering please refrain from reading<3

“our unsub is targeting transgender males?” morgan quizzed, reading through the case file.

“yes. he is stalking them and kidnapping them, and then leaving their mutilated bodies in the forest around this area.” hotch pointed to a map that hung on the board beside him.

a cold sweat swept over you, your palms feeling clammy. you felt sick- like you might throw up any second. this case hit close to home, the unsub was kidnapping and murdering people like you.

“he has taken the lives of four trans men, their age range between twenty-one and thirty-four.” emily added, flipping another page.

jj strutted into the room, dropping a pile of pictures from the crime scenes. she spread them out across the mahogany table.

“our latest victim, was a twenty-six year old trans man, he was kidnapped outside of a gay bar just twenty miles from the dump site.” jj reported.

“the coroner states that the injuries here and here-“ jj pointed to large gashes along the chest area and stomach, “-were made prior to the death of our victim. the final injury that caused him to succumb was a gunshot wound.” she then pointed to another picture, a close up of the victims forehead.

“in 2014, the average life expectancy of transgender people ranged between thirty to thirty-five years of age, and in recent years the homicide rates have increased by 25%.” spencer added, listing off facts from his mind.

the taller man sat next to you, his posture slouched as he crossed one leg over another.

you felt yourself grow pale, your mind racking through all the facts you just heard spencer spill from his mouth. you could hear sounds from the team, more comments about the case, but you could not process what they were saying.

spencer noticed your distant state, you seemed off as you sat staring down at your hands placed on your lap. he leaned over to place a hand on your forearm, whispering over to you.

“you alright, y/n?” he questioned, you flinched at his touch, your eyes flickering up to his soft gaze. he could tell something was wrong, he just couldn’t quite place it. you nodded, flashing him a small smile.

none of the team were aware that you were trans, and you wanted to keep it that way. you knew they wouldn’t judge you, they were some of the most accepting people you’ve ever met. but you would rather stay incognito, it wasn’t their business.

“are there any connections between the victims aside from being trans?” emily questioned out loud.

penelope dropped a stack of paper onto the desk as she walked in, taking a seat opposite you.

“they all went to the same practice for their surgery and hormone referrals- the highland clinic.”

“it might be someone who has access to all of their files on hand- garcia?” hotch mumbled out.

“on it.” the blonde shot up, walking back to her office.

your stomach dropped, that’s the clinic you frequented. a wave of dizziness hit you, you lifted your hand to cup your forehead, using the other to steady yourself in your seat.

spencer’s eyebrows furrowed even more, studying your paling form. hotch picked up on spencer’s concern, turning his attention to you as the team continued to speak about the case.

“l/n. if you’re not feeling good i suggest you go home and rest.” hotch mumbled out towards you, spencer nodded in agreement.

"n-no i think i'm okay.."

hotch's stern gaze was all you needed to rethink your answer. "alright, i'll head home.."

you stood up, grounding your body by gripping the edge of the table. the room seemed to spin for a moment, and you took a deep breath, willing yourself to stay upright. the concern etched on spencer's face made your heart ache.

as you made your way to the door, spencer quickly stood up, his chair scraping against the floor. "i'll walk you to your car." he offered, his voice soft but firm.

you nodded, grateful for his support. the two of you moved down the hallway in silence, the sounds of the bustling office fading into the background. when you reached the parking lot, spencer gently touched your arm, his touch warm and reassuring.

"are you sure you're okay to drive?" he asked, his eyes searching yours for any sign of deception.

you managed a weak smile. "i'll be fine, spencer. just need to get home and rest."

he didn't look entirely convinced, but he didn't push further. "call me if you need anything, okay?"

"i will.” you promised, getting into your car. as you drove away, you couldn't shake the feeling of dread that had settled in your stomach. the clinic being mentioned in the case was too much of a coincidence.

~

cold. all you could feel was something cold and hard pressed against your face. you blinked your eyes open, your eyes adjusting to the harsh ceiling lights.

you looked around, panic rising in your chest. the room was bare except for the chair you had fallen from, and a small table in the corner. the walls were made of concrete, the air damp and musty. the faint sound of dripping water echoed somewhere nearby, a constant reminder of your isolation.

you tried to move, but the ropes binding your wrists and ankles were tight, cutting into your skin with every attempt. your heart raced as you struggled to recall how you had ended up here. fragments of memory surfaced: the walk from your car, a shadowy figure, a sudden pain in the back of your head.

a door creaked open, the sound sending a shiver down your spine. footsteps approached, deliberate and slow. a figure emerged from the shadows, his face obscured by a hood. he stopped a few feet away, his presence filling the room with a menacing aura.

"you're awake," the figure said, their voice low and chilling. "good."

you wriggle around again, trying to escape the binding but causing a sharp burning feeling around your wrists. that’s when you noticed you had been stripped of your clothes, leaving you in your underwear.

“what- what to do you want.” you managed to croak out, your voice hoarse, mouth dry.

the figure stepped closer, and you could finally make out the cold eyes staring back at you. "you," he spat, a sneer curling his lips. "you disgust me."

you recalled his features, dark blond hair, blue eyes- he was one of the nurses from the clinic.

your mind raced, trying to understand the source of his venom. "i don't even know you.” you said, frustration mixing with fear.

"don't play dumb," he snapped, his voice dripping with contempt. "people like you make me sick. thinking you can just change who you are. it's unnatural."

your blood ran cold as the realization hit you. you had faced prejudice before, but never like this. "please," you began, "i haven't done anything to you."

"haven't done anything?" he echoed, his laugh harsh and bitter. "you existing is enough. you're an affront to everything decent. it’s against gods will.”

he turned away for a moment, rummaging through something on the table, and returned with a small knife. the light glinted off its edge, making your stomach churn. "i’m going to fix this," he said, he voice eerily calm. "i'm going to fix you."

the blade hovered over your skin, and you flinched instinctively. "please, you don't have to do this," you pleaded, tears welling up in your eyes.

"shut up” he snapped, pressing the knife lightly against your skin, drawing a thin line of blood. the pain was sharp and immediate, but it was the hatred in their eyes that terrified you the most.

"i'm doing the world a favor," he said, a twisted smile forming on his lips. you realized with a sinking feeling that there would be no reasoning with them.

you shut your eyes tight, mentally preparing yourself for this to be your final moments.

a loud crash interrupted the kidnapper's twisted monologue. your eyes flew open to see the door bursting inward, splintering under the force of the impact. spencer reid stormed in, his expression a mix of determination and concern.

"fbi! drop the weapon!" he shouted, his voice authoritative and unwavering.

the kidnapper's smile faltered, but he didn't drop the weapon. instead, he turned it towards spencer. you could see the tension in spencer's stance, ready to react at any moment.

"i said, drop it!" spencer repeated, taking a cautious step forward.

the kidnapper hesitated, and in a swift, practiced move, spencer disarmed the man, knocking the weapon to the ground and subduing him with a quick, forceful maneuver. within seconds, the kidnapper was on the floor, restrained.

spencer glanced at you, his eyes softening with concern. "are you okay?" he asked gently, but you couldn't bring yourself to meet his gaze.

"don't look at me," you whispered, your voice trembling. "please, don't look at me."

spencer nodded, respecting your wish. "it's okay," he said softly, turning his attention back to securing the kidnapper. "you're safe now. i promise."

spencer quickly shed his jacket, draping it around your shoulders. the fabric felt heavy and warm, a stark contrast to the cold fear that had settled deep in your bones.

"i need to unbind you," he mumbled gently. "i'm going to be careful. just hold still."

you nodded, squeezing your eyes shut as spencer's hands worked quickly to free you from the restraints. his touch was light, deliberate, and you could feel the care in every movement. your wrists stinging as the rope slips from the raw skin.

once the ropes fell away, spencer helped you to your feet, his arm steadying you. "we're going to get you out of here," he assured you, his voice calm and soothing. he turned towards the door, raising his voice slightly. "hotch, hold on a minute. don't come in yet."

you could hear the muffled response from the hallway, but couldn't make out the words. spencer kept his gaze averted, respecting your request. "can you walk?" he asked, his tone filled with concern.

"i think so," you whispered, your legs shaky but functional. you slipped the jacket over your arms, clutching the fabric over your torso to hide your scars. you didn’t want the team to know.

"okay," spencer said, supporting you as you took tentative steps towards the door. "we're almost there. just a little bit more."

he guided you carefully, making sure to keep his body between you and the door as they moved. once outside the room, you saw hotch and the rest of the team waiting, their expressions a mix of relief and readiness.

"i've got him," spencer called out. "give us a moment."

hotch nodded, signaling the others to hold back. spencer stayed close, his presence a steady anchor as you moved further away from the nightmare you had just endured.

once you were a safe distance from the room, spencer finally looked at you, his eyes full of relief and care. he crouched slightly to meet your gaze, his voice barely above a whisper. "i won't tell the team, unless you want me to." he promised. "i’ll tell them the kidnapper took the wrong victim. that this wasn't supposed to happen to you."

tears welled up in your eyes, a mix of fear, relief, and gratitude. spencer's words were a balm, a small comfort in the aftermath of the terror. "thank you." you whispered, your voice cracking.

spencer gently squeezed your shoulder, his touch reassuring. “i’m going to take care of you," he said softly. "you're safe now. let's get you out of here."

as he led you towards the waiting paramedics, you felt a fragile sense of hope begin to take root. spencer stayed by your side, guiding you through the chaos, ensuring you were never alone.

you fidgeted with your hands as the paramedics examined you, having now removed the jacket. spencer kept his gaze averted, but kept a calloused hand placed on your leg.

“i don’t think of you any different…i hope you know that.” he mumbled out, you felt a wave of relief wash over you.

“i still care about you the same. this changes nothing.”

taglist!! @0108s22m @rainoftearss @potatovoyager @rac00ns-are-c00l4 @luvmia222 @shardsofmarxx @silver138 @lover-of-books-and-tea @thedancingnerdmermaid @khxna @cynbx

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

IOTA Reviews: Emotion

Hey, remember Felix? You know, that minor character who is the entire reason Gabriel has all of Ladybug's other Miraculous? The writers remembered he existed more than halfway through the season.

Let's get into the eighteenth episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fifth season: Emotion

We start off with Marinette and Adrien getting ice cream, and just like last episode, right when they're about to kiss, Adrien stops at the last second. While we don't see it, it's heavily implied that Gabriel is behind this. It turns out that Adrien has to get ready for some dance for rich people. While it has a name and I think it was mentioned in a few earlier episodes this season, it's really just some dance for rich people, so I don't care enough to remember it. Of course, all of the rich characters we know are invited, like Kagami, Chloe, Zoe, and Prince Ali. Lila, on the other hand, wasn't invited. This might sound important, but nothing happens with her until the end.

Zoe isn't going because of the “character development” she's gotten, so she offers to let Marinette wear her dress to the dance, which just so happens to be a masquerade ball. Tikki asks why Marinette even wants to go to this party she wasn't invited to, but all Marinette says is that it's so she can tell Adrien that she didn't have to keep the dance a secret from her. Why didn't Marinette just call Adrien? Because then we wouldn't have a story.

At the ball, Adrien and Kagami are the king and queen or whatever because their parents are really determined to make their ship sail even though the two show no real interest in each other (insert your own joke about the writers here), but they're interrupted by Amelie, Emilie's twin sister and Felix's mom. She's worried because her son has been missing for weeks, but Gabriel couldn't care less about the little twerp.

At the party, we get a somewhat amusing joke where Chloe fails to recognize Marinette under her mask, where Marinette not only says her name is Zoe, but her “underling” is named Chloe too. But speaking of...

Chloe: How rich are your parents? Rich? Very rich? Immensely rich? Of course, otherwise you wouldn't be here! It's too bad we can't bring out underlings with us. I'm sure these tin cans can serve properly but we can't make fun of them! (grabs a drink from a butler robot before kicking it) So lame!

Okay, did the writers just stop caring about writing convincing dialogue for Chloe? This is a problem I've noticed a lot this season. Yeah, Chloe was bad in the last four seasons, but here, she constantly talks about how Sabrina is her “underling” (Passion), or how she finds Marinete's suffering to be amusing (Derision). It's not really out of character, but it's weird how she's so much more blunt when it comes to boasting about how full of herself she is. It feels like a lot of her lines this season were meant to be placeholders for stuff the writers thought they'd change later, but then they decided to keep it in anyway. And of course to show how stuck up the other rich kids saying the same kind of stuff Chloe normally says, which is somehow less subtle social commentary than Hop Pop shouting “EAT THE RICH!”.

Adrien and Kagami talk about how they're expected to follow orders, while pretty much saying that Kagami is a Sentimonster since the camera really wants to show off her ring.

Oh wow. what does this mean? Wow, this is such a compelling mystery with so many twists and turns. I am so very invested right now.

However, as the two talk, it's clear that Adrien isn't himself, literally.

“Adrien”: Let's leave, I dare you.

Kagami: Are you insane? We can't do that.

“Adrien”: Of course, we can. I can.

Kagami: (gasps) You'd do that?

“Adrien”: Wanna bet?

Kagami: No, we can't.

“Adrien”: See? You're not as free as you claim. Don't you think we should be able to decide our future?

I'll get back to this later.

Marinette tells “Adrien” that she loves her, but Chloe figures out that Marinette crashed a party she wasn't invited to. Of course, because this is Chloe, we're supposed to ignore how unnecessary this plan was for Marinette. Seriously, Marinette crashing the party in “Gabriel Agreste”, as illogical as it was, made sense, because they needed to stop Chloe from showing Gabriel incriminating footage of Marinette. Here, Marinette had no real reason to crash this party when all she had to do was call Adrien, and Chloe, like her or hate her, makes a good point in that she wasn't invited. But again, since this is Season 5 Chloe, she could say she opposes human trafficking, and the writers would still find a way to make her look like the bad guy.

Chloe tells the other rich kids to help her expose Marinette, but because they're so stuck up and entitled, they refuse to touch her. I'll give you all a moment to groan from that unfunny joke. Then we get this conversation between Marinette and “Adrien”.

“Adrien”: All eyes are on you.

Marinette: They're looking at me like I'm a monster.

“Adrien”: Look closer, Marinette. (whispers into her ear) They're the monsters.

I officially take back everything bad I ever said about the Canto Bight scenes from The Last Jedi.

While I get what the episode's going for, we really haven't seen a lot of the 1% doing things that would actually warrant this level of scorn from the audience. Yeah, most of them were egotistical snobs, especially Chloe, but you can't really see this as a shot at the elite when it's aimed at their children instead of their parents. All we've seen in this episode is the rich kids being jerks (and even then, it's played for laughs), Chloe rightfully trying to get Marinette thrown out of a party she had no reason to crash, and Gabriel and Tomoe trying to pair their children together. If you want to show the audience how bad rich people are, you need to show them actually abusing their power and mistreating others. As bad as the aforementioned Canto Bight scenes were, they still worked because it managed to back up the point it was trying to make.

Compare this to characters like the Ferengi from Star Trek or the World Nobles from One Piece. These are allegories for the 1% that work because they do a better job at exaggerating aspects of them that can translate to how we see the elite in our world. With the Ferengi, they represent everything wrong with cutthroat businessmen who base their entire society over financial gains, and with the World Nobles, they represent the disconnect with the common people by being so arrogant, they wear helmets that prevent them from breathing the same air as the commoners. If you wanted to show how bad the rich were, especially considering what's going to happen in a few minutes, you needed to do more to make the audience not like them so we'd be more happy to see them get their comeuppance.

Marinette figures out that Felix impersonated Adrien once again (it honestly stops being impressive when he's done it during literally every episode he appears in), and he decides to transform using the Peacock Miraculous in public for some reason, calling himself Argos.

Argos' design is okay. The suit and coattails look pretty nice, and the coloring on his face works a lot better than Gabriel's. The only problem I have is the way the hood looks. It looks too goofy to go with the rest of the suit. It kind of reminds me of that salmon suit Squidward wore in that one episode of SpongeBob SquarePants.

Before anyone else at the party can do anything, Argos reveals a Sentimonster he created, Red Moon.

Red Moon is... a red moon. It's just a red moon that floats above the city, and it gives Argos the ability to make anyone bathed in its light disappear with a snap of his fingers. If anything, this shows how overpowered the Peacock Miraculous is, and that Gabriel was a real idiot for not trying anything like this while he was Shadowmoth.

Anyway, after making everyone think his cousin is a supervillain as part of his brilliant plan, Argos decides to tell everyone in the room about what his Sentimonster can do. He demonstrates this by, of course, choosing to snap away Chloe before targeting Gabriel and Tomoe. You really have your priorities straight, buddy. Argos then carries Marinette outside before throwing her in a dumpster, because if he snapped her away, than Ladybug couldn't fight him.

But then Argos decides to go to the streets, and decides to snap away a bunch of innocent civilians... while singing a jazz song. To anyone curious as to what it sounds like, I must warn you, it isn't for the feint of heart.

I take back everything bad I ever said about the Hawkmoth rap.

First off, I'm just going to say it, Bryce Papenbrook cannot sing. Argos is clearly trying to sound like a suave and confident villain like Doctor Facilier from The Princess and the Frog, but his delivery is terrible. It either ranges from flat monotone to trying to shout while dealing with a sore throat. The point I'm trying to make is that there was a good reason someone else did the singing voice for Adrien in the recent movie.

Second, this doesn't do anything to make us root for Argos as a character, because there's no reason for him to be doing this. I can understand why he'd use his power to get rid of Gabriel and Tomoe (even Chloe, given we know how much she's done), but why is he suddenly going nuts snapping a bunch of random people who haven't even met him before? The episode tries to make him a character who only does bad things because he has no choice to, so him doing this to a bunch of innocent civilians makes no sense.

Finally, WHY THE HELL IS THIS SCENE A MUSICAL NUMBER?! It's hard enough to see Argos callously wipe out a bunch of bystanders, essentially committing genocide, but the tone of the song is all upbeat and cheery, while the lyrics are about how Argos should get whatever he wants. What is the purpose of adding a song here? Are we supposed to find this funny? Is it meant to establish Felix as a wild card? Is the song supposed to make us like him more because of how catchy it is? What was the writers' endgame here? Like I mentioned earlier, this flies in the face of the characterization the episode is trying to establish for him.

Marinette transforms into Ladybug and arrives on the scene, confronting Argos over what he did last season.

Ladybug: You're the reason why I lost the other Miraculous in the first place! And why he took them! You gave them to him without any regard for the consequences it might have with the people of Paris!

Argos: True, except I work for no one. I only helped Monarch cause it served my plans! I needed the Peacock Miraculous and today I need yours and Cat Noir's so I can make my wish!

Ladybug: Your wish?! What do you want?! What are you trying to do?! You're destroying the world and we don't even know why!

Argos: When I merge your Miraculous together, I'll make a wish to create a better world! A free world, where no one will be under anyone's control anymore, where no one will be excluded like I was! A world without people like you to decide what's right or wrong! Who gets powers and who doesn't!

Dude, you're literally playing God right now by snapping away people who did nothing wrong, while singing a song at that. You have no right to lecture Ladybug on how to use power responsibly. And once again, even though we just saw him happily snapping people out of existence like the kid from that one Twilight Zone episode, the episode is going back to portraying him as someone who's only doing this because he has nothing to lose.

Ladybug tries to use her Lucky Charm, but gets nothing in response. This is because her plan is to get Argos to give up, but even in episodes where her plan was to get Akumas to give up, she still got her Lucky Charm (Rocketear, Qilin, Penalteam, Reunion, Perfection, Intuition), so this doesn't really make any sense. Ladybug calls Argos' bluff, so he wipes out everyone from existence. After running into Kagami and snapping Adrien back into existence, Argos is surprised that they aren't thanking him for wiping out all of humanity, and in fact, see him as a complete psychopath.

We then learn Felix's true plan. Earlier that day, Argos capitalized on a opening he had been hoping he would get for weeks, and then created Red Moon. Right after Adrien's date with Marinette, Argos ambushed Adrien, and snapped him out of existence with Red Moon's power. He then decided to impersonate Adrien so he could infiltrate the dance and snap Gabriel, Tomoe, and everyone else out of existence.

I think my feelings on this plan can be perfectly summarized by Tony Stark.

First off, why did he need to sneak into the dance? All Felix had to do was transform into Argos, and nobody would know who he really was.

Second, why did he need to impersonate Adrien? Felix claims he's doing this for him, yet all he did was steal his girlfriend and ruin his public reputation. As a matter of fact, why did he even snap Adrien away? You're already wiping out all of humanity, so I don't think temporarily doing the same to Adrien will earn you any goodwill.

Third, why did he waste so much time screwing around with Marinette and Kagami? I sort of get why he would try to get in Kagami's good graces (keyword being “try”) by trying to convince her to rebel against her mother more, but why did he dance around with Marinette while pretending to be Adrien? Felix later says he wanted to spare Marinette for Adrien's sake, but he barely knows her, and whether she finds out Felix impersonated her boyfriend or not, she's going to be pissed at either you or Adrien because of your galavanting. In fact, I don't think he ever told Adrien that he danced with Marinette while at the dance in the first place.

Finally, he really needed to wait for this for weeks? If your goal was to get rid of Gabriel and Tomoe, why didn't you just ambush them yourself instead of waiting for a public function? This isn't like has last few appearances where he needed to rely on his intellect. He has superpowers now. All he has to do is create another Sentibug or some kind of assassin Sentimonster and he can be rid of them easily. Instead, he waited weeks for a chance to steal his cousin's identity, dance with his girlfriend, talk trash about Kagami for listening to her mother when he's supposed to be helping her and Adrien, blow his cover in a crowded area by transforming, and use his killer moon to erase all of humanity from existence while singing. Remember, this is the show that usually makes jokes about Marinette's obsession with unnecessarily complicated plans.

Anyway, Argos tries to use his powers to bring Marinette back, but for some reason, they won't work. My best guess is that it's because Marinette transformed into Ladybug, but that shouldn't chance the fact that Argos snapped her with Red Moon's power. After trying to justify his genocide by saying he never wanted to hurt Adrien and Kagami, Argos remembers how his powers work and brings everyone back. After Ladybug lets him go scot-free, Argos goes to a private place realizes that he may have made a few mistakes for almost wiping out all of humanity, tearfully snapping Red Moon out of existence, calling it “his sister”. Because I guess we were supposed to emotionally connect to the giant moon that showed little to no signs of sentience this entire episode? Argos transforms back to Felix, and we learn that Amelie knew where he was the whole time, and she was apparently testing Gabriel for some reason.

After Adrien explains to Marinette that his father ordered him to not tell her about the dance, Adrien goes to talk to Gabriel about it. Gabriel, being Gabriel uses his control over Adrien to force him to never talk about Marinette again. Gabriel then gets a call from Lila, and even though she's been nothing but helpful to him since Season 3, he's apparently tired with her. Why is he suddenly rejecting the help of his most competent (by comparison) ally?

Also, the episode ends with the revelation that Lila somehow knows Gabriel is Monarch. Why? How? I DON'T CARE, BECAUSE THIS EPISODE SUCKS!

Oh my God, this episode was just terrible! “Derision” and “Adoration” definitely got to me with the way their stories were handled, but this was the first episode in a while to really piss me off. The plot was contrived as hell, basically being a repeat of “Gabriel Agreste”, and you all know how I wasn't exactly a fan of that episode. Think about it: Marinette sneaks into a party, Felix tries to scheme against Gabriel, and Marinette and Adrien end up getting caught in one of his schemes.

The social commentary about how bad the rich were just felt more pretensions than anything else. I get that it's meant to teach children a lesson about the real world, but the episode feels so confident in what its trying to say when it's not that deep, even by kids' show standards. Rich people are bad? Yeah, I think someone like me who lives in the same country as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg knows that. Will you actually teach kids about the financial conditions that allow the wealthy to abuse their power or the cutthroat methods they'll resort to in order to turn a profit? No? You're just going to tell kids that rich people are jerks without giving any actual evidence in the same episode you're using to try and to teach them? Man, these writers just keep hitting it out of the park here!

This whole “Rich people suck” message also falls flat because Felix is the one pushing it. You know, someone who already comes from a rich family? It's not like Bruce Wayne where he uses his money to help the people of Gotham, as Batman or not. Felix just whines about how “tHeY'rE tHe MoNsTeRs.” when he's just as well-off as they are. The episode tries to do a subtle discrimination message as evidenced by his rant as Argos earlier, but it doesn't work because we have never seen anyone discriminate against Felix for who he is. Yeah, the episode once again tries to hint at him being a Sentimonster, but because the show hasn't just pulled the trigger and confirmed it, it's hard to really sympathize with him being “excluded” when we've never seen him being treated differently by others in earlier episodes, and even if he was a Sentimonster, nobody would know or be able to discriminate against him in the first place.

I don't know why the show keeps trying to excuse Felix's actions when once again, he pretty much committed fucking genocide yet the episode still wanted us to feel bad for him realizing his actions had consequences. If he actually wanted to own up to his mistakes, he'd either hand over the Peacock Miraculous to Ladybug or help Ladybug stop Monarch. For someone who claims he hates when people abuse power to make others suffer, he's no better, judging from how both times he's gotten to use a Miraculous, he's either screwed over Ladybug (Strikeback) or endangered a lot of innocent people. And if you're wondering why I didn't point out any double standards between the treatment of Felix compared to Chloe, that doesn't really matter. No matter how you feel about Chloe, whether you feel like she got screwed over or not, it doesn't really make how the writers are glorifying Felix any better or worse, as his potential “redemption arc” isn't off to a good start.

The plot was stupid, Felix was an idiot, and it felt like more effort was put into the musical number than the writing. In my opinion, this is easily the worst episode of the season so far.

Although at the very least, now that we have even more evidence that Adrien, Felix, and even Kagami are all Sentimonsters, I think I know what clip I can start using to describe my feelings on this plotline.

THE BIGGEST IDIOT OF THE EPISODE IS... FELIX

For someone who managed to outsmart Gabriel on multiple occasions with no superpowers, Felix's intelligence really took a nosedive the second he got the Peacock Miraculous. He came up with a completely unnecessary plan that involved impersonating his cousin's identity and mocking his friend when he's supposed to try and win their favor, he danced with his cousin's girlfriend without his consent, transformed in public, smearing his reputation even further, and proceeded to gleefully wipe out humanity through a musical number, and needed other people to point out how immoral his actions were. Of course, Marinette gets second place thanks to her plan to break into the party and later letting Argos get away.

[wormheamer]

Tbh i have no fucking clue who pansear is or why you are getting pdffile allegations can you please explain the lore thats going on here.(im genuinely confused)

rain world fan artist who got involved in some pretty heavy drama a while back.

to the best of my knowledge and energy:

a minor (azrielfiend) alleged they were groomed by one of pansear's friends (0303emily). pansear at the time believed it was more just serious irresponsibility regarding nsfw subjects than actual grooming, based on their own experiences with the latter. and they said some things that were interpreted as pushing to keep it quiet.

the moderation team of the server this happened in wound up (against pansear's wishes iirc) kicking azriel without doing much about emily. azrielfiend was angered enough by that to make a ... fairly unsubstantiated callout post about the whole thing.

a lot of bad shit happened. azriel and his friends, all underage, went trawling through nsfw sites and servers in order to find dirt on people. pan came around on it being grooming, but a lot of people (including azriel) never forgave them for that initial response. a lot of harassment occurred, and a lot of accusations were thrown around — some of them outright false.

pansear ... kinda fell apart, for a while.

watching it happen instilled anxieties in me that have never really died down.

but eventually they started posting art again. things seemed to calm down, to heal. until like two weeks ago, when azriel saw pansear complain about getting banned from the roblox phighting server, got mad, and posted a series of four screenshots he'd kept waiting for a good opportunity.

these screenshots appeared to show pansear encouraging self-harm in return for drawing nsfw art, and continuing contact with 0303emily, despite their very public falling-out.

pansear had already been kind of drifting away from rain world over the continued harassment, and this was enough for them to delete all of their social media accounts. people took that as an admission of guilt, and so didn't scrutinize the pictures very closely.

all the old accusations against pan that hadn't caught on got dug up and re-examined. some time ago she drew what, frankly, from the descriptions i've heard and the censored images i've been exposed to, seems like fairly tame furry nsfw art, shared in private, leaked maliciously, and used to claim she was a zoophile.

but the screenshots are ... i'm pretty much 100% convinced that they're fake, at this point. there are too many weird coincidences, and i've been told by a trusted source that it couldn't be 0303emily in there anyway. that's not her account.

old wounds have been torn open over nothing.

it may sound stupid for me to be so deeply invested in this but i was an emotional wreck after the screenshots released. i thought they were real too. i'm still kinda fucked up over it now. this shit has and continues to hurt so many more people than just pansear, and it's not even real.

the accusations against me are because i pointed that out.

[midnghtprentiss]

dating emily prentiss - headcons

pairing: ssa emily prentiss x pediatrician!femreader

warnings: fluff content, sugestive smut, cm horrors (children abuse), emily being a softie

no descriptions of hair, skin color, body shape

i'm thinking about making this idea a series. what you guys think?

You meet Emily for the first time because of Hotch. She drove him and Jack to your office in the middle of the night 'cause the poor child had a bad fever. She wasn't expecting to find you. Pink scrub with flowers and bees all over it, white shoes and a funny tiara in your hair. 

"Dr. Y/L/N. This is my coworker Emily, she drove us here." You nod, taking a quick glance at her. 

"Nice to meet you, Emily. Shall we go Jack?" 

That was the first time she was hypnotized by a woman like you. How you treated Hotch and especially Jack. She wouldn't mind spending hours watching you work. 

The second time she saw you was during a case. They were rescuing abused children and the pediatrician the BAU chose was you. Reid, Morgan and Emily stayed at the clinic while you did your best to save those children.

"Excuse me. My team stabilized four of the seven children, they're severely dehydrated and malnourished. With the right work and care everything will be alright." You lead them to the rooms. "If you're going to make them talk, be gentle and calm. No loud voices and movements. Remember, these children just experienced a lifetime trauma. If you need me I'll be in the other room."

"Yes ma'am." Emily answered quickly and received a smirk from Morgan. 

"Ask her out, Prentiss, don't be so shy." 

"That's inappropriate Derek, we are working." 

She asked you out after the case was over. She stopped by at your work to thank you for your help and asked if you wanted to have a coffee next time you're free.

You learned that Emily was addicted to coffee, that she loves fudge brownies and most of her clothes have cat hair. You were so entertained by the way she rambled and how her brown eyes sparkled when she got excited.  She laughed at your 'no sex on the first date' — you failed so bad. When both of you noticed you were breathing heavily in Emily's car. 

"I don't know why that's funny. This rule used to work every time." You gave her a look.

"I'm just too hot for this waiting thing and you weren't even complaining thirty minutes ago!"

The months were passing and you two got very involved. Phone calls when she's away, dinner at her or your place, waking up tangled in the sheets. The schedules work just fine, the cases were longer like your shifts. There wasn't pressure on labeling the relationship that was building, but was serious. This woman had you wrapped around her finger.

Long phone calls or voicemails when she's at her hotel room.

"Hey, I can't even imagine how rough the shift is today. The case is evolving to the right direction, we got different clues today and are close to catching the unsub. I saw a bookstore next to the precinct with the book you told me about, so I bought it to discuss with you on the next date. Reid said the book is fantastic and he told me a lot of curiosities about the author, can't wait to tell you everything. Anyway, call me when you can. I miss you." 

She surprises you with your favorite food when she picks you up at work. You commented that you wanted to eat sushi and the next day she showed up with sushi just for you. Or when you slept at hers she makes your favorite breakfast (with Rossi on the phone just to make sure she's not giving you food poisoning).

Emily is a morning person, you're not. Waking up with this woman looking like a golden retriever, walking around, rambling and trying to make you wake up. 

"You know Ems, if you're doing this to get into my panties you are not getting. Let me sleep." 

"It's a beautiful day, sugar. Let 's go!" She comes closer, stroking your messy hair.

"I hate you so much." You looked at her with the most evil smirk ever. 

When she started to think about the idea of marriage, kids and white picket fence she almost had a stroke. She changed her whole life plan since she met you. The idea of a love that is so light and free wasn't even a real thing in her head. The greatest part of her day was talking to you, thinking of you. You were the reason she was more caucareful at the field, she was being more open about her feelings to her closest friends. 

Girls night!!!!!!! Penelope and you bond right away. She was so excited to see the girl that was making Emily look like a love pudding.

"You are so made for each other, look at that! The way she looks at you!" 

"Penny, calm down!" You drunkenly laugh at her and pass your arm around your girlfriend.

"I think we should get shots for this moment. Y/N help me!" You give Emily a kiss on the cheek and follow Penelope. 

"How do you feel?" J.J asked Emily that answer with the brightest smile.

"I am in love with that woman and it hurts that she has no idea of how much it is." 

"She feels the same way, the lovesick gave. I'm happy you found your half." 

"I bought a ring." Dead silence between them. 

"What? Oh my God!" 

"Keep this down, ok? I'm waiting for the right moment and right now it's not. Hotch went with me and yeah, that's it." 

You slowly moved with Emily and started to have a life together. You share bills, you do chores together, buy things together. Even adopted another cat. Life was amazing, couldn't be better. Until the day she proposed.

[jinkiezzsstuff]

I absolutely loved the Emily and Charlie ideas you wrote so I was hoping to request another Charlie x male reader with some smut (but not the main focus). Idea being everyone going out for an evening with Charlie staying at the hotel to work, secretly wanting some company but telling everyone to have fun anyway. Reader didn't go out and found her later in the evening (maybe can tell how she's feeling) so offers some company/someone to cuddle. The main smut I'd like to include would be her leaving some scratch or kiss marks and her being quite touchy/hands on.

I’m so glad you enjoyed the others teehee i tried my best with this so i hope you enjoy it but im not too happy with how it turned out tbh, idk why, i guess it could be because i didn’t feel like during the smut scenes i did charlie justice, lmk what you think.

Charlie x male!reader

After Party

warnings: creampie, biting, scratching, kinda rushed smut, angsty charlie, possibly ooc charlie but i can’t tell, charlie n vaggie are friends, im not sure if there’s anything else, oh swearing, NOT PROOFREAD beware of errors.

word count: 2K

Charlie was tired. Between her father disbelieving in her, Alastor picking a fight with him, the failed meeting with Adam, and finding out Vaggie was an angel? She was over and exhausted. She tried to keep up her mood but she just couldn’t stop the spiralling thought process of handling everything on her own. It seemed like every step forward she had to take four steps back, nobody believed or respected her.

“Cmon, we needa little par-tay.” Angel whined pushing himself over the back of the couch dramatically. Charlie hummed, barely listening as the crowd of sinners lingered in the little living room-like area. “We don’t need anymore fuckin parties, spider.” Husk muttered before taking a big swig of his drink. “I don’t know, I think a little bit of recreational activity could really brighten the spirits!” Alastor exclaimed, and as much as Charlie would like to join the fun, if she didn’t finish up the work she had she knew it would only stress her out further, but she knew the others worked hard too and deserved a little treat.

Reaching into her pocket she pulled out some cash and beckoned over Alastor. “Here, why don’t you take everyone out to relax?” She said softly, despite her desire for company and hope that one of the few would stay back to assist. “Aren’tcha comin’ toots?” Angel who jumped up the moment Charlie pulled out money asked, putting one of his hands on her shoulder. “Oh no, i’ve got sooo much to do here, you guys go on without me! Bond a little!” She smiled as brightly as she could, although anyone with a keen eye could tell it was forced. In the back of her mind she was hoping for more punch back, more of her friends to beg her to come out with them, but instead they shrugged her off and left rather quickly.

Sighing Charlie rung her hands together and walked up the stairs slowly, vacant and alone, the hotel now seemed so eerie. She made her way to an office one that had been used by the whole team she had, so herself, Vaggie and Alastor. She plopped herself lazily on the ripped leather office chair, air slowly escaping the cheap foam as she did. Charlie couldn’t help the bitter feelings stirring around in her; she was always happy to help her friends and wanted them to have fun and relax, she just wished maybe they cared a little more about her? It was a confusing sensation, she knew Vaggie cared, but at times she felt more like a personal body guard rather than friend, and Alastor, she knew deep down, didn’t actually care.

Opening her phone she decided to try and ease her mind before sorting out the paperwork she had piling, unfortunately the universe wasn’t kind to her. Opening Sinstagram the first sight she was greeted with was Angels varying posts and stories which included all the crew members piled into a booth enjoying their drink of choice. It made a scorned yucky feeling of jealousy tangle within her stomach. Groaning she pulled open a drawer and stuck her phone in it, slamming it shut after. “It’s better to just work.” The princess mumble pulling the first stack of papers near her; the billing’s for their failed comercial.

After an hour of word Charlie sat back in her seat and messaged her sore neck. Pulling her phone from the drawer she checked the time. 23:48. Having no idea when the others would get back, she shuffled from the office to the second story balcony for some air. “Oh sorry I didn’t know you were here!” Charlie exclaimed, seeing you leant over the balcony railing. Looking over your shoulder you gave the little devil a warm smile. “You can join.” You say beckoning her forward, with a sigh and a forced smile Charlie came up alongside you, mimicking your stance. “What’re you still doing here?” Charlie questioned eyeing you from her peripheral. Your brow quirked and your face turned to confusion, with a quick hum you replied. “Just relaxing..?” The statement came out uncertain and wobbly, but you weren’t quite sure what she meant.

“No, i mean why didn’t you go out with the others?” Your head tilted back as you let out an ‘ah’, now understanding what she meant. “I just, well, this is the only time i get free yknow, always gotta be doing something so it’s nice to be alone, but i also want to have fun with them, but that drains me yknow?” Charlie quickly nodded her head at that completely understanding where you were coming from. “Yeah i know what you mean. I wish somebody stayed back with me.” Nudging yourself lightly into her, she met your eyes with curiosity floating in her own. “Well I stayed back, why don’t we relax together?” You suggest warmly, smiling fondly down at her. Charlie momentarily stuttered, blushing at the way her mind wandered to naughty places.

“Ahem, uh, sure! Yes! Let’s do that!” The princess fumbled, pushing herself away from your hold. You could tell she was flustered as she walked off leading you to whatever part of the hotel she’d choose to relax in, you felt a little voice in the back of your head egging you on to tease her, and who were you to deny your great mind. “Alrighty this it my room! Uhhh, why don’t we watch a movie or something..?” Charlie trailed off leading you into her bedroom.

You took a quick look around enjoying the aesthetic her room held. Charlie kicked her shoes off and pulled her jacket from her shoulders. “You can lounge on the bed if you want, i totally don’t mind!” You grinned and got onto the bed, watching as she frantically ran around “Calm down hun, you look real stressed.” You urged her frantic pacing causing loose hairs to tangle and fly out from her ponytail. “Ugh, i know!” Sighing she finally plopped on the bed beside you and laid back hands folded on her stomach and eyes closed. Leaning over slightly to look down on her, you observed her somewhat relaxed face as you watched her slow her breathing down. Assumably trying to cease the slow crawling panic that was clawing at her. “It may be a little forward but I heard compression and hugs can help stress, you wanna cuddle or some shit?” Your voice came out slightly tight a little unsure of how to go about the request. Charlie’s eyes fluttered opened and blinked toward you, after a moment of silent contemplation Charlie sighed happily opening her arms. With a huff and a smile you scooted down, wrapping your arms around her while laying beside her.

She scooted up into your side, her right hand sliding up your chest and around your shoulder. It sent shivers down your spine, and blood straight to your dick, embarrassingly so. Ignoring the sensation, your hand gently traced shapes into Charlie’s side where your arm was placed. Charlie’s head slowly lifted and shifted from the bed to your chest, tucking herself under your chin. Her hair tickled at your nose and chin, you could smell her shampoo and the perfume she’d used. You tightened your grip subtly, enjoying the warmth she let off, and with a hum she swung one of her legs over your hips, twisting her body entirely against you.

You took a deep breath attempting to calm your heart and the tightening sensation in your pants. Like the devil spawn she is, Charlie began tracing your chest, flattening her palm against your chest and trailing down from your neck, to the hem of your jeans, and back up to your neck again. Taking a deep breath you brought your hand up to you with her hair in attempts to distract you.

“Thanks for this.” She mumbled nuzzling her face further into your chest. You hummed eyes lazily dancing around shapes your eyes made up on the canopy above. “Any time.” You replied after a moment. The two of you laid there silently, softly the two of you let your hands drift across eachother innocently. It wasn’t until charlie’s hand ducted under your shirt to touch your bare chest that the air in the room got thick and heated. Breath hitching you zeroed in on her claws softly scratching down your chest. “Charlie,” You warned as her claw nicked the waistband of your jeans. Charlie knew good and well what she was doing, could you blame her? You’ve always been so attentive to her feelings and emotional state, the first to check on her after a stressful situation and give her the best advice you could.

With sudden need shooting through Charlie she straddled your waist bracing herself against your chest. Your hands reflexively went to her hips, eyes shooting up to meet her own attempting to figure out what the hell she was doing. She traced her claws down your tshirt covered chest, and when she made it to the bottom her hands wiggled underneath the fabric to paw at your warm skin. As she did you traced circles on her hips, and quirked a questioning brow at her. “Whatcha up to princess?” Charlie smiled shyly, trying to hide her face in her shoulder. “I just want to repay you for your kindness towards me.”

Your face twisted with worry, abruptly you sat up, making her gasp and tucked your hands behind her back to keep her from falling. “I don’t want you to feel like you owe me,” You quickly say, however Charlie pushed you back down, shushing you as she did. “It’s more then just that, i think you know they though. Let’s relax, desttress.” With that being said, you tossed aside your tshirt while Charlie eagerly undid your pants, hands shaking as she did. Your hands decided not to diddly saddle and undo her pants simultaneously, needing to feel her speedily.

You were already achingly hard, precum dripping down your shaft as Charlie shakily gripped you giving your head a soft squeeze. Pulling her hand away Charlie kicked off the pants that clung underneath her knees, and readied herself against you. You hummed out in pleasure relaxing into the mattress as she sunk down onto you, above you Charlie whimpered and squeezed her eyes shut, clenching onto every vein and ridge. It was delectable, she couldn’t understand why she’d never gone for this before. Bottoming out, Charlie’s legs shook, her body would involuntarily convulse every now and again as she attempted to adjust to the size of you. Falling forward unable to keep herself up she sunk her nails into your chest making you groan deeply, bucking your hips up into hers.

Nuzzling herself into your neck as you took the reigns, thrusting up into her at a steady pace, she began to leave teeth marks and hickies along your neck, desperate moans broken out between nips and bites. Your arms encased her pulling her near as you roughly fucked up into her at a brutal pace, her juices dripping down you. Erotic, loud slapping noises were all that you could hear in the room accompanied by Charlie’s whimpers and please. “Fuckkk, yknow how long i’ve waited for this? They don’t know what their missing not staying around someone like you.” You say splaying your fingers through her hair as you do, at this point Charlie’s body laid limp atop your own, your knees up and angled to continue your rapid pace.

“Please,” Charlie begged clenching tightly around you, you huffed out a moan that you attempted to cover and slid your hands down to squeeze her ass. Groaning loudly, you pushed her over, still inside you hovered over her, pulling her legs up over your shoulders to gain new access. With this angle you were able to hit different areas making Charlie squeal. “Oh fuck Charlie,” You groaned as your balls slapped against her ass, finally you felt the band snapping and slowly you filled her with cum, pumping all of what you had inside her. Charlie cried out clenching, and convulsing against you. She tried to inch away screaming your name loudly as she road out her high against you. When the two of you had finished, catching your breaths, you laid beside her, pulling her into your chest.

She rolled her head from one side to face you, her eyes glazed over barely seeming like she was there. “Didja mean what you said about wanting this for so long?” You nodded at her, the softness in her voice was music to your ears and made goosebumps crawl against your skin. “Yeah, since i got here, you’ve had my eye.” Humming softly the princess said nothing, but buried her head in your chest.

[sequinsmile-x]

A Few of My Favourite Things

It's Emily's birthday, and Aaron and Jack seize the opportunity to right some of the wrongs of the past.

-x-

Hi besties,

Nearly four years into my Hotchniss writing career and I finally get to write one of 'those' ao3 author notes.

I know it hasn't been *that* long since I posted a fic, but 5 days is probably the longest it's been without me posting for a couple of years. I had (planned) surgery on one of my lungs on Friday and only got home from the hospital yesterday. I'm still recovering and will be for a few weeks, but I've been working on this on and off for a few days because I always write something for their birthdays <3

I'll absolutely still be posting - writing keeps my mind alive - but probably not quite as often as we're all used to whilst my body remembers how to...breathe properly hahaha

Anyway, here's a belated birthday fic for Emily based on an anon I got <3

As always, let me know what you think!

-x-

Warnings: None, just super super fluffy

Words: 3.5k

Read over on Ao3, or below the cut

“Emmy, can I ask you something?” 

She smiles as she looks at Jack, nodding as she sits up to make room for him on the couch, her book already closed and on the coffee table by the time he joins her so he has her full attention. Aaron was still at work, kept behind by paperwork and reports, and she’d offered to pick Jack up from Jessica’s and take him home. Aaron had smiled gratefully at her, his eyes shining with everything he couldn’t say to her whilst they were at work. He glanced towards the window of his office to ensure no one was watching before he stamped a quick kiss against her lips, a tiny moment of them lingering between them before they returned to the professionalism they held as dear as they did their relationship. 

It was a fine line they’d walked for months now, the 8 months since their first date some of the best of her life, and she knew eventually they’d have to stop. That as they moved further into this, as they took every next inevitable, wonderful, step into officially living together and marriage and kids, working together would no longer be practical. The blind eye that Strauss and the higher-ups had granted them so far would go away, any prentice of willful ignorance gone with by them submitting an address change form, or the existence of a marriage certificate. 

She knew realistically it would be her who would leave the BAU, and she was content with it. If it hadn’t been for Aaron, and by extension Jack, and the love and happiness they’d brought to her life she’s sure she would have left the BAU, and potentially DC, anyway. That she’d have taken the first offer that got her out of here, no matter how far away it took her, because she needed to be who she was now without people looking at her and mourning who she once was. Aaron had helped her through it, had helped her help herself more than anything else, and she finally felt at peace. Like she had a home for the first time in her life, only it wasn’t made out of bricks and mortar but a man, who she would have once called stern, with a dimpled smile that made her stomach flip every time, and his little boy. 

She loved Jack so much that it scared her sometimes. At first, she’d doubted her place in his life, never wanting to overstep, the gap his mother had left behind was not one she wanted anyone to think she was trying to fill, but as time went on she got more comfortable with it all. She cared less about what other people may think because it worked for them. She was the one Jack would seek out if he was sick or sad, his face pressed against her neck as she soothed him with soft words, gentle kisses and fierce hugs. He’d bring her paintings he’d done at school with a proud smile as he presented them to her and she’d react as if they should be hung in the Louvre. She loved him, and he loved her, and that was enough. She knew without a shadow of a doubt that when she and Aaron had more children she wouldn’t love them any differently to how she loved him. 

He’d taught her that she could be a mom, even if he never ended up calling her that. 

“Of course you can, sweet boy. You can ask me anything, you know that,” she says, patting the couch as he joins her, her smile getting wider as he sits next to her and huddles against her side as if on instinct, “Is everything okay?” 

He sighs as if he has the weight of the world on his shoulder, “I don’t know what I want to do for my birthday.”

She has to press her lips together to stop herself from laughing, never wanting him to think she was making fun of him, “Your birthday is meant to be fun, kiddo. Let’s think about it together,” she pushes his hair from his forehead and then drops a kiss there before she encourages him further into her embrace, “Have you had any ideas at all?” 

He half shrugs against her, “I know I want Daddy’s chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.” 

She hums and rests her cheek against the top of his head, “The best birthday breakfast ever.” 

“And it would be fun to go to the park. And maybe the arcade?” He muses, his fingers idly playing with the delicate chain of her bracelet, something she’d rarely taken off of her wrist since Aaron gave it to her one date night just because, “I just want to spend the day with you and Daddy.” 

Her cheeks ache with the smile that spreads across her face, love for him so overwhelming it briefly makes it hard to breathe, “Well, you’ll get that no matter what we do.” 

It’s a promise she knows she can keep because they’d booked two weeks off work so they’d be off for both Jack’s and her birthday, a positive side effect of Strauss’s recent ‘use it or lose it’ policy when it came to the team's leave. Aaron and Emily both had so many vacation days left she’s sure they could have taken a month off and still had time to spare, but they’d settle on this for now, both of them silently agreeing they’d keep the rest banked until the honeymoon they both knew was somewhere not too far away on the horizon. 

Jack pulls away and looks up at her, his head tilted slightly to the side, his eyes full of curiosity, “What did you used to do on your birthday?” 

“When I was your age?” She asks, something that gets her a nod in response, and she suppresses a sad sigh, “My mom would take me out to eat at a nice restaurant if she wasn’t busy with work.” She runs her fingers through his hair, smiling when it flops back down immediately, partially covering his horrified expression. 

“She never took you to the park and pushed you on the swings? Or went to the arcade with you?” 

She smiles at that, internally laughing at the image of her mother in an arcade, the red soles of her Louboutins sticking to the soda-covered vinyl floor as her daughter tries to win enough tickets to get a stuffed cat from the prize stand. It wasn’t something Emily had ever really thought about all that much before. Her birthdays had consisted of over the top gifts and very little time with her mother. Any meal they did go out for was in a restaurant designed for adults - fancy dishes created to be paired with wine, nothing for a little girl who wanted pizza, chicken nuggets and ice cream until she fell asleep. 

It briefly makes her sad, familiar sorrow for the younger version of herself flickering in her gut, and she promises herself Jack and any siblings he would one day have would never have to feel this way. 

“No, sweetie,” she says, “She didn’t, but we’re talking about your birthday,” she says, diverting the conversation back to him, tickling his stomach to draw a laugh about him, “Chocolate chip pancakes, the park, the arcade…anything else?” 

He furrows his brow and pauses, deep in thought for a moment, before his eyes go bright and he looks at her, “Ice cream.” 

She laughs and nods, tugging him back into a hug, “Ice cream sounds perfect.”

___

The first thing she notices when she wakes up is the smell of pancakes. The second is the sound of Jack giggling followed by Aaron shushing him, his voice low as he tries to stay quiet. 

“We need to be quiet, buddy.” 

“But we’re about to wake her up anyway.” 

She decides to take pity on her boyfriend when she hears his exasperated spy, not that she’s sure she could hide that she’s awake much longer anyway, her smile wide and sleepy as she half presses it into his pillow, and she opens her eyes. 

“Lucky for the two of you, I’m already awake,” she says as she sits up, her smile getting wider at the sight of them - matching grins on their faces and splatters of flour in their hair and on their cheeks. She looks at the tray in Aaron’s hands with a huge stack of pancakes on it and a cup of coffee, and then back up at her boyfriend, “What’s all this?” 

“Happy birthday, Emily!” They say in unison as Jack scrambles onto the bed, throwing himself into her arms, an embrace she returns just as fiercely. 

“Thank you,” she replies, stamping a kiss against his forehead before she turns to Aaron who is now sitting on the edge of the bed, ready to hand her the tray. She gratefully takes it from him and rests it over her and Jack’s laps and cups Aaron’s cheek, tugging him in for a kiss, keeping him in place, chasing the taste of batter and him before he pulls back, “Thank you too.” 

He smiles and kisses her quickly, “You’re welcome sweetheart,” he winks at her as he sits back so she has access to the tray, “They’re your favourite.” 

She looks down at the pancakes, her smile getting impossibly wider when she realises they are heart-shaped, and she chuckles when she sees the scattering of chocolate throughout them, “Chocolate chip!” 

“The best birthday breakfast ever,” Jack says, repeating something she’d said to him weeks ago when he was agonising over what to do for his birthday. They’d ended up doing everything he’d wanted, and he’d fallen asleep on the couch that night as they watched his favourite movie, happy and content and safe between them. 

She hums and leans down to kiss his forehead, “Well, there are a lot of pancakes here,” she smiles up at Aaron, “I think you boys are going to have to help me.” 

Aaron chuckles and reaches for one of the forks on the tray, “Why do you think we brought three forks up here?” 

She laughs and shakes her head at him as he cuts through the soft pancakes with the side of the fork. She leans forward to eat the first bite when he offers his fork to her, and she smiles, “You’ve got it all planned out.” 

“Trust me, sweetheart,” he says, winking again, “We’ve got the whole day planned out, don’t we Jack?” 

Jack nods enthusiastically, half a pancake in his hands, his fork already abandoned entirely, “We do!” 

She narrows her eyes playfully, “You two are lucky I trust you.” 

Aaron kisses her cheek, and then the corner of her lips, “Eat your pancakes, Em. All will be revealed.” 

After they’ve had breakfast, Aaron insists he’ll clean the kitchen, ignoring their usual rule that if one of them cooked the other cleaned up, and he encourages her towards the shower. He joins her when he’s done in the kitchen, his hands on her hips as he pulls her back under the stream of hot water, whispering he’d distracted Jack with a video game to buy them 30 minutes before he kisses her. 

They give her gifts, a framed photo of the three of them from Jack and a necklace from Aaron to match her bracelet, and cards with beautiful things written in them that almost make her cry. Aaron’s warm and comforting hand on her thigh, a gentle squeeze through the material of her jeans, is the only thing that keeps her together. They tell her it’s time to go and she doesn’t even care where they are going because she feels warm and loved and just happy to be with them. Aaron insists they all wear jackets, a hint that wherever they are going they’d be outside, and they get into the car. It’s when they are just over halfway there she realises they are going to the park, a journey they’d made only five days ago for Jack’s birthday, and she smiles curiously at her boyfriend, reaching over the centre console to reach for his hand, his eyes giving nothing away when he turns to look at her. 

When they are a safe distance away from the parking lot, Emily and Aaron walking hand in hand just a few paces behind Jack, the little boy takes off at a run, “I’m going to go save the swings for us.” 

“Jack, be careful,” Aaron says, “Make sure-”

“I stay where you can see me, I know,” Jack says, rolling his eyes at his father and the warning he always gave him. Aaron chuckles as Jack continues to run towards the swings and he shakes his head lovingly. 

“You know, he never used to do that before you,” he says, squeezing her hand, his smile getting wider when she laughs and looks at him, her eyebrow raised, her smile diminishing any attempt to pretend she was annoyed. 

“So,” she starts curiously, purposely knocking her shoulder against his, “The park,” she presses her lips together to contain her smile, “Are you going to tell me what you two are up to yet?” 

He stops her, turning them so he can talk to her and keep an eye on Jack, “A couple of weeks ago a little bird told me you never got to do any fun things on your birthday like go to the park or the arcade.” 

She bites the inside of her cheek and looks over at Jack, the little boy now patiently sitting on one of the swings as he waits for them, and then back at Aaron, “Did he now?” 

Aaron nods and squeezes her hips before his hands slip to her lower back, encouraging her closer, “He did, so we decided we’d make sure you got to do all of those fun things on your birthday this year,” he explains, his smile adorably nervous, “We’re going to a pizza place for lunch, then the arcade and then out for ice cream - which I was told was non-negotiable - which will be followed by heading home to order in dinner from a place of your choosing,” he smiles, his dimples carved out into his cheeks, “And then we’ll watch whatever nerdy movie you pick.”

She chuckles and hooks her arms around his neck, her fingers trailing through the short hair there. She feels tears pressing at the back of her eyes, her chest tight with love and everything she’d never been able to find the words for. She’d never been loved like this before. Never been loved so unconditionally or deeply, and there were moments like this when it was overwhelming, something that not all that long ago would have sent her running in the other direction. 

These days, she didn’t want to run anywhere other than towards Aaron and Jack, and the future they were building together. 

She watches as panic washes over her boyfriend’s face, mistaking her silence for annoyance rather than joyful disbelief, “If this was a bad idea, we can go home,” he says, half stuttering out his words in a way she’d never heard from him before, “I have a backup reservation at that new Italian place this evening-”

She cuts him off with a kiss, her hands on each of his cheeks as she pulls back, “No, this is…” she trails off into a wet chuckle, shaking her head at him, “This is perfect,” she kisses him again, “You’re perfect. I love you so much.” 

He smiles, his relief spreading through him in a way she can feel, his body relaxing against hers, “I love you too.” 

She leans in to kiss him again but they are cut off by a yell from Jack, his patience finally running out. 

“Dad, Emily, hurry up!”

They both laugh and look at him, his hands on his hips as he stands just a few feet away from the swings, and then they look back at each other, wide smiles on both of their faces as they start to walk towards the young boy.

“He never used to do that either.” 

“Aaron.” 

___

It had without a doubt, been her favourite birthday she’d ever had. 

Jack insisted that he had to push her on the swing, his small hands on her back helped along by Aaron’s bigger hands just above them, both of them laughing as she tried to pretend she wasn’t enjoying herself. They’d ordered more food than they could possibly have eaten at the pizza place and then spent more money than she thought possible at the arcade. Hours and hours lost to the three of them moving from game to game, the tickets they’d won stuffed into their pockets as they drank giant sodas and somehow found room for hot dogs and ice cream. She’d handed her tickets over to Aaron when she went to the bathroom, her lips stamped against his as he said they’d meet her at the prize counter, and she expected that she’d find them standing there with some plastic game Jack had picked out for himself. 

Instead, she’d found them there with a large stuffed cat in Jack’s arms, his smile wide as he handed it to her and told her they’d chosen it for her. It’s probably the ugliest looking thing she’s ever seen - its black fur looked unevenly distributed, its sewn-on smile was wonky and the stare from its eyes was something close to unnerving - but she loves it. It’s immediately her favourite thing she’s ever been given, and she’s sure she’s never come closer to crying in public. It’s something that would have felt ridiculous in the middle of an arcade filled with screaming children and exasperated parents, so she’d held it together. She’d held the cat close all night, cuddled up against her as they watched Star Wars, a physical manifestation of their love for her that she wasn’t quite ready to let go of yet. 

When they get ready for bed, she places it on an armchair in the corner of Aaron’s bedroom and pats it on the head before she walks to the ensuite. She’s just finished with her skincare routine when Aaron joins her, his arms wrapping around her from behind as he smiles at her in the mirror. 

“Did you have a good birthday?” He asks, kissing her cheek, making her smile when he shifts down to kiss her neck, his nose nestling against her jawline, his love for her lotion well known. 

“I did,” she replies, resting her hands over his on her abdomen, “The best.” 

He tilts his head to look down at her, “Are you sure? It was only when we were at the arcade I realised I’d let Jack talk me into the perfect day for a 6-year-old boy.” 

She’d laugh, but she wants him to know how much this had meant to her, how this had been infinitely more special to her than a dinner in a restaurant they could eat at any night could ever have been. She turns in his arms and wraps her arms around his neck, letting her thumb stroke back and forth over the patch of skin beneath his hairline. 

“Honey, today was perfect,” she says, her eyes boring into his, hoping more than anything that he’d believe her, “You gave me something I didn’t even know I’d been missing,” she smiles when he relaxes, “This was the best birthday I’ve ever had,” her smile turns mischievous as she leans in to kiss him, “If anything, you’ve just made more hard work for yourself next year when you have to try and top it.” 

He grins at her, his grip on her tightening, “I look forward to the challenge,” he kisses her, his hands firm on her lower back as he holds her close, his fingers sneaking under the hem of her t-shirt. He starts to lead her towards the bedroom, both of them grasping at each other, their kiss eventually lost as her knees hit the back of the bed and she pulls him down on top of her, “Just one thing though.” 

She frowns at him as she tries to catch her breath, “What?” 

“We’re not doing this with that fucking cat watching us.”

She laughs as she looks over to the stuffed cat sitting on the armchair in the corner of the room, and she holds Aaron’s head against her chest, his forehead against her collarbone, “Don’t worry honey,” she encourages him to look up at her, her lips stamped against his as she scrapes his hair away from his forehead, “I’m sure we’ll find a permanent place for it.” 

18 months later, the cat is one of many stuffed animals lined up in their daughter’s nursery. Its wonky smile a well-loved companion on long sleepless nights as Emily feeds the baby and Aaron holds them both close.

[mostlymaudlin]

andrew and neil ride a roller coaster

OH BOY i have a whole wip brewing that's like a study of andrew's fear of heights so this has my thoughts reeling in like the least-funny directions 😂 but wait hmmmm i can do it i can find the crack!!! or maybe just random kidfic? anyway:

there's something to be said about people's desperation to not repeat the mistakes of their parents. andrew, who justifiably has many opinions on how adults should treat children, can acknowledge that this is a noble pursuit.

however: aaron's children are fucking spoiled.

emily, still recovering from a fried dough-related meltdown, is relatively quiet now that neil has picked her up and allowed her to hide her face in his neck. she's really getting too big for this behavior, but again: spoiled. aaron's other gremlin is gripping andrew's hand with the strength of a professional athlete as she guides them through the crowded fairground.

this whole thing is neil's fault. andrew isn't sure what kind of deal he and aaron have made this time, but it involved babysitting for the long weekend while aaron and katelyn take a vacation. this alone? not a big deal. but katelyn had apparently promised to take the twins to the fair this weekend, and neil's commitment to the bit means the four of them are here: sunburned and sweat-sticky in this dusty wasteland of cow poop, rickety rides, and the unrelenting cheer of carnival music.

"three tickets each," fiona reads proudly, pointing to the ride that she has led them to. fiona is unruffled by the crowds or the sun that has turned her cheeks pink despite the layers of sunscreen they have lathered on her all day. "three tickets for me and three tickets for you," she says to andrew.

she holds her free hand up to neil, today's ticketholder. palm up, expectant, unaware of a reality where she could be denied. "six, please."

neil adjusts his grip on emily as he digs in his pocket for the roll of tickets. emily resurfaces long enough to demand that she gets to count off the six tickets, and andrew is struck by the patience on neil's face as emily tears them off one by one to hand to fiona. it did not come naturally: neil avoided the twins as newborns, and then was generally unsure of what to do with them for a long time. andrew supposes they've all done some growing up in the last five years.

"i can go with her, if you'd prefer," neil says to andrew. andrew glowers in response. it's a kids coaster -- barely taller than a second story building and moving slower than a golf cart. andrew does not need to be coddled.

emily makes a pitiful sound at neil's suggestion, dropping the remaining tickets as she wraps her arms around neil's neck in refusal. neil huffs a laugh, shifting again to ensure he doesnt drop her. fiona dives to grab the tickets, shooting a significant stink eye at her sister as she hands them to andrew.

"don't worry, uncle andrew," fiona says. "i'll hold your hand if you're scared."

andrew wasn't wrong: the coaster is slow and the dips aren't steep. but they are still enough to send his stomach swooping. fiona shrieks happily every time, and andrew will give aaron's kids one thing: they understand the sanctity of a promise. fiona never lets go of andrew's hand.

[backgroundagent3]

My Emily Henry Rankings

@brekker-by-brekkerr you asked here if I had a ranking of the Emily Henry books and couples, so after way too long, here's my opinions, along with some really bad explanations. <3 Spoilers ahead!!

Books:

Happy Place. This was the first Emily Henry book I read, and the first book that ever made me cry. Harriet was so relatable, and it was probably my favourite setting out of the four books. The characters were all so interesting, and they had such a great dynamic. I love the found family trope, and she absolutely nailed it.

Book Lovers. I loved the plot so much, and Nora was also so relatable in a different way. I loved how even though she isn't perfect, she doesn't have to change and give up her job to get what she wants. Her relationship with Libby reminded me a lot of me and my sister, which was so nice to read about.

People We Meet On Vacation. I really liked the structure of this book, and I think it made the reveal so much better. I also loved reading about all the places they went to.

Beach Read. I loved this book so much, so the only reason it's ranked in last place is because I somehow loved the other ones even more. The plot felt a little slower, but I think that has a lot to do with the fact that I only managed to read about 5 minutes a day.

Couples:

These were much easier to rank for some reason.

Nora and Charlie. I just love them so much, I don't even know what to say. I love how they respect each other's choices and make their decisions according to what they want/need, not what the other one wants. I usually really like the quiet, more mature relationships where they know they love each other without needing to shout it from the rooftops.

January and Gus. I though the way they learned to communicate without pushing each other was really sweet, even if it led to some misunderstandings. Enemies to lovers is always great, especially if one if then doesn't even realize they were never actually enemies.

Harriet and Wyn. I was a little annoyed at Wyn for most of the book to be honest, and so frustrated with their miscommunication. That's not to say I didn't like them. I think they were so sweet and had some of my favourite lines.

Poppy and Alex. Again with the terrible communication skills. I get that it's an important trope for the genre and it made sense in this book, but I'm a very impatient person. I did love how well they know and understand each other, but I think I preferred the scenes when they were just friends.

I'm also going to do main characters, because why not:

Nora Stephens.

Harriet Kilpatrick.

January Andrews.

Poppy Wright.

The reasoning here is purely relatability. I can see a bit of myself in all four of them, but some more than others. As I was writing this I realised the ones at the top I find relatable because of more negative things, like my insecurities, or qualities I have that I don't like. I share a lot of qualities with the ones at the bottom, but at the end of the day, I like reading about people who share my struggles and doubts because it's comforting to know I'm not alone. I don't know if this makes any sense, but it was very interesting in my head.

So anyways, these are my opinions. How would you rank them?

[sunwarmed-ash]

Fucking Friday- fic preview

alright @sweeteatercat this is some raw ass footage of The Eden Club sequel. Title omitted for spoiler reasons 👀

strap in

Connor’s usually not allowed more than two in a room with him. For both safety and financial reasons. But the group of young men that wants to rent his company tonight are in a polycule. They seem harmless enough, and the last thing Connor wants to do is come off as non inclusive. Surely the PR shitstorm of coming across as bigoted would be worse than breaking a few of Kamski’s club rules. Right?  

The payment processes and three young men enter the room. 

In his extended time around humans he’s gotten to know the softer sides of them. The kinder sides. His relationship with Hank and Gavin has been going amazing since he finally came clean about everything. So much hes forgotten that humans can be cruel too. Especially to anyone different than them. Or while under the influence of synthetic methamphetamines. 

Connor barely registers the feeling of lips on his mouth, because something behind his back was opening, taking his attention. He didn't even remember having an open port there. And yet-

“Wait-”

He loses ‘feeling’ first. It's the most noticeable error despite the four bright red error warnings in each sphere of his vision. Because there are three sets of hands on him, and he can’t feel any of them. “What are you-” doing to me!? He shouts, but the two hands on his face are silencing him, metaphorically and physically, pulling out the wires connected to his vocal chip.  

His thirium pump is working overtime, attempting to supply blue blood to the other surviving biocomponents while combating a busted tube in his back that was consistently spilling blue blood all over the floor. 

‘Please stop!’ he tries to beg, but no one can hear him. He doesnt think anyone would listen anyway. 

And then, they cut his sight. 

The only sense he had left was hearing, and he could hear it all. Their hateful slurs, their dirty words like Emily had warned against half a year ago. The use of his real name. 

Which meant, this had been a planned attack. They had known he was an android from the beginning, and managed to outsmart even the most advanced detective prototype. 

They were going to kill him. 

They were going to kill him and there were no more ‘Connor’s’ left to replace him. He would never see Hank again. Gavin. V. Markus, Emily, Sumo.

Maybe he was never meant to be a success. Maybe that was supposed to be his eventual AHA moment. Maybe he was created with the sole purpose to fail, so they could learn more. Just like Amanda said. Maybe that was Kamski’s big joke. It felt like one. Because here he was, under his creators own roof, bleeding out in his bedroom. 

Yet another MIssion FAil3d...

Location services disabled: 1:03 AM

OPTICAL UNIT- DESTROYED

THIRIUM PUMP- DAMAGED

REBOOTING INITIALIZING….FAILED…FAILED…

“Hey, hey you gotta stay with me! CONNOR!”

Connor’s lids blink erratically, but it does nothing to affect his visual receptors. They are still fried. Someone is shouting his name, but it’s hard to distinguish the who over the sounds of several different pieces of equipment whirling, beeping, and pinging in the background. It's giving Connor a headache. Then someone slaps the side of his face, attempting to rouse him. 

“Ow,” he says, but all that comes out is static. 

“Connor, it's Elijah, raise your hand if you can hear me.”

Connor surprisingly still has any autonomy over his limbs, but he’s able to raise his left hand up a few inches. He doesnt miss the obvious blatant relief in Elijah's sigh when he did that. 

“Okay, stay with me. You're going to be okay. I’ve got you.”

Was he dying? Again? He couldn't feel anything. Not like he did during deviation. He always expected death to feel like something. The humans were scared enough of it that it being painful was plausible. But instead he felt nothing, saw nothing. And then-

“Connor!”

-

The DPD-1:26 AM

Hank gets the message first. 

“FUCK!”

It could be about anything with the way Hank throws that word around, but the way he flies out of his chair and topples it as he yanks up his jacket, Gavin knows it's about Connor. 

“Shit,” Gavin agrees, grabbing his own coat. “Whoa, hey! Slow down, talk to me!” he demands but Hank can't see him right now, can’t hear him. He’s in mission mode and he is booking it out the bullpen as fast as his amazon legs will take him.  Gavin follows, having to jog to keep up with Hank's huge strides. 

When they reach the police cruiser, Gavin takes the keys out of Hank's hands. The man blinks twice before rounding on Gavin, looking like he's going to strike him. Gavin doesn't back down. 

“Just tell me where to drive. You're gonna get us killed too.”

Hank's face lost all of its color and Gavin feels like someone kicked him in the gut. 

“Shit… is he-”

“NO,” Hank insists angrily, yanking open the passenger door, before barking out “The Eden Club,” hollowly.

Gavin’s color drains too. For more reasons than one…

[k7l4d4]

K Reviews and Rants: Miraculous Ladybug Season 5! Episode 19

Hello All! Welcome to the episode in which we get the start to the worst couple in this entire series being shoved together by the writers!

I've got a few points to talk about on this: Firstly, this episode runs headlong into the problem that the writers cannot be consistent to save their lives. Their efforts to try and imply Gabe used to be a good person before wealth and success corrupted him basically fall apart here; even ignoring how Adrien being forcibly isolated and not allowed to have friends vastly precedes Emilie dying, this episode shows that Gabe's philosophy as a fashion designer is cold, exploitative, and basically embodies the worst of trends and market-based business models, all wrapped up in Gabe's narcissistic belief that his usage of them is unique and some form of personal genius on his part.

Secondly, when Marinette tries to refute his awkward and lopsided pancake metaphor, it runs into the issue that her refutation comes off as her going "get with the times old man." The way she frames the issue, rather than her condemning Gabe's controlling tendencies or belief that he can dictate all around him, she basically just calls him outdated and presents a broad, sweeping statement that "nobody likes that anymore." It makes her come off as shallow.

Thirdly, if I'm remembering the tangled mess that is continuity right, this episode gives lie to the glaring problem with Marinette and Adrien's relationship. Throughout this Season, despite it being so late in the series, Adrien has starting chafing harder and harder under his dad's control, not helped by his dad basically gaslighting him into willingly going along with it... and what makes it worse is that Marinette has been ENABLING THIS. Despite his schedule going from "relatively busy as a model, but he can make time to go see a race between Alix and Kim" like he did back in Season 1, his schedule is now so ridiculously packed that he can BARELY spare four minutes to have a "date" with Marinette... yet when he expresses his frustrations about his dad, Marinette tries to dissuade him and convince him better he has it, how much more freedom he has, when he really has no more freedom at all, and in fact has LESS. It basically puts a spotlight on the fact that, when it comes down to it, Marinette would rather let him live a comforting lie then confront an unpleasant truth and work things out for himself. It's not healthy.

Lastly, we get to the most... unpleasant portion of this episode. Namely, Felix and Kagami. Leaving to the side Kagami just... starting to like this guy out of nowhere, the biggest issue with this episode is that it tries to claim that Felix has poor social skills, and his doing things like, you know, KIDNAPPING SOMEONE are because he doesn't know how to express himself. This, in spite of the fact that a recurring factor of Felix's appearances is that he can easily and effortlessly manipulate people around him and routinely impersonates his cousin well enough that nobody can spot the difference until it's too late. As well as emphasizing Kagami's damsel in destress type role in how she seems incapable of standing up to her mother... this in spite of the fact that one of her first major appearances was her taking advantage of her mother's lack of sight to trick her into going out and joining a contest as an excuse to make friends and get out from her mother's thumb. This episode is basically trying to cram Felix and Kagami into the same mold it crams Marinette and Adrien, and if anything their relationship is even MORE toxic, as whereas Marinette and Adrien's problems just got flanderized by the writers, Felix and Kagami's characterizations are just plain incompatible with those molds... yet they are being made to fit them anyhow, despite being totally unsuited for them.

Wow, that has to be the longest forward for a Review so far! I wonder if that'll change...? Anyway, onto the review! As always, please forgive any profanity on my part.

Episode 19: Pretension 

Okay, we get a brief recount of Adrien's schedule, with Adrien and Marinette planning on maximizing their time together under Gabe's nose by getting his stuff done early. Like THAT won't have any flaws in it... 

Okay, and we get a brief glimpse of Argos spying on Adrien and Kagami from the roof of the school... yeah, this does not sell the idea that he gives a shit about them. It makes him look like a fucking stalker. Next we see a scene of Gabe getting his wounds from the Cataclysm checked out... why does he look like he's wearing a sweater? 

Seriously, WHY does Gabe's cataclysm wound look like he's wearing a black sweater? 

Okay, it looks less so from the top view, but still. It just... blends eerily with his skin. Like, if his body looks like THAT, he shouldn't even be able to MOVE HIS ARM. Also, apparently he and Tomoe have access to hightech healing couch things. I wonder why we don't see more advanced tech like this? We KNOW it exists in-universe. 

Apparently Gabe is stealing energy from the Kwamis to reverse the progression of his wound. Why, it's almost as if he shouldn't have BURNED SO MUCH OF IT WITH POINTLESS RESETS USING THE SNAKE MIRACULOUS!!! For fuck's sake, it would've been smarter to just empower an Akuma with it!! 

And he mentions saving his wife. Yeah, that'll make him tormenting Paris, emotionally abusing his son, and just all around being an abusive shit-heel all better, right?

And we get more vague talking points from Tomoe about "the future" and "we are connected, just like our children." WE STILL HAVE NOT EVEN BEEN GIVEN HIS MOTIVATION!!! And apparently Felix left behind some monocle thing. For some reason. 

Marinette trying to talk up Gabe to make Adrien feel better, by listing off either the outright bullshit (him giving Adrien all the freedom he needs, despite him still having a schedule so strict his "dates" with her last at most FOUR FUCKING MINUTES IN DISGUISES), or moments of pandering that don't actually do anything for him as a parent (making pancakes). 

He hasn't come far AT ALL, he's still every bit the controlling asshole he's always been. The writers are seriously trying to shill Gabe as having matured as a person when, if anything, HE IS FUCKING WORSE. Oh, and the show once again trying to "joke" about Marinette's creepy behavior by describing Gabe as worried about Marinette due to thinking she's an obsessive stalker. WHICH SHE WAS!! Even if she hasn't acted on any of the creepier stuff in a while, she still STARTED that way!! For fuck's sake, they are almost making Gabe wanting to keep her away from Adrien look REASONABLE!!! STOP TRYING TO BE SELF-AWARE!!! 

They seriously had her try and brush aside her stalking by saying "she was doing it out of love." That is basically EVERY OBSESSIVE CELEBRITY FAN STALKER EVER. And she says she's changed a lot. Yeah. She has. NOT FOR THE BETTER. 

And Kagami is now gonna try and talk with Tomoe... this can't end well. 

I wonder if the fact that Marinette left her scooter at the school will come up again later? 

Marinette finally realizing that maybe she should've given Gabe SOME KIND of heads up about her coming. Yeah, even if he's an asshole, running the fact you are having a friend over with your folks is Childhood 101.

Adrien reassures Marinette... and Gabe is putting on the happy father routine. This can only go SO well... /s 

Yeah, he didn't even last a minute before he "asked" Adrien to go to his room so he and Marinette could have a "comfortable chat." Stranger danger, anyone? But yeah, no, he hasn't changed at all. 

Okay, so he's still keeping up the act. And Plagg appears to talk with Adrien! I can't remember, when's the last time that happened? 

"I can't... I can't disobey my father." Wow, they aren't even trying to be subtle about this. My eyebrow is literally twitching right now. 

And now Gabe's dropping the pretense and going for a roundabout way of talking about how he thinks Marinette is a social parasite by comparing her future to a pancake. 

Like, he's not even trying to be remotely subtle about this. He talks about how he can make her the "perfect pancake, just the way she likes it." He even compliments her skill as a designer (Hey, her love of fashion is suddenly FUCKING RELEVANT again!!), but then he lays down how he'll never let her be with Adrien, pointing out how he's not in the room with her. "She'll never be able to share her pancake with him." That just SOUNDS fucking weird, doesn't it!? I would point out how the metaphor falls apart, but given how Gabe has emphasized his own role in the "pancake" so far, the implication is strong that HE is the one in control.

Now he's talking about some "destiny" for Adrien. Why? WHY!? What is the FUCKING POINT!? THEY HAVEN'T EVEN FUCKING EXPLAINED WHAT THE CONNECTION BETWEEN HIM AND TOMOE EVEN IS!!! 

"That future doesn't include sharing pancakes with you." WHY DOES THIS SOUND SO WEIRD!? 

He describes life as being "like fashion, how you think you have a choice but you only have the illusion of choice. A choice I have given to you." My takeaway from THAT creepiness being that he's a fucking control freak who thinks he's smarter then everyone else and that the world runs on deterministic rules for everyone but himself. 

Marinette's counterpoint being that fashion is about communication, listening to the wants and needs of people and appealing to those wants and needs. Congratulations, you understand supply and demand on an emotional level! That's surely something to be proud of! 

If you ignore the idiocy of this all being about Adrien, the commentary on the fashion elements is mildly interesting. Gabe representing big business designers that make mass-appeal products under a huge brand, meaning profit and "one size fits all" tend to be the rule of the game, with Marinette representing smaller businesses that (in theory) out the customer's needs and feelings first. 

Then Gabe laughs in her face and the symbolism is gone and he just straight-up mocks her as being "childish" and "making dresses for dolls" while going full blown "I control this industry and what people like and want." Because apparently being able to understand basic trends among social groups makes him this genius and he apparently thinks people give enough of a shit about fashion in general that they won't just ignore what a big business pushes in favor of stuff they personally find appealing.

He's seriously just mask off control freak at the moment. It's genuinely disturbing that THIS is the guy they want us to see as tragic, when he honestly just comes off as an obsessive and self-important creep and a loser to me. 

He even admits that he creates "perfection" but deliberately makes it unachievable as a way to manipulate the market and the masses. This, more than anything, feels like Thomas' commentary on the 1% at work. Like, if he focused more on shit like THIS, of Gabe being a selfish, predatory businessman who sees the public as fools and tools, SO MUCH of the nonsense in this show could be avoided. But Noooooo... we gotta make him SYMPATHETIC and make people wanna comfort the poor widdle terroristic psychopath!!! 

What makes this more disgusting is that so much of what Gabe is saying right now is so utterly repulsive, both on an individual level and in-general, that it shows how little he really understands the world or people. He genuinely cannot accept a reality that doesn't dance to his whims, and it's what makes the show trying to whine about how "HE USED TO BE BETTER!!!" so pretentious because he's FLATOUT ADMITTING HE HAS ALWAYS RUN HIS BUSINESS LIKE THIS. 

Also, after "losing her appetite" over Gabe's cruelty, Marinette walks out, spots the stairs, and takes off up them. The most Gabe does being to shout "no, I forbid you!" Instead of, you know, ordering the bodyguard RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE DOOR to stop her! WHY DIDN'T HE STOP HER ANYWAY!? CLEARLY SHE WASN'T MEANT TO RUSH FOR THE STAIRS AND HE'S GOT A BIGGER REACH THEN A TEENAGE GIRL!!! 

Okay, he ordered the bodyguard up AFTER she's already all the way up the stairs. Like THAT will keep her from talking with Adrien, who she's already spoken with. /s

Then we get her triumphantly marching out of the house and the bodyguard just jumping out of the way rather than escorting her out. UGH... 

And Marinette brings back the weird pancake metaphor of him using an "old, outdated recipe." Which would be impressive if it weren't for the fact that they had ALREADY ABANDONED THE METAPHOR and she hadn't even EATEN the pancake, so she's making shit up off the top of her head. You don't continue a metaphor after the characters stop using it to dance around a topic, writers!! 

And the metaphor falls apart even further because she makes a sweeping generalization with her metaphor that "no one likes them like that anymore," which falls apart because there is no fucking way she could know everyone in the world's tastes anymore than Gabe does, so she comes off more as tone-deaf then inspirational. 

Okay they actually address that she didn't even try them. STILL DOESN'T EXPLAIN THE METAPHOR IN THE SLIGHTEST, because again, they already stopped using it, and AGAIN, SWEEPING GENERALIZATION. For a metaphor to work, it has to be consistent with the stance the person pushing it forth intends. It comes off less as Marinette challenging Gabe's control freak tendencies and more as her setting up a "old vs. new" dynamic with her stating that she, the newer generation, knows better then the old "tasteless" generation represented by Gabe. 

Aaannnndd Marinette has a freakout literally the instant she makes it past the gates.

 Now we get to Tomoe berating Kagami for going against their "family quest" and describes her as "if you are not your own master, then you are already your own slave," which could make for an interesting commentary about not letting your emotions rule you if it weren't for the fact that Tomoe literally dictates every aspect of Kagami's life, so she isn't her own master OR her own slave. 

Oh, they even made it deliberate by having Tomoe flatout accuse Kagami of being a "slave to her emotions," which again falls apart since Tomoe DICTATES HER LIFE ENTIRELY. Also, Argos apparently is hitching a ride on the top of their car, HOW IS NO ONE SEEING HIM IN THE STREET, HE IS LITERALLY ON TOP OF A MOVING CAR IN THE MIDDLE OF A CITY IN BROAD FUCKING DAYLIGHT!!! 

Okay, and now Argos is trying to bust Kagami out. Since apparently Tomoe being a mean control freak justifies FUCKING KIDNAPPING!!! 

HE LITERALLY CRASHED THEIR FUCKING CAR AND DRAGGED HER OUT THROUGH THE FUCKING ROOF! DID HE SERIOUSLY NOT THINK SHE WOULDN'T GET HURT!? 

Alright, it's back, and apparently Felix sheds feathers which was enough to convince Tomoe that it was him, and now she's letting herself be Akumatized with a full detail of Alliance Rings to get the Peacock. Because CLEARLY she isn't worried about her KIDNAPPED DAUGHTER!! 

Them renaming the Bee Miraculous as the Miraculous of "Action" sounds even worse when it's described as giving the power of paralysis. It's an oxymoron. Okay, we also get the Rooster, AKA "whatever random bullshit the writers need that they could just include in the Akumatization!" 

And after dragging Kagami back to his lair against her will, Felix nearly gets hit in the face with a chair. Which he totally deserves.

Felix describing himself as not being Kagami's enemy and just wanting to talk to her REALLY doesn't work when the last time they met, he had admitted to planning to genociding the world, lying to her, and had basically killed her mother (who she still cares about). What a moron. 

"Ever since I saw you, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you." Felix, dear boy... THAT IS CALLED BEING AN OBSESSED STALKER!!! 

"We have so much in common." Name one thing. ONE. FUCKING. THING. 

"We don't even know each other." YES!! KAGAMI IS FINALLY TALKING SENSE!!! ...They're gonna ruin it, aren't they? 

Then Felix literally admits to having been stalking her since the last time he saw her. 

(Bangs head against a wall, weeping) 

And Kagami spelling out all the ways that's fucked up! Hooray! If only this show didn't have the world's WORST FUCKING TRACK RECORD AT SELF AWARENESS!!! 

Kagami, no, he isn't utterly incompetent at social relations, he is a DISTURBED LUNATIC YOU NEED TO GET AWAY FROM!! DID YOU SERIOUSLY FORGET WHAT HE TRIED TO FUCKING DO LAST TIME!?

I am sincerely disturbed that they are trying to frame this insanity as him being unaware of social interactions. This isn't "unaware of how to express emotions," this is "disturbed lunatic who doesn't understand how to function in society!!" 

This is the dude who has repeatedly given Adrein mocking, evil grins whenever he tries to fuck with his life. He knows damn well how social interactions work, and how to HURT others. 

Writers... do not... FUCKING...DARE have Kagami make a tender expression over him pointing out the very basic fact that Tomoe shouldn't verbally abuse her!!! 

Okay, now back to Marinette. Tikki, Marinette was NOT incredible in any way!! She was an idiot! And before she goes any further down her mental spiral at having stood up to Gabe, she spots Tomoe's Akuma form and instantly pursues it, meaning any possible reflection on how YES, Gabe is still an absolute piece of shit, is left unexplored. God FUCKING DAMMIT!! 

And the same thing happens with Adrien and Plagg. Oh, so the weird spy lens did come in handy, they are using it to track him. 

And now we get the sight of Felix "bravely defending Kagami from her mother." Gag me.

Tomoe really shouldn't be letting herself get distracted by Chat Noir and Ladybug, and the fact that she somehow doesn't seem to comprehend that she's just as much of a danger to Kagami as she is to Felix in her current form makes me bang my head against a wall. And Felix apparently thought it was a good idea to JUMP OFF THE FUCKING TOWER WHILE HOLDING ONTO KAGAMI!!! WHAT THE FUCK IDIOT!? 

Marinette shoots down the idea of just leaving Tomoe to go after Felix and then taking the opportunity to get back the Peacock. It's actually the smart decision, seeing as they are, as previously stated, just as big of a threat to Kagami as they are to Felix, and Chat forgot that Tomoe is currently Akumatized, she is GOING to attack them anyway, regardless of whether she saves Kagami or not. 

Tomoe going "if you're not with me you're against me" really captures her double-standard behavior of demanding respect and obedience above all else. WHAT IS EVEN HER FUCKING DEAL IN ALL THIS!? WE STILL HAVEN'T GOTTEN A REASON FOR HER ALLIANCE WITH GABE!!! 

And then we get the writers trying to once again set Felix up as the "good guy" because he's "trying to set her free from Tomoe." THAT DOESN'T FUCKING WORK WHEN YOU HAVE LITERALLY ESTABLISHED YOU DON'T ACTUALLY RESPECT ANYONE'S FEELINGS OR OPINIONS BUT YOUR OWN YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!!! And Kagami flips him over her shoulder. GOOD.

You know, something just occurred to me: why isn't Felix or the others getting paralyzed by the Venom Arrows? We literally had it shown with Safari that they will paralyze ANYONE they touch, even semi-indirectly. Unless that's something shown before S5 that I missed... 

Kagami... your mom IS AKUMATIZED!! YOU SHOULD FUCKING KNOW THAT SHE IS NOT IN HER RIGHT MIND!!! DO NOT LISTEN TO THE BLUE-SKINNED SUPERVILLAIN HOLDING YOU!!! 

"You've never met my father, he was a thousand times worse!" Wow, what a GREAT reveal that utterly destroys whatever possible reasonable motivation he could've had for treating Adrien like a piece of shit in his debut episode! LITERALLY THE ONLY THING THAT MADE FELIX TORMENTING ADRIEN AND TRYING TO RUIN HIS SOCIAL LIFE IN HIS FIRST APPEARANCE NOT PURELY AWFUL FOR THE SAKE OF BEING AWFUL WAS THAT HE HAD RECENTLY LOST HIS FATHER!!! ALL THIS REVEAL DOES IS MAKE HIM COME OFF AS AN ABUSIVE PIECE OF SHIT TO ONE OF THE FEW PEOPLE WHO GIVES A CRAP ABOUT HIM!!! 

"Fighting's no longer my priority, all I care about is your safety." Yes, because DESTROYING YOUR WEAPON WILL SURELY MAKE KAGAMI SAFER!!! 

IT'S NOT AS IF HE COULDN'T HAVE JUST RIPPED OUT THE FEATHERS AND USED THEM THAT WAY WHICH WOULD STILL HAVE LEFT HIM A FUCKING WEAPON!!! Okay, apparently Adrien's staff didn't disappear when he detransformed. WHY!? WHY DID IT ONLY DISAPPEAR WHEN HE TRANSFORMED BACK!? IS IT BECAUSE IT HAS TO MANIFEST ON HIM!? WHAT IS THE REASONING BEHIND THAT!?

Felix going "don't call them monsters," and then goes on a whole spiel about how he refuses to create a being to manipulate, use, and abuse... yet it somehow never fucking stopped him from treating Adrien like utter shit and playing with his trust and feelings to hurt his friends and endanger Paris. 

Writers... STOP HAVING KAGAMI BLUSH OVER THE PSYCHOPATH WHO TRIED TO FUCKING WIPE OUT ALL OF PARIS IN A MASSIVE TEMPER TANTRUM, ONE THAT LITERALLY MAKES A LIE TO EVERYTHING HE IS SAYING BECAUSE HE LITERALLY DID ALL OF THAT ALREADY WITH RED FUCKING MOON!!! 

How does he EVEN FUCKING KNOW KAGAMI IS A SENTIMONSTER!? HE LITERALLY HAS NO EVIDENCE OR PROOF! LITERALLY NOTHING BUT A GUT FEELING!!! NOTHING IN THE SLIGHTEST!!!! 

DO NOT EVEN FUCKING START WITH THAT 'DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO EXPRESS HIMSELF' BS!! HE HAS BEEN EXPRESSING EXACTLY WHAT HE WANTS AND WHAT HE MEANS SINCE LITERALLY DAY FUCKING ONE!! YOU CANNOT MAKE EXCUSES FOR SOMEONE WHO HAS GLEEFULLY TREATED EVERYONE AROUND HIM LIKE SHIT OR LIKE PAWNS AND WHO LITERALLY TRIED TO KILL EVERYONE HE DOESN'T LIKE THE LAST TIME YOU MET HIM!! HE IS NOT BAD AT EXPRESSING HIMSELF, HE IS MANIPULATING YOU FOR HIS OWN FUCKING BENEFIT!!! 

At least Chat and Ladybug are as confused as I am.

Okay, if her plan was just to tie up Tomoe's duplicates and cut the string on her bow, they literally could've just had CAT do it!! The Lucky Charm was completely fucking superfluous!! 

And Tomoe throwing a tantrum over how she could've failed. Honestly, I'm wondering the same since those arrows should've been paralyzing them every time they used their weapons to block. So... yeah, this was bullshit to me. Unless I'm misremembering, they utterly fucked this all up. 

And Tomoe goes full mask off emotional abuser on Kagami standing up to her. FANTASTIC. That's not completely and utterly expected and symbolically worthless at all! 

And we get a scene of Adrien being pissed off at his dad when he says he's going to London next year. Then he just marches off. He's REALLY made progress on standing up to his dad, hasn't he? It's not like he has some blatant supernatural REASON why he's unable to stand up to his dad, after all! And once again their efforts to show how Nathalie has turned on him turn out to be all for nothing since she refuses to do anything more than mildly criticize him despite having all the power in the world to blow the lid wide open on his plots, since even sick she can manhandle him with ease. 

I honestly hate how the show keeps insisting that Adrien wishes he was as courageous as Marinette now. Like, what the FUCK happened to the guy who was willing and able to sneak out of his house against his father's wishes to live the life HE wanted back in Origins!? 

"What are we gonna do?" Plagg, you and Adrien can just fucking run away. 

Them trying to make this touching scene between Kagami and Felix falls totally flat on its face given how much bullshit asspulls and retcons coat this episode like a layer of grime. And with THAT, this episode's done. I FUCKING HATED IT.

[wen-kexing-apologist]

Based on your recent answer about why you watch BL in which you mentioned many narratives like to punish lesbians with death, I wanted to prompt you to speak on that a bit more if you're willing. I will wait here chin in hands for when/if this is interesting to you because it's a bugbear of mine and I'd love to read your thoughts!

Hello Twiggy! (can I call you that? What should we shorten your url to? t-t?) 

Anyway, I would be happy to speak more on that!

To establish my lens, I am a Westerner, I grew up with no queer elders, and did not really realize I was queer until after I graduated college, so my experience with queer media was limited at best. I know there are films and television out there where the sapphics live, and there are films and televisions where I am completely fine with a queer character dying. I am not a “if any queer character dies they are burying the gays!” kind of person. 

Now, I’ll admit that when I wrote that in my answer, I was mostly saying it based on knowledge of the tumblr discourse I’ve observed over the past decade I have been on this fucking website. In other words, I didn’t know the full extent of the issue, because to be perfectly honest, despite the absurd amount of television I do watch, seeing queer women in my shows has been few and far between. I don’t think I saw a girl kiss another girl until I stumbled upon the YouTube web-series Carmilla in high school. SO, your ask required me to do a little bit more research. 

Here is a link to an article listing 230 dead lesbian and bisexual characters and their causes of death which include toxic envelope glue in Seinfeld??? The list is so long that the article is split up in to FOUR PAGES!

Here are a couple of names from shows I either have seen or recognize: 

Tara Maclay in Buffy the Vampire Slayer 

Lexa in The 100 

Tosha in The Wire

Poussey in Orange is the New Black (which I will absolutely never forgive this show for) 

Toshiko Sato in Torchwood 

June Stahl in Sons of Anarchy

Patty O’Farrel and Veronica Cortes in La Reina del Sur

Jamilah Olsen in Black Lightining

Dani in The Haunting of Bly Manor

I do not want to count how many times I have seen the words “died in her girlfriends arms” in this list, and I’m only a page and a half in. I do not want to count how many times I have read “Cause of Death: shot/stabbed/blown up/murdered/throat slit” I have seen three separate queer women from True Blood on this list, three separate queer women from Boardwalk Empire, four from Orange is the New Black, four from Killing Eve. The cause of death for a character named Emily in Teen Wolf is five lines long. We know how Supernatural is about killing women and killing queers, and killing queer women (there are three on this list I’ve seen so far). And there are some truly convoluted deaths in here, and unsurprising a number of the most fucked up ones are…you guessed it, committed against queer women of color. 

And there are plenty on this list from like…American Horror Story, or like Scream, or you know other shows with very obvious ‘this is kind of an everyone dies’ situation. Like I’m not surprised if multiple queer characters from The Walking Dead die, I’m not going to hold it against the television show Spartacus for killing a bisexual woman in the final battle where everybody dies. (I will blame them for systematically killing off any and all interesting, complex female characters until we were left with almost nothing, when we had such good ones in Season 1). I do not see Dani dying at the end of Haunting of Bly Manor to be a ‘Bury Your Gays” situation in the least. 

And I am a lot more prone to being comfortable with a queer character dying if there are other queer characters in the story, as long as they don’t all die, you know what I mean?  

Hell, even in shows written and/or performed by queer people where at the end everyone lives, they’ll still sometimes kill (and then resurrect) the characters. Laura in Carmilla  for instance. 

According to a study by LGBT Fans Deserve Better, 62 lesbian and bisexual female characters had died over the past two seasons of television (at the time, which I think was like 2014-2016) and the 2015-2016 year saw the highest number of deaths of queer women in one season of television (42 characters accounting fro 10% of all deaths for scripted television shows that season)

In 2016, a GLAAD analysis was published stating “25 lesbian and bisexual female-identifying characters have died on scripted broadcast and cable television and streaming series since the beginning of 2016” and went on to say that most of those deaths were used to further the plot of the often cishet main character, and violent death was the most repeated ending for queer women in media. 

Looking further back in time, the Hays Code of 1930, which had major influence over United States television, did not allow for positive portrayals of queerness. And those impacts linger for far longer than those rules were put in place. I’m thinking of the very obviously queer coded lobster person in PowerPuff girls (which was one of my childhood shows) named HIM who was the personification of evil. Ursula in The Little Mermaid being inspired by a drag queen. [And it is here I will put an aside to say, I love queer coded villains, I think the person that made most of DIsney’s villains in like my generation of Disney films was queer himself, yada yada I’m covering my ass from anyone who wants to engage with this post in bad faith blah blah]. 

Hell, I’ve seen one GL out of Thailand, which was GAP the Series and even they killed off another queer female character and made Sam suffer abuse at the hands of her grandmother. I’ve heard about how The Shipper treated its lesbians. 

The TL;DR version of this is that, for a very long time in (at least Western) television, a sapphic existed in a narrative, and a sapphic died, often violently, often in their lover’s arms. And thanks to studies like the one by LGBT Fans Deserve Better, these disparities were made glaringly obvious, and rates of lesbian death in shows has been going down since 2016.

[dr-spencer-reids-queen]

Bloodline: Part One

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~1.9k

Summary: Never have you heard of a family killing together, and never have you heard of generation of families killing together. Yet here you are.

Warnings: canon violence, canon language, canon talk of death, methods of kill

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Criminal Minds. All credit goes to their respective owners. If there are any warnings that exceed the normal death/kills from the show, I will list them. If you’ve seen the show, then it’s the same level of angst unless otherwise stated

x

There is no doubt that it is around the family and the home that all the greatest virtues, the most dominating virtues of human society, are created, strengthened and maintained." - Winston Churchill

The last case was a rush because they called you in after three women were dead, but this time is different. Alabama PD discovered a family killed inside their home and immediately called your team in due to the brutality of the murders. You didn't even have time to talk in the briefing room since this is a top-priority case.

After everyone gets settled on the plane, the meeting starts. JJ is still on maternity leave, but Jordan doesn't want to do this job anymore. Not after the case with Norman, the guy who was killing people with his sawed-off shotgun after they cut him off while driving. She got a look into how brutal the job can be and decided it isn't for her.

However, JJ has one more week until she's back so this will be Jordan's last case.

A family was found murdered inside their home at one in the morning, and their ten-year-old daughter is missing. Cases involving children are always the hardest because most children don't survive within the first twenty-four hours of being kidnapped. Cate is ten years old, but that doesn't mean she's safe from being murdered like the rest of her family.

You have about half a day to find her alive.

"We got the links of the crime scene photos." Jordan pulls up the photos of the family who was killed. "This is Geoff and Nancy Hale with both their throats cut."

"Is there any evidence of abuse?"

"No."

"Slitting someone's throat is quick and efficient."

"That's because the real target was down the hall," Emily says.

"She has a name," Jordan snaps. "She's not 'the target'. Her name is Cate and she's ten years old."

Tension is thick, but Rossi keeps the conversation moving along as if this didn't happen.

"Is an amber alert in effect?"

"Since seven this morning."

"With the unsub's head start he could be anywhere within a four-hundred-mile radius. Make sure that they're casting a wide enough net. Who discovered the bodies?"

"Jim Scheuren, Cate's biological father. He was supposed to take her for the weekend. The police don't consider him a suspect."

"We'll want to talk to him anyway. We're also going to need a list of registered sex offenders in a twenty-mile radius."

"What's the makeup of the Hales' neighborhood?" Spencer asks.

"Mostly white and middle class."

"We'll need aerial views of the neighborhood. If Madison County doesn't have them, talk to Garcia. Dave, you, Y/N, and Morgan go to the crime scene. The rest of us will get up to speed at the precinct."

Once landed, everyone broke into their own little groups with you heading out with Derek and Rossi. The Hales' neighborhood is a series of rural roads and one-block streets. It's about three miles to the nearest main street, so he didn't happen upon Cate by accident. Her father, Jim, might not have been the one to do this, but he might know who did.

In the meantime, you arrive at Cate's house which is covered with police personnel and yellow caution tape. You don't have to get out of the car to feel the tragedy that happened here. Since this happened just last night, there are different colored energies pouring out of the place.

The detective on the case sees you arrive and walks over to greet you.

"Bo Whitaker," he shakes hands with Rossi.

"David Rossi. This is Derek Morgan and Y/N."

"Pleased to meet you. The point of entry is around the back. The neighbors didn't see or hear anything, and the dogs lost the scent almost immediately."

"It's not hard to target a family out here."

"Yeah, even in broad daylight. If you walk five feet off the track, you could get lost for days. He had plenty of time and privacy to watch what he was really after."

There is a tire swing in the front yard, and Cate's energy is swirling around it since she really loved that swing. The energy is strong enough for it to take her form, and you're the only one who can see her. She has a smile on her face as if nothing bad could ever happen to her.

You look away in sadness and hope that she is alright.

"I prefer cities. You can see them coming," Rossi comments.

Bo takes you to the window the killer came in through, and there is not only one energy stemming from it, there are three. You head inside the house and see the pane of the door knocked in when they tried to kick the door in. That's when they used the window to get in. There are three energies inside the house: red, blue, and yellow. That can only mean one thing--the murderers are a whole family.

"Do you think the girl's dead?" Bo asks.

"It depends on what he took her for."

"I don't think we're looking for one unsub," you say. "We're looking for a family. There are three different energies inside the house, not including the family who lived here. There are three different energies stemming from that broken window. One red, one blue, and one yellow. One male, one female, and one child."

"How do you know this?" Bo asks.

"I'm a psychic. I see the energies of the killers."

You leave their side without hearing Bo's response, but you do hear Derek back you up. You're the real deal, and they trust you wholeheartedly. You walk into the master bedroom where the parents were found, and there is blood all over the walls, bed, and even the ceiling. There are two people in the bed with their throats cut, but you know they're not real. Derek heads over to Cate's room to examine it, eventually joining you and Rossi in the master bedroom.

"Find anything in Cate's room?" Rossi asks Derek.

"That's what's weird. There's no sign of struggle. It didn't even look like she tried to get out of bed in a hurry."

"Her parents' throats were cut. If there was the element of surprise, they might not have had time to scream," you say.

"Both of them?"

Since you can see the parents and their wounds, you can determine what might have happened last night.

"So both parents don't have any ligature marks, and neither of them are tied down. There are no defensive wounds either. Geoff's cause of death was a single deep, smooth cut that severed the carotid artery. Nancy's cause of death was caused by a series of jagged, shallow wounds that punctured the carotid artery."

"There's more than one unsub, like you said," Derek says.

"Are you guys sure?" Bo asks.

"It makes sense. If there was only one unsub, then he would have had to restrain Nancy while he killed Geoff. Since there are no ligature marks on either of them, then that means he didn't restrain them. If he killed Geoff without restraining her, and she woke up, then she would have screamed. It would have alerted the entire family. We're looking at multiple unsubs."

"So, things are worse than we thought."

"Yes and no. Cate's chances of survival just got better. Two or more unsubs change the dynamics."

"What do you mean, dynamics?"

"They spend more time with her," Rossi sighs.

Derek calls Hotch to let him know while you go into the bathroom to see what kind of motive there might have been for taking Cate. You look inside the medicine cabinet and see something that makes Cate's chances of survival go right down to almost zero.

"I found something here." You walk out of the bathroom holding a pill bottle. "Cate has seizures, and if the unsubs find out about this, they might kill her."

With this new information, you head back to the police station to discuss what this might mean. Hotch pulls you off to the side, and you hand him the pill bottle you took from the scene.

"Give me your honest opinion on what your theory is."

"Based on the energies I saw at the house, I believe a family of three killed Cate's family. A mom, a dad, and a young son. They're killing everyone but a young daughter to maybe complete their family. Maybe they can't have more kids and want to be a family of four, or maybe their real daughter died and they're trying to replace her. It's the only theory I have right now."

"It's a theory nonetheless."

"If my theory is correct, and they find out Cate has seizures, then she isn't perfect. She could be dumped somewhere or killed. Either way, I have a feeling we'll know tomorrow."

And tomorrow you found out. Cate was dumped on the side of the road with her feet and hands bound, but she is very much alive. She was taken to the hospital immediately just as they contacted her father. Since she got medical care so soon, she's going to be fine. She is the best person to talk to about this kind of stuff, and since you can use her trauma to paint a picture, then you're going to talk to her.

"Her father's with her," the nurse says when your team arrives. "She's been in and out of consciousness but her vitals are stable."

"Any sign of sexual assault?" you ask.

"We haven't tested yet. We want to give her time to process."

"May we speak with her?"

"Sure. You should know, seizures often come with retrograde amnesia. She might have holes in her memory."

"Y/N, you should do this alone," Hotch says.

You knock on Cate's door before entering. Poor thing looks so scared, but you're going to do everything you can to make her feel comfortable and safe.

"Hello, Mr. Scheuren. I'm Agent Y/N from the FBI. I would like permission to speak with your daughter."

"Okay."

He doesn't move from her side, and you clasp your hands in front of you.

"I'd like to do this alone, if possible."

"Why?"

"I need to ask her certain questions, and sometimes it's easier for a girl to answer those questions when there are no men present."

"I'm her father," he gets upset.

"Daddy, please?"

"Alright, baby," he sighs. "I'll be right outside."

"Thank you." As soon as he leaves, you take a seat next to Cate and give her a kind smile. "My name is Y/N. I'm so sorry about your mom and your stepdad. I'd like to ask you some questions so we can find out who did this. Is that okay?"

"Yeah."

"Do you mind if I hold your hand?"

"No."

You hold her hand and place your other one over hers.

"I'm going to ask you some questions, and it's going to be about the things you sensed--things you saw, felt, etc."

"I'm scared."

"I know you are. It's okay to be scared. I'm right here with you. Just close your eyes, okay? What's the first thing you remember?"

She closes her eyes and you use her words to help paint a picture of what happened to her or where she might have been.

"It's cold, like outside cold."

"Okay, who's there?"

"A man. He told me to keep quiet."

"What is he doing?"

"He's holding my hand. It hurts. He's waiting for something."

"What does he look like?"

There is a much older white man with her with blood on his face. This happened after he got done killing Cate's parents. He's mean, balding at the top, and has a hint of a mustache that looks freshly shaved. It's a vague description, but it's the only thing you see right now.

"I don't want to be here," Cate whimpers.

"He can't hurt you, Cate, I promise. I'm right here."

"He's tall with dark hair. He's old."

"Old like me?"

"Old like my dad."

"Is anyone else there?"

"Someone's coming! Y/N! Y/N, help me!!"

The old man grabs Cate and slings her over his shoulder. She tries to fight him, but her hands are tied together. A car approaches and pops the trunk from the inside, and the unsub shoves Cate into the trunk.

"Cate, you're right here with me. I promise he can't hurt you. It's okay."

"He put me in the trunk of the car."

"How long were you in there?"

"Not long. Maybe ten minutes."

"Was the ride bumpy or smooth?"

"It was smooth." That tells you the roads they took are main roads instead of back ones. If they took the main road, then someone might have seen the car. "I wanted to scream, but no sound would come out."

"You're doing really good, Cate. Once the car stopped and they opened the trunk, what did you hear?"

"Wind through the trees."

The man takes Cate out of the trunk and drags her into some kind of trailer house before stuffing her inside a small space like a closet.

"What do you smell?"

"Cooking. I'm inside now. They've taken my shoes off."

"It's so you don't run. I want you to look down at your feet and tell me what you're standing on."

"Carpet. I'm in a little room with clothes and tinfoil all around me."

"What else?"

"I hear bells."

"What kind of bells?"

"Small ones like a fairy. Every time they ring, the man says something to the boy."

She must mean the young son whose energy you saw inside the house.

"How old is he?"

"Nine or ten, I'd say. His parents want me to play with him. They're calling him puyule, whatever that means."

The closet door opens and the young boy tries to take Cate out of the closet. His parents encourage her to come out to spend time with her, but she doesn't want to go.

"Y/N, I don't want to go. No! Don't make me go! Y/N!"

"Cate, it's okay. You're right here next to me. Open your eyes." She does, and you pat the back of her hand with a smile. "See? We're in the hospital. He can't hurt you anymore. You did so well. I'm going to send your dad back in here, okay? You just rest now."

"Okay," she sniffles.

x

Follow my library blog @aqueenslibrary​​​​​​​​​​​ where I reblog all my stories, so you can put notifications on there without the extra stuff :)

[bechloeislegit]

Secret Love?

Everybody knows Beca Mitchell and Chloe Beale have been best friends for years. Everybody knows they have won awards in their fields (Beca as a music producer, Chloe as an actress). Everybody knows they are always each other’s plus one to the awards show. Everybody knows they share a home in L.A. Everybody knows all these things, so they think they know everything about the best friends. But do they really?

Beca Mitchell walked the Grammys red carpet alone for the first time in four years. She felt a vulnerability she had never felt before without her constant companion, Chloe Beale, by her side. Chloe was an award-winning actress, and seeing one without the other at most awards events was rare.

Beca was worried because she had no idea where Chloe was; her texts and voicemail messages have gone unanswered. 

“Beca, over here!” one of the multitudes of photographers called out. 

Beca would stop and pose before moving on to one of the many media entertainment reporters set up along the red carpet.

“How are you feeling tonight?” the first reporter asked.

“I’m feeling pretty good,” Beca responded. “It’s always exciting to be nominated.”

“Where’s your other half?” the reporter jokingly asked.

“I’m not sure,” Beca said with a chuckle. “Something came up, and she had hoped to be here, so we’ll see if she makes it.”

Beca was lying through her teeth, but she wasn’t going to let the reporter know that. After repeatedly stopping by several interview areas and being asked the same questions, Beca finally made it into the Staples Center.

Beca greeted her fellow musicians, most of whom also asked about Chloe. Of course, Beca gave them all the same spiel she gave the reporters. 

Beca reached her seat, and looked at the empty one beside her, knowing that some ‘seat filler’ would be sitting next to her for the night. She sighed and rubbed her forehead.

Beca checked the time and saw they still had about thirty minutes before the show started. She got up, made her way to a quiet place near the back, and pulled out her phone. She was going to try calling Chloe again when she noticed an Instagram notification from Chloe’s acting account.

“I said YES!” was the caption under a picture of Chicago Walp holding a hand and showing off an engagement ring. The hand was the only part of Walp’s new fiancée that could be seen. Even if she hadn’t been on Chloe’s Instagram, Beca knew that hand almost as well as her own; it was Chloe’s.

Beca doesn’t know how long she stood staring at the ring. She was brought back to the present when Stacie came up to her.

“You saw?” Stacie asked quietly.

Beca nodded and asked, “It’s her, isn’t it?” 

Beca knew she was grasping at straws and was holding onto whatever hope might tell her this was all a bad dream.

“Yes, it’s her,” Stacie said. “Her agent, Gail, confirmed it on her Twitter and Instagram accounts. I’m sorry, Beca.”

“Great,” Beca said with a strained smile.

“Are you okay?” Stacie asked. She could see how pale Beca suddenly looked.

“I’m not feeling so great,” Beca said. “If I win anything, could you accept it on my behalf? I need to get out of here. I really don’t think I want to see a picture of me puking plastered all over the tabloids tomorrow.”

“I’ll get Emily to do it,” Stacie said with some concern. “That way, I can take you home.”

“No, stay. Enjoy the night,” Beca said. “I was already feeling a little sick. At first, I thought it was just nerves, but now I’m not so sure. I probably should have stayed home anyway.”

“If you’re sure?” Stacie said, and Beca nodded. “Okay. Text me to let me know you made it home and that everything’s okay. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Thanks,” Beca said.

Beca made her way out of the Staples Center and grabbed a cab. Finally, she arrived home and stood at the front door, remembering when she first bought the house and all that had happened there.

Five years ago, Beca had recorded her first album and was able to afford what she called her mini-mansion. A year later, Chloe told Beca she was moving to L.A. to try her hand at acting, and it was a no-brainer that she would live with Beca. They had been sharing this home since Chloe moved to L.A. four years ago. She and Chloe were happy with the house, and although they could afford it, neither wanted to move.

They were BFFs as well as roommates and were always photographed out and about in L.A. Then, about a year ago, Chloe admitted she had some not-so-friend-like feelings for Beca, and Beca reciprocated those feelings. They were still BFFs, but now they were in a secret relationship, and nobody knew. Beca hated sneaking around but was on cloud nine because, duh, Chloe Beale was her girlfriend. The two were in love; at least, that’s what Beca was led to believe. Apparently, Chloe was as good an actress as her two Oscars said.

It was only because of Chloe’s career that they kept their romantic relationship a secret. Beca was okay with that until Chloe and some new actor on the scene named Chicago were cast as love interests in Chloe’s latest movie. For publicity to hype the film, they were seen out and about as if they were a couple in real life. Beca and Chloe weren’t going out as much together anymore, even as BFFs; Beca wasn’t happy about that. Chloe would smile and tell her that it was her job and just a publicity stunt. She also said it would only last until the movie came out. Besides, Chloe would tell her she would always come home to Beca.

Beca took a deep breath and walked into the house. She made her way upstairs to the room she shared with Chloe and changed out of her Grammys outfit. She then pulled out her suitcases, and without thinking about it, she started packing everything she could fit into them. She then found some boxes to put her personal belongings in. She left anything that Chloe had given her, plus all the photos that had Chloe in them, on the bed for Chloe to find. She left behind the hoodie she ‘borrowed’ from Chloe and always wore because Chloe said it looked better on her; Beca didn’t need it anymore. It was just another reminder of Chloe’s betrayal.

She carried everything to her car and made one last trip through the bedroom and the rest of the house. Then, she got into her car and drove off without looking back.

Beca was about five miles from the house before she broke down and pulled over to the curb. The tears started slowly, and she let them fall unabated.

~Secret Love?~

“Thank God,” Stacie said when she opened the door of Beca’s house to find Aubrey standing there.

Stacie had tears in her eyes and started pacing back and forth. Aubrey closed the door and walked over to sit on the sofa. As Chloe and Beca’s best friends, Stacie and Aubrey knew all about Beca and Chloe’s secret relationship.

“I should have insisted that I bring her home,” Stacie berated herself. “I knew she shouldn’t have been left by herself. She seemed way too calm when she saw the ring on Chloe’s finger.”

“And you’re sure she left?” Aubrey asked.

“All of her clothes and mixing equipment are gone,” Stacie said. “She left some things on the bed. It looks like stuff Chloe had given her over the years.”

“Where do you think she went?” Aubrey asked.

“As far away from Chloe as she possibly can,” Stacie said. “I swear to God I’m going to kill Chloe when I see her. How the fuck can she be with Beca and get engaged to Chicago? If anything happens to Beca-”

Stacie and Aubrey stopped and looked toward the front door when they heard keys jingling. The door opened.

“Beca?” Stacie called out as she moved toward the door. She stopped and glared when Chloe walked through the door.

“Beca isn’t home yet?” Chloe asked as Stacie stood with her arms crossed over her chest, still glaring at Chloe.

“No, Beca’s not here,” Aubrey said, coming to stand next to Stacie.

“Is she still at an after-party?” Chloe asked. “I really need to talk to her.”

“Where were you?” Stacie asked. “Beca waited for you at the Grammys.”

“I, um, had a meeting with some producers for my next movie,” Chloe stammered. “It went longer than I thought.” 

“Why didn’t you return Beca’s calls or texts?” Stacie asked.

“My phone’s battery died, and I didn’t have my charger,” Chloe said as she pulled out her phone. “Can I borrow yours to call Beca and see when she’ll be home?”

“Don’t bother,” Stacie spit out. “She’s not here, and she’s not coming back.”

“What do you mean she’s not coming back?” Chloe asked, confused.

“She packed up her stuff and left,” Stacie said.

Chloe’s eyes widened, and she ran upstairs to their room. Tears came to her eyes when she saw all of Beca’s stuff was gone except for what she left behind on the bed for Chloe.

“I don’t understand,” Chloe cried as she made her way back downstairs. “I thought things were going great with us. What happened?”

Stacie stood there fuming while Aubrey took Chloe in her arms and held her while she cried.

“Chloe,” Aubrey said gently. “She saw the Instagram post about your engagement with a picture of you and Chicago showing off your ring.”

“My engagement?” Chloe asked, pulling back to look at Aubrey. “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play innocent with us,” Stacie said. “Gail confirmed it on Instagram and Twitter.”

Stacie pulled up Chloe’s Instagram account and shoved the phone in Chloe’s face. Chloe’s eyes widened when she saw the pictures and Gail’s comment about the happy couple.”

“These are photos from the movie,” Chloe said, barely containing her rage. “I’m not engaged to Chicago, nor do I want to be engaged to him. I’m going to kill that bitch.”

Chloe grabbed her phone and screamed in frustration when she saw it wasn’t working. 

“Chloe, take it easy,” Aubrey said. “Don’t do anything you’re going to regret.”

Chloe quickly plugged her phone into the charger and paced back and forth while waiting for it to have enough charge to make a call. Stacie and Aubrey stood by, watching her pace back and forth.

“The only thing I regret is letting the studio hire that bitch as my manager and publicist in the first place,” Chloe said, seething.

Chloe checked her phone and saw she had enough power to make a call. She first tried Beca’s number, and it went to voicemail. So Chloe started speaking when the beep sounded to leave a message.

“Baby, please call me as soon as you get this. That story isn’t true. I swear to you; it’s not true. Call me. Please?!”

She ended that call and wiped a tear from her eye. She then pulled up Gail’s contact name and hit send. “She’d better answer her-”

“Hello, Chloe,” Gail answered in a sweet voice. 

“Don’t hello me,” Chloe snarled into the phone. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing posting pics of Chicago and me and saying we’re engaged?”

Gail laughed. “Just more publicity for the movie.”

“Bullshit!” Chloe yelled at her.

“Chloe, calm down,” Aubrey said, trying to soothe the angry redhead.

“Chloe, look,” Gail said with an exasperated sigh. “The studio wants to hype this movie and told me to do whatever it takes to get more attention for it. This has garnered so much more attention-”

“I don’t give two fucks about how much attention this has garnered or what the studio wanted,” Chloe shouted. “You posted something on my Instagram account that I did not consent to. You will post a retraction on every social media account those pictures are on. You have ten minutes or else, so help me God, I will sic Aubrey Posen on your ass. Oh, and in case it wasn’t clear, you’re fired!”

“You can’t fire me,” Gail sputtered.

“I just did,” Chloe said and ended the call.

Chloe tossed her phone on the counter. She gripped the counter's edge and took several deep breaths to calm herself down. She wiped at a tear that had fallen down her face. 

“I need to find Beca.”

~ Secret Love? ~

While Stacie and Aubrey were with Chloe, Beca sat in their living room. She did not know where else to go so after driving around for a couple of hours, she went to Stacie and Aubrey’s.

Beca had only turned on one lamp when she arrived. She was now sitting in the semi-dark living room with dried tear tracks on her face. She needed to talk to someone and finally sent Stacie a text asking when she would be home.

Stacie’s phone pinged, and she grabbed it.

“It’s from Beca,” Stacie said. “She wants to know when I’ll be home.” She furrowed her brow and then said, “Oh, my God! She’s been at our house all this time.”

Stacie immediately texted Beca to stay put and that she’d be home in twenty minutes. Chloe grabbed her keys and headed for the door.

“Wait, Chloe,” Stacie said and grabbed her arm.

“I have to talk to her,” Chloe said with tears in her eyes. “I can’t just-”

“I know,” Stacie said, interrupting Chloe. “But, if she sees you, she’ll react badly before you can say anything. Let me go to her and tell her what’s going on. I promise to bring her back here as soon as I can.”

“Stacie’s right, Chlo,” Aubrey said. “Let her do this alone. I’ll stay with you.”

“Please, Chloe,” Stacie said. “You know this is the best way to handle this. She’ll listen to me. Please, let me do this alone.”

Chloe swallowed and dropped her keys on the table. 

“Okay,” she said and sat down on the sofa. “I’ll wait for you to bring her back to me.” Chloe let out a small sob. “Please bring her back to me.”

Stacie gave her a small smile and hurried out the door. Aubrey sat next to Chloe and put her arm around her shoulders.

“Let’s go into the kitchen,” Aubrey said. “I’ll make us some tea.”

As they walked into the kitchen, Chloe’s phone rang, and Gail’s name popped up on the caller ID. Chloe picked up the phone and answered the call.

“What!?” Chloe angrily answered.

“I did everything you said to do,” Gail said. “I’m sorry for posting it all without your permission. Now, can we talk about your next project?”

“Too little, too late,” Chloe said. “I meant it when I said you were fired. Now fuck off and lose my number.”

Chloe ended the call and checked Instagram. Gail had indeed printed a retraction and taken down all the photos. She pulled up her Instagram account and posted how the story was false and was put up without her permission by her EX-manager/publicist.

Chloe put her phone away. She wanted to shut it off because of all the new notifications she was receiving but didn’t in case Beca or Stacie tried to reach her. So instead, she sat anxiously waiting for Stacie to bring Beca home.

~ Secret Love? ~

Stacie walked in the door, and Beca looked up at her from the shadows.

“Oh, Beca,” Stacie said and hurried over to her friend. She pulled Beca to her, and Beca sat there, unmoving.

“Beca,” Stacie said as she pulled back to look at her. “Chloe came home just a while ago. She explained everything, and it’s not what you think.”

Beca stared blankly at Stacie. Stacie held Beca’s face in her hands.

“Listen to me, okay?” Stacie said. “Please respond so I know you can hear me.”

“I can hear you,” Beca mumbled.

“Good,” Stacie said. “Those pictures were fake. They were from the movie, and Gail put them up to try and get more publicity for it. Do you hear me? The pictures are from the movie. Chloe didn’t know they were out there until I showed them to her.”

“She is always checking social media,” Beca said. “I’m supposed to believe that she conveniently missed seeing those pics on her Instagram?”

“Her phone died,” Stacie said. “That’s why she didn’t call you or text you back.”

Stacie recounted what happened when Chloe got home. 

“Beca, she loves you with everything she has.”

“I read a lot of the comments,” Beca said, staring at the floor. “Chicago wrote happiest man alive.  Everyone else was congratulating her on getting engaged and how cute they were together. It was easy for everyone to believe the story because she hid our relationship. The only ones who knew about us were you and Aubrey.”

“I think you should talk to Chloe,” Stacie said. “Let her explain it all to you.”

“Why?” Beca asked, looking over at Stacie.

“What do you mean why?” Stacie asked.

“No one knows we’re together,” Beca said. “This can happen again, and it won’t be fake next time. I can’t bear feeling like this again. It’s too much. There’s nothing to explain, so I’m not going back.”

“You can’t believe that Chloe would allow this to happen again, do you?” Stacie asked.

“You said she didn’t allow it this time,” Beca said. “But it still happened. So I’m not waiting around for the next time.”

“Beca, don’t do this,” Stacie said. “Go talk to Chloe. Look, I believed everything at first. But, if you saw how she reacted when I showed her the post, you’d know she had no idea that Gail had done it. Please, Beca. I’m begging you. Don’t walk away from Chloe like this.”

Stacie and Beca’s phones both pinged with notifications. Stacie looked at hers, but Beca ignored her phone.

“Look, Beca,” Stacie said. “Gail posted a retraction saying it was false. Chloe approved it and put out her own message about firing Gail for going behind her back. See, it’s not real. She loves you, and you love her. Maybe it’s a good time to talk to her about making your relationship public.”

“I can’t,” Beca said sadly. “Her career means too much to her, and I’m not going to be the one to mess that up for her. So it’s best if we end it now.”

“Oh, Beca,” Stacie said sadly. “Her career doesn’t mean as much to her as you do. Can’t you see that?”

Beca stands and runs her hand down her face, wiping away the tears. 

“Do you think Aubrey would mind if I crash here for a couple of days?”

Stacie let out a frustrated sigh. 

“You know you’re welcome to stay anytime.”

Beca nodded her head and made her way to the guest bedroom.

~ Secret Love? ~

“Did you find Beca?” Aubrey asked as soon as she answered Stacie’s call.

“Yeah,” Stacie said and sighed. “She wants to end things with Chloe.”

“What? Why?”

“What’s Stacie saying?” Chloe asked.

“Put me on speaker, Brey,” Stacie said. “Chloe should hear this.”

Aubrey put the phone on speaker and held it out so Chloe could hear as well.

“Go ahead, Stacie,” Aubrey said.

“Chloe,” Stacie said and paused. “Beca’s inside her head right now and thinks it best if you end things.”

“What?” Chloe said, her voice quivering. “I’m coming over there.”

Chloe jumped up and hurried to the door, grabbing her purse and keys as she went.

“No, Chloe,” Stacie said. “That’s not a good idea.”

“Chloe, don’t!” Aubrey called out, but Chloe was already out the door. “Stacie, I’ll call you back.” Aubrey ended the call as she jumped up and went after Chloe. “Chloe, stop!”

Chloe stopped and turned to face Aubrey with tears streaming down her face.

“I need to fix this,” Chloe said, wiping her face.

“And you will,” Aubrey said. “Just not right now. You know Beca; her mind is made up, and if you go to her now, she’ll retreat farther away from you.”

“I hate that you’re right,” Chloe said. “But what else can I do?”

“Let’s go back inside and come up with a plan to keep you and Beca together.”

~ Secret Love? ~

It was just before six the next morning, and Aubrey was dozing lightly when her ringing phone woke her. She saw Stacie’s name on her caller ID and accepted the call, putting it on speaker and laying the phone on the coffee table near her head.

“Hey, babe,” Aubrey said.

“I was just checking in to see how you were holding up,” Stacie said.

“I’m okay, I guess,” Aubrey responded.

“How’s Chloe?” Stacie asked.

“I got her calmed down and in bed at around four,” Aubrey said. “And she hasn’t come downstairs, so I guess she’s sleeping. How’s Beca?”

“I don’t know,” Stacie said. “She went into the guest room a couple of hours ago. I was hoping she’d go to sleep, but I can hear her moving around. I don’t want to agitate her, so I’m leaving her alone.”

“What are we going to do?” Aubrey asked.

“I don’t think we can do anything,” Stacie said. “We both know Beca won’t make the first move,  so it’s up to Chloe at this point.”

“I hate this,” Aubrey said.

“So do I,” Stacie said.

“Brey, I have a plan,” Chloe said as she rushed into the living room. “I know how to fix this and need your help.”

“What can we do?” Stacie asked.

Chloe furrowed her brow and looked around for Stacie. Aubrey stood, picking the phone up as she did, and waved it at Chloe.

“Whatever you need, Chloe,” Aubrey said. “Stacie and I are here for you.”

“Thank you,” Chloe said. “Here’s what I want to do.”

Chloe spent the next 20 minutes telling Aubrey and Stacie her plan.

“What do you think?” Chloe asked as she finished explaining her plan.

“I think she’ll love it,” Stacie said.

“I have to agree,” Aubrey said. “I think Beca will love it.”

~ Secret Love? ~

It was almost nine when Stacie left her house and hurried over to Beca and Chloe’s house. Aubrey let Stacie in when she got there.

“Chloe’s getting dressed,” Aubrey said. “She’ll be down shortly.”

“Good morning, Stacie,” Chloe said as she came down the stairs.

“Are you ready for this?” Stacie asked.

“Absolutely,” Chloe said. “I need to let Beca know how much I love her, and this should do it.”

“Okay,” Aubrey said. “Sit on the sofa, Chloe. I’ll handle the camera, and Stacie will make sure everything looks okay as we go. Okay?”

“Okay,” Chloe said as she took her place on the sofa. “I’m ready.” 

Aubrey readied her phone and stood in front of Chloe. 

“I’ll count back from three, and then you start,” Aubrey said, holding her phone up, making sure Chloe can be fully seen onscreen. “Okay, here we go...3. 2. 1.”

“Surprise everyone,” Chloe said. “Chloe Beale here live streaming to all my followers. I just wanted to come on here and clear up a few things that happened yesterday. First, to make sure everyone has heard, I am not engaged to Chicago Walp. He’s a good guy and will make someone a great husband, but that someone is not me. Second, the engagement ruse was perpetuated by my former publicist to promote the upcoming movie that Chicago and I are in together. The studio told Gail to do whatever she needed to do to promote the film, and she took that to mean lying to my fans. That is unacceptable, and I did not give her permission to use my social media accounts to perpetuate the lie.”

Chloe paused and shifted in her seat.

“The second thing I need to do is apologize to you guys. I’ve been lying to you. Despite appearances, Chicago and I are not dating. And I don’t want to be involved with Chicago in a romantic capacity because I’ve been in a committed relationship...with a woman… for a little over a year. I can’t really say too much about her without her permission, but I can tell you that she has been my rock for a very long time. She kept our relationship a secret so it wouldn’t affect my career. It was wrong of me to let her do that because it made the lie of my getting engaged to a man so easy to believe. I love her so much, and she loves me; at least she did. But, after the news about my phony engagement, she left and told me she thinks we should part ways. And now-” Chloe sniffled and wiped tears from her eyes. “And now, I don’t know how I will keep going without her.” 

Chloe put a hand to her mouth, trying to hold back a sob.

“Stop,” Chloe said, waving a hand at Aubrey. “I can’t do this. I need Beca.”

“I’m here,” Beca said, walking out from behind Aubrey.

Chloe gasped and ran to Beca; Beca wrapped Chloe in her arms.

“I can’t believe you’re here,” Chloe said. “I missed you so much.”

“I’m sorry,” Beca said, pulling Chloe tighter to her. “I love you, and I’m sorry for saying we were over.”

“No,” Chloe said, pulling back to grab Beca’s head in her hands and look into her eyes. “I owe you an apology. I fired Gail, and I promise if it’s okay with you, I’ll tell the whole world about us. I never want to go through another day without you in it with me. I love you, Beca!”

“I love you, too, and I want the whole world to know about us because I want to spend the rest of my life with you. As a matter of fact-”

Beca stepped back from Chloe and got down on one knee. Chloe gasped and looked down at Beca.

“Oh, my God,” Stacie whispered. “She’s really going to do it.”

She moved to stand next to Aubrey and whispered, “Are you getting all this?”

“Yes,” Aubrey said. “I never turned off the camera.”

“Chloe, I love you,” Beca said, holding up a ring box. “Will you marry me?”

Chloe wiped the tears from her face and glanced up. Her eyes widened when she realized Aubrey was still live-streaming everything.

“Um, Beca,” Chloe said, reaching down to take Beca’s arms and pull her up. “We’re being live-streamed out to my fans right now.”

“I know,” Beca said, glancing over toward Aubrey. She waved and said, “Hi, everyone! I’m Beca Mitchell, Chloe’s girlfriend and hopefully soon-to-be fiancee.” Then, she turned back to Chloe. “I guess getting engaged during a live stream is one way of letting the world know about us. So, why don’t we ask your fans what they think you should do.”

Beca turned back to the camera. “So, what do you guys say? Should Chloe accept my proposal or not?”

Beca’s phone started pinging with notifications. She pulled it out to read them and smiled.

“Oh, look, SxyStacie says, Say YES!”

Chloe looked over at Stacie only to have her smile and wink back at Chloe. Chloe then looked at Aubrey; she was giving her a thumbs up.

“CBealesMama said you’d better say yes, or your dad and I will disown you,” Beca read. “Thanks, Mama Beale! And based on the number of thumbs up and heart emojis coming through, everyone thinks you should say yes. So, Chloe Beale, will you marry me? Or will you disappoint us all by saying no?”

Chloe stood there with her mouth agape.

“How did you-?” Chloe stammered, looking at Beca. “I’m so confused right now.”

Beca chuckled and pulled Chloe into a hug.

“Stacie told me your plan, and I told her I was ready to propose,” Beca said. “We decided we’d mess with you a bit before I did. So, I came over with Stacie and watched your live-stream on my phone outside. When you said you couldn’t do this without me, I knew it was time to come in and surprise you with the proposal.” Beca pulled back from the hug, saying, “Speaking of, you haven’t answered the question yet.”

“Yes!” Chloe squealed and kissed Beca.

Beca broke the kiss and looked at the camera. 

“You guys all heard her say yes, right?”

Beca’s phone started blowing up with more notifications. She laughed and kissed Chloe again.

“Put the ring on!” Chloe said, holding out her left hand.

Beca took the ring out of the box and placed it on Chloe’s finger. Chloe held her hand up toward the camera, showing off the ring.

“My girl has pretty good taste, huh?” Chloe said before pulling Beca into another kiss.

The kiss went on, and Stacie stepped in front of the camera.

“Hi, I’m Stacie Conrad, Beca’s best friend,” Stacie said, smiling into the camera. “Beca and Chloe are going to celebrate their engagement now. They both thank you for your kind words of congratulations and your support. Bye for now.”

Aubrey stopped recording, and she and Stacie raced over to grab Beca and Chloe into a four-way hug.

“We’re so happy for you, two,” Aubrey squealed.

“I knew it would work,” Stacie said. “And it didn’t take much convincing to have Beca come with me this morning.”

Stacie and Aubrey stepped back, smiling at their two best friends.

“I knew I screwed up, and I was coming home to apologize anyway,” Beca said, pulling Chloe to  her. “I can’t say I’m sorry enough. I love you, Chloe!”

“I love you, too,” Chloe said, pulling back from the hug to kiss Beca.

As the kiss continued, Aubrey grew uncomfortable, so she grabbed Stacie and dragged her out of the house.

[finitevoid]

theres a customer at my job who has like a fixation on me and one of the girls i close with, every couple of weeks he shows up with some kind of bag of candy or something else of that nature and gives it to one of us while winkingly telling us to have a good day and enjoy this candy from him. like he started this by handing my coworker a candy bar one day. my coworkers encountered him by herself twice and he always tells her to share the candy with me specifically, like, that its a gift for us both. ive encountered him by myself three or four times and usually he tells me to share the candy with my coworker, but most recently he walked up to me and handed me a single, individually wrapped oreo. he said, "here, have a treat."

my coworker's been coincidentally moved mostly to morning shift rather than closing which means she wasnt there that day, which means he scoped out the counter to see who was working before going to acquire me some manner of confection. and i walked back over to my shift partner holding this fucking oreo and he was looking at me like i was goddamn insane. and i was like. What do i do with this. emily was like, eat it? i was like I dont want his creepy oreo. so i threw it out

the craziest part is that i dont remember him at all prior to him starting to give us these bags of candy. the first time he did it i was on break, and when i got back my coworker was like You wont BELIEVE what just happened. she recognized him as a regular but i didnt absorb his features whatsoever until he handed me a bag of hersheys kisses and told me to share them with my friend :). and i was like Oh. This is the candy guy . the craziest part is that he never wants anything from us. like he never asks us for cold cuts or cheese or whatever, like, you know, my job? my job working in a grocery store deli? he just walks up to make awkward small talk and give us candy

and like what am i supposed to do about this or think about this or feel about this

i assume he has a crush on me and my coworker but he also manages to always misgender her (Unbelievable) and misgender me (expected) which always confuses me

i never eat these candies (im lactose intolerant anyway) because the thought is kind of weird and slimy. this guy is like 40 and always wears a fedora. and he handed me an individually wrapped oreo and said Have a treat, like, you know, like the way you talk to a dog? ive mentioned this to the closing manager and its like, Whats he gonna do, the guy is categorically harmless so far, its not like he can kick him out. but the vibes are so bad. the vibes are utterly awful . Customer service